Enter the Federation - The Quartet
Ability: Blaze (Water Continent Torchic Mutation)
All of User’s Fire Moves do 200% damage to an opponent
All Opponent’s Water Attacks do 0% damage to user
The Mystifying Forest is a mystery dungeon located on the Grass Continent several miles North Northeast of Capim Town. The forest is incredibly dim as a majority of the light cannot penetrate the thick canopy of the large and abundant trees. Due to this, bushes cannot grow. The ground is soft and muddy due to the pockets of nutrient rich water littered across the dungeon, which sustains the survival of clumps of flowers and tufts of grass in low light conditions. The grass and flowers cause the appearance of many species of bug, grass, and field Pokémon.
Four Combusken wandered through the woods, defeating all the dungeon inhabitants in their path. “This is taking forever, are we almost there?” groaned Gamma.
Alpha, the leader of the group, pointed to the bag, “You’re the one with the map and bag, why don’t you tell us?”
Gamma slapped her forehead. “Oh yeah, that right!” She quickly pulled the map from her cluttered bag.
“Tch! Moron…" muttered Beta.
“Huh?” She turned to him. “What was that I couldn’t quite hear you.”
“I called you stupid,” he unapologetically reiterated. “What, are you deaf too?!”
With her free hand, Gamma formed a fist emitting flames. “I dare you to come over here and say that!” she threatened.
“Both of you, zip it!” Alpha interrupted. “Gamma, check the map we got from those losers earlier and give us an ETA now.”
Intimidated by Alpha’s stern glare, she obliged and unfurled the map. The wonder map was a special tool that filled in paths and rooms of dungeon explorers, so they don’t get lost in the changing labyrinths the dungeons create. After checking the map, she, again, complained “Aww… it's still several floors away, and these dungeon mons don’t put up any resistance at all. This is sooo boring, it’s gonna take over an hour to get through this crap hole.”
“Speak for yourself, I quite enjoy the scenery,” said Delta, carefully examining her environment.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Beta asked. “There is absolutely nothing here to enjoy.”
“I disagree.” Delta took a deep breath and began to unload her thoughts and observations “I simply adore how dank it is here, although the musty odor is a minor problem. The texture of the decomposing grass on my feet feels magnificent. The way the water pools shape the dungeon paths is incredibly interesting. The only thing wrong about this dungeon is these stupid patches of purple flowers, ruining the style of it. On the bright side, setting them ablaze adds a much-needed smoky aroma.”
The other three members of the quartet stared in silence and confusion at her for a moment, until Beta chimed in, “Yeesh! I’m sorry I asked.”
“In case you haven’t noticed sightseeing or whatever that weird shit Delta did, isn’t our mission objective,” Alpha asserted.
“Umm…” Gamma scratched her head and shifted her gaze down nervously, “What are we supposed to be doing again? I forgot.”
Beta mumbled to himself, “Seriously, why an airhead like you was chosen for this mission is beyond me.”
Alpha shifted his attention back to Gamma and recited the mission briefing he was given back at the tribe, “A few years ago the cave in which we used to evolve was destroyed. Fortunately, the grass continent is home to Luminous Spring, which can grant us the power to evolve. But the spring is currently dormant, and Fath–” Alpha caught his slip up one syllable before it was too late, regained his composure, and continued. “I mean, The Chief believes that if we take some of the crystals from the destroyed cave and put them into the spring, they will temporarily reactivate the evolution light.”
“So that's what these are for,” Gamma said as she pulled five crystals out of her bag. Every Crystal was identical to one another. They were white and six inches in length and about two inches in width and depth. The crystals were hexagonal prisms with hexagonal pyramids capping both ends and, upon closer inspection, each crystal had small spiraling fractals coating their entire surface, when the sunlight hit them, they refracted a dim rainbow in eighteen directions. Gamma’s eyes lit up “Does that mean we’re gonna become super-cool strong Blaziken now?”
“No,” Beta replied, “we’re just going there to look at the spring.”
“Aww… really?” The glimmer in Gamma’s eyes faded as she was utterly oblivious to Beta’s sarcastic tone.
“Quit teasing her, Beta.” Alpha ordered. “Of course, we’re going there to evolve and then we should have enough power to raid the nearest town,” he assured.
“What’s the closest town from here?” asked Beta.
“The closest town to us is Capim Town, a town built inside a forest. It’s about half a day’s walk from here,” Alpha clarified. “I’ve never been, but I heard it gets lots of sunlight and I assume it's less humid than this place. Our informant noted that there are no records of any guild or rescue teams in the town, which makes it the perfect place to ransack.”
Gamma shot up into the air in excitement, “That sounds super fun!” she shouted. “I wonder what treasures they have there because want a big tiara and a gem encrusted necklace and some gold bracelets and …”
“Well,” Delta cut her off. “I’m interested in meeting Pokémon and exploring the scenery.”
“And I want to see that place burned to the rubble.” Beta aggressively declared with a burst of flames emanating from his fist.
“And I wanna finish this mission so we can go home as soon as possible, so keep the chit chat to a minimum.” Alpha snapped.
The Quartet ceased their talking immediately and resumed their trek deeper into the forest to reignite the evolutionary spring.
* * *
A Combusken sporting a red and white scarf and a badge in the shape of a clover ran at breakneck speed, through the humid Grass Continent grasslands.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” KFC shouted to himself in frustration. “All that stupid guild crap and Al kept me completely distracted. Why are any of those fire cretins here and why now?” He wiped the sweat off his forehead, “And why wasn’t Al more specific on where Luminous Spring was? I’m lost, Dammit! I should’ve asked for a map.”
Suddenly, KFC stopped in his tracks, “I’d recognize that smell anywhere, it’s fire.” He looked to the right. “I sense some Pokémon over there and they’re aura is fading fast.” He also noticed over the horizon a large forest on his left. “Damn, this’ll set me back, but I don’t have a choice.”
KFC took off to the right toward the weakened Pokémon. “I hope I have enough time for this,” he prayed. As he approached his destination, the soil became soft and wet, and beads of water became more plentiful on the blades of tall grass. “I think I see them,” he said, as he saw the four unconscious individuals in a circle of blackened and charred grass.
Upon arrival, KFC found that the Pokémon were heavily beaten. Each one was covered in a mixture of bruises, burns, and lacerations, even one of Simisage’s legs was bent backwards. They all had matching yellow scarves with a black line down the middle. Next to the Simisage was a bag which had been torn to shreds and each remaining piece of scrap was singed and covered in soot. There were no items to be found. In addition, every explorer’s badge they owned had claw marks and lacked the gem in the center.
KFC bent down and sat up the Simisage, who was still out cold, and examined her wounds, “(This team is hurt badly, how are they even still alive and why didn’t the fire spread?)” He thought.
He spotted the dew on the grass and realized “I don’t think anyone here can use rain dance, maybe they had a rainy orb, but they don’t normally have an area of effect this large. Well, whatever happened it prevented the fire from spreading and weakened the fire enough, so they didn’t die. That’s a pretty lucky break.”
“All I have is my escape orb, I guess I’ll have to make do with the crap around here.” KFC utilized the pieces of the bag and the team’s scarves to wrap and cover the cuts. To set Simisage’s fracture, he realigned and straightened the leg and took two non-burned sticks parallel to the leg and wrapped it all together. “There, done! This way their wounds are less likely to be infected and they won’t bleed out. I can’t do anything about the burns, but they won’t die. I’ll have to get them help later though.”
“Wait, what the hell am I doing?!” KFC bellowed. “This isn’t the time for me to admire my handy work, I’ve got a mission.” He dashed toward the large foreboding forest over the horizon at full speed. “Damn, I got distracted, again, Please! Please! Please! Let me catch them before something else bad happens!”
* * *
As the quartet pressed on, the trees became sparser, and the canopy grew thinner until they eventually stumbled upon an exit. Gamma, eager to evolve, was skipping along, several feet in front of the others “Hey look! I think I see a clearing up ahead, come on!”
Beta slapped Alpha's shoulder, “Hey, why in the world did you bring her? she’s such a little kid.”
“For one thing, it wasn’t my choice to bring her. However, even if it was, I still would’ve brought her,” Alpha replied.
Delta kept her eyes fixated on one of the trees near the clearing and asked, “You didn’t see her fight with that Pokémon on that exploration team?”
“No, I was busy dealing with that Mienshao.”
“Well...” said Delta, pointing to a tree near the clearing’s exit, “...you’re about to.”
Right on cue, a lone Drizzle emerged from the tree, blocking the quartet's egress. He was dressed in a black cloak with a matching black beret. Pinned to the hat was an explorer’s badge with a blue gem embedded in it, “Stop,” he demanded, “by order of the Federation this area is off limits!”
Unintimidated by Drizzle’s decree, the quartet moved closer toward the exit. “Get back! One more step and I'll be forced to attack,” he threatened.
“This is gonna be fun. Hey guys, watch me,” Gamma said as she took another step forward.
Alpha, Beta, and Delta did not move an inch as Drizzile yelled at the top of his lungs “I warned you!” Then he unleashed a large torrent of water which engulfed Gamma completely. Slowly, steam began to rise from the hydro pump.
Alpha stared intently at Drizzile’s face, “Watch what happens next, it's my favorite part.”
After several long seconds, the hydro pump lost pressure and the water spewing out of his mouth subsided. “Wh– Wh– What the hell?” he nervously sputtered as he realized that Gamma, who was in extended contact with water, was completely dry and unaffected by the attack. “That has always worked! You’re a fire type and not damaged at all,” Drizzle’s expression contorted into one of shock and fright and his entire body began to quiver.
Alpha pointed and laughed “Hahahaha! Look at him, the fear on his face, the tears in his eyes. Ha! Even His legs are shaking.”
Beta kept his arms folded and coldly remarked, “Imagine being such a coward, you completely break down after one failed attack. Pathetic!”
Everyone started to approach Drizzile as he took a step back then he slipped on the mud causing him to tumble on his back onto the ground. Gamma suddenly bounced onto the fallen Drizzile. she had his arms and legs pinned, so Drizzile struggled in vain as her grip remained firm. While maintaining direct eye contact, she pressed her beak up against his face and said, “Hiya, my name’s Combusken although we’re on a mission right now, so I'm going by Gamma! Anyway, it has been super boring so far. Can you entertain me for a bit?”
Confused and terrified by Gamma’s high-pitched and fast paced speech, he could only muster a “Huh?” as she cloaked her body in fire that lit up the forest in a vibrant orange and yellow hue.
Then, the fire grew bigger enveloping Drizzile’s being entirely. The flames began to form small, slowly expanding burn marks all over his body, while he could only struggle and cry out in pain. Even his outfit was turned to ashes which blew away in the wind.
Delta took it as an opportunity to carefully examine Drizzile and the results of the attack. “Ah, do you smell that? There is something about the fragrance of burning water types that cannot be replicated, it’s wonderful. Even the way water types burn is different. It’s a lot slower and the burns don’t expand from one single spot but form small blotches all over the body. I wonder what’s happening to his internals, as the burns progress?”
“Gross, there are reasons why women should stay silent,” Beta remarked, in response to Delta’s analysis. “Gamma!” he shouted, “this is taking forever, finish it already!”
“You're so impatient, that you can’t even take the time to smell the roses,” Delta said in an overly dramatic tone.
The flare blitz vanished, and Gamma stayed cheerful the entire time. Drizzile had several spots of burnt skin which looked like blackened chips, as he rapidly faded in and out of consciousness.
Beta grumpily exclaimed, “He’s defeated, end it now!” Gamma disregarded his disgruntled demands and continued to remain focused on Drizzile.
“That was a fun warm up,” Gamma punned. “Hey, don’t pass out on me now!” She slapped him across his face repeatedly in an attempt to revitalize him. “Come on! What would you wanna do next?” she asked. However, Drizzile remained catatonic and after several seconds of this, she finally relented, “Fine, I’ll pick again.” She thought hard for a few seconds until she declared, “I know! Wanna see how far your arm stretches?”
Delta chimed in, “I’d very much like to observe that as well.”
“Great!” She let go of Drizzile’s right arm and stood up on his chest. Then, she picked up his left arm and tightly gripped it with both of her hands. “Ready? 3… 2… —”
As Gamma was about to start pulling, Beta rushed in with his right fist, which was spewing lightning, and bashed Drizzile’s face in one swift punch which rendered him lifeless.
Gamma leapt off Drizzile and pushed Beta back. “Hey, what did you do that for?!” She whined. “Things were starting to become fun.”
“I concur! I would have very much enjoyed observing that,” Delta said as she bent down to examine Drizzile’s body. “Although, you can learn a lot from a simple punch too.”
“You’re strong,” Beta explained. “I’ll give you that, but he already lost, both physically and mentally. There was no point in drawing that pathetic excuse for a life out any longer than necessary.”
Unconvinced by his reasoning, she complained, “Alpha, say something. I was having my turn and Beta ruined it!”
“No. he’s right we really should get going and besides…” Alpha’s face contorted into a smirk, “... I already got what I wanted out of it.”
“Hey!” Gamma began to pout, “That’s not fair!” Tears welled up in her eyes.
Alpha paid her no mind. “Now let's get those crystals into that spring,” he ordered as he and Beta headed toward the clearing.
Delta tapped on Gamma’s shoulder and whispered in her ear “Don’t worry, I’m quite sure that you’ll have more fun later, all you have to do is be patient.”
“R-really?” she sniffled.
Delta responded with a wink and a “I promise,” which seemed to brighten her mood. Gamma wiped away her tears and was ready to catch up with Alpha and Beta.
“Oh! Delta” Alpha shouted from a distance, “remember to grab the orb from that one’s badge. they’re worth a lot of money.”
Delta meticulously pried the blue orb out of the badge on the black beret. Once she pulled the orb from Drizzile, she stuffed it into Gamma’s bag in exchange for a stun seed.
“What’s that for?” Gamma pointed at the seed.
“It’s something for later,” she smiled.
Gamma and Delta caught up to Alpha and Beta and together they all entered the clearing. The site was green with lush grass and unlike the mystery dungeon it wasn’t muddy at all. There were several rocks off to the side surrounded by the tall grass. In front of the quartet, there was a trail that led to Luminous Springs. In the center of the clearing was a conspicuous pile of leaves.
“Hold it,” Beta ordered. Then, he approached the pile of leaves slowly, bent down and prodded them with the small stick next to him. After poking the leaves for a moment, the pile of leaves made a loud snap and all the leaves, and a broken grid of sticks fell into a large pit below.
“Brain dead idiots!” Beta ranted, “who’d be stupid enough to fall for something as juvenile as this?”
Back to her normal chipper self, Gamma responded, “Not us, we’re too clever,” as she tripped on a rock and began to fall into the hole. Luckily, before she fell in, she felt a sudden tug on her bag’s strap and was pulled back to safety on the ground.
Gamma pulled herself back up and brushed off the dirt, “Thanks, Alpha! That could’ve really hurt,”
Alpha ignored Gamma while rummaging around the bag he saved. After digging around for a little bit, he pulled the evolution crystals out of the bag, “Got them.” The sunlight in the clearing was strong enough that the crystals began to shoot off much more vivid rainbows than the ones it did in the dungeon.
Delta, who had been starting at the hole throughout the ordeal, pondered for a moment and turned to Beta, “The question you should have asked is ‘who thinks we would fall for a trap like this;”
Bet’s eyes grew wide as the realization quickly swept across his face, “Are you implying this trap was laid specifically for us?”
Delta nodded, “Precisely, I wonder where they are now.”
Alpha tucked the crystals underneath his arm. “Well, there doesn’t appear to be anyone here now.” Alpha looked around until he spotted the path on the other side of the clearing, “Luminous Spring is supposed to be over there, and I'm going to go drop these crystals in, but it’ll still take a day until the spring is fully reactivated,” Alpha’s voice became louder and more a
assertive, “So while I’m gone, I’m gone I want Beta to fill in the hole, Gamma to reorganize the bag, and Delta to set up the camp.”
Beta filled the hole with rocks and dirt, Gamma dumped out the contents of her bag and began to organize them, and Delta sat down and stared deeply into the forest while Alpha set off to Luminous Springs.
* * *
KFC came to a sudden stop once he arrived at the Forest, where there was a dirt path that led into the dungeon and boulders that bordered the entrance into it. Leaning on one of the rocks was a Pokémon, Gothitelle. She was tall with piercing blue eyes and a large black dress with white bows down its center. Her attire included a gray infinity scarf, and a white armband with a red cross. She also had an explorer’s badge with a silver base and bright yellow gem inside.
“Hey,” KFC said while catching his breath, “Please tell me that this is the Mystifying Forest.”
Gothitelle got off the rock and stood straight up, in between KFC and the dungeon entrance, “It is. However, I can’t let you pass, you see there are some violent criminals that we trapped in there and we are waiting for someone to clear them out.”
KFC peered around Gothitelle's large statue, clearly antsy to get into the forest. “I’m probably the guy who’s supposed to do that. Now, could you move?”
Gothitelle didn’t move an inch, “I’m going to need some proof before I take your word for it, (especially because you look exactly like the criminals we’ve trapped.)”
“Look I have this,” KFC pointed to the clover badge attached to his scarf.
“What do you take me for, an idiot? I know a fake badge when I see one. I should detain you just for wearing that.”
KFC was shocked. “It’s a fake! (Actually…)” KFC thought, “( …It makes sense, why would the federation give badges to an unsanctioned guild? I guess I didn't really think about it.)”
“Alakazam sent me! I’m the one who specifically told him to keep an eye on them. Let me through, I don’t wanna fight you.”
“Listen,” Gothitelle explained “I am under strict orders to not let anyone without Federation authorization into this dungeon. Since you cannot provide me any tangible evidence of your association with a Guild or Exploration Federation, I must ask you to leave. If you attempt to pass me, I will use force to stop you.”
“(Dammit, why didn’t Al tell them who I was? He may be an ass but he normally is pretty diligent and thorough when it comes to giving mission details.) Who even gave you this mission order?” KFC asked.
Gothitelle sighed. “It’s none of your business but, if it will get you out of here faster than I’ll tell you that it was my Guildmaster, Wigglytuff.”
“(This is hopeless! I could tell her I’m an Aura Guardian trainee, but even amongst the highest ranked in the Federation only a small selection of individuals know what that is. Al told me instead to say I’m a part of a broader position. Aura Guardian falls under the category of…) S-se-secret rank!” He sputtered.
“Huh?!” That phrase caught Gothitelle’s attention.
“That’s right!” KFC put his right hand over his heart, “I’m secret rank.”
Gothitelle scowled, ”I can tolerate impersonation of a normal exploration team, but I can’t let impersonation of a secret rank officer slide, so you’d better give me proof at once”
“(Proof… proof… proof… Oh crap!) Is this what you want.” KFC pulled the top of the scarf down revealing a small golden star pin. “(Al gave that to me when I met him in Lively Town him, but I completely forgot about it until now.)”
Upon seeing the pin, her attitude did a full 180° turn. “I’m sorry, sir, go right this way.” Gothitelle politely moved to the side.
KFC cracked a smile, “(‘sir?’ If I knew I could get others to react like that, I would’ve pulled rank more often.)”
Gothitelle’s hair started to emit psychic energy, “Oh! Hold on a moment, I’m receiving a psychic communication from the scouts at Luminous Spring.” She closed her eyes and held her hand to the side of her face. After a moment, she shouted “WHAT?!”
KFC, who was one step away from entering the dungeon, was taken aback by the outburst. “What’s wrong? Care to fill me in?”
“One of the Scouts is missing, and the pitfall trap didn’t work,” Gothitelle sheepishly replied.
He facepalmed, “That was the measure Wigglytuff, put in place, a lousy pit trap. Who’d be stupid enough to fall for that?!”
“You’d be surprised how often they work.” Gothitelle smiled, “Don’t worry there is a silver lining,”
“(Between forgetting crucial mission details and this, I’m starting to think Wigglytuff needs to have his head examined. Hopefully he didn’t leave anything else out that might be important.) And that would be?” KFC asked, becoming increasingly impatient.
She elaborated in a strong monotone voice, “Well, sir, there are four in the group and the one who we think is the leader split off, presumably to check on Luminous Springs, so our team is going to split in half and take them by surprise.”
“That could work, how many scouts are there, and do you know of their skill level?”
“There were nine, but only eight are accounted for. In terms of skill all the scouts have achieved diamond rank.”
KFC looked puzzled, “What does that mean in?”
“Well, it means they are seasoned explorers with several missions under their belt, most of them have evolved at least once and can hold themselves in a fight especially if they have the numbers advantage. So do you think we should attack?”
“(There are eight and all are diamond rank. Based on what Gothitelle told me, the worst-case scenario is that they can only hold them off and wear them down, which buys time for me. Ugh, I don't have time to think about this any further.) I think it's worth a shot,” KFC said confidently.
“I’ll notify them right away. Do you need anything else?” Gothitelle pointed to her armband, “I’m a trained nurse, so I can restore your health if you’d like.”
A wave of realization came over KFC’s face, “I’m fine, but a few miles south there is an injured exploration team, so take care of that.”
She swiftly replied with a salute, “I’m on it!”
As he entered the Mystifying Forest, KFC thought, “(Note to self: flaunt secret rank status more often.)”
* * *
Alpha came to the end of the path and arrived at Luminous Spring. Three waterfalls flowed into it while four streams flowed out. The greenery was a much deeper green than in the clearing and the water had a teal hue. The air about the spring felt mystical and intense, but not too overwhelming.
He walked up on a flat stone, at the edge of the spring and dumped all the evolutionary cave crystals into it creating a small splash. As the crystals fell to the bottom, a bright light erupted from the center of the spring and after a fraction of a second the light vanished. “At least I know its working, I’d better get back to—”
The tall grass rustled, and four Pokémon emerged behind the large boulders, all of whom were wearing a black cloak and beret. “Attack now!” the Malamar screamed. And as the scouts closed in Alpha smirked.
* * *
At the clearing, Beta was stomping on dirt. “Finally, that stupid hole is filled in,” he said triumphantly.
Gamma tucked away the last wand into her bag, “Our bag is all organized, it even looks like I could fit another bag’s worth of stuff in here. I wonder what I should do now.”
“Alright,” Beta turned to Delta, “did you set up camp yet?”
Delta remained silent. She had been sitting in the same spot, patiently waiting, her eyes still fixed on the forest in front of her.
Seeing that she had not made any progress on her task, he approached her, “Hey Idiot, do you have rocks in your ears? I’m talking to you!”
She remained calm, and kept her eyes on the forest, “Setting up camp now would be a waste of time. You can do it yourself if you feel so inclined.”
Upon hearing her proposal Beta’s heat rose, charring the small section of grass he was standing on. He stood in front of Delta and picked her up grabbing her by the scruff of the neck. “Setting up camp is your job, not mine. Gamma and I have already completed ours, so get started on it now unless you want me to pummel you into a viscous red paste,” he threatened.
She smiled as she was thrown to the floor. “As I told you, setting up camp now would be a waste of time.”
Delta got back up as Fire raged out of Beta’s body, “Listen here you stupid bitch, “What makes you think th—”
“Get ‘em!” Rhydon, one of the four scouts, roared, as they closed in on the trio.
Gamma and Beta jumped into action, and once Delta adjusted her gaze onto the Grumpig, in the back of the scouts’ formation, her grin widened. She leapt past Rhydon who had been knocked to the ground by Beta’s head punch and ran under Hawlucha who was attacking Gamma from above. Grumpig’s black orbs were glowing blue, clearly preparing a psychic assault. At the moment of execution, he felt a large slash cut deep into his skin on his abdomen, which caused his mouth to open slightly, allowing Delta force feed him the stun seed she had been saving. The glow on his black orbs faded, as he was locked in place, unable to move a muscle. Delta’s right claw was stained a deep red. “It is a pleasure; I cannot wait to learn all about you.”
She swept his legs and carefully set the immobilized Grumpig onto the soft grass. While Gamma and Beta kept the other scouts preoccupied, Delta walked around her experiment thoroughly examining his proportions and features. “Are these black orbs what you use to control your psychic abilities?” She asked. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
Delta tugged on one of the orbs, however it remained attached to Grumpig. “They don’t seem to wanna come out, but that's nothing I can’t fix.” Grumpig, still paralyzed, eyes widened, and pupils constricted, as Delta's claws grew dark as night, and inched closer to the orb on his forehead.
As Grumpig was being cut, Gamma managed to hit an airborne Hawlucha with a spell from a blue wand which had four branches coming off its base and a single leaf. Hawlucha’s attack slowed dramatically and as he came crashing down Gamma was easily able to avoid him.
Hawlucha quickly recollected himself and started to get up. The second he was back on his feet Gamma wrapped her left arm around his neck and repeatedly punched him in the side with her fiery right fist. “(This is a great way to kill some time until Alpha gets back),” she thought. He began to shake back and forth violently struggling to get her off his back,
“Get off of me you little twerp!” Hawlucha screamed. As Gamma’s grip loosened, her foot claw got on his bag. She was flung from his back with both bags, then she landed and slid on the ground for a few feet leaving a trail of burnt grass.
Gamma brushed off the dirt and ash on her plumage. “Hey, that was rude to say,” she complained, while dumping the items from Hawlucha’s bag into hers.
Gamma threw the empty bag onto the ground “Thank you,” she smiled.
He scowled, “I’m going to enjoy smashing you into the dirt, you waste of life!”
Gamma’s fire grew brighter, and she blitzed toward Hawucha, who readied his guard, “No need to be so aggressive,” she yelled.
Once she got close, he caught her. His muscles tensed and he began to be pushed back by the sheer force she was exerting. However, he managed to push up and bend backwards, deflecting her into a tree behind them.
Gamma struggled to get to her feet and Hawlucha, once again, lept into the sky to charge his move.
“Wow, you’re so high up,” Gamma commented while snacking on a sitrus berry, “but I bet I can go higher.” She bounced high into the air, several feet above the glowing Hawlucha.
Hawlucha gazed up at the Combusken in surprise, “No way!” The light that enveloped Hawlucha quickly faded as he lost concentration. He began to glide away from Gamma’s range, but the effects of the wand were still in effect, and she came spiraling down into him. They both slammed into the Earth creating a small creator. Hawlucha broke her fall leaving him unconscious with serious damage and her with little injury.
Beta’s earlier kick rendered Rhydon incapacitated, freeing him up to focus on fighting Golisopod. She kept up with an onslaught of strikes from her razor-sharp shell, but he was unscathed because every slash was vaporized into steam the instant before it made contact.
“Tch! Pathetic trash,” he scoffed. “What a waste of my time.”
Golisopod shifted her weight back to take a defensive stance, “Why isn’t this working?! We weren’t told that you’d be immune to water.”
“That’s not my problem.” Beta rushed toward her, and his left fist became enveloped in fire while his right one discharged a vast amount of electricity. He closed in on Golisopod as she was ready to defend a head on collision, but he dashed around to her back and unleashed a flurry of thunder and fire punches to the space between her caprese and lower shell.
The force of the attacks in combination with her stance, made her lose balance and fall forward so hard that she somersaulted onto her back. She struggled to get back to her feet and Beta seized on the opportunity. He kicked her up into the air and as she reached the apex of her ascent, he unleashed a wide stream of flames from his beak hitting the top of her shell.
In a desperate bid to strike back, Golisopod spun back around and fired a shot of mud from her mouth into the flames. As the clump of mud traveled down into the fire, the water boiled and evaporated, which caused the mud to harden turning it into a hard rock, which smacked Beta directly in the face and shattered “OW!” Beta was dazed for a brief moment, which allowed Golisopod to fire sharp pins three times.
On the fourth attempt he had regained his senses right as she was going to hit the floor, so he got under where Golisopod was going to land and held up his arm and formed an electric fist.
Golisopod couldn't dodge in the air and didn’t have enough time to release another attack or even reposition herself. She collided with the fist where she was unarmored, dealing massive damage. Beta set her down to the side so he could deal a final blow.
Golisopod’s instincts kicked in, she scrambled to her feet and as she turned to make her emergency exit, Beta cut her off and delivered a clean thunder punch to her head. Golispod’s shell cracked open, and she collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Beta turned his back to his fallen foe, “A coward to her last breath, what a worthless thing.”
“So you guys got ambushed too?” asked Alpha reentering the clearing.
The fire Gamma was producing receded and Hawlucha’s body was burnt beyond recognition. “Uh-huh, we’re just finishing up, it was fun while it lasted.”
Grumpig had been cleanly dissected, several organs were placed neatly on the ground in each in their own section. “I will assume you had no trouble with the ones who attacked you,” Delta said while finishing her examination.
“It was no trouble, once one went down the others started to panic then it was a matter of picking them off one by one,” Alpha boasted.
Rhydon twitched a little due to staying still for so long, unfortunately Alpha noticed from the corner of his eye. “Hey, you guys missed one.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to him,” Beta groaned. “This one’s more cowardly than the other, at least she actually fought.” Fire swilled in his mouth as he aimed to incinerate Rhydon.
The flames spewed from Beta’s mouth and the tall grass shriveled up from the heat. The flamethrower was about to connect until a large sphere of irradiating energy, held by KFC, blocked it. The flames cascaded off the orb in four distinct directions away from Rhydon, but it ignited the forest. “Get out of here now!” KFC managed to shake the one escape orb he had out of his scarf.
“B–” Rhydon tried to speak.
The ball of energy KFC was generating began to shrink, “Now, dumbass, I can’t maintain this forever!”
Rhydon activated the orb and was warped out of the dungeon by a bright light.
Beta ran out of stored fire and the flames halted a moment before the orb in KFC’s hands dissipated into nothing.
KFC’s stomach twisted and was visibility repulsed by the corpses scattered across the clearing. The tension was palpable and only strengthened by an uncomfortable silence, until Gamma chimed in, “A Grass Continent Combusken, I never fought one of them before. This’ll be fun.”
Alpha stared back at KFC, “Hate to burst your bubble, but he isn’t from the Grass Continent. He’s family.”
Delta was itching with excitement, “(At last, I can get my answer, who would’ve thought… here of all places)”
KFC grit his beak, his muscles tensed, and his eyes shot daggers at the quarter. “Don’t you dare call me that!” he shouted back. “Everytime… Every damn time! I try to do one good thing, it's immediately overshadowed by hundreds of atrocities you commit on a daily basis.” KFC clutched his scarf, “The only one I'd consider family is already dead and I’ll make sure his wish comes to pass. And to do that I’ll wipe out every last one of you.”
Alpha grinned, “You always liked playing the big tough guy, didn’t you?”
“I’m not playing, I’m Karma For Cretins, like you.” KFC dashed into the group and threw a right hook into Alpha’s head. Alpha was pushed back as Gamma bounced into the air and began to rummage around in her bag, Beta and Delta dodged backward.
“No you don't,” KFC launched a ball of aura upwards and it collided with Gamma’s bag, disintegrating it and all the items inside.
“That was all my stuff you jerk,” Gamma yelled, as she dove down aiming for her target. At the same time Alpha and Beta charged fire and electricity in their fist, respectively, while they closed into attack. KFC and Delta waited patiently. Then, he jumped to the side, dodging Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Unfortunately, he got hit with Delta’s claw and a large gash formed on his back. Alpha, Beta and Gamma were unable to stop their momentum in time. Alpha fire punched Beta, Beta thunder punched Alpha and Gamma fell onto both of them.
“Don’t get in my way,” Alpha said.
“Hey, watch it!” Gamma said.
“Pathetic, it’s clear what he’s doing,” Beta said.
Gamma tilted her head, “What’s that?”
“Idiot, he’s trying to use our lack of teamwork against us,” Beta replied.
“For now we’ll take turns. as soon as I finish an attack, I’ll pull back, then Beta strikes, then Gamma goes and finally Delta,” Alpha insisted.
Beta and Gamma both nodded in agreement.
Delta’s naturally soothing, yet eerie, voice became harsh and shrill as she shouted, “No, I’ve had to wait far too long for this day, and I’m tired of being patient, so all of you stay out of it or who knows what or who I might cut.” Delta slid her hand in front of her neck as a threat to her team.
Gamma was shocked by Delta’s sudden shift in demeanor, “What’s going on? She’s usually so collected; I’ve never seen her act like that.”
Alpha held out his arm, signaling Beta and Gamma to stop attacking. “I think I know what she wants, Therefore, it's in our best interest to stay back.”
Delta’s attention was, now, solely fixed on KFC.
The cut on KFC was shallow, so it drew little blood. “(How was she able to detect what I was doing perfectly and what is she planning? It sounds like she wants to fight one on one, if that’s the case, this could be a great advantage,)”
She looked back at KFC and in her normal voice said, “They won’t get in the way, as long as you only focus on me that is. Anyway,,,” She slashed again, but KFC avoided it. “Nice to see you again,” she smiled.
“We’ve never met.” KFC's first aerial ace missed Delta, but the second one cut into her thigh.
Delta’s claw grew dark and began to slash more violently and more rapidly. “You never saw me, but, at Serene Village, I saw you.”
“What’s your point?” KFC spun his arms around in a deliberate manner and a bright flash of energy swirling like dancing swords around his body, sharply honing his mind and skills.
“I could never have predicted you’d be here, you were the only one to be rejected and survive and…” her voice turned gritty and unsettling, again, “...I want to know why.”
Delta’s smile widened to an unsettling degree, her pupils constricted to pinpoints, her assault became increasingly unfocused. KFC concentrated his aura into his right claw, easily moving around every swipe, “(I wanted to make them suffer, but this is ridiculous and sad. It’s almost as if she is baiting me to hit her.)”
On a downward strike, Delta’s chest was exposed, leaving herself open and in one swift, clean punch, KFC pierced straight through it.
Delta saw the hole with a fist still rammed in it, causing her to suddenly snap out from her frenzy. “So that’s the answer… a simple punch can explain so much…” she mumbled.
As her body burned away all its energy, flames erupted from her right hand. With the few seconds of life, she had left, she swung her claw. KFC tried to pull back, but she held his arm that was still in her chest. Instead, with his free hand, he guarded his heart, but her claw shifted its trajectory upwards, stabbing him in his left eye. Delta let go and reflexively, KFC jumped away, ripping the eye, and severing its connection from the body.
As Delta’s body sank to the floor, he covered his eye with his hand. “MY FUCKING EYE!!!” he screamed.
“Finally, she’s dead, it's about time,” Alpha laughed. KFC was left with his guard down, Alpha seized upon the opportunity and overheated his body then spewed a great torrent of fire with his full energy, blasting him and spreading the fire in the forest further.
KFC sustained a severe burn, and was shaking, but remained standing. “(‘about time?’ He doesn’t even care, none of them do even if it’s their own teammate. I guess there was still a part of me that thought they had any decency. Lesson learned!) Is that the best you got?” The air around KFC grew intense as his aura became exponentially more potent. “I know a horny Cyndaquil who can hit harder than that!”
“You heard him,” Alpha pointed at KFC, “same plan as before, sans Delta.”
Gamma bounced into the sky shooting large bursts of fire ‘大’ down. KFC danced around them again, further honing his mind and skills. Alpha closed in cloaked in a fireball twice as massive than the one Gamma uses. KFC waited until Alpha was close enough then uppercutted him into the sky making him smash into Gamma as they spiraled into the dirt. Beta charged at KFC letting loose his thunder and fire punch flurry. As KFC weaved around the attacks, he launched a pulsing blue sphere from his right hand. He tilted his head to the side and the aura ball flew past him, until KFC swiped down with his right arm and the ball turned around and smacked Beta in the back of the head causing him to fall into the ground.
KFC began to cough and was short of breath. “(What the hell? There is no way I’ve used that much energy yet.)” He noticed that fire and smoke enveloped the entire clearing. KFC covered his beak and nose with his scarf, “(Even with the scarf, my body can’t handle this level of smoke for much longer. I have to finish this now!)”
Gamma missed a Flare Blitz attack by a wide margin, quickly followed by several of Alpha’s kicks that also missed their mark. “Come on, coward, show yourself!” Alpha yelled. “(Their lungs are probably used to smoke and fire from attacking with it all the time, but if they’ve never had a fight go on this long then they…)” KFC tightly shut his eyes and sensed the three figures standing next to each other.
“I’m right here!” KFC dashed in and kicked Alpha in the face with bright blue energy leaking from his claws.
Beta spun in place breathing out a beam of fire. KFC was hit twice with a small section of the flames, before detonating a sphere of aura beneath his feet and escaping into the sky.
“(Alright this is my chance!)” KFC repositioned himself over Beta, who was still spinning around. On his descent, he concentrated all the energy his body was emitting into his hand and flipped upside down, so it was aimed for Beta’s head.
The luminous quality of concentrated aura pierced through the smoke and Beta took notice, then redirected his flamethrower upward. “Just a little further!” KFC winced as the flames formed larger burns across his arms, legs, and face.
At incredible speed, KFC slammed his fist into his skull, shattering it to pieces and snapping his spine. As the smoke grew thicker and the fire more vibrant, what remained of Beta laid deceased.
Panting heavily and on the verge of collapse, KFC stood in the center of the clearing. “(Damn, I can’t move, I’m so tired. I can only manage one more attack before I pass out and I got to take out two more of them. If I can’t go to them, I’ll have to make them come to me.) Hey, I’m over here, your attacks are so insignificantly weak that I could do this all day” KFC bluffed. “In fact, I won’t even move from this spot, so do your worst, you dumbasses.”
Alpha and Gamma were together in the smoke. “That rude jerk! Alpha, what do we do?”
He contemplated options “(What is the best way to get out of this mess?)”, while KFC threw several insults. After a moment, he smirked and responded “Flare Blitz, together, in the same direction. Even if it’s a trap, this way we won’t accidentally hit each other, and the fire will be grand enough that he can’t get close with any physical moves.”
“Great idea, there is no possible way this could fail.” Gamma eagerly declared.
They held hands and engulfed themselves in one massive fireball, bright enough to penetrate the smoke and see their target. KFC finished charging his final attack with both hands, as the duo rushed in full force. KFC was squishing on his ball of energy flattening it into a thin disc. Halfway to their target, Alpha separated from Gamma. In that instance, she looked back and watched as her fleeing comrade slinked into the forest, disappearing behind the wildfire. KFC launched his attack like a track and field discus, which cleaved her at the neck.
Her head rolled to the floor, as her body ran around in circles until it lost energy and dropped to the ground.
The color drained from KFC’s face, “(Even after training like hell every day, the best I could do in the end was only three for four. It’s not like I can escape either… This wasn’t how I expected the day to turn out, if only I had gotten a littler luckier…)”
KFC blacked out.
* * *
The north wind brought dark clouds, which swept across the forest unleashing a torrential downpour, extinguishing the flames.
“Why couldn’t you have done that earlier?”
“I’m not allowed to interfere, besides I wanted to see how it would play out.”
“Honestly, whenever I have to deal with one of the three of you, I’m the one who always has to sort out the mess. Do you know how long it’s going to take to restore this place?”
“Three Days”
“That’s right! Three restless nights, seventy-two hours of back breaking work, four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes of exhausting—”
“Alright, Alright I get it. I'll make it up to you later.”
“You’d better. So, what are you gonna do with that one… Wait you’re gonna give him that?!”
* * *
“I think he’s coming to,” A familiar voice said.
KFC was groggy and a little disoriented, but managed to open his eye “Ugh, what happened? Where am I?” As the blurriness faded, he saw Gothitelle standing over him.
She breathed a sigh of relief, “Rhydon told us what happened, so I was going to go to Luminous Springs to get you, but we found you here, at the entrance of the Mystifying Forest, unconscious with lungs were filled with ash and smoke, several cuts and severe burns, and, not to mention that your entire eye was missing. I only just finished healing you.”
“Okay thanks for that.” KFC tried to pull himself up. However, Gothitelle nudged him back down.
“No, you mustn’t get up.”
“Why not? You said that I’m healed,” he snapped.
“I may have healed all your injuries, but your body was almost entirely drained of energy, and I don’t have enough power to restore it fully, so rest a little bit more.”
“Fine but only for a little while longer. Huh?” KFC touched the patch taped to his eye.
Gothitelle held a small mirror to his face “You like it? I made the design myself.”
“It’s... nice,” KFC said, examining the eyepatch in the mirror.
“Thank you for the compliment, sir. I wanted to be a fashion designer, but my parents forced me to go to nursing school instead. Sometimes my family can be the worst. Like this one time my sister stole my favorite bracelet on the day I was graduating, totally throwing off my outfit. Or there was this other time when my mother…” As she complained about her domestic problems, KFC fell asleep.
He awoke a few hours later, Gothitelle was nowhere to be found “Alone, again… story of my life.”
KFC had a note rolled up in his hand, which read “Had to go back to the guild, I didn’t wat to wake you. P.S. When we found you, this was rolled up in your hand.” Attached to the letter was a shining blue feather.
“(What’s this?)” KFC thought. “(The feather is generating aura, but that shouldn’t be possible. And this aura… it feels vaguely familiar. Something tells me that I should hold on to this.)” He stuffed the feather in his scarf and began the long walk to Capim Town.
* * *
KFC entered the woods surrounding Capim Town, “Almost there.” KFC winced, rubbing his eyepatch, “It’s been hours and my eye socket still hurts this much and I still feel lightheaded, the next few days are gonna suck.”
As he trekked further in, he heard rustling in the bushes then put up a defensive stance. “Who’s there, show yourself!”
A Smeargle emerged, wandering around in a trace. “This isn’t real… This isn’t real… This isn’t real… This isn’t real…” he mumbled.
KFC stepped closer to the Smeargle and realized, “(That aura… It's distinctly human. Wait, was there already a Smeargle at the guild. Hmm, I can’t recall seeing any.)”
Without warning, the sleep walking Smeargle spun around and smacked KFC on the left side of his face with his tail, leaving a green mark.
“Dammit!” KFC shouted, while trying to scrub the paint off his face.
The loud noise snapped the Smeargle awake “W-Where am I?” He looked down “W-what am I? I have to be dreaming.”
“(Based on that response…)” KFC thought “(he must have been recently transported to our world, this is probably his first time awake. What was that thing Kaiji told me to say when I find humans? It was…) Hey you, you’re finally awake! You were trying to cross the border, right? (Wait, did he tell me to omit that last part? Whatever, it's too late now.)”
The Smeargle stared at KFC in utter confusion, as an awkward silence filled the forest.
“(I never had to be the guy to explain this transforming stuff, where do I begin?) You’re human, right?” He asked. Smearge nodded.
“And you have a name, right?”
“It’s Ross”
“(He doesn’t appear to be a threat, I guess I should take him to the guild, Lliam would know better than I on how to deal with this.)” KFC gestured in the direction of Capim Town, “You can come with me then, I know a place with a bunch of other humans, although they are busy at the moment.”
Ross appeared to be hesitant at first but, seeing there was no better alternative, he followed KFC anyway. “Um...” Ross nervously twiddled his fingers “What’s y-your n-name?”
“I’m… KFC”
[END]