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 Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2023 2:20 pm
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Amber rejoined her teammates at the foot of Mount Coronet. She was happy with her decision to evolve Bubbles, and her newly-evolved Frogadier was resting in her Pokeball after her evolution. Arauth was floating around Amber's head, invisible to everyone, but close enough Amber could still feel her. She's taking after Spooky, Amber thought, smiling at the thought the two Ghost-types had hit it off so easily. As she looked at her teammates, she noticed Freth handing out heavy coats for the trek up the mountain, but when one was offered to her, she shook her head. Being half Ice-type had its advantages, especially where the cold was concerned.
It was the climbing that would present an issue. Granted, Froslass was also half Ghost-type and could levitate, but Amber hadn't yet begun to master levitation, so there was no way she could utilize that to get up the mountain. Still, perhaps her Ghost-typing would be of use here, in that it would be easier to make the climb without getting tired. That would remain to be seen, however, as she'd never really been one for mountain climbing, even before becoming a hybrid. Once everyone was ready, she returned Arauth, not wanting to be separated from her as she had been from Spooky, then began the climb, hoping that she wouldn't be too tired once reaching the top.
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 5:06 pm
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2023 6:03 pm
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SubonicXP “A gift, fragments of my Mystical Power. Have one of your Pokemon touch them to evolve.” It simply stated telepathically. Azelf would say nothing else until the orbs were gone, his stare intense. Once they were, the legend would speak again. “You have shown the strength of your willpower, your ability to persevere in the face of uncertainty, all of you have passed my test.” Azelf speaks to their minds, just a hint of indignation in its ‘voice’. “Here is what you seek, that of which is needed to forge the Red Chain, my fang.” With that said a flash of light would go off and a tooth would appear in front of Darts, floating in midair, waiting for him to take it. “Now go, you have what you need. I shall return to my sleep to await greater challenges in the future.” It almost huffed. Kind of rude, wasn't it?
Darts swipes up the tooth, the orb vanishing swiftly inside one of his Pokeballs. Unbenknownst to him his Dreepy had undergone evolution thanks to the legendary's presence, but that was a surprise for future Darts to find out about. He nods to the other Snagems on either side of him and they all head out, the mission for Sub completed.
SubonicXP The Snagems had succeeded at their assigned lakes, passing the trials of the Lake Guardians and acquiring the fragments of their power, items needed to forge the Red Chain at the Temple of Sinnoh and with it their ticket back home. The way up to the Temple of Sinnoh would involve grueling climbing for those without something to fly them up, and the cold alone would be a challenge. The Snagems would gather together at the base of Mount Coronet, standing in front of the trail leading to the top. From here they would need to travel to the top, a grueling but doable climb. DragonFang099 Amber rejoined her teammates at the foot of Mount Coronet. She was happy with her decision to evolve Bubbles, and her newly-evolved Frogadier was resting in her Pokeball after her evolution. Arauth was floating around Amber's head, invisible to everyone, but close enough Amber could still feel her. She's taking after Spooky, Amber thought, smiling at the thought the two Ghost-types had hit it off so easily. As she looked at her teammates, she noticed Freth handing out heavy coats for the trek up the mountain, but when one was offered to her, she shook her head. Being half Ice-type had its advantages, especially where the cold was concerned. Blizzard120 Upon arriving onto Coronet, winter gear in tow. As the other Snagems arrived, she would pass on the various thick clothing from this time to each of the Snagems. They weren't going to make the journey without it. Though as she passed the warm clothing about, Freth had to wonder the lasting damage that was going to be done to this reality. Sure, it would have no bearing to her own, but this one was going to be altered drastically, probably put hybrids in even more of a negative light than before. Though, incidentally, humans were in fact amongst this band as well. Freth shook her head...a thought for another time. With her done, she looked back up towards the mountain...now that they were closest to that breach in the sky, it looked a considerable more ominous than far away. Unsettling, for that matter. "I hope we know what we're doing here..." she would simply state to no one in particular.
Darts shoots Freth a look that said little more than 'really?' as he indicates his own jacket with a sweep of his hands. He knew Ice was his most formidable enemy but the entire thing was essentially a giant skin-covered organ ripe to get battered by the cold. There wasn't much he was going to be able to do to avoid it so some mittens weren't going to do much to stave this off.
Normally Darts would say something like 'do we ever?' in response to the Psychic-type's query, but instead he smiles underneath his crest. "C'mon now, frost-covered mountains, ancient temples, this is all in our wheel house by now." He acknowledges Amber as the part Ice-type hybrid moves past them with a fist bump and a pat on the back. The young Snagem had shown a lot of moxie in their fight with Azelf and he wanted her to know she had done some good work.
It was probably odd to Freth seeing Darts move about and interact with the other members of the team, sprinkling in some positivity and reassuring some of the members as they prepped for their own climb. There was no doubt about it, the Giratina hybrid was being... almost mature? |
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:25 am
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It took a while, but Amaranth would arrive with the others that went to Lake Verity, garbed in the winter clothing Mesprit had given them. She had to admit it was quite warm; put a lot of the modern stuff to shame, even. If they managed to carry anything back from here, she could see getting a lot of use out of it.
"I mean," she spoke up after hearing Freth's remark. "If we don't, we seem to find a way to make it seem like we do, so we're probably fine...? Still, Gale should be able to carry me and at least one other up the mountain if the snow doesn't get too heavy."
"...hey." Speaking up to Aile after seeing her especially lost in thought, she'd figure it was good to make sure she was alright. "How're you holding up?" She had no idea what went on with the other groups, and things were rough for everyone back in Lake Verity; she could tell that much from the apprehension and general vulnerability everyone seemed to share. It was a safe assumption that whatever the rest went through was equally harrowing in its own ways. |
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 5:09 pm
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Darksol88 "...hey." Speaking up to Aile after seeing her especially lost in thought, she'd figure it was good to make sure she was alright. "How're you holding up?" She had no idea what went on with the other groups, and things were rough for everyone back in Lake Verity; she could tell that much from the apprehension and general vulnerability everyone seemed to share. It was a safe assumption that whatever the rest went through was equally harrowing in its own ways. |
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 10:10 am
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[If you wish to capture a wild Pokemon found around the general area of Mount Coronet, or on it, you may do so if you haven't caught a Pokemon in this mission already. They do not have to actually appear in this area in the games so long as you can explain their presence here in your post. Anyone who captures a Pokemon or has a battle with a wild Pokemon (your choice either way) receives 2 Evo Points for the Pokemon used (record it in your profile after your post). You will receive more points at the end of the mission as part of mission rewards as well.]
The climb to the top was slow, arduous, and cold. The higher up they climb the further away they would feel from the world they knew, each step bringing them closer to a place that felt somehow alien in spite of being part of the Earth. The air was different higher up, not just much colder but also thinner, as is to be expected at high altitudes, but it also tasted different, felt different. If anyone had ever climbed Mount Silver back home they would note it was even different from the air there, there was something else about it that made the air here feel also unnatural.
For most of the climb it snowed, the snow becoming heavier towards the top, which again was common for high altitudes to receive more snowfall, and yet as they began to reach the highest point the snow rapidly diminished, almost disappeared abruptly. Another thing to note was the lack of Pokemon they closer got to the peak. For a large amount of the climb they would see many Snover and Abomasnow, the Pokemon watching them closely but remaining still, choosing not to bother these alien creatures on their mountain, the tree Pokemon disappearing with the snow.
As the peak came into view the sky would become brighter, the Snagems noting it was dusk before they reached the peak, though never fully night, and yet the sky was as bright as a sunny noon. With the bright sun shinning and the snow gone they could see their destination coming into view, a blindingly white temple reflecting the sun's rays off its polished sheen. The Temple of Sinnoh, perched on top the highest peak of the Coronet mountain range, the place to forge the Red Chain. Being in the presence of the temple would stir many emotions in the Snagems, for reasons that perhaps confused them. This was a holy place in all meanings of the word, a sacred land beyond their own comprehension.
Above the temple in the sky was their path back home, the space-time distortion, a tear the fabric of reality. From here you could feel the energy it was putting out, it was like a pressure and a feeling of 'wrongness' not unlike what one feels an Ultra Beast giving off. For Darts though it felt different, far more familiar and for its jacket it was an amazing feeling that filled it with joy, the article of clothing possibly wanting to rip itself off Darts right now and fly into the distortion. Volo perhaps shared the joy of Darts' jacket, ecstatic to be here, his eyes never really paying too much attention to the beautiful temple like the others and instead focused on the distortion in the sky. He said nothing to anyone once they reached the peak, his mind was some where else.
As the Snagems climbed the temple steps they would find at the top, sitting on the floor, the Noble Pokemon Wyrdeer resting next to him, their leader. Sub had made it here before them somehow, the answer to how he made it here so quick and with relative ease as he seemed rested and clean, screeching and getting their attention, a strange looking black Braviary perched on a nearby Pokemon statue of apparently the same species of Pokemon as it. Did Sub ride that bird up here? Was it similar to that weird looking Stantler, a Noble Pokemon? Questions for later. Waving at his teammates Sub stood up and waited for them to approach.
"Took you guys long enough, I was starting to get worried." Sub chuckled. "So, were you successful? Did you get the ingredients for the Red Chain? Cogita said the Lake Guardians should have given you pieces of themselves. Wasn't sure what she meant by that, like did they rip an arm of and hand it to you?" He said, cracking a joke, the Dark One in as good spirits as ever. Larrimore was less ecstatic to be here, a Bug type like him not really caring too much for the cold even with the clothing Mesprit gifted them, he was just glad Beauregard had his Charizard, the Pinsir hybrid sticking close to it, and to think he used to hate that thing in its prior stages.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:03 pm
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Deo made it just in time, he was a little weary from the fight, run, and the climb up the mountain. As he saw sub, he replied to his question. "Yes...*huff* we got it *huff* Darts has it *huff* I think"
Of course, Deo fought hard, but he looked on his arm. A cut, that was not bleeding at all, it looked serious, but it was not bleeding at all.
"I might need to see Doc Owl when I get back" Deo said to himself, knowing something is not right with this obvious cut that needs stitched up, bad.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 3:56 pm
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The climb to the top of Mount Coronet was arduous. The path to the top, carved into its rocky face—by someone, she noted—was uneven and narrow. One slip and you could start taking a tremendous fall.
Monique had heard about a mountain in Alola way back when. Mount Lanakila. At the top was a temple, too, but they had turned it into a tourist attraction by building the Pokémon League there. And it was only a couple more decades before Ula’ula Island was claimed by the Smog, anyway.
And there were Pokémon—were there ever! They weren’t on the path, but they could be found all around it. The Pokédex was ringing off the hook as she learned of Pokémon like Snover, Graveler, and Chingling. She hadn’t felt quite this far from home, even in the rest of Hisui, but this was unlike any environment she had experienced.
A quarter of the way up, Monique started to have to slow down as the air thinned. She had prepared herself mentally for the cold, and the warm coat had prepared her for it physically. She had not prepared herself for this. It was exhausting her low-altitude lungs to keep up uncounted thousands of meters above sea level; the icelands were cold, but they were not so high up as to tax her like this. But Mount Coronet towered over this place, and it seemed to have constant snowfall. It had snowed since the moment she had begun climbing this staircase to who-knows-what that thing was at the top.
Her progress a third of the way up the trail, however, came to a stop. A Pokémon was practically blocking the narrow route. It was a massive, floating green bell with red eyes, which responded to Monique’s presence by letting out a sonorous ring that drowned out even the SNAG’s voice before gradually subsiding.
…The Bronze Bell Pokémon. Some believe that its bell-like cry opens holes to another world. It has been revered as a deity since ancient times.
The Pokédex description caught her ear. This thing could open… portals? It was something to look into another time. Regardless, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to try to catch a Pokémon. It had to be removed from the path. Fumbling in her bag, she reached out and pulled out a Poké Ball, relieved to have summoned Kalama—and not, say, that shadow Camerupt. She didn’t catch what type the Pokémon was, but it had to be part-Steel. The answer seemed obvious.
“Flamethrower!” A stream of ghastly green flames issued forth from the Marowak’s mouth and met the bell Pokémon’s smooth surface. Despite being an evident Steel-type, the flames were having little visible impact. Was this even a Steel-type?
The Bronzong’s next move further fueled her suspicions. She could not see it, but whatever it was did some damage to Marowak. Not much. Later, she would learn that Extrasensory was, by definition, unseeable.
She double-tapped her SNAG. “Does this Pokémon have an ability?” In the heat of battle, her mind was rapidly filling with questions. Why would a Steel-type be so strong against fire? Was it even a Steel-type?
Heatproof. This ability halves the Pokémon’s damage from Fire-type moves.
That explained a lot, Monique thought. It would be weak to Ground-type moves, but Mount Coronet was the last place she wanted to invoke Earthquake. This was sacred and narrow ground. What if there was a landslide and she fell beyond the low clouds to her doom?
She turned to a move that she knew would have additional effect coming from an Alolan Marowak. “Shadow Bone!” Kalama grasped her flaming bone and shook it, a ghostly copy emerging and making direct contact with the bell. This seemed to cause significant damage, as it started swaying and making noises. Steel Pokémon were not resistant to Ghost moves—a fallacy consigned to the history books along with Pluto’s status as a planet, long before her time—but they weren’t weak to them, either.
The bell slowly swayed, having clearly been significantly weakened by the last attack. But it fell to the bell to use the next move. It chose Gyro Ball, capitalizing on its slowness to try and inflict damage, but it was only marginally more successful because the Fire-type Marowak resisted it.
“Shadow Bone!”
Monique was ready to get this Pokémon out of everyone’s path. This time, the bell fainted on contact, tumbling down the mountainside a distance and clanging all the way. Recalling Kalama and resuming the climb, Monique had time to ask her SNAG. “Last Pokémon fought?”
It repeated one of its Pokédex entries, along with the information she’d missed due to its clangor. Bronzong. Steel/Psychic. The Bronze Bell Pokémon. Some believe it to be a deity that summons rain clouds. When angered, it lets out a warning cry that rings out like the tolling of a bell.
The sheriff sighed. It was a Psychic-type, the type she’d been looking for ever since that conversation with Crystal. How did she miss that opportunity? Maybe this air wasn’t letting her think straight.
Further ahead, with the path now between mountain on both sides, she saw a Pokémon with gray and white fur, tipped in red, dart across, stopping to look at her for a fleeting second before continuing its journey. It reminded her of her own new form, but…yet it wasn’t. Another curiosity Monique would need to look up when she got out of here.
***
Above the clouds and above the snow, there it shone in the bright sky. The Temple of Sinnoh—an edifice that commanded attention, positively gleaming.
Thoughts raced through Monique’s head in the cold air. Everything about it demanded respect. She imagined the effort it took to build this in these ancient times, a work rivaling the Dome of her home world. It had walls and columns but no roof, the rift so plainly visible above and amplifying the unnatural sense about everything at the summit. Ten statues of Pokémon sat, evenly spaced, here. On one of them was perched a massive bird Pokémon, one that the Pokédex could only speculate was some form of Braviary, a bird Pokémon whose name she had never heard.
And there, at one end, staring out at one end with jaw-dropping views of the dusky sky, was the big deer that had confounded the Pokédex earlier with Sub sitting on the ground next to it. The sounds of footsteps on the hard stone floor attracted their attention, and they turned to see who had arrived.
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 2:19 pm
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By the time Keiko made it to the base of Mt. Coronet, the other Snagems had already started climbing it. She made the mistake of using Agility to try to get there as soon as possible because she was worried about the warning Uxie gave her about her daughter, but ended up wearing herself out and walking the rest of the way, giving the other Snagems that paced themselves the chance to get ahead of her. It didn't help that she got herself a little bit lost in the process before people started catching up to her.
Keiko looked up at the mountain and the people climbing it. Her instinct was to use Agility to launch herself up the mountain, but given how well using Agility went last time, she knew she had to take the slow and steady path like everybody else was.
Keiko tried to jog up the road, but it didn't take long before she had to slow down, as she hadn't fully recovered from spamming Agility to get there. After a while, she didn't even have enough energy to walk, and sat down on a stump close to the side of the road. After a few minutes of catching her breath, she started taking in her surroundings. She was high up enough on the mountain that everything around her was covered in snow. Even the stump she decided to sit on. And yet, she barely felt the cold. She certainly didn't feel WARM by any means, but she wasn't shivering at all, either. Looking down, she saw that her feet were resting in a clump of snow and they only barely felt colder than the rest of her body did.
Then she actually focused on her feet and remembered that her body was covered with a decently thick coat of fur. And she felt like an idiot for forgetting that. Though, as she huffed and looked away from the road, something caught her eye. A bit of green in the snow. That didn't make sense, as it should be too cold for plants to grow. She started to reach for it, and as if responding to that, the snow sifted, and fell, revealing the head of a Pokemon that was looking back up at her.
"Hey, you," Keiko cooed, pulling the Grass-type pokemon out of the snow. Judging by its coloration, it wasn't doing so well. Keiko thought to bring Audrey out to heal it, but quickly realized she only had Daedra with her. And that her belt was missing. Why did it take her so long to realize that? Keiko shook her head and did the only thing she could think of to help the Grass-type get warm - snuggle. She just to hope that her fur and her body heat were enough. "How did you survive like that?" Keiko asked, wondering how a Grass-type made it this far up the mountain and hid in a pile of snow without losing its life.
Before the Pokemon she was attempting to rescue could respond, Keiko felt the presence of a Pokemon land in the snow nearby, and as her instincts forced her to look up at the newcomer, she felt the Pokemon in her arms jump out of her grasp and fall toward the snow pile it'd been hiding in. Putting two-and two together, Keiko stood up and... realized she was in trouble.
The Pokemon standing before her looked very much off. It was kind of like an Arcanine, but it looked way too different from any Arcanine she had seen. It's fur was much darker and nowhere near as fluffy as an Arcanine's, and if the energy she could pick up from it was any indication, it wasn't just a Fire-type. It must have had a second type. Probably Rock, from what she could sense.
She didn't have much time to guess, however. The maybe-Arcanine opened its maw and she could see the fire it was gathering. Instinct once again kicked in, and before she knew it, she was standing between the two Pokemon, crossing her arms over her chest, and flooding her body with Normal-type energy. She had a split second to realize she was about to eat a Fire Blast, and closed her eyes. She panicked, worried that she'd open them to find herself naked and on fire, and while she did feel a burst of warmth, she didn't feel any pain.
Keiko opened her eyes and looked down, and surprisingly, her clothes were still there. Hell, her fur wasn't even singed. She had to wonder if Return triggered while she was using Endure. But it didn't take her long to realize that her surroundings felt a fair bit warmer than they did before. Curious, and acting on a hunch, Keiko held her right hand up and tried to focus on the warmth she felt. As she thought, she was able to pull the warmth from her body and into her hand, causing it to catch fire, though she still felt no pain from it. Much like with Ice Punch, she was able to pull the fire back into her body, too. That explained it. Her body wasn't harmed by the maybe-Arcanine's Fire Blast because her body absorbed the energy the move was made of. Keiko had another move in her arsenal.
"How... did you do that?" the maybe-Arcanine asked in Pokespeak. Hearing this surprised Keiko a bit, which once again caused her to feel like an idiot. She was a hybrid, of COURSE she could understand Pokespeak.
"The means by which I was hybridized were not very well put together," Keiko explained, assuming a Pokemon from times as ancient as this wouldn't understand the concept of 'jank tech'.
"I see..." the maybe-Arcanine said, though Keiko had a feeling he hadn't fully grasped what she'd told him. "Please step aside," he added. "I have no quarrel with you, but I have been hunting my prey all morning and I would like to have my breakfast now."
Keiko glared at the maybe-Arcanine and put her hands up. "I'm not going to let you eat something that cute!" she insisted. The maybe-Arcanine just smirked and leaned downward, ready to attack. Realizing there was no talking her way out of this, Keiko thought back to what she saw as Uxie was stealing her memories, trying to trigger a genuine Frustration. But not even with trying to force it could she get it to trigger, and eventually, she realized it probably wasn't a good idea to begin with. If this thing was indeed Rock-type, Frustrated Dizzy Punch would likely not do much damage to it, her new move was basically useless, and while she didn't think it would resist her Ice Punch, she doubted it'd do enough damage, and she didn't think she could combine her moves to use Ice Punch more than once at a time.
"You know what," Keiko scoffed, letting Daedra out of her ball. "As I expected from your ilk," the maybe-Arcanine snarled haughtily once he saw Daedra, who must not have appreciated her opponent's attitude, because she immediately flushed him out with Muddy Water, pushing him against the mountain.
"Jeez," Keiko remarked, surprised by Daedra's sudden action. The Dragon-type wasn't feeling up to talking, however, and chose instead to focus on her target, who hadn't been taken out entirely. Indeed, the maybe-Arcanine was still on its paws, though it certainly LOOKED like it wasn't going to be able to take much more. It wasn't backing down, however. In fact, it looked more eager than ever to push back, and it didn't take long before it leaped at Daedra, using Close Combat to pummel at the Sliggoo that dare defy it.
Daedra saw this coming however, and weathered the maybe-Arcanine's attack only to grab its forepaws and launch it at the mountain using Counter. The maybe-Arcanine got slammed into the mountain hard, and sure enough, it fainted there before sliding down to the ground. Daedra, with no regard to her opponent's life, turned around and glared at her trainer, wordlessly demanding a reward, which she swiftly got in the form of berries and sticky headpats.
With that out of the way, Keiko left her currently only Pokemon to eat and went to retrieve the Grass-type that had gone back to its ice pile to hide. "It's okay," Keiko said as she pulled the poor thing out. "The big, mean Fire-type is gone, You're safe,"she cooed, pulling the Pokemon into her arms to try to warm it back up. There was no response at first, so Keiko just carried it back to the stump and sat back down.
By the time the Grass-type in Keiko's arms felt good enough to raise its head, Daedra had already eaten her fill and gone back to her Pokeball. "Feeling better?" Keiko asked. The Grass-type in her arms cheered, which made her smile. "How far away did that thing chase you? There's no way your home is near here," Keiko wondered aloud, looking down from the mountain to the wilderness below. The Pokemon in her arms pondered the question for a moment, but never actually gave an answer, choosing instead to retreat back into Keiko's embrace.
Keiko understood what it was trying to say, but felt a bit guilty. She wasn't sure if it was okay to bring a Pokemon from this far back in time back to the present. Pokemon Ecosystems and all. Though, it's not like that was ever an issue for Amaura, the fossil Pokemon that was brought back to life for her. Not that she ever got to spend a lot of time with Amaura... though that was ultimately her fault.
Keiko looked down at the Grass-type hugging her, and realized that the decision was already made. She simply didn't have it in her to say no to something that cute. With a sigh of happy resignation, Keiko pulled a Heal Ball from her purse and caught the Grass-type she protected. She didn't know what Pokemon it was, and couldn't tell since the SNAG wasn't getting any signal in this region of Ultra Space, but her belt, which had her other five Pokemon, was missing, so it wasn't like she didn't have room for it, so like with Daedra's ball, she fastened the newly caught Pokemon to the rim of her pants.
Deciding that was enough distraction and that she needed to get a move on, as the rest of the team was likely already at the peak, Keiko stood up, walked up to the path, activated Agility, and started running.
~*~
Keiko was close to the peak when she ran out of energy. So much that she ended up flopping onto her back and sliding to a stop so she could rest. She could hear voices up ahead, so she was almost there, but she doubted she could walk at this rate. She didn't get to rest for long, though, as something caught her eye that made her snap into focus. Hanging on the edge of one of the sharpest cliffs on her side of the mountain was a belt holding five Pokeballs. She realized there was a fair chance it wasn't hers, but she couldn't just pretend that it wasn't and ignore it, either.
Somehow, she found the strength to push herself off the trail and leap up the rest of the way to the peak. Then, it was a matter of walking up to the cliff and lying down on her stomach so she could crawl up to the edge of the cliff and retrieve what was probably her belt. Once she had it and she'd gotten herself off the cliff, she opened one of the balls and was immensely relieved to hear Audrey's voice. Though she immediately noticed the Audino covering her body and shivering and let her back in her ball. Keiko put her belt back on, put Daedra's ball back in its place, then took her new catch and, with no more space on her belt, put its ball in her purse for now. Once she got back to HQ, the SNAG would reconnect to GRAY's mainframe and teleport its ball to the Snagem Pokemon Storage System.
Rejuvenated from retrieving the rest of her Pokemon, but still very much tired, Keiko trudged back toward the group, ignoring Sub's joke. It's not like the rest of the team had Pokemon big enough to ride on, the jerk.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2023 12:39 pm
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Amber smiled at Darts' encouragement and returned the fist bump with one of her own. While she wasn't actively looking for praise, it was nice to know that he was grateful for what she'd said during the battle with Azelf. She made her way up the side of the mountain, making sure to pace herself and measure each breath so that she wouldn't tire out too much. As she got higher, she noticed, as she'd thought, that the air at the higher altitude wasn't affecting her like the rest of her teammates, and she felt a bit guilty, though she knew she shouldn't. About halfway up the mountain, Amber started seeing various Pokemon wandering around the path. Some were quite common for the frigid area, like Snover and Abomasnow. Others, like the Rufflet she could see flying around, weren't quite as common, but still plentiful.
There were other Pokemon she could see, but for some reason, none of them seemed to want to come closer to the group. Not that she blamed them; the team were strangers, and the fact that some, including herself, were hybrids, probably made the team look very strange, indeed. Still, she did want to take one of them home with her, she just needed to find one that would be willing to travel with her. She paused for a moment, sitting on a rock to take a better look at her surroundings, something at the corner of her vision caught her eye. Turning, she saw something moving not far from where she was, and just from the shape, it looked like an Abomasnow, but the color was all wrong. Where a normal Abomasnow would be green on its hands and feet, this one was a beautiful shade of darkish blue, and Amber realized this was a shiny Abomasnow.
Looking around, she could see some of the other Pokemon giving the shiny one a wide berth; hmm, that would explain why it was by itself. The poor thing looked like it had been through some rough times, judging by the scrapes and scars she could see from this distance. Seeing it tugged at her heartstrings, and she got up and approached the Abomasnow slowly, not wanting to spook it. "Hey, there," she said, her voice soft. The shiny Abomasnow turned to face her, its expression less than pleased at being bothered. "Easy, now, I'm not going to hurt you," she said, stopping where she was. "I just want to heal your injuries, if you'll let me." The dual Ice/Grass-type was having none of it; it had already been bullied by its fellow Abomasnow, it couldn't see this strange-looking Froslass being any different. Without warning, it let out a cry, and immediately, snow and hail surrounded the two.
Snow Warning, she thought, watching as the Abomasnow took a fighting stance. Hmm, I could use this to my advantage. Her brain was racing to figure out which Pokemon she should use here. Tyrace would have the most advantage here, with her Snow Cloak ability, but Amber wanted to use one of her Pokemon that hadn't evolved yet. Bubbles was out; she'd just evolved thanks to Azelf, and Amber didn't want to put her straight into battle, especially with a fully-evolved Pokemon that had a partial type advantage. Likewise, Gary was also out, due to the fact he was at a serious disadvantage, and she didn't want to put him into battle in the snow, where he wouldn't be able to move around freely like he could in water. Sander wasn't purified yet, so he was out of the question. That left Arauth, and when Amber went to look at the Ghost-type, she noticed Arauth was already in front of her, ready to battle.
"I should have known you'd be willing to battle, even after battling with Azelf," she said, shaking her head with a smile. Granted, Arauth didn't actually take any damage from that battle, but still. The Misdreavus looked at her trainer and nodded, then turned her attention back to the Abomasnow in front of her. This Pokemon had dared to defy her mistress, and it would pay dearly. "Alright, use Will-O-Wisp!" Amber said. Arauth immediately shot three ghostly balls of energy from her mouth, aimed directly for the Abomasnow. The Grass/Ice-type tried to dodge, but couldn't quite get out of the way in time. Its left arm was caught in the attack, and it let out a growl as the Burn took effect. "Shadow Ball," was the next command. The Abomasnow didn't try to dodge this time, merely using Icy Wind to freeze the attack and then shatter it.
Seeing that her attack didn't make contact, Arauth used her ability to go invisible to get close to the Abomasnow, and Amber gave a slight smile as she realized what was going to happen. Since it couldn't see where the Misdreavus was, the shiny Abomasnow had no way to defend against what came next. Arauth materialized right in front of it, earning a cry of surprise from the Grass/Ice-type, and gave a slightly sinister grin. "Hex!" Amber called, and Arauth executed the attack at point-blank range. A wave of ghostly energy erupted from Arauth and struck the Abomasnow, which gave a cry of pain as the attack did massive damage to it. Reeling from the pain, it fell to its back, momentarily stunned. "Is it out?" Amber asked, as Arauth hovered just above the downed Abomasnow. Its eyes were closed as it laid there, and Arauth made the mistake of getting just a little closer.
Without warning, Abomasnow's eyes snapped open, and it raised its right arm, which had a stone clenched in its fist, and flung it at the Ghost-type. Arauth had no way to dodge the point-blank shot, and she gave a scream of pain as the rock struck her. Amber was a little confused by this until she realized that the Abomasnow had used Fling, the only Dark-type move it could learn. The move had been super-effective on Arauth, as a Ghost-type, and said Ghost-type was quite irritated that the Abomasnow had actually managed to land a hit, and with such a dirty tactic. Combine that with the fact that she was taking damage from Abomasnow's Snow Warning, and she was cross, very cross, indeed. Without prompting, she gave another cry, and a second wave of ghostly energy shot from her at the Grass/Ice-type, who cried in pain a second time as the Hex struck it again. This time, when it went down, it stayed down, and Amber immediately tossed a Pokeball at it, not wanting to let it get away with the state it was in. The ball shook only once before dinging, and Amber picked it up and stuck it in her fanny pack, since she still had six Pokeballs on her.
Once the battle was over, Amber reached up to stroke Arauth's head, earning a content noise from the Ghost-type. "You did very well, Arauth," she said. "Come on, I need to return you so we don't get separated when we go home." Tired out after that battle, the Ghost-type didn't resist when Amber recalled her to her ball, and once that was done, she made her way to the top of Mount Coronet, where she could see the rest of the Snagems already waiting. Sub's comment had her giving the Snagem leader a sideways glance. "I'm sorry, I don't have a brave and powerful Braviary to fly me anywhere I want to go," she said, complimenting the Psychic/Flying-type that she could see perched there as well as giving her leader a bit of sass on the side.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:01 pm
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Leon was riding on his Pyroar up the mountain as his giant lion Pokemon was able to climb with ease. But after awhile, the wind and snow started making it hard to see. Pyroar kept walking until he lost his footing as both him and Leon fell backwards down the mountain. Leon lost consciousness for a few minutes as Pyroar licked his face with his slobbery tongue. "I-I'm okay." Leon said as he pushed his lion to the side slightly as he shook off the snow that got on him. He looked around to see if he could see the rest of the team, but like earlier. The wind and snow made it difficult to see anything. All that was visible, was a few feet in front of them, and the trees surrounding them."Well. At least we know we just have to go up." Leon said as he was about to hop back up onto Pyroar, but then something caught his eye. A glow. Leon started walking towards it as Pyroar nudge it's trainer wondering where it was going. "Just...stay here for a second. Something is out there."
Leon started walking deeper into the woods without his Pyroar. Pass some trees, the glow he saw started growing bigger. When Leon came to a clearing, he saw a lone Pokemon by itself. It was a Hisuian Zorura, the small Pokemon was focusing its energy on the top of its head as it looked like it was trying to form a scary face. It lost it's focus and soon became discouraged. "...Zorura? It looks so different." Suddenly the snow under him sunk in as he lost his footing and fell forward, revealing himself to the small Pokemon. Zorura was startled at the sight of Leon as it ran behind a log. As it did, the aura on the top of its head started to grow bigger as it floated over to Leon to make a Scary Face. But, it was more of a sad face. Leon stood up and walked over to the Pokemon carefully. Both of them locked eyes, Leon gently knelt down and merely smiled. "Your Scary Face needs a little bit more work. Why don't you try....oh this?" Leon made a snow ball and started to draw a scary face on it. Zorura stared at Leon then looked at Leon's art piece. It was kind of pathetic.
"Sorry, I'm not that artistic. How about....this!" He turned away from Zorua as he turned back making a scary face. His eyes were rolled back with his mouth open. This startled the Zorua as he let out a little yip. As it did, Leon felt a large amount of malice surrounding him. Leon quickly got up as he whistled for Pyroar to come back to him. Leon looked around as a Shadow Ball came hurling at them. Just in time, Pyroar came in and stopped the Shadow Ball with Flamethrower. Leon protected Zorura in his arms as he sighed of relief. Pyroar stood by his trainer, as both trainer and Pokemon heard something jumping through the trees. A Pokemon then came out of a large tree diving down using Shadow Claw.
Pyroar pushed Leon out of the way, "Pyroar Flame Charge go!" Pyroar was enveloped in fire as it charged into the Pokemon coming at them with Shadow Claw. It connected as both took some damage. Leon took a better look at the Pokemon attacking them as it was a Hisuian Zoroark. "Is that your...?" He looked down at the Zorua with its big yellow eyes. He then let it down as it kept staring at Leon. "Zoroark! I'm not stealing Zorua! I was just helping it!" Zoroark turned it's attention back to Leon. A purple energy started to envelope it as it sunk down in the snow and reappeared infront of Leon. Zoroark brought its arm back and slashed at Leon. Leon move back but did get his shoulder slashed slightly. Zorua was startled as he stood infront of Leon to protect him. Zoroark was distracted as Pyroar jumped over Leon. "Crunch Pyroar!" Leon shouted as Pyroar muched down onto Zorua's arm. Zoroark sunk down into the snow once again. It then appeared behind Pyroar and was about to use Shadow Claw.
But then Zoroark was hit by a sudden wave of dark matter. It was knocked back as it locked eyes with Zorua who was growling at it. Leon was shocked as Zoroark looked at Leon then walked away. Pyroar walked over to Leon as he sighed of relief. "I've never felt that sort of hatred before..." He said to Pyroar as Zorua tapped Leon's leg. "Thank you so much for the help. You should probably go back with your family. I need to find my group." Leon said as he noticed his ripped up coat frin where he got slashed. He got some extra cloth and bandaged up his wound. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Stay safe out here." Leon said as he hopped onto Pyroar's back and started heading off. Pyroar was walking slowly as he suddenly stopped and looked back. The small fox was following right behind them. "...I don't think it'll be healthy if you were to join my team. I can tell you've been through some stuff. But, I know someone who will take great care of you." Leon offered as the Hisuian Pokemon eyes shined and nodded happily as it hopped onto Leon's lap.
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:16 pm
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With the goods passed out, Freth started to make her way up to the top of the mountain. The paths up the mountain started relatively simple, nothing too noteworthy short of Pokémon here and there. Lots of Paras and Psyduck that she could see, with the occasional Yanma and Yanmega near banks along streams. As she made her way further up, rocky terrain, littered with Onix and Rhydon and at one point she could swear she saw Sliggo…though different…as if it was more immobile than the ones she typically knew. Pass by a graveyard, then finally, ruins started to become more prominent, where what looked like Voltorb…really…cheery Voltorb. And wooden. “I have to admit, the longer that I stay here, the more that I am curious about what Hisui is about…and perhaps what we lost in our time.” Freth said.
“You’re not missing that much. Such as life, as it were.”
“Ugh, really?” Freth said.
“You still forget, I’ve seen a lot in my travels in Ultra Space. Some of this isn’t surprising at all. Hell, if this is getting the better of you, what if I were to tell you there are worlds that are further back in history currently than even this?” the hunter would speak. “Progenitors to some Pokémon you wouldn’t imagine they became the way they are in our present day, or perhaps what they’d become. Magneton for example was a lot more organic and used to walk on its magnets like legs and Jigglypuff were severely more aggressive. Conversely, there are those occasional worlds that actually saw the end of life of humanity, the rare one it feels like now that I think about it that Blizzard didn’t have a hand in its demise, and Pokémon ended up…robotic, lack for a better term. Assuming that they’re still Pokémon that is.”
“You’re making that up.” Freth said in a fit of disbelief.
“I’m not. What you’re looking at is just another page in the history of Pokémon; something that our world may have shared for a bit. Voltorb looks wooden, but at some point, became metallic looking? Evolution happens in more subtle ways other than a burst of energy after fighting so much or touching a special rock, you know.”
“God, you’re such a joy kill.” Freth would reply exasperated with the hunter at this point.
“One thing you are going to heave to learn about me, Freth, if nothing else, is that I have been around to more places than you. A considerable amount more of places. Places that no one even knows, or should know, exist. Crystal could perhaps vouch for this, provided you see her again. Knowledge is out there to satiate the even the most inquisitive minds, spectacles and wonders ranging from subtle to gross…but all of it is by no means for the timid. One has to learn to toughen up against adversity like the Ultra Beasts and temper one’s mind to stay focus on the task at hand lest be lost to something that sparkled funny in a new way. Which speaking of, you taking glimpses at nature isn’t helping you getting up this mountain any faster to meet up with Sub. Provided he is even there and haven’t gotten taken out by Kamado’s army.”
“Fine, fine…” Freth said, continuing up, making sure that she didn’t raise the ire of any Pokémon in the process.
The trek started to get rougher as she started to reach the colder reaches of the mountain. Heralded by frost then packs of snow. She was almost there towards the rendezvous point, but this leg of the run was probably going to take the longest, trying to navigate the snow. Part of her wished she could still fly so she could overcome all of this in short order, once again cursing the hunter for robbing her of her flight. She was almost tempted to send out Mamoswine and ride on him; he for sure would be able to plow through and navigate this snow a lot better than she could. In fact, that wasn’t a bad idea…
As she started to reach over to pull out a PokéBall, Freth took notice a shadow that was on the snow, circling her. She looked up towards the sky, trying to find what was circling her. Her eyes narrowed. “That…looks like…a Braviary? They were common in Sinnoh back in the day, too?”
“Probably. Wait…is that…thing coming to us?”
Freth continued to looked for a second, then realized that yes, in fact it was. Dive bombing. It was an attack run. “Crap!” Freth hobbled through the snow as fast as she could then took a dive, avoiding the initial attack. Freth looked back, then pushed herself back up, looking around for the assailant. She then noticed the bird was moving back around, trying to get ready for another attack run. Freth got another look of the Braviary, and while it did look like one, there were a couple of notable differences. The down wasn’t the typical brown on dark navy blue plumage, but instead of white on gray, and its feathery crest seemed like it was lit aflame, purple and blue hues. “What is going on with this thing!?”
The bird once again made yet another dive bomb. Freth quickly dove out of the way again of the attack, but this time, she pulled out a PokéBall and got it at the ready. “This could be a variant of a Braviary.” The hunter spoke. “Maybe a predecessor. Who knows. There’s no other Braviary around. This thing is on its own. Perhaps this species is a solitary breed. And you’re on its territory.”
“Great.” Freth would deadpan reply. The bird would come down once more time, screeching out towards Freth. There was power in that bellow. There was more to this bird than what she thought. “Alright, you want a fight, you got one! Glalie!” Freth shouted, tossing out the ball. As it landed, a flash of light came forth and out came the floating Ice type Pokémon, ready for battle.
“Glaaaa-lee!” The Glalie roared out.
“Glalie, we’re in a bit of new territory. Be careful, alright?” she said.
“Leee!” The Braviary quickly hovered back then started back on its attack run, its crest started to light up further, and as it screeched, its wings started to become enshrouded in some sort of power. Freth didn’t recognize the attack at all.
“Glalie look out!” The Glalie tried to move about to avoid the attack, but the Braviary slammed its attack right into the ice type, causing extensive damage to the otherwise hefty ice type. “What the hell was that!?”
“That Braviary seems to be using psychic power to enhance its own physical attacks somehow. You don’t usually see that in anything other than Medicham and Gallade.”
“Wait, psychic power!?” Freth exclaimed. “This thing is a psychic!?”
“It seems so.” The hunter said.
“I’m hoping this thing still is a flying type too, now.” Freth then said. “Glalie, are you alright!?”
The Glalie pulled itself out of the snow and shook itself to shake a bit of the pain that it just took. “LIE!” It shouted, agitated now.
“Ice Beam!” she shouted. The Glalie fired off its chilling shot. The bird started to weave about the shots, Glalie constantly missing its mark. “Lead your shot, Glalie!”
“Its coming back around.” The hunter spoke.
“I see it!” The bird weaved about, then tucked its wings close, speeding up severely. “An Aerial Ace! Glalie!” The bird rushed in and rammed into the Glalie, causing a considerable amount more damage to the Glalie. “God he’s making a joke out of us…alright, new idea. Glalie, you good?”
“Liee.” It said.
“Alright then…Glalie, Hail!” she shouted.
“LIEEEE!” the Glalie shouted. The clouds started to darken in the area and a hailstorm started to come down upon the impromptu battlefield. The pellets started to bear down on the bird as it did Freth. However, Freth was going to tough it out. Freth doubted that the Braviary had any intentions on doing so.
The Braviary then rushed down, coming down talons first. “Getting reckless now.” Freth said. Freth recognized it…a Crush Claw. “Glalie! Move!” she shouted. The Glalie rushed out of the way from the attack. The Braviary, missing its mark, tries to recover, trying to stay on the Glalie’s case. It continued to swipe away with its talons, screeching furiously. “Glalie! Blizzard!” she then shouted.
The Glalie then unleashed a mighty icy, piercing gale upon the Braviary, blowing the bird back. It flipped about as it was helplessly caught up in the unleashed icy storm. The bird managed to break away from the attack, ice caked upon its down. It once again screeched with fury. “Well, you pissed it off now.” The hunter said.
“Well, not much would like to take a near point-blank ice attack like that.” Freth said. “However, we need to hurry up and put an end to this thing. Its not like we got all day to fight this thing!”
“A sentiment this bird would probably agree with. What did you have in mind?”
As Freth tried to figure out her next move, the Braviary once again went on the attack, rushing in full speed. This bird had enough of Freth and her Glalie and it was ready to put an end to this skirmish. The bird cloaked itself in its psychic power once again, its wings lit up once again, cloaked with its psychic power again. “That attack again…Glalie, use Crunch attack!”
“You’re challenging that!?”
“Method to madness.” Freth said. “Glalie! Go!”
As the Braviary came down, Glalie went up, mouth wide. The two attacks crash into each other. While Glalie was clamped down upon the Braviary’s wing, the damage just pulling this stunt was extensive, moreso for Glalie. Glalie was holding on tight however as the two Pokémon hit the ground. The Braviary started to kick about, claw away with its talons, trying to free itself from Glalie’s vice-like bite. “Glalie! Avalanche!” she shouted.
“LIIEEEE!” The Glalie then roared out. The loose snow on the ground and further up on the mountain came loose and then started to slide down upon the two Pokémon. The Braviary stopped its struggle, looking up towards the nearby slopes, the large snowpack starting to come down on the two of them. The Braviary then went into a panic, continuing to try to get itself free from the Glalie. Glalie was unable to hold on for much longer, the Braviary freeing its wing from Glalie. However, between its wing getting mangled in Glalie’s jaws and what little time it had to get away, it got buried under the snow with Glalie. Freth had to back away from the chaos that was wrought as the events transpired, trying to take care of not getting caught up herself in the attack.
When the snow finally settled back down, she rushed over. “Glalie! Glalie!” she called out. She forced her way over to the Avalanche-ridden area. “Glalie!”
The Glalie popped out of the snow close by. “LIE!” It shouted, shaking its body once again.
“Glalie! Are you alright?”
“Lie…” It said. Not exactly something it wanted to go through again. “LIE!” It then dove right back down into the snow. Freth waded in the snow, trying to get back to her Pokémon, Freth wondering what her Glalie was going on about. The Glalie came back out, now with something in his mouth. A mouth full of feathers. Freth hurried over, then started to dig about in the snow, pulling out the Braviary, setting the bird on top of the snow that Glalie battled so fiercely with. Glalie spit the wing out of his mouth then looked towards Freth.
Freth then gave a few pats on the top of Glalie. “You did good, Glalie. Good job. Good fight.”
“Lie.”
“Now…what do we do with you…can’t just leave you here now…”
“Not like the villagers will help this bird either.” The hunter said. “Not in its lifetime, perhaps.”
“…I think my hand is a bit forced here.” She said, taking out a Great Ball. She then pegs the bird with the ball, ensnaring the bird in the ball. Freth would then drop it, allowing the ball do its usual thing, trying to lock with the Pokémon inside. It wouldn’t take long, however. The ball clicked after only a few seconds. She picked the ball back up, looking at it for a second, realizing she’d had to carry the ball with her for the time being. The automated system for Pokémon storage didn’t work after all being in this land of Hisui. “I wonder how this Braviary is going to adjust to modern times.”
“That’d be on you.” The hunter said.
“Yea. In the meantime, let’s try to find Sub already.”
-------------------------------
It would take a bit of time before Freth would find herself back on the right path and find her way to the temple at the top of the mountain, though this time, in fact on the back of Mamoswine for a good portion of the remainder of the trek. Much to Freth’s relief, though albeit agitation, Sub of all people was waiting for the rest of the Snagems to show. “Geez, Sub, we could have had some help back at the base of the mountain for God’s sake! Seriously? How long have you been up here!?” she asked. “You know what, never mind. I hope Kamado isn’t on his way here after us right now; its not like we’re not under a lot of pressure as is considering the circumstances and all.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 7:21 am
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"...rough. I guess you could say Mesprit gave me and others a lot to think about, too. We made it through, of course, but maybe it'll be better to talk about it after this. Whether we make it home or not." Amaranth's tone suggested she was trying not to dwell on it in the moment, knowing they might only have one shot here. "Come on, let's see this through. Whether that's back home or turning this into our home."
She'd start her ascent upon Gale's back, quickly going skyward.
----
As she made her ascent thanks to her Pidgeot's help, she'd quickly have to put a hand over her forehead to keep the ever-heavier snow from getting into her eyes, futiley trying to regain some sort of visibility as it kept becoming harder and harder to see. All she could think in the moment was to keep going higher and higher, as if going towards the heavens rather than the peak of the mountain, though she'd stop when the snow suddenly cleared for a moment.
"That's... weird. Wait." Something didn't feel right to her, as the snow started to resume. She could swear she heard something, a cry that wasn't familiar to her and almost battle-hungry. The snow would briefly clear again, but this time, it was from something flying towards her and barely giving her enough time to brace herself and have Gale evade the oncoming attack. Once they were safe, she'd manage to get a look at her assailant... but she didn't recognize it. She felt like maybe she should, at least whatever looked close to it, but nothing came to mind and she couldn't rely on the SNAG to help her out here since its Pokedex probably wouldn't either. "What is... no, there isn't time for that. Forge, keep them busy!"
Sending out her Fletchinder as a way to both deal with the snow and the bird attacking them- something she'd later find out was a Braviary native to the region- she'd slowly start her ascent again, ready to get Gale to move if they needed to escape another attack. "Acrobatics! While we can still see!" She called at once, Forge speeding over to the Braviary with a harsh attack. Before he could fly back, though, Braviary seemed to sense the movements and was able to counter it with what looked like a Wing Attack but at last check, that attack didn't involve wings glowing or being more like a slashing motion. The impact sent Forge hurtling towards the ground for a moment, but he was able to right himself and resume his flight.
"Gale, stop the ascent!" She remarked, giving a deep sigh of relief. "I should've thought about that. Be ready to descend and catch Forge if I can't get a good sight to recall him. Forge, are you good to keep going?"
A sharp chirp told her enough, but she was still worried given she had no idea what this Braviary was capable of. And the snow was making it harder to see again. "Alright... Aerial Ace!" She doubted her Fletchinder would have as much trouble here, though his zipping through was a bit slower than the last attack. Though it was still fast enough to briefly catch Braviary unaware and land, it wasn't without being almost more predictable than the earlier Acrobatics. Forge would get to see a look from Braviary as if he was suggesting to try harder, and another Esper Wing would hit with ease before the Fletchinder could escape to safety, nailing a weak point in the process and putting him out of commission.
This time, though, Gale was ready for that possibility and let out a cry of her own before giving a hard flap of her wings to clear the snow and allow Amaranth to recall him. "Ugh, sorry Forge..." Once he was safe and she put his ball away, she'd look to the Braviary and had one hand grip the hammer on her back as the other unstrapped it. It was going to be an awkward hold and even riskier ploy, even keeping herself as low as she could to avoid being flung off, but maybe it'd work.
"Gale. Be ready to catch me if you need to, but go for Quick Attack. Aim down, get under them, and leave me to do the strike. Okay?"
Gale seemed more than a little worried about the idea, but the Pidgeot figured she had this if she was suggesting something so dangerous. Pitching down as she ramped up more and more speed to approach Braviary, she'd manage to get below him quicker than he could keep up. As soon as she did, Amaranth would take hammer and hold it out, rearing up for a swing as well as she could in one hand. Its weight made it difficult to do, but she was managing for the moment.
"Now!"
Suddenly, Gale would zip upward as Amaranth went for the swing, getting a cry from Braviary right before finding himself meeting the business end of something probably much harder hitting than a Pidgeot or a Fletchinder and sending him upwards from the impact. The impact would also make her lose her grip, causing her to fall off Gale and go a decent ways upward with Braviary before both of them started falling to the ground. As soon as the Pidgeot stopped, she'd shoot back down to catch Amaranth- none too happy about the hammer's weight nearly making her fall again, though. Catching her breath from the whole thing, she'd watch as Braviary continued to plummet, and couldn't help thinking about the last time she managed to make someone fall from too far up to survive.
"...I can't... Gale, I'm sorry, but if there's enough time to catch them too, please do?"
Gale paused for a second, less to contemplate it and more to give Amaranth a brief moment to brace herself and be ready to catch Braviary when she got there. By the end, they were awfully close to the ground all over again, but the battle at least ended without any casualties. Just fainting. The Pidgeot would land on the ground after everything, Amaranth finally strapping the hammer in place and looking to the Braviary. "Th-thanks..." she said, letting the adrenaline get out of her system before fumbling around in her satchel for one of the Pokeballs given to her by the Galaxy Team. "I hope these work like the ones I know..."
It took her a moment, ultimately figuring to just toss it like any other ball. The impact saw the latch on it come undone, allowing it to open and still manage to put the Braviary inside. It bounced a little as puffs of smoke came from the top of it, another difference from modern renditions, lightly landing on Gale's back. Rather than a click when it seemed to have caught the Pokemon within, it'd let out a firework of sorts and otherwise was still. She'd wait a minute before trying to do anything else with it, finally taking it in hand. "I guess it caught them...? Hopefully we won't have another moment like that. Let's catch up with the others, Gale."
The second ascent was thankfully less exciting than the first, and though the snow still made it hard to see, she and her Pidgeot would eventually make it to the temple where Sub was already waiting. And, likely, several others if not everyone else. And yet she was somehow still there in time to hear Sub's remarks and question. "I've learned to maybe not fly in a heavy snowstorm," she answered, slowly getting off Gale's back and recalling her. "We did get something from Mesprit, though. Pretty sure it's not an arm, but it should work. I hope." |
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:43 am
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Wren ascended the mountain mostly alone, Anthur's vines assisting tremendously with the climb when he couldn't secure a handhold, for quite a while. The steep peaks and sheer cliffs were wearing the both of them down rapidly, however, and they were forced to take a break only a third of the way up, breathing heavily as they sat together on a large rock overlooking the wandering wild Pokemon below. It didn't take long before Wren came to the conclusion that something was off, though. There was a Pokemon down there that both looked and felt familiar to him, though he couldn't quite say why. It appeared to be a Sylveon, though he was certain that couldn't be true. They'd only fairly recently been discovered as one of Eevee's evolved forms, he was certain, within the last 10 years or so as he recalled.
After a bit of mental debate and watching how the Pokemon acted, it seemed out of place -jumpy and scared- as if it didn't belong here at all. Finally, he ended up having to make up his mind and signaled Anthur to carry him down. She nodded, securing herself to his body by her roots and carting the channeler to the ground below, where Wren was quick to snap up the Sylveon and carry it somewhere safer even as it struggled against him. Upon setting it down higher up the rocky cliffside where the local predators couldn't reach it, he began working to calm the Fairy fox's obvious fear. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you!" He assured it, holding his hands up in the air after recalling Anthur to her ball for safety's sake, removing all possible threats for the time being. "You seemed scared. Are you alright?" He asked as the Eeveelution looked at him, it's bright eyes widening slightly as it began to relax.
"Vee? Vee!" It yipped quietly, throwing itself at Wren and snuggling into him as if familiar with the man. After a moment, the Pokemon's neck ribbon began to glow a soft pink as it used Calm Mind to forcibly calm it's racing thoughts and then stepped away, using Light Screen to form a hard light projection. It's ear ribbon began to shine a soft blue at this point as it used a strange application of Psych Up on the screen to project it's memories. It showed the Sylveon walking through a building that appeared to be very familiar, an alarm blaring and Sylveon racing toward something. It caught up to a Claydol and a group of people before being whisked away in a Teleportation flash. The next things seen was the group fighting a Kartana and then everyone being sucked into a small portal. Sylveon moved closer to inspect the portal and a sudden pulse from it caused it to jump and it was immediately sucked in as well. The scene changed again to Sylveon waking up near the top of the mountain and beginning to make it's way down in search of the people it had been following.
"That... was us..." Wren realized aloud, now knowing who this was and why they were acting so familiar. "Serena?! What were you thinking?" He demanded as he began to return the fox's affection. "I promised to take care of you when Kaya went missing. Do you know how bad I would've felt if you got lost here and I didn't even know it? I'm so glad I found you!" He told the Sylveon as he pet her head and gave her scratches on her chin. "Well, I'm pretty sure we've found a way home, so let's go! Do you have your Pokeball?" He asked her. She nodded and used one of her ribbons to pull the minimized ball from behind her neck bow. "I'd ask how you kept up with that but I think I'd be more scarred by the answer than the question..." Wren noted aloud before accepting the ball and recalling Serena to it.
Releasing Anthur again, he'd find that the both of them had recovered enough to continue the climb up the mountain. It wasn't long before they found the premade path up the mountain at last, more than halfway up and Wren decided to take it the rest of the way. He'd have stuck with that course of action except for the peculiar little ball that rolled into his path as he was passing a site of ruins he could have sworn shouldn't have existed in their current state. "Torb..." The ball cried out, rapidly spinning in place before taking off toward him at full speed.
"Oh no!" Wren yelped as he dove to the side and out of it's path, howling in pain as his leg was jolted by the sudden dash and dive. Tossing out a Nest Ball, he'd release Thistle, groaning as he apologized for the poor conditions. "I know you're not able to move as well on land but I need you for a battle." He told the Mock Kelp Pokemon.
"Draaaa." Thistle nodded in understanding, staring down the odd little wooden ball that was now circling back around. "Use Iron Tail and stop it in it's tracks. I'm not sure what it is but we need to get a better look to find out." Wren directed, clutching at his leg as he did, trying to compress the injury and force out the pain. Thistle's tail glowed silver as he nodded and brought it around to strike the strange thing as it came back at him, batting it into a nearby tree. The creature stopped spinning at that point and rolled around for a moment, slightly stunned, exposing it's eyes at last to confirm it was, in fact, a living Pokemon of some sort. "Based on appearances, I have to assume it's a Grass-type... Try using Poison Tail." Wren reasoned aloud before calling for another attack. Thistle nodded, launching himself off the ground with a hard flex before bringing his tail down onto the Pokemon's head, if it could even be said to have one. The odd Pokemon came to it's senses just in time to rapidly spin in place and fire off a cannonball of electrical energy in the form of an Electro Ball just before Thistle's attack connected. The Dragalge couldn't dodge it but his own attack was too close for his target to avoid either, leaving both in an awkward position of simply be struck in the face. Thistle fell to the ground rather unceremoniously as the other Pokemon was launched into the nearby cliffside rather than the tree from before due to the last-second change in he angle the Poison Tail had been coming from. Wren was able to reign in his pain enough to pull out a Nest Ball and threw it with surprising precision at the odd Pokemon. He'd deal with the possible consequences of bring it back to the world the Snagems had come from when and if this plan worked.
Once everything was calmed back down, he made sure Thistle was alright, recalled him to his ball and let out Asphodel once more. "Sorry, buddy. I need you to carry me again. My leg's hurting pretty bad after that last battle." Asphodel nodded and lowered himself down enough for Wren to climb onto his back, noting as he did that Wren was recalling Anthur as well. Once the channeler was mounted up, the pair returned to the mountain path and continued the ascent with little else to get in the way before they finally reached the mountaintop and the awe-inspiring site of the Temple of Sinnoh, though Wren wouldn't learn it's name for quite some time still. Upon seeing Sub waiting as well as a gathering of the others that seemed to be growing by the minute, he let out a sigh, patting Asphodel's neck in thanks as he leaned forward and rested against the cervine Pokemon's back for a few minutes.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2023 11:36 am
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SubonicXP The climb to the top was slow, arduous, and cold. The higher up they climb the further away they would feel from the world they knew, each step bringing them closer to a place that felt somehow alien in spite of being part of the Earth. The air was different higher up, not just much colder but also thinner, as is to be expected at high altitudes, but it also tasted different, felt different. If anyone had ever climbed Mount Silver back home they would note it was even different from the air there, there was something else about it that made the air here feel also unnatural. For most of the climb it snowed, the snow becoming heavier towards the top, which again was common for high altitudes to receive more snowfall, and yet as they began to reach the highest point the snow rapidly diminished, almost disappeared abruptly. Another thing to note was the lack of Pokemon they closer got to the peak. For a large amount of the climb they would see many Snover and Abomasnow, the Pokemon watching them closely but remaining still, choosing not to bother these alien creatures on their mountain, the tree Pokemon disappearing with the snow. As the peak came into view the sky would become brighter, the Snagems noting it was dusk before they reached the peak, though never fully night, and yet the sky was as bright as a sunny noon. With the bright sun shinning and the snow gone they could see their destination coming into view, a blindingly white temple reflecting the sun's rays off its polished sheen. The Temple of Sinnoh, perched on top the highest peak of the Coronet mountain range, the place to forge the Red Chain. Being in the presence of the temple would stir many emotions in the Snagems, for reasons that perhaps confused them. This was a holy place in all meanings of the word, a sacred land beyond their own comprehension. Above the temple in the sky was their path back home, the space-time distortion, a tear the fabric of reality. From here you could feel the energy it was putting out, it was like a pressure and a feeling of 'wrongness' not unlike what one feels an Ultra Beast giving off. For Darts though it felt different, far more familiar and for its jacket it was an amazing feeling that filled it with joy, the article of clothing possibly wanting to rip itself off Darts right now and fly into the distortion. Volo perhaps shared the joy of Darts' jacket, ecstatic to be here, his eyes never really paying too much attention to the beautiful temple like the others and instead focused on the distortion in the sky. He said nothing to anyone once they reached the peak, his mind was some where else. As the Snagems climbed the temple steps they would find at the top, sitting on the floor, the Noble Pokemon Wyrdeer resting next to him, their leader. Sub had made it here before them somehow, the answer to how he made it here so quick and with relative ease as he seemed rested and clean, screeching and getting their attention, a strange looking black Braviary perched on a nearby Pokemon statue of apparently the same species of Pokemon as it. Did Sub ride that bird up here? Was it similar to that weird looking Stantler, a Noble Pokemon? Questions for later. Waving at his teammates Sub stood up and waited for them to approach. "Took you guys long enough, I was starting to get worried." Sub chuckled. "So, were you successful? Did you get the ingredients for the Red Chain? Cogita said the Lake Guardians should have given you pieces of themselves. Wasn't sure what she meant by that, like did they rip an arm of and hand it to you?" He said, cracking a joke, the Dark One in as good spirits as ever. Larrimore was less ecstatic to be here, a Bug type like him not really caring too much for the cold even with the clothing Mesprit gifted them, he was just glad Beauregard had his Charizard, the Pinsir hybrid sticking close to it, and to think he used to hate that thing in its prior stages.
Darts doesn't have quite the issues the others do in summiting the mountain. Certainly it was cold, but he doesn't run into any wild Pokemon on his way to the top and as such his ascent is relatively easy minus the climbing. Weirdly as he scales the mountain he can feel energy surging through his body and his jacket in particular as he nears the summit of the mountain. It's taking all of his willpower as he approaches The Dark One and Volo to not leap into the air and take flight, it certainly seemed like his living garment wanted to. Anyone who was watching would see the jacket pulling and struggling against his body towards the dimensional rift almost comically, looking like a jacket caught in a windstorm as Darts himself was unruffled. He slaps his sleeve, trying to get the thing to behave as he reaches into a pocket, producing the fang that Azelf had given him.
"Maybe not an arm, but how's a tooth strike you?" he asks, handing the piece over to Sub, dropping it in the leader's palm. It was getting harder and harder to pay attention up here. The snow around his ankles was sizzling with pain at the Ice-type energy presence but the Snagem didn't care much for that. The yawning distortion was doing all kinds of things to the garment and he found himself right next to Volo, staring up at that self-same pucker wound in the sky despite all of his best efforts to ignore it. |
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