Story (Pokémon) Lumiose Blues - the Catacombs

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

Jean-Leu

Cormier

Jean-Leu Cormier
July 8 - Lumiose City, Kalos

Smoke clung to the air, wafting up from a trio of men huddled around a table and coalescing in the cramped warehouse’s rafters. Their voices were hushed, as though each didn’t want even the other two to hear their conversation, and the crinkling of paper and scratching of pencils were the only interruptions to the murmurs.

Finally, another sound cut in.

CRACK!

“Fuck!” One of the men threw his broken pencil across the room, and ran his marred hands over his weathered face out of exasperation. His eyes were screwed tight, as though in desperate need of a reprieve from staring at the same two documents for so long, and their crows’ feet came into full view.

“Don’t blow your load, Michel,” another of the men said, his eyes never leaving his work. They were wide, soaking up the entirety of the two documents below them, and they flickered back and forth between the two with an unyielding scrutiny.

“I ain’t blowing nothing,” Michel grumbled as he stalked over to his discarded utensil, and as he snatched it up he added, “Not when we’ve already been at it for days.”

“And we’ll stay at it for as long as it takes.”

Both men looked up when the third voice spoke. The boss was just as tired as the other two of the task at hand, but the fire behind his piercing eyes burned just as bright as when the work began.

Cormier was almost finished with his section, anyway. Hours upon hours poured over the two documents, all so they could move forward with his master plan. On top sat his toil, a collection of lines that snaked and sprawled within a circular boundary. Beneath sat the thing that made his toil possible—the Tangrowth Bloom.

“Tell me Antoine,” Cormier began without looking up from his pencil strokes. “What did you think of the painting when you picked it up from Montagne?”

Always quick with a response, the younger lieutenant cracked a grin and answered, “I thought ‘Wow it’s a picture of a Tangrowth.’”

Michel’s laugh, the loudest sound the warehouse had heard that night, boomed and the older man added, “I thought the same thing, boss!”

A smile graced Cormier’s face as he continued tracing. “And yet it’s so much more! Do you think the vines are just woven randomly?! Non, they all correlate to—”

“To tunnels in the old catacombs,” Antoine finished the boss’ sentence with a roll of his eyes. “You’ve only been ranting about it for two weeks now.”

“Et quoi? We have the last surviving map of the Lumiose Catacombs, completely overlooked by everyone except for me, and you don’t want me to rant and rave?” Cormier was getting heated up, and his lieutenants exchanged a glance that said ‘here we go’.

“For sixty years this painting has been sitting in those rich pricks’ art collection, gathering dust, when they had no idea what they were holding. The last painting produced by a famous anti-establishment artist with a penchant for urban exploration? And she called it her magnum opus, when its style is completely different from the rest of her work?”

Cormier scoffed. “The only thing I can’t believe is that it took me so long to find! A year spent digging through civil engineering records, only to find a map of the catacombs in an Arc-damned painting!”

Antoine set his pencil down with a rattle and a relieved sigh. “Yeah, real brilliant, boss. I’m done tracing out the lowest level.” The younger lieutenant slid his parchment paper off from his copy of the painting, and the boss took it to compare to his own.

Cormier’s smile grew wider as he examined Antoine’s work. “That only leaves the top level. Michel?”

“One second…,” the older lieutenant was laser focused on his paper, and with a final stroke slid it to the boss. “Finally finished.”

Palpable excitement swirled through the warehouse and intermixed with the cigarette smoke clogging the rafters as Cormier put the three pages together. A year of time and dedication poured into this, the true first step toward his family’s decades-overdue revenge in the palm of his hand!

The only thing left to do was— “Did Khastil say how much longer he’d be out galavanting when you picked up the painting, Antoine?”
A sly grin spread across the younger lieutenant’s sun-kissed face. “Him and his girls were headed down the Rivière Walk last I heard from him.”

“Girls?” Michel, ever the gossiper, sidled close to this comrade. “What, the brothel wasn’t enough for him?”

“Apparently not,” Antoine chuckled and lit a fresh cigarette. “He’s been diversifying his interests, though. All week he’s been running around with a foreign girl and an academic.”

“Not really his type, eh?” Michel quipped.

“I didn’t think so, either. The academic especially. I ran into the pair of them at my tailor’s shop last week, and she…piqued my interest.”

Cormier raised a brow. Antoine was his chief intelligence gatherer and a womanizer notorious even in their ranks, but the man’s tone hinted toward his interest being piqued in the former regard. “Care to elaborate?”

“I did some digging,” Antoine began, leaning close on the table. “Ms. Azumi Towers, raised in Azure Bay, and rapidly approaching her graduation from the Lumiose Police Academy.”

The smile fell from Michel’s face, and both lieutenants looked to their boss for his reaction.

“And you said she’s been with him for a week?” Cormier’s tone was neutral, but his eyes were furious. When Antoine nodded yes, the boss’ face contorted into a twisted scowl.

“That stupid bastard.” Cormier’s voice was a low growl. “Putting our entire organization in jeopardy so he can get his fucking rocks off.” The boss took a deep breath and sparked a fresh cigarette of his own as Michel spoke up.

“He’s a smart kid, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.” The old man had always had a soft spot for their youngest beaux voyou, and Antoine wasn’t far behind him.

“He didn’t sing through four months in La Santé, I doubt he’s spilled anything to one girl in a week.” It was a much better point than Michel’s, and it seemed to convince the boss.

“I’ll let him have his fun, then,” Cormier stated as smoke poured from his nose. “As long as he’s getting stronger, he can keep his enemies as close as he wants.”

An uncharacteristically dour expression overtook Michel’s usual jovialness. “With where we’re sending him, he’ll need to be as strong as he can get.”

The finished map of the Catacombs sat between the three of them, and each man looked down at it apprehensively.

Cormier took a final drag. “He’ll go down there whether he’s strong enough or not.”

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 5:43 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

There were plenty of ways to get into places you weren't supposed to be. Some were protected by layers upon layers of security — locked doors, chained gates, motion sensors, the works. Others had guards, Pokémon, or Pokémon guards. In Monty's experience, though, walking in and acting like he belonged where he didn't was usually enough.

Some shady character dressed in black with a massive backpack, sneaking around the Estival Avenue metro station in the middle of the day? Forget raising eyebrows, they'd get the cops called on them. But a normal-looking, plain dressed young guy walking around while tons of people flooded the station at the end of the work day? Even with Oracle right behind him, disappearing into the crowd was like taking candy from a baby.

Nobody noticed them slip through a door with a bright red "RESTRICTED ACCESS - DO NOT ENTER" sign, either, courtesy of Cormier calling in some favor or something to make sure it was already unlocked. With a quick turn of the handle they entered the ancient subway tunnels that'd been decommissioned decades ago. Luckily, that was the hardest part.

Monty CLICKED! his flashlight on, lighting up the unnervingly-empty tunnel, and found his bag pre-staged just inside thanks to the same favor. The ruck was heavy; three days' worth of food and water for him and his team, along with plenty of healing items and some other things in case they were down there for more than a day or two. Not that they'd really need it all.

Recalling the directions to their target, Monty motioned for Oracle to follow. Their steps echoed off of the cracked tiles as they walked, the tunnel amplifying the sound, until eventually they came to another door — "SERVICE TUNNEL - DO NOT ENTER". This one took a little more convincing than the first.

BOOM!

A heavy boot crashed into the metal door just under the handle, and the rust that'd been holding it to the frame tore away with a SCREECH! as it swung inward. Monty grinned and looked to his partner, who wore an irritated expression.

"What, too much?" They started walking again, and Oracle turned her nose away like she was huffing. "We're fine, there's no one else down here," Monty said in his best attempt to placate her. The old tunnels hadn't been used in decades, and this was a service tunnel for one of those. The last person who'd walked where they were was probably the crazy painter where Cormier got their map from, anyway.

A few minutes of walking through the dank tunnel later, and they reached a section of the wall with brick that looked suspiciously newer than the rest. Monty reached out a thumb and traced a line around it — just about the right dimensions for a doorframe.

"This is our spot." He took a step back, and Oracle stepped up. "<<Slash>> should be more than enough." A Normal-Type version of Oracle's signature, and the most recent addition to her movepool. The wall crumbled under a couple swings from her white-glowing scythe, and the concrete fell away to reveal another tunnel.

"The catacombs," Monty whispered, CLICKING! on his flashlight to illuminate the seemingly-endless hall of ancient, cracking stone brick that lay before them. The beam faded out before it hit another wall, and inky darkness waited at the end of the light.

Fucking creepy. The sight was enough to make the gangster's spine shiver, and even though Oracle seemed as confident as ever her claws extended and scraped the stone floor. Better get the rest of the team out. Monty's hand fumbled around his jacket pocket for the Quick and Dusk balls that sat waiting, and in a FLASH! of white light Abnégarde and Chauffemagne materialized.

The former appeared on her trainer's shoulder, assaulting him with a chorus of YIPS! and YAPS! and bites on his ear, while the latter put his nose to work right away. The Houndour joined his superior in staring down the tunnel to the catacombs, nose twitching as he took in as much information as he could, and he exchanged a glance with Oracle like he was making sure they were on the same page.

It was a good thing Monty went after a Houndour first. It took him a while to figure out how to best utilize Chauffe's talents, but now he was as good a compliment to Oracle as he could ask for — loyal, eager, and ready to cover her blindspots at any moment. Abné was growing exceptionally as well — less reluctant to battle, and young and pliable enough that mastering new moves seemed to come even easier to her than the other two.

Monty reached a hand up and scratched the silver Eevee behind the ears, and slipped the map that Cormier, Michel, and Antoine slaved over out of his pocket. Sure enough, the "entrance" point coincided roughly with how far they'd walked in the decommissioned tunnels.

No more putting it off. Him. Oracle. Chauffe. Abné. Between the four of them, they'd be able to conquer whatever lay in wait. They were ready, and together they stepped into the inky black of the Lumiose Catacombs.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 6:43 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

FWOO-FWOO-FWOOSH!

"SQUEA-SQUEA-SQUEAK!"
"Keep 'em running, another <<Ember>>."

Flashlight and flame alike lit up the cramped stone corridor, and Monty squinted to watch the third group of Rattata they'd encountered scatter. It was the same thing on repeat — run into a few of the rats, they attack, and Chauffe lights them up before they could get close. Neither Abné nor Oracle had to lift a paw, and with all the training they'd done it was almost disappointingly easy.

"Chauffe, hold." Like the other encounters, Chauffe tried to pursue. And just like the other encounters, Monty recalled him. The Houndour threw his head back and huffed in annoyance, smoke puffing from his snout, and when his trainer walked by he waved the cloud away. "Don’t get too far from the rest of us. We've got our formation for a reason."

The catacombs lived up to the image Monty’d had since he first learned about them — dark, tight, and claustrophobic. If the team didn’t stay organized someone would get caught in a crossfire, or worse. Not that they couldn’t get caught anyway, since there were about a million tunnels that split off from the main one they were following. Passing by the offshoots was a level of unnerving like he’d never experienced. Who knew what was down each one?

Monty shuffled the map and shined his flashlight on it. Their next turn should be coming up soon… “Take the next right!”

He put the map away and switched it for a can of spray paint, a great idea that he unfortunately couldn’t take all the credit for. To the naked eye, nothing showed up when Monty sprayed it at each corner of the intersection. Shine a mini-UV-light on it, though, and the arrows pointing him back the way he came were clear as day. He'd have to buy Antoine a drink.

Monty checked his watch. About an hour had already passed, meaning they'd gone...shit, what was the distance conversion again? Whatever, it didn't matter. They still had the map guiding their way. "Let's keep moving. Chauffe, you're up."

The Houndour gave an affirmative RUFF! and got back to leading the charge, his nose SNIFF-SNIFF-SNIFFING! for any more enemies along the way. They followed the tunnels for some time, twisting this-way-and-that as the map dictated, and every little sound was amplified by the silence. Each footstep echoed, each sniff from Chauffe was practically a roar, and—

CRUNCH!

What the— Something brittle broke beneath Monty's foot, and he looked down to see...a spider's body? "Chauffe, hold."

He crouched down to get a better look, and Abné craned her neck to see it, too. It was like...a shell. Just the green-and-black hard outer shell of a spider, but did those kinds of Pokémon shed like reptiles? Monty shined his flashlight further down the tunnel. There were more of them scattered around, uncrushed but equally empty. The hairs on the back of the gangster's neck stood up at the same time he did, and he walked past a few more of the green shells until they hit a much bigger red one. The top of the shell was crumbled in— no, that wasn't it. It was just...gone. It was covered in scratches and a massive hole was torn into the top, with everything inside of it gone.

Oracle and Chauffe flanked Monty, and he and the Absol exchanged a look. "Something ate these thing, didn't it?"

Oracle just looked further down the tunnel, but her trainer thought he knew her well enough to think they were in agreement. The fur along her spine was ruffled, and Chauffe seemed on edge, too.

"Fuckin' creepy," Monty muttered. Even Abné shuffled a little closer into the crook of his neck, and he used his spare hand to scratch her a few times. Did he need the reassuring just as much as she did? He shined his light back down the tunnel — even more carcasses...no, carapces were scattered around. Yeah, he probably did.

The team set off again, and as the carapces CRUNCHED! under Monty's boots he tried to figure out what could've eaten them inside out. Not the Rattata. They were so small, after all, smaller than the spiders...Spinarat were they called? Fuck, man, only seeing the rats and the occasional Noibat for the past hour and a half had him hoping that was all they'd see. What else was lurking down here?

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 6:48 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

Monty CRUNCHED! through the last of the Spinarak shells and the tunnel turned back into what he preferred — empty and without any creepy shit all over the floor. He didn't feel any less on edge, though, and his team didn't relax either. Chauffe was moving more slowly, like he was taking more time to sniff out whatever was ahead of them, Abné stayed crammed into the crook of his neck, and the fur along Oracle's spine still bristled.

The gangster called for another turn, and when Chauffe made it he stopped in his tracks. The pup let out a low growl, and Monty lit up the new corridor to see—

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

A dozen pin-pricks reflected the light, sitting atop half as many Spinarak shells that were slick with something and glistened. Giant yellow teeth snarled at the group — more Rattata?!

"Chauffe, <<Ember>>!" Monty took a step back as the Houndour took a step forward. His chest expanded and smoke coiled around his jaws, and a trio of small fireballs SHOT! forward.

FWOO-FWOO-FWOOSH!
SCREE! SCREE! SCREE!

Dead on. Three of the Rattata went up in flames and the others scurried away just like before, but this time Chauffe didn't take off in hot-blooded pursuit. The Houndour stayed rooted in place like he'd sunken into the stone floor, jaws snarling and growling at the retreating rats. And unlike each time before, the screeching wasn't getting quieter.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

At the far end of the flashlight's beam, a wave of black came SURGING! down the cramped tunnel. A furious mass of writhing fur and gnashing teeth, apparently hell bent on doing the same thing to them that they must've done to the dozens of spiders they'd passed by. Monty felt his heart pick up. There were enough Rattata down there to wash over them in an instant! "Chauffe, <<Smog>>!"

The Houndour's head sunk down, and the black smoke coiling out of his snout turned purple in an instant. He SNAPPED! up and shot a plume of poisonous smoke right into the Rattatas' path, which BURST! into a cloud that would hopefully slow the wave down long enough for their keystone to hit the field.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

"You're up, girly!" Monty said as he reached up, grabbed a reluctant Abné from his shoulder, and tossed her just ahead of Chauffe. The first time he got the little Eevee to battle, he put her in a situation where only she could protect him. Two weeks later here they were, about to be overrun by a swarm of Rattata, and he was doing the same thing. "Use <<Protect>>!"

Just like they practiced, Abné hit the ground and tucked her little body in to gather energy. In a FLASH! of dazzling light, a screen of green energy materialized between the Eevee and the Rattata, sealing off her and the rest of the team from their gnashing teeth and frenzied screeching as they bounced off the barrier.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

"Hell yes, Abné!" Monty grinned and let go of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Now for phase two. "Chauffe, <<Howl>> and <<Nasty Plot>>!"

While his teammate kept the Rattata at bay, Chauffe threw his head back and let out a bone-chilling, "AROOO!" Oracle's claws scraped into the stone, reinforced by the Howl, and black sparks started flying off of her.

"Oracle, hang on," Monty tried to placate the Absol, but she completely ignored him. Her eyes were fixed on the enemies ahead of the— no, it wasn't the Rattata she was looking at. There was something else at the far end of the tunnel, something bigger just on the edge of his flashlight's beam, that was shambling toward them much slower than the scurrying rats.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

Abné cried out. The Rattata were SLAMMING! themselves into the barrier, and with each hit the Eevee sunk lower and lower. Monty got the message — it was going down any second.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

Fuck, what should he do? "We'll fall bac—"

CRASH!
CRACK!
SCREE!

In an instant Abné's Protect broke, and in a FLASH! of black light Oracle took off. She tore through the wave of rats that were about to wash over the silver Eevee, sending them THUMPING! into the tight stone walls, and kept going down the tunnel toward whatever was coming at them next.

Fuck, no retreating now. Monty dashed forward with Chauffe hot on his heels, stomping over who knew how many Rattata and scooping Abné up into his arms. The Rattata didn't take long to recover from the shock of Oracle's Sucker Punch, and they were scurrying right behind them, too.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

What could they do? What did they have? Something that could take care of a lot of Rattata at the same time, before they could get pincered in between them and whatever Oracle was fighting up ahead.

"Hold your breath!" Monty shouted as he dove through the lingering Smog cloud, BURSTING! onto the other side and pivoting to face the Rattata. Chauffe mirrored his trainer, and Monty pointed forward. "<<ROAR>>!"

For the first time, something drowned out the rodents' screeching. Chauffe's Roar dispersed the toxic cloud and raked over the swarming rats. Some halted immediately like they'd suddenly planted roots in the stone, some kept running forward, but most turned around and ran back down the tunnel.

SCREE-SCREE-SCREE!

So much for safety in numbers. Only a handful of brave souls were still around, and Monty didn't even have to tell Chauffe to mop them up. The Houndour let the Embers fly, but even with the Rattata burning the sound of battle didn't end. Monty snapped around — the fight wasn't over yet.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS — ART BY Fluff

QUEEN ORACLE THE HONORED ONE

Low Sun of the Seventh Half Moon — Beneath Monty's Territory

Even in the face of dozens of swarming rodents, with the only thing separating her from them being the thin barrier which her subordinate somehow managed to conjure up, she was thoroughly unimpressed.

A rodent was a rodent, plain and simple — disgusting, scurrying, and weak. Creatures born to crawl in the dirt and be trampled on by the strong. Just the thought that the rats throwing themselves against the barrier thought they could kill her if they banded together was almost enough to send her over the edge, but she knew better.

Rats thought only of themselves. They'd sooner eat each other than attack one so far above them. Unless there was something bigger than them putting such ridiculous thoughts as 'strength in numbers' into their pitifully small brains.

That something bigger shambled out from the shadows further down the tunnel, and though she couldn't see exactly what it was it was clearly the thing that managed to corral the rats into fighting together. How kind of it to appear before her, instead of putting her through the hassle of hunting it down.

First she'd break it, and then the rest of the rodents. She'd rip it to shreds, reduce it back down to its rightful place beneath her claws, tear it apart for even thinking to stand against HER the moment her silver subordinate's barrier broke.

Her claws scraped into the stone.

Her malice flowed freely.

Her body SURGED! with energy.

Her subordinate cried out.

Useless Monty said something useless.

CRASH!
CRACK!
SCREE!

Black sparks flew as she FLASHED! forward the moment the barrier fell, tearing through the swarming peons and crossing half the distance to her real target in an instant. She hit the ground running, channeling her malice into her horn and LEAPING! through the air to WRENCH! the scythe down on her opponent — <<NIGHT SLASH>>!

Her scythe bit down and the creature SCREECHED! in pain, but almost immediately another part of its body SHOT! out at her.

SCREE!

She channeled her foresight at the first movement, and she felt the energy guide her backwards in a quick JUMP! that put her just outside of the creature's reach. The shambling thing seemed to come alive, writhing and twisting and contorting in a way that wasn't natural. Something was wrong.

Useless Monty's light shone again, and she got a better view of the...thing. It was like a massive misformed ball of matted, disgusting fur with teeth, claws, and eyes that covered its entire body. It shambled toward her, rolling over on itself and...no. Not rolling — climbing.

She channeled energy into her scythe again and LEAPT! at the mass, CLEAVING! down through fur and flesh, but again a pained screech was accompanied by a pair of "limbs" shooting out. She ducked and the pair THUMPED! into each other, but another shot out from beneath her.

CRUNCH!

She had swung her horn back down just in time — a set of sharp jaws that would've latched onto her throat were clamped onto the blade. Her eyes hardened as they met those set just above the jaws. They were black and beady, frenzied and hungry; a Raticate's. Again she channeled her foresight, and WRENCHED! herself free of the creature's grip just in time to LEAP! back and avoid another attack.

Now she could see the mass' true, revolting nature. It was not one entity covered in teeth, eyes, and claws. It was many. Many Raticate tangeled and woven together in an unsightly tapestry of the depths those creatures with no dignity would sink to survive. They frantically clambered over top of each other, driving the main mass forward and dragging the corpses of those she had already cut down with them, all in collectively selfish effort to sink their teeth into her.

Disgusting, disgusting, DISGUSTING! Her aura surged, flaring wildly in the face of this affront to her status, and the phantom weight bore down on the writhing rats. She was poised to take advantage of their sagged movement, and FLASHED! forward to SLA—

WACK-THUD!

She was SLAMMED! into from two sides just as she made contact, sending her flying backwards and tumbling down the corridor. The breath caught in her chest, and in the time it took her to struggle back to her feet the rats were upon her.

SLASH! SCREE!
CRUNCH! SCREE!
WACK-THUD! SCREE!

Blood splattered across the walls, though there was no way to know whose was whose. The rats had the audacity to adapt to her attacks, and everytime she ran one of them through another bit, slammed, or slashed her, too. They weren't slowed by the corpses, either, but she felt herself getting sluggish. She was taking too much damage. These rodents had the nerve to inflict THIS MUCH DAMAGE on HER!

SLASH! SCREE!
CRUNCH! SCREE!
WACK-THUD! SCREEEE!

She hit the ground, hard, and the rats SURGED! forward in a bloodlusted frenzy. The light of useless Monty's device reflected off of their unthinking eyes and yellow teeth. Of all ways to fall, was it to be by these things in this place.

And then the light grew brighter.

FWOOOOOSH!

She snapped out of it and channeled her foresight, shooting straight up over the tangled rats and the fireball that SLAMMED! into them. Something else flew through the air, too, and her descent was intercepted by a particularly ANNOYING! bundle of silver fur.

She and her subordinate tumbled to the ground behind the tangeled rats, but before she could round her scythe on the intruder to her battle the silver bundle expanded her barrier. The green shield gleamed and glimmered, and the rats were apparently torn between doubling back to reach them and pushing forward to reach...

"Chauffe, light 'em up!"

Fireball after fireball washed over the rats, engulfing them one by one. A few stray blasts hit the barrier, but the rest reduced the rodents from a screeching mass of teeth and claws to a silent pile of burning fur and flesh. Their pained movements died as they did, and after a few moments useless Monty and her canine subordinate came BURSTING! over top through the dancing flames.

"SHIT that's hot!" Useless Monty stopped just before the barrier, and upon seeing the man her silver subordinate let it fade. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and scooped the shaking bundle back onto his shoulder. "Tu vas bien? Let's keep moving, get out of this smoke."

Yet even as they pressed on, she lingered for a while. The flames lit the claustrophobic stone tunnel with dancing shadows, and she watched the fire rage over the rats who thought they could rise above scurrying beneath her.

How satisfying.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 7:30 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

The yellow teeth. The swarmings rats. The screeching, Xerneas, the SCREECHING!

Monty shook his head and stood up, startling the Eevee the was sleeping on his shoulder and earning himself a swift nip on the ear. "AH! FILS DE PUTE!" The gangster grabbed her by the scruff and swung her into his arms in one swift motion, and she returned the favor by assaulting him with what he could only assume were curses in the form of YIPS! and YAPS!

"I know you're worked up, mademoiselle, but enough with the bites!" Indignant as ever, Abné didn't quite get the message. Instead of nodding her head or looking sad or something that showed an inkling of remorse, the silver Eevee squirmed out of his grip and jumped down to the stone floor to scamper over to Chauffe.

"Don't come crying to me!" Monty called after her. His youngest Pokémon weren't far, only ten meters or so further up the tunnel near a set of stairs cut down into the floor, but those ten felt like a hundred. The gangster took his seat back on top of his pack, and his boot started tap-tap-tapping on the stone. It hadn't even been an hour since their fight with the rats, but he found himself replaying it over and over again.

What if Abné's barrier came down sooner? What if they'd gotten to Oracle a second later? What if there were even more of them?

Fuck, he needed a cigarette. "Chauffe, give me a light!"

While the Houndour scurried over, Monty rummaged in his pockets and pulled out his fresh pack. A satisfying wrapper removal and a small stream of flame from Chauffe later, and the pup was bounding back to Abné while their trainer savored his smoke.

PHHHFFF...HUUFFF. "What are you looking at? We're sitting here for you, y'know."

The main source of Monty's anxiety was laying down next to him and had the mother of all side eyes fixed on his face. Her wounds were freshly healed, courtesy of the outrageously expensive Potion he sprayed on them, but it didn't do anything to fix the Absol's attitude. "In fact, while we're talking about it," the gangster added after another drag, "If you didn't go off on your own we wouldn't have had to sit here for—" He checked his watch. "—half an hour in the first place! We'd already have been onto the next floor!"

Oracle suddenly stirred, side-eye off of him and her full attention pointed back down the dark tunnel they came from. "Oh, got some life back in you?" Monty jeered at his partner and brought his cigarette back to his mouth. "Well here's another th—"

WOOSH-SLAM!

A searing pain ERUPTED! in Monty's arm as he was WRENCHED! off his feet and SLAMMED! into the ground. Something BIG was on him, and fast, so fast, wha—

"GAHH!" Massive jaws sunk into his forearm, glowing black and TEARING! at the flesh and FUCK! that HURT! "GET...OFF ME!"

The thing thrashed back and forth, dragging Monty kicking-and-punching toward Chauffe, Abné, and the flashlight that'd been illuminating the path forward. He could barely make out the thing in the ambient light, too focused on the massive head savaging his arm to see much of anything, when suddenly it released its grip. No, it was pulled off.

Chauffe sprang into action, and his jaws were latched onto the thing's head. Monty had his chance to escape, Chauffe gave him his chance, but...he froze. Beneath the beast, it was like all he could do was watch.

The beast's rage was silent but furious, and it WHIPPED! the Houndour into the wall. Chauffe grunted but held on tight, not budging even when the thing's claws lit up with a dazzling blue.

SLASH!
CLANG!

The thing SNAPPED! around and swung its blue claws in an arc that met Oracle's scythe in a resounding clash of energy. The clash snapped Monty out of his stupor, and he dragged himself backward while his partner furiously set upon the attacker.

Fuck, what should he do, what should he DO?! "CHAUFFE, <<FIRE SPIN>>!" He needed to see what they were dealing with, and burning the thing would do the job.

Smoke poured from Chauffe's nose, and he simultaneously dropped from its head and spewed a thin column of fire. It snaked around the beast and TIGHTENED! down around it, but still it made no noise. It SWUNG! its blue claws back and caught the Houndour, sending him flying backwards, but the attack left Oracle open.

Her claws lit up with a dazzling pink light, and she LEAPT! onto its back. She battered the beast, ripped and tore at it, and it tried to no avail to shake her off.

FWOOOSH!

A fireball CRASHED! into the beast's chest. Chauffe was back up already! Monty rolled over and found his feet, staggering toward the Houndour while he charged another <<Incinerate>>. "LIGHT IT UP!"

FWOOSH!

Oracle jumped from the beast's back as another fireball soared through the air, but the Absol wasn't done. Black sparks crackled off of her, and just as the second Incinerate CRASHED! into their opponent she SHOT! forward. Her scythe PLUNGED! into the beast's chest, and finally it made a sound.

"SCREEEEEEE!"

Monty's hands shot to his ears, splattering his face with blood in the process. Its roar was piercing, so loud of a shriek that the gangster felt it in his bones, but it only last a moment. Oracle didn't let up, though. She WRENCHED! her horn downward, slicing clean through the thing's chest, and her claws were lit pink again as she tore into it.

The beast fell back, and only when it stopped moving entirely did Oracle pull herself away. Monty watched the entire thing in a trance — did he almost just die? If he hadn't gone to hit his cigarette...

His entire arm felt like it was on fire, pain to a level he'd never experienced before, and his good hand was slick with his own blood. Fuck, his ARM!

Monty staggered back to his feet. He felt...woozy. Fuck, not good, not good. On shaky legs he walked to his pack and tore it open, frantically searching for one of the Potions. His slick hand closed around it, and he slipped off his jacket. Even in the flashlight's ambient glow he could tell the limb wasn't entirely screwed — the cuts were wide and deep, but it didn't seem like any chunks were missing. What a fuckin' consolation that was.

He'd used Potions in emergencies before, particularly when explaining his injuries in a hospital would be more trouble than it was worth, but he hated it. He aimed the nozzle, pulled the trigger, and—

"RRRRRR!" The gangster clenched his teeth as the pain in his savaged arm doubled. The Potions were definitely not designed for humans, and using them BURNED! like nothing else. For this, though, one spray wouldn't be enough. Monty repeated the process several times, until he dropped the spent bottle and sank onto his ass with his back against the wall.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

His heartrate picked up. He pulled his knees into his chest, cradling his hurt arm, and tried to breathe.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

Fast, so fast.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

If he hadn't picked his arm up...

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

It would've killed him...

THU-THU-THU-THU-THUMP!

It...it...Monty's breaths were short and fast. He couldn't catch his breath. He—

There was a sharp pain in his ear. Abné was back on his shoulder. She was shaking. The poor girl was shaking harder than he was.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

"I'm alright, mademoiselle," Monty said softly, reaching his good hand up to scratch the Eevee's head. Chauffe was at his feet, and Oracle was watching him from behind the beast's corpse. "I'm alright."

The gangster outstretched his legs and reached a hand out to scratch the Houndour under his chin. "You alright? I don't know what attacks that thing was using, but it hit you hard, eh?" Chauffe didn't seem to be bothered, but he did seem satisfied with himself.

THUMP...Thump...thump.

Monty took a deep breath and pushed himself back to his feet. "Let's press forward a bit. With our luck, sitting here will just attract more of these things." He kicked the corpse and flexed his hurt arm. It still burned like Chauffe's fire was raging on it, but the bleeding already stopped. It would be alright.

He hiked his pack back on, and looked to Oracle. She was still watching him, and he couldn't quite tell what the Absol was thinking. If she was shaken she didn't show it, but she didn't seem to be gloating in her usual way. "Excusez-moi, madame," Monty said while motioning for her to step back. He slipped the counterfeit PokéDex from his pocket and flipped it on, pointing it at the beast, and with his other hand he lit it up with the flashlight.

Its body was...slimmer than he thought it was. Two short legs with long claws on the ends met a slim torso, but massive wings connected the torso to the arms. It was furry, too, with a shaggy coat the grew all the way up to its head and overgrew around where Monty thought its eyes would go. "Let's see what this thing is."

Noivern: The Sound Wave Pokémon

They fly around on moonless nights and attack careless prey. Nothing can beat them in a battle in the dark.

"So much for that." The PokéDex had a whole bunch of other information on the Noivern and came with pictures, but...something wasn't right. The thing on the ground could've been a Noivern, but the details were all wrong. Where there was green on this one there was red, and this thing seemed a decent bit smaller than what the dex was saying was average. Was it just a runt? Maybe a young one? Not to mention the overgrown coat compared to the ones in the pictures.

Too many questions, not enough answers. So much for cutting edge technology. Monty sucked his teeth and re-pocketed the Dex.

"This thing's giving me the creeps. Let's go."

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 7:39 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

"Chauffe, take the lead." A set of stone stairs were carved into the floor, and Monty's flashlight lit up the tight corridor down as his Houndour led the charge into the unknown. Really he should call it the sorta-known, though, considering he had a map of the place that'd been pretty fuckin' accurate so far. According to Cormier, the 'known' catacombs were split into three levels and the path they drew over the map had them cutting down to the second here.

Before he followed Chauffe's pitter-patter down the stairs, Monty glanced back at the Noivern. His arm was almost fully closed up, but the pain from its surprise attack was practically fresh. "And nose up, ears open. We're not getting snuck up on again."

"Ruff!"

"Good 'dour," the gangster called down as he followed the canine. With each step it seemed like the hair on the back of his neck stood a little straighter, and it was like the temperature dropped with each echo of his boots off the stone stairs. He got to the bottom and fished in his pocket for the map of the second level, and Abné craned her neck to look at it with her trainer.

"What, are you gonna guide us forward?" Monty said absentmindedly as he envisioned the path. How fuckin' annoying — the second level had even more twists and turns than the first. A little silver paw outstretched to touch the paper, and Monty pulled it away. "Oui, mademoiselle, it's a map." He folded it back up, tucked it into his pocket, and shined his flashlight back up the stairs. "What's the hold up, madame?"

Oracle stood stock-still at the top of the steps, staring down at the rest of them with a look Monty didn't quite recognize. Her claws scraped the stone, and he could see from there that her fur was raised. Was she getting the same feeling he was?

"We've come this far, madame. I'm not letting that Noivern scare me off so easy." Monty let a smug look cross his face at the same time annoyance flashed through Oracle's eyes. A month and a half together meant he knew how to push her buttons. Implying the Absol was scared was enough to get her moving down the stairs, however slowly she did it. Monty nodded to Chauffe to get moving, and he followed along with Oracle bringing up the rear soon after.

"Thank you for joining us," the gangster said sarcastically to the lagging dark-type, though she simply turned her nose up at him as they pressed forward.

***​

"Br-r-r-r," Monty shivered as the team navigated through the second level, and Abné snuggled closer to his neck from her shoulder-perch. There was no doubt it'd gotten colder the farther down they'd gone, but there was something else to the icy feeling up his spine. Even though the second floor was unnervingly empty, the gangster couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

They walked for some time, the only sound being their footsteps echoing off the stone walls, until Monty's flashlight flickered. The gangster stopped and tapped it against his hand, muttering under his breath, "Merde, new batteries already?"

"Ruff."

"That's what I'm...," Monty started to respond to their point-pup, but he realized the Houndour wasn't looking at him. "...saying." Chauffe's eyes and nose were pointed down the tunnel, his snout working overtime like he'd picked something up after so long without a peep from another Pokémon. Monty shone the flickering light, and had to squint to try and make out whatever the Houndour was seeing.

What was that? Monty blinked hard, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but sure enough there was something at the far end of the tunnel. It was...a ripple in the air? There was some kind of distortion for sure, like how gas on stovetops could be seen flowing out before it was lit. A gas leak this far down, though? Not likely. Especially not when it looked like the ripples were multiplying.

"Chauffe, <<Nasty Plot>>." If the ripples were a Pokémon's work, Monty wanted to get ahead of it. Thin wisps of smoke trickled out of the Houndour's nose, the tell-tale sign that his fire was burning hotter. Good. "Let's feel it out. <<Ember>>."

HUFF-FWOO!

The small fireball soared down the tunnel, and the counter came so fast that Monty almost missed it. There was a FLASH! of purple light, and a thin cloud of smoke puffed out where the attacks collided. The cloud was small, but what really caught the gangster's attention was how it seemed to twist and intermix with whatever Pokémon was floating in the air. Its body, or at least whatever it was using to hide its body, didn't seem like it had much shape to it. It was almost like the Pokémon itself was gas.

From within the gas, shadows seemed to congeal and writhe into a sphere that crackled with purple energy. It was almost like...

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

"Intercept! <<Incinerate>>!" Monty's call didn't need repeating. The ball of shadows ROCKETED! forward at the same time Chauffe let loose his own ball of flame, and the two collided with a resounding BOOM! that kicked up even more dust. The gangster could see another ball of shadow— no, it must be a Shadow Ball —forming, and turned to their heavy hitter only to see she was a step ahead of him.

Oracle's hackles were raised, and black sparks crackled up and down her legs. She FLASHED! forward before the Shadow Ball could be let off, and Monty called, "Press forward, back her up!" Not knowing exactly what they were dealing with had him on edge, and he wanted the team as close together as possible. Chauffe took off, and his trainer and Abné weren't far behind—

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

Next to Monty, on the wall, the shadows twisted and writhed like they'd suddenly come alive.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

Monty froze. His blood turned icy cold. His body fell motionless, and his steel-gray eyes widened as they watched the shadows pull together and congeal and bubble and burble.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

This couldn't be happening. Not here. Why would it be here?! The rest of the tunnel fell away, leaving just Monty and the writhing shadows as they pulled away from the wall.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Within the shadows, a pair of eyes snapped open. Massive white-glowing eyes, scrunched down into a sinister look that turned Monty's feet to lead and caught the breath in his throat. It was no more than a foot away, it would reach out, it would kill—

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

A dazzling green barrier materialized between Monty and the Ghastly, and suddenly the tunnel was back. Abné was on his shoulder, shaking but protecting him all the same. The ghost stared at the barrier with hate, like it was pissed that its meal was trying to hide, and it started gathering purple energy within itself—

FWOOSH!

An Incinerate SMASHED! into the Gastly, but before the flames could even disperse a flash of black light and white fur SLASHED! through it. Oracle appeared a few feet past it, scythe glowing black, and the ghost POOFED! into a thin cloud that spread out and faded away in tandem with Abné's barrier.

"I...I...," Monty stammered, his heart still racing and his blood still cold. He looked to each of his Pokémon, and they looked at him too. He didn't even know what he was looking for, really, maybe reassurance or something, but he didn't get it. Chauffe and Abné just looked confused, but Oracle looked furious. He red eyes were venomous, and her fur bristled with irritation.

All they saw was him freeze up. They had no idea why, but did the "why" even matter?

Monty took a deep breath. They were counting on him to have his head in the fight. If he froze every time something unexpected happened, he wouldn't be the leader of this little band. He'd be a liability.

"Je m'excuse," the gangster apologized, rubbing his injured arm and turning to face back down the tunnel. Chauffe and Oracle must've defeated the Gastly at the other end of the tunnel, but from the offshoots he could see more shimmering air start to float in. "But we've got more to cut through."

Chauffe fell back into the front and Monty and Oracle followed behind. They'd destroyed everything in their way so far. They just needed to keep the streak going.

And he just had to keep it together long enough to do it.

Spoiler: Pokémon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 10:12 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

From their first encounter with the second level's Gastly, the battles hadn't let up. Monty stopped keeping track of how many were swarming early on — it didn't matter if they defeated three when four more showed up to take their place. In the midst of round...merde he didn't even know, the gangster ducked under a Shadow Ball and stole a glance at his watch.

10:12 PM. Two and a half hours into this shit?!

BOOM!

"ARF!"
"OOF!"

A furry black projectile THUDDED! into Monty, knocking him and Abné down. The gangster felt paws weakly pressing on his chest — Chauffe! The gangster rolled to his feet, dumping the Houndour off of himself and immediately fishing a shaking hand for the Super Potion in his ruck's kidney belt pocket. He'd had to grab meds so many times since hitting the second floor that it was practically muscle memory, and his free hand reached for Abné's scruff.

He looked up the tunnel to where Oracle was still fending off the current wave, and launched the silver Eevee in the best underhand throw of his life. "<<Protect>>! Cut them off!"

The stone corridor lit up with the barrier's dazzling green light, and Monty turned his attention to the pup. "Hold sti— Hold still!" Chauffe squirmed under his trainer's touch, and dark smoke coiled off of him in small plumes. Monty buried his hand in the Houndour's fur, looking for a wound or something to actually use the Potion on, but there was nothing. Fuck it, go big or go home.

He sprayed the Potion wherever he saw smoke, prompting sharp GR-R-Rs from Chauffe. At least that meant it was working. In only a few seconds the smoke cleared up, and the pup's resistance under Monty's hand got stronger. Amazing how quick the Pokémon medicine worked when it was used on a Pokémon. The gangster discarded the empty bottle and shifted his focus back down the tunnel.

BOOM!
CRACK!

Attacks rained down on Abné's barrier, the only thing separating her and Oracle from a pair of Haunter. Him and Chauffe were a good distance away, too far to immediately reinforce their teammates. Fuck, he needed to think.

BOOM!
CRACK!

"Chauffe, we need a boost," Monty commanded. Without missing a beat the Houndour let loose a furious <<Howl>> and sunk down with a nasty expression on his face. Good. Monty cupped a hand around his mouth. "You two fall back!"

Oracle's venomous red eyes whipped back, apparently furious that he even dared suggest she abdicate her ground, but Monty just grinned. "You're not retreating!"

Something flashed through the Absol's face, but Monty still wasn't great at recognizing feline body language. Understanding, maybe? It must've been, because Oracle grabbed Abné by her scruff and LEAPT! toward the rest of the team.

BOOM!
CRACK!

The barrier fell, but they were ready for the pair of Shadow Balls that SHOT! out. Monty gave a sharp command — "Intercept! Use the smoke!"

FWOO-FWOOSH!

Chauffe's rapid <<Embers>> collided with the balls of shadow with a resounding BOOM!, and in a flash of black light Oracle DOVE! into the resulting smoke.

SLASH!
SLASH!
BOOM!

Monty saw three more flashes of light; two black, one purple. Fuck, she couldn't wipe them out quick enough?! The smoke started dissipating, and he saw another Shadow Ball being charged. "<<Protect>>, then <<Incinerate>>!" The humble 'block and counter' had always been a favorite move of Monty's, and it'd worked wonders against the Pokémon they'd run into so far. He felt Abné tense up on his shoulder just as the Ball was SHOT! forwa—

WOOSH!

Monty's eyes widened. He didn't even have time to react before the Shadow Ball WHIZZED! by hardly four inches from his head. Abné's barrier never came, but Chauffe's fireball was just on time. It flew true, and bathed the tunnel in orange light as it ROCKETED! into the Haunter.

POOF!

The Haunter exploded into a cloud of dust, or smoke, or whatever the fuck ghosts are made of without so much as a cry. Was the threat gone? Monty whirled around, scouring both ends of the stone tunnel with his flashlight. He stalled on each off-shoot, trying to catch whichever horror was about to slink out of the shadows next before it caught them, but nothing came. He felt his breathing slow, and his adrenaline dump.

Shit, this was getting old. "Regroup!"

They'd been dancing the most twisted version of the tango Monty'd ever slipped his boots on for all night, and the lull between fights was their only chance to catch their breath before the next song started. He absentmindedly reached a hand up to comfort the little Eevee shaking on his shoulder, and he strode over to check on their heavy hitter while they still had the time.
Monty waved some of the smoke away and stooped down next to Oracle. "How are you—"

HISS!

Oracle spat at him, baring her fangs and shirking away. Her hackles were raised, and the same dark smoke that was coiling off of Chauffe streamed from her side and one of her front legs. She had that paw picked up, hugging it close to her chest. She was hurt. "Let me help, mademoiselle." Monty grabbed another potion from the kidney pouch, and they'd done this enough times that the Absol knew it was time for healing.

The smoke stopped and Oracle was able to put her weight back on her paw, but the glare she gave Monty was no less venomous.

And why shouldn't it be?

The gangster shook his head. "You're welcome." He stood back up, suddenly conscious of how tired his legs were, and pulled the map back out. He traced their path so far with a pencil, and once he figured out where they were — "There's something up ahead." Cormier and the other lieutenants had marked out areas on the map, primarily staircases and other ways to navigate between floors along with areas that'd been marked on the Tangrowth painting in some way that they couldn't tell exactly what it meant but that it meant something.

According to the Old Guard's version of the map, it was just off of their next turn. Monty folded the map and stowed it, and aimed his flashlight back down the tunnel. "Let's go. Just a little farther."

Yeah. Just a little farther.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 10:24 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

Their mystery mark on the map didn't turn out to be a staircase like the one that led them to the second floor, but a barren room cut into the side of the stone tunnel. Monty shined his flashlight in and realized room was even an overstatement — dead end was more like it.

"Chauffe," the gangster addressed the nose of the party, briefly pulling the pup off of his early-warning duty, "Try to sniff something out." The Houndour immediately shuffled over with his snout to the floor, and while he inspected every inch of their dead end Monty did some inspecting of his own.

Why would it be marked out? Did the lieutenants make a mistake? He couldn't pick out a single distinguishing feature that would make the room any more important than the rest of the tunnel. Monty peeked back out and shined his light back-and-forth down either end of the corridor — any minute now and they'd have another wave of ghosts on top of them. He glanced down at Oracle, and she looked up at him with annoyance. Her claws scraped against the ground, and the Absol turned back to face the dark.

Any second now. Any second and they'd have another battle on their hands. Monty looked back-and-forth down the tunnel agai— was that ANOTHER shimmer?!

He blinked long and slow, and the brief something in the air he thought he saw disappeared. Fuck, he was getting itchy. Was Chauffe done yet? Whatever, they'd just cut the pit stop short.

"Nothing's here, let's go." Staying in one place for too long hadn't done them any favors in the past couple of hours, and Monty pulled the map back out of his pocket as he stood in the room's threshold. The main tunnel they'd been following continued on for another couple of kilometers, not to mention the twists, turns, and off-shoots they'd have to check out, too. There wasn't another marked spot for a long ways, either...

Monty glanced into the room again, and muttered, "Putain d'idiots inutiles, I'm lucky the tunnels are right." He'd have to let the Old Guard lieutenants know their artistry needed some work. He sent Chauffe back to the front of the pack, and was about to take off when the little silver Eevee on his shoulder started shuffling around, yipping, and creating a general fuckin' nuisance of herself.

"Calm down, Abné!" Monty muttered, reaching a hand up to try and quiet his unruly passenger. He felt her stand onto her hind legs, and reached a hand up to scoop her into his arms. "If you can't sit still you'll go in your..." The fiery little runt had a strip of paper in her mouth and an indignant look in her eye as she tried to squirm free of his grip. "...where'd you get that?"

A brief tug-of-war ensued, but Monty's overwhelming strength obviously won out over the little ball of rage and he was able to inspect the paper more closely. It had weird red markings on it, circles and lines in some kind of pattern that Monty felt like he'd never seen before but that seemed familiar all the same. He looked up at the top of the threshold, and spotted a piece of old looking duct-tape clutching to the stone by a sliver.

Where had he seen this before? The gangster studied it closely while Abné mirrored his squinting, but he couldn't figure it out...OH!

"A cleanse tag?" He'd seen them in the Poké Mart back topside, but the whole concept had seemed like a scam. A piece of paper that kept ghosts away? It was as believable as a stuffed animal that warded off dragons.

Monty glanced up and down the tunnel, shuffling on his feet. They'd have more battles on their hands any minute, and they were wasting time. Then again, something had been bugging him since they got to this Xern-damned floor of the catacombs. "This must be how the person who made the map survived."

Oracle shot him an annoyed look, but he just rolled his eyes and tapped the tag. "Look, this spot was marked for a reason and we found it. There's no way they mapped this whole thing out without resting somehow." Was it wishful thinking? Maybe. But he knew he wasn't the only one exhausted by their evening underground. Still, Oracle didn't seem quite convinced. The Absol just stared down the tunnel into the dark without even looking at him.

Monty gritted his teeth. The whole fuck what you're saying routine was getting old. "Décision exécutive, you three. We're staying here."

Chauffe obeyed without question and headed in, but Oracle stayed stock still. How fuckin' annoying. Monty rolled his eyes, stepped behind her, and stooped down so he could tap her flank. "You too—"

SHING!

A woosh of air. Oracle's venomous red eyes face-to-face with his own. Her head was contorted, and through his peripherals he could see his flashlight's reflection off her scythe centimeters from his throat. Her hackles rose, and the phantom weight of her <Pressure> crashed down on him.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

The blood started pounding in his ears, and he felt himself holding his breath. He could feel Abné trembling on his shoulder. He needed to move, he had to MOVE, but...

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!

And then, just as fast as she'd swung around, Oracle relaxed, her <Pressure> lifted, and she pulled her scythe away. Monty slowly rose back up, and without another sound the Absol stalked off into their hideout.

THUMP-THump-thump.

"Fuck," the gangster muttered. He'd seen her pissed before, but that was something...new. His hand came up to rub his neck. Yeah, it was still there. Subconsciously he traced the scar along his jaw, too, and with the other hand shined his flashlight down each end of the tunnel. Still no sign of their next wave. Hopefully they'd hold out long enough to get some rest. They needed it.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

View attachment 1193625
Queen Oracle the Honored One
View attachment 1193626
Chauffemagne
View attachment 1193627
Abnégarde

 

[Patriot]

CODE BY SEROBLISS

MONTAGNE KHASTIL

July 20, 10:30 PM — Lumiose City, Kalos

"Everyone comfortable?"

It felt like half a joke to even ask, and one look between each of his Pokémon told him the answer. Sitting who knew how far underground in Lumiose's catacombs, surrounded by ghosts that would love nothing more than to eat their souls or something, and essentially cornered in a random alcove with nothing protecting them but a piece of paper that Monty was pretty sure was ghost-repellant? It was no wonder Chauffe was pacing back and forth, Oracle's hackles were raised even while sitting statue-still, and it felt like Abné was trying to crawl into his skin with how close to his neck she was burrowing.

"Right...well, settle in and rest up," he half-heartedly commanded. His back was against the furthest wall, legs outstretched, and he folded his arms in a hopeless attempt to get some form of comfort out of the next few hours. He couldn't quite slow his heart-rate, though, and the sense that they'd be attacked any second didn't do any favors on the sleep-front, either.

Monty felt Abné settle on his shoulder, and her breathing turned steady. He should've expected her to be the first to get over it — she was basically a baby still, after all. Chauffe eventually stopped pacing and curled up, too, but with a nose like his Monty doubted he'd ever drift off. He'd heard somewhere that trying to sleep had some benefits at least.

His increasingly heavy eyes moved to the cleanse tag above the doorway, then down to the Absol beneath it. Her scythe caught the reflection of his flashlight, and even looking now all he saw was it about to slice into him. They'd only been down here for — merde — five hours, but in those five they'd already had more battles than the last two weeks combined. He couldn't blame her for being on edge.

Oracle clearly had no intention of resting, either — her eyes were wide open and her ears twitched constantly. Keeping watch, probably.

"Try and get some sleep," Monty whispered. "I need you in top shape."

She didn't acknowledge him, but he knew she'd heard. He needed to take his own advice, though. He shut his eyes, suddenly even more exhausted than before, and drifted off.

---

His footsteps echoed off the stone tunnels, the only thing accompanying him in his sprint through the catacombs beside the oppressive darkness and his own heavy breathing.

How long had he been running? How many walls had he slammed into from taking the corners too fast? How far had he gone? How close was he getting to the exit?

It didn't matter. He just had to keep moving. He just had to go a little further. He had to escape, he had to leave, he— no, they had to get out of there.

Wait. For the first time in he didn't even know when, he slowed down. The echo abandoned him, and the darkness wrapped him even tighter as he frantically spun around. They...they...where were they? His shoulder was empty. His was the only heavy breathing. His were the only steps as he ran. There were supposed to be others. He wasn't supposed to be down there by himself. He wasn't supposed to be alone.

They were missing.
-alo lone alone-
Did he leave them behind?
-alone one alon alONe-
Did they leave him?
-AlOnE loNE aLOne-

He shined his light down the tunnel, and caught a glimpse of white disappearing around another corner. He called out and took off sprinting, and SLAMMED! into the wall only to find himself in an entirely different set of tunnels from the catacombs.

The darkness was instantly extinguished, replaced with a dazzling light that bounced off of every surface. Reflection Cave. Of course, he wasn't in the catacombs. They'd been sealed off before he was born. He was just in Reflection Cave, chasing after—

The white fur cut another corner. Oracle! He pursued as fast as his feet would carry him, calling out until his throat was hoarse, but the Absol didn't slow. No matter how fast he ran she ran faster, and after a while the only thing he could see was his own reflection running parallel. He was turning at random now, with no idea if he was on the right path or not, and...and...

He slowed to a stop. She was gone. She left him behind.

He was aLoNE.

He slumped backward into a wall, and slid down to the ground. He looked down at his hands — shaking. He balled his fists, trying to stop the tremors, and looked up at the opposite wall only to realize with a fright that it wasn't his reflection staring back at him.

From behind the shimmering veil of mirror-stone stood an Eevee, a Houndour, and an Absol. He tried to call out to them, but his voice didn't work. He tried to lift his hands to beckon them, but his arms were like lead. All he could do was look, no, watch as one-by-one they turned away and disappeared. First the Eevee, then the Houndour, and then the Absol — all without a second look.

Wait, he wanted to say. Don't go. Don't leave.

Please.

Don't leave him alone.

---

Monty GASPED! and his eyes shot open, and he wrenched himself upward from his slumped sleeping position on the tunnel wall. His sudden movement jostled the tuckered Eevee off of his shoulder, and she immediately assaulted him with a frenzy of yip-yapping while she tried her best to clamber back up.

The gangster's head swiveled to each of the Pokémon. Chauffe and Oracle were still there, too, though they seemed just as annoyed about the sudden outburst as Abné was.

Monty calmed himself down, reached a hand up to pet Abné, and checked his watch. 12:18 AM. Shit, it'd only been an hour and a half.

The gangster dropped his hands and crossed his arms. He needed more sleep.

Spoiler: Pokemon Team

Queen Oracle the Honored One

Chauffemagne

Abnégarde