The Robbin' Hood of Pecha Forest

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Perched atop the highest branches of one of Pecha Forest's many short, chubby trees, a lone, hooded figure gazed intensely at the forest floor below, searching silently for his next wealthy target, whom it would be his sworn duty to relief of said wealth. At least, that was how he rationalized it in his mind after getting caught up in this new persona of his. In reality, Cracker had just found a new way to explain his own compulsive need to pickpocket and steal everything in sight. The culprit for his newfound identity was little more that a nursery book for baby Pokemon that he'd stumbled across one day in the woods.

In its pages, which he'd pored over religiously, he learned of the most righteous thief himself, who stole from the rich to give to the poor. It was a philosophy he'd taken to immediately, even going so far as to crudely fashion himself an outfit to match the pictures in the book. However, he neglected to notice the glaring issues with his newly adopted dogma. For starters, the Aipom didn't know anyone who was poor, and in fact had become quite reclusive and withdrawn from other Pokemon as of late. So everything he stole just wound up in his tree-house, gathering dust.

And the very things he stole were often themselves without real value. His compulsive habit had become an outright addiction, to the point where he took anything that wasn't his. The home he'd built amongst the trees was now packed to the ceiling with useless junk, and here he was, out on the prowl again, looking for something else to add to his ever growing collection of garbage. But through it all, he still wore the same excited grin he always had, nigh oblivious to his own isolation-induced mania. Outwardly he hadn't changed a bit, though. It was his moral compass that had lost all direction.

On top of his steady descent into monkey madness, he had yet to realize the dangerous fact that his rampant thievery hadn't gone unnoticed. He'd in fact angered nearly every Pokemon in Pecha Forest. If it weren't for his new, stealthier ways, he would've been engaging in fights by now. And ever the cowardly Aipom, whenever push came to shove, he always retreated in a hurry. For now though, he remained over-confident and in-character. As such, when he thought he spotted movement from a nearby shrub, he boldly leaped from the branch he was standing on and somersaulted expertly through the air, silent and efficient.

His tail snagged the next available branch on his descent and swung him perfectly onto his feet, poised deftly in a crouch as he spied the scene below like a predator. The grin on his face made him look more like a stalker, though.

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, it's Alki..." The jigglypuff mumbled, letting the Nidorina continue her explanation. The other pokemon scared her, honestly, and she shifted uncomfortably in her sitting position on the ground. She didn't have cotton in her ears, and he ought to be able to see that! She'd probably be better off ignoring him. That, is if she could manage to ignore someone as big and loud as brash as this guy... Alki edged closer to the Nidorina. She seemed rather friendly, and her words were... well, she wasn't quite sure what they were, honestly. They seemed friendly enough, but... vaguely accusatory? Alki began to lose herself in her thoughts, beginning to tune out the Nidorina.

She couldn't just sell the Aipom out! He'd been a bit of a... well, he hadn't been very nice, but she was a phantom thief! Although... if these two were telling the truth, then people would die! And she didn't want that either... Alki groaned as she bit her lower lip, pondering in her head what to do. He was going to fall soon from his position on the branch too soon, and they would both be in a lot of trouble if that were to happen...

"W-Well..." She mumbled, breaking her own stupor by looking down at the badge. Authority? Well... the badge had authority, but Alki was hardly a guild member... she was one in name only, honestly. She'd never been good at it, and she didn't really think of herself as one... she just kinda... had one? But... it was still her responsibility to help them, if they weren't lying. Just as a good person!

She turned the badge over in her hand as she looked over at the Nidorina. She felt vaguely uncomfortable as the larger pokemon lay one of her limbs around her. She didn't like to be touched... and weren't these poison types? Alki squirmed as the thought occurred to her what might happen were she to make a wrong move...

"W-Well, I mean... I... m-might have a clue?" She stammered. "H-He... I-I might have seen him down that way..." She said, pointing off in a random direction, away from this clearing... What if he fell? Then... well, what was her excuse? How was she going to explain that? And these two... well, something was off about them. Alki fidgeted uncomfortably with the guild badge in her hand. "E-Earlier..."

Was she making the right call? She certainly hoped so... but she hadn't seen the Aipom have much of anything. Let alone a few month's worth of supplies. But if he had hidden it somewhere... Ergh...

Well, she couldn't back off now! She'd committed, for better or worse...

The Jigglypuff began to pick herself up from the ground, before bounding off in the direction she'd pointed. She'd better hurry... "C-Come on!"

(OOC: Sorry about the delay. Hope this is alright, I still want to continue the thread! Just got a bit busy, I suppose.)