Denkiteki Part One By: CottonCandy Chapter Two The air among the closely growing trees felt hot and thick. Every breath that Tsuchi took in made her feel like she wasn't getting enough oxygen. The grass underfoot was soft and cushioned her every footstep. From the shadows of the ferns around her, she could hear sleeping Pokemon snoring gently in their nests, unaware that their home was being breached. Her knees trembled, all four of them, and she stopped moving and slammed her eyes shut. Her heart pounded a tattoo against her chest, and she was sure the napping Pokemon would be awakened by it. Mizu bumped into her back end and, after apologizing, whispered, "It's okay. You'll be fine. I won't let anything attack you from behind. Just concentrate on finding that little Igglybuff. Listen for noises." "YOu mean noises that aren't snoring or...?" "Yeah, not snoring. Think about the sounds a little lost Pokemon would make." "I sure hope that little girl isn't making enough noise to attract other Pokemon." "Me too. Now please keep moving. If we wait until nighttime comes around, we'll be lost too." Tsuchi took a deep breath and silently moved forward, hoping that nothing would scare her suddenly. She would end up yelping and waking up an entire forest of enemies. "Do you remember what the father smelled like, Tsuchi?" It took her a moment to process the weird question. "What? His SMELL?" "Yes. He smelled like sweets, didn't he?" As Tsuchi decided on whether to turn right or left at a fork in the ferns, she thought back. "Yeah, he did. Why?" She secretly hoped he hadn't gotten hungry. There was no time to stop to find food here. "Because Igglybuff might smell like him. Do you smell anything like that here?" Tsuchi sniffed first one way, then turned her head and sniffed again. She put her nose against the grass and inhaled softly. The faintest hint of sugar clung to the blades. She pulled her head up in surprise and sniffed the other direction similarly. No sugar-smell. "It's this way." She nodded to the right and began walking. After following the scent for a few minutes, she found that it was growing stronger all the time. She didn't know if Mizu could smell it, but she sure could, and it smelled like a victory. Just when she was getting confident in her tracking abilities, a soft rustle made her ears perk up. She stopped and tensed her muscles. Mizu stopped and she could feel his head turning slowly to find the source of the sound. A twig snapped to her left, and she felt adrenaline warm her veins. An Exeggcute sidled out of the foliage and raised its collective eyebrows at them, then immediately sprang and hit her on the side. They tumbled and rolled into the ferns on the opposite side of the trail. She kicked at the enemy and sent it flying away. Mizu came bounding at it and butted it with his head. It hit the ground and fell apart, scattering its many bodies. They didn't move except for the occasional twitch. Tsuchi and Mizu walked back together, both breathing slightly heavily and never taking their eyes off the fainted Exeggcute. "Thanks, Mizu." He nodded silently and cleared his throat. "You're welcome. Shall we continue?" He took his eyes away from the passed out adversary and locked eyes with her. She blushed softly from the intimacy of it, then closed her panting mouth and stepped lightly over the eggs left over. The scent grew a bit stronger with each step, and Tsuchi still felt the adrenaline in her limb. Every noise that she heard sounded like a challenge. Her eyesight was much sharper and she dug her claws into the dirt beneath the grassy cushion. It was like her body was itching for a fight. It perplexed her because she had never been the violent type. That much she knew. Before long, another Pokemon attacked them, and Tsuchi tackled it, hard. The stunned Caterpie wheezed and crawled away. "They must be guards of some sort." Mizu watched it go with a contemplating air. "Whatever they are, that sure was..." "Liberating?" He smiled at her. She returned his smile with her own. "Yeah. I want to do that again!" She jumped a little and grinned. "Be careful what you wish for. Besides, shouldn't we be looking for that Igglybuff?" He stepped forward and chuckled. Tsuchi smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth to say something, but a cry made her stop her thoughts in their tracks. "Was that her?" Mizu turned his head like he had before, searching for the source. The cry echoed through the woods again. "I think so...She might be in trouble!" Tsuchi leaned down and sniffed the ground. The trail led toward the darker part of the forest. Tsuchi shivered in spite of herself, but she pushed forward into the shadows. Deeper in the trees, she and Mizu encountered numerous Pokemon guards, and each victory left her blood simmering and her eyes sharp. The adrenaline coursing through her made her wonder why she had been so afraid. Defeating another enemy and rounding a few corners, Tsuchi spotted a strange little pink bump in the grass off to the side of the clearing they had entered. Igglybuff cowered from a huge grey Poochyena that growled and batted at her like a toy. It snickered and growled a little when she skittered away from its paw. Seeing the little Pokemon in distress made Tsuchi's instinct kick in, and she ran full tilt at the young wolf, headbutting it in the side as hard as she could. It yelped and bounced away across the grass. It lifted its head and stared at her with wide eyes. She raised her chin and met its stare with a hard defiance. It leapt up and prepared to run at her. She braced her limbs and turned her shoulder toward it. It jumped and landed on top of her, catching her by surprise. It bit her bulb viciously and Tsuchi felt a little blood dribble down the soft dome on her back. Thinking quickly, she ran at the nearest tree, gaining speed, then pushed with her hindlegs hard and stopped with her forelegs, propelling her back and the Poochyena toward the trunk. The wolf was slammed into the tree and its yelp was knocked out of its chest. Tsuchi fell back down to the ground onto all her legs and backed away quickly so the Poochyena didn't have time to retaliate at a short distance. She backed up, sat down to rest, and glanced back at Mizu, who was trying to get Igglybuff back up the fissure she fell into. The soil was moist and slippery from dew that hadn't condensed from being in shadow. Igglybuff kept sliding down the ravine and hitting poor Mizu in the face with clods of wet dirt. Finally, with a determined 'humph', he took a deep breath and shot water out of his mouth at her, shooting her up and out. He jumped the last few feet, then looked down at Tsuchi, searching for her. She waited too long, however, for the Poochyena had caught its breath and was staggering toward her again, gaining speed. She bared her teeth and growled lowly at it. It mirrored her with its fluffy ears flattened against its skull. It leapt at her with a menacing bark and barreled in her direction. A spark of fear jolted Tsuchi's confidence and made her miss a crutial split second. The wolf hit her and sent her flying across the clearing. The impact onto the ground jarred her bones and rattled her jaws in her head. Lights sparkled in front of her eyes. The wolf descended again, clawing and biting her skin through her thin fur. She tried to buck it off, but only succeeded in looking strange, she was sure. Maybe... She ran at another tree, hoping to pull off the same trick as before, but the Poochyena was smarter now and gripped the base of her bulb near her head and YANKED back. She yelled with pain and felt tears prick her eyes. Now she KNEW this wasn't a dream, and that bulb really was a part of her now. A sudden surge of energy filled her, and she reached out with her bulb, if that made sense, and threw the Poochyena away from her without moving her legs or back. The wolf yelped as it hit the ground, then scrambled up and decided she wasn't worth the effort anymore. It ran away with its tail tucked between its legs. "Tsuchi!" Mizu slid down the ravine toward her and ran to her side. "Are you hurt?" He came a little closer and examined her cuts and scrapes. "I'm fine for now. Where's Igglybuff?" She looked up into the golden light coming from the fissure, seeing the pink and gold light on the clouds above. "She's with her father. Do you know what you just did? You used Vine Whip!" "Yeah, and you used Water Gun. What's your point?" She smiled at him and bumped him playfully with her uninjured shoulder. He smirked and nudged her. "Come on, let's go." *** "Oh, sweet heavens, thank you two so much! My darling Igglybuff is back with me!" Wigglytuff snuggled his daughter close and smiled wide at Mizu and Tsuchi. "Is there any way I can thank you?"Before they could mention that he just did, he interrupted them. "Oh, I know! Have you any places to stay? You look kind of homeless. I could give you plots in a couple habitat areas! Or you could use the little homebase I had built for a rescue team. You should really be in the rescue team business! You were marvelous! Absolutely divine!" He kissed his daughter, then went behind the two of them and pushed them east, away from the setting sun. When he left them in front of the homebase he had mentioned, he waved and bounded south with his child wedged in his arms. Igglybuff waved a tiny hand and whispered "Bye-bye." Tsuchi and Mizu didn't notice, but instead smiled wide and walked into their new home for a good night's rest.