บท 2: Charge
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"CRAGSPUR!" The entire trench roared together as they scrambled over the hill to begin their rush toward Viperia. Every Cragspur soldier, whether a low-ranking Levy or a high-ranking Lieutenant, had adrenaline rushing through their veins as they sprinted across the rocky terrain. They were all motivated before the charge by a speech by Lieutenants stationed across the frontlines. Deimos, however, wasn't.
"Stupid fucking idiots," Deimos hissed as he climbed over the trench. It was currently night outside, and if everyone hadn't screamed Cragspur as loud as they could, they might've been able to catch Viperia off guard and gain a few precious meters without receiving any attacks. Now that they had screamed, it was without a doubt that Viperia knew they were coming.
Deimos began sprinting with the rest of the south-eastern force towards the Viperia trench. The ones at the front released their Pokemon, Zubats, Ekans, and Roggenrola, commonly called cannon-fodder Pokemon, in Cragspur.
Releasing his Ekans as well, Deimos felt the tension increase in the atmosphere as the soldiers of Cragspur waited for the first attack.
They crossed the two-hundred-and-fifty-meter mark; no attack had come yet.
Two hundred meters, nothing.
One hundred and fifty meters, nothing; this was the point of no return.
As soon as the first person crossed the one-hundred-meter mark, it happened. A purple beam came from the Viperia trench and impacted a man at the front. Immediately, he dropped to the ground and let out a loud, heart-wrenching, piercing scream.
His partner, a Zubat, hesitated momentarily, and in that second, a second gunkshot took it out of the skies. There was no sound from the Zubat; the gunkshot had torn it in half.
Then the world lit up. Gunkshots, Rock Blasts, and many more moves are fired back and forth. Men, women, and Pokemon were hit one after another. Realizing that the odds of both himself and Ekans making it to the opposing trench were very unlikely, Deimos returned Ekans.
Quickly running to the right, Deimos positioned himself behind a girl with an Ekans. Hoping that it would provide him with a little bit of cover, he followed her until they were around ninety meters from the trench. Then he saw what looked like a Haunter tear three people in a line in half with a dark pulse. That quickly made him run away from anyone in his vicinity, hoping that he'd be a smaller target.
As he reached the 60-meter mark, Deimos watched as Cragspur soldiers and Pokemon jumped the trench and started a vicious melee. Human vs. Human, Pokemon vs. Pokemon, and in some cases, Pokemon vs. Human, which always ended with the Pokemon mauling the human.
"DEIMOS, WITH ME!" Came a roar to the front and left of Deimos. Looking over, Deimos saw Ujiyutu flash a grin before a shadow ball promptly took his head off. For the third time in the day, he swallowed the bile that threatened to rise down.
Deimos continued to make his way toward the trench. Finally reaching the edge, Deimos was prepared to climb down when a shadow ball impacted the ground a few meters to the left. He ungracefully tumbled down into the trench.
Coughing and now bleeding from a scratch on his arm, he released Ekans before quickly glancing at the surroundings. It was chaos, the red, black, and gold uniforms of Cragspur fighting against the purple, black, and gold uniforms of Viperia. Keeping himself small to be a smaller target, Deimos found his first target, a Levy from Viperia, with his back to him.
"EKANS BITE," Deimos called out to his Ekans. The Levy from Viperia didn't turn as on the battlefield; commands could mean anything, and a moment of distraction could mean death. In this case, it was a fatal mistake for the Viperia Levy.
Ekans darted across the rocks before lunging itself at the man's back. Sinking its fangs into his back, Ekans injected a lethal amount of poison before unlatching and slithering back to Deimos.
The man whirled around and stumbled, already dizzy from the poison coursing through his veins. The man pointed and opened his mouth to say something, only to take a few steps forward as if stuck by something from behind. Collapsing forwards, it became clear he was dead from the head-sized rock lodged in his back.
Deimos looked further beyond the man and saw Ujiyutu's Boldore fighting against a Gastly in a fit of rage. Most likely, the Gastly that had sent a Shadow Ball that had killed Ujiyutu.
Without wasting another second to think about it, Deimos returned to the battlefield and instructed Ekans to climb up his arm. Glancing around, it seemed those with Pokemon with less sturdy bodies, such as Zubat or Ekans, were usually the first to die.
Keeping that in mind, Deimos stayed in the trench of Viperia and started to shadow those with stronger Pokemon. Sending out Ekans to do a quick bite here and a poison sting there. He already deemed wrap a useless move on the battlefield due to how fast-paced the fights happened here.
After around an hour and a half of non-stop clearing out of the trenches and assisting Cragspur soldiers in their battles, Deimos narrowly jerked his body out of the way of a poison sting from a Viperia Levy's Ekans.
Whirling his body to face a new threat, he cautiously observed the woman. Her clothing was torn in a few places, showing she had been in a few battles and come out of them alive.
Telling his own Ekans to go to the ground, Deimos cautiously circled the woman. Just as they eyed each other, Deimos's Ekans and her Ekans also eyed each other. Each waiting for the other to strike first.
After 10 seconds, the woman pulled a knife from her side before lunging at Deimos. Not managing to stumble back in time, Deimos was knicked across the forearm while trying to block the worst of the attack.
Digging through his own bag, Deimos retrieved the standard-issue combat knife Cragspur had given him. Off to the side, both Ekans were already engaged in a fierce battle that could go either way. Both repeatedly using bite and wrap on the other.
Moving his eyes back to his opponent, Deimos chastised himself for becoming distracted in battle. He knew as a prior soldier that even a second could mean death or serious injury.
Deimos stepped forward and took a jab at the woman to test her, to which she responded with a quick sidestep to the right. Feinting a jab toward Deimos's right shoulder, the woman swiped at his throat.
Quickly ducking the death blow, Deimos switched the grip on his knife to the reverse grip. Deimos swiped his knife, catching the woman clean across the cheek and forehead, leaving a bloody gash.
"You little shit," the woman growled at Deimos, "Ekans, stop messing around and bi-." She cut off what she was saying in surprise when she caught sight of both Ekans dead. The jaws of both Ekans were latched on the others' throats. Clearly, at some point, both had gone for mutually assured destruction.
The moment that she caught sight of the Ekans, Deimos lunged forward and plunged his knife into her throat while tackling her. Savagely tearing it out, he thrust it in again. While he did that, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder, but without stopping, he did it again and again until the body beneath him stilled.
After wiping his knife on the body, Deimos slowly pushed himself off the cooling body. Staggering to his feet and looked around. It appeared like the battle was now entering its final phase, with the Viperia soldiers starting to retreat back from the frontlines. It was pretty evident that the Cragspur army would claim victory.
After making sure there were no threats near him, Deimos turned and jogged half-heartedly to the two Ekans nearby. Unable to tell which was his, he prodded both of them and got no response. Both were dead from tearing each other's throats out.
Sighing, Deimos just sat next to the bodies. The battlefield was filled with the dead and the injured. Soldiers from both sides were either calling for help or moaning in pain. Snorting, he chuckled as it was one hell of a first day in the Pokemon world.
Eventually, the sounds of battle faded away, and those still alive started to make their way to the new frontline. Medics from Cragspur and Viperia made their way to the battlefield to take care of the wounded. It was a universal rule in Ransei that after a battle all wounded and dead could be collected.
As Deimos sat lost in his thoughts, a voice startled him from them, "Huh, you're still alive. Didn't see that coming."
Looking up, Deimos froze. It was the same man who told him to go to the front lines. Behind him was the ever-present metal monstrosity. Steelix. The eyes from it once more glared deep into his soul.
"One of those Ekans was your assigned Pokemon, I assume?" The man continued to speak, unconcerned if Deimos was listening or not.
Still looking directly into the glaring eyes of the Steelix, Deimos managed to stutter out, "Y-yes."
Glancing down, the man's facial expression didn't change at all. He glanced back at Deimos before asking, "Is the blood yours?"
Shaking his dead, Deimos responded, "No, well, most of it is hers, some of it is mine," while pointing at the body of the dead female.
"Impressive. Well, come along. Let's get that knife out of you." The man spoke, glancing at the knife still in Deimos's shoulder.
The man turned and began striding back towards the old Cragspur trench, with the Steelix gliding across the ground behind him. Deimos immediately began speed walking to catch up to the man's fast strides.
Behind them, the sun rose and illuminated the aftermath of the relentless clash of warriors. It, however, did not bring any hope or joy to the soldiers stationed on the devastated frontlines awaiting the next battle.
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