So, as many of you know, I made two pretty fleshed out designs for this CAP. Choosing which one to final sub was really hard, and a lot of people weighed in with a near 50/50 split of which they preferred. In some ways, the following story is me grappling with which design to use while trying to recognize the other one as well. But, in the context of supporting "art" it's also just a way for me to showcase how I perceive my design to act, giving it some level of personality that is hard to show with just a few pictures. I tried to include some CAP fan moments, ranging from appearances of past CAPs to hinting at some of the competitive debates that raged on during the earlier stages of CAP22. I don't expect most people to read it all the way through, but if you have 30 or so minutes to spare, then I would greatly appreciate it :)
TLDR CAP Post Productions Presents
CAP Island: The Backstory of the Yellow Fighter
Main Characters: Peel (seen above) and Mask (previous design)
“Hey Mask! Come look at this!” The voice was reverberating from behind the trees, causing Mask’s ears to twitch. The over-enthusiastic, childish voice was often hard on his sensitive ears, but Mask felt obliged to follow his younger friend’s request and catch up with him.
“Oh wow, whadaya think could have done all of this?!”
“I dunno, Peel. Give me a moment to catch up!” Mask shouted back as he navigated through the thick maze of leaves. But it only took a few more leaps from across the tree branches to figure out what his friend Peel was fussing about.
Suddenly, the canopy just dropped off. Mask peered over the last tree branch and looked down. Collapsed tree trunks, twisted and snapped like toothpicks, covered the forest floor, partially obscuring the upturned soil and a large crater that was dug into the ground. Mask gazed over the scene before his eyes traced over the path of destruction. The crater itself had a diameter of about thirty feet, while a path twenty feet wide of broken and fallen trees led all the way out of the forest and to the sea shore; Mask could just barely see the glint of sun hitting the water off into the distance.
“Wow…” Mask said, his mouth momentarily agape.
“This certainly doesn’t look like how those humans cut down trees,” Peel pondered out loud. He was a few branches above Mask at this point and dropped down to sit next to him. But as his feet hit their target they suddenly slipped, sending Peel falling down face first.
“Holy crap Peel! Be careful!” Mask shouted as he prepared to jump down to help out. Just a second before he was ready to take the plunge, however, he noticed that Peel’s tail had caught onto the branch and his friend was hanging upside down. After Mask breathed a sigh of relief, he bent over and grabbed Peel’s hand, hoisting him back up on the top of the branch.
“Sorry, I’m a klutz, I know…” Peel said, looking away slightly from Mask’s direct gaze. It was a line he was used to saying during his frequent slip-ups.
“One of these days you’re actually going to fall and hurt yourself,” Mask said with worry. After a few seconds of silence, Mask reached his paw out and rested it on Peel’s shoulder in a brotherly gesture. “One of these days your tail just won’t be able to take it anymore and it will snap right off. And that will be the day I get to eat that banana.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” Peel replied with a voice akin to mocking, but in truth he had to cover his face with his hands to stifle a laugh. “How many times do I have to say that it’s
my banana?”
“Won’t be yours if it falls off though,” Mask teased.
“Hey, let’s go check out the beach!” Peel pipped up, his ears twitching and he changed the subject. He bolted off, bounding from branch to branch before even waiting for his friend.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Mask shouted before burying his face in his palm. “It could be dangerous ya know? Ugh, not like you’re even listening to me…” After an exasperated sigh, Mask took a leap and started chasing after Peel again.
The path of smashed trees slowly transitioned into a trench in the sand as Mask and Peel approached the beach. Leaping off of the last branch at the jungle’s edge, Peel performed an exuberant somersault, spinning and twisting his body in midair before landing feet first into the soft cushion of the sand below. Mask was impressed that his friend had stuck the landing, but lacking the enthusiasm and the acrobatics, he did a simple jump down into the sand. Together, they walked over to the edge of the trench and peered down; it must have been at least six or seven feet deep; large enough to swallow many different Pokemon.
“Woah… Mask, what do you think could have done this?” Peel said in awe, leaning his body over the trench at an ever riskier amount, tempting fate.
“I’m not sure…” Mask replied, trailing off in his own private thoughts about what could have scarred the land in such a way.
“There’s been a rumor going around that there was a hurricane last night that did this.”
Mask and Peel spun around and saw a brown sauropod covered in plant life. Hanging from near its jaw was a tantalizing group of bananas.
“Neck!” Peel exclaimed, instantly recognizing the female Tropius who had been kind enough to give him many bananas over the years.
“A hurricane?” Mask said. “That doesn’t seem to make much sense. Why would a hurricane strike such a targeted area? It’s really only a single path that took damage. Not to mention I think we all would have woken up if an actual hurricane hit. I mean, we might have been on the opposite end of the island, but we didn’t notice anything going on.”
Neck lowered her head so that she would reach the eye level of her fellow island dwellers. “Yeah, you’re right. After hearing the rumors I decided to come and investigate myself since some things just didn’t seem to fit,” she replied. “I had heard from Tall that a hurricane hit Cannon last night and that he was really banged up.”
“Cannon? You mean the chief of the Pyroak?” Mask inquired, raising an eyebrow. Cannon was a fierce and vigilant fighter, and it was hard for Mask to imagine him being injured.
“Yeah,” Neck replied. “I was on my way to see him and offer him a small harvest so that he could recover his wounds more quickly, but I was flying over the beach and saw this… I just had to stop and take a look for myself.”
For a brief second, Peel’s face turned into a pout. From the sound of it, Neck would be giving her bananas to Cannon today, meaning there wouldn’t be any left for him.
“If you guys are curious to what happened, I would be glad to take you to see Cannon,” Neck continued. “He’s just a short flight away; I heard he was taking refuge in the northern cave.”
“That would be a great help,” Mask replied, nodding his head. “I’m sure talking directly to Cannon will provide more concrete answers.”
“Alright, climb on and we’ll be there in no time,” Neck replied.
Peel hopped onto the Tropius’s head and climbed up her neck before settling in between the leafy wings on her back. Mask followed suit, though his footsteps were much more gingerly.
“Hold on tightly now, would hate to see you guys fall,” Neck half-teased, half-warned; Peel had fallen off her back in midflight a few times before.
It started with a few flaps of her large green wings, but that was all it took for Neck to hover over the ground. A few more, stronger beats and she soared into the sky before catching the island breeze and sailing off with only the occasional flap to keep her airborn. Peel and Mask looked down below as the beach was pulled out from under them. Both wore looks of wonderment; normally Mask was able to contain his enthusiasm much more successfully than Peel, but when it came to flying he just couldn’t resist himself.
“Hey Peel?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you hold onto me for a moment?” Mask asked. “I want to lift my arms up for a bit.”
“Sure thing, Mask,” Peel replied, knowing about his friend’s great longing to be able to fly through the skies liked a super hero. Peel scooched over next to Mask and wrapped his arms around his friend’s waist to anchor him down; Peel used his tail to then firmly grab onto Neck’s back.
Mask slowly lifted his arms up, letting the breeze run across them. He closed his eyes, letting the smell of the salty ocean and the wind permeate into his entire being. If he just imagined hard enough, it was as if he himself was flying. He opened his eyes and cranked his head upwards at the clouds before outstretching his left arm in an effort to reenact touching them in his mind; it was a daydream he had had many times before.
Soon the pressure of the air rushing past his body lessened as Neck lowered her speed. The northern cave was nearly directly below and the Tropius was preparing to land. Mask lowered his arms and both he and Peel prepared themselves to be on the ground once more. With a surprisingly graceful landing for such a large Pokemon, Neck touched down on the soil toes first before letting her full weight be placed onto the ground. Mask and Peel hopped down shortly afterward.
Before the three was a large rock with a short tunnel of sorts cut into it. Cannon wasn’t immediately in view, but Peel sniffed the air and recognized that he was nearby.
“Halt! Who goes there?” a voice exclaimed from seemingly below. Silver spikes that were protruding from the ground inside the cave’s entrance starting moving out of the soil, and with a rush of movement a pale blue colored Pokemon emerged emerged with a short jump. He snorted almost aggressively, and a cold stream of vapor mixed with snowflakes exited his nostrils.
“Woah! Are you a Steel and Ice type!?” Peel shouted, taking a few steps forward in awe. “Does that mean you’re a Snobalt?” Mask instinctively raised his arm out in front of Peel, protecting his friend from the potentially dangerous Pokemon before them. Truth behold Mask had no idea what a Snobalt was and wondered where Peel could have met such a Pokemon.
The pale blue Pokemon gave a quizzical look aimed at Peel, unsure of what to make of the overly excited banana Pokemon. “… I am indeed a Steel and Ice type,” he replied. “But what is a Sno-balt? I am a Sandslash, and people call me Claws. I have come down from the mountains after I heard my old friend Cannon was injured. I am here to protect him from further harm as he rests and recovers. If you are a foe, do not take me lightly!”
“My name is Neck, and these are my friends Mask and Peel,” Neck spoke, prepared to explain the situation. “We heard that Cannon got hurt and we’re here to ask him what happened. I even have brought my harvest for him to recover faster.” Neck made her bananas jingle, giving them emphasis.
“Oh good, you’re friends and not foes,” Claws replied, completely changing his demeanor. “Truth is I wasn’t ready to fight you at all anyway… Oh, and if you could not tell Cannon that I was sleeping underground when on the job, that would be greatly appreciated.” Claws rubbed one hand behind his ear in embarrassment, and motioned with his other hand for the newcomers to come on in. “Please, enter. I’m sure Cannon will appreciate the food.”
Neck went in first, followed by Mask and Peel. Trying to look at his reflection cast on Claw’s shiny spikes, Peel had to be pulled along by the arm by his friend. Mask was somewhat taken aback by the Sandslash’s lack of duty, but he decided to keep it to himself.
Just around the bend in the cave lay Cannon, sprawled out on the ground asleep. A hole in the cave’s ceiling let light stream down over his body, and the resulting photosynthesis further aided in his recovery. But just looking at him, his injuries were obvious and plentiful. Part of his wooden armor was cracked and torn, and he had several gashes penetrating his thick red skin. A good portion of the barrel over his right arm was completely missing.
“Cannon, I brought you some bananas,” Neck announced, gently nudging the chief Pyroak with her head. “Peel, would be a dear and pick my bananas to give to Cannon?”
Peel climbed up Neck and eagerly picked the bananas. He tried to sneak one of the behind his back to have for himself, but Neck caught the motion and gave him a disappointed look. Cannon started stirring in his sleep, and let out a few moans before slowly sitting up.
“Well, if it isn’t Neck and a bunch of bananas,” Cannon murmured as he opened his eyes and scratched the side of his face. “It means a lot to me that ye came all this way just to check up on me.”
“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you?” Mask asked. “We heard something about rumors of a hurricane hitting the northern shore, but the damage seemed localized to the single, specific area... not what one would expect from a natural windstorm”
“Yeah, well, it’s pretty clear that I got beat up. But it certainly wasn’t just a normal hurricane,” Cannon said. “It was a Pokemon, I swear! But no one I’ve told seems to believe that a Pokemon on the island would have had the power to create hurricane powered winds.”
“Well, we’re certainly glad that you survived,” Neck said. “Peel here will hand you some bananas, and I hope they’ll help you recover faster.”
Peel started jumping up and down, waving the bananas he had collected from Neck. “Bananas always help me feel better when I get scraped up, mister,” Peel said.
Cannon bent over and took the bananas from Peel’s hands, pausing mid movement as if he was considering taking Peel himself as well. After his moment of hesitation, he tossed the bananas up in the air and caught them with his mouth, swallowing them whole without even unpeeling them. Peel and Mask couldn’t tell if it was there imagination of not, but just then it looked like some of the cracks on Cannon’s armor seemed to lessen.
“Thank ye very much, friends. I feel better already after my rest, and these certainly help too,” Cannon said. “Heck, I even feel like I could get in another tussle with that big mean Pokemon from last night.”
“What kind of Pokemon was it, sir?” Mask asked.
Cannon rested his chin on the edge of the barrel end of his left arm. “That’s a good question, kid,” he replied. “It certainly wasn’t any Pokemon that I’ve ever seen before. It was a big Flying-type and was green and very mean looking, I can assure you. It was a bird, not a dinosaur like our good friend Neck here… Very mean looking indeed, the more I think about it... Terrifying even. Its tail was also purple and very long…”
“Hmm, that definitely doesn’t seem like any Pokemon that’s native to our island,” Neck said. “Do you think it’s still around? If so, we should probably start warning others.”
“Nah, I think it flew away after our fight. I think I might have burned it or something,” Cannon said. “And even if it does show up again, I’ll make sure to send it flying away again.”
Neck showed a concerned look on her face. “Still, I think it would be best for us to be prepared,” she replied. “I can go fly around and warn the other islanders to be on alert in case it comes back. Peel and Mask, you’re welcome to come with me if you want.”
“Ugh, well if you’re going to put such a fuss about it, I might as well go to the Flarelm village myself to let them know,” Cannon spoke, shaking his head and slightly regretting that he’d have to get on his feet again so soon. “I can patrol the area on my way there too. I think there’s a stash on ice cream over there that I can get into as well…”
“Ice… cream?” Peel said slowly, before the words sunk in and he was able to absorb it with all of his characteristic enthusiasm. “Ice cream! Come on Mask, can we go to? Can we? Please?”
“Hey now kid, it’s my ice cream… but ugh, fine, I guess you can have some too,” Cannon grumbled. “Besides, it’s a long walk and I guess I could use the company.”
Peel rushed over in front of Mask and looked at him with optimistic eyes, unable to contain his excitement as he began hopping in place.
“Well, I guess if it’s okay as long as Cannon agrees,” Mask said, giving in. “I’ll pass on the ice cream though.”
“Great, that means I can have your share too!” Peel exclaimed. “Alright mister Cannon, let’s go!”
Slowly, Cannon stood to his feet, testing out his balance before taking a few small steps.
“Alright then, I guess I’ll go ahead and alert the east villages first,” Neck said. “You take care now, don’t get hurt again.” Neck tried her best to give a little wave with the tip of one of her wings, and she took her leave, turning around and leaving the cave. A few moments later, the sound of her wings flapping could be heard and she left on her mission.
As Cannon, Peel, and Mask walked to the exit of the cave, they passed by the silver spikes of Claws’s back, which indicated that he was once again under the ground taking a nap. Either Cannon didn’t seem to notice or he chose not to care, and in a few moments the new group of three were walking on the beach heading west to the Flarelm village.
Peel was busy skipping across the sand, thinking about ice cream. Out of the blue, Mask could have sworn he felt a few rain drops on his shoulder. He looked up as saw the clear blue skies and decided to ignore it, figuring his imagination was playing tricks on him.
“So kids, err… how has school been going?” Cannon said, trying to break the ice. “Meet any cool new girls?”
“School? What’s that?” Peel asked as he continued to skip on forward. “As far girls though, Neck is always cool. She’s usually really nice and will let me have a banana now and then…”
Mask covered his face with his hand, mentally cringing at both Cannon’s attempt with small talk and Peel’s naïve ignorance in his answer to the questions. When he finally removed his hand, he noticed just a few small clouds forming off into the distance over the ocean.
“So uh what flavors of ice cream do you guys have?” Peel asked.
“Oh you know, just the usual stuff,” Cannon answered. “Barbequed Vulpix, Kentucky Fried Pidgeot, that kind of stuff.”
Peel stopped mid-skip and fell face down into the sand, making notable gagging noises while his tail twitched here and there.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, geeze kid,” Cannon said. “We have all the normal flavors, like vanilla and chocolate and banana. Lighten up once in a while, why don’t ye?”
The breeze picked up, the clouds rolled in, and the skies started to turn gray as Mask bent over and helped Peel up to his feet. Rhythmic raindrops pattered down on the beach, soon turning into a full on rain shower.
“Uh oh, it’s raining. That means Mask is going to get stinky,” Peel teased.
“Ugh, remind me again why I even bothered to help you up?” Mask asked. But now he was getting fairly self-conscious about his odor in the rain.
“Come on kids, let’s take the forest path. The trees should block some of that rain for us,” Cannon said, prodding his two travelling companions to start veering off the beach and into the jungle. They obliged, but Cannon soon was taking the lead while Mask closely followed and Peel trailed behind.
It all happened in a blur; they didn’t hear it coming or see it until it was already there. But in a rush of bright green feathers that seemed to almost glow against the gray skies, Peel was lifted up into the air, grasped by strong talons. Peel immediately started kicking and screaming, trying to break free. His shrieks immediately alerted his companions, who spun around only to see the monstrous green bird that Cannon had described earlier. Its wingspan was enormous, easily dwarfing even the mighty Cannon in size. The winds picked up, rocking the trees back and forth.
“Hey, you let Peel go right now!” Mask shouted.
He immediately jumped up onto Cannon’s body and climbed to his head, where he then leapt as high as he could into the air, striking the bird with a flurry of Arm Thrusts. The mighty bird gave a strong slap of its wing, sending Mask plummeting down to the ground, where he rolled in the side until he was finally able to catch his footing and get back up.
“Oh, so yer back for some more, ye green monster!” Cannon barked. “Hold on Peel, and cover yer eyes!”
Cannon took aim with his most intact barrel, pointing his shot right at the bird’s head. Several plumes of hot fire rocketed through the air. The molten projectiles sizzled in the rain; they may have been weakened but they were far from extinguished. The first blast hit the bird’s shoulder, but after the initial blow it darted around in the sky and dodged the rest.
The bird raised its talons, and consequently Peel, up against its body as its wings were pulled upwards behind its back. For a second, it floated in midair before pumping its huge wings forward, launching a powerful blast of wind with the strength of a hurricane. The mighty gust hit its mark, colliding right into Cannon. The breast plate of his battle armor took the most direct damage, causing it to crack and splinter before a notable chunk just blew off together.
“Cannon! Are you okay?” Mask yelled, looking back at the Pyroak.
“I’m still standing, aren’t I?” Cannon replied, breathing heavily.
Taking advantage of the moment where the opposing Pokemon wasn’t moving much, he quickly took aim and fired off several more blasts of fiery lava, this time from both of his barrels. This round was much more successful, and the great bird took direct hits to its chest, singing its feathers. Letting out a shriek of pain, the monster lost its grip on Peel, dropping him onto the ground with a loud thump.
“Peel!” Mask exclaimed, running over to his fallen friend and leaning over him in the sand. “How badly are you hurt?”
“I’m fine… I’m fine… I think…” Peel muttered back, still a little disorientated from the hard landing. “What are we going to do about this thing though? Doesn’t look like it’s going to just fly away and leave us alone.”
“Kids, go run off into the forest and I’ll fend it off,” Cannon ordered. “Hurry!”
Just as he finished talking, the bird soared forward at a lurching speed, sending a jet stream of air circulating around it. With several quick and furious beats of its wings, another hurricane powered blast of wind lurched towards Cannon. The Pyroak barely noticed in time and quickly sidestepped. Though he dodged the attack, the blast whizzed past him and crashed into the jungle trees, sending them toppling down like dominoes.
“I don’t think the forest is the safest place to be right now!” Mask yelled back, noting the damage.
“We gotta fight this thing!” Peel chimed in. “There’s no cover for us to take. It’s our only option.”
Cannon furrowed his brow. “I really don’t like the sound of that. Ye will get hurt if ye stay here,” he tried to argue.
Mask bit his thumb as he tried to figure out what was the best move to make. “I hate to say it, but I think Peel is right,” Mask replied. “There’s no safe spots anyway, and I don’t want to leave you behind in your condition.”
“Ye kids are stupid. Utterly stupid,” Cannon barked. “Well, I already warned you, so not my fault if ye end up killing yerselves… Besides, if I can burn it, then we just
might have a chance…” He took aim at fired a few more rounds at his target. A few of them hit, but he doubted that he managed to burn his target. “Alright, I’ll take the front and ye kids support from the side in between ol’ Greeney’s attacks. We’re draw it out towards the beach to try to preserve the forest. But if ye ever see a chance to flee safely, I want ye to take it in a heartbeat.”
Cannon charged forward, running to the water’s edge as fast as he could. For a moment, the feathered beast looked back and forth between Cannon and Mask and Peel. Taking the opportunity of hesitation to his advantage, Cannon took aim again, this time launching a round of seeds. They hit their mark. At first, the bird seemed unfazed, but then a leeching stab in its side caused it to let out a shriek. The seeds had sprouted unusually quickly, and now they were sucking energy from it.
The bird finally made up its mind and pivoted towards the Pyroak on the beach. Its movements were very swift, and it slammed its body into Cannon, knocking him into the shallow beach water and sending another piece of his breast plate into the ocean with a heavy splash.
Taking advantage of the beast facing away from him, Mask grabbed his tail and moved it in front of his body, holding it almost like a wand. A pale yellow crescent shone through from behind the grey clouds as a beam shot out from his tail, hitting the bird square in its back.
“Yeah, Moonblast time!” Peel shouted. He mimicked Mask’s motion and grabbed his tail, taking aim before he shot out a similar blast. Both beams converged on the green beast’s back as it let out angry shrieks.
Just as the bird was about to turn around to go after Mask and Peel again, Cannon jumped to his feet and lurched his entire body weight at the low-flying bird, tackling it to the ground and throwing his body on it to pin it down. The bird slashed with its talons, digging its claws into the Pyroak’s legs. It smacked its wings around wildly, but Cannon tried his best not to budge.
Finally, the bird stopped struggling. A smirk crossed Cannon’s face as he aimed his cannon down right at the ugly face below him. He paused, as if to say “any last words?” while the inside of his cannon glowed with a fierce red.
With a sudden kick from the beast’s legs, Cannon was caught off guard. His arm flung to the side as his Lava Plume singed the sand, completely missing its mark. The beast’s green wings flapped forward, smacking Cannon in the face. With another powerful kick from its legs, the bird launched its foe high into the air with super powered strength. Finally free from the pin, it fluttered to the side before regaining its composure, shaking its head to get ahold of its senses.
Its green wings beat the air wildly, sending the post powerful blast of wind at the Pyroak yet, who was still in midair. Unable to dodge, Cannon let out a pained scream as the razor sharp winds engulfed him and cut into his body. For a moment Mask looked on with horror before he rushed over to Peel and shielded his eyes from the grotesque scene.
Cannon ended his fall by splashing into the water, barely staying afloat. His armor and cannons were completely obliterated and his body was riddled with gashes. “Kids… Kids,” he coughed, sending gurgles of spit and air into the water. “You must… you must dodge the Hurricanes…. It’s the only way you can win…” Cannon’s head collapsed, and for a moment all was silent.
“Cannon!” Peel shouted as loudly as his lungs could muster. He brushed Mask away to see the image of the chief Pyroak lying face down in the water, unmoving. Tears stung his eyes as he sprinted towards the water’s edge.
“Peel, no! It’s too dangerous!” Mask shouted, chasing after his friend.
Peel picked up a few stones from the sand and flung them up to hit the bird, catching its attention and causing it to turn its head. “Hey you, bird face! Get your ugly mug over here so that I can beat it to a pulp!” Peel yelled. “Yeah, you, that’s right you! You have a face so ugly that only a mother could love it! Oh wait… horrible pieces of legendary trash like you are genderless, so you don’t even HAVE a mother to love your ugly face! Take this, you… you… you big ol’ meanie pants!”
Peel raised his arms in front of his body, forming an orb with his hands. A whirring sound could be heard from between his fingers, and only in a matter of seconds an orb of golden energy had swelled up. He tossed it at the green beast with all of his strength and quickly made more, tossing them in a flurry.
The spheres of fighting energy hit their mark, but the giant bird let out a growl of annoyance rather than a shriek of pain. It pivoted its whole body around and flapped its wings towards the little banana lemur, sending a hurricane powered gust of wind directly at him.
“Peel, look out!” Mask exclaimed, darting towards his friend. He managed to pick up Peel and carry him in his arms, narrowly dodging the blast. “We gotta get out of here, Peel.”
“Lemme go!” Peel shouted. “That thing can’t just do that to Cannon and get away with it! Besides, that last blast of wind wasn’t as strong as before… he’s getting weaker… I think we can beat him!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s a Flying-type and we’re just a couple of Fighting-types,” Mask argued. “Plus he’s probably a legendary… And he’s faster than us. We’re outmatched!”
Peel bit Mask on the arm, forcing the raccoon to let him go. “It’s not like we have a choice, Mask,” Peel pled. “We have to nowhere to run.”
Peel spun around, holding his tail in front of him. The moon glowed from behind the clouds again as he launched another beam at the green monster. The beast flapped its wings again, sending another strong gust towards the lemur, but this time Peel sidestepped and dodged on his own.
Ugh. What am I supposed to do? Mask thought.
I can’t let Peel get hurt… there’s no way I can let that happen… But do we really have a chance to win?
Mask barely snapped out of his inner conflict in time to realize another gust heading his way. He leapt out of the way just in time and felt his tail tremor as the wave of air passed by.
Ugh, screw it. It’s now or never!
The green beast landed onto the beach sand with a seismic thud. Seizing the moment, Mask sprinted towards the foe as fast as he could and delivered a series of blows way too rough for normal play. He ended the series with a powerful Mega Kick, leaping up and hitting the bird in its stomach. The monster took a few steps back and let out a screech before swatting its wing out at Mask, hitting him like a fly and sending him to the ground. The sand cushioned his landing, but just barely.
“Don’t you start hurting Mask either, you oversized parakeet!” Peel shouted, shooting another Moonblast at the bird. Mask used the time to roll to his feet and pivot a few steps backwards.
The green bird flapped its wings and hovered in the air once more. Flying low, it charged at Peel. The lemur flung his body to the sand, barely avoiding contact, but the bird quickly circled around. Before Peel had the chance to get up, it slapped the air with its powerful wings, sending a powerful blast of wind rocketing right towards Peel.
“Peel!” Mask shouted.
He darted towards his friend, knowing that he might not make it in time, but he still knew he had no choice. He scooped his friend up in his arms ad heard the whoosh of air right on his tail. He pivoted so that his back faced the ongoing wind and closed his eyes, bracing himself.
For an infinitesimal moment in time and space, Mask felt the wind rush past his body. It was a cool wind, like when he was riding on the back of Neck. But this time he wasn’t just riding on someone else with wings. This time, he himself was indeed flying. It was his own body gliding through the air, without help from anyone else… he was doing it all on his own. He was a flying super hero, and nothing could stop him.
But reality collapsed down on him as the violent gust spun him around midair. His tiny body was no match for such a fierce attack, especially one that was as direct and critical as this one. With Peel in his arms, he shouldered the impact of the blow as together they were blasted all the way from the beach into the forest. Trees crumbled and gave in, being completely uprooted in the face of the awesome might of the Hurricane. Mask felt his back slam into a tree. Hard.
The sound of trees crashing down and settling into place persisted for several moments. Everything was black. Peel could hear his friend panting heavily, but he couldn’t see anything that was going on. A few crunching sounds were heard as Mask tried to his best to clear a few leafy branches out of the way to reveal the dim light.
Mask’s breathing grew ever more ragged. “Mask… are you okay?” Peel asked, barely able to squeak out the words. He was still being tightly held in Mask’s arms.
Finally Peel mustered up the courage to look up. Mask’s eyes were barely open and it was evident that he was struggling to stay conscious. Peel felt a thick stick up against his own side, but when he traced it back with his eyes he realized that it had completely impaled Mask’s stomach. He felt around towards Mask’s back. The other end of the jagged branch was poking out, having completely gone through his friend’s body.
“Mask… no…. Come on Mask, you can make it through this,” Peel pleaded, tears streaming down his face and falling down as thick as the rain. “I’ll… I’ll let you eat some of my banana so that you can regain your health. It’s not over yet, Mask. It just can’t be…”
Mask coughed, causing a spackle of red to mark his chest. “Peel… I’m sorry, but it’s too late. I wish I could have done… more,” Mask grunted. “Please… escape while you still can.”
“I’m not going to leave you behind, Mask!”
“You have to. It’s your only chance…”
The two friends grew quiet as the beating of wings grew closer. It was only a matter of seconds before the pair of powerful talons snatched up Peel again, tearing him from Mask’s powerless grip.
“Peel!” Mask shouted, coughing up more blood. “Peel! I’m so sorry Peel…”
“Mask, I can’t do this without you! You can’t die on me!” Peel screamed as the talons of the monster dug into his thighs. “You were always the better Fighting-type, I can’t do this without you!”
“Peel! You were always the better Fairy-type, don’t doubt yourself! Keep on fighting, don’t let it beat you Peel!” Mask shouted. He tried his hardest to move, but he was completely immobilized.
The green beast flew around, circling the area between the beach and the jungle.
“I can’t do anything Mask, I’m stuck!” Peel shouted and he frantically tried to escape.
Mask’s stomach seared in pain as he felt it grow heavier and heavier…
Ugh!!! I’m so powerless, I can’t do anything! I just want to help my friend… Come on body, move! There has to be something I can do! Mask frantically thought.
Why the heck am I so useless? It’s disgusting. Please, please, please, if there’s any sort of benevolent higher power out there… please help my friend Peel!
Suddenly, the moon glowed and shimmered through the clouds. It looked as if it was dancing… Mask felt as if he was hallucinating as he felt a lunar power exit his body.
The ocean surged forward as a large wave came crashing over the beach. Slowly, a deep purple mass with glowing yellow rings came rising over the water’s surface. Thunderbolts speckled through the sky, landing in the water around the emerging form. Slowly, a head with bright red eyes rose from the ocean, and it finally struck Mask that it was a giant Pokemon coming out of the water… the largest Pokemon that he had ever seen in his life. If this wasn’t a PokeGod, Mask had no idea what would be.
The air pulsed with static energy, and the feeling was palpable even to Mask. The Pokemon in the ocean dwarfed the green monster in size. Its tail rose from the water, revealing two spearheads that seemed to be conducting the lightning. The clouds directly above the green monster glowed with a brilliant yellow; the bird took notice and instantly dropped Peel to the ground. The lemur was too shaken up to even move or open his eyes or even notice what was going on, but he let out a groan as he crashed into the sand.
The green bird tried to fly away from the overhead yellow glow, but no matter where it went the light would soon follow it. In fright, the bird flew out to sea. Once over the water a far ways, the glow above erupted into a dazzling bolt of thunder, striking the beast and bathing it in a golden light before it plummeted into the ocean depths.
The light was so bright that Mask couldn’t hold his eyes open… He had been struggling to keep them open for the last several minutes, but now they were forced closed. As soon as they shut completely, Mask felt the heaviness of his eyelids to their greatest extent.
The earsplitting sound of the Thunder snapped Peel out of his trance and he finally realized that he had been dropped on the beach. He heard the splash of the bird hitting the water, and he opened his eyes and gazed out towards to the sea, barely catching sight of the monster thrashing among the waves before they overtook it completely. He didn’t even seen the giant manta ray Pokemon until his eyes started scanning their way back to the shoreline; Peel immediately jumped back upon seeing such a massive Pokemon.
Silence ensued as Peel and the giant Pokemon locked eyes. The lemur felt as if the Pokemon was trying to tell him something, but he just couldn’t figure it out exactly. Slowly, the mythical manta ray began to submerge itself into the ocean. Within mere moments it was gone from sight, as if it never even existed, leaving behind only an extra surge of water that rushed over the beach and tickled over Peel’s legs.
His power is now with you, young one.
Peel quickly spun around and faced the jungle upon hearing the voice, immediately thinking of Mask. His eyes stung with the heat of his tears are he ran back up the beach to find his friend. He spotted his body among the broken trees. He knew what had happened, but he couldn’t help but embrace Mask and sob into his chest.
“Mask… you were my best friend. What am I supposed to do now?”
