The Enemy of My Enemy Is Smelly

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When Goro the croagunk had heard from a traveler that there was water nearby, this was not what he expected.

The outlaw stared at the frozen stream with a dumbfounded look on his face, his hairless brow twitching in irritation. He was cold, tired, hungry, and he was already sick of eating snow. He'd run out of food for this little trip this morning and he was days away from any kind of civilization. His stomach was already rumbling idly and he was quite thirsty. And it seemed that a nice, ice-cold, refreshing drink was just too much to ask for.

He sighed and turned away from the large body of ice, his breath steaming in the cold of the afternoon. He could hear the sound of water rushing underneath the icy river, so it was probably just the top that was frozen over. But how on earth was he supposed to get to it without falling under and drowning? He croaked loudly in frustration, sitting down in the snow and crossing his arms in thought.

Goro was distinguishable by others of his kind by a few different markers. Perhaps most notably was his left hand - it was quite misshapen and he was always gentle with it nowadays, hinting at a significant injury. A red-stained, tattered joy ribbon was tied to his left bicep, and in his other hand was a bindle containing his supplies (or what was left of them).

To any onlooker, he probably looked like a homeless vagabond down on his luck. In actuality, he was a very bored outlaw with nothing better to do with his time than to get himself into trouble like this.

Walking on ice was very different than walking on snow. Snow seemed to clog up his movement. It wasn't all too dissimilar from fighting in muck or mud as he used to in Cattail Marsh. With ice, though, it was just treacherous. Goro had to move carefully, for fear of slipping and giving the giant walrus pokemon a golden opportunity to body slam him into a pancake.  

His repeated body blows were doing well, though. The walrus pokemon in front of him seemed hesitant to charge in; three super effective attacks would do that. Its caution came around to bite it, though, when a silver spike came flying in from the side and lodged itself deep into the walrein's side, eliciting a pained growl from the beast. Goro only had to glance to the side to see that it was the growlithe who had helped him out.

Far be it from him to ignore an advantage like that. Goro charged forward again. Hit without getting hit, he told himself, and aim for its weak spots. The walrein was equal parts confused and shocked from the surprise attack - he had to take advantage of that. Quickly closing the distance, he slid forward on the ice to end up just underneath the large pokemon's chins. Ignoring the sharp and deadly tusks in front of him, he mercilessly threw a Drain Punch aimed at the walrein's throat. It was a brutal uppercut, and as his fist slammed into his enemy's windpipe, he could feel the attack drain vitality from his opponent, healing him.

The pokemon drew back, choking, gasping desperately for air that wouldn't come. Goro drew back again. He wanted to press the attack and hit it some more, but that was how he got caught by the water attack last time. Case in point, the walrein's cheek bulged obscenely before it let loose a monstrous spray of water aimed blindly between Goro and the growlithe. He could tell, immediately, that it wasn't so much an attack aimed at an opponent so much as it was a warning, something to scare away its enemies so that it could catch its breath.

It worked. Goro stepped back a healthy distance until his feet were planted in snow instead of ice, withdrawing from the frozen stream. The blast of water the walrein just used looked and felt way stronger than before. He did not want to take one of those. The croagunk's breathing steadied, rhythmic and precise, and he realized that he wasn't quite so cold anymore. There was no hail chipping at him from above. The puppy must have used Sunny Day again, he realized.

He was focused, healthy, growing warmer by the second and eager for more. On the other hand, the walrein was panting and gasping for air. One of its sides was bruised and the other was bleeding lightly onto the ice, Opal's steel spike lodged in deep. It was almost finished.

In the distance, having surfaced from the water and climbed up onto the icy surface, Goro saw a myriad of other pokemon watching their battle, a handful of spheals and just one older sealio. What he did not notice, though, was the way the walrein put itself between them and him. He had not yet made the connection that the walrein was simply defending its family and territory from two foreign threats, too eager for conflict.

Opal also saw more pokemon surface to watch the battle. There were numerous little sphere-shaped pokemon, and a slightly bigger creature that looked like a cross between the spheres and the beast she and the croagunk were fighting at the moment. Unlike Goro, however, being further away meant she had the time to put two and two together. The little ones looked worried, and the bigger one was quite deliberately placing itself between them and the action... This must be a family consisting of multiple evolutionary stages! Continuing to fight would just cause more problems!

"Stop! Stop fighting, both of you!" Opal cried and ran forward, "Croagunk, this pokemon is just defending its family! Blue pokemon, we really didn't mean to trespass! We'll leave now! I can heal you, too!"

Goro was torn from his battle by the growlithe's cries for peace. He turned back to the walrein, tilting his head so as to look behind it. Sure enough, there were a bunch of mini-walrus pokemon hanging out behind it. That did complicate matters... if this had been a battle purely for territory and challenge, then he had no qualms with beating the pokemon to a pulp. But if the pokemon didn't want to fight then he didn't have much of a reason to hurt it. Unless orders demanded otherwise, Goro only fought pokemon who wanted a piece of him. With this in mind, Goro realized that the walrus pokemon wasn't much of a fighter. Despite having evolved twice, it fought simply and lacked a certain intelligence. The more and more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that this walrein was fighting him out of necessity rather than choice.

"You'll leave now?" It spoke for the first time, its voice guttural and deep as if it was unused to speaking. It seemed more feral than not.

The croagunk was silent for a few moments, eyeing his opponent. His foe looked very worse for the wear. Bruised and bleeding and tired out, it postured weakly in an attempt to scare the two travelers off. In contrast, while he definitely wasn't in his best condition, his repeated Drain Punches left him feeling a lot healthier than the walrein looked. In all likelihood, if this battle continued, he would win.

"If yer wimpin' out... sure," Goro interjected. His own analysis of the situation wouldn't satisfy him. He had to hear it from his opponent, too.

The walrus pokemon's lip curled, its distaste with the situation evident in its strained voice. "I concede, then, on the condition that you withdraw from my family's territory. You, fire-type. Come remove your toy from my side. But know that if you try anything stupid, I'll sink you."

All the tension and adrenaline flooded from his system, and Goro snorted at the water-type's attempt to look tough. Crossing his arms impudently, he stretched the sore feeling out of his back while he waited for the puppy pokemon to retrieve her spike. He was still mighty cold; he wanted her to keep up her Sunny Day trick for as long as she could. It felt nice.

If Opal was capable, she would have facepalmed at Goro's response to the walrein. Antagonising him was the last thing she needed when she was trying to end this peacefully. Surprisingly, the beast didn't devolve back into the feral state which appeared normal for it. Good, negotiating was still going to be possible.

"Of course. I'll be as quick as I can." Opal hurried over to the massive pokemon, desiring to get this over with as quickly as possible. Despite herself, she was scared and really didn't want to be close to the creature. "If you could just lie down a little, please, I can't reach... There... No, I'm not about to bite you! I'm going to grab the spike now, okay?"

After reassuring the walrein that she was putting her paws on him so she'd have an easier time pulling the spike out, and that she wasn't going to use her jaws to hurt him, either, Opal had extracted the metallic object, which she briefly placed at her feet.

"See? Now, I'm going to use a move called Morning Sun. It'll make you feel better, okay?"

No longer touching the walrein, Opal drew on what solar energy there was in the area, and directed it to heal him. She used some of the energy for herself as well, then apologised for the disturbance, picked up her spike and trotted away.

[+5 energy from Morning Sun=7]

The walrein warbled in surprise, shifting its massive body on the ice as Morning Sun worked its magic. Emboldened by the sudden lack of conflict, its family wandered a bit closer, the sealeo, in particular, trotting forward to meet its elder. Goro watched the scene in front of him with a mildly surprised look on his face. This dog pokemon was a great deal more useful to have around than he first thought! She could dispel hail, summon sunlight, heal others, and probably create fire as well, judging from her typing. He resolved to take her with him, for as long as he was lost in these snowy lands.

Having protected its territory, the goliath ice-type turned and left as well, joining its family of mini-walreins in the distance. The younger ones seemed to fuss over their elder for a few moments before they all dove back under the lake through a hole in the ice. The fight didn't end the way Goro had expected. Ideally, he would have liked to knock the bigger pokemon out. But maybe it was for the best - he was hurting a bit from the fight, the recovery he got from his drain punches not enough to restore him fully. There was no telling what else was waiting for him on his way home.

Plus he was still so chilly; the Sunny Day helped, but it wasn't enough. The water attack he took didn't help matters at all. Goro had to make a conscious effort to stop shivering. Maybe he could get the dog to spit out a fire for him so he could warm up... He marched over to where he had panted his bindle in the snow, nestling it in between his left arm and shoulder, careful not to disturb his injured hand.

"'Ey," he called out to the growlithe, ambling back over to her, his tone demanding. "Do that healin' thing on me, too."

"No can do," Opal told the frog curtly, "Not right now. I might do it later if you ask nicely."

The growlithe didn't like this stranger's rudeness. Her own words might have been nicer if he had shown manners. She thought briefly about voicing this, but given Goro's aggression, she decided otherwise. Subtlety was the safer route. Either way, it was clear she wasn't going to be left alone, and truth be told, Opal could use another pokemon out here, especially one who was such a skilled fighter. She just wished she'd ended up with... someone else.

"We're going to go this way, away from the stream," Opal declared sternly and lifted a paw to point, "Then you can decide which way to go."

Without waiting for an answer, the pup set off again, really hoping the croagunk would cooperate for at least a little bit. They didn't need another conflict so close to the last one.

Goro snorted at the growlithe's response, equal parts amused and exasperated with her response. He was in a bit better of a mood now that he'd gotten himself into a good scrap. Still super cold, but he didn't feel itchy under the skin anymore, and he felt a soreness all over his body that he found particularly enjoyable. His right fist, in particular, was throbbing and aching, and it was a sweet, familiar pain. The left one was just perpetually twinging with a sharp fire; he really needed to get it looked at.

"What makes you think I was askin'?" he replied. Despite his tone and words, he only put his hand on his hip and trailed after the spunky fire-type, pacified for the moment. He wasn't about to let her leave him. She was warm and far too useful to ignore. And having someone like that out here with him was in his best interest. Plus, she could be a valuable source of information. Keeping her around was something his boss would do, so it was the smart thing to do.

Being too rough with her might be a bad idea, though. Goro hadn't even seen her throw that spike at the walrein. By the time he noticed it, it had already happened. Plus she bit down on him pretty hard when he fished her out of the stream. He didn't fancy getting stabbed or chomped on. The croagunk glanced at her from the corner of his eye, content to let her call the shots for a moment while he caught his breath and recovered.

"I didn't think you were asking. I'm just saying how it is," came Opal's reply. She didn't bother to stop or even look at the croagunk. The growlithe just kept moving and was grateful that he wasn't causing trouble. How long would he remain passive, though? Heck, how long before she could be rid of the smelly frog?

Opal half-expected an attack at any moment, but she was pleasantly surprised that the two of them had made it to some nearby woods without any trouble whatsoever. Her pleasure what short-lived, though, because other pokemon lurked close to the border. Were these ones hostile as well? She hoped not.

"Quiet, frog," the growlithe whispered, "We're not the only ones here..."

Frebedor carried out 7 launched of one Frozen Stream :

, , , , , ,

"Bein' quiet ain't gonna change that, genius." For some reason, he was excited that she wasn't just taking crap from him laying down. It would be more fun to tease her that way. Goro wanted to see if he could rile her up a little bit... "You stick out like a sore thumb in these parts. All orange n' spicy, you ain't hidin' from nobody."

He conveniently ignored the fact that he stood out just as much as she did, a croagunk wandering the tundras all on his own. As a guild-member, she probably even had some form of business here, but he was just got lost on his way home. Still, he endeavored to exercise some form of caution at her warning, as she was probably better than him at detecting other pokemon, what with that nose of hers. Dogs were good at sniffing folks out, right?

Sure enough, some pokemon had melted out of the woods to meet them. He almost recognized one of them - it looked like an evolved piplup, taller, bulkier, with golden... eyebrow things. Flanking it on both sides were a pair of shellder, and Goro immediately pegged them as followers. They stood in the thick of the trees, paused, not making much of a move to confront or flee from the two travelers, as if they didn't know what to make of them. He was a bit disheartened to be interrupted by the trio, but maybe they could prove interesting.

The croagunk pasted on an unctuous, shit-eating grin. "Howsabout I let you handle these ones, furball?" Maybe getting her paws dirty would get her off of her high horse. Plus he could see what she was made of. Goro was pretty sure he was stronger than her, otherwise, she wouldn't be putting up with him at all... although she was gonna try to arrest him, earlier, before the walrein showed up. He was eager to see just how tough she was.

"I know it won't change that, but it can help us not get noticed," Opal huffed, getting increasingly annoyed. "Oh, they heard us. Good going, you idiot."

As eager as the croagunk was for conflict, Opal wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him cause havoc. She wanted to scold the frog, but there were more important things to worry about, like informing this new group of pokemon that she wasn't hostile. They had been giving the pair a suspicious look after her last remark.

"I'm an explorer, not a thug," was her response to Goro's challenge before she trotted out to meet the strangers.

"Hey there. My name's Opal. I don't want to fight, I just want to explore, so would I be able to get past, please?"

Goro chortled to himself quietly as Opal scampered off to confront the pokemon. Now she was actually insulting him. He was going to push her buttons a little bit harder and see what else she was capable of. He trailed behind the growlithe at a much slower, lazier pace, not in much of a hurry to back the fire-type up in case things took a bad turn. Maybe he'd get lucky and the water pokemon would hose her down before she could even say anything. That'd be hilarious.

The three pokemon were quiet for just a moment, seeming shocked that the traveler was actually speaking with them. Then, from its position at the prinplup's side, one of the shellders spoke up. "Boss!" it whispered quite loudly, an urgent tone to its voice, as if trying to remind the much taller pokemon of something. Its eyes looking up at the tall penguin pokemon from below, it looked like the picture perfect underling.

"Ah, y-yeah, right," it whispered back, voice equally grave. Then it reared up, puffed its chest out, and pointed at Opal with a flipper. The prinplup bellowed out in a voice that was clearly meant to intimidate lesser, smaller pokemon. "This is Frosty Forest Gangster land you're walking on, growlithe! You're pretty smart, not wanting to fight us... for a fire-type, that is!

"We might be inclined to let you and your friend pass... if we were incentivized." The prinplup then crossed its flippers together, looking smug and self-important. Following its lead, the two shellder swelled up in kind, eyeing the two travelers with greedy glints in their eyes.

"Yeah! Give us stuff, and we'll let you pass through!" They echoed together, before chuckling ominously from behind the prinplup.

Oh goody, more outlaws. It just didn't seem to be Opal's day. She certainly had a lot to report on when she arrived back in Grassveil Town, but none of it so far was the information she had been asked to collect. Well, no one really asked for criminal activity, she supposed, but that was an important topic to know about. At least she was having success in one area. She just had to get out in one piece.

Losing her items to these gangsters wouldn't help matters. She didn't carry anything of significant value, anyway, with the exception of her Joy Ribbon. The water types mustn't have known what it was if they hadn't asked for it specifically. Clearly they weren't too smart. Perhaps there was some way to trick them? It would certainly be better than trying to take them all on by herself. Brawn was a moot point when she was a lone fire type against a whole group of enemies with super effective typing.

"Uh... Sure... Just let me see what I have..."

Opal began digging through her bag, desperately trying to find something she could use against them. Using up one item was far better than losing many. That's what items were for, after all-getting out of danger or outwitting outlaws. A good explorer always came prepared. She just had to select the right item for the situation at hand. Or at paw, as things were for a growlithe.

At last, Opal's head surfaced from the bag with a sparkling blue orb clenched between her jaws. She wasn't about to present a pretty stone, however. This orb was an attack and what the fire type was going to use to deal with these thugs. She bit down slightly to activate it, then flung it at the gang with the same strength and speed as she had with the spike she used earlier. There was a bright flash as it connected, then, all of a sudden, they were gone.

[-1 Spun Orb from inventory]

Goro's eyes boggled when the group of hooligans suddenly disappeared in a bright flash of light. What the hell had just happened? For a moment, he thought the growlithe was going to choose the peaceful option and just hand something over, and as infuriating as that might seem to him, this was even worse! Now there was no chance of a conflict with the three stooges. He'd been looking forward to seeing her get drenched by a bunch of water types.

Still, he still had her to entertain him. And giving her shit was starting to be really fun, now that she was snapping back at him. He crossed his arms and pasted on a greasy smirk, squinting at the growlithe as he walked up to join her. "I thought you goody-two-shoes explorer types were supposed to arrest fellas like that." Like me, he wanted to say. But that might ruin the fun here. He wasn't sure why the dog pokemon hadn't thrown that orb his way and made him vanish to who-knows-where. She'd been prepared to battle him earlier, of course, before they were interrupted. Had she been about to throw that orb at him back then?

"Now they're just gonna go on with their woefully misguided lives someplace else, takin' goodies from travelers that ain't as prepared as us." The croagunk threw his hands up in dramatic fashion, teasing the growlithe sarcastically. Though he was sure to keep her in his direct line of sight, just in case she chucked one of those blue orbs at him after all. "Maybe even worse. Ah, well." He chuckled a few times, dropping his arms.

Opal gave off an annoyed rumble as she thought of what to say. It was obvious by now that the croagunk was trying to wind her up. Why was he being such a fool? They were in a strange area where hostile pokemon could be anywhere. Focusing on their surroundings was of the utmost importance.

"We are, but we also know when something is too much. Even you can't be dumb enough to think a straight fight was the best option," she grumbled. Was it really worth continuing to scout with this awful frog around? He was probably expecting more item use right now, but maybe she could distract him with something later and make a run for it.

"I coulda took those guys. Would've been my best option," Goro replied, his grin widening. He lifted his bindle up, resting it on his left shoulder.

It felt very, very good to be the one giving someone else shit, rather than having to take it. It had been a long time since Goro had traveled with someone that he could antagonize this way. He usually wasn't even this mean, but after all the abuse he'd taken from his boss and all her enemies, it felt... cathartic to dish it back out to someone. Especially some random explorer. He could see why everyone else seemed to do it to him.

Wordlessly, the croagunk moved on, trailing along in the direction that they had been going before they came across the hooligans. He was running into a lot more interruptions now that he was traveling with this growlithe. It was kind of nice - before he found her, he'd been cold and bored. Now he was warming up and very entertained.

In thick of the woods, perhaps fifty feet away, another pair of pokemon melted out of the woods. They looked invested in what had just transpired between the two travelers and the trio of bandits, and if Goro were to look over at them, he might have inferred why. They both represented the evolved forms of the two species of pokemon; an Empoleon and a Cloyster, both looking intense.

(We have left: Cloyster, Empoleon, Jellicent, Seel, Dewgong, Lapras, Spheal, Spheal, Qwilfish)