Living in a forest

Noel sitting on a large tree branch facing the small pond as the light from the sun slowly lower past the landscape making a large beautiful scene as the small riolu scribbles on a large thing of paper trying to get something down before the light ends

"Come on no sun don't go down" she keeps up the pace until the sun escapes the area cloaking the small pond in darkness as Noel falls back on the branch and throws her arms up. "Ughh so close" she looks down at the large.paper with a large drawing of the pond with the sun reflection on it.

Noel puts the paper away into the large bag hanging on the side of the tree branch as she kicks her legs out laying down on the tree branch as the large red scarf hands along the edge going as low as the next tree branch as Noel looks at the stars in the sky smiling as she lays still.

Trace is trotting down the path on his way to the small pond from Grassviel town. Over the past few days he has fallen into a routine: wake up in his makeshift den a short distance from the pond, run a few laps around the pond, spend most of the day learning about Grassviel, then at night head back home to sleep. Generally he hasn't had anything exciting happen to him as of yet, but thanks to that he has just about perfectly mapped out the entirety of the town and learned a good bit about the guild.

He sighed inwardly when he came in view of the pond. He had put a request in the guild's boards (something you are not supposed to do by yourself as I learned lol) for people to help him find a power band days ago, but so far there hasn't been any reply yet. One of the few things Trace hated is waiting, and that was exactly what he was doing right now!

Then he noticed a Riolu with a red scarf scribbling almost furiously on a piece of paper as it faced the setting sun. His first thought was of Lance but he didn't have that scarf. Curious and instantly distracted from his own frustration the youthful Electrike bounded in the direction of the tree the Riolu was perched in before placing his front paws on the trunk just as the Riolu put away the paper. "Hi what are you doing?" he called up the tree.

Noel stops what she was doing and looks down at the small Pokemon she was quite the ways up and could not really see who or what it was bit then she hears the question "not much just drawing" she yells to the Pokemon "wait a sec" she then jumps down from branch to branch in a graceful descent and keeps up the pace till she reaches the bottom

"Ah ground much better, anyway nice to meet you my name is Noel" Noel said with a.small smile on her face happy to meet another Pokemon.

Upon hearing the pokemon descending Trace backs up some to give her room to land, all the while staring impressed at the Riolu's agility. After she landed and introduced herself Trace replied cheerfully "nice to meet you too, I'm Trace." before he cocked his head sideways asking "you were...drawing?" The word was unfamiliar to Trace, who had spent the last few years in the wilderness and is only just now getting used to society.

Noel looks at her pack then back to trace "oh ya I do stuff like that I mostly make maps but when I see something beautiful I just can't help but draw it" Noel then reaches into her bag and pulls out a large beautifully drawn map of grassveil as it says at the top of the paper. "So what brings you to the pond"

(think this'll be my last post for tonight, have school that I need to be ready for tomorrow)

Trace blinks in amazement when Noel shows a beautifully constructed map. Even though it is a bird's eye view of the town he immediately recognizes it, to the point of mentally following along with his own mental mapping of the area.

"You made this?" his awe clearly showing in his voice before he shakes his head as if trying to jumpstart his brain. "actually I kinda live here, probably will for a good while until I join the guild." He gestures with one of his paws at a section of the treeline surrounding the pond where Trace had found a hollow underneath one of the trees that he has claimed as his temporary lodging.

"Ehh ya I did I enjoy making things like this though I like exploring more no wait training" Noel just talks for a short time then stops "sorry I kinda just zoned out, so you plan on joining the guild" Noel looks to where he gestured with the paw "so you live there well it's good to have a place to call home" Noel puts the map back into her backpack

As Trace listened attentively to what Noel was saying, he thought humorously to himself well she seems to like a lot of things, I wonder if she has time to do all of it.

When asked about joining the guild, Trace paused looking at the ground uncertainly. Did he wan't to join the guild? Silently he reviewed the pros and cons of being a guildman. On one hand he would enjoy a life of helping others, but on the other if he found something that he wanted to do more would he be bound to only work in the guild? After a bit of thought Trace returned his attention to Noel by saying confidently "yes, that seems to be where my path is headed." For better or worse, he did say that whatever team decided to take his request he would join. That is what will happen, so why worry about it. Just keep on moving forward, progress is what is important.

After saying that Trace asked a question of his own: "so what about you?"

Noel smiles at what he said good so he has a path then her attention was brought by his question "oh me well I'm a wanderer never really staying in one place to long right now I'm camping here and shadowhue forest I just stay wherever I'm closest to" Noel thought that explained everything

Upon hearing the name Shadowhue Trace paled faintly under his fur. He had been in that place once before, and, as much as he would like to, he wouldn't be forgetting the experience for a good while. "y-you voluntarily live there?" He asked with a faint stammer, there was something in his eyes. Could it be fear?

It was then that his gaze wandered over the environment. The sky was perfectly clear, a wealth of stars showing in the sky, however the moon had yet to rise and paint the world in its glittering pallor. The visible world was quickly put into silhouettes that made even this peaceful pond seem menacing. The leafy trees seemed, to the lightning pokemon, to be leaning inward trying to trap unwary travelers in their woody fingers. It was the perfect night for ghost pokemon to haunt the area.

A trill of panic seized Trace, his coat puffing out slightly and his legs widening spring-loaded to leap in any direction there wasn't danger, as his eyes darted around the clearing. At the best of times he got nervous in dark spaces, but it was equally worse with the recent memory of a certain Litwick startling him in Shadowhue forest. He wanted to run yet he stayed put for the moment.

(Wow, did I eat something different today? my muse apparently wants to show off lol... This can be either a passing panic attack or prelude to a random battle if you like. I'd recommend a Trevenant)

"Ya i live there it's not as bad as it" Noel then shuts up and looks around the area the chill of darkness engulfing the area as she slowly looks through and around the area checking everywhere as she looks down and around the entire lake leaving nothing unseen by her aura sense "I don't think we are alone right now" she says as she scouts the area again

Then as quick as the noise came something could be herd falling from where noel was standing as a large branch started to fall Noels eyes went wide as she threw her arms up and caught the branch out of the corner of hey eye she notices a figure in the air so she does what she should do once someone drops a branch at her and threw it it sped at the figure and before it had time to react WACK Right on its head the branch did go as the large figure then fell

"i'll go see who our friend is" she says as she throws her scarf around one loop so it is just near the middle of her back and sped off towards the fallen figure

The Riolu cut off what she was saying moments later, obviously getting the same vibe Trace is feeling, and looked around the clearing. Meanwhile Trace was standing stock still, staring like a deerling in the headlights as a massive tree branch flew through the air at the two of them. He wanted to warn Noel of the approaching danger but fear stole his voice and his body.

Thankfully the Riolu noticed the branch just in time, and swiftly catches the tree limb before, just as swiftly, throwing it out to the gloom. It it something with an audible thwack, the sound galvanizing Trace into motion.

Looking like he had been violently kicked in the rear the Electrike leaped in the opposite direction of the sound, twisting in the air so that he was more sideways as he got close to the ground again. The first paw to hit the ground was his right front paw, causing him to pivot quickly to face the source of the sound in a threat posture growling faintly as Noel approached to find out what she hit.

She would soon find out that the branch had knocked down a simple doll, whatever was at the lake with them had used Subsitute! Slowly a red glow appeared behind Trace, a 5 ft Treveant materialized out of the darkness. Many local pokemon had been taking large ammounts of berries and other items from the nearby forest and this ghostly guardian decided he has had enough.

Noel had stopped shortly before going to what she had hit sensing no aura she assumed that it had left or it had moved she then quickly turned around seeing the red eyes she sprang into action grabing the branch she had thrown at whatever it was she threw it at the eyes hitting right in the middle as the branch slowly fell she ran at it and punched it right into whoever that was knocking it backward

she then stops landing right near trace "whoever that was he's weak now" she turns and looks at trace "you should leave i'll handle this" she says as she runs right at the pokemon noticing it was a Treveant a gleam glowed in her eyes as she slammed her paw on the dazed Ghost type

The angry Trevenant was focused entirely on Trace who, oblivious to the danger behind him, was carefully watching the tree branch as it sailed straight for them. The branch, recently thrown from the silhouette of Noel, was far too high to hit Trace so he initially thought she had just thrown it to get it out of the way. Then he noticed she was sprinting directly for Trace. This puzzled the lightning pokemon, and in his puzzlement his irrational fear of the situation started to melt away.

If one were to take a wider view of the situation it would be intreguing. Two pokemon aware of a specific danger to the other but unable to communicate that danger. The Trevenant had his arm raised to deal a powerful feint attack on the unprotected Trace when the branch assaulted his face. He reeled more in shock than pain, wind resistance having taken most of the force away from the branch, but his sturdy roots kept him in place. Or it would have if Noel hadn't followed up with a solid punch that caused the tree pokemon to stumble back several steps. It roared in frustration for having its attack thwarted, a fight was on!

Meanwhile Trace had turned around, his eyes following the movements of Noel, and finally got a view of the ghost pokemon. He knew the posture the pokemon was in: it was here for a fight, too enraged or too determined to escape from. Noel landed next to Trace and suggested that he should leave and let her take care of this foe. Indignation rose in the Electrike, he was not some coward who ran away from danger, but he refused to let it show. He had actually grown a measure of calm once he set eyes on the Trevenant; now that he had a purpose and a clear target all his fears washed away, there was no need to be afraid of an ambush when his opponent was already out in the open.

Trace's eyes flicked between Noel and the Trevenant as she spoke. The Trevenenat was already recovering from her attack; instead of retorting to the Riolu's comment, Trace instead charged at the ghost tree. His mouth filled with frost, a power he inherited from his mother, as he leaped up and neatly sunk his fangs into the soft joint between the bark on the pokemon's forearm and his upper arm. His fangs gored the ghostly membrane as his momentum carried him underneath the pokemon's arm, causing the Trevenant to screech in pain.

Flipping over, Trace landed neatly behind the Trevenant and called out to the Riolu: "Fighting this guy will be a lot faster if the two of us work together!"

Information on the Trevenant:
Level: 19
Moves:
-Substitute (rarely used)
-Feint Attack
-Ingrain (only roots him to the spot and increases his defense)
-Shadow Ball

Noel just looks at trace just looks at him as his runs bravely at the Electric type as it sinks the ice fangs right into the tree, Huh ice fang nice noel thought quietly to herself as she watched him jump back next to her hearing what he said "heh ya that is true come on let's show him"

Noel then sped off right at him eyes glowing with the same energy as they did before and she struck him right in the middle of his head and flipped around the ghost type dashing at the trees and jumps up slamming her head through one of the branches in the tree then spin kicking it right at her opponent Thinking this would hurt a lot more then the last one