The Road to the Road to Destiny

Current Energy: 4/19 (-15 from entering dungeon)

Milt could feel the ground beneath his feet soften up as the grassy, firm earth slowly turned wet and slippery. He was feeling pretty tired from all the walking he had been doing, but he was so close... to Rainforest Town. That may not be his destination, but at least he would be able to rest there. Grassveil town was only a few days away from there, and finally, he could start making his dream come true.

Milt stopped in front of what appeared to be the entrance to the swamp, looking up at a few scraggly, leafless trees. If this was a swamp, there would definitely be some water-types here, or at least pokemon that knew some water-type moves. He shivered slightly, his iron armor rattling. Battling them wouldn't be such a good idea, especially since he was already so tired. Hopefully he'd be able to find an oran berry or something amongst the twisted trees and roots to help him get his strength back up. With a look of determination, Milt finally entered the dungeon.

He did his best to traverse the dungeon, staying out of the water and walking across the muddy ground and tree roots. If he had to walk in shallow water, so be it, but anything above his head was a big no no. Milt couldn't swim after all. He'd sink right to the bottom, and with the mud down there, he might even get stuck.

Izumi the shiny Absol trudged her way through the marsh as gently as she could, trying not to splash any water on the sleeping ball of silver, white, and light blue fur she was ferrying around on her back. She had found the strangely-colored fire-type, a young-looking Fennekin she had found curled up on a lily pad in shallow portion of the marsh. It had apparently somehow stranded itself there, and so Izumi had picked it up in order to move it to a more suitable place for a pokemon of its typing. It must have been traveling a long way; it had been sleeping since she had found it and it had only woken up just long enough for Izumi to cram an Oran berry into her mouth.

As she waded through the deeper areas of the marsh, Izumi noticed a steel-type, an Aron to be specific, trying to navigate the marsh on his own without going into the deeper waters. Izumi could understand why he was doing so, but she began to worry that he wouldn't be able to get very far moving along that limited strip of land he was allowed. The Absol navigated her way over to the bank, and then called over to him in a loud whisper, "Hey there, traveler! Where are you trying to get to?" once she was in earshot.

Izumi the Absol - 18 Energy
Mercury the Fennekin - 15 Energy

The little Aron sighed as he looked up ahead, noticing that the path he was currently on was about to end, with all sides surrounded by deep water. As open as this marsh was, it was like a maze to him. At this rate, it would take him all day to get through, maybe even longer! Milt was beginning to think that he should have gone around the dungeon; this place obviously didn't suit him well.

Milt was about to double-back when he heard a voice call out to him in a whisper. He turned his body to face the sound and was surprised to find two shiny pokemon! He had heard about rare cases in which pokemon had alternate colors, but he had never seen one with his own eyes until now. Casting his surprise aside, Milt smiled at Izumi. "Greetings!" he replied in a whisper, just loud enough for her to hear. "I'm trying to get to the other side of this marsh. I'm heading to Rainforest Town, and from there, to Grassveil Town. Might take a while though..." he added, looking back out across the marsh.

Ah, so the Aron was trying to get to Grassveil. Izumi was glad she had run into him; as she herself was on her way back to Grassveil after a short bout of searching for stock in some of the farther-out dungeons. She had been straying from the most commonly used path to enjoy the sights and also to sniff out items, however. The place that they were standing was actually quite a bit away from the path most pokemon used. "Ah, well, the most direct way to Rainfront town is actually over there, through that bog in the center of the marsh;" Izumi whispered back as she pointed out into the distance at a murky section of marsh, "I personally tend to avoid it though. The mud there is sticky, deep, and easy to sink into. At least here it's nothing but water." Izumi walked up to him and lowered herself down a bit, offering him a lift.

"Want a lift? I can get you across the deeper waters; just don't wake the Fennekin," Izumi offered. "I don't know what she's doing here or why there's a fire type in a watery marsh, but she was trapped on a lily pad when I found her. My name is Izumi, by the way. I run a swap shop at the Grassveil Guild," she grinned.

The Fennekin on Izumi's fluffy back stirred, but remained peacefully asleep. ...For now...

Milt couldn't believe his luck! He'd found someone who worked at the same guild he was trying to get to! If he had gone around this dungeon, he never would have bumped into her. The bog Izumi described didn't sound very inviting, especially to him, but it was also the quickest way to get to where he needed to be. That decision would have to be made later, since they still had some ways to go.

"Well my name's Milt, Izumi. Thanks for the offer, but I wouldn't want to be a burden. I'm quite heavy for my size after all. I'll just..." The Aron paused to look around. The patches of land were becoming more and more scarce the further he went. "... I'll find my way... Yeah..." He finished, not sounding all too confident.

Izumi grinned sadly at the poor Aron's plight. She walked up to him and leaned down, "c'mon, I insist. I lift heavy things for a living; you wouldn't BELIEVE the things that fit inside dungeon boxes. Besides, I know a way around the bog that has plenty of dry land for you to walk on. I'll take you at least that far. Also, things are going to get really really lonely for me if I only have the sleepy Fennekin on my back for companionship," she offered again, nodding over to the sleeping bundle, who stirred once again. It seemed the pokemon was slowly waking up, but it was still in a dreamlike state that it wasn't waking up from.

The Fennekin's tail flicked around unhappily; she was warm and comfortable on her suddenly fluffy bed and for once she wasn't really feeling all that inclined to move. She curled up into a tighter balls, trying to deny the inevitable oncoming conciousness.

Izumi the Absol - 18 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, , , , , , , , ,

Mercury the Fennekin - 15 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, , , , , , , , ,

"Err..." Milt looked at the Absol, the surrounding marsh, then back again. He really didn't have a choice here did he. "Alright then... but only as long as necessary," he decided as he began to climb onto Izumi's back. She could definitely feel the difference as the 132 pound ball of iron made his way onto her back. Milt glanced at her as he did, hoping she truly could handle his weight. He sat behind Mercury, watching her as she stirred, somewhere between sleep and the waking world.

Unbeknownst to the group, they were being watched by a small gang thieves: two Froakie and a Frogadier. They looked at the group from a thick patch of reeds and smirked. What luck! It might have been a group of three, but the Aron and the Fennekin would be no trouble at all to water-types like them. With a quiet snigger, all three of them sunk into the water and trailed behind Izumi, waiting for the right moment to make their move.


Energy: 3/19

The member 'TheRussBuss' has done the following action : Dices Roll

'Cattail Marsh' :

Izumi grunted as the small pokemon crawled onto her back, but she held firm, even as her legs buckled. She was resilient; even though the pokemon had a lot of weight, she refused to collapse under his weight. She had carried heavier pokemon of her own species before; she could handle 30 more pounds of iron. Izumi glanced at her back quickly, thinking of the strange stone she found recently, but she chose not to; she had no clue what it could do. Only that it had power within it and only she could somehow harnass that power. She did duck into her bag and sneak an apple out, biting into it and then scarfing the fruit down and letting the energy from it flow through her.

"....Try to distribute your weight as well as you possibly can," Izumi said back to the Aaron before she strode forward. A sudden breeze blew from behind Izumi and made her freeze again, bringing her disturbing information. She could smell pokemon nearby; much closer than they had been before. She looked around carefully, trying to gauge whether or not they were about to be jumped. Adrenaline kicked in, and Izumi began to power through the water faster.

Mercury felt the sudden change in her ride's pace and woke up fully, her eyes wide open now. She looked around; suddenly very confused. This wasn't a fuzzy green floating thing! Where was this? She hadn't fallen asleep here! She lifted her head groggily in her confusion and asked... "Where am I?"

Izumi the Absol - 5 Energy

Mercury the Fennekin - 5 Energy

Aron frowned as she felt her buckle slightly with his additional weight. Thank Arceus he didn't have the Heavy Metal ability, or else carying him would be all but impossible. His stomach growled at him, looking to be fed, but where would he be able to find food here? Looking around, Milt spotted a blue gummi sitting on top of some high marsh grass ahead of them. It might not be fitting for his type, but he would take anything right about now. Milt was no stranger to strange food. As Izumi got closer to it, he did his best not to shift his weight too much as he reached out for it. No sooner than he got a hold on the gummi, the Absol suddenly sprung forwarn, almost making the little Aron fall off of her. "Wh-What's going on? Izumi?" he asked, slightly worried as he stuffed the gumi away. Now was not the time for a snack.

Now that she was speeding up, Izumi didn't need to sense the pokemon. She could hear them rushing through the water towards them, and Milt could see the splashing from their swimming as he looked behind them. Were these pokemon feral? There was no way to tell yet. "Two!" Milt called to the Absol, being the eyes in the back of her head, but something still didn't seem right. Before she could figure out what, a Frogadier suddenly leaped out from some tall marsh grass, cutting her off and throwing a Water Pulse right at her.


Frogadier
-Water Pulse
-
-
-

??? x2

"Gyeh!!! Of course they come at me while I can't jump!" Izumi groaned in her own mind. As she ran towards the grass, the scent of pokemon grew stronger. Izumi prepared a hasty Megahorn at only about half power just in time for a Frogadier to jump out in front of her and try to shoot her with a Water Pulse. She managed to slice through the attack with her half-prepared Megahorn. She powered through the supersonic pulse that had been within the ring of water and brought her attack down on the Frogadier's head, giving him a good solid smack. She ran on past him, not really caring how much damage her half- charged attack had done. "Do what you can to try and stall them!" Izumi urged the pokemon on her back, "I'm going to sprint for the shallows and find you guys some dry land. I can't fight them weighed down like this." She took a deep breath and started to really push herself through the Marsh, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Two?! Two what, games?!" Mercury exclaimed excitedly. "Are we playing a game?! Is this a play-fight?! Oh! Oh!!! I call you guys!! you guys are on my team, I like you guys!!" Mercury exclaimed from the Absol's back, totally oblivious to the tense situation at hand.

Izumi's Mega Horn, might not have been as strong as it usually was, but it was enough to bring the Frogadier down into the muddy water. The two pokemon paused to pick up their fallen comrade, revealing themselves as Froakies. The Frogadier just yelled at them, and all three continued their pursuit.

"I... I can't do anything!" he replied to her. Milt just felt like dead weight, literally. Not only was he the main pokemon weighing Izumi down, but he didn't have any way to stall the three pokemon from here. All of his attacks were physical, and the only one that had some range was Mud Slap, but he couldn't slap any mud from up here. The Fennekin threw Milt a little off. How young was she? She seemed oblivious to the seriousness of their situation. With nothing else possible, the Aron decided to go with it. "Yeah, that's it, a play-fight. You need to keep those pokemon as far away from us as possible. Can you do that?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

Panic overtook the Absol as she blasted through the watery landscape; she frantically looked everywhere for the dry land that the two passengers seated on her back needed. "Just sit tight; don't worry about it! We're getting there as fast as we can!!" Izumi called back to the Aron. She began to feel a burning in her legs, a tiny tingle that was her body letting her know that it didn't approve of her running with all this weight on her back. She tried to ignore it, letting her mind wander to other places and trying to think of some way to speed up the process... With that thought, it suddenly occurred to Izumi as she was sprinting through the marsh that she had something in her bag that could easily give her the boost she needed to get to the shallows; something that could possibly turn the tables in this little game of cat in mouse. Ironic, due to the lack of both cats and dogs, but back to a more relevant topic. Izumi ducked her head down and, while risking and just narrowly avoiding a few trips that would have ended in nasty falls, rifled around, returning to the surface with a laser in her mouth. A quick seed that she had picked up into another dungeon, specifically. Izumi chomped down on the item and swallowed it. It took but less than a minute for the seed to begin working it's magic; stimulating Izumi's nervous system and triggering the massive release of adrenaline. Suddenly, the pain and the fatigue melted away, the weight felt much more manageable, and she started to get lighter and quicker on her paws, even despite the weight she was carrying.

Mercury was completely swept up in the crazy moment that she was participating in; the excitement blowing her tiny broken mind. There were friends EVERYWHERE wanting to play, there were even friends chasing after them just to play a game!!! "This is a great game!!" Mercury exclaimed as shiny shiny some friend was trying to talk to her; she only really caught the last bit of what he was saying because it was important to the game and faaaaaaar to crucial for Mercury to not listen to. ".....Oooooh, I see...." Mercury nodded quietly, looking rather secretive. "Don't worry, I have stuff just for that kind of game!!" The little Fox exclaimed, digging out a bright blue orb. "I call this thing the 'you can't catch me' blue sphere!!! Watch what happens!" The silver Fennekin announced proudly before turning around and tapping the orb with her paw to activate it. She then pushed it off of big white fluffy friend's back at their three opponents.

The Frogadier and his Froakie lackeys were in hot pursuit of their three targets now. They were gaining on the weighed-down Absol, although not as quickly as they had anticipated. No matter, they were sure to catch up with their mark... Until the Absol reached into her bag and pulled something out. Suddenly she began to pick the pace back up, much to the trio of thug's dismay and frustration. As the Absol ran faster, the fire type suddenly drew an item out, an orb of unknown type. She pushed it off of the Absol's back at them and they all went to dodge, but the orb exploded into a blast of light when it made contact with the water and drew them all into it's strange power. The orb (a Spurn Orb, no doubt), had teleported the ruffians away, depositing them randomly and separately to different locations on the Marsh, away from the weilder of the orb.

Milt could tell that Izumi was growing tired from her actions. She wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, and the three pokemon were slowly gaining on the trio. The Aron leaned over and looked at the water below. It was still rather deep, but if it meant his new aquaintances would be able to get away, he was willing to risk it. He wobbled slightly as the Absol downed the quick seed and sped back up. Thank goodness.

He just watched Merc as she revealed a Spurn Orb. Milt had seen those a few times before. His father had carried several of them whenever he went to escort pokemon through the Black Spear Mountain Range. They were mainly used whenever they encountered a monster house to avoid trouble. Even if this wasn't a monster house, they wouuse it for the same reason. The Frogadier and it's companions began to lose confidence as Izumi began to outrun them. They watched as a tiny blue ball fell off of the Absol's back. The group let out a panicked scream as they were all sucked in, and just like that, they were gone.

Never actually seeing a Spurn Orb in action, Milt just blinked and stared at the spot where the frog pokemon used to be. "... Good job buddy," he said, patting Merc gently on the head with his iron paw. He then walked across Izumi's back, closer to her ear so he wouldn't have to shout. "They're gone Izumi. You can slow down now," he informed her.

The ruffians disappeared just as the tiny trio of pokemon reached the flatlands, a strip of shallows running through the marsh that provided easy access to Grassveil for travelers going through it. Izumi slid to a haphazard stop there, panting and heaving her chest as the other pokemon disembarked. "Whew..... and I thought..... getting the Deerling out of the Rift was bad...." Izumi groaned, grateful that it was finally over and that they had all made it safely. "Hey, are you two okay?" she panted still, looking over at the two pokemon that she had been carrying.

Mercury was thrilled to bits when the Aron patted her head and told her she had done a good job. "Yay!! Buddy friend!!!"" she exclaimed joyfully, patting him on the head back with a gleeful smile on her face, streching from ear to ear. She hopped off of fluffy friend's back and landed on a lily pad near the edge of the flatlands, shouting back "I bet you can't do this, shiny buddy friend!!!" she laughed as she bounced from lily pad to lily pad in a little game of hopscotch before finally coming to a very temporary rest on the flatlands.