A New Legend

The Cave

He could feel his legs giving out. There was only so far he could run and this seemed to be the limit. Fortunately, Nanbu had found a cave, which he could hide in to regain his strength. As he ran in, he nearly collapsed. How far did he run? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't see the beach anymore. The question that truly hung over his head, however, was what had happened to his dad.

Nanbu had run away without so much as a hint of hesitation, leaving his dad to face the alpha Drapion alone. He had no doubt that his dad could get away, but if he thought he had to face it to buy his son time... Nanbu decided not to think about it any further. Fortunately for him, a noise deep in the cave worked well to distract him.

He was too tired to run. Hopefully whatever made that sound wasn't hungry. As Nanbu strained his eyes to see into the darkness, he started to see a form take shape. It looked like a pokémon, but luckily, it didn't look like a big one. As it approached, it became clear that the pokémon was a Shellos. Yet, something was wrong. Its blue skin was paler than normal and it was missing the tip of its white horn.

When it noticed Nanbu, it slowed. It looked nervous, but it was hard to tell if Nanbu was the reason it was so afraid. Taking his bag off his back, Nanbu pulled out a medicinal leek. He always carried them around in case he needed them. He wasn't sure how long the Shellos had been missing part of its horn, but if it was recent, the leek should be able to ease the pain.

Nanbu squatted to avoid scaring the Shellos, and held out the leek. "Here, this will help you feel better." He said.

The Shellos was clearly interested in the leek, but the idea of approaching a human was holding it back. Realizing the Shellos didn't trust him, Nanbu set the leek on the ground and backed away. The Shellos grew a bit bolder and decided to go for the tasty snack on the ground in front of it. Yet, as it inched forward, it was forced to stop by the cry of another pokémon. It was clearly much larger than Shellos, and it sounded a lot less friendly.

Nanbu scrambled to hide behind a small boulder as the Shellos turned and looked back into the cave. It looked like it was afraid of whatever was coming, but it stood its ground. Emerging from the shadows was a Golem. It wasn't an alpha, but it was pretty big for a Golem. Its rocky shell had a few scuffs and scrapes on it, almost as if it had just been in battle. It locked eyes with Shellos and the anger in its eyes was undeniable.

It screeched at the sight of Shellos daring to still be in the cave. When the scream failed to move the small pokémon, Golem took matters into its own hands. It stomped forward, picked up the Shellos by the neck, and threw it against the wall. Shellos fell to the ground and Nanbu had seen enough.

Picking up a decently sized rock, he stepped out of his hiding place. "Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" He shouted and threw his stone.

The Golem turned around just in time to be hit in the face by a rock. It stumbled back, taken by surprise, but it kept its balance. With both feet firmly back on the ground, Golem was far from happy. If someone wanted to throw rocks at it, it was going to throw them right back. Golem stomped its foot and a boulder, about the size of the Golem, popped out of the ground. It punched the boulder, splitting it into several smaller, but still large, rocks.

As he dodged the first rock, Nanbu was suddenly aware that he was "someone your own size." The third rock hit him in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Dodging rocks was a lot harder when struggling to breathe. Yet, the rocks fell to the ground before they could be used. Shellos had blasted the Golem with a stream of water. Golem, naturally not a fan of water, nearly fell over on its face. It decided to deal with Shellos, once again stomping its foot.

As the ground cracked toward Shellos, Nanbu got back up. He had found another rock. He hurled it at Golem, once again striking it. The rock type angrily turned to face him, losing focus of its last attack. It curled back into its shell and rolled toward Nanbu at top speed. Barely having time to react, he dove to avoid the collision, but he wasn't fast enough and the Golem collided with Nanbu's leg and the wall.

Shellos was still blasting water, drawing Golem's attention. It was forcing its way through the water toward Shellos. Nanbu tried his old trick of throwing rocks to distract it, but this time, it didn't work. Golem was tired of being hit by water and it planned on putting an end to the source.

Nanbu knew he had to do something as Shellos backed itself into a corner, trying to buy itself time. Mustering all his strength, Nanbu stood back up. His leg was screaming at him and it hurt just to be not laying down. Nanbu yelled and charged forward, every step bringing more pain. He threw himself at the back of the Golem, catching it off guard and knocking it over. Golem's head hit the ground and it was knocked out.

Rolling off of the Golem, Nanbu noticed the medicinal leek he had offered Shellos earlier. He set it down in front of him as a truce offering to Shellos. The slug slid over and nudged the leek back to Nanbu. He was clearly in worse condition after the fight. He laughed and pulled out another leek. "Don't worry, little guy, there's more where that came from."

Author's Note: Hooray! I finally wrote the chapter! Midnight is my favorite time to write! Shellos has finally made its debut and I love this funky little dude. What do you guys think about Shellos? Here's a fun little question. What's your favorite pokémon? You never know, it might just make an appearance. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Well, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter!