Team Petal-Purr
Part 1e-final-"Firestone"
Part 1a-"The Apple Woods Fire"
Part 1b-"The First Day"
Part 1c-"Practice (Zzapp!)"
Part 1d-"Spice Tunnel (Heidi)"
References/Images
Ch. 9
"Well...How many are are there?"
Blossom nudged Heidi with her head, trying to goad a response out of the Houndour. She could barely choke out a whisper, speaking with a trembling whimper.
"Two."
"Good!" Blossom spoke to her like a teacher, gently praising her and encouraging her on. "And what are they doing?"
"They're just standing there....menacingly!" Heidi sounded as if she were about to cry.
The trio bunched up together in a line, almost on top of one another as they stood in the tunnel of thorns. Periodically, one of them would look around the corner into the room ahead, keeping an eye on the two wild Pokemon that loitered within.
In one corner was an Aron, mindlessly pawing at the ground as it pulled up small stones to eat them. At the further end stood a Patrat, up high on its back legs as it scanned its surroundings with its shining yellow eyes. Both Pokemon seemed aware of one another, but they did not interact at all.
At the head of the line, Heidi stood frozen with fear. She had agreed to let Team Petal-Purr help her train, but was quickly beginning to regret it. She had done fine alongside the two up until now, helping them take down a few low level enemies.
But those foes had been by themselves and three against one had felt much less daunting than something closer to an even ratio. She needed encouraging to build up the nerve.
"I can beat an Aron all by myself. You can just focus on the other one with Shelby."
Blossom tried to push her forward again and this time, the small dog took a single step.
"You're sure?" Heidi says, still hesitant.
"Of course. We'll be right behind you."
"And in front of you!" Shelby added, hopping a few times before shooting past them with such incredible speed that it seemed as though her body had teleported.
Faster than the eye could see, she leapt out at the Patrat and readied her claws. She lifted her right paw as if to strike it, but faked out and surprised it with a speedy left hook.
"GO!" Right on cue, the Bulbasaur gave Heidi an enormous shove and threw her flailing into the room. The Aron lifted its head to the commotion and began to hop towards them, before being knocked back by the force of Blossom's running tackle. She circled it, keeping one eye on Heidi and the battle behind her.
"Heidi! Now!" Shelby yelled, jumping back from the Patrat as it cowered for a moment, sheilding its face. Heidi readied herself, curling her lip up as she felt a deep growl rumbling from her chest. Blossom felt the rumble through the earth and smiled to herself as she swung a vine out to topple the Aron in front of her.
The Patrat leapt forward to swipe at the Skitty, but she dodged and shot like a bullet far out of reach. The angry rodent was now face to face with Heidi, who let out an enormous roar before it could react, sending it flying backwards with the force of her voice.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
Its small brown body rolled backwards until it slammed hard into the wall of spiny brambles, taking damage. Shelby was upon it immediately, tearing at it with a flurry of claws until its form froze up and puffed away into nothing.
Heidi was given less than a second to celebrate before a different, alien creature came barreling at her from inside the tunnel. She froze at the sight of it, the coloured flashing lights on its arms striking a primal fear deep in her soul.
From afar Blossom could see the Elgyem approach, but was too busy with her own opponent to reach them in time.
"RRAAA!" Shelby appeared in a flash to defend her friend, ready to swipe. Before her hit could land, the Elgyem struck out and swept her up in a wave of psychic energy. She squealed as it flung her against the wall and she landed hard, momentarily stunned.
At the same time, Heidi was also wrapped in the psychic force, but it was unable to shift her at all. It simply swirled helplessly around her as she regained her thoughts and realised what was happening. This was a psychic type; it could not harm her.
She looked over and saw Shelby struggling to her feet with a large bump on her head. She was immediately filled with an indignant rage and lashed out with a vicious snarl, biting onto her opponent's arm and shaking her head violently back and forth. Latching on with all her might, she kept on thrashing her head around until she felt something snap and the form of the creature disappeared between her jaws.
Her head was spinning as she stumbled backwards, reeling from the shock of the attack. The room was clear now, as Blossom dealt a final kick to the Aron with both her back legs, denting its small metal head.
The Bulbasaur then ran straight to her sister, who was looking worse for wear. She reached out and tenderly laid her claw against the Skitty's head, who hissed and shrunk away from the pain of her touch.
"Sorry. I didn't mean it." Shelby mewed, feeling instant remorse for having lashed out like that. "I'm fine. Really I am."
Blossom didn't take it to heart, she simply breathed a sigh of relief and sat down next to her. She pulled off her backpack and stuck her arm inside, reaching for one of the Oran berries they had brought from home. The fruit was squishy and bruised, but Shelby happily took it and ate it as soon as it was offered to her.
"Heidi you did it!" Blossom called out to the Houndour, who crawled over to them with her belly dragging on the ground.
"I'm so sorry, Shelby!" She whined, laying at the Skitty's feet and staring at her with sad, watery eyes. "It's all my fault!"
"No it isn't." Shelby replied matter-of-factly. "If you want to battle, you have to learn to take a few hits."
"But I don't want to battle! I don't want anyone to take any hits." Heidi sniffled, scrunching up her face as she did her best to force back tears. "I just want to find Hubert and go home."
Shelby got to her feet and shook herself to fluff out her fur. She was feeling much better already.
"We'd better keep looking, then."
The little pink cat took gentle steps as she started down the path and the two others followed her lead. Heidi kept her head low, feeling ashamed for what she has allowed to happen.
'I'm a bad dog...' She thought to herself.
Ch. 10
After searching deeper and deeper into the dungeon, Heidi had finally managed to pick up on her brother's scent. She now lead the team from the front, her nose snuffling into the dirt as she desperately followed the trail.
Though the dim light in the dungeon remained consistent, she knew it would be dark outside by now and she was expected at home. She feared for Hubert's safety, but she feared the scornful glare of her mother even more.
Skidding down a steep incline, the trio came to a stop when they realised their tracking had led them almost all the way to the end of the tunnel. Fresh air blew in from an opening further down the path, but Heidi turned and ran the opposite direction.
She disappeared behind a wall of thick vines that bore a striking blue fruit, following the growling sound that could be heard from within the room ahead. Blossom and Shelby were struggling to keep up with her, their stubby legs unable to match her long strides.
Before they could reach her, the sound of a scuffle broke out ahead of them, filling them both with dread. They broke past the vines to see Heidi wrestling with another, smaller Houndour. They weren't trying to seriously hurt each other, but this was far from the playful tussling the two sisters were used to.
The smaller dog had been rolled onto his side, but threw his head back and snapped viciously at Heidi's face. He continued this until his sister lost her patience and closed her jaws around his neck with a terrible snarl, holding him down until he finally whimpered and lay still. To the two gentle farm Pokemon, this looked horrific, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for a family of Houndours.
"I give up..." He grumbled, waiting for her to let him up. He shook himself off and licked at the air around her muzzle, immediately releasing the tension between the two of them. Though she was not happy with him, she couldn't help but wag her tail as she nibbled at his ears, checking that her little brother was not hurt.
"You were supposed to come and get me! I thought something had bit your head off!"
He shrunk away at her harsh words, showing great remorse.
"I'm sorry! I wanted to bring back some spice berries for Mama, but then one rolled away from me and I got caught up playing fetch."
Past his little black paws, the girls could see that he had indeed been gathering berries as a bunch of them lay scattered across the ground. Some of them looked charred and blackened and all of them had tiny tooth marks in them, clear evidence that the gathering had quickly devolved into puppy mischeif.
"You've already ruined them. She won't want them now." Heidi turned up her nose and Hubert looked away sadly.
Shelby stood still and bristled at the wild boy while Blossom skirted around them to inspect the berries, rolling a few with her claws to get a better look.
"They aren't all bad." The Bulbasaur began to pick out the best ones and put them in her pack. "You can still take some back. She's your mum, I'm sure she'll like them no matter what."
"Hey those are mine!" Hubert obviously hadn't been listening and leapt forward to growl at her for touching his things. He was shorter than her and Blossom was not at all fazed by his attempt to menace her. Heidi bit him on the back and he yelped in surprise.
"Leave her alone! I've had enough of you! We're going home and I don't want you to talk to me for the rest of the night! I'm tired and I want to relax with my friends!"
She bundled him up by the scruff of his neck and began to drag him back towards the exit. Firestone was just on the other side and with her brother returned, Heidi would be free to help her new friends settle in for their breif stay in town. She would stay with them all night, after begging her mother to let the three of them camp out in the backyard.
The stern Houndoom was stony faced and said very little to them in the brief time they met with her, but she came to them many times before bed. Each time, she was carrying food or cushions and delivered them in silence, nosing more blankets onto the girls without them having asked. Though she was cold and unapproachable, Blossom and Shelby could recognize the warm love of her motherly instinct.
"Thank you so much for letting us stay the night. It's very kind of you."
Blossom dipped her head at the tall dog, who just looked at her blankly and said nothing. Mother Houndoom turned away and licked her daughter's head before walking back to the house.
"Goodnight Mama. I love you." Heidi called out sweetly.
Her mother made a small grunting noise in response, then went to bed.
The team stayed up talking much later than they should have, discussing Capim Town, the Summer Festival and what they plan to do once they get there. In the morning Team Petal-Purr would set out on the final stretch of their journey with a brand new teammate in their ranks.
