Nightmare Night and the Candy Hunt

It was a hot day in the Scorchfall Desert and - okay, any and all days in the Scorchfall Desert were hot days. The point is - once more that reckless Eevee had felt the need to go on a treasure hunt in a place far too dangerous for any sane Pokémon that didn't have a few years of experience under their belt. Or decades. Or centuries. But obviously the Normal type wasn't going to be stopped by any rational arguments and logical reasoning, so to prevent a brutal maiming of the aforementioned Eevee William the Gengar had once more found himself roped into an expedition he would much rather have had no part in. And with every journey they traveled together, the Eevee would probably rely more and more on the beleaguered Poison type, always going to ask him when wishing to travel somewhere.
What had William gotten himself into there?




(54-16=38)

Akuroma stood atop one of the many dunes in the desert, his hood shielding his body from the harsh sun has he stared out into the vast and very... boring desert. He really didn't know what to say. There was nothing but sand and sand and even more sand. Of course there was the occasional movement across the dunes, but more than likely it was just wind pushing the sand. Why was he here? Research, of course. Research into what, you say? Well he was wondering that too now. Unlike Blackmist Mountain or Icicle woods or even Pecha Forest this dungeon looked more sparse and, forgive the pun, deserted than any other dungeon he'd been to. He doubted he'd find anything around here, unless he happened to spy a broken cart with supplies or an oasis or that apparent temple in the center of the desert. Though he had no idea where to begin his search for any of those things. since most likely they were all covered in sand!

(20/36 energy)

(energy - 11)

Sova walked beside William, allowing his more experienced friend to lead. The last time he'd come to the desert, he had failed to find the Silent Temple, so he'd decided it would be best if he didn't lead. Besides, the gengar had already proven to be a much better explorer and stronger fighter than him. He was in no place to try to lead.

He tried to stay positive and think about reaching the temple. The thoughts of finding the treasure let him keep positive. He scanned the area, not expecting any signs of life. Not yet at least. But, to his surprise, he could make out something on a dune not too far away. Nudging William, he pointed towards it. "What's that?"

Only after the Eevee had pointed at the strange spot int he distance William managed to spot it as well. However he wasn't able to identify its nature from this far away.
"I know what that is. That thing is far away and not attacking us at this moment in time. So I suggest keeping it that way and leaving it alone. The best battle is the one you do not have to fight.", he commented in order to answer the Eevee's question and propose a plan of action - or inaction rather.
The problem was just that - knowing Sova - he would most likely not adhere to that plan, instead doing something thought- and reckless that would put them both into great danger.
But at least the Poison type could say he tried now.

Akuroma frowned a bit as he continued to look out over the desert. If he could get through it to that temple he heard of, he'd go through it with no regrets. However with no back up for when a powerful opponent might appear, he'd be swallowed up by the sand quickly, and he was in no mood for that. So instead he decided to go and perhaps recruits a few of his friends for the journey. With the plan in mind, Aku turned around, only to find two figures appearing to be facing him. With the distance and the blaring heat, Aku could barely make out their shapes, let alone what species they might be. Either way a two on one battle was not going to be fun, no matter how strong Akuroma had gotten in the past few months.

Sova continued to look at the distant figure for a moment. He figured if it was an enemy looking to attack, it probably would have made the first move and approached them already. But what did he know? "But....Alright...." He said, sounding disappointed. He wanted to go see what the figure was and try to talk to it, but the last time he tried to make a decision against William's judgement, it ended very badly. He'd already decided that from now on, if the William decided something, he would agree. His own judgement was too poor to be trusted.

Did...did this actually happen just now? Had Sova really listened to William's advice?
For an entire second the Gengar could do nothing but just stand there, jaw on the floor, staring blankly at nothing. Not that this was not a welcome change, but it had been so wholly unexpected, that the Poison type had no idea how to deal with it at first. Only slowly he regained his composure and manged to stop just short of falling onto his knees, praising the forces above for this thing that could only be referred to as a miracle. And so the duo kept walking through the scorching masses of sands that extended far further than the eye could hope to see. This really didn't look like a place one might find treasure in. So why had Sova chosen this specific dungeon to venture into?
Just as he had finished his thought, wind came up, blowing sand right into the umbral Pokémon's face.
Coughing and sputtering William tried to get the sand out of his eyes.
Finally he managed to see...

Savato carried out 5 launched of one Scorchfall Desert :

, , , ,

Aku sighed in relief as the two figures began to move away from him. Hopefully they didn't feel like battling him as much as he did. Deciding it best to leave the dungeon, Aku began to leave, only for the dungeon to decide that he wont be leaving in one of the most scary and epic ways ever. Before he could even make another step, the sand underneath him erupted into the form of a Steelix, the large Pokémon shaking wildly as Aku quickly held onto one of it's spikes for dear life. The quickly enraged Pokémon then made a bee line for the two figures Aku was trying to avoid. It's like the universe decided today was Screw With Aku day.

Sova covered his eyes with a paw to avoid the sand, as he was right next to William. But he didn't get a chance to check what was in front of him. Instead, something caught his attention from behind, a sound. Like something plowing through the sand. He wondered if his ghostly friend had even heard it, not having giant eevee ears. Regardless, he turned before thinking to mention it and saw....a steelix, charging straight at them. "Look out!" Was all he could think to say before he darted out of the way, using Quick Attack to ensure he could get clear. He knew the gengar could just levitate and thus was only worried about himself.

The Gengar hjad just finished picking up those items the gust of wind had uncovered and started wondering how they managed to end up this far out in the desert as he heard Sova calling out to him.
In his long adventuring carreer the Ghost type had learned one thing. If there was something approaching from somewhere you couldn't see, then don't waste time turning around. Just dodge.
And so William found himself sinking into the ground, managing to dodge the charging Steelix just in the nick of time.
However the Steelix's charge had also managed to gather the attention of one rather annoyed Diglett so the duo would probably have to fight that Pokémon as well. Just great.
At least one silver lining this cloud had however. Waiting underground for the Steelix to pass, the Gengar had discovered a small stream of water which he could use to replenish some of his energy.

(E=34)

As Akuroma saw the two figures dodge out of the way of the Steelix, he began to try and climb up the steel type Pokémon, which proved to be much more difficult than he originally thought as the Steelix's body was smoothed over by digging through the sand so much. So instead Akuroma brought his fist back, electricity sparking off of it before he slammed it as hard as he could into the Steelix's body.

That... was a bad idea. The pain from his fist hitting the hard body of the steel type cause Aku to lose his grip. It wasn't that bad, he did land in the admittedly soft sand of the desert. However the Steelix had now made a U-turn and was heading straight for the cloaked figure.

Sova watched as the colossal snake sped by.  He noticed the other pokemon apparently riding on top of it, though he couldn't get a good look at what the hitchhiker was.  Perhaps this pokemon was allied to the steelix?  He only wondered that for a moment before he saw the pokemon attack the steelix and fall off.  Finally able to focus on the now still pokemon, he saw....a cloaked figure.  He figured that between the steelix and the much smaller cloaked pokemon, if one was friendly, it would probably be the mystery pokemon.  After all, the snake WAS attacking all of them.

Then he noticed the steelix had turned and was now heading straight for the downed figure.  Without thinking, he sped into a quick attack towards the presumed friendly pokemon in an attempt to reach it and push it out of the way before the steelix got there.

And...there apparently was yet another Pokémon in the area. A cloaked one.
What was that Pokémon doing here? This wasn't a common sight in this area.
And perhaps more importantly - was it friendly? It would probably be best to get to know that first.
The Gengar decided to focus on the Steelix first, as he figured that its Steel and Ground typing might prove to be difficult for the Eevee to defeat.
And so he launched a Shadow Ball at it from below the surface of the earth, hoping to confuse the enemy as for which direction the attack originated from.

The rampaging Steelix was quite surprised by the random Shadow Ball hitting it straight in the face, not knowing who had thrown it. However the large Pokémon continued it's rampage towards Akuroma and the fast approaching Eevee.

Akuroma groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head before looking up to see the Steelix approaching. Without even thinking he teleported himself away, appearing behind the Steelix. With his new position Akuroma swung his arm back as if he were about to throw a ball, psychic energy gathering over it to make it glow green before he swung his arm back down, sending a Psyshock straight for the back of the steel snake's neck.

Akuroma then began to swing his arm back once more, the same energy gathering back before all the sudden the ground underneath him collapsed from the annoyed Diglett's Dig. "Oh come on!" Akuroma said from below the hole, a place he's found himself many times before.

Once it became apparent the cloaked pokemon could get its self out of harms way and fight just fine, Sova decided to focus on the steelix as well. But how could he do anything to a steelix? He'd fought one before and already knew all too well that he couldn't do much to them, but at least now he could stay out of close range and do something that didn't involve ramming a giant steel snake.

He quick attacked away to make sure he was at a safe distance and began glowing, summoning the stars of Swift around him and sending them at the steelix. He knew it wouldn't do much, but at least it was better than nothing.