Cold Feet in the Cold Copse?

First topic message reminder :

[21-11=10]

Fallen Leaf Copse was not a place Opal had been to before, but the mission she'd accepted had a reward that was too good to pass up. Besides, how would she grow stronger if she never expanded her horizons? The young pup hopped deftly across the set of stepping stones that gave access to the forest ahead. It was such a beautiful forest, with sights and smells she had never before experienced. Autumn certainly didn't look like this in a desert.

As she touched town on the forest floor proper, Opal had a thought. She was looking for a teddiursa, which was sort of brownish. The Copse was sort of brownish, too. Would she be able to find the bear pokemon? After a brief moment of uncertainty, Opal decided that of course she would. Nothing could hide from the tracking power of her nose! She set off along the leaf-carpeted ground, putting her olfactory abilities to work at once.

OOC//:

The Fennekin squinted as she glanced through the foliage, looking to try and find what had made the noise. She couldn't quite make out anything obvious through the bushes and turned to nod, indicating to Opal that she'd understood the Growlithe's words of warning.

Mille's attention was quickly diverted back to the area where she had heard the stick snap as she caught some sort of movement in the corner of her eye. She took two cautious steps closer, attempting to catch a glimpse of just who or what it might be. Soon enough, a pokemon with brown fur emerged. Mille blinked, looking to Opal as she realised it was a Teddiursa.

"Do you think that's the same Teddiursa you're looking for?" she asked quietly.

(Just mentioning for OOC purposes that we talked about this in chat)

"I don't know. I'm going to ask them," Opal answered in kind. It was an awkward silence as the teddiursa stared at her and Mille in return, obviously sharing the uncertainty.

"Uh... Hello?" the growlithe asked gingerly, trying to keep her energetic nature in check, "I've been looking for a teddiursa. A nice toga... toged... someone from Grassveil is worried about him. Is that you?"

The little bear's eyes lit up in recognition, but the reply came in a feminine voice. "Oh, do you mean Percy? That's my brother. He didn't look happy when he came back here."

Mille: 1 Energy
» [0 + 1 for new page]

Mille nodded to Opal, allowing her to take the lead on this due to it being her mission. The Fennekin didn't want to spook the pokemon that had appeared and ruin her new friend's attempts to complete her Guild job. As Opal greeted the Teddiursa before them, Mille raised a paw and waved a little, so as to try and convey to the Teddiursa that she meant no harm either.

Glad to see that the other pokemon wasn't hostile, Mille listened to the words being exchanged. She wasn't too worried about spooking the Teddiursa now, and so opted to join in with the conversation. It may not have been her Guild mission, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Is it possible for you to show us where he is?" she asked, glancing from the Teddiursa to Opal, as if looking for some sort of confirmation that what she was asking was the correct course of action.

OOC//:

ooc:

[4+1=5]

"I can do that, but I want to find my friends first, Dizzy the Deerling and Flower the Sentret. We went out to play, but I got separated," the teddiursa answered. Opal frowned for a moment at the extra work, then shook her head and mentally scolded herself. It was a Guild member's duty to help wherever needed, mission or not. Besides, maybe she could make even more friends!

"And you want us to help you, right?" the growlithe asked, to which the bear replied, "I'd be ever so grateful if you did. I don't want to go looking for them after I've taken you to Percy. I'm Beartty, by the way."

Opal introduced herself then looked to Mille. "You're okay if we help Beartty out, aren't you?"

Mille nodded to indicate that she understood the Teddiursa's situation, looking to Opal once again for what the decision was to be moving forward. The Growlithe appeared to understand what Beartty was getting at before she actually asked, but Mille assumed there wouldn't be any harm in helping them look for a few more pokemon. After all, they'd probably be wandering around looking for Percy anyways if they hadn't already found Beartty.

"Yep!" she replied to Opal with a smile, "I'll still be walking around the forest, so theoretically it'll just give me more opportunity to find anything edible that I might be able to use!" She then also introduced herself to the Teddiursa, before asking: "Do you have any clues as to where they might be, or know where you last saw them?"

OOC//:

"Yeah, I do," Beartty answered, "We were playing hide and seek over this way somewhere..." she began walking away, "...but I got distracted after my counting, and then went too far. Now I can't find them!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get you reunited in no time!" Opal said reassuringly as she followed along. This small diversion was an opportunity to identify new smells, and perhaps Mille would indeed find more food items to cook with. She resolved to keep an eye out for any more small Blast Seeds, as she was eager to see what the fennekin might create with them.

Mille also followed along as the Teddiursa began to lead them towards where the group of friends had been playing hide and seek. She could see why such a game would cause you to lose your friends, although that made her think.

"Would it be reasonable to assume they'll still be hiding from you?" she asked Beartty, "Or do you think they'd have stopped now because it's been a little while since the game started?"

The Fennekin figured that the former would make it slightly harder to find them, but knowing that they were hiding they could check areas that looked like they could be hiding places rather than overlooking them. It might make finding them a little more complicated though.

"I'm not really sure. They're probably still hiding."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Opal grinned, "My tracking power is second to none! If there's pokemon around, I'll find them!"

"That's neat! You'd be really good at hide and seek!" Beartty exclaimed, impressed. If only she had that sort of ability, the sense of smell that a growlithe possessed. Finding her friends would be no problem! After several minutes of walking, the teddiursa stopped. "Well, here we are. Here's where I started counting."

"Right. Here I come, Flower and Dizzy, ready or not!" Opal declared. The growlithe immediately put her nose to the ground and began sniffing. So many scents! Things this way and that... no, she was looking for hidden pokemon, this was no time to get distracted. She chose one trail to lock onto, and followed it until she came to a bush.

"Oh, wow! You can track people?!" The Fennekin's eyes were wide with fascination as the Teddiursa also expressed how impressed she was. That sounded like an amazing ability to have, especially for a Guild member! Opal would surely be called upon for those useful abilities in future if she became a well known explorer as they certainly had a lot of applications, in both rescues and outlaw captures.

Mille followed alongside the Growlithe as Beartty lead them to where the group had begun their game. Opal announced that she was coming after the two hidden pokemon, and Mille then followed her as she tracked a scent through the foliage.

"Do you play hide and seek often?" she asked the Teddiursa as they followed Opal, wanting to make a little conversation in the silence that followed as Opal focussed on tracking the scent.

Soon enough the Growlithe came to a stop at a bush. Before Mille could ask if she'd found anything, a grating cry of surprise came from within the foliage. Out leapt a pokemon that looked to be a woven ball of silk, surprised by the sudden appearance of someone so close to it's hiding place.

"Yep!" Opal answered with a huge smile, "It's my best skill, and lots of fun!"

The pup couldn't help but stop for that moment to talk about her favourite activity. Hide and seek was a totally different game when you could sniff your way around rather than blindly checking places, but the real joy was following a scent trail to its end. Having a great nose was also useful for finding hidden treasures as well as pokemon. Opal loved being a growlithe!

Beartty happily followed along, trusting that the two fire types would reunite her with her friends. "Yeah, it's great fun. We usually don't get separated, though. I feel a bit silly for that," the bear replied as she plodded along after the striped canine. It looked like Opal had found someone as the trio approached a bush... but it wasn't one of her friends. Beartty couldn't help feeling disappointed. "Oh... There's more bushes we can check, right?

Opal jumped back as the... she didn't know what it was... jumped out. It was clearly a pokemon, but not the ones she was trying to find. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" she blurted out as she backed away. There was no reason to hassle this creature, and it thankfully didn't seem spooked to the point of attacking. She answered Beartty's question as the teddiursa kept an eye on the silken ball. "Definitely, bushes and logs and whatnot. I just need to try again until I find the right scent."

"Ah, no need to feel silly!" The Fennekin replied to the Teddiursa. Everyone got lost every now and again, whether they were playing a hiding game or not. Mille could personally vouch for how easy it was to get lost in a mystery dungeon, even if you did head there often.

The cry of surprise caused Mille to jump back a few paces, her ears standing on end in that brief moment of surprise. She quickly relaxed, realising that it was just a Silcoon that they had disturbed from its place of rest. Opal swiftly apologised for the disturbance, and although the cocoon pokemon looked more than a little bothered by the disruption, it quickly settled down, wiggling back into its bushy hiding place without a word.

Mille blinked, "At least he seemed to forgive us?" She commented before Beartty's disappointed tone asked if there were more places to check.
"I'm sure we'll find them eventually! Perhaps if you had something that belonged to Flower or Dizzy it could help Opal search for the right scent?" she asked, a tilt of her head betraying her curiosity.

"I'm sorry, but no. We leave our things at home when we go to play. We don't want to drop them, you know?" Beartty answered apologetically. At least she didn't need to be overly ashamed of her mistakes in front of these two strangers. They were friendly, and that was nice. The teddiursa shuddered at the thought of running into hostile pokemon all on her lonesome. She might have needed to make a proper request to the Guild if that were to happen!

In the meantime, Opal had managed to startle another silky pokemon, although this one looked a bit different, a more pinky-purple colour. Thankfully this one was also pacified by an apology, and it wasn't long before a third potential hiding spot had been chosen for investigation.

"Hello! ...Oh, you're not Beartty, but hello anyway!" a cheerful voice greeted as a Deerling pranced out of hiding. "You're Dizzy, right? Beartty's looking for you." "Of course she is, silly! We're playing hide and seek! Hehe." "Well, she got a bit lost and asked me to help find you and Flower." "Oh. I suppose I should come with you, then. Say, do you want this Trap Scarf I found? I don't really know what to do with it." "Thanks, I guess. Beartty and my friend Mille are just over here."

ooc:

Mille nodded at Beartty's answer, understanding. She could definitely see why a group of friends going out to play might not need to carry anything, let alone give it to each other if they did. Especailly if they lived within the copse like she assumed they all did.
"That's alright. It was just a shot in the dark after all!" She replied cheerfully. Opal seemed confident enough in her tracking ability, so Mille didn't have a doubt that she would find them eventually.

The Fennekin looked up from speaking to Beartty to see Opal with a Deerling, "Oh! You found one of them!" she grinned, bounding over. "Looks like you picked a good hiding place," she chuckled lightly, "We just need to find your friend Flower now."

OOC//:

"Hey there!" Dizzy greeted and grinned at Mille, "Thanks! I like to think I'm good at hide and seek. Ah, there's Beartty! I'm glad you're not lost any more." The two friends rushed to give each other a hug, then turned to Mille and nodded in agreement with her statement about finding Flower. "Then I'll take you to see Percy like we agreed. He should still be at home."

Opal's tail had been wagging with delight at seeing two of the three friends reunited. just one more to go! However, the wagging tail became stiff with alarm as she heard a scream ring out through the forest. Someone was in trouble! There was no time to finish this happy reunion!

"Come on, Mille! Let's go! We need to check that out!" the pup urged.

"Oh no! I think that's Flower's voice!" "Oh, if only I could run faster with these hooves of mine! We're coming, Flower! Hold on!"

Mille couldn't help but smile as she saw the two pokemon hug. She had no intention of becoming a Guild member, as she didn't have the time to dedicate to it between her own pursuits, but she couldn't deny the happy feeling she had when seeing Beartty and Dizzy reunite.

That was quickly cut short though when a scream echoed through the trees. The Fennekin's fur stood on end at the sound, and she nodded to Opal's words before dashing towards the direction the sound had come from.

When Mille located the source of the sound, she had reached a small clearing in the autumnal woodland. In the centre of the clearing was a Sentret, and Mille could only watch as they attempted to back away from a Dustox, the Sentret tripping over a loose tree root and falling flat on the ground. She glanced from Opal, to the scene before them and back again, unsure as to whether they should just attack the Dustox as she hadn't been in that situation before.

At that moment, the Dustox advanced on the Sentret as she was down, flapping its wings above her and releasing a light purple powder that fluttered down towards the fallen Sentret. Mille had no idea what that purple powder was for, but she wasn't going to take that risk when it looked like someone was in danger. Quickly shrugging her bag off her back near the edge of the clearing, the Fennekin bounded towards the Dustox. As she ran, she shrouded herself in a coat of psychic energy, her fur glowing with an off rainbow of colours.

She reached the Sentret in record time, leaping in front of her to try and prevent the powder from reaching Flower. Wherever parts of the powdery dust would make contact with Mille's fur, they would be reflected back at the Dustox that initially used them, her Magic Coat protecting both her and the Sentret behind her from their effects.

"A-are you alright?" she asked the Sentret, looking back to see if Flower was okay. The Fennekin's voice trembled a little, as if she couldn't quite believe she'd just run straight in like that.

OOC//: