"Pain... Pain... Pain..."

You repeat that one word over and over and over, as though you need to verbalise the exceedingly obvious agony called by your exceedingly obvious wounds. It makes you a feel a little better, though. It's like putting a droplet of Bepsi into a glass of rubbing alcohol before you drink it down. Even that, that might be placebo, but you're not going to interrogate that, lest it stop working.

Part of you wants to just throw the Pokeball containing the offending Druddigon off into the nearest chasm, as punishment for what it did to you. But you don't, because if you survive your wounds and escape this place with your life, you're going to introduce her to Howard, and the two can have themselves a little reckoning, so to speak. Well, you also don't do it because it'd be Pokemon abuse, and you don't want June snitching and getting you convicted. Oh, and you also don't do it because it's not kind, but that should've been obvious.

"The rocks... They're at the top... The top of the FUCKING TOWER..." You groan, reaching an arm up to gesture vaguely upwards. "That's like... Another twenty floors... It's so over, lady... IT'S SO FUCKING OVER..."

Well, this is bad. Very not good, to be certain. At least it can't get much worse, though.

THWUMP! In what can only be an act of Arceus, who is no doubt delivering retribution upon you for your many years of sinning, a stray Gligar descends upon your face, and proceeds to poisonously sting you.

"...AaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"

You do eventually catch the Gligar, though. There's a lot more screaming and a lot more pain, but you do eventually get him! Eventually.

---

Catching Gligar.
june sleigh

Was this guy fucking serious?

"Are you fucking serious?" June asked the man.

Not because of the actual distance. Rather, the way they could get up there. Not with stairs, but with one of the half dozen flying-types she carried on her at all times. Like the one she rode to the damn tower in the first place.

"Ok, change of--"

Arceus above, this man had suffered enough! Probably. Maybe? Guess Shred could've been a real bastard in his spare time, and needed to be punished in front of others to add to the karmic justice. Or Arceus was a right bastard. 

Anyway, not important. Shred flew from her grip and landed on the floor, attacked once again by a Gligar. "Gible, help him out!"

The creature stared at the flailing, miserable man and then back to the rock it held. June could see it: that machine upstairs turned, gears brought to life for the first time ever. A newly built machine ready to do a lot of work for a long time. Help... him...

Gible pulled a stubby arm back and tried to throw the rock at the Gligar. It hit the ground well under half the distance, then barely bounced the rest of the way. June's shoulders slumped. God could curse this man to three wild Pokémon attacks in the span of five minutes, but couldn't grant even its tiniest child a crumb of motor skills.

Though, on second thought, Shred might've not had that either. Maybe it was a 'get it while it lasts' sort of thing.

And just as she thought to go and step in herself, another Pokémon stepped in the ring. A rambunctious Drakloak, with a tiny Dreepy on its head. She only knew it existed because it ran right into and through her. 

It was a terrifyingly cold feeling. The one you'd get moments before you went numb from hypothermia. Not a feeling she enjoyed, but the Drakloak thought hysterical. That awful emotion was soon replaced with a red-hot anger. "Oh, don't you act so fucking funny on me, asshole!"

Another Poke ball, another sphere that rocked on the ground. As that figured itself out, she walked over to Howard and tried to pull him up by his collar. "Alright, fuck this. We're going back to the first floor, we're riding Matchstick all the way to the top, and we're not going up a single damn floor. Got it, Mr. Insurance Liability?"

It wasn't Shred's fault that he managed to get on the nerves of literally every single wild Pokémon, but she was not about to get caught up in it. Even if she had to drag him down several flights of stairs and subject him to numerous vertical Gs as they swiftly rose the tower.

-1 Poke Ball: Catch Attempt on the Drakloak

---

Shred

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD FLYGON APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] LEVITATE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]EARTH POWER	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]SAND TOMB
[attr="class","wildtabox"]SUPERPOWER	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]LASER FOCUS
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]june sleigh Shred

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD TURTONATOR APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] SHELL ARMOR
[attr="class","wildtabox"]EXPLOSION	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]INCINERATE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]FLAIL	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]TACKLE
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]june sleigh Shred

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

BOTH OF YOUR CAPTURE ATTEMPTS WERE SUCCESSFUL!

You don't respond, partly because you've already been thoroughly defeated today, and partly because the Gligar's sting has partially paralyzed the muscles in your face. You simply allow yourself to be dragged along, occasionally moving your legs in some vague attempt to help the process along. Though, again, most of your legs are thoroughly maimed, so you give up on that pretty quick, too.

You make it to the bottom floor without further incident. You even walk past the same Axew, who has now finished drinking his cup of tea, and who is now washing it in a nearby puddle. But alas, when it rains, it really pours. June can't even get you out the door before her path is blocked by a Turtonator. Oh, joy. Already, you're beginning to brace yourself. Maybe if you're lucky, the severe burns you're going to get will help cauterise your other wounds...

But instead, the creature steps aside, and delivers a single pat to your head. It's gentle, warm, and soothing. Though he might be ugly as sin, this Turtonator is a saint among sinners, completely innocent and born without evil. Of all of Arceus' creations, he is the kindest.

So, the instant it turns its back, you huck a Pokeball at it, because lord knows you need more kindness in your life.

Unfortunately, you're not in any position to pick it up right now, given your many previous injuries. (Un)fortunately, the clueless Gible is happy to grab it in your stead, likely seeking a replacement for the rock it tossed earlier.

You suppose you should be thankful for that. You suppose.

---

Catching BIG TURT IN THE HOUSE!!
june sleigh

Shred must’ve gained weight on their journey to the first floor. It’s the only explanation for why June progressively gets tired. By the time they reached the entrance-slash-exit and ran into the Turtonator, the delivery girl wondered if she was interrupting Arceus’ attempts to kill this man dead.

But before she could give the large dragon permission to murder her companion, it instead patted his head and shuffled to the side. “Well, that’s not what I expected. Thought you were done for, straight up.”

Arceus above, today was seriously not worth it. Howard was forbidden from doing this shit again. “Man, fuck Howard. Like to see his ass trekking through this stupid tower. Have to watch someone get attacked by several Pokémon. Drag your fat ass down several floors– no offense.”

Several more curses followed under her breath. As Gible grabbed onto the poke ball with abstract glee, she pulled Shred out the last few feet. Finally, the outside!

THUD. She dropped her companion for the second time and released her ride. A relatively massive Talonflame emerged. “Alright, Matchstick. Take us to the top, we’re done fucking around.”

But wait, what about–

WHOOOOOOOOOOO--

June mounted the bird, which grabbed Shred with one talon and the Gible with the other. Even with the additional burden of weight, each floor of the tower blurred together into a slurry of stone and windows carved from the stone. It took ages for them to get a fraction of the way up from the inside, but within a minute of a potentially terrifying trip, they flew up and above the top of the tower.

But to land safely, something had to give. The Gible bounced on the hard stone, not phased in the slightest as it tried to bite down on the poke ball. Did people bounce the same way? SPLAT.

Afraid not. June hopped down and scanned their surroundings. Sure were a lot of rocks, and even a few Pokémon. A pack of Flygon camped off to the side. She didn’t give them the opportunity to try and grind Shred to a paste, as a poke ball flew at the pack and smacked one on the back. The rest caught wind and flew off before they could be captured either. “You go get the rocks, I’ll make sure nothing tries to kill you on the way.”

-1 Poke ball, catch attempt on the Flygon.

---

Shred

"OW, fuck!"

You're not sure how, but it seems being dropped directly on your head by Talonflame managed to unclog your pain receptors, or your adrenaline pipes, or some shit like that. You don't know, man, you're not a biologist, you're just a man. The point is, the shock of the impact has caused you to feel both a lot more and a lot less terrible all at once. With a groan, you scramble up to your feet, rubbing the freshly forming lump on your head as you glance back to June, who in spite of everything, is making you grab the rocks. Does she just have no empathy whatsoever? Or is she taking pleasure in your suffering? What a total Howard Slayte move. You'd shake your head, but given how today is going, you don't want to accidentally snap your own neck in the process.

"Fine, fine!" You grumble, stumbling over to the middle of the tower, where circles upon circles of rocks and stones decorate the floor with intricate weaving patterns. "I'm getting the damn rocks..."

Which rocks did he want again? You narrow your eyes as you look at the many, many pebbles. Some of them are different shapes, some of them are different shades, and none of them really stand out. You try and remember exactly what Howard was looking for, but, Arceus, he really talks so much, doesn't he? Especially about his damn archaeology. Just goes on and on and on and on. You tuned most of it out. You HAD to. It was the only way to get through that conversation with your brain cells intact. You're already running pretty low on brainspace, and you can't risk anything getting overwritten by rocks.

Fuck it. Crouching down, you sweep up as many stones as your arms can carry before returning back to June.

"Done. Now let's get the fuck out of here."

---

june sleigh