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Never in the Wrong Time or Wrong Place (14A)
- Thread starter Griff4815
- Start date
Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Deserted
“<Treeeecko… Treeeeeeeeecko… Treeeecko…>”
Corphish stood on the picnic blanket beside Treecko, who sat leaning against his tails. Corphish continued prodding the back of his green head with his claw, hoping to get the reptile’s attention. Treecko opened his eyes and glanced over to Corphish in irritation.
“<Howdy, pardner,>” Corphish said with an innocent smile.
The wood gecko looked back forwards and closed his eyes.
“<Come on, Treeck! I just wanna hang out!>”
“<Too bad,>” he replied, his eyes remaining shut.
Corphish frowned and began ‘stomping’ away from the twig-chewing gecko. “<You used to be cool, man!>” After pausing to think for a moment, Corphish corrected himself. “<Nah, that‘s wrong. You’re always cool, but you’re still being a jerk!>” The water type walked over to Piplup and sat down.
The penguin looked at Corphish and grinned. “<You reek of desperation, you know that?>”
The crustacean shook his head. “<That’s nothin’; you should see me around girls! You don’t know desperate until one of your pick-up lines is ‘Hi, you seem capable of mating and I don’t want to die alone, so could we be a more perfect match?!’>”
Piplup chuckled.
“<You don’t understand the joke, do you?>”
“<…Of course I do!>”
Corphish grinned. “<Maybe when you’re a Prinplup, there, kiddo.>”
“<I’m barely younger than you!>”
Corphish rolled his eyes and began eating bread crumbs on the blanket from the food earlier.
“<Hungry?>” Piplup asked, watching the Corphish with amusement.
“<Always.>”
Blane quickly stood up and pointed. “Hey! I see them!” referring to the search party who went searching for Strix after he went missing.
Sure enough, the group of three humans walked under Daedalus and Avis, who flew above them. The other pokemon were inside their pokeballs due to the injuries they sustained earlier. Kevin held Ace and Jeff was still complaining about being drenched.
“Oh, stop whining, Jeff, or else I’ll make Ace soak you again,” Kevin good-heartedly threatened.
“Do that and I’ll get Atlas to give you an Onix-sized hug,” Jeff retorted.
“Do that and I’ll get Blitz to practice his sword-dance right beside you,” Kevin countered.
Jeff swallowed. “…You win.”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Kevin said with a grin.
“Oh, brother,” said Rachel, sighing.
He sneered at Kevin, not giving up yet. “Well maybe I’ll give Corphish a gun. You know how much he likes the Die Hard movies.”
The blonde haired boy froze with fear. “N-Not cool…”
Jeff smiled victoriously as they reached the picnic blanket where the others were. Corphish looked up with excitement at the returning group.
“<Did Strix find that flower?>” he asked.
The dark-haired teen stared down at Corphish for a good few seconds. “…You knew about this?!”
“<Yup! I’m a good secret-keeper,>” said the water pokemon with a joyful smile.
Jeff let out an exasperated sigh. “Of course. This whole thing could have been avoided.”
“<And I would have told you, too, if you acted like a Growlithe for the rest of the day!>” Corphish added.
“Gee, thanks. I knew I could count on you, Corppy,” Jeff murmured.
“<Uh oh! My sarcasm detector is going off the scale!>”
Corphish, Piplup and Treecko all stood up. “Are we going now?” Blane asked.
Kevin nodded and twirled a pokeball around on his index finger. “Yeah, we should. Everyone should return most of their pokemon to their pokeballs.”
“Why?” asked Jeff.
“Well it’s not very considerate if we make Atlas and Prometheus carry our whole teams on their backs.”
Jeff rolled his eyes and Daedalus glared at Kevin. “<They’re not automobiles!>”
Kevin ignored him and looked to Jeff and Blane. “You two go on Atlas.” Jeff was about to protest, but Kevin cut him off when he turned his attention to Rachel. “And, Rache? You get to ride my Onix,” he said with a wide grin.
Rachel blinked. “…What?”
“I said you get to come with me on Prometheus’ back.” His smirk grew even wider.
She blinked again. “…Excuse me?”
“Are you blonde? I just want to know if you want to get on with me on my rock snake!”
Corphish was laughing uncontrollably on the ground, tears forming in his eyes as he struggled to breathe.
Rachel blushed. “I swear, Togepis are more mature than you! And you’re the one who has blonde hair!” she huffily said, pushing by Kevin, who was grinning feverishly.
“I just don’t understand what was so confusing about what I said!” he remarked, casting a wink to Corphish, who was still doubled over in laughter.
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Return, Corp.” He returned the water type to the pokeball and looked over to Daedalus. He looked at the other pokeball in his hand and felt guilt flood through him. “Dae, I won’t make you go in-”
“<It’s fine. Why would I want to be out here anyways?>” he snappily said.
“Daedalus, I don’t-”
“<Oh, just get it over with,>” the Taillow said, glaring at him.
Jeff stalled and then sighed. He reluctantly pointed the pokeball at him and recalled him to the device. “And you, Treecko?” he asked, turning to where Treecko was standing, but the grass type wasn’t there. Jeff looked around and saw that he was positioned over in the grass attempting to practice his bullet seed. He watched as the wood gecko pokemon managed to get out a short burst of energy seeds before it was cut short.
Kevin winced as he took out a pokeball; his skin was still tender from the poison powder.
“Let’s go, Pro!”
As the rocky titan emerged before them from a mountain of light, he irritably responded, “<It’s ‘Prometheus’.>” He looked around. “<Where is Atlas?>”
Kevin glanced to Jeff, who nodded and retrieved the pokeball from his belt. With a heave, he threw it away from the party and Atlas appeared in an open plain of grass.
“What’d you do that for, Jeff? Now you have to go and pick the pokeball up!” Kevin said matter-of-factly.
Jeff cast him a glare. “I thought it’d look cool, okay?”
“Just because the trainers you see on TV do it, doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea.”
“Why do you say tha-” Jeff cut himself off upon hearing a series of cracks. He and Kevin looked over to see that Atlas had unwittingly crushed the open pokeball with his heavy body.
Kevin stared at him with an all-knowing grin.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” snapped Jeff, blood rushing to his face. He reached for his sixth pokeball and pointed it at the Onix. “Hold on, Atlas, I need to do something.”
“Jeff, what are you do-”
A laser shot from the center of the pokeball and hit Atlas. The Onix, much to Jeff’s confusion, was unaffected by the beam. Then an electrical shock surged out of the pokeball into his hand, and coursed up his arm.
“AHH! What the-?!” he sputtered, dropping the pokeball in shock. Rachel and Blane, who were busy folding the picnic blanket, looked over in surprise.
“You can’t return a pokemon to a pokeball that isn’t the one you caught it in,” Kevin said, walking over.
“I can’t?” he asked, holding his tingling hand.
Blane walked over too. “No. The new pokeballs were installed with extra security measures. When you catch a pokemon, it autoamatically identifies itself with that pokemon, so it will recognize when you try to use it for trying to recall or catch a different pokemon,” explained the black-haired boy
“And they electrocute you when you try?!” he asked.
“Nah. It looks like yours just malfunctioned. They don’t usually do that,” Blane explained.
“Oh, terrific. That was my last pokeball… How am I supposed to recall Atlas now?!” Jeff shouted, his eyes widening in realization.
“Well…” Blane said. “You send the pokeball to your local professor- in your case, Professor Birch- and have him program it to accept Atlas, using the data he received when you caught him, and then you get the pokeball sent back.”
“But we’re nowhere near a pokemon center!”
“Hey, we were going to have Atlas and Prometheus out anyways,” Kevin reminded. “So quit yer’ belly-achin’.”
Atlas looked down at everyone; he was particularly interested in what Treecko was doing, since the grass type seemed to make odd gestures with his mouth.
The wood gecko pokemon attempted to focus despite the commotion surrounding him. Maybe that time it would work. He opened his mouth and attempted to fire the seeds. Nothing.
He tried again. Nothing.
Attempting not to let his frustration take over, he attempted a third time. He built up the energy…
“<Treecko, what are you->”
…and shot them in an inconsistent, short burst… just as Atlas peered his face down into his line of fire. The seeds dug into his face and, worse, his deep scar.
Atlas reared his head up and let out an agonized bellow of sheer pain. The four humans and Prometheus’ eyes widened. Treecko seemed shocked for a split second, but he blinked, folded his arms and aloofly watched the situation with a barely visible scowl on his face.
“Aw crap…” Kevin murmured, beginning to run for cover with Jeff, Rachel, and Blane.
“<A-Atlas! What’s wrong?!>” Prometheus worriedly asked, watching his friend thrash around.
Atlas didn’t hear him; he was in too much pain. He contorted his body and swung his head about. Prometheus quickly slithered forwards to try to get a hold of him. Atlas rammed himself into the Onix, causing him to fall back onto the grass. Prometheus growled and tried to get himself up as quickly as possible.
The roaring Atlas had other plans. He managed to launch himself in the air so that his whole body was airborne. He drove his head into the ground, creating a hole that he quickly dug into. Within seconds, Atlas was completely underground.
“No!” Jeff yelled, running over.
“<Atlas!>” Prometheus said, following suit.
“We have to go after him!” Blane said, getting ready to jump into the hole.
Jeff nodded, also prepared to jump in. Prometheus blocked them with the end oh his tail.
“<That’s idiotic; I want to find him too, but you can’t just go rushing in there after him. The run could cave in at any moment and bury you two alive,>” Prometheus explained.
Jeff grimaced. “Then what do we do?”
“And what set him off?” Rachel asked.
Treecko averted his gaze and idly placed his hands behind his head.
“I saw Treecko hit him with a bullet seed,” Kevin explained.
Jeff glared at Treecko. “What the hell would you do that for?!”
Treecko calmly answered, “<He was unlucky enough to get in my way while I was practicing Bullet Seed.>”
The angry teen growled and looked back down the hole. “Ugh, forget it. We have to focus on getting Atlas before he gets himself or somebody else hurt.”
“But how?” Rachel asked.
Blane nodded, seconding the question. “Yeah. How are we supposed to see where he’s going if he’s underground since we can’t follow him down there?”
“Not to mention the fact that I can’t recall him once we find him…” murmured Jeff.
Kevin folded his arms. “You guys are such downers! Pessimism won’t get us anywhere. We need to believe that we’re gonna find Atlas!”
“YEAH!” Blane yelled. “We’re gonna get Atlas back!” he said, both he and Piplup raising their fists high into the air in a heroic pose.
A brief silence ensued.
Jeff stared at them. “Um… Right, but we’re not going to find him without a plan.”
Just as he finished speaking, there was a small tremor nearby. Everybody looked over to see that Prometheus was hunched over with the side of his head pressed against the ground with his eyes closed.
“Pro, this is no time for napping. Your buddy is out there!” Kevin exclaimed, walking over to him.
“<I’m not ‘napping’, moron; I’m picking up vibrations in the earth so that I can get an idea where Atlas is headed.>”
Kevin shot him a look. “Yeah, that’s what I said!” Kevin elbowed Jeff and muttered to him. “Wow, looks like he’s not as thick-headed as I thought,” he joked.
“<What was that!?>” Prometheus snarled, peering over at him.
Kevin froze and straightened up. “I said you’re really strong!”
The Onix smirked. “<Damn right, I’m strong.>” He lifted his head from the ground and craned it towards the humans. “<I could beat a Steelix if I had to.>”
Kevin folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, looking at the towering serpent curiously. “Is that what happened back at Dewford Cave?”
Jeff wasted no time in backing away from Kevin, as he fully expected him to crushed by an angry Onix. To his surprise, Prometheus averted Kevin’s gaze and looked down the north end of the valley.
“<…Come. Let’s get moving. I felt him go this way- towards the crags on the far end of this valley.>”
“You can see that far?” Kevin said with some admiration in his voice.
Prometheus nodded while continuing to look down the valley. “<Growing up in a dark cave helps. … Now move those thin and gawky limbs of yours and let’s go! You all can hop on my back to save time, but don‘t get too accustomed to this!>” he told them in an intimidating fashion.
“You can sit next to me, Rache,” Kevin said with a grin while he climbed upon the Onix’s rocky back. “It’ll be a bumpy ride.” He cast her a wink.
“Oh brother,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re sitting in front, got it?”
“<Quit hanging about! Let‘s go already,>” Prometheus ordered, glaring down at them.
“What’s the rush, Blue-Eyes?” Kevin goaded.
The Onix narrowed his azure eyes as he loomed over Kevin who still sat on his back. “<You have them too, you know,>” he pointed out.
“Have what?”
“<… That colour… of eyes,>” Prometheus said, rather uncomfortably.
Kevin grinned. “I know. They’re sexy, huh?”
Prometheus raised an eye brow and turned back around. “<And the rush is that my friend is out there doing who knows what? He could get himself hurt or in more trouble.>”
Rachel, Jeff, Blane, Piplup and Treecko all hopped on and held on tight as Prometheus began to move and gradually gain speed. He kept most of the length of his body hugged against the ground, partially to accommodate his passengers, but mostly to detect any vibrations in the ground caused by Atlas.
“Any luck?” Jeff impatiently asked, tightly clutching the serpent’s rocky form.
“<Don’t rush me… but yeah, I can feel some aftershock reverberations. They’re going in a straight line; Atlas must be too focused on something to bother changing directions,>“ Prometheus responded.
His passengers looked forward to see, at the end of the valley, a passage between two cliff faces. It was there that the grassland converged into a desert. Perpendicular to that was a continuation of the valley that led to the left as the cliffs began to rise higher and become more mountainous.
“<Nice place…>” Prometheus murmured.
“Yeah, it’s a great big maze for finding Atlas, but at least it looks nice,” Kevin joked.
The Onix rolled his eyes. “<Lucky for us he’s headed towards the desert. Since we lived near a beach, as soon as he hits that sand his gut will tell him to surface.>”
“Why?” Blane asked.
“<Where we come from, sand means water. And the deeper you go, the wetter it gets. I hope I don’t need to tell you that we Onixes don’t like water much.>”
“Oh, so you guys are afraid of water?” Kevin asked in a good-hearted, goading manner.
“Kevin…” warned Rachel, holding onto Prometheus even tighter than before,
Prometheus abruptly stopped and looked over his shoulder, or lack thereof. “<No, we’re not afraid of water! …We just have a healthy respect for it,>” he proudly replied, nodding before continuing to slither over the blades of grass towards the pass. “<What happened to him anyways? My buddy’s tough as nails; he wouldn’t do that over a few seeds.>”
“<Want to put that to the test?>” Treecko asked, opening one of his eyes and glancing at Prometheus.
“<Yes…>“ he answered. “<But later. Well?>“
Everyone looked at Jeff, who let out a sigh of reluctant agreement. "Well, when something hits that gash in his face," Jeff said, pausing for effect as he gave a brief, over-the-shoulder glare at Treecko, "he goes wild. The Nurse Joy from Slateport said that it had something to do with iron and a nerve. I’m not really sure, but I have to treat it like once a day or something.”
“<‘Or something’. That’s reassuring,>” Prometheus muttered.
“So, I guess Treecko literally ‘struck a nerve’, huh?” Kevin said with a wide grin, which soon disappeared after being glared down by everybody.
“<Right… So we’re here,>” Prometheus said, coming to a halt in front of the pass. Prometheus’ passengers jumped down to the grass below. They looked into the pass, which was a wide gap between two tall cliff faces- the cliff that went along the valley as it formed an upside down 'L' shape. Within appeared to be a vast desert of brown and golden sand which was immersed in what looked like a large sand storm. Waves of granules swept horizontally across the pass, hindering their view of what was inside greatly. Even without the sandstorm, they probably would have had trouble seeing the opposite side of the desert.
“I’ve read about this place,” Rachel said. “The wind comes down on the opposite side from where we are and banks off each of the cliff faces on all sides of the desert, creating a sort of contained sand cyclone.”
“So what’s that mean?” Blane asked.
“It means if you like having unshredded skin, then there’s no way we’re going in there,” answered Kevin.
“What?!” Jeff protested. “What about Atlas?! We can’t leave him!”
Prometheus looked back at them. “<I can find him, of course. It’ll be no problem for me.>“
“You can’t administer the medicine though. You might be able to get him under control for a few moments, but he’ll just break out into a rage again. You won’t be able to bring him back here by yourself.”
“<I’ll find a way,>” Prometheus growled.
“No. It’s not going to work.”
“<I don’t remember when I started taking orders from a soft-skinned human who’s one twentieth my size,>” he snarled.
“Okay, okay. Let’s settle down. We’ll think of something,” Rachel said, hoping to diffuse the situation before Prometheus got too worked up and did something that might crush them.
Kevin eyed the backpack hanging from Jeff’s shoulders and a victorious smirk creeped onto his face. “Hey, Jeff? How did I hide the bags when that cop showed up outside of Mauville
Jeff gave him a confused look, but responded, “You threw the bags into Prometheus’ mouth to hide them…” He glanced at Kevin as the blonde-haired teen’s smile grew exponentially. Jeff’s eyes widened with realization. “No… No no. No way! That’s not gonna happen! Not in your life!”
“Uhh… Am I missing something?” Blane asked.
"Well, Blane," Kevin began, "I figured out that a way for both Prometheus and Jeff to go- Prometheus to find Atlas and Jeff to give him the medicine- without Jeff having to worry about being torn up by the sandstorm, is for Jeff to be transported in Pro’s mouth.”
Prometheus sneered. “<It’s ’Prometheu-’…>” He cut himself off as he backtracked to what Kevin had said. Like Jeff, his eyes also widened.
“I don’t want to be in an Onix’s mouth!”
“<I don’t want a human in my mouth!>”
Their chorus fell on deaf ears. Kevin, Blane, and his Piplup all seemed to be stifling laughter. “You want to get Atlas back, don’t you?” Kevin asked between laughs.
They both nodded and looked at one another tentatively. Prometheus sighed. “<Let’s get this over with…>”
Jeff conceded as well and reluctantly approached Prometheus’ mouth. He cast a furious glare to Kevin. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”
Kevin’s chuckle was a full on guffaw by now. “You have no idea! …Quick! Toss me Corphish’s pokeball! He has to see this!”
The dark haired teen ignored him and looked at Prometheus. The Onix slowly opened his mouth, with some embarrassment at the situation obvious on his face. Jeff meant to step forwards, but his limbs seemed to refuse. He stared with trepidation at the large serpent’s open maw. “<Get on with it, then. My mouth is starting to dry out.>”
“That’s supposed to make me go faster?”
The Onix shot him a glare. “<The longer we wait around here whining about it, the longer Atlas is out there in who knows what sort of trouble!>”
Jeff nodded and quickly stepped in, staying close the beak-like part of his lip and keeping away from Prometheus’ tongue. “If you swallow me whole, I promise I’m going to make your liver my punching bag.”
Prometheus chuckled slightly, sending a wave of hot air over Jeff, whose nose curled at the earthy smell of the rock pokemon’s breath. “Man, ever heard of Mentos?”
“<I don’t know who or what that is,>” was Prometheus’ reply to Jeff. “<I’ll stop talking now so that there’s no… accidents… in there.>”
The distraught teen let out a worried gulp as Prometheus closed his mouth, leaving it open a crack for Jeff to breathe from and peer out of.
The Onix slowly slithered over the ground. He went through the pass and soon became engulfed in the sand storm. It didn't phase him however - only his sight and hearing was impaired. The waves of sand were thicker than any fog and the high winds wailed in his ears. Prometheus was forced to resort to his sense of touch, feeling for vibrations like he had been doing before.
In every direction was airborne sand. It was so dense that Prometheus could barely make out the face of the nearby cliff. The golden haze of sediment constantly slammed against his rocky hide, but it did nothing more than ricochet off of it. The stone serpent carefully treaded through the sifting sands.
“<I think I’ve picked up something,>” he thought to himself as he creeped through the treacherous desert.
Jeff eagerly looked out the small slit in Prometheus’ mouth, but saw nothing but sand which almost blotted out the sun‘s rays as it flew about.
“Where are you, Atlas?” he murmured as he attempted to ignore the Onix saliva drenching his feet while he crouched.
Suddenly, a very slight, irregular vibration in the ground caught Prometheus’ attention. Without a second guess, he changed his course and turned on a diagonal angle. Sure enough, he could see a large hole in the sand, that was quickly filling in, and a trail in the sand leading from it that was undoubtedly from an Onix. Prometheus followed the trail which was being covered at a rapid rate by the storm and within less than a minute he could see Atlas’ silhouette in the storm of sand ahead of him.
Prometheus slithered forwards and found his friend lying on the ground, unmoving except for the end of his tail which would occasionally whip against the desert floor. Sweat coated his body, dripping through the microscopic pores on Atlas’ rocky hide. The Onix took rapid, laboured breaths as if he was hyperventilating.
Prometheus quickly opened his mouth and shoved Jeff out of it using his tongue. Before Jeff could utter any words, the Onix curled around both Jeff and Atlas’ head, creating an almost elliptical barrier to protect the human from the sand storm. The teenager scowled as sand stuck to the Onix slobber that drenched his clothes and skin. His annoyance, however, quickly turned to concern. He ran over to Atlas and stood in front of his face.
“<Atlas? It’s us: Prometheus and Jeff. Say something. Are you okay?>” Prometheus asked while glancing over from his position of hugging the ground.
Atlas’ bloodshot eyes opened slightly but he soon grimaced in pain. He attempted to slow his breaths and calm down. “<…Jeff? …Prometheus?>”
“Yeah, we’re here. You’re going to be okay,” Jeff reassured, attempting to hide his worry as he swung around his backpack.
“<…What…>” Atlas was forced to pause as he felt a wave of pain come back to his scar before leaving again. “<…What happened?>”
“A stray Bullet Seed hit your scar and you went berserk again.”
Atlas winced. “<Did I… hurt anybody?>”
“<Nah. You just slithered off in a hurry,>” Prometheus answered.
The pained Onix half-sighed in relief before taking to wincing again. “You’re going to have to try to stay still, Atlas,” Jeff told him as he readied the spray bottle of medicine.
Atlas barely nodded in response. His eyes scanned the area as best as they could from his place on the ground. “<Where… am I?>” he managed.
“In a desert,” Jeff answered, beginning to spray the medicine into the interior of the gash. The greenish paralyze heal medicine sent a cooling sensation through Atlas as it lined the wound.
“<I’m not sure if this human of yours is brave or stupid for insisting on coming after you in a sandstorm like this,>” Prometheus said with a slight grin. Atlas remained silent, absorbed in his thoughts. Prometheus looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. “<…Atlas?>“
The Onix shut his eyes tightly. “<…You came all the way out here… for me?>”
Jeff grinned. “Of course, Atlas. You’re my friend,” he answered warmly.
Tears entered Atlas’ eyes. “<Jeff… I have to tell you something…>”
“…Atlas? Are you… okay?”
A tear rolled sideways down his face and landed in the sand below. He opened his grey eyes slightly and looked at Jeff. “<Please… Just listen…>”
Jeff nodded silently and placed a hand on Atlas’s nose. The Onix’s eyes strayed to the ground as he began. “<I was using you…>” Jeff stared at him in confusion. “<…Back when we first met. Outside that town… I purposefully slept near you and the others. I had heard about trainers back in the cave where I lived. I knew that they went by Dewford Island for the gym there. I figured you probably hadn’t been there yet… so you were my ticket back to the cave.>“
Atlas shut his eyes and another tear made its way onto the sandy ground. “<…I needed to stop Cronus. What he was doing… I couldn’t handle it. Once we were in Dewford… I was going to abandon you… to go to the cave. And once I got rid of Cronus… I was going to stay there,>“ he explained shakily, his words dripping with guilt.
The distraught Onix willed himself to open his eyes and stare at Jeff, who seemed to be in a state of shock. “<… You’ve been such a great friend to me, though. I… I don’t deserve your friendship, Jeff. I’m so sorry.>”
“… I-…” Jeff’s attempt to say something comprehensible failed miserably. He was simply at a loss for words.
Prometheus shifted uncomfortably in his place. He decided now would be a good time to interrupt. “<Here’s the deal, guys. First of all, Atlas, can you move at all?>”
“<Sorry…>” Atlas responded, almost at a whisper.
“<Okay, yeah, here’s the deal. I need to bring you out of here, Atlas, but I can’t safely do that while the human’s in my mouth, so we need to do this one at a time.>”
“Bring Atlas first,” Jeff said, seeming half-lost in his thoughts.
Prometheus stared over at him. “<Do you have a rock-hard hide that you weren’t telling us about?>”
“Uhh…”
The serpent was just about to let out a victorious snark, but his grin abruptly disappeared. He looked around for his tracks that had been made when he set out looking for Atlas, but they had been swept away by the sand storm. “<Groudon’s blood…>” he swore.
“<What is it?>” Atlas asked weakly.
Prometheus grunted and rested his chin on the sand. “<When I was looking for you, I had to rely on the vibrations in the ground that you made in order to find you. That was my only sense of direction in this thick storm. But now that we’re here, I can’t use you as a reference point… and now the storm erased my tracks.>” He let out a slightly embarrassed grumble. “<I have no idea where we are…>”
If the mood could have gotten any worse, it just did. Atlas sighed and lifted his head slightly. “<You need to bring Jeff somewhere safe. There’s no telling what the wind will do.>”
“<Yeah, great. I don’t suppose you see any caves in the middle of the desert, do you?>”
“<No…>” Atlas’ gaze shifted to something behind Prometheus’ head. He even raised his head to look upwards. Confused, Prometheus looked behind him and a silhouette of something large caught his eye. A giant obelisk, of sorts, stood towering in the thick of the sandstorm.
“<Great Groudon‘s tail…>” Prometheus said with astonishment.
“Mirage Tower…” Jeff said, almost at a murmur, as he looked up at the sizable tower. He remembered learning about this tower on TV. They were doing a lot of careful digs and excavations inside and around the tower, though people who wanted the tower preserved and untouched in its entirety barred any further official digs.
“<That seems like a good place to put the soft-skinned human while I take you, Atlas, and try to find our way out of here. Then I can leave you back with the others, come back for Jeff since it won‘t be hard to miss something like that, and then you can thump your tail on the ground constantly so that I’ll be able to follow the reverberations out of here,>” Prometheus explained.
“<That’s a good plan, Prometheus. How does that sound… Jeff?>” Atlas asked, looking over at the teen, insecurely.
“Uh… yeah. Sounds good,” he replied, still slightly distracted.
Atlas’ eyes found themselves staring at the ground again. Prometheus glanced at Jeff. “<Get on with it then. The sooner we get you over there, the better. It’ll be nightfall soon.>”
Jeff nodded and walked over to Prometheus, reluctantly jumping in his mouth again. The Onix broke his elliptical position and began to slither in the direction of the large beige tower, which the sandstorm made seem darker than it was.
As they approached the tower, they saw that the tower seemed abandoned and relatively decrepit. It was stable enough, but Prometheus could easily destroy it by ramming into it, if he wanted to. The large dusty stones were cracked in some places and worn down by all the past sandstorms in the desert. Large dunes surrounded Mirage Tower, almost hiding the lower half of the tower, however its sheer height in comparison to the relatively low and level desert made it still easy to see. It loomed over even a Steelix at a full stand. Any traces of human or pokemon activity around archaic tower were long since erased by the sands sifting from the strong winds.
Prometheus slithered around it until he came across an opening, which was really no more than a door-shaped hole in the wall at the top of three deteriorated stairs. Beside the door were some barely visible, word down glyphs- a language of which may have been lost in time. He moved his snout close to the door and opened his mouth so that Jeff could jump out and be immediately inside.
“<Just stay away from the door and stay put,>” Prometheus ordered. “<And don’t go wandering. Understood?>”
Jeff nodded and stepped to the side as Prometheus backed out and quickly slithered back the way he came. The human sighed and leaned against the wall. It was cool, as was the air inside the tower. Jeff’s eyes adjusted to darkness and he began to look around. The interior was made entirely of stone. Limestone, probably. The floor, littered with sand and dirt, was level around the perimeter of the walls, but there was a large excavation in the center of the room, about two meters deep that took up more than half of the room‘s width. In the far right corner of the room, he saw what appeared to be a stone staircase leading up to a second level. Having nothing better to do, he decided to go check it out. He didn't pay much heed to Prometheus' words since he was very preoccupied, so Jeff walked alongside the wall, going around the depression in the floor, which he presumed was created by archaeologists or palaeontologists.
He ran his fingers along the left wall as he walked towards the stairs. The teen let out a sigh. “First Treecko… and now Atlas?” he mentally asked himself. “I try so hard to be a good friend to them… so why does stuff like this keep happening to me? Is it me?”
Jeff attempted to shove the thoughts aside. “It’ll only make me feel worse if I dwell on it now. I should focus on where I’m going,” he thought, approaching the stairs and tentatively placing his weight on the first one. Upon being reassured that it was safe, he slowly made his way to the next… and then the next… and so on. He reached the top of the stone stairs and to his right he saw a wall leading from the side of the tower he was on, to the opposite one. Further down, closer to the far end, was an opening that led into a similar room as was on the floor below.
The teen shrugged and decided to allow his curiosity to get the better of him. He walked down the dark corridor and warily approached door. Jeff halted in the doorway. In the center of the room was an excavation similar to the one below, but it wasn’t as deep because it wasn’t on a ground floor and it looked as if it wasn’t created by an archaeological team.
Jeff suddenly heard scuffling from inside and he stepped forwards to get a better look. In the center of the depression, he could see the contour of something… something moving. He backed up and narrowed his eyes, leering into the dark of the room until he could make out a bit of the figure. To his dread, he identified the colour of the figure as a dense hue of purple.
Two loud stomps could be heard as the silhouette turned to face him. The form was indeed familiar to Jeff. Way too familiar. A small, singular ray of light that made its way through a small crack in the wall and illuminated the creature’s face as it suddenly stepped forwards. The human saw the face of a Nidoking that donned an eyepatch over his right eye.
“…Daggerback…” he whispered in shock.
The Nidoking stared at him in shock, but soon a malicious grin crawled onto his face. “<Well… my day just got better.>”
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Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. School and a load of other stuff was keeping me bogged down. I'll post more frequently though.
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Nice to see another chapter from you here, Griff. =D
I enjoyed it - it felt like a steady chapter, there. More issues with Atlas there, and some confessions as well. Poor Jeff. XD I found the fact Jeff had to be taken by being carried inside the mouth quite amusing, heh, although it just strengthens my dislike for Kevin as a person (that and his jokes about...ahem, Onix. ;P) Nice way to get Jeff to the Mirage Tower as well, and I quite liked the ending there - good cliffhanger, to put it simply. And yet again: poor, poor Jeff. XD
Also hurrah for Corphish yet again - he just continues to amuse like heck. I'm wondering what everyone else will do while he has to deal with Daggerback, and the two Onix go and find their way back...somehow.
It's super effective!
Add in that 'the' there, and faze over phase. I don't feel that comma is needed, although personally I'd reword that sentence and the one after and merge, maybe to something like 'It didn't phase him however - only his sight and hearing was impaired.' (Believe it's was over were in that instance as well?).
Overall a fun chapter, and now I want the next one to happen sooner rather than later.
But don't rush it or anything, I'll wait either way. =) Keep it up!
I enjoyed it - it felt like a steady chapter, there. More issues with Atlas there, and some confessions as well. Poor Jeff. XD I found the fact Jeff had to be taken by being carried inside the mouth quite amusing, heh, although it just strengthens my dislike for Kevin as a person (that and his jokes about...ahem, Onix. ;P) Nice way to get Jeff to the Mirage Tower as well, and I quite liked the ending there - good cliffhanger, to put it simply. And yet again: poor, poor Jeff. XD
Also hurrah for Corphish yet again - he just continues to amuse like heck. I'm wondering what everyone else will do while he has to deal with Daggerback, and the two Onix go and find their way back...somehow.
IDK if 'still' is really needed there - you could probably delete it.
'not even opening' sounds slightly awkward to me... maybe 'he replied, his eyes remaining shut' or 'he replied, refusing to open his eyes' or something would work slightly better? Minor but it seems a bit 'iffy' to me.
Very cool! Very! XD
No need for the space between the ellipse and 'Excuse' there, I believe (especially as a few lines up you did that without the space as well).
Needs a full stop at the end of that sentence, there. Also, when this occurred I knew stuff was going to go wrong again. XD
'leaving it open but a crack' sounds a bit odd to me - maybe the word 'but' isn't really needed? Might need some consideration though...
Add in that 'the' there, and faze over phase. I don't feel that comma is needed, although personally I'd reword that sentence and the one after and merge, maybe to something like 'It didn't phase him however - only his sight and hearing was impaired.' (Believe it's was over were in that instance as well?).
'to' is needed there, I believe.
Needs that 's' there, I believe.
Overall a fun chapter, and now I want the next one to happen sooner rather than later.
But don't rush it or anything, I'll wait either way. =) Keep it up!
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Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Thanks, I'm gonna try to update more often. Heh, I figured I'd finally make good use of the "innuendo" I put in the rating on the first page.
Heh, I agree. Corphish + Die Hard = awesomeness... and much terror for anybody nearby.
Thanks for the review, bnb. I've been working on the next chapter.
Heh, I agree. Corphish + Die Hard = awesomeness... and much terror for anybody nearby.
Thanks for the review, bnb. I've been working on the next chapter.
Hay! I love your stories! Put me on the pm list for when a new chapter is out if you have one... BUT I LOVE THIS. And, ps, just wondering, is Pyra Torren a digimon story? If it is, TELL ME! and link me to it. P.S. I can imagine what some other people would say if they saw daggerback again... 'WHAT THE F-* BOOOOOM*" lol. Also, does Jeff have corphish and treecko with him? Because if he does, where about to have some serious daggerback *** woopin. >
Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Hay! I love your stories! Put me on the pm list for when a new chapter is out if you have one... BUT I LOVE THIS. And, ps, just wondering, is Pyra Torren a digimon story? If it is, TELL ME! and link me to it. P.S. I can imagine what some other people would say if they saw daggerback again... 'WHAT THE F-* BOOOOOM*" lol. Also, does Jeff have corphish and treecko with him? Because if he does, where about to have some serious daggerback *** woopin. >
Yeah, sure thing! Thanks. Consider yourself added.
Nah, Pyra Torren is a character from a Digimon RPG that I'm in. All the other people in the RPG have one of their characters in their signature too.
The pokemon Jeff has with him are Corphish, Daedalus and Drezdk. Treecko is back with the others and Atlas is with Prometheus. Heh, Daggerback might be more of a threat than you think, even if he is part ground-type. =P
I'm working on a new chapter. I have a long weekend, so I'll have some time to work on it.
Air Dragon
Ha, ha... not.
Wait, didn't i reply to this already? No? Shoot!
Sorry, man, i really thought i had done this already! Let's-a-go!
After bobandbill's extensive grammar check, there was only one area left to correct:
That's Piplup to you, buddy.
NOw for the top three moments of the chapter (imo)
Best non-Corphish part of the chapter! Well, almost...
Getting warmer...
Gentlemen, we have a winner... XD
I agree with bobandbill (can i call ya bnb? only it's kinda long to type in my sleep-deprived state), Jeff is trning into some sort of Tristan. Sorrow and suck follow him around like the plague. Dae's indifferent, Treecko's stubborn as hell, Atlas was using him... are Corphish and Drezdk the onle ones on his team who like him?
And running into Daggerback on top of everything. Waaaay, not cool. Well, Jeff had this one coming, He was told to not go wandering.
Prometheus reminded me a bit of Team Rocket's Butch from the anime. Proud and proper that Onix is indeed...
Well, gotta snooze, so... L@er!
Sorry, man, i really thought i had done this already! Let's-a-go!
After bobandbill's extensive grammar check, there was only one area left to correct:
That's Piplup to you, buddy.
NOw for the top three moments of the chapter (imo)
Best non-Corphish part of the chapter! Well, almost...
Getting warmer...
Gentlemen, we have a winner... XD
I agree with bobandbill (can i call ya bnb? only it's kinda long to type in my sleep-deprived state
), Jeff is trning into some sort of Tristan. Sorrow and suck follow him around like the plague. Dae's indifferent, Treecko's stubborn as hell, Atlas was using him... are Corphish and Drezdk the onle ones on his team who like him?And running into Daggerback on top of everything. Waaaay, not cool. Well, Jeff had this one coming, He was told to not go wandering.
Prometheus reminded me a bit of Team Rocket's Butch from the anime. Proud and proper that Onix is indeed...
Well, gotta snooze, so... L@er!
Hey Griff, sorry for the late review but I, like you, have been caught up in school and other things. I'm really into this story now, though. It's reached that point where the emotional backstory and catalog of events is so rich and you're taking full advantage of that in the surprises, plot points, and even the dialog of these new chapters. It's really cool. Keep up the good work.
Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
(Sorry it took so long. Had exams and stuff. Also, I'm sure Daggerback is happy that he won Best Non-Human Villain... even though the only person he was competing against was himself. So, good job beating, uhh, yourself, Daggerback.)
The waves crashed down on the wet beach sand, staining it brown and uplifting rocks, shells, seaweed, and the occasional Krabby before dragging them back towards the bright blue sea. Then the next wave would come and hammer the beach wash-ups against the sand again.
He could watch the light aqua waves all day and for all intents and purposes, he intended to.
A man in his early forties, wearing only a dark blue bathing suit and sunglasses, lay in a beach chair, which sat about a dozen meters from the crashing surf. From the low-standing table left of his chair, he picked up a blue cocktail that donned a lime wedge on the rim and took a sip from it. A warm ocean breeze flowed through his short, dark brown hair and around his recently clean-shaven, business-appropriate face. The bright sun shone down on his relaxed, muscular body.
The man looked from his martini glass over to a Swampert that lay in the sand next to his chair with his large hands behind his head. “I could get used to all of these business trips, couldn’t you?” he asked in a slightly grizzled voice.
The Swampert grinned and responded with a nod. They continued sitting in silence, listening to the waves until footsteps could be heard in the sand behind them. A skinny man in a tuxedo walked over and stood beside the man, extending his arm and handing him a folded piece of paper.
“Excuse me, sir. This came for you. It seems there was a development,” he said.
The man’s blue eyes, hidden behind the shades, scanned the paper and the corners of his mouth formed a grin. “Heh… He got it.”
“Mm, quite,” the tuxedoed man answered. “Oh yes, you have a meeting with the network distributor at seven thirty tonight and one via conference video call with your administrators an hour later. Is that alright, Mister K-”
“Please, pal,” the man interrupted, looking up from his drink and giving an affirmative thumbs up with an accompanying smirk. “None of that formal crap while I’m supposed to be on vacation. Just call me Archie…”
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Kevin lay back in the sandy grass with his hands behind his head, relaxing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Since he wasn’t all that worried about Jeff, that may well have been true. Rachel sat nearby, with some worry on her face, however she was much more calm than Blane. The dark haired teen paced back and forth with his Piplup in his arms. He barely took his eyes off of the pass. Treecko merely sat in the grass nonchalantly and looked up at the sky.
“Do you think the storm will ease up enough for us to follow them soon?” Blane asked while looking beyond the pass into the stormy desert.
“Nah,” said Kevin with a shrug. A sly grin formed on his face. “And as awesome as I am, even I can’t control the weather, so take a load off and stop trying to be so proactive.”
Blane grumbled and reluctantly sat down beside his Piplup. “I hate sitting around.”
“Really? I never would’ve guessed,” Kevin scoffed. “If you’re really that hung up about it, you can look for a Skitty stuck up a tree.”
“I wonder how they’re doing right now? They’ve been gone awhile,” mused Rachel.
Kevin laughed and shrugged. “I bet Jeff probably did something idiotic and got himself in trouble.”
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Jeff let out a sharp gasp as a purple fist that held him by the collar of his shirt slammed him into the dusty stone wall, pinning him there with a muscular forearm. Daggerback glared, well, daggers into the human’s grimacing eyes. To Jeff’s left was a hole in the interior wall that Daggerback had previously bashed through to cut him off from reaching the stairs from which he came. It wasn’t as if he had anywhere to run to, though, with the sandstorm still outside.
“<Where is it?!> Daggerback demanded, pressing Jeff further against the shadow-laden wall.
“Where’s what?!” Jeff shot back in a desperate tone.
“<Don’t play dumb with me!>” the Nidoking roared, glaring straight into Jeff’s eyes.
“I’ll stop playing dumb when you stop acting like I know what you’re talking about!” he countered, keeping one hand on Daggerback’s in an attempt to get free from his hold, and using the other to stealthily reach towards his backpack’s side pocket while Daggerback was looking into his eyes.
“<The fossil! I know you have it!>”
“Well, maybe you misplaced it- Go!” Jeff suddenly shouted, ripping Treecko’s pokeball from the pocket and throwing it at Daggerback’s face. The ball hit the poison pokemon in the cheek before bouncing off, ricocheting to the ground, and opening.
As Daggerback glanced down at it, Jeff closed his eyes to brace himself for the bright light that always came with the opening of a pokeball. He gave it a few moments before opening his eyes and looking around triumphantly at the spot where he threw it.
...The pokeball was found to be completely empty. Jeff then looked to Daggerback, who stood beside it while still pinning Jeff to the wall, tapping his food impatiently and donning a level, not amused stare. Jeff chuckled sheepishly upon realizing that Treecko was back with the others.
“I-I thought... Heh heh... Ugh...” He shrunk back towards the wall, pressing against his backpack. Jeff could feel the remaining pokeballs shift in the pocket so they pressed against his elbow. He knew that the only way he could get out of this was with help from his pokemon, but after his last failed attempt his time was running out.
Daggerback rolled his eyes before literally ripping the bag from his back. Jeff started and frantically grabbed for his backpack, managing to momentarily grab the side pocket. During the key two seconds that he was able to keep hold of the bag before Daggerback’s strength won out, he was able to feel out a familiar, round item in the pocket. The Nidoking yanked the backpack and Jeff quickly pulled back his hand and tried to indiscriminately place the item in his back pocket while Daggerback was busy with the bag.
“<So, the fossil...>” Daggerback begun, while holding the bag up in the air away from Jeff’s reach and shaking it in a taunting manner.
“...I don’t know anything about a fossil,” Jeff responded, shifting uncomfortably as he continued to be propped up against the wall by Daggerback.
“<Oh yeah? Then what did you put behind your back?>” the Nidoking questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Jeff’s stomach clenched upon realizing that the purple pokemon had noticed his clumsy, last-ditch effort to help himself. “Err... Nothing.”
“<You wouldn’t be lying to me, would ya?>” Daggerback asked in a sly tone, tilting his head downwards so that his horn neared Jeff’s face.
The teen’s eyes widened. “...Maybe something...”
“<Drop it in front of you. Now,>” he ordered.
“You... GOT IT!” Jeff shouted, swinging around his arm and throwing a pokeball at Daggerback once more. However, this time Daggerback expected it and he swatted the object downwards so that it hit the stone floor between Jeff and himself. This time, a bright light erupted from the sphere and a familiar Corphish emerged. The water pokemon noticed Jeff and immediately after noticed a large violet figure opposite the human. His gaze slowly shifted to the massive pokemon and eventually turned upwards to lock eyes with Daggerback.
Before he could even open his mouth, Daggerback grabbed Corphish by the neck with his other hand and shoved him against the wall beside his trainer. The orange shellfish winced and glanced over to Jeff beside him. “<Don’t worry, Jeff; I’m here to save you...>” he said sheepishly.
Jeff groaned while Daggerback glared at the two of them. “<Nice to see you again, little Corphish,>” the Nidoking said with a sneer.
“<Actually, you can call me ‘Lord Protector Corphish’. Even ‘Sir Corphish’ will do... but yeah, long time no see, Daggerbutt the Aggressor!>”
“<That’s ‘Daggerback the Oppressor’!>” he growled, pushing Corphish against the wall with increased force.
“<Heh, that’s what I meant!>”
“<Anyways, the fossil... It went missing after he and that Treecko escaped from me and gave me this!>” Daggerback said while turning his head to show more clearly the eye patch on his face.
“<It really brings out your... eye! You’ve got the whole ‘bad boy’ look down; a lot of girls really dig that. Did anyone tell you that you’d look good in pink?>” Corphish rambled.
Daggerback sneered and slammed his tail onto the floor with a crash. “<Stop stalling!>”
“<Gee, you think yelling at us will make us open up to you?>”
Jeff gave Daggerback a level stare. “Won’t you just kill us once we tell you?”
The Nidoking raised an eyebrow. “<Just because I’m not the nicest guy around doesn’t mean I’m going to kill you. Sure, I’m not above beating you guys to pulps, but I’m not a monster.>”
“<I feel so much better now...>” Corphish murmured with an accompanying roll of his eyes. “<Hey, Needlenose, why do you want a fossil so bad anyways? Are you a big dinosaur enthusiast or something?>”
Daggerback chuckled and allowed the two to drop to the ground. He walked over to the large hole in the wall that he created and moved a large slab of stone over it to cover it up. He then walked over to the doorway and sat down beside it, leaning back against the wall. The poison pokemon grinned and looked over, through the darkness, at his two captives, who were catching their breath.
“<No, shellfish... It just so happens that I’m a mercenary.>”
“A mercenary?” Jeff asked in shock. “A pokemon mercenary?”
“<What? You’re not the only human that can communicate with pokemon, ya know. And as ya know, pokemon can often do things that humans can’t. Some people take advantage of that fact, ‘cept I take advantage of them by making a living offa it.>”
“Aren’t some people put off by you coming into their store and buying stuff?”
Daggerback scoffed and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed fashion. “<I don’t get money. They give me whatever tools and equipment I need in order to secure my territory and get my jobs done quickly. It’s a pretty good deal, actually.>”
“<So that’s how he had all those traps and stuff,>” Corphish mused.
“That means somebody wants those fossils? That’s why you’re after us?” Jeff asked.
“<That, and I’ve got a bone to pick with that damn Treecko.>”
“Hey, you were the guy who attacked him first!” Jeff countered.
“<And me,>” added Corphish, raising his claw.
“And Corphish!”
“<Thanks, Jeff.>”
Daggerback let out a dismissive grunt. “<They were the ones who trespassed on my land when there were clearly signs around the whole perimeter.>”
“<You mean the ones with the stick figures? I thought a child drew that! Gee, for someone who’s dexterous enough to tie knots like you can with those funny claws of yours, you sure don’t draw very well...>” Corphish remarked.
“<It was just a red ‘X’...>” Daggerback said in a scathing voice.
“<Really? Because it looked like->”
Before Corphish could make him any angrier, Jeff quickly stood up and interrupted. “So who hired you?”
Daggerback grinned and waggled one of his claws. “<I can’t give out that sort of information, but the offer’s definitely worth what it’s taking to finally catch you guys. Besides, I’m the one who asks the questions around here,>” he barked, getting to his feet. “<So tell me, where’s the fossil?>”
Jeff and Corphish exchanged glances. “We don’t have it...”
They soon found several long, sharp purple pins enter the ground just in front of their feet, causing them both to jump back against the wall. Daggerback continued to smirk as he stared at them. An uneasy Jeff and Corphish exchanged nervous glances as they tried to regain their composure. “<Still don’t have it?>”
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Prometheus trudged through the dark desert slowly. This was because Atlas was slumped over his back, gripping slightly so that he wouldn’t fall off. The able Onix followed the cliff face in the general direction that he came, since the cliff inevitably led back to the pass from which he entered. The sun was close to meeting the horizon in the west, causing the cliff to cast a shadow that darkened the desert more than the sandstorm already had.
“<How are you holding up, mate?>” Prometheus asked his friend.
“<Physically, I can move on my own,>” Atlas answered.
“<Physically, you’re barely able to stand up,>” Prometheus countered. “<Well, that’s physically, what about otherwise?>”
Atlas’ grey eyes gazed at the ground, watching the shifting sands on the darkened ground blow with the storm. “<I don’t think Jeff will forgive me...>”
“<Err... I see,>” Prometheus replied awkwardly. The Onix was never that good in situations like this. “<Well... if he’s really your friend, he’ll forgive you. You... err... forgave me, after all... and such.>”
A faint grin appeared on Atlas’ face. “<Thank you.>”
“<Don’t mention it... seriously.>”
Atlas let out a light chuckle, which prompted a small grin on Prometheus’ face. “<How far do you suppose is left?>” Atlas asked him.
“<I should say about one hundred runs are left. That’s just a guess though,>” Prometheus answered. “<That scar... That’s from Kronos, right?>”
The weakened Onix nodded. “<Yes... My quote unquote ‘mark of shame’...>”
“<Right... About that...>” Prometheus begun with some insecurity in his voice.
“<It’s okay, Prometheus. I understand you were scared,>” Atlas reassured him. Prometheus opened his mouth to object to the claim, but Atlas cut him off. “<Though I know you won’t admit it.>”
Atlas’ friend rolled his eyes and continued onward along the base of the cliff. “<...From now on, I’ll support you no matter what, okay? ...That is, unless you do something idiotic without thinking it through, then I’ll be forced to stop you,>” Prometheus said, grinning.
It was then when they felt the direction of the wind changing. The sand no longer pelted their backs, it hit the side of their bodies that was closest to the cliff on their right. The two Onix also noticed that, through the sand ahead of them, they could see light. Prometheus beamed victoriously. “<You know what this means? We made it!>”
Prometheus burst through the cloud of sand and found both he and his friend in the sandy but gentle pass that met with the grass. Blane bolted upwards upon seeing them. “They’re back!” he yelled.
Kevin and Rachel turned to see them coming slowly towards them. Prometheus lay down on the ground and allowed Atlas to crawl off and rest on the ground. Kevin ran forwards. “Yo, where’s Jeff?” he asked, looking around eagerly. “...Did you eat him?”
Prometheus straightened up and turned back towards the desert. “<No. I’m going back for him while Atlas keeps a constant rhythm by pounding his tail on the ground so that I can get my bearings.>”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “You left him in the middle of that?! He’ll be torn apart!”
“<I’m not an idiot, idiot!>” Prometheus snapped. “<I left him in some giant, hollow stone thing. A building, I think it’s called.>”
“He must be in Mirage Tower,” Rachel deduced.
“Yeah, I knew that,” Kevin said dismissively. “Well, what are you waiting for, Pro? The sooner we get Jeff, the sooner we can leave.”
Prometheus gave a deep snarl before turning and slithering quickly into the desert.
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Daggerback dug through Jeff’s bag while they stood on and watched helplessly. Corphish was well aware that, even with him being a water-type and Daggerback being a ground-type, he was no match for him. Corphish noticed the Nidoking had a bag of his own resting on the other side of the room.
“<Let’s see here...>” Daggerback said as he began throwing the items he found to the ground. “<Soaps, shampoos, a toothbrush, conditioners, hair mousse... bath salts? ...What are you doing? Travelling? Or starting a spa?>” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jeff grimaced and blushed slightly. “Damn it, Kevin... That’s the last time I ever take you to a hotel.”
“<A clock radio, brochures, a telephone, various wires...>” Daggerback continued.
Corphish looked at Jeff and whispered. “<I’m just a simple pokemon... So do you happen to have any plans to get outta here up in your ol’ bread basket?>”
“I’m working on it...” Jeff murmured.
“<I don’t want to seem pushy, but pretty soon he’s gonna find that fossil and when he does, I’m worried what he’ll do to us. I don’t exactly want to be tied down and eaten by a horde of angry Sandslash!>”
“...I think your imagination is getting away from you, Corp,” Jeff said, giving him a level stare.
“<Would you really put it past Daggerbutt?>” Corphish asked.
Jeff was about to reply, but he was distracted when the Nidoking in question took something out of the teen’s bag. In Daggerback’s purple hand was a balled-up shower curtain. Jeff froze. He remembered that it was the shower curtain he used to put the fossil in to protect it.
“<Maybe it’s wrapped up in this,>” Daggerback mused and began to unwrap it. “<Then I’ll have all seven.>”
He looked desperately to Corphish, who returned a worried look. Jeff suddenly closed his eyes and balled up his fists. “Corphish! Bubblebeam! Go to his right!” he shouted.
“<You got it!>” the water pokemon yelled, unleashing a rapid volley of exploding bubbles while moving as quickly as he could to the left, opposite to the doorway out. The watery orbs burst on impact with Daggerback, eliciting growls of frustration as he dropped the bag and the shower curtain in shock. The Nidoking walked forward and opened up his maw from which he released a shower of poison pins. Corphish increased his pace, causing the pins to explode behind him. He continued running and firing bubbles out of his right claw as the needles shattered in his wake.
As this happened, Jeff ran towards the rear of Daggerback, where his bag and items were. He hastily grabbed his bag and the shower curtain, which he quickly shoved into the backpack. Unbeknownst to Daggerback, Jeff threw the bag through the doorway and into the hallway where the stairs were. The teen picked up a rock and ran over to the left, where he and Corphish had been pinned to the wall, just as the Nidoking turned his head to follow the water pokemon. Jeff picked up Corphish’s pokeball so that he would be able to use it to recall Corphish, if it came to that.
He saw Corphish beginning to run along the wall opposite to him, which brought him closer to Daggerback; he had fallen into Daggerback's plan and had no choice or else he’d be hit by the poison pins that followed him. Jeff clutched the rock in his hand and hurled it at the back of Daggerback’s head. The Nidoking let out a snarl. The rock didn’t really hurt him, but it got his attention. Daggerback spun around to face Jeff.
At the same time, Corphish approached the door and gave Jeff a nod. The poison pokemon began to charge Jeff, hoping to use the human as a means to get the shellfish pokemon to behave. Jeff recoiled in response to the charging Nidoking. Corphish knew he had to act quickly. He levelled his pincers with Daggerbacks legs and let loose a tremendous volley of bubbles.
The translucent orbs burst on contact with Daggerback’s legs, who let out a surprised yelp as his legs buckled and he fell, unbraced, onto the floor. Jeff took this opportunity to sprint for the door which Corphish was already at. Daggerback angrily swung his tail around, which managed to catch Jeff’s leg and send him careening to the ground as well. The teen winced and attempted to crawl forward, but he found that he couldn’t go any further.
Jeff tugged at his leg but it wouldn’t budge. He looked down frantically and saw that Daggerback’s tail was coiled around his ankle. “<Where... do you think you’re going?>” the Nidoking snarled.
“Corphish!” Jeff cried out.
“<Crap!>” Corphish sputtered, running to aid his friend. The water pokemon clamped his right pincer down on Daggerback’s tail and squeezed, but the Nidoking’s hold continued.
“Try Crabhammer!” advised Jeff in a panic.
Corphish complied and began pounding his water-soaked claw down on Daggerback’s tail. The behemoth of a pokemon grimaced with pain, but tried to remain holding onto Jeff as he got to his feet. “<Why can’t I be a Machoke of a Corphish?>” Corphish muttered.
“Give it all you’ve got in one blow, Corp!”
Corphish nodded, raised his claw over his head and jumped to the best of his ability into the air. He brought down his pincers onto Daggerback’s tail in a powerful strike. The Nidoking growled in pain and his tail tensed up upon being struck before slackening and allowing Jeff to remove his foot.
“Let’s go!” Jeff shouted, picking up Corphish and scrambling to his feet. He bolted towards the door. Upon getting through the stone doorway, he bent down to pick up his bag where Corphish grabbed one of the straps. The duo then heard pounding footsteps reach the door behind them. Jeff turned and saw Daggerback at the doorway. The Nidoking let out a savage roar the struck fear into both of their hearts.
“<Time to leave, Jeff!>” Corphish shouted.
Jeff agreed instantaneously. He sprinted at full speed down the end of the hall towards the parallel eroded stairway that he came up. The teen grimaced as he heard Daggerback’s thunderous stampede quickly gaining on them. Jeff dug deep and increased his speed, nearing the end of the hallway. He was forced to slow down near the end and he shot to the side and turned to pedal down the rocky stairs.
Daggerback growled from behind them and attempted to swipe at them, but missed. He too rounded the corner and began chasing them down the stairs, causing the weak rocks the staircase was made of to chip off under his feet. Jeff’s face lit up upon seeing the light of the outside pouring in from the front door.
“<Almost there!>” Corphish shouted.
Jeff bolted for the doorway... but stopped when a blast of sand pushed him and Corphish back inside. They winced and staggered back. Jeff looked outside to see that the sandstorm was still raging outside. A deep, victorious chuckle sounded out from behind them.
“<Heh heh heh... Forgot about the storm, did we?>” asked Daggerback, coming to a smug walk towards them and folding his arms.
Jeff spun around and Corphish leapt out of his arms and readied himself for a fight.
Daggerback smirked. “<Don’t bother fighting back. You don’t have anywhere to run and you both know I’m stronger than you. Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you two won’t->”
The Nidoking’s voice cut out and his eyes widened upon seeing something behind the trapped two. The massive head of an Onix burst through the swirling wall of sand, past the doorway and into the tower. Without so much as a word, it scooped Jeff and Corphish into its mouth and disappeared just as quickly back into the sandstorm.
Daggerback stood there in pure and utter shock as he watched his two prisoners seemingly get eaten by an Onix completely out of the blue. His eye twitched and his extended, pointing arm trembled slightly.
“<That... was... unexpected...>” he managed through his shock.
Of course, it wasn’t long until he remembered that Jeff had an Onix, to which a mighty roar of frustration followed...
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Atlas lay down on the grass, continuing to pound his tail slowly on the ground. Kevin put his headphones on and began listening to his CD player in an attempt to drown out the repetitive thumping. Blane was as restless as ever so he attempted to distract himself by chatting with Rachel about her pokemon.
“This pounding is giving me a headache!” Kevin growled, ripping off his headphones as the vibrations started to cause his CD to skip. “They’d better hurry up; I don’t have one of those fancy anti-shock walkmans!”
“<The more you whine, the slower I’ll go,>” boomed a voice. The group turned to see Prometheus’ form slithering down the path towards them. Atlas stopped moving his tail and craned his head towards his friend.
“It’s about time!” Kevin shouted.
Prometheus pitched his head forward, allowing Jeff and Corphish to fall from his maw to the ground. “<I think I’d rather waltz with Daggerback than travel in the big snake’s mouth again,>” Corphish said as he shuddered.
As Jeff got to his feet, Corphish’ words reminded him. “Daggerback attacked us in Mirage Tower.”
Exclamations of shock rang out from the group. Until that point, Treecko hadn’t been paying attention. He walked over and stared at Jeff. “<What was he doing there?>”
“I’m not sure why he was there, but one thing’s for sure: he’s after the fossil we have.”
“Why would he be after that?” Rachel asked.
“Does that mean he followed you guys to the tower?” added Blane.
Jeff folded his arms and thought. “He said he was like a mercenary... He had a client who wanted it.” He glanced over to Blane. “...And no. He was there before me and seemed as surprised as I was when we crossed paths.”
“That’s weird... Why would he be in an old tower in the middle of the desert?” Kevin questioned.
Silence over took the group for a few moments until Jeff suddenly said, “I’ve got it!” All eyes looked to him. “I remember watching a TV special about it...”
“<Ah, TV... Is there anything you can’t do?>” Corphish asked affectionately.
“...Anyways, they were saying that a bunch of palaeontologists and archaeologists were digging up stuff there, until it was proclaimed a historical site and unsafe for excavation, which explains the abandoned excavation sites I saw.”
“<I told you to stay near the door!>” Prometheus barked.
Jeff chuckled sheepishly. “I must have misheard?”
“Get to the point already, Jeff,” Kevin said.
“I would if people would stop interrupting me,” he replied, glaring. “So, palaeontologists dig up fossils, right? And what’s Daggerback trying to get from us?”
“Fossils...” Kevin said.
“So, it’s safe to assume he was there looking for fossils when you showed up,” deduced Rachel.
Jeff nodded and took the shower curtain-protected fossil out of his to check on it. “Yeah... As he was about to take the fossil, I remember him saying ‘Now I have all seven’ or something. That means he must have found the fossils he was looking for in Mirage Tower.”
“<While that may be...>” Corphish said matter-of-factly, striding in a smug, detective-like fashion to the center of the group. “<It would appear that he now only has five.>” With that, Corphish opened his left pincer and allowed a grapefruit-sized rock to fall to the grass.
Jeff stare blankly at the water pokemon. “...Corphish... is that a fossil?” Corphish nodded while grinning widely. “Did I ever tell you I loved you?”
“<No... but I assumed it anyways.>”
Kevin cleared his throat and stepped forward. “They’re just fossils. What’s the big deal? I mean, if he’ll stop chasing you guys when he has all the fossils, why not give them to him?”
“First, Kevin, it’s because at least two of these fossils are stolen from Rustboro. Second, who would hire a mercenary to go find fossils instead of a professional science team? And who has the resources to pay that mercenary not with money, but with a heaping load of various items of whatever he asks for? Whoever it is obviously has a lot of money and they probably resorted to more dubious tactics of getting what they want when the museum refused to sell the two fossils they had to them. Of course, this is all speculation.”
“Alright, so what do we do with the fossils?” asked Blane.
Jeff shrugged. “...I’m not sure, but I think we should keep these two for now. Whoever Daggerback’s client is... I dunno, I just think it’s for more than just collecting purposes. I don’t like it.”
“That’s all fine and great,” said Kevin, “but let’s not forget why we’re out here in the first place! To beat the pants off gym leaders!” To that, Treecko nodded in agreement. “So let’s go to Lavaridge Town!”
Jeff sighed. “Yeah, okay...” He glanced over to Atlas, who was looking at him. Upon making eye contact with Jeff, Atlas quickly looked away. “...Let’s go then.”
Prometheus looked down at Kevin. “<You. I’m staying out here with my friend, understood?>”
“Fine by me,” answered Kevin, whose attention was caught by the shower curtain in Jeff’s hand. “Yo, Jeff... Do you still have all the stuff from the hotel in your bag after Daggerback attacked?”
Jeff glanced at him and shrugged. “Daggerback sorta dumped it all out.”
Kevin let out a cry. “NOOOOOOOO! ...Do you still have the lemon in there?”
“...Yes.”
“Sweet.”
Fossil Fuels
The waves crashed down on the wet beach sand, staining it brown and uplifting rocks, shells, seaweed, and the occasional Krabby before dragging them back towards the bright blue sea. Then the next wave would come and hammer the beach wash-ups against the sand again.
He could watch the light aqua waves all day and for all intents and purposes, he intended to.
A man in his early forties, wearing only a dark blue bathing suit and sunglasses, lay in a beach chair, which sat about a dozen meters from the crashing surf. From the low-standing table left of his chair, he picked up a blue cocktail that donned a lime wedge on the rim and took a sip from it. A warm ocean breeze flowed through his short, dark brown hair and around his recently clean-shaven, business-appropriate face. The bright sun shone down on his relaxed, muscular body.
The man looked from his martini glass over to a Swampert that lay in the sand next to his chair with his large hands behind his head. “I could get used to all of these business trips, couldn’t you?” he asked in a slightly grizzled voice.
The Swampert grinned and responded with a nod. They continued sitting in silence, listening to the waves until footsteps could be heard in the sand behind them. A skinny man in a tuxedo walked over and stood beside the man, extending his arm and handing him a folded piece of paper.
“Excuse me, sir. This came for you. It seems there was a development,” he said.
The man’s blue eyes, hidden behind the shades, scanned the paper and the corners of his mouth formed a grin. “Heh… He got it.”
“Mm, quite,” the tuxedoed man answered. “Oh yes, you have a meeting with the network distributor at seven thirty tonight and one via conference video call with your administrators an hour later. Is that alright, Mister K-”
“Please, pal,” the man interrupted, looking up from his drink and giving an affirmative thumbs up with an accompanying smirk. “None of that formal crap while I’m supposed to be on vacation. Just call me Archie…”
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Kevin lay back in the sandy grass with his hands behind his head, relaxing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Since he wasn’t all that worried about Jeff, that may well have been true. Rachel sat nearby, with some worry on her face, however she was much more calm than Blane. The dark haired teen paced back and forth with his Piplup in his arms. He barely took his eyes off of the pass. Treecko merely sat in the grass nonchalantly and looked up at the sky.
“Do you think the storm will ease up enough for us to follow them soon?” Blane asked while looking beyond the pass into the stormy desert.
“Nah,” said Kevin with a shrug. A sly grin formed on his face. “And as awesome as I am, even I can’t control the weather, so take a load off and stop trying to be so proactive.”
Blane grumbled and reluctantly sat down beside his Piplup. “I hate sitting around.”
“Really? I never would’ve guessed,” Kevin scoffed. “If you’re really that hung up about it, you can look for a Skitty stuck up a tree.”
“I wonder how they’re doing right now? They’ve been gone awhile,” mused Rachel.
Kevin laughed and shrugged. “I bet Jeff probably did something idiotic and got himself in trouble.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff let out a sharp gasp as a purple fist that held him by the collar of his shirt slammed him into the dusty stone wall, pinning him there with a muscular forearm. Daggerback glared, well, daggers into the human’s grimacing eyes. To Jeff’s left was a hole in the interior wall that Daggerback had previously bashed through to cut him off from reaching the stairs from which he came. It wasn’t as if he had anywhere to run to, though, with the sandstorm still outside.
“<Where is it?!> Daggerback demanded, pressing Jeff further against the shadow-laden wall.
“Where’s what?!” Jeff shot back in a desperate tone.
“<Don’t play dumb with me!>” the Nidoking roared, glaring straight into Jeff’s eyes.
“I’ll stop playing dumb when you stop acting like I know what you’re talking about!” he countered, keeping one hand on Daggerback’s in an attempt to get free from his hold, and using the other to stealthily reach towards his backpack’s side pocket while Daggerback was looking into his eyes.
“<The fossil! I know you have it!>”
“Well, maybe you misplaced it- Go!” Jeff suddenly shouted, ripping Treecko’s pokeball from the pocket and throwing it at Daggerback’s face. The ball hit the poison pokemon in the cheek before bouncing off, ricocheting to the ground, and opening.
As Daggerback glanced down at it, Jeff closed his eyes to brace himself for the bright light that always came with the opening of a pokeball. He gave it a few moments before opening his eyes and looking around triumphantly at the spot where he threw it.
...The pokeball was found to be completely empty. Jeff then looked to Daggerback, who stood beside it while still pinning Jeff to the wall, tapping his food impatiently and donning a level, not amused stare. Jeff chuckled sheepishly upon realizing that Treecko was back with the others.
“I-I thought... Heh heh... Ugh...” He shrunk back towards the wall, pressing against his backpack. Jeff could feel the remaining pokeballs shift in the pocket so they pressed against his elbow. He knew that the only way he could get out of this was with help from his pokemon, but after his last failed attempt his time was running out.
Daggerback rolled his eyes before literally ripping the bag from his back. Jeff started and frantically grabbed for his backpack, managing to momentarily grab the side pocket. During the key two seconds that he was able to keep hold of the bag before Daggerback’s strength won out, he was able to feel out a familiar, round item in the pocket. The Nidoking yanked the backpack and Jeff quickly pulled back his hand and tried to indiscriminately place the item in his back pocket while Daggerback was busy with the bag.
“<So, the fossil...>” Daggerback begun, while holding the bag up in the air away from Jeff’s reach and shaking it in a taunting manner.
“...I don’t know anything about a fossil,” Jeff responded, shifting uncomfortably as he continued to be propped up against the wall by Daggerback.
“<Oh yeah? Then what did you put behind your back?>” the Nidoking questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Jeff’s stomach clenched upon realizing that the purple pokemon had noticed his clumsy, last-ditch effort to help himself. “Err... Nothing.”
“<You wouldn’t be lying to me, would ya?>” Daggerback asked in a sly tone, tilting his head downwards so that his horn neared Jeff’s face.
The teen’s eyes widened. “...Maybe something...”
“<Drop it in front of you. Now,>” he ordered.
“You... GOT IT!” Jeff shouted, swinging around his arm and throwing a pokeball at Daggerback once more. However, this time Daggerback expected it and he swatted the object downwards so that it hit the stone floor between Jeff and himself. This time, a bright light erupted from the sphere and a familiar Corphish emerged. The water pokemon noticed Jeff and immediately after noticed a large violet figure opposite the human. His gaze slowly shifted to the massive pokemon and eventually turned upwards to lock eyes with Daggerback.
Before he could even open his mouth, Daggerback grabbed Corphish by the neck with his other hand and shoved him against the wall beside his trainer. The orange shellfish winced and glanced over to Jeff beside him. “<Don’t worry, Jeff; I’m here to save you...>” he said sheepishly.
Jeff groaned while Daggerback glared at the two of them. “<Nice to see you again, little Corphish,>” the Nidoking said with a sneer.
“<Actually, you can call me ‘Lord Protector Corphish’. Even ‘Sir Corphish’ will do... but yeah, long time no see, Daggerbutt the Aggressor!>”
“<That’s ‘Daggerback the Oppressor’!>” he growled, pushing Corphish against the wall with increased force.
“<Heh, that’s what I meant!>”
“<Anyways, the fossil... It went missing after he and that Treecko escaped from me and gave me this!>” Daggerback said while turning his head to show more clearly the eye patch on his face.
“<It really brings out your... eye! You’ve got the whole ‘bad boy’ look down; a lot of girls really dig that. Did anyone tell you that you’d look good in pink?>” Corphish rambled.
Daggerback sneered and slammed his tail onto the floor with a crash. “<Stop stalling!>”
“<Gee, you think yelling at us will make us open up to you?>”
Jeff gave Daggerback a level stare. “Won’t you just kill us once we tell you?”
The Nidoking raised an eyebrow. “<Just because I’m not the nicest guy around doesn’t mean I’m going to kill you. Sure, I’m not above beating you guys to pulps, but I’m not a monster.>”
“<I feel so much better now...>” Corphish murmured with an accompanying roll of his eyes. “<Hey, Needlenose, why do you want a fossil so bad anyways? Are you a big dinosaur enthusiast or something?>”
Daggerback chuckled and allowed the two to drop to the ground. He walked over to the large hole in the wall that he created and moved a large slab of stone over it to cover it up. He then walked over to the doorway and sat down beside it, leaning back against the wall. The poison pokemon grinned and looked over, through the darkness, at his two captives, who were catching their breath.
“<No, shellfish... It just so happens that I’m a mercenary.>”
“A mercenary?” Jeff asked in shock. “A pokemon mercenary?”
“<What? You’re not the only human that can communicate with pokemon, ya know. And as ya know, pokemon can often do things that humans can’t. Some people take advantage of that fact, ‘cept I take advantage of them by making a living offa it.>”
“Aren’t some people put off by you coming into their store and buying stuff?”
Daggerback scoffed and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed fashion. “<I don’t get money. They give me whatever tools and equipment I need in order to secure my territory and get my jobs done quickly. It’s a pretty good deal, actually.>”
“<So that’s how he had all those traps and stuff,>” Corphish mused.
“That means somebody wants those fossils? That’s why you’re after us?” Jeff asked.
“<That, and I’ve got a bone to pick with that damn Treecko.>”
“Hey, you were the guy who attacked him first!” Jeff countered.
“<And me,>” added Corphish, raising his claw.
“And Corphish!”
“<Thanks, Jeff.>”
Daggerback let out a dismissive grunt. “<They were the ones who trespassed on my land when there were clearly signs around the whole perimeter.>”
“<You mean the ones with the stick figures? I thought a child drew that! Gee, for someone who’s dexterous enough to tie knots like you can with those funny claws of yours, you sure don’t draw very well...>” Corphish remarked.
“<It was just a red ‘X’...>” Daggerback said in a scathing voice.
“<Really? Because it looked like->”
Before Corphish could make him any angrier, Jeff quickly stood up and interrupted. “So who hired you?”
Daggerback grinned and waggled one of his claws. “<I can’t give out that sort of information, but the offer’s definitely worth what it’s taking to finally catch you guys. Besides, I’m the one who asks the questions around here,>” he barked, getting to his feet. “<So tell me, where’s the fossil?>”
Jeff and Corphish exchanged glances. “We don’t have it...”
They soon found several long, sharp purple pins enter the ground just in front of their feet, causing them both to jump back against the wall. Daggerback continued to smirk as he stared at them. An uneasy Jeff and Corphish exchanged nervous glances as they tried to regain their composure. “<Still don’t have it?>”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prometheus trudged through the dark desert slowly. This was because Atlas was slumped over his back, gripping slightly so that he wouldn’t fall off. The able Onix followed the cliff face in the general direction that he came, since the cliff inevitably led back to the pass from which he entered. The sun was close to meeting the horizon in the west, causing the cliff to cast a shadow that darkened the desert more than the sandstorm already had.
“<How are you holding up, mate?>” Prometheus asked his friend.
“<Physically, I can move on my own,>” Atlas answered.
“<Physically, you’re barely able to stand up,>” Prometheus countered. “<Well, that’s physically, what about otherwise?>”
Atlas’ grey eyes gazed at the ground, watching the shifting sands on the darkened ground blow with the storm. “<I don’t think Jeff will forgive me...>”
“<Err... I see,>” Prometheus replied awkwardly. The Onix was never that good in situations like this. “<Well... if he’s really your friend, he’ll forgive you. You... err... forgave me, after all... and such.>”
A faint grin appeared on Atlas’ face. “<Thank you.>”
“<Don’t mention it... seriously.>”
Atlas let out a light chuckle, which prompted a small grin on Prometheus’ face. “<How far do you suppose is left?>” Atlas asked him.
“<I should say about one hundred runs are left. That’s just a guess though,>” Prometheus answered. “<That scar... That’s from Kronos, right?>”
The weakened Onix nodded. “<Yes... My quote unquote ‘mark of shame’...>”
“<Right... About that...>” Prometheus begun with some insecurity in his voice.
“<It’s okay, Prometheus. I understand you were scared,>” Atlas reassured him. Prometheus opened his mouth to object to the claim, but Atlas cut him off. “<Though I know you won’t admit it.>”
Atlas’ friend rolled his eyes and continued onward along the base of the cliff. “<...From now on, I’ll support you no matter what, okay? ...That is, unless you do something idiotic without thinking it through, then I’ll be forced to stop you,>” Prometheus said, grinning.
It was then when they felt the direction of the wind changing. The sand no longer pelted their backs, it hit the side of their bodies that was closest to the cliff on their right. The two Onix also noticed that, through the sand ahead of them, they could see light. Prometheus beamed victoriously. “<You know what this means? We made it!>”
Prometheus burst through the cloud of sand and found both he and his friend in the sandy but gentle pass that met with the grass. Blane bolted upwards upon seeing them. “They’re back!” he yelled.
Kevin and Rachel turned to see them coming slowly towards them. Prometheus lay down on the ground and allowed Atlas to crawl off and rest on the ground. Kevin ran forwards. “Yo, where’s Jeff?” he asked, looking around eagerly. “...Did you eat him?”
Prometheus straightened up and turned back towards the desert. “<No. I’m going back for him while Atlas keeps a constant rhythm by pounding his tail on the ground so that I can get my bearings.>”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “You left him in the middle of that?! He’ll be torn apart!”
“<I’m not an idiot, idiot!>” Prometheus snapped. “<I left him in some giant, hollow stone thing. A building, I think it’s called.>”
“He must be in Mirage Tower,” Rachel deduced.
“Yeah, I knew that,” Kevin said dismissively. “Well, what are you waiting for, Pro? The sooner we get Jeff, the sooner we can leave.”
Prometheus gave a deep snarl before turning and slithering quickly into the desert.
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Daggerback dug through Jeff’s bag while they stood on and watched helplessly. Corphish was well aware that, even with him being a water-type and Daggerback being a ground-type, he was no match for him. Corphish noticed the Nidoking had a bag of his own resting on the other side of the room.
“<Let’s see here...>” Daggerback said as he began throwing the items he found to the ground. “<Soaps, shampoos, a toothbrush, conditioners, hair mousse... bath salts? ...What are you doing? Travelling? Or starting a spa?>” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jeff grimaced and blushed slightly. “Damn it, Kevin... That’s the last time I ever take you to a hotel.”
“<A clock radio, brochures, a telephone, various wires...>” Daggerback continued.
Corphish looked at Jeff and whispered. “<I’m just a simple pokemon... So do you happen to have any plans to get outta here up in your ol’ bread basket?>”
“I’m working on it...” Jeff murmured.
“<I don’t want to seem pushy, but pretty soon he’s gonna find that fossil and when he does, I’m worried what he’ll do to us. I don’t exactly want to be tied down and eaten by a horde of angry Sandslash!>”
“...I think your imagination is getting away from you, Corp,” Jeff said, giving him a level stare.
“<Would you really put it past Daggerbutt?>” Corphish asked.
Jeff was about to reply, but he was distracted when the Nidoking in question took something out of the teen’s bag. In Daggerback’s purple hand was a balled-up shower curtain. Jeff froze. He remembered that it was the shower curtain he used to put the fossil in to protect it.
“<Maybe it’s wrapped up in this,>” Daggerback mused and began to unwrap it. “<Then I’ll have all seven.>”
He looked desperately to Corphish, who returned a worried look. Jeff suddenly closed his eyes and balled up his fists. “Corphish! Bubblebeam! Go to his right!” he shouted.
“<You got it!>” the water pokemon yelled, unleashing a rapid volley of exploding bubbles while moving as quickly as he could to the left, opposite to the doorway out. The watery orbs burst on impact with Daggerback, eliciting growls of frustration as he dropped the bag and the shower curtain in shock. The Nidoking walked forward and opened up his maw from which he released a shower of poison pins. Corphish increased his pace, causing the pins to explode behind him. He continued running and firing bubbles out of his right claw as the needles shattered in his wake.
As this happened, Jeff ran towards the rear of Daggerback, where his bag and items were. He hastily grabbed his bag and the shower curtain, which he quickly shoved into the backpack. Unbeknownst to Daggerback, Jeff threw the bag through the doorway and into the hallway where the stairs were. The teen picked up a rock and ran over to the left, where he and Corphish had been pinned to the wall, just as the Nidoking turned his head to follow the water pokemon. Jeff picked up Corphish’s pokeball so that he would be able to use it to recall Corphish, if it came to that.
He saw Corphish beginning to run along the wall opposite to him, which brought him closer to Daggerback; he had fallen into Daggerback's plan and had no choice or else he’d be hit by the poison pins that followed him. Jeff clutched the rock in his hand and hurled it at the back of Daggerback’s head. The Nidoking let out a snarl. The rock didn’t really hurt him, but it got his attention. Daggerback spun around to face Jeff.
At the same time, Corphish approached the door and gave Jeff a nod. The poison pokemon began to charge Jeff, hoping to use the human as a means to get the shellfish pokemon to behave. Jeff recoiled in response to the charging Nidoking. Corphish knew he had to act quickly. He levelled his pincers with Daggerbacks legs and let loose a tremendous volley of bubbles.
The translucent orbs burst on contact with Daggerback’s legs, who let out a surprised yelp as his legs buckled and he fell, unbraced, onto the floor. Jeff took this opportunity to sprint for the door which Corphish was already at. Daggerback angrily swung his tail around, which managed to catch Jeff’s leg and send him careening to the ground as well. The teen winced and attempted to crawl forward, but he found that he couldn’t go any further.
Jeff tugged at his leg but it wouldn’t budge. He looked down frantically and saw that Daggerback’s tail was coiled around his ankle. “<Where... do you think you’re going?>” the Nidoking snarled.
“Corphish!” Jeff cried out.
“<Crap!>” Corphish sputtered, running to aid his friend. The water pokemon clamped his right pincer down on Daggerback’s tail and squeezed, but the Nidoking’s hold continued.
“Try Crabhammer!” advised Jeff in a panic.
Corphish complied and began pounding his water-soaked claw down on Daggerback’s tail. The behemoth of a pokemon grimaced with pain, but tried to remain holding onto Jeff as he got to his feet. “<Why can’t I be a Machoke of a Corphish?>” Corphish muttered.
“Give it all you’ve got in one blow, Corp!”
Corphish nodded, raised his claw over his head and jumped to the best of his ability into the air. He brought down his pincers onto Daggerback’s tail in a powerful strike. The Nidoking growled in pain and his tail tensed up upon being struck before slackening and allowing Jeff to remove his foot.
“Let’s go!” Jeff shouted, picking up Corphish and scrambling to his feet. He bolted towards the door. Upon getting through the stone doorway, he bent down to pick up his bag where Corphish grabbed one of the straps. The duo then heard pounding footsteps reach the door behind them. Jeff turned and saw Daggerback at the doorway. The Nidoking let out a savage roar the struck fear into both of their hearts.
“<Time to leave, Jeff!>” Corphish shouted.
Jeff agreed instantaneously. He sprinted at full speed down the end of the hall towards the parallel eroded stairway that he came up. The teen grimaced as he heard Daggerback’s thunderous stampede quickly gaining on them. Jeff dug deep and increased his speed, nearing the end of the hallway. He was forced to slow down near the end and he shot to the side and turned to pedal down the rocky stairs.
Daggerback growled from behind them and attempted to swipe at them, but missed. He too rounded the corner and began chasing them down the stairs, causing the weak rocks the staircase was made of to chip off under his feet. Jeff’s face lit up upon seeing the light of the outside pouring in from the front door.
“<Almost there!>” Corphish shouted.
Jeff bolted for the doorway... but stopped when a blast of sand pushed him and Corphish back inside. They winced and staggered back. Jeff looked outside to see that the sandstorm was still raging outside. A deep, victorious chuckle sounded out from behind them.
“<Heh heh heh... Forgot about the storm, did we?>” asked Daggerback, coming to a smug walk towards them and folding his arms.
Jeff spun around and Corphish leapt out of his arms and readied himself for a fight.
Daggerback smirked. “<Don’t bother fighting back. You don’t have anywhere to run and you both know I’m stronger than you. Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you two won’t->”
The Nidoking’s voice cut out and his eyes widened upon seeing something behind the trapped two. The massive head of an Onix burst through the swirling wall of sand, past the doorway and into the tower. Without so much as a word, it scooped Jeff and Corphish into its mouth and disappeared just as quickly back into the sandstorm.
Daggerback stood there in pure and utter shock as he watched his two prisoners seemingly get eaten by an Onix completely out of the blue. His eye twitched and his extended, pointing arm trembled slightly.
“<That... was... unexpected...>” he managed through his shock.
Of course, it wasn’t long until he remembered that Jeff had an Onix, to which a mighty roar of frustration followed...
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Atlas lay down on the grass, continuing to pound his tail slowly on the ground. Kevin put his headphones on and began listening to his CD player in an attempt to drown out the repetitive thumping. Blane was as restless as ever so he attempted to distract himself by chatting with Rachel about her pokemon.
“This pounding is giving me a headache!” Kevin growled, ripping off his headphones as the vibrations started to cause his CD to skip. “They’d better hurry up; I don’t have one of those fancy anti-shock walkmans!”
“<The more you whine, the slower I’ll go,>” boomed a voice. The group turned to see Prometheus’ form slithering down the path towards them. Atlas stopped moving his tail and craned his head towards his friend.
“It’s about time!” Kevin shouted.
Prometheus pitched his head forward, allowing Jeff and Corphish to fall from his maw to the ground. “<I think I’d rather waltz with Daggerback than travel in the big snake’s mouth again,>” Corphish said as he shuddered.
As Jeff got to his feet, Corphish’ words reminded him. “Daggerback attacked us in Mirage Tower.”
Exclamations of shock rang out from the group. Until that point, Treecko hadn’t been paying attention. He walked over and stared at Jeff. “<What was he doing there?>”
“I’m not sure why he was there, but one thing’s for sure: he’s after the fossil we have.”
“Why would he be after that?” Rachel asked.
“Does that mean he followed you guys to the tower?” added Blane.
Jeff folded his arms and thought. “He said he was like a mercenary... He had a client who wanted it.” He glanced over to Blane. “...And no. He was there before me and seemed as surprised as I was when we crossed paths.”
“That’s weird... Why would he be in an old tower in the middle of the desert?” Kevin questioned.
Silence over took the group for a few moments until Jeff suddenly said, “I’ve got it!” All eyes looked to him. “I remember watching a TV special about it...”
“<Ah, TV... Is there anything you can’t do?>” Corphish asked affectionately.
“...Anyways, they were saying that a bunch of palaeontologists and archaeologists were digging up stuff there, until it was proclaimed a historical site and unsafe for excavation, which explains the abandoned excavation sites I saw.”
“<I told you to stay near the door!>” Prometheus barked.
Jeff chuckled sheepishly. “I must have misheard?”
“Get to the point already, Jeff,” Kevin said.
“I would if people would stop interrupting me,” he replied, glaring. “So, palaeontologists dig up fossils, right? And what’s Daggerback trying to get from us?”
“Fossils...” Kevin said.
“So, it’s safe to assume he was there looking for fossils when you showed up,” deduced Rachel.
Jeff nodded and took the shower curtain-protected fossil out of his to check on it. “Yeah... As he was about to take the fossil, I remember him saying ‘Now I have all seven’ or something. That means he must have found the fossils he was looking for in Mirage Tower.”
“<While that may be...>” Corphish said matter-of-factly, striding in a smug, detective-like fashion to the center of the group. “<It would appear that he now only has five.>” With that, Corphish opened his left pincer and allowed a grapefruit-sized rock to fall to the grass.
Jeff stare blankly at the water pokemon. “...Corphish... is that a fossil?” Corphish nodded while grinning widely. “Did I ever tell you I loved you?”
“<No... but I assumed it anyways.>”
Kevin cleared his throat and stepped forward. “They’re just fossils. What’s the big deal? I mean, if he’ll stop chasing you guys when he has all the fossils, why not give them to him?”
“First, Kevin, it’s because at least two of these fossils are stolen from Rustboro. Second, who would hire a mercenary to go find fossils instead of a professional science team? And who has the resources to pay that mercenary not with money, but with a heaping load of various items of whatever he asks for? Whoever it is obviously has a lot of money and they probably resorted to more dubious tactics of getting what they want when the museum refused to sell the two fossils they had to them. Of course, this is all speculation.”
“Alright, so what do we do with the fossils?” asked Blane.
Jeff shrugged. “...I’m not sure, but I think we should keep these two for now. Whoever Daggerback’s client is... I dunno, I just think it’s for more than just collecting purposes. I don’t like it.”
“That’s all fine and great,” said Kevin, “but let’s not forget why we’re out here in the first place! To beat the pants off gym leaders!” To that, Treecko nodded in agreement. “So let’s go to Lavaridge Town!”
Jeff sighed. “Yeah, okay...” He glanced over to Atlas, who was looking at him. Upon making eye contact with Jeff, Atlas quickly looked away. “...Let’s go then.”
Prometheus looked down at Kevin. “<You. I’m staying out here with my friend, understood?>”
“Fine by me,” answered Kevin, whose attention was caught by the shower curtain in Jeff’s hand. “Yo, Jeff... Do you still have all the stuff from the hotel in your bag after Daggerback attacked?”
Jeff glanced at him and shrugged. “Daggerback sorta dumped it all out.”
Kevin let out a cry. “NOOOOOOOO! ...Do you still have the lemon in there?”
“...Yes.”
“Sweet.”
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xDD, the lemon. Oh, Kevin. I don't even know why he's so fixated on that lemon anyway, but that was an awesome way to end the chapter. xP It especially worked since we were reminded of Kevin's kleptomania in the hotel room earlier on when Daggerback was rifling through Jeff's bag, which also rekindled memories of the, ahem, lemon scene for me, so there was no "Wait, what lemon?" with this ending here. It was already at the front of my mind, and it just worked.
And speaking of Daggerback, this chapter did well to up his status from an almost comic relief villain who can't easily be taken seriously to a genuine threat. Rather than him just doing his villainous stuff apparently because he feels like it, you've given him motive and background with this whole mercenary thing - and I can guess who his client might be, too, thanks to that opening scene. Now I have to wonder what our water-loving "Mister K" wants all seven fossils for. That and Daggerback did a fairly impressive job of holding his captives and getting what he wanted from them here, and it's only down to several lucky breaks and jammy moves that Jeff and Corphish just about managed to deny him and escape. The combination of those two together in a dangerous situation was a fun one, I thought, with Corphish trying to wiseass his way out of everything and the two of them working together pretty well even though they don't have such a strong bond as Jeff and Treecko (sometimes) do. And I loved their escape and how you portrayed the sheer wtf-ery of the fact that, from Daggerback's point of view, they just got randomly eaten by a passing Onix. xD
It would have been nice for there to have been an indication of what fossils the two they've got now are. This might just be because I'm curious and can't remember what the one they first stole from Daggerback was, but. And while I'm mentioning small things that were off, I thought the Steelix was called Cronus, not Kronos (and didn't this come up in an MSN conversation a while ago and all)? Then there was your usual bit of odd/clunky wording, but it really wasn't all that frequent or severe; I rarely had to read over something again because I didn't get it the first time, and it didn't detract from the fact that this was overall a pretty solid chapter. Nice work.
Oh, and I was about a page or so into the Daggerback scene when a certain theme tune tried to push its way into my head. It's a good thing I haven't listened to the actual thing in ages, or I'd have been doomed. =P
And speaking of Daggerback, this chapter did well to up his status from an almost comic relief villain who can't easily be taken seriously to a genuine threat. Rather than him just doing his villainous stuff apparently because he feels like it, you've given him motive and background with this whole mercenary thing - and I can guess who his client might be, too, thanks to that opening scene. Now I have to wonder what our water-loving "Mister K" wants all seven fossils for. That and Daggerback did a fairly impressive job of holding his captives and getting what he wanted from them here, and it's only down to several lucky breaks and jammy moves that Jeff and Corphish just about managed to deny him and escape. The combination of those two together in a dangerous situation was a fun one, I thought, with Corphish trying to wiseass his way out of everything and the two of them working together pretty well even though they don't have such a strong bond as Jeff and Treecko (sometimes) do. And I loved their escape and how you portrayed the sheer wtf-ery of the fact that, from Daggerback's point of view, they just got randomly eaten by a passing Onix. xD
It would have been nice for there to have been an indication of what fossils the two they've got now are. This might just be because I'm curious and can't remember what the one they first stole from Daggerback was, but. And while I'm mentioning small things that were off, I thought the Steelix was called Cronus, not Kronos (and didn't this come up in an MSN conversation a while ago and all)? Then there was your usual bit of odd/clunky wording, but it really wasn't all that frequent or severe; I rarely had to read over something again because I didn't get it the first time, and it didn't detract from the fact that this was overall a pretty solid chapter. Nice work.
Oh, and I was about a page or so into the Daggerback scene when a certain theme tune tried to push its way into my head. It's a good thing I haven't listened to the actual thing in ages, or I'd have been doomed. =P
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Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Oh, we'll find out Kevin's motive behind that lemon in due time... In actuality, that lemon is the key to the whole story! ... Or it could just be a citrus fruit. I guess we'll find out. =P
Thanks, I'm happy that worked out. As awesome as it'd be to have seen Daggerback wearing a cape and riding a hot pink motorcycle... =P. That's a good question, why would he want these fossils? Hmm..
Heh, yeah. Jeff and Corphish's dynamics are pretty fun, but I guess that could be said for Corphish and anybody's. Ironically, Jeff and Corphish might have the most solid teamwork at this point, given Jeff's relationship with his other pokemon. xD Yeah, that escape was amusing to write. Unfortunately for the escapees, Daggerback had to remember Atlas.
Ah, yeah. I might get to those two fossils soon. We'll see. As for Kronus/Cronos/Cronus/Kronos... I'll have to go and check. xD. I think we did have a conversation about that recently, but I forgot what the outcome was. Yeah, I'm slowly making progress with the awkward wording. I've at least improved with the adverb thing. xD
xDD. Thanks a lot; now I've got Warehouse Tiger stuck in my head. xP
Air Dragon
Ha, ha... not.
Here we go!
First, let's hit your grammar errors, shall we?
Daggerback's
Jeff's what?
doorway
Corphish and Jeff vs Daggerback must have been one of the best wild pokemon battles I've read in a long time. Maybe it's because we usually don't see them, but it was cool on a whole new level. Corppy and Kevin carry the funniest moments day with some pretty interesting scenes, like:
Daggerbutt... that killed me...
It can't toast a waffle.
Oh-kayyy...
So the gang get back on the road and Daggerbutt... i mean Daggerback's gonna feel something stupid and so out for payback the next time he and Jeff cross paths.
Sweet chappie, dude! Top-notch all the way!
L@er!
First, let's hit your grammar errors, shall we?
Daggerback's
Jeff's what?
doorway
Corphish and Jeff vs Daggerback must have been one of the best wild pokemon battles I've read in a long time. Maybe it's because we usually don't see them, but it was cool on a whole new level. Corppy and Kevin carry the funniest moments day with some pretty interesting scenes, like:
Daggerbutt... that killed me...
It can't toast a waffle.
Oh-kayyy...
So the gang get back on the road and Daggerbutt... i mean Daggerback's gonna feel something stupid and so out for payback the next time he and Jeff cross paths.
Sweet chappie, dude! Top-notch all the way!
L@er!
Finally, I've managed to answer your call! Halle-friggin'-lujah!
Before I start on this, I've got a little piece of my mind to give to you about the positioning of your hyphens...
I've been noticing that most of the hyphens that are placed in your work is not quite given enough space in between.
I'll show you one given example:
In this case, those hyphens were used as a substitute for the semicolon. In this case, hyphens should be given some space on both ends, not just on the right, here.
If it's used when someone is getting cut off, such as in this...
...then its positioning is perfectly acceptable.
Now that this is out of the way, it time for the meat of this.
*busts out his microscopic sights*
For "Deserted"
That gecko is as stiff as a board if you ask me...
I've noticed that Air Dragon got this before I did, but this has been left unchecked, & thus, I'll give you a stern reminder for him/her: that's Piplup.
That's $&%#ing rich, but what'll be even more so was if he gave him a big-#%$ shotgun! That'll open people's eyes widely!
*sigh* That's @%#$ing wonderful, people...
An excess quote; that can be done away with.
Getting inside an Onix's mouth?? If it has nothing to do with being a dentist, I'd raise an eyebrow over that idea as well.
Entirety...
Ruh roh... You were missing something...
Hmm... I thought that I saw something else that was missing around here, but it's possible that my eyes were playing tricks on me...
For "Fossil Fuels"
Well, Hoo-friggin'-rah, Mr. Griffin. He should be proud of himself!
*sigh* Another facepalm moment... #%&$ing wonderful...
Now we're talking!
1. Remove that, & in turn...
2. ...Capitalize that "b" in "before"
Way to poke fun at Daggerback, though it'll most likely get you killed if you can't back that up...
The mud-slinging never stops, doesn't it?
Something!! You're embarrassing yourself, here!
He's a merc?! That's a hell of a twist...
Now, what the hell is going on in Kevin's brain?? Is that guy so much of a cheap-skate that he has to take stuff from a hotel? I do agree with Jeff; he should stop taking him on his travels, or at the very least, toss him out into the curb!
Come on! You can do better than that!!
That's more like it!
I should've seen his face during that time...
That is most likely one of those "Laugh like Aku" moments.
That... guy... is... mental...
Do I need to say more?
To wrap this up, this was most definitely an action-packed chapter, something that'll get my bloodfrenzy going. I'm not sure if I'm getting rusty, but if I get the initiative on your next chapter, maybe I'll find out...
Before I start on this, I've got a little piece of my mind to give to you about the positioning of your hyphens...
I've been noticing that most of the hyphens that are placed in your work is not quite given enough space in between.
I'll show you one given example:
In this case, those hyphens were used as a substitute for the semicolon. In this case, hyphens should be given some space on both ends, not just on the right, here.
If it's used when someone is getting cut off, such as in this...
...then its positioning is perfectly acceptable.
Now that this is out of the way, it time for the meat of this.
*busts out his microscopic sights*
For "Deserted"
That gecko is as stiff as a board if you ask me...
I've noticed that Air Dragon got this before I did, but this has been left unchecked, & thus, I'll give you a stern reminder for him/her: that's Piplup.
That's $&%#ing rich, but what'll be even more so was if he gave him a big-#%$ shotgun! That'll open people's eyes widely!
*sigh* That's @%#$ing wonderful, people...
An excess quote; that can be done away with.
Getting inside an Onix's mouth?? If it has nothing to do with being a dentist, I'd raise an eyebrow over that idea as well.
Entirety...
Ruh roh... You were missing something...
Hmm... I thought that I saw something else that was missing around here, but it's possible that my eyes were playing tricks on me...
For "Fossil Fuels"
Well, Hoo-friggin'-rah, Mr. Griffin. He should be proud of himself!
*sigh* Another facepalm moment... #%&$ing wonderful...
Now we're talking!
1. Remove that, & in turn...
2. ...Capitalize that "b" in "before"
Way to poke fun at Daggerback, though it'll most likely get you killed if you can't back that up...
The mud-slinging never stops, doesn't it?
Something!! You're embarrassing yourself, here!
He's a merc?! That's a hell of a twist...
Now, what the hell is going on in Kevin's brain?? Is that guy so much of a cheap-skate that he has to take stuff from a hotel? I do agree with Jeff; he should stop taking him on his travels, or at the very least, toss him out into the curb!
Come on! You can do better than that!!
That's more like it!
I should've seen his face during that time...
That is most likely one of those "Laugh like Aku" moments.
That... guy... is... mental...
Do I need to say more?
To wrap this up, this was most definitely an action-packed chapter, something that'll get my bloodfrenzy going. I'm not sure if I'm getting rusty, but if I get the initiative on your next chapter, maybe I'll find out...
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Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Air Dragon:
Heh, thanks. When writing it, I didn't really think of it as a wild battle, but I guess it is, technically.
That depends what channel you set it to. =P
That guy always wants payback. xD But I agree, he's going to be angrier.
Thanks for the review. It's always appreciated!
Brumrha:
Heh, Treecko isn't big on fun and games.
Nah, just beaten to a pulp, as said by Daggerback himself. =P
With Corphish around? Never.
Nah, he's just incredibly... let's say... opportunistic. He rationalizes by paying for a hotel room, he thus bought everything inside as well. =P
His expression would be the sameas one he'd have if a giant foot suddenly came from the sky and crushed Jeff and Corphish in front of him.
I'm not sure what that means.
Anyways, thanks for the review! Hopefully I'll be able to get my next chapter done faster.
Heh, thanks. When writing it, I didn't really think of it as a wild battle, but I guess it is, technically.
That depends what channel you set it to. =P
That guy always wants payback. xD But I agree, he's going to be angrier.
Thanks for the review. It's always appreciated!
Brumrha:
Heh, Treecko isn't big on fun and games.
Nah, just beaten to a pulp, as said by Daggerback himself. =P
With Corphish around? Never.
Nah, he's just incredibly... let's say... opportunistic. He rationalizes by paying for a hotel room, he thus bought everything inside as well. =P
His expression would be the sameas one he'd have if a giant foot suddenly came from the sky and crushed Jeff and Corphish in front of him.
I'm not sure what that means.
Anyways, thanks for the review! Hopefully I'll be able to get my next chapter done faster.
Whoosh I read it now because..well, procastinating this weekend is easier to do. =P And others already pointed out errors it appears...
Anyways this was quite a good chapter, and very enjoyable. I liked the battle and how it turned out - nice action and use of delaying tactics, with some luck thrown in, and onix with a sense of good timing as well. XD 'Twas a nice end to the battle there, although not amusing as the end to the chapter itself as elyvorg said - that was quite simply very well done, that bit. XDDD
As usual Corphish was entertaining, even when in the face ofDaggerbutt danger itself. =P Agree that the teamwork between him and Jeff was strong and fun to read about as well.
Hurrah for plot relevations about the fossils as well - I presume we'll see Daggerback again then, the fine self-beating-villain that he is. =P
And lastly:
Keep it up!
Anyways this was quite a good chapter, and very enjoyable. I liked the battle and how it turned out - nice action and use of delaying tactics, with some luck thrown in, and onix with a sense of good timing as well. XD 'Twas a nice end to the battle there, although not amusing as the end to the chapter itself as elyvorg said - that was quite simply very well done, that bit. XDDD
As usual Corphish was entertaining, even when in the face of
Hurrah for plot relevations about the fossils as well - I presume we'll see Daggerback again then, the fine self-beating-villain that he is. =P
Hmm, idk, just that the beginning of the sentences sounds odd to me. Maybe just add a 'down' after 'back'? =/
XD Sounds nearly a reference as well actually (but without donuts). XD
And lastly:
I'm just going to not help you with that and link you to the epic version of that song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5srCwtLG9U&feature=related =D
Keep it up!
Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
Heh, thanks. I was wondering how many people would pick up on the lemon joke. =P
That's good. We may see more of that in the future. And you presume correct! We haven't seen the last of him yet.
A reference to what? The Simpsons? *thinks*
xD Great, thanks. Just what Daggerback's ego needs, his theme song in full orchestra. xD Now to listen to that song in better quality in windows media player. =P
Thanks for the review!