Shit.
Having to pee in the middle of the night was a hell of a lot more inconvenient in the wilderness.
Before I could just walk to the bathroom while half asleep. Sometimes my eyes stayed closed the whole time.
But now, I had to get all the way up. Then I had to leave the warmth of the tent to enter the brisk darkness of the night.
The cold air sobered me up immediately. Any waning sense of drowsiness had been ripped away by the freezing temperatures. I had grabbed a sweatshirt, but it still hadn't prepared me enough. A tent warmed by a fire type had spoiled me.
There were some ditches in the area behind the campfire where we were supposed to do our business.
That had been a rude awakening.
Having to go number 2 for the first time since leaving.
Captain Siba had laughed his throaty cackle. He'd proceeded to hand me a shovel and a roll of toilet paper.
It had been really gross the first couple times. Squatting over open air was far worse than sitting on a toilet seat. It felt wrong.
Like man had regressed a couple thousand years. Which in a way it was.
But I was over it now. There were worse things to deal with.
The camp was very dimly lit. There were two Zoroarks among the company of rangers. They had to switch off in shifts to cover the camp in an illusion.
However, light was something that was very hard to cover with an illusion. So while the Zoroark had to work extra hard during the evening campfire, all other times of the night the light was kept at a minimum to make it easier to sustain the illusions.
So there were wooden pikes lining the walkway between tents, each with very small flames, only a little bigger than a standard candle.
The camp was devoid of sound. It was the dead of night, so everyone should be asleep. Especially after the exhaustion and stress from doing the circuit under a time crunch.
Wait.
It was really quiet. Eerily quiet.
Something was missing.
There were no ambient sounds of the forests. The forest was significantly quieter at night, but it wasn't this quiet.
There were usually the sounds of the nocturnal predators on the prowl. The flaps and hoots of Noctowl and Crobat in the skies.
The constant chirps of Kriketune and other bugs.
There was none of that right now.
Shit.
The torches were even dimmer than usual. And they seemed to be dimming more by the second.
When I had left my tent, they were low flames the size of a baseball. Now they had weakened to mere flickers of light.
What was going on?
I started walking more briskly. I was grateful that getting up had been enough of a process that the chore of grabbing my belt had dropped from inconvenience to just part of the process of leaving the tent.
I felt far more comfortable knowing I could release Zuko and Azula at a moment's notice.
There was only one place I could check if things were going wrong or not.
The center of the camp, where a Ranger would be on standby with a psychic and a Zoroark. They would be in contact with whichever Ranger was patrolling, and would know what was going on.
While the Zoroark happened to switch out just between each other, the middle sentry could be any Ranger with a good enough psychic connection to a psychic Pokémon. They simply needed to be able to scan the area and be capable of contacting the patrolling Ranger.
So while it was Norton most of the time, since he was the most capable and experienced in it, it could be anyone.
I had at least gotten to conversation level with every Ranger after the circuit though.
And being cautious wouldn't be something I should get chewed out for. Probably. So long as it isn't Layton.
Right. Layton doesn't have a psychic type, so I'm in the clear.
The torches seemed to dim even further, but they were at such a low ambient light level to begin with that I couldn't tell if I was imagining things.
They definitely seemed like they were darker than when I had left, but when I looked at them specifically they didn't seem like they were changing.
So if someone was doing something, they were doing it slowly enough that I couldn't see the change happening actively.
I turned the corner to the main area.
Fuck.
Double fuck.
My breath started hitching in my throat, and I scrambled back around the corner.
My breaths started getting faster and faster. I felt like I was hyperventilating. I clawed at my chest.
Fuck.
What the hell was that?
I didn't get a good look before I hid. I had been expecting just a simple Ranger next to two pokemon. One psychic, and one Zoroark.
Instead, there was a Gallade passed out on the ground. There had been no Zoroark anywhere to be seen.
And the Ranger. The Ranger had been suspended in the air, halfway swallowed by some abomination.
There were vines. Vines that connected to the canopy above. They drooped above the middle of the camp, connected to something dangling below.
The green monster. It had a bulbous plant connected to its back. Its beady eyes had zeroed in on me immediately. And it had grinned.
And what's worse, I recognized the Ranger that it was dissolving in its trap. There had been two swords on his back.
His face was red from hanging upside down, but he was clearly passed out. He was slowly getting pulled farther into the plant, feet first. It had been up to mid thigh when I had looked.
Whatever the monster was, it did not want to kill him quickly.
I looked out into the dark night. Now that I was specifically looking for it, I could see many dark striations in the air.
There were dozens of them.
Vines hanging from the canopy. And I now knew what was connected to each and every one. There had to be at least a dozen green abominations, each with a hunger for blood.
I couldn't move. I couldn't think. If the monsters could even take him out, what chance did I have?
And then the screams started.
From all around the camp I heard the sounds of commotion as people awoke to the night terrors coming to kill them.
I peeked around the corner.
Fuck.
Gallade did not look like he was in good condition. Passed out on the ground, every single breath was haggard. His body was caked in powders. Each struggling breath sent puffs of yellow and purple dust into the air. Sleep and poison powder.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
In the side of his torso, where a kidney could be, was a sharp dark green razor leaf. The razor leaf was coated in black smoke which continued to pool off of the green razor leaf. Every couple seconds Gallade's body shuddered as more void energy was released in his system, small spurts of black lightning wracking his body, violently reacting with his psychic makeup.
My breaths were short and panicked. The cold night air caked each breath with frost. My heart was hammering in my chest.
What were my options?
Running meant leaving Tristan to die. It also would probably mean me dying. There was absolutely nowhere that I could run to where I would be safe.
Fighting seemed like instant death.
My body remained frozen as my brain stuttered from being unable to follow its standard fight or flight reflex.
I felt a pokeball wiggle on my waist.
And just like that the world faded away for a second. A warm feeling came over me. Like a peaceful and warm summer breeze. Telling me everything was going to be okay.
In the dark, surrounded by the sounds of battle, I had never felt more alone. I don't know how, but Azula had just reminded me that was not the case. I could still feel her fire warming my every nerve.
You magnificent fucking lizard.
I still very much doubted that things were going to be okay. In fact I knew it for sure. Gallade was as good as dead. He would probably need days of recovery as it stood now. Tristan was in the same boat.
All the other rangers were either dead or fighting. And it very well could be a losing battle.
Things had never been more shitty. Kommo-o had proved that impossible challenges do exist. I had set my mind to get stronger because of it. But I sure as hell wasn't ready to test it so soon after.
I took a deep breath in.
I centered my jaw.
My eyes sharpened.
I felt the cold air around me, breathing it in. The chill set about a clarity in me. An icy clarity. Fear didn't benefit me here. In fact, I couldn't afford to be afraid.
There were no save states. There was no pausing. I couldn't just look up the answer. No, there was only the challenge.
If I solved it, I would live another day. If I failed, or even made a single misstep anywhere along the way, I would die.
The stakes had never been higher. I felt my body start to well up with energy as any semblance of tiredness fled from my mind.
I peeked around the corner one last time. My eyes had finally fully adjusted to the dark. I could see the green creature hanging upside down from its vines. It seemed to notice me, cocking its head and staring at me with an innocent smile.
A spout of rage welled up in me. This world was mocking me. Bulbasaur was supposed to be a pure and innocent creature.
Not this terrifying abomination.
I tried to shove down the rage as I felt it begin to consume me. If I let my anger control me, I would die here. A hot anger would burn out my critical thinking.
Instead, a cold fury began to set in. My mind sharpened with icy clarity, hell bent with one purpose.
To destroy this abomination.
I released Zuko. I couldn't afford to release Azula. Her tail flame made her an easy target. And the flame would also ruin my night vision. The Starfallen Ivysaur and Bulbasuar clearly had developed some kind of Void subtyping, and would easily be able to see in the dark. Dark types were notorious for hunting in the pitch black of night.
So it would only serve to give them even more of an advantage. I would like to have her as a last resort, in case I just need to burn everything down. I can't do that if she gets killed before she even sees an enemy.
Zuko's eyes mirrored mine.
His childish recklessness was gone for the moment. It was as if he could feel my fury. His typical gleeful sadistic playfulness was absent. There was a storm behind his blood red irises. A hurricane, tempered by sheer willpower. Something that could shred apart the world, a chaotic maelstrom that merely needed to be given a target. He looked up to me, waiting.
"Slash its vines, don't hold back."
Dirt shot up towards me as the yellow form blurred into motion. I continued walking forward, letting the dirt wash over me. I kept my head on a swivel. I paid attention to every single sound I heard. Every scream, every bellow, every screech, every rustle of the grass, I honed in on my instincts.
If something caught me from behind, I was dead. I couldn't afford to solely rely on my eyesight here.
Zuko slashed through the two sets of vines on the left, making the Ivysaur drop to the ground. Tristan was still lodged in its flower, the purple poisons leaking out as the flower tipped over.
The Ivysaur let out a visceral screech.
Immediately something whipped out of the shadows. I jumped left to dodge the blur of motion. I heard a whistle as it whizzed past, slicing through the air, and then a thunk behind me. I turned to see a wooden post shaking behind me, something sharp and green lodged deep in the wood..
I looked closer to see a dark green razor leaf, coated in black energy.
I tried to track where it came from, but it didn't seem like there was anything there but shadows. I heard snarling and turned to see Zuko grappling with a Bulbasaur. Its vines gripped around each of his limbs. Zuko released electricity into the Bulbasaur, but it fizzled out against its highly resistant flesh.
"Zuko…" I was about to tell him to iron claw, but before I could even finish he had sliced through all the vines. He slowly stood up on his hind legs, his brow furrowed together in focus, and charged forward against the Bulbasaur with his claws extended out in a silvery sheen.
He could hold his own.
I turned back to the Ivysaur. It was trying to stand up, but was stuck trying to keep Tristan lodged in its flower while reaching up into the trees with its vines.
I considered my options. I wasn't ready to call my last resort yet. There were too many unknowns. I had no idea how many of these things there were, and attracting attention seemed like a terrible idea. As of right now Azula would either fasttrack our deaths, or delay death a couple minutes at most.
I couldn't afford to stand around thinking.
I grabbed the pokeball from my belt. There was a small bolt of lightning on it. Pokeballs were one of the few things I really went out of my way to research. That sort of tech was too unique for me to not try and figure out. Even though they really didn't release any information about the specs of the actual tech behind it, I did learn a thing or two.
I held the button in the middle of the pokeball for three seconds. I then tapped the button twice. Then I held it for three more seconds. I heard a beep, and the button softly glowed red for a second.
Well shit. Here goes.
I cocked my arm. I hadn't thrown a baseball in years. This pokeball weighed about the same. I couldn't afford to miss right now anyway.
Zuko's pokeball was no longer coded to his DNA. It no longer would return him if I pressed the center button. This pokeball with the little lightning bolt was now an untethered catching contraption that was the culmination of centuries of cutting edge technology.
The cold air of the night was filled with commotion. There were less screams now. Anybody that had been ambushed was likely already dead or unconscious. The only ones left were the ones still fighting, and they wouldn't be the kind to scream.
I could hear Zuko snarling nearby along with the sound of two other creatures, likely Starfallen Bulbasaur, screaming out in pain. They couldn't hope to match his speed.
The noise faded to the background.
It was just me and the abomination in front of me. The Ivysaur's flower spurted up a splash of purple poison as it tried to force itself to its feet, splashing over Tristan. A bit splashed onto Gallade, who remained unconscious on the ground. The poison fizzled on the fine fur, vaporizing down to the skin below. The Ivysaur seemed struck with indecision, forced to choose whether to release its prey to fight me, or to try and kill me without letting go of its vice grip around Tristan's legs. Its vines dug into the ground as it forced itself up, eyeing me down.
I saw its vines reach into the bottom of its flower, grabbing more razor leaves from the pool of void energy in the depths of its dark flower petals. It contorted its flower, pulling Tristan down further into the depths of the acidic poison. It was now up to mid thigh.
I gave one last look at the pokeball. I had already committed to this. For the rest of the night, I wouldn't be able to return Zuko. There was no more running. There was only the fight. There was only survival.
The red and white pokeball whipped through the air, slamming into the Ivysaur's head. The ball bounced up into the air.
The green stout creature turned into red energy, and was sucked up into the ball.
The ball clunked onto the ground, shining in the reflection of the torches nearby.