PokéMonster Hunter

7 - Vs. Snover

Deep into the frozen plateau, Bazel consumed yet another hot drink. It was a strange concoction that kept him warm for a few more minutes as he hunted his prey. The journey to the plateau was much shorter than he anticipated, as a ride via a Glastrier carriage made the route bearable. Glastrier was a Pokémon that Bazel was not entirely familiar with, but as the coachman advised, any of the carriage Pokémon such as Rapidash and Glastrier handles better in their own environment. To the unfamiliar trainer, this Pokémon was just a foreign ice version of Rapidash.

Just how many different Pokémon are there not in Johto?! 

The quest he had chosen for the day was a challenge by Professor Hawthorn, the final one before he could get his Hunter License instead of the temporary one. Once he had that, he would be a certified hunter and be allowed to take on more than menial tasks. Today's goal - Capture three Snover. According to the professor, the smithy is looking to expand it's storage area and their last set of Snover unfortunately got into a fight, one evolved and went on a rampage. They were down to a few Snover left to maintain the temperature of heat sensitive items.

The plateau was thick of trees, and there were numerous Pokémon that Bazel determined to avoid. He had seen a clearing with a few Regice the size of a big car. He had heard of Regice being a legendary Pokémon, but to see as many as four parading around in a pack was absurd. He wisely chose to avoid them, along with a Sandslash his own size covered in needles that looked as though medical quality and a few other Pokémon that might have been in a child's nightmare.

Snover had tended to play in the thicker snow, so Bazel took to a nearby tree and climbed to get a better vantage point. His eyes danced around the horizon as he looked for anything that resembled a Snover track, but sighed as the whole world seemed to be covered in a foot and a half of snow. After a while, he finally spotted his target, a trio of Snover who were picking berries off each other to eat. 

Wait, if Snover eat their own berries... Isn't that auto-cannibalism?

Bazel shook his head of any thoughts aside from the hunt and quickly jumped off of the tree. The trio were close but not enough for an immediate engagement. As he approached, he reached into his pockets and pulled out a set of light blue berries - downing them sent a wave of cold down his body, as though a brain freeze surged through him. It lasted only a moment, but he would need to take advantage of the snack's effects while they lasted. 

The iron greatsword coursed through the air at the slower Snover, cutting violent gashes into their bodies. While blood sprayed out, it was quickly frozen over by their internal body temperature and hardened as a natural band-aid. Bazel had expected the blade to work well, it had been tempered with materials from the previous few hunts. He had a bit more experience with manipulating the blade as well since the first hunt against the Nidoran the previous week, but the blade's cuts ran deeper than he planned for the capture mission. The two Pokémon that had been cut reeled back but the third howled out a cry loud enough to shake the trees. 

SNOOOOO~!

Shards of ice formed around it, each darting forward as though bullets towards Bazel. He had enough time to block a few of the shards with the body of his blade, though it still ripped into his left arm and right ankle. Bazel's eyes fleeted toward the other two Snover to keep track but saw them not moving at all, instead their bodies were glowing a vibrant green.

"Oh no you don't." Bazel rolled towards the left, ignoring the barrage of icicles stabbing at him and placed a small bomb at the feet of the two Snover. Quickly he planted his sword and flipped over it as the small explosion went off, blasting away the two Pokémon and burning some of the roots to cinders.

The third Snover had started to use Ingrain as well, the Ice Shard ceasing after Bazel had dodged out of the way. The other two shouted out as well, their voice echoing into the seemingly endless plateau. 

Damnit, I'm running out of time...

Bazel tripped slightly but kept his momentum up as he hurried towards the newly Ingrained Snover, keeping his body low. A horizontal swipe cut deep into the stomach of the Snover, enough for it's body to limp down. A quick sheath of the sword, he brought out a carving knife to quickly cut the roots. The ground was starting to shake, faintly but he knew it was coming. 

Before the weakened Snover could recover, Bazel pulled out a device and planted it on the ground. Pulling a rip cord on it caused the top to open up suddenly and a red-yellow gas erupted from the capsule, the gas a special mixture of Wacan and Cheri berry extracted and mixed together to form a paralyzing agent. Within moments, the Snover was convulsing on the ground, unable to move. The young man quickly rolled away to avoid the paralyzing agent and faced the other two Snover. 

Vines started to wrap around the arm of the Snover on the right as it clumsily rushed forward, ignoring the gash on it's side - the other started gathering a glowing orb of green light to support from a distance. It took all of Bazel's strength to parry the Wood Hammer, but the Energy Ball hit him while he was off balance, tumbling him away.

Thump~ Thump~

The ground was shaking violently now. Bazel didn't have much of a choice anymore, he reached for the satchel at his side and quickly grabbed a tube with a small bomb. Before the Snover could regroup to attack again, he planted the tube and lit the bomb inside it. A few seconds later, it launched skyward, the firework signaling his location.

Now he just had to survive this.

In the distance, an avalanche of anger ran on all fours towards Bazel. The two Snover ran off to the side and hid in the trees as it arrived. The beast was the size of a small house and roared with a ferocity to knock over nearby trees. Bazel had encountered this Pokémon before, but not like this. It's coat was tinged with purple, it's tail was snake-like and protruding from it's mouth were two massive tusks. This was first encounter with poison/ice type Pokémon - Irydian Abomasnow.