The Island Mystery

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The cool lake breeze brushed past the purpled-haired monkey as he shouldered his custom-made napsack composed of leaves, twigs and grass. He'd set out half a day ago to make his way to this peculiar island following a curious summons addressed directly to his tree dwelling in Pecha forest. It still wasn't clear who sent it or why, but the letter requested his help and he couldn't help but be drawn to the adventure. Of course, danger and excitement wasn't really his thing, but life in Pecha had grown stagnant and a change of scenery was exactly what he needed. The only problem was... He'd reached the last branch before the edge of the lake.

Cracker stared down at the forest floor where it transitioned from tall grass to a thin bar of sand leading into the water. It had been a while since he'd last set foot on solid ground, and he wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Safety was in the trees for him, and he just couldn't get over the texture of grass and dirt, with all those little twigs and bugs to snap and squish underfoot. Still though, the Aipom had come this far, it wouldn't make sense to give up and turn back now.

Wrapping his tail around the branch he stood on, Cracker closed his eyes tight and dove off backwards, swinging in a short arch before letting go and landing firmly on his feet. Immediately the prickly sensation of the grassy ground shot up his legs, making him dance uncomfortably. "Ooooh, why does it have to be so pointy!" he whined, shifting from one foot to the next as he quickly raced towards the shore. The sand was moderately better underfoot, but the way it squished between his toes made him shudder nonetheless.

With his tail hand, the Aipom reached into his pack and pulled out the little letter he'd gotten, perusing it once more. The neatly written words said: Please, help me. You're my only hope. Fallen Leaf Copse. That was it, no details beyond where to go. It was kind of exciting, actually. Like a mystery.

As he stood on the small beach, Cracker's feet sank into the squishy sand, the occasional wave of water helping to bury them. He could see the pathway leading to the island nearby, but the Aipom was considering an alternative means of transportation. One that would get him off his feet in particular. Shaking the sand off his feet, the monkey began scavenging pieces of driftwood scattered across the shore with the intent of constructing a boat. As he worked, Cracker started humming a terribly out of tune song.

((Energy 12))

Rather than return to hanging off Akuroma's head, the Aipom opted to stay in the trees, ever alert should they encounter any hostiles. To be fair though, so far their venture into the Copse was uneventful. Not that Cracker was complaining of course. He wasn't really suited for battle, and tended to keep his distance whenever possible. Not including those rare moments where he found excitement in the heat of things, like he did on the shore not too long ago.

"Well, he did a good job, cause you look fabulous!" Cracker giggled. "Too bad he sounds like a squeaky toy whenever he talks. So what does he want with boring old leaves anyway?" the monkey asked, eager to continue talking to stave off boredom as they moved deeper into this land of perpetual autumn. "I mean, is it because they're weird colours? Or would he take these leaves too?" Snatching some yellow, orange and red leaves, Cracker dangled them from his tail.

Akuroma shook his head, "He'd have asked for those if he wanted them. Most likely he wants the odd colored leaves simply because they're odd colored. Knowing him, he'd use them as decoration for items," the Gallade explained. It was true that the Furfrou was skilled in his profession, but sometimes he would think that Dandy would go too far. Akuroma then teleported up into the branch next to Cracker's. "In any case, we should keep an eye out for those leaves, I'd suspect the more of them we find, the closer we get to other odd things. Including items."

[30 energy]

Dracorexion carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , ,

Perched in the trees like the natural he was, Cracker watched the Gallade follow suit, teleporting to a branch near him. It was honestly the first time the Aipom had seen Akuroma in a tree. Like... ever. Not that he suspected the psychic Pokemon of never using the trees for cover, but in his experience his friend had spent the majority of his time on the ground. At least when he wasn't zooming around on floating chunks of rock.

"Not the longest lasting of decorative doohickeys if you ask me," Cracker replied, scratching an itch behind his ear before hopping ahead a few branches with monkey grace. "They'd all shrivel up in just a couple days or something. You really think these leaves are that important though? I mean, they're just leaves, right? I can't imagine them leading to some super amazing treasure..." The Aipom came to a stop on the next branch, falling silent as his gaze landed on a Phantump busily rooting around on the leaf-covered ground, picking up leaves and discarding them one after another. He hadn't yet noticed to two Pokemon aloft in the trees overhead.

"Hmm... What do you suppose that guy's up to?" the Aipom pondered aloud.

((Energy: 8 + 1 = 9))

Akuroma shrugged, "Dandy's a whiz at accessories, I wouldn't be surprised if he could make them last an eternity," he said. He teleported next to the Aipom as he pointed out the Phantump on the ground. "Hm, probably gathering leaves like us, which means he'll help us get our leaves faster," the Gallade said before he disappeared again. He reappeared above the Phantump, fist pulled back with electricity crackling across it. The Phantump looked up, quickly phasing into the ground to avoid the attack, allowing the Gallade to slam his fist into the ground. Akuroma groaned, shaking his hand as if to shake off the pain. The Phantump rose up out of the ground in front of him, firing a Dark Pulse at him. Akuroma didn't seem to even notice the Pulse as it just flew through him as if he were a ghost.

[23 energy]

Oddly aroused by the idea of roughing up the Phantump for any leaves it might have, Cracker grinned and back-flipped into the air like an acrobat before twisting his body into a spin. When he landed his tail, creating a purple ring around him, kicked up dead leaves before uncovering the ground beneath and digging up a small storm of sandy earth. He promptly coordinated the attack, assaulting the distracted Pokemon with a torrent of leaves and dust.

His ground-type attack had little damaging effect on the ghost Pokemon, but the Phantump was temporary blinded by the swirling debris. Panicked, it wildly unleashed Confuse Ray in random directions in an attempt to strike its attackers while it tried to clear the grit from its eyes. Cracker quickly ducked one blast and dove to the ground to avoid another, but the Phantump continued its blind attack.

"This better be worth it!" Cracker called out, keeping his head low.

Akuroma quickly began to teleport around the Phantump, trying to attack it without getting hit by the confuse ray. It took several attempts, and just as many close calls before finally he landed a Thunder Punch onto the face of the ghsot type, sending it flying away as a white leaf fell off of it. "Hm, well it's definitely an odd colored leaf, one we haven't seen before that's for sure."

Akuroma looked off towards the direction the Phantump appeared to have come from, "Let's go, there should be more that way, if the Phantump came from deeper within the forest," he said. He quickly began to walk, at least until he kicked a box up into the air with little more than a tap of his foot. Catching the box, Akuroma looked at it curiously, "Hm, haven't seen one of these in awhile," he said before placing it in his bag.

Once the Phantump had been dispatched, Cracker stood up, dusting himself off and shaking free the leaves that had collected on his head. He promptly stuck his tongue out in the direction the Pokemon had been catapulted before beaming with another grin. The Aipom quickly approached Akuroma to catch a glimpse of the white leaf, his reaction being unimpressed. "Woooow..." he said in mock awe. "It's just as boring as the other colours. So that makes blue, purple and white now, right? I wonder if there's any other colours."

Bouncing up onto his tail, the Aipom flung himself onto Akuroma's head once more just as the Gallade uncovered a small box. "Looks pretty," he commented, secretly resisting the urge to pound it into a pile of splinters with his tail-hand. It was promptly put away though, and his attention immediately shifted. "So that way, huh? Adventure awaits, I guess. Onward, steed!" the Aipom giggled, realizing a little too late that Akuroma probably wouldn't like being referred to as a beast of burden.

Akuroma narrowed his eyes at the Aipom, "It's not whether the colors are exciting, it's that leaves shouldn't be these colors. Think of them like shiny Pokemon. They're rare, and that means two things. One: We know little about them and two: they could be worth a lot." With that he began to walk, till the Aipom made the comment about him being a "steed." "I'm a what now?" he asked, glaring at the Aipom slightly. Though he didn't mind the Aipom riding on his head, he didn't want to be seen as nothing more than a ride for smaller Pokemon.

"Oh! Uhm... Did I say steed? I meant, mmmm... Brave... Warrior!" Cracker replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Heh... Yeah. Certainly braver than me. A--Anyway... So the leaves are rare, which makes them valuable. Obviously I guess, if that Furfrou wants them. Buuuut I bet you're more interested in why they're all these strange colours, right? Heehee! You want to find out, don't you?"

The Aipom sat up higher on Akuroma's head, grinning like he'd just been told a saucy secret. "So this is like a new mission. Uncover the mystery of the leaves! Exciting!"

Lumin carried out 3 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, ,

Akuroma rolled his eyes. The Aipom was correct, but he seemed a bit too proud about that. It didn't really matter, though. What mattered at the moment was finding more of the leaves. "Let's just keep going till we find more leaves," he said as he continued to walk.

(bleh sorry for the short post, can't think of much atm)

Coiling his tail around Akuroma's head spike, he settled himself on the peak, looking quite content. As inconsequential a victory as it was, Cracker liked the rare moments where he felt smart. Especially considering most of his life he was looked upon as being the opposite. Of course me might've still been wrong regarding the Gallade's intentions, but he preferred to imagine he hit it on the head.

"You can count on me, Aku," he said cheerfully, holding up a paw to shield his eyes from the sun as he squinted into the distance. He had a good view from the top of Akuroma's head, but it would've been more ideal from a tree. "So what do we do when we find more leaves?" The Aipom continued looking ahead, but unseen behind him, a Sentret swung down from the trees overhead.

The eavedropping Pokemon, having heard the mention of leaves, prompting launched itself towards the duo, striking Cracker in the back and throwing him against a nearby tree. Dazed, the Aipom dropped to the ground. "Leaves! Gimme the leaves! Now!" the Sentret growled from atop Akuroma's head.

Akuroma was surprised by the sudden change of Pokemon on his head. He growled as he reached up, grabbing at the Sentret who began to dodge his hands, crawling around his head continuing its demands for the leaves. "Get off!" the Gallade yelled before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving the Sentret hanging in the air. The Sentret looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where the larger Pokemon disappeared to. Its fur then began to stand on end as an electric charge filled the air. As if on instinct, the little Pokemon looked up, finding the Gallade plummeting down with his fists drawn back, electricity sparking across them. The Sentret jumped out of the way as the Gallade's fists hit the ground, the sound of thunder roaring out as dust and leaves flew up into the air.

The agile Sentret, having only narrowly avoided the thunderous crash of electricity infused fists, was struck by a shock-wave following the explosive collision. Knocked off of its feet, the Pokemon quickly caught itself on its springy tail and launched forward with a Quick Attack. When it was close enough for contact, it flung itself into a hail of Fury Swipes, determined to snatch those precious leaves off its opponent.

Meanwhile, Cracker, still dazed and staring at an upside down world, lay slumped against the tree he'd crashed into. His head was spinning, but he could see the fight in progress. Akuroma and some small ring-tailed Pokemon. Doesn't have chance, the Aipom thought dimly, Aku's gonna kick your buns for sure. Grinning despite his aching head, Cracker snickered dizzily to himself.

Akuroma threw one of his arms up as the Sentret rushed at him, a green shield of light forming from his arm to protect him from the barrage of Fury Swipes. "Little pest!" the Gallade said as the Protect disappeared, replaced by another Thunder Punch. The fist was able to make contact this time, another roar of thunder bellowing out across the forest as the Sentret was sent flying into a tree, creating a large dent in the wood. Akuroma panted some as he lowered his fist, the Sentret falling to the ground with a soft thump. Akuroma sat down and sighed, "Insanity. This forest is insanity!"

Once the Sentret was summarily dispatched, Cracker proceeded to roll onto his side. He then lifted his dizzy head and wobbled to his feet, stumbling over to Akuroma where he sat cursing the forest. The Aipom only made it a few yards before losing his footing. "I... humbly... agree!" he announced, then fell flat on his face. He'd taken a pretty hard hit to the head, as evidenced by the sizable welt on his noggin.

"I'm jus'... gonna take a lil'... nnnap," he mumbled into the earth.