Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman


Chapter 18

I get up and, having my pokémon healed from yesterday, take a look around the complex while I wait for the girls to get up. There’s still a lot of broken walls and such, but it seems that all the bodies and blood haven’t been cleaned up. These guys are crazy. Worse, they’re crazy and smart... mostly.

Still, if they are a danger to us, then the only option is to try and get them first. I’m just glad that the girls understand and that they don’t try to protest that we’re killing them... still, they will have to get used to bloodshed. I see a Chainer thug with a wooden beam through his chest, nailing him to a wall and I shudder. So will I... yeesh.

I decide to walk outside and see if I can’t get Carvanha some training. It’s not as strong as Geodude, and I’d like a little balance. Type advantages aside, if it’s too weak to hurt it’s opponent, there’s no use in keeping it around. Given how vicious it is, I doubt I could do anything but use it for battles.

Finding a decent pond isn’t too hard, but finding one without large, prehistoric pokémon at it is a task better left to professionals. I finally find a large, concrete-rimmed retaining pool, with several Corphish and a few Lileep in it, along with some natural green plants growing healthily in the water. A Lotad swims idly by, just going from one side to another with a Rattata on its back.

Let’s give this ecosystem a new link on the food chain. I toss my Carvanha into the water and watch as a bunch of the smaller pokémon flee for their lives. “Alright Carvanha, see if you can’t find a Corphish or something that isn’t too chicken to fight!”

A lone Clauncher stands its ground, glaring at the oncoming toothy death. The little pistol-shrimp pokémon might actually stand a chance if it’s a fair level, but I doubt it is if it’s putting up with Corphish in its pool.

Carvanha, looking gleefully interested in this fight, darts forward and begins doing a series of strong bite attacks. Supercavitation bubbles spark from the end of the Clauncher’s claw, and they’re making impacts on my pokémon, but Carvanha is more than able to power through and begin chowing down on the littler pokémon. Moments later, there’s barely even chum in the water, as Carvanha looks for another victim. The only things that haven’t escaped or at least hidden are the Lileep, who have withdrawn into their stony pods and shrunken against their rocky home.

“Well, dang. Oh well, at least you got breakfast, right? Just don’t do that to a trainer’s pokémon, okay?” My pokémon just snaps its jaws together menacingly, then begins searching for more easy prey.

It’s slow going, so I decide to move to another pool, but get similar results. All the pokémon either vacate the water or hide. Levelling up Carvanha will be tougher than I thought. What I really need is a forced situation, where the other pokémon can’t run. Or won’t, at least.

This is a place for previously fossilized pokémon right? There should be mainly Rock types around, I just need to somehow get one near the water’s edge and have it stay long enough for Carvanha to take it out. But how? Most of the land-walking pokémon seem to avoid the water for this very reason now.

I spy an Anorith cheerfully making its nest on the shore, little claws carefully stacking sticks and pieces of bark to make an honestly really hideous little hut.

“Alright Carvanha, round two, see if you can’t pull the guy into the water with you!” Bite won’t do too much, but Aqua Jet certainly will.

Carvanha jumps the unsuspecting Anorith, and the Aqua Jet flips the poor thing over. Carvanha grabs one of its claws in its teeth, and begins flopping determinedly back towards the water. I face-palm. Oh well, if it works, it works.

“Just finish it I guess. Man, this is more boring than I thought it would be.”

Carvanha takes to the order with gusto, chomping the Anorith until its shell cracks, then proceeds to literally clean out the thing’s shell, reducing it back to the stoney fossil it was revived from.

I sigh. There’s easy battles, but then there are scarce battles. Which also happen to be easy. I need something tough, but small enough for Carvanha to get its jaws around. “Hey, try going deeper into the water, see if there’s anything interesting near the bottom.”

The fish turns and darts for the bottom of the pond, and snatches up a couple of Corphish, one after another, and chews them apart. Then, it gets an eyefull of a Lileep trying to mimic an inedible rock. Except, Lileep are grass-types, and could easily get the upper hand/tentacle on a water-type like Carvanha. My pokémon doesn’t seem to know or care, and is heading right for the Lileep and the big, brown rock it’s anchored to.

“If you’re going to do something reckless, at least be smart about it!” I shout into the water, hoping my pokémon can hear me. “Try to... uh... bite it’s tentacles? Idunno. Just don’t be stupid.”

It ignores me, and keeps swimming. The Lileep peeks out of its cover, then tenses right back up when it sees my pokémon. The predatory pokémon circles once, then twice, then darts in for the attack!

And gets backhanded by a random hand-thing sticking out of the rock the Lileep is anchored to. The f- ?

“Alright, if you can hear me, use Focus Energy!” Higher chance of a critical hit will help the fact that my pokémon’s attacks are relatively weak. Thankfully, it seems it can hear me, and begins to glow slightly, before darting at the drifting hand-shape, which I see appears to be one half of a Binacle pair.

“Use Leer, then Aqua Jet!” I gotta do whatever I can to increase damage output if I can’t get a type advantage on my side. Carvanha seems perfectly fine with my order, and glares at the Binacle, who looks spooked. It doesn’t have time to dodge before my pokémon speeds forward and slams into the Binacle. The other Binacle pops its head out, and the two begin to smack Carvanha, but it’s looking like my pokémon is too tough for the barnacle pokémon.

“Use Scary Face, and give the other one an Aqua Jet as well!” Carvanha just seems to grin wider at my command, then speeds at the other head, jaws slightly parted. The Binacle is reeling, and can only slap back at Carvanha ineffectually, doing more damage to itself than to my fish.

I want to see if Carvanha has levelled up, but at the moment, I want to finish off my current target. “Bite it, get both of ‘em at once if you can!”

At once, it speeds at the target, and opens its jaws wider than it really ought to be able to, sensibly speaking. It does indeed snatch both necks and bites down, chomping as hard as it can and casting brackish blood into the water. The brownish fluid obscures the bottom.

A moment later, Carvanha swims lazily to the surface, trailing some tatters of Binacle bits, and just begins swimming in a vague circle. It looks content.

Time to see if Carvanha’s as tough as I think it is. “Alright, last one for now. Find a Lileep and use Ice Fang!”

The fish, moving at a far more sedate pace than before, opens a gleaming, shining set of chompers, and bites down on the Lileep. It doesn’t do much, and there’s no ice in the water, so I count this experiment as a failure. “Well, alright. See if you can’t just finish it off anyway. Use Aqua Jet!”

Carvanha slams into the Lileep doing decent damage, but after that, the Lileep merely retreats back and I decide it’s enough. “Alright Carvanha, come on back then.”  It ignores me, and I have to recall it to get it to stop bumping its head into the terrified Lileep.

Sighing, I go to get the girls and head towards town.


“So the gist of what you’re asking is that we get a free jeep-ride to town, so that you can tell everyone about what happened?” I say, not quite understanding why the researcher is asking it as a request. “I mean, that’d be great, but... why us too? Can’t you go by yourself?”

“Well, to be honest, we don’t want to leave you guys and the Tyrunt alone in the woods. Krosa is an old forest, and this particular road has been a pain for foot traffic since it was carved out. It took a literal legion of Bisharp to cut through it, and the forest fought back every inch of the way.”

“In that case, thanks for the ride. So when we get there we tell the cops and they do their thing?”

“Pretty much. Hey, you three take care of that Tyrunt, ‘kay? It’s been a pain getting them to breed, and its biological mother has mostly prefered killing and eating the prospective mates up until Tyrant. Even that Salamence we got in here didn’t get more than a glance and a bite.” The researcher shudders.

“No problem. If Twilight can do it once, I think she can do it again, right?” Twilight, back in human form, nods and smiles.

We all get into the jeep and, along the ride back to town, I relate what I know of cars and such. Needless to say, the idea of having something so small function just like a train without rails and not needing to be fed coal was a little shocking to the fashionista and the scholar.

“This is amazing!” Twilight yells, gripping the jeep’s roll cage, grinning widely. The bright lights of the Jeep scare away pretty much all the pokémon on the trail as we move along at a sedate fifteen miles an hour. The breeder had explained he wasn’t going faster because the trees sometimes put up roots to stop the cars if they go too fast. I’m not sure if that’s just fast growth or pokémon intervention.

“Yeah, amazing. I should show you a Nascar race sometime.” I pause a for a second. “Assuming they have them here.” There’s an America mentioned in the first games, but it seems mostly retconned in the later ones, so I’m not actually sure. Then again, Unova was basically the US so... maybe they have them, just a bit different. After all, if they have modern taxi cabs in Kalos, surely they have cars for sport as well as travel.

Twilight just smiles and holds her hat, while Rarity is ducked as low as she can get in the jeep, looking rather green in the face.

That’s more or less when the entire Jeep goes sideways, and I get a glimpse of a particularly tall, lithe Tyrantrum, who looks utterly pissed. Then the Jeep lands on its side, and the four of us go tumbling out as quickly as we can. the Tyrantrum stalks around, footfalls thudding into the ground.

“Dragon types are weak to Ice! Wanna prove me wrong, Twi, be my guest!”

Twilight quickly sends out Spheal, picking up the ball-like pokémon and commanding it to fire a Powder Snow at the Tyrantrum... who doesn’t appear to slow down, or even care. The huge tyrannosaur has murder in its eyes, and its stalking towards us, mane and chin-ruff smaller proportionally than the other I’d seen at the compound.

“Oh come on! I swear that didn’t work because Spheal is weak! That should have done something!

The Tyrantrum roars with a nearly incandescent fury, and picks up the pace, forcing our group to scatter and move just to keep up the distance. The draconic dino looks at the four of us with narrowed eyes, taking a few seconds to decide who to chase down. It settles on Rarity, and roars as it charges her.

Gotta try to slow it down. If the ground is uneven... I toss out my Premier ball. “Geodude, Magnitude!”

Geodude forms mid-air, and slams to the earth with as much power as he can muster, fists leaving huge divots in the packed dirt of the path. Ripples spread outwards, forcing roots up and cracking the earth. A Magnitude Eight, just when I need it. At least he doesn’t let me down! The Tyrantrum barely slows, but catches its foot on a thick root, making it stumble for a moment before the entire root comes up, torn from the earth and its moorings with apparent ease.

Shit, that Tyrantrum looked pissed before, I don’t even know what to call it now. Just as it turns to go after Geodude, a white-and-brown blur drops onto the dinosaur’s head, making a series of syncopathic clacks and clicks. I barely glimpse a snazzy beret on top of the pile of white leaves before the Tyrantrum throws the Shiftry into the undergrowth on the side of the path.

The regal dino-dragon turns to me this time, and steps over the Jeep, becoming illuminated by the remaining headlight like it’s a monster in a horror movie, and growls. Then, an arc of fire slams into the tyrant dragon’s back, knocking it flat. I have no idea what’s going on.

Nevertheless, that Shiftry is probably our best bet out of this. An eerie piping noise fills the air, and even the Tyrantrum looks around with fear on its face. I use the distraction to rush over to the Shiftry and check it over for wounds or anything, pulling out a Potion if need be. thankfully, our savior seems fine, if a little winded, and clacks its jaw and pats me on the shoulder. It clacks it jaw a few more times, this time with more force, the sound echoing through the forest.

Wondering what that could be signaling, I hear a series of slow, steady thumps. Assuming it’s calling for backup, I think of options. It’s a Shiftry, and if it’s got more coming...

Wild pokémon be damned, I’m gonna try an order anyway. “Shiftry, try blowing it down with a group Whirlwind!”

The Shiftry simply looks at me, and I get the feeling it’s just grinning at me. It puts a leafy hand up in a signal for patience as the Tyrantrum roars defiantly into the woods.

It stops and takes a step back as the trees seem to burst into flame. With a shuddering, twisting crack, a meter-thick tree trunk is splintered and battered aside by some sort of bipedal pokémon with a pair of massive, fire-wreathed fists. I can’t see any eyes on it, but it’s moving unerringly at the Tyrantrum. With every fall of the tree-thing’s feet, the ground shudders and quakes.

I have no idea what it could be. I’ve never seen this species before... Wow. Curiosity overtaking me, I pull out my éTech and aim it at the apparent Fire/Grass type.

-Pyrdenron - The Ironwood Pokémon. This massive pokémon uses its blazing fists to clear out huge swathes of dense forest for its young to root in. Their fists can break concrete walls with ease, or melt through steel in seconds.-

Well damn. That’s pretty awesome. That said, it’s looking a little tough to capture. Even as I think this over, the mammothine tree punches the Tyrantrum in the jaw, making the dino growl. However, that only seems to enrage the ancient pokémon further, and it makes a vicious Crunch attack on the Pyrdendron’s arm, tearing off the limb in a shower of wood and sap, the latter of which bursts into fire as it hits the air.

I’m starting to feel less optimistic about the tree-pokémon’s chances when another of them steps out of the woods, busting its own path into the melee and beginning to batter the Tyrantrum itself. A third joins shortly after, and the fourth to appear makes the Tyrantrum turn and flee, though not without a parting roar of anger.

The Shiftry, utterly unconcerned by the blazing fists of the Pyrdendrons, simply shoo them away, clacking and clicking. Finally, the Shiftry bows to Rarity before simply leaping into the canopy and disappearing. The Breeder, Rarity, Twilight and I just sort of stand around for a few minutes, until we finish processing what just happened.

“Well, you don’t see that every day, huh?” I’m still a little interested in the Pyrdendron. A species I’d never seen before! Could there be more pokémon I’ve never encountered before?

“Yeah, I’ve never seen her wander onto the the road like that before.” the Breeder says, working to push the Jeep onto its wheels again. The car seems plenty hardy, and even still works, its light construction making it easy to get up again. I return Geodude to his ball, and climb in. “So, barring any other of nature’s little surprises, back to the town again?”

The Breeder nods, and Rarity just ducks her head again. Heh, I guess she gets motion-sick. Still... what other pokémon are out there? It seems I don’t know everything about this world after all. The thought brings a smile to my face. It’s like playing Ruby and Sapphire all over again. The call of the unknown sings in my ear, and I sit back in the Jeep to get comfortable.