Inyssa's hands clasped the controller so hard her knuckles went completely white. Her breathing was slow and deliberate, and her unblinking gaze was set on the television in front of them. Barry sat next to her, slowly and methodically taking cookies into his mouth.
"You know you have a shield, right?" he asked, mouth full. "You should use it sometime."
She huffed without taking her eyes off the game. "That's only there for stamina regeneration, and besides blocking with a shield doesn't give you invincibility fr-" She reeled back, hitting the head of the sofa with her head. "Shit! Oh god, that was too close."
Inyssa's character in the game had barely managed to avoid the swing of the boss' fire sword. The beast running around her looked like a mix between a gigantic spider and a scorpion, which also happened to be on fire.
"Come on, come on…" she whispered through ragged breaths. The beast jumped towards her character. "Shit, roll! Wait no! Not into the lava! Not into the goddamned lava!" She let out a pained growl and hid her face in her arms. "Motherfucker…"
Barry had no qualms about laughing at her misfortune. Inyssa shot him a look which could have frozen a Tyranitar in place and punched his arm softly with one hand, while handing him the controller with the other one.
"Here, you take it." She fell against the sofa, crossing her arms. "This boss is bullshit anyway."
"You know that you don't have to just dodge, right? We picked up a fire-resistant shield like ten minutes ago."
She shrugged. "Shields are for scrubs."
"Says the one who just got her butt handed to her."
Inyssa's cheeks flushed and she looked to the side, avoiding his gaze. "S-shut up! It's not my style, okay?"
She wrestled the bag of cookies from his side now that his hands were occupied, to the boy's dismay. She angrily put a few in her mouth and chewed strongly, eyes still narrowed in frustration.
"You're starting to sound like Lucas," she protested, the shadow of a smile crossing her lips. "Don't you dare go all nerd on me."
Barry's fingers froze on the buttons, and the character on the screen almost fell to her death. The boy's eyes opened wide.
"Lucas!" he yelped, looking at her. "We forgot to tell him that we were gonna stay here for a while!"
Barry was right; both of them had assured the boy they'd go to Pastoria as soon as they were done with Veilstone's Gym leader, but back then she didn't expect to both lose her starter and catch a strong fever on the way. She'd been in Veilstone for a week already, and not only had no one run into Enma but her temperature refused to go down, weakness clinging to her bones. It slowly waned with each day that passed, but too slowly for her liking.
"We should probably give him a call later," she said. "To Percy and Reiko too. Hopefully they're still there by the time we get to Pastoria."
Barry nodded, a wistful look on his face.
"I hope he's okay," he whispered, hands still on the controller. "Wonder what he's doing now…"
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Lucas wasn't used to breaking the rules, in the same way that a Durant wasn't used to walking into a Heatmor's nest. Not to say he had any moral objections to it. After all, he knew first hand that the greatest discoveries in history had come from people thinking out of the box.
Still, breaking into a place which Rowan had explicitly warned him was dangerous was somewhat out of his comfort zone. He couldn't help being startled and jumping every time a branch brushed his side, to the annoyance of his starter. He could feel the air getting colder and denser as he made his way through the thick, humid wetlands which lay northeast of Pastoria.
"It… it shouldn't be this cold, right?" he whispered, hugging himself. "We were just on Route 213! People were wearing bikinis there!"
The large quadrupedal Pokemon at his side raised his head and let out a deep sigh. Archimedes had grown quite a bit ever since he evolved, and now he sported two robust bushes coming out of his back. He stomped his feet carelessly, leaving giant footsteps where he walked.
Lucas stroked his chin. "Could it be because of the trees? Maybe the flora around here acts as a sort of heat eater, similar to that of a Piloswine's fur. The roots, trunk and leaves could absorb not only carbon dioxide but also the warmth of the air and soil."
He had taken his Pokétch close to his mouth as he spoke. During the first days of his travels he'd learned that carrying a notebook and pen around while he explored was counterproductive and slow. He found it far more efficient to record everything he said and then write it down later in the commodity of his room.
"Not the discovery I was expecting, but it's a nice surprise," he told Archimedes, a satisfied smile on his face.
The Grotle growled in response, shaking the ground around them. He didn't seem to be paying attention to his diatribes, judging by the way his dark eyes studied everything around him carefully. His knees were somewhat lowered and the leaves sprouting from his back seemed to be more ruffled than usual.
"Grrr…"
"Come on Archie, don't be a grump," Lucas said. "We spent a couple hours yesterday studying all the species that could appear around here, didn't we? The worst we could run into is a Quagsire and I'm sure you could defeat a dozen of those in your sleep."
Yet a few more oddities reared their head the closer they got to their destination. The trees became twisted and less colorful. Roots grew closer to the ground and Lucas came close to tripping more than a few times. But strangest of all was the complete lack of any chirp or growl coming from the wild Pokemon of the area, which had been plentiful only a few minutes before.
"Come on, it's gotta be around here…"
Their last barrier ended up being a thick berry bush almost twice as tall as him. With herculean effort, he was able to make his way through the myriad of branches and emerged with his coat and beret stained with red.
"Oh… oh no." He shivered when he touched the sticky berry juice, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "I'm gonna… have to ask Sierpinski to wash this out later."
Archimedes didn't have as much trouble as his trainer, choosing to simply stomp over the entire bush and flatten it beneath his feet. He even took a bite out of a couple branches, just to prove a point.
Lucas would have protested if he weren't so entranced by the sight before him. Beneath his feet dirt and sand mixed together as they advanced towards the enormous body of water that stretched in every direction only a few feet ahead. No plant or tree grew close to the shore, and the ground itself felt colder and colder the closer it was to the water, to the point where it was frozen in some places.
Mist came out of his lips as he breathed, and he could feel the cold turning his fingertips numb and drying his throat. For once in his life he was thankful for his stubborn refusal to ever take off his scarf and hat.
He took a few steps forward and the ground crunched under his feet. "Lake Valor… this is so much different than in pictures."
Sunlight reflected off the clear waters in front of him, almost making it seem like there was something shining underneath the lake. The closer he got the more a part of his mind wanted him to jump into it. It looked so inviting…
Another growl from Archimedes brought him back to reality. He shook his head and turned towards his Pokemon.
"I… we should probably start investigating," he said. "Looks like my earlier theory was wrong. We gotta figure out where this cold is coming from and why the Pokemon around the lake are acting so strangely."
Archimedes stomped his feet strongly, failing to get his trainer's attention as he walked towards the lake. The Grotle's sight went from Lucas to the trees beneath them with desperation, eyes narrowed and body lowered.
"We'll need help for this," Lucas said as he took a Pokeball out of his belt. "Sierpinski, come out!"
The light of the Pokeball fell upon the water, materializing nto a large blue creature with a long neck and a sturdy shell covering his back. Four flippers grew from the sides of his oval body. The Lapras's bright eyes and warm expression changed to a pained frown as he felt the temperature of the water he was now swimming in.
"Laa!" he cried, narrowing his eyes at Lucas.
"I'm really sorry!" he hurried to say. "I know it's really cold! I promise I'll make it up to you later with treats."
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While the two exchanged growls and apologies the Grotle stood behind, eyes set on the shadows coming out of the forest. He took a few steps back and tried his best to concentrate. He could almost hear…
"We just need to get to the cave at the center of the lake," Lucas explained with a nervous smile. "If we can find the source of…"
He stopped. In front of him, Sierpinski opened his eyes wide as a cry got caught in his throat. Looking at something past his trainer. Behind you! his expression seemed to say.
Lucas turned around just in time to see the trunk of a tree flying towards him. Sierpinski's Pokeball fell from his hands, and his legs refused to move. Almost on top of him now, and he didn't even have time to let out a scream or-
Something jumped between them, taking the blunt of the impact and catching the trunk with his maw. Archimedes' feet dragged against the frozen sand, stumbling for a moment, before he bit down on the tree and shoved it aside with monumental effort. Lucas stood frozen for a few seconds, his mind unable to react to what had just happened.
"Wh… what.." he whispered. "What was…?"
A high pitched yelp escaped his lips as he looked up towards the forest. Two red, burning lights stared him down from the darkness within those trees. Eyes.
Behind him, Sierpinski let out a cry of anger directed at whatever that was, and Archimedes got into battle position while he pointed the bushes on his back towards its direction.
The wild Pokemon stepped into view, and Lucas had to contain a sob of terror.
He'd never seen something so horrifying in his life. A giant anthropoid Pokemon, easily twice as tall as him, stood at the edge of the forest. Her head was oval shaped with two white protrusions -which he realized were fangs- coming out of her mouth. Her body was divided into violet and lavender sections which ended in a long tail that moved from side to side behind her. Two thin arms came out from under her neck, and at the end of them there were pincer-like claws covered in what he imagined was some sort of venom.
"Draaaaa!" The thing yelled, stabbing the ground with the claws of her right hand.
Lucas wanted to cry. He felt the cold clinging to his bones and turning his body into a shaking mess, unable to react to the beast staring him down with such contempt.
Something hit his back, bringing him back to the reality. He turned around and Sierpinski's eyes met him, full of urgency. He shook his head strongly and nodded; he couldn't just stand there.
"R-right!"
With shaking fingers he grabbed the Pókedex from his pocket and pointed it at the terrifying beast, whose four robust legs slowly carried her closer toward them. The device came to life and an electronic voice filled the shore:
Drapion: The Venomous Monarch Pokemon - Poison/Dark Type. Its tail and claws have enough power to turn a car into scrap, and the poison that soaks them can kill in mere minutes. Its body is covered in a protective armor and its head can rotate 180 degrees, eliminating all blind spots. Avoid running into this species at all cost unless you count with a powerful team.
"But…! That's impossible!" He screamed at the uncaring device. "You're not supposed to be here! This doesn't make any sense!"
The wild Pokemon seemed to understand the words being spoken, and laughed as she raised her head proudly. She closed and opened her claws as her feet stomped the ground beneath her. All hope of a peaceful resolution died the moment he realized the Drapion was challenging him and his Pokemon to a duel. One that, he assumed, he would not walk out from if he were to lose.
The bravest part of his mind tried to fight the rest and forcefully make him declare an attack before the beast got bored of waiting and tried to snap his… well, everything in half with her claws.
Thankfully, his Lapras didn't hesitate like his trainer, and attacked as soon as the Drapion stepped into range.
"Laaaaa!"
He inhaled deeply and spit a short torrent of scalding water which left a trail of steam as it traveled forward. The Drapion growled and jumped out of the way with little effort, and the ground where she previously stood unfroze as the attack fell.
Then, in mid air, she hit the ground with her tail, raising a cloud of dirt their way. Her four feet hit the ground with a loud thump and she started running forward before another attack could be thrown at her.
Fast was about the only word in Lucas' mind as the behemoth appeared in front of them in a blink. A heavy shadow fell on top of him and his Lapras, a whole bunch of purple blocking his view. He jumped backwards and let out a high pitched shriek.
"U-use Frost B…!"
He didn't get to finish his order. The Drapion raised her left arm toward the sky, smiling maliciously, and the sun reflected on the white of her claws. A short chuckle was the only thing she thought he deserved before she let her claws fall like a guillotine, ready to snap her prey in half.
She stopped a few inches short of his face, and a pained cry escaped her mouth. Lucas watched horrified as she rotated her head 180 degrees toward Archimedes, who had trapped her tail within his maw, dark eyes burning with rage. She tried to snap it free with her powerful muscles, to no avail, and before she had time to react her body was flung upwards with strength she did not expect from such a pitiable Pokemon. The Grotle managed to lift her entire body with his mouth, throwing her back toward the edge of the shore.
Through the thick layers of fear currently paralyzing him, Lucas had the small hope the creature would fall to the ground and hurt herself. Such hope was short lived as the Drapion grabbed one of the nearby trees with her tail and slithered until her entire body was coiled around it. She opened her mouth and bared her fangs, crushing the trunk with her muscles as though it were a toothpick. The message was very clear:
This will be you, her eyes told Lucas.
I'd rather not if that's okay with you, his trembling legs replied.
"Sierpinski, use Frost Breath on her legs!"
He threw his hand forward as he yelled, just like he remembered Inyssa doing when they had battled together. The absolute confidence in her posture, the way her eyes showed no doubt or fear… he could only pray that image would give him even an ounce of courage for the fight ahead.
The Lapras breathed a white, gelid mist, which spiraled forward an at impressive speed and turned the ground to solid ice. Lucas was more than a few feet away from the Pokemon and even he could feel the cold sticking to his bones and his breath becoming visible.
Drapion tried to jump out of the way again but the attack caught the tip of her tail, nailing her to the ground and making her land on top of the frozen dirt. Crystals emerged from around her feet, growing larger and preventing her from moving. For some reason the attack wasn't as strong on her as he expected, but it would have to do.
"Archimedes, reinforce that with Leech Seed!"
Two thick vines jumped from the bushes on the Grotle's back, coiling for a second before diving into the ground. A second later, the dirt around Drapion burst in dozens of spots around her as thick, powerful vines clung to her body, pulling her dow. She desperately tried to set herself free, hacking at the ice around her with her claws, slowly breaking it apart. The muffled cry of pain and frustration which came out of her mouth turned Lucas' blood cold.
You have time, use it!
He raised the back of his hand close to his face and started fiddling with the Pokétch attached to his wrist. His fingers moved as fast as humanly possible, and after a couple of failed tries he managed to press the Emergency Beacon button, which flashed red thrice before turning off. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. The device would now send a cry of help to any other Pokétch nearby, alerting them of his exact location. If he could just hold off for a few minutes…
A loud crunch caught his attention. Drapion had finally managed to free her tail from the ice and the vines. The ones around her legs were starting to weaken too under the constant barrage of her sharp claws.
Without thinking, Lucas grabbed his remaining Pokeball and threw it into the air. The flash of light formed the body of a flying creature with dark brown plumage and eyes as wide and deep as night itself. Her long eyebrows formed a crown upon her head and her red eyes pierced through the mist like a knife cutting through velvet. She barely needed a second to study the situation around her, and before Lucas had time to yell an order she dove towards their foe.
"Hypnosis!" Lucas yelled, turning his hands into fists. "T-try to put her to sleep!
Just before reaching her foe, the Noctowl stopped and extended her wings, opening her eyes as wide as she could. A spiral of psionic energy was shot point-blank at the Drapion's face, though it didn't damage her, instead digging deeper into her, trying to put her to sleep. Her limbs lost strength and fell to the ground, and the beast had to struggle to keep herself awake as she leaned back and forth.
Lucas grit his teeth. He knew the effect wouldn't last long, not with her natural resistance to psychic attacks. This was his chance to attack.
"Tiresias, use Echoed Voice! Sierpinski, Water Pulse!" he ordered, throwing his hand forward once more. "Archimedes, Razor Leaf!"
All his Pokemon attacked in unison. The Grotle stomped his feet on the ground and pointed his bushes at the Drapion, releasing a rapid torrent of knife sharp leaves. Lapras and Noctowl followed, spitting waves of water and sound which combined into a glowing whirlwind of energy that swallowed the Drapion whole. Her scream almost deafened Lucas, sending a painful chill through his bones and forcing him to cover his ears. He felt bad for the poor thing until he remembered that she was currently trying to kill him.
Then he felt bad again, because he really couldn't help it.
The dust cleared after a few seconds, and Lucas' veins turned to ice. The Drapion was not only free of her bindings but stood just as proudly as she did before, not more than a few superficial scratches covering her body. The only difference was the venomous, burning fury clear in her eyes, directed straight at him. She opened her maw and let out a scream which pierced the air, turning his legs to jelly.
"A-a-attack it!" he yelled, walking backwards as fast as his feet would allow. "Keep it away!"
Sierpinski had to stop him from tripping into the lake by grabbing the back of his shirt with his mouth. In front of him, his remaining Pokemon let out another torrent of attacks, which Drapion swiftly dodged by jumping to the side as if the previous barrage had done little more than tickle her.
Tiresias chirped loudly at the beast and threw herself down with all her strength, landing on her back with enough force to make her knees buckle. Without wasting a second she started pecking at the Drapion's face fiercely while Archimedes tried to bind her once more with his vines.
For a single, short moment Lucas thought they might have a chance. Then he noticed the beast's fangs steaming as they turned a burning red, and his heart dropped. He opened his mouth to yell a warning but it was too late.
Drapion's head turned 180 degrees, and before the Noctowl had a chance to dodge she felt her body being enveloped by that huge maw. Sharp fangs dug into her flesh as she desperately tried to free herself, pecking at Drapion's eyes with all her might. But before she could do any lasting damage the fangs enveloping her caught ablaze.
Her shriek of pain filled the entire lake. She only remained conscious for a couple heartbeats, before her head fell backwards, immobile. Lucas stared in horror as the beast spit the unconscious body of his Pokemon to the ground, where the impact raised a cloud of dust around her. Several dark spots stained her feathers, in the points where the fangs had dug into her.
The beast clicked her fangs together into a sound almost like a snicker, and proceeded to set her red eyes on Lucas. The boy froze completely, while his two remaining Pokemon covered him and growled at the beast to stay back. It didn't.
She threw herself forward with another burst of speed, appearing on top of them and coating her claws with a powerful dark energy. She slashed at Archimedes' side with ruthless strength, flattening him against the ground. She then raised her other hand and threw it forward towards Lucas' neck. He closed his eyes and waited, resigning himself to his fate.
A scream broke through the air, startling everyone in the lake.
"Flash Cannon!"
Drapion looked up to what she first thought was the sun, though after a moment she realized the light she was staring at was getting bigger and bigger. A gasp escaped her mouth as a torrent of white energy swallowed her and drew a scream of agony from her throat.
Lucas stared dumbfounded as the floor exploded in front of him. Drapion's body was thrown backwards with astounding strength, landing on top of the frozen ground with enough force to break it apart. She did not move again.
And then, a friendly voice called out to Lucas from atop that Pokemon.
"Oh thank goodness, you're okay!"