Chapter Two: Through the woods we go

[xxninja]

And to think she was doing so well too. I mean, she'd found a poor orphan a foster mother, hatched an egg, and saved an entire forest-full of Pokemon from a criminal. She was on a roll, and it had only been like two days into her journey! And just when she thought she was invincible, it happened. It burst from the underbrush with a blood-curdling war cry, landing before her in all its malevolence. It was a Nincada. And not just the little shriveled shells she found in the summertime, but an actual, live, breathing insect with murder in its buggy eyes.

She probably awoke all of Route Two with her shrill scream, but she just couldn't help herself. She was terrified out of her wits, and since nobody she knew was around to criticize her for her little bug problem, she released her full horror. It all happened so fast, she hardly felt the sudden pain as her bottom landed hard on the ground and the sting as her hands scraped against the earth. All that was going through her mind at that moment was to get away from that Nincada as fast as she could.

Rosie, astonished at the sudden outburst from her mother, sat gaping at the insect. What had it done to her? Did it say something mean to her? Well, she thought, puffing out her chest, that didn't matter. It had made her mommy fall down, and now it was her job to protect her. With a yowl, the pink cat bounded forward to face the invader, fur bristling. Lee blinked thrice, closing her mouth after realizing it had fallen open. "G-go get 'em, Rosie! Use Fake Out attack!"

[/color] she called, scrambling to her feet like a proper trainer. It was obvious the Nincada wanted a battle, and this would be the perfect chance for little Rosie to get some battling experience in. Said Skitty, as if by instinct, charged forward to smack into her opponent.[/size][/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Nincada was also puzzled at Lee's reaction, but partly pleased, too. It guessed that it was bound to get a fight out of this with that sort of reaction. Sure enough, Rosie came charging. Aw, what a cute little Skitty. A baby lickle thing. So adorable! Nincada doubted this would be very hard. Fighting against a baby... this would be almost too easy! It decided to let the attack hit; it didn't want to be too mean on the kid. And yikes, was that attack strong! Nincada's eyes widened in shock. The kid must really like Lee to be that devoted.

Well, Nincada could be devoted, too. Devoted to battling, of course. The Bug type hissed angrily, eyes narrowing. Now it was begun. It would fight to the end! Forget mercy for innocent kids, this was one tough kid! The Pokémon sped forward with the speed of a ninja ((lol)) and aimed a strike of Scratch.

[xxninja]

"Me-roww!" Rosemary gave a yowl of triumph as her attack hit! Yes! She'd won! Mommy would be so very proud of her! She turned now to face Lee, an enormous grin on her face, proudly holding her tail up high as she strutted forward. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for Nincada to strike back. A menacing hiss and the scraping of claws scuttling against the earth sounded from behind her and she had hardly enough time to turn around before a sharp pincer raked against her flank.

At first, she simply stood there, frozen in shock. What had just happened? It- it wasn't possible! She'd won, hadn't she? But it was then she felt it; the sting of the Scratch attack. Giving first a whimper and then a cry of pain, she did what any newborn would do: cry. She fell to her haunches, wailing at the top of her lungs as tears beaded in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. It was heart-wrenching for Lee, but she knew that the Skitty wasn't in so much pain that she couldn't go on - that was just what little children did when they got a little roughed up.

"It's okay, Rosie, you're okay, shhhhh, you can keep battling, can't you? You're doing very well so far for your first battle, but its not over yet, don't you want to show that big mean bug who's boss? C'mon, you can do it, I know you can!"

[/color] The young teen cooed, crouching down near the pink kitten. But that didn't seem to help any; she was crying so loud, she wasn't paying any attention to what she said. As a matter of fact, her wails seemed to be getting louder... And louder!

"Iza! W-whats going on? Nobody should be able to cry that loud!"[/color] By now, she had her hands clamped over her ears, but it did little to dull the shrill ringing in her ears. "I... I don't know! I think.... Its an attack! Called Uproar!" he explained, burying the sides of his face in his paws. "An attack?!"[/color] Astounded, she turned to see what kind of an effect it had on Nincada. If it really was a move, it should have some kind of effect on the bug.[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Uproar was an attack with a fairly good amount of power for Rosie to know already. It did indeed have an effect on Nincada. The Bug type gave a moan, covering the place where his ears were, although they weren't visable, with his chunky front legs. He squeezed his eyes shut against the sound. Urgh, how horrible! The baby could shut up now, he got the point! He became aware that it was actually causing him pain now, realising that this must be the move Uproar.

Gah. If this was what the Skitty would do every time she got hit by an attack, then Nincada would either have to back out of the battle or finish it quickly. Not one to give up, Nincada liked the sound of the second option best. Spitting out a thick needle, he used a Leech Life attack. This Bug type pin would pierce Rosie, steal some of her health, then return it to Nincada.

[xxninja]

The tiny kitten paused her tantrum for a moment, gasping as an ominous needle flew towards her. Mewling in distress, she tried to get out of the way, but it was too late; the pin had already pierced her flesh, sending a wave of pain through her body. Giving a yowl, she attempted to shake it out, pawing frantically at it, but it had stuck tight. Sure, the attack itself hurt, but that was no reason for her to give up now..... But wait! What was that dreadful sensation?! It felt like... Like her health was being sapped right from out of her! Then, having yet another reason to resume her Uproar, Rosemary continued her wailing fit, this time thrashing around like a fish out of water.

"Oh, and just when I thought she was through!" Iza complained, feeling the start of a migraine from all that noise. Lee bit her lip. Having no prior experience with small children, she had no idea how to calm her down. "J-just hang in there, Rosie dear!" she called, loud enough so that the Skitty would hear her over the sound of her temper tantrum. Soon enough, the girl knew, she would have to calm down enough to take instructions again... Right?

[Birdybot]

Nincada sighed in relief as strength returned to him, only to loose it again as Rosie continued the Uproar attack. He groaned, feeling half inclined to join in the senseless wailing. It was just so... annoying! The Bug type didn't want to hear that sound. It was horrible, it hurt his eardrums. Who would of thought that such a tiny Pokémon could make such a huge noise? It was... well, just plain annoying.

An idea popped into the bug's head. It seemed that when hit by an offensive attack, Rosie would get started wailing an Uproar again. So, what if he were to use a defensive attack? She wouldn't have any reason to screech, and he would benefit from a stat boost. He nodded to himself, relaxing and toughening up his outer shell in a Harden.

[xxninja]

Lee bit her lip when she realized Nincada would receive the health taken from Rosie. If the battle continued like this, the Skitty would run out of energy before her opponent. Still, her Uproar attack was pretty powerful - painful to the ears, yes, but still powerful - and she didn't seem inclined to cease any time soon. And while she was making all that noise, she couldn't hear anything she was trying to tell her, so the only thing they could do was wait until the attack fizzled out.

The next move Nincada made was to compact its muscles, scrunching its limbs close to its body in what most be a stat-effecting move. Iza, leaping into the air, became a Wingull and took his place on Lee's shoulder. "Harden," he whispered, ruffling his feathers as he settled down to watch the match from above. "It does just what you'd think it would - boost defense."

Rosie, equally curious as to what the odd bug was doing, padded forward inquisitively, stopping a few paces before it. "Mew?"

[/b] she said cutely, tail tip twitching. Had he taken a nap in the middle of their battle? She turned to her mother, wondering what she should do. Lee grinned and nodded, relieved that she was finally in control again. "Don't get too close, dear, its hardening its shell to boost its defense! Quick, hit it with a Tackle attack before it gets up!"[/size][/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Nincada's Harden attack only took about a second to perform. All this was just an act to attempt to get a curious Rosie close. It had been working perfectly before Lee spoke and ruined everything. The Bug wanted to hiss in anger, but had enough sense not to blow his cover. Look on the bright side of life. At least Rosie had stopped wailing. Nincada kept up his pretending to be forced to be still as the Skitty's Tackle hit. He did his best not to wince, and felt pleased with himself. Not only had he made a convincing statue, but his Harden had worked a treat; Rosie's Tackle had made him feel a little less pain than earlier.

Nincada then performed what he'd been waiting to do, the reason why he'd been frozed. He suddenly, without warning, became animated, lunging forward in a flash to try a surprise Scratch attack. He'd heard that the element of surprise was a good thing to have- and he was about to see whether or not that was true.

[xxninja]

While little Rosie was as proud of herself as ever for landing yet another hit, Lee knew it didn't do as much damage as it may have previously. With its defense stat boosted, any of the Skitty's physical attacks wouldn't hurt as bad. And since she didn't want another round of that ear-splitting Uproar, they would have to do something about it.

"Rosie!" Iza gasped suddenly, wings beating in alarm. "Look out!" While their human had been lost in thought, she failed to notice the insect leap from its rock-like state, lunging forward suddenly with a dangerously sharp claw raised to strike. The warning didn't come in time, however; the kitten was in too close of range to get out of the way before she was slashed with another Scratch attack. "Oh no,"

[/color] Lee exclaimed beneath her breath, a worried hand flying to her mouth. What if the newborn resumed that awful wail again? Sure, it was quite the powerful attack, but... She could only take so much of it in one day. All eyes fell to the feline, breath suspended in anxiety.

Rosie reacted far sooner than the last time she'd been hit with a move. First she released a tiny squeak of pain and surprise, stumbling back on her paws in an attempt to get away from her opponent. But this time, instead of throwing a tantrum, her fur stood on end in anger. That big bully was so mean! She would teach it a lesson if it was the last thing she did! Her precious face turned to her mother again, determination plain in her eyes. "This time, use Tail Whip!"[/color] Lee instructed, getting pumped up herself by the kitten's emotions. "That way, it'll be hurt more when you hit it with a move! Make sure to stay alert for any other tricks it tries to pull!"[/color] Rosemary, giving an adorable vicious hiss, planted her feet and lashed her tail to and fro, concentrating solely on the bug.[/size][/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Nincada smiled in satisfaction as his Scratch hit. Ah, that was better. That was great, wonderful- oh, no. He had hit Rosie. He had hurt her. Rosie, the wailing wonder. Oh, no. This was so terrible! He braced himself, ready for a whole lot of ear-splitting painful sound- but got no earful of Uproar. He looked at her curiously to see she was psyched up for another round of battling. Oh, brilliant! No Uproar and a more ready opponent! Nincada felt his Defense stat slip, and was annoyed. Huh, now a part of his Harden was useless.

Nincada moved quickly, while the Tail Whip was still going on. He stood on his hind legs in an attempt to intimidate Rosie. He needn't have done that to intimidate the trainer, it seemed. He found it fun when people screamed at him. Enough pondering, it was time to attack. Going back onto all fours, he raised his head so it was pointing directly at Rosie, and use a weak Bug type attack; Leech Life.

[xxninja]

Rosie was not impressed by Nincada's attempt to scare her. Getting up on his back legs like that, he looked like he was constipated and would topple right over any second. In fact, it was so goofy, she couldn't help but give a little purr of laughter. What was he going to do? Sit on her? .....Actually, that might kind of hurt. What if he weighed a whole lot more than he looked? Eating all that dirt, who knows how many pounds a bug could put on. Now nervous, she cowered as he fell back on all his limbs, poised to attack again.

"Lee, she's going to get hurt!" Iza warned, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "Rosie! He's going to attack! Quick, get out of the way!"

[/color] Surprised by the sudden outburst from her trainer, the kitten jumped and hurtled her body away from the insect, zigging and zagging randomly in an attempt to mess up his aim. A smile spread across her face; this was fun! She could run and run and run all day!

Then suddenly, the Skitty skid to a stop. Something had caught her eye. It was oval in shape and pink with three little yellow balls dangling off the end. Curious, she took a pawstep forward... And it dodged out of the way! Irritated, she followed after it, yet it seemed to always be just one pace ahead of her. Determined to capture the object, she chased after it, not realizing that she was going around in circles pursuing her own tail. Lee groaned. If they weren't in the middle of a battle, it would be cute, but this left her open for attack! "Ro-sie! Snap out of it!"[/color] she called, but to no use. The pink puffball Pokemon was in a trance, mind drowning out everything but herself and her mission to reach the.... the..... the thing, whatever it was.[/blockquote]

ooc// Hooray for pointless rambling! 0w0[/size]

[Birdybot]

Nincada watched as Rosie dodged. How annoying. But- what was up with this Skitty? She wasn't stopping, wasn't satisfied with just the little burst of speed. The attack had gone, in case she hadn't noticed! Why was she running! And running and running and running... she seemed to be having a great time, thrilled and excited. So, Rosie was just running for the sake of running? It was true that running was fun, but a battle wasn't quite the place to do it and a kitten wasn't exactly the fastest thing in the world.

He needed to teach her a lesson on why you shouldn't get distracted in a battle, Nincada thought. Yes, that would be good. She would learn something, and he would get an easy strike in. Ha, she as chasing her tail now. How... idiotic. Stupid. It made Nincada feel better than her. He smiled as he did a little running of his own, but he kept it to the sensible amount. The Bug raced at Rosie for a Scratch attack, hoping to strike while she was distracted.

[xxninja]

And while the strange little marathon was happening on the battlefield, Lee had been busy digging around in her rucksack. Earplugs. She needed earplugs. Yes, she knew she brought some in case she heard weird noises in the night and wanted to drown them out. "Try the small pocket!" Iza urged, pointing with his beak to the small pouch on the side. Sure enough, when she reached her hand in, her fingers clasped around two small, rubbery objects. With a triumphant cry, she placed them in her ears. ............ Yes, the sounds of the battle (or whatever you wanted to call it, since nobody was really fighting at the moment) were dimmed. The only thing she could clearly hear was her own heartbeat. And now was the perfect time to act.

"Rosie!!"

[/color] she screeched much louder than she probably needed. Snapped back into reality, the cat froze and turned her attention to her mother. "Use Uproar!"[/color] Ah, yes, that was right. She was supposed to fight that mean old bug. Turning around quickly, she noticed he was swiftly advancing. But she wasn't going to run again. Planting her paws, she opened her jaw as far as it would go and continued to utter her scream with more heart than ever before. It was kind of like singing, but much louder and you didn't have to hit any notes. Just one long, booming cry. And she hoped now more than ever that it hurt Nincada a whole lot. Even if he was stronger than her, at least she could cause him some kind of discomfort, be it actual loss of health to mere annoyance.[/size][/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Nincada whined as Rosie began to wail. Oh, no, please no. He couldn't take that aweful sound! The Bug type groaned, arms over ears. It wasn't doing much to muffle Rosie's Uproar. How frustrating! Nincada felt weak now, really weak. The Pokémon didn't have much left in him until he fainted. Uproar seemed fairly unavoidable to him, although he supposed there was always some way he could avoid the kitten.

Nincada could see the option of running away, but he could hardly flee from battle. Attacking back would only make her cry more. But... he could use Harden. It would dim the noise while it was powering up thanks to a thicker shell to hear through, and it would boost his Defense. The Bug type stayed as still as he could, flashing a silvery colour. His shell hardened, and the Uproar began to hurt less. He smiled. It worked.

[xxninja]

Lee grimaced as Nincada went into that familiar statue-like state, freshly-hardened shell gleaming as a sunbeam hit it. This complicated things again. With all that extra padding, his ears would be protected like her own from the harmful drumming of Uproar. And Rosie's only other attacks were physical, which would do less damage as well. She could feel her daemon racking his brain for a strategy.

Nincada was a very versatile Pokemon, she realized. If Rosie closed in for attack, she could be hit with Scratch. Using Uproar, she'd be liable to the deadly health-stealing Leech Life, which could be launched from afar. Not only that, Harden shielded his vulnerable points so any damage he took was cushioned a little. Still, with all that heavy armor to haul around, his speed may even be reduced, giving his opponent a slight edge. Even so, against those odds, poor Rosie's chances of winning were bleak. But.... if she could outlast him, they just might make it. If things looked sketchy, however, she could always give the youngling a break and let another of her Pokemon take over.

"Keep it up with the Uproar, Rosie! If he looks like he's going to attack, try your best to get out of the way!"

[/color] The tiny cat gave a lash of her tail to show she understood and continued her rampage, pausing occasionally to get a gulp of air. She would beat that grumpy old meanie if it took forever. She couldn't let her mommy down.[/size][/blockquote]