Pokémorph Medieval: The Scattered Shards

[Legend]

Felix was not receptive to Raymond's gesture. This did not bold well for the mercenary as this meant for the first time in his entire life, he was the most talkative person in the group. Alan barely spoke unless spoken to and the Pokemon-eared child (who he believed was called Farin) could barely make out a word without stuttering.

Aside from the fact that Felix barely responded to anything Raymond said, he could sense that Felix was staring at his sword. What? Never saw a two handed sword before? is what Raymond wanted to say. He held himself back. Antagonizing the closest thing he has to an ally, outside of Alan, would be a bad idea. Felix could prove to be useful still. Combing this with Felix not seeming to approve of Raymond extorting money from the leader, it revealed some characteristics: Felix was uptight, serious and not open to questionable activities. If these assumptions were correct on any level, Raymond and Felix would likely clash. Frequently.

As Raymond made his judgements, he could see Felix thinking to himself in the corner of his eye. Before Raymond could think of a witty response, Felix asked a general yet surprising question: "So. What is this way, anyways?"

Shock, some anger, and confusion were the first emotions to arise in Raymond's mind. Raymond was sure that he was the only foreigner in the entire group, hailing from Sinnoh. He had assumed that everyone know the general geography of Johto as a result. Raymond, himself, had at least an idea where the major cities were in Sinnoh. As such, Felix's ignorance to his the geography of his own nation bothered Raymond some what. Oh well, he thought. No reason to hold it against him.

Raymond's travels in Johto for the past year had thought him some of the geography. While he had better knowledge of the western half, he did travel briefly in the eastern half. He prides himself on studying enough maps to learn all the routes, shortcuts and anything else that would make him a better escort for traders and merchants, which made up most of his clients.

"If I recall correctly, we should be entering New Bark soon. It's a small village. I don't know much more than that. There isn't a tavern so I never stayed there longer than I had to." Raymond jogged a bit ahead and perched himself on a hill. Squinting, Raymond scanned the surrounding area, hoping to stir up some memories from his travels. It has been a while since he traveled in this area and the possibility of him not having the most up to date information was certainly plausible.

"There," he pointed forward to a small garrison. "Once we past that gate, New Bark should be to the east. However, we could also go to Cherrygrove to the west. Up to you guys in the end, but Cherrygrove has more activity. We might be able to hear some whispers that could lead us to shards or something. The tavern there always has some travelers there spreading some rumors. That's just my opinion."

The reality was that Raymond did not want to assume the role of leader quite yet. He was fine being a follower. However, given the group dynamics, Raymond was the oldest and most experienced. Becoming leader may be unavoidable. This choice could determine how this group will operate.

(OOC: I do remember the route south of Blackthorn not leading directly to New Bark, so I decided to make this moment an epic choice time. Where shall the group go? *cue dramatic music*)

 

[Pheonix987]

((OOC: :P I seem to like posting after you do, Raikiri.))

"W-what is y-your name?"

Alana raised an eyebrow. He seemed quiet. Heck, he was stuttering. Hopefully, he was just one of those strong, silent types, like her father.

"My name is Alana. Farin, eh? You fight well?" She asked, quick and to the point. While waiting for an answer, her mind wandered off again, thinking about the past events. Again. It all felt like a dream. The shards, the mass of PokeMorphs...

Hell, she didn't even know there were more of her kind. Alana thought back to her Pokemon form. She hadn't shown it to anyone yet (save for a few passerbys, who immediately began to freak out.), not even in the group. She did not mind whether anyone saw it, unless said someone was an enemy. It was an ace up her sleeve. Alana thought about the shard, now slightly jumping around in her pocket. Even then, she could feel its power flowing through her. "I wonder if I evolved." the shard was there to give power to its wielder; maybe it would let her evolve into a Quil-thingy. Maybe she would check later.

A sudden rustle from a tree startled Alana. Suddenly, a Spearow dived from the tree, squacking. Alana quickly swerved to one side. however, the nicked her skin, leaving a small scratch.

"Tch! careless of me...shouldnt've let my guard down." She bit back a curse, skidding to one side of the road. The Spearow squacked again, doing another skewer-dive towards Alana. This time, Alana inhaled, exhaled, and swung her staff at the incoming Pokemon. She missed, however, and luckily the pokemon did, too. Alana quickly thought of other ways to take down the Spearow. A sudden idea came to mind.

Yes, it was stupid. It would hurt. but who cared?

Alana prepared herself as the dived (yet again -_-) at her. timing it just right, Alana jumped to one side and caught the kamikaze Pokemon in her hands. The force of the diving scraped her hands, but Alana held onto the now struggling Spearow. Finally, reaching out with one of her hands, Alana expertly twisted the neck of the Spearow for a quick, easy kill. The quickly fell limp.

Sighing, Alana took another of the herbs and ate it. She would treat the hands later. She held it up.

"Look, I found dinner."

((OOC: And the posts get shorter and shorter -_-;;))

 

[sandeon]

"My name is Alana. Farin, eh? You fight well?" Alana said to Farin. Farin froze, he never really fought. Except for hunting. Not much good with a weapon, but good at spotting things out and good on the evasive and stamina side of things. Before he could go on Alana was no longer walking next to him, rather she had a Spearow in her hands, "Look, I found dinner."

Farin no longer knew if he should answer her. He wanted to be able to help during fights but really needed someone to teach him in some way. He took a deep breath in, held it, then walked over to Alana, with all of his words already formed in his head, to assure smooth speech. "I'm not really good at fighting, but I would really like it if you where to teach me h-how to be better at it." He finished with a couple twitches of his ear, and awaited the answer.

 

[Garet]

Jolim was just barely putting his pack on after depositing the fletched arrow-ends when he heard a dull thud. The one-eyed 'morph began to run in the direction he thought the sound had come from, thinking back a little to the clouds and the wind, which had just picked up a little. He still didn't sense any imminent disasters. Maybe this would just be a regular storm... Another thud sounded, this time not as dull.

A cliff came into sight within the minute, and Jolim arrived just in time to see the Donphan ram the blue-and-white 'morph. Seconds after the Dratini hit the mountainside, introducing the cliff to a deep crater, Jolim had the impression that if that particular section of the cliff was hit just as hard a second time, then a rockslide would be possible.

The Donphan, meanwhile, had rolled to a stop, then turned to glare at a boy with orange hair, dragging a foot against the ground. Ignoring the thought that he might've seen that boy before, Jolim, who was still a little ways back, concentrated on morphing.
Several seconds later, an Absol wearing a black bandana placed itself in front of the orange-haired boy, facing the Donphan. The elephant-like Pokemon shifted its glare to Jolim then, letting out a challenging cry before rolling again.

I haven't done this before, Jolim thought suddenly, bracing himself. Oh, well. Acting on an instinct he hadn't felt before, he stepped forward to meet the Donphan's rolling charge with a slash from the scythe on his own head.
At first, the only effect on the gray elephant was to change the direction of its charge, rolling right past the orange-haired kid. It did stop a few yards further on, trumpeting angrily.
Jolim, on the other hand, tumbled backwards from the force of the impact, knocking over the orange-haired boy. Ouch. That really hurt.

 

[moon]

Kiyoshi only had time to open his mouth and splurt out a "Wha-" before Jolim tumbled right into him. They both ended up in a messy pile in the dust. Kiyoshi pulled himself up into a sitting position, shaking his head furiously.

"What the hell did you do that for? When a fat ball of skin comes rolling towards ya, you move out of the way of course!" he shouted irritatedly at the Absol. Then he noticed that the white pokémon was in pain. "Uh, you ok?"

The Donphan trumpeted at them, turning Kiyoshi's attention back to it. "That thing ain't dead yet? What's wrong with it?"

Something glanced through the dust. It came from one of the elephant's forelegs. Kiyoshi's eyes grew double the size as he stared. "A shard...!" Immediately, he jumped up, not seemingly hurt at all.

"You, mister... or miss, whatever you are," he said to the elephant. "You have got something you apparently can't use properly, and I happen to like shiny things. So I'mma get it!"

He dashed forward and the elephant tried to do the same, but its leg was badly hurt. In the corner of his eye, Kiyoshi spotted the little Phanphy covering behind the Dratini. Kiyoshi stopped dead in his tracks, but then remembered the Donphan and just barely evaded the next Rollout by rolling to the side himself. Again on the ground in a cloud of dust, he looked straight at the Phanphy. "It's your mom or something, isn't it?" he asked the creature.

"And... ahaaa. Hey, you guys!" he shouted towards Teiiji, Mitchell and Jolim, forgetting the elephant who was rolling around, turning to come about again from behind the orange haired guy. "I just got an idea, well, maybe we shouldn't kill this elephant after all."

Maybe he wouldn't say that if he got struck by the impending Rollout smack he would suffer in just a few seconds unless something or someone stopped the elephant or got him out of the way...

 

[Ash_Ketchum123]

Teijii woke up with a fishing rod in his hands. Wait. So all of that was just a dream? he thought, but he knew they weren't. He felt three tugs on his pole. On instinct, he pulled. The fish on the other line fought back with a pull of its own. Tei smiled. He loved it when the things he catches fight back. He pulled again, but the fish pulled too. It was like playing a game of "tug of war." When Tei had had his fun, he pulled with a great amount of strength, hoping that the line would not break. Finally, the fish he had caught jumped out from the water, and revealed itself to be a Dratini. Dratinis were rare around these parts. Heck, they were rare everywhere. This was truly a sight to behold. He pulled in his catch of the day. "Gramps! Look at what I've caught!" Deja vu. He turned his attention towards his prize catch. Suddenly, a voice filled his head. A voice that told him about what would happen someday. The voice told him that he would someday become just like him and that Tei would remember this day and it would save not only his life, but someone else's as well. Teijii shook his head. I'm just hearing things, he decided, but he knew very well that he wasn't. Tei liked to cloud his thoughts with lies even though what he knew was real. The voice spoke again. This time, it told him that if Tei set him free, he would give him something that would help one day. That must mean this voice is coming from this Dratini. he told himself. He pondered on it for a while. Finally, he gave in. He placed the Dratini back in the river. The serpentine dragon did a back-flip and swam near shore. It left behind a gem that looked like a tear of water. With one final flip, the Dratini swam back to the depths of its habitat.

When his grandfather arrived, the Dratini was long gone, and the only thing he saw was his grandson with a tear-shaped gem in his hands. Teijii made it into a necklace and have kept it in his pocket ever since, just in case the Dratini was telling the truth.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tei was awakened by an incessant nudging. He turned his head, and to his surprise, he was able to. He remembered being injured really badly by the enraged Donphan, and he was sure that was real. Somehow, he has recovered from those great injuries. He saw the Phanpy nudging him. When the blue elephant saw that the Dratini was doing fine, it stopped its nudges. Tei noticed that he was wearing the tear-shaped gem necklace around his neck. It seemed to have just appeared there by itself. He saw the orange-haired boy rolling just in time to dodge one of the Donphan's Rollout attacks. He looked over to the Phanpy behind Tei and shouted, "It's your mom or something, isn't it?" Tei didn't have the time to turn around and face the blue elephant, but the voice in his head said yes. The boy's face suddenly lit up. "And... ahaaa. Hey, you guys! I just got an idea, well, maybe we shouldn't kill this elephant after all," he shouted. Then, the gray elephant turned and rolled behind the orange-haired boy. Teijii wanted to shout at him. He knew how it felt to be hit by that thing, and he wasn't sure how a human would take it.

He opened his mouth to shout, but what came out wasn't his voice. In fact, what came out was more useful than a warning. A blue orb formed from his mouth, and when the gem on his necklace shone, the blue orb got bigger. Tei released the ball of energy, making it slide across the ground and hit the gray elephant. It hit the Donphan's side, making it lose momentum and stop rolling. It was down, but not for long. It hopped back and seemed to be even more angrier, and the shard in its leg shone even more brighter. Tei didn't know why, but he finally knew how to work Dratini's attacks. He promised himself to go easy on the creature, even if it DID almost kill him. The Donphan rolled towards him again, as is if it hasn't learned its lesson yet. Teijii let out another blast of water, and it hit the Donphan, but this time, it didn't stop rolling. It just seemed to go slower than before. The Phanpy behind him ran away as Tei took this moment to dodge the Donphan's attack. As expected, the gray elephant followed. It drifted and turned towards Tei and rolled even more quicker now. Tei decided to switch arsenal. Out of instinct, he rammed straight at the rolling Donphan. He used a lot of speed so that when he hit the gray elephant, he would experience less pain if it backfired. They collided in the middle of the Donphan's rolling and both of them flew backward. The gray elephant managed to stay on its foot, but his right foreleg seemed to have suffered from his enduring. That's when Tei had an idea, It was like one of those moments where an imaginary light bulb appeared above someone's head because they thought of a brilliant idea, and his idea was brilliant indeed.

First, he readied his next attacks. Hopefully, these will also be his last attacks for this moment, since it would seem like they would take a lot out of Tei's energy. The Donphan trumpeted once, then proceeded to its rolling. Tei used Agility to increase his movement speed. When the rolling gray elephant was near, Tei slithered(?) to its side and Slam'd him with immense speed. The agility of the attack made the Donphan stumble sidewards, and as quickly as he could, Tei used Ice Beam on all its foot, but emphasizing more on its right foreleg. The elephant struggled to be freed from its captivity. The ice that covered all of his feet cracked, except the right foreleg's. Finally, the last move that will determine if his plan was a success or not, he rushed towards the creature's trapped foreleg. Tei's serpentine body was surrounded in a light blue orb with white streaks. The Donphan's eyes were filled with fear, and the voice in his head told him to keep going. Tears fell from the Dratini's eyes but Tei kept going for it. He needed to do this. For the Phanpy. He slammed at the right foreleg and the force of the impact caused dust to fly all around them.

At corner of his eye, he saw something shiny fly off and fall onto the ground. When the dust cleared, he saw that the Donphan had calmed down, and was now just lying on the ground with an injured leg. He morphed back to human and picked up the shard that flew off a while ago. He thought he saw a purple aura covering the shard, but shrugged it off. "Hey, guys. I think this Donphan needs some treating. Does anyone here know how to treat a sprained leg?" he shouted over to the others, but after he did, exhaustion sprang up towards everywhere in his body. He collapsed to the ground, but was still conscious. Looks like the Donphan's not the only one who needed treating.

((OOC: Sorry if I ruined the fun for everyone else. A sudden attack of inspiration led me to do this...))

 

[Wolf in the Rain]

After a short pause, Raymond answered Felix's inquire.

"If I recall correctly, we should be entering New Bark soon. It's a small village. I don't know much more than that. There isn't a tavern so I never stayed there longer than I had to."

Directions were never Felix's strong point, so e had no choice but to accept Raymond's description. Question answered (and with relative ease, at that), Raymond jogged up to the hill in front of them.

New Bark Town: Felix had never actually been there in person, but he had heard stories about the small village, mostly stories praising the small community from his father, and from that, not much. In fact, all he remembered was an anecdote about a Pokemon hating old hag. No wonder his father liked it so much.

"There," Raymond mused, pointing southward as the rest of the group followed in behind him. "Once we past that gate, New Bark should be to the east. However, we could also go to Cherrygrove to the west. Up to you guys in the end, but Cherrygrove has more activity. We might be able to hear some whispers that could lead us to shards or something. The tavern there always has some travelers there spreading some rumors. That's just my opinion."
A long pause followed Raymond proposition. Cherrygrove sounded nice and all. Obviously, nobody was very keen making a decision, well, at least Felix wasn't. The wind swirled around the hilltop, flicking his cloak as Felix surveyed the area.

So, New Bark or Cherrygrove. Felix took a subtle glance towards the others, most particularly, the morph with the most shards. Crossing his arms, Felix let out a brief sigh, about to respond when a fairly inconsiderate Spearow interrupted him, dive-bombing out of a tree, and flying straight toward Alan. She swung her staff at the bird, both attacker and the attacked missing their attempts to kill each other. Felix's right hand shot up and grabbed the hilt of his sword, the other, stayed in his pocket, grasping the shard tight, feeling the energy rush through his being.

However, he never got to try his newfound power. As the Spearow attacked once more, Alan grabbed the bird in mid-flight, snapping its neck in one, fluid motion.

Luckily, (and as far as Felix could infer) none of them were bird-Pokemorphs.

Taking a bite of some sort of herb, she held the bird-Pokémon up. "Look, I found dinner."

"Yeah, you did." Felix smirked, his hand falling from his sword as he began walking down the hill. "You don't mind carrying that for a while, do you? I bet we can trade it for a nice, hot, meal when we get to Cherrygrove."

(OOC: Flipped a coin, Cherrygrove won xD)