[Event] Settling Up

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Wading his way through the mists of the deeper swamplands for the very first time, Goro did not at all feel like a brave explorer treading new ground. The Misty Mire might have been his backyard metaphorically, but he hadn't dared step foot here as of yet. One, he was probably much too weak, and two, he had no good reason to.

Today was different. After he'd been ambushed by the rudest little rabbit in the world, the croagunk found himself with a problem that needed fixing. Namely, a big fat hole in his shack. He wasted no time in conscripting the little twit into aiding him, and serendipitously, there happened to be two travelers nearby who also offered their services. And all they asked for in return were some directions - valuable information to someone who didn't live here, Goro assumed. He must've been something of a lifeline for these two. The thought put a touch of arrogant swagger into his step.

"I figure we can use wood from trees out here in the Mire. S'probably tougher, less brittle, you know? Like all the pokemon out here," he explained, his hands on his hips authoritatively as he led the group of ragtag companions into the deep marshlands. "We do good enough o' job, I might even escort y'all wherever you're going." he went on, feeling quite gracious and generous now that he was setting about not just fixing, but improving his beloved home.

34 energy - 20 (entry) - 5 (bringing Silk): 9 energy

Goro nodded to himself sternly as Silk bounced around in pain. This was good; she suffered, and the tree was durable enough to withstand her evil attacks. It was suitable for his purposes. Before he could bark any more orders, though, a burst of motion behind him and a frantic yell beat him to the punch.

He spun on his heel to bear witness to the skiddo half-flailing deep in the mud, trying and failing to dislodge what looked like a basculin from his leg. Yera, on the other hand, narrowly dodged a full-body tackle from a second basculin. Rogue fish were trying to poach his helpers! Incensed, Goro immediately sprung into action.

Aries could handle himself for a minute. If he was confident enough to put his hands—vines, whatever—on Goro, then he should be able to handle a little fishie. On the other hand, Yera had what he assumed was food in her sacks and basket. That made her valuable and worth saving. When the second basculin shot forward out in a jet of water, he stepped in hard and threw his fist forward. It hardened and shone metallically, shooting forward with all the speed of a bullet. The croagunk proved to be just a hair quicker than the basculin, and his right straight crashed directly into the basculin's face.

It hurt, to be fair. A warning twinge of pain erupted in his wrist, protesting against the collision, but the green fish went flying back into the water. Gone for a few moments, perhaps, but probably not defeated. Instead of turning and leaping to Aries' aid, the croagunk peered into the rippling water where the fish landed, squinting as if looking for any sign of it making an immediate return. Either it dove deep underwater or it was stunned for a second, because he saw nothing.

The only response Silk received was a nod from the croagunk. He did, in fact, seem pleased with what he had seen. Jerk. At least the other two seemed nice enough, albeit very on-edge. She would need to do something about that. Unfortunately, it seemed that would have to wait because something far more important was suddenly demanding her attention: Aries was being attacked! His companion tried to help, but a second assailant appeared to pull her attention away, leaving him helpless against the... fish. They were just a couple of little fish. How was the skiddo being dragged so forcefully away??

Regardless, he needed help, and it seemed to Silk that she was the only one able and willing with the other two distracted by the second fish. Having already seen Yera try and fail to pull him out, she decided to take a different approach and dove into the muddy water to grab onto the thing biting at him. It didn't seem to want to let go, so she began heating her hands with the power of justice fire. The water around it was beginning to bubble when it finally opened its mouth, at which point the buneary quickly chucked it as far as she could in a random direction before it could latch onto her.

Yera was absolutely shocked to see the croagunk leap to her aid and punch the wretched fish back to where it came from. Her shallow breathing was difficult to control, but she just barely managed a breathy "Th-thanks!" to the croagunk. It didn't matter if he was listening or not. She was indebted to him. As far as she was currently concerned, the whole basket she had with her was now his. All of it. He can enjoy Aries' cooking and have whatever he wanted from the basket. Basket included. She didn't care.

Her attention turned over to Aries. The adorable buneary leaped to his aid and, to her jealousyawe, the fish was launched into the distance. The basculin landed back into the water with a splash that caused the water to ripple and wave. She froze to the spot, simply waiting for the two to come back and try again to make meals of them.

While Aries was relieved for the sharp pain to stop tearing into his leg, that didn't just make the wound go away all together. The tasty skiddo pulled himself out of the water as he became increasingly concerned about the filthy bacteria-infested water and mud coming into contact with the bleeding area. His legs shook in fear as he resisted the urge to go limp and play dead. The situation went from stressful to overly stressful in a matter of seconds. He could hardly stop his heart from pounding as he thought about how much he just narrowly escaped death just then.

He may not have been out of the woods just yet, but he'd certainly need to invite the buneary over to his shop for a free meal at some point to make up for this mess...He couldn't quite speak like Yera could, but at the very least he limped his way closer in-land in the hopes that he would stay out of danger.

Why did so many things want to kill him? What had he ever done to literally anything??

((Gonna leave it up to y'all whether they come back))

When Goro turned to deal with the next obstacle barring his shack's repair, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the buneary had made herself useful. She dove right into the filthy water and flung the basculin back from whence it came. Though she did have the nerve to lash at out him when he walked up on her, so maybe he shouldn't be surprised. Still, he decided to regard her as more stupid than brave, because that made him feel better.

"Bold little buggers," Goro mumbled to himself, staring out into the pond. He'd never seen a fish pokemon jump out of the water like that to try and catch prey before. Heck, he hadn't even heard them coming until Aries freaked and Yera screeched out. Just like he'd suspected, the Mire didn't mess around.

The water rippled strongly from where both fish had landed and there wasn't much evidence of visible movement on the surface of the pond. Just to be safe, Goro stepped into the muddy water and stomped around violently, filthy water splashing up all around him. He was trying to send a message, but in all likelihood he was just broadcasting how stupid he was. "That oughta teach 'em." he said smugly, turning and striding out until his feet were on moist soil.

Silk waited momentarily to see if either of the anger fish would return, but to her relief, it seemed like they were sick of getting smacked around. She watched the croagunk assault the mud for... reasons, and decided not to question it. He seemed to have pleased himself with the display and that was all that mattered. After deciding they were safe, the little bunny cautiously began trudging out of the muddy water, eager to get out before something bigger and angrier showed up.

As she waded through the shallow water, kicking up even more mud, she suddenly felt something touch her leg. Immediately she yiped, but instead of fleeing, she plunged her hands into the water on reflex. Her initial assumption was that one of the basculin had come back to try and take a bite out of her, so she grabbed it and hauled it out of the water in preparation to throw it away again. But as she lifted the fish, she realized it... wasn't a basculin at all, nor was it anything particularly scary. It was just a harmless barboach that seemed more interested in getting away from her than anything else. It had probably been disturbed by Goro's... whatever that was he was trying to do. "Aw, sorry," the buneary spoke to the fish before setting it back in the water and allowing it to swim away.

"Everyone alright?" she spoke a bit louder as she surveyed the others for any sign of serious injuries. She hadn't seen anyone get much more than a nibble from the basculin, so she figured they were all fine, but it seemed courteous to ask anyway. She shook some of the mud from her arms and legs as she stepped out of the water, though she didn't try too hard since she wasn't bothered by getting dirty.

"I-I'm fine! Thank-thanks Goro..." Yera repeated her show of gratitude once more towards the croagunk. Perhaps he wasn't that bad after all? It was probably a bit mean to be overjoyed that the poison type opted to save her over Aries who was actively in more danger than her, but the buneary got to him and helped him out. So it should be alright, right? The deerling was, admittedly, a bit confused a the poison type stomped around in the mud, but she was not about to question it. Perhaps it was a local tradition or a gesture that had meaning around these parts?

When he returned, she was quick to drop the basket off near him, "You know what you can have this I'm not really feeling that hungry and you saved me so-okay im gonna go check on Aries now."

The deerling popped on over to her companion, who still shook like a leaf in the wind. Aries held his wounded leg up to as to avoid putting pressure on it. He wanted to speak up and voice his concern about the open wound in such a place along with the risks of infection, but he still couldn't quite get a hold of himself yet. Instead of words, a quiet bleat escaped him. His mouth snapped shut immediately after as he decided that perhaps he should wait until he calmed down a bit more.

He should be fine so long as he stayed away from the mud and water...right?

The croagunk blinked in astonishment as Yera thanked him—again—and dropped a basket full of presumably food at his feet. Honestly, he probably would have tried to strong-arm them into giving him enough for lunch after they finished working, but this was fortunate. No muss, no fuss, as it were. As the deerling checked on her friend, he crouched down, opened the lid, and immediately smiled. Jackpot. It'd been a while since he ate anything half-decent, and this looked like it was going to blow raw mushrooms and roasted surskit out of the water.

"You wanna hold onto this 'til we're done, maybe?" Goro asked her after a moment. He had his bindle in one hand and now a basket in the other; not the best look for him in case something else attacked them. "Not that I don't want some, 'cos it looks damn good, but I'll probly need my hand for other stuff. Like hitting things," he finished, holding it back out to her.

Goro wanted to keep his prize on his person so no one would make off with the basket while they worked, but it would be a real shame if something got the jump on him and it took a tumble in the mud. As long as Yera was protected, it was safest with her.

Well, Yera seemed okay other than being spooked, and of course the big jerkface was fine, but Aries... seemed to be doing poorly. Silk couldn't help but frown, both at this and because Goro had been the only one to receive any gratitude. Well, at least everyone was alive. She hurried over to the skiddo to make sure he was well enough to walk, but she wasn't sure what she even planned to do if he wasn't; she had no supplies with her and no healing moves.

Aside from being traumatized, the skiddo also had a bleeding leg from where he had been bitten. Putting aside all but his well-being, she decided to focus on this injury as she spoke, "Does anyone have a way to heal this? Or at least something to wrap it up with."

She wasn't too optimistic about anyone being able to heal, otherwise she hoped they would already be doing it, but maybe someone had some cloth or something so they could at least try to bandage the wound. Otherwise, she didn't see this skiddo lasting too long on an injured leg with how he seemed to be handling himself already.

Now that she thought about it, it was actually very stupid to expect the croagunk to be able to hold it AND protect them. "O-Oh! Y-Yes, I should do that..."

The deerling picked the basket back up without a moment's hesitation, ready to do anything she can to both thank her savoir and make sure he doesn't murderize her for her insolence. She looked back over to the buneary who was looking after Aries. She asked if anyone knew any healing moves, but unfortunately Yera was of no help. Her expression fell as she avoided eye contact with the bunny. She was useless.

Aries appreciated Silk's assistance. He didn't mind that Yera busied herself with tending to the frog, she had her business and he had his. His business was currently trying to heal up that big open sore spot. As soon as Silk brought up the mention of a healing move, he was reminded that hey, HE had one. The idiot skiddo tried to focus himself long enough to use it. A dim white light flowed over him briefly. He certainly felt better afterwards, but there was still the matter that the wound didn't just disappear. That wasn't what Milk Drink was about.

"M-My Joy Ribbon..." he offered, "I-Is it clean enough to wrap it with?" He moved his neck to make the pink little ribbon more apparent. He didn't know how messy it got with his plunge into the lake, but if it was clean enough, perhaps it could help?

They really wanted to go home.

Now that his hand was free and able to be used, Goro set about sizing up his tree. In all honesty, he just needed a chunk out of it, but he didn't know any cutting moves. Could he smash a chunk of wood out of a tree? That sounded unwieldy and a good way to break his other hand. Worst come to worst, maybe he could cause an earthquake and shake it from its roots and maybe it would break apart or something.

"Probly, yeah," the croagunk contributed to the conversation, his good hand on his chin while he stared at a tree. The skiddo just went a-splashing in the water. Did he think it was filthy, or was he just one of those super clean freaks? "I've got like, rags and stuff back in the shack too, if you're picky." He wasn't willing to go all the way back there until they got the wood to fix his shelter, but he wanted to make it known regardless.

So wrapped up was the croagunk in his analyzation of a fucking tree, he didn't notice the weird fetus-thing in a green bubble that bounced over from out of the mist. A duosis stared curiously at the party of four while they tended to Aries' wound, its inky oval eyes blinking in bewilderment.

(+1 energy from new page)

the sunset hero carried out 1 launched of one Misty Mire :

Why was it that the only one who seemed particularly concerned about Aries was himself? Silk wasn't too surprised at the well-established jerkface not seeming to care much, but at the very least, she'd thought the skiddo's companion would be more worried about him. Weren't the two friends or something? They certainly seemed to be well-acquainted with each other. Well, it wasn't her business and she was currently more worried about tending to this wound with her grand total of 0 medical expertise.

The buneary stepped closer and reached out to inspect the ribbon, trying to decide if it seemed clean or not. Jerkface thought it was clean enough, but she disagreed; it wasn't exactly encrusted with mud, but it had certainly been in the filthy water. She yanked her own joy ribbon rom around her neck, along with the silk scarf she'd tucked under it, figuring perhaps one would have protected the other from the muck. Sure enough, her white little scarf seemed mostly fine. "No, here, we can use this," she stated, as she tied the accompanying ribbon loosely back around her neck.

She knelt down to tie the scarf around the skiddo's wounded leg, but waited to make sure he didn't have any objections first. Plus... she really wasn't looking forward to getting blood all over the white fabric... but it wasn't exactly spotless at this point anyway and she was definitely going to have to wash it later, so this wouldn't change much.

As much as Aries would have liked to object to Silk's usage of her pretty white scarf, he valued living more. Living was great...when it wasn't utterly terrifying. The skiddo swallowed his fears and nodded, though he seemed awfully uncertain himself. He felt so baaaaad, Silk was doing so much for him! That's it. Ten free dinners...if he gets out of here alive. No-twenty. Permanent discount? Ugh, he didn't know...

He made it a point to avoid looking at the damaged area and instead focused on anywhere else...including the water. Oooh boy he shouldn't have looked at the water. His shivering started up again, the urge to pass out became strong yet again. He didn't even see anything and yet it gave him the chills. He-wait...what was that thing glowing in the water? His immediate reaction: Fear.

"Th-there's something else out...there...?" he spoke up, only or his voice to trail off. The hypnoric pattern of lights within the water continued to blink and flicker. It only took a second longer of staring at it that he started to feel a little dizzy. His eyes began to feel heavy as attempted to fight back a yawn. He failed, of course, as he would eventually crash into a slumber...standing up.

Yera, now that the frog was no longer concerned with her, turned her full attention to her friend. She didn't have anything that could help. Although, when he pointed out something in the waters, she couldn't help but look too. By the time she twisted her head to glance, the lights in the water were gone. Confused, she looked back to Aries, "I don't see anything?" She paused. He didn't respond, "Aries?" she lifted a hoof to poke the sleeping skiddo, but decided better of it. If she poked him and he fell over, he'd get mud all over him-including the open wound. She looked to Silk with desperation in her eyes. She had absolutely no idea what just happened and what to do.

At the very least Aries was now standing completely still for Silk to wrap him up.

"Again?" Goro muttered to himself impatiently. He'd just gotten started on the actual problem here, and now something else in this dumb swamp wanted to screw with them?

The croagunk heaved an irritated breath before tearing his gaze away from his tree, glancing in the direction that Aries was facing. Was it another fish? He peered out and studied the pond. Save for the last of the ripples made by the basculin, he saw nothing. No approaching fish pokemon, no undulations in the water that signified the approach of a water-type coming their way... not even anything close to the pond, like their little group.

Yera seemed to come to the same conclusion. Maybe Aries had just seen a magikarp under the water or something, that happened all the time. "Yeah, me neithe - wait, what the fuck is that?" Goro cut himself off, having turned from the pond back to his tree... and in the process, he spotted the duosis staring at all of them curiously. It blinked at him curiously before bouncing forward a little bit, looking at the skiddo before glancing pointedly at the water, which made Goro just feel like he was missing something.

Silk was a bit too preoccupied wondering how best to tie the skiddo's leg up, and so she took a moment to look at whatever he was talking about. She saw nothing and looked to him for clarification, but he now seemed to be... asleep? She frowned in confusion. Jerkface was the one who next claimed to see something, but this time there was actually something there when the buneary looked. "I have no idea," she responded as she scanned the... thing.

It didn't seem aggressive, at least. Actually it appeared to be trying to communicate, looking at the skiddo, then the water. "Ooh, I'm great at charades!" she spoke as she hastily tied her scarf around the now-sleeping skiddo's leg and got up. "Ok ok, um... it looked at him, then the water," she pointed to the skiddo and then in the general direction the green thing had glanced, "Sooo... the water... did something to him? Oh- or something in the water!"

She looked at the strange-looking pokémon as she awaited some form of confirmation from it. Her attitude was perhaps a bit too eager and gleeful, considering there could have been another attacker lurking in the water from the sounds of it. She liked games like charades a lot. Not to say she wasn't still concerned about the safety of Aries as well as everyone else, but... well... she was very excitable and... maybe a bit of a goof.

Yera looked to the duosion that apparently witnessed whatever happened to Aries. While the other two tried to figure out what it said, she decided to try and get Aries to wake back up. "...Hey?" she started out. The skiddo did not respond.

She felt almost bad though. He seemed almost peaceful like this. This was probably one of the best naps she'd ever seen him have in weeks. She immediately abandoned her task of waking him up and instead decided that perhaps just guarding him would do...until he woke up on his own that is. He'd do that...right?

---

In the waters, the Inkay that caused the incident listened in as the psychic type above the surface gave away its position. Annoyed, the inkay decided it would be best to move...and silence the snitch. As soon as either the slimy looking psychic type, the normal type, or the fighting type dared to look their way again, the bright and shiny lights on its hat-like top would begin to shine again in attempt to lure another one into slumber. It didn't matter which one to the little psychic type, just that they would all succumb to it in the end. Besides, what idiot was going to come out this deep into the water to try to attack it?