A lot of Mountains

It was around midday by the time Lennox's travelling companion, Yigo the Sandshrew, had led them to the pass that would take them into the mountains. It hadn't been a small feat getting here; the distance between the marsh and the mountains was not small; doubley so for those with stub legs. He had been wandering pretty much constantly up until this point though, enough that he had grown accustomed to the slight burn that would develop in his legs from time to time. With Yigo there with him to help navigate, he had even been able to curl up and roll a good part of the way; something he hadn't been able to do on his own without getting himself horribly lost. Finally he had gotten to see the mountains climbing over the horizon. He had been looking for them for so long that the vision had started to seem surreal.

Each day that had brought them closer to the mountains had also brought Lennox more frustrations. He didn't like how the mountains loomed over him as they drew closer and closer, casting their shadow over the both of them. He felt taunted once again by something bigger than him; something that saw him as less. They didn't feel inanimate to him; they felt alive in their colossal stature as if they had been put there to taunt him. It made him feel restless, annoyed. Every moment he had to sit there and face the looming giants as they stood in his way caused displeasure and anxiety to bristle down his form. He wanted to shut those mountains up. He wanted to get rock under his feet so that they couldn't look down on him anymore. He fully intended to get to the height of the range, to prove he was bigger than some piles of rock that had size on their side.

Yes, by the time they approached the pass, Lennox was more than ready to climb.

"Is this the place?" he asked the sandshrew. It was mostly a nicety, but he also wanted to be sure. He was eager to cross that threshold and find out what the mountain held for them. "'m glad there's still some daylight out. You weren't kidding when you said it was far." He took in the darkly-tinted rocks in their surroundings, and how indifferent and cold they looked against the mildly cloudy sky. It was about as foreboding as he had expected it to be, which got the excitement pumping throughout his body. He ignored any feeling but the rush of confidence coursing through him.

Lennox the Venipede - 3 Energy

The passing had been arduous albeit somewhat calm. The mossy environment ceased to appear in their surroundings, feeling the group under their feet tall grass from the forest, lawn from plains, dirt from the base of hills and gravel from the passes between the mountainside. However, the bug type had a much better idea, one that felt much more fun for his partner, a sandshrew by the name of Yigo. They would both roll to their destination instead of simply walking. Why that sudden change was unknown to the ground type but he was not going to complain at such an entertaining mean of transportation.

Rolling forward felt incredibly satisfying. The earth often stuck on Yigo´s back making out of him a small boulder which needed to be crashed upon something resilient before letting the sandshrew out of his shell. 'Inexperience with rollout' he usually claimed to the venipede who had to stop from time to time so that Yigo could recover. Definitely, the highlights of the journey were the downhill sections, in which both of the pokemon could achieve really high speeds. Compared to the marsh, the journey to the mountains had been enjoyable without a doubt, much better than travelling through the marsh and beating travelling alone by a longshot.

Unfortunately, all of that fun was coming to an end, as the road that leads to the passages through the mountains started leading them to the Blacktooth kingdom, their destination. Yigo took some time to rest after such a fun yet tiring journey. Looking back, he could see the forest as nothing more than small buds of leaves, his hand being able to cover it all from his perspective. They´ve gone far...

"Uh?" Lennox managed to snap the ground type out of his thoughts. Yigo checked around, sniffing the pure air in those free mountains. Steam and ash could be smelled from where they were. The columns of smoke and evaporated water should be easy to identify from where they were. "We´re almost there. I believe that we just have this last bit uphill before we reach one of the peaks. From there, it should be even ground" Yigo sat down on the ground, looking at the road ahead of them. He needed a moment to regain stamina which he used to gaze at the clouds, being gently carried away by the pleasant breeze. That motion gave Yigo an idea "Hey, Lennox. Why don´t we make conquering this mountain more... fun? Let´s see who gets to the top first!"

Yigo the Sandshrew - 1 Energy

He peered up to where Yigo had gestured and, sure enough, there was a flat pass where the faces of the mountains were fused and wound around each other. That was fine, he guessed. Admittedly, it was a little disappointing to come all this way to take a flat path. The attraction was the mountain, after all. He had been expecting something more along the lines of scaling sheer cliffs and navigating thin outcroppings. He reasoned that he shouldn't complain, though. The ashen rocks didn't seem like they would provide much traction for climbing, admittedly; not to mention there were bound to be all manner of large pokemon calling this place home. He wasn't a slacker, but he wasn't suicidal either. It was probably best not to tempt his ego and risk both his and Yigo's safety. There were bound to be plenty of adversities even on the relatively level road ahead of them. He could accept taking on a more reasonable route during his first time in a foreign land. Besides that, he didn't want to put an excessive burden on Yigo.

The sandshrew surprised him with a friendly challenge. It wasn't unwelcome, in fact, it was far from it. He forgot his gripes immediately as a new burst of enthusiasm bust through him at the prospect of some friendly competition to liven the trail. "Sure; if you think you can keep up," he smirked with confidence. "'m guessing we'll both be rolling. Do you want to start the countdown?"

He paused to think for a moment. He thought back on the fight with the Dratini he had met in the woods. They never had decided on who was the winner there; well, he hadn't. It hadn't exactly decided anything at all because neither of them really agreed what they were deciding (well, the Dratini obviously agreed with himself because he had won). The places where he had been burned tingled with agitation as he thought about it. In light of that, the vagueness of their goal bothered him the slightest bit. He tried to shake it off, reasoning that it shouldn't matter that much in a simple race. He couldn't help but stop to confirm, "Maybe we should go for that bare tree by the path?" He found that, for whatever reason, that little bit of confirmation satisfied that nerve that was twitching in his head. Not that he didn't trust Yigo to be more reasonable than a snake who talked to trees.

All that was left now was to start. The trail had a wave in it here and there, but Lennox was sure he could handle the maneuvers they would require of him well enough. So sure, in fact, that he subconsciously began identifying paths where he could shave off some time; little rocks and bends that he might be able to jump. When Yigo called, he knew he'd be ready.

When Lennox agreed to play a game with Yigo, a broad grin showed immediately on his face "Yaaay!" He shouted before dashing near the bug type. Getting on his hindquarters Yigo scouted for the tree that was set to be the goal of the race. With a nod and a hum with an agreeing tone, Yigo decided to add another bound to the race that they were about to have. Extending his arm and pointing his claw to the ground, he drew a line from with which start "You bet that I´m ready and expect me to roll as fast as I can! Even if the road goes uphill, it´s the fastest way to move on my end. As you suggested, the goal will be that tree and start from here. Your paw and head right behind this line" Yigo gave Lennox an example by getting on all fours, nose barely hovering over the ground and his left front paw right beside it, almost touching the line.

"Are you ready?" Yigo asked, looking at his side to see whether or not Lennox was ready. Yigo observed the road ahead of them. There were a few curves and twists. The road was long and had some cracks. The easiest way of crossing the pass was just running on his fours and being careful about any geopebbles he could stumble upon and stay away from the ledges... but where was the fun in that? He was going to win or, at least, become a worthy opponent to Lennox. His claws dug into the gravel and start readying his body as it curled and curbed, ready to jump into the shape of a ball and start rolling "four, five, three, two, one, go!" he shouted, following his words right away with a small sprint that gave him enough momentum to turn himself into a ball who rolled through the road. His speed was decent even though the ground below him was not the most optimal. It was tiring and somewhat annoying but he could keep up the pace.

Lennox squared up at the starting line, mimicking Yigo's ready stance. "I'm ready when you are," he answered with a nod. He was in his go mode now; his little legs were tensed and he was only holding back for the signal. His heart pumped a bit quicker in anticipation as Yigo started to count down. When the sandshrew got to "go!" and the race started, Lennox launched as hard as he could. His muscles contracted and quickly pulled him into a tight ball for rolling, boosting his speed up past his starting momentum. In this new form, the edges of his plated exoskeleton stuck out and caught the ground, digging into the dirt and propelling him forward.

He didn't have the best vision in this position, but he could see at first that Yigo had gotten a bit of a lead on him in the first stretch. Lennox leaned into the first curve of the road and ripped around it as quickly as he could in an attempt to make up the distance. He kept close on the curves, not even balking when he got a little close to the edge of the road that led to the downward slope of the mountain face. Not dangerous at all. Now that they had been going for a bit, he felt better about his pace and he started to loosen up. He learned the feeling of the silty ground beneath him and how it softly gave way as he pushed through it. He looked for flat rocks that would catch on his body and give him a chance to add to his momentum. He was picking up speed, and even tugging ahead a little to his delight. He couldn't quite take the lead though. With the tree growing closer and closer, he started to look for opportunities to gain just a bit more distance or maybe enough traction to get some speed for that final push. A flat, jagged rock peaking just out of the dirt caught his eye. Yes, he could use that. He rolled towards it, eager to get that final push...

As it turned out, it had not been solid surface. It was a very weak formation that broke apart beneath him, throwing him off balance. He went skittering to the side, holding his eyes shut so they wouldn't get hurt as he went skipping over rocks. He eventually landing about ten feet to the left of where the tree was. He was... pretty dizzy, and a little shocked. Not scared, just... shocked. He wriggled himself up onto his legs and had a look at where he had ended up. He was pretty far off to the side... in what looked like a campsite? There was a smear of old ash on his shell from where he had gone flying through the fire pit. He didn't see anyone around, but there were remnants of a meal nearby that made it look like maybe there was someone still using it.

...Drat! He had lost the race, hadn't he?? He started to scramble up over the little shelter, calling, "That was a slip! I hit a loose patch of dirt, pretty sure someone's messing with the dir over here or something."

[Energy = 1 + 10 (Oran Berry) = 11]

Lennox´s experience with rolling was something unknown to Yigo but, for the sandshrew, rolling was his life. Whenever he was scared, he´d curl into a ball and roll to forget any pain or sadness. Whenever he wanted to laugh, he´d spin and get dizzy and then stumble around until his feet couldn´t hold him anymore. When he felt brave, he´d roll, trying to ram into something tough or riding onto a slope to make a jump. Many of the latter didn´t exactly end up well but, regardless, they were a valuable experience to Yigo. In his spherical shape, Yigo could not see but his other senses amplified. His ears, although they were getting flattened by the ground they were rolling on, could catch the surrounding sound. His skin felt the earth pulse gently, letting Yigo know which patch of dirt was the softest or more packed - which usually was the most traversed and, thus, the correct way forward. Yigo learned to roll before he had learned to walk on his hind legs; it was second nature to him and it must have counted in that race since the only other source of traction was coming from behind him. He could feel Lennox trailing behind him, spinning faster yet less efficiently.

The road had been one easy to traverse if it wasn´t for the volcanic ashen and dark stones that shattered under his hide. Many big rocks turned into dust, gravel or ash from which you could get stuck and were particularly dangerous on the curves. Moreover, those stones that turned into more resilient, solid shards were able to harm the hide of Yigo, so used to the fine and loose sand. Despite all of those issues, he kept onward, making sure to stick to the loose rocks as fast as he could until, finally, he felt tree... his whole back fell the tree upon crashing onto it. He had been so focused that he didn´t even notice that he was already at the goal! His back aching and sending out complaining murmurs, Yigo uncurled with his back planted on the tree´s bark, feet over his head while the latter maintained the body straight thanks to the tree´s support. Still upside down, he looked around. No signs of the bug type. Lennox was neither at the goal nor on the road leading to it from which Yigo could´ve spotted him. "Leeeennox!" He shouted, trying to catch his attention from wherever the venipede might be.

*thump* "Ouch!" A berry had fallen onto Yigo´s head. An Oran Berry had replied instead of Lennox. Yigo looked up again at the bare tree. It looked lifeless and incapable of producing any fruit. Besides, didn´t berries grow on bushes? Not forgetting about the newfound and welcomed berry, Yigo rolled to his side, stood on his fours and lied down by the tree´s side and on the lone patch of grass on which it had planted its roots. Next, his front paws took a hold of the berry, placing it between the two while the ground type nommed on it in small bites, enjoying the fruit. Yup! Definitely the Oran Berry. He really needed that if he was to continue. Now he only needed to wait for Lennox...

PrimordialPrim carried out 10 launched of one Black Spear Mountain :

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Lennox heard the sound of Yigo calling for him behind him made him realize he had gotten completely turned around in the confusion of his accident. He scuttled back down the side, calling back, "I'm here, I'm coming!" As he passed by the tray of leftovers, he couldn't help but stop and nose through what was there in search of something that would make him feel better after the bump he had taken on his shell. He found some seeds he wasn't a fan of, a few berries he had never seen before... and woah, woah, an Oran Berry? Well, don't mind if he did. He didn't see anyone around who would be needing it anyways; whoever lived in the camp wasn't anywhere in sight, likely not coming back (though he wondered why anyone would abandon this substantial heap of food here for no particular reason). He practically choked the berry down whole and continued on his way towards the sound of Yigo's voice.

"I'm over here!" Lennox called as he came into a place that seemed reasonably visible. "I just got knocked off course a little, that's all. There's a campsite over here, but I think it's abandoned. There's nothing here but some leftovers. Do you need anything?" he added, looking back over his shoulder to the settled patch of ground.

He was surprised to see a Skiddo staring back at him curiously, a Skiddo that definitely had not been there before. Turns out Lennox had been wrong about the camp being uninhabited the whole time. If he had had the capability to sweat, he would have. There was a good few minutes where he just stared at the Skiddo from atop his mound, and the Skiddo stared back. Neither moved, they just stared at each other in complete silence. Neither was really getting much of a read off of the other, which made it double awkward. Seeing that nothing was really happening, Lennox saw it fit to call back to Yigo, "I take it back. There's still one pokemon here," rather awkwardly.

"Oh, no, this isn't my campsite," the Skiddo interjected in a correcting manner. "I'm just here to round up what was left over and take it home. A lot of travelers pass through here, and they abandon the stuff they found but didn't need at their campsites. It's good for resale," he explained further as he began to rummage through the bones of the campsite.

Lennox blinked as he processed all this new information. "Never mind, it's not a camper. It's competition. Better get over here quick if you want your pick of the leftovers," he called again to Yigo, rolling back down the mound and into the campsite in light of the new information. He wasn't about to miss out on a source of supplies for the road, and he was sure the Skiddo wouldn't need all of what was left over. He began to root around the site as the Skiddo was, looking for anything that would be useful or of interest to him.

Lennox - 3 + 10 (Oran Berry) = 13 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Black Spear Mountain :

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What was that? Yigo´s head risen, ears twitching and pointy as they tried to spot the source of the call. It was Lennox! It looked like Yigo was quite fast after all! What was it, 1 or 2 minutes? Apparently, Lennox had taken another route since it had appeared from the side of a cliff. "Hey there, Lennox! What happened to you? I was getting worried!" Yigo replied, happy to see his friend. As the venipede explained the situation, Yigo stood up on his fours and shook his body before approaching Lennox. The trotting was soft but steady; after all, most of his energies were devoted to winning the race and that Oran Berry may take a while to get its recovering effects going "An abandoned camp? Whe-" He was interrupted by Lennox´ clarification. There was another voice, somewhat lower pitched and calm from someone that had obviously not been racing. However, he wasn´t able to hear what the other voice was saying at all! Was Lennox in trouble?

It wasn´t until the venipede had identified the latecomer as competition and after seeing his friend roll down the hill when Yigo ´s pace began to increase "I´m following! Lead the way!" He shouted, letting Lennox know that he was behind and that he had Yigo´s full support.  It´s not every day in which you get to gather the spoils from an abandoned camp after all. Yigo rushed and began to gain momentum just to hop into the air and try to turn to the size of a ball. Quite a spectacular move... if he didn´t mess up the distances. The slope looked much more distant from where Yigo was!  His plan to roll turned into a bouncy descent of the mountain, his back suffering each downside of that experimental form of travelling. Worst of all, he didn´t even get down faster than Lennox! (Although the bug had rolled downhill almost half a minute earlier so that was to be expected anyway).

Yigo uncurled on a flat surface, whining and grunting a little. He had uncurled on his back, from which he proceeded to - painfully - roll sideways until he found himself on his fours "O-Ooof... my back..." He complained, moving in little circles around himself, feeling the pain in small degrees at each turned. The smell of ash returned him to reality. The camp! A fire must have been lit nearby! His nose got to work immediately, sniffing the air and finding the burnt out remnants of some logs all piled in the middle of a circle made of dark pebbles... located a few inches from where he was. Looking around more thoroughly, he had noticed an abundance of food and some more items being inspected by Lennox.

"Excuse me~" Yigo heard from nearby. Another pokemon stood beside him, walking on its fours and about his size. Its fur was brown and had the texture of leaves while its sturdy head ended in two sharp horns. What was that pokemon? Reacting out of reflexes, Yigo simply stepped aside after the polite outsider´s approach. "Woah! Could this be a Joy Ribbon!?" The pokemon was talking about a piece of pink cloth on the floor, barely out of Yigo´s reach "Thanks bud! You better start scavenging if you want to claim something as yours too~ this is going to be worth a little fortune" The grass type mentioned, trotting away with a broad grin and the newly acquired treasure in between his teeth. Of course! Scavenging! He was supposed to find useful goodies! Letting out a panicked squeak, Yigo dashed to the edge of the opening, looking around and trying to find something to loot. Thankfully, his nose had picked the scent of something... alluring... It smelled heavenly! What could it be!

The scent had led the shrew to a nearby bush, from which Yigo spotted an open backpack. Looking around to see if anyone had claimed that prize yet and confirming that it was not the case, his claws went right to the inside of the container. He could feel something... round and metallic...After taking it out, Yigo realised that it looked like a really shiny, reflecting, flat and small wheel-like item with '31' engraved on the side. After taking out some seeds and an orb that required some identifying, Yigo stumbled across the last item and the one that produced such attractive aroma. It was... a small brown bean-shaped... something. If his nose wasn´t deceiving him, it was edible so... he simply tossed it into his open mouth and enjoy the small treat.

Minutes had passed and Yigo still laid flat on his belly, drooling and smiling as the small sweet drove him to the land of wonders... or mad. Whatever that was, it had widened his eyes and made him laugh, his tail wagging uncontrollably while he tried to warn Lennox... even though the gummi only allowed him to produce primal sounds.

Lennox was a bit too busy digging through the piles of leftovers to notice the other Skiddo come over and begin hunting through the same campsite that they were. He was a bit too preoccupied with trying not to let the first Skiddo get the best picks out from right under his nose. He grabbed everything he could - which pretty much amounted to two seeds and an orb when all was said and done. He would have definitely grabbed more, but their unwelcome guest was making it pretty hard for him to even manage what he had managed so far. The little goat was being a pushy, persistent adversary in the endeavor; stepping over Lennox and shuffling through the areas ahead of them before he could even get a chance. It was starting to steam his roll just the slightest bit. The Skiddo was either completely unaware, or was doing this to spite him. Lennox was leaning towards believing the latter, and he was up to here with it.

"Hey, you got a problem or somethin', guy? Can you not see what's directly in front of you?" Lennox seethed through his clenched jaw with his stingers displayed in a challenging manner. He waited in that pose for the Skiddo to turn around and face him, but the tiny goat acted just as aloof as ever. Lennox's ego gushed rage from where he had been stung by this gesture. His face started to throb a little bit with rage. "You deaf? I'm over here talkin' to you, and you're all but making a floor mat out of me. What's your deal? You wanna fight about this or somethin'??"

"You said this was a competition. I'm just trying to make my cut," the Skiddo responded plainly. "I'd prefer not to fight, really. The knights on leave are coming home today, and I'd like to make it home before my brother gets there. My mom still needs ingredients to make our dinner with." As if on cue, he reached down into the pile of abandoned food and began picking the best-looking articles out of it.

"Yeah, well, the rest of use are tryin' to do the same; no reason to act like a chuff about it," Lennox spat back. He couldn't help but feel a bit... bad when he looked at the Skiddo now. The way he scavenged to provide like this, now that Lennox knew that that was what he was doing, brought back familiar memories that made it very hard for Lennox to continue hating him. That only made Lennox more agitated, because he knew he was gonna keep hating that kid. At least for a while. He shook his head and reared back, adding to his previous statement with a disgruntled "We're all strugglin' to make things work out here. My companion and I came a long way to get here, and we've got a need for stuff as well. Isn't that right, Yigo- ..."

The grump-ified bug stared flatly at his sandshrew friend as he had an apparent seizure about the campground. It was... the strangest thing he'd ever seen. "Yigo, is everythin' right in the think dome? What in the hell are you even doing?" he asked incredulously.

"Looks like your pal's having a bit of an episode," the Skiddo commented, finally having stopped his work to come observe the scene that was unfolding. He couldn't help but admit he found it amusing, not to mention distracting.

Lennox huffed and frowned at the Skiddo's detached attitude towards this whole situation. Couldn't he see there was clearly something wrong?? "He's not always like this. He was fine coming up the mountain, and he was fine long before it, too." The red bug crawled over to Yigo and looked him over, just barely dodging flailing limbs and a puddle of drool to get in close enough to look at him. What was this kid's problem all of a sudden? Lennox couldn't get a handle on it. He was just... in a weird daze, it seemed. That was what the red bug managed to get from his limited survey situation anyways, just before the copious amounts of tail wiggling forced the bug to fall back to an area outside the threat zone.

"Whats going on down here?" A voice suddenly called from up above. A quick glance revealed a Gogoat perched there, peering down at the scene with a humorless expression plastered across his face. Lennox wasn't looking forward to another freakin' goat joining this shit party, not if they were anything like this little terrorizer was. The Skiddo seemed pretty okay with him there, though. Probably even happy to see him, if Lennox had even been mildly convinced that this kid harbored real emotions.

"Oh, hey Caughlin. I was just trying to finish up; I kind of ran into some interference though," the child answered back, looking over his shoulder at Lennox and... whatever Yigo was doing. The Gogoat stared at them pensively before hopping down the cliff and getting closer so that he could get a better look at what was going on.

"...These guys?" Caughlin asked incredulously. Lennox felt the plates on his back prickling as the slight in the larger goats's words struck him. It was like both of these goats just saw him as less; an inferior person just wandering aimlessly around this mountain as if he didn't belong there. The Gogoat just stared back at him as if nothing was happening. "Do you need help? ...or do they need help?"

Despite his rage, Lennox did kind of have to agree that, at the very least, Yigo needed some proper attention. He really, really hated to admit it. He could feel his skin crawling with every second that he refused this deep, deep urge to throw all of this guy's shit back in his face, making his little bug face squinch up as if he were in pain. But... this had to get dealt with first. He exhaled heavily. "Yeah, I guess we could use some help," he admitted with a frown. "Hang on, let me see if I can rouse him to a state of sense." He dodged some more of the Sandshrew's flailing legs so that he could get closer to his acquaintance's face.

"YIGO," Lennox yelled right next to the yellow shrew's ear, "CAN YOU CALM DOWN? TRY AND GET A'HOLD OF IT."

Lennox the Venipede - 14 Energy

It was a place of light and sparkles, of shooting bell sounds and warmness that only an expensive bed could bring. Yigo's eyes were wide and he couldn't do much but laugh at the wonderful sensations he was feeling. Never in his life he had tried candy, not to mention a Brown Gummi so the first contact turned to be almost celestial in nature.

'YIGO' echoed inside the shrew's mind, making his vision fade and vanish in front of his eyes. Suddenly his mouth closed, preventing drool from coming out, his limbs stopped waving aimlessly, resting on the ground. There was a loud whine when Yigo saw Lennox's face. He looked angry, angry at Yigo and that almost made him cry, his eyes turning watery and curling his limbs into himself "Y-Yes... Lennox?" He said, stuttering. His whole body was shaking as if he was suddenly feeling the icy winds from Mt. Frostmeer. The sound of hoofs grew nearer each second that the bug's and the mouse's eyes stood locked into each other until the large goat came to Lennox's side, took a glance at the terrified shrew with a curious and condescending air and turned back around with a small grin "Don't worry about them much, boys. It's just a baby doing baby stuff. Pack what you've got and let's go back to the capital. The knights might be coming soon."

Yigo overheard the comment and opened his mouth in a gasp and surprise, looking at the Gogoat leaving him with Lennox and quickly rolled onto his side an on all fours, trying to follow before accidentally bumping onto Lennox on his way. The ground type looked at Lennox once more with fearful eyes, almost closing them as if he was expecting a hit back "Lennox! Uhm... sorry! I'm a dumb baby who barely knows how to walk..." He admitted, believing what the Gogoat said. It was odd. Yigo knew he was not a baby but why did he say that? Well... he was pretty young and obviously not as mature as the people he knows. Did that make him a baby? Maybe it did. Throwing himself onto the bug type and hugging Lennox tight, Yigo was just left there confused and not knowing what he was even doing "Lennox... uhm... are we knights?"

His question simply produced a somewhat cruel laughter from the larger pokemon as the other Skiddo by his side giggled to the naivety of the shrew "Are you sure they are okay? Can they come with us?" the small Skiddo commented to Caughlin with a smile. He said it honestly and was wondering if such a fun pair would simply follow "Yeah, sure but I won't clean any mess from that sandshrew"

...

Uh. What.

Lennox's attention was now trained completely on his companion as he tried to get a sense of what in the wide green earth this boy was on about. There was just- well, Lennox had dealt with concussions before, sure, but his solution had always been to just walk it off and live with the inevitable head trauma. That was the only advice he could offer Yigo, and he knew it wasn't good advice. What was he supposed... to do? Lennox had never really been the one to "take care" of anyone- especially not as the runt of his family. At least Yigo seemed like he had the sense to eat something to try and mitigate his injuries... except maybe not, because eating while delirious was liable to cause choking. Right? Lennox had to admit... he didn't exactly actually know how choking worked. It was like food and air getting mixed up in our mouth and clogging it up... right? So that nothing could get past.

"Uh, buddy. Don' choke. I'm not really fit to be helpin' with that kind of problem... trust me." he cautioned gruffly.

The pill-shaped centipede was very uncomfortable at the moment. He wasn't really sure... exactly what he was supposed to do in this situation. He wasn't really sure how to be responsible for anybody. He was a loner, had been since he left his home, and that's what he really knew best. He shifted around uncomfortably and slowly started to become aware that they were being watched - especially when the sound of hoofprints started coming up behind him. He immediately wished this new presence would go away. This was none of their business! They didn't need to be coming around here, proving how much more capable of helping his own friend than he was... the only thing keeping him from snapping was that it was true, and Yigo needed help.

That didn't last long, because apparently these were jerks and idiots and not actually capable of anything at all. Lennox whirled around in shock as the gogoat insulted Yigo in his time of need. All bets were off. "Now- hang on just a damn second," Lennox fumed. "Not a damn person asked you to come here and give your rotten opinion about this whole situation here! You aren' helpin' nothing, that's for sure!!" The gogoat seemed taken aback by the centipede's sudden brash statements and sudden vicious attitude. Lennox definitely seemed ready to throw hands.

"W-what??" The gogoat tried to formulate a further response, but Lennox cut him off. "Some example you're setting for your buddy over there!! You think it's okay to just pick on strangers you just met?!" The gogoat stared for a moment in thought, before shaking his head and taking a defensive stance. "I- Look, it's not that often that we see people up here, and the situation was just so absurd... I was just commenting without thinking, it's been a long day for us."

"What's that supposed to be, an excuse??" Lennox snarled, raising his stingers in subconcious rebellion. "Yigo, if this is what knights are 'm not sure I wanna be one. This ain't something to look up to, this is pure shit. This ain't a way to treat people." And this was a statement that Lennox was willing to back up, with force. "Fighting words," one might say.

The hazy depressed state that Yigo was having was quickly cut short when Lennox cut the crap and started looking annoyed. Even if Yigo was not who caused it, he was part of the issue which made him take some extra effort to pay attention and actually remember what was happening before he took the strange looking sweet. Sitting down the best way he could, he started to try to actively avoid a fight "Lennox... Let it be... I... Messed up"


Even at the venipede's harsh tone, the Skiddo could do little more than grin. This was all looking pretty fun for the smaller grass type. Yet... If the Knights were coming, there was not much time to waste and it even knew what to be done "Don't worry, mister bug and mister mouse. I know exactly how to fix this. You two can square off when we are far from the black knights" The skiddo said decided yet sassy, approaching the kid and handing a golden seed to him "You owe me a big one, sandy butt. Now hold still and grit your teeth, because..."

The Skiddo turned around and gave Yigo a sound kick in the head, definitely not holding anything back and packing quite a punch. It was a direct knock out... For a second before a flash of light engulfed the sandshrew's body and returned him to a very much awake state full of energy.

He sat down back again, taking a deep breath and then standing on all fours, staring at the gogoat rushing in between the skiddo and Lennox "What the hell? Are you mad?" The bigger Pokémon told to the assailant. This will surely piss off the bug!

"Hey! What was that?" A voice could be heard from afar with the addition of metal clacking against metal. It was also approaching at where everyone was.

"You! Flank them from the right!" Another voice spoke, metal still revealing this one's presence as well. It looked like both had something similar causing that sound

"Tsk, I bet they are thieves" A third voice joined the other two, this one seemingly with no metal and approaching along the first voice.

"Crap! We have to-" the gogoat was saying before spotting the skiddo doing what it had in mind: getting the heck out of there. Needless to say, with little more than a glance at Lennox, it followed the smaller grass type's example. Another skiddo that Yigo didn't get to meet also appeared from out of his view and running towards the way the gogoat went. This probably meant that they were all part of the same scavenging party. Yigo agreed to this idea in his mind and got onto all fours. He felt... More agile than before and very quick in his reflexes, enough to take the threat that was approaching and quickly enough trying to get into hiding.

He grabbed Lennox off of the ground and ran into the bush where he had found the backpack which was still lying around there. Inside, Yigo remembered that there was something they could use so he put Lennox down after making sure they couldn't be spotted and dragged the backpack inside, making a lot of noise in the process. In Yigo's mind, it didn't matter much if they got caught.

A loud blast could be heard from where Yigo was, his ears rising to the sound and feeling a bit of pain due to the loud noise. The metal rustling continued in a much faster pace while some figures finaly made it into the camp. There were three Pokémon all dressed in dark robes with some metal decoration. One was a furry creature with a head as big as its body wearing a winged helmet and a cloak to go along with it. This one had arrived after sprinting with that heavy looking helmet and robe and could not just stop stomping on the ground "DAMMIT! THEY WENT THE OTHER WAY!"

Hopefully the tantrum would make Yigo and Lennox harder to spot. The other was a Pokémon Yigo could at least identify. It was a hariyama. Its robe was only hanging from below the hip with a dark metal belt wrapping around and making sure it didn't fall. This one arrived just walking right behind the first Pokémon "I can hardly hear their hooves now... Looks like we will have to report a loss of supplies again" it spoke with a bit of worry, its huge hands taking a hold of the opposite arm.

"Lennox..." Yigo whispered in a calm and direct fashion "There is an orb in here" he tapped the backpack with the tip of his claw "If we get caught... Just use it" Thinking of the worst was not something that pleased Yigo, his stomach being a mess right now while his heartbeat accelerated. He had to control his breathing so the loud ape attracted all the sights. His senses needed to focus as well. They might be in that bush for a long while until those Pokémon left and even then it was not assured that they would avoid having to run away enduring a close pursuit or even a head on battle with opponents that look like outmatch them both.

If Yigo ever knew that they were stealing, he wouldn't have touched anything. This camp looked empty! There was no one around? Who could he know this belonged to them? Maybe they were just scavengers too? More aggressive ones? That'd explain why the grass types left running and were fearful of this group.

Among this thinking, there was something Yigo didn't take into account. All that loud stomping not only masked Yigo's and Lennox's presence from those two but it also involuntarily covered any steps scrafty behind them was doing. This dark type was trying to ignore that brute while searching around for clues or gear that didn't get scavenged. Eventually, it might spot that brown and red are not part of some bush's colours and find it suspicious...


[Energy: 0 + 19 (Reviver Seed) = 19]

There was a sudden blur of activity around Lennox that he could barely track, stunning him into silence (or at least just frustrated grunts and grumbles). One second, he was about to challenge this goat man, thinking he was so tough. The next second, there were more voices and the goats all fled into the unknown. "What in the-" the bug started to grumble, but then- on top of everything else, Yigo picked Lennox up.

Never before had Lennox been picked up, and he decided immediately that it was an unpleasant experience. He began to thrash a bit involuntarily as a reflex to the sudden vulnerability. His father back in the marshlands had told him many a horror story about being picked up by bird pokemon that left him lying wide awake at night with his exoskeleton crawling. The world was a blur all around him as he was dragged somewhere unknown, and for a moment he even forgot that it was Yigo carrying him.

When Yigo finally set Lennox down, the bug was torn between completely shocked and irate. He heard the other pokemon growing closer, so he did at least try to contain himself. "What the hell was that??" he hissed under his breath, displaying great internal willpower and personal strength in keeping his voice down so low. Yigo's explanation cut him off from going further with his rage, however, effectively diffusing it. Apparently, he had an orb of some kind... something that would help them if they ran into trouble? Lennox... wasn't really following. "Do you have... a plan or something?? Are you goin' out there?" he whispered incredulously. "'Cause I sure as heck ain't staying back here."

He listened as the pokemon outside talked among themselves, saying words that just sounded like nonsense to him. "Eastern sectors" and "quotas" and "reports of more troublemakers" and all kinds of other words that just sounded like nonsense to the small centipede. He may have heard a "sweep the area" lodged in there somewhere as well, but he wasn't thinking too hard about it it. He was more focused on whatever "plan" Yigo had begun hatching, because if they needed an orb to get out of trouble then clearly there was something to this.

"Listen... I think we could take 'em." They absolutely could not. "At the very least, I think we could give 'em the slip. Look, they aren't even payin' attention! This camp has plenty of items to distract 'em." In all reality, it was probably safer to try and hang farther back in the bushes and just wait the strange pokemon out, but Lennox was definitely not thinking of that. He knew he and Yigo were fast, they had just raced to prove it!! They had plenty of juice to outrun these guys. They robed strangers were just wandering around, apparently... looking for items and such. it wouldn't be too hard, right?

The primeape and hariyama ended up moving away from the two. That was clear after some chatter managed to calm the noisier of the two and convinced him to go search thoroughly for supplies in the area. That as much was clear to the ground type among whatever the other stuff they were saying. They were using a lot of strange words he didn't understand so hopefully they weren't talking about setting fire to the camp without him noticing.

Aside from that, he stood quiet at Lennox's suggestions because he didn't want to make any noise nor he had a plan beyond waiting for a situation when drawing a plan leads to a clear solution. That meant that he simply stared back at Lennox, perhaps uncannily so as his other senses became more dominant. He made the shift right in time to know that someone was right next to their hiding spot but not fast enough to avoid falling victim to the consequences.

A hand dove right into the bushes and caught Yigo by the back of the neck, causing him to shake his whole body trying to get free (his arms are not long enough to reach behind his back) all the while squeaking as a reaction. Upon grabbing the shrew, the hand pulled him out of the hiding spot and in front of a scrafty wearing a knightly robe.

"I knew I heard something" she told herself while staring at Yigo, still trying to break himself free "Hey! I caught one of them!" He shouted to the others, after which he swung the ground type back and tossed him into the air.

This caused Yigo to curl into a ball — as that practically negates much of the physical punishment caused by any reasonable fall — before being picked up by the hariyama between his hands. The other knights got around the captured ball to assess the situation.

"YEAH! WE AREN'T GOING BACK EMPTY HANDED!" The furry one exclaimed "... What is that anyway?"

"I believe it is a sandshrew. They're like the pikachu of the deserts" The scrafty explained, bringing a hand to her chin

"RODENTS! OF COURSE THAT IT HAD TO BE ONE! THEY'RE ONLY GOOD FOR THIEVERY!"

"Calm down. We still need to interrogate it" The hariyama proposed, slightly opening his hands so that the he could take a better look at the sandshrew.

This caused Yigo to uncurl, still within the hariyama's grip which now held him from his belly and back "I'm no thief! You've got it all wrong!"

"Uh? You think so?" The scrafty spoke, bringing her arms to her hips and walking around the prisoner "We found you trying to sneak past us in a camp that belongs to thieves. Your pals, the gogoat and skiddo, have ran away, leaving you behind and..." She got closer to Yigo and snatched a satchel from Yigo's belt. He complained by trying to squeeze out of the grip further but it was no use. She took his treasure "... I bet that here you have a knight's crest" she spoke before opening the satchel and finding a yellow crystal inside. The holds it in between two fingers and let's the sunlight get right past it while everyone of the group stare at it in fascination "...or not"

"Give that back! That's mine!" He struggled further, almost digging in his claws into the hands of the hariyama

"Easy, mouse. We just want to talk. Once we are done talking, we will let you go" The hariyama clarified with a nod at the young shrew.

"What?" Yigo didn't know how to feel about that but, at least, it manages to calm Yigo down a little

"WHAT??" Neither did the primeape.

"Yes... Hmmm... You are right" the scrafty spoke, walking about with the crystal in hand "I think I've seen something like this before. Where did you get it from, shrew?"

"I got it from the city!" Yigo answered it in a heartbeat "From M-Master Firseir! Now give it back"

"... No... Not until you prove it... I'm sure that Firseir would remember someone like you coming into his workshop" she brought the stone back into the satchel and hanged it from her belt instead "Until then, this precious little thing is mine"

Ooooooh no. No no no. These absolute asshats were drawing a line at roughing Yigo up. Lennox was starting to think that everyone on this mountain was just a little too big for their britches, and it was starting to piss him off! Who did they think they were, man-handling Yigo when he hadn't even done anything?!?

"Hey. You better put him down. I'm not the one who's out of line here if I start swingin' at you," the centipede grumbled as he hauled himself out of the bushes as well, placing himself directly in front of the big guy that was holding Yigo. He had barely caught anything that was being said, and he ended up being ignored for the better part of a minute while the conversation finished itself up. Lennox was lost, honestly. He had no idea what they were saying, and frankly he didn't care- except it seemed like maybe Yigo knew them somehow?? Or at least knew someone that they knew.

"You know these guys or somethin'?" Lennox asked Yigo, if only to confirm that he wasn't making a mistake here. The primeape with anger issues prevented an answer from being delivered in favor of running his trap some more.

"HOLD ON," the pig monkey exclaimed as they sidled up to Lennox intimidatingly, "WHAT do you think YOU'RE doing?!? Huh, accomplice?? YOU could be a thief too!!" Lennox, naturally, took offense to that. "Ain't nobody stealing NOTHIN', but you seem to got it deep in your thinck head that you gotta accuse people of it!! Not to mention pick 'em up and manhandle them!!!"

The Primeape looked ready to explode. "Oh- OH, I OUGHTA-" their thoughts were choppy and short as the racing rage made them unable to speak. "You OUGHTA be GREATFUL that we didn't just-!"

"Hey. I said that's enough," the Hariyama interjected, setting Yigo down. "You're not representing Blacktooth all that well, now are you?"

"BUT-" the Primeape started, but there was nothing they could say to that. They growled through their teeth and threw their hands in the sky, but once again they begrudgingly conceded and retreated.

"Anyways, this isn't anything to have a fuss over," The Hariyama continued, now addressing everyone. "The Queen's already got ways of figuring these things out. Right? And in times like this, we defer to her rules. These two can prove themselves through service."

Lennox had no idea what was going on, and the confusion was making it hard to maintain his signature anger. Plus... the big guy had put Yigo down. "What in the heck does that mean," he grunted defensively.

"We could go around for hours doing this he-said she-said thing and waste all of our time trying to prove something on circumstantial evidence, but the truth is we don't have any proof you did anything and you don't have any proof you didn't. The kingdom doesn't really have the resources to spend making a big deal out of petty little arguments like this, not while there's so much to do. So here's how we solve this: whether you're thieves or travelers who found them fair and square, the items in these camps are still very valuable to us. We can put this all to rest if you just lend us some manual labor to make up for what we lost. In the end, you're doing us a favor and mitigating our losses, and none of how it started really matters."

Lennox fell silent as the Hariyama spoke. Most of that long speech went waaaaay over his head, but... that last part made sense. He was sure he wasn't doing anything wrong here, but... items were important to everyone. He wasn't sure who these guys were and why they needed these items, but getting them off his back sounded like a good plan at least. At this point he just wanted to stop being harrassed by jackasses.

"....I still got questions if I say yes, but... even I'll admit that that sounds something like reasonable. I'll defer to my partner over here," Lennox replied flatly, gesturing to Yigo. Maybe Yigo had a better sense of the situation than Lennox did.