“You think I don’t know that or something?”

June’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. She was not some kid blind to the circumstances. “I literally got attacked by Rocket earlier. Wasn’t fun. But this… isn’t fun either.”

Honestly? She’d rather get attacked than come down into these tunnels. Every time they submerged into the ground, she pressed her hands hard into her upper legs. By now, both body parts ached terribly. Tunnels were the worst. What if both entrances blew out? What if the whole thing collapsed right on top of them?

She’d rather be evaporated in five seconds of agony than slowly suffocate underneath a mountain of rubble. But she’d also rather have that happen than tell this geezer she had a fear of tight, enclosed spaces. “Don’t you think–”

Before her sentence got out, the dog growled and hopped off the cart. Furthermore, the sounds of people in the distance caught her attention. A trap, eh? Stupid Rocket. It made sense from a tactical standpoint, but still.

“What kind of trap you think we’re dealing with?” She whispered as quietly as possible. Not like they could avoid it, regardless of what it was. They’d have to disarm it. How, though…

A flash of light revealed a newcomer to the party: a Passimian. It emerged right next to her, and she put a hand on its head immediately. “No loud noises, Buddy. Got movement ahead. Be ready.”

It stared at her with a blank expression. Eyes as wide as they could go. Whatever. He didn’t need to be smart, he needed to be strong. As soon as Nikita signaled some attack or best course of action, they’d act on it. Just needed that signal…

---

Nikita Sokolov  

10 (Post) + 50 (Participation(I forgor to include it in the last post)) = 70 total MP

Did… did Nikita just say block the tunnels?

No, no, no, don’t think about it! They wouldn’t do that! That’s just silly talk. This geezer wouldn’t psyche June out that easily. She just needed to ignore his words. And the way her heart pounded as hard as a war drum. And the way her hands trembled even as they dug into her legs again.

Thank Arceus, it didn’t take long for them to get in sight of the ambushees. Even then, that Houndstone popped off rather hard; two of the four looked worse for wear. Guess that’s where Buddy comes in. June tapped on his back, “Go get ‘em, Buddy!”

‘Go get em’ he did. With a war cry that blared painfully throughout the tunnel, the creature leaped off the cart and bum-rushed the other two Rockets and their Pokémon. In the dark, it appeared as a creature of the night, which scurried on all four legs and held a face of true madness. Both the other trainers yelled in terror.

As for their Pokémon… well, Buddy never was a gentle one. Its tail slammed forward into the first one, a Barbaracle, with the force of a semi-truck. It tumbled back a few feet, right into its own trainer. The second Pokémon, Emboar, wasted no time and charged the lemur down.

“EmmmmmmBOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!”

A sun emerged from the depths of the earth. After so long, even a dim light would threaten to blind anyone down here. From the fiery red inferno of a Pokémon came its own devastating force, and it slammed into the Passimian.

Or, it tried. Instead, the creature slammed right into the fury of its fists. An awful Close Combat rocked the Emboar’s world, enough to throw it off course. It slammed into the other wall and thudded to the ground. Passimian raised its ball above its head and shouted a victorious war cry, spittle flying from its mouth:

“OOAAHAAHOHOOOHAOhAOHAAOHAO–”

At least June’s attention was taken off the… yea. She watched her Pokémon fight with a dangerous level of enthusiasm. “That’s my boy! Knock ‘em dead, Buddy!”

---

Nikita Sokolov
+10 MP

June was excited to see her Passimian fight the other Pokémon finally. Her prowess in those types of battles left a lot to be desired. Hell, even all the stuff she’s done on this island didn’t really count as a proper battle. She and Matchstick worked in unison, one being at the same time.

But this? Passimian did all the work for her! Didn’t even need to tell it what to do. That was the kind of self-sufficiency she needed right now.

What she didn’t need right now was a hail of gunfire. Especially in such a constricted environment.

Even with Nikita’s warning, June sat halfway between cover when the first shot rang out. With the narrow tunnels, the gun sounded off louder than normal. Her ears rang with twice the intensity, and a headache took hold almost instantly.

Yet they did not stop, even once she found cover. June clutched her head desperately, her body compressed in as small a space as possible. Fears compounded on one another, with the tight tunnels, rampant gunfire, and the dozens of ricochets that bounced all over.

Each one of them separately, not that big a deal. All together? Hell on earth.

---

Passimian did not take any of this into consideration. Instead, it simply changed targets from Pokémon to humans. Another of the grunts pulled a pistol on it and open fire. The first and second shot missed by feet, but the third struck true. A bullet lodged inside its shoulder.

This only made the problem worse.

With its injury-free arm, pulled back and threw its signature ball with all its might. That fourth shot did not come from a fire arm, but the thing it was pointed at itself. Bone crunched underneath the raw force. The Emboar’s trainer joined it against the wall, down and out for the count.

“RAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–”

Buddy then leapt and clung onto the chest of the fourth trainer. They did not have time to do anything but feebly attempt to push it off. Cold comfort for the Thrashing they took. Screams of terror echoed out from underneath, a faint comfort as they were assaulted with no restraint.

And so long as the Houndstone could keep the pressure on (and there weren't any more reinforcements), then they might be in the clear after all!

---

Nikita Sokolov
+10 MP (Post)

“I-I think so,” June quickly felt her body up. No oddly wet stains, no holes in her limbs. Mentally, the commotion still destroyed any sense of reason or understanding, but she could at least watch Nikita pop up from behind cover and–

June jumped. Arceus above, did he just… no, don’t think about it. Gruh. This was fucked seven ways to Sunday. They needed– no, she needed to get the fuck out of here. And if they could get the cart on the way, that’d happen.

On the Pokémon side, Passimian only stopped its assault on the now unconscious guard when those burrs latched onto its fur. Some energy sapped from its body and given to the Cradily, who now held the Houndstone well in its grasp.

“GRHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA–”

Almost as deafening as the gunshots, Buddy launched right off the grunt and directly into the Cradily. All three of its good limbs flailed and flung into the head of the creature, despite the way it tried to steal the good health of the thing that assaulted it so fiercely. Close Combat did not discriminate in its ferocity.

And it did not relent. It only backed off to retrieve its beloved, hardened green berry. Said berry found its way back into the air, thrown at full force against the head of the Cradily once more. Even with the way it healed itself from the Leech Seed, this was simply too much. It fainted.

Passimian pumped its arms up and down, “WOOWOOHOOOHOHOOOO!”

But no time to waste! Now, it went for the Houndstone. Strong teeth and stronger arms bit and tore through the vines at a quick pace. It wouldn’t be long before it freed its fellow team member. Perhaps for the best that it aided it and not the enemy.

If only June could be as useful as her Pokemon. So far, all she managed in the short time allotted was climb wobbly off the cart and half-jog-half-run at the other grunt. She had ignored the fainted Tauros and very tired Team Rocket Grunts and blood splatters and the smell of cordite and the awful stench of death and instead went after the one remaining alive grunt.

She couldn’t let him get reinforcements. Out from her pocket emerged her handy dandy box cutter. Maybe if she put the threat of violence against him, he’d surrender. Hopefully. “Hey, stop right there! Surrender and we’ll… not hurt you!”

“Fuck off, bitch!”

The Grunt stopped his retreat for only a moment, and a hand reached for something at his side. That was… a gun?! Fuck fuck fuck fuck–

---

Nikita Sokolov
+10 (Post)

By the time the attack is over, June was thoroughly confused, disoriented, scared—any and every emotion under the category of ‘this is awful’. She had shielded herself with her arms and hands, as if that would stop a flurry of bullets. They’d gone every which way instead, barely avoiding her. A cold presence whipped past her, and the grunt screamed.

Yet the attack does end, and faint light returns to the cave. She sneaked a peak at the person, innate curiosity overriding her other senses. Immediately her blood curdles. Those wide eyes, the way his neck twisted like a spring, how it was backwards. Wait, no, no no no no—

June steps to the side, away from the hound and Buddy, who ran up to her in excitement. She retches up onto the ground, a thick, disgusting slurry of breakfast and coffee. It’s over in around ten seconds, but she knows the feeling would persist for a long time. So, too, would that awful sight. Curiosity didn’t take control this time. The girl wiped her mouth with her sleeve (gross, she’d need to burn this) and hobbles back to Nikita. One hand rubs her stomach that churned, the other on the cave wall.

“Miss Sleigh? You remind me of someone I know,” she said. Grigori Sokolov called her ‘Miss June’ instead, though. Odd. Maybe they knew each other? Yet the picture of that guy doing the same stuff as this guy didn’t line up in the slightest. Grigori was always nice and caring. This guy was…

June shook her head. Better not think anything bad. He might deduce it, or some stupid shit.

“Here,” June retreated the Passimian and let loose another Pokémon. A tall, metallic, midnight-black bird emerged. Corviknight, who scanned the scenery with complete apathy, awaited orders. She pointed to the cart, “Can you try to help get this out of here?”

The bird eyed the cart, with the singular Tauros that looked to be hating life itself. It looked back to June. After another double take or three, it did the best sigh a Pokémon like it could muster but waddled over to the cart reluctantly. How the hell would this work? She followed the massive bird to the cart, got behind it, and fiddled with the various straps.

“It’s all I got,” She grunted. “That or a Noivern, but those aren’t good at heavy shit.”

Found that one out the hard way. It’d costed her too much to try again.

---

Nikita Sokolov
+10 MP (Post)

June had turned down the handkerchief for one simple reason: it felt horrifically wrong. Even if this man saved her life, it didn’t make what happened any easier to swallow. If she forgot the situation entirely, that’d be for the better.

It’s also why she almost brushed off his words right after. Almost. “Not a bad thing, if that’s what you mean.”

Still wasn’t convinced he couldn’t read minds. At least Nikita could help her figure out the harness, which went on much smoother as soon as he stepped up. June let him do the hard work, and instead retreated to the safety of the wooden cart. She could hide from all the… yea. All that stuff outside the cart.

Ugh. Despite doing nothing, June’s eyelids felt heavy. But each time she closed her eyes, a vision of the aftermath sprang forth with vivid detail. Enough to make the prospect of sleep a daunting task. “I hope not. I’m going to stay in here. Safer. Let you handle all the heavy lifting.”

Slowly, they half-walked-half-flew out of the tunnel. At least she didn’t weigh much. An objective fact, yet her head felt denser than lead. June had gotten her wish after all.

Stupid island. Stupid Rocket. Stupid June.

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+100 MP (Supply RT Mission Completed) + 250 (Tie) 
Nikita Sokolov