A First Guild Mission

Job being taken:

Spoiler:

Finally, Valen had been accepted into the Aileron Guild, and he was now going on his first guild mission. He had to fight a Hawlucha who was looking for challengers in Cattail Marsh. He actually felt pretty confident about his ability to complete this job successfully, despite the fact he currently had no partner. He tended towards optimism in general, and he had managed to remember that his Normal/Flying-type gave him an advantage over the Fighting/Flying-type Hawlucha.

The marsh was a wet, muddy place, making Valen feel incredibly lucky that he could soar over the ground. Just like a Hawlucha can, actually, he thought. However, he could not see a Hawlucha anywhere - and Valen had seen members of that species before in Aileron Village, so he could definitely recognize them. He would just have to continue flying and looking around the marsh.

Or maybe... Should I just shout a challenge of my own or something like that? Valen thought. It could attract feral Pokemon too, but I'm here to be a strong opponent already - I need to take risks. But he wasn't sure how far his voice would carry. Maybe his pecking could be louder - except that just about everything was so soft and wet there wasn't really a good place to peck in this dungeon, at least not one that he could see at the moment. So Valen just kept flying for now.

[Energy: 16 - 15 = 1]

Cattail Marsh... Who knew how many times Tempo visited this place? Sure, it may have water, but it wasn’t exactly the most comfortable to swim in, but... it felt like a good place to explore for him. Mainly for the fact he can usually find someone friendly more easily, and not end up somewhere flooded with barely any air pockets like the coral forest he first explored. At least it isn’t the ocean, which is always flooded.

Tempo waded through the shallows of the water that mostly swarmed the area. It was a good place to get used to the murkiness once again, since he’ll most likely have to swim a few parts. On the way, he noticed a floating piece of paper floating down. Judging by it not being soaking wet, it seemed to be recently dropped. It said... something about a Hawlucha looking to fight. “Who could...” He said to himself, before seeing a familiar red, white, and black figure flying above the marsh. ”Huh? Valen! Wait up! You dropped something!” He said, tucking the letter away for now as he soon began swimming, making sure not to soil the letter.

Energy: 21 - 15 = 6

As Valen was flying, he suddenly heard someone call his name and say that he had dropped something. The words seemed to be coming from somewhere on the ground. Valen looked down and saw a small blue and white figure swimming through the marsh. Then, he remembered who it was.

It was that Oshawott named Tempo, wasn't it? The one whom he had helped rescue before in Pecha Forest, back before Valen had joined the Aileron Guild... well, Tempo had technically managed to find his way to Saturn and Valen on his own then, but it still had to count for something, didn't it? Anyway, here he was again.

Valen flew down towards Tempo. "Hi, Tempo!" he said. "Wait, what did I drop?"

Looks like he was right. It was indeed the Pikipek he met back at the forest. And the paper was likely his, seeing as no one else was currently in the swamp at the time being. “Oh, uh, this.” He said, unfolding the letter and showing him it. “I guess you did join a guild, but going out on your own to fight someone? That’s just... foolish.” He said. “Take it from me. Without friends by my side, I’d have drowned ages ago...” Tempo seemed a bit... saddened to say that. “A... Anyway, let me help.”

"Hmm... Okay." Valen replied to Tempo while taking the letter back. Valen didn't think he really needed it anymore, because he could clearly remember what job he had to do, but it still felt nice to have it with him.

Valen still wasn't sure whether he actually needed any other kind of help, but he thought that having Tempo around probably couldn't hurt either. After all, Tempo had shown himself to be capable of swimming, which could be useful in such a wet area as this, and he could fight as well.

There was something to think about however. "You're not a part of a guild, are you?" Valen asked. He didn't think Tempo was in a guild, but was just asking for confirmation from Tempo himself. As far as Valen could remember, there weren't any restrictions involving traveling with non-guild members on most missions, but it still did feel a bit odd. And would the Hawlucha he was looking for accept it when it came time to fight?

Well, Valen thought, at the very least, Tempo could help in defending me against any feral Pokemon here, if I find any before meeting the Hawlucha. So he said, "It's fine, you can join me for now, I was just curious." to Tempo.

He shook his head in response to his guild question. “No, never been in a guild before. And for good reason, probably. Who’d want a drowning Oshawott to join their team?” He joked a bit. Clearly, he must be... happy about drowning with how much he’s bringing it up...

”I assume since you’re a bird, it’s nearly impossible to swim, which can cause problems here. Stay high in the sky, I’ll stay in the water.” He said, taking a short breath before diving to begin his exploration. It’s hard to see his sillhouette in the surface of the water, but even though the water here was murkier, he was still able to swiftly swim through without much issue.

DJOshawott carried out 6 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, , , , ,

"I'll do that." Valen said. Well, Hawlucha are also bird Pokemon, I guess, and they aren't Water type, so the one we're looking for is probably not underwater. Valen thought to himself next. But the feral Pokemon might be underwater... They could certainly reach Tempo even if they can't reach me. Valen worried. What if him coming along wasn't such a good idea after all? Should I tell Tempo that?

Valen was, in fact, thinking while flying so much he wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he usually did. There weren't as many trees to crash into as there would be in a forest, so that wasn't much of an issue for now. However, he wasn't as able to notice other Pokemon as he would have been if he was being more alert. And one important thing he wasn't thinking about was ranged attacks...

Pickup roll:

Shield carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Regular roll:

Shield carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Tempo wasn’t aware of much going around him, either. Everything was very dark and murky, and he couldn’t tell what was above the surface. For all he knew, it was about as uneventful as his swim. He surfaces for air after not seeing much that interested him, yet, but as he did, he noticed a Frogadier nearby, looking up to the unaware bird...

”Valen! Watch o-” Before he could warn him, a Froakie threw bubbles over the Oshawott’s mouth and nose, preventing him from speaking or breathing, before it tackled Tempo underwater with a deep breath. “Mmmngh,.. Grrmph!” The Oshawott fought as best as he could, using Assurance as much as he could to push off the frog by any means necessary, but Froakie just won’t give up. He had the upper hand. He had air. Tempo did not. But Tempo wouldn’t stop, either, until one Assurance hit the frog right in the chest, making him lose his air. Tempo used his scalchop to pry the frog’s bubbles off of him before swimming up, but not before being dragged down by the Froakie again...

As he was flying, Valen heard Tempo calling his name - and then Tempo's voice was suddenly cut off. It broke through Valen's thoughts, bringing him back to attention. Valen looked down, but couldn't see Tempo anywhere. What happened? Valen worried. And then, a bubble-covered rock hit Valen straight on.

The impact stunned Valen, stopping his flight. He fell rapidly towards the ground. But fortunately, when he landed, it was on a soft growth of marsh plants and not in the mud and water. Valen managed to regain his composure and looked to see who had thrown the rock. At a distance, he saw a blue Pokemon looking at him, holding another rock in its right hand and ready to throw. That's a Frogadier, he suddenly remembered. They were known for their swiftness, but they couldn't fly. But apparently, they could knock down flying Pokemon with rocks - or at least this one could.

Valen wasn't very near the Frogadier and couldn't fly at the moment, so he couldn't peck it. However, he hoped that copying the attack it had used could allow him to hit it. Valen used Mirror Move, and suddenly had a momentary sense of what to do to use Smack Down. He looked down to see a small stone at the edge of the plants. He picked it up in his beak and quickly fired it off at the Frogadier.

His shot, unfortunately, was poor, and the stone only barely grazed the Frogadier's right arm. It did, however, seem to shock the Frogadier, who dropped the stone it was holding. That was good, but then, it spat a large blast of water which hit Valen. Not only did it hurt quite a bit, the motion of the water made Valen dizzy. He had been confused!

With the Frogadier finishing up with that, he decided that the Pikipek wasn’t worth fighting, anymore, soon diving in with the Froakie to help with their second fight. Without needing to speak, the Froakie left and surfaced for air while the Frogadier held the otter back under.

Tempo was scared... It wasn’t the first time he drowned, but it surely wasn’t pleasent. His chest caved in a bit more with each second. Each Assurance was draining his energy to fight, and he could harely last much longer without a breath... In his last bit of desperation, he gurgles a Water Gun before launching it, with his breathless state increasing its power. The Frogadier flew off of the drowning and flailing otter and hits a wall, falling unconscious for the time being.

Tempo heads back to the surface with his last energy, grabbing the edge and gasping heavily once he finally breaches it... “G,., GRAAAAAGH! H... HWAAAAAGH... k... k... aaaf... h... haaaaaah...” Tempo was there for a while, unable to do much for now. Something in his pocket glows a little bit as he refills his empty chest...

[Reviver Seed Used: 21 Energy]

Everything, absolutely everything, was spinning. Not literally, of course, but that was how it seemed to the still confused Valen, who could barely make anything out. He was now terrified, waiting for the next attack to hit him.

But the next attack never came. Eventually, while Valen still felt hurt and dizzy, he was able to catch his breath and look around. And to his immense relief, he saw Tempo on the surface of the water, gasping for air.

Valen was now able to think a bit more clearly. Is that Frogadier going to attack again? Why did it attack in the first place? He soon supposed that the answer to the second question probably wasn't as important as the first one, and feral Pokemon were known for being extremely aggressive anyway. And there was another question, the most important of all: "Tempo? Are you okay?" Valen cried out.

It took a long time to recover his breath. The Froakie was nowhere to be seen, likely hiding as he recovered from the long dive. The Frogadier was rendered unconscious for the time being. They were likely safe for now, hopefully... ”H... Haaah... Y... Yeah... I... I’m... breathing...” The Oshawott panted out, the Frogadier’s unconscious body floating on the surface, soon breathing again, but still unconscious.

In the trees, the Froakie noticed what happened to the Frogadier, thinking it was killed during the battle. It wasn’t happy... and he soon jumped down towards the Oshawott with a Water Pulse, hoping to confuse it like the Pikipek. Tempo, however, was able to see and duck out of the way before it could hit. ”Oh no, RUN!” The Oshawott called out to Valen as he swam away from the angry Froakie as it continued its relentless attacks.

Upon hearing Tempo's words, Valen immediately attempted to take off. Unfortunately, his confusion still had not completely worn off, and Valen ended up falling back down. It was still on the plants, so he wasn't too hurt, at least. Then, Valen attempted to literally run away, but it was even worse, given that his body was much more suited for flying than for running; he tripped almost immediately.

Valen started panicking again. But there was yet another stroke of good fortune (for him, at least) - the Froakie seemed to be attacking Tempo, not him. And for the second time, Valen soon managed to pull himself together. He took off, flying in the direction that Tempo was swimming in. As he flew, he tried to aim a Peck at the Froakie while he was flying by, but missed by a lot. At least they were managing to put some distance away from the Froakie, but it had ranged attacks...

The Froakie was clearly blinded by rage, continuing to fight the Oshawott without paying much attention to anything else. Although it seems the Frogadier from earlier woke up, it didn’t seem to notice Froakie attacking the fleeing otter, and soon swam through the swam, minding his own business...

Suddenly, Froakie leaped off of the trees he was jumping across and forced Tempo under once again, although Tempo was able to attack with his Assurance, keeping the Froakie away as he stayed on the surface. He began to struggle as he was attacked quite a few times, leaving him open to attack by the Froakie once again. It dragged Tempo onto shore, then threw bubbles on his arms and legs, before throwing some onto his face to suffocate him again. He cries out as he uses all of his strength, but it isn’t working...

(OOC stuff I forgot to mention before: Valen's energy is currently 0, although he will gain 1 point of energy on the next page. Also, I'm able to encounter some Pokemon that DJOshawott rolled because we agreed in Discord DMs about it, as Valen didn't roll any Pokemon).

As Valen flew, he heard Tempo's cries yet again. Valen looked, and he saw that the Froakie had managed to catch Tempo! Not only that, but despite Tempo's desperate struggles, the Froakie seemed to be winning. Much of Tempo's body and face was covered with bubbles that were clearly from the Froakie.

No! I shouldn't have felt glad that the Froakie wasn't attacking me, if this was what it was going to do instead! Valen thought with a stab of guilt. And then, the guilt brought anger with it. Now I can do it! I WILL NOT FAIL! I'll truly rescue Tempo and I'll make that Froakie PAY for this!

Valen flew as fast as he could towards the Froakie, and, with all of his anger and determination, aimed a Peck at it. This time, he did not entirely miss, but his attack just grazed the Froakie. Valen's rage knew no bounds. He kept attacking as fast as he could, and some of his Pecks managed to hit more on target.