Pokemon Mystery Dungeon RP

[Marcus Pheonix]

(Ahh I love the hobbit)

 

Haldor snorted, his eyes opening. In his sleep he must have burrowed underground. He groaned as he raised his head, startling several small diglet that were traversing down past him. He arched his back and his head clunked against the ceiling of the tunnel. He looked around wondering what he had been doing before he went to sleep.

"Oh, of course. We're hunting for Mespirit, it'll be good to go traveling once more.

Haldor smiled and began to slither down the tunnel. He was listening closely trying to hear a familiar step. He turned his head, there appeared to be some large creature incredibly excited up there. That was likely the young Scollipede, he would have to learn the name.

Haldor raised his head above the ground, cracking the earth, a surprised bellsprout quickly hopping off his head. His eyes fell onto the Scollipede who was sitting close to the Meowth from the rescue team.

"Yes, do tell it will be quite interesting to hear how you plan to guide your new members to... which guardian were you going after again?" Haldor asked politely.

 

(Well school holidays just started so I should be able to post more often, yay!)

[TalonCat]

A shiver shook through Reed's body as the ice blue light flashed and faded away. His usual smug brown eyes returned. Reed smirked and bowed,

 

"Whatever you say, lady. Lead the way."

 

-------------------------------

 

The sun shone weakly through the canopy of leaves that just barely covered Tiramisu's fitful sleeping form. Dappled rays fell on her eyes, and nighttime visions of tendrils wrapping their way around her neck, that choking feeling - like poisonous smoke, like poisonous smoke in a cavern - choking rage and a face like her own with claws bathed in flames, and the earth was gone, had come to swallow her - that face she hated, and the same rage on her own... Dappled rays fell on her eyes and burned away her nighttime terrors.

 

Still, she figured, if the light had burned them away, the burn marks would bother her throughout the day. It had been a terrible night. She couldn't stay in town, not after how she'd acted; Leo could have arrested her. They would all stare at her, and she'd feel uncomfortable - No, I can do whatever I want. I can do whatever I want - that's what he said - it doesn't - it doesn't matter what other people think. I should've just gone back to town, screw them all, should've gotten a nice comfortable room...

 

Usually she got some respite when she finally fell asleep, but not that night. She had had a dream that that Mismagius Agatha (Arceus she did not want to think about that) and Reed had been talking about... something. Then Reed's eyes had gotten kind of blue, and then... She kind of blanked out. Blanked out into that nightmare.

 

They'd been talking about... Foggy Forest? Some sort of Allen person - he'd been mentioned in that horrible place, hadn't he? And that Mismagius shouldn't have still been in town. She really shouldn't have. Should she tell Leo?

 

No, no. He should just deal with it himself.

 

Still...

 

They said something about that Allen guy. Maybe if I told him he'd forgive me for - I don't need his forgiveness, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. He should find his own da** partner himself.

 

Reed's eyes were weird. It was a dream, wasn't it? I had a nightmare, I fell asleep - it was a dream, wasn't it? Nightmares...

 

Tiramisu groggily scrambled down the tree, and found herself walking towards what she could just make out as Leo's figure.

 

No, it wasn't a dream. I should tell him, she's a criminal - I'm a criminal and I'll be a criminal if I don't - augh, just shut up! I can do whatever I want. I'm going to tell him.

 

She slunk, low to the ground and avoiding every gaze that turned her way (which coincidentally turned more gazes her way). She brought herself awkwardly up to the rescue team leader, and timidly choked out,

 

"Uh, Leo, I - sorry about yesterday I - I saw Agatha talking with Reed - I mean it might have been a dream - sorry - I, UM, they were - Allen - I mean they were talking about Allen - AND I had a nightmare after and Reed - Reed had weird eyes, I aah don't arrest me please I'm sorry I didn't do anything bad-!"

 

(( There's no specific thing I have planned for in town, so whenever you guys want your teams to head out is fine! :3 ))

 

[ IMPORTANT INFO ON LAOS

 

There is a small side road out of town that only the locals and Pokemon who frequently visit Laos know about. ]

[sailing101]

Leo turned to Atto and Haldor. "We're currently waiting for Alteria, Bree, and Cass, then we'll be off to search for Uxie." He replied.

 

Just then, Tiramisu appeared. She seemed frantic, exhausted, and very discombobulated. She was stammering something about Reed, Agatha, and Allen.

 

Leo placed his hands on Tiramisu's shoulders. He looked the other Meowth in the eyes, and said firmly, "Please, calm down. Take a deep breath, and exhale. Your body has stored up a vast amount of negative energy. You need to relax."

Leo had a theory about what was going on with Tiramisu. He had had a similar experience when training to use his own abilities.

 

As a species, Meowths straddled the line between Normal and Dark types. They have many of the abilities of Dark type Pokémon, but without the weaknesses or resistances. Still, just like Dark types, A Meowth is able to gather negative energy to power their attacks, but such power can also adversely affect the user.

 

"The past few days have been stressful, and you've let all of that negativity bottle itself up within you. You need to relax, and just let it go." Leo said calmly "Clear your thoughts, empty your mind, and take deep, slow breaths."

 

"Now what was it you overheard?"

[octopi]

Atto blinked. Another Meowth? He vaguely recalled seeing her talking to the Mismagius during that...incident. In any case, Leo seemed to be handling the situation pretty well. He shuffled backwards a bit to give the normal-types a bit more space and watched on.

 

--

 

Bree squinted at the sunlight and even hummed a little as she approached the town square. A lot of Pokemon where there already, including... "Ah! Tira - !" She sensed the tension in the air a little later than she saw her friend, and quickly clamped her mouth shut. She'd missed something again and it didn't seem like the right time to ask what. She set herself down beside Leo and looked at everyone anxiously.

[Lemniscate]

Alteria

Alteria woke from her sleep to the sunlight streaming through the tree leaves. She quickly checked her bag and headed to the square. She had slept in the forest so she wouldn't use up money. 'I hope the others didn't wait too long.' She thought. She saw the group and headed over. There was another meowth talking to Leo. They seemed to be having a important conversation, so he sat off to the side and waited.

[TalonCat]

A Dusknoir trotted carefully and hastily out of a side road into the brick square, carrying absolutely nothing but a slightly embarrassed face.

 

"Ah! My apologies for being late, Leo, sir. I'm afraid that the beds in this town's inn are far too comfortable for my health - oh."

 

Cas halted awkwardly, turning away quickly as he caught sight of the other Meowth trembling by Leo. A chill cut through him; he felt numb, and a bit like he was falling. No, he hadn't seen her - it was a different Meowth, he hadn't seen her or that vision again and hadn't heard a quiet whisper. He was groggy - none of this was real. None of this - he stopped himself, and was soon incredibly grateful that he'd turned away from the whole scene as he noticed he'd been staring very, very fervently at the at the ground again. After thanking several higher powers for the control to stop whatever oncoming panic he'd felt, he took a deep breath and looked around.

 

Now that he'd had a moment, he recognized that Leo seemed to be a bit busy with that other Meowth. It would be rude to interrupt; he hoped he hadn't already. A Scolipede stood over to the side. That nice Bree lady sat over to the side of Leo, glancing around anxiously at the other Pokemon gathered in the Square. Cas figured that she would be his best bet for a bit of conversation while the two Meowths were talking.

 

"Ah, hello there Bree. May I ask what....?"

 

He slowly held out his hand towards the two Meowths.

 

With that half-hearted attempt at conversation thrown out into the world, Cas found himself a bit preoccupied. In actuality, it was a good thing the Meowth was there. She had to be; he should have known that. If he were truly going to change what he'd seen, he'd need to take her with him - take her to see Uxie. There was no other way he could think of... And surely this was the right thing to do? In any case, if things went awry he'd have an alternative - no, that would be cowardly.

 

Cassandra, Cassandra, do you not know our rhyme?

 

You look at a clock and cannot change the time!

 

Cassandra, you misguided fool

 

You are our knight but not our tool.

 

The voices were so odd sometimes. Ah, wait, had Bree said anything? He hadn't been paying attention.

 

----------------

 

Tiramisu seemed to momentarily become even more panicked. She stammered,

 

"I-I-I-"

 

and shrunk back fearfully, then slowly but surely began to calm her hitched breathing. One two three one two three one, two, three. One. Two. Three.

 

One.

 

Two.

 

Go.

 

"I-I saw Reed and Agatha last night. I- what do you mean about negative energy?"

 

Her ears flattened as she shook her head apologetically,

 

"I-I'm sorry, I - "

 

One, two, three. One. Two. Three.

 

"Reed said he could help her find Allen because he had some sort of information - like a mafia guy? - and his eyes were weird. They were like - "

 

Tiramisu shuffled her paws uncomfortably, staring at the ground,

 

"Uh, his eyes were all... weird. His eyes were weird. And then I had a nightmare. Or maybe all that stuff didn't happen and it was all a nightmare I don't really know sorry and i'msorryforallthatstuffyesterdayi-"

 

Eins. Zwei. Drei - Where was that Hydreigon guy, actually? No, no, focus. The Meowth's tail twitched uncomfortably, but she managed to lift her head up so she could at least see Leo's face.

 

"I, um. I'm sorry for yesterday. I mean, I thought you were being unfair to Agatha because she must have had some reason for the thing and so I did a stupid thing and I didn't really like you because of how we met - uh, sorry. I was wondering..."

 

Shuffle shuffle. One. Two. Three. Go.

 

"Could I come with you guys to find the Legendaries? Maybe - maybe they're different than - " Just a hint of venom entered her voice, the same way just a hint of a flame is in a conflagration, "Landorus. Maybe."

 

 

 

[octopi]

Bree continued as before, staring at everyone with a vaguely worried expression, until Tiramisu mentioned Landorus. At that point she snorted in a most unladylike fashion, the noise becoming even ruder as it passed through her gel. She realized that she hadn't really thought about what Uxie would be like - what if he (she? it?) was just as unpleasant as Landorus was? In fact, she hadn't really thought through this entire adventure business. She could still just get up and leave...but wasn't this what she had wanted when she started training? Even back when she was still friends with Syl, there was this unspoken agreement between them that someday they'd pack up and leave and make a fortune finding lost treasures and occasionally returning them to their owners. She frowned. The start of an adventure was an especially bad time to remember him. "I...well I'd, I'd really like it if you joined us," she spoke up. "I mean...maybe they're really just kind of all big jerks, but I, it would still be fun. We could both yell at them."

 

"You could join us as well," the Scolipede piped up. "It's alright, really! Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. None of us are going to hold that against you."

[reddan]

Red peered around Leo over at the other Meowth, who seemed to be having some difficulty calming down from her hysterics.

 

"Hey, hey, it's okay." She smiled warmly at her, for once not needing to crane her neck upwards to converse with another pokemon. "The more the merrier, right? You can't have too many people on an adventure!!" She glanced around once more at the gathered pokemon - a Dusknoir, the two Meowths, a Scolipede, a Reuniclus, and many more... She could have rattled off, at request, the name of each breed of pokemon present at the moment, their types, weaknesses, advantages... but for most of these pokemon, she did not know their names.

 

And that was the fun part.

 

Knowing statistics and facts was one thing, but the best part of this adventure would be making new friends, learning their names, their personalities, mannerisms, fears, hopes, dreams... that was the best kind of learning: learning about other people.

 

This whole adventuring thing was gonna be great.

[sailing101]

Leo crossed his arms and closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"So Agatha and Reed are working together now." he mused, "This could spell trouble."

 

Leo opened his eyes once more and turned to Tiramisu.

"As for what happened yesterday, it wasn't your fault," He reassured the other Meowth, "Agatha has a frustrating habit of manipulating others to her advantage through misdirection and intimidation."

 

"I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come along myself," Leo continued, "There's a dojo in the hidden village run by a Weavile named Sensei Weiss. He can tell you more about handling negative energy."

[Marcus Pheonix]

Haldor gazed around at the larger group of pokemon, that meowth seemed to draw crowds quite easily. Haldor groaned internally, he wished that he had shoulders and would be able to shrug, instead he could merely role his eyes. He gazed down at the 'rookies' those excitable pokemon who were going to be accompanying the more experienced explorers like himself and the aforementioned meowth, Leo. The small zigzagoon was gazing around happily clearly excited about the prospect of going on an adventure.

 

Haldor sighed as he remembered the look on that face, many young pokemon had taken that face on their first rescue. Not all of them still held it as they returned back. His eyes then fell on the Scolipede who he knew would be accompanying him, this was a determined pokemon he could see that all those gathered were fairly determined on what they were setting out to accomplish.

 

Finding ledgendaries would be a difficult task, especially for those groups which had to travel far in order to find him. Haldors group was supposedly going to be searching for Mespirit supposedly fairly close. Haldor wondered whether, as probably the oldest and most experienced he should accompany those who were going out far. He shook his head, slightly so as not to hit any of those that were near him. The pokemon who were searching for Mespirit will be facing potential danger as well and it might be handy to have a gruff old veteran like himself.

Finally quenching the thoughts he had in his mind he once again turned his eyes to the Zigzagoon, "Do not look so happy young one. While we are all indeed going on adventures in search of legends we do not know what will be awaiting us on the journey, whether we will find them at all is still a mystery. One of the many reasons legendary pokemon such as Uxie and Azelf are so renowned for is that they are powerful pokemon."

 

"I have seen many pokemon in my day that went on adventures seeking; fame, glory, recognition, fun in their adventures. Yet so many times I have seen pokemon return with a sad look on their face, whether they failed to save a pokemon, or were unable to reach their destination due to unforeseen consequences, like severe whether, a wide river or bandits. Some manage to push through these harsh times with only sheer force of will and determination. I ask you whether you are capable or keeping your calm in a dangerous situation, whether you would choose to push on even when you can barley remain standing on your four feet. Can you put your faith in your companions on this journey, you should trust them and they should trust you to help them in a tough situation. Make sure that you are not dead weight, you will have skills that can help you, so use them do not let poor Leo do all the work himself" Haldor paused as he realised his voice had gotten increasingly louder as he spoke to the zigzagoon, he had unknowingly begun to address the other pokemon around him. He leaned forward towards the zigzagoon once more lowering his voice.

 

"Leo has agreed to make you a member of his team, whether temporary or full time I cannot remember, curse my old age. But that is an honour and you should prove to him that you are not a liability that you can be of assistance. You face potentially your most difficult time ahead of you, but push through, when you return make sure that it is with that smile on your face and the warm feeling of success in your heart." Haldor smiled down at the Zigzagoon, he then opened his eyes and turned them to the Scolipede and said, "I hope that those who will be journeying with me will have enough faith in me as I have in them".

 

(Well that was a lot more than I was expecting, and problems let me know )

[octopi]

Atto fell silent during Haldor's speech, but once he finished, the bug Pokemon silently rose to his feet and drew himself up to his full height. "I...I can't claim to speak for everyone here. But I think we'll all at least understand what I'm about to say." Somehow he managed to look determined and apologetic at the same time. "Of course there are going to be dangers. Of course we might not succeed. But...in the end, isn't that what adventures are all about? I've always wanted to be an explorer, but if adventures were safe and predictable every time, then, there'd be no point. If we go on an adventure, we might get disappointed, but that also means we could get something more amazing than we ever imagined!" Atto could feel himself slipping out of speech mode and stumbling over his words in his excitement, but he pushed on. "I've heard so many stories about people discovering great beautiful places like floating islands or places where honey flows instead of water, and...to see one of those, and to know that you're the first ones to ever stand over it and, and...I don't think there could be a better feeling than that." He sighed. "But what I mean is that we should be careful of course, and I'll go through anything to succeed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be excited about the possibilities." He looked down at Red and smiled.

 

"Anyway! Now Zagan just needs to show up and we're all set!"

[PureDark006]

"Ryoute ni wa Instrument

Utau no wa Lied

Senaka ni wa Horizont der Freiheit~"

 

Zagan was humming as he headed towards the Plaza as they had agreed, after checking out the items for sale in the shops. Not wanting to return to the inn (he'd have problems if the innkeeper found out he skipped the payment part), he had slept in one of the trees on the edge of the town.

 

And he might have overslept a bit, but hey, everyone had their faults.

 

Anyway, because of the inn problem he couldn't go back to his Mienshao illusion yet, so he had decided to go as a Riolu today. He was going to travel with Atto, who thought he was a Zorua, and Riolus were the same height so it'd make sense for him to impersonate one. Besides, Riolu was his favorite to pretend to be before he evolved, so he'd had a lot of practice acting as one before. And of course, now he couldn't forget about the tip Leo had given him, so he hoped that was enough for any other machines out there.

 

He arrived, and immediately noticed he was likely the last one. Oh well. "Guys!" he yelled, waving as he made a small run towards where Atto and the Steelix (drat, he had forgotten his name) were. "Sorry, sorry, I overslept," he apologized, right paw scratching his nape as he grinned at them. Leo and the others from his team were there too, with the female Meowth from the cave.

 

"Did I miss anything? Anyway, are we going to Hiraeth or the Cliffs?" he asked, crossing his arms behind his head.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The breeze started to pick up a bit, turning into what you would call wind before smoothing out into the younger sibling again, messing with the fur on Requiem's shoulders. The Dragon-type was on one of the paths that led out of town, head perked up, attentive to any Pokemon that was going out. He had heard that one was the most traveled path, so there was a good chance someone he knew would use it to set off.

 

He was on the side, visible but not in the way, wings moving in synch and feet a few centimeters above the ground. His tail was tapping the soft grass rhythmically, recalling the lesson from the day before. Earth Power, Hyper Voice, Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse - he needed to master the first two, and he should be able to defend himself no matter what form They took. Thunder Wave and Roost for support, and he should be able to escape, and heal. But... it still worried him. The shadows. Using them, making them fade, how did it work?

 

The Meowth and the Zigzagoon should know. He was going to wait a bit more, and if neither of them appeared, he was going to return to Laos and ask around. If... he could even ask. But, that was important, so he should be able to.

 

Should be able to.

 

He hoped.

[TalonCat]

Tiramisu looked up sheepishly. She... hadn't expected them to react this way. The most she'd expected was a sort of flat acceptance of her apology, an insincere forgiveness of sorts. This was...

 

Nice.

 

"Th-thank you..."

 

The Meowth shifted her paws slowly and looked around at the Pokemon who'd encouraged her. Bree - she was beginning to think that just maybe she'd make a good friend on this trip. She smiled just a tiny bit at the thought of yelling at the Legendaries together with her,

 

"Yeah, we could both yell at them... That'd be a lot of fun!"

 

Her tail rose from around her. Still, she had to wonder: why was she even going along for this adventure? On one paw, it was what she'd always dreamed. The thrill of being with an exploration team, of finding the Legendaries and actually getting to meet them... But hadn't she already seen where that would take her? Fairy tales were always better than reality; none of the Legendaries could meet her expectations, it was simply impossible. But maybe that was a good thing? Maybe the others would be different? Looking at the Pokemon gathered around the Square - that kind little Zigzagoon, that rather amazing speaker of a Scolipede, that one Steelix that at least seemed to know what he was doing - she couldn't help but hope that that would be true. She could do whatever she wanted; that Electrike had said that. There was no question about it; she was going.

 

And then there was Leo. She had... completely misjudged him. Tiramisu was fairly sure that there was no way of hiding the gratitude and relief in her eyes. He was a good leader - she realized only now - and an understanding one at that. Just as a leader should be. At least for this mission, she decided, he would be her leader, and she would place her faith in him. At least, that's what she felt for the moment.

 

No telling how long that might take to change.

 

Still, he'd helped her, and she would repay him. He'd get his partner back. She could do whatever she wanted, and she wanted to help him find the real Allen before Reed and Agatha could. The Meowth straightened up tall, and for the first time in almost two days spoke confidently, if not a bit slowly.

 

"I... Thank you, Leo. I'll make sure to visit him when we get to the village."

 

Her tail swished once as she tried her best to recall more clearly the previous night. That odd haze had left her thoughts at least for the moment.

 

"Last night... Last night, like I said, I saw Reed talking with Agatha. Reed said that Allen was somewhere near... Foggy Forest, I think? There was something about ending it where it began, and..."

 

She blinked suddenly ans began to speak rather quickly,

 

"Oh! When I said Reed's eyes looked weird - they looked like a ghost's, like... They were glowing! It could have been the moonlight, but I don't think so. He said he has, ah, um, contacts or something! Like not the eye ones but the Pokemon ones? Yeah."

 

Tiramisu nodded to herself,

 

"That's how he knew about Allen. Because he has contacts. Why do you think he was being all secretive? I mean, he seemed pretty outspoken in the... cave."

 

(( Feel free to go ahead and start heading out of town! ))

[octopi]

Atto nodded. "That settles it then! We can set off at once. Zagan...er, that is you, right?" He looked down sheepishly at what seemed to be a Riolu at the moment. "First, we're going to head out of town on the main road. I think we're meeting Bec where the paths split. We can discuss it with them and maybe travel a bit before deciding." He crouched down, trying his best to not bounce around in excitement, and nudged at Zagan's face. "So...since we're ready to go and everything...what are you waiting for! Hop on!"

 

--

 

Bree nodded slowly at Tiramisu's story. She remembered Reed - that cocky Smeargle who had made the fissure they'd fallen down. It wasn't exactly a fond memory, and she found herself more surprised that he actually knew anything than by his treachery. "Well...glowing eyes is, a rather common thing, for psychic move users," she offered. "Some ghost-types too, I guess... Um, anyway, we're headed for that area, anyway, so, I suppose we'll find out." She clenched her fists. If there was another fight, hopefully she'd be ready to help this time.

[PureDark006]

"Hm, looks like I arrived in the middle of something," Zagan thought, noticing the two Meowths and Bree talking.

 

"Oh! When I said Reed's eyes looked weird - they looked like a ghost's, like... They were glowing! It could have been the moonlight, but I don't think so."

 

He tilted his head at that. It had sounded familiar...

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The Smeargle fell asleep in front of the pond, as soon as if he had an 'off' switch somewhere in his body. Zagan che'd - no use playing a joke on a sleeping Pokemon. The fun was in the reaction and interacting, after all, and he wasn't going to wait until the Normal-type woke up.

 

He shook his head and dropped his illusion, going from Dodrio to Zoroark before fixing it to appear like a Mienshao again. There was something odd with the Smeargle... Light-blue? Wait, why was the grass shinning? Weird. The Smeargle must have used Rest then, but he didn't remember the ground glowing last time he did it, and he was sure the color had been purple. Maybe Zagan hadn't been paying enough attention then, or was remembering wrong?

 

His gaze drifted to the pond then. Was it him or was it darker? Drat, that did it, he needed to rest. Tiredness was probably messing with his vision.

 

With a shrug and a last look at the pond and the sleeping Pokemon, Zagan walked away. The Normal-type had mentioned a town, and he should find either something interesting or a way back from there.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Right, what happened yesterday. He had thought he was seeing things, but if the female Meowth saw something like it...

 

Atto nodded at him, and Zagan smirked back. "Yup, 'tis me!" he said, right paw clenching into a fist and hitting his own chest a bit, looking up at the Bug-type. Damn was Atto tall. Then again, Zagan was in a lower position than he should be, what with his preference to still walk on all fours. Oh well, he'd grow out of it eventually.

 

He got nudged in the face and snickered, pawing playfully at the Scolipede's horns. "Sure sure! And remember I said I wasn't forgiving you if next ride didn't come with Agilities!" he said, jumping a bit in excitement.

 

Which left... "Oh, and before, Leo!" he said, turning to face the Meowths. "Yesterday, when me and that Smeargle got out of the cave, he stopped at a pond. I thought I was imagining things, but when he fell asleep, the grass around him started glowing blue and I think the lake got darker or something. Don't know if it means anything or it's related to what you said," he commented, looking at the female Meowth as he mentioned that last part. "I just remembered now. Anyway, 'tis all I know and I have a ride to catch! We'll be leaving Steely in our dust, Atto!" he finished, with a challenging grin at the large golden snake.

[sailing101]

Leo took a moment to ponder this new information about Reed. "He always seems to know more than he let's on," Leo mused, "Blue light, and a definite leaning towards Kygoran beliefs, could he have possibly..?"

Leo shook his head, saying, "It's no use dwelling on such things. All secrets come out with time, no mater if it's a day later, or a hundred years. In the meantime,"

 

Leo turned to face everyone gathered, identifying them each by name.

"Red, Alteria, Bree, Cass, and Tiramisu. Today is a fine day for traveling, so let us be off. Our journy is one that many have taken, but few remember." He punched the air with confidence, and a proud glint in his eye, "Let's go find Uxie!"

 

And Allen too.

[octopi]

"Alright then!" Atto cheered. He could hear that Reuniclus girl giving a little whoop too. "Let's get this started." He poked his head into his bag one last time, then scooped Zagan up with his horns and ran as fast as he could toward the main path. "See you at the crossroads, Haldor!" He called out, swerving expertly around two Marill out on a walk.

 

He took a few seconds to check for anything else he could trip on, but found nothing - it was still rather early, after all. He grinned. "Hang on tight!" He closed his eyes for a second, then put on another burst of speed that would have shaken off anyone unprepared for it.

 

"Mesprit, here we come!"

[PureDark006]

"Let's get this started."

"Yeah, let's go get- WHOA!"

 

Zagan's exclamation after Atto's was cut short by the latter suddenly scooping the Dark-type up with his massive horns and running away with a final call at the Steelix. His illusion had shown the fake Riolu getting caught under the arms by the right horn, landing on Atto's head belly-up and holding onto that same horn with his two paws before the sudden acceleration almost threw him off. Atto probably thought the Zorua casting the illusion had done the same, and was now holding onto the horn for dear life with the rest of his body struggling to get a foothold.

 

What had really happened, due to his real form being bigger than those two Pokemon, was that Zagan had gotten stuck between the horns and couldn't turn without letting go and adding 'has fallen from the head of a galloping Pokemon' to his been-there-done-that list. The whole experience would have reminded him of the first time he battled Milo if all his brain's capacity wasn't entirely focused on replaying the phrase "I'm gonna fall" as fast as it could in a loop.

 

He managed to get a tight hold on both horns, one with each paw, just as Atto made a sudden turn to not trample two blue blurs (Zagan wasn't exactly paying enough attention to recognize which Pokemon they were). The change of direction made him bounce off the Bug-type's head, and he somehow managed to take advantage of that to land in an uncomfortable crouching position, which was still worlds better than being stuck belly-up in a moving ride.

 

"You..." he snarled once he was sure he wasn't going to end up eating dust. "You didn't use any Agility! You liar!" he shouted with mock hurt, not being able to help the grin on his face. There was no way in hell they weren't doing that again.

 

Atto warned him to hold on and he did, jumping back a bit without letting go of the horns so he could stand on Atto's back and not his head. This time he was prepared for the burst of speed, and let out a howl when it came, feeling the wind ruffling his fur and his bandana as they rode to Zagan's first real adventure.

 

He had gone to dungeons before, with his friends, but never too far away from the village. It had never been like this: to an unknown place, through an unknown path, sleeping in the wild with virtually no chance of rescue if they screwed up. And with Pokemon that he'd met the day before to boot. Still, the Steelix - Atto had called him Haldor - had said he was experienced, and Zagan had no reason to doubt his word, so at least one of them wasn't going in the dark.

 

He heard Atto's exclamation and grinned wider, adding one of his own.

 

"And you better be ready for us!"

 

((Pi, should I add more so you have something to react to, or should we wait for Marcus in case Haldor catches up over the ground?))

[Marcus Pheonix]

Haldor watched amused as Atto scooped up the 'Riolu'. "Meet at the cross-roads? Well it has been a while since I've really pushed myself." Haldor slowly sunk into the ground, he'd always been fast while burrowing. As an Onix he increased his skills even more by learning rock polish, after evolving he learned automatize. It had been a fair few years since he felt it necessary to go at those speeds but to keep up with that blur of a Scollipede may require just that little nudge.

 

Haldors body twisted, his jagged metal surface smoothing itself his spikes began to tilt slightly backwards as his body took on a more streamlined image. Haldor set off, his body rotating quickly as he drilled through the tough soil. After a short while he realized that he had reached the 'crossroads' that Atto had mentioned. Haldor tilted his head listening, he couldn't hear them. He allowed a slight grin to reach his face, then rose above the soil and began to look back the way he'd came calmly waiting.

[TalonCat]

The sun had danced with the earth and the moon three times already, and was caught up in the middle of another waltz with the good green giant when Reed and Agatha found themselves trotting (or floating, respectively) briskly through a dappled forest. Foggy Forest waited several days away yet, through every now and then as Reed boredly scrambled up a tree he thought he could spy stray wisps of cloud. Fog, hiding the place and all of its treasures from him... And why wouldn't they want to hide? He'd grinned and clattered his way back down to the leaf-littered floor, not wanting to be left behind.

 

The leaves above the Smeargle almost seemed to be made out of paint themselves. Brilliant lime greens shone through dark, glittering emerald leaves as the Groudon's great son smiled through them like he did through stained glass. Though the canopy was thick, the sun was strong and high. It hurt Reed's eyes still. He'd begun to regret that portion of the deal. Despite his former nocturnal/insomniac lifestyle in Relicanth Town, he'd always found time to appreciate the daytime. Days like these - he stared up at the clear blue sky, so unlike cold blue eyes - days like these were hard to come by and now harder to live with. However, his aching eyes were his only regret; if it were only for a while, only to appreciate what something driven to the night could never see... He could take it. Heck, by Kyogre's left fin he could take anything!

 

In any case, the cool forest air and the blue sky, like a river wrapping around him, had made him far too poetic for his liking. The long trip had made him rather hungry.

 

"Hey Ghostie!"

 

Reed grinned and hurried up beside Agatha, staring up at her with a pitiful and yet somehow smug expression,

 

"Don't suppose you've got any munchies on you? That little scavenger's breakfast I found was fine, but this Revivor Seed's not going to feed me much."

 

The Smeargle flicked his tail. A bargain might be ideal.

 

"I'll give you a hate-felt vent about someone if you could scrounge something up - lunch for a lunch? Oh, hang on."

 

Reed tilted his head. Were those footsteps? Leaves crunching, just ahead - who else was in the forest, so far off the main roads? That was odd, he could have sworn -

 

It is Fenris and Pellinore's group. We have been moving faster than anticipated.

 

I forgot about that group. Augh, what a pain...

 

"We've got to move farther from the road, something's about to go down. Follow me if you want to make it to your boyfriend alive!"

 

Reed carefully trotted down a nearby slope into a small, shadowy ditch of a passage. It might have been an old riverbed, but he could really care less.

 

----------------------

 

Tiramisu figured she could really get used to this: the long walks, the refreshing air, the good company. And she had: she'd managed to say more than a few words over the course of the past few days, and she hadn't once felt a twinge of anxiety. Leo's confidence was contagious. She found herself holding herself straighter, felt her shoulders grow looser... It was fantastic. Of course, everything was fantastic when the weather was fantastic, wasn't it?

 

I'm surprised how smooth the journey's been so far. I mean...

 

The Meowth stared up at the sky, in the far back of the group of Pokemon.

 

It's beautiful. The walking hasn't been too hard... We've still got the coast to go through, according the the maps - (She'd studied the maps intensively before bed the previous night.) - But honestly, with a breeze like this it'll be smooth sailing...

Jinx.

Oh shut up, will you?

 

A small ball of dread welled up in her stomach. It would be just like her to jinx it for everyone... She shook her head. All she'd heard was a small murmur in the trees - was that a crack she'd heard this time? A shadow in the forest...

 

Augh.

 

She'd jinxed it again, hadn't she?

 

No, she had to calm down. it was just nerves; it was nothing real. It was all in her head... but if someone else had heard it? She tentatively poked Bree,

 

"Hey Bree, did you... Did you hear something in the forest? I thought I might've heard something - but I was probably just imagining it..."

 

(( Tiramisu actually is just hearing things; Reed and Agatha are ahead of Leo's group by a bit. ^w^

 

Since this is only a minor location, I don't think I'll do a full location write-up. The items that can be found here aaaarrrreeee:

- All Berries

- Reviver Seed (rare)

- Big Apple (rare)

With no set quantities. ))

Edited October 16, 2013 by TalonCat

[octopi]

When Atto runs for long periods of time, he tends to wobble. Part of it was because he was injured in a different place every day and could never find a proper balance, and this time, the extra weight clinging to his horns didn't help either. He was almost rocking left and right by the time he turned onto the path to the crossroads, his left side brushing against a tree as he did. He slid sideways to a stop just in front of Haldor, then collapsed onto his side, quietly laughing.

 

"Wooh! Heh, sorry about that," he said, after catching his breath. "I...haah...I haven't given any rides in a while." He stretched, then got back to his feet, looking up at Haldor. The Ground-type didn't have to worry about roads, but that had definitely been fast. His teammate wasn't as frail as he would have liked everyone else to think, it seemed. "You're here! Let's head forward, then. Hopefully we'll catch up with Bec soon!"

 

--

 

Bree was staring at the leaves above when she felt Tiramisu poke her. "Eh? Oh, hey. Did I...hmm..." She squinted into the forest. There wasn't as much sunlight off the path and Bree didn't exactly have crystal clear vision, having to see through several centimeters of gel, but there didn't seem to be anything. The thought was a little worrying, though. There were fewer mystery dungeons these days, but what if there were still hostile Pokemon hiding somewhere in the forest? "Well, no, not really. I could try...like, a psychic scan, or something, if that would help?" She tried to look reassuring, but the offer was really as much for herself as the Meowth.

[reddan]

Red knew she had no hope of catching up to Atto and Haldor, so she trotted along behind Bree and Tiramisu. The poor Meowth was looking rather jumpy, and commented that she had heard something off the side of the path. The Zigzagoon perked up her ears and sniffed towards the location Tiramisu had motioned at.

 

"I don't smell anything out of the ordinary... but maybe you could detect them psychically, Bree?" Red trusted in the power of her nose, but Tiramisu definitely seemed troubled, and she felt it would be rude to casually dismiss her worries.

 

 

[Lemniscate]

Alteria flew along behing the others, looking from side to side. It was a pretty nice day out. Enjoying the slight breeze, she began to hum, a pleasant happy sound. Flying ahead a bit, she decided to look in case anything was coming out from the sides of the road.

[PureDark006]

Zagan changed his position as Atto leaned a bit too much to the right again, making the Dark-type feel as if they were going to crash before correcting his gallop at the last second. Zagan squinted the road ahead and finally saw the massive gray snake that was Haldor, already at the crossroad and waiting for them. Atto passed the last tree before their goal, left side almost hitting the plant, before skidding to a halt in front of the Steel-type. Zagan jumped from Atto's back as the latter flopped on his side, rolling on his back and letting out a whistle. He was never going to get tired of riding a galloping Atto.

 

He did neglect to mention that the Bug-type's tiredness may have something to do with the fact he had been carrying a Pokemon six times heavier than what the Scolipede had believed, though.

 

"Forward. Yep. Gimme a sec," he said, rolling onto his belly and sitting up before rummaging through his mane, his illusion showing the Riolu checking under the bandana. His Quick Seed was there, which was good, the Sitrus Berry hadn't been squashed, which was better, and the flower he had received from Bec and Hal was still in one piece, which made him grin in relief. "Heh. Never hurts to check your stuff after a ride like that," he thought.

 

"So! So! We continue following the road or am I the only one thinking it'd be faster if we go after Haldor while he's digging?" he asked, crouching in a playful position, illusion showing the Riolu putting his paws together with shining eyes.

[Marcus Pheonix]

Haldor laughed at the tired pokemon, he knew that the small rilou was actually a mask for a much larger pokemon and while he didn't not the exact qualities of a Zororaks illusions he figured that illusions couldn't mask weight. He then set his eyes down on the 'riolu'.

"Yes, you're probably right that it would be faster for us to travel through a tunnel but I won't be going as fast. You should save your strength for Mespirits cave, If we face a situation too strong for our combined efforts having the strength to run can be quite beneficial."

Haldor paused to look up at the sky, he remembered the old days after his accident, where he would always look up at the sky afraid that this would be the last time. Shaking himself he rotated his body and begun digging.

"My memory isn't quite what it used to be, kindly point me in the right direction as we go."