Funny Thing

It was a bright spring morning and the sun was about to fully rise over the horizon,, bathing the plains below in its warm light and causing for the morning dew on the blades of grass to shimmer while it was gently swaying in the wind, moved by a soft breeze flowing through the area.
In short - the day had begun like almost every other day here in Pricklemist Hill.
Crawling through the grass, a small bug was making his way towards no destination in particular.
And while this Nincada would much rather have been somewhere else, somewhere with more trees to hide in or under, he didn't really have a choice here. The old clan was most likely still pursuing him and the forests were the first places they were going to look in. He would have to wait this out...


Energy: 26-10=16

(22 - 10 = 12 energy)

Leif, unlike his usual self, had taken this serene day to enjoy himself. A rare day off, just enjoying the weather. No hunting for items. Okay, maybe a little hunting for items, but today he would keep them for himself instead of selling them. Maybe. Okay so maybe it wasn't so different every other day. But it felt different, and it was definitely relaxing. Too relaxing. He couldn't help the urge to throw himself on the grass and take a nap. He threw himself on the ground, completely unaware of a Nindacad. He barely didn't land on the boor bug, currently between the torso and extended arm of an Abra that, had they been a few inches off, would have most definitely landed on him. But this wasn't a normal bug, this was a pokemon, so it would have been okay. For the Nindacad, anyways. Leif on the other hand, had he landed on this other pokemon, may well have suffered some injuries.

Okay, maybe it wasn't a day like any other day. Unless a normal day includes the earth shaking and the sky turning yellow all of a sudden. Because that was what happened to the Ground type.
Quickly however the Nincada realized that this was in fact a Pokémon, an Abra to be exact.
As surprised as most others would have been, Ned immediately resorted to the one solution that had always been proven to work - kill it with fire. There were only two problems with that. For one, Ned was absolutely terrified of fire. And second, he didn't even have access to fire in the first place.
So Silver Wind would have to do for now. Without really thinking about the idea of angering a Pokémon that was several times larger than he was, he quickly launched a volley of sharp, silvery sickles at the Pokémon that had so suddenly breached his personal space.

Despite his best... well, efforts wouldn't be the word. Not landing on the bug type seemed like it would have been a happy coincidence, but it obviously still held some hostility for the earth-shaking experiences. Not that I can blame him for being mad. Leif on the other hand, a psychic pokemon weak to bug moves, found himself a bit more begrudging. At first, he teleported directly upwards, away from the sharp pains that intruded his side. He yelled furiously, "ALRIGHT WHO DID THAT? I'M GONNA SQUASH YOU LIKE A BUG! Little did he know that the sharp pain came from from an actual bug, and that saying something like that could be highly offensive. His eyes scanned the ground and found nothing suspect of causing such pains. Grass, a bug, flowers...

Before he could identify anything particularly intrusive he landed on the ground angrily, talking to the Nindacad. "You there! Did you see who did that to me?"

The Nincada now having realized just what had happened, was quite dumbfounded both by the situation itself and the idiotic response he had given. Now he would probably be destroyed by that Pokémon. Today really wasn't his day.
"Uh, no. I didn't see anything. In fact I am nearly blind. Maybe...uh...you landed on a rock or something?"
The Abra seemed to be confused enough. Hopefully he would believe the Ground type's theory.
Then again - didn't Abra only know Teleport? But you usually try not to upset beings that could easily step on you.

"Oh... you didn't hearanything then, did you? I must pursue this intruder of space. I will smack them with an iron tail. I will hit them with shadow ball. I will crush them using ice punch! Nobody shall underestimate me! I have spent ages training to become a powerful abra! I can even control my teleports!" He again failed to see the irony. He was unaware of this pokemon questioning his abilities, he assumed this pokemon must have already been aware of his top-percentage strength for Abra. Indeed, he was only intimidating this hidden enemy. Surely he would appear soon running in terror. Obviously. Not even bugs can fight such a powerful Abra. Well they can. But they will definitely lose! Unless they are fully evolved. Or have too many more levels. Well, the point he wanted to make was that he was one awesome Abra. But I think he even failed at that.

So either this Abra was completely full of himself, or he was the Abra with the most diverse movepool Ned had ever seen. Well, smelled rather. In any case, that certainly didn't make his situation any better.
"No, I didn't hear anyone either. Before you ask - the only sense with which I sensed something that might have had something to do with you being hurt is my sense of balance. I am referring to the force of gravity."
Why was this Pokémon so intent on finding out what it was that harmed him anyway? If it was a force of nature, then there was nothing he would be able to do against that and if it was another Pokémon (which it certainly was), then there was no reason to fight either. No matter what it was, the best option would obviously be to leave. So why wasn't the Psychic type doing that?

"Oh... Well, in that case, what did gravity tell you!?" he listened intently. He didn't feel any maliscious intent. He just felt like he had gotten into an unfair fight, and hadn't seen the enemy. "I want a fair match! You have to help me meet this aggressor so I can get a fair fight!" Just as he said this, he bumped into something. Before knowing what it was, he immediately assumed it was the aggressor, and leaped to turn around and came to find...

Vulpes carried out 1 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

What did gravity...tell him? What the? Was this some strange Psychic type meaning he simply didn't get? Did the Abra hit some important part for thinking when he dropped down? Or did Ned get hit on the head and didn't remember it?
Whatever the reason was - the Abra's statement didn't make much sense to the Ground type.
"Uh...gravity told me...that...the Pokémon that hurt you was...a Zorua that used illusions to look like grass. And it is...way, way over there."
The Nincada pointed his claw in a random direction, hoping to get rid of this Abra before he figured out what had happened or managed to melt the Bug type's mind with his mindless blabbering.

At this point, Leif was too furiously engaged in fighting that he didn't hear Ned. "YOU! Furfrou! You are obviously the culprit!"

The nonhostile dog cocked its head, both intrigued and excited. It seemed like it wanted to play a game of some sort.

"I'M GONNA HAVE MY FAIR FIGHT!" He leaped, used a short range controlled teleport to come above it, and smashed into the dog's head with an ice punch.

I can't say for sure, having not been a dog, but I can say there is a high probability that the Furfrou was thinking something like this is not the game I wanted to play! Not rough play! This reaction would make sense because the poor animal attempted to run away. But a teleport with an iron tail would ensure that the animal would not escape. When it cowered Leif felt he had shown a sufficient level of valor by having a "fair fight" as he saw it. If only he knew the irony of it. The dog finally came to flee, and Leif faced the nindacad. "Haha! Nobody attacks me without getting a fair fight out of it!"

If his exoskeleton would have allowed for it, the Nincada's eyes would probably be at thrice their size now, the lower jaw on the ground. Without even thinking, this...this creature just beat up an innocent bystander! Ned understood, what it meant to be paranoid, but this was definitely going too far.
But what was he - a tiny, insignigficant bug - supposed to do against a Pokémon like that?
He would never be able to defeat this Pokémon - not now at least. He still had to become stronger.
To become stronger and to finally evolve.
So, how was he supposed to escape this madmon?

Leif stared at the bug. It wasn't talking. It wasn't really responding either. Obviously it was stunned by his amazing display of valor. Obviously. "Well? What's the deal? Too amazed to speak? That's okay, I can understand that. I know-- most Abra aren't as strong as I am. It's nothing too impressive... I just trained a lot. Anyone can do it. Really. Even you."

He paused for a moment, looking for the right words. "...After thinking back, I have realized something. It doesn't make sense that you would only be able to sense gravity. So I obviously misinterpreted. And you must be able to hear me too. So... I take it you can at least feel and hear. What about your other senses? How come you didn't sense who attacked me? Are you blind?" He failed to think his words through. He must have come across as crazy at first. But now he was just being rude.

What in the name of various things Ned couldn't think of at the moment was the Abra talking about now? Whatever it was, it obviously was better to stay on his good side. However that was supposed to work.
"Uh, I never claimed for my sense of gravity to be my only sense. I just stated that it was the only one that had gathered information that might have been helpful for you. And to asnwer your question: Yes, as previously stated I am indeed almost blind, thank you very much."
Of course Ned could hear him and obviously he had a sense of touch as well.
What was wrong with this Pokémon?
Ned wasn't sure whether he really wanted to find out.

"Oh..." the Abra gave an embarrassed sigh, "Well, you know, for the record it's hard to think straight after a Furfrou attacks you. Or after being attacked in general. It's just a generally shocking experience. There was bound to be a misunderstanding or two... and sorry for... being insensitive about your blindness... I'm still just a bit shaken up. My side is still sore from that dang sneak attack. At least that mutt got what it deserved for attacking me like that." He layed back down and closed his eyes, this time some distance away from the Nindacad, Ned.

"Whatever the case... I came here to relax, maybe find an item or two, not fight. Look how nice the day is. It's just not right getting attacked on a day like this, in a place like this, you know?" He stretched his arms and legs, and picked a flower, looking at all the individual petals, feeling them, and smelling it. He held it up to the sun and began to speak again, "Well, that's why I'm here. What brings you to a place like this?"

"Uh, yeah, right. It attacked you."
Ned believed for it to be best to simply agree with the inane statements the Psychic type was spouting out of fear of ending up like that poor Normal type.
"For me it's nothing in particular. I just happened to be wandering through the area. This place tends to get boring quickly though. Except for grass there isn't much here. With all the wild Pokémon around here and the general lack of items wouldn't it be a better idea to try the beach for example?"
To be honest Ned didn't even care whether that place was a better place to be than Pricklemist Hill. He just wanted for the Abra to leave. And that as quickly as possible.