Frontline Mission #6

Jackson pushed open the car door as the driver came to an abrupt stop. His partner pokemon, Atlas, jumped out. The noctyena’s paws hit soft mud which stuck to his paws as he moved away from the door. His trainer got out after, shutting the car door behind him. Jackson knew there was no need to tell Greg to stay put as he gripped the wheel with shaking hands.

Atlas’ fur bristled as he looked around, relying on his sight more than his powerful nose due to the rather disgusting scent Murkhaven had. Jackson reached into his backpack and pulled out a pokeball, thinking that extra help would be needed. The trainer tossed a pokeball forward and within seconds a purple delta ghost turtwig appeared. 

“Stay on the lookout, we’re not sure if there’s a shadow pokemon out here.” Jackson said to the turtwig, named Shadow, as he looked around.

The air felt tense as the group stood in the muddy swamp in silence for a few moments, all three of them on edge. Jackson whirled around as he heard Atlas barking loudly behind him. As he did so the trainer saw a shadow pokemon coming out of the nearby darkness. 

The pokemon’s body was in the shape of a persian, but nothing else about it reflected that. Instead of being a light tan color the shadow persian was a swirly purple and black. Its eyes were a black and soulless looking as the pokemon’s gaze shifted between the group.

“Alright guys… This might get tough.” Jackson said to his pokemon as his heart started racing. Even if he wouldn’t be the one directly fighting the shadow pokemon it still created an intense feeling. As he glanced back towards the truck he could see that Greg had now ducked below the dash.

The shadow pokemon raced towards Shadow, making a strange growl like noise as it did so. The turtwig was able to dodge the attack, just barely moving out of the way in time. “Atlas, use moonblast!” Jackson shouted, trying to take advantage of the shadow pokemon pausing after its attack.

Atlas followed the command and concentrated as a white ball of energy began to form in front of him. Once it seemed to be a sufficient size he sent it towards the shadow pokemon. It whizzed through the air until it made contact with the pokemon, who was sent a few feet backwards.

It shook its head as it recovered from the attack, turning towards Atlas and prepared to attack. “Shadow use tackle!” Jackson said to the ghost type turtwig. Shadow ran forward and slammed into the shadow pokemon, knocking it over as it let out some kind of startled scream like sound.

It took the shadow pokemon a few moments to recover but it seemed to only become even more aggressive. It dashed towards Atlas, colliding with the pokemon as he let out a surprised yelp. The noctyena rolled through the mud, overall unharmed but now covered in the sticky mud. 

“Shadow, use tackle!” Jackson shouted, and his pokemon once again raced towards the shadow pokemon. With a leap Shadow rammed into the pokemon’s shoulder, knocking it back. 

“Okay Atlas, moonblast again!” He then said to the noctyena, who was now back on his paws. Atlas pulled off the move again, sending the glowing orb right into the shadow pokemon. Since it was still recovering from Shadow’s hit it was completely unprepared for Atlas’ attack.

After the pokemon was knocked back it quickly got to its paws, but this time instead of launching another attack it turned and fled. Jackson watched as it faded back into the darkness it had come from.

“Good job guys.” Jackson praised his pokemon with a sigh of relief. Both of them were now thoroughly covered in the sticky mud. As he glanced back at the truck he knew there was no way Greg would agree to Atlas getting in. Plus, the trainer thought his pokemon had earned a rest. “Thanks for your help.” He said as he held out Shadow’s pokeball until the pokemon disappeared.

“You too, Atlas. Going to have to clean off that mud, and you’ve earned a rest.” The trainer said. The noctyena typically wasn’t in his pokeball but did enjoy being in it for a good nap. Within a few moments the pokemon disappeared like Shadow had.

Jackson put the pokeballs back in his backpack as he pulled it over his shoulders. He walked back towards the truck, having some trouble walking due to the mud being rather problemsome for his prosthetic leg.