Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Destination Unown

[Spammy]

Each step Terrence took caused a noticeable thud in the earth, his steps slow but covering a good bit of ground with each one. Other Pokemon would have thought nothing special of his pace, but his teammates probably knew him well enough to know he was in a hurry. It was a long way up north, to the foothills skirting the Aggron Mountains, the impassable barrier between the harsh Northern Desert and the rest of the world.

The three main peaks, resembling the horns of an Aggron, were visible stabbing up into the blue sky through the occasional gap in the trees. Terr gave them an aside glance whenever they came into view. His eyes were scanning anything in view, for any sign of Sero, to his teammates, to the path ahead to make sure he didn't scrape his tree against any low-hanging branches. The mountain side of his shell was pretty immune to damage, but he was very partial about the tree. He was just glad it was done flowering so he didn't have to endure any more jokes.

"So…" Terr began, clearing his throat as the canopy broke into a small patch of blue sky, "He's probably the type that's going to run as soon as we corner him, so one of you need to get in front of him and block him off. There's no way I could keep up with either of you if this turns into another chase."

"And keep your eyes open, Sero could be any... There..." Terr cut himself off as they reached a dirt ridge overlooking a tiny creek. And down at the bottom, was a Toxicroak leaning over the stream, getting a drink. Terr and Sero's eyes met, staring in a mute surprise.

After a moment as Sero started to move, Terr quietly said to his teammates: "I think it's time to get to work."

 

[Fluffy]

[bg=green]Skylar was walking beside his companions silently, keeping pace with Terrence with no complaints. They were in a rush, but moving ahead would do no good. Sky himself depended on the massive friend of his for a shield and with their abilities combined, there could be fruitful results.

"Don't worry, big guy. I'll zoom in and block his path, no matter where he tries to go." Skylar assured, making a proud smile. Speed was something he heavily relied on and in the case of catching someone, it could come in handy. If he could keep the Toxicroak distracted long enough, that could open opportunities for Terr and Rei to attack!

With a quiet buzz, his wings began to lift him from the ground. Skylar hovered above his teammates and looked to Sero from where he was. There was a silence between the stares of Terrance and Sero, at which point he decided to use to his advantage.

The moment he had his chance, Skylar sped in the Toxicroak's direction, twirling around him at an frustratingly fast pace. Should Sero find a gap in the Scyther tornado, it would be no problem for him to follow and stand right in his way. Skylar's scythe-like claws were certainly something to fear if you met him face to face.[/bg]

 

[Dusk Kitsune]

Rei sniffed the air as she trotted beside the others, alert for anything that might indicate they were going in the right direction, or perhaps the wrong one. To find their prey had slipped away after they had come this far would not please the Arcanine, or the others, she was sure. However for a while there had been a faint scent on the wind and though she couldn't track it, at least it told her their mark wasn't halfway to the other side of the region already.

Turning her head towards Terrence as he spoke she nodded in agreement, but didn't speak, letting Skylar instead agree to block him off. WIth his air advantage she was sure the scyther would have an easier time getting in the way of the escaping Toxicroak. "Don't worry Terr, we'll keep him in one spot for you"

There would once have been a time where she would have instead insisted on talking to the mark first, seeing if they could get them to come quietly, but after the how well the first few attempts to do so had gone, she'd come to realise that there were few willingly to do so and their best bet was strike hard and fast.

The second Sero came into view she crouched, ready to charge if necessary, although she could already hear the buzz of Skylar's wings as he took off towards the Toxicroak. Not able to let off a fire attack incase she hit the Scyther she remained where she was, ready to cut Sero off if he came towards them, or the opportunity to charge without the risk of frying her companion.

 

[Spammy]

Terr watched Skylar buzz off to corner Sero, grateful for the time bought as he looked over the ridge apprehensively. For a species not known for agility, this drop looked pretty intimidating. He looked at Rei out of the corner of his eye. She could get down this thing with her eyes closed, but she was waiting.

"Oh boy..." He said after he took a deep breath as he put his front legs over the edge and onto the slope, lowering himself onto his stomach, and then pushed off, leaving a deep furrow in the dirt as he slid down. He let out out a groan as he reached the bottom, shaking his underside off as he got to his feet before thumping towards Skylar and Sero.

==

Sero wasn't going to wait in the tornado anymore. When he saw Terr start to slide down the ridge, he crouched and then launched himself at the walls of the tornado, barbs first, not caring if he ran into something. He did, and the impact knocked him way off of his planned leap, as he landed in a heap in the river.

"Yer not taking me in!" He said as he got to his feet, wobbling for a moment before making a break for the trees, only to come to a skidding stop so suddenly he fell backwards, as a well-aimed Seed Bomb dropped in front of him.

==

Terrence pulled his bulk over the river, lowering his body slightly to get ready to aim another Seed Bomb, not saying a word to the fugitive, just matching his glare, both knowing a fight is inevitable.

 

[Dusk Kitsune]

As Rei hung back, watching Terr make his slow way down ridge, she wondered whether she should forget about the possiblity of Sero turning back, and just attack with the other two. While she couldn't use her ranged fire attack for fear of Skylar, she wasn't limited to them. Plus with Terrence coming in from the same side, the chance of Sero heading towards them was low, unless he thought he could duck around the grass pokemons large bulk. Still, if she moved, and Sero took his chance...it was that possibility that made her hesitate.

When Sero did make a break, forcing his way out of the tornado it wasn't towards them, but the river and trees. Leaping down from her post Rei readied to take chase, half reprimanding herself for not considering the other sides. However before she could even start to head him off, Terrence's seed bomb got there first, causing the Toxicroack to fall over, and allowing Rei to see a chance.

Running towards the river she leapt across it to avoid getting wet. While not made of fire, her typing still made her averse to water, and the last thing she needed was to break her focus she had wet paws. As she landed she span in the direction of the Toxicroak and opened her mouth letting out a burst of fire. The fire Spin attack stream towards the toad spinning into a small tornado of fire in an attempt to immobilise or slow him down. At least that was unless he was just going to force his way out of it like he had with Skylar's attack.

 

[Fluffy]

[bg=green]Skylar was safely above the scene of his comrades launching their attacks at the Toxicroak. While hanging in the air, he recuperated from the dizziness gained during the fast paced swirling he did around their victim. That tactic of his was still fairly new, so he had to get used to the after effects.

He admitted, for a while he was paranoid around Rei. Fire made him nervous, no matter who or what the source was. Over time though, he learned of her caution. She'd never launch fire at them if she knew the risks that came with it. Therefore, he grew fond of her abilities. Rei was smart; Rei was careful.

With the fire spinning around Sero, Sky dropped slowly to the ground, some distance in between him and the Fire Spin attack. He gave a menacing look to the Toxicroak, his scythe-like claws shining in the sunlight to make them look all the sharper. The Scyther was ready to make a dash after Sero if, by chance, he hopped away.[/bg]

 

[Spammy]

"Give it up!" Terr yelled as Rei caught Sero in a flaming vortex, even though he could see the Pokemon looking for another way out already. Either looking for another way out or who he thought he could defeat the fastest.

"I told ya, it ain't happening!" Came the yelled reply as Sero crouched, letting out a loud croak to churn up his poison sac before he covered his face with his arms and leaped through the flames, bouncing back nimbly onto his feet and charging at Rei.

Terr stopped for a second, then started charging forward again, mentally cursing his bulk as he tried to get closer to the fight, as Sero launched himself at Rei, whirling around and aiming to leave a series of poisoned scratches down her sides with his knuckle spikes.

 

[Dusk Kitsune]

The toad was stubborn. Rei had already realised that, but even so seeing him willing jump through the fire made her admire his courage, but only for a brief moment before he began to charge towards her. Crouching, she began to focus as Sero rushed towards her. Dodging might give him the chance to slip pass her, but if she met the attack head on...

Fire burst from her body as she leapt forward to meet the toxicroaks charge, aiming to catch him as he attacked and knock him back with the Flare Blitz attack, while recieving his own. A small price to pay, even if the charge missed, as hopefully the fire encircling her would at least burn him and hinder his escape, giving Terr and Skylar a chance.

As the spikes dug into her flank she forced her self not to falter, following the charge through to try and deal the most damage. As she landed the fire around her extinguished and she whirled around in case he was going to attack again, at the same time breathing slightly more heavily from both the wound he'd inflicted and the recoil from her own attack.

 

[Spammy]

Terr dug his trunklike feet into the ground as he tried to stop, watching Rei charge, slamming into Sero and knocking the Toxicroak backwards head over heels. He clamped his jaws shut as he saw that she was wounded, angry at Sero for hurting his teammate and angry at himself for allowing it to happen.

He lurched after Sero, catching him with a vicious Crunch as the toad tried to get onto his feet, tossing him back over the river, against the ridge. Terr lined up another Seed Bomb, jerking his body around to launch when he saw it.

An Eevee, obviously running from something, about to discover the ridge by surprise and tumble right over onto Sero. It was too late to cancel the attack, the only thing Terr could do was overshoot, swinging around wildly to bomb a part of the ridge downstream.

"Nice aim, sucker!" Sero croaked as he started to hop up the ridge, knocking the Eevee onto the slope with a, "Beat it, kid," as he got to the top, cackling as he hopped away.

Terr sighed as he watched the small Pokemon slowly slide through the loose dirt onto the riverbank, watching the spot on the ridge where Sero had run off from. "Well... there goes my good mood for the day."

 

[Fluffy]

[bg=green]Chasing after the Toxicroak would have been pointless. Rei was wounded and Terr wasn't the quickest Pokemon around, so Skylar would have had to go it alone. So, he lowered his defenses and shook his head, putting his mind through a series of curse words and not-so-nice names for himself. Sky took it hard when he failed a mission.

The Scyther buzzed over to his teammates, landing beside the Arcanine. He gave her a sympathetic look, the tip of his nose reaching up to nuzzle into the fur of her neck. "You going to be okay, Rei?" he asked her. She took quite some damage from the poisonous foe of theirs that he knew shouldn't be ignored.

Then, he looked to Terr, whose mood was already growing bitter. Skylar kept his words of encouragement silent for the time being. Sero escaped and an innocent Eevee was harassed in the process, so motivational speaking might seem tactless for the moment.

A few words wouldn't hurt, though: "We'll get 'im, Terr. You woulda had Sero if it weren't for that, eh... Inconvenience, I guess.

I wonder what the little guy was running from."[/bg]

 

[Dusk Kitsune]

Failure. Even though her attack had hit, at the sacrifice of taking his own, the toad had still manaed to get away. She'd taken a risk, a risk that she shouldn't have taken. Now she was forced to face the consequences as she watched their mark running away. Even before she started to move she knew she wouldn't be able to achieve her full speed, so she didn't even attempt to try, instead slowly walking back to the river, head down and trying not to limp.

As Sky spoke to her she gathered herself, pushing the failure out of her mind. It was best not to dwell on such things. After all nothing could be done about them, no matter how much one may wish to do so. Opening her mouh in a weary smile, she answered the Scythers concern. "I'll live. It was just a scrape." Brave words, but she didn't want them worrying over her, especially when her being wounded was half the reason they had lost their mark. The wound hurt, and she could only hope poison was not setting in, but even so her pride hurt more.

She wanted to apologise, but she realised with their current mood it might not help much. Instead she turned her attention to the other reason that had cost them the Toxicroak. "That eevee...is he okay?"

 

[Spammy]

"Well, why don't we just ask him." Terr said as he watched Sky make sure that Rei was still okay. She was trying to act brave, meant it had to be worse than it looked. He turned back towards the Eevee, who was still getting up from tumbling down the slope, and stepped up to it, his bad move probably evident on his face.

"I don't know where you came from kid, but..." Terr stopped mid-sentence as he saw the look on that Eevee's face and the small whimper she made. Must be scary for a kid, knocked down a slope and cornered by three big Pokemon.

He let out a defeated sigh as he looked away and down, closing his eyes. Terrorizing kids was not part of an Adventure Team's duty. Kid comes first, bad mood second.

"Sorry about that, kid. We're not gonna hurt you. We're actually an Adventure Team." He said, trying to make his voice as friendly as he could. "You got a name? Where're your parents?"

"M-my name is Elena..." She said finally, in a voice that was still scared. "And... and... and... I don't know where my parents are." She was nearly shivering at the end of that statement, her eyes tightly shut as she tried to concentrate.

"It's okay, don't worry, we're here to help," Terr spoke quickly, trying to keep the girl from panicking. "Nearest village from here... that's Creekview, right? Little ways up north?" He asked as he stepped back to give Elena a little more room, looking back at Rei and Skylar.

 

[Fluffy]

[bg=green]Skylar lowered his claws and walked towards the Eevee, doing his best to not look threatening. His fangs were longer than a usual Scyther's and he was highly capable of cutting a being in half. That often made him feel something like a monster... Letting that fact plague him wasn't the best idea right now, though. Someone needed their help. The poor child was so intimidated; so lost.

"We'll help ya find your parents," he assured Elena. Skylar's team didn't refuse the needs of others, even when they already had missions assigned to them. Besides, maybe this was a good opportunity to lift their spirits. Accomplishments did wonders for a Pokemon's confidence.

Looking to Terr, he said, "Creekview shouldn't be too long of a walk. We can look for some treatment there for Rei, too!"

Skylar then turned his back to Elena, lowering himself to the ground to offer his back to her. "Wanna ride, kid? You can help point your home to us. I promise I'm a safe flyer."

Seeing things from above was much easier than below, after all.[/bg]