[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!

[starkidcosmo]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Mio

Mio nodded enthusiastically as Brendan explained his reasoning, totally forgetting that he was supposed to be 'cool.'

"Having such a sturdy Pokemon would definitely come in handy in caves... and the hearing is definitely a plus." He paused, considering Brendan's question before continuing. "Well... I really wanted a Pokemon that would be easy to handle, at least at first. I already kind of have my hands full with Meena, so something nice and calm would be a big help for me. It was actually a toss-up between Mudkip, Cleffa, and Flabebe, but I also wanted something that could take more hits since Meena is so fragile... and the water/ground typing was appealing, since the only weakness I'd have to account for would be grass, which is fairly easy to counter..." With a small start, Mio realized he'd been rambling.

"Aha, sorry! But anyways, Loam balances out Meena very well, and I'm hoping she'll help mellow her out a little."

The water type in question perked up at the sound of her name, and then again at something entirely different. She froze, the fin on her head rigid. Loam rushed to Mio's leg and and gave him a hard little bump.

"What's the matter?"

Loam responded by rushing forwards, forcing Mio to break out into a run to follow. They shoved through thick underbrush, getting scratched to hell and back by branches and thorns before finally reaching an area that was relatively clear. Meena was crouched near a thick tangle of brambles, her tail lashing. The group could hear the sounds of a fight, and Mio understood Loam and Meena's distress. Something was struggling in the the thicket of thorns, and they could hear the sneering chatter of a Patrat.

Meena looked to Mio, who simply nodded. He couldn't risk the Patrat hearing his commands, so he just had to trust that Meena knew what to do. The Meowth's battle instincts, and maybe more importantly, her predator instincts, were on high gear. She backed up and tensed her legs as much as she possibly could before exploding up and over the wall of brambles. She only just made it over; her stomach and back legs scraped painfully against the thicket, but she had the Patrat in her sights and some silly scratches weren't going to stop her from getting her prey. She plummeted towards the unsuspecting Patrat's back, eyes gleaming as she gathered dark energy into her mouth. Meena wasn't pulling any punches in this fight; her eyes were focused on the rodent's neck.

[K_H]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Leonidas

Leonidas saw Singo staring right at him, and stayed perfectly still until he was certain that Singo was looking elsewhere, then he tried gently moving his legs, and became a bit more unstuck as a result while not having made any noise. Since he'd moved slowly enough, he'd merely made the thorns rub slowly against him, rather than prick him and deal damage. encouraged by these results, he kept on doing what he was doing, slowly becoming more and more disentangled until he'd finally managed to free himself, quietly dropping down onto the ground, his cat-like paws muting any sound of his landing.

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Lara

Seeing Dingo hurtling towards her at such a high velocity made Lara panic. She quickly turned her head from side to side, and spotted only one way out of her current predicament. Acting quickly, she did a 180 degree turn towards the tunnel and then sprinted towards her freedom, using the maneuver to escape. Not caring about the scratches that she received while speeding through the tunnel in her blind panic, she burst out into the open on the other side and then tripped on a loose pebble, rolling along the ground as a result of her resulting tumble.

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Jack & co.

When Jack saw Lara sprint out of the bushes and then roll up to him after tripping, he was caught off-guard a bit, but quickly recovered from his surprise, and picked up Lara from his feet, truly grateful that she'd come back to him in one piece. Then, he turned to Katie, and asked her a question.

"Do you have any Oran berries left over from the ones you had earlier? Lara could really use one right now, and I forgot to get some of the ones that were offered before we went rushing off."

Edited February 20, 2016 by K_H

[Jory]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Jason

Jason and Gomez followed Apollo and Alecks closely, eventually ending up close enough to the thicket to hear the battle raging right near them. Suddenly, another rustling in the bushes was heard, then Jack's voice became apparent. Jason sighed in relief. It seemed like they'd at least found Lara, but Leonidas was definitely still in the brambles. Jason trotted over near Jack, a grin on his face. "Hey, man, don't worry! I've got just the thing in my BAG!" Jason took his bag off and opened it, reaching inside. He pulled out a Potion and handed it to Jack with a smile.

"You need this more than we do. Besides, I'm sure you'll get me back sometime." The young Trainer looked backward, beckoning Alecks, Apollo, and Gomez to join them near the brambles. "Guys, we found them!" However, Gomez and Apollo had a much better viewpoint and access to the fighting pit since they were high up in the trees. Lara made her escape, but Meena jumped into the fray instead. Gomez leaped down from the trees, taking a battle stance near the Patrat and beckoning Apollo down to where he was.

"Tree," he said determinedly, ready for Round 2 with the Patrat.

BAG Update:

-Potion (x2)

-Poke Ball (x5)

-XTransceiver (Key Item)

[Shadow Sketches]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Alecks

Alecks followed right behind Jason, he was glad that Jack had managed to find at least one of his pokemon. But it seemed like Lara had taken quite a beaten, with wounds and cuts all over her body it seemed like she had a tough time. "A potion would definitely be best for Lara right now, they're more powerful than an Oran berry and she looks like she needs it." He looked over to the brambles were he could still hear some rustling, it looks like whoever did this to Lara would be past those brambles.

Apollo

Apollo watched from above as he saw his trainer join the others, it seemed like they had managed to find one of Jack's partners but to Apollo they still had a job to do. He was able to spot the Patrats and their battleground from his position in the trees. He wasted no time and leaped down into the fray, then landing beside Gomez and taking his own battle stance next to his green skinned partner. A low growl emitted from Apollo, he was looking forward to another fight.

[K_H]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Jack

Jack accepted the Potion from Jason, then used it on Lara, and replied to his statement as she healed up instantly.

"I've only found Lara, and she was actually the one who found me. Leonidas shouldn't be too far away, though. Our priority should now shift to finding him, as he's surely in trouble."

[Sutoratosu]

Gomez, Apollo, Meena, Leonidas

Unfortunately for the Lizard and Monkey Duo, it seemed Meena more than had the situation handled by the time they decided to join. The cat stood with her fangs still buried in the Rodent's neck. From the way they were positioned, Her paws pinning the assailant to the dirt, it seemed obvious that her momentum had slammed her right into the Patrat's pack... and from how deep those fangs went, it was safe to say that her forward momentum had allowed for a critical hit....

A very critical hit... so critical that there was more than just a little blood coming from the wound. Before either one could move a single muscle however, the brambles nearest them burst open in a flurry of barbs and leaves... and out of them surged the Enraged Patrat known as Dingo, fangs still burning with sinister darkness as he charged forward like a freight train, snapping and gnashing the last of the branches out of his way as he freed himself... and came right at Gomez and Apollo with everything he had.

He may have lost the Hyena when she tucked into that hole, but at this point... Dingo gave no damns. Someone, right here, right now, was gonna get bit, and they sure as hell weren't gonna get up afterwards.

Leonidas meanwhile, seemed to have been forgotten about in the Chaos. The Lion cub was left just standing there, only able to bare witness as the other 3 intervened.

[Shadow Sketches]

Apollo

Apollo was slightly disappointed to see that Meena had already taken care of one Patrat. But it didn't take long for another to appear. The wild Patrat's loud ruckus caught his attention, and now he noticed that the enraged rat was barreling straight towards them. Apollo tightened felt his body tense up, a slight smile appearing on his face. He looked at Gomez in the eye, the message he was trying to send should be clear to his ally. Let's send that rat flying back where he came from.

Hoping Gomez would attack with him to empower their moves, Apollo took in a deep breath as he prepared his attack. Then he spat out bolts of fire straight at the charging rat.

[Chim]

Routes of Hazzard – Brendan

Titan hopped as fast as his sturdy little feet could muster. He too had heard the Patrats and right now was carving his own path towards the battle. The branches didn’t cut very deeply into his skin, unlike his human trainer who was right behind him, so he managed to keep the extra damage to a minimum.

“Holy shit,” he heard Brendan say. They had reached the battlefield and Titan could hear 4, probably 5, different sounds caused by multiple team members and enemies alike. But he could not see the bleeding Patrat. Instead he heard Brendan walk passed by him. “Stand guard. Don’t let anyone come near me.”

The tone had changed. The order was more firm and less friendly than usual. And there was a slight hint of sadness that only Titan’s incredible hearing could pick up. So he obeyed and hopped himself in between his trainer and the battle that was about to unfold.

Brendan had crouched next to the bleeding Patrat. He stared at the deep red dots caused by Meena’s fangs. It was one thing to fight these little rats to protect the food, but that didn’t mean things should’ve gotten out of hand like this. Just like earlier when Titan had knocked out a tooth of another Patrat. For Brendan that wasn’t how a battle should be like. There was only one thing that he could do. He quickly grabbed a potion from his bag and started to try and heal the bleeding Patrat. If this didn’t work he decided there and then he would take this little guy, or was it a girl, to professor Juniper’s lab.

Bag update:

XTransceiver
Flashlight
Potion (x2)
Pokéball (x5)
Eviolite (held by Titan)
Razor Fang

[starkidcosmo]

Routes of Hazzard! - Mio

As soon as Mio heard the muffled thump of Meena hitting the ground, he scooped up Loam and shoved his way into the thicket, careful to shield his little mudfish as much as possible. He gritted his teeth, partially against the pain of the bramble slicing into his face and hands, but also to stave off the swiftly-rising dread that filled his body.

He emerged, bleeding and panting, to see Brendan crouched over a bleeding Patrat. Meena watched dispassionately a few feet away, her mouth covered in the rodent's blood. It took all of Mio's strength to keep himself from fainting dead away.

He plopped Loam on the ground, gesturing abruptly in Meena's direction. Loam understood the gist of what he was asking for and hurried over to the blood-stained cat while Mio knelt next to Brendan, guilt and horror rendering him speechless.

After a moment of silence, Mio reached into his BAG and pulled out a potion, placing it in front of Brendan as a sort of offering.

"It's... well, it's kinda my fault the li'l guy ended up like this so... the least I can do is replace your potion." he muttered, keeping his eyes fixed on the bloodied ground in front of him. Off to the side, Meena rolled her eyes. Her trainer was just so soft. That Patrat would have gladly done the same to any of them; that was just the way the world worked. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. She'd done what she had to, and she'd do it again.

BAG-

Potion (x1)

Pokeball (x5)

XTranceiver

Rollerskates

[Jory]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Gomez

The Treecko caught Apollo's eye and nodded, dashing toward the Patrat. He heard the Chimchar inhale for his Ember attack and sprang to the left, avoiding the bolts of flame that shot by him by a solid margin. He breathed inwardly, suppressing his panic as he remembered what his Trainer had said to him. Still, the fire was scary and he couldn't help but be nervous. The only thing preventing him from panicking was knowing that Apollo was on his side and would never hit him deliberately. After the Ember attack passed him fully Gomez leaped toward the Patrat, whirling his tail for a Pound attack. He aimed for the rodent's midsection, hoping to score a solid hit after the Ember.

Jason and Rascal

Meanwhile, the Treecko's Trainer was struggling through the bushes. Rascal sprang off his shoulder and chittered loudly, gesturing for Jason to hurry up. The young man finally broke free of the brambles, stumbling forward and narrowly catching himself. He shook his head and sighed. "Talk about a thorn in my side, right buddy?" he joked, trying to bring a bit of levity to the situation. However, he couldn't help but wince at the sight of the downed Patrat. "Geez, that's gotta hurt...." he muttered before turning to face the battle. He grinned crookedly as he saw his Treecko working together with Apollo. "You can do it, Gomez!" he cheered. Rascal gave him an excited cry of encouragement, eager to see the Grass-type in action again.

[Sutoratosu]

Gomez, Apollo

The vine whip and pounding was a bit redundant after Dingo took the brunt of the flaming bolts right in the mouth, still choking for air and clutching his burning throat as Gomez knocked him backward. The little rodent gave no sign of consciousness afterwards. All he did was there in the dirt, burned and beaten, chest rising and falling with slow and labored breath.

The duo could officially pat themselves both on the back, they had just beaten a foe already weakened beyond the point of feral desperation and who was outnumbered two to one.

Brendan, Mio

Though he had next to no strength remaining in his defeated form, the patrat did his best to put up a struggle when he felt the human's hands tending to him. Rather than the anticipated pain of battle though, what he felt was instead the soothing bliss of the medical spray. Sweet, gentle ambrosia on his wound, washing away the sting and throbbing of the puncture wounds in his neck and bruises upon his back. He fell still. Brendan had no further resistance as he applied the spray...

Singo could not help but think... were all humans truly as bad as boss said? It didn't make any sense if so... why would this go out of his way to heal him then?

[Shadow Sketches]

Alecks

Alecks made his way through the brambles after Jason, going slowly to hopefully lessen the damage the sharp thorns would do to him. He managed to stumble out of the bushes moments after Jason and looked around to see where Apollo was. He quickly spotted Apollo looking at a fallen Patrat, the rat seeming worse for wear. "Woah, guess I missed the action huh..." Alecks mumbled as he made his way over to his partner, before kneeling down and inspecting him. "At least you seem to be all right, though perhaps you slightly overdid it with the Patrat over there."

Apollo leaned his head slightly to the side as he looked at his trainer with confusion. He didn't understand why Alecks said he overdid it, the rat had come charging at them and would have gladly buried his teeth in his or Gomez's neck before shaking them like ragdolls. Apollo only did what he had to.

Alecks pet his little fire monkey before back standing up, he knew why Apollo did what he did but it was still hard to not feel bad for the poor Patrat. He walked over to the unconscious Patrat and kneeled down next to him and inspected the injuries. "Do you think this little guy will be alright?" He asked to no one in particular. Finally an idea popped into his head and he picked up the fallen Patrat in his arms, cradling it like a baby.

"Hey guys, why don't we get the Patrats we've defeated and take them back to Juniper's lab after we're done here? They could be healed back there and also they wont be out in the wild messing with others or stealing again."

[Chim]

“Routes of Hazzard!” – Brendan

“Its fine,” Brendan said to Mio. “You should keep your potion. You have two Pokémon to look after and you might need it later on when Meena gets, eh, a little too excited again.”

When the Patrat finally stopped struggling, Brendan picked up both the potion and the healed Pokémon before walking over to Mio. “Here, take it.” He didn’t accept a no for an answer and just pushed the healing item into the shy trainer’s hand. In his mind this was the only right way. Mio had a higher chance to use his potions and he didn’t want to be the reason for the boy to run out of potions when it truly mattered. Besides using his own potion to heal a fallen foe was Brendan’s decision in the first place.

"Hey guys, why don't we get the Patrats we've defeated and take them back to Juniper's lab after we're done here? They could be healed back there and also they won’t be out in the wild messing with others or stealing again."

“Sounds good to me, Alecks, but how do you intend to carry them all over? This one alone is a hand full.” Brendan rubbed Singo gently over the head while walking over to Alecks. “Unless we can get an empty box from the truck and someone’s willing to wait here with the Patrat’s that got hurt. I mean, we can hardly leave them here all by themselves.” His eyes fell onto the wounded Patrat in Alecks arms. “That one needs someone to look over him…”

The cogwheels in Brendan’s head started to spin. They had to make a decision here and seeing as none of them really had any experience with situations like this, he felt like it was up to him. He had experience making tough calls. As a catcher he was the one who made the signal to start each play. In order to do that, he had to keep a clear eye on all the opposite batters, their strengths, and the current state of his own pitcher. This situation was no different.

“How are Jacks Pokémon doing?” he asked no one in particular, but he was looking in the direction Jason had come from. “If they are alright, maybe they can look after these little ones? An extra pair of eyes can always help to spot a potential surprise attack.”

[starkidcosmo]

"Routes of Hazzard" - Mio

Mio sighed in relief as the potion worked its magic on the downed Patrat, his guilt over Meena's brutal attack subsiding slightly as he saw that her victim would be okay.

It took him a moment to process Brendan's response; by the time he had the sense to protest, the other trainer was already gently pushing his potion back into his hands. Mio sputtered, ears burning, but he couldn't bring himself to force the issue. Quietly, somewhat cowed by Brendan's kind insistence, he dropped the potion back into his BAG.

Brendan's focus turned from Mio to Alecks and a second defeated Patrat. The other rodent had fainted; Mio recognized that uncomfortable stillness and another pang of guilt swept through him. Determined to do something, he pulled off his tough leather jacket and walked over to Alecks with a surprising amount of confidence.

"I've got my skates, so I can bring this li'l guy back to the lab real quick. Meena and Loam can stay while I'm gone if Lara and Leonidas aren't up to it... although maybe Meena shouldn't stay, haha..." He grimaced, the image of Meena's bloody form crouching over the Patrat flashing through his mind.

"I-in any case... I can at least wrap him up in my jacket to keep him warm and stuff. It'd be bad if he got sick or something while he's out like that."

BAG-

Potion (x2)

Pokeball (x5)

XTransceiver

Rollerblades

Edited March 3, 2016 by genderlesshawke

[Jory]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Jason

Jason finally made it through the bushes, his Minccino shaking its head as he brushed stray thorns and leaves off his shirt. "Great work, Gomez!" he shouted.

Battle finished!

Rank B!

Leonidas and Lara gained 5 Experience! Leonidas and Lara leveled up!

Rank D!

Meena gained 1 Experience Point!

Gomez gained 1 Experience Point!

Apollo gained 1 Experience Point!

By the time he'd made it to the clearing, however, the only thing he heard was the suggestion of splitting up into even smaller groups. "No way!" he said adamantly, shaking his head. "We still haven't even found the food, the hat, or the Patrat den. You want to make this even more complicated?" he asked, incredulous. "These Pokemon aren't pampered children who need every scrape and boo-boo attended to by a trained professional. They're wild! They battle each other all the time. Their wounds will heal on their own," he said, exasperated and confused as to why everyone thought they had to be so empathetic. "Pokemon are built to withstand the roughness of battles. Meena goes a little overboard, yeah, but Pokemon are resilient creatures. They're on a whole different level from regular animals, so don't treat them the same!" Jason shook his head, upset with himself over his outburst.

"I'm sorry for yelling, guys, but you're acting like we have an unlimited amount of time to spend caring for these Pokemon. And if you remember correctly, we're here because they stole food from that driver. It's not like we came in here and started beating them up. They attacked us." That said, he looked toward the Patrats in their care. "But maybe they know where we can find the food."

[Sutoratosu]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Everyone

If either of the twins knew, they certainly weren't going to have the chance to show the humans. Almost immediately after Jason finished that very sentence, the sharp burst of an explosion resounded through the area, sounding so close that it was near deafening. At almost the same time, a thick shroud of smoke began crawling along the ground... before and even thicker shroud blanketed everyone and everything in a cloud of hazy, dull grey mist.

All the trainers could see or hear was the bright, flashing lights periodically breaking up the fog and the occasional chatter of some kind of pokemon, the former of the two phenomena held an almost phantasmal, disorienting quality to them if one tried to look anywhere near them. It would have almost felt as if... they were being sucked in towards the glow... mesmerized, even...

Something tugged hard on the Patrat Brendan cradled in his hand, the rat slipping out like butter as whatever it was towed him away unseen, back into the fog. Mio as well felt something similar jolt him not long after. If he looked down, he'd see that the patrat he was carrying was now gone as well.

Before long the flashes ceased... giving way to a constant, dull light moving away from them in the distance. The smoke began to recede. The light grew smaller and smaller in the distance. From the way it was bobbing, whatever was making was hauling ass. When the gray cloud finally cleared, they could've seen what had made the veil. A small, crystalline sphere sat in the middle of the clearing, a strange opening in it's top filling with the gas of smoke as the stuff seemed to filter back into it's innards of its own accord, swirling within like oil dipped in water.

It was obvious this was the work of some intelligent design. The smoke, the flashes, the missing rats...

The light was small. And moving fast. But if they looked... they might've spotted just the slightest glimpse of what looked to be a hat, atop the crown of whatever the thing was. They'd have to move fast if they wanted to catch it though... that was for damn sure. If it had the hat...

It probably had the food as well.

[K_H]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Leonidas

Leonidas started to stealthily walk around the area, trying to stay out of sight, until the other three Pokemon and their trainers popped in. At that point, he knew that it was safe to move freely, and he could be heard as he sped in the direction that he'd last seen Lara going in. However, he was stopped in his tracks when Jack and Lara popped out of the bushes just in front of him.

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Jack and co.

Before going through, Jack looked at the bramble thicket, then at Lara, then back at the bramble thicket before walking through it, his slower movements causing him to receive fewer scratches than the others. Lara avoided taking any damage whatsoever due to the fact that Jack was carrying her in his arms. When they came out on the other side of the bush, where the other trainers and their partners were, they were greeted with the question that Brendan had asked. However, they were interrupted by Jason before they could respond. Once Jason finished, things went crazy. As the smoke cleared, Jack saw the orb, and then went to investigate it, setting down Lara as he did so. After approaching it, he scanned it with his Pokedex, and got a reading on what it was.

"Smoke Ball."

He then picked it up and put it in his bag before looking at the lights once more, then turning and walking back to the main group. He then spoke, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at the receding light as he spoke.

"So, does anyone besides me want to follow that thing?"

BAG Update:

Normal Items:

- Potion (x2)

- Poke Ball (x5)

- Smoke Ball (x1)

Key Items:

- XTransceiver

Edited March 8, 2016 by K_H

[Shadow Sketches]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Alecks

Alecks was taken aback by Jason's outburst, he hadn't expected that from him at all. "I'm not saying we stop our quest right now to walk them all the way back to the lab. I was thinking more around the lines of giving the passed out Patrats to the truck driver so she can drive them to lab once we give all the food back to her. She's already going to the lab after all, and I doubt some unconscious Patrats would give her any problems."

Before anyone could say anything else, a thick cloud of smoke enveloped all of them and Alecks and Apollo found it hard to see in the smoke. Alecks looked around wildly, worried that Apollo might have accidentally started a forest fire. Though he wasn't expecting something to yank the Patrat out of his arms, it actually made him jump slightly. Before long, the smoke began to clear and whatever had taken the Patrat away from him was making it's escape. At first he wasn't sure whether to try and follow the thing as he would only be running in blind. But once he caught glimpses of what appeared to be a hat, he knew in his gut that was the trucker's hat. "Let's go Apollo! Follow that hat!"

Apollo immediately jumped onto a tree and climbed up it before starting to once again jump from branch to branch in pursuit of whatever that thing was. Alecks following right under him, making sure that the two didn't getting separated. He wished the trees weren't so close together, there wasn't much room for him to use skateboard which would help him catch up to the hat. He just had to make due with running along on both legs.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Shadow Sketches

[K_H]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Jack & Co.

Jack wasn't quite prepared for the rather quick response on Alecks' part, but he decided to just roll with it.

"I guess so. Lara, let's try tracking whatever it was by using scent."

Lara looked at him and nodded, and then the dark type started heading after Alecks, Apollo, and the mystery entity at high speed, nose to the ground, her species naturally keen sense of smell allowing her to easily detect the scent trail left behind by the three. As she was heading off, Jack and Leonidas followed at a similar pace to hers, letting their teammate guide them along the path.

[starkidcosmo]

"Routes of Hazzard" - Mio

Mio practically inflated with rage during Jason's outburst. Well excuse him for caring! Excuse him for wanting to avoid pointless bloodshed! How dare he care about injured opponents! Scrapes and boo-boos? The one Meena attacked was lucky to even still be alive, and the one Apollo and Gomez had ganged up on was burned head to toe; neither of those injuries were at all comparable to a "scrape" or "boo-boo." Mio glared daggers at the guy; he'd thought Jason was cool! Reasonable! And here he was, ragging on everyone for caring.

Filled with an uncharacteristically strong anger, Mio opened his mouth to give Jason a piece of his mind. He hadn't even heard Alecks's response; he was too wrapped up in himself to notice even the most obvious things, so the small crystal-esque ball that rolled into the clearing evaded his notice entirely.

A sharp boom filled the air, shocking Mio out of his rage. Thick smoke filled the air, along with flashes of light and a cacophony of sounds, some only barely recognizable as Pokemon cries. Mio remembered a quick flash from one of his high-school classes; this was a smoke ball! These Patrat could use items? Mio squinted through the fog as best he could, catching sight of a behatted figure scampering away in a haze of dull light.

"Meena!" he called, without stopping to think. Meena shot off after the figure immediately, her keen senses allowing her to navigate the fading smoke with little difficulty. Mio started off after her, but stopped to scoop up Loam and catch sight of the others.

Jack and Alecks were the first ones he spotted, so he addressed them, hoping that either they'd pass on the message, on Jason and Brendan would hear. It wasn't such a large clearing, after all.

"I'm gonna catch up with Meena before she does anything drastic. I think that thing with the hat was a Watchog, so it'd be better if we all went in together, but... I'm still gonna be running off ahead of you, sorry." Mio pulled his coat back on and zipped it up with Loam inside, her head poking out just over the collar. She looked on ahead, her head fin twitching and waving in an attempt to sense her partner.

With an ease that may have been considered graceful, Mio slapped on his rollerblades and took off, his torso almost parallel to the ground in his rush. He really hoped he didn't run into any tall grass...

Edited March 3, 2016 by genderlesshawke

[Jory]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Jason

In all the chaos, Jason didn't even get a chance to respond before Mio went running off. "Wait!" the Trainer shouted, but it was too late. His new friend was long gone, disappeared into the cloud of smoke. "Crap..." he muttered under his breath, not wanting to make his dismay obvious after his earlier outburst. "Guys, let's follow them! Alecks, Gomez will be right with Apollo!" With that, the green reptile jumped up into the trees and began following after the Watchog. His Trainer followed on the ground, in hot pursuit of his teammates and the Watchog with the hat.

[Shadow Sketches]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Alecks

Alecks watched in annoyance as Mio whizzed past, if only there was enough room for him to use his skateboard. Alas, he had to settle with good old fashioned running as he doubted he would have enough space without knocking into others, or worse, into a tree. But he did manage to hear Jason calling out to him and saw Treecko follow Apollo up into the trees. At least Apollo had someone to watch his back in case anything happened. "Come on guys, we need to hurry up! Mio will go on ahead of us but we still need to catch up as well, double time folks!"

[Chim]

“Routes of Hazzard!” – Brendan

Brendan couldn’t believe what he just heard Jason say. Hadn’t he seen the state these Patrat were in? What if this had happened to Gomez or Rascal? Would he still say the same? Probably not. Not to mention Jason made it sound like Pokémon were tools for battle. Sure, they may fight all the time and have resilient bodies, but that does not mean you can critically injure them and leave them half dead somewhere in the bushes. And then the argument ‘they attacked us’ made Brendan flip the switch. What a childish excuse.

Their group were the ones intruding the Patrat’s territory, not the other way around. And while the rookie trainers had a justified reason to be there, Brendan still found it wrong to blame the Patrats. All they did was follow their instinct in order to survive another day. To be able to eat so they could feed their entire den. What was wrong with that? They didn’t know stealing was bad. They were wild, just like Jason had said and they only knew one thing: survival.

That was the exact same path humankind followed hundreds of year ago. Only humans were far worse. The Patrats stole food with trickery. Humans used to kill one another for power and survival. And to this very day there were still a lot of people like that left. So according to Brendan these Pokémon hadn’t done anything wrong and their group had gone too far. However before he had the chance to say what was on his mind, an explosion and smoke filled the area. The Patrat slipped out of his arms and suddenly Brendan was left standing there, dazed, without realizing what was going on. He only knew Titan was close by and had no choice but to wait for the smoke to clear.

Apparently everyone else managed to recover much faster than he did and they had seen something. Brendan only heard vague descriptions but by the sound of things Alecks had spotted the driver’s hat and Mio assumed a Watchog had joined the battle.

“Great. Things get even more complicated now,” Brendan muttered as he recalled Titan in his Pokéball. “Sorry buddy, but right now we need speed. I’ll release you when we get there.” He ran passed Jason, giving him a disappointed look the young trainer couldn’t miss, before following right behind Alecks.

[Sutoratosu]

"Routes of Hazzard!"- Grand Stretch

Brambles thickened. The forest darkened, the trees grew ever more twisted and deformed in their already ghastly appearances. The ground, barren, pale soil, loose, like dust. Sunlight broke the canopy, feeble rays of hope penetrating the miniature underworld as best they could. Hog kept running, nonstop. None of them, not even the two tree hoppers, were good enough to keep up... or at least, that's what he'd gathered so far. Every last one of the foolish little pursuers were so far in the distance. He could've lost them, right here, right now... he could've lost them at any time.

But that was not the point here. These children were monsters in the making, just like Argent... the burns and battering Dingo sported were proof enough of it. And so were the dozens of other injuries the others had sustained. He wasn't going to run. Not anymore. At first all he'd wanted was to lead them away, lead them east, take em deeper into the groves, get them turned around and then give them the slip, let them search for the den all they like. They'd never find it if they weren't even close. Have himself and the officers stand guard through the night, get the others treated in the meantime. He knew all about human determination.... but even children must have some basic understanding of futility.

But no. No, that... could not be the plan now. They had decided that, not him. If the humans were so thirsty for blood, so eager for a fight... he would give them one. They wanted to act like monsters?

He would show them what a true one looked like... just as Argent had shown him.

****************************

The forest seemed to become almost sinister as the humans trudged further. The overgrowth of brambles they had seen before was absolutely nothing. It seemed with every motion, every single step, the very land itself lashed out at them, branches and barbs flying, scratching and tearing away bare flesh and clothing. Whatever the hatted figure had... it was fast. Faster than anything they had. But yet it seemed like it wasn't trying to get away. It was always just there, barely visible, dodging in and out of the shrubbery, seemingly unfazed by the barbs. It was a blur as it moved through the woods. Through this world of darkness and dust. Through a land of faded light and scattered dreams, they all ran.

But eventually... there was nowhere left to run, no figure left to pursue. It finally seemed to stop toying with them. There one moment, gone the next. The ground here had grown too dust laden and loose to effectively track by scent, not without particles of dirt flying up a hounds nose and practically blinding the olfactory. The trees so twisted and entwined, it was a struggle to leap from one to another without getting entangled in the very branches they sped upon.

It was hard to tell how far they'd come... but wherever they were, the shrubs surrounded them on all sides. Darkness reigned supreme over the forest floor. Sun peaked through the canopy, dim light raining down on the clearing.

The world was silent. The world was still. And then it came. OR rather, they came.

Eyes, or at least what seemed to be eyes, many of them, beads of pure scarlet, burning from within the shrubs.

Hostility fills the air.

Enemies gather round.

Time for battle has come.

Time for wars to be won.

The shrubs doth rustle. Appeareth from them, none but the big boss, the boss Hog. Hog the Watchog. Gone are the youths he stole 'way. Hat tucked down, eyes burning with wrath. Little stops a big boss once they're on a warpath. Light shines forth from Hog. Blinding and great, a beacon in night. Light that transfixes, light that confounds. Light with which, the mind is bound. Close one's eyes, thinking it to be that easy, one might... but not even the darkness offers escape from this light.

Time for battle has come.

Tis time for this war to be won.

[starkidcosmo]

Routes of Hazzard- Grand Stretch- Meena

It didn't take long for Meena to realize she was vastly outclassed, but it did take a damn good while for her to admit it. She pushed herself to her limit, keeping the silhouette of that stupid hat in her sights at all times until...

The thing just vanished.

Meena skidded to a stop, the loose dirt of the forest floor sending her sliding forwards into a circle of dark shrubbery. It felt... ominous. She wasn't an idiot; she knew a trap when she saw it, but her pride and frustration had blinded her to that fact until the very last second. But even now, there wasn't the faintest thought in her mind of turning to run. Even as eyes shone in the bushes, proving her outclassed and outnumbered, she stood firm. Even as a Watchog, wearing that terrible hat, emerged from the bushes, burning with unbridled wrath, she stood ready to fight... but that was a mistake. That awful hat, that hideous hat, began to fill her vision. It was mocking her! It danced around her, multiplying, growing wings, a beak, its feathers turning deep dark black, beady eyes turning orange...

A murder of Murkrow cackled and crowed as they encircled Meena, and for the first time in years, she was afraid.

Mio and Loam

This had been a very bad idea. That much was clear as soon as Mio had gone a minute without catching hide nor hair of his violent companion. The path wasn't bad to skate on, but the trees seemed to reach out gnarled claws to rip at his face and he was forced to slow down or risk further injuries to himself and Loam. Meena, however, clearly had no such issues, because all he could see of her was the dirt cloud she'd kicked up chasing after the presumed Watchog.

"Maybe... we should wait on the others." He said, half to himself, half to the Mudkip tucked into his jacket. Loam shook her head furiously and barked, her anxiety clear. Something was very, very wrong, and she'd be damned if Meena got hurt on while she was safe and dry in their trainer's arms.

Mio's mouth tensed. If Loam was this upset... well. He put on more and more speed, flying through the path, before stopping short.

They'd found Meena, and not a moment too soon. She was trembling, actually trembling in fear, staring around at something Mio and Loam couldn't see. Loam cried out, staring horrified at Meena's shaking and traumatized form, but Mio's eyes were drawn to the glowing Watchog, and he only had time to cover Loam's eyes with his hand before he started hallucinating.

A bleeding Patrat hovered ghost-like in front of his eyes, while Loam's unconscious form lay broken and sparking on the ground next to his feet. Bad. Very bad. This had been such a bad idea.

"It's confusion!" he shouted. "Confuse ray! Watch out!" He could only pray the others would hear; he had no idea how long it would take for the confusion to wear off and he was worse than useless until it did.

Edited March 8, 2016 by genderlesshawke