Pernicious Growth

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Goro the Croagunk raised his head resolutely, taking in the dull, gray sky barely visible through the poisonous smog rising into the air. A perpetual stream of clouds blocked any view of the sun he might find, only the barest amount of daylight trickling down the sky and through the heavy, toxic fumes that wafted throughout the air. He'd thought to check the sun for its position, so he might gauge the time of day, but it was for naught. As curious as it was, the world had gone chill and the sun had turned shy; only clouds were visible in the sky these days. He sighed, dragging his eyes away from the sky and across the barren flatlands in front of him.

He'd heard stories about the Venen Gulch, how it was home to perhaps the most powerful Poison-type feral Pokémon on this side of the world, save perhaps Grima's Outpost. His usual fanfare in Cattail Marsh had long since grown dull, and he longed for something more powerful, a sense of danger that he'd forgotten in his recent security. The Croagunk had made his home in the dungeon some time prior, eagerly battling the feral Pokémon for his place within. It was a desperate and rewarding struggle, and he'd won himself a healthy stretch of territory in the mystery dungeon, and a healthy amount of respect from the local ferals. It'd been many days since he'd last come into contact with a Pokémon that wasn't a traveler.

His gaze flickered to the ravine in front of him - the eternal scar carved into the earth, stretching across the horizon from one end of his vision to the other, evidence of a once powerful river. He sat on its edge, legs dangling over the side of the ravine, gazing down its terrifying depths. It was a fruitless endeavor, as the poisonous fumes constantly rising from below obscured the floor completely from view. As a matter of fact, he couldn't see past a few feet, the lack of sunlight obscuring his vision even further. He knew it came from the poison-types that made their home there.

But he was of their kin. The poison that ran through his veins was not dissimilar to the toxic fog drifting through the air, and he longed to test himself against his brethren. As a battler, he had training, but if there was something that he lacked, it was experience. He had only ever fought Pokémon distinctly weaker than him-- how did he stack up against the strongest poison-types in the Gulch?

"Here's hopin' my fool self doesn't get killed." The Croagunk rose to his feet nervously, staring down the gulch with a visible anxiousness to him. Fear was a survival tool, he'd once heard. What did it say about him that he wanted to run away from the greatest challenge he'd ever seen in his life? Was it prudent of him, or cowardly? He'd come here with a purpose, a goal in mind, but now it seemed he'd contracted cold feet. He stood frozen over the gulch, seemingly transfixed by the toxic fumes rising from below, wrestling with his sense of survival and longing to test himself. It was clear he wouldn't move by himself, not without assistance, or for a very long time.

The Gallade stared down at Goro for a moment. "Come, might as well have one of us not hampered by this smog," he said as he turned and began to walk deeper into the dungeon. He fished out a pair of Sitrus berries from his pack, quickly chomping down on the berries. He then pulled out a pecha berry, frowning at it. Sighing, the Gallade shoved the berry back into his bag. He'd been poisoned before, and this felt worse than that. He doubted that a little berry would do anything to help with that.

(Energy: 34)

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Hurriedly, Goro rushed to his feet at Akuroma's comment, pausing only to give the defeated Croagunk on the ground one last glance, feeling a smidgeon of regret at the loss of control he suffered. Whoever this mystery Pokémon was, he was at least not hostile... but if he was, Goro would have been a sitting duck. He probably still was, now, as even after all this time the Pokémon in front of him was spending in the Gulch, he was enduring the poison stoically. He watched the stranger fish out a pair of berries to munch on, presumably to recover from any poison damage, but he bore it well. Whoever this guy was, it was obvious he was strong. Leagues ahead of Goro, at any rate. What the hell would such a guy be doing at Venen Gulch?

"You, uh... I'm Goro. If yer wonderin'. Wassat you causin' that light show down the way?" He recalled the vibrant flashes of light and electricity and wondered briefly at the Pokémon's typing. It was hard to tell, from his coloring and bearing, but judging from the razor-sharp blades at his elbows, some type of steel-typing wouldn't be a risky guess. Or perhaps a darkling, judging from the dark gray coloring. Goro shuffled behind the Gallade nervously, absently wondering why the Pokémon was still associating with him. Did he have some kind of use for a Croagunk down here? "I caught a glimpse or two of it, but I was kinda busy."

Akuroma looked back over his shoulder at the Croagunk, his red eye glowing slightly. "Yes, but it didn't help in seeing," he said matter-of-fact-ly. He chose not to give out his name. While he wasn't active for very long as an outlaw, he didn't want to find himself suddenly attacked from behind for some bounty. Though, giving the Croagunk another look over, the Gallade doubted he'd be any trouble. He shrugged to himself, starting to stretch his arms a bit to distract himself. He fell silent, save a few coughs here and there.

"In any case, I'm here to record what lives here and gauge their power. If you wish to help, don't get in front of me and make sure I don't get overwhelmed, understand?" he asked. It was certainly more of a command, but at least he phrased it like a question at the end.

Dracorexion carried out 5 launched of one Venen Gulch :

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When Akuroma looked back on the Croagunk, Goro could feel a cold shiver go down his spine. Just the sight of those glowing red eyes trained on him made him feel terrified and anxious, everything in his being telling him to run, the Poison-fighting hybrid had to physically stop himself from fleeing the larger Pokémon's presence. So he was trying to penetrate the fog with those flashes, it seemed. Even the slightest of motions from the Gallade intimidated him; a shrug here, a few coughs here and there, and Goro was wide-eyed and frantic.

In his fear and unease, the fact that Akuroma didn't disclose his name escaped him. The Croagunk wasn't concerned with identifying the other Pokémon as much as he was with not displeasing him. His presence was oppressive and dangerous, a cold sweat overcoming the frog Pokémon. He heard the words that the Psychic-type spoke, but it took several moments for them to actually register, Goro jolting forward at the realization that this Pokémon wasn't just speaking to him, but actually tasking him to help.

"I can-- yeah, I can help. I came here to fight other Poison 'mons, so just-- just point me at whatever ya want taken care of." He was eager to throw his lot in with the stronger Pokémon, for multiple reasons. One being that this was a way to get on his good side - from what little he'd seen of the stranger, the last thing he wanted to do was upset him or try actually telling him no. But if he could see him in action, actually fighting... Well. Goro might learn something from someone obviously so experienced. "I mean, not that you can't, but I'm sayin'-- I can take care o' myself, so don't sweat it. Stay back and make sure ya don't get swarmed - I got it."

the sunset hero carried out 3 launched of one Venen Gulch :

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Akuroma looked back at the Croagunk once more as he spoke. "Quit stuttering, I've no interest in attacking you. Right now you're the least of my worries," he said, turning his head back to look out in front of them. He then stopped for a moment, turning to face the Croagunk. "That's not an open invitation to attempt to attack me, by the way," Akuroma added, watching the Croagunk before he resumed walking. The Gallade soon stopped again, peering forward into the smog. The sounds of some sort of scuffle echoed through the dense cloud of gas. Several small steps with a few larger ones sounded out, accompanied by the sounds of growls, skids, stomps, and a myriad of other noises. Akuroma stepped forward slowly, his fist gaining a slight blue glow as he walked straight for the noise.

(energy 22)

At Akuroma's words, the Croagunk trailing behind him visibly flinched back. Alright, fine - so maybe he was laying it on a little thick. But at least this guy was tolerating him, rather than telling him to bugger off. Better yet, he was allowing Goro to travel with him, and let him help out on whatever task he was performing. Recording the Pokémon that lived here and figuring out their strength was something he could definitely assist with. In fact, the reasons that the two of them came here were relatively similar. Of course, Goro had no intention of gauging information, only here for to test himself against stronger Poison-types. Perhaps it wasn't unsurprising that this older, stronger individual had an actual job to do here, rather than spending his time getting into fights for fun.

When the Gallade halted at the sounds of a struggle, Goro paused right behind him, his eyes having no more success at penetrating the thick poisonous fog than Aku's. The sounds of a battle were clearly audible, however; either someone else was in the Gulch, or a group of local Pokémon had decided they didn't like the look of each other. Personally, Goro hoped for the latter, as there was nothing more he wanted to do now than witnessing this stranger in action. Battling others could get placed on the back-burner for now; learning from someone stronger was an opportunity that he didn't want to waste.

The blue hue shining around the Gallade's fist prompted Goro to prepare his own attack, his right forearm taking on a dull hue, the signature mark of his Drain Punch attack. Whatever was on the other side of that fog could serve him a purpose; he'd taken more than enough damage after his fall down the ravine, and the other Croagunk that ambushed him certainly did him no favors. Recovering some vitality would be a boon at the moment. The last thing he needed was to get taken out down here; there was no telling what would happen to him. Goro trailed slowly behind the Gallade in front of him, ready to spring forward as soon as the entered the fray. This is what I came here for!

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As the pair crept closer to the sound of the scuffle, Akuroma looked back at the Croagunk once more. This time the Gallade pointed to the side, motioning for the smaller Pokemon to move towards the right of the area. Akuroma would then wait where he stood, listening as the scuffling grew more intense. He the lunged forward, his fist slamming into the ground in front of him. Pointed, glowing blue rocks erupted out in front of the Gallade. The stones spread forward in a straight line towards the scuffle. A sudden cry was also Akuroma needed to know he hit someone. However, this small victory was short lived as a pair of Venipede leaped out of the fog at him. The Gallade brought one arm up to block one of the bug types, only to have the second slam into his chest and bite at him.

At the Gallade's prompting, Goro quickly shuffled off to the right side of the narrow ravine, seeing the logic in the other Pokémon's decision. This way, Goro would have a better vantage point to strike from if something leaped out of the smog to strike at his companion, and he'd be in a better position to assist him. His steps were cautious and slow as he moved, not willing to alert whatever was on the other side of the venomous smoke of their presence. The Croagunk he battled earlier was strong - but something belonging to a more powerful species would likely blow that out of the water.

Goro watched silently as his mysterious ally struck the ground mightily, causing a slew of sharp stones to erupt from the ground at whatever lurked ahead of them. An instant later, the attack obviously struck something, judging from the pained cry that sounded through the air. Goro jerked forward when a pair of Venipede suddenly leaped from out of the smog, striking in tandem with a sense of teamwork that belied their feral nature. One struck high while the other went low, one Venipede being blocked by Akuroma's arm while the other struck him the body, an effective sneak attack if Goro ever saw one.

His instructions from Akuroma ringing clear in his head, the Croagunk stepped forward quickly to help alleviate the Gallade from his ambushers, so he might focus on whatever else lurked ahead. There wasn't much he could do about the Venipede that struck the Gallade in the middle, so he focused on the one that was blocked, the Poison-Bug hybrid falling to the ground after its unsuccessful attack. His Drain Punch had already been prepared, his right fist glowing dully all this time, and Goro pressed forward with the intent to use it, his hand shooting forward in an overhand punch aimed at the diminutive Bug Pokémon. His punch struck hard and true, his hard fist crashing against the top Centipede Pokémon's head, sending it face-first into the ground harshly. The attack only seemed to disorient the creature, the quad-resisted attack barely stunning it before it turned to face its new opponent, the small Bug-type focusing on the Croagunk in front of it rather than assisting its kin with the Gallade to the side.

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