Surge Story: Chapter 2- "GAOWS" [Completed IC Thread]

[Sutoratosu]

ERICK

Erick walked over to the western gate silently, his Beldom hovering behind him as he took the Beretta M-11 from where he had stowed it in the jacket of his uniform. he kept the safety on the weapon as he loaded a round into the chamber so that it would be at the ready if needed. Before the General had rushed them out of the Medical wing, he had made all of them place the weapons they'd gotten from the sub armory on a cot for the quartermasters to put them back in their places, but Erick had decided to hang on to this for now, in case it came in handy later... and it looked like it might, with all of them about to head off into the thickest part of the forest. He really wasn't worried about the consequences of his technical "Insubordination", he didn't intend to get caught, though that wouldn't matter if he had to use them out in the woods, but in that event, he could just justify his Insobordination by the fact that someone would be dead at that moment if he hadn't have disobeyed orders and kept a weapon. He went to Stow the Weapon again, only for it to disappear in a flash of white, leaving his hand holding nothing but air a moment later.

"What the hell?" he began, looking around the try to see what could've happened to it. He spotted Oak's GAO, Clemont, standing behind him, holding it's spoons lazily in it's hand.

"did you do that?" he asked the Foxman demandingly. "Because if you did, I'd appreciate it if you could port it back to me."

You won't need a firearm for this task, Clemont Answered him telepathically And even besides, you were ordered to relinquish your weapons by the general earlier, were you not?

Erick wasn't surprised that Clemont somehow knew that when he hadn't even been present to hear it, nor was he surprised how he'd appeared behind him without a sound. He'd learned over the past six months that Psychically-inclined GAOs like him and Genissa had their little mind tricks which could be used in a variety of ways. but that was fine, If Clemont wouldn't comply, then he had someone who would...

"Genisa" He addresed the Kirlia by his side, not caring at this point that he'd called her by the name in front of others. it had been six months, damnit, and he'd come to trust his fellow squad mates. he didn't really have any issue about letting them know the truth about his GAO's origins. "can you get the weapon back?"

Don't do it, girl. Clemont chided in her mind before she could respond to Erick's request. I just saved your Handler here from being brought up on insubordination charges. you bring that weapon back from where I put it in the sub armory, and he will get caught by his superiors and punished accordingly.

The Kirlia looked up at Erick.

I won't, she communicated in his mind He said-

"I know what he said to you..." Erick sighed, cutting her off mid-thought. it was true, he'd been able to hear Clemont addresing Genisa just now... though the fox man must have wanted him to, because Erick honestly couldn't conceive of any other way he could've heard it. He wasn't exactly happy of Clemont's meddling... but apparently this Fox Man was far smarter than any human who had ever lived.... so Erick guessed he could just shut his mouth for once and leave the matter alone.

"Fine, whatever..." he said. with that, he turned and gazed up at the Gates, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive so that they could begin.

ENYO

Enyo leaned against the Gates in an aloof manner, completely ignoring the others from her Squadron. she had come to be a bit warmer of a person in the past six months, finding she had grown a grudging... what was the word now? Trust? no... not quite... Respect, peraps? no... she could tell it wasn't that either....

"Tolerance," She muttered under her breath as some type of exchange went on between Erick and Oak's glorified yes-man of a GAO, Clemont. ah yes... Tolerance... that was the word she'd been grasping for. she'd developed a tolerance of her Squad members. but even with this Tolerance of them, she wasn't exactly in the mood to speak to anyone right now... not with both her GAOs MIA. and that begged the question:

"How the hell am I supposed to capture anything?" she growled. It was doubtful that any GAO she might find out there would go down without a fight. and as good as she was in CQC, she had her doubts that she'd be able to take out anything really powerful with her bare hands. That would leave her only able to nab something small and pathetic at best, and she honestly had no patience for Small and pathetic. The Strong rule in this world, and the weak all die. She'd learned that simple fact long ago. this is the train of thought that lead her to think of her bat GAO, burbon... while technically it was "Weak", small and flimsy, it could still be "Strong" by taking advantage of it's abilities in battle, namely it's ability to shoot a sound wave at the enemy and make them use their own strength against themselves, make them use their own power to destroy themselves. And then there was Absinthe... that defiant crocodile that had butted heads with her and tried to fight her about almost every little thing. Now he had been truly strong, in both body and potential, but his strength had been the reason he would only ever have a grudging respect for the commands Enyo gave him.

And they were both gone now, Burbon the blind bat and Absinthe the headstrong crocodile. and Enyo felt something about that she hadn't expected to. she had always thought of the two of them as just tools to further her own ends...and she had been angry because these "Tools" had been taken from her. But now that they were gone, she'd realized she'd come to genuinely care about the little shits after all these months together, that despite what she told herself, she didn't really think of them as just mindless drones to use to achieve her goals... but what were they then if not just tools? she leaned there, gradually realizing at that moment... that Burbon, and to a lesser extent, Absinthe...

they had actually been her friends.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Stratos

[Ragnar]

Sid follows the rest of the crew towards the western gate thinking what new companion will he encounter in the forest "C'mon Vicious" Sid commanded the young lion to follow him while carrying the small blue seahorse sleeping in his arms.

[Supernovae]

Clint lingered a moment after Oak had finished talking. He stared absent-mindedly at the new capsules he'd just been given, a blank expression consuming his face. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Fighting that thing had just been horrifying. Sure, he'd acted brave at the time, but the experience as a whole had been ... Humbling.

Clint shaked the feeling off and turned around. He quickly noticed that most of his team had made it's way out of the Western Gate and decided to follow. As soon as he stepped outside, he instinctively reached for his pocket, pulling out another cigarette and lit up. As he exhaled his first puff, a thought raced in his head. He quickly turned to the group, "All right, fellas. Let's make this a little interesting, everyone put 5 bucks in a pool. Who ever comes back with the top GAO, takes the pot."

[Chevaleresse]

Nathan shrugged and headed over to the gate. Upon arrival, he released his GAOs and sat down with them, idly petting them in turn while he waited for the rest of the squad.

[Ragnar]

As Clint and Nathan arrived at the western gate, Sid couldn't help to hear Clint's little wager to the group. After all, the boy needs to unwind for a bit after that gruesome battle with that icy bird. "I'm in" the former grifter grins "might as well hand over your money, guys. cause i never lose in a gamble." Sid cockily said as pulls off a 5 dollar bill in his pocket.

[Chim]

Logan smiled when he heard Clint turning the new GAO catching into a competition. And as expected; Sid was the first to join. Logan could tell it would cause trouble if those two disagreed, which gave him an idea. “And how exactly do we decide who caught the top GAO?” he asked while showing 5 dollars. “Size? Looks? Or maybe you want to decide it with a battle?”

[K_H]

"How about we have Three individual Contests: One for Size, One for Looks, and One for the Best Battler. The Winners get one-third of the Pool for each of the Final Victories."

Kenny then showed his five dollars.

Edited August 6, 2014 by K_H

[Flux]

Lars grinned.

"A contest, eh? You can count me in," he said, pulling out a five dollar bill. "I think it's about time I got a bigger GAO. I'll shoot for winning that size contest." He gave a friendly laugh. "And winning that will likely give me a shot at the battle, too."

[Ojama Yellow]

Of course Clint had to be the one to propose the competition. Maybe this will clear my mind... Lionel thought as he patted Buddy's head. "Good thing, you're still around, eh?" The Slowpoke slowly curled up and started snoring. Lionel remembered the flute he found before...IT happened, but he decided to let him sleep. There was no reason for Lionel to wake his friend up right now. "Alright, guys," he said as he turned around, pulling out the five dollar bill, "count me in." Apparently, the most important thing of this contest seems to be size... I'm just going to look for one that fills up the weaknesses in my team though. He smiled. He even forgot his troubles for a moment.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Pineapple

[Jory]

Jory grabbed his capsules and began to walk toward the gate. Once he got outside, he released Neffi from her ball. The GAO looked up at her trainer questioningly. She knew that he'd been shaken up since the battle with the giant bird. The two had been through a lot together. It was easy for her to tell when he needed a break, and this was one of those times. However, Jory kept toward the mission, eventually arriving at the gate.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked jokingly, smiling at the other recruits as he walked over to them.

[Sutoratosu]

RAY & SURGE

Their holding a pool, Clemont answered the Doctor's question about what some of the cadets were so occupied with. The three of them then watched in silence as the Rookie Soldiers were too engaged in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed that Ray and Surge had been standing there for five minutes now. Surge looked down at his watch, holding his hand up over the face of it in order to block out glare from the sun. the ten minutes had run out... five minutes ago.

"All right!" he hollered, catching the attention of the entire Squad. they all went silent as they listened to him continue

"Fox1," he said, this time speaking in a lower volume "It's time to begin this little outing," as soon as the words left his mouth, a loud grinding sound emanated from the Gates behind the squad. The white alabaster walls that had blocked the Western road out of Bexley gradually began to slid apart, revealing a gap of greenery as they made their way towards the slots now visible in the high wall marking the Base's perimeter. a loud Slam!! echoed out as the two slabs of white stone finally reached their respective destinations, leaving the Squadron looking out over a ten foot long gap in the nearly twelve-foot high section of the wall, the wilds of the forest visible just a few meters beyond as a Dirt road lazily meandered it's way into the depths of the undergrowth.

"And don't be afraid if you get lost out there," Ray chimed in. "Clemont will be supervising everyone during this outing. If you get into trouble out there or just can't find your way back to the base, he'll teleport you back here to saf-"

Indeed I will, Clemont said, telepathically speaking into the minds of each of the Squad members simultaneously. That said however, do not go doing less than intelligent things when you venture out into the wilderness lying before you, because if you do, I may be more inclined to simply leave you to suffer the consequences of your decisions.

"Right..." Ray picked up. "so yeah, don't take his words lightly, folks, he will leave your asses to deal with your own mess if you do anything stupid out there. it's already happened a few times with Other Squads that were sent off for missions and training in the forest..."

"Are we done talking here?" Surge asked impatiently "Yes? Good...now let's get out there!" With that the Sergeant began to jog off down the dirt road, soon disappearing around a bend and out of sight. Ray glanced over at the Squadron as he sent out Salem and climbed atop his back like a horse.

"what?" he asked jokingly. "You all just gonna let him go and capture everything in the forest? Get a move on!" that said, the good doctor then took his own advice and gripped the fluff of Salem's golden mane, signalling the tiger to take off like the wind. Ray and his mount stayed to the road for a few meters, then abruptly turned a sharp left and crashed into the brush and dense undergrowth, disappearing from sight like Surge had.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Stratos

[Chevaleresse]

Nathan quickly made his way out of the gate, passing Clint and Lionel. As he did so, he pressed a five into Clint's hand. He looked back long enough to mouth "you're on" and continued.

[Supernovae]

Clint turned and gave Nathan a quick wink. He'd collected money from about 6 of them and to be honest he wasn't really surprised about who hadn't put any money in. Jory was more of a hero type, he wouldn't be shocked if he jumped on later, but he knew the guy wouldn't be all too comfortable about it. Enyo was a lone wolf and to be honest, Clint was kind of glad she wasn't involved. Getting shown up by a girl twice wasn't something he was all too willing to have happen. And then there was Erick. Clint liked the kid, but he was pretty happy he hadn't joined the contest as well. It wasn't his fault really, more his dad's fault, but the kid just drew way too much attention from the higher ups. Not that they hadn't noticed, but Clint guessed that they wouldn't want Erick involved for some reason or another. For the rest of them that had put money in, Kenny was the only real shocker. He seemed to be a bit of a boy scout, a smart kid for sure, but he was definitely risk-adverse. Though, Kenny was one of the first to throw his money up, so maybe Clint didn't know as much about his fellow cadets as he'd thought.

Clint shrugged off the thoughts about his fellow cadets and quickly put the money in his back pocket, whilst retrieving Pimparella's capsule. He tossed the capsule forward and out emerged Clint's pride and joy. The massive Onix looked over at its master happily and bent down to allow Clint to ride on top of her. Clint complied, hopping on the giant snake and issued a command for the beast to make it's way into the forest. The Onix rushed forward without a moment's hesitation. Clint turned back to the group as his monster made it's way into the forest, shouting "Good luck guys. Hopefully ya'll can find your own Pimparella some day." He smirked as he turned around, fully assured he'd be bringing back the best prize.

[Ojama Yellow]

"I'm not going to lose, either!" Lionel exclaimed. He played a quick tune on his flute, waking Buddy up. "C'mon, Buddy, we have to go do some catching!" And the both of them took off running. Well, as far as a Slowpoke can run, that is...

[Chim]

Logan made his way to the forest and looked closely if any of the other cadets were around. He wanted to win the bet and was sure he had an advantage to do so: Ace. Logan released the monkey and watched as it swung around some nearby trees. “I thought you would like this place,” he said with a laugh. “But listen, we’re here to catch a new team member. You can move more swiftly through these trees than any other GAO, so help me out.”

Ace, who listened while hanging upside down from a tree, nodded and started to move deeper into the forest with Logan behind him.

[Ragnar]

"C'mon Vicious, times a wasting, lets hunt some GAO." Sid said as Luxio nodded. He went out through the exit and venture deep into the western southern part of the forest.

[K_H]

Kenny released Ryu and Eve, and then spoke to them.

"C'mon, let's go get a new Friend!"

The three of them then then headed off into the Southwestern part of Bexly Woods, making sure to keep track of the way that they'd gone. After a while, they stopped in a Clearing.

"This seems like as good of a place as any. Let's start searching!"

That's when Ryu sensed a small Disturbance in the Trees, and tried to send a Message to Kenny:

Kenny, watch out!

However, Ryu was too inexperienced in Telepathy, and the message came across more like a sudden burst of static. Then, the Creature that was in the Trees swooped out, aiming for Ryu, but it overshot its' intended Target when Ryu ducked, instead hitting Kenny in the back, and both the Creature and the Human fell to the ground.

"OOF!"

Kenny fell onto his face in the Dirt, but got back up, and looked around. Lying nearby on the ground was a Flying-Squirrel-Like GAO.

Kenny then asked an Interrogative Question in a disgruntled tone at the Creature as it got up.

"Were you the one who bumped into me just then!?"

Ryu got between Kenny and the Wild GAO, and looked at Kenny, seeming to say that it was ready to protect him, even if it meant losing his own life. Kenny then looked at his Level Identifier, Scanning all three of the GAOs.

This isn't very good... it's two levels higher than Ryu or Eve!

"Ryu, let Eve handle this one."

Ryu and Eve then traded spots.

"Eve, attack it quickly!"

Eve then sprinted towards the Wild GAO, a white trail forming behind her. It responded to this by becoming surrounded by Blue Electricity, and then running at Eve, who then altered her course a little so that it missed, and then turned her course so that she knocked it next to Ryu. Then, the Wild GAO did something odd: it tickled Ryu with its' tail, and Ryu fell down laughing. Eve then ran into it it hard on the side, knocking it away from Ryu. The Wild GAO then became surrounded by Blue Sparks, and knocked Eve away from Ryu, then started to tickle him again. However, Kenny had thought up a Countermeasure for that tactic.

"Ryu, trap its tail between your arm and your body!"

Ryu did so, and the Wild GAO attempted to get out of this Hold on it, but failed to do so before Ryu grabbed the Tail of the Wild GAO, Rolled backwards, and then used his Momentum and his Feet to throw the Wild GAO at a nearby Tree as he let go of its Tail. the Impact was softened a little because the Wild GAO slowed itself down a little in midair, but it still hit the tree hard enough to knock it temporarily unconscious in its' weakened state, and it then slid to the Base of the Tree. Kenny knew that this was a golden opportunity, and threw a Full-sized Capsule at it.

I hope this works...

The Capsule hit the Wild GAO, turned it into Energy that went inside the Capsule, which then snapped shut, wobbled from side to side for a little bit, and then fell still. Kenny then picked up the Capsule and spoke to his Partners.

"Well, I'd call that a Success, wouldn't you?"

Ryu and Eve both nodded in response, but Eve seemed a little bit stiff.

---------------CAPTURE SUCCESSFUL---------------

Moves Used:

Unnamed GAO [the Species will be called "Emolga", but is currently Unnamed.] (2% HP Left, Level 20, Newly Captured): Spark, Tickle

Eve (44% HP Left, Level 18, Paralyzed): Quick Attack, Tackle

Ryu (100% HP Left, Level 18): Circle Throw (Failed to end the Battle because of the Level Difference)

Edited August 7, 2014 by K_H

[Flux]

Lars walked into the forest, feeling at home in nature. He had decided that he would continue north for quite a while. After all, if these GAOs were anything like normal animals, the bulk of them would be deep into the woods, away from the signs of civilization. And that is where he suspected he would find a strong one. Granted, he was a bit nervous about the fact that he'd have to defeat a stronger opponent first, but that was simply the cost he'd have to pay.

After a long while of walking through the endless trees, he came to what appeared to be the edge of the forest. He could see the rocky edge of a cliff or mountain. Upon reaching it, there were several noticeable caves all along its surface. He thought back to Clint's Pimparella.

"Well, she's a giant rock snake, and caves this big seem like a likely place for such a thing to live. There's probably all manner of huge creatures in there..."

He walked into the nearest cave. Due to its large opening, the sunlight penetrated fairly far inside. Still, he wouldn't be able to go too far before things got pitch black.

"I should've brought a light..." he muttered, before continuing on. There were definite signs of life here. Snake trails and unfamiliar footprints were etched into the earth. The light slowly dimmed as he continued further in, until eventually he reached it's brink. It was pitch-black now, and he had yet to encounter any GAOs.

"Shoot. They're probably all farther in..."

Just as Lars was about to turn around, his blood ran cold. He had goosebumps on his neck, but he didn't know why. He felt like he was being watched... --No, he was sure he was being watched. Something was in here... His hand reached down towards the capsules containing Dominance and Sleepy. Just as he touched them, something wet stroked the back of his neck, sending chills down him spine. It felt like... something licked him. He sprinted back towards the light before turning back towards the blackness. There was a deep laughter coming from within.

"Wh-who's there...?!" he shouted, he voice echoing across the cave walls. Something tapped his shoulder, but when he turned to face it, nothing was there. the same deep voice replied.

"Gastly..."

"Ghastly?" Lars thought, looking all around him for the source of the voice. "Ghastly what?" he called out. "I mean, when I'm short on sleep, I know I look pretty ghastly, but I can't even see you.

The was a shimmering in the air in front of his eyes as a dark shape took form. It was like the particles of the air were forming some kind of... gas. When the ball of gas was finished, a face slowly appeared on it. It had a malicious face that resembled a black orb, with two fangs in its mouth. The floating head was surrounded by a purple gas.

"Whoa, a ghost?!" Lars shouted, backing away. After a while, he inched closer to look at it.

"O-oh," Lars stammered. "You are pretty ghastly then." The thing's face took on a confused expression.

"Um, no offense. It's just... hmm. Maybe it's the fangs?"

"Gastly?" was its only reply.

"Now, now, don't get me wrong. It suits you," Lars said, a grin appearing on his face. "You're cool, in a scary, I'm-gonna-kill-you kind of way."

The apparition began to fly around Lars' head. It stopped by his face and licked his cheek again. Lars couldn't help but get goosebumps when it did that. It had a huge tongue, and the scary face didn't really help it as far as affection went.

"Um, do you want to come with me?" Lars asked. "I bet it gets lonely in this cave, with no one to, um, haunt?" The last part turned into a question, as he didn't really know what this guy did besides lick things.

"Gastly!" it replied, with energy in its voice. It flew a few feet away from Lars before turning to face him.

"Do you... want to battle? Is this like some sort of test of my strength? That's kind of cheesy, but suit yourself."

The ghost nodded.

"All right then." Lars grabbed Dominance's capsule from his waist. "Show him your stuff, Dominance!"

The Nidoran appeared in a flash of light.

"Let's start with your twin kicks!" Lars shouted. Dominance complied, jumping towards the gas ball and spinning around for his double-kick. However, the ghost didn't move; it simply stayed where it was as Dominance flew right through it.

"Um, what?" Lars muttered as Dominance got up from the ground. Apparently, such direct tactics weren't going to work against a ghost. "Try your needles next!" he called out.

The Nidoran crouched and leaned forward, shooting needles from its back. The gas creature dodged this time, but one needle managed to catch the black orb that was its face, sticking in place. However, the creature seemed to barely notice the wound. It's eyes began to glow as it made eye contact with Dominance. Dominance's eyes glowed as well, and he froze up. When the creature finally broke contact, Dominance fell to his side, apparently asleep.

Lars sighed. Despite being the more battle-oriented of his GAOs, it appeared that Dominance wasn't going to be able to take this thing. That left Sleepy. He brought Sleepy out of his sphere, appearing on the ground in front of Lars. Unusual enough, Sleepy appeared to be awake, as he was actually moving his arms around.

"Well, that's something," Lars muttered. "Still, wake up soon, Dominance." He turned back to the Abra. "All right Sleepy, try to get in that thing's mind if you can. It may not have a body, but it can at least think. The Abra's eyes began to glow, and the ghost immediately semed affected. It cried out as it flew through the air.

"Sleepy, stop," Lars said. He didn't like to hurt the thing that badly. The ghost flew over to Lars, apparently admitting defeat. He grabbed an empty capsule and held it up to the creature.

"So you want to come, then?" Lars asked, a smile appearing on his face. The ghost nodded and licked his cheek. Lars grinned and lightly tossed the sphere at the ghost. It opened and the GAO was sucked inside. Lars returned Sleepy to his capsule before walking by Dominance who appeared to be waking up.

"Sleep well, buddy?" he asked. Dominance stood up, but then began to glow. Lars took a step back, unsure of what was happening. The outline of Dominance was all that was visible in the bright light, but he appeared to be changing forms. Was this... the same evolution that had happened to the others' GAOs? The glow around Dominance dimmed, before fading away. The new GAO was impressive. He had grown bigger overall, but his front horn was especially longer. His legs looked more powerful, and there were more spikes along his back than before. Additionally, he had two fang-like teeth in his upper mouth.

"Impressive," Lars said as he took in the new form. It appeared that he finally had a level of strength similar to the others.

[Sutoratosu]

ERICK

Erick stood there silently as his Beldum hovered out to the center of the serene lake. He had gotten Genisa to teleport the three of them out here as soon as everyone else had started taking off into the woods. needless to say, It had saved him a hell of a lot of time getting all the way out here. he'd heard about this lake a few times in the past few months, heard that apparently there was some type of special fish living here... though as to what made it "Special" he hadn't the slightest idea.

"Good," he called out. Beldum had finally finished calculating the exact center point of the lake. "Now you know what to do."

No sooner than the words had left his mouth did the GAO turn it's cylindrical body vertically and begin to rotate, quickly gaining sizable speed, and increasing still. Within seconds, the thing's features became a mere blur as a crackling sound filled the air and hot sparks of electricity began to flare off, filling the surrounding air with dense Static.

"Fire!" Erick Ordered. The Beldum obeyed, firing the electric charge it had been generating with it's Electro-magnetic fields downwards into the surface of the crystal clear waters in an intense flash of golden light. Erick and Genisa both shielded their Eyes with their hands and took a few steps back, only taking them away when the glow died down from it's initial intensity. It was still there however, but Erick now realized that it wasn't beldum who gave off the light, but the lake itself. A sharp and loud series Pops and Crackles filled the air as a the Lake's face rippled and sloshed, completely ravaged by the power of the attack. a few moments later, the glow finally faded and the lake again sat calm... calm except for the fact that the bodies of several seemingly dead fish GAOs now began breaking the surface.

"I think..." Erick began, sighing. "that we may have just gone a bit overboard..."

None of them is dead. Genisa blurted into his mind. as if on cue, several of the bodies began to move and spasm, sinking back into the depths of the lake. It seemed the attack Beldum had used was intended to stun instead of cause damage.

"Then maybe we're not totally screwed." Erick replied. He heard something flopping at his feet, bringing his eyes down to find just the type of fish he was looking for. It matched what he had heard exactly: Fiery orange scales, White fins, wall eyes, and a pair of catfish like yellow whiskers. He reached into his belt,moving to retreiving one of the empty capsules, and the moment he'd taken his eyes of the fish, it had rolled itself to sit upright on the lake shore. Erick finally managed to find the sphere, bringing his attention back to the fish, who now stared at him and Genisa a bit menacingly. Surprisingly, it no longer had that un-intelligent, wall eyed stare from before.

"What?" Erick asked the fish mockingly. "You gonna do something, buddy?"

in response the fish simply bounced around on the sand a few times, which did absolutely nothing at all.

"That's what I thought." Erick continued, smirking now. he tapped the trigger of the capsule in his hand, bringing it to full size and reeling his arm back, preparing to throw it at the Aquatic GAO before him. Before he could move another inch, however, the Fish leapt up in the air higher than he was tall, a sphere of dark blue, crackling energy firing from it's mouth, heading right for him.

"Shit..." the young soldier under his breath, reaching into the pocket inside his uniform's jacket and feeling for the M-11 he'd stowed there earlier, only to remember as the sphere hurtled closer and closer to him that Clemont had taken it away. he gritted his teeth as he brought up his hands, preparing to shield his body from the blast he knew was imminent. he closed his eyes as the light of the sphere grew to a blinding intensity...

and he kept them shut for several seconds... and several seconds more... and several more after that. He finally forced himself to open them again, wondering why the attack hadn't landed. He saw standing before him... None other than Genisa, her arms outstretched and her eye's blazing Scarlet, sustaining a thick telekinetic barrier as the remnants of the attack faded into the air, sparks of energy still flaring up here and there. the smoke cleared, and the Fish was still sitting there, glaring at the two of them. Erick wasn't smirking anymore... he had to admit, he'd thought this thing to be pathetic when it had been just splashing on the ground... but now, after seeing it use an attack like that...

"Hypnotized that Fishy bastard!" He ordered Genisa, a bit harsher than he had intended to. She paid no mind to the tone of his voice, however, as her eyes maintained their scarlet illumination and she sent a hypnotic suggestion into the mind of the opposing GAO. There was resistance at first, more than she thought there would be, but she honed her concentration to a razor edge and the suggestion cut right through the mental wall that the Fish had been putting up. several seconds later, the Thing was still fighting against the influence in it's mind, but it was visibly losing, it's eyes eventually shutting as the fish rolled over to it's side and began snoring fitfully. Erick brought up the Capsule again, reeling his arm back and aiming carefully, he had the feeling he'd need to get this down with... that thing seemed to still be fighting against the induced slumber. He released the sphere into the air, watching as the thing flew in an arc and landed atop the Fish and bounced off, hinging open and blasting forth a torrent of light, breaking down the GAO into energy and then sucking it into the center of the capsule, promptly snapping shut and beginning to wobble on the ground. after about a minute, it sat still.

"Beldum, to me!" he called, kneeling down and retrieving the newly captured GAO's capsule. "We're done here."

The Metallic Creature obeyed it's master's orders without question, hovering from out over the lake back towards the shore line.

((And yes, that was a Dragon Rage Magickarp he captured. and yes, it is capable of knowing the move, but only through an event distribution that happened a few years back.))

Edited August 7, 2014 by Stratos

[Chevaleresse]

Nathan seemingly strolled through the forest, trying to exude a relaxed feeling. In reality, he was alert for any predators that might be lurking. Hopefully, they'd be big, nasty, and afraid of fire. He kept one hand on the capsule containing his Charmeleon, and another on the free capsule he would use to capture the beastie. The forest to the north seemed overgrown with some mean-looking bushes; whatever lived over there would be pretty used to pain and hopefully wouldn't object to battling. The pilot ducked off of the road shortly after the camp vanished from sight.

This trek reminded him of why he was a pilot and not a Marine or something. He despised this. His uniform was quickly covered in grass stains and was rapidly gathering tiny nicks and tears from the thrice-damned thorn bushes that apparently fed on darkness, pain, and human flesh. Nathan was tempted to start burning things, but he didn't particularly feel like explaining the rampant forest fire to his superiors. About a half hour into this impromptu hike, a stray root brought the pilot down to earth and a tangle of thorns, eliciting a wide selection of choice curses, insults, and other assorted expletives.

Apparently, the noise attracted some attention, because as soon as Nathan stood up, he needed to dive straight back into the offending bushes because a larger problem surfaced in the form of a blur of gray and red flying at his face. A screeching, almost metallic cry sounded as whatever it was wheeled around to have another go at him.

He immediately pressed the button on his capsule, releasing the angry lizard-thing within. "Blast it with fire," the pilot barked, and the Charmeleon complied, sending a withering gout of flames straight into the metal bird's flight path. It came to a screeching halt after crash landing. The animal looked like it was in pain, so Nathan tossed the capsule at it. "I'm sorry man, I'll get you fixed up. As soon as I get through this 'forest'. . ." He trailed off, realizing that he had to get all the way back the same way he came. With a sigh, he headed back to the camp and the medical facilities within.

[Ragnar]

Sid and his lion cub Luxio went really deep into the forest near the lake, hiding in the bushes, quietly scouting some GAO near the place. Sid notice this one particular Pokemon that stands out than the rest of them, a bipedal dark-blue goofy looking frog standing on rock near the shore. It was isolated and none of the GAO seems to approach the frog as it throws furious jabs in the air. "What in kermit's good name is that thing?a frog that knows how to throw haymakers?well i'm interested." Sid thought to himself as he grins.

"Ok, listen up you go the other way around and ambush this thing while i go distract it." Sid commanded Luxio as it silently moves around the bushes like a predator stalking its prey. Sid emerges from the bush and cautiously approach the frog. Croagunk suspiciously looks at Sid.

"Hey there buddy, i don't wanna cause any trouble." Sid said as he moves step by step trying not to scare away the frog. The frog took a glance at the boy as it bloats its cheeks and flips off the boy with a grin on its face. Sid winced for a bit at the gesture the frog has just show, but at least he got its attention. "Why you little... that's it, its go time, Vicious now!" Sid commanded Luxio to engaged.

Vicious pounce from out of nowhere and caught Crogunk off guard. The lion cub takes down the frog with its thunder fang, paralyzing it. But the poison frog wasn't to go down without a fight. Croagunk's fist glow as it secretes poison and delivers a one-two jab at Luxio as its last resort, Vicious went down on its fours and was badly hurt from the poison, Sid throws the pokeball at the frog to break up the fight and successfully caught it. Sid recalls Vicious in its capsule.

"Good job, Vicious. we'll get you medical attention as soon we get back." he tucks away Luxio's capsule in his pocket.

"Man what a pain in the ass" he sighed "I think i'll call you Venom. i think that name suits you well" he looks Crogunk's capsule as he grins.

Just as Sid was about to leave the Lake, the boy saw something glisten at the lake. He release Horsea to check what it is. Smoke dives in the water and retrieves what seems to be a dragon scale. Horsea seems delighted as she holds the dragon scale. "what the hell is this thing? you seem happy about it." Sid questioned his GAO as he takes the relic and put it in his knapsack for safe keeping. "Cmon, we got what we want lets get a move on" Sid recalls Smoke and started walking towards the camp's direction.

Edited August 8, 2014 by typhlosionrulez

[Ojama Yellow]

It was not Lionel's day. After he went into the forest, he had to run away three times from wild Pokemon. The first time was when Buddy came to close to a cocoon Pokemon, Kakuna, and two Beedrill appeared. He quickly recalled Buddy and made a run. The second time was when he tried to climb into a tree to see if there were any interesting Pokemon, and the Mankey that were in the tree got angry. The third time was...well, Lionel hadn't clearly seen what he ran away from. Something big moved inside the bushes, and two red eyes stared at him. Enough to make him flee again. "Sigh...isn't there anything I can catch here?" Then, he saw it. A mole was eating berries. Except that 1. moles weren't a feet big 2. moles didn't walk on two legs and 3. moles were practically blind.

The last point was quickly proven when the creature seemed to notice Lionel right off the bat, stuffed three berries in its mouth, and dug a hole to escape. It all happened so fast, Lionel didn't even release Buddy yet. "Maybe it isn't the biggest, or the strongest looking, but I am going to capture him anyway! Well, if I can find him again, anyway..." Suddenly, he heard a buzzing sound behind him. As he turned around, he saw the two Beedrill from before. "But first, I should train the muscles in my legs."

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

"Damnit, I've finally lost them." Lionel held on to a tree to catch his breath. "Now...to go and search for that mole again." He looked around and couldn't believe his eyes. The mole was taking a nap on one of the rocks right in front of him. Lionel quietly released Buddy, took out one of his capsules, and whispered: "Buddy, I'm going to try to catch it. If I would not succeed, try to weaken it a bit, ok?" The Slowpoke nodded. "Good." Lionel focused, then threw his capsule with full power at the mole. However, it wasn't as sleepy as he looked like, because as soon as Lionel threw the capsule, it jumped to dodge, and tried to dig itself in again. "Buddy, don't let him! Use your mind attack to throw it in the air, then hit it with your water attack!" Buddy's eyes glew blue-ish, and suddenly the mole was launched into the air. Then Buddy fired a water blast at it, which it dodged by spinning around rapidly. It landed on the ground and attacked Buddy with its claws, which looked harder than usual, almost like they were made of metal. "Buddy, watch out!" However, the Slowpoke reacted too slow, and the metal claw made contact. It didn't seem to do much to Buddy though. Then the mole began scratching Buddy simultaneously. "Buddy, counter with your water attack." Because the mole was still close to him, the water attack had a big impact. It was knocked against a rock, tried to get up, and felt on its back again, completely bewildered by its defeat. "Alright, you're not escaping this time!" Lionel yelled as he threw another capsule. The essence of the mole was sucked up by the capsule, and the capsule fell to the ground. It shook once...twice...trice...then they heard a click, confirming the capture was succesfull. "Yes! We did it, Buddy! We did it!" He picked up the capsule in which he caught the mole, and the one that missed. "Alright...now the only thing that's left is to get out of here."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Pineapple

[Sutoratosu]

ENYO

"Back it up," Enyo snarled. Before her stood a group of large Bird GAOs that had gotten a bit too close for comfort, they had just swooped into her path from the canopy as she had been walking.

they all eyed her ominously, creeping ever closer and ignoring her words. "I mean that," She continued, trying to maintain the forcefulness in her voice. But it was diminished a little when she glanced behind her and realized she had subconsciously began backing away from the group. They Vulture like birds continued to creep towards her, the red crests atop their heads blaring in high contrast with their brown feathers, They each opened their wings wide and held them at full length, then spreading out around her, as if to block her from escaping.

"I won't tell you again," She warned. But she knew that these things probably didn't even understand english. There was no way she could hope to fight them all with her bare hands... but she'd still try, There was no way in hell she'd go out without a fight. She readied her fist, assuming a fighting stance she had learned early on during CQC training. The Vultures responded by backing up a little, somewhat discouraged now that they knew their prey intended to fight, It seemed that they preferred for their meals to not resist, that they preferred to not have to expend the energy of taking their prey down. and that was fitting, seeing as how they were probably scavengers, just like the old type of birds they resembled. This observation gave Enyo another advantage... she might be able to take them on afterall, if they were driven to actively hunt instead of simply scavenge off of the meals of larger predators, then all four of them must've been starving... or at the very least, weakened for hunger. It also up the danger of the situation. A starving animal was a desperate animal. these things proved as much, taking the risk of confronting their target like this, even if they were in a group and she was outnumbered.

She took a bold step forward, only to be forced back as one of the GAOs rushed forward, buffeting it's wings and pecking at her until she retreated back to her previous spot.

"Looks like things are going to get interesting," Enyo muttered. "But I'm going to be the only one walking away from here." Her Eyes scanned the ground around her as she spoke, looking for a decent sized stone to use as a weapon. she had a plan to easily deal with all four of these feathered bastards... all by taking advantage of how desperate they were about keeping her from getting away.

ERICK

Erick stood behind a wide tree, peering out at the situation just a few meters away. it seemed that Enyo had gotten into a bit of tense situation,

Four Fearows baring down on her, about to attack at any moment now. He had taken a short walk after he'd finished at the lake, and had heard a commotion off in the distance... and he had found none other than the Lone Wolf of the Squad, pinned into a corner. He honestly wanted to help her, but knowing Greyjoy, she'd raise hell afterwards if Erick did something to directly intervene in the situation. He glanced around the woods around him, trying to find some way he could end this discretely, before it could escalate any more than it already had. He knew he was running out of time when he saw Enyo take a basic fighting stance and raise her fist.

"She doesn't have anything with her," Genisa spoke into his mind. He could see that her eyes were blazing scarlet, as if she was trying to scry the situation to find the best course of action.

"What are you talking about?" Erick asked in reponse, again wishing that he had the M-11 still with him as he failed to think of anyway he could break this up without being noticed.

"Her Capsules are both gone, She has no Partners with her". she explained to him as she glanced at the new capsule on his belt "In other words, she's completely unarmed except for her fist."

Erick followed her line of sight and stared down at the capsule containing the fish he had captured at the lake.

"I'm guessing you're going to suggest we give the fish to her?" he inquired, hitting the nail on the head when Genisa simply nodded. "Fine... Not like there's any other way we can help that won't get her pissed off..."

with that said, He reached down and detached the sphere from the magnetic holding slot on his uniforms belt, tapping the trigger and expanding it to full size. a second later, the Capsule was flying through the air, soaring over the Fearows' heads and landing at Enyo's feet.

"Thought I'd level the playing field a little," Erick called out, catching the young woman's attention "Four on one isn't right... so at least now it can be four on two." He then turned around and started again going about his way.

"Aren't We're going to stay to make sure she gets out of this alright?" Genisa protested. in his mind Erick could sense that she was genuinely concerned about the young woman's safety right now.

"Relax," he began. "We don't need to, Clemont's watching things, after all. If shit hits the fan, he'll step in to save her, I'm sure." Genisa still wasn't sold on that idea however. to her it just seemed plain wrong that they would leave Enyo to deal with this on her own. That was just one of the things that once being a human had made different about her from other GAOs; she had a sense of right and wrong, she could feel guilt.

"Leave no Man Behind." she uttered suddenly

"What?"

"Leave no man behind... that's one of the things your always preaching about, isn't it? how no one on the team should be left on thier own out in the field of operations?"

"Yeah... and to clarify, I don't 'Preach' about it, I just make sure to put some emphasis on the concept whenever it's needed"

"So why are you so prepared to do the exact opposite of that and leave her here? isn't she a part of the Team?"

Erick simply glared at the young Kirlia at that remark. he was beginning to get annoyed with this little debate.

"In case you haven't noti..." he began his retort, his voice trailing off as he saw what was going on with the situation with Enyo. Genisa noticed him staring and followed his line of sight, taking a tentative step backwards in fear as she saw what had made him go silent all of a sudden. The broken bodies of the Bird GAOs were scattered haphazardly around the clearing... and floating about a foot above the ground in front of Enyo was something that looked like a Sea Monster.

ENYO

"That was Impressive..." Enyo admitted as she gazed up at the Serpentine creature before her. she had used the GAO in the capsule that Erick thrown to her. She was not pleased when she first saw it, the thing had looked like a wall eyed fish. it couldn't have possibly been that powerful from the way it appeared. But she'd been proven wrong about that evaluation not once, but twice in just the last five minutes. the first time had been when the Fish had dodged when one of the birds had rushed forward striking repeatedly with it's beak by leaping high into the air and then countering by shooting some sphere of black energy at it, which had hit the aggressor spot on and sent it retreating, thoroughly deterred.

The second time had been when Another bird had rushed forward and struck the fish with a glowing wing, sending it flying into a nearby tree. but that had only seemed to piss it off, and a moment later it's entire body had started glowing and it had entered into metamorphosis... and turned into the thing now gazing down at her with a pair of angry, sulfuric yellow eyes. but that was just the beginning, after it had transformed, and without having to be ordered to attack, it had condensed the moisture in the air around it's tail and formed a spiraling stream of water around there, then had slammed it into the advancing birds and sent them flying through the air, their feathers soaking wet from the attack. it had taken them all out with a single blow. Now that... that was real power, and Enyo had no intention of returning this thing to Erick.

She began thinking about how she could get away with this GAO in possession as she held up the capsule for it and recalled the sea serpent to it's place. That's when she noticed Erick and his GAO partner, something called a Kirlia, standing there, staring at her.

"I guess I should thank you for helping me." she said, genuinely feeling some gratitude towards Erick. The young man seemed to be surprised by her words, as if he had been expected her to say something very different.

"Uh... no problem..." He responded, scratching his head a little. Enyo could tell that he was now re-evaluating something in his mind... probably her personality. then she recalled that over the past few months, there had been several times when someone on the Squad had tried to help her with something, she had angrily told them to scram. that was probably what Erick had been expecting her to do now.

"You...you can keep that fish... by the way." he finally manage to get out. Enyo stared at him... this had to be too good to be true... Him actually giving this thing to her to keep. He had to have some ulterior motive for this...

"What do you want?" She snarled partially in disgust, imagining all the things that could possibly be going through Erick's mind right now... if he was anything like his friend Clint...

"Whoa, whoa..." Erick replied by raising his hands up defensively. "Who said I wanted anything from you?"

She stopped in her tracks at that remark, remembering that Erick was one of the morally right Boy Scouts of the group, the Golden Boy on the team in the eyes of all their superiors, and only partially because of his skill, the rest because of who is father had been.

"Sorry about assuming that then..." she said, rather grudgingly though...

"It's no problem...," Erick answered "I just gave it to you since... well since you don't have anything else with you." Enyo's eyes lit up with suspicion at those words. she hadn't spoken of the issue of Absinthe and Bourbon being missing to anyone, so there was no way Erick could've possibly known about it.

​ "where'd you get this information" She demanded suddenly, crossing her arms and glaring at him, ready to scrutinize any answer he might give, but the response to her question didn't come as she expected it to.

"I sensed that your partners were gone and told him" Genisa answered in her mind. Enyo was startled for a moment until she realized that it was Erick's GAO that had sent the telepathic message. she just stood there, unable to think of something to reply with, a long silence beginning to form.

"Well..." Erick began finally, breaking the lack of sound that had been dragging on. "I guess I still need another new Partner to make up for the one I gave you, so I'd better get to looking again..." he directed his gaze to his Partner.

"Genisa," he began "care to save us the trouble of walking?" As soon as he made the Request, both he and his Kirlia dissapeared in a flicker of white, leaving Enyo standing there alone, the capsule for the fish...no, the sea serpent, in her hand. As she stood there, she couldn't help but notice the fact that Erick had called his Kirlia something different then the name he always used when addressing her... hadn't he named her 'Virtue' when he first got her? so what was with the sudden usage of the name 'Genisa'? oh well... it wasn't important right now. what was however, was that Enyo began searching for more members to again fill her party, and so she turned around and continued her trek into the Forest, pushing her way deeper and deeper into the dense underbrush.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Stratos

[Supernovae]

Clint sighed. He'd been in this open field area for a while, but all he could find were rodents and bugs. He looked back up at Pimparella, who was busy wiping the remains of a wurmple that had tried to make a move on her master off of her tail. "It's cool girl. We'll find something." But, just as he finished his sentence he felt a small tug on his leg, "What is it Rocky?" He turned around expecting to see the small Tyrogue, but instead there was another GAO.

It was pink ... and fuzzy ... and it had big blue eyes ... and it was just so freaking cute. It would have been any five-year old girl's dream, but unfortunately Clint was not a five-year old girl. Clint took one look at the thing and began to chuckle and kneeled down to look at it. "You're a pathetic little thing aren't you. It's time for you to go little puff-ball," he said while pushing the fuzz-ball away. However, much to Clint's dismay the new GAO wouldn't leave him alone. It quickly ran back up to him and jumped in the air, trying its best to hug Clint's face. "Get out of here!" Clint responded, grabbing the overly adorable puff-ball and punting it as far as he could.

The puff-ball yelped in a weird way as Clint punted it. It was almost like it said 'Jiggly' or something as it sailed through the air, several meters away. Clint smirked, hoping that the GAO would get the message. But, it didn't seem to be enough as the little fairy started running back to Clint. Clint looked up to Pimparella, who seemed to be enjoying the current situation as it laid curled up with a big grin on it's face. "Can you do something about this thing?!" He asked his own GAO, but the Onix lazily turned over and pretended to ignore the situation. Clint smacked his head as the pink creature jumped onto his back and hugged him. "Whatever..." he consented, when suddenly he felt another tug on his leg.

Clint cringed, fearing yet another fuzz-ball had taken a liking to him. However, much to Clint's relief, it was his own Tyrogue. The lizard had been sent into the thicker part of the woods to see if there as anything there worth catching, and apparently it had found something. The little fighter tugged on his master urging Clint to follow him. Clint complied and called back Pimparella. And started to follow Rocky, forgetting about the little puff-ball still on his back.

Rocky led Clint through the deeper parts of the woods, until they came to a small stream. Then Clint saw his prize. They were god damn bears, Rocky had led them too. In fact there were two of them fighting each other.

Clint couldn't have asked for anything better. He got down and started to sneak over to the two of them, hoping their fight would keep there attention while he tried to catch them. As he crawled he noticed his back get slightly lighter, but he paid it no mind. He was in position now as the two bears viciously clawed at one another. He took the empty capsule from his pocket and aimed carefully. His toss was crisp and perfectly aimed. It sailed through the air until he saw it.

The puff-ball had jumped into the air, directly into the path of the ball... Clint cursed loudly and rushed forward, but it was too late, the ball had captured it's target and the puff-ball was now the balls new occupant. Clint rushed forward and smashed the ball into the ground, cursing loudly at the smiling pink GAO. Unfortunately, this helped grab the attention of the bears. They turned to face Clint and his new partner and began charging.

Clint paused, terrified as the bears began rushing at him. However, despite his master's inopportune freezing up, Rocky knew what to do. The tiny fighting stepped between his master and the charging monsters and began to focus all of his energy into his fist. The bears grew closer. Clint finally came back to his senses, realizing the danger of the situation. "NOW!" he called out to the tiny lizard-fighter. The Tyrogue unleashed a massive punch on the first charging bear. The bear roared in severe pain as it was launched several feet backwards. Clint couldn't help but smile. Unfortunately though the good feelings wouldn't last. The punch left the Tyrogue open and the second bear took full advantage. It slashed viciously at the small fighter who reeled backwards, completely incapable of taking the attack from the much stronger GAO.

Clint screamed in rage as he saw the tiny fighters head smash into the ground. He rushed forward looking to defend his GAO and picked him up. It was admirable, but it certainly wasn't intelligent. By the time Clint had made it to his GAO the bear had made his way over to Clint. The bear roared viciously ready to make it's strike, when suddenly a strange song caught his ears. He turned around and caught his new pink GAO releasing an attack. It was .... singing? Clint went to turn back to face the bear, but suddenly collapsed.

___

Clint awoke several hours later to the sight of the fuzzball standing firmly on his chest, a dumb smile on it's face. Clint looked down and noticed he was still holding his injured Tyrogue and quickly pulled out its capsule and returned it to its home. Then he pushed the fuzzball off of him, looking around the field fearfully for the bears, but they were nowhere to be found. Clint looked down at his new GAO and sighed. "So I guess this is yours huh?" he said holding up the puff-ball's capsule. The pink GAO spun around in glee and jumped back onto Clint's back, hugging him for dear life. Clint sighed again, "Well I guess I gotta call you somethin'. You like to sing right? I guess I'll call you Diva or whatever." Diva hugged him tighter, as if to signify approval for its new name. Clint looked away, muttering to himself, "Well it's not like I needed that five dollars anyway..."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Supernovae

[Chim]

Ace and Logan made their way deeper into the forest. They had spotted some weaker looking GAO and one time Logan had to use Crush to defend against an angry Spearow and he hadn’t bothered recalling the Wartortle. A few minutes after their escape, they reached a small grassland. Logan didn’t know what he wanted to catch, but he imagined something bigger and more badass than Clint’s Pimperella. He couldn’t wait to see the latter’s face when he showed him.

Suddenly Ace rushed forward, waking Logan up from his daydream. “Ace, what are you doing?” he asked confused. “There is nothing to… Wait, is that a big leaf you’re chasing?” Logan and Crush looked on while Ace chased the leaf from left to right, tried to jump it, missed and started all over again. It was like watching a cat chasing a toy mouse. Crush seemed to enjoy the little spectacle, but Logan walked over and ordered Ace to stop.

The Leaf creature responded by rubbing its head against Logan’s leg to show its appreciation and he finally had a good look at it. It was small, pale green with red eyes and a leaf on its head.

“Aren’t you a friendly one,” he said scratching the creatures chin. “You remind me about those dinosaurs in the old movies…” Logan’s eyes lit up as he pictured the Leaf GAO turning into a powerful dinosaur. “Want to come with me?” he asked with a grin. It didn’t matter if it was a dinosaur or not, he liked the little thing. At least it didn’t look as troublesome as his other GAO.

Chiko chiko!

The GAO responded in a happy way, but Crush interfered. The turtle raised its paw while shaking its head. “You don’t think it’s strong enough?”

Crush nodded and pushed the green GAO away. The little thing responded and everything escalated. The two glanced at each other, ready to fight. Logan sighed. “If you really want to do this, I’m not stopping you. But this is your fight, not mine. I’m capturing it if it puts up a decent fight.” Crush nodded and released a spray of water. It didn’t seem to do much damage as the little green creature responded with shooting razor sharp leafs.

Crush took a lot of damage, tucked into its shell and started spinning. Logan was caught off guard. Crush had never done this before but it seemed to work; the remaining razor leafs were fended off as Crush, still spinning, slammed into its opponent. The little green GAO crashed into a nearby tree and for a moment seemed to be defeated, until it suddenly started to glow. Logan recognized it as metamorphosis. The little GAO grew bigger and the leaf on its head took the shape of a scythe. The buds around its neck were also bigger and it still looked a bit like a friendly dinosaur.

The newly evolved GAO got up and started to glow again. For a moment Logan thought it would evolve once again, but then noticed something was different. The creature wasn’t glowing but shining. The leaf, buds and toenails colored white as it was taking in sunlight. It ended as suddenly as it begin and Logan noticed its wounds were gone. “Did you just heal yourself?” he asked impressed. “Now I want you even more!”

Crush didn’t seem to like it as he started to attack again, but was forced out of the way when razor sharp leafs headed towards him. His opponent stayed on offense as it fired a purple cloud of dust at Crush, who was now standing in front of Ace. The turtle managed to dodge again, but the monkey wasn’t so lucky. It didn’t see the attack coming and was hit. Ace started to shake its head, jumped into a tree and swung its fist at the two fighting GAO.

The fight continued for a few more minutes, with Crush at the losing side, when Ace collapsed and fell out of the tree.

“Ace! What’s wrong?”

Logan rushed to the monkey’s side and took a look at the monkey. He didn’t know that much about healing GAO’s, but when he saw a faint purple glow on Ace’s face, Logan recognized it as poisoning. “He’s poisoned,” Logan mumbled to himself. “But how? He didn’t eat anything wrong…”

Crush and his opponent walked over while Logan searched in his back for medical supplies that could help. “I don’t understand how he got poisoned…”

Baay!

Logan looked up at his future partner and something clicked. “That dust cloud! It was poisonous, wasn’t it?”

The green GAO nodded before turning its attention to Ace. Its leaf and buds sprayed a new light blue cloud over Ace. (Aromatherapy)
Seconds later the monkey ‘s face cleared and it woke up, still visibly weakened.

“You healed him?” Logan asked. “Thanks!”

The wild GAO responded by rubbing its head against his shoulder. “You really are friendly. Want to come with us?” he asked while recalling Ace.

Yet again, the GAO seemed happy about the idea of going with Logan and this time Crush didn’t interfere. “I guess it’s settled then,” Logan said while grabbing the empty capsule and throwing it at the green GAO.

Logan grabbed the capsule after it rolled over once and clicked. He released his new partner. “What to call you? I’ve no idea what species you are or if you’re male or female…” That last remark resulted into a grumpy reaction. “Wow, looks like you’re female then! Sorry, I didn’t want to insult you.”

The female GAO stared at Logan with one eye before rubbing its head against his. “So you’ll forgive me then?” he asked with a smile. “Well, since you're a grass type and you have flower buds, I think I’ll call you Flora. What do you think, Crush?”

The grumpy turtle nodded in approvement, which was enough for Logan.

“Now let’s go back to base.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later they were stranded in the middle of the forest. Crush and Logan didn’t remember the way back so they followed each other and it got even worse when Flora didn’t know where they were either. Apparently she didn’t travel all that far in the forest and stayed rather close to her habitat.

Logan looked around. They were surrounded by trees and rocks and he saw at least five different ways they could go.

“Damn, I think we’re lost…”