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Route 4 - Just outside of Bolderton
The signpost marking out Route 4 angered Finn more than he thought possible. What he had just trudged through could barely be described as a footpath, let alone a 'Route'. He mopped his brow for what felt like the thousandth time that day and trudged on towards the lights of Bolderton in the distance.
An eerie, unsettling whistle emanated from up ahead. Nuzleaf sat on a fallen tree trunk playing his leaf whistle while he waited for his trainer to catch up. "You know, that song of yours can be really creepy sometimes, Nuz!" Finn laughed. It always puzzled him why all the Nuzleaf that he'd met all played the same haunting tune on the flutes they fashion from their sprouting leaves, but at times like this, when the sun was setting and they were still working their way through what was becoming an increasingly dark and worrying forest, it needlessly upped the tension Finn felt running up his spine.
In response, Nuzleaf shrugged, stowed away his flute and effortlessly jumped to his feet to get ready to go yet again. He jumped down from the fallen tree and was about to lead the way when a blood curdling scream tore through the forest around them, making both trainer and Pokemon jump.
"What the hell was that!"
"Nuz, leaf, nuz nuz!" Nuzleaf shouted and pointed off to their left about a second before darting off in the direction he was pointing.
"No, wait!" Finn shouted after his partner but it was too late. He uttered a curse and took off after his unruly companion.
Wet leaves slapped Finn in the face as he sprinted through the brush towards the area that Nuz pointed to. Since the first scream, silence had reclaimed the forest but for the sounds of the odd Method clattering against each other like a gross living wood chime. He was beginning to think he was lost when he heard Nuzleaf up ahead shouting for him to keep up. Another scream followed by the sound of hurried running and a low growl blared through the air. Whatever it was, he was close.
Finn raced through the trees before coming across a small clearing with a small rock face on the far end. Pinned up against the rock face was a terrified young woman in a yellow flowery sundress who was making a futile effort to try and scale the rock face. She appeared to have been penned by a large creature draped in shadow?
Finn stared at the shadowy shape ahead of him, illuminated just slightly in the moonlight. A large, angry-looking Rhydon was snarling and snapping at something in front of it, concealed by it's large frame. As Finn raced closer, he saw that in-between the the bear Pokemon and the girl, was an embattled Chansey, who was giving it's all to protect what Finn could only assume was it's trainer. The Rhydon raised one of it's great limbs and swiped it at the round body of the Egg Pokemon, eliciting a startled cry as it fell to the ground.
"Woah, That was Brick Break" breathed Finn. "I have to do something to end this or that Chansey is in deep trouble." He knew that whilst Chansey are renown for having exceptional defensive stats, a direct hit with a fighting type move like Brick Break would cause some serious damage.
Following movement off to his right, he spotted Nuzleaf, preparing to strike on Finn's command. Fortunately for them both, neither the girl, the Chansey or the Rhydon had spotted either of them yet, which gave them an advantage. "Nuz, use Fake Out!" Finn yelled, and Nuz darted towards the battle, leaping at the last second so that he could land on the Rhydon's large, horned head. Upon landing, Nuzleaf used both hands to slap the rock/ground type Pokemon as hard as he could before jumping away to safety. The Rhydon yelped and jumped back at the sudden interruption. Cold eyes scanning around him for the mystery intruder.
"Keep up the pressure! Use Leaf Blade!" Finn directed. Nuzleaf nodded and darted back towards his foe, slicing at it's legs as he passed. The Rhydon roared as it stumbled downover. "Great job buddy. Let's close this up. Leaf Blade again!" Nuzleaf swung back around so that he was running at the Rhydon head on. He leapt up to deliver the finishing blow to the hulking Pokemon. As Nuzleaf's wooden feet left the ground, however, he was shocked by a quick blur of motion in the dark. The Rhydon's giant stump flashed in front of him, catching him with a Brick Break across the torso.
"No!! Nuzleaf" Finn cried out as the Grass type was flung backwards with force. Nuzleaf landed with a thud but rolled through and popped back up to his feet. A move they had practiced religiously throughout his final years at East Paese. Finn breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the blow hadn't been as catastrophic as first feared, but he could see that the blow caused a lot of damage. "You OK buddy?" he shouted.
"Nuz" nodded his companion, as he readied himself back into a fighting stance.
As Nuzleaf caught his breath, Finn could see that the Rhydon was getting back to his feet and starting to advance on their position. Caught in the moonlight, Finn noticed a large scar trace down the Rhydon's skull, clearly from a previous battle. As both Pokemon moving gingerly, it was clear that the battle would not last much longer but he was wary of the Rhydon's experience given the scar and it's moves. "OK. Time to change things up. Keep your distance and use Razor Leaf!".
Nuzleaf darted around the clearing, circling the increasingly agitated Rhydon. It lashed out, swiping it's giant limbs at it's tormentor. Nuzleaf followed orders and stayed just out of reach, waiting for the Rhydon to lunge so that he could fling some razor sharp leaves at him from a safe distance. He repeated this tactic a few times while the Rhydon flung itself around chasing shadows in the moonlight.
"Now, use Leaf Blade one more time!"
Nuzleaf nodded and waited for it's foe to leap at him one more time, telegraphing the pokemon's movements. The Rhydon leapt forward one last time, swinging it's arm with yet another Brick Break. Nuzleaf dodged the attack and darted around the bringing down his Leaf Blade across it's back. The Rhydon cried out and toppled forward. It spun to face a now stationary Nuz, standing between it and the downed Chansey and roared with frustration before turning away and stomping off into the dark shroud of the forest.
A sudden silence fell upon the clearing, broken only by the quick, shallow breaths of it's current inhabitants. Finn ran over to check on Nuzleaf, who stood still, staring at the trees where the Rhydon had disappeared. Despite overpowering his much larger foe, Finn knew that his quiet companion would be beating himself up for being caught out during the battle. Finn placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "We'll both learn from this, Nuz. Come on, let's go."
Nuz broke his stare to look at his trainer, surprised by his understanding and calmness. Nodding to himself, he turned to fall in step as Finn approached the fallen Chansey and still sobbing woman.
"Hey, my name is Finn and this is my partner, Nuzleaf." He said calmly, maintaining a respectful distance. "Are you OK?"
The woman wiped away a tear and turned to look at her saviour. Seeing her face up close in the moonlight for the first time, he saw that despite her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks, she was gorgeous. Dark hair tied into a ponytail, framed a soft, feminine face as she gave him a shy smile. Finn only realised that he was staring when the Chansey between them let out a low moan and gingerly began to roll over. The woman quickly looked to the injured Pokemon and immediately tried to help it to it's feet, showing surprising strength for her size. Finn darted in to help the woman get Chansey back up to a vertical base.
"Are you OK, Sweetie?" she asked. The Chansey nodded weakly, straining at the effort. "Use Soft-boiled." she asked softly.
Chansey began to hum softly as it reached towards the egg on it's stomach. After a second, the egg began to glow gently, growing gradually brighter and brighter until suddenly the light shot outwards from the egg and spread across Chansey's body. Almost immediately, Chansey stood up straighter and it's breathing steadied.
Finn knew that Pokemon like Chansey could heal themselves through his studies, but this was the first time he had seen it in person. He was suitably impressed.
The woman turned back to face Finn. "My name is Poppy, this is Chansey." she said.
"Chaaan si" The pink Pokemon echoed.
