He should have put a stop to everything the moment the foul, familiar stench reached his nose.

One hand fell over Hideo Kino's shoulder, the other extending to block Eris Halla' path, his expression darkening as he peered into the corpse filled pool below.

"Nothing good." He said simply, not bothering with following up Arashi Akiyama's words. He knew Hideo would see through any poor lie, in these circumstances. Vagueness was better.

He dragged his gaze away from the well to Andy Blackadder.

"This ain't no place for kids." He said bluntly, gesturing to both Hideo and Eris with his neck before nodding at Ruby Walker's words. "Yeah. We gotta go back. Now."

If the sheer sheer quantity of corpses alone was not alarming enough, the fact that there were Megalopolans among them certainly did not help.

None of these had been consumed as meals; they had been killed, and promptly brought here. Like a Serial Killer's dumping grounds.

Pokemon or whatever it was, he didn't care if it was bloody rare; he wasn't willing to put any life but his own at risk for a sweet catch.

Unfortunately, Ruby's good sense, much like Doug's didn't seem to extend towards her own safety.

"Absolutely not." Doug barked immediately after, brow falling low.

Her description alone was plenty to jog his memory of the military reports of the 3 day War. He was beginning to get a somewhat flimsy idea of what she spoke of.

Letting anyone go alone seemed like a terrible idea.

"I'm one of 'em Officers." Doug said bluntly, reaching into his jacket to produce his league ID. "And even if I weren't, I can't just knowingly let anyone chase after one of those monsters, or anything else that could do all this. This ain't a fight anyone should pick alone, even the Saint o' Slateport."

kyle lopez himself could have been here and Doug would still have suggested to at least bring somebody else along.

Which created a problem.

He was fairly sure he wouldn't be convincing Ruby to come back with them. But he could not in good conscience leave her alone. He could not send Hideo and Eris back home alone either, however.

So it seemed like they weren't going anywhere after all.

The youth grasped the bridge of his nose, teeth biting hard onto his cheek.

"Everyone." He said, grasping the rest of his net balls. If they were gonna do this stupid ass thing... might as well do it as tactically sound as possible. "All battle-ready pokemon, out.

And there were very few tactics as effective as simply vastly outnumbering the enemy.

As his Orbeetle came out of his ball, Doug met his gaze, nodding sharply.

"Garo, Radar. Now." He said. A six miles radius radar would serve them well- at the very least, it would prevent any further surprises.

For how little Andy Blackadder thinks of the League and presumably its military, it was only the cumulation of both military discipline and strategy that kept Doug from reaching over and slapping the shorter youth upside the head.

He really didn't have it in him to deal with that kind of talk at this moment.

"Moving on." He practically hissed, rather close to becoming the drill sergeant his soldiers knew he could be, even as he gently tried to lead Hideo Kino away from the... everything with both Arashi Akiyama and Rocky.

He didn't really have time to issue further orders, however. At that moment, Eris Halla retched, making the youth flinch.

For whatever reason, her Luxray deemed him the one person to deal with it- which honestly, was another thing entirely from trying to keep Hideo away.

Doug didn't have good coping mechanisms for himself; how was he supposed help someone else?

As Eris grabbed at his shirt with shaky hands and a wheeze breaths however, he realized it didn't matter. He dropped onto a crouch before her, wrapping his arms around her waist before gently picking her up and off the floor.

Eleven years old was a bit on the old side to be carried around by your parents- but Doug had youth and strength both, and willingness to help.

"I've gotcha..." He muttered lowly to her, hugging her close to him; the words came to him like distant memories. Someone had said them to him before, perhaps many times. "I've gotcha."

This little get out was turning out into exactly the opposite of what they had all hoped. Well... almost all of them.

Andy was a little too excited and eager for it to all be coincidental.

Garo glanced at him and nodded towards the caverns over the hill, and with Andy already marching forth and Ruby Walker determined to see things through, Doug knew there wasn't much he could do without antagonizing them both.

And he couldn't just leave them alone.

So he would do his best to keep them all alive.

"Keep one pokemon next to you. Have the rest form up in front of us in an arrow formation, please." Doug said; going into military jargon and specific tactics and formations would just confuse those without the knowledge. Best to keep it simple. "Flying pokemon, above us."

His Scizor, Ultra, for his part, took place between Hideo and Doug, trusting Garo to command him to defend before anything got too close.

Asura the Ledian part into the arrow formation, cracking all four of his knuckles with uncharacteristic seriousness, teeth grit behind his maw as he glared up at the hill.

And Glasgow the Dustox flew above them, making an effort to keep his scales to himself for now.

Garo stood behind the arrow formation proper, eyes gleaming.

There was no point in covering their behind for now; if there was any danger coming from behind, Garo would have detected it. As things were now, it was best to concentrate their forces.

Instructions given, he walked forth, Eris in his arms, making an attempt to make the trip gentle and steady for her while still muttering gentle words.

As Andy was keen to point out, the cavern was treacherous, with dangerous stalagmites and stalactites growing out from both floor and ceiling, and massive craigs and fissures running through the floors. The darkness did not help matters either.

"Garo." Doug said suddenly, to which the pokemon suddenly connected with every person and pokemon properly. "Keep us alerted."

They all got something akin to a nod in the back of their minds- as well as warnings for many of the obstacles within their vicinity.

Though he didn't want to think about it, his attempts to push away the thoughts only made him think harder about it. And though nobody outright said it, Hideo had been fairly experienced reading between the lines of what people said.

Arashi Akiyama and John Sullivan tried to avoid saying it, but their physical and verbal attempts to move him away told him everything. And even if they'd chosen silence, Ruby Walker 's speech spelled it out for him. He knew exactly what he was smelling, even as he pinched his nose as hard as he could pinch.

He did not resist as Rocky, Arashi, and Doug moved him away. He wanted to get away from those Pokemon bodies as soon as possible - as far as he was aware, they were only Pokemon bodies.

Which was why he was all the more disgusted when Andy Blackadder celebrated it. Like those Pokemon deserved to get slaughtered and thrown in a ditch. "What the fuck, Andy?" he muttered - likely only to be heard by Arashi and Doug. He meant to be louder, but he was still struggling to not vomit.

A battle it sounded like Eris Halla lost. Hideo didn't have the spare energy to comfort her. He just wanted to get away from all this.

He didn't even think to argue with Doug's orders. Hideo had to put his cane away for a moment as he took out his Ribombee first, the little pink bug fluttering in the air for all if a second before covering his nose and looking back to what was making such an awful smell. His lazy eyes opened wide as he saw the source. "Pinky, could you...please just make this smell less awful."

Pinky nodded, dusting everyone with a light spray of pollen. His Aromatherapy would be like trying to use an air freshener - it wouldn't get rid of the stench of rot, but it would make it somewhat more bearable and alleviate some of his trainer's nausea - and hopefully Eris's as well.

Hideo then let his Aggron and Ambipom out in quick succession. Aaron didn't react to the stench, but Pom had to cover her nose immediately with her arms.

Hideo could speak a little better, though he couldn't talk for long. "Rocky, I'll have Pom...stick with me. You and...Aaron go up front, ok?" His Lycanroc looked up at him, then at Pom, who took a hold of Hideo's free hand with one of her tails.

Rocky and Aaron both advanced forward, though everyone else would see that Rocky was walking halfway between the much-larger Pokemon and their mutual trainer. Pinky, who Hideo forgot to order, simply took a spot on Hideo's head, dusting the boy's hair with more pollen and using that as a makeshift barrier from the stench. "And Pom...let me know when we're far enough that the smell is...gone."

It wouldn't be until they were at the cave that Pom would follow through with that request, pulling away the hand Hideo had been using to plug his nose up to that point. His nose was red from the force he'd used, but that hardly mattered.  He could still smell it, even a little bit - though that was just in his head.

It took a grand total of one second and hearing Andy's voice echo for Hideo to realize where they were. Hideo retrieved his cane once more, re-extending it. "We should be careful, but Rocky's really good at moving through places like these," he said, immediately surveying the area around him.

It was funny that he might've been one of the people in the group best equipped to traverse a dark cave; Rocky was exceptional at removing debris, and his own tapping cane would help him notice anything Andy's lights didn't immediately reveal.

And anything too big, his Aggron could just move out of the way. Or crush under his heavy, metal feet.

Hideo's Ribombee uses Aromatherapy to try and make the smell somewhat bearable.

Hideo's Ribombee and Ambipom stay with him.  His Aggron takes point, while his Lycanroc is staying relatively close to his trainer (despite Hideo's order).

Hideo and his Lycanroc (and his Aggron) help make traversal through the cave safer.

John Sullivan , Andy Blackadder , Eris Halla , Ruby Walker , Arashi Akiyama

FOLLIES OF YOUTH

YOUTH LEGENDARY POKEMON HUNT!!1!

AS LIGHT IS SHONE INTO THE FESTERING CAVE thanks to Eris' Luxray, more and more of the horror comes into view. Viscera smothers and stains stone so much that its original hue can not be discerned. The stench of rot is made easier to bear thanks to an AROMATHERAPY. While Arashi Akiyama and Hideo Kino's Pokemon advance cautiously with their trainers, the glowing light of Andy Blackadder's Centiskorch provides warmth against the chilling sights.

A FUTURE SIGHT offers a very vague, very dark vision of the future. At least one possibility at least. The Gardevoir can hear screams. Feel and smell spilled blood. Further darkness.

Suddenly, John Sullivan's Orbeetle alerts the group of something ahead. Ruby Walker's Togekiss too, detects something— but it is different than an Ultra Beast, or similar to one at least; however, there is some similarity... The Luxray's light is reflected ever so briefly by something in the dark. Gems, was it? A shard of glass? No, two canine eyes.

And as the group comes to swift realization of the danger in, they all realize that their hunt has been "successful." From the abyss, a legendary Pokemon stained red lashes out. Its helmet, chipped and caked in human rust, glows as it roars. Ruby Walker is right. For she realizes it is Frankie, the Type: Null.

Still frenzied by Jules Cotillard's machine, the creature attacks relentlessly. TRI ATTACKS are whipped from the crest of its head, striking anything it hits with impossible ferocity. But its moves are calculated. It attempts to hunt the weakest looking or youngest human— doing all it can to separate it from the rest.

Andy Blackadder John Sullivan Hideo Kino Ruby Walker Arashi Akiyama Eris Halla

Hideo wasn’t sure how long they’d been walking through the cave; it was hard to keep track of time when you wanted the past hour as far away as possible. It was long enough that the scent of corpses was completely gone from his senses - though he wasn’t sure if it would ever leave his memories. He kept moving forward, tapping along the cold rock, keeping his footing as his Ambipom guided him along.

But this stillness couldn’t last. Hideo’s Ambipom stopped him as his Lycanroc and Aggron readied themselves. That roar announced they’d found something, whether they wanted to or not.

And almost immediately, Hideo found himself pushed to the ground, courtesy of his Ambipom. He could feel the beam of fire whiz by. There was no doubt that beam was meant to hit him. It wasn’t the first time a Pokemon ever tried to attack him directly, but he knew the few that did were particularly bloodthirsty. Probably the one that left that pile…

It was best that his Pokemon were trained to be more independent, to focus on keeping Hideo safe first. Pom helped Hideo get back up, but immediately pulled him around to avoid more attacks.

While most of his Pokemon didn’t immediately realize it, Rocky was able to catch on to how these attacks were being aimed; he could see Hideo steadily being separated from the others. Whether it was deliberate or not, Rocky had to put a stop to it asap. He went with the most direction action: charging straight at the Type:Null, his body glowing with an Accelerock.

Meanwhile, Hideo’s Aggron focused more on the defense, not wanting his trainer to be at risk of getting picked off by another Tri-attack. He took advantage of some of the stalagmites Andy Blackadder ’s Dhelmise knocked down, lifting them up with a Rock Tomb and tossing them back. They’d form some cover for Hideo and anyone else near him, to keep them from being struck by any other projectiles.

The moment the rocks landed, Pom was on it, guiding Hideo behind them.

Hideo starts getting separated from the group by the Type:Null's attacks, and is disoriented.

Hideo's Lycanroc is charging at the Type:Null via Accelerock

Hideo's Aggron creates some cover for Hideo (and anyone near him) via a Rock Tomb

Hideo's Ambipom is helping guide him around and into cover

John Sullivan , Andy Blackadder , Eris Halla , Ruby Walker , Arashi Akiyama