Work Text:
Team Inve members:
Jace [Ninjask] ♂ Level 24
Rana [Durant] ♀ Level 26
Cece [Shedinja] Level 24
"Chi-chi wants to know if we're lost," Jace asks, fluttering closer to the front of the party. Rana clicks her mandibles together in apparent disgust at the mere thought.
"I thought they told you not to call them that," Rana starts, haughtily, "And no. I have the map right here." She uses one leg to tap her specially made travel bag, which indeed has a scroll poking out of it. Cece hums with uncertainty, after which Jace translates.
"I'm only saying it weird. It's cute! But anyway, Chi-chi says a map is only useful when it has some eyes on it."
Rana throws her head up in disgust. "We'll be out soon. I can sense it."
"Well, alright..." Jace intones, unconvinced. Cece hovers over the both of them, clearly not convinced. "What if we get ambushed! Chi-chi! Come back here!"
Cece makes a grating sound with their wings in response.
"No need to chitter in that tone," Jace grumbles, although despite his reluctance, he leaves them to lead, dropping back to chat to the Surskit they'd just rescued, Pas. A Masquerain had approached them in a hurry, explaining that one of her children had been taken away and held for ransom. Although she felt that the Surskit in question could probably handle herself alright, she wanted a team to assist her escape, and teach those ruffians some manners while they were at it!
Needless to say, Team Inve had taken up the request, making the foray into Dusty Cave with gusto, and swiftly finding themselves up against the trio of kidnappers. Even though one had been a Magcargo, putting all of them at a disadvantage, they hadn’t come this far as a team of bugs without any plan to overcome their weaknesses; Jace, the fastest of them, used his speed to wear the slow Magcargo out, whilst the other two dealt with the other two criminals.
The one problem was that their team badge had gotten cracked in the endeavour, so they couldn’t just transport back to the island. Therefore, they were stuck reverse navigating the dungeon, Pas having well trussed up the criminals before leaving.
“So, uh… have you been kidnapped before?” Jace asks, mostly as Pas had seemed remarkably calm during the whole endeavour; obviously, pretty unusual behaviour of kidnappees. Pas bobs in her version of a nod.
“Yup. Our farm is pretty valuable, so people don’t want to pay the prices… so they’ve tried to kidnap most of us before. We’re sturdier than you’d think!” She pulls herself up higher, looking pleased. “We have specified training days just to prepare!”
Jace feels like that shouldn’t really be something to be proud of, but then, he can’t really say she’s any different to him. Ever since he was a Nincada, he’d wanted to fight all the time, and it was only meeting Rana that had helped him become a hero rather than a petty criminal too. With Cece along too, they make a good team.
“It’s good that you’re prepared…? What on earth do you–” He starts, before being cut-off by a flash of light from in front. A fire-ball, hitting Cece straight on. Rana freezes, faced with Cece burning to a crisp in front of them, cursing in a pained chitter, shoving something into their mouth. They flutter to the ground as they all watch a Heatmor coming into view in front of them, a few paces away.
Rana won’t be good here, Jace thinks to himself. Her last run in with a Heatmor, she was one of the few remaining from her nest, and her anguish and hatred towards that Heatmor drove Jace to fight those seeking wanton destruction. She’s too susceptible to the rise in temperature, and any fire attacks. Her Cheri scarf will help, but even so.
Within seconds, Cece regenerates, her Reviver Seed taking effect finally, but she’s only ever one hit away from harm.
“Cece!” he cries out, rushing to stand in front of them, shielding them from another hit. A gust attack sends another fire-ball destined for them into the wall, but the Heatmor grins with an unsettling amusement.
“A line of bugs. Perfect for roasting, I think!” he sings, something that would send a shiver up Jace’s spine if he had one. What can he do? How can he get out of this? He can’t send Cece in, and Rana looks too traumatised to even run, let alone fight. He might be able to take him alone, but the collateral damage is too high in a corridor, with nowhere to dodge—he’ll have to let the attacks hit him, only so they don’t go past him to hit anyone else. He has no choice. He’ll just have to–
“Jace, duck!” He obeys mindlessly, even if it takes him a second to recognise the voice—Pas. The Heatmor steps forward, gathering strength for another strike, when a strong jet of water passes over the whole party and right into his smug face, turning it straight to horror as the torrent pours down his throat and all over him. It quells the fire ball he’d been forming, and smoke starts to trickle out of his mouth, his eyes spinning.
“Bugs… can’t beat… me…!” He starts to say, swaying, and pulling air in from his tail to regain his flames.
“Rana! Finish him off with Dig!”
She’s underground before he even finishes. Jace dashes forward, avoiding a panicked swipe of the Heatmor’s claws to scoop a great pile of dirt and shove it into the air intake in his tail, making him cough viciously.
Seconds later, he flies so high that he hits the ceiling, Rana victoriously floating out of the newly made hole, tufts of his fur in her mandibles. Landing, she spits them out, and shifts out the way as he lands, well and truly out for the count. They all take a moment to gather their breath.
“Rana! Pas! You were great!” Jace gushes, flitting between the two of them. Cece chitters shakily in agreement. Pas spins around and strikes a pose, whilst Rana twitches her mandibles in a pleased fashion.
“Pas gave me the opportunity to attack, so I couldn’t have done it without her,” Rana states demurely. Pas beams.
“That Dig was amazing! You’re so strong, Rana!”
As they compliment each other effusively, Jace flutters over to Cece.
“Chi-Chi? You doing okay?” They still look upset—or at least, Jace knows they are—about fainting. “Must have hurt, huh. Oh, I’ll get another Reviver Seed for you…” Rana hardly even notices him rummaging in the bag, grabbing the item and handing it to Cece. They take it with reverence, storing it securely before chittering. “I’ll lead, then. Stay behind me. Fire Pokemon are rare here though…”
They nod solemnly; knowing that Cece is unsettled by the experience, Jace gets them to move on swiftly. The rest of their exit goes without a hitch, shortly arriving home at the start of a glorious sunset.
“Ma, Ma! I’m back! It was so cool!”
Jace has never heard anyone call being kidnapped ‘cool’ before, but to each their own. Honestly, he’s wondering why Pas didn’t just beat the kidnappers and go, but perhaps a whole dungeon alone would have been a bit much. He’s glad she did wait.
The masquerain, Ame, zips over the crops at lightning speed, checking Pas over for injuries.
“You’ve got to be more careful who you boast to about working here!” She chides, at which Rana laughs. She seems to have taken something of a shine to Pas, chattering the whole way back in contrast to his and Cece’s silence.
“Ma, I’m fine! And I will, honest! But these guys were so cool, Ma! Can I go with them?” Pas pleads. It’s the first Jace has heard of it. Although… a water type would be helpful for them. Being as strong as she is, she probably could evolve… but maybe she doesn’t want to. Still, having four on the regular team can be a bit of a handful moving around.
“Pas, you’ll have to ask them. We haven’t so many workers that I can allow you gallivanting off, you know! Those Reviver Seeds don’t grow themselves!”
Pas pouts with their entire body, looking forlornly at the team. Out the corner of his vision, Cece perks up at the mention of Reviver Seeds—not to mention that it explains a lot about why they need to be prepared for kidnappings. Reviver Seeds are pretty expensive, and very useful. With Cece so reliant on them, most of their earnings go towards buying them—a less honest team might just go about nefarious ways of obtaining them.
Cece floats closer, bumping him gently. He looks towards them whilst the others watch. They chitter a proposal. Jace frowns.
“But… are you sure? You know you’re not a burden…” They chitter again, nodding. If anything, they seem more determined about this than much else. “Well, if you want to. I love having you with us, but I know it’s stressful, so… Maybe you’d be happier here. Worth a try, right?” he mumbles. Cece rests their head on his, and he shuts his eyes for a moment. From the moment he evolved and they appeared, they’ve been together; him, Cece and Rana, Team Inve, showing the world that bugs can be strong too. Having them gone will be…
But it’s Cece’s decision, and they want to stay here. They know they’re welcome anytime without even asking. Jace almost thinks it’s been a long time coming, and getting burnt today was the final straw. Cece likes adventuring… but not fighting.
“Alright. I’ll tell you everything we do, okay?” They look directly at him and chirp, determined. Jace smiles, an unspoken promise.
“Uh… Touching moment but… I don’t get it.” Pas interjects. Jace turns to face the other three, remaining close to Cece.
“If you’d like, we can strike an exchange!” he starts, at which they all blink. “Cece has decided that they’d like to step back from being an active member of the rescue team, and they’d be really happy to work on the farm. So, we can take you on, Pas, in Cece’s place, and the farm keeps the staff numbers up. How’s that sound?”
Pas grins, and spins to stare pleadingly up at Ame. After a moment, she laughs heartily.
“Sounds great. I love the little one, but she’s always been wandering off in search of adventure. You guys can probably put her energy to good use, huh!”
“She really helped out today. A little more training and experience, and we’ll be working great together,” Rana states, then falters. “Cece though… are you sure? This is really what you want?” Cece nods a few times. Ame grins. Rana clicks her mandibles sadly.
“We’ll come and see you lots. Jace and I will miss you terribly…” Cece flutters over to press their head to Rana’s briefly. Rana nods, the message received. Pas whoops in delight, and rushes off to gather a bag of her stuff. Ame and Rana roll their eyes and follow at a more sedate pace. Jace doesn’t move immediately, watching the lamps go on and listening to Cece hovering beside him. He won’t get this as much, now. Such a constant presence, and they’ll be gone, just like that. Even so, he knows that they’ll like it more here than the paranoia of working out if the enemy have much to hit them with, traipsing through dungeons… but it won’t be the same without them.
“I’ll miss you, Cece,” he says. They press their head to his again, staying there longer this time, conveying wordlessly that they will miss him too, but they want to stay on the island more, that they’ve had enough of the panic of battles. “You’ll be great here, though. You show them who’s boss. I’ll visit all the time, too.”
Cece rubs their wings together in a gentle rhythmic hum of agreement; the end of one era, the start of another. They believe in the power of Team Inve, and as they point out, they will be supporting the team from here.
“I guess you’ll be with us in spirit?” Jace can’t help but remark, cheekily.
Cece bops him, and it’s just like old times. Some things will never change. He’s very glad of that.