Continuing on their journey to Bales Town, we find our heroes traveling further into the rocky territory. As they walked through the area, Spike turned to his sister with a moan, "So...how much longer until we get to Bales Town?"
Twilight pulled out her journal and opened the map. "It'll be a little while before we get there. Right now, there's a mountain between us and it."
"Seriously?!" Spike groaned, waving his hands in the most exaggerated motion possible. "A whole mountain?!"
"It's the fastest route," Twilight told him as she put her journal away. "It'd take longer to go around it than over it."
Spike was about to reply, only for Flash to say, "Then over it is. But...how about we take a break before getting there?"
"Not a bad idea," Doc agreed with a nod. "You guys can use it for some training."
Twilight nodded as well, only to pull out Owlicious's Pokeball. "Great idea. In fact, I've been hoping to get some experience battling, if you don't mind that is."
Flash shined a big grin at this. "Sounds good to me." He looked down at his partner, the Riolu looking up at him with the same grin. "Ready for some fun bud?"
"Ri!" Springer cheered.
With that, Flash and Twilight placed their bags on the ground and moved over to an empty area. Twilight then threw her Pokeball in the air, "Owlicious, come on out!"
"Psy!" the Pokémon cheered as he came out of the Pokeball.
Flash smirked before pulling out his own Pokeball. "Alright, time to try out my newest teammate. Hisscor, I choose you!" He tossed the Pokeball into the air and it released the fire snake Pokémon, the creature landing with slight surprise on his face.
"Scor?"
"Alright Hisscor," Flash said as he pumped his fists. "This is the first time we're gonna battle together, so let's do our best."
Hisscor turned towards Flash with a violent glare before turning back to Owlicious, "hiss..."
Doc stepped up between them. "Alright, I'll be referee. Both sides ready?"
"Yes," Twilight replied, her fingers slightly adjusting her glasses. "I hope..."
"Ready and waiting," Flash said as he slammed his fist into his hand.
"Then battle...begin!"
Twilight pointed at Hisscor as she commanded, "Alright Owlicious, let's start with Peck!" The Psychick's beak glowed as it flew towards Hisscor.
"Dodge it Hisscor!" Flash yelled back, only to blink as he saw Hisscor just sit there. "Huh? Hisscor, you need to dodge!"
Hisscor took a long deep breath, a bored expression on his face as the Psychick charged him. And as the owl almost reached him, he opened his mouth, "Scor!" He unleashed a flurry of fireballs at Owlicious, the Pokémon instantly overwhelmed from the fiery barrage.
"PSY!" He cried as he was knocked backwards from the flames, his body hitting the ground like a rock. But as he landed, Hisscor leapt up to him, quickly wrapping his tail around the Pokémon.
"Hiss!" It opened its mouth and bit down on Owlicious's head.
"PSY!" It cried in pain. "Psychick, psy!
"Owlicious!" Twilight screamed, her hands onto the sides of her head as panic covered her face.
"Hisscor! Stop that!" Flash yelled, stomping his foot in anger. "Why'd you use Ember?!"
Hisscor didn't reply, his tail slowly letting Owlicious go. "Hiss...." he growled as the owl staggered back, his body reeling from the damage, only to see Hisscor take another deep breath. "SCOR!" He yelled again, his mouth now unleashing a flurry of Poison Stings.
"Hisscor! Don't-" Flash tried to yell, only to see the needles strike Owlicious like he was a training dummy.
"Hisscor's not listening to Flash," Spike commented as he tugged Doc's pant leg. "You gotta stop the match!"
"I know Spike," Doc replied as he glared at Flash, "Flash, you've got to get Hisscor under control! Now!"
"I'm trying!" Flash barked back before turning to the fire snake. "Hisscor, you've got to do what I say!"
Hearing this, Hisscor just turned and stuck his tongue out. Why should I? Was what Hisscor was asking itself. It was winning this battle and doing so without a stupid trainer telling it what to do.
As it did this, Twilight went over to her Pokémon, leaning down with a huge worried frown, "Owlicious, are you okay?"
"Psy..." Owlicious moaned, shaking its body before turning to its trainer and nodding.
"Alright," Twilight told him before glaring at Hisscor, "then let's use Sky Drop!"
"Psy!" Owlicious yelled as he flared his wings, soon flying towards Hisscor.
"This time you've gotta dodge it," Flash told Hisscor, only for him to turn around and stick his tongue out again. As it did this, Owlicious grabbed it in his talons before flying it up into the air, only for Hisscor to wrap its tail around the Psychick's body. Flash's eyes went wide at this, "Hisscor! What are you doing?!"
"RI!" Springer yelled.
Hisscor didn't reply and instead, just simply began spinning around in midair, pulling the Psychick along with it. As it did this, he released it's hold on him and sent Owlicious hurling towards the ground, where it landed with a mighty thud.
"Owlicious!" Twilight yelped.
At the same time, Flash saw what Hisscor was going to do next, seeing its tail had just ignited. "Wait! Don't do it Hisscor!" He yelled, but it was too late. Hisscor spun in the air while tossing the fireball at Owlicious, soon landing on the ground and exploding into a spiral of fire.
"Owlicious!" Twilight cried in horror, tears about to appear in her eyes.
"Stop it Hisscor! Stop it right now!" Flash screamed at the top of his lungs, only to fall on deaf ears.
Instead, Hisscor just glared at the tornado, only to leap into it. As he did this, he let sucked in one last breath, "Hiss...SCOR!" Once again it unleashed a flurry of fireballs, which struck Owlicious point blank in the face. As it did this, a explosion of flames appeared, causing the Fire Spin to be blown out while Hisscor leapt back to a safe distance.
Everyone watched as the smoke cleared, soon revealing Owlicious on the ground with spirals for eyes. "Psy..."
"OWLICIOUS!" Twilight cried as she rushed and picked her partner up, soon feeling the heat coming off him. "Oh no," she whispered. "Owlicious…"
Flash's face was red with anger, soon stomping over to Hisscor as he screamed, "That was going way too far Hisscor! This was supposed to be a spar, not a full-on battle!"
Hisscor glared back him, his mind thinking as he rolled his eyes, What are you upset about? We won, didn't we?
Doc stepped over to Flash with a glum frown. "Sorry Flash, but I'm afraid I'd have to hand that victory to Twilight. If this had been an official battle, you would have lost for not having control of your Pokémon."
Flash sighed. "Its fine. I wouldn't want that kind of win anyway." He turned to Twilight, "I'm really sorry."
Twilight shook her head at this. "It's alright. What matters right now is getting Owlicious bandaged up."
They all nodded and got to work, leaving and ignoring Hisscor. He just sat there, wondering why Flash wasn't celebrating their victory. As he stared at this, Springer walked over to him. "Ri," He said to Hisscor, explaining that he needed to learn to be a team player, which meant it had to listen to Flash's orders. Hisscor replied with a refusal, explaining that it would never listen to another selfish human who didn't know the first thing about battling. "Ri Riolu…" Springer replied, turning and leaving with a scowl on his face, forcing Hisscor to sit there with no real response.
As they tended to Owlicious's wounds, the rest of their Pokémon had been let out and were playing together by bouncing a large inflatable ball between each other. Well, all except for Hisscor. The fire snake Pokémon was currently curled up on a rock, relaxing and watching as the others all messed around. A low hiss came out of his mouth as he glared at the group, disgusted at their playing around like they were fresh out of the egg.
"There you go," Twilight cooed as she finished wrapping the last of the bandages around Owlicious. "Try it out."
"Psy..." Owlicious flexed its bandaged wing, only to see that the tape stayed on the wing. "Psy…."
"Good," Twilight picked him up off her lap and placed him on the ground. "Now, don't go doing anything strenuous, okay?"
"Psychick," Owlicious nodded before hopping away.
Flash let out a large gulp as he turned to Twilight as she put the bandages away, placing his hands together and bowing his head. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for things to get out of hand like that."
Twilight just shook her head at this. "It's alright Flash. Its not your fault."
"Yeah, it's his." Spike grumbled as he pointed over his shoulder at Hisscor, "I can't believe he wouldn't do a single thing you said."
"Obviously Hisscor does not see Flash as his partner yet," Doc added as he rummaged through his belongings, still checking how many medical supplies the group had. "He probably won't do anything you say until you manage to gain its trust Flash."
Flash let out a long sigh, slowly glancing at the snake. "How am I gonna do that? Hisscor won't even let me talk to it, so how do I show him he can trust me?"
A small bulb went off in Twilight's head. "Maybe start with giving him a name."
"Yeah!" Spike agreed, nodding. "You give all your other Pokémon names, so why not give him one?"
Flash scratched the side of his head at this, soon replying, "Because I haven't been able to think of one. The names I give are supposed to be special and describes my Pokémon...but I don't know what would be good for him. Plus, I don't wanna force a name on him. If I give him a name, I want him to want to have it."
"Then I guess we're back to square one," Doc admitted before the four of them all tried to think up a way to get Hisscor to open up to them, only for nothing to come to mind. After that moment, the four all sighed, dropping their heads in unison.
While this was going on, Hisscor laid his head down on the rock he was currently using as a bed, trying to take a small nap. As he did this, he grumbled in irritation as the nearby Pokémon were cheering and having fun.
"Aq!" Riptide yipped as he headbutted the ball, making it bounce towards Prongs.
"Fay!" He replied as he used his leaf-like tail to swat it back into the air, now flying towards Skyler.
"Chick!" He flapped his wings, making a gust of wind that blew the ball towards Owlicious.
"Psy," Owlicious simply bumped its head into the ball. It slowly flew into the air and began to float towards Springer.
"RI!" Springer punched the ball, making it fly over Riptide's head. "Ri?" He said with an 'oops' look as they watched as the ball fly towards Hisscor, who sensed it coming and looked up.
"Scor!" It barked as it opened its mouth, a barrage of Poison Stings soon hitting and instantly popping the ball.
"Ri!" Springer cried as the ball's remains landed in front of his out stretched paws. The rest of the Pokémon soon all cried in unison as well, the group now glaring at the fire snake. As they did, Hisscor just turned his head and coiled itself back up on its rock, reattempting his nap. Seeing this, Springer let out a low growl before hopping onto the rock, getting right up in Hisscor's face. "Ri, ri, ri Riolu!"
Hisscor simply frowned at this before spinning itself around, swatting its tail into Springer and knocking him off the rock. "Hiss," it growled as it took a deep breath, "SCOR!" It unleashed another Ember attack at them, which Springer sidestepped to dodge, causing the fireballs to shoot into a nearby bush.
"GECK!"
The Pokémon all looked around at that outcry, which the humans all heard too. "What was that?" Spike asked.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Flash replied as he walked over to the Pokémon, only to see them now watching the bushes the Ember had hit rustle.
From out of the bushes came a dark purple lizard Pokémon the size of Riptide, but was standing on all fours with anger plastered onto its face. Under its chin was a large light purple bubble-like appendage, which was shrinking and expanding as it breathed. At the same, the Pokémon's long tail waved back and forth, its color being black and letting out a mist of smoke.
"Geck..." it growled beneath its breath.
"Whose that Pokémon?" Flash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Geckoxic
Category: Poison Spit Pokémon
Type: Poison
Info: It has an internal venom sack under its neck where it builds up the poison that it spits at its opponent.
"That thing doesn't look to happy," Spike gulped as he pointed at the Poison Type.
"That's because it's mad," Doc replied, crossing his arms.
"Why is it mad?"
"I think I know. Look at its tail Flash." Twilight added as she pointed at the smoking appendage, now seeing a small burn mark. "I think Hisscor might have burned it."
Flash resisted the urge to facepalm as he stepped up to the Pokémon, "Oh great...." He then leaned down with a apologetic smile, "Listen uh...mister Geckoxic, I'm sorry about that. I'm sure Hisscor didn't mean to burn your tail and he's very sorry," he turned to the Pokémon in question, "right Hisscor?" Hisscor just glared at him before curling up again. "Hey!"
Geckoxic let out a low hiss, obviously not taking this unapologetic attitude well. "GECK!" It took a deep breath, its venom sack stretching out as it did before spitting out a large purple ball.
"Look out!" Twilight cried, but it was too late. The ball struck the ground in front of them and exploded, causing a purple fog to fill the air and consume all the Pokémon.
"Guys!" Flash tried to run into the fog, only to feel an arm grab and pull him back.
"Stop Flash!" Doc told him as he yanked Flash further back. "That was Toxic. It'll poison you."
"But the others-"
"Hold on." Doc reached into his coat and pulled out a Pokeball. "Higear, use Gyro Ball!" The gear Pokémon appeared in the air and began spinning.
"HI!" It cried as it flew into the fog, the spinning blasting the purple smoke away. It was here that they saw the other Pokémon, all of them now with purple blushes on their faces, all showing pain from the Toxic attack.
"Oh no," Flash gasped as he rushed towards them. As he did this, the Geckoxic decided to hi-tail it when it saw Higear.
"Owlicious," Twilight cried as she held her partner in her arms. "Please say something."
"Psy….chi...ck..." he replied weakly.
"Guys...no. You all got poisoned." Flash whispered as he picked up Springer and Riptide, Spike now holding Chickling while Doc held Prongs. Flash turned to Hisscor and saw it looked completely fine. "Why wasn't he poisoned?"
"Immunity," Doc told him as he glared at the Hisscor. "Same reason Higear wasn't, Poison and Steel-Types can't get poisoned."
Flash let out a low growl, glaring at Hisscor. "So this is his fault and he doesn't even get punished for it. I hope you're happy Hisscor! Because of you, everyone else is in a lot of pain."
Hisscor just blinked at the situation, not sure what to do. Sure, it didn't like the Pokémon, but Hisscor knew he didn't feel anything good by seeing them all get sick. It watched as the humans placed the Pokémon on the ground before wrapping blankets on them, trying to keep them all warm.
"We need to get to a Pokémon Center," Flash said as he finished wrapping up Riptide. "Now."
Hearing this, Twilight opened her map, only to let out a long sigh. "There isn't one around here. Not for a long way at least."
"So we need to treat them ourselves?" Spike asked.
"Looks like it," Doc replied as he opened up his bag and looked through it, only for a frown to follow, "This is bad. We don't have anymore Antidote or Pecha Berries."
"Does that means we can't cure them?" Flash asked.
"I'm afraid so," Doc replied as he glanced back at the Pokémon, only to see their trainers' faces filled with worry.
"Wait!" Twilight called out before turning her journal towards them, "there's a pharmacy nearby."
"Really?" Flash asked as he looked at the map and saw the highlighted dots. "Great. I'll go get it."
"Are you sure?"
Flash nodded. "My Pokémon is the reason we're in this mess, so its my responsibility to fix it. Besides, I'm the faster one here."
"Alright," Doc replied as he took out a pen and paper, soon writing a note and placing it in a small purse, which he handed to Flash. "Here's what we'll need and the money to get it. Just give it to them and they'll do the rest."
"Got it," Flash replied as he took the purse and put it his pocket before turning to Hisscor. "You're coming with me."
Hisscor raised an eyebrow at this. "Scor?"
"Don't give me that look," Flash told him while placing his hands on his waist. "This is your fault, so you're gonna help me. Besides, with the others sick, I need someone to help me if I get attacked." He reached down and grabbed Hisscor, putting him on his shoulder. "Just stay there and sit still." He turned to the others, "I'll be back soon."
Twilight then handed him her journal, "Here, use this to guide you there and back."
Flash nodded and took it before rushing into the woods. "Be back in a flash!" With that, he disappeared from sight, leaving the others to focus on the ailing Pokémon.
"Good luck..." Twilight whispered, soon looking down at her hurt Psychick. "Please hurry Flash."
Flash and Hisscor rushed through the forest, Flash taking small glances at the map as they ran through some bushes. At the same time, Hisscor remained wrapped around Flash's shoulder, unsure what to do. On one point, it was keeping an eye out for attackers, ready to strike at a moment's notice. On the other, it was thinking why it should care. This did not go unnoticed by its trainer. "You know, you don't have to be so uptight."
Hisscor turned to look at him, blinking. "Scor?"
"It's obvious you're used to battling on your own, that's why you didn't listen to me. I'm guessing its why you also attacked the Geckoxic as well."
"Hiss..." Hisscor replied as he looked away.
"So what happened? Did the bush rustle and you acted out of habit?"
"Scor." Hisscor growled, not wanting to tell Flash he actually wanted to attack the other Pokémon.
Hearing this low growl, Flash spoke up, his tone slightly softened, "I only have one question. Why are you so determined to battle on your own?"
This question made Hisscor blink, turning back to Flash with a look of slight confusion. He wasn't sure if he was serious, as Hisscor only knew that being on its own had made it into the strong Pokémon it was. With its past trainer, any battle they had won was when he had been the one to decide the moves. Whenever it listened to its trainer, it always lost. Thinking this, Hisscor looked away again, "Scor."
But Flash didn't notice this. Instead, he said, "I don't know what happened in the past to make you hate humans, but I want us to be different." Flash turned to the Pokémon, a long cold stare glaring from his eyes, "Listen Hisscor, we're a team now. I want to help you become the best Hisscor you can possibly be and its not just me." This statement made Hisscor want to roll his eyes, but Flash continued anyways, "Springer, Skyler, Riptide and Prongs. Twilight, Spike and Doc. They all want you to become as strong as you want, that's why they were cheering for you before."
Hisscor remembered this, but at the time, it had just considered them all to be distractions from its fight.
Flash sighed and looked down, glancing at the map again. "Listen, I'm not asking you to completely change who you are. I'm just asking that you give us a chance, to show you how much stronger you can become with us. My grandmother used to tell me that alone we can only do so much, but together our possibilities are endless." He turned to Hisscor, not sure if his words were getting through. "Just help me get the medicine we need. If afterwards, you still don't want to be on our team, I'll release you."
This made Hisscor go wide-eyed, quickly turning to him in pure confusion. "Hiss?!"
Unfortunately, Flash didn't notice this as he finished his statement. "I want us to be a team, but I don't want to force you into doing something you don't want to do."
With that, the two of them ran out the forest, only to see the trail lead straight off the edge of a cliff. "YIKES!" Flash yelped as he tried to slow himself down, only for his momentum to stop just at the edge. "WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!!" He cried as teetered on the edge, soon managing to pull himself back and land on his rear. "Owwww…." he moaned as he looked down at Twilight's journal, zooming in to see this cliff was on it.
As he did, his ears picked up the sound of running water, making the duo look down and see a raging torrent below the cliff, another cliff on the other side that lead into another forest. "Strong flowing water and a long drop. Fall from here and its game over." He looked back down at the map, seeing the pharmacy was on the other side. "So...how do we cross this thing?"
Hisscor glanced around, only to bark out,"Scor!"
Flash turned to see what Hisscor was looking at. It was a rope bridge a little ways away. "Perfect," he picked himself up and walked over to it, soon checking its strength once he got there. "Hmmm...yeah, this looks good enough. Alright, here we go."
With that, he started his walk over the bridge. As he did this, the sound of the rushing river drew Hisscor's attention, making it look down and see the water's powerful current. The Fire Type did not like the sight, Flash soon noticing as they hit the halfway point of the bridge. "Don't worry. Neither of us are gonna go for a swim anytime soon."
However, in that moment, something new caught their ears. The sound of ropes snapping. The two of them looked back, only to see the ropes behind them begin to split apart. "That's not good," Flash gulped before breaking into a sprint. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough, and the final support rope severed. "AAAHHH!" Flash screamed as the bridge collapsed, causing him and Hisscor to fall forwards. As they did, Flash's hands clenched onto the bridge, the wooden fixture soon slamming into the cliff's side. The two of them felt the wind knocked out of their guts as they hit the wall, only for Flash's hold to remain on the bridge. Hisscor was still on his shoulder, though now shaking at the new development. "Well...that could have been worse."
"Hiss," Hisscor agreed in a whimpering tone.
"We'll just have to climb up." Flash admitted as he slowly pulled himself up, only to see the rope start shaking again. "Oh come on! Not again!" Flash yelled as another snap could be heard. He then glanced around, only to see a nearby ledge. "That'll do. Hang on Hisscor!" Flash yelled as he swung the last bit of the rope. It then let out a resounding 'snap', but Flash was one step ahead. The duo landed on the ledge, both falling onto the dirt as the rest of the bridge fell into the raging current below. "Yes!" Flash cheered as they landed.
"Scor," Hisscor let out in relief.
"See?" Flash chuckled as he put Hisscor back on his shoulder, "I told you we'd be fine."
Hisscor stared at Flash for a moment, a small spark of something coming to light in his heart. "Hiss...Hisscor."
"Now all we need to do it climb up," Flash looked up and saw that the cliff's edge was a few feet away. He then reached out, only to find himself just a few inches short. "Darn. Can't...quite...reach..."
CRACK!
The sound made Flash stop and look down, only to now see the ledge they were on start to break apart. "Oh give me a break!" Flash yelled, only for the ledge to crack more. "Not what I meant!" he tried again to reach out, only for the movement of his feet to cause the ledge to crack more. "This is bad."
"Scor," Hisscor added, causing Flash to look at him, then back up at the distance between his arm and the top of the cliff. Hisscor was just long enough.
"Alright...guess I got no choice." Flash reached into his pocket and pulled out the purse Doc had given him. He then took Hisscor off his shoulder and tied it around his neck. "Listen Hisscor, it's up to you." The fire snake raised an eyebrow at this. "Find the pharmacy and show them what's in here and they'll give you what you need. Find a way back to the others and give them the medicine."
"Hiss?"
Flash reached his arm out, lifting him towards the cliff. "Go on, it's the only way. No sense in both of us falling." Hisscor turned back to him in shock, unable to process what was happening. Flash was really willing to give up his life to save his. As this thought entered his brain, the sound of the ledge cracking took him back into reality. That and Flash saying, "Go on, hurry."
Hisscor looked up at the cliff and stretched itself out, his head slivering over the edge. Flash then gave him a small push, smiling as he let Hisscor go. "Good luck."
With that, the ledge finally gave out from beneath his feet. But as it did, Flash felt something wrap around his wrist, stopping his fatal fall. "Huh?!" Flash looked up and saw Hisscor had wrapped his tail around his arm. The fire snake had found a strong branch to grip with his teeth, allowing him to hold Flash up.
"Alright!" Flash cheered as he pulled himself up and grabbed onto the ledge. Soon enough, the two of them we both on the cliff, both breathing heavy sighs of relief. As they did this, Flash looked over at Hisscor. "We made it...we really made it. You saved me."
Hisscor looked up at him and the two locked eyes, staring at one another for several moments.
"Thank you." Flash then said, making Hisscor let out a low gasp. Hearing this, Hisscor shined a big smile, bigger than he had ever done before.
Flash then looked over at where the bridge had been, soon seeing a new disturbing sight. The rope that had connected the bridge to the cliff appeared to be smoking. "What the heck?!" He picked up the end of the rope and saw that instead of being snapped, it was melted. "This wasn't an accident."
In the bushes, the Geckoxic Hisscor had angered watched in annoyance. It had been the one to melt the bridge, but seeing what had just happened, it knew it needed to kick things up a notch. Luckily, he new someone who could help.
Back at the camp, the rest of the group were looking after the poisoned Pokémon. Doc had let out Higear and Tockwork, to stand guard in case the Geckoxic decided to show up again with friends.
"It's okay Springer," Twilight told the Riolu has she fed him some water. "Here, drink up."
"Ri," Springer replied weakly as he took a sip.
"Don't worry. Flash will be back soon with the medicine."
"Yeah," Spike was placing a wet cloth on Prongs's head, "Flash would never let any of you down."
"It's Hisscor we have to worry about," Doc grumbled as he started making some juice out of Oran Berries. It wouldn't cure the poison, but it would help them stay strong. "If they're attacked, he might not even stick around to help Flash."
Twilight shook her head at this. "No, I'm sure he wouldn't do that. Hisscor might have an attitude, but that doesn't mean he's a bad Pokémon. If Flash felt he couldn't trust him, he would have asked to borrow Higear or Tockwork. But he didn't, so we'll just have to trust his judgement."
Doc glanced at the girl, surprised at her judgement call there. He had pegged Twilight with one who would use logic for everything, but saw that she wasn't wrong. In fact, he could tell that Flash had already influenced her.
"Right..." Doc replied as he continued to make the juice. "I just hope he gets here soon."
As they got back to work, Twilight turned back to the forest Flash had rushed into. "Please hurry."
After their run in with death, Flash and Hisscor continued to rush towards the pharmacy. As Flash continued to follow the map, Hisscor remained on watch for anything that might attack. That is, till Flash yelled, "There!" Hisscor turned to look at what Flash was seeing, only to see a small building in the distance from the hill they were now standing on. "That's the pharmacy. Now we can-"
"HISS!" Hisscor suddenly cried as he leapt off Flash's shoulder. He then turned and sucked up a deep breath, "SCOR!" he yelled, unleashing an Ember attack, which blocked a purple poison ball headed straight for Flash.
"Whoa!" Flash yelped as he did a slight backpedal before looking over at the bushes, now seeing the Geckoxic step out. "You again?!"
"Scor!" Hisscor hopped back on Flash's shoulder and glared at it.
"We don't have time to play around right now!" The next thing Flash knew, his danger senses kicked in and he did another pace of backpedaling. As he did, a purple liquid flew at where they had been and hit the ground, melting it into a black paste. "That's Acid."
Flash then glared back at the Poison Pokémon, only to see a bigger companion standing by it. It looked like Geckoxic, but it was twice the size and was now standing on it hind legs. It's venom sack was gone, replaced by a pair of large frills around its neck, complete with a long spiked tail. "Frillace!" It cried.
"Whose that Pokémon?" Flash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Frillace
Category: Poison Frill Pokémon
Type: Poison
Info: The evolved form of Geckoxic. Its razor sharp frills are laced with poison. One cut can inject over half a gallon of poison into the victim's body.
"Great...just great." Flash commented as he looked up from his Pokedex, "decided to ask your big brother Frillace for help, huh?!"
"FRILLACE!" it screamed, its face turning red with pure anger.
Hearing the sudden screech, Flash looked back at the Pokedex, soon seeing another bit of info before looking back at the Frillace with a gulp as he put the device away. "Oh...sorry. I didn't know-er, what I mean is....I meant big sister Frillace."
"Geck!"
"Lace!"
"Awww man. Now what do I-" Flash tried to say, only to feel Hisscor sliver down his back and leg, soon moving in front of him, "Wait, are you saying you'll battle with me?"
Hisscor turned to him and nodded.
Flash's face shined a big grin. "Alright! Let's do this!" He pointed at the Poison Types, "Let's start with Fire Spin!" Hisscor leapt into the air and fired the attack from his tail, the flames soon striking the ground around Frillace before exploding into a tornado of flames.
"Frill!" It cried in pain before spinning around, the swing of its tail blowing out the flames. It then let out a roar, soon charging while the spike on its tail started glowing purple.
"Dodge it and grab her tail with your tail!" Flash commanded as Hisscor quickly slivered away from the spiked tail, only to then coil himself around the tail. "Bite!" Hisscor chomped down on its tail, causing Frillace to scream.
"Frillace!" It cried as it began to thrash its around wildly, but Hisscor kept a tight grip, its fangs digging into the tail.
Flash watched as the tail flailed around, waiting for the right moment. "Alright...just a little-now! Let go!"
Hisscor didn't see why it should, but chose to trust Flash and released its bite and wrap on the tail. A second later, Frillace flipped its tail up, causing Hisscor to go flying up into the air without it noticing.
"Ember!"
"Hiss...SCOR!" He unleashed a flurry of fireballs down at Frillace, who had just now realized Hisscor was no longer on its tail. The toxic lizard looked up, only to feel the fiery bombardment a second later.
"Frill!" It screamed.
Hisscor smirked as it landed on the ground, impressed by Flash's ability to think ahead. At the same time, Frillace shook off the flames and glared at Hisscor, soon taking a deep breath as it opened its frills. "LACE!" It spat a burst of Acid at Hisscor.
However, Hisscor just stared at the move, unfazed. Flash wanted to tell him to dodge, but remembered the battle with Owlicious and saw how Hisscor was staring at it the same way. He knew what Hisscor wanted to do. "Charge!" Hisscor smirked and did as told, slivering towards the Acid attack, the attack soon consuming the snake.
"Now....Fire Spin!" Flash ordered, only to see Hisscor leap out of the Acid attack, its tail ignited.
It struck the ground at Frillace's feet and exploded, transforming into a fire spiral that engulfed it completely. "Frill!" It cried as it was burned.
"Ember!" Frillace then saw Hisscor leap into the tornado, flying right at its head.
"Hiss...SCOR!" Once again, it unleashed a flurry of fireballs which struck Frillace point blank in the face. An explosion followed, causing the Fire Spin to be blown out while Hisscor leapt back to a safe distance. They all watched as the smoke faded, revealing Frillace with an extremely burnt face. The toxic lizard swayed back and forth until it finally fell backwards, landing with a thud with spirals in its eyes.
"YES!" Flash cheered with a fist pump, "we did it Hisscor!"
"Scor!" Hisscor cried in agreement. It couldn't believe that the battle had been so easy, but Flash had known exactly what to do from the start.
Meanwhile, Geckoxic stared at its evolved form in horror. It couldn't believe it had been so easily beaten. "Geck?" It poked Frillace, but got no response.
"Hey!" He turned to Flash and Hisscor. "You guys better not be here when we come back, because next time we won't go so easy on you. Got it?!"
Geckoxic shivered at this before nodding and beginning to try and drag its evolved form away. As this happened, Flash and Hisscor turned to the pharmacy, Hisscor slivering up onto its trainers back, "See? I told you we could make a good team."
Hisscor just smirked at this, "Scor."
"And I think I'm getting how you like to battle. As your trainer, I want to help you grow stronger with that style...if you let me."
Hisscor thought for a moment, only to then nod. "Scor."
"Good." Flash replied as they stepped up to the shop. "Now, let's get that medicine...." He then looked back at where the battle had just taken place. "Though I gotta say, I really wish I didn't leave my spare Pokeballs back at the camp. I coulda caught that guy-er...girl."
"Hiss Hisscor."
"Yeah...maybe it is for the best. The two were jerks after all."
Some time later...
Back at the camp, the group were doing what they could to help the Pokémon. But as they did, Doc let out a long sigh as he looked over Prongs, "I'm not sure how much more of this they can take. I'm out of juice and potions just aren't cutting it."
"They just hold on a little longer," Twilight replied as she rubbed her Psychick's forehead with a wet towel. "Flash will be back soon, I'm sure of it."
"But what if something happened to slow him down?" Spike asked as he wet another cloth. "Like, what if that Geckoxic attacks him and Hisscor doesn't do anything. What'll we do then?"
"Then we'll just have to trust they can handle it," Twilight replied again, her tone low and dark. She looked back down at Owlicious, seeing how much pain he was in, making her realize the Doc was right. They needed that medicine now. "Flash....please hurry."
"Guys!"
Twilight looked up and turned towards the voice, soon seeing Flash with Hisscor on his shoulder and a paper bag in his hand. He shot into the camp like lightning, coming to a stop, "I...made it!" He moaned out while clutching his stomach. "Oh boy...that was really far away."
"FLASH!" They all cheered as the rushed over to him.
"Did you get it?" Doc asked, only Flash to hold up a bag.
"Right...here."
Doc quickly opened the bag, his eyes shining at the sight inside. "Perfect! Let's hurry up and administer it." They all nodded and took what they needed. While they did this, Flash explained what had happened. Hearing the story, the lot of them were all amazed.
"I can't believe Hisscor finally started listening to you," Spike said as he helped Flash with Springer.
Twilight giggled at this as she gave the antidote to Owlicious. "It's all about trust. Hisscor saw he trusted it, so it in turn trusted him. Isn't that right Flash?"
"Exactly," Flash replied, nodding, "and now Viper and I are the perfect team!"
"Viper?" Twilight asked with a tilt of the head.
Flash nodded his head at this, "Yeah! We finally decided on a name on the way back. I think It's pretty cool, don't you?"
"Heck yeah it is," Spike replied as he pointed at the Hisscor. "Viper's an awesome name."
Soon enough, every single poisoned Pokémon was given the antidote and was cured.
"Ri," Springer moaned out as his fever broke and he felt his strength return. He slowly picked himself up and looked around, seeing Flash smiling at him.
"Hey bud, you alright?" Springer nodded before asking what happened. Being able to understand his partner, Flash explained while pointing to his newest Pokémon. "You and the others were all poisoned but our newest teammate here helped us get the antidote needed to cure you all."
Springer turned his head the same direction as Flash, spotting a familiar rock with a familiar Pokémon curled up on it. Springer picked himself up and stepped over to him, staring at Viper as he did. The Hisscor then uncoiled itself before sliding down off the rock, where it soon stopped right in front of Springer. Viper then raised its tail, which Springer realised was his version of offering a handshake. Springer stared at the tail for a moment, only to smile and take the tail in his paw. They shook, sealing the fact that they were now teammates.
Everyone smiled at this, happy that Viper had finally opened up to them.
Geckoxic frowned as it stepped through the forest. It had left its sister at their den and was out looking for food.
Even so, it was still miffed at the lose it and its sister had been granted. It needed to find a way to get its own back, but how? If it had not been for that trainer, they would have been victorious.
Suddenly a rustling of some nearby bushes, caught its attention and made it go into a battle stance. Had the trainer and Hisscor come back for more?
The bushes opened up and out stepped a human, but not the one from before. A Pokémon was besides the human, but it too was not the one from before. Instead, it was yellow and black.
The human chuckled. "You might be useful."