Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman

Chapter 72

Shaking off the data entry, I scramble up the craggy outcropping just in case the thing can jump, and I help the girls with their climb and we end up on the same platform as the Marowak.

We give our respective thanks for various instances of saving each other, and decide to resume heading towards the actual mountain range we’d decided to take the difficult, quick way past. Up and over the mountains themselves.

The pathway meanders back and forth, the rich resin scent catching our noses as we find ourselves walking by pine trees. Along the way, we spot a few Combee idly checking through the pines, even a couple of the ones with a red-spotted female in their comb. Something else I spot, which catches my eye more strongly than the Combee: several Pineco glare at both the flying bug-types and my little group as we pass, Rarity pausing only for a second to cuddle one of the Combee for a moment before letting it go.

I shake my head. “Just don’t hug a Vespiquen. They may get the wrong idea.”

Rarity smiles innocently but stays silent and we continue on. The Pineco look a bit perturbed by us but not enough to detach and land on us in attack. I keep a hand near my belt, ready to grab a shrunken pokéball just in case.

Higher up still, we see a snowflake coming down directly onto the path. A quick and nervous glance back down the mountainside shows we’ve gone a really far distance up today, though the pass and the peak alike are quite a ways higher still. I suggest that we set up camp. Twilight agrees when I bring up that we may want to do so here rather than higher up, where the tents may not be warm enough.

“It’ll also help keep us awake if we’re rested. I don’t know how high this goes but if we get exhausted due to oxygen deprivation it could be unavoidable if we’re tired to begin with.”

And for once, it seems Pony science according to Twilight agrees with Human science.

We all begin unpacking the tents, getting everything set up on the flattest area we can find on this slope, and I pull out Geodude to help us bring up dirt berms to flatten it out further. The sun is setting, yes, but it won’t be down for another hour or so, and we’ve got the camp set up. There’s even some wood collected from trees not infested with Pineco. The problem arises of what to do next.

“I say we should probably get to bed early since we’ll have to make the trek back down the mountain and then hopefully get to the desert in one day.” though the girls seem a bit hesitant to sleep.

“I’d feel a bit easier about this if we kept a few lookouts. I’m not enthused about those angry-looking pokémon back there.” Twilight admits.

“If you mean the Pineco, then Pignite would have no problem with them. He can stand guard until you guys fall asleep. Personally, I’m beat after that adrenaline rush from the Shriekoid and then the trek up here.” I say, yawning. “I imagined there’d be a lot of running, just not... for our lives.”

Rarity yawns daintily. “I’ll ask Glorious to stand watch as well, I’m going to curl up with Sewaddle.” she says, sending out both pokémon and explaining to the sword pokémon. Then, she picks up Sewaddle and carries it into her tent, evidently to use it like a stuffed animal. Twilight sends out Pignite, who accepts the guard duty readily, even saluting.

I curl up in my unmounted hammock, using it as a sleeping bag and soon enough I’m asleep.

---

I wake up when I hear a very shrill noise, like a banshee only sounding sort of happy.

My splitting headache waking me up much too fast for my liking I stick my head out of my tent and see a faint glow slowly growing dimmer inside Rarity’s tent. I blink for a second to try and ease the pain in my head but it stays for a good minute more.

Whatever she woke me up for better be important...

Rarity, back to a pony again, steps out of her tent and presents a giant green orb. I frown at her and roll my eyes, the upward glance revealing a fair amount of snow falling from above me. A few flakes land on the green thing and it shivers closer to Rarity for apparent warmth.

I then notice the green has the texture of a giant leaf and... oh, Sewaddle evolved. Huh. Also, it’s snowing. Didn’t think it was that cold up here. Chilly for sure, but not enough for more than a few flakes by my estimation. Eh, whatever. Weather fluctuates.

The Swadloon seems happy enough just to be cuddled, Rarity wrapping her hooves around her evolved Pokémon. Twilight opens her own tent, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. I jump at the sound of a whooshing flame, until I see it’s just a tired Pignite lighting a fire for us, yawning mightily afterwards.

“Jeez, didn’t have to stay up all night, big guy.” I say, blinking away the last of my headache. I notice that Glorious is laying across Pignite’s lap, akin to the sword of a hero resting at a fire rather than a wrestler-pig and another sapient being who happens to be a sword.

Well, seen weirder. I stand up and begin putting away my hammock-bag and tent, the girls doing the same. We all silently agree to making it over this mountain ASAP as none of us are terribly fond of the dropping temperature.

The trudge upwards at first seems alright; the snow on the ground actually gives us a little more traction on the frozen earth. However, as we go higher, we quickly find that the frozen nature of the ground is only making it harder to move on, the snow piling as high as my knees. I’m glad for the heavy boots Rarity gave me when we got into colder weather gear this morning, but it’s still awful.

As we climb, I notice a couple of Snover off to one side, huddled together like they’re talking. They seem to be amiable enough, and we pass them by without incident. However, on their backs and on several of the trees and rocks are scratched-in symbols. Etched designs that look angular and vicious, though they’re never more than a scant millimeter or three deep.

Too narrow for most bear-like pokémon I can think of, so maybe Sneasel? Marking trees for communication is something they do, right? I’m pretty sure, and it’s cold enough up here for them. Damn, and me out of pokéballs. Oh well, we can come back later when we’ve gotten farther and can get better equipped.

We continue on, though I do advise the girls to be wary of any dark-colored, fast-moving objects. “They may not attack us outright but Dark types seem to like swiping our stuff. Last time it was just a hat, but this time we don’t have anything we could spare.”

“Oh, I read about that. They’re called, uh...” That’s odd, Twilight having trouble recalling something she read. She gets it eventually. “Sneasel.”

“Yeah, nasty little guys. They make good pokémon for trainers who prefer a less direct means of attacking in combat. Most of their moves are Ice and Dark to match their typing. Chill an opponent and then disorient and rough them up when weakened.”

“That’s hardly sporting.” Rarity comments. “They sound rather unfair.”

“Nah, they’re glass cannons.”

“Glass... cannons?” Twilight asks. “I’m going to assume you aren’t referring to actual artillery devices made of glass.”

I nod and explain the concept in simple terms. “Think something that can pack a powerful punch like a cannon, but made of glass so it gets severely damaged easily. It can dish out damage but a few direct hits, or just a solid single strike and it’s done for. An example of a supportive variation on this would be Ledian. Plenty of status moves to keep the opponent away, but a solid Rock-Type move would drop her in an instant.”

Rarity’s brows furrow, but Twilight nods. “I see, so a Sneasel can deal a lot of damage and avoid taking damage in return, but can’t stand up to taking a lot of damage? That sounds like a good pokémon for double battles if you team it up with a tougher, heavier pokémon.”

I nod. “Yeah, you’d want that high-damage-taking pokémon to be something with a lot of survivability and resilience, and possibly ways to keep itself healthy. Blissey makes a good tank... tank referring to how durable and sturdy they are while still being able to do decent damage.”

“So a Glass Cannon and a Tank? These are all rather... warlike terms.” Rarity points out. “Aren’t there rules about using pokémon as weapons?”

I shrug. “They’re actually terms from combat strategy games, it just translated really well to these scenarios. It makes things go a bit smoother for people who know what the words mean... a lot like acronyms really.”

“Which originated in use by the military.” Twilight notes. “So we’re back to the ‘war’ issue.”

I cringe. “Let’s just say... the rules are there to prevent any histories from repeating.”

“You mean, there were actual pokémon wars?”

I nod. “Human soldiers backed, or in some cases frontlined, by pokémon. It was really common early on, apparently. It’s not an era the people are proud of. There are still some remains of certain wars to this day in some regions.”

“Wow... so they adopted pokémon battling from these wars?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure if anyone knows which came first, battling or lethal combat. Most early depictions of pokémon with humans show the pokémon being tamed in one way or another. Likely because until humanity could tame them we were either a weak nuisance or an easy snack.”

“That is a very dark history.” Rarity notes.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot to really be proud of sometimes. But hey, that’s why there’s the Pokémon League. It’s to keep that stuff from coming back. I like bending rules as a hobby, but I know they’re there for a reason.”

Twilight chuckles. “And what of Equestrian law? You admit we may have good reasons for our rules as well?”

I roll my eyes and ruffle her mane. “Nah, you’re just a bunch’a stupid ponies.”

“Keep saying that and I might believe you.” Twilight says with a small smile. At least she isn’t going to start a whole thing over a joke.

As we continue on, bantering in a good-natured fashion between the three of us, a snowstorm starts to kick up. Normally I’d say we could manage it, a little snow never stopped Ash’s stupid ass, but when a fog rolls in with it up from the way we came rising towards the peak, there’s little choice in the matter. What worries me though, is the way that even the Snover we’ve been passing are starting to cover themselves in mounds of snow, something I’ve never heard of them doing. When we pass a Glalie using Ice Beam to create a dome of ice and snow over itself and a small colony of shivering Snorunt, I start to think there’s something more to the icy-cold fog rolling in.

I honestly don’t know what to expect, really. There are too many powerful Ice types that can create fog or are simply adept at hiding in it. The first thing that comes to mind is Weavile, which could be a problem... but not enough for a Glalie. Whatever it is, it’s a predator, and a high ranking one at that.

We need to be careful. I send out Geodude, and Pignite who had been trucking along behind us and watching our back, gets in front of Twilight. Glorious seems to have been recalled, though Swadloon is taking the cold weather like a boss, the fear of a Super Effective Ice attack clearly not fazing the stern look on it’s face, even as it covers itself further with its hood.

Gonna say it again. Grass types are fricken’ badasses.

The fog encroaches steadily, and I can practically hear the frost forming on unprotected pine boughs... and the sound of something moving far more quickly through the snow than we are. The girls, being ponies, give away their own noticing of the sound as I watch their ears swivel to face backwards, tracking the noise as it moves behind us. Both of them look nervous, and Swadloon turns to face behind us from Rarity’s back.

Geodude is eyeing behind us as well but is still moving ahead. I guess he’s thinking what I am: if he can attack first with a good Rock move, he could do some appreciable damage to an Ice type before getting a Super Effective attack to the face.

I miss the initial movement, but Swadloon cries out and I turn in time to see a massive six-legged spidery shape. It charges from the wall of fog, seven spots glowing a bright orange-red that are positioned like eyes. It hisses violently, and slender sticky threads spray out everywhere, falling invisibly in the snow. If we make a mistake while running, we risk getting caught on one, and that could be far more lethal than simply staying where we are.

I ponder my options aside from Geodude. Gulpar might be a help, an apex predator in his own environment... On the other hand, Litwick would be more able to take an Ice Type. I decide to settle on Litwick. As I reach for her ball, the spider-shaped pokémon snarls and the bottom half of its head splits open to reveal jaws covered in sharp chunks of ice, all curving inwards like sharp ice picks. The creature’s body is icy all over, and its abdomen is entirely hollow, just a cage of glassy ice. This pokémon is certainly huge, easily as tall as I am. The quiet terror is broken as it shrieks loudly and lunges forward with a pink-tinged blur of speed... is that a move?

I don’t have time to send out Litwick, we have to deal with what we have. I take a moment to think about options. If it’s going to attack physically, Geodude may be able to take it. But if it swaps to a ranged attack he’s done for already. He’ll have to play support here, Pignite is our best bet. Luckily Twilight’s already picked up on this and requests an Arm Thrust.

The lunging Ice pokémon takes the hit to the face and is slammed to the side, but doesn’t seem to have been ‘super effected’ by the attack; what could be combined with- oh, duh, spider-like, it must be Ice and Bug.

But that means... I grin. “Hey Twilight, wanna test something?”

“Is now really the time to experiment?!” she yells back as the spider-pokémon tries to lunge directly at Pignite, the fog following close behind.

“Idunno, but I just got an idea.” I carefully lean closer and whisper my plan into Twi’s ear. I don’t want to risk our attacker to hear my plan. Twilight looks confused, intrigued, then a bit worried.

“Are You sure he can take that kind of damage safely?”

I nod. “He’s tough. I also have a potion in case he can’t.”

Our aggressor charges towards us again. Pignite tries to slap it away before getting a nasty bite on his shoulder. Pignite shrugs it off, but it definitely had to hurt.

Twilight and I coordinate our pokémon, the team of Pignite and Geodude readying themselves for whatever we may have planned. At our consecutive commands, Geodude hops into Pignite’s arms, ready for Pignite to set him on fire before Pignite begins spinning him around several times and hurling Geodude like a flaming hammer; it hits the aggressive pokémon dead on with a fairly-disturbing ‘crack’ noise that I hope indicates decent damage to an exoskeleton.

Either way the roundabout way of having Geodude end up using a Fire move with added Rock typing seems to have done a good job with a simulated Quadruple Super Effective, but the fog is still up around us. There could be more of them that we wouldn’t see at this rate. I’m about to administer my only Super Potion and call for a repeat when the spider-pokémon comes out of the fog from a completely different direction, this time heading straight for me.

Crap, where did that webbing land? Which direction is safe to run?! The pokémon leaps at me, and I feel myself getting flung to the ground. I feel cold needle-teeth slip into the flesh of my right shoulder and numbness spread outwards from the bite.

I cringe in pain, but in a moment it just feels completely numb with no hurt at all. That seems like a bad thing and I go to do the only thing I can really do with my chest pinned: click the button on Litwick’s ball and send her out to assist. I... can’t... feel my arm, shit! I need to just... push the fucking... button!

A sudden lance of light and heat hits the spider from the side, sending it hissing to the side, where it snarls nastily at Twilight, who is huffing and panting, horn smoking. Her magical levitation lifts me to my feet and pulls me away from the creature, and I realize I can’t hear the wind even though it’s howling all around before. I’m quickly losing feeling in everything else. Twilight looks like she’s trying to talk to me, but I can’t hear a single thing right now.

We need more power to take this thing down, and I’m practically out of commission. I use my still-good left arm to grab Litwick’s ball and send her out with a throw that falls mere feet from me. I hate using my left...

Annoyances and concerns aside, Litwick pops out, immediately on-guard with a look of defiant confidence... that melts into horror on seeing the enemy we’re facing. Whatever it is, it’s an ice-type that’s scaring a fire-type. I don’t like that, but we’ve got to take it down. And if it is bug-type as well, we need to concentrate our fire attacks.

I yell for a Fire Spin. Thankfully Litwick’s trust in me is stronger than her fear and her yellow candle flame flares red and sends out a helix of flames. The consistent swirls of fire nearby bring some warmth and feeling back to me, and I begin to hear again. The first sound that comes back is the terrifying roaring of the hostile pokémon, and Pignite smashing it with heavy-handed fire attacks.

If I can thaw out enough t- agh! With the numbness gone, the pain from the sharp bites races to my chest and I barely register falling to my knees. Gotta just, stay awake... I’m not gonna die to something I don’t even know the name of...

Suddenly, Geodude comes down out of the air, a rip in the thick, cold fog following him and revealing a swaying pine tree high above as he cannonballs into the spider pokémon’s back with a powerful crunch, like stomping crisp ice underfoot. The lights of its eyes go dark as it falls to the snowy ground, twitching slightly, everyone in our group panting as the storm slows all around us.

I’m helped to my feet by both mares and after a bit of time to rest, my chest is slightly better. I can at least move. I give my team a weak thumbs-up, which Geodude and Litwick resolutely return, and smile. “Can’t believe the last thing I thought about was wanting to know what that thing was...”

The sound of an éTech’s pokédex chime makes Twilight and I jump, and we both see Rarity pointing hers at the monstrous pokémon. “It’s clearly unconscious... and I’m curious too.” she says when she notices us looking.

Taravanche, the Heat Hunter pokémon
- These large arachnid pokémon are ambush hunters. They attack anything warm and suck the heat from them to keep their own bodies from freezing up entirely.
- They spray traps made of natural adhesive beneath the snow, and wait until something gets stuck in it. Their mostly hollow bodies crave warmth, but they are afraid of fire and the sun, so they burrow into the snow to escape it.
Ice Type, Bug Type

So fire was the right option, this one was just reckless or stupid enough to attack us even when we used fire on it. Or prideful, I suppose, not sure which. Given that its baseline stats is above five-hundred, I can see why they’re lone hunters, too.

Either way, that’s another crisis avoided. I shake the feeling back into my legs and we all prepare to keep going. I look down as my eyes catch a dark shape amidst the white snow and notice a Sneasel approaching, and another and another and in seconds we’re completely surrounded by them, a big circle of their eyes locked on us, a chill not related to the cold running up my spine.

I cringe as I see the circle get tighter. The circle draws tighter and tighter and then they... part? A few Sneasel back off and a Weavile leaps up to take their place. Instead of the expected crown of red ‘feathers’, the Weavile is wearing an icy skull with seven eyeholes in it. A bright red mark, like freshly spilled blood, forms the symbol for Delta across its chest, and it snaps at me in its own language.

I stare at the δ mark and manage to stutter out a plea of “Don’t kill us...”

The Weavile grins, a sadistic look under that fanged helm of ice and bone. “We not kill fellow hunters, human.” it says, the words harsh and guttural, but without any slurring to indicate a lack of practice or intelligence.

I look at the skull it’s wearing and back at the Taravan- oh, now I get it, they- Wait a sec, it can talk!?

“Uh... uh... hi?”

“Your pack hunts well. You got bit; sweets of the cocoa plant help with recovering.” the Weavile advises in its rough pronunciation.

Sweets? But... the cocoa plant is bitter like nobody’s business. Still, I’m not one to argue with a talking, mis-typed Weavile. I look around for a plant that looks like cocoa, but up here in these mountains? No way. I decide to go with the next best thing and take out some of our remaining trail mix, which has more than a few chocolate chunks in it. As the chips melt in my mouth, I feel warmth like summer sun on my skin spread throughout me, chasing away the deathly chill of the bites. This is... way better than trail mix has any right to be, this must be what the Weavile meant after all. I should share some of this with Pignite since he was bitten as well.

I offer a handful of the mix to Twi’s Pokémon who, upon seeing my near-instant recovery, takes it gratefully and tosses the entire handful into his mouth. Soon after, he’s feeling better and chewing happily. I turn back to the Weavile. “Thanks, but...” Where there’s hunters there’s prey, usually. “Are there any more of those things? I’m not sure we could handle another attack by ourselves...”

“Good hunters hunt alone. Great hunters help pack. Greatest hunters help all packs. Big Hunter is good, not great.” the Weavile says, shaking its head.

I think about that for a second... oh, they’re a solitary species, okay. “Well, that’s good. I guess Taravanche are a problem up here?” Gotta say, now that it has a name, it’s not as terrifying.

“Not for great hunters. And not for Greatest Hunter.” the Weavile says, tapping its own helmet with a claw.

“Yeah so, Greatest Hunter, do you know of a way over the mountain with less resistance?”

“Continue the way you travel, hunter. You have not strayed from the safest path; it is rare that Big Hunters crawl so low, but youth brings much recklessness.” Greatest Hunter gestures, and I realize the Taravanche’s head is only about a third the size of the skull on the Weavile’s head.

So that was just a small one? Damn, no wonder this guy is called Greatest Hunter. I thank the Weavile, who bows, and we move on. Though the mystery of what type it is with the Delta gene calls my curiosity. A quick search through the internet via my éTech reveals that there’s no record for a Weavile with a Delta gene. I just made a new discovery! I go back to Greatest Hunter and, pointing to the Delta symbol on it, ask what it ‘means’. Maybe it knows.

“Means I am Greatest Hunter. Mother was Greatest Hunter before me. Fight better in ice and snow. Hit harder. Break ice easy, run longer and faster. Was only pup in clutch with mark of Greatest Hunter.” it says, the group of Sneasel having set up a temporary camp in the short time since the girls and I had walked away, already dragging the downed Taravanche close to a spot I recognize as a firepit in the making. Seems they’re prepping dinner... I shudder.

Still... I take a photo of the Weavile, and a second with a zoom-in on the Delta symbol. I label the photo “Fight/Ice” and move on, planning to show my findings when I get to the next town. Maybe I’ll get my name in something for this!

Greatest Hunter goes back to the meal work, and I return to the ponies, both of whom are looking at me funny. “Did you not feel like you were being sized up for a dinner plate, Anthony?” Twilight asks, looking up at me.

“Are you kidding? I was expecting to be gnawed on the second I saw that Weavile. I’m actually surprised it even wanted to talk.” I answer, shaking the last of my non-cold-related shudders away. “I think he was the only reason the others didn’t even try to go after us. A Dark/Ice type disobeying a Fighting type with equal speed and more strength? Bad move.”

Rarity shudders. “Sounds like the last move you’d make... all of those Sneasel looked like they wanted to... eat us.” she closes her eyes, continuing with, “and that loathsome ‘hat’ that big one wore...” I can kinda see where she’s coming from on the whole ‘skull of your fallen foes as a helmet’ thing.

“Well they didn’t eat us, and we’re still walking. Not to mention on supposedly the fastest path, so we should be fine from here.” I point out. “I don’t trust those Sneasel, but that Weavile seems to respect us for beating the Taravanche, I don’t think it would lie for no reason if it had already decided to talk to us.”

“Let us hope not, darling...” Rarity says, sighing and looking slightly ill.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to get off this mountain without further problems.

Aw, shit, why’d I have to think that?! I can’t believe I jinxed us already.

Comments

[A Tin Can]

Well I'll be damned, an update! Gonna hafta reread the whole thing now though

[the-pieman]

10669565
Sorry, I'm really not the kind of person who updates very often. I never want to publish my first draft, you know?

[Spirit of Harmony]

10670438
A good habit to have. Quality over quantity, or frequency in this case.

[the-pieman]

10694357
Thanks for understanding.

[Sigmacipher]

A good chapter, although I have to ask are Anthony abilites sealed here as well because twilight can still use spells here. It's less of a problem in this fic because it doesn't feel like it's taking away from the action just to take away from the action so the plot can follow canon events. But I'm curious whether Anthony's powers will come in to play here or if they are of limits.

[the-pieman]

11338286
That is a perfectly reasonable thing to be curious about, and I wish more were as curious about that sort of thing. To give a brief answer, Anthony's powers are weakened. His star core doesn't work the same way that Unicorn magic does, either. Twilight's magic (and Rarity's of course) still works because it is an inherent trait of them being unicorns. Anthony still has his star core (he has to have his star core) but he can't get much out of it and it is uncomfortable for him to attempt regardless.

As said, that''s the simple answer. The full answer including "Why?" and "How does this affect the narrative?" I plan on including in the story... if it gets published. I've been considering whether or not I should continue publishing chapters for any of the Starlight series. If I do though, the full answer and what I plan to do with it will definitely be included. Though that sort of thing won't matter for a long time yet as far as the story itself goes. A lot more has to happen first.