Item Mission

Category: Evolutionary Items

Drill Run

This one, well. Is more of a personal favor we'd like to ask of you. Have you heard about the underground areas of Sinnoh, or perhaps the cave systems out in Unova? If not, allow me to elaborate a bit. Sinnoh has a vast underground, covering most of the region. One can enter it by means of an exploration kit, most often acquired in Eterna City. There are other ways one can go in, but it might be better advised to just get the kit if you don't already have one. As for Unova's case system... we've heard many trainers there will sometimes find unusual things in the ground or walls. It might be weathered, softer than usual, what have you. Usually, people just find gems, but the rare stone has been unearthed before.

In any case, on to the request. Our HQ largely has supplimentary power by means of Electric Gems. By suppliment, I mean in the off chance that our main source of power was to ever run out. Anyway. These gems do get used up some, and while they have more power than that of a Thunderstone, it's offset by limitations of the smaller gem. Anyway, in order to keep things at the status quo for the HQ's power, we'd like it if you could go out to Sinnoh or Unova and get a few Thunderstones. They'll still help, and we'd appreciate it. If you're going to Unova, though, Electric Gems will certainly help too.

Objective:
---Go out to Sinnoh's underground or one of the caves in Unova. Note that you'll probably want an explorer's kit if going to Sinnoh, or you can just dig your way down. They shouldn't mind too much.
---Get some Thunderstones (Sinnoh or Unova) and/or Electric Gems (Unova only) so that we can keep up our stores of supplimentary power in the HQ.

Opposition:
---This varies greatly. You're bound to run into wild Pokemon no matter where you go, though you may also find the occasional group that'd rather have those stones/gems all to theirselves. It falls up to you, but you WILL end up having something in your way.

Pokemon:
---Feel free to catch or snag a Pokemon your rank will allow. If you decide not to, however, expect greater rewards.

Rewards:
---Evolutionary Stones, the kind depending entirely on just what you find. There is a max of two different types of stones, and the amount given will vary on mission performance as well as if a Pokemon was obtained or not.
---Stones available include: Dawn Stone, Dusk Stone, Fire Stone, Leaf Stone, Moon Stone, Shiny Stone, Thunderstone and Water Stone. Evolutionary hold items are NOT available in this mission.

~*~

A blue field surrounded me, as was usual for Claydoll’s Teleportation technique. When it cleared, I was back in Unova. I could almost say ‘back home’, except that this was obviously not Castelia City, what with the trees and grass and all. No, this was Route 3, west of Striation City.

I glared in the direction of Striation. “One day,” I said, somewhat under my breath. “Not today, but soon.” I then released Sunny and Samurai, who I had recalled to be teleported to this location. Samurai looked at me accusingly, but Sunny String Shot’d off to the first tree she saw.

I turned to face her, but by the time I did, she had already vanished in the branches. Given the black leaves that the tree was shedding, though, it wasn’t hard to guess that she was in there.

She revealed herself moments later, fully dressed in leaves of yellow, orange, and red, and looked at me as I walked up to her. “Getting to be that season, huh?” I asked, to which she cooed eagerly. “Well, it looks very nice on you,” I told her, which made her happy.

“Now, then,” I said (more to myself than to them), “where can we find a cavern complex?”

It wasn’t hard to find the Wellspring Cave, considering that I had been zapped nearby. It seemed plenty dark inside, but once I got far enough in, there was light enough to see what I was doing. Shortly upon entering, a dust cloud formed under my feet, forcing me to move aside. As I coughed, an unusual pokemon emerged from the ground where I stood.

Drillbur, the Mole Pokemon.

It makes its way swiftly through the soil by putting both claws together and rotating at high speed. This enables it to dig at a speed of 30mph. It could give a car running aboveground a good race.

Samurai removed his scalchop and waved it angrily at the Drillbur, probably blaming it for my peculiar movement. It responded by slapping the scalchop away and growling.

I smirked, and pushed my glasses up against my face. “This pokemon should be a good test of your Razor Shell attack, eh, Samurai?” I said confidently. Samurai looked at me and nodded. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“Oshaa!” Samurai roared as a blue energy emerged from his scalchop. He ran toward the Drillbur with his scalchop at the ready, but the Drillbur caught it with his claw… by the ‘blade’.

“Osha-!” Samurai exclaimed. “Come on, Samurai! Focus!” I yelled. Samurai jumped back, taking his scalchop with him, and aimed it at the Drillbur menacingly, his muscles tensing up in the process. The Drilbur, on the other hand, started slapping its claws together. It took me a while to figure out what it was doing, mainly because curiosity was getting to me bad enough to eventually bring out my Pokedex and read up about Drillbur and that move… the Hone Claws, a technique that boosted its power…AND its accuracy ogod. “Samurai, hit him now!’

Samurai took note of the concern in my voice and rushed at Drillbur at top speed, his Razor Shell’d scalchop aimed straight for him. This time, Samruai was not blocked. Instead, the blue energy collided with Drillbur’s stomach, and though it seemed to go through, it left no marks. Drillbur clutched its stomach all the same. Dem crits, man. Dem crits.

“Good job, Samurai, but don’t let down your guard!” I told him. Sure enough, Drilbur wasn’t done. A super-effective critical hit, and it was still up and running? Do want.

Drillbur went on the offensive at that point – thrusting its claws at Samurai several times – Fury Swipes, by my assumption. But powered up like that. “Use your scalchop to defend, if you have to!” I yelled to Samurai. Using the scalchop as a shield did help, but he couldn’t block every attack. “Hit him with a point-blank Water Gun!” I added, noting the proximity of the two Pokemon.

Samurai moved his scalchop back, and while this left him open to attack, Drillbur would be hard-pressed to slip past the Water Gun to get to him, particularly when he was taking it to the face. But hard-pressed or not, he pulled it off. And apparently, Metal Claw to the gut hurts a lot.

Samurai bounced away from the Drillbur, landing on his back. When I noticed how he struggled to rise to his feet, though, I shook my head. “That’s enough, Samurai. Well done.” Samurai leaned back and relaxed, weary from the battle.

“Sunny, can you slow Drillbur down?” I asked the Sewaddle on my shoulder. She cooed, then fired off a thick, sticky web between Drillbur and Samurai. Drillbur’s response to this was to cut the webbing apart with Metal Claw, and while it did slow him down, it wasn’t quite the effect I was looking for.

“Alright, looks like we have to go all out against this guy. Use Razor Leaf on him, and don’t hold back.” I told Sunny. She nodded, and used String Shot to get to a good elevation above the ground before twilring, and letting loose all of the extra leaves in her cloak. As the last of them fell, she began twirling in place, and the leaves followed her example, twirling about her. She then flung herself forward, thus directing all of the leaves to lunge at the Drillbur, who was unable to dodge.

Once the leaves died down from being used for the attack, Drillbur was on his back, and trying to get up. He seemed to be having some difficulty for it though, which only served as a green light for me. “Alright, take this!” I shouted as I threw one of the Pokeballs that Sub gave me. The ball flew through the air, landing on the pokemon’s nose before consuming him in that red light.

Samurai got to his feet and began running to the ball. “Samurai!” I shouted, signaling him to stop. As he did so, the ball stopped moving. The red light on the center flared, then vanished.

“Well, that takes care of that,” I said with a smile. Before collecting the ball, however, I took one of the few potions I bought in Nacrene City and used it on Samurai, healing his wounds in the process. I discarded it as Samurai cheered his thanks and reached for another one. Then I collected the ball holding the newest member of my team.

Drillbur was wary of me when I released him, but was so grateful to be healed of his wounds that he handed me a dark yellow stone that seemed to pulse bright yellow in places. It looked odd, so I gazed deep within the stone – and discovered that the pulsings were actually little jolts of electricity – the stone was an Electric Gem.

“Thank you, Drillbur!” I said excitedly, which garnered an excited reply from the Drillbur. Samurai and Sunny voiced their gratitude as well – they had a new friend to play with!

“Alright, now where would we find some Thunderstones in a place like this?” I wondered as I traversed the cavern. I came across an underground river that passed through the cavern, essentially cutting it in half. “…maybe if we go deeper in?”

Sunny started crawling down the back of my shirt as I knelt to talk to Samurai. “Think you can keep the Pokemon in the water off of me while I swim to the other side?” I asked him. He nodded confidently as I stood up, but then something odd happened – it felt like I was being carried OVER the water.

I landed on the other side with a thud. A sticky thread fell away from me, dangling over the water. Once Sunny climbed over my side to check on me, I realized what she had done. “Thanks, Sunny. That is an easier way to go about it, I guess.”

Sunny cooed at the praise, but a loud splash interrupted our little moment. I stood up immediately, and realized that Samurai was no longer on the other side.

“…did he swim?” I asked myself as I looked into the water. He WAS a Water-Type after all. Once I caught a glimpse of Samurai’s silhouette, I knew something was wrong. It looked like a figure was dragging him along.

“Sunny, use Razor Leaf!” I ordered without thinking. Sunny’s response was to gaze into the water with a worried look on her face. “…you’re right, you would probably hit Samurai as well. Can you extend a String Shot to him, so he can climb his way out?”

Sunny tried, but the sticky thread dissolved the instant it hit the water. “Crap. We gotta do something to he-“

Before I could finish my sentence, Samurai leapt out of the water, with some kind of green fish biting at his stomach. Samurai threw off the fish in mid-air, forcing it to flop to its side as he landed on his feet.

Basculin, the Hostile Pokemon.

Red and blue Basculin get along so poorly, they’ll start fighting instantly. However, sometimes members of one school will mingle with the other’s school.

“Okay, that’s just strange,” I mumbled as I put away my Academy Pokedex. I almost told Sunny to help Samurai with a String Shot, but Samurai was already finishing off the fish Pokemon with his signature Razor Shell.

“Sha, Oshawott!” he exclaimed, looking down at the fish with hate in his eyes. “Samurai, come back,” I told him. He gladly placed his scalchop on his stomach as I knelt and ran over to me. “How about letting Sunny swing you across next time?” I asked with a smile while I patted him on the head, which he responded to with a similar smile.

I felt something pinching my butt, so I stood up. That’s when I caught a glimmer of something in the ground. After a moment of digging, I found another Electric Gem – as well as Drillbur, who elected to travel under the stream rather than over or through it. “That Dig skill of yours is bound to come in handy,” I stated the obvious. He was glad to hear it, though.

I looked around at that point. “Looks like the pathway leading deeper into the cave isn’t too far from here. Let’s go.” With that, I started heading onward again, with Sunny on my shoulder and Samurai and Drillbur by my side. As we walked, the thought occurred to me that I really needed to give him a name – if he was indeed a he.

Things got a bit stranger once we got down to the lower level of the cave. One of the paths was lit up with tall torches that stood on the ground, though it was obvious that, without the torches, it’d be impossible to see down here. As I contemplated the reason for torches being here – and lit – I caught a glimpse of two pokemon fighting; a winged one with a heart-shaped facial feature of some sort was having rocks spit at it by another pokemon that was seemingly made of rock.

Woobat, the Bat Pokemon.

Its habitat is dark forests and caves. It emits ultrasonic waves from its nose to learn about its surroundings. Suction from its nostrils enables it to stick to cave walls during sleep. It leaves a heart-shaped mark behind.

Roggenrolla, the Mantle Pokemon

They were discovered a hundred years ago in an earthquake fissure. Inside each one is an energy core. Its ear is hexagonal in shape. Compressed underground, its body is as hard as steel.

“Who goes there!?” a voice echoed off the walls as I closed my Pokedex and put it away. Three figures – two guys and a girl – were standing in the center of the torched path, looking at me and my pokemon angrily.

“I am Terashi Toumei, and I am here to excavate this cave and collect gems and stuff,” I told them.

“Another thief, come to steal the bounty of the land,” one of the guys said. “Well, then, Terashi Toumei. We are here to put an end to your larcenous ways!”

“Yeah!” the other guy shouted. “And once we’re done with you, your pokemon will share in the glory of Team Ambar by becoming our slaves!”

“Tch, and you called me a thief,” I sneered. “Come and get some, then!”

The three members of Team Ambar pulled out one pokemon each – A Blitzle from the first guy, a Joltik from the second, and an Emolga from the chick. Samurai responded to the appearance of the three pokemon with trepidation, but Drilbur just smirked. He did have the greatest advantage over the three of them, after all.

“Sunny, back Drillbur up during the battle,” I said to her as Drillbur stepped forward. She cooed in agreement before I looked down to Drillbur. “Alright, so show me what you can do, Drillbur.”

Drillbur nodded as I set Sunny down. “Let’s do this.” Before I could issue any commands, however, Drillbur started slapping his claws together again. Must love using his Hone Claws ability… not that I blame him, but-

“Blitzle, use Flame Charge!” The taller male yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts as the horse-like Pokemon charged at me. I knew little about these pokemon, but I didn’t have time to whip out the Pokedex right now. “Drillbur, don’t let him hit you!” I told him. He responded by digging into the ground.

“Wha-!” The taller man shouted. “Fine. Hit that water-type with Shock Wave!”

Oshawott cried out in surprise and worry, and I stepped in front of him. Sure, that could have gotten me killed, but Drillbur had my back… and Blitzle’s belly, with Dig.

“Good job, Drillbur!” I shouted as Drillbur made his way back to my side of the cave.

“Joltik, slow that Drillbur down with Electroweb!” the younger male shouted. As the small insect looking pokemon began shooting out what looked like a yellow String Shot, Drillbur began slapping his claws together again.

“Drillbur, cut that web with Metal Claw! Don’t let it trap you!” I yelled. Drillbur stopped honing its claws just in time to slice through the webbing. Thankfully, the electricity didn’t bother him. Considering he was immune to it and all.

“Keep going! Give ‘Joltik’ a taste of that claw!” I exclaimed. As Drillbur complied, something swiftly blocked his path, slapping his claws away from Joltik.

“Ha! Drillbur’s not the only one who can buff its own stats! Say hello to Double Team! Good luck hitting my precious Emolga!” the female of the team laughed.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem. What do you think, Drillbur?” I asked confidently. Drillbur shared my confidence, but instead of targeting her, he began slapping his claws into the ground. Before I could wonder what he was up to, though, a rockslide caved a small portion of the cave in – just enough to trap Emolga AND Joltik.”

“Was that Rock Slide?” I asked. My gaze slipped to Samurai, but I was asking that more to myself. While Oshawott looked at me in confusion, our ears were getting the royal pain treatment thanks to the female of Team Ambar.

“No! My precious Emolga! What have you done?” she screeched as she began digging through the rocks.

I sighed, pushed my glasses up my nose, and began helping her. “Oshaaaa!” Samurai cried in defiance.

“I pity them,” I told him, which just got me a confused look by Samurai AND Drillbur. “Just because they have some bad ideas doesn’t mean they deserve to have their Pokemon taken away. Pokemon are friends, even to people who don’t know how to treat them properly.”

The female stopped digging and looked at me with tears in her eyes. “You think we’re bad people because of what we do?” she said. “Because of what we believe!?”

“You can believe whatever you want,” I told her before kicking the pile as hard as I could, which proved more effective than one might think. “You just need to learn that might is NOT right.”

After a few more seconds of digging, Emolga emerged from the rubble, in no shape to battle. The woman picked it up and fell back, in time for the younger male to find his fainted Joltik in the mess.

“Don’t start to think that you can talk your way out of this, kid,” the older male growled.

I turned to him and glared. “It’s the job of every pokemon trainer to protect their pokemon friends from harm. Are you doing your job as Blitzle’s trainer by having it fight at a disadvantage? How much pain and suffering does IT have to go through before YOU are satisfied!?”

The older male started to retort, but his words seemed to be stuck in his throat. His eyes darted to his companions, who were holding their fainted companions close. Eventually, he lowered his gaze. “This isn’t over, kid.”

“Tch, yeah. I should be so lucky,” I scoffed. “Now get out of here and heal your friends before I do to you what I did to that pile of rocks.”

It was an empty threat, but they heeded it well, as they bolted for the exit. I sighed, then looked up to Sunny. “Sorry you didn’t get to have any fun,” I told her calmly, with a bit of a smile on my lips as I petted her. She cooed happily before my gaze turned to Drillbur. “And as for you,” I said as my hand reached into my pack. I walked over to the ground-type and knelt before him, my arm pulling out my last potion. “Good work,” I added before using the spray on him. He smiled affectionately as I rose to my feet.

“Well, then, now that THAT’s over with,” I sighed. “Let’s go about what we came here for, eh?”

“Osha!” Samurai cried. I turned to face him only to see that he was at the rock pile, holding an oval, dark yellow stone with a lightning insignia.

“That’s a Thunderstone! Good work, Samurai!” I said loudly. Samurai smiled, but abruptly dropped the stone and held his hands together. “That’s alright, Samurai,” I told him, assuming the Thunderstone jolted him. “We can take it from here. Right, Drillbur?”

Drillbur happily sorted through the stones as I dug through the pile. In total, there were four thunderstones and six Electric Gems, bringing our total of gems up to eight. I ignored the other gems and, since there were no other evolutional stones, packed the bounty in my bag.

“Alright, Drillbur,” I said. “How about digging us out of here so we can get GRAY to teleport us out of here when we get a good enough signal to contact him.”

”That won’t be necessary,” GRAY sighed from my SNAG. ”There’s more than enough ‘signal’ from where you’re standing.”

“You don’t have problems broadcasting to underground locations?” I asked him.

”The base is located below a MOUNTAIN, remember? Why would I have trouble broadcasting to underground locations when all the broadcasting equipment itself IS underground!?”

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck at the same time. He had a good point yanno.

”Right. Gather around, then. Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Gray seemed to grumble as Samurai and Drillbur each grabbed one of my legs. I almost recalled them, but if I didn’t let them start teleporting out in the open, they’d never get used to it. Particuarly Samurai, with his claustrophobia.

The blue field that my eyes perceive during teleportation blocked my vision again as Claydoll warped us back to HQ.

~*~
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Objective – Three Thunderstones obtained, eight Electric Gems obtained.
Opposition – Wild Drillbur fought, Team Ambar defeated (in more ways than one).
Pokemon – Wild Drillbur caught.
Rewards -- Keep Drillbur, one Thunderstone, and two Electric Gems.