The Search for Orbs

It was around midday. The temperature was pleasant and the wind present only in the form of a small breeze, perfect for cooling one off every now and again. Unfortunately for such a pleasant day, the trees of Shadowhue Forest were too dense to let majority of the sunlight through their leafy canopy, and as such the light was only present as rays that filtered through the gaps in the treetops, and a scattering of dappled light on the forest floor.

A Mothim had entered the forest, fluttering on his large orange-scaled wings but traveling at a rather slow pace in order to accommodate for his younger companion. The Ralts that accompanied him was hoping to join the Windrose Scouts, and although Russell didn't usually go with the potential WS candidates on their entry challenge excursions, he'd made an exception for Eve.

"Alright, here we are!" he smiled, motioning at the forest around him with his small white forelegs.

(Energy 13-10 For travel, 3 energy left. Ate Oran Berry. 3+10. 13 Energy left.)

Eve was excited. This was it. This was the test to determine whether she joined the Windrose Scouts or not. If she joined, she'd be able to achieve her dream. She'd be able to travel to distant lands and find out history of the world that hasn't been discovered. The task at hand was a retrieval mission. She had to find at least two orbs and show she had the skills to explore like any other scout. Mister Russell was watching her and she had to impress him. "And now I can start the test. I'm great at tests! I never failed a test before." She began looking around, trying to find the orbs. If she found them real quick, she'd really impress Mister Russell. She really wanted to show that she was worth placing her in the scouts.

Russell couldn't help but smile at Eve's already present determination. It was one of the reasons why he was sure she would make a good Windrose Scout once she'd completed this challenge he'd set her.

"I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours," he chuckled lightly. He really was rooting for the young Ralts after all.

Now that they were within the forest, the Mothim hung back a few paces, letting Eve take point in their exploration and lead the direction of their search. Although he planned to help if or when she needed it, Russell also needed to remain an almost passive presence as Eve searched for the orbs, making sure that she did prove that she really could handle the pressures that exploring a dungeon would put upon an individual.

Eve smiled and started making mental notes about the area. It was a forest, obvious by the name. She had a small wood by her home, not a mystery dungeon though. This would be a new experience, her first Mystery Dungeon. She had read that these places were filled with wild pokemon, changed in layout everytime you visited them, and were an endless source or random items. That meant that every visit would be different even if you visited a Mystery Dungeon a thousand times over. So Mister Russell couldn't lead her on a path he had traveled before. She had to follow her own path. Besides, this was her test. She had to prove her own strength, not just rely on him. So she kept looking. "So... how long have you ran the scouts?"

The Mothim began to follow Eve, catching up to hover alongside her rather than behind her. He looked thoughtful for a moment as he considered his answer to the Ralts's question.

"Uhhm. I'm not sure I could give you an exact date, as it's sort of grown over time. But a little while now? It's relatively recent as an organisation, especially compared to such organisations like the guilds and police force. But i'm working hard to make it just as good as those other places, if that makes sense," he replied eventually, smiling down at the Ralts, before chuckling and adding, "Although I do plan to run it for a long time to come."

OOC//:

Eve smiled and nodded. "Its seems like a good idea. I mean from what you have told me, its like the guild but less about heroics. Not saying we can't be heroes, but sometimes gathering information is more important. I think so. You know, you always hear legends of fantastic events and amazing things in the past. Yet you don't see that nowadays. I don't understand why. We should be improving because we have done stuff before, yet history keeps repeating itself. If pokemon learned from history rather than forgetting it, we could do so much more. Be ready for dangers more. If you look back at what we know, we could have used it in more recent events. But no one does. But with the scouts... maybe we can discover that lost information and help more pokemon later..." As Eve spoke, she was casually looking around for orbs. She still had a job to do after all.

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The Mothim nodded at Eve's words. Despite her young age she was remarkably intelligent and well-thought. He couldn't help but wonder just what she would be like in a few years, how much she might achieve in such a short span of time due to her thirst for the knowledge of the past.

He had opened his mouth to reply when he froze, only his wings gently beating and his antennae twitching as he heard something moving in the undergrowth. He then moved in front of Eve, positioning one of his large wings in front of her in an almost 'stop' motion.

"I can hear something," he spoke quietly, clarifying his actions to the Ralts before going quiet once again. He tuned out the beating of his scaled wings as he tried to pinpoint the subtle rustling sounds.

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"WALA!!!!!!!!!!" Suddenly a huge tree pokemon burst forward, charging. Blue psychic energy shot out from one of its faces and hit Eve. The Ralts, very surprised, stumbled back unsteadily. The Hypnosis attack knocked her out, making her fall to the ground. The tree yelled out. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE MY BERRIES YOU..." A long light brown arm snaked out the leaves of the pokemon slowly, hanging in front of the lead face. A tired voice spoke. "Whoa there buddy. You are so loud. You woke me up man. I was having a dream I was sleeping... Best dream." The Slakoth's head poked out from the leaves, lazily regarding the bug type and his young charge. "Whoa like, man. This is what you are worried about man? A bug and a kid? Dude, not cool man. This is like the zillionth time man." The tree pokemon looked a little downward. "But my berries..."

Russell wasn't fast enough to react after the sudden appearance of the Exeggutor and was quickly startled as the Coconut pokemon hypnotised Eve into falling asleep. He had been fully prepared to Tackle the attacker to prevent himself from succumbing to a similar fate when the Slakoth poked it's arms out from between the leafy palm leaves on the pokemon's head.

Second guessing himself as the pokemon began speaking to each other, he defensively hovered in front of Eve as he spoke to them, trying to gauge what on earth was going on.

"We weren't stealing anything of yours!" he called out, his voice portraying his anger at the unprovoked attack. They hadn't even been near any berries! He was also a little frustrated with himself. After all, their first obstacle in this little journey and he'd already failed to protect the young Ralts. At least he could be glad that it was only a sleep inducing move and not one that would deal serious damage.

The sloth lifted the arm only an inch and let it fall on the tree's middle face. "See, you over reacted man. You always do this dude. You jumped the gun." The Exeggutor pouted a bit. "But everyone tries to steal them usually. Bug types most of all. They swarm and..." The tall pokemon sighed and looked over at Russell. "I'm sorry little bug. I didn't mean to attack an innocent pokemon. I rushed in... Okay, I'll pay you back. Hold on up there!" The sloth hung on as the Exeggutor started shaking his head. A few items fell from it to the ground. A pair of cacnea spikes and a TM disc. Once they fell out, he stopped. "There. Please accept this. I am sorry for the trouble. Don't worry about your friend, she will wake up... soon? She is not harmed." The sloth yawned and went to sleep, seeing no reason to interact further.

Russell looked back to the Slakoth as he spoke again before his expression turned to a frown as his gaze rested on the Exeggutor whilst he claimed that bug types were most likely to steal his berries. The frown softened into a more neutral expression as the Coconut pokemon apologised for being so hasty though, and Russell nodded.

"Uhm... It's okay I guess, although I'd suggest you be more cautious as to who you attack in future. Someone else might not hear you out if it turns out you're wrong..." he replied, glancing at the items on the floor. He didn't really want to take the items if the Exeggutor needed them more, but at the same time he didn't want it to look like he hadn't accepted his apology.

Making a decision, he gathered the items and slipped them in his bag, nodding a thanks to the Exeggutor before landing next to Eve and poking her gently to see if it would help her awaken. If not, it might be wise to move her in case someone who actually intended to do them harm found them.

Maybe it was because she was a psychic type herself and was more resistant to the hypnosis, but Eve was pretty easy to wake up. When she saw the tree standing over her, Eve hopped up quickly and prepared to let out a dose of Confusion. The tree shook his heads. "Wait wait! I mean you no harm. We just had a horrible misunderstanding kid! But your buddy smoothed things out before we all did something we'd regret. Sorry kid." Eve looked over at Russell, her psychic attack fading. She was definitely relieved the larger pokemon wasn't attacking... but she was also worried. She had been taken out like nothing. What if that disqualified her and made her fail the test. She however pushed those feelings down to hid them and put on a smile. "Its okay mister. I accept your apology. I'm just glad no one got hurt."

Russell was relieved when Eve was woken rather easily, but quickly took up a position between the Ralts and the Exeggutor when it looked like Eve was going to attack. Before he could clarify the situation, the tree-like pokemon had done it for him and as a result Eve seemed to stand down. The Mothim nodded along with the other's words, as if to confirm the Exeggutor's story.

Russ smiled as Eve seemed to forgive the other pokemon and landed gently on the ground.
"We're incredibly sorry for bothering you two after all this," the Mothim spoke, "But we should probably be heading forwards. Just make sure to give others a chance next time, yea?" he chuckled good naturedly.

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The Exeggutor nodded, turning and running while shouting a hearty "WALAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" as he went. What an odd pokemon. Surely the odds of meeting him again were quite low. Eve sighed and shook her head, looking downward. "I'm sorry I was taken down so easily. I never even saw it coming Mister Russell. I should have been more alert. If I had kept searching with my senses, I probably could have felt his emotions and we could have been ready. I promise that it won't happen again Mister Russell. I'll keep a look out for anyone else. I promise."

After that, Eve kept a look out for any nearby pokemon. Not too far from them as she was still young and not that strong at feeling emotions. But she could do well enough. For example, she felt two pokemon already. They didn't feel bad or good, there was perhaps a little hunger, annoyance. Annoyance was negative though. "Mister Russell, there are two pokemon ahead. I can feel them."

Russell waved a little as both the Slakoth and the Exeggutor headed off, dropping his small white limb as they disappeared into the depths of the undergrowth. He then turned to Eve as she began apologising for not being more alert.

"Oh no, don't worry about that. Even the best explorers can't predict everything and the positive side here is that you've learned something from the experience," he smiled warmly, "Plus it illustrates why it's so important to have a companion or partner when exploring. Exploring alone is fine, but a partner will be there to help you when you get in a tough spot. After all, there are things that everyone can do, and things that everyone can't."

The Mothim kept a close eye on the Ralts as she concentrated more on her surroundings as they moved onward. Watching her carefully, he could almost see when she found something, the way she carried herself changing ever so slightly.
Russell nodded at the information she provided him with and kept his own senses alert, his two antennae working to detect any changes in their environments. He was noticeably more cautious as they moved forwards, the Mothim ready to act should he need to.