route_1065 | (no subject)

By an astonishing coincidence, someone who hated Cobra Commander was making their way along the Route towards Olivine City. As always, Apollo was on foot - bare feet, of course - with five of his Pokémon traveling alongside him. Furret and Sawsbuck walked along beside him, Combee flew between nearby flowers gathering nectar under Vespiquen's completely unnecessary command, and Fearow flew overhead, keeping a Keen Eye out for any wild Pokémon that everyone could battle. Fearow saw the Skarmory and its rider come in for a landing first, but Apollo noticed it soon after, just before it descended behind the gentle rise not far ahead. Apollo kept his mind open to his team at all times, and so images and concepts began to flow from Fearow's mind into his own.

Image of bird made of metal. Concept of someone riding on said bird. Concept of battling. Concept of a request.

Apollo sighed inwardly. Of course Fearow would want to battle whoever it was.

Concept of battling. Concept of a request to other Pokémon. Concept of waiting.

Sense of reluctant acceptance.

With that out of the way in seconds, Apollo changed direction slightly and headed straight for... An uncomfortably familiar voice yelling. Apollo narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace. He reached the top of the rise and saw, in the grass at the bottom of one of those strange unclimbable ledges, someone who he would be very happy if he never heard again.

Apollo stood at the top of the ledge, the green cloak that hid his body moving slightly in the gentle breeze, and glared down at Cobra Commander. Furret and Sawsbuck flanked him while Fearow circled overhead and Combee and Vespiquen were temporarily out of sight as they hurried to catch up with the others.

"You."

His voice was firm and filled with anger, but unlike some people, he wasn't yelling.

“And furthermore,” Cobra Commander cut his rant short and glanced in the direction of the interruption. Who in their right mind would dare to interrupt him? Either someone brave, or no, clearly they were stupid. No one would interrupt him unless they were a complete idiot!

Who was this particular idiot anyway? He glanced up at the top of the ledge, trying to place him. They weren’t on his list, that much was certain. He’d recognize any of those names in an instant. He looked familiar to Cobra though, so that meant he was someone he’d spoken to over the Gear. Probably threatened them. Oh. Now he remembered where he’s seen this guy before. Over the network, complaining about how Cobra treated his Pokémon and claiming he’d teach him a lesson.

“Mind your own business if you know what’s good for you!” Cobra snapped. “This is between me and my Sssskarmory here and it is in your best interests to stay out of it!”

It seemed to Apollo that Cobra was even more annoying to listen to in person. He wasn't dissuaded so easily though and remained where he was, Combee and Vespiquen coming into view on his left.

"I'm here and I'm not walking away!" Apollo snapped back. "Just because you don't like something that Skarmory did that doesn't mean that you get to yell at him!"

He opened himself to Skarmory and sent a stream of images and concepts to him, which Skarmory could reply to in the same way.

Concept of happiness. Concept of a question. Image of Cobra. Concept of liking someone. Concept of a question. Image of Cobra. Concept of increasing distance. Concept of a question.

[Translation: Are you happy? Do you like Cobra? Do you want to not be near Cobra anymore?]

Out of sight under his cloak, Apollo began to undo the strap of his courier bag, his instincts telling him that he might need to move unencumbered by it in the near future.

Skarmory tilted its head and regarded Apollo with a curious look. He’d never been contacted by a human like this before, so the bird wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. It’s received the questions loud and clear, but is going to take a while before sending its answer.

Meanwhile, Cobra’s not going to take any time to think before yelling back at Apollo. How dare this idiot criticize the way he talks to his Pokémon. No one does that Cobra Commander and gets away with it. Or at least, no one gets away with it without getting a piece of Cobra’s mind. “Of course I get to yell at him! He’s my creature! And that gives me every right! And it’s none of your businessss what I do with my Pokémon! Now walk away while I am sssstill willing to let you!”

Strato-Viper makes something close to a frown and with a squawk, tries to respond to Apollo. He feels that Cobra Commander is loud, arrogant, annoying, and a bit of an idiot. But at the same time, he trains his Pokémon well, makes sure they’re cared for, and gives them the opportunity to be used to their full potential. And all of that is probably incredibly garbled because it’s never tried this before.

Now Apollo was yelling too.

"He doesn't belong to you. He's not clothes or a bag, he's alive! Living things don't belong to anyone but themselves!"

Apollo had spent most of his life "talking" to plants and animals with his power, so something as intelligent as a Pokémon was easy to understand, even if it had never communicated this way before. He was honestly a surprised that Strato-Viper had anything good to say about Cobra, but he noticed the unanswered questions and re-asked them.

Concept of happiness. Concept of the status quo. Concept of a question. Concept of change. Concept of a question.

[Translation: Are you happy with how things are right now? Or do you want things to change?]

“Wrong! I traded my Golbat for Strato-Viper’s egg! That makes him my property! Like any member of Cobra, I command him and he does as I sssssee fit! I will warn you one last time, drop thisss and walk away! Now! Otherwise, I cannot be held responsible for what happens to you if you continue to involve yourself in my business!”

He’d be completely responsible if the situation continued to worsen and would have no problem doing so. He had a decent team with him. Surely they were more than enough firepower to take care of this fool.

On the other side of things, Strato-Viper was starting to get the hang of things. He’s content with the current situation, but unsure as to what sort of change Apollo means.

"So you left a Pokémon you didn't want to look after with someone else instead of letting it go off where it wanted to so you could get an egg, and you think that means that you own what hatched from it? He has just as much right to do what he wants as you do! He probably has more right because he isn't trying to make anyone do what he wants!"

Apollo's body tensed in preparation for the beatings he assumed that he would have to give Cobra. At this point the only course of action he saw was to beat Cobra until he understood that he was wrong.

Apollo's response was to point out that Strato-Viper had never known anything else besides being with Cobra, having hatched into this situation. Wouldn't he rather fly free wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted instead of having Cobra ordering him around all the time?

“That is not what happened!”

He actually raised that Golbat. Just so happened that a Rocket he knew wanted a bat and had a Skarmory egg to offer. And since a metal bird is the closest thing Cobra’s found to a jet, it worked out for everyone involved. But he’s not sharing any of this with a stranger, so he’s just going to point and yell at Apollo. It’s none of his business anyway.

Strato-Viper essentially shrugs. It wants to fly and Cobra gives it that opportunity. It enjoys battling, and Cobra also gives it lots of chances to do that as well. Unfortunately, he’s been raised more or less to be a loyal Cobra trooper, so Skarmory doesn’t really know what it wants besides that. Even better than a loyal Cobra trooper according to Cobra Commander since it doesn’t ask for pay or benefits.

Consciously or not, Apollo had long since abandoned any attempts to give Cobra the benefit of the doubt. Ironically, given his own failings in that area, he realized that Strato-Viper really didn't know any other way of living other than being under Cobra's thumb, and that knowledge was the last straw.

"Liar!"

Apollo released his hold on his bag's strap and it fell toward the ground as he jumped off of the ledge, his cloak billowing around him as he descended onto Cobra's current location with a fist pulled back for a punch. Meanwhile, his bag hit the ground and his PokéGear fell from the open outside pocket it had been in, coming on as it hit the ground and bouncing off the ledge, miraculously catching on some dangling roots before it hit the ground and ending up suspended in a perfect position for recording what came next.

“They are not lies!”

Cobra Commander was irate. What was this idiot’s name again, Apollo? He was pretty sure that was it. How dare this Apollo show up, interrupt his lecture of his Pokémon, and then proceed to yell at him about things that were absolutely none of his business. He’d teach this fool a lesson! And his Pokémon too!

Cobra selected a Pokeball and looked up just in time to see Apollo heading for him. It was really too late for him to run away, so there was little he could do besides stand there and hope the hit wouldn’t be too bad.

Apollo was at the peak of physical fitness for a 13-year-old, so even with the limitations of Johto, the punch was likely to hurt. A dodge would probably have been preferable to taking a fist to the face, but hindsight is always 20/20.

Apollo's team tensed, but made no move to join him. The idea of actively trying to injure a human made them uncomfortable, so until Cobra's Pokémon got involved they were going to hold back.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time Cobra’s been punched in the face by a teenager. It’s not even the first time he’s been punched by a teenager this year. The fact that it’s happened before does nothing to make it hurt less or to keep it from sending Cobra sprawling into the grass. He laid there for a moment, nursing his jaw before staggering to his feet, still grasping the Pokeball from earlier.

“You will pay for that! Go! Big Boa!”

The Pokeball opened, revealing not a snake as the name might imply, but the Commander’s recently renamed Machoke.

“Beat this fool into submisssssion! And Sssstrato-Viper! Get over here! Now!”

Machoke growled and advanced towards Apollo while Skarmory flew behind Cobra Commander.

“If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’re going to get! But don’t blame me when you end up in the hossspital like the last idiot who got in my way!”

Apollo's move to hit Cobra again was stopped short by Big Boa's appearance and the obvious intent to attack. He backed away slowly, keeping some distance while he opened his mind to Big Boa and asked him why he listened to Cobra, if he was happy with the way things were, and if he would rather be away from Cobra doing whatever he wanted.

The appearance of a Pokémon-based threat to Apollo caused his team to spring into action. Fearow dove down at Strato-Viper and used Heat Wave, breathing out a scorching hot breath at the Skarmory. It was an area attack with a chance of causing a burn, and while Fearow was hoping to catch Big Boa in it (and wouldn't complain about getting Cobra though he wasn't trying to hit him), his main goal was to keep Strato-Viper from attacking from the air, since the others would have a hard time dealing with that.

Combee and Vespiquen began to circle around Big Boa, readying Gust for if Apollo couldn't get him to stand down, while Sawsbuck stood off to the side, ready to jump in if needed. Furret meanwhile ran to Apollo's bag and dug out a Pokéball, chucking it as far as she could. She managed to get some good distance on it, and it landed behind and to the side of Cobra, releasing the sixth member of Apollo's team. Said member had rarely come up in conversation, and had only been seen on camera once due to its shyness, and even that was before it had evolved.

In a flash of light, a much larger than average Golurk began to loom over Cobra. It didn't make any move to attack, but holy shit was it big.

“Strato-Viper! Evassssive maneuvers! No!” Cobra watched as the Heat Wave hit the back of its wings. He yanked another Pokeball off of his belt and recalled it for now. No sense in leaving it open to taking another hit when it needed to be able to take off if he had to retreat. Instead, Cobra would send out two more Pokémon: Overkill, the Scolipede and Ice-Viper, the Abomasnow.

Big Boa had been about to respond to Apollo’s inquiry when the Heat Wave hit. It didn’t appreciate being interrupted by being set on fire, so he responded by picking up a chunk of rock and tossing it at the Fearow with Strength.

Cobra Commander pointed ahead to issue orders, only to reconsider due to the Golurk. Backing away from the giant robot thing seemed like the best idea, so he did that first. With that out the way, he pointed again.

“Overkill, Steamroller! Knock that giant tin monstrosity out of the way! Ice-Viper, Blizzard! Target everything in front of you!”

Scolipede rolled up into a ball and began spinning towards Golurk, ready to ram it. At the same time, Abomasnow whipped up a small snowstorm and sent it in the general direction of Apollo’s aerial attackers.

Apollo was a little annoyed that Fearow had hit Big Boa when all the rest of his team had realized what he was doing and had held back, but with Big Boa distracted there was a potential opening he could use to get to Cobra now. If he could knock out Cobra he might be able to have a conversation with his Pokémon. He glanced around the area first, taking in the current situation, issuing warnings to Fearow, Combee, and Vespiquen, and asking Golurk to use his own rolling attack on Overkill. He didn't like giving orders to his Pokémon, but if he left Golurk on his own it would just stand in place and try to punch its opponent rather than do something more effective. That out of the way, Apollo darted around Big Boa and tried to get to Cobra for another punch. Johto had reduced his speed and agility quite a bit, to the point that he couldn't ninja tree run anymore, but he was still fast enough that he could outrace Pokémon with average speed stats, and the chances of Cobra being able to keep up with him were slim.

Fearow dodged the flying rock will all of the urgency he would use to get out of the way of an actual Rock-type move, and then had to dodge again when an Ice-type move came through the space he had been about to enter. He didn't recognize Ice-Viper's species, but Ice-Viper had used an Ice-type attack, so maybe he was at least partly Ice-type? He circled around and used Heat Wave again, Ice-Viper being the only Pokémon in the area of effect.

Golurk obeyed Apollo immediately and used Rollout. Overkill was several levels higher than Golurk, but Golurk was part Ghost-type and thus resistant to the Bug-type Steamroller, while Overkill was part Bug-type and thus weak to the Rock-type Rollout. Neither of them was likely to be knocked out by this, but they would both be taking some damage.

Combee and Vespiquen fled for their lives from the Blizzard, Combee taking some damage when he was clipped by the outer edge of the Blizzard. They came around to go after Machoke again, but the distance they had needed to move to escape the Blizzard meant that it would be another turn before they came in range again.

Sawsbuck moved to stand in some tall grass and used Nature Power. Nature Power became the Grass-type Seed Bomb, and he fired a barrage of seeds at Big Boa's head. Despite getting STAB from the move the level difference was much too great to do significant damage, but it would be painful and distracting.

Furret meanwhile had mostly close-combat moves and was the second-lowest level on the team, limiting her ability to fight. Her badgering Apollo for TMs and talking to move tutors had paid off though with the first TM she had gotten Apollo to buy for her: Grass Knot. Her eyes glowed green and so did two blades of grass near Machoke, which tied themselves into a loop right in front of Machoke's lead foot where it would trip him up if he took a step. Based on his weight the move would have a base power of 80, though Furret being less than half his level would limit the actual damage dealt.

Overkill collided with Golurk’s Rollout, knocking it back. The Rollout hurt. Due to its aggressive nature, Scolipede decided to not wait for orders and targeted Golurk with Venoshock. With a roar, it spit a noxious purple liquid at the golem. It wouldn’t do too much damage since it wasn’t poisoned, but the centipede wanted to hit it again without another collision.

On the other side of things, Big Boa made a grab for Apollo, only to be pelted by various seeds from Sawsbuck. It made a move towards deer, only to be tripped up by Grass Knot, sending it falling to the ground. Not too damaging, but it succeeded in keeping the Machoke from retaliating.

Abomasnow staggered around, heavily singed by the Heat Wave. It was still in the fight, but a couple more of those and it wouldn’t be for long. Cobra went to order another Blizzard, but opted to instead put another Pokémon between himself and Apollo: Storm Shadow, the Pawniard.

“Make sssure that idiot doesn’t come any closer! Also, Ice-Viper! Pull yourself together and use Blizzard again! I want their wings clipped! Now!”

Abomasnow whistled, sending out another ice blast while Pawniard merely tried to keep itself between Apollo and Cobra for now.

Golurk gave no outward sign of if or how much the Steamroller had hurt, simply turning and continuing on to the second turn of Rollout, now with double the power. Overkill's Venoshock hit Golurk straight on, but Poison was the one type that Golurk was doubly-resistant to and it was barely slowed, again giving no sign of how much damage it had taken.

Spurned on by Ice-Viper's reaction, Fearow came around for another Heat Wave. He wasn't fast enough to interrupt the Blizzard attack though, which sent Combee and Vespiquen scattering again and kept them from attacking again. Combee ended up closer to Cobra, while Vespiquen ended up near Furret's position at the top of the ledge.

Apollo stood facing Storm Shadow and opened his mind to her, asking her why she listened to Cobra, if she was happy with the way things were, and if she would rather be away from Cobra doing whatever she wanted. Hopefully this time no one would interrupt them.

Sawsbuck stepped out of the tall grass and onto the bare ground. He glanced over at Apollo, but held off on attacking Storm Shadow for the moment and used Nature Power on Big Boa again. Nature Power became Tri Attack and the blue, red, and yellow orbs of energy came at Big Boa. Sawsbuck was hoping to get one of the status effects out of the attack and either paralyze, freeze, or burn the Machoke. Preferably one of the first two, since that would allow him to ignore Big Boa for a while.

Furret watched Apollo, Storm Shadow, and Cobra intently. She was ready to use Grass Knot on the Pawniard if it made a move on Apollo, but Cobra probably still had one more Pokémon to show and was the force directing his Pokémon to attack. If he wasn't able to give them orders, they might stop attacking. She readied Grass Knot. If Storm Shadow didn't try and attack Apollo Furret would use it on Cobra when he tried to take a step. This was uncomfortably close to attacking a human, but she would just be tripping him, not trying to use Flamethrower or something. This was totally justifiable!

Like Strato-Viper, Storm Shadow had also been hatched and raised by Cobra Commander. Her answer was simple. She listens to Cobra Commander because it’s her duty as one of his Pokémon to do so. For now she’s just been ordered to protect him, so Apollo doesn’t have to worry about an attack from that direction.

Scolipede takes another hit from Rollout, much to Cobra’s dismay. A couple more of those and Overkill might need to change its named to Overkilled. It prepared to launch another Steamroller, only for Cobra to interrupt with a command.

“Baton Pass, you idiot! Sssswitch places with Big Boa!”

Which put Overkill right in the path of Tri Attack, and paralyzed it.

“Ice-Viper! One more Blizzard! I want that bird knocked out of the air! Now! Target the Fearow!”

Abomasnow launched what would probably be its last Blizzard. Another Heat Wave, and it would probably be down for the count.

Rollout was notoriously difficult to stop once used, so even after Overkill switched places with Big Boa, Golurk came around for another pass. The combination of level difference and resistance to Rock-type moves would reduce the damage to the point where it wouldn't be worth worrying about. On the other hand, due to Golurk being part Ghost-type, until Big Boa used Foresight on it Golurk would be completely immune to every move he knew other than Leer and Scary Face.

Fearow launched another Heat Wave as he tried to evade the Blizzard. His high speed allowed him to avoid getting hit directly, but the level difference and the type-disadvantage made being brushed by it damaging enough and he went down, most of his flight feathers coated in ice. He managed to steer enough to come down near Furret and Apollo's bag, crash-landing and lying on the ground stunned with single-digit hp. He would be out of the fight for a while.

Apollo clenched his teeth at Storm Shadow's response. His attempt to come up with a way to get through to her was interrupted by a panicked and pained cry from Fearow, both audibly and in his mind. The confused mess of messages afterward that consisted mostly of the concept of pain was extremely unpleasant, but at least meant that his starter was still alive and conscious. Fearow being taken out by a single move, even a super-effective one, made him realize that at least part of Cobra's team was much stronger than any Pokémon that his had ever fought. He had to end this, and stopping Cobra from giving orders was probably the only way to do that.

He put out a mental call to his team, asking (not ordering) them to distract Cobra and get Storm Shadow out from in front of him if they had an opening to do so.

Sawsbuck did the deer equivalent of a shrug when Overkill replaced Big Boa. He had managed to paralyze someone at least, and was fast enough that he should be able to outrun Overkill with the hit to speed that paralysis caused. He began trotting off towards the rest of the battle when he got Apollo's message. He lined up with Storm Shadow and charged, using the Fighting-type move Jump Kick to close the rest of the distance. He knew very well what would happen if he missed, but the risk was worth it in this case.

Vespiquen, meanwhile, was taking no chances with Overkill, flying over and using Power Gem. The spray of stones was Rock-type, yes, but Overkill was more than three times her level, so at best this was an annoyance.

Furret guessed what Sawsbuck was doing and decided to go for Cobra. She used Grass Knot, making a loop that would trip him if he took a step back. Say, in surprise when Sawsbuck came in and hit Storm Shadow.

This unexpectedly turned out to have been a good choice, as Combee approached Cobra and used the evasiveness-lowering Sweet Scent, catching Storm Shadow in the effect as well. But then a thought struck him: Apollo and the other Pokémon liked honey, so maybe Cobra liked honey too! Maybe he would even stop fighting if he got some honey! Unfortunately, all the honey he had gathered so far was in the jars in Apollo's bag to save for later. But wait! He had been gathering nectar all day and had started to digest some of it. It wasn't finished and wouldn't be anywhere near as good, but once Cobra tasted it, surely he would stop and ask for the finished honey, right?

It was this train of logic that led Combee to drop out of nowhere directly in front of Cobra's face and attempt to regurgitate partially-made honey into his mouth with a cheerful "Bee~" [Translation: Try this!].

What happens next is truly a sight to behold. The Combee’s honey covers Cobra’s face, blocking his field of vision. He staggered forward, yelling, “Get thissss gunk off of my face! Ssssomeone! Now! That’s an order!” And then managed to trip over Grass Knot. All in the space of a minute, he went from commanding his troops in battle to being felled by a smiling winged honeycomb.

With Cobra in no shape to give orders, the rest of his team was pretty much on its own. Storm Shadow’s Protect did a wonderful job avoiding the Jump Kick, but she wasn’t sure what to do next. Her orders were to protect Cobra Commander from external threats, but it couldn’t really stop him from tripping over his own feet.

Despite being pelted by rocks, Scolipede inched slowly towards the rest of the battle, its ability to move severely hampered by paralysis, and Abomasnow lay collapsed in a charred heap. Big Boa was still in the fight, but throwing attacks at Golurk wasn’t getting it anywhere.

His team was effectively disabled at this point. Cobra still had a healthy Arbok in reserve and Skarmory as well, but he was far too busy trying to wipe honey off of his face to even think about bringing them into the fight.

Golurk still had two more turns of Rollout to go, and came around again for the first of them, for all the good it would do. The move's power doubled after each use, but even the fifth one, if this one hit, would still only do a small amount of damage.

Sawsbuck took half his maximum hp in damage from the miss and staggered to his feet, too stubborn to back down, and came in again to use Double Kick.

Vespiquen gave up on Power Gem and switched to Gust, hoping her STAB would make it more effective.

Apollo, Furret, and Combee took a moment to just stare at Cobra before continuing. Furret set up another Grass Knot for Storm Shadow, while Apollo tried to dart around her to get to Cobra. Combee gave a disappointed "Bee..." and went over to the equal-level Storm Shadow to use Bug Bite. Unlike Vesiquen, Combee had excellent IVs on top of his terrible base stats, and Pawniard were neutral towards Bug-type moves, so damage might actually be dealt.

Storm Shadow turned towards Cobra, only to be hit by Double Kick and Bug Bite, staggering it. She retaliated with a Night Slash, hoping to catch anything in the adjacent area. At a loss for what to do next, Big Boa tried a Scary Face on the Golurk. The Gust did a decent amount of damage and managed to flip Scolipede over. Overkill managed to right itself, but couldn’t fire off an attack due to being fully paralyzed this turn. All in all, not the most productive turn for Cobra’s team.

Meanwhile, Cobra finally managed to scrape some of the honey off his glasses, only to see Apollo approaching. “Get away from me! I’m warning you!” The threat was accompanied by a handful of dirt and rocks thrown towards Apollo’s face.

Combee easily dodged the Night Slash by heading straight up, but Sawsbuck was hit and knocked back a bit. Combee came in for another Bug Bite, while Sawsbuck started getting uncomfortable with where his hp was and used his signature move, Horn Leech. His antlers glowed orange, then gold, and he charged at Storm Shadow, trying to hit her with them. Since it was Grass-type it would be resisted, but he would still get half of the damage back as hp.

Big Boa's Scary Face was effective, and Golurk, coming back for another Rollout, jumped into the air a bit, going off-course when it landed and missing with the final Rollout, not that it would have done that much damage anyway. With no new orders from Apollo, Golurk fell back to its default attack pattern, slowly walking over to try using DynamicPunch. The move had only a 50% chance of hitting, but if it did hit its power would be boosted by Golurk's Iron Fist ability and would automatically cause confusion.

Vespiquen just used Gust on Overkill again, since it seemed to have done something, and Furret made a guess about where Storm Shadow would step next and used Grass Knot again.

Hopefully Cobra was happy with his current level of vision, since all the dirt stuck to the honey on his hand was going to make it hard to clean off more of his face.

Apollo's left arm shot up from inside his cloak to block his eyes, the cloak billowing a bit and making it even more unclear what his arms and torso were doing. A rock bounced off his forehead and left a cut behind, but he clenched his teeth and ignored the pain and the taste of dirt in his mouth. He leaned into his run at Cobra some more and as his left arm swept to the side his right fist swung in from the other side at Cobra's face again.

Thanks to the break, Storm Shadow was able to throw up another Protect on this turn. Hopefully, that would fend off any oncoming attacks. Unfortunately, by protecting herself, she wasn’t able to do anything to stop Apollo, leaving Cobra Commander on his own.

In order to try and avoid the strike, Cobra kicked forward, trying to move his face away from Apollo’s face, and his foot into Apollo’s shin. Things were going very poorly very fast, so his was much more concerned with trying to find an escape route than sticking around and fighting a losing battle.

A losing battle being exactly what was going on throughout the battlefield. Overkill fell over from the Gust, finally knocked out. Machoke was confused by Dynamic Punch and retaliated by hitting itself in the face. Ice-Viper was still knocked out. This was hardly the battle Cobra Commander wanted to have.

Apollo's fist missed and Cobra caught his leg. He let it get knocked out from under him and kicked out his other leg, dropping to all-fours and almost immediately hopping to the side, then lunging in with a punch from a different angle, moving much faster on all-fours than anyone would expect him to be able to.

As for Apollo's team, not much was changing. Golurk switched to the slightly weaker but more accurate Mega Punch, still not able to do much other than slowly chip away at Big Boa's hp. Vespiquen flew over to Storm Shadow, and she and Combee both used Bug Bite, while Sawsbuck tried again to hit with Horn Leech and regain some hp. With Cobra not having stood up yet, Furret couldn't trip him again, and Storm Shadow didn't look like she would be moving anytime soon, so she used Grass Knot on Big Boa instead.

Apollo’s fist connected with Cobra, sending him rolling away. He’d had enough of this. After all, an old saying which Cobra lived by is that “He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day.” And it was definitely time to run away. Of course that required Cobra to stand up and start recalling his team. So he staggered to his feet and started to run in the direction of Ice-Viper, calling it back into its Pokeball. One down, three more to go.

Like his namesake, Big Boa was definitely on the ropes. Between Golurk’s punches and its confusion, it wouldn’t be able to take too many more hits. Last time, Scary Face managed to do something, so hopefully it would work again. It didn't require it to move, so it managed to avoid being tripped up by Grass Knot.

Storm Shadow was almost out of it too. It took another few hits while watching Apollo strike Cobra, and debating what to do. She targeted her attackers with another Night Slash this turn, trying to deal with the immediate threat first, and then do something about the human attacking her trainer.

"You aren't going to get away!"

Apollo charged after him, keeping very low to the ground and occasionally pushing off with a hand as well as his feet, his cloak billowing out behind him and making him look larger than he was. Once he was close enough he lunged in to try and grab Cobra by the backpack, hoping to be able to yank him closer so he could hit him again. Furret saw this and used Grass Knot on Cobra to try and make the process easier.

Big Boa's Scary Face hit and Golurk jumped again, its speed dropping even lower. Golurk recovered quickly and went straight back to using Mega Punch, though its movements were so much slower than it would be easier to dodge.

Sawsbuck and Combee were able to dodge the Night Slash this time, but Vespiquen was hit and got knocked back, taking a lot of damage. The three of them saw how Storm Shadow was watching Apollo and weren't willing to risk her going after their human. They attacked again, Combee with Bug Bite, Sawsbuck with Double Kick, and Vespiquen flying back a moment later for another Bug Bite.

“Watch me!”

Cobra Commander yelped as his momentum was cut short by Apollo grabbing his bag. Due to sheer luck, the combination of him pulling forward and tripping over Grass Knot helped him pull away and recall Overkill. Now all he needed to do was get Big Boa and Storm Shadow back in their Pokeballs and get away on Strato-Viper.

Meanwhile, with another break between turns, Storm Shadow threw up another Protect. She would most likely faint on the next turn, but at least Apollo’s Pokémon would waste a few more attacks. The longer she was able to hold off Apollo’s Pokémon, the more time it would buy for Cobra to recall the rest of the team.

And on the other side of things, Big Boa had an opening after dodging Golurk’s punch. Unfortunately, due to its confusion, the Machoke used the opening by using Seismic Toss on itself. It flipped itself into the air and landed with a splat, knocked out by its own move.

With Cobra no longer in his grasp, Apollo fell, catching himself on his hands and springing forward to grab at Cobra again, his backpack once again the only part in range. It was handy that Cobra was wearing a backpack, otherwise Apollo might not have been able to grab him. Furret did her best to help with another Grass Knot on Cobra, hoping that it wouldn't just be a repeat of the last time.

Golurk stopped moving when Big Boa knocked himself out, then leaned over and poked the Machoke a few times. Satisfied that its opponent had fainted, Golurk lumbered over to where the others were battling Storm Shadow. Unfortunately, the speed reduction slowed Golurk down to the point that Cobra would almost certainly be able to escape before Golurk could do anything useful.

Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen pounded on the Protect barrier to no avail, accomplishing nothing but keeping Storm Shadow occupied for the turn.

“Let go of me!”

Cobra yelled and flailed his arms as his pack was once again grabbed, halting his movement. This was ridiculous. How was he supposed to escape if this idiot kept grabbing him? He could take his chances with falling again, but the odds of it helping him seemed low. He could ask his Pokémon to help, but two of them were recalled, it would take too long to bring Skarmory or Arbok out, Big Boa was unconscious and Storm Shadow was…that’s it!

“Storm Shadow! Night Slash! Cut thissss bag! Now!”

Storm Shadow heard the order, but hesitated, with Cobra struggling, this might not be the cleanest cut in the world. Still, an order from the Commander was an order, so she slashed at the bag, severing it, and tearing the elbow of Cobra’s coat, and leaving a slight gash in the skin beneath it. Before he could even complain though, he took a step forward, right into yet another Grass Knot and went rolling into the grass again.

Apollo flew backwards when the bag came apart suddenly, hitting the ground and flipping onto all fours. He tossed the bag aside and charged at Cobra again, but Cobra's move had gained enough distance that he might have a few uninterrupted seconds to do what he needed to, assuming he could return to and remain on his feet fairly quickly. Furret was readying Grass Knot to try and trip him again, but since she didn't know where his feet would be when he got back up she could only hope that she would be able to form a loop fast enough before he moved past it.

A Double Kick and two Bug Bites came at Storm Shadow now that her Protect barrier was gone, Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen trying to keep her occupied again. They'd had a brief moment of panic at the thought that the Night Slash might have missed and hit Apollo, and they had no intention of letting that happen again.

“No, you are not going to grab me again!”

Cobra circled around Golurk, using it as a shield to try and keep away from Grass Knot, and ran towards Big Boa, calling that one back into its Pokeball. Hopefully, Apollo’s slow moving golem would block his path since Cobra still needed to get to Storm Shadow, who couldn’t get another Protect up in time and fell to the combination of attacks from Apollo’s Pokémon.

Getting there might be easier said than done, and Cobra really didn’t want to bring out any more Pokémon, but he needed to clear a path. At least this Pokémon wouldn’t be easily tripped by Grass Knot.

“A.S.P.! Clear a path! Hyper Beam!”

Cobra brought out his Arbok, which immediately fired a Hyper Beam in the direction of Apollo’s Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen. It would need a turn to recharge, but if it caused them to scatter away from Storm Shadow, then Cobra would be completely okay with sacrificing that turn.

Cobra's detour around Golurk broke Furret's line of sight and her Grass Knot tripped no one. Apollo gave Golurk a quick mental request to stop where it was and dove between its legs to try and tackle Cobra off of his feet as he came around.

Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen's relief at finally downing Storm Shadow was ended quickly by A.S.P.'s appearance. The three of them scattered, managing to avoid being hit but leaving the clear path that Cobra had wanted.

Cobra Commander had it all planned out. He’d recall Storm Shadow, double back for A.S.P., who was recharging, then bring out Strato-Viper and take to the skies. The perfect escape plan. Then once he was out of here, he’d start plotting the demise of, or the closest thing to a demise possible for this idiot. No one makes a mockery of Cobra Commander and gets away with it.

“No one!” he yelled out loud, only to fall forward as Apollo's hands grabbed his boots. "What?" He turned to look at what was going on, kicking at Apollo's hands, trying to scramble away again. "Unhand me right thissss instant!"

Edited (COMPREHENSION FAIL) 2012-10-08 03:04 (UTC)

"Like hell I will!"

That being said, all Apollo had managed to grab were Cobra's boots, and Cobra's constant thrashing was keeping him from getting a better grip. He planted his knees into the ground and tried to pull Cobra back, but he could tell that either he would lose his grip on Cobra's boots soon, or Cobra's boots would lose their grip on his feet. Either way, this wasn't looking good. He mentally asked Golurk to pick Cobra up and the giant golem moved to comply. Very slowly, thanks to the Scary Faces. No, this wasn't likely to work, and the rest of his team was otherwise unavailable, so it was looking less and less like he'd be able to keep Cobra from escaping.

Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen headed for A.S.P., trying to stay as spread out as possible. As they approached, Sawsbuck fired off an Energy Ball, Combee a Gust, and Vespiquen a Power Gem. Furret used her other ranged move, Shadow Ball, at the risk of drawing attention to herself but their individual levels were much lower than A.S.P.'s, so the amount of damage they would be capable of dealing wasn't likely to keep A.S.P. from firing next turn.

“No! Let go! Let go! Let go!”

Cobra continued kicking at Apollo, trying to break free. He wasn’t about to let this brat get within striking distance again. His kicks became more frantic once he saw Golurk reaching towards him. Being trapped by a giant ghost golem definitely wasn’t on Cobra’s list today.

“Help me! Arbok! Do sssssomething! Quick!”

Recharged and ready to attack, A.S.P. took the hits from Apollo’s Pokémon, and retaliated by targeting Golurk with Gunk Shot. It wouldn’t be very effective, but it might distract it from trying to detain Cobra Commander.

Apollo lost his grip on one of Cobra's boots and quickly moved that hand to the other one, gritting his teeth against the pain of Cobra's flailing foot kicking him repeatedly.

Golurk was doubly-resistant to Poison, but it wasn't resistant to being poisoned, and staggered slightly as it felt the status effect take hold, pausing in its reaching for Cobra for a moment as its hp dropped again.

While A.S.P. focused on Golurk, Apollo's other active Pokémon unloaded on it with Cut, two Gusts, and Shadow Ball, trying to do what they could.

Another Hyper Beam should hopefully scatter Apollo’s Pokémon again. The damage was beginning to take its toll on Arbok. Too many more hits and it would faint just like the rest of Cobra’s Pokémon, but for now it would do what it could to keep Apollo’s Pokémon disorganized.

With Apollo’s grip shifting, Cobra stomped hard with his free foot, aiming for Apollo’s hands in an attempt to break his hold on Cobra’s boots once and for all. He needed to get away and the more time he spent fighting off Apollo, the lower his chances of making a clean getaway.

“I ssssaid let go!”

Apollo's Pokémon scattered again, avoiding getting hit but unable to keep up their attacks at the same time. Golurk resumed reaching for Cobra, but as its giant palm began to brush his head and its fingers began to grasp at him, Apollo finally lost his grip with a grunt of pain, and unless Cobra decided to rest right there Golurk wouldn't be able to close its hand fast enough to prevent him from crawling away.

“I warned you to let go,” Cobra snickered and darted away from Apollo and Golurk, towards Storm Shadow. Soon enough the Pawniard was back in its Pokeball and the Commander began dashing towards Arbok. A.S.P. was once again recharging and unable to do anything, but would be recalled soon enough.

As Cobra closed the distance, he threw his remaining Pokeball off to the side, bringing Strato-Viper back out. Unless something went horribly horribly wrong, the Skarmory that started this whole debacle would be his way out of this mess.

Something like Fearow, having managed to pull himself together long enough to use Roost, flying in with a Heat Wave on A.S.P.? Fearow only went for A.S.P. because the Arbok was closer, but he fully intended to go after Strato-Viper next if given the chance.

Sawsbuck, Combee, and Vespiquen remained spread out and launched Energy Ball and Gusts at A.S.P., while Apollo pushed off the ground and charged at Cobra again, staying low to the ground as he ran.

Arbok slithered away from the Heat Wave, still taking a decent hit, but shedding the burn via Shed Skin. Unfortunately it wasn’t so lucky when it came to the follow up attacks from Apollo’s Pokémon. The combined assault from Fearow, Combee, Vespiquen, and Sawsbuck was enough to bring it down.

Cobra Commander, not wanting to run into that, turned and made a beeline for Skarmory. He’d fly over on it and collect A.S.P.. That made much more sense than trying to retrieve it on foot. A quick glance behind him revealed that Apollo was still close behind. Unacceptable! What to do, what to do, he thought.

“Sssstrato-Viper! Spikes! Ssssspikes! Make it so this idiot can’t follow me!”

As ordered, the Skarmory flew up into the air a short distance, and flapped its wings, sending multiple spikes across the field. It did its best to try and land them between Apollo and Cobra before landing again, a little bit closer to Cobra this time.

It looked like Cobra had made his first good choice in a while. Apollo, being barefoot, was forced to try and go around the entry hazard, wasting precious time that he didn't have. Golurk and Sawsbuck also had to go around, but Sawsbuck was at least able to use Nature Power. Nature Power became the not-very-effective Tri Attack and the three bolts of energy shot towards Strato-Viper. He was hoping to freeze the Skarmory, or maybe paralyze it, but there was an extremely small chance of getting any particular status condition, so the odds were in Cobra's favor there.

Fearow, Combee, and Vespiquen could fly over the spikes, but Fearow's ranged attacked couldn't be used, since both of them would almost certainly catch Cobra in their area. While Fearow closed in for close-range attacks, Combee used the not-very-effective Gust and Vespiquen used Power Gem, though the level difference and no advantage or disadvantage in typing left that fairly useless.

Furret, for her part, set up a Grass Knot on Cobra to try and buy some time for the others to deal with Strato-Viper.

If a Skarmory could sneer, then Strato-Viper would be sneering at the attacks. They didn’t have much of an effect compared to the Heat Wave from earlier. To contrast, Grass Knot was apparently super effective against Cobra Commander and beginning to make him wish he didn’t have legs again. That’s how annoyed he was. He was actually missing being an inhuman, incoherent snake monster.

“No, not again! No!”

Cobra fell forward throwing his arms out and managed to grab hold of Strato-Viper. One of the few lucky breaks that had happened to him today.

“Go! Go! Fly over to A.S.P.! Now! Now! Take off now!”

In what is probably not the best way to fly off, Strato-Viper takes off heading for A.S.P. with Cobra Commander holding on to its midsection for dear life.

Well that put a stop to Apollo's plans. Fearow used Aerial Ace on Strato-Viper, trusting on the move's inability to miss to keep from accidentally hitting Cobra, and Combee and Vespiquen darted in to use the doubly-resisted Bug Bite, but the others couldn't hit Strato-Viper from the ground without a serious risk of hitting Cobra. They could have if he was hanging from Strato-Viper's talons or riding on his back, but with him clinging to the Skarmory's midsection it was much too risky to try. Sawsbuck killed time by using Aromatherapy to remove Golurk's poisoning, but all Apollo could do was yell up at Cobra.

"Get down you bastard!"

“No!”

Cobra managed to hang on despite Apollo’s team’s attacks. Barely. He thought about kicking at Combee or Vespiquen, but he’d risk falling off or crashing Strato-Viper. He was taking a big enough risk by reaching down and recalling A.S.P., but even Cobra couldn’t see the sense in chancing falling off and being at the mercy of Apollo and his team.

“Looks like I’m going to escape after all!” Cobra yelled after getting A.S.P. back into its Pokeball. He repositioned himself so that he was on Skarmory’s back, and continued flying off, not knowing that he had opened his flier up to a ground attack from Apollo’s team.

Well that was a bad move on Cobra's part. Strato-Viper's underside was now a nice big target that would shield Cobra himself from most attacks. A frowning winged honeycomb came into view and used Sweet Scent on them to lower their evasiveness, then regurgitated what little remained in his honey stomach in Cobra's face as he let them pass. It couldn't even be called honey, more like slightly sticky sugar water with a faint floral scent and taste, no digestion having happened to make it something delicious for anything that wasn't a bee.

Once Combee was clear, the others unloaded on Strato-Viper's underside: Air Cutter, Shadow Ball, Nature Power (becoming Tri Attack), Night Shade, and Gust. This was their last chance to try and bring him down and they were going to make it count.

“I can’t ssssssee!”

Cobra flailed at his shades again, only managing to cover them with the dirt and grime that had collected on his gloves earlier. And all that did was make it difficult for Skarmory to keep flying. Which was made even more difficult by the barrage of attacks. Even with all the training, it was pretty much impossible to balance with all of that, sending Strato-Viper into a tailspin with Cobra hanging on for dear life.

“We’re going to crash! Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!”

Strato-Viper managed to pull up just before plowing into the ground, but with Cobra hanging onto its neck, screaming at it, and flailing, the odds of a crash somewhere further down the Route was likely.

And sure enough if Apollo listens closely, said crash could probably be heard a while later.

That crash was a lot farther away than they had hoped for. Fearow was about to follow after Cobra, but Apollo mentally reminded him that he still hadn't fully recovered and suggested that he use Roost again. His team's safety was more important.

While Fearow Roosted, Furret recovered and switched off the PokéGear, Sawsbuck noticed Cobra's abandoned bag and dragged it over, and Apollo healed his team. Fearow took off to search the moment he was finished Roosting, hoping that Cobra wouldn't have gotten far in the meantime, and the rest followed once they'd healed up.

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Hilariously I have a matching icon for this one.

fff Misread Overkill's level, he's about 1.5x the level. Oops. Vespiquen has bad stats anyway...

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Figured I'd give Apollo a chance to send Cobra crashing somewhere.

Have a nice trip, Cobra. See you next fall.

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