[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Anté, one more time on the Tree!” Shinx ran across the field, trying to take another shot at the tree while he was still standing. After hitting the tree with a tackle, he ran back towards his Cadet, trusting them to have a plan.

 

Anté Action: Attack Tree of Life with Tackle (90 Power)

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

The energy gathering around the Pixie Core caught the girl’s attention. “Anté, try disrupting it with an attack!” The Shinx tried to lift himself off the ground before dashing towards the tree once more, aiming to hit the Pixie Core flying overhead.

 

While the Shinx was preoccupied with ramming right into the tree, Kai turned back over to the two sisters. “Database empty on that idiom. I dunno what that means, Uno. Betani, isn’t there an easier way to get this thing calmed down?” She looked over towards the little girl that actually lived on this Nexus for an answer. “Zeta, do you know anything?”

 

Anté Action: Attack Pixie Core with Tackle (90 Power)

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Broughton!” Kai ran towards the landing of the Crabrawler, trying to get back on its feet before collapsing onto the ground. She picked her off the ground before her friend could accidentally bob her mouth into the water, holding her in her arms before reaching for her Aether Ball.  “Rest easy, friend. I’m real sorry about that.” She recalled the creature back into her ball before grabbing another from her waist. She quickly threw out her last Pokémon to defend the rest of the group.

 

The girl watched the whole episode of the green-haired girl’s A-Comm exploding in her hand, having enough pattern recognition to realize she or Uno might know more about what’s going on. “Hey Betani, Uno! What’s going on here, exactly?” Since she barely had time to stop and wonder what was going on, she commanded Anté to perform their next move.

 

“C’mon, Anté! We can do this easily!” Roused by the Cadet’s cheers, the Shinx jumped up and gave a spin, filled with the strength to attack the tree with all his might. The girl’s eyes locked onto the shard flying upward towards the other. “Try that thing. Take it down!” After landing, the feline creature dashed towards the tree,  trying to get a hold to run up and get to a height close enough to reach the Shard to ram right into it. “If you can’t hit it, redirect towards the tree.” If he couldn't get a good hold to run up and get a height to hit the shard, Anté'd try to hit the Tree instead.

 

Anté Action:  Activate Level 1 Attacker Skill on Anté, Attack Tree of Life with Tackle (90 Power)

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

Kai peeked around the environment, trying to get a sense of what was around the area. While the rest of the team was probably more versed with the area from there time here, she had no idea what was here. If she could find some form of advantage to help them, she’d need to make use of it against this powerful enemy. She pulled out her A-Comm, trying to find an application to help her analyze the area before following her allies in combat.

 

“Everybody, try to weaken its defenses!” Broughton nodded her head as she tried to keep up off the ground as Gravity attempted to pull it down. “Rock Smash and lower its defenses!” She dashed towards the tree, readying her fist while trying to push through the whirlwind to strike the tree’s bark.

 

Broughton Action: Attack Tree of Life with Rock Smash (110 Power)

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Environment anomaly: Rain underground.” Kai ran towards the tree, covering her eyes in reaction to the glow before they finally adjust to reveal the three Cadets, running to their side. “Hey guys, what did I mi-” The girl cut her speech off as her energy seemed to drain away as she got closer to the tree. “Energy depleting..” She put her hand to her chest, the rhythmic beat of energy slowing down. To add to the distress, her legs seemed to be having trouble keeping her body up. Looking around the room, the only thing that caught her interest was the tree, the blue eerie glow telling her what she needed to do.

 

She looked at her allies, finding two of them ready for battle while the green-haired boy seemed occupied by the pressure. “Stay in the back, Kalva. Your friend’s got this.” The girl pushed herself into a straight posture before giving a smile to the boy. Her eyes seemed to have less of an energetic glow to them, barely noticeable and only to anyone willing to pay enough attention. Kai swiped the Aether Ball on her waist, not making quick movements to keep her energy up. “I'm ready to go!” The girl cheered on, knowing the danger she was in if this presence wasn't eliminated before her energy depleted. With a simple throw, Broughton was released onto the field. "Let's fight with everything we've got, everyone." Broughton came out of her Aether Ball ready for a fight, with what could be assumed to be a glare towards the tree. The Crabrawler tried to act tough by standing up straight, clearly using much more energy due to the heavy gravity from the pressure.

 

Kai Action: Send out Broughton for battle

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

“Oh, he came with us.” Kai ran over towards the man, refusing eye contact as he recognized him better than before. She looked over towards the direction he pointed towards, finding a crevice that she might be able to fit into better than the last one.

 

Kai pulled out her A-Comm before making her way into the crevice, not checking for a signal before leaving a call for the others to hear. “Everyone, I found Terry here, but he’s not with the other Cadets. I dunno if something bad is happening, but I’m gonna go check and see how they’re doing. He could probably use a friend, but I don’t think I’m allowed to be that, so someone should maybe come and get him.” After hanging up and seeing if her call got through, she ran towards the crevice. “Can you fit through here, Uno? Our friends could probably use all the help they can get.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

“Oh.” Kai noticed her A-Comm rumbling in her pouch right after asking Uno to get on her back. “Lemme take this.” The girl walked over next to Uno before answering, making sure they were both in the video before answering.

 

“Hey, Emm! Nothing much going on over here. Me and Uno were just heading out to see the other Cadets when we got blocked by this hole.” Kai turned her camera over towards the crag, making sure Emm could see it. “You should probably take the other way if you want to get there. I can probably carry Uno on my back and take her down, so no worries over here.”

 

“What about you guys? Find anything cool in there?”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

“That’s not normal? Mother loves calling me her cute doll.” The girl seemed unfazed by Uno's comment as she headed towards the destination before stopping in front of the dangerous cliff.

 

“Hmm...” Kai leaned over the edge, balancing herself well enough to peer down into the deep hole. “Hey, why don’t you hold onto my back?” The girl took a deep breath as she turned away from Uno. “I can carry you easily. Then I can take us both down into it.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Hehe, my mum says the same to me sometimes.” Despite the rather serious tones behind the woman’s voice, Kai seemed to be unfazed by her words.

 

Kai waved towards the others as they moved to investigate the crevice. “Good luck you guys! Try not to let the crevice collapse and trap you inside.” Kai jumped back from the crevice, spinning herself to face the northern corridor. She took out her A-Comm, checking on the map of the underground complex to check the last locations of the rest of the group, still unaccounted for. She sent a note of her plans to the other A-Comms in the area to make sure they knew where to find her.  “C’mon, let’s go find our other friends!” The girl jumped forward, making her way through Corridor 14, 2, then 5 to see the others. “Gonna be a long walk, so I don’t suppose ya got any funny family stories about Betani to share?”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

“Ah, nothing really big happened on our side.” Kai shuffled around as she answered Cathode. “We were helping out an Exeggutor above ground and he helped us find a quicker path down here. On the way here, Betani and Uno had to resolve some stuff with a shard, but they both got out in one piece.”

 

She looked over at the crack that the rest of the group were following down. The height would probably pose a problem to Uno and possibly herself. She didn’t mind crouching while walking through, but it was probably best left to her shorter companions to lead the way. “Uno, if you don’t think you can squeeze through the crack, I can stay with you.” Kai put her hands to her hips, pride quite visible in herself. “Mama raised me to be pretty tall, nothing to be ashamed of.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

Kai caught the little girl as she ran up to her, patting her head after putting her into a hug. She grabbed one of the girl's hands before spinning around, hoping Zeta could follow her spinning well. A fun gesture, if the girl made sure not to fall. “It’s great to see you all again! Anything happen on your end?” Kai looked over towards the other Cadets after a single revolution, wondering what they had been up to while she was spending time helping a random tree Pokémon.

 

Kai looked over towards the Sableye in the corner, not giving it much thought as she kept both of her hands on Zeta's. “Are they one of your friends? They seem friendly.”  

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

"Was an honest mistake, don't worry, Uno!" The girl gave the woman a response as she passed by her, making her way over towards the exit. Before walking into the crossroads, she grabbed onto the nearby corner. She peered over, unable to make out anything in the path in the short glance she gave. Despite this, she gave her own recommendation. “Let’s try going this way!” She pointed down the southern corridor (#14), waiting for the others to go along with her unless decided otherwise.

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Thanks!" The girl gave a wave to her friend before turning towards the little dragon by her feet. "Alright, Axew.” Kai pointed towards the tree, being very direct for a person attempting to control someone else’s Pokémon. “Scratch off a piece of the trunk and see if we can take a few shreds with us.” The Axew approached the tree bark, preparing its claws before she took a Scratch at the tree. After a few shreds, a sizable piece of bark fell to the ground for Kai to pick up. “Thanks, friend. You can go back to Shelly.”

 

Kai turned around as Betani brought the news to her ears. “Ah, oh well.” Despite the rather sad news, she seemed unfazed by it in the slightest. “I’m sure it’ll reappear somewhere it’ll find more fun.” Kai stepped closer to Betani, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever advanced technique she could know to stabilize it. “So why do we need to give it to you? You know how to stabilize it here?" An innocent question that would probably come out rude to others.

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

While the three girls were having a nice family reunion plus one friend, Kai moved closer towards the tree. She could barely see it, but it was certainly changing size, shrinking inwards without any explanation. “Hey, guys, something’s going on with the tree.” Trying to get a feeling for how quick it was shrinking, she put her hand to the bark. “Shelly, can your Axew Scratch off a piece of the bark so I can take a look?" Kai gasped for a bit as a fantastic idea popped into her head. "I bet it’d make a sweet souvenir, too!”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

 

Kai was a fast girl, and probably could have moved to stop Betani before she could hit Uno. A simple shout and dash to grab to Betani’s hand to hopefully stop her. If she couldn’t do that, she could maybe even stand in the way and protect Uno from pain. A part of her thought that maybe all that was necessary was a shout telling the green-haired woman to stop. There was probably a way to prevent anyone from getting hurt here so that they could all be on their way.

 

But she stood there, motionless, a smile on her face as she wondered if the others would maybe do something in her absence. She leaned her head over to the side, waiting. “I wonder what this tree is. It looks awesome.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

Kai gave out an exaggerated grumble as she saw the Wurmple escape from the Aether Ball. “I thought you wanted to come with us.” The girl didn’t stop the worm as it climbed back onto her, seemingly happy with its place on her person. “Guess I’ll leave ya there for now. Maybe one of the others wants a new friend.” Kai continued marching alongside the others down the corridor, unfazed by the small weight hanging off of her.

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Aw, but it’s so cute!” Kai shuffled the Wurmple onto her left arm, grabbing onto her A-Comm to check around for another Aether Ball. The sphere materialized and fell to the ground before Kai freed her hand by putting her A-Comm back. “Oh well, another friend for me.” The girl followed behind Frederick as she prepared her throw, mumbling to herself. “Capture event initiated.” She threw the Ball a small distance into the air as it fell towards the Wurmple on her arm.

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

Kai quickly raised her head, alerted by the soft thump on her back. The girl quietly mumbled before reacting more. “Subject is small. Can detain without problem.” She peered over her shoulder to see the rather tall worm that decided to catch her attention. “Harmless.”

 

Kai reached over behind her, trying to take the Pokémon off her back. "That shouldn't be too hard to clean when we get home." Kai got up from her kneeling, deciding to leave the vines for now. “The Wurmple's not harming anybody.” The girl brought the Wurmple closer to Betani, wanting to show how harmless it was. “See, it won’t bite!”

 

Kai didn’t take long to react to her travelling companions’ question. “We can probably take it along. Maybe it wants to join us.” Kai held up the creature for the others to get a look at him. “Either of ya want to try putting it in an Aether Ball?” The optimistic girl gave a smile to her fellow Cadets, awaiting their answer.

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

While their peek into the short corridor brought them nothing of actual importance, Kai was willing to look at it with a bit of optimism. She knelt down before trying to take some of the vines growing around the rocks. “Maybe we can use it as a rope later on.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

Kai gave a short giggle as she caught the woman. “Isn’t it? I wanna do it again before we leave.” Kai set Uno onto the solid cave floor before stepping in the direction of the path. out of their little clearing.

 

Kai jumped in line with Frederick. She trusted the small kid, he seemed smart enough to not get them in too much trouble. And even if he did, she had the others to help out. “I’ll follow your lead, then!” She skipped along behind him, making sure to keep an eye on any encounters along the way. “You’re all coming, right?”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Aw, we can wait a bit longer for the others.” Kai circled around Betani to get back to the slide’s end. Having heard Uno’s request, she made her way to the opening, preparing to catch the woman in her open arms. “I gotcha, friend! Whenever you’re ready.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

“Yahoo!” Kai gave a joyful yell as she neared the end of the slide, landing particularly unscathed onto the hard cavern floor. "Oh man, that was awesome!" She seemed unaffected by the recoil from landing on her feet, giving a hop in a circle as she shook the excitement out of her. Broughton and Anté were safely with her, inside their Aether Balls on her belt. Broughton seemed visibly shaken by the death slide, while Anté seemed as optimistic as his owner.

 

“Hey guys, the slide’s safe.” Kai took her A-Comm out to make contact with the rest of the group. “It’s also super fun, come on and check it out already!" Kai gave a look around, not seeing any of the Cadets in close proximity to her position. "I’ll go try to contact the others before you get here.” Kai switched off the call she left for Shelly and Frederick, trying to contact any of the others in the caverns. “Anyone around?” Kai gave a rather loud shout, hoping it could echo and catch someone’s attention. “I’m underground now and would rather not stick it alone.”

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

“Whoopsie.” Kai scratched the back of her head, realizing the rather ironic result of her plan. “You guys will be alright, right?”

 

----------

 

Kai walked over towards the small hole, getting onto her belly to look down into the dark, scary path. It was definitely wide enough to fit them, as long as they all went one by one. Looking down the hole revealed nothing, as her vision could not see past the enshrouding darkness that would cover anyone willing to take the plunge. Was there even an opposite exit to the hole? Would anyone risk jumping into the hole with little chance of finding a way out once you find yourself stuck in the claustrophobic space? Many would probably refuse the invitation, bury the hole, and just find a safer method down. Even the most courageous might show fear upon their face at the prospect of reaching their destination at the cost of their sense of safety.

 

“This slide looks fun!” Kai waved to her friends to catch their attention. “C’mon, guys. The underground should be through here. We might find the Tree of Life!”

 

Kai Action: Jump into the scary hole of claustrophobia

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

"A little light show ain't enough to stop me!" Despite her confidence, she had a feeling Broughton’s attacks couldn't stop its stronger power. A distraction would probably be the best option. “Broughton, circle around it. Try to get it with a Rock Smash!”

 

Crabrawler reluctantly decided to trust in her Trainer, dashing and circling around the Krabby to attack from behind it in hopes of pulling its attention away from her allies. Just like before, she pulled back her fist to launch an attack as strong as she could against the weakened Krabby.

 

Broughton Action: Rock Smash the Krabby (130 Power)

[Pokemon in Space [IC Chapter #03]]

 

Kai gave a stare towards the strange Krabby. She wanted to know what had happened to it, but she wasn’t willing to risk an Aether Ball yet. “C’mon, Broughton!” Kai threw her new friend’s ball up into the air, releasing the Crabrawler straight into the sky. Of course, Kai had forgotten that she didn’t have time to teach her new friend the acrobatics Anté had already been familiar with, so Broughton was ill-prepared for her fall to the ground. “Oh right, sorry! You alright, buddy?” Kai gave an embarrassed laugh as Broughton picked herself back up to her hind legs, giving what could be assumed to be an annoyed glare at her new master.

 

“Let’s give ‘em all we got, put everything you got into this!” Kai jumped into the air and gave a twirl, expecting Broughton to do just the same. Her wishes came unanswered as her Pokémon looked over and waited for a command. “Aw, c’mon, you’re supposed to spin, too.” Broughton kept looking back, still waiting for the move. Kai shrugged her arms, defeated by her own Pokémon. “Fine, just use Rock Smash.”

 

Finally given a command, the crab rushed over towards her target. Once close enough, she pulled back her right pincer, readying a powerful punch boosted by Kai’s encouraging words. She let loose a single jab aimed towards her enemy’s torso.

 

Broughton Action: ([Attacker Lv1] Special Skill is active); Broughton’s ATK and Sp.ATK increased to +1! Rock  Smash on Crabrawler 1 (130 Physical Power, possibly 156 if boosted by Iron Fist)