Action speak louder than words (Sudowoodo) [F]

[Tarlar]

With the rhyhorn dealt with for now and Silvia safe with Astrid again, Yakul continued the swift trot towards Ecruteak and the tests which lay waiting on them there. As thy sky reddened and the tallest of Goldenrod's buildings disappeared out of view behind them, the area slowly turned from wild grasslands to berry gardens.
They traveled swiftly and Astrid guessed they should reach Ecruteak before nightfall.
She frowned as they passed the berry fields, more and more of them looked unkept and with berries scattered and smashed on the ground. The old woman touched the skiddo's horns and got her to slow down and move closer to one of them.
"Looks like someone has attacked the garden," Astrid mumbled to herself, "have someone battled a pokemon there?"
She told Yakul to continue and studied the gardens they passed, they all looked to be in the same bad shape, which damaged fences and broken berry trees.
"If this is a simple battle, someone is way out of line," she grumbled.

A couple of humans stood and talked over the fence at one of the gardens and Astrid guided Yakul over there.
"Good evening, I am sorry to disturb you but can you tell me what has happened here?" She asked them in a curious tone. They looked at her tiredly.
"I wish I'd knew," a female cowboy looking farmer said and spat on the ground, "It's hap'ning all night by some monster, wrecking the lives of us. It's gonna ruin me!" She burried her hands deep in her pockets and stomped away.
"Don't ya worry, she's just worried for her family farm," the man inside the garden said, he leaned on the fence which creaked from the onslaught it looked to have been having.
"Why ya askin?" He said and moved a piece of straw to the other side of his mouth. Astrid showed him her police badge.
"Just trying to set things right," she said and he nodded.
"Good luck! Most 'round here has given up, or is scared. If ya wanna help go find Bernie, he still tries to fight it ev'ry night," he said and pointed down a dirt road. Astrid gave her thanks and lead Yakul down the road, the man's gaze which followed her was burning on her back.

Wordcount: 384
(ooc: noting that'll I'll try make this a self proclaimed IPF taks and live up to Astrid's division in the hope of earning merits if I do it well ^^ just so you are all aware, now this isn't a IPF quests)

[Caramell 🍬]

Every night was an understatement. Bernie spent every waking hour trying to track the strange disturbance down. Whatever it was – man or beast – it seemed to strike their humble farms I the dead of night, smashing up all their berries and wrecking their beautiful gardens. The elderly man chewed on his straw and turned to his partner Pokemon – a long, slinky looking Pokemon with alternating light brown and medium brown stripes that ran along the length of the Pokemon’s body. The large Furret raised herself up on her hind legs, curling her body into a crooked ‘S’ shape, and purred as she pressed herself against her trainer.

Bernie reached down and stroked her Pokemon on the top of her head with a smile. The sounds of shuffling feet would catch Bernie’s attention as soon. He slipped behind a large tree and motioned for his furry friend to slip inside of a large bush. Bernie’s eyes narrowed down suspiciously in front of him, waiting for the strange culprit to show itself. “This is it, girl!” The rancher commented to himself, just as sure as he could be as he narrowed his eyes and scrunched up his face. When Astrid would eventually around the bend and come within sight, the Rancher would jump out from behind the tree and place two fingers in his mouth, giving a loud shrill whistle.

“Stop right there, ya thievin’ bandit!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. The large, furry ferret leaped out from the large bush she was hiding in and raced over to her trainer’s side. She chattered away angrily at Astrid and mimicked Bernie by pointing one of her claws at the strange elderly lady accusingly. “We’s just ‘bout had ‘nough of yer kind, comin’ ‘round here and take, take, takin’ from our lands! Ya’s smashed up all our berries an’ teared down half our trees! It’s ‘bout time someone made ya pay! Someone yer age oughta know better ‘n that, ya know?!” He accused, obliviously not listening to anything Astrid might try to say to defend herself. “Git her, Fluffy!” Bernie commanded to his Furret eagerly.

Bernie accuses you of being the culprit!

He has Fluffy the Furret [Level 23] attack! What will Astrid do??

[Tarlar]

The night was eerie silent, except for the sound of Yakul's hooves through the thick layer of leaves and debris from whatever had wrecked havoc in the area. Astrid crouched in the saddle looking around for clues and movements but other than a few beaten up birds under a tree, the night was silent.
Yakul shifted between raising her hooves high into the air and shuffling them through the leaves, her tail waved from the enjoyment everytime she placed them down hard on a twig and it snapped under her weight. She trotted a few steps forwards giddily, kicking leaves ahead of her throwing her head playfully.
"Easy Yakul," Astrid said tensely and Yakul twitched her ears in her direction but it didn't stop her playing around.

"Stop right there!"
Yakul bleated in shock and reared, forcing Astrid to throw her arms around her skiddo once again. The old woman had had two pokeballs in hand in preparation, learned from her last battle and the scary encounter with the rhyhorn which had put her in danger as well.
One landed right beside Astrid and a bird with a huge beak and a stern looked appeared. The other rolled towards Bernie and Fluffy and out popped a sleeping frogadier.
"Ella!" Astrid gasped horrified and the frogadier lifted her head groggily and frowned at the sight of the furret and her trainer.
"Gadier?" "Who are you?" She asked confused and pushed herself up sitting, she winced as the cold ground had already affected her joints and made them stiffer.

A flurry of black feathers and a thump from something heavy landed on the ground. Pia stood with spread legs and wings, with her back to Fluffy and taking any attack the furret might be throwing at them. Her eyes studied Ella who looked confused and worried back up, forcing herself to her feet.
"Thanks, I'm alright," Ella said slowly and blinked as warmth began to spread from Pia's beak. It slowly began to glow as it slowly turned white from the yellow part and out through the red. Pia straightened up and turned calmly to face Fluffy, her cold stare contrasting the heat which pulsated from her beak, she'd then leap forward, wings spread wide again and attempted to whack her beak into the normal type.

"Easy Yakul! Easy!" Astrid said urgently stroking Yakul's neck as the skiddo calmed down.
"You have the wrong person, I am not the one who has destroyed your garden," the old woman called to the rancher, "please call back your furret and let us talk about this! I am looking for someone called Bernie, who might can help me get to the bottom of this mess."

Wordcount: 450
(ooc: Ella switches out for Pia first round, who are using Beak Blast finally got to use that move!. If the battle ends I'd like to use my multiplier on Ella)

[Caramell 🍬]

The long cream-colored ferret with large medium brown stripes and a thick medium brown marking over the top of her head and on most of her ears stood up and coiled her body underneath herself as she stared down at the sleepy frog. The strange blue frog with cotton-like ‘scarf’ around its neck and white sticky pads on its fingertips seemed too drowsy to be much of a fight. Fluffy scoffed at the Frogadier’s questioning, bending her ears back flat against her head, and scowled at the other Pokemon with an angry expression. She would work to quickly help this Pokemon sleep as long as it wanted and hopefully end the battle soon. The Furret plopped down on all fours and charged towards the other Pokemon at the top of her speed. “I’m a criminal’s worst nightmare! Fess up to your crimes, you criminal!” She belted in a loud scream.

What replaced the small blue frog was more puzzling than the frog itself. A large black-and-white bird with a long, sharp colorful red-to-yellow beak hovered just above the ground where the sleepy-headed frog had been. Fluffy’s feet were already set in motion, though, and as she tried to come to a screeching halt, she would slam into the fluffy black feathered bird as her head crashed against Pia’s chest and her long, slender body seemed to ensnare itself in a tangled heap around the large black-and-white bird. “Ain’t no crim’nal, s’long as I’s lived, admitted to their guilt!” Bernie snorted, shaking his head disapprovingly at Astrid. It was evident that he wasn’t going to fall for some pretty words – and that she would need more than words to back up her claim. He raised up his pitchfork and pointed it daringly in the older trainer’s direction as he seemed to wave it at her. “Ya says ya’s lookin’ fer Bernie, right? Well’s, ya found him, miss! And he’s gunna set ya straight ‘bout messin’ up all our crops! Jus’ wait ‘til I call tha police on ya, lil missy!” He snorted with a shake of his head.

Fluffy began scratching and tearing at Pia’s body with her long, sharp nails. They raked through the soft feathers and into the flesh and meat of the large toucan. Bits of smaller and older feathers were torn out in the fray while the two Pokemon fought and struggled to separate themselves. After a moment, they managed to part from each other easily. Though, Pia’s powerful blast shot out from her beak as the Furret unfurled from around her and scorched Fluffy along the length of her entire body. It left her with a hideous burn that seemed to blaze through most of her fur, causing her to wince heavily from the pain. “Oh Fluffy. What ‘ave these crim’nals done? Hang in thar, Fluffy! Crime never pays!” Bernie urged his partner loudly at the top of his lungs.


Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bernie's Fluffy LV 23
HP 6% [5/79]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Astrid's Pia LV 28
HP 54% [49/91]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bernie's Fluffy [Frisk]: Burned! [-5 HP]
Astrid's Pia [Skill Link]: Normal

SP++ Ella and Pia switch places!
SP53 FLuffy used Quick Attack!

SP53 Fluffy used Fury Swipes. Landed 5 hits!
SP- Pia used Blast Beak! Fluffy was burned!
Sp53 Fluffy was hurt from her burn! Ouch!


Mod Notes: Please consider for merits. Ella participated in the fight. At end of battle, please use mod multiplier on Ella.

[Tarlar]

Ella's eyes widened as Fluffy charged at her but a wall of black feathers arrived before she got time to act. She couldn't help but get the last word in, "I'm no criminal," she called as she walked back to Astrid.
The frogadier yawned and rubbed her eyes, and lightly slapped her cheek in an attempt to wake up. She stretched and yawned again, taking som deep breaths to get more oxygen.

Fluffy were surprisingly slow, Pia would have expected the furret to crash into her back ages ago, but now she got plenty of time heating up her beak. As she turned Fluffy finally reached her and slammed into Pia's stomach, which got the black bird to stumble back, furret was big after all. Pia screeched from a mixture of pain and defiance as Fluffy raked her furiously and she did her best to whack the normal type with her beak to get her off. A blast from her beak did the trick and the furret was thrown off her.
She puffed and ruffled her feathers, looking down at her opponent down her long beak.
"You are no real match," she scoffed disappointed and began to preen her feathers and mend her worst wounds, expecting the burning to handle the rest.

Astrid frowned and sighed as Bernie stubbornly kept going, she stayed silent and let him ramble as she dismounted, and took a moment to make sure Ella was alright. She opened a little pocked in the saddlebags and pulled out what looked like a card and she unclicked her cane from where it was secured while she rode, with it in her hands she determined made her way around the battle, Yakul trotted along and stayed between Astrid and the two battlers.
Ella followed rolling her shoulders to loosen up her body and be prepared if more trouble should arrive. She did not like being caught so much off guard as she had just been.

As Astrid got around she opened up the card and presented it to Bernie, it was her police badge.
"Police is already here," she said firmly and held her badge up for as long as Bernie needed to look at it.
"Do you believe me now so we can use the energy of finding whoever is doing this to your fields, or do you need to butt more heads with my pokemon?" Astrid asked impatiently, "I really need you to tell me what you know, so we can put an end to this."

Wordcount: 420
(ooc: Pia uses Roost. Multiplier used on Ella please)

[Caramell 🍬]

Fluffy cried out in pain as the burns buried underneath her fluffy fur and dug into her hide. She writhed about on the forest floor, flipping about, and rolling around as though she were trying to put the invisible flames out for herself. After a moment’s struggle, Fluffy eventually stopped moving and heaved heavy breaths of air, unable to keep up with battling these would-be criminals for her trainer’s sake. She eyed Bernie sadly, with large round bluish-black eyes. Bernie sighed, shaking his head, and pulled out a couple of small blue berries that he fed to his Pokemon to get her energy back to normal, though the battle had already been decided. He then pulled his hat off his head, showing off the balding hairline that he hid underneath the straw brim, and bowed towards Astrid.

“I’s a plum ripe fool, I suppose.” Bernie admitted in a weird sort of apology. “I’s terribly sorry I attacked yuh, miss. See…my farm. She’s not doin’ too well. If’n I dun’ find this crim’nal that’s destroyin’ all my hard work…well…” Bernie bit back some tears an works to quickly wipe them away with the back of his hand. He tried to do it in a way to draw less attention to the fact that he had teared up in the first place, trying to remain strong and vigilant through all of this. “I’un know if’n I’ll have to sell tha farm ‘n move on or not…this is my life’s work ‘n my maw’s old farm, miss. We’s jus’ gotta find that berry bandit!” He carried on. He would then lead Astrid over to his plantation if she would allow him too, where she could see the berry trees all snapped about on their vines, with many of them beaten and smashed into the dirt earth beside them.

“The thief seems to love to strike in the dead of night. They may even be out ‘n about right now! Oh, look!” Bernie pointed to a trail of smashed berries and debris that led off into the woods. He motioned for Astrid to follow him and crouched down at the trail. Bernie touched the berries that were scattered all around and tested the liquids that clung to his fingertips, before raising to stand up tall once more. “It’s lookin’ fresh, ma’am. Please help us! But…which path did they take?” He scratched his head as the trail seemed to veer off in three distinct paths. One trail that veered to the left was leaden heavy with berries all smashed to bits and scattered about. Another, veering off to the right, seemed to have several berries scattered about though not nearly as much as the left path, and could have even been considered normal in comparison to the area around it. The third path, which seemed to trail off just ahead in the center, had a sparse amount of berries scattered in random spots or smeared against the base of trees.

Bernie needs Astrid to solve this mystery!

Will Astrid take the left path, center path, or right path?

---

SUCCESS!!

---

Pia gained +575 EXP!
50*23: 1150/2: 575
Pia increased to 718/2437 EXP!
Pia grew closer to Astrid! +1 Happiness
Pia increased to +10 Happiness!


Silvia gained +575 EXP!
Through EXP Share
Silvia increased to 3138/2791!
Silvia gained +1 level!
Silvia increased to level 31!
347/2977 EXP remaining.


Ella gained +2 levels!
+1 participation & +1 Multiplier
Ella increased to Level 24!
Ella is trying to learn Round!
Forget a move and learn Round?
Ella grew closer to Astrid! +1 Happiness!
Ella increased to +6 Happiness!

[Tarlar]

Astrid relaxed a bit when Bernie realized his mistake and calmed down. An apology she didn't get but she didn't ask for one either. Her pride was not important here, she had a job to do.
"Of course, this is very important to get to the bottom of," the old woman agreed and wondered why there hadn't been any officers out and investigating this already. Sounded like terror in her eyes when someone kept destroying the berries and the livehoods of the farmers, that was not the work of a wild pokemon, that was certain.
She followed his pointing and saw the berries spread along the paths, "peculiar."

"Oh my goodness!" Astrid gasped as she saw the damaged shed, "is that the thief's doing too?" She asked worried as she walked over. Pia stopped her preening and jumped after her, stopping her with outstretched wing and then very pointedly went to check the shed herself first.
"Oh, my bad. Thank you Pia, I should have thought that could be a danger too," Astrid said a bit sheepishly and then looked at Bernie to see if this was new to him too or not.
She studied the three paths and her three pokemon, "Yakul! Do not eat the evidence!" Astrid scolded and grabbed the skiddo's horn to pull her away. Yakul's head jerked up and she leaped away from the smashed berries she had been munching on.
Astrid sighed, it was clearly not her IPF team she had with her today. A flash of light and several more pokemon appeared.

"Listen closely as this is important that things is done correctly," Astrid said as her pokemon had gathered around. "We have encountered a problem, a thief, a saboteur is terrorising this area and no one really knows who it is. We have a bit of clues and it is important that you do not destroy anything until we have collected the evidence. We have a shed which has been broken into, I will stay here and investigate and ask Bernie here some questions which hopefully can help spread some light over this case. Then we have three paths littered with berries spread by our target, I you to spread up and search each of these paths for clues. What I want you to look for is patterns, is it specific berries? Are they thrown around randomly or is there a pattern? If there are any footprints, although I know that will be hard to see in the darkness. Broken branches which can show if the target has left the path, scraps of cloth might be stuck on branches, things laying around which are not usually used in berry farming. And please, do not try hunt our target down yourself, they are very aggressive. If you find anything please let me know quickly and please try stay in touch with each other," she explained.
"Ella, Rita and Pia, I think you will be best suited for investigating, take a path each and be careful. And Pia, I think you need to walk for this one, you need to be close to spot the clues."
The pokemon in question nodded and went carefully down their selected paths.

"Janus, please check the shed for clues. Silvia, keep an eye out, our target might come back," Astrid said grimly and turned to Bernie as her joltik disappeared into the shed.
"I have some questions to ask you and I hope you will answer them as truthfully as possible, there might be important information which can solve this case," Astrid said formally and pulled out a block and a pen.
"How long has this been going on? Is it usually just the berries which are attacked, any specific ones? Any specific places? Any of your colleagues who has not been targeted or has not been targeted as heavily as others? Some who are more heavily affected than others? Is it new the shed has been damaged or has our culprit done that before? Is anything missing in there now? Has anything been stolen in the past? And last, can you give me a detailed description on how an attack normally plays our? With as many details as you can possible give, please," Astrid asked and was ready to note down anything he said.

Wordcount: 717
(ooc: Ella doesn't learn round. Not choosing a path yet, my pokemon investigating is just fluff ^^ Feel free to skim over Bernie's answers if it becomes too much to go into detail, I just want Astrid to be a real cop here )

[Caramell 🍬]

And so the police officer’s Pokemon would set off down the different paths in their investigative field research. The Pokemon that set off down the left path would notice scattered remains of berries smashed all about the area. It was coated so heavily with the remains of the berries, it might have been hard to tell what was berry juice smeared into the trunks of trees and on the grounds floor and what was something else. A strange, deep, and dark red stain seemed to smear itself across broken tree limbs and bent young saplings whose vbark curved back around as though they were growing back into the ground. It was odd indeed and couldn’t be too sure it wasn’t spillage from a living creature whose skin might have been torn open. Though, no matter where they looked or how deep they ventured, the Pokemon on the left path would find nothing more in their own investigations.

The right path had scattered remains of berries in the area and the sound of a strange, loud raucous noise. It was a hoarse sound – like a chainsaw starting up repeatedly – and seemed to break off into intermittent moments of complete silence and loud roaring over the relatively quiet scene. Most of the berries were broken and smashed into the ground. A few berries would have seemed intact from far away, but close up it would be readily apparent that they were too bruised and damaged to try to pick up and save anyways. If the Pokemon would try to search for the strange, roaring chainsaw like noise, they would find nothing more on their own. Though, the flash of tattered clothing clinging to different tree branches would hint that there should be something more.

Perhaps the simplest path would be the center path. It would remain empty and barren, except for a sprinkle of smashed and destroyed berries that sparsely sprouted up over the area. Although, sprinklers did decorate the area the further the Pokemon chose to explore it, none of them pointed towards the center path. Perhaps, this area wasn’t watered as much, and perhaps it wasn’t really used for growing too much of anything? Either way, only the usual wild Pokemon scurrying through the dense undergrowth and flying through the canopies would greet Astrid’s Pokemon. Should any of them be stopped and questioned, though, none of them would seem to know anything about the strange incidents.

Bernies scratched the back of his head as he turned to Astrid and did his utmost best to answer her questions. “Oh my word!” Bernie gasped as they approached the shed. He would follow close behind Pia and simply made off-handed comments about the thief. “Yes, yes! My shed wasn’t damaged before! I hope the thief didn’t steal nothin’ from my shed!” And begin cleaning up the shed as he checked to make sure everything was still present and accounted for. What could they want with his shed? And to Astrid’s line of questioning, Bernie supplied, “This has been goin’ on for….oh, prolly ‘bout 3 or so months, now.” Bernie explained as he scowled and picked up some of his scattered gardening tools to place them back up properly. “Yes, always tha’ berry trees. I dun’ s’pose there’s any specific ones. Maybe my Pecha Berry trees seem to get’it the worst.” He noted, after giving it some serious thought.

“The otha’ farmers complain ‘bout the same thing, too. That culprit’s makin’ a field day o’ our farms an’ hard work growin’ these berries! Some hav’ complained that when they think they caught the culprit, it slams them with a large tree branch an’ knock ‘em out. They can’t so much as remember passin’ out than they can remember what the guy looked like, though!” He huffed angrily, then calmly confirmed. “The shed damage is new, though. At least, this kinda damage for sure. Maybe some scruff’s but never broken into like this. Doesn’t look like nothin’s missin’ though…”

Looks like Astrid will have to investigate the path(s) herself....

[Tarlar]

Ella made slow progress down the middle path as she stopped every third step to listen and look around warily. She had a feeling of being watched even though she didn't spot any movements, nor heard anything other than the wind pulling at the leaves.
She almost crawled over something weird sticking out of the ground, she touched it, it was cold. Metal. She tapped it with a finger and spotted another one just like it, she relaxed, it was a man made thing.
She looked around but save for a few lonely trees there seemed to be nothing here.

Rita was running down the right path, probably a bit too fast to really be looking for clues. Being on her own with a potential dangerous criminal around was not doing any good in keeping her calm. At the sound of the chainsaw she spun around and leaped into the nearest bush with a loud crash and pressed herself against the ground wide eyed.
It took her ages before she dared poke her head out and look around, but only to snatch an almost intact berry which lay near the bush and retreat into the safety again.

Pia trudged down the left path with most berries, or pulp to be more precise. It muffled her steps and squeezed up through her toes for every step, she looked more disgruntled than usual. She would certainly have preferred to be flying here!
She paused and ran a claw through the mush on the ground and looked at it more closely, it looked surprisingly fresh. Hadn't it been full of dirt and gravel it would have been ready to eat. The smell which wafted up to her made her mouth water.
She shook her head and continued down the path more alert, she felt vulnerable walking around here alone in the dark, and if the berries were crushed recently the culprit might be close by. And aggressive.
She stepped closer to a tree and narrowed her eyes at the red which was smeared on it, as she tried to figure out if it was all berries or if something else was hidden among it.
As she turned away from it, she had to agree with Astrid, that she wouldn't have been able to look for clues from the air. Two more steps down the path and she froze, eyes widened.

Astrid paused to look at Bernie closely, "are you saying that nothing has really been stolen in those three months? Only smashed?" She asked urgently, "so the berries mostly gets smashed and you attacked, and it is not to steal most of the berries from you?"
She noted down the answer and pondered for a bit.
"You know, that means it could be a wild pokemon as well, but if it is and why this is done, is still a mystery," the old woman said and stepped over to the shed.
"I would guess it was a thief if most of the berries got stolen, or that one of your colleagues was out to get you if you were the only one targeted," Astrid explained as she looked inside the broken shed, "but it seems very random, and very angry." She looked back at Bernie, "Do you use this shed for anything else than storing tools?"
Bernie's answer would be noted down and she would call Janus back out again, the joltik hadn't found anything anyway.

"I think the best cause of action now will be to check if my pokemon has found anything, and then we will try set a trap," she informed Bernie, it didn't seem like they would be able to solve the mystery before they caught the one on rampage.

"Toucannon!" A shout was heard and Pia dived and landed with a loud thump on the ground. "Tou tou tou toucannon, cannon toucannon!" She gasped urgently and grasped Astrid's jacket in her beak and gave her several tucks. Yakul snorted displeased and waved her horns in warning to Pia, but the toucannon ignored it.
"What is it Pia?" Astrid asked her upset toucannon confused, "Tou tou!" Pia half shouted and pointed down the path she had come from wide eyed, she laid a wing behind Astrid and gently pushed her down the path. Pia stumbled as Yakul rammed into her and made her lose balance.
"Stop it! Both of you!" Astrid snapped and Yakul stepped back still glaring at Pia, who wasn't even looking at the skiddo.
"I need to go see what she has found, I will be back," Astrid told Bernie and Pia looked relieved. Astrid mounted Yakul and recalled Janus and Silvia. Pia jumped to the sky and lead the way as they rushed down the slippery path.

"Toucannon!" Pia shouted and dived towards something on the ground. Astrid gasped, it was a body!
"Please do not be dead," Astrid mumbled grimly to herself as Yakul raced over to join Pia, who had landed beside the person on the ground.
Astrid would dismount as fast as possible and go straight to feel for a pulse to which Pia watched with a weird look. Astrid sighed relieved when she found it and then gave the man's shoulder a shake.

Wordcount: 872
(ooc: investigating the left path)

[Caramell 🍬]

Bernie scratched his head as Astrid continued on through her interrogation. She sure did act like a cop from beginning to end! She was quick to her work it seemed, making sure to follow up anything that Bernie might have said with more questions as she tried to uncover the mystery that Bernie had been trying to unravel by himself for a long time now. “No ma’am, nothin’ beyond the berries. Most of ‘em get all smashed up and demolished rather than stolen, though. I thought it coulda been a rival berry farm but theirs was all smashed up too! That’s when we started workin’ together tryin’ to catch the culprit!” He continued in his explanations with wide gestures of his hands.

Though, the thought of it being a wild Pokemon did make a lot of sense. Still, some parts of the story didn’t seem to set right with Bernie. “I imagine that’s possible but…my Fluffy shoulda been enough to scare ‘em off, right? And wouldn’t a wild Pokemon just eat my berries instead of destroyin’ ‘em all?? Isn’t it strange of a wild ‘un to smash ‘em all up like this??” He asked her incredulously. The farmer had never heard of a Pokemon that didn’t immediately want to gobble up some berries when presented with them. Was there something wrong with Bernie’s berries or did the wild Pokemon suddenly become the pickiest creatures alive?! All of this was very confusing to the old farmer, for sure! “Storin’ tools and supplies. I keep all my supplies in my shed, miss – including my garden rakes, my hoes, my shovels, my extra sprinklers, and…well, ya know…farm equipment type stuff.”

When Astrid wandered down the path to the unconscious police officer she would notice the scene to be quite a disarrayed mess. Thick gob of deep red stains ran down the police officer’s shirts in erratic patterns – reminiscent of blood itself. Some of it still dripped and oozed like an open wound that was left to fester on his exposed arms and legs – though there would be a strange lack of open cuts or gashes anywhere on the man’s body to cause them. The police officer’s clothes were ripped and tattered as well, though mostly around the edges and along the sleeves, so they covered the important parts of his body.

When Astrid shook his shoulder, the police officer sprang back to life! He jumped up onto his two feet and yanked out a pair of cold metallic handcuffs in one hand and his badge in the other. “Freeze! This is the police! Put your hands up in the air! What are you – oh, thank God, they sent backup!” The young policeman smiled and immediately eased his position when he noticed Astrid and caught sight that it was another fellow police officer. “I’m so glad you’ve come! Did IPF send you to investigate this mystery as well? I can catch you up on the finer details. See, I was patrolling for the hooligans that have been smashing up the local berry farms, when I heard a strange, loud noise. When I investigated the sound, something caught me totally by surprise! Blindsided me completely and knocked me out! I tried to detain them but they had fists of steel! They knocked my torch that I was using as a light completely out of my hand too!” The Police officer explained to Astrid, then pulled out a set of keys. “But, I did manage to shake these from the culprit!”

The Policeman reports a strange story
^{But nothing of real interest...}

However, the Policeman has found a set of keys!

[Tarlar]

Astrid agreed that is was a very strange behavior from a wild pokemon, so either it had to be one who were out of the ordinary for one reason or another, Astrid could think of plenty reasons for what could be the reason. Or, it was a radical who for some reason thought the berry growing was harming the environment, pokemon or community, which was also a rather thin theory since these berry gardens certainly wasn't new.
It would take a long time to get to the bottom of this, Astrid was sure, with how long this had been going on and for such a huge area the culprit, or culprits actually could be anywhere. She was sure she'd have to interrogate the other berry farmers as well, to what they could tell about the case to narrow it down, and she doubted the trap she had planned would bring in anything. Most likely she'd have to get the local police office to step in and help, so they could get to the bottom of this and stop the violence. Speaking of the local police, it was really weird that they hadn't been called already and had been on the case, Astrid couldn't understand why that could be so, now it seemed to serious.

As Astrid kneeled beside the unconscious man, she noticed his uniform, and all the blood which was smeared over him. She was relieved to learn he was still alive so the question was if he was too injured to move and how they fastest could get him to the hospital.
Her mouth fell open when he jumped up, as if he had no injuries at all.
"Relax man! You are injured! do not make it any worse!" Astrid gasped as she too got to her feet and grasped his shoulder to steady him, in the expectation he'd become dizzy and collapse any moment. He brushed her off by explaining what he was doing here and what he knew.
IPF had sent someone out to check the problem, and he had grasped the case widely differently than Astrid had.

She didn't immediately answer his questions as she couldn't shake the belief that he was hurt. "you are not hurt?" She asked skeptically, "then where does all this come from?" She added and slowly reached out to touch the 'blood' on his uniform. She carefully withdrew her hand to smell her hands with the stuff on, and her eyes widened.
"Berries!" She chuckled in relief, "you are smeared in in berries."

"The IPF did not send me this time, but I could not just walk past without trying to help," the old woman said as she turned serious again and held out her hand to take the keys, which she studied.
"But what will they do with those? If they are for the shed, they smashed the door anyway," Astrid pondered and glanced at Pia, "can you please take a quick look from above to see if you can spot anyone?" Astrid asked and in a flurry of feathers Pia was airborne and circled the area.
"Your story is very similar to what others have experienced, but we still don't know if there is more than one, or why they are doing it. But it sounds like you were getting close and they knocked you out to run away," the old police woman said and was not surprised when Pia returned to inform she couldn't see anyone around.
"Our best clue is this one," Astrid told the other policeman and showed him the keys he had gotten. "And you have confirmed it is dangerous to be out here alone. Do you have a pokemon whom you can have with you, who can protect you? Or do you want to come with me? I am going back to Berne, whose land we're on and ask him about the Key," she explained as she mounted Yakul and waited for the other officer's decision before she turned back to where she had come from.

When returning back to the shed and Bernie, she didn't waste any time and showed him the key right away.
"Do you recognize this one?" She'd ask Bernie and would study his expression closely and after having heard what he could tell, decided the best course of action would be check up on her other pokemon down the other paths.

Ella was easy, she could be seen down the middle path, keeping a safe distance to anything which could hide someone aggressive and looking around. As she heard Yakul's footsteps she turned to face them, shrugged and waved them off, she hadn't found anything interesting nor anything dangerous.
Astrid gave her a nod and went down the right path instead, to see how Rita fared.
It didn't took her long to find the black raticate. It was not like Rita had gotten very far before she had jumped into her hiding place, but at least she came out when she recognized her team.
"What are you doing in there Rita?" Astrid asked concerned and the raticate fidgeted embarrassed and pointed down the road, which made the old woman look down the path with narrowed eyes.
"You have heard or seen something down there?" Astrid asked quietly and Rita nodded to the heard part.
"Time to check it out," Astrid said determined and nudged Yakul into a trot, perhaps the culprit hadn't gotten far away? Pia took to the sky again and soared ahead to scout, while Rita followed more hesitantly.

Wordcount: 923
(ooc: checking the right path)

[Caramell 🍬]

When Astrid returned with the key and questioned Bernie, his eyes lit up. He would eagerly take the key from Astrid’s hands and flip it over several times as he observed it. “Why, this is the storage key to my supply shed!” He explained. He would gesture her over to the busted door and show her the lock where the fob could be placed close to and would open with a click of a button. However, due to the damage, it seemed like it took a bit of time playing with it for Bernie to get the demonstration to work. “Looks like that’s another repair job. Hopefully, not too expensive…” He mumbled under his breath. When Astrid chose to explore another path, Bernie would urge her to be careful on her exploration.

The gruesome scene was something straight out of a horror movie. Several trees were snapped in half, with their tall trunks bent over and tops fallen upon the forest floor. Some of the broken trees had fallen against their comrades, whose trunks bent and buckled against the weight as they struggled to stand straight up. A strange sound echoed through the trees – like a chainsaw that was being restarted several times over, with moments of pure silence sprinkled in the midst. Whenever a gust of wind would blow across the land, the long branches of the trees would buckle and sway, with their gentle green leaves rustling in the breeze. One tree’s absurdly long branch beat against the bark of another tree, creating a strange ‘knock, knock’ing sound that seemed to chase after Astrid as she wandered further into the area.

A beaten man laid sprawled across the ground where Astrid finally managed to venture to. A large, spiky-backed ground-type rodent was stretched out beside the mountaineer. Large gashes ran their length across the Sandslash’s sides, with several of its thick quills broken in odd places. The Pokemon seemed to scratch at the ground with its long claws, whimpering underneath its breath, but unable to completely roust itself up onto its feet. The man had an axe that had been completely snapped in half lying beside him. With one loud snore, it was evident that the strange ‘chainsaw’ sound was just the man sleeping – though the way his clothes were tattered, and his arms and legs were completed bruised with large welts, it was evident that it couldn’t be peaceful. “No…NO!” He shouted, hands outstretched and griping in the air randomly as he fumbled in his sleep. “Please…oh God…What ARE you?!” He wailed.

Astrid finds a hurt sleeping man and Sandslash!
^{Will Astrid wake him up or quietly search around the wounded man?}

[Tarlar]

The officer didn't want to come with Astrid, and he even was reluctant to call out his pokemon but Astrid insisted. She was not going to let anyone walk around here alone, it was too dangerous with that unknown thing terrorizing the neighborhood. She didn't get why he was so reluctant, he had just been knocked out cold after all and there was no need for him to try impress her.
When he finally called out a chansey, looking embarrassed, Astrid had an idea of what the problem was, and she made sure of making no hints that it should be a weird pokemon to have. She knew it was a good pokemon, especially to use as defense but it was a first she had seen within the police force.
"Are you in the SRT?" She asked casually and he looked surprised at her.
"No, I'm a Detective, why?" he said confused and Astrid was glad the darkness would hide her surprise.
"I just thought your pokemon would be good in defense when things got hot, but I guess that would be the same case if you get into trouble as that," Astrid said warmly and the other officer chuckled embarrassed and mumbled something.
"With you too looking out for each other, I better get back with the key, take care!" Astrid said her farewell and left the officer in the darkness behind her.

Astrid looked at the shed the moment Bernie said it was to that it was for that one and she huffed.
"Not very useful now then," she said dryly and turned Yakul around as Bernie mumbled something to himself about getting it repaired. There was a lot that needed to be fixed from the terror which was running around, but it might be a waste if they started before the culprit was caught, otherwise they'd just smashing everything once again.

The frown on the old woman's face got deeper and she looked more wrinkled than ever, as she looked at the snapped trees. Whatever was out there was big, if it was a human, they would have to have a big pokemon with them.
Yakul's trot mingled with the banging noises but she was too old to get scared of them, she recognized them as the sounds of branches whacking together when windy. Pia too knew it, she had grown up in a forest and didn't pay them any notice either.
Rita on the other hand, jumped for each one and raced after Yakul and often tried to get so close to her that she was about to get in the way and get stepped on.

"Not again! Pia! Check on the pokemon!" Astrid snapped and kicked Yakul in the sides so her mount rushed forward. When they reached him, Astrid quickly slid down her skiddo and paused when the sound of snoring reached her. She stared astonished at him, how could he sleep now?! She frowned at his state and touched Yakul's horns as she gave the others a warning.
"Looks like we have someone on hand who can lul others to sleep, be alert!" She bend down and gave the sleeping man's shoulder a good shake, and slapped his chin lightly. Followed by harder slaps if the first didn't work.
Pia did as she had seen Astrid do last time and placed her sensitive beak at the neck of the sandslash to feel for a pulse, then began to nudge it to get it up on its feet.

Wordcount: 584

[Caramell 🍬]

Total darkness.

The man’s consciousness seemed trapped in a strange state where he could see a reflection of himself floating in a large void. He had laid here, motionless, for what felt like centuries. Occasionally, glimpses of things passed by him in the blink of an eye, coming and going too quickly for him to decipher much from it. A small child with a large hat that nearly swallowed his head whole jumping up and down in front of a birthday cake. The same child, now a bit older, working tirelessly near the woods of a large, two-story house, with a Sandshrew. That same young child now grown into a young man, courting a gorgeous blonde lady who would only turn away and leave with some strange, long-haired gentleman on a train.

What did this mean? Were these his past memories? Was he floating in this void to some inevitable afterlife?

Something stirred. The void bounced and shifted, shaking the vision he saw of himself floating inside of it back and forth. He groaned in the real world and outstretched a hand in the air to grapple at an invisible object. The man’s eyelids fluttered, though they would close again before Astrid’s slaps intensified. Eventually, the mountaineer’s eyes opened, and he began coughing heavily as he rolled over onto his stomach and struggled to push himself up into a seated position. “Where?!” His eyes widened as he searched for his companion, only to relax as he noticed his wounded Sandslash on the ground near him.

“Miss, it’s much too dangerous to be out here all alone!” The mountaineer spoke up, nearly spitting his words in hot fervor and worried excitement. “That thing will get you! It tossed my Sandslash like I was nothing! We were chopping down trees and next thing I know – a branch falls on us. Heaviest son-of-a-gun branch I’ve ever had hit me! It knocked my canteen off my side and spilled all my water I had everywhere. That’s when someone…or something monstrous…attacked us! Beat up my Sandslash and knocked me unconscious! Miss, you need to go home!” The mountaineer jumped up. He stumbled around a bit on his wounded legs and eventually collapsed back onto the ground. He would tried again, kicking himself up as he tried to scoot away in terror, only to fall repeatedly – obviously too hurt to run the way he wanted to.

Mountaineer spills the beans!

What will Astrid do with this information?

[Tarlar]

The man groaned as Astrid shook his shoulder, he didn't wake up by it so she gave his chin a few light slaps. That made him mumbled and restless and she gave him a few harder slaps which made his eyes flutter open but only for a moment, before they fell again. Another round of slapping woke him up fully and even though she tried to keep him still, he instantly began to flail around and rolled to his stomach to get up.
"Easy! Calm down! Your head might be hurt," Astrid warned as she did her best to support him so he didn't collapsed, when he spotted his sandslash he seemed to relax a bit.
"Then it is good I am not alone," the old woman said briskly and listened to what he had to say about his experience. It was without doubt the same thing which was terrorizing the rest of the area. She would have spent more time thinking about what he told and asking questions if he hadn't decided to try jump up and stumble about.
"Sit down! You are hurt!" Astrid snapped and looked thoughtful at him for a moment, "but you are right, it is too dangerous to be out here on your own, so I better take you back to Bernie so you can get some help." She decided and called Yakul and Rita over.
"Good, now place your hand on Yakul here and use her as support to get on your feet, Rita, come here and pressed against him to keep him from falling. Yes, that's the way to do it," Astrid guided as she did her best to get the mountaineer back up on his feet.
"Can you lift your bad leg over her back? Do not worry, she can easily carry you," Astrid said to the man as she tried to help getting him up.
"How is the sandslash doing Pia?" Astrid called to her toucannon who had felt a pulse and had nudged the ground type to try wake it up, mimicing what Astrid had done to the man.
"Toucannon," Pia said uncertain and the old woman looked at the man, "Can you recall your pokemon?"

When the man hopefully was secured on Yakul and his poor sandslash safe in its pokeball, Astrid would have time to think about what he had said, the trek back wouldn't be very fast after all.
"You said it did not like that you felled trees," she said thoughtful, "which is strange if it destroys trees itself too. It must be really well camouflaged since no one has seen it, so how can we flush it out?"
She mused for some time and the only sound heard was her cane on the ground and Yakul's hooves on the ground. She glanced at the man and wondered why he had been felling trees in the middle of the night, hopefully he hadn't been taking down the berry trees.
"Did you say, that the thing went berserk when you dropped your water?" She asked urgently, if that had been true it could be useful.

"Hey Bernie, I have someone here who needs some help, and do you have a hose? I think what we're looking for is very camouflaged with the trees but it might not like water, so I would like to try flush it out," she told Bernie when they returned to him and his shed.

Wordcount: 573