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[Malice Aforethought]

With Ereshkigal perched on her shoulder Mitch strolled along the wooden walkway, glad to be away from Adrian and out where some slightly less irritating (presumably, anyway) training opportunities were to be found... and, of course, more Pokémon to add to her team. She stopped after several minutes and looked around to see what she could see, her hand in her pocket resting tentatively on her Pokédex. As soon as she'd scanned and caught or defeated whatever looked interesting she'd have to change the stupid thing's voice back. The next irritated Pokémon attack would probably break it for good.

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Michelle would walk along a dirt path for a short while before reaching a boardwalk, which was slightly elevated above muddy ground. Around the sides of the boardwalk, the grass grew green and tall. The mostly flat plains were dotted with the occasional flower or tree, and seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon. The skies were mostly clear over the route, and the sun shone down on the area as strongly as it had in Willow Town.

The grass further away from the boardwalk was much taller, but immediately around the boardwalk, the grass was short enough to reveal several pokémon:

- A shinx lazed around on top of a large, flat rock, simply enjoying the sun.

- Three wingull soared overhead toward the Dockland.

- A plusle simply stood at the side of the path, looking into the grass and ignoring Michelle entirely.

- A scyther lay on the grass, unconscious. A man around Michelle’s age, wearing a red vest over a long-sleeved black shirt, was unsuccessfully trying to wake the scyther up with just a raised voice.

“Why would you even care about something as worthless and lazy as that shinx? He’s only level eight—oh, wait, but that’s still better than your pokémon, isn’t it? Ha, ha.” The shinx lazily opened an eye and looked at Michelle sleepily, then yawned, though he didn’t seem overly offended. “Then there are those wingull. Two guys are the pathetic levels of five and seven, and there’s some girl who’s level three. Wonder why she’s weaker than the rest, don’t you? Though it’s pretty obvious.” The wingull didn’t seem to hear, though, as they didn’t react. “There’s a plusle, level four, and minun, level five—both pathetically weak, and female. Wow, you’ve got bad luck with finding good stuff, don’t you? The scyther over there is only good for cutting stuff, so I don’t know why someone bothered to catch her. Though she can barely do even that, being only level five.”

[Malice Aforethought]

((Minun what where))

"Aaaaand that's enough from Captain Asshole for now," Mitch said, quickly stuffing the Pokédex back into her pocket before Ereshkigal or one of the wild Pokémon reacted--though she needn't have worried about the Murkrow, who seemed pleased that someone else was on the receiving end of most of Vincent's abuse for a change.

So... this was a decent enough variety of Pokémon. That Shinx seemed like a nice find, so she'd focus on catching him; the Scyther was even more attractive, but she appeared to belong to the man that was shouting at her. Still, perhaps he'd caught her around here, and even if he hadn't Mitch thought it would be a good idea to ask where he'd found her. She wasn't particularly interested in the others, but that wasn't a problem; that just made them good training fodder.

Without turning to look at her, Mitch addressed Ereshkigal. "Right, Ereshkigal. You got some nice exercise helping me catch Lugh and Faunus before, but this is where the real training starts. See those Wingull up there? I want you to scatter them with Astonish; try and hit the smaller, weaker-looking one if you can. Then I want you to focus all of your attention on the weakest one; just keep Pecking her again and again, although if she tries to run then go after her with Pursuit. Keep this up until she faints or I tell you otherwise, got it?"

She then reached for her belt and released Faunus and Gefion. "Okay, you two. I promised you I'd train you up and that's what we're going to do. I want to catch the Shinx relaxing on that rock over there, and you two are going to work together to weaken him. Faunus, run up to him and Leer at him, and then you're going to try and ram your back into him like you did to that kid's Growlithe. Gefion, as soon as you see that the Shinx has been startled I want you to Tackle him. Both of you keep ramming into him until he looks really tired or I tell you to stop; don't beat him up so badly that he faints. All right? Get to it, then."

That left only Lugh, the Plusle and an alleged Minun that Vincent could see but Mitch couldn't. As the weakest member of her team Lugh could really use some practice, but she was pretty sure that those Pokémon learned Thunder Wave at a pretty early level. And even if he was relatively close to them in strength, a fat lot of good that would do if he could hardly move. She'd just have to wait and see what else popped up for Lugh to battle a little further down the road.

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Ereshkigal cawed and swooped upwards, above the three low-soaring wingull. She circled over the three, looking at the smallest one, then shrieked suddenly and dove. The three wingull, alarmed, scattered as Michelle predicted, but Ereshkigal tore after the smallest wingull and scratched the wingull’s back with her talons. The wingull screeched, blood trickling onto her back, and Ereshkigal flew up in preparation for another attack. The small wingull was too shocked to react.

The other wingull were not amused. The middle-sized wingull snarled at Ereshkigal, startling her, and he glared as he flew up. During her moment of surprise, the largest wingull spat a stream of water at her, sending her tumbling through the air. Ereshkigal recovered quickly, dripping wet, as water from the attack dripped onto the grass below.

Ereshkigal was keen on her target, though, and dove the smallest wingull. She jabbed at the wingull with her beak, striking the wingull’s head and prompting another shriek. She’d pay for that, though, as two jets of water from the other wingull struck her while she was flying up. One stream of water struck her wing. Ereshkigal staggered through the air but kept flapping through the pain, glaring up at the two. She was flying noticeably slower, though, and winced with every flap.


Gefion and Faunus ran along the boardwalk toward the rock, until they were as close as they could get from the boardwalk. Faunus’s eyes glowed to show how dangerous he was, and he stared hard at the shinx. The shinx barely noticed, however, and simply continued to relax. Faunus jumped off the boardwalk, followed by Gefion, but they landed just short of the rock. There was no way to get a contact move with him now, not while he was on the rock, as the rock was too tall to jump on.

Gefion closed her eyes, glowing a soft green, and small green orbs seeped out from under the shinx’s fur and toward Gefion. The shinx’s eyes snapped open as he hissed in shock and pain. The orbs stopped coming out of the shinx’s body, and when they had all reached Gefion, her aura faded. The shinx angrily pushed himself to his feet, glaring down at the two from his rock. Both of the pokémon couldn’t help but be taken aback; it might have just been his height boost, but the shinx looked a bit intimidating. The shinx’s eyes glowed as he glowered down at Gefion, who squeaked in surprise and shrank back.


“Plusle!” the plusle called into the grass. A minun’s head suddenly popped out of the grass in front of her, drawing a squeal. The minun giggled and wandered out of the grass, then waved at Michelle with a tiny paw.

The scyther stirred, then sat up, rubbing her forehead with the blunt end of her scythe. She then stared up at the man, blinked, and stood up warily.

Update: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) have decreased. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) have decreased. Faunus’s attack has decreased (-1).

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack is lowered (-1).

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

[Malice Aforethought]

Mm. Mitch had really been hoping that the other two Wingull would have just gone away, but no such luck. Ereshkigal could handle one of them on their own, certainly, especially that weak level three one... but how long she could hold up under combined attacks from the two stronger ones was another matter entirely. She could try having Ereshkigal scare them off first... but the two stronger ones probably weren't as likely to scare so easily again, and even if the Murkrow managed to scare them away the original target might be long gone. What to do, what to do... "Keep it up, Ereshkigal. See if you can't spook that bigger Wingull with another Astonish or two, and then attack the weakest one with another Pursuit."

And that Shinx... eh, she'd misjudged her Pokémon's ability to get to the rock, and now he had frightened them. The important part was that Gefion had gotten his attention, though; there was no way he wouldn't notice another Leer. "It's okay, you two," she called. "Now that he knows you're there, Leer at him again, Faunus. Show him just how scary you can be. Gefion, keep up the Absorb attacks for now. If he comes down then go ahead and spike-tackle him again, okay, Faunus?"

The Plusle and the Minun were apparently playing some sort of game. She still wasn't all that interested in them, but she waved half-heartedly at the Minun all the same. "Uh... hi."

[Kusarigamaitachi]

The larger wingull shrieked before Ereshkigal could turn and attack, startling her. The high-pitched sound waves rand in her ears, disorienting her a bit and preventing her from attacking. However the sound waves struck the other wingull as well, as the four birds were all relatively close together—and because of this, the wingull’s attempt at defending his team-mate spectacularly backfired.

The two smaller wingull screeched as well as the sound hit them. Everything went blurry and they were hit with a sudden wave of dizziness and instability. While Ereshkigal regained her balance (as much as she could, with her injured wing), the other two didn’t. The middle-sized wingull snarled at the smallest wingull, and the smallest wingull “eep”ed and faltered, although she was scared into temporarily regaining sanity.

Furious, the largest wingull looked up, toward Ereshkigal, only to see a red-eyed black blur diving toward her. The wingull had no way of jumping back, so he closed his eyes in anticipation of an impact that would send them both falling out of the air. Ereshkigal suddenly pulled out of her shallow dive, scratching the wingull’s wing with her talons. The wingull gasped; although the cuts weren’t deep, they stung.

The middle-sized wingull flew in frenzied circles around an invisible middle point, screeching incoherently. The smallest wingull spat a small stream of water at Ereshkigal, striking the murkrow’s chest, but the attack was much weaker than that of the other wingull.


The shinx suddenly leapt off the rock and darted at Gefion, too quick for them to act. He bounced off of Gefion’s soft body, landing on his feet and growling. Faunus ran at the shinx, but turned around at the last moment to hit the shinx with his spiky flank. Though the spikes pricked the shinx’s skin, they didn’t strike any blood vessels major enough to inject poison into. As the shinx growled again and glared at Faunus, Gefion jumped at the shinx’s side, sending the shinx off-balance and into Faunus.


The plusle and minun both ran off into the grass together, giggling. The man pointed after them, and the scyther darted into the grass.

Update: Wild wingull f3 has become confused. Wild wingull m5 has become confused.

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack is lowered (-1). Wild wingull f3 is confused. Wild wingull m5 is confused.

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

(( …that was not supposed to happen o.o with the wingull ))

[Malice Aforethought]

Mitch watched the Wingull screech and flounder, rather amused. What a fortunate turn of events. Of course, it might be a good idea to get rid of the one that wasn't confused first, which would hopefully be easier to do if the other two were still scrambled. "Change of plans, Ereshkigal," she called out, pointing at the stronger bird. "Leer at the big one that isn't confused and then just keep Pecking him!"

As for the Shinx... "C'mon, Faunus, Leer at him! Leer at him and then keep trying to stab him. Gefion, just keep using Absorb. I know you two can wear him down, come on!"

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Ereshkigal and the strongest wingull both turned to face each other at the same time, and Ereshkigal stared as creepily as she could, eyes looking like they were on the verge of popping out. The wingull blinked, but was unimpressed, and spat out a stream of water that struck Ereshkigal head-on. She screeched and nearly fell out of the air, tumbling through the sky and flapping as hard as she could to keep aloft. Another stream of water on the part of the smallest wingull followed her, but missed her by a long shot and fell onto the grass harmlessly below.

As Ereshkigal finally pulled out of her fall and flew up to meet the wingull, the largest one dove. Ereshkigal jabbed her beak at him, but he pulled out of the way. This was made somewhat easier as his wings weren’t as injured as hers, but she turned and circled overhead, prepared to attack again. Another jet of water, this time from the middle-sized wingull, fell from the sky, but the water spread out into large droplets as it fell. Some fell on Ereshkigal, and some on the wingull, but it was really more like rain.


The shinx turned to glare at Faunus, but Faunus stared back, eyes glowing evilly. The shinx’s eyes widened and he backed away, only to bump into Gefion. Still a bit spooked, the shinx turned around again, though only partially, to give Gefion a one-eyed glare. Then he threw himself sideways into Gefion, snarling. He bounced off, though Gefion was thrown off-balance and nearly fell over.

She regained her balance, then shook herself. Staring at the shinx, she started glowing green, and more orbs of life energy emerged from the shinx’s skin and into Gefion’s aura. Some of her bruising lightened a little as well. The shinx just glared between them both, snarling.

Update: Wild shinx’s defence (-1) fell.

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack (-1) is lowered. Wild wingull f3 is confused. Wild wingull m5 is confused. Wild shinx’s defence (-1) is lowered.

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

[Malice Aforethought]

As Mitch had suspected the Wingull wasn't feeble enough to be startled by a Leer or two; well, Ereshkigal would just have to work without that advantage, then. Ereshkigal was technically faster than the Wingull, although all of that water weighing her feathers down probably wasn't helpful. Still, she was airborne, and for now that was all that mattered. "Keep it up, Ereshkigal, keep it up! Keep attacking it with Pursuit! Aim for the wings and see if you can't snare it a little, and watch out for the other two!"

The battle with the Shinx was faring a little bit better, but there was obviously still a ways to go before the stronger Pokémon was worn down. At least Faunus hadn't been hit yet, and Gefion could keep herself afloat for a while with Absorb. "Peck him, Faunus, and keep going unless I tell you to stop. Gefion, Tackle him twice and then back up and use Absorb again."

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Ereshkigal screeched and once again flew at the largest wingull, who screeched back, but at a much higher pitch. The sound waves rippled invisible through the air, striking the ears of all pokémon within reach. This turned out to only be Ereshkigal, as the other two were still fluttering above, and the sound pounded at the delicate organs in her ears needed for balance. It didn’t help that the sound waves also seemed to pass through her brain, scrambling her thoughts.

(Almost immediately after this, Michelle heard a loud cry from within the grass, but nothing spectacular happened.)

However, Ereshkigal was already glowing black, and though she was rather disoriented, she managed to scratch the wingull on his already-injured wing, cutting more deeply and leaving black marks. The wingull shrieked in pain, but as he turned around, he was much slower—the injury slowed him down as much as Ereshkigal’s did to her.


The cry from the long-grass plains came before either of Michelle’s land-based pokémon moved, but it didn’t affect them, either.

Faunus ran forward and jabbed at the shinx with his horn, eliciting a cry and stabbing a shallow wound in the shinx’s hide, though the shinx didn’t appear badly injured. The shinx seemed to ignore this. He once again threw himself into Gefion, apparently having chosen Gefion as his almost sole target. Perhaps he was just a bit scared of Faunus.


A sudden crack and a brilliant flash interrupted both battles, and a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky. At first it looked like Michelle didn’t have to worry—the lightning struck into the grass, away from her battle with the shinx. However, lightning did come from the sky, and if she checked to see if Ereshkigal was okay…

…she’d find that the murkrow was perfectly fine, save her confusion.

The smallest wingull, however, was not.

Being struck by a powerful bolt of lightning was simply too much for the wingull, and with a weak cry, the wingull simply dropped. The other three fliers, as well as the shinx, Gefion, and Faunus, were too stunned to react to the falling wingull, though after a moment of watching, the middle-sized wingull’s mind suddenly cleared as he was able to focus on one thing—but not react.

The thunder roared moments after the lightning faded, and the scyther’s trainer stared into the grass, stunned. He didn’t notice the wingull’s plight, either, it seemed, and was more focused on what was probably his own battle. “Get me that pokémon!” he boomed, though he was nowhere near as loud as the thunder.

Update: Ereshkigal became confused. Wild wingull m7’s speed (-1) fell. Wild wingull f3 fainted. Wild wingull m5 snapped out of confusion.

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered, and she is confused. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack (-1) is lowered. Wild wingull m7’s speed (-1) is lowered. Wild shinx’s defence (-1) is lowered.

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

(( Yes, it had Thunder before Whivit’s did. Biased randomiser. ))

[Malice Aforethought]

What. What the hell. Was that.

Thunder? The hell did some low-level Pokémon know Thunder?! It didn't seem like it was the Shinx... at least, she mostly hoped it wasn't the Shinx. A level 8 Shinx with Thunder would be lots of fun to own, sure, but actually catching it would prove to be difficult if it could fry her Pokémon left and right. What it had done to the Wingull wasn't entirely surprising, given its low level and extreme weakness to electricity, but still. Effing Thunder.

The Plusle and Minun the Scyther trainer had been interested in were just as likely to have done it, Mitch supposed. Given that his attention still seemed to be on whatever Scyther was doing when he shouted "Get me that Pokémon" she assumed that one of those two... mice, or rabbits, or whatever they were, had done it. Hopefully he wasn't going to try and catch Shinx before she could. Just in case it had been the Shinx, she'd just have to be sure she got to it first. She knew it still wasn't weak enough for capture just yet, but she held onto an empty Pokéball anyway as she turned to Faunus and Gefion. "Good work, you two. Peck and Absorb, just keep going!"

It looked like the big Wingull had finally managed to confuse Ereshkigal... crap. At least the Thunder hadn't hurt her, but still... "Ereshkigal! Ereshkigal, can you hear me? Can you understand me? If you can, keep trying to use Pursuit on the Wingull's wings! Try to aim for the bigger one if you can, but either one will do! If you can't get a good bearing on one, back off for a bit and try to clear your head!" Those probably weren't particularly helpful orders, but they were all she could think of at the moment; that Thunder out of nowhere had shaken her. "And all three of you! If you hear another cry like that, look out!"

[Kusarigamaitachi]

The wingull continued to fall, accelerating as gravity continued to pull on her, and she finally landed on the grass not far from Michelle, hard. The grass concealed the actual wingull, but what had happened was unmistakable.

Ereshkigal cawed and flew around in circles as the other two wingull gave a cry and dove down after their companion, leaving Ereshkigal behind. Michelle heard the same cry as before as they flew down, but again nothing happened for a moment. The wingull had enough time to reach where the weakest wingull had fallen, and circled low around her.


The cry came before the shinx or his opponents even started to move, so Faunus and Gefion were wary and hesitant. They… didn’t think it was the shinx, but it could have been, or the lightning could strike them. They were unprepared when the shinx suddenly put on a burst of speed and ran around Gefion, turning suddenly and slamming into her. Gefion stumbled and fell against Faunus, though the spikes didn’t puncture through her skin. The shinx grinned—payback. Gefion and Faunus were unamused, and Faunus ran around Gefion to stab the shinx’s side once more. It didn’t hurt much, but it still damaged the shinx.

The crack of lightning and the brilliant flash came again, striking further off into the plains than before, not very close to the shinx or Michelle’s pokémon. It didn’t strike the only flyer, either. Gefion was startled, but so were the other two, and she recovered quickly enough to focus and glow green. She was tiring and hurt all over, but this would make her feel a little better. As green orbs floated out from the shinx and into her body, the shinx looked tired as well. He didn’t have many visible injuries, but he hissed in pain, and didn’t look much better off than Gefion. It didn’t help him that Faunus wasn’t hurt at all.

Update: Wild wingull f3 died.

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered, and she is confused. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack (-1) is lowered. Wild wingull m7’s speed (-1) is lowered. Wild shinx’s defence (-1) is lowered.

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

[Malice Aforethought]

It looked as though whatever was using Thunder was more interested in the Wingull than Ereshkigal or Mitch's other Pokémon. On the one hand, it was robbing Ereshkigal of potential experience; on the other hand, she was still kind of out of it and she was safe. If the Thunder-user tried to go after the other Wingull (or keep hitting the same one), it would be stupid to have Ereshkigal around them anyway. And since the two bigger Wingull hadn't been scared off, it was a fairly one-sided fight... Mitch sighed and turned to look up at her Murkrow. "Ereshkigal, come back here! Leave the Wingull alone for now. I don't know where that Thunder will hit next and I don't like it, so come back!" If Ereshkigal was too confused to understand her, she'd just have to call her back into her Pokéball.

The Shinx was finally tiring; good. She'd be able to catch him soon. "One more round ought to do it, you two," she called to Faunus and Gefion. "Attack him again and then back off." When she saw that they'd stopped attacking, she'd throw the empty Pokéball at the Shinx.

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Ereshkigal dove down, screeching incoherently and just letting herself drop. Partway through the fall, however, she suddenly started flapping her wings hard and flying around in a circle, continuing to screech to nothing. The two flying wingull flew off toward the area where the lightning struck, both calling to each other in their own language.


Faunus stabbed another cut in the shinx’s side, prompting a snarl as the shinx once again threw himself into Gefion. Gefion squeaked as she was hit, then gasped—that hurt a lot, as the shinx was heavier than she was—but she knew she had a way of healing herself a bit, and did. She glowed green and pulled orbs of green light from the shinx and into her aura, recovering some of her wounds.

While the shinx was gritting his teeth in pain, Faunus backed away a bit. Gefion stopped glowing as the last of the orbs reached her, and she turned and scrambled to get away from the shinx.

The pokéball sailed through the air and struck the shinx. It split open and sucked the pokémon into the ball, snapping shut. As the pokéball fell to the grass, it started shaking violently, and quickly opened to release the shinx again. The pokéball was tossed a short distance against the rock the shinx had been resting on, and the shinx glared at her, panting. The escape had tired him a bit, but he wasn’t about to give up.

Update: You have lost one pokéball.

End Stats: Ereshkigal’s attack (-1) and speed (-1) are lowered, and she is confused. Gefion’s attack (-1) and defence (-1) are lowered. Faunus’s attack (-1) is lowered. Wild wingull m7’s speed (-1) is lowered. Wild shinx’s defence (-1) is lowered.

Terrain: Willow Walk (Route 1). The wide, flat field is covered in grass. A boardwalk on stilts runs through this field where the grass is shortest, underneath which is a small stream. Farther away from the boardwalk, the grass grows taller. There is a large, flat rock close to the boardwalk, and several trees and flowers scattered around the field. The sun is shining brightly.

[Malice Aforethought]

Mitch held out Ereshkigal's Pokéball and recalled her, then turned back to Faunus and Gefion. Well, crap. The Shinx had broken out. Not that big a deal; she'd just have to rough him up a little more before trying again. "Okay, Faunus. You back off for now. Gefion, give him three more Absorbs, okay? We've almost got him." The good news was that she hadn't heard from the Scyther guy again yet, so it wasn't the Shinx he was after. He'd be dealing with the Thunderbunnies or whatever on his own, then, and was apparently perfectly content to do so. Have fun catching those with a low-level Scyther, she thought.

Since dealing with the Wingull was potentially unsafe at this point, the Shinx was accounted for and Scyther Guy was doing whatever he was doing with the Plusle and Minun, that left nothing Mitch could find for Lugh (and probably Faunus, since he seemed to be feeling fine) to battle. She looked around for any other visible Pokémon; if she saw them, she'd scan them with her Pokédex. And would have to remember to get rid of that irritating Vincent personality.