Pokedex One-Shots (PG)

[Ysavvryl]

On the last story... Norton was actually inspired by King Bowser! And Minion N is the Pidove's name, pretty much. He meant subterfuge.

This story was inspired by a children's cartoon show, believe it or not. It certainly doesn't read like one. Basically, the show was making light of gladiatorial games, but the matches would have been nightmarish if someone took them seriously or historically.

All Hoenn starters are covered now!

In process: Whimsicott/Tirtouga
On Deck: Zweilous/Ferrothorn, Corsola/Shellder, Slowking/Regigigas, Tepig/Vanillish


Marshtomp and Sceptile


The waiting yard was thick with tension. The blaring sun overhead baked the air, causing several of the Pokemon there to sweat profusely. As a challenge was about to start, they were restless, anxious, and rowdy. Flies buzzed around to further annoy everyone, boasts and taunts were being exchanged, and no wind gave relief. At the gates and outside the fence, Pokemon acting as guards were armored, stopping fights but not doing anything to calm those waiting.

Fortunately, there was a muddy spot that had not yet been dried up. A few more days of this kind of weather and there might not be any mud on these grounds. That worried Max because as a Marshtomp, he needed to keep his skin moist. Since he was paying off a sentence, he had to be up here anyhow in case he got a spot in a challenge. He only had a few more points to earn too, another three matches, or less if he was lucky. He could be out in a week. But he had yet to figure out how they decided who would be a challenger, so no way to know for sure when he'd be out.

The Pokemon with him were a mix of prisoners and professional gladiators. Some of the prisoners were like him, those with tax debts or minor crimes. In his case, he wasn't sure if a crime had been committed, as it seemed like the Emperor had just been in a bad mood when Max had encountered him. Other prisoners were thugs and murderers, here to avoid a death sentence. Some of them went on to become the gladiators, and then some gladiators were Pokemon of nobility that wanted to show off their high class training. Although, the noble gladiators did not have to wait in this dusty fenced in pit to get in a challenge.

He rolled around a bit to make sure his back was covered, then checked on those nearest to him. There was a Scyther who was one of the murderers, also one of the the most violent of the prisoners in this place. Thankfully, he seemed more intent of harassing fully evolved Pokemon and picking fights with them. There were also a few of the Scyther's flunkies around, those who kissed up to him and did as he ordered. And their attention seemed to be on a Sceptile who was up on a crate, lounging in the sun. This Sceptile was missing a few of his leaves and had a dark scar on the side of his neck. Most of the time, he didn't say much to the other prisoners. And most prisoners, and even the lower-class gladiators, seemed intimidated by him.

Not the Scyther. “You have to be careful of making me look like a fool in challenges, o prince,” he said mockingly. “I should have won last time.”

“The pole challenge was like thickly clustered trees,” the Sceptile said. “I am a master of the jungle. That was simple.”

“Oh yeah? Well how does a 'master' get caught on his home turf, huh?”

From the look on the Sceptile's face and the twitch of his tail, the Scyther probably had the story wrong. But he didn't respond.

The Scyther buzzed his wings. “And I heard about your kind, a bunch of lazy pansies who spend all day sleeping in the sun and all night planting trees and stuff. What kind of bone-headedness is that? The trees will plant themselves, so what you do is utterly worthless.”

The Sceptile seemed to think the Scyther was an idiot, if Max was reading his expression right. But he didn't bother responding to that either. Instead, he stretched and shifted how he was laying.

“Don't you ignore me,” the Scyther said, shifting his blade arms to a ready position.

A guard kicked the fence next to them. “Hey, no fighting in the waiting area!”

“You try talking like that to me without that protection,” the Scyther muttered, then headed off. On his way, he kicked at Max. “Out of my way, mud pig.” His lackeys laughed at the joke and kicked mud at him.

While he wasn't bothered by being hit with mud, Max did shift further back into the mud puddle. He didn't want to cause trouble, especially this close to his release. On the other hand, the Scyther's group went looking for someone else to pick on. And then the gates opened, revealing a solid line of armored Pokemon going before an officer of the imperial army.

“Attention!” the officer said, getting the prisoners and gladiators to stop what they were doing. “The next coliseum challenge will take place shortly. Today's competitors include Elrick the Sceptile, Max the Marshtomp,” he went on to name a few others, but Max had heard all that he needed. He would be aiming for a high score to get released quickly. At the end of the list, the officer instructed, “All of you, into the wagon. The rest of you, stay back or else.” The guards parted enough for one Pokemon at a time to pass through them to the wagon.

The wagon they were taking was being pulled by four Machokes marked as slaves. There were benches on the sides, as well as a tall steel bar cage. To the annoyance of most of the group, the bottom of the wagon was soggy with mud. They got up on the benches, avoiding it as much as they could. Max was quietly pleased and settled himself in the middle of the wagon.

On the way to the coliseum, residents of the capitol city parted to make way for the wagon. Some watched with awe, some with fear. Some cheered for a favorite competitor, while others took advantage of the cage to jeer them. Halfway there, a Mudkip hopped alongside the wagon for a little bit. “Max!” she called out. “Mom's better; she can't want to see you home again!”

Once he heard her voice, Max got up on his hind legs and stepped over to the side of the wagon, to see his sister better. He waved to her. “All right, I hope to be there soon!”

She squealed happily, then slowed down and headed back into the crowd, presumably to go home.

At the coliseum, the greetings were much different. The armored guards still accompanied them, taking them to the rooms where they would wait their turn. There were silent threats of being attacked if any of them stepped out of line. Down here, the cheers and ruckus of the crowds were muted from earth and stone, but were enough to tell them that it was quickly becoming a packed stadium. There were no hints as to what today's challenge would be.

Pairs kept getting called out, so it might be a battle challenge. But not many were returning to the room. When one fellow came back, Max caught sight of some coliseum workers carrying a severely burned Mankey away. He was burned so bad that he'd lost much of the fur on his body. That did not look like regular battle damage, and none of them had been Fire types. The numbers dwindled until only two had not been called into the stadium.

“Elrick and Max, it's time for your challenge,” a coliseum worker said.

Him against a Sceptile. That didn't sound like a favorable match for him. Max rubbed his headfin, then walked out of the room on all fours. When he was going for more than a few steps, this was easier than walking on just two legs. Elrick came out with him, quiet and serious as usual.

The armored guards escorted them to one of the higher entrances of the arena. They emerged into a field that was usually a plain dusty floor. Not today. Today, it had been turned into a lake of fire. Red lava moved sluggishly at ground level, moved by unseen mechanisms. Sturdy rock platforms came out of it at various places, all leading up to the largest and tallest formation. Down below, some crumbled pieces of rock indicated that not all of the platforms were stable. Behind them, the iron gate clicked shut, trapping them inside.

“And now, for the final round of today's challenge!” the announcer called out, raising more excitement from the audience. Flame spouts suddenly erupted around the arena, reaching far above many of the platforms. “Again, this is the fire run, where both competitors will race against each other to reach the flag while fire blazes all around them. Anything goes in this heated event. And for our grand finale, we have the jungle prince Elrick,” this caused a great many boos and hisses from the crowd, “against a local commoner, the dockworker Max!” He got far more cheers than he usually got, probably more from loyalty to the empire than his own merit.

In a straight battle match-up, this would have gone badly for him. But since it was a 'fire run', Max might have an advantage. Elrick would have to be careful in his run. Although, the heat and dryness of the arena was going to work against him too, drying out his skin and making him feel weaker.

The signal horns blared. Again, the fire spouts burst to life, coming from the lava, from pipes in the platforms, and from pipes in the arena wall. Elrick stalled for a moment, judging the platforms. Ignoring him for the time, Max summoned up a water guard against fire. He could take a few impressive risks to get points and not have to worry about getting burned with the guard up. He then ran and leapt between two active fire spouts to reach another platform. For that, the crowd cheered.

Once he knew the platform was solid, Max glanced over the arena. He had to find a path, and quickly. Seeing a set of platforms that came up to the central one from the other side, he set off making more running leaps from rock to rock. Sometimes they cracked under his landing; one even began to fall apart, but he was able to get to the next one in time. If he saw a moment to do something dramatic, like passing safely over a fire spout right as it was starting to burst, he took it. The flames came unnervingly close to his skin, brushing against it once. While he didn't have to worry as much about them, a serious burn could still occur and cause him pain.

Max focused on his running and didn't check to see how Elrick was doing. He didn't try an attack; the Sceptile wasn't close enough for that anyhow, having taken another route. As he got closer, the platforms became less steady. The central platform was further away from the one he had ended up on than he had thought, but Max ran and jumped with all of his strength.

And made it, first. He slowed as he arrived at the center of the platform, relishing the cheers from the audience. Would that performance allow him to go free today? Just to make sure, he got up on his hind legs and struck a victory pose with his forelegs up high, to appeal to the audience. They seemed to love that.

With that assured, he checked to see how the Sceptile was doing. Elrick was rapidly making his way from platform to platform, but he had to take a more winding path to avoid getting close to the fire. He seemed like a green flash at times as he moved so quickly. As he came to the central platform, he was focused on a particular jutting rock on it.

Max looked at it and noticed that it wasn't fully attached to the platform, but Elrick wouldn't be able to tell. It was one of the unstable ones. When the Sceptile landed on the edge of it, the piece immediately tipped over.

For a second, Max thought he might see someone die here. The fall off this platform into a mobile pool of lava would be lethal to a Grass Pokemon. Thinking nothing more than that, the Marshtomp immediately dropped down and put his forelegs on the rising edge of the platform piece. This gave Elrick the opportunity to securely grab the piece and clamber onto the safe portion of the rock tower.

“Treason!” a voice called out over the stadium, preceding a round of boos. It was the Emperor himself, hiding his true identity in his oversized clothes and jeweled large mask. “Kill them both.”

“Treason?” Max said, stunned. How could that be treason? What should he do about this? He just didn't want to see someone die. And now the pillar they were on was beginning to shake.

Keeping a much cooler head, Elrick looked around until he spotted something. “You, come with me,” he ordered, then jumped away onto another platform.

Not knowing what else to do, Max followed him. They made their way to the edge of the arena where, using a high platform and the best jumps they could muster, they ended up in the stadium seating. Elrick let loose a flurry of sharp leaves, causing panic among the spectators. With the security guards having to fight against those who were fleeing, the two prisoners bolted into the halls within the coliseum.

Max thought they would leave the arena, but Elrick led him to an out of sight hallway that led into the working areas. The Sceptile slowed there, checking in rooms until they came across a storage space. By pushing some crates forward, they were able to find a space to duck and hide. “Wait until the audience starts to leave, then we get out of here,” Elrick said quietly.

The Marshtomp crouched on the ground and lowered his head. “What happened? I was about to go free. What about that was treason?” His heart was pounding, to the point where he feared it might be heard.

Snorting, Elrick nudged the crate a little, trying to get a peeking space. “You saved the heir to a land they're trying to take over. Did you think they were kidding when they called me a prince?” He looked at the space he had and decided against widening it, in case someone noticed. “I didn't want to get someone else in trouble when I made my escape. I apologize. But if you work with me to get back to the jungle, I swear upon my mother's egg that I will make sure that you are protected. And with as ruthless as this Emperor is, I doubt he will pardon you any time soon.”

While they were waiting, Max tried to think of another option. He couldn't and so with a heavy heart, he left the city he had been born in. But as terrible as it was, it was the beginning of his road to becoming the conqueror of an empire.

…

Marshtomp Emerald entry: Its toughened hind legs enable it to stand upright. Because it weakens if its skin dries out, it replenishes fluids by playing in mud.

Sceptile Emerald entry: In the jungle, its power is without equal. This Pokemon carefully grows trees and plants. It regulates its body temperature by basking in sunlight.

[3D992]

Yay. So was everyone a pokemon or was it only them?

[floracat]

I really liked this one! It's funny, because, just before I read this, I was watching the History channel, and it mentioned how half a million Christians died in the Roman coliseum. Then you brought me this. I've gotta say, you surprised me with the whole lake of lava. I thought they'd battle, but they escaped instead! It was very actiony yet kinda dramatic: my kind of read.

[Z-nogyroP]

Nice new chapter! I loved Marshtomp's personality, and I'm just guessing here but I'll say the emperor is
    Spoiler:

Show Spoiler

 
Empoleon. It's so obvious!
 

I'm going to request one more, then that's it(possibly). I'll say Xatu/Frillish. That'll be interesting! And I'll be the first to say it... what show was it based on?

And, I checked it on Bulbapedia. Pokemon plurals are the same as their singular. For example, it's a flock of Swellow, not a flock of Swellows.

[Ysavvryl]

You know, I don't know exactly what show it was. It was something I only got a glimpse of; I overheard most of the silly gladiator stuff from the other room. And everyone in that story was a Pokemon. Some cases make it hard to convey that, as the Pokemon wouldn't know what a human is in certain worlds.

This one wasn't too tough. The main thing that I had to think a while through was where the setting was.

NOTICE: Names used in this story are merely coincidental. This has nothing to do with a Serebii member who has a similar username. I didn't even notice it until the editing stage, lol.

In process: Zweilous/Ferrothorn
On Deck: Corsola/Shellder, Slowking/Regigigas, Tepig/Vanillish, Xatu/Frillish


Whimsicott and Tirtouga


He was known as Breezy Thief, a Pokemon who would slip into town without raising a worry and slip away later with many small valuables. With his small fluffy body, wide brown eyes, and large poofy tail, this Whismicott beguiled many people into thinking that he wasn't a problem. He had a cunning command over the dust devils, the little whirlwinds that were just strong enough to pick him up; he would ride them from town to town before suspicion caught up to him. Even when people were warned, Breezy could get away with his crimes. They would only suspect him when they discovered cream-colored bits of cotton fluff near the missing items. By then, he would be long gone.

Now one day, Breezy was riding a dust devil into a place he'd never been to before. He'd set up a new hideout to store his treasures not that long ago, as his old hideout and storage was getting much to distant from new places to steal from, so he wasn't too familiar with this coastal area. While he was scouting out the area, checking out homes to target, he spotted a notice posted on a telephone pole. It was written in the human language, so of course he couldn't understand it fully. But he could understand the picture there, which was of a Whimsicott smiling and acting cute, but holding a jeweled necklace in one paw and standing in front of a stash of treasures. And the words there were in a serious font, like it was a warning.

Breezy was delighted to see this, and chirped happily. It was a mark of his skill that he was becoming notorious enough that people in a new place were worried about him. But then, it would make his habit harder People would be on the lookout and wary. He still kept confident; the challenge would be refreshing. Guiding his dust devil around, he kept looking for a place to start.

And then he saw it: a small mansion, but lavishly cared for. There was a neat and orderly flower garden out front, with decorative statues and wind chimes all around. In the large garage, there were a great many tools and boring things, but no cars. In the largest window up front, there was an elegantly and elaborately decorated living room. Lots of small pretty things there. This would be the place.

Breezy dismissed his dust devil, as its wind might stir the chimes and alert guard Pokemon. He then sneaked around the house, searching for a place to enter. However, all the windows were screened in and all the doors were sealed up tight. He did find one promising entrance, a glass sliding door that had a simple key lock on it. He was able to reach in carefully with his cotton fibers and mess with the innards until it unlocked for him. Pushing the door aside only a few inches, he squeezed himself in and looked around.

This had to be a wealthy person's place, because he'd entered an indoor pool. Statues and plants gave the room a distinct character, like a refined jungle. Strangely, the place smelled salty. Breezy went over to the side of the pool and dipped a paw in, to taste test it. Salt water. Odd, but nothing he was concerned about. There wasn't anything in the pool room that caught his eye, so he made for the door to find the living room. But then he saw a dark shape move through the water, emerging at a ramp.

Over his career, Breezy had encountered many house and guard Pokemon, but none quite like this one. It was a turtle-like Pokemon with flippers instead of legs, and a rocky black shell. It looked at him with an unreadable expression, then began crawling over to him.

Breezy laughed. He hopped back, waving his paws and shaking his tail. Even if he wasn't sure what it was, he could tell that he had nothing to fear from this Pokemon. In fact, it should fear him! He could easily knock it out and take some loot before anyone noticed it was unconscious. Leaving a sea Pokemon to guard a house was ridiculous.

But the Pokemon, a Tirtouga, didn't stop. She had been revived from a fossil and so had simple instincts that went back millions of years. The fact that the intruder was in the house didn't bother her; the fact that he was in her territory of the salt water pool and its immediate surroundings did. Without considering how tough it might be, she was going to chase him off.

Keeping a hop ahead of her, Breezy continued to tease and taunt the Tirtouga. But her continued approach was unnerving. He stilled for a moment, muttering. As much fun as this was, he still had to investigate the house and see what he could make off with. So he winked at the strange Pokemon before hurling an Energy Ball attack at her. That ought to do the trick.

The Tirtouga felt intense pain from the attack. But that only affirmed that this intruder had to be taken care of. She braced herself, then made a quick lunge forward and bit the Whimsicott's belly.

Breezy squealed and darted away. This was not good. Usually he could get a person or Pokemon to let down their guard by being cute, or anger them by fighting in a playful manner. None of them stayed this calm. And that attack should have downed the Pokemon in one blow! Just how tough was this 'mon?

Feeling like nothing in this house could be worth this much trouble, Breezy ran back for the screen door and squeezed by it again. He would find new treasures, but not from this house. Back inside, the Tirtouga felt satisfied with a job well done. She moved back into the water to rest and recover; another hit would have defeated her.

…

Whimsicott White entry: Riding whirlwinds, they appear. These Pokemon sneak through gaps into houses and cause all sorts of mischief

Tirtouga White entry: About 100 million years ago, these Pokemon swam in oceans. It is thought they also went on land to attack prey.

[Z-nogyroP]

Wow, that story made me smile. I wouldn't have figured that an adorable floating... sheep... cotton... thing would be a wanted bandit. In hindsight, it makes sense. Why else would a Whimsicott enter a house? Plus, the Tirtouga has Sturdy. It didn't click until I read that last sentence, and it's the only way a Tirtouga would survive a Whimsicott Energy Ball. I checked. Well, that, or Tirtouga was max Sp. Def/max HP and Whimsicott had 0 Sp. Atk EV/IV and an Adamant nature. And Tirtouga has an Eviolite. Also, in the third paragraph, you missed a period between "harder" and "People", as well as after the dex entry.

EDIT: And darn you for not PMing me! You know what, heck with it, add me to the regular PM list. I love all your stories!

[floracat]

Never trust the little cute Pokemon. Cute is EVIL! I actually liked the little Whimsicott, for being a cunning little thief. And I liked how you portrayed Tirtouga. I knew it was a fossil Pokemon, so it wouldn't make a good guard Pokemon considering the time lapse. But what you did made sense. Those kinds of primal instincts would most likely stay.

[Ysavvryl]

Between Prankster and Infiltrate, it's very easy for me to see a Whimsicott as a thief who is in it for the thrill. And I've got a load of requests from fanfiction net now... Might mix them up when I get closer.

This entry is a tad silly. Zweilous was a lot of fun to work with, so it kind of stole the show.

In process: Corsola/Shellder
On Deck: Slowking/Regigigas, Tepig/Vanillish, Xatu/Frillish, Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga
Reserve: ??? (solstice)


Zweilous and Ferrothorn


Agent 501 was in a very bad mood at that time. It wasn't that he was waiting around just watching. After all, he was a secret agent and sometimes that required lots of waiting and watching. It wasn't that he was pretending to be an inanimate object. No, sometimes that was the best way to stay close to a subject and listen in when they had their guard down. His placement wasn't the greatest, as he was hanging on a ceiling of a buffet restaurant. While the food smelled delicious, he could tough it out (he might even come back later after some alterations so that he didn't look like the same Ferrothorn).

No, the awful thing about this assignment was that he was pretending to be a chandelier. He had to wear a rim that carried candles on it, lit candles that dribbled hot wax. Every couple of hours, one of the workers got a ladder and replaced them, so he had to close his eyes and hold very still. The cook had thought that this was a terrific idea, as being on the ceiling gave him a good view over the dining areas. But why did they have to go with candle flames as lighting over the buffet? He could handle the electric candles everywhere else, but true flames were one of the few fears he still had.

But everyone else said that this was the best time and place. And unlike a cave, a Ferrothorn hanging out on the ceiling of a restaurant was terribly out of place. As a chandelier, he could at least be part of this place's unique décor (there were other Pokemon carved into the serving tables, the chairs, the dining tables, the posts, everything). He had an accessory that prevented burning, but if one of those candles tipped over, it wouldn't protect from that pain.

Arguing came from the line where people paid and got their drinks. “No, we're going to get lemonade.”

“I want the beer!” a similar voice said.

“Not after you got us disgustingly drunk last night I don't want you to share your awful headaches with me.”

“You're so prissy and uptight. Come on, it's time to relax.”

The voices were attached to one creature, a black and blue dragon that had two heads and small wings. Both of her long necks were decorated with lavish collars that held pearls and diamonds. The bottommost collars also had elegant clasps which held onto an expensive silk cape of many colors. On that cape was the crest of the royal house, matching the gold circlets on both of her heads. Only a few Pokemon would dare wear something like that. It was his target. Overhead, the Ferrothorn made note of what other Pokemon were in the restaurant and where the Zweilous princess decided to sit.

She had some royal guards with her, both Porygon-Z. Supposedly only a few Pokemon could tolerate being around the princess for long. Some of the other guests were even leaving, but the Zweilous didn't pay them any attention. Her two heads were still arguing about beer. “Only one glass? How is that supposed to be enough?”

“You're lucky the worker let you take it, because I'm only letting you take one glass,” the other head said. “Ugh, can't you at least be lady-like and take wine? Or even champagne?”

“Not good enough,” she said, trying to grab the glass for a drink. But the other head moved their body towards the buffet. “Hey!”

“We came to eat, so let's go get some food.”

The beer-drinking head nipped at her other head, causing a short tussle between them before the other head won out. Quietly, the Porygon-Z guards came along and grabbed two plates. The Exeggutor chef was there at the time, making stir-fried veggies and rice on the spot. “Ah, good evening Princess Jacquelyn,” he said, causing his leaves to sway. “May I...?”

“I'm Princess Ophelia now,” the beer-loving head explained, then knocked the other head on the side. “She gets to take the stuffy old name Jacquelyn.”

“It is not stuffy!” she said. “It's elegant and classy. You just changed your name to get attention and sympathy for your whining.”

“Did not!”

Overhead, Agent 501 was slowly shifting his vines so that he had a better view of the Zweilous' table. The argument the princess was having with herself at least drew everyone's attention, either to watch or to turn away. The Ferrothorn could easily guess what they were thinking. How did someone like her get to be a princess? Weren't they supposed to teach royal children far better manners than normal children? But her father was much worse.

Eventually, the Jacquelyn head began giving the chef orders for what she wanted her fried veggies to be, while the Ophelia head looked over the nearest serving table and told the guard with her what to put on the plate. Then the heads switched. With both plates full and a bowl each for the fried veggies and rice, they returned to the tables. The Porygon-Z guards then took turns getting food for themselves and staying at the princess(es) side. The Ferrothorn continued to wait.

Ophelia chugged down her glass of beer, then looked over at Jacquelyn's plate. “Hey, why did you have to get the baked beans? You know that gives us awful gas later.”

“Quit talking about that kind of thing,” Jacquelyn hissed. “We're a princess and we're not to talk of such things.”

“You'd think that neither of us would eat something that would make us fart, then.” She then began chomping down a fish fillet inelegantly.

“Why are you still eating fish? I thought we agreed that fish were friends and not to be eaten as food.”

“This fish isn't talking,” Ophelia said, once she'd swallowed.

“Hey, I didn't see any of those roasted eggplants,” Jacquelyn said, looking at her other head's plate. “Did you take the last ones?”

That head looked smug. “And what if I did?”

Jacquelyn's head went to snatch one of the eggplants, causing Ophelia's head to fight her off. “You know I love those!”

“Can't have 'em.” She then grabbed both of her roasted eggplant slices and wolfed them down. She then tried to steal one of Jacquelyn's potstickers, causing another fight.

The dragon princess' meal continued like this, a race to eat what was in front and then an attempt to steal something from the other head's plate, with occasional arguments and biting fights. Other patrons tried to finish their meals quickly so they could excuse themselves and leave. Over by the kitchen, Agent 501 noted that the staff were quietly arguing about who would serve the princess. A Medicham who was in on the plan made himself appear unlucky and got set to be her waiter. He made sure to continue getting Ophelia beer even though Jacquelyn complained whenever she noticed.

When Jacquelyn-Ophelia got up to get dessert (after three full plates each), Agent 501 checked the few remaining patrons, then silently tossed a few barbed thorns on the floor. The two heads of the princess were each looking over the dessert table and scheming how to get what she wanted while making the other head jealous. “My gosh, I feel stuffed,” Jacquelyn said. “Maybe we ought to stick to dinner mints so we don't have another stomachache.”

“Are you crazy?” Ophelia asked. “You tried to deny me beer, and now you're trying to deny me a proper dessert? I'll kill you if you keep that up.”

“You can't kill me without killing yourself.”

“Don't try me! I'll find a way.” She then stepped right on the thorns, making both heads screech. Agent 501 winced, but stayed still like the chandelier he was supposed to be. Below him, the two heads bickered and bit, enough to draw blood.

This was a good time. Agent 501 blew out the candle nearest to his face. In the kitchen, the Medicham noticed and went to shut off all electricity to the dining areas, causing all the lights but the remaining candles on 501 to go out. He got the rest of the candles out quickly, then dropped off the ceiling and threw Shroomish sleep spores in the faces of the Zweilous princess. With her sleeping, the Medicham hurried over to help him carry her in back.

“Don't worry, everyone,” the Exeggcutor chef said loudly, to what few customers were left in the darkened room. “I'm sorry about the trouble; we'll try to get the electricity and lights back on as quickly as we can. Just stay where you are.” He flipped the lights out to the kitchen as the two came closer, so that the silhouettes of them carrying the princess were not as obvious. “Oh, now what? Did you read the labels on the breaker box?”

“I thought I did, sir,” another member of the staff said.

“Princess?” one of the Porygon-Z guards called out. “Princess, please answer.”

Meanwhile, Agent 501 and the Medicham hustled through the kitchen, bringing Jacquelyn-Ophelia into a refrigerated truck in back. “Man, I can't wait to get back to a proper battling assignment,” the Ferrothorn said. “Hanging around with the candles and having to observe her for over an hour... that was disgusting.”

“If this keeps her from returning to this place, we'll be eternally grateful,” the Medicham said. “I don't envy you one bit since you have to tolerate her for much longer.”

“If we can keep her from claiming the throne, I think we'll all be grateful,” Agent 501 said, locking the dragon into the back. It wasn't set to freezing, but cool enough to keep her feeling sluggish. He then gave the waiter the rest of the agreed payment to use their place, then went to join the truck's driver. That was one more part of this scheme done.

…

Zweilous White entry: Since their two heads do not get along and compete with each other for food, they always eat too much.

Ferrothorn White entry: They attach themselves to cave ceilings, firing steel spikes at targets passing beneath them.

[Z-nogyroP]

O.o Well, I didn't see that one coming. Zweilous as a princess and Ferrothorn a secret agent. Wow.

Archen/Starmie huh? That should be interesting, and so should Slowking/Regigigas and Shellder/Corsola.

One thing though... It would have been funny if the candles were Litwick who ended up blowing agent 501's cover. The ironic thing is, 501 is Oshawott's national Pokedex number, not Ferrothorn's. Ferrothorn is number 598. So why were they trying to get rid of Zweilous? WAIT WAIT don't answer that. I got it. She's a descendant from the Hydreigon/Stunfisk story! Looks like Stunfisk didn't conquer the dragon after all.

Keep up the good work, and can't wait for Xatu/Frillish!

EDIT: I'm confused about something. Is the chef aware that Ferrothorn is a secret agent, and if so, did he know about the plan to catch Jacqphelia? At the beginning, it implied that the chef knew about the plan, but later, he seems confused when the lights go out. Or was he just acting?

[3D992]

Was the princess really the daughter of hydreigon/stunfisk? BTW I liked the idea of ferrothorn as a secret agent.

[floracat]

Sorry it took me so long to review. This was such a funny story! I sometimes wondered about two headed beings like Doduo and Zweilous. It was funny seeing the two disagreeing heads stuck together! I feel so sorry for agent 501, not just about the chandelier (though I usually expect Chandelure to do that) but about having to take the two/one brat/brats.

[Z-nogyroP]

HELL YES, I FINALLY CAUGHT UP.

... I'm not the first one to say this am I?

Anyway, I just finished reading through all your previous oneshots, and I must say, you're writing style has never changed: awesome. I'm going to post some comments on the ones that I think would be my favourites.

Porygon/Porygon2/Porygon-Z: I liked how you pulled this one off. Porygon was all computer-y and stuff, and she could only understand words through translation. Porygon2 reminded me of how a really smart baby would act, with some advanced vocabulary but a whole lot of world left to explore. And Porygon-Z, well, that was awesome. Porygon-Z has always been one of my favourite Pokemon you don't say? but I always imagined it as a glitched Porygon2. I didn't even mind the bit of romance at the end, because it suited her well. The only complaint I would have is that you didn't really incorporate Porygon's entry into the story. You did fine with the other two, but you had no mention of Porygon moving in cyberspace or anything. But other than that, that was one of my favs.

Mime Jr./Dusclops: As soon as I saw this request in the comments, I knew you would do something like this. Mimicked hypnotism... only Mime Jr. But it caused me to wonder, you mentioned how Dusclops ate anything, and Mime Jr. copied anything, so...

Yeah. Let's not go there.

Mantyke and Ponyta/Roserade were awesome. The LOLcat part in Mantyke's literally made me fall out of my chair in laughter, and luckily, I wasn't hurt. Ponyta/Roserade isn't something a normal person would think of doing, but you can do anything. Seriously. Bye bye fourth wall, you won't be missed.

Meganium/Typhlosion: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I guess the power of being head of the forest got to Meganium's head, and he just got drunk with power. I feel sorry for Pidgeotto though. Pumpkins can be extremely scary. Known from personal experience.

Missingno./Chatot and Arceus/Doduo: I swear, you are the ONLY person who could do either of these successfully. 'Nuff said.

Cradily: Aw, poor Cray. He'll never realize his dream of flying, unless a kindly Aerodactyl helps him out. And I doubt Aerodactyl are exactly "kindly" in this universe.

Hoppip/Skiploom: This is one of those "d'awww" inducing ones. Hoppip was adorable, and then you finished by having Skiploom, "oh, the sky is so wonderful, you'll have fun" turn to "OK, get up there or imma destroy you." XD

Basculin/Klang: Again, only you, Ysavvryl. Klang was epic, and the Basculin were hilarious. Note to Baculin: Fear the gear.

I'd like to round off this review with a Jumpluff/Kyurem request. I know you have a lot on your plate, but hopefully you can make some room for these two. I can just see the sheer, unadulterated awesomeness.

EDIT: Forgot a few.

Azelf/Slakoth: I loved this one, you made it seem completely normal for the two to interact.

Daizy: "Oh, hello. Are you a robber?"

Yeah, like you'd do anything if he was.

Glalie/Bellossom: That was a really good one, honestly one of your best. I liked how Duke built his castle directly where they were supposed to dance, nice foresight on his part.

[Ysavvryl]

The chef was acting. And yes, you're not the first person to have a reaction like that, Z-nogyroP. I think I started getting stuff like that when I was in the hundred or so range. Maybe less.

Bleh, I should not be writing today. I'm in a weird state of being sick and tired, but not able to sleep so I'm writing. But since I don't feel up to doing anything complicated or with continuity, there should be several POS updates coming out of this. So, yay? There's a good chance that they won't be in order if I do.

Corsola and Shellder was an entry that I picked out, because I saw something in the Corsola 'dex entry that was interesting. Also, I had Lampent suggested for the solstice, but being like this kept me from writing it. I'm tempted to push that one back to Halloween. It'll be a long time off, but the entry is just so fitting.

In process: Slowking/Regigias
On Deck: Tepig/Vanillish, Xatu/Frillish, Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Corsola and Shellder


She had first seen the egg one summer morning as she awoke with the rest of her clan at dawn. There was no sign of the Pokemon that had laid it, and none of the other Corsola were in an egg-laying mood. While she wasn't sure what it was, she knew that some predators like Sharpedo around here would eat an unguarded egg. So she took her most recent discarded shell, a pale pink piece of coral, and placed it near the egg to better hide it.

For the next few days, she asked passing Pokemon if the egg was theirs. None of them claimed it, though, and none in her clan knew whose it was either. It came to her to watch over and care about it. But she didn't mind. While she liked watching over young ones, it would be some time before her time to lay eggs again. This one would be like one of her own.

The days were long and warm on the seabed. Plenty of sunlight reached them in these shallow waters, giving a golden shimmer to the water at certain times. All around the Corsola clan, life went about as busily and beautiful as always. The predators didn't often come after them, as their hard skins made them tough to eat. This encouraged smaller Pokemon and fish to keep near the corals where the Corsola lived, hiding out in the nooks and crannies made by their twisting branches and discarded shells. For generations, this was something their clan was proud of, protecting these creatures. But they didn't move as often as the other Pokemon did, so they could not always protect them.

One day, she noticed the egg shifting. Some of the plant coral had already taken hold of some discarded shells and fixed them permanently into place around the egg, but she was able to break away a few to give the new Pokemon some more space. The egg itself trembled in the water occasionally as the young one tried to break free. After several attempts, the egg's top half burst off with the movement of a dark violet shell. Then a large pink tongue emerged and flung away parts of eggshell.

It was uncommon to see a Shellder in these waters, the Corsola thought, although one often saw Clamperls. She'd only seen them in one location that her clan had settled, and that wasn't here. But however it had come to be here, it was still the one she'd be taking care of and protecting. Hopping down into the hiding hole, she gave a cheerful greeting to the new Shellder.

With his spiky shell only partly open, the Sheller looked at her warily, his bright eyes lurking in a secretive darkness. Then he shut his shell up tight, leaving his large tongue sticking out. He knew enough that he didn't recognize her kind and was going to be careful about her. That made the Corsola feel sad, but not discouraged. She would show him that she would continue to protect him.

He didn't talk much, mostly concerned with snatching up small fish for food and staying still to avoid predators. He stayed in the hiding hole or close to it; every evening, he dug himself into the sand with his tongue to sleep, emerging in the morning shortly after she woke up. Despite his quietness, she talked to him, telling him about all the Pokemon, little fish, and plant corals that she knew of. She told him of how beautiful the sunlight was in the afternoon and morning when it came into the sea at an angle. She told him about the humans who occasionally swam around here with their Pokemon and about the rare times when one of them recruited a Corsola or other sea Pokemon with their mysterious devices. All the while, he stayed nearby, only occasionally looking up at her.

Summer turned to autumn and the waters showed signs of cooling down. The plant corals would soon go dormant for the winter. When that happened, the Corsola clan had to be away in warmer waters to the south. Cool water would cause them to feel sluggish, or even go dormant too. That would leave them and any they protected vulnerable. It was time to move on.

For the migration, she discarded her shell for a more streamlined form, with less twisting branches and better formed fins. It would make the trip much easier, but took more time to recover from. Once she felt up to it, she spoke to the Shellder again.

“I don't know how you've felt about me,” she said. “Your shell hides your emotions as well as it hides your body. I do feel sad to leave you. I've done my duty to make sure that you hatched and stayed safe in your early days. But, you seem able enough to take care of yourself without my help. I hope that you'll be okay and think of me fondly. I did enjoy talking to you.”

As usual, he didn't respond. He wasn't even looking to her this time. Some Pokemon were more independent than others.

Sighing, she pushed herself off the old coral bed and tested out her migration fins. The rest of her clan was gathering at the south edge of the area, a mass of sparkling pink that kept them all safe while traveling. The others were talking about which way the currents were flowing and where they should try to find a new coral bed to settle. For once, she didn't feel much like joining the rest of the talk. Maybe they would come back here and she'd find her Shellder child to be much stronger, if still silent. Or maybe they wouldn't and she'd never see him again. That was a risk of looking after unknown eggs like that.

Then a movement of purple caused some agitation in their clan, startled at the unexpectedness of it. But it turned out to be the Shellder, having pushed himself out of the hole over to where they were. He landed on the edge of the coral bed and looked to them, searching. Once his eyes fell on her, he made a twitching motion of his shell and a curl of his tongue.

She left the clan's group briefly to return to him. “Oh, so you did come to say goodbye. Thank you, dear child. I'll miss you.”

He gave her a friendly lick. Maybe he really was just not one for words. The Shellder stayed there watching until the Corsola clan left. In that, she knew that he was thanking her in his own way, even wishing her a safe journey on their migration south.

…

Sapphire entry: Clusters of Corsola congregate in warm seas where they serve as ideal hiding places for smaller Pokemon. When the water temperature falls, this Pokemon migrates to the southern seas.

Shellder Emerald entry: At night, it burrows a hole in the seafloor with its broad tongue to make a place to sleep. While asleep, it closes its shell, but leaves the tongue hanging out.

[floracat]

I think Shellder are the cutest! Is that just me? I found it real sweet that Corsola decided to look after the egg. I was sweet, but. Wish the Shellder would've responded.

[Z-nogyroP]

Aww, that was so adorable. I love Corsola. Admit it, you fell in love with it the first time you saw it too...

Anyway, yay! If POS is updated faster, then Xatu/Frillish will be done sooner, and I can go back to posting requests! And thank you for clearing that up, about the chef.

Now that I think about it, I think I'm looking forward to Tepig/Vanillish than Xatu/Frillish. Aw, I should requested Vanillish/Frillish, because their names rhyme!

[Ysavvryl]

Lol, yeah, Vanillish/Frillish might be fun. But I've already got an idea on Tepig/Vanillish.

It might just be my slow updating lately, but it seems like a while since I've done a Trainer oriented entry for this. This should address the lack; I like how it came out.

In process: Tepig/Vanillish
On Deck: Xatu/Frillish, Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Slowking and Regigigas


The most embarrassing thing that I can imagine is getting caught without your Shellder on your head. The symbiosis between us is such that if I lose him, I lose my brain. And after awakening to my hidden power through the grip of the Shellder's clasp, I do not like to end up in the dithering thoughtless state that I was in as a Slowpoke.

Sometimes, I believe that my human gets caught without his Shellder on his head more days than not. He's pretty decent as a Trainer, having stuck with it long enough to have a fine collection of Gym badges. And I certainly can't complain about mistreatment. He always has one of us walking out with him, whatever he's doing. He takes care of our injuries in a timely manner, has a general strategy that works most of the time, and occasionally treats us with special foods or play days. But then there are times when I wish I knew telepathy so that he knew why I was smacking my forehead in response to his decisions.

Like that day when we went exploring an old temple. They had guards watching the entrance, notices that access was forbidden unless you had seven Gym badges, a sliding metal gate on the door, and a fence topped with barbed wire. Just looking at the place, it should be easy to figure out, 'oh, we might not want to go in there because it's dangerous'. But did he think that? No.

“There has to be some kind of treasure or something amazing in there that they're hiding,” he said to me. “They even said that hardly anybody goes inside, so it's probably not fully explored. Come on, let's sneak inside.”

I really did smack my forehead then. At the very least, he should have waited until he'd earned the seven badges so that he could get permission to go inside. But no, that would take too long as he only had three and it would take several months, maybe a year, at the rate he was going. I refused to budge for a few minutes, hoping to wear him out so he forgot about the temple in a few hours. That didn't work, though, because he said he'd go in without me. And you know, a good Pokemon is a loyal Pokemon, so I had to go in with him to make sure that he was all right.

Besides, he may be an idiot Trainer, but he's my idiot Trainer. I like him; I don't want bad things to happen to him. I just wish that I could give him advice that he could understand.

The temple itself was actually pretty interesting, once we got in through a back window with no glass or bars. There were murals on the walls with Unown text all around them. Once I had become a Slowking, I had become interested in the Unown text and figuring out what it all meant. It wasn't easy because it's simply a different style to the human language and I had never bothered to learn to read that. In fact, I had only learned a few command words in their spoken language by the time he gave me a King's Rock to attract the right kind of Shellder to me. At that time, I could make out a few words.

The murals were much clearer. They told the tale of an immensely powerful Pokemon that a certain group of humans worshiped. On one wall, it showed the giant Pokemon tying ropes onto cliffs and then using those to drag entire landmasses into place. Farfetched, perhaps, but certainly an impressive and memorable image. On other walls, it showed the giant Pokemon turning a large heap of rocks, magma, and even an entire mountain into other Pokemon that were much like itself. But they weren't like any Pokemon that I had seen before, at that time.

On the wall of a lower level, it showed the story of how a human accidentally enraged the giant Pokemon. It had then gone on to crush and destroy many towns as it had, according to one bit I managed to translate, 'anger as hard to stop as it was to start'. They had built this temple in order to appease and apologize to the giant Pokemon, but then sealed him in the lowest level of the place anyhow. Why they did so, I have no idea.

Because my boy Trainer was already heading down to the next level. “It's just a few small things so far, stuff that was probably dropped by the wild Pokemon in here. But there has to be something good towards the bottom.”

Or possibly something very bad, I thought, if this mural story was true and the giant Pokemon was still angry at being sealed up. But panicking solves nothing; intellect does. I kept calm and followed him down, although I did often take his shoulder and tug at him, trying to hint that we should be leaving, not exploring.

“What are you being so naggy for today?” he asked me. “There's only been wild Pokemon in here, no traps or anything. It's actually kind of boring, and all that stuff on the wall reminds me too much of school.”

I would have liked to ask him why he was staying if it was boring him. That was safer to leave. But no matter how I tried to pass on that message in my expression, he didn't get it. And so we kept heading down.

We found what seemed to be the last level, as it had no stairs further down. There was evidence that the area had once been sealed, in a rough edge of clay in the staircase. From the looks of it, I think there was once a clay block there in the middle of the stairs, painted and textured to look like stone. But someone else had destroyed it. On seeing that, I hoped that the sealed Pokemon had been dealt with.

But no. Whoever had taken out the door had not taken out the Pokemon. I could sense it when we arrived at that level, taking the form of a stone statue in the middle of the room. It was easily twice my size, probably much heavier from its immense build. Although for one that supposedly dragged continents with ropes, it didn't seem quite big enough.

“Wow, that's pretty cool,” my boy said, going over to the 'statue' and touching its hand. “I wonder what it is.” If he had paid attention to the murals, he might have had a good idea of the trouble he was about to get in. “Micah, take my camera and get my picture with it, so I can prove that I got down here.”:

I shook my head in refusal. There wasn't anything in the room that indicated that there was a way to wake this Pokemon up, so I didn't want to risk anything. But he insisted and I was the first to give in. First I tried to do so without the flash, which he noticed and made me take another with it, due to the poor lighting down here.

And that's what woke it up. Is skin turned from gray-brown stone into a strange white material with yellow and green plates and multicolored lights. Frankly, it looked like something out of those cheap gimmicky Pokewood movies that try to be sci-fi without the budget, only this was supposed to be a Pokemon from ancient times. But I wasn't of a mind to worry about aesthetics right then; I was more worried about my boy being right in front of the Pokemon, still grinning in a show-off pose. I waved for him to look behind him.

The first thing he did when he saw the thing behind him, raising one of its hands up, was to run away. Unfortunately, he had to run away from the stairs. Running away is a smart thing to do at times, but at least run towards an exit to the area. I followed after him, mostly because I wanted to stay between him and the old Pokemon. After that initial fright, he stopped and turned back to look at it, more in awe than in fear. And that worried me.

Then against even my expectations, the ancient Pokemon spoke, in the human tongue. “Unauthorized persons spotted,” it said. “You are to be dealt with ruthlessly.” Its lights began racing, brighter than before.

“Micah, stop it!” my boy said, some of his fear returning. But he was fiddling with his bag, the pocket that held unused Pokeballs in it. I felt like that wasn't something to consider under the circumstances. It was speaking as if it were a guard to this place. Perhaps I had misinterpreted the story on the walls, I sometimes think. Perhaps it was there to keep anyone from reaching a more dangerous Pokemon still sealed inside the temple.

But I still had to try to fight it. Since it had been a statue, I guessed that it was a Ground or Rock sort (possibly even Steel). With that in mind, I summoned up a wave of Surf to briefly flood the room. It was one of my more powerful attacks at that time (still is, in many cases), but it did not seem to affect the old Pokemon much. Then it swatted me into the wall with its arm.

Yes, that guy was slow but it hit like a train at full speed. I wouldn't have been able to take many hits from it. So I decided I'd better take the smart way out of this and started talking. “Hey old one, I'm real sorry we ended up disturbing your sleep. My boy here was a little over-eager in exploring places and wouldn't heed my warnings. He doesn't mean trouble.”

It paused where it was, probably looking at me. The lights on its front slowed. “What?” it finally asked.

I had a momentary flashback to trying to speak to my Slowpoke brethren then. Then it was probably best to speak to it like I did to them, simple and patient. “We came in here to see what was here. No, we don't have permission to be down here, but I will take him out if you let us go peacefully. If you threaten my boy, I will fight back, but I would rather leave. You wouldn't want to hurt someone needlessly, right?”

Much as I had hoped, that question got to the ancient Pokemon. It took a while to consider that, then stepped back to its original position. “You have the chance to leave. If you do not, then I will fight both of you to certain defeat. Do not return to this place.”

Maybe it was the implied death threat, but that knocked sense into my boy. He nodded. “Um, yes, we'll be going then. I'm sorry for trespassing.” We then hurried up the stairs. Two levels up, he paused a moment and turned to me. “You think it would have really killed us?”

I nodded to that question. It certainly had the power to do so. I'm not sure what its intent would be, but if the thing it guards is important enough, it may feel that is necessary.

“I had no clue something like that would be down here.” He bowed his head. “Thanks, Micah. I'm sure you saved us both with whatever you told him.”

I patted his shoulder; maybe if he had a Shellder to enhance his brain too, he would be more careful. But then I nudged him on to the next flight of stairs. We still had to get out of here.

We did end up getting caught by the guards, but I think the fine we got for trespassing was light, compared to what that old one would have done to us.

…

Slowking Heart Gold entry: It has incredible intellect and intuition. Whatever the situation, it remains calm and collected.

Regigigas D/P entry: There is an enduring legend that states this Pokemon towed continents with ropes.

[Z-nogyroP]

Yay, daily updates! So, Slowking and Regigigas was pretty good. Regigigas reminded me of one of those movie statues that come to life and try to kill everyone and the trainer reminds me of me. I also like what you did with Slowking, because since a Shellder enhanced its brain, it only makes sense he would think everyone needed a Shellder to be smart. Nice job!

[floracat]

I found that Slowking to be funny. But I do know how it feels. Sometimes I feel like everyone needs a Shellder. I found it sweet though, how it protected its trainer. I honestly didn't expect a camera flash to wake it up. I thought the boy had the three Regi's.

[3D992]

When you mentioned that it might be guarding something else I thought I'd mistaken reggigigas for regirock. I like trainer oriented entries so I really liked this one. I like to think a slowking could talk in english though.

[Ysavvryl]

If Regigigas was guarding anything was the Slowking's guess. I had in mind what its motives were.

And yes, I didn't send out PM notices for this one. It's late but I kept thinking 'oh this shouldn't take much longer to finish'. Yeah, no... it's really late now. But if you check my sig, I only have eight more to hit 500, so I'm kind of motivated at the moment. Still, this one only got a third Pokemon because I realized I needed one.

In process: Xatu/Frillish
On Deck: Archen/Starmie, Rufflet/Braviary, Purrloin/Liepard, Gigalith, Emolga


Tepig, Unfezant, and Vanillish


“Hii-choo!” The Tepig sneeze hard enough that her four legs skidded on the icy cavern floor, but only a tiny flame shot out from her nose. It was surrounded by thick black smoke, which drifted out of her nostrils for a few seconds while she gasped and snuffled.

“Bree, are you okay?” the girl Trainer asked. Linda wore a red-violet jacket and pants set that identified her as belonging to the Pokemon Aces club, which only accepted members who had earned five Gym Badges within one regional league. It was very prestigious, but even so, there were still things about Pokemon that were a mystery to her.

This wasn't one of them, now that she knelt and took a closer look at Bree the Tepig. She was getting back up on her feet, but her nose was dribbling snot and smoke. Her eyes were weary, although they had gone through much longer training days before. While she tried to look as eager as always with perked up ears, it just wasn't convincing. A few sneezes sending out fireballs each and every time was a bit dangerous and irritating, but that might just be dust. But now that it had progressed to this, it was clear that Bree was sick.

Linda rubbed the Pokemon's back; she was warm, but that was normal. Around Bree's neck, there was a collar with an Everstone clasp. She had brought her Pokemon here for some intensive training, but wanted to delay her evolution. It seemed that doing so would allow the Pokemon to learn moves quicker, perhaps even those their evolved forms wouldn't learn naturally. As there was no record of if this was the case with a Tepig, she had wanted to see what would happen.

With her like this, further training was out of the question until she got better. But as Linda looked around, she knew that getting out of this cave quickly was also out of the question. They had traveled for an hour to get down here, and had traveled several more just to reach the cave. Getting up, she opened up her travel bag and pulled out the tablet computer she used to store items on. Anything that might need an immediate use, like Potions and a few Pokeballs, were set in the bag, but most of her equipment was stored digitally in order to save space and weight.

But on scrolling through the field items category, she found a distinct lack of an Escape Rope. She swore under her breath and clenched the tablet. “That would be the one thing I forgot to buy for this trip,” she muttered. She skimmed over to the TM and HM tab and noted that she did have a Dig TM. But the only one that might possibly learn it was Bree, so she didn't even bother to activate it. Instead, she put the tablet back and released one of her other Pokemon. “Will, I need you to carry Bree while we get out of this cave.”

The Tepig sneezed again, causing herself to slip and fall on her stomach. Nearby, Will the Unfezant shook out his long red plumes. He wouldn't even look towards Bree.

“This isn't the time to let your vanity make the decisions,” Linda said firmly. “This whole trip has managed to go almost perfectly wrong. It figures that the day I decide to try those time lock training boosts on the Pokeball would be the day the locked out Pokemon gets sick, and there was that rock and ice fall a few halls back. Be nice to Bree.”

After a moment's pause to let her know that he was only doing this because she had asked, Will lowered his head. Linda then picked Bree up off the floor while she was struggling to get upright again. She put the Tepig on the bird's back, but knowing how he was, she kept a hand on Bree to keep her steady. They then headed back towards the ramp that would lead to the upper levels.

The scenery around them made it obvious that this was an Ice Pokemon's abode. Ice glistened on the walls, mixing icicles with stalactites. Sometimes the ice coated the floor, making it flat and slippery. Will was not happy with that, especially since he wasn't allowed to flutter off the slippery parts to avoid sliding, not with Bree on his back. When enough Ice types gathered in one place, their combined energy brought the temperature of their environment down, even down to the freezing point in otherwise warm locations. But sometimes a single powerful Ice Pokemon could do the same, especially in a cave like this. Whichever reason it was, this cave system had been an icy place for over a decade.

Right before they entered the cavern with the ramp, Linda and her Pokemon began to encounter snow. It was odd; it hadn't been doing this previously. They made their way over the pile of rubble from the rock and ice fall and then ran into a bigger problem: their way out was blocked off by snow.

And not a snow drift. No, this was snow that was hanging in the air, so thick and white that visibility was down to a couple feet in front of them. This room definitely hadn't been like this when she and Bree had come in. but she could recall the layout of the room, which had included three patches of slick floor, a number of holes that would lead to even lower levels, and many icy stalagmites. Simple to navigate when the room was clear, but like this...

“Why do things always seem to get complicated when we're in trouble?” Linda wondered aloud.

Bree sneezed in response, gasping for breath afterward. The black smoke coming out of her nostrils mixed with water vapor from the cold. Oddly enough, this made the snow caught in the air turn black or gray for several inches. Linda swept her hand through the air and noted all the ice crystals that got caught on her gloves. This was all ice suspended in the air. Had to be the work of some Pokemon.

“Will, let's be careful,” she said to her Unfezant. She tried to recall the way to the ramp and began leading him that way.

There were some jingles in the air, chinks and tinks that sounded much like ice. It came from several sources in the room. And it was a familiar sound: it was the Vanillish, the Pokemon that she had been training Bree with. They had knocked out over a dozen of them before the Tepig started to have trouble.

In her usual experience, wild Pokemon did not hold grudges against Trainers. A lot of them sought out battles on routes and the usual wisdom was that one would have to go off the usual paths to encounter Pokemon that weren't expecting a human-led Pokemon team to pass through. One time in training Bree, they had taken out many Grass and Bug Pokemon, but the ones that came out to challenge them didn't seem to be after revenge. Even in a place like this, she should be safe as she still had other members of her team away in Pokeballs. But this ice filled room with hidden Vanillish made her skin prickle with more than just the cold.

“We don't want to cause trouble,” Linda said, keeping one hand on Bree. “Come on, there should be... yeah, an ice patch we have to cross. Careful.”

Will cooed, but he was obedient and didn't fuss about having to slide across the ice with her. On his back, Bree breathed noisily and shuddered. She made a pleading whine.

“Chingle,” came a Pokemon's call, very close to them. There was a cluster of ice crystals that was hanging in a dense patch nearby. A pair of black eyes appeared in the icy fog, then vanished back into the white with an icy laugh.

Linda very nearly slipped at that, but managed to stay upright and land with Will on a non-icy patch of floor. “Okay, I think there's one more patch of ice we have to cross, and then the ramp should be nearby. But we can't hurry because of the holes.”

“Chingle, chingle.” The Vanillish kept laughing at them. Patches of the floating ice began to shimmer. For what reason, Linda couldn't figure out. Another one came close enough to be seen, an ice cream cone shape hanging in the misty air, but also darted off with a laugh. It should have been a silly sight to see, but instead it was kind of chilling.

Once they passed the next patch of ice, Linda searched around until they could see the wall, then followed that to where she thought the ramp was. At that time, the air began to stir in the room. The glows in the ice mist became brighter, as if the Vanillish were preparing attacks. “Look, I'm sorry!” she called out to them. “We won't bother you anymore; we just want to get out of here now.” By her side, Will cooed in agreement and Bree sneezed. And the former was usually never this cooperative or submissive with anyone that wasn't Linda.

The Vanillish replied with strange threatening sounds. Thankfully, Linda spotted the ramp. She nudged Will into hurrying a little bit in order to get to the next level and out of the ice mist. As they kept climbing up, she hoped that it would clear soon.

But the mist created by the Vanillish remained as dense as before.

They taunted Linda and her two Pokemon as they tried to navigate their way out of the cave. Sometimes they let a hallway go clear, but returned in force for the next large cavern. Sometimes it sounded like they were shifting rocks or breaking icicles, causing strange crashes and thumps. Sometimes one or two would come close, but never close enough to swat away. And they laughed.

Bree didn't seem to be improving at all, continuing to sneeze and gasp hard. She was shaking to, although whether from being ill or from being scared was difficult to tell. In the meantime, Will was strange in this meek and quiet mood, not holding his head high and showing off his long plumes in pride. Perhaps he knew he wasn't in his element in this icy cave, where the native Pokemon had decided to be tormenters instead of tolerant.

Finally, Linda spotted a brighter section of the mist. But it was a particular kind of brightness. “Sunlight, it must be the exit!” she said, glad to see it.

The Vanillish that had followed them chittered angrily; they blasted the three with an icy wind, causing Linda and Will to yelp. It stung terribly, causing ice to cling to Linda's hair. Acting quickly, she scooped up Bree in one arm and took hold of Will's neck with the other. Recognizing part of that motion, the Unfezant let her climb onto his back, then began racing towards the light.

“Fly on out of here,” she called as the sharp wind continued to build.

Will spread his wings and lifted a bit off the ground. For a moment, Linda worried that she was mistaken about it being sunlight. But then they burst out of the icy mist and into the clear air outside of the cave. Will beat his wings strongly to climb further into the sky.

“Thank goodness,” she said, shifting her posture so that her Pokemon had an easier time flying. “Let's get back to town quickly so we can get Bree to a Pokecenter.”

Ace Trainer Central
Member Linda's Blog

Tip of the day: ALWAYS make sure that you have an Escape Rope on you. Always.

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Tepig White entry: It blows fire through its nose. When it catches a cold, the fire becomes pitch-black smoke instead.

Unfezant White entry: Males have plumage on their heads. They will never let themselves feel close to anyone other than their Trainers.

Vanillish White entry: It conceals itself from enemy eyes by creating many small ice particles and hiding among them.