Golden Grove

[Energy: 17 - 11 (Entrance Fee) = 6]

Darcy continued her walk along the westmost road leading from Grassveil Town.  The Skitty had an excited spring in her step, and she hummed softly to herself as a gentle breeze ruffled her fur and sent the blue ribbon around her neck fluttering.  Today, she was hoping to fulfill a childhood dream of hers--she wanted to visit Fallen Leaf Copse.  Her father had taught her all about it when she was younger.  A secluded forest in the center of a lake, perpetually shrouded in autumn...  It sure sounded romantic.  Like something out of a fairy tale.   She shuddered with excitement just thinking about it.

Her parents had always forbidden her from venturing into Mystery Dungeons, but now that she was living on her own, there was nothing stopping her from exploring them at her leisure.  She knew firsthand that they could be  dangerous, but Fallen Leaf Copse was supposed to be about as tame as they could get.  It was  safe enough for many civilized Pokemon to call it home, in fact, so even if she did run into trouble she was sure that she'd be able to find help.  And besides, with how beautiful she had always imagined the place, how could she keep herself away?

As she crested a hill and the forest came into view, she certainly wasn't disappointed.  She was  tired from the long walk, and sore from her previous excursion into Pecha Forest, but all of that melted away as she took in the in the brilliant tapestry of gold and orange in front of her.  It was real after all...  She breathlessly loped down the last stretch of road and across the stepping stones that bridged the leaf-covered lake.

Darcy stared with wide eyes at the canopy above her as she hit dry ground, smiling giddily as she took a few steps forward.  Another breeze swept past her and she almost instantly became caught up in chasing after the orange leaves it sent swirling through the air.  She'd always had a weakness for chasing moving things, and with how enchanted she was by this forest, her inhibitions had all gone out the window.  The Skitty was completely oblivious to her surroundings as she gleefully frolicked around in the center of the copse's entrance, giggling as she jumped and pounced and crashed through piles of leaves.  It wasn't the most dignified activity for a member of the Grassveil Guild, but at the moment, she really couldn't care less.

[Energy: 20 - 11 (Entrance Fee) = 9]

Horochi cheerfully hopped across the stepping stones that led to Fallen Leaf Copse, looking forward to exploring the Shrine Of The Fallen that supposedly lay at the center of the secluded forest. Stuff like that tended to interest him; old ruins of yester-century where he could potentially learn about the world's rich history, or better yet; score some sweet loot. As he landed on dry land, he listened to the pleasing crunch of dead leaves come from under his talons as he proceeded into the dungeon, but before he could begin his trek, he noticed a lone skitty playing in the center of the copse's entrance. Maybe it was here for the same reason he was and she just got distracted, or perhaps she just likes autumn colors? Who knew? Horochi then thought that maybe this Skitty could accompany him on his quest, like Pilot did when he climbed Pricklemist hill. He then walked up to the kitten pokemon and asked "Heya, wha'cha doin' here?" with a smile on his face.

Darcy hummed to herself as she rolled around in a pile of leaves.  She eventually came to rest on her side, flicking her tail lazily as she took a moment to enjoy the warm midday air and the cool, moist earth underneath her.  The sudden voice came as a surprise, causing her ears to perk up as she quickly raised her head above the leaves to see who was speaking.  The voice belonged to a Torchic!  She hadn't noticed him at all until now with how well he blended in with the surroundings.  He was lucky that she hadn't mistaken him for another leaf pile and accidentally tackled him.

"I'm just goofing off," she replied, giggling at herself for being so startled as she stood up and shook leaves out of her fur.  "How about you?  Am I in your way?"  She settled on her haunches to get a better look at the little Torchic.  Maybe he lived here? Or maybe he was here to explore the forest too? Either way, she hoped that she could tag along with him. This trip would become even better if she had some company.

Horochi replied "Nah, yer jus' fine, Imma jus' hea'in towards th' Shrine A Th' Fallen, an' I was wonderin' if ya maybe were also goin' there, by chance?" leaning back and forth as he spoke, but stopped when he thought that maybe he was seeming desperate for a travel buddy or just impatient to continue onwards. Either way, he didn't want to seem rude, so he just stood there as he finished talking.

"Yeah, actually!" Darcy said, her tail wagging back and forth as she smiled broadly.  "I was hoping to pay it a visit while I was here, and then maybe to have a picnic afterwards.  My team's taking today off, if you couldn't tell."

She used her mouth to brush off a leaf that was stuck between her badge and her ribbon, then turned around and began following the path into the forest.  "Want to walk together?  The more the merrier," she called over her shoulder as she went.

The Skitty was just as interested in enjoying the forest's scenery as she was in finding the shrine, truthfully, but she would gladly take her search a little more seriously if it meant having someone to play with.  Trips like this were always more fun with friends, and this Torchic seemed nice.

"A'right, I was hopin' f'r somebody t' travel with anyway." He gleefully stated as he dashed a few feet to catch up with her. Then he remembered that he had yet to catch the skitty's name, so he decided to introduce himself first, or risk sounding rude or something along those lines. "Name's Horochi, nice t' mee'cha." He said while holding out one of his talons while hopping forward with the other like a hoothoot just had he learned to do back when he was younger.

Darcy was happy to hear the Torchic agree, but she gave him a confused stare as he hopped towards her with an outstretched talon.  It took a few seconds for his actions to make sense, and as soon as they did, she smiled and broke into another fit of laughter.  "Ohhhh!  You want to shake hands!" she said through an enormous grin as she took his talon in one of her forepaws.  "You don't really have arms, so I didn't realize it at first.  I'm Darcy!  Pleasure to meet you!"

She turned around to continue walking.  "So what brings you to the Shrine of the Fallen?  Maybe you're a treasure hunter?" she asked, eager to learn a little more about her new companion.  She couldn't think of many other reasons to investigate the place, aside from being some kind of researcher like her father was.

Eventine carried out 2 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

,

Horochi's face switched to a somewhat sour expression for a half second when Darcy mentioned that he didn't have arms, though as an attempt to keep up his good mood, he decided to answer the skitty question about why he was going to the Shrine of the Fallen. "Well, I jus' heard about it one day and decided tha' going there might be good way t' build up my skills as an explorer so that I can one day become part of an exploration team." Horochi then remembered hearing Darcy say ("My team's taking today off, if you couldn't tell."), so he decided to lean the conversation in that direction. "Hey, earlier ya said that yer "team's takin' today off," so are you a part of an exploration team 'er somethin'?" he asked curiously.

MagicalMario carried out 1 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

[Energy: 6 - 2 = 4]

"Yeah, actually!  I work at the Grassveil Guild.  See my badge?" Darcy said, stepping closer to show Horochi the white and grey pin attached to her ribbon.  "I've been a member there for two weeks.

"But I'm, uh...  Not very good at it, honestly," she continued with a nervous laugh as she stepped away, her ears flattening a little.  "I wish I had spent some time practicing like you before I joined one.  I...  Wasn't really ready..."

Being reminded of it dampened her mood a little.  She fell silent and tried to distract herself by focusing on the beautiful forest around her.  The path they were walking along almost seemed like a tunnel, with the way it dipped in the center and the way that the trees leaned over it to form a bright orange canopy.  It was idyllic, but it still didn't help much.  "Um...  Sorry," she muttered as she stared at the ground, not wanting to be a killjoy but not knowing how to change the subject.

Eventine carried out 4 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , ,

[Energy: 9 - 3 = 6]

Horochi noticed that Darcy didn't seem very confident in her abilities, so he tried to cheer her up. "Hey, don' worry 'bout it, everybody learns 'n' grows at their own pace, ya jus' seem a bit slower than mos' people. Actually, the only reason I practice is that I legitimately don' know how t' apply there and that I'm too lazy t' ask anybody." he stated, feeling part cheery and part embarrassed at the same time.

[Energy: 4 - 16 = 0]

The Torchic's words helped her shake off a bit of her malaise, and his reasons for practicing even made her laugh a little. "Oh? And here I thought you were just really responsible," she said with a grin.

"Well, I don't think applying could be any easier, lucky for you. All I did was walk inside and ask the Guildmaster if I could join. I can introduce you, if you're shy." The thought excited her a little, and her posture brightened up as her mood returned to being as cheery as ever. It would be fun to have another rookie guildmember around to work and practice with.

The thought of Darcy introducing him to the guildmaster made Horochi smile a bit. "That actually sounds really nice, I'd really appreciate it if ya wen' 'n' di' somethin' like that fer me." He responded with an excited tone. "I mean, it ain't everyday that somebody who agrees t' waltz on int' a dungeon with ya also offers t' introduce ya t' their guil'master, so yeah, thanks a ton." he continued on.
Unknowingly to Horochi, a wrumple was scoping out him and Darcy from behind a gold and brown bush, wondering what they were doing there.

MagicalMario carried out 2 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

,

"Oh, it's no trouble," Darcy said. "I live there, so it's not out of the way. And the Guildmaster is the nicest Pokemon alive."

She paused briefly as she thought about the Togepi she had met in Pecha Forest yesterday. "Well... Second nicest, anyway. Hey, what's that?" she continued as she noticed something half-buried in leaves among some tree roots on the side of the road. She trotted over to it and brushed the leaves aside with her tail, revealing an orange gummi. It was a little dirty, but that certainly didn't stop her from picking it up and putting it in her bag. As she did, she noticed another item hidden among the sea of leaves. Another swipe of her tail, and an enormous smile crept across her face... It was a TM. She couldn't believe her luck. She had seen these for sale in Grassveil Town before, but they had all been far outside of her budget. Maybe this thing could give her the edge she needed in her guildwork?

"Hey, Horo! Look at this!" she called excitedly as she delicately picked the disc up in her mouth and set it out in the open. "I'm going to see if there's more stuff in here! Watch my back, okay?" she shouted before diving deeper into the leaf pile, burrowing forward until all that could be seen of her from the outside was her wagging tail.

[Energy: 6 - 6 - 1 = 0]

"No problem." Horochi stated as he scanned the nearby area for potential threats while pulling an apple inexplicably out of nowhere and eating it. Shorly after he tossed the core aside, he noticed a seemingly mad wrumple inching towards him. It was obviously a dungeon pokemon, so Horochi let loose his ember attack, which flung the worm pokemon away from both him and Darcy.
Meanwhile, the wrumple ended up flying over the head of a wild sentret and teddiursa and onto the face of a wild ursaring, which caused it to start growling in a groggy fashion...

Darcy was too deep in leaves to hear the scuffle taking place outside.  She was certainly having fun, though.  She resumed humming to herself as she dug around in the crunchy, pleasant-smelling leaves.  After a while, she gasped with surprise as one of her paws brushed against something...  Silky.  It felt like cloth.  She snagged it with her little claws so that she could drag it back onto the path with her.

But the second her claws sank into the silk, the thing moved.  Darcy let out a yelp of shock.  Whatever that thing was, it was alive, and before she could get away from it, it jabbed a sharp stinger into her paw.

"M-Monster!" Darcy shouted as she burst out of the leaves and back onto the path...  Just in time to see a very grumpy looking Ursaring peel a Wurmple off of her face and toss it into the undergrowth.

"Monster?  You think I'm a monster!?" the Ursaring growled as she got to her feet.  "Is THAT why you threw this thing at me?!  I'll show you how much of a monster I can be, you brat!"  The bear Pokemon shouted as she brandished her claws as she lumbered towards Darcy.

"I...  Uh, I, er..." Darcy stammered as she stepped away, still too shocked by that Silcoon and her wounded paw to process what was going on.

The Teddiursa and Sentret saw the whole thing. They stepped out of the Ursaring's way as she stomped forward.  "Oh...  Should...  Should I do something..?" the Teddiursa murmured to himself while chewing on his nails.

The Sentret bounced up and down on his tail as he whispered a response.  "No way!  Your sister is cool when she fights.  Let's just see what happens, okay?"