bravenewworld | [Action] Let's Talk to Pokémon!

[Apollo twists and brings up his arm the moment he sees the electricity coming towards them, shielding Fletchling from the brunt of the attack and clenching his teeth at the pain of the shock. Cecilia's defense boost arrives too late to help immediately, but it won't be long before it'll come in handy.

Fletchling takes off to make it harder to hit him and circles around while Apollo blasts messages telling the attackers to back off into their minds. Going for a show of force, he mentally signals Fletchling and they both dart at the Luxio, Fletchling from behind using Quick Attack, Apollo from the front attacking with enough speed to effectively be a version of Quick Attack that deals typeless damage. They're both aiming for a knockout, not a kill, and hoping that if they take out the leader the other two will back down.]

They're not listening...!

[It's true. The three Pokemon don't seem to respond to Apollo's mental prodding in any meaningful way, nor to Lucas's. The psychics will pick up a great deal of anger - but also an intent focus. They weren't simply attacking blindly here.

At Apollo and Fletchling's charge, the Luxio simply Roars, a blast of sound that sends even Lucas, standing a ways behind Apollo, tumbling back. The left Shinx, in the meantime, bristles with electricity as Raftina swipes at it; the second Shinx sends a jolt of electricity towards the Fletchling, which it recognizes as being an easy target.]

Avey -- !

[Avey leaps out of Lucas's arms as he picks himself up from the ground and launches through the air - a burst of energy will suddenly flow into Apollo, Cecilia and their Pokemon as Helping Hand comes into play.]

[Cecilia raises her staff up into the air. A wind stirs around her, a few faint glimmers of pink light whipping about her. Then, the blast of wind goes flying at the right Shinx, trying to knock it back into the wall. She isn't aiming to kill, either, but simply drive back.]

[Raftina drops back, shocked by the electricity surrounding the left Shinx. She hisses; then she drives forward, and she lunges forward with a speedy attack, claws swiping at the Shinx. She isn't aiming for deep blows, at least.]

[Fletchling is fast, but he still can't completely dodge the attack and has his wing clipped, shocking him and making his flight erratic. Apollo mentally tells him to retreat for now, and Fletchling reluctantly struggles away, trying to shake off the tingling in his wing.

Apollo, meanwhile, has his charge aborted by the Roar and has to strain to hold his place, but still slides back a fair distance. The moment it ends though he's moving again, curving around to circle the Luxio and occasionally pass behind a tree for a moment. Whenever he does he changes his running speed, trying to make it harder to predict where he'll be. Noticing their focus, he switches to a different track and starts mentally asking what exactly they're after.]

[The response is a bit complicated - more hostility, a warning to stay out, a need for food.]

...

Wait, us?

[Apparently they would suffice.

The two Shinx focus on Raftina, now, and as the second Shinx is about to strike a blow from behind, the blast of wind strikes and knocks it reeling back. Avey leaps into the fray proper, kicking up a pile of dirt into the first Shinx's eyes - a Sand Attack, dimming its electricity in time for Raftina to strike a blow full on.

Luxio, in the meantime, has properly identified Apollo as the most significant threat amongst the group of humans and shoots off jolt after jolt after electricity - most of them strike a tree, but perhaps a few will get through.]

Fletchling --

[A light blue glow surrounds Lucas and he quickly sends a wave of psychic energy at the injured Pokemon as it flutters by him. The healing would hopefully keep it from being too badly hurt if struck again.]

Us? What happened?

[Cecilia can't follow the thoughts. She sees Raftina come under fire and shouts out a warning. That proves unnecessary; Avey leaps to the rescue, and Raftina follows her first strike up with a swift headbutt at the Shinx that it was fighting.]

[Cecilia turns to focus on Apollo for a moment. She swings her staff out, and sends another pink sparkle-laced gust of wind flying, directly at the side of the Luxio, to try to throw its balance off.]

[Apollo has a few close calls, including one where he has to bend backwards to avoid having lightning hit him in the face, but manages to avoid being struck. The response prompts him to change his tactics, and the next time he passes behind a tree the only thing that comes out is a pair of boots that arc through the air. He's no longer behind the tree, but exactly where he is isn't clear, since he's gone into full stalking mode and what sounds he is making are timed to be similar to the normal sounds of the forest. He's actually moving through the forest canopy above the attacking Pokémon on bare feet, trying to find a good position to attack from.

Unfortunately, that the Pokémon are attacking them for food means that they eat meat, and Apollo doesn't have any in his pack right now that he could offer them. He starts mentally projecting loud warnings of attacks from every possible direction, including from underground and his own location. Mixed in with the distracting warning are mental images of the humans happily eating their attackers, Apollo grinding up their bones and fertilizing plants with them, Apollo wearing their pelts sewn together into a cloak...

Fletchling thanked Lucas and circled around, trying to come up with a way to attack without being struck by lightning.]

Edited 2014-01-17 13:22 (UTC)

Um.

[Lucas finishes healing up Fletchling and turns to Cecilia with an awkward smile.]

I think they're hungry.

[Apollo's new psychic strategy succeeds in making the group angrier, although perhaps this will lead to greater carelessness. Luxio fries the boots as they come its way, though it doesn't abandon its position yet to chase after wherever Apollo has gone. Being much heavier than its younger brethren, the wind is only enough to cause it to anchor itself firmly into the dirt, scrunching close to the ground - it retaliates by turning its attention to Cecilia, who receives an electric shock arcing her way for her troubles.

The Eevee are faring a bit better against the Shinx. The second one recovers from the wind to charge back into the fray with a Spark, knocking Avey away, but Raftina's headbutt successfully drives the blinded Shinx back against a tree.]

...We should take out the Shinx first - then everyone can fight together against the bigger one!

[As Avey goes tumbling back, Lucas leaps forward now, wielding his... trusty yo-yo. The toy flies through the air with uncanny accuracy, striking the Sparking Shinx straight in the nose - once, twice, three times before it veers off to the side and rapidly begins to entwine about the small creature's legs. It appears the toy responds to Lucas's psychic ability in some manner.

...Unfortunately for Lucas, the next crackle of electricity flickers up his yo-yo string quite easily and the boy is momentarily paralyzed by the electric shock.]

Ah!

[The Luxio's lightning blast hits Cecilia. She gets knocked backward and hisses, her movements slowed, and a sharp burning in her limbs. She swings the staff, until she hears a cry.]

Lucas! Hold on!

[Cecilia isn't sure where Apollo went, but doesn't have time to worry about it. Lucas is shocked and paralyzed -- and she doesn't have any healing spells. She does have a staff, though, and it's made to shoot fire if need be. She levels it at the Shinx that isn't wrapped up in vines, and looses a fireball off towards it.]

[Raftina dives forward, swiping claws at the Shinx in tandem with her trainer.]

[At a mental signal from Apollo, Fletchling uses Growl on the Luxio and the nearest Shinx, both to lower their Attack and hopefully to distract them.

Because at that moment, without making a sound, Apollo drops from the canopy with a hunting knife in one hand, aiming to land on the Luxio. If he does, he'll hold the knife to its throat and be clear what will happen to it if it's not careful. Otherwise, there's a good chance that he'll get hurt, and another good chance that the party will be having meat for lunch today if he can't threaten their attackers into leaving.]

[The first Shinx is down! The fireball, the slashes, and the headbutts are too much - it bounces back against the ground and stays still, weakly growling. The second Shinx, the one still entangled in yo-yo string, shakes loose and bounds to its companion's side in anger. Raftina will be on the receiving end of a Spark attack as well.

Avey and Lucas, having both been shocked, struggle to their feet together now. With some effort and no little amount of twitching, he raises a hand to his own chest and he heals himself of his own paralysis.

As for the Luxio, Apollo lands successfully after the Growl strikes! ...But is it wise to contact something that generates electricity from its body? The Pokemon roars once more, not an attack, but simply out of anger, and the lightning courses up and down its fur and mane. If Apollo can keep his grasp through this, his strategy might just work...]

[Raftina gets struck by the Spark attack, a burst of electricity shooting through the air. She flies backward, hits the ground hard, and bounces a couple times before she hits a tree. Cecilia stares, frightened, in her direction.]

Raftina!

[She starts to stir, thouugh. Cecilia runs closer, putting herself between the Shinx and the injured Eevee; she swings her staff out to face it, and shoots another fireball.]

[She chances a glance at Apollo, but can't do much besides look right now.]

[Apollo hadn't thought this through quite as much as he should have. The most critical flaw in his plan was one that wasn't obvious to an outside observer; the electricity was causing his muscles to seize up at irregular intervals, preventing him from maintaining proper control of the knife. Despite holding it to the Luxio's throat, he didn't really want to kill it, and he certainly didn't want it to die because his arm had twitched too far like it was threatening to do.

He began pointing out to the Luxio what the electricity was doing, and that at this point he would have a hard time getting off of it if he wanted to.

Fletchling, meanwhile, Growls at the remaining Shinx, since he can't really attack it safely due to his type weakness. The problem with not having any ranged attacks is showing itself now.]

[Shinx has learned from the mistake of its fellow. When the fireball comes its direction, it deftly hops to the side before launching itself at Cecilia and her staff. Its strategy is clever - it attempts to Bite her hand so she'll release the source of her attacks. The Growl isn't fully registered at this time, though it will mitigate the pain of the attack somewhat.

Luxio seems ready to chance it. There comes another roar of anger and it attempts to buck off Apollo despite the danger of the knife. It seems to be unfazed by the threat and spurred by the thought of something worse than suffering a stab wound. Besides, his hand was twitching so much he probably couldn't even exert that much force.

But for the first time, there is a flicker now of fear registering in its emotions. From the Shinx, too, if Apollo can concentrate on anything other than Luxio. The fear doesn't seem to be for itself so much as... detached, placed elsewhere.

Having gotten back to his feet, Lucas will step behind Cecilia to stretch a hand towards Raftina.]

Ow!

[Cecilia gets her hand bitten. It draws blood; moreover, she drops her staff to the ground with a yelp. She is many things, but she is not strong. When she lashes out by kicking at the Shinx, it's far from a particularly powerful move.]

[Raftina looks up at Lucas. She's hurt; it's not quite critical, but she could definitely use a heal, before she leaps back in.]

[Apollo's held back as much as he can, and while unfortunate he needs to end this. He remains open to the emotions of the Pokémon around him, not wanting to deny them the courtesy of listening to their final moments. He forces the knife at the Luxio's neck, sensing fear as his twitching starts to draw blood... and stops, pulling back slightly as he senses the kind of fear that it is.

He rather forcefully demands to know what they're afraid for, then draws on his knowledge of Pokémon behavior to make a guess: children?]

[The electricity arcs even more powerfully as the knife begins to dig in. If it was going to have its throat slit, it would do its best to electrocute its attacker as it died.

...Then Apollo stops. And Luxio pauses, too. It seems momentarily surprised by the query before it snarls and attempts to ignore Apollo altogether.

The remaining Shinx has other ideas. With a roar that's more cute than threatening, it leaps up to try and claw at Apollo to push him off. The fear is resonating strongly now with this one.]

Everyone... wait. I think we're already done here.

[The glow of healing surrounds Lucas and Raftina before the boy calls out.]

We can all understand them, at least a little bit, right? And Miss Cecilia, you can speak with them directly, can't you?

Let's ask the Shinx what's wrong. ...Before we do anything else.

[Cecilia takes a deep breath, then she nods. She looks down at the Shinx, wiping at her hand. It's still bleeding; she'll need to get it bandaged and/or healed before the day is done. But, priorities.]

What's wrong? [It's spoken softly.] What's made you so afraid?

[Apollo remains on the Luxio despite the clawing Shinx, partly to make sure it doesn't attack anyone else, partly because he's having trouble getting up due to a mild case of the Paralysis status condition. Talking is also proving problematic. Note to self: never try this on a Luxio again, even if it's worked on other kinds of Pokémon before.

While he's here, he'll heal that aborted throat-slitting and join in on questioning the Shinx.]

[Cecilia will probably hear that the Luxio hisses at the Shinx to shut up, but it fails to do so.

The story is long.

There are two prides of Luxray, Luxio, and Shinx in the canyons, just out of the forest. They are rivals. They maintained a healthy rivalry, neither group dominating the other, until their pride leader grew ill. It was wholly unexpected. There didn't seem to be anything they could do.

Luxio is next in line to take charge, but it isn't strong enough to do so yet. Their pride has been slowly losing territory, and at the rate they're going, they will starve. They have taken to leaving the canyon to find food elsewhere, despite the warnings of their pride leader.

They know about humans. It was Luxio's idea to attack them because they were larger than the other prey in the forest. The Shinx thought it was a dumb idea. Luxio is too proud and stupid to look to the future, but if they kill Luxio, their pride leader will starve. The others in the group only bring in enough to feed themselves, and then just barely. It was Luxio who was largely sustaining them now.

If they let them go, they won't bother humans anymore.

When it is finished, Lucas glances towards Cecilia for a translation. He had sensed the emotions as the creature had explained, but it was hard to put together a complete story.]

It seems like they just want us to leave them alone now... Is that right?

[Cecilia listens, mostly. She asks a few clarifying questions here and there, just to know that she has the details right -- which pride is which and the like -- but at the end, she turns to Lucas. She nods, looking at him, then at Apollo.]

Yes... their pride's leader grew sick, and they've lost territory. Luxio thought to attack humans. But, if we leave them alone, they'll stop...

[Apollo has a turn come up where he can act and nods, then rolls off of Luxio.]

Then we'll let them leave.

[His voice sounds a bit off, like novocain is almost done wearing off. Also don't mind him. He'll just lie on the ground for a bit until the paralysis wears off.]

[Lucas will nod slightly at the explanation.]

They must have been desperate...

[He would say that they should see if they can't help the pride leader, but he was quite sure Luxio would rather have its throat slit than lead them back to its pride.]

...I think this one needs some help to walk.

[The injured Shinx will be tended to first so the three Pokemon can abscond. There is a faint glow as he closes its surface wounds and taps it lightly on the forehead to lift some of its exhaustion. He'll turn to Apollo next.

As he works, the Luxio will slowly back up a few steps. It growls - then turns and leaps off into the brush. The two Shinx are a bit more polite and thank Cecilia before following their leader.

Lucas breathes a slight sigh of relief.]

I hope they'll be OK.

...If we do hear about any Shinx attacks on humans, though... We'll have to track them down.

They must have...

[Cecilia nods at the Luxio and Shinx, as they leave. The latter get a slight bow, even; she takes a deep breath, before she turns her head and looks at Lucas. She nods.]

We will. But... we must simply hope they do not. We'll have to trust them.

[Raftina crawls up next to her, nudging up against Cecilia's foot, and watches them leave.]

[Apollo climbs to his now-bare feet.]

They meant it when they said it. We can trust them.

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