** Daisy's POV **
Aunt Emily is a really good cook, I wouldn't ever tell my mommy but I think Aunt Emily's cooking is better. As we were all eating the adults were talking about boring stuff like work, but then Uncle Red said something that made all the grown-ups fall silent. I don't know what 'traveling' is but it must be serious for everyone to have that reaction.
Then Jake got up and said he was going to go play outside and invited Ash, Gary, and me. My mom quickly said that was a good idea, in her tone of voice which meant it was not a suggestion. The boys all ran out the door with Growlithe, when I got outside I noticed Growlithe was standing still sniffing the air and looking around warily. After a few seconds he darted off into the tall grass of the yard after the boys.
I started to follow them when Jake picked up a Frisbee and we all started to play catch. Gary threw a little to hard and the Frisbee went over my head towards the corner of the yard, I went to pick it up when I heard four things at almost the same time.
"DAISY! DON'T MOVE!"
Jake yelled, followed by a loud growl from Growlithe, and a low menacing hiss and a rustling of grass.
I looked up to see a giant snake towering over me, I was about to scream when it's eyes met mine and I froze. Terror filled me, I couldn't move, couldn't think, I could only stare into those cold black eyes, it felt like I stood there for hours. Then the freezing gaze turned away and I could move again, and the scream that was on my lips burst out. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and a hand cover my mouth, I wanted to struggle but for some reason the arms wrapped around me felt, comforting. I was lifted and pulled backwards as my view of the snake was blocked by a cloud of black smoke. Turning in the arms that held me, I saw a flash of green hair before I buried my head in the boys shirt, and sobbed in both fear and relief as his arms, that made me feel safe, stayed wrapped around me.
** Jake's POV **
Something wasn't right, I felt it as soon as I stepped into the backyard, something...was watching me. Ash and Gary didn't seem to notice anything and as I looked across the yard the strange feeling passed. Picking up a Frisbee, from the corner of my eye I saw Growlithe dash into the grass and Daisy come towards the boys and I. Growlithe explored and then came back over to sit at my feet, while the four of us played catch.
That's when it happened, Gary threw the Frisbee a little too hard and a little too high, it sailed over Daisy's head and as she turned and took a few steps the wind blew and the grass shifted. I saw it, a large purple shape curled up in the grass.
"DAISY! DON'T MOVE!"
Unfortunately my call came too late, Daisy was already inside the Pokemon's strike zone. As the Pokemon raised it's head from the grass I thought it was an Ekans, which would be fine, even if it attacked they are not that poisonous and could easily be defeated, but as the head rose higher and higher I realized there was no way this was an Ekans.
The Pokemon rose to an unbelievable height of eight feet, towering over Daisy and never breaking eye contact, then from both sides of its head a hood unfurled with black, orange, and yellow patterns. The Pokemon that had entered my yard and was ready to devour Daisy, was an Arbok.
My mind raced, what did I know about Arbok? For one thing they are cowardly, if their target appears stronger than them they would rather ambush, poison, and run only to come back after their victim was already dead to eat them. They only show themselves first if they are overwhelmingly stronger than their prey, they will then proceed to use their glare to cause the target to pass out or die from fear alone. This was actually good news, it meant I had time to think of a plan. The two boys are too scared to move, Daisy as well but if she tries to move she's done for, and all the adults are inside with no clue the danger us kids are in. That leaves only Growlithe and myself to solve this. A low sound from Growlithe brought me back from my thoughts.
"Growlithe, are you ready for this?"
He seemed to puff himself up as if to say 'let's do it's'.
"Ok buddy, use Agility and try to circle around to the side, when you get close enough, use Growl to get it's attention and Sand Attack to blind it."
Growlithe snuck off into the grass moving quickly and quietly, glancing at Daisy I saw she was starting to shake and realized we were running out of time. That's when I noticed my mini-map had changed a bit. It had zoomed in and now had five markers on it, three blue, one red, and one green. It was like an overhead view of the battleground.
I watched as the green marker got closer and closer to the red one. I prepared myself to run straight for Daisy as soon as Growlithe made his move. NOW. Growlithe let loose an incredibly loud growl which caused the Arbok to whip it's head to the side right in time to get a face full of dirt, grass, and sand. I wasted no time in getting to Daisy, right as I was about to grab her she snapped out of her trance and screamed.
'Sh*t'
"Growlithe use smokescreen!"
I yelled an order to Growlithe while wrapping one arm around Daisy and slapping my other hand over her mouth. It was a little to late though, the Arbok whipped it's head in my direction and struck. I half lifted and half dragged Daisy as I leapt backwards narrowly avoiding either of us getting bitten. The Arbok was covered by a cloud of smoke and I quickly carried Daisy and myself away from the Arbok. Growlithe's smokescreen was short-lived as the wind quickly blew it away but it gave me enough time to get Daisy and myself clear.
"Growlithe keep using Agility and run in circles around it, use Ember to keep it in place."
Hearing my commands Growlithe began to run in circles around the Arbok moving faster and faster spitting out little balls of fire to keep it from moving much. I felt Daisy shift in my arms and looked down to check on her for a quick second, she had spun in my arms and buried her face in my shirt, feeling her shake and the wetness on my chest I knew she was crying, I moved my arm to more resemble a hug and placed a hand on the back of her head. Looking back up I started giving Growlithe more orders.
"Attack from the sides with Scratch, don't face it head on, it's strikes will be to fast to dodge."
Now as Growlithe is circling the Arbok he is darting in to deliver a Scratch before continuing to circle and spit flames. Enraged by the attacks and not being able to sink its teeth into a target, the Arbok whipped its tail in an arc trying to get a hit on the running Growlithe.
"Growlithe counter with Scratch."
Growlithe knowing what I meant left over the incoming tail and raked his claws across the tail leaving two deep cuts on the Arboks tail. The Arbok let loose a pained shriek and lunged at Growlithe, getting no more than a face full of Ember as Growlithe kept up its speed.
"Let's finish this Growlithe. Use Agility once more and give it a Headbutt from behind."
Growlithe accelerating once more, going so fast I could barely keep my eyes on him, he circled behind the Arbok and using his momentum and weight leapt through the air and slammed his head into the back of the Arboks skull with a resounding Crack.
The Arbok pitched forward and landed with a thud, rendered unconscious by Growlithe's last attack, Growlithe tumbled to the ground as well but stood up shakily, turning back to face the Arbok. When the Arbok didn't move Growlithe approached and swatted with his paw before jumping away, the Arbok remained still. Mustering his courage Growlithe walk to the Arbok and place a paw solidly on the Arboks head there was no response. Seeing this Growlithe threw back his head and howled in victory.
I stood there watching Growlithe take his victory pose until the adults finally made it outside. They stood there on the back porch staring at the scene in front of them, two little boys frozen stiff from fright and confusion, one little boy holding a little girl, and a Growlithe standing on the head of an unconscious Arbok. It must have made for quiet the sight.
The scene was broken when Growlithe, done with his victory howl, walked over to me. As one the parents decended on their children, all except my dad he nodded at me and then walked over to the Arbok pulling out a Pokeball which he threw at the Arbok. When it hit, the Arbok was sucked in and the Pokeball began to shake for a few seconds when it stopped moving my dad picked it up.
That done he then walked over to me, where both my mom and Daisy's mom Beth were trying to get her to let go of my shirt, she had fallen asleep or passed out and had a death grip on me. My dad, seeing this, just walked over and scooped us both up before going back inside with everyone else following close behind, Growlithe brought up the rear with his head held high and a bounce in his step.
We all proceeded to the living where dad put Daisy and I on the couch our moms sitting beside their respective children, Daisy still had a death grip on my shirt and I figured I would be sitting there until she woke up. All the adults were talking at once trying to get the full story from their kids until my dad had enough, he raised his voice and called out.
"Enough! Give me a minute."
He walked out of the living room and down the hall, walking back a minute or so later with a laptop and a cable in his hands. He connected the laptop to the television with the cable, fiddled with his laptop for a bit, and then turned on the television. Turns out we have security cameras facing all four sides of the house, that's good to know, they were good cameras too the footage was clear and there was even sound.
He started playing the footage at the point when he took the food off the grill, less than five minutes after we went inside the house the Arbok showed up, slithering over the backyard fence and making its way towards the deck. It appeared to be mainly focused on the grill, moving its head back and forth tasting the air with its long, forked, tongue before making its way back into the grass. The camera must be close to the roof because you can see the snake the entire time, from when it came into the yard until it curled up by the fence.
Dad fast forwarded the footage to about twenty minutes later when us kids went outside, I have to say that during the encounter it felt like it was a long time, in reality it was only seven minutes. Everyone watched with baited breath, even though I already knew what happened, I was just as engrossed in the video as everyone else. The whole encounter when seen and heard on the television was really quiet impressive if I do say so myself.
When the fight finished every person in the room turned to look straight at me and Growlithe, who had taken his usual place by my feet. Nobody said a word and I began to shift uncomfortably in my seat. My dad, seeing this, rewound and paused the video when the Arbok was almost at full extension before breaking the silence.
"Red. Blue. This really isn't good, look at the size of this Arbok, it has to be at least twenty feet long, I have never seen one longer than fourteen feet before. There is only a one reasons an Arbok would grow this big."
The three of them made eye contact and said in unison.
"A Totem Pokemon."
My dad looked at the television again and still didn't seem convinced.
"If this was a Totem Pokemon," He looked around before he finished his sentence "all of our kids would be dead right now."
There were three sharp intakes of breath at those words, Red and Blue understood what my dad was saying but the three mothers were taken aback, finally my mom couldn't take it.
"Green. What is a Totem Pokemon and why would our children not survive encountering one?"
"A Totem Pokemon is a genetic mutation that enables a Pokemon to grow much bigger and far stronger than a normal Pokemon. Not only that but a Totem Pokemon has a natural aura that would cause any weaker being to be unable to move, this natural aura also enables other Pokemon of the same species to grow bigger and stronger but to a lesser extent. If this was really a Totem Pokemon, Jake and Growlithe wouldn't have been able to take a single step, let alone fight it."
Turning to Blue my dad handed him the Pokeball containing the Arbok.
"Blue, can you take this to the Professor and have him check it? We need to know if this is a Pseudo Totem Pokemon that hasn't fully awaked or not. If it is good, if not we have to go hunting."
"No problem Green. I'll get dad on it immediately."
As he was heading out the door my dad called out.
"Don't forget to have sedatives on hand, that's going to be one mad Pokemon when you let it out."
Blue waved in acknowledgment as he ran out of the house. My dad then turned to Red.
"Leave your family here for now and go grab your gear, even if that is the Totem Arbok we still need to do some scouting."
Red gave a nod, hugged his wife, ruffled his son's hair, and ran out the door as well. About twenty minutes later Red walked back into the house, only now he had on a backpack, a machete tied to his waist, and six Pokeballs attached to his belt, dropping his pack at the door he went back over to his wife and son and sat there holding both of them in his arms. The only thing left to do now was to wait for Blue to return with information from the Professor.