Last of the Wilds [Private]

[Australian Chaos]

Dazed, and sore from the vicious Ground-type attack, but still okay...his old pack could dish out harder hits than that, even after accounting for his weakness to Ground attacks, and his experience with his old pack had at the very least given him a rather high threshold for pain.

Shaking off the oncoming headache from where his head had hit the ground, Tanga looked up, having missed Viola's first call, just in time to see her prone form jump up as the Arbok approached, a blast Tanga managed to identify as Confuse Ray striking the purple snake directly, the Trainer's efforts to command it futile as the now-confused Pokemon lost track of it's adversary.

Tanga was forced to snap back to reality as Viola called for him to make his move, and move he did...Viola, while having confused the Arbok, was still way too close to the thrashing snake...and he was not about to see her captured...not now, not just after meeting her. Something snapped in his mind, and a side of himself that he only let show when Trainers attempted to capture him came out.

Tanga's fur stood up as he scrambled to his feet, his silver tail-star already glowing a bright blue colour as he wound up the Thunder Wave attack, a menacing growl rippling from his throat as he sent the bright blue electrical pulse at the confused snake, acting on pure instinct.

But Tanga's lack of battle skills undid his efforts...the Thunder Wave missing the snake by a couple of inches as he paid of price of trying to be too hasty. An added issue of this was that, with the attack having come so close, the Arbok now turned its attention on him, and though it was confused, it was still highly aggressive, and now furious at it's attackers.

for a few moments, Tanga considered sending out a violent Discharge attack, one of the few attacks he could use with constant success. But with Viola there, he didn't dare even try, he was not going to hurt her over this...not after how kind she had been so far.

As the Arbok charged, Tanga heard the Trainer call for a Poison Fang attack, apparantly having gotten over the shock of seeing this highly unique Luxray. The snake took a moment to register the command through the confusion, but did shake it off long enough to attack Tanga with purpose.

Yelping as he saw the Arbok's fangs drip with it's toxic venom as it prepared the attack, Tanga tried to leap out of the way...only for one of his legs to protest the action, obviously still aching from the Earthquake. Stumbling awkwardly, Tanga knew he was in trouble, having only a split-second to brace himself before he felt the Arbok's jaws clamp around his shoulder, an agonised roar escaping his throat, feeling the fangs pierce his fur and flesh, knowing that the snake's poison must already be seeping into his system.

back in his pack, when he was attacked, he would generally just curl up to protect his most sensitive and vital limbs and take the beating, knowing that fighting back was useless. But this time...this time he had Viola...she had offered to be his friend...and right here, right now...he knew what he should have answered. His eyes snapped open once more, electricity seeming to crackle through them as a spark of life he had never experienced took him over...the Arbok may have Poisoned him, but he was not going to let Viola suffer the same fate.

"Dodge this!" he growled at the Arbok, before shoving his tail-star directly into the Arbok's wide, flared neck, and unleashing a sloppy, if potent, Thundershock, giving the snake enough of a zap to force him to let go, causing Tanga to stagger away from the purple menace, coincidentally towards Viola, already feeling the effect of the Poison leaving him mildly dizzy and light-headed...maybe that Earthquake had hit him harder than he thought...

[Zorayda]

Viola cried out in dismay as she say Tanga's attack miss the giant poison-type Pokemon and provoke its attack upon the weakened electric lion. She could see Tanga's various injuries from the Earthquake attack, an attack that was strong against anything electric... As the snake lunged at Tanga, she saw the lion stumble... and the arbok landed its Poison Fang attack.

"NO!" She screamed, horrified that her first real new friend was now a victim of deadly poison. She could already see the lion trembling from its effects... what could she do? Viola pranced back and forth behind the huge snake, but it was only a split second later when the arbok reared back once more, agonized by Tanga's bold electric attack. In its momentary pain, the arbok's fangs slid out of the electric lion's shoulder, sending him stumbling towards Viola. His stance was weak and slightly drunken--his gaze seemed unfocused. The vulpix looked at him sternly.

"You shouldn't have done that, I can take care of myself! Don't do anything else to hurt yourself, I'll take this monster down," she scolded, worried. As an afterthought, she very quickly gave the cat a nuzzle under his chin--the only place she could reach of his face. Snarling, she launched herself in front of the snake, who had regained its bearings and began circling the small fox Pokemon.

"You don't get to hurt my friends and get away with it!" Viola growled, hoping she sounded more impressive than she felt. That was the only downside to being an unevolved Pokemon... lack of intimidation.

"Arbok, wrap!" The trainer yelled, and Viola let the snake gather her up in its coils. She kept her face down until she was close enough to the arbok to look it in its horrible yellow eyes. It hesitated to squeeze her when it saw her eyes glowing white with her power.

"Good-bye," she said in a cheerful voice, and then unleashed her Extrasensory attack. The cobra hissed wildly, its coils loosening enough to let Viola down, and it collapsed at her paws. She smirked smugly before wincing--the cobra's attack had left her ribs bruised.

"A-Arbok, return!" The trainer squeaked. The snake warped back into its circular prison as its owner ran off in fear of the two wild Pokemon. They'll be back... for the last vulpix and for Tanga's 'collectible' self... she thought bitterly, her breaths coming in short gasps. Walking over to where Tanga was, she sat when she got close to him.

"Are...you... okay...?" She wheezed. Oh, this would hurt so badly in the morning...

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga's unfocused gaze gave Viola a confused look as she reprimanded him...didn't she just ask him to launch the missed Thunder Wave attack? And once the Arbok came at him...what was he supposed to do, let it tear both of them apart? But he did not voice this grievance as she basically commanded him to stay back and let her handle it. For a brief moment, he was about to chase her...until she nuzzled under his chin, the small sign of affection freezing him in place in shock. He never...ever...got nuzzled, by anyone. It just didn't happen to him.

By the time Tanga regained his senses, the Arbok had Viola locked in a Wrap attack, coiling around her tightly, looking ready to squeeze the life out of her. "Viola!" he gasped, trying to come to her defence, only for the poison coursing through him to choose that moment to hit him, causing his vision to swim sickeningly, the yellow and black Pokemon staggering badly as he fought to maintain some sense of balance. "No..."

But even as he tried in vain to do something, Viola acted, her eyes glowing brightly, Tanga himself feeling the residual effects of the Extrasensory attack, the Psychic attack hitting the cobra Pokemon with enough potency to actualy knock it out as Viola smirked proudly over their fallen opponent, although the victorious stance was ruined somewhat by her wincing...the Arbok had obviously managed to do some damage with the Wrap before she had finished it off.

Tanga managed to fight through the haze in his mind and vision, thanks to the Poison, long enough to see the Trainer return the Arbok to it's PokeBall, before turning tail and running. Not quite content with just letting him flee, Tanga allowed his mane to spark wildly, before it sent out a small Thundershock at the fleeing Trainer, missing him cleanly, but coming close enough to remind him that he was not welcome back here.

Tanga's attention finally turned back to Viola, his stance becoming much more docile, back to the shy, insecure Luxray of before as she asked if he was alright. "I..." was all Tanga managed to say before he felt a flash of pain course through him, ripping a strangled roar from his throat, as the Poison worked its way deeper into his system. He staggered under the dizzying, tiring effects of the venom, finally losing his balance and collapsing heavily on his side, the poison sapping his strength to the point where he could no longer stand up.

In desperation, Tanga turned his head to find Viola, although his blurring vision was not helping matter, so he simply stopped turning when he spotted a reddish blur in front of him, hoping it was her. "Vi...Viola..." he breathed, praying he could get the message across. "South...Pecha...tree...please..."

His words were stilted, but he prayed Viola was getting the message, as he tried to tell her that there a Pecha Berry tree south of here, not far away. If he could get his paws on a Pecha Berry soon, it should be enough to cure the Poison. But the way Tanga currently felt, he wasn't sure if the Arbok had hit him with Toxic as well as Poison Fang...the snake had some potent venom.

[Zorayda]

Despite Tanga's obviously deteriorating condition, Viola let out a loud giggle when he sent a Thundershock at the retreating trainer. It served him right, attacking the last Pokemon without provocation.... Her smile vanished instantly when he began to weaken further very rapidly. Sometimes, Pokemon could get through a poisonous attack by resting until it left their systems, but, obviously, Tanga had gotten more venom in his veins than his body could handle. She saw him shudder and cry out in pain, collapsing to the ground. She quickly came to his side.

"I'm right here. You'll be just fine," she reassured, trying to make her voice strong. In reality, she was freaking out just a little--she really didn't want anything to happen to the poor lion... why couldn't she have been quick enough to step in and do something to protect him from that vicious attack? His eyes were unfocused as he turned to her, asking for Pecha berries.

"O-of course. I'll be right back, don't move a muscle," she told him, immediately skittering to attention. She knew what bush he was talking about--she'd been there frequently, enjoying the sweet taste of the berries. They were a source of food, since all the small Pokemon weren't around to hunt anymore... her ribs were only a dull ache now, forgotten in her determination to help her new friend. Using her nose as a guide, she finally came upon the small cluster of Pecha bushes and grabbed a particularly fat, ripe berry between her teeth.

It wasn't that far of a run back and forth between the two, but Viola's ribs caused her to have to slow down significantly, taking short breaks to catch her breath on the way back. Finally, she came upon the poisoned cat. She wasn't sure whether or not he could see very well at this point, so she touched his nose with the berry to let him know that it was in front of him.

As soon as he eats it, I think I might fall over, she thought blithely, her sides heaving.

[Australian Chaos]

As Viola left, Tanga noted her slightly paniced tone of voice, and reminded himself to thank her for everything when she found the Berry for him. But soon, after, as the Poison coursing through him sent another flash of pain, almost making him black out, Tanga set the thought aside, putting all his efforts into making sure he stayed awake and coherent enough to actually eat the Berry.

It was during this brief absence that Tanga manage to think about Viola...she had offered to be his friend, and in that brief battle, she had protected him. In the past, when someone picked on him, any bystanders either watched on as he was tormented, or joined in as well...no-one ever came to his defence, until now.

But this thought also reminded him of Viola's ability to sense emotions...could she sense his shame, his despair, and his complete lack of self-worth? Could she possibly have used these emotions to start understanding what happened to him? The thought terrified him, the fear of Viola finding out about his past enough to cause a small spike of adrenaline, enough to keep him awake and keep the Poison's effects at bay for a few more minutes.

When Viola returned, though, Tanga's vision was worse than ever, and even his hearing was sluggish. He knew that the darkness at the edges of his vision was a very bad sign...and the sheer potency of the Poison suggested that the Arbok may have attempted to kill him, aside from simply maiming him enough for capture. But why would it do that? Why would the Arbok go against the human's wishes, just to kill a single, worthless, freakish Luxray?

The thought was banished from Tanga's mind when he felt a small nudge on his nose, his vision so unfocused that he could not make out any sign of anyone or anything there. But his smell was still working okay, and he could definitely smell that sweet, delicious scent of the Pecha Berry, which was obviously right in front of him. Moving slowly, trying not to irritate his poisoned body further, he reached his muzzle forward, his teeth finding the soft, smooth texture of the Berry's skin easily enough. Knowing Viola had done her job, he weakly managed to grab it, practically swallowing it whole in an effort to get it's effects as quickly as possible.

It did take a few moments to work into his system, but when the Berry's restorative properties kicked in, Tanga definitely felt them. The flashes of pain coursing through his entire nervous system ceased, his vision gradually began to clear, and his strength started returning to him as the Poison was slowly but surely countered by the Pecha Berry.

By the time Tanga was strong enough to move freely again, his vision had cleared, and he was once more able to focus on Viola's form in front of him. And he almost paniced upon seeing her pained, obviously hurting look. The Arbok's Wrap attack had obviously done some damage to her.

"V...Viola!" he croaked, before clearing his throat, sitting up a little unsteadily as he noted her heavy breathing, and the look of pain she suffered with each breath. The Arbok had definitely given her ribs a solid squeeze. "Viola, take it easy. That Arbok's hurt you more than I thought. Try taking smaller breaths...trust me, it makes a lot of difference," he said, the last part with a slightly dark overtone. Sadly, he knew what he was talking about from personal experience.

"I'm sorry," he finally added. "I...I did all this. If I had just paralysed that Arbok when I had the chance..." his apologetic rant ended with a frustrated, guilty growl, as he once more cursed himself for his horrible battling skills. It was what had made it so easy for his old pack to pick on him as well...they knew he could not fight back.

[Zorayda]

Viola let out a sigh of relief when she saw the Pecha berry working through the lion's system. She could literally see it slowly making his body relax and stop trembling, his eyes blinking and focusing on her telling her that he was able to see again. Good, at least I he's okay...

The fox smiled softly at the lion's worry, trying to reassure him with her eyes. She was in considerable pain, but she'd had worse done to her, living out here... a lot was caused by her harebrained tricks, climbing trees, getting caught up in bushes, eating bad berries... She appreciated his worry, though, and nodded at his advice. Her ears twitched at his next words, though, and she could feel his self-blame kicking in. It seemed that he felt a lot of that...

"N-no," Viola stammered, sensing the luxray's guilt. "It's okay. I assumed that you were able to perform like I wanted to, instead of considering other options. I wasn't able to hit it with my psychic power until I had time to concentrate, or I could've prevented any damage done at all... I'm just glad you're okay. I'll heal pretty fast, and so will you." She eyed his wound on his shoulder, her honey eyes narrowing. "You could get a bad infection from that, though... if you're able to walk--" she paused to catch her breath, ribs twinging. "We need to get away from here and to a river to clean it. Do you think you can do that?" She asked. Her ribs ached terribly, but she was still able to stand and move around fairly well.

She thought about the vicious attacks by the arbok, how evil and deadly its intentions were... why didn't it do as its trainer had asked? Maybe it had retained some of its natural killer wild side within... you couldn't stamp out all of the natural instinct of a Pokemon, no matter how much you 'tamed' it, apparently. Were her parents the same way? Wild at heart, even in their cages? Tears came to Viola's eyes at the thought of her parents and the trainers casual, offhand comment about her being the last of the line of vulpixes and ninetails... was it really true?

Were her parents really... no, she couldn't think about it...

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga managed to silence himself, nodding mutely at the Vulpix's dismissal of his apology, although his guilt still burned inside. he knew that, once they were both a little better, he'd have to start training, learn to battle better...he doubted that his conscience, and their lives, could take another mistake like that.

When Viola's attention turned to his wounded shoulder, Tanga turned to look at it himself, the focus of attention causing the stinging pain of the bite wounds...held at by by the multitude of distractions until now...to make itself apparant, causing Tanga to wince. "You're probably right," he admitted. "If that Arbok's poison was that strong, there's no telling what else could happen..." he paused as he caught sight of the wound, a low growl of surprise making itself apparant as he saw the viciousness of the wound...it was still bleeding, although only lightly now, and the fur over his entire shoulder was stained and matted with blood. How had he not noticed that?

Testing the wound, Tanga warily pressed his other paw lightly against the bite marks, drawing a sharp hiss of pain from him, his paw snapping away reflexively as Viola asked if he could move so they could find a river. "I should be okay..." he said hesitantly, before attempting to stand up. He whimpered as his shoulder sent a burst of hot pain through him when he put weight on it, but found he could walk if he restricted himself to a three-legged hobble...undignified and clusmy, but Tanga reasoned that his dignity was non-existant anyway, and passed it off with a shrug.

He took a moment to get his bearings, before looking to the south-east, pointing with his bad paw. "I remember a river being this way...but we'll take it slow, okay? I can't move too fast like this, and you really shouldn't be moving at all." His voice had a mild tone of reprimand to it, but it was also worried...Tanga knew that they had little choice but to move on, but he worried that even mild movement might upset Viola's tender ribs more.

[Zorayda]

The fox blinked her tears away, refocusing on Tanga's voice. Viola sensed Tanga's continued self-guilt and blame and grinned at him.

"Don't worry, we'll practice and spar together, and you won't miss as much," she said lightly, vaguely getting the idea that that was probably what the electric cat was thinking. She could use practice, anyway... no Pokemon around meant no defending territory, practicing and honing her natural skills... oftentimes, she had to set some random bush on fire to rid her body of the excess heat coiling in her belly.

"What you need is dirt for that wound," Viola said when the lion stared at the punctures in his shoulder. Guessing that he'd be confused, she explained, "With 'clean' dirt you can get a wound to slow down with the bleeding until we can rinse it in the river. When you walk it may irritate it and make it bleed more... You aren't too huge, but you pass out on me and I doubt I'll be able to drag you," she finished, frowning. The blood didn't really bother her in the slightest--she'd always been pretty much unflappable, and a bit of blood wasn't going to cause her stress now.

She lurched forward when he moved, hopping pitifully on three legs and hissing in pain. He seemed to be partially mobile, at least, but he wouldn't be able to get far very fast... then again, Viola wasn't in much better condition. She began to wonder if the snake hadn't cracked a rib or two with its immense, muscular coils... She nodded when he'd mentioned moving slowly, agreeing with the statement.

"Yeah, I need a bit of rest... but you need healing, so we'll worry about that when we get there," she dismissed, putting on a brave face. She grinned at him and chased her tails in a few circles, nipping one of them and letting go. "See? Perfectly fine," she assured him. Her ribs protested strongly against the movement, but she felt like she could push through the pain without passing out, at least. Her emotional pain, however, would be something she'd have to deal with as well... she still didn't accept the trainer's words, but a part of her heart felt dry and empty from the news...

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga dismissed Viola's suggestion of dirt in his wound to seal it with a small shake of the head...he did not fancy going through any more pain, and the bleeding was lessening...he was lucky the Arbok's fangs had left punctures rather than long tears through his flesh, really, since it was minimising the blood loss. He did give her an odd look as she chased her tail in an effort to prove she was fine, not quite used to having such energetic company, but shrugged it off, leading the way slowly as he hobbled in the direction of the river.

As they wandered through the trees, though, Tanga finally began to notice that something was troubling Viola. There was pain written all over her features...and it was not the physical kind. He turned to face her, figuring that she had already seen his eyes, so continuing to try and hide them was useless...it seemed she still did not understand why they were blue, at least. "Look, Viola, I...thank you. No-one has ever helped me like that before," he said awkwardly, trying to find the right words to express himself without giving away his past.

But in the end, he focused on whatever was eating at Viola now...he had dealt with his inner demons for years, he could live with them now. "But...are you okay? I mean...it looks like something's bothering you, aside from your injuries. If you don't want to talk about it, I understand...but if I can help, in any way, I'll try." He offered her a shy, awkward smile, not used to the gesture, hoping that, if she wanted his help, he could actually do something about it.

[Zorayda]

The small vulpix watched Tanga carefully as they walked slowly, hoping that traveling wouldn’t worsen his condition too badly. She shrugged off his dismissal of her suggestion—the wounds he’d sustained seemed to be bleeding less anyway. She hoped dearly that the humans wouldn’t track them because of it, though… she knew they’d be in trouble from now on, now that one of them knew about Tanga and his very individual physical appearance, and Viola, because… because she was the last vulpix. The last of the line. Her brows furrowed as she walked, taking slow, deep breaths to both calm herself and to ease the pain of the air going pressing her lungs against her sore ribs.

At the luxray’s awkward statement of gratitude, she looked over at him incredulously.

“Well, you’re welcome, but… I mean, I didn’t do anything a decent Pokemon wouldn’t… I couldn’t very well leave you there, you know…” She pointed out. Maybe the luxray really didn’t have anyone… nobody to give him the attention or basic care he needed. Letting her voice trail off, they walked in silence for a little while. Viola’s heart went out to the poor lion, but even her new friend’s inner turmoil (a feeling she could sense swirling about in Tanga’s mind) couldn’t distract her from her misery… her mother and father could have been dead for all she knew. Maybe the human meant that her mother couldn’t have any more kits? Or… Arceus forbid, one or both of them had died, rendering the birth of new vulpixes and the evolution of ninetales impossible… but it just couldn’t be—how could the universe be so cruel as to take away the very thing that had kept her hope alive, kept her inner fire burning? She’d tried for years to infiltrate those damnable human prisons, to set them free… and now, one silly pup of a human was going to crush them all with those careless words?

She didn’t realize that her steps had become stiff, more robotic, as her mind had wandered, gaze glassy as she paid less attention to her surroundings, until Tanga spoke up again, asking her if something was wrong. She felt like snorting at him—of course something was wrong. Everything was wrong. All her hopes and dreams… she didn’t answer for a few moments, closing her eyes. She lurched to a halt, ribs suddenly in searing pain from the sudden sharp breaths she was taking. So… he hadn’t heard what the human had said… but here was her chance to help unburden herself, to bounce her worry off of someone else—even if he probably had a long history himself. She looked him in the eyes, her vision somewhat blurry with welled-up tears… it had been a long time since she’d cried. And then, with his little awkward smile, she suddenly felt that she could trust him. She opened her mouth, and when nothing came out, she closed it again, clearing her throat and trying again.

“Tanga… while you w-were… incapacitated… in that fight… I heard…” She was suddenly aware of tears trailing down her muzzle, and found that right at the moment, she really didn’t care. She would, later, though, when the pain of this moment had faded to allow for such trivial matters to worry her… “I heard th-the trainer say… that I was last of my line…” Her words came out choppily, and she wasn’t sure if it was because the tightening of her injured ribs or because she was sobbing. She felt so small suddenly, and very, very alone… it took all of her restraint not to cling to the shy luxray like some baby kit wailing for its mother. She couldn’t look at him anymore without the urge to burst into tears, so she settled for just standing where she was and allowing herself to cry silently.