Crimson Oath . Capture the Agent

Another new day in Andalusst and like always the city was full of life. Pokemon after pokemon went about their business, the market crowded thanks to the beautiful weather encouraging everyone to be outside.

While everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, Aimi definitely wasn't included in that. The Braixen was at the edge of one of the many buildings, hiding behind a corner and unable to hide her nervousness as her tail constantly twitched behind her. Peeking around the corner and looking around for a moment, her eyes settled on Connor, who was in the middle of the busy market crowds studying each of the stalls in a patrol-like fashion. He was never out of Aimi's sight, but barely in it too.

-I still can't believe we are doing this.- She thought to herself with a shake of her head, moving to once again hide behind the building.

To be fair, they didn't have many choices.

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Earlier that day they'd met up with many other guild members to hear about important tasks having to be done. After some simple ones had been explained they'd been introduced to a Heliolisk named Donovan. He explained about the ninjas, which Aimi hadn't known what those were and explained about a Sceptile first. His list had continued with the description of the next target, a Greninja. After that, she remembered nothing.

She had completely frozen when that species name was mentioned and her mind had gone into a state of panic at the thought of going anywhere near such a monster. Next thing she remembered though, was quite clear.

"We will go after the Sceptile." After his statement, Connor lightly pushed the visibly upset Aimi away from the crowds, bringing the girl to a quieter place to calm down.

"Connor? Why did you choose that guy?" Aimi asked after a few minutes of the two standing in silence. Her gaze went to the older mon as she wiped away the couple tears that had come to her eyes. While she didn't remember what had been described of the others, she remembered the Sceptile was considered dangerous.

"Well there were only three choices." The Furfrou stated as he sat down. "The Riolu is a poor choice for us. We don't know the area well enough to search for a species of mon that is common in the area. It's best to leave that search to locals."

"Given your reaction to one of the others, I think the answer to your question is quite obvious." He added, watching her closely and frowning when she grew tense again. "You're still not ready to face one of them, and I also want to have you avoid dark types as much as possible. We don't know how much their type aura will affect you."

Aimi gave a wince with the final comment, looking away. That was true, though she didn't want to admit it.

"Besides-"

Her ears twitched as she turned to look back to Connor, hair quickly standing up on end as she saw the look on his face.

"If I faced one of those beasts in a fight. I'd kill'im." He said softly, a sharp toothed smirk on his face.

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-I sometimes forget what Connor was.- Aimi thought to herself as she was brought back to the present situation, peeking around the corner again. -I just have to remember Connor's plan and everything will be fine.- She added, hoping that clinging to the thought would keep her calm as the Furfrou's words echoed in her head once again.

One thing we've learned about this city already is that there is only one place to really buy what ever you might need. What little we know about this Sceptile is that he'll require stocking up on berries so that's how we'll find him. I'll patrol the market to search for him, shouldn't be too hard given how uncommon his species is in this place. Aimi, you'll be on the edge of the market hiding. Your job isn't to follow the Sceptile, it's to follow me.

As the instructions continued to repeat in her head, Aimi spotted Connor. The larger mon looked back to her, catching her eye and giving a single nod. That was the signal, he'd spotted the target!

Considering you have no training when it comes to tracking or shadowing a mon, you'd easily be spotted by someone who is already on high alert. But that means I'll be able to tell you're nearby if you just follow me, and you'll be far enough away to avoid the Sceptile's senses completely. I have a lot of tracking experience though, as long as I can see him once I can learn his scent and follow him without being noticed.

So far so good, she thought to herself, following Connor through the crowds. Luckily his size made him easy to spot for her but she was also trying to keep as far back as possible. As they travelled through the city her heart pounded harder and harder in her chest. Would this really work?

Since he's a wanted mon, once he's collected the necessary items he'll leave the crowds to avoid being spotted by anyone hunting for him. If need be, I can also release just a bit of energy to catch his notice. Not remotely enough for him to find me, but enough to make him think he might be being followed. With being unable to find the one following him, and probably unsure if he imagined it we'll be able to herd him into a more open area where he can draw me out.

As if planned, Aimi spotted a couple small sparks of electricity spark across Connor's fur. While it wasn't all that noticeable, conjuring the electricity did make the air feel different. -So that's what he'd meant huh?- She thought from her newest hiding place. They'd been following the ninja now for a good hour, and she was getting exhausted thanks to the high tension of the whole situation. Even so, she'd noticed the houses out here were few and far between. Were they on the outskirts of the city?

"Where are you?!"

She winced as she heard the shout, a tremble going across her whole body. He sounded mad! Watching Connor though, the Furfrou looked back at her, motioning to a group of trees before walking forward. Now was when the real challenge started.

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The Sceptile was standing in the middle of a small field, eyes darting back and forth to catch any sign of movement as his hooded cloak blew in the wind. If he could just get a look at whoever was following him he could finally do something! But was there anyone following him? He couldn't even tell and it was making his rage bubble to the surface. If he'd imagined it and made a scene in the city it would have been an embarrassment and he'd reveal himself for all the guilds to find!

"Show yourself!!" He shouted, hoping to draw out his shadow. There was nowhere left to hide!

The corner of his eyes caught some movement, turning quickly to ready an attack, though he noticed there was no sound. To his shock there was more movement all around him as there were suddenly six Furfrous running towards him at all sides, fangs bared and ready to attack. With his attention on the six large attackers his eyes didn't catch the small flame appearing at his feet, until-

Suddenly the small flame erupted to consume his entire body, burning away his cloak to ash and leaving the grass type's body singed with leaf tips black. Before he could understand were that attack came from, Connor slammed into his back, electricity sparking through the large mon's fur and continuing into the larger mon's back shooting pain up and down his spine.

Knowing he needed to get some distance the Sceptile dashed forward, away from the Furfrou, then turning to face him. "Tck!" He could tell the instant he got some ground between himself and his opponent the berries he'd acquired had been burned away along with his cloak.

Connor let out a growl as he readied for the next clash. His luck hadn't been as good as he'd hoped since the Sceptile was able to move so fast. He'd hoped that attack would have paralized him but no good with that.

Aimi on the other paw was hiding behind a tree at the edge of the clearing, holding her breath and trying to calm down the pounding in her chest and the ringing in her ears. She'd done it, now she just had to stay hidden!

The burns across the Sceptile made him wince, but a smirk came to his face. He'd just have to heal up. With a wave of his arm glowing green roots shot up around Connor, latching onto his legs with sharp thorns that dug into his skin. As the roots sapped away at his energy, the Sceptile's body glowed with what he was gaining back from the attack.

The Furfrou winced a little before electricity raged around his body again, attacking the roots and burning them away before he charged towards the Sceptile. The grass type quick-jumped away, aiming to slam his fist down into the slower mon with Endeavor. As his attack hit however it went through his opponent... It had just been a double?! He turned, spotting movement again behind him, readying another attack as he did. This time, the attack was faster then his own, black energy surrounding Connor as it took the shape of a blade, cutting deep into the Sceptile. When the attack hit, it was revealed to simply be a substitute and the attack cutting it clean in half.

"What?!" Connor said, looking around for any sign of the ninja. Where had he gone?!

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Still in her hiding spot, Aimi watched the battle with interest, her stomach knotting up when the Sceptile vanished. Where-?

"So that's why he didn't use the fire again to burn the roots."

Panic shot through Aimi as she heard the voice behind her, turning her head to see the Sceptile towering over her. She couldn't  move, staring at the larger mon as he moved to grab her. "C-C-Conn-or..."

Before she was grabbed Connor was there, the white energy of Return surrounding him as he ran at the ninja, using the full weight of his large body to slam into the Sceptile, throwing him back to the ground with Connor on top. The Furfrou's teeth were in deep into the grass type's shoulder, the pressure of the canine's grip making the bones crack and finally break when it was also hit with the harsh landing on the ground.

The Sceptile let out a yell as pain rushed through his body, unable to move his one arm thanks to the broken shoulder. While he might have been larger than Connor, the Furfrou was still heavy on his chest, making breathing harder.

Connor kept a firm grip on the Sceptile, teeth threatening to rip off half of the mon's shoulder as blood poured out of the bite wound. As he held him down, electricity crackled around his body as he again used wild charge on the now pinned mon. He continued the attack until the Sceptile was paralyzed, then unconscious before letting go of him, leaving a very nasty wound to his shoulder that would have to be treated soon.

"You okay, Aimi?" He asked, looking back to her with a concerned look, though it was a little muted thanks to the blood covering his face.

"Y-Yes." She answered with a small nod.

"Good. Let's hand this bastard in before he bleeds out."