Lucian Tromp
Meet Lucian Tromp, a.k.a Hoodhide, a 'former' member of the Gold Tribe. Lucian didn't consider himself to be a member of the Gold Tribe anymore, really. He was now the protector of a colony of Forest Pokemon here, within Poseida Rainforest. The most of the Pokemon that lived here were Grass and Water type Pokemon, they'd created a little village here within the trees and leaves. They had saved Hoodhide in his most desperate time of need, and in return, he'd agreed to use his elite fighting skills to help defend their village from the Ancients, Bandits, and any other threats. In his few months of service, he'd already prevented two raids, one attack, and an attempt at tearing the forest down. Hoodhide often worked in secret, he didn't like others knowing he was there. He was discrete when preventing disaster, nobody knew he was even there. Hoodhide had been a Gold Tribe member before, and a rash one at that. Unlike other Gold Tribe members, he tended to be a hasty, rash kind of person. Not thinking before he made his decisions. And, of course, unlike any other Scrafty, his pants were red instead of the usual yellow.
On this particular day, the twenty two year old Scrafty known as Lucian was out collecting berries for his village. While it was not
his village in any way, he often referred to it to be so because he lived there, and the resident Pokemon kept him safe. Lucian had already collected a handful of Persim berries, some Pecha Berries and one of the rare Oran Berries, which he knew everyone liked. The wetness of the rainforest was just enough to let berry bushes grow at accelerated rates. He'd give these berries to the resident cooks, who would craft all sorts of meals with them as a blacksmith might use metal to create armor. In fact, some residents in the village referred to the cooks as the foodsmiths. Which was just their word for cooks, really. Anyway, Lucian plucked his last berry from a bush when he heard something. A whistle. "Those are huge." a voice came from not far off. Without a second thought, the former Gold Tribe member took to the bushes, hiding to see where it had come from.
A group of Pokemon. A Bisharp, a golden Bisharp at that, a Golduck ... a Snorlax. The first thought that came to mind was: Poachers! Lucian looked a little longer, they had a few injured with them. They were bandits! All the signs were obvious: sinister looking Pokemon carrying other injured Pokemon? The injured Pokemon were prisoners, and these Pokemon were carrying them back off to their camp, which Lucian somehow hadn't located yet. It didn't take Lucian much longer to decide what to do. Quickly, he tackled their leader, the Bisharp, who was leading them, powering up with a Dragon Dance as he approached him. The Bisharp realized it only too late, and the two Dark-types rolled into the tall grass, brawling. The Bisharp landed the first blow, he quickly attacked himself to Lucian, preventing him from escaping their brawl. Smart move. Lucian countered his incoming Aerial Ace with a Dragon Claw, parrying it at just the right moment. Both Pokemon were now locked, the only free body part was the right arm. Quickly taking advantage of this, Lucian used Chip Away, spying an opening just above the Bisharp's hip. The hit was successful, and the desired reaction also came, Lucian was released from the grip of the pincer-like things on the Bisharp's torso. With haste, Lucian retreated a few feet, giving the Bisharp a chance to get up. "Who are you, and what do you want?!" the Bisharp cried at Lucian. "Hah! I could ask you the samething!" Lucian retorted, speaking so quickly that the words 'same' and 'thing' seemed conjoined as one word. The Bisharp held his hand to the rest of his gang. "Hold back, I'll take care of this barbarian!" he said to his fellow bandits. "It's you whoare the barbarian!" Lucian said, quickly, offended that the barbarian was calling
him the barbarian.
Without warning, the golden Bisharp came at Lucian with full force, powering up with a Swords Dance as he approached. Lucian anticipated this to be a full-on charge, and stepped aside, the Bisharp had anticipated this and sidestepped his own charge to attempt another Aerial Ace, already realizing that Lucian was weak to Flying-type moves. The Aerial Ace slashed Lucian in the stomach, leaving him with a gash as he avoided the rest of the attack. This Bisharp was most certainly strong, Lucian might have been sliced in two if he hadn't avoided the remainder of the attack. Although Lucian was smart enough to know that huis opponent had a weakness to fighting. He was waiting for the right chance to use Hi Jump Kick. Lucian was the first one to strike this time, powering up with Dragon Dance and coming at Bisharp with Dragon Claw, the Bisharp readied two Aerial Ace on both his arms, and Lucian did the same with Dragon Claw. The two then parried each other's moves. The only thing open for Lucian was his mouth, and he took advantage of this by using Crunch. The Bisharp was unexpectedly bitten in the arm, causing his Aerial Ace to disappear, and his arm to falter, this gave Lucian a chance to sidestep the other incoming Aerial Ace, allowing it to miss by stopping his own Dragon Claw. Next, he saw his opening, and went in for the Hi Jump Kick. Clean in the hip, the Hi Jump Kick threw the Bisharp back onto a tree!
The Bisharp got up, dazed. He also seemed to recognize that Lucian was no ordinary fighter. "You... you fight like an elite... a member of the Gold Tribe." the Bisharp said. "Yes, I am of the Gold Tribe!" Lucian replied. Bewildered that the bandit recognized his fighting style. The Bisharp went wide-eyed. "We are of your brethren! We are of the Gold Tribe!" the Bisharp said. "I am Zane Tyrael, Vigil." he said. He had a legitimate title, that proved he was of the Gold Tribe. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to verify if Lucian was telling the truth. "Lucian Tromp, Hoodhide." Lucian replied. "Brother! This has been a misunderstanding." Zane said. "We are of the Gold Tribe! We are survivors! We have just launched an attack on the torturehouse and saved more of our brethren, alongside General Hazone here." Zane explained, and true enough, the Dragonite known as Hazone came up to show himself, he seemed puzzled, wondering what was happening. "Ohno! Nononononononono!" Lucian finally said, taking everything in first. "Oh no, brother, please accept my most humble apologies. I acted before thinking." Lucian said. Looking to the ground in shame. It was only now that he noticed that Zane and the others wore the emblem of the Gold Tribe. How stupid of him!
Luckily for Lucian, Zane was quick to accept. "Worry not, brother. The best warrior is not the one who has made the least mistakes, but the one who has made the most. I forgive you." he said. The Gold Tribe teachings! This Bisharp was certainly of the Gold Tribe. "Come with us, we are on our way to Poseida Ruins, where General Belas has amassed forces to combat the Ancients." Zane said. Lucian went wide-eyed. The Gold Tribe was returning? This was the best news yet! But .... the village. "I would love to, brother, but I owe a debt to a nearby village. They saved my life, and in return I protect them from the Ancients. I must consult them before leaving." he said. Zane looked rather disappointed. "Well, we shall be on our way then." he said. He returned to his group. "Waitwaitwait!" Lucian said. "I will talk to them." he said. Zane nodded. "You know which path we will take if you wish to join us." Zane said, and beckoned for the group to start following him once more. With that, Lucian ran off back to the village.
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"Bye, Lucian!" "By Mr. Tromp!" said a couple kids. Lucian Tromp had packed a couple bottles of water and packs of food. His gash had also been treated by the medics of the forest. All the kids who admired him were saying their goodbyes. Although the village was now relatively unprotected, Lucian had taught some of the defense force a few tricks of the trade, so he didn't doubt they'd get on fine. Soon, he caught up with his brethren. He ran up to Zane. "Heyhey! I'm here." He said, catching up with the Bisharp. The group had already made some progress, but looking at the sky, Lucian could tell it would rain soon. Zane looked at him and nodded. "You won't regret bringing me along, brother. With my knowledge of this forest, I can help you make it through with ease. The Forest Pokemon have taught me all they know." he said. "For example, it will rain soon. We should find shelter." Lucian said. "I know how to make a temporary hut from sticks, stones, and vines, and I know the best trees to take shelter under." he continued. He was hoping to make a better impression on Zane and the Gold Tribe than his first. It was true that all the trees looked the same, but studying their density and their visible amount of leaves, Lucian could calculate how much water would actually make it through to them. "Also, I have some berries for supplies." he said, holding up his basket of berries.