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Day 24
Alex sat by the fireless pit of their hideout, his hands trembling slightly as he cleaned his knife.
"That was actually quite stupid," Alex whispered to the damp air.
"That was incredibly, monumentally stupid."
He replayed the fight with Drowzee in his head. He had won, yes but it was a coin flip and good planning, If the Sucker Punch had failed, or if that Drowzee had used Hypnosis instead of a damaging move, Nidoran would be a vegetable right now.
"Psychic types are broken, I would have to definitely have a psychic pokemon later on." Alex muttered. "That kid..... he must have found a stray, or stole it from a shipment crate meant for an Executive or sales. There's no way a recruit is supposed to have a Drowzee."
He looked at the jungle, most of the other recruits he had seen were struggling with Rattatas, Zubats, or the occasional Oddish. The Drowzee was a freaking anomaly...a rare encounter in terms of luck.
"I can't count on luck again," Alex told his Nidoran, who was licking the residue of the Black Sludge collar. "Next time we see a Psychic type, we run, we had a plan this time around, but plan won't always work.We don't engage unless we have a more firepower."
Nidoran simply grunted, It felt invincible after the win, but it trusted Alex's paranoia.
"We have six days left " Alex said, checking the countdown on his watch. "We need you at Level 16, that means we need to kill about twenty decent sized opponents and we need to do it without getting crippled."
Day 26
The grinding was no longer about exploring the forest , It was also about efficiency.
They patrolled a specific loop Alex had mapped out, the border between the jungle and the rocky outcrop as It offered a mix of Bug and Rock types. Nidoran's Double Kick shattered the carapace of a Venonat.
[ Enemy Defeated ]
[ XP Gained ]
"Keep moving," Alex ordered.
He didn't stop to harvest parts as time is scarce now. Venonat eyes were valuable, but they took lot of time to extract and he didn't have that time as he had a deadline.
They moved like ghosts. Alex's cardio had improved significantly.
The first week, he had wheezed after a mile. Now, lighter from malnutrition but harder from exertion, he could jog for hours without stopping.
[ Nidoran ]
[ Level: 13 to 14 ]
"Fourteen," Alex noted, marking a tally on a tree trunk. "Two more."
But the jungle was getting quiet. The wild Pokémon were sensing something, Rattatas were staying in their burrows and the Pidgeys were roosting high in the canopy, refusing to come down.
"They know," Alex realized.
"The Alphas... Rhyhorn... Arbok... whatever Rocket is doing to agitate them, the ripples are spreading."
Finding targets was becoming harder so they had to venture deeper, into the territories of the more ferocious mons.
Day 28
They found a Mankey.
It was thrashing a bush, screaming in rage. A Fighting type which was Fast, aggressive, and hits like a truck.
[ Pokémon: Mankey ]
[ Level: 12 ]
[ Aptitude: Green (Common) ]
"It resists Dark," Alex whispered. "Sucker Punch won't do much damage but it's weak to Flying and Psychic and Nidoran had Peck."
"It's risky," Alex assessed. "Mankey has Karate Chop which has a High crit rate."
But they were starving for XP.
"Engage," Alex signaled with sigh. "Hit and run tactics buddy, Peck and fade."
The fight was messy, Mankey was fast and it had landed a scratch on Nidoran's nose before Nidoran could land a Peck.
Scratch, Peck,Kick
It was a brawl as Nidoran took a heavy chop to the shoulder, crying out in pain but the Black Sludge pulsed, dulling the agony, knitting the bruise slowly even as they fought.
Finally, a Poison Sting to the eye slowed the Mankey down as it blinded and poisoned the stupid monkey pokemon, it fell to a Double Kick at last.
[ Enemy Defeated ]
[ XP Gained (High) ]
Then Nidoran collapsed, panting.
[ Nidoran ]
[ Level: 14 to 15 ]
"Fifteen, buddy we are close" Alex breathed, rushing over to apply the Oran Salve to the shoulder wound. "One more, Just one more."
He looked at his Nidoran, It was battered
With the Black Sludge was working overtime, but stamina was still not enough.
"We rest buddy," Alex decided. "We can't fight in this condition."
Day 29: The Eve
He sat in the crevice, packing the necessary stuff into his pockets and inventory. He kept two jars: one with the rest of the Oran Salve, and one with the Black Sludge reserve.
He checked his vials of Gloom Extract, he had three shots of it.
His Feebas had grown slightly, her scales a bit shinier from the Krabby diet, but she was still Level 6.
"Tomorrow," Alex told Nidoran. "Tomorrow hell breaks loose."
He looked at the Pokémon's status.
[ Nidoran ]
[ Level: 15 ]
[ XP to Next Level: 85% ]
They hadn't made it.
"We're still short, damn it" Alex cursed softly. "We needed maybe three more kills."
He considered going out into the dark but the jungle was silent like deathly silent.
If he went out now, he wouldn't find a Rattata rather he'd find a pissed off Alpha waking up.
"It's fine, I hope so " Alex reassured himself. "Level 15 is high, Most recruits are probably sitting at Level 8 or 10 and we have the Sludge and we have your surprise Sucker Punch."
"And if we get one kill during the stampede..." Alex looked at the Nidoran. "You evolve mid-battle and that refreshes your stamina, It's a second wind."
It was a dangerous gamble, relying on a mid-combat evolution to save them but what is life without a little gamble.
He ate his last full ration block. He drank deeply from his water bottle.
"Sleep," Alex commanded. "We run at dawn."
Day 30: The Evaluation
Alex woke up before the alarm,
He felt actual calm without any true nervousness, he put on his face and started getting ready.
Then, the sound began, It wasn't a siren.
It was a rumble, deep, low, vibrating through the soles of his boots and it came from the south....Sector 2.
BOOM
A distant explosion....again and again...they were herding them.
"ATTENTION RECRUITS."
The voice of Captain blasted from hidden speakers in the trees, screeching with feedback.
"THE HUNT BEGINS, THE PERIMETER COLLARS ON THE ALPHA RHYHORNS HAVE BEEN DETONATED. THEY ARE IN A FRENZY AND THEY ARE MOVING NORTH"
Alex stood up, grabbing his knife.
"YOUR TARGET IS SECTOR 1, CENTRAL TOWER.
DISTANCE: 12 KILOMETERS
TIME LIMIT: 6 HOURS"
"ANYONE CAUGHT BY THE HERD DIES. ANYONE WHO FAILS TO REACH THE TOWER DIES
BEST OF LUCK RECRUITS
BEGIN..."
The silence returned for a split second, broken only by the terrifying, escalating rumble of the earth shaking.
"Twelve kilometers," Alex calculated. "Uphill, through the terrain."
He commanded Nidoran.
"Pattern Omega," Alex said.... Run
They burst out of the crevice and they weren't alone.
To his left, he saw three recruits sprinting through the trees. One had a Rattata on his shoulder and another was dragging a slow-moving Oddish.
"Wait for me!" the Oddish kid screamed.
Alex didn't look back, he just ran.
The ground shook harder and the trees behind them began to crack and fall.
The roar of the Rhyhorn herd,dozens of them, massive rock-plated tanks weighing hundreds of kilograms each was getting louder.
Alex vaulted over a log, ignoring the pain in his healing ribs.
Suddenly, a shadow dropped from the canopy ahead.
A Zubat
It wasn't a wild one as It had a red collar.
"Give me your points!" a voice shrieked from the bushes. A recruit jumped out, holding a crude spear.
"Give me your watch or I cripple your leg!"
Desperation made people insane, with a stampede coming, this kid was trying to loot bodies before running.
Alex didn't stop running and he didn't even slow down, he just gave him a middle finger.
"Nidoran! Sucker Punch the stupid bat!" Nidoran didn't break stride, It leaped, a blur of dark energy, intercepting the diving Zubat and it was swatted out of the air like a fly.
Alex ran straight at the recruit.
The kid panicked, raising the spear.
"Out of my way!" Alex roared.
He shoulder tackled the kid, using his momentum and the kid stumbled, falling into the mud.
"Wait! Help!"
Alex kept running.
[ XP Gained. ]
[ Nidoran XP: 90% ]
"Keep moving!" Alex shouted to his Nidoran. "Don't stop for the kill! Just run!"
Behind them, the sound of crashing timber grew deafening.
The herd was gaining in to them.
Alex looked at Nidoran, it was keeping pace, its strong legs eating up the ground.The Black Sludge glowed faintly at its throat.
"Just a little more buddy," Alex gasped, his lungs burning. "Just a little more XP."
They needed to fight something while running and they needed a target that wouldn't slow them down.
And ahead, blocking the path, was a massive ravine. The bridge was a fallen log and guarding the log was a Mankey, a wild one, terrified and angry, lashing out at anyone trying to cross.
"Perfect," Alex whispered, drawing his knife.
"Nidoran, We take the bridge, defeat the enemy and you evolve."
He put on his MP3 and listening to the music.
Feed my Frankenstein
Meet my libido
(He's a psycho)
Feed my Frankenstein
Hungry for love, and it's feeding time....
- Alice Cooper
Authors Note:-
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