(Egg) Laying the foundation

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(Energy: 17-5=12)

"Pecha Forest again..."

Cirrus didn't expect to have too much troubles with the dungeon this time. She had been able to purchase a TM for the move Double Team and gotten some practice in on the new technique. Clearing Pecha Forest wasn't her plan for today though. What she intended to do was gather herbs.

On her last visit, she had met up with a Shiny Houndour and learned about some of their effects. Borage, Cirrus recalled, could bring down a Pokémon's fever. She had since done her homework and was now returning to collect more varieties. To expand her knowledge...

"Well, in I go~" the Togepi said while walking in to the forest, her eyes open for anything.

Cirrus noticed that the Murkrow had flinched as a result of Darcy's Fake Out, so she decided to really capitalise on the situation at hand with a Double Team. All of a sudden, the crow found themselves facing an entire plethora of Togepi. Only one of them was the real Cirrus amongst a pack of illusory copies but the impression of that Togepi calling on some friends was more than enough to spook the Murkrow into retreat.

"Hehe, that worked well~" Cirrus happily chirruped as the copies dissipated, but not before one of the Exeggcute also left the scene. He'd prefer to get them when there didn't appear to be a group.

"Yeah!" Darcy said with a grin as she bounded up to Cirrus and watched the Murkrow disappear deeper into the forest. "I didn't know you could use Double Team, Cirrus! I think you surprised me as much as that bird."

Pleased with their success, Darcy was caught completely off-guard when a cloud of purple dust erupted from a nearby bush. She inhaled sharply in surprise and her lungs instantly burned as if the air was on fire. She broke into a cough and whirled around to face a crowd of agitated-looking egg Pokemon tumbling out of the undergrowth. This Exeggcute hadn't been quite as patient as the other one.

"N-not done yet, though! Look out!" Darcy shouted between coughs as she backed off and shook the powder out of her fur. The pain in her lungs was weakening, but it felt like it was dispersing into the rest of her body. That powder must have been poisonous... Darcy tried to ignore it and focus on the Pokemon in front of her.

(Energy: 0+1=1)

The sound of Darcy's first few coughs immediately caught Cirrus's attention, she quickly whirled around to see the remnants of the Exeggcute's poisonous powder dissipate into the air. The Togepi fortunately avoided being poisoned herself however.

"This is really bad..." she said out loud, quietly feeling some degree of guilt for diverting the Skitty's attention with that previous cheery remark of hers. Cirrus noticed the Exeggcute readying a Barrage attack and felt greatly compelled to make up for this, standing in front of the ailing partner and taking the rapid fire spherical seeds on her shell before resorting to Metronome, soon producing an intimidating stare at the feral with a Leer.

Darcy braced herself for the Exeggcute's barrage, then let out a sigh of relief when Cirrus stepped in to block it.  She felt bad that the egg Pokemon had taken the hit for her, but she definitely appreciated it.  The poison burning through her body along with her earlier injuries and exhaustion was starting to weigh heavily on her.

Cirrus did something strange with her hands, and the Exeggcute flinched backward as the normally cute Togepi shot them a fiercely aggressive stare.  Darcy flinched a little too.  Cirrus was certainly full of surprises...  The Skitty quickly recovered, though, and took the opportunity to dive right into the center of the pile of eggs with a clumsy Tackle.  She crashed into them heavily and the six were sent scattering in different directions.  Disoriented, the six Pokemon hopped back into the bushes while peppering Darcy and Cirrus with a spray Bullet Seeds to cover their retreat.

Darcy felt too sluggish to dodge and just covered her head with her little forepaws as hard, pebble-like seeds pelted into herself and the ground around her.  When the rain of bullets stopped, and the Exeggcute had fled out of sight, Darcy opened her eyes, her first instinct being to check on Cirrus.

"T-Thanks for your help back there.  Are you okay?" she said.  She climbed to her feet, but immediately felt woozy and stumbled a little.  As the adrenaline of being in a fight wore off, the pain of her sickness and aching body pulled down on her like a millstone around her neck.  She might have pushed herself a little past her limit today, but she did her best to shrug it off and give Cirrus a cheery smile.  The most important thing to her right now was keeping Cirrus safe and helping her accomplish her goal!  The last thing Darcy wanted was to let the Togepi down again.

"I'm ok." Cirrus replied to Darcy, pleased that the Exeggcute had chosen to flee from them. Metronome wasn't her most reliable of moves but it had done the job this time. While the Togepi had inherited a healing move from the father whom she had never met, she was more concerned for her partner's condition regardless of this fact.

After running ahead to pick up two sticks that she had sighted nearby, Cirrus kept to Darcy's side. She had no idea whether or not the Skitty had any experience with being poisoned before but she was going to help her move onwards. "Don't worry, you'll be alright. I'll carry us through this... I won't leave you behind..." she muttered encouragingly to her. From behind a tree this was witnessed by a Phantump.

Darcy was relieved to see that Cirrus was okay, but Cirrus just seemed concerned when she got a closer look at Darcy.  ...The Skitty guessed that she must look as bad as she felt.

"N-no, I'm alright," she said reflexively, standing up straight and forcing a smile.  She felt touched that Cirrus was so eager to help her, but she didn't want to hinder the Togepi any more than she already had today.  "Don't worry, okay?  Let's just focus on finding those dandelions."

Truthfully, though, she couldn't remember feeling this awful ever before in her life.  Her muscles were sore, her head ached, her skin was covered in welts, and now it felt like her blood was on fire.  She tried to take a step forward to lead the way, but her strength gave out and she flopped onto her belly.  She groaned lightly as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.  "Or...  Maybe we could rest here for just a minute, if that's okay?" she said as she looked away apologetically.  "I...  feel kind of spent.  I'm sorry..."

Well, there was no way she could say no to that, Cirrus thought. She took a moment to carefully survey the area for any more nearby ferals before deciding that there wouldn't be any real harm in taking a moment or two to rest. "That's ok..." She led Darcy to a suitable spot underneath a tree and sat down next to her.

Despite the duo having admittedly been through some rough moments within this exploration so far, the Togepi was still somewhat surprised to also feel a little bit spent herself. "It's probably because we're resting now but I'd never noticed how tired I am..." she said while managing to stifle a yawn.

Darcy followed Cirrus shakily and slumped against the tree's trunk.  "It's been a long day..." she mumbled as she finally gave her body the break it was begging for.  The Skitty wasn't as shy about yawning and let out a deep one as she settled into a tiny hollow.

As she rested, she spotted a seed hidden among the roots at her feet.  It was...  a blast seed, if she recalled correctly.  Seeds usually didn't sell for much, but every little bit would help, and it might also be handy if the two of them ran into another feral.  She gently picked it up in her teeth and nosed her bag open, then dropped it into its own side pocket to ensure that it wouldn't go off by accident.

While she was at it, Darcy spotted something she had forgotten.  "Oh, right!" she said while she stuck her head deeper into the bag.  She emerged with a bright red apple in her mouth and set it on the ground.  "This is what I wandered off to get when that Tangela showed up, if you were wondering.  Completely worth it, right?"
 
She laughed a little, then flicked her tail and looked away.  She still felt a little too bad about that to joke about it without any guilt.  "Um...  Anyway, are you hungry?  After that, the very least I can do is share it with you."

After watching Darcy settle down to rest and carefully put a Blast Seed into her bag, Cirrus's gaze was suddenly transfixed upon the Apple that emerged from within the Skitty's bag. It looked rather tasty... No doubt about it, the Togepi was definitely hungry.

"Let's make that worth it, I say. I'd love to have some~" she replied happily, soon noticing the Phantump. It was watching near a tree and definitely didn't look dangerous.

Cirrus had an idea. "Make that three pieces. Want to join us?" He looked a little surprised by the offer but graciously accepted it, setting down by Darcy's other side.

Darcy wagged her tail happily as Cirrus agreed, but jumped with a start when the Togepi started talking to someone behind her. She turned around, half-expecting to be attacked again, but the Pokemon she saw seemed friendly, albeit a little shy. That was a refreshing change of pace! "Yeah! The more the merrier," Darcy said with a smile as she relaxed again and moved over to make room for the Phantump. She wasn't one to complain about having more company! She just wished that all of the Pokemon in the forest were as gentle as this one.

Darcy looked back at the apple. "I don't know how we'll share it, though. I don't have any way to cut it into pieces..."

Hearing that, the Phantump perked up a little. He floated over to the apple and gently picked it up, staring at Darcy as if asking for permission. The Skitty gave him a curious nod, and the ghost Pokemon placed the apple on the ground a little farther away from everyone. Using the slender tip of one of its branches, the Phantump slashed at the apple with Cut three times in a row, cleaving it neatly into six smaller pieces. He gathered them up and floated back to the group with a shy smile on his face.

That certainly fixed their little dilemma up in a flash, Cirrus remarked to herself as she took two pieces and begun eating one of them with a simply delighted smile on her face. "Mmm, this is lovely... Thanks so much for that help~" she happily replied to the ghost Pokémon.

"Here's my thought. Do you know where we can find dandelions in this forest? A Tangela's friend ran across some Beedrill, a bee Pokémon, and needs them to get better."

The Phantump mulled this over for a bit as he took two apple slices himself, before producing the reply of "T-those yellow flowers? Yes! I can take the two of you to them as thanks for inviting me, it was very nice of you both..." all whilst enjoying the company.

Darcy ravenously bit into her own share of apple slices.  She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until just now.  Having some more fluids in her system would probably ease the pain of her poison, and this fruit seemed like the only source of water she'd be getting in the immediate future.

She cheerfully watched the other two talk as she ate.  "Oh, that would be perfect!" Darcy said to the Phantump when he offered to help them.  "We should be thanking you!  Finding these dandelions is really important."

Darcy swallowed the last of her apple slices and shot the Phantump a goofy smile.  "You even cut our apple into pieces for us!  You're a true hero!"  She said before collapsing into a pile of giggles.  The Skitty knew she was being a little silly, but she couldn't help it.  She felt much better after taking a break and getting some food into her body.  She still might not be able to fight, but she could at least walk without any help now.

"Anyway, I'm ready to go when you two are.  I'm feeling better now," she said while lying on her side and sweeping her tail along the ground lazily.

(Morning Sun, Level 6. 6/2=3. Energy: 1+3=4)

Cirrus was rather quite pleased with the results of this. As she finished off her two pieces of the apple while watching the Phantump similarly eat, the Togepi remembered the last time she got some much needed help from a Pokémon that lived within this forest dungeon. A Ledyba. She was still grateful for the ladybug's timing. Perhaps more dungeon explorations could be simplified by such passing Pokémon...

Darcy's giggling fit interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to earth, and she couldn't help but join in. It was a delight and a relief to see her looking better. "Just one more thing left." Cirrus picked herself up and said as she became enveloped within a faint golden glow, Morning Sun restoring her vitality and energy. After the conclusion of this restoration move, she was all set to go and announced this to the Skitty and the Phantump.

((Phantump's all yours now, I got nothing left for him.))

Darcy stood up alongside Cirrus and watched her curiously as she was cloaked in a golden light.  The Togepi seemed...  Healthier after that, somehow?  Darcy added it to her mental list of bizarre moves that her new friend could use.

Seeing the group prepare to leave, the Phantump spoke up.  "Um...  The dandelions are this way," he said while floating towards a branch in the path up ahead.  "There's a clearing not far from here that's full of them.  You can take as many as you'd like."

"Ohhh!  I hope they're all in seed right now!  Let's hurry, Cirrus!" Darcy said as she scurried after him.  She was clearly excited.  Even in her current condition, she didn't think she could resist frolicking around in a field full of puffballs.

Watching the Skitty's energy and enthusiasm, Cirrus truly couldn't help but sprout a bemused little smile upon her face. The last time she was subjected to a Poison Powder move, it totally floored her throughout a large majority of the dungeon. Darcy makes it look so easy though... It must come from being properly trained at an exploration guild, she mused.

"Ok, coming~!" the Togepi called out, bringing up the rear in a dash. Short little legs and round shell most definitely didn't make her the very best runner in this world but she was able to keep up with Darcy and the Phantump as a result of being newly re-energised from her Morning Sun move. She certainly had the capacity to defend their little group should more feral Pokémon enter the scene.