Cold Marshlands

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(Energy: 14)

Gauel looked out over the flat lands in front of him. Tall reeds and large lilypads grew out of the water that covered the area. He was already nearly up to his knees in water, and with how sparse dry land appeared to be here, he assumed he'd have to get used to the feeling.

Not that it was a bad one. The water was quite cool and relaxing, with barely a ripple to it. It was also surprising clear, the Treecko able to peer through the surface to the bottom below, unlike the murky waters he expected to come across.

However, he wasn't really here to sight-see. Before he'd get distracted by another sight, the Treecko began to trudge forward through the water, disturbing the still liquid and kicking up a bit of dirt from the bottom, leaving a trail of murky water behind him as the dirt slowly started to settle back.

(Energy: 3)

"Oh... Sorry," the Lotad said in a bit matter-of-fact tone. Gauel grimaced a bit, gathering himself back. "Um, anyways, what would investigatin' here get ya?" he asked, opting to ignore the other Grass type for now. At least the thing wasn't attacking him, well, save for the heart attack it caused. "Is y'all's enemies hol-," "You sure you don't need a ride?" the Lotad interrupted Gauel. The Treecko shot a glare at the other Grass type, curling a fist as if he were about to knock some manners into the salesman literally. However, Gauel sighed, letting his fist uncurl as he looked at the Fletchling then the Fennekin, seeing if they had any ideas of what to do.

OOC:

Arietta had listened to the Treecko's words, but before she could say anything he was interrupted by the Lotad that had scared them all a moment ago. Despite it's questions being directed towards the Treecko, the guy didn't seem to know what to do, looking to her and the Fennekin almost as if beckoning them to help.

"Uhm. Thanks Mr. Lotad sir," she replied, but paused as she remembered an incident with a Sentret and assuming genders, and then continued, ".. Or... Miss. Lotad," she added, "I think we're fine for now, but, out of curiosity, what would it cost to receive a ride from yourself?"

OOC//:

Cana looked between everyone. She was confused to who the lotad was and what they wanted. Cana was not a fan of the Lotad. They almost caused her to drown. In all honesty, the Fennekin wouldn't mind a ride. She wouldn't have to worry about stepping in deep parts and drowning then at least. She wasn't sure if she could trust the Lotad. She didn't want to mention her fear to the others. The Fennekin didn't want to trouble any of them. Cana looked at one of the leaves in the water next to her and waited for what would happen next.

"Cost? Oh no no no! Rides are free! So are snacks and water! Especially water!" the Lotad said, splashing about a bit in excitement. Gauel grimaced once more at the thought that the Lotad was joining them. However, much like Cana, he didn't voice his concerns about the other Grass type.

"I can also have my partner give a ride to someone else! Oh Poliwhirl!" the Lotad called out. As if on cue, the water Cana was standing in suddenly broke as a Poliwhirl stood up undearneath her. "Yessir? Passengers?" the new water type said.

The Fletchling's expression brightened a little as the Lotad mentioned that rides were of no cost at all and then looked to the Fennekin and the Treecko as the Poliwhirl arrived and was introduced to them.

"Maybe it would be advantageous to you two if you're exploring the marshes?" she suggested, "I can fly so traversing the water isn't really a problem for me but for a fire type like you," she nodded to the Fennekin, "You might find it easier should you need to defend yourself. Plus Mr. Treecko here already got tangled once. Getting a ride from them would prevent that from happening again," she reasoned lightly. Perhaps she was a little too easily trusting of all these strange pokemon, but she didn't really know anyone out of these four and so she was only trying to make do with the situation.

Cana still wasn't sure about getting a ride even after hearing it was free. She was still thinking about it. Cana shrieked as the ground under her started shifting. "Wh-What is-" Before she could finish her sentence a Poliwhirl appeared under her and lifted her out of the water. The Fennekin jumped from the water Pokemon back into the water. She didn't like being touched by Pokemon without her permission and that really had caught her by surprise. She only realized she was standing on a Poliwhirl after she was standing next to it.

This didn't help with her decision. Cana looked at the Fletchling when she started speaking up. The bird did have a few points but that didn't mean she was willing to trust getting a ride. The Fennekin looked at the Treecko. She had noticed how the gecko had grimaced a while before. He didn't seem so fond of this either.

"The name's Gauel and I'll be fine now since I'll be more careful about avoiding getting tangled," he said towards the Fletchling. To be quite honest he was wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. It'd become very crowded very fast. Even if the Lotad and Poliwhirl weren't acting hostile now, they were still as much strangers to Gauel as the Fletchling and Fennekin.

"No passengers?" the Poliwhirl asked the Lotad. "We would never harm any passengers, especially with all this war business going on! Plus, well, neither of us know any attacking moves..." the Lotad said.

Arietta shrugged as best as she could in the air as she was and nodded to the Treecko, "Fair enough," she chirruped, "Pleased to make your acquaintance though, i'm Arietta," she introduced herself promptly since Gauel had courteously done so. She then looked to Cana, as if waiting for her choice as to whether she wanted a ride from the odd water type duo. She seemed to be rather apprehensive, and honestly if she had the strength to do so, Arie would have offered to carry the Fennekin herself so that she wouldn't have to be near the water or water types.

Unfortunately she wasn't nearly large enough to carry even someone as small as Cana. She thus waited patiently for her response to the water types.

Cana looked between the water types. It seemed the Treecko was not prepared to get a ride. The Fennekin didn't want to be rude so she actually had waited a bit for the others to speak up. If the Treecko had agreed on the ride, the Fennekin would have felt like she had to agree on getting a ride too. All the strange pokemon made her nervous and that only got worse when she realized everyone was staring at her.

As the Fletchling and the Treecko had introduced themselves, Cana felt like she had to introduce herself too. "W-Well...My name is Cana." The Fennekin didn't look at any of them when she started speaking up. "I...I rather don't get a ride either." She wasn't sure how the others would react. She hoped not too bad.

"Welp, the ladies decided, so we don't need a ride," Gauel said once Cana said she didn't need a ride. The Lotad frowned, unsure on if it should leave it at that. However, it wouldn't need to decide as three clouds of smoke suddenly exploded around the group. Gauel began to cough as the sounds of the Lotad and Poliwhirl's cries rang out in the shrouded area. The Treecko squinted his eyes open as he tried to see what was going on. He then fell forward, a force of water suddenly smacking him in the back.

One minute they were declining a ride from the friendly water types, and the next they were all surrounded by smoke. Arietta could hardly see in front of her, and so she immediately lit her body on fire with Flame Charge, the flames not able to clear the smoke, but lighting up the vicinity and making it somewhat easier to see. She could catch very brief glimpses of something pale blue near something dark green. It was perhaps Gauel? She couldn't quite tell.

Trying to get her bearings, Arie caught glimpses of Cana's yellow fur, but also a second pale skinned individual. At spotting this particular pokemon, it leaped at her, a blinding white trail extending behind it as it did so. Almost reflexively, Arietta brought up a Quick Guard, the pale red barrier forming in front of her just in time for the Froakie to collide into it, negating his Quick Attack move and preventing it from damaging her.

The flames around her body now having died out, Arie immediately turned to go on the offensive as the Froakie landed in the marshwater with a splash. She dived at him, using her own Quick Attack move. The Froakie recovered just in time to move to the side and use Bubble, the spheres produced colliding with Arietta and knocking her out of the air and into the marshy water.

As they had decided to not take a ride, Cana was wondering what the Lotad and Poliwirl were going to do. She thought the two water types would leave but the last thing she expected was an explosion. The Fennekin jumped up from surprise and looked around confused. She had no clue what was going on or were that smoke came from.

Cana was barely able to see anything around her. Because of this, she didn't notice the Froakie behind her, until Arietta attacked it. Cana watched the fight confused. She was still trying to figure out what was happening but it seemed they were under attack. "Watch out!" Cana cried out as the water type released a bubble attack, but it was too late. Cana could see the Fletchling get hit and get knocked out of the air. Cana hoped the bird would be ok.

The Fennekin turned her attention towards the Froakie. She was not sure what was going on but it seemed they were getting attacked. Cana decided it was best to try to fight their way out of this. The fire type took a deep breath and then fired a barrage of small fire balls at the Froakie.

Gauel stumbled back onto his feet, the water around him sloshing as he attempted to get his bearings. The world around him seemed to swirl with colors and sounds. As he stumbled, the Treecko groaned, bringing his hands together as a ball of green energy formed between them. Looking around in his dazed state, Gauel attempted to find a target. He quickly threw the Energy ball towards a nearby splash, not knowing he was aiming at the Fletchling who was just attacked. The Treecko began to charge up another Energy Ball to try and attack someone else. However, the dazed Pokemon lost his concentration, and the move exploded on himself, sending him skidding across the water.

(bleh had an idea for more, lost it, can't get it back, so just posting)

Arietta flapped her wings in an almost panicked way as she hit the water, trying to keep herself afloat. She was not a pokemon made to swim and she could almost feel the water clinging to her soft down feathers as she struggled to find something to cling to in order to pull herself out.

Unfortunately for Arie, she wasn't exactly paying the most attention to her surroundings as she struggled to find a lily pad to pull herself up onto, and as such didn't notice the Treecko's energy ball coming towards her until she could no longer do anything to counter it. Gauel's attack hit, and with a small squeak of surprise, whatever progress she had made previously was now reversed as the move hit, forcing her back underneath the water.

Flailing once more, she tried to reach the surface in order to continue her efforts of escaping the water. However she ended up getting tangled in the plantlife of the marshes, similarly to how Gauel had earlier. Panicking, the Fletchling kicked out with her small feet, trying to disentangle the plants from her legs.

Why oh why did she have to be so small!? If she were only a larger pokemon, the depth of this particular area wouldn't even phase her.

OOC//:

The Froakie got hit by Cana her attack and tried to counter with a buddle. Cana wanted to dodge, but it was very difficult with all that water. She decided it would be better to try to get away. The Fennekin hesitated before going under water and so avoid the bubble attack, but she had to suppress her panic. She didn't like this at all.

The Fennekin slowly moved through the water, holding her breath until she couldn't hold it anymore. Then she surfaced to fill her lungs with fresh air. The Fennekin looked around. She could not see the water type anymore but she did hear some splashing a bit further. Was that Arietta? She had to go see. Cana moved as fast as she could to where the sound was coming from.

The Fennekin could see the Fletchling a bit further. It seemed she was trying to get on some lily pad. Cana was about to go over to help when the bird suddenly got hit by some attack. Cana looked around surprised to see who the attacker could be but she couldn't see anything with all the smoke. The Fennekin decided to go help the bird again.

The water was getting deeper. It was scaring the Fennekin but she had to get Arietta out of the water. She didn't think the bird could swim either. She could see some splashing but it seemed as if Arietta couldn't get to the surface. Was she stuck? Cana moved towards the Fletchling, barely able to keep her own head above water. Once there, she dove under and started pulling on the plants that got the bird entangled.