Gloomy Ravine

[Avalon]

The gloomy ravine was an interesting part of the Ilex Forest, a dark and dank section of the forest from which little light could escape. Whether it was Sylvester's largely unhelpful and childish clues or the trail of the Pancham's that led her here, Mishu found herself in a place in which one would be forgiven for falling into a bit of seasonal sadness. The Pokemon here were sure to be ones that thrived in the dark, not the sort of place where one might expect to see a large duck carrying a large leek.

But as Mishu and her Pokemon ventured down the paths of the Gloomy Ravine, eventually they would begin to find trees that were either cut down completely or had large slices taken out of them. Something had been through here, and it had been strong enough to cut down or through solid trees. Not many Pokemon out here could pull off some kind of feat like that, at least not at first glance. That would serve as a good first clue that something more was at play here in the forest.

As they followed the trail of damaged trees, they would start to hear a squawking noise echoing from deeper in the forest. In a clearing within the ravine, a noticeably out of place duck could be found using its leek to cut into the bark of a nearby tree. It was as if the duck was testing out its strength, trying to sharpen the edges of its leek or something for some unknown purpose. As Mishu and/or her team approached the duck, the Farfetch'd must have sensed their approach, turning on them and aggressively pointing the leek at the group. "Finally, something to test myself against! Prepare yourself, human!"

Mishu would need to decide quickly which Pokemon to call upon as the duck continued to issue out its challenge to her and her partners. This duck was a bit more battle happy than Sylvester had warned her about, it seemed; or perhaps time spent chopping down trees and cutting up wood for charcoal had left it with a bit of cabin fever? Hopefully a quick battle would be enough to get the duck under control once again.

Sylvester's Farfetch'd (Level 20) has appeared from the trees, ready to fight!
Send out a Pokemon to subdue it so you can return it to its Trainer!
Do so here

[Caramell 🍬]

 
MISHU MIZUMA
Dark Type Trainer •
Education / Science

The small pink imp understood the bird entirely, though through a darker and sinister scope. While he could relate because of the struggles he faced with his own team members, he couldn’t relate to the bird specifically. It was an act – a ruse. A way to play on the wild duck’s heartstrings where it counted most, by slowly luring the beast in, before spinning around and flashing his sharp fangs that would eventually sink into Farfetch’d wing. Victory tasted sweet and metallic, running in a strange crimson color that pooled around his lips temporarily. It was strange. The delight that fueled the wily imp simply tickled him to the core, and when the bird gave up it softened his approach.

“We’re a lot alike. I need room to stretch my feet if you catch my drift. You need a real trainer who can challenge you. Right?” Yōsei smirked and raised his eyebrows a few times to add emphasis. His flattery goaded the wild duck on, which was a good sign. Yōsei leaped up high into a tree after the first bite and rubbed the spot where he had landed against the rough bark of the tree trunk. It stung but it wasn’t anything he wouldn’t manage through in due time. Some temporary scratches to show that he had survived, and one trophy of a Pokemon to prove that he was as strong and capable as any other Pokemon on the team. If only that mattered.

When the bird fell on the ground, tired out and exhausted, Yōsei bent his long arms around to place his tiny little hands on his sides and laughed. “Just like that, you’re returning to him?! Decided that he isn’t that bad of a trainer??” He asked curiously. Akira shook her head and scrunched up her nose in disgust. She really didn’t get her ‘friend’ and wondered why Mishu insisted on working with him. When she hissed and bared her large buckteeth in retaliation, Mishu immediately jumped in the way and wagged her finger in Akira’s direction. “No, Akira!” She corrected her furry dark grey rodent with a loud sigh. “Look…” She stated softer and smiled while kneeling beside her rodent. “I get Yōsei's a handful. But he’s part of our team, and he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone. He’s just…energetic.” She stated softly.

In truth, Impidimp fed on negative emotions of others. The educator was positive that most of this was planned, so that Yōsei could feed as much as he needed. Though as Akira began to glow with a strange light, Mishu’s attention diverted temporarily from the wild duck to her Pokemon. Her eyes widened with excitement as Akira’s body grew larger albeit fatter, and her tail lost all of its fur. She immediately clapped her hands excitedly, while the wily pink imp pulled some vines loose from a nearby tree and began wrapping them around the Farfetch’d quickly to bag it up as his natural prize. “Look at you, Akira! You look amazing…OH, Yōsei, NO!”

Mishu jumped up and rushed over to Silvester’s duck. She began quickly pulling off all of the extra rope-like vines that Yōsei used to tie the Farfetch’d up with and helped it back onto its feet, gesturing for the wily duck to follow them along their trails. “Come on, everyone. We gotta venture further into this dense forest and hope we come across the mystery problem that’s spooking all the Pancham out into Azalea to cause mayhem.” Mishu quickly hurried them along. While they wandered together, with Mishu keeping a close eye on both the Farfetch’d and on her Yōsei, her mind ran with thoughts. Could the Sylvester’s misfortunes and these duck’s powerful Cuts managed to scare them out of their natural habitat? Or was it something else entirely? Could both mysteries be connected, or were they mutually exclusive?

Set at Night

WORD COUNT: 648 words
OOC: Heading to Enchanted Orchard! Akira is evolving. Akira forgets Focus Energy for Scary Face because why not? Self-Updating.

^{Mishu | Kotaro | Wanigara | Karasu | Yōsei | Reukurotta | Suraimu}

[Venominon]

Arriving from the Shady Glen

After agreeing to help a young woodcutter find his missing Farfetch'ds, Shinya checked the map on his Pokegear, looking over all the nearby areas of the Ilex Forest that the Wild Duck Pokemon might've escaped into. Among them, there were two that matched the descriptions Sylvester gave him. The Mahogany Knoll, and the Gloomy Ravine. Given that it was closer to the Shady Glen, Shinya decided to check the Gloomy Ravine first, arriving in said area after a roughly ten-minute-long hike. Upon arrival, the first things the Alolan trainer noticed was that this part of the forest was very dark, even though it was still morning, and the ground was soaking wet. This area definitely matched Sylvester's description of a dark, damp, and spooky place.

Of course, since Shinya's home, Po Town, also matched that description, he wasn't even the least bit frightened, venturing into the Gloomy Ravine with his head held high. Now, all that remained was for him to locate the missing Farfetch'd and get it to go back to Sylvester. Sensing that a fight was coming on, the green-haired trainer grinned his usual grin, grabbing a Pokeball from his bag in preparation for said fight. From there, he came to a stop at the edge of a river that flowed through the ravine, and shouted out as loud as he could. "Are there any Farfetch'd around here?! I heard those Pokemon are nothin' but big wusses!" Shinya's voice echoed through the ravine, as he hoped that the insult would be enough to draw the Wild Duck Pokemon right to him. If it was actually here, of course.

[Pixel]

As Shinya entered the Gloomy Ravine and started calling out, he would be struck by the certain realization that, well...there was nothing here. It was dank and wet and dark and if he tried to start a fire in this miserable place, it probably wouldn't start. How long had it been since those farfetch'd got lost? Hours? There were signs they were once here, but it seemed like they had moved on. And the tracks he found managed to lead him back in the direction of the Shady Glen where he met the apprentice woodcutter.

If he just missed them...then maybe the kid would see them on his way back?

"Hey! Hey sir!" Wait...was that Sylvester? What was he doing out this way? Maybe he was feeling more confident with Shinya out here looking for the farfetched and had gotten out of that fear paralysis. He stumbled and started to pant, hands on his knees. "Right when you left, I saw them go by! I ran after them but they escaped again! And this time I know for sure where they are. One ran off into this are where a big gap runs between two hills and it's hard to climb, so you'll have to watch your step. You know you're in the right place if you start seeing a lot of spearow and pidgey. And the other one has a lot more flowers than trees and the hills are a lot more manageable there. Kurt likes to go that way for the apricorn trees and I think someone once reported seeing a cutifly there."

[Venominon]

When Shinya's insults went completely unanswered, he could only stand there in complete and total befuddlement, wondering if perhaps he somehow got the wrong location. Although, the tracks he discovered suggested otherwise, as no other Pokemon in the Gloomy Ravine had feet like Farfatch'd did. Since he wasn't a fool, Shinya quickly deduced that the pair of Wild Duck Pokemon must've simply moved on. Still, the question remained. Where could they possibly be now? Fortunately, Arceus had not forsaken the Bug type trainer just yet, as he heard a familiar voice, then turned around to find that Sylvester had somehow managed to catch up with him.

"The name's Shinya, kid. Don't call me "sir". It's lame." Shinya corrected the woodcutter in a mildly exasperated tone of voice, then listened as said woodcutter filled him in on what he had seen. Once again, Shinya recognized the locations that Sylvester had given him, but he also started to grow even more exasperated. "I see. Let's get a move on then, kid. We're headin' back to the Shady Glen. We ain't gonna find your stupid birds down here. And if ya try to go back alone, you'll probably hurt yourself. So, c'mon." Even though they hadn't actually crossed paths yet, Shinya felt as though these two Farfetch'd were playing him for a fool. And that was something that he simply couldn't take sitting down, as he began to venture out of the Gloomy Ravine, with Sylvester doing his best to follow close behind the Team Skull grunt for his own safety.

OOC: Leaving the Gloomy Ravine and heading for the Enchanted Orchard.

[Pixel]

Dark.

That was the best way to describe this stretch of the forest. Dark and gloomy and damp from the persistent fog. Adrian was more worried he would fall into some gorge as he traveled than anything else at the moment. He did his best to stick to the path, putting one foot in front of the other, relying on Flicker's glow to guide him.

Just focus. He had farfetch'd to find and spewpa to evolve. He was here for a reason and had plenty of things to do other than worry about getting lost. Even if getting lost and injured were very valid worries given his circumstances. 

Adrian, not wanting to stay in this part of the forest so void of any light, hurried along, needing his feet to be on less treacherous ground so he could relax. Leaves crunched as he hurried his pace. He felt his heart race a little.

(He remembered being deep in that tunnel. The fear of it collapsing—)

"Everything worked out. Nobody was hurt," he told himself. "You stopped them. Flicker took away the detonator and the knife." Adrian shook his head and hurried his pace even more.

—

Word Count:  200  | OOC:

Coming from Shady Glen.
Moving to Enchanted Orchard.

SPOILER: Click to show

[Pixel]

<I smell. I smell...not birdy here. Birdy pass through. Birdy ahead.> Arcanine declared as the scenery shifted and they entered an outright eerie looking part of the forest. Why was everything so...somber? Suddenly, her arcanine's pace slowed from its previous sprint and his steps became more careful and even. Freya pulled her face from his mane and saw herself staring down into the abyss. 

"ARCANINE!" She scolded.

<What? Why is mama yelling? I am hunting and doing the good sniffs. Is something wrong? Mama hurt? Mama scared? Don't worry, mama, I will protect you, yes I will! Nothing will hurt you with me here. I am the best and the bravest and I deserve all the snackies and scratchies! Yes yes.> His tail wagged. His head empty of reasoning and higher comprehension skills. There was a reason why he was just a family pet and not actually part of her battling team when she traveled Paldea. <We go this way and we will find birdy that smells like trees. Yes. The birdy that smells like the one you caught already. I know. I smell. I find. This way!> He started to wriggle and back away from the craggy maw of the ravine that they had literally been walking alongside like the world's worst tightrope.

"What are you doing? Arcanine. ARCANINE!> Freya had to just throw her arms around his neck and hold on for dear life as the hound focused on the other side of the ravine and began to sprint once more. Despite the wind. Despite the distance. That dumb dog was going to dive towards disaster without fear or hesitation. And Freya was going to lose ten years off her life from sheer fright if they survived this!

She could help but scream a little in terror as arcanine launched himself over the gap, powerful body extending. Time slowed to a crawl for a heartbeat. Two. Three...then...impact. Those front paws collided with the terrain on the other side of the chasm and he brought his hind legs forward underneath his ribcage. Then, he pushed again and they were free and clear. Safe.

Freya let out a suffering whimper. Luckily nobody saw that...

<Wasn't that fun, mama? I love to jump. And run. I can run even faster now. Onwards! Maybe we will see another big gap and need to jump again. That would be great, huh?> Freya sure hoped not. Her heart wouldn't be able to take it.

—

Word Count; 400 (+400) | OOC:

Coming from Shady Glen
Heading towards Enchanted Orchard

[Frigibax HP @6% before LV up]

One farfetch'd obtained

On wild goose chase quest

[Caramell 🍬]

ZAIDEN KABILA Aspiring Champion Bike Mode: On | Time: Day Zaiden’s footsteps staggered in a slow amble through the ravine, careful not to trip over the gorge and fall into the trickling stream that flowed between the steep ledges. He phone rang as he traveled, causing him to pluck it out of his pocket and casual glimpse the name of his mother flashing across the screen. Immediately, Zaiden opened the phone up and coughed as he tried to speak with her through the howling storms that swirled around him. “Hey…momma…” He spoke softly, nodding quietly as he listened to her on the other end. It was hard to make sure out. Both because the storm raged on, slapping Zaiden against his sides and face with small twigs and gritty sands, and because signal proved to be a difficult thing to maintain. “I’m in Ilex…What?” He asked, confused on what she was trying to safe. She mentioned their father and she shop, though the words were chopped up. Was it that they were getting the shop back up an running? Or that his father finally just gave up? What would that mean for their old home? He pulled at a small, needle-like branch blocking his path and bent the sapling out of his path. As he passed through, Zaiden would have to dip low and duck underneath another branch on a taller and sturdier tree whose width was thick enough to take out a large tool shed. The winds pounded against the thick mass, causing it to groan though it barely shook in its home. If one were to carefully observe, they would notice small hairline cracks along its edges, proving that it was slowly losing the battle of attrition against the many storms that raged through the region. “Oh Uncle…No, another aunt?” Zaiden frowned and furrowed his brows together angrily. It was the one uncle who had many rumors circulating around him by now. When he was younger, Zaiden was often confused how he had so many different aunts in relation to this uncle, and why they only seemed to stay around for a short while. Now that he was older and nearly an adult himself, he finally understood that his uncle had what most called commitment issues. “He needs to give up and be by himself.” Zaiden huffed in annoyance. What was the purpose of stringing others along, anyways? Especially if you knew it would never last? Or bringing them around family, if they wouldn’t stay part of the family for very long? “Mom…?” Zaiden stopped and pulled the phone away from his ear. He was finally met with dead silence. When he glanced at the screen, Zaiden noticed that he’d lost the call with his mother. The signal remained too weak through the trek to call her back, so after a while Zaiden just gave up and shoved his cell phone back into his pants pocket. Would she assume that he just hung up on her rudely? His heart sped up and felt like it might break out of his chest or cause a heart attack. How could he tell his mother that he wasn’t ignoring her, when he couldn’t pick up any signal to call her back with?! It would have to wait until he managed his way out of Ilex, however… OOC: Coming from Shady Glen. Headed to Enchanted Orchard! Words: 550 | Speech. Thoughts. | Pokedex Shio | Mandoru | Tako | Kiji | Goshikka | Cho | Zaiden Sprite by Redwerecat!

[Hunter]

Coming from Shady Glen, a battle for Shelly or Lolong to get some runs on the board would be neat with a pokemon disgruntled by his presence in the area!

The relief on Sylvester's face as Tristan offered a helping hand with the literal 'Wild Goose Chase' like situation was palpable. The kind natured Tristan was all too happy to assist the young boy with the dilemma he was faced with, albeit the blonde haired young adult male wished he had a map to aid him in traversing the maze that was Ilex Forest. Tristan set off from the glen with the location based clues that Sylvester provided him, this was no doubt going to be an adventure in and off itself and the thrill of a new challenge perked the Hoenn native's excitement as he muttered to himself,

"God I love this type of stuff, makes you really appreciate the life we're living"

Tristan had no clear cut immediate plan as to how he would wrangle the duck pokemon up, maybe having Poseidon wrap his tentacles around them would do the trick. First things first, finding the pair of rapscallion's was on the cards... Tristan eventually found himself entering a densely packed network of trees that spanned the sides of a gorge, a gloomy setting stoked over the area as the sunlight struggled to penetrate the entangled network of tree limbs that extends from the canopies high above. Their was limited ground available as wild grapes, breeches, and honeysuckle abundantly grew around the ravine, a gentle stream surged quietly nearby, a peaceful tranquility seemed to encapsulate the area. The male young adult couldn't help but feel he was trespassing on some sacred territory, he meant no harm to the wild pokemon that no doubt found home along the wild shrubbery that surrounded the 'Gloomy Ravine', albeit human presence in places like this were usually was an unwelcome sight that disturbed the peaceful nature of the land.

GRAYE'S MARINADES

[Caramell 🍬]

There remained a certain charm to the ravine, whose reaches stretched through an overgrown tangle of brush and vine. Long tendrils snaked through the dense stretches of wild green foliage, wrapping around wide grey trunks rivaling the rotundness of oil barrels. While some of the saplings struggled between the giants of their day, choking on the low lighting that filtered through the canopies in fragmented sections, devious vampiric sucked at the footsteps of those leviathans and snaked their way up their endless heights. Sounds echoed through the trees in a quiet whisper. Hoots that clamored through the network of rustling leaves and powerful limbs, chased only by strange squeaks screaming through the canopies.

Something stirred along those same brownish-grey branches lingering over Tristan’s head. It wasn’t hard to see spots of golden hues and nearly invisible dots of pinkish-white blush swapped in spots on the massive trunks and endless branches of the boundless trees throughout the ravine. Cocoons nestled against their flora, quietly awaiting the next step in their evolutionary journey. And while a hint of red intermixed with camouflaged greens scurried in and out of existence in the blink of an eye, it happened so surely and so quickly it might have seemed to have only been a reverie interspersed in the moment.

One of those chrysalides dropped from their spot on a thick oak branch and bounced off Tristan’s head, landing amongst the leaf littered on the ground below. The small Pokemon spun its large crimson eyes wildly in their sockets and growled, a strange, almost guttural sound meant to intimidate the young traveler and his Pokemon away from the area entirely, though it was much too soft to be more than just endearing. Spikes propped out of the cocoon in warning, a mouthful of sticky web shot out of its mouth as it aimed for Tristan’s face. In truth, fear seized its heart, causing Cascoon to fret over this strange young man and what his presence would mean for its own livelihood.

A wild Cascoon Appeared!

Level 14. Decide what Tristan and his team will do here.

Tree? UMQCT5lcp_1-8
Shiny? p_1-42

SPOILER: Click to show

Pokemon: (uncommon) p_1-4 (mon) p_1-4 (level) p_8-15

Note: Please make sure to also keep the Current Location noted in your Welcome Post up-to-date for mods, as well as Party information and such. Current Location only needs to list the place within Ilex your character is physically located in. 1-8·1-42·1-4·1-4·8-15

[Hunter]

Onwards to Enchanted Orchard!

The charm of the ravine remained intact, even with Tristan inadvertently disturbing the natural peace the location seemed to possess. Even know he had watched plenty of movies growing up where the characters had been told not to walk towards the light, the blonde haired teenager simply couldn't help himself as he noticed a filter of light stemming from the North. The Hoenn native set off following the path wondering where it would lead him to next...

GRAYE'S MARINADES

[Avalon]

How did he keep getting roped into agreeing to things like this? Wandering into a forest and getting stuck helping some kid find the Pokemon he had gone and lost. Matthew wasn't entirely without sympathy for the kid, it was an honest mistake anyone could have made, but there was something to be said for letting kids get themselves out of their own messes. Still, Roger would have said it was better to try and help people in need. Would his brother or his father have stopped to help Sylvester like this?

No point wasting time thinking about it, though. He had already agreed to it, so there was nothing to do but to follow through with it. This was his best bet for finding a way out of the forest, anyway, so he would just have to grin and bear it. He had somehow found his way into some kind of gorge. Light barely came down here anymore now that he had wandered down this path, all he could see were dimly lit trees. He could almost barely hear the sound of running water somewhere in the distance, and finding that to use as some kind of baseline landmark wouldn't be a horrible idea.

"Adonis, time to do your job again," Matthew said, releasing the shiny Spearow into the air. He needed some kind of eyes in the sky if he was going to make navigating this forest even remotely possible. Adonis knew this, and knew that it was his biggest contribution to the team at the best of times. He was the best flyer that Matthew had, after all, and he was more than happy to strut his stuff in front of the others. But even Adonis' golden feathers were rather muted in the dark of the forest. "Find us a path out of here, and give me a screech if you see any of those ducks."

Adonis cawed in confirmation and began swerving around the trees, looking for paths out and any signs of life. Of course, a bird as annoyingly arrogant and loud as Adonis was likely to annoy or anger some kind of wild critter and earn some unwanted attention, as Matthew and his team often did.

372 words
Looking for an encounter to train up my bird.

[Pixel]

The golden spearow was keeping a Keen Eye out for any farfetch'd in the area. However, the gloomy ravine appeared painfully absent of such ornery waterfowl, the murk instead offering spindly shrubbery from which various wild pokemon eeked out a living in the darkness. While it was difficult to see in this canopy cast darkness, eventually, the golden bird would spout a shock of purple fuzz. The creature was nibbling on some foraged fruits, antenna twitching. As if it sensed observation, the venonat whipped its head towards the Spearow, made an upset noise, and then tried to bound its way away from the golden bird.

However, it ended up right at the trainer's feet, eyes wide, mouth quivering.

Uh oh.

It was trapped!

It hunkered down, ready to defend itself.

---

A [LV 11] Venonat appeared!
You can continue the encounter here!

---

Apricorn? KK5_mqRVp_1-8
Shiny? p_1-42
Uncommon? p_1-4 p_1-2 Level p_8-151-8·1-42·1-4·1-2·8-15

[Avalon]

The plan went about as perfectly as could have been expected. Adonis was faster than the little bug, able to get in plenty of sneak attacks on the miniscule insect. Which left the perfect opening for which Matthew's Net Ball could fly, capturing the Insect Pokemon without much fuss. The ball was spirited away, sent home to be observed and taken care of so that it could heal. He would have to consider going to get it so he could use it as some sort of guide, but he didn't relish the idea of back-tracking through the woods so early. He still had two ducks to find, after all.

"Adonis, keep to the skies. Look for any sign of those ducks," he commanded, and the bird returned to his duties. The psychic effects that the bug had left upon the bird were beginning to wear off already, it seemed. Not that it mattered, since Matthew had little to no intention of using this bird against the cut-happy ducks. He was already working on a strategy of sorts for the little onion-toting monsters.

Either way, it seemed clear that there was nothing in this part of the forest for him, and no sign of the ducks to be found. They were either looking for fruit or looking for bugs; the bugs here were plenty plump enough, but the psychic abilities meant they'd likely put up too much of a fight for the cutter birds. And no fruit of decent quality would survive in such a desolate little piece of gloom and doom. His best bet was to find some higher ground, closer to the sunlight perhaps. Maybe there was an orchard nearby that he could corner and lay in wait near?

290 words
Continuing to Enchanted Orchard. Delete Peck for Aerial Ace on Spearow. Leave Venonat blank and toss into the box.