Painted Ghouls

Chapter 22

"Fight it," Lucas ordered flatly, shifting his attention from the bird to the Combusken. She didn't want to fight the poor thing, as it looked rather weak, but she had no choice but to oblige to his orders. Quickly, she jogged over to the rubble the Taillow was perched on, her vision flickering onto it as she tossed her trainer's cap back onto her head.

The closer she got to it, the more pitiful it looked. Skidding to a halt, she would stare up at the bird, who paid no attention to her. It was preening its wing silently, not aware of the potential danger it is. Upon further inspection, the female truly realized how poor of a state this avian was in. It looked more than scrawny, for it was starving to death. Its bones were imprinted in every possible part of its body- the poor Taillow certainly wouldn't last long. It would be best to end its suffering quickly.

With a deep breath, which had managed to catch the bird's attention, Athena fired a single ember at it. The flying type let out a squawk as it stumbled backwards, flames roaring to life on its wryly chest feathers. Jumping onto a piece of the rubble, the young fowl Pokémon stumbled closer to the bird, before slashing her claws into its throat. The Pokémon continued to let out a series of squawks and gurgles, before the life in its eyes faded. It fell limp.

Staring at the corpse of the Taillow, the fire-and-fighting type shuddered. If she and Lucas stayed here any longer, her fate would end up exactly as the poor Pokémon. It would have been best if they were to depart this ghost town as quickly as possible in order to avoid starvation. As she leaped off of the pile of rubble she stood on, she couldn't help but wonder if there would be healthy, strong Pokémon in this area, like Lucas had said. Judging by the state of the poor Taillow, she assumed not.

Once again did she take Brendan's cap off of her head and stared at it as she made her way back to Lucas. If the beam had not hit this area, would it be thriving with berries and humans alike? Or would it be as pitiful as it was now? She silently assumed the former option. Glancing down at the charred ground beneath her, she sighed. Whatever had caused the beam must've had some strong motives in order to do such mass destruction.

She couldn't help but wonder if the beam and the strange appearances of the ghoul Pokémon were connected. If the beam had not torn through the region of Hoenn, then there would've been no chance for the ghoul Pokémon to spread. The humans would've found them, and they would've instantly killed them. Maybe they would've found a cure. Tightening her grip onto the cap, she blinked, her attention shifting back onto it. Yes, the two occurrences must be connected. Why would they not be?

"Good job," Lucas half-heartedly praised, ripping Athena away from her thoughts. Lowering himself to the ground, he would motion with one wing at his back. "Climb on. We are going to fly up toward the crater of Pyre Mountain."

Hopping onto the male's back, she would position herself in a seating position, her grip on the cap tightening even more as he ascended upwards.

The higher up into the air they went, the colder the temperature seemed to be, despite the fact that there was no wind to provide such a chilling atmosphere. With a flap of his wings, the dragon-and-psychic type would make his way over toward the volcano. He appeared to be going at a significantly slow pace compared to their flight the day prior- possibly because the volcano was much closer compared to the forest, and wouldn't take as long to get to at this pace. Finally, when they reached the top, he would hover in the air, his amber irises looking down at the peak.

Athena followed his gaze. In the center of the rocky top was a crater less than a quarter full of boiling magma. Judging by the looks of it, it would take cycles upon cycles of seasons for the volcano to erupt. Releasing a sigh of relief, she shifted around uncomfortably as the eon Pokémon began to lower himself downwards. Once he was close enough to solid earth, she would hop off of him, her vision scanning over the surrounding premises.

The land was certainly anything but flat- the land rose up and down in various spots. Rocks and boulders alike jutted out of multiple sides of the peak, all of them worn from both wind and old lava that had once erupted from the volcano. The temperature was much warmer than expected as well- almost humid. She could see why only "strong" Pokémon dwelled here.

"There appear to be no Slugma around here," Lucas observed flatly, positioning himself beside her. "They are possibly all sleeping inside the crater." The Combusken blinked, a little confused at such a statement. Sleeping inside the crater? How were they able to withstand the heat of the magma?

Opening her beak, she readied herself to ask what he exactly meant by that, but was intercepted by a threatening and shrill caw roared through the area that chilled her to the bone. In an instant, she felt a force crash into her side, knocking her down. Before she could react, the attacker threw her onto her back, pinning her down. A Swellow stood atop her chest, seething with rage as it glared down at the fire-and-fighting type.

"L-Lucas!" she desperately stammered out, feeling fear crash through her. Straining her eyes, she would attempt to look toward the direction of the male. He had floated back quite a distance, giving the two room to fight it out. He would want her to fight the Pokémon alone, despite the type disadvantage. Blinking, she quickly snapped her vision back toward her opponent.

The Swellow surveyed the Pokémon silently, looking for a nice place to land an attack, before lounging with its sharp beak. Swiftly, Athena used her claws to deflect the attack, before lifting a single leg upwards and heaved the avian off of her. Falling back, the Swellow shook off her feathers, turning her cranium to glare at the Combusken.

"You killed him!" she roared, despair and rage pouring through her voice. Athena hopped onto her feet, staring at the Pokémon with confusion evident on her features. Killed who? The Taillow? Realization poured through her as soon as she saw the state of the Swellow. This Pokémon had to have been the Taillow's mother- she looked even worse than her son. Grief appeared to be shining in her ruby irises, proving her suspicions even more.

Diving forward, the Swellow lifted her feet off of the ground, flying straight toward the young fowl Pokémon with a quick attack. The move landed successfully, causing her to stumble back from the blow. The wind was knocked out of her, and she stood there, panting for breath. At this moment did Speed Boost activate, allowing her speed to rise. The flying and normal type was not done with her attack, however. She performed a circle around the Combusken, before lashing out with another quick attack.

Once again did the move land successfully, and once again did it knock the breath out of her. Falling to her knees, Athena inhaled sharply, her chest heaving up and down at a rapid pace in an attempt to regain whatever oxygen she had lost. Speed Boost activated once more, and this time, it was supplied with a surprise. Flames began to engulf the fire-and-fighting type's frame as she lifted herself to her feet. Dashing forwards, she would ram her entire stature into the Swellow's chest, performing a new move: flame charge.

The attack landed without fail. With a high-pitched caw, the Swellow was knocked down onto the ground. A large portion of her chest was now burnt from the flames. With the fires around her dying, Athena propped up one foot onto the swallow Pokémon, glaring down at it. She felt no remorse for it as she lifted her claws, before promptly stabbing them into her throat, killing her quickly.