[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 2- New Places, New Faces!

[Shadow Sketches]

Route 2 Forest - Troublesome Bunnies - Alecks and Alice

"Eh...Hey, we're not there yet but we're on our way so we shouldn't take too lon- Hey! Stop that!!!" One of the Buneary's had decided he wanted to take a closer look at the odd object Aleck's was talking to. Jumping up to grab Aleck's arm, hanging on to it while looking over at the strange watch. "Get off, I'm in the middle of something! Hey,wait!!!" Now came the rest of the Buneary's, suddenly very curious themselves over what all the fuss was about. The screen of the Xtransceiver was now shaking slightly, the screen being blocked by the brown and yellow fleeces of the Bunnys' as they all tried to get closer looks. Aleck's voice muffled by the sound of the large ruckus the Buneary's were making.

Finally, after letting this go on for a couple moments, Lopunny finally stepped in and put her foot down. Stomping on the ground once to get all the herd's attention and glaring at them like a scolding mother. One by one the Buneary's disbanded from around Alecks and returned to walking forward, some with their heads down in embarrassment. When the screen finally focused back on Aleck's face, he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "Uh yeah...on our way.." He mumbled.

[Jory]

Route 2- Main Path- "Onward to Striation City!"

Jason nodded, scratching his head after the incident with the Buneary. "Alright. Sounds good. Take it easy, man. See you in a bit," he concluded, hanging up the call and continuing to walk with the rest of the group.

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2 Main Path - "Onward to Striaton City!" - Mio

Mio beamed as Jason praised Meena's skill and agility, puffing up somewhat. "Yeah, she's pretty awesome..." he said, smiling down at Meena's pokeball.

He leaned over to take a look at Alecks's call, eyes widening at what looked like a whole colony of Buneary. He whistled as Jason hung up, amazed.

"I'm a little jealous!" He said, beginning to chew on his lip again. He winced as he bit down on the spot he'd bitten through earlier. "Ow-- Buneary are so cool; I heard they can punch with their ears! I have to wonder how that works... maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have brought one back with them..."

[K_H]

Route 2 - Halted House - "Creepy Clearing!" - Jack

Jack was rather impressed by the Drawings on the wall, but realized that a lot of time had seemed to pass, and decided to call Jason for two reasons. One of them was to let the other trainer know that he might be a bit delayed in getting to the rendezvous point and why he'd be late if he was, and the other one was to ascertain the location of said point. However, when he went to call, he noticed that the XTransceiver was malfunctioning, so he just put that fact in the back of his head and went to investigate the pile of boxes instead, slightly more irritated than he was before at the fact that his XTransceiver was non-functional in the place he was in.

Edited July 22, 2016 by K_H

[Jory]

Route 2- Main Path- "Onward to Striation City!"

Jason nodded. "Definitely Bunearys. You can tell by the fur coloration and tufting on the ears," he said, pantomiming a set of rabbit ears on Rascal's head. The Minccino shook his head rapidly, preventing his Trainer from keeping up the demonstration for long. "And I'm sure one of them caught one. After all, Buneary can be pretty rare. If I ran into one, I'm sure I'd catch it!" he said with a grin. "First, I'd use Rascal's Pound attack to get its HP low! Then," he said, pretending he had a ball in his hand. "I'd chuck a Poke Ball and hope for the best!"

He looked off into the distance ahead of them, pointing his finger. Off in that direction, the rocky ridge in the middle of Route 2 loomed over the Main Path. Now that they were closer, they could see that the path to go up and over traversed multiple times back and forth across the face of the ridge before flattening out at the top. It was safe to assume that there was a similar arrangement on the other side. Although they couldn't see what lay on the other side of the ridge, the XTransceiver's map indicated that there were a few small bodies of water and a large forest. However, the ridge road was marked as the safest, most direct, and least time-consuming path. "Speaking of Alecks and Alice, we're going to meet them at the foot of the ridge. Hopefully they'll get there before us and we won't have to wait."

Route 2- Halted House- "Creepy Clearing!"- Jack

Upon closer inspection, the boxes were all taped shut. However, some appeared to have been opened, almost as though whoever packed them had wanted one last look at what was inside. Most of the boxes were two feet by two feet- large boxes meant for moving and storage, not just for sending knick-knacks in the mail. Jack peeked into one, gently lifting half of the lid to see what was inside. He was greeted by the sight of an old, beat-up teddy bear wearing a silver locket. Feeling as though he had seen something he was never meant to, Jack quickly closed the box. The moment the lid touched the rim, Jack felt a familiar force begin to guide him out of the room and into the hallway toward the final unexplored part of the house.

[K_H]

Route 2 - Halted House - "Creepy Clearing!" - Jack

Feeling the familiar force pull on him once more, Jack followed its' guidance, walking into the hallway and then opening the second door, walking through the shadowed doorway. As he walked, he felt a bit intrigued as to what was behind this mysterious door.

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2 Main Path - "Onwards to Striaton City!" - Mio

The young trainer nodded as Jason explained his Pokemon-catching strategy. "You have to be careful with Buneary though; I've heard they often have fighting-type moves, and they can pack a real punch."

He realized after he spoke that while they'd heard from Alecks, Jack hadn't been in touch since they'd split up. "Speaking of meeting up... Jack knows where we're meeting, right? Maybe I should make sure..." He fiddled with his XTransciever, hesitating over the call button. Would it be weird to call? They didn't exactly get off on the right foot, what with Meena and Lara's not-so-little spat, but it wasn't like Mio and Jack themselves didn't get along...

Gritting his teeth against his rising anxiety, Mio pressed the dial button and waited. And waited. But Jack didn't answer.

"Uhm. That seems a little..." He muttered, suddenly overcome with worry. "I hope he's not in trouble or anything..."

Edited August 1, 2016 by genderlesshawke

[Shadow Sketches]

Route 2 Forest - Troublesome Bunnies - Alecks and Alice

The herd's journey the rest of the way went smoothly, not much happening except the Bunearys constant teasing of one another. Mocha stayed near Alice the whole way, though still managed to played with the rest of her siblings. Who knew if she would ever be able to see any of them again. Though it didn't seem to worry the herd too much, they seemed confident that they would see Mocha again someday.

With Lopunny leading the way through forest shortcuts that she knew like the back of her hands, the herd managed to arrive at the foot of the ridge sooner than anticipated. When they arrived it didn't seem like there were any of the others there yet. "I guess we're ahead of schedule, we can just wait here for the others." Alecks said, walking over to Lopunny. "Thanks for helping us to the ridge, I hope we all get to see each other again someday." Lopunny nodded and smiled, before going over to Mocha where the rest of the herd was hugging her goodbye. The Buneary's made room for Lopunny, who patted Mocha's ears like an affectionate mother. Once everyone said their goodbye, the herd retreated back into the cover of the forest. Lopunny looking back once to give the twins a quick wink before she disappeared.

[Jory]

Amateurs Alecks and Alice have won their battle! Rank C!

-Apollo gained 5 EXP! Apollo leveled up!

-Raven gained 5 EXP! Raven leveled up!

Quest complete: "Troublesome Bunnies"

-Alecks and Alice's Pokemon have each gained 5 EXP!

Titan has gained 1 Move Token!

Route 2- Halted House- "Creepy Clearing!"- Jack

The moment Jack stepped into the room, he saw a noose hanging from the rafters. He did not even have a moment to process this before he felt an incredibly strong wind pick him up and fling him into the wall. However, instead of hitting the wall he felt himself pass through it and into a strange tunnel. Images flashed along the walls as he looked around, changing every half second and not going away as he passed them. He moved quickly, still carried by the mysterious gust and racing through the gallery so quickly he could barely process what he saw. An ambulance. A hospital. A long, loud beep. A funeral with three graves. The interior of an empty car. A dark house, no lights in the windows. A bed too large for one. A desk. The interior of a car. A bed. A desk. A car. A computer. A desk. A car. A computer.

For what seemed like hours, Jack careened through a tunnel with those three images repeating over and over. Just before Jack was sure he would never leave the tunnel, the images began changing again. This time, after the desk, there was a cardboard box. Inside the box was a Lillipup. Hands reached out to it, lifting it up. Jack felt as though he himself was eyeing the dog, inspecting it. It seemed young, and looked at him curiously. The arms held it close. The Lillipup seemed to look back at Jack curiously. Then, the arms moved the puppy away. The next image was a wet shirt.

A car with a Lillipup in the passenger seat. A bowl for food and a bowl for water. A leash. A park. The images continued to change again and again, beginning to fill with the Lillipup, new people, and new places. Eventually, the Lillipup was replaced with a Herdier, and the Herdier with a Stoutland. Then, two graves.

The tunnel turned to darkness, and suddenly a blinding light. Jack found himself back on the hill under the maple. However, the mist had cleared, and the sun was still in the sky. The gray clouds began to roll away from the Route. Then, Jack felt the same hand on his shoulder. When he turned to look at it, he finally saw something. Not the eyeless man from earlier, but an ethereal blue one with a smile on his face and a Stoutland at his side. He stepped toward Jack and embraced, him, giving the Amateur Trainer goosebumps. He then stepped back and waved to Jack as his Stoutland barked. The two dissipated, leaving Jack looking at where he'd been standing earlier. And for some reason, he couldn't find himself surprised at all at what he saw.

Two graves under a red maple tree.

Quest completed: "Creepy Clearing!"

-Leonidas and Lara each gained 8 EXP! Leonidas and Lara leveled up!

-Lara has gained a Move Token!

Jack's XTransceiver dinged in his pocket. When he checked it, it had one missed call from Mio.

[K_H]

Route 2 - Hilltop Clearing - Jack

After he saw that Mio had called him, Jack decided to call the other Trainer back, dialing in the other trainer's XTransceiver Number and pressing the call button. As he waited for the other Trainer to pick up, he sent out Leonidas and Lara once more. The two of them were certainly a lot calmer now that things were back to normal.

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2 Main Path - Onwards to Striaton City - Mio

Mio's XTransciever rang not long after his original call. He picked up immediately, scanning Jack for any signs of injury or distress through the video feed the XTransciever provided. "Jack! I was worri-- um." He cut himself off, flushing slightly. He couldn't tell if it'd be weird to express concern or if the other trainer would be uncomfortable, so he decided to play it cool.
"A-anyway," he continued, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I'm just checking in. We're meeting up at the big ridge in the middle of route two, right? Alecks called and said he and Alice were almost there, so I just wanted to make sure you knew and stuff."

Edited August 1, 2016 by genderlesshawke

[K_H]

Route 2 - Hilltop Clearing - Jack

Jack nodded.

"The Route 2 Ridge? Sounds fine by me. I'll meet you guys there."

Jack then blinked, and paused for a second, then spoke up again.

"I doubt you guys are going to believe the experience that I just had. I'll tell everyone in our group about it when we're all in the same place. See you soon, Mio."

He then hung up, and the trio of Trainer and Pokemon walked up the hill to the gravestones, stopping when they reached the top. As Jack stood there, he closed his eyes and looked downwards, breathing in and out slowly as he shed a single tear of bittersweet emotions. He felt sad that the two buried there had passed on, but at the same time, he was happy that they'd shared a bond similar to the one between Lara and himself. He opened his eyes, looking towards Lara and Leonidas for comfort.

Route 2 - Hilltop Clearing - Lara

As her trainer looked at her, Lara looked back in him, and leaned on her trainer's leg in an attempt to comfort him and to get comfort from him, as she was still slightly rattled from their trip through the mysterious house. She might've been a dark type, but she was first and foremost Jack's closest friend right now. She'd try her hardest to keep him held together in one piece emotionally, no matter what happened.

Route 2 - Hilltop Clearing - Leonidas

As his trainer looked at him, Leonidas rubbed up against Jack's leg in an attempt to comfort him, looking at his owner's face as he did so, a loyal and trusting look on the lion cub's face. He'd been with Jack and Lara for less than an entire day, and already he was highly loyal to his Trainer. Plus, Lara was also a reason that he wanted to stay. He'd have a difficult time choosing between them if he was forced to make a choice- or so he thought, at least.

Route 2 - Hilltop Clearing - Jack

Jack smiled faintly, then looked up at the graves, uttering a small phrase that conveyed how grateful he was before turning around and leading his two Partners down the hill and into the forest towards the ridge that Mio had specified.

"Thank you for all of it."

Edited July 27, 2016 by K_H

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2 Main Path - Onwards to Striaton City - Mio

Mio hummed in curiosity after Jack hung up, the other boy's enigmatic response leaving him filled with questions.

"Jack says he'll meet us there," he said to Jason. "He sounded ok but it... looks like something happened? I hope it's nothing... y'know, like earlier." Mio shuddered, remembering the attack on the Pokécenter.

Edited August 1, 2016 by genderlesshawke

[Jory]

Route 2- Jack

As Jack exited the clearing, he found himself at the base of the ridge despite having been nowhere near it to begin with. When he looked back to see the clearing again, he found that all he could see was the dense forest of Route 2. The clearing had totally disappeared.

In front of him on the path, he could see Alecks and Alice. Just as Mio had said, they'd arrived earlier than everyone else after their shortcut through the forest. Surely the others would be arriving soon; for now, he could rest and decompress.

[Jory]

Route 2- Main Path- "Onward to Striation City!"

Just as Jack emerged from the brush Jason, Brendan, and Mio arrived at the foot of the ridge. It was made of rust-colored, craggy stone. As it moved onto the rock the path became simply a more well-worn section of stone with stairs cut into it. Trees spread around the entire ridge like the sea around an island, the russet ridge a stark contrast against the deep greens of the forest. After more than half a day of traveling, the whole party was beginning to flag. However, they still had a long journey ahead that would take well into the night to complete.

Upon seeing the rest of the group, Jason broke out into a brisk jog. He approached them with a huge grin on his face, taking a quick head count. Seeing all were now present, he looked up at the ridge and then back to the group. "Well, everyone's here! When we're ready we should head up the ridge single file. The traverses can be pretty steep from what my dad told me, so the best strategy is to make sure we don't all pile up. Any volunteers to go first?"

[Shadow Sketches]

Route 2- Main Path- "Onward to Striation City!"- Alecks and Alice

Alecks reached a hand over and placed it on Alice's shoulder "We can go first and lead the way, it shouldn't be too hard to navigate the straight path." He said, looking over at his twin to see what she thought. Alice was mindlessly rocking Raven like a baby, the psychic type busy fighting sleep, though after Alice thought about about it for a couple moments she finally nodded.

"Yeah, we can go first. The path should be an easy enough journey as long as we're all careful." She replied, though she was slightly nervous of having to be one of the first ones on the path. Though it shouldn't be so bad...she hoped.

"All right, now that we got that settled, should we get going?" Alecks made his way to the ridge and began walking forward at his own pace, trusting the others would follow.

Alice looked back at Mocha with a little smile before she followed, "Sorry Mocha, but you should go into your pokeball. Don't want the path to get too crowded, you know?" The bunny nodded as Alice returned her to her pokeball. Alice stuffing the ball into her messenger bag as she followed right behind her brother.

[K_H]

Route 2 - Main Path - "Onward to Striaton City!" - Jack

Jack recalled his Partners into their capsules so they wouldn't risk falling when they went up the ridge, then took a deep breath before starting the trek, following behind Alecks and Alice. When they got to roughly the midpoint, Jack stopped walking and looked away from the ridge, trying to get a bit of an overview of what the group had gone past during the day, but resumed walking a few seconds later.

[Jory]

Route 2- Russet Ridge- "Onward to Striation City!"

When Jack looked over the side of the ridge, he could easily see the main path lazily curving toward the Ridge from the Gate building. Although he could spy several clearings from where he stood, he was unable to find the clearing with the red maple tree on a hill. Brendan went up the ridge in front of Jason, who took up the rear position in the group. The group made it up the steep incline toward the first corner without any surprises. The second section of the narrow mountain road was dotted with boulders, the path winding its way between them as it made its way up the ridge.

After the group of Amateurs made the hairpin turn to continue up the slope, they heard a squawking noise. They all looked up, noticing for the first time that there were several nests on the tops of the boulders. They saw orange beaks opening and closing over the tops of the nests. The bird Pokemon hadn't seemed to notice them yet, but it didn't seem to be a good idea to disturb the hungry flock of Pokemon.

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2, Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striaton City!" - Mio

Mio had been making the climb in pensive silence before remembering that Jack apparently had a story to tell. He opened his mouth to ask, but his attention moved elsewhere as a loud squawk sounded above him.

He looked up and spotted bright orange beaks at the top of the ridge, followed by a near cacophony of squawking.

"Woah," he whispered. "That's a lot of birds... I'm glad I put Meena up." His voice was low and quiet; he had no intention of startling such a large flock of bird pokemon.

[Jory]

Route 2- Russet Ridge- "Onward to Striation City!"

Not noticing that Mio had stopped or why, Alecks, Alice, and Jack walked right by him. As they progressed up the path, one of the oblivious Amateur Trainers stepped on a branch, snapping it in half. Suddenly, the squawking and chirping stopped. There was a moment of deafening silence, the pause seeming to last for hours. Then, a cacophony of panicked cries erupted from the nests. As if things couldn't have been any worse, a Pokemon fell from one of the nests directly in front of Jack.

It resembled an eagle chick wearing a bushy white headdress. It landed on its head with a comical thump before bursting into tears, its despaired cries echoing off the mountainside. Jason opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by an earsplitting screech. It came not from the mountainside, but from the sky over Route 2. Jason looked up, his mouth agape.

Soaring directly for the ridge at high speeds was an enormous brown bird Pokemon. Its distinctive white headdress would have been recognizable anywhere. Considering it was a Braviary, a Pokemon reputed for its foul temper and incredible strength, Jason's reaction was easy to explain. "Fuck!" he swore, no longer caring how loud he was. "Run!" he shouted to the Trainers in front of him, pushing off the stone and sprinting for the top of the traverse. Brendan followed hot on his heels, eager to escape the wrath of an angry mama bird.

[Shadow Sketches]

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striation City!" - Alecks and Alice

Alecks looked down at the fallen eagle chick, feeling sad for it he had been walking back and had been about to bend down to pick it up when he was stopped dead in his tracks by the loud screeching. The sound made him want to bolt out of there immediately, long before he saw the cause of it. The twins both looked up to watch the Braviary speeding straight towards the ridge, a knot of dread forming in their stomachs.

"Come on Alice!" Alecks bolted forward, grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her along behind him as he ran past her while he tried his best to get them the hell out of there. Apollo holding on tightly to his shoulders and looking worriedly at the new airborne threat.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Shadow Sketches

[K_H]

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onward to Striaton City!" - Jack

Jack had carefully edged around the fallen Rufflet and gotten a bit uphill of it when he heard the screech, and froze on the spot, a chill running up and down his spine as he looked in all directions, immediately noticing the Braviary when he looked upwards. Upon seeing it, his eyes immediately widened to what could be considered to be metaphorically 'as wide as plates', and he let out a small noise of nervousness.

"eep."

He then sprinted up the path towards the top of the ridge as quickly as he could possibly manage, desperately wanting to put as much distance between himself and the (presumably) angry Mother Braviary as was possible.

[starkidcosmo]

Route 2, Russet Ridge - Onward to Striaton City - Mio

Just as he was going to call to the others to be careful, someone snapped a branch. The silence that followed made a cold wave of dread wash over Mio, one that was immediately confirmed by the cacophony of terrified squawking that came next.

As if that hadn't been bad enough, one of the young Rufflet came tumbling out of its nest, hitting its head on the way down. The little thing let out an almost comical wail, tears pouring out of its eyes. He was tempted to help it for the half second before he spotted what was presumably the young bird's father.

Mio let out his own frightened squawk as he spotted the large, angry raptor barreling towards his group. He broke into a run, careful to avoid the downed baby bird.

[Jory]

Route 2- Russet Ridge- "Onward to Striation City!"

As the group hustled their way up the ridge the Braviary swooped low over them, letting out an earsplitting screech of fury at the intruders bumbling their way through the enormous raptor's nest. His shadow grew larger with every passing moment as he scoped out what appeared to be a small group of aggressors in his territory. His presence in the area was palpable even on the ground, the powerful strokes of his wings creating gusts strong enough to dislodge small rocks from their places on the path. Jason led the Amateur Trainers onward, having used his initial burst of speed to overtake the rest of them. Brendan was behind him, followed by Alecks and Alice, then Jack, and finally Mio on the tail end.

Pebbles, gravel, and other small debris shot off either the steep incline to the Trainers' right as they stepped hard on the stone path, desperate to outrun what could only be described as a flying, feathered monstrosity. The Braviary passed overhead and looped around, beginning to fly directly at them. Fortunately, the group reached the turn in the path. They took the corner at a skid, making the one hundred and eighty degree turn seem to take ages as they balanced precariously on the narrow path. They started moving upward once more, still at a sprint.

Over their shoulders came an angry screech. The Amateurs instinctively covered their heads and kept running, but not before disaster struck. The Braviary's wing began to glow a bright white before changing into a steel-gray. It dug the tip of its wing into the path, shearing off a large portion of it and causing it to go tumbling down the side of the mountain. The overhang over the Rufflet nest prevented them from being injured. Jason skidded to a stop, holding out his arms to keep the others from moving forward. He looked backward and gulped, leaning to allow the others to see what had happened. There was now a roughly ten foot wide gap in the path that gave way to the steep incline below- a nasty and deadly drop, to be sure. Additionally, the ledge on the other side followed the slight upward incline, putting it at waist level for the Amateurs. Wheeling back around, the Braviary gave a triumphant cry and began to circle overhead, deciding which intruder might make the most interesting splatter mark on the ground below.

Jason looked back toward the others, a lump in his throat. This is it, he realized. This is what separates a Trainer from just some dude with a Pokemon. The drive to overcome obstacles and continue onward, despite the risks and despite my own fears. He took a step back, prompting a curious glance from Brendan. "This is it!" he shouted, trying to pump himself up. "Come on!" With that, he sprang forward, digging his feet into the stone to get as much purchase as possible. His feet pounded against the path as he approached the gap, the lump in his throat rising as he tucked his head and picked up as much speed as possible. He looked up, the only thing in his vision the ledge on the other side. Finally, he reached the ledge. His legs tensed for a moment, then released as he leaped into the air. "HOOOLLLLLYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" he screamed as he flew through the air, his arms and legs flailing as he sped across the gap, seeming to hang in the air for a century.

His scream was cut short by a muffled "Oof!" as his stomach impacted the ledge and his hands scrambled for anything to grab onto, his legs swinging in the open air. He began to slide downward, scrabbling frantically for a handhold as he fell further off the ledge. Finally, he felt a crack in the path deep enough to dig his fingers into. He did so and, with a mighty effort and a loud grunt, braced his feet against the sheer rock wall and climbed his way up. He pulled himself over the ledge, breathing heavily after the ordeal. He got up and stepped away from the ledge, looking back across toward the others. "It's really not that bad if you try not to think about dying!" he offered the rest of the group, grasping his left hand with his right to stop them both from shaking. "If you can make it to the ledge, I can pull you up!"

[K_H]

Route 2 - Russet Ridge - "Onwards to Striaton City!" - Jack

After having been stopped, Jack walked a short ways down the ridge before he turned back towards the gap in the path, and then sprinted towards it, building up forwards momentum before taking a leap of faith across the gap, starting to tumble a bit from having stepped on the very edge of the gap with the front half of his foot when he'd jumped. As he flew through the air, he let out a yell that demonstrated how adrenaline-fueled he was at the moment.

"GYAAAAAAAHH!!!"

He flew forwards through the air for what seemed like an eternity, his heart pounding in his ears. Then, he hit the other side, hips barely being on the other side, letting out a pained and muffled "Uhn!" when his chest and face hit the ground. At the time of his landing, the only parts of him that weren't on the path were his legs and feet, which was soon remedied when he clambered his way fully onto the path before turning around to assist Jason in helping the others across.