The Island Mystery

First topic message reminder :

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))

Akuroma looked over to the Aipom as he began to lose consciousness. The Gallade sighed, reaching over and picking the monkey by his head before reaching into his bag and stuffing an oran berry into his mouth. "Don't go taking a nap just yet, we're not done exploring this place. Besides, I'd have expectd you to not be bested by a little Sentret." He smirked and shook his head. He guessed Cracker still wasn't a very powerful Pokemon, despite being as confident as he was a minute ago. Taking a Sitrus berry out of his bag, the Gallade began to munch on it himself, trying to think of what to do next.

[39 energy]

Dracorexion carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , ,

"Mrrmph?" Was the only noise Cracker made as he was promptly plucked off the ground to have an Oran Berry shoved into his mouth. Dropped back to the ground, the Aipom chewed the delicious berry, rubbing his cheeks full of flavour. Almost immediately he felt the regenerative effects of the fruit. His dizziness abated and the bump on his head reduced in size as the world became clear again. "Mmm, that was yummy!" he said with a gulp.

Jumping back onto his feet, the Aipom flexed comically, pretending like he'd gained the strength of ten Pokemon. "I feel pumped!" he commented, "Now where's that backstabber?" Cracker looked around but the area was clear of Pokemon. "Oh... I guess you got him already. Hah! I knew it. Didn't stand a chance!" Returning to Akuroma, the monkey peered at the bag as a Sitrus berry was extracted. "Wow, how much stuff have you got in there?"

((Energy: 1 + 10(Oran Berry) + 1(new page) = 12))

Lumin carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , ,

Akuroma shrugged, "Just a few things, I don't really need to bring much into a dungeon other than a few healing items and a couple of useful ones." He then stood back up and stretched, "Well, let's head in deeper before more deranged Sentret attack us." He began continuing their journey deeper into the forest, the dungeon growing quiet except for the crunch of leaves underneath the Gallade's feet. That is until one certain step didn't come back up, the Gallade toppling over as he found his foot stuck to the ground with some sort of sticky webbing.

[28 energy]

"Wow, you're prepared for anything!" Cracker commented, "All I brought are some seeds and berries. Y'know, in case I get hungry, heehee." When the Gallade stood up and suggested they head deeper into the forest, the Aipom bounced up onto his tail and saluted. "Yessir! I'll take the trees this time. Never know what crazy thing we're gonna run into next."

Launching himself into the nearest tree, Cracker followed Akuroma closely, swinging from branch to branch as stealthily as he could. He was neck and neck with the Gallade on the ground when he suddenly tripped and fell. Noticing mid-swing, the Aipom doubled back and dropped to the forest floor to investigate.

"What's the matter, why'd you fall over?" As he asked the question he immediately found the answer at the end of Akuroma's foot. "What's that, some sort of web?" Moving to help free the Gallade from the sticky residue, Cracker was caught by surprise as a Deerling charged out of the underbrush and crashed into him, hurdling him off his feet and into the bramble off the side of the path.

((Energy: 12-8 = 4))

Akuroma was about to respond to the Aipom when the Deerling suddenly appeared, attacking the Aipom. Akuroma growled, sitting up as he attempted to free his leg. As he finally pulled his leg free, a string of sticky webbing began to cover him, a Silcoon hanging from the trees above spraying the Gallade with it, restricting his movement. Akuroma groaned, barely able to pull a Swift seed and a Blast seed out of his bag before tossing them to Cracker. "Cracker, eat them!" he said before the Silcoon sprayed its sticky webbing on Akuroma's arm, pinning it to the ground.

Still dizzy from the sudden blow that catapulted him into the brush, Cracker stumbled back onto the path, holding his head. Twice now he'd been punted like a little purple football and he was getting fed up with it. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, the Pokemon focused on the sound of Akuroma's voice. The Gallade had thrown a couple seeds his way. He locked eyes onto them at the same moment the Deerling did.

There was a momentary stand off between the Aipom and the Deerling before both broke into a run to reach the seeds. Cracker was closer but it was faster. He wasn't going to make it in time, so he distracted the Pokemon with a loud shriek and a hard swing of his tail-hand, striking the ground in front of the Deerling and startling it into stopping. Meanwhile, Cracker reached the seeds and scooped them up, popping them into his mouth and biting down.

At first nothing happened. They tasted a little raw, even a bit spicy. But suddenly it got hotter, until it felt like his mouth was on fire. As he stood there panting and waving a paw to sooth the burning, the Deerling trotted into another tackle attack, closing the gap quickly. Before it could make contact however, Cracker opened his burning mouth and exhaled a stream of fire, catching the Pokemon at close range in a jet of sizzling flame. It tried to resist the attack for a moment but it was easily overwhelmed and fell backwards, charred and unconscious.

Realizing the effectiveness of the fire, Cracker attempted to aim it towards the Pokemon that was steadily encasing Akuroma in webbing. Before he could unleash it though, a squirt of the sticky string sealed his mouth shut. He immediately fought with the sticky substance, only to find himself under assault from multiple String Shots. Hopping left and right, it took the Aipom a while to get used to the sudden increase in physical speed. He slipped and slid left and right on the leafy ground before he got a feel for it, and then he leaped into the trees overhead.

Using his new-found boost in speed, the monkey bolted from branch to branch, decreasing the distance between himself and the spiky ball. He got in close, but just as he was swinging his tail to strike, an errant String Shot caught him, binding his arms and legs. Rather than hit with his tail, Cracker crashed into the Silcoon with his entire body, causing both of them to fall out of the trees and onto the forest floor.

Akuroma watched as the Aipom quickly dispatched the Deerling, and was about to take care of the Silcoon until the bug type was able to land a string shot. Both Pokemon then fell onto the forest floor in front of Akuroma. The Gallade tried to pull himself free, his fists sparking every now and then as he tried to zap the webbing off of him. After a few tries he finally got his arm free, able to swing it back as psychic energy wrapped around it. He then swung it forward, sending the psychic energy at the Silcoon. The wave of energy only grazed the smaller Pokemon, cutting off some of its outer webbing and causing it to jump up in surprise and fear from being exposed.

Having landed roughly on his back, the Aipom squirmed in his binds, trying to free even just one of his limbs, but it seemed fruitless. His tail was the only appendage that hadn't been affected, so he immediately swung it over his body and used its three bulbous digits to tug at the string as he continued to struggle.

Meanwhile, the Silcoon recovered from the attack to it's protective casing, and prepared another attack, this time purely out of fear. Rearing up it's body, the Pokemon unleashed a flurry of Poison Sting attacks at the Gallade, backing away as it did so.

Akuroma held his arm out in front of him, the familiar green shield of light appearing as he protected himself from the attack. The Silcoon continued to hop away as it attacked, soon disappearing into the bushes and away from the two Pokemon stuck by its webbing. The danger now pass, Akuroma let his Protect down, grabbing a hold of the sticky webbing and tearing it off of his body. "Again, this forest is insane," the Gallade growled out as he finally freed himself from the Silcoon's trap. Standing up, he began to stretch, his body popping as it was finally able to relax from the awkward position it was left in.

Pulling with all his strength, Cracker finally managed to create a tear in the stringy webbing, which eventually allowed him to wiggle free of his bindings. Kicking away the remaining scraps, the Aipom dusted himself off and walked over to Akuroma, sighing loudly before dropping to the ground. He almost didn't care about the crunchy leave beneath him. After that fight, he was almost ready to just call it a day.

"Man, is everybody out here after those leaves? I mean I know we get attacked a lot normally, but this is like... overkill. I hope we find whatever we're looking for soon, because I don't think I can handle much more of this." Flopping onto his back, Cracker stared up at the sky. "These leaves must be super special to have so many Pokemon out there willing to fight everyone they come across. So where to next, do you think?"

Akuroma shrugged, "Deeper into the forest. However, I might see if I can draw more leaves to us with another Trawl Orb." The Gallade then reached into his bag, pulling out the glistening orb before crushing it in his hands, the light pouring out from it turning into several items. Akuroma stared at the items. "Hm, it'll do." He picked up the items, not truly checking on what they were before placing them into his bag. He then began to walk deeper into the forest, leaving a fist visible as electricity sparked across it. The Gallade hoped the warning would be enough to the Pokemon here, lest they get into yet another fight which may be even more taxing than the last.

Dracorexion carried out 10 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , , , , , , ,

Cracker was always excited to see a Trawl Orb in action, so when the Gallade pulled one out and cracked it open, he raced over to see what came out of the glowing light. Akuroma might not have focused too hard on what was in amongst the items, but the Aipom with his keen sight did. He immediately burst with joy, even while his friend scooped up the items, put them into his bag and continued on deeper into the forest.

Bouncing along side the over-eager Aipom flung himself up onto Akuroma's head again, beating out a tune on the Gallade's head spike. "Didja see it, didja? Another leaf! You found another leaf! Blue too. That makes two! This is so exciting!" Wrapping his tail around the spike, Cracker leaned forward into view of Akuroma. "I bet you weren't even paying attention! Heehee! All that fighting might actually be worth it at this rate."

Akuroma nodded, "I saw it, though just four leaves are probably not enough for study or anything. Let's just keep looking." With that he continued walking, keeping an eye out for their surroundings for any other Pokemon. The forest seemed quiet for now. There didn't seem to be anymore Pokemon around them, at least.

(sorry for the short post, not sure what to do atm)

Still hanging on by his tail, the Aipom tilted his head. "What's there to study? I mean, they're just leaves aren't they? It's not like they're magical or anything. Ooooh... Or are they? We gotta find as many as we can!" Eagerly, the Aipom sprung up into the air, catching a branch by his tail and swinging forward, ahead of the Gallade.

Cracker continued swinging through the trees for a few more yards before coming to a stop at a sheer drop leading down into a flat area void of trees. It was too steep to climb down, and it extended far to either side. The little purple monkey was suddenly hesitant, staring at the drop in front of him. Turning around, he dropped down onto a large rock and waited for Akuroma to catch up.

"So... I guess this is the only way forward. Aheh. Mmmaybe better to go around. Right?" the Aipom said nervously.

Akuroma rolled his eyes as he walked up to the Aipom. Picking Cracker up by the scruff of his neck, the Gallade tossed him over the cliff. "Quit being a baby, you'll be fine," the Gallade said as he jumped after the Aipom. Akuroma then disappeared in a flash of light, teleporting onto the ground at the bottom of the cliff. The Gallade the reached his hand out, grabbing the Aipom by his tail, "See? I said you'd be fine." he then let the Aipom go as he began to walk deeper into the forest yet again.