Shady Glen

[Avalon]

Sylvester had really done it this time. His family's business relied on using their Hidden Machine and their Farfetch'd to gather the firewood and charcoal that the people of Azalea needed. Without either of those things, his family would be unable to continue their business, and it would all just go downhill from there. So why did he have to go and lose his dad's Pokemon like this? These were th questions going through Sylvester's head as he wandered through the dark in search of the missing Pokemon, or of a way home that would not end in his being grounded until college for his mistakes.

As luck (or unluck) would have it, however, he found his paths crossing with that of a rather well-dressed man and his pack of vaguely evil animal minions. While Silas was probably just as likely to swindle the poor boy for all that he was worth, this was also the first human being that Sylvester had run into since entering this Celebi-forsaken forest. He had no idea just what kind of person he was actually interacting with, the naive young boy's first thought being to ask for help.

"Oh, sorry sir, but can you help me with something? My dad and I are woodcutters you see, and I was supposed to take his Farfetch'd out to practice giving 'em commands...But because I don't have any badges, they both just took off. Could I get you to track them down for me? I swear, my dad has a real good reward if we can pull this off! We have this special attack that only we can teach, but I can probably get dad to give up one of the machines for it if you help us out here! Please, I'm really desperate!" the boy pleaded. He would look up at Silas, eyes watering and lip quivering in what one would be forgiven for thinking was a simple manipulation tactic. However, Sylvester was all too sincere in the gesture, fear of his father's reaction settling in.

If Silas were to agree, Sylvester would go on: "Great, thank you so much! I was able to figure out where they were going, I think, and what kinds of places they like. One of them really likes practicing their attacks on the pine trees somewhere in the forest, maybe something to do with the Emolga that live in 'em. The other one really likes basking in the sun and laying in the grass, so...I guess look for somewhere bright and sunny."

Sylvester needs help finding his lost Farfetch'd!
Will Silas help this little boy find the missing Pokemon?

[Pixel]

A good reward. My, Silas did like the sound of that! He nodded along as Sylvester spoke, eyes gleaming with interest. He had heard something about how the trees could grow thick in Ilex forest and that sometimes cutting them down was required to traverse deeper. In fact, it was so common that the Azalea Gym allowed the use of the CUT HM once you had obtained the badge. Silas stroked his beard for a bit, considering the boys words and offer. Helping him track down the birds in exchange for learning the hidden move Cut. Sounded like quite the fair deal in his head.

"Well that is quite the predicament you're in, young man," he said with practiced sympathy. "They ran off because you don't have any badges and they don't want to listen, huh? Surprised your old man let you out here alone if those birds didn't respect you." He tutted. "Well, I'll do what I can for you. Those  pokemon need to return home and your father needs them for his work. And you not getting in trouble because they ran off is a bit of icing on the finding them cake, eh?" He straightened the lapels of his jacket. "I am very interested in learning about CUT. So I will do whatever is in my power to retrieve them."

At the boy's gleeful relief, he prepared himself to listen to what information he had on the location of the farfetch'd. Pine trees with emolga and somewhere bright and sunny. That...would require some research. Because he had no idea what those places were in this forest.

"I will do my best young man!" he said before pulling out his phone and looking for a MAP. Muttering to himself, he would wander off to one side, investigating the 'Trainer's Guide to Ilex Forest' to figure out where to go next. He was fairly certain that the place with lots of pine trees was Pine Gap, but the sunny place..."Syn, scout ahead. Come back when you find a part of the forest nearby that is sunny during the daytime with an open area for grass." 

The honchkrow cawed and soared off. A few minutes later, much to Silas' surprise, the bird returned.

"SUNNY!" he repeated. "FIND!"

"You found somewhere sunny already, hm? Or I suppose, moonlit, at this hour..." Silas mused. "Very well. Lead the way!" Off they went.

—

Word Count: 400 (+400) | OOC: 

Heading to the Luminous Vale.

[Venominon]

Shinya has returned from the Luminous Vale

Leaving the flowers of the Luminous Vale behind, Shinya made his triumphant return to the Shady Glen, carrying an unconscious Wild Duck Pokemon in each hand. Having taken a pile of rocks to the face, wings, and pretty much every other part of their bodies, the two runaways weren't going anywhere any time soon. Although the weather was cold, the sun was still shining brightly overhead, as Shinya spotted Sylvester in the same clearing they met in earlier that same day. "Hey, apprentice wood cutter! Missin' somethin'?!" The Bug type trainer called out to Sylvester, asking him a rhetorical question as he held up the two Farfetch'd's in his hands. "Don't worry! They ain't dead! I'm not THAT heartless! Still, ya might wanna take these two troublemakers to a Pokemon Center ASAP!"

Shinya couldn't help chuckling, stopping just a few yards away from Sylvester and dropping the two Flying types on the ground for him to come and claim. "Alright. All jokin' aside, I fulfilled my end of the deal. Now, fork it over. Cough it up. Pay the piper. Ya know what I'm talkin' about, don't ya, apprentice wood cutter?" Shinya grinned at Sylvester as he questioned him in a knowing tone of voice, referring to the HM for Cut, of course. Even though the Alolan trainer went out of his way to help Sylvester out of this sticky situation, his services were still anything but free, to say the least. As much as he hated to admit it, Shinya had no hope of venturing any deeper into the Ilex Forest without the HM's power. So, yeah. He kinda needed it. Now.

OOC: Shinya has returned the two runaway Farfetch'd's to Sylvester and is now waiting to receive his prize.

[Pixel]

Was it early morning or evening still?

It was hard to tell when you were wandering around the forest and didn't know where you were. Though likely it was the difference in their paces that lead to Shinya and Silas not crossing paths and ultimately why they both hunted down Farfetch'd for the woodcutter's son.

Thus he approached the young man when he returned from his venture and held out one bird and pulled off his pack to reveal the other.

"I have found them. One appeared quite frightened, and the other was quite bold. But neither are worse for wear from my efforts." That charming smile was firmly back in place. Now he could get that CUT HM and continue his venture deeper into the forest uninhibited by whatever barriers were thrown in his direction.

—

Word Count: 150 | OOC: 

Waiting to receive the CUT HM.

Syndicate HP [ 85/89 ]

Coming from Luminous Vale.

[Avalon]

Venominon

Sylvester had waited patiently for the delinquent to make his way back to the Shady Glen, hopefully with both of his ducks in tow. He had not expected to see the ducks in such poor condition, of course, but he could only assume that something had made them hostile to poor Shinya. It didn't even occur to him that the punk might have been a bit rougher than necessary, the apprentice woodcutter was too consumed by the fear that he had done something to drive his master's Pokemon feral and put this poor Bug-lover in danger.

"T-they attacked you? I'm so sorry, I'll take them to a Pokemon Center and take them back to my dad right away!" he said, taking the two ducks from Shinya. As Shinya brought up the question of his payment, it occurred to Sylvester that he had, in fact, agreed to the deal with the Alolan. He fished around in his bag, retrieving a small compact disk that contained the information for cutting through trees within it. He placed the disk in Shinya's hands, smiling faintly to the Skull Grunt. "Thanks for your help, mister. Maybe someday I'll be as good at handling Pokemon as you are."

With that, Sylvester scooped up the two birds and turned on his heel, retreating out of the forest and back towards the safety of Azalea. Shinya was left behind, the secret knowledge necessary to tear this forest to the ground in his hands and a possible path forward upon which he could resume rebuilding Team Skull.

Shinya received HM01: Cut!

[Venominon]

Even though the two Wild Duck Pokemon didn't give Shinya and Anorith too much trouble, it was still refreshing for Shinya to get some respect for a change, as he listened to Sylvester apologize to him. "Yeah, but it was no big deal. These two stupid birds were nothin' but a couple of pushovers." The Bug type trainer responded with a cocky grin, and a tone of voice to match, waving his right hand in front of himself at the same time. From there, Shinya kept his right hand held out towards the apprentice wood cutter, waiting for him to hand over his reward. And when Sylvester placed the HM in his hand, Shinya's grin grew even bigger, as he looked at the white disk like it was the key to some great treasure. Given where he was headed after this, that comparison may not have been too far off.

"Score!" The Team Skull grunt said out loud, then tucked the HM away into his bag for later use. Once that was done, he turned to face Sylvester once more, listening to the younger male's words of gratitude and admiration. "Well, now that those two troublemakers have taken a good beatin', hopefully they'll be more inclined to listen to ya, and less inclined to pull any of this stuff ever again. Either way, I got what I need, and I'm outta here." Shinya turned right around, then proceeded to hike down a dirt path leading to a new area of the Ilex Forest. But before he was out of sight and earshot, he had one more thing to say to Sylvester. "Oh, and by the way, don't call me "Mister". The name's Shinya. Shinya Stinger. New leader of Team Skull. Tell your old man and everyone else ya know about me, would ya?" Without even bothering to wait for an answer, Shinya was gone, disappearing into the trees and off once again on the road to Team Skull's revival.

OOC: Having gotten his hands on the HM for Cut, Shinya heads off to the Dense Thicket.

[Tiki]

The air outside was chilly but calm, the grass outside was a mixture of white and green, as the snow wasn't heavy enough to cover the entire field. The dense tree surrounding Sylvester's home were like inverted avocado sushi, white on the top side and green on the bottom. The worried young man was looking out through the window for any sign of Silas returning. He was anxious about his Farfetch'd, and he would be pacing back and forth if he also didn't need to watch the window. If the outdoor temperature was quite warmer, he would have been outside pacing back and forth instead.

In the distance, he finally saw a black suited figure with blonde hair approaching from within the woods. He quickly exited the house to confirm what he was seeing. "Oh! It's you! You got my Farfetch'd!" He gasped, whether or not Silas heard it was not important to him, and he darted to meet Silas halfway.

"Sir! Thank you so much for bringing back my Farfetch'd! You've made my day! Let me get you the reward I promised." He shouted elatedly, and scooped up the two sleeping Farfetch'd and then returned with a disc encased in a shiny case. "This is Hidden Machine Cut, you can teach it to your Pokemon infinitely unlike regular Technical Moves. Thank you once again for finding my Pokemon!"

---

Silas received HM Cut!
Pixel

[Pixel]

"Not a problem, young man. It was quite simple to handle this small matter," Silas said in faux humility. He offered a little gentleman's bow as he took the disc. A few times over he looked at it and then with a nod said, "This does indeed look like a legitimate hidden machine disc. Many thanks. I will be off now. Do try not to lose those birds again, hm?"

And then off we went as the boy no doubt returned home. Once Sylvester was no longer watching, he let out a nidoran from her ball. "I have a special little task just for you, my dear~"

The little blue nidoran looked up at him warily, but didn't scamper away as he knelt to place the disc against her brow. A moment later, she was imparted the knowledge of how to properly cut down small shrubs and trees with a quick slice of her claws. "Perfect. You will walk with us and ensure no tedious little trees get in our way as we journey."

—

Word Count: 150 | OOC: 

Swapping Nidoran-f into party temporarily. Teaching CUT.

Syndicate HP [ 85/89 ]

Heading to the Dense Thicket!

[Hunter]

Starting Wild Goose Chase Quest please!

Living life on a high note was exactly what Tristan had been doing since defeating Bugsy in his rematch at Azalea Town's gym. That blonde haired teenager had been a glowing ball of positivity roaming around Azalea Town ever since the battle, his determination and commitment to working hard had clearly paid off. Locals of the town had stopped him regularly, congratulated him on his victory and had wished him the best of luck on the rest of his journey, the townspeople of Azalea were undoubtedly a happy bunch!

The next step in Tristan's fruitful journey throughout the Johto region was to navigate his way through Ilex Forest, a dense forest to the west of Azalea Town, one which many a local of Azalea had informed him was like a maze to traverse through with its countless winding paths. A new challenge was exactly what Tristan was after, the teenage male was feeling confident that his team of water types would be able to withstand whatever obstacles may present to them whilst traversing through the dense forest.

Upon entering Ilex Forest, Tristan immediately became aware of how different his surroundings were, the myriad of trees that covered the area presented the blonde haired teenager with an unnerving feeling that he was being watched. The tame tranquility that eerily echoed over the forest was seemingly disturbed by a young looking male figure that was pacing the area with a distressed look etched all over his face. Tristan couldn't help but feel a sense of worry for the young lad, his humane nature prompting him to ask if he needed a hand sorting out whatever issue the young fellow was dealing with, a positive tone in his voice utilized in hopes of boosting the spirits of the worried looking male,

Hey mate, the name's Tristan Storm! Is there anything I can help you with, you look stressed!

GRAYE'S MARINADES

[Avalon]

Seriously, how did he keep letting this happen to him? Sylvester had been given a simple task: to go out into the forest with his dad's beloved Farfetch'd, and get them to cut down some wood. He had known that neither of the Pokemon would be willing to listen to him entirely, given his lack of badges and their general level of strength. But he had hoped they might at least feel some level of kinship with him, what with all living under the same roof for so long. But no, both of them were still upset that their owner had given up on the Gym Challenge to start a family and run the family charcoal-cutting business.

So now here was Sylvester, sitting in this shady glen, sulking and wondering how he would explain to his father that he had lost their prized woodcutter Pokemon again. His dad was busy helping Bugsy with something, so he was unavailable until they all got back home. He would either have to brave the forest himself, with no Pokemon for protection, or return home with his tail between his legs in the hopes of someone being able to find his dad's prized Pokemon before they got hurt or stolen.

But then, like a slightly damp guardian angel Tristan stepped into the glen. He had noticed the young man pacing and muttering to himself endelessly, struggling and failing to come up with some way out of the situation he had found himself in. Sylvester perked up at the Water specialist's offer of help, realizing that this may be his only chance of getting out of this without risking the wrath or disappointment of his father. "Oh thank Celebi, someone came! Yes, my name is Sylvester, my dad and I run the woodcutters' business in Azalea. He sent me out with his Farfetch'd to cut some wood, but they don't really like listening to me since I'm not even a Trainer...they got spooked and ran off, and I don't know how to get them without any Pokemon of my own."

"Would you be able to go look for them, and bring them back to me so I can take them back to Dad? I can pay you, we have this special HM move that only we have access to, I could give it to you so your Pokemon can learn to cut down trees too!" Sylvester explained excitedly. He would do anything to get out of this situation, even if it meant sharing his family's hidden move with a strange but helpful Trainer that happened upon him. "I saw the direction they ran off to, and know what kinda places they like. One of them really likes to practice his cutting, so he would have found a big open place with lots of tall trees. The other likes really bright places, so look for somewhere with a lot of sunlight."

With those two clues, Sylvester looked at Tristan expectantly, praying to any Legendary or Mythical that would listen that the Water Trainer would be able to help him see this through. Maybe if he got home with the ducks quick enough, he'd get away with not having to tell his father about this little hiccup.

You have agreed to help Sylvester find his missing Farfetch'd!
Go deeper into Ilex Forest to look for them!

[Pixel]

Shaken.

That was the word for how Adrian felt.

He was shaken.

Not in a trembling, hard to breathe sort of way that left him paralyzed with indecision, his thoughts racing like an out of control steam engine ready to jump the tracks. No. He was shaken in the dazed sort of way where he couldn't quite feel his fingertips and he felt like he would just sort of slip and fall out of his own body. He knew why he felt this way—after the adrenaline of his IPF mission wore off, dread and that entirely human fear of death wormed its way through his nerves and synapses, leaving behind strange tunnels in his psyche that needed time and rest to fill back in. But knowing why one felt a certain way was only half of the battle when it came with healing from it.

The radicals had planned to collapse the tunnel. They planted detonators. People could have died that day if Adrian had been slower. Had been less cautious. Had misstepped any more than he had. And he himself could have been grievously harmed if not killed as well—he could still see the gleam of the switch blade in the low light of the tunnels in his minds eye, the readiness of the cornered man to lunge forth and sink that knife into his foe.

Adrian absently rubbed his chest as he walked, frowning slightly at the tightness there. 

There was nothing to be done for it except to keep moving. To keep breathing. In and out. In and out. He forced his focus outward onto the trees around him. They jutted high above like dark spires in this gloomy fog that engulfed the forest at the moment. All he could hope for was that it cleared up as he ventured deeper into these perilous, unyielding woods. Adrian had no sense of direction on a good day, so the odds of him getting lost with this fog were exponentially higher. 

"Just focus on getting to Goldenrod," he told himself. He even brought along a spewpa to evolve out here as a side quest. He'd read in some of the area information that Ilex was said to influence Vivillion's pattern in two different ways depending on how deep into the forest you'd traveled before evolving it. So that was something he could do to distract from the fact that he was going into these dreadful woods...alone... after he almost died in a cave.

Adrian shook his head with a swear. He couldn't let his thoughts just...knot up into a mess like that. He needed to keep moving.

Perched on his shoulder was Flicker and at his feet was his ever present companion Buddy. Between the litwick and the ivysuar, he felt...a little reassured that he'd make it through just fine. However, as he moved through the Glen, he spotted a young man—boy?—that looked...troubled? Between instinct and recently found duty, Adrian approached, "Is something wrong?"

—

Word Count:  000  | OOC:

Looking to start to Goose Chase Quest!
Switching my party around to have Fancy, Ig, Sarge in place of Puddles, Heimdal and Blaise.

SPOILER: Click to show

[Caramell 🍬]

A dense fog surrounded the area, making it difficult to see the forest through the trees. Sylvester muttered softly underneath his voice as he followed two large ducks. Both carried small leeks they swung around in the air with loud quacks, and in a wily attempt to lose their ‘trainer’, they ducked off in different directions, through thick tangle of prickly vines and giant bushes. “Hey!” Sylvester cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted after the two Pokemon, feet pounding against the dirt of the earth as he darted in different directions. “WAIT UP!”

Time passed in an immeasurable way, causing Sylvester to feel as though he had hunted for his father’s birds for days, though it was more accurately described as ‘hours’. His lungs burned from the effort and the muscles in his arms and legs screamed for a break. Collapsing on the ground, body lurched over so that his hands pressed against his knees, that bent oddly as though he might sit down even though he didn’t, Sylvester huffed and puffed in an effort to regain his breath. A voice called to him from behind, causing the young boy to slowly pull himself up with a loud heave. “….Uhh…uhh…yeah. Yeah.” He sighed, frantically searching around with wide eyes.

“I’m just. This happens a lot to me.” Sylvester noted with a loud sigh and shake of his head. “Ya see…my dad. Well. He has me go collect wood with his Ferfetch’d but I don’t actually have the badges to get them to listen. So they always run away…Would you help me find them, please? You look like a strong trainer. Just bring them back for me?” Sylvester stared up at Adrian with faith and hope twinkling in his eyes. “One’s run off to bright place with a large space to stretch out between the trees. The other’s run off an area that offers lots of tasty wild berries and such to eat, at least I think. They’re flighty though, so they may not stay in one area for long.” He added with a sigh.

Sylvester is asking for Adrian's Help!

Wild Goose Chase has started!

[Pixel]

Adrian found himself face-to-face with a panting, exhausted child. Sylvester pleaded for help, explaining that his father's farfetch'd never listened to him due to lack of badges, and that they had run off. He nodded along, understanding that the boy needed help to wrangle those missing birds. And he figured it would make a decent distraction from his own internal weirdness that he felt right now. Time to go. 

"I will get them back to you," he said like a promise. Adrian peered back into that fog and sighed. He didn't know the area at all but, he would try his best. It was his duty as an officer of the law to help citizens, and also...helping people was just sorta a good thing to do. Even if he was probably going to get super lost trying to help this kid find those birds.

He opened his pokegear and looked at the Ilex Forest map. There was a section nearby labeled as a orchard. He'd go there. If there would be berries anywhere, surely it would be in an orchard. The other clue he would, uh, figure out later. Because he certainly didn't know what to make of it right now. Nowhere was very sunny in this fog right now.

—

Word Count:  200  | OOC:

Moving to the Gloomy Ravine

SPOILER: Click to show

[Pixel]

With Fancy now in tow, fluttering above him as a newly evolved butterfly, Adrian doubled back to Shady Glen. "Found one of your farfetch'd," he told Sylvester. "It's, uh, probably going to be asleep a while. One of my pokemon got a little overenthusiastic when battling it." He handed the bird over to its trainer. "I'm still looking for the second one. But I'm hurrying."

And hurry he did. Off back into the gloom and twisting uncertainty of the forest. He hated the fog and prayed it passed before he had to delve deeper into Ilex in order to traverse to Goldenrod.

—

Word Count:  000  | OOC:

Coming from Enchanted Orchard!
1 farfetched obtained!

Heading to Luminous Vale!

[Pixel]

After what felt like forever, he broke through the tree line. He had the second farfetch'd in his arms after having left the first one with Sylvester, likely still out cold too after being hit with a rock pretty darn hard. Fancy fluttered excitedly at the sight of the other trainer. 

"Yeah, you found him with those eyes of yours. Return." There was a flash of light as he returned the butterfly. He'd need to swap out Fancy for Jungle before he delved deeper into the forest. That way he could evolve the spewpa in the deeper parts of Ilex for a different pattern. He was making steady progress on that quest. Though he did wonder if...well, Kent would still be alive by the time he finished collecting all the patterns. 

He wanted to show the kid the whole rainbow, as promised, but...man the kid had looked super ill. What if it took him years to get all the patterns? What if he went back to New Bark to a grave?

Adrian shook himself, trying to clear his mind.

No point in lingering on THAT line of thought.

"Sylvester! Here you go. The last one. I found it."

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:

Coming from Luminous Vale

2 farfetch'd obtained. Waiting to complete quest!