Mission 7

Into the Past

Team Shellclaw

Part 6

ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!

The Tyranitar wasted no time in beginning its attack. The ground shook violently every time the beast's feet made contact with the earth as it ran towards Kimiji and PK. It's mouth was agape, exposing its rows of razor sharp teeth that could easily destroy either of the two Pokemon in one fatal crunch.

"Here it comes!" PK shouted. "Dodge it!"

"Got it!" Kimiji replied. Both he and PK jumped in opposing directions as the Tyranitar's jaws clamped shut in the area where they used to be standing at. Then it turned in Kimiji's direction, growled and charged at him.

The Squirtle barely had time to dodge before the jaws of death slammed shut. This oversized Tyranitar was fast, almost too fast for its size.

Quickly, Kimiji ran underneath the monster and almost got stomped on as the foe attempted to stop him. Kimiji ended up behind the Tyranitar and let loose with Water Gun. The stream of water was not strong enough, for it had no damaging effect when it hit the foe's back. Slowly, the beast turned to face Kimiji and charged after him. Instead of attempting to eat him, it raised its claws and swung down on him. Kimiji barely dodged the Dragon Claw attack by dashing backwards out of the attack range as the claws slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and pieces of vegetation. The Tyranitar quickly recovered from the miss and grabbed an edge from the hole in the ground. It pulled up a chunk of earth without much effort and launched it towards Kimiji. The piece of earth slammed into the Squirtle and sent him flying backwards into a tree.

The injured Pokemon slid down the tree trunk as the Tyranitar made its approach...

Suddenly, it stopped as it saw PK hiding in the bushes to its right. With a roar, it stomped on the clump of vegetation, smashing both it and PK, or what it thought was PK.

Suddenly, the Kecleon appeared in the beasts blind spot and hopped onto its back. Instantaneously, it roared and tried to shake PK off of its back, but it was no use. PK quickly made her way to the beast's head and hit it right in the forehead with three Dizzy Punches. The Tyranitar started to wobble a bit as the Dizzy Punches worked their magic on it and caused the beast to become confused.

PK hopped onto a nearby tree branch as the foe fell over on its side. The impact  was enough to possibly shake the entire forest.

PK breathed a sigh of relief. "There," she said. "That should stun it for a bit. Kimiji! Are you alright?"

The Squirtle stood up and shook his head briefly. "Yeah, I'm good, but I think that my shell got chipped."

PK pointed over to the downed Tyranitar. "Try using your attacks on him now while he's down."

Kimiji got close and fired his Water Gun attack at the Tyranitar's face. It flinched from the impact, yet the damage was still minor.

The Tyranitar slowly got up and shook off its confusion. WIth a loud roar, it recommenced its attack on the duo. Kimiji jumped out of the way before he was squashed by the beast's feet, but was unable to dodge the Dragon Claw attack which struck him in the side and sent him into some bushes. The beast then turned its attention to PK who was still on the bough nearby. Using Dragon Claw once again, it cleaved the bough, and the tree, in half, but PK's quick reactions saved her from an instant death, and she landed on the ground, balancing on her good leg as the Tyranitar came at her. She nimbly dodged it's Crunch attack by leaping into the air and came down on its head again with a Sucker Punch to the same area which she had attacked before. The damage was enough to make the foe's head bob a little, but it still was not powerful enough.

She somersaulted off of the monster and landed to its left, then used her special ability to blend in with the environment. Even though she knew that the yellow band around her middle would not change, she also knew that the Tyranitar ould more than likely overlook that and not see her, and luckily, just that happened. The Tyranitar had no clue as to where PK had gone.

While it was looking around for its target, Kimiji had climbed up a tree and jumped onto the beast's head just like PK did. It immediately started to shake its head violently, and Kimiji clung on for dear life. His hands soon began to start losing their grip, and eventually, the beast shook him off and he landed close behind it. When the Tyranitar turned around, Kimiji immediately used Water Gun. Since he was up close that time, the force of the water was greater, and once it hit the target's face, it showed signs that the attack was effective, though not too effective. It simply shook off the damage and charged at Kimiji yet again.

"Damn! How do you stop this thing?" the Squirtle shouted as he dodged another Crunch. Before the beast recovered and attacked Kimiji again, PK reappeared in front of it and used Dizzy Punch, striking it in the same spot that she had been hitting. It reeled back in pain, but the attack still did not do too enough damage.

PK took the time to make her way over to Kimiji who was standing to the monster's far right this time. When it recovered, it glared directly at them.

"PK, our attacks aren't doing anything to it," Kimiji said frantically. "We're just pissin' it off."

"Yeah, I know," she replied. "I tried hitting it in the same spot, but it's hide is too thick. Maybe if..."

Her face instantly lit up with realization. She looked over towards Kimiji and said, "His feet! Go for the undersides of his feet! He has no armor there...that or it's thin enough to do some damage."

Kimiji nodded. "Alright. Undersides of feet. Got it."

The Tyranitar charged again, but this time, Kimiji did not budge. Instead, he waited in that exact spot, observing the Tyranitar's footsteps and preparing to time his attack with its upraised foot when it was close.

"Steady...steady..." said PK.

The beast roared. Soon, it will have its meal. Just a few more steps, and...

"NOW! LET 'EM HAVE IT!"

As soon as PK yelled, Kimiji used Water Gun. The Tyranitar was close enough for the jet of water to do significant damage. The water smashed into the lightly protected underside of its left foot. It cried out in pain as it stumbled forward and crashed into the ground. Kimiji and PK were almost crushed by the monster's body, but leapt clear of the falling behemoth just in time.

"Great shot, K!" PK shouted. "You got him!"

"Yeah," Kimiji replied with a slight chuckle. "He isn't out, though. We're gonna have to....Aaagh!"

With a loud outburst, Kimiji clutched the sides of his head and collapsed to his knees. The poison's effects were stronger now, way too strong.

PK ran over to him and attempted to lift him, just as the Tyranitar recovered and was advancing towards them. There was nothing but pure fury in its eyes as it slowly made its way towards its meal with a slight limp. A low growl emitted from its throat. Finally, it was dinner time.

"PK!"

A barrage of pink petals smacked into the Tyranitar's face, causing it to become disoriented and fall over backwards. PK looked behind her to see who saved them, though it was pretty obvious who it was.

"Iceburg! Jeez, your timing couldn't have been more impeccable!"

The Meganium ran over to the two Pokemon, using its retractable vines to hold its hat which was filled to the brim with Pecha Berries. AS he got closer, PK could see that he had obvious signs of combat all over his body: dirt smudges, some small cuts, and a few bruises were now decorating his green body.

"Sorry I'm late," he began. "I would've gotten back sooner if I wasn't ambushed by-"

"Nevermind that!" PK interrupted. "Give him the Pechas! Hurry!"

"Oh. Yeah. On it."

The Meganium dropped the cap beside PK, who immediately began to feed them to Kimiji. The sweet berry juice filled the Squirtle's mouth as he chewed one up until he could swallow it. Almost immediately, he began to feel a lot less dizzy than before. He groaned a bit, for the pain in his head still bothered him significantly.

"It's gonna be  awhile before he's fit to fight again," PK told the Meganium. "Can you keep that bastard busy until then?"

Iceburg looked over at the Tyranitar, who was now starting to get back up. It locked eyes with the Meganium and snarled loudly. Globs of saliva rolled down its lower jaw as the enraged beast began to look more and more rabid.

Iceburg gulped loudly. "I-I'll do what I can, PK," he responded as he stepped forward.

The Tyranitar roared and charged towards Iceburg, who began to lure the beast away from PK and Kimiji.

"That's it, you dumb fatso," he muttered. "Just a little closer..."

The Tyranitar lunged towards the Meganium and used Dragon Claw, but Iceburg dodged the attack and retaliated with another Petal Dance. The projectiles struck the side of the beast's face; one of them had put out it's left eye. Instantly, it stood up straight and roared in pain towards the orange sky as blood leaked from its now useless eye. As it did this, Iceburg threw his body into the monster's injured leg, causing it to give out and the Tyranitar fell over once again. This time, it snorted in pure anger and scrambled on its hands and knees towards Iceburg and attempted to bite him, but he lept out of the way and used Body Slam once again, this time on the right side of its face. The monster's head jerked to the left and it fell on its belly.

"You're getting a bit desperate, I see," Iceburg said to the downed Tyranitar. "That's gonna be your downfall."

The Tyranitar slowly got back to its feet, but stumbled when it tried to put pressure on its left foot.

"C'mon, man. Just stop. You're too injured to continue."

The Tyranitar roared as if in defiance to what Iceburg had said and, after struggling for a few seconds, finally got back on its feet and started to make his way towards the Meganium who simply shook his head sadly.

"Your choice," he said as he closed his eyes and focused. He began to feel his energy build up inside of him as he drowned out the noise of the advancing adversary. He was about to use his strongest attack on the stubborn foe. A tree nearby began to sway slightly, but the Tyranitar paid it no heed as he limped towards Iceburg. The closer he got to him, the closer he got to the tree, and the more it began to sway until...

Iceburg's eyes flew open and he glared at the target.

"Take this! FRENZY PLANT!"

Suddenly, once the Tyranitar had gotten close enough, the swaying tree began to move as if it were one of Iceburg's own vines. It whirled around at a ridiculous amount of speed, and Iceburg cried out as he used all of his focused power to control the huge tree.

The Tyranitar saw it coming, but there was no way that he would be able to dodge it. The massive tree slammed into the side of its head, knocking many of its teeth out of its head, dislocating its jaw, and sending it flying back into the ground. The following crash shook the entire area, causing leaves to sway and fall, and Pokemon to fall out of the trees.

The mighty beast lay unconscious on the ground, blood running down its jaw from wherever its teeth were forced out from the blow.

Iceburg stumbled forward a bit as he breathed heavily. "C-crap...I forgot...how much that...that attack drains me..." He looked at the defeated Tyranitar that remained out cold on the ground. "Whew! But at least...it got the job done..."

After standing still for a little bit to recover his strength, Iceburg turned his back on his downed opponent and made his way back to PK and Kimiji. When he finally arrived, the Squirtle was starting to rise to his feet. He was still a bit dazed from the poison's effects, but at least he did not have to worry about getting killed by it. PK had rubbed some of the Pecha Berry juice on his cut as well, and wrapped it up with a makeshift wrap made from the nearby plants.

As Iceburg approached, PK turned to look at him. "Everything alright?"

The Meganium nodded in response. "That big bully won't be bothering anyone else anymore. He's completely out cold. Finished him off with my Frenzy Plant."

"I thought you hated to use that attack, Iceburg."

"Yeah, well he should have given up when he had the chance.Uh, by the way, how's your leg?"

PK grinned. "Not as bad as before. I can put some pressure on it now, thankfully, so I can walk."

"And Kimiji?"

The Squirtle made his way over to Iceburg. "A whole lot better than before, thanks to you, man."

"Heh. No sweat."

PK looked up into the sky. It was entirely orange and slowly darkening. A few clouds, now colored various shades of oranges, yellows, and reds, slowly drifted on the wind currents high above them.

"We're out of time, guys," the Kecleon said to her friends. "Evenings here. We've gotta head towards the Monochrome Tower. Hopefully, one of the other parties found Jasmine or at least some clues as to where she is in this confusing forest."

She walked over to Iceburg and hopped on his back. The action earned her a confused look from the Meganium.

"I thought you said that you could walk," he said.

"I did, but that didn't mean that I was going to, Iceburg. Kimiji. C'mon over here. You're riding as well."

Once again, Iceburg swore under his breath as Kimiji made his way over to him, and, with some help from PK, mounted the Meganium. As soon as they were settled, Iceburg used his vines to pick his hat up from the ground, shook off the dirt, and set it atop his head as he started off towards their new destination.

"I meant to ask you something, Kimiji," said PK after a while. "Whose Josh?"

"Hm? Oh, you heard me say that before the fight? Well, Joshua, or Josh as he wanted to be called...he's my older brother. The guy was a complete clown. Even our parents couldn't stand him sometimes, but he was a good guy. He just hung out with the wrong Pokemon. You know, wrong place, wrong time."

"Mmhm."

"But yeah, before he disappeared, he trained me in fighting, even though I hated fighting, and I still do, but he would say, 'Sometimes in life, there ain't gonna be any other option but to kick ass and take names. You're gonna have to be prepared for that, K.'"

PK nodded. "He's right, you know. You can't negotiate your way out of conflict all the time."

"Yeah, I know."

"You said he disappeared," said Iceburg. "What happened?"

"Well...he and this group of thuggish Pokemon went out to explore the border between our land and this place called the Nido Empire or something like that. Said they were searching for some long lost treasure, but because of our relation to the empire, exploring the boarder is highly unsafe, let alone wandering into the Nido Empire's territory. Anyways, they left and just...well...never returned..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kimiji."

"It's okay. I know he's alive somewhere, and hopefully that place isn't a Nido Empire prison."

"I hope that you find him," Pk said to him. "Or that he finds you."

"Yeah, me too. Anyways, oh boy! Was that the fight of the year, huh?"

"Heh! You're tellin' me."

The trio walked north towards the Monochrome Tower, conversing about the day's series of events as they made their way.


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The waves slowly inched up the shoreline as the day started to come to a close. The sky was lit up with a multitude of orange, red, and yellow hues as the sun began it's slow and beautiful descent to the world that lie beneath the waves on the horizon. Several Wingull and Pelipper were gliding lazily on the breeze. Some occasionally dove down to catch an unsuspecting fish Pokemon. The light breeze carried the salty smell of the sea into Alomomola Bay and scattered the clouds overhead.

It was a very breathtaking sight, but unfortunately, Toruhaze and Chex were too fed up to enjoy it.

But it was not only the previous run-ins with the Boss and his gang of failures that had gotten them so angry. Several times along the way, they had gotten lost, ambushed by wild Pokemon, and the cart's axle had broken or gotten stuck multiple times along the way, making the last leg of the trip unimaginably frustrating and time consuming.

"That bitch had better just give us the money," growled Toruhaze, "or I'm gonna get irate up in here!"

Chex just followed, silent, but almost just as angry, as he pulled the cart which had just received its twelfth repair...or was it its thirteenth? He did not know, and he sure did not feel like figuring it out.

A few small cottages were scattered about the most scenic spot near the beach. Many of them were made from wood with a few of them constructed with other types of building materials, including coral and such. Chex pointed out the most colorful of the houses. It was constructed from mostly yellow and red coral and featured two custom-made stain-glass windows on the front which probably created a kaleidoscope of colors on the inside whenever the sun would set.

"Yup," said Toruhaze. "That definitely looks like a house that someone named Anana would live in."

They advanced upon the house, and Chex left the cart on the side of the road as they walked up the porch stairs. Toruhaze took a deep breath to get rid of all of the anger inside of him and mentally told himself to not go off on Anana at any time as he gave three knocks on the door.

"Hang on a sec. I'll be right with you," someone said from inside. Judging by the voice, the female inside appeared to be very lady-like and proper.

"You just stay by the cart, Chex," he told the Cubone. "I'll take care of this."

Soon, the door opened. Just as Toruhaze thought, the floor had a pool of multicolored light that filtered in from the stain-glass window. Then he saw a yellow Kecleon with a large pink flower in her hair and a red apron on that was covered with small spots of flour, indicating that she had been cooking something, probably for a small party or something like that. It did not matter to Toruhaze. He just wanted to get the payment and the "special garbage," and get the hell out of dodge.

The Kecleon looked at him and a warm smile lit up her face. "Oh hi there," she said. "How may I help you?"

Toruhaze returned the smile and replied, "Good evening, Miss Anana. Uh...you are Miss Anana, correct?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm Toruhaze of Team Shellclaw, Rogues Guild in Tao Village. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"The pleasure's all mine."

"May I have a quick word with you?"

"Sure," answered Anana as she opened the door a bit wider. "Come on in."

Toruhaze stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The house's interior was even more artistic than its exterior. Fine, high-quality wooden shelves were filled with several types and different-sized books and a few masterwork models of Pokemon. Some top quality furniture was also present: two comfortable chairs and a wooden table were visible in the main room, and some more chairs could be seen in the kitchen towards the back of the house which was a bit of a mess.

"You kind of caught me in the middle of baking a cake for my neighbor's birthday," Anana had told him. "He turns thirty-three in a few days. I've already planned for a splendid party, and the other neighbors had volunteered to buy the decorations and gifts, which left me with baking the cake, which is not a problem, but it is a bit messy."

She removed her apron and hung it over the back of a chair in the kitchen before walking back with two glasses of water. She handed one to Toruhaze and offered him to sit down in one of the chairs in the main room, which he did.

"So, Toruhaze," she began as she took her seat in the chair opposite to him, "what brings you to Alomomola Bay? It sure is a long ways from Tao Village."

"Yeah," he replied, "it is. Anyways, I was told that you have to pay an extra charge for the specialized garbage removal, and I've come to deliver the final invoice which has to be paid on the spot."

Anana's smile faded a little bit once Toruhaze had broken the news to her. "I assume that Chex must have sent you, yes?"

"That's correct."

She sighed. "As I have told him before, I will pay him the normal amount for the removal. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I don't think you understand, miss. There's a lot more bod...er, I mean garbage...than usual, so there's an extra charge that has to be tacked onto the standard fee."

"I'm not going to pay him no more than what I told him I would pay, sir."

Damn, she's stubborn, Toruhaze thought. He was starting to get very frustrated, and even though he did his best to keep it hidden, it slowly started to show on his face, starting with the twitch of his eyebrow.

"Listen, miss. I understand that-"

"No, you listen, mister Toruhaze," she interrupted. "I've already told Chex that I will not pay him any more than what I usually pay him. You see, Alomomola is already in serious trouble at the moment, and paying more than the usual amount will only add to that problem."

"Ma'am, paying more is not gonna add to the problem. It's only going to make things worse. If you don't pay, we don't clean up. And not only is that unsanitary, it makes your city look unsafe. Who would want to be walking around town and all of a sudden come across a dea...um...pile of garbage and-"

"You can say dead bodies. I doubt that anyone is close enough to hear." The smile was completely gone from her face and was replaced by a disapproving look.

"Okay, dead body,then. Anyways, what if someone comes across a dead body, hm? That would not be good for Alomomola's reputation. Rumors would get started, Pokemon would start moving away, the town would lose revenue and go down the drain, and all of that awful stuff. We don't want that to happen, so if you would just pay the extra charge, we can prevent that from happening, clean up the bodies and be on our way. What do you say?"

All he got was an angry look from the Kecleon and realized that this was a bad idea; he had never in his life been very good at persuasion.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome, sir," Anana finally said to him. "Allow me to escort you out."

Toruhaze sighed. "No, no. No need to. I'll be on my way." As he got up, he handed his half-full glass to Anana who followed him to the door.

"By the way, is there is a good chance that...I dunno, someone would probably spread the word about murderers in the town?"

Anana stopped dead in her tracks and glared at Toruhaze. "You wouldn't dare."

Toruhaze glared right back at her with a sly grin on his face. "Try me, madame."

The two stared hard at each other for what felt like an eternity with neither side batting an eye. Suddenly, the yellow Kecleon sighed in defeat. She just could not let Alomomola's reputation go down like that.

"Fine. You'll get the extra pay," she finally said. She ushered Toruhaze out of the house, walked back in and returned with the money, which she handed to him.

"There. That's the standard pay plus the extra that I owe. Happy now?"

"Of course!" Toruhaze replied with a mocking smile on his face. "You've made my day, ma'am. Thank you soooo very much."

Anana simply turned her back on him and said, "Just go get the garbage and getl out of here."

Toruhaze walked off the porch, waving goodbye to Anana. "Tootles! See you around! Have a nice day!"

The door slammed shut.

"Bitch."

                           ***
                               ***

About an hour later, Toruhaze and Chex were back on the road towards Tao Village with a cart filled with mutilated bodies. Night had caught them, and the moon illuminated their path as they continued their trek home. A multitude of stars were glowing high above them, decorating the sky with small specks of celestial light. It was beautiful, and Chex was enjoying it as he pulled the cart alongside his ally. Toruhaze, however, was still in a fit of rage, and the rotting smell of the bodies was not doing anything to help him calm down.

"This day was a disaster!" he shouted. "Got attacked by two idiots and their asshole boss, assaulted by a multitude of wild Pokemon, got lost multiple times, and had to deal with that friggin' Anana! Now on top of that, we've got to carry these stinking corpses aaaaaall the way back to the Boneyard! Dammit! I don't possibly know how much worse it can get from here!"

He threw his head back and shouted into the sky, "Kimiji! Wherever you are, you'd better get your butt back here before I find you 'cause there'll be hell to pay if I do, you hear me!"

Chex simply shook his head as he continued to watch the stars while he pulled the cart alongside Toruhaze. Yes, it had been a terrible day, indeed, but at least they were able to get the mission done and go home without any more obstacles to worry about: The perfect end to a not-so perfect day.

End Mission 7.