Poached Pecha

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(Energy: 16-5=11)

"Pecha Berries... Pecha Berries... Stupid trees being stupid and tall and... stupid."
A Pokémon passing close to this area, whether or not they lived in the forest or were visiting it from the nearby Grassveil Town, would have been able to hear this complaint. Depending on individual dispositions, they might find it to be either amusing or cute if it were even worth their time to investigate in the first place.

For those Pokémon, they would discover it to have originated from a Togepi trying to reach the Pecha Berries growing in a tree of an actually normal size, only appearing to be astonishingly tall to her as a result of her small figure.

"Ooooh...!" the Togepi named Cirrus moaned to herself, holding back the urge to use Metronome for the chance of a lucky Vine Whip. Last time she tried that, it had resulted in her nearly setting the forest ablaze with a Lava Plume attack.

Short on all other options, she ran at the tree and headbutted it, sending an audible clunking noise throughout the general vicinity upon impact. This probably wasn't her best of days.

Niracamda watched how the Hoothoot in front of them was measuring them up. What would they do if it attacked them? She had spoken the truth but sometimes the feral just would not listen. There were various reasons on why they attack others. Niracamda was rather nervous at that point. She was starting to think they would be there for hours, but then the Hoothoot flew back to where it came from. The shiny Houndour let out a sigh of relief.

Niracamda glanced towards the Togepi behind her. "Well, the Hoothoot hesitated to attack so I thought I would be able to talk to it, and it seems I was right. Not all ferals would listen to you, so you should be careful." The Houndour didn't want to let Cirrus do something reckless or stupid. Sometimes it was just better to run away from the moment the feral appears. "I don't think the Hoothoot will tell anyone about us. Ferals tend to only think about themselves and their colonies, if they have one." Niracamda started walking down the path again. She glanced back to see if Cirrus was following her.

Evana carried out 2 launched of one Pecha Forest :

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(Energy: 9+1=10)

"I understand. I'll be careful." Cirrus said to her Houndour teammate, dashing over to keep up with her. The weather was still rather nice as she continued to listen out for any more ferals and look around for a Pecha Berry or herb of some sort.

She couldn't hear anything at present and so decided to throw a question at Niracamda, one which had been on her mind for a short while now "So, what about you? What made you decide to train as a medic?" She hoped it was ok to poke around like that, because she was just as equally interested in knowing about Nira's dream as she had appeared to be about Cirrus's.

Niracamda looked to the Togepi in surprise. She only mentioned she came to the forest to look for herbs. "I never I never said I was a medic. I only told you I came here to look after herbs. Maybe I am just a simple herbalist." The blue Houndour couldn't help but smile. She had not tried to hide she was a medic and it seemed fair she would answer the question. Niracamda carefully considered her words before speaking up.

"Well, I got in an accident with a good friend of mine and we both got carried to the hospital. I was impressed by the medics who worked there and I wanted to be like them, kind and helpful, saving lives. I wanted to do what was right. I wanted to help too. It took a while, but I decided to train in the hospital. I had to learn all kinds of things. The effects of plants, how to threat wounds, the anatomy of Pokemon,.... It was a lot of work. It took me years to learn all that. If you really want to become a medic, you should have your heart set on it, because if you are not determined enough, you won't be able to keep up the studies."

Niracamda being a herbalist had never really occurred to Cirrus as a possibility. She had simply taken a shot in the dark more than anything else, since the Houndour certainly did know her stuff. Her subsequent description was listened to very closely and she could certainly relate to how Nira started. Seeing someone in action and deciding to be just like them.

The rest? It kinda threw her for a little loop and surprised her into silence. She only really knew the basics of treating wounds, had only learned about plants having effects from this meeting, and anatomy was a completely foreign phrase for her. Cirrus's heart was indeed set on it, even now, and she was sure that she could muster up the necessary determination but it sounded more difficult than she had initially imagined. She had to admire Niracamda's efforts.

"Wow... I'm going to tell you the truth here, it seems tougher than I thought it would be." She took a moment to digest it. "I still want to do this."

Niracamda smiled. The child really seemed determined about becoming a medic. She didn't think she was able to teach the Togepi though. She didn't have the right materials, and this was not the best environment to teach her. The only thing Niracamda could teach her in the forest, was about medical herbs, if they were able to find some. And if they somehow found a wounded feral, that didn't try to attack them, she might be able to show more, but that seemed unlikely. It would be better if the Togepi would find a hospital or something similar to become a medic.

"It really is a lot of work, but I believe you might be able to do it. You just need to find a place to learn. We should go further for now." The Houndour took a few steps and felt something under her front paw. Lifting it up, she saw she had stepped on a green colored gummi. The Houndour hesitated a bit before she picked it up and put it in her bag.

She watched Niracamda lift up a paw and pick up the gummi she had stepped on, musing over her words. Trained at a hospital... Yes, that did sound like a good course of action for her to take once she felt ready. At present, she was hoping to work on some form of self defense. Helping others, her dream, was all well and good but how could she even provide that help if she couldn't help herself out?

This was primarily why she had taken up dungeon exploration, to learn how to do this. Once Cirrus felt confident enough in her ability to look after and protect her own self, she would follow Nira's example and seek out training at a hospital.

"Alright, I'll go where you're going." was her reply after the gummi was collected.

Gengarzilla carried out 2 launched of one Pecha Forest :

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Niracamda nodded and walked deeper into the forest. Maybe...They were not going to find anything by staying on this path? Niracamda glanced to her side and saw something between the trees that seemed a lot like one of the herbs she had been looking for. "Cirrus, do you see that?" She asked the young Togepi as she pointed towards it. "That is one of the herbs I mentioned. Let's take a closer look."

Niracamda walked over to the plant. It was actually some small, dark blue flowers. This was something that did not grow anywhere near where she used to live. The Houndour turned towards Cirrus. "Look over here, Cirrus. This is a borage. These are used bring down fevers. Doesn't it look nice?" The Houndour was rather happy they managed to find something. The Houndour was focusing too much on the flower to notice there was something watching them.

(Energy: 10-8=2)

"It looks beautiful..." she replied while looking at it. To think that these precious blue flowers, tucked between two trees, could bring down a Pokémon's raging fever... She marveled to herself over the very thought. Searching outside of the beaten path was definitely something she would try doing on future visits.

Cirrus's reverie was soon broken by a feeling of unease. She suddenly remembered why she'd never strayed from the path before. "I feel like we're being watched." After glancing around, she saw a Petrify Orb nearby and made ready to rush for it if there were nearby ferals that they couldn't sway.

Niracamda looked around. She could hear something from the bushes to her right. The bushes were rustling as if something was inside them. "Cirrus, be careful." She said without looking away from the bushes. She knew something was in them, but she had no clue what it was.

Carefully, Niracamda moved closer to the bushes. Whatever it was, it could be dangerous. She motioned Cirrus to stay back. The small Houndour moved a few branches aside with her paw. What she did find in there, was not something she expected. Niracamda was staring right in the eyes of a rather scared Pineco.

A light was surrounding the feral. This was bad. "Cirrus, get back!" Just as she said that, the Pineco used Self-destruct.

"Ahh?!" Though startled by the sudden urgency in Nira's voice, Cirrus did as told. She hid behind a tree and upon hearing the Pineco explode, she hid back into her shell, retracting her head spikes and keeping within her egg shaped form of protection. There was no emerging, moving, or talking until she was 250% sure that it was over.

Once certain that it was safe, Cirrus emerged from her shell feeling a little scared. This was quickly brushed aside by concern for Nira, as she hadn't seen whether or not the Houndour had also found some sort of shelter. Greatly nervous at what she could find, the Togepi peered out from behind her hiding place, apprehension etched over her face.

"Y-you ok there...?" she worriedly called out towards the aftermath of the explosion...

It was a good thing the Togepi had managed to get out of harms way. Niracamda hadn't been so lucky. As she had been too concerned about the safety of the Togepi, she thought about trying to escape far too late. She had taken the full brunt of the explosion and had been blasted against a tree, where she now was laying under. The Pineco was laying unconscious a bit further.

Various thoughts were going through Niracamda's head. Her body hurt. That was a sign she was still alive, right? Her ears were still ringing from the sound. Her vision was blurry. She couldn't move. Where was Cirrus? Had she managed to get away? Was she going to die? The Houndour just didn't know. She probably was doing pretty badly at that moment.

Upon seeing Nira's body slumped under a tree, Cirrus's heart plummeted as though it were a Golem sinking through the water. It was clear that the split second the Houndour had to escape was instead used to warn her new Togepi acquaintance of the danger.

Almost numb from the shock of this whole event, she ran headlong towards the injured partner. "It's ok... I'm here... I'm safe... Please hold on..." she softly exclaimed after reaching her, genuine concern laced and woven deep within every single little syllable. This trip had taken a sudden and monumental turn for the worse in her opinion.

Niracamda could notice something move closer through her blurry eyes. Was it Cirrus? It was rather hard to tell. She could hear a voice over the ringing in her ears. It sounded strangely familiar. Was Cirrus talking to her? Did that mean she had managed to get away from the explosion? Niracamda hoped that was the case.

The voice was saying something to her. What was it? Was it reassuring her? That was weird. Normally she was the one reassuring others, and why did the voice sound so concerned? It was not like she was dying, was she? The small Houndour tried to move, but her body felt so heavy. Maybe she could try to say something? "C...rus" Was the only thing that managed to escape her mouth.

"Yes, it's me... I'm not hurt... T-thanks for the heads up..." She only felt it right to say this, being fully aware that she could have been in that blast radius if not for Niracamda calling out as such. Cirrus was otherwise entirely lost for words and resolved to look over the Houndour's body for any external injuries, taking this silence to swallow her intense feeling of unease and calm herself down for Nira's sake.

Being suddenly hurled into a situation where someone nearby was injured had unarguably caused her to inwardly panic as a result of her relatively limited practical experience, but she did know that she couldn't just lose her head. Forming some ideas, the Togepi voiced one out in a more stable voice in an attempt to take charge of the moment. "Herbs, could some kinds help us out here?"

She wasn't sure if they would work, but she just had to step up to the plate somehow...

The voice started talking again. It confirmed that she was Cirrus and that she was not hurt. That was a big relief for the Houndour. It made her forget her pain, only for a short while. The ringing in her ears was becoming less, and she could hear Cirrus ask if herbs could help them out. There might be a few around, but in her state, Nira was unable to answer.

The explosion had been heard through a wide area in the forest. A certain Ledyba had heard it too and went to see what happened. He did not expect to find what he found there. A Pineco was laying unconscious between some blown up bushes and under a tree was a Togepi and a heavily injured blue Houndour. The bug type flew towards it. "Hey, what happened here?" He asked the Togepi. It did seem like the Houndour needed help.