This choice: Go west, to the treeline • Go Back...Chapter #3The mighty Mudsdale. by: sneakyk   To the north stands an enormous barn, and with it no doubt an array of hiding spots, as well as the possibility of human contact. You cannot deny that you feel a temptation to head to the barn, and indeed you spend a minute trudging through the grass towards it. But as you approach, you reflect on the other possibilities that the barn might bring. You already see a few Miltank congregated around it. What if one found you? Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but it's equally possible the encounter might be lethal. Far worse than the prospect of encountering a Miltank, there's the obvious possibility that actual predators might lurk within or around the barn. Herdier, Dartrix, and Purugly are all common mousers. You shudder at the prospect of spending your last minutes hunkering down in a Kong toy waiting for a Herdier to fish you out, or getting torn off of an impaling arrow by a Dartrix's waiting beak, or disappearing into the maw of a Purugly, only to emerge as a turd and plopped into a litterbox.
But what concerns you the most is the question of why you are here in the first place. Whoever dropped you off here did so for a reason. Yes, you can assume this farm is operated by humans (though they might as well be claled 'giants' given the scale of everything around you)...but why would you assume they would have your best interests at heart? Actually, you can almost surely assume they won't. You shake your head and divert your path westward, towards the distant treeline. Anything short of heading away from the reach of civilization might risk drawing you into the clutches of the farmfolk.
The trek westward is not an easy one. The grass provides you with some degree of shade, but ultimately do little to reduce the heat of the summer day. Instead, they serve only to hamper your progress, in addition to housing hordes of (thankfully non-pokemon) insects to harass you. At this scale, flies are the size of small birds and have flight speeds comparable to that of a hummingbird. A manageable threat, but a significant nuisance nonetheless. As you advance onwards, you begin to wonder if surrendering yourself to the farmers would really be all that bad. At worst, they might raise you and breed you in captivity. A grizzly fate, to be sure...but at least you'd be safer than you would be in the forest.
Ultimately, the prospect of dying in captivity or suffering a fate worse than death is too much for you to bear. You will chance it with the forest and hope that at the other end of it lies some greener pasture than this one. You continue on your journey, fighting through the insects and grass and sunlight, until at last the tree line draws near. The grass around you may be likened to small, bendy trees, but the actual trees are incredibly tall. Practically scyscrapers, in fact. They should no doubt offer ample spots for shelter...but, on the other end, may house gargantuan predators. Sure enough, as you lift your head and look upon the branches of the trees, you catch a glimpse first of a Monferno scanning the horizon, annoyedly scratching his ass and a Staravia perched upon a branch,gazing down at the field in what is almost surely a hunt for prey. Sighting threats both simian and avian, you quickly get down and cover your body in dirt.
SQUAAWK. The battlecry of the Staravia sounds out, followed by an ominous whooosh as it rushes through the wind. Realizing your life may be at stake you swiftly roll to the side and scramble across the dirt, just narrowly evading its talons. The bird's talons smash into the soil below, the giant bird quickly turning to face you. Staravia may not be a final evolution, but in terms of physical prowess it is quite nearly the peer of a Pidgeot. It isn't on the same level as a Staraptor, but the bird is 8 times your height and very clearly stronger and faster than you could ever hope to be. You are intimidated, and not just because of its ability!
You turn from the Staravia and run. Tilting your head up, you see the Monferno eyeing the spectacle with curiosity, applying another scratch to his rear as he gazes at the tiny thing fleeing through the grass. The Staravia, for its part, hops forward along the field, squawking up a storm. Its talons THUD and SCRAPE upon the soil below, sending out shockwaves. It moves in a zigzag path and beats gusts of wind towards you with its wings, its hops and wingbeats causing you to stagger , to tumble, and even to roll. Just when it seems like you will never shake this foe, you hear an even louder rumbling from behind you, and the Staravia hears it too.
KTHUD. KTHUD. KTHUD. Both you and your pursuer stop to look back at the source of the noise. Approaching you is the enormous Mudsdale. The equine behemoth gazes at the Staravia with a look of irritation on his face. The Staravia shifts its attention back and forth between its potential meal and the obvious threat looming not too far away. Staravia may be a giant monster to you, but Mudsdale is a giant even to it. At roughly 100 inches in height and a good deal longer than it is tall, it is a colossus among Pokemon. It weighs a full ton, and it is not happy with the screeching and squawking of the bird.
KTHOOM...KTHOOOM... The Mudsdale lets out a horrifically loud neigh (more of a roar, really) before suddenly galloping forward. KTHOOMKTHOOMKTHOOMKTHOOMKTHOOOOMKTHOOMKTHOOOMBLE. The Staravia gasps at the sight and abandons any pretense at trying to catch you. It swiftly leaps into the air and soars back towards the trees...but this retreat does little to deter the charge of the horse Pokemon. The Mudsdale continues its single-steed-stampede with only a slight reduction in charging speed...and, unfortunately, you happen to be in its path. The KTHOOOMBLEs of its rock hard hooves grow louder and louder until you hear naught but a frightful ringing in your ears. In one final, frightful instant the Mudsdale's hoof smashes down straight towards you with enough force to shatter your skull and crush your brain...no. Perhaps enough force to vaporize your body!
Thankfully for you, the stomp just narrowly misses your body. You're left shellshocked and bewildered, in a crater of soil and bent-flat grass. You lie in the middle of the crater, your tiny body curled over, reduced to quivering in place as you let the aftershocks of the stomp soak over you. More KTHOOOMs awaken you from frightened stupor. You find that the Mudsdale is returning, and is moving at a more leisurely pace than before. Yet , although the Mudsdale is moving less swiftly, its stomps carry with them no less weight. And you...you happen to be right in its path!
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How tall is Mudsdale's pre-evolution?
A) 3'03
B) 3'10
C) 4'5 | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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