Marooned!!!

Hours bled from the day as two small creatures washed up on the shore of this strange and forgotten island. The sun was sinking and the sky was beginning it's vibrant transformation into evening light. A few straggling clouds were continuing their slow trip into the horizon, thin and smattered from having dropped a payload of rain onto the surrounding areas.

There was no movement among the sand. Aside from some plants and a few trees, the beach was barren of life aside from the two figures.

Slowly, one of the figures began to move.

First, it was just the twitch of a pale grey wing. Then the other followed suit. They twitched a few more times, and then the whole body began to roll the slightest bit. The disoriented grey ducklett let out a muffled "Oooo....." as his stomach did flip-flops in protest of becoming conscious. One blank eye peeked open and immediately shut as the setting sunlight caused it to burn. He lay there motionless for a while longer to let his body settle. Was he.... was he alive? Was he dead? Was this the afterlife? No... no, there was no way the afterlife could hurt this much. Time to check out what was happening.

Simon the ducklett struggled to force his body up enough that his still-clumsy feet could get underneath him and hoist himself up. Every movement caused his body to crack and throb in protest, but he was now overwhelmed with the sense that he needed to get his bearings. When he finally did manage to take his surroundings in, however, what he saw shocked him. Yellow sands, strange trees, rocks... it didn't look like any of the beaches he had ever seen. What was this place?

"Where am I?" Simon wondered aloud to himself, causing himself to contemplate the idea that he may very well be completely alone in this foreign place. What had he been doing before this that got him here...? The memories came back in blurry flashes. Colors, coral. A deep trench. Criminals. An ambush...

Oshawott.

Simon's heart jumped with fear and he threw his eyes back to the ocean and the sand around him. "TEMPO!!!" Simon cried, "Are you here??? Are you alright?!?"


Simon the Ducklett - 7 energy

The other figure lying in the sand seemed to be in worse condition. He had a wound from the criminal’s bite. His cheeks bore a blue hue. It almost seemed like he couldn’t wake up until... ”Nnngh... khak! Ack!” He began to cough heavily and weakly stir for a good long while... ”g... ra... ack... urrgh... Where... am... am I...?” He weakly cried out to himself, forgetting about what happened before they ended up washed ashore.

The little otter began to try and get up with his weak body, but it ended up being fruitless, dropping to the sand once again. He’ll need a bit longer to recover, it seems, with the whole “drowned for who knows how long” and “getting a huge bite.”

[21 - 15 = 6 energy]

Simon watched Tempo struggle and felt utterly helpless. He offered his otter friend a wing to try and help him stabilize, but there was only so much he could do while he was still recovering himself. “I’m not sure where we are... I just woke up, myself.“ At least they were still alive. At least they had a chance to figure this out and get home. For now, all they could do was recover, right? They had to build their strength back up if they were going to do anything.

These were the things Simon told himself to try and keep calm, but... none of it was helping very much. He still had that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that just did not want to let him relax. He was worried for himself. He was worried for Tempo. He was worried no one would find them out on this seemingly abandoned island.....

Time for a different plan. He turned back to Tempo and just tried to focus on him for right now. He just wanted to focus on making sure he was getting better.

After a little while, Simon decided to check in with Tempo again. “How are you doing...? Do you need anything? I don’t have much on me, but... I might be able to find you some food or something if I look around.“

The Oshawott seemed to stagger a bit as he tried to get up once again. ”Huh? Oh... r... right... Simon, right...?” Tempo asked. Seems like his mind is a bit scattered at the moment. He’s glad that that’s all he ended up with after being without air for so long...

”I... I think... I’m fine... Besides... What can help... after drowning...?” The otter answered after Simon asked. ”I... I’m... surprised... You’re already... up and recovered... Then... again, I... I guess I... was the first... The first victim... anyway...” His gasping began to calm into slow breaths, and soon, he was back on his feet. ”Still feel a little... disoriented, and my visions a bit... dark, but... I can walk...”

"Yes, that's me!! I'm glad you remember! But um... hmm. I don't know what can help that..." Simon admitted in response to the Oshawott's many questions. "I've never really been in that situation before. I mean... I've stayed underwater a little too long now and again, but never to that extent. I think if you just breathe, maybe some of your energy will come back to you...?" He couldn't recall his mother ever telling him anything about how to remedy drowning victims. She had probably never really thought about it, to be honest. She had been more concerned with preventing this kind of situation in the first place, more than likely. "No need to rush. You shouldn't be walking when you can't see! Just let me know when you're starting to clear up."

He looked around the beach pensively while Tempo recovered. They seemed to have washed up in a little inlet, an area where the land wrapped around and enclosed a bit of the sea. It was... pretty, despite how unfamiliar it was. Almost soothing, even. The sand was a fine texture and was very soft, and at least for the moment the water was calm and glossy. It reflected the pink and orange hues that were filling the sky as the sun continued to sink in the West. Simon couldn't help but admire it despite the anxiety that was nagging his every movement. At least... at least it wasn't a bad place to be stranded...

...Simon wasn't sure how he felt about that thought.

...In any case, beyond the beach to the left Simon could see that a small forest behind them was climbing up a cliff that made up the entire left side of the inlet. The right side just seemed to be a bit of raised land; a plateau almost. The forest seemed to go around this feature, with only a parsing of trees actually growing on the top of the landmass. Whatever was behind them further inland was being masked by trees.

After taking all of these mental notes, Simon turned back to Tempo. He thought back to what his mother had taught him about traveling and survival... Their first priority needed to be scavenging. They needed to gather the materials to live long enough to figure out where they were and how to get home, obviously. "I think... I think that when you're ready, we should probably start by getting supplies? I mean... I don't know where we are, myself... I don't even know where this place is, if it even part of the land that we know." There was always a chance that they had just washed up in an unfamiliar part of home, but... there was an even bigger possibility that they hadn't. "I see some driftwood over there... and where there are trees there's probably food. It's going to get dark soon... so maybe we should just set up a camp and start walking home come morning? That way we don't exhaust ourselves. What do you think?"

Simon had no clue if anything he was suggesting was right. He looked to Tempo for confirmation. He was pretty sure the Oshawott had been exploring much longer than he had, so he probably had a better idea of what their first move should be?

He did seem a bit worried about Simon, after all. He can agree that staying under for longer than your lungs can take you is not a pleasant experience... "At least you managed... to make it back up... when you needed it most... Unlike me, where... Well, I'm sure you noticed... The otter said, seemingly a bit shyly. "And I think I can see well enough. Let's make sure we don't go too far into the forest or the ocean." He suggested.

The Oshawott looked around the area for a bit. "If we set up camp too close to the ocean, it'll most likely end up being swept away, along with us. Too close to the forest, and... anything could happen, honestly. We need to be careful when we set it up. Plus, I'm sure we'll get thirsty, despite our typing... Ever been in a very hot area and felt so... dry?" The otter asked, thinking of a few problems they'll run into. "And walking home? What if this place is an island, though? Even though we can swim quite far, we grow too tired, and we'll end up... Well, you saw how our previous swim went..." Tempo soon walked near the edge of the forest, making sure not to get too close. Maybe something or someone there that can help?

DJOshawott carried out 5 launched of one Ancient Island :

, , , ,

"You shouldn't feel bad about needing time to recover after an experience like that..." Simon observed with a slight frown. "I mean... don't be too hard on yourself! Getting discouraged isn't good in crisis situations. We just have to stay focused on the important things, like setting up a place to sleep and finding food. That shouldn't be too much of a struggle for either of us!!" Oh, youthful optimism. While thinking purely in terms of his and Tempo's abilities, Simon forgot to account for random chance on top of other factors. But he really did believe that Tempo had skill as an explorer, despite that. Heck, Tempo was probably more qualified for survival than even he was!

In fact, in further proof of this, Tempo brought up a lot of good points that Simon hadn't fully considered before. Like how salt water is dehydrating, and the sea rises and falls, and forests can be full of feral pokemon... It was a bit overwhelming to think about, but Simon didn't feel too discouraged yet. These all seemed to be things that could be easily remedied with a touch of good sense. "So... we should camp out in a high place? Like that cliff over there... Or maybe the one on the other side, the one that's not overtaken by forest." He looked the left and then to the right, respectively. "If we search for food near the forest, we should stay to the outside. That way we don't risk running into anything dangerous... And of course, we need water and shelter! Maybe we can find a lake further inland? I remember my mom told me that in emergencies berries can be pulped up and drank, as well! They're good sources of water and nutrients - well, unless they're dry berries..."

Then Tempo brought up something that shocked Simon into silence. An... an island?? But... were there even any islands around? Simon hand't seen any that weren't in the sky - at least, none this big. This really just looked like a normal coastline near Rainfront or something. "You think this is... an island?" Simon asked quietly. "Do you know of any that it might be...? I only ask because never seen one so big. I just assumed we washed up somewhere slightly near Rainfront... Um." Simon just wasn't sure what to say about that. He didn't really want to think about this, either. He didn't want to think about how drastically that changed things.

"...Maybe.... we shouldn't be jumping to any conclusions yet. This could be an island, or it could be a beach we've never see before. I mean... either way, we're lost and we're tired and we should probably rest before we investigate; so we're ready for any scenario." He scanned the seemingly empty beach one last time... but he couldn't find anything that seemed to be out of the ordinary. They were still isolated and alone for all he knew. "I don't see anyone who we can ask... and either way, this is a foreign place. We should probably be careful about who we talk to..." Memories or the underwater thugs made him shudder slightly.

Simon the Ducklett - 7 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 7 launched of one Ancient Island :

, , , , , ,

The Oshawott carefully examined their options. A high place will be good for keeping out of the tides when high tide comes. Although he didn’t find any food, besides a Sleep Seed, which isn’t very good for... eating, what he did find would be useful if they’re in a bind. An Escape Orb, putting it in his bag. “Alright, I... think we can go inside the forest for a bit. But... maybe we should wait until later.” The Oshawott said. However, he saw something in the ocean that seemed hostile, but unfamiliar. Maybe they should stay out of it until they’re ready to continue. Their current situation requires them to find something they can eat or drink...

Simon nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking, too... It would be especially bad if we got caught off guard while we're tired." It was reassuring to see that he and Tempo were at least on the same page, to some extent. He looked out onto the water with his friend and saw... something he had never seen before? It was a pokemon... a strange spider-shaped pokemon skittering in the shallows, it seemed. It was nearly as big as him... unnerving. It seemed Tempo might being seeing it too; he stared headlong into the water in that direction. The young ducklett got the sense that perhaps both of them were having the same thought: this was no time to enter the water, either. The best plan of action seemed to be to head down the beach and find a flat place to set up a camp for the night.

It wasn't an easy trek, but it wouldn't have taken the two of them too long to get to the top of the dune-y plateau. Along the way they found driftwood and kelp washed up on the beach that could make for building materials (so long as Simon could abstain from the temptation to eat the kelp). Simon flapped his wings and dragged himself up into the air long enough to scout the place out; it also seemed to be largely uninhabited and there were far fewer trees compared to the nearby forest. Overall, it seemed like a good high-up place to take a rest to Simon.

"This doesn't seem so bad!" he quipped happily as he returned to Tempo. The sun still sunk ever lower in the sky, but there was enough daylight left to see and work by. "We'll need to set up pretty quick, but at least it looks like we won't meet any unwanted guests!" He started in on gathering the material for a campfire for the two of them to sleep around. "I don't see any berries around... but some of the plants I've seen around might be edible! Um... I think? This is the first time I've every camped out on my own before - well, without my mom's help. What about you? You're an adventurer, right...? Do you camp out often?"

Their trek needed to be as safe as possible. They weren’t back to their full strength, yet, so making sure they weren’t going to end up in a situation is practically high on the priority list. Entering the water could cause them to end up drowning again. Something the otter wasn’t willing to do...

It was pretty difficult for these two normally more built for water to be going up dunes to reach their destination, but at least they have enough materials to build a camp. ”At least we have someone who can fly. Thanks, Simon!” He said after he scouted the area and found where to put their camp.

When they reached the place, Tempo got to work. However, he wasn’t exactly the best builder for camps, as time ticked away from them. Did their recent drowning make them lose their sense of time? Come to think of it, how long were they out for? He listened to Simon’s questions and their status. ”Never ate too many plants, honestly, but considering the fact that swimming might cause... trouble, I won’t have much choice in the matter. As for camping... I can’t say I have done much. Surprisingly, I don’t usually hang out in dungeons for more than... I dunno, like, 10 hours? And that does include the underwater ones, where I need to bail just because staying in one would literally kill me.” He replied, and considering their current situation, it was most likely entirely justified.

"Hee... that does make sense. I actually know how that feels, I don't really go into dungeons. At all... so when I do, I try to be in and out!!" Simon chuckled back to Tempo. "I guess this was supposed to be a little different, though... I wanted to practice diving so I could be like my mom. She was an explorer, so she has so many cool stories. I wanted to have more cool stories like her!!" After saying this, he stopped to think for a moment. "Maybe I'm not so desperate to have stories anymore..." he thought to himself. It almost made him chuckle out loud in a grim kind of way. Well, if he did manage to survive this... this would certainly be a story. Maybe even a story to rival his mother's story about getting lost in the sky.

That's right, his mom had gotten lost a couple of times too, right? Even as a Ducklett. "'Lost' is just a part of life, Simon. It's what you call the places you haven't explored, until you learn to know them." That's what she used to say. He started to feel a little cheerier as her voice bounced around in his head. Maybe he couldn't get home right away... but surely if his mother had found her way back from being lost as a child, so could he! And Tempo, by extension. They just had to keep their spirits up.

"Well, maybe we're at a little disadvantage here, but at least we make a good team, right? I mean, you have the dungeon knowledge, and I have the camping experience - that'll help with survival. We kinda make up for each other's flaws!!" He beamed at Tempo, punctuating his sentence with some good old-fashioned cheer. "Just as long as we don't try and drown ourselves again. Gotta look for air bubbles!!"

By the time dusk fully arrived, a decent little camp had been established. It had a fire, small beds, large, fan-leafed bushes for concealment... by all accounts, it wasn't a bad shelter. Simon looked at it proudly. He thought his mother would be proud of it, too - given the circumstances anyways. "This'll be a fine base of operations while we get our bearings! Lots of good landmarks wo find our way back with!!" It was true, there were a number of.... strange looking... flowers? He could see them here and there, swaying in the salty breeze. They were a little ominous, but he was trying to stay positive. "We should probably take watches. My mom packed me a Reviver Seed before I left, so I can take the first one if you want! I'll be good for a long time after I eat it."

Simon the Ducklett - 0 Energy + 22 (Reviver Seed) = 22 Energy

It sounds quite cute, hearing him talk about his mother and wanting to be more like her. “Swanna, right? I remember hearing them being amazing divers, so I have no doubts you’ll be able to keep up.” He cheerfully said. “Yeah, I guess you!re right about our knowledge, too. And the air bubble thing, though I really don’t want to swim back if we don’t have to.”

As dusk arrived, the otter let out a big yawn, finishing up with his parts of the camp. It wasn’t much, but it’ll have to do. Obviously, since they’re in uncharted territory, it would make sense that they need to keep watch. ”Um, you sure? I guess that would make you hyper and all, but even then, what if it doesn’t even help? Well... whatever. For now, I’ll turn in. Let me know when it’s my shift, alright?” He lies on one of the beds and takes a bit of a nap...

"Don't worry, I'll be fine! You just get some sleep!" Simon confirmed as Tempo rolled onto his bed. This had certainly been a taxing day for both of them, but Simon felt guilty since he had contributed a lot to them getting into this situation. In his mind, he argued that it was his fault. He had gotten Tempo involved with his ill-fated diving trip. Tempo may have been intending to do his own adventuring, but... still, things may have gone differently if Simon hadn't gotten involved. This was the least Simon could do to make it up to Tempo, in Simon's veiw. He settled in next to the fire, determined to do his best job as lookout.

The first few hours passed peacefully, and Simon entertained himself by trying to identify constellations in the stars. He saw the one his dad always thought was a Furret. Simon himself had always thought it looked too skinny to be a Furret. He thought it looked like an Ekans laying low to the ground, sneaking away from - or towards - something.

Simon shifted his gaze to the sea in contemplation. When he was safe at home, Simon hadn't given the constellation much thought. Sometimes it made him think of those roguish hero types you see in bed time stories, like a theif that steals for the poor. But now, out here in this strange and alien environment... it almost seemed threatening. Like it was trying to strike him while he wasn't looking. ...These thoughts weren't very positive. A constellation can't attack you. Simon shook his head, trying to disperse the fears that were trying to re-accumulate in his head. He wasn't normally this skiddish, but the new surroundings were making him feel... displaced. Lost. Maybe he just needed to get familiar, like his mom had said.

He began observing things. He noticed that the tide was a lot higher now that it was nighttime - an effect of the moon, his mother had said. That made sense, since the moon was out. The sky was incredibly clear, at least right now. He had also heard there could be big storms on beaches. He was glad there hadn't been any now. He picked up a little of the seagrass poking out of the sand and tasted it. Salty. He should have known. He swallowed it anyways, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience given his pallet had been shaped by fresh-water foods.

Then, Simon noticed something out in the sand in front of him. Those flowers were... moving? They were rising out of the sand!!! Simon was torn between staying quiet and trying to alert Tempo, but he was so stunned in the moment that he could only stay frozen and watch. The flowers rose higher out of the sand, until Simon could see that they were not actually normal flowers - they were pokemon? Lileep, and the big one that was green!! The name escaped him, but he knew his mother had talked about them. They were ancient ocean pokemon, weren't they...?

Simon continued to watch as the lileep and the Cradilly pulled their roots up and completely ignored him. They seemed more interested in tottering out to sea. ...Right, they were stationary hunters, right? They tied themselves to the ocean floor and pulled fish out of the water as they swam past... Wait, then maybe that's why they had buried themselves!!! Maybe since the sun had gone down, and they couldn't photosynthesize, they needed to go to the water for food!! Simon was excited by his new discovery, but he also realized that this meant they would have to be careful going into the water.

Simon felt too excited to keep this to himself. It had been several hours now, right? It was at least past midnight, given the position of the moon. Tempo would have to wake up to watch soon, anyways...

"Tempo!! Psst, Tempo!!" Simon nudged the sleeping Oshawott a few times with his wing. "Tempo, wake up!! You'll never guess what I just saw - ancient pokemon!! Lileep and Cradilly!! They looked like flowers before, I think they sun themselves on this beach. Look, you might still see them going out to sea!!"

Simon the Ducklett - 22 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 3 launched of one Ancient Island :

, ,

The otter was fast asleep, and took a while for him to finally wake up with the Ducklett's nudges. "Mmmgh... What...? Don't be stupid, Simon... They've been long dead..." He said, although he did leave to look around if anything was off about the area...

It seems hard for him to tell what was around, at least until one of his reviver seeds helped him wake up a little more.

[Reviver Seed Used: 21]

As he looked around, he saw... some weird plant thing. He remembers reading about it.... somewhere, but it was extinct long ago. "...I... I think I'm just tired... Is that really a Cradilly? And... an Omanyte?" Tempo seemed... amazed. How was this place filled with so many... ancient Pokemon like this? It felt like some strange dream... or hallucinating from drowning. "...We must be dead. Dead like these guys should be... How do we recover from the cold... dark depths... of... of the ocean..." ...OK, this was a bad train of thought. Maybe exploring a bit more will wake him up and bring his head away from such nightmarish ideas. Yeah, that'll work. "I'll... go ahead and explore... to wake up."

At first Simon was a little taken aback by Tempo's disregard as he first woke up. The ducklett assumed that the blue otter was just groggy from waking up, and hadn't really meant to call him stupid... (hopefully?) He felt much better as soon as Tempo started to really wake up and look around, catching one of the cradily as it lumbered out to the ocean, and even... Oh! An Omanyte!! Simon hadn't even seen that one!

"-! Oh, gosh Tempo, I don't think we're dead!!" Simon chuckled uncomfortably in response to Tempo's assertions given this new development. The ducklett found himself actually considering it for a moment, and he immediately tried to shake that burning thought in order to keep his positive attitude. " I think it's just - this place kept them alive! Somehow. Maybe? It's some kind of... secret paradise!! Ish! Think of how old this place must have gone untouched!!" Simon's voice grew excited as he spoke, despite the lingering realization that they were now trapped on this island with these ancient creatures.

Simon definitely wanted to explore this place further, now more than when he had been needing to do so to escape (it was easier to get motivated to get up and look around when it wasn't about life or death). It definitely seemed like Tempo wanted to as well, which was loads of exciting - except for the fact that he apparently wanted to go right now. That made Simon balk a bit. "W-wait... Right now, you're going exploring?? You... just woke up, didn't you? I guess I can't really judge if it works for you, but... it's still twilight I think! It could be dangerous to go out at night with ancient pokemon on the loose..." Still... they did need supplies if they were going to survive on this island, that went without saying. He hadn't gotten any sleep yet, but... Simon still wasn't all that tired after eating the reviver seed from his mom. He could manage.

"If you're going, let me come with you! It could be dangerous to split up in a place like this. You can lead, I'll follow you and keep a lookout!"