Idiots Afoot

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His head was high, his eyes were closed, and each step was taken in sheer confidence. The grass around him reached higher than he stood, but the path he followed made sure he had an easy walk. His loud mouth could be heard for practical miles with how little he cared about being silent, "I promise you Em, you're gonna LOVE it here! It's WAAAAAY better than the library. It wasn't even that hard to get to."

The zorua opened his eyes to the world ahead of him, a few rolling hills in the distance caught his eye. A single tree stood upon it, but it looked as if the plant fell long ago. It was such a simple piece of nature, but the prospect of investigating it excited him. With an excited wiggle of his body, he leapt forward and dash towards it. The wind in his fur felt absolutely amazing; This was so much different from boring ol' Grassveil and Shadowhue!

He slowed briefly before he jumped up on top of the log of the elderly fallen tree. He looked on at the expansive flat lands before him as energy that rivaled the static charge that floated in the air around him coursed through his veins. Was this what his father felt like when he went into dungeons? Probably not considering he looked like an alcoholic deadbeat last time Chance saw him, but there had to be a reason why the glaceon became an explorer in the first place right?

"Wooooow, Em come look at this!" he encouraged his sister. He waited to hear the sound of her paws scratching against the bark to hop up alongside him, but he heard nothing. "Em?" His stupidly wide grin faded into curiosity as he turned around to look at his sister for the first time in literal hours. There was no sister in sight. A concerned shout escaped his mouth briefly before he started to look around more fervently, "Em? Emmelyn? Emmy?" he called out for his sister in vain as he turned in circles. He half expected her to simply materialize behind him and ask him to stop shouting, but nothing came.

"C'mon Em this isn't funny!" he shouted, his tone slightly offended that she dared to hide from him. He sprang towards one end of the log and peered into the inside of the hollow innards, effectively looking inside completely upside down. "Em?" She wasn't there. His heart sank. He lifted his head back up while his hind-legs failed to support him. He sat upon the log with lowered ears. "Where did you go?" he asked in a much quieter tone. Did...did she stay back at Grassveil?


Lost, hungry, and most of all desperate. He decided that it would have been fun to visit the one place that seemed friendly to electric types such as himself, but instead he simply became lost for days. The jolteon struggled to hunt in these parts, unable to familiarize himself with the prey and enact proper strategies on top of being unable to find any edible items to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, however, he was given a stroke of luck. As he trudged miserably through the tall grass of the electric field, the shrill sound of someone yelling caught his attention. His bitten ear twitched before his head swiveled in the direction of the source. Yes...it was definitely somebody. Somebody small from the sounds of it. His stomach growled. It was time for the circle of life to continue its cycle.

The electric type lowered his body to the ground and quickly-yet quietly skulked forwards. His yellow color blended in with the golden grass that rose out of the ground higher than he stood. He headed towards the sound of the voice, up a hill and closer until he came across a small clearing at the top of the hill that held the log and stump of a fallen tree. He could see the form of a small zorua at the top of the log who looked a little depressed about something.

Erebus smirked, food. Easy food. Finally, he could get his stomach to leave him alone. He took a step forward, however, hesitated. He could run forth and pounce on the fox the old fashion way...or he could use his new abilities as a Jolteon to his advantage. He had not tried hunting with his powers, but it could not have possibly been any different from average combat. With how weak the zorua looked, he could not imagine it would take more than a single Thunder to deal with it.

The Jolteon's body began to crackle with electricity as he steadily stepped out from the grass, his eyes focused on the dark type. He was behind the zorua, so it did not yet see him. There was no way it could smell him from there either. His plan was simple: get as close as he can to the Zorua. If the prey showed any sign of noticing him, then he could unleash the charge onto them and claim his dinner...

Hah! Raichu2 was right in his assumption that they wouldn't need more fire power. He was completely correct in sending his partner off after the child. The glaceon seemed as if they were down for the count while his alolan partner dealt with the jigglypuff. The raichu crossed his arms with a wide grin as he watched. Sure it was a kid, but the kid needed to be taught a little lesson.

He did not flinch not intervene as the child was smacked. He heard the glaceon pipe up again, seemingly losing all prior will to fight. This was almost too easy, he'd have to give the rattata a word or two about finding a challenge next time...

"Yeah I'd say the brat's about had enough," Raichu2 finally spoke out, though his tone held no remorse for the kid. "Let's just take their shit and go, these guys are a total drag!"

----

"O W W!" The raichu cried out as a sudden figure burst from the grass and latched onto his arm. The electric type flailed about yet again as the electricity in the cheeks crackled. The rattata partner only snorted in response.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in," the rattata huffed, "Seems like you weren't the only idiot to leave their friends alone."

"GET. IT. OFF! the Raichu cried in outrage.

The dark type rolled his eyes as he approached the two, each step clearly indicating the annoyance and frustration in the rat's mood with an itty bitty stomp. The rat looked over the raichu for a moment before he grabbed a paw of the limp Zorua.

"Hey sweetcakes!" the rattata called out to the skitty, "Let go and back down or else this brat's gonna be limpin' for the rest of his life!" The rattata held up the paw to clearly show the skitty before he held it close to the sharp buck teeth.

"Wait-what?" the raichu pitched in quietly, not quite registering what the rattata said.

"He looks awfully young too, would be a shame for him to get such a bad leg this early..." the rat teased.

---

Chance could feel his paw move. His eyes opened up, but all he could see was shapes and colors. He wanted to pull away from the grip, but he lacked the strength to do so. He could hear something practically shouting in his ear, but he couldn't make out the words. It was hard to think again, but there was one thought that was clear as day to him: He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere around here. He couldn't run. He was too slow. He had no choice about anything at that moment, he just had to go with it no matter how unpleasant.

It didn't even feel like home would be enough for him at this point. Not even if he was safe and tucked away inside his mother's hair. Where was she? Where was his dad? Weren't they supposed to come in by now? This was supposed to be the point where they saved the day. He really didn't want to be here.

Darcy bit down harder and harder, drawing more and more blood, as the silence from the fight she'd left behind tortured her. She'd heard two screams. One after the other... The first one had been accompanied by the sound of thunder, but the second...? She hadn't noticed any immediate cause, and that made it even worse. It sounded bad, and she wasn't sure if Senya was in any shape to fight... She'd been right. She'd been right, and she hadn't done enough to stop Senya... And now look at the consequences...

It had all happened so fast, and it'd begun in the most ridiculous way, and now she didn't know the whereabouts of her sister... Were fairies weak to electric...? She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember anything except for the fact that her sister was so small, and she'd always been so fragile and shy and nervous and now she might be dead and...

"Hey Sweetcakes!" Darcy heard a voice, and she opened her eyes, and through blurred tears she saw the dark greys and maroons of Chance's fur and... someone else. The someone else was holding Chance's paw to their mouth, and there was teeth... "Let go and back down or else this brat's gonna be limpin' for the rest of his life!"

This wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Darcy vaguely heard the raichu she'd bitten say something, but she didn't know what he said, nor did she really care. She didn't know what to do. Nothing she did mattered. Not one thing. She was too weak to control the situation, she was too weak to influence the fight, to protect the people she loved...

She was a failure.

Darcy ripped her teeth out of the Raichu's arm, before stumbling backwards, away from the Raichu, away from the Rattata, and let out a sob. Tears were pouring freely down her face, and her whole frame shook with rage as she stared at both of them in turn. She didn't know who it was directed to. Everyone. Her life had been ruined by everyone involved in a matter of minutes. Her wound had reopened, but she couldn't possibly care less.

She stared at Chance and the Rattata. She narrowed her eyes at the Rattata, breathing deeply. She couldn't win a fight, and if she did, she'd ruin Chance's life too... There was enough sorrow going around already... She felt as if she was going to split in two. Her heart was beating rapidly, threatening to bounce out of her chest, and she felt light-headed... For the first time she could ever remember, she wanted to fight. She wanted to hurt something. Hurt it bad... How ironic that she couldn't.

"Ok... Ok. I let him go." She said, her voice quivering. She paused, closing her eyes tightly, feeling the tears running down her face. "...Why are you doing this... T-That was my sister... " She spoke with more force now, turning to look at both rodents in turn. She couldn't fight them... But she hoped her voice made it clear enough just how much she hated them...

~

Alki blinked back tears as her body shook violently. She could hardly see, there was so much black, and she still felt herself coughing... She couldn't see what came out. Everytime she coughed she heard a soft splat near her. Her stomach hurt... Her head hurt. Everything hurt. Everything hut bad... She could feel her heart beating, faster than she'd ever heard it before... She felt like she'd been cooked. She didn't know how she looked. She didn't care.

She sucked. She was the worst person to ever live... It was her fault that Darcy had wanted to come here in the first place. Hadn't she just wanted to come out and show her a new place? She would've never wanted that if Alki weren't so fucking depressed. If Alki could've just acted her age, or stopped crying she would've never had any reason to worry about her, and she would've never felt the need to cheer her up.

Darcy getting cut... Sova losing this fight, Chance running off, None of that would've happened if she had just never existed. Alki felt herself cough up more blood. Good. She hoped she coughed it all up. She didn't care. She wanted it to happen. It hurt for now, but it hurt more watching the first person to ever give a shit about her get tortured, right in front of her, and then watch some kid that she'd attacked run off into the tall grass... Chance could be dead, couldn't he? There was more wild pokemon out there, or horrible people like this gang or the Jolteon and Alki might have killed him.

She'd never been worth anything in her life. Nothing positive had ever come from her. She hadn't done anything productive this whole trip, she'd failed to protect Darcy, she'd tried to hurt Chance, and now, when her time had come to finally fucking do something, she'd failed. Sova hadn't been strong enough, but she could've salvaged it. But she didn't. She deserved to die.

She tried to force herself to get back up, keep fighting, not out of any hope of winning this fight, not out of any hope of saving the day, or proving herself, but only because she wanted to force the Raichu's hand. She didn't want to stay down. Not today. She wanted him to kick her around more. She wanted him to shock her until her heart stopped and then she wanted him to shock her more and more and more and more until there was nothing left of her. She didn't deserve anything better than that.

But she couldn't. She couldn't get up. No part of her body worked, not her feet, not her arms, nothing. She couldn't teleport. She couldn't move. She forced herself more and more, with no better result. She fought and fought until slowly, stupidly, it occurred to her that she was paralyzed. That's what electric moves did, didn't they? They paralyzed you.

"Come back..." She cried out, but it only prompted her to cough even more violently. Her voice didn't carry. She couldn't even scream anymore... Everything hurt too much, and her body selfishly cried out for her to stop. She hated it. She hated every inch of it. "I-I w-want t-to fight y-you m-more..." She managed, before everything went black.

The Raichu, for his part, heard none of this. The moment the stupid pink gumball left his sight, she was of no importance to him. Instead, he dusted off his paws, as though the fight had been nothing more than some afternoon cleaning. "Alright! Well, that took longer than expected, but it's done! Who's next on the list?" He held his paws in front of him, as though consulting a checklist, his smile now brighter than ever.

This had been too easy. Of course, for someone like him, it almost always was. A shame too. He wanted a challenge. But he supposed it was only natural for a group as perfect as theirs to be unrivaled. Oh well. That was the tragedy of being the best!

"Ah, yes! Mr. Glaceon!" He tapped the imaginary checklist, before tucking it away into his bag. Then he trotted over to the Glaceon, smiling brightly as he met his gaze, as though they were nothing more than friends. "You would not BELIEVE how happy I am to see you've come to your senses! You know what they say, Enemies today, friends tomorrow! Now." He rubbed his paws together, before holding them out, his conscience clearly none too disturbed by what he had just done.

"I have multiple other appointments to take care of today, so... Your bag, if you please! And I promise on my Mummy's grave, I won't hurt your small, gumball friend any more! ...At least, if you do what you should've done from the start. And don't worry about the four thousand I mentioned earlier. Consider it a discount, seeing as you all at least provided me with a bit of entertainment. I'll just settle for everything in your bag."

He spoke like a businessman, the type that knocked door-to-door and tried to sell you herbal cures and bags of tea. Of course, it was nothing personal. You had to make a living somehow, right? And it's not like he was killing anyone! At least, probably... If the child he'd just kicked around was too weak to handle that, then that just became her problem, not his. He didn't enjoy the thought of killing someone.

He just needed to look out for number one first...

Lu didn't care what Senya thought of her, as long as she could stop this fighting and prevent anyone from getting hurt more... or worse. She had given him the chance handle it his way, but she wasn't going to let him put his and Sova's lives in jeopardy, let alone the others involved. She knew this would make him hate her more, but she doubted she could make him like her regardless, and it wasn't worth risking lives over. She wasn't going to stand by and let him kill Sova alongside himself just to pointlessly provoke these criminals.

Fortunately, it seemed she hadn't interevened too late. Her words managed to get the raichu's attention and he responded very cooperatively, simply asking for her bag. A small price to pay... but she couldn't give it to him. Literally. Perhaps Sova and Senya were strong enough to power through pain and injuries like these, but she wasn't. She couldn't get up, let alone bring the bag to the raichu... but she did the best she could. She slipped the strap from around her neck, and pushed the bag out in front of her as far as she could.

Hey...

"Take it and go... Just... don't hurt them anymore..." she spoke, her voice weak and fragile. A bag full of material things was a small price to pay if it ensured everyone's safety.

Hey, wait! That's Sova's bag! You don't have a right!! the disapproving voice of Senya screamed through her head, but she ignored it the best she could.

Senya was only thinking about himself... or at least, she thought that at first. But the way he pointed out that it was Sova's bag, it made Lu think that perhaps there was more to it. Of course, she knew there were things in the bag that Sova cared about, but surely he would agree that they weren't worth lives. And... even if he disagreed... well, she didn't think it was worth lives.

His necklace is in there! You can't just give that away! the disapproving voice in her head barked at her, and she continued to ignore it. She understood the importance of the necklace to Sova... but she wasn't going to let him die over it, especially when it wasn't even his choice.

She could feel Senya trying to reclaim control and take back her choice. Maybe she was too weak to stand, but she could at least stop him from standing... at least long enough for this. No matter how hard he fought her, she wouldn't let him back in... She couldn't.

Raichu1 was relieved when the skitty finally released him. The rodent cradled his injured arm with a disapproving glare down at the feline. He held no pity for her, not anymore. The rattata, on the other hand seemed to enjoy the skitty's anger as he moved the zorua's limp paw around, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to just bite it anyways just to spite the skitty.

"We're makin a livin' sweetcakes. I don't know anythin' about no sister, but if she got herself hurt that's entirely on her. If you all just cooperated then nobody woulda gotten hurt. If you're so concerned for her then turn your little tail around and go right on back....you're making me a little hungry." Darcy had given the rattata an effective form of leverage. The zorua was obviously a way to get the cat to obey, so now he was going to abuse it as much as possible.

The paw was still dangerously close to the zorua's leg, but the rattata seemed to think this wouldn't be enough to get her to leave, "Or maybe I wanna test my teeth on this fluffy scruff..."

Raichu1 gave his partner an odd look, not quite sure whether the rat was bluffing or not. He certainly hoped so! The kid was still just a kid...

----

The words in his ears seemed as if they were miles away. He couldn't understand anything. He didn't know whether he was unconscious or what, but he found it almost comforting. He didn't have to worry about what was happening. He didn't have to see what was happening. Whether he was about to die or if someone around him was going to die, he didn't have to see it. He could just stay here. Right?

Darcy's blood boiled as the rattata had the gall to suggest that Alki getting hurt was her fault and not theirs. The Skitty brought a paw up to her eyes, wiping the tears that had fallen away so as to be able to observe the situation with more clarity. This was a delicate situation, clearly, and even if Darcy didn't have as much affection towards Chance, she still wanted to see him be ok... She'd never forgive herself if two children got hurt... or worse, and all on her watch! She didn't want to test the Rattata. Even if she didn't care for Chance, she was smart enough to know that she wasn't strong enough to win a one on two fight with these rodents.

Darcy grit her teeth, looking at both of them in turn, furious with... who? With Senya for starting the fight, with the rodents for causing such a reaction, the talkative Raichu for enjoying himself so much, with Alki for being so reckless... But mostly, she was angry at herself. She could've salvaged the situation, she was sure of it. But somewhere... somehow, she'd screwed up. She directed one last look of fury at the Rattata in particular, before backing off, whimpering. She felt herself began to cry again. His scruff... His neck? Was he... really threatening that?

If he was bluffing, he was very good at it. She didn't want to call it. They should've all folded long ago, and Darcy wasn't going to make the same mistake that Senya had. She hadn't even wanted to fight in the first place... But now, the worst possible outcome had occurred, and it was too late for folding to matter.

"O-Ok... A-Alright,   Alright. " Darcy said, barely managing to keep herself from yelling. She backed up, back into the grass. Her tail and hind end were fully in the grass, but her head and front paws still poked out as she stared solemnly at Chance. He seemed odd... But at least, so far, he hadn't sustained any injuries other than the Jolteon's. "I-I-I'm g-g-going back... b-back to the others, a-and... p-please d-don't hurt him... " She managed, before dipping her head back into the grass, away from sight.

They were robbers, right? They wanted her stuff, her money... She barely had any. Her bag was more air than anything, but if it's what they wanted... Darcy removed her bag, feeling her heart beating rapidly, but funnily enough, everything felt slow. Like a dream, or... or some strange, surreal nightmare. As if time was moving on without her... Darcy gently pushed the bag towards the two rodents, wordlessly, before walking back towards the others.

She wasn't running this time. She was barely even walking. She was in no rush to see what might greet her. She stood still, alone with the tall blades of grass. She imagined what her sister would look like, lifeless, unmoving. She hadn't... There'd still been so much that she wanted her to see... to do...

Darcy sat down, staring blankly into the blades of grass around her. She put her forepaws down, lying on her stomach, her head looking forward, not focusing on anything in particular. She felt tears began to form again, her ears and tail twitched, and she felt herself shaking. She couldn't control herself.

A sob escaped her throat. Then another... and another... And it didn't stop...


~~

The Raichu clapped his hands joyously, putting both hands on top of the bag, before placing the strap over his shoulder. It was a bit small for him, but he figured that it's contents might prove to be worth some amount of money. Why fight if it was worthless...? "Good choice! Seems like you're the smartest person after all! I'll just be taking this, and be on my merry way! See ya!" The Raichu skipped across the clearing, to the puffball, before taking her bag as well.

He then turned back to the Glaceon, and smirked. "Y'know, you really shouldn't act so cool if you can't back it up. I mean..."  He pointed at the fainted girl, laughing as he spoke once more. "She looks half-dead, and she still hit us more than you did! ...Not so tough now, are ya? You knuckleheads were barely worth the effort... Have a safe trip home!" The Raichu spun on his feel, showing his whole back to the Glaceon, before walking off. He waved at his partner, indicating that the other Raichu should follow.

This had been too easy... He wondered where the other two had run off to? Probably away. If they hadn't been caught already... He couldn't wait to see how much money they'd gotten!

The fluffy-looking raichu took the bag without hesitation, seemingly abiding by its agreement not to hurt anyone. Lu felt relief knowing that, however she may be prosecuted, at least she had stopped the fighting. She ddn't care about being taunted, especially over a fight she hadn't started, but she admittedly did dislike the raichu's attitude. She saw the appeal in hitting him, even if she disagreed with the decision to actually do so. It just wasn't worth it to risk so much for a fight that clearly couldn't be won. If this wasn't worth giving up some necklace, then...

You have no idea... she heard Senya's voice remark.

For a moment, she wasn't sure what he meant... then she began to feel a sense of pressure in her head. This sensation spread over her form, first like a sort of tingling, and intensifying until it was as if someone was bearing down on her.

The next thing she knew, she everything went black.

...And Senya was back in control. Watching Sova's necklace go was infuriating, but something that caught his attention even more was the sound of... crying. Was that the little skitty? His eyes snapped in the direction of the sobbing sounds, and his body twitched as he tested himself.

For just a moment, he felt another presence, a faint impulse at seeing the battered jigglypuff... and thinking of the crying skitty... and the eerie silence from a certain zorua. He felt fear... Sova's fear. This alone was enough to bring him back into control, and once again he was reminded of Sova's true control... When push came to shove, the abomination seemed to be just as helpless to Sova's will as he was.

But, more importantly, Senya had just been given one more chance to do his job and make someone pay... and he didn't intend to fail again. He had decided he really didn't like these guys.

With a renewed sense of conviction he climbed to his paws and started forward, slow at first. He appeared more calm than prior... but in truth, he was absolutely mad with rage. He was furious that he could possibly fail so badly, as desperate to reclaim the neckace as Sova was, and... and...

He... felt bad... He could justify traumatizing someone all day, but this... he had failed to deal with a threat. He had picked a fight, and now all these neat little creatures were being hurt and robbed because he was too weak to finish a fight he had picked. He didn't like that part... the part about others being punished and hurt for his fight. In truth, they had all tried to remain peaceful, but these rats had still insisted on hurting them. The raichu seemed to take pride in hurting a group who were trying to surrender and practically begging for peace, minus himself. He didn't like that. He didn't like that cheeky satisfaction in something so unjustified... and the attitude that implied the raichu thought what he was doing was okay.

Senya knew he wasn't exacly "good," but at least he acknowledged what he did, and at least he had standards. The attitude was offensive, and not just because it was directed at him.

Frost creapt out along the ground around him as he stepped forward. Freezing winds swirled, blowing dust around him, then snow. He needed to hit more than one of them at the same time; the wall couldn't protect them all at the same time, he figured. His best way fo doing that was a blizzard, but Alki was still there too.

This was a big issue, but consciously, Senya didn't even consider it. "Hey," he spoke, glaring at the raichu through the snowy haze forming around him.

He stopped in his tracks.

The blizzard winds suddenly whipped out all around, freezing the ground as they traveled. The massive, freezing gale rushed toward both raichu as well as the faux... and Alki. The not-raichu was astoundingly attentive and reactive, summoning another substitution of itself before teleporting into the place of the normal raichu and throwing it behind the substitute. The dedenne then sprinted for its other ally, getting in front of the fluffier raichu as a green barrier of light formed around it.

But it was just a bit too slow, and the protective shield had already been weakened beforehand. Not even able to fully form in time, the force field shattered and faded to nothing under the severe force of the blizzard. The winds blew around the raichu directly behind it, but froze the dedenne solid and coated the surrounding ground with ice. The wind whipped harmlessly over Alki, as if avoiding her and blew on toward the other raichu. It spread outward all around the glaceon, even freezing the rain in the sky and blowing it away.

When the wind subsided, the rain had seemingly ceased momentarily. Then, suddenly, a flurry of hail fell from above. The rain continued directly after, soaking Senya's mostly unprotected fur. His armor of quills slowly began to repair itself as he glared forward, completely unreactive, waiting patiently for their move now that their protector was gone.

His body felt like it was on fire...

Raichu2 was ready. Ready to-OH GOD WHAT? A flurry of wind and ice blasted throughout the area. To his fortune, the Dedenne managed a substitute to take the blow. As the icy blast subsided, the green substitute puffed out of existence. The raichu threw his hands in front of his face both out of terror and bracing for an impact that didn't come. Once the winds subsided, he could see what happened to his friend.

The raichu's expression was agape with shock and horror for the not-a-raichu. The emotion was quickly followed with anger. Oh no. They couldn't just leave now. Electricity crackled around Raichu2 as he concentrated on the glaceon. Surely his partner would agree...that it was time to really put these guys down...right?

note; Raichu is using Laser Focus

---

"Thaaat's a good little girl," The rattata spoke as the skitty backed away into the tall grass. He didn't stop to check if the skitty was truly gone before he looked to the partner Raichu just after they were briefly pelted with icicles instead of rain. "You go back with her and make sure she get's there. If there's any trouble, just remind them that I've got the kid. Got it?"

"..." the raichu hesitated a brief second before he continued, "How about you go back and I'll take the kid?"

"You don't trust me?" the rattata sneered with a tinge of resentment towards Raichu1.

"No!" Raichu1 was quick to respond, "I'm way faster, so if they try to make a move for him then I can get away. Besides, he's like three times your size, what are you gonna do, carry him?" The electric watched the dark type mull it over, seemingly annoyed with the reasonable logic.

"Fine." The rattata huffed. It looked over the zorua briefly, but decided that perhaps he was letting the kid get off too easily-especially with how disobedient both he and the skitty initially were. The rattata snorted before turning around and kicking the zorua closer with far more strength than it looked like he had. The limp body tumbled through the dirt closer to the Raichu who picked him up. "If he wakes up just give him another zap...something stronger next time."

If nothing were to interrupt them, then the rattata would take off in the direction Darcy disappeared while Raichu1 would remain. Oblivious to both the slowly fading terrain and lightened rain.

Darcy couldn't breathe. She was just lying there, crying, her chest heaving and her hind legs shaking and twisting as she repeated in her head, over and over, her sister's two screams. She hadn't seen any of it. She hadn't been able to even secure Chance's safety either, she'd put his safety in the hands of two horrible criminals, outlaws, thieves, potentially murderers and there she was, crying her eyes out, but... She couldn't force herself to do anything else. The clearing wasn't far. Ten meters, maybe? Fifteen? But... What could potentially be in that clearing paralyzed her, more forcefully than any electric-type move could.

She couldn't face it. She'd been brave enough to subject herself to torture, but to potentially see her best friend, and her adopted sibling just... there. Like that. It was too much to bear. Darcy stood still, crying in her little patch of grass, unable to conquer her fear.

Of course, she couldn't though, could she? If... If Alki was alive, she had to try to help, do... something... anything... Instead of just sitting there. If she was dead... No amount of crying would fix that, would it? But if she wasn't, then... she was wasting time. Darcy brought herself to shaky knees, the wound in her chest at this point registering as 'open' once more, but it was her eyes that stung more. Hurt more.

Darcy blinked. She couldn't cry. Only when it was all over, would she let herself... She stepped forward, one paw after the other, each step a huge weight, but a weight she had to bear... She'd know soon enough, wouldn't she?

~

"Oh hoh!" The Alolan Raichu said, whipping back around as the Glaceon said one simple word. Hey. Who knew what was to come after? Who could've possibly known? The Raichu still wore the cheeky smile that said 'I won' all over it, and just as he was about to say something, he watched as Icy cold winds formed suddenly, moving rapidly towards him. His ally had them covered, right? The Dedenne? The Alolan Raichu aimed another thunder bolt at the Glaceon, but a piece of hail messed with his aim, and it missed, a meter or so off to the side.

As the winds cleared, he still wore the dopey, over-confident smile until he registered what had happened. There’d been a casualty. The Dedenne… His friend. The cocky smile slowly disappeared from his face, simply staring at the result of the Glaceon’s handiwork. He stared for a few seconds, noting his partner aiming an attack at the Glaceon. He had a different idea.

He was fast. He’d never bothered to move as fast as he could in a fight, mostly because he’d never needed to, but now… Now was different. There was nothing funny anymore. No lessons to be taught, no reward to be sought. His friend was dead. Wordlessly, silently, he surged forward in a burst of speed, as though he were surfing, towards the KOed jigglypuff. He was closer to her than the Glaceon was. He should’ve been more careful. Not that he was going to tell him now.

Any other day, he’d be willing to leave her be. Hell, he was planning on it, before this had happened. He didn’t want to see anyone die. But now he had. He grabbed a rough paw on the girl’s ear, hoisting her up, against his chest, and held her there in place, his other paw placed between the child’s eyes. He wanted to kill them. All of them.

The Glaceon had frozen his friend. His teammate, and that wasn’t something he’d let go unpunished. There was nothing funny about this anymore. A stone cold glare was on the Raichu’s face as he held the limp, unconscious, bleeding body in front of him. She was still breathing, for now. She’d be the first to go. Then the Glaceon… Then the Cat. And finally, the fox.

They were all going to die, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

“Seems cute, don’t she? ...How old you think she is…? Old enough to read? Write? She looks about the age where she should be startin’ to learn that, don’t you think?” He forced a smile, and held her forwards, towards the Glaceon, as though giving Alki to him. “Take a good, long look pal. This is what failure sounds like.”

Zap.

Alki woke up. She was crying now, eyes flitting about frantically, unsure of what was happening, or what was going on. Understanding dawned on her, finally, and she tried to say something, although nothing would come out.

“Didn’t you hear? I don’t think you heard right. Here it is again.”

Zap. Louder, and longer now.

“...I wonder how many shocks it’ll take for this balloon to pop. I wonder how many times I’ll have to shock her before her heart gives. And the whole time I’m doing it, I hope you know that I didn’t start killing first. You did. You’re going to watch. You’re going to watch as I slowly zap the life out of her body. Then I’m going to throw her, smoking, lifeless body at you. Then, I am going to kill everybody else who accompanied you.” He spoke frankly, unable to bring himself to make even the smallest quip about the situation.

“D-Do it...” She managed to squeak out, her voice almost imperceptible with it’s hoarseness, and the loudness of everything else going on outside, and the ringing of her ears… She was just happy it’d finally be done. She hoped it’d happen fast.

The only true threat was neutralized. Senya wasn't afraid of what the other two rats had to offer; he'd already taken a hit from one of them and knew he could take another, even if it killed him in the end. He wasn't going to let them just walk away thinking they'd won, let alone with Sova's bad. He waited for them to make a move against him, but both raichu erred on the side of caution, one keeping distance while the other... went to grab a hostage. Senya had no reaction beyond his eyes following the cocky raichu whom he seemed to have upset. Did the guy really think using Alki as a shield was going to work? No... maybe he did plan to kill her.

Did this raichu just expect him to stand by and watch that out of some fear of accidentally hurting Alki? Maybe beg for him to stop? Senya remained unemotive as he let out a calm exhale and spoke.

"We'll see."

Shadows swirled in front of him, forming into an orb of black, red and purple hues. Without hesitation, he launched the ball at the raichu... and at Alki. Of course, he wasn't too above hurting an ally in order to win a fight, but that wasn't what he was doing here. He knew thanks to Sova that this move would go right through a normal-type, and he was moderately sure jigglypuff were normal-types. If he was wrong about that part then... well, the raichu was close enough that it'd probably still work on him too. He didn't wait to see the result of the attack before bolting toward the other raichu. His armor was still struggling to reform due to his exhausted and badly injured state, so he knew he wouldn't be able to rely on it too much to take damage... but with what came next, it didn't matter.

A bolt of lightning fell over him, this one seemingly larger than the last, and undeniably more painful. This slowed his run to a crawl as electricity visibly surged through him, ununhibited by his icy armor. His head was ringing again, and he could feel his body convulsing. This attack hurt... but unfortunately for the rats, it wasn't enough to knock him out or kill him. Slowed for only a moment, he picked his pace back up and ran straight into the normal-looking raichu, swinging his spiked tail like a mace.

The mace slammed into Raichu2's arms as they just barely brought them up in time to brace for impact. The Thunder attack he'd unleashed seemed to only just barely slow the murderer down. The raichu could not help but squeak as the spikes of the tail tore into him. He wasn't done, not by a long shot. The bright yellow cheeks took on a glow as he released another stream of electricity at the glaceon.

"Stop fucking around and help me kill him!" the raichu cried out to its alolan counterpart. If that attack had only done that much, then he was surely going to need help with this. It was rare that he saw someone stand after that, but he wasn't going to let himself be overcome with shock. He bolted away from the Glaceon in attempt to put distance between him and the ice type.

---

The rattata moved along as quickly as his legs could take him, which brought him to catch up with Darcy very quickly. The rattata stopped to watch the skitty's slow crawl. It was infuriating to watch this poor excuse of a feline crawl along at a turtle's pace.

"C'moon! Get movin!" The rattata sneered at her, "Or your fur is gonna be what i'm pickin' out of my teeth tonight!"

---

Raichu2 held the zorua in his arms with a look of uncertainty. This...this had gone very downhill. He wasn't sure what to make of this. Part of him thought that the rattata would have killed the kid if he'd left it to them, but another part of him reminded him that this was all supposed to be an act...right? That's what Raichu1 told him at least...

The electricity around Raichu2 crackled before he jumped up. His tail shifted under his legs as he began to float in the air in a much similar manner to Alolan Raichu. Magnet Rise was a useful tool. Surfing the air but unable to go much higher, he turned around and started to put more distance between him and the others. He'd just wait for them at the meeting point not to far off from here. They'd strike a deal, the kid back for safety and their items...that's a fair trade right? It's not like they were actually gonna keep the kid anyways.

Then, Raichu2 felt movement in his arms. Confused, he looked down at the kid. Bright, wide, and blue eyes stared right back up at him, "Hi."

Darcy flinched as she heard the Rattata threaten her now, instead of Chance. She supposed Chance was with the other Raichu now...? The thought entered her mind and left as soon as it had. She had bigger things to worry about. There was no backing out now... She had to face her fears, she had to confront whatever was on the road, for better or worse. She didn't have a choice anymore. She never really had... Darcy's tail dragged on the ground as her ears twitched; she pushed the grass out of the way, into the road, and took in the sight that greeted her.

It was... Not quite what she'd expected. She wasn't sure if this was better or worse than her imagination... Senya was up, although he seemed to be struggling to move, at least as effectively as he had been earlier, with the Jolteon. But he was fighting... There was the Dedenne too. Frozen... The two Raichus seemed alright, but much less amused than they had been before. And there was Alki. Being held up by her ear, suspended in mid-air... Was... Was she a hostage?

Darcy whimpered softly, back-pedaling slightly as her eyes met Alki's. At the very least, she was alive. This was salvageable... This had to be salvageable. It wasn't in her paws anymore, and it wasn't in Alki's hands either. It was all in Senya's, wasn't it...? Darcy watched as her sister managed a shaky, almost bitter-sweet smile, and a wink.

She was alive... And Senya could save her. He had to! And... And she couldn't forgive herself if she didn't do all that was in her power to help him. She hated fighting, but... She very much would like to have her sister alive... Darcy turned back towards the grass and growled, jumping back into the grass, towards the Rattata. He was the Raichu's ally... And he'd probably want to help them! He'd probably want to set Senya back, and she couldn't allow that to happen... At least, not without a fight...

She still had the hole in her chest to worry about. She had no idea how strong the Rattata actually was, and it was quite possible that she would be trying to punch severely above her weight class. She knew all this. She was scared, scared that she'd make the situation worse, but much more afraid that Alki might... might not make it out. But she couldn't help Senya. He was significantly stronger than she was, and he was already struggling... She'd never been in a fight like that. She'd barely been in fights at all! But at the very least, she could distract the Rattata... At the very least, she could find some use for herself like this... And distract her from her looming feelings of dread towards the situation behind her.

~

The cold had woken her up, and she felt nothing less than absolutely miserable. Sure, there was the sharp ringing in her ears, and then the explosive headache she felt, and the bruises in the spot where the Raichu had kicked her, and the fact that she was still having some trouble breathing properly, not to mention she was bleeding from... somewhere. She blinked.

That wasn't the worst of it. The worst of it was that she had awoken to... well, that she'd awoken at all. Sova was in front of her, and she felt herself being hoisted up into the air by one of her ears. Trembling, she reached one of her feet down towards where the ground was, but couldn't manage to touch it. Everyone else who had been in the clearing were four-legged, aside from the Raichus, so that meant that one of them were holding her...

They were threatening Sova with her, weren't they? They were using her as leverage... Well, that was ok. She hoped they'd follow through on it, too. There was no way either of them could conclude she'd wanted it from this... Maybe she should be screaming? Or crying...? How would people usually act if they were about to die? Something like that, probably, but... She couldn't seem to manage that herself. She wasn't really happy either. It was just... disappointment. She'd gotten a second chance with Darcy, and then a third chance with Synd'r, and none of it had ever added up to much at all.

Her gaze was focusing on nothing in particular until she saw some tall blades of grass parting ways to reveal her sister. She seemed... Well, horrible, actually. Her chest had started to bleed again, and her face seemed as though it'd been crying quite a bit. Over... her? She seemed to be having trouble breathing, but... That was funny. She couldn't remember having seen Darcy even get hit...

Alki's eyes widened as the implications of what was going on struck her. She was about to die... Which, by all means, she was alright with. She was quite fine with dying, really, given she didn't really have much hope left at all for her future. She could never be truly happy, being the person that she was, but... She didn't want Darcy to watch. She knew Darcy cared about her. Way too much about her... Alki wished that she didn't. But as long as she did, Alki didn't really want to make her suffer... Not unnecessarily...

So she couldn't die, could she...? Not right now, anyways. If she died, then Darcy would cry, and she'd  feel guilty for the rest of her life... Maybe some other day, it'd be an appropriate time for her to die, but right now wasn't. Darcy was watching. The Raichus had been too slow... Now she had to survive. Darcy had been the first person to ever show her love, and she couldn't... She couldn't accept scarring her with this. Even if she did want it. Even if she wanted it more than anything... Alki managed a smile and a wink. Smile for Darcy... Convince her everything would be alright... And then try to make things alright. If Darcy could be happy, it didn't really matter what thoughts went through her head. She didn't really matter... She didn't matter at all. Darcy, however, did.

Alki felt the sun in her face, above her. Which meant... There was shadow somewhere below her. That was her best bet, wasn't it? She couldn't fight like Sova could. Hell, she couldn't even fight like Darcy could... But if she could be smart about it, she could probably do something, couldn't she? She had to try... If only for her sister's sake.

"We'll see." She heard Sova speak. He was looking at the both of them, preparing something... Alki's arms reached backwards, blindly, towards where she thought a shadow might be. The sun was coming from... there! Not directly overhead, so it wasn't below her... Say, the Raichu's arm was extended... She couldn't fear any fur on her back, so maybe... on the Raichu's stomach? His arm would create shadow, so there had to be some, given that angle... That's how shadows worked, she'd found. Shadows were connected to light.

"Yes, I guess we will." The Alolan Raichu frowned, staring at the Glaceon. He didn't even care about his friend, huh? He was preparing some move, something that looked dark type, something quite powerful, and he was aiming it at the both of them. Unfortunate. He was willing to kill her, then? Well, so was he.

He tried to spark her. He really did, but for some reason, he couldn't gather enough energy or concentration to do so. It wasn't natural. It was as if something was disabling him from doing so, because he sure as hell had never made a mistake like this before, even when he'd been a Pichu!


"...What...?" His eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. A setback... No matter the reason, he couldn't his spark. The Glaceon's move was growing in power now. The girl would die either way, so why waste resources on her...? He heard his partner cry out, and he couldn't help but agree. The Glaceon was the bigger threat. That much was obvious by now... He summoned another thunder from the sky, and sent it towards the Glaceon, as he let loose his move.

Alki closed her eyes as her hand found what felt like a piece of shadow. Collect it, draw it out... The Raichu hadn't taken off the bags. She'd felt a strap as she'd been searching, and she was sure that no matter which bag it was, there might be something there, something for her to use... Nobody there was paying any attention to her. That was quite alright... She was sure either of the rats could kill her at this point without a second thought if they saw what she was doing.

The jigglypuff formed the small piece of shadow in her hands, like a little dagger. This had been one of the first constructs she'd attempted to make when she'd gotten this power. She'd thought of it as a claw, like a lot of the stronger pokemon had... She'd wanted to be strong then. Now she knew she couldn't be. But it was lucky that the practice was paying off anyways... She had to concentrate, just for a bit more... She felt darkness threatening her vision once more, like it had just before she'd passed out.

Not now... Alki swung at the strap, feeling it sever from the cut. Was it hers, or was it Sova's? She wasn't sure... Either way, it was bound to have items inside, right? Items she could use to defend herself... Alki transformed her small dagger into a formless whip of energy, catching the bag as she felt some freezing cold ball of energy pass through her, before impacting the Raichu. Alki fell, stumbling on her feet before making herself roll forwards, towards the Glaceon. She felt dizzy, and sick, but she had a bag... She hadn't even checked which bag. She came to a stop at Sova's feet, staring up at him helplessly. She had to stay still, at least for a bit... If she stood up, she'd pass out again, and then she absolutely wouldn't be able to defend himself...

"Bastard!" The Raichu felt the shadow ball strike him, and with what force! It was a miracle the Glaceon was so stupid, otherwise he would've been a much bigger threat earlier... the Raichu rolled backwards, digging his heels into the ground, still staring up at the Glaceon. He'd lost his hostage. She'd rolled forward, a bag in her hands, but now she was still. Dead?

He hoped so.

Now the Glaceon... He couldn't use Spark at the moment, for whatever reason, but that was alright. He could make do without it for now... He closed his eyes and focused on himself. The Nasty Plot he'd practiced seemed to be working his magic now, and he was sure that he'd be able to take down the Glaceon the next time he was given an opportunity to. He was no pushover either...

Senya couldn't help but feel some level of pride at the sight of the two raichu trying so hard not to directly confront him. They were starting to realize the mistake they had made in provoking him, it seemed. If only they had realized earlier, he actually would have been inclined to let them walk away... but now... Well, he rarely put so much effort into focusing and much preferred to simply fight on instinct, but for these guys... he was upset enough to make an exception and take this seriously. Not only did he want to win, but to make sure none of them escaped once they realized how hopeless this was. He took one look down at the jigglypuff who'd rolled up next to him, mostly just to see if she was even alive... and she was.

He looked up at the clouds in the sky, crackling with electricity. Thunder was the best thing these two raichu seemed to have to hurt him, and he knew his body couldn't take many more of those. His gaze settled on the normal-looking raichu who was sprinting away from him. It probably thought it was faster, considering it was a fast species whereas he was a glaceon. Too bad for them, he was far from an average glaceon. He knew he would hurt himself trying to sprint in this condition, but that didn't matter to him. He recklessly pursued the raichu as fast as he could force himself to go, catching up with ease and ramming right into it from behind. His quills cut into the raichu as he tackled it, but to his surprise, it didn't cry out in pain. He quickly rolled back onto his paws and bit into its arm as it tried to get back up, so as to... give it a hand.

Senya yanked the raichu up off the ground by its arm before releasing his hold, seemingly surprising it as it stumbled helplessly into him. He rammed it once more, this time slamming his shoulder into its chest and knocking the breath out of it, causing it to collapse on top of him. He looked up just in time to see a bolt of electricity split through the sky over him... then he crouched down and allowed the rat to take the attack for him. When the bolt of lightning struck, some of the electricity still managed to reach him, but it was nowhere near the full force of the attack that the raichu was forced to endure. The second it was over, he craned his head around and bit onto the raichu's tail, then swung the creature over his back and slammed it into the ground in front of him. Was it unconscious? Dead? He always did have trouble guessing the limits of what a weakling could take, and he didn't wait to find out.

The glaceon's gaze slowly trailed to the other, more mouthy raichu. He could feel his body shaking from the overexertion, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. He also knew he wouldn't be able to manage another sprint like that... but this guy didn't. "Wanna try that again? I wonder how many of those it'd take to kill him," he challenged, hoping to bait the foe into a close-range fight where he wouldn't have to worry about tearing his body apart dealing with ranged attacks and chasing rats. The fluffy-looking raichu seemed to care about his allies, so hopefully he would be unwilling to risk hitting one with another attack. He wasn't the only one who could take a hostage.

Admittedly, this wasn't really Senya's style, but he was more concerned with winning right now.

Rattata could hear the scuff just up ahead. He was about ready to tackle the skitty in order to motivate her to m o v e a bit more, but she got the jump on him before he did. The ratatta found himself knocked back and pinned under the cat's non-claws.

"You wanna die, Sweetcakes? Fine." the rattata sneered despite his less than advantageous position. The rat finally shut his mouth for once, but the defiant look in his eyes conveyed that he was far from finished. His cheeks swelled as if food was stuck in them briefly before he spat upwards towards the skitty's face. A disgustingly purple sludge was spat out of the rattata's mouth and shot at the skitty in the hopes of knocking her off and giving him a bit of leg room.

The rat's mouth burned from the attack, seeing as Sludge Bomb wasn't exactly a pleasant move to use, but he seemed pretty damn proud of the attack. Immediately after if the skitty didn't let him up, he would struggle to free himself through any means necessary, even if it meant giving her a bit of a rat-bite on her shoulder.

----

The fox stared at the rat. The rat stared at the fox. Not-Dead-Raichu was a little uncertain of what to do with this sudden development. The sudden calmness of the child compared to how he’d acted before he was knocked out was definitely not what he had expected. Did...did he do some brain damage? “Uh...hi?” was all Raichu could say in response.

“Put us down.” The zorua spoke with an assertive accentuation. It sounded less like a request and more like a demand.

“N-No?” the Raichu’s response was quick, confused, and mildly concerned. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…

“Please.”

“Still no? Look-I get you want your parents, but I can’t just put you down-no wait stop!” As soon as he’d rejected the command, the zorua began to squirm for an attempt to leap out of his hands. The fox was quickly caught and held out in front of the raichu as they surfed along. “You could get hurt jumpin off like that!”

“Then stop.”

“I can’t just stop either!”

“Yes you can.”

”Kid, that’s not how kidnapping works!”

“It is now.” The zorua’s eyes took on a strange shine.

“What-OW!” The raichu felt sharp pin pricks in his arm as the zorua managed to latch onto the raichu’s arm. The floating pair veered left to right. The electric type may have been instructed to zap the zorua if he provided any problems, but that didn’t mean he wanted to. Raichu tried all he could to force the zorua to stop biting into him, but he made one wrong step that caused his tail to dip downward and crash into the ground. Both of them smacked into the ground, the raichu face-first while the zorua managed to land a bit more gracefully on his feet with a slight stumble and tumble.

Raichu groaned as he slowly picked himself back up. He spat out the dust and grass that collected in his mouth. The scratches on his face were sure to get infected now, weren’t they? The mouse wiped off what he could as he turned to see the zorua walking back with his head held high despite the limp. “H-Hey, where do you think you’re going!?” Raichu exclaimed.

“Leave us alone.” ...He definitely gave the kid a brain injury. The raichu rushed forward to grab the kid, but as soon as he was about to wrap his paws around the fox it was gone. The zorua leaped out of the way and landed. The zorua twisted around to finally look at the raichu before he spoke again, “Fine, I'll hurt you.” ...Did this pipsqueak just threaten him?

Darcy growled, unsure of how exactly she was going to approach this fight. She'd left her bag back there, so she didn't have access to any items, and... She couldn't really use them very easily in the first place. So that just left her with her normal moves, and it seemed like this Rattata was... At least, pretty confident. The rest of the gang had the skills to back up the confidence, so she didn't see a reason that the Rattata wouldn't have it either. Her paws found the Rattata's body, and she pinned him down with as much force as she could muster. Her chest had been ripped open, and she hoped that the Rattata wouldn't exploit that fact. He could probably make it a whole lot worse...

"Don't count on me dying so easily, Pal..." Darcy managed. Her natural voice, of course, was nothing like Senya's, and as such it might be perhaps... A bit difficult to take her bravado seriously. It's not like it was even real in the first place... Darcy had no reason to think herself particularly talented at fighting. But hey, fake it 'till you make it, right...?

She certainly hoped that she could make it here, at least. She didn't have the raw firepower that Senya did, and given the rat's level of confidence, she felt rather convinced that he thought he outclassed her... If he did, then she wanted to bring him down to her level, and if he didn't out-class her, then this would just be icing on the cake...

"Eeeee!" Darcy cried out, as some... Purple stuff met her eyes. She was quite thankful she'd closed her eyes in time, given just how harmful something like that could possibly be. It burned, too... But still, instead of backing off immediately, Darcy had the presence of mind to hold her pin down just a bit longer.

It was her turn, after all! Resisting the urge to back off immediately and wipe off the sludge, Darcy aimed blindly for the Rattata's cheek, and gave him a little kiss right there. Honestly it felt... It felt gross. Not only was it a stranger, but someone who wanted to kill her. A rat who had just spit some purple poison into her face, but... She couldn't immediately think of any other way to distract him enough for a Charm.

Kill 'em with kindness! Arceus knew, she didn't really want to kill him any other way... Not truly...

Immediately after, Darcy stumbled backwards, sitting down on her hind legs as she rubbed the poisonous sludge off of her face, both paws brushing wildly at it. It really burned.

Of course, she was still in a fight... Darcy got back up onto her feet, hoping that the Rattata had been sufficiently stunned by her little action, at least enough so that she had time to deliver the final blow of this move. Blinking, Darcy managed a smile. "Y'know, I'm quite fine with not fighting if you are! I'd really rather not... Wouldn't you like to stop, too?" Darcy's smile grew as she spoke, until she started to absolutely beam at the Rattata. Of course, she didn't want to fight at all, so the words rolled off her tongue smoothly. Darcy managed to wink at the rodent, albeit still watching him carefully for his next move.

Assuming she charmed him right, he should be quite a bit weaker... Hopefully, he did stop fighting, but if he didn't... Well, now it'd be even!

~

Alki slowly brought herself to her feet, steadying herself as she surveyed her surroundings. Sova was still swinging, and she was alive... And unlike earlier, she had little intention of fighting to her death... Not with Darcy around. She didn't want to live for herself, but she knew Darcy wouldn't approve, and with her so close by... Alki couldn't make herself. If she died, her ghost would follow Darcy for the rest of her life... So not today. She couldn't die today...

Despite her ears still ringing, and her head still burning, and her whole body feeling like it had just been fried, she could fight... She had to, or else Sova would be alone, and if he lost, then she lost... She'd disabled the Raichu earlier, mostly out of desperation. From the way Sova and the Raichus were fighting, Alki felt as though maybe that was the reason she was still alive... She'd gotten lucky. When didn't she...?

Sova was moving faster than she could ever hope to, even with teleport... And even if she could keep up with him, there was no way she'd be any help with her moves... Flamethrower was her strongest, and with how little control she had over it, she was probably just going to get in the way, with very little benefit, and no other move could hit even a quarter as hard as Sova's could...

The bag! She still had a bag! ...Who's bag...? Alki held the bag up, in front of her, quickly recognizing it as her own. It was filthy... She really had to wash it, huh...? Later, though...

Alki watched as the Glaceon took hold of a Raichu, and as the other one slowly came to a halt. She couldn't see his expression, seeing as she was behind him... She could see the other Raichu's expression though, and it seemed quite...

The jigglypuff fished in her bag for a suitable orb or seed of some kind... A Warp Orb! That would do! That'd do really well actually, given she just wanted this fight to fucking end so she could go home and sleep for days... She was exhausted... And honestly, probably more injured than she thought she was...

Finding the Orb in her mess of a bag, she extracted it with a small frown. Sova was probably going to hate her for taking away his limelight... He seemed like the type who'd want to savor something like this, but she didn't want him to. Fuck him. They should've just given the people the money... Without really bothering to fully inspect the orb, Alki tossed the thing with as much force as she could muster towards the Alolan Raichu. She didn't care much what the two were talking about, she just wanted to be done with it...

Wait why the hell was he flying forward what the fuck. Alki's eyes widened as the Raichu tumbled forwards, towards Senya... It's not like she'd missed, and he was using a move! She'd seen the orb break on impact, so it'd definitely been used... And used right...

"...Oh." She'd made a mistake. Of course she had. Who else? Alki blew a raspberry, as she looked down inside her bag. Her ears flattened as she realized her mistake. That was a Blowback orb she'd used, hadn't it been? The Warp Orb was right there...

Well, maybe Sova would get his victory speech, or monologue, or... Whatever it was pokemon like him did after all. Not that she cared. She was alive... She should go check on Darcy... But she should probably stay and make sure that things went alright here first. She had the Warp Orb, after all... If things went south (Again,) then she had the Ace up her sleeve... So to speak.

~

The Raichu recovered quickly, but it seemed his opponent was faster. Really fast, actually... Weren't Glaceon supposed to be on the slow side...? His eyes widened as he prepared yet another thunder, wordlessly, but the Glaceon had him in Check... He had taken his ally hostage. He supposed he didn't really have any place to complain, considering he'd just killed his ally, albeit indirectly... Where, exactly, had this gone so wrong...?

"H-Hey, look, I--" He began, before something with a lot of force hit him from behind. He went tumbling forwards, towards the Glaceon, still quite unsure of what to make of what had hit him. He was going fast... He grunted as he bit the ground, dust flying all around him... He was close to the Glaceon... But his first order of business was looking at the source of what had struck him... And it seemed to be distinctly pink.

She was alive! He never thought he'd be happy at seeing an enemy with such a powerful weapon, but... He was. He was, because it meant that he could maybe bargain for his friend's life... He jumped to his feet, but didn't run for the Glaceon, didn't activate a move of any kind... Instead, he pointed at the balloon, frowning, almost crying...

"Your friend is alive... And you already killed one of mine... Let him go..." He managed, his voice low and pleading, any pretense at cockiness or superiority completely gone. He'd lost... They'd lost... And he was willing to admit it, if it meant saving his friend's life... He removed Sova's bag from his shoulder, tossing it lightly back at the Glaceon.

"...Here. Just... Don't. Ok?" The Raichu's voice utterly defeated, he looked at his friend's face, hoping to find some solace in his expression...

Alki turned to watch Sova now. He'd been violent this whole day. The Raichu was surrendering. Despite how much her ears hurt, and how little she could hear, he seemed decidedly non confrontational now... Her hands still on the Warp Orb, she turned to focus on Sova instead. She knew Darcy hated blood... And if he was going to hurt the Raichu, after the gang had surrendered... Then she'd get rid of him. At least temporarily. She wasn't going to let him make Darcy's day even worse...

A faint smile crept onto Senya's face as the round pink thing actually did something useful and knocked the remaining foe toward him with some kind of orb. He didn't know items too well, but he could recognize the effect and would have given Alki props if not for the more pressing things he had to focus on. He strutted calmly forward, refusing to flinch or falter when every step sent waves of agony through his body. The raichu was surrendering... which, of course, he wasn't going to accept. It was his job to inflict pain and violence and punish those who deserved it, not to seek peace or "do the right thing." His only purpose was this... and he would do his job, commit to his passion, regardless of how unnecessary it was.

...

As he stood in front of the raichu, staring him down, Senya's eyes widened slightly. He had expected some kind of intervention, from Sova or at least from the abomination... but for once, no one was here. No one else was in his head, no one was stopping him from... doing whatever he wanted. This was the first time he could remember that he had been given such freedom, and perhaps he should have expected it with the kind of duress he knew Sova was under, but... Well, he had been so confident in his conviction to murder the raichu before, but now...

He stood, frozen and silent, and stared blankly at the surrendering foe for a long moment in deep contemplation. Then, finally, he made a decision that surprised him... "Tch... I don't like taking hostages anyways. It's a coward's game," he responded as he stepped calmly forward and ducked his head under the strap of the bag, hoisting it around his neck. "I was offering for you to fight me like a man, but if you wanna quit..." spoke with a bitter disappointment on his tongue, "I'm going to have to ask that you call off your party, though, or I will have to do something about it myself."

Surprisingly, he wasn't very interested in gloating or trying to continue the fight. He knew he was already pushing his limits quite a bit, but beyond that, he... didn't know how to react to being given such freedom. Normally he had no moral inhibitions, but he also had someone controlling and regulating his actions, summoning him to fight and stopping him when it was deemed "too far" or "unneeded." He had rarely been left to his own devices, allowed to use his own judgment, and it turned out he was unsure what his own judgment was. One thing he knew for certain was that he didn't want to rive someone who was surrendering and acting so pathetic... There was no sport at all in that, and no justification.

Having a fight end without having to mercilessly beat everyone involved was... odd. Part of him still kind of wanted something to maim, but he supposed he'd had enough already, and he didn't want to risk provoking Sova or upsetting one of his... travel companions. He surveyed the area and spotted Darcy, almost hoping that she was being mauled so he could have an excuse to maul something... but she wasn't. Alki was free enough to be helping him, so that just left Chance... He wondered what the zorua wa doing, and if he was in danger. Upon further consideration, Senya wasn't sure if he even wanted an excuse to keep fighting. He would likely upset someone no matter what his justification was, so maybe it was best if it just... stopped.

Still, he did need to go find Sova's kid. He would definitely need to do that.