Lycan Mystery Dungeon

by PizzaSpino

Werewolf AU. Some humans get turned into Pokémon in order to save the world. Others were just at the wrong place on a full moon. Ash always knew he was unusual, not every boy can become a Riolu. But as his tenth birthday approaches he learns that his pack's gift is actually a curse.

8. The Compost

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction written by someone who enjoys Pokémon and creature features. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc. and Satoshi Tajiri. Please support the official release.

Listening to as I water the plants: Here we Are (Toby Fox)

Lycan Mystery Dungeon: The Compost

The Kennel, Bottom Floor

A pair of glowing, white eyes blinked awake as Samuel took in his surroundings. Cage destroyed, door smashed open, and no wereLucario. Giving the air a few experimental sniffs, he detected none of the usual gas that plagued his den. Odd.

BOOM!

The shaking of the roof was accompanied by the sound of falling rocks. Samuel's ears flattened against his head as tiny pieces of the ceiling crumbled into his cell. The wereLeafeon released an annoyed growl. So much for getting some shut eye.

On the other hand, it did feel like forever since Samuel last hunted. Might as well take advantage of the situation and take an overdue walk.

Standing up on all fours, Samuel's back arched and popped as he stretched. The foliage that ran from the top of his head to the tip of his tail rustled as his spine quivered. Slowly, the wereLeafeon lumbered over to the bars of his cage.

As Samuel approached the bars, a spark of electricity jumped from the metal and on to his nose. The wereLeafeon snort and rubbed at his muzzle before turning his attention back to the barrier. Multiple vines across his body stretched forward and wrapped themselves around the bars. The bars tried to shock the vines at first, but one Giga Drain later and the energy began to be redirected. Instead of shocking the monster, the power from the cell was channeled into the Leafeon.

Feeling the new energy humming through his body, Samuel instinctually used it to reach out to his environment. As usual, he could sense the foliage around the Kennel. Trees, weeds, roots, all of them would normally twitch and even come to life in the wereLeafeon's presence. Now, thanks to the energy boost, they were beginning to squirm and grow.

Massive roots began bursting through the cement walls of the underground facility. The roots branched out and encompassed Samuel's den making it slightly cozier to the plant monster. Some roots latched onto the bars and pulled causing the wall of the cage to snap off its hinges and be carried off by the plants.

Now energized and free, Samuel made his way over to the door and sniffed around. Drool began to drip from his jaws when the scent of multiple Pokémon met his nose. Time to hunt.

Ketchum Residence

While the kennel was crumbling into a massive mess, Mr. Dragonite and Mrs. Charizard were handling their search for Gary in a calm and rational manner.

"What did you say happened?" snarled Mrs. Charizard. She held up Mimey by his rounded shoulders to her eye level, her claws pinching his skin.

"I came down from cleaning the bathroom and I found Gary talking to Ash. Ash bolted off toward the lab and the other boys followed. That's all I know, I swear!" Mimey gulped.

"And you didn't stop them?" Mrs. Charizard pressed. Her lips pealed back revealing her impressive dental work.

"I was about to, but the phone, and everything was happening fast, and I couldn't keep up!" Mimey stammered.

Mrs. Charizard began shaking the clown and shouting. "HOW DO YOU LOSE A FOOT RACE TO A REGULAR HUMAN BOY?"

"Those kids can really book it! Please, I'm just a housekeeper!" cried Mimey. "Don't send me to jail! I'm not ready for the big house!"

"Jail?" Mrs. Charizard asked incuriously. She stopped shaking Mimey and let him drop to the ground. She then adjusted the messenger bag strapped around her shoulder.

"I may or may not have been watching too many cop dramas," Mimey mumbled twiddling his fingers.

Mr. Dragonite stepped in and cleared his throat. Unlike usual, he was wearing a yellow and red bandana around his neck known as a Muscle Band. An item he hoped he wouldn't have to use tonight. "Dear, I understand your frustration, but we should head back to the lab. We don't want those boys to be poking around there during the full moon."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Mrs. Charizard sighed. As she spread her wings she grabbed Mimey off the ground and swung him onto her back ignoring the clown's startled yelp. "You're coming too!"

The two dragons took off to the skies and toward the laboratory. Catching his wife's sour expression (or at least it was sourer than usual), Mr. Dragonite gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry. Nidoking is there. He knows how to handle himself."

Nidoking

Nidoking was not having a good evening. The walls were cracking, the roof was caving in, thieves behind him, and his claws were locked in a shoving match with a werePokémon. Glancing behind, Nidoking could see that the roof in one of the back corners had fallen down creating a pile of rubble leading to the outside. Looks like he was being granted at least one mercy.

"If you want to keep living, climb outside, run away, and never look back!" Nidoking shouted to Team Rocket, using his tail to motion toward the hole. While it was true that those thieves were looking to kidnap his friends, Nidoking wouldn't wish a werePokémon mauling on anyone. Even more than that, he didn't want someone as sweet as Delia to have any more blood on her hands than she already did. "What are you waiting for go-"

Once again Nidoking looked over his shoulder to see that Team Rocket had already fled, scurrying out of the hole like a bunch of scared Torchics. Nidoking grumbled. "You're welcome."

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Delia brought one of her hands back and swiped at Nidoking with enough force to send him flying. Nidoking smashed against the wall causing a large chunk of the ceiling to fall, narrowly miss him. Before Delia could leap over to deliver another blow, Nidoking used his hefty tail to slam into the wall. As a result, more of the ceiling began to rain down on the two. Nidoking was close enough to the hole to flee. Delia was not as fortunate and had to suffer through an artificial rock slide.

Quickly, Nidoking climbed out of The Kennel. Once he was able to successfully pull himself back to the surface, he turned around to face the rubble. By now, Nidoking knew it would take more than a collapsed roof to take out a wereLucario. Right on que, the rubble began to shift signaling that Delia was digging her way out.

Before Delia could make her way to the surface, Nidoking took a moment to access his current situation. The rubble seemed to have settled which meant that the ground, while very much uneven, had stabilized. Though he should still be careful to not cause any more cave-ins in case the boys hadn't escaped yet.

A shudder ran down Nidoking's spine. He really hoped those boys were able to get out. It was bad enough that they got to see Delia like this, they didn't need to see Sam too. Sam tended to recover from the gas slower than Delia, which was probably the reason the plants hadn't started attacking yet, so maybe the boys would be able to miss the mess of a mutant the professor turned into every full moon.

Speaking of gas, another small blessing this evening was the gas Pikachu knocked over. It seemed like it gave Delia a healthy second dose of the tranquilizer giving Nidoking a slight edge. Past experiences of lycans breaking loose had taught Nidoking how powerful werePokémon were. They were a challenge Nidoking would have appreciated back in his prime, easily stronger than their non-cursed counter parts and far more brutal. Your average Pokémon would stand no chance. All they could do was try to outrun whatever other poor Pokémon was being hunted.

Fortunately, Nidoking was no ordinary Pokémon. He may have been retired, but he was still a member of an Indigo League champion team. Back in the old days, Nidoking could count on Sam to come up with the strategies. Now, he had to employee his own experience in a solo battle.

Move-wise, Delia had only two offensive moves: Metal Claw and Aura Sphere. Her other moves, both those she instinctually learned upon transforming and those learned in the nine years since she was cursed, were all defensive. Most troubling of those defensive moves were Counter and Detect.

Detect was a move that granted a Pokémon a brief moment of precognition. Any Pokémon using that move would innately know where an opposing move was going to hit allowing the Pokémon to fluidly dodge out of the way. Detect also had its draw backs in that it took a lot of energy to use and it couldn't be used back to back. Still, it could be used to dodge a solid blow dragging out the battle.

Even more troubling was Counter. With Counter, Delia could take any physical move that made contact with her and use its power to push back her opponent all the while mirroring the damage back at said opponent. This meant that Nidoking had to be careful with throwing physical attacks, which really stunk because he worked best with physical attacks. Not to say he was helpless. He'd been living with the threat of a werePokémon outbreak for years and had time to prepare some contingency plans just in case he found himself fighting Delia. All he needed to do was wait until the noise from the rubble died down.

As Delia climbed out of the rubble, Nidoking took a deep breath and used Focus Energy. A lavender aura swirled around Nidoking's body, strengthening him. Most Pokémon had a very limited move set, only learning up to four moves. Pokémon who had the benefit of working alongside a competent trainer could push past those barriers and learn a wide variety of attacks. As a Pokémon who was both worked on a champion team and a retired lab worker, Nidoking had learned and practiced a wide range of attacks. Not that he'd be able to just start randomly firing them off in hopes of victory like a lot of wild Pokémon were prone to do.

Toxic and Poison Jab were off the table as Delia's secondary steel typing granted her immunity from poison attacks. Shame, as a poison type himself Nidoking had a natural affinity for those kinds of moves. The threat of Counter also cut Nidoking's move pool in half leaving him with just special moves. One of which seemed very appropriate for this situation.

Taking in a deep breath, Nidoking felt a vortex of heat gather at the back of his throat. He held it in for a second before unleashing it through his mouth straight at the emerging wereLucario. Delia roared in anger as a powerful Flamethrower was blasted straight at her.

Flamethrower wasn't an attack that Nidoking used back in his heyday. That was Charizard's specialty. She had taught it to him after it became clear that he would be the one who would be stationed closest to the steel type who could deflect physical attacks. It also helped that Sam turned into a grass type giving the two local lycanthropes a shared weakness to fire.

There was another snarling roar. It seemed as though Delia dodged Nidoking's Flamethrower, probably using Detect, and was now leaping out of the fire and straight toward Nidoking himself. Nidoking moved back just in time avoid Delia's fist which slammed right into the ground sending small chunks of stone flying through the air.

Bringing up an arm to shield himself from the spray of rocky debris, Nidoking took note of Delia's movements. Still sluggish which meant she was still working off that extra blast of gas. It would be a bit of a gamble, but if Nidoking wanted to go in for close combat now would be the time.

Again, Nidoking gathered energy into his throat. This time, however, it was dark energy. Nidoking used Taunt. "Here, puppy! Come on! Come here, girl!"

Growling, Delia charged forward, claws reaching out to slash Nidoking. Nidoking met her attack head on, literally. Thanks to the taunt, Nidoking was safe from the threat of a Counter, at least for a little while. Light green energy formed around Nidoking's horn making it larger. By shoving his head up, Nidoking drove his Megahorn into Delia's chin slightly knocking her back. That was enough to create an opening for Nidoking to start rapidly punching Delia's now exposed stomach.

Fist after fist. Nidoking kept fighting. As he punched, his hands ignited on fire creating a dual Fire Punch. It didn't take long for Delia to regain her balance and start blowing back. Even weakened her strikes were powerful. Through the makeshift concrete armor, Nidoking felt Delia's attacks. Each swipe broke off another piece of concrete threatening to get to the Pokémon underneath.

Deciding that now would be a good time to get some space, Nidoking blew another Flamethrower right into Delia. This time the attack was too close to dodge and Delia snarled in pain. With the wereLucario thrown off balance, Nidoking began preparing a new attack.

Cold, ethereal energy began to gather around Nidoking's right claw creating a clawed gauntlet of ghostly energy. Normally this would be enough for a Shadow Claw, but for what Nidoking had in mind he needed more power. He quickly combined Shadow Claw with Focus Energy causing the ghost claw to swell in size all the while keeping up his Flamethrower. By the time his fire attack lost steam, Nidoking had a clawed hand large enough to grab around Delia's body.

Swinging his Shadow Claw forward, Nidoking managed to push Delia to the ground. By now, Nidoking was feeling sore both from the fight and all the energy he was using to maintain that fight. But he couldn't afford to take a break. Tilting his head skyward, Nidoking managed to summon one last Flamethrower creating a fountain of flames that would hopefully get the dragons' attention.

Now completely out of breath, Nidoking panted and settled down. He focused all his power into keeping the giant Shadow Claw clamped firmly around Delia. The tranquilizer should wear off any moment, but Charizard and Dragonite should have seen his Flamethrower distress signal. If they all worked together they should scrounge up some extra gas to readminister to Delia and-

Suddenly, the ground erupted. Roots, both big and small, broke through the surface resembling a pod of water Pokémon rising from the sea. The minefield of plant parts slithered and coiled creating an uneven field and throwing Nidoking back, away from Delia.

The Kennel B1F

Ash blinked in confusion. "Where Pokémon?"

"Yes, we're Pokémon," Pikachu said slowly. Good to know that Ash wasn't the only one feeling lost.

Gary, who was still adjusting to walking on all fours, continued to shuffle around. He looked back and forth between between Ash and Pikachu, ears leaned back against his head. His ears then cocked forward as his face morphed from terrified to perplexed to skeptical. "Is this some kind of joke to you?!"

Joke?

"Look, I know you're scared," Ash could feel fear emanating from the new Eevee in waves. Not that he could blame Gary for being freaked out. He imagined most humans wouldn't take a sudden species shift well. "But this is actually natural. See, there's a secret society of humans that can turn into Pokémon. Sometimes we shift by will, but most of the time we transform in the middle of the night and can turn back into humans after dawn."

"Right, and I assume memberships for this little club are always handed out via biting on the full moon," Gary sneered. His tail stuck up while all the fur on his body stood on end, making him look slightly bigger. "Like you did. To me. Just now."

"What has biting got to do with anything?" Ash asked. "I said I was sorry!"

Slowly, Gary's tail lowered. His eyes traced over Ash's form with suspicion and his head tilted. "Holy Arceus, do you really not know?"

"Know what?" Ash pressed. Wasn't he supposed to be the one teaching Gary?

"You've never heard of a werePokémon?" Gary asked.

Alright, so it looked like werePokémon was a word and not a question about their location. Ash shook his head.

"It's a horror movie monster," Gary explained. He tried to stand up on his hind legs only to fall back down on all fours. A look of annoyance crossed his face and he carefully began to walk around, getting used to his quadrupedal body. "A werePokémon is a human who turns into a half human, half Pokémon monster on the full moon and goes around attacking other humans and Pokémon. Also," Gary added on with a scowl. "If you get bitten by a werePokémon you turn into one!"

Ash returned Gary's scowl. It was bad enough he had to deal with Pokémon who called him a freak, it stunk that he had to hide his true self from other humans, but did he have to sit through being called a monster by his new friend? "That's a load! I've been turning into a Pokémon my entire life and I've never hurt anyone! Just because we're different doesn't make us freaks or monsters!"

"Oh yeah? Then explain mommy dearest back there," Gary spat. By now he made his way over to the wall and was clinging onto it in a desperate attempt to get back onto his hind legs.

Though he seethed, Ash couldn't respond. What happened to his mother?

To the side, Pikachu had brought his paws up to his chin in a more contemplative look. "This would explain why your pack is so strict on biting."

"No, not biting people is just common sense! Humans don't recover as fast from injuries as Pokémon!" Ash argued.

"Maybe, but you do get a lot of extra energy during the full moon and the forest Pokémon are terrified of you and your pack," Pikachu said apologetically. Ash could feel the mouse's aura dower with sympathy. "All I'm saying is there might be some merit to this werePokémon theory."

"We aren't monsters!" Ash snapped. Inwardly, he had to admit that Pikachu had a point. Gary's description matched up pretty well with recent events and his mother's transformation did look eerily similar to something out of a creature feature. Nevertheless, he continued to cling to denial. "Outside of maybe the occasional hunt, which regular Pokémon do by the way, my pack has never hurt anyone! My mom's a saint and the professor spent his life studying Pokémon, not slaughtering them!"

Gary's ears swiveled forward. "Gramps?"

Suddenly, roots burst through the walls of the room. It started with just a few cracks in the cement before the plants shoved their limbs shoved their branching limbs straight inside. The mess of roots spread and wrapped around the room tangling up Ash and separating him from Pikachu and Gary. Then, just as fast as they appeared, the roots stopped growing leaving the room a giant snarl of thick roots and over turned cement rubble.

"Can you hear me!? Guys!" Ash called out. His ears twitched and swiveled around. Ash could hear his friends' voices, though they were muffled through the new cobweb of roots. Twisting, Ash managed to free himself from the plants' grasp and plop down to the floor.

Carefully, Ash climbed through the maze of vines to try and find Pikachu and Gary. His heart leapt when he saw some movement in the now heavily shadowed room. Jumping over some wood, Ash was disappointed to discover that the movement was not one of his friends, but a Raticate.

The Raticate looked like the rest of its kind. Short, giant incisors, main body covered in scruffy, brown fur save for his hands, feet, and naked tail. The rat's back was turned toward Ash while he surveyed his surroundings.

"Are you lost too?" Ash asked.

"I suppose you could say that," replied the Raticate. "I was in my den a few minutes ago. Then these plants came and pushed me into this room!"

"Sorry about that. Hey, me and my friends are trying to figure out how to escape too. Want to join us?" Ash offered.

"That might work. Strength in numbers and every-" the Raticate turned around and his eyes grew wide. Ash could feel the rat's aura swiftly switch from confused and frustrated to outright fear. Without another word, the rat made a mad dash through the vines and away from Ash.

It was always like this. Ash would try to befriend a wild Pokémon and they would run away. He always thought it was because he was part human. Most wild Pokémon were cautious around humans and a human who could slip into a Pokémon body was undeniably unusual. Now with Gary's explanation in mind, Ash had to wonder.

Sitting down on his haunches, Ash looked at his paws. They didn't look any different from a regular Riolu's paws. Dull claws, tough paw pads, soft fur, no spikes or human fingers. Was he really a monster?

Ash jumped a little when he felt another paw tap his shoulder. Swerving around revealed it was Pikachu. Pikachu took one of Ash's paws and began to pull him away. "We found a path to the hallway. It's clearer out there. Come one, Gary's already out."

After climbing through the jungle of roots, Ash found himself in the hallway with the rest of the group. Just as Pikachu said, it was a lot clearer. That is not to say there were no roots. Plant limbs stretched across and poked out of the once blank walls of the underground facility. The foliage also seemed to be messing with the wiring as evidence by the flickering lights. There was no talking or further discussion of werePokémon as the trio walked. Just silence and the occasional awkward eye contact.

Suddenly, Pikachu's ears perked. "Something's coming. Something big."

Ash closed his eyes and focused. Indeed, something big was coming. It wasn't Nidoking or Ash's mother, though it did have an overwhelming aura like hers. "We need to hide."

The three boys scrambled over to the nearest room to huddle amongst the boxes. Before they settle in, Gary spotted a flaw in their plan. "What if it can smell us?"

A fair point, both Ash and Pikachu had used their own noses to find other Pokémon in the past. Ash looked around the room. Boxes, a few shelves, some jars, nothing that could obscure their scents. Finally, Ash's eyes landed on a large vent sitting between a shelf and the ceiling.

"Over here," Ash whispered motioning to the vent. Pikachu was able to nimbly ascend a pile of boxes leading up to the vent and shock the grate loose. Ash finished the job by pulling the grate off and carefully setting to the side as to not make any more noise.

Climbing into the vent after Pikachu, Ash felt a chill run down his spine. The aura of the new Pokémon had almost arrived. Ash could even hear its heavy, wheezing breathing coming from down the hallway.

Before Ash finished climbing in, he looked down to see Gary was still at the base of the boxes. The Eevee was trying to jump onto some of the larger boxes, but still hadn't quite mastered the coordination required to pull off that stunt. The closest he got was hanging onto the top of the box with his lower half dangling behind. Panicked, Ash rushed down the pile to grab Gary.

"What are-Hey!" Gary protested when Ash grabbed him. Ash hardly heard him. All he could think about was that aura that was about to round the corner.

No longer caring about noise, Ash zoomed up the pile of boxes with Gary. It was right as the pair reached the mouth of the vent that Ash froze. The wheezing, labored breath was no longer echoing from down the hallway and the strange aura was right behind them.

Looking around, Ash and Gary could see the monster in the flickering light. At first, Ash thought it was some kind of canine. It stood on all fours and its head had a long snout filled with sharp, drooling teeth. Its torso, on the other hand, looked more human. It was as if someone took a human chest and arms and stitched it between a dog's head and legs. The animal's humanoid arms were long and bent to the sides making it look the animal was crawling just as much as it was walking. Each of its gnarled, human hands were tipped with sharp claws.

The Pokémon's legs looked like regular canine limbs, if a bit big so that they could support the rest of its messed up body. Most of the body was covered in shaggy, tawny fur which looked and smelled like dead grass. The exception was the mane of leaves which trailed from the top of the creature's head, down its hunched back, and out into a tail that resembled a long collection of sickly leaves. Branching out at random sections of the beast's body were short vines that occasionally twitched as though they were alive.

Sticking out from the mop of leaves that served as hair were a pair of large, leafy ears which perked forward when the beast spotted Ash and Gary. Its beady eyes glowed with a bright, white light allowing them to peer out from under the mess of leaves.

The wereLeafeon gave the boys low roar. As if to respond to a command, more roots began bursting through the walls reaching out for the boys. From within the ventilation, the boys could hear Pikachu shout. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET IN HERE!"

They didn't need to be told twice. Ash practically shoved Gary into the vent before charging in himself. Just before he went, he could feel the tip of a root brush against one of his feet. The group crawled as fast as they could through the metal shaft, ignoring the banging from the sides that were most likely plants moving around outside.

Eventually, the vent stilled and the boys had a moment to catch their breath. Gary was the first to speak up. "Was that Gramps?"

"Probably," Ash admitted.

"Is that going to be us?" Gary asked. He tried to sound detached, like he was just asking out of curiosity, but Ash could feel the wall of anxiety that consumed the Eevee's aura.

Neither Ash nor Pikachu responded. They all just kept moving.

Nidoking

The massive roots ripped away at the ground, sending Nidoking flying back. Groaning, Nidoking pushed himself back up and glared at one of the larger roots. "Bad timing, Sam."

"LUCAAAR!" Now free of the Shadow Claw, Delia leapt over Nidoking. Nidoking felt his insides freeze. She was looking a lot more limber and energized. The gas had officially left her system.

Which begged the question, why wasn't the WereLucario going in for the kill? He had been fighting her, shouldn't he be her first priority? No, wait. He was the second to attack. The first was those Team Rocket characters. She was also probably targeting them because she thought they were harming Ash, which they technically were. If the situation wasn't so dire, Nidoking wouldn't say no to a little justice.

Standing up, Nidoking took a deep breath and began waving his arms back and forth making it look like he was directing something. Very quickly, water accumulated in the area created a massive pool. Nidoking continued to wave his arms around, motioning the waves of the water into the woods Delia had charged into. He directed the Surf into flooding the woods and circling around.

A smile crossed Nidoking's fanged lips when he saw that waves bring back a large Lucario. Within the moving pool, Delia snarled and began to swim forward. Time to switch tactics.

Nidoking changed up his movements from waving and swaying to a push. He pushed the air at an angle that made it appear as if he was turning some object around. That object was apparently the pool of water which twisted from a roaming wave to a water tornado. Nidoking used Whirlpool!

"Dragonite, Charizard, hurry up," Nidoking grunted. He eyed the werePokémon that was now baring her teeth at him from within her watery prison. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep her in there."

As Nidoking poured his power into maintaining a current strong enough to hold back a werePokémon, he began to feel an itching crawl up his back. It felt as though hundreds of little tentacle legs were climbing up his body. Before Nidoking turned his head, he already had a sneaking suspicion of what was happening. As such, he was not surprised to find a hoard of animated weeds clinging onto his body like a swarm of parasites.

Ash

Having successfully escaped the wereLeafeon via ventilation shaft, Ash and company were back to traversing the underground labyrinth. The deeper they wondered, the more roots they found branching out from the walls. Judging by the smell trailing across the floor, the professor had been through here. Thanks to his aura sensors, Ash could feel the unbridled energy the wereLeafeon was leaking throughout the area. Fortunately, he could also sense the main body which was on the other side of the level they were on.

"Is Gramps responsible for this?" Gary asked, looking back and forth at the roots that stretched across the walls.

"Maybe," Pikachu said. He made sure to walk directly in the middle of the hallway, away from the plants. It didn't matter if they were stationary, he wasn't taking any chances. "He is a grass type."

"Never seen a grass type do anything like this before," Ash commented.

The group's trek came to a halt when the stumbled across a massive root sticking out in the middle of the hallway. It stretched across the pathway splitting at the end to look like a thin-fingered hand. Ash cautiously approached the root…

SNAP!

The root sprang to life and began snapping at Ash, using its fingers as fangs. Nimble on his feet, Ash was able to spring back before the root could grasp him. He slashed his paw across the air. "Vacuum Wave!"

Ash's attack hit the plant right at the base of the branching fangs severing it form the rest of the root. The detached part fell to the ground bellow. For a moment, it looked like it was dead. Then the severed roots sprang back to life. Its former fangs twisted and touched the ground to transform into makeshift legs with which it used to scuttle across the ground like an angry Ariados.

"Thundershock!" Pikachu attempted to blast the root with a bolt. It wasn't very effective.

The root was right on top of Ash, attempting to coil its long fingers around the Riolu. Growling, Ash thrust his palms forward. "Force Palm!"

With a charged push, Ash managed to send the roots up into the air. He then followed up with several Vacuum Waves. The waves managed to shatter the root into splinters which, thankful, stayed stationary.

"Okay, I think we're good to go," Ash panted.

Pikachu's ears began to twitch. "I don't know about that."

Pausing to listen, Ash could hear it too. It sounded like an army of bugs marching toward Ash's group on hundreds of tiny legs. One peep around the corner proved that this was not the case. Heading their direction was a group of plants. Not plant-like Pokémon, actual plants.

Much like the severed root, these plants were using their own makeshift appendages to crawl across the tiled floor. Weeds pulled themselves forward by the arms of their stems, clumps of grass scuttled on hundreds of tiny, root legs making them look like hairy bugs, and moss slowly slithered behind the rest.

"This is getting weird," Ash remarked.

"Oh, you noticed that too?" Pikachu asked with dry sarcasm. He pulled away from the corner and began to head in the opposite direction. "One of those possess plants is trouble enough. We should probably head back."

"Wait, isn't Gramps that way?" Gary pointed out. "I think our odds are better against the walking grass than dealing with him."

"Plus, these things aren't invincible. We know that if you hit these guys enough they go down!" Ash declared. Without waiting for further input, Ash zoomed forward and began beating down the weed monsters in a flurry of kicks and punches.

"You know, these guys aren't the fastest. We probably could have come up with a quick strategy before charging in," Pikachu said with an annoyed sigh. Nevertheless, he followed his best friend into the thicket. Thankfully, his Thundershock was a lot more effective against the weeds than it was against the thick, root as demonstrated when he blasted a crab grass into tiny pieces.

Even though Ash and Pikachu put up a good front, some plants still managed to slip past them. Gary, having finally gotten used to walking on all fours, now found himself leaping and scurrying away from the plants' outstretched roots. His inexperience quickly caught up to him when a dandelion sprang forward and began wrapping itself around him like a snare.

Spotting this, Ash ran forward and yanked the weed off. He decided to give Gary some instructions. "You can't just dodge. You've got to fight too."

"How?" Gary asked cynically, shaking himself off.

"Just channel your energy into an attack!" Ash said as he thrust his arm forward in another Force Palm.

Gary glared at Ash. "Could you pretend that I only started being a Pokémon ten minutes ago?"

"Hey, no need to be so snippy," Ash huffed. He spun around and kicked an incoming fleabane into the air.

"I've shrunken down into a fuzz ball, my grandpa is trying to kill us, and we're being swarmed by my lawn!" Gary snapped, backing away from a vine that almost snagged him. "I'll be as snippy as I want!"

"Guys! Arguing is getting us nowhere!" Pikachu shouted. He used a Quick Attack to launch forward and knock a grass clump back. Not letting up, Pikachu then used a Thundershock on a moss slug completely frying it. "Gary, just try and imagine the energy. Picture it gathering inside your body and try and turn that into an attack!"

Armed with a more thorough explanation, Gary slammed his eyes shut. His body stiffened and his muzzle scrunched up. Had Ash not known better, he'd think the little Eevee was dealing with constipation.

While Gary tried to figure out how to launch his first Pokémon move, Ash and Pikachu continued fighting. Ash used his Vacuum Wave to slice off a thick section of one of the roots hanging from the wall. He then picked up the stick and began using it as a club to beat back the other plants. Knowing that electric attacks weren't very effective against your average grass type, Pikachu opted to use Quick Attack to tackle the plant monsters before using the move again to spring away before they could capture him.

No matter how hard the pair fought, the hoard kept flooding in. Inevitably, there was a slip up. Ash tried batting back a particular weed with long limbs. The weed used its stem and roots like tentacles and grabbed the bat. Before Ash could react, the vines began climbing the bat and wrapping around Ash's arms, binding his movements. The rest of plant followed suit, threatening to constrict Ash. That is, until a small glowing star shot straight into weed blasting it away.

Then another star slammed into an incoming plant. And another. And another. Soon the room was filled with a shower of tiny, glowing stars.

Looking over his shoulder, Ash found the source of the star shower. Gary's tail was sticking up in the air and giving off a bright glow. Star-shaped energy budded off from the light and shot out into the air landing on the plants. Gary learned Swift!

Once the move was finished and the plants lay defeated, Gary collapsed to the ground. Ash watched the new Eevee pant. That was a pretty strong Swift for a first time user. Was it just dumb luck, or was that sudden burst of energy part of the curse? Even after fighting off a swarm, Ash was feeling a second wind thanks to the full moon. Maybe that full moon energy gave Gary a quick burst as well?

"That was a pretty good move, for a rookie," Ash teased. He tried to follow it up with a friendly pat on the head, but Gary ducked out of the way.

Probably thanks again to the full moon, Gary seemed to have recovered from his sudden burst of energy. The Eevee stood up and shook himself off. He pointedly kept his line of sight away from Ash and walked down the hallway. "Let's just get out of here."

The Kennel BF2

Unfortunately, the group could not find the exit. What they found instead was a staircase leading them deeper into the underground. There was a brief debate on whether or not they should descend with Ash voting in favor of going forward to explore and gather new clues on what was going on. Gary voted for turning back and finding an exit. Pikachu served as the tie breaking by pointing out that Professor Oak and his plant spawns were still roaming the first floor. While they were more likely to find a way out on the top floor, they were also more likely to meet their maker.

Thus the group descended.

The next floor was a mixed bag. There weren't any hordes of roaming plants in sight and Ash could still sense the professor mindlessly crawling the floor above making the group's current location preferable. However, they were far from safe.

More than the first floor, the second floor was wrapped up in streams of roots and vines. Whereas before roots were sticking out and stretching across the walls, here Ash could hardly see any wall left. Most of the plant life was stationary save for the occasional root movement. It made Ash feel less like he was walking through an overgrown plant collection and more like he was sneaking through a den of Ekans.

After multiple twists and turns, the group found themselves staring down a hallway filled with a tangle of roots. These roots squirmed and twitched showing that were ready to attack should anyone get too close. Beyond the mess, Ash could see a dip in the ceiling indicating that the next stairway was just ahead.

"Are you guys sure we have to go through there?" Gary asked glaring at the roots with suspicion.

Pikachu gave the air a sniff. "We've explored every other hallway and room on this floor. So unless you want to head back upstairs or pick a corner to sit and wait in we'll have to go through these guys."

"This should be simple," Ash said confidently. He stepped forward and began to slash at the air to create a Vacuum Wave. His attack was cut off when Gary head-butted his leg.

"Remember what happened to the last moving root you sliced apart?" hissed Gary. "If you cut these guys loose, they're all going to rush us!"

"Oh," Ash said quietly.

Since cutting their way through was off the table, Pikachu carefully stepped forward to get a better look. Squinting, he looked around the vine ridden hallway. He then motioned to several points along the floor and wall. "See those spots? If you connect them, they make a clear path through the vines. We just need to jump from one space to another, but we'll need to be fast."

"Then let's use Quick Attack!" Ash suggested, pumping his paws and wagging his tail.

"Good idea," Pikachu nodded. "If we use Quick Attack to launch ourselves from spot to spot, we should be able to move through the thicket fast enough to avoid the plants."

The two turned to look at Gary

Gary sighed. "Alright, how do you do this?"

"Don't worry, this move is easy. I was able to pick it up in a snap," Pikachu assured with a smile. "First, think back to how you were able to do Swift."

"I was able to feel the energy you guys were talking about," Gary said slowly. He looked over his shoulder at his tail. "I wasn't really sure what to do with it once I gathered it up. All I could think to do was send it out at those weeds and then it began to shoot out."

"That's a good start," Ash said encouragingly. "Now all you need to do is take that same energy and hold it into your body. Try focusing it to your feet."

"Feet?" Gary looked down at his dainty paws.

"Your feet! Your feet!" Ash cheered. He charged his own feet with energy and jumped up in the air, showing off their bright light.

"Why are you saying it like that!?" Gary asked annoyed.

"Quiet down!" ordered Pikachu. He stood up, alert. His ears twitched. "I hear something."

A sense of dread flooded Ash. He was so distracted by the vines he forgot to keep watch for the professor! Ash's aura sensors flared out. Sure enough, he could feel the wereLeafeon's corrupt aura approaching accompanied by the sound of his thick, wheezing. "He's coming! Pikachu, show us the path you saw earlier!"

"Right!" Pikachu nodded dutifully. He then took off, bounding from clear spot to clear spot using Quick Attack. A few of the plants attempted to snatch him only to grab at empty air. With no prey to fight, the plants settled back into their former positions.

"Alright. Gary, you go next," Ash ordered. Given that this was Gary's first Quick Attack, Ash felt it was best that he go ahead so that Ash could follow after him in case of a jam.

As it turned out, complications occurred before Gary even took off. The Eevee froze to the spot, looking back behind Ash. Thanks to the sound of heavy breathing and clawed footsteps, Ash knew what was happening before he even looked back.

There, peeking out from behind the corner, was Professor Oak. The wereLeafeon made a noise that sounded like a cross between a bark and a cough before starting down the hallway.

"GO!" Ash shouted at Gary.

Startled, Gary leapt straight into the vines. Whether through a fight or flight instinct or by sheer dumb luck. Gary was able to successfully copy Pikachu's path and make it out to the other side. This just left Ash to deal with the professor.

The second Gary took off through the grove, the professor unleashed an angry roar. He continued to crawl towards the group while launching some of the foliage detached from his body and flung themselves forward like flying blades. Spotting the incoming Razor Leaf attack, Ash deflected them with a Vacuum Wave before throwing himself through the vines. From what Ash could tell, the wereLeafeon's moving speed was pretty low (probably thanks to how messed up its body was), but he wasn't going to risk letting the professor catch up.

At first it looked like Ash was going to make it through the tangle just like Pikachu and Gary. It was only when Ash reached the end that he realized that the plants' reaction time hastened in the presence of their animator. Just before Ash could exit the foliage, multiple roots snapped forward and insured him.

Ash struggled as the vines pulled him back. Multiple roots were wrapped around his limbs hindering his movements. Pikachu dashed forward and grabbed at Ash to try and yank him back. Gary attempted to use Swift to cut through the vines while he spared the incoming wereLeafeon multiple nervous glances.

Gary's Swift stars were able to slice off the weaker roots allowing Ash to pull a little bit away from the more sturdy appendages. Another roar announced that the professor had arrived at the other end of the vine tunnel. Ash and Pikachu's pulls became more frantic when they heard the other roots begin to move, probably to make way for the massive wereLeafeon.

Panicked, Gary leapt forward and grabbed onto one of the roots with his jaw. Dark energy began to gather around his teeth giving them extra strength. Some of that dark energy formed in front of Gary creating a second jaw of sharp fangs. Using the new move, Bite, Gary was able to sever the last root freeing Ash. With not a moment to waste, the boys turned tail and ran down the stairs.

The Kennel BF3, Pikachu

With the threat of a carnivorous monster on their tails, Pikachu and the rest of the group ran down the stairs as fast as they could. The overgrow on next floor was even worse. Hard as Pikachu looked, he couldn't see any wall between the strands of root. Even the ceiling was covered with roots wrapping themselves around the flickering lights casting webbed shadows up and down the hallways.

Thanks to his electrical senses, Pikachu could also detect the old wiring in the walls. He could feel the wiring move around, pushed by the growing plant infestation. It was like an army of parasitic worms wigging through a body.

The only section of the floor that was mostly clear of roots was mercifully the tiled floor. Pikachu and the rest of the group made their way down the hallway while keeping an eye out for some place safe to hide. It was as they turned a corner that Pikachu paused. There was something odd in the air.

Pikachu wasn't alone. Ash stopped to sniff the air as well. He then slowly followed the scent. "There's something nearby. Something metallic."

"Yeah. I think I smell it too," Gary agreed, cautiously going after Ash.

After giving the air a couple more sniffs, Pikachu went ridged. He knew this smell from living in the wild. As a prey animal, Pikachu had learned to avoid this smell. It was the smell of a freshly killed meal. It was a smell that promised a predator nearby. It was the smell of death.

"Stop!" Pikachu called out. It was too late. Ash and Gary found the source of the scent.

It was blood.

Laying on the floor was the lower half of a Raticate. There was no sign of its top half, just a trail of organs that were halfheartedly pulled out from its body.

"It's…it's a Raticate," Ash said, his voice shaking.

While Ash's eyes were fixed on the rat, Gary looked around the rest of the hallway in confusion. Curious, Pikachu followed Gary's gaze. More blood was splattered around the floors in dried up puddles. Some close, some further down. Weird, did the Raticate bleed all over the place before finally dying?

The answer was no. Gary looked up toward the ceiling. His eyes grew wide and his fur stood on end. His mouth opened to choke out a scream. Again, Pikachu followed the Eevee's line of sight. He wished he didn't.

Hanging from roots in the ceiling were the corpses of various Pokémon. Most of which were either rodents or bugs, Pokémon who liked to make their homes in burrows. Each corpse looked as though they were violently torn apart. A pair of Ratattas were bitten into, the insides of a Caterpie slowly oozed onto the floor below, there was even another Pikachu that was split open down the middle. Judging by how the body's hung from the ropes of plant roots, they were probably held in place by the plants while the wereLeafeon worked his way through each victim.

It took every ounce of will power for Pikachu to prevent himself from puking. Being a wild Pokémon, he was no stranger to corpses. However, there was a list of unspoken rules on how Pokémon handled hunting. Don't kill for vengeance. Never torture or taunt your prey. Make sure to eat every last bite. To be wasteful of a meal was to be disrespectful of your prey's lost life. At the end of the day, they were all Pokémon and were to be treated with honor regardless of where they fell on the food chain.

Judging by this scene, werePokémon had no regards for the Pokémon they killed. No more than a few bites were taken from each Pokémon at most. Pikachu was willing to bet the wereLeafeon spent a little time mauling each of his victims before moving onto the next living Pokémon. It was an act of barbarism that Pikachu could never picture any Pokémon performing let alone that friendly, old Leafeon he and his family met.

Pikachu snapped back to reality. "We need to leave."

Neither boy moved. Gary's eyes were glued to the dangling corpses while Ash watched the Raticate. Pikachu ran up to Ash and tugged on one of his limp paws. "Come on. We need to go!"

"I-I think I met this Raticate earlier," Ash said quietly.

A familiar noise began to approach. Pikachu could hear the heavy wheezing and claws scrapping of the professor. Pikachu's pulls became more frantic. "We're going to end up like that Raticate if we don't get out of here!"

Ash didn't budge. He just continued to stare. Desperation lead Pikachu to his next act.

ZAP!

In an attempt to snap Ash out of his stupor, Pikachu gave the Riolu a firm shock. The Thundershock did the trick and Ash flinched back. "Ow!"

"Idiot! You're going to attract him!" Gary snapped.

"He's already coming this way!" Pikachu snapped back. "Let's go!"

The trio ran down the hallway. As they sprinted, the roots along the walls began to wiggle and writhe. Some of them reached over to the boys forcing them to weave through the plant tentacles until they found themselves cornered in a room at the end of the hallway.

Running was no longer an option, neither was hiding. It didn't matter if they crammed themselves inside a box or climbed to the top of a shelf, a Pokémon with a snout as long as the professor's would defiantly sniff them out. This left only one option.

Turning around, the boys faced the wereLeafeon at the doorway. Ash stepped forward. "Professor, it's me! Ash! Please fight this! I know you're in there!"

From where Pikachu stood, it looked as though Ash's words fell on deaf ears. The professor's expression didn't change. His lips remained drawn back in a fixed snarl as he surveyed the room. When his glowing eyes landed on Gary, the professor gave a couple of strangled chuffs before he began eagerly crawling forward.

"Now what?" asked Pikachu. The image of those corpses were still flashing through his head.

"We fight!," Ash shouted. He slashed his arm forward creating a Vacuum Wave which hit the professor square in the face. It was not very effective.

The wereLeafeon's body rustled as he shook himself off. He turned his head slightly to look at Ash. At first Pikachu thought he was going to change his target. However, the wereLeafeon only gave Ash an annoyed growl reminiscent of the tone used by adult Pokémon when they were scolding their young.

Despite his attack's failure, Ash charged forward to meet the lumbering Leafeon head on. The Riolu tried kicking and punching at his foe from different sides and angles. Every so often Professor Oak would give another annoyed snort and swat at Ash, only for Ash to dodge. Between Ash's ineffective attacks and the professor's slow movements the match was at a draw.

Meanwhile, Gary attempted to assist Ash from a safe distance. Like with the hoard of plants upstairs, Gary used Swift to fire off a cloud of star-shaped energy disks at the wereLeafeon. Every so often the Eevee's attacks were interrupted when a root from the wall reached out to grab him. Whenever this would happen, Gary would somehow manage to retreat to another section of the room out of the vine's grasp. It was early similar to how some Ratattas were able to Run Away from danger.

Not one to sit back and let others do all the work, Pikachu used Charge. A regular Thundershock would be inefficient if they were fighting a regular grass type, against this thing they needed all the power they could get. When he felt that he was fully charged up, Pikachu called over to Ash. "I'm about to attack! Give me some space!"

"Got it!" Ash zoomed forward to deliver one last flurry of blows which he finished off with a Force Palm before using Quick Attack to dart away. Spotting this, Gary followed up with a few more Swift stars creating a bruise. Finally, Pikachu unleashed his Thundershock.

Without the copious amount of water, the lightning bolt was not as large as the one that Pikachu used against the Gyarados. Still, it was big. Big enough to light up the room in a brief blinding light. When the flash died down, Pikachu saw the fruit of their attack. The spot on Professor Oak's shoulder where they combined their attacks had been opened up by a large burn. The grassy fur was cleared away showing off a smoking gash with green pus.

Though he felt a little drained, Pikachu couldn't help but to smile. The wereLeafeon looked big and threatening, but it could still bleed just like any other Pokémon. All they had to do was keep combining their blows in concentrated bursts and they should deplete the professors health to the point where-

SHHHHH

There was a green glow emanating from the wound. Almost instantly the burn sealed up and sprouted new fur around the spot. It was as if the injury was never there to begin with.

"What happened?" Gary cried, his voice mirroring the alarm Pikachu was now feeling.

"It's Synthesis!" Ash announced. Of course, Ash worked as a volunteer at the professor's lab. He would be familiar with the Leafeon's move set.

Pikachu felt his stomach drop. What was the point of injuring this thing if it just kept healing itself? Even more pressing, the only attacks that seemed to have any effect were powerful combined attacks like the one they just pulled. Even if there was a finite amount of times the werePokémon could heal himself, their group would probably be out of energy before they even reached that limit.

An angry snarl announced that the professor had run out of patience. His leaves shot off his back and straight towards Pikachu, threatening to dice him. It was only thanks to a Swift launched by Gary that the leaves were shot out of the air before they could reach Pikachu.

"Raaah!" Ash released a battle cry as he headed back into the fray. He tried again to weaken the wereLeafeon through a series of blows, but this time the professor was ready for him.

One of the writhing vines sticking out from Professor Oak's main body shot out to grab Ash's paw. The vine then tossed Ash forward where he was pushed to the ground by a massive hand-paw. Professor Oak held Ash down on the ground and gave the pup an annoyed growl. Rather than submitting, Ash growled back, staring straight up into his elder's glowing eyes.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Pikachu looked around the room. Since a straight up fight against this thing was looking like a lost cause, they needed to escape. The wereLeafeon's walking speed was slow, if the group could manage to get around him and through the door they could make a mad dash for the upper floors and hopefully find the exit.

But before they could escape, Pikachu needed to find a way to release Ash. Regular Pokémon attacks didn't seem to have much of an effect, so he had to think outside the box. Or maybe he needed to reach into the box.

A few boxes lay nearby. When Pikachu first entered the room, he paid them no mind in favor on focusing on the imminent threat. Now, however, he noticed something peculiar about them. None of the plants were touching the boxes despite how close they were to the walls. Wasting no time, Pikachu followed his gut instinct and ran over to the boxes.

After blasting one of the boxes open with a Thundershock, a couple of green spray bottles spilled out. Unable to read, Pikachu called over to Gary. "Do you know what these are?"

"Stop wasting time and," Gary was about to scold Pikachu for savaging when Ash was in danger until he saw the spray bottles. His eyes lit up. "Weed killer! Quick! Try it out on Gramps!"

A part of Pikachu wondered why weed killer was kept in the middle of a grass type's den. Maybe it was used as a tool to subdue the professor in case of a situation like this one? Pondering would have to come later, now Pikachu had to act.

Arming himself with the spray bottle, Pikachu charged up to the wereLeafeon, took aim, and sprayed him right in the face. Pikachu had seen humans sometimes discipline their Pokémon by giving them a quick squirt of water. Surprised, the Pokémon in question would back off and shake off the water.

"RAAAAAAAAAH!" Much like a naughty Pokémon, the wereLeafeon backed away the second the spray hit his face. The wereLeafeon let go of Ash and began to paw at his face trying to wipe off the poisonous liquid.

"Let's get out of here!" Pikachu shouted to his cohorts. Gary didn't need to be told twice. The Eevee shot past the professor and straight towards the now unguarded door. Ash paused to give the professor one last weary look before joining Gary. Satisfied that his friends were safe, Pikachu made a move to escape after them. The professor had other plans.

The wereLeafeon's bushy tail stiffened and glowed a light green. The leaves that lined the professor's long tail transformed into sharp blades creating a club covered in leafy knives. The Leaf Blade came crashing down toward Pikachu almost hitting the rodent. Being as agile as he was Pikachu was able to avoid being sliced into meaty ribbons. Unfortunately, he could not say the same about the vine.

When Pikachu jumped back to avoid the Leaf Blade, one of the professor's body vines lashed out and grabbed Pikachu. Pikachu tried to struggle only for the vine to tighten its grip. If that wasn't bad enough, a faint green glow emanated from the vine and Pikachu began to feel strange.

Pikachu attempted to shock the vine, hoping electrocuting the plant would create enough pain for a release. When he did so, the electric current was immediately sucked away leaving Pikachu feeling drained. Pikachu tried again and again, but every failure left him feeling weaker than before. Snarling, the professor began to pull Pikachu back toward his waiting jaws.

"No!" Ash cried. He dashed back, grabbed the vine, and began to pull. "Let go! Give Pikachu back!"

Thus, Pikachu found himself trapped in a game of tug of war. Between its larger size and the Giga Drain inducing vines, one would think the wereLeafeon would be an instant winner. Yet Ash continued to hang on, heels dug into the ground. Maybe it was thanks to a heavier muscle build found in fighting types, maybe it was because Ash was getting a power boost from the full moon, or maybe it was because the boy was just too stubborn to know when he was out classed. Whatever the case, Ash was determined to fight until his last breath.

It didn't take long for the professor to tire of the contest of strength. Raising his tail again, the professor was about to swat Ash away only to be stopped when the vine holding Pikachu was suddenly severed. Apparently Gary saw an opportunity to use Bite to cleave through the vine in a similar manner to how he cut through the root from the hall above.

Both Pikachu and Ash were sent tumbling back into a pile of boxes. The severed vine released Pikachu and began flopping around on the floor not unlike a lost lizard tail. Pikachu tried to stand, only to collapse on the floor. Even free from the vine his strength was still completely drained. Ash wasn't looking much better. Now that Pikachu was safe, Ash's spent energy caught up with him leaving him panting on the ground.

For a moment, Pikachu watched Professor Oak in fear. Would the wereLeafeon lumber over to the flimsy fortress of toppled boxes to finish the job? Was Pikachu going to end up just like those Pokémon hanging in the hallway?

The answer was no. Professor Oak seemed to have completely forgotten Pikachu and Ash. His attention was focused back on Gary. Once again, Gary tried to dart away from the wereLeafeon. Unfortunately thanks to the energy spent throughout the night Gary finally tripped up and found himself snagged in the wereLeafeon's jaws.

"Let me go! Let me go!" screamed Gary. He tried to wiggle free, kicking his tiny legs as he did so. It was no use. The professor proceeded to carry the reluctant Eevee out of the room with a small wag in his tail leaving Ash and Pikachu forgotten on the cold tiled floor.

Nidoking

As hard as Nidoking tried to maintain his Whirlpool prison, the plants became too much. Long, branching weeds tangled themselves around his limbs and crawled across his face blinding him and binding his movements. Eventually the onslaught of leafy pest became too much and Nidoking could no longer keep the currents of the Whirlpool strong enough to entrap the werePokémon.

Sensing the weakening water trap, Delia's claws shoot forward breaking the cocoon. She landed on the ground with a splash and shook herself off. Fixing her gaze on the now over run Nidoking, Delia crouched down and prepared for a pounce. Her attack was canceled when a stream of fire accompanied by a loud roar sprayed down from the sky above.

Mrs. Charizard circled around the battle site setting it ablaze. A few of the plants attempted to snatch her out of the air only to be met with instant incineration curtesy of a Flamethrower powerful enough to secure Mrs. Charizard's position as the alpha fire type on the ranch for decades. Before long, the field was transformed into a blazing inferno accented with the scent of burning wood.

It didn't take long for Mrs. Charizard to spot a weed covered Nidoking and give him cleansing Flamethrower. "It figures. I would have hoped you would be able to handle yourself long enough for us to run a quick errand. Looks like my expectations were too high," Mrs. Charizard growled.

"I enjoy subverting expectations," Nidoking snapped back, returning Mrs. Charizard's sneer. "Side note, the boy you were looking for returned to the lab."

"Please tell me he didn't somehow sneak past you and pressed the release button on the cages," Mrs. Charizard growled. She used her tale to beat back a massive, flaming root that reached up toward her.

"No, he just walked in on us getting burgled!" Nidoking explained. He used his own Flamethrower to finish off a group of weeds.

"Burgled?! How did you manage to get burgled?!" Charizard roared, unleashing another stream of flames.

"EVERYONE HALT!" Dragonite shouted. He floated between the two arguing Pokémon and looked back and forth. "Before we go any further, have either you noticed we are missing a werePokémon and a clown?"

Delia

Running through the woods on all fours, Delia focused on the scent of the intruders. She would have ripped them apart earlier had it not been for that meddlesome Nidoking. What right did he have to stand between her and her prey? If he was smart, he would have allowed her to eat the vermin who had been bullying her pup and used that time to escape. No matter, she'll go back and kill him later. Preferably when the area wasn't engulfed in flames.

So focused on hunting down her prey, Delia hardly noticed that she was now carrying a passenger. It was only when she stopped to check the scent she had been tracker that she felt something clinging to her back. Looking over her shoulder, she found a Mr. Mime clinging to her fur like an over grown tick.

"Ah! Good evening, Delia! Lovely weather we're having. It certainly is a good night for a run. I hope you don't mind if I landed on top of you and hitched a ride," Mimey nervously rambled. He ended with a loud gulp. "Please don't kill me."

Delia's lips curled back into a snarl. She had half a mind to grab this hitchhiker and show him exactly what happened to Pokémon who tried to use her as a Ponyta. But she couldn't. She couldn't quite put her claw on it, but there was something about this Mr. Mime that gave her pause.

Snorting, Delia put the Mr. Mime out of her mind and went back to tracking. Her unwanted passenger would be allowed to live for now. Provided he didn't get in her way.

Pokémon Stats!

Ash (Riolu)

Trainer: None
Ability: Inner Focus

Nature: Questioning himself
Item: Pokémon League Hat
Moves: Quick Attack, Vacuum Wave, ?, Force Palm

Pikachu

Trainer: None
Ability: Static

Nature: Trying to keep a level head
Item: None
Moves: Thundershock, Charge, Quick Attack

Gary (Eevee)

Trainer: None
Ability: Run Away

Nature: Fluffy and mad
Item: None
Moves: Swift, Quick Attack, Bite

Nidoking

Trainer: Professor Oak
Ability: Sheer Force

Nature: Over worked and under paid
Item: Gooey Concrete Armor
Moves: Focus Energy, High Horsepower, Megahorn, Poison Jab, Fire Punch, Shadow Claw, Toxic, Thunderbolt, Surf, Flamethrower, Taunt, Whirlpool

Delia (WereLucario)

Trainer: None

Ability: Justified
Nature: Sobering up
Item: None

Moves: Aura Sphere, Counter, Metal Claw, Screech, Detect, Coaching, Heal Pulse

Professor Oak (WereLeafeon)

Trainer: None
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Morning breath
Item: None
Moves: Razor Leaf, Giga Drain, Synthesis, Leaf Blade, Helping Hand

AN: See, this is totally a mystery dungeon! There's mazes, roaming enemies, and I think that piece of discarded trash counts as a pick up item…this isn't a mystery dungeon. This isn't a mystery dungeon at all.

Okay, as you probably guessed from the wereArcanine's move pool, we're not strictly adhering to the four move rule. Four moves are the basics for general trainers while more experienced trainers and Pokémon can learn more. Just don't expect a Pokémon to know every single move it can know and don't expect every move to be easy to learn. I originally wanted the cap to be no more than 10 moves, but given that Oak's remaining Pokémon are veteran fighters and had years to prepare for a werePokémon attack, I decided to go over that limit. And what a move pool Nidoking has! Training a Nidoran is like being a little kid in a candy shop. There are so many options!

First off, there should be some STAB (same type attack bonus) moves. Nidoking is pretty balanced stat-wise, but has a slight edge in physical strength so I went with Poison Jab and High Horsepower. Now I know what you are thinking, why not Earthquake? Well, from a meta perspective I don't want every Pokémon to use the same moves over and over again. Variety is the spice of life and we will be seeing plenty of Earthquake in the future. In story I'd like to think that a young Oak used that move to both deal damage and to close the distance between Nidoking and his opponent. Besides, even if Nidoking knew Earthquake he wouldn't use it next to a subterranean structure that still has people in it. That's just asking for child death.

Of course, since Professor Oak is a smart dude he's bound to have taught his Pokémon some coverage moves to counter their natural weaknesses. Nidoking is weak to water, ground, psychic, and ice. Thunderbolt counters water, Fire Punch counters ice, Surf counters ground (water bending Nidoking), and Shadow Claw counters psychic. I'd also like to think Oak taught Nidoking Shadow Claw to fight against ghost type Pokémon, namely the ghost types used by an old rival of his.

As stated in the story, Flamethrower, Taunt, and Whirlpool were acquired to counter Delia as Nidoking already had some moves to take down a Leafeon.

As for the other moves, Focus Energy is just there for a power up move that can help both physical and special moves. It felt like a crime for a poison type to only know one poison move, so we have Toxic as a status move (though it didn't get much use this time). Megahorn because Nidorino and Nidoking are often depicted charging at their enemies with their horns.

And while we're here, new moves for Delia! Seeing as nine years passed, I figured that she'd pick up a few new moves. Seeing as Delia is more of a helper than a fighter and even if she was a fighter, she'd want to avoid giving her other half too many power ups, I gave her defensive moves. I could see her using Coaching and Heal Pulse to help her friends out in case of emergency. Detect is there to make life harder for anyone fighting WereDelia.

Next we've got Gary. Since we're handing out Quick Attack to all the kiddies, let's get him on the action. The more Pokémon know Quick Attack, the more opportunities I'll have to write some fast paced parkour in the future. He also gets Swift as the standard normal type long range attack. And Bite because werewolf. His ability, Run Away, is not very useful in the games. Here, I decided to turn it into an ability that ups his chances of escaping from dangerous situations. It's not perfect, but it's useful if you're trapped in a horror movie.

Finally we've got Professor Oak. You saw Leaf Blade in a previous chapter, now we've got Razor Leaf for long ranged attacks as well as Giga Drain and Synthesis to make the battle more annoying to anyone fighting him. Like Delia, the professor didn't teach himself any offensive moves. He did learn Helping Hand to assist his teammates if things get messy.

Reader Response Recess!

The One Who Reads and Writes: As hilarious as it would be to have a supervillain with the power to turn into a cute little Eevee, this Gary is just a rebellious troublemaker. That being said, he will be doing something at the end of the Pallet Town arc that will shake up the status quo.

In Professor Oak's defense, he did tell Gary's parents. They were just holding off telling Gary that his grandfather was a Halloween monster until he was older and more mature.

There is a way to break the curse, but it is very difficult and not many people know about it. Too bad, it would really give a lot of trapped people hope and at least something to work towards.

Hmm, a werePokémon pandemic. Kind of makes you wonder how that would go. I'd imagine that if you were to compare it to a zombie apocalypse it would be a quantity vs quality situation. Zombies would be out and about all the time while lycanthropes are mostly active on the full moon. On the other hand, lycanthropes are physically stronger and faster than zombies so they'd probably do more damage in short spurts.

If it's one thing I know about Team Rocket, it's that they can tank almost anything.

Thank you for reading! Don't be afraid to leave a comment or a critic. God loves you and so do I!

New Pokémon

WereLeafeon: Grass, The Verdant WerePokémon

Raticate: Normal, The Mouse Pokémon

Caterpie: Bug, the Worm Pokémon

Next Time: The fights escalate and things get a bit more dangerous. And silly. That's how things go in horror movies. One minute you're running from a maniac with a machete, next Jason is killing people using their sleeping bags.