The Island Mystery

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The cool lake breeze brushed past the purpled-haired monkey as he shouldered his custom-made napsack composed of leaves, twigs and grass. He'd set out half a day ago to make his way to this peculiar island following a curious summons addressed directly to his tree dwelling in Pecha forest. It still wasn't clear who sent it or why, but the letter requested his help and he couldn't help but be drawn to the adventure. Of course, danger and excitement wasn't really his thing, but life in Pecha had grown stagnant and a change of scenery was exactly what he needed. The only problem was... He'd reached the last branch before the edge of the lake.

Cracker stared down at the forest floor where it transitioned from tall grass to a thin bar of sand leading into the water. It had been a while since he'd last set foot on solid ground, and he wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Safety was in the trees for him, and he just couldn't get over the texture of grass and dirt, with all those little twigs and bugs to snap and squish underfoot. Still though, the Aipom had come this far, it wouldn't make sense to give up and turn back now.

Wrapping his tail around the branch he stood on, Cracker closed his eyes tight and dove off backwards, swinging in a short arch before letting go and landing firmly on his feet. Immediately the prickly sensation of the grassy ground shot up his legs, making him dance uncomfortably. "Ooooh, why does it have to be so pointy!" he whined, shifting from one foot to the next as he quickly raced towards the shore. The sand was moderately better underfoot, but the way it squished between his toes made him shudder nonetheless.

With his tail hand, the Aipom reached into his pack and pulled out the little letter he'd gotten, perusing it once more. The neatly written words said: Please, help me. You're my only hope. Fallen Leaf Copse. That was it, no details beyond where to go. It was kind of exciting, actually. Like a mystery.

As he stood on the small beach, Cracker's feet sank into the squishy sand, the occasional wave of water helping to bury them. He could see the pathway leading to the island nearby, but the Aipom was considering an alternative means of transportation. One that would get him off his feet in particular. Shaking the sand off his feet, the monkey began scavenging pieces of driftwood scattered across the shore with the intent of constructing a boat. As he worked, Cracker started humming a terribly out of tune song.

((Energy 12))

The Aipom squeaked in surprise as he was picked up and tossed over the edge of the cliff. The monkey squealed as he plummeted the dozens of feet downwards. He covered his face, expecting to hit to ground, but instead he felt a sharp tug on his tail and his fall halted. He opened his eyes to see the forest floor below him, covered in leaves. Lifting his head, he realized Akuroma had caught him and was hanging him by his tail. Cracker jerked upright.

"I'm not a baby," he replied, tugging his tail free of his friend's grip. "I just... dont like cliffs. All... bare of trees and... droppy. Nothing wrong with that. Perfectly normal." The Aipom quickly followed after the Gallade, hopping into the nearest tree to keep an eye out from above.

"So are we just gonna keep walking or are we actually going somewhere?" Cracker asked.

Akuroma shrugged, "We're mainly heading deeper and deeper into the forest, until we find something of interest." There wasn't much need to know where they were going, since neither of them knew much about the forest. The best thing they could do was to try and avoid as much conflict as possible. The only thing Akuroma knew about the forest was that there was a gang of powerful Pokemon somewhere within it, making him wary of encountering them. Despite his power, Akuroma knew he was far from being as strong as he possibly could become. Akuroma sighed to himself, taking out a Sitrus berry to munch on, calming his thoughts.

[44 energy]

Dracorexion carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , ,

"Well, good enough for me, I guess," the Aipom replied as he followed along in the trees. He quickly got himself into a nice lazy rhythm. All this traveling had worn him out considerably, but if Akuroma was still able to keep on going, Cracker felt compelled to do the same. Honestly though, he wished he'd brought more food to eat. He hadn't expected this trip to be so long, let alone so heavy with battles. He was just considering returning to the Gallade's head to rest when a Pokemon ran out into the path ahead of them.

The Deerling stared at Akuroma for a long moment, then turned to shout into the bushes. "That's him, right there!" Cracker didn't recognize the Pokemon at first, but he had the sneaking suspicion it was one of the ones from before. Maybe they really were coming back to attack. Crouching low of the branch he stood on, he expected a whole herd of Sawsbuck to emerge from the forest. Instead though, a single Ursaring appeared, carrying a Cascoon which he promptly sat on the ground before facing Akuroma.

"You're sure?" the Ursaring growled.

"Positive," came the little Deerling's voice.

Rearing down into a braced posture, the Ursaring prepared to attack. Before he made a move though, the Cascoon fired a String Shot at Akuroma.

Akuroma held his arm up, a shield of green light expanding on front of him as he blocked the String Shot. "Sorry, but I don't plan on getting stuck again. Cracker, stay back. I'm not going to hold back anymore," the Gallade said, his elbows extending outward. The Ursaring growled, his muscles seeming to ripple as they suddenly grew, the large Pokemon using Bulk Up. Akuroma watches, his face emotionless as he waits for the Ursaring's attack. Instead, the Cascoon intervenes again, firing off a barrage of Poison stings at the Gallade.

Akuroma smirks, "It's useless," the Gallade said, swinging his arm, sending a Psyshock towards the Cascoon's attack. The psychic move barrels through the Poison Sting, knocking them out of the air before it slammed into the small bug type, sending it flying away. The Ursaring watches as his ally is knocked out instantly, turning back to face the Gallade with anger. "At first I was just hoping to get a reward off of catching you, but now I just feel like beating you to a pulp," he said before charging at the Gallade, swinging his arms and legs at Akuroma. The Gallade smirked dodging the Close combat before he grabbed a hold of one of the Ursaring's hands. "Oh? An explorer then? I expect you to give me a better fight than this if you wish to capture me," he said as his hand erupted into lightning, Akuroma grabbing the Ursaring's shoulder with his other arm before swinging him over head, slamming him into the ground behind him.

The Ursaring coughed, moving up onto his hands and knees. Akuroma smirked, placing his foot on the Ursaring's back. "I wouldn't get back up unless you want me to continue beating you." The Ursaring smirked, grabbing a hold of Akuroma's other leg before pulling it out from under him. The Ursaring then swung his fist upwards, punching Akuroma in his knee, sending the Gallade backwards. Akuroma cried out in pain, grabbing a hold of his knee as he glared at the Ursaring. "Oh? Didn't you know I could know Play Rough? Geheh, you're facing Butch of Team Fairy! We specialize in taking out opponents weak to Fairy types and their moves. And Gallade are a part of those opponents!" the Ursaring said, giving Akuroma a wide smirk. Akuroma grimaced, "I see..." The Gallade straightened back up, his arms gaining a green glow as he prepared his Psyshock attacks. "Now then, let's finish this!"

[28 energy]

Hiding up in the tree like he was told, Cracker watched in horror as Akuroma battled the pair of Pokemon who identified themselves as Team Fairy. If they were truly an exploration team as they claimed, why on earth were they attacking his friend? He couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Someone had to report this! The Gallade was an explorer, a scholar, a bookworm, he wasn't an outlaw. This was wrong.

Cracker wanted to intervene but he didn't know if he should. Akuroma had warned him to stay out of the fray, and from the viciousness of the battle between his ally and the Ursaring, he was inclined to stay put. But how could he? Looking around nervously as the two broke apart for a short intermission, the Aipom skittered along the branch he stood on and hopped down to a lower one. Both Pokemon were preparing to resume their attack. Something had to be done.

The Ursaring cracked the knuckles of his fingers independently of each other before suddenly jerking forwards with Close Combat, but rather than complete the move like before, he feinted and kicked up a spray of dirt to blind his opponent long enough so that he could get in closer with a full-bodied left hook.

Akuroma began to counter the Close Combat with his psyshocks, the waves of psychic energy slicing through the air. One missed, the dirt kicked up at Aku causing him to have moved his arms at the last second. The second, however, went upwards into the trees, slicing through several branches that quickly began to barrel down onto the fighting pair. The Ursaring's attack hit the Gallade, sending him flying into a tree, though his victory was short live as soon the large Pokemon was buried under the many branches. Akuroma groaned, holding his side with one arm as he rubbed his eyes with the other, trying to clear his vision. He hadn't seen what happened, and was getting ready to retreat to heal.

Watching from his roost just above the fight, Cracker was about to intervene in this terrible fight when of one Akuroma's Psyshocks redirected itself upwards into the very trees he was hiding in. The Aipom squealed in surprise as the attack sliced cleanly through the branches, narrowly missing him but throwing him along with a collection of twigs and tree limbs up into the air. Stunned, the monkey curled into a ball and fell.

The instant after the Ursaring was buried in branches, the Aipom bounced off the pile and landed flat on his face, dazed. He raised his head slowly to spot the Gallade next to a tree some distance away. He hopped to his feet and wobbled awkwardly. "Aku!" he cried, taking a step forward. Before he could make another move though, a huge, clawed hand wrapped around him, squeezing him tight in its grip. The large bear emerged from the pile, bruised but not beaten. He had a menacing aura about him as he stood and raised the captured Aipom.

"What's this?" he growled. "One of your accomplices?" To add emphasis to his words he gave the purple monkey a squeeze, eliciting a pained cry.

Akuroma froze, looking up to find the Aipom captured by the Ursaring. The Gallade growled out, Teleporting in front of Butch, a thunder punch slamming into the Ursaring's face. Akuroma grabbed Cracker with his other hand, pulling him free of Butch's grip. "Sorry, but I work alone. However, I don't like it when Pokemon hurt others without cause. That means you've made a terrible mistake," the Gallade said as he set Cracker down on the ground. Popping his knuckles, Akuroma approached the Ursaring, each of his hands sparking with electricity. The Ursaring groaned as it got up, glaring at the Gallade. Akuroma didn't let him counterattack though, slamming his fists into the Ursaring's body repeatedly, thunder ringing out with each punch delivered to the large Pokemon's body.

The Ursaring grinned darkly as his plan worked. Holding the purple-haired monkey hostage enraged the Gallade, telling him quite clearly that he was more than just some stray Pokemon getting in the way. They were probably friends if not partners in crime as he suspected. And the fact the Aipom had called out to Akuroma by name proved they knew each other.

Butch was aware of the psychic-type's ability to teleport, but he still had barely enough time to utilize Bulk Up to take the brunt of the blow to his face. He stumbled backwards and released Cracker, who was covering his eyes until this whole terrible ordeal was over with. In just a few seconds he exchanged hands and was placed on the ground behind Akuroma. Only once he was on firm ground did he open his eyes. What he saw though made him want to cover them again.

Furious with the Ursaring named Butch, the Gallade didn't give him a chance to rise to his feet before he was pummeling him back down with a rain of Thunder Punches so loud and electrifying that the entire clearing began to smell of ozone. The large bear had shielded himself from the worst of the attacks, taking the brunt of it on his back, but Akuroma was relentless in his attack, no doubt using up all his energy to beat the bear down.

"Aku! Stop!" Cracker cried, running up to him. "You gotta stop, this isn't right!"

Akuroma looked back at the Aipom, stopping his barrage only to have the Ursaring's fist slam into his chest, sending him flying backwards. The Ursaring grinned as he staggered up, "Gahaha, thanks little monkey, I'll finish you off once I knock him out."

"You must really underestimate me," the Gallade said as he stood back up, his eyes beginning to glow a bright green. "Hah, hardly! You're nothing more than an outlaw, Akuroma, there's no way I could possibly underestimate you. If anything I overestimated you. There's no way you could possibly be worthy of a star ranked mission!" the Ursaring exclaimed, holding his arms out as he laughed, "Now you can either give up and come quietly, or you can be a fun one and let me clobber you more." The Gallade didn't respond, his elbows extending out into swords, a green psychic energy covering his arms. "Another Psyshock? Hah, that won't do anyth-" the Ursaring cut himself off as he saw the psychic energy of Akuroma's arms form into two large blades.

Cracker was grateful to see Akuroma stop his assault, but it didn't come without a cost. The instant the Gallade stopped, the Ursaring threw out a fist and knocked his back several feet, thanking the Aipom for his misplaced compassion. Rather than respond to the cruel remark, the monkey ran over to Akuroma with concern. His friend had taken a heck of a beating by now, and he'd expended nearly all of his electrical energy.

Keeping close to his companion's side, the Aipom glared at the Ursaring as he began taunting them. His scowl dropped away though as the bear labelled Akuroma as an outlaw. And that there was even a bounty on his head. The Aipom was shocked to say the least, his mouth curving into a frown. "O-outlaw?" he squeaked.

The bear's insults were cut short when the Gallade produced two long, sharp blades composed of psychic energy. Cracker, like Butch, thought it was another Psyshock attack, but there was something different about it. The energy crackled near the Aipom's head, making him shrink away behind Akuroma. Things had gotten deadly serious now, and it was worrying Cracker. Is he really an outlaw? he thought. Why didn't he tell me?

Akuroma looked up at the Ursaring, "Leave, or I'll cut you down," he growled out to the larger Pokemon. The Ursaring grimaced, "There's no way I'd le-" he was cut off again as Akuroma teleported in front of him, slashing downward. The Gallade missed, though the ground right next to the Ursaring had a gash across it now, open roots visible from above. "Leave, or I will cut you down," the Gallade repeated. The Ursaring grimaced, backing away slightly. "I-I said that there's no way I'd leave!" he yelled out as he slashed forward. Akuroma swung his other arm upward, the pair growing still and silent. The psychic energy surrounding Akuroma's arms disappeared as he turned away from the Ursaring, beginning to walk away. "I-Impossible..." the Ursaring muttered before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The next series of events happened so quickly, Cracker barely registered them in his fright. Akuroma gave the Ursaring a warning, which he ignored once, then twice. He moved to attack and then he was falling to the ground. The Gallade had moved with such speed and power that he barely witnessed the final blow. Once Butch had met the ground, the Aipom jumped up and ran over, passing his friend and coming to a stop, worried that Akuroma might've actually killed the bear.

Although still breathing, the bear was badly beaten. He'd probably be unconscious for a good long while. With him down and the Cascoon nowhere to be seen, the only remaining Pokemon still standing was the Deerling, who stood shell-shocked a few feet away from the whole scene. It couldn't believe what it had witnessed. It took until the whole disaster was over before its legs unlocked, at which point it fled into the forest in mortal terror.

Cracker watched it leave, frowning. He turned back to Akuroma and ran over to catch up to him as he walked away from the battle. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was a little frightened of the Gallade now. Amazed of course, even a bit proud, but unnerved as well. The psychic Pokemon had dispatched an Exploration Team without mercy, despite giving the Ursaring a chance to leave.

Coming up alongside his companion, the Aipom swallowed nervously, working up the courage to ask what he needed to know. It took him a few moments, but eventually he found the words. "How come... Why didn't you tell me you were an outlaw, Aku?"

"You didn't ask," the Gallade said, smirking at the Aipom before he leaned up against a tree, sitting down. "Gah, haven't fought an opponent on par with me since I was a Kirlia. Guess the saying's true that no matter how strong you are there's always someone stronger," Akuroma said as he relaxed some. Despite winning the fight, Akuroma didn't feel like he did. He was sore all over his body, and where he wasn't sore he'd rather just be sore. At least they should be safe for awhile. So long as the Deerling that ran didn't go and get more explorers. Akuroma sighed, he knew he shouldn't have come here so soon after its discovery. The forest was probably crawling with explorers, and even if they weren't as strong as the Ursaring, Akuroma didn't know if he could handle anymore fights.

The Aipom followed along until they were out of sight of the unconscious Ursaring, Akuroma's answer leaving a lot to be desired. He had to at least admit it was true, though. Cracker had never thought to ask if the Gallade was an outlaw. But then why would such a thing ever have reason to cross his mind? It would've only been a matter of time before the pair came across an Exploration Team, at which point the secret would be revealed. And much like during their time with Mirage the Zorua, it happened sooner rather than later. And the result left a bitter taste in the monkey's mouth.

When the Gallade finally stopped to rest against a tree, Cracker hopped up onto a nearby rock and stared at him, cocking his head like he was trying to uncover secrets with the power of his mind. But really, he was just interested in this new person Akuroma had become. His attitude was generally the same, but he was a lot rougher around the edges now. Less cocky and far more powerful. He still cared about his friends, though.

"Are you gonna be alright?" Cracker asked, still eyeing the Gallade. "You took a heck of a beating. Quite amazing, really. That guy was twice your size. All muscle. Not so much brain." The Aipom giggled to himself. He only figured as much because of the way Butch threw insults. Like talking down his opponent meant he was going to win.

There was still something bugging the Aipom, though. He knew why Mirage had chosen to become an outlaw; she was a dark-type and thought being a criminal was part of the natural order for all dark-types. But he couldn't figure out why Akuroma had made the choice. Especially seeing as how he still cared enough to help a friend in need. And as he'd said himself, he didn't like it when Pokemon were hurt without reason. It seemed to contradict the views of an outlaw. Maybe he was like Mirage, and was still on the fence regarding who he wanted to be. As he recalled it, the Zorua had been somewhat conflicted.

"You know I'll be your friend either way, Aku," Cracker started to say, "But what made you decide to be an outlaw, anyway?" He figured he just had to know, or the curiosity would drive him bananas.