Lost in the woods

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Trace slogged through the muddy ground as rivulets of frigid water drained from the dense canopy above. His head was close to the ground and he looked at his surroundings with exhausted eyes. Was it morning or night? Did it even matter? No, not in this world of darkness that the Electrike found himself in. How did he get here? The last time he was anywhere was when he was with that young Swablu, what was his name? Varda?? Yea, that must be the child’s name. Trace stopped in his tracks, staring at his immature feet as hot tears welled in his eyes. That bird was probably just as old as he was, perhaps even older. He should be just as carefree as Varda was, and yet- NO! Just Keep on moving forward! If you stop the memories will return…

Trace managed to get himself moving again, although it was difficult. Every muscle in him felt numb and overused. He was cold, exhausted, muddy, wet, hungry, suffering to the point where everything stopped mattering. His first step in getting this lost was when he rushed recklessly into Pecha forest after throwing the surprisingly light bird through the air. By the time he realized he was hopelessly lost he was somewhere in Shadowhue Forest. At that point Trace did the only thing he did best: pick a direction and go. Eventually he would hit something like a road or some other landmark that would lead him to an inhabited place. No such luck however, due to the prevalence of aggressive pokemon that forced him to flee in random directions until he was even more lost than when he started. He did manage to find a good few items, but anything he found he had to immediately eat in order to stave off his only companion. Now he was at the end of his rope, each step harder then all he has done to this point. He didn’t even realize how labored his breath was as he doggedly plowed on.

Just ahead of him something began taking shape out of the gloom. It was an old hollowed out tree, barely even a stump at this point. In a better situation it would fail horribly as a shelter. The stump was small, roofless, rotting, and falling apart. Trace didn’t have the luxury nor the strength to find anything better. If only he could reach that haven! The Electrike’s feet dragged across the ground. Whether or not he wanted it, his body was shutting down. He forced a few more steps, then he collapsed sideways. He simply fell, his body hitting the ground with a weak thump. Trace’s vision got fuzzy and out of focus before his eyebrows smoothly slid to a close. Darkness took him. Why?

He was just three steps from the stump.

(I got impatient or else I would have written a dream and officially set the stage to be in the morning. Feel free to have your character adventuring now or the following day, both could work very well for me. It would be a great start for Jet to find Trace’s unconscious form…)

(Energy: 4)
The forretress knew that his last resort attack, as wild and as powerful as it is, was truly a last resort. The uncordoornated bursts of light dwindled to a stop, and a moment later the two pokemon would hear a thud as the fatigued pokemon lacked the energy to keep himself afloat. The wounded forretress had exhausted itself to the point where it was incapable of battling, and wouldn't be for almost an hour. Would this be their victory, or just a lucky break that they survived against a superior opponent?

Feeling almost as bad as when the Buizel first found him, Trace still struggled to stand. He may not be tough enough to survive a lot of damage, but his strange willpower to remain standing ensures that he won't give up until he's been completely defeated. What drives him to these lengths? It wasn't determination that filled the electrike, but fear. What kind of fear would drive him ever onward? Whatever the reason, Trace couldn't remain on the ground. Despite the protesting side where the forretress's blast hit him, the electrike stood up.

"ugg..." Trace said while shaking his head, trying to work out the wooly feeling in him, "... Are you alright?" He looked around for the Buizel, eventually seeing the pokemon collapsed on his stomach in front of a tree. Many items were strewn about the area, the result of the havoc caused by the Forretress's last attack. For the moment though, Trace was more concerned about his companion. Hoping to see some response, the electrike padded his way over to the water pokemon.

{Energy: 5+1 = 6}

Jet was only vaguely aware of his surroundings for the moment. He groaned from the ground, his body aching from the two blasts he had been struck by a few moments ago. However, if there was one thing that rang out clearly in his groggy mind, it was the loud crash that was a result of the Forretress collapsing onto the dirt. He groaned again, still unmoving from his spot. The world swam around him and he allowed his eyes to close. He came dangerously close to passing out and slipping into unconsciousness. His mind went back to his teammates when he realized that he was about to fall unconscious out here in the middle of a dangerous forest with a powerful Pokémon who would probably angry at him nearby. He just wished that he had had their assistance out here....

It was then, however, that he heard it. Just a few moments away from passing out, a couple of words rang clearly through his head. It was just three words of concern from the Electrike. Those words alone caused his eyes to open again. "Urngh..." he groaned aloud, pausing to allow his blurred vision to focus better. Eventually, he could clearly make out the form of Trace, standing over him with a concerned expression. "I...I think...I'm okay..." he mumbled, pushing his paws beneath him and trying to force himself back to at least his knees.

Digizel carried out 6 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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(Ok, catalog of things we haven't picked up/found: Leaf Stone, Oran Berry, Cheri Berry (5), Apple (2), Blast Seed, Cacnea Spike, Reviver Seed, Shroomish, Flabebe, event egg, and a +5 trap. Did I miss anything?

Energy: 4+1 for new page = 5)

Not for the first time nor the last by far, Trace wished he had hands. The lack of hands has prohibited him from doing so much, in this instance he couldn't help pick up his rescuer. Regardless, there were plenty of things he could do. Trace's unsteady legs made him stumble a bit around the unconscious forms of a Shroomish and a Flabebe, likely victims of the Forretress's attack, as he made his way to the buizel.

Soon the electrike was standing next to Jet. After seeing the buizel struggle to even rise to his knees, he knew he had to do something. Doing his best to steady his legs, Trace said "hey, hold onto me and help yourself up. We can get this together." While trying his best to sound confident. Really, he was fairing only slightly better than the buizel. The sheer determination to keep going is just about the only thing keeping him standing. That and the aroma of at least 5 spicy Cheri berries making his mouth water. Once the Buizel was either freely standing or leaning on him, Trace would ask to look for the wonderful berries.

(rolling extravaganza as the thread dwindles to a close!)

Guest carried out 5 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , , ,

{No, I don't think you're missing anything. Although I'm pretty sure that I already collected my second Apple and Leaf Stone, so I don't think those need to be on there, unless I'm missing others that were rolled before.

Energy: 6+5 = 11 - 7 = 4}

Jet was actually somewhat embarrassed when Trace stepped up beside him and offered his weight to help him get back up again. After all, he was the one who had been trying to save the Electrike, not the other way around. The fact that the savior would need to become the one being saved was somewhat embarrassing to admit. At first, he considered simply refusing the assistance. But he shook the thought aside within moments. There was no denying that he had taken the most damage recently. Not only did he have to expend a lot of energy trying to carry the Electrike all the way here in the first place, but he also did the most poorly in the battle as well. At least as far as the sustained damage factor was concerned. He was undoubtedly in the tougher situation...but only just. He still hesitated, but finally decided to surrender to his needs rather than his wants.

"Th-thank you..." Jet murmured softly in an awkward and hesitant manner. He reached his paw up and placed it around the Electrike's back. Using the Electric-type Pokémon's weight, he pushed himself ever so slowly back onto his own two feet. It took some good effort and almost an entire half-minute, but he was eventually successful. "S-sorry...I-I guess this rescue mission w-wasn't as successful...as I wanted it to be..." he murmured. "B-but...I should be...okay now...." He wasn't completely confident in that claim...but he also did not want to force Trace to carry his weight the entire time. And so, he started to take wobbly, but functional steps forward...but a couple steps forward and something surprising happened. His foot must have triggered something that miraculously had gone untouched throughout their struggles.

A bright light suddenly surrounded the Buizel, causing him to cry out in surprise. The light engulfed him for a moment and, given his exhaustion, nearly fell over once again. However, something strange happened. Instead of being drained of energy like the pitfall trap earlier, he felt his strength starting to return to him. "...H-huh...?" he murmured in surprise, looking down at himself as the light faded away. He felt some of his energy return. Not a lot of course, but it was still manageable. "M-maybe my luck is finally starting to turn around after all..." he murmured again, turning to look at Trace with a small smile.