Nightmires

The mist was heavy, and Linus was heavier. The group, despite all odds, and despite the rising water level of the mire, trekked onward into the Marsh until they had reached the next section of it. Sure, it probably would have been a better idea to turn back and get everyone rested and healed after their last encounter, but they were already there. After all, they had some business to take care of. Namataki needed to find her friends, and Nate and Ava were both looking for signs of Zygarde's supposed quest for them.

In an effort to keep Linus from, well, drowning, Ava and Nate currently found themselves trudging through the water, struggling to keep the larger pokemon held over their heads for the time being. The Pikachu was visibly squeamish, trying to keep his head high with a combination of the water going up to his neck and trying to hold the bird pokemon up.
"Eh...can we...uh, can we find some drier areas? Better yet, somewhere we can drop Linus without...drowning him..." He managed to get out, his paws wiggling slightly as he tried to keep his grip, trying to keep holding onto the Honchkrow. Of course, Namataki wasn't helping carry him, so maybe at the least she could scout ahead and look for a good spot.

Avaria stayed silent for a few moments as she continued to hold onto Linus. She hadn't told much to the group in the intermission since their last encounter, aside from her name and that she was just interested in the area. Honestly, she didn't really feel like she needed to tell them all what exactly she was doing there. After hearing the Pikachu's question, she raised a brow as she looked to him.
"Nate. We're in the middle of a Mire. That's a wetland. I hate to break it to you, but there's most likely going to be no dry land around here. Do your research." She calmly stated, giving a small smirk alongside a nonchalant shrug. The Pikachu blinked a moment, grumbling as he looked back ahead.

"I did my research...a little...Taki, any idea where we're going?" He started to argue indignantly, but after not being able to find a way to defend himself he simply tried to redirect conversation a little, questioning their residential Piplup on where they were, ignoring Avaria's satisfied chuckle.


Nate: 11/31
Avaria: 6/26

...wha? He was being carried...since when was this a thing? The last he remembered was moving to get going, then nothingness. Did he pass out? Who was carrying him? The honchkrow's mind was even hazier than before, a headache throbbing in his mind as he tried to open his eyes. Voices could be heard, familiar ones. The oshawott and the pikachu, why did were they helping him? He could not understand much of what was happening, and could not move. A groan escaped him, the poisonous toxins seemed to have faded from his systems thankfully but the pain was still there.

"Nope!" Was Namataki's response. The piplup was scouting ahead indeed, but more because she was not being weighed down by a lump of feathers. She did not offer to help, she had no reason to. He was not a friend, and it did not really cross her mind to help. She instead gave her wings a quick stretch before diving into a bit deeper water and swimming ahead. She wasn't seeing much of anything, considering 90% of everything she saw was mist. She flipped around on her back and spoke up, "Why do you think I had someone escorting me?"

Namataki: 20 (escorted and ate a Reviver Seed)
Linus: 7 (escorted Namataki)

The Oshawott smirked for a moment as Namataki gave a more than unhelpful response to the rest of the group. Granted, she couldn't magically just figure out where she was going now, and the alternative would be to lie to them and say she did know, but still. She could have always, huh, maybe consulted a map before she left. Then if something like this had happened, she would know where they were going. Though, that may have been a bit hypocritical, all things considered. Ava herself had checked some maps before leaving, though she didn't really find much about the Mire itself. Then again, she had to assume a Guild member or even a citizen might be able to get some access to better maps, all things considered.

While they continued onward, she could start to hear a groan, one that seemed to be coming from the bird they were lugging around with them. At the same time, though, Nate's ears seemed to lower in disappointment as he frowned, registering Namataki's response.
"Oh. Well, I mean, since you're taking the lead and all, I thought maybe you might know..."
"Nate?"
"Then again, at this point we might have to just wander around here a bit, see if we can find anything..."
"Nate."
"Let's just hope we have the right place, because if we don't, we'll probably have to go check someplace else-"
"Nate. Linus is waking up." After listening to the Pikachu speak for a bit, and trying to get his attention, the Oshawott finally gave up on subtlety and just interrupted him fully. Linus' safety coming before his own irritation at Ava, he quickly turned around, still trying to keep a grip on the bird.

"We should put him down somewhere."
"Yes, great. Now he'll be conscious when he drowns. Wish I'd thought of it myself." Nate elected to ignore Ava's smug and sarcastic commentary on the situation as he glanced back to Namataki.
"See anywhere up there that's a little more shallow? Someplace we could put Linus down?"

The piplup looked back at the group, backstroking in the water as they seemed to want to find higher ground. She stopped for a moment and allowed herself to sink as she stood up in the water. She pointed with a flipper to her left, "There's a large dry path over there if you guys need it," she pointed to a large hill in the marsh that created solid ground the water did not dare to reach. The piplup had known that it was there, she just did not tell them since they did not ask. It did not cross her mind to tell them, since she was not the one to suffer the burden of carrying the half dead bird.

Linus could hear the voices still, he was going to be put down soon? That was nice. He wanted to just lay there, and do nothing. Die. The usual things. The honchkrow wondered how they were even carrying him, like, he knew he was a bird. He wasn't that heavy. Though he was certainly pretty big even for a Honchkrow. He couldn't really feel his body at the moment still, so he had no idea if parts of him were just in the water. He appreciated that they were helping him though...he'd have to thank them later...

There was a moment of what could be called audible silence as both the Oshawott and the Pikachu looked off to the side, taking notice of the dry path that had seemingly stretched on for a decent distance. A path right to the side of them that they probably hadn't noticed due to the way in which they had been carrying Linus. Which was over their heads, with all his feathers and plumage and wings blocking most of their side views. For a moment, Nate and Ava turned to look at one another, the former regarding her with an expression of disbelief while the later raised a brow and shrugged.

"Namataki. How long have we been going by that path?" The Oshawott questioned, nearly stumbling to keep up with Nate while the Pikachu immediately began to kick water up, practically charging over to the dry path through the water. The trip couldn't have been very comfortable for the Honchkrow at all as the two pokemon carrying him made it to the path. The landing couldn't have been very comfortable either, as both immediately dropped him. Ava out of a general apathy for the bird, and Nate out of panic and relief at being back on dry land.

"Ohthankgoodnesswe'rebackondrylandfinallyohi'vemissedthissomuch..." The Pikachu began to motormouth, practically falling on all fours to kiss the ground in relief. The Oshawott shook her head and looked back to the Piplup they were with.
"We should probably regroup a bit over here, rest up while we can. You should come over here, if you want." She spoke, shrugging slightly as she glanced around, surveying the area a bit.

The piplup stared at the oshawott for a moment as she was asked a question, trying to formulate an answer to the ever so complicated question. "How long we been walking?" she asked, an eyebrow raised in genuine confusion. It had been there the entire time. How had they not noticed it? The piplup dove into the water once more, completely at home despite the disgusting tinge the color seemed to have. She swam along side them, letting her legs remain in the water as she used her flippers to hold up her head by her cheeks. "I'm fine here," she said. It was much easier and faster to move around in the water, why didn't the other water type think the same?

Linus was dropped. His body releasing an, "OOF!" as his breath escaped him. The honchkrow felt the desire to move. His heavy wings, which he now registered as wet, pushed him up as his legs attempted to carry his soaked body. The honchkrow raised his wings and flapped them harshly, flinging water off to the sides and away from the pokemon that had assisted him.

"Wha happen'?" he spoke sluggishly, his mind still hazy. He gave his head a harsh shake, only to induce a headache, "OH-ow...ow..." he spoke. Well, there was no longer water dripping off of his hat but now he had a headache. Great.

Linus: 20

Kat carried out 5 launched of one Misty Mire :

, , , ,

Namataki: 7

Kat carried out 5 launched of one Misty Mire :

, , , ,

The Oshawott crossed her paws...er, at least, attempted to. They were kind of short, stubby little things. The most she could do was rest them on the scalchop sitting on her front. Had Namataki really not told them about it the entire time? She was there when Nate was freaking out about the water, wasn't she? Shouldn't she have figured it might be a good thing to mention? But most importantly, how did Ava herself not notice it? Sure, she was carrying that bird, but something inside her made her feel a tad ashamed that she hadn't figured it out herself.

Once Linus began to speak, the Pikachu stood up and turned around, stepping back over to the bird while trying to brush some excess water off of himself.
"Oh, great, you're awake! That's good, that's really good...uh, so, how are you feeling?" He initially asked, before suddenly realizing that Linus had been asking what had happened. "Oh! Wait, you don't remember? Uh, well, let's start with the beginning then. You came out here with Namataki, that Piplup swimming around over there, and I ran into you. Then Ava, that Oshawott, showed up, and we all got into a fight with a bunch of other Pokemon. You kind of took some hard hits there...uh, are you keeping up with this?" He finally stopped to ask that last bit, after having been speaking a mile a minute with his explanation. It would probably be a miracle if the Honchkrow had gotten any of that, with Nate's speed of speaking and his own headache.

Nate

Pikashock carried out 5 launched of one Misty Mire :

, , , ,

Ava

Pikashock carried out 5 launched of one Misty Mire :

, , , ,

The honchkrow had been staring at Nate with a blank expression, still trying to process the first sentence the pikachu had stated. He shook his head, "Before I passed out, what happened?" he clarified for the pikachu in hopes that SOMEONE would give him an explanation. All he remembered was walking...walking...some more walking...then nothing. Was he attacked? Why was his head still hazy? His head throbbed in pain, causing a wing to lift and rub his head as much as he could with it. Gods that hurt.

Namataki sighed in boredom as she watched the others, frankly quite bored with the situation. That is...until she heard a curious noise not too far away. It sounded like murmurs, and strange sounds that sounded like groans, but not quite like Linus's. She looked back to the group and put a wing to her beak, "Shhh!" She shushed them. She looked back to the direction the noise was coming from, before swimming towards it.

She swam around a few trees and made her way through some reeds. When she peeked through her eyes widened upon the sight before her. Twenty pokemon total, with a small flithy looking creature caught up in a net that was practically black and blue with bruises.

"Keep the little sh*t down," a voice growled. The creature in the net looked weak and beaten. She had to help, but she couldn't possibly do it alone. She swam back silently, returning to the group, "Guys, follow me...okay maybe not the bird," she spoke before swimming back in the direction she had originally gone. When all who had followed her arrived, she pointed at the reeds for the pokemon to look through. Twenty strong pokemon were talking among each other, the bag containing the shaymin had been dropped in the water, and the little creature was struggling to keep her nose above the water.

The group seemed to nod as if agreeing to something, before one pokemon picked up the shaymin after roughly dunking it into the water once and the pokemon departed in several different directions, splitting up and taking the small pokemon with them.

Well. Nate certainly hadn't proven to be the most effective source of information for the clearly confused Honchkrow. He rubbed the back of his head with a paw and shrugged slightly as he received the question.
"Right, well...I'll try and go a little slo-" Before he could finish, he winced slightly as he looked to the side, noticing Namataki's sudden shushing of him. Deciding it was best not to argue with the Piplup so she didn't blow up over anything with them, he kept his mouth shut and nodded. Not without looking back to Linus and shaking his head, though.

A few moments later, the Piplup swam back over to them, asking for the group to follow. Avaria turned and glanced over to Nate with a smirk, waving her paw and gesturing him over to the direction Namataki had been heading. The Pikachu shot her a rather unimpressed expression, sticking over by the bird.
"I think I'll pass. I'll watch Linus while you're gone." He responded, before turning back to the flying type pokemon with them. The Oshawott shrugged and turned away, her smirk still on her face as she hopped into the water, swimming after the Piplup.

Once she made it to the reeds, Ava moved up and peered out, taking a good look at the sight. Some unidentifiable pokemon was trapped in a net, and it certainly seemed like she hadn't been treated well. Of course, then there was a matter of 20 pretty powerful looking pokemon all around, seeming like they were taking her somewhere.
"Can't say I've ever seen a pokemon like that before...we should probably keep moving." She suggested to the Piplup, seeming a bit callous about the situation.

Meanwhile, Nate stuck by Linus and thought for a moment, trying to slow down his thought process.
"Right...before you passed out, you were carrying me, Namataki and Ava away from a fight. You kind of crashed into the water, and then you passed out a little after that...is any of this making sense to you?" He tried to explain once more, questioning the Honchkrow curiously.

The piplup stared at the oshawott for a brief moment, before her cheeks puffed out with her eyes narrowed. She crossed her little flippers, one over the other, as she glared at the otter pokemon. "We've gotta help it!" the piplup huffed rather loudly, "What if that was you!? Would you want someone to just leave you? I know I wouldn't! I'm sure Garnet and Jade would be all for saving it, besides, who knows? Maybe it'll give us a reward or something, and even if it can't we can't just leave it!" she continued on a bit of a rave, not caring about her tone or even really paying attention to what she was saying.

The honchkrow stared down at the Pikachu for a moment as the rodent asked if this was all making sense. "How did I crash into water?" he asked, a bit confused by that statement. Last he checked he was a good at the whole flying gig. He was not like a certain Archeops who had only spent a tenth of his life flying. The honchkrow did not seem to be able to piece together that the pikachu meant he fell.

As the Piplup's volume heightened, the Oshawott glanced around the area quickly to make sure none of the pokemon that had split up where coming their way, before looking back to Namataki. While she'd been looking around, she'd still been listening to everything the other water type had to say. To her, it was...amusing. That seemed to be the right word for it. Even though she'd never met the pokemon, she seemed pretty ready to risk her own life to try and help it out against the twenty pokemon they'd seen capturing it. This lead Ava to believe she was either dealing with bravery, foolishness, or ignorance.

"I would suggest you keep your voice down, if you want a chance at helping that pokemon out." She stated with a smug smile, keeping her own voice at the level of a whisper.
"First of all, it wouldn't be me. I'm not the type to get caught, unless I want to. Secondly, I'm hoping the sheer amount of strong pokemon there didn't escape your attention. This isn't the kind of situation we can charge right into, not without a plan. And lastly? As if going after those pokemon would have been easy before, we've already got an injured bird back there. That's some serious risk you're saying we put him, and ourselves, through." As she finished speaking, she had started to wade backwards in the water, turning around and starting to swim back over to the rest of the group.

"Whether we do or don't help that pokemon out, we still need to regroup with everyone and get their take on it. You can go run off on your own, or you can come back and work something out with all of us." The Oshawott looked back at the other pokemon and winked, the same smile never leaving her face as she continued onward.

Nate let the somewhat awkward silence hold for a few seconds after Linus asked about his crash, looking as if he was about to respond immediately, before looking down and putting a paw to his chin in thought, as if trying to think about a good way to explain it. Or at least, a good way to explain it without being a dick.
"Well...you see, when you're in the air, and you stop...being in the air, well...err, wait, well..." He started to pace back and forth a bit, wracking his mind for a good way to describe it.
"You were flying, and then you weren't. And so we all fell into the water. Thankfully, it wasn't the land, because if that was the case we might all have been a bit worse off." The electric type finally settled on a response, shrugging at the Honchkrow as he gave his answer.