Lost Apple

It was a calm cloudy day when Trace managed to escape Shadowhue forest after being saved by Jet the Buizel. The cloud troubled sky seemed to be doing nothing else but blocking the sunlight and giving everything a subtle gray tone. It is likely that most village Pokemon were at home in case the gray carpet overhead decided to drop it's payload of water into the village. Trace fist have such a home to take shelter in.

The Electrike crested a hill and was rewarded with a pre-emptive view of the small pond. In the still air the water had turned into a mirror that reflected the sky overhead; turning the water an interesting silver color. Somewhere near that pond was a tree that stood out from the others, not because of height or size. Underneath this tree was an hollowed out alcove perfect for a small animal like Trace to call home. In fact that was exactly what it was for the several days he'd spent around Grassveil before he ended up lost in the forest.

The Electrike continued his way down the path, his black eyes wandering through the trees lining it. His goal was simple: grab the apple he had left in his den then return to Jet. Nothing could be simpler and easy! In fact Trace was more focused on how he could possibly pay back the life debt he owes than where he was going. As such he is likely to run into something that he shouldn't...

Boring...Boring...boring...but at least nobody was bothering him this time around. The houndour by the name of Zera was standing guard at his new "territory" by small pond. He had traveled here and burnt a thick area of grass that marked the border of his territory he had decided to claim here. He was proud, this time the territory had been bigger, and nobody was daring to disturb him in his relaxation and turf protection.

Little did he know, within his area, he had claimed the den of another canine, an electrical canine that might not have taken a liking to his claiming of already claimed land. Zera did not care even if he had the knowledge of such a thing, this was HIS turf now, if anyone had a problem with it, they had to go through HIM.

Trace was on autopilot, this was supposed to be a peaceful area and his guard was down. The Electrike he was before he found this village would have screamed at him to be wary of any threat, but there was something about this area that knocked down his barriers one by one until he was as trustful and as innocent as a newborn pup. His feet would lead him in a direct path to his former den, he didn't notice the dark fire type nor the burnt ground just ahead of him and wouldn't stop unless he was startled from a loud noise or the like.

The reason for his lack of attention was because he was entirely focused, not on what he was doing but on what had happened. There was a major problem running circled in his mind. He needed to repay that Buizel for nothing short of saving his life, and the obvious route of joining his team was unlikely at best and impossible at worse! He could just follow Jet around until he felt that the debt has been paid, but what if the pokemon got frustrated at him? No, he would just have to worry about that moment when it happened. Yes, that was the best option. He nodded to himself, certain of his path

He approached the barrier of grass in full view of the Houndour without knowing what he was about to intrude upon.

Huh? Zera watched as a strange green canine walked right over his barrier that others had been avoiding. He growled lowly, giving a warning at first, but the green thing completely ignored him! The houndour snarled, darting forth and intercepting the elektrike and his den. The houndour had not noticed that the barrier of grass had been a den, but was now aware of it now that the other pokemon had brought it to his attention through heading towards it.

"Hey!" the brute barked, "This is MY territory! Get you fluffy green butt off!" he decided to give yet another more verbal warning. He remembered last time he had tried to fight right off the bat, it had resulted in him being wanted for assault. He would have rather tried to avoid that, but he did not mind having the thrill of combat if necessary.

His fangs began to spark threateningly, not aware that the opponent was an Electric type, and that his Thunder Fang would be of little use.

He really didn't notice the sudden shift from lush green to what seemed like the aftermath of a wildfire or lightning strike. The next thing the electric pokemon knew a pokemon intercepted his path while barking something about this being his territory. Trace stopped in his tracks while uttering a startled yelp at the surprise entrance, looking around and finally taking note of his surroundings. He recognized the black and red form of a houndour, he had encountered one of their kind a long time ago, however that did not mean he knew the pokemon's typing. He was aware of their aggressiveness though.

Not one for diplomacy nor retreating Trace growled back while assuming a ready stance in preparation of any sudden moves from the Houndour: "I was here first! And for the record, I don't care if you claim this place as yours I'm just here to grab my apple then I'll be on my way."

He partially hid a confident smirk when the dark canine summoned electricity in his mouth, if that was all the houndour had to intimidate him the pokemon was in for a suprise. Trace was well familiar with his ability to absorb electricity with no harmful effects, being hit with that thunder fang would do little more than feel like a simple bite.

An apple? Zera could go for an apple right then, something delicious to eat after a good day of defending his territory. The houndour glanced back at then den before his gaze shot back towards the electric canine, "Anything on MY territory, is MINE!" he snarled, taking an aggressive step forward. He noted that the electric fangs did not seem to intimidate the other, so instead smoke began to rise from his nostrils as he prepared an Ember attack rather than a Thunder Fang.

"If you want it you'll have to go through ME!" he huffed in anger, the scar across the bridge of his nose crinkling as his lips curled. He was attempting to look as intimidating as possible, along with expressing his anger and willingness to fight for his new territory.

The Houndour glanced at the hollow underneath the tree that Trace referred to before bringing his attention back to the intruder. The aggressive pokemon adamantly refused to let him just take the apple, even taking a step forward and bearing his fangs. The crackling energy that wreathed the fangs was replaced with an ominous trail of smoke. Trace held his ground however, refusing to back down. He'd told Jet that he would return with the apple and that is exactly what he'd do!

An arc of electricity jumped from the back of his head to his tail as he prepared the power of his natural element. Yet ice, of all things, began coating his fangs, making them longer and sharper. "If you want it that way then do your worse! I'm not leaving until I have that apple." He stared at the Houndour with a gaze that proves his own stubborness.

Still, a small voice inside of him commented that he should just run away and come back when the Houndour wasn't around. Trace dispelled the errant thought, based on what he could tell this pokemon wasn't planning on leaving his 'territory' anytime soon. Besides, he couldn't run this time. He would have to come back empty handed when he said that he'd complete a task, what would that say about him to Jet? No, this was something he must do!

Trace watched the Houndour with keen eyes, as soon as he attacked the electric pokemon would dash to the side before lunging at his opponent in hopes to bite down on any part of the dark type that his fangs could reach.

The smoke rose and rose, until finally the houndour's jaws parted and revealed a large fiery orb. From the orb, an array of fire balls forced themselves out and shot towards the electric type, not caring that the icy move was attempting to threaten the fire type. Once the attack was complete, the houndour shot towards the Electrike, hoping that the ember had knocked it off guard and he could go in close with another ember as a direct hit while he would clamp down on the other canine with his own jaws.

Trace lowered his body, his legs tensing like coiled springs as he watched the smoke rise from the others nose. Obviously there would be a fire attack coming, but he was confident that he could get out if the way even in these close quarters.

A red glow of fire confirmed his suspicions when the Pokemon opened his mouth. Trace was tempted to dodge immediately, but held on for just a moment longer. He didn't see anything coming at him yet and would wait until he did. The first bolt of ember jetted out of the ball of fire inside the Pokemon's mouth, and Trace leaped to the left.

His powerful legs managed to carry him out of the damage radius, however the heat radiating from the attack weakened the ice fang he created. Trace landed on the ground, skidding to a halt on the crumbly ground before pouncing at the Houndour with his own fangs spread wide. At the best Trace would sink his fangs into an unsuspecting Houndour before barreling into him, but it was more likely that his stunt was noticed and the Houndour was preparing to counterattack.

Either way, with Trace in the air as he is, the Electrike is incapable of dodging this time. Against a fire type and after being weakened from the heat from the prior attack the ice fang would do minimal damage compared to his regular strength. In fact it would be little better than a simple bite attack.

The hound, having charged towards the elektrike, barreled into it, getting caught by the Ice Fang, but having only a small amount of damage actually be done to him due to the weakness of the icy attack, and the resistance he had to the ice nature of the attack. He used this oppertunity to try and latch onto the canine himself, and use Ember to damage the intruder. He failed to latch onto the electric type, but still fired the bits of ember at the other pokemon anyways. If he could get a burn, it would assist him greatly, anything would really though in his eyes.

The two doglike pokemon crashed into each other midair before exchanging attacks. Trace bit down on the other's shoulder, however the attack seemed to do barely anything against the houndour. As a reply the pokemon bathed his back with fiery embers causing him to yelp in pain and release his grip on the other's body. The electrike kicked at the houndour with his hind legs, trying to create some distance before landing.

He didn't feel like he was burning from the attack, however he was certainly singed. If Trace had to guess then if his back was hit with another attack like that it would certainly cause some major burns, however he was more interested in other developments. He's resistant to my Ice Fang!?! That wasn't good, Ice Fang was his strongest attack right now. Trace gritted his teeth, he'd have to do the best he could without it then. If he could get off a paralysis then he'd have a fighting chance.

The electrike's fur started to glow a faint yellow color as he prepared electricity then he charged the houndour. If his attack was going to hit he would have to get the houndour close enough that he could strike without his own electricity arcing back to the electrike.

The houndour responded to the charge, only smirking as the electric dog began to crackle with electricity. An item in the hound's joy ribbon began to shimmer, as Zera charged right towards the intruder. The electricity began to reach towards the houndour, attempting to paralyze him, but instead was drawn straight into his ribbon and towards his Daze Bow, the special Houndour Specific item reacting to the electric attack and absorbing it, healing the small bite its owner had received damage from the Ice Fang. He opened his jaws once more, the thunder wave no longer a threat to him as he fired yet another Ember attack at the other canine, before attempting to clash with the dog again with him as the one locked onto him in a bit.

Trace continued to rush at the dark hybrid with confidence, if the Pokemon was just going to stand there and take the attack then ask the more power to Trace. Wait, why was he smirking? How could this be good- He felt it moments before he saw the electricity being siphoned into some item concealed within the ribbon tied around the Houndour's neck. He halted his charge as he witnessed the light wound he had inflicted heal itself.

Fear filled the Electrike as he stood there in shock. Ice Fang does nothing and Thunder Wave heals him! this was bad, really bad. His two strongest moves were useless to him.

In the condition he was in Trace didn't even see the ember attack coming. Multiple bolts of fire stuck his face, font legs, and upper body, dealing critical damage to the unprepared Electrike. He stifled a scream of agony with clenched teeth while cursing his lack of attention. His eyes were hard with determination after taking that hit. He had a battle to win, and that wasn't done by crying!

Noticing that the Houndour was charging at him again and met the challenge with a charge of his own, his body being tilted into a shoulder charge tackle in the process. Trace was already running on more determination than endurance, anyone could see that from the wounds he's taken. The question now is, how much longer could he survive against this superior opponent?

The hound took the tackle, but used the opportunity to fire off another tackle at the canine that dared to combat him for his territory, "It's MINE! Mine! Mine! Mine!" the hound snarled. The ferocity of his attacks growing stronger as confidence for winning grew and grew with each passing minute. What did this puny mutt have against him? Electricity? Daze Bow was a simple solution. Ice? Flames were a simple solution! While he had to rely on normal attacks, Zera could bathe the opponent in his embers. Oh what an advantage he had...

Trace's tackle landed solidly, however the attack was immediately replied to in force. The combined force of Trace bouncing back and the Houndour's tackle sent him skidding across the charred ground, kicking up a cloud of soot before he slid to a stop.

What can I possibly do here? He questioned himself as his opponent snarled at the Electrike. The Houndour seemed to only get stronger the longer he challenged the hybrid's territory. Was there anything more that he could try to gain an edge? There must be some way to win this if he could only see it! He must not fail Jet's trust.

Who was he kidding? Trace blinked, trying to clear his blurry vision. He was already at the edge, and he knew it. There wasn't anything he could do to win this battle. He felt the urge to run, to flee from here before he got even more wounded.

Hold on, that was something he hadn't tried! Not fleeing, but straight up running. If he could outrun this Houndour and drive him to exhaustion then he might just be able to win. With that thought in mind he taunted "then make me leave!" Before quickly turning sideways and sprinting clockwise around the interior of Zera's claimed territory.

Of course he was already seriously injured from the damage he's taken. If he was hit by another ember the Electrike would probably be to weak to fight anymore...