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

[Arkhi]

Lily, after giving Gale a short threat, lunged toward the foe. Or she fled. Either or.

With the Gardevoir's commands so bluntly stated, he had no intention to follow them for himself. But for the Togepi, he would catch a grenade- No, he would give an arm or a leg. He wasn't quite ready to give his life, despite the fact that she gave hers to save him. Amarantha would be protected. He bent down, keeping on knee on the ground and pivoting around to look for threats.
"Looks like a sleepless night, Ammy."

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Lady Nivia, Me and Blaze will go on ahead and see if we cannot find something, that is if you don't want to go on land."Theo said adjusting the little monocle on his eye. " If you won't be accompanying us, I want you to have this." His little paws fumbled in with the Handkerchief a bit as he went to open, out of it he drew a small Horn looking like it was made out of Taurus or some kind of horn. There was elaborately carved Brass on the end of it, in the shape of the head of an Arcanine opening it's massive Jowl. "It will make a huge sound if you get into any trouble, and hopefully I will be able to get to you in time to aid you if need be."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

At some point, Zephyr grew even more restless while waiting for an hour to pass. She reached out her hand-- a signal which her Pokemon understood as an invitation come closer to her. Umbreon leapt up her arm with ease and draped itself on her shoulders lazily, and Houndoom flanked her, resting its head on her lap.

"All right. So, for some reason, all the freely available clean water doesn't exist anywhere near this area," she said out loud. Mostly for her sanity's sake, since her Pokemon knew that fact very well.

"So far none of the groups we've looted have a Water Pokemon at the very least, or a steady source of clean water. I don't see why the head honcho never assigned expeditions out of this region."

Two pairs of eyes, one pair a profoundly golden amber, and the other pair either a deep dark crimson or brown, looked up at her in anticipation.

"You two up for another walk?"

And so they did, leaving the flames to burn indefinitely.

Edited April 8, 2014 by ZephyrEnyalios

[DarkLight]

Nivia is really troubled as Blaze pointed out the direction of the mountain. Sure, she doesn't mind flopping around on land to get to another water source, but flopping on land period is not her cup of tea, for several reasons. One, and most importantly, traveling on land would soil her beautiful white coat. That is, and always will be, a huge no-no if Nivia could help it. Two, she would look awkward. A Dewgong on land is, literally, a fish out of water. And that leads to point number three: Potential danger on land. Since she has no legs nor wings, she would not be able to escape as quickly as Theo or Blaze would. Nivia still remembered those poachers' reactions when she was dropped out of nowhere. It only brings up bad memories. She swished her tail, undecided on whether she would prefer being alone or travel on land.

"Lady Nivia, Me and Blaze will go on ahead and see if we cannot find something, that is if you don't want to go on land. If you won't be accompanying us, I want you to have this."

With that, Nivia watched as Theo pulled a delicate, but elaborately designed horn from his bag of goodies. She gasped in awe at such a beautiful, little masterpiece. As the sun's rays hit the copper piece of the horn, they illuminated the intricate details of the Arcanine head, glowing softly in all of its glory.

"It will make a huge sound if you get into any trouble, and hopefully I will be able to get to you in time to aid you if need be."

Nivia was touched by Theo's considerate gesture. She recalled how the Pancham was so reluctant to part with his beloved antiques. Considering that he brought this particular horn with him must have meant that it was important. Oh, the Dewgong could think of the practical uses of this horn, especially out in the wilderness, but she doubt Theo only brought it with them just for the sake of security. Considering how Theo was willing to depart with such an important treasure, Nivia didn't have the heart to take it from him for her selfish reasoning, no matter how scared she is at the thought of being alone again. After what Theo had done for her, she can't just take it away.

Nivia shook her head. "No, dear Theo. You two will need this more than I do. You may be strong, but Blaze," she glanced at the little Cyndaquil, "Is still too inexperienced in dealing with the world we are in. I doubt he even saw how cruel the humans or the Pokemon are around here. Oh, Arceus, I doubt he ever had a battle before. As for me, I do prefer swimming than... For the lack of better terms... "Walking" to the mountain for a few reasons. However," Nivia propelled herself off of the water's edge, "I will accompany you, both, to the beach. As of right now, I am considering about staying here in the waters. If the distance doesn't prove to be too lengthy or if other circumstances arise, perhaps I will change my mind."

Edited April 7, 2014 by DarkLight

[Jory]

Perseus climbed down from Jessica's arms as they approached the river and pointed toward the mountain in the distance. The place where that weird wind seemed to be coming from. "Slakoth!"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Theo pulled out a Leather strap from the Handkerchief. He slid a small hole in the end onto a small pip on the end of the Horn hidden in the form of the Arcanine. He then flung it over his shoulder with the horn on his back. "If that is what you wish Lady Nivia. Let's get to the beach, then we can start towards the mountain." Theo said a slight shake in his voice. He was worried about Nivia, he wanted her to be safe while he was away, he needed to be able to reach her again if he found out anything about getting her home.

[Nova]

Slakoth once again pointed, this time to the mountain. "What do you mean? Should we go there, Slakoth? I don't know..." Maybe they could go there. Maybe it would become clearer there. If they would go, there would probably be no way back. At least they could try. "Alright. Let's get going then", Jessica marched on with Slakoth on her back, towards the mountain.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

A yawning stretch of nothing but rocks, uneven ground, sudden cliffs, hills, broken mountains and strange formations was what Zephyr thought of as she and her companions trudged onward.

That was understandable; those were all that the surrounding landscape had to offer.

The Boss was fond of telling stories. Zephyr recalled once that he'd claimed that this area used to be a mountainous region, complete with some small villages here and there. There used to be a great river that gave life to the valleys, the waters coming from deep within the mountains' enormous cave systems.

Today, there were squads sent down into the remains of those now underground systems in order to install pumps to provide the Base with water-- provided that no radiation or whatever had leaked into the waters. So far, so good. Nobody had mutated into a freak of nature.

Yet, perhaps.

At some point, Houndoom charged ahead, stopping in front of them, baring its fangs viciously and snarling.

"What, is something there, bud?" Zephyr inquired of the Houndoom, her hands reaching for the pistols strapped to her thighs. Houndoom was essentially her sentry, given that it had the most keen physical senses among the three.

"Let's just carry on and proceed with caution," she said. And so they did, climbing what seemed to be uphill onto higher grounds.

[Chevaleresse]

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As you follow the source of the psychic strike, you enter a steep-sided rift between two towering, shadowed mountains. The terrain is fairly desolate, the hard ground only broken by the occasional boulder or tough weed clinging to life on the ground. The forest recedes behind you, the trees thinning out almost as if the forest was intimidated by the looming peaks. The presence you sensed before fades from your psychic sight, and a large pile of rocks - likely from a recent landslide - blocks a path that appears to wind up to the tallest mountain in the area. A small stream cuts through the thin woods a few dozen meters back; it appears to connect to a larger river. Unable to relocate the presence, you decide to wait in the area for a while.

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Amarantha looked up at her trainer. He didn't seem to want to follow Lily in her pursuit of the strange presence. However, she was struck by a curious sort of courage. She'd risked a lot recently; why stop now? "We should follow her," she tried to say. Of course, the human wouldn't understand her. Instead, assuming she had his attention, she began waddling off in the direction the aggressive Gardevoir had gone, occasionally grunting with frustration at her difficulty with traversing the dense brush of the forest.

[Arkhi]

Amarantha, after standing for a few seconds, waddled off behind the Gardevoir.
"Guess we're following after her," Gale said. She began waddling away, and in doing so, nearly caused Gale to burst into laughter. It was cute, yes, but she was also a pretty hilarious Pokemon.
"Heh, I'm assuming walking isn't your forte, Ammy." He caught up to her, scooping her up. While he was far from willing to work alongside his enemy to his image as of late, Gale trusted Amarantha much more than himself.
At any rate, he tried to catch up to Lily, not taking account that he left behind his remaining berries in the shop. On him, he carried six Poke balls, one great ball, two slabs of meat, and his trusty companion.

[Ojama Yellow]

How long will this take? Sark had lost count of the time he and Yuki were already on the go to the mountain. It didn't matter how long they, or better, Sark walked, because Yuki mostly floated, the mountain didn't seem to come any closer. And even worse; it seemed like a shadow, or maybe even shadows, were following them and lurked in the bushes. Sark wasn't the type to be easily afraid, but the shadows did give him a very uneasy feeling. "Yuki, are you completely sure we're going the right way?"

[Nico Nico Nii~]

"Yuki, are you completely sure we're going the right way?" asked Sark, and Yuki replied, "Yes, I'm sure this is the way I went before." Hmm, this feels like the right way but at the same time not, and these vibes from these surroundings feels like we're being watched, maybe it;s just me I don't know." As Yuki and Sark continued on, when Yuki made a turn towards a path that seems like it would lead to the mountains, she saw it was blocked by boulders and then she stopped and told Sark, "Oh it seems as if this path is blocked, and we can not-" Suddenly she remembered something very important, she can just float over those boulders, and maybe even carry Sark too. "Sark, hold on to me at some part, I want to try floating over these boulders."

[Ojama Yellow]

"Sark, hold on to me at some part, I want to try floating over these boulders." Sark looked at Yuki. Did she really forget that I know Rock Smash? "Hold on a second. I've got this." As Sark walked to the boulders, he embraced himself for the impact. Then he attacked with a powerful Rock Smash, only to chip away a small part of the rock and hurting his paw. The rocks were simply too big. He clamped on to Yuki, carefully avoiding his hurt paw and said: "On second thought, the floating might be a good idea. Let's go."

[K_H]

Kenny was curious about why the rift had formed, so he decided to travel to the mountain to find the truth. after a day's worth of walking, he found himself at the entrance to a large valley. he decided that the best way to get through the valley was to go onto the edge, and then scout out the path ahead from a distance.

OK, so that's a plan. what happens after that, i'll know after i scout out my route through the valley.

what followed was a climb of about an hour or so, culminating in his arrival at the edge. on the edge of his vision, however, he noticed some movement at one of the entrances.

What the heck?...

as Kenny watched from on one of the edges of the valley, he saw the White creature try to use Rock Smash on a Boulder, to little effect. it then grabbed on to the companion. then, on the corner of his vision, he saw a Human enter the rift from another of the three entrances, the one that he'd entered from. however, when he went closer to the point of the edge where the three entrances merged, he slipped on the edge, and noisily tumbled down the steep slope, crashing into the clearing in the middle of the valley.

Uh oh... all of them must have heard that fall. I gotta get outta here, and fast!

he then ran into the debris along the side of the path, hiding in the hopes that no one would notice him.

Edited April 21, 2014 by K_H

[Arkhi]

Gale heard a noise from his left. He looked over, seeing a small figure fleeting. Unsure if the threat should be addressed or not, Gale set Ammy down. "Hold up, Lily!" he shouted. Trying to keep his voice down, he kept his volume to a minimum, but loud enough for Lily to hear. "Is that the source of what caught your ear?"
He bent down beside Togepi. "Can you attack whatever's down there from up here?" Gale asked Amarantha, his eyes shimmering with hope for a fight. He hasn't had one since he left the whenever ago. Time was too unmanageable now, so why keep track of it?

[Chevaleresse]

The Togepi looked up at her trainer, and nodded. Whatever it was, it didn't look too big. I might be able to take it. Either way, Lily is right there; she can bail me out, right? She stuck her arms up into the air, and thought intensely. Now how did I do that again? I sort of gathered energy, and. . . There! She let out a crackling wave of electricity that sped toward the small, almost unseen creature. It shouldn't really hurt it, but the shock would stun it for a fairly long time.

[K_H]

A wave of electricity suddenly came towards Kenny, notifying him of someone being there and knowing of his presence. he heard it coming, and deflected it using his Scalchop, but it didn't prevent all the damage. He then dashed out from his cover, rapidly slicing the air around him with his Scalchop, damaging all three of the creatures in the area, including the one that attacked him, but he didn't do much damage to them. he then realised that these three were not the cause of the rift.

"What the heck, guys?! why'd you do that?! sorry if i startled you with my fall down the hill, but i'm just fine. now, if you'll excuse me, i'll just be on my way."

he then started to walk away, and then realized that he might've been a little harsh. he turned around.

"Sorry about that little... incident there. i was startled by my fall from that ledge, and was alarmed when the attack hit me, so i acted on instinct. By the way, My name's Kenny. who are you guys?"

Edited April 20, 2014 by K_H

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Another hour-- hour, it felt; Zephyr couldn't really tell. The sky didn't seem to be getting any darker or brighter for that matter.

Dagnabbit all, if only she hadn't accidentally left her watch behind. They seemed to have reached the peak of this particular hill, which appeared to be covered in a thick forest of some sort towards its foot. Not too far away loomed even more mountains, and an even taller one, surpassing its neighbors majestically-- balefully, even, for some reason.

Meh, thought Zephyr. It didn't quite interest her too much. It's not like nothing disturbing had ever happened.

Houndoom's head lifted abruptly as if it had been disturbed by something, its snout and keen eyes pointed down towards the alternating gentle and steep downhill slope.

"Heh, is something wrong?" Zephyr asked, in a flat tone. Maybe walking wasn't such a great idea. It'd been really, really boring, not having found anything worthy of note just yet.

The canine stood still as if trying to focus in on something; even its pointed tail seemed frozen in the air.

Then it growled and began running down the hill.

Both Trainer and Umbreon locked eyes for a moment and followed the sprinting hound.

[K_H]

Suddenly, a Houndoom crashed out of the Debris, narrowly missing Kenny. had he not started to walk away a few seconds earlier, he would've been bowled over by the Houndoom.

Kenny's next words, as he reeled in surprise, were: "What The?!..."

as the Houndoom stopped, the first thing it noticed was the Togepi. The Houndoom bared its' fangs and started to walk towards it in a hostile fashion.

however, Kenny decided to intervene. as he used Hydro Pump, he yelled "OH NO YOU DON'T!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!". the attack hit the Houndoom on the tail, and that got the it's attention. it turned towards Kenny.

Kenny then challenged it with this statement: "Now it's fair. COME AT ME, BRO!!"

Kenny then unleashed another Hydro Pump, hitting the Houndoom square in the muzzle.

Edited April 21, 2014 by K_H

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Houndoom yowled in pain as the water sprayed it in the face, but once the deluge was over, it snarled at the Oshawott vehemently.

Its fur bristled as it prepared to pounce upon the otter-like Pokemon, its fangs beginning to drip excessively with what looked like venom, when..

"Oi, Houndoom--" Zephyr started, then cut off abruptly.

There was a sudden, somewhat uneasy silence as she took in the scene. Yes, Houndoom had paused in dripping venom from his bared fangs awaiting his Trainer's command to attack, but she had noticed instead that it was attacking an Oshawott.

A water Pokemon.

Then she lifted her head and finally took notice of what looked like a Trainer, too, with a Togepi and a Gardevoir.

She looked at the Trainer steadily. "All right, I'll assume you came from this forest or something, cause I haven't seen you in my turf. Ever. But I'm not leaving without this Oshawott." Her eyes had taken on a glint of slight hostility. Umbreon stood by her side, haunches poised as if awaiting a command.

For all she knew, this guy was as bad as those bastards back at the Base. It was true-- they did need a Water Pokemon. Why the hell the Boss didn't want to journey out of the barren wasteland, she didn't know...

But she would rather take whatever Pokemon she could find with her. It was the only way she trusted that they would be safe.

Screw humans, that's why.

[Chevaleresse]

Amarantha glared at the threatening strangers. So what, you think you can just walk up and attack us? AND kidnap some random Pokemon just because you feel like it? Yeah, right. The Togepi started to build up power, and glanced back at her trainer questioningly for confirmation. As she did so, her small body started to glow brighter and brighter until she was almost painful to look at, beginning to dazzle her targets with the gleam.

[K_H]

Like that'll ever happen...

Kenny rolled his eyes at the prospect of being taken away by a complete stranger for Who-knows-what reason.

As Zephyr made the statement about not leaving without Kenny, he decided to go with whichever Trainer was the stronger of the two.

he then spoke to the Gardevoir:

"Could you tell the trainers that they'll have to settle this between themselves in a battle? at least get the reason why the intruder wants me!"

as he finished speaking, he saw the Togepi start to shine brighter and brighter...

"oh sh-! never mind, it seems as though the battle's already started!"

he raised his Scalchop to shield his eyes from the glare just in time as the Togepi used Dazzling Gleam, dealing Super Effective Damage to the Umbreon, while only dealing normal damage to the Houndoom.

"Okay, two on two! NOW we're getting somewhere!"

he then unleashed a Hydro Pump at the Houndoom, dealing Super-Effective damage, and Fainting it.

Edited April 22, 2014 by K_H

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

They took out Houndoom.

They. Took. Out. Houndoom.

Zephyr took deep breaths. She hated it when her Pokemon got hurt.

Houndoom lay down on the withering grass.

But how could she be angry with Pokemon merely trying to defend themselves?

But they hurt Houndoom.

She stood in front of both Umbreon and Houndoom.

What should I do what should I do what should I do

"Why'd you hurt him?! I was trying to save you from this guy!" she cried out, nearly screaming. Her eyes seemed to have taken on a feral look.

Umbreon looked confused, and stared up at its Trainer. It knew her well enough-- well enough to look concerned.

[K_H]

oh dear... and that was an accidental Critical hit...

Kenny might not've known the Intruder, but the Trainer's Umbreon looked concerned enough to make him feel guilty enough to share the fact that he'd seen a Pokemart further up the valley, and he had the sneaking suspicion that it contained a Revive or two. he did this by gesturing for the others to follow him, and then heading down the path in the direction of the Pokemart.

[Chevaleresse]

Amarantha shrank back, slightly ashamed. She had just been frightened by the Houndoom's sudden appearance, and hadn't known whether the thing was planning on having her as a quick snack or not. She waddled toward the Umbreon. "Hey, I wasn't trying to hurt you guys." She stopped for a moment. "Well, I was, but, well, Houndoom just scared me, and it sounded like your Trainer was taking that Oshawott whether he wanted to go or not." As an apology, she walked over to the fallen Pokemon. There has to be a way I can fix this. . . she thought. I guess that's just. . . wishful thinking! Of course. She simply had to Wish for the Houndoom to recover. I hope this works.