Manic Marsh

It was another gloomy night, that had fallen upon the Cattail Marshes, the fog slowly creeping up from the swampy ground, forming a white blanket over the unstable ground.
A few swarms of bug types, mostly Volbeat and Illumise were dancing in the air, their few rays of light casting pale shadows on the ground below and forming bizarre images, taking the dreamy viewer's mind on a journey to worlds unknown.
And in the middle of all that, a lone, dark figure was floating, wearing a black cape, his face obscured by a cowl he had pulled over his face.
That figure was William the Gastly, having taken a break from his team members to calm down and dream in the serenity of the strange, silent aura, that surrounded this place in the middle of the night. The night had always been William's favourite time. It was a time of calmness and thought, only the moon and stars as distant, silent companions on his journey through his own mind and feelings.
In the past, William had often gazed into the nightly sky, dreaming about a better future. One, in which he didn't have to live a secluded life, all alone.
Now, that he had a team, he sometimes took the time to return and stare into the celestial abyss again to reflect. He thought of what had happened, he thought of what was, and he thought of what would be..

"Wow how have I never been here!?" Auctor exclaimed to himself as he took in the sights of the shine of the moon through the trees and the dim glow given off by the Illumise and Volbeat that make their home here.
What made the place better for him was the murky waters that dotted the place, he slowly sunk into the waters with a smile "Ah this is the life" He chuckled as he closed his eyes relaxing.
Yet when he opened them that tranquility he felt dissipated and what replaced it was nervousness and maybe even slight fear when he saw the floating cloak, only seeing the back of the Gastly. He slowly attempted to leave the waters.
Thud
He slipped onto an algae and even though only one foot slipped the rest of them followed, sending him face first into the damp soil "Oww! Not again!"

The Gastly abruptly had his train of thought interrupted, as something not too far away seemed to break the silence, that had been enveloping the marshes. Intrigued, William silently floated over to what he assumed to be the source of the strange sounds, his cape billowing in the soft breeze.
Having reached that place, he spotted a Corphish, its face resting on the ground for some reason.
Its orangeish, energetic, burning colour stood in stark contrast to the calm, if murky tones of black, green, brown and grey, that were dominating in the area.
As he floated closer, a ray of moonlight hit one of his fangs, evoking a sinister gleam.
Emotionlessly, the Gastly asked:
"And what are you doing out here, on such a cold and dreary night, Corphish? Shouldn't your kind be at home now, waiting for the sun to rise again? It certainly is unusual for one like you to be here at this time. There are some quite some fearsome creatures around here and I'm certain you wouldn't want to get hurt. So, what has brought you here, if I may inquire?"

Auctor flinched yet swiftly got back up to his feet and turned around to arm his claws in instinct, yet lowered them when henoticed the Gastly spoke non threatening words, despite the gleam on his fang. He smirked as he looked at the gaseous form in front of him, the only thought in his head was how they both kind of have trouble holding things "I heard that this place, that was so close to my home, held dangerous pokemon here so I wanted to teach em a lesson I guess" He spoke crudely compared to the well mannered Gastly and closed his pincers "And I'm hoping to meet these fearsome creatures so I can make sure they don't be so violent, since I don't want them harming anyone in Rainfront, I hope you could help me around the marshes? Just to check around for anyone getting attacked here"

William was surprised. He knew, that these marshes were a dangerous place, especially at night, so the Corphish's presence certainly was something he had not expected. Since he neither wanted the apparently peaceful visitor to get hurt, nor for him to wake up any sleeping creatures, the Gastly decided to get him out of here as quickly as possible.
Once again he adressed the Water type.
"I don't believe, that would be a wise thing to do. Please excuse this expression, but you seem to be rather...inexperienced to me, so I believe, that this challenge might be too difficult for you.
As a great Pokémon once said, the wise warrior is the one, who picks his battles carefully, knowing when to fight and when to run away. Training in approprioate regions is crucial for good fighting. Don't get in battles you can't win. If you want to fight, I would suggest the Pecha Forest. If it's defending the weak, that you are trying to do, you should trust the police. It's their job to protect the town after all. And in regards to Pokémon being attacked here, I would like to dissuade you from trying to find them. If not, you might end up to be the one needing saving."
Hopefully the Corphish would listen to him. Most Pokémon stayed clear of these regions and for good reasons. It spoke for itself, that, even though this area housed some of the most fierce wild Pokémon, almoost no missions were to be done in it.

Auctor nodded all the way through what the Gastly was saying "I understand what you're saying trust me and I agree I shouldn't get into fights I can't win" He looked around the swampy environment with that same trademark smile he always had on his face "And I know when to fight and run away, but I won't abandon the weak like that, I may be weak too but it's my duty as a future guild member and as a solo explorer to help these pokemon out, it's only fair on them" He turned around and walked slowly ahead before turning around "I'm not going to turn away now, if you want to help me I'll be happy to have you accompany you, I'm Auctor" Auctor smiled at the Ghost pokemon before turning back around and walking on

William sighed. The Corphish had agreed with him and yet he completely disregarded everything the Gastly had said. Why couldn't those Pokémon accept, that they weren't born as Captain Awesome, but would have to earn the abilities they imagined to have through constant training?
"You are not abandoning them. But you would be more efficient in helping them, if you go somewhere else  now and train, until you're strong enough to brave these marshlands. Then you can start trying to defe-..."
It was at that point, that William realized, that the Corphish had already wandered away. Since it seemed to be impossible to stop him, the Gastly hesitantly decided to keep him out of the biggest trouble and reluctantly floated after him.
"I'm William. And that is not very good of an idea..."

"This IS my training William, it's why i'm not in a team yet and why i'm not part of the guild" Auctor put on a serious tone for the first time in a while, normally he would enjoy a light hearted argument but this was a serious subject to him "Look William you may or may not understand that no matter how weak i'm going to explore the unknown and save the weak, I know it seems corny but I don't care if I get hurt okay? I'm not strong but if I don't try" Auctors smile returned and his joking voice also did "Who else will?" He chuckled and continued walking keeping his eyes out for any trouble

"Oh, I don't know...what about almost every rescue team? If you want to train, go somewhere, that is appropriate for your level. Here, you'll get your orange face kicked in for the slightest mistake, so if you want to live another day, I would heavily suggest for you to get out of here. As I already said, the Pecha FOrest is a far better place for inexperienced Pokémon to train. You could defeat more enemies more quickly, thus you could train faster. Here it will get very troublesome for you to defeat even one adversary. And yet, you came here at the worst possible time. If you want to save the weak, start with yourself. You already said, that you know, when to run. Then let me tell you something. Every single opponent you could find here, will be a definite reason for you to run. You won't be able to beat anything here. Leave while you still can."
William was getting rather annoyed. Was this crab incapable of basic reasoning? Why would everyone always make the worst possible choice? And the more William thought about it, the more he was reminded of a certain Dratini he would much rather have forgotten. Why did he always get the basket cases?
At least Auctor hadn't tried to hug him...

Auctor chuckled at his words "Look how do you know my strength? Many corphish reside and live here anyway plus you haven't seen me in action so do-" He stopped in his tracks, he swore he heard a voice shout "N-no! Please don't hurt them!" Auctor heard right and instantly rushed as fast as his six legs could take him, thinking recklessly as he always does he charged into the scene, seeing a helpless Oddish cowering away from another pokemon, and in the distance some other pokemon going further into the swamp

This dice is not existing.

"Yes, and those Corphish are wild Corphish, used to life in the dangerous wilderness. Their entire life is a continuous training. Thus, it would-...and where are you off to NOW?"
William was getting fed up with Auctor. He ignored every last bit of advice given and randomly stormed off for no reason at all. Already unsure, whether he should leave the Corphish to his own fate, the Gastly finally decided to follow him. But this would be the last time. If he ran off again, it would be farewell.
As Auctor ran through the forest, the mist was stirred up by his movements, making it difficult for William to see. Luckily the Gastly could still follow the bright orange Pokémon and arrived just in time to witness an Oddish being attacked.
Since he was determined to prove the Corphish wrong, he whispered:
"Well...now would be the time to prove yourself. If you want to defend the weak, you need to show, that you can do it first. Care for a little demonstration of your power?"

Auctor grinned at the opportunity to prove himself and rushed infront of the Toxicroak as it prepared a poison sting for the Oddish, repelling it with a Bubble attack and covered the Oddish "Get back kid, this guys dangerous" He waved his pincer at the Oddish and motioned him to get back "And William i'm not a fool, I will need your help for taking this guy down, but the Oddish is your first priority got it?" Auctor almost ordered the Gastly taking upon that same serious tone as he smirked at the frog in front of him and fired one more burst of bubbles at him to test what his opponent would do

While the Toxicroak was surprised at first, that surprise quickly faded to minor annoyance, seeing, that it was only a puny Corphish, that opposed it. Trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible, it used Astonish in an attempt to scare Auctor away.
Meanwhile William's surprise turned into a mixture of major annoyance, despair and a loss of confidence in the Corphish species. That idiot had actually followed his suggestion and attacked an opponent, that would probably be far too strong for him, when he simply could have posted a mission at the guild!
And now he was even ordering him around! What's wrong with that guy?
While William had given up on the Corphish, the Oddish still warranted saving. Thus, William remained hidden in the blanket of fog and began to chant. He began to chant a bizarre melody, with words, that noone would be able to understand. With words, that noone would want to understand. Even simply hearing it would cause pain. As the chanting finally stopped, William flinched in pain, then appeared to be far more tired. The move Curse was a dangerous one indeed.

Auctor heard the strange chanting but paid no heed to it, luckily this Toxicroak didn't scare him much as he fired a burst of bubbles towards him that made the Toxicroak take a step back, but after the burst was over he charged towards the Corphish.
Only to be stopped by a painful sensation all over his body, yet it dissipated in an instant. Angered, he jumped up into the air and launched a pursuit attack which Auctor countered his claw with his superpower pincer, both locking literal claws before they both sustained a deal of damage, knocking Auctor and the toxic mouth pokemon to the ground

William was still majorly weakened from the Curse, so he decided not to directly intervene in the battle, fearing the risk of severe injuries. While he could easily take a Poison or Fighting tpye attack, the Toxicroak's Dark type attacks were a significant threat. Thus, William decided to take on the role of a sniper, hiding in the thick fog.
Focussing his anger, his sorrow, his despair and his hate into one point in front of his body, the Gastly created a blackish, pulsating sphere. This strange creation was emitting a bizarre glow. It didn't glow with light, it didn't glow with warmth. It glowed with...pain.
Finally William released his creation, sending it at the Toxicroak before quickly moving to another position to avoid a counterattack.
Would they be able to defeat their enemy?