Six months had passed since that one dark night. Six months filled with pain. Six months filled with evil. Six months filled with something so utterly terrifying that not even God himself would dare do battle with it.

Procrastination.

Chapter 3: The Encounter

A swish in the air. A snap of twigs. A cackle in the dark.

A small, leafy pink body flew through the forest with the utmost of elegance, seemingly unfazed by whatever was going on around her. This wasn't anything new to her, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. She'd been doing this most of her life, and it almost certainly never got any harder. Her pursuers, though tenacious, were unbelievably stupid all the same.

"Weird," she chirped out loud, smoothly dodging a Shadow Ball as it swerved wide of her petite figure and colliding with a large tree trunk a good twenty yards away, "How did I manage to get so side-tracked?"

She pondered over this for a while, easily navigating around the trees and bushes that threatened to crush her as her mind wandered, trying to think back to recent events. She was certain that she'd been on-track by the time she'd left Crystal Cave, despite Azlef's constant ramblings of whatever she had zoned out of. Of course she hadn't anticipated a maniacal group of Alakazam to be waiting for her outside of the entrance. Oh how they'd rue the day they asked her to bend their spoons again...

Another two Shadow Balls came hurtling towards her from behind, and this time she was forced to manoeuvre awkwardly to the left to dodge them both, throwing her off course. It hardly mattered though; she would inevitably reach her destination in one way or another, despite her pursuers' feeble efforts to capture her.

"You still can't catch me, by the way!" she trilled back at them almost cheerfully as she noticed them picking up speed in a fruitless attempt to match her pace, just as she had predicted would happen. "Typical Sableye. All claws, no brains."

However, despite her seemingly carefree demeanour, she was, as a matter of fact, in a very precarious situation; or rather, she was the very precarious situation. She was needed elsewhere right now. Her presence was essential to their plan at this stage. There was no way around it. Without her being there, everything up until now would have been for naught. And there was no alternative. No plan B.

This was their one and only chance.

Accelerating even more now, she took a quick glance behind her at the Sableye to check their progress, only barely surprised to find that they were slowly closing the distance between them and her, if only temporarily. She was also not surprised to see them positioning themselves into an attack formation; it was their "go-to" plan if all else failed. Brute force remedied by more brute force. Logic at its finest.

"Oh this part is ever so fun!" she exclaimed suddenly, stopping dead in her tracks to allow them to form a six-sided diamond around her as they caught up, leaving her completely trapped. Or so they always thought.

To any onlookers, it might have seemed as though she were completely giving in. Landing oneself in a group of Sableye wasn't something one did for sport. If anything it would be classed as a rank A suicide attempt. Escape was impossible.

The same did not hold true for her, however.

It was, in reality, a very simple plan, one which worked almost flawlessly throughout any situation similar to one such as this. Not only did it allow for a very quick getaway, but it left most Pokémon utterly dumbfounded, even more so when it came to the Sableye. Not to mention the fact that they never saw it coming, regardless of how many times they had fallen prey to it. It was a perfect escape mechanism, especially when their tenacity was taken into account; there was no way she could be followed.

"So," she began as usual, eyeing up each individual Sableye with an innocent yet mischievous grin as she turned a full circle on the spot, "Did you hear the one about the Sableye and the Illumise?"

The effect was almost instantaneous.

No longer than three seconds after she'd said it, the Sableye were all moving in on her with great agility, brandishing their razor sharp claws menacingly in front of them, ready to tear the pink Pokémon to shreds. She was, of course, expecting this to happen, as it always had done before. They'd all charge in on her at once, exerting all the energy they had on one sole attack. Yet there would be nothing to receive the hits.

And with a flash of blinding pink light, she was gone.

Grovyle

Weird was definitely an understatement for what came next.

It exploded.

I should have expected something like this to happen. Looking back on it I still have to curse at my carelessness. I had learned many times, from experience, that I could never let my guard down. Curiosity killed the Delcatty, as the saying goes.

Arceus forbid what it did to me.

I was blinded and momentarily disoriented by the sudden flash of light. Instinct kicked in instantly, and I leapt - what I assumed to be - backwards in order to get away from the light as quickly as I possibly could to avoid anything more that came my way. The action itself had most certainly saved my life on many occasions before this, however it was not necessary this time. Even as I moved away, something which had seemingly emerged from the explosion of light still managed to crash right into me at a blinding speed, sending me toppling backwards onto the cold, hard ground in accordance with my current lack of balance. The impact was accompanied by a dull thud, and I let out a sharp wheeze as the air was knocked clean out of my lungs. They were burning, desperate to reclaim all the oxygen they had lost, however I had to stay silent. It was difficult, but somehow I managed.

After what felt like an age, I opened my mouth ever so slightly to let some air in, savouring every last gush of it as if it were my last. I made sure the action was very subtle as to not alert whatever had assaulted me that I was still very much conscious, assuming that was what they were aiming for. I highly doubted that, however. Most anyone would want you dead if you merely looked at them funny.

However the more I thought about it, the more I realised that that scenario was very unlikely. Whatever had hit me was most likely a weak adversary, considering they had to resort to incapacitating me before they engaged, and I figured it was very doubtful that their goal was going to be that of murder. Moreover, their immediate attack barely made a dent. Had they wanted to kill me, they would have dealt much more damage. The only other logical reason I could think of for the attack was theft.

Either way, I more than ready to take action. Such acts had become quite redundant to me now, I knew exactly how to deal with them.

I tensed my muscles, alarmed, trying to sense any sudden movements coming from my right hip where my satchel lay. If there was even the slightest nudge; the faintest twitch; I would be ready to retaliate.

A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. Still, I had to stay resolved. My enemy could have been wary of me. I had to be careful.

Another ten seconds passed, still nothing.

By now I knew something was wrong. The fact that they hadn't made their move by now was certainly curious. They had had a good few chances to make off with my supplies by this point, yet they had done nothing. Not even move.

Finally, after waiting a few more seconds, I'd had enough; I had to look.

There, lying upon my chest, was a small - what I assumed to be female - pink Pokémon no larger than my satchel. Its body seemed to be composed partially out of leaves (I couldn't be sure), which appeared to be battered and bruised, indicating a recent struggle had occurred. That in itself quickly disproved my initial theory, it was definitely not in any condition to go picking a fight with me. Not only that, but the colouration of its body had a slight tinge of red to it. "Blood." I grimaced, staring at the fairy-like Pokémon in silence. And as I did so, I realised there was one thing I had correct. It hadn't moved.

Not a muscle.

I slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position, making sure not to knock the pink Pokémon off of my chest with any force I exerted. From what I could tell, it was alive; most likely unconscious. Its breathing was almost inaudible, but definitely there. Slow and calm, unlike my own.

And at that very moment, as I looked down upon 'her' weak form, I felt the impulsive urge to abandon her there, exposed and vulnerable. In one way, it made perfectly logical sense. It had nothing to do with me. There was no reason for me get involved. No one had aided me throughout the many bleak situations of my life; there was no one in the world with a heart to do so. I had tried to show compassion before, and I still had the scars to prove it.

But as I thought this, my gaze switched to her face and I could feel something stir inside me. Something I had not felt in a long time. A sudden pang in my heart. Her expression, soft and gentle, was like that of an angel. It emitted a sense of purity and warmth unlike anything I had ever seen before. There was also something else there too, something I knew I couldn't refuse to help.

Innocence.

As my prior thoughts dissipated to the recesses of my mind, I began to ponder over how I could help. At that moment there wasn't much I could do, especially not in that location. Taking action there would have been very risky, I was far too exposed; and if the pink Pokémon's assailants were nearby...

With a soft sigh, I took hold of the pink Pokémon in my arms and slowly began to rise to my feet, carefully as to not cause her any further injuries. Though not were not fatal, they were pretty bad all the same, and there was no telling how much more damage she could sustain before things got ugly.

With that in mind, I set off to find shelter.

A diamond sparkled up in the heavens.

Within the canopy, a lone shadowy figure watched in silence as the Grovyle delicately carried away the injured Pokémon seemingly cradled in his arms. His target lay in plain sight.

Or as of now, targets.

I had always ran unburdened. Freely. Nothing to slow me down. I could fly through the trees at lightning fast speeds, conquer mountainous landscapes in the blink of an eye, and clear wastelands faster than you could say Temporal Tower.

This, however, was a whole different experience.

Each and ever movement I made, every twist, every turn, every step. I had to think them all through before carrying them out, the risks were all too high if I did anything too suddenly. My 'passenger' was far more fragile than I had expected, waving and rolling about like some kind of rag doll no matter how gently I moved. Her limbs were like paper, and her muscles were far too lax for my liking.

Despite this minor setback, I eventually found somewhere to let her recover. A hollow at the foot of a very large, dead tree. I had discovered that these were fairly plentiful during my travels, offering very convenient accommodation for myself when I needed to rest. I entered without anticipation.

The interior of the hollow itself was bare, as I expected. They always were, save a few rotting apple cores and the occasional plain seed. No one was foolish enough to leave any supplies behind. They couldn't afford to. It was survival of the fittest around here.

After conducting a thorough (and rather unnecessary) check of the area, I gingerly placed the pink Pokémon down on the cold floor, stopping momentarily to observe her as she 'slept'. So far her condition had not changed much. Her breathing, though slightly more noticeable, was still soft and slow, and her injuries, whilst not any worse, were not any better either. I glanced around quickly, hoping against all hope that there was something I could give her. Anything. I scowled in discontent when nothing appeared to me.

Almost begrudgingly, I wrenched opened my satchel and grunted slightly as I shuffled through its few contents, knowing I'd have to use at least one on her if she was going to recover. I'd have to choose carefully. Any misuse could cost me dearly, my supplies were very limited after all. I couldn't afford to spare much.

After a few seconds of scuffling, I produced a slightly discoloured oran berry and propped it between my claws, furrowing my brow as I thought about what I was away to do. This one oran berry could be the difference between life and death for me, using it now - on a complete stranger - could put my life on the line.

That, however, had yet to be seen.

Before I could change my mind, I pried her mouth open with my free hand and dropped the berry onto her soft tongue, placing it at such an angle so it wouldn't tumble down her throat and choke her. I then proceeded to gently push her jaw upwards to mimic the motion of chewing, pulling back every few seconds to make sure the berry was still there and not halfway down her windpipe. I repeated this for a time until I was satisfied the mashed remains of the berry were small enough for her to swallow, and stood back whilst her body took over.

Now, I could only wait.

Okay, so I admit it did not take me six months to write this (though it sure felt like it ._.). In truth it only took me...a few weeks...at best.

I AM A TERRIBLE WRITER OKAY!?

...ahem. Anyway, this is the long overdue chapter three. You have no idea how painful it was for me to write this. IT'S HARD TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING WHEN THERE'S NO DIALOGUE BETWEEN CHARACTERS.

I have no idea when I'll be able to get the next chapter up, most likely the 29th of Febuary if you're lucky.

I do not own Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 or the franchise in general. All rights for Pokémon go to Nintendo, GameFreak and Chunsoft.