The Brawn
"Urgh,"
Darcey's shoulder clicked as she streeeeeetched after a long, hard day working the ranch. Old floorboards creaked, striding across the porch. She was the last one in tonight- Michal came in earlier to go over the books, and visiting Aiyami had popped in to keep him company. Darcey would have joined them, but she wanted to get the newest addition to her party, Squish, settled in their new home. And, of course, she got distracted playing with all the water pokemon isolated in their tanks...
Hours later, she was finally turning in. The screen door groaned in protest before granting her access. The house was quiet- not unusual, especially if Michal was engrossed in paperwork. And mid-yawn herself, she couldn't announce herself, but she did hear gentle clanking of pots in the kitchen. 'Aiyami's probably making some late night snack for Remy,' she thought, moseying in that direction.
"I just... What am I supposed to do?" Darcey barely caught Michal's voice in it's hushed tone.
"Is one sea slug really going to eat into the budget so much, Michal?" Aiyami's reply was sarcastic as always, but at the same time gentle, in a tone she reserved only for him. Darcey stopped now. Were they talking about Squish? Was something wrong? She minded her steps more closely to remain unannounced, but creeping readily still towards the kitchen threshold.
"It's not Squish, specifically," Michal sighed. A pencil clicked to the table, and he rustled his hair vigorously, a give that he was stressed. The stove clicked off, Aiyami abandoning her dish to scoot out a chair and join Michal at the dining table.
"But last week, I gave Darcey adoption fee money to pick out a new hire for the ranch," he went on. "She came home with a clefairy! What are we supposed to do with a clefairy, Aiyami? Ask it to Charm the renovations to completion? Or Sing the rubbish piles away? We needed something strong! An excadrill to dig foundations... or a rhydon to lift the beams. Or even a garboder to clear debris! Not some fairy."
Not some fairy.
The words stung as sharply as the erupting tears.
Some fairy?
Pearl had been nothing but helpful since Darcey rescued her from the adoption center! Maybe she couldn't lift 2x4's, but day in and out she watered the flowers, and planted and tended new crop fields nearly all by herself! She was their only flying type and delivered messages with ease across the ranch... And Michal had the audacity to call her just some fairy?!
"And her fish... I know we have a water type ranch, but there's a school of very large fish taking up valuable real estate in the tanks, that can't do anything but burn through food. It's fine that she likes water types... but money's tight. I just wish she'd consider her pokemon more responsibly before taking them under our roof.
"Michal-"
Aiyami's all-too-gentle reprimand was the last thing Darcey heard before taking off like a shot out the door. She didn't know if they'd heard her and she didn't care. Blind fury clouded her mind, driving her to the ranch's heavily-wooded edge and beyond.
My pokemon...
The thought weakly crossed her mind while she sprinted, huffing and puffing through dark woods. She should have grabbed them before she left. But they were spread throughout the ranch, and would have taken ages to round up. She didn't even know where she was going. Back to her parents? Into town? Away from Michal, was all she knew.
How could he say such a thing? Their pokemon were family! Not just free labor, or tools for his convenience. Of course not all pokemon were made equal, but they all pitched in however they could. Pearl's unique, watery elemental wings were perfect for dousing fields in a refreshing drizzle in record time. Her fish taking up such "valuable" real estate in the tanks ate all the algae and kept them clean until Michal installed filters- which after three months, he still hadn't finished, by the way! Every last one of her pokemon, no matter their size or type or species, had unquestionably earned their own rightful place in Lost Conch Ranch. It wasn't their fault money was tight, and they were getting along just fine. Michal had no right to take his stress out on them by questioning their value.
Darcey almost forgot she was still running until a stitch in her side dragged her to collapse in the damp forest leaves. Crumpled in a defeated heap, her breath was visible in the crisp night air. Wracked with heavy panting and exhausted shaking, it was all she could do to just lie still. Tears splashed to the already-wet forest floor. But oddly enough... a strange calm washed over her.
That was just it, wasn't it? He was just taking his stress out in the wrong way. Not that it excused his actions at all, but... it was true the ranch wasn't making money as fast as he'd hoped, or predicted. He had taken sole ownership responsibility since he and his sister had their falling out and their family moved away. Aiyami had stepped up to help when she could, but she of course had her own ranch to run. Michal gave up his schooling and invested everything he had in this place. If it failed, it would've been for nothing.
Drawing her knees close to her chest she righted herself, covered in dew and damp, sticking leaves. Hot tears still warmed her cheeks, but the flow slowed now, allowing the night's cold to set back in. She exhaled. She was caught in the middle of a bad situation without any one clear solution. No way would she abandon her pokemon, but from now on maybe she could be more mindful of who she brought home. Rhydons and excadrills weren't her usual cup of tea, but they'd need homes too. Frankly they weren't Michal's go-to's either; she thought of his childhood partner Blip the blitzle, and his other electric types from before he'd taken up the ranch. Yet another passion he'd sacrificed to make the place work.
She was walking home. Darcey hardly noticed she was moving again, so distracted by her thoughts. The trees here were unfamiliar and the darkness didn't help. She wasn't worried. Autopilot seemed to be taking her home, or at least landing her in the right direction. But she'd explored the woods around their ranch pretty extensively- the fact she didn't recognize anything was surprising. Just how far had she run out?
A fearsome screech pierced her thoughts. It wasn't uncommon for wild skwovet or chatots to hang around their ranch borders, but nothing that made a cry like that. How odd. Maybe a wild staraptor, or-
A thunderous roar followed next, rolling through the entire forest and chilling her to the bone. That definitely wasn't a skwovet. She instinctively reached for her pokeball hilt, only to remember she'd fled without even Rymm. Now... that worried her a bit. She must've run all the way out into the untamed woods of the isles. Trainers didn't usually come out to catch pokemon here, preferring the safety of the supervised "Wild Isles," so these pokemon weren't often exposed to humans. Arguably, that lack of contact made them even more aggressive and territorial. Luckily, these untouched patches usually weren't large. As long as she was careful and quiet, and avoided wild pokemon-
The shocking crack of wood caused her to jump. It wasn't a small twig cracking either. That was a big branch or a log. Followed by another. And another crack. And another. Then, not just wood crackling, but a tree fell. And the ground started to shake. Whatever was coming, it was big.
Panicked, Darcey scrambled for a place to hide. There was nothing but trees and bushes, though considering this thing was felling lumber left and right, neither option seemed terribly safe. Forced into a split second decision she dove for some brambles, praying only that she was out of the creature's rampaging path.
The quaking grew stronger and louder. The wide-eyed girl began to doubt if she was truly clear of its path, especially once the toppling trees came into view. And seemingly... in a line... straight for her... Yeah, this wasn't safe. It was too late to move now, but what choice did she have? Darcey bolted out of the bush just as the charging pokemon broke through the trees.
An ear splitting trumpet assaulted her ears, and Darcey crumpled with hands clutched at her ears. Her whole head rang, vaguely aware of the large, elephant-esque pokemon similarly reeling back from her. The creature swung its trunk violently as it backed away, holding it's ground maybe? Darcey didn't have time to assess its behavior. She snapped back to attention just before freshly dislodged branches came toppling down. She narrowly dodged the bulky branches. Unfortunately, the way they'd fallen pinned her between the trunks and a large, still-standing tree. The only bright side was it separated her from the rampaging pokemon adjacent... if it didn't decide to cut through and ram her.
The view of it was clearer now that it had slowed; it was a cufant, or some variation. Huge for a cufant though, standing nearly as tall as Michal! It's markings differed though, with dark colored underbelly and trunk and heavy armored plating. The ears looked more like extensions of the body/face plate than dexterous elephant ears. Its tail was slightly longer, thicker, and also plated. It had no tusks, but flashed razor-edged protrusions sticking out horizontally where tusks might be, plus one hooked blade on the end of its trunk. A steel elemental? Or perhaps some hybrid she couldn't identify.
Said trunk was still swinging to and fro, slicing through unfortunate nearby brambles and trunks like butter. Still, it was... backing away? It seemed more fearful than territorial.
"H-hey," Darcey squeaked. Fear had all but silenced her voicebox; little more than air came out. She hunkered slowly, making no sudden movements, but raising her hands to where it could see them. "I don't... want to hurt you. Look at me, I'm tiny! I couldn't... if I wanted to." She still trembled, evident in ragged breaths. The cufant only trumpeted another warning. Directed... at the trees?
It had approached far more stealthily than the cufant, but a second creature had most certainly followed. It brought not the thundering crash of lumber, but a subtle rustle off leaves and an air of dread.
Blacking out what little light filtered through the canopy, a hulking silhouette loomed ominously from the trees, finally alerting it's prey below with a horrid snarl. Air caught in Darcy's throat. The shadowy blob unfurled, trouncing heavily to solid ground. The cufant shrieked pitifully in protest, but it had backed itself into a corner. Its trunk still flailed- unfortunately the far bigger beast (and that size comparison was saying something!) was undeterred. Such a cacophony held the beast's attention. It didn't seem to notice Darcy yet, or at least wasn't interested in a small-time catch.
One, two, then three heads emerged from the dark hulking form. Fanged and hooded feline heads withholding cold fury; six ragged, skimpy wings; glimmering spots down it's neck and back... some sort of massive liepard/hydreigon hybrid? The beast was no novice to battles as announced by a scarred and tattered coat. Gnashing, foaming teeth didn't seem to be deterred even by the cufant's heavy plating or flailing bladed trunk. It prepared to take down its protesting quarry...
"TACKLE!"
The beast's head snapped back.
"COME ON! TACKLE! Aim for the legs! You must know tackle! Everyone knows tackle! Please know tackle!"
The feral monster unleashed a bellow so loud Darcy's ears rang, and charged.
"No, not you!" Out of ideas, it was all she could do to hunker haplessly under the logs and brace for... she didn't want to think about what.
A surprised yowl, strained trumpet and mortified yelp harmonized. Knees dug sharply into her chest. Another second passed before she realized it was not as a result of branches or claws caving in on her, but from flinching so hard. Two seconds more until it processed that she was alive, and unharmed.
Darcy jerked upright, stealing a glance between the branches pinning her. The cufant stood triumphant, but petrified of what it had just done, the hulking hybrid collapsed to the side. It heaved with raspy breaths, most definitely alive, just stunned. Maybe injured. Under normal circumstances Darcy would feel bad for it. But she didn't have that luxury now. Unthinking, Darcy darted between the branches and swung up onto her new friend's back. It was safer here than in the brambles, right? Unbothered by- no, oblivious to- its passenger, the cufant remained still with wide eyes and heaving breaths, staring down it's incapacitated adversary.
"Go, GO!" Darcy kicked its sides to urge it on, successfully banging her heels into solid steel plating. "Ow!" Maybe it didn't feel the kick, but the resonating bang was enough to jolt the elephant alert, and one last trumpet propelled it forward.
Darcy's form pressed as close as humanly possible to the charging cufant's. They smashed through trees, branches and twigs that jabbed and clawed at her hair. She tucked her face behind its ear plate, saving it from the brunt of the damage. Mournful yowls echoed softer and softer behind them. It seemed the hybrid predator favored licking its wounds over farther pursuit. Still, neither were keen on stopping anytime soon.
"Heh... heh..." In movies, the characters would always have a laugh after harrowing experience like that. She didn't have the energy though. Her eyes were hot, but she'd already cried herself dry. "Thanks," she quietly heaved instead, running a hand up and down smooth, cool plates. The rhythmic motions soothed her- and her ride. The stampede slowed. Branches stopped scraping her back, and she felt safe enough to raise her head again. She could get a great look at it from here, and it too examined her in return.
"You're... a haxorus hybrid, aren't you?" Darcy could finally place the familiar blades and metal plates. The elephant pokemon shuddered in response, swiping its bladed trunk like a machete to clear the brambles ahead. There weren't many more until woods opened up to a small clearing. Here, confident there were no more dangerous onlookers lurking in the grass, it stopped to let Darcy off.
"Thanks for saving me," she stroked its forehead. "You were so brave and strong... that thing shouldn't bother you anymore."
"Phhhh," it whimpered.
"Heh, you're right. I wouldn't want to try it either." Darcy leaned against it with intentions of a final embrace, but as her weight sank into its, she realized just how tired she was. "I think... I should go home now. You take care."
"Phhhan!" It trilled in protest, reaching for her arm with its trunk.
"You're... scared," Darcy realized. "You're a kid like me. A big kid." It moved close to headbutt her, worried, glossy eyes pleading for company. "Did that thing separate you from your herd? Do you want me to take you back?" She started stepping around it, tugging its trunk to lead it on. Once it realized she was leading it back to the woods they'd come from, it violently tugged back. "Ow! Okay, okay! We won't go back!" She looked to the stars now beaming bright. "It's too late to go back now, anyway I guess." Fabric bunched and billowed from her skirt when she slumped to the ground, wracking her muddled mind for ideas.
"You could come back to the ranch with me maybe," she sighed. "But Michal only wants strong working pokemon. Drillburs and rhydons and garbodors and-"
A piercing CRACK of wood attracted her attention. The cufant trumpeted a call, hopefully presenting neatly a chopped log.
"-and strong cufant haxoruses," Darcy's eyes widened. "You- you're perfect! You want to help us back on the ranch? It's not much now, but it will be! And you'll be fed and safe and meet lots of new pokemon friends and-" Another headbutt from this new partner silenced her rambling, which she gleefully accepted with a hug. It lifted her back up onto its back, rearing to get to promised safety.
"Then, the only thing left is getting you home."
"DARCY!" Michal and Aiyami crashed out of the bushes at the clearing's opposite edge. Darcy's eyes lit up, albeit dimly. The night had drained her, but the sight of him assured her she could finally rest.
"Michal," Darcy weakly smiled. "I found a strong pokemon like you wanted!" Michal swung his cousin right back off the cufant's back, drawing her tightly but... stiffly.
"You... heard that, huh?" Aiyami, crouched into a hug from behind, looked up long enough to shoot him a stern look. "I'm... so sorry Darcy, I didn't mean to upset you. Taking care of the ranch is my responsibility, not yours. Your pokemon aren't a burden and neither are you. I mean it."
"But you needed more strong pokemon to help," Darcy persisted. Michal opened his mouth to reply but was promptly cut off by Aiyami.
"And looks like you got it." She pointed out the cleanly chopped wood, impressed and mildly concerned. Michal's gaze flicked between the lumber and the proud cufant hybrid.
"Can we go home?" Darcy yawned, eyes already closing.
"Yeah... yeah..." Michal rubbed the back of his neck. His niece never ceased to amaze him. He hoisted her onto his back- it was clear she'd been through enough tonight. "We'll talk more in the morning."
"Okay. I love you Michal," she snored into his collar. His heart wrenched, but in the best way. He looked back to his adoring girlfriend leading the lumbering bulk of a pokemon his incredible niece just recruited. Finances be damned, they really did have everything they needed here together.
"Love you too, kiddo."