Baa-Ram-Ewe!

by Darkonshadows

246. Duck the Psyducks!

-Location?, Legendary Pokémon?-

It seemed innocuous enough that the powerful god of this realm saw fit to do something highly and noticeably overt to my senses, however that overt action somehow ended in my defeat.

I was an outsider received a body befitting someone of my legendary status. Yet when the power that is, in this world, moved one little insignificant worm… I kept divining my imminent defeat from that one action.

All that happened was that lowly worm finding a pile of fruit to eat and yet I couldn’t stop divining the worm as my ultimate doom for some reason.

This was the response for me throwing that Snorlax at that bridge wasn’t it? That was to prevent my defeat by the strange sheep like entity.

I seriously doubted a tiny insignificant little pest like that one can eventually best someone of my mighty caliber!

Yet, my divine powers kept telling me it would somehow lead to my ruin. I would simply have to keep an eye on it.

-Chrysalia, Kingdom of Bug Type Pokémon-

While a god tried to figure out why a regular worm was its downfall and would slowly become obsessed with a green little worm with a small red horn called a Caterpie, another bug was hungry and trying to survive another day.

A second worm like grub, which had no attention on it whatsoever at all, crawled on its six tiny nubby limbs that were almost legs towards the large lone berry.

While the Caterpie was somehow diverted to a larger pile of food that it liked, this one had just found its favorite berry today and it was a big juicy one too!

This soft white bodied, yellow spotted, grub with two large tough looking orange mandibles and a yellow rimmed orange shell on top of its head moved forward with sheer happiness at its sudden discovery.

It was called a Grubbin and today was its fourteenth birthday as it found its favorite berry just sitting out in the open, no pheromones of any other Bug Type having laid claim to it. Today felt like the luckiest day of its life and it started to happily and slowly consuming the berry, enjoying every single scrap of delectable flavor it could wrench from it.

After finishing the berry it continued on its merry way being ignored completely by a Legendary Pokémon that just ended up on a wild Swanna chase.

-Fontaine, Forest Wetlands, Pom-

I dropped down from the tree front hooves first onto one of the Psyduck from the second unit, as Favela and Quetal began their surprise attack on the first unit in the way.

Geoff and the others were already moving the cart as I slammed my hooves down on the helmet and using the still standing Pokémon I bucked a second one into a nearby tree.

Shanty manage to bludgeon two of them and Dolly knocked the other two onto their backs.

This was about the time that the Psyduck units started reacting to our attacks, the ones under assault by Quetal and Favela raised their shields and weathered the ranged attacks.

The ones we just hit or knocked down were back up in seconds and coming at us with small swords raised.

Shanty darted forward across the swampy muck that was slowing Dolly and Me down slightly, to swing for one of the approaching Psyduck. The yellow duck swung it’s blade and two cutting forces clashed, the one that one out was a surprise to me.

For a second later, Shanty was sent skidding back past us to almost fall onto her back, she managed to stay standing and kept her staff at the ready before glancing to me.

“They are being very goofy looking, but they are not weak!” Stated Shanty with a sudden fear as five more swords were pulled on us and the entire unit we were distracting raised their shields and began to quickly approach.

Quetal and Favela were damaging the shields of the first unit, we were occupying the second unit.

“Psy-ai-ai-ai-…” The third unit that just arrived due to the commotion suddenly gathered together and began glowing and building up energy while chanting in unison.

“Incoming Psyshock unit command attack, get clear of it!” Announced Geoff and the others were passing between the two groups, when the third group arrived on the hill to the right of the path.

The entire glowing group turned in our direction.

“Scatter!” I shouted as a blast of pink energy surged into the air and quickly arced towards where we were as the unit of Psyducks halted their advance on us and held their shields up.

Dolly Leapt into the air and zipped away with a glide, I jumped up and kicked off a tree and onto the path behind the cart and Shanty went scuttling across the muddy waters to get far ahead of the cart.

The mass of energy that came down behind us destroyed a huge section of the forest wetlands, that included the water, trees, mud, possibly the air itself and absolutely everything caught in the blast seemed to atomize in a perfect sphere of raw, pink colored, force.

It took a few seconds for the world to realize physics should be taking place, the muddy water quickly flooded into the destroyed wetlands area after a second of being held back by the unknown force.

Dolly zipped around on the air and dropped next to me and then lunged forward to block the blade of a charging Psyduck with her board held horizontally. She kicked off the Psyduck sending it onto its back with a momentum boosted buck of her rear legs.

The other five were quickly coming upon us as turn and moved after the cart. Looking to my right Favela and Quetal were retreating from the other unit and only had managed to take down two of them as they out cold on the ground. The other four were still chasing them and us as we met up.

“We be having more problems, the other two units are blocking the path!” Shanty shouted from up ahead and she was charging that group alone that already had their swords and shields ready. That’s twelve psyducks in the way, ten coming up behind us and six on the ridge looking to be building up for another Psyshock as Geoff called it.

“Everyone rush forward and clear a path for the cart, we can’t afford to slow down now!” If we did, they would box us in and bombard with those Psyshock attacks until we were torn to shreds. Maybe they wouldn’t even leave anything left.

Dolly and I rushed with Quetal and Favela to help Shanty who was dancing in front of the twelve psyducks and deflecting their blades with rapid arcing swipes of her cane blade. She was slowly retreating towards us and the steadily moving Geoff being helped by Shine pushing the cart.

Jiri had hopped off to join us in the forward charge, Ocellus looked to be prepping magic with her horn and Smolder took up Jiri’s position with moving the cart.

“Also don’t hit them in the heads, it just potentially makes their attacks far more powerful!” Quetal pulled away from us as we rushed to back up Shanty.

Quetal opened his mouth and fired a stream of those small star shaped blasts of energy, he traced them along the hill beneath the chanting Psyducks as they gathered energy for another attack as he continued forward.

The charge almost built up to a full blast as Quetal stopped for a moment and continued to focus on the hill. A section of it started to shift and it eventually fell, knocking a single Psyduck off balance and almost taking it with it.

The large forming attack above the hillside Psyduck unit’s heads suddenly broke apart as the one left the formation and the masses of scattered energy splattered against the ground in a raucous explosive fashion and sent the entire unit up in the air a few feet. That was followed by them limply flopping down the hill to go skidding into the wetland muds while groaning in pain from having been injured by their attacks misfire.

“I’ll slow the ones on our rear, clear a path forward!” Saying that Quetal moved towards the cart and started to spit more stars at the Psyduck coming at our backs, to little effect as they all had their shields up.

I turned forward and continued to pick up the pace as Geoff kept moving forward, but he had to slow down a little bit on approach for the Psyducks that Shanty was having a problem breaking through.

-Shanty-

With a twist of my left hoof inwards my cane slashed forward and deflecting three blades with a cutting arc. Removing my right hoof from it, I it swung outwards to deflect one on my right and knock them back.

I had to quickly kick up my right hind leg to knock a blade right up and out of the small hands of the Psyduck that be running towards me with the blade raised.

The one Psyduck paused to look at it empty right claw. Despite the blue shell shaped helmet and shield weighing it down. It quickly did a handspring into a backflip, landed, then caught the blade as it fell and then it be immediately began charging forward to thrust it at me.

My cane, right leg and left rear leg were currently being occupied as I balanced on my right hind leg, having kicked out with my left to deflect another blade away from piercing me.

How do I be getting into these situations so often? Not this time, I can be getting out of this easily enough.

I lowered my head and swung it to the left creating cutting arcs with both my horns that deflected multiple blades away from me including the one that be thrust at me. I hopped back and let the other incoming blades go past before slashing my legs forward.

“Riptide!” A point blank blast of water sent all twelve of the assailants skidding backwards, but did little to hurt them or break them up. What little force that could hurt them was absorbed by their shields.

A Psyduck on my left opened its mouth and that be when Dolly arriving, she moved into the path of a powerful stream of water that be shooting out of its beak and be using her board to angle all the water it into another Psyduck to my far right.

“Break them up further!” A bark blast from Pom be catching one in the face on the far left before it could raise its shield and it was sent sprawling. That was not nearly being enough to keep one of these tough ducks down.

As I flourished my bladed cane to deflect four more sword strikes from the yellow feathered nuisances with the glowing red eyes in front of me, Jiri shoulder checked the third one of the four down in front of me to create a small opening as she hopped backwards.

I swung the butt of my cane into the side of the one on my right that had been left open by circumstances and sent them flying off the pathway. They all be wielding their weapons with their right claws.

The two to my left had to deal with Pom landing a flying buck to topple the second duck and then bucking at the other one as she stood up, the left duck was sent skidding backwards slightly when it took the blow with its shield.

The four Psyducks on my right were sent flying when Favela grabbed one a with a tentacle vine and whipped them about to slam them into the three other Psyducks while releasing it. That be clearing up the paths right side.

Jiri, Pom and Dolly were battering the five still standing ones on the left back and away from the path as I be catching my breath. I quickly be joining them with deflecting a blade before it could jab into Pom’s side and Jiri be punching that one across the face with a glowing paw that be healing the wounds she took from tackling straight into sharp objects twice.

“Go faster!” Quetal stated as he followed behind the wagon as it passed by us and we had a number of psyducks coming up from behind, the ones we just knocked down were already getting up and already coming at us.

Quetal blasted energy stars at them forcing them to stand still and block them as he continued to back away.

“You heard Quetal, we have to keep up with the cart and keep on top of anything that might be in its path!” I be putting my weapon across my back and following everyone as we ran with thirty angry ducks at our backs.

“Everyone clear the way! They are weak to lightning right?” Ocellus be lowering her horn and we be moving to the sides of the cart passing by Smolder and Shine pushing at the back and were now around Geoff.

“Remember not to push yourself too hard Ozzy!” Smolder be shouting at her, shoulder pressing into the back of the cart and pushing it through a rough patch of mud with Shine at her side.

“They are faster than the cart Smolder and we can’t keep them at range forever.” I don’t be knowing about that Ocellus, Favela seemed to be a doing a good job firing leaves backwards into the crowd forcing them to slow down and block them with their shields. “Here I go!”

A bolt of lightning surged from Ocellus’s horn, the psyducks, being covered in water and having been wandering around the wetlands were struck and screamed out in pain for the first time. They had been eerily silent up to this point aside from the chanting for the collective attack that came from the hill.

“I can’t believe we got by all of them!” Pom stated as she looked behind us at the struggling to stand ducks that looked to have been paralyzed or weakened enough by Ocellus to prevent them from keeping up with us.

“If they had their minds, and if we weren’t moving at such a pace to reach the crossroads to the bridge leading into Aurora, then I’m quite sure we wouldn’t have stood a chance against them if we actually stopped to fight them all off.” Geoff be making a good point, Favela is being very good against the psyducks when her attacks be hitting them. “Favela can do the most damage to them, but she doesn’t appear to have her full potential as a battler yet.”

“Hey, I got into plenty of scrapes with other Pokémon, it’s just that I’ve never actually had to deal with real kingdom soldiers or many other Pokémon Types for that matter. The fact those Psyduck can simply get up so fast after a direct vine whip or a razor leaf attack that directly hits them… well it’s quite scary to Favela!” Admitted Favela as she looked behind us and kept moving forward at the pace Geoff was setting for all of us. “Heck, they were still struggling to follow us even after being collectively fried with a Thunderbolt attack!”

“The Dutiful Duck Battalion was full of good, wonderful and strong soldiers, I don’t honestly know how this could have happened to them! To think they are still capable of some tactics, even if their minds simply aren’t running the show. It’s just unfortunate that they are aimed at all my friends.” Meaning that Geoff be okay with them stabbing at him? “Oh… all those swords, it would have been excruciatingly delightful and quite horribly painful if I had decided to do this run alone or with just Jiri!”

“Focus on things other than your kinks Geoff, you’re the one directing the cart!” It be understandable that Pom be snapping at him, but he is being correct this being far more than even we would be handling alone. It is being good that we made some quick friends today. “Smolder did say there were sixty more in the area, we need to hoof it to the bridge before they cut us off from crossing it! We will get this medicine shipment back to Aurora or we’ll be badly hurt trying! We can figure out what we’re doing from there about everything that’s going on around us.”

“I’ll scout out the crossroads ahead!” Smolder took off and Jiri moved into her position to begin pushing the cart.

“Somehow I don’t think those ducks were looking for us specifically, we were just a target of opportunity.” Quetal is being so cool looking, but does he need to be so broody too?

“I agree with that sentiment.” Stated Pom, her eyes be darting about wildly.

It wasn’t a minute later, as we slowed our pace to conserve energy, when Smolder be coming back with some bad news.

“Guys there are several of those Psyduck units converging on the crossroads and I saw a unit of the larger blue ducks already on the bridge. They don’t have shields, but they have long bladed spears.” Smolder was directing that to Pom who probably wouldn’t want to be hit by one of those. “We can still ditch the medicine and try to swim across the river back into Aurora.”

“Nice alternative, we’ll do that if we fail to break through the ducks.” Responded Pom as she motioned to Geoff to move faster. “Also if they are converging on the crossroads, then we really need to move!”

“Golducks, that’s going to be a major problem for even someone as wonderful as you and your friends are Pom. We can’t just forcefully shove them out of the way like we did the Psyducks without a real fight on our hooves, we’ll need to actually beat them before we can cross the bridge.” Geoff was actually be showing a slight hint of fear. “I’m so worried about all of you wonderful people getting seriously hurt!”

“Shanty, Dolly, Favela, we’ll run ahead and try to bust the blockade on the bridge before it’s too late. Everyone else protect and help move the cart.” Pom started galloping forward, Dolly, Favela and I swiftly joined her in reaching the crossroads.

-Ocellus-

“Huh… Geoff!” Geoff looked over his shoulder and saw a bolt of energy arcing for us from behind.

“Ally Switch me and take control of the cart Shine!” After stating that Geoff was suddenly moving forward behind the cart and Shine was leading the cart with her hair claws. “Protect!”

The barrier popped up just in time as a thunderous force almost hit the cart. Looking behind us, I saw a few of the psyducks I fried in the distance down the road, their glowing reds eyes lighting up the evening in the wetlands as they slowly shuffled after us. Suddenly more bolts of pink started arcing down behind us tearing up the path and Geoff really put his back into pushing the cart to safety.

“Why not constantly use Protect as we move forward?” My curiosity was met with a grimace from Geoff.

“The Protect move has a decay problem, especially if it is held for too long or used more than once in a row without waiting at least a minute between uses.” That was an interesting tidbit Geoff. “It’s why I know Cotton Guard, thankfully Cotton Guard stacks in strength and is useful against attacks that hit physically. Psyshock is one of those attacks, but I wouldn’t take other psychic attacks quite as well.”

“You have that Electro Ball attack don’t you?” Which was notably stated as being effective against Water Types, the kinds of Pokémon we’re dealing with.

“I don’t want to use it on them, I’d feel quite horrible about using it on those poor, sweet and innocently attractive victims of mind control!” Geoff was far too nice, I easily saw why he was militia and not military.

“Unlike you, I don’t have the same amount of guilt about attacking guys trying to kill us!” Having turned around Quetal sent a quick burst of those energy stars flying for the ducks at our backs and they just blocked the attack the attack with their shields. That slowed them down a little bit at least.

-Dolly-

“Pom…” I said slowly.

“Yes, I see them Dolly.” Responded a slightly panicked Pom as she had a upset look on her face, not only was the bridge covered by six spear wielding blue ducks, but there was a unit of those Psycho Ducks at the cross roads and we could see more oncoming from the east. That was a lot of open ground and a lack of trees in the crossroads.

“The cart can easily cut that corner.” But it would still be attacked if we didn’t deal with the Psycho Ducks first.

As we were almost at the crossroads, four more units showed up from the south. The thirty or so ducks moved to blockade us.

The blue ducks at the bridge held their spears at the ready actively waiting to see if we tried to get by them.

Oh sure we could easily cross the river, but we weren’t about to leave the cart behind to swim for it. We’re doing this the hard way.

“Yeah, but we’ve got thirty six ducks to deal with and thirty more filtering in from the east and who knows how many more behind them and the ones we injured that are behind us!” When we were apparently close enough, four of the units surrounded one in particular and the central unit started building up for a Psy-Slam attack as the others stood protectively around them. “Also, they aren’t weak to wind Dolly.”

“How are we supposed to take them all on then?” We could shove through the Psycho Ducks, but we weren’t getting by the blue guys called Golden Ducks.

“We’ll start with having Favela attack them at range with leaves.” Yeah Pom, like their shields would let Favela’s leaves hit them.

“I just want you to know that I can’t fire infinite leaves. Sure I can fire a lot of them, but I only have so much energy to use that particular attack.” Not doubting for a second that Favela had far less energy than her mother did, especially not with that awesome solar cannon thing she did.

“Aim for the ducks on the bridge, I want to see how they’ll react.” Listening to Pom’s commands, Favela launched at least ten leaves in the direction of the bridge.

One Goldie Duck moved forward and simply spun their spear so fast, that all the leaves deflected off of it without scratching the duck wielding it.

“Move back!” We all did as Favela shouted in a panic and dog did that large ball of energy get our butts moving!

A large chunk of the path in front us was decimated by the Psycho Ducks weird pink colored mass of a powerful attack.

Oh dog, where’s a hill to make them misfire when you needed one?!

“Again, what are we going to do Pom?” I turned to Pom and she looked to be thinking and then she took in a breath of air.

“We rush them regardless of how much of a bad idea it is. Spread out, the ones we passed by weren’t so bad, but gathered together like this in formation though…” Yeah, big problem hitting the guys doing the shooting when they were surrounded by swords and shields.

“Those travelers…. is that a medicine cart I spy bound for Aurora behind them? What happened to the Aurora Greenleaf Bridge?! These injustices, they must not stand!” Shouted a high pitched airy sounding female voice. “Unit command, Ice Beam!”

“Captain, wait, you’ll give away our positions!” A male voice tried to shout, there was quite a bit of despair in there. It was apparently too late to stop what was about to happen.

Five vibrant whitish blue beams fired on the five Psycho Duck units in our way from several directions from the south, they tried to block with their shields.

However the beams weren’t aimed at their shields or bodies, they instead pass by the ducks harmlessly along the ground.

Eventually I saw what was going on, as the beams created a building mass of ice that expanded around the Psycho Ducks lower torsos getting them all stuck in place.

“Snow time is better than right now!” Five pink and cream colored cats surged out of the brush into the open space around the crossroads in various places, all of them had really weird looking thin tails ending in a large round paw things with three strange antenna like things sticking out of them. One was wearing a white sailors hat jauntily placed upon their head at an angle over their left ear. “Charge, for Aurora and Fontaine!”

They were followed by a slightly upset looking white head blue otter with a shell on his chest who was smiling with his eyes closed.

“Hehheh, I guess that’s why I’ve always liked you as a liaison Captain.” The otter just shook his head and grinned as he and pulled the gleaming edged shell from his chest while walking forward, he opened his eyes in a glare at the ducks and took a stance. “Always following the beat and rhythm of your own heart, even in these dire times!”

Author's Note:

Warning: Ditzy Special-kitty attack in progress.

Comments

[Herald of Opera]

a Legendary Pokémon that just ended up on a wild Swanna chase.

When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

[AllenVth]

Only one thing to do Pom. Charge! These Psyducks are quite strong to have survived a Thunderbolt like that. Especially when wearing metal armor.

I'm assuming whoever moved the Snorlax is an other-worlder too? Just going by their dialogue. And probably turned into a legendary too.

[Booster Spice]

Finally remembered what that Caterpie rminded me of.

Very old SciFi story?

Spell My Name With an S?

Ok, those Psyducks are acting like theyve been Dark Balled?