Eerie Wood

[Venominon]

Arriving from the Cypress Rest

With Silas' pace significantly slowed by the weather, it proved to be a relatively simple task for Shinya to catch up to him, as Yanma remained on top of his head and used her wings to bat away any and all hail that tried to come down upon them. Still, the Alolan trainer made sure to stay behind the older trainer once again, finding the path that his Houndoom had created to be very convenient. And pretty soon, Shinya noticed that the landscape around them had changed once again. Wherever they were now, the creep factor had definitely been increased by several degrees. "I hope that doesn't include us, suit!" Shinya yelled ahead to Silas, referring to the orders he had given his Houndoom to destroy "anything" it saw.

Of course, Shinya was mostly joking, coming to a stop and standing a few yards away from Silas not long after he and his Houndoom did. Even so, both he and Yanma were ready for another fight if Silas decided to turn on them at any moment. "What the heck is wrong with your trainer? Is he afraid of ghosts or somethin'?" Remaining on stop of Shinya's head and continuing to deflect incoming hail, Yanma looked down at Mercenary and decided to try asking her about her trainer's mental stability. However, the answers to those questions would have to wait, as Shinya suddenly sensed another incorporeal presence about to manifest itself before them. But this time around, the Bug type trainer decided on a different course of action for dealing with this one.

"Another one already?! Fine then! Zuul, meet Sizzlipede!" After making a popular movie reference, Shinya grabbed a new Pokeball from his bag, and tossed it up into a nearby tree. From the red and white orb came Team Skull's one and only Radiator Pokemon, who was already burning so hot that every single piece of hail that hit his body instantly turned to steam, causing more than a few sizzling sounds to fill the air of the Eerie Wood. Fortunately, the tree branch he was now clinging to held firm somehow. "Who do ya need me to hurt, boss? Whoever or whatever they are, I'll burn 'em to ash." Unlike Yanma, Sizzlipede didn't care about the new environment or faces he was seeing. He just glanced all around himself with his eyes as sharp as knives, looking for anything that he could light on fire.

And just like always, his trainer was more than happy to fulfill his desires and then some. "Believe it or not, there's a ghost hidin' around here somewhere, Sizzlipede. Find it, bite it, and send it back to the afterlife where it belongs. Do that, and ya can burn some of the trees around here afterward." If these spirits were some form of defense mechanism deployed by the Ilex Forest itself, Shinya didn't care in the slightest. In fact, he grinned, relishing the possibility of taking on an entire forest and showing it who's boss. "A ghost, huh? I wonder if those burn." The Bug/Fire type wondered out loud, then chuckled in anticipation as he waited for said ghost to show itself, very eager to find out for himself.

OOC: Running Shoes used. Two Bite attacks on the ghost. Sorry. One Bite attack isn't gonna be enough. Unless I get a crit, of course.

[Tarlar]

The ghosts hang motionlessly in the air, incorporeal and more or less invisible. They were not like normal pokemon ghost, who'd spent their days trying to continue the life they had once had as pokemon, human or other kind of spirit, moving about and having some sort of task. These two did have a task but beside that they had nothing to do, no wish to be anything or do anything, and thus they just hang in an eternity and waited. Other pokemon stayed away from them, although they were mostly ignored.

As by one they turned their heads when Silas and Shinya entered their vicinity and they moved in that direction, spreading out so that they would encounter them from different angles and take them by surprise. Or they would have if the ones they were meant to stop had been less experienced. The darkness seemed to thicken and the howling wind from the snowstorm got an extra deep tone, which now just seemed a bit more scary but would have turned out to be a full blown out illusion full of terrors. Most of the time it resulted in the intruders to run out scared for life but a few succumbed and fed the ghosts for some time.

Their eyes glowed as they felt the curse, and they moved in closer. One whisked out of existence when the powerful dark pulse blasted through it, while the other got grabbed and pulled forcefully to the ground as it passed the tree in which Sizzlipede was sitting, and who jumped on it when it got too close.

A pair of Duskulls, both [Lv 17] tries to play their tricks on you.
Go to battle here

[Pixel]

"Something to live for, hm? You're right, that does sound rather sappy." Silas replied as Houndoom banished the ghosts with fire. The hallucinations faded and he rubbed his head. "But sentimentality might get us through this strangeness. Houndoom, lead us back towards the shrine. Go."

The hound howled again as Silas followed her lead.

He wasn't trying too hard to keep the hail off the chikorita but he instinctively held it closer to his body, naturally deflecting some of the weather away with his own form. He held one arm over his head, muttering some profanities about umbrellas and ghosts as they moved away from where the battle had just taken place. 

An especially large chunk of hail smacked him in the face and he winced. A drop of blood formed ontop of the small welt and dripped hotly down his cheek. His violet eyes narrowed. He really. REALLY did not like this weather right now. As soon as he could get out of this forest, he would. At least, unless he found something of interest. There were rare pokemon here he considered looking for, but THIS HAIL. 

He did not like standing in it like a buffoon. 

—

Word Count: 200 | OOC:

Syndicate HP [ 85/89 ]
Mercenary HP [ 80/85 

Ghosts defeated: Cypress Rest, Eerie Wood

Going to Putrid Swamp

[Venominon]

As helpful as Shinya's powers were, he unfortunately couldn't keep them up for very long, having just discovered that he had them to begin with just a few short days ago. As such, he was forced to power down and stop glowing not even a second after Mercenary's flames had banished the remaining ghost to the afterlife. Once that was done, the Alolan trainer was forced to take a few deep breaths and lean against a nearby tree to steady himself. "Phew!...Arceus, doin' that on demand is hard. But effective." Despite his moment of fatigue, Shinya regained his grin, quite pleased with his handy work, even though his Pokemon failed to defeat any wandering spirits this time around. But somehow, he sensed that Team Skull would get plenty more opportunities to shine before they were through in this forest.

But for the time being, Sizzlipede was admiring Mercenary's flames, looking at the other Fire type with some very obvious intrigue in his eyes and voice. "Well now, those are some impressive flames ya got there, hot stuff. Bet ya could burn a lot of chumps with 'em." While the Radiator Pokemon was doing his best to look cool, Yanma was smirking and giggling to herself a little, deciding to poke some fun at her teammate. "Dream on, Sizzlipede. I'm pretty sure she can do better. If she isn't already spoken for." Naturally, this caused some tension right away, as Sizzlipede turned right around, glared daggers at his fellow Bug type, and started to heat up, causing all the snow around him to melt instantly. "Ya got a death with there, Yanma?! Let's go! Right here, right now!"

However, their trainer stepped in before this escalated any further, regaining the attention of both of his Pokemon with just a few quick words. "As much as I enjoy a good brawl, let's save it for the ghosts, shall we? Sizzlipede, climb aboard, and try not to burn my jacket, alright?" At his command, Sizzlipede calmed himself down enough so that his body temperature was harmless, then crawled over to Shinya and climbed up his body and coiled himself around his trainer's neck like a scarf. Of course, Sizzlipede was far more effective than any scarf when it came to combating the cold, which Shinya enjoyed. Now, with one Bug type on top of his head and one around his neck, the Team Skull grunt was just about ready to move onto the next area. But before that, he took the time to look over at Silas and hear him out once again, done leaning against a tree to steady himself by that point.

"Meh. I'll take it. Let's just get outta here before either of us loses their sanity." Shinya said with a shrug, then proceeded to follow Silas' lead to the next area once again. Although, based on what he had seen so far, Shinya figured that if either of them was gonna lose their sanity during their time in the Ilex Forest, it would probably end up being Silas. Especially after the older male got nailed by a rather large piece of hail. They all knew it was wrong, but Shinya, Yanma, and Sizzlipede couldn't help smirking and chuckling as soon as they saw this. Still, they all did their best to hold it in, preferring not to lose their allies on this mission just yet. Or worse, have Silas and his clearly very strong Pokemon turn on them.

OOC: Heading off with Silas to the Putrid Swamp.

[Pixel]

As they entered the eerie wood, Heimdal's hackles went up and the arcanine started to growl. Flicker bobbed and hummed, the flame on her head growing a little larger. This place reminded him some of those hills he got lost in when he was starting out. Which meant...

"Sarge, make sure we stay on track and sniff out any trouble," he ordered. The mightyena woofed and took point, leading them deeper through this part of ilex, eyes keen. Adrian was on edge and Tommy was clutching his porygon's pokeball for dear life. With the chikorita held in one arm and a lost child riding Heimdal, there would be no quick or easy escape if things went awry. But he was doing his best to remain calm and in control.

"Did I ever tell you what division of the police force I was in?" Adrian began without preamble, trying to distract them both from the spookiness. "The Bike Patrol."

"Where's your bike?" the kid asked innocently.

"You're ridin' on him."

"Arcanine isn't a bike."

"He is when there's been budget cuts!" Adrian joked weakly. That's...funny right? He was being funny. Keep the kid distracted. "But yeah. Folks like to call me the Foot Patrol since I walk nearly everywhere. Gotta get myself a bike in Goldenrod just to save face, y'know?"

The kid giggled a bit at the awkward attempt at humor.

"Hard to charge into danger wheels first when you don't have wheels!"

Another giggle.

"I see you, laughing at my plight," Adrian quipped. There. He had brightened the mood a little. Even he needed a distraction from the weird aura of this place. A silence fell between them again.

Tommy eventually piped up, "Mister Hartt. Is...is the chikorita gonna be okay? You're not gonna let the scary ghosts hurt it, right?"

"It's going to be just fine. We all are. Nobody is getting hurt under my watch, bud."

It was about then that Sarge snarled at something and lunged to sink his teeth into it.

 

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:

Using crunch on ghost encounter.

(Adding an NPC and mini side quest for fluff)

Coming from Cypress Rest

[Caramell 🍬]

Adrian managed to bond with the child as they traveled deep inside of Ilex. Bordering some of the estates throughout the region, it might have made since why Sergeant felt almost at home within Ilex’s dense woods. There were differences between the maze-like network of Ilex and the old homes in which the Dark Type Pokemon once called home. Two pairs of burning red eyes watched through the canopies above, quietly following the troupe as they traveled deeper into its territory. A sinister difference remained between the two. Warm bodies that pulled at previous memories once lost to the forsaken creature lurking in the woods.

Fire licked all around them, seemingly appearing out of thin air. It was circular in its domain and hot, like the flaming embers of boiling grease sputtering out of the pot to slap you on your arms in a harsh reminder. What man thought he could control was often his folly, for the violent nature of the flames only wished destruction and with the slightest failing on one’s part, they leaped for the charge. The flames would clamor high into the skies above, trapping Adrian and the young boy all at once, but they were false flames, just an illusion whose heat might have felt real – as though you were on fire – but would leave no lasting marks.

Duskull leaped out of the shadows at once, sneaking around to slam into Sergeant with all of its weight. It was a pathetic attempt at knocking the Dark Type over, who easily reflected it as though Duskull was nothing more than a passing breeze. He leaped into the fray, jumping up and sinking his teeth into the apparition’s ghostly hide. The crunch leaf a sickening wail as Duskull and his flames slowly vanished all at once, releasing the area from its dark and gloomy overcast all at once. “Thheee ssooouuulll wiiiillll beeeee ooouuurrsss!” It cackled off into the distance. They would have their innocences, pulled off into the afterlife to suffer with them, soon enough.

---

Evil Spirit Duskull was defeated!

Level 17. Sarge is left with [70/72] HP after battle!

---

Sergeant gained 1 level.
Sergeant increased to Level 24!
Sergeant is trying to learn Assurance!
Forget a move and learn Assurance?


Porygon gained 1 level.
Porygon increased to Level 11!

[Pixel]

Fire.

Adrian stepped back in shock, teeth gritting, arm reaching out, read to send Heimdal away from the flames. Tommy whimper in terror, hands tight around the pokeball he held, shivering, unable to do a thing. They watched the flames climb high above, sweltering and overwhelming.

And then, the illusion shattered.

Sarge crunched his way through the illusion and banished the ghost causing it. The spirit fled with a final warning and Adrian wiped his brow.

"They are very bold. And those illusions are...intense," he murmured.

Tommy made a frustrated noise, "I...I couldn't do anything! I couldn't even throw this stupid pokeball!"

"Hey, shh, it's okay. You're okay."

"I just had to throw the ball and say 'go porygon' and...and..."

Adrian laid a hand on his arm, "It's okay. I'm here to protect you, kiddo. Let me be the brave grown up, okay? I'll throw myself at danger and you can be my back up if there's a need. Just focus on being brave and we will get out of Ilex and to your parents as fast as we can."

Tommy sniffed and sighed, "I...I guess." He rolled the ball in his palms. "I don't think I'm ready to be a trainer yet. And trainers shouldn't be afraid of their pokemon."

"You'll get there. C'mon, the path is clear. And this part of Ilex is a little bit tedious with some of its routes. We can't double back in most places, so all we can do is keep moving forward." 

Tommy put on a brave for for Adrian and they slowly trekked towards the next part of the forest.

 

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:
NOT learning assurance

Sarge HP: [70/72]

Ghosts Defeated: Cypress Rest, Eerie Wood

(Adding an NPC and mini side quest for fluff)

Heading to the Putrid Swamp

[Pixel]

He was here! FINALLY. Now he could hunker down somewhere 'safe' and out of the sand to look around and wait for the pokemon he was hunting for to appear. He pulled out his phone and looked over the local pokemon information. Commonly found were Zubat, Hoothoot and Cascoon. Nothing of note. Uncommonly found were Illumise, which he recently caught in the park. He supposed he could catch another if he saw one. Maybe sell it to some annoying bug catcher kid. Rarely seen were Ferroseed, but those supposedly were very hard to find and were reported only by trainers who had more experience and badges than he himself possessed. Tch. Whatever. 

And apparently, some had seen duskull appear when panicked pokemon called for help in a pinch. Hm. If he wasn't here in a SANDSTORM he might actually consider trying to find one of those. They were rather hard to find and ghosts were popular... If this storm passed, maybe he'd look for one of those.

Also, infrequently, people reported seeing honey trees. Aipom, Heracross and Burmy were all tempting finds, as they were rare enough to make him good returns on investment. Combee and Cherubi were...not as exciting if he was honest. But the grand prize, as he saw it, beyond that stupid stuffel he was told to track down, was munchlax. They were native to this part of Ilex, supposedly, and only ever spotted by those with honey, and even amongst those people, it was often never seen.

He didn't get his hopes up.

Such a rare pokemon was probably just local folklore. Trainers with nothing better to do gossiping. Silas huffed and put away his phone. Time to observe his surroundings...

—

Word Count: 285 | OOC:

Coming from Majestic Grove.

Looking for a honey tree or an encounter! 

[Pixel]

As Freya entered the next part of the forest, clinging to Arcanine's back, she was once more surprised by Arcanine growling. He dropped the teddiursa and the teddi growled as well, charging off to go lunge at something in the darkness. 

"Teddiursa, did you find another ghost?" she called out. Lola looked around too. It was impossible to see in this sandstorm. What she did NOT expect was to see a whole person through the sand. It was a young man, a few years older than herself if she had to wager, with blonde hair and a sour expression.

When his gaze landed on her, his brows leapt up in surprise.

"Are you okay, sir?" she called out. "Are you being terrorized by a ghost or something? Do you need help through the forest?"

"I'm quite fine," the man replied pleasantly enough, though his eyes were cold. His smile didn't reach them. "No ghosts here. Just training."

"In a sandstorm?"

"Why not?"

—

Word Count; 000 | OOC:

[Silas and Freya are both here. Silas is waiting on a normal encounter and Freya is waiting on a quest encounter. Up to mod on how to handle them.]

Waiting for ghost encounter!

(If mod handles Freya and Silas separately for battles, Teddi will use crunch x2 on ghostie. Otherwise, just holding)

On Forest's Blessing Quest

(Adding an NPC to my journey for flavor)

[Caramell 🍬]

The strange presence that permeated through the densely populated forest snaked its way around the towering trees and through the massive bushes that propped up along nearly every square inch. Many of the common Pokemon roosted within the darkened woodland, with cocoons whose silky threads spun from strong branches and dangled in peaceful solitude as they awaited their final evolution. They were a hint of purple, lightly painted to lavender hues, against the dark greens and greyish-browns that enveloped the landscape. Leathery blue wings flitted about, issuing their loud cries that bounced off the roughened barky trunks of the trees and helped navigate the blind flying mammals along the way.

Something stirred as a hint, metallic greys from which greenery popped through small pockets between its armored shell. Was that? It rushed away through the tall emerald blades that climbed upwards from the ground, nearly tall enough to tickle Silas’ knees, and disappeared in a blink. Though the rumors might have some weight to them, they remained largely unsubstantiated by even the prestigious Rocket Grunt’s trained eyes, as the hidden gem quickly hurried off before Silas could get a proper look. The strange presence swelled as Freya crawled through the tangled webwork of ensnaring vines and eager saplings, all fighting for every inch of forest they could claim for themselves.

Something stirred, causing the air around them currently swirling in a massive sandstorm that wreaked havoc on the landscape to turn from a strange copper tone to an eerie midnight blue hue, as though a fog swallowed the world alive betwixt the traveling trainers and angry hurricane of sharpened debris. Small pebbles bounced off towering tree trunks and against the heads of the traveling trainers, easily scooped up in the dust storm that spiraled wildly around them. The ground changed and repainted the tall emerald grasses into charred stretches, leaving a memory that felt so vivid even a spellcaster trained to notice such differences would mistake it for the real deal. Fire licked at the edge of the field, creating a circular section to entrap both humans within its reaches.

“HUMAN!” The voice echoed through the trees with such force it managed to snap smaller twigs clinging to the long limbs in their trees clear off and caused them to scatter to the ground in haste. “YOU’VE BROUGHT ME A SNACK! Leave that weakling behind, and I will spare you!” Duskull cackled, tilting her head back as she waved her ghostly arms in the air and stretched them so far from her form that they would nearly touch Freya’s cheeks. A small feathery owl painted in muted brown hues and large red eyes popped out of a tree and landed with an angry chirp. “I’ve had enough of this! You and your kind need to leave for once and for all!” It puffed its entire body up angrily, pointing one wing at the apparition, and barked. “YOU HUMANS JUST LEAVE THIS TO ME!” A powerful gust from Duskull’s lips sent the pathetic bird spiraling into the nearest tree with a loud thud.

Evil Spirit Duskull and Wild Hoothoot appeared!

Level 17 and Level 15 Respectively. With 1/15 chance of ghost or bird attacking each other!
Weather will be sandstorm! Please go here to engage in your battle!

Shiny: rHfoKn5Fp_1-42
Tree check failed!1-42

[Pixel]

Silas was oblivious to the conversation between the fearow and hoothoot. He didn't know that said hoothoot made an odd comment about collect them all scams and schemes as if it believed itself to be in a weird game of collectible pixels rather than the real world. All he knew was that he threw a ball and he caught a pokemon. Done and done. He shuffled forward and picked up the ball, tucking it into his pocket.

He glanced at Freya, the air a little easier to breathe, less oppressive. Less...haunted, one might even say. 

That little teddiursa had quite the bite. It looked ready to keep fighting even as its trainer scooped it. 

"Thanks for the help," the young woman—Freya—said. The sandstorm around them seemed to be lightening some. Like it might wind down soon. One could hope... Though if they were unlucky, it might just continue to rage on after regaining its energy for round two. He watched her retreat back to her Arcanine and the old woman perced on its back. "Good luck with your training and pokemon hunting!"

Silas nodded to her and flashed a smile beneath the hankerchief he had pulled over his mouth, "Thank you! I am hoping to find a few rare pokemon while training as well. Even despite the storm."

"Like what?"

"Ever hear of stufful?"

"Like from Alola?" Freya responded with a tilt of her head.

"Exactly. A friend of mine is looking for one for his daughter."

Freya's topaz eyes gleamed. There was an intelligent shine to them. Like knew like, and hard gemstones clashed for a moment without a single attempt of confrontation, like they both knew it was best to not ask too many questions.

"Well, I have to help this chikorita get better and help Lola here find her husband. So I'll be on my way." Freya said, urging the arcanine off into the opposite direction from which she entered onto the scene. Silas watched her leave before slouching back into his hiding spot. Bleh. So much sand. He would sit here like a krabby in a tidepool and look for other, rarer pokemon than hoothoot. There had to be something of value out there. Even if he never found that elusive honey tree, surely he could find those stupid stuffed animal looking things that the admin wanted. If it wasn't for this storm he surely would have found one already!

—

Word Count: 406 | OOC:

Looking for a honey tree or an encounter! 

Now that Freya has moved on...
Activating BIKE MODE.

Freya is heading to the Putrid Swap!
Silas is staying put.

[Caramell 🍬]

The wind stirred the leaves. A rustle. A voice, perhaps, whispering from within the trees? A small cocoon plopped out of the canopy above and smacked Silas accidentally against the top of his head. Well...oops? Look at the little guy...couldn't hurt a fly. 🥺 You would try to take lil guy out, would you?

A Wild Cascoon appeared!

Level 8. What will Silas and his team do? Decide here!
Weather is 🌪️Sandstorm🌪️!

Tree? OpXZQMSbp_1-8
Shiny? p_1-421-8·1-42

[Pixel]

Ace yeeted that cocoon without issue. At least the storm had cleared up. It was quite warm but where he sat there was plenty of shade. He did stand up for a bit to stretch and shake off his clothes, trying his best to get some of the filth off. 

"This stufful better be worth it," he muttered. "I want good money for finding that thing, especially since I had to endure a rainstorm for the rat." He felt like he had better things to do than wait around and catch pokemon for people too lazy to catch their own. Urg. 

He tossed another ball to reveal a parasect, "Go help Ace find that stupid fuzz ball. Or maybe one of those so-called honey trees. I haven't seen a single one in this whole forest. Go on. Shoo. Be useful like you were in the bug catching contest." He gestured gruffly at the mushroom pokemon and watch grumpily as it scuttled off into the underbrush.

—

Word Count: 165 | OOC:

Looking for a honey tree or an encounter! 
 BIKE MODE.

Silas is staying put.

[Pixel]

With the skies now clear of SAND and the wind no longer acting up, it was quite dry and hot. Sweat beaded down her neck and back and made breathing harder. Soon the woods looked familiar and they ran past a face they had certainly seen before. He just sent out a parasect, having apparently finished whatever battle he'd been engaged in before. 

Interesting.

She waved to Silas in passing before continuing forward, well aware of what lurked ahead...

THE SWAMP OF STENCH.

—

Word Count; 000 | OOC:
Passing through! Leaving Sombre Valley and heading to the Putrid Swamp!

(Adding an NPC to my journey for flavor)

[Caramell 🍬]

A sleepy bat is trying to sleep on Silas' shoulder. Just...five more...minutes...please?

---

A Wild Zubat appeared!

Level 13. Decide what to do here.

Tree: KXHi873Op_1-10
Shiny: p_1-421-10·1-42