Spirits of the Misty Hill

A Burmy, clad in his cloak of autumnal leaves that originated from his home in Fallen Leaf Copse and carrying a bag of various belongings, approached the base of the hill, looking up into its vast mists. He had been here once previously, and his entire time had been fraught with attacks from territorial Pokemon that lived within the fog. He's also assigned someone an entry challenge here, although he had yet to hear back from that particular Tepig.

Russell turned to the Absol that was accompanying him, looking up at the much taller Pokemon, "So was your entry challenge your last trip to Pricklemist?" He asked curiously, knowing that Deimos had been here at least once before because he had personally assigned the Absol's entry challenge. The fact that they both had experience with the place would likely be at least a small advantage, as they'd know just what to expect from the misty hill.

The house at the top however would be another matter entirely, as rumours had recently surfaced about a malicious spirit that was haunting the abandoned building, plaguing anyone who dares visit. Russell had a few of his own theories about what the true cause of the attacks were, but it was important to keep an open mind after all. You never knew what you might find and it was worth investigating nonetheless.

Following behind the Autumn cloaked Burmy Deimos stood, having paused to scan the area momentarily before he was addressed. This was about his fifth or sixth visit to the hill and the Ocean of white surrounding it. The Absol was relatively accustomed to the terrain and had a general idea of the types of Pokemon they could encounter here, he wasn't overly worried.

"No, my last visit was pretty much a session of training and practice, myself working on mastering Shadow Claw. Ive been here about half a dozen times at this point so I'm relatively well adapted to the terrain" The Absol spoke, his tone a calm and calculated one in nature. Physically he seemed in perfect condition for this, no fear, no hesitation. He was willing to do whatever was needed to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.

"Ghost types are common here so don't wonder on your own, I can track you but i can't aim Stone Edge too safely if you're at a distance, you'd be at a risk of getting struck" The Absol spoke, being perfectly honest.

"Alright, fair enough," the Burmy replied making a mental note of the Absol's advice, "I've only been here the once before so you're definitely the one with more experience here," he admitted.

Despite the oddness of the rumour, the duo had a place that they could easily start investigating from. The reports had come from the house that stood at the very top of the hill, and so the Burmy began to head onwards, moving to begin heading up the hill.

"Alrighty. I guess, lets head towards the house on the hill to start with then," the Burmy blinked, looking up. He couldn't quite see the house from this distance because of this mist, but there was supposedly also a small wood surrounding it, so that could also be obscuring it from view.

The Absol nodded approvingly as the Burmy seemed to take his advice to heart. They were colleagues now and not just acquaintances. What kind of traveller would he be if he were to just let the Burmy get defeated here? A failure of one, to be precise. The Absol had a naturally better grasp over the terrain, being able to sense what the eye couldn't see as well.

"Right, we have our objective so let's move out. Please allow me to take point, my ability to sense the what lies ahead will be more useful up front" The Absol spoke as he stepped forwards, knowing well enough that a lack of vision could spell disaster for another. Deimos was mentally running Scernarios, working out what would be best to ensure the Burmy wouldn't risk finding itself lost amidst the endless feeling ocean of white.

"That sounds like the best course of action," the Burmy agreed with a nod. He couldn't see very far through the mists personally so having a companion like Deimos along was certainly handy when combating that particular handicap.

After that matter was agreed to, Russell followed the Absol forwards a few paces, his much smaller body needing much more effort to keep up with Deimos's much larger footsteps. After a few paces, the Burmy paused and looked up thoughtfully at the white fur of his fellow Windrose Scout.
"Actually, I have a suggestion," Russell replied, a little embarrassed to be asking, but if Deimos agreed it would be a lot more convenient.
"Could you.. uh, carry me on your back?" he asked, his cheeks heating up a little bit as he asked, "I think it would be a lot faster to get to the house since you can cover a lot more ground on your own and i'm so small that it would take a lot to keep up," he reasoned hurriedly, looking up to the larger pokemon.

The White furred Pokemon had been moving forwards at an average pace, not wanting to leave the Burmy behind in the mist with no real means of knowing where the Absol was. As Russel paused, Deimos sensed no more small shifts on the earth behind him, causing him to stop. The Absol turned around and looked down to the Burmy, his taller stature pretty much forcing him to.

As the Burmy requested to be carried, Deimos took a moment to think. It'd ensure that Russel was less likely to be left behind for certain though it would look a little strange. The Absol put that thought behind and thought of more pressing and important concerns. Having a set of eyes on a higher elevation scanning the mists for movement would provide somewhat of an advantage in terms of detection. This, overlapped with his sensory capacity would likely make them harder to sneak up on. It would tactically be a good idea, which was all Deimos needed to know.

"Tactically It's a safe and sensible option, as long as you get off when a fight begins and stay alert. So it's fine, climb on and try to not fall off as we scale the hill" Deimos spoke, tone still calm in nature.

The Burmy smiled with an almost childish glee as Deimos agreed to let him ride on his back. He hadn't known whether the Absol would point blank refuse or not, but was rather glad that he hadn't in the end.

"I can do that," he chuckled at Deimos's words. Honestly this arrangement would be a lot more convenient for both of them. He just knew how weird it was to request to be carried like that. Nevertheless, he clambered up onto the Absol's back, trying not to tug too hard on his fur. Once he was in up, he peered over Deimos's head. Was he small enough to sit on his head without interfering with his movement? Russell didn't want to chance hindering his partner for this expedition, so for now he stayed put.

"Alright I think i'm good," Russell said, looking around from his now much higher vantage point. It must be pretty awesome to be this tall naturally, he mused silently.
"I'll keep a look out whilst i'm up here."

Remaining completly still to enable the Burmy to effectively climb up, the Absol had to keep reminding himself that this was a neccessary compromise. Any non Feral's that saw them probably would be confused at the sight of a Burmy riding an Absol after all. Once the Burmy confirmed he was ready to go, Deimos nodded and began moving forwards, intending to scale the hill quickly so that they could reach the structure.

The Absol's senses were active constantly as he walked, moving at a relatively fast pace. Only slowing down occasionally due to occasional ditches and such he detected, he made progress as quick as possible. He currently was determining how to dismount Russel quickly and safely when a fight begins. Behind him, one of his feet had Shadow Claw in effect, leaving deep gashes in the earth to use as a trail to head back when needed.

Russell kept to his word and watched their surroundings intently from his position on Deimos's back. In doing so, he'd caught sight of the claw marks that the Absol was making and smiled briefly to himself. He had to admit, that was rather a smart move, making a path that they could follow straight back out of the misty area. The fact that it was something he was unable to do himself only solidified in the Burmy's mind, the choice to bring others together under the name of the Windrose Scouts to work towards discovering the world.

Turning his attention back to what was ahead of them, Russell could just about spot something through the mists. It was like something actually present, rather than just the emptiness of the hill and it's mists.
Although it was still some distance away, Russell squinted to see if he could see it any clearer.

"Is that where we're going, do you think?" he asked, motioning in that direction, although Deimos wouldn't be able to see the motion due to Russell's position.

Solilo carried out 3 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

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Deimos had slowed his pace slightly, mentally scanning further and further ahead as time went on. The Absol was being even more cautious than normal, understanding that once again, he was pretty much the vanguard. If he messed up with his scanning what was ahead, getting the two hurt, it would be his fault and his only. With that thought in mind he forced himself to press on, to get this resolved as effectively as he could.

Pausing when Russell spoke, Deimos glanced around, squinting. Picking out what Russell was referring to, Deimos began to mull the thought over. It could possibly be the structure or it could be some kind of trick the supposed spirits were playing. "Maybe. I'll head towards it and keep my focus on the area. Keep you're eyes open though, it could be a trick set up by the quarry we seek" Deimos spoke before picking up the pace, heading towards the shape in the mist.

Blade12 carried out 4 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

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Russell nodded at Deimos's words, but then spoke aloud to make sure that the Absol had actually received the message, "Okay."

As they walked, he could see the shadows beyond the mist getting clearer in their view. They really did seem like large trees. Russell could almost see the leaves rustling in the hill's winds and the thickness of the areas that the Burmy would have assumed to be the trunks of some of the trees. He was beginning to get confident that they were heading in the correct direction, when something moving nearby caught his attention.

It was just a flash of white and red, but Russell had thought it was fur in the split second he'd seen it and was immediately on his guard, trying to spot what it was that he had seen. He tensed, looking around from his position on the Absol's back. Wanting to keep quiet in case whatever it was hadn't actually noticed them yet, he relied on Deimos's good senses to clue him in on the presence of any other pokemon in the area, Russell watching him carefully for any small sign that he too had spotted something.

Deimos had been moving at a relatively quick pace, his natural adaption to Mountains and Hills serving him well in this scenario. For the time being, he has been relying on his own natural camoflague to help hide and protect the two as advanced. Deimos had gotten around half way to the solid objects amongst the sea of white when he stopped abruptly.

Deimos had sensed a multitude of forms nearby, one's he didn't trust based on the situation. Deforming his spectral claw, Deimos slammed one of his front paws into the ground. A moment later, a crust of earth emerged, at an angle, pointed towards but not in contact with Deimos. He'd provided a slope for Russell to get down quicker. Focusing intently on the footprints of the Pokemon he sensed, he managed to establish good assumptions of what they were.

"Stay close... Three entities. One walking in to our right, undetermined species. The other two, based upon their footprints, should be a Zangoose and a Spoink" Deimos spoke, being completly and utterly ready to fight... Hopefully Russell would be able to say the same soon enough.

Russell hopped off of Deimos's back, sliding down the rocks that the Absol had created for him to get back down to the ground rather more conveniently. At the other pokemon's words, the Burmy realised that the pokemon he had caught a glimpse of was likely to be a Zangoose, although he hadn't seen any clues of the mentioned Spoink or unnamed pokemon.

Nodding to Deimos and keeping alert, the Burmy's eyes traced the edges of the hill's mists, scanning the points where he could no longer see through the thickening fog as if expecting something to leap out at them any second.

Eventually, that caution seemed to pay off as the three pokemon attacked simultaneously, each of them coming out of the mist with the intent to attack the duo of Windrose Scouts. Russell immediately used protect as the Zagoose leaped at him, Crush Claw attack at the ready. It crashed straight into the protective barrier, which rendered it's attack useless, much to Russell's relief.

The Burmy then used the opportunity to levitate a few of the rocks in the area and begin throwing them at the Zangoose, pummeling it with them whilst it was still down and recovering from colliding with Russell's protect.

Deimos remained paitent, waiting for the beings that were in hiding to make their moves. He'd presumed they were aggressive and Feral in nature after all, this he didn't want to dive head first into an Ambush. The Duo's patience naturally payed off in time, resulting in those they knew the locations of being forced to move first. Russell seemed to have the Zangoose covered for the moment so Deimos turned his attention to be other two, but not before setting up a Future sight to be safe.

He could see the Spoink begin preparing a Psybeam, clearly being for Russell. Making use of the situation, Deimos surged ahead at a surprising speed, aiming to slam the Psychic type into the dirt with Sucker Punch. He'd seen before that similar brute force could outright snap a Spoink before, so he tried to be careful to avoid that. As soon as his paw struck into the Spoink's face, he pressed it into the earth, swiftly knocking it unconcious from the raw strength of the strike.

The Zangoose tried to get back to it's feet, but each small move it made, Russell just threw another small rock at it. The Zangoose ended up holding it's large paws to it's head in order to try and protect itself from the pummeling it was getting from the loose rocks and stones. Those things really hurt when they hit you!

With the Zangoose rather regretting it's decision to attack currently, Russell glanced over to see how Deimos was doing. The Absol seemed to have already taken out the Spoink and that just left the third and final pokemon.

The last of the group, a Kricketot, seemed to have attempted to take advantage of Deimos's turned back and headed towards him, attempting to use Bug Bite on the white furred pokemon. Russell wasn't in the right position to launch a Tackle from where he was, and so he threw one of his stones at the Kricketot, trying to distract it temporarily so that Deimos would have time to react.