Sethera

Belle watched as Ivan took out his Poké Balls with some jealousy. How does he tell them apart? she wondered. As far as she could tell, they weren't marked. Maybe by the arrangement on his belt? Yes, that's a good idea. She glanced down. Well, it would be if I had a belt too. Maybe she should get one? Except she wasn't a huge fan of them. She didn't like having anything around her waist. It didn't help that she was a little...ahem, overweight. The girl pinched her side. But if I keep being forced to walk around like this...before long my proud stomach will peter out into nothingness. I'll turn into a stick and blow away with the wind. She sighed dramatically. By now, Ivan was currently talking about another Pokémon he had. She didn't know that he had another one, but from what he was saying, it was a Bellsprout? She didn't know much about those, except some random things she had learned on the internet. Like them being really, really flexible. Or that one internet meme with a random guy owning a Victreebel always ending up being swallowed whole by it whenever sending it out of its Poké Ball. Which, according to some internet nerd, was really dangerous because of the potent acid in the grass type's pitcher cavity. That guy had to have nine lives or something. Anyway, that was beside the point. She had no clue what a Bellsprout would eat. But if it was anything like its evolution... "Maybe it likes eating human flesh?" she wondered. Scratching her head Jacklyn said, "well, we can figure that out later. I'm sure there's a shop that we can find for that stuff. For now! Onwards!" It took them a little bit, but they did eventually make their way to Skrelp Flambe. Or was it Flambé? Confused, the bluenette followed the others in, dragging her feet some. She really hoped this wasn't expensive. At least the atmosphere didn't seem expensive, but appearances could be deceiving. Preparing her stomach...and wallet, the girl sat at the table they were led to. "Oooh, i don't think I've ever had anything like this before." Jacklyn had already opened up her menu. Putting down the menu though, the girl said, "oh, come to think of it. We've been together for awhile now, but this is the first time we sat down and ate like this." Curious to see what exactly was so great about the food here, Belle opened her own menu. And was promptly horrified. "Wha--?" she shook her head. "This menu has nothing but kelp on it!" She held her head. "Where're the potato chips? The yakitori? Heck, I'd even go for some hondewpan or a candy bar right now..." The girl flipped through the menu. "I hope they at least have some soda." Belle was interrupted from her grumblings when Jacklyn took a picture of them, the flash temporarily blinding the shorter girl. "Hey," she complained. "What're you doing?" Her mood had gone down drastically after seeing the menu. Not that she was expecting them to have all her favorite snacks, but kelp? Really? Still...it wasn't too bad salted. But it didn't look like that was an option here. She sighed. "I think I'll get the Fried Kelp. Either that or the Deep Fried Kelp. Maybe even the Double Deep Fried Deluxe Kelp." With any luck the breading would be so thick that she wouldn't be able to taste the actual kelp. "And," the blue-haired girl said, glancing at Jacklyn. "Is this really something we need to celebrate?" She didn't know much about how three-dimensional people acted, but she was fairly sure they didn't take pictures of every single minor event. At least, I hope not. Or this is going to be a long journey. She looked at Ivan. Maybe he had an answer for her that wasn't "yes, of course!"

It looked like everybody was gathering on them. Glancing around, the girl felt...well, not very comfy actually. Very much not comfy. They were packed together like a herd of baby bunnies, except they weren't actually baby bunnies, so it wasn't as cute. She wrinkled her nose. We don't smell like baby bunnies either. Well, not that baby bunnies didn't smell, but people definitely smelled differently. And right now, none of them smelled very nice. She shook her head. No, concentrate Yue. Gulping, the archer held steady. She hit the last one, and it was gone now, attacking Raynor, but now there was a dog in front of her. A cute, adorable dog. Her grip on the bow shook. No, she thought. I can't...attack. But I have to. A pained expression on her face, she held the bow out, about to shoot...but could not. "I can't, I'm sorry..." she muttered, lowering her bow. She was so useless. And then, with a growl, the hound leapt for Rona, fangs slavering. There was a zombie as well, who had already attacked the girl. Watching the sight with wide eyes, the archer started to shake again. No, nonononono! Her eyes darkened. "How dare you..." she growled. "How dare you!" her voice grew in strength at the repeat. She raised her bow. "Listen here, mister. Just because you're strong doesn't mean you get to be a bully!" She notched an arrow to the string. "You may have huge teeth, and sharp claws, and long fur, and a cute nose. But you do not—" she aimed right at its beady yellow eye, "I repeat—" she pulled back on the string, "you do not! Hurt! My! Friends!" she released the arrow. "You got that?" Unfortunately, the hound would never be able to tell her whether it got that or not. The arrow struck true, piercing right into its eye socket, and the creature fell over, dead.

Mac didn't take too well to what Ari said. "Wanna try it? We could race right now and find out!" The Litleo rolled his eyes. At this rate, he felt that his eyes were going to roll to the back of his head and stay there. "Okay, okay, you're fast, sheesh," he muttered, before listening to what Kazo's mother was saying. "Judging from the rumors and the high winds, you all met the Great Green One, right?" the Tyranitar stood up and smiled. "Even living in this town, we don't get to see him too much, so that alone is a call for celebration, but then you fought along side him? I proud of you kiddo. You're growing up really fast," She said, giving Kazo a light punch on the shoulder. "Denku probably would be throwing a fit right now, but, still, you did a great job.... I can't believe my baby boy is growing up...," She wiped away a tear from her eye before bending down and fussing over Ari, straightening out his clothes and dusting him off. The boy blushed and fidgeted as she straightened his clothes. It felt really familiar. His mom would do that all the time. The boy gulped, feeling a little sad all at once. I miss Mom... Was that how Kazo was feeling too? "Yeah that's right!" Mac said. "He wasn't really all that much though. We totally showed him up didn't we, Ari?" She nudged the boy a bit roughly. "Yeah, he was kinda lame," Ari said, remembering how the legendary had gone on a rampage. "He almost made us fly us off the rafts..." "So, did you all get to eat? Do you want to have dinner here and rest for the night?" "Well, what say you, Mac?" Mac thought about it. "I kinda wanna get going..." Her stomach rumbled at that moment. "But it might be nice to have some food before we go at least. Yeah, let's do that, c'mon everyone time for a break." "I'm sure your stomach grumbling had nothing to do with that..." "Yeah, we didn't even get to eat at the wedding, which is like, the only reason to go to a stranger's wedding," Kazo muttered. "But, but, it was cool though," Ari whined. "Cuz it was a princess, and then, and then, we had somebody crash the wedding, and then we met a legendary, even though he was kinda lame, and then we fought somebody. So that was cool, right?" Mac then began to bounce in place. "So. What's for dinner? Is it gonna take a while?" She asked. "Man, I'm starved, aren't you guys hungry too?" Ari was about to snap at the Helioptile when Trish spoke up. "Well, you all are in luck. I was preparing some spaghetti for dinner. I'll just make a little more for all our guests. Gotta let the water boil though," she said as she went into the kitchen. "Do you all want anything to drink? Berry juice? Milk?" "I think I'll pass on milk...," Kazo muttered, remembering his harsh fight just earlier. "I'll have milk!" Ari shouted out. "I'm still growing, so I need some milk to grow big and strong," he puffed out his chest. After the drinks were prepared and placed at the table, Trish began to chat with them. "So, are you kids enjoying Ogren?" "It's nicer than other places we've been, at the very least," Kazo chuckled. "I like it," Ari volunteered. "The food is good, the people are nice, well, most of them," he corrected, remembering those kids and Mia. He really thought she was nice too. The boy shook his head. He had also liked that pretty lady, and she was evil too. Maybe he just wasn't good at telling good people from bad people yet. -- "We have a picnic?" "Um...no? I don't think that's going to--" "I find out if Mewtwo can locate my brother, and then we go our separate ways," the Pupitar supplied. "I'm pretty sure looking for him is going to throw me headfirst into this Godslayer business, and I'm sure Brooke wants to stay out of it, for Dora's sake." "I wanna help too though!" Easter wanted to smack his head. So he did. Smack his head. It was true that Denku's words had brought down his mood a little, but Dora's words immediately supplanted that with frustration. "Look, Dora," he shook his head. "That's just...not happening." He looked pleadingly over at Brooke, hoping she would chime in. As time passed and Dora named the fish that they passed, Easter couldn't resist correcting her. Call it a seaman's instinct. Or just wanting to tease Dora. "No, no Dora, that's a clownfish. It's called that because it has a bright orange nose. That over there is a surgeonfish. It's called that because it has scales shaped like surgical tools. And over there is a sea bass. It's called that because its bones were used to help make bass instruments." Whether any of this was real, or made up, was another thing. Eventually, a woman approached after Phione fell asleep, and by the looks of her, was probably Manaphy. Denku started to talk with her, but she didn't look like she wanted to stick around. Pity, Easter could have challenged her, but he supposed that just wasn't in the works for today. "Guess we'll have to postpone that picnic," he chuckled, then waved at the two of them. "You take care now. Don't let your daughter get into too much trouble now, hmm?" He wasn't really sure why she looked so nervous, but maybe it was a mother thing. Though Brooke's version of nervousness seemed to be "stomp down everything between me and Dora," but same difference, right? -- "Whatever campfire stories you've heard about what we do to people that see our faces, they're not true." Keanu sighed in relief. "Well, I'm glad of that at least. Uhh, not that I saw your face. Nuh-uh." He shook his head. Okay, maybe he was still a little intimidated by her. It was kind of hard not to be. He had heard so much after all. That Mimikyu would wear the skin of some gijinka, gijinka who had seen...their...faces... Okay, calm down, Keanu. Maluhia. "You were the only other one who could have seen it besides Allie, and it's not like anyone will believe her if she describes it anyway." He supposed that was true. It was a pretty unbelievable face, after all. "They say our kinds are connected, you and me. It's just a myth as far as I know, but the short version is the first Mimikyu was a different and unknown species at first. It was horribly disfigured in a fight with a Pikachu that put a curse on them, so badly that it became something different entirely, and crafted its costume after the person it hated most afterwards. Like a voodoo doll, almost, but it also kept their twisted body hidden." "What, really?" the Pikachu gasped. "I never heard that. Or that...we could put curses on people." He gulped. I know Nasty Plot though...learned it as a Pichu and that carried over. I suppose...we are capable of dark things. But...a curse? He had heard, long ago, that Pikachu could use the move Curse. Was that the same thing though? Oh, Manaphy. Now his imagination was running away from him. Terrible thoughts started to run through his head. Pikachu cackling as they placed curses on all the gijinka around them, creating a new species of gijinka, a cursed species, known as the-- "Honestly, I think we're all compelled to model our costumes after Pikachu because they're generally popular and well-liked by people around them," Nani suggested, turning her costume back around and pulling her hood back up. It wasn't until her head was properly covered that she finally lifted it back up. "Like going trick-or-treating as something people like, so they'll compliment your costume." I guess that makes more sense... Still, he couldn't help but imagine-- "That's how it was when I grew up anyway; there was this very popular Pikachu girl." "Oh really? Maybe I know her. What was her name?" He didn't know all the Pikachu in Alola, but Pikachu in general were social gijinka, and usually got along well with others, especially other Pikachu. He couldn't say he knew her for sure, but... Nani seemed to be on a tangent though. "I'd like to find out what causes us to look like this under the costume though. Something crazy like an ancient curse seems a bit absurd." Oh no. There she went with the curses again. Keanu started to freak out once more. Curses? Was that why Nani had followed them then? Was her ultimate goal to put a curse on him as revenge? Oh no! He was going to be the first Pikachu to get the curse of the Mimikyu upon them. Oh, why was his luck always so poor? First, Randy and Marie were always dragging him into terrible situations, and now this. He could swear he saw his life flashing before his eyes. "Er... the important thing is, I'm more concerned about you if you saw it than I am about me." She said some more after that, but by then, Keanu wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to preserve his life. "I didn't see it!" Keanu violently shook his head. "I saw nothing! Nothing, I swear! Don't take revenge on me. I am just a poor, innocent Pikachu. I didn't curse your ancestors, please forgive mine for their terrible mistake!" he started to shiver in place, arms over his head, and then fell over, dazed. -- "N-no, it was...me." Kayla said softly, blushing slightly. "N-no, I was the one to run into you..." but things moved on from that quickly as the legendary explained about They Who Lurks. "I don't suppose he's the talking type?" Shaymin shook her head mutely at Nine's joke. "Wow...I didn't know you were so cool!" Lok grinned, though it faded as he spoke his next words. "But it sounds like you have your hands full." He said, crossing his arms. "I know you're scared of... that. Honestly I... kinda am too..." The woman peeked up at him. "You're...impressed? By me?" she asked, eyes wide. "O-oh no," she shook her head frantically, arms waving. "No, I'm nothing, don't worry about that, I just...well, you wanted to know more about me, that's all." She blushed, looking down. "And yes, it takes all that I have to keep the barrier up. And even with that, it's still weakening. I-I'm afraid. It's only natural...to be afraid." "But... but we have to stop this thing. For everyone's sake." "Everyone..." she shook her head. "But it is for everyone that I keep the barrier up." Her expression twisted in sorrow. Nine, on the other hand, seemed eager, "well, there's nothing to do about it but face him right?" Shrugging he said, "we've already had our fair share of showdowns with powerful foes, and honestly it sounds like we haven't reached the top yet, so we'll be in great shape if we can stop someone like this. Besides, I can't turn down a meeting with a legend like this, nor could I stop myself from helping out your and Gwen's home," he said to Lok, before looking to Shaymin saying, "and well, if we win here that means you can work towards your old job right? Sounds a lot more enjoyable then what you were stuck with now." "S-spoken like a true...Chaser," Shaymin said, tone slightly disapproving. "Fighting...I still don't understand...why so many gijinka like it. And...yes, what I did before was wonderful, but..." she bit her lip. "But to face THEM again..." she whimpered, "I can't," the green-haired woman looked down in shame. And then Kayla spoke up. "Um. I...fought someone...not long ago. He was very strong. Strong enough to destroy a city. I, um, didn't want to fight him." She paused, shivering. "But I had to or he'd hurt...everyone else. S-so, doing it again should be...easy." Shaymin turned toward the girl, wonder in her eyes. "You fought somebody that strong?" the grass type shook her head. "You're all...so brave. I'm not like that at all. I'm a coward...it's why I can't bear to face them. Even though I know. I know that...you're right," she trembled. Eventually, her trembling stopped, and the green-haired woman looked up, expression firm. "I'm scared, but..." she shook her head, "But I don't want to see They Who Lurks unleashed on the world any more than you do. If you can promise me that you will defeat them," the woman gazed at each one of the group in turn, her mossy green eyes appearing ancient and solemn, "then I'll go with you. And take down the barrier."

The wolfhound worked to calm the man down, tail wagging slightly. It didn't look like the pair would be leaving the hut anytime soon. The beaver, however, followed the others out. After Gunther asked his question, the creature glanced up at him. It shook its head vigorously, letting out a few angry chitters, before walking a little faster so that it was ahead of the duo. Shiro's help was met with guarded stares and angry hisses at first, but the longer he helped, the warmer the reception became, shifting to grudging acceptance and gratitude. The most grateful was the hare, who, while still stamping its foot every so often, had calmed down enough it was able to direct the others in what needed to be done with a series of pantomimes. -- Sienna's expression worsened. "B-but... They could've a mother... Or a father... Even a reckless child." She stated as she held her tail in her arms. "Whether they made a choice or not... I still killed an innocent person... Someone stuck in a cruel curse..." She began to tear up a bit. "What if this happened to our village? What if some random person came and cursed us? Destroyed our lives worse than what happened between us and the Frogs?" She said looking up at Licorice. "What would you do then?" Licorice looked a little confused by Sienna's outburst, patting her on the shoulder. "Don't cry. You don't know for sure they're dead, after all. And even if they are..." The fox sighed. "Killing, death, those are part and parcel of life. You just aren't used to it, is all. The fox village is so isolated..." she trailed off, then started muttering to herself. "Too isolated. Stagnant. We reject the teachings of old and the wisdom of the outside world at the same time. At this rate..." It seemed that she had forgotten about Sienna's last question, caught up as she was in her thoughts. She would not be shaken out of them until the rest of the group exited the building. -- Catriona was not quite sure that Adelaide understood what she was trying to say, but she had never been good at expressing herself to begin with. It seemed that the pegasus knight's mood had improved, at least, and that was something. To the side, Link was with Ciela, and it seemed as if things were going well. She caught sight of the bright light of healing magic, anyway, which, actually, might not be a good idea to use in front of somebody, but it seemed that Cora was well and thoroughly distracted by Penelope, Tsetseg, and Citron. Tsetseg was rightfully wary of Peaches the wyvern, Citron was defending it and calling her boss-lady still, and Penelope was...regaling everybody with her experience of almost being eaten. Fighting the urge to shake her head, the white-haired woman listened to Cora's reply. "Hey, um, I was thinking. If all the villagers are gone, what about the animals? That is the animals that were here before. My, um, friend has a horse named Cain you see. If we find him, maybe that'll tell us...something?" "I can try looking for Cain," Adelaide suggested. "I do also think that we can find out more about this situation should we figure out what happened with the village's livestocks. Who knows, maybe they're all walking around naked as mindless "humans" now or something. That would be amusing." "I do not know about amusing, but it would certainly be...interesting," Catriona replied. "However, that is a good idea. Perhaps that will help us determine the exact nature of this...affliction." She did not know much about magic, but that sounded right to her. The more one knew about anything, the better one could combat it. That was what she had been taught, anyway. After shaking Edrick awake, he looked a little disoriented. "Ce se întâ-" he paused, and managed to roll into an upright sitting position. "What's happening?" "We're leaving," Catriona replied, choosing to ignore the Pontic words with some slight discomfort, already in the process of getting up from her crouch. Thankfully, she didn't have to crouch that far, as the boy was rather tall. Turning around, the woman caught sight of the wyvern slowly removing itself from the window. And, once the princess walked out the door, she found that very same wyvern...sitting on the path, screeching at her. A little intimidated, the woman stared the beast down before moving out of the way. Still, that cry had been...a little odd. Turning around, she waited for the others to appear, noticing that with every person, the wyvern screeched a little louder. A little concerned, the lord put a hand on her sword hilt. If the situation turned south, and Citron was not able to handle things...well, it was more important that none of them get hurt or killed, even if Catriona had to take the beast down to prevent it. Edrick, on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy to scratch that dangerous creature under the chin. Why he thought that was a safe thing to do was beyond her. Once they had all vacated the house, Sienna and Licorice joining, the group started to head for the market square, where they had last seen Alois, Gunther, and Shiro. However, they ended up meeting both the fighter and the knight almost as soon as they turned the corner from the house, accompanied by the beaver from before. "Hello," Catriona greeted, then quickly introduced Gunther to Cora. "Cora, this is Gunther, one of our number. Gunther, Cora. She's a friend of Alois, and was kind enough to let us rest at her house." With that out of the way, the lord frowned. "Where is Shiro?" Continuing toward the square, the group would find Shiro soon enough, helping out the animals to clear up the broken stall. Which was...quite an odd scene, to be sure. Catriona was not quite sure how to describe it. Baffling? Mystifying? Her sister could probably think up a fitting enough word for it, but for the lord, she could only shake her head. The Protean looked to be just finishing as they arrived. Unfortunately much of the stand had been destroyed, and there was little enough left to save. The hare looked dejected, but thankful all the same, and the surrounding animals' gazes had become a little warmer. By now, the sun shone high in the sky. It was noon, and while normally, that meant it was time for a meal, they had just finished resting up, and they needed to get this investigation underway. Lunch would have to wait. The woman then faced the group. "Before we begin, we need to make sure we're all on the same page. The objective is to figure out how, and perhaps why, Phar was thusly transformed, and with any luck, resolve it. There are multiple ways to go about this. Alois suggested earlier that we search the mayor's house. Cora suggested that we find Cain, a horse belonging to her friend. Perhaps whatever has been done to the humans of this village was done to the animals as well." The beaver jumped up at that, chittering angrily. The white-haired woman glanced at the animal briefly before returning her attention to the others. "But before that, did any of you find out anything concerning this situation?" Catriona took some time to stare at each person in turn. While she did not believe, for instance, that Penelope and the others who had followed Licorice had found anything pertinent, they very well might have discovered something. And perhaps Gunther and Shiro had managed to identify the naked man she had seen in the hut. Still, she thought it best to volunteer first. "I will share what I have discovered so far. This village is filled with strange animals who do not behave like regular animals. I am not quite sure what is going on here, but it is assumed to be something beyond the natural occurrences." She shook her head. Magic. She still could not quite understand it. She did not like it either, especially after seeing the state of this village. After the others had explained what they had found, the lord nodded and was about to speak when the beaver that had been lingering near the group let out what sounded like an impatient snort before turning and running away. Catriona hesitated for a second, glancing at the others, before following the animal. After all, it had not led them astray yet. The beaver eventually stopped in front of a house that would be quite familiar to both Alois and Cora. Similar to Cora's in design and size, it also had a sizable backyard. In said backyard was also a small stable, and in it, sitting on a pile of straw, was a young man with red hair, naked save for the cloak draped over him, a rope tied around his wrist, the other end attached to the stable. He looked up, and, seeing the beaver, stood on all fours, letting out a strange noise that sounded like a soft chortle, except he wasn't actually laughing. It was strange, but at least they had found another person. Though why they had both been naked, and probably still were, was beyond Catriona. It was then that she remembered what Adelaide had said. The woman shook her head. No, that can't be. That would be too ridiculous...right? The power it would take, no ordinary person could do this...transform people into animals and animals into people. Not on this scale. She refused to believe it. There had to be a more credible explanation. OOC

Yue couldn't really blame the others for not wanting to eat the bear. It was...not the most appetizing. Bear in general was not really something Yue had eaten before, and now she knew why. Apparently they were poisonous too if they were active at death. The archer had never heard of this before, but she would take Ada's word for it. Though it seemed fine when they ate it. Before she knew it, Alexis had sidled up next to her. "You know, if you're cold, I'm sure you could convince Rona to sit near you. You know, the old 'share body heat and get close to the girl you like' trick? Worth a shot ain't it?" Yue froze. "Wh-wh-what do you mean?" she stammered, before comprehension hit her. She shook her head vigorously. "N-no! Never! I would never do that...it wouldn't be right," she poked her fingers together. "And I d-don't," she paused, blushing, "like...Rona." The archer barely heard Edda's reply. Mumbling something incomprehensible in response, she sat there without saying anything more for the rest of the meal. As the day drew to a close and Yue was about to head to bed, she heard Leon shout out in alarm. It seemed that a large shadowy hound had appeared, with several regular hounds and zombies accompanying it. Upset at the idea of fighting more monsters, the girl nonetheless lifted her iron bow with a heavy heart. She would fight as well. Rona moved first, attacking one of the zombies, Alexis on her way to attack as well. Gritting her teeth, Yue walked up as well, standing alongside the pegasus knight and aiming her bow at the zombie holding an axe on the other side of the tree. Drawing her bow back into a bent curve, she shot the arrow from it with more force. While this would be harder on the bow, she knew that the force would be that much more.

Jacklyn seemed to be pleased with the suggestion, which was surprising. Belle had expected something along the lines of, "a great adventurer never stops to eat!" or some nonsense like that. Instead, she shouted out, "great idea Belle! After all, adventure isn't just about exploring new places, but exploring new flavors as well! And since we're in a new place, there's no doubt new flavors here to try!" Belle froze. That sounded...oddly familiar. She felt as if she had watched something like that, once upon a time. Though she couldn't remember most of what she watched, honestly, having watched quite a bit, but it sounded familiar anyway. Had Jacklyn watched it too? Ivan agreed, patting his stomach. "I could go for some food myself. Then it's settled - we get some food." He said, turning towards the rest of the city. "Plus, it'd be good for our Pokemon to get some rest." However, there was something that Belle, and Jacklyn in her excitement, had forgotten, that the tanned boy had not. "Before any of that, though, we should find a Pokémon Center. Gotta make sure everyone is in good condition for training." Jacklyn quickly agreed with that, but Belle couldn't help but frown. She had never used a Pokémon Center before. When Moo had needed to rest, she had just let him rest in his Poké Ball and not used him. Still, a way to quickly heal up injured Pokémon sounded useful. At least it meant they would be prepared if they needed to fight. Going through Skrelp Harbor, the bluenette noticed that Jacklyn was having...difficulties keeping to task. Every so often she would start drifting toward a building that looked "exciting," and each time would have to be guided back. Belle glanced at Ivan and made a face. "At this rate it'll be dawn by the time we get to the Pokémon Center." After reaching the Center, Belle greeted the nurse with some trepidation, however the woman seemed perfectly friendly, which caused her to relax somewhat. Handing over her Poké Balls, she watched them glow slightly in the strange machine, curious. It wasn't too long before they were both back in her hands. Gazing at the two of them with furrowed brows, she realized that...she could not tell them apart. This wasn't good. Closing her eyes, the girl concentrated on the balls. If she could just focus, then maybe...maybe. Even the most inexperienced of psychics can identify which Pokémon is in their own Poké Ball. Putting forth all her effort, she tried...and failed. They both felt exactly the same to her. She frowned. Jacklyn and Ivan don't have any problems sending out their Pokémon. Did that make them psychic? So she was even worse at this psychic business than the two of them? That was a little...depressing. Not that I really wanted to become a great psychic, she shook her head. But it would be quite useful right about now. The girl sighed and put them away. Well, she would just have to figure it out later. Maybe mark them? For now, she glanced over at Jacklyn, who had already started to babble on about something or another. From the menu she was holding, it was probably about where they were going next. "The Skrelp Flambé, huh?" the bluenette muttered, "sounds fancy." Way above her head, and probably above her allowance too. "It's supposed to be a pretty famous place to eat around these parts with loads of dishes you can't find anywhere else," Jacklyn frowned, "but, I'm not sure if our pokemon will like it there. So we should probably look for a place for them too." Pulling out her two pokeballs she said, "I should probably be fine with just carrots but uh...what do your guys's pokemon eat?"  "Eat?" Belle repeated. "Oh yes, that." Her brow wrinkled. Actually...she had not fed Moo once since getting him. He had never really seemed hungry either, though she thought she saw him eat grass once. Or, he was holding it in his mouth anyway. She hadn't really been paying attention. "I think Moo eats grass," she mused. "I just caught a Rattata, not sure what it eats." She did remember hearing once about it needing to gnaw on things, or else its teeth would grow too long, but that didn't help her now. She wanted to know what it was supposed to gnaw on, not that it did.

"H-hey what do you think you're doing?" Mac shouted. Ari rolled his eyes. Taking you away from there, what else? But he didn't say that out loud. He knew Mac would just get mad and pretend she wasn't upset earlier or something. Kazo said goodbye to the other children and quickly caught up, passing them in no time. The Helioptile seemed to gain some energy at that, shouting out "Oh no you don't, c'mon Ari, it's a race now!" And, without letting go of Ari's hand, she began to run as fast as she could to try and outspeed Kazo. "All right all right," the Litleo muttered, increasing his pace. She seems a lot happier now, though, so I guess that's fine. He wasn't sure why she seemed to dislike the children so much, but maybe it was because of that earlier fight. She really knows how to hold a grudge. In the end, they did not win the race, but Ari was fine with that. Mac let go of his hand when they reached Kazo's house, telling him, "You didn't have to do that you know, sheesh." Then, to Kazo, "I bet I would've won if I had been by myself!" "Oh sure," Ari replied. "Or you could've been even slower." Though he knew he had been the one to hold them back, he couldn't resist saying that. He turned to the Tyranitar. "Hi again, Mrs. Kaz--I mean, Trish," he babbled, a little nervous still at talking to THE mother for Kazo. "The wedding was...fun," he finished lamely. -- Following the others in, Easter paused in front of the Kingdra. "Thank you," he said quietly. "We will all do our best to keep Dora safe. Until the day she decides to come back here." He didn't say that she for sure would come back. He wasn't the master of Dora's mind, so he didn't want to say for sure whether she would or not, but whatever she did, he would not stand in her way. And he was sure Brooke would not either. She loved Dora, but she was not like the king. Were everybody down, Easter would try to slide the throne back to hide the way they left, but he would not spend too long doing so. Either way, if the Kingdra knew where they went, then most likely the others would soon find out as well. Descending the stairs, he glanced around, noting the glowing stalactites. He watched Phione create a bubble with some confusion. Could all water gijinka do this or was it just Merm natives and legendaries? Once the group was surrounded by the bubble, the Sylveon glanced at Brooke. She had been rather nervous the last time they were in the bubble. "So...after this. What next?" he mused. "We return Phione to her mother, and then..." Fight? Mewtwo had mentioned that. Earlier, he would have been enthusiastic at the thought, and honestly, a part of him still bubbled with excitement, but, there was yet another part that could not help but worry. He glanced at Dora. He would fight, but what about Dora? He would much rather she stay far away from those sorts of battles. -- Keanu noticed Randy and Marie stopped to pick up Allie, but for himself, he wanted nothing to do with the crazy tita. No, he just wanted to get some kau kau in his stomach. However, once they actually got themselves seated, he ended up sitting next to Nani somehow. Why does this always seem to happen to me? He wanted to cry. He wanted to even more when he saw what they'd be eating. Meat, meat, and more meat. Sometimes, it sucked being a vegetarian. Even the smell made him feel a little queasy. "And then he got sick, but I told him that would happen after swallowing an entire frog whole. Was wicked awesome though." The conversation topics did not help there either. Thankfully the people of Trailsau had bread and corn. No fruit apparently, though. Or pancakes. Sighing, Keanu picked up a large cob and began to eat. Listening to the people speak, every so often he would join in, becoming friendlier and livelier the longer the meal went on. After all, Keanu wasn't particularly unsociable. He had been to luaus, tiki parties, and more, and it was fun talking with all the different folks of Alola, meeting new faces, and doing silly stuff surrounded by people that enjoyed those things. Except sometimes he liked to just lie on the sand and sleep the day away. "So one time," he shouted to be heard over the others. "I was surfing, and a shark came up and tried to chomp on my surfboard. And right at that moment, another shark came. So you know what I did?" "No, what?" one of the gijinka asked. "I sent a little shock right through my surfboard. Knocked the one shark right out, but the other was still on my tail. So I used da kine surfing move, where I launch right into the air! The shark didn't follow. I think it realized I wasn't food." "Dang, man, that's pretty awesome." "Yeah, can you imagine, outdoing a shark?" "Did you ever wrestle one?" Keanu gave a mysterious smile. "Not me, but this one girl I knew, Lucine, she dove right into the water to wrestle one. 'Cept she was a rock type, and water and rocks don't mix." The others winced. "Was all good in the end. We got to eat shark meat too." He had almost forgotten that Nani was right beside him. Until she spoke. "You saw, didn't you?" The Pikachu paused, heart stopping along with him. "Y-yeah," he said, then cleared his throat. "Yeah, I did, so what?" his voice came out a little cocky, but inside, his heart was doing butterfly impressions. He continued, not stopping to think about what he was saying. "But it was kinda sandy and stuff, so I might not have seen it very clearly. I couldn't have. No face looks like that, I mean, no, of course not," he shook his head. "Never mind. I didn't see anything." -- As Nine spoke, Shaymin's wariness had died down, replaced with nervousness. "I..." she began, stopping when Lok arrived. As he introduced himself as well, she giggled and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you Lok. You too, Nine," she glanced up at the Houndoom with a shy smile. Looking at Kayla, she shook her head. "No, I'm the one at fault," she brought a hand up to her chest, balling it into a fist. "I...I shouldn't have panicked like that. But...the very thought of facing that thing again," she shuddered. "Well, I didn't face them. Not for very long, anyway. It was mostly my other self," she looked down with gloom before turning back to the others. "Let's start over," the legendary said, tone brighter. "My name is Shaymin, and...I'm not very special. I did not create the volcanoes, the seas, or time and space itself," her voice grew distant. "I am merely a messenger, sent to purify the land and deliver feelings of gratitude. I soar through the sky while watching over the earth. Or, I did, before..." she bit her lip, and then shook her head vigorously. "I...I'm sorry. I know you saved my life, and I'm truly grateful for that. But I have a hard time even referring to them, much less describing them." Shaymin sighed. "They are a most terrible gijinka. Fearsome and powerful, one of the most powerful to ever exist. At the beginning of time, they helped to shape the world. Yet, consumed by their power, they began to rampage, for they desired a different world, one much worse than the one we live in. Eventually, they were sealed away, and I created a barrier to prevent their return." She paused. "I gave up my main duties as guardian of the earth and sky to power the barrier. Yet it seems I was needed after all." She shook her head. "Only gijinka devoid of gratitude could seek the return of They Who Lurks. Of the god Giratina." The woman stopped speaking then, shivering in place.

Adelaide smiled at Catriona. "If I had to admit, Leader, this sort of event was not exactly what I had in mind when Urvan told me to join you." The woman continued, "I'd expect assassins, bandits, perhaps some wild bears or two or a dozen, but I haven't been here for a week, and we had already faced off against an undead army, hostile beavers, and now...this. For such a group filled with radiant youths like this, our luck sure was a special kind of rotten, huh?" The lord nodded. "Yes, fortune has not been in our favor. Nobody expected these sorts of fights." Well, she had suspected there would eventually be some action taken against the group by the goddess, but even so, the presence of the Awakened had made for a rude awakening indeed. "I can only hope that further trials will not be so outlandish." She glanced to the side, where Tsetseg was using Cora as a shield. "Though I do not think it wise to discuss this further in such a location." Thankfully, it seemed the villager was well distracted. Penelope was currently conversing--no, studying Citron, and the merchant looked as comfortable with the idea as anybody would be at such an inspection. Catriona shook her head. When she was younger, she had wondered whether her sister was secretly a child of House Pharos rather than Nabudis. The members of that family were notorious for their pursuit of knowledge...to the detriment of all else. Then, other times, for instance when playing draughts or just when lost in thought, her face would take on an expression alike to their father. Tsetseg did not look comfortable with the inspection either, but for different reasons. "Penelope you should get away from it! They're nasty, and eat people whole. And then your horses. And then your crops!" The girl continued to use Cora as cover, unmoving from her spot and continuing to glare at both the wyvern and its apparent rider. Citron was quick to reassure the girl, but Catriona was not so sure of the wyvern's supposedly safe nature. She had seen its threat display when facing off against the beaver, and before its rider had woken up, it had looked pretty dangerous. No, she would keep herself at a distance from this beast. Turning to Link, she saw that he looked in the middle of getting Rohns cared for. Satisfied that everybody was together, save for Alois, Gunther, and Shiro, the lord turned back to the group. "Now that we're all in one place, we should search the village and find out why it became like this. However, it would be prudent to meet up with the other three first. They should still be at the square, unless they have moved on." Catriona glanced over to where a certain boy still slouched against the wall. The woman approached, heart souring at the thought of waking him up. Still, they would be departing soon, and it would not do to leave him behind. Reaching out a hand, she paused at seeing blond hair framing his face instead of dark brown. The shade was similar to that of her best friend, a young noblewoman of House Balfon. She had always found it odd that the Balfon family, who opposed Pontus with such vigor, looked as if they could be citizens of that country themselves. Before she knew it, her fingers had outstretched, as if to brush against the pale strands. Coming back to herself with a start, the lord clasped Edrick's shoulder and shook him briefly. "Wake up." Her voice was low, but clear. Once the lancer was awake, the woman would back up slightly and look to the door. Now that they had gotten some rest, or as much rest as they could get for now, Catriona just wanted to leave. The sooner they could undo this, the sooner she could get some answers, if the town had any. If it did not, then they would depart, and be that much closer to finding the whereabouts of the Great Dragon. -- Outside, Licorice said nothing to Sienna, staring off into space. While she maintained a physical presence here, mentally, she was far away, lost in her own thoughts. She likely would have stayed that way had the other Protean not spoken up. "Those beavers that attacked us... They were... Are... The people from this village... I... I struck one down... Saw it's body float motionlessly down the river..." The white fox looked back at the other. "Did I... Did I kill someone?" She said in a shaky voice. Licorice frowned, turning back to Sienna. "Perhaps," she said frankly, softening a little as she took in the woman's expression. "Don't beat yourself up over this. You couldn't have known that was a person. Not to mention, they attacked first. You were only defending yourself." She turned away. "They made a choice to attack, and faced the consequences of their actions. That is how life works," her tone grew slightly melancholy. -- The wolfhound shook its head at Gunther's comment about the bodies, but barked in affirmation at his following words, tail wagging slightly. Alois began to make some guesses of his own, "oh, right, Licorice also figured that they angered someone powerful or, something. So, matches up." Looking back to the dog he said, "so, was it the mayor that angered them? I bet it was him." The wolfhound nodded, lips curling back into a slight growl, before letting out another loud bark. This caused the strange man to cry out in surprise. He dropped to the floor, crawling on his belly toward the dog, head tilted up, eyes wide, whining. The beaver turned its head to the side with another scoff, crossing its two front paws over each other as if folding its arms. Shiro had started to make his way for the exit. Outside, he would discover that the animals looked to be well on their way to cleaning up any spilled produce from the various stalls. Most of them had gathered around the stand that the Isaurian merchant and her wyvern had broken, and were currently attempting to fix it as best they could, though they couldn't do much, being animals. A few looked to be comforting the hare from before, who was stamping its feet on the cobblestones of the square in anger. OOC

Yue jerked slightly in place when she heard Raynor's voice. She hadn't expected anybody to be listening. "Y-yeah," she replied at first, and then realized what exactly he had said. "I-I mean, no. I didn't hunt the bear. Neither of us did," she explained. "It was already dead." Later, the archer ate the bear meat with little conversation, exhaustion causing her eyes to droop. It had been a long day of travel, and now this failed hunting expedition. Still, the meat was fine, if a little strong in flavor compared to what she was used to. Glancing to the side, Edda seemed to barely tolerate it. If she had known the girl would react that strongly, she would have added her couple rabbits to the mix. Every so often, the Yonan's eyes strayed to the surrounding trees. She still remembered that feeling of being watched, and could not help but shiver at the thought. Could somebody, or something, be watching them right now? It was a chilling thought, and one she'd rather not have while her bow wasn't at hand. Instead, she had a strip of meat in her grip. Desperate to get her mind off such things, the girl spoke up. "Um..." she stopped, realizing that she had nothing to say, before casting her eyes over the group. "Um...so...you don't like bear...Edda?"

Catriona nodded, satisfied with herself. While she was not particularly savvy in the ways of etiquette, she felt that she had performed this admirably. Short, sweet, and to the point. Still, I feel as if I'm forgetting something, she thought. Pausing to mull it over for a while, the woman came up with a thought. Oh yes, I forgot to introduce Rohns. Still, he was an animal, and in the middle of being looked over by Link. Aside from him, there was nobody else she could have forgotten, save for the other mounts, who weren't even present at the moment. Yes. She nodded. It was fine. Everybody was introduced. “Penelope, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg, and Liiicorice. Got it!” Citron smiled, crossing her legs. “Nice to meet all of you!” She beamed. “As the Boss-Looking-Lady said, I'm--" If she had said anything else after that, Catriona could not say. She had frozen in mortification, though there was no outward sign of her embarrassment save the unnatural stillness that had taken over her. That was what she had forgotten. I forgot to introduce myself. She cleared her throat. "Ah. I am Catriona." She paused, realizing the mistake she had just made. So caught up had she been in her faux pas that she had gone and made another one. Still, this was a small, remote village. It was unlikely that anybody there had heard the names of the princesses of Galtea. Or that, even if they had, that they would remember them. She kept quiet after that, listening to Penelope speak. Yes, that's Penelope. Her sense of humor...never changes. She supposed if anybody wanted to pretend to be her sister using evil magics, she would need only observe whether they engaged in pranks or not. If they did not, then they were obviously an imposter. The girl continued to speak, approaching Peaches. "Did you know that some say Wyverns are born of the Great Dragon themselves? That they were created to be the Great Dragon's guardians? There are legends that say every wyvern, whether they know it or not, contain some part of the Great Dragon in them. And that, when the time comes, the Great Dragon will use this to call all of the wyverns of the world to their side once more." Catriona had never heard this legend, but she supposed it could be true. Citron gave a nervous response to that, but the lord's attention had shifted to Tsetseg, who looked somehow intimidated by both the merchant and her wyvern. She could not say why that was, but perhaps, like herself, the girl was unused to wyverns. Catriona had given the beast a wide berth. She was bad enough with animals, let alone giant ones. At a time like this, she should perhaps say something, but she was at a loss as to what exactly that would be. It would be pointless to ask after her well-being, as this was a matter of emotions rather than health. And telling her not to worry would be foolish. This was a wyvern, a species notorious for being both dangerous and temperamental. No, Tsetseg was right to be wary. So there is nothing I need to say. With that thought in mind, Catriona continued her survey of the room. To the side, Link was approaching Ciela, and Edrick was currently sleeping against the wall. The woman was loathe to wake him. Not too long ago they had been fending off beavers and working to cross a raging river, and little more than a day before that they had been fighting for their lives in an abandoned shrine. They all deserved a break of sorts. Still, he would have to wake up soon now that the others had returned. If they wanted to get to the bottom of the problem plaguing this village, then they would have to investigate. It would be optimal that he be woken now, that he would be ready to leave by the time they set out. With that thought, the woman approached him, hand outstretched to shake his shoulder. He muttered a name, but it meant nothing to her. Perhaps the name of his horse? Or a family member? And then the boy's lips curved up into a smile. When was the last time he had smiled like that? Not for quite some time. The woman's chest hurt slightly at the thought, and she frowned, an unpleasant feeling bubbling in her gut. He shouldn't be here. And not because he was a Pontic. He had already proven himself in the last fight. He could have turned on them. After all, they were fighting the goddess's own troops. And yet...he had not. While it was true that the enemies were unlikely to discriminate between their targets, he could have easily run away in the confusion. After all, it wasn't him that they were after. No, he should not be here because he was young, far too young to join them on such a long journey away from all the comforts of home. People like him, Penelope, and Tsetseg did not deserve to be here, fighting for a cause they had no personal stake in. She had forgotten that, had watched as all three's eyes grew a little duller, a little harder, and a little older. But here and now, smiling as he was, the woman could not help but remember his youth. Her hand stopped, hovering over his shoulder by a few barleycorns. Staring at his face, Catriona retracted her hand, turned around, and walked back. These past few days have been long. A few minutes more will do little harm. Returning to her previous spot, the lord glanced to where Adelaide was. The woman had been quiet for quite some time. "Are you well?" Catriona asked, noting that she looked a little overwhelmed. She is not the only one. Still, this was an improvement to the shrine. An abundance of animals was not quite so unnatural as people rising from the grave. -- In the hut, the wolfhound barked at the question, before exchanging a look with the beaver. The beaver then picked up a bone and began to walk around unsteadily on its hind legs, using the bone as a crutch or cane. It approached the dog, dropping the bone to spread its arms wide. The dog shook its head vigorously, nose in the air, causing the beaver to hiss. At that, the dog covered its eyes with its paws, spun around in a circle, and fell on its back, tongue lolling out. Opening its eyes soon afterward, it hopped up from its prone position, tail wagging slightly as it stared at Alois. Meanwhile, the still-naked man was looking worriedly at the wolfhound, letting out a confused whine.

Ari was pretty surprised to suddenly find himself surrounded by kids, but he recovered quickly. After Kazo answered the initial question, the Litleo grinned as he answered their next ones. "Yeah, they were super cool, strong, and uhh, maybe there were some pretty ones, I don't know," he shrugged at the last question, wrinkling his nose slightly. "There was one who looked to be a kid just like us, but she acted so grown-up. It was weird, but not weird because she was a legendary." He paused, looking to the side. Mac didn't look very happy right now, actually she looked pretty grumpy. "But, uhh," he grinned sheepishly. "That was a pretty hard fight, and we're all pretty tired. So," he took the Helioptile's hand, "gotta go, sorry!" and started to run. "Come on, Kazo!" he shouted. -- Easter shook his head minutely at Denku. He had thought the man intelligent, yet here he was, opening his mouth and making things worse for them. Did he think telling one of the king's men about the existence of powerful, bloodthirsty gijinka in the world up above would encourage him to let Dora go up there? No, if he was at all like any of the others that Easter had met here, he would say that Merm would be impenetrable, and that nobody would ever get to Dora here. Arrogance was something that never changed, after all, whether one lived above the sea or below it. The Sylveon frowned at the first thing that the Kingdra had said. "We are not saying Dora need stay up there forever." He shook his head. "But Dora herself wants to return to the world above. I have talked to the king. He does not seem the sort to let the princess spread her wings like she wants to, if she were to stay down here. You say he needs her, but right now, Dora needs freedom," he spoke plainly. "Dora is innocent and kind, but even the best souls do not handle being caged very well. It might be better for the king in the short term to let Dora stay, but in the long run," he sighed. "In the long run, I do not think that would be best...for either one of them." The fairy type smiled crookedly. "You might think this mere conjecture, or a lie meant to beguile, but I speak from experience. After all, I was once in the very same position that Dora is in now." "My own parents kept me in a gilded cage for quite some time. I was forced to become the type of person that they wanted me to be, not the kind I wanted to be. It was suffocating. I endured, and endured, till I could endure no more. The last words we exchanged were...not very pleasant, to say the least." He looked up at the Kingdra. "Dora has not yet reached that point, and honestly, especially after meeting the queen, I hope she never will." He stared at Denku after this. The man had dug his own hole. Hopefully he would be able to provide an explanation that would encourage the Kingdra to let them go, rather than toss them into prison and Dora into another kind of prison. -- "W-Well, color me impressed...you two really showed out...that was...amazing!" "Heh, you didn't do so bad yourself." Keanu smiled weakly at Randy, letting himself collapse to the ground as well. Pretending not to notice Nani fiddling with her hood--he must have been mistaken, after all. There was no way she could look like that--he continued to lie there even after the other Trailsau residents appeared. A little nonplussed by their reaction, Keanu looked at the others once they invited them for a meal. "Well, I have no problem with that," he shrugged. "My stomach needs some grinds in it after all the work we just did." -- Shaymin let out an "eep" of surprise when the girl didn't move, and crashed into her. Falling onto Kayla, the girl quickly got off, looking panicked. "Wh-why didn't you move?" she stammered. She floundered and looked like she wanted to continue running, before gently helping the Accelgor off the ground. "You're going to get dirty if you stay there any longer," she murmured. Soon after, Nine caught up. "I'm sorry for the sudden shock, Shaymin. You don't have to fight it, really. I just want to ask you about a few things." "Wh-what do you want?" the girl asked, looking slightly wary. "You're not going to make me fight it?"

As Belle was about to leave, Dennis lurched forward a step, comic book in hand, "Y-you can take it with...i-if...you want." he said, holding the comic out stiffly. While his Haunter laughed in the background. The girl blinked. This guy was really generous. It was weird but also kind of...nice. She hadn't met anybody this generous in real life, ever. Only ever in cartoons or video games. "Thank you," she said, a small smile tugging at her lips. The smile was gone as soon as it came, however, as she plucked the comic book from his hands. "If we meet again, I'll give it back." She doubted they would, but on the off chance they did, she could. Maybe they could talk more about Gligarman. Or some of the other comics she had seen in his possession. With one last goodbye and a side eye at the Haunter, the girl left with the others. Going down the stairs was a lot easier than going up the stairs, and the bluenette wasn't nearly as out of breath coming down as she was coming up. Stopping to lean against the wall of the lighthouse anyway, she looked at the others. "Well, whaddaya wanna do?" She yawned. While she would rather just get some shut-eye in as it was getting pretty late, she knew that her companions would probably choose to explore. She looked around. "Should we get something to eat?" She remembered seeing a marketplace located near the harbor, but as late as it was, would it even be open?

While Rona seemed confident about taking the bear back, Yue wasn't so sure. Not only were they already weighed down with dead animals, they would be dragging back a much larger dead animal as well. Which made them sitting ducks for predators like wolves or another bear. Still, she couldn't exactly leave Rona by herself either. Letting out a whimper, the girl joined the other, helping out when she could, but mostly keeping an eye out for any predators nearby, a wary grip on her bow. Her nerves were at their stretching point. It felt as if there was something watching them, and there very well could be something watching them. Actually, looking back once, she thought she caught a glimpse of a shadow, but it disappeared almost as soon as she laid eyes on it. Rona didn't seem to sense anything, chattering away about any topic that came to mind. Or maybe she noticed and didn't care. That sounded more like Rona. The girl was confident, but for good reason. Yue felt herself slowly relaxing as she responded to the wyvern rider. Even if they were attacked, they had Rona here. Rona would take care of it if anything happened. By the time they reached the camp both girls were covered with sweat. Rona from exertion and Yue from fear. "Look what I found!" the wyvern rider called out. After depositing the bear the redhead went to Leon to tell him about what had occurred in the forest. The archer, on the other hand, dropped her catch against the ground next to the campfire and then let herself fall to the ground, sagging against a nearby boulder. She gazed up at the stars and felt her breathing finally slow. "This day has been..." she shook her head. "Exhausting."

"Well that's easy." Mac said, rolling her eyes. "All we gotta do is make sure to beat up the bad guys right? Doesn't matter how big a fight it is if we win before anyone else can be hurt." Ari sweatdropped. "That's easier said than done..." The Helioptile looked Ari up and down and mentioned. "Say, have you gotten taller since we first met? You look...I dunno, bigger somehow." "Really?" the Litleo's eyes bugged out, as he looked down at himself. "I haven't noticed anything different, but I probably wouldn't notice myself." He started to grin, "Yippee! I'm finally growing! Watch out, I'm gonna be as big as a...as Entei." "So, what do you wanna do? You wanna rest until morning, or go wandering now?" "Ew, who'd wanna rest after all that excitement?" Mac said. "Come on let's see if there's something else to do! Plus I bet your mom wants to hear all about how you beat up a bad guy." She grinned at Kazo. "Oh yeah!" Ari grinned up at him as well. "You gotta tell her all about it, Kazo!" -- "What is...a picnic?" Phione asked. "Is that what you are bringing me to?" "Uhh...not exactly," Easter sweatdropped. "We're hopefully going to take you to see Mew. And maybe your mother too." Following Dora, they almost fell into calamity multiple times, but the Wooper finally seemed to realize that they should be heading away from people rather than toward them. Eventually they made it into the throne room, in front of which stood a familiar Kingdra. He looked at the group sadly. "So, this is how you were going to do it then?" He positioned himself in front of the stairs. "I don't know why the queen let you take Dora, maybe you tricked her, or convinced her using her kind nature, but...I'm told the king has ordered us to keep her here. So...just give up now so this doesn't have to get violent." The Sylveon felt his eye twitching at being stopped yet again. If only the queen could have distracted the gijinka longer. Stepping forward, he spoke up. "I understand that you have your orders, sir, but there are orders, and then there is what's best for Dora." He breathed in. "It's not like we're kidnapping her. We're her friends, and she wants to come with us. She needs to see the outside world, grow, and experience life to the fullest extent, and she can't do that by staying in one place for her entire life. The queen understands that." He looked down at the Wooper. "Why don't you ask Dora how she feels, if you still don't believe me?" -- "Sometimes," Keanu sighed, plopping down on the sand, "sometimes I wonder what my brother's thinking in that thick head of his. He's a Lapras, but he wants to be a fighter." He choked out a laugh. "He has so many advantages that I don't. Everybody knows Lapras gijinka make the best surfers. He could be legendary, but he chooses to engage in dirty sports like boxing, wrestling, and all-and-out brawling. I don't get it." He glanced up at the Pikachu beside him, an older man with large creases around his sea-blue eyes. "I just can't relate to a guy like him at all." The other Pikachu chuckled. "That's perfectly normal. You're not always going to understand others, and their beliefs. Nor will they understand yours. In these cases, it's best to meet them halfway." "Halfway, huh?" Keanu scratched his head. "I dunno much about that. Is there even a halfway point for us? We both like exercise, but he's a fighting freak, and I love to surf." "You both defy expectations," the older gijinka replied. "Just like me. Everybody told me I wouldn't be able to surf unless I evolved, but you and I have both proved them wrong. Your brother has probably been told the same thing, that Lapras gijinka are meant to surf. But if that is the case, why do you think he chooses to fight instead?" "Because...that's what he wants to do," Keanu said slowly, then shook his head. "Except I already knew that! But...how could anybody choose not to surf?" "And how could anybody choose not to fight?" the other Pikachu rejoined. "That is what your brother is thinking. The paths you two tread may be different, but you walk upon them with the same kind of single-minded determination. And there is something to be celebrated in that." "Maybe..." Keanu sighed. "I still don't know how I can use that to get along with him better though. Doesn't matter if we both are passionate about something if they're two entirely different things...but thanks Puka." "You're welcome," Puka nodded. "And...that is fine if you do not understand. One day you will." - "I think I understand now, Puka," Keanu muttered. "I hate fighting, but I've learned that sometimes you have to fight. And maybe that's why my brother wanted to do it. He wanted to be a fighter and protect the people he wanted to protect." He shook his head. "Brother...if only you were here now, instead of me. You would probably have taken care of Allie already, you, Randy, Marie, and Nani." He shuddered slightly at the last name, then chuckled darkly. "And here I stand...unable to do anything. Held back by fear. I guess that's just how I am." The Pikachu let his head hang lower. "All these people...fighting for what they believe in. Just like my brother did." He raised his head, eyes determined. "I guess...it's time to meet them halfway then. Talk in the only way the people of Adarid seem to talk." The electric type lifted up his hands, clenching them. "With their fists." He closed his eyes, power gathering around him. "This electricity...I will use it to connect our thoughts like a circuit. Maybe then, I will understand just why you all choose to fight." His eyes snapped open. "Charged Currentcruiser!" A wave of electricity settled over the ground like a net. While it did not harm those it touched, it did cause their hair to stand on end a little, and they would feel as if they had just drank a cup of Komala Coffee. Keanu then hopped on his tail, floating about a foot off the air, right above the net of electricity. Sea green eyes flashing, he charged straight at Allie, a wall of electricity shooting up in his wake. Reaching the Tyranitar, he crashed into her like a bolt of lightning, the sound akin to a thunderclap. Puka...are you watching me? I am meeting these people halfway. I, Keanu, who abhorred fighting before, am fighting for not only my life, but the lives of my friends. For my ohana. -- Lok had begun to chase after Shaymin, but the legendary didn't stop, her fear spurring her forward with greater speed. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, only knew that she had to leave this place. The woman was forced to stop, however, when Kayla appeared in front of her out of nowhere. "Um. Hold on....please." The girl said, practically under her breath. "No...nonono, I won't stop!" Shaymin shook her head frantically. "You don't understand, none of you do...what breaking the barrier will do. I was able to stop it last time with that but who knows what will happen this time?!" With that, she kept running forward. If Kayla didn't move out of the way, she would end up being crashed into.

"I'm sure a witch was just looking for a place to sleep here and they slammed the door in her face. Sounds about right to me." "Perhaps..." Licorice mused. She then frowned as Penelope, Alois, and Ciela said their pieces, all in favor of staying at the village. The Protean shook her head, expression growing more frantic. "You don't understand! This is--" she cut herself off. "No, never mind." She sighed. "If that is what you have decided, then I suppose I'll stay and help out too." "Gunther and Shiro went to investigate a house. Apparently there's someone else in it who's also human, though, I don't know more than that." Alois stated. Turning to the princess he said, "and Cora's house is down that way. It's near the wall and well, there'll probably be a pink wyvern there so you probably won't miss it." He began walking toward a house at the edge of the square, "feel free to pay her a visit. I'm going to go make sure the other two don't get lost." The fox frowned again as she watched him leave, and then turned to Penelope as well. "Shall we go?" Walking down the streets, they ended up following the wall around like Alois had said. Most of the houses they passed looked the same though there were a couple ones that stood out. Namely the one with the black cat standing in front of it. Eventually, the group came to a stop before a house that didn't stand out in any way, shape, or form, aside from two things. The stable in the back, which held a horse and a familiar-looking pegasus, and the large pink scaled...thing. It was hard to tell what exactly it was, actually, as only its body could be seen, the head itself poking through an open window. "Is this what he meant?" Licorice asked. "I guess that does look like it could be a wyvern..." She approached hesitantly, and then knocked on the door. -- There were two conversations going on, and neither of them currently involved her. Catriona wondered, once again, what she was supposed to do in this scenario. Which conversation should she participate in? The one between Link and Cora, or the one between Edrick and Citron? While she disliked the idea of adding to the lie, she knew nothing about farming, so there was little to contribute to the latter conversation. To the side, Adelaide seemed content to let things flow as is, which would normally be what Catriona would do, but also, as leader of the group--or at least the person who started their quest--she had a certain responsibility to make sure that things went as they wanted. Namely, finding the Great Dragon. She itched to stand up and interrogate this person, to demand answers, or at least some sort of clue. Despite Link's smooth explanation, the only reason they came here was to get information. However, there was a method to these things, and the last thing the princess wanted was to be run out of town, or worse yet, find out that Cora was some sort of Pontic informant. Catriona was unskilled in wordplay, but Link seemed to be handling himself well, at least. He sounded practically like a Histian native, which certainly lent his tale some credence. While Link turned his attention to the wyvern, Catriona took over the conversation. "How we came here matters little," she shook her head. "Suffice to say we are here now. What is more important is figuring out what exactly is going on with your village." She didn't want to believe that this was a magical issue, but she had to admit that it was looking like a strong possibility. However, between them, there was little more to speculate without further information. And they couldn't get that information without doing some investigating. Catriona felt a little helpless. Their hands were tied until the others returned, especially with Link and Citron injured like they were. Time passed, and even the lord began to get a little sleepy doing nothing in the small, cozy house. However, she kept herself awake and alert. "You should rest," she urged the others, though she sent a pointed glance to Link in particular. "I'll keep watch." Much as she wanted to trust Cora would not do anything, she could not make herself let down her guard around this girl. Still, it was a little awkward. Without the buffer of others keeping conversation, it became apparent just how much a fish out of water she was here, in this place. Eventually, the group's rest would be disturbed by a knock. "I'll get it," Catriona said, heading to the door, a hand on her sword. Opening the door, however, she was relieved to see the missing members of their group, the ones who had gone off to find Licorice. Sienna was there as well. But her attention was mainly captured by Penelope. Nodding to herself at seeing her sister safe and sound, the girl said nothing, merely stepped aside to let them in with a glance toward Cora. "These are some of the others in our group." Remembering what Citron had said about names, the white-haired woman decided to do some introductions. "This is Penelope, Ciela, Sienna, Tsetseg, and Licorice." She gestured toward each person in turn. "This is Cora. She's a friend of Alois who is letting us stay at her house for now. And over there is Citron. We met her in the village earlier. She's a traveling merchant. That wyvern over there is hers, Peaches." Licorice nodded, "Nice to meet you both," and then looked down at Rohns, who she had been holding. She had almost forgotten about the wolf cub with everything that had happened since entering the village, and his eye still had not been seen to. She held him out to the green-garbed soldier. "Rohns got injured, we think by a hawk." She looked a little guilty. "Sorry. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been out there. You should probably take a look at that eye, or have a healer look at it." By now, however, enough time had passed that, healed or not, there would probably be a scar. The fox backed up, seeing that the house was getting a little full. "I'll wait outside," she said, and stepped back through the doorway, Sienna following her out like a pale shadow. -- Alois would have no problem getting to the house, though he would have problems getting in, as there was not only the beaver from before, but a large gray wolfhound standing in the doorway as well. Still, both animals seemed calm enough. The wolfhound nodded and barked once at Gunther's question, then turned its attention to the man, who looked positively fascinated at the sight of the dog. Approaching the man, the dog held its paw out, causing the man to sit down with a thump and put his hand over the dog's paw, as if to shake. However, rather than grasping the paw, he just held his palm flat out over the paw, bobbing it up and down. The action seemed to calm him down, and he looked up at the three intruders, mouth slightly open to show his tongue. He perked up at seeing Alois, and emitted a couple happy shouts, but otherwise stayed where he was. The beaver made a noise that sounded remarkably like a scoff before walking over to join the rest of them. The wolfhound let its paw drop before turning to the others and giving a couple barks, tail wagging slightly when it saw Alois. Pacing in a circle, it started barking again, pointing at itself with an outstretched paw, then at the man, and then at the group before it pointed at itself again. OOC

Belle stared at Dennis blankly. While he really did remind her of herself before, right now he didn't at all. She had never had this much trouble talking to somebody, she just...never wanted to talk to people. But he seemed constantly nervous and on edge, and now he was turning red at that. Was she really that scary? Her expression darkened. Well, other people seemed to think so. Ignoring the thought, and the emotions it brought, the girl watched as Ivan, reluctantly, apologized. He seemed more willing to apologize to the Haunter than Dennis, which Belle didn't really understand, since it was the Haunter who had used Hypnosis on him Still, whatever floated his boat. "Now that we're all fine and dandy can we get out of here?" "But I'm not done," Belle looked up, tone flat as usual, and held out the comic book as a demonstration. "Yeah, we can get going now." Shooting a look over to Belle, Jacklyn said, "of course, you can't go exploring sitting down, so let's get up Belle! And don't steal his comics. That'd be rude." Belle stared at the ground reluctantly, unwilling to rise just yet. After all, getting up meant moving, which meant exercise, which meant they would have to leave, which meant she couldn't finish the comic book. Finally, she sighed, pressing both hands to the floor as she lifted a leg, setting her foot down on the floor, and then the other one, slowly rising up as she did so. "Ugh, fiiine. Here ya go," she said, giving the comic book back to Dennis. "Alright gang, let's get ready to get to more adventure!" Giving a wave to Dennis the purple-haired girl said, "later." And with that, the girl headed down the ladder. "Bye," Belle said. "It was fun. I'm glad I got to read some Gligarman." She really wished she could have stayed longer and read more of his latest exploits, but those were the breaks. She paused, unsure if she should say more. The cartoons always had another step during goodbyes, like a hug, but she was no good at those. Still, a pat on the shoulder wouldn't hurt right? Leaning up a little, she patted the boy awkwardly on the shoulder. Turning to the Haunter, the girl decided that that thing did not deserve a pat. So instead, she said, "Bye," before following Jacklyn, and Ivan if he had already left, down the ladder.

Yue was hoping that Rona would agree, and then they could return to the camp and hopefully forget that Yue didn't really get much, that she had made a mess of things in front of the person she looked up to most here in the Iron Falcons, but no. Rona wanted to go deeper into the forest. Which sounded like a really, really bad idea. "I-I don't think that's such a--" but the girl had already turned around and began to walk. Pausing, Yue thought about heading back. After all, the smell of freshly-spilled blood would no doubt attract predators if they lingered here, but the idea of leaving Rona to herself was...abhorrent. Or some other word for a terrible, no-good, and very bad idea. Or maybe that was what following Rona was. Still, she couldn't leave her alone in a forest she didn't know either. Rona was good at many things, but she didn't know woodcraft like Yue did. So, with a heavy heart, the archer followed. And it turned out, Yue was right. There was something odd about this forest, this atmosphere. Because there was a dead bear in front of her. The girl frowned. Bears were apex predators, and not much could take them down aside from human beings or another bear. But as they approached it became apparent that neither had taken down the bear, but instead, monster hounds. Both hounds and bear were covered in bite marks. It looked to have been a bloody battle, but there was a particular set of teethmarks that was even more suspicious. It was larger, the wound cauterized. "This wasn't done by a natural beast." Rona muttered. "Something dangerous is out here." She hesitated. "Well, I didn't hunt it myself, but no point letting this meat go to waste." "I-is that safe?" Yue asked. Still, the blood looked clear and red. There probably wasn't any venom involved, but you never knew with monsters. Though...the one wound looked less venomous and more... "This isn't good," she murmured. "Why here...in a forest? That's the worst kind of place for..." she trailed off, shaking her head, before looking up at Rona pleadingly. "We're going back, right?"

While the others seemed frustrated that Mia got away, Ari could only be relieved. Relieved that they all made it out okay. He'd take Mia being alive and having escaped "justice" if it meant that they were alive and well too. Once Elsa left to go check on her wife, that left just the three of them and Tornadus. Who also seemed ready to leave. Or at least ready to not go home. "I'm not going home. I feel it. Some of the others are getting together finally. I think I'll do them a favor and join them." "Oh yeah, Celebi mentioned something like that," Ari nodded sagely. "There's a big fight or something that's gonna happen." He frowned. "I just hope that we'll be ready, and that nobody gets hurt. But I know...some people are gonna get hurt anyway." He frowned. -- Phione. Somehow, miracle of all miracles, they had found Phione. Easter was glad of that because he didn't think he'd have been able to find them. He'd been too busy making sure Dora was safe, which was a full-time job by itself. He could sympathize with Brooke. Phione looked to be somewhat similar. Simply nodding in reply to the legendary's question, Easter didn't say much more. Chitchat could wait until later, if the noises he could hear up ahead were any indication. Soon enough they had met up with Brooke, and the Emboar was in the middle of a battle with a Wailord...that Dora knew. Sighing at this predicament, the Sylveon said, "Let’s just go." He didn't really want to linger here much longer. -- The others were busy talking with Allie, but Keanu kept silent. People like her, stubborn through and through, wouldn't listen to a thing anybody said. The only thing they listened to was strength. Like Blake. The Pikachu sighed, and attempted to get his head back into the battle. While he hadn't been paying attention, still a little distracted by the memories of seeing...whatever Nani was, Marie and Randy had a fresh look of determination on their faces, as if they knew something he didn't. Moving forward, the Pikachu was going to add his attack to the mix when...Nani took off her hood. Freezing, the electric type immediately averted his eyes, choking slightly. He was going to attack, but right now, he couldn't possibly...not when Nani, no--when that thing was doing...whatever it was doing. So instead he closed his eyes, ducked his head, and let the dark thoughts overwhelm his psyche. -- By the time Shaymin opened her eyes again, the group was back in Alpha. She woke up quietly, and unobtrusively, staying silent as she listened to the tail end of the conversation. However, as soon as the entity was mentioned, she began to tremble. "Of course, this isn't only my decision to make. Shaymin's the one unsealing the barrier right? So, she ultimately has to be fine with it as well." "I-I'm not fine," Shaymin whimpered. "How could you ask me...to face...that thing?" she ducked her head. "To break the barrier...that is the only thing holding it back." She shook her head. "No no no no no! I cannot! You're all mad for even suggesting that!" She jumped up, turning back once to give the group a look of both fear and anger, before running away.

Cora gave a hollow laugh. "Naw that's Pylauses's place." She answered. "Probably lucky he's not about right now I doubt he'd let you suggest it was anyone else's home. He thinks of himself as an aristocrat. Like anyone like that would be out here in a place like this." Catriona blinked but said nothing. After all, normally the girl would be right. Normally aristocrats would avoid such a place like the plague. At least, most of the noble children that the lord had met acted like that. Her father had had her meet with many of them, but she had never really taken a shine to any of them, save for Anaïs. Well, the young daughter of Lord Sebastian did not seem so bad, but Catriona had only seen her a handful of times, the girl not really taking to any of the social gatherings and tea parties that young nobles were so wont to attend. Understandable. I would have avoided most of them myself if I could. So, if one were to ask Catriona to choose between a "dirt-ridden hamlet" such as this one or a gilded ballroom, the hamlet would win every time. What does that say about me? She shook her head. It did not do to mull on useless matters. She did not regret her choices, nor did she regret the way that the border had shaped her either. She was no scented lady, but a woman who stank as badly as her peers, trudging through muck to get in position and charge the enemy. While Phar's smell could be compared to a pigsty, its architecture to a child's attempt at mud castles, it was still a home to many people, and therefore precious. After entering Cora's house, it seemed the girl felt equally awkward about the situation. Still, she was nice enough to let Link and Citron use her bed, though only the latter ended up actually using it. Link, as expected, did not. "So uh...what is it y'all came here for again?" Before Catriona could reply, she was interrupted by a plaintive screeching from...Peaches. She was still not used to that name. While Catriona was not quite sure what the matter was with the beast, its owner seemed to understand. “...Right.” Citron took in a deep breath, thumping her head against the bed, as she let out another slight groan. “This is… Sort of a strange request, but does this house have a window…? And if so, can… Someone open it for Peaches to stick her head in?” She laughed a bit, closing her eyes. “She doesn’t… Really like being alone, and feels included if people let her stick her head in. It makes her feel like a person, so to speak.” But she is a wyvern, not a person. Still, it was not Catriona's business whether this creature wanted to be a person or not, or whether its rider felt the same. Glancing around for a window, the woman saw an open one nearby. "Like that one?" she asked, nodding her head at it. Link cleared his throat, his Histian accent once more coming into play. Catriona did not think he had been in this country that long, but perhaps he was easily influenced by his surroundings. “To replenish our supplies. We lost most of them to bandits, and this was the closest place that I knew of to stop.” That worked. Relieved she would not have to think up a cover story, the woman nodded in agreement. While she was not comfortable with the idea of lying to anybody, it would be sheer foolishness to give away the full nature of their quest to anybody who asked. "Yes, that is correct." She glanced at Edrick and Adelaide, hoping the two would follow along as well. "Unfortunately, it appears that we will not be able to resupply anytime soon. At least until the problem plaguing this village is resolved." She looked curiously at Cora. "You said there were no animals here when you left?" If that were the case, then what could have happened in such a short span of time? -- The man let out more of those strange shouts as he struggled to get up from the ground, eyes unfocused. Finally managing to stand on all fours, he ignored Gunther and Shiro as his head swiveled from side to side, obviously on the lookout for the giant frog from before. Eventually, seeing nothing, he stopped trembling, and turned his attention back to the two in front of him. Staring at them, his lips curled back into a sneer as he let out another low growl. Meanwhile, at the entrance to the hut, a large gray wolfhound appeared, trotting into the hut as confidently as if it owned the place. It had a slight limp and some silver fur around its muzzle, but it looked healthy enough. Right on its heels was the beaver from before. The dog paused, snuffled, and then barked at the man as if to get his attention. The man reacted immediately, jumping slightly before staring at the dog in confusion, head cocked to the side. -- It seemed that Alois knew something of what was going on in this village. Licorice frowned as she followed the fighter through the village. The explanation he gave was unbelievable, and yet...it made sense. The way the animals behaved was too strange, and the lack of human beings was also unsettling. Tsetseg's eyes widened. "Does this mean you also come from a village of proteans? Or, or, or are we all actually proteans?" Looking to Penelope the archer asked, "do you think we could all grow fluffy tails?" What? Pausing in disbelief at the comment, Alois muttered, "what in the- no. No we're not." Deciding not to address the larger issue of why exactly the girl would believe this, Licorice spoke up. "Not every Protean has...fluffy tails," she smiled helplessly. "Shiro being a good example." "Anyway, it's obviously not something specific to the villagers here because well, I'm not an animal. And Cora -" stopping himself the boy elaborated, "also a resident here - she was apparently gone when this all happened and she's also not an animal." Looking at them he said, "so, got any ideas?" "Going off of what you said," Licorice nodded at the boy. "I would assume there must have been something that happened while you and Cora were gone." She stopped and closed her eyes, appearing to be concentrating heavily. Stiffening, the Protean opened her eyes. Her body language had changed entirely, ears flattened on her head and tail flicking from side to side in agitation. "We should leave," she urged. "This kind of spell, it is something that only a very powerful spell-caster could do, or multiple people working together. Either these villagers managed to anger somebody they shouldn't have, or they did this themselves." Her tone was solemn. "Regardless, they are at fault, and if we help them, we might get caught up in it as well." At that, a couple of foxes that had been drawing closer to the Protean barked sharply at her. The girl's eyes narrowed at them. "I will not apologize. You know I am right. You are lucky you aren't dead." The group passed by the barracks and town hall as they walked further into the village, eventually reaching the market square. "I do not see, hear, or smell the others. Did they leave?" Licorice said, and then paused as a slight breeze picked up. "No, Gunther and Shiro are nearby." OOC

Belle was happy. Things seemed to finally be wrapping up peacefully. It had been touch and go for a while back there, but now, everybody was apologizing and everything was fine and dandy. The girl ignored the fact that there still seemed to be some disgruntled feelings on everybody's part. After all, that was to be expected, and it wasn't her goal for everybody to be happy happy joy joy friends either. No, that was more Jacklyn's thing. Belle just wanted peace and quiet, and so long as that criterion was met, she was happy. Or as happy as she could be while stuck on a Pokémon journey of all things. "U-uuuh, so you...like those...things?" Dennis asked, having inched over to her. Which was kind of odd, but he was odd anyway. "They're cool," she replied, staring at him in bemusement. Hadn't she made that very clear earlier? Why was he asking her such a silly question? The girl was distracted when Ivan woke up, and while he had sounded hostile at the start, he seemed to deflate when he realized that things had calmed down. Good. They didn't need another fight. "You're up," she said, and then paused when she realized she wasn't sure what to say afterward, or indeed, if there was anything to say. Shrugging, the bluenette left it at that. "We should probably get going soon." He crossed his arms. "My head is killing me..." Jacklyn got excited at that, and Belle could just see a future where she was forced to be dragged along on all sorts of harebrained adventures throughout the city. She had already been dragged here, after all. "Oh goodie." The purple-haired girl then suggested that Ivan and Haunter apologize, which Belle approved of. Nodding her head in agreement, the girl felt like, maybe, just maybe, they could get out of this without a fight. Also they both had gotten out of line there earlier, so it only made sense that they do so. And then Jacklyn asked something totally out of left field, "is Haunter a man?" "Wha--?" Belle couldn't help the outburst. "What does that--?" her brain went over the girl's earlier words, and then she sighed. "You're so strange," she grumbled.

She was terrible. Because of her impure thoughts, because all she could think about was Rona, rather than hunting game for Leon and the others, Yue had not only failed at getting a good amount of game, but she also had made a fool of herself in front of the wyvern rider. It was sad and ridiculous, and she was just overall, a terrible person for even letting herself get distracted that way. However, Rona, proving once more how kind and generous and understanding she was, shook her head. "No, don't worry at all! There must be something wrong with your bow, here, I'll take a look." And then she moved closer. That would have been bad enough by itself, since Yue was not very good with people getting close to her. Leon was an exception. There was something about his presence that was just...calming. She felt like she could relax around him like she couldn't around most of the other Iron Falcons, especially Rona. But then the girl decided to reach around Yue's back and grab her bow. Not to take it from her, no, to examine it, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was just how close she was, pressed directly against her back. It felt almost as if an electric shock had started at the contact, making the archer hyper-aware of her presence. The girl was surprisingly warm--Yue would have thought she'd be colder, considering the amount of clothing she normally wore. N-not that she ever thought about the temperature of Rona's skin. No. She had never thought of that in her life, but now she couldn't stop thinking about it. And then, if she touched her hand with her own bare fingers, would it feel nearly as warm? Yue shook her head, blushing. No, bad Yue. I can't--I should concentrate. Yes. Concentrate. On uhh, birds. And bunnies. And cute little animals. And-- "I wonder if there are any bears around. I feel I could be much more useful bringing one of those down." And bears. Wait, bears? "B-b-bears?" Yue stammered. "You can take down bears?" she gazed up at Rona admiringly, then remembered what else the wyvern rider had said. "W-w-well, maybe. I don't know. Probably. Bears are in all kinds of places, after all." She had never hunted one of those before, but she was almost forced to. Back when she lived with the tribe, she had wandered into the forest and disturbed a bear. It had been angry and loud, but it soon calmed down after Yue gave it some honeycomb she had found. She had visited the bear many times after that, and it had become a friend--a grumpy friend, but still a friend. And then she froze. Wait, why is it so quiet here? There hadn't been very many animals here either. Which was kind of unusual, that there weren't really that many animals. Had there been this few the last time she went through? She couldn't remember. The cracking of branches in the distance caused the archer to stiffen, but she forced herself to take deep, even breaths. M-maybe I'm just on edge from being around Rona, she thought. It's probably nothing. "W-we should probably head back," she said, eyes flitting around nervously. I'll probably calm down when I'm not standing right next to Rona.

Catriona had originally been expecting more contention and indecision on what they were going to do, however Alois had taken things into his own hands. Following her suggestion, the fighter began to walk toward the entrance of the village. While the woman could just leave him be--as he was a local, he would probably be fine--it still didn't do to let one of their own wander off alone. However, as Edrick said, a place to stay would not go amiss. While time was of the essence, Catriona had seen firsthand how fatigue and injuries could force an otherwise able-bodied warrior to sit a fight out. So with the opportunity to rest in front of them, it would be folly to turn it down. With that in mind, the lord turned to Alois. "I dislike the thought of you going alone, though this be your hometown." She stated. "With that in mind, I shall accompany--" "I'll go." The white-haired woman turned around, noticing the other white-haired member of their party, Sienna. The Protean looked a little uncomfortable to have so many eyes on her, but she continued valiantly. "I'll wait at the entrance with Alois," she repeated. "I'm...worried about Licorice and the others." Her ears flattened uncomfortably, before perking back up. Catriona blinked. "Acceptable. In that case," she turned to Cora. "If you could lead us to your house to rest for a spell, that would be most appreciated." The words came out slightly stilted, as she was unused to asking for favors. Receiving an affirmative, the woman followed Cora, stopping once beside Adelaide and Citron. "I understand it is difficult to move right now," the lord said. "However, the accommodations at the house will most likely be an improvement to the ground." The group first would be taken down a street bordering a mansion that was not much different from its fellows save for its unusually large size and the gaudy draperies hanging from every eave. A single black cat, the same one whose tail she had stepped on, stood in front, head raised majestically. It sniffed at the passing party, hauteur in every line of its body. "Is that the mayor's house?" Catriona asked Cora. It certainly looked like it could be. The cat let out a hiss at that before it turned around in a huff and curled up in front of the doorway. The lord blinked, but said nothing. She never could understand animals. Continuing down the street, the group would see many houses, but none of them so well-made as the manor they first passed. When the street ended in a T-shaped intersection, they turned right. Various animals observed them, though they did nothing to impede the group. Eventually, Cora would stop in front of a house that looked a little better than its neighbor, but only by a little, still with the same half-timbered frame and straw roof. However, Catriona had also seen a small yard in the back with a rough stable that was little more than a straw canopy held up by wooden beams, which Cora led her horse toward, coming back sans horse. The action prompted the lord to look at Adelaide and Citron, who also had mounts, and would probably need somewhere to place them. Still, it looked like there was room enough in the stable, and in the yard, to hold both with room to spare. Soon after the group was led inside, and as far as Catriona could tell, there was not much different from the hut with the naked man. The place had the same general layout, with one main deviance, or many small ones. Various crudely-made wood carvings of indiscernible depiction lay sprawled across the floor, which was little more than packed earth. "A good home. Thank you for having us," Catriona said, tone slightly awkward. While the group really did require respite, the lord's ingrained etiquette lessons alerted her to the fact that they were still imposing on the goodwill of somebody that they had just met, laws of hospitality or not. Still, the girl had offered, so the lord ignored her embarrassment. "Is there someplace we can have the injured rest?" -- Gunther's words did little to calm the man, despite his gentle tone. Agitated, the man shouted even more ferociously at Shiro, body slightly leaned back. His expression looked wild and slightly feral, eyes widened in fear and anger. Soon after, he growled, lunging forward head-first toward the frog Protean, mouth wide open and aimed to bite. -- Sienna had followed Alois to wait at the entrance silently. Were the fighter to bring up any conversation, she would reply in short, clipped sentences. While slightly rude, the girl also seemed distracted, most likely concerned about Licorice. However, it would not be too long before they would spy familiar figures in the distance. -- "I know that's what most people believe. But it doesn't have to be that way. That's why I've learned so much. I'm in a position where I can actually cause changes. I will not let this world turn to darkness. It's only naive if I fail, right?" "Your attitude is refreshing," Licorice chuckled. "I suppose somebody in your unique position has more power than most. Still...take care it does not go to your head. The higher one stands, the greater the fall." "I guess her action makes sense, yeah. I was just too worried earlier, and thought she was suspicious. But honestly, if I was in her position, then I would act the same in that situation." "Yes," the fox nodded with a smile. "Dariella has always been a good friend and mentor to me," she paused, eyes wide, before shaking her head. "Regardless, while unwise, your actions were commendable. You did what you did out of...concern," she said slowly, as if testing the word. After everything wrapped up with Ciela and Tsetseg, and it was revealed that, no, Ciela would not be giving her aphrodisiacs to Penelope to watch over, the tactician turned to Licorice in reassurance while they stood outside. "Well, at least you've learned something about yourself today. Plus look; you created a way to find your way back to the rest easily. And no one got hurt. I'd say your actions were rather commendable given the circumstance." "Commendable?" Licorice's tone was wry, but the Protean did not say much more, only shaking her head. "Perhaps," she allowed. "I sure hope they didn't end up getting into some trouble." Ciela replied dryly. "Somehow, I would not be surprised if they did." Not long after, the group began to walk back, retracing their steps. "So, how did you and Dariela even meet in the first place, Licorice?" "Yeah, yeah. Dariela some kind of like, super hunter or something? She seemed to be like really, really good at seeing things." "Ah," the fox's ears flattened, then straightened as she seemed to gather herself. "We met long ago. You could say that she saved me," Licorice breathed. "I owe her so much. And..." she chuckled. "While I am not familiar with the phrase 'super hunter,' if the meaning is what I think it is, then yes, that is exactly what she is. Dariella is incredibly gifted, bright, and clever. Dogged enough to keep going for her goals. It's...admirable." Her ears flattened again, head drooping. "That sort of determination...I thought I had it as well, but it seems that I am lacking once again." And then she stopped, ears pricked, before hurrying forward into the underbrush and disappearing before the others could blink. She returned soon enough, carrying Rohns, though the way she did so was a little unusual. Rather than holding him as one would a baby, she held him by the scruff of his neck. Oddly enough, he did not seem to be attempting to bite her, but rather hung stiffly from her hand, blood dripping from one of his eyes. "This is the cub that follows Link around, yes?" despite her question, the fox seemed confident in the creature's identity. "Ciela, could you look at him? He is injured, most likely by one of the local birds of prey. I saw one flying away when I arrived." However, would Licorice set the wolf cub down, he would recover his usual aggression, though anytime he got too wild, the Protean would pick him up by the scruff again. She seemed unfazed by the pup's behavior, as if she was used to such things, her movements brisk and experienced. Eventually, the four of them plus Rohns returned to the path where they had separated from the rest of the group. Continuing down, it wasn't long before they reached the clearing that the village stood in. And it took even less time to actually approach the village, following the road over a small wooden bridge, and then another, till they reached the gates. "I find it odd that there is nobody here to greet us," Licorice stated, before a screech drew her attention. Above, a rough-legged hawk, one that Rohns would find familiar, glared down at them, particularly the wolf cub, but it didn't do anything more. "Licorice!" a familiar voice called from ahead, and, looking up, the Protean saw Sienna, standing up and waving at her. Beside her stood Alois. "I stand corrected," the Protean mused, glancing at the others. "We have a welcoming party." Without any further ado, she hurried forward till she reached the two. While Sienna was friendly enough to the others, it was apparent that her main concern was Licorice. Once she realized that the other Protean was well enough, the white fox stepped back to let the others talk, leaning down to inspect Rohns. Meanwhile, Licorice had turned to Alois. "Thank you for waiting, though I'm sorry you had to do that," the black fox sighed, ears drooping. She then looked up and sniffed the air. "So the others are further in?" OOC

Jacklyn seemed to get even more riled up after Dennis spoke. She was especially upset at the connotation that she was some kind of bully. Pointing to her two friends, the girl shouted out, "I'm standing up for my friends here!" Looking to Ivan specifically, as he was physically incapable of doing so himself at the moment, the girl then looked annoyed at Belle when she spoke up as well, "it's not like I'm fighting for the sake of it! I am defending your honor! At least look a little interested, jeez." Defending my honor? For some reason, the thought of that, defending her honor, was a little flattering, if not ridiculous at the same time. It reminded Belle of various RPG games she had played, where the virtuous hero defended the honor of the holy maiden. Did that make Jacklyn the hero and Belle the holy maiden? Was Ivan another holy maiden then? Putting that thought aside, the bluenette watched the girl deflate as her rabbit Tackled into a wall. "Fine, whatever, you win." "T-this is when I start to leave and your trip me or something right?" Dennis blurted out. But when nothing happened he started to breath deeply and calm himself down. He froze, beginning to blush. "Um...Um...s-should I leave now?" He asked. The boy glanced over towards Belle and opened his mouth only to close it several times. Finally he blurted out a rapid, muttered, "sorry." "If ya wanna leave, 'm not stoppin' ya," Belle mumbled, becoming drowsy once more now that the excitement was over. She paused, unsure what to do in the face of the boy's apology. Nobody ever apologized to her, in fact, she was usually the one being forced to grudgingly apologize for messing something up. Really, it wasn't her fault that one of the trainers got lost in the Gym. Just because the warp tiles were broken didn't mean she had to be the one to tell somebody about it. Remembering just in time how they handled it in video games, she waved a hand, "Apology accepted, jus' don't do it again." She glanced at Jacklyn, then at the Haunter, before pointing at the Pokémon. "An' you should say sorry ta Jacklyn. Least fer lickin' her face, anyway." She looked at Ivan next, but he was asleep, and there was no use apologizing to a sleeping person. Then she looked back to Jacklyn, hoping the girl would also apologize, at least so then they could get this whole awkward apology session out of the way and everything could be right again and then Belle would be able to finally relax and read that comic book.

Cringing, Yue prepared to fade into the background after speaking, when Layne spoke up. "...Whatever you bring back, I can get cooked. Stay safe out there, Yue." "Th-thank you," the archer bobbed her head, flustered. She still wasn't sure how to treat the priest, especially considering the type of magic he used, but the man himself seemed like a kind person. "Sounds like a good idea." Rona said, approaching the girl with a smile and a wave. "Not sure about sending you off on your own though. I'm not the most stealthy around but I could come with to back you up if you're willing to have me." Rona? Rona wanted to come with her? Rona. Wanted. To go hunting with her? Anything anybody said after that was lost to the wind. Yue's mind spun, and she didn't realize she hadn't said anything till what seemed like minutes later. "Ah! Y-y-y-y-yes! That would be great, I mean good, I mean fine," she looked down, blushing. "I-if that's okay with you." Wait, didn't she already say she wanted to go with me? Why did I say that? It didn't get much better during the actual hunt either. There weren't very many animals to hunt, mostly just birds and smaller mammals. A white rabbit came into view, and Yue found that she couldn't even make herself aim her arrow at it, its likeness to Chang'e too much for her. Not to mention, her hands kept shaking whenever she tried to aim, and she missed multiple times on shots with easy range and little to no wind to interfere. Shots that should have been like shooting fish in a barrel were just that more difficult because of her. Every time the archer attempted to calm herself down and get into her natural rhythm, she found herself distracted by Rona's presence nearby. Every time she aimed, all she could think was, I hope I don't miss. If I did, then that'd be so embarrassing and then what would Rona think? Oh! But if I don't miss, Rona might say that I'm super impressive, like Alexis did earlier, oh that would just be so nice--and then she missed. And missed the next one. And the next one. And the one after that as well. By the end of the hunting spree, she found that while she had taken down some game, it was not nearly the amount she had expected, nor was it her normal amount. Whether that was because of the dearth of game in the area, her nervousness around Rona, or a little of both, Yue could not help but feel disappointed in herself. "S-s-sorry," she mumbled. "Th-that was embarrassing. I'm sorry you had to see that. I..." What? I'm usually not like that? No, that just sounds like I'm bragging, doesn't it? So Yue said nothing. Instead, she just stared down at the ground in misery.

Ari breathed a sigh of relief when Mia still didn't move even after several seconds passed. "Is it...over?" he asked, before plopping down on the ground. "Ugh, that was exhausting." Looking back at Tornadus the Litleo could see that his muscles had shrunk, smaller than they were even before, and he was slouching. "Yeah, I know, don't look nearly as cool like this." "I think you look fine," the lion said magnanimously. "Even if you don't look as cool now, that move just now knocked Mia out, so doesn't that balance things out in terms of coolness?" Stretching, the Litleo glanced down at himself. Unlike Tornadus, he felt...well, exhausted, but also a little stronger. Strong enough that he could maybe handle hitting his enemies even harder than before. -- Thankfully the two didn't run into any more soldiers. Well, thankfully for said nonexistent soldiers anyway. Also for his hair. Easter didn't need any more saltwater getting into it, though how he didn't think it could get any saltier than what it was now, unless someone were to dump a vat of salt over his head. Soon enough, the two ran into Denku, and...a girl? "Oooh, hi again Mr Funny Name!" Dora said. "Who's that?" "Hi...Denku," Easter spluttered slightly when he remembered his initial reaction to Denku's name. Fighting to regain control of his expression, the Sylveon wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye. "And yes...who is that? Wait, that couldn't be?" Was that the person they came here for? -- "Tch, guess you aren't as cowardly as that weirdo made you seem." Allie muttered as the dark aura faded and the electric attack struck her. "Huh? What weirdo?" But before Keanu could question her more, he heard a noise and glanced to the side. Where Nani stood, hood shredded. Revealing to him what lay beneath. Fighting back a scream, the Pikachu staggered backward a few steps, eyes riveted on the sight of-- ... What? ... What was that? ... That was a face? ... He shook his head. "No, I probably saw wrong," he thought, then nodded. "I definitely did." Thankfully, the storm had kicked up between them, and what he had thought he saw, was now obscured by the whirling sand. Deciding to set aside the corner of his mind that was currently gibbering in terror, the Pikachu turned with heavy steps toward Allie. And then Marie let out a yelp. Glancing over to the Brionne--did she see it too--he saw that the girl seemed to be in much more pain than the rest, though she lifted her head just enough to summon the rain once more. Noting that Randy seemed to have things well in hand, Keanu sent out another Electro Ball, hoping that it would do some good against this crazy tita, firmly avoiding Nani at the same time. -- "See? You're not saying anything. You know I'm right!" Shaymin cackled in triumph. Then Solarfire said something to bring down the mood, "well, how about we just rest up in your grove for now and you can think about it? After all, I have no doubt that you, Skymin, would be able to beat any evil doer that would step foot on your grove. But, what if you end up switching back to the," he paused, "the other Shaymin. She doesn't really seem like she'd want to fight, or can really. So it doesn't really seem fair to her to leave that to her." Shaymin drooped slightly. "Ahhh...yeah, Other Me is kind of lame like that," he sighed. Plasma Rider then walked up to the legendary, nudging him in the arm. "Don't you want to see how everything else is doing?" He said, a mischievous look in his eye. "Think of all the potential adventure we could have - maybe face up against some even deadlier bandits!" The boy pointed his thumb towards a random direction. "After seeing how you cleaned them up so easily, I'm sure they'll try and hunt us down with even stronger minions." He looked a little nervous. "Doesn't that sound exciting?" "What you say makes sense, Plasma Rider!" the flying type regained some spirit. "You know, it has been some time sense I've left my grove, and even longer that I've been asleep. I think," he nodded sagely, "Yes, I think I shall go with you! I bet we'll get tons of strong minions coming after us! And if you're Chasers, then that means I'll get to meet some of my friends too maybe, and maybe challenge them too!" he didn't seem to find anything weird with the concept of a legendary challenging another legendary, instead starting to tremble with excitement. "But!" he pointed straight at Gwen. "I'll be watching you, Hatwoman! So no funny business, okay?" The Mismagius seemed a little distracted, however, glancing around in confusion at the unconscious gijinka. "Oh, yes, that could be a problem." "Never fear, the Sky Warrior is here! I'll have them gone in a jiffy!" Puffing his chest out, Shaymin then proceeded to pick up each gijinka and, in a burst of speed and strength, race to the edge of the meadow and dump them in a pile there. Dusting his hands, the legendary turned and beamed at them winningly. "See? Nothing to it. Surprised you didn't do that earlier." His eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you're all injured, aren't you? I forgot about that. Going back to your place will be a bit tough at this rate, won't it?" The legendary snapped his fingers. "Wait just one minute! I have those, don't I?" The young man turned to where a bush was growing nearby, flowers in full bloom. Waving a hand in front of the flowers, the blossoms glowed slightly as the white petals began to furl back up. Soon, small round fruits appeared from within the closed petals, growing larger and larger, until finally bursting free of the now-crumpled petals, revealing pale green berries. As seconds passed, the green became yellow, and the fruits became recognizable as Sitrus berries. Shaymin started to glow himself shortly afterward, waving at the group. "Buh-bye! I'll see you next time I'm needed. Take care of Other Me! She's not nearly as cool, so she might need a push here and there, but she's still me." When the glow faded, the form of the young man had disappeared, replaced by the young woman from before. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she fell to the ground in a dead faint.