Red Eyes [mod]

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Ludwig happened to like the tunnels. Yes, they were dark, and yes, they smelled, but his ears gave him so many advantages. He could hear when people were coming so much better, and his brain had long ago learned to work out the echos. Pokemon hid down there, deep underground, and it was those that Ludwig now sought. He alone was no longer good enough. He needed a partner, a little pokemon to come along with him. Something fierce and scary... or whatever. In truth, he really wasn't that picky about it. Despite his clear preference for something scary, mostly he just wanted something that could back him up. The only noise Ludwig made was the occasional tap of his nails on the ground. He was used to being quiet, and his eyes, once infuriating, were now a gift. They let him see in the dark far better, spot things scurrying here and there. He had abandoned his shirt, opting only for work jeans - already stained from blood, and ready to be disposed of anyway. This would be their last run, their last hunt, and he was eager to see what he could find. ( I... I dunno how this works but I'll roll with it :'c)

[Cori]

WILD VENIPEDE APPEARED!

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Venipede || Female || Swarm || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Defense Curl || Rollout || Poison Sting

While Ludwig made hardly a sound as he traversed the tunnels, the same could hardly be said for one of the nearby denizens of the underground as she skittered around the dank passageways, her yellow eyes sharp and observant as she glanced around warily in the darkness for intruders. This particular stretch of the catacombs was her territory - a meager stretch of land, but she would defend it from trespassers with her life. She had venom enough to choke a Pokemon twice her size, and she wasn't afraid to use it. Her antennae swiveled in the air as she crawled across the cold, hard ground, tapping out a steady rhythm as she moved. If there was something else in the tunnel, she would sense it: her sensitive feelers ensured it.

Sure enough, she felt it: there was someone nearby, something large. Human-sized. The bug Pokemon paused half-way through crawling over an abandoned bone, all four of her antennae twitching at once. Yes, most likely a human, and only a few feet away. An angry clicking escaped her mouth, infuriated that anything - human or not - would dare trespass on her land. Well, she knew how to deal with that. With a hiss, the Venipede opened her mouth and fired a volley of Poison Stings in the direction of the intruder's feet, sending a clear message that he wasn't welcome here.

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Bugs, unfortunately, were small. They were small, and the sounds that they made were so easy to miss. Even so, he knew there was something there, his fuzzy ears twitching as they rotated slightly, trying to identify the sound. Tiny clicks. Something was moving, getting closer. Ludwig had already jumped backwards by the time he registered that the attack had not been aimed at him, but instead at the ground before him. He stared at the marks for a bit before looking up, growling slightly as his ears twitched. The poison wasn't a bother - but the sting might be. "Think again. You aren't going anywhere. You're going with me. This can be easy, or it can be hard." At least he was giving the bug an option.

[Cori]

WILD VENIPEDE APPEARED!

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Venipede || Female || Swarm || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Defense Curl || Rollout || Poison Sting

The Venipede let out an insectiod hiss as the human jumped back, evading the poisonous needles with relative ease; her equivalent of a muttered curse. Just the fact that her attack missed was irritating enough, but the fact that this man showed no sign of turning tail and leaving was downright infuriating. This was her domain, and she would brook no intrusions here - human, pokemon, or otherwise. And if this human did not get the message the first time around, well, then she would just have to try agai-

Wait. Had that human just said that he was going to go with him? That he was going to just take her away from her underground home, the same home that she had spent the better part of her life securing and protecting? Oh hell no. This part of the tunnel was hers, as small and boring as it was. She knew every rock in its dark bowels by heart, could crawl through every twist and turn in her dreams, and she'd be damned if she was going to give it up to go on "adventures" or whatever the hell it was trained pokemon did with some surface-dwelling punk.

The red-shelled pokemon hissed defiantly once more at the human's "offer," her antenna flattening against her back in anger before curling up into a tight ball and rolling at Ludwig at full speed.

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Well, this was sort of inconvenient. For every move he knew, most of his strongest were going to be damn useless against a bug. For once, he was going to have to actually not close the distance and just smash it like he did everything else. Normally he just ran up and freaking smashed things - cut them to ribbons and left it at that. Not this time, though. "Last chance, bugface." He snapped - but he didn't exactly give her time to respond. Instead, he popped his mouth open, hating the feeling of sheer, horrible cold as he launched an ice beam towards the bug. It was at that point that the damn thing slammed into him, sending him rolling backwards. Stupid freaking bug. Rolling onto one knee and facing it, he shot a second ice beam towards it, not even bothering to taunt it.

[Cori]

WILD VENIPEDE APPEARED!

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Venipede || Female || Swarm || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Defense Curl || Rollout || Poison Sting

Caught up in her Rollout attack, the Venipede did not hear the human's warning that this was her "last chance" clearly enough to understand it, but even if she had, she would have refused; stubbornness ran through her compact body as strongly as her venom did, and she was not going to give up without a fight. But neither was the human, as she found out when a blast of searing pain shot across her side, Ludwig's first Ice Beam catching her while still rolling. She screeched in pain, the new insectiod sound ear-shattering compared to her pervious hisses, her body burning with the cold. But even that failed to stop her momentum, and she crashed into the human with full-force, sending him rolling now. The Venipede bounced back in the other direction from the force of the collision, uncurling her body with a triumphant clicking sound as soon as she hit the floor.

Alas, her victory was short lived, and even as she uncurled the white-haired man rolled onto his knee and shot another one of those Arceus-damned beams at her, only this time she didn't have momentum on her side to help deflect it, nor could she dodge thanks to the pain in her side from the first shot. In a last ditch attempt to defy this human and save herself, she used Defense Curl again, but it was already too late as this Ice Beam caught her full-force in the face before she could pull herself into a ball. Another inhuman shriek rent the air, dying off into a low hiss as the Pokémon fell into unconsciousness, the unfrozen parts of her body still twitching in one last feeble display or resistance.

VENIPEDE FAINTED!
VENIPEDE IS AVAILABLE FOR CAPTURE!

WILD HOUNDOUR APPEARED!

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Houndour || Male || Early Bird || Dark/Fire || Level 8
Leer || Ember || Howl || Smog

Unbeknownst to either of the combatants, about half way through their battle, they gained an audience in the form of a sleek, black canine watching from the shadows, its night vision and sense of smell more than enough to tell him what was going on around him. And he, for one, was not happy about the scene unfolding in front of him. The dark-type growled, breathing out a snort of flames as he watched the Venipede crumple to the ground, much of her body crusted with ice; in the brief instant where the flames illuminated the Houndour's face, the light revealed a nasty looking wound across his right cheek from the corner to his mouth nearly to the base of his ear, the skin a purplish-red and swollen around the gash. Yet despite how nasty it looked, it was healing now, and had looked a lot worse the day before when it was new. It was why he was here, watching in narrow-eyed displeasure as the human with the strange scent and ability to fire off Ice Beams took down that bitch of a Venipede - an act that stole away the Houndour's chance for revenge. He followed the Venipede's scent back to her territory after their run in the day before, only to find her already under attack, and too soon vanquished. His whole body seemed to burn with anger at the thought, and the humiliation, for if he couldn't exact vengeance on the bug, how could he show his face to the pack? A louder growl rumbled in his chest this time as he glared at the human who stole his revenge from him. Well, if he couldn't take out his anger on the damned insect, he could at least torch this man. Yes, that would have to do to salve his injured pride for now.

Growling, the Houndour charged out of his hiding place and toward the white-haired human, the flames of an Ember billowing from his mouth in an abrupt burst of bright orange flames; what did it matter if this man could breathe Ice, when his Fire could surely melt it away?

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He was definitely going to be sore in the morning. He'd managed to avoid most of the damage simply by rolling with it, but his clothes were all dirty, and his side felt sore. More then likely, he'd rolled over something as he went. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but he'd dealt with much, much worse. Brushing himself off, he fished into his pocket for a pokeball. The venipede was his sort of pokemon, but he wasn't sure he was going to want to keep it, in the long run. It was a fighter, after all, and he preferred pokemon who knew when they were beaten. He shouldn't have to assert himself - the pokemon should simply know their place. Of course, he'd only just throw the pokeball when he heard the sound of something growling. He spun, just in time to see a houndoor charging at him. If not for the growl, he wouldn't have had enough time to react, and as it was, it was still a close shave. He could feel the heat as he literally dived unground, burying himself rapidly as he dug a hole.

[Cori]

WILD VENIPEDE APPEARED!

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Venipede || Female || Swarm || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Defense Curl || Rollout || Poison Sting

Frozen in place on the floor and completely knocked-out, it was impossible for the Venipede to resist capture; for once in her life, she could not struggle as a red beam of light surrounded her, drawing her into a small red-and-white ball before the object fell to the tunnel floor with a clatter and lay there still. That was it. No wobbling in protest, no shaking in a vain attempt to escape its confines. The Venipede, after a life of struggling to protect what was hers, finally failed.

VENIPEDE WAS CAPTURED!

WILD HOUNDOUR APPEARED!

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Houndour || Male || Early Bird || Dark/Fire || Level 8
Leer || Ember || Howl || Smog

After watching the human shoot off ice beams at the Venipede earlier, the Houndour wasn't too shocked when his Ember attack missed, the human disappearing "into thin air" as their kind so often said. Unfortunately for him, however, the Houndour was no stranger to such tricks, and his nose told him everything he needed to discern just where the white-haired man had gone. And sure enough, in the spot where Ludwig was just moments before, a gaping human-sized hole opened up in the tunnel floor. Another deep growl rumbled in his throat as he halted his charge, but this time it was not one of plain aggression, but also somehow smug and pleased - glad that he figured out the human's trick so quickly. If a dog-like pokemon could smirk, then the one that split the Houndour's face was a self-satisfied one, though twisted gruesomely on his right side by his wound. A malicious glint in his eye, the Houndour stuck his maw into the open hole and breated a thick, smothering Smog attack into it; he would smoke that human right out of his tunnel, and if he was lucky, it might even poison the man - or so he thought, unaware of the Zangoose gijinka's Immunity. As far as plans went, he convinced himself that this was a good one - and he came up with it all on his own for once, not directed by his packmates. His spirits lifted, he decided to go and add another Ember attack as insurance, so that if the smog failed to choke the human from his hiding place, the scorching flames would. Burning the human to a crisp would certainly be a mood-lightener after the recent string of bad days he was having recently.

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To be fair, Ludwig didn't really like it underground. It was dirty and strange, but it was far better then being on the surface. Of course, that lasted right until the thick smog started to pour down the hole he'd left. It was thick and choking, but had no real risk of poisoning him. He'd dealt with much more potent venoms, almost all of which were from Magnus. His head flicked up, trying to work out roughly where the pokemon was, when a burst of flame shot around the corner. Hitting him in the side, he grunted, quickly smacking the place where it had hit to put out the tiny flames that had sprung up. Well, that was that, he was mad now. He went straight up, finishing his dig right towards the little houndour, and only moments after hitting the ground, lunged towards the pokemon to close combat the poor beast.

[Cori]

WILD HOUNDOUR APPEARED!

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Houndour || Male || Early Bird || Dark/Fire || Level 8
Leer || Ember || Howl || Smog

Thanks to his keen sense of smell, the Houndour was ready when Ludwig surfaced - or he would have been, if he had the speed to clear the Dig's strike radius completely before the Zangoose gijinka burst out of the ground. Unfortunately, he was too slow to get away completely unscathed, and the Dig attack caught him in the side while retreating and sent him flying. His dark form spared through the air for only a split second before slamming into the tunnel floor. The dark-type yelped in pain - something in his back right leg snapped loudly when he hit the ground - and as much as his side ached from the impact it took a back seat to the screaming pain in his injured limb. He tried to raise to his feet and limp away, intent on fleeing for the moment and seek revenge another time, but before he could a flurry of movement nearby caught his attention once more. The Pokémon turned his head toward the sound, his vision blurred with pain and red-hot fury -

-only to see the white-haired man already in his face, drawing in for a Close Combat. Well damn.

It was over in an instantaneous flurry of attacks, several more ear-shattering cracks, and the heavy thud of a small dog-like body hitting the ground once more after being flung several more feet down the tunnel from where he made his first harsh introduction to the ground. This time, however, the Houndour did not even try to get up. But he was not going to lay down quietly: a tormented hybrid of a growl, howl, and whine escaped his throat and a small flickring flame slipped from his gaping jaws before he fell back against the ground one final time, his body and pride equally broken.

HOUNDOUR FAINTED! HOUNDOUR IS AVAILABLE FOR CAPTURE!

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WILD VENONAT APPEARED!

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Venonat|| Male || Tinted Lens || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Tackle || Disable || Foresight || Supersonic

In the perpetual darkness of the tunnels, there was rarely any light to illuminate its inhabitants' dark world. Whatever light did exist here was the direct product of the Pokémon who called the twisting labyrinth home. Still, when one curious young Venonat spotted a faint glow down one of the many tunnel branches, he immediately hopped off in the direction of the flash of fire-cast light despite his better judgment. Of course he knew that he should really be running in the opposite direction - chances were that whatever made the light was dangerous, something fire-type that could reduce him to cinders without beating an eye - but no matter how his common sense cautioned him, his instinct told him to follow the pretty light. Such was the life of a half-bug type.

It was only when he was close enough to sense with his radar just what caused those flashes of light that he began to rethink his decision not to fight instinct. For one thing, the fire-breather was definitely a Houndour - he knew that a pack of the dog Pokémon roamed the tunnels - and fire types in general were bad news for the insect Pokémon. For another there was something even more dangerous fighting it, something that should have been human, but took the Houndour down with a few quick moves, the gut-churning crunch of bones breaking filling the air as he finished the canine off with a Close Combat. The Venonat trembled at the sight, his already huge red eyes widening further, the sight of a formidable predator’s body beaten and broken on the ground making up his mind for him. He was getting out of there, immediately.

Cautiously, the Venonat took a few steps back - keeping his eyes on the human in case the latter saw him - before catching his foot on a stray rock and falling over. The Venonat fell over with a squeak, more startled than hurt, but to his paranoid mind the damage was already done. Surely he’d given away his position, and that dangerous human was going to attack him too, and after seeing how Ludwig made short work of the Houndour, he was certain that a little bug like himself would not stand a chance. Flying into a panic, the bug-type scrambled back to his feet, scrunched his eyes shut in fear, and launched a dizzying Supersonic cry at the human, thinking that he might be able to get away if the man was too confused to attack him.

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In another situation, even Ludwig might have felt a bit sorry for the poor thing. Really, it was just pathetic, wasn't it? It had made the first move and still gotten it's ass kicked. He let out a small laugh as he approached it, tossing out a pokeball to capture the broken dog. It wasn't his type, but someone would want it. It had some tenacity, after all, and houndours made good guard dogs. Pocketing the pokeball, Ludwig was just about to carry on when he heard a small sound. Ludwig snapped around, trying to identify the source of the sound. A bug of some kind was trying to flee down the tunnel, and Ludwig was about to chase after it when a strange noise came down the tunnel. Ever since his transfusion, the fluffy ears that sat atop his head had been absurdly sensitive. Magnus liked to bother him by screeching, but the noise of the supersonic was enough to make him doubled over, confused and alarmed. Stupid bug... (Skipping)

[Cori]

WILD HOUNDOUR APPEARED!

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Houndour || Male || Early Bird || Dark/Fire || Level 8
Leer || Ember || Howl || Smog

HOUNDOUR WAS CAPTURED!

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WILD VENONAT APPEARED!

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Venonat|| Male || Tinted Lens || Bug/Poison || Level 6
Tackle || Disable || Foresight || Supersonic

The Venonat gave a quiet sigh of relief as the human crumpled to the floor, his antennae drooping in relief for just a moment as he allowed himself a few seconds to breathe. How close was that! Supersonic was a risky move, one that rarely hit and could always backfire if the target kept its senses enough to attack him anyway. Still, it looked like he was going to be okay after all, at least if he could get away before the human decided to give chase. The violet-haired bug nodded silently to himself, taking a second to recognize the valuable lesson that his close brush with danger taught him about listening to his judgement instead of blindly following his instincts. He would never make that kind of mistake again!

Or, at least, he told himself such; two weeks later, however, he would make the same follow-the-pretty-lights blunder which would lead to the poison-type fleeing from a Magmar for dear life. But for now he was safe to scamper away down the tunnel to a less-risky destination without even stopping to cast a glance at the Hoothoot he sped by in the process.

VENONAT FLED!

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WILD HOOTHOOT APPEARED!

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Hoothoot|| Female || Keen Eye || Normal/Flying || Level 8
Tackle || Growl || Foresight || Hypnosis

Not much in the tunnel escaped the notice of a certain red-eyed denizen of their depths; truly, with her superb night-vision and keen eyes, the tawny-feathered Hoothoot was a master navigator in the near-complete darkness. Additionally, she was one of the underground’s greatest sources of information, or so she claimed to others, partially out of genuine belief in her abilities and partially because proving useful to a predator might be the difference between living on another day and ending up a roast bird dinner for something bigger and more powerful. Not that she was a coward - far from it! - but survival in the darkest reaches of these tunnels was tough and you had to be willing to make a few sacrifices, in which case personal pride was often the first thing to go. It also helped to know your surroundings and the situations surrounding the more dangerous cave-dwellers, such as which ghost-types were having a prank war against each other or if the local Growlithe and Houndour packs were at each other’s throats again. Of course, such information rarely plopped down at your feet without looking for it, so making the rounds through the tunnels became a key point in the flying-type’s survival strategy, which was precisely what the Pokémon in question was doing when a Venonat dashed by, muttering something about a terrifying human and stupid lights. Well that was interesting, the Hoothoot thought with a tilt of her head, pondering what to do with this new tidbit of information. Sometimes other Pokémon appreciated getting a heads-up when a trainer was afoot in the subterranean domain so that they could either pick fights with them or avoid them and by extension the possibility of capture. But there was something odd about the way the Venonat reacted to this one...bug-types were often skittish, but if this human had a Pokémon with him, then why was he fixated on the human himself? That was quite odd, and definitely deserved some investigating. Perhaps one of those rumored humans with Pokémon abilities managed to find their way down here, which was sure to cause quite a stir if she spilled the beans to the right Pokémon. Well, that decided it. She definitely had to investigate this. A soft stirring of the air was the only sound she made as the owl picked up speed, intent on discovering just what was going on further down the tunnel.

It did not take her very long to find the man, doubled over on the ground as he was - likely caught by an attack from the Venonat. That weakened posture certainly made him seem less threatening, but there was definitely something dangerous about him, a sort of predatory feeling. The Hoothoot quickly noted the damage in the surrounding area - holes dug in the floor, no doubt from a Dig attack, and a few stray spines here and there from what could have been a Poison Sting or Pin Missile, though most likely the former as she recalled that a particularly aggressive Venipede usually occupied this stretch of tunnel. Had this human driven her out, or perhaps captured her finally? Oh, that would be a hoot - many cave-dwellers complained about that particular bug and her more-vicious-than-thou attitude when it came to defending “her” territory. Curious to get a better look at the situation, the Hoothoot landed not far from the human, carefully touching down with one foot while she buried the other in her warm stomach feathers before hopping toward the man like a little, feathery pogo stick. He did not look like he was in shape to attack her just now, but she had a Hypnosis attack at the ready just in case he decided to lash out at her regardless of his condition.

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Ludwig ached. His wounds from before were relatively painful, uncomfortable to the bitter end. He was going to have to bandage himself up pretty soon. It would do him no good to wander around injured, and it would do even less good to do so in a tunnel filled with strange pokemon. Some of them could be aggressive, after all. The houndour's pokeball was lying not far from him as he snapped of his confusion at last, and he let out a loud groan of annoyance. "Goddamnit." He cursed, rolling over and reaching out to retrieve the ball, before pressing his palms flat to the ground and forcing himself upright. He completely failed to notice the little owl until several seconds later, and he glanced over it, frowning, and obviously not in a good mood. "What're you lookin' at?" He snapped.

[Cori]

WILD HOOTHOOT APPEARED!

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Hoothoot|| Female || Keen Eye || Normal/Flying || Level 8
Tackle || Growl || Foresight || Hypnosis

Hoo? The Hoothoot thought to herself as the man snapped at her after rolling over to grasp his new prize. Well, someone was testy. The flying-type tilted her body as she pondered the man’s attitude, his scathing reaction. Should she put him to sleep and flee to warn the others in the cavern, leaving him to whatever Pokémon might find him? Or should she wait and see what he did next, now that he had a moment to catch his breath? On closer inspection, his wounds from the previous battles did look like they would sting, even though he must have gotten off easy compared to whatever was on the losing end of the battles that took place here. Glowing red eyes traveled along the man’s body, taking in the damage and assessing the situation. He was in pain, of that she was certain, but not nearly enough to incapacitate him - just to irritate him. Which could end badly for her, as she was a small, nonthreatening looking target in striking distance if the white-haired human decided to take his anger out on her. Still, if he had the misfortune to run into some of the more annoying tunnel-dwellers right off the bat, his anger would make perfect sense. No place was perfect and here in the dark, dank network of tunnels fittingly nicknamed the catacombs that was more true than ever. Pokémon killed each other for food, for revenge, even for amusement, things that only humans should be capable of doing. And she...she was a snitch, to put it bluntly. She sold others information to save her own feathery hide. It was not a glamorous life by any means, but she was content enough to keep traveling that road if it meant she stayed in one piece. You can't do much of anything if you're dead, after all!

And yet...yet she was curious, and instead of throwing a Hypnosis at him and flying away, she graciously stood there in wait, apparently becoming interested in the cave ceiling above her. She had no human words to say “I’ll be your guide if you agree not to shred me with those claws of yours,” so she figured letting him get over his confusion before making any moves would be the best - and probably only - way to get her “good” intentions across to him. Caution was all well and good, but it was rare that she found something so interesting during her rounds, so she might as well stick around and observe it.

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Ludwig shook his head, freeing himself from the last of the confusion. His head still ached, really. It probably would a while. He was bothered by his loss, by the fact that that damned bug had escaped, and by the fact that this little owl-thing had been staring at him. Hoothoot, or whatever. The owl wasn't looking at him anymore, but it wasn't going anywhere, either, and he growled slightly. "Why the hell are you still hanging around here?" He muttered, even if his anger wasn't nearly as obvious. It was fading away a bit, replaced by proper annoyance. "What do you want, you damn bird?" Obviously, there was some reason the owl was still here. Most fled at the sight of him, and this one... well, it hadn't. So why was it still here, but not attacking?

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