Getting Lost: The Passionate Dance of Travel [Mod]

[Richard Garris]

A blanket of a rich navy blue with glittering lights set the stage. Iliad and Odyssey began their ritual of dancing across the sky, each gracing Mi-aro with their full white glow. A few howls and chirps started up with the sounds of branches rustling, which highlighted the eerie stillness of the Winding Path. The whimsical air of the downs, enhanced by the glow of the moons, only lifted the traveler’s spirit.



Richard stood on a low barrow surveying the path before him. If the rumours were true, he could make the trip to New Pallet before the sun rose. He shifted his pack, heavy from the new gifts his sisters had given him; a first aid kit, berry pouch, survival items, fabric painting supplies and a mysterious egg. Gwen had found the egg abandoned on her way home and insisted on Richard taking it, for when he started his journey tomorrow morning.



Clearly the young romantic did not find waiting any longer appealing. He had already wasted time repacking an outfit, having a shower to wash off the Woobat snot, and another argument with his folks about even leaving. Plus the initial fair wells, waiting for everyone to fall asleep and then sneaking out. Richard felt he had already wasted enough time.



Nora fluttered by her trainer and let out a sonic screech, reveling in the vastness of the trail. She hadn’t been out in the evening air for such a long time. The comfort of the chilling darkness set the nocturnal-pokemon at ease. Hopefully there would be more of these adventures with Richard. Perhaps he was a “night nocturne” as the human phrase went.



“Stay close, Nora,” the new trainer said cautiously, he may be able to see slightly with the glow of the moons, but he didn’t have perfect night vision and there were plenty of pot holes. Maybe if they went off trail there would be less.



Richard started to head off trail, keeping his eyes closely at the ground to make sure not to step into anything other than solid earth. It was slow progress and Nora could flutter around as she pleased with Richard being in constant view of her sonar with the wide open space, just so long as he didn’t go into the brush.



<“Where did you go?”> the bat asked. Rustling from the brush revealed her trainer had wandered off the path and into the thick brush. So much for keeping him within her sonar range. The Woobat quickly fluttered off after her trainer, upset at the turn of their travels.

---

Egg count 1/75

[Olive]

Richard fell into a pothole!

He slid into a small cavern that connected to 6 equidistant tunnels. 

The tunnels to the east had vines and vegetation growing through their roofs. He heard quiet rustles and chatters in that direction.

The western tunnels had small traces of moss. A sort of sing-songy sound was heard from that direction.

The northern tunnels sloped up while the southern tunnels sloped down.

Richard's only light was from the orbiters that shined through the skylight of the hole he fell through, which was too steep to climb out without the proper tools.

Well, he better start looking for a way out before he get eaten.

[Richard Garris]

“Flying fire Furrets!” the trainer cursed as he attempted to stand up. He held on to the earth for support as he attempted to move his ankle. He immediately winced at the action. Definitely sprained. This was not a decent start to their first adventure. Perhaps he should attempt to go home.

A flash of being bed ridden, banned from leaving the city and growing old without his true love by his side passed through Richard’s mind. He refused to go back. Love would be worth all the hardships in the world. This was just his first test.

A glance up showed Nora flapping by over head. “NORA! I’m down here!”

At the sound of her trainer’s voice the woobat hovered over the pit. She sent a little squeak down the hole before making her way down to her trainer. <”How did you end up down here? Nevermind, I don’t want to know.”>

Rubbing his ankle Richard looked around. It was so dark, how was he going to find his way out of this one? Suddenly Richard could hear his heart rate increase to the rate of Rapidash hooves; he shivered as a deep chill slipped down his spine. The severity of the situation suddenly fell on the trainer.

Deep breaths. The hero is always calm in the face of danger.

"Don't go anywhere please, Nora.  I sprained my ankle and can't walk quickly."

The young man sat down carefully, swinging his bag on his lap. It was difficult to find what he was looking for with the limited moon light, but eventually he wrangled out his flashlight. With the added light Richard began to look at the vegetation and rubble that had fallen down with him. Perhaps there would be a walking stick for him to use, or at least two sticks big enough to make a splint.

Nora had been silent the entire time.  No way she would leave Richard in this state.  They were partners and she would make sure he got out of this alive.  The noise from the tunnels didn't set her at ease though. Her instincts were telling her to fly out there, but instead she decided on something else that might put her at ease. She lined herself up to each tunnel and sent a wave of sonic sound down each, making a map of what was there. Perhaps "seeing" what was there would help prepare her and Richard for the worst.

---

Nora attempted to get a view of the tunnel.  She may have signaled to any pokemon that can hear at high frequencies their location.

Richard is on the hunt for a walking stick or two sticks for a splint without venturing too far down any tunnel. (Would the Finder skill help here?)

[Ciel Romero]

Ciel

Active Party:

Active Skills:

Tamer      Lv.1 [0/5] Whisperer  Lv.1 [0/5] Grower     Lv.1 [0/5] Changer    Lv.1 [0/5]

Ciel Romero stepped carefully down the safety of the path in the moonlit night. He wasn't a fan of traveling, but his mentor had asked him to head to New Pallet, so it was only fair that he did... And the soon he could get it over with, the better. Hence, leaving the very same night. Still, at least he had himself a traveling companion. A little Happiny was nestled in the hood of his sweater, fast asleep. It was such an adorable little gal when awake, but Ciel decided that he also liked her like this on such a quiet night where he could listen to the sounds of--... Nature? That didn't sound like nature...

Ciel frowned, turning in place as he processed the sound he had heard. It was something of a quick yelp follow by a muffled crash. The yelp sounded human. Had someone gotten hurt? Were they being attacked by a feral? Ahh, he had to help! Desperately trying to figure out which direction the sound had come from, Ciel was moving further down the path when he saw a panicked Woobat fluttering into the brush as if shared in his plight. From the Pokemon's behavior it didn't seem feral... Did it belong to the mystery yelper? Deciding that had to be the case, the Merchant followed the heart-nosed creature off path. It was barely a second after Ciel realized he could no longer see the Woobat than he found himself sliding down into the pitfall with a startled yelp of his own.

Landing relatively safely, Ciel managed to avoid any major injuries from the fall. It wasn't his safety he was currently worried about, however. To his relief, a startled but alright Happiny climbed out of his hood and onto his shoulder, then tumbling down into his lap. Shaking off the initial fright, Sylvie took a glance around their new surrounding before looking up at her trainer with wide curious eyes. <"Ish this New Pallet?">

Ciel chuckled softly at the curious little, lifting her from his lap and moving to stand. Blinking, he noticed the other trainer just a few feet in front of him, the Woobat fluttering nearby. It seemed that this guy didn't make it down quite as easily. "--Ah, are you alright?" He asked quickly moving to his side and kneeling down. The Happiny began to gently flail around in Ciel's arms, waving her arms about in panic. <"Medic! We need'a medic!"> She squealed, then pointing a stubby little arm towards the Woobat. <"You d'ere! Begin CPR!">

"Ahh, calm down, girl, looks like it's just a sprained ankle." Ciel spoke softly towards the over-excited Happiny as she squealed, noting the way the man was nursing his foot, and gently patting her head. "...Ahh, man." He muttered as he glanced around and slowly came to realize the mess he'd gotten himself into. But at least now there would be someone to help this poor guy. "--What's your name? Can you move your foot at all?"

Egg count [1/75] | @tagged | notes

ulla

[Olive]

Woobat's ultrasonic frequencies came back with the following:

Northeast - No biological creatures... A soft ring replied, perhaps it was a metal pole?

Easteast - Chatters, might be connected to the Southeast chamber

Southeast - Hordes of a small rodents. She couldn't identify species other than bipedal with straight tails. Richard may guess for 1 Finder SP.

Northwest - Rockiest tunnel, but also somewhat metallic? Perhaps ores?

Westwest - Reverberate with tiny creatures moving amongst the cavern floor, they sing with a simple pitch pattern of, <"low low high, low low high. low low low."> Richard may guess for 1 Finder SP.

Southwest - Same biological sounds... with some kind of bouncy fluff. Biological origin, she can't tell whether it's plant, Pokeplant, or animal.

---

You can guess in a PM or the Cbox for SP, but remember that your first choice(s) must be written in the next post.

[Richard Garris]

Well this didn’t look too promising. With Richard’s hurt ankle there was no way they could take the Northwest tunnel. Going anywhere near other pokemon would be a bad idea as well. Suddenly there was a sound of ruble falling and the whish of air on the blind Woobat’s fur sent her screeching upward before hovering closer to Richard. A sonic wave showed it was another human and Happiny.

Wide eyed and blank faced the trainer found himself staring at another person in the pit with him. Nora’s obvious shock drew Richard back, but she seemed to have settled from the surprise. “… Um I think I sprained my ankle,” the young man responded while rubbing his wound.

How embarrassing was this? The man attempted to hid his face from the newcomer by pretending to pay full attention to nursing his sprain. A blush of embarrassment spread across Richard’s features as he seemed to find himself in the damsel’s position, not the hero’s. If he was going to be the one that needed rescuing he better look damn good doing it. A survey of his clothes indicated he did not. There was dirt and dust all over his outfit, not to mention the state of his face! He was at a loss with no mirror near by. Fine he would do it with grace then!

<”What’s CPR?”> Nora was not settled by the little Happiny’s shouts of action. In fact now it made her worried about her human more. Was he really in that much trouble? She looked at her trainer as he seemed to be nursing his wound tenderly. She hovered closer, bopping Richard carefully with her nose. He would be alright, right?

Richard chuckled at the situation, the flailing pokemon in the new trainer’s arms distracting him from his internal worries. The little pink pokemon seemed flustered and Nora was now checking up on him. “I’m fine, girl. Just need a walking stick or something. "  A stick? Nora knew where they might find something like that! Now it was just a matter of getting Richard there.  "But the egg..." Richard trailed off.  He quickly dug in his bag for the pokeball that held the fragile parcel.  He unwrapped the scarf he had used to cushion the pokeball, his tense shoulders relaxed, it seemed fine.

“Name’s Richard Garris. You?”  He asked while rewrapping the pokeball to put safely away in his pack.

Once introductions were out of the way Richard attempted to move his ankle. He rotated his foot, but slowly and very subtly, and winced in pain. “Don’t think I’m going to be able to walk out of here on my own. I’m lucky you found me.”

Alright the humans were chatting, and one of them could walk. Nora seemed to grab onto the new man’s sleeve, pulling him towards the Northeast tunnel. <”Thrs mway.”>

---

Richard Guessed Patrat and Geodude

Egg count 2/75

[Ciel Romero]

Ciel

Active Party:

Active Skills:

Tamer      Lv.1 [0/5] Whisperer  Lv.1 [0/5] Grower     Lv.1 [0/5] Changer    Lv.1 [0/5]

Ciel nodded as his diagnostic was confirmed, not seeming to notice just how embarrassed the other man was with the situation. Honestly, all he could see at this point was a poor injured little Ducklett in need of his care.

<"You should know dis! 'S when you give sum'on a kiss and it brings 'em back to life! Ish magic!"> Sylvie squealed in response to the Woobat's question, her arms held up in the air in awe. <"...You gotta do it right, tho, so I'll handle dis."> She added after another moment of deep thought, wiggling her way from Ciel's arms and plopping down to Richard. At the mention of an egg, her excitement increased twofold, and she began bouncing in place as as she forgot her original mission and waiting for the man to reveal the egg he spoke of. When all she could see was just another Pokeball, she seemed to pout, but still approached to give it an affectionate pet. She did adore eggs so. She wished Ciel would have let her carry his, but he said she was too young! Can you believe that.

Ciel watched his Happiny's interactions, smiling softly as she made herself at home. "I'm Ciel. Ah, Ciel Romero. It's nice to meet you, Richard. And that cute little drama queen is Sylvie. Looks like she likes you, too." He replied, chuckling some before his attention was drawn away by the Woobat tugging on his sleeve. "Ah, yes, of course." He spoke, smiling towards the Woobat and standing straight. "Sylvie, can you stay here with Richard? We'll be right back."

The Happiny gave an enthusiastic nod, beginning to climb up Richard's arm to position herself on his shoulder. <"I got dis, boss! I'll give him lots of CPR, so he doesn't die!"> She chirped, giving Richard a kiss on the cheek to reinforce the claim.

"Ah.. Ahah, well, alright then." Ciel chuckled, shaking his head some, then letting the Woobat lead him off down the Northeast tunnel.

Egg count [2/75] | @tagged | notes

ulla

[Richard Garris]

Active Skills: Finder lvl 1 [1/5] Change lvl 1 [0/5] Whisperer lvl 1 [1/5] Speaker lvl 1 [0/5]

“Here you should take this,” Richard said handing over his flashlight to Ciel. He still had the moon light to help him see in the pit and didn’t feel comfortable letting Ciel go down a dark tunnel by himself. Let alone be guided by Nora, a starter that had never once been in Mi-aro. He had done some research on his starter, knowing that she thrived in dark places but, he still worried about the messy bat. Speaking of Nora, the woobat was not too pleased with a new pokemon getting so comfy with her human. She had marked him first, he was hers. Clearly this “medic” didn’t get the picture. <”Everyone knows it has to be a kiss from your true love to stop you from dying. I doubt he loves you.”> Nora said snuffley before fluttering off in a huff down the tunnel. Richard had told her many stories while they waited to leave this evening, many stressing the magical bond between two humans called love. Richard was her human and she may not have that "love" bond she would take care of him; not some other high-pitched squealing thing that fell from the sky. Egg count 2/75 ✿

[Ciel Romero]

Ciel

Active Party:

Active Skills:

Tamer      Lv.1 [0/5] Whisperer  Lv.1 [0/5] Grower     Lv.1 [0/5] Changer    Lv.1 [0/5]

"Oh! Yes, that would certainly help, wouldn't it?" Ciel spoke as he accepted the flashlight, feeling almost embarrassed that he hadn't thought of it. He was going to just wander carelessly off into the dark, like... Like Micah. Oh, brother... "Thank you. I'll make sure that we don't leave you here for too long. You be good, Sylvie." He concluded, nodding towards the man and his own Pokemon. Sylvie seemed to try to give an excited salute, but it was hard to tell with her adorably stubby arms...

Smiling, Ciel turned on the flashlight, shining it down the tunnel as headed off to catch up with the Woobat. They just needed a good walking stick. Woobat used echolocation, right? Nora's choice of the Northeast tunnel must have meant that he saw something they could use, right? Hopefully there wouldn't be any dangerous Pokemon lurking about... Ahh, what a mess. And how were they going to get out, once they found a walking stick for Richard? Well, they could always try to contact their mentors for help, but... So soon after leaving? That would be rather embarrassing. If it became the last option then so be it, but they had to try to work it out for themselves, first. Right?

It was getting really hard not to worry himself. Had to stay calm and keep on top of the situation. He'd been in worse scenarios so it probably shouldn't have bothered him so much, but that's probably why it did. He'd gotten so attached to his calm life...

Meanwhile, back at Richard's side, Sylvie seemed to be pondering this new bit of information. True love? What was that? How was is different from regular love? What makes one love any truer than the rest? Such a loaded phrase and yet the furry bat had thrown it out like she understood it perfectly! <"I will haf to learn more about dis... True love."> She squeaked to herself. She would have to learn to be everyone's true love so that she could properly treat them! Perhaps Nora could teach her...

Egg count [3/75] | @tagged | notes

ulla