Through the Woods (Mod/TS)

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Kris/Mod Kurt/Mod Ninja, doing the quest thing, too, please!
Happiness: Mesa (2/5), Rico (2/5), Nova (1/5)
Meditite Egg: 10/10 -- hatching!

Woodlands were not Sadie's favorite. It was much too easy to get turned around in the maze of trees, and she couldn't help but think of how smart the Ascua region was to actually have a Pokemon Center situated near the Greenberry Woods. It must see a lot of traffic.

Sadie didn't complain out loud, but she did wistfully think of how she'd much rather be hiking along a mountain, trying to reach for its peak. Hopefully the Greenberry Woods wouldn't take her too long to get through--

Sadie jumped as her pack began wiggling. Had some Pokemon gotten in there? Oh, Arceus, hopefully another trainer's Pokemon hadn't accidentally climbed into her pack while she was at the Pokemon Center...

She moved to the side of the path and opened up her back to see the Meditite egg start glowing. Heart pounding in anticipation, Sadie lifted the egg gentle and held it, waiting for her new partner to finally emerge.

It still took another agonizing minute or two, but soon enough Sadie was staring at a little Meditite that was yawning in her face.

A Meditite that was the wrong color.

"Hello," Sadie said quietly. The shiny Meditite tilted her head and stared at Sadie, and Sadie had half a mind to run back to the Pokemon Center to get her checked out.

What a way to begin a trek through the woods.

[Mod Ninja]

The glowing definitely attracted some other attention.

"Hey, you must be a trainer!" A young girl, stepping not too far away from the Pokemon Center itself, caught up to Sadie. She paused a moment, cooing over the new Meditite before blurting out, "Isn't it supposed to be blue?

"But, hey, actually," the girl said, plowing on, "can you help me? I can't go too far from the Pokemon Center without my backpack but my backpack was stolen by a stupid Skwovet. It's green with white polka dots, and I'll give you something from my pack if you help me get it back. Please?"

She seems rather desperate.

Sadie Fox

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja
Happiness: Mesa (3/5), Rico (3/5), Nova (2/5)

Sadie raised an eyebrow at the random girl that appeared and started talking. "Generally blue, yes," Sadie found herself answering. She turned back to the Meditite, telling the new Pokemon that she was going to call her Nova, before adding to the girl, "This is a shiny Meditite."

The girl then continued talking and Sadie tried to focus on the kid instead of planning how best to help Nova get caught up to her other Pokemon in level. By the sounds of it, a wild -- presumably -- Pokemon stole the girl's backpack and she needed help. Sadie took a quick glance around, finding that there really wasn't anyone else available, and figured she was stuck.

"Sure, kid, I'll help," Sadie said. "Any idea which way this Skwovet went?"

[Mod Ninja]

"Huh. Neat." The girl stared at the shiny baby Pokemon for another moment before evidently realizing that Sadie had agreed to help her.

"Oh, thank you!" The girl pivoted on her heel and pointed rather violently down the path to the right of the Pokemon Center. "The bad Skwovet went that way! Please find it for me. I'm not allowed to go out into the woods without my pack. My Pokemon is in there!"

Sadie Fox

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja
Happiness: Mesa (4/5), Rico (4/5), Nova (3/5)

The kid only seemed mildly impressed that Nova was a shiny Pokemon, but Sadie didn't seem to care about the random kid's opinion. Nova looked fantastic and Sadie was looking forward to seeing just what the little Meditite could do.

Then the kid revealed that her Pokemon was in her pack and Sadie straightened up, more determined to rescue the Pokemon rather than the pack itself. "Don't worry, I'll find it," she promised, and set off in the direction that the girl had pointed.

Sadie returned Nova into her pokeball and released Mesa. The Phanpy yawned and glanced around, evidently looking for something to fight.

"We have to track down a Skwovet," Sadie said, and Mesa blinked up at her and tilted her head, no doubt in confusion. Nevertheless, the Phanpy didn't seem to mind being out and walked along with Sadie down the path. While Mesa had her nose to the ground, Sadie's eyes were scanning the treetops.

[Mod Ninja]

With Mesa's nose to the ground, the Phanpy realized there were quite a few Skwovet scents mingling about. The Phanpy followed one almost off the beaten path, heading towards a small clearing that had more shrubbery than trees.

However, Sadie spotted some recently-broken tree limbs and twigs in a few of the trees above her, scratch marks on bark as a Pokemon -- perhaps a Skwovet -- no doubt leaped from tree to tree in order to perhaps get to its home. The trees and markings were going in the opposite way than Mesa's trail.

Which way will Sadie investigate first to find the troublesome Skwovet?

Sadie Fox

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja, going Sadie's way/"the opposite way"
Happiness: Mesa (5/5), Rico (5/5), Nova (4/5)

Sadie nearly missed that Mesa was wandering away from her.

"Hey, Mesa," she said, catching her Phanpy's attention. Mesa looked back at Sadie but didn't seem to want to catch back up with her trainer until Sadie motioned for Mesa to follow her. "This way. There are markings on the treetops. I bet it went that way."

Mesa seemed to blow a raspberry at Sadie before using her trunk to point towards the clearing. Sadie hesitated, mulling over the two choices briefly, before saying, "Let's check the treetops first. If the Skwovet really dragged the backpack through there, there'd probably be a trail on the ground.... Right?"

Sadie tried to sound diplomatic, honest. She had to keep reminding herself that this was not her past team of Pokemon. They were all new teammates and she needed to show that she could be a leader but not a dictator.

Mesa seemed to have a mind of her own anyway, and Sadie half-feared that the Phanpy would ignore Sadie enough to go through the clearing anyway. Ultimately, Mesa trudged over to Sadie's side, but she didn't seem too happy about it.

[Mod Ninja]

Indeed, Mesa was unhappy that her trainer didn't think to follow her pathway. Sadie wanted to track down Skwovet -- the clearing obviously was full of the scent of the squirrel Pokemon.

Despite that, Sadie appeared to be correct. Following the markings from the treetops, the pair eventually spotted a Skwovet nestled in the elbow of a tree branch with its head nearly buried inside one of the polka-dot backpack's pockets. Occasionally, an Oran berry fell out of the bag and onto the ground.

At the moment, the thieving Skwovet didn't seem to notice Sadie and Mesa.

Sadie Fox
Mesa lost a point of Happiness.

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja, so much for the posts going towards a point, .
Happiness: Mesa 0 (1/5), Rico 1 (1/5), Nova (5/5)

Mesa seemed almost like she was sulking, but Sadie could deal with that. Especially since, you know, it appeared Sadie was correct. There up in the treetops was a polka-dotted backpack with a Skwovet -- her Pokedex confirmed the Pokemon -- pawing through it.

Sadie herself couldn't climb a tree, and her Pokemon weren't the type either. The closest to being able to do would be Nova, but she was a literal hatchling. She wondered briefly to shout at the Skwovet, but she may spook it enough to take off, backpack and all.

Glancing back down at Mesa, Sadie got an idea. "Mesa. Slam the tree trunk."

Mesa glanced up at the tree, contemplated only for a second, before revving up and crashing into the tree with all of her might.

[Mod Ninja]

The Slam from the Phanpy jostled the tree enough to at least startle the Skwovet. It didn't quite dislodge the wild Pokemon nor the backpack, but the Skwovet did pop out of the backpack to look down and start scolding Sadie and Mesa for interrupting it.

Then it seemed to spot the fallen Oran berries and the Skwovet, in a slight panic, scrambled down the tree to go and pick up the fallen berries as fast as it could. It completely ignored Sadie and Mesa as it went about its task.

It also left the backpack unattended up in the tree.

Sadie Fox

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja
Happiness: Mesa 0 (2/5), Rico 1 (2/5), Nova 1 (1/5)

Mesa looked ready to use another Slam on the Skwovet itself, but Sadie had a different idea.

"Mesa," she said, getting her Phanpy's attention. "Use another Slam on the tree."

Mesa, for a moment, was baffled. The Skwovet was right there, after all. Why should she use Slam on the tree when their opponent was obviously on the ground in front of them?

Then Sadie pointed to the backpack nestled in the tree limb and Mesa realized all of this was for a pack. With a roll of her eyes, Mesa did oblige and used a second Slam into the tree.

[Mod Ninja]

The second Slam attack shook the tree just enough for the backpack to dislodge itself from the elbow of the tree limb. The backpack fell to the ground with a thwump, most of the fabric crumbling in on itself to signal that the biggest pocket was mostly empty.

The Skwovet, on its part, was still trying to stuff the berries that fell out of the pack into its cheeks. Perhaps if Sadie and Mesa are quiet enough, they can grab the backpack and sneak away without the wild Pokemon noticing.

Sadie Fox, should you choose to be sneaky, please roll a die.

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja, oh boy. Yes, let's try to sneak, .
Happiness: Mesa 0 (3/5), Rico 1 (3/5), Nova 1 (2/5)

The backpack fell to the ground just as Sadie hoped, and she whispered, "Excellent," to Mesa. Hopefully the Skwovet didn't hear them. Sadie imagined it was just after the berries that the kid no doubt had picked during her own walk through the woodlands.

As quietly as she could, Sadie crouched low and walked over to the backpack. She took a moment to search through it, hoping to find some pokeball or any indication that the girl's Pokemon was still safe in it, before sneaking back towards Mesa. With a gesture to her Phanpy, Sadie mimed that the pair should try returning down the path to the Pokemon Center with the Skwovet being none the wiser.

lLiLXK6R

[Mod Ninja]

Mesa watched as her trainer decided to sneak over and take the backpack, searching through it to realize that there were a few things still in it, including a Pokeball. The Phanpy tilted her head at Sadie trying to mime to her and didn't quite understand what Sadie was saying.

Either that or Mesa just had a mind of her own.

Glancing at the Skwovet, Mesa decided to make sure it had no chance to follow them back to the Pokemon Center. Without any preamble, Mesa charged at the Skwovet with a Slam.

The Skwovet was smacked with the attack and immediately turned around to retaliate with a battle cry, its coat shining in the sunlight that streamed through the trees.

Skwovet

| female | cheek pouch

Level: 6
Hold Item: Oran Berry

Tackle | Tail Whip | Bite | ---- | ---- | ----

>> Slam took off 23% HP
>> Skwovet used Tackle

Sadie Fox, at the roll, but congrats on technically your second shiny of the thread!

[Sadie Fox]

Mod Ninja, another shiny? Now I have to try to catch it, !
Happiness: Mesa 0 (4/5), Rico 1 (4/5), Nova 1 (3/5)

"No...!" Sadie's attempt at stopping Mesa from attacking the Skwovet fell on deaf ears. Her Phanpy used Slam and the Skwovet tried to retaliate with a Tackle.

Sadie blinked at the sheen of the wild Pokemon's coat, thinking that her image in her Pokedex had given it a darker color and wondered briefly if this Skwovet was shiny. Regardless, Sadie's Pokemon was suddenly battling it, and Mesa wasn't one to pull her punches.

The two Pokemon traded attacks -- Slam and Tackle -- with the Skwovet even scarfing down an Oran berry at one point to try to regain HP. There were plenty of berries still around, meaning this battle could take a little while if Sadie didn't do something about it.

Shouldering the backpack herself, Sadie grabbed one of her own pokeballs and chucked it at the Skwovet when she got the chance.

Mesa

| female | pickup

Level: 6
Hold Item: Oran Berry

Oder Sleuth | Tackle | Growl | Defense Curl | Slam | Flail

>> Tackle took off 18% Mesa's HP
>> Mesa used Slam
>> Slam took off 32% Skwovet's HP
>> Skwovet ate its Oran Berry to regain 39% HP
>> Skwovet used Tackle
>> Tacke took off 14% Mesa's HP
>> Mesa used Slam
>> Slam took off 31% Skwovet's HP
>> Sadie threw a pokeball