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Chapter XLVIII: The Search II

"Wake up! Please be kay-o!"

The fighting type groaned as his eyes fluttered open. His vision was still blurry and he felt really cold as he was coming to his senses. Shivering, he noticed he was lying on a hard, stone cold surface. He tried to recall where he was and what had happened. He tried to sit up, but could feel slight aches from various bruises all over his body.

"Yay, Tyke fine!" Tyke's vision cleared up a little and he found himself staring directly at a Machop's happy face. Upon seeing him, everything came together. The rescue, the earthquake and the two of them falling into the raging underground river. He couldn't believe he was still in one piece!

"Hmph, gotta say you two were lucky to come out of that alive," a third voice spoke up. Tyke turned his head, feeling a pain in his neck shoot up, to see a brown duck like Pokémon leaning against a nearby wall. The small Pokémon was casually tossing his leek up in the air as he regarded the two fighting types.

Tyke looked at the Farfetch'd with silence, and then at Loopy. "How long was I out?"

Loopy raised an eyescale. "Uhm… be inside all time?"

Tyke gave Loopy a deadpan look. "Very funny," he replied dryly. He stood up and wobbled a little before regaining his balance. "Ugh, I feel like crap."

"Maybe need more Oran berry?" Loopy suggested, glancing over towards the toolbox.

The Farfetch'd chuckled. "I'd say you've had enough, kid. Your friend squeezed some Oran juice into your mouth while you were out cold."

Tyke shot the Farfetch'd an annoying look. "Man, what's it to you?" he snapped, his fingers twitching with the urge to give that smack talking bird a punch in the face. His lips curled up slightly in a snarl when he saw the Farfetch'd smirk back at him.

"Tyke, bird help me from river. Help Tyke too," Loopy spoke up.

"Yeah," the Farfetch'd chimed in, "nice way to thank your saviour, kid."

Tyke gritted his teeth as he glared at the flying type. "Fine, I'm sorry," he growled through his clenched teeth. He crossed his arms and took a few breaths to calm down. "So, you've any idea where we at?" he then asked the Farfetch'd.

"Pitfall Valley," he replied promptly, catching his leek with his wing and held a firm grip on it. "You kids are in the wrong neighbourhood."

Tyke could feel his heart skip a beat. Pitfall Valley? That place was something he had only vaguely heard about in stories. He knew that place was to the far north of Mt Steel, but had he and Loopy been washed away that far? That couldn't be true! And the other thing he knew was that it was inhabited by ferocious flying types.

Loopy put his hand on his shoulder. "Is things kay-o?"

Tyke slapped the hand away and spun around to glare at the Machop. "It's O-Kay, idiot! And no, it's not okay!" he yelled at him.

Loopy scratched his head in bewilderment. "Then, it be kay-o?" he then said with a nervous smile.

Tyke blinked as his jaw hung open. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"No, try save Tyke," Loopy replied, his smile having faded.

Tyke looked away shortly, clenching his fists. "Well, that went south, didn't it?" He saw the Farfetch'd still minding his own business. For a flying type, he didn't seem too hostile as of yet, so hopefully he could prove to be a way out of Pitfall Valley. It'd be a long way back even then, but he knew Loopy was part of a rescue team and that meant he had supplies with him.

"Hey, Farfetch'd, you know a way out of this place?" he asked the flying type.

The Farfetch'd let out another chuckle. "Boy, any non-flyer that falls in here aren't getting out. You need wings to get outta here," he explained, gesticulating with his leek.

Tyke's blood ran cold and he looked around frantically. "What about the way we got in here? The river! We could just backtrack that, right, Loopy?"

Loopy shook his head. "River stop."

"He's right, you know," the Farfetch'd added. "That river that washed you here stopped all of a sudden. And with all the tumbles you took down the falls, I doubt you're getting up those again."

Tyke could feel another chill run down his spine. He shook his head in disbelief as he put his hands on his head. He wanted to go back home, but there was no way? "There's got to be a way!" he said defiantly.

"Sorry, kid," the Farfetch'd disagreed, "as I said before, this place is not for Pokémon like you. You'd end up deeper into this valley the more you try to get out of it."

"What about you? Why can't you fly us out of here?" Tyke then asked, pointing a finger towards the Farfetch'd. When he saw the Farfetch'd tighten his grip on his leek, he raised his fists.

"I don't see why I should, boy," the bird replied flatly, twirling his leek. "I've already helped you two enough."

"Why bird mean now?" Loopy asked.

The Farfetch'd lowered his leek as he looked over towards Loopy. "Well, I could be nice to you kids… if you agree to be my servants. I could always use a pair of helping Pokémon."

Tyke clenched his fists and got into a fighting stance. "Like hell we are!" he cried. He looked over at Loopy who still seemed reluctant. "Right, Loopy?"

"Uhm... not sure. Leek bird help…" he replied slowly as he was in a slight fighting position.

"Hey, if you're gonna work for that Farfetch'd, you're never seeing your Charmander girlfriend again. Ever!"

The Farfetched chuckled as he raised his leek, holding it like a sword. "It's slavery or death. Your choice," he dared them as he narrowed his eyes.

Without warning, Tyke sped towards the Farfetch'd with his Mach Punch attack. The high speed attack struck the bird square in the cheek with enough force to knock him off his stance and almost stumble over.

The Farfetch'd quickly regained his balance and glared daggers towards the Tyrogue who was now sporting a smug grin. "So be it, then. You just threw your only hope of staying alive away!" he hissed menacingly.

"Hah!" Tyke scoffed and tauntingly beckoned the bird, "it's two against one, idiot! When you'll be lying face down on the floor you'll be doing what we tell you to!" He quickly glanced towards Loopy to see if he was going to help out or not. He'd be quite a joke of a rescue team guy if he wasn't.

When he looked back he saw the Farfetch'd already speeding towards him with his leek ready to strike! The moment he dodged the back handed swing, he realized it was a feint followed by a vicious Peck attack aimed right at his chest. When the attack struck he emitted a painful wheeze as all of the air inside his lungs was knocked out of him. The sheer force of the attack also knocked him off his feet so hard he was sent flying through the air before he crashed on the ground and rolling until he ended up face down on the ground, clutching his chest in pain as he struggled to breathe in despite the burning pain in his chest.

"Mean leek bird!" Loopy yelled as he charged towards the Farfetch'd, his arm raised to deliver an overhead Karate Chop. The Farfetch'd casually weaved to the left, avoiding the incoming strike. He tried to follow up his whiff with a back handed horizontal swing with the same arm only for the Farfetch'd to duck it with ease. Annoyed, Loopy let out a battle cry and tried another overhead Karate Chop while the Farfetch'd was still ducking.

The Farfetch'd smirked and swiftly brought up his leek above his head to block the incoming attack. To Loopy's shock, the hardened vegetable stopped his attack on the spot, and he found himself in a power struggle with the Farfetch'd. Keeping his smirk intact, the Farfetch'd used his free wing to wag his feathery finger at Loopy.

Loopy, still trying to overpower the Farfetch'd, tried to punch the Farfetch'd with his free arm. With a quick motion, the Farfetch'd spun around and withdrew his leek to not only avoid the punch, but to also use Loopy's heavy momentum against him. Loopy stumbled forward a few steps, losing his balance.

Tyke, still clutching his chest and gasping for air, watched as Loopy tripped forward and crashed to the ground. Unable to get up, he could only watch Loopy stand up after his fall. He looked to where the Farfetch'd was, and saw him twirl his leek once before he rushed towards the Machop. He tried to warn Loopy, but the immense pain in his chest and lungs was still preventing him from uttering anything but a strained, helpless wheeze.

The second Loopy turned around to face the Farfetch'd, he was met with a vicious leek to his face. The strike was quickly followed up with two more strikes, one upward under his chin and the other across his cheek. Loopy reeled back from the force of the Fury Attack, holding his face in pain. He sank down on one knee and saw the Farfetch'd flying towards him, his beak glowing. Unable to dodge the Peck attack, he was struck right in his forehead and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

Tyke saw how the Farfetch'd rubbed his beak with a satisfied smile. Resting his leek over his shoulder (or the closest thing a bird had to a shoulder), he started walking towards the downed Tyrogue. Tyke tried to fight the pain in his chest and put his hands on the ground to push himself up to a stand. Despite the pain, he couldn't let one single Farfetch'd get the better of both him and Loopy. He felt the Farfetch'd's leek press down against the back of his head when he had just managed to get up on his knees, forcing him to stare down at the ground.

"Stay down," the Farfetch'd simply said, showing no signs of exhaustion after the battle. Tyke froze and clenched his teeth. "I knew you looked weak, but that was just a pathetic display of a fighting type," the Farfetch'd then continued, lightly tapping the back of Tyke's head with his leek.

Tyke tried to suck in air to speak and felt the pain flaring up in his chest again. Fighting it, he managed to croak out a few words. "Guh… you… hrk… got lucky."

The Farfetch'd lowered his leek and put in under Tyke's chin, forcing the Tyrogue to look up at him. "Spare me the excuses, boy," he spat, narrowing his eyes, "I don't think you're fit to be my underling. You're more useful as bait."

Tyke mustered a growl in response and clenched one of his fists. The Farfetch'd noticed this and lightly pushed his leek against Tyke's throat, shaking his head as a warning.

"Mean bird stop!" Loopy shouted. The Farfetch'd rolled his eyes before he looked over towards Loopy. Tyke did the same, and saw the Machop standing, pumping his fists. Getting no response, Loopy pointed his finger at the Farfetch'd angrily. "I fight if mean bird no stop!"

The Farfetch'd took his eyes off Loopy and looked down at Tyke again. Smirking, he put his leek to the ground. "Seems your friend was a little bit tougher than you, boy. You just stay down while I take care of him." With that, he used his leek to flick some sand straight into Tyke's eyes.

Tyke immediately jerked back from the pain in his eyes. He rolled over on his back and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sand out of them. Through his blurred vision he could see Loopy charge towards the Farfetch'd who was casually approaching. He never had any idea a Farfetch'd could have defeated him so easily, but that Machop was still up and trying to fight him. He could see the grey blur of Loopy about to collide with the Farfetch'd, but the leek wielding duck made some kind of a swift motion the flipped Loopy over him with little effort.

"Stay down, Machop," Tyke could hear the Farfetch'd say with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Unlike your weak Tyrogue friend, you are at least sufficiently strong enough to work for me." Tyke wiped tears mixed with sand off his face and his vision cleared a little. He could see the Farfetch'd pressing his leek on Loopy's chest to keep him down, and the Machop seemed to comply for now.

"Me no work for mean bird!" Loopy spat defiantly, glaring up at the Farfetch'd.

The Farfetch'd prodded him with his weapon and sighed. "Predictable…" he muttered under his breath. "I'm giving you the chance to live. Don't be a fool by casting it away for some weak sense of justice." He pointed his leek towards Tyke. "Or that weak Tyrogue, for that matter."

Loopy growled at the Farfetch'd in response. "Mission is help Tyke. Tyke need help," he told the duck through his clenched teeth. He braced himself for an incoming strike when he saw the Farfetch'd tighten his grip on his leek. The following seconds felt like minutes as the two stared intensely into each other's eyes.

The Farfetch'd then lowered his leek and stood tall. "Well, it seems you have a bit of a one track mind," the Farfetch'd told him. "What a waste." He looked around and spotted the toolbox. He put a wing under his beak and rubbed it thoughtfully. "Hmm, I'll let the two of you off the hook. Killing you would only be an act of mercy, after all."

Tyke, having managed to get the sand out of his eyes completely sat up. "Wh-what's it to you anyway?" he managed to utter, rubbing his chest. The pain was still there, but it had lightened enough for him to properly speak. The Farfetch'd ignored him at first, and waddled towards the toolbox. "Hey! You're just going to leave us here?" he then cried.

The Farfetch'd opened up the toolbox with his wing and examined its contents. Taking out an apple, he thoroughly examined it. "That I intend, boy," he then replied bluntly. "It's a little late to go back on your decision now." He took a bite of the apple. "Hmm, good eats. Some of these should be nice compensation for the difficulties you two have put me through."

"Stop, is team toolbox!" Loopy protested, having gotten back up on his feet.

"Listen, Machop, be glad I'm only taking about half what's in it," the Farfetch'd snapped back, causing Loopy to back down slightly. "What's stopping me from knocking the both of you out and taking this little bag of goodies all for myself?"

Loopy lowered his fists. "Fine," he just said back in defeat.

"Good. It seems you have some common sense, after all," the Farfetch'd remarked before going through the toolbox.

Loopy frowned and walked over to Tyke. He extended a helping hand towards the Tyrogue. Tyke grabbed Loopy's hand and let himself be helped up to a stand by the Machop. "How Tyke feel?"

Tyke batted Loopy's hand away when he was fully standing. "Like crap," he replied bitterly and hunched over slightly from the pain flaring up in his chest temporarily. "Ugh..."

"I suppose that'll be enough!" The Farfetch'd spoke up when he was done sorting out various foods and berries out of the toolbox. He picked up the toolbox by its leather strap with his wing. "Hey, Machop. Heads up!" he yelled as he tossed the satchel over to Loopy who caught it with both arms. "Now scram!"

Tyke glared at the Farfetch'd. "Where do you expect us to go?"

"Anywhere," the Farfetch'd shot back. "This is my territory, and you've been loitering about in it for far too long. Now hurry up before I change my mind!"

"Fine, we go," Loopy agreed, beckoning Tyke to come with him. "Uhm... this way?" he then pointed his finger towards where the river had previously been. Tyke rolled his eyes and nodded. Anything to get away from that damned Farfetch'd quicker.

The two fighting types had walked alongside the dried out river for enough distance to get far away from the Farfetch'd. Both Loopy and Tyke had taken an Oran berry each to mend their wounds, but the toolbox was significantly emptier after the Farfetch'd had taken his share.

"Hey, do you have any idea where we're going?" Tyke asked Loopy as he glanced up at the dusky sky. Not much light made its way down to Pitfall Valley due to shadows from the mountains and the sun was already way past noon.

Loopy slowed down his pace slightly. "Try find way out?" he replied, tugging his pink scarf nervously. "Or maybe safe place to wait?"

"Wait for what?" Tyke spat out, narrowing his eyes.

Loopy scratched the back of his head. "For team rescue to help?"

"And how are they supposed to know we're even here?" Tyke cried back, his eyes now wide open with frustration. "We were both washed away in the underground river in Mt Steel, remember?"

Loopy nodded and rested his arms on his legs as he was sitting. He didn't say anything and let out a thoughtful sigh.

"Hey, that got me thinking. Gimme that toolbox!" Tyke then told him. Loopy gave Tyke a suspicious look and tightened his grip on the strap. "I wanna see what happened with the rope we were hanging onto. It broke way too sudden!"

Loopy gave Tyke an understanding look and tossed him the toolbox. Tyke proceeded to open up the satchel and dug through it to take out the rope. "What the heck is this?" he asked when he was looking at the rope's ends.

"Is rope."

Tyke gave Loopy another deadpan gaze as he held out the end of the rope. "It's cut, smartass! Look! Someone must've cut this rope clean off!"

Loopy blinked. "Strange…"

"What could've caused that?" Tyke shot back, tossing the rope down at Loopy's feet. He suddenly shuddered as a thought came across him. What if those Nuzleaf had arrived much earlier than expected and cut that rope? But that wouldn't make any sense! That stupid Machop's stupid Charmander girlfriend could easily have scared them off with her fire, and the rope looked sturdy enough to with stand at least one razor leaf cut.

"Tyke cold?" Loopy asked with concern after seeing him shiver.

Tyke shook his head. "No, no. Just got worried about my buddies."

"Me worry of Flash and Franny-cis," Loopy said quietly as he looked at the rope, dumbfounded to what could have caused the clean cut.

Tyke put his hands to the sides of his head and curled up slightly. "This is bad, man, really bad. What if they think we're dead? We'll have no way out of here! No one will save us, Loopy, we're stuck here!"

"Calm," Loopy simply told him, "we fight way out." He flexed his arm and pointed at his biceps with a confident smile.

Tyke wasn't convinced at all. "Are you crazy? A freaking Farfetch'd kicked our asses on his own! You think we'll stand any chance against other wilds in this area?" He buried his face in his hands. "Or worse, some really big flying types find us! Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man! I should have taken my chances with the Farfetch'd!" He felt Loopy's hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the Machop looking slightly irritated.

"Calm, now!" he ordered. Tyke was about to protest but Loopy held up a warning finger in front of his face. The Machop then put the rope back into the toolbox and pulled Tyke up to a stand. "Enough rest. Now continue."

"Where?" Tyke angrily asked as he once again batted Loopy's hand away once he was fully standing. He hated being pushed around by other Pokémon. He was a leader, not a follower. He crossed his arms in protest and looked away from the taller Pokémon. "What makes you think you know what way is in and out?"

Loopy didn't say anything at first while he adjusted the strap of the toolbox. The Machop then looked up at the mountains surrounding the area around the valley. Tyke did the same. The various mountain peaks were really high up, so trying to climb over them would take too long and it'd leave them exposed to dangerous wild Pokémon. They'd have to either try finding a cave that went through it, or follow the valley to see if that would lead somewhere.

Loopy pointed to the right side. "We go… this way?" he suggested. Tyke looked to where he was pointing. The right side of the valley seemed to be less steep than the other side, so scaling it up that way could be a possibility. It also seemed to have enough flat ledges higher up that would offer safer footing.

"You better be right," Tyke grumbled. As much as he hated to admit it, he would have to follow this stupid Machop around if he was to have any chance to get out of here. But at the same time, he was aware that he had tried to trick Loopy into a trap back at Mt Steel. Even though the Machop didn't know that yet, Tyke worried what he would do if he figured that out.

Loopy took the lead and they started heading up the right side of the valley. "Try be happy, Tyke. Much anger be annoying," he told Tyke to encourage him a little bit.

Tyke scoffed. "What's annoying is the way you talk, you idiot!" he shot back.

Loopy's smile faded. "Why Tyke anger? Try think this be fun adventure so you can tell friends."

Tyke growled. "Fine, just… talk less, will you?" he hissed through his clenched teeth as he kicked a small pebble out of his way.

The two fighting types made their way up the side of the valley in silence. The ascent had taken longer than they had anticipated due to difficulty of finding footing on the unstable ground. That Farfetch'd hadn't been lying when he told them this was no place for Pokémon without wings. Tyke glanced up at the grey, cloudy sky and could see that evening was about to close in. With this shorter than expected progress they'd be forced to find some place to sleep. And he knew that sleeping out in the open was a death wish, especially in a place like this.

"Hey, Loopy," he spoke up, trying to hide his impatience. The Machop slowed down his pace and looked over his shoulder. "This is taking longer than it should."

Loopy sighed. "Yes. No good," he replied, looking up towards the peaks. "Maybe find cave into mountain?"

Tyke let out an exasperated groan. "Well, I can't see any!" He shivered when a cold wind blew past him. "Aw man, this sucks! We're out in the open with no shelter at all!" he rambled, throwing his arms up in frustration. He pointed an accusing finger at Loopy. "Why couldn't you have thought ahead, you moron? You and your Charmander girlfriend are a stupid goody-two-shoes rescue team! You should be ready for things like this, dammit!"

"Stop be angry!" Loopy said back.

"I can be as angry as I want!" Tyke screamed back.

Loopy tilted his head, having a rather annoyed expression towards Tyke. "Why so anger?"

"Because I don't like you! I can't believe someone as dumb as you can still manage to be stronger than me!"

"Maybe you no train?" Loopy remarked.

"Screw you!" Tyke yelled back, clenching his fists. "You've no idea how hard I trained myself for that tournament, and still you take me out in one stupid lucky move! You don't know how I feel, having to be at the short end of a stick every damn time. I train my ass off and you just have your strength for free because you're a stupid Machop! It's not fair!"

Loopy was about to respond, but both he and Tyke heard running steps approach quickly. They both turned to the direction. They could spot something jumping off a ledge from a distance and quickly running towards them. As it got closer, it started to resemble a large wingless bird with two heads. Tyke backed away when he recognized the Pokémon as a Doduo.

The Doduo skidded to a halt when it was close enough, creating a dust cloud from its skid. The double headed bird examined the two fighting types with their beady, black eyes.

"What's this now? Two fighting types, here?" the right head spoke up.

"I say!" the left head replied,

"What a fortunate turn events, don't you say, old chap?" The right head smiled.

"Indeed!" the left head agreed, nodding.

"Why silly bird have two head?" Loopy asked, looking as confused as ever at the Doduo.

Tyke pulled at Loopy's arm. "Hey, Loopy, we should beat it, man," he suggested, having put his anger aside. "It's really big and scary looking!"

"Say, old chap, the little one thinks you're scary!" the right head commented.

The left head jerked his head back in offence. "The nerve!"

"No I didn't mean you, I mean, the both, I mean uh," Tyke stuttered, edging closer to Loopy.

"What a rude little rascal, don't you think?" the right head burst out.

"I say!"

"Perhaps we take him out first!" the right head suggested, receiving a nod from the left head.

Loopy raised his fists and stared down the much taller Pokémon. The two heads cackled in unison and scratched their talon on the ground, preparing to charge. Tyke slowly stepped away from Loopy while he was facing the twin bird Pokémon. He didn't want to be caught in an attack that'd end up hitting them both and he wanted to have a head start in case Loopy would get struck down.

The Doduo charged towards Loopy, who opened up one of his clenched fists to respond with a Karate Chop. But before they were in striking range, the Doduo effortlessly bounded over Loopy, kicking him in the back of the head with the back of one of his talons before he set chase after the fleeing Tyrogue. Having no problem catching up to him, the right head quickly ducked down and grabbed Tyke by his shoulder with his beak and lifted him off the ground.

"Augh!" Tyke screamed as he was held in the air tightly by the beak. "Get off!" he yelled as he swung his left fist, punching the right head square the eye with a quick Mach Punch. The attack was effective enough to catch the Doduo off guard and drop Tyke with a surprised scream.

Tyke scrambled to his feet after having been dropped and clutched his right shoulder. Despite the pain, he felt a small deal of satisfaction that he had at least managed to knock that Doduo off him. He grinned; maybe he could take this flying type after all? Finally a chance to show that stupid Machop he could do something!

His joy was cut short when he felt something clamp down on both his ankles. Before he could look down, he was pulled back hard enough for his forehead to hit the ground and then held upside down in the air.

The impact with the ground left him dazed for a second, but when his vision cleared he could see one of the Doduo's heads glaring at him. He let out a frightened cry and saw that the other head was holding him upside down with his beak. He tried to punch the bird, but the right head easily avoided the attack.

"This one's a fast one, but not fast enough!" the right head commented, his voice sounding a bit less cheery than before while he kept his angry glare fixated on the Tyrogue.

"Nng-hnn!" the left head agreed.

"He'll make fine supper, don't you think?" the right head said as he narrowed his eyes with anticipation.

"Nnh-nnh-hnn!" the left head agreed as he nodded, shaking Tyke up and down as he did so.

Tyke let out a short gasp when he heard that. He didn't want to become a freakish, two headed bird's dinner! He flailed about with his arms trying to land a punch on the Doduo's head, but being upside down made it impossible for him to aim his punches properly.

The right head cackled as he effortlessly weaved away from the pathetic punches. After enough weaves, he shot forward and grabbed the Tyrogue across his chest. Raising his head to the same level as the left head, they held Tyke horizontally before they started pulling in different directions.

Tyke let out a loud screech as the Doduo was trying to rip him in two. He tried to pry of the grip on his chest, but the Doduo was too strong for him. Due to the situation he was in, he couldn't muster the strength to deliver a Mach Punch to the right head's eyes again. He was about to give up when the Doduo suddenly stumbled forward, dropping him to the ground with a surprised shriek.

Tyke hit the ground and squirmed a bit under the pain the Doduo's attack had done to him. Both his chest and ankles were hurting real bad. When he looked up, he could see that Loopy had grabbed onto the Doduo's legs and pulled him to the ground. He saw the Doduo raise his other leg to kick Loopy off him. Tyke stood up, wincing as a slight pain shot up in his ankles, and took a step away from the flying type while he was distracted.

When the Doduo successfully kicked the Machop off his leg, he quickly sprang up to a stand and ran towards him to attack. Tyke was conflicted whether he should take the chance to run or help Loopy. The hostile Doduo had more dangerous intentions than that stupid Farfetch'd and he couldn't judge if he was stronger or weaker. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Loopy managing to trip the Doduo with a Low Kick while he was still on his back, sending the two headed bird stumbling over him.

Tyke smiled when saw that; maybe Loopy and he could have a shot against that Doduo. He limped over towards the Machop who was getting up to help him out. He was about to comment on why he was still carrying that toolbox while fighting, but the Doduo had recovered too quickly from his fall and dashed furiously towards Loopy. The Machop saw it and held up his arms in defence when the Doduo's right head came down in what looked like a Peck attack.

"No!" Tyke yelled out as the right head bit down on both of Loopy's arms and proceeded to hoist him up high. The left head pulled back his neck slightly before he jabbed forward in an actual Peck attack at Loopy's chest repeatedly. From what Tyke could see, the attack didn't seem as concentrated as the one he had gotten from the Farfetch'd, it was more rapid jabs. Too scared to approach, he scoured the ground for any small rocks he could use as a ranged weapon against that bird while he was busy with the Machop.

After finding a few fist sized rocks he scooped them up in his arms and looked up to see the Doduo having finished pecking Loopy tossing him towards the nearest rock wall. The Tyrogue could feel his knees shaking when the Doduo turned his attention towards him. Clutching onto one of the small rocks, he pulled back his arm and tossed one of them towards the flying type as hard as he could.

The Doduo's heads dodged to their respective sides, letting the small rock fly between them. Tyke's hand trembled as he picked up another rock. His eyes darted back and forth to the Doduo and Loopy. Loopy seemed to be slowly getting up, but it didn't seem that he was going to attack soon judging from the injury of the Doduo's attack.

Tyke quickly devised a plan as he was fearfully stared down the approaching Doduo. He tried backing away, but also trying to position himself so that Loopy was right behind the Doduo. He pulled back his arm and lobbed another rock at the Doduo, who once again dodged it without any problem. He hoped that the projectile would land close enough to Loopy so he could have a shot at the Doduo while he was distracted.

"This one has difficulties giving up," the right head pointed out as he followed Tyke's movements.

"Indeed!" the left head agreed.

Tyke gulped and tried to look past the Doduo to see if Loopy was recovering. He tossed another rock at the Doduo, trying to make sure the bird was distracted enough for him to see how Loopy was doing. He watched the small rock sail past the Doduo and land near the Machop. It was then he saw Loopy still struggling to get up. He felt his heart sink a bit and then turned his attention to the Doduo.

Both of the bird's heads had a certain smug look on their beaks. They knew Tyke was out of rocks and now he had nothing to throw at them. Tyke clenched his fists, trying not to lose face in front of the bird. He gulped again; it was so unfair that this stupid bird not only had the type advantage over him, but there was two heads he had to keep his focus on. That was two on one! He didn't like the idea of taking this thing down on his own; he would need Loopy help and he'd rather be at the same side as him.

He powered up his fist to try another Mach Punch attack. He could hear the Doduo cackling at his attempt as he poised himself to attack. He waited for the wingless bird to make his first move. He stared defiantly into the bird's eyes as he waited to strike. The Doduo then dashed forward, both heads ready to probably pick him up and attempt the same tactic of ripping the Tyrogue in two. Tyke responded by unleashing his Mach Punch, dashing towards the attacking bird.

But just as the two were about to clash, Tyke cancelled his attack and dove to the ground. Using the high velocity momentum of the Mach Punch, he dropped down and under the charging Doduo. While the slid hurt his skin, it was nothing compared to what that bird would do to him.

Once his slide stopped, he found himself somewhat close to Loopy. He sprang to his feet to see that the Doduo had not only been caught off guard by his move, but had also toppled over himself and crashed dangerously close to the ledge. Dusting himself off – wincing when he felt some slight burning pain from the abrasions he got from the slide – he ran up to Loopy to see he was still sitting down.

"Come on, just use an Oran berry and you'll be back in action!" he exclaimed to the Machop as he approached. Loopy held up a hand to signal him to stop. Tyke was about to complain, but complied when he saw that the ground Loopy was sitting on had newly formed cracks in it.

"Ground feel not safe," the Machop uttered as he carefully took off the toolbox. Groaning, he opened it up and took out a blue berry. He bit off one half of the berry and tossed Tyke the other. "Eat. Must save berries," he said after he swallowed.

Tyke grimaced as he caught the half eaten berry. He didn't fancy the idea of eating something that stupid Machop had bit down on, but considering he was hurt himself he knew he had no choice. He stuffed the other half of the Oran berry in his mouth and winced as he chewed it. Feeling slightly vitalized, he looked over his shoulder to see the Doduo having recovered from its fall.

The Doduo turned around and faced the two fighting types, their eyes filled with rage. Tyke backed away from it instinctively, fearing that that bird had finally had had enough of the two.

"Come on, Loopy, don't mind the cracks and just get up! I think it's really mad now!" he stressed him. He glanced towards Loopy and saw he was trying to get up, but he could see the ground under him was giving away just a little bit. Tyke's eyes widened when he saw what was going on. "On second thought, maybe-"

The Doduo let out a loud shriek before he made a mad dash towards them. Tyke could feel his heart jump up to his throat at the sight and started tapping his feet to the ground impatiently. "Get up, man, hurry!" He ignored Loopy's previous warning about the ground and walked up to him. He grabbed his hand and proceeded to yank him up to a stand, but the increased pressure caused the ground under Loopy to give away. Frightened, Tyke immediately let go of Loopy's hand and stumbled backwards when he saw the Machop disappear into the small hole.

"NO!" Tyke yelled out as he ran up to the small pit. The toolbox was still nearby, but there was no chance he'd be able to stand up to the Doduo on his own. He looked over to see the angry Doduo approaching rapidly, and back into the hole. It looked deep, and he wasn't sure wherever it could. He almost wanted to cry over the mess he had just caused. Knowing he had no choice, he grabbed the toolbox and tossed it down the hole before he prepared to jump down himself.

Bracing himself, he closed his eyes and jumped in. He could hear the beaks snap close above him as the Doduo just missed out on him.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he could hear the right head complain.

"Indeed!" the left head agreed, sounding just as upset. Tyke didn't care; at least he denied that jerk of getting to finish him off…