[ti]spawn[/ti]Heartfelt

Silvermoon blanched, stopping as a ponyta came across their path. They watched the horse for a moment, quietly letting the creature pass. They already had a ponyta- one Verai had given them. They loved her. The creature passed, with Silvermoon worrying only gently- it seemed the rain didn't affect them. They hoped it was true.

The heath is a dramatic place; vast stretches of mossy green broken by rising spires of dark stone. Pidove swooped before him, dipping low and drawing sharp arcs in the air to perch on the next unyielding point. Her form was small, almost obscured by the behemoth landmarks. And then the fog descended, humidity palpable.

The sky rumbled ominously. Petrichor filled the air, a herald of the oncoming storm. Sensibly, the pidove retreated to Alistair's shoulder as the air became more charged. Now the green stood out, stark and vibrant against the rapidly darkening sky and pale mist. Falas seemed to be getting more comfortable, uncoiling from Alistair's shoulder. Perhaps the oncoming rain was like a good sunbeam to the trainer or the bird- but the other two were palpably uneasy.

Pidove lifted her feathers, fluffing up as moisture beaded on them. Alistair put his hood up, tucking his hair as best he could beneath, but knew well he was going to end up drenched regardless. What started as mist quickly became a light drizzle. Now Falas got down, stepping onto the soft grass. He left little footprints where he stepped on the muddy earth, which promptly filled with silvery water.

"Don't get too far ahead," Alistair called, and not a moment later the drizzle deepened into the patter of a true rainstorm. Now visibility was terrible. Any plans he had of trying to catch another pokemon before he reached the area of Corruption were not going to come to fruition in this weather. Supposedly, at least, Sarthor was already somewhere in Mistra, waiting for him. Otherwise he would potentially log out and try again later, hoping the weather would let up.

The sky flashed, and Falas froze, fins lifting. It lit up the dagger-like stones dramatically, before everything fell again into indiscernable blue-grey. The rain was really roaring now, whipping at his cloak; already so soaked through the autumnal crimson was practically black. Falas skittered back to Alistair's heel, but didn't climb up. Instead, they stared out with eyes that reflected in the dim lighting. Pidove shuffled, actually tucking herself under Alistair's hood, against his jaw.

Lightning again- black triangles against the white sky. The air was practically sparking. The thunder a constant.

Cover, they needed to find cover. He picked up his pace, making sure periodically that Falas could keep up. The little pokemon had dropped to all fours, and probably, Alistair realized, could far outpace him if he wanted to.

<Look, there's another trainer there.> Pidove spoke into his ear. Her eyes were sharper than his; at first he didn't see the dimunitive figure in the shadow of the stone. Wordlessly, he ducked his head down further and started moving there. It would be better to wait with company, than alone. Even if it was just a game, his heart was hammering in time with each stoccato of thunder. He could almost time his breathing to the constant rise and fall.

Alistair felt the windbreak from the sheltering stone as he neared the other trainer. The sky went white almost the instant he did, with a tremendous crash. On his shoulder, Pidove jolted, letting out a reflexive whoo-coo-coo!. Falas reared up to two feet with a hiss. Startled, Alistair jerked his head up to look. Stone, again eclipsed by the lightning, jutting ribs on the horizonline. And then. One. Moved.

There wasn't much time to linger on the fact that the other trainer was familiar- the experienced trainer with the cool pokemon. Silvermoon , right?

"What??" Alistair called back bewildered as he was told to... stay back. Silvermoon pulled out their sword (admittedly cool) but no pokemon manifested to help them. Even if Alistair stayed back, he couldn't just... let the other person do all the work. Or be in the most danger. Falas twisted around to look at him, uncertain.

In that moment, Kasey attacked, and the Duraludon retaliated, slamming down with heavy metallic feet. "Shit,". Kasey's sword had done damage; a black gash was stark against the reflective, rain-slick plating. Alistair lunged forward, pulling Kasey out of range of those gargantuan limbs. Pidove shot out from under his hood as he did. For a moment, the little bird was buffeted by the wind- but then she cleverly swerved, bringing up the wind as she darted by, which howled and screamed in her wake. At the same time, Falas, smaller, and less flashy, circled the other way, unbothered by the tempest (outside of the lightning). When the time was right, he aimed a bolt of water at the open injury Kasey had caused.

Alistair, meanwhile, made sure Kasey was up on their feet, "You've definitely got this," He reaffirmed, "But if you let us help you, fighting it will be much easier."

Something was wrong, he realized, as Kasey rounded on him, voice strained, eyes red-rimmed. Worry shot through him, and he had no time to process it. Kasey was shoving him back as the duraludon slammed down at them. Kasey once again took the brunt of the blow, and once again Alistair moved, hooking his arms under the trainer's shoulders to pull them out of the way of the enraged and pained pokemon.

"Silvermoon, you can't take another blow like that. You're hurt!" Kasey certainly looked a lot worse than he did. He was merely a little bruised, "Pidove! Can you distract it?" He yelled above the storm.

I'm trying! She shrilled back, diving again at the big pokemon's face, bringing the wind into it's eyes. Falas circled it again so they could maintain their attack on the gap in the duraludon's armor. The sobble turned for a moment to look back at Kasey and Alistair, and then seemed to decide something. Bands of icy water rose from the deluge, and constricted around the larger pokemon's bulk, digging into the metal with a screeching, grating sound.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than the Duraludon crashed down on both trainers. Alistair felt something give and break on impact. A rib, or something in his shoulder. The area radiated with white-hot pain, and he gasped as he moved into a sitting position, clutching vaguely at his torso. It felt very real. He'd broken a rib before; getting in a fight with other boys over his brother. He'd gone down at one point, and one of them had kicked- hard. It felt like that, only it was a creature of steel and sinew that had borne down on him, not another child.

Pidove broke away to buzz overhead the two trainers, clearly checking on them, before banking back to the fight. Falas was clearly trying to minimize the amount of damage their attacker was doing, but the pokemon was simply too large to fully restrain. Pidove swooped again, this time just outright pecking at it's eyes.

Alistair grabbed Kasey's forearms, giving them a bracing (but non-painful) squeeze), "Silvermoon, it's okay. Everything's okay. I'm okay. It's a game. If we get too hurt, we'll just come right back. Let us help you. We want to help you." They needed to get up before the pokemon came down on them again.

The rain crashed down in sheets, rattling off the duraludon's armor. Now the pokemon sported several gouges and scratches with blade, water and wind had scored it. Even as Kasey fought, something passed overhead, rustling their hair- the Pidove. Alistair's pidove, driving at the duraludon's face again, beating at it with her wings and darting in with her sharp beak. She said nothing to Kasey in comfort or support, only focused on her task at hand. Once had to be ferocious to survive on their own, and Pidove was no stranger to that.

A few moments later, and the sobble practically passed underfoot with a melodious trill to Silvermoon , and once again ice rose to wind around the damaged pokemon. With both of his pokemon there, Alistair couldn't be far behind.