Cypress Rest

[Venominon]

Arriving from Ethereal Lake

Having placed one of the sick Chikorita into his bag for the time being, Shinya hiked right alongside Silas, as the two arrived in a new area of the Ilex Forest in search for any evil spirits lingering about. Although he didn't fully understand why, the Bug type trainer felt a burning desire to lift the curse that was causing the Leaf Pokemon to suffer as much as it was. Still, at the same time, if Shinya was being honest, possibly getting the chance to meet, battle, and maybe even capture Celebi itself was some pretty powerful motivation too. But even though he was on the lookout for possible evil spirits in the area, Shinya still took the time to look over at Silas, unable to stop himself from smirking and chuckling at the older male's fear. "Tch. What's the matter, suit? Haven't spent much time outside of the office?"

The Team Skull grunt couldn't help teasing Silas at least a little, but that came to an abrupt end when he saw Silas' third choice of Pokemon. Two Dark types, and now a Raticate too? Losing his smirk and raising one eyebrow at Silas and his Pokemon, Shinya's earlier suspicions of him had grown that much stronger. Be that as it may, Shinya had other Qwilfish to fry at that particular moment in time, grabbing a Pokeball of his own and sending out his own Pokemon of choice. When the red and white orb opened, the sounds of fluttering filled the air, as Yanma fluttered all around her trainer, smiling at him the entire time. "Hey, boss! It feels like forever since you called on me! So, what are we up against this time?! And who the heck are those guys?!"

The Clear Wing Pokemon was clearly very excited to be working with her beloved trainer yet again, blissfully unaware of the dangers surrounding their current course of action and gesturing over to Silas and his Pokemon as she questioned Shinya. "Nice to see ya too, Yanma. To sum it up, we're out here huntin' for evil spirits. And that's Silas. I'm still not quite sure what to make of 'em, but for now, we're allies. So, keep those sharp eyes of yours peeled for evil spirits. And when ya see 'em, blast 'em with Psychic." Doing his best to remain calm and composed, Shinya gave Yanma her orders, keeping his own eyes peeled at the same time.

"Hmmm...Okay! If you say so, boss! I've got your back! Always!" Not really needing to think it over very much at all, Yanma smiled once again and nodded down at her trainer, more than happy to carry out any and all orders he gave her. So, after fluttering even higher up into the air, the Bug/Flying type made use of her impressive eyesight, opening her eyes at wide as she could and filling them with Psychic energy. This caused her eyes to glow, giving some light to this otherwise dull and muted expanse of forest. If anything so much as twitched, Yanma's eyes were on it immediately. She wasn't entirely sure what an evil spirit looked like, but she figured it was probably some kind of Ghost Pokemon. So, that's what she looked for. And the minute she saw one, it would find out the hard way what a Psychic attack felt like.

OOC: Since it appears we can do this, Running Shoes used. Two Psychic attacks from Shinya's Yanma.

[Caramell 🍬]

Azalea’s weather, and by extension the surrounding area including Ilex Forest, would see inclement weather that normally sent most running for shelter. Thick, dark clouds cast a dreary overcast, stretching the long shadows of forest into beastly proportions. The skies ripped open and hurled large chunks of ice from their puffy clouds, slamming them against the rough barks of tall tree trunks. Loud cracckkkks could be heard from struggling branches who eventually snapped underneath the pressure of the howling winds and thick hail. While most would come crashing to the forest floor after a loud snap, some dangled by threads above – not connected, but not separated from their host plant, either.

Two ghosts appeared first as floating eyes that glowed with an ominous red light. An image flickered in the skies of a young man possibly in his late teens or early twenties traveling through the forest with an older man closer to his mid-forties. They carried a large box between them and whistled a happy tune, though the way their mouths curved seemed wicked and wrong. The image would then shift violently to the older man being surrounded by men all dressed similar to him, and though it should be obvious that he was their leader, they kept him bound and gagged with a loud laugh. One of their mouths silently worded, ‘You’ll take the fall for this, old fool.’

Then the ghosts appeared in full form, reaching out in their ghastly way after Silas and Shinya. “Giiivveee uuussss tthhheee cuuuurrsssseeedddddd soooouuuullll!” They screamed, their words blending in with the screaming winds. “Jooiiiinnnnn uuuussss hheeerrreeeeee fooorrreeeevvveeerrr!” Yanma moved in fast, knocking one of the spirits out fast with her impressive psychic. King would follow suit, jumping up as one of the spirits swooped low in the air after him, and chomped down on the Gastly’s strange form, causing him to faint from the impact. “Yoooouuu’lllll ppaaayyyy!” Was all that could be heard trailing behind the Gastly.

Two Spooks have appeared!

Please see the full extent of the damage here.
This thread is for Shinya AND Silas.

Remember to update your Welcome Centre form whenever you move to a new area as well! And since no auto-heal applies to all of Ilex in or out of any Quest - you must use items or completely exit and re-enter - you'll have to track HP and such for us too. ^^ necroix even if they completely wipe out the Pokemon with running shoes please note remaining HP so member knows. ^^ Unless here didn't use running shoes in the end cuz of a hard hit?

Also, you're right to be curious on running shoes. Normally, you can't use them in double battles. However, since you both have them and both are using them, I believe this is fine? Though in instances like this being a Quest, I suppose it's up to the mod if you're forced to stay in double-battles. Since normally Universal is made to force cooperative play when together, and you've started as double together, I've kept it. Running Shoes wasn't even needed.

[Pixel]

Silas had not been expecting the weather to change so violently, but he had been wandering around the forest for a while now and had not always been able to see the sky. He would throw an arm over his head and face as the wind picked up and hail because to lash down upon them, eliciting a swear as their pokemon chased after the 'cursed spirits'. 

"Honestly, no. The outdoors and I aren't exactly the best of friends," he managed to grit out as nature turned her temper upon them. He retreated behind a tree to escape the hail. "And with the weather turning bad, I cannot say my impressions of the wilderness have improved any."

Then, he saw it. The vision. 

The scene of betrayal.

He shivered and swallowed thickly.

(That could happen to him one day. It darn well almost did already before he fled here.)

Then he blinked and it faded, revealing two ghosts that their pokemon promptly sent screaming away.

"They're playing mind games on us I see. Tch. Best not to loiter and get a concussion from the hail. Let's go." He wasn't motivated to help the chikorita exactly, but self-preservation and saving it were parallel objectives right now. So Silas began to jog, returning all but his houndoom for now.

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC: 

Moving to Eerie Wood!

Syndicate HP [ 85/89 ]

Moving to Eerie Wood

[Venominon]

The incoming hail was a bit of a bother to Shinya and Yanma, but it was basically just frozen rain. Nothing Shinya hadn't dealt with before, growing up in a place where the sun very rarely shined. And as for Yanma, well, her wings were beating so fast that the little chunks of ice just bounced right off of them. But the images that assaulted their minds not long after their arrival in the Cypress Rest were another matter entirely, as both trainer and Pokemon lost their smirks and fell silent upon seeing them. Even so, the Team Skull grunt didn't lose his cool, staring right back at the eyes he saw with his own eyes narrowed, wondering just what these images were all about. All Shinya knew for sure so far, was that he didn't like this forest. Not one bit.

Fortunately for him, these so-called vengeful spirits were simply no match for the aerial speed and psychic powers of his trusty Yanma. "Yeah right! You're the ones that'll be payin' if ya ever come near the boss like that again! Know your place, ya stupid gas bubbles!" The Clear Wing Pokemon yelled at the two Gastlys, then literally spat at them as they floated away in defeat. Of course, her saliva ended up passing right through their spectral bodies and landed on a nearby tree instead. Still, Shinya found it to be rather entertaining, getting his smirk back and letting out a few chuckles as a result. "Yeah, you tell 'em, Yanma. I have no idea what any of that vision crap was about, but I honestly don't give a damn. Whatever happened, or didn't happen, in this Arceus forsaken forest is no concern of ours."

The Bug type trainer stated in a very blunt and nonchalant tone of voice, pushing those images out of his head in ten seconds flat. "Ya hear what I'm sayin' over there, suit?" Shinya turned to face Silas as he spoke but lost his smirk in favor of a more surprised facial expression, seeing the older male starting to jog for his life to the next area. "Isn't he supposed to be the adult here? What a coward." Yanma proved to be even more blunt than her trainer, fluttering down to him and landing on top of his head as she too watched Silas vacate the area. "Tch. Maybe he got traumatized by a Ghost Pokemon when he was a kid or somethin'. Either way, I don't like this forest very much either and there's strength in numbers. We probably shouldn't let 'em get too far ahead." Shinya commented with a shrug of his shoulders, not exactly sure why Silas was freaking out, but quickly chased after him the minute he was done speaking regardless.

OOC: Following Silas to the Eerie Wood next.

[Pixel]

Adrian made sure Tommy was on Arcanine's back as they moved into Cypress Rest. The forest was currently clear and fairly bright, all things considered. No more eerie fog blocking their vision. Up ahead, he had flicker light the way, bobbing up and down like a will-o-wisp. 

"Mister officer sir, why aren't you riding arcanine too?" Tommy asked. "Like before?"

"Because now we could possibly end up in a dangerous fight, and if I am on foot, I can handle the battling part and have Heimdal take you to safety." Adrian said.

"But what if I wanna help?"

"You can help by not getting more hurt."

"I have a pokemon!"

"One you said yourself you're afraid of..."

Tommy pouted a bit, "W-well maybe it could out creepy the ghosts with its creepiness!"

"What even is it?"

"..." Tommy fell silent for a moment. "A Porygon..."

"Seriously? Those are pretty hard to come by. You're pretty lucky your dad got that for you." How rich was this kid?

"No I'm not! It's weird and ugly and creepy and I wish dad didn't buy it for me at all..." Tommy argued. "Not that I think he'd notice if I got rid of it...he's always working. And mom's weirded out by porygon too."

"Nothing is stopping you from rehoming it, kid. Just...maybe don't release it into the wild? They're completely artificial and don't really have a native range anywhere..."

"Well. Anyway. If I need to. I can fight."

Adrian glanced back at him, "If you say so. I'll hold you do it."

That was when Adrian saw something stirring. Instinctively, he sent out a pokemon to face whatever was ahead. "Zoro! Scare off any specters." Surely there wouldn't be anything but...just to be safe... He watched as the bull charged in the direction he was sent out to trample his target.

 

—

Word Count: 307 | OOC:


Using Assurance on the ghostie!

EXP share in spewpa. 
(Wing pattern should be for deep ilex when evo)

(Adding an NPC and mini side quest for fluff)

Coming from ethereal lake

[Caramell 🍬]

While the two humans bickered amongst each other, two large pairs of eyes followed them throughout the trees. Branches would sway in the open breeze, twisting and turning oddly as they reached for Adrian and the young boy on the black Tauros’ back. The wind called through the canopies above, a strange sound wailing like a siren warning you from the distance, yet just out of reach. Such delectable souls, waltzing through its terrain with an almost too-easy to consume affair.

“Joooiiinnn mmmmmeeee!” The words echoed from large rubbery magnolia leaves nearby. “Thhheeee aaffftteeerrrlliiiffeeeee iiiiissss caaaallliiiinngggg!” It insisted, sounds now bouncing from the large pine trees ahead. The voice wavered from all directions, seemingly surrounding both Adrian and the small child at once. It laughed gleefully, causing the skies that were nearly blotted out by the thick network of leaves and branches that made up the canopies to change to a strange crimson red, as though the world itself were bleeding.

Zoro snorted and stomped his hooves into the ground as he searched in the open air around. When something flickered in the tall grasses ahead, he jerked, slamming his thick horns through the long green blades and uprooting wildflowers in their wake. When it switched to a large bush, Zoro completely ripped through the thick, wiry plant, tossing spindly branches in odd directions. Then, when the ghost appeared for a brief second, Zoro immediately slammed into the Gastly with ever ounce of force and strength he had, easily knocking out his opponent and chasing it far, far away. “Yooouuuuu’llll aaaaallll pppaaaayyy fffooooorrrr tthhhiiiiisss!” It wailed.

---

Zoro gained 3 levels!
Zoro increased to Level 19!


Jungle gained 1 level!
Jungle increased to Level 12!
Jungle is trying to evolve?!
➤
Allow Jungle to evolve?!
If Jungle evolves....
He will look so pretty!

His ability will change: Compound Eyes or Shield Dust
He will try to learn Gust [Forget move?]

[Pixel]

Tommy yelped when the ghosts started to talk. Terrified. "C-cursed spirits!" he said in a trembling voice. But Zoro was already on the case, thrashing that ghastly to bits with a powerful swing of his mighty horns. Adrian sighed, and suddenly a burst of light shined from within his bag. He opened it up to reveal wings that expanded up and out, gracing this part of the forest with the vibrant glow of evolution.

The boy stopped panicking to fixate on those wings, more in awe than scared now.

A few seconds later, the light fell away to reveal a freshly emerged vivillion with deep green wings. Just like the guide book suggested, different parts of Ilex influenced the patterns of the species. Fascinating. 

"That was a little surprising," Adrian said, trying to break the tension. "But cool, eh? You ever see a pokemon evolve before?"

Tommy shook his head.

Adrian took a moment to explain how this species was a bug type with many different wing patterns and how he was gathering as many as he could for a promise. A promise he made to someone who was...around Tommy's age. Someone who was very sick but dreamed of seeing every pattern. So he was doing his best to make that dream come true.

"..." Tommy fell quiet as Adrian returned the butterfly.

"We should continue. The faster we get through the forest, the faster we'll get this little one better and you back home."

"Um. Mister Hartt?"

"Yeah, kid?"

He fiddled with a pokeball that he pulled from his pocket, "Could...I um... try to help? Please?"

Adrian smiled at the kid, "Sure, kiddo, you can. Battling is a good way to bond with your pokemon."

"Its not very strong right now...so I may be in your way..."

"I have just the thing to help. Here. Just until we're out of this forest, you can borrow this." Adrian pulled the exp share off Jungle's pokeball and hooked it onto the porygon's pokeball. "That device will share exp with that pokemon that my pokemon gain in battle. Neat, eh?"

"Woah. Are you sure?"

Adrian smiled a bit, his heart a little soft for kids, "Yeah. I'm sure. Let's get going."

 

—

Word Count: 000 | OOC:

Evolving Vivillion and learning gust over string shot. 
Swapping porygon into my party and putting Jungle in the boxes.
Putting exp share on porygon.

(Adding an NPC and mini side quest for fluff)

Going to the Eerie Wood

[Pixel]

Freya wanted to turn back around and charge right into the shrine, but when she tried to retread her path, the terrain disallowed travel. She did not have a flier, so she was stuck following a less intuitive path back to the shrine. Leaning over Arcanine's back, chikorita in her lap, Lola holding on for dear life around her waist, Feya urged Arcanine to go faster. 

But all of the sudden, her friend and mount skidded to a stop and snarled at something in the whipping sands. What? What was it? What did you see? Freya tried to comfort Arcanine, but couldn't get him to go further. He started to back pedal, as if deciding that it was safer to retreat than proceed further.

"Easy, Arcanine. Here. Let me have Wooper or Orthworm scout ahead a bit..." But she grabbed the wrong ball by accident. The pokemon she sent out was not one of the sandstorm resistant ground or steel types in her party...but an adorable little teddiursa. Who promptly got a face full of sand and glared at her. "Sorry! You can return n—"

Before she could finish speaking, Teddiursa seemed to sense something and whirled, suddenly lashing out at whatever it was she noticed through the roaring whirl of the storm.

—

Word Count; 213 | OOC:

Teddiursa uses crunch x2 on encounter!
Teddiursa is holding a Lum Berry

On Forest's Blessing Quest

(Adding an NPC to my journey for flavor)

[Tiki]

A ghost Pokemon subtly revealed itself, exposing its giant and menacing eyes toward the young cub. "Sleeeep! Aaannd Reeesst Foorreeevveeerr!" Its eyes glowed red in an attempt to lure the normal type into slumber, but the Teddiursa got distracted by an itch on her head and rubbed her head to cover her face. The hypnosis failed, and the normal type finally got over her itch and lunged forward to bite on the Gastly hard.

"NOOOOoooooooo!" It cried in pain, and shivered, and then mysteriously created a copy of itself in the air.

The Teddiursa ran forward again to sink her teeth into the Gastly, but it was the mysterious shadow copy instead! The shadow copy faded, leaving only the Gastly left. The sandstorm continued to blow in the area, hurling pebbles and sand into both Pokemon's face. Unfortunately for the ghost, the Gastly was ended by nature as it succumbed to the abrasion of the turbulent weather.

Battle here!

[Pixel]

"What...just happened?" Freya asked aloud as Teddiursa wandered back to her, paws covering her face. She hid under Arcanine for shelter. "That looked like a ghost pokemon..."

"The spirit girl did say there were evil spirits that would try to stop you from rescuing chikorita," Lola pointed out. She was holding the plant now, offering a matronly sort of comfort. "That might have been once of the evil spooks. And your little teddi showed it what for! Oh how exciting. Such spark. I never had much talent for pokemon battling but it is so nice to see it in younger folks."

"I wasn't expecting teddiursa to just lunge at the ghost to be honest," Freya admitted. "She is very brave." Arcanine picked up Teddiursa by the scruff and suddenly began to bound forward. Apparently the hound was too anxious to keep loitering in this part of Ilex for long.

—

Word Count; 000 | OOC:

Not learning payback.
LV up restores HP back to full for Teddiursa.

Heading to Eerie Wood

On Forest's Blessing Quest

(Adding an NPC to my journey for flavor)