Mapping up the Mountain. Akuroma tricks Cracker into joining him!?

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Akuroma walked up to the foot of the mountain before turning to look at Cracker, "C'mon, there's a nice big forest full of berries and nice Pokemon near the top," Akuroma said. To must Pokemon, that lie would've been obvious, but Akuroma knew how gullible Cracker was, and decided the monkey would've been the best Pokemon to watch his back while they climbed the mountain. Well, not exactly, he just knew Cracker wouldn't dare leave Akuroma alone with how dark the mist would make their surroundings.
The Ralts's true goal was to collect several items from the mountain while also mapping out a relatively safe trail to the supposed Black Spiral Staircase.

Akuroma smirked, deciding to use Double Team and the dark mist returning to the area to avoid the stones falling and the Spearow busy sending them back to him. As he laid in wait he used Confusion on the Spearow, but not in a damaging way. No, this time he simply used it to make the avian see illusions.

"Oh but what illusion should she see?" Akuroma thought to himself as he leaned against one of the still standing pillars, "It'll certainly have to be believable...oh! That'll do just fine.

He waited until for a moment before bringing the attack into effect. To the Spearow, the copy she was about to attack began to act as if he were unsteady, when suddenly an Onix would appear to erupt from the ground below, swallowing up the copy, who in reality he just made disappear.

Akuroma waited for the Spearow to disappear from his senses before he let out a sigh of relief and slumped onto the ground. He groaned at the injury on his arm and slowly got up, still using the Pillar as a crutch before he began to walk back towards Cracker and his make shift camp. He blinked as he noticed something hitting his head, having completely forgotten it was raining during the battle.

He sighed staring up at the sky, which was blocked by the dark mist, before he went back to walking towards the camp. After a few minutes of walking he reached the camp. He used Confusion on himself to lift himself up and over the edge and under the overhang.

Walking over to the Aipom, he shook him a bit with his good arm, "Wake up, it's your turn for watch," he said, plopping down next to the Aipom as he tried to shake him awake.

The entire time Akuroma had been battling the Spearow to the tune of rocky explosions and squawking, Cracker had been sleeping like a log, the thunderous rumbling in the sky disguising the event completely. Of course, even if it had been the middle of the day and silent, the Aipom probably still wouldn’t have responded, because curled up in his makeshift bed, the long-tailed Pokemon was having amazing and fascinating dreams centered around his wonderful Gold Ribbon. His mind wove magical tales of adventure and intrigue, the likes of which he wouldn’t give up for any real-world disaster.

Of course, in as deep of a sleep as he was, he wasn’t immune to waking from a harsh prodding. And after a first shake didn’t do the job, a second more vigorous one had him torn from his happy dreams quite easily. The Aipom jerked upright abruptly, eyes still closed as if asleep. With a long yawn and a full-bodied stretch, Cracker’s eyes fluttered open as he started to look around.

“Morning, alread—? Wait,” the Aipom blinked, then rubbed his eyes. “Oh right, I forgot. My turn… right. So how long do I have to—whoa, what happened to you?!”

It was kind of difficult not to notice the scruffiness of the Ralts, even for Cracker. He looked like he’d just been attacked or something, just from the way he moved his one arm. The Aipom suddenly got a little worried. If Akuroma’s watch hadn’t gone peacefully, how would his fair? Furthermore, why hadn’t he been woken sooner if a battle were ensuing? That wasn’t the sort of thing the long-tailed Pokemon would’ve appreciated sleeping through, especially if an attack wound up hurled his way.

“You gonna be okay?” Cracker asked, worriedly. “It looks kinda bad.”

Akuroma stayed silent when the Aipom finally woke. He simply went over to the other makeshift bed and plopped down on his back. After a minute of silence he turned his head to look at Cracker.

"Don't worry. I'll wake up if I sense any Pokemon...and it's not as bad as it looks," he said, sensing the Aipom's growing worry and fear. He then turned his head away and fell asleep. In truth it was a lot worse. The pain in his arm wasn't going away, and the entire back of his body was sore from slamming into the rock wall he had made. Let's also not forget his overuse of Confusion, which gave him a headache. He probably couldn't sense an Onix if it was inches from his face right now.

Watching the Ralts settle down into his own bed, Cracker frowned with concern.  Despite the psychic-type’s reassurance that it wasn’t that bad, the Aipom couldn't help but think otherwise. Walking slowly to the edge of the stone slab, he sat down and looked out over the misty terrain in the dark of night. Very little could be seen through the thick foggy soup and rain, but every once in a while a bolt of lightning would light up everything, followed shortly after by a thunderous crash.

As ugly as this broken and fractured landscape was, it had its charm in a way. Sure it was devoid of just about any living thing bigger than a blade of grass, but it made an interesting portrait in the dark when lit by the flash of a lightning bolt. It actually looked even scarier too. All those sharp contrasting edges, the deep dark shadowy faces, gruesome and disfigured.

Why the heck am I admiring that? Cracker groaned to himself. This place is frightening and hideous; and full of angry Pokemon that just want to hurt me. I’d rather be back in Pecha Forest right now.

The thought left his mind as Cracker turned back to the sleeping body of Akuroma. He must not be in good shape; probably fought somebody off or something. I should repay the favor. Nodding at his own thought, the Aipom leapt off their stony pillar and landed on his tail before jumping into a four-legged run. This place may be crummy and crumbling, but it should still have some food somewhere. I’ll bring some back for Aku, maybe some herbs too for that arm.

Disappearing into the foggy blackness of night, Cracker searched the broken and jagged landscape for the better part of an hour, fortunate not to run into any threats in the mist before returning with a very meager offering of fruit; one apple and a small handful of berries, all normal with no perks other than the benefit of a less empty stomach. However, in his search, he managed to find just a few leaves of herbs to help with Akuroma’s sore arm. It was no cure though, just a band-aid to help it heal quicker on its own.

The Aipom brought all of this back to the campsite; after getting lost for another thirty minutes of course. The meager glow of the campfire against the ceiling the Ralts had constructed eventually led him back home. He quickly ascended the rocky formation with one good spring from his tail, then spent the rest of the night preparing the small thank-you meal for his friend. By the time the sun began to crest the tree-tops, he was nearly finished.

Akuroma groaned a bit as the sun's rays hit his eyes. He slowly began to sat up with a loud groan before looking over and seeing Cracker messing with something.

"What're you doing over there?" he asked. rubbing the scars on his cheek and side with his good arm a bit as he shakingly tried to stand up, with little results as he just plopped back down onto his rump.

The surprise meal was just about complete when the sounds of Akuroma stirring caught the Aipom’s attention. On a flat slab of stone, Cracker had meticulously minced the apple into even slices and laced them with a fine puree of berries to add to the sweetness. The herbs were mashed into a gooey paste, which he’d then applied to a couple leaves; his idea of make-shift bandages. To ensure they’d stick well, he’d used some of the berries as well.

The entire time Cracker had been working, it occurred to him that he was falling back on the scraps of medicinal knowledge his village’s shaman had bestowed upon others while he was busy causing trouble. Perhaps if he’d actually listened to those lectures properly, he would’ve made a very effective chef or maybe even a shaman as well. Oh well; live and learn.

Once the Aipom finished his work, he bounced up onto his tail and spun around, leaping over to the Ralts and offering up the dish he’d prepared with a big grin on his face.

“This!” he answered Akuroma. “It’s for you. To thank you for everything! You must be hungry, right? Oh, and I made these for your arm.”

Setting the stone down, Cracker picked up the leaves and grabbed Ralts’ sore arm, deftly applying the sticky side to the wound and wrapping it up nice and neatly. His care and delicacy smacked in the face of his usual bumbling nature, but he continued to be giddy and childish about the whole affair.

Akuroma blinked a few times, thinking he was still dreaming for a minute. "Um, thanks," he said, taking one of the berry-covered apple slices and biting it a bit cautiously before his eyes widened, "Holy-Cracker you can make something like this!?" he said before stuffing down it down and a couple more of apple slices before flinching slightly at the touch to his arm.

Any other Pokemon he knew he was sure would notice how weak he was right now with how out of tune his psychic senses were. He hoped Cracker wouldn't notice.

When there were just a couple of slices left he looked over to Cracker, "Want one?" he asked. He wasn't sure if the Aipom had just put it together randomly or if this was a recipe he had been taught. The latter would surprise him even more, seeing as how Cracker never seemed good at remembering things other than those he considered friends to the Ralts.

As the Ralts accepted his offering, Cracker watched on in silent anticipation, on the verge or either being excited or disappointed by Akuroma’s response to his crudely made treat. It wasn’t a special recipe, but it was one his Granny had made very often in his youth. The only reason he knew how to reproduce it so well was because much of his time with his aging elder had been spent helping prepare the dish. It was one of his favorite memories, but unfortunately he could never quite match that perfection Granny was able to bring out.

That fortunately didn’t seem to matter, because after the first bite the Ralts was surprised by the excellent flavor. Seeing his reaction made the Aipom beam with glee. His work wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to catch Akuroma off guard. And for someone who no doubt only came off to others as a bumbling fool scared of his own shadow, he might as well have won a prize.

“You like it!” Cracker giggled with joy, tightening the makeshift bandage with a bit of vine he’d found. “It’s good right? Family recipe, though I’m nowhere near as good at it as Granny was.”

When only a few slices were left, Akuroma offered one to him. He accepted without a word and plopped the whole thing into his mouth, chewing with both paws on his cheeks, looking at first like he was reaching ecstasy before promptly falling short with a frown. Swallowing, the Aipom huffed a disappointed sigh.

“Yeah… Not nearly as good as Granny’s,” he commented. “But you like it, right? So that’s all that matters!”

Bouncing up onto his tail, the Aipom clapped his paws together.

“So we should get going, right? How much further til we get there, do you think?”

The Ralts pointed up, "This is the cliff. When I first came here, I made this platform for perfection. However, the Pokemon I was with and I had to go the long way up because of this cliff. We planned on returning here to properly explore the mountain, but this cliff is still a problem. As such I decided to come back to make stairs heading up the cliff to make the climb easier on us," he explained, standing up a bit shakily.

"Sadly, after the battle I had with a particularly annoying Spearow, I don't think I could even clear the fog away as we head back home..." the Ralts groaned out, sitting back down after a few seconds on his feet.

"Arceus...I haven't felt this bad since back in Monochrome Ruins with Mirage," Akuroma said, looking up at the overhang he had made the night before.

As Akuroma explained the situation, Cracker followed the Ralts’ outstretched arm to the cliff-side nearby, almost completely obscured by the mist. He hadn’t noticed it the day before but now, with the sun forcing its way through, he could see the light glinting off the sheer, rocky wall in places. It looked steep, but only because he couldn’t see the top through all the swirling fog. It looked like an impossible climb, sure enough, even for an experienced climber like the Aipom.

Turning back to the Ralts, the long-tailed Pokemon took a step toward him with a worried look as he attempted to stand. Akuroma promptly confirmed Cracker’s earlier suspicions of a battle taking place last night before dropping back into the bed with a groan. Seeing the psychic Pokemon in such a state reminded the Aipom of that dismal time in the ruins as well. The only difference of course, is now they were above ground. And yet, once again Cracker was useless to help because there wasn’t a living, undamaged tree for miles, let alone one that could bear an Oran Berry.

Those herbs he found were a matter of luck themselves. He’d only found enough to help with Akuroma’s arm. The rest had been shriveled and dead, uprooted by the local Pokemon that routinely demolished this land. And even if he’d had a bucket-load of the stuff, it would never compare to the effectiveness of a single berry. Cracker sulked a little, disappointed that he couldn’t help the Ralts get better. They’d have to wait for his energy to return on its own. Unless…

“Maybe I could help,” Cracker suggested, wincing inwardly the second the words left his lips. “I mean… y’know… maybe. There’s a lot of loose rocks around here, so maybe…”

The Aipom trailed off into silence, wringing his paws in uncertainty. He wasn’t strong enough to lift boulders where Akuroma could normally manipulate them with his mind. The best Cracker could do was gather up small stones about his size and no bigger. For such a daunting-looking cliff, the efforts to build a stair-case this way would take forever.

Akuroma thought for a second before shaking his head, "No...It'd be better if we head back to Grassveil. Maybe I can make the stairs another day. Besides, if we're attacked while I'm injured and you're exhausted from trying to build the stairs, well, we'll be screwed," the Ralts said, hefting his bag onto his good arm as he began to stand again.

"I've got enough juice for one Psychic move I learned back on my first trip here, though. Try not to freak out," Akuroma said before placing a hand on the Aipom's shoulder. The two of them were quickly enveloped by a bright mint green flash of light before disappearing. In a matter of seconds they reappeared at the entrance to the dungeon in a similar flash of light, Akuroma groaning slightly and plopping back onto his butt.

In response to the Ralts Cracker nodded, still looking disheartened. He really wanted to be able to help Akuroma achieve his goal, but there was truth in the psychic Pokemon’s words. The effort to build a staircase without his Confusion attack would be long and arduous, perhaps even impossible, and in the state he was in if another Pokemon came along looking for a fight, the two of them would be essentially defenseless.

To be honest, though, the decision to turn back was a massive load off the Aipom’s mind. He hadn’t been looking forward to the idea of moving deeper into this region anymore that he enjoyed the idea of building a staircase from scratch. He was just eager to help the Ralts any way he could, really. So when it was understood they’d be leaving, Cracker tried not to look too disappointed.

“Wait-wait!” Cracker called abruptly when the Ralts offered to show him a move he’d learned.

Bouncing over to his make-shift bed, the Aipom quickly scooped up his Gold Ribbon and returned, tucking it into his head-band just as the Pokemon touched his shoulder. “Okay, so what’re we—”
Before Cracker could issue another word, they were surrounded by a green glow. The world around them blurred and distorted for a moment before a sudden rush of wind filled the Aipom’s ears.

“—Doing?!” he squeaked in fright.

The second the light vanished, the long-tailed Pokemon promptly leapt into the air in surprise, slamming into a low-hanging branch in the forest just before the mountains they’d entered previously. He dropped back to the ground holding his head and dancing around.

“Holy Spinarak on a stick! What happened?!” he cried, rubbing the sore spot gingerly. “Wait… did we just teleport?”

He only made the connection based on the fact they didn’t move and yet were already miles away from where they’d just been. That was the first time the Aipom had ever experienced a psychic-type’s move first-hand, aside from all those times he was hoisted into the air anyway. Rather than answer Cracker’s question though, Akuroma dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

“Ah! We need to get you back to town, you’re exhausted!” Wrapping his tail around the Ralts, the Aipom hoisted him up onto his back, just like he had before when they were trapped in the Monochrome Ruins. “I promise I won’t drop yah this time, kay?” Bouncing up onto his tail with his passenger, Cracker leapt into the trees, grateful to finally be off the ground again as he hurried quickly through the trees on their way back to Grassveil Town.