Into the Wild(woods)

[aerial_ace]

Log Deputy: Wighty
Participating Characters: Cordelia, Robin, Asemu, Melaka, Yuuna, Rei
Plot Description: A small rag-tag group of rangers is assigned the task of exploring and mapping out the Wildwoods area.
Warnings/Notes: None


The trek toward the Wildwoods was rather easy, the large amount of flying types making it much easier that it might have been. Setting up camp at the very outskirts of the forest, morning could not come soon enough. After breakfast, the group was to assemble, and start their expedition into the woods.

Comments

[aerial_ace]

[Having the same inkling that Asemu did, Cordelia looks at Houndoom. Her voice is low, level but with a sense of urgency.]

Houndoom, Odor Sleuth.

[The Houndoom does as he is told.]

[rainsrespite]

[Taking the cue from the other trainers, Yuuna nods to Hitmonchan. No sense in not going for it, with all those creepy vibes all over this forest.]

Foresight, Gouken. Asemu is probably right.

[And he does so.]

[bravenewmods]

((24 hours!))

[And suddenly, a whole host of foreign and uncomfortable scents will flood into Houndoom's nose... The scent of death and of loss, of lamentations, of things that have been lost and things that will never be. Yes... this trail smelled like nothing living ever passed through it - because nothing has. The living Pokemon of this forest know where this road leads, and they want nothing to do with it.

Espeon and Hitmonchan, too, will catch a mental glimpse of the extremely negative energy flooding through the air...

Those who are hidden know they've been spotted. And in the blink of an eye, the forest disappears around the group - one by one, flames flicker into view to ring them on all sides... It seems they've been walking straight into the middle of a trap!]

Fsssssssssssss....

[A horde of wild Litwick have appeared! Without further ado, the Ghosts rear up to send Shadow Balls spinning indiscriminately through the air!]

[kickboards]

[Ah-- this was unexpected, but not so far out of the realm of possibility that Rei hadn't prepared for an incident like this. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Rei called forth both his Azumarill and his Feraligatr, already seeing a few possible tactics for this mess.]

Harima-- use your Rain Dance! [He called,] Feraligatr-- follow that with a Water Gun!

[master_tactician]

Aura, Psychic! Valaura!

[Robin's Warp Band flashes again and his Umbreon appears, sparkles flying off its body as it emerges]

Assurance!

[second_destiny]

Feint Attack! Mirror Move!

[The Murkrow immediately dives into the Litwick midst and Fearow rears up with its own Shadow Ball. Asemu then pulls out a Persim Berry and throws it up into the air.]

Natural Gift!

[And his Talonflame attacks, consuming the Persim Berry to blast the enemy with a Ground-type move.]

[bravenewmods]

Hehehee...

[The small candle-like creatures giggle slightly at the resistance, their wax faces etched in childish smiles. It's not very clear how many there are since they keep spinning around, though there must be at least 6 - one for each adventurer here.

As the rain begins to fall, the flames of the Litwick obstinately shine even brighter through the dampness. Water Gun, unfortunately, is a weak enough attack that a single blast of heat from one of the ghosts causes it to evaporate into steam while another one blows a gentle kiss towards Feraligatr in response. The ring of flames will leave a severe Burn.

Shadow Ball will strike Espeon hard while the Ghosts tank the Psychic attack. They don't fare quite so well against Assurance and with a cry, one of the Litwicks flickers and vanishes, its flame snuffing out. A mutinous response comes as Umbreon is targeted by a blast from a Confuse Ray.

Feint Attack strikes a Litwick without fail, but even as it does so, the creature's eyes flash and Murkrow feels half the damage returning in the form of a Pain Split. The Shadow Ball that Fearow shoots out is met by a Memento as another ghost's flame snuffs out, leaving Fearow severely weakened. As Talonflame swoops down to pluck the berry, another ghost flickers into view behind it to shoot it in the back with Incinerate. Natural Gift will leave Talonflame awkwardly flapping in midair with ashes in its mouth. Better not call your attacks before you use them!

........The remaining Litwick flicker rapidly for a few moments before taking on an indistinct appearance. Looks like they all used Minimize...]

Hm~

[The flames burn on. And some of the Rangers will find that their strength seems to be slowly ebbing...]

((As a request, please keep it to around two-ish attacks a response; writing responses gets a little complicated otherwise! Thanks!))

[rainsrespite]

[With a cry of alarm, Yuuna's up next. She does two things without a word: tosses a small stone from her belt on the ground, and taps her warp band to call up a reservist. Hitmonchan and Magnezone aren't really the best bets here, but they'll move into position to attack if the opportunity presents itself.

But Tyranitar and Spiritomb? Well, they should join the party!]

Kintsu, Kyo, you know what to do! They're ghosts, so stop them quickly! Don't play around, just take them down!

[With a screech of rage, Kyojira the Tyranitar appears. Bellowing, his mouth opens wide and he sprays a Dark Pulse at the Litwicks that seem to be looking at his trainer the hardest. With his impressive bulk, he also interposes himself between her and as many of them as he can.

And the small stone? It begins to shake and glow faintly, pulsing with a sickly greenish light. A fell wind picks up, whispering through the leaves around the Litwicks as Spiritomb makes it's appearance and attacks with an Ominous Wind!]

Wow how now am I so late jesus.

[makeitquick]

[ And what's Melaka been up to? ... Scouting and following, mostly, for the whole of this trek. She's been trying to keep her eyes (and senses, via her Donphan) peeled to get a good grasp on the surroundings. In this particular fight, though, the pokémon she has out is her Trevenant, Sneak.

Who is... living up to her name. Before the brawl really started out, the relatively large tree Vanished into the ether. But now, behind the litwick group, she's appeared to make use of Phantom Force.

(not one to be left out herself, though her fighting puts her at a disadvantage, she did learn her Mastery of Battle does allow her to punch ghosts. So she's going to be attempting to do that herself, see if she can't get ahold of one ... She does feel a bit weirdly dizzy though) ]

[master_tactician]

Aura! Go back to the habitat, we can take it from here. Exalibur!

[The Espeon vanishes in a flash of light, and is replaced with a Sylveon]

Guard us with Light Screen! Valaura, keep up the pressure with Assurance!

[aerial_ace]

[Swearing under her breath for how stupid she had been, Cordelia activated her Warp Band, sending out Swanna.]

Houndoom, Foul Play! Swanna, Water Pulse!

[second_destiny]

[Dick move. Asemu is not happy now after that. Fortunately, he has another trick up his sleeve.]

Alex, Haze! Swordia, Aerial Ace!

[Asemu's Murkrow begins to emit a black mist, while his Fearow attacks. Bullet, Asemu's Talonflame, simply flies near Alex to protect her if the enemy Litwick try any more funny business.]

[bravenewmods]

[Miss miss dodge miss goes the general refrain from here. Ominous Wind smacks a few stray Litwick as it targets the entire group, but Haze comes a bit too late and a good number of these attacks simply flicker straight through the indistinct ghosts.

Punching ghosts is usually quite a lot of fun; alas that these ones seem to be on fire! Phantom Force will strike one of the Litwicks unaware, but the rotting tree might find that it's suffered a nasty Burn. Water Pulse also, enhanced by the rain, sends one blasting away while Aerial Ace inflicts an unavoidable moderate amount of damage.

The remaining Litwick stop circling as their flames burn even brighter and the strange sensation of weakness intensifies. They all exchange a glance before Tyranitar, Melaka, Robin, Houndoom, Murkrow, and Swordia are struck by Confuse Rays.

Have fun with that! The Litwicks seem to be sticking around in the hopes of draining just a little bit more life force before they leave. In sheer numbers and strength, they're outmatched, but everyone's gotta eat.]

((Rolled an RNG; random encounter will be wrapping up in the next tag!))

[master_tactician]

[Robin staggers a bit before smacking into a tree. Seeing their partner incapacitated, at least for the moment, Excalibur and Valaura take matters into their own hands, attacking with Assurance and Moonblast.]

[aerial_ace]

[Houndoom, in his confusion, tries to help matters with Smog, but does little else than blow a bit of poisonous breath in his general vicinity.

Swanna will take the opportunity to launch another Water Pulse at the Litwick.]

[rainsrespite]

[Tyranitar shakes his head, trying to clear it, while Spiritomb flies in for a quick Feint Attack...]

[second_destiny]

Swordia, switch out! Go, Kou!

[With a flash of light, Swordia disappears. In its place is a Gyarados, perched on the ground.]

Kou, Aqua Tail! Alex, use another Feint Attack!

[So far, the effects on him have been minimal. This is how it usually ends up. So he's just committed to ending this fast.]

[makeitquick]

Oh Savior's tits, come on! [ This feels so familiar, this is how Sneak and her met, but she somehow feels even weaker. She curses at that, throwing a wild kick in her annoyance which just connects with one of the trees nearby. It probably cracks it. or at least the outer bark. Still, she snarls this, and tries to orient herself.

Sneak, for her part, is alarmed at the burn, but not planning to let up while Mel is still fighting. She's going to try and strike out again with and Astonish - growing several times in size (by illusion) and swiping a claw in their direction ]

[bravenewmods]

[Fwoomph.

There's a sudden bright flash as one of the Litwick's flames burns with incredible intensity.

This is it. They're done. The rest recognize that the objective has been accomplished and the forest echoes with the faint sounds of their giggling as they fade away one by one to the attacks of their opponents. They don't even seem to mind... though they do leave behind Mementos for those who are unlucky enough to bring them to the edge of defeat.

There is an intense glow as the single Litwick's form begins to melt and shift disturbingly... Brighter and brighter, more and more indistinct...

And then it's gone. The forest flickers back into view, and a clear path has appeared. The narrow corridor had been cleverly made a part of the illusion as well, and up ahead, it broadens out into a wide clearing...

There seem to be ruined buildings up ahead.

The party has succeeded without too much damage, but it's odd... it doesn't feel very much like a victory. Could proceeding forward still be yet another trap?]

[master_tactician]

[Robin shakes his head to clear it]

Well. This looks profoundly suspicious.

[second_destiny]

Then we should be careful. The strongest of us should go to the front and the rear with our Pokémon. I can send up more scouts, too -- tons of Flying-types.

[rainsrespite]

With such a narrow path, we're just as likely to be jumped from the sides, too. Flank guards would also be advised. Since its ghosts, I'll leave Kyo and Kintsu to that.

[And the Tyranitar and Spiritomb move to comply. The woman herself looks a little pale, understandably so after the soul-drain. But she seems just as peppy as before at least.]

[aerial_ace]

I'll take the lead, then. Robin will hold the end of the line. Yuuna, stay close to me. Asemu, have your flyers scout ahead. Houndoom will assist in case we are flanked. Keep close to those who were injured.

[bravenewmods]

[They have reached the depths of the Wildwoods... Long ago, there must have been those who lived within this edifice. Crumbling stone lines what were once streets as they enter and underneath their feet, their boots trod firmly on broken cobblestones.

It was a small area of residence... or perhaps, the forest has already reclaimed most of it. There seem to be three buildings with the foundations still standing - one to the southwest that seems to have been larger than the rest. Another has a slanted roof with terribly decayed chips of red paint. The third is missing a its upper portion and stands open in the air.]

[master_tactician]

Careful. Just about anything can lurk in abandoned cities like this.

[Robin will edge forward carefully, bringing back Aura to scan the area with psychic senses]