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[Dragon Master Mike]

Chapter 4: Hypnosis

Corey froze the instant he heard the words come out of the Ninetale’s mouth. He began to feel the panic building up inside him. “What’s behind me?” He wondered with fear, staring into the fire type’s eyes. He was about to speak when Ruby moved. Opening her mouth, she unleashed a blast of scorching hot fire towards Corey. Corey froze, watching the fire come closer. He had no time to dodge the fire. Luckily, as he would realise a second later, he didn’t have to. The fire had not been intended for him, but rather what was behind him. He realised this as the fire flew just over his head, its heat radiating towards him. Any closer and the fire would have burnt his ears, but clearly Ruby knew what she was doing. With a whoosh, the fire struck the bushes behind Corey, releasing a crackling sound as it spread.

Corey began to loosen up, hoping that whatever was behind him was gone. He slowly turned his head around. He was surprised to see that the fire was spreading like… well… wildfire. He only watched for a few seconds longer before turning back towards Ruby, disregarding the crackling generated by the inferno behind him.

“What… What was it?” Corey slowly questioned. The Ninetales didn’t answer. Instead, she looked over Corey, staring at the raging fire. She looked for only a second longer before darting forward. She moved faster than Corey thought possible, leaping over the stream towards the fire. Leaping up, she scaled a tree with ease. Standing at a branch half way up the tree, she looked down into the fire intently. She only stood there for several seconds before leaping down again, satisfied whatever had been there was gone… At least for the time being.

Ruby leaped back over the stream as easily as she had the first time. Without saying a word, she walked right past Corey, stopping when she reached our camp fire. Sitting down, she looked into the fire, thinking about what had just happened. Corey wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. He wondered if Ruby made a mistake, and if there never was anything behind him.

“I know there was something there…” The fire type said quietly, as if to answer Corey’s unspoken question.

“What was it?” The young Eevee questioned.

“I don’t know… But something tells me it wasn’t here to make friends.” Ruby answered. By now the sun had set, leaving nothing but the last dim rays of light to illuminate the look of displeasure on the Ninetale’s face. “I would suggest that we find a new location to sleep for the night, but with the fire here to keep us- Well, mainly you- warm, and with your injury still looking pretty bad, I don’t think that we can afford to move.” The fire type explained. After all that had just happened, Corey had almost forgotten about his injury. He moved his leg, just to remind himself that the injury on his shoulder was still sore.

Corey looked up at the fire type, struggling to see her face in the still diminishing light. “Whatever was here, I hope it doesn’t come back” He thought.

<~>

Corey opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was… Well, the fact that he didn’t notice anything. It was dark. Slowly his eyes began to adjust however, and he began to make outlines of shapes around him. He listened and heard the stream flowing. Looking up, he could just barely make out the shape of the half moon through the trees.

Corey couldn’t even remember falling asleep. Clearly at some point he had though. The last thing he could remember, he had gone for a drink of water at the stream. Corey knew it had been some time since then, as the moon was in a completely different position. He slowly brought himself to his feet, his injury aching. He looked around, trying to remember what had happened. By now, his eyes were fully adjusted, allowing him to make out the shape of Ruby, lying several meters away. He looked to his left and realised he was only centimeters away from the edge of the stream. He got up and took a few steps away from the stream. He walked towards Ruby, his feet uncomfortably meeting the rocky ground below him.

Corey walked up to Ruby. Looking down at her, he immediately noticed something not right. He was not sure what it was, but he felt something off. He looked back up and swung his head around.

Nothing to his left.

Nothing to his right.

Corey sighed with relief, realising he had been panicking unnecessarily. He decided he had worried himself enough. He figured it would be a good idea to try and get some sleep.

“Should have checked behind you.” The female voice said. Corey was grabbed from behind.

“RUBY!!!” Corey shouted at the top of his lungs. Corey expected the Ninetales to wake up immediately, and jump into action. He was disappointed to see that Ruby did not move a muscle. “RU-” Corey was cut off by his captor.

“Don’t bother crying, I already took care of her.” The voice said, lifting him off the ground.

“What? Took care of her? She couldn’t mean…” Corey ended his thought there. Terrified, he closed his eyes, hoping that maybe he would wake up. He knew it wasn’t a nightmare, but he was terrified, and clueless on what to do. Opening his eyes a moment later, he sighed at his own stupidity. The fact that no one was there to save him finally set in, and Corey realised he was going to have to save himself… Something he did not think himself capable of. He was scared. He didn’t know how to fight. He knew though that something had to be done.

It took him all his courage just to turn his head around and look at his abductor. It was hard to see in the dim light, but judging by its shape, and the fact that it appeared to be floating, he figured it had to have been the ghost type from district 4. Looking down, it saw the Mismagius was holding it by its almost fabric like arms… or at least, something that resembled an arm in function. Corey thought that maybe what he had tried on the Sylveon would work here.

Stretching his neck as far as he good, he attempted to bite the ghost types limb. Corey struggled to reach it, but finally did. As he clamped his mouth closed on the Mismagius, he felt his teeth sink into it’s arms(That Corey was tempted to call tentacles). The Floating Pokemon flinched slightly, but held its grip. Corey almost gave up, but realised doing so would likely mean death. Corey bit down harder, trying to release himself from his foe’s grasp. This did not give much better results than the first time. Corey looked around, trying to figure out what to do next.

Seeing a tree coming up, Coey noticed a branch sticking out towards him. When the two Pokemon reached the tree, Corey bit down on the branch, trying with all his strength to break free. For a second he felt as if he had loosened the ghost type’s grip, but was quickly proven wrong as the Mismagius forced him away from the branch.

Corey looked up and was surprised how little ground they had covered. Perhaps he was too heavy for this Pokemon to carry? Whatever the reason, it was comforting to still be able to see Ruby… even if…

And that’s when Corey got an idea. Looking back up at his captor, he saw a hat like shape on its head. Corey stretched his neck closer and bit down on it, tugging it towards him. The ghost type screeched in pain, and immediately let go. Corey hit the ground, shocked that this had caused enough pain to the Mismagius that she had let him go. Though his injury on his shoulder was still very sore, he did not pay attention. He did not pay attention to the uncomfortably rocky ground below him, or to the black ball of energy that shot from the Pokemon behind him. All he payed attention to was his need to get away, and fast. Corey darted full speed. He moved so quickly, he even impressed himself. Looking back, he saw the ghost type fling another shadow ball at him. Corey would not have to dodge this attack however, as it completely missed… and hit Ruby. Almost immediately, the Ninetales darted to her feet.

“Looks like the Hypnosis wore off…” The ghost type mumbled, just barely audible. Ruby Instantly sprung into action. Without moving from where she stood, she unleashed a massive plume of fire towards the Mismagius. The fire engulfed the floating Pokemon, instantly killing it… Or at least, thats what Corey assumed had happened once it disappeared into the inferno. This assumption was reinforced when the fire cleared, revealing a distinct lack of anything that wasn’t charred beyond recognition. Corey sat down, sighing with relief. The Ninetales turned around and faced Corey.

“Are you ok?” The fire type questioned. Corey did not answer. Instead he simply stared back. Over her shoulder. Eyes wide with shock as he realised his assumption was wrong.

“BEHIND YOU!” Corey half shouted, half screamed. His warning was too late though. In an attack too quick for Corey to notice, Ruby was knocked to the ground. She did not stay on the ground long though. In one swift motion, The fire type leaped to the ground, spinning around to be facing the ghost type. Examining the ghost type closer, Corey could tell it had suffered some burns. Sadly, it was still in good fighting condition.

Going with the same tactic as before, Ruby unleashed yet another inferno loose on the Mismagius. At almost the same time, the ghost type unleashed a black ball of energy. As the shadow ball struck the flame, the fire was deflected. At the same time however, its power was dramatically weakened, and it harmlessly bounced off of Ruby, disappearing with a dim flash as it struck her fur.

You know what they say: If at first you don’t succeed, try again. And that is exactly what Ruby did. She unleashed yet another wave of fire. This time the floating Pokemon was less fortunate. As the flame cleared, nothing was left but a ball of fire. And the fire was screaming. Corey watched in shock as the blazing figure shot towards the water. The horrific screaming ceased as the figure crashed into the stream, just barely managing to submerge itself in the shallow water. Submerged in water it stayed.

<~>

“Wake up.” Corey heard the voice say. Opening his eyes, He saw Ruby, her face now illuminated by the golden rays of the sun. Also illuminated by sunlight were several cuts along her side, as well as a mark where the shadow ball had hit her. “We need to get moving. After that fight last night, every Pokemon in this forest will know where we are.” As Ruby spoke, Corey lazily stood up. He was surprised he had managed to sleep after all that had happened. Looking over to the stream, Corey could not see any signs of the Mismagius’s remains.

“Have any direction in mind?” Corey questioned.

“Yes. Yes I do.”