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POISON MASTER MISSION STAGE 1

The art of poison is a dangerous art to learn under. It could be considered the most dangerous of all the elements because of the possible damage it can cause. Throughout history we’ve used it for one main purpose…to kill. The most silent way to kill your enemy is to use poison, however, the tables can be turned too easily on the user if handled without care.

To avoid accidentally killing yourself you will train under the masters of the art. Sadly, only three well known people have trained under this art and since you are only a rookie…don‘t expect them to jump up for joy to train you. Instead, you will work your way up and make them see you’re prepared for the danger.

To begin your journey you will seek out two females known as the Serpent Sisters. They were once star pupils under Master Koga. However, because of their corrupted state of mind they were forced to leave the Fuchsia gym. Rumour has it that they had went to one of the Sevii Islands to avoid the ridicule of their former sensei. You mustn’t leave a single stone unturned for they could be anywhere on those islands!

Once you finally find them they will teach you the essentials you will need to master if you wish to continue to pursue the art of poison.

A word of caution about these sisters. Their methods aren’t exactly the safest or healthiest. Please do take care of yourself around these two.

Objective
---Find the Serpent Sisters
---Learn the basic skills of Poison users

Opposition
---Of course battling isn’t everything but roaming trainers may be a bit reluctant about giving you information. Even the Serpent sisters may attack you with their Pokemon

Pokemon
---You are not going to the island to catch Pokemon, however, I may give you a cute little egg for a job well done

RESTRICTED POKEMON USE
---Like all master missions before this you are only allowed to use the type you are currently pursuing meaning POISON POKEMON ONLY

Rewards
---It’s a surprise~

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Raine stood at the docks of Vermilion City looking at her SNAG and pondering her options for getting to the Sevii Islands. A) She could nab someone’s Rainbow Pass and get on, B) stow away on the ship, or C) beg and plead for work to get on, then use A or B. “Huh…. Well… My pride doesn’t allow for begging, and I’d probably suck at sneaking… Let’s see who’s up for lending me their pass indefinitely, then.” She grinned as she began to walk through the people, keeping an eye out for a Rainbow Pass after looking up the picture on her SNAG. After about fifteen minutes of looking she found someone who left theirs out on a suitcase they had. The owner of it was talking avidly to another person, so it was unattended to. Raine used the moment to glide over and stealthily grab the ticket then made her way over to the boat. By the time the guy noticed and made a ruckus, she was safely on board and in her room. “Oh goodness, that was easy. I still have my skills….” She made herself comfortable on the chair and desk in there, and began to take a catnap.

Raine woke up with a start when one of the sailors nudged her. “Hey, miss, the boat’s stopped. Unless you plan on going to the main land again, I’d suggest getting off.”

“Oh, right! Thank you!” She grabbed her bag and her pass and darted off, looking around. She was on One Island, and without seeing many houses, she decided to head for the Pokécenter. One inside, the first thing she noticed was the giant doohickey that seemed to take up about half the room. “Holy crap…. What is that thing?...” She started to go towards the red shiny stone. All that was going through her mind right now was plucky plucky…

“Hey there! I see you noticed the gems in the Network Machine. That’s what links the Sevii Islands with Kanto and Hoenn. I created it actually. My name’s Celio. And yours is?..”

Raine was just trying to recover from a heart attack she had when she heard Celio come up behind her. Dammit. No pretty gems for the time being. She turned around, recollecting herself. “Oh, hello! I’m Raine. Pleasure to meet you. You really built this hulking machine? That’s impressive.” She looked from the Ruby, to the Sapphire, to the screen, and back again, continuing the cycle. Maybe she’ll try to nab the Sapphire later.

“So, Raine, is there anything I can help you with?” Celio smiled, happy that another person was taking interest in his work. Though, Raine was mainly interested in the gems.

“Um, yeah, maybe, though, it’s totally off the subject of the machine. Um, have you heard of two women called the Serpent Sisters?” Raine looked slightly nervous and embarrassed; she wasn’t used to asking for help with anything. She considered it being a burden on people.

“Okay… Um, let’s see…. Not that I can recall… If they were going to live on one of the surrounding islets, they’d still need to come into the Pokémon Center for supplies and that…. Maybe you should try Three Island. There’s the Berry Forest there, and they could use that to make all various types of poisons and antidotes with them. Not to mention, the Pokémon in there, too…” He folded his hands together. “Sorry I can’t give you more information, Raine.”

Raine shook her head. “That’s plenty enough. Thanks for all your help. Maybe sometime, I can come back, and we can talk more about your machine. Laters!” She darted out and headed for the Seagallop boats, leaving Celio bewildered.

“Wow… She sure has energy.” Celio grinned and put his hands behind his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thanks guys! Laters!” She practically flew off the boat as it arrived on Three Island. She took in the sights, smiling broadly. “This is my kind of place. The beach is awesome, and I could try and see if I could beat the currents!” She seemed awfully happy about this. “Hm… maybe once my training’s over, I could chill on the beach and get my tan back…” She looked at her skin, which was getting significantly lighter now. She was proud of the darken tan that made her look somewhat Mexican.

She continued to head on into town, where she began to ask around for the Serpent Sisters. After a couple of hours of asking around, the only lead she got was a vague one from the shop keeper about a pair of girls not seen in town regularly, but they come in every once in a while. So, Raine decided to camp out in front of the shop for a little bit, in hopes of maybe seeing them. It took a while, and she was more paying attention to her MP3 player by then, but she perked up when she saw them enter the store. She waited patiently until they came out, then brazenly walked up to the women. “Hey there, you two wouldn’t happen to be the Serpent Sisters, would you,” she asked. One of them turned around.

“Maybe,” she replied, brushing back her poisonous purple hair, “Who wants to know?”

“I would,” Raine said, staring into the woman’s bright yellow eyes. “My name’s Raine Tanzanaki, and I hear that you two specialize in poison type Pokémon. I would be honored to train under you two and learn about the ways and learning about poison.” The other sister looked at Raine now, shocked.

The two sisters looked very much similar, but one definitely looked wiser than the other, and older. The younger one seemed to have more of a bubbly demeanor, while the eldest have more of an analytical and scheming demeanor. Appearance wise, they both had the same eye color and hair color, while the younger one had her hair cut in a cute way, and the older one had her hair long and flowing down her back. “Sis, why don’t we! We can show Koga how good we are by training her!”

“You rush too fast into things, Vena. You, come to the Berry Forest tomorrow, and no following us tonight, or else your offer is automatically null and void, missy. We need a way to make sure that you are who you say you are. Though, be thankful we’re even considering it. You had better be up to the task….” She turned and walked away, Vena bouncing along beside her. Raine just sighed.

“This will be interesting….” As not to void her offer, though instinct was saying follow them, she headed off to the Pokécenter and got herself a room for the night. What ended up getting her to sleep was her music, which was a mix of Evanescence, Nickelback, and other various artists, some comedic, some emo, some haunting. Some of the stranger stuff to fall asleep to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raine stood at the entrance of Berry Forest, steeling herself for what’s coming next. There was obviously a test waiting for her in there; the elder sister said so. But what it was, she had no clue. “Well, I’m here….” She was twiddling her thumbs, nerves getting to her. “Do I go through with this or not….” She then shook her head. “Why am I asking this? I swear….” She then practically charged into the forest, only to have met up with a Crobat biting down on her neck with poisonous fangs. “Ah dammit, what the-?!” She held her neck as Vena came into view.

“Sona here bit you with her Poison Fang. So, Miss Raine, you have two options. One, you can head back, and lose the chance of learning under us but be pretty sure you’ll have your life safely intact. Second, you can follow us further into the forest, hopefully meet up with my sister, get an antidote, and train with us- if the poison doesn’t kill you first. So, what will it be?” She smiled sweetly from a tree branch, as if this was normal. She looked almost like a ninja angel of death, too, with her back ninja outfit on.

”I’m here to train, right? So, lead the way.” Secretly, Raine was thinking that she was nuts, insane, and all that other good stuff. Nonetheless, she followed Vena as the young woman took off for where they lived. She was doing well until about half way, which is when she began to stumble and slow down. By the time she was at the house, Raine was barely able to stand, much less walk. It was a miracle that she was able to make it all the way there. She was smiling though, as she watched the older sister come out. “Heh… I’m… here….” She then collapsed on the ground, her body finally feeling the toll the poison was taking on it. She was practically sweating bullets, and her body was feverish.

”Great… come on, help me get her in. Please don’t tell me you used Sona’s Poison Fang….” The elder sister shook her head, looking at Raine’s neck. “Dammit, come on, help me get her in.” She put Raine under one of her arms while Vena took the other side.

”Sorry Seva.... It’s the first attack I thought of.”

“Oi vey…. Let’s hope that move didn’t cost us our pupil. She doesn’t look that bad off.” They quickly got her inside and laid her down, Seva rushing to a cabinet. “Okay, let’s see… Vena, you did have Sona use Poison Fang on her, right?

”Yeah…. Crap.” Vena watched as her sister got a jar with transparent purple liquid in it. She poured a small bit into a shot glass and walked over to Raine.

”Raine, if you can hear me, open your mouth. I have an antidote for the Crobat venom running through your veins.” It took a bit, but Raine did open her mouth, allowing Seva to pour the liquid down her throat. Once that was done, she sighed. “Well, all we can do is wait for her to get better, and hope she doesn’t have some deadly reaction to the antidote….”

”The last one lost their sight, didn’t they?”

”Yeah, but he gained a Crobat’s sonar hearing.” Seva shook her head. “Well, I’ll make lunch, you keep an eye on her.”

”Yes, Sema…” Vena looked solemnly at Raine, who’s breathing was getting shallower and shallower. Sema walked off, but the look in her eyes gave off readings that she was worried, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later, Raine’s condition seemed to be normal, for the most part. She was breathing regularly, and when they took her pulse, everything seemed to be normal. She still didn’t wake up, though. “Sema, you think we should take her to the Pokécenter? Maybe the Joy there would know what to do….”

”No. They’d probably send her to Fuchsia, since Koga’s there. She’ll be fine… She hasn’t died so far.”

”True….” Sema left the room and Vena looked down when Raine started to groan. ”Raine? What’s…” Raine began tossing and turning violently, arching her shoulder blades a lot. Though that was the most noticeable thing, it wasn’t the only. Her ears here starting to get long and pointed like a Crobat’s, and when those finished, it was apparent that wings were in the making. They started to poke out slowly, then grew faster and faster. Before they knew it, Raine had full sized Crobat wings, both pairs. Now she was panting, slowly opening her eyes to show a yellow ring around the iris. “Holy crap…. Miss Raine?”

”Wh-where am I?” Raine didn’t bother to look up at the moment to see who was talking to her.

”Miss Raine! Thank goodness… I was worried the antidote was doing something horrible inside….”

“Horrible? What do you mean?” She turned over to see a mirror in her face, Raine’s jaw dropping. “What the hell?!”

”The antidote sometimes alters people’s DNA. Like, turns them partially Crobat… My sis thinks that the antidote to Sona’s poison somehow combines the Crobat DNA in the poison with the human DNA…. But it’s only worked on humans. The DNA combining has no effect on hybrids.”

”Don’t tell me that she’s bitten both regular people and hybrids, and then brought them back here….”

”Oh no. The hybrids were back when we were Koga’s students….” Vena spat out her former sensei’s name with hatred. “Some of the regular humans were here and Sema quickly went back to the house to get the stuff. The antidote took effect quickly, and so did the other effects. It must have been because the poison was in you longer, and spread much faster that the effects took longer to kick in. When they did though, they kicked in with a vengeance... You’re the first one with wings.” Vena giggled. Raine though, was not amused.

“You think this is funny?! What’s my family going to say?! I mean, come on!”

”Miss Tanzanaki, consider it part of your training now… Getting used to your new form. Being a Crobat hybrid can actually help you in your general training. You can use poison with out being hurt as much, you have some of the abilities of a Crobat, and, if as long as you continue down the line of poison training, you could begin to use poison attacks yourself,” Sema smirked, hearing Raine’s outburst. “Besides, I have no way of splicing DNA, so you’re stuck with it. Welcome back to the land of the living, by the way. How as your rest?”

”It was fine,” Raine spat, getting totally sore about the entire situation. Then Sema walked up to Raine and have her a huge slap to remember.

”Don’t forget this. We have ways of killing you, and unless you finish our training, you will not leave this place alive. We have been gracious enough to let you into our home; don’t act like a spoiled brat here. You got it?” Sema’s voice was dangerously low then.

Raine nodded, holding her cheek. “Yes ma’am… I’m sorry.” She honestly sounded remorseful.

Sema nodded. “Okay then. Today, I’ll let you get your bearings. Tomorrow, we’ll start your training. And now, I’ll make us lunch.” Seva walked out again, this time in a much better mood.

Vena looked down. “Are you really not happy about your change?…”

Raine frowned. “I’m sorry, it’s just that… I didn’t know how to react, ya know…. I never really planned on being a hybrid….”

Vena looked up a bit. “I’m sorry about your transformation… But it was either that or let the venom run its course…. And you may not have lived, we believe, if you didn’t take it.” Vena smiled a sad smile.

“Now that you put it that way….” She looked down. “I’m sorry for how I reacted. Thank you very much.” She nodded, which was her way of bowing in bed. She then sat up, shaking her hair out and taking it out of the ponytail. It was now noticeable that she had a few areas where her roots were purple.

Vena didn’t take notice of the change as she smiled. “I’m just glad you made it.” She went silent for a moment before speaking up again. “So, what made you want to get training in the poison type?”

Raine looked down. “Well…. I kind of felt like I was a burden… Everyone else at the crew I was with specialized in something, and I didn’t want to be a burden on the people I was with. So… yeah. I caught myself a few poison Pokémon, then made my way here. The rest is history.” Raine nodded, looking slightly embarrassed and disappointed at the same time. She hated being a burden on other people, and she saw it in extreme ways.

”So, did you let the rest of your crew know where you are and what you’re doing?”

”Eh… Not really… I kind of felt that I really wouldn’t be noticed much, so…”

”You’re foolish then. That gives them even more worry when you’re gone, since they don’t know where you are or what happened to you. Believe me, I’ve experienced the relief and torment of an older sister when she found me after I went off for a couple of days without telling her.” Vena nodded. “Well, don’t let me lecture you, though…. Oh! Let me get your outfit for training… Seva says that you have to wear it during all training sessions. We’ll have to tailor it for your new wings, but it’ll work.” Vena rushed out of the room, returning with the tunic. It was real short, and there were no shorts or pants to go with it. Just a real short tunic and a belt for it. “Okay, Miss Raine, go ahead and put this on, that way we can start the tailoring.”

Raine took it, apprehensive. “Wait, you mean change right here, right now?”

Vena nodded. “Yup! Come on, there’s nothing wrong. We’re both women, and I’m not bi or lesbian. Trust me, there’s this really cute guy in town I’ve met… too bad he’s into that Sabrina chick on the mainland.” She made a gagging motion before continuing. ‘Okay, I’ll turn my back, but please hurry. I don’t want this to take all day.” Raine nodded, then started changing as the girl turned around. Raine quickly changed, but found it slightly difficult to get into the tunic. Vena turned around as soon as she had the tunic on, not worrying about the belt yet. “Okay, let’s see….”

All in all, the tailoring took about thirty minutes, which is when Seva called them both into the kitchen. After they ate, Vena showed Raine around their little house and showed her where she’d be sleeping during her time with them. After that, they went berry hunting, helped Raine get used to her new abilities, and mellowed out. After that, they all went to sleep, Raine with some discomfort and worry. She ended up being the last one to sleep, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was about seven in the morning when Seva poked her head into Raine’s room. “Miss Tanzanaki, it is time for you to get up. Put on your tunic and meet me outside as soon as you eat.” Raine nodded and quickly got out of bed, putting on the tunic and belt. With the tailoring done, it now fit like a glove. She quickly put her hair in a ponytail while eating a couple of pieces of bread and rushed outside. She did not want to make her new sensei mad again! Especially after yesterday’s debacle. Seva looked at Raine, who looked pretty well put together for getting outside within ten minutes. “Thank you for coming out here so promptly. As you know, learning how to correctly administer poison is a very subtle and precise art. Administer it too obviously, and the answer is obvious. Get it in the wrong amount; you risk the chance of not killing your victim.” Seva stared at Raine. “So, first off, you’ll learn how to be quiet and stealthy. To start, I’ll be about five meters ahead. Try to get within one without me noticing you. We’ll go from there. I’ll send Sona to you when I’m ready.” She then dashed off, leaving Raine totally befuddled.

”Wait, I have to?… Okay then… I thought Sona was Vena’s Pokémon….” She shrugged, sitting down and thinking about what abilities she’d have to pick up all over again. She was good when it came to sneaking off unnoticed… She’d done it before. She’d even snuck up on people before. That was before she began to speak, though. Well, she’d just have to channel that person again.

(”Well someone’s not on the ball.”)

Raine quickly turned around and saw Sona. “Sorry, I must have gotten lost in past memories…Anyways, she’s ready right? I’ll just-“

(“Hold up a minute, girl. You mentioned past memories. Now I’m intrigued. Seva can wait. Tell me about these. I’m also surprised that you’re not freaking out over talking to me. Most people are.”)

”I’ve lived with an Espeon hybrid for over eight years. A hybrid talking to a Pokémon doesn’t surprise me anymore. Anyways, my memories were about my past, which I‘d rather not speak about… I was just remembering some skills I had on the streets anyways.” She shook her head. “Well, I’ll get going as so not to make her wonder where I am…”

(“Ah, no. You’ll learn a few Crobat skills before you do. You have my DNA in you, so I’m responsible to help you get acquainted to some Crobat abilities. It might help you with her task, too.) And without Raine saying a word, she made herself comfortable on Raine’s head. (“First off, get used to flapping your wings, missy. It’s the first thing you need to get used to while leaning how to fly.”)

“Wait, how to fly?! But-!”

(“Do it. Now.”)

Raine did as she was told to do by the stern Crobat, beginning to flap her wings. She started slow, but steadily grew faster and faster until she was making a nice wind with her wings. Sona looked very pleased.

(“Alright. Did it keep feeling better every wing beat you made?”)

“Yeah, it did…”

(“Good. Now, you’ll try flying a few feet with them. You can also start to head out for Seva’s position now. That’ll probably help you get more acquainted with flying.”) Raine nodded and climbed a few branches quickly, then took off for Seva’s position, using her wings every chance she could. When she ended up getting close to Seva, she got how to flap her wings silently, which probably helped in sneaking up on her. She quietly glided down to Seva’s level and poked her on the shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.

“Oh! Miss Tanzanaki! How?…” She then saw Sona on her head. “Did Sona help you?”

“Only taught me some things. I worked on them by myself, though.”

“Huh… Well, Sona, if you’re gonna do that, then I guess I’ll leave you to her physical training. “I still need to get set up for the poison lesson. I doubt she’ll need many lessons on how to move stealthily…. Come on, it’s starting to get close to lunch time, so we’ll head back and have lunch, then we can begin teaching you the differences between each Pokémon’s poison. Raine followed quietly, until a thought came to her mind.

“Wait. Sona, you sleep at night?”

(“Yeah. I’ve lived it most of my life, thanks to these two. You can consider me their familiar.”)

“Huh…” In no time they got back to the house like hut. Seva went back into the kitchen while Raine made herself comfortable on the couch. “So, you don’t technically have a trainer.”

(“Nope. Never been tethered to the ties of a Pokéball. Glad about that, too. It means I experience more freedom than the other trainer Pokémon, but still experience the bond of human friendship. More Pokémon should really try it.”

”Huh….”

”Lunch, guys!” Raine quickly got up and headed to the kitchen, meeting up with Seva and Vena. Raine ate quite quickly, as she hadn’t ate much of a breakfast. She was also eager to get started with the poison learning. The two sisters saw this and quickly ate as well, getting up and grabbing the poisons they’d be using in their poison lesson.

In about fifteen minutes, they were in the living room, the three women cross-legged, Vena getting the different bottles of poison in order. “Okay. All of these are poison taken from different Pokémon. Does each poison have the same effect?”

”Um… Sure. Poison’s just poison, right?”

”Wrong!” Vena then began to point to each poison bottle. “Tentacool and Tentacruel poison- their poison stings when on the skin and carries an agent to numb the body, as does Quilfish’s poison. Bug Pokémon spores- enter the lungs and makes it incredibly hard to breathe. If enough of them enter the blood system, they can wreak havoc on your cells. Poison powder from any grass type Pokémon- it can enter the blood system from the skin if left on there long enough, and it causes incredible rashes. If ingested, they make you quite sick, though normally not deadly.

”The Weedle family’s poison secretes a small amount of venom from their barbs or stingers, generally not enough to kill you unless they give you a nice helping of it. It’s good to mix in with other poisons, though. The Nidoran families have stronger poison secreting from their barbs, only getting stronger as their barbs grow and they evolve.

”Koffing and Weezing’s gases enter the blood stream easily after being breathed in, also wreaking havoc on the cells, just like the Bug Pokémon spores. Weepingbell and Victreebell’s digestive acids are quite corrosive, so those too are classified into poisons. Their scent is very alluring. The Grimer family and the Stunky family’s poison both smell horrible, Muk’s being quite corrosive and Skuntank’s being quite… ugh. Mix those two together, and people would probably faint just from the smell alone.

”Croagunk family poison- it’s pretty strong to begin with in a Croagunk, but a Toxicroak’s is fatal with a scratch from its red claws. Skorupi family. Its poison isn’t too strong to begin with, but Skorupi stubbornly clings to prey until it takes hold, so that counts for something. Of course, Drapion’s is stronger, and the power in its claws help it to keep a hold of its prey much better while the poison’s circulating, too.

”The Gulpin family, with Gulpin, it’s like Victreebell all over again. Swalot, same thing, but it also sweats poison from its mustache. That’s a nice poison too.

”The snake Pokémon’s poison all work similarly, basically to immobilize their prey. The Zubat family’s poison also does that, but it also has an enzyme in it to keep blood from clotting, since their fangs need to stay in their prey’s mouth for a while…”

”Wait… You don’t mean…”

”Yup. The Zubat family needs to suck their victim’s blood. It seems that for the most part, you’ve changed, but it’s slightly obvious that you’re not done yet…. Your hair’s growing in a few poison colored purple streaks, and you might grow your fangs after that. Your body’s probably not close to done with its changes yet.”

”Great… Oh, why didn’t you mention the Gastly family?”

”Because they’re made of the poison gases, they don’t give them off like the Koffing family. Now that that’s done….” They went into how to use them in different ways and how to combine them for maximum potency. The sisters were really surprised at how quickly Raine caught on to things in less than a day. They soon called it a day, and Raine went off to mellow out somewhere, thinking of her family and friends.
~~~~~~~~~~

The following days were days of hard and unique training. Sona was getting her used to her hybrid senses and her sonar hearing, Seva was helping to test them, and Vena was teaching Raine how to (semi) safely obtain poison from snake Pokémon, by milking their fangs, and from other Pokémon as well. Though, with Raine’s Muk… That was easier said than done, considering she feared the day it would try to grope her again.

”You can show me down there, I’ll keep watch from up here….”

”Oh come on, that was just once. I mean I doubt-“ Grope. “Ahhhh! What the hell, you pervy Muk?!”

”Muuuuk….” Apparently, those fears were semi-founded.
~~~~~~~~~~

”Gah!”

”Miss Tanzanaki, you’re getting sloppier. What’s going on?”

”I think I twisted my ankle….”

”Okay then, why didn’t you tell us? We would have put it in a splint and focused more on using you wings then.”

”Well, I didn’t want-“

”Listen, your feet are important. Things will happen during training. This definitely isn’t the safest line of training, but I’ll be damned if I allow a twisted ankle to go any further. Come on. And use your good foot and your wings to get there, this’ll be more training.” Raine groaned as she followed Seva back to their home, doing as her ninja sensei said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day, after all her training was over, Raine was in the living room with Seva and Vena. There was a question nagging at Raine’s brain for a while, and she decided to ask it. “Um, guys? If you don’t mind me asking, why did Koga kick you two out of his gym?”

”Koga?! That slimy, slippery ba-“

”Vena, calm down. She does have a right to know. Basically, we wanted to overthrow Koga as gym leader. We believed, and still do believe, that we can make a much better gym leader than he.” She said all this unemotionally, writing some things down on a piece of paper. “We believe that we represent the poison type quite accurately when we’re together. Vena is quite talented when it comes to knowing and accurately mixing poisons, and I can fool some of the best guards with my stealth. With those attributes in our Pokémon choosing, we can be unstoppable. Koga feared us, so he kicked us out of his gym.” Seva finally looked up at Raine. “Does that satisfy your question?”

”Yes,” Raine replied, “thank you very much for telling me this.” Raine began thinking [i]Wow…. These guys are slightly crazy for thinking that… No wonder Koga booted them out… They are wonderful teachers, though, so I can’t complain.[i/]

”Good. Now that I’ve told you this, Miss Tanzanaki, I have a request for you. Put more confidence into your moves when you train. You’re quite the talented learner, but you have a slight hesitation when you make your moves. When you move, don’t have second thoughts. That’s the only thing holding you back. That… and maybe the fear of your Muk.” Giggles came out of Vena and Seva at that.

Raine blushed. “Oh haha…. You try getting a Muk off you when he had your lower half pinned down….” Riotous laughing erupted at that comment. Raine blushed harder, not saying anything else to bring up any wild thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nonetheless, though, Raine took what Seva said to heart, and she put more confidence in her actions. She found that she got faster, her moves were even more precise, and her Pokémon calmer when she had it. This came as an exciting time, since she finally felt that she was good at something useful. Finally, the sisters came up to Raine together.

”Okay Miss Raine, one final test, to be sure that you have everything we taught you down pact.”

”First, you’re going to have to find me blindfolded in the forest. This will incorporate what Sona’s taught you, and what I’ve brushed you up on.”

”Then, you’re going to have to mix together five less lethal poisons to make a lethal one. Sona will test out the poison, since she has an amazing taste for what poisons are lethal, and what ones aren’t. Is that understood?”

”Yup. I’m totally ready for this.”

”Good. Seva, get the blindfold ready. I’ll go stake my place out in the forest and you blindfold her. Sona, come with me, I’ll send you back when I’m ready so that you can help Vena get ready for her test.” The woman and the Crobat went off together while Vena took out a blindfold and put it around Raine’s eyes. After she did that, she stood in front of her

”Miss Raine, good luck. I hope you can find her in little time.”

”Thanks, Vena. Though, I don’t think I need it. I can ‘see’ you just fine at this level of talking.”

”Awesome. I doubt you’ll be rejected then.” She then saw Sona appear out of the trees. “Looks like it’s time for you to start.”

(“Raine, go and find her fast. Show her what you’ve learned, missy!”) The semi-fledgling hybrid nodded and took off, leaving Vena and Sona in the dust.

”Well, let’s go get my test ready.” Sona agreed, and the two went off into the house.
~~~~~~~~~~

”Okay, let’s see….” Her voice activated the sonar in her head, seeing her immediate surroundings. The break of a twig and the caw of a Pidgeotto helped enhance that field of vision, and she soon saw her mark. Now, it was time to close in on her, and go in for the kill. She took off from her branch silently and flew over Seva’s head, landing on another branch gingerly. She carefully turned around and glided down behind the woman, tapping her shoulder. Seva turned around, caught totally off guard.

”Holy s**t! Raine! Wow…. You mastered them nicely. I’m proud to have been your teacher, as I’m sure Sona has been.” She took off the blindfold, regaining her composure. “Well done, Miss Tanzanaki. Now, let’s head off back to the hut for the second part.” Raine laughed as she followed her former sensei back to their home, to see if she could pass the poison creation part and leave them.
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After a bit of idle chit chat with Seva, Raine was in the living room of a hut, presented with ten different poisons, all of them pretty weak. “Okay Miss Raine, there’s ten different poisons here. Combine five of them in your first go into a lethal poison. There’s no time limit. Begin now.” Raine sat down on the floor and looked at the poisons. There were some poison powders, some Venamoth spores, and some weaker Pokémon poisons, like a Stunky and a Weedle’s poison. She quickly got to work, mainly dealing with the Stunky poison, Weedle poison, Nidoran female poison, Poison powder from an Oddish, and the Venamoth spores.

Within fifteen minutes, double-checking to make sure she was being precise, she handed the bottle of mixed Pokémon poisons to Vena. Vena then turned to Sona. “Sona, time to open up.” The Crobat opened her mouth and tasted the poison for a moment before spitting it out. ”Sona?”

(“Raine, that’s some strong stuff! That could make me fall within five minutes!”) All three of them blinked. Raine was the first one to speak up.

”… You’re kidding.”

(“Nope. You used the Nidoran female poison, right?”)

“Yeah….”

(“Well, that’s actually a catalyst when mixed in with other weaker poisons.”)

”She’s right. You must have discovered the right amount, since whenever she tastes mine, she doesn’t react that way. I think I’ll keep this one for… the right time. But you pass with flying colors, Raine! We’re no longer your sensei!” She hugged Raine tightly, Seva corking the poison before it spilt. After that, there was some celebration within the hut, going on into the middle of the night.
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”Well, it has been an honor training with two- no, three different, talented sensei. Thank you so much.” Raine bowed, now in her normal clothes.

”Well, it’s been an honor having such a talented student. Miss Tanzanaki, good luck with your pursuits, and stay strong.”

”Yeah, and if you see Koga, kick his a** for us!” There was a huge amount of laughing from that comment. “I’m gonna miss you, Raine! Take care!”

(“Yeah, and I’ll see if I can come to where you reside if I have a feeling that you’re having trouble learning new moves.”)

”Thanks Sona. I’m glad for that.”

”Oh, Raine! We also got you something….” Vena held out a bottle of a thick red liquid to Raine. “We put preservants in there, so it shouldn’t spoil on your way back.”

”Wait this is?…”

”Yeah. It’s blood. You’re going to need it. You kept loosing your appetite while you stayed here, to we figured that your body may need this soon.”

(“And also, if you run out, you can always use the move Leech Life to gain some more from an unwitting victim.”) The Crobat cackled maniacally.

”Okay…” Raine gingerly put the bottle into her bag. “Anyways, bye all! May our paths meet again some day!” Raine smiled and took off, glad that she went through the mayhem and hell they put her through sometimes, since she gained confidence, a new form, and some new abilities she could put to some good use. Though she was planning on returning to HQ, something else was calling her though, ever since she got to the Sevii islands…. Once she left the forest, she looked out upon it. The beach. She threw her stuff down and jumped off Bond Bridge. HQ could wait for right now.