Red and Gold

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On the western side of a tiny continent, a little canine Pokemon was crossing over a path of stepping stones, slick from the lapping water. He was singing under his breath - quietly, at first - but it rose in volume slowly as he realized there wasn't anyone else around to judge him for it. He walked from stone to stone slowly so he didn't lose his traction on the rocks, drawing closer to his destination bit by bit. He wasn't in any hurry. There was plenty of daylight left.

"... and when the skies fill with ash, and the sun's turned his last, I'll guide you all safely back home."

Cinmere finished his song, punctuated by a final leap onto the shore of the island. He smiled in triumph, taking in the small victory alongside the sights and sounds of the landscape. He felt a flicker of wonder as he saw the island up close for the first time, looking up at the trees and the fiery hue of their leaves. Each step forward was marked by a satisfying 'crunch' of the fallen leaves under his paws. He walked forward slowly with his gaze set on the sky. It was beautiful, the flashes of blue in between the bold canopy of red and orange. He stopped and stared for a moment longer before nodding to himself and trotting towards the interior of the forest.

Right. He had a job to do. The island was beautiful, and the trip had already been worth it to see it in person, but he wasn't just here to sightsee. One of the locals back in Rainfront told him a little bit about the history of this place, stories about explorers flocking to this island in search of treasure and glory. Well, Cinmere didn't think there was much of either left here, but there had been something about the story of this island that caught his attention. Apparently there was a shrine here, and he had a hunch it was just collecting dust. Somehow he didn't think a group of ruffians demanding cash were the type to show a sacred place the respect it was owed. It wasn't that important to Cinmere, but it hadn't been that far out of his way, either. May as well clean it up a bit if no one else was going to. And if someone was taking care of the place, it would be a pleasant surprise. It was a win-win, in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and entered the forest, going out of his way to step in the patches where the dried leaves had piled up, crackling as he smashed them under his paws.

Cinmere's Energy: 5

It was nice to see such enthusiasm from Cinmere as the game was starting. It was a stark contrast to the usual mood Ket was use to. He nodded to the eager Rockruff as they sprinted away into the forest with a two minutes head start. When Cinmere had bounded out of sight Ket sat down waiting for two minutes to pass away. Humming the minutes away he noted the falling leaves, how interesting it would be to see how Cinmere covered up his trail. On account of the massive amount of leaves piled up, any trail left behind would be a dead give away. When he had counted down two minutes a gust of wind swirled through the forest throwing up leaves back into the sky as if nature herself was urging him onwards. He sat up excited, it had been a while since he had been hunting down someone. Hopefully he wasn’t to rusty, it was time to get serious.

He walked down to the trail left by the Rockruff and began to follow it into the forest. He had clearly been running at a fast speed perhaps trying to capitalize on the head start he was given. Reaching a crossroads he noticed two different paths left behind. He had doubled back on his own footprints, an effective strategy. He examined boths paths not sure which of the two to follow. Throwing it up to luck he kept following the path forwards hoping for the best. Just in case he chose the wrong path he dashed down the path, if he got it wrong he could run back and hopefully make up for lost time. Time was his biggest enemy here having already lost two minutes he couldn’t afford to lose much more. It turned out to be a smart move as he shortly made it to the end of the fake trail. Cursing himself for falling for a double back which he had recognized he sprinted back to the crossroads losing around a minute and a half of time.

Back on the right trail he changed his pace so it was quick enough to catch up to Cinmere and not make as much noise as running to not alert the Rockruff if he was still around. Wouldn’t do him much good if he was heard a mile off. As went further and further down he gradually slowed down reducing the noise he made from stepping on the leaves. Slowing down he managed to catch a slight change in the tracks left behind with one spot having a slightly larger gap between paw prints. Suspicious of the sudden interruption of the otherwise steady tracks Ket grabbed a nearby rock that was large enough to confirm his suspicions. Chucking the stone at the spot he watched a spin trap spring up and activate spinning the rock around before depositing it near the trap. Clever hiding the trap, if he hadn’t noticed it he would of been done for. But hiding that trap must of cost him time. Looking back to the tracks after admiring his work he calculated the time it took to hide the trap and when he had started. He had lost quite a bit of time following the fake trail but the effort spent hiding this trap should even it out.

He grinned as he realized it was still on. Stepping around the now deactivated trap he continued on with the hunt. Whistling once he said to himself, “Sir, you are being hunted.”