Freaking hot (open)

First topic message reminder :

.....hot.

This was all that went through the Lucario's head as she walked onward to the base of the Chasm, she was wearing her normal scarf and black trench coat with her bag at her side moving slightly as she walked, she felt like a idiot as she walked a steel type fighting in a volcano she is the genius.

She looks at her item's and sees the stick she randomly picked up once, she felt like setting it on fire and using it to swipe at some Pokemon that seemed to be a fun way to pass the time. She mentally shrugged knowing that most here were fire type's so that would be a bad idea.

(15)

Varda looked up at the taller Pokémon, tilting his head to the side slightly as he saw some strange red haze coming out of his friend, the feathers on top of his head flopping over. It certainly looked odd, but... Noel didn't seem to be very concerned about it. Perhaps that meant it was fine, then? He did give a nod when she mentioned how him seeing some Pokémon earlier was the only lead they had. That couldn't be more true! It was also possible that the trail was already cold and they would go nowhere, but it was always worth a try when there was nothing else to try.

The Swablu started to lead the way, waddling towards the path he had seen the group of Pokémon taking from the air. Everything did always look like it was closer when he was up in the sky, but he couldn't fly now. The Lucario lacked such an ability, and it was just plain rude to leave someone behind like that! As he continued to walk, there was a gap large enough in the rocks for them to pass through – just like the bird Pokémon had though based on what he had seen of their surroundings.

Bird carried out 2 launched of one Fiery Chasm :

,

Noel looks at the path ahead while following Varda. She wondered how far they must if gotten but the path seemed straight unless they reached a fork in the road they should be in the same path the entire way, she looked at the sky she didn't want to be here till dark when it was hard to see everything.

They reached a large gap in the rocks at seemed to be big enough for both of them Noel makes her way through and slightly winced in pain as her arm hit the wall, but she pushed past it and ended up on another large path with a Growlithe sitting in place staring at her. Noel moves her head to the left slightly and the dog mimics her.

Varda continued to waddle ahead, his steps quick but pace slow due to his rather short legs. His small stature made it quite easy to squeeze through small holes – at least as long as there was nothing that could have accidentally tangled around him – so getting through the gap was easy. The path on the other side was larger and clearly something that many Pokémon had used to go from one place to another for generations. While the solid rock did not leave behind footprints for them to be able to say if something had walked there recently... The path seemed to be free of ash for the most part. Perhaps they could try to follow the cleaner paths and hopefully get where the bigger group of Pokémon was heading?

The bird was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a quiet bark coming from very close! As he looked up, he noticed a dog-like Pokémon just sitting there, staring at Noel. It didn't seem to be sure about how it would react to two strange Pokémon suddenly showing up. It threw back its head as it got on its feet, its paws sliding on the rocky surface as it tried to build up speed to leave, running down the path.
"That is the direction where I saw the group of Pokémon head towards," the Swablu quickly told the Lucario,
"Should we... Follow it?"


Current Energy: 10 (13 -3 from the enemy encounter, -1 from the item roll, +1 from the new page)

Bird carried out 1 launched of one Fiery Chasm :

Noel watches as the dog Pokemon runs away from the pair not use his do handle Noel and Varda. She quickly came out of her small trace and nodded looking back to the small hole they had crossed. "Well since you said they came this way there hasn't been any other ways to go, so unless they can fly they should be ahead" she said knowing if they could fly they'd be a little screwed considering Noel can't fly nor could she run fast with her injuries.

She started to walk but then she was interrupted by two loud barks as the dog came back with a Houndour next to it. Both of them got in low stances and looked at Noel and Varda growling softly at them. They seemed to wanna fight.

Varda nodded. There honestly was no other way to go. As far as he could say, many Pokémon couldn't just fly and none of the ones he had seen from the air looked like they were capable of such! They would have to go in the direction the little dog had run off to. He didn't know how the road would be up ahead, but if they were lucky... It would continue in a straight line without any twists and turns that might lead them to the wrong place.

The bird started to waddle after Noel, as she now knew where they should be going just as well as him. They didn't get to go too far before more barking was heard from the distance and the original orange dog Pokémon came back... With another one of those black dogs that looked like the one that had attacked the Lucario earlier. Both of them looked angry with their teeth bared and the fur on their back raised. The Swablu stopped immediately of course, not wanting to test his luck with two very angry-looking Pokémon... But both of the dogs opened their mouths as they shot small balls of fire towards the pair. All Varda could do was spread his wings and try to fly out of the way.


Current Energy: 6 (10 -4 from the encounter)

Noel jumped over and landed on her right leg and spun around on her foot so she was facing the two dogs. She gave a small sigh in annoyance as the dogs looked at her and tried to fire another small ember attack at her, which she evaded in almost a second using quick attack to seemingly appear to her right avoiding the blasts of fire. She did the same multiple times until they got annoyed with the Lucario.

The black dog ran at Noel with the full intention of biting the Lucario, she was ready though as she charged up power in her right fist and aimed it right at his jaw sending the dog flying back and into the wall ahead. She then dropped clutching her arm in pain, it seems using that attack hurt her already hurt paw more. She was lucky the growlithe had been trying to fire more ember shots at Varda, though Varda might not of been as lucky.

Varda certainly had the upper hand by being able to fly – but unfortunately for him, the flames that were shot were not something that the gravity seemed to affect all that much. That wasn't something the two feral Pokémon seemed to realize right away, as they instead concentrated their fire on their grounded opponent: Noel. She was a very fast Pokémon despite her injured state and not such an easy target as the dog-like Pokémon might have first thought. Frustrated, one of them decided to charge the Lucario while the other turned towards the flying bird.

The Growlithe opened its mouth and its throat soon started to glow the familiar, warm light of flames. It didn't take long for another ball of fire to be spat out into the air, aimed towards the Swablu. Varda has been prepared for it, so he managed to quickly get out of the way – but he wasn't swift enough to keep up as the striped dog Pokémon kept attacking. He knew it was a battle of endurance and speed he would eventually lose. Trying to keep avoiding while his feet frantically grabbed for the small sacks of ash he had with him, he untied one of them from himself and let it fall to the ground, right on top of the feral Pokémon – just as a ball of fire hit Varda himself, singeing the tips of his bright blue belly feathers.

It took Noel a moment to regain herself as a pain went all around her body , mostly in her arm. She shakes her arm in a attempt to rid herself of the pain as she looks to the dog she had thrown into the wall slowly get up. "No you don't" she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a blast seed, she then threw it at the Houndour as it impacts not him but the wall above him causing rocks to fall on top of the pokemon knocking it out.

She then turns her attention just in time to see the bag of ash that had fallen from Varda hit the feral pokemon. It had gotten loose and seemingly blew up in the feral pokemon's face as it gets blinded and runs around and eventually hits a wall at full speed knocking it unconscious. "In my years of exploring, I have never seen that happen" Noel comments slightly shocked that actually happened.

Varda flapped his wings as he let himself move further away from the feral Pokémon he was fighting. The sack of ash had fallen on the dog and even opened from the impact, causing a dusty cloud to erupt from it. While he was safe from it, being up in the air... The area surrounding the dog-like Pokémon was momentarily covered in ash, limiting what the Swablu could see. As the ashen cloud dispersed, it soon became quite apparent that some ash had managed to get into the dog's eyes! It tried to blink fast and even rub its eyes clean with its paws, but no luck. Eventually in its panicked and agitated state, it started to run – running headfirst into a rocky wall.

The bird Pokémon let out a small gasp as he closed his eyes, almost like he felt the pain himself. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes to see... The feral Pokémon lying on the ground, unconscious. Varda wasn't entirely sure how that had managed to happen, looking at the scene with wide eyes as he blinked slowly. It seemed like both of the feral Pokémon had been taken care of somehow. Carefully, the Swablu started to descend, landing on the rocky ground. He turned to look at Noel, just as puzzled as she was. But... But maybe it was a good thing.

"Do you think they were guards?" Varda suddenly asked after a moment of silence, almost like something had popped into his mind,
"The group of Pokémon I saw walking to that direction seemed... Important somehow. If there are guards around, we should be very careful!" He continued, wondering if there was a way where they didn't have to fight. Maybe if they were very sneaky, they could avoid any potential guards... The Swablu quickly lost his train of thought as he noticed the open sack of ash on the ground, picking it up...

"Guard's?" She repeated as she looks ahead to where the path lead. Was there something there she then looks at the feral Pokemon or wait were they feral or like Varda said guards. It was confusing to her but that might if just been her headache. "Maybe but guards for what?" She asked Varda and herself not thinking of anything that could be ahead. She then looks at her arm and stretched.

"Well no matter what we have to go ahead. So let's just keep our heads down and try to avoid a fight, don't want to get more injured then we are now" Noel said in a firm voice as she walks ahead putting both paws into her Jackets pocket.

Varda opened the sack of ash he had now picked up, gently scooping in what little had spilled out when it had landed on the dog Pokémon. It wasn't a good idea to waste something so valuable and rare as ash! ...Or well, it was rather rare and valuable outside the volcanic area, at least. But something hard touched the sooty feathers in the pile of ash. As the bird continued to clean that area, another – rather dirty – disc emerged. Tilting his head, he picked it up and gave it a little turn. He wasn't sure if something so dirty would work... But maybe someone could make use of it?

Putting the disc in his bag and tying the strap around his sack of ash to prevent future spills, the Swablu turned to look at Noel. His idea of the Pokémon being guards was a bit confusing to the Lucario it seemed, but she still was willing to accept. But her question was something he couldn't answer.
"I... Don't know," Varda chirped, honest about his own ignorance. He hadn't thought about his idea for long enough. They didn't have enough proof about anything, honestly! With a nod, the bird Pokémon agreed that they would have to keep moving and try to avoid fights.
"We should try to be very quiet," he mused as he started to waddle after Noel.

For a moment, Fiery Chasm seemed to calm down again, the sounds disappearing except for the gently bubbling of the molten rock. The air was as hot as it had been, the smell of smoke and sulfur still very present. The Swablu's steps were quiet – but such was an easy feat due to his own light weight. But soon... Noises. Many noises. The noise wasn't that of ferocious, fighting Pokémon, but it certainly did sound like Pokémon. A steady stream of little sounds made by many, causing Varda to shudder in anticipation as he looked at the Lucario. Ahead, the road was growing wider, still protected by the tall, rocky walls of volcanic rock. But what was very interesting was that there seemed to be a giant crater of some sort up ahead – filled with so many different kinds of Pokémon.


Got TM Will-o-Wisp

Noel remained low wishing she had worn something different here. A black coat here made her stick our as if she was wearing a sign that yelled punch me. She was careful not to make any noise at all but suddenly she heard something ahead. She was going to use her aura sense as her eye's glow a bit and she tries to see ahead of herself but she ended up getting a head rush as she clutched her head in pain from the rush.

She couldn't sense aura now since she got slammed in the head by that Pokemon. She should if hit him more, she looks to Varda before he could ask her. "I'm ok" she said in a quiet whisper to not attract attention to herself. "But I can't sense aura right now" she said to confirm why she was hurt.

Varda's steps had gotten extra careful when he started to hear some noises, standing on his toes as he tried to stretch himself tall in case he could see more that way. He walked with a light, quiet pace, looking more like he was sneaking than anything. While he was concentrated on what was going on in front of them, he wasn't ignoring their surroundings either. Out of the corner of his eye, he could notice Noel wince in pain and hold her pain, obviously causing the bird to snap to face her, worry in his eyes. He already opened his beak to ask, but the Lucario beat him to it, saying that she was alright – she just couldn't sense auras like she usually did.

It was a skill the Swablu did not have himself, so he obviously couldn't imagine how it felt to not have such a sense. He didn't even know how often Noel used it! But he did know that it was very useful, and, well... They had no idea what was up ahead.
"Oh," Varda chirped quietly, not entirely calmed by this revelation even though the Lucario claimed to be fine despite what had happened. He thought about how to continue after that, his eyes glancing around.
"You'll be fine, right?" The little bird tilted his head as he looked back at Noel.

"There's Pokémon ahead," Varda mused as he mostly thought out loud, knowing that of course the Lucario wouldn't suddenly be deaf because she lost her aura sense, but still wanting to strike up a quiet conversation,
"...I don't know if they're hostile or not. But there's a lot of them. If they see us and want to do harm..."

"Ya I'll be fine" she said as she looked around for any indication of a Pokemon around. "Yup sounds like it better just keep low, don't want to get out numbered" she said as she too a low stance almost to the ground. She was just a bit taller then Varda now as she slowly moved along the path. "If they want to do harm to us they can try" she said with a smirk and punched her clenched fist into her open Palm. Even I'd she was hurt she knew she'd be fine in a fight though it would be a bit harder she had Varda on her side.

She walks farther in as the voices get louder they were right there was a lot of Pokemon around here so Noel got a bit nervous but she was ready for it.

Varda gave his friend a nod as she said that she would be fine despite her lack of aura-sensing abilities. They had their plan now. They both knew that they would have to be quiet and careful, try to remain unseen so they weren't attacked by a large group of potentially hostile Pokémon. Noel did her best to get low, being quite flexible despite her taller form and able to become quite small when she wanted. The fluffy bird tried to do the same, but he just couldn't get much smaller than he already was. Perhaps he could have crawled, but that would have been way too slow!

The pair started to slowly make their way towards the source of the voices, their steps quiet. The Swablu couldn't help but hold his breath, his eyes occasionally looking up in case there was someone looking at them. He couldn't see anyone luckily, but he couldn't help but be a bit nervous about being found out anyways. The ground ahead of them quickly dropped down to form a giant crater, but Varda didn't want to go that far. Instead, he made his way to the edge of the bowl, hiding behind a rock and peeking in.

It was clear that the crater was the source of the sounds they had heard, being full of so many different kind of Fire-types. For some reason, many had been gathered there, which certainly was an interesting sight... But for their own safety, not messing with them was probably safer. That was what the bird thought before something shiny caught his attention, causing him to gasp quietly. One of the Pokémon in the crater was holding a shiny little blue rock of some kind, attached to a string... Could it be? Was it the Mystic Water?