Persuading the Pidgeys!

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Crash the Tyrogue, a member of the guild, found himself in the Pecha Forest once again on a request from Wurmple. Apparently, according to his cry for help, there were simply too many Pidgey in the area! For him, it must have been scary for a bug-type like him with all of those birds around. It was good for him that there were explorers like Crash around to keep the peace. Usually, a fighting-type going into a job like this would seem like a bad idea, what with brawns over brains. However, this Tyrogue was going to try a "diplomatic" approach before he did anything rash. The pokemon walked through the forest at a brisk pace, trying to find the pokemon who were plaguing this forest.

Varda flew as fast as he could to keep away from the flock of Pidgey that seemed to all want to attack him. Was it because he went so close or had they planned to do it all along, waiting and stalking the pair of Pokémon from above? Then again, perhaps he shouldn't question the reason why feral Pokémon attacked, they just... Did, as far as he knew. The brown and cream birds were faster and more agile, however, catching up little by little. Lumina decided to step in to help, shooting another one of the strange balls that had confused the earlier Pidgey. It forced one of his chasers to land, unable to fly in its dazed state.

Unfortunately such an action caused the fox to draw some of the attention on herself and one of the Pidgey from the group left to start attacking her. The Swablu couldn't rush to her side to aid her, as even though two of the birds chasing him had disappeared, the third one was still left – and he had to do his best to try to keep his distance from the faster flier. Eventually it slammed itself against Varda, causing him to cough out as he was forced to straighten himself to not fall to the ground. Still, considering how aggressive the Pidgey was... The blue bird landed, noticing how his attacker did the same, following his moves and not just leaving him be.

He quickly glanced at Lumina, noticing that she had everything under control for the most part. She didn't seem hurt and the Pidgey that had attacked her was contained in a fiery vortex.
"Lumin–" Varda had started, but his speech was cut short by a fit of coughing as the confused Pidgey had started to kick sand and dust around, sending a lot of it in the direction of him and the other feral Pidgey. A lot of it got in his mouth and eyes, causing him to sputter rub his eyes as he tried to get at least some of it out. It seemed like the other Pidgey was doing the same, accidentally hit by the confused bird.

"I think they might be following us," the Swablu finally managed to call out, letting out a dry cough as he backed away,
"Do you think we could run and have them follow us to where we want to bring them?"

The Vulpix took a moment to catch her breath. One of the Pidgey was confused, the second was caught in a Fire Spin, and the third was fighting Varda. With all the enemies off her back for now, she could have a second to rest, which she glad took. She looked back at her partner, checking to see if he had everything under control when she heard him say her name. Well, most of her name, anyways.

She moved to help him, racing towards the not-confused Pidgey as it tried to rub the sand out of it's eyes. She tackled it using Quick Attack, charging into it and knocking it away. It managed to spread it's wings and start hovering before it hit the ground, but it still had it's vision blocked by the sand. It's wings glowing, it sent a powerful burst of wind in Lumina's direction, but had aimed a few centimetres too high and it when right over her head.

By this point, she turned back to Varda, quickly listening to his suggestion. "That could work." She said hurriedly, noticing the flames of the Fire Spin starting to grower thinner. The Pidgey would be able to get out soon. "I'd be willing to try it, anyways, it could save us a lot of trouble. Which way are we running?"

Energy: 22

Varda turned to look at the fox, noticing her tackle the Pidgey that had been momentarily blinded by the sand just like him, his vision a bit blurry from his itchy, watery eyes. The brown bird quickly tried to retaliate... But the sand in its eyes prevented it from aiming well. Good. Well, it was good for now. For one moment, all three of the feral Pokémon were unable to fight or even follow them properly, giving them the opportunity to escape now. But... They didn't want to do that, right? They needed the birds for their mission and leaving them behind would be foolish. This was their chance – after they had waited for all of them to get ready to chase after the two of them again!

Lumina agreed that the idea could work, causing the Swablu's eyes to light up. That was the only thing he needed to even try to attempt his plan, someone confirming it for him. The only question in the air right now was... Where would they run?
"Away from the down so we end up going deeper to the forest! That would be," the blue bird looked around frantically, trying to find the right way to go. If birds usually were known to have a good sense of direction... Varda clearly was the exception to that rule, completely lost.

"Um! Um... ...Umm," the small Pokémon was quickly defeated by the challenge of trying to find something familiar in a forest full of identical trees, bushes and pathways. He looked to Lumina, hopeful that maybe she would know.
"We need to grab the fourth one, too!" The bird continued, not letting his own lack of knowledge to get him down, already spreading his wings as he prepared to take flight and lure the Pidgey after the two of them.


Current Energy: 16 (15 +1 from new page)

She looked at the Swablu expectantly, but her hopes that he would know which direction they should go in were swiftly dashed as she saw him looking around frantically. "We go that way to get deeper in... I think." She half-muttered that last part, pointing in a direction with her forepaw. Her main concern when they started fighting hadn't been to keep track of which way was forward. Then again, this was a Mystery Dungeon, right? Wasn't going in any direction technically deeper in, as long as they didn't accidently go dashing back towards Grassveil?

She darted towards the fourth Pidgey, who was miraculously still sleeping despite all the noise. Grabbing Varda's pink ribbon gently but firmly, she turned around and started to run in the direction she had pointed in earlier, hoping that he got the hint and followed. The Pidgey that she had trapped a moment earlier had managed to fly out and was diving towards her with a loud screech, it's feathers slightly singed from the flames.

Energy: 22

Varda nodded as the fox pointed the direction they should head towards if they wanted to go deeper, and he had no reason to believe that she was lying. Or wrong. Trusting his friend blindly, he knew he would go in the direction she pointed, knowing that it was exactly where they had to go. Lumina dashed to fetch the tied up Pidgey that still – somehow – was sleeping soundly, its movements constricted by the ribbon. She seemed to have an easier time carrying the bird, so of course the Swablu let her handle that part. They would have to get all four feral Pokémon to the same place.

The blue bird took flight, being a much faster flier than he was a runner, what with him having rather short legs. The Pidgey that had been trapped by the fiery vortex had managed to escape, its feathers slightly darkened by the flames. The one that had gotten sand in its eyes seemed to be back in action as well, in air and moving closer. The one that still seemed a bit confused was the issue however, as Varda wasn't sure if it could actually fly in a straight line and follow them!

"I'll be right there!" The Swablu called out, trying to buy them some time and purposely flying closer to the feral Pidgey to taunt them into chasing after him. It was especially important that one of them snapped out of its confusion before they started to run away and lost it completely. Varda kept circling it as he did his best to avoid any potential attacks, finally getting the dazed one to fly after him well enough that he felt comfortable flying after Lumina, following her and bringing the other birds with him.

The Vulpix slowed down, not wanted to leave Varda behind as he tried to make the confused Pidgey follow him. Looking back on it, maybe using Confuse Ray hadn't been her best move, but hindsight's 20/20. Unluckily, the other two Pidgey had followed him, not willing to leave him alone as he tried to lure the third Pidgey into following them.

She could only wait as the Swablu kept the attention of all three Pidgey, keeping a tight grip on the one she was carrying. She was ready to dart over there in an instant if things started to go badly, you could use Quick Attack for more than running into things, after all. The burst of speed would've allowed her to close the distance between her and the others in a flash. But soon enough Varda was flying back, mostly unharmed with the trio of birds close behind him.

Lumina paused, feeling oddly calm as she watched Varda fly closer. Once he had almost arrived to where she was standing, she fired a Confuse Ray at the Pidgey nearest to him. It missed, just like she had intended it to, but the small bird Pokemon needed to swerve to avoid it, buying the Swablu a bit of time. She that was when she turned around and started to run once more, occasionally glancing at Varda to make sure he was still alright.

Varda had some trouble trying to keep up with everything that was happening around him, having so many attackers to try to dodge and then even trying to make sure that he didn't fly into a tree! It was a miracle that he didn't screw up badly in the heat of the battle, doing quite many clumsy mistakes in the air as he did his best. It only got harder as the third Pidgey joined the chase, causing him to have to avoid three feral Pokémon at once, continuously trying to harm him. He did suffer some scratches, but managed to keep himself in the air and flying towards Lumina as fast as he could.

The fox ended up firing another one of her confusing orbs towards the group, causing all of the birds to attempt to dodge it. It didn't hit anyone – luckily, as it would have made things take more time even if it would have been safer – but the Pidgey that ended up being closest to it was forced to slow down, giving the Swablu slightly more room to maneuver. He was the slower and clumsier flier when compared to the rest of the birds, but he forced his wings to beat faster than they had ever before, his muscles already screaming in agony as they were pushed to the limit.

Lumina ran with the sleeping Pidgey in her mouth, Varda following close behind her. Right now the most important task was to not stop no matter what, the greens of the forest around them turning into a blur as they went by so fast. The feral Pokémon were quite relentless in their attack attempts, though they too had to fly faster than usual if they wanted to keep up. Pecks didn't stop the blue bird, he concentrated on keeping himself in the air and going forward, following the fox as well as he could.

The Vulpix listened closely for the wing beats behind and beside her, both from the three Pidgey and from Varda. If she wanted to, she could've ran off with Quick Attack, but she couldn't just leave Varda behind. Besides, she might've accidently started to run too fast and loose the Pidgey. She couldn't risk attacking them, either, since she might accidently knock them out.

For now, she could only hope that she had pointed the right way. Lumina had a pretty good sense of direction, she would like to think, but it was far from perfect. Especially in a place that could be as confusing as a Mystery Dungeon, the whole point of these things seemed to be turning logic on it's head. But that was a conversation for another day, for now, she was just trying to strike the balance between running fast enough to not get attacked by the Pidgey but slow enough so that she didn't loose them or Varda.

The Fox Pokémon squinted into the nearby distance, seeing the trees beginning to thin out somewhere up ahead. It was a small clearing in the middle of the forest, maybe this would be a good place to leave the Pidgey. She could only really hope that Varda had the same idea, for she couldn't speak very clearly while holding the small bird Pokémon in her mouth, even if only by the pink ribbon.

Varda concentrated on his task, his eyes keenly observing what was happening around him to the best of his ability. He flew as fast as he had to keep up with the running fox Pokémon, already starting to feel the burn in his muscles as they ached, begging for him to stop and rest for a while. But he couldn't, not now. If he did, he could accidentally lose Lumina if she didn't notice him stopping – not to mention that all of the Pidgey most likely would stop and attack him instead of following the fox, which would ruin their entire plan!

He didn't know how long they had been running – or flying. In a way, it felt like time itself had stopped. He could see that they were going were fast, but it just felt like it was taking ages. The Swablu could only hope that they truly had gone on for a while, making their way deeper into the forest. Soon, the trees started to thin, causing the little bird's heart to skip a beat. In a way, it could have been both a good sign and a bad sign. Perhaps it was the edge of the forest already. Perhaps it was the wrong edge, the one closest to Grassveil Town... Or perhaps it was on the opposite side, as far away from their home as possible!

Or it could have just been a small clearing in the middle of Pecha forest, as it turned out to be. Varda made a mistake as his concentration was broken for a moment, looking around and his wing beats slowing down... Causing him to get tackled by one of the Pidgey flying behind him. He didn't have enough time to straighten himself and catch his fall, the feral bird Pokémon's talons scraping at him as he did the best to protect himself from the attack. The Pidgey was latched on to him with its sharp claws, though the pair of birds finally ended up crashing down on the grass in the clearing in one swift dive, forcing the two to separate. The Swablu spat out some of the grass and dirt he had accidentally scooped up with his beak, shakily getting on his feet as the rest of the bird flock found an easy target of him, preparing to attack.

The Vulpix quickly placed down the Pidgey she had been holding, deciding that she needed to help Varda. She darted straight at one of the birds with Quick Attack and tackled it, pinning it against the grassy ground with her forepaws. She fired yet another Confuse Ray at close range, the bird's small talons clawing her as it tried to escape, but it was ultimately of little use. As close as she was to it, the attack had little chance of missing. The orb hit the Pidgey directly in the chest, and as soon as it did, the smaller Pokémon stopped flailing around and instead simply stared up at the sky with a puzzled coo, almost as if forgetting the battle happening around it.

With that one momentarily dealt with, she sprung off it and noticed the other two trying to attack Varda. "I think we should just knock them out here, this would be a good place to leave them!" She barked hurriedly. They could still only hope that the Pidgey would stay here, that much she was painfully aware of. There was really nothing from stopping them from moving back to their former position. But if they were going to leave the birds here, Lumina figured that the best way to loose them was probably to knock them out. They definitely seemed determined to fight them, so why not give the Pidgey what they wanted?

She charged towards the second Pidgey, trying to slam into it with Flare Blitz. But the feral Pokémon was a bit too swift for her and evaded this attack by hovering a little higher in the sky. Lumina stopped herself as quickly as she could manage, but she wasn't fast enough to prevent the Pidgey she had tried to hit from diving towards her and digging it's talons into her shoulder.

Varda felt his own legs shaking a bit from the shock of the sudden crash landing, but he still forced himself to move when he noticed that he was becoming a target. He spread his aching wings, not exactly enjoying the sensation of trying to fly when all his wings asked for was some rest, but he had no choice. Staying put would cause him to experience even more pain in the end. The bird flapped his wings, gaining enough lift to push himself off the ground a little, but he was struggling.

"Alright!" The Swablu chirped as Lumina suggested that they should knock the feral Pokémon out here and leave them behind, and he honestly couldn't argue with that. It was pretty clear that the birds weren't leaving them alone if they just tried running away, having followed the two of them this far already. For their own safety, it should be done – lest a flock of such aggressive Pidgey followed them all the way back to Grassveil Town!

The fox attempted to help Varda by attacking one of the Pidgey while the blue bird himself braced for impact. It seemed like the third feral Pokémon that had been ready for a fight a moment ago was no longer trying to attack the two, so the fight certainly had gotten a little bit easier. He had to leave the other one to Lumina as he flapped his wings, rising higher into the air as he prepared his own talons to grab the faster flier when it came closer to him. The Pidgey dived at him, tackling the Swablu head on, knocking the air out of his lungs. Quickly, he grabbed the other bird with his feet, bringing the Pidgey down with him and landing on top of it.

His eyes quickly glanced towards Lumina, finding the other Pidgey attacking her rather mercilessly. Gritting his beak, Varda let go of the Pidgey under him, hopping into the air as he left the feral bird get up on its own. He flew as fast as his wings still let him, flying into the Pidgey that had been attacking the fox, his sharp beak first.

The Vulpix was vaguely aware that Varda was fighting the other Pidgey from somewhere behind her, but she needed to focus on this one for the moment. She craned her head around and dug her teeth into the Pidgey's wing, which made it give out a loud chirp, but it didn't let go of her shoulder. If anything, that just seemed to make it madder. Why were these Pidgey so aggressive? She would expect this kind of behaviour from the feral Pokémon in, say, Shadowhue. The ones in Pecha Forest didn't normally act like this...

Before she could think on this any further, Varda had appeared, diving into the feral Pokémon with his sharp beak. That was enough to convince it to let go of Lumina's shoulder, and with an angry squawk, it flew up a bit higher in the sky. As it hovered, it's wings started to glow, and it sent a powerful gust of wind in the Swablu's direction. That only lasted until the confused Pidgey rammed into it, sending both the small bird Pokémon tumbling out of the sky.

Lumina was keeping a close eye on the other Pidgey, in the meanwhile. It's wings started to glow as it prepared a Gust attack, but seeing a chance as her enemy stayed still, the Vulpix summoned a ring of flames beneath the feral Pokémon. The Fox Pokémon looked back at Varda to check how he was doing, knowing that the Pidgey would be trapped for a little while.

Varda drove his beak into the Pidgey, forcing it to let go and back off. He flapped his wings to generate enough of a push to back away himself as well, looking at Lumina to make sure that she was okay. Such momentarily glance was cut even shorter by the sudden wind that seemed to be picking up, forcing the Swablu to turn his gaze towards the Pidgey he had attacked just a moment ago. The feral Pokémon was using its wings to create a powerful gust of wind, one strong enough to force Varda to fight against it with all his might to stay in the same spot. But it proved to be too much, he was much too light and his wings much too tired to fight it forever, his body soon whisked away as he lost all control, flying backwards and into the ground. The wind kept pushing him backwards, causing him to tumble backwards on the ground, helpless.

As suddenly as the wind had appeared, it also stopped, finally letting the blue bird to stop rolling around. He looked up, noticing that one of the Pidgey seemed to be acting strangely, seemingly confused. It had apparently bumped into the one that had been attacking him, causing both of them to drop down to the ground. The Swablu got up as quickly as his aching body allowed him, wanting to use the moment he was given as wisely as he could, not wasting any time. Once more, he started to sing, trying to lull the feral Pokémon to sleep. These ones seemed awfully aggressive, so he wasn't entirely sure if they could fall asleep... But he was going to try!

The two Pidgey (the confused one now seeming to have come back to it's senses) scrambled back to their feet, covered in a few scratches and minor burns. It was then that a soft song reached their ears, and though the two clearly tried to fight it, it wasn't long until their eyes and wings felt heavy. The Pidgey that Lumina had been carrying also drifted back to sleep, despite it having been squawking and struggling this entire time.

The only one that remained awake was the one trapped in the Fire Spin. It was hovering near the middle of the fiery vortex, taking as little damage from the flames as it could manage. Lumina backed away, catching her breath. "How long do you think they'll stay asleep?" She wondered, a bit worried. Would the attack not last as long if it affected this many Pokemon? That seemed unlikely, but perhaps it was possible, she wasn't completely sure of how Varda's move worked.

Varda sung, quite surprised that his song was never interrupted in the middle. He was allowed to finish it without any issues, the Pidgey staying awfully quiet. It was simple to see why. The two had fallen asleep, their legs betraying them as the birds slid back on the ground. The Pidgey were lying down side by side, their eyes closed and their chests rising slowly, looking quite peaceful compared to their earlier, aggressive way of being. The Swablu quite preferred this look.

The bird Pokémon couldn't help but take a moment to rest, panting as he finally had the chance to catch his breath. The flight had been taxing, pushing him to his limits... And the fight that ensued afterward didn't give him time to relax! Tired, he looked up at the fox as he heard her voice, a small smile forming.
"Oh, well, honestly," Varda cooed quietly, his voice breathy and wavering,
"I'm not entirely sure... Usually I leave as soon as I can after putting them to sleep," he continued, unfortunately not able to answer Lumina's question. His wings were just drooping to his sides, lying on the ground. Right now, he was too tired to even fold them up properly.