Misty\'s Nightmare

Chapter 3. Death From Above

After noon, Misty was able to keep up a quicker pace than she had in the morning. Her decision seemed to give her new resolve. However her companions were more reserved. They just walked on either side of her in silence. Even though they had agreed to do what she had asked, they were still apprehensive about it. Misty thought about trying to comfort them but decided against it. She doubted that there was anything that she could say that would make them feel better.

The luck that had been with them for the last day and a half ran out at around 4 pm. Misty's first inkling that something was wrong was when Polywrath called out to get her attention. "What is it?" she said. Her pokemon pointed franticly to the sky off to the left and misty squinted to see what he had spotted. All she could see was low cloud in the sky. "That's just a cloud, I don't see why you are..." She stopped when it dawned on her what Polywrath was alarmed about. This cloud was the only one in an otherwise clear sky. It was also moving pretty fast for a cloud. By now, the cloud was close enough for misty to make out a shadowy, long-necked, winged form within. Her blood ran cold when she recognized what it was. "A Fearow" she muttered to no one in particular. Even before the change Fearows and Sperows (their un-evolved form) were downright nasty. The change had turned them into brutal killers that viciously tormented there victims before consuming them, sometimes still screaming . Misty started franticly looking around for some cover but they were in the middle of a small clearing and were totally exposed. A blood-curdling shriek from above told her it was too late anyway. The bird pokemon burst out of its cloud and dove straight at them, it's wings trailing mist like the contrail of a jet. Misty barely had time to yell to her pokemon to look out before it attacked. The Fearow did this by opening its mouth and releasing a hazy beam that was the same color as the cloud that it had made for itself. Misty jumped out of the way just as the beam blasted a trench in the earth where she had been standing. The second she hit the ground she looked up to see the Fearow had turned in midair bearing straight down on her. She tried to get up but she was still weak and her legs refused to obey her. The bird pokemon cawed with sadistic glee on realizing that it had its prey dead to rights. Misty closed her eyes in resignation, hoping it would be over quick. However, just before the Fearow got to Misty, a red blur slammed into her, knocking her out of the way. It was Polywrath. The Fearow gave a shriek of disappointment as its talons tore into nothing but air. But hen it started to climb so it could wheel around for another pass the mist trailing it boiling now with its increased anger. Misty sat up gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her and put her hand on Polywrath's arm in thanks. His actions had bought her enough time to react to the attack. She looked around quickly to access the situation. She and polywrath had ended up about 20 feet from where she was at the beginning. Starime had jumped in the other direction and was a good distance away from them. As the Fearow began to wheel around misty started barking commands to her pokemon. "Starime stay where you are...polywrath stay by me, I`m still weak." The fearow screeched as it started another dive. As Misty expected, the Bird pokemon came straight at her and Polywrath, ignoring Starime for the moment. By now she had a plan. " Okay Starime, when I say so, I want you to do a Blood Glob attack. Aim for its eyes." "Polywrath get ready. if this doesn't work, your going to have to help me dodge." While giving these commands, Misty's eyes never left the oncoming Fearow. She knew that for this to work she had to wait for the last second. A blood glob attack consisted of a baseball sized blob of Very acidic blood. It was the weakest attack of a blood pokemon but it was very accurate and if used the way she intended to, it could be crippling. Also Misty knew her pokemon needed some more time to build up to the more powerful blood Gout attack. The Fearow opened its mouth to emit another mist beam attack. This was what she had been waiting for . "NOW STARIME" she yelled and the pokemon spit the glob out of one of its mouths with amazing velocity just as the fearow began its attack. the blood glob missed its intended target and hit the side of the Fearows neck Fortunately this was enough to throw off its aim and the mist bean shot by Misty and Polywrath, Shattering a boulder that was some ways behind them. Misty and polywrath threw themselves to the ground as the Fearow flew over screaming in pain from the acid. But it wasn't ready to give up on it's prey yet and wheeled around for another pass, this time at starime. the mist trailing it was so thick now that it looked like a smoking comet. Misty looked around and saw mist starting to well up from the ground around her as the Fearfow belatedly decided that maybe some cover would be a good idea, as it could see as well in the concealing mist as it could in the clear air. It would be too late to hinder there vision for this next attack though. Besides, Misty knew that her Pokemon were fully powered up now. and vowed that this attack would be its last. The Fearow then let loose with another mist beam at Starime. "STARIME DOGE NOW" misty yelled and the pokemon jumped out of the way as the beam tore a hole in the earth where it had just been. Now the fearow realized that it might be in trouble and tried to pull up but it was too late. Misty screamed "Both of you. BLOOD GOUT NOW" and her pokemon responded. The Blood gout attack was to blood pokemon what the water gun attack had been to them when they were water pokemon. Starime and Polywrath both spewed a huge stream of blood at the Fearow and hit it dead on. While the blood wasn't acidic like the blood glob it was incredibly sticky and this sealed the Fearow's fate by gumming up it wings. The bird pokemon, unable to pull out of its dive crashed to the ground with tremendous force and tumbled between the two groups; Bones snapping like wet twigs before slamming into a tree at the edge of the clearing. It struggled feebly but was mortally wounded.

Misty sank to the ground gasping in the clearing mist. The fight had totally exhausted her. If she has been able to time it, she would have been amazed that the whole thing had only taken around a minute. When she looked up she noticed that her pokemon were staring at her, not having moved. She said, "Hurry up and feed, before it dies". When they continued to hesitate, she spoke again, putting as much command in her voice as she could in her exhausted state. "This HAS to be done, we have no other choice". Starmie and Polywrath were taken back by the force in her voice but knew she was right. The fight had left them both famished and there was no way Misty could feed then in the state she was in now without serious risk to her life. Both the pokemon turned and walked over to the struggling Fearow. The Bird pokemon, sensing what was coming thrashed around even more but it was too wounded to move. When they reached their victim, the two pokemon looked at the Fearow with sorrow for a second before pouncing on it. Misty watched aghast as they used their talons to rip a huge gash in the side of the bird and inserted their suckered mouths into the wound as the Fearow screamed in agony. Every fiber in Misty's being begged her to look away but she refused. She considered watching the act her penance for making them do it. But finally, when the fearow started to visibly shrivel while still alive she couldn't take it any more and closed her eyes and covered her ears. She stayed that way even when the screams stopped until she felt something lightly touch her shoulder. It was both her pokemon. Polywrath had tears steaming down his face and Misty was sure that Starime would be doing the same if he had eyes to cry out of. She put her arms around her sobbing pokemon and rocked them back and forth while saying "I'm so sorry" over and over again. Finally, after composing them selves, Misty's pokemon helped her up and they headed off again. They needed to get away from the area just in case the fight attracted something else.

That's it for this chapter. I know that I said before that this would be the last one but I changed my mind. This seemed like a good place to stop so I did. Man, this chapter was hard to write. So what do you all think of my first action scene? Unfortunately the next chapter will be even more difficult for me (i.e., it might take a while). Now for some house keeping chores. In the reviews [~from when this was posted on ffn~], somebody asked if all pokemon fed on blood. The answer is no, though all pokemon (even plant types) are now carnivores. Their exact diet depends on their type. Though all pokemon have changed to some extent, the elemental types (water, air (i.e. Flying types), earth and fire) have suffered the most from the corrupting influence of Ravenloft. Of these you now know what two types have become (Water to blood and air (the Fearow) to mist). You will have to wait to find out what happen to the rest (unless you are familiar with the demiplane of dread. To those, it should be blatantly obvious what I have done by now.) Also, I know the attacks are not what they're supposed to be. That was intentional (though some will still be the same. it is also very convenient since I am not too familiar with the attacks). Till next time.


~ May 30th 2008. I edited this chapter a little by adding some more details in the fight. As originally written, I thought the tactics of the fearow and its description was a little simplistic.~