Abra! Kadabra!

  Seedot quickly rolled his Vine Drive to the left, as the first Unfezant zipped past him. Unfortunately for the Unfezant, it had flown right into a trap that Asmond had taught Seedot in order to counter Flying Types. Just after it had missed Seedot by inches, the ground behind Seedot's previous position erupted with thorny vines that the Unfezant flew right into.

     Not being able to avoid the vines, Unfezant's wings were quickly wrapped up in the writhing mass of vines and it was brought to the ground.

     Squirtle, Espiria, Dratini, and Volteon were dealing with the second Unfezant, who was flying around their heads looking for the perfect moment to strike. The Unfezant finally made its move swooping down towards Volteon. Seeing this move, Asmond ordered Volteon to prepare his most powerful Lightning Strike. Espiria prepared a massive Psychic Limb and waited. 

     Volteon stood resolutely watching the much larger Pokemon speeding towards him, as soon as it was close enough, Espiria swung her Psychic Limb overhead of Volteon's position and slightly downwards slamming into the oncoming Unfezant. Unfezant was not unphased by this attack and was sent crashing into the ground.

     Squirtle immediately blasted it from behind with his Water Gun. The Unfezant was being pushed towards Volteon, who unleashed all of his Electric Charge into the now completely soaked Unfezant. Seeing the Unfezant coming towards it, Volteon didn't move but instead jumped at the Unfezant and bit deep into its neck.

     The Unfezant, being a twice evolved Pokemon, wasn't easy to kill and, despite the assault, it was still flailing and thrashing about. However, its blood continued to flow from its wounds, as it struggled desperately to breathe and it was all for nought, as the Unfezant that was choking and sputtering blood fell lifelessly to the ground.

     Seedot, Torchic, Geodude, and Happiny were likewise relentlessly assaulting their would be assaulter. They had their Unfezant pinned to the ground and bathed in flames. Seedot would replace vines that were burnt through and Happiny would blast it with Light Beams, while Geodude tossed rocks at it. Espiria had run over the moment the other Unfezant had died and began helping the smaller Pokemon recover whenever this Unfezant would send out powerful gusts of wind, knocking them all backwards. Once recovered they would immediately resume their assault. 

     Suffice it to say, that particular Unfezant met an unpleasant end, not too long after the previous one.

     Asmond had always worried about Flying Type Pokemon ambushing them in the open but he eventually came to a very simple conclusion. Not only were Flying Type Pokemon not that threatening, they also were quite easy to counter. Sure being able to fly around was useful but, if you wanted to get close enough to your prey to actually kill it and not just knock it around with powerful wind attacks, eventually you had to either land or fly directly at them.

     Most Flying Types had flying as their only real advantage and so, unless they had a secondary type, they were unwilling to give up that advantage. However, if you're going to fly directly at your enemy and especially if the enemy knows you're going to fly directly at them, aren't you just turning yourself into a baseball begging to be beaten with a bat?

     Asmond certainly thought so and as such their strategy for dealing with these guys was simply to spread out far enough that their ranged attacks couldn't hit more than one of them at a time. This usually would either cause the Pokemon to waste all their energy on attacks that weren't actually going to kill their opponents or get in close, which almost always meant the Flight of the Baseball maneuver.

     So even though these twice evolved Pokemon were indeed formidable, their formidableness was kind of like a magic trick. Once you knew how it was done, it was no longer all that magical and could easily be seen through.

     This strategy wasn't always helpful with Dual Type flying Pokemon but most of the time it was, since most Pokemon simply weren't expecting such things. Having successfully implemented this strategy several times, they were now much more confident in their ability to safely navigate non forested areas.

     The Unfezants obviously had much more powerful abilities that they didn't use but because they looked down on these weaker unevolved Pokemon they didn't feel it was worth it to waste their energy on them. It was because of this hubris that they never bothered to try and use the attacks that could save them, until it was too late. It also seemed that the power of their wind abilities were somewhat reduced without the use of their wings. 

     The gang had run into those two Unfazents after closing in on their jungle destination. The Unfazents apparently had made the outside edge of this piece of jungle their territory and, where normally Asmond and his team would have retreated from such adversaries, they were much more capable than they were the first time they traveled.

     It had taken them three weeks to get here and Asmond certainly wasn't disappointed. It was a deadly place for sure but it was also quite beautiful. Not that Forina wasn't beautiful but jungles always held a certain mystery that Asmond couldn't quite explain. He had just always loved how much life was in these kinds of places. In his old world jungles had more species per square inch than any other biome and he was hoping that this jungle was similarly impressive.

     Asmond made sure that they stuck much closer together than when they were in Forina. Here he would never send them out individually but only in groups of at least two. After cleaning up the Unfazents and then checking out their territory they continued forward to see if there were any bordering territories.

     His teams came back and reported that there was a Kadabra's territory further east, a Vileplume's territory to the south, and most promising of all a Sceptile's territory to the north.

     "Right, so we're basically surrounded. However, it's not all bad as I have need of a Treeko and I definitely have need of a Kadabra. It won't be an easy opponent but, once it's taken out, we'll be able to expand our area of exploration. I don't really like our chances against Sceptile or Vileplume so, unless they come after us directly, I'd rather avoid them.

     "That being said, it's been a long day so let's make camp for the night and we'll sort out Kadabra tomorrow."

     The following morning they set off towards Kadabra's territory and arrived there within a few hours. This part of the jungle was clearly lived in as the places where one could see cleared away shrubs and brush were becoming more common. After traveling approximately five hundred meters into the territory, Asmond called them all to an abrupt halt.

     There, in a small clearing about a hundred meters away, stood the Master of this territory. The Kadabra stood there calmly and confidently, waiting patiently. Once they were thirty meters away, Kadabra spoke into all of their minds. 

     *Stop where you are! Why have you trespassed on my territory?*

     *Ah, so this is your territory? I see, well, to be honest were actually looking for a very important item. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find it would you?*

     *Somehow I doubt the truth of your words but even so how could I know if you don't tell me what it is?*

     *Oh no, my words are true enough. The item we're looking for is a small spoon shaped object made from silver if I'm not mistaken and, as I hear it, it can amplify the abilities of Psychic Type Pokemon.* Asmond responded as he looked directly at the pale silver spoon in Kadabra's hand with an envious grin.

     *I see, so that's how it is. Well, as long as that's the case, then die!* Kadabra immediately sent out a Psychic Limb to grab Asmond by the neck. 

     Asmond's body was immediately jerked off of the ground by Kadabra's Psychic Limb that was trying to snap his neck. Everyone except Espiria charged towards Kadabra, only to have all of their physical efforts blocked by a powerful Psychic Shield.

     'Shit, shit, shit, this wasn't part of the plan!' 

     *Espiria! I can't hold out much longer!*

     Espiria, immediately after noticing Kadabra's assault on her partner, summoned two Psychic Limbs and began assaulting the Psychic Limb that was holding Asmond in place.

     As Espiria and the others continued their assault, Kadabra could feel his energy draining more rapidly than he suspected. 'What is going on here? All of these Pokemon are stronger than they should be. Only two of them have evolved and one of them is some kind of unfortunate runt. None of the others have evolved, yet they display strength frighteningly close to their evolved counterparts. Something isn't right here and I suspect this battle will be harder than I had originally thought.'

     Under Espiria's relentless assault, Kadabra was forced to release Asmond only a second after he had grabbed him. If it weren't for Asmond's own Psychic power, that attack could've been deadly. Luckily, he had shielded himself prior to their confrontation. Although, in just that short amount of time Asmond had expended almost all of his Psychic Energy just trying to resist that sudden assault.

     'Fuck! That was too close!'

     The others had not stopped assaulting Kadabra's shields, since they had first encountered them. Kadabra had expected that the Espeon might be able to put up a decent fight but, when both his Psychic Limb and his Psychic Shield both began being drained of power, he was forced to recognize these little pests surrounding his shield as a legitimate threat. 

     'Individually, they obviously wouldn't stand a chance but, with all of them cooperating and with Espeon backing them up, this has become a truly troublesome situation. I need to think of a way out of this fast. The more time passes the less I like my odds of winning.' Kadabra thought as he manipulated his Psychic Limbs and began punching the Pokemon surrounding his shield, sending them flying away.

     This of course was far from enough to put Asmond's team out of commission and at that moment Espiria jumped in and began pounding on his shield. 

     After being sent flying from Kadabra's shields, the others recovered themselves and then maintained their distance. As they had been delaying using their abilities to conserve power, they now began throwing their abilities out at range, which drained Kadabra's shields even faster.

     Asmond and Espiria had cooked up a little Pokestrat, the night before, specifically to deal with Kadabra. They weren't even sure that it would work but it was their best bet and so they had to try. If it didn't work, this fight would end up dragging on for a lot longer.

     Knowing that Psychic Pokemon were generally on the weak side physically, it made sense that the spoon it was holding was also a weak spot. This is because Kadabra held the spoon with his hands and not his Psychic Limbs. However, if Asmond or Espiria sent their own Psychic Limbs to try and grab it, he would surely notice and not hesitate to protect it. But...what if he couldn't detect it? What if Asmond used his Magic Energy rather than his Psychic Energy?

     He had noticed that, while Psychic Energy's potential was limited to the mental fortitude and skill of the individual Psychic, Magic Energy was only limited by the amount of energy one possessed and their understanding of what they wanted to accomplish. In practice this meant that if you put Magic Energy to a task it would continue expending more of itself, until the task was completed. 

     With these thoughts in mind, Espiria and Asmond watched as Kadabra's shield was finally dropped. Kadabra had no more energy to spare for his shields. He had now put everything into offense, despite the attacks still being sent at him by the others on Asmond's team. Espiria rushed towards Kadabra at her top speed, Psychic Limbs at the ready.

     Seeing the situation he was in, Kadabra attempted to Teleport away from the battle. He succeeded but, in his nearly exhausted state, he only managed to make it about forty meters. He knew his Teleport wouldn't carry him far enough away from the battle to escape. He was simply trying to catch his opponents off Guard and gain some distance.

     Having arrived nearly forty meters behind his opponents, he sent his Psychic Limbs towards them, without hesitation.

     Espiria and Asmond, however, weren't impressed by his use of this ability at the most obvious time. Being Psychics themselves they were all too familiar with this ability and had factored it into their plans. Espiria instantly discovered Kadabra's new position with her ESP and relayed it to Asmond and the others.

     Espiria took the lead with another full speed dash towards her opponent. Asmond followed behind her as fast as he could. Espiria began engaging Kadabra with swift, evasive, and accurate maneuvers, as the others sped towards the new battlefield.

     Once Asmond was once again in range, he signaled to Espiria, who dashed to Kadabra's side in an attempt to get behind him. Kadabra, in an attempt to protect his backside, shifted his stance so that Espiria was on one side, while Asmond and the others were approaching from the other. Epsiria immediately resummoned a Psychic Limb and prepared to smash Kadabra to little Tele-pathetic pieces.

     On the other side, Asmond's other Pokemon all sent out their respective attacks, while continuing to rush forward. Espiria signaled to the others just before summoning her Psychic Limb so as to synchronize their attacks.

     Upon receiving Espiria's signal, Asmond used what little Psychic Energy he had left to manipulate his Magic Energy. Because the Psychic Energy only needed to be inserted into his Magic Energy thus allowing Asmond to control it, his Psychic Energy never needed to leave his body.

The two pronged attack landed squarely on the Psychic Shields that Kadabra had hastily summoned. The power of the attacks from both sides, however, were too much and quickly eliminated the shields. Asmond's Magic Energy was working its way quickly towards Kadabra and so he signaled back to Espiria who used her Distortion Wave to force Kadabra's attention on her.

     Just a second after Espiria's Distortion Wave hit, Asmond's Magic connected with Kadabra's spoon and he activated his Attraction Spell. The spoon immediately left Kadabra's hand and was sent towards Asmond's direction for less than a meter. This was all his magic could accomplish at the moment but it was enough.

     The Distortion Wave and the loss of his spoon had occurred almost simultaneously and left him no time to react to the situation. Before he could recover from the Distortion Wave, Espiria reached out with the Psychic Limb she had prepared in advance and snatched the spoon out of the air.

     With Kadabra's spoon firmly in her grasp, Espiria now had her own powers amplified, while Kadabra's had diminished. This tipped the scales and Seedot immediately wrapped  Kadabra up in thorny vines and awaited Asmond's instructions.

     Asmond had known for a while that Espiria could do things like send hostile or incorrect information into her opponent's minds but it wasn't really a reliable tactic, in the beginning. Asmond had told her to forget using it in battle, until she knew it would be effective one hundred percent of the time.

     The problem lay within the fact that it relies entirely upon the opponents reaction to the information as opposed to directly affecting them. Until she could ensure that she could find an arrangement of information that would guarantee a successful attack, it would be useless in battle. In a real battle, using a technique that had any chance of failure was essentially like jutting your head out and offering your neck to the enemy's jaws.

     After many failures and then after a long discussion with Asmond about Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, and Theta brain waves, she managed to develop a new ability. The Distortion Wave not only sends out every one of these brain waves simultaneously in a highly chaotic pattern but each of those waves is also encoded with various disorienting or misleading information. The assault of the all of those waves in their chaotic pattern would cause any lesser Pokemon's brain to shift erratically between different brain states. Relaxed, Focused, Sleep, Hyper-awareness, and Hypnosis would all be partially manifested along with tons of disorienting information causing quite the horrifying affect.

     Even Psychic Pokemon of Kadabra's level would be affected, if only for a second, and it was that one second and less than a meter of distance from Kadabra's hand that had made all the difference in this operation. Despite nearly having his neck snapped in half less than five minutes ago, he was feeling pretty good seeing the effectiveness of his teammate's training and teamwork.

     Seeing that Seedot had restrained Kadabra and Espiria and the others were on alert for any last ditch desperation moves, Asmond stayed well away from Kadabra this time, as he spoke into his mind. *So, Kadabra, would you mind answering a few questions? Of course, given the situation I'd understand if refused.*

     *...what do you want to know?*

     *Really, I wasn't expecting you to be so cooperative. As long as you're game, though, maybe you could tell me whether this spoon is made out of your psychic power or not? If it is, then is it possible for you to make others or is it a one time occurrence, some kind of automatic response upon you achieving your evolved form?*

     *It's the second one, an automatic response to evolution. As for why I'm cooperating with you, it's because I have a favor to ask before you kill me.*

     *Huh? A favor? You know that we don't have to kill you know? As long as you're no longer hostile we could let you go. We only came here for the spoon not your life. Although, we were of course prepared to take your life, if needs be. That being said, what kind of favor would you ask from your would be executioners?*

     *Hah, what a joke! A Kadabra without its spoon might as well be a corpse. I'd never manage to hold this territory without it. If you aren't going to give me my spoon back, you might as well kill me. 

     *As for the favor, there is an Abra egg that is very close to hatching located further into this territory. If you follow my directions, you'll find it. That egg and this territory were my responsibility that my father left to me. He raised me, made another egg, and then left it and the territory in my care. I never saw any other Alakazam but I'm assuming that my mother lives somewhere far away. Probably somewhere much safer.

     *It's clear to me that you're one of those Pokemon Trainers my father spoke of and the Pokemon under your care have clearly been raised well. If you don't take that egg with you, there's very little chance that Abra will survive in this jungle on its own. So I'm asking you to care for that Abra the way that you've cared for these others. There's also a special stone in the same shelter as that egg. It should prove useful for your unevolved friends here.* Kadabra stated his request.

     *That's...unexpected but actually quite welcome. An Abra would be an excellent addition to my team and that stone certainly intrigues me. Very well, Kadabra, consider your favor done. I'll raise Abra to the best of my abilities and ensure that it at least survives for as long as I do. Is that satisfactory?*

     *Yes, thank you, Trainer. As much as I want to curse you right now for putting me in this humiliating position, it wouldn't change my circumstances any and so I'll just tell you that I'm ready and ask that you kill me quickly.*

     After saying these words, Kadabra sent a set of mental images to Espiria that would lead her to the egg, Espiria confirmed this with Asmond, and then she sent a powerful Psychic Slash across Kadabra's undefended neck, ending him rightly.

     Asmond and his team made there way over to the specified location and found the egg and the stone just as Kadabra had described. Upon seeing the egg, Happiny rushed over, while tossing away the rock that was in her pouch. Asmond had already told her she could care for it, and so she picked up the egg and placed it carefully into her pouch, while looking quite proud of herself.