No Shaymin Trying

(Energy: 22 - 15 = 7)

As he hopped across the wetlands of Cattail Marsh, trying his best not to plunge into any sudden depressions in the flooded terrain, Leander questioned his rationality in entering the marsh. He had come because he had heard about some legendary pokémon having been abducted. Supposedly, it was Shaymin, that adora- no, essential and important purifier of nature. Being somewhat bookish, he knew bits and pieces about the victim, but only from what was basically fairytales. And while his knowledge on the current situation was about as limited as the merit of those tales, what really bothered him was not the missing information, but his own lack of caution. He had just about rushed here once he had heard about the legendary's predicament. Sure, it wasn't far away from home for him, but it was still a mystery dungeon he had not visited before. It could potentially be a perilous trip for him and his limited combat experience, but he had not been successful in shaking off his fear for Shaymin's well-being. Once a story touched him, moving on without acting was always so difficult for him.

But hey, this place is close to Pricklemist Hill, so it can't be that bad, right? I won some battles there a while ago..., he reasoned within his head, although he knew inside that the dungeon being adjacent to a somewhat manageable place by no means guaranteed it to be just as safe. It was merely internal monologue for the sake of keeping himself calm. If what he had heard was true, he would even have to move on to another dungeon after this one if he wanted to find Shaymin. Yes, that calming monologue was definitely needed. This was scary stuff. Keeping the talk up, he skipped up on a rock jutting from the murky goop that was supposed to resemble water. From there, he observed his surroundings, looking for a quick, or even better, safe path through the dungeon.

(Energy: 30 - 15 = 15)

Alki had been in the marshlands multiple times before. The first time, she hadn't evolved yet, and she'd  met a rather crass Croagunk then. The second time she'd met what she could only imagine was the Croagunk's polar opposite: A rather posh (and funny sounding) Snivy. He'd been colored funny too, but both of them had been rather nice to her, sooner or later. She wondered where the two were, for a moment, but then did away with those thoughts. As kind as those two had been to her, companionship wasn't something she sought this time around. She just wanted to relax, maybe stick around to see the lights she'd marveled at the first night she'd been here, and then leave.

She hated the feeling of the Marshlands. The soft, uncertain, muddy ground that always lay underfoot, littered with potholes full of stinky, gross water that was an ever-present danger. She'd hate to fall into one... In order to avoid the puddles of uncertain deepness, Alki even found herself teleporting from island-to-island, catching her breath between each one. She'd been teleporting a lot... but it was good practice, anyways. It really did take a lot out of her to teleport so often, but she'd need to build up endurance, wouldn't she?

It was during one of these brief breaks that Alki noticed a figure off in the distance, making their way towards her general direction. Alki paled as she looked around for a place to hide behind, to no avail. If it were a dangerous denizen of the Mystery Dungeon, then she'd need to hide. If it were some other sane, talking Pokemon... then she'd need to hide even more! But that wasn't an option... Alki teleported backwards, quite unaware of where she was going, only aware of the sudden pressure of someone -- Oh, Arceus, they were looking around what if they saw her and then wanted to talk to her and...

"AHHHHHHH!" She cried out noisily, all of the stress blossoming out from the Balloon pokemon, as a loud splash followed her. She'd fallen in the water... She let out another underwater cry, bubbles spurting to the surface, as the dirty water filled her eyes. She closed them tightly in reaction, a primordial fear filling her, until... she floated to the surface. Balloon's floated... didn't they? Alki's already white complexion grew even more pale, mortified at the thought of having been noticed by the Pokemon... She forced herself deeper into the water, or at least, as deep as she could go while keeping her mouth above water. Now that she was in the puddle, she might as well do her best to hide...

Opal was back in the marsh, her second time here. The first time, she'd intended to look for the pokemon called Shaymin, but ended up escorting some lost pokemon home instead. She hadn't known how they got there, just that they were in distress and needed her assistance, which she was happy to provide. It was her job, after all, and one she wished to excel at. She wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was.

A chance to show her skill sounded like it was about to come Opal's way. The growlithe heard someone cry out in fear. Were they under attack from one of the local ferals? She had to save them! Opal charged off in the direction of the noise, hoping she would arrive in time.

All paths seemed ominously bare and empty, save for their reeds and rocks. The fact that everything looked the same made it difficult to discern what was safe and what was not, especially with so few visible ferals. Was this place always so devoid of pokémon? Or maybe there were burrows or dens somewhere to conceal its inhabitants. Or they could just be living underwater, ready to snap him up, should he dare to swim...

His pondering was brought to an end by a scream and a faint splash. Leander jumped, his pupils shrinking as he squatted down to make himself less visible. After getting over the initial surprise he warily rose up again, looking over the sloppy terrain to try and spot the source of the noise. There was nothing visible above the water quite yet, but Leander did notice bubbles rising to the surface from under it at one spot. Moments later, whoever had fallen in resurfaced briefly, revealing their pale pink colouring before sinking down again. Although he could not tell their species from the distance, the fact that they had managed to inelegantly fall into the water like that had him thinking they weren't used to this place, and that they thus most likely were a traveler and not a feral.

Feeling worried about them not moving, the seedot hopped down from his rock and began heading to the sunken pokémon, using small rocks and thick tufts of vegetation as landing pads when jumping so he wouldn't have to paddle through the water and risk being attacked. He had nearly reached the other pokemon's side, being close enough to see their mouth protruding slightly from the water, when another noise stopped him dead in his tracks: footsteps. And rapid ones, too! Looking around fearfully, he spotted a growlithe. Jumpy as he was in this foreign place, he quickly assumed it to be feral. Dang, it's coming over here! Is it going to attack? It must have heard that poor traveler and come for some easy prey..., he thought, torn between standing his ground to protect the one in the puddle and running away to save his own shell. In the end, he ended up staying, simply eyeing the approaching canine with wary pinprick-pupils while his shivering body assumed a more defensive stance.

The Jigglypuff did her best to retain as much of her body as possible underwater. It was rather difficult, what with her spherical shape, and the fact that the water, all things considered, wasn't really that deep, and especially the fact that she just couldn't stop floating... What was she to do? The girl continued to attempt to force herself deeped and deeper underwater, but no matter how hard she tried, the Balloon Pokemon couldn't manage it. No matter how she positioned herself, or attempted to force herself under, she just couldn't quite manage it, but certainly not for a lack of trying...

These attempts doubled as soon as her ears picked up the presence of not one, but two different Pokemon. The water and muck that she'd been wallowing in had turned her usual cheery pink into more of a splotchy brown, with bits of (very pale) pink shining through every here and there. She remained in the water, but allowed herself to at least observe the situation for a moment. There stood two Pokemon facing each other, a Seedot and a Growlithe. Both seemed vaguely familiar, but... she didn't really feel like interacting much with either.

Her eyes widened as an idea occurred to her, to get these people away from her and to leave her alone and in peace so she could sit in the mud and be cold, and generally, just feel like garbage by herself. So, without putting much thought into the actual merit of the plan, Alki began to enact it:

"I'm a feral! Go away! Leave me alone!" She cried out, as loudly as she could manage, while rising up from the muck she was in. The large splotches of brown surrounding her large eyes might have served to intimidate them, had she not been significantly smaller than them both. And with her ears and curl it wouldn't be that hard to guess her species.

Alki was starting to get a feeling that maybe it wasn't the best plan...

[Energy: 43-15=28]
[Fiery Gem in use]

Opal arrived on the scene to find two pokemon in the middle of one of these swampy bogs. One was bobbing in the marsh, spherical and pink. A jigglypuff? She'd have to get a closer look. Standing protectively in front of them was a... the growlithe didn't know what species this was, but it did give her pause as she thought about what the thing's intentions could be. Did they think she was feral? Or were they a feral wanting an easy victim? Either way, she judged this pokemon to be weaker than her, and it seemed like they knew it.

The pink pokemon, who was indeed a jigglypuff, had clearly noticed their company by this point. She let out a cry demanding to be left alone, but Opal was not about to allow such a thing. Jigglypuff didn't belong here, and this one hardly seemed the type to prove an exception.

"At least lest me get you out of there," the pup responded. Without waiting for an objection, she began to walk closer to the marshy edge, planning to paddle over and carry the balloon creature to safety.

Normal:

Frebedor carried out 10 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, , , , , , , , ,

Fiery Gem:

Frebedor carried out 3 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, ,

"I'm a feral! Go away! Leave me alone!"

Wait. Hadn't he heard that voice somewhere before? It brought to mind snow and bark. I haven't been to the Icy Lands, so it can't be anyone from there... It did snow when I was in Grassveil, though. And after he got a look at the girl, he was quite sure he knew who it was, despite the discolouration messing up her appearance. Alki! What's she doing here? And what's up with that attitude? If this was Alki, then he certainly was not dealing with a feral.

And just as he dismissed the concern about this sunken brown-blotched balloon being dangerous, it seemed someone else was also ready to disprove their hypothetical feral-ness. The growlithe had offered to get the jigglypuff out of the bog, clearly displaying not only a civilized mind, but a kind heart as well. She was, contrary to the seedot's initial belief, most likely not feral, and even if she was, she seemed to at least be cooperative. Though such ferals were rare, Leander had run into some before, namely those who had helped him in the battle against that cruel onix in Pecha Forest. Calming down, the nut's body ceased trembling and assumed a more relaxed stance.

"Ah, you're peaceful. That's a relief..." he muttered quietly, merely stating his thoughts. He then stepped aside to allow the pup to reach the water's edge, and moved his yellow pupils over to Alki. Was she alright? He had assumed that she was usually shy and reserved, so this sudden aggression seemed odd. Either way, he agreed with the growlithe's idea to get the balloon back on land. "Yeah, you should get out of the water! There could be something dangerous hiding in it," he called out, much louder than his last comment so that Alki would be able to hear him. He didn't call her by name, nor did he bring up the feral-thing, on the slim chance that he could have run into her evil twin or just a plain lookalike. He did hope for it to be her, though.

Scypho carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Alki wanted to sink further into the water, hide in there as these two Pokemon, whom she recognized quite soon, seemed to call her out on her questionable claim. She wasn't a feral at all, and it probably hadn't taken much effort from either of the two to realize that. Alki shook her head rather vigorously at the Growlithe's suggestion. The water wasn't really that bad, and maybe if she was stubborn about staying in her hole, they'd leave her alone in time? She didn't want to come across as hurtful at all, and as the balloon bobbed in the grimy water, she gave an explanation as to her wish to stay, hoping that neither of them would take offense to it. If there were something dangerous in the water, it would've shown itself by now anyways, right?

"I... I, uh, meant to fall in here..." She mumbled, waving her arms a bit as she floated around in her tiny pool. "It... uh..." What possible justification could she have to fall into this thing? "I just felt like I belonged in here, y'know?" She offered plainly. If her feral claims hadn't worked, then maybe something a bit more levelheaded would convince them? She just wanted to be left alone, and if she had to stay in the muck, then that would be alright...

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

"Uh-huh. I'm going to make sure you're okay, then you can find somewhere that isn't infested with ferals." Opal was not at all convinced by the pink puffball's protest. The jigglypuff didn't seem all that sociable, but the growlithe wasn't going to leave someone in such a predicament as was being presented to her now. She fearlessly jumped in and began paddling to the balloon pokemon. Once there, she was going to nudge them to the edge of the bog where they could climb out.

"No arguing. We don't have a lot of time," Opal said as she heard multiple sets of footsteps heading in the trio's direction. They sounded like they came from a small pokemon. They were also rapid, as if the ones who owned those feet were running.

Alki's reason for staying in the mud was either one sad confession, or a quite the silly lie. Leander was not sure which. Hopefully it was the latter. But even if she should feel like a filthy pool of murky water was the place where she belonged, he did agree with the growlithe that she could at least have chosen a safer one.

He watched as the little canine paddled away, his gaze shifting to the waters surrounding her and the jigglypuff every now and then, just to make sure nothing was emerging. Not that it was easy to tell with this kind of water, but he figured it was worth a try seeing as he did not have anything more important to do. Until the dog mentioned them being low on time, that was. Shortly after she said that, he too caught the sound of scurrying little feet approaching. Deciding that trying to spot them was more urgent than browsing the water, he turned to look in the direction the sounds came from.

The second he did that, something came flying at him through the air, as if someone had been waiting for him to look away. The object hit the back of his shell with an unusually soft plonk, followed by the splash of the nut faceplanting into a shallow puddle of his own. It took him little time to pull himself up again and turn around, but there was little to see when he did. Whoever had thrown... that thing seemed to have gone somewhere else shortly after doing so. Upon closer inspection, the projectile appeared to be a rock coated in bubbles. Bubbles? Why? Wouldn't they jus- His pondering was cut short by a low croaking noise coming from behind him - the direction he had originally turned to look for danger. With little ado, the seedot threw himself to the side, dodging - just as he had thought - another attempted sneak attack, this time a pulsating blast of water. After rolling over so that he could see his attacker, Leander discovered the culprit to be a frogadier, with its mouth still agape after spewing out the Water Pulse. "Someone's arrived early, you guys!" the acorn called out while still on the ground. He then got up yet again, with dead and wet pieces of grass clinging to his shell now that he had disturbed their gross puddle. So much for staying clean...

The frog was simply eyeing the trio for now. Probably awaiting whoever it is that's running... Leander guessed. He was ready to fire up a Bide should his opponent attack again, but there was little else he could do. If the frogadier wouldn't strike, he couldn't strike it either with his moveset. Whenever he could, he would try to peer in the direction it had arrived from. If they were facing attacks from two sides at once, this could get ugly.