Operation: Pseudo Wood (NOTLT Quest)

[Marchbaby]

As Kevin and Oracle reached the start of route 36 Kevin could see numerous people walking towards Goldenrod City with terrified looks on their faces and each mumbling something about a horrible scene they had heard of in the area. " Aliens, Aliens I tell you are here, they want our crops and our berries and will stop at nothing to steal them." One clearly deranged individual said. Another that walked by seemed to have a totally different theory as to what was going on. " Those gosh darn teenagers and their shenanigans, someone needs to put a stop to their berry wrecking ways before the farmers get put out of business.

A third elderly individual walked by who also seemed to be off their rocker a bit maybe having had a bit too much to drink before going on a stroll. " *Hiccup* I swear I saw a *hiccup* tree come to life holding some berries, that must be the *hiccup* cause of all this *hiccup* ruckus." By now Kevin was not sure if the locals had lost their mind or if something really bad was afoot but regardless he knew he had to look into it no matter how much it derailed his plans on reaching Ecruteak as quickly as possible.

" Thou shall get sidetracked by strange things at every possible moment is really hitting us hard right now. I feel we have to look into this before anything gets out of hand. Oracle let's head to one of the local farms around here and see if we can get to the bottom of this." Oracle quickly nodded before the pair started to look around for the first silo or barn that came into view. It was so dark they could barely see a thing and he knew showing up to a farm uninvited was a bit of a risk but one he had to take. He hoped the first farmer he encountered would be mild mannered and not a crazy backwoods redneck but he was ready to deal with either type if he had to.

" Oracle stay close just in case, a powerful Pokemon such as yourself might get blamed if the people around here are desperate enough to point fingers. The worst thing we can do is start a fight with the locals without reason for doing so." As they approached a silo nearby they could hear a rustling nearby and started to investigate hoping whatever it was would lead to some answers.



OOC: Starting Night of the Living Tree.

[Professor Oak]

Rancher Bernie, a burly man with a face creased like sunbaked leather, squinted through the gloom. The air hung heavy with an unsettling quiet, broken only by the mournful cry of a lone Noctowl. A knot of unease tightened in his gut. Something wasn't right. Mangled berry bushes, their once-luscious fruit scattered like spilled jewels, lay testament to a brutal rampage. Fences, normally sturdy barriers against the occasional wayward Tauros, were ripped apart like flimsy paper. And amidst the wreckage, several Pidgeotto, their wings crumpled and useless, lay twitching on the ground.

Rage, hot and primal, surged through Bernie. This wasn't the work of a rogue Pokemon, not with this level of calculated destruction. This was the act of a malicious mind, someone who revelled in causing chaos. He hefted his trusty pitchfork, the polished wood cool against his calloused hand. It wasn't a weapon he liked to use, but against whatever had violated his land, it would have to do.

Following the trail of destruction, his boots crunched on broken branches and fallen berries. The air grew thick with the cloying scent of overturned soil. Then, a flicker of movement in the distance caught his eye. Someone was approaching his grain silo.

"Alright, you varmint!" Bernie bellowed, his voice rough as gravel. "Show yourself!"

Bernie's heart hammered against his ribs. This wasn't some scared kid out for a prank. This was something worse, someone up to no good.

"You think you can trash my land and get away with it?" Bernie roared, his voice echoing in the stillness of the night. "There ain't no place for your kind around here!"

Rancher Bernie has mistaken Kevin for a vandal! He sends out his Furret (Level 23)! Choose a Pokemon to battle!

[Marchbaby]

As Kevin heard the rancher call him out he quickly spotted the rather unfriendly gentleman and his Furret. Had he just wanted to speak it would have been fine but Kevin did not take too kindly to being accused of something he not only did not do but barely knew anything of until moments ago. " I will openly admit I am not from around here and may very well be trespassing however I would not dare damage someone's property without cause and I can assure you I have not touched any berries since I arrived here." He then turned to Oracle who nodded before she spoke as well.

" As much as I would prefer we talk this out I can sense words will not sway this man. I suggest we try and reason with him with a battle and if he still thinks we are guilty after that we may need to leave before more trouble starts." Kevin never one to turn away from a trainer battle agreed and turned back to the rancher to offer a deal. " How does this sounds, if you win this battle I will come along and allow myself to be interrogated, if I win however I expect an apology for the accusation so that I can return to my work of figuring out the true cause of this whole mess."

Seeing as how the rancher already had his Pokemon out there was no need for Kevin to wait any longer to make his choice. Oracle had already been spotted by the rancher and she had the type advantage against his Pokemon so putting two and two together he had no worries about using her to battle. " Oracle let's teach this man a few manners, maybe after he sees your battling skills he will learn a thing or two about challenging the honor of an old soldier. Use your Aura Sphere on that Furret to get things started."

Oracle nodded again before she took a step forward and started to build up a sphere of aura in her paws before taking aim at the slender fur covered POkemon across from her. She had never faced a Furret before but she was confident in her skills as she finally built up enough energy to launch her attack. " I do hope by the end of this they both see reason, I would hate for things to escalate even further than they have." She said as she sent the sphere of aura energy towards Furret.



OOC: Oracle uses Aura Sphere.

[Avalon]

"Hmph! We'll see how your little deal works for you, varmint! Natural Gift, Furret!" the farmer grumbled, preparing for the battle to come. He was sure that his herding partner Furret would be enough to send this obvious criminal on his way. Furret, a berry in hand, began to prepare for her attack. The berry was beginning to shrivel up and wither away, as if the Furret was absorbing its nutrients in preparation for the attack. A flaming orb began to manifest in the Furret's mouth, the energy from the berry sustaining the attack.

Unfortunately, for all the pageantry behind the attack, it was cut short as Oracle sent the orb of swirling aura energy at it. The ball of energy struck the Furret head-on, aura and flames colliding in an explosion that sent the Furret reeling. Its attack interrupted before it could even complete, the Furret struggled to get up for a moment before collapsing into a bruised and slightly burnt heap of fur.

Bernie was stunned, at a loss for words and his face turning beet red in either frustration or embarrassment as he processed what had just happened. "I...You..Furret...ARGH!" he let out a noise of frustration, realizing that he had in fact lost after coming in so aggressively. He retrieved a Poke Ball, calling Furret back into its ball before stowing the ball away in the pocket of his overalls. Pulling the brim of his straw hat down to cover his reddened face, he slowly approached Kevin and Oracle in defeat.

"Alright, suppose a deal's a deal. I gotta hear ya' out. Sorry about that, we've been having a real problem with somebody or something comin' in and tearing up my farm," Bernie explained, stretching out a gloved (and dirty) hand in a handshake. "You seem like a tough enough sort, and said something about being a soldier? What say you help me out, help find the varmint responsible? My berry farm won't be able to keep itself running if they keep doing all this damage, so I'd like to nip this in the bud quickly. As far as payment, I got some berries from the most recent harvest I could send you away with, if you'd like. A lot of people out here rely on our berries for medicine and the like, ya know."

Was the last sentence laying it on a little think? Maybe, he had to admit, but it was vital that this be taken care of before it got too much further out of hand. Maybe this old soldier would be willing to look past their initial misunderstanding and lend him a helping hand.

Wild Encounter

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Furret LV 23
HP 0% [0/79]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Oracle LV 32
HP 100% [96/96]

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

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

Bernie's Furret [Frisk]: Fainted
Oracle [Inner Focus]: Status, Black Belt

SP72 Oracle used Aura Sphere!
SP53 Furret fainted!

Oracle devastated that poor Furret and got 1,150 EXP for doing it!
Current EXP: 2,550/3,169


Farmer Bernie wants your help in finding the berry vandal!
What will Kevin do?

[Marchbaby]

As the battle swiftly came to a close Kevin was quite glad it was over and that Bernie had seemed to come off his accusations for the time being. As he listened to the man's pleas he could understand why him and so many others in the area were upset and it made him more determined than ever to find out the cause of the ruckus." Believe me, I have heard from a number of others who have told similar stories before I ran into you. I was actually hoping to find someone who knew more information so I will gladly help you out."

After shaking the mans hand he continued to respond to Bernie hoping to put the man's mind at ease. " I am indeed a soldier so these kinds of things are one of many I have had to deal with over the years, from the sounds of things I believe the culprit is a Pokemon that likes berries but I do not have a firm guess as to which one as some of the stories I heard were pretty crazy." As he turned to face Oracle she started to scan the area for any aura that might be the source of the troubles.

" I will keep scanning but right now I am not picking up anything strange, I really hope we get to the bottom of this soon." As the pair listened to the rest of what Bernie had to say there was little doubt this matter had to be settled before any of the local farms were put out of business due to the vermin responsible for such actions. Once Kevin had gathered his thoughts he only had one more question to ask Bernie before they got started.

" Well the sooner we can solve this the better then, do you have any leads where we can start our search. I am not too familar with this area outside of knowing both Ecruteak and Goldenrod are nearby? Any tip you might have would be a huge help in this investigation." As he waited for a response Oracle continued to keep scanning for any signs of trouble just in case anything did pop up before Bernie could lead them to the right path. She was not going to let anything sneak up on them as the culprit might be pretty good at battles if it was so skilled at destroying berries so effectivly.


OOC: Kevin agrees to help Bernie.

[Pixel]

"I'll show ya around my property. As ya can tell, iz right here where them roads all meet and so we gets travelers passin' by all the time. But that's part of why it's hard to catch them vandals, whatever they might be, people or pokemon." Rancher Bernie frowned, the lines in his face creasing as he consider the solider's words. "A pokemon that likes berries is a pretty vague call out, but iffin' ya figure it out, I'd be much appreciative. I just can't do this no more, havin' my stuff destroyed all the time. Hard on a old man's constitution!"

The gruff rancher lead Kevin around, pointing out the various roads and worn paths made by travelers that skirted his property. He motioned to broken trees and downed fences. And eventually, they reached where the three main roads met on the edge of his property...and there, a shed with the front door smashed in sat. Stuff was littered everywhere! Berries, branches, chunks of woods and equipment. The rancher's face twitched with horror as his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I should clean up this here mess. If ya find anythin' or got any questions, I'll be right here."

Which left Kevin facing down three paths to investigate further for signs of the criminal.

---

Which path will Kevin investigate?

Left | Center | Right?

[Marchbaby]

As Bernie led Kevin to the fork in the road he had notcied the three trails had differing amounts of berries scattered along them. He deduced that the more berries on each path the longer it had been since the culprit had visited that particular path however he could not say for certain as Pokemon or people may have cleaned up some of the trails before he got there. He also figured that the culprit may not even be down any of the paths so he had to keep that possibility in mind as he started his search.

If the worst were to pass his search would be for naught but as he was certain the responsible party was still somewhere in the area Kevin had decided he would investigate the berry heavy path on the left first and go from there." Thank you for everything Bernie, from the looks of things I will check out the path on the left. Once I finish investigating I will let you know what I find." Seconds later Kevin started to make his eay down the left path eager to put an end to the trouble maker before poor Bernie ended up getting put out of business.

" Hey Oracle can you scan up ahead and let me know if you can detect anything down this path? I hope we find something worthwhile and that it isn't a deadend." As they walked down the path Oracle started to feel the aura of something up ahead and she warned everyone that they were not alone anymore as something living was further down the path. She then warned Kevin before anyone could get the jump on either of them. " Somebody or something is up ahead. I can feel their aura but for some reason it feels weaker than most humans. I wonder why their aura is so weak?"

Wasting no time they made their way towards the weak aura and they hoped they were not too late as for all they knew they could be tracking more victims of the real culprit so they kept a cautious mindset.

Some many things could go wrong when they approched and Kevin did not want to handle unnecessary battles. He also did not want to get lumped by the still wanted culprit who could be anywhere at this time of night. Regardless of what lie ahead Kevin and Oracle stepped forward and called out at whoever was in

" Hellos is anyone out here?


OOC: Kevin goes down the left path.

[Pixel]

Kevin and Oracle traveled up the leftmost path, following that weak pulse of life that the lucario sensed. As they walked they would notice many felled branches from nearby bushes and berries littered on the path. The density of the berries on the ground was more than the other potential paths they could have investigated, though what that was a sign of was yet to be determined. After a while of walking, they would stumble upon a very startling sight. 

There, laying on the ground absolutely still and soaked in red, was a uniformed police officer.

The scene was a bit chaotic.

Though it would require a closer look to determine what happened here. Kevin could quietly look around and leave the body alone, or investigate the fallen police officer as well to gain further clues to this crime.

---

You walk onto a grim scene. A policeman soaked in red is lying on the ground.

[ Interact ] or [ Investigate the scene without disturbing the body ]?

---

Note there has been a change in how mods are added to the list! Please check here upon replying.

---

[Marchbaby]

Upon seeing the horrific sight Kevin could not help but to feel the worst had happened. Even with his distrust of the police due to their boundless corruption he still would never wish harm on an officer. The red stains all over the man had Kevin quite worried that he had stumbled onto the site of a murder. As he looked a but closer however he could tell it was not blood but rather juice from berries smeared over the man. Hoping that such a discovery meant the man was still alive Kevin had Oracle read the aura of the man as he tried to wake him up.

" Hey are you ok? Being covered in berry juice and laying on the ground like this around these parts is just asking for trouble from the creature attacking the farms around here." As he continued to try and wake the man Oracle could feel the arua from the man was still quite strong and was still alive despite the initial appearance. Waking the man up without harming him was the one thing they had to solve as Kevin did not want to harm the officer further. At the same time waking him up might lead to more information about the creature they were after.

" Well at least he is alive, I have no clue how we are going to wake him though unless that Squirtbottle you have has any cold water in it." As soon as Oracle mentioned that Kevin smiled as it seemed like the perfect way to wake the officer safely. He sent out Eiskalt and Samantha to set his plan into motion." Eiskalt use Icicle Crash over this Squirtbottle and Samantha use Flamethrower to melt the ice. That should give us enough cold water to wake this poor gentleman up."

One the two Pokemon used their attacks the Squirtbottle had just enough water to attempt to revive the man and Kevin held the bottle above his head. He then tilted the bottle as the water poured over the man hoping he would jump up from the shock of the clod splash of water so Kevin could continue the investigation.

" I sure hope this works. If not we might have to have Samantha use Psychic to shake him like a ragdoll until he wakes up. Besides that I do not think there is anything else we can try without putting his life and limb in mortal danger."



OOC: Kevin pours cold water on the officer's face to try and revive him.

[Pixel]

Fortunately for the officer, who was oblivious to Plan B, he woke when cold water was splashed over him. He gasped and sat straight up, hissing in pain and clutching at his head. The man swayed and took a moment to gather himself, focused only on breathing for half a minute. When his heart rate steadied and his vision stopped swimming like a tentecruel upon a stormy ocean surface, he pulled his hand from his head and peered up at the source of the sudden shower. There above him was what appeared to be a concerned trainer with a squirtbottle and his pokemon. 

"Who..." he mumbled, looking down again to see the state of his clothes. "Damn. That thug really got the jump on me. I was patrolling this area after getting reports of hooligans vandalizing nearby properties when I heard a loud noise. Like something breaking tree branches." Kevin would easily be able to see the source of the sound. There was a heavily damaged berry bush nearby, likely the source of the crushed fruit all over the officer. Maybe he got pelted by the vandal? "When I came up the path, I saw one of them messing with the bushes and tried to scare them off. But they attacked me. I never got a good look at them because I dropped my flashlight in the scuffle. His fists were like rocks. One good hit on top of the head and I was out cold until you got here..."

He groaned a bit, and something jingled as he shifted.

"Oh, right. I did get these off him though..." he pulled out a set of keys. There was a label hanging from the key ring that read 'Supply Shed'. "I bet he was using it to break in..." The officer tried to stand but couldn't, too dizzy. "You...you look like an upright and trustworthy fellow." Or maybe the sparkle was just from his concussion. "Mind returnin' these to, uh...where they belong? I'm sure someone who has property near here is missing them."

---

The now soaking wet policeman hands you a set of keys!

(Upon closer inspection, they are labeled with the words 'Supply Shed')

[Marchbaby]

As the man came to Kevin was very relieved to see his plan work and the story the officer told led him to start to piece together the puzzle of what was behind this whole mess." From the sound of things the Pokemon we are after must either be a fighting type or a Pokemon that can use moves of that type. It's fists being as hard as rocks does seem a bit strange though. Maybe the town drunk I passed earlier was onto something when they said they saw a tree come to life." He then pondered for a few more moments while listening to the rest of the officer's story.

Once the man handed him a set of keys Kevin knew exactly who to go to in order to find out what they might be used for. " Bernie might know what those keys are for, I should go ask him. Thank you very much and try to be careful out here. Whatever attacked you might still be around and next time it might do more than knock you out." He then started to walk back along the path he had taken to get back to Bernie so he could ask about the keys.

As he walked along the path the moonlight overhead was the only source of light and he kept an eye out for anything that might be trying to cause him any trouble. Given how easily the perpetrator was able to bring down a Police Officer he was taking no chances even if he had far better combat training than any officer could dream of. He did have his trusty weapons on him but did not want to start a shootout unless there was no other choice as anyone in the line of fire might get caught by a stray shot on accident and he did not want to deal with that possibility.

" Bernie should be right up ahead unless he left, after we ask him about the key we can check out one of the other paths to see what else we can find. I sure hope one of them leads to answers soon." Just then he saw Bernie up ahead and he ran towards the man key in hand to ask about them. " Hey Bernie, a Police Officer I revived from getting attacked found these keys, do you know anything about them?" He asked before waiting for a response.




OOC: Kevin asks Bernie about the key.

[Pixel]

Bernie was right where he promised he'd be, in his shed, trying his best to clean up the mess. He had a trash bag full of debris now, and when Kevin approached, he pushed up, knees creaking and popping as he did so. The rancher grunted and rubbed his back, though he voiced no further complaint. "Back already?" he grumbled. "Whatcha find? A key?" He squinted. "That right there is a key to the sprinkler system..." Bernie patted his pockets then checked the key basket inside the shed, both of which did not contain said keys. "...now why would anyone want to steal those? Unless I dropped'em?" He shook his head. "A police officer, ya say? Whoever has been doin' this took out a patrolman?!" 

He looked even more put out than before.

"Smashin' my shed. Destroyin' my bushes. Stealin' my keys. These punks have it out for me." Then a look of recollection passed over his face. "Whoever did it might still be here, doin' crimes. I think I heard somethin' while you were away down one of the other paths. Mebbe you can still catch'em in the act!"

---

Which path will you investigate next?

[Marchbaby]

As Bernie pointed out the keys were for the sprinkler system Kevin took note of that as such a system could catch anything off guard and if for some reason or another the culprit did not like water such a system would be a nasty surprise. He then replied to Bernie hoping to put his mind at ease. " Yes indeed, the poor man was knocked out cold by whatever is responsible. He should be ok but the sprinkler system does give me a great idea if my suspicious are correct. Before jumping the gun however I will still check out the other areas."

After finishing his conversation with Bernie Kevin focused on the remaining tasks at hand, there were still two paths left to investigate and he felt the odds of needing to check out both before he would get to the bottom of this were still pretty high. By clearing out the flanks he felt as though it would make it easier to corner the responsible party in the center path so he made up his mind to head down the right path next to make sure whoever was behind all of this could not counter his attempt to flank it before the trap could be set.

" Oracle let's go down this path on the right next, if nothing else we can make sure it is clear so we can either catch the crooks first hand or eliminate their ability to outflank us when we check out the middle path. Given what happened on the left path we should keep our guard up just in case." He then pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil to write down all of the clues up to this point. Though he initially thought a fighting type was responsible the more he pondered on it the less it made sense. A fighting type would have little reason to fear a sprinkler system and stealing the keys to it would only make sense if a Pokemon hated water.

As he walked down the path hoping to make sense of everything Oracle picked up on something else and alerted him." I can sense we are close to something else. This night really is turning into a disaster, I hope we do not encounter more victims of the brute causing all of this." The pair then rushed towards the source prepared for almost anything to happen.




OOC: Kevin takes the path on the right.

[Pixel]

Perhaps it should be have been obvious what Kevin would find upon investigating the noise Rancher Bernie heard. Yet another body laid on the path, though this one was still very obviously moving, no crushed berries littered about to look like blood. The man appeared to be some kind of outdoorsman and was dressed for camping, and beside him was the shattered remains of an axe. Upon coming closer, it was clear he was beaten black-and-blue by someone or something, and his pokemon was knocked around too. The sandslash, as if mustering up energy to protect its trainer, tried to sit up and defend him from Kevin, but ultimately, it just ended up slumping over again.

The scene looked fairly fresh.

Kevin could look around for more clues to take back to the Rancher quickly or help the unconscious man. Either way, it seemed like the vandal in question was still lurking around somewhere. But why? Where? And who would be next to face their wrath? An officer and some random hiker were quite odd targets for a mere punk looking to rob some berries.

---

An unconscious man and his fainted sandslash are laying on the path.
What will you do?
[ WAKE HIM ] or [ INVESTIGATE QUIETLY ]

[Marchbaby]

Seeing the Sandslash and the man ahead in rough shape Kevin had little doubt the hoodlum had struck again. The good news was thanks to the Sandslash trying to move he knew it was still alive and likely the man was as well. They were both messed up pretty bad however and without waking them up there was no way to know exactly what had happened. As the Sandslash did not like water Kevin figured the old shake it like a ragdoll until it either wakes up or you hear a pop that doesn't sound good was the better option for it. As for the man the previous trick should work.

Eiskalt summoned a large icicle with Icicle Crash and Samantha melted it with Flamethrower before using her Psychic to shake the ever lasting life out of the poor Sandslash hoping the inertia would wake the poor creature up. Jumbo even tried to help as she found an Oran Berry on the ground near the Sandslash and tried to put it in the ground type's mouth as Samantha continued to shake the poor thing like she had just won the lottery. While all of that was going on Clamps, Barb, and Oracle looked around for any other clues that might help add any information to the ongoing crime.

" Boy beating a ground type like this would certainly be quite a feet for a rock type if it pulled it off. Unless it was part water or grass type most rock types are easily bested by ground type moves. This whole situation keeps getting weirder the longer it goes on. I sure hope this man wakes up so we can get any more clues." As he finished speaking he noticed the man had started to wake up as well as the Sandslash and once the pair were coherent he started to ask both questions trying to get to the bottom of this whole mess.

" You two are in really rough shape, a good thing I came by or else you might be in far worse shape. Do either of you know what happened? You are at least the second pair to get jumped by whatever is going after these berries. If you can remember anything it might help get identify who did this so they can be brought to justice." He then paused and waited to hear what the man had to say.



OOC: Kevin dumps ice water to wake the man and Samantha shakes Sandslash like they are doing a salsa dance. Jumbo also gives the Sandslash a Oran berry she "found" to help as well.