Irvine was prepared on some level to deal with Odd not immediately fleeing at the sight of him, although he still did little to try and hide his disappointment when the boy stood his ground instead of disappearing again. He didn't have the time or patience to be dragging a kid back to the Professor, much less one who could vanish at will and wasn't in any real danger to begin with, but he also didn't want anyone complaining to Jack that they were abandoned or attacked by the "horrible monster" on his team. A shorter leash was the last thing Irvine needed, and even his remarkably lenient trainer had limits to respect.<br/><br/>More light being shone into his face was also something he really didn't need more of. He growled and shielded his eyes as best he could until it returned to an acceptable level, but the damage was already done - he couldn't make out any of his surroundings except for the small area around Odd, where a Cubone stood waving its club at him threateningly. The creature was panting from exhaustion and at least somewhat injured on top of already being naturally small and unintimidating, but it still refused to back down from Irvine's predatory glare. He had seen the same misplaced confidence in plenty of other trained PokÃ©mon before; it was a sign of inexperience from those that had never fought an unwinnable battle. Teaching the little thing a lesson would have been easy, but... no. Not without being provoked first, or else he'd be stuck in that damned ball again.<br/><br/>The Sneasel's staring match with the Cubone was unexpectedly interrupted by Odd, who couldn't bring himself to speak in anything more than a terrified whisper. That was good, considering how none of them wished to awaken any more bats than were strictly necessary.<br/><br/>"...Hi. Have you ever maimed a Clefairy before?"<br/><br/>Caught off guard by the question, Irvine merely tilted his head in confusion. The answer was no, of course, since he had never met a live Clefairy in the first place and thus had been given neither opportunity nor reason to maim one, but the implications didn't make sense anyways. Wasn't Odd crawling around Mt. Moon at Professor Cozmo's request? The request to specifically leave Clefairy alone and keep intruders away from them for the rest of the night?<br/><br/>No, that wasn't right. Even if the Professor had no reservations about deputizing a small boy into searching the mountain alone, there was no reason for Odd to take the job when he could have been in Cerulean city within minutes if he felt like it. He likely ran off long before the group had ever been given their instructions, which meant he either didn't know or care about the rules set in place to protect the native PokÃ©mon. That alone wasn't much of a problem for Irvine, whose own respect for laws existed only in the presence of those willing to enforce them, but it still didn't explain what the kid wanted with a near-dead Clefairy.<br/><br/>"I can find them... I would love it if you could butcher everything in this cave for me, please."<br/><br/>More surprised with himself than what was being asked of him, Irvine nodded. He had no interest in helping Odd no matter what the reason, but it seemed that there was only one thing worth visiting Mt. Moon for, and he was having no luck finding one of those on his own. Anyone else who didn't belong in the caves - and by extension, anyone he wished to encounter - would either be lost or searching for rare PokÃ©mon, which would have been perfect if his own aimless wandering had actually paid off. Instead, he'd found one of the only trainers that could easily identify him if he tried anything reckless.<br/><br/>...And now he was following that same trainer around in the hopes of being led to a<span style="font-style: italic">real</span>criminal. It probably was the fastest way to confirm what Jack had hinted at earlier, but he needed to deal with that problem alone if anything came of it. Otherwise, Jack would try to stop him, and Odd... well, he wasn't entirely sure what Odd would do if he attacked a human, but he was better off not giving the kid a reason to tell stories. As he walked ahead of the light in order to give his eyes some time to readjust themselves, Irvine stretched his neck and limbs out one at a time. It didn't help that what he was about to do would likely give anyone a reason to believe those stories were also true.<br/><br/>In an instant, he was gone - an untraceable blur bounding from one wall to another with flawless accuracy to tear sleeping Zubat down from their perches on the ceiling. Occasionally he would stop just long enough to freeze a stirring Geodude solid, only to fling its rigid body like a projectile to strike some other distant target. For a few minutes at a time, the cavern would be filled with the sound of cries cut short by hard impacts with the cold stone floor. Then there would be a long silence, Odd would catch up to find Irvine licking his bloody claws clean in front of a branching path, timidly point out the correct direction, and the Sneasel would disappear again as the cycle repeated itself. By their fourth stop, Irvine was visibly tired from his efforts and had chosen to roam closer to Odd, only attacking things when provoked rather than actively seeking them out.<br/><br/>On the inside, however, he was enjoying every minute of it. It had been such a long time since he had experienced<span style="font-style: italic">real</span>fatigue.<br/><br/>It wasn't until he looked behind him that he noticed Odd had stopped walking. More accurately, Odd had stopped paying any attention to him whatsoever and was staring off into the darkness behind them both. Wordlessly, the boy held out his beacon - his<span style="font-style: italic">Abra</span>- and lit up the far wall like a spotlight. The small pink creature caught in the center froze like a statue and stared back at them both with a playful smile on its face. Still at it was, it almost could have passed for one of the dolls that were made in its image.<br/><br/>All Irvine saw in it was another enemy. He tensed up and crept over to Odd's side, waiting for the one word he needed to hear.