Mt Moon, and a Step Forward!

The two thugs were perfectly aware of what was happening, and they couldn't care less for Miku's welfare. In fact, it worked out for them, given they could steal her possessions and Pokemon without a worry. The water guns once again hit Magnemite, who was beginning to weaken itself. Trubbish had given up on using poison gas given its rate of failure, once again using a squelchy and stinky pound attack on Slowpoke, which was the biggest threat to its poison typing.

"Sloww..." Slowpoke winced, becoming angered at the trash Pokemon. Miku's breathing was shallow now, her face flush as she fell to her knees. It appeared she was unable to get up now, the poison taking its toll. She wasn't even able to command her Pokemon anymore, thinking to herself how much of a fool she was. She was going to lose her Pokemon because she was so stubborn and antisocial.

"POKE!" Slowpoke growled, beginning to glow as he launched at the Trubbish with a Zen Headbutt. It seemed he was sick of the Pokemon's crap, and beyond concerned for his trainer. Psyduck, knowing not what else to do simply shot her water gun at Slowpoke, like they had done earlier to give him a boost.

The Trubbish went flying, splatting into one of the walls with an icky grumble. It slid down, dizzied by the attack, "Get up! Use pound, we almost have them!" The man called, and the creature went in for another assault. Magnemite wasn't idle either, its trainer ordering a supersonic on the puzzled Psyduck. This worked, and the water-type was afflicted with confusion! All odds seemed against Miku now...

"Psaiaiai..."Psyduck complained, spinning around before smacking herself in the face in confusion. She was clearly near fainting, and in one last strain of effort, Miku picked up her Pokeball and returned her to safety.

"Sandshrew..." she whispered, reaching for her other balls before falling to the ground unconscious. One of the balls came unclipped rolling forward and bursting open in a flash of light. A useless looking fish flopped around, splashing in the puddle made by the previous watergun attacks. Feebas looked rather ridiculous, and beyond useless at this point.

"Slowpoke!" The pink hippo again attacked Trubbish, now relentless with his Zen Headbutt. It was the enemy's poison gas that had caused his partner's ailment, and he was now seeking revenge. Slowpoke used Zen Headbutt!

The villains were smirking at the sight of the other trainer out cold, intrigued by what she was trying to release. It was clearly nothing like a Sandshrew, although they vaguely shared a colour, they supposed. "A Feebas? That's pretty rare." The man acknowledged, but his partner laughed, getting the same sound from him, too.
"Pretty useless in here, too. A Feebas out of water! I wonder if it'll die if we don't steal it?"

Revenge the Slowpoke would have, at least, the Trubbish taking yet another super effective hit. It wouldn't be able to take much more of that, but also, there were only a few more turns until Magnemite's disable ran out. With that, the steel type turned on Slowpoke, ambushing it with a fierce tackle!

"Slow..." Slowpoke grimaced, taking even more damage from the onslaught. He was weakening quickly now that he was taking damage from two sources. Still, he felt the need to go on. Giving up would only ensure Miku's demise. "Slowpoke!" he called, shooting a water gun at Magnemite, before turning to Trubbish.

However, he wouldn't have a chance to attack the other Pokemon, for Feebas heard the taunting comments made by the strangers. Angered by their words, she felt the need to prove herself. She splashed a bit in her puddle fruitlessly, before summoning up water from deep within the earth, a geyser seemed to spew up and a wave filled the area. Slowpoke, quick as he could, swam to Miku and carried her to the surface to prevent her from drowning. Feebas used Surf!

The two thugs gasped, swept away by the rush of water. What little health Magnemite had was depeleted, and knocked out, the near-mechanical Pokemon was taken away with the torrent, too. Trubbish was the only one of their group with any health left to speak of, hanging on by a thread. Once the water had gone down, he was still there, having held onto the scraps of the mecha. The fate of the Clefairy inside were unknown - Feebas obviously hadn't thought of that one before using surf. Miku's three Pokemon gained four experience points each for defeating Magnemite.

Miku sputtered, coughing up some water as she lay in a puddle, slowly waking up. It seemed the rush had at least brought her back to consiousness. She dazily looked around, seeing only Trubbish there, and the other three nowhere in sight. Feebas flopped around hopelessly. Miku used what strength she could muster to return the Pokemon to its pokeball.

"Slowpoke, slow!" Slowpoke scolded, glaring at the Trubbish. It seemed he was going on some herioc rant about how bad guys don't win, and how he should feel ashamed for causing Miku so much pain. Or something along those lines, anyway. He began to glow, launching forward one more time (hopefully for the last time) at the Trubbish with his Zen Headbutt.

The Zen Headbutt did its job, and Trubbish slammed against the metal, knocked out. Four more experience points each for Miku's Pokemon. The cave was silent now, aside from the dripping of water, and some bashing from inside the mecha. At least not all of the Clefairy had drowned or bled to death, if any of them actually had... After the battle, all of Miku's Pokemon had gone up by one level! Two wallets could also be found, soaked, in the vicinity. Miku had won a thousand in prize money.

Miku slowly rose to her feet, still dizzy and short of breath from the toxins. She stumbled forward to the mecha, vision hazy yet. Leaning against the machine, her slender hands felt across the cold metal and glass looking for a release switch. She banged on the machine a couple times with the other fist, trying to let the Clefairy know she was trying to get them out.

Slowpoke wandered over to help out. Though worn down from the battles, he was nowhere near the condition Miku was. He searched around the machinery, using his higher than average intelligence to determine weak points, or potential 'switches of interest'. Hopefully between the two they would find a way to set the Pokemon free.

Meanwhile, Psyduck's ball burst open. She cried out as was usual of her headache before looking around. She had missed the rest of the fight. Probably better that way, considering she had been weakened more than Slowpoke. She waddled over, finding the soaked wallets in puddles. Bringing them to Miku, the girl looked down groggily. She stuck them in her bag to examine later. They might contain IDs to help determine who the criminals were. Either way, they didn't need their money, right? Pocketed.

The Clefairy thumped back, showing where in the wrecked body that they were. The two tried to find a way to rescue the space Pokemon, but in the end, with a barrage of attacks, one side blew off and shot against the damp cave wall. A ton of the pink creatures came shouting and bouncing out, their fur both singed and wet. Either way, the remains of the mecha were hardly safe to be hanging around. It could blow at any moment given the damage it had taken and possible leakages, and Miku had probably experienced enough for one day. Some of the Clefairy hung back from fleeing, instead choosing to jump around the group happily, expressing gratitude for their intervention.

Miku fell to the ground leaning against the Mecha. She knew it wasn't safe, but she was just so exhausted. She smiled faintly at the Clefairy who stayed back. "Sorry if you guys got a little rocked back there, I just wanted to help you...I'm glad you're alright..." she said weakly.

"Slowpoke," Slowpoke nudged her, egging her on to get up and keep moving.

"I know, I know," Miku said, pulling herself up once more. "It's a shame we met like this. I would have loved a Clefairy as a friend..." she said, looking one last time at the Clefairy before she began to limp away from this horrific experience. Slowpoke's psychic ability helped hold Miku up, as Psyduck acted more like a crutch. The three then headed toward the west entrance, hoping to make it to Pewter City before Miku passed out again.

The Clefairy all looked at each other and talked among themselves worriedly. It soon turned into a bit of an argument before finally, one made a decision and hopped off after the trio. She bopped ahead of them, her paws together as a warm glow overtook her body. It transferred to Miku, and within moments, all injury and upset to her physical state had been distinguished, and the Clefairy fainted. She had used Healing Wish to cure Miku out of gratitude for the effort made and risks taken.

Miku came to a halt as the Clefairy suddenly jumped out in front of her. "Cle..." Miku stuttered, but before she could say anything Clefairy's little hands were glowing. The feeling was like a weight being lifted off her chest, and a warm soak in the hot springs all at once. Closing her eyes, Miku let a sigh of relief being able to stand on her own once more.

Her relief was short lived though, with Clefairy now knocked out before her. "Clefairy!" Miku cried out, scooping the little critter up. "Oh, I'm so sorry, you did this for me..." Miku sounded like a cheesy character out of a romantic tragedy, but she was sincere anyway. Standing once more, Miku carefully grabbed a ball from her waist making sure not to drop the clefairy. "Psyduck return," the red beam engulfed the duck, returning her to her capsule. "You too, Slowpoke," She grabbed his ball next, swallowing him up inside.

She couldn't afford to keep his leisurely pace this time, and Miku was renewed while he was tired. She had to get the Clefairy to the Pokemon Center right away! She wrapped a cloth around it, holding it tight to her chest as she rushed off for Pewter City...

Given the uproar, there weren't any trainers around who wanted to challenge her, and so the way out of the cave was clear. No Pokemon was going to attack a human who had rescued their friends and home from carnage. It was twilight when Miku emerged from the cave, the bright pastel and golden light stinging to her eyes. There was a Pokemon Centre right before her on the route, the red roof standing out against the dull browns and greys of the mountainsides.

"Hey, you! You there, you, yes-- little girl!" A man was calling out to her from a wooden stall with various tanks behind it and a pile of Poke Balls, a white banner advertising a Pokemon shop hanging above him. His brown hair was balding, moustache resembling a wire extending off each side of his tan face. The man was old and hunched over, "You there, young trainer... Have you ever heard of... The Magikarp?"

Miku took a deep breath of fresh air, it was a nice change of pace from the stuffy cave. She decided caves were definitely not her thing - not after that experience, anyway. Fortunately, she didn't seem to need to go far for a Pokemon Center. The bright red roof practically stared her in the face as she exited the cave, a sight for sore eyes. Between Clefairy and her own Pokemon, everyone could use this break of luck.

She was quickly distracted, however, when a strange man at a stand beckoned to her. She fought internally for a moment, wanting to rush through the doors and have them heal the Pokemon. Yet...the man had a tank, which meant water type Pokemon, right? She decided it wouldn't hurt to take a moment of her time to take a peak.

She meandered over, making sure to keep Clefairy covered as she peeked into the tank. She saw the red carp swimming around derpily, and it.was.too.cute. Naturally she'd heard of the Pokemon, people often made fun of it. However, Miku knew well that a properly raised Magikarp was more than capable. "Oh my gosh, they're so cute!~" she cooed, unable to contain her love for the fish.

"Yesss, it is, isn't?" The man agreed in an eager hiss, something akin to a slimy snake, "And this cute Magikarp will grow into a grand Gyarados! They are rare in some parts of the world, you know, extremely powerful and able to protect you! This Magikarp needs a loving home, you know? I cannot take him with me. So how about it? This cute, rare and exquisite guardian fish. all yours for just five hundred pokedollars! He is a perfect type match-up against Pewter City's Brock, hmmm~?"

Miku knew well enough that the Pokemon was likely not worth the 500 pokedollars, they were utterly common around here. However, this could at least save the Magikarp from the man, as well as save her the hassle of catching it in the wild. "I'll offer you 300 for it," Miku stated pretty boldly. Apparently shop haggling didn't fit into her idea of 'social interaction'. "If you insist on the 500, I'm afraid I have somewhere else to be," she said, as she began to turn away. She hoped the tactic would work, and that he would at least lower his price a bit.

The man panicked as she made to turn away. A sale was a sale, and he would be making a profit regardless. "Fine, three hundred, but you are swindling me!" He insisted, huffing as he reached for one of the Magikarp in the tank. It flopped about in his arms, and the conman held out his hand for the money. "Pay me, and you can have him."

Miku smirked as she heard the man huff, people like this were easy to bargain with when they weren't really losing anything. She turned back around, and fished for the money from her pocket with one free hand. Once she was able to locate the proper amount accordingly, she held out her hand. If the man went to grab it she would pull it back quickly, demanding the Pokemon be set on the counter where she could take him once the transaction was complete. She was excited to have a Magikarp, even if others may think them useless.

The man did make to grab it, snarling when Miku snatched her hand away from him. He growled, just as suspicious as she was, but eventually set it on the counter and took her money. Storing it on his person, he let her take the level five male and be on her way, presumably to the quiet Pokemon Centre.

Miku, satisfied with the transaction, took her new Magikarp in addition to the Clefairy and headed into the Pokemon Center. She was expecting to be ridiculed for buying the Magikarp, but she had her reasons. "Excuse me, Nurse Joy..." Miku said as she approached the counter. Her voice was a bit sad and worried, thinking of the Clefairy once more. She could be a selfish and irrational person at times, but she tried to be good at least.

"Please, can you heal this Clefairy? It fainted because it helped me..." Miku explained, then set the rest of her pokeballs on the counter as well. "If you could give them a rest as well, I would be regretful..." She kept her eyes down, as was a habit of hers. Her voice like a squeak of a mouse.

"Umm...sure..." Miku said in response to the question of Magikarp. It would be better for him to stay the night in the PokeCenter's tank anyway. "A room would be nice as well, if you don't mind..." she muttered, bowing again. She certainly was a sight, but with what she had been through she could care less. She would clean up later, for now it was time for her Pokemon to rest.

"Would you mind showing me my room?" Miku asked after several moments had passed. "And if you wouldn't mind, could you tell me when Clefairy is feeling better? I'd like to properly thank her..." The girl clutched to her bag nervously. She needed to use the Center's washing machine desperately, but even all the clothes in her bag were soaked through.