((OOC: Sorry for posting late, but I don't seem to have Internet 24/7. D:<))
Alana was late. Very late.
She took her time going up the mountain, trying not to slip. Even so, she lost her footing once or twice, nearly sending herself onto the hard ground...or worse.
Even though mountain climbing was very exerting, it required very little thinking, just which ledge to grab and/or support yourself with. That gave Alana much time to think. About the Swellow that told her about the Order of the Celebi. The shards, her village, PokeMorphs, heck, everything that was mysterious and hit her mind like a Machop swinging a mallet. Save the pain.
"Celebi..." Alana brooded as she grabbed onto a small yet sturdy ledge. Another reason to think was to ignore the numbness in her limbs. Mt. Silver was heck of a thing to climb. She climbed onto the ledge, silently wishing that she never made this journey. If she hadn't, she would probabaly be on the outskirts of her old village, scavenging for Zigzagoons or the occasional Stantler or Tauros, maybe come across the many fleeing Mareep or Miltank from the burnt village. If not, Alana always had the berries that grew in abundance. She kept wondering why she even agreed to travel to the shrine every step of the way. She realized about halfway on the trip that there was no logical explanation; it just seemed right at the time. To accept to travel to a faraway mountain because a Swellow told her to. And now she was tired. She hardly stopped to rest on the way, only stopping by to eat once or twice. She thought she would go quicker this way. Obviously, Alana was wrong. The days of almost endless walking (and sometimes running) took their toll on her, and there she was, exhausted and sitting on a ledge that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Many times, she considered quitting, but she didn't. And now, she couldn't. The descent from this Arceus-forsaken mountain would just take up more time and energy than the rest of the climb. She looked right and left, her neck cracking from all the time it had to look up. Her left was fairly similar to her climb ahead: dirt, dirt and more dirt. Her right was slightly different: it still had loads of dirt, but a few bushes and a well-beat path adorned it.
...Wait a minute...
Well-beat PATH?!
Alana groaned loudly to herself. How could she be so STUPID?! Missing the path like that, and climbing the mountain 3/4 of the way?! Not to mention she backtracked at least six times on the climb because something secure on the mountain wasn't near enough. And of course, even before that, she almost started climbing the wrong mountain before the person who was kind enough to give her directions happened to see her climbing it. Berating herself, Alana slowly walked to the path (luckily, there were footholds and the occasional handhold that led to the path) and, reaching it, immediately resumed walking towards the summit. Her feet were shaking a bit, adjusting to the flat, solid ground.
"Being a PokeMorph...I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not." Alana mused. Of course, turning into a Pokemon was effecient, not to mention much more convenient than lighting a fire and roasting the Pokemon she had killed, but she wondered if it was worth it. People despised her now. She learned that the hard way when she accidentely transformed into her Pokemon form, Cyndaquil, in front of a few unsuspecting adults, and was almost stoned. Luckily, her Pokemon form was small, so she managed to slip into the bushes. After that, Alana vowed to be more restrained with transforming, at least not in front of people. Every step of the way, she wondered what her parents would think...what her friends would say when they were finally reunited, and found out that she was a PokeMorph. Would they accept it? Would they hate her forever for her ability? These questions swarmed her mind during the most of her hike. Alana flatly refused to believe that the villagers were dead. Of course, the Whatifs were nagging at her mind, saying "What if they got eaten by a strong Pokemon?" and "What if their corpses were completely burned up, and that's why you couldn't find their bodies?" It was annoying, she didn't believe those voices, but somewhere in her heart, a traitorous little part whispered "Yes, you do." As long as that part existed, Alana couldn't completely banish those thoughts out of her mind.
It was simple: She WILL meet with her friends and family. Although she could do this herself, travelling with others could be easier on her. Like other people said, Alana was notoriously lazy, and the easy way out of these thoughts seemed good.
She looked up to see that she had reached the summit. A temple was sitting proudly in the background. She eagerly ran forwards, only to slow down as she saw that other PokeMorphs had already arrived. In fact, they seemed to be waiting for her. Alana silently cursed herself for being so stupid during the journey, and joined her fellow PokeMorphs. Seeing them, only one out of all eight or so seemed to be ecstatic about the whole thing. Another looked slightly apprehensive. A man, sitting away from the others, seemed slightly dissappointed, and was twirling his weapon round his fingers. Yet another looked impatient. The rest, it seemed, were either anxious or deep in thought. Looking at one PokeMorph that was brooding hard, Alana was surprised to see that he had started to transform into a Pokemon with big, purple eyes and a long, snake-ish body.
Suddenly, another PokeMorph, shouted, "So, are we going or not? The ones who haven't come yet are lazy," in a slightly arrogant voice. He was the ecstatic one. She slightly fumed. It wasn't technically her fault she was so late...right?
A bit later, another PokeMorph stood up, shouting, "So, when shall we leave!?" She looked around to see if anyone was about to make some grand speech, but saw none. For once, her laziness subsided a little, and Alana decided to break the ice and the tension that seemed to surround the group.
"Who's up for introducing themselves?" She spoke. After, she laid down on the ground, her staff gripped tightly in her right hand.
