From Shadow to Monochrome

24-10=14

It was a fairly long trip heading to Shadowhue after Trucy recovered, but it was worth every minute. It was their first Guild Quest! Julie seemed a little more excited than usual, but she was also somewhat quiet. Walking on all fours through the shadowy forest, she followed close behind her much faster companion as they keep going.
According to the Guild Quest, they were to go to a place called "Monochrome Falls" to find a Ralts, and Julie guessed they'd meet Kirlia when they got there, to help them find their friend.

"...how long until you think we'll get there?" Julie asked, less out of impatience and more out of curiosity.

Energy: 18 - 10 = 8

If there was one thing that Trucy learned from their first... “mission”, if you can even call it that, was that she couldn’t handle the ferals all on her own. She couldn’t rush ahead like she used to before. With this new info, Trucy decided to use a different approach, she would circle around the trees surrounding Julie, keeping an eye out for any potential threats, while also practicing her new move, Quick Attack, to make her round trip even faster. Trucy came to a halt on a tree ahead of Julie, to respond to the Zangoose’s question.

“Uhh... I dunno? I haven’t really been in this neck of the woods... even if I was I’d probably just... y’know, fly above all of this, and pay no real attention to what’s below...” Trucy then realized that she didn’t sound too hopeful, having morale low at the start of a mission wouldn’t be good, so she went on hastily. “T-though it shouldn’t be too long before we get there, hopefully...”

Despite her friend's seemingly pessimistic outlook on things, Julie held high hopes.
"Yeah, that's the spirit!" She called out to her flying companion as they continued walking through the dark woods. "We'll get there in no time, no doubt we'll have plenty of time to finish this mission."
Her tone changed slightly, closer to her usual bored sounding, low voice. "And even if not, we're sure to find something interesting along the way."

Julie noticed how Trucy was flying, and though she found it odd, she figured it best not to call her out on it. That'd be kinda rude - her best guess was that she was just staying close to Julie cause Julie was going too slow for her and she didn't want to leave her partner behind.
While that wasn't it, the thought did get to her a little, so she decided to try and pick up the pace. Gladly, when you're this low to the ground, it's hard to have accidents like tripping over branches.

Trucy appreciated her friends’ positivity. It definitely helped her feel better about the mission that they embarked on. “Y-yeah, that’s right!” She said, reciprocating Julie’s high hopes. Even with her change in mentality, Trucy still felt a bit on edge, no thanks to the latest adventure they went on. This was their first real mission! She didn’t want to screw it up and get herself hurt before they even get a chance at reaching Monochrome...

Trucy continued to dart around the trees surrounding her partner, not even noticing that Julie had picked up the pace, she just unconsciously followed suit. With this, she decided to cut some corners around her flight path. Trucy didn’t even really question the sudden change of pace from Julie, she just assumed that she wanted to get this mission over and done with, a sentiment that she shared. After finishing another round trip, she once again found herself perched on a tree ahead of the Zangoose, and took a good look around their surroundings, this way the scenery was a lot easier to take in... “Dang... this place gives off a completely different vibe from Pecha Forest, I probably wouldn’t believe it if you told me that that place and here are so close to each other...” Trucy said, looking at her partner from above.

Julie noticed Trucy follow suit, speeding up a little to match Julie. Clearly there was a misunderstanding here but at least no one was getting upset or confused.

Julie heard Trucy's comments about Shadowhue and Pecha, and simply replied with "I can understand being surprised it's close to Pecha Forest, but I mean- it's called Shadowhue Forest, what did you expect? Fresh springs and sunlight through light foliage?" She wasn't trying to come off as rude, she wasn't even annoyed or mad, she really just found the comments amusing and was joking around.
Julie did think about it, and grew uneasy... what was hiding in the shadows?

(Hey, I'm just gonna ask here- since it takes a page to move on to Monochrome anyway, should I roll on my next post for something to happen? Any effects from here get reset in the next topic I'm pretty sure.)

(Sure, why not?)

Trucy couldn’t help but be embarrassed by Julie’s comment. “I... um... uh...” she muttered, visibly flustered. She averted her focus away from the Zangoose, in a vain attempt to cover up her reaction. “I-I dunno...” Trucy forced out, “I guess, it’s because I haven’t really been in a place like this before, I’ve heard about similar places in books and the like, though I’ve never actually been somewhere like those places, until now. I can’t help but feel a bit... on edge.”

What also didn’t help quell Trucy’s nerves was the fact that Shadowhue seemed to be a lot more intimidating and dangerous than Pecha, that alone was obvious from it’s appearance alone. However it was the fact that the ferals seen in Pecha had some tricks up their sleeve, tricks that were able to take her down and endanger not only her but her friends. Who knows what the ferals that reside here can potentially do? Only time will tell...

Julie felt a little bad after Trucy's pitiful response, pouting a bit with a furrowed brow, mad at herself for upsetting her friend.
Shadowhue was understandably a little less welcoming than Pecha, so it wasn't fair of her to make light of her concerns, especially given their previous collective experience fighting only one feral Pokemon.
That stuff was gonna haunt them both for a while.

"Hey, hun, are you alright? I didn't mean to embarrass you, I was only jok-"
It was then the fur on the back of her neck stood up. Her eyes went wide, and she began looking around.

"Be careful, Trucy. I don't think we're alone right now."

ThePromiseIncarnate carried out 4 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , ,

Trucy kept her gaze averted as her Zangoose companion voiced her concerns, Trucy deep down figured that what Julie said was a joke. But due to her having a fragile ego, she wasn’t exactly good at taking jokes at her expense, no matter the severity.... However her attitude completely changed when Julie’s tone made a complete 180, a quick look on the Zangoose’s face and the words “Be careful” were all the Fletchling needed to piece together what was happening. Without even thinking, Trucy darted off the tree and onto ground level, closing the gap between the her and the Zangoose.

Facing the same way as Julie, she readied up a Tailwind to give both of them a speed boost to take on any threats they were about to fight. “Well, let’s show ‘em who’s boss then...!” Trucy said before waiting for the ferals to strike with bated breath. Despite coming off as confident with what she last said to Julie, she was actually quite scared. It was easily seen due to the bird Pokémon’s shaking. Despite this, she kept a confident look towards the deep darkness, knowing full well that danger was upon both her and Julie.

Julie wasn't so lucky. Though Trucy used her Tailwind, the chubby Zangoose wasn't so quick to get out of the way of incoming attacks.
The poison-type attack from Shroomish gladly didn't effect her, though she was hit by both Pokemon in rapid succession and effectively cornered her against the tree trunk.
Julie was in pain, gritting her teeth and on the verge of tears. She tried to scratch the Farfetch'd, but it dodged out of the way fairly quickly. Trucy wasn't on either of their minds right now.
Julie was their current prey. They weakened her as a team, and now they were gonna finish the job.

Trucy had no time to assess the situation, the coming danger was now upon both her friend and herself, and it seemed like they had a clear strategy, team up on one and move to the other, and it seems like their first target was her Zangoose companion! A move that Trucy did not like at all. Her first reaction was shock, due to the sheer speed of their attackers. It almost seemed as if they came out of nowhere, but once Trucy realized who both of their assailants were targeting, she was...

Scared.

Once again, both Julie and Trucy were put on the defensive, but unlike last time, it was Trucy’s turn to defend her partner. She was haunted by the idea that if she were to screw up here, they could be in an even worse situation... Trucy needed to act fast, and before she knew it, she was bolting towards her friend’s attackers without a second thought, thinking would just slow her down at this point. Trucy quickly decided to target the Shroomish, she didn’t even take in to account that her typing helps out here, she made a rash decision on who to target and was lucky in that aspect. As she hurdled towards the Shroomish with Quick Attack, she loudly declared ”Get away from her, you...!!”

She felt rather hopeless and scared as she tried to think of another attack. Gladly, right before the Shroomish was about to hit her, it was suddenly hit hard by Julie's friend, coming to save the day.
With that, the Farfetch'd was a little distracted, and the Zangoose took her chance. She swung her massive claws down on the bird, scratching it badly. Julie even managed to get out of the way of the bird's attempt at an attack, now joining her friend back to back.

"T- thanks Trucy. Uh... Should we run, or do you think we should take them on?" Julie asked as the two hurt Pokemon look to the guild members, ready to attempt another strike.

(...question. what do we do about the cheri berry?)

Trucy wrapped back to her partner after hitting the Shroomish with her quick attack, the attack was even faster then usual thanks to the boost from Tailwind, the wind that cloaked around her that came from speeding through the air like an arrow... it gave her a burst of new found energy!

“Woo! Take that you jerk!” Trucy said with newfound confidence, so much so that she decided to strike a stylish, yet somewhat silly pose. After she made her point, she returned to a more neutral stance, and replied to her friend’s question. “Our mission should be our top priority, let’s not trouble ourselves with these lowly ferals, let’s blow right through them...” as Trucy was about to finish her sentence, the tailwind grew in strength, which threw the leaves on the trees in a frenzy. “Shall we...?”

(As of right now we don’t need it... save it for later use?)

Julie simply nods in agreement, feeling the wind kick up even more as she got ready to be on the move. Her thick fur blew in the wind - felt rather nice, all things considered.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a Cheri Berry.
"We shall~ Let's get going!"

Before she ran, she grabbed the Cheri Berry and immediately bolted off. Hopefully their destination was close by.
Julie could feel time slipping by.
So much wasted time fighting those wild Pokemon...
Ugh!
"We've gotta be almost there!" She says as they continue running.

Trucy looked back at her partner, waiting for her response, she only really needed the Zangoose’s nod to understand, shortly after the Zangoose’s verbal response, Trucy added, in a snarky tone, “Heh! Well then, it’s been fun~!” before dashing off with her partner at her side. As they made their get away, Trucy saw that Julie made a small detour to pick up a Cheri Berry, which made Trucy look around for any other nearby berries. Unfortunately, the area seemed to be almost cleaned out of berries. That Cheri Berry was a good find!

As Trucy flew through the trees, dodging branch after branch, Julie called out to her, reassuring the both of them that their destination was close. “As long as we proceed at the pace we’re going at right now, we’ll be there in no time!” Trucy said with confidence. Their latest encounter with feral Pokémon had gone in their favor, which was a much needed morale booster for the little robin, even if the two decided to flee from the two ferals, they were able to deal with their sudden attack fairly quickly, and were able to escape relatively unscathed... or rather Trucy was able to, she wasn’t exactly the ferals’ target...

Trucy decided to get lower to the ground and talk to her partner. “Hey, are you ok? That Farfetch’d and Shroomish’s attack looked like it hurt...” Trucy said, a bit worried for her friend.

The zangoose was feeling high anxiety, having been worried that they might be able to fail the quest if they took too long, but with Trucy's encouraging words, she was a little more relieved. Still, she was getting sick of this forest's dreary scenery, and wanted to hurry up.

Trucy's concern was touching, and while she was exhausted and in pain, Trucy's winds helped push her along. She did as her family told her in the past - something to do with using her anger to help get the job done.
She didn't really seem angry though. Of course, most Zangoose almost always looked angry, but she was fairly relaxed for a zangoose.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine for now. Let's keep going." She didn't even seem angry, more determined than anything. She looks to Trucy with a soft smile on her pudgy face.
It wouldn't be long until they reach their destination...