//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: New Faces, New Friends // by ZephyrStrife //------------------------------// Mick was bouncing a little as he walked alongside the new team while they made their way to the edge of town. It felt a bit weird that he was travelling without his pokemon friends in pokeballs but it wasn't as much of a big deal when he saw how happy everyone seemed to be. Despite the surgery making it so Derek couldn't keep his arm he was nothing but smiles as he held his Gardevoir lover close in a one-armed hug during their entire trip through town. Emma had a bag similar to the pony-sized saddlebags over her lower back as she walked close to Mick, the panniers themselves full of gems that clinked together every so often. Even Gwen was sliding alongside the group at a decent, if slightly slow, pace. Mick had spent the past few days making sure that Widget and Gleaming Gem were going to be alright before they went ahead... mostly as scheduled. Widget was the one who had been the most adamant about having the group leave for Equestria with such a long journey between the town they were in and the edge of Equestria, it would still end up being a few days before they reached any more hospitable environment. It had taken quite a bit of convincing, and a subtle reminder from Gleaming Gem, before she reluctantly agreed to let them go on their way. Mick had the group stop as he noticed the large, imposing Aggron at the end of the street. Slowly, the lumbering hulk started walking toward them specifically. He stopped only a few feet away and held his hand out to Mick, the monstrous paw easily the size of the little Cyndaquil. When he spoke his voice seemed to belong in a movie about humans who rounded up Tauros and Miltank, "Heard you were the little Cindaquil that helped out with all those people who survived the train... I was hopin' to join ya' on your journey." Mick's cautious look quickly took on a smile as he stepped forward to put his tiny paw against the giant metal dinosaur's paw. "Certainly! My name's Mick." He says with a broad smile. The Aggron smiles back with a small nod. "Name's Allen... It's good ta meet ya Mick." He closes his claws around Mick's paw with a surprising gentleness. "I've overstayed my interest in this town anyway, so it's good to meet a fellow traveler." "Same here!" Mick replied as he was shaken a bit by the Aggron's powerful handshake. "Well... I think that this is going to be a great journey, a bunch of friends... traveling the open roads of Equus... Things couldn't possibly-..." "Don't even finish that sentence!" Emma barked as she walked up to the two of them. "... get any better." He finishes with a smirk, leaving a surprised Quilava to try and say something while stumbling over her words. He starts off with a smile just before Allen picks up Gwen. "Hey! What are you doing!?" She exclaimed as he picked her up. "You may be able to keep up with them, but I'm sure you'd rather not have to slither across all this cold ground..." He explains as he puts her across his shoulders. She opened her mouth as if to protest at first, before shifting herself to a more comfortable position across his shoulders. "Well... You're not wrong..." She replies with a slight pout as she curls up around one of his shoulder spikes, causing him to smile a little as the group makes their way towards a snow-covered forest for the first leg of their new journey. (Go ahead... read this in the spongebob narrator voice... I dare you!) Three Days Later... Allen sighed as it seemed that the snow-riddled forest just refused to end, already he was carrying the Cyndaquil, Quilava and Ekans on his shoulders (Not that they felt like any weight to him) and the ice was beginning to bug him as the metal-strong plates covering his body began to get a coat of frost on them. Now that he was an Aggron the ice really didn't bother him physically, it was just irritating. The only parts of his body that weren't slowly acquiring a coat of frost were the parts that the fire pokemon were resting on, which naturally had the Ekans close to them. Derek and Richard were both wrapped tightly in heavy, brown travelling cloaks so that the cold wouldn't be so much for them. "How you two holdin' up back there?" Allen asked as he looked over his shoulder at the couple. Derek smiled as he pulled the cloak a bit tighter. "A little chilly, but nothing we can't deal with." "Alright, 'cuz there's a cave just up ahead if you want to rest for the night." With eager nods the group picked up its pace before entering the large cave. Emma quickly hopped off of Allen's shoulders and lit up her flame-Mohawk and flame-tail to give them some light. Allen quickly put down the other two that were on his shoulders before making his way back outside. "Hey! Where are you going?" Emma asked as everyone else began to get settled in. "...Wood..." Was all Allen responded with as his form became less distinct in the snow. Mick lit up his back as he started to explore deeper into the cave. He was definitely happy that his own body could be a renewable light source now that he had been practicing a bit more with his internal fire, he still didn't know when it would feel like he was going to evolve... but for now he was content with being able to set things on fire at a whim. He observed the texture of the walls as he started slowly walking around, it was nice... he never usually went into the connecting cave between his house and Violet city, but the few times that he did he was actually regretting not getting a Geodude or Onix for his team, he would've even been willing to get a zubat... but they were even in the slowpoke well so it wasn't something that concerned him too much. "Mick! What are you doing? Don't just wander off like that." Gwen chastised as she slithered up to him. "It's a good thing that Richard was watching the entrance or else Emma would've thought you ran out after Allen." He let out a sigh as he tried to listen to the lecture that Gwen was giving him, but he had no desire to stop exploring now... it was such a huge cave complex! How dangerous could it possibly be? At that moment the entire cave rumbled, causing Gwen to pause and look around with Mick. Several tense seconds went by before the rumbling stopped. A cautious step back towards the entrance later and the screeching of hundreds, if not thousands of Zubat could be heard as Mick and Gwen scrambled their way back towards the others followed by a cloud of Zubat. Everyone dove for cover as the swarm quickly exited the cave, flying narrowly over their heads for almost a full minute before the screeching began to die down. Mick cautiously looked up from the spot he had leapt for and looked around, noticing that everyone seemed to be okay... if a little shaken up... He felt his spine tense once more though as he heard the hiss of an attack behind him. "[Dragon Rage]!" The moment after he heard the attack Mick's entire world seemed to be a barrage of pain as several flaming violet spheres slammed into him and send him careening towards the entrance of the cave. Pain seared every limb as he tried to stay conscious, but it was all in vain as he couldn't bring himself to move... even the act of trying to stay awake seemed to hurt... before he finally drifted into unconsciousness. Emma stared in shock at the singed and smoking form of her trainer before quickly returning her attention to the Gabite that had dared to hurt him. She quickly took a few steps between him and the smug dragon as her whole body seemed to burn with anger. The Gabite let out a chuckle. "Wow, I've seen some weak pokemon around, but to not be able to handle a dragon rage attack, well... it's a good thing I won't have to work hard for this meal." She lets out another laugh as she looks over to the Quilava. "How much dragon do you think you can handle?" Emma pushed off the ground in a surprising show of speed as she unleashed a [Quick Attack] at the cocky dragoness. The blow managed to land solidly in the Gabite's chest... only for the land shark to not even flinch backward at the attack as she grabbed Emma around the shoulders. "Pity... I thought you would've held out longer than him." She chuckled before unleashing more violet flames at point-blank range and letting go just soon enough to have the ferret-like pokemon go flying. "Although... I am a dragon, so fire types aren't so effective against me." Emma struggled just a little to her feet, gritting her teeth as Derek and Richard took a place on either side of her. The Gabite just began to chuckle a bit harder. "Oh... how rich... I'm gonne be fought by the 'one-armed man' and his little fairy princess!" Richard scowled at the dragon. "I'd consider myself more of a prince than a princess." He retorts, much to the surprise of the Gabite, causing her to stop laughing. The Gabite's eyes widen a little as a small blush starts to cross her face. "w-wait... I... I thought trainers would turn their male Kirlia into Gallade?" Richard sighs, extending a hand that starts to glow with psychic energy. "Not when they are far better with mental abilities and an immunity to dragon type attacks." He growls as the Gabite starts to hover in the air, only to hesitate as she smirks. "I wouldn't be a good dragon if I didn't prepare for fairies!" She laughs before launching a [Toxic] attack, causing Richard to recoil as the blob of poison struck him. With his concentration broken the Gabite landed back on the floor of the cavern. "Oh my... Just two pokemon... well... one and a half... left to fight." She chuckles. Derek scowls a little, wanting to go to his Gardevoir's side, but he keeps his eyes on the dragon. "Come on... I need something... some advantage..." he groans mentally as he shifts his feet, getting ready for the Gabite's [Dragon Rage]. It came just as he predicted, a barrage of violet flames rushed towards the three of them that were still conscious. Each ball of violet flame that struck him stung almost like nothing had before, but with his own endurance and sheer willpower that's all it was, a sting that he could ignore as his fist became charged with the cold that would make any north-Sinnoh trainer shiver just before he lunged forward to drive his fist right into the stomach of the surprised dragon. Had he described the action it would seem similar to an explosion, but just off by a bit. Primarily, there wasn't any heat, just an overwhelming cold. Then there was the sound like a drum beat as the air around the two pulsed once just before she rocketed back into a stalagmite, cracking it before sliding down into a sitting position. Derek let out a deep breath as he dropped to one knee, panting hard with the effort of actually using a move. "Wow..." He said quietly as he watched the last of the ice energy dissipate from his hand. "That... was handy... hehe..." "Don't start chuckling now... you only got a lucky shot in." The Gabite growled as she started to stand again, although with noticeable difficulty. "I still don't have to get close to hit you, while you can hardly stand... one more [Dragon Rage] and you're done." Derek winced a little as he watched her build up her violet flames, she had certainly been right, he was in no condition to move as he watched the inevitable doom. "Oh well... at least I get to tell my parents I was killed by a dragon... that ought to sound cool enough." He blinked in surprise as a large chunk of wood soared over his head and smacked right into the mouth of the dragon that was about to knock him unconscious. She let out a single grunt as her entire body jack-knifed from the force, causing her to land hard on her back as the wood clattered away. The Machoke turned a little to see their Aggron companion standing at the mouth of the cave with a large stack of logs over one shoulder while he tossed one log into the air and caught it with his other hand. "Want another log? or are ya good?" he growled as the Gabite struggled simply to sit up. "Why... you..." She growled just before another voice, harsher and more mentor-like, cut through the air. "Sarah! Enough!" The voice caused the Gabite to wince a bit just before a Garchomp stepped into view, a sheepish smile on his muzzle as he crossed his arm fins and bowed slightly to the two awake pokemon of the group. "I'm so sorry for my daughter's rash actions, She was just doing it to protect our cave from possible poachers." Allen put down the logs he had left and nodded while he went over to the little bag that Mick had managed to acquire while they had been in town a few days ago. "I understand the concern... but it certainly seems that she could learn a bit of patience..." "Of course, sadly... this is only the first chance we've had for a quiet place to ourselves since we arrived." Allen held up a hand as he took out several round, blue berries. "If you want to be swapping stories it may be better to save them for when everyone's awake... so you don't have to repeat yourself." He explained before passing one to Derek who quickly ate the berry, getting a bit of his energy back. Mick groaned as his entire body felt sore... the pain in his body though was nothing compared to the beatdown his pride had taken when he found out from the Garchomp he was sitting across from that he had gone down in one hit. It still meant that he was in the very-low tier of pokemon when it came to journeying, fortunately the Gabite's smugness was short-lived when she received a glare from her father. He hated not knowing how strong he was, at least when he had his pokedex it would help him find out just what level each of his pokemon had reached and how suited they were for adventuring around the Ilex forest. But now? Now he only had this battle and his training to go off of, and the results simply showed that he was too weak to be an effective battler. He nuzzled a little more into Emma's fur as the crackling fire in front of him helped keep him from feeling the cold of an open cave entrance. They had decided to do introductions once the team had woken up, letting them know that the Gabite and Garchomp were named Sarah and Nathaniel, respectively. Now that he looked over to the Garchomp though, he did notice the slightly darker tint to his scales, and how they seemed to just shine a little more in the orange glow of the fire. "So..." Allen said, cutting off Mick's train of thought. "You were talking earlier about how you two got stuck in this cave..." He prompted. The Garchomp nodded. "Well... It was quite a while ago..." He started as he began to tell his tale.