[X] My Assistant

[Ceilni]

Darci watched the battle from a distance. The Sneasel seemed to be mostly about speed. She searched in the backpack for something that might help. She snuck a a glace at the battle and saw DC give commands to Vincent. The Sand Attack was fierce, especially since the ground they were currently on was mostly small pebbles, dirt and sand. She smiled and turned back to the task at hand. She dug through the backpack, knowing she had to have pokeballs. It the sneasel was able to put up a fight, she wanted it. It was a strong pokemon, and a smart one too.

Kaito and Maxwell watched from a distance. From behind a tree, they watched the battle. The turtwig's tail was as far between its stubbly legs as it could possibly be and it whined. It watched Darci with great concern lacing his small features. Kaito however, watched with great interest. Vincent had barely been in the time for a day and it was already fighting as if it was hers since the beginning. His gaze went from Vincent to Darci. Sure, he hadn't been dragged under like he and Darci were, but he was hatched by Darci!

The battle raged on. The sneasel was about as pleased as Darci when the Hunter had bashed their pokemon with insults. It glared darkly at them. In a fit of anger, it launched itself at Vincent. The Eevee wasn’t as fast as the other with the injuries it had gotten. Claws out, it launched a ferocious attack and slashed at the Eevee. With a cry, Vincent tumbled back and came to rest on a pile of dirt and mud. The Eevee whined and squirmed on the ground for a moment before messily picking itself up and stumbling back to the battle, leaning against DC’s good ankle once he reached her.

Darci had watched the encounter and rushed, but the Sneasel seemed rather intent on making sure they knew it’s fury. It was focused on the battle, but since Darci had commanded the first attack on their side, she was still in the battle. With great speed, it ran at DC, Devil, and Vincent. It raised a paw and swung down, but it feinted. It weaved between them, past Devil, and between DC’s legs towards Darci. Darci looked up as the Sneasel jumped. She threw her hands up and screamed, eyes wide-open in fear.

Kaito immediately rushed into the action. As it ran, it glowed a brilliant, heavenly white. It grew from the small form it was before to a larger form, arms taking form and legs becoming longer. The ivory light exploded into nothingness as a rather different pokemon jumped forwards, raising a foot, talons sparkling as if polished to look like the radiant Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. With two swift kicks, the Sneasel flew back and tumbled down the hill a ways.

Darci’s eyes opened. “Kaito!”. The sneasel wasn’t finished, however. It jumped back up, a bit unsteady and enraged beyond logical belief. With the grace of a Milotic, Kaito landed and swung it’s new arms and claws down, ready to fight.

"Combusken!" It crowed before focusing its energy for the next attack. Still shaking, she examined the Sneasel. The petal-like appendage was short, it was female. Darci laughed nervously, still shaken from the close-up of the Sneasel's fury.

"Female, huh?" she chuckled dumbly.

Record evolutions too . This one's a freebie.

Darci's Torchic evolved into Combusken

Reason for edit: Reminder on evolution notices

[Red Kitten]

DC stared in shock at their newly evolved Combusken ally. "What the...? Kaito! He's not little and cute anymore!"

But she quickly shook it off, knowing that she needed to be attentive in this sort of situation. "Alright Sneasel, you've gone too far! We're gonna take you down!" DC shouted with enthusiasm. Kaito's evolution had boosted her hopes of winning quite nicely, especially since fiery attacks seemed to be quite effective against the Sneasel.

"Devil, use smokescreen!" DC cried, in hopes of slowing the enemy down. Devil blanketed the area in smoke, but the charging Sneasel cut through it easily and ran at Devil.

DC bit her lip. "Dodge Devil, dodge!" But instead, Devil stood his ground. Just as the Sneasel came close enough, his eyes suddenly glowed white and a bright, powerful ball of fire formed between his jaws. He blasted the Sneasel with the new attack, knocking it off balance.

"Wow!" DC gushed. "I think that was a dragon rage attack!" She stared at Devil with swelling pride. "When did you learn to do that Dev?"

"Charmander!" Devil exclaimed triumphantly, but the attack appeared to have worn him out considerably. The flame on his tail was smaller than usual and his body was beginning to droop.

"Darci! You should try having Kaito use some fire type moves! They work well on this thing." DC hoped that Kaito could take it from here, because Devil wasn't going to last much longer in his current condition.

This post has been edited by Red Kitten: Oct 25 2009, 11:37 AM

[Ceilni]

Darci watched, a hand on Kaito's shoulder. She held on tightly, squeezing occasionally to confirm that she was, in fact, still alive. She followed the battle up until the smokescreen. Kaito wasn't phased in the least, knowing that the sneasel wasn't aiming this way, yet. Darci's eyes closed, the smokescreen making her eyes sting just a bit. The inky black fog was parted by the Sneasel. How, Darci didn't know. She noted rather dully that Devil was disobeying DC, but let it go as Devil attacked again.

The fury of the new attack caught Darci by surprise. She smirked at the Sneasel, the Sneasel sending back a rather dirty look as well. Devil had lost his balance doing the attack, energy drained as well. She examined the situation, feeling an unusual calm come over her. Her mind seemed to morph from one state of mind to the other. Before she knew it, she was standing. She barely knew she was on her feet before her panic and normality was devoured by something sinister.

As DC suggested her attack, she nodded. Although she had nodded, it seemed almost like it had been spoken upon deaf ears and she only knew the other's mouth was moving. Kaito seemed to notice the change as well, and straightened, Darci's change seemingly rubbing off on him. She opened her mouth and barked out orders with a calm, yet rather malicious tone.

"Kaito. Focus energy and use ember. Double Kick it while it's focusing on Ember." She yelled, her voice being taken over by unnatural calm. Kaito's eyes closed and it tensed. It seemed to radiate a subtle red glow. The Sneasel, seeming that fed up with the fight, shot forwards. It approached at an alarming speed, although Darci made absolutely no move to prevent an attack.

The sneasel rushed forwards, leaping over stones and swiftly dashing around dirt piles. It's claws eyes up and reayd to strike, blood dripping off of them from the attacks it had already launched. It jumped high into the air with the quickness of a fox. It was poised to strike viciously, it's teeth bared as it screeched, a terrible noise brought on by pure rage and fury. It seemed to be on it's last leg although still graceful as a Ho-oh. With a cry of victory, it starting to swing down.

"Now."

Kaito let forth a might ember, flames twisting the churning like a molten wind caught ablaze. It burst forth and the Sneasel cried out. Being in the air, it barely had control over where it was going. It was hit, the ferocious attack scorching it's fur and flesh, making it scream in unimaginable pain. Kaito waited, flames still dripping like water from the corners of it's beak.

"Go." With a simple command muttered by Darci, Kaito jumped up. It wasn't nearly as swift and quick as the Sneasel, but it would suffice. Talons ready to strike, Kaito kicked. The first kick sending back Kaito and the Sneasel back of the mid-air flames, the second sending Kaito to the ground and the Sneasel to the sky. The landed with a sickening thud on a muddy pile of dirt a distance away.

With all the strength it had left, it picked itself up, swaying unsteadily. Darci reached into the backpack with her good hand and picked out a pokeball. She spun it on her finger before twirling, spinning one and throwing a baseball worthy pitch at the Sneasel, the pokeball whistling as it flew through the air. By now, Darci looked rather clueless, staring at where the Sneasel as been when fighting DC, and where the Sneasel was now. She cocked her head.

"Now... How did that happen?"

"Combusken." Kaito agreed, his head cocked cluelessly in the same manner as his owner. Unlike Darci, who looked absolutely one-hundred percent confused, Kaito seemed to have regret hanging in his eyes and weighing heavily on his shoulders. The pokeball struck the Sneasel in the chest, knocking it over. It was devoured by a red light and was mercilessly sucked into the spherical prison. The pokeball trembled, shivering like a child locked outside on a cold night.

[Red Kitten]

DC let out a low whistle. "Damn. That was a close one." She leaned backward onto a nearby tree, and dabbed at droplets of sweat on the back of her neck. The morning sun had risen higher in the sky, so the temperature was considerably warmer than it was when they'd woken up.

She turned to Darci. "So I guess you have a Sneasel now," DC commented, staring at the Pokeball uneasily. "I guess you'd better be really careful with that thing. I mean, it was hostile enough to attack you once..." She trailed off, realizing that she was being rather negative about the situation and forced herself to smile. "But hey, a new addition to the team, and a powerful one at that! Congratulations! And to you too Kaito, for that impressive evolution right in the nick of time!"

However, DC thought to herself privately that she'd be feeling much better right now if the Sneasel had been knocked out and left there, rather than taking the hostile creature along on their journey. Hopefully Darci can get it trained properly. Because if she can't... Well, let's just not even think about that.

DC reached into her backpack and pulled out of of her remaining potions. "Remind me to stock up on these when we get to Arasam," she murmured, spraying it on Devil's back. The gashes looked raw and swollen, but the potion faded them into thin marks that were barely visible, and DC knew from experience that they would be gone by the next morning.

"Well I suppose we should keep going until noon or so, then we can break for lunch." DC put Devil and Cheepie back in their Pokeballs, making a mental note not to let Cheepie out to fly around anymore, in case there were any more Sneasels lurking around in the woods. She was dreading starting up the trek downhill again, but at the same time she also hoped to reach Arasam by the end of the day. An ambitious goal perhaps, but DC figured that if she could survive being jumped by a thief and swept away by a river, anything was possible.

When the flat part of the trail became another downward slope, DC found it even more difficult to cope with than the previous hill. Her ankle felt as though it was going to shatter in a million pieces. To distract herself, she turned to Darci and asked, "So, got any nickname ideas for the Sneasel yet?"

[Ceilni]

Darci was silent as the ball wobbled and came to rest. She nodded, confused, but approving of the capture. All she remembered was that a very strong Sneasel came along, and then, there was a wobbling pokeball in front of her. Weird. She knelt down and picked it up. Surprised, she hand to juggle the ball from one hand to the other. The pokeball was HOT! She reasoned that it was from the anger of the pokemon trying so hard to break free.

She turned to DC as she spoke. "Yup, i guess so." She said, responding to the comment. She continued to listen and it seemed... DC didn't want her to have the Sneasel? Her eyes narrowed, examining her body language. DC had tried to say something positive, it seemed, but her body language large contrasted what she said. Darci sighed, pulling out a potion and gesturing to Vincent who had been forgotten, leaning against DC's leg.

"If you don't want the Sneasel with us, just say so." She said, a slight frown on her face. She bent down and helped Maxwell and Vincent into the Backpack after spraying him. The lines on his flesh were still there but were mostly hidden by his smooth, sleek, slightly bloodstained fur. "Besides, next time i'm in Destrixa, the twins will help me." She said with a rather cautious undertone.

Kaito, unlike the master, didn't really respond. It still felt bad for the pokemon. Kaito was very kindhearted and gentle, and attacking to ferociously and mercilessly made him feel guilty. Slowly, yes quietly, to approached DC, looking up sadly with hopeless eyes. Yup, it was guilt stricken alright.

Darci slowly nodded before starting back down the hill. Her knees still knocked as she thought of the Sneasel's long claws aiming at her eyes, the fury unmasked in the creatures beady red orbs. She shivered, feeling the emotion of fear come back to her. She thought of the pokeball within her backpack, the hostile and almost demonic force just waiting inside. She shook her head and thought for a moment about other things, deciding to focus on going downhill as soon as her thoughts landed on Scarper and the hunter.

"Well..." She started. "It's a female, but it's pure evil, so what to call it." She thought, her mind scanning several names which were dug up from studies with her brothers. Abattoir? No. That was more of a sinister guy name, right? She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Dusk. Dusk Arcana." She stated simply. She almost never gave pokemon first and last names, and for a reason. She thought that last names showed distance, only having one being a term of endearment. In her mind, Dusk Arcana was a Dark name suitable for only someone just a distant and sinister.

Dusk Arcana
Female
Lv. 14
Rash nature

This post has been edited by Ceilni: Oct 25 2009, 09:17 PM

[Red Kitten]

DC chuckled. "I doubt she's evil or anything, just very aggressive I suppose. Training her may end up being... an experience, but once you accomplish that, I'd say you're about ready to train anything. And of course I'm always willing to help out if you want me to." DC flashed a smile, but stopped speaking for a moment when a rock she stepped on slid out from underneath her. She wobbled and almost fell, regaining her balance just in time. DC breathed a sigh of relief and made a mental note to watch where she was placing her feet a little more carefully.

Then she continued, teeth gritted slightly from the pain and frustration of the downhill. "Dusk Arcana," she repeated slowly, as if mulling over the words inside her mouth. "It's a pretty name," she commented, but said nothing more about the subject, sensing that Darci seemed just a tiny bit off. As though she was thinking something that she didn't care to say. DC hoped she hadn't upset her earlier with her nervousness about the Sneasel, but judging by Darci's previous comment implying that DC didn't want the Pokemon around, DC guessed that her feelings might be a little bit hurt.

DC was more than thrilled when the hill leveled out to another flat spot. She paused for a moment, massaging her sore legs, when suddenly she noticed a small path to the east. It was so overgrown that she doubted any humans had used it in a long time. Curious, she stood up straight and limped towards it, momentarily forgetting her throbbing ankle.

"Hey," she poked Darci's shoulder gently. "D'you see that? I'm gonna check it out, just to see where it goes. I won't go too far or anything..." DC trailed off and made her way through the path, pushing aside various brush and branches that scraped her arms and legs as she passed, leaving a variety of thin, red lines in contrast to her fair skin.

The path wasn't very long, and all it led to was a small, mundane clearing. But it wasn't the clearing itself that caught DC's interest. It was what was inside the clearing. An adorable, fluffy brown Pokemon with long ears and a delicate puffed tail was sitting by a tree, preening and grooming itself. "I've heard of those," she hissed to Darci. "It's called a Buneary I think. I'm going to try and catch it."

But as luck would have it, just as DC's fingers closed around Cheepie's Pokeball, there was a violent rustling in the brush. The Buneary's head perked up and it looked around frantically to see what was making the noise. Then a Pokemon darted out of the undergrowth, only slightly larger than the Buneary. It was covered in little spines and its fur was an obnoxious shade of pink.

"Niiiiiii-doran!" it called triumphantly and ran towards the Buneary at full speed. At first DC thought the Nidoran was going to attack the Buneary, but instead he cuddled up next to her. The Buneary wore a look on its face that could only be described as a mixture of exasperation and disgust as the Nidoran attempted to nuzzle and rub up against her side.

"Oh dear god," DC murmured. "Don't tell me it's mating season..."

"Bun!" the Buneary said with contempt, and she darted away into the trees, leaving a very annoyed and dejected looking Nidoran.

"Damn it!" DC growled. "That little perv scared away my future catch." But she kept a firm grasp on the Pokeball in her hand and she stepped out of her cover among the trees. "So I guess I'll just have to settle for a Nidoran instead. Go Cheepie!"

[Ceilni]

Darci shrugged. "Maybe you, Victor, Vince, your uncle, and I could get Dusk Arcana to settle down. Maybe." She said, speaking rather quietly. Something was tugging at the edges of her mind, although she didn't know what. Something, thought, was definitely bothering her. She shook her head and let it go, although her mind felt different. She looked down at the ground.

"I'm tired, DC." she mumbled, rather out of the blue. She disregarded DC's comment out the Sneasel's name, for now at least. Her arm ached and she left drained. She spotted the strange spot up ahead and and looked to DC. DC acknowledged it faster then she, so she stayed quiet and merely nodded. DC made another comment and walked off. Darci's head angled at the ground.

"Be back soon." she said, rather curtly. She sat down, simply wondering what Arasam would be like. She thought for another moment before reaching into the backpack and pulling out the pokeball of the offending creature. Holding out her hand, she simply released the ball, letting it drop. With a flash of red, the weak pokemon appeared. It was in a sitting position, simply watching.

"Snea..." It hissed as Darci reached out a hand. The burns on it were very bad, the marks leaving dark sears on the underlying flesh.

"Hush." She said, trying to touch the burn.

"Sel!" It cried, bringing up a claw and slashing at her. She quickly pulled her hand back, the claw dropping lamely to the ground. Darci glared at it before reaching out again. "Sneasel!" Dusk Arcana screamed, opening it's mouth and biting down on her hand as hard as it could. She simply froze, glaring it down.

"You think i'm afraid of you?" It seemed to recoil a bit, although it thrashed it's claws, marking her skin with lacerations. Seething from the pain, she quickly grabbed the pokeball and knocked Dusk Arcana upside the head. The pokemon's eyes rolled back it's into head. It fainted. Darci sighed.

[Jay Shay]

Sora's mouth opened wide in a mixture of awe, and disgust, and sympathy.

"That...was....a-amazing!" She quickly stuttered, then went into a flurry of jumping around like a maniac.

"The way you battled, and how you overcame that arrogant sneasel!" She threw her hands up into to air, as to emphasize how big she thought this was. As her little chikorita tugged on her pants, she realized what she was doing, and quickly snapped back into reality. She seemed to shrink down a bit as she blushed and said softly, "S-sorry. I don't know what got into me. I had just never seen a battle before."

Starting to pace, her expression changed from soft and embarrassed to puzzled. "But..." She said, dragging the word out like a detective. "I just hate to see a pokemon hurt like that. Even one like Dark Acana." She gestured to the Sneasel with one hand, while her Chikorita made what seemed almost like a growling sound at the pokemon. "Chik!" it yowled, and jumped toward it aggressively. "Shh..shh..." She reached down and petted Leafy on her head. Getting back up, she continued.

"As I was saying, I don't see why anyone would want to hurt pokemon like that. I know I will have to eventually, but I'm sure there has to be another way...right?" She said, optimistically, and trying to hide that she very well knew the fact that there wasn't. She made a big graceful gesture to her left, and then said dramatically, "But! There is something else! Coordinating!" She dramatically gestured to the right now. "The beauty and grace! How perfect! They get to demonstrate their natural beauty! Anyone can do it!" She brang her hands to her heart. "And doesn't it feel great to see the grace and excitement of the beautiful scenes around you? I'm sure it makes the pokemon feel good too." Taking a risk, she reached out and softly petted Dark Arcana's head, and didn't even jerk away in fear. She just took her time, hoping that the Sneasel wouldn't come and attack her when she was done.

Sora then got her head down from the clouds and stood strong. Looking at both of them seriously, she said, "I've decided. I want to be a coordinator." Leafy's little red eyes seemed to grow big, and they had what seemed to be a glint of happiness in them, as she jumped into Sora's arms, Twiggy following suit.

[Red Kitten]

Cheepie popped out of her Pokeball with a flash of light, this time refraining from any fancy flight flourishes and sticking low, skimming over the surface of the ground. Her expression and body language was cautious. She had clearly learned from her mistake of fooling around in a dangerous forest filled with Pokemon much stronger than she was, and vowed within her bird-brain not to do act in any such way that might attract predators until she was powerful enough to fend them off herself.

"Pid-pid," Cheepie called, lacking her usual enthusiasm and joy. The incident with the Sneasel had clearly upsent her, and while she wasn't quite so shaken anymore, her mood was spoiled for the day. She was quick to access the situation, determining that her surroundings were indeed still the forest, and that her opponent was a Nidoran, of the male persuasion. The little Pidgey was familiar with these. They were a common native of Kanto, her home country, and she participated in a grand total of two battles against Nidoran owned by other trainers. In both instances she had fainted and Devil had stepped in for her, but she had learned enough from the experiences so they didn't count as completely worthless. For example, Cheepie was well aware to watch out for the poisonous spines of a Nidoran, especially the horn. Poison is a rather unpleasant side effect of battling, probably Cheepie's least favorite of all the status ailments she'd been afflicted with so far. She decided that she would prefer not to be poisoned today, and was going to do all she could to avoid it.

The Nidoran had not even appeared to notice Cheepie. Either that or he simply preferred not to be bothered by her. He snuffed in annoyance and turned his back to her, clearly seeing the Pidgey as an inferior creature, not enough of a threat to require his full attention. He then pressed his pink snout to the dirt and began to sniff at the trail the Buneary had left, clearly plotting where to go next in order to pursue her. A more prideful Pokemon, such as Devil for instance, would have been enraged by such an insult from the enemy, but Cheepie, who knew little of pride and honor, saw the brush off purely as what it was: an advantage. She knew that now she could strike first, as long as she was swift and quiet about it.

"Go for a gust attack, but get a little bit closer, for maximum effect," DC hissed to Cheepie. DC purposefully chose a ranged attack over a physical one. She too remembered the two battles against Nidoran in her past, and was well aware that this individual might have poison point. Even without the ability, closeness to a Nidoran was like asking for a poison sting right in the face.

Cheepie bobbed her feathered head and as silently as she could flew towards the Nidoran. With her wings and talons, she whipped up a small gust and propelled it towards the Nidoran with a kick of her legs. The small whirlwind caught the Nidoran by complete surprise and blew him a meter or so from his original standing point. He landed on his side with a painful sounding thump. That ought to leave a bruise, DC thought to herself wryly as she plotted her next command. She gave Cheepie a thumbs up of approval, and the tiny bird looked pleased with herself.

The Nidoran, on the other hand, looked seriously annoyed. Clearly the gust attack hadn't damaged him enough to frighten him at all, DC noted with disappointment. She knew she'd have to figure something else out to take the Nidoran down. But she couldn't look quite that far into the future yet, as the Nidoran suddenly charged at Cheepie with rapid speed, and DC was forced to focus on the moment at hand.

[Ceilni]

Darci looked away from Sora, not paying any attention to her at all. For some reason, she didn't feel to talkative right now. She looked to where Sora's feet were before rolling her eyes and looking away. It slightly irked her that she had been silent the entire time, and had sudden burst into explosive praises at the last second. It had only slightly irked her. She looked down and stared at her own feet. Suddenly she found herself thinking of her brothers and only childhood friend who lived with them.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small stick; Maxwell's favorite toy. As soon as his favorite toy left the backpack, Maxwell followed. The small turtwig blathered like a two year old who had his favorite blankie taken from him.

"Turrrrt, turt, tuuurt, turt, ..." It continued to chant, circling Darci's ankles as they were stretched in front of her. Maxwell then crawled onto her knees, whining. Darci smiled faintly and threw the small stick. Maxwell suddenly scuttling off as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, but fast for turtwigs. The abnormally long tail helped him, sweeping behind him, like it was pushing him along.

When Sora made her announcement she nodded.

"That's good. Coordinators usually can get some dinero fairly easily."

Darci shook her head and started to sing softly to fill up time. 'And i know. I know it's not your time, but bye-bye. And a word to the wise when the fire dies, you think it's over but it's just begun... ' She trailed off into humming, eyes closing once more. She could feel maxwell's small feet all over her stomach before she laid down. He laid down as well, setting the little stick down. She wouldn't tell anyone, but she was exhausted. Before she knew it, she had fallen into an extremely light sleep.

[Red Kitten]

"Cheepie, dodge! Double quick!"

Cheepie fluttered away swiftly, but the Nidoran was too fast for her. At the last possible second, he jumped up and slammed into the Pidgey, pecking her with his venom filled horn. DC cursed to herself. This guy is faster than he looks. I'll have to be more careful.

Luckily it appeared that Cheepie hadn't been poisoned this time, although the Nidoran's horn had created a red, irritated mark on her front.

"Give 'im another gust, now!" Cheepie began to create another miniature whirlwind, working her wings furiously. But this time the Nidoran knew what to expect and leaped at her with his back legs outstretched. His paws collided with the Pidgey's side in a well placed double kick attack. This sent Cheepie sprawling on her side and disrupted her gust attack before she could even execute it.

"Sand attack, quick, while he's near!" Cheepie got to her feet as fast as possible and immediately nailed the Nidoran in the face with a blast of dirt. The Nidoran recoiled with a snort, eyes snapped shut and watering, and began to claw at his face with his front paws. Cheepie looked rather pleased with herself as she watched her opponent struggle.

"Now hit it with a tackle while he's distracted!" Cheepie lunged forward in her hardest tackle, putting in more effort than she ever did before. The Nidoran was knocked on his side and slid painfully across the ground. He staggered to his feet, but managed to recover somewhat, still blinking rapidly to rid his eyes of debris. The expression on his face was quite angry as he turned toward Cheepie, and without warning he opened his mouth and shot a barrage of purple darts at the tiny bird.

"That's poison sting," DC muttered, cringing as Cheepie attempted to dodge but failed miserably. The darts struck her all over, until she appeared to be a feathered pin cushion. Suddenly, her body drooped and her facial expression looked nauseous. "Cheepie, are you poisoned?" The Pidgey bobbed her little head pathetically. DC nodded with sympathy and recalled her.

"Devil, let's finish this! Use ember!" Fire was spewing out of Devil's mouth the instant he popped out of his Pokeball. The already weakened Nidoran could not withstand Devil's attack, for the Charmander was a much more powerful and experienced Pokemon than he. He wobbled back and forth unsteadily, his pink fur badly singed.

DC reached for a spare Pokeball in her pack and threw it. The Nidoran was too exhausted to fight back, and was sucked away into the capsule. The ball wiggled back and forth, then went dead still, resting lopsided on its side.

"Yes!" DC pumped her fist into the air. "Another new team member!"

Devil sighed in exasperation, tossing his scaly, orange head. "Charmander..." he grumbled, as if to say 'Oh no, not another one...'

DC laughed and recalled him as well, and after using her only antidote on Cheepie, she clipped all her Pokeballs back to her belt, including the new one, and made her way back to Darci and Sora.

DC caught Nidoran (male)
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Rivalry: boosts attack if opponent is the same gender
Moves: leer, peck, focus energy, double kick, poison sting, confusion (egg move),
Heritage: Mother-Nidoran ♀, Father-Slowpoke

This post has been edited by Red Kitten: Oct 28 2009, 08:49 PM

[Ceilni]

Darci was knee-deep in snow. It was cold. Very cold. Everywhere she looked, was snow, nothing else in sight. It was like an ocean of snow, the sky being a few shades darker then the snow. She shivered, her legs and arms were bare, as well as her feet. She was dressed in a pure ivory white dress. It was so cold. She was used to the cold, but not when her breaths turned into clouds of ice crystals which floated a bit before the moisture solidified and dropped to the ground. With a violent shiver, she fall backwards. She fully expected to be buried in a foot of snow as she saw the light gray sky above her. Her eyes closed, feeling nearly nothing, her nerves numbed. She awaited the crunch of snow under her, but it never came.

She wondered by it had never come and tried to turn back. Her neck was limp and pathetically weak, barely managing to do anything else than just lamely fall to the side. Her arms, being slightly stronger at the moment, shook as they positioned themselves behind her. There was no sharp pain in her arm, nor was there any sting. She couldn't feel the punctures and she presumed that wherever she was, she wasn't hurt here.

She groaned and barely managed to sit. Turning back she was greeted with the sight of blood. She stared, there was a person in the snow! They had cushioned her! They had fallen before her! When she turned to see he face, she couldn't. It was covered in at least an inch of snow. As she reached towards the snow covering the visage, the blood increased. The dots became puddles, puddles became pools. Before she knew it, she had to stand to be able to breathe. She turned. The man was gone, she couldn't feel the man's body beneath her feet.

"NO!" She screamed. "NO! Don't leave me alone again! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed just as the blood reached her neck and the coppery liquid drowned out her screams.

Darci thrashed in her sleep. With a loud, piercing cry, she shot up. Maxwell was violently thrown from her chest where he had been sleeping so soundly. She had always had these nightmares, always. She asked he father about it when she was little, but all he would ever say is 'Remember what the Doctor said? You're special.' and give her a smile. She coddled her injured arm and wrist before turning towards the direction where DC had gone off to.

"Hope she's not in any trouble." She said, yawning. She had almost forgotten about the nightmare already, almost. She had only slept for maybe five, ten minutes. DC would be back soon, at least, that was what Darci thought. She gently lifted the dazed and confused maxwell into the backpack and made sure Kaito was safely into his own pokeball. After checking that all the pokeballs were in place, she laid back down, waiting for DC. Arms spread, eyes closed.

[Red Kitten]

When DC returned, she found Darci sprawled out on the ground with her eyes shut. At first she nearly had a heart attack upon seeing her friend lying lifelessly in the dirt, but then she noticed Darci's breathing, which appeared quite normal, and let out a sigh of relief. Darci was probably just napping, which was honestly understandable after all they'd been through so far. After all, DC was exhausted too, but she reminded herself ruefully that the day was hardly over, and that if this day was going to be like any of the others they'd spend out here so far, there would be many more hardships to come.

Deciding that she would allow her friend to rest for a few moments, DC carefully transitioned herself into a squatting position, and from there into a sitting position. It greatly hurt her swollen ankle to do so, but the feeling of having her weight off it was beyond amazing. She stretched out her tingling legs and flexed her feet, the bottoms of which were burning in protest of all the walking she'd forced upon them recently.

Dragging her pack over to her side, DC retrieved her water bottle from inside its depths and took a very small sip. Her head was aching slightly, a sign that she was becoming dehydrated, so she figured that a drink was necessary at this point. As she rested peacefully, relishing the gentle breeze, DC pondered names for her new Nidoran. Perhaps Lodovico. Or maybe Napoleon... She yawned and stretched luxuriously, resting there for a few moments longer, before deciding that it was time to bite the bullet and get going again. DC dreaded walking again, but the thought of a shower and an actual bed to sleep on, or hell, even a couch, spurred her onward.

DC nudged Darci gently. "Hey Darc, ready to go?" She slowly and carefully stood up again, immediately regretting it as her ankle practically screamed in protest.

[Ceilni]

Darci heard the footsteps of someone, but she was much to calm to do anything about it. The breeze was gentle and rolled across her skin. It reminded her of laying in the small, and somewhat decrepit, yard in lenoilia; the leaves blowing and gently rolling over her ankles, legs, and arms. She smiled a small smile at the thought of it. She rolled over and curled up on her side. Although she wore a dress, she also wore black shorts underneath for security. She fairly heard what sounded like clapping, but she ignored it.

Although the rest was nice, she decided that planning what to do next came before rest. Silent, eyes barely open while her ruby iris' scanned the forestry around her, she thought. First was obviously getting to Victor, then was finding a place to recuperate, after that, restock. She yawned and stretched, her joint popping like the annoyingly over-advertised cereal she always saw on television. What was that stuff called? Sarp, carkle, dop? Was that it? Was that their slogan? She didn't remember. Neither did she cared to.

She felt the exhaustion hit her like a hammer, smashing her skull and marring it with the cracks of fatigue. she looked up rather tiredly when DC nudged her. She rolled over sloppily and mumbled.

"Mhm. Yeah DC?" She ran DC's words through her head and noticed it was more then just adressing her. She slowly rose and picked up her bag.

"I'm ready whenever you are. I'll be right behind 'ya."

[Red Kitten]

DC nodded. "Alright, let's skedaddle." She began to limp along the path, grimacing as she saw the next hill ahead, which appeared even steeper than the previous ones. The new Pokeball on her belt wiggled slightly, and DC was reminded of her new Nidoran. She debated on whether she should inform Darci or not. After all, Darci did seem a little bit sensitive about the new Sneasel, and DC thought it might be better to wait a bit before bringing anything up that might remind her friend of the troublesome Pokemon and put her into a lousy mood.

Finally, as she was edging her way down the hill, DC piped up. "Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but I caught a Nidoran while I was gone. Male. Nothing special or anything, but I figured he'd be a good addition." She paused to shuffle carefully around an especially large root jutting out of the dirt. "I think I'm going to call him Napoleon."

As DC made her way down the slope, she noticed something rather peculiar. There were a lot of broken branches littering the trail, and DC carefully made her way through the debris, keeping her eyes glued to the ground to avoid tripping over anything. As she stared at the path, she noticed something very interesting. There were some tracks in the dirt, faint but still visible, and she stopped walking for a moment to lean over and examine one. It was too difficult to tell what the footprint belonged to, but its most obvious characteristic was that it came from a rather large creature. Whatever made the tracks also appeared to have been in a hurry, for the prints were spaced out from each other, a sign of long strides.

"Odd," DC muttered, but she continued her way down the hill, until she noticed joyously that they were coming to another flattened plateau. But this plateau was different from the previous ones, for instead of just having one path to follow, the path forked. One was clearly the main trail, which led to another steep downhill. Strangely the other path went uphill instead, and looked as though it was not used often due to its narrowness.

However, something had without a doubt used it very recently, something behemoth in size and obviously in quite a hurry. Thick branches were snapped right off of trees, hanging there as uselessly and pathetically as broken arms. DC was not surprised to see that the paw prints went in that direction. Clearly this was interesting, but it would not be in the girls' best interest to investigate it, for it would undoubtedly lead them further away from Arasam.

Just as DC was about to move on to the next downhill, a loud and angry roar shattered the forest's silence, echoing throughout the trees in a menacing way. DC was startled, nearly losing her balance, but she caught herself, and stared in shock at the uphill trail. Without a doubt the sound came from up there. DC glanced at Darci warily, unsure of what to do, and she was about to suggest that they make haste to get away from the area as fast as possible, when a second noise rang throughout the trees. But this time it was a cry of fear mixed with agony, and did not contain any of the righteous fury that the previous roar did. DC instantly felt a pang of empathetic pity for whatever the creature was that made the cry. A very strong, instinctive part of her wanted to storm up that hill as fast as her mangled ankle could carry her and see what was going on. Another much more logical part of her wanted to continue down the main trail and get as far away from the area as she could. Conflict raged inside DC, and she glanced helplessly at Darci, deciding that whatever her friend wanted she would agree to do, because she could not seem to make up her own mind in a sound decision.

[Ceilni]

Darci kept her thoughts to herself. Something inside her felt not right. Something was tearing at the strings of her brain, making harmonious melodies turn into diminish chords many whole steps apart. The rhythmic swaying of her usual mental waltz, going into a deliriously stumbling drunk punk band who tripped about on the stage, singing the chords like nails played the chalkboard. She looked into her hand and could swear that the black rose on her bracelet, which was given to her on... that day, became colder, almost as if the icy fingers which had been there, so many years ago, wanted to warn her.

Darci's eyes narrowed, spacing out. She continued to stare at it, stumbling down the hillside. After several minutes, she looked back up, her mind morphing diminish chords of utter chaos and dissonance into calm piano music which seemed to almost want to keep her steady, like it was trying to keep her mind neutral for something that was about to happen. Darci frowned, it always happened before something occurred. It was probably just her.

Darci looked up at DC as she mentioned her new pokemon. She glared at the stone on the hillside disdainfully. "That's good. The name Napoleon is a good name. It sounds gentle, almost whimsical in a way." She commented, her blood red eyes gliding to the sky, which seemed to brighten with her glance, slightly irking her because of the severe contrasting.

She looked downwards, expected utter silence to follow the few words exchanged between them, but that silence was quickly broken by a ear-breaking and serenity destroying roar. She stumbled from the shock, quickly finding herself in a tight spot between the gravity of the moment and the stones before her body she felt as she lay on her stomach. Picking herself up with her good arm, she shivered a bit.

The brisk morning had been shattered with an animalistic cry of pain and rage. Her eyes narrowed further and she picked herself up. With very little warning, she stood straight and marched towards where the sound had come from. She was irritated, slightly saddened, and now worried. She hated the way she had marched carelessly from her home like a little innocent lamb, prancing in the countryside as if the earth was a wonderful place where nothing could go wrong.

With a growl, she pushed through the forestry, hoping DC was following, because she wasn’t waiting up.

[Red Kitten]

DC followed after Darci as quickly as she could, which honestly was not very quick at all, but she did her best. Going uphill was a struggle, but at the same time it felt good to have a break from downhills too. She managed to catch up to Darci, who looked like she was on a mission as she made her way up the trail. Before long, DC felt the same way, and as her determination steadily increased her fists clenched tighter and tighter, until her nails were making crescent shaped marks on her palms. The trail morphed into less of a wooded area and more of a mountainous one. There were far less trees and a lot more rocks, allowing the sun to beat down harder and brighter on DC's back. I hope Dev's ready for a good battle, she thought to herself, with a touch of apprehension. Because something's telling me this is going to be the biggest battle of our lives so far.

Before too long the hill flattened out and the trail sort of disappeared. There was no clear indication of where to go next, and just as DC was pondering what to do, there was another roar, agony clinging to the piercing sound like a parasite. "This way!" DC urged, pointing to the east, where she was sure the sound came from. She shoved past a multitude of sharp branches, gaining many scrapes in her rushed process. She was sure that they were getting closer to their destination, for she could hear more and more sounds of commotion as she moved along. There was a lot of crunching and snapping, sounding like various trees and vegetation were taking a lot of damage during whatever was going on. And there was a voice, shouting viciously, but DC could not make out the words. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, until it felt as though there was more adrenaline than blood inside her body.

There was a massive rock up ahead, blocking the view beyond it, but DC was almost positive judging by the sounds that the commotion was happening just past it. She crept up to the rock, trying not to step on any large branches or make any other loud noises that could give them away. Pressing herself to its surface and inching over to the edge, DC turned and hissed to Darci, "I'm going to take a peek at what's going on. Then we can figure out what we should do next." Her heart was pounding in her throat, but DC forcefully swallowed the fear and stuck her neck out just enough to see around the behemoth stone. What she saw made her do a double take.

"It's that bastard from earlier! Still attacking that Ursaring. He's using a Tauros this time though. The Arcanine appears to be, well... out of the picture." DC grimaced, as she was putting the statement about the Arcanine rather lightly. The poor creature was sprawled out on the dirt, all bloodied and bruised, clearly passed out. The hunter was ignoring it completely though, focusing his attention on shouting orders at his Tauros.

"I'm not sure if we should butt in on this," DC murmured to Darci. "I mean, all he's really doing is catching a Pokemon. There are no laws against that." But then she saw something that changed her mind about their involvement in the situation instantly. The Ursaring was standing protectively over two tiny bundles of brown fur, huddled together and making soft, terrified cries.

"He's assaulting a mother Ursaring with cubs!" DC cried out in utter disgust, face twisting to match her emotion. "Nobody tries to catch a mother Pokemon taking care of her babies. It's just not right. Everyone knows that." She came back from around the rock so the hunter wouldn't see her and pressed her back to its stony surface, plotting intently. Finally she spoke again, "I suppose there's technically no rules about this, but this clearly goes against the laws of nature. And I suppose we should take this into our own hands." Her fingers clamped around Devil's Pokeball, which had heated up and was shaking rapidly. "Are you ready?"

[Ceilni]

The branches seemed to enjoy abusing her skin as they slashed and smacked against her arms, legs, and face. She narrowed her eyes to try and avoid any eye injury. The melodious scratching sounds and roars made her almost think of a really loud slasher movie. She shook her head, letting the emotions inside of her calm down. A root caught her ankle and she flew forwards. DC ran ahead of her during that time. She picked herself up and continued running. The mud from the storm the night before was much more... 'squishy' then at their campsite this morning. The dampness and shade of the current portion made this absolutely hell to run through, and probably even more so for DC. Darci frowned, a little bit more of that enigmatic emotion well back up. "If she gets a stress fracture or stress break..."

She dashed forwards, making sure what she had just said was in whisper as she quickly caught up. The heels she was running in were actually fairly customary back at home to run around in, so she was fairly used to it, turning corners however. Jumping another tree root she finished her sentence after reviewing the first part in her mind. 'If she gets a stress fracture or stress break...'. "I'm gonna kick her ass!" She whispered violently to herself, the sounds of the forest drowning her out, thankfully. DC yelled something and raced another direction. Darci frowned, remembering her... 'turning' issue. digging her heels into the mud and attempting somewhat of a backwards skip, she skittered to a stop before turning and running behind her.

Darci reached the rock just as DC seemed to crawl around it. DC mumbled something about 'taking a peek', and Darci nodded. Although DC said she was going to, Darci crawled up along side of her, leaning down to watch the scene just as well as she. Darci's very small Yandere tolerance nerve was very quickly approaching snapping point as she watched the scene unfold. Not exactly paying attention to what DC was saying, she raised her shaky and injured left hand to her mouth, the stable right holding her place kneeling on the ground.

The situation almost made her want to gag. The poor Arcanine was on the ground, very hurt. It was bleeding rather profusely, and bruised beyond belief, but that Hunter bastard didn't seem to care. Tossing caution into the wind, she crawled towards it, very careful to not make a sound. She slowly, and quietly, managed to reach the Arcanine. She was thankful she reached it and hoped neither pokemon nor trainer had seen her, let alone the wild one.

She reached into her backpack and pulled out, what she believed, was the last potion. This probably wouldn’t help the Arcanine much, but she tried it anyway. She pointed the spray cap towards what she believed to be the most painful looking injury, and sprayed it. Sadly, it did close to nothing. She crawled back and waited for what DC proposed to do. It really was a bad situation. As DC reached for the pokeball on her belt, she reached into her backpack and pulled out two pokeballs. "Yeah... I guess..." She replied, presuming DC was speaking to her. 'Oh, I hope this goes well…' She pleaded in her mind, as she lightly tossed out the two red and white spheres. From the burst of red light, came the form of a Combusken and a Hoothoot. Thankfully, they were not too far from them and only the Ursaring seemed to notice, although it focused more on the slightly more threatening foe.

[Red Kitten]

"Tauros, horn attack!"

The massive bovine charged fearlessly at its opponent, despite the fact that the Ursaring was far larger and heavier than it. The Ursaring raised her paws defensively, in an attempt to shield herself from the blow, but she was so weakened that the force of the Tauros nearly knocked her over. In retaliation, the great bear swatted the Tauros with her powerful front legs and sent the creature stumbling to the side. Taking advantage of his target's current distraction, the hunter secured a thick rope around the Ursaring's neck by tossing it like a lasso, with what DC noticed was expert skill. The other end of the rope was already tied to a particularly strong looking tree, and although the Ursaring pulled with all her might she could not free herself.

The hunter pulled a Pokeball out of his pack and tossed it at the Ursaring, the look on his face triumphant despite his apparent inability to smile.

"No!" DC cried out, the wheels of her mind working furiously to figure out a plan. But Devil was way ahead of her. He charged in front of the Ursaring and knocked the Pokeball away with a quick swipe of his tail. The device promptly fell on the ground and broke, as Devil stood defiantly in front of the Ursaring and her Teddiursa cubs.

DC's mouth hung open in utter shock. She knew very well that Devil was careless, but this act took his recklessness into a whole other level. The hunter, on the other hand, had an expression on his face that was twisting from surprise to anger and disgust. And when he turned to see DC and Darci standing there, the vein on his forehead looked like it was about to pop open.

"Wha- You two again?" He took a menacing step towards the girls, his entire body tense with rage. "Why I ought to slaughter your little Pokemon before your very eyes!" He snapped his fingers testily at the Tauros, which turned to him in obedience. Then he pointed at Devil. "Use take down!" The Tauros lowered its beastly head and charged towards the tiny Charmander at full throttle.

[Ceilni]

Darci watched with great worry and interest as the Tauros charged and managed to knock the great ursine over. As the Tauros fell and the rope was secure, Darci quickly thought of a way to make this situation less unmanageable. Once again turning to her brother’s knowledge, she thought. Using a common ‘Twin’ strategy from Vincent and Valen, which was the name everyone called Vince because of their unreasonably similar names. Darci thought of how the word the commands and looked up just as Devil jumped up and swatted away the pokeball being thrown at the Ursaring.

Time was of the essence, she quickly decided, and pointed a finger. “Victor, go and help Devil!” She switched hands and used the injured hand to shakily point at the rope. “Kaito, use scratch attack as many times as needed to sever the connection from Ursaring to the tree!” She yelled, having already made up her minds that using funky lingo at a time like that wasn’t necessary unless the hunter turned on them.

As the Hunter spoke to them, clearly enraged, Darci let her slightly more arrogant side out. “Damn straight it’s us!” Her eyes narrowed as he spoke about ‘slaughtering their pokemon’. She hissed. “Don’t you dare speak like that to Devil, Kaito, or Victor!” She screeched, her tolerance snapping like the proverbial twig. In blind anger, she ran forwards and dove at him. Although she was smaller, it wasn’t too hard to notice that she was Yandere. Recklessness is, in fact, the most noticeable tag of such a thing after all.

Victor had quickly obeyed Darci’s orders and quickly hopped to help Devil. As he noticed the Tauros charging at Devil, he acted. Orbs of golden glow seemed to pull themselves from thin air as they formed the shape of stars. With great accuracy, Victor launched them towards the Tauros before using Reflect to protect both him and Devil.

Kaito, being not too far away, slashed furiously at the thick rope, managing to put in some fairly good cuts. However, because of the thickness required to hold something like an Ursaring, it was going to take some time to cut through.