It's always rainy in Pecha forest. (Open)

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Ambiance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBcZDjP1o6w
19 - 5 = 14 energy


In contrast to the stark sunny weather of Grassveil, overnight Pecha forest seemed to have been doused in rain, and in the early morning light the sun shone off the dew of leaves like a blinding white mirror. Orcrist slashed his way through the plants in his path, clearing the way of debrie as he went. He stopped every so often to pick wet leaves off himself or throw off vines that just wouldn't cut, but he kept going. After what had happend with the close call of his pursuers in Grassveil he did not want to stay for long, he was not sure where he was going to go but he had to leave and he was sure of that.

After quite a bit of wandering he stopped a moment for some rest and looked around himself for some sense of direction, the air was still and you could hear bird pokemon chirping distantly in the trees. Orcrist muttered to himself about how he shouldve gotten a map and began going over his list of idems, bird feathers, a glove, and some lint...ok so maybe it wasn't the best but he counted himself as a weapon and so he technically had a way to defend himself from feral pokemon. If the situation ever came to that, hopefully not.

Even the little Duro noticed the flying Hoppip in the distance, but he didn't pay any attention to it at that moment, the objective was dealing with that Weepinbell, And in this case, he seemed very confused and damaged by the attacks he received from the two.

This is my chance! This is the end for you!

Then, the Aron proceeded to use Tackle on the Weepinbell's face, knocking him on the ground.
After that, the steel type turns to the little bird.

''Are you able to fly or even walk in this state?''

The weepinbell was knocked out. It was too late for Nobi to pick a side... which didn’t mean she was safe. They were two, and had a clear advantage in technique over her. If they were indeed bad pokémon, she would need something to defend herself with. A quick look around showed her a bunch of sticks she could probably use as a deterrent - it wouldn’t win her a fight though. As she dared a few steps forward, she heard how the aron spoke to its companion. Its voice was caring, soothing, could it be expected of a villain? Or was it any indication that, just maybe, she could let her guard down? Not yet. She puffed up, and got ready to state her case with as much authority as she could muster:

« You... you two. St-state your business here. Why did you knock out his weepinbell? »

...That could have gone better. Even her deterrent would have been more effective had it not shown even more how shaky she was. She took a glance at the other grass type: it was unconscious, but by no means hurt in any way. That was a relief.

Energy= 11-1(stick x3) = 10

Valen tried to get up, but a wave of muscle cramps hit him and he sank down. "N-no..." he managed to say in response to the Aron's question. But he saw the Hoppip approach, and heard the question: why had they knocked out the Weepinbell?

Something went through Valen as he answered, "Because it attacked first! It said it wanted to EAT ME!" As he remembered what had happened the last time he had gone to Pecha Forest, he really felt that he had to justify himself. He was feeling determination and anger like that which had helped him break free of the Weepinbell's grasp, though the sensation was somewhat less strong now. This Hoppip didn't seem dangerous; at least it had not immediately attacked. Still, Valen now felt that he would be able to stand up very soon, if he just made another push...

[Energy: 0 + 1 (new page) = 1]

Pickup roll:

Shield carried out 1 launched of one Pecha Forest :

Duro notes that the Hoppip seems slightly frightened by the current situation, most likely it is all a misunderstanding, before he can even explain the situation, the Pikipek mostly explains to the Flying-Grass type what the Weepinbell intended to do, but it was still necessary to explain our other business in this damned forest to the little fella.

''Don't worry, we are not going to hurt you in any way, we are just here to complete some tasks'' he explained kindly at the Hoppip, hoping for the reassurance of the latter.

After saying this, the Aron turns to the paralyzed Pikipek, the latter was not at the maximum of his strength, but the metal type had not brought anything with him useful enough to heal the paralysis of the Flying type.
The only thing he could do was staying close to the Pikipek to check on his condition.

He then suddenly turns at the Hoppip and says: ''Pleasure to meet you by the way! I'm Duro, Duro the Aron! And this Pikipek here is....'' and then Duro realises that he never asked for the name of the little bird. ''You know....i never actually asked for your name, bizarre huh?'' and then he smirks at the Pikipek, waiting for a response.

[Energy: 0 + 1 (new page) = 1]

Kimera24 carried out 1 launched of one Pecha Forest :

Saying that Nobi felt embarassed, or even stupid, after the bird’s response would have been an understatement. She put the sticks away in her satchel ; she would not be needing them anytime soon. Not with these guys anyway. The Pikipek did sound agressive, but after his bout with the carnivorous plant, she could hardly blame him. The Aron still seemed friendly towards her, so that was a relief. The Hoppip decided to change her stance.

« I’m so sorry I doubted you. I just arrived in this region, to be fair I did not expect... »

whatever this was. That was her thought, but she didn’t dare voice it, so her sentence hung in the air. At the mention of tasks, Nobi thought she might find a way to redeem herself.

« Oh, are you a rescue team? Are you part of a guild? I need to settle in a guild town. L-Let me help you. »

She quickly glanced around until she found what she was looking for. Her head leaves started spinning as she ascended to the highest tree branches. A ripe oran berry, good to go! She carefully plucked it, and got distracted. Somewhere below, a Bonsly was... pushing? Pulling? Kicking? Honestly, its movements were pretty hard to decipher without hands... whatever it was doing with that heavy box, it kept looking around, concerned, maybe on the lookout for someone, something?

She snapped out of it. The unnamed pikipek needed care and energy, whoch she would certainly provide. She handed the berry to the damaged pokémon, but her eyes were still turned in the direction of the rock type. What on earth could it be doing?

Spoiler:

Valen took the Oran Berry. It could be useful for healing injuries, but not paralysis - something like a Heal Seed or Cheri Berry would be needed for that. Valen said "Thank you," to the Hoppip anyway. He then continued with an explanation, although looking all around this time for danger, "I'm Valen. I'm in the Aileron Guild, but Duro isn't. We just met earlier in this forest and are helping each other right now. For the guild, I need to rescue a Claydol and stop a Trubbish from polluting someone's house. And this isn't for the guild, but there are some rumors I've heard that I've gone to investigate here as well - a moving 'cloud' but probably more importantly, disappearing children. Speaking of that, Duro's friend seems to have vanished, although I might have seen him earlier here - I'm helping Duro find him." Valen thought of mentioning the Windrose Scouts, but felt that might take too long, and even if the group wasn't as secretive anymore as it apparently once had been, he still felt a bit awkward about talking about it with outsiders.

After this, he then started searching in his bag. It seemed that a tiny bit of the Acid from earlier had gotten on it, but fortunately, there was only a hole too small for any items to fall through. Nevertheless, Valen felt he would have to fix that sometime. Inside his bag, he managed to find a Cheri Berry. He ate that, and soon felt his muscles stop cramping. He had also noticed that he had some Oran and Sitrus Berries in there as well. He got onto his feet and said "Lucky I remembered to bring along a Cheri Berry... even if I didn't remember I actually had one until now. And you should keep this Oran Berry, I think. I already have some of those, and it'll be useful for you if you get hurt... What's your name?" as he attempted to give the Oran Berry back to Nobi.

Valen also noticed the Bonsly trying to move a Heavy Box in the distance, but did not think much of it, as it didn't currently seem to be a threat. He didn't really know about that kind of Pokémon, so he didn't realize how odd it was for a Bonsly to be out in the rain. The rain was letting up, though, and could stop relatively soon.

Duro, compared to the other two, does not notice the Bonsly intent on opening the Heavy Box, the Aron was in fact deep in thought, he was still worried about his companion Honedge, knowing that the latter was alone in a forest like this made his iron skin tremble ...
But now that he thinks about it, he begins to wonder why his friend has strayed so far from him, Duro comes to the conclusion that the Honedge has moved away from him on purpose, maybe the Aron for him was just a burden and a hassle...
''And to think that I was so happy to have a partner, I would have finally made my dream come true...becoming a member of a rescue team...''
After saying this to the two Pokemon next to him, the Aron turns to Valen with a determined look
''Valen, don't worry about my companion, If he is truly my friend, he will inevitably come back for me ... let's focus on your missions for now! which one do we start with?
His determination could be felt in the air, it was like an aura of exaggerated positivity escaping from the small body of the Aron.

The hoppip took the berry back. Of course she knew it wouldn’t cure paralysis, she was training to be a nurse after all, but she expected this would ease the pikipek somewhat. Oh well. He sure wasn’t a mean pokémon anyway, and she had done little to get on his bad side. She listened to him blabber on about all he had to do in the forest. Man, those explorers cannot catch a break!.. Although that seemed like a lot of trouble for such a small forest. Maybe that wasn’t the right place to settle in after all...

But then he mentioned the disappearing kids, and she heard Duro’s lament concerning his missing companion. Something was off, and she didn’t like it. Her smile vanished.

« That’s really concerning. I need to do something about it. I can’t leave young ones in trouble like that. »

She then put a sympathetic blob-of-a-hand on Duro’s shoulder.

« Don’t fret. You’re not the problem. I don’t know what it is yet, but we’ll find your friend, and you’ll get to start your team. Trust me. »

Her mind was on high alert now. There was no wasting time picking berries or admiring the sunlight, no, she had a responsibility towards these kids. She frantically looked around for... anything really. Whatever clue she could get.

« Do you have any lead? Maybe a common thread between the missing children? Tell me... »

Something clicked. As she looked around, she saw an abandoned heavy box under the rain. Its metal shined, those things were worth 200 poké at the very least, and that was for the box alone. Why would the wary Bonsly leave it behind like that? She hopped closer, hoping to get more information... when the ground gave way under her feet. With a cry, she wobbled her appendages... only to realise she didn’t need to fall anyway. She floated away from the hole: the bonsly was at the bottom! Who could have done this?

Valen thought about what both of the two had said. Like Duro, he also hoped the Honedge could come back. At least if the Honedge was missing for the same reason that the other children were, then they could just focus on finding the children in general. But the Hoppip also made good points, even if she hadn't said her name yet.

Valen thought, and realized he didn't really know much about the children. He wasn't even sure if they were in Pecha Forest - there were other places near Grassveil, such as the scary Shadowhue Forest, where they could be. He had gone to Pecha Forest first because he had other tasks to complete there as well. "Unfortunately, I don't know whether the children share anything in common... I don't think anyone mentioned something like that in the rumors I heard," he replied.

Valen then heard the Hoppip cry out, and turned to see what had happened. Fortunately, she did not seem to be hurt - Valen suddenly noticed a hole in the ground, but thanks to her gift of flight, it seemed the Grass-type had not fallen into it. But when he looked in the hole, it seemed that the Pokémon from earlier, the one who had been trying to push the box that was now lying unattended, was inside!

Valen thought of something. Could this be one of the missing children? he wondered, If not, hopefully it's not hostile, at least... but I can't assume that and leave a Pokémon behind! Can it talk? "Are you okay? We'll get you out of there!" he said.

Duro notices that Valen is talking to someone who he has not yet noticed, in this case, the Bonsly, Duro proceeds to approach Valen and finally sees the poor Pokemon trapped in a hole, immediately after hearing Valen's words, he says: This can quite be the problem... i'm not able to help him, if i jump in there, i would probably not be able to get back up in here... we need another plan...

Then, after thinking for a while... he then regrets his foolish words and... "Naaah forget what i said!" and then Duro jumps with all his strength in the hole, almost jumpscaring the poor Bonsly, the latter looks at the Aron that almost squashed him "O-Oh don't worry little one, we are here to help you out, now let me just..." then, he uses his face to push the Bonsly out of the hole "Theeere we go! Now, i'll just get out of her--- oh..." Duro finally noticed that... he's the one stuck there now...

"Umh....Valen, we might have another problem right now..."

Valen flew down and tried to pick Duro up, but it quickly became obvious the Aron was far too heavy for that to work. "Nobi?" Valen asked, but almost immediately after that, the thought came to him that even both of them together could not do it. And... where was Nobi anyway? Valen couldn't see the Hoppip around...

The Pokémon they had just rescued surprised Valen by speaking: "I knew I shouldn't have been out in the rain! Even if there was a treasure chest! And now I can't do anything without falling in again... but thank you for helping me!" Valen noticed that they seemed to be crying, worrying him even more.

Despite all of this, the Pikipek was still concentrating on how to get Duro out of there. Get a tree branch to serve as a ramp he could climb? He looked around, but it seemed they were either too small for the heavy Pokémon to use or too big to move to the pit safely. Find another Pokémon who could help? He couldn't see any at the moment, and there was no guarantee any Pokémon here would be friendly.

Valen then looked in his bag, just in case there was, somehow, something that could help in there. And it turned out that there was! In his last dungeon expedition, to Everspring Vale, he had used a Switcher Orb while in the sky to switch places with the mighty Regigigas, sending the titan crashing to the ground. The thing was... it seemed that he still had one more of them.

He pulled the Switcher Orb out and stepped somewhat away from the edge. "Duro, this is a Switcher Orb. It switches the positions of the user and the target. Don't be alarmed, but I'm going to use it on you so that you will be where I am now - outside of the pit. Then I will be in the pit, but I can just fly out," Valen explained.

"Oh wow!" the other Pokemon said, still crying, as Valen used the orb on Duro...

(OOC: The Bonsly's speech color is #cccc66).