While Eric was fighting the 2 Arbok, Misako ran deeper into the cave and reached the area where the cave split into multiple paths.
She was confused about which way to go when her Eevee tugged on her legs. He told her to follow him as he headed towards the right-most path. Eevee remembered scent and had no trouble finding him.
Misako then quickly ran with Eevee and Misdreavus, hoping that Eric was okay...
---
The battle outside the cave raged on.
Haruko's Pokémon had knocked out 2 more of the cloaked figures' Pokémon, but her Pokémon were now battered and wounded.
The cloaked figure was now sitting on the ground, legs crossed, as they laughed.
"For someone so sure of themself, you sure are cowardly, hiding behind that hood."
Even in this situation, Haruko tried to fish for information.
"kuhaha! What a lame attempt at trying to get more information. You could just ask me to remove the hood, and I would. I don't mind fulfilling the requests of a dead woman."
The figure then slowly lifted off his hood.
He was a male with two-toned hair, Purple and red, and one of his eyes was missing. There were strange tattoos all over his face as he smiled maniacally.
"So? How long do you think you'll last?"
He asked with glee. Seeing people struggling to their bitter ends, and giving in to despair, slowly but surely... the final moment when they lose the light in their eyes...there was nothing more euphoric for him than that.
He yet again threw out 2 Poke Balls, once again having 6 Pokemon on his side.
Haruko's Pokémon, tired as they were, gathered in front of her and prepared for another battle.
---
"Fearow, Dodge!"
Eric shouted, but it was too late as one of the Arbok grabbed Fearow's leg by his tail and slammed her into the ground. He then lunged to finish her off, but was pushed back by a timely Ghost Ball from Gastly.
But taking advantage of that moment, the other Arbok pushes through Poliwag's Bubble beam and slams him into the wall with his tail.
"Poli!"
'Damn it'
Things were looking terrible for Eric. He had been running around and gathering the Ghost Pearls one by one whilst commanding his Pokémon. He had gathered the required 14, but the Arbok were giving him no chance to use the instrument Alka gave him and absorb their essences.
With Fearow and Poliwag wounded, and Gastly exhausted, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated and lost their life.
Arbok slithered around a Ghost Ball and dashed towards the still grounded Fearow, intending to finish her off. Fearow couldn't fly in time and was about to be hit, but unexpectedly, the Arbok was blown away by a condensed ball of ghost-type energy that looked a bit different from Gastly's ghost balls.
"What the-"
Eric looked in bewilderment as the other Arbok was blown away too.
Then he heard a voice from the entrance to the passage he came from.
"Good job, Misdreavus! Now don't let up! Eevee, you too, use Swift!"
Misako!
Misako slid down and arrived next to Eric.
"Eric!" She called out.
"Why are you looking so surprised? I told you right. The Ayame always repay their debts. This time it is my turn to help you!"
Eric didn't know what to say. He certainly wasn't expecting Misako to pop up out of nowhere.
"...thanks."
He replied a bit awkwardly. He wasn't used to such a situation, getting help from someone. Till now he had to handle everything on his own.
It was a new experience, but he didn't hate it.
*Screech*
Both Arboks screeched in anger. It was as if they had their prey snatched from their mouth.
They then threw a ball of acid in Eric's direction. Acid Spray!
Eric and Misako side-stepped to dodge.
"We'll talk later, let's handle these 2 first."
Misako said as she directed Eevee and Misdreavus to battle. She really regretted not bringing any of her other Pokémon.
With the addition of Misako, the pressure on Eric reduced. Still, the opponents were too strong. Eric could think of only one thing that could get them out of this situation, and that was Gastly.
Right now, Gastly was fighting 2 battles. The one with the Arbok, and the one against his own body, trying to suppress his evolution. Eric didn't know how much stronger Gastly would get after evolving, but their situation would be much better either way.
"Misako, I'm preparing for Gastly's evolution. Lend me a hand in holding them off in the meantime."
Eric said with determination.
"Evolving? Now?"
"Yes. It is probably our only way to overcome this situation."
"Ok, I'll trust you."
Fearow, Poliwag, Eevee and Misdreavus joined hands to stall the 2 Arbok while Eric prepared for Gastly's evolution.
He had collected the 15 Pearls. Now all that was left was to use the device Alka gave him and extract their essences. He took out the device and attached its tip to the pearl. After pressing a switch, the device glowed purple as it absorbed the essence of the energy inside the pearl. Eric did this one by one with each Pearl, which took about 3 minutes.
On the side, the battle with the Arboks raged on. One of the Arboks broke free from the attacks and lunged at Poliwag. He dodged to the side but wasn't fast enough as he was bit by Arbok's poisonous fangs.
Fearow shot towards the Arbok and landed an Aerial Ace, breaking Poliwag free, but the damage was already done as he fell to the ground, now poisoned.
But Poliwag didn't lose consciousness, however. Through sheer fighting spirit, he slowly got up. In terms of fighting spirit, Poliwag was the greatest amongst all of Eric's Pokémon. Even against the 2 thugs he was running from, in the end he chose to fight despite knowing that it was impossible to win.
Poliwag fired a Bubble beam at Arbok, refusing to back down.
Eric saw this but didn't show any emotions. Just that his eyes grew more determined.
'It's done.'
"Gastly, come over here. It's time for you to evolve!"
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