Crowded Coppice

First topic message reminder :

energy:

Isolation still seemed like a far-off dream for him.

Goro the Croagunk normally spent his days battling wild Pokémon in his home Dungeon, Cattail Marsh, and his evenings taking in the beautiful scenery provided by the Firefly Pokémon that were native there. Unfortunately, it seemed most of Rainfront Town had the same idea-- it seemed like he was chasing out more and more tourists every evening he spent at home, as citizens from both Grassveil and Rainfront swarmed the Marshlands to observe the sights. He couldn't rest easy knowing that there were visitors just a few stone's throws away. The Croagunk wasn't sure if it was the summer season that made the humid, wet Marsh so appealing, or if it was simply easier to reach for the nearby populace.

Either way, his home was overrun with tourists and Goro was distinctly chafed with the whole situation. It stood to reason he needed a place to unwind; he'd heard stories about the Fallen Leaf Copse, the small forest island nestled on the lake to the west of Grassveil. The scenery was supposed to be to die for; the eternal autumn colors reflecting off the surrounding lake waters creating a gorgeous visage. Goro wasn't normally one for sightseeing this way, but witnessing the similar view at Cattail Marsh seemed to have sparked a passing interest in sightseeing for the normally hermit-like Croagunk.

At times like these, all he wanted was some peace and quiet. The Copse seemed like a perfect place to lay low for a while-- he'd go for a stroll, maybe train against some feral Pokémon home to the Dungeon. Goro strode forward on the cobblestone trail, the lake's island in clear sight. He could make out a path of stepping stones in the distance-- it stood to reason that there was a path for Pokémon unable to swim.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Goro's Drain Punch swung downward at the Sandshrew below him. Amusingly enough, the shrew had the idea of fighting back, and just as fiercely as Goro's attack tore a path downward, the Ground-type's claw soared right up beside it. It was a battle of speed, and whoever landed the first blow would carry the momentum into the upcoming slugfest. The Croagunk expected nothing less than for his fist to crash into Yigo's face, and from there he'd beat the kid into submission. But before his attack could connect, something else interfered. Dimly, he noticed a shadow crawling up from out of Yigo's silhouette on the ground, leaping up from the ground at a speed that eclipsed both his and Yigo's attacks. It flew right past the shrew's claw and crashed into Goro's fist at an angle, sending his attack careening off to the side and causing it to miss its target entirely - Yooka!

Of course, she'd interfere. She had all the time of him rushing over to jump into the fray, and he'd made the mistake of taking his eyes off the most dangerous opponent in his emotional state. Still, he was into it deep with the shrew in front of him, and the last thing he was going to do was turn his back on it and invite another Earthquake. His eyes snapped toward the Sandshrew's incoming claw strike, but to his wonderment, he was also interrupted. Yooka veritably cashed into her charge, deftly wrapping her limbs and tail around the young creature in such a way that struggling would be truly futile. The speed with which she intervened in their clash was astonishing - though not truly surprising. If memory served, she was quick on her feet, and he could still feel a faint shaking in his legs from the aftermath of Yigo's sucker punch.

The shadow that interrupted his punch vanished just as quickly as it appeared, and all of the sudden Goro was alone. Yooka was literally hauling her ward away, and with it, she was taking any chance of a good fight he had left! Immediately, he turned to pursue his fleeing opponents, but the aftershock of the previous Earthquake hit him just then. Instead of pressing forward and darting after the Kecleon, his legs buckled and trembled, and the Croagunk fell to a knee in his haste. His head snapped forward, taking in the sight of the fleeing Pokémon with a rage-filled look of hatred. Why couldn't she have just played along and gave him what he wanted? He wanted so badly to measure his strength against hers, but it seemed the idea was anathema to her.

His options at this point were more petty than anything else - if he truly wanted, he could muster his strength and pursue them through the woods, but given their respective states of health, he knew he would fail to catch them. If he brought his hands down onto the earth in fury and launched his own Earthquake attack then there was a chance he could cause the two of them to stumble, but he had no idea what kind of range his attack had versus Yigo's. Worst case scenario, it wouldn't even reach them, and he'd probably lure even more wild Pokémon here. Which wasn't a terrible idea, mind you, but once the thought hit him, the Croagunk had truly had his heart set on fighting Yooka again.

His fist struck the earth suddenly, the Poison-type's fist burrowing into the loose dirt. It was no special move or maneuver, simply a furious Pokémon lashing out at the only thing he could. Bitterly, his eyes closed in metaphorical defeat - his fight had been robbed from him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

ooc, lol, ok then.:

Yooka's fate:

Shadow deflect Goro's attack? Went better than she thought. Bind Yigo? Yes and it was done flawlessly despite not knowing how. Run? An error in Yooka's judgement occurred. She ignored the shadow completely as she expected it to fail. She tackled Yigo into a roll and didn't really think on how to hold him. However, he did struggle and that was something she wasn't expecting to be hard. It was nearly impossible, or it would have if it wasn't for her stacks of power and his crush claw, that ended up hitting her back, gave her an instant adrenaline rush. The pain made it easy to mask the numbing in her hands. She quickly switched her grip every time he got loose and every time her grip got better, till eventually, she had him held in such a way even she probably wouldn't be able to describe it, if asked.

She managed to get distance from Goro but she apparently didn't get very far when she had stopped as she heard Goro's disappointment in the distance. But that didn't matter right now, what mattered was the words Yigo were saying. They pierced straight into Yooka's current thoughts and consciousness. His behavior was adding to the mass of mixed messages in her head. Her mind was in too much chaos to concentrate. Infact, she ended up throwing Yigo in a fit of rage. Her breathing was heavy, not from exhaustion but because she was light headed. The pure adrenaline from the intense activity against Goro and the pain from old and new wounds was the only thing keeping her conscious, if even aware. She really wanted to just crush Yigo plus something else but she knows she's going to collapse in the first moment of rest and she had a promise to keep with Yigo. The only option now is to keep active and angry and hope he doesn't take this personally.

Yooka's stare towards Yigo was practically the definition of madness as she slowly walked towards him. Her voice was strained, pained, but overall dead serious. "So, you did want to fight. Then why did you say you didn't want it when the opportunity was there? Was it because of me? Mmmrrr... I'm doing it again, don't you see? I'm the source of this problem. I'll just say this before I stop. I am fine, I will... ngh. No, more important... You're no match for Goro if the last time I fought him was a fluke. You'll end up poisoned while his attacks keep him healed. You'll need to overpower him and quickly. You don't have that kind of power... Mind you... yet. ngh." Yooka couldn't keep the anger, she ended up crying halfway through when she realized she was causing confusion on Yigo. She knew he thought she was some form of mentor from the way he looks at her. She headed for some brush just a little away from Yigo while she explained Yigo's lack of a chance before collapsing onto her side and into unconsciousness near instantly. For all she knew, she could be wrong.

((Late ooc edit: Yooka ran out of PP for Recover just after taking the megahorn attack. Her injuries don't look serious but she can't exactly heal them like she normally does. Yigo's crush claw attack put her at [-7~-2] HP. Brilliant.))

The struggle proved to be ineffective against Yooka´s efforts but, oddly enough, Yigo´s demands appear to have done it well enough as they had set him free. Yooka had grabbed him from the chest with both of her hands and, raising him above her shoulder, she had thrown him crashing down in front of her. The Sandshrew had landed on his back, having it bend over painfully as he let out a squeak.

What was that for? Was she siding against him? Yigo spent some time rolling sideways, hoping to ease the sensation of pain somehow, while Yooka, panting and shaking, asked to know the reason of that battle. Her words were confusing. Sure, Yigo was willing to fight against Goro but that was because Yooka was in danger and no one else was around to protect her. All the other battles could have been avoided by just fleeing. Wasn´t that what Yooka tried to teach him? Wasn´t that the explorer´s way? It took some time for him to stand on his fours, blood still boiling. He was ready to lash out at her, to make her make up her mind. The explorer was attacked by that treacherous savage and she´s asking him why he intervened?

"I´m fighting for you! Can´t you see it? l´ll make him pay for everything he has done to you!" Yigo stepped closer to her, in a threatening stance, his teeth showing and expecting her to make a spontaneous attack. He looked at his side, at the downed Goro. Was him that bad of a thread? He looked defeated as if that charge was the last attempt at claiming victory "I´m not weak! I can take Goro on! I will-"  Yigo stopped when he realised that Yooka´s strength was abandoning her, having her collapsing onto the ground. His rage died down on that instant, dropping to the floor as if he had also lost all of his strength. The fall made him recover instantly, instinctively moving closer to the explorer.

"Y-Yooka!" Yigo´s hands got near her head as his own reached for the side. He could sense it, she was just tired. It only made sense after everything that they had gone through on their journey. She had barely had any rest and yet she had always been pushing herself to her limit. It was time for him to let her rest while he took care of her. What else could he do?

Disregarding Goro, Yigo pushed Yooka until he had flipped her upwards, trying to see if she was badly wounded in any spot. Her hands had suffered some damage... but the wounds appeared to have simply recovered. Aside from that, there was nothing too significant. She was safe for now. His ears haven´t heard anything but someone punching the ground, apparently trying to mimic his move without making any progress. His sight wasn´t able to spot any threats around. The fighters had fought so aggressively that they might have scared any potential predator away. There was just something else to take care off. It was then when all the thrill of the fight disappeared, making him shake and get on his nerves. The idea of looking at the fighting type or even talking to him was terrifying now that his guardian had fainted. He wasn´t angry anymore, at least not enough to strike again. Trying to control himself, he turned to the Croagunk. It looked frustrated, his confident grin gone and replaced with a face of disappointment. It looked like he was digging a hole but, lacking claws to do so, it appeared that he had chosen to slam his fist into the dirt instead.

Yigo warily approached the grumpy fighter on his two back feet as he thought that it was was the most civilised and unthreatening way to do so. He wanted to make sure that no more fighting had to happen somehow.... "U-Uhm... G-Goro?" Yigo gulped after just engaging him "I-I... d-don´t want to fight! I-I... want to go... go home!" After each word, regret started growing inside him. He had gotten in this mess because of actions like those "A-Are you... h-hurt?"

For all the bitter disappointment Goro was feeling, he couldn't help but hear the conversation that occurred not even a yard away - did his opponents not think to run when they fleed from him? What was the point of running away from an enemy if you were going to stop as soon as you were out of their range? Nothing stopped Goro from getting up and trailing after them, as from the sound of their distressed whining, they weren't exactly very far away. Things were not so dire as he thought, then. Slowly but surely, the frustrated rage that surged through him at the thought of a missed opportunity to fight the Kecleon gave way to cautious hope. Perhaps... perhaps she even wanted Yigo out of the equation entirely. He hadn't been opposed to taking them both on at once, but a one-on-one fight sounded much better!

Slowly, he raised his head up from where he'd been staring at the ground in disappointment. Sure enough, the pair of them hadn't even bothered to flee, instead discussing their options right in front of him. In his introspection, he'd missed most of their conversation, but he did get to bear witness to Yooka's strength failing her and watched with a sinking heart as the Kecleon collapsed onto her side, seemingly unconscious. She had, of course, taken a rougher beating than he had during the battle against the wild Pokémon before. But he didn't think it'd taken that much out of her, even if she didn't exactly strike him as sturdy during their last match. She hadn't been so much a juggernaut as a graceful dancer, eager to deal out damage but careful to avoid it.

Amusingly enough, whatever battle-rage that had consumed the Sandshrew before seemed to die out at the sight of his friend falling before him. Goro rose to his feet sluggishly as Yigo frantically rolled the Kecelon over and saw to any injuries she may have had, preoccupying himself with getting back his steady feet. To his frustration, the shrew's Earthquake had done more damage than he'd thought previously. The only reason he didn't surge after Yigo and Yooka when she saved him from his attack before was the debilitating trembling in his legs, and even now it persisted. Standing was difficult, he noticed, and unconsciously he let out a pained hiss at the experience. He didn't expect the kid to pack such a punch - the fact that the attack itself was ridiculously powerful and super-effective against him didn't exactly help matters, either.

Yigo's words were more insulting than comforting, to be honest. Goro watched with a visible sense of disgust as the shrew approached him, proclaiming how he didn't want to fight anymore. He'd been interesting, at least, when he rushed at him and launched that Earthquake. Now he was back to being a sniveling little brat. "As if you could hurt me, runt," The Croagunk's tone was snappish and churlish, traces of his offended rage still lingering. Yooka had broken them up quickly, but Goro still itched to lash out at the Sandshrew and pay him back for the sucker punch. There wasn't much stopping him, to be honest, but he didn't like his odds against Yigo and whatever else showed up due to the noise of their battle. Slowly, Goro made his way over to a nearby tree, taking care to walk carefully and doing his best not to show the extent of damage the super-effective attack had done. "Is she good?"

Cautiously leaning against the tree, Goro turned to take in the scene before him - the fallen Sawsbuck and Deerling, the torn and disrupted earth where Yigo had used his technique, and the unconscious Kecleon laying nearby. He'd come to the Copse looking for some interesting battles, and he'd sure found some. A small part of him wanted to keep going, to lash out at the Pokémon in front of him, but a larger part of him just wanted to get out of the Copse in one piece and go home. Sleep off the aches and bruises as well as he could, and experience the oh-so-satisfying ache in his bones tomorrow that told the tale of a good fight.

[OOC: Skipping Yooka´s turn as his character has fainted. Yooka might return using a reviver seed if needed]

The Sandshrew felt rejected. He was now seemingly alone, tasked to return to a safe place with Yooka. At least Goro didn´t seem to be interested in fighting. After the fighting type´s initial response, he actually shared some concern over the wellbeing of Yooka yet Yigo felt like he couldn´t trust him. Goro saw the fall of Yooka as a job well done so, what would he do if Yigo actually told him that she was not harmed? It was possible that Goro would try to maim her so she couldn´t fight again. "I-I... uh... she is..." His head turned away from Goro once more "S-She got in right in the middle... I ... we´ve hit her... she´s badly injured... I... I don´t know if she´ll make it out of here" The Sandshrew started shaking when the lies got out of his head. His hands were tapping on each other nervously until he finally decided to give his back to Goro so he couldn´t notice anything strange from him. To take that reaction to his advantage, he decided to go back to Yooka´s side "W-Wasn´t that what you wanted?... Y-You... you can leave now..."

If Goro decided to leave it would easy for Yigo to have Yooka rest in peace. He´d just have to dig a burrow, get her in and conceal it. Maybe he had to cover her in mud so she would get rid of the scent of blood. He didn´t precisely see any major wounds so he deduced that her collapse was because of the lack of sleep. Most of the nights she was just there, looking over him. Whenever he woke up, she was already awake. Yigo was not particularly an early bird so Yooka could have easily taken time to rest but he firmly believed that she was keeping watch on him. Now it would be his time to do so.

There was something odd about Goro, he denied being harmed yet the way he moved was slow, the amphibian´s legs slightly shaking. Would his words be enough to have him stay away from his friend? Yigo was certainly not ready for a second round and, even if he was, he´d end up attracting more threats to both him and Yooka. Why was that Pokemon so obsessed with fighting? Yooka said that the guild would have to take care of him someday but... no... no Pokemon could be that evil. Goro must have a reason. "W-Why...?" Yigo said in a low, almost unhearable tone. The Sandshrew even regretted asking such a thing, wishing that it either fell on deaf ears or wasn´t heard at all.

"It was what I wanted. I still want it," Denying it would be pointless and dishonest. Goro watched dispassionately as Yigo turned away from him to huddle over the form of the collapsed Kecleon, his stress and worry for her naked as could be. It was what Goro wanted more than anything else right now; the sight of Yooka on the ground, broken and defeated. But now that he had it, it was utterly disgusting, and it was how it had happened that soured the sight so much for him. Goro wanted to be the one who defeated the Kecleon. He wanted to fight against a strong opponent, and she was the Pokémon as closest to his level as he'd ever found. He wanted to clash with her, to feel her attacks hit him and he wanted to feel his attacks hit her, and when it came to the end, he wanted to be the one to outmaneuver the other Pokémon, strike her down viciously, and he wanted to taste victory. Instead, his next meeting with the chameleon had been a jungled, confused mess of wild Pokémon and complications, and he was left with an unconscious opponent and anxious fists... plus an annoying little shrew sniveling at Yooka's skirts. It was not how he imagined their next encounter ending up. "But I want ta be the one to do it. Not some bear or some stag that happened to get in the way."

The Croagunk exhaled, crossing his arms fitfully - carefully angling his injured hand as he did so - while he leaned up against the tree at his back. The shock and trembling in his legs was dying down enough that he felt safe to move without staggering, but he'd play it safe and stick around a bit longer. It wouldn't do for Yooka and her shrew to get ambushed on their way out and for them to fall prey to some other great beast - when he fought her, he wanted them both to be at full strength and raring to go. Not... not reeling from previous battles and preoccupied with other responsibilities. And that's exactly what he had set up, now that he thought about it. After they'd fended off the Ursaring for the first time, he'd purposefully aimed the stag at Yooka to see how she'd deal with the incoming threat. It was harmless curiosity, to be sure, but never did he expect the beast to put up enough of a fight to render Yooka unconscious. Then again, she had done the bulk of the work against that particular foe, so perhaps his view was biased. As he stood still trying to recover as best as he could, relaxing against the tree, breathing in the misty air of the forest, he heard the low murmur of Yigo's voice. It was only one word and laid out that way, it could have been a thousand different questions.

Goro was just about to speak up and inquire as to what Yigo was talking about when he felt a chill overcome the clearing. For a moment, he thought it could have simply just been a strong breeze coming through, but given the scale of the battle that had just taken place, it was only natural for the vultures to start swooping through to scavenge what they could - and he'd felt that kind of sudden coldness before. Anxiously, Goro shot a glance toward the distressed Yigo and the unconscious Yooka, and he realized that they were the scraps in that scenario. By himself, the shrew would not be able to put up much of a fight against a swarm of opportunists. Right now, he was pretty sure it was just the one, but more conflict would breed more attention. If he wanted Yooka in one piece for their next battle, then he'd have to help the two of them get out of the Copse.

As he pushed himself off the tree, absently shaking the tension out of his rested legs, Goro caught a glimpse of a rotted stump floating through the air in his peripheral. His attention immediately snapped toward the new arrival, and he felt a trace of a smirk form on his lips. As he thought - a ghost had their sights set on them. It was only one Phantump, but if they didn't deal with it quickly and quietly, then it could attract more. Deciding suddenly that he had spent enough time here, the Poison/fighting hybrid clenched his fists tightly in determination. "Heads up, squirt, we got company. Time to put up or shut up."

Goro had admitted it. He only wanted to see Yooka down, to see her defeated and maybe see her dead. He didn´t have any issues looking down at her and, in his words, Yigo could notice in his tone honesty and some unrest; yet the Sandshrew wouldn´t allow it. Should Goro try to harm her again, he´d find Yigo on the way. The Sandshrew tried to ignore hostile feelings, his limbs and tail tensing up. There was nothing to be gained if they´d battled it out there, he would not lose control again. However, the way in which he had followed his words after a pause made him consider something.

What did he mean about wanting to be him the one that struck her down? The Sandshrew turned around and looked at the outcome of the battle. Among the destroyed ground and blood-stained vegetation, he examined the fallen combatants: the Deerling and the Sawsbuck. The latter had their antlers damaged, stained in red with some broken branches as well. There were only two places where those branches could have struck. Yigo followed the scent of blood. It was hazy, he himself had been covered in that odour before yet there were two critical places where it could still be noticed clearly. Even though Yooka looked she had healed her own wounds, he could still catch the scent on her. On the other hand, there was Goro. The Croagunk had sworn that he was fine but other he couldn´t lie to Yigo´s senses. Knowing this, he couldn´t simply ask Goro for explanations, he´d just lie to him like he did before. The only one that had reliable answers was behind him, laid down on the ground, unconscious.

Goro´s following words were some worrisome ones. Of course that a battle would attract more ferals to claim the spoils. Each second that they expended there would only make the situation worse. Yigo turned to the imminent threat. It looked like a piece of wood, levitating a few feet off the ground. It was making no noise, its smell was the same as any tree trunk´s and the only thing that made it stand out was the dark silhouette around it. They were not welcomed by the forest, they had to go. Yigo stood up, waiting for the ghost type to make any actions. Unless it truly was the will of the forest, it shouldn´t even consider getting near. Even if it wanted to claim some of the spoils of the battle, there were the Deerling and the Sawsbuck, much less lucky as they had no one to get them to safety and, even if it decided to battle, it was outnumbered two to one. But it had chosen to fight.

The ghost sprouted roots from the stump that nailed into the ground in an instant. The shadowy figure danced around the roots while pulses of energy flowed towards the chunk of wood thanks to the new support. Like if it had granted renewed strength from the earth itself, branches grew from the empty trunk that ended turning into flower bulbs. The phantom picked one up at hurled it at the Croagunk but it didn´t stop there. As soon as more bulbs were ready, it had picked up another one with their incorporeal hands and hurled it towards the Sandshrew.

Of course, that trick was not going to work. Yigo dashed to his side avoiding the projectile just to realise that maybe he was not the target. It had struck right behind him, on the Kecleon. The bulb made its way inside the explorer´s scales, only leaving a sprout growing where it had struck. She had been infected!

His mind was made up and his purpose was clear. Goro had spent more than enough time in the forest - his goal was to fight against strong Pokémon, and while he did get more than he bargained for, he also had been teased by the prospect of a fight with a rival. Only, that's all he got. That fight was taken from him just as quickly as it presented itself, through a combination of interference from the dungeon itself and his own mistakes. He'd spent enough time here, and now he was going to get his prospective rival and her pet shrew to safety. And that meant fighting against whatever thought otherwise of the situation. At the moment it was only one other Pokémon, a Phantump, but he knew that the longer he and Yigo stuck around in the forest, the more would be attracted to the sounds of them fending off ferals.

The Croagunk watched in trepidation as the ghost played its hand; the stump that served as its head sprouted roots that instantly flew into the ground and after some strange dance, flower bulbs sprouted out of the trunk. He had absolutely no idea what his enemy was doing, as he'd never seen such a move, but it became pretty apparent once the dark silhouette reached up to grab one of them and pitched it like a projectile toward him. Whatever it was, it wasn't something that he wanted to get hit by.

The throw itself was surprisingly fast, but it was also very straightforward, as befitting a wild Pokémon. He'd heard that some of the stronger ones knew how to strategize and utilize tactics, but for a tiny ghost like this one, basic attacks were probably all he had to worry about. Deftly, Goro leaned forward and crouched low to the ground, allowing the bulb-like projectile to soar over his head harmlessly. His eyes tracked the seed for only a second to confirm that it wasn't changing trajectory, then his attention snapped back to his foe. The ghost wasn't done with its move, apparently electing to toss a projectile at Yigo as well. On a surface level, it seemed smart to pepper all of its opponents, but it definitely provided Goro a window of opportunity.

As the Phantump plucked its second seed and threw it at Yigo, Goro bolted forward as fast as his body would take him. It wasn't as quick as he would have liked since his body was still dealing with the after-shocks of a super-effective Earthquake, but he had a weapon in his arsenal that would more than make up for a lack of speed on his part. As Goro dashed across the clearing and closed the distance between him and his chosen foe, the ghost took notice, turning away from Yigo and electing to deal with the Croagunk charging right at it.

He came to a rough stop in front of the stump Pokémon, halting his charge as he saw the phantump's entire body radiate with a distinctly dark aura to it. It had all of the markings of a Dark-type attack to it, so Goro wasted no time. His left fist drew back imperceptibly, curling into a hard fist before it flashed a radiant silver hue. The fastest weapon in his arsenal, Bullet Punch, was practically tailor-made to beat an opponent to the punch. Whatever kind of attack the ghost had prepared fizzled out once Goro's fist tore a vicious path through the air and crashed into the center of its stump-like head. The momentum and force behind the blow sent the ghost careening back bodily, its weight working against it as it collided with the forest floor with a quiet thud. The Pokémon was knocked down, but judging from the immediate stirring it gave, it was definitely not out.

Whatever that plant was supposed to be doing, it didn´t look like something anyone but the launcher would benefit from. The sprout barely needed any time to grow and blossom into a flower dressed in ash-white petals, radiating a dark aura. A crash sound made Yigo stop examining the flower. He was in the middle of a battle and, just by that flower alone, he was forced to join. It would have been really easy for him to leave Goro all the fun since, after all, that was all that the amphibian wanted.

Yigo didn´t have much experience with ghosts, he didn´t know how to fight them. Luckily for him, Goro set a good example on how to defeat one. It was straightforward and not much different from any other Pokemon, really. His right claw was shaking, it wanted to take part in the battle. The Phantump went crashing down against the floor due to Goro´s strike. It had bounced off the floor and into Yigo´s direction. It was the perfect to strike. Yigo got on his fours and took the distance between him and the ghost to ready a charge. When he was about to reach his target with his Crush Claw, he had let out a roar to infuse his attack with power. His right claw was raised before swinging it across the ghost type. Oddly enough, his arm got past the ghost completely, not being able to make any contact. The force of his charge had led him to go through the ghost completely, leaving his back unprotected to the Phantump´s response.

Yigo felt a hard and painful push on his back that sent him rolling for a few feet. It was but a normal tackle but the effect left Yigo perplexed. How was the ghost able to touch him while he couldn´t achieve that the other way? Why did Goro´s attack connect? Yigo ended up laying down on the grass, panting and trying to get on his feet. "W-Why...?" He will have to think through it and leave the battle to Goro while he recovered.

The ghost smirked at the sigh of Yigo´s fall, almost chuckling. It then looked around, expecting something that would surely help it: some aid from the roots the trunk had sprouted before. Green orbs climbed through the thorny roots until they had reached the piece of wood, making it glow in a greenish hue. More flower bulbs ended up appearing from the wooden helmet while the bark looked healthier. It was obvious at that point that it was recovering its lost strength.

Goro had a viciously satisfied smile on his face when he felt his fist strike the phantump's head. It wasn't a particularly good feeling, as it felt a lot like ramming his fist against a post of wood, but the sight of the diminutive ghost flying backward through the air and landing sloppily on the forest floor was very satisfying. If nothing else, it was a confirmation of the strength that he knew he had inside him - even if he'd underperformed against the Sawsbuck, he was strong enough to do this much. No little ghost would be a match for him. And, as a bonus, it seemed that the ghost landed very close to Yigo; it was a perfect set-up to finish it off. As the sandshrew made a show of drawing itself up and preparing to strike the downed foe, Goro took his eyes off the spectacle and made a show of shaking his fist out. It hurt. Even if the idea of hitting an opponent was very satisfying, it still left Goro with an aching fist when it turned out that opponent was a spirit tied to a rotting log, of all things.

He cast a quick survey of the clearing, casting his eyes about for any new arrivals, but fortunately, it appeared to just be the four of them - Goro, Yigo, Yooka, and the phantump. Goro wasn't entirely sure which way was the way out of the dungeon, as he'd gotten a bit mixed up during the battle, and thus he didn't have a clear idea on where to go. There were no steps to retrace, as the clearing itself was very damaged from their battle and the Earthquake before; there was no telling which direction that he'd ended up coming from. And even if he did know, he'd heard before that retracing your steps in a mystery dungeon didn't always work. Dungeons were strange, mystical things that could seemingly re-arrange themselves and shift locations and directions. It was likely that they'd just have to pick a way out and stick to it until something presented itself.

Turning back to the fight at hand, Goro was surprised to see that Yigo had charged right through the ghost Pokémon. He'd used the same claw attack that he used on the Ursaring earlier, and it had to have been a normal-type move because the shrew phased right through his ghastly opponent. Hadn't anyone ever told him that regular attacks didn't work against ghosts? When the phantump capitalized on Yigo's mistake, tackling the shrew hard enough to send him rolling, Goro sighed and made his way back over to the fight. It seemed even if his temporary ally was courageous, he wasn't exactly experienced... or learned in the ways of battling.

Surprisingly, the ghost's little seed trick earlier was actually somehow restoring its strength. He didn't know the specifics of the move, but the croagunk was suddenly very glad that he'd elected to dodge that move, as he didn't like the idea of getting his vitality drained by an enemy... even if he did the same thing, with his Drain Punch attack. As Goro made no attempt to approach the ghost stump quickly or discretely, it quickly honed in on him as he slowly walked toward it. At this point, Goro wasn't excited or having fun; this battle was turning into a chore. His features were annoyed and his eyes were stony, as he stared down the smaller ghost with a sense of impatience. He was tired of messing around in this forest, and he wanted very badly to go home.

With a sudden spurt of speed, Goro dashed at the stump again, not paying attention to or caring if it put up any kind of resistance. Apparently concerned with its health, the stump plucked another one of its bulbs from its head and readied itself, evidently aiming to plant one of the seeds on its charging opponent. As Goro was aiming to end the fight, he didn't much care. His steps were hard and fast, and as the croagunk closed the distance between him and his opponent, he watched dispassionately as the phantump wound up the seed and threw it with all its might at him. Indeed, he barely noticed when the seed impacted his shoulder. The croagunk came upon the stump with a vengeance, planting one hand on the side of its stump while the other shot forward flashing a brilliant silver hue - Bullet Punch again. The strike struck well, his punch sinking into the rotting stump that was his opponent's head harshly, and the phantump fell to the ground once more.

As Goro had placed a hand on the stump's head, he made a show of pressing down on the fallen stump once it hit the ground, effectively pinning the downed Pokémon in place. The seed on his shoulder burst open, a slew of vines crawling over his arm and down his stomach, and the croagunk winced as he could physically feel his life-force being sapped out of him. His eyes searched out the form of Yigo, eager to put this particular conflict to bed. "Regular attacks don't work on ghosts, runt! Try somethin' else - and put it to bed!" His voice was commanding and strained - it was obvious from the tone of his voice and the way he was physically holding the stump down that Goro wanted Yigo to finish their opponent off with this opportunity.

The unattended leech seed did quite alot to Yooka. Enough that she could not wake up as it drained even more of her already diminished health while she was out cold. So much so that the other seed in her ribbon wrapped hand finally decided to dim as it forced her body to glow sense it registered that Yooka was completely drained.

Unfortunately the leech seed had a good grip over Yooka, it nearly had full-body coverage, so the glowing from her body was apparently not even seen. Any pain she had vanished but immediately came back in the form of a familiar mild and annoying sensation. Yooka's eyes snapped open as she remembered the feeling of her life being drained. Her mind raced as she tried to snap the roots surrounding her in a struggle, which ended abruptly when it was obvious her stacks of power were gone.

She could only see out her right eye as the other was covered. When did this occur? Where were the others? Where's the one responsible for this? Yooka saw nothing but she suddenly heard the Crogunk's voice tell something that normal attacks don't work. Yigo? Not effective, normal? A Ghost? A Leech seeding, ghost? Goro and Yigo, teaming to rescue her? Her heart began racing as she suddenly got angry.

Failing to turn her head, she did the next best thing. She started rocking. Shoving herself in both directions to flip onto her side. Two quick attempts and it was done. She now had a ever so inconvenient and uncomfortable better view. She noticed Goro, who was also attached by a seed, but she only really saw the one responsible for the seeds. The Phantump. Knowing what she could theorize, her eye narrowed as she focused. She couldn't see Yigo but Yigo was about to apparently use an attack. If they don't knock it out in the next couple hits, she will. Maybe even while like this. It's just a simple Ghost.

This day ended up being the worst. All she wanted was to relax after all that happened in the past week or so, and it was going so well too. Where could she go to get away from... well, her problems! Screw it, everything was causing her problems! No, something about her was doing this. If she herself can't endure... whatever that is, then she should just get something that could for her. Someone doesn't work, they either can't handle the after effects, like Darcy, end up too close, Yigo, or just outright want something utterly unfavorable from her, Goro. By herself, a defense scarf added with her Recover and Recycle moves barely do anything but that's expected, they be beginner items for minor battles and she can't endure EVERY hit sent at her despite having a near infinite amount of stuff from items. All it'll take is one well placed blow or inconvenient set of scenarios and she'd get rekt. She needed something.. more. Something that just makes her just stop caring about injuries. Something that'll just give her a reason to care far less about those influencing her. That'll work perfectly, maybe, but she needed to care enough that things can still be ok for her when around others, also maybe.

Does such things even exist? She knew of a thing that caused pokemon to act wierd but was that it? There's got to be more than just that... perhaps it's just something very unfavorable. Pff, a curse. No one really wants to act wierd, well... that's only if they themselves weren't wierd to begin with. Was she..?

Anything to make her more apathetic or more in-tuned to her stress that it's just so common it wouldn't bother her. She needed to break herself to such a degree... Hah! If she wasn't already going insane, a forced reason for the stress... ... Endure that instead of having to worry about anything else, yes. She needed to get angry, more aggressive. That'll cause her to focus more on her goals rather than those around her, unless they get in her way. They should know she can handle herself by know... but just incase, she would need a reason for them to back off her. Any more bad things aimed at her and she may aswell go insane, again, if she wasn't already. Literally blame it on the object, instead of her. Much easier to explain. However... this plan of hers may backfire just as hardcore as she thinks it insane. All the better. Learning new experiences the hard way was always fun. Just gotta note, may have to warn some peeps that she may not return normal.

Yooka made a slight giggle as she watched Goro, Yigo, and the Ghost as she laid there covered in an energy draining web of, roots. She'll finally have fun. She was waiting for something to do. Something to learn. Something... new and different or rather just stupidly interesting. It may not even happen and she'll just get rather disappointed for over hyping herself, but... hah! First, she has somethings to remove and some messages to make. If she can get out of this damn web! Her giggling was immediately replaced with impatience. "mehl, ez-en is oh'ate!" She found it nearly impossible to move even her mouth, yay.

Yigo had failed to follow up on Goro´s attack. His inability to fight a ghost type with his most reliable attack shrank the number of options he had. The retaliation strike didn´t pose that much a thread as his rear skin got reinforced after the previous Defense Curl yet he still felt that impact. His back already ached from Yooka´s betrayal from before and now that ghost type apparently tried to make it worse. It was painful. It was obvious that the plant-ghost type hybrid was way out of his league. Even with a fighter that matched him the Sandshrew simply couldn´t support him; even with someone he cared endangered he wouldn´t step up and face the threat. He´d just... lay down and give up. Goro would surely handle it for him, right?

Some tears started rolling over his eyes. The physical damage could be born, it was the humiliation that had left a dent in him. That ghost was playing with him, taunting him and proving that he wasn´t worth the time. It was exactly as Goro had painted him like yet, that one time, Yigo felt that it was just him that he thought about that -- Yooka was surely trusting on him. Now even the ferals disrespected him but, deep in his heart, Yigo knew that it was true. In his pain, he managed to stand on all fours, panting and letting a groan of pain each time his back made a sudden move. With some difficulties, the Sandshrew turned to the actions and got shocked at the sight of Goro pinning the intruder. Apparently being a meatshield gave Goro enough time to tag in and finish the deal. However, there was a little detail that made Yigo doubt his own thoughts: something was binding Goro. Were those... vines crawling from his chest?

The Croagunk soon turned to the ground type, his eyes devoided of soul, teeth clenching and an expression of an angered god. He asked Yigo to put an end to the trapped Pokemon and giving him a vague explanation of the previous incident. Yigo couldn´t strike with his claws but, without them, what did he have? The sand on his back wouldn´t be useful in this situation; they didn´t need to weaken the enemy, they need it finished. Goro was counting no on him, right? Yooka needed him too but, what if he failed? Goro and Yooka will both fall to the ghost and be their prey. If he messed it up there, he´d have to return to Grassveil alone without Yooka´s card or the box to complete the mission they were given. He couldn´t afford to miss but he still was Yigo: the worthless coward and stupid Pokemon that always got the worst out of any situation.

His hand trembled with nervousness. Yigo knew that it had to connect to the ground and blow the earth below his target. His eyes shifted from his right claw to the ground below him, some mumbling sounds out of doubt coming out in the process. How was he going to do it? He had only used Earthquake once and, even then, hitting had been a miracle. Yigo shook his head, a couple of sweat drop falling off in the process, before forcefully send his fist crashing down against the earth. The impact made his arm shake, the earth resonating with it and amplifying it until the pulse grew into a fearsome focus point that would vibrate more and harder each second. The focus point left Yigo´s position and advance towards the Phantump and Goro. He did it! Yigo smiled, getting his claws out of the ground. He had managed to replicate the move he had used against Goro! Oh, no. Nonono no! Yigo´s face turned from proudful to worried in an instant "G-Goro! Get out of there!" He shouted, realising that, if the fighter remained at his position, he´d be hit by Yigo´s move too. Goro did say that it didn´t hurt him so it was probably not a big deal, right?

The phantump beneath him was equal parts dazed and injured. It'd taken his bullet punch to the head right after it him with its strange seed attack, only to get slammed into the ground by him right afterward. He felt no resistance from the ghost beneath his hand as he shouted at Yigo to finish it off, and a part of him was relieved at this. Goro really did not want to be here in this forest for any longer than he had to be - if all went well, they would finish off this ghost and they'd go their separate ways. He'd get up and check on Yooka, and if luck was on his side she would be able to move. If not, he'd have to escort her and her charge out of the copse by himself, which he was not looking forward to. Sounds of their battle had no doubt reverberated throughout the mystery dungeon and all sorts of creatures were likely converging on their location. Perhaps the unconscious forms of the ursaring and sawsbuck together would scare off any of the more intelligent ones, but if this phantump thought it was safe to try his luck against the group, then it was likely that others would as well.

Goro was drawn out from his introspective thinking when he felt a bit of movement beneath his palm. He was currently squatting over the ethereal, ghastly form of the phantump with his hand pressing down hard on its stump-like head, holding it to the ground. It was just now beginning to stir - apparently, his assault did not do as much damage as he'd hoped. The croagunk grit his teeth as the stumpy head of his victim began to press up against his force, trying in vain to get out from under him. He did not intend on letting that happen - he was all business, right now. Perhaps if the stakes were less high, he'd take some time to play with his opponent, but all he wanted was to leave this godforsaken place and get some well-deserved rest. Without any fanfare or hesitation, Goro pulled back his hand, allowing the phantom to float upward with a surge of movement, courtesy of its abruptly absent resistance. Just as quickly, however, Goro lashed out with another bullet punch, his fist transforming into a silvery blur, crashing against the phantump again and sending it right back into the ground.

At that exact moment, it seemed Yigo launched his attack. When the shrew shouted at him, Goro's gaze snapped upward and he immediately realized what was happening. The ground type had used its earthquake attack again, sending a focused tremor toward the downed phantomp and the croagunk standing over it. He had no intention of getting hit with that particular attack again - it had taken him more than a few moments to even regain feeling in his legs after that blow. Urgently, he threw himself off of his victim and to the side, landing in a sloppy roll. No sooner than that did he feel the weak tremors radiating around from the much stronger focus point directly beneath the phantom. It let loose a pained wail, its stumpy head rising just long enough to cry out its pain and regret for all to hear. It didn't appear to last long, however, as the earthquake died down so did the ghost. Its head slumped back into the ground, presumably very unconscious after its disastrous performance. It hadn't really accomplished much; it managed to tackle Yigo and plant some viny seeds on both Goro and Yooka, but their combined efforts put it down before it could do any real damage.

Sluggishly, Goro rose to his feet with his gaze trained on the phantump. He let loose a pained sigh as he glanced down at his torso and noticed again the complicated web of vines sprawled around him. They were focused on his shoulder and spread out and around him, covering most of his torso, back, and side. He set about trying to tear them off of him, grabbing a cluster of them and pulling hard, only managing to slightly move them. He'd have to likely find some way to cut them off - they were wound tight and hard. With a distracted glance at the sandshrew that finished off their opponent, he absently wondered if those claws of his would do the job. That'd be a task for later, though, as right now they needed to flee the area and get to safety. "Check n' see if you can't get her to wake up, kid. I'm gonna keep an eye out for any more vultures.

"And... nice job." Goro glanced once more at the defeated phantom, taking in the upturned earth around it. That earthquake of his packed quite the punch, even on a ghost type. The dirt around the fallen creature was shattered and disheveled, speaking to the strength of a ground type using an incredibly powerful ground type attack. "Keep it up n' we'll be outta here in no time."

Outside of her practical tendril conundrum, everything seems to be swell. Yigo and Goro are not fighting themselves... yet. but all of this is causing quite a ruckus. Doesn't help that Yigo is using a move that pretty much shakes the whole island despite focusing it on just a small part of it. The island may be big but it's still smaller than the small lake it's in. Well... it was only a slight tremor. Unnoticable to the unfocused.

Yooka was knocked onto her back as she was trying to loosen the vines. When the Phantump was still conscious the vines would just regenerate in a few seconds as she was snapping them. During all the non-intense moments of being forced to practically struggle just to barely move while being slowly drained of energy from the unintelligent fiber, she was able to get an arm out and take a grip on the seed itself. Just to have that rewrap a new tendril around her freed arm. She should've figured something like that would happen. She utterly failed at trying to crush it in her grip and she was starting to get very tired and irritated. When the Phantump finally fell into unconsciousness from Goro and Yigo's unseen teamwork, the vines suddenly felt dead, or more on the lines of... no longer fixing itself. Yooka was relieved but ultimately didn't care as she took advantage of the seeds' stasis.

The vines were still hard to break but it was way easier to snap them. Her little claws chipped away at the vines to speed up the process. She severed the links between the seed in her grip to the vines around her whole body just incase the Phantump regains consciousness, the seed cant immediately screw her over. She heard Goro say something but it was mostly inaudible. She heard 'check and see-- She's awake--' aswell as a 'nice job'... He sounded slightly surprised and pleased but he could aslo just be annoyed and just as relieved as her when the trouble ended, either way Yigo did something to impress him, even if just slight. Yooka wasn't holding any grudges on Goro but she felt somewhat relaxed from hearing that. However, she needed to get out of the vine's grip and immediately strained her limbs in every direction, the vines parted where she removed the seed. Perfect.

She ended up moaning rather loudly as she was removing herself from the vines' grip. Despite sitting in an awkward angle, she was out. Wherever the vines from the leech seed had contact on her skin, it was a light red. She looked like someone coming out of bed with a pattern imprint from whatever they were laying on. An ichy sensation began to form and she shuddered as she stretched. The last thing on her mind before Yigo was how she's conscious. Looking up and pulling the Plain seed out of her ribbon wrapped hand mid-stretch was all she needed to see. Such a waste. After this she looked at Yigo to ask a question but decided to not. Better to let him have his moment before ending it with a few words. However, she wanted to say she was fine but the sudden pain spiked and made her tense up as she was ending her stretch. She only uttered "Ow..." but in a long annoyed and Questioning way, like as if she was confused with the pain despite knowing the why and how.

Yigo fell to his knees after unleashing the earthquake onto his enemy. He was exhausted, damaged and unable to stand up again. The last time the move came out of him didn´t take that much energy so why was he feeling such a harsh recoil now?The Impact had forced a silence only broken by the exploding ground, turning what was once some land that many would consider a paradise into a wasteland. Yigo had destroyed the beauty of that place but it had been arguably in self-defence; after all, they just wanted to leave and head home. The Copse was keeping them there, not only delaying their leave but forcing them to stay through the most unpleasant means. Was it over now? Did it have anything else to offer? The place hadn´t been nice to him and deserved no consideration on their part. Did it have enough with the destruction of the environment? With the defeat and harm of their dwellers?

"Check n' see if you can't get her to wake up, kid. I'm gonna keep an eye out for any more vultures...

And... nice job."

Yigo´s heave breathes were making him shake, his body accommodating itself to a slower heartbeat right after the Croagunk´s words. The battle was over but it was now time to check on Yooka. The compliment came out of nowhere, an awkward sensation got through Yigo as he didn´t know how to answer. The ground-type was sure that the fighting type hated him. Was battling the means by which he could achieve friendship with that Pokemon? It was then when it had struck him. Their actions together made perfect sense now. This Goro wanted to fight people to befriend them, that was his reason to fight! That´s why he wanted to fight Yooka!

Yigo tried to slowly stand up on his fours and tried to stretch the whole length of his body, tail included, before getting back to the task Goro had entrusted him with... although, it turned out that he was not needed at all. A sound moan alerted Yigo, having him turn his head towards the Kecleon and getting his ears ready to catch or track any incoming sounds. Yigo trotted towards Yooka´s position, slowing his pace down the closer he got to her. They stood there, exchanging glances for a moment. What should Yigo say? Should he ask whether she was alright? On his attempt, when he was about to open his mouth, Yooka decided to take the initiative. It felt relieving but her... speech had been more expressing than usual. She was complaining because of something causing her pain, yes, but the way in which she uttered the complaint made it hard to take it seriously, causing Yigo to chuckle and fall to his side so he could get a simple rest.