(OPEN) Storms over the Mountain!

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The dark mist of the mountain swirled, hugging the ground like a dark cloud too afraid to fly up into the air. It was a desolate place, yet not one on which life could not find a way. Spindly, wretched trees stabbed up through the fog, attempting to grasp at whatever sunlight may exist above the perpetual darkness underneath. Even higher up, the small form of circling Aerodactyl could be seen, their loud screeches the only noise echoing through the mountain.

However, the mountain now had a visitor. One whom had arrived here before, and was now back with much more power than previously. The mist parted as he pushed through it, a grin hidden underneath the figure's cloak. This figure would climb as high as he could, and destroy any who would attempt to get in his way. This figure was none other than the outlaw, Akuroma, and he had come to the mountain prepared to face all its horrors with his own.

[37 energy]

When all the loud, rough, and seemingly endless play fighting finally calmed down, Mercury was filled with a certain excitement that definitively trumped her sleepiness. Her tail wagged furiously, recognizing herself being in the place where she had seen the shiny frisbee fall earlier. Maybe friend Akuroma would want to play a game with her!!!

Mercury was only distracted from her thoughts of games for a moment when friend Akuroma spoke to her. She tilted her head all the way back to look at him, her smile still stretching from ear to ear. "My name is Mercury, friend Akuroma!!" she exclaimed brightly, as if she was reminding him of something she probably hadn't actually told him beforehand. She probably wouldn't have remembered even if she had.

"Hey hey, I saw a bunch of stuff fall over there!! There was a shiny frisbee somewhere in all the junk!" the Fennekin exclaimed excitedly, as if she couldn't get the words out fast enough. "Do you like games? Do you want to play a game? It sure seems like you're good at games, you were really good at Keep Away and Play Fight!!" Mercury stared with big, adoring eyes; her head resting on her gold ribbon scarf as she waited for a response.

Akuroma looked over, where exactly did the Fennekin mean? The Gallade didn't think he'd get the answer right away, seeing as how Mercury had already switched subjects to games. Wait...she thought he was playing with the Marowak? That's...something. Was this Fennekin that naive or just really young? "Um, I suppose? I haven't really played many games. Um... Other than Play Fight."

"Anyways, where did you see those it- er, the frisbee?" the Gallade asked has he set the Fennekin down, slipping the Joy Ribbon off of her as he did so.

[21 energy]

Dracorexion carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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Mercury hopped around joyfully; savoring the feeling of having the ground back under her paws. She took a moment to stare up at friend Akuroma in awe; marveling at how tall he was compared to her. She cocked her head slightly, moving it all around; changing her perspective. She soon found that if she looked at him just right, he looked even taller than the mountain! Mercury wagged her tail around with a big, goofy grin on her face, amused this thought.

"Oh, right!" Mercury exclaimed suddenly, remembering friend Akuroma's request just before she was about to forget it. "The shiny frisbee!! It fell over here with a bunch of other junk!" the Fennekin announced, jumping to her feet and dashing over to a collection of rocks; presumably left over from a landslide that had happened earlier. She hopped and manuevered around in these rocks easily due to her small size, and it wasn't but a few minutes before she re-emerged from the rubble with the shiny frisbee between her teeth. She hadn't brought the rest; it seemed irrelevant to her.

Akuroma scratched the back of his head as he watched the Fennekin scamper over to the rubble, grabbing the TM and pulling it out. "Alright, that's nice, what about the other stuff? Sometimes junk isn't actually junk," the Gallade said as he walked over, reaching the site in just a couple of steps. He had to say, Mercury was pretty good at getting into small places. It somewhat reminded him of when he was a Ralts. Being so short helped him get into small places as well, not that he did for the most part.

[10 energy]

"Oh, you want me to get the other stuff, Akuroma friend?" Mercury asked, cocking her head slightly to the left. She didn't know why he wanted anything that wasn't an awesome shiny frisbee, but it might be fun to go spelunking again! "Hold on, I'll be right back!" she exclaimed, burrowing back into the rocks. She began to sniff out the items, having issues moving around due to her tired muscles.

"Jeez, I really wish I was less tired... I wanna play with Akuroma friend more..." she yawned, perturbed at her own level of exhaustion. As she processed this thought, a strange energy began to emanate from her, filling the area with strange vibrations and potential energy. The odd power started strong, but slowly faded. Mercury wormed her way through the rocks, collecting the items and being completely oblivious to the strange power she had released. As she gathered the items, she unknowingly passed a rocky nest within the pile of rocks. Two eyes watched her as she moved about, Mercury completely oblivious all the while.

"Darn it, where's that last item...?" she huffed, unable to locate the final seed. She sniffed around in the dark for a bit before finally finding it, then returned to the surface with an excited grin. "Found them all!!!!" Mercury exclaimed, laying the items out and then bouncing around eagerly as she awaited Aku's reaction.

Akuroma watched as the little Fennekin burrowed her way back into the pile of rubble. As he waited, a sudden pain came across his shoulder. The Gallade looked over to find an Absol biting down on him. Growling, Akuroma grabbed a hold of the Absol's face, prying it off before tossing it at the cliff face. The Gallade charged forward, slamming his fist into the Absol's gut, the rock wall behind the dark type cracking under the forces. The Gallade then brought his other fist down, the appendage glowing white as he used Brick Break on the Dark type's head. The Absol hung limply from the wall, having found itself quite mismatched against the Gallade.

Akuroma sighed in exasperation, returning to his spot kneeling over the rubble. As he got back into position, he saw the head of the Fennekin pop out with several items. Akuroma smiled, petting the bouncing Fennekin with one hand while he placed the items in his bag with the other. "At a girl," the Gallade said. He had to admit, the Fennekin was definitely more aware of their surroundings than he was. At least, when he was busy dealing with a fight. If she weren't here, he'd probably have never seen all those items tumble with those rocks.

Whilst Akuroma was petting Mercury, the Cubone from before snuck over, checking on his unconscious mother now that the fight was over. Akuroma paid him no mind, instead he took out a couple of Sitrus berries, handing one to Mercury. "Here, we'll eat a bit then we can head higher up the mountain. Sound like a plan?"

[25 energy]

Mercury relished in the sensation of getting her head rubbed, rubbing her head against Akuroma friend's hand each time her stroked her fluffy fur. She had never gotten a head rubbing before, at least not the she could remember, but it was now absolutely her favorite thing EVER. It felt really good, and it made Mercury feel like she had done a good job. Her tail wagged happily and her heart swelled when he complimented her; she beamed up at him brightly. The fact that she had impressed him made her even happier.

Mercury looked at the berry the Akuroma friend had offered her, then at Akuroma friend, then the berry and back. She bounced with joy again, thanking him twice and then once more before digging into the berry ravenously, as if she hadn't eaten in days. As she ate, the power from before returned, and her wish suddenly cam true, filling her up with even more energy. Finally, Mercury was much more herself, brimming with energy and enthusiasm. "Yaaaay! I wanna keep playing with you, Akuroma friend!!! I like you!!!" Mercury exclaimed. Akuroma was now very high on her list of favorites.

Mercury the Fennekin - 4 + 3 + 15 = 22 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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Akuroma smiled at the little Fennekin. It was almost like her happiness was infectious. The Gallade continued to pet her as he ate his own berry, finishing it in just a couple of bites. He opened his mouth, as if he were about to say something, when the rocks the Fennekin had just be digging in began to rumble. Akuroma quickly snatched Mercury, jumping back repeatedly as the rocks seemed to explode from nothing, a bright glow surrounding two Archen. Akuroma groaned silently, his free fist erupting into electricity as he saw the two Pokemon evolve into a pair of Archeops.

"Mercury, I'm going to distract these two, think you can get somewhere safe? We're probably going to be a bit rough when we play fight and I don't want you hurt," the Gallade said as he stood there, prepared to shield the little Fennekin from the Archeops, who were beginning to take off into the skies.

Mercury continued to rub her head up against Akuroma's hand, enjoying the feeling of having her head petted. It was like a warm massage on the top of your head, and Mercury didn't even have to give it to herself!! She would have liked to have her head rubbed a little more, but suddenly there were more pokemon wanting to play with Akuroma. She was about to offer to join in, but Akuroma suddenly asked her to go hide away or something. Maybe he wanted to play hide and seek?! Mercury was excited now; her tail swished around in the air gleefully.

Suddenly, Mercury noticed two figures beckoning to her out of the corner of her eye. She scampered over, distancing herself from Akuroma quite a bit. She tried to catch the figures, but they vanished into a little pile of rocks, like the one Mercury had digging around in earlier. She crawled inside and discovered a small, crudely-furnished clubhouse. Waiting for her within were the Cubone and the Aron from earlier; both looking at her with big, starry eyes.

"Woaaaaaah, it's a friend club!! So cool!!!! This is a GREAT hiding place!!" Mercury exclaimed, her mouth hanging agape in awe.

The Cubone grinned, obviously pleased that the fire type had complimented the little fort and even looked downright awestruck in response to it. "Thanks; glad you like it! This is our club house; only the toughest kids on the mountain get to join us!!"

The Aron grinned and nodded excitedly. "Yeah, and we are the bosses, cause we're the toughest! My pa can beat anyone on the mountain!!" he exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest to make him look cooler.

"Yeah, and my mom can beat his pop!!" the Cubone exclaimed. "But your dad beat my mom. Her got her real good too; she got up and went home and then passed right out again!! That makes you tougher than any of us, so you can join the club!!"

"Yeah, join the club!!" The Aron echoed. "We'll get you initiated and everything!!"

Mercury wagged her tail excitedly. Clubs? With friends?! So much fun!!! "Sure, I'll play 'initiaption' with you!!" Mercury grinned, bouncing around the room happily. "...but I can' tf or long, I'm playing a game with Akuroma right now, and he could find me any minute," Mercury explained in a hushed tone.

The Cubone nodded, "Oooooh, okay; don't worry! You can hide here; you'll win for sure! Nobody ever finds the clubhouse except for us!!" He looked very proud of the last statement, smirking heavily with his eyes shut and his hands on his hips. "Here, I'll call Combat and tell him to get the initiation kit!"

"Fif thomebofy thay inithiation kith?" a Poochyena with a bag in his mouth asked as he crawled into the clubhouse through a different entrance. He padded over and plopped the bag down in front of Mercury, wagging his tail and grinning. "Here, this item pack makes you a member of the club!! It's full of stuff we found around the mountain, I bet you'll like it!!"

"Welcome to the club, new member!!!" The three boys cheered in unison.

Akuroma let Mercury go off and hide, though he didn't notice the two figures urging her to come to them. He was much more focused on the pair of Archeops who began to dive bomb at him, twisting and turning together as they neared the Gallade. Akuroma growled as both of his fists began to glow a bright blue, the electricity from before disappearing as the Gallade changed tactics. Akuroma waited until the Archeops were near enough before slamming his fists into the ground, large stones piercing out, creating a barricade between himself and the Archeops.

The pair attempted to dodge the pointed stones, but one turned too quickly, slamming straight into one. The other, however, slammed into Akuroma instead of his Stone Edge attack, knocking the Gallade off his feet and down the mountain.

Akuroma struggled to right himself, eventually having to slam his fists into the ground and skid to a halt, already panting from the hard hit. He then launched himself forward, fists glowing a bright white as he began to chop at the Archeops. The Flying type bobbed and weaved this way and that, dodging the Gallade's attacks with relative ease.

"So, where are you and your dad from?" the Poochyena asked as Mercury pranced around the clubhouse, trying to find the best place within it to hide. She was certain that Akuroma wouldn't find her here, but she wanted to be extra double sure. Akuroma seemed pretty gosh darn smart and she didn't want to take any chances.

"Huh? Dad? You mean Akuroma?" Mercury asked, looking back at her three new friendly friends. She pondered this word for a moment. The word sounded familiar, but it was distant. She remembered it meant something about parents. "You mean Akuroma's my parent?" she asked, or maybe they were talking about some kind of special friend?

"Yeah! He's your dad," the Cubone commented, totally misconstruing what the Fennekin had said.

"Oh, well, okay!" Mercury grinned, not fully taking the time to process what had been said. "Well, I have a den in this really grey place. Even greyer than this mountain! And there's lots and lots and loooooooooooooots of rocks. Heaps of them! And there's a big wall of water in the entrance!" Mercury exclaimed as she described her home in the Monochrome Ruins.

All three boys sat and listened with awestruck faces; the place the Fennekin was describing sounded phenominal to a trio of boys who had lived their entire lives on a mountain.

Outside of the little Pokemon's clubhouse, the fight continued to rage on. The first Archeops got back up, rejoining the fight with its shiny twin. The pair clawed at the Gallade, trying to grab a hold of him in order to lift him up. However, Akuroma grabbed a hold of their legs, pulling the pair downward. As the trio struggled to move the other, a pair of Absol watched from atop the nearby cliff, unsure on if to intervene or not.

Akuroma growled, his hands erupting into electricity as he attempted to do something to the pair of Archeops. The move worked, both Pokemon freezing up as the electricity coursed through their bodies. The Gallade swung to the pair up over his head, slamming them into the ground behind him.

Meanwhile, back at the clubhouse, a pair of Archen, one shiny and one not, hopped inside, joining the group of younguns'.

A sudden noise startled Mercury as she was talking to the Cubone, the Poochyena, and the Aron. She spun around to see two Archen, a male and a shiny female and fellow members of the club, suddenly hopped in through a different secret entrance, both grinning happily. They greeted everybody within simultaneously, "Hello, everybod- oooooh new member?"

"Yeah!!" the Cubone exclaimed happily, "This is Mercury!! Her dad beat my mom, and get this! She lives behind something called a 'waterfall,' which is a big wall of water that can crush people!!"

"WOAH!!!" the female Archen cried out.

"Amazing!!" the male exclaimed with a glisten of fascination in his eyes.

"...Oh and Mercury, this is Roary and Igna. They may not look it, but they're actually twins," the Cubone said.

"Hi, nice-" "-to meet you!" The female Archen began and the male Archen ended.

"Oh wow, you're talk-funny friends!" Mercury squealed with glee, much to the delight (and maybe slight confusion) of the Archen siblings.

"There are a lot of loud noises going on outside..." the Aron commented suddenly with a worried look on his face, "My mom probably wants me home. I see lightning."

"Yeah, I better go too," Combat the Poochyena agreed, "I promised my little brother I'd spar with him today."

"Aww," "okay," the two Archen said dejectedly. Everybody waved them off as he dashed through a crack in the rocky clubhouse and disappeared, headed for his home. Mercury also made as sad face as she watched them go. As they left, something suddenly occurred to the Archen siblings. "Oh! almost-" "-forgot!" they exclaimed. They pulled out a basket and unanimously proclaimed, "We brought snacks!!"

Mercury happily accepted her share of the snack, which was two Apples which she hungrily scarfed down with a look of absolute glee.

Mercury the Fennekin- 10 energy

Akuroma panted as he stood up, the two Archeops having passed out after the shock and being slammed onto the ground. Sweat dripped off his brow as the adrenaline from the fight began to ebb away. The two Absol continued to watch, though made no move of attacking, leading the Gallade to leave them be. He felt too drained at the moment to get into another fight. Instead he went about relieving the two Pokemon of their items before he sat down against the canyon wall.

It took a moment, but the Gallade finally remembered Mercury. The rush of the battle had wiped the little Fennekin from his mind for a moment. Standing up, the Gallade called out, "Mercury!?" The Gallade began to walk around, his crest twitching as he attempted to sense the Fennekin's emotions.

All four young pokemon froze in place suddenly as they heard Mercury's name being called out in the distance. They all exchanged excited, gleeful looks as they giggled and ran to hide, Mercury scurrying under the table to the side of the room. "You're coooooooooooollllllllld~" Mercury called in a sing-song voice as more stifled giggling came from various areas around the clubhouse. The cold stone rubbed against her belly, but due to her fire typing it didn't stay uncomfortably cold for long.