CHAPTER I - Minor Disturbances

''Gosh you can run!'' Tyler said as he caught up, gasping for breath. ''Just look at this!'' The surrounding flora and fauna were in pieces and trampled upon. ''Did they head to the forest? This could be bad. One ember in Ilex forest could mean a chain reaction. Johto doesnt need a second burned landmark!'' Tyler thought for a moment about anything relevant he knew about houndour and houndoom. They work in packs to hunt... in the wild. ''what could have got them so agitated that they had to move from their hunting grounds? I mean... These can't belong to a trainer!''

''No matter. Now we have to do.... something!'' Tyler thought for a minute... ''although my pokemon cant help much. However my Torkoal can use Smog and fire spin for crowd control but it might ignite and explode. Shamo has a mean scratch but other than that.... ugh'' tyler looked to the others ''any ideas guys?''

"I'm... not sure. Something must have aggravated them, but I have no idea what could upset these Pokemon so much. I suppose we should go in and check if we find the reason. If we're lucky, they're fighting amongst themselves. If not.. well, we'll make up a plan." Meadow was still panting a little but was slowly recovering. "After all, we have eight Pokemon. Did anyone count them? I suppose not." Meadow straightened herself and brushed some loose streaks back that were hanging in her face. Her hair was quite messy in general, but she didn't have any time to worry about that.

"Ok guys, let's go" Tom said and walked to the entrance of the forest.
Tom entered the forest, looking around for any of the pack memeber, He kept going until he saw the aisle the pack made.
He stopped and turn to his group "ok guys, quitely" he whispered to them, he took a peek to see if any of the pack members infrot of them.

Tyler lets Smokey, Buster and Shamo out Then looks at the others with a grim facial expression ''Interesting fact guys: if a human gets burned by the flame of a Houndoom the pain never quite goes away.'' Realizing that he is not helping he goes on to say ''OK I have see the way vivi can use string shot... That will help greatly.'' Tyler looks at Buster ''Buster can use helping hand. Just say if you need a boost.'' He looks up ''OK! I think we can do this...'' He wanted to sound confident to help things go along but inside he was pretty nervous. However he knew that he would be a different person when battling. He was always a competent pokemon battler... Although he liked to avoid brawls, forcing pokemon into submission like this.

Tyler Walked after Tom, his pokemon tailing behind. ''Also guys, if they are stopped somewhere they might just get startled and attack rather than run again if we make too much noise so make sure to lower your voices.'' He whispered.

Meadow, still kind of fuming but physically okay again, took the lead. Hanging around flying Pokemon had made her quite graceful so she barely made any sound while walking through the forest. The aisle that the Pokemon had made went straight on. In the beginning the sky was above them, but when they came deeper in the forest the burnt plants were only on the ground, leaf canopy above them. "Call your Pokemon back", Meadow whispered. "We shouldn't take any risks. We'll get them out when a fight starts." She tiptoed on, but the pack was still not in sight. "By the way, I have an idea how we can beat them if a fight starts. Since they are a pack, wouldn't it be enough to take out their leader?"

''Why didn't I think of that sooner. It's a great idea.'' Said Tyler as the team crept through the forest. He called his pokemon back. They didn't protest as they felt the bad vibes. ''Alright... so the plan is focus the Houndoom?'' He questioned. ''If we can take him down it means a huge morale boost for us and, with their leader defeated the Houndour will submit to the true king of fire types!'' Tyler's face grew serious again ''Though it's easier said than done. How are ye when it comes to battles?''

Tom sighed "and how are we suppose to fight the leader without the whole pack defending on him?" he asked.
He returned Lennel and Vivi into their balls.
"I have an idea" Tom said "I can make a distraction, somehow, and try to make most of the pack follow me, you can use Vivi's string shot to stop the other members' momvent and take care of the leader" Tom said "I'll manage to take care of the others, somehow".

''Thats a thought... I think he will be of help to us... But what do you do when they find you?'' Tyler inquires. ''It's literally suicide. You might have a minute to use confuse ray and get the hell out of there.'' Tyler thought a minute. ''They have a good sense of smell and hearing... Maybe you could attract them?''

"It IS suicide, no doubt about that. Can't we just scare a swarm of Pidgeys or something? Or... does anyone have a REALLY fast Pokemon?" She paused for a moment. "I guess I do.. not sure if I wanna risk this though." She was still whispering but not looking at the others. She suddenly came to a halt. "I think they're over there." Her voice was really low so she turned around to the two young men. "Well, we gotta think of something now", she murmured and pointed towards a glade about a hundred metres away. Small smoke pillars were rising from there, but there was no actual fire.

"fast pokemon? not really, beside you think there ARE any pokemons in the forest that are not hiding?" he asked.
He looked at the smoke pillars "if anyone got a better idea say it, cuz if not, I am executing my plan" he said "I'll be ok, I've been tackled by much greater pokemons, like miltanks, you wouldnt belive thier pow-...wait a second!" he suddenly realized "why didndt we asked the gym leader to help?! it's his duty to keep the city clean!", he didnt realize his voice was a little bit stronger then a whisper.

"Because Whitney is a selfish snob and a crybaby", Meadow whispered. "Besides, there's enough problems in the city itself, don't you think? Whatever happens, we're on our own." She turned around to look at the pack and then back to the guys. "I am a good fighter, I guess. I have a lot of training, but I don't know how to react to such strange behaviour. But -", she made a little pause. "I don't think they can climb. Well, they could burn a tree down, but they can't climb. Someone could climb up a tree and make sounds so that the smaller ones go hunt."

''Well that's the gym leader out of the picture.'' Tyler held his pokeball in his hand ''I'm sure Smokey can take a few houndour... Or Maybe with help from Vivi and Meadow's pokemon, the Houndoom. He can take a lot of hits.'' Tyler said with a proud smile.'' He takes the second pokeball in his hand ''Shamo has been practicing her kicking. Despite her size, she is a tough cookie.'' Tyler breathes in, then out. ''I'm ready when ye are guys.''

Tom sighed "this is gonna be tough, well, Vivi and Lennel can move through the forest and attack them as well" he said.
"but I doubted we'll really manage to win this...but I guess we can try, if we'll fail we'll have to accept our punishment" he said and looked at Meadow and Tyler and quickly turned away "anyway....just give the signel" he said and hold Vivi and Lennel's poke'balls.

"Alright..." Meadow took a deep breath. "I'll try something. If it works, go for the leader IMMEDIATELY." She picked up a stone and threw it (again, with admirable precision) away from them and the camp. Barking and growling was heard and they could see a bunch of Houndours running after it, indeed scaring a swarm of Pidgeys. The dogs went after them, clearly distracted. Without waiting for her companions, Meadow jumped through the brush and onto the clearing. The Houndoom was still there and it growled loudly as soon as it saw the blonde trainer. She pulled out a Pokeball and released Yuuta. "Let's do this!"

BOSS BATTLE

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WILD HOUNDOOM

Battle Style: All Out (Everyone has one Pokemon out fighting at the same time)
Boss controlled by: Lady N

Write your attack, wait for Game Master Response.


[to our two new members: Now would be the perfect time to be stumbling onto the clearing as well, joining the battle ]

Tyler reacted immediately and sent out his pokemon. ''Buster, Shamo, Smokey GOOOO.'' Tyler's eyes locked with the houndoom and he leaped to action.

''Smokey: Smog! Unleash a cloud of poison gas on houndoom, hinder his breathing.''

''Guys help me out here''

Tom throw Vivi's pokeball into the air and Vivi landed before him "let's go Vivi!" Tom said, Vivi became fired up for the fight,
"String shot! aim for his legs!" Tom told Vivi, he took a quick aim and shoot strings through his mouth.

While walking through Azalea Town Seth saw a thin pillar of smoke rise from Ilex Forest.
He lowered down to his Absols' height and asked "Is this what you meant Vela?"
She replied with a foreboding look. "Okay, get ready it looks like we have a battle in front of us."
He started jogging towards the forest not knowing what awaited there. Velas power to sense disaster wasn't as accurate as other absols were, still the smoke was prove that something was about to go, or already was, wrong.
Inside the forest Seth sped up and started running as he heard human screams and pokemon cries. As he was running a Pidgey flew right towards him and almost hit him but with a gasp he tripped and fell out of the Pidgeys way. And luckily so, a houndour came racing after the pidgey but didn't notice Seth lying in the moss. After he saw the houndour run off into the distance Vela came walking silently behind Seth to insure his trainer that he was also okay. Now Seth was really eager to know what was happening so he gave a fast pat on Velas head and got up and started running, the voices were getting louder.

Seth then came to a halt when he saw the back of a big Houndoom standing in a small clearing. He then noticed three pokemon trainers. Not knowing at all the situation he looked around for some clues, was this poor pokemon attacked by these trainers for their selfish ends or were they trying to stop this Houndoom from burning the forest? Maybe the fires only were him trying to defend himself. After looking at the Houndoom and the trainers who now threw out their pokemon from their pokeballs, he made a decision. "If these trainers are anything like the trainers at home, I have to trust them." He said and then looked at Vela who stood calmly observing the situation. "I think in this battle you have to protect this" He said and nodded to his backpack. Seth then took off the backpack and carefully set it down on the soft moss. Vela sat down beside it and watched carefully around. Seth then reached for his filled Great ball and threw it up as he yelled "Alright Tricky, aim for the houndoom and use Thunder Wave!"

Meadow was a little surprised to see a new trainer popping out on the other side of the clearing. She didn't have time to properly greet him, so she smiled hearteningly and turned her attention to the wild Pokemon again. "Okay, Yuuta! Wing Attack! Try to knock him out!" The small bird swung himself in the air and charged at the growling Houndoom.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The sheer mass of attacks overtrained the Houndoom for a second. It had not expected so much resistance in so litte time, and not from multiple directions. At first, it tried to charge for the three trainers in front of it, but the String Shot hit its front legs. It stumbled and could barely catch itself from falling. Dumbfounded, it stood still and got hit right in the back by the thunderwave. Electric energy shot through its body and the following spasm made it shake off the strings on its legs. The smog had not quite reached its head yet, so it had a clear line of sight with Tom, Tyler and Meadow. Until ten kilograms of Rufflet hit it in the throat, that is. It howled, took a step backwards and tried to bite Yuuta, but he was already out of range. Suddenly, the Houndooms rage took over again. It pulled up its head and unleashed a Roar in front of itself. It was cut a little short when the Smog reached its nostrils and it needed to cough.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Yuuta was caught in the outskirts of the Roar and thrown against a tree. He recovered, albeit with small injuries, and flew over to his trainer again. "Great start, everyone. Keep it up", Meadow yelled and pondered for the next step. "Alright, Yuuta, same thing again! Try a different angle!"

"good job vivi" Tom told his pokemon. "sewa!" Vivi said happily.
"but still...we have to do more damage to him...if only Vivi could reach him with Bug bite..." Tom said and looked at houndoom.
"Alright Vivi! string shot again! aim at the legs!" He said and looked at the other pokemons, looking for a way to let Vivi use bug bite on him.

Seeing the friendly look he got from one of the trainers Seth knew he was doing the right thing.
"Great job Tricky!" He yelled as his Joltik touched the ground after the jump.
Hoping for the Houndoom not to got for Tricky he yelled "Alright try and move closer and latch onto it's back where it can't get you and use Leech life!" Knowing Tricky was not so graceful he still hoped his plan would work, but as his instincts knew, Tricky was too eager to get into action again and rushed forward too eagerly, not looking at the ground where he stepped on a patch of burning coal. He shrieked in pain as the burn on his feet wouldn't leave him, and he started to run in circles in panic.
Seth saw what happened and immediately started looking for a burn heal in his pockets, but couldn't find any...

Tyler spots the newcomer ''As if on queue, help! thanks mate.'' Tyler also spots the trainer's Joltik and the trouble that it was in. ''Here'' He tossed the trainer a burn heal as he always carried them, thinking of others' pokemon when he burned them. It landed near to the trainer's feet. He looks back in his bag ''Dang that was my last one.'' Getting his head back in to the battle he ordered his Torkoal to use the only move he had that would have any effect in this situation:

''Smokey use Smog again! Try to time it so that you don't hit your allies.''

This time, the Houndoom saw it coming. It jumped out of the way of both the Smog and the String Shot and charged for a Bite on Vivi. That's when Yuuta crashed onto his back and then swooped down to grab Vivi out of harm's way. Furiously, it shot an Amber after the two and only missed barely.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Bug Bite you say? Hm...", Meadow grinned. "Yuuta! Bring Vivi into position!", she called and looked at Tom quickly. "Be ready for the command once Yuuta drops him." She turned her attention to the battlefield again, especially to the newcomer whose Pokemon had been badly burned. She was relieved to see Tyler throw a Burn Heal. "Keep it up guys!", she cheered. Her grudge from before seemed gone for the moment, burned by the heat of battle.

Tom watched carefully as the fight went.
"Vivi! use string shot on the ground a few times!" Tom told vivi, since he wasnt used being in the air, it's better creating sticky areas then trying to aim at the hounder.
Vivi starting shooting strings at randoms areas around the houndoom.

Tyler saw what the others were doing and thought up a plan of his own. ''This Houndoom is learning as he goes...'' Tyler noted to himself. He then Figured that it would need a distraction.

''Torkoal run up to him and slide into a Withdraw.''

Seth looked up as he heard some yelling but from the chaos he didn't hear what they said. But luckily the trainer with red hair had tossed him a burn heal which now lay at his feet. He took the burn heal and sprinted towards the commotion around the Houndoom which now seemed a lot fiercer. The ground started to feel sticky as he came up to his Joltik, "hey Tricky, here you go!" he said as he sprayed the burn heal on his feet. The Joltik made a comforting sound as the pain left him.
"Thank you!" Seth roared as he took Tricky in his arms and backed up a little.
"Are you still able to fight?" He asked the spider and he responded with a twitch and confirming squeak. He then wanted to leave his trainers arms but Seth turned him to face him and said "Alright but don't be too hasty, I don't want you to get burned again." He then put him down and said "Alright Tricky, use Spider web to make him stick in his place!" he then calmly backed up a bit from the battlefield so he wouldn't get hurt from the other trainers pokemon.
Seth was now in earshot of the other trainers and yelled out to the trainer with red hair "Thank you!"