176 – Hanging In There

176 – Hanging In There

Brandy could feel it now, as subtle as it was. A faint thrumming in the air made the hair on Brandy's arms tingle as they got closer to the source of the pulses through the rocks. It got darker, too, but Calcine helped with that by wrapping her cape around herself, the warm red glow able to light up the mine shafts ahead for them.

"This is safe, right?" Sparky said. She'd taken a spot beside Brandy, trying to watch her back as they walked. Their eyes were a lot better for seeing in the dark beyond Calcine's light. "Old mine shafts are a little spooky."

"It's all shored up!" Tansy said, leading the front. She was walking fast, clearly eager to pull them all along as quickly as she could get away with. "The Wild Pokémon here take care of it. It's safer than any building."

The last building Brandy had been in had tried to throw office chairs at her, so she couldn't argue there.

"I wasn't bothered being underground to begin with," Morgan sighed, "I'm a little less sure of it now. This is making my feathers itch."

Poor bird, a mine wasn't really the place for her. Brandy stepped over and got an arm around her. "Murkrow love darkness, don't they?"

"Swooping from it, yes," Morgan said, "Lurking in it isn't really our thing."

"You make it look good. That hat gives you a lot of presence. Very mysterious and dashing."

Morgan nudged Brandy's side as she smiled. It was a blatant attempt to cheer her up, but it worked anyway. "Maybe I'll get you one."

"You mean I can't inherit your hat?" Brandy said as they shuffled through the darkness. "I thought I was going to wake up one day with one glued to my head."

"Depends how hard you push your luck here," Morgan grinned, her teeth a pearly white in the darkness. "Make fun of the hat, and I'll glue one on so firm you'll have to cut it off."

She was more at ease, leeching a bit of Brandy's calm confidence. Brandy leaned down to seal it with a kiss and caught the flash of purple in the reflection of Morgan's eyes.

"Up high!" Brandy said, "Morgan, sweep with Gust!"

Morgan didn't question it. She just flapped her wings back and then rushed them forward to send out a pulse of wind to rake the mine ceiling. "Sparky web it!"

Sparky had her arm raised out ready, but there was nothing to be webbed. Calcine lit one hand with flame and held it up, shining a brighter light on the ceiling, but it was just bare rock.

"I saw something," Brandy said, her eyes darting to catch another glimpse of purple. "Positive."

"Noibat," Brandy said, "Like to hunt in darkness. Use sound to hunt. That thumping sound was you all?"

"Don't know what you mean," the Noibat said, trying to look innocent as she kicked her feet. Upside down, it just made her hips shake. "I'm just a cute bat Pokémon, caught by a handsome trainer who-"

"Calcine, you can Smack Down her."

"Woah woah woah!" the Noibat said as Calcine stepped up, ready to whack her like a tetherball. "Let's not make a lady cum that quickly! You have to enjoy some foreplay first."

Calcine raised her hand, her eyes narrowing, and the Noibat wriggled in her web.

"No fun!" the Noibat pouted. "You Trainers stepped into these mines with my Sisters and I. Why would you do that if you didn't want a good time? Let me down, and I'll show you what sound ripples can do for a lady."

It was so shameless it almost made Brandy blush. Noibats were a Flying Type and Dragon Type. That should have led to a proud, independent Pokémon with no time for others and an ego the size of the moon. Noibat showed that there was more than one way to play to the usual personalities of a type. They were pack Pokémon, technically. Fiercely competitive with each other, they were always trying to prove they were the best of the group and would go to some incredible lengths to do that. It gave them a reputation as fiercely attentive lovers who were immensely proud of their skills and a second reputation as a bunch of winged menaces always looking for the next woman to use as a measuring stick.

"Have you seen another Trainer here?" Brandy said. "We might let you go if you help us out."

"Oh, you will anyway," the Noibat grinned, her eyes flicking over the group and her ears wiggling. "I'm too hot to pass up."

"Even I find this a bit cocky," Sparky whistled. "You talk big for a bat that doesn't even have a chest."

"Arceus thought we'd be too blessed if we were any more gifted, got to give you all a chance."

"Where's Saffira," Tansy growled; this time, she put some power behind it. The growl wasn't just deep. It got into you and made your insides squirm. A growl with a promise that Someone was about to have a very good or very bad time, and it was really down to Tansy which way that went.

It made Brandy's mouth dry. She licked her lips as she tried to get thoughts of Tansy out of her head. That growl was dangerous, and the Noibat clearly couldn't handle it either, shaking her head as she tried to avoid looking at the Rockruff.

"I'll never tell," the Noibat grinned. "You can't make me."

Tansy looked at Brandy hopelessly. Her Growl hadn't worked, and she clearly didn't have any other moves to use.

Brandy gave Tansy a thumbs up. She had a lot of webbing and three Partners at her back. If she couldn't make this Noibat sing, she would never make it as a Trainer.