Scouts Need Speed (Open)

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(Do note that the goal of this thread is to reach and explore Monochrome Ruins)

Kestro trotted up towards the entrance of Shadowhue rather excitedly. His clawed feet left clear indentions in the ground and leaves covering it as he approached. The fossil pokemon slowly came to a stop at the very entrance of the forest, doing a final check on his items before he'd enter.

Berries, check. Seeds, check. Escape Orb, check. Notebook, check. Pens, check. Small tingles of excitement ran down Kestro's spine, and he wasn't quite sure why. Perhaps the lasting view of Russel's library in Fallen Leaf Copse was it, or the fact that the Mothim let Kestro join his Windrose Scouts. Maybe it was the fact that the scouts gave Kestro a purpose, something he felt he's lacked up until now.

In any case, here he was, facing Shadowhue. Granted the forest wasn't his true goal. While he'd certainly take notes of it, what Kestro really wanted to do was find the supposed ruins deeper in the forest and make a report on them. He hadn't seen one while at the library, so it felt like the perfect first report to submit.

Energy = 19

Pinned and poisoned, Cel had one clear thought pierce through the haze of pain and anguish; this sure would be a crappy way to die. The universe suddenly seemed to agree with him, because lithe and powerful vines sprouted up from the ground a moment later, restraining the ariados' limbs and pulling them off him. The mandibles remained, but a few well-placed, fear and adrenaline fueled kicks dislodged the pokemom, and just like that he was home free.

Well, almost. The spider was making quick work of its restraints. Cel was quicker, though, turning tail and hopping up into the air in one movement. He positioned himself so as to swan dive into the ground, and when he fell back down, he fell through the earth. Grass, dirt, and mud clods went flying as Cel furiously dug his way into the ground, out of reach of the ariados.

He tunneled down and away, making his way under the bug-type that had saved his butt from the shedinja. Then he dug upward; it meant he was going to get swamped by dirt and a bug, but if he was quick enough and his hunch was right, he could dig both himself and the larvesta to safety... provided the ariados didn't get to her first.

On the other hand, Dreyar somehow planted both his feet underneath him and stayed standing. He looked up at his next attacker - another flying bug. This one, though, did not look like a ghost type. Fed up and frankly relieved to be squaring off with an opponent he was both not terrified of and could hit, he stepped forward and blasted it with a powerful spray of scalding hot water.

He blasted the bug right out of the air, sending it crashing into the ground in a steaming heap. It wasn't down and out, but Dreyar spied the red splotches covering where it had been hit and grinned; he'd burned it. It was a very bloody, self-satisfied smile.

Toys:

She struggled and flailed, panicked as the ariados crept closer. Her ever-so-short life flashed before her eyes. Her eyes squeezed shut as she braced for the oncoming impalement. The bug reared its leg back before it surged forward. She could already feel her spirit fall. This was it. This was her death. She was now on her way to the after life-wait no she wasn't. She literally fell, she quickly discovered as she felt herself drop in on top of the hobo-eevee.

Her eyes snapped back open. They blinked once or twice as she gazed up at the gaping hole above. The fear and motive to run returned as the ariados peeked its head down the hole. "Eep!" She squeaked in terror as she struggled off of the mammal that just rescued her. She'd have to thank him later; they weren't out of the woods just yet! The Ariados's mandibles twitched and spread apart as a bright green energy illuminated the darkness of the makeshift hole. A beam of energy fired out, but it missed despite the literal fish in a barrel before it.

The farthest wall was struck with the energy as the spider was suddenly both yanked and lifted from the spot, the stray beam threatened to strike those who didn't notice the oncoming attack off in the ninjask-brigade. The screech of the bug sounded as another pokemon seemed interested in joining the odd free-for-all that seemed to have developed here. The spider was caught up in the horns of a pinser. Its legs flailed about wildly as the newcomer seemed to enjoy the position of power it was put in.

The not-hobo-eevee on the other hand experienced difficulty in deciding her next course of action. She was far more relaxed in her current position than before despite still being trapped to the tree. The mean pokemon weren't really bothering her here, which meant she could continue her support from a safe distance where she wouldn't get hurt. She wondered briefly if it was because they didn't see her as the threat...?

Well...how wrong they were! She snickered to herself with a sly smirk. Her paws illuminated with a bright white energy as she moved them about, not mobile enough to get herself free, but just enough to deliver another boost from Helping Hand to the others.

Sekita's boost came just in time for Kestro. The extra boost was enough for the rock type to make another push to free his foot, and thankfully for him he was able to yank it out of the Paras' hole. He yanked it a bit too hard, though. He hopped on one leg before finally toppling over, his heavier body slamming the Ninjask still clinging onto his back into the dirt. It wasn't squished like the Ariados, but the bug type wasn't getting up any time soon. Kestro was in about as bad a shape, rolling off of the Ninjask and onto his belly, the rock type struggled to push himself off the ground.

After a few pained attempts, Kestro managed to push himself unsteadily onto his feet. The poison clouded his mind and vision, but at the very least he didn't see anything else trying to pounce him. Dreyar was handling the other Ninjask. Vulcana and the hobo seemed to have disappeared. Wait, who was that attacking the Ariados? It didn't really matter if they were helping, at least. Shaking his head, Kestro limped over towards Sekita, who seemed rather cheery despite being stuck to a tree. "Having fun?" the Cranidos grumbled before he began to shear the silk as best he could with his beak. It took several yanks before the silk trap gave way to release the blind Eevee. It probably would've been easier if Kestro had healed beforehand, but he wasn't quite thinking straight with the poison.

The squirtle looked down at his opponent, the not-ghost bug which was now colored a very painful blotchy red. Its wings buzzed frantically, lifting it up off the ground as it seemingly prepared to make another charge... only to catch sight of its ninjask comrade getting squished like the bug it was by Kestro. Then it turned and flew away. Dreyar blinked in stupefaction, staring off in the direction that the ninjask flew in for a moment or two as he tried to compute that factor. He supposed it wasn't unreasonable that it didn't want to fight to the death for some food... or whatever it was here for, but it felt rather anticlimactic.

At least he wouldn't get smeared in any more bug juice. He resisted the urge to look down at the mess he was covered in but shuddered in disgust anyway.

Dreyar sighed, breath short as he made his way over to Kestro and Sekita. His eyes scanned the stretch of the forest they were in, catching sight of the pinsir rather smugly putting the squeeze on one of the ariados that had been squaring off with Cel earlier. The second spider pokemon skittered around the horned pokemon nervously, not sure how to proceed now that its buddy was seconds away from getting crushed. Vulcana and the hobo, however, were nowhere to be found.

There was a conspicuous eevee-sized hole in the ground nearby, though. "Keep up," Celio whispered urgently, squeezing past the bug pokemon to tunnel in a direction away from the ariados' and pinsir. He hadn't seen the development that occurred above ground a second ago, but no matter the case, it seemed to him like a good idea to run away. The normal-type tore through the ground as he made a path for himself and the bug-type both.

His head burst out of the ground like a screwed up jack in the box, paws squeezing out to pry himself out of the earth. The eevee scrambled up, filthy, bruised, and with a noticeable blood trail leaking from his collar, but in one piece. He took one look at the ariados' and the pinsir and decided to leave them to their fun. Having been looking for them, Dreyar spotted his reappearance.

The squirtle didn't catch on to what Cel was thinking, per se, but the same idea of getting out while no hostile pokemon were focused on them occurred to him as well. "There they are," he huffed under his breath. Vulcana wasn't there, but she had to be close by, right? "Let's get out of here before any more of them show up!" he... pleaded? It definitely wasn't a suggestion, because the panic and fear of the spider pokemon had leaked into his voice so much that it was almost forceful, but for the same reason it definitely wasn't an order.

Fun? This was a blast! "Hell yeah," the eevee responded, "You guys are totally kicking their asses~!" her voice weaved into a sing-song tone as she spoke. She could feel the web give way as Kestro assisted her. She dropped back onto the ground with a less-than-graceful landing. She picked herself right back up and put herself on alert with a Detect. Her face stared onward into the forest, but her ears deliberately twitched to every little sound she could pick up.

She could hear that the squirtle wanted to leave. She was admittedly a little disappointed, but it was a good idea in the end. It was best to leave before things got really bad-like someone bleeding or something. "Over this way!" she called out suddenly before she gave a quick twist of her body to start running. She couldn't pick up on anything in the North particularly, so it seemed like the safest bet to avoid more encounters. Not only that, but she was certain to be the one attacked if she were at the front line.

...Normally that would be a terrible thing she would be completely against, but Detect changed that.

The larvae didn't protest to the eevee's instructions, however, she found it very difficult to fit in an eevee-sized tunnel. She pushed and shoved her way through it, her horns ached as she did her best to keep up with Hobo. Unfortunately she fell behind...far behind. She wouldn't reach the surface Cell popped up through until after Sekita took off running.

She wiggled and wormed her way out of the hole, but found herself completely out of breath and disoriented. Her beautiful white fuzz was riddled with filth and mud-not only that, but her stomach began to turn with an odd sickness she didn't quite understand. Despite her frequent encounters with Bug Types, she wasn't exactly familiar with the sensation of being poisoned...

Kestro attempted a sigh at Sekita's joy in the brawl she was hearing and not seeing, but only managed to cough. With the Eevee free and Dreyar approaching them, the Cranidos decided now was a good time as ever to deal with the immediate problem of him still being poisoned. He'd just gotten the pecha berry out of his bag when Dreyar started pushing them to leave. Kestro raised a brow, or... whatever might be a brow for a Cranidos, at the idea. He looked over to see the hobo-vee crawling out of a hole to join them, but Vulcana was still out of sight.

"Let's at least make sure Vul-" too late. Sekita, the blind eevee, started running off in a random direction, telling the others to follow her. Kestro stood there for a moment, finally taking a bite out of that pecha berry he was holding. He fully expected Sekita to slam into a bush or tree before getting too far. He didn't stay to watch, though, instead turning towards the sound of panting. Lo and behold there was Vulcana, somehow managing to squeeze through the small eevee hole.

Kestro, now feeling the effects of the poison start to abate, trotted up to the bug type. "Hey, can you stand? We're gonna try to get out of this mess," he said, glancing over at the Pinsir and two Ariados. The Ariados stuck between the Pinsir's horns had stopped struggling now and hung limply between them, while the other one was angrily spitting webs onto the other bug type to pin it down. They didn't have long until only one was left.

Like Kestro, Celio hadn't taken off immediately after worming himself to freedom. He went through the trouble of securing an escape route for Vulcana with the ariados—the least he could do was stick around until she got out as well. He kept a vigilant eye on the dueling bug-types that were too close for comfort, ready to shout a warning and bolt at the first sign of trouble. The spiders' numbers were just cut in half; any moment now, the pinsir would take the fight to the other one, and then the winner between them could just as easily set their sights on him and the rest of this group.

His ears twitched at the cranidos' approach and words. "She'll have to." Cel muttered absently. It wasn't as if any of them could carry the larvesta. He glanced at the black eevee who was prancing off into the dark woods. The squirtle followed her at a more sedated pace, making an effort to wait for the three of them to follow before he fully committed to fleeing. He looked torn between helping them and making sure the blind one didn't run headfirst into another disaster.

Ignoring the burning in his neck and trickling through his veins, Cel started a quiet trot in the direction of Sekita and Dreyar. "Try not to draw their attention on our way out," the eevee whispered. "We're not out of the fire yet." He felt on edge, standing close to a lethal fight between wild pokemon. It was out of the ordinary for him; certainly, he'd watched pokemon battle back in the mountains all the time, but he almost never was dumb enough to get so close. Getting as involved as he already had was enough of a first for him; Cel did not want to pay the price of overindulgence. It was time to move on to more important things, like collecting that reward from the blind one's daddy or whatever.

Kestro's expectations went unfulfilled. The eevee's giggles weren't just for expression. The quick brown fox paid attention to every little sound. The moment she looked as if she were about to smack into a tree, she was quick to weave around it. She did notice, at the least, that she was not quite being followed yet. She waited for the group, her attention set on the world around her.

There wasn't any sign of danger this way still, but she could never be too cautious! The little eevee was no stranger to sudden and unexpected surprises that were out to ruin her fun.

Vulcana struggled up to her legs again. Her response to her allies was not verbal. Instead of answering and wasting more time, she bolted off as quickly as her little legs could take her in the direction they were told to go. Even if she weren't much of a fan of Sekita, she trusted the eevee to be able to lead them to safety. After all, she could see the future...apparently. So that must mean that she could know which way was safe, right?

Nervous whines and cries escaped her, unable to remain completely silent-especially at the sound of a sickening crunch just behind her. The larvesta didn't have the guts to turn and look. She kept running.

The pinser finished the ariados before the limp body was chucked into the other Ariados. The pinsir gave a victorious cry before he pounded on his body like some sort of ape. Instead of pursuing the others, the pinser seemed much more interested in the thing that tried so desperately to web him down. How foolish it was to think that mere webs could stop it...despicable!

Kestro huffed at Cel's muttering, a rather annoyed click following. He didn't have much time to dwell on it, as soon enough Vulcana began to skitter off after Sekita and the rest. Kestro took one last look back at the other bug Pokemon- just in time to see the Ariados squeezed like a bottle of toothpaste. Kestro groaned at the sickening sight, turning away to catch up to the rest of the group.

Thankfully Sekita had stopped her less-than-aimless flee from the area, and Kestro caught up fairly quickly. "Well, that was too close for comfort," the Cranidos said, trying to wipe off the remains of the ariados off of his body. He had trouble getting most off, given his rather short arms. "Ugh, hopefully I can get this off at the falls," he mumbled to himself.

Cel followed the fleeing larvesta and cranidos, keeping a wary eye on the frenzied pinsir all the while. It wasn't until they caught up with the black eevee that he allowed himself to relax, the sounds of the bug-type's now targetless rampage fading as it either calmed down or headed in the opposite direction. It was over; they were safe.

With that realization, he let go of a heavy breath, wincing at the hot, stinging fire on the side of his neck. Instinctively, the eevee knew something was wrong, and his best guess was some kind of poison—that ariados had gotten a hold of him pretty well for a hot second there. A shame, too, because he thought he'd performed pretty well up until that point. "What happened to you two?" Cel asked, visibly askance as he sat down to rest, seeming to notice Kestro and Dreyar's blood-covered forms for the first time.

"Ariados," Dreyar replied, his voice tremulous and thick with suppressed panic rising to the surface. The squirtle had wiped his arms down his torso, lashing them out at the ground, causing spider guts and blood to be cast off. It left visible smear marks on him—like Kestro said, they needed to get to some water as soon as possible. "G-god, that was so gross! GOSH!" the squirtle nearly burst out, hopping from foot to foot as he allowed himself to really register what, exactly, he was covered in right now.

Maybe if it hadn't been a giant ariados, specifically, he'd be less perturbed, but... "N-never again," he stammered, glancing around Shadowhue with a new sense of distrust and dislike. Had he known this was the experience waiting for him, he'd have trained somewhere else. The squirtle backed up until his shell bumped up against a tree, then allowed himself to slide down it, eyes tightly shut as he did his best to forget the past five minutes.

Vulcana happened to be in the same boat as Dreyar in terms of trauma from spider-guts. The hemolymph that coated the cranidos and the squirtle's bodies terrified her. It wasn't exactly blood, but it was certainly the bug-equivalent. The same kind of stuff that she had. The larvesta may have kept up with the group just fine, but now she just so happened to sort of regret it. The cranidos that gave her such a valuable and helpful item now terrified her with how easily he could crush her-just like he had the ariados.

She remained quiet, instead opting to distance herself from the bug-insides. She looked over to Dreyar, who was about as stressed looking as she felt. Wasn't...wasn't he a water type? Couldn't he just wash it all off? Getting all of this out of her sight would make it a lot easier to stand beside her new...friends? Were they friends? Is this what friendship was? Sitting in a forest covered in bug-guts? She didn't like friendship very much if it was...

Sekita, in the meanwhile, was perplexed by the responses of the group. Too close for comfort and never again, huh? She could have sworn it sounded like they were absolutely kicking those bug-butts. Her smile faded into a more confused and ever so slightly concerned expression. She leaned closer to the group and took a good sniff or two. Blood. Mammal blood. Peeerhaps her earlier presumptions of a total win was a little...incorrect.

"Alright, who's bleeding?" she questioned.

Kestro looked over at the hobo, "I rammed one of them too hard," he added to Dreyar's response before the squirtle started to dance around in disgust. Kestro tilted his head at the odd dance. He too wondered why the water type didn't clean off the bug guts coating them both like Vulcana. Kestro, at least, voiced his concerns, "Can't you wash us off? Just don't go full blast on me if you're gonna use water gun," he asked. Kestro still didn't know much about the others' species, save Vulcana, but he at least knew that Dreyar was probably a water type. He'd have to spend time learning about the different species of Pokemon over at Windrose Library when he got the chance.

Kestro let out a long sigh, fatigue starting to set back in as he lowered himself to the ground. Blood? Sekita could smell that someone was bleeding? Kestro couldn't tell anything other than the scent of dead ariados. Granted he was covered in it like some crazed monster slayer. Was he bleeding? He knew the Ninjask probably did a number on his back, but he couldn't tell how bad it was right now. Laying down was probably a bad idea, as Kestro was already starting to nod off. A small thought crossed his mind, barely registering for him for a moment.

His head lifted up at a start, "Wait, Sekita, can you smell any water nearby?" he asked. He'd just been skeptical about following a blind eevee earlier, yet here he was wanting to use that same Eevee to guide them to the entrance of Monochrome Ruins. Or at least him. He wasn't sure about all five of them going to the ruins. Poor Vulcana already saw what one rock type could do to bug types, who knows how traumatized she'd become given that Monochrome Ruins sounded like a rock type hot bed. Dreyar already sounded ready to get out of the forest as quickly as possible, but Kestro hoped maybe he would stay for the added type advantage. Sekita and Celio, though? Well he wasn't sure what they could do. Celio seemed to know Dig at least, but Sekita spent the entirety of the shit show of a brawl earlier stuck to a tree. Kestro hadn't even realized she was using Helping Hand and Secret Power during the battle. If anything he was worried she'd end up smeared on the wall by a trap or angry resident.

Dreyar sighed. "I could, but the only water move I know is Scald. It's... really, really hot water. I could burn myself or any one of you guys trying, even if I tried dialing it back." he explained, dropping further down the tree as he confessed his lack of utility as a water type. "It's probably less risky to find a stream or a pond nearby." the squirtle finished, shrugging his shoulders in a silent apology.

"That sucks. I'd kill for a hot bath right now." Cel spoke from the side, absently digging dirt out of his coat with a paw. "I'm the one that's bleeding, by the way. Spider got me on the side of my neck, but I don't think he got me too deep. Just enough to poison." he grumbled.

The admission seemed to remind Drey of his own injuries. "R-right, yeah, one of those flying ghost bugs got me across the cheek. It's me too," he confessed, reaching a hand up to touch the cut on his face. When he pulled it back, his hand was dipped in red. "Actually, I've got pecha berries for anyone besides me who got poisoned back there." he went on to offer. "And I know a little healing move that could help out a bit, if you guys wanna gather around..."

"I'll take a berry!" the brown eevee piped up, trodding closer. Drey fished into his bag and retrieved two, taking one for himself and tossing one to Cel, who snatched it out of the air with his mouth and instantly gobbled it down like some kind of starving animal.

Dreyar didn't put his bag away though, looking curiously around in case anyone else needed a cure before they moved on.

She should get a berry. She should really get a berry. The larvesta kept her mouth shut, despite that fact. She was poisoned, but she couldn't bring herself to speak up. Vulcana kept her mouth shut as she waited for everyone to get their act together. Kestro was already onto business while Dreyar explained that he couldn't just blast them with water.

She glanced over to the oddly colored eevee, then to the normal one. It was a relief that Dreyar even had berries for this to begin with, but of course, she was a little too cowardly to approach. This was fine, however, she could bear with this. It'd just be a little more tiring is all right? No pain, no gain!

"Okay, first of all," Sekita started up the moment the cranidos spoke to her, "You can't smell water. Water has no smell. I can, however, smell stuff around the water." With that myth immediately dismissed, she stood herself up and took another good sniff around the area, parading around the group in a circle as she put her nose to work.

Once she caught the scent, her ears perked up, "Over here," she spoke up. Just as before, she didn't wait. Instead, she just walked.

Kestro wasn't sure how to feel about Sekita's correction. It didn't really matter, but his exhaustion made him slow to let the thought go. As Sekita began to head off, Kestro waited for the rest of the group to follow. He'd decided to take up the rear guard. It was more so because he didn't feel energetic enough to keep up with the seemingly still active Eevee.

As he slowly followed, he started to try and clean his hands at least. If he could get an Oran or Sitrus berry from his bag-without covering it in bug meat-he'd greatly appreciate the healing properties of the berries. He sadly couldn't do more than smear the bug bits across his hands, and let out a huff of frustration. He'd just have to wait until after a quick bath.