Babysitting Blues

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The sky was awfully dark and gloomy despite it being daybreak. That was how it had been for a while now, even sometimes seeming like it got darker each and every day. Yet despite the dark clouds, there was no storm brewing, no lightning in the air. But that didn't mean there wasn't that certain tenseness lingering everywhere, that feeling of wrong. Perhaps there was a time when Pokémon could be ignorant and continue their normal lives – but such was no longer the case. Everyone knew it. Something was up.

But Wellrose honestly had some much bigger things to worry about. Like say, his whole life that had turned upside down. It wasn't an entirely new thing, no, it had been a while now. But it certainly still felt new and foreign. Early before the sun had even properly risen, the old Audino had woken up and started his slow journey across the land, one shaky step at a time.

While he had expected it to be darker than back in the day, the dark clouds weren't the only thing blocking the sun and its light. Slowly but surely, the air starter to get thicker with a white blanket of mist – and before he knew it, Wellrose's vision had managed to turn almost completely gray. It was a miserable situation, one where waving his cane helped a little to clear the foggy air around him, but the lack of a breeze made sure that there would be more of it everywhere around him.

He had to be at a lower elevation where all the mist rolled down to. Using his cane and his feet to feel around, the Audino tried to find his way to elevated ground.

The only problem with that tactic? Well, climbing uphill was much more difficult than walking on level ground, for sure! Wellrose's leg and back already were aching, begging for a break. But he wasn't ready. The fog was growing thinner as he continued, which was a good sign. Perhaps he could soon see a bit further, as even though his ears were flicking around picking sounds from his environment, they didn't really help him find his way to his destination.

He had to be close, though. There was a town somewhere around here…


Current Energy: 11 (22 -10 from entering)

The twittering of the bird intensified as it wove about the fog in the air. It could see little in the air, but it seemed to at least be capable of avoiding running into anything. The little bird seemed to disappear into the mist, retreating for the moment for some strange reason.

The goomy was finally able to confirm that the pokemon he was walking with was not some enormously tall being, though he was still pretty tall to the goomy. Shinka stared at the Audino as it requested that he leave. What? Why would he leave? That was a dumb idea, that would just put an end to the fun of the adventure to wherever they were going with his new friend, Three-legs!

"No?" the goomy huffed with a pout, not paying much attention to the oncoming danger in favor of sticking with his new friend. If there were any big bad Taffies around, Shinka was confident that he could take care of them! Shinka's pout brightened up into a goofy grin, "Adventure!" he chimed in a sing song voice as his body swayed a bit left and right in excitement.

"What," Wellrose could only exclaim in a hushed voice, slightly surprised but anger slowly crept up on him and his face scrunched a little. Did this little insignificant Pokémon just… Refuse? This couldn't be real, could it? The Goomy didn't seem to even realize that there might have been some real danger heading their way, and the only way they could really avoid it was to not be seen in the first place?! They couldn't fight anyone off! Him, an old, worn out Pokémon and a little blob of a baby dragon that was useless…

"You–!" The old Pokémon started, his voice perhaps a bit too loud in this situation considering that he wanted to stay unnoticed, but the approaching sound forced him to stop. His ears twitched, and the Audino slunk back behind the rock. Fine! If the Goomy had a death wish, then who was he to stop the critter? Wellrose was just going to hide, thank-you-very-much.

The little Spoink wheezed, its body pushed to its limits. But it couldn't stop now! It heard the snarls from behind it, and the powerful maw that snapped shut almost right next to it, causing the Pokémon to try to jump out of the way to the side and squeal – a sound which it tried to muffle, not wanting the ears in the sky to hear his position. The Furfrou behind it had gotten even faster despite the long way they had run, making the Spoink start to lose hope as it fought for its life.

But there was something ahead of the little jumping pig. A small, round shape – a rock? No, it moved. Was it an enemy – or a friend? This far it hadn't dared to call for help, having hoped that it might have been able to blend into the mist… But now the mist only seemed to be thinning! The Spoink couldn't stop. This might all be a trap, too, but… But it was really running out of options – and energy!
"Heeeeeelp!"


Current Energy: 5 (3 +2 from the new page)

The audino's actions confused the goomy, but fortunately his young mind did not dwell on it for too long. A call caught his attention, a call for help in specific. The young blob of goo could see something approaching. Was a Taffy coming? Taffies were always frequent in places like this, those big meanies always bullied little pokemon around!

Having finally pieced together a clue of what was going on, the goomy's behind began to boil and ripple as a bubbly purple form raised itself from behind Shinka. The little dragon puffed out its cheeks and put on a determined look. The scorpian-like tail rose above the goomy's head, ready to strike with a harsh Poison Tail at any threat that might appear.

He may have been a child, but Mammy was not stupid. He had taught little Shinka the basics of fighting...well, at least he hoped. Whether or not the goomy actually paid attention to the lessons were a different story. It also did not help that the Archeops was a bird, and Shinka was a blob of tissue.

"Taffffyy!" the goomy growled, attempting to appear intimidating before charging in to help whoever the bully's victim was.

Wellrose heard the call for help – and how could he not have heard it? Despite his age, his hearing as as keen as ever, capable of hearing even the smallest rustles of grass. One thing became apparent, though: there indeed was trouble brewing. The approaching Pokémon were on different sides of the issue however, meaning that there was one less Pokémon that would have been against the Audino in case a fight broke out and they were all dragged into it. But if you asked him? He wasn't going to make a move. If he could stay hidden, he definitely would.

His ears were doing most of the work, swiveling as they listened. But while his eye wasn't particularly busy, it was nonchalantly looking at the ground, where something managed to catch his interest. A small pebble, no, two of them… Carefully, quietly, Wellrose bent over – and not because he wanted to avoid making noise, but because his back certainly could get stiff from time to time! He ran his paw over the smooth, cold surface of the rock, slightly moist from dew. Maybe… Maybe he could make some use of these…?

That was a thought that didn't manage to go very far. The Goomy he had almost managed to forget about called out, definitely giving out the Pokémon's position – and perhaps that was a good thing, for the Spoink at least. The pig was hopping as fast as it could, only managing to see the little blob-like Pokémon at the last possible moment.
"Wh-whoa!" It called out in surprise before hopping to the side, just barely managing to avoid running into the Goomy – or the poisonous attack. The pig did, however, lose its footing – or tailing as it might have been in this case, tumbling over and faceplanting into the wet grass.

The Furfrou didn't seem to be very intimidated, its dark face now appearing from the mist with its maw open, foamy drool dribbling down as it attempted to snap its teeth on the Goomy.

The little goomy shrieked as he was suddenly attacked by the furfrou, causing the newly formed tail to stab at the furry pokemon as quickly as possible as many times as it could. The teeth sunk into the goomy, but failed to do anything against him or pierce his skin...at least what was skin to a goomy. The goomy's body structure merely submitted to the pressure and it was as if the canine was merely biting into a slimy plush toy. Shinka squeezed his eyes shut in fear and blindly waved the stinger at the furfrou in attempt to ward him off and get him to let go.

The stinger grew dangerously closer to the eyes with each strike, though would often completely miss due to the goomy failing to pay attention to just where he was hitting. It was entirely possible that he was missing completely, but with the close proximity it was highly unlikely.

Where was three-legs? Was he not going to help? The little goomy's mind spun, but he reasoned that three legs was probably just scared! It was up to him to take care of this big bad Taffy! The soft tissue pokemon opened one eye at last and delivered a more careful strike towards the furfrou, aiming right of the right eye of the furfrou that glared at him so intimidatingly.

The Furfrou certainly tried. Its jaws snapped shut with great speeds and strength, and it probably didn't even notice that it wasn't harming the Pokémon it was fighting in its seemingly enraged state. Its sharp teeth sunk into the Goomy's soft body easily and the Furfrou kept ripping into the other Pokémon, attempting to shred the poor thing. The scraggy dog didn't even seem to really notice the stinger that waved about all over the place, even when it managed to actually hit its snout… Well, at least the first couple of times. While the Furfrou could ignore some of the pain, the attacks did build up and cause it to back off slightly.

Except then the stinger ended up hitting the Pokémon right in the eye, causing it to jump backwards and let out a high-pitched yelp.

Wellrose was planning his escape. Behind the rock, he was not going to be noticed by the rabid mutt chomping on the Goomy, so he could use that to his advantage. The whole scene, honestly, was just a pretty good distraction for him to make his leave. Sure, the annoying little gooblob seemed to not actually be harmed as far as the old Audino could tell, but… Well, did it really matter all that much to him even if the thing was being ripped apart there?

But the bird. The bird was still up there. Wellrose wasn't entirely sure if it was with the crazy Furfrou, but eyes in the sky did worry him. He might be seen if he left his little hiding spot – and perhaps… Perhaps he had already been seen? He had to work quick, here–

The yelp from the dog caused him to draw in some air through gritted teeth, his eye squeezing shut. That certainly rung in his ears in an uncomfortable manner. The Furfrou… Was only growing angrier. For a moment it had been shocked, its right eye shut and its white muzzle stained with little dots of darker red. But then it glared at the Goomy, its gaze intense as it pierced the little Pokémon – metaphorically speaking.

It had learned. It wouldn't get close again, its body shaking from the anger and adrenaline coursing through its veins. Once more its lips twisted into a snarl as it bared its pearly white teeth, thick strands of drool dripping through the gaps and onto the moist grass below. Digging its claws into the soft ground, the Furfrou let out a great echoing yowl as it went for another way to damage its enemy without having to get close: sound itself.

And that sound was enough to cause Wellrose to groan audibly as he lifted his paws in an attempt to cover his sensitive ears, the stick falling from his grasp.

The goomy's antennae shivered as the snarl echoed and shifted into damage. Shinka shrieked in pain as he squeezed his eyes shut. He needed to get rid of this thing, and fast! The goomy took a deep and prolonged breath. His body expanded and began to emit a green light. The light flashed forward and turned into green vines of energy that would attempt to touch the canine and sap his strength with an Absorb attack. If he could not get any closer, then he would just attack from a distance!

When the goomy was finished it unleashed his breath with a flurry of bubbles to surround and protect himself. The explosive bubbles acted as mines as they floated upward, one of them bursting as a certain bird crashed into one of them.

There was a loud yet angry squawk from above before silence. Whether it had been taken down with the attack or not was unknown, but the goomy figured it was not even probable. He had to protect the spoink and three-legs! He had to!

ooc//late late laaaaaaaate

The Furfrou's attack lasted for what seemed like a small eternity, but then, it stopped as the dog-like Pokémon's ears twitched as if it had heard something from the distance. For a moment, its expression even seemed to change, no longer as bloodthirsty and more… Curious, perhaps. But it was over soon as the Pokémon sniffed and caught scent, locating the source of that sound. It had been so busy with this slimeball, that it hadn't even kept an eye – or an ear, or a nose – on its surroundings. But now it had changed. Once more its lips curled up to reveal its sharp teeth, the fur on the dog's back rising like the sharp quills of a hedgehog.

And then, it leaped. Ignoring the Goomy for now, the Furfrou jumped on the rock Wellrose had tried to hide himself behind, its paws landing on the moist rock before it propelled itself forward and right into the Audino. Wellrose didn't have enough time to react, by the time he had gotten over the nasty sound, he already felt strong paws pushing him over and pinning him into the ground, the dog's claws scratching him on the way. The old Pokémon's back hit the wet ground, the air in his lungs rushing out of his body in a whimpering oof. Already, he could tell that this was going to hurt the next day, his body bruised… Assuming that there was going to be a next day.

"Get… Get off me!" Wellrose spat, feeling the hot, smelly drool dribble from the awaiting maw right above his face and stain his fur despite his best efforts to twist and turn and avoid said drool. Or the awful warm breath that seemed to envelope his nostrils. Of course the Audino tried to struggle, but his stubby little limbs didn't have the strength to push the bigger Pokémon off him. The Furfrou meanwhile, prepared to strike.


((Pfft, we're in no hurry here! Probably.))

He could hear his new friend struggling within the mists. He was off to save the day with a quick puff of his chest, rushing over to the source of the noise and aiming the Poison Tail that had formed behind him straight at the furfrou's face. There was a bit of danger of striking Wellrose with the attack, but the goomy was focused more on trying to strike the canine in a vulnerable place. The fur around the canine must have protected it significantly.

The goomy had been trying to poison it with the move, but he was beginning to doubt the stinger was really even sinking in with how it seemed to move about unphased. The poisonous tail reared back and struck at the furfrou's face. The goomy quickly glowed green afterwards as vines attempted to wrap themselves around the furfrou once more as he would attempt to drain the dog of his energy.

Thick strands of drool had wetted Wellrose's fur considerably, his fur having grown darker and clumped together in those patches. And despite his life being in danger here, there was of course, the worry of not wanting any of that disgusting slobber on him. Well, by now it was kind of a moot point, but at least he could try to avoid getting it into his eyes or mouth as he twisted and turned, still well pinned by the Furfrou. There seemed to be no way to avoid the stench however, as the warm breath hit his nostrils…

It was indeed a sticky situation, figuratively and literally. The sharp teeth that approached could, potentially, do him in with just one good bite. He could hear the rustling, his ears still picking the sounds from his surroundings despite having some much bigger issues at hand. But the Audino was not alone. A stinger soon swiped at the dog – much too close to Wellrose's own face for comfort – causing the Furfrou to stagger as it yelped. Most likely from surprise rather than pain, as this far the Pokémon had showed dangerously low amounts of worrying about that whole pain thing.

It was enough. The elderly Audino was more or less free, rolling out from under the Pokémon and using the time he had been bought to get on his feet, carefully. Without the cane, his bad leg certainly felt like it ached even more with the extra weight it had to support, but all Wellrose could do was to grit his teeth and bear it.

Vines had been wrapped around the Furfrou that was furiously trashing against them and snapping its teeth as it did its best to escape. Wellrose didn't want to admit it, but the stupid blob of goo honestly seemed like he was the best chance of surviving this, as awful as it sounded. The dog sure wasn't giving up, despite having already taken quite the beating – or perhaps the Goomy just was weak. That certainly was a possibility.
"You need to put more effort into it!" The Audino instructed, wanting to end this but being unable to do it on his own,
"Everything you have, all your strength. In just one hit," he continued, bringing his paws together. The palms seemed to start glowing slightly as the old Pokémon drew in a deep breath, ready to use Helping Hand. The squirt seemed to need all the help he could get.

The poisonous tail of the slime monster failed to do much against the canine, but it combined with the vines of the Absorb attack was enough to free his ally. The energy of the grass type attack did as much as it could to distract the furfrou as he opened one of his closed eyes to take a look at what had occurred. If "Mammy" and "Spoop" were around, he would have been afraid. He would have much rather had the archeops or the glaceon take care of this fiendish foe, but they here they were not. He had to be brave, he had to fight the foe himself in order to be of use.

The teeth of the savage before him snapped at the vines. He could hear the sound of the teeth clash together with each bite whenever they happened to miss their mark. He could hear the pink pokemon speak to him with words of encouragement, almost like a coach or a teacher.

The goomy puffed his cheeks out in response, ready to give it his all with one last shot. He had thought he had done his best before, but if the pink thing thought that this round would be different then he would place his trust Three-legs! The purple dragon felt a new surge of strength flow as Three-Leg's paws began to take on the glow of a Helping Hand. The goomy's body began to expand outwards almost as if he were being inflated like a balloon. The furfrou tore away at the last of the vines left over from the Absorb attack just as the goomy decided to unleash the next.

The goomy's mouth opened wide as a flurry of bubbles had been unleashed from his mouth. His body deflated slowly as the attack was unleashed, each bubble shot forward one after another as their size and strength were doubled by the Helping Hand the normal type had given him.

ooc// pretend this was posted ages ago

The rather threatening snap that echoed in the air as the Furfrou ripped the vines that had once kept it in place reached the Audino's ears, twitching as the eye he had closed in concentration for a moment scrunched up into a frown. Opening that single remaining eye of his, he confirmed something that didn't really need confirmation: the feral Pokémon was once again free. Luckily, this time it was going after the Goomy rather than him, but if they didn't take care of this soon… Well, with his leg, there was no way for Wellrose to escape.

What he had been reduced to, forced to depend on such a young and inexperienced Pokémon.

With a snarl and bared teeth, the Furfrou turned towards the Goomy ready to strike, its claws digging into the ground as it bounced forth with great speed. But what time the odd pair had bought earlier had done its trick, the attack the little pile of dragon goop had stored able to be released before those teeth sunk into him. A massive stream of bubbles erupted from his little body, strengthened by the power the Audino was giving him – and truly, if one had ever doubted the strength of mere bubbles, the scene before them might have given them some other thoughts.

They hurt. The first few splashed and popped against the Furfrou's face, forcing it to some to a screeching halt. It no longer could avoid the attack, having run straight into it. The force of the bubbles forced it to start backing up – or perhaps it was actually the force of them that pushed it backwards? That definitely could have been it, as eventually the bubbles managed to push the Pokémon with such strength that it was thrown off its paws, landing onto the ground onto its back.

The dog growled, squirming for a moment but unable to get up. Its chest moved rapidly as it panted, a long tongue lulling out of its foamy mouth. Once more it tried to snap at something, anything, but its strength failed it, its eyes rolling up in their sockets.


((Okay if you pretend this was posted earlier too because I totally missed this one somehow?!))

The stream of bubbles seemed to weaken as he deflated. Shinka looked to be thinner than usual as his body was rid of the last of the air. A few weak bubbles escaped his mouth before he suddenly inhaled oxygen once more. The goomy had to take a moment to recover from the attack, it had really taken a lot out of him even with the helping hand!

Shinka had never really fought before. He had a few skirmishes, but for the most part, he was inexperienced. What a rush that had been, though! The goomy could still feel the flight or fight response in his body. Something concerned him, though, as he realized the furfrou seemed to cease its movement. His head tilted to the side, was it sleeping? Here of all places?

He gave a shake of his head to clear his thoughts and attempt to relax his body in some way. He looked over Three-Legs, "Three-Legs! We did it!" the goomy cried with excitement. They had beaten the spoop! It had been a rough fight, but the goomy was proud of himself for coming out on top of things. It had certainly been an experience he was sure to remember. The great adventures of Shinka and Three-Legs, he couldn't wait to tell mammy and spoop about this! His body gave another quiver of excitement.

"We beat it~ We beat it~" the goomy continued to cheer in celebration of their hard earned victory.

The soft glow from Wellrose's paws faded as the attack came to an end, luckily having achieved their desired effect. The Furfrou was thrown aside and had stopped moving – and whether it was dead or merely unconscious, he did not care enough to risk a limb to check. Letting his arms fall to his side, he allowed his eye to take in the scenery. The white fur stood out from the wet grass, though for anyone looking at them from afar, the mist surely would soon swallow the Pokémon now that they had stopped swishing around with their movements.

A shrill, high-pitched squeak that was the Goomy's voice shot through the Audino like a jolt of electricity, causing him to grit his teeth. That moment of serenity had come to a stop in a rather abrupt and unfortunate way. The elderly Pokémon had almost hoped for the kid to have disappeared. Okay, he had, not just almost.

"Yeah yeah, that's great, kiddo. Now quiet down before you rupture an eardrum," Wellrose's response to the kid's excitement was less so, back to his usual, gruff self. The mist had rolled over them to cover the sky, meaning that he no longer could see the bird that had been with the Furfrou… But in that case, it couldn't see them, either. In fact, it seemed like during the battle, something had happened to cause it to leave – but he had been so occupied with things like, oh, his own life, so he hadn't been able to notice.

"How about you use that energy for something useful and see if you can find my walking stick…"

The goomy paused his momentary celebration as his friend began to talk. His brain had to really put itself to work as it deciphered what the pink creature before him had even talked about. The goomy gave another shake as the light bulb in his mind seemed to flick on. Three-legs...only had two legs! His third leg was gone!

While the goomy was awfully curious as to how the audino's "legs" could be removed without great pain, he wanted to help his friend. The goomy gave a softer cry before his body moved so he could look at the ground in front of him. He would search every inch of this grass for Three-leg's final leg if need be!

"Find the leg~ Find the leg! Find the leg~" he hummed to himself quietly, all fears and excitement of the earlier battle now gone as he resumed his childish horseplay. The goomy either did not understand that he would not find it by searching each small patch of grass foot by foot, or seemed to disregard it all together for a more silly effect. If left to his lonesome, odds were he would not be able to find the stick anytime soon.

He had lost all sense of urgency in the situation, as newfound confidence from the battle had convinced him that they would be able to take on anything this area had to offer. That furfrou was strong, what could possibly be stronger other than Mammy and Spoop? Shinka had a wide smile on his face as he continued to hum his little tune and search for the missing "leg" in a very ineffective manner.