So Close Yet So F A R~{Catching/Open}

[Lucas Crystoff]

The sun had set after a long day of traveling. Lucas had set up camp in a cave next to the pathway. With the help of Monferno, he had built a decent fire to keep him and his Pokemon warm, even though he only had Monferno and Nuzleaf out. They were sleeping on the cave walls, while Lucas was leaning against the rocky wall on the outside of the cave. He ran his fingers through his jet black hair, and took a deep breath before looking into the starry sky.

A wide grin crept across his face; the beautiful night sky making him feel at peace with himself. He had originally come to fill the sixth spot in his team, but hadn't found the right Pokemon while searching throughout the day. He decided to postpone his search to the next day, as he and his Pokemon were pretty tired. He turned his head to the left, and remebered where we was.

In the very far distance, the Elite Four Building could be seen. Lucas chuckled, knowing it would be a long time before he was ready to enter the last leg of his journey. It felt as if he was looking at his future; he knew eventually he would be there, he just wasn't sure when. Chuckling again and shaking his head, Lucas went back to staring at the sky with his hands in his pocket.

[BellaMae]

Most of the sounds that filled the night were natural and expected. Soft winds, rustling leaves, and the such. There was another sound however. It started out as a low hum, but grew louder as the sources approached the cave. The sound of leaves crunching underfoot became evident, and a short moment later, the low humming became semi-intelligble. However, whatever was being spoken was clearly not English.

"Say-Say. Sable." One voice distinguished itself, low and droning.

"Wee. Weave." The second responded, light and airy, clearly feminine.

The owners of the voices became visible as they climbed up the bank from the river, walking side by side, and clearly engrossed in a vital conversation. They hadn't seemed to notice Lucas, nor the soft glow of the fire and emanating warmth that came from the cave. They were clearly enjoying their walk out in the cool weather of the fine evening, as well as each other's company.

Name: Sableye
Gender: Male
Level: 17
Abilities: Keen Eye
Attacks: Leer, Scratch, Foresight, Nightshade, Astonish, Fury Swipes



Name: Weavile
Gender: Female
Level: 14
Abilities: Pressure
Attacks: Embargo, Revenge, Assurance, Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Taunt, Screech, Faint Attack, Shadow Ball

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas started to slowly slide down the wall, slowly drifting to sleep. However, he was snapped back to reality from his daze when he heard a low humming. Normally he wouldn't be too worried, as he was usually a calm, cool and collected person. However, the other sounds of the night such as the wind and the rustling leaves had him a little bit worried. He was almost sure that he was worried for nothing, but it was always better to be safe then sorry.

He crept into the warmth of the cave, and saw his Monferno and Nuzleaf sleeping on the cave walls opposite to each other. As the humming seemed to get louder, he quickly moved in on his Monferno, tapping it on the shoulder. This caused the fire Pokemon to drowsily open it's eyes. "Wake up Monferno." Lucas whispered. He then crept over to his Nuzleaf, and tapped him on his shoulder. "You wake up too, Nuzleaf." He wispered to his Pokemon, causing it to slowly open it's eyes. Lucas then backed up, and spoke a little louder to both of them. "Guys, there's something out there. C'mon" He said as he walked towards the cave entrance. His Pokemon looked at each other with a half-asleep, confused look before following their trainer.

Soon, all three of them were peeking out the cave entrance. When the Pokemon started to hear the humming, they got a little nervous. However, it was mostly because Lucas was hyping it up by waking them up and making it seem like something big and scary was coming. They waited, and waited, before they heard a Pokemon cry. Unsure of what it was, Lucas wispered towards his Pokemon. "Get ready." The two Pokemon got into a battle ready Pokemon, and before they knew it two shadowy figures were climbing up the river bank. If this happened during the daytime, Lucas would have known that they were Pokemon, and would have went back about his buisness. However, the sounds of the night made everything seem scarier. Plus, Sableye and Weavile weren't the friendliest looking Pokemon around.

As soon as the two Pokemon came in full figure, Lucas ordered an attack. "Shoot! Ember, Nature Power! Go go go!" Lucas couldn't even tell which Pokemon was using what, he was so startled. Monferno puffed up it's cheeks before spitting fireballs at the two figures. Since the area was rocky, the outline of Nuzleaf's body would glow blue. Large rocks on the rocky wall of the cave would start to glow blue and be broken off before floating overhead of Lucas and his Pokemon. Nuzleaf would then raise his arms before swinging them down, causing the rocks to go flying towards the two figures. Dirt and dust would be kicked up weather the two attacks hit or not, causing a dirt cloud to form, and causing Lucas to be unsure of what he hit or didn't hit.

[WC: 500]

[BellaMae]

The calm, conversational tone and rhythm of the two pokemon's speech suddenly erupted into a quick frenzy of words and sounds. They two sprung apart from each other in opposite directions, both narrowing avoiding the fire balls delivered by the Monferno. Sableye made it away unscathed entirely, but Weavile dove almost directly into the path of the flying boulders, and was knocked aside by one of them. She struck the ground, rolling side over side for a short distance, before climbing wearily back up to her feet.

"Weeeeve!" The sound was a menacingly low hiss, betraying the cat-like pokemon's infuriation at being attacked. Her temper flared vibrantly, especially when compared to the slow, mellow response from the Sableye, who almost seemed not to care that they'd just been attacked. He drifted slowly back toward his companion, then began to move forward with her as she charged the mouth of the cave, and her assailants.

"Weeave!" She darted forward, her speed and agility clearly her speciality. Darting to the side, she bounced back and struck out, swinging one large, white paw about in a strong, wide arc, aiming to strike Nuzleaf with a powerful Revenge attack, the strength of which was increased due to the damage the pokemon took earlier.

Sableye didn't grant Monferno any chance to help his partner. It's dark colors granted it camouflage in the night, giving it even more of an edge to the Astonish attack that it executed. It swooped up toward Monferno, seemingly materializing out of thin air. A deep bellow emitted from its throat, the sound haunting and ghostly. The sudden attack and chilling sound were meant to throw the fire-type off guard as the dark pokemon struck out with one claw.

[Lucas Crystoff]

"Craaap." This was the only word that emitted from Lucas's mouth after he realized that the things he were scared of were just Pokemon. Sighing, he shook his head and turned to his Pokemon, who were giving him dirty looks. "I-I...I didn't..." Lucas tried to explain himself, but the words wouldn't come out. Plus at that point, the Weavile and Sableye were starting to coordinate an attack. Lucas still felt stupid, but at that point he had to start focusing on the situation.

Lucas ran a little ways away from his Pokemon, so he could see everything that was going on. Nuzleaf and Monferno were still by the mouth of the cave, waiting for orders. The Weavile came at them first, and with crazy speed that made it hard for Lucas or his Pokemon to keep up. Due to this, Weavile struck Nuzleaf with the full force of a Revenge attack. Due to Nuzleaf's type, it was super-effective, which caused him to fly back and skid on the ground, which kicked up dirt and dust. At that point, Lucas realized that the Weavile would probably faint the Nuzleaf with another hit, and would have to be taken out first.

"Alright, Monferno, Mach Punch the Weavile!" Lucas called out, pointing towards the cat Pokemon. Monferno ignored the Astonish attack, as ghost-moves didn't affect fighing-type Pokemon. His fist glowed a bright white, and Monferno ran a little closer to the Weavile before throwing a very quick punch. Since Weavile were half Dark and half Ice, the attack would be four times as strong. Weather the attack hit or miss, Monferno would have jumped back, and Nuzleaf would have seemingly appeared out of nowhere, jumping over Monferno and now above everybody on the battlefield. The moonlight made Nuzleaf look like a silhouette as he started to make his decent towards the ground.

"Now Nuzleaf! Nature Power!" Lucas called. Nuzleaf started to glow blue again, and as he was falling some of the rocks from the cave wall started to glow blue as well. In a very flashy, stunt-like move, Nuzleaf did a spin and landed on the ground with his arms behind his back and his head looking down. He waited for a few seconds, the quickly looked back up and launched the rocks at the Weavile and Sableye. Another super-effective attack; if both attacks landed then the Weavile would hopefully be finished.

{WC:500 + 412 = 912}

[BellaMae]

The two pokemon did not seem aware of the fact that the ambush had been misguided and somewhat unintentional. It did not occur to them that two dark, moving shapes in the night wilderness might worry anyone nearby. All they were focused on was the sheer fact that someone had attacked them, and now that someone was going to get it! Well, as much of it as the two of them could give, that was. They hadn't considered the possibility that they might be getting in over their heads.

Weavile felt it's blow make full and powerful contact with the opposing pokemon. It immediately slowed and spun about, ensuring that its back was not left to the open. It was more than in time to witness the start of the Monferno's counterattack, and it's naturally quickness allowed it the ability to dodge the oncoming Mach Punch, despite the speed of the attack.

However, it did so by leaping up and to the side, putting it in simulation of the Nuzleaf's movements. As such it found itself incapable of dodging the Nature Power attack, as it was left suspended helplessly in the air. Two of the rocks collided hard with the cat-like pokemon, and it crashed awkwardly to the ground, sliding several feet before coming to a halt. Its entire body quivered, its hands slipping beneath its body in an attempt to prop itself up.

As Weavile struggled with rising, Sableye dealt with the oncoming Nature Power attack. The rocks came hurtling toward it, and it made no attempt to move, even as the attack contacted... Then went right on through, crashing to the ground. The Sableye flickered, then vanished, as it was revealed to be an afterimage. Sableye had employed Night Shade in an attempt to confuse Nuzelaf as it dodged the attack, reappearing at the other pokemon's side and striking out with a powerful blow.

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas started to think as he saw his Mach Punch miss the Weavile. 'Mach Punch usually never misses, it's too fast. This Weavile has some crazy speed.' He thought. As the Weavile got knocked to the ground by Nuzleaf, Lucas noticed the Sableye, who wasn't doing anything to avoid the rocks headed it's way. "Hmm? It's gonna get hit, right?" Lucas said. He then watched as the Sableye seemingly disappeared into thin air; a very confused look sitting on his face.

Lucas, Nuzleaf, and Monferno looked around for a split-second before the Sableyee reappeared next to the Nuzleaf. 'Sheesh, this guy's fast too. He still hasn't been hit by any attacks.' Lucas thought, although his thoughts might have come a little bit too soon. As the Sableye struck the Nuzleaf in it's side, Nuzleaf grunted but did not move one inch. It then turned towards the Sableye, took a deep breath, and shot a powerful, dark beam of energy right in the Sableye's face. A confused Lucas decided to take advantage of the moment. "Uhh, alright...Now Monferno, jump in the air and use Ember on both Pokemon!" Lucas called out.

Monferno jumped as high as his legs would allow, and then shot fireballs at the Sableye, weather he was hit or dodged Nuzleaf's attack too. Monferno then turned his head towards the Weavile while still using Ember, causing the fireballs to follow Monferno's head's path until it reached the Weavile. While this was happening, Lucas stroked his chin before snapping his fingers in realization. "Dark Pulse! You learned Dark Pulse, Nuzleaf!" Lucas said. Nuzleaf was heavily breathing, but managed to give Lucas a weak smile and a thumbs up. Monferno landed on the ground, screaming it's name out loud and beating it's chest.

"Only my Pokemon."

{WC: 912 + 310 = 1232}

[BellaMae]

Sableye took the full force of the Dark Pulse. It was a powerful attack in and of itself, and this was the sole reason that the pokemon was knocked to the ground. It did not strike the earth hard however, and was back on its feet quickly. The strength of the attack had done a bit of damage, but the fact of the matter was it was a Dark-type attack, and was not very effective against Sableye, for while it was partially Ghost, it was also Dark. A unique quality really: no type of attack was super-effective against it.

Sableye managed to dodge the oncoming Ember attack, and instantly countered. It shot forward, unleashing a Leer upon Nuzleaf as it approached, and immediately combining the defense-reduction technique with an onslaught of Furry Swipes. It's dark, pointed and clawed hands slashed this way and that several times, aiming at different parts of the other pokemon's body. It was clearly intentionally attacking the more exhausted of the two pokemon.

Weavile, however, was incapable of dodging the fire. It had barely risen to its hands and knees before it was struck down again by the attack. The flames singed its fur, burning it, and it collapsed weakly back to the ground, and did not rise again.

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas clenched his fist in excitement as the Dark Pulse hit the Sableye. As much as he wanted to get really excited, it was only the first hit of the battle on the ghost and dark type. Besides, the Sableye seemed to just pop back up like nothing happened. So Lucas decided that he had to continue to stay focused in order to finish this Pokemon off.

The Weavile, however, was a different story. Lucas didn't notice at first, as he was watching the Sableye dodge the embers instead of watching the Weavile get struck. However, as his Monferno drew his attention away from the Sableye with his battle cry, he noticed the Weavile fainted on the ground. He contemplated catching the battle ridden Pokemon, but decided to wait until the battle was over. This was when he realized that the Sableye was coming at his Nuzleaf with another attack.

"Alright, let's finish this guys. Monferno! Block for Nuzleaf!" Lucas called. The Nuzleaf was too tired to move, so all he could do was put his arms in front of his head in hopes to block some of the damage. Since he was blinded by his arms, he couldn't see was going on, and after a few seconds he was confused as to why he wasn't getting hit. However, as he cautiously removed his arms he noticed the Monferno taking the hits for him. Although Monferno and Nuzleaf had a very strong rivalry, deep down they cared about each other, and they worked together very nicely.

"Now Monferno! Use Ember!" Lucas called out. Monferno had his arms crossed in front of his head to guard the attack. However, as the Sableye's claws were scratching him, he slowly moved his arms from his face, so he started taking the attack directly. However, this was only for a few seconds, as soon he started to spit small fireballs at the ghost/dark Pokemon's face. Monferno would then jump behind Nuzleaf, leaving an open space between the Nuzleaf and Sableye.

"Let's finish this Nuzleaf! Daaaaark Pullllllllse!" Lucas yelled, dragging out the words. Nuzleaf took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and crossed his arms in front of his mouth before throwing his arms back, aiming his head towards the Sableye and firing a dark purple beam of energy towards the Sableye, hoping to finish this.

{WC: 1232 + 400 = 1632}

[BellaMae]

Sableye had gone out on an all out offensive. It was two on one now, and the pokemon had realized that he needed to fully take out one of his two opponents in order to win. As such, it had gone completely after Nuzleaf with the intent of finishing the grass-type, and then would turn its attention to Monferno. But to his surprise he was not granted this opportunity, as the fire-type intervened and took the damage of his attacks for his partner. Well, fine, at least his Fury Swipes were landing, and this fact instantly spurred the dark purple pokemon onward, causing its attacks to become quicker and harder.

Because Sableye dedicated itself completely to its attack and forgot about defense, it was unable to do a thing when Monferno stopped blocking the Fury Swipes, and simply counterattacked whilst being mauled. The flames of the ember connected fully with the opposing pokemon's body, knocking it unstably backward at first, then to the ground as a second, third, and fourth fireball contacted.

It took a moment to regather itself, and had barely risen to its feet when the full force of the Dark Pulse attack slammed into it, sending it spiraling to the ground where it rolled end over end for several feet, before coming to a halt. Dark Pulse was not super-effective, but it was a powerful move, and Sableye had been weakened by the Ember attack. As such, it found itself weak, and incapable of rising a second time.

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief after the Sableye was finally knocked out. He chuckled a little bit to himself, scratching the back of his head. "Well, we fought off the 'monster' huh guys?" He said with a smile as he turned towards his Pokemon. Both of them gave him an upset look, and Monferno used Ember on his trainer. Lucas cried out in pain and was knocked onto his back, and a tired Monferno and Nuzleaf slowly made their way back to the cave. Lucas slowly got up, now sitting on his behind. As much as he was in pain, he could help but chuckle.

Wiping some of the ash off of his body, his glance turned towards the Weavile. That Weavile was a very quick Pokemon, and Lucas saw it's potential during battle. He decided to capture it, and see where things would go from there. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pokeball. Pressing the button to enlarge the ball, Lucas threw it at the Weavile, hoping to add a new Pokemon to his team.

[BellaMae]

The Weavile didn't put up any sort of a fight. It's body was weak and tired, and it wanted to rest. When the pokeball struck it and sucked it inside, it went without struggle. The pokeball settled motionless on the ground a short moment later, and the pokemon was caught.

You caught a Weavile!




Name: Weavile
Gender: Female
Level: 14
Abilities: Pressure
Attacks: Embargo, Revenge, Assurance, Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Taunt, Screech, Faint Attack, Shadow Ball

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas smiled as he picked up the Pokeball. He stared at it for a moment before putting it into his pocket. He then yawned, realizing that it was still nighttime. He stretched before following his Pokemon into the warmth of the cave. Once inside, he lied next to his Monferno against the rocky cave walls, and slowly drifted off into slumber.

Timeskip: The Next Night~

After a day of rest and relaxation, Lucas decided to spend one more night in the cave by the Stone Pathway. Lucas was laying down by the cave, looking up at the stars. However, this time he wasn't alone. He was joined by his Elekid and his Corphish. His Corphish was right next to him, also looking at the sky, but his Elekid was posted up against the wall; he was too cool to be laying on the ground looking at the stars. It was quiet, but it was more of a comfortable silence. Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard by all three of them. The noise startled Lucas and Corphish, while Elekid only looked around to figure it out.

Lucas then looked towards his stomach, and realized that it was growling. "Shoot, when was the last time we ate?" Lucas asked his Pokemon. Corphish scratched her head with confusion, while Elekid just shrugged. Lucas then jumped up, and stretched for a moment while speaking. "Alright, let's go see if we can find some berries or something to hold us until we get to a Pokemon Center." He said. Elekid shrugged and got up off the wall, and Corphish smiled and nodded. All three of them then started to walk down the pathway, stomach's growling and noses up high.

[Galena Aspen]

Hands in her the pockets of her open fronted hoodie to keep warm, Galena continued to walk despite the darkness. Most trainers generally only travelled during the day because of the untamed wilderness between the cities, areas that generally had no set paths and were plenty dangerous if you weren't paying attention to where you were going, but Galena had long since stopped listening to the warnings, especially after she'd captured Ghastly and evolved him into a Haunter. The irony of the warnings she'd received was that they came from people who lacked both nocturnal and or Ghost type pokemon, and she was set on both fronts - while Beedrill was admittedly fast asleep in his pokeball, Haunter and Grovyle were both out and walking or floating alongside her, with Grovyle to her right and Haunter leading the way. With any luck they'd be able to reach the Lunar City pokemon center by sun rise, but then again it was only an immediate destination - as it was Galena had no real long term goal in mind other than to attempt to take down as many Gyms as possible, and Lunar CIty was admittedly still beyond their reach. It was with those thoughts in mind that Galena nearly ran into or through Haunter, who had stopped in place having sensed someone or something ahead.

Somewhat curious as to what he'd picked up on but with only the same blank look on her face that she customarily wore, Galena casually walked up to stand straight beside Haunter to wait and see whatever it was would do, Grovyle moving up to stand on her other side.

[GUEST]

Name: Mightyena
Gender: Male
Level: 18
Abilities: Intimidate, Quick Feet
Attacks: Bite, Howl, Sand Attack, Tackle, Howl, Bite, Odor Sleuth



Name: Natu
Gender: Male
Level: 10
Abilities: Synchronize, Early Bird
Attacks: Leer, Peck, Night Shade, Teleport

Among the Stone Pathway there was a Pokemon that was just laying on the side of the path. It was quite tired and not feeling too well at all. This pokemon was a tough Mightyena, which had the potential to be vicious and do heavy daamge when it wanted to. Mightyena was doing nothing at all though, and was bored out of its mind. Suddenly Mightyena heard some sort of call or something. It hoisted itself up, curious as to what exactly it had heard. Looking up it saw a little green Pokemon, calling out its call. It was Mightyena's friend Natu that he had spared for some odd reasons.

Mightyena began to bound down the path slowly, following where the Natu was. Natu on the other hand had seen Lucas, and was getting Mightyena in hopes that if they teamed up they would have the potential to eliminate this threat and perhaps get some food on the way. Mightyena had no clue as to where he was being lead until they reached the place where you could see Lucas. Mightyena growled silently, and Natu looked forward somewhat worrily. Natu was waiting for some sort of opening, but Mightyena had other plans. Mightyena charged forward, attempting to sink his teeth (BITE) into Lucas. Natu, watching his friend charge, gave its position up by hovering itself a bit into the air. Which made its appearance more obvious.