Misty Mountain

Lumina Energy: 46 - 16 = 30
Items:
-Stamina Band (colored blue)(decreases energy cost by 2)
-Vulpix Tag (Reduce Pokemon Rolls by 1)
-Trawl Orb (4)
-Reviver Seed

The Black Mist Mountains. A bleak, cold place where little grew and fewer pokemon inhabited. It was also encompassed by the Mystery Dungeon curse, making it even less inhabitable than it would normally be. Only feral pokemon made the mountains their home, unless it was the occasional outlaw on the run from the law.

But it was on the slopes of one of the mountains that a cream-colored vixen was traveling. It was obviously not a feral pokemon, evidenced by the scarf around one of its legs, and the bag it carried around its front. Upon the bag was pinned a winged badge, signifying the carrier to be a member of an Exploration Team.

The cream-colored vixen was none other than the ninetales known as Lumina, and she was carefully picking her way up the rocky slope of the mountain. She was on a mission, assigned to her by the guild. Lumina wondered how stupid a pokemon had to be to start flying lessons at the peak of a mountain. For she was scaling the mountain after a recently-evolved garchomp, who believed he was able to fly right away, and had scaled the mountain to prove it to his fellow 'mon.

So here she was, climbing up the mountain after the fool. Lumina snorted to herself as she picked her way past rocks and boulders. At least he wasn't affected by the darkness that encroached on their land; she wasn't in the mood for a fight with a garchomp. Dragons were the toughest of opponents; resistant to her fire attacks and, really, any other attack that she had available. The best she could do was hit it with psyshock a bunch of times. But hopefully, this mission wouldn't require her to knock out the garchomp; just talk him down from the ledge, so to speak.

Lumina paused on a landing, taking a moment to catch her breath. She stared out across the land, seeing the small landscape beneath her. She wasn't yet high enough on the mountain to see any towns, but she was high enough that the base of the mountain seemed far away, and the trees that dotted the landscape below seemed tiny from her vantage point.

Ah, yes. So this was the impressive Black Mist Mountain spoken of by the pokémon in the local vicinity. A dark, foreboding mountain rising up into the sky, piercing the heavens in a rocky peak. Those with a respect for nature probably revered the sight, taking great pleasure in how majestic and beautiful it was(Did pokémon think that? He didn't know for sure but that made his inner workings make much more sense, assuming that detail. He would carry on as such.).

"Hmm. So this is Black Mist Mountain? How...insurmountably disappointing." The silver pelted Eevee turned his nose up, a slight grimace on his expression. It was just a big rock, that was all. Nothing to be impressed with, nothing special. It was actually kind of pitiful, like one big blight on the world. He'd expected more from the mountain.

In his wanderings of the local area, trying to get his bearings and make himself acquainted with the sights and locations surrounding Grassveil, he'd questioned a few of the plebeian populace in town on the places he should familiarize himself with. Of course, some were more hesitant to talk to him at first, but surely that must have been because they were intimidated by his larger-then-life character. Some persistent questioning of the pokémon resulted in him getting pointed towards Black Mist Mountain of all places.

Though, he had to wonder if any of the bunch he'd spoken to had ever been to the mountain. They'd said it was beautiful(it wasn't), that it was peaceful(it wasn't), and that he'd have no trouble getting through the area on his own(admittedly there was some trouble). It was almost like they were trying to get rid of him, but who could entertain that thought?

Still, he needed assistance, admittedly. A meat shield of some kind would do. And his hopes seemed to be answered just a short distance ahead, as he caught sight of a fox-like pokémon up ahead.

"Excuse me! You there, oddly asymmetrical Ninetales." The shiny eevee called ahead, picking up his pace and trotting ahead towards the guild member as fast as his short legs could carry him. He seemed to take a few deep breaths, the prior climb(and all his running away and Sand Attack-ing) having worn him down somewhat. Despite his weariness, he still carried a proud expression, a grin on his face.

"I won't bother you with the details, and I'll get straight to the point. Loathe as I am to admit it, I require assistance traversing this area. You seem competent enough, and not overly bloodthirsty." Lucio continued to say as he approached, looking Lumina up and down as he finished speaking as if to do a double-check on that last one. He was very...forwards with his greeting, not seeming to really leave room for negotiations. He didn't even take the time to introduce himself.



"Eerie as ever, I see..." The Pikachu muttered to himself, electricity crackling around his paws as he hovered over the ground. This wasn't the first time Nate had been to the Blackmist area, and he was sure it wasn't going to be the last. However, this time he wasn't here on a mission, or anything like that. No, what he was here for was more of a personal thing. Maybe to get some things off of his mind, maybe to train himself. Maybe both.

No matter what his reasons were, with everything that had been going on recently he rarely seemed to have time to take for himself to go out somewhere and simply wander around like he used to do. Sure, maybe Black Mist Mountain wasn't the most scenic place to do that, or the safest, but finally given the chance to get out without any particular reason it was where he felt like going.

As he hovered along over the ground, making good use of Magnet Rise, the mouse pokémon's ears flickered for a moment as he turned his attention further up the mountain's slope. Oddly enough, he could have sworn he heard a voice up ahead even though he couldn't yet see the source of the sound...it was calling out to some...asymmetrical Ninetales...? Strange, but after hearing the voice he couldn't help but feel curious.

So much for getting out on my own, right?

Nate chuckled a little to himself and shook his head. Yeah, well. He'd had the whole trek up the mountain thus far to himself, company couldn't hurt for...well, however further he went. Turning his attention towards the general direction the call came from, the Pikachu continued to move further up the mountain's slope, his path unknowingly set towards Lumina and Lucio.

Energy:
Lucio - 4/20 (-16 for entering)
Nate - 16/32 (-16 for entering)

Dark and foreboding were two accurate descriptive words for Black Mist Mountain, known mostly for its appearance and dangerous terrain. If it was possible for a mountain to overcompensate, this one had successfully managed to do just that. While it was perhaps intimidating to some, the dark, looming environment wasn't much to someone who had been raised in Shadowhue. Uthinare, an average eevee with no business in such a place, had no qualms with the eerie atmosphere since she had lived in one for most of her life. Perhaps this mountain leaned a bit closer to the dangerous side of things than her home, but it wasn't like she had never seen danger before. Perhaps she wasn't very strong, but that didn't mean there was any cause for concern over traversing such an environment. Actually, she was here specifically because the area was so dangerous. She had a newfound desire to hone herself, and this seemed like the best place to start with such a task. It was dangerous for certain, but it was more easily accessible than most other infamous places.

Being born to the leader of a pack, she had a belief instilled in her that she was meant for greatness. It was something she had assumed, perhaps, but she still felt herself to be important nonetheless. Or at the very least, she wanted to be! She felt... entitled, and if the world wouldn't give her what she so rightfully deserved, then she would simply have to find her own way. After being on her own for a while, she had come to understand a simple truth: she was weak. Not that it should have been a major surprise since she was, after all, an eevee, but that didn't make it any less tolerable to her. She had a great deal of pride in herself, and she didn't want this pride to feel misplaced. Thus, here she was, her goal for the day being to scale a mountain. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, but something she fully intended to see through nonetheless. She had a certain degree of discipline, and while she was fond of lazing days away when afforded such a luxury, protecting her pride was of greater concern.

To an outside observer, it likely would have seemed foolhardy of her to have given herself such a task when she was barely a rookie explorer at best. And, in fact, she had been urged to turn back by pretty much everyone she'd come across on the way to her destination. It was an easy mistake to make: they weren't aware of her lineage nor her capabilities, as they saw nothing more than eevee. After all, at a glance, she was nothing more than an average eevee, so it wasn't anyone's fault if they couldn't tell she was more competent than an average specimen of her species; the sleeper adorning her left ear served as a memento and brand from her pack, but what outsider would ever know that? Thanks to her professional ability to invalidate the opinions of others, had done nothing to deter her from the venture she had set her sights on. However, she wouldn't have backed down regardless, being too prideful to even consider such a thing. She was no coward and would not be caught fleeing from such an obstacle all because someone else thought it appropriate to tell her to do so. Many someones.

Now that she had finally reached the mountain, she was beginning to understand what merited all the concern. It was certainly large, and even from the base, she could already tell that it was going to be an unpleasant climb. But while that was the bad news, it was also the good news, as it meant the treacherous terrain would be the most of her worries. Maybe she wasn't the best fighter, but she was good at keeping herself safe despite this fact, so she wasn't too worried about being attacked. Besides, she would never improve without pushing herself, and she had decided this glorified rock sticking out of the ground was the best way for her to do so. Without even the slightest bit of hesitance, she started off up the mountain... Okay, so she had hesitated just a bit before working herself up to starting the climb. Fine, a lot. It wasn't that she was scared or anything; she simply wasn't looking forward to all the effort it was going to take just to prove to herself that she was acceptable! She definitely, most certainly was not scared.

After finally starting her climb, she quickly found a natural path of sorts that seemed safe enough to follow, and so she did just that. Thus far, the mountain was proving to be less of an obstacle than she had hoped. Despite how silly it was, her initial thought of how climbing a mountain would be was somewhat akin to the idea of trying to walk up a slanted wall, but the terrain was surprisingly flat and easy to stand on. Granted, she was still near the base and it would probably become much harder to traverse as she got higher up, but still, what she was doing didn't really feel like "climbing." It was probably for the best since her body was more built for walking than climbing anyway, though. It wasn't like she needed to climb in specific to prove her own competence and capability, after all. Walking through the dangerous environment would do just as well, and besides, being able to recognize and take a safe path was a good quality, not something to be shunned. It was a good thing that she wasn't too stubborn and prideful to make a smart decision! Again, it was definitely not because she was scared. As she became more comfortable with the path, her confidence rose, and with it, her pace slowly picked up.

In truth, there was more to her motivation than just wanting to prove herself. With her, she carried a bag small enough to fit with her own stature, and within, a few very important items. She had power within her grasp, but she didn't want it if she couldn't earn it, and she had done nothing to earn this opportunity. It had been given to her for no reason, and she didn't like it. She wasn't interested in accepting some stranger's pity or concern or generosity or whatever it was! Despite this, she still had no intention to throw the items away and had kept them with her, even going so far as to bring them to this mountain. She had come to Black Mist so that she could prove herself, yes, but the reason behind this desire of hers was deeper than simply wanting to pad her own ego: she wanted to prove she was worth this gift she had received. She had done nothing to "earn" it, but she still wanted it, which left her searching for some way to make herself feel like she deserved it.

Really, though, she just didn't want to feel like she was accepting pity, and putting herself through a trial seemed easier than trashing the gifts and going out to look for her own.

(Energy - 6)
(Good luck completing this mission. You'll need it.)

Lumina Energy: 30
Items:
-Stamina Band (colored blue)(decreases energy cost by 2)
-Vulpix Tag (Reduce Pokemon Rolls by 1)
-Trawl Orb (4)
-Reviver Seed

The darkness of the clouds overhead was surely a sign indicative of troubles to come, Lumina reflected as she rested on a ledge. The mountain wasn't getting any easier to climb as she sat there, catching her breath. Coming up the base of the mountain was taking more out of her than she originally thought, though maybe she had just chosen an unlucky path with many large rocks to clamber over rather than a steady upwards slope that might have been easier on the legs. She sat atop one such rock, the edge falling down on all sides. She'd have to leap to the next rock, and she wasn't looking forwards to doing so.

It was then that Lumina heard a voice calling out to her. Asymmetrical ninetales? She thought. Who used such strange language? She peered over the edge of the rock, to see a silver fox making its way up the path. It clambered over the rock and sat in front of her, before beginning to speak. Lumina blinked blankly down at the eevee as it regaled her with its woes before looking at her significantly, as if she were the answer to its problems.

"Excuse me?" Lumina finally said. "First of all, who even are you? Secondly, I am already on a mission from the guild. I expect to scale the entire mountain after a foolish garchomp bent on his own destruction... Having an inexperienced pokemon underfoot isn't exactly my first choice when faced with such a mission. Of course, if you insist on tagging along, I can't exactly stop you... Just don't expect me to be babysitting  you if we come across a feral pokemon that needs subduing."

Lumina wasn't exactly thrilled that the eevee might tag along, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it if it chose to come. She wasn't going to stop the darn thing from coming if it really wanted to, but honestly, she hated the idea of a smaller pokemon underfoot whilst trying to convince the garchomp down from the edge. In fact, she was wasting precious time sitting here talking while she could be climbing after the foolish dragon.

"Again, I'm not going to stop you if you really must tag along, but if you're coming, we need to get moving before the garchomp jumps off a cliff." she said, clambering to her feet and looking across the gap that separated the current rock from the next. "And really, you can only come along if you can keep up with me."

She demonstrated by leaping across the gap gracefully, landing on all fours on the other rock. She looked across the gap at the eevee and wondered whether it could really jump the gap like she did, or if it would have to find another way around. Perhaps if it got a running start, it might make it. If it tried the gap, she might deign to help it get up if it made it across.

How...rude. The eevee furrowed his brow and stared up at the Ninetales indignantly as she explained the situation to him, certainly more than a little offended. Sure, she said some less important things about a Garchomp, but more importantly she had flat-out stated that he was inexperienced, something to be babysat, and that she didn't have the time for him. The audacity she must have had!



"Right, of course. I can only imagine how generous and kind a guild you must come from, assuming they taught you to ignore a pokémon who bothered themselves to ask you for help. Unless you and your attitude are simply a poor representation of your guild right now, which would be understandable." Lucio stood up and smiled smugly at the fire type ahead of him, giving his tail a little flourish as he took a few steps backwards. Oh, yes, he enjoyed 'helping' rude pokemon realize the error of their ways every now and then.



Of course, he was still going to go along with her as he did admittedly need someone to tag along with, and that meant he had to clear this gap ahead of him. The shiny pokémon took a deep breath and ran forwards, unafraid to take the challenge. As he reached the edge, the eevee leaped ahead, and barely managed to stick the landing on the boulder. However, having landed closer to the sloped, front end of the boulder, the eevee quickly began to lose his footing and slip a little, sliding back towards the gap he'd managed to hop over as he struggled to get his footing.








Navigating the mountain was a bit easier said then done for the mouse pokémon, especially given the fact that he was levitating while doing so. Sure, he had gotten used to Magnet Rise in his repeated usage of the move, but going over uneven terrain was still weird for him. He had to adjust himself while moving over parts of the ground going upwards, put a bit more power in, had to account for going downwards and keeping himself balanced.



There was a bit for him to account for, but considering he got to hover around in the process, he was willing to deal with those slight difficulties. Besides, practice made perfect.



Making his way over one such bit of uneven ground in his way, he caught sight of the two he was looking for as he crested the peak of the rock: two pokémon seemed to be in front of him, a Ninetales and a strangely colored Eevee. The Ninetales seemed to have a band around one leg(most likely contributing to the asymmetrical remark), but more interestingly, the band had a guild badge on it. He figured she must have been a guild member then, to state the obvious. The Eevee didn't seem to have any identification worn on him, so he wasn't sure what to make of the normal type.



The Eevee seemed to take a few steps back from a gap between two of the rocks, looking as if he were going to take a running start and try to jump it. Of course, it looked like that, but there was no way he was going to try it, right? The Ninetales could handle the gap easily, but the Eevee would have to get a good running start and a good jump there. Nah, he couldn't have been stupid enough to-



Oh hey he jumped...oh.



"Oh, crap..." The Pikachu muttered to himself, and he zipped towards the edge, moving quickly as he rushed over to the two. The Eevee seemed to land, luckily enough, but just as he landed he seemed to lose his footing.



"H-hey! Watch it over there!" He called out, feeling his heart jump into his throat as the pokémon slipped up. How bad a drop would it be if he slipped? Nate wasn't sure himself, he hadn't checked how high up the rocks were. He'd been so focused on the situation at hand, he didn't even think to look down as he dropped back down to the ground. Canceling out his Magnet Rise, he ran to the ledge and took a running start himself, jumping over towards the other side, just in case the Ninetales didn't get him, or Lucio didn't catch himself.


(OOC: Apologies for the wait, I died and it stuck a little this time.)

(Why did no one tell me it was my post)

Considering she was thinking primarily - and in fact, only - of herself, it was easy for Uthinare to ignore any sounds that she didn't perceive as an immediate threat. Sure, she may have heard voices, but she was too concerned with her own struggle to be remotely interested in checking whether these sounds were real or simply her imagination. Maybe it was some friendly tourist, much like herself, or maybe it was an aggressive native or criminal. Either way, it was none of her business, and she didn't intend to put any effort toward investigating. She was on a personal mission, so she had no time to make new friends, enemies or whatever if she could avoid it. She wasn't particularly interested in any social interaction at that very moment, anyway, as she had recently had a less-than-pleasant experience with new faces that had left a bad taste in her mouth. It hadn't exactly driven her to an antisocial lifestyle, but she was okay with the idea of having a break from others. She felt that wanting a bit of time alone was justified after such an unpleasant experience, and so she would avoid whoever happened to be in the area, even if they were friendly.

...Then a thought occurred to her: what if it was someone in trouble? She couldn't make out the voices, or even if they were actually voices rather than simply the wind echoing through the mountains and playing tricks on her ears. She had no way of knowing who was talking or why, so to simply walk away was to risk letting some innocent be hurt because of her own inaction, which was an idea she wasn't particularly fond of. She was a bit self-centered, at least in the moment, but that didn't mean she was bad at heart. Even if she were, she still had her pride if nothing else, and to sully it by leaving someone in need for no reason other than her own laziness was not something she was interested in. However, the idea that it was nothing and would simply waste her time, or perhaps even someone dangerous, still lingered in her mind. She was torn on whether to attempt to follow the sounds or simply continue down her own path, and the latter seemed more appealing the more she thought about it.

The eevee had picked a safe, easy, straightforward path up the mountain; or at least, as much so as such a dangerous environment could get. Perhaps it wasn't the best "trial," but it would do, and besides, she wanted to test herself, not put her life in excessive danger. Regardless, blindly following some random noise would drag her off the path she'd carefully chosen, and while she could simply come back to it, the problem was that she would have to venture off the easy route in the first place. It sounded like a chore, and not one she was fond of the idea of. Plus, it seemed dangerous, as she wasn't very confident in her ability to traverse the environment without going out of her way to pick a safe path. This made the decision rather difficult, and she was leaning toward just moving on since she really doubted there was any point in going through the struggle of veering into a treacherous course to follow the noise.

Then she heard a much louder voice, and this one, she could actually make out. "Watch it," the voice said, its tone clearly concerned. Uthinare sighed at the obvious sign that something was wrong, even if she didn't know what. She didn't want to care what was going on, as it was still none of her business, but she had to at least check to make sure everything was alright. Immediately, she turned away from her safe path and looked up the rather steep mountain. It wasn't quite steep enough that she would be unable to make the trek, but that didn't mean she was looking forward to it. She let out another sigh, this time in exaggerated frustration, and carefully took the first few steps off her path and onto the quicker way up the mountain. She was climbing toward the source of the voices, but at the same time, she was also making her way upward. It was admittedly convenient that this detour happened to put her on a faster course to the peak. Well, perhaps not convenient, but it could have been worse. It could have been below her position, which would have forced her to go back down the mountain and effectively erase what little progress she had made.

The thought alone frustrated her.

Lord E V carried out 6 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , , ,

Lumina Energy: 30
Items:
-Stamina Band (colored blue)(decreases energy cost by 2)
-Vulpix Tag (Reduce Pokemon Rolls by 1)
-Trawl Orb (4)
-Reviver Seed

Lumina narrowed her eyes at the rude eevee from across the ledge. She couldn't believe the eevee would have the gall to blame his own rudeness on her! As if she was the answer to the world's problems, or the way he could be lazy about his own safety!

She sighed. "Perhaps you hadn't considered that I was already on my way to helping someone, before you rudely came up and basically demanded that I help you, rather than asking." she replied cooly.

She huffed, watching as the eevee backed up on the other ledge, preparing to jump across. She watched worriedly, doubting he could make it, and not wishing to watch the pokemon plummet to his inevitable death were he to fall. Then he was jumping, and had nearly landed on her side, but at the last moment, his legs fell back, and he was suddenly clutching the edge of the ledge with his front paws desperately.

Lumina immediately ran over to the eevee, and started pulling the pokemon up by grabbing his scruff in her jaws and hauling him up. As she did so, she heard a voice call out: "H-hey! Watch it over there!" She finished pulling the eevee up over the edge, before dropping him from her jaws, and looking up.

A pikachu was now on the other ledge, watching the proceedings worriedly. "Don't worry, I caught him," she said calmly. "Who are you, anyway?" she added, looking down at the eevee, and then at the pikachu. "My name is Lumina, not asymmetrical ninetales," she added humorously, eyes glittering.

For a moment, the eevee felt his paws slip out from under him, and for a single, crucial moment he had the opportunity to think his life over. How had he ended up right here, where he was now? What kinds of decisions had brought him to this place where he was going to slip off a rock and fall to his potential doom? Had he made any mistakes that had brought him here?

No, he settled on. No, life made the mistakes, not me.

Before he could properly accept his untimely demise at the hands of life's screw-up, however, the Ninetales caught him by the scruff and pulled him back up to safety. Yes, of course, she'd seen reason! Life had seen reason as well, and sought to correct its own screw-up by giving the fox a change of heart.

"I'm touched you could see things my way for a moment." He stated plainly, rustling up his fur and taking a few steps further inland. He didn't need another chance to slip up. However, as he glanced to the Ninetales when she asked his name, he also found his sights brought over towards the newcomer, a Pikachu across the ledge.

"Lucio, it's a pleasure." He simply introduced himself, nodding to the ninetales. "And for the record, while it may not be your name, you certainly are an asymmetrical ninetales, with that band on your leg and all."




Shortly after Lucio had gathered himself on the other side of the ledge, Nate had landed from his own jump, having built up enough momentum to make it across. He stumbled forwards a few steps and stood up, brushing himself off as he looked to the...somewhat ungracious eevee. Hearing the other pokemon speak, the pikachu couldn't help but feel a hint of initial...negativity about the shiny pokemon. Not so much as a clear thank you for Lumina, after getting saved by her.

"Nice catch. Not sure if you were asking me or not too, but I'm Nate. Guild Member, like you, just not here for a mission right now." He explained to Lumina, ignoring the eevee's remarks about how the ninetales was asymmetrical. Taking a moment, he turned and reached into his treasure bag, producing his Explorer's Badge from it and showing Lumina, as if to prove what he was saying, before putting it away once more.

"What are you doing here? I'm guessing you didn't just come along with him...got a mission going on right now?" The pikachu questioned curiously, gesturing towards the now sitting shiny eevee but not looking at him, keeping his focus on Lumina. Lucio harrumphed and glowered slightly at the electric mouse, not seeming to enjoy being ignored.

Uthinare's perception of the trek ahead of her was perhaps exaggerated by her own disdain toward the entire trip. She was having significantly less trouble climbing than she had originally thought, but she still reserved the right to complain, even if she was experiencing relatively little difficulty. Her attention drifted back and forth between her footing and the way upward as she tried to focus on both being careful and seeing the way ahead. It wasn't actually difficult, but she wished still that she didn't have to do it. Really, she didn't, but she was choosing the hard way all because she had heard the sounds of someone maybe having trouble with something. She couldn't help but wonder what she expected herself to do even if it turned out she was right. She was prideful, but even she knew that there was only so much someone of her... form could do. If anything, she knew from past experience that she would probably just end up getting in the way.

Still, the eevee continued onward; there wasn't much point in turning back now that she had committed to this path. Before long, she neared a small ledge, a flat surface on which she would be able to rest for a moment without worrying about slipping. This motivated her to pick up her pace a bit, and as she neared this small outcrop, she could see that it had more than enough room for her. It looked like she would have to climb more before she would find any stable path to follow toward the source of her curiosity, but at least she had some little ledges here and there that she could take breaks on. She threw her front paws up over the side of the stable ground and pulled herself up, showing no interest in pacing herself. Her hurried movements proved detrimental as a figure suddenly swooping down onto the ground in front of her caused her to lose her grip and slip away in surprise, a light and short yelp escaping her in the process. She didn't get a good view of whatever it was that had just rudely jumped in front of her and caused her to fall, but she was more concerned about the act of falling that she was currently in the middle of.

She expected to feel her back hit the gravely slope she had worked so hard to climb up, which would lead to her tumbling back down to her starting position. She would have minor injuries if she was lucky; probably nothing life-threatening, but it would be unpleasant all the same. Her eyes shut tight as she braced herself, but instead of the feeling of rolling down the rough mountainside, she felt teeth bite into the fur on the scruff of her neck, halting her unwilling departure. The vice-grip of the mouth holding her body up pinched, but it clearly wasn't meant to harm her. She opened her eyes to see a white-furred figure lifting her up onto the ledge she'd previously been in the midst of climbing onto. "Thanks..." she spoke hesitantly, wondering why this creature had practically knocked her back down the mountain only to go and save her. The situation only became more confusing to her as she was dropped down onto the ground in a careless fashion, the creature's level of concern for her safety seemingly inconsistent.

"Ow!" the eevee yiped once more, but she quickly pulled herself together; she arose to her paws and looked up to face whatever thought it could toy with her in such a manner, and she saw... an absol. "I-" she began what she planned to be quite the rant about how rude it was to scare someone like that, and more importantly, how uncalled for the rough treatment was. However, the absol immediately cut her off, speaking in a firm and commanding tone that made her fall silent.

"Leave."

The absol's voice was feminine, but gruff in a way that suggested she was about as rugged as the rest of the environment. "No?" Uthinare responded after a moment of contemplation, baffled at this woman's strange attitude. She'd gone from trying to kill her to trying to save her, and was now trying to get her to vacate the area. The command wasn't even specific, making her wonder if she was expected to just get out of the general area or leave Black Mist altogether. Regardless, her response seemed to provoke hostility, the absol shooting a glare down at her.

"That was not a request," came the stern voice of the white creature once more, this time with an annoyed bite to it. Without waiting for a response, she lowered her neck and opened her mouth to pick the eevee up once more, clearly uncaring for the concept of free will.

"I'll scream!" Uthinare suddenly challenged, quickly thinking up a way to prevent the absol from dragging her off the mountain. It seemed to work if only for the moment, prompting the would-be kidnapper to halt. "There's someone nearby. I heard them. If you touch me again, I'll scream, and they'll come running!" she took the pause to elaborate, glaring back up at the absol with a lack of fear, showing that she was not at all intimidated. In truth, she was, but she had no intention of letting this big bully see that.

The absol's eyes narrowed as the two stared through each other. "You wouldn't," she spoke bluntly, though she maintained her distance from the eevee, suggesting that she wasn't too sure of herself. If she were truly so certain that it was a bluff, then surely, she would have just continued with her previous course of action.

"Oh, I would," Uthinare responded with a cheeky grin, her demeanor suddenly shifting as she relaxed at the realization that she was now in control of the situation. "Oh no, help me, the big bad absol's trying to take me away, she's hurting me," she spoke in an exaggerated, mocking tone, parroting what she intended to do if this absol didn't obey her. "Who do you think they're going to believe?"

(Am I going to go through this entire thread solo? MAYBE.)

Lumina Energy: 30
Items:
-Stamina Band (colored blue)(decreases energy cost by 2)
-Vulpix Tag (Reduce Pokemon Rolls by 1)
-Trawl Orb (4)
-Reviver Seed

Lumina could only shake her head at the eevee. "I suppose so," she said to his last comment. She had never given much thought to how other pokemon would view her, wearing a stamina band like a badge of pride on one leg. She supposed it would make more sense to wear the band around her neck like a scarf, but she disliked the feeling of cloth around her neck; and it would be a weak point in a battle, where a foe could try to choke her were it to think of such an action.

She looked across the gap at the pikachu, who introduced himself as Nate, and as a fellow guild member. That was interesting. She wasn't aware of many other guild members who traveled alone. Most guild pokemon traveled in pairs or threes; the number most teams had. She was an exception to the rule, where she was the only member of Team Polaris. But perhaps he was not a solo explorer, simply away from his teammates at the moment. After all, he did say he wasn't on a mission, as she was.

"I am indeed on a mission," she said to the pikachu. "You are welcome to come along, if you can keep up with me. I need to get to the summit of the mountains, to prevent a garchomp from leaping to his death. He is convinced he can fly, see." she rolled her eyes. "I suppose you can come along too, Lucio... as long as you can keep up." she said seriously.

Yes, yes, of course she supposed so. It was only natural, after all. It must have been obvious once he'd pointed out, and there was no way she could ignore it or deny it after that point. The thought of that was enough to make him able to at least somewhat withstand the other two Pokemon talking to one another about the mission details while he sat down there, those details including what the point of the mission was exactly.

That seemed to catch Lucio's attention, and the shiny eevee looked to the Ninetales with a look of dull disbelief. Nate seemed to react with some surprise as well, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head.

"...so. This garchomp thinks he can fly." Lucio stated incredulously, his tail flicking back and forth in a bored manner as he looked to the other two. Nate in turn nodded his head confidently to Lumina, ready to speak up.

"We shouldn't waste any time, then."
"We should just let him jump."



As the Pikachu suggested they should get a move on, he suddenly found himself blinking and looking to the shiny eevee, completely taken aback by his own suggestion. Had...had he really just suggested that they let the Pokemon jump?

"What? If he's that big of an idiot, I say we just let him do it. He'll get himself killed some other way."

"No! No, I...what? You're serious...? What...we're not gonna let him jump!" Nate didn't quite know what else to say, so he stumbled over his words a bit in his own disbelief, before looking back to Lumina.

"I'll keep up. Let's get going." As he spoke, he could hear Lucio standing up out of his field of vision, and the Pikachu couldn't help but feel annoyance well up in him.

"I'll go as well, I'm curious to see how this goes. Besides, I'd love to see you try and talk some sense into him." The shiny eevee stated, not leaving it up for much debate initially as he stepped ahead, looking to continue onwards.

There was a silence between the absol and her much smaller adversary. She didn't seem to like suddenly being at some random trespassing runt's mercy. Uthinare, on the other hand, had a confident smirk painted on her face; she was quite proud of her quick thinking and ability to put someone so much bigger than her in submission. "...I'd advise you leave soon, scapegrace. There are others who won't be as friendly as I," the absol spoke ominously whilst turning away, presumably in preparation to hop off to wherever it was she planned to go. She had given up rather quickly, which Uthinare took as a denotation of her own victory. However, now that she knew she was in the clear, the eevee had... ideas. She was far from done with this rude woman who so dared as to touch her, then threaten her and just try to walk away after it all! Fortunately, she knew just the way to teach the rude lady a lesson for this disrespectful behavior, and it happened to solve some of her other problems at the same time.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" the eevee questioned, halting the absol in her tracks. "Did I say you could leave?"

She could see the absol's claws dig into the ground, but aside from that, there was no immediate reaction. It took a moment for her to respond, but when she did, it was seething with anger. "Excuse me?"

"No, actually, you're not excused," Uthinare snapped back, "And my name is Uthinare. Oo-thi-nah-reh, not Scapegrace, whatever that is. You'd do well to learn my name since you're going to be my courier." She put in the effort to sound extra sophisticated and fancy just to make herself look even more superior. Now that she knew she was in control, she was going to use and abuse this privilege and see how far it would take her. The absol turned and stomped a foot down in front of her, bending down face-to-face with her, which admittedly made her jump back a bit in surprise. Oh, I've made her mad, she thought to herself.

Good.

The white shadow beating down on the little eevee huffed in anger. "It means brat; an apt description, I'd say."

Uthinare was annoyed upon the revelation of "scapegrace" being an insult, but in hindsight, that much should have been obvious. She hid her frustration, however, and instead decided to get back at the absol by simply pretending to be unfazed. "Well, you're going to be this brat's butler. I'll need your name as well, unless you want me to pick something else to call you in front of-"

"Arka."

This absol seemed to be getting a bit snippy, being so bold as to cut her new master off mid-sentence. But, on the bright side, she had given her name, and the two were now ready to set off. "Alright, now carry me to the source of the sounds I heard," Uthinare ordered, nodding in the direction she wanted to be taken in. With a growl and a bit of hesitance, the absol bit onto her scruff, though a bit rougher than she would have liked. She was then tossed up over the tall figure's head and onto her back, landing with a light "oof."

"Don't fall off."

Before the eevee could even react, her ride leaped away, carrying her to higher ground. She bit into the white fur supporting her in a desperate attempt to hold on, which didn't seem to bother the absol in the slightest. Being carried around by a native certainly made traversing the mountain easier, allowing her to cover far more ground than she would have on her own. She wondered for a moment if this was cheating, but she figured it could just as easily have qualified as resourcefulness. She was playing to her skills, after all, and she felt that what she had just done was every bit as impressive as climbing to the peak alone. Regardless, this new mode of transportation brought her to her destination quickly, and before long, she could already see the travelers she had set out to find... Or, rather, she would have, if not for how tightly her eyes were shut in her struggle to hang on to her ride.

The absol approached with haste, perhaps hoping she would be released after delivering the Hell-spawn she'd encountered to its destination. She happened to be on the same trail as the group, and so she came upon the same gap, choosing it as a good stopping point. This sudden lack of movement was nearly enough to shake the unsuspecting eevee free from her, but Uthinare managed to hold on. Then, after waiting a moment to make sure they had actually stopped, she stood up on the back of her new slave. She put her front paws on the absol's head so as to lift herself high enough to see past her, and sure enough, there was a group of three not far ahead. Wanting to make a good impression, Uthinare then pulled her whole body up on top of Arka's head, eliciting another growl from below. "Hello!" the eevee shouted over to them, figuring it best to greet them and let them know she was friendly before going over to them.

(Uthinare's here and she brought a pet.)

Lumina Energy: 30
Items:
-Stamina Band (colored blue)(decreases energy cost by 2)
-Vulpix Tag (Reduce Pokemon Rolls by 1)
-Trawl Orb (4)
-Reviver Seed

Lumina cast a disgusted look upon the shiny eevee at his suggestion. "I quite agree with Nate. I'm not about to let some 'mon leap to their death, regardless of their supposed intelligence level. Besides, the whole point of the mission is to save this garchomp's life. I'm not about to take a strike on my record for not completing the mission properly, just because you think it'd be fun to watch someone fall to their death," she said cooly.

She paused as Nate volunteered to help, telling her that he could keep up. "Very well," she dipped her head toward the pikachu, ignoring the annoyance that was Lucio.

Pawpads against stone echoed across the gap, and Lumina looked up to see a strange sight indeed: an eevee -this one shaded normally- standing on the back of an absol. The eevee looked over at them and greeted the group with a simple, "Hello."

Lumina frowned. Just how many pokemon were going to join the group? Too many pokemon attracted the attention of the feral population, and she really didn't have time to babysit this many pokemon.

It didn't occur to the ninetales that any one of her companions could take care of themselves; she was simply too arrogant for the thought to cross her mind. Still, she couldn't just turn down a pokemon's plea for help, even if she felt the request would be inconvenient. Of course, who knew what the new eevee wanted? It could just be passing through.

Still, it was strange for one pokemon to be riding another, at least in Lumina's eyes. She had never before seen such a thing. Nevertheless, it would be rude not to say something, at the very least. At the same time, what did one say to a pokemon who rode another pokemon like a pack mule? "Is there a reason you are riding an absol instead of using your own four feet?" Lumina asked, a single eyebrow raising.

There. A greeting and a question in one. Maybe not the most... polite thing to say, but it got the job done.