[IC] As Gods Sleep Chapter 1: The Dust Settles. . .

[Ojama Yellow]

Sark had no idea how many time had passed while he was unconcious. The last thing he remembered was him realising he had no Berries left. However weak from hunger and the battle against Trevenant, he managed to stand up. "The best thing I can do now is look for new Berries...and avoid Trevenant and his buddies."

******************************************

"I can't seem to find any Berry tree that still has Berries on it," Sark sighed. "I don't like being helped, but it isn't a solution to starve because of a lack of food. It seems like I've got no other choice, I must ask another Pokém-" Sark suddenly felt chilly all of a sudden. "This...a hailstorm, in the middle of a forest?" Sark jumped out of the way as a Trevenant passed by, which seemed disoriented. "Trevenant are not used to snow, and I can't blame them for that. Still, I think it would be worth my while to check out what happened."

As he reached the center of the hailstorm, he saw some other Trevenant running around disoriented, from which his old friend who beat him up earlier. "Heh, serves him right. I don't blame him for hurting me, but I do for the theft of my Berries." Then, Sark saw a Pokémon run - no, float, out of the center of the storm. As the Pokémon went farther away, he storm subdued. "So, that Pokémon was responsible for the hail? I'm quite impressed, I must say. If I'm not mistaken, I saw her carrying some Berries as well. I may as well follow her and ask politely for some."

When he finally caught up with the Pokémon, he saw that she was sleeping on a rock, the Berries nowhere to be found. However, thanks to his olfaction, he was able to detect the small hole, containing the Berries. "Hm...I could just take them, but I have honor. If I just take them, I would be worth nothing more than that herd of Weavile." As he came closer to the sleeping Pokémon, he noticed she was a Froslass. "Now what is a Froslass doing out here? Well, for now that doesn't matter, I guess." Then, he spoke to the Froslass, trying to wake her up: "Excuse me, miss..."

[DarkLight]

"Trevenant?" Nivia asked. "Aren't they those ghost-like trees crawling around like they own the place?"

She frowned a little at the situation. Nivia would rather stay at her spot to give her hind flipper some rest before the journey down but, on the other hand, she didn't want to risk losing a newly-found comrade right off the bat. Nivia, herself, can just fire off a blast of Icy Wind to scare them off easily. The Dewgong swished her tail back and forth, testing out her strength. It still ached her somewhat; the food and the sunlight must have helped it recuperate. Nivia figured that she could follow.

Awkwardly, Nivia began flopping behind Theo, putting most of the pressure on her front flippers. "How bad could those Trevenant be? Surely, they would be nice enough to negotiate or something, wouldn't they?"

Edited March 16, 2014 by DarkLight

[Nova]

A lot of time had passed while venturing through the seemingly endless woods. Time, too, seemed end. Not that time was of importance, but it was more of a human habit to be concerned about the time. Jessica looked at Slakoth, and he seemed fine. He looked like he wasn't thinking about anything, or worrying about the future. She wondered too much, what would happen to her, and to Slakoth. And what was behind the calamities.

Jessica and Slakoth had been traveling uphill, following the river where they started. The river seemed to flow from a large mountain range far away. If they'd go there, they'd probably get a view of the surrounding area, to find civilisation and other survivors along the way, maybe even find the source of the calamities that had happened lately. Slakoth probably didn't have the same idea, but he didn't have much to choose. Jessica's back had been aching more and more from walking for so long with a heavy load on her back.

They stopped a while when they came across a large rock, which was split open sideways, the river's water flowing around it on both sides. The gap was pretty wide, and provided plenty of cover. Maybe they could have some rest here. However, Jessica still had the feeling they were not alone. If something or someone ambushed them while hiding, they would be trapped and surely dead. Maybe Slakoth could make the decision whether or not to stay here. His instincts proved to be trustworthy...

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Aye, it is true some of them might be reasonable Lady Nivia, however there seems to be 2 groups of Trevenant to me." Theo said as he raised his one arm as if he was a little teacher. "I have been here in these woods awhile, and I have observed some of what is going on. And to me it seems there are 2 groups of them. There is a Trevenant that is refered to only as the Autumn King. I have never seen him, but have heard many speak in hushed tones about him. He is apparently Huge with Leaves as red as the evening sky, and Bark as White as ash. I don't know if he is real, but some of the Trevenant fear him, others seem to be on his side. Those that follow him believe the woods belong to them, and that they must drive out all outsiders, human and pokemon. The others are just living here like we are, apprently they can teel each other apart somehow, but it must be something only Trevenant can see."

As he finished up his little speech they arrived at Theo's home. The big cave seemed quiet enough and was out of the way. A faint smell of Spices, accompanied by a cacophony of ticks and clicks from his clock collection.

"Luckily for you Miss Nivia there is a reservoir of water inside, it is usually where I store drinking water, however as we will be traveling, I won't be able to carry it all, feel free to wade in it for now, and rest your flippers while I pack up supplies." Theo said as he approached the entrance.

[Jory]

Perseus sniffed the air around himself and Jessica, making sure they were alone. Other than the usual forest smells of Pokemon that had passed by, Perseus was pretty sure that the two of them were alone. Seeing the split rock, Perseus decided to leap from Jessica's shoulders into the crevasse, nestling himself comfortably inside and closing his eyes for yet another nap.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Lily was pissed off. The building upon which she had constructed her shelter had disappeared. Like, literally disappeared. One minute it was there, the next, empty space, leaving her irritable and floating in midair.

"Really. Really. Why in Arceus' name do things have a habit of disappearing these days."

She hovered around, searching for a suitable new staging area, her eyes alighting upon a building, which had an inexplicably flat, blue roof. It was nowhere near as tall as the one she had -until recently- been living atop, but hey. It was blue. Blue was pretty. Blue made everything better.

Landing atop the new blue roof, she detected several new emotions in her immediate vicinity. Happiness...and...comfort...? Those were two emotions she had not felt in a long time. She peered over the edge of the building.

At the entrance to the blue-roofed-building, there was a human male, carrying what appeared to be a Togepi. Immediately she became on guard. The memory of the humans' open hostility towards her was fresh in her mind. That said...she wondered how one would fare in a straight-up fight... If she had lips, she would have smiled.

Launching herself off the roof, she hovered in the air, telekinetically condensing the air around her right leg. Then, by releasing her gravitational control, she allowed herself to plummet, footfirst, toward the human.

[Arkhi]

Gale walked up straight to the door. With the exception of a faint wind, there was little noise. With the pocketknife in one hand and the other open, he was about to walk into the Poke Mart. About to, at any rate.
Just then, he received a rather sharp blow to his forehead, knocking him flat to the ground. Before he could fully raise his head, he saw part of a skirt, then fell. Great. He just got his ass handed to him by a woman in a skirt.
"Oi, pretty lady. You aren't supposed to physically hit on guys." His knife was too far away to quickly grab. He raised his head, about to make a snide comment, when he noticed that this woman was awfully white. And had green hair. At that, she looked nothing like a human. Shocked, Gale rolled back onto one knee, holding his fists up. He finally had a good view of this- thing. It was a fairly good size, wearing loose clothing. Pokemon wore clothes? Anyway, it looked far from happy.
"I've already been attacked by living trees. My day should be over, and I would appreciate if you did not strike me any further." During this context, he reached slowly to his waist, grabbing a great ball, ready to throw at any moment. If he could get that Pokemon on his side, he could kick some serious ass, Gale thought rather greedily.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Lily sighed in disappointment. So the humans who wanted her dead apparently had no fighting capability whatsoever. What a letdown.

At that moment, intense greed and anticipation filled the air. Sharpening her mind, Lily detected the source of these ugly emotions to be the human in front of her. As she looked carefully, she noticed the Great Ball in the human's hand. Rage instantly flared up within her. Reaching out, she telekinetically crushed the sphere, causing it to collapse in on itself.

She established a direct telepathic link to the mind of the human, allowing her to broadcast her thoughts.

"I strongly suggest that you don't try that again."

[Chevaleresse]

Amarantha turned about to face the threat that had knocked her new friend over. Friend? I guess he is, at that. Her shyness replaced by indignation, she waddled toward the offending Gardevoir. "Hey, what the hell is your problem? We were just minding our own business, and you just drop in and start attacking people?" Abruptly realizing the situation, she backed up a couple steps, and gathered energy for a Thunder Wave. Perhaps this wasn't the greatest plan I've ever devised. I might be able to slow her down enough to get away if she decides to attack, but there's no way I can fight off a fully evolved Pokemon like. . . this. A spark of frustration rose up, as she was once again reminded of the limitations of her cursed tiny body.

[DarkLight]

The Dewgong nodded respectably at Theo's explanation of the Trevenant groups. She was grateful, yet nervous, to know that not all of the Trevenant were peaceful Pokemon. It will help her to be on her guard even more while she is still in the woods. "Even if we encounter those naive trees, I doubt they can stand up to my icy moves. We should be fine." she thought, haughtily.

As the duo arrived at Theo's home, Nivia felt herself relax at the comfortable atmosphere. It was quiet, yet homely and safe. The faint aroma of spices and ticks were not enough to bother her. In fact, Nivia believed that it could help break the mood whenever one should feel lonely. Nivia was quite impressed at the home her friend had managed to set up in the middle of these unforgiving woods.

"Luckily for you Miss Nivia there is a reservoir of water inside, it is usually where I store drinking water, however as we will be traveling, I won't be able to carry it all, feel free to wade in it for now, and rest your flippers while I pack up supplies."

Nivia looked towards the said water reservoir that is located in the back of the cave and proceeded towards it. Upon seeing that the water is crystal clear, she carefully lowered herself into it and turned to watch her companion pack up.

"I am really grateful to you for providing not only information about these woods, but also for your generosity, dear Theo. For that, you can be sure that I will do my best to keep us alive. That, of course, includes fending off the nasty group of Trevenants. I should be able to keep them away very easily with an Ice Beam or two. But before that," Nivia said closed her eyes as a soft glow began to appear around her body, "You have reminded me of a useful move that can help heal my sore flipper. It has been so long since my human partner allowed me to use that move that I had forgotten all about it until now. Please let me know when you are done and I will get up from my Rest."

With that, Nivia fell silent and seemed to be in a deep sleep.

Edited March 18, 2014 by DarkLight

[Nico Nico Nii~]

During Yuki's slumber she dreamed about her life before the whole Froslass thing, a nightmare she calls it. Sudden she hears a voice calling to her, "Excuse me miss..." At first she mumbled, then she slowly woke up only to see a Bidoof talking to her. Since this was the second time she ever talked to a Pokemon she was a bit surprised at first but then remembered that she was now a Froslass, no longer a human. "Oh, a Bidoof," she began,"what is it that you want?" she said sluggishly, still half-asleep.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Lily noticed the tiny Togepi coming up to her. She sensed a slight twitch of hostility in the air.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up there, girl. I was just giving a friendly greeting. He's the one who decided to try and lock me inside one of those disgusting little devices."

[Chevaleresse]

"Well, I don't know where - or when - you're from, but intentionally dropping yourself doesn't qualify as a friendly greeting in my eyes. You don't feel very friendly, either. " She didn't think she did, anyway. She could tell whether a person was happy or not, but the truth was that she wasn't sure if that same sense worked on Pokemon.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Lily giggled.

"What are you talking about? Every warrior knows it's only good manners to greet another with a test of strength! Hah!"

Lily punched the air in front of her, working her way through a simple combo of straight hooks and uppercuts against an unseen opponent.

"When your fists connect, so do your hearts! Only by going all out and making sure your opponent goes all out, can the two individuals understand each other! Only when we understand each other, can true bonds of friendship and blood be forged!"

Lily ceased her pantomime and leaned in close to the Togepi.

"Do you understand now, little Pokemon? Battle is life! Battle is friendship! Battle is honour!"

Lily stepped back and straightened her dress.

"Also, the stress I've been under because of all the changes made me want to kick something. But that's irrelevant."

[Chevaleresse]

"Hmm. That's a. . . different way of looking at it. I've never really seen it that way; I tend to avoid battles as much as I can." Did all Pokemon feel that way, or was it just this particular Gardevoir? There were a lot of things Amy didn't know about herself. "Anyway, though, I wouldn't worry overmuch about this guy. He seems decent, so far. What's this stress you've been under, though? Other than, you know, attempting to, like, not die in a post-apocalyptic wasteland."

[Code: PIRULUK]

The Togepi had sass. Cute and sassy. What more could a girl ask for?

"Oh, not much, really; just having to cope with the fact that my whole family pretty much just up and disappeared on me, and I have no idea where they could possibly be. Not a nice feeling."

[Nova]

Slakoth had made himself at home in the split rock, peacefully napping on a small plant and snoring lightly. Jessica would not awaken him, as that might ruin his mood. Slakoth had smelled the area and assumed nobody was there, but Jessica still couldn't shake the feeling they were not alone. She would rather go and investigate than go to sleep right now. She walked out to the woods, leaving Slakoth behind in the gap rock. "I will return later when i know i'm not in danger. Better safe than sorry, they say. Maybe I can even find some food too..."

Edited March 18, 2014 by Nova

[Arkhi]

Right in front of his eyes, Gale's great ball just shattered. His one great ball, gone just like that. Shaking his head in disappointment, he turned his back for a while to get a breath of air. He looked up, his back to the threat. Probably a bad move, but Gale knew his pride would keep him alive. The sky was now rather dark with the exception of one section of the sky, still orange, and providing just enough light to illuminate this unfortunate part of the world. He turned back around, seeing Togepi... conversing? She seemed to be talking with the Pokemon. A Gardevoir, was it? That's one Pokemon that was on the list of nonessential workers. Again, though, it seemed to completely retract how useless the people in the aftermath shelters made it sound. It-she- was able to knock Gale onto his feet. And that is quite a task.

The two seemed to be chatting. He could understand the Gardevoir, because she was able to talk with him, though her mouth did not move at all during that period. After the end of the world, this was surprising, but not shocking.
"Well, do what you will, hottie. I'm going in the Mart. Hungry, Togepi?" He asked, as he climbed into the Poke Mart.

[Code: PIRULUK]

"Halt, human."

Lily turned her attention toward the human. She sensed a sort of pride from him, a sort of dignity.

"You may be weak, but you have a warrior's bearing. What is your name?"

[Arkhi]

And again, the Gardevoir went out of her way to screw with Gale. "What is your name?" she asked.
As much as Gale wanted to just turn away then, he already was beaten by her. This was no time for self-pity, though. "The name is Gale Colriedia. And I am far from weak... ma'am," he ended with some sass. "Now, I will be retiring for the day. If food is what you want, you won't find it here," he said, lying about the latter statement.

[Ojama Yellow]

Hm... Looks like she's still half asleep... "I saw you going through the forest with a lot of Berries, and I wondered if you could share some with me? I'm pretty hungry and couldn't find any Berry trees anymore. Oh yes, if it's possible, I would like an Oran or a Sitrus Berry, since I am a little wounded." Sark quietly paused here, realising how much pain he still had from the battle with Trevenant. "If you could give me a Berry or two, that would be very helpful. I won't burden you anymore." Then I just can get away. I don't like having to depend on another Pokémon, but at this moment, I have no choice. Suddenly, his head started to hurt again. "Ow. N-not again..." he said. Then he collapsed again.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Theo ran on his little feet about his house carefully considering what to bring along with him. He had a hard time feeling he would have to leave his artifacts and relics behind, he didn't want some stray Pokemon finding this place and ripping it to shreds. But he felt he needed answers, after saying good-bye to his collections he started to pack up some berries and a few more of his useful Knick-Knacks. He placed it all into a small red handkerchief, that he tied to the end of a small walking pole. it had been broken when he found it, It was ornately carved with the image of many Pokemon, mostly Legendaries. He had sanded down the top to make it usable for him, and it was quite a sturdy stick, so it should be able to handle the weight.

Then Theo went over to a small cupboard. It was beat up quite badly, but he had managed to drag it from the river up to his little home. Theo found many things around that river, since a lot of debris washed up from civilization, though he himself didn't know where it came from. He preceded to open the little drawer, and removed from it a small cap, it looked like an Explorer's cap, though it was obviously from some Child's toy, He put it on his little head, his ears slipping through the small holes he had cut into the brim. He then grabbed a small monocle from a different drawer. He placed it over his left eye. It was probably from the same toy as well. He then sat in the big armchair across the room, he looked like a small child sitting in his father's favourite chair. He sat and looked at Nivia as she floated in the pool of water sleeping. She looked peaceful.

Theo thought about the day that had just happened. He thought about why he trusted Nivia. Maybe he had been bored of having no contact with anyone else, maybe that he wanted a friend. Maybe it had been the genuine tone in her voice, how desperate she was to find this trainer of hers. Either way he was in this with her now, and he wasn't upset about it. Maybe he could find the answers to his questions with her. As he came to that conclusion he fell asleep in his armchair, having not slept the day before.

After a few hours the little Pancham awoke. He slowly got up thinking to himself, I don't usually sleep in my armchair. He felt the hat on his head and he suddenly remembered what had transpired that morning. It was mid-afternoon, when he got up and ran over to the reservoir to check if Nivia was still there. She was still sound asleep. He tried waking her up. "Lady Nivia! I am packed and ready, I suggest we get moving before it gets dark."

[DarkLight]

Nivia woke up groggily to the sound of Theo's voice. Slowly, she began stretching her limbs, checking to see if the Rest worked its magic. As she got to her hind flipper muscles, Nivia held her breath. She swished her tail back and forth and, with a whack on the reservoir water, she was happy to find out that she is back to full health. The Dewgong beamed happily at the results and climbed out of the water, taking a good look at Theo for the first time since her sleep.

At the sight of Theo's little hat, the monocle, and the satchel around his shoulder, Nivia had to suppress a grin. It was amusing to see a mature Pokemon like Theo dressed up like an explorer ready to go on a hiking trip. Nevertheless, she suppressed her opinions. Those things could come in handy after all.

"Yes, I am ready. How long have I been asleep?" she asked as she made her way to the entrance with much more ease.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Well, to be fair I fell asleep for a few hours as well, so pretty much as long as I did." said Theo as he chuckled. "I didn't get much sleep the day before since I was out collecting, it tends to happen sometimes." Theo turned and stopped at the entrance. He let out a single tear, as he looked at this small home he made for himself. " I will be away form here for awhile Lady Nivia, all I hope is I get to come back here one day. But for now finding out how to get you home and finding out my past are more important." He pulled a small blue handkerchief out of the supplies he had, and dabbed the corners of his eyes with it, it was the first time he would leave this house of his, this was all a bit overwhelming for the little Pancham. But he wanted to find his answers, so it was time to try the unknown.

[Code: PIRULUK]

Lily's gaze hardened.

"You just tried lying to a telepathic Pokemon. Are you stupid?"

She took Two steps towards Gale.

"In any case, I'm not interested in your food. First off, my name is Lily. Secondly, you tried to capture and enslave me. For what purpose? I recommend being truthful"