» Under the Burning Sky [Ajax&Nyx] «

[Rin]

> A continuation of this thread <

► Ajax felt a little disbalanced with Chatot's weight on his shoulder, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He quickly grew bored of watching the group of Baltoy meditate though, and turned his attention to the beeping Baltoy moving down the hall, so he wasn't surprised when Chatot cleared his throat. Nyx, glad to have something to do, padded after the beeping Baltoy, sniffing at the air delicately, although she could only smell the scent of sandy rock, and Ajax, growing uncomfortable with having her so far away (even though he had trained to bear it, the feeling was always unpleasant) jogged after her, trying to keep his footsteps quiet as possible and keeping his Scizor-like wings still. «

► Ajax wasn't really sure why they were following the Baltoy instead of staying with the group, while Nyx suspected the Baltoy was following some sort of intuition or had found some sort of pattern she hadn't figured out yet. She did notice, however, that the scratching noises seemed to be getting louder as they snaked through the tunnels that the beeping Baltoy was leading them down, and while she wanted to talk to it to hear what it was thinking, she wanted to let the other Pokemon concentrate. It seems to have a better idea of what it's doing than we do, anyway, she thought wistfully, feeling cross with herself for being useless in this situation. Ajax simply walked behind her, but nodded at the other Baltoys' comments. "That makes sense. I'd be pretty frustrated too," he said in a hushed tone. "And yeah, I can fight...though I'm a trainer, so I'd prefer to use my Pokemon if I can." he clacked his large claw in nervous assent, but kept his left hand on Styl's Pokeball. «

Staff Reply:


The Baltoy siblings seemed pleased by Ajax and Nyx's responses, following towards whatever the the third Baltoy could sense. The scratchings were growing louder all the time. The larger Baltoy hurried along to check all the side passages ahead of them, examining the earth and stone with experienced eyes for any sign of collapse. It all seemed to be safe, but the movements of earth were hard to predict. Everything might look fine, but then something could give and a great domino effect could be set off, stone buckling and cracking under great built up forces.

Finally, the odd Baltoy at the front stopped and fell silent. The other two moved to its sides, looking around before seeing the problem. "Ah. See there, trainer?" the smaller one gestured to what looked like a small lump of earth near a wall. On closer inspection, it appeared to be moving. "Whatever or whoever is there will be our problem," the larger said confidently.

Whatever it was had heard their voices, for the mound writhed and grew. Something shiny and silver emerged, and Chatot gave a caw of recognition - that must have been whatever he saw earlier on. It became more visible in the dim glow of the Baltoy as it grew nearer. The Pokémon had a strong looking claw for a mouth, and moved on six legs. The Durant did not seem happy. It was also not alone. Another crawled up from where they had been burrowing into the wall. And another. And another. Four Durant formed a line across the tunnel before the group, glaring at them. It was clear they would attack should any of them make a move.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? You've been destroying our homes! How many of you are there?" the largest Baltoy understandably seethed with rage.

"Many more than this. Have you ever thought that maybe you are the ones in our way?" one of the Durant hissed back.

"Ridiculous. We've been here for countless centuries and have never noticed a Durant nest anywhere nearby. Leave at once or we'll make you."

"Well, if you're going to be like that..." the Durant lunged for the smaller Baltoy, catching it off guard in Fury Cutter attack. The other three used Iron Defense in preparation for what Ajax and the Baltoy might do in retaliation.

[[Ooc:// Still need to write my reply XD; ]]

[Rin]

► Ajax and Nyx both looked on in dismay as four Durant lined up, with clear hostile intent in their eyes. Or rather, Nyx wasn't too worried about the four Durant themselves - it was the fact that they claimed that they had many more on their way. Their comrades probably wouldn't be too pleased by them beating up the Durant here, but..."Wait, stop!" Nyx called as the Baltoy insulted the Durant and one of the Durant opened with Fury Cutter. Ajax, on the other hand, was wrapped up in the Baltoy's plight, and as the Durant leapt at Baltoy he yelled, "Not gonna happen!" and threw Styl's Pokeball. The shiny Combusken appeared in a flash of red light, with a piercing battle cry, fiery eyes looking around at the sand-and-stone walls. Soon after came Meccido - the fiesty little electric squirrel grinned at his enemies, sparks of electricity coming from the little yellow pouches on his cheeks. Nyx closed her eyes briefly and shook her head - clearly Ajax was bent on battle. « 

► Ajax's mind raced - the Durants, though he'd never seen them before, looked like bugs made of metal, so they must be Bug-Metal. And they had used Iron Defense. Styl should use fire moves, and Meccido...support? Spark?  Whatever, he had to act quickly or the other Baltoy would get attacked. "Styl! Focus Energy, then Ember on the Durant farthest away from the Baltoy! That one over there!" he pointed to the Durant farthest on the left. Styl clicked her beak and immediately went into action, steeling herself for a moment with Focus Energy, then leaping at the Durant and letting out a burst of fire from her beak. "Meccido, Charm and Spark on the one second from the left! And Baltoy, if you have any Ground moves, they'd be super effective, I think!" Nodding, Meccido smiled, almost cherub-like, at the two middle Durants in an attempt to lower their Attack, then began crackling with energy and streaked towards the Durant second from the left in an electrical tackle. Nyx lashed several of her nine tails in frustration, squinting into the distance to see if more Durant might appear. Perhaps these were only bluffing? But from the damage that the Durant had done to the Baltoy's home, she doubted it. «

[Birdybot]

Small Baltoy retaliated soon after the Fury Cutter had hit them, before Ajax had given them advice. The red lines running along their body glowed brightly as a glimmering beam shot from the spike atop their head. The mostly purple beam hinted at other hues, but when this Psybeam attack hit the nearby Durant it did not seem to do much. The bug merely grew more agitated. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed Baltoy in a Vice Grip attack, making the doll squirm.

The other three Durant watched Styl, Meccido and big Baltoy carefully. The larger Baltoy was wiser than their smaller sibling and was not so hasty. They observed the actions of all around them, and finally decided that it could be worth listening to Ajax. The boy was a trainer so would have knowledge of all kinds of Pokémon, big Baltoy reasoned. They sprang into motion, lifting some dirt from the ground as they began spinning. Using momentum from the spin, they smacked a Durant in the face with one hard arm. The Mud-Slap smarted and stung, but was not super effective - Durant's type combination saw to that. Big Baltoy was somewhat disappointed by that, but wasn't about to let that make them lose heart. The other two Durant were each hit by Styl and Meccido's attacks, Meccido's Spark and Charm combination bringing him an advantage. Styl's Focus Energy did not grant him a critical hit presently, but the Ember was massively effective against the Durants and did some serious damage.

The Durant hit by Styl's Ember was now the one with the lowest health. She clicked her pincers in fury. There was no way they would let the Baltoy carry on living in the spot they had their eyes on! She kicked up a shower of sand at Styl, rushing through the Sand-Attack to try landing a Bite with those strong jaws. The one Meccido attacked was calmer. He used Agility, then followed his companion's lead with a Bite attack of his own. The other Durant, the one facing the larger Baltoy, took a moment to consider her attack. Bite and Fury Cutter would both be super effective, but Fury Cutter would keep getting stronger in succession. She used Agility to try making her more likely to hit her target, then lunged forward and struck Baltoy with her Fury Cutter.

[Rin]

► Ok, it seemed as if Styl and Meccido have done decently, Ajax noted with satisfaction. He was a little bummed that his analysis of Durant's weakness hadn't been correct, but perhaps it had been useful to suggest the use of Ground-type moves, since the Psychic-type ones didn't seem to be doing much damage. Nyx had noticed this too, and she called out, "Well, it seems that Ground-type moves aren't super effective, but Psychic-type ones won't affect the Durants much." Ajax clacked his claw as he thought quickly. Styl's attack seemed to have done lots of damage, so she would be an MVP in this battle. She should be the main attacker, then, and Meccido would be her supporter. He also looked at the tunnel in which the fight was taking place - perhaps the environment could be used to their aid? But nothing came to his mind at the moment, aside from the fact that the walls might be a good launching ground to add to the momentum of Sparks or Double Kicks. «

► Ajax was prepared to see the Baltoy through, though. He had said he would help, so he would help, gosh darn it! He grit his teeth and scowled ferociously at the Durant, worried for the Baltoy, who seemed to be taking super-effective damage from the bug-type moves of the Durants. He was especially concerned about the littler one, who had been struck twice and didn't seem as hardy as its big brother. As the Durants executed their attacks, Ajax yelled, "Meccido! Take the Sand-Attack for Styl! Then Growl on the two Durants attacking the Baltoys, and try to Spark the one that just used Vice Grip!" He had a bad feeling that Meccido would resent being put in a support position, and the squirrel did throw him a dirty look. Ajax winced, but said, "Meccido, I need your speed and your support, while Styl keeps doling out Embers. Styl, do just that, Growl on the two near you and Ember on the same one." «


► However, Meccido did undestand that Ajax's strategy would help the battle be won. Squeezing his eyes shut, he jumped nimbly out of the way of the Durant's Bite and in front of the Sand-Attack directed at Styl, which knocked him back a bit. Despite his best efforts to keep the sand out of his eyes, he breathed some in and coughed several times as he jumped to the two Durants on the right, giving a low and raspy Growl.  He then picked up speed while using Spark, lightning lancing down his white, sand-stained fur, trying to tackle the Durant off the Baltoy which was held in the Vice Grip, but he still blinked heavily from the sand from his fur sifting into his eyes. He just hoped he would hit, since his target was locked down by the weight of the Baltoy. And if Durant lets go, Nyx reasoned as she watched, the Spark won't damage the Baltoy, at least. Styl, on the other hand, gave a savage Growl, bracing herself and turning her shoulder towards the Durant who bit her. It hurt a bit, the damage was blunted by the combination of the previous Charm, the Growl, and her Fighting-type nature versus a Dark-type move. The prideful Combusken only grinned as the pincers clamped down, and then let loose the largest Ember she could muster when the Durant was in close range. «

[Birdybot]

The Durant holding small Baltoy wasn't about to let go. He squeezed harder, doing his very best to knock his opponent unconscious. Meccido was fast. He figured he could probably out-speed the squirrel, but Sparks could fly forwards anyway. No, it was better to try taking Baltoy down too. This was only the start of the battle, so he still had a good deal of fight left in him, and knew he could withstand the zapping. Lucky for Meccido and Baltoy, he didn't factor in the fact that Baltoy's ground typing made them immune to electric type attacks. The shock jolted through the ant's body, overriding his muscles and forcing his jaws to open and free small Baltoy, leaving the clay Pokémon completely unharmed. They immediately spun, lifting a few large rocks telepathically and crashing them down over Durant's head in a Rock Tomb attack. Doing some decent damage, the attack also slowed Durant down and left him struggling to free himself for that turn. Small Baltoy moved away from him and used Harden to try reducing damage from any future attacks.

Meanwhile, the other three Durants were likewise locked in battle. They were none too happy about having their attack stats lowered. The one whose Bite had missed scuttled after Meccido, determined to have his revenge and not thinking about what he could do to help his fellows with Styl's fire type moves. He couldn't do anything to replenish his lowered attack stat, and Metal Sound would lower special defense which was pointless since he knew no special attacks. Instead he used Iron Defense, then lunged forward at Meccido in a quick Vice Grip attack.

The third Durant was pleased with herself for having successfully bitten Styl. She was aware her stats had been lowered, but it was good to get an attack in none the less. The second Ember attack was something she was not so pleased with, and from this range it was unavoidable. She staggered back as the flames took their toll on her, then clicked her pincers in agitation. She tried another Sand Attack, then another Bite, it being her strongest attack. They really needed two of them to fend off the fire type. The final Durant danced away from another of big Baltoy's Mud-Slaps, then landed another Fury Cutter.

[Rin]

► "Nice job, Meccido and Baltoy!" Ajax called out, quite pleased with the teamwork between the electric squirrel and the clay doll Pokemon. "That Rock Tomb was a great idea!" He hadn't known that attack was in the Baltoy's arsenal, and he thought the effect of trapping the Durant and slowing it had been extremely useful. It left that Durant out of the running for this turn, so the Pokemon could focus on the other three. Which was important - all the attacks were happening quite fast. He could see Meccido was going to be hit; the squirrel, having hit the Durant farthest to the right, was now in a bit of a tight spot, and he wouldn't be able to escape. Ajax had to make a quick decision, and he decided to go with the riskier option, yelling, "Bide, Meccido!" The squirrel nodded, then began to glow as the Durant's jaws clamped down on him. "I know you got this," Ajax muttered, remembering how the squirrel had used this attack to great effect against him in their battle. «

► But the absence of Meccido would make things more difficult for Styl and the Baltoy. Ajax wasn't worried about Styl, who was evidently taking little damage from the not-very-effective, Growl- and Charm- weakened enemies. But the larger Baltoy was another matter: he had taken two, possibly three super-effective attacks already. "Nyx, be ready to get the Potion out of my bag if necessary," he said, and his daemon, who was watching the ends of the hallway with a stiff expression, nodded, her eyes flicking towards Ajax's messenger bag. Ajax was now directing Styl - "Avoid the Sand-Attacks with all cost! The Bites are fine," and sure enough, Styl managed to duck under the Sand-Attack, but held out her arm and allowed it to be struck by the Bite. Once again, it hurt, but the damage was more of an annoyance than anything else. «

► At this point, Ajax, worried for Baltoy's health, suggested, "Styl, do you think you could Growl and Ember the Durant that just Fury-Cuttered Baltoy?" But as Styl moved, the weight of the Durant holding onto her was too irritating, and she shot back, "Can't you see what's happening? This guy's dragging me down!"  With a low Growl (affecting the two Durants nearer to her) she ignored Ajax's order and instead fired another Ember at the Durant who had just bitten her, that was closest to her. Ajax scowled prominently, but didn't say anything. Nyx continued to look distractedly around them, ears pricked for any sign of more Durants arriving, although she couldn't hear anything through the echos of the hallway. «

[Birdybot]

The Durant facing Meccido realised only too late what the Bide attack meant. He cursed inwardly as his jaws shut around the squirrel. There were two options for him; leave Meccido be so the Bide would only be powered by the Vice Grip, or try knocking him out while he was concentrating. Both had their risks. If he failed to defeat Meccido, he would probably end up being beaten himself when the Bide was unleashed, and the thing's trainer probably had some potions at the ready. If he didn't take the chance, he might end end up severely hurt anyway. Vice Grip was a powerful attack, and when he considered the strength the Bide would have of the Vice Grip doubled coupled with any attacks he took between then and now, it might be worth taking the chance. His decision had to be made quickly. Finally he decided he didn't have the patience to just sit and wait, so lunged at Meccido in his strongest attack, Bite.

The Durant wrestling to bring Styl down jumped back instinctively in reaction to the Ember. The move stung long after it should have. Durant was feeling weak by now, and to make it worse it would appear she had been burned. Her comrade nearby managed to free himself from under the pile of rocks the small Baltoy had dumped on him and scrambled to join her, not wanting to see her fall to Styl. It would take more than one of them to get rid of the Combusken. The newer one tried to use Sand-Attack, but the other one had given up on stat changers after seeing her own dodged and her attack lowered so many times. They both ran forward together, the male aiming for a Bite, the female a Vice Grip. Vice Grip was less powerful but would be normally effective. Perhaps that would work better.

The remaining Durant was proud of how well she was beating down the larger Baltoy. Her Fury Cutter would be even stronger this time, so she went for it. The smaller Baltoy could see their larger friend would not be able to move out the way in time, so instead pushed them aside and took the attack instead. Despite the Growl having lowered this one's attack stat since she had been in range of Styl's voice, the attack still hurt quite a lot. The smaller Baltoy winced and rebounded with another Rock Tomb, since that had worked so well last time. The Durant wriggled free quickly, however, although she was still weakened. The larger Baltoy did the same for the Durant that was worrying Meccido, hoping to trap him to stop him beating down the Pachirisu before the Bide could be unleashed. The larger Baltoy had more success, pinning down his target more securely.

[Rin]

Ooc:// Wait a second, the Durant knows Guillotine? That would put it at level 61, and it's probably going to be one-hit KOing Ajax's Pokemon in that case. Sorry to interrupt, I just feel like I should have been RPing this very differently if they are strong enough to know that move. XD

[Birdybot]

ooc// Nope, they're level 19. Serebii made it look like Guillotine was learned earlier, sorry! I've edited it now.

[Rin]

► Ajax watched with concern as Meccido stood stock still, his eyes glowing brightly, unable to move or do anything as the Durant considered its attack. Finally, he saw the Durant’s pincers close around the little squirrel’s soft body. He could only imagine how much pain Meccido was in, but the white squirrel didn’t make a sound, only twitched slightly. It seemed as if the attack had done decent damage, but the Pachirisu wasn’t going down just yet. He continued to stay still though, skipping his turn – it seemed as if the Bide wasn’t going to be activating yet. «

► Now the Scizor-boy turned his gaze to the Baltoys, Potion in hand. He was prepared to use it one whoever grew weakest first, might that be Meccido or the Baltoys. Still though, they needed to bring at least one of the Durants down soon, or else the battle would get nowhere – whichever team got to three Pokemon first would have a distinct disadvantage, and Ajax sure didn’t want that to be him. So he held on tightly to the Potion and watched how the Baltoys were doing. “Thanks!” he grinned as the larger Baltoy managed to pin down the Durant that was about to attack Meccido again. “If you guys need heals, I have 'em! Don’t be afraid to say so.” «

► Styl let out another piercing Growl as, targeted from two sides; she was unable to avoid any of the attacks in the small cramped tunnel and had the first Sand-Attack hit her as well. Trying to shake off the sand, she was hit by first the Bite, which did small damage, and then the Vice Grip, which hurt a significant amount more. She lifted her leg slightly, ready to use Double Kick to smack both of them away, but Ajax saw this and quickly cautioned, “Don’t. They used a Defense move at the beginning of battle, so it’ll be less effective I think.” Rolling her eyes, but grudgingly accepting that the kid made sense, she switched to Ember instead and fired it at the female Durant who had taken the most flames to the face. «

[Birdybot]

The Durant trying to attack Meccido desperately struggled and flailed under the pile of rocks, trying to break free. Luckily for him Meccido was still storing energy, waiting for the next turn. He had to get this attack in, or the Bide would unleash power and would deal more damage to him than he'd done to the Pachirisu. It was risky as it was. Presently, the power Meccido was storing probably wouldn't be enough to knock him out. However, should he add another attack to that, either Meccido would go down or he would. If Bide was fed more attacks and Meccido pulled through... no. He had to try. He couldn't just back off like a coward. Finally squirming free, he carried on with the Bite he'd been trying to use before. With Meccido standing still, it shouldn't be too hard to strike.

The male and female Durant who had both attacked Styl were feeling rather pleased with themselves. That had been a very successful move for each of them. The male was going strong, but the female was feeling on her last legs, the burn sapping away at her health and the successive Ember attacks driving her down quickly. She clung on, wanting to fight for her nest. She couldn't let them down! Styl was about to use Double Kick, an attack she could probably endure, but at a word from her trainer she used another Ember instead. At such a close range it was near impossible to dodge and both Durants were doused in flames. The female stumbled and fell, the male just retreated. The female tried to get to her feet, but as she did the burn made her wince, taking her out of the battle for good. The male was enraged by this and lunged at Styl in a Vice Grip.

The Baltoys nodded. "We'll keep that in mind, thanks." The smaller one agreed to the healing items. The larger one might need it soon. The Fury Cutter was getting stronger and stronger, wearing them down gradually, but they were concerned for Meccido. Durant had a good deal of energy left, and recognised which was the weaker Baltoy health-wise. She swung another Fury Cutter, this one having built up a lot of damage. The smaller Baltoy tried to use Rock Tomb, but Durant dodged without difficulty and sent the larger Baltoy spinning to the ground. They lay there for a moment. They weren't out of the battle, but they didn't have the strength to move this turn. Instead, they took a moment to rest and catch their breath. "I think I may have to take you up on that offer already, unless Meccido or Styl needs it." the larger Baltoy panted.

One Durant fainted! It's a bit awkward to divide two levels between four Pokémon (including the Baltoy) so I'll say a level can be gained each for every two Pokémon defeated.

[Rin]

► The Bite did indeed strike Meccido, but as it did so, the squirrel trembled in pain – but as he trembled, his body twitched and his eyes glowed more brightly. A glow surrounded his body, no, seemed to flow out of his body and towards the Durant that had just hit him: the Bide, a Normal-type attack with the power of six Bites. It was a physical blow of pure force, so it would be stunted a bit by the Iron Defense, but it was very powerful all the same. As he unleashed the power, Meccido sagged back, breathing hard from all the damage he had taken. His eyes burned and it seemed as if he had some fight still in him, but Ajax knew that the little guy would need a potion soon, or faint. He took a few steps away from the Durants, fluffy chest heaving as he recuperated from letting go of so much power and taking so many hits. «

►  “No problem, Meccido looks like he can hold out a little longer, and Styl’s fine for now,” Ajax said, nodding approvingly to Meccido. Taking the two Bites must have been rough, along with the one that had landed as the Bide had started. But Baltoy was looking in a bad way from all the super-effective attacks, and he quickly pointed the spray bottle at the larger Baltoy, and clicked the trigger several times. “You got it.” It was a little hard to tell where the Fury Cutters had hit, Baltoy’s body being hard so its skin wasn’t bruised, but Ajax could see a few cracks along its arms and body and he tried to concentrate on those spots. He sprayed the Potion until it was finished – unfortunately at their current level, Potions were getting a little less effective, but it would keep Baltoy going for several more rounds at least. «

►  Using the item, however, meant that Ajax wasn’t able to give orders to Styl that turn. Annoyed at the fact that her turn was being shafted, but glad that it would now be 3 vs 4, Styl instead just clicked her beak in pride at her victory over the female Durant, and dodged over towards Meccido, hoping to shield him from more attacks. The rage in the male Durant made his Vice Grip easier to dodge, and she quickly ducked under it as she quickly scooted towards the white squirrel, clawed arm-like wings held out threateningly. Nyx, still quiet by Ajax’s side, smiled a small little smile, pleased at Styl’s work. Ajax shifted his shoulder, hoping that Chatot was still alright – the bird had been silent for a while. «

[Birdybot]

As Durant's pincers sank into Meccido, so did his heart into the ground. Meccido hadn't fainted. The bide was due to be unleashed by now, surely that was what the twitching was. He hurriedly removed himself from the pachirisu, desperately trying to get away. His efforts were in vain. At this close range, there was no escape for him against the vast force of the bide. The all-out attack thoroughly beat him down. He'd had a good portion of his strength to start with but even the iron defence made no difference now. The attack was just too powerful. All his strength left him and he collapsed, unable to even try clinging to consciousness. When the bide was done, Durant lay fainted, defeated.

The larger baltoy felt a great sense of relief as the potion sprayed over them. Their pain ebbed, and they felt stronger for it. They could predict that Durant would keep on using fury cutter, although they weren't sure whether or not she would use it on themselves or the smaller baltoy. The two clay dolls were of roughly equal health now, although it was hard to tell with their lack of expression. The larger one might even be stronger thanks to the potion.

Durant was aware of this, and looked between her two opponents, struggling to choose. Eventually she went for the smaller baltoy, carrying on her fury cutters. The attack was very powerful by now, and hit its mark. Baltoy was pushed backwards by the force, but hurried over to where he could see the other remaining durant sneaking around behind Styl. He was trying to reach Meccido, that much was clear. The small Baltoy used a rock tomb, but Durant wriggled free. He was weak, but had the strength to lunge at Meccido in as powerful a bite as he could manage. He could see the pachirisu was weak and wanted to take out as many of the team as possible, knowing that with two against four they couldn't really hope to win. The larger baltoy used mud-slap, the close range making the attack easy. It wasn't enough to knock out the Durant they struck, however.

Chatot had been so engrossed in the battle the shift in Ajax's shoulder came as a surprise. He cried out, stretching his wings in alarm before settling them back down again when he realised it was only a little movement. His reaction was akin to a person hearing a loud noise when gripped by an exciting film. He looked around, noticing the third strange Baltoy had gone off somewhere while they hadn't been looking, but turned back to watch the battle. Baltoy would find its way back, it knew these tunnels. If their own group went searching, they could get lost, dangerous down here. Besides, the battle was too exciting and the durants had to be dealt with.

[Rin]

►  “Yes…yes…!!” Meccido breathed a sigh of relief as, from behind the bulk of Styl’s legs, he saw the Durant he had used Bide on lying unmoving on the floor. His small shoulders sagged with relief, but he quickly stiffened as he knew the fight wasn’t quite over yet. He saw Ajax use the Potion on Baltoy, and snarled a little, jealous that Ajax hadn’t used the Potion on him. But he could see that the Baltoy was very tired. He could probably take one more hit, while the Baltoy would have fainted on the next hit. Ajax could see the Durant making his way to Meccido, and called out, “Styl, protect him!” But Meccido was having enough of being protected – he’d be useless if he just cowered behind Styl for the rest of the battle. And he had already spent much of the battle Biding his time. He angrily sped out from behind Styl and used Spark for a head-on attack with the Durant, getting struck by the Bite in the process. He could feel his legs wobbling beneath him once they had collided, and he knew one more attack would take him down. Huddling his tail close to himself, he did the only thing that he knew might let him last, and stiffened his body as he prepared to Endure the hit. But would it work? He had never practiced it before, after all. «


►  Ajax himself growled watching Meccido ignore his orders, opening and closing his claw in rapid intervals so a loud clacking noise could be heard that echoed all around the caverns. Despite Chatot’s movements on his shoulder, he ignored the presence of the bird, as he was engrossed in the fight as well, muttering angrily to Nyx, “Dumb squirrel. Dummy! Argh! If only he had listened to me. Now he’s gonna faint!!” The Ninetails-daemon flicked one of her many tails, nosing Ajax’s one hand briefly to calm him down. Sometimes Ajax’s young age showed and there was no helping it. “He wants to fight,” she pointed out, but not flat-out arguing with her human, knowing that he would just argue back and lose track of the fight. I’ll have to help him learn how to give orders in a way that the Pokemon actually want to cooperate, she thought to herself. He’s only had to care about himself and me - and our Prince up till now, and we’ve always had the same goals. Now he’s taking care of creatures who have their own short- and long-term priorities. «


►  Nevertheless, both Styl and Ajax could see that the Durant who kept hitting with the Fury Cutters was becoming a major problem. Firey orange eye met pale yellow one – both the shiny Combusken and Trainer nodded. At least they were together on this one. “Styl, do whatever you can to take it down or block its attack,” he said. “Focus!” Nodding and clacking her beak in assent, Styl briefly closed her eyes, her body flashing as she used Focus Energy, then streaked towards the Durant as it was dripping with mud so she was between it and the Baltoys, and aimed two sharp kicks in a fierce Double Kick. Even Ajax had to agree with that one: flames might not have worked so well on a mud-covered Pokemon, even if it was Steel-type. «

[Birdybot]

The Baltoy Meccido attacked was already weakened significantly by the beating the Baltoys had given him. Lucky for the squirrel, the Spark was just enough to finish him off. His jaws closed triumphantly around the Pachirisu. As they did so, a jolt of electricity ran quickly through his body. That was bold of Meccido, to go rushing up to him in a determined attack like that. He struggled to cling on, desperate to see his attack through and defeat Meccido. It didn't work. The world slipped away, and his grip relaxed suddenly as it was all too much for him.

That left just one Durant, who wasn't feeling so confident in a one-on-four fight. She would do her best, but it wasn't as if she had much of a hope of doing more than knocking one of them out. Best it was a Baltoy. They were high up in the ranks of the Pokémon whose home her kind were trying to take over, so a mere worker Durant knocking one out would send a message to the others. Though the mud obscured her vision, she could make out the smaller one who could perhaps be a bit weaker. Preparing another Fury Cutter, she began moving towards them. Her attack was stopped short. A sharp kick knocked her down. She twisted around to see Styl preparing another kick, which shoved her into the path of a Baltoy's Rock Tomb. If the Double Kick hadn't been enough to make her faint, that was. She fell still under the small pile of rocks.

Chatot gave an excited chirrup. The Baltoy looked blank as ever, relieved if anything. "Excellent. Thank you for your help, Ajax. Well done, Styl and Meccido, that was well fought." the larger Baltoy praised the group. They and their friend both looked battered, but would managed to carry on.

The smaller Baltoy looked at the four defeated Durant, shoving the rocks off the one who'd been defeated by a Rock Tomb. It seemed bad to leave her trapped. "What do we do now?" They asked to anyone who could think of an answer.

Chatot piped up. "Ajax, you might want to catch one of those Durant. We could try looking for the third Baltoy, too, or maybe some Durant leader we might talk to and solve this once and for all."

"Knowing that Baltoy, one of those searches will lead to solving the other," small Baltoy may have had a bit of amusement in their voice.

Two more Durant fainted! Styl and Meccido each gain two levels (forgot to add level from Durant earlier, sorry). Catch Durant?