Marooned!!!

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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

He rubbed his eyes a bit... He was still exhausted, but Tempo looked to where he saw the Omanyte earlier, seeing it was replaced by a Dewpider? Was it always a Dewpider, and his mind was tricking him? He shook his head, althoug the Omanyte was heading back into the water slowly.

“Secret paradise? That would only be something in a dream... Or if we’re dead, like I said earlier. But if we’re truly alive... the question is... where do we get back? I miss my home at the Coral Forest... It’s so beautiful, and I’m not sure if I’ll...” He lets out a sigh... “Yeah... Why would I not go explore? We need to know what is around here, after all.” He answered, not objecting against Simon following. After all, if they were together, they should be able to find more. Hopefully.

DJOshawott carried out 5 launched of one Ancient Island :

, , , ,

Simon was beginning to feel intimidated by all the Pokémon gathering on the beach with them. The more they passed, the more they risked being noticed by one of them. They were still vulnerable, after all... unless maybe some of them were friendly? The horsea and their friends in the ocean had been friendly. He didn’t want to approach just anyone on this beach, though... especially not when it seemed like most of them were hunting or looking for food. He didn’t want to risk threatening anyone, or their territory for that matter.

Tempo seemed to really be convinced that the two of them were dead? For some reason? Maybe he was just trying to keep joking to lighten the mood, or something. It really seemed like he was serious though. “I... really don’t think we’re dead? I don’t think this is what being dead... feels like.” Then again, he really wouldn’t know, would he? ...Ooo, it was very hard to stay off this topic. Very hard to just not consider that since they really didn’t know anything about what being dead was like, they couldn’t say for sure that they weren’t. Simon could only speculate, and- alright, no Simon. Just continue working off the assumption that you’re alive.

“I mean, it’s not so far-fetched to assume that we just got dragged to an unknown island by he current. As for how to get back, though... I’m not sure. I can try and fly up to see how far we are from the main land - if I can see the mainland - but I can’t carry you... Not unless I somehow evolve here. I think we might need to find somebody on the island who can help us.” Simon couldn’t help but feel an empathetic pang of discouragement as Tempo lamented about his home. “ I want to see home too... so we’ll just have to make sure we get there, no matter what! Even if we have to evolve to do it!”

Evolving wouldn’t be so bad, actually. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad plan. How far was he from evolving, anyways?

“Speaking of help, though... I don’t think we’re going to find it here. I think most of these Pokémon are scavenging... they might be territorial about their food.” He gestured a wing towards the line of trees a few feet out from them. “ I think it might be better if we try to explore inland? Maybe we’ll find some kind of lost civilization!”

Simon the Ducklett - 21 + 1= 22 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Ancient Island :

, , , , , , , , ,

There seemed to be a lot of Pokemon around the area... It was quite stressful, actually, but at least everything is going well for the two... so far. "You sure you can fly high enough? Won’t you get tired if you try to go too high, after all?" The Oshawott pointed out. But if anything, it was their best bet to find land... Although... treasure inland? It sounded exciting, actually! "Maybe even a way out... I’ll go first, for now..." He offered before heading towards the forest.

As he headed into the forested area, he did notice a strange tree... Did it have... legs? He could barely see what was on top of it, but when he walked toward it, he strangely felt... sleepy... Some spores seemed to have been cast around the area, making the otter a bit... exhausted... "Actually... Simon... I’ll just... rest... Go on... without me..." He said as he collapsed, snoring a bit.

"Well, it wouldn't be all that hard for me to fly up and just get a look. If I come back down I won't be all that tired!" Simon explained cheerily. That cheer quickly became confusion as Simon noticed Tempo's feet were beginning to drag in the sand, and his shoulders were starting to droop a considerable bit. "Uh, wait, Tempo...?"

The otter slumped all the way over into the sand before Simon could utter another word. "T-Tempo?? Wh- What?!? You're going to sleep right here?? At night?? Let's at least go back to camp!!!" It was no use. Tempo was just... suddenly out cold! No matter what Simon did - shaking him, squirting water on him - the oshawott just kept sleeping! This was bad, and weird. There had to be a cause. Simon looked around, but there were no pokemon around them- ??!?!

Simon's eyes caught a pair of feet on the base of one of the trees. He looked aaaaaall the way up the trunk, and there... was... the tree was a pokemon and it was huge o h l o r d.

Simon quacked in shock.

The tree with... exeggutor's face??! leered down at Tempo and Simon with an eerie glare, making Simon quake in his little webbed feet. He noticed that the face looking at Tempo had some... odd distortion around it's eyes. Was the tree... using a move on Tempo??!? The tree was making Tempo fall asleep!! Oh, oh, Simon didn't have anything on him to cure sleep... there was nothing on the ground close to him, either!! They didn't have time to wait for Tempo to wake up - there was no way to tell what this pokemon wanted from them!! Simon scrambled for another solution - he didn't know this pokemon's type... presumably it was grass if it looked like exeggutor, but even targeting it's weak point would give him enough of an advantage to knock it out - not even close!! Water wouldn't help at all, and rain probably wouldn't either-

Wait. *Mirror Move.* His mom's secret trick, maybe that would work!! He could reflect what the exeggutor was sending down on Tempo!! It had to work, he had to pull it off. He ran over and jumped in front of Tempo, fluffing up his feathers so that all that shiny down underneath was visible. Now, what had his mother said...? You had to make your muscles twitch a little bit, vibrate your body, and focus...

He noticed the strange way that the exeggcutor's eyes were moving, back and forth, back and forth.... it made him feel unfocused and he had to stop looking. But wait!! Of course, that's how it was working!! Simon locked gazes with one of the other eyes and begin mimicking the exeggutor's eye motions.

Back and forth...

Back and forth.....

Back and forth........

.............

The tree strated to lean slightly. The eyes on those strange little faces closed. It started to lean a little more.... Yes!!! Simon was beaming. He did it, he really did it!!! ...And then he realized the tree was falling towards him and Tempo.

"Ahhhh!!" Simon yelped. He scrambled against Tempo's sleeping form until he just barely managed to move the two of them clear of the tree's landing area. It embeded itself into the sand just in front of the duo, making odd snoring noises.

"Tempo....?" Simon breathed, his senses still coming back to him. Once the panic returned, his voice grew louder. "Tempo?!? C'mon-" Simon remembered there was a sleeping giant right next to him and quieted himself accordingly- "-uhh, c'mon!! Wake up!! We gotta get out of here!!"

He was asleep, unaware of what was going on... until after the slam, he lets out a suprised gasp as his eyes opened. "”Wh... Who's there!?" The Oshawott called out, as he looked over to see... the tree from before he fell asleep? What happened? And why did it have a face? Was it... a Pokemon?

...WAIT, WHAT KIND OF POKEMON IS THAT FRICKIN' TALL!?

His eyes widened in surprise as he stepped back away, tripping on something accidentally, with an audible pop... followed by... strained breaths? As Tempo regained his senses and got up, he looked down to see... a spider? But it wasn't... "O... Oh no... S... Simon! Stay here and keep an eye for anything that could attack!" Tempo said as he cradled the spider in his paws. It looked too panicked to do anything about his situation.

With a loud splash, Tempo swam to the sea floor, putting the spider down. It doesn’t seem hostile, at least. But the spider was... angry. "Watch where you are going next time, alright!? You could've killed me up there and-" "S... Sorry! I didn’t see you, and I didn't even think spiders could suffocate! Did you see that huge tree with a face, though!? Anyone would be-" "...You never heard of us? Or that tree? We Dewpider can’t breathe on the surface without a water bubble. And you just so happened to pop it!" The small spider said as he harshly poked Tempo’s body. "Imagine what it would be like if you had an air bubble and I went and popped it!?" "I’m sorry, and like I said, I didn’t-" He coughs a few bubbles, suddenly, before scrambling to the surface, the Dewpider following up.

"KWAAAAH!" Tempo gasps for breath as he breaches the surface, but the Dewpider, interestingly, surfaced with a bubble on its head. So that's what they mean... "You're not running from this, buddy! I'm glad you helped me and all, but it was still your fault! I don't care if that stupid Exeggutor made you trip over me!" Exeggutor? Was that tall thing... really an Exeggutor?

Simon was relieved when Tempo started to wake up. He stepped back a little to give the Oshawott some space, but he was secretly very eager to get going again. "Tempo!!! Ah, thank goodness you woke up!! I don't think I can carry- ...?" The off-color ducklett never finished the thought, however, as Tempo suddenly jumped in surprise and began scrambling around before him and talking to someone other than Simon- apparently? At first Simon had to wonder if maybe Tempo had just woken up from a strange dream or something, but...

Suddenly Tempo took off towards the water, calling back for Simon to stay back and watch for hostile pokemon... which was a solid plan, and understandable. Simon looked over to the large tree snoring next to him, however - the one that had been trying to hypnotize Tempo and him for unidentified and dubious reasons - and realized he didn't really want to do any scouting next to the large downed tree. He still kept an eye out, but ultimately he decided to chase after Tempo. Power in numbers, right? As the snoring faded behind him, Simon finally felt a little relief.

"Tempo! I thought it would be safer if I watched from over here. What's going on?" Simon asked as he approached the Oshawott. Apparently he had... jumped into the ocean? Simon was understanding less and less, until he heard a voice emanating from behind Tempo's head. Simon peered around to see the dewpider that Tempo had been assisting, and suddenly everything made a lot more sense. "Oh... hello! Do you live here...?" A local!!! Maybe they could help, though they seemed pretty upset at the moment...

Tempo was there getting his ear talked off by the bubble-headed spider. They did notice the Ducklett swimming over to the two. "Oh, I see... this screw up of an Oshawott has a friend, doesn't he? And I guess he's going through some goth phase or something?" The Dewpider said. "And yes, I do happen to live here. I was going for my usual walk on the shore. It was meant to be normal and safe, but you just so happened to trip over me and nearly killed me!" "Look, I'm truly sorry, I didn't mean to. Like I said, that giant tree-" The Dewpider seemed done with it, putting its bubble over the otter's mouth and nose. "I'm tired of you complaining, alright? This is what it feels like to lose your ability to breathe suddenly, isn't it?"

"Son, leave them alone, alright?" A female voice appeared, suddenly dragging the Dewpider into... a bigger bubble before pulling away. "Hey! What are you doi-" The Dewpider said. "Look, when I was a Dewpider like you, I had my bubble popped all the time. Sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose to kill me. Plus, didn't you forget you could make a new bubble any time you want?" The bigger spider said, with the Dewpider calming down. "I... uh... OK? Look, I'm truly sorry for what I did to your son-" "Don't worry, little Oshawott and Ducklett. At least you managed to help in time. Besides... you two were in terrible shape, too, weren't you?" The big spider said. "Wait, mom... Are you saying these two are..." The Dewpider said, seemingly realizing something... Wait... Did she... save them?

"I'm an Araquanid, by the way. I'm glad you two are safe, since I saw you two on the ocean floor, unconscious. It's a miracle you two were alive." It said, the small Dewpider jumping out of the Araquanid's bubble soon after. "T... Thank you... I... I really thank you for everything..." Tempo said as he headed to the body of the Araquanid to give a hug... although he did have to hold his breath for a bit to do so... ”Do you at least know how to get back?" Tempo asked, his voice echoing through the Araquanid's bubble. "Yeah. Once you regain your strength, it should be easy enough to swim back. Even so, you should be able to find a Lapras who'll ferry you back eventually." Araquanid told, with Tempo soon nodding, pulling away from the hug and popping out of the bubble for a breath. "...it was always that easy... Well... at least it's not an actual deserted island, right...?" Tempo said to the Ducklett.

The conversation was going far too fast for Simon to keep up with. First there was the little water spider, who had some valid points but also seemed to be a bit overly aggressive. They had been in danger too, after all... And the words about his appearance - well, it wasn't that he wasn't used to people being incredulous about his choice of color, but the way the spider said it with such spite and anger made him feel about twelve sizes smaller. "You have every reason to be upset, but I don't think you're being fair-"

But he didn't really get much of a chance to add anything beyond that before the mother araquanid showed herself as well, and began talking to Tempo and the standoffish spider. The things she said, were... a little morbid, honestly. Simon couldn't imagine being that close to death so often, nor could he imagine popping someone's breathing bubble for fun!!! How horrible!!! He didn't really feel like he had a place to speak, but as he stood there he stewed over how he and Simon weren't like that, and that wasn't something that should be treated lightly!! He thought more and more while she spoke to Tempo, and he realized... maybe it wasn't his place to judge. He hadn't grown up like them, so how could he understand how they felt? His mother had always taught him to be empathetic, and he worried now that his thoughts might be offensive or trivializing towards the spider family's struggles. So he kept quiet, and he waited. He took a moment to thank her when she revealed she had saved them, because he truly was grateful- but he didn't venture much further beyond that.

By the end of the conversation Simon was, at least, shocked that apparently there was a way to and from this island. In the end, they had ended up finding something Simon hadn't been expecting to find so soon! He was greatful, but...

"-Huh? Oh, yeah! I never would have guessed, honestly," he mused. "I mean, about the easy thing. I had a feeling there would be at least some pokemon around... I'm happy they're pokemon we can communicate with, though!" With all the danger seemingly settling, he wandered down the beach a bit. It wouldn't be long until morning now, he reasoned. The moon had almost vanished into the trees further inland. "Now that we know how to leave, though... it seems kind of a shame, doesn't it? I didn't want to be stuck here forever, but I had just prepared myself for more of a trip..." He paused as he stumpled upon something floating in the surf. It was a... ticket, of some kind? Despite being drenched, the paper was holding up exceedingly well. "Like, this thing!! What is it, why is it on an island that might be ancient? It seems like there's just more to be discovered here."

"When did I say we were leaving right away? Who knows? We might be the first Pokemon to explore this place, after all! If we gather all of this information about the area around here and let the guild know, who knows how they'll react? Who knows... Maybe they'll even give me something that lets me breathe underwater. Imagine how relaxing it would be to live under the waves..." The Oshawott lets out a sigh, imagining what could possibly happen... Although he felt his tummy rumble... "Oh... right, uh..."

Tempo looks around for a bit of food... and he didn't see much for a while... before seeing something red and shiny... Tempo ran over to grab it, noticing it was an apple... but it seems so... shiny. "Hm... Could be a good breakfast, then. It looks so tasty, too..." He eyed it greedily... but tried to snap out of it, grabbing a seed that happened to be nearby as he returned.

"...You want to stay too??" Suddenly, Simon wasn't feeling so self-concious. His relief and somewhat-bated excitement was evident in his voice. "I think... I do too! Of course I want to get home, but... well, if there's really an easy way back, I feel even more motivated to stay, y'know? Like there's no harm in it if we can get back." The feathered boy looked around now, restored to confidence despite the... awkward circumstances that had brought him to it. The prospect of having an experience nobody else had had... better yet, the prospect of being the first who ever had... Yeah! It sounded like an adventure! Simon let his head swim just a little bit in the prospect.

...And then Tempo reminded him of eating. "Oh... he he, right... if we're going to explore, we should probably stock up huh? This beach seems pretty lively, so I bet there's plenty to find... There's not really anything left in my bag- I didn't really pack for an adventure, ha ha!" He tried to look around where Tempo had just found his snack, but there didn't seem to be much more for the area to yield. At this point, the sun was coming up... Simon turned his attention inland. There was a jungle area that was blocking the view of whatever was beyond, but now that there was light out they could most likely pass it.

"We should head inland, right? If we're going to explore! Plus, the jungle is probably a great place to forage for supplies. I bet it's a great place to hide things, too..." He paused for a moment to run back and put out their dying fire, both out of respect for the native pokemons' homes and because he wanted some charcoal. He came back with a good pointy chunk and some large palm leaves that he gathered from trees that he was sure weren't secretly giant pokemon. "Here, I'll make notes on where we've been with this stuff!! That way we won't get too lost, and we can find our way back!"

Off towards the jungle Simon went. Sure enough, a few feet into the trees he noticed a few small shelled pokemon huddled around a bush. His mom had showed him something like them... Omanyte and Kabuto, right? He waited and watched them silently until they took off into the underbrush, and then another moment for good measure. When he was sure it was safe, he led Tempo over to said bush and inspected it.

"...Wow, these apples really are beautiful!!" the ducklett exclaimed, taking his pick of what was left. After staying up the entirety of the preceding night, he made the executive decision to hungrily chow down on his breakfast find immediately. "...They taste a little better too, I think!! I wonder if this island is, like, really fertile or-"

As he took a step back, he stubbed his flipped against something hard poking out of the ground.

"...OW!!!" He immediately whirled around with a pout on his beak. "What was that?? It really hurt!!!" After nursing his foot for a minute, Simon made the executive decision to pull away the overgrown jungle foliage and investigate. "...Is that... brick?" he mused quietly, almost in awe as he revealed what indeed seemed to be the remains of a crude brick road that seemingly led further into the jungle. Simon looked to Tempo excitedly, though he didn't really have words yet.

Simon the Ducklett - 1 + 7 (Big Apple) + 1 (Yellow Gummi) = 9 Energy

"I mean, I guess we'll never be truly trapped, but we still need to be careful... Everything can and possibly will go wrong..." The otter said, knowing the luck of adventurers, sometimes, taking the apple and putting it away for the time being, for a later meal. "I'll admit, though... It'll be hard to carry all of this, since my bag is getting full. Think can you help?" He asked, seeing the Ducklett marking trees for later use after putting out the fire, soon following him to the bush.

"Yeah, it is. Let's have these for our breakfast... It should help, admittedly." He said, taking the apple he found and taking a big bite... His eyes widened. It was the most delicious thing he's had! How has he never seen these before!? "I.... I think this might be a good spot to get food! Let's get more for later!" Tempo was happy, and just as ready to explore, although he noticed Simon hitting... bricks? Was there a town? "...What's with the bricks, though..." He said, deciding to follow the path while keeping an eye out for any attacks that could occur.

[I forgot to show I lost all energy from the last encounter: 0 energy + 50 from Perfect Apple jeez = 21 Energy]

DJOshawott carried out 5 launched of one Ancient Island :

, , , ,

"Sure, I can help!" Simon agreed cheerfully. He wasn't the strongest pokemon, admittedly, but he hadn't found much himself yet and Tempo's items didn't look like they had that much weight to them. He was certain he could shoulder a few. As for Tempo's other question... "Well, it seems like it's a road! Like how they make roads with dirt and stone in Rainfront and Grassveil to make getting around easier!!". He pulled up some of the vegetation that had overgrown the path and examined it. "It looks like it's been here a while, and definitely mot used or maintained... whoever made it must not be around anymore."

Looking ahead, he could see strange divots in the undergrowth where there were presumably more road chunks holding back the growth of foliage. They wouldn't be hard to follow... "...maybe we should check this out! We might discover something!" He suggested. There was always the chance that following the road meant meeting the pokemon who built it... but seeing how old this place apparently was, it wasn't enough to deter him from wanting to know more. "Let's check it out! I'll lead if you want!"

The road went on for quite a ways, from what the Simon could tell. Not far from where Simon discovered the first bricks, he had to stop and tear up some undergrowth in order to find it again. At that moment, Simon felt an odd sensation... like he was being watched. "This forest is kind of eerie, isn't it...?" Simon commented, trying to keep himself from the nondescript pokemon cries that could be heard every once in a while in the distance.

Above him and Tempo, the trees rustled.

"You're not wrong, sadly... I figured it was... some kind of road, but still, we don't know where it leads, so let's be careful." He said, following the path with Simon taking the lead. It was quite unnerving, especially since this was unknown territory... but who knows? Tempo found something interesting wedged between the rocks on the path. Some kind of ticket? For what? He couldn't really read the letters on it. "Hey, Simon, what do you think these are used for?" He asked, but shook his head and caught up, heading down the dilapidated pathway... "Um, alright... I'll follow you, just... watch your back, in case anything goes wrong... It always does..." Tempo said, although the rustling sounds caused him to jump a little...

[Never mind, apparently I do get 50 energy]

Simon looked back from his work on the road to see what Tempo was talking about. It was the same kind of ticket that he had found earlier... So they were all over this place? What could they be, then? Simon had never owned any himself, so he wasn't sure... "Hey... that one looks like the one I found earlier, too! What could they be...?" What would something like that have been used for long ago?? He tried to think back and recall anything his mother might have said that might hold a reasonable answer, but... Nothing. Nevertheless, he decided to take his best guess. "Um... if there's a lot of them around, maybe... they're name tags? Or like- maybe they were currency before coins were invented!!" He couldn't glean anything from looking at the symbols on the slip, as he understood none of them.

When Tempo jumped, Simon also became aware that the trees above them were shaking. He immediately craned his neck up towards the sky and looked frantically for a source. He noticed that it seemed to be a different tree shaking every couple of moments - until the tree directly above him began shaking. Simon's heart raced. He had a bad feeling, like something bad was about to happen-

-A red beak suddenly thrust itself out of the tree's canopy. Two large, inquiring eyes peered down at the duo from one of the lower branches, as if sizing up the new arrivals. Simon was too stunned to say anything. "Don't make any sudden moves..." he thought to himself.

"Maa?" The archen squawked.

Simon finally blinked, the onset of confusion ending his trance. "...Wha...?"

"Maa haa nanan?" the Archen inquired again, tilting his head a little.

"...Maa... haa??" Simon parroted, nearly speechless otherwise and completely, utterly lost. The Archen seemed to react well to this, suddenly brightening considerably and fluffing his wings excitedly.

"Manan!! Yahoma nanan fanad!!" he chirupped back, as if Simon had actually said something to him. "Naa bohabe!! Yaa haam Varteaa!!"

Simon slooooooooowly looked over to Tempo.

"Um... do you have... any idea....?" He was trying to figure out what the proper way to say this was. "I mean... I've never met a pokemon who speaks another language before... Have you? Do you know what he's saying...?"

Tickets used as currency? It sounds kinda... inconvenient. Did ancient Pokemon have paper like this? It's the best idea they had together, but still... He trips over a bit from the surprise of the rustling... It was... some red beak? What in the world was it, anyway? He never heard of the Pokemon, before, but... it didn't seem hostile... was it?

Then again, it's hard to tell. It seems to be babbling... random nonsense that makes no sense. "Ma... ha... blarble? I... have no clue what he's saying, either. How are we supposed to talk with it, then? Is it some kind of language similar to this stupid ticket?" The Oshawott curiously tilted his head, keeping an eye for anything else interesting... An Omanyte came in and seemed to talk with a similar language to the Archen... It was confusing, but at least they don't have to worry about it too much... right?