Leviathan
Bracken Horror
((Prepare thyselves; incredibly long, incredibly sappy monster post is approaching.))
Ivan felt the daze pass as the figure mysteriously vanished from the clearing, leaving his signature cloak as the only proof of ever being there to begin with. Just a few minutes ago, he had been an ordinary trainer, setting out on his quest, and now he was supposed to save the world from some unknown evil? And the mere notion of dying in the process...it was far too much for a child his age to stomach.
Lumina suddenly squawked in confusion when Ivan turned around and left the clearing, back out into the thick foliage, without saying a word to his "comrades", but as they crossed through, he nervously asked the fiery bird, "Lumina, are you afraid to die?" "Tiel!" she insisted, completely confident. "I suppose you're right," he responded, although there was still an uncomfortable, sickly feeling in his gut, "We are going to be getting stronger on this journey, chosen ones or not, but it's an awfully heavy burden we're carrying; I shudder to think what could happen if we failed - death might very well be the least of our worries!"
And it was in that moment that Murphy's Law decided to come crashing down on the trainer like only a ten-dozen pound giant stag beetle barreling in from behind can. Ivan was catapulted out of the trees and onto the grassy floor outside in the open as Lumina fluttered from his shoulder and urged him to get up, all while the assailant emerged from the leafy covering. The Pinsir's many long teeth chittered rapidly in time with the massive horns on top of its body grinding together, as angry the glare of its sharp eyes, and it flexed its thin but incredibly powerful arms menacingly; it wanted a fight, and it planned on winning no matter what.
"Alright, now this is the challenge I've been looking for!" Ivan exclaimed, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, as he rose and dusted off his fiery clothes, then pointed at the Pinsir and ordered, "Lumina! Use Scratch!" She hesitated, glanced towards her trainer nervously, but went forth anyway, narrowly weaving around the beetle's swipes to get in a hit with her talons - it was to little effect, however; the chitinous armor was just too strong. But then, as the Pinsir lunged towards the fleeing bird for a counterattack, it made the mistake of coming too close to the flaming trail her tail had left behind, and it roared in pain when the burning cinders came in contact with its eyes.
"Nice going, Lumina!" the boy congratulated his beaming pokemon as she returned to his side and he reached behind him, to his backpack, and took out one of the red and white spheres stored there. "Now! Go, pokeball!" he shouted dramatically, just as he had seen other trainers do on TV, and threw the device at the thrashing beetle with all of his might. The Pinsir, however, was hardly ready to give up like this, and, in the middle of its fit, seized the pokeball with its pincers and squeezed hard, reducing the device to shreds of metal. For a moment, time was still and the forest silent, as Ivan only stood there with his arm outstretched, that confident expression still on his face, but now all of its color was gone. "This does not bode well."
Now the Pinsir was more than serious; it was absolutely enraged. Through its reddened, squinting eyes, its gaze fell on Lumina, and she shuddered for one brief moment, all the time it needed to leap forward, grab the small Pyratiel in between its horns, and slam her to the ground. "Lumina!" Ivan yelled, too shocked to grasp the situation fully, too scared to look at her battered form, lying in an indent punched into the dirt. Angry chittering alerting him back to the main predicament, the Pinsir now approaching him, having eliminated its previous opponent and still wanting more. This close up, he could see that the beetle was almost as tall as he was, the tips of its horns coming just to his forehead, and he saw every little spike adorning them, and all the scratches left from previous victims who had desperately clawed for escape as they were crushed.
"This is no game," he recalled the cloaked figure's words from earlier as he backed away, "You all will be in real danger." Uhh, okay, I'm willing to accept that there's danger involved; you can stop now, he thought desperately, as if the advancing Pinsir could hear those thoughts, let alone care enough to listen. But no, there was no way out; he could always run away, but then he would be leaving Lumina for dead, and then what kind of trainer would he be, to let his first pokemon die just like that? But then it was too late even for that, as the beetle's clawed hands reached out for Ivan, its pincers clenched together, snapping in anticipation. He cowered, turned away, put his arms over his head, whatever it would take to get away, and shouted out, "Please, Lumina! Help me!"
In that instant, the Pinsir shrieked in pain as flames erupted on its back; Lumina circled overhead, cawing loudly to get her opponent's attention. It clicked, chattered, and screamed, angry and in disbelief that the bird was still fighting, but alas, she was now too high up for it to reach. The bird opened her beak again, letting loose another stream of searing embers onto the beetle's charred body. As it collapsed onto the ground, engulfed in flames, Lumina alighted on Ivan's shoulder once more, and pointed to it with a dirty feather; "PyRA!!" "Right!" he affirmed, pulling out a second pokeball and hurling it as strongly as his shot muscles would allow at the smoldering Pinsir. The ball made contact, opened, and absorbed its target in a flash of red light. Once more, time felt like it slowed, but Ivan and Lumina stood fast, keeping their eyes trained on the steadily wobbling sphere. Once...twice...three times...C'mon, he thought, crossing his fingers in desperation, Just give in. Then it stopped, emitted a small ping, and lied there in the grass motionless.
Ivan had just caught his first pokemon.
Ivan felt the daze pass as the figure mysteriously vanished from the clearing, leaving his signature cloak as the only proof of ever being there to begin with. Just a few minutes ago, he had been an ordinary trainer, setting out on his quest, and now he was supposed to save the world from some unknown evil? And the mere notion of dying in the process...it was far too much for a child his age to stomach.
Lumina suddenly squawked in confusion when Ivan turned around and left the clearing, back out into the thick foliage, without saying a word to his "comrades", but as they crossed through, he nervously asked the fiery bird, "Lumina, are you afraid to die?" "Tiel!" she insisted, completely confident. "I suppose you're right," he responded, although there was still an uncomfortable, sickly feeling in his gut, "We are going to be getting stronger on this journey, chosen ones or not, but it's an awfully heavy burden we're carrying; I shudder to think what could happen if we failed - death might very well be the least of our worries!"
And it was in that moment that Murphy's Law decided to come crashing down on the trainer like only a ten-dozen pound giant stag beetle barreling in from behind can. Ivan was catapulted out of the trees and onto the grassy floor outside in the open as Lumina fluttered from his shoulder and urged him to get up, all while the assailant emerged from the leafy covering. The Pinsir's many long teeth chittered rapidly in time with the massive horns on top of its body grinding together, as angry the glare of its sharp eyes, and it flexed its thin but incredibly powerful arms menacingly; it wanted a fight, and it planned on winning no matter what.
"Alright, now this is the challenge I've been looking for!" Ivan exclaimed, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, as he rose and dusted off his fiery clothes, then pointed at the Pinsir and ordered, "Lumina! Use Scratch!" She hesitated, glanced towards her trainer nervously, but went forth anyway, narrowly weaving around the beetle's swipes to get in a hit with her talons - it was to little effect, however; the chitinous armor was just too strong. But then, as the Pinsir lunged towards the fleeing bird for a counterattack, it made the mistake of coming too close to the flaming trail her tail had left behind, and it roared in pain when the burning cinders came in contact with its eyes.
"Nice going, Lumina!" the boy congratulated his beaming pokemon as she returned to his side and he reached behind him, to his backpack, and took out one of the red and white spheres stored there. "Now! Go, pokeball!" he shouted dramatically, just as he had seen other trainers do on TV, and threw the device at the thrashing beetle with all of his might. The Pinsir, however, was hardly ready to give up like this, and, in the middle of its fit, seized the pokeball with its pincers and squeezed hard, reducing the device to shreds of metal. For a moment, time was still and the forest silent, as Ivan only stood there with his arm outstretched, that confident expression still on his face, but now all of its color was gone. "This does not bode well."
Now the Pinsir was more than serious; it was absolutely enraged. Through its reddened, squinting eyes, its gaze fell on Lumina, and she shuddered for one brief moment, all the time it needed to leap forward, grab the small Pyratiel in between its horns, and slam her to the ground. "Lumina!" Ivan yelled, too shocked to grasp the situation fully, too scared to look at her battered form, lying in an indent punched into the dirt. Angry chittering alerting him back to the main predicament, the Pinsir now approaching him, having eliminated its previous opponent and still wanting more. This close up, he could see that the beetle was almost as tall as he was, the tips of its horns coming just to his forehead, and he saw every little spike adorning them, and all the scratches left from previous victims who had desperately clawed for escape as they were crushed.
"This is no game," he recalled the cloaked figure's words from earlier as he backed away, "You all will be in real danger." Uhh, okay, I'm willing to accept that there's danger involved; you can stop now, he thought desperately, as if the advancing Pinsir could hear those thoughts, let alone care enough to listen. But no, there was no way out; he could always run away, but then he would be leaving Lumina for dead, and then what kind of trainer would he be, to let his first pokemon die just like that? But then it was too late even for that, as the beetle's clawed hands reached out for Ivan, its pincers clenched together, snapping in anticipation. He cowered, turned away, put his arms over his head, whatever it would take to get away, and shouted out, "Please, Lumina! Help me!"
In that instant, the Pinsir shrieked in pain as flames erupted on its back; Lumina circled overhead, cawing loudly to get her opponent's attention. It clicked, chattered, and screamed, angry and in disbelief that the bird was still fighting, but alas, she was now too high up for it to reach. The bird opened her beak again, letting loose another stream of searing embers onto the beetle's charred body. As it collapsed onto the ground, engulfed in flames, Lumina alighted on Ivan's shoulder once more, and pointed to it with a dirty feather; "PyRA!!" "Right!" he affirmed, pulling out a second pokeball and hurling it as strongly as his shot muscles would allow at the smoldering Pinsir. The ball made contact, opened, and absorbed its target in a flash of red light. Once more, time felt like it slowed, but Ivan and Lumina stood fast, keeping their eyes trained on the steadily wobbling sphere. Once...twice...three times...C'mon, he thought, crossing his fingers in desperation, Just give in. Then it stopped, emitted a small ping, and lied there in the grass motionless.
Ivan had just caught his first pokemon.
