[X] My Assistant

[Spearow]

Mack nodded minutely as Eric looked to him, giving his approval easily. He had no problem with more company - three was a party, or a charm or whatever. In any case, it was a good number to have when going into an unknown cave. Mack probably would have gone in by himself had he happened upon the cave alone, but here with his new companions and their Pokémon he felt more assured and confident in the expedition.

He didn't recall Chuckie - the Mankey was behaving well, considering, and Mack thought he should be rewarded for that. He did call Queenie to his arm with a sharp whistle - she left Starly reluctantly to flutter to his arm, and Chuckie left his perch atop Mack's shoulder with equal reluctance to make room for Queenie. So, with his Taillow on his shoulder again (still chirping and tweeting over her shoulder at Eric's Starly, inviting him to come along) and his Mankey at his side, he moved toward the cave entrance, stopping before he entered to look back at Eric and Frank.

Reaching into one of the smaller pockets on his backpack, he retrieved a black metal flashlight, holding it aloft to show them. "I've got a light, so we can see where we're going at least."

[Nogster]

Eric shrugged again as Frank asked about the exploring.
"I have no clue actually. I'd doubt that we'll be going too deep though." he said.

" Starly, get back here. we're moving." Eric said as he started walking towards the cave.
Starly took off from the railing and flew out over the edge for a few seconds, making a loop in the air before returning to Eric's shoulder. Eric rolled his eyes. "Showoff."

As Mack mentioned his flashlight, Eric nodded.
"Good. I think I have one, but it stopped working. Probably the batteries."
He continued walking, gesturing for the others to follow.

[Ariadan]

"Well, as long as we don't get stuck in there like I did once. I entered a cave to see if it led somewhere and ended up getting stuck between a bunch of Geodudes, Onix and the end of the cave. I was down there for a day, too afraid to move in case I'd end up getting attacked." Frank spoke with slight humour in his voice as he followed the two and their pokémon.
"I'm telling ya, I've never been as hungry as I was when I finally got out of there."

He looked inside the cave as he stood at the entrance, wondering what pokémon might live in there.
"I wonder what made this cave. I've heard rumours of giant Onix, but do you think they might be this big?" He looked up to the top of the cave and pulled his mask back up to cover his mouth and nose before he took a step inside.

[Spearow]

Mack flicked on the flashlight, swinging the bright white beam into the darkness at the mouth of the cave. Actually, the darkness was more near the back, where his field of vision ended. The front was mostly grayish dust, illuminated by the outside light.

Mack followed the older boy into the cave, inspecting the rocky surface and the various obtrusions and depressions in the floor and roof with his light. Caves were an interesting business, and most interesting was how they came about, a topic which Frank happened to bring up in the next moment. Chuckie drew closer to Mack as he loped along, staring a bit nervously and also somewhat curiously into the damp, echoey darkness. Queenie, meanwhile, fluttered her wings and gave a disgruntled tweet as a drop of moisture landed on her back. As a creature of the sky, she wasn't entirely at home in an enclosed, dark space like this.

Mack shrugged in response to Frank's question. "Since it's close to the sea, I'd guess it's mostly water and wind that made it, but you never know." No, one couldn't know the history of ancient geological formations, just as one couldn't know what excitement or dangers lurked in their depths. The mystery was all a part of the fun.

[Nogster]

Eric was the last person to enter the cave. He had once again decided to rummage through his backpack for the flashlight and so the others had passed him and gone ahead. Sitting just outside the mouth of the cave, he heard one of the others speak of the pokémon Onix. Eric thought it was Frank.

"Well, if there are stalagmites and stalactites, it's very old and was probably made naturally." Eric had been in two caves before and in one of them he had met a geologist whom had told him this fact.

Eric found his flashlight, put it in his left trench coat pocket and threw the backpack back over his shoulder.
He stood to his feet and entered the cave behind the others. Once in the cave, he decided to try the flashlight again but it still didn't work. Eric shook his head.

"I really need to get new batteries for this." he said, putting it back into his pocket.
Peering into the cave, Eric could see a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"There we go." he nodded and pointed at them. "Probably not pokémon or man-made."
He followed the other two deeper into the tunnel.

Starly wasn't too happy going into the tunnel and just like Queenie, he fluttered his wings, peering into the darkness with worried eyes.

[Ariadan]

Frank walked a few steps behind Mack since he was the one who had the flashlight. As the light hit a stalactite he looked at it and made sure not to walk directly under it. Just as he thought that he wouldn't want to be hit by one of those he felt something hit him hard on the top of his head.
"Ow! What the?" A rock had fallen and hit him dead on. It wasn't big but it still hurt. He rubbed his head where the rock had hit.
"Stupid rock." He kicked it and heard it hit against a wall farther in.
He heard a soft "Baltoy?" from Sophie, as if she was asking him if he was okay. "Yah, I'm fine, as soon as the bump disappears anyway."

"So if this is made naturally, it must've taken forever to make, and just imagine the forces it'd take to create this. One wouldn't wanna get hit by that." He ran a hand over his belt to see that his pokéballs were in their places.
"Hey, if we meet any rock pokémon down here, what pokémon would be best, I know water types are super effective and fighting pokémon seem to be effective as well, but what other types are effective?"

[Spearow]

Mack glanced back at Frank as he received a blow from a smallish rock that fell from the ceiling. "You okay?" he asked, trying not to sound overly concerned but raising his eyebrows and flicking his flashlight beam up at the section of the ceiling from which the rock had fallen. He dismissed it as a chip, a freak occurrence that had been waiting until they entered the cave to happen. Nothing to worry about. He turned his head back to watch where he was going and felt Queenie inch closer along his shoulder, her downfeathers tickling his ear. Chuckie was slightly ahead, though still making sure to stay within the radius of the light.

He shrugged as Frank asked the question, still looking ahead. "I think flying types are good, but I'm not sure. I never memorized my type charts that well." He grinned guiltily into the darkness.

[Nogster]

Eric had barely held a laugh in as Frank got hit by the rock, covering the laugh by clearing his throat.
He heard Mack say something about flying types being good against rock.

"I dare disagree with you there Mack." He looked towards the boys shadow in front of him.
"I've seen a fight between a Graveler and a Pidgeotto. The Graveler didn't even break a sweat."
He nodded to himself.
"One attack. That's all it took. I'd advise you from pitching poor Queenie against a Geodude or something."
He scratched his head.
"And look at me. Electric and flying! Even if I got lucky, I couldn't take a rock type in a fair fight."
Eric went quiet for a few moments, the path ahead had now widened.
"Hey, I've got an idea." He said, fishing Shinx's pokéball out of his trench coat.
The red light reflected off the dark cave walls as she was released and then it all became black again, except for the bright beam emitting from Mack's flashlight.
"Shinx, use charge." Eric said, smiling. Slowly but surely, the immediate surroundings got brighter and in front of Eric stood Shinx, now clearly visible. Her fur was glowing significantly brighter than before.
"I didn't need a flashlight after all." Eric said, looking smug.

[Ariadan]

Frank shook his head. "Yah, flying types are no good against rock types. A trainer made the mistake of pitting his Pidgey against my Onix. Let's just say that he didn't even have time to realise his mistake."

As soon as Shinx used its charge the cave became a lot brighter. "Hey, effective. I'll have to teach Electrike that."
He looked further ahead to see if there was something there. "For a cave it sure is emp.." He saw a shadow move somewhere in front of them. "Forget what I just said. What was that?" He didn't recognize the shadow, it didn't look like an Onix or a Geodude or either of its evolutions. "Did either of you manage to see it?" The fact that all they had to fight back a rock or ground type pokémon was Pebbles made him a little nervous, it didn't matter how close to the exit they were, if there was one there'd be more. He grabbed a pokéball from his belt in case he would need it but didn't think of which ball he picked.

Frank heard a strange sound from where he saw the shadow. "Uhm, okay? That wasn't a pokémon I've ever met."
He walks forward slowly, more curious than nervous and the fact that he's very curious is seen just as clearly in Sophie who is very interested in what it is Frank has seen.

[Spearow]

Mack smiled slightly as his theory was thoroughly refuted, not seeming too bothered by the revelation. "Well, good thing you guys know what you're talking about, at least. I should have paid more attention in school..." He lifted the beam of the flashlight a little farther into the darkness, grateful for the extra illumination from Eric's Shinx.

Just as he lifted the beam, a shadow flitted across it - it was a strange shape, sort of circular with small protrusions, but with a very two dimensional look to it, Mack thought. The figure, though his glimpse of it had been brief, struck a familiar chord somewhere in his brain. A school lesson, perhaps, or an illustration in a textbook.

Then he heard the cry - a sort of pulsing, sparkling noise, difficult to describe, and recognized it immediately.

"Bronzor," he said softly, almost to himself, then a little more loudly so that both Eric and Frank could hear. "It's a Bronzor, I think. I remember watching a video about it in my history class." He took a step forward, and heard Chuckie's soft hissing beside him as an indication that the Pokémon had noted the new presence. On his shoulder, Queenie's feathers puffed up around her neck as she peered after Frank nervously.

Mack lifted the flashlight and brought its beam over toward where Frank was moving, hoping to illuminate the mysterious creature.

[Nogster]

Eric didn't realize what happened at first, Frank was obstructing his vision in the lighted area. When they started talking about a Pokémon, he smirked.

"Shinx, Charge up some more." he knew the pokémon could get at least twice as bright without getting worn out too fast.
The cave lit up around them and one could now easily see a little Bronzor floating in the air, just a bit further into the cave. As soon as it realized it was spotted it flew farther in and out of sight.

"Drat, give chase boys!" Eric said with a low voice, moving up just behind Frank.
Starly seemed to forget some of the fear of being under ground and looked ready for a fight.
Shinx on the other hand hadn't really realized what the fuss was all about and had let the light coming from her fur fade a little bit. She looked at Eric with a confused face.
"Shi-shinx?" she asked with a low voice.

"It's a wild pokémon!" Eric said to her, all ecstatic. Barely able to keep his voice down.
Shinx didn't care too much.
They mind their business, I mind mine, she thought to herself.

This post has been edited by Nogster: Oct 21 2009, 09:12 PM

[Ariadan]

Bronzor huh? That's a steel/psychic pokémon. That would be really nice to catch. I just hope it isn't too strong for Scorch since it's the only pokémon I have that is strong against it, as far as I know anyway.
"Guys, I'll take care of this one." He searched his belt for Scorch's pokéball and realized that he already was holding it. He took a couple of fast steps and got to the edge of the light. "Are you ready for this? Scorch, I need you!" He tossed the pokéball forward and saw it open as Scorch was released. The glow from Scorch being materialized helped in lighting up the cave and Frank caught a glimpse of the Bronzor. The white glow was replaced with the light from Scorch's flame and the Bronzor was visible levitating a couple of feet infront of him.
You have the advantage here, it's weak against fire attacks, so let's start by showing him your ember attack. Frank pointed at the Bronzor as he thought this and didn't notice Sophies eyes glowing slightly blue. He did, though, notice her jumping down from his shoulders onto the cave floor.

As if responding to orders Scorch leapt forward against the Bronzor and fired off an ember attack which lit up the cave and created an echo with his "Chim-CHAAAAAAAAAR!"
The Bronzor was faster than the attack, though, and moved out of the way, barely dodging the attack. Immediatly its eyes started glowing blue and Scorch was surrounded by a blue aura and lifted into the air.
"What the? Confusion?" Frank didn't have time to say anything else before Scorch was pushed through the air against the cave wall. "Scorch!" He and Sophie turned around as Scorch flew past them.

Scorch easily manouvered in the air as soon as the attacks grip was released from him and landed on all four, avoiding any harm.
Awesome, now, let's show him another ember attack. This time, get a little closer and make sure it can't use confusion on you again.
A confident "CHAR!" was heard before Scorch leapt past Frank and Sophie and ran in a zig zag pattern to avoid any direct attacks. As soon as he was no more than two or three feet away from the Bronzor Scorch jumped straight at it and fired off a barrage of embers with a loud "CHAAAAAAAAAAAAR", this time it hit dead on and the Bronzor winced, almost falling to the ground. Awesome, let's keep at it, don't give it even a second to recover.
As soon as Sccorch felt solid ground under him he let off another barrage of embers but missed as he miscalculated the speed at which the Bronzor fell and instead hit the cave roof above Frank.
Frank immediatley looked up above him but nothing fell down directly at him or Sophie, and there were no big chunks, just small pebbles. When he looked down again Scorch had been hit by the Bronzor's tackle and was sent flying hitting the wall pretty hard but soon enough stood up again.

"You're doing great!" It's starting to look weak so, let's keep at it. Go, ember! Scorch leapt forward again and fired off an ember attack that hit its mark but didn't seem to do anything against the Bronzor which had, yet again, caught Scorch in a confusion attack and sent it flying again.

[Spearow]

Mack held his flashlight aloft, illuminating the battle and attempting to follow it as it surged back and forth between the two combatants. His artificial light was less needed now that Shinx and Frank's Scorch were providing their own natural sources of light, but he still kept it on for comfort.

He observed Frank carefully as the older trainer directed his Pokémon in battle, hoping perhaps to pick up some tips. It was strange, though - the young man simply pointed at the Bronzor and his Chimchar charged forth and attacked. There was no verbal command given that Mack could hear. Perhaps, he mused, Frank and his Pokémon were close enough that they had no need for words - they understood each other physically or had maybe created a set of special signals. It didn't seem anything all that elaborate, though. Mack crinkled his eyebrow, perplexed. He was fond of Queenie and Chuckie and got the impression that they liked him as well, but he knew their bond wasn't anywhere near strong enough yet for him to communicate his desires wordlessly. Perhaps Frank had known his Pokémon for longer - he was much older than Mack, after all - but then again, they were all still around their first evolution stages... it was a mystery, that much was for sure.

Mack couldn't stand around analyzing it for long, though - the battle was already too intense. The Bronzor and Chimchar were closely matched, but the trained Pokémon seemed like it would soon wear out its wild counterpart. Mack and Queenie were content to stand in polite silence as they watched so as to give Frank room for maximum concentration, but Chuckie felt like being a bit more of an active spectator, hopping up and down near Mack's feet and making short, nasal squeaks, his way of cheering.

[Nogster]

Eric was just about to tell Shinx to attack when Frank said he wanted the pokémon for himself. A good thing too, since Shinx would've probably just looked at him with a nonplussed face. He knew she didn't like fighting. Eric, on the other hand, thought pokémon fights were awesome. As Frank started to battle the Bronzor, he stood just behind him.

"You can do it!" he yelled as the Chimchar attacked with Ember.
A few seconds later, Scorch flew past him, buffeted by the confusion attack.

"Don't let your guard down, you can beat it!" Eric said, as Scorch ran past him with a full frontal assault, leaping into the air and sending more embers flying at the Bronzor. This time they totally engulfed the pokémon, it was hit dead on, Eric grinned and nodded.

"That's it, show it how it's done." he said.
Shortly thereafter, Scorch used ember again, this time missing it's target, hitting the ceiling above him and Frank. Frank was missed by the debris but Eric got hit by falling pebbles.

Whoa, I better stand farther away from the battle. That attack could've hit me. he thought and took his eyes off the action. Looking around for a better place to stand, he realized that he saw less than before.

Shinx must've lowered her- Shinx? Eric realized that Shinx was no longer with him. He looked around for any clue to where she might have gone and found a narrow passage that they had passed but not noticed. It was now very visible since light was emitting from it. "Shinx!" Eric took off after the little explorer. This was not the time to spelunk.

This post has been edited by Nogster: Oct 22 2009, 10:31 AM

[Ariadan]

"It's stronger than I thought, let's just hope that we haven't challenged an opponent we can't beat." Frank mumbled to himself as Scorch landed hard but gracefully several feet away from the Bronzor. Alright I want you to give it all you've got this time. It might be looking weak but it can still take a beating but not too much. I hope at least. I want you to try and wear it out by dodging its attacks. Just keep dodging until you see an opening to attack and finish it.

"Char!" Came as a response seemingly out of nowhere from Scorch as he set off against the Bronzor again. This time he just ran around it and dodged the occasional attack. Several times the Bronzor tried tackling Scorch but hit rock instead but it did manage to hit Scorch a couple of times, though not direct hits since Scorch was slightly faster.
That's it, you're doing great. Hit it with a weak ember attack to aggrevate it.

"CHAAAR!" could be heard from Scorch as he fired off a short burst of embers against the Bronzor and managed to hit it in the back, making it wince again. Now it looked angry and tried using confusion on Scorch but failed and ended up lifting a smaller boulder instead.
"NOW!! Attack it!" Scorch stopped dead in its tracks and fired of a barrage of embers at Bronzors back with a deafening "CHIIIIM-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Bronzor was hit dead center of its back and was for the first time sent flying into the wall and ended up on the ground.
Frank grabbed an empty pokéball and was just about to throw it when the Bronzor got up, but it didn't have much fight left at all.

"Ok, Scorch. Get as close as you can to it and attack it again. I know you can do it."
Scorch was looking very tired as well but leapt into the air straight against the Bronzor and managed to grab onto it, and with a quick look at Frank which seemed to say 'Is this close enough?' it mustered what strength he had left and hit Bronzor right in its face with embers and jumped off, watching the circular pokémon sink to the floor.

"YES!" Frank tossed the empty pokéball at Bronzor, hit it and watched it dematerialize and go in the pokéball. As the ball wobbled it seemed to take forever and Frank got ready to use Pebbles against it since Scorch wouldn't have enough energy to attack it once again. When the ball went silent and still Frank relaxed and Scorch fell to the ground, exhausted. Frank held up Scorch's pokéball and let him return. "You did great, Scorch. Take a long rest." He pushed the button to make the ball smaller and put it in its place again before going to get his newly caught Bronzor.

"Heh, you put up quite the fight, but we were too tough for you. Now you're one of the team, welcome." He smiled as he shrunk the ball and put it in its place beore turning around and going back to Mack and Eric.
"I did it. And it feels like I could use a little rest myself. Getting that caught up in a battle really drains you, doesen't it?"
A weak "Baltoy" could be heard from the ground and Frank looked down and saw Sophie, she was really tired.
"Hey, you got yourself really worked up like usual huh? I'm surprised that you won't battle when you get so worked up whenever one of the others battle." He said as he bent down to pick up Sophie and place her on his shoulder so she could rest.

He looked at Mack and then at Eric, or so he thought. Eric wasn't there. "Hey, where's Eric? Wasn't he right next to you?" He didn't see Shinx anywhere either and only just then realized that the only light was from Macks flashlight. "He can't have wandered off can he?"
He walked up to Mack and looked around.

Frank caught a level 5 Bronzor.

This post has been edited by Ariadan: Oct 22 2009, 07:11 PM

[Spearow]

Mack gave the flashlight for Chuckie to hold briefly as he clapped slowly but loudly after the Bronzor's defeat, the sharp sounds echoing deep into the cave. Regaining custody of the flashlight as the victorious Frank approached, he grinned at the other trainer. "Nice job," he said somewhat shyly, scuffling his foot. Queenie chirped, offering similar sentiments to Frank and Sophie as they came nearer.

When Frank brought his attention to Eric's apparent absence, Mack looked around sharply. He'd been so caught up in the action unfolding in front of him that he'd failed to notice the other trainer and his Shinx slip off. "Uh... I... I dunno. One minute he was here, and now he's gone." Biting his lip, the boy creased his brow with the beginnings of worry. "Hope nothing happened to him. We should stick together, we don't know what - "

He was abruptly distracted by the movements of Chuckie a few feet away. The Mankey was hopping up and down frantically in front of a narrow passage in the wall of the cave, screeching excitedly. Mack swung the beam over toward his Pokémon and the fissure, which was wide enough for a person to fit through but not nearly as large as the tunnel they'd been walking through thus far. The Mankey pointed in a very human gesture, flicking his tail in the direction the passage took for extra emphasis. Mack peered in and searched the passage with the aid of his flashlight: he couldn't see much of anything, except what he thought was a faint illumination a ways into the channel, perhaps the electric glow of Shinx?

"I'll trust you on this one, Chuck. Thanks," he notified the Mankey seriously. Chuckie responded by sliding into the cave and waving his tail, clearly gesturing for the humans to follow. Queenie puffed up and released a nervous cheep, staring apprehensively into the closer confines of this new tributary.

Mack gestured to Frank as he stepped through into the crack and began following its path. "Come on, I think he went this way!"

This post has been edited by Spearow: Oct 22 2009, 07:07 PM

[Nogster]

Eric had followed the narrow and slowly descending passage for maybe a minute, walking pretty quickly to catch up with Shinx. He had put Starly back in his pokéball again as he didn't seem to like the cave all that much. Shinx had stopped further on ahead and Eric didn't realize why until he caught up with her. The sight was breathtaking. In front of Eric was a lake, stretching maybe fifty feet from one side to the other and the ceiling was a gigantic dome. There were enormous stalactites hanging from the ceiling and huge stalagmites sticking up from below, some of them even met halfway, forming humongous pillars.

Shinx was down by the water, sniffing it but not drinking. She raised a paw and attacked the water with it.
Water rings spread over the still water.

"Be careful Shinx." Eric said with a whisper.
"You never know what lives in underground lakes." or lakes in general, he thought.
He looked out over the water, the rings were fading and nothing else seemed to move about.

"Ghaaaaa."
A whisper was heard near Eric.
He was surprised by the sound which he thought came from over on the right side. He looked in the direction of the sound but ended up looking at nothing. Now there were steps behind him. Quickly, he pulled Starly's pokéball from within his trench coat and spun around, ready for a fight.

[Ariadan]

Frank scratched his head at what would make Eric walk in there. If it were just curiosity, wouldn't it be common sense to say something first and wait until everyone in the group could go? Maybe he was one of those people that just get caught up in their curiosity and don't worry about anything else.

When Mack stepped through, following Chuckie, Frank did so as well. The passageway was wider than he thought and it didn't take long before there was some light at the other side.
"I wonder where this leads." Franks curiosity was starting to awaken as he walked a few steps behind Mack.

[Spearow]

Mack sped up to follow Chuckie's scampering, his narrow shoulders occasionally brushing against the uneven walls of the passage as his flashlight beam bounced up and down, illuminating select portions of the dark, winding path before him. Chuckie was a white blur, a purposefully moving ball of fur which Mack caught snatches of in his vision. Queenie cheeped, sounding a bit peeved about their quickened, haphazard pace, and tightened her hold on Mack's shoulder, holding on for the ride.

And then, quite suddenly, the passage opened up into a dome. A huge, incredible dome - a geologic wonder even to Mack, who had little knowledge of rock formations. He was caught by awe for a minute, the flashlight beam falling uselessly to the floor as his hand fell to his side.

Then he caught sight of Eric, and Shinx, both apparently safe. Eric was turned around with his Pokéball out, and looked very alarmed, which was strange. Mack held up both his hands, one with the flashlight in it so that it pointed straight up at the ceiling to illuminate a stalactite. "Hey, it's me. We followed y - "

He broke off, his attention being caught by a flash of movement just behind Eric's head. He thought they looked like eyes, flashing in and out like a hologram, or a wisp of smoke. Eyes widening, Mack pointed to the spot of the ghostly, barely-there apparition behind Eric. "There's - behind you - "

[Nogster]

As Eric turned around, he saw Chuckie running out of the narrow passage, shortly followed by Mack. Farther into the passage there were more steps, probably belonging to Frank. It took Mack a short while to notice Eric as he stood, baffled by the view.

"Hey, it's me. We followed y - " Mack started, but with the shine from Shinx behind him, Eric could clearly see the surprised look on Mack's face and the shifting of his eyes as he cut himself off.

"There's - behind you - " he said.
Eric looked over his shoulder, there was nothing there, maybe 3 feet away was where Shinx sat, still preoccupied by the water. Something had caught her eye down there.

Eric turned to look back at Mack and was intending to ask him what the heck he was on about, but he never got that far.

"GAASTLY!" An inch from Eric's face was a big purple sphere with a pair of gigantic eyes and two big fangs on a large smiling mouth. Through it, Eric could see Mack if he looked closely, but Eric did not look closely. He was too busy panicking, shrieking and hopping backwards. So busy, in fact, that he tripped over Shinx and fell into the water.

Within seconds, Eric realized what had caught Shinx's eye, for within seconds he was dragged down by a massive undertow and had disappeared from sight.

Shinx had also fallen into the water and disappeared, all that was left was big water rings, once again floating out over the still lake.

This post has been edited by Nogster: Oct 24 2009, 10:21 PM