Welcome to Gaia! ::

Client: Azurill
Mission:
"Eeeeeeeeeek! It's s-s-so scawwie heeeeere! I wanna go hooooooome!"
Dungeon: Urban Ruins
Floors: 15
Rewards: Body Slam TM + Icy Wind TM

[Taken by Team Hard Head. Members are Molly the Cubone and Aden the Larvitar.]

Floor 1 – Belly Slots: 5.0

Reginald looked at the Smeargle curiously as he awkwardly hefted a large pack full – or rather, nearly bursting – of things like brushes and tubes of paint onto his shoulders, making him bend over nearly double from the weight. De Viquor smiled at them and urged them on. “Off we go!” he said cheerfully. Reginald managed a shrug as best as he could – it being hard to do so on all fours and that – and headed off into the sandy ruins. The ruins were very interesting – and deserted. Rough masonry, yellowed with age and far too long exposed to the elements, crumbled occasionally off of what once were buildings. The wind blew over the gritty dirt underfoot into their eyes, temporarily blinding them. It seemed like the harsh winds blew all of the nutrients out of the ground, leaving nothing but bone-dry sand. Around and inside the decayed building structures, soil was almost just as poor, but still supported a few wilted plants. “This place is depressing.” Reginald murmured as they walked past more crumbling buildings.

Floor 2 – Belly Slots: 4.5

“There! There!” de Viquor was hopping up and down angrily, his tail swathing blotches of paint this way and that. He pointed to a wall some ways away; it was covered in badly spelled graffiti and tossed aerosol cans were strewn about the ground around it.
“See?! Graffiti,”— He spat – “My work never gets a second glance! Humph!” He turned his snout away and huffed. Desdemona’s brow furrowed as she attempted to read it, “’Privett land. Any body cot trespissin’ will be prosecuted’?” she read. Anastasia giggled at the bad spelling wrote in fat, wobbly letters.
“See, see? This is what art everyone treasures over whose? Mine!” The Smeargle quickened his pace slightly as he silently cursed graffiti artists all over the world.

Floor 3 – Belly Slots: 4.0

“Anyone notice we’re being followed?” Reginald asked calmly.
“Yep.” Desdemona agreed in the same monotone voice as him, not turning around. Anastasia paused in her tracks, but quickly decided against looking behind them and started moving again,
“Someone’s following us?” She whispered hoarsely to the other two.
“What?” de Viquor exclaimed excitedly. He whipped out a sketchbook from his pack and opened it, pencil poised over paper. “This I MUST record!” he said.
The unseen Pokemon, seeing they were caught, sprang out into the open. The two Magnemite floated forward with surprising speed saying something like “Bzz, trespassers must be persecuted, zz.” Desdemona rolled back her head and groaned, “That was you guys?” She rushed forward, her jaws widening as she neared them. The two’s magnets began to glow and they emitted a Sonic Boom, sending large shockwaves her direction.
“Magnifico!” de Viquor shouted with glee as his pencil danced over the page. Desdemona was blown back a few feet and she skidded to a halt, throwing de Viquor an angry glance as she did so. Reginald ran forward and Tackled a Magnemite, forcing it to the ground. It buzzed frantically and sent a small ThunderShock through him that blew him off his feet and onto a small pile of rocks. The second Magnemite rushed forward as to Tackle Anastasia, but she leapt out of the way and Scratched it as it flew by. Desdemona brushed the dirt off of her skirt and Bit the Magnemite that tried to attack Anastasia. The Magnemite started blurbling nonsense as it wavered in the air and then finally crashed. The remaining Mangemite panicked and started flying in tight circles, buzzing frantically. Reginald ran toward it and leapt at it, Tackling it in the air and forcing it down with him. The Magnemite struggled, but eventually passed out from all of the excitement.

Floor 4 – Belly Slots: 3.5

Desdemona stomped angrily to the Smeargle and waved an accusing finger under his snout.
“Could you be any less useful?!” She demanded. “We were in the middle of the battle and you just… sketched?” de Viquor backed off, clearly confused at her anger. Reginald padded over and placed a paw on her shoulder,
“Let it go.” Desdemona continued glaring into the Smeargle’s large runny-egg-like eyes for a few moments more, and then looked away. “Whatever,” she said crossly and continued striding down the path. “Let’s just get this over with.” Reginald sighed and nudged de Viquor in the back to get him moving. As he did so, he found something that was there, or rather was not there.
“Mr. Leonardo, where is your paw print?” Asked Reginald. Anastasia gave him a questioning look, “What are you talking about?”
“Well, once Smeargle reach adulthood, it is custom for the pack to paint a paw print on their backs—“
“—and if not, they are disowned by the pack,” de Viquor finished for him, glaring at the nothingness in front of him with… distaste. Reginald abruptly shut up and silently scolded himself for not thinking before speaking. After all, that was so Anastasia.

Floor 5 – Belly Slots: 3.0

The Smeargle was quite aware that someone kept glancing at him, the path, and back again. He sighed and turned his head to the side to face the source, “Yes?” He asked, rather impatiently. Anastasia, the one who kept looking at him, froze for a fraction of a moment and then regained her stature.
“What happened to you and your pack, Mister?” She asked innocently. de Viquor sighed and slouched in defeat, “Ah, fine, fine,” he said, waving his paw in the air.
“I was quite the curious individual, even as a small child. You see, my pack was a lot of quite well-off Smeargle and were able to afford most of what other Pokemon could not. Naturally, I was given the best education in the best environment any overprotective parent could hope for, though sent home with a nasty letter to my parents more than once when I was caught staring out the window, eyes aglaze, instead of paying attention to the teacher. By the time of early grade school, I was getting into more trouble than a delinquent twice my age; sometimes I was unaccounted for and found a few hours later outside of school grounds sketching away at flying Tailows, getting in the middle of fights and lots of trouble, being found in an unauthorized room with tools and bits of clockwork strewn all over the place, topped with my sketches. One day, on fieldtrip, I even had the power go out for nearly two minutes at Metal Works for using so much electricity for one of my gimmicks when I was a pre-teen.
“My parents grew concerned as they watched me grow; I began neglecting my schooling and focused more on my contraptions. Heh, I even made a prototype for a silly Charmander-robot in my later years after hearing about the incident involving some! I later destroyed it. It’s laughable, really, I mean who would want to bring harm to others? Let alone use harmless inventions that were surely originally created to help Pokémon in situations to do so! Hah! Anyways, I began spending less and less time with other Pokemon and more sleepless nights brainstorming things to help people.” He paused and fell into a hacking fit.“That’s all I can say for now,” He said hoarsely, “I will let my voice rest for a while and tell you more later.”

Floor 6 – Belly Slots: 2.5

Reginald froze and darted behind a partially collapsed stone pillar, motioning the others to do the same. As Anastasia slid behind him, she whispered, “What is it?” Reginald breathed deeply inward with his over-sensitive nose and grimaced,
“Glameow,” he growled back. Just then, two perky Glameow and one Purugly turned the corner, seeming to be looking for something. A third Glameow darted from what once was a wooden archway and stood attentively in front of the Purugly, “…. Signs… dust disturbed… nearby…” was all he heard. Reginald sat tensed up, wanting to give chase badly; he hated Glameows! There were faint flapping sounds as de Viquor pulled out his sketchbook and flipped to a page not crammed with patterns and designs and started sketching furiously away, muttering happily to himself.
“Shh, you’ll give us away!” Desdemona hissed accusingly, though de Viquor just ignored her and continued on—until his pencil broke with a loud snap! The three Glameow and one Purugly looked up sharply, ears swiveling toward them. One hissed and jumped backwards, ears flattened and fur bristling. Reginald Howled, for their cover had been given away. At such close quarters, the howl sent chills up Anastasia’s spine. She leapt out from behind their cover and Tackled the first Glameow, Desdemona following close behind to wrench it away with her powerful jaws in a Vice Grip and then release it a fraction of a second after her attack only to fling it at a building. The stone structure shuddered upon the Glameow’s impact and threatened to collapse then and there. The assaulted and quite battered Pokémon slid down the stone building like a cartoon character and landed unconscious on the nutrient deprived dirt ground with a soft thump.
“One down, four to go.” Reginald growled and gleefully thrust himself toward a Glameow with the intent to Tackle it. The Glameow charged toward him and met him with her own Tackle. Reginald quickly lowered his head where it met hers with a painfully loud crack! The two landed on their backs, the Glameow walking unsteadily in place and Reginald cursing as he squirmed on the ground.
“Nobody wins in a headbutt.” He cursed as the throbbing pain sent pulses from his forehead down his neck. The one remaining Glameow and one Purugly decided to charge. The Glameow used Faint Attack, faking a left and then dashing to the right toward Anastasia who took the attack by surprise and in turn received a claw to the face. The Purugly lumbered toward de Viquor, who still had his nose in his sketchbook, and jumped high in the air. The Smeargle happened to look up as the Purugly blotted out the sun and let out a shriek, scrambling to get out of the way as his Body Slammed down onto the hard ground. The Purugly picked itself up and looked around for de Viquor, and eventually found him crouching behind a small pile of rubble, his hat peeking over the top and lengthy tail swishing nervously giving him away. Meanwhile, the dizzy Glameow shook herself to her senses and spotted the Poochyena still on the ground. She hissed and leapt on him, rear claws digging into his tender flesh while the fore claws ripped at his back and raked across his face. Reginald howled in agony and rolled and snapped at the Glameow, but it just clung on and attacked more. Desdemona heard him howl and turned her attention away from the Purugly and onto the Glameow. A red mist fogged her vision and she shot toward the pair, oversized jaws flung up and over her face, ready to snatch the Pokemon off of her feet. Anastasia was occupied with punching the Glameow, who attacked her, in the face. She did look away, though, as Reginald howled. As her attention turned, the Glameow slapped the side of her face and sent her spinning. The other Glameow, attacking Reginald, saw Desdemona, or rather a pair of large black jaws, approaching and scrambled off of his chest and off to the side. The Mawile slowed to a stop at Reginald’s side, still looking at the Glameow who had scampered off.
“Hey, Reginald, are you okay?” She asked. He painfully looked up and winced.
“Fine, fine. Nothing that a few bandages and a long nap by a warm fire can’t fix.” He grinned.
“I’m sure you are,” she said sweetly and then grimaced, “But that darned Glameow won’t be in a minute!” With those words, she bounded away. Reginald watched calmly as she caught up with the normal-type and tackled her, scooping her not-so-carefully into her jaws and tossing her away at high speeds toward a half-crumbled building like her last victim. By then, the Glameow was out of his field of vision, but he could feel the rumbling through the earth as a nearby structure crumbled under impact of merely eight pounds of terrified Glameow. He got up to his feet and shook the dust off of his pelt, heading toward Anastasia in a high-speed limp. Desdemona raced ahead of him, but was still too far away to attack, so she used Sweet Scent to daze the foe. The Glameow’s eyes glazed over and stood stunned long enough for Anastasia to wallop her in the face with a bunched up fist. The Pokemon went over like a tree into a long, deep sleep. Anastasia sighed and brushed her paws off, putting them on her hips and looking down at the unconscious cat.
“Well, that’s over with.” She said, relieved, as the other two joined her at her side, “Where’s the Smeargle?” All three froze in place, eyes wide in horror. In the background behind them, a terrorized Smeargle ran from the surprisingly fast Purugly, clutching his tail like a lost orphan child.
“Heeeeeelp!!”

Floor 7 – Belly Slots: 2.0

In the end, the team had rescued the bedraggled Smeargle from the Purugly, leaving the tiger cat unconscious with the rest of his group and de Viquor safe and sound on the next floor.
Leonardo sat his back against a rock with his arms flung around it, desperately trying to slow down his breathing rate as if there were a limited supply of oxygen left in the world while Anastasia fanned him with a dead Banan leaf she found. Desdemona undid a pouch in Reginald’s collar containing an Oran berry and held it out toward him. He graciously accepted the berry and wolfed it down in two bites.
“Thanks,” he said, his wounds already beginning to close up.
“Nae problemo.” Desdemona replied and turned to the Meowth and Smeargle.
“And how’s our favorite screwup?” She said in a sickly sweet voice.
“Sorry about that,” de Viquor said, picking himself up and brushing the dust off of himself; he seemed to have calmed down at last. Desdemona smiled, which wasn’t as much of a smile as the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.
“Yeah, try not to do that again.” She said in a not-so-nice way and walked off.

Floor 8 – Belly Slots: 2.5 ( x1 Oran berry used)

As they progressed through the dungeon, Anastasia tried to entertain herself with a game called kick-the-pebbles-like-a-soccer-ball. She eventually got bored and decided to bother de Viquor again,
“Hey, Mister, tell me more about how you grew up.” Reginald hung his head, she really was blunt. The painter Pokémon looked up thoughtfully
“Well, long story short, by the time I reached adulthood, the pack looked down on me as a crazy man and more and cast me out. There wasn’t much my parents could do; heck, they probably gave the rest of them the idea of throwing me out. So afterwards I roamed the streets, looking for a place to call home and, more importantly, a job. It wasn’t uncommon that I get hired by, what I learned later, a shady group who would ask me to create things and use them to bring harm to others or steal things without my knowledge of doing so. I eventually hid away in a remote place to live a normal life, selling paintings and whatnot, moving every so often I got wound up in trouble. By about my thirties, most people didn’t know about me anymore and I soon became invisible; hidden away from the rest of civilization, painting and creating things to my heart’s content, though, for some reason, no one was buying my art anymore. I, in particular, had a man who wanted to buy one of my sculptures for a fine price that could support me for a month. By the time I transported the sculpture over to his area, he told me he wasn’t interested. Behind him though the double doors I could see some grinning Abra wearing gold and silver chains and a baseball cap with a large canvas board covered in graffiti. Sure, I went home disappointed, but continued selling what art I had. Soon enough, it happened again, and again and more frequently did people reject my art for the oh-so-amusing graffiti painted on their walls. Just a while ago while I was exploring my neighborhood for the first time and noticed: Graffiti! Everywhere! And that is when I decided to send in my request for help to the guilds.” He paused in mid-step and slowly drew out his sketch book. Anastasia looked ahead and sighed, balling a fist and taking a stance. Just ahead were a couple of Pokémon looking for trouble.

Floor 9 – Belly Slots: 2.0

Two Koffing and Grimer were milling about, not looking too happy. One Koffing turned around and spotted the group. It gave out a hoarse cry before breaking down in a coughing fit, filling the air with noxious gases. Reginald waved a paw in the air in attempt to blow away the Smog that limited their vision by a lot and filled their lungs with polluted air.
“Keep on your toes,” he growled. After a moment of silence, he lashed out and sank his teeth into a rather surprised Koffing who in turn let out a Poison Gas, making him see colors that weren’t there after he breathed it in through his delicate nose. As Reginald was left in a sneezing fit, one of the two Grimer lifted up a hamfist and Pounded Desdemona on the jaw while the other stood motionless, making his rather unappealing sludge skin Harden over. Anastasia leapt onto the Grimer who was attacking Desdemona and began tearing at its slimy substance with her claws. It fell over onto the Mawile’s jaws, leaving her kicking and swearing for it to get off. The remaining Koffing opened it mouth and released a thick black smoke so thick that it soon engulfed the group, rendering them nearly sightless and the thickest of it clinging to the ground. Leonardo cursed and threw his sketch things back in his pack, moving forward with arms outstretched into the haze. Reginald, not able to see anything, blindly swiped at the ground with his tail, stirring up dust and sending clots of sand in all directions (Sand Attack). There were two shrieks; one was a high pitched one.
“Reginald, if that’s you, you’d better watch it!” Desdemona shouted accusingly. Reginald’s ears flattened against his head as she scolded him and he replied with a “Sorry!” the second shriek belonged to a Koffing which Reginald quickly Tackled and pinned to the ground. Desdemona wiped the last of the grit out of her eyes before getting out from underneath the Grimer and walloping it over the head with her newly freed jaws. It sank in submission. Desdemona brushed the dust off of her hands in a job-well-done fashion, turned around, slipped on loose Grimer slime and fell onto her back. Anastasia charged up ahead and Bit and Scratched the remaining Grimer’s head while it, in return, scooped up some Mud and Slapped it in her face. Reginald pounced the Koffing one more time, ran toward Anastasia and Roared at the Grimer attacking her. It got scared and sank into a sludge-puddle, flowing away as fast as it could from the battle. Desdemona picked herself off and shook some of the Grimer goop off of her arms, grimacing as she did so. The last Koffing Tackled her from behind, making her land flat on her face.
“Not cool.” She growled as she got onto her knees, now wiping the sticky substance off of her face and launch herself at the lightweight pokemon. By now, Leonardo had blindly made his way to the center of the smog and bumped into the Koffing. He shrieked and thrashed wildly, sending the paint from his tail across the Poison Gas Pokemon’s eyes. It cried out in pain and floated around wildly, eventually up and away from them. The fog thinned out, revealing the team. Desdemona coughed a few times, waving her hand through the air in front of her to blow away the foul fog and let out a Sweet Scent to counter the terrible smell.

Floor 10 – Belly Slots: 1.5

The team and one crazy inventor sat down in a rough circle and waited patiently as Desdemona dug into her pack and drew out three Oran berries. She offered one to de Viquor, but he assured her that he just wanted water, pulling his flask out and taking a swig. She shrugged and handed everyone else a berry to eat.
“Hey, Mister,” Anastasia said, wiping some juice off of her mouth with her arm, “What do you plan to do once you get to the tallest part of these ruins?” de Viquor put his flask down and placed a digit to his chin thoughtfully.
“Hmm, now, I was planning to paint something depicting the great battle between Zangooses and Sevipers that took place a long, long time ago. But I’m not going to do a botched up job about it—“ he turned his head to the side, “—Like you’se graffiti artists out there!—“ He turned calmly back as if nothing happened, “Yes, it will be extremily detailed; each piece of armor unique in its own way and all eyeballs dotted proper like.” He sighed, “No doubt it’ll take a long time to complete; years, perhaps!” He reattached his flask to his pack and secured the straps around his shoulders and waist.
“Best to get a move on, eh?” he said brightly.

Floor 11 – Belly Slots: 3.0 (x3 Oran berries used)

The group stopped at a dead end; streching far as the eye can see to the left and right was a brick wall possibly surrounding the inner area of the place they were headed to,
“Looks like the only choice is to go up,” said Desdemona, looking left and right for a stairway or some sort of structure to help them get to the top of the wall and on their way.
“There!” Anastasia pointed to a section of wall covered in ivy with a pillar leaning against it, mostly crumbled, but enough for them to use as a sort of staircase. At the top, they discovered a labyrinth of old rope hanging and wooden and stone beams and archway connecting from structure to structure, most covered in “graffiti.” Paintings drawn with the talent and taste of a two year old with his eyes closed. Reginald hung his head, this was not going to be pleasant for any quadrupeds. Unfortunately and fortunately at the same time, he was the only one unable to walk on two feet without some serious training and a sharp stick.
“Here, I can take some of the load,” Anastasia offered, indicating the large pack upon the Smeargle’s shoulders. He shook his head,
“No, no, that will not do. I depend on you and your rescue team to protect me and my supplies, but you surely cannot do that job with a heavy pack weighing you down.” He straightened up slightly, “And remember to go after any petty thieves that try to snatch my pack." As if to make a point out of his statement, one Smeargle and two Meowth swung down on them from ropes attached to a high building above and snatched the pack from de Viquor. Unfortunately for them, the backpack was tightly secured to de Viquor’s shoulders and waist. He was pulled into the air for a few seconds before he finally slipped through his waist strap and fell in the middle of a stone archway which rumbled violently as he landed on it. The perpetrators let go of their ropes and landed on the stone arch a bit ahead of de Viquor. The two Meowth scampered off it quickly to the other side, with the pack on one of their shoulders. The Smeargle, however, paused to look back and make a taunting face at the fallen inventor and the rest of the team before catching up to the rest of her group.
“After them!” Reginald barked, rushing onto the collapsing stone arch and scooping Leonardo up by the scruff of his neck...collar thingy, Anastasia and Desdemona following close behind.

Floor 12 – Belly Slots: 2.5

It was like a rooftop race from the movies, only more so. Reginald finally remembered de Viquor as he ran and released his collar from his powerful jaws. The Smeargle tumbled on the roof tiles, but soon picked himself up and ran beside the rest of the team, falling behind a bit.
“Oh, I’m way too old for this,” he panted. The leading Meowth looked over its shoulder and let out a warning cry to the rest of its teammates. The other two looked back as well and attempted to speed up. Unfortunately for the other Meowth, de Viquor’s pack full of paints and brushes was quite heavy and made it fall behind slightly. They finally stopped, the Meowth dropped the pack beside it and they faced the oncoming team. Reginald was almost on them, so when the perps stopped, he rammed straight into the Smeargle on accident, slamming them both on a small pillar. The pillar tumbled, making the building shake uneasily. The shaking made Anastasia stumble unbalanced, arms wind-milling like an Elekid. She teetered uncertainly on the wooden beam she was on and fell over, clinging to the edge. Desdemona looked behind her uttered a cry of concern; before she knew it, she slammed into the other Meowth by mistake. The remaining Meowth panted with her paws resting on her knees. That pack was truly heavy, but she made a show of uneasily bringing up her fists as de Viquor neared. Anastasia scrambled onto the wooden beam and rushed toward the action. Reginald and the Smeargle righted themselves. He quickly thrashed at the Smeargle, but it leapt back and flicked its tail, spraying him with green paint, some which temporarily blinded him. He Howled in annoyance and pawed his eyes. He finally decided that he was going to fight blind and took the Smeargle by surprise with a powerful but blind Bite on its leg. As it struggled, he dug deeper and after more tussle, he would Bite a new section. He eventually sent the Smeargle howling, paintbrush tail between its legs in defeat. Meanwhile, Desdemona was having a tough time with the Meowth. After a long fight, it kicked her in the chest with both back legs and sent her over the edge of the building. She scrabbled for purchase on the old stonework as she fell at high speeds, eventually finding a crevice that slowed her down. Most of the brickwork had deteriorated into dirt and she was able to scratch out a hole in the wall big enough for her to scramble through. She found a set of stairs leading to the top and popped back outside from a trapdoor that was covered by a large piece of worn cloth. She tossed the sun bleached cloth aside, letting her open the door fully and jumped the Meowth who was peering over the edge to make sure it had gotten rid of her. She kicked its posterior and sent it over the edge, yowling. As that happened, de Viquor had closed in on the Meowth who was previously lugging his bag. To the Meowth’s surprise, he stopped just in front of it and slapped it hard across the face, sending it wheeling and against some brickwork.
“That’ll teach you to respect your elders!” He scolded, ignoring the fact that his opponent was now unconscious. Anastasia finally arrived, fire in her eyes,
“Okay, lem’me at ‘em!” She exclaimed and then the fire died down a bit as she straightened up, looking quite disappointed,
“Oh. I’m too late, aren’t I?” The three others laughed and Desdemona patted her on the back.

Floor 13 – Belly Slots: 2.0

They continued upwards, across balance beams, up ropes (Reginald had to be put in a harness, much to his displeasure), through unstable buildings and past de Viquors insolent chattering. Currently, he was explaning excitedly about things as random as string theory and the properties of a rocket or the mechanics of, say, a spoon. Desdemona rolled her eyes and let her head loll. Boring!
“So, Mr. de Viquor, you plan to stay in the high parts of these ruins for possibly years just to work on a painting no one will look at?” She said to turn the subject away from various formulas she had no knowledge of.
“No, no, Miss Desdemona. This painting will be in the highest places, demanding attention from everyone.”
“Oh,” Desdemona said as though it wasn’t such an important matter.
“Best case scenario, it’s a tower with available canvas space both on the inside and outside. Even these paints are reinforced with something I mixed up so it won’t wash away in even the harshest weather conditions.”
“Is that so?” Desdemona said in a dead flat voice.
“You’re not even listening, are you?”
“That’s nice.”

Floor 14 – Belly Slots: 1.5

Despite the fact that he was being ignored, de Viquor went on yapping about his brilliant project. Desdemona even found small cotton bushes and stuffed a few soft bunches in her ears to drown out the drone. Anastasia got bored and started helping Reginald with the hard to reach places on his fur that was covered in speckled green paint that the Smeargle spattered on him on their last battle.
“The inside will be a reflection of the outside, so I’ll have to be able to go in and out quickly to check for my accuracy.” He said excitedly.
“Oh, really?” Desdemona said, tossing out the cotton balls for they were of no use.
“Yes, and it also appears as though we’re about to be ambushed,” he continued in the same voice.
“That’s interes—Wait, wha…?” Two Voltorb and three Magnemite rolled and flew around the corner of the building they were edging. The two Voltorb’s eyes shut tightly and they lit up, blinding them with the bright white light. The Magnemites flew safely out of range and the Voltorbs Selfdestructed, one of them fainting from the blow while the other was still in fighting condition, if not weak. The team were blown back a ways.
“Let’s get out of here!” Anastasia yelled. They turned tail and fled, three angry Magnemite and one tired Voltorb chasing after them.

Floor 15 - Belly Slots: 1.0

They came onto a flat building when a bold Magnemite flew down and Tackled de Viquor, making him fall flat on his snout and some of his painting supplies rolling out of his pack and falling over edge. Reginald stopped in his tracks and whirled around to face them. They would have to retrieve de Viquor’s supplies before they could move on, and those Magnemites were in the way. The remaining Magnemites flew down, both emitting Supersonic waves. Reginald was left with his limbs locked in place, teeth chattering and vision blurring from the high-pitched noise. The world went soundless and pulsating. The same happened to de Viquor and he sat down, staring at nothingness. Anastasia knelt down on one knee and covered her ears with her paws. Desdemona rushed back and leapt upwards, using Anastasia’s knee as a boost. She flew upwards and snatched one of the Magnemite out of the air with her black jaws, careful not to crunch down too hard like last time, lest she get another toothache. She reached in her mouth and brought out the stunned Magnemite, holding it beheath her, all four limbs holding on. They slammed onto the roof; Desdemona’s fall cushioned slightly by the Magnemite. She pulled it out and threw it into the air, swatting it with her jaws like a bat to a baseball. Apparently it was too shocked to fly when she released it. The other Magnemite stopped its Supersonic to watch her bat its friend into the side of a different building. Big mistake. With the distracting waves gone, Anastasia and ran to get a loose brick and had hit it square on the… head/back...? Who knows, who cares, the point is she hit it and sent it diving toward the ground. She Tackled it as it got within a yard of the brickwork and slammed it down like a touchdown. Reginald saw the Magnemite Anastasia took out and attempted to Tackle it, unfortunately, he thought it was a tad bit closer (he's 30 feet away) than he thought and tackled de Viquor by mistake instead. The Voltorb finally arrived and began to roll toward the Confused Reginald and Leonardo. The remaining Magnemite bashed Anastasia in the chest. As she was knocked back, she attempted to Scratch it, but missed by an inch. Desdemona ran up to it and punched its hard metal surface. It was pushed back hardly an inch and left her crouched and clutching her hand, moaning. It made a ringing sound as if laughing. Reginald accidentally kicked the Voltorb between the eyes as he and de Viquor attacked eachother. The Voltorb went crosseyed and attempted to Selfdestruct. He only managed to let off a small puff of smoke, but it did the job and it fainted anyways. Anastasia got to her feet and charged at the last Magnemite standing. It quickly flew out of her way again, making her fall on her face once more. Desdemona snuck up behind it and hit it over its head with her oversized jaws.

Floor 16 – Belly Slots: 1.5 (x1 Oran berry used)

Now that that was over with, Desdemona and Anastasia patiently waited for Reginald and de Viquor to come to their senses. Desdemona decided to stay up on the roof with the two, who kept trying to fight themselves, she might add, and gather the supplies that spilled on the roof as Anastasia collected the things that fell to the ground. She swung down on ropes and climbed down windowsills and loose brickwork, landing on the firm ground. She gathered the supplies and ran into a problem, how would she get them back up there? As if on cue, Desdemona threw their explorer bag down toward Anastasia. Anastasia packed the paints and palettes as well as reference sketches into the bag and swung it over her shoulder, making the slow ascent after everything was secured.
“Have the boys come to their senses yet?” Anastasia asked as she swung her legs over the edge and on probably firm brickwork.
“Just about.” Desdemona said, opening de Viquor’s sack and pouring the supplies from their explorer bag, back inside his. Afterwards, she scooped up the Oran berries and supplies and dropped them back in their bag where they belonged.

Floor 17 -- Belly Slots: 1.0

Reginald and de Viquor finally came to their senses and decided to pretend it didn’t happen. EVER. Desdemona reached back into the bag and brought out four Apples for them to eat on the way. This time, the Smeargle accepted the food she offered and chewed on it thoughtfully while he designed a telescope that could bend under a tower and see the outside of it in his head. As he thought, he brought out his sketchbook and jotted down some notes. A page tore off and fluttered away. Anastasia snatched it before it could blow away more and looked at it.
“What is it?” Reginald asked, looking at the drawing. It was a mechanism shaped like a loaf of bread with flat wing like things attached to the side as well as propellers attached to their tips.
“Ah,” said the Smeargle, “that is a design for a device that will allow Pokemon, wings or not, to fly through the air! And since it is capable of traveling through air and has a plane structure designed to keep the vehicle aloft. I call it the Flying-Through-The-Air-Safely-Device.”
“That’s an, um, interesting name.” Reginald said politely, “But will it work?”
“Yes,” he replied, “If you can find 200 strong and able Pokémon to turn the propellers 1000 rotations per minute.”
“Ah,” Reginald said quite relieved as Anastasia handed back the drawing. Just up ahead, what once was a clock tower started to lean over and finally collapsed on the building they were on. Most of the bricks gave way and tumbled apart, letting a few angry Houndour and a Houndoom run up to see whom had broken their home.

Floor 18 – Belly Slots: 5.0

The Houndoom let out an angry, yet mournful, Howl as she spotted the Team. The other four Houndour spotted them as well and quickly charged forward, two clouding the area with thick foul-smelling purple Smog. Desdemona countered the attack with her Sweet Scent. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough to fend off the whole thing, but fortunately it was good enough to prevent bad poisoning.
“Hey, Mister, I think we’re going to need your help on this one.” Anastasia said slowly.
“Oh dear,” said the Smeargle, carefully placing his backpack on the tile behind him and straightening his oversized beret. Just as the Houndour neared Desdemona whirled around and opened her black jaws wide open, making the two charging Houndour to quickly change direction and rush to the sides around her, into the hands of Reginald and Anastasia. Reginald leapt forward at the Houndour’s throat and Bit it hard. The Houndour quickly shook him off and countered with a jet of Embers that shot out of its throat. The flames caught and Reginald made a quick retreat, rolling on the flat part of the roof to put it out. The Houndour joined him and Tackled him while he was still rolling so that Reginald was both fighting the canine and the fire. Anastasia made motion as to claw out her opponent’s eyes, but the canine simply leapt over her head and behind her. One of his back legs hit her face by accident and they both fell quite ungracefully. Anastasia quickly leapt to her feet and brushed the dust off of her. The Houndour did the same and flamed her with a ball of fire. The Ember scorched her tail, but otherwise left her unhurt. She threw a claw before her to Scratch him, but he jumped back and belched another Ember. This time, she ducked under and clawed the dog’s face over and over again, finally able to land a few blows (Fury Swipes). Meanwhile, de Viquor, quite nervous, sidled over to Reginald who was still wrestling with a Houndoom.
“Oh, what should I do, what should I do?” He said worriedly. He decided to close his eyes and kick blindly. There was a yelp,
“de Viquor, you’re supposed to help me!” Reginald snarled accusingly as he made another move to Bite the Houndour’s jugular.
“Ah, yes, so sorry, sir.” The Smeargle apologized and made a better aimed kick toward the Houndour. It rolled off Reginald and back onto its feet, spewing Embers in every direction. Desdemona wove through the ever thinning smog and Bit a Houndour sharply on the back of the neck. She then kicked it over the edge where she heard it howl all the way down before covering her ears to avoid the sickening sound that followed. Reginald quickly finished his Houndour off and headed toward Anastasia to help her. Leonardo ran toward Desdemona and threw botches of burnt umber from his tail to the Houndour. It recoiled as if the splotches had burned and accidentally slipped off the loose roof tile.
Anastasia walloped her foe in the face and Reginald thrashed it with his tail and left it unconscious on the roof; they ran over to Desdemona and de Viquor who had already met the Houndoom. The ferocious creature had already bit de Viquor on his left arm with a Thunder Fang. Electricity coursed through his small body and he was knocked off of his feet. Reginald rushed forward and leapt through the air, catching the Smeargle by the scruff of the neck before he fell to his possible death. He broke through a window and landed in the room a story down of the building and dropped the Smeargle, running away to find a route to the roof to continue the fight. Desdemona turned around and Bit the Houndoom’s back, lifting it into the air and squeezing it in a Vice Grip. It Roared and fired an Ember straight down her throat. Making tears spring to her eyes and cough violently, dropping the dog in the process. As it landed on its feet, Anastasia had caught up to them and raked both claws along its side. Reginald had somehow found a way back to the roof and was already racing toward them, Howling to raise his battle spirits and make him run faster. As he galloped toward them, the Houndoom blasted a jet of flames at Reginald. Reginald was hit by the harsh blast, but was enough of a distraction for Anastasia and Desdemona to finish her off with Fury Swipes and a Vice Grip.

Floor 19 – Belly Slots: 4.5

Desdemona helped Reginald with his wounds while Anastasia retrieved de Viquor from the top room of the building. By the time Desdemona put out the last of the fires on Reg’s coat, Anastasia had already found the Smeargle and was towing him back to the roof area. Leonardo looked pretty out of whack, seeing that his eyes were glazed over and his mouth slightly open in shock. Desdemona gave him a hearty slap on the back, “Toughen up, big guy.” She laughed.
“Seriously though, c’mon, let’s go.” She turned around and headed toward another balance beam leading to another building. The Smeargle, face frozen, stiffly fell over and clutched to the roof tiles.
Anastasia finally managed to pry de Viquor’s clammy fingers off of the tiles. He shakily put his backpack back on his back and headed onwards.

Floor 20 – Belly Slots: 4.0

Eventually, they got to a place where a high wall stretching far blocked their path. Anastasia unsheathed her claws and began to climb the wall. She scaled to the top, wind beating at her, trying to knock her down. She gasped as she clambered over the edge on the top of the wall,
“Desdemona, quick! You’ve gotta’ see this!” She yelled down. She pulled out a lengthy rope from the explorer bag that hung across her shoulder and let it down. Desdemona tied de Viquor’s pack onto it. Anastasia, with some difficulty, pulled it up and set the pack next to her, lowering the rope again for Reginald. After Desdemona securely harnessed Reginald with the rope, she and de Viquor climbed to the top. They both pitched in to heave Reginald up the wall. Reginald's mouth gaped open when he reached the top. Just up ahead, beyond a maze of buildings and towers, lied the largest structure in the Ruins he’d seen so far.

Floor 21 -- Belly Slots: 4.5

After they had carefully climbed down the wall on the other side, they set off to the large tower. Some curious Pokémon lurked around, as if following them. They were obviously tensed up, poised as if ready to either fight or flee. All it would take was…
“Attack!” Someone shouted. Exactly that. The surrounding Pokémon charged in; the smaller ones running away while the larger and stronger ones ran toward them, not knowing why. The attackers consisted of one Houndoom, Purugly and two Persian. The Purugly flowed toward them, the way only fat cats could. It Slashed Anastasia’s chest, leaving a red slit across her chest in a diagonal path. She was taken by surprise, but quickly countered with Fury Swipes. Desdemona stepped in front of the Purugly and whirled around to show off her large toothy jaws. It jumped in the air and scrambled away, letting Desdemona chomp down on her tail as she fled. Reginald stayed by de Viquor’s side; if they got at his supplies and destroyed them, they would have to go back to get more supplies and do the whole dungeon again! He wasn’t going to take that chance. The two Persians slunk close to him; one made Feint to the right and then rocketed left to Attack. It knocked him on his side and the other ran toward de Viquor, Growling threateningly. Reginald rolled upright and lunged at the Persian, Biting its flank. It yowled in pain as his teeth sank into its flesh, and kicked him away with one of its hind legs. He tumbled backwards, but leapt back to his feet and Roared at it in anger and annoyance. His patience had long ago been used up; as the Persian fled, he followed up behind it and Tackled it, Biting it’s jugular as it attempted to escape. The feline Pokemon finally fainted out of fatigue and horror. He quickly left the Persian and reentered the fray to help de Viquor with his remaining opponent. Meanwhile, Desdemona and Anastasia had the Houndoom to fight, as well as the Purugly who had previously run away out of sheer fright. Desdemona closed her eyes; colorless liquid dripped out of the scent glands behind her wrists and neck and filled the air with a Sweet Scent. The Purugly was left temporarily dazed just long enough for Anastasia to go up to it and frighten it away again with Fake Out. The Houndoom, the last for them to fight, ran up to Anastasia and Beat her Up with a flurry of head-butts, kicks, bites and tail whips. Anastasia was sent flying into the air, crashed through the floor and landed on the hard concrete of the floor below. Desdemona gasped and snapped her oversized jaws at the horned canine, he leapt back and dodged her attacks with ease. She growled in frustration and decided to just barge at it; this took it by surprise as she head-butted it in the chest, hitting him with her black jaws as an afterthought. He landed unconscious on the floor with a thud and Desdemona rushed to help Anastasia, not looking back. Leonardo took a few nervous steps backward as the Persian came closer. Luckily, Reginald arrived by the time it was about to pounce on de Viquor and Reginald leapt forward and Bit its tail. As it roared and whipped around, de Viquor tripped its legs out from underneath it and it fell down. As it leapt to its feet, it found Desdemona’s jaws wrapped around its body, squeezing tight. She released it after a while and it scampered away, whimpering like a kicked spaniel.

Floor 22 – Belly Slots: 4.0

“We’re nearly there!” Anastasia shouted with glee. She bounded ahead of everyone on all fours excitedly.
“Now, when we get there, there will be, without a doubt, some other fellows living in the tower and it would behoove you to talk with them and convince them to let me paint the tower without them dirtying it in any way.” Said de Viquor.
“Yes, mother,” Anastasia chortled as she danced ahead of them.
“I think what he means is to chase away anyone living there and beat the crap out of whoever isn’t willing to.” Desdemona said.
“Now, now, Desdemona!” Reginald scolded, “We should do just as he says.”
“Aww!” Desdemona and Anastasia sighed in unison, “But that’s no fun!” They exploded into mirth. Reginald sighed in defeat.
“Let’s just hope no one lives there.” He said.

Floor 23 – Belly Slots: 3.5

Reginald stood patiently at the base of the tower, the huge cylinder structure looming overhead like a big ominous castle. Now all he needed was a mournful howl in the background and some thunder and lightning and the picture would be complete. Anastasia came galloping towards him on all fours while Desdemona cantered beside her.
“No sign of any entrance around the base of the tower, Reginald.” Anastasia reported, trying to catch her breath. Reginald frowned,
“Looks like we’re going to have to scale it.” He said disappointedly.
“How’re you gonna get up there?” Desdemona asked skeptically. Leonardo pointed excitedly to a broken down wagon with nothing but the floor and two wheels left.
“We can send him flying over to the top! If I could find something that weighs enough…” He mumbled off and started flipping through the pages of his sketchbook, stopping at a rather crammed page and began writing notes. As he shambled off, Desdemona and Anastasia set out to search for a reasonably sized rock or piece of wall.

Floor 24 - Belly Slots: 3.0

In about thirty minutes, they found a suitably sized piece of wall; the wall being part of the structure behind what once was a wagon, but now a sort of teeter-totter, angled and positioned in a way so that Reginald would not go splat on the wall and save de Viquor a lot of trouble for red paint and just in the right position that he would not go flying over the tower either. Reginald and de Viquor’s pack was set into position and Desdemona ran inside the building behind the wagon and pushed a section of wall. The building was already near collapsing point, so it was easy to tip over a large piece of the wall. The wall fell down on the raised plank and Reginald flew upwards, landing at the top edge perfectly. While the others climbed up the wall, Reginald looked down into the tower; it was like a huge cup, with not much of a roof than a five foot wide or so edge to climb on. There were a series of wooden logs attached to the walls to serve as a sort of staircase leading downwards. He found a loose brick and kicked it over the edge, listening for a thump. After about a minute, he heard a shriek and a series of cursing, sliding as if chairs and tables were being slid across the floor, and the shuffling of feet as if various Pokemon were running. By the time the rest of the team got up, five Smeargles had run all the way to the top and was charging at the team, one noticeably hurt by the swelling lump on its head from the brick Reginald dropped.
“Charge!” One of them shouted. The yeller ran up to Reginald and spewed a long jet of flames like a Flamethrower. Reginald was taken by surprise and got hit on the shoulder. Desdemona ran up to it and scooped it up in her long black jaws, squeezing it in a Vice Grip. The Mawile spat it out and threw it into the air, swatting it as it fell down to the next building over where it landed harshly and fell unconscious. Anastasia ran up to the one with the noticeably large bruise and swept a claw its way. It dodged and Slashed the side of her head with its sharp claws. She snapped at the hand and Bit down on its paw. It Howled and shook her off, and she lunged at it and Bit its shoulder. She punched it in the face to finish it off and turned to a new Smeargle. As she turned to face it, it opened its mouth and released a foul-smelling Smog like a Koffing. She gasped In surprise and fell into a coughing fit; it hurt but she was not poisoned. She quickly slashed her claws over and over on its chest and it took a step back, letting Smoke pour out of its mouth in an effective Screen. Reginald ran toward them and Tackled the Smeargle, sending it tumbling away where it hit its head hard on a set of old wall and passed out. The two turned around at a bright light behind them and ducked just in time for a Spark ball of electricity to fly over their heads. Reginald rushed toward the guilty Smeargle and Bit it sharply on the throat while Anastasia proceeded to Scratch its arm and Desdemona jumped in to wallop it over the head with her oversized jaws. It let out a Sonic Boom, knocking them away from it, but it fainted after the attack out of exhaustion. That was three down, two to go. Reginald ran toward the fourth Smeargle. The Smeargle raised its hands overhead and a small ball of light formed; it raised its hands and the ball grew dramatically. He finally threw the Power Gem at the Poochyena. The hit knocked him back a few feet, and Anastasia ran up to it and Scratched it sharply. It Screeched in pain and Bit her arm. Desdemona stepped in and Astonished it, then Bit it’s arm. Reginald finished it off with a Tackle. The last of the gang, probably the leader, sent a Sludge Bomb flying toward them and then covered itself with Acid Armor. Desdemona received the Sludge Bomb full in the face. She wiped it off angrily and ran forward to Bite it. It did little damage, but still made it cringe. Anastasia Scratched at its armor and Reginald tried to Bite its limbs, but they didn’t seem to do as much damage as they should have. The Smeargle picked up its tail and sketched a roughly spherical shape in the air. It grabbed the shape, which turned into a Mud Bomb and threw it at Anastasia where it exploded at her feet. Desdemona filled the air with a Sweet Scent and Reginald Tackled it while it stood dazed and it fell over, unconscious with the rest of its gang.

Floor 25 – Belly Slots: 2.5

Leonardo looked down at the cavernous tower with a smile and ran down the steps leading down to the bottom of the structure. By the time the team gathered all the unconscious Smeargle in a pile, de Viquor ran back up and beckoned them.
“It’s wonderful! Come see, come see.” He ran back down the steps like a child on Christmas morning running downstairs to the livingroom. The team followed; it was quite dark down there, but the Smeargle had already lit a few candles from his large backpack and strewn around the room. There were overturned tables, old chairs and… half a brick? Reginald looked guiltily to the walls as if drawn in by the interesting patterns of the over and underlaping bricks, avoiding anyone’s gaze. The walls on the inside were covered in graffiti, although most of it was spelt correctly. Most of the bricks in the wall were set crookedly or stuck out halfway or in.
“Wow, this place is a mess.” Reginald said, kicking a pebble on the cold dirt floor.
“Yes, it’ll need some work and I’ll probably spend the next few years here, painting.” He said, flipping the table upright and dumping his backpack’s contents all over it.
“by the way, on your leave, can you take care of those Smeargles out on the roof? I’m afraid they might try to come back in if they wake up soon.”

Floor 26 – Belly Slots: 2.0

“Well, we made it.” Anastasia said as they walked back up.
“Yep, another job well done,” Desdemona said, scooping a body up and throwing it over Reginald’s back to carry back down. Anastasia threw a Smeargle over her shoulder and Desdemona did the same with another, scooping the last in her jaws to carry down. They couldn’t get the last one who was still lying unconscious of the building over. They slowly made their descent to the bottom and by the time they got there, de Viquor was already sketching away on the uneven wall, throwing some paint here and there. The three laid out the bodies and turned to de Viquor,
“We’ll take them on our way out, is that alright?” Reginald asked.
“Ah, yes, sure. Please take them back to the beginning of the ruins, if it’s not much trouble.” He said. “And thank you for bringing me here,” he added.
“You’re welcome,” Reginald said.

Mission complete
Total items used: Oran berry x8, Apple x4
Total enemies defeated: 8 Battles, 32 foes
Smeargle [x6], Houndour[x4], Houndoom[x2], Glameow[x3], Purugly[x2], Meowth[x2], Persian[x2], Magnemite [x5], Voltorb[x2], Koffing[x2], Grimer[x2]
21 pages in OO.

Reginald chewed on his lip. He was tempted to take in the Smeargle for another member, but -- he glanced at Desdemona -- by the way she was looking at the Normal-type, that was not going to be an option.
"Mr. Leonardo..." he started, looking for the right words. The middle-aged Pokemon waved his hand in the air and shook his head.
"No, no. I get your point. I'm way past my prime, it is true, and--" he chuckled, "I caused you people way too much trouble. However, would you mind if I sort of... followed your team occasionally?" He asked.
"Sure, that would be fine." Reginald replied.
"Of course, just to study!" He added. "Arividerchi!" He trilled before speeding off with the flick of a tail. Desdemona fumed, wiping off burnt umber paint from her face. Mere moments after he stepped out, one of the Houndours trotted in, saying he had no home now and needed a place to stay. It was painful to decline, but the canine merely nodded and trudged out.
A few days later, a banner arrived at their doorstep:

No doubt from their friend the Smeargle. On the backside was a single paw print in burnt umber paint.
((I'd like to have the Smeargle as an 'other' character; not in the team, but just another character, if that is possible. Now I shall open up an art shop! Yay! From now on, teams might notice some creepy Smeargle following them while on missions, and will leave random pieces of art at their doorsteps.))

“Man... This is the life.” The Poochyena lay stretched out on the bed, with his hind legs pointing straight behind him and his front paws stretched all the way out. “We've got some nice, good beds. Easy food. Lots to do. And no one ever looks at us funny.”

“Yeah...” The Houndour lay beside the Poochyena, stretched out exactly the same way. A look of content was present on both of their faces. “Why didn't we come here before?”

“Nnngh...” The Meowth stretched out his arms and his legs. He stared up at the ceiling from his spot beside Alex. “I don't know. I really don't.”

“Yeah...” The Sneasel lay with his sword beside him and a pillow under his head. “I'm bored as hell.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I'm kinda bored too...”

“Same here.”

“...So let's do something.” The Ekans' head rose from the spiral mass in the corner. “We're a part of the guild, now. We can take missions or bounties.”

“True... True.” Gabriel stretched out on the bed before hopping off and landing easily on his feet. “Let's go, then. We'll see just what there is out there.”

~~~~~

The team walked straight past the mission board in favour of going to the bounty board. Missions were always so much more constrained. Do this, do that, put on a good face for the client... It wasn't exactly their “thing”, so to speak. People would raise a fuss if it was a mission, but with a bounty they were unsupervised, and, well, only the end result really mattered.

But, much to their collective chagrin, there was only a single bounty. And it wasn't a terribly interesting one, either. It wasn't a murderer, it wasn't a criminal gang... it was a domestic disturbance. A Skuntank that couldn't keep it's spray under control.

“But...” Gabriel plucked the bounty off the board.”It's not like there's anything else we can do. Unless we want to take a mission and deal with a client, this is it.” He looked at the bounty once more before looking back over his shoulder. “Anyone mind?”

“...I can't say I'm really interested in it, but there doesn't seem to be much of an alternative. We might as well take it, since there's nothing else we can really do.” The rest of the crew gave their varied agreement, most concisely summarized as “it's better than nothing.”

“Alright.” He held the listing high into the air and waved it at the Farfetch'd. “Hey, we'll be taking this one.”

~~~~~

The city seemed to close around them as they walked in. Tall, menacing buildings stood packed against one another in some forlorn attempt to conserve space. Paints of every colour stretched across the canvas of the city in crude writing, spelling out hundreds of different names. Trash littered the streets and drowned out the alleys, no doubt a result of the long absence of any kind of trash disposal.

James started coughing loudly as the scent hit him like a brick wall. His nose was scrunched in a vain effort to avoid the smell and his eyes had begun to water. “It reeks. How does anyone live here?”

Cedric and Alex were having similar reactions behind him. Gabriel and Amanda were unharmed, no doubt due to a much weaker sense of smell. “We'll try to get through quick, alright?”

James nodded. “Yeah, please. I don't think I'll be able to stand this place too much longer.”

It became quickly evident that the city's occupants weren't terribly fond of explorer's. Most of them kept a keen eye on the team as they walked through the streets, but none would meet them. The few attempts that were made to speak with the locals had them simply disappear into the shadows of dark alleyways and abandoned buildings. With the faint scent of rotting garbage masking the city itself, it was impossible for them to track the creature. The thicker, more disgusting smells they followed would often bring them to a rotting corpse. They simply walked and walked, hoping to find either someone friendly enough or a sign of the Skuntank itself.

It was the first pokemon they encountered that didn't run from them. A lone Smeargle who stood in the middle of the street. His tail swished around expertly, leaving the cracked concrete as his canvas. The Sneasel stepped onto the still-damp paint, but wasn't given a chance to speak. “Ah! You ruined my painting! You will pay with your life!”

The Smeargle's tail whipped behind him, sending the paint splattering to the ground. A quick spin of his tail and a small ball of flames floated out, charting a slow moving course for Gabriel.

The Sneasel simply stepped aside. The small ball of fire collided with the Houndour behind him, who blinked a few times. “Hey, boss... I know it smells pretty bad here, but I'm gettin' kind of hungry anyways...”

Gabriel stole a quick glance at Cedric and James who both bore an expression that seemed to suggest “I could go for a snack.” The Sneasel finally shrugged his shoulders. “Knock yourselves out.” He sat down just outside of the paint, leaving his friends to do their work.

The Smeargle only began to understand his fate as the four carnivores advanced upon him in unison, each one licking their lips.

~~~~~

A pair of eyes poked out from under a pile of garbage. It's owner had come to the city in the hopes of finding a place of acceptance. His kind wasn't very well liked in many places, but he had hoped that this would be different. That this city, with all of it's trash and foul-smelling poison types, would accept him.

Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case for Morty. His smell was far more foul than that of the Koffing or Muk. The trash that rotted in the alleyways paled in comparison to to even a small amount of his spray. As it had been before, he was hated. The only thing that had changed for him was the scenery.

Morty looked out into the streets. There was an unusual sight there, of sorts. One of the Smeargle that inhabited the city were being devoured no more than perhaps thirty feet away. That wasn't that unusual, but the people eating him were. Houndour and Meowth were a common enough sight, but there weren't any Ekans, Poochyena or Sneasels living here as far as he knew...

The Sneasel glanced around idly, and for just a brief moment, their eyes met. The Skuntank froze in place. The ice-type's body became perfectly still, with only his mouth moving slowly. The movement was barely perceptible from the distance, but his four teammates all perking up and following his gaze was obvious.

They were there to hunt him.

Morty quickly dashed out of the pile of trash. He did a quick turn and was out of the alley in an instant. In faint wisps and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Sneasel start shouting orders before getting up to chase him.

Morty did a quick, sharp turn left and started sprinting down the road. The Sneasel was already behind him and was catching up fast. “Hnn... Hn... Hnn...” The Houndour and the Poochyena popped out from another alley further up, blocking his path down the road. Morty came to a sharp stop, looking for somewhere to run.

His body turned as he spun in place wildly in an effort to find a way out. The alleys were all too close, they couldn't be used. The shop! The shop, that would work!

Morty sprinted straight towards one of the buildings. A pair of wide double-doors crashed open as he sent his weight hurtling into them, snapping the worn out lock and breaking the hinges as they slammed back. After a momentary daze, he scrambled to his feet and sprinted into an open washroom. There was a single, open window, seemingly too tiny for his frame.

“Gotta run, gotta run...” But that didn't stop him. Morty leaped up, getting his front paws through the frame, and started to pull himself though. As he popped through the other side in a burst of force and pain, he could faintly hear his pursuers shouting behind him.

“Take it! Head out and go around both sides!”

A set of claws dug into the holes of the worn out concrete. Morty scrambled out of the dumpster he had landed in and hit the concrete with a thud. He had to choose; left or right. “Which one... which one!?”

“Found ya.”

Morty spun about to see the Sneasel climbing out of the window. His sword was missing, not that the Skuntank took the time to notice. The stench enveloped the area and Morty was gone, leaving only his scent behind. The Sneasel began gagging and coughing, the sound muffled only by his collapse into the mass of garbage bags.

He could hear the faint shouts of two of them behind him. He had just barely managed to get out before they would have trapped him. But the path he chose was the wrong one. It quickly turned and ended in a metal fence, leaving him without an escape.

The sound of footsteps were terrifyingly loud as Morty spun in place, trying desperately to find a way out. “Gotta be... Gotta be a way out...” But as much as he spun, there wasn't a way to be found. “Can't turn back... gotta get past the fence but how!?”

He couldn't climb it, that was obvious. He couldn't break it down... or could he? The Skuntank's tail took aim and shot out a small, concentrated blast of acid. Although his gas smelled extremely foul normally, if concentrated it was potent enough to melt even the metal that blocked him.

A small circle melted out and Morty carefully pushed the loose piece. The degraded metal gave way with ease, leaving an open gap in the fence that the Skuntank quickly set to squeezing through. But it was too small for him. Though his body would tighten to fit through the hole, the acid-tipped ends of the fence would drag along his skin. Tears of pain leaked from his eyes, but he did not stop.

His own shallow, gasping breaths nearly drowned out the sound of his pursuers. Morty was back on his feet in a moment and running. But he was exhausted. The group chasing him, on the other hand, seemed energetic. They were enjoying it. Why were they chasing him!? What did they have against him!? Why do they keep chasing me!? Why can't I just be left alone... All I want is somewhere to settle down, but no one ever leaves me alone!

The next thing Morty realized he was slipping through a half-open door. Some rocks had been placed carefully to prevent it from closing. The front desk, elevator, stairs... An apartment building?

He didn't have time to consider it. They were close behind. The Sneasel had scooped up the Ekans, robbing Morty of his only speed advantage. He couldn't keep running. He was tired and he wasn't as fast to begin with. He had to had to had to find a way out, somewhere, something that he could do to lose them or slow them down...

That door! It would work. It was open, there had to be someone inside or some way out or... something... He would have to try.

The inside of the room was useless. There was nothing there. Nowhere to go... only a small washroom but that wouldn't help. But... The window! There was a fire escape... It was the only other way out and he couldn't turn around...

So out he went. With one leap, he curled up and smashed through the window. The impact showered both himself and the sturdy, metal stairs in glass. Blood splattered across the metal and glass as he struggled to ignore the pain and continue onwards.

Up, up the stairs! It was the only way... up to the roof. There would be something there. There had to be... something there. If there wasn't, he didn't have any other way. The stairs flew under him as he ran fuelled by pain and adrenaline. He smashed into the railing when the stairs finally levelled off, leaving him at the flat roof.

The flat, empty, roof. The dread was immediate. He started to spin anxiously in an effort to find a way out, but his paw pulsed with a sharp pain. A small piece of glass had embedded itself firmly inside. He could hear the shaking and banging as the five of them stomped up the stairs as fast as they could.

There was only one way out. There was a door back into the building, but it was tightly locked. So he had to jump. Another building was nearby. It was a little lower, so he could make it... He would have to make it. The alternative was getting caught, and who knew what they would do to them if he did.

He gathered his strength and readied his body as he heard the five coming up behind him, getting constantly closer. He finally burst from the spot, sprinting as fast as he could. He ran all the way to the edge of the building and jumped.

~~~~~

Gabriel carefully leaned over the edge of the building, looking down at the pavement below. “I guess that's that, then.”

“Awww! Really? That's such a boring way for this to end... I was having a lot of fun, too!”

“It happens sometimes. At least we can get out of the city now.”

“Yeah... I guess so. Such a dull ending, though.”

“...We should get moving. Scavengers will start arriving soon.”

WANTED: Zangoose
We don't know where he came from, but he keeps attacking us claiming he's looking for someone! We don't know who, but just get rid of him!
Last Seen: Urban Ruins


TUUUUUUUUUUBES

((Doing this really quick, my apologies. I'm about to get barked at again to do stuff.

Rewards:
-1000 PD
-A thank you note from a civilian of the ruins that had caught eye of your struggle. It's accompanied by a small pouch holding a Mirror Coat TM and 3 Oran Berries.))