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

"You and me both then... I'm not sure what it is," Simon sighed warily as he looked between the two pokemon speaking the strange language. He felt bad, because they seemed... friendly? Maybe? Based on their expressions they seemed friendly, and he didn't really want to do anything to compromise their disposition towards himself and Tempo... but what was he supposed to do when there was no way he could communicate with them?! Tempo didn't know the language either, and as far as Simon knew neither of them could read minds.

All things considered, Simon felt the best option was just to try to amicably leave the two pokemon behind. "I think we should probably just keep going on our way..." he muttered to Tempo, keeping his voice low. He looked back up to the Archen and smiled, feeling awkward about having to talk to a pokemon he knew wouldn't understand him. "It was nice meeting you!" he responded, trying to go slow so that the other pokemon might at least understand his inflection. The Archen cocked his head a bit, looking confused. "I'm afraid we don't understand you, though, so we're going to get going!" he looked to Tempo before hurrying down the broken path.

"Nasaa ot faram?" the Archen asked as Simon hurried away, not receiving a reply. He could still be heard calling in the distance. "Haa haom masan!! Naa hae teafo? Masan kaa ofoaman sae toman wasaa!! Sae naa?!"

Tempo didn't really do much besides watch the two blabber in their strange language... There wasn't much to grab from their expressions, either, leaving the otter at a loss for words. "Yeah... We should get going... Sorry for bothering you two, if... you can even understand us, of course, but we should get going." Tempo said to the two as he waved bye to them, heading down the path they set off on earlier.

Hopefully leaving the Archen with the Omanyte was the smart move, and hopefully they didn't doom either of the parties... but judging by how friendly they were, it could work. He did hear the sounds of the Archen in the distance, however... "...I wish I could help him... I really do, but... what should we do? Do we find food for it? Find its mom? Teach it to fly?" He threw around a few ideas before shaking his head. "I guess I'll search for any clues as we continue onward. If I find anything that can help, I'll let you know." Tempo trailed behind the Ducklett as he searches the forest.

DJOshawott carried out 10 launched of one Ancient Island :

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Simon nodded "Yeah... it's kind of interesting, though! I've never seen a pokemon that speaks a different language before," he replied cheerily. "My mom told me that it happened- she saw some people that did it way up north in the icy lands. I've never seen anything like it, though. I can't wait to tell her!! Maybe she'll know something?" He was smiling, looking down at the old bricks and thinking on all the new things they were discovering. He was still excited, though things had taken a turn for the strange!! Now he was getting the idea that maybe he should bring something back for his mom. What to bring, though? Maybe he should dig around and try to find something...

As they were continuing deeper into the woods, the trees seemed to be thinning out a bit to their right. As they came to the area, Simon noticed a branch in the path turning towards the thinning trees, and in that area there was something odd. It looked like... the remains of an circular structure?!? And there was a clearing with some land cleared out in a square shape- clearly made intentionally by someone. There were old, broken fences that were barely surviving... It was dilapidated and clearly abandoned, but...

"...Hey, this looks like an old farm!!!" Simon exclaimed, running over to get a closer look. As he did, the rustling in the trees started to return.

"Nanan ma hodaba!! Yaa sae!!" a familiar voice called. It was the Archen again... it seemed to be following them? Simon was quickly distracted from his investigation by this.

"What? You again?" Simon questioned, mostly out of surprise. He knew the Archen couldn't understand him. The other pokemon hopped out of the tree this time, landing on the ground next to the two explorers and looking between them with a confused but eager look. At this point, Simon continued talking as if it could understand, but not out of communication as much as it was just him trying to work through his thoughts. "Are you trying to follow us...? Why? Is there something you're trying to tell us...?" He looked to Tempo pensively.

"Coya naa mehabo. Saa sosoran maa touta sarcal!" The Archen continued while genturing to different points on the farm, "Hehear maa saa Saenorin, mae touso!! Manan torat cosena saa meho, larouto." It definitely seemed like the Archen was explaining something, but Simon had no idea what?

"...What?" the ducklett asked again. "Is it... something here?"

The Archen looked momentarily frustrated, but then brightened again and gestured for the two of them to follow him. He then showed them a slightly bulging dirt pile on the ground, which he dug up with his talons. Underneath all the dirt was a time-decayed bag... and inside were seeds. Reviver Seeds, it looked like! The Archen didn't make any attempt to stop Simon as he picked one up to examine it closer, and then marveled at the sudden revelation.

"Wait, so- this was a farm?!! People lived here!" Simon exclaimed. The Archen stared back with a blank smile. "Tempo, I think we discovered... an old home, maybe?! Maybe the people who built the road!! We should take a look around for anything strange, or useful- unless, uh..." Simon wasn't sure how to ask the Archen if this had previously been his home. He started exaggeratedly gesturing his actions taking a seed, and then pointing a feather to it and himself- trying to mime out his words. "Do you mind? If we look? And maybe take some things?" He asked.

"Yohasa maam! Nanabe osu, so naa!!" the Archen replied cheerily, picking up a few more seeds and urging Simon and Tempo to take them. He seemed to have... gotten the message? Presumably?

Simon the Ducklett - 9 + 1 = 10 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Ancient Island :

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As he continued, he picked up a few things that caught his attention, including another Reviver Seed. Looks like it'll be able to help for later... along with a Sitrus Berry, another similar-looking apple, and a green gummi. It's hard to carry them, but he did carry a golden box... It looks gold, anyway...

As he continued, he suddenly trips over something, causing him to fall over into some strange plant-like contraption... then something hits his face. It felt like water, but when it hits, it strangely reinvigorates him, somewhat. It seems that was all it contained, so there's no sharing it with his buddy, unfortunately. Maybe more will be there later on the path? "Ow... That actually hurt a bit... but... I think I'm ready to go, still. I feel better than ever, and I ate that super delicious apple! In fact... this looks like another apple..." He said, shaking his head a bit to get off the liquid on his face.

He seems unaware of the Archen, until after Simon started to talk with them again. But... still nothing to get from them. Although, the farm did catch his attention more. "There has to be something, right... Um... Yeah, nobody seems to be here, right?" He looks at the seeds curiously, but he was already full on everything... He shook his head and pointed to his small bag.

The Archen seemed confused by Tempo's refusal, but he simply nodded in acceptance. "Mohan nano basan," he replied as he stored the items away in what appeared to be their own carrying pouch. They resorted to following quietly for a bit while investigations were happening, as there was not much they could do without proper communication.

Simon scoured the farm, finding... not much outside of seeds, honestly. In the far corner of the farm, there was a strange tree that bore a fruit he had never seen before... but he remembered his mom had mentioned them being rare or something? Maybe he was remembering wrong, these didn't look all that impressive. He picked one up just in case, but he didn't think much of it. Now his bag was getting kind of full... "Wow, there really is a lot of stuff around here... we almost need to make two trips, huh Tempo?" He asked, chuckling.

Simon wandered back to the road and looked down it. "I'm interested to see what's further down the road! There must be more like this, right?" he asked, half to himself and half to the other two pokemon with him. The Archen merely cocked his head in confusion. "Let's go a little ways further, just to see... maybe we can find something to bring back to show everyone! We should probably turn back after that, though..." He hated to do it now that they were already so deep into the island, but if they already couldn't carry anything more Simon hated to think how disappointed he'd be if there was something he had to leave behind because he didn't have room. "...Unless you think we can stay, Tempo?"

"Ah, right... You likely don't understand, do you?" He asked curiously. The Archen didn't have anything on him, either, so... it made sense that he didn't know how bags worked. He simply continued on his way, gathering up what he could hold. Which wasn't much to begin with, sadly...

He looks over to the Ducklett, who still seemed to want to continue this journey down the path. Question would be if they wanted to continue, and judging by how full their bags are... it might be wise to end the journey sooner rather than later. "I mean, we have a lot of stuff to show. Mainly these tickets, as they're unique. I'm not sure if we'll be able to find anything else that's special to show, so for now... let's just head home."

Tempo seemed to want to head home immediately, which was a little disappointing for Simon. He had been hoping to at least see what was a little further down the road... after seeing a whole abandoned farm, the ducklett had become convinced that there had to be many great things awaiting that way!! Of course, Tempo had very strong points- they couldn't collect many more items, and staying longer meant risking encountering pokemon that they couldn't handle. Still... he just had to see what was up there!!

"I just really want to see what's up here before we turn back!" Simon explained, moving towards the road. "I want to see if I can find something interesting to bring back for my mom! You can even wait here for me if you want: I'll be right back!!" Simon started to run further in, but the archen began chasing him as soon as it saw this.

"Nanoha, saman!!!!" he called after Simon. "Se haro mena sorran!! Nenan me norata!! Yeha ko suta!!!" He seemed frantic, causing Simon to slow down and turn in confusion.

"What- is something wrong- ...?"

Suddenly, an apparent peice of pottery near Simon erupted to life, growing... tentacles? and reveling itself to actually be a shuckle. Simon jumped back in surprise as soon as he noticed it, giving another surprised quack that was once again not incredibly distinguished. The shuckle stared at Simon at first, but once it saw the archen it's attention shifted.

"Maho, Varteaa," the shuckle said. It too seemed to speak the strange language, and the two proceeded to have a breif conversation between them.

"...was he trying to warn me about that...?" Simon wondered aloud, still watching the two pokemon takling. "Are there more pokemon in this area??"

Encounters Remaining:

He continues exploring to see what was going on... but everything seemed too run down to pick up, unfortunately. He lets out a sigh. "Something up here? For your mom? I mean, if you want to, we can continue looking for something pretty to give to her. Come to think of it... I think I saw some shiny jewel on that Araquanid, but I doubt they'll give it to us... I might have to steal it... if I could, anyway..." He said, although he did notice another in the forest, with another similar jewel. He seems jealous... He wishes he could get one...

Tempo chases after Simon, up to the abandoned barn with a curious expression, but tilts his head in surprise, however, kinda seeing the Archen converse with a rock that... turns out to be another Pokemon. Nothing he recognizes, admittedly. He needs to study Pokemon some more outside of the ocean... Interestingly, he saw another Archen in the distance, seemingly walking around on its own. Was it friends or family with the one they met? Who knows... "Anything, Simon?"

"It's another pokemon," Simon replied to Tempo, pointing his wing in the direction of the Shuckle. "I'm not sure what they're talking about, but the Archen seemed to know they were here so there might be more pokemon ahead?" Simon felt very weird calling the archen "The Archen," but without understanding the language he spoke Simon couldn't really know what his name was or how to ask for it? Still, it was a little impersonal to act such a way to a pokemon that had been nothing but kind and helpful towards them.

The archen and shuckle seemingly finished their conversation amiably, and the shuckle retreated back into it's shell while the archen turned back to Tempo and Simon. He started to open his mouth to speak, but quickly realized that that would be futile and grabbed a nearby stick. He drew several stick figures and a few houses with wavy lines in them... no, wait- "Are those supposed to be ghosts?" Simon wondered aloud. The archen looked at Simon before pointing further into the forest, and then tapping his drawing again.

Simon thought very hard about what he was seeing. They had already been to an abandoned farm, and now Archy seemed to be telling them that there were... haunted houses? Was there a whole village ahead? "I think he's trying to tell us that there are more pokemon ahead, and... haunted houses maybe??" That's what it seemed like to Simon at face value. Archy then gestured to the two of them, then to himself, and then began walking. He paused to look back at the two of them. "And... he wants us to follow him!" Simon exclaimed, picking up on that one pretty quickly.

Archy then drew something that looked like a turle with attenae... oh! An island, and then another house outside of it. Archy pointed to himself. "Oh- I think Archy knows how to get home! Or, at least where we need to leave from," Simon exclaimed to Tempo. "I think if we follow him, he's going to help us get back to the beach!" Archy didn't seem to understand anything that was being said, but he stared on, apparently waiting for a reply.

"I guess so, considering how... strange it looks. I've never seen anything like that, is it another ancient one?" Tempo asked, clearly confused about... everything that's going on. Then he noticed the Archen coming over with a stick in its wing, beginning to draw on the ground...

He looks down to see what appears to be... some kind of map? Which had the weird stick figures and wavy lines... "Could be... farmers? Ghost farmers? Would make sense, kinda, this is a barn, right?" He mentioned, looking onward to the forest. Whatever was past it, anyway, was their way home. He looks at the Archen and tries to mime some questions, as if asking if he is sure that's where their home is, and if he can lead the way. "We're quite deep in the forest, so I'm sure if we're not careful, we'll somehow end up getting lost."

"That's a theory, too!" Simon nodded. "Either way, I think maybe we should be careful getting back to the beach. My mom told me that places like this change a little bit as time passes, so we could get lost if we try to go exactly the way we came..." Wait, was that what Archy had been trying to tell them the whole time?! Simon stopped to consider this. Perhaps Archy had come back to warn them, in case they tried to return on a path that was no longer there??

In any case, the Archen began to lead them off the road, while still travelling adjacent to it. Simon looked around at the pokemon nearby- there were quite a few, after all. Simon noticed that they all seemed to be... working? On some old structures, so there were more houses! A crabrawler was knocking the branches out of trees, which an arachnid then picked up and transported to the other pokemon working in the area...

"Are they... rebuilding this??" Simon whispered, trying to keep his voice under the sounds of them working. A Tyrunt seemed to be helping make a mud paste by stomping water and dirt together, which two Archeops were then taking and distributing to the other builders. There were two kabutops using their scythes to cut weeds and plant growth off of and out of the structures. "I understand now... it would have been bad if we had stumbled on to all these pokemon uninvited." Simon whispered back to Tempo.

"Yasho manan na," Archy whispered back, seemingly in agreement, before turning and leading them deeper into the woods. On the way, Simon noticed a number of small, strange candies littering the ground, as well as just- more items in general. "There really is stuff everywhere here!!" the ducklett marveled as he picked up whatever he could carry that looked good.

Encounters remaining:

"Right. I heard about that strange phenomenon. In fact, I had to deal with it back at the Coral Forest, before..." Tempo replied, although he didn't put the pieces together about what the Archen said, like Simon. Tempo follows them... off the path? Why would they... oh. There were actually other Pokemon who seemed to be working. Looks like these Pokemon aren't feral at all. "Probably... Would they have understood that we're visitors, though? Actually, we probably couldn't even talk to them... What if they use the same language as Archen?" Tempo said, before following Archy.

Tempo scanned the forest for any other items that could be useful, but he couldn't really find much that he wanted to keep. "I wish I could dig these somewhere and get them later, but since these places love to change, I doubt I'll find anything... Wait... What in the..." Tempo looks to the sky, seeing a Wingull flying above, nearby. Are they close to the beach? Tempo points up to it and heads that way, wondering if Archy was actually going that way, too.

The further they went, the more it seemed that the other pokemon was indeed leading them in that direction. Simon looked up excitedly, and then he looked back to Tempo with a grin, seemingly sharing the same thoughts that the otter was having. "This must be it! Wingull live near the sea!!!" he exclaimed. Tempo's idea intrigued him- what if they buried something? Other pokemon might even find it later... but would they be able to find them at all? Considering they were so close to their goal, it didn't seem necessary anymore. "You're right, the items would probably move... but it might be worth testing out sometime! Actually I'm going to remember that- maybe other people have had the same exact idea a long time ago but have lost track!!!"

Finally, they hit the beach. Simon saw a familiar sight of a strange flower- presumably a lileep- buried in the sand near the water, which told them the duo were close to where they had started. Archy gestured off towards the sea in a vague direction with his wing and smiled. "Yohai yemae sorta! Manan na sa toua!" He said with a smile.

Simon smiled back. "Thank you Archy! I still can't really understand you... but youve been really helpful and nice!!" The Archen just nodded, still smiling, and took a few steps back to allow Simon and Tempo their space. Simon looked to Tempo. "Well... this was kind of a scary experience, but it also ended up being kinda fun! Maybe we should come back and investigate more when we're stronger and we hae more items!" he mused. "For now, though, we should probably find our way home!"