Mission 2a: Terrors in the Trees

[Evolutions]

Trainers Present:

Ferris Smith
Midori Mikana
Kyle Silver
Kai Turner
Aero Blazer
Yami Mono
Leo Tregillas


With no pomp or ceremony, and no briefing whatsoever, both groups set out into the forest at the crack of dawn, quickly splitting up as the other group moves deeper into the forest, and you turn to start combing the stretch of forest closer to town, and presumably closer to any possible survivors. The whole place feels barren, with no discernible sounds from animals or Pokémon whatsoever, and you cannot all help but feel that you're being watched.

[Ferris Smith]

After a disturbing night's sleep Ferris was ready to get back to work. He immediately released Vulpix who planted her nose to the ground. Ferris didn't need to train Vulpix to do what she did best which was tracking. With her sensitive nose and ears and fox instincts she was better than any police trained Growlithe.

Vulpix was tracking down not only human scents but also the scent marks left by Pokemon. They had to have established paths that led from the woods to into the city. Ferris intended to mark them with spray paint so Jenny would have a better idea where to send her perimeter forces.

The dawn was quiet. Ferris was almost ready to say too quiet. However, it was no time for cliches.

[Yami Mono]

Yami flinched as Ralts popped out of it's pokeball unannounced. "Ralts! Warning!" he hissed, and the little pokemon hopped onto the back of his head, tapping it gently.

"Oh, right. Please scan for any sources of incredibly disturbed emotions in the area, ralts." The psychic type nodded, giving a quiet cry to signal that he was beginning to look. Yami tried not to move his head too much - small disturbances like that could accidentally set him off, or make him miss something important.

[Midori Mikana]

Midori pulls out the Pokeball of her Mudkip, letting it out of its ball. "Mudkip, I need you to use your fin to find things moving around." She leans down to the small Pokemon. "Like when we used to hunt, okay?"

"Kip!" Mudkip yelps, its fin wiggling back and forth, scanning movements in the air.

[Yami Mono]

Yami turned to the small girl, trying not to move his head too much. "Mudkip, huh? I believe that's a rare hoenn pokemon. How did you come across one of those?" He asked, and Ralts suddenly leaped off his head, crying happily.

"Okay, what's got you so excited, Ralts? You know you should be looking for any disturbances."

The emotion pokemon looked up at Yami, and sent him a mental image of him with a smile on his face. He stopped at that. Yami hadn't realized that he had been smiling.

[Kai Turner]

Gripping her makeshift spear tightly, Kai called out Mudkip and Pikachu, swiftly grabbing the mudfish by the tail before he could dash away. "Stay close to me, remember?" she asked, and the little pokemon nodded, a bit shamefacedly. "Good. Now, just like yesterday. Scan the area for pokemon and people that might be nearby. Got it?" Mudkip nodded, his usual goofy grin plastered across his face, and began to wiggle his fin as well.

Turning to the electric rat, she instructed, "Keep your ears and eyes open. Sniff around. And put that tail of yours to good use." Rolling his eyes at his trainer, Pikachu dropped onto all fours, raising his tail into the air briefly before beginning to sniff the ground.

[Midori Mikana]

"It was my grandfather's, I managed to save it when my house got burnt down..." She smiles and stares down at the Mudkip. "My grandfather and I... we'd go hunting alot... and we'd use Mudkip to detect nearby prey..." She glances up and smiles at Yami. "How'd you get your Ralts?"

[Yami Mono]

There was a pause, as Yami realized that nobody did know where he got his ralts. "I got lost in Lavender Tower several years ago, when the gastly swarmed it. This little guy helped me out of there. He's rather famous for it in Lavender. I'm still not sure what he was doing there in the first place, however."

Ralts made a noise that sounded awfully like a squeal, and Yami turned around. The small pokemon was rolling on the ground, emitting it's version of laughter. Several mental images later, Yami had a strong desire to put the pokemon back in it's ball, despite it's ability to sense things coming.

"S-Shut up! It's not like that!" He shouted at it.

[Ferris Smith]

"Cut the chatter." Ferris snapped. "I'd like to know what's ahead before it knows about us. We can socialize when this mission is over."

[Yami Mono]

"True. However, a mental advantage is best. If we are calm, we will be able to think moire clearly. This is achieved by relaxing. Besides, Ralts can alert us if anything wild gets too close, that is if he would get back to searching!" The last part was directed at the psychic pokemon, who was still laughing to itself.

[Midori Mikana]

Ignoring Yami, Midori tries to keep quiet, which wouldn't be so hard for the girl if it wasn't for the fact that it was her first mission and she was using the conversation to calm her nerves.

[Yami Mono]

Seeing the girl attempting to calm herself, Yami nodded to himself. 'Wise decision.' He thought, and gave Ralts a small smirk.

"I was not scared back there, and you know it. Hmph, why do you like to get on my nerves so much?"

Ralts gave him a smile, accompanied by another mental image. Yami scowled. "That's taking it too far. You're lucky that guy already has out a Vulpix, or I'd switch the two of you in a heartbeat."

Ralts sent him a mental image of a boy sticking out his tongue, and Yami tried to ignore it, but it just kept popping up every time he turned his attention to something else.

[Kai Turner]

Kai glanced at Yami out of the corner of her eye. When had the silent boy of yesterday suddenly become so talkative? Shaking her head a little as if to clear it, she turned her attention back to the trees.

[Kyle Silver]

Scanning the trees, Kyle gripped his slingshot carefully. In an attempt to bulk it up a bit, he'd used shards of glass mixed up in dirt and left to dry overnight. They were solid enough to be handled, but if they connected with a Pokemon's face and hopefully the eyes, there'd be a lot of disablement possibility.

Kyle also brought some other things with him. He'd repaired two of the two-ways, and had given one to Ferris and left the other back at the Pokemon Center for both Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny to use if necessary. The bad news was that he'd emptied the other radios of their parts, so he was unable to make any more.

His homemade grenade was also here, tucked into his belt. He hoped not to use it soon.

"I just hope everyone who survives is out here on the edge and haven't gone into the forest to find cover... tha'd be like running into an Ursaring's cave to escape a Mightyena."

[Leo Tregillas]

Walking a few meters behind the rest of the group, Leo couldn't help but ocasionally look over his shoulders for any followers. He noticed how nearly all of the group members had released one of their pokémon to search for hostile ones, and Leo shook his head slightly. They weren't going to find any wild pokémon, they were the ones that were going to be found. However, as the rest of them didn't have this on their mind, or atleast didn't show it, Leo kept quiet and followed in their footsteps quietly.

He heard Yami talking, and had a sudden feeling they were being watched. He looked around, but saw nothing. Leo had learned to trust his instincts since this all had began, and he wasn't going to stop now. He turned around completely, and walked backwards, but yet there was nothing to be seen. His nerves calmed slightly, but he knew they weren't going to be safe for much longer.

[Midori Mikana]

Noticing Leo's odd behavior, Midori arms her bow with a single arrow. While she holds a second in the same hand, for a finishing blow if necessary, holding it backwards to make sure not to accidentally fire it with the first shot.

[Yami Mono]

There was a small cry from ralts, but Yami ignored it, still angry at the little pokemon.

Trying to warn someone, ralts turned to Kai and began to make faces to draw her attention. Seeing that it wasnt working very well, he jumped onto Yami's head, and began broadcasting mental images of a Beedrill to eveyone in the area.

[Midori Mikana]

Not exactly liking the sudden mental image in her head, Midori starts screaming at the Ralts. "Get out of my head!"

[Yami Mono]

"Calm down!" Yami barked, then realized that it wouldn't help the situation, and began speaking in a quieter tone. "What was it? What did he show you?"

[Midori Mikana]

Realising how loud she was screaming, Midori quickly attempts to quiet herself. "A... a Beedrill." She then begins rubbing her temples to calm her mind, looking down to see that Mudkip wasn't sensing any movments in the air.

[Yami Mono]

"We're probably near a nest then. Nobody else has sensed movement, so I willing to bet they're asleep, like always. Hmph. Now what do we do? Which way leads us away from the nest?"

Ralts smiled. Yami was talking more, now that he was on missions. Maybe... he would become happy again too.

[Midori Mikana]

"Wait. What about the other group? They'd probably want to know where the nest is. But how do we contact them..." Midori quietly thinks aloud.

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris immediately released Psyduck from his Poke Ball to join Vulpix and drew out his wrench. Gible who was clinging to his shoulder dropped down and surveyed the area. However, there was nothing.

"Yami," he grumbled, "tell your Ralts to not go bonkers unless the Pokemon are within striking distance. Let the other team worry about battling everything that moves. We're here to search for survivors."

Ferris began walking again along with his Pokemon though with his wrench still gripped in his hand.

[Midori Mikana]

"I'd bet anything the survivors would come out if they knew we we nearby..." Midori mutters as she begins to think. "Does anybody have anything that's flat, decent sized, and doesn't weigh much?"

[Kai Turner]

Hearing Midori's request, Kai nodded, reaching into a small bag clipped to the back of her belt and retrieving a heavily scratched compact disc which she studied briefly before handing it over. "I've got plenty of other stuff," she murmured, reaching for Doduo's pokeball, "if that's not what you're looking for."

Sending out the twinbird pokemon, she hissed to the right head, "Keep a look out behind us, okay?" The right head nodded, and she turned to the left. "You check the general area. Tell me if you see anything moving, alright?"

[Midori Mikana]

Midori looks at the disc for a moment before handing it back. "Maybe something twice that size..." She fishes through her quiver for the items at the bottom, grabbing her Pidgey's Pokeball and letting it out. "But still light enough for Pidgey to carry..."

[Yami Mono]

Ralts smiled. Doduo were it's favorites. Sending a mental image of a Taillow to the left head, and a Caterpie to the right, it would, without fail, cause the two heads to argue with each other.

However, before his plan could be carried out, it dissapeared into the red light of the pokeball. "Nice try, Ralts. You're becoming too much of a pain to deal with."

[Kyle Silver]

"Gra..." Kyle muttered as the image of the Beedrill faded. "That's one freaky thing." he motioned towards the Pokeball that Yami was holding, which now contained Ralts. "I'm glad Miho's doesn't do that..." he sniffed and rubbed his hand under his nose.

"So, I think we should start making a plan of action of what we'll do when a Pokemon does show up..." he gave a meaningful glance at Midori's bow. "I don't want one of those in someone's back because we're all trying to take down the same Pokemon at once."

[Midori Mikana]

"That would probably be a good idea..." Midori responds quietly, still rummaging through the bottom of her quiver for something to use.

[Kai Turner]

Kai frowned a little doubtfully, but reached back into her bag, searching around a little before pulling out a good sized paperback novel. She gave it a regretful look, wishing she had finished it earlier, before holding it up and asking quietly, "How 'bout this?"

[Midori Mikana]

"I guess that would work, but I only really need one page." Midori takes the book and flips to the back to see if there is a blank page. "Oh, Ferris, may I use your spray paint please?"

[Yami Mono]

'Hm. This Miho... she has a ralts that doesn't harass people with mental images? I wonder if she'd trade me...' Yami thought, and was answered by a picture of him supspended by telekenisis over a pit of lava.

'Hmph. I was only joking. No need to go that far.'

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris took the spray paint from his belt. It was bright red however it was a dull finish. "I don't know how well this stuff would get people's attention since it's not glossy?" He toss her the spray can. "Might as well give it a try."

His thoughts then turned towards that stupid Ralts. The last thing they needed was being thrown on false leads.

He too had the feeling of being watched weighing heavily on him. He hadn't felt that bone chilling feeling since he came to that center. He was uneasy more about the people around him. If it was just him sometimes you eat the Ursaring and others the Ursaring eats you. However, he had people to protect and survivors counting on them. They had to pull through.

[Midori Mikana]

"Oh!" Midori fumbles the can around a little before getting her grip. "Red. Perfect." Midori rips a blank page out of the back of the book, handing it back. She then paints a hospital cross with an arrow pointing down on either side of the paper. "Thanks." Midori states, tossing back the paint. She gives the paper to Pidgey. "Take this and fly directly above us." Pidgey cooing and flying up high above the trees.

[Yami Mono]

Yami glared at the back of Ferris' head. Ralts had told him what he was thinking about, in picture form, of course, and he didn't like it.

No one could insult Ralts but him. It didn't matter whether or not Ralts actually was an annoyance, the first one to say so would answer to his Vulpix's flames.

Ralts had only done it's best. It had detected a potential threat before anyone else's pokemon had, and that was what mattered. Inside it's pokeball, it's range was severly limited, but it could still help.

A picture popped into Yami's mind, and he nodded silently. Two seconds later, Ralts had given Ferris an image of the same boy he always used to identify himself as, giving him a VERY rude gesture.

"Hmm... a signal for help?" Yami commented. He saw the image, and was confused. They didn't need help this early into the mission, did they?

[Kai Turner]

"No... a sign that help is coming" answered Kai, slipping the book back into her bag and watching Pidgey soar off. She turned to grin at Midori. "That's a really good idea."

[Yami Mono]

Yami nodded. "Hm... I'd prefer a better sign - maybe with an actual message, but I suppose it's the best we can do for now. Maybe... yeah. When Ralts calms down, I'llhave him search for their thought patterns. He should be able to do that."

This was answered by a picture of said pokemon holding up a sign with a giant red O on it.

"Okay, scratch that. He's able to do it."

[Midori Mikana]

"No." Midori blurts out at the mention of the Ralts. "That Ralts of yours has made things bad enough already. We don't need the people we're trying to help running away because that little terror sends them an image of an Ursaring or something."

[Kai Turner]

"And short of using the whole book and the entire can of spray paint, I don't think we could make a message big enough to be read from the air."

Mudkip stopped searching to paw at his trainer's leg, and she sighed, scooping him up and dumping him on her shoulder. "Keep it up, okay?" The little pokemon gave an affirmative, "Kip kip!" before closing its eyes and resuming its scan.

[Yami Mono]

Yami scowled. "Hm. And I thought I could trust you... shows what I get for it. Nobody talks bad about my ralts. - Nobody."

Yami's pokeball burst open, and a Vulpix appeared. Ralts sent it's thoughts to Midori, showing a firey demise. "NO, Vulpix." Yami ordered. "Not yet."

[Ferris Smith]

As soon as Yami's Vulpix appeared Ferris' stopped sniffing the ground and took action after seeing a reflection of Ralts' mental image. She struck the other fox Pokemon with a Confuse Ray, temporarily blinding him.

"Yami," Ferris roared, not caring whether every Pokemon within a kilometer heard him, "tell your damn Pokemon to behave themselves or go back to the fucking Pokemon Center. I will not have this team fighting each other." Then in a quieter tone. "As for your Ralts, he can go to hell."

[Midori Mikana]

Midori's eyes widen, the image of her burning in fire not exactly helping her keep her mind off of what had happened. As she begun to shake as she had done the night before, Mudkip notices the trainer's face, hosing her down with a Water Gun. Shaking off the water, Midori flips out and starts yelling towards the Pokeball containing the Ralts, not really caring who - or what - might hear. "Are you fucked up in the head?! Do you want us all to go crazy?! Do you think this is some sort of sick game?!"

[Kyle Silver]

"PEOPLE!!!!" Kyle yelled, as loud, if not louder, than Ferris. "It's bad enough that we're fighting these Pokemon, we don't need to be fighting each other!!" Calming down a little, he regathered his thoughts. "If we DO find any survivors, and they see us this way, bickering and fighting amongst ourselves, they might decide it would be better to take their chances at surviving on their own than to get caught up in this." Kyle sighed, but didn't let up the grip on his slingshot. The feeling of being watched returned, along with the ball of ice nestled in the pit of his stomach.

"And we can't afford that. This city can't afford that."

[Midori Mikana]

Rubbing her temples to calm herself down, Midori responds to Kyle's remark. "I'm pretty sure all of us know that, maybe you should tell that stupid Ralts and see if you get the same response I did."

[Yami Mono]

"Ralts only tried to help." Yami insisted. "Anyone who wants to believe otherwise will burn in the fires of hell - and I intend to make good on that threat. If you are sick enough to blame a mere pokemon who only tries to help, then you deserve to die."

Flames licked around Vulpix's mouth, a fire attack imminent, if it weren't stopped by Ralts, who interferred with a mental lecture.

"Ralts doesn't want me to hurt any of you, but I will procect my friends, so just keep your spiteful opinions to yourself, and there won't be any trouble."

Yami backed away from the group, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't risk getting that upset - no matter what was happening. He had lost a battle with himslef, and the concequences were almost disasterous... in fact, they could almost be called such even at this state.

He highly doubted that anyone would trust him anymore, despite thefact that he would procect them with his life... well, most of them. Ferris - He could die, and Yami wouldn't even bat an eyelash.

"I'm sorry." Yami finally apologized. "I just... can't take things like this. I was often beaten up by other kids when I tried to help them, because something would go wrong. And seeing Ralts in the same position as I was... I'd do anything to stop anyone from having to feel the same way, ever again." Yami sighed. He had never been that open with anyone outside of his familiy in his life... it seemed to tire him, somehow. 'For the same reasons.' He thought. 'both me and ralts are shunned because we're psychic.'

[Kai Turner]

Groaning inwardly, Kai moved away from Yami and Midori, motioning her partners to follow with a swift jerk of her head. Coming up next to Kyle, she gave him a tired smile, muttering, "Mind if I walk with you? I've had just about as much of that Ralts and his head games as I can handle."

[Yami Mono]

'Mind games.' Yami thought bitterly. 'Psychic powers have never been mind games. You want mind games, go to an illusionist.'

Vulpix sensed her trainer's anger, and almost began to form flames, but it was recalled into it's pokeball. 'Enough hostility, Vulpix. We need to regain trust if we are to work with them as a team.' Yami scolded.


"Midori... I apologize deeply. I forgot how fire scares you." He said, closing his eyes. "Please, do not judge ralts so harshly. He has done nothing to deserve it." Yami waited for the girl's reply, hoping that he could, at least with one person, get back to better ground.

[Midori Mikana]

"It's o... okay..." Midori studders. "J... just keep t... that Pokemon of y... yours out of m... my head."

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris's Vulpix stuck her nose high in the air as Yami's disappeared back into his ball. She was disgusted that a fellow fox Pokemon would defend a hellion like that Ralts. She returned to her original duty of sniffing out human scent as well as markers left by Pokemon entering the city.

"'Done nothing to deserve it' my ass." Ferris grumbled. That stupid Pokemon nearly tore the team apart with his antics. Obviously he didn't understand the gravity of the situation they were in.

Ferris had some experience with psychic powers. Vulpix and Psyduck while not true Psychic-type Pokemon had some psychic ability (well in Vulpix's case supernatural power similar to a Ghost-type). However, the ability to invade other's minds and insert images like that was new to him. It was a scary power and could be a powerful weapon and yet it was in the hands of a fool. What kind of an idiot was use it on his allies?

Ferris put it out of his mind. There were more important things to worry about. He followed Vulpix and Psyduck and Gible followed him as they continued to scan the edge of the forest. He didn't need any hoaky powers. His senses and those of his Pokemon would get the job done just as well if not better.

[Midori Mikana]

Noticing Kai's Mudkip on Kai's shoulder, Mudkip begins prodding Midori's leg. "I can't carry you Mudkip. You're to heavy to put on my shoulder, and I can't hold you and use my bow at the same time."

[Kyle Silver]

Kyle gave a start when Kai walked up to him. "Uh...sure...I don't really care." He'd been thinking about other things at the moment. Like how to deal with Yami and his Ralts' freaky psy-powers. Maybe, with the right training, they could become as valuble to the team as anybody. If only Sabrina or Tate and Liza were here to help.

"When did we stop walking?" Kyle asked to nobody in particular, yet the whole group. Ferris was slowly shrinking as he walked away. Jogging a bit, Kyle picked up the pace until he was about five yards behind. This continued for a while, until a quick glance over his shoulder gave everyone's location. Kai was about three feet behind on his left, with Yami about six more behind her. Midori was trying her best to stay away from him without being trampled by Leo and Aero, who quietly brought up the rear.

Kyle inwardly wondered if the night's rest was really doing as good for her insides as it seemed. Maybe if the mission had been tomorrow, he would have not cared, but this soon after a breakdown like that...it bordered on the edge of idiocy. He also remembered how long it took him to wash his shirt, and Midori's too, as an act of kindness, with a double lecture from both Joy and Jenny over his shoulders about conserving water and the like, while they weren't fighting each other within his earshot. Small wonder Joy was so emotional, with the things they had talked about...

"So." Kyle struck up a conversation with Kai. "I heard you were from Hoenn. Judging by your tan, I'd say from some city where you'd get a lot of sun. Maybe Dewford or Pacifidigalog. That's fun to say. Pacifidigalog. Pacifidigalog. Rolls right off the tounge." he said, laughing.

[Kai Turner]

Kai laughed as well, trotting a little faster to catch up with Kyle. "I'm from Mossdeep, actually. A little to the northeast of Pacifidlog. It was pretty sunny there, but the Shoal Cave kept it nice and cool. Best of both worlds."

Mudkip beamed, batting playfully at his trainer's ear as she continued. "I got plenty of sun on my journey too, of course. Four years of searching for an ancient map will do that to ya."

Reaching up to swat Mudkip's paws away, she asked, "How about you? I think you mentioned something about the Johto League yesterday?"

[Yami Mono]

For the first time in his life, Yami wished that Ralts could speak normally.

He had never known that it was something other Ralts didn't seem to do, having only seen this one, and looked back at the chaos it caused. "I would like to keep him out of your head, Midori-san," He said, falling back on formality. "But any warnings he gives us are in such a state. He can't communicate any other way."

For a second, Yami paused, and realized that wasn't quite true. "He can speak, but it doesn't hold any meaning when he does so." He clarified. Yami started thinking on such a concept. He had never heard of a pokemon, other than his ralts, that could only communicate psychically.

He thought he remembered something about Abra, but even they had speech when using telepathy. 'Ralts? do you know?' He silently asked his pokemon, picking up their mental link.

A picture of the boy ralts always used to identify himself as with a confused expression answered him. 'Hm... doesn't matter too much, I guess.' He told him.

One last picture came to him before ralts cut off the link. One of Yami with an evil grin, looking at a burning forest. 'He's right.' Yami thought. 'I have to get control of myself.'

If he could have, Yami would have sat down and closed his eyes, but as it wasn't an option, he decided to try anyway. - It was time for him to confront this problem head on. He would force himself to calm down, one way or another.

[Midori Mikana]

Mudkip runs up to Kai and starts staring at Kai's Mudkip as it follows, as it prepares to jump at the other Mudkip, Midori runs up and swats its fin. "No." Midori starts scolding the Mudkip. "What have I told you? No jumping at others. It's not nice." Midori looks up at Kai. "Sorry about that, Mudkip likes to play with others and often gets distracted." She then glares down at the Mudkip. "Isn't that right?" The Mudkip staring up at her, its usual happy smile lighting up its face. "Kip!" The Mudkip then starts to concentrate again, wiggling its fin around to detect air motion.

[Yami Mono]

Yami sighed. Mudkip becomes overexcited, and nobody freaks out on it. Some people apparently didn't like psychics. 'Hmph.' Yami thought. 'Condemn what you don't understand, is that it?'

Ralts sent a mental image of the boy nodding. This brought a small smile to Yami's face. 'And to think that this whole fiasco started because of something about that small. I'd say that they're racist, but that's not really a race.'

Ralts sent him another image. 'Hn. Typeist indeed.'

[Midori Mikana]

Noticing Yami looking at Mudkip with a sigh, Midori can't resist the urge to speak up. "Don't you even act like that, Mudkip's not disturbing anyone, and at least I have the nerve to stop Mudkip before he does bother anyone. Don't act so high and mighty, just because your Pokemon can read minds doesn't make it better than any other Pokemon. In order to be better it has to understand what it's reading."

[Kyle Silver]

"Was I pronouncing it wrong?" Kyle asked as Kai pronounced Pacifidlog differently. "Yeah, I'm from Johto. New Bark, actually. The cliche beginning, not only is it a town with a Lab, but we're also in a forgotten corner of the world. Most trainers on their way from Kanto to Johto will cut right from Viridian to Violet, we almost never get anyone our way unless they get lost on the path from Blackthorn."

"I actually got my Cyndaquil from Prof. Elm, believe it or not. My dad's his aide, and I helped out there sometimes, too. I got to see all the new trainers and meet them. I even remember the incident where one boy stole a Totodile and the current Indigo Leauge Champion left to hunt him down. I was actually there. I never thought somebody from our own town would be somebody so great..." Trailing off, Kyle scanned the trees again. Nothing at the moment.

Taking notice of Midori, he asked, "So how are you feeling since last night? You freaked us out pretty bad, and Ferris was actually a little scary, being so calm."

[Yami Mono]

"High and mighty!" Yami shouted, before going into a more calm pose. He had to work on that anger! If it kept bursting out at such inopportune times, he'd never get their trust back.

"Ralts understands more than enough, Midori-san." He twisted her name into a sneer. "I'm not trying to be 'high and mighty' as you call it, just saying that the same level of disturbance from my ralts caused a full blown explosion, where as your's disappears because you apologize. Because my ralts communicates psychically does not make it better, Miss Midori, just different. However your little group seems to believe it is threatening you all somehow by doing so, and that is what I am angry about."

Yami tried to regain his composure, hoping that, for once, someone would just understand.


'But that's not the way humans work, now is it?' Yami thought bitterly. 'Cross them once, even accidentally, and they're at you for the rest of your life. Hm. And to think I had assumed that things would be different for me here.'

[Midori Mikana]

"My Mudkip hasn't sent us all pictures of Beedrill in our mind, in fact, it was my Mudkip that had shown us that there were no Beedrill around at the moment. And my Mudkip wasn't trying to confuse a Doduo, and, last I checked, my Mudkip just prevented me from going back into the state I was in last night, which your Ralts almost put me in. As far as I've seen, your Ralts knows nothing about what goes on in peoples deepest thoughts, as it completely forgot how I reacted to fire, and has yet to realise that it still hasn't appologised." Midori then turns her attention completely away from Yami, and towards Kyle. "I'm fine, really, I was just having a moment, and the fact that people kept touching me and moving me didn't help much. But I feel fine now."

[Kai Turner]

Kai turned to give Yami a sardonic smile, clearly irritated. "Not threatened, Mono. Just really annoyed. Most people don't appreciate having their minds invaded ad nauseum. And by the way, don't act the righteous victim. You're as guilty as anyone else here of overreacting."

[Ferris Smith]

That was it. He had had enough. Yami had worn on Ferris' last nerve. He stopped and stomped back to Yami, picking him clear off the ground by his shirt and slamming him against a nearby tree. "You listen to me you little son of bitch." He snarled. "I don't know what your problem is and frankly I don't care. I'm going to submit a formal report to Officer Jenny on this incident. We trusted your damn Ralts and instead the little bastard jeopardized the entire mission."

He released Yami to allow him to slide down the tree.

[Kyle Silver]

"I guess I'm partially to blame then, I'm sorry." Kyle murmered. "I hope you can forgive me. But if you don't it's alright. I'm protected by the Good Samaritan Law!" he laughed.

'That's odd...' Kyle thought. 'What's the Good Samarawhatever?'

"Yo, Mono." he turned around to talk, but instead got nearly knocked over as Ferris marched back to take care of buisiness with Yami. Clearly neither of them would be in the mood to talk, so Kyle just kept silent as they continued the look for survivors.

[Midori Mikana]

'Hopefully now he'll shut his mouth for two seconds and think before he speaks.' Midori thought to herself with a sigh. 'Everyday a new idiot who doesn't think.'

[Yami Mono]

"Ferris." Yami said, completely lost in his anger. "If you ever touch me again - I will kill you." Slowly standing up, he walked over to the man, ralts's psychic power lifting him into the air, at his command.

"If the same ralts you say jeopardized the mission was as bad as you say he is, he let me kill you right here and now. I believe you owe some gratitude to the one who spared your life."

Not wanting to waste anymore time or energy on the pathetic excuse for a man, Ferris quickly found himself flying through the air in the opposite direction as Yami walked away.

"You have a problem with me or my ralts - don't resort to violence. I'd be all too happy to comply."

Yami then decided that it wasn't worth it anymore, and sat down on the grass, eyes closed, and in a meditation-like state, trying to seal away his anger.

'If I keep losing it like this! Argh!' Ralts provided him with a few soothing images to help, as he popped out of his pokeball, making sure that he would protect Yami if Ferris lost it again.

[Kyle Silver]

"This is just great." Kyle ran a hand through his hair. He didn't bother to check on Ferris, he knew the burly mechanic would be more angry than hurt. Sighing, he stopped the march and leaned against a tree, waiting for Ferris to reemerge from the bushes that Yami's Ralts had thrown him into. Taking a look around, Kyle got an idea.

Grabbing a tree, he pulled the bark off in a pattern that resembled an arrow, pointing in the general direction of the Pokemon Center. He'd make more on the way back. Not only would this tell them if they were going around in circles, but anyone who was walking out here with even a shred of sense would be able to follow it right to the center. He just hoped the Pokemon weren't smart enough to realize that.

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris sat up after being hit by the psychic blast. "That's IT!" He yelled. "You've just blown your last chance."

He then turned to his Pokemon. "Vulpix, use Confuse Ray. Psyduck, use Disable to cancel that Ralt's psychic abilities. Gible, send that pathetic excuse of a Pokemon into next week with Take Down." His then picked up his wrench and smacked it against his palm. "The trainer is mine. I'm going to drag him back to the last police checkpoint and let Officer Jenny sort out what to do about him."

His Pokemon took action. Vulpix suddenly appeared before Ralts, delivering a Confuse Ray at close range. Psyduck kept the Pokemon's powers in check while Gible rammed him full blast, launching him into the air and sending him several meters before landing and skidding on the ground.

Next was Yami. Ferris had already tripped the guy up when they first met. He had a bad feeling about the trainer and apparently he should have trusted his instincts. Before the other trainer could react he delivered a sharp blow to solar plexus, winding him. He took Ralt's Poke Ball and returned the Pokemon to it. He then picked up Yami and through him over his shoulder.

"I'm taking him back to the police checkpoint where we split off from the other group." Ferris stated. "Vulpix and Psyduck, stay with them. Follow Kyle's instructions as you continue the search. Gible and I will be back soon."

He then walked back from where they had come from, carrying Yami on his back. 'I don't believe this guy.' Ferris thought. 'You trust him to do something he messes it up. When you talk against him he gets hostile and when confront him he attacks you. What are we supposed to do with him?' He then thought about his threat to kill him. 'In your dreams. A lot bigger, badder things have tried to kill me and I'm still here.'

[Midori Mikana]

Looking at the arrow marking, Midori comments. "I'm not sure that everyone would know where they're going..." Taking an arrow from her quiver, she draws a hospital cross above the arrow. "Most smart Pokemon probably won't recognise symbols like that, while people probably will..."

[Yami Mono]

Yami groaned from his position on Ferris' back.

'Guess we screwed up, huh, ralts?' He asked. 'I knew I should have dealt with my anger before attempting something like this.' Ralts agreed in his silent picture way.

"Ferris..." Yami groaned. "I'm... sorry. Just." He stopped for a moment.

"Let me go back by myself." An explanatory picture from ralts tried to help him get his point across.

"I'll... rejoin you once," He coughed. "I've... beaten my anger."

Yami gave a weak smile. "But mark my words, I'll-" He coughed. "Save those people... if it kills me."

There was a pause, as ralts pulled out of it's pokeball to carry Yami psychically. "That is my word. I'll never go back on it."

[Kai Turner]

"Anyone find it strange that we haven't seen hide or hair of anything yet? Not even a pokemon?" asked Kai, giving the trees a quick scan, "I mean, with all the noise we've been making, you'd think that at least something would have come by now." The feeling of being watched crept up on her again, and she shuddered involuntarily.

[Midori Mikana]

"That's true. We've made enough noise to wake the dead..." Midori shudders aswell, loading her bow once again.

[Kyle Silver]

"Yeah...I have an idea." Kyle said. "Can everyone return their Pokemon to their Pokeballs for a second? This should be able to tell us if there are any Pokemon in the area."

He'd listened to Oscar's account of the plant mission, and had some idea of what Ferris's Pokemon were able to do.

"Vulpix, can you send out a weak Confuse Ray to see if there are any Pokemon out there? You should be able to get an echo, and Psyduck should be able to pick it up." His plan was to use the two Pokemon as a type of sonar or echolocation to find the minds of any Pokemon in the area. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot. "If that fails...do something Ferris would have you do in this situation."

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris let Yami slide off his back. "Alright," he said, "however, you and Ralts are still going on report. Officer Jenny will have to decide what to do with you. But that doesn't matter at the moment. We'll see you back at the Pokemon Center." Ferris and Gible then left Yami as they walked back towards the group.

In the meantime Vulpix and Psyduck executed Kyle's plan. Ferris had told them to follow his instructions and it was a solid plan, similar to what Ferris would have done. Vulpix sent out a Confuse Ray though at the fraction of the power she used on the other Vulpix and Ralts. Psyduck then tried to sense minds startled by the light. Although he wasn't nearly as sensitive as Ralts and wasn't able to project images to anyone, he could still detect minds if they were in a highly emotional state.

[Midori Mikana]

"What if a Ghost or Dark type is following us? These mental attacks won't do much to them, if anything." Midori asks, not really sure that recalling all the Pokemon was a good idea.

[Kai Turner]

"We can always stop the Confuse Ray and let our pokemon out if we're ambushed" suggested Kai, gripping her spear tightly, "And worst comes to worst, we can fight. Assuming the pokemon we're dealing with has a physical body, that is."

[Kyle Silver]

"Well, not many people realize it, but Confuse Ray is a Ghost-type attack. So it would affect any ghost types and probably only be able to sense a Dark type." Kyle murmered, looking around at the trees. "And if a Ghost type goes show up, any elemental powers, like Fire, Grass, or Water, should be able to affect it just fine."

[Ferris Smith]

"Confuse Ray isn't affected by type." Ferris said as he walked up to the group. "It will confuse anything unless it has a natural trait preventing confusion."

"Yami's walking back to the checkpoint." Ferris said on the other matter. "I hope I didn't overdo it."

Ferris felt guilty for what he did to Yami. However, he had no choice. The situation had gotten out of hand and the only way to defuse it was to remove Yami from it. That meant incapacitating both him and his Ralts since it was clear they would not go quietly in the state they were in.

[Yami Mono]

At the checkpoint, Yami sat inside a police car, in a meditative state. Ralts sent him calming images, trying to assist his friend any way he could.

The pokemon felt bad - it blamed itself for the trouble, and was doing it's best to correct it. Inside it's mind, the borwn-haired boy it always represented itself with nodded. 'We will return to the forest after Yami is better.' It thought. 'He'd never forgive himself if we didn't.'

[Leo Tregillas]

Leo was barely noticed by any of the others until Ferris returned. He was a bit uncomfortable with the situation, but felt that Ferris had done what was needed. One person certainly didn't stand above any others in this place, and he felt somewhat sure that this was what separated them from the wild pokémon in the area.

He stepped forward, directly towards Ferris. He had been quiet so far, but there were several things on his mind after the latest happening. He decided he would ask Ferris what he felt was the most important one first, and then move on to the others if there was time.

"We're here to look for for survivors, isn't that so? Right. No wild pokémon encounters, and everything would go like a breeze. Don't you agree? And yet now, we are searching for them, instead of possible human survivors, So I say we get moving, if only a little." He looked around at the others, trying to urge an opinion on the matter from them.

"We're probably going to come across something that's out of it's mind, and we're pretty likely to have to fight ourselves out of that situation. I believe that, if there are any survivors, and they haven't yet managed to - or tried to - get to the Pokémon Center, they probably won't do it at all. Instead, we should try to find them. Or what do you think?"

[Midori Mikana]

"Oh..." Midori sighs after being corrected about Confuse Ray. Her face turning slightly red as she blushed, her pale skin hiding most of the rosy color. "I've never battled before... so I didn't know... the closest I've ever been to a real battle..." Midori looks up into the trees to think for a second. "Would be watching through the Celadon gyms windows... I used to do that alot... it's right by my old house..." Midori stops and shakes her head, trying not to think about that bad memory. "But I never really understood much about types or anything... I only use my Pokemon to hunt..."

[Ferris Smith]

"Survivors should come first." Ferris agreed with Leo.

Midori's statement caused him to think of the poachers. He looked to the woods. Jenny said they were unsubstantiated rumors. However, what took that Electivire was no rumor. He secretly wished he had gone with the other group. He knew there were more than just wild Pokemon out there.

[Kai Turner]

"Where would survivors hide?" asked Kai, frowning at the ground and rubbing her chin, "I'd imagine that they'd move around a little, but they'd probably stay close to some kind of water source like a pond or a stream."

[Midori Mikana]

"I went hunting with my grandfather for a week once, we stayed in a set of trees near a river because that's where whatever we wer hunting was most likely to show up." Midori's eyes shift up and into the trees, deciding to watch there. "And, when Pokemon weren't around, we could easily get something to drink. If I remember correctly, the trees had quite a few berries, so we could eat almost anytime we wanted." She thinks back, trying to remember exactly how they survived in the wilderness. "But, I'm sure any trees would be completely stripped of berries and probably leaves by now. I'm not sure... where do you go when you have nowhere to hide?"

[Kai Turner]

"You keep moving" answered Kai, turning to stare into the trees, "Follow the stream or lake shore or whatever and hope you don't run into trouble. It also increases your luck with foraging for food. That's my best guess anyway, and it's worked for me a couple times in the past."

[Midori Mikana]

"Exactly." Midori nods. "We find a river, follow it downstream, and we should find survivors in no time at all. We don't head upstream, we'd only run into Pokemon moving downstream themselves."

[Kai Turner]

"Why downstream?" asked Kai, turning to give Midori a puzzled look, "All running water has to have a source, and I'd think you'd have to go upstream to find it."

[Midori Mikana]

"Because, where does all that water go? To larger bodies of water that are downstream. Besides, most rivers and streams join with others to make a larger river, going upstream would only bring you to that junction." Midori points out, rather matter-of-factly.

[Kai Turner]

Snorting softly and raising an eyebrow, Kai replied, "Hnnn... I guess that makes more sense than my theory. I was thinking of a spring, or a seep, but those usually start up in the mountains, and it would be risky to go that far from the city just to find water. So then, are there any large bodies of water around here? I'm not real familiar with the area."

[Midori Mikana]

"I don't really know myself..." Midori sighs. "I've never left the area around my house... Except to go hunting, but my grandfather always knew where we were going, so we didn't explore much..." Mudkip pops back out of its ball and stares up at Midori. "That's it! Mudkips are really good at sensing nearby water, when not searching through the air. My Mudkip can check for water while yours continues to detect air motion."

[Kai Turner]

"Sounds like a plan," said Kai with a little smile, "But we'd better get everyone's approval, first." Tapping Mudkip's pokeball, but not taking it off her belt, she turned toward the others, asking, "Whaddya think?"

[Kyle Silver]

"Are you sure you can call yourself someone who lives in Celadon?" Kyle quirked an eyebrow at Midori. "If you've ever looked at a map, or in the case of living here, if you looked out your front door, you'd see that Celadon is right on the ocean. Well, it's in a bay, but it's the same idea. Though it's all saltwater, so it doesn't make any difference in this argument."

Turning to Kai a few seconds later, Kyle nodded his approval. "It's better than staying here. It's a good thing we've started thinking along the lines of what a survivor or survivors would do."

Looking around, Kyle realized that, with Yami gone, they'd been whittled down to six. Oh well, one less person to worry about.

[Midori Mikana]

"I read books often... but I've never really liked maps..." Midori sighs, wishing she knew something about the area's geography. "The only things I would ever do were hunt, read, and watch battles going on in the gym..."

[Ferris Smith]

"All rivers and streams flow into Celadon City." Ferris explained. "The water then flows into the bay. So no matter what, we'd be following the water upstream."

He then thought silently for a moment. "However, I wouldn't set up shop right on the water since Pokemon would come there as well. Instead I'd find a place still close to the water but far enough out of the way that the Pokemon wouldn't notice."

He looked at the sun rising higher in the sky. The lull between the nocturnal Pokemon going to sleep for the day and the diurnal Pokemon becoming active wouldn't last much longer. Unfortunately they had wasted so much on Yami they blew a golden opportunity to get a lot of work done in peace.

[Kai Turner]

Kai nodded. "Exactly. And it would have to be a pretty defensible location, too. Maybe a shallow cave or a deadfall of some sort."

[Evolutions]

OOC: Talk about some nice exposition and character development. ;) I didn't want to interrupt you all there. Got some nice things going that you'll have to sort out later at the Pokémon Center. ;)

Oddly, despite all the noise your group has made, you've yet to run into anything living whatsoever, man or Pokémon. The likely cause for this is right around you. Every vaguely edible plant appears to have been stripped bare. If there is anything still living in this region of the forest, it must be starving. Of course...if the Pokémon have moved on from a lack of food...that might just make this area safe enough for people to have hidden themselves...if they themselves weren't made into food first.

[Kai Turner]

Crossing to the edge of the path and kneeling to examine a stripped berry plant, Kai murmured, "Besides, there's no food here. Anything will probably have moved on to places where there's more forage." Straightening up, she thumped the ground with the butt of her spear, asking, "Alright, then. Which way do we go?"

[Kyle Silver]

"If all the food is gone...then it shouldn't be too hard for us to break apart into two smaller groups, one could head upstream, the other could head downstream. I doubt there would be any Pokemon around part of a forest with no food, and if there are, they're probably too weak to do much anyways."

Kyle straightened up. "I say we go downstream. But that's just me. If anybody else wants to go the other way, we could split up, like I said. But if I'm outnumbered, I'd be more than happy to go with all of you."

[Leo Tregillas]

"I'd rather not split up," said Leo quickly. "Even though I'm all for searching for and finding survivors, I don't want to risk one group being attacked, and the other being able to do nothing about it. I mean, just because all the food is gone doesn't necessarily mean all the pokémon are." Leo felt uneasy when looking at the others, feeling that his response was too much the direct opposite of Kyle's.

"Although, that's just my opinion. I agree with Kyle on that though, I'll go with groups if that's what everyone wants."

[Kai Turner]

Kai shrugged. "It's a double-edged sword. If we stay in one group, it's probably safer, but if we split up, we can cover more ground. I guess I'm fine with either one, so it's really up to you guys."

[Ferris Smith]

"As I said," Ferris chimed in, "there's no point in going downstream since it will just lead back into the city. However, we should split into two groups to search both banks of the first river we come to. If there are any survivors to be found they should be in that general vicinity."

[Midori Mikana]

"I d... dunno..." Midori shyly interrupts. "M... most of us are n... new to this t... type of thing... so it might be b... best if we stay in a g... group..." Her words trail off, getting more and more quiet as she tries not to make anyone angry by confronting their views.

[Kyle Silver]

"Yeah, but I think the head-upstream-on-both-sides idea is the best." Kyle voiced his opinion, and change of heart. "That way, we'll be able to help each other if we need to-" he glanced at Leo, then gave another look, this time to Midori. "And I guess if we're nervous, we could split up who's the most experienced with some of us who aren't." He counted on his fingers.

"Since Mono's kicked the rabid Linoone, we've got an even number. Maybe Ferris, Leo and Aero could cross over to the far bank, since you all have Water-types and/or Flying-types that are strong enough to help you out in the fording, and the rest of us could stay on this side. Unless you three are attacked right away, the river or stream will have more time to shrink down in size or become calmer if we'd need to cross to help you guys out, and, that also leaves your two Mudkips if we'd need to cross water anyways." He nodded at the two girls. "If we even find so much as a creek out here anyway. That's my view on the matter, take it as you will. But I really think it's a good plan."

Thinking to himself, Kyle secretly wished he hadn't left his Poliwrath, his only fully evolved Pokemon, back home before coming here. Ah, well. You live and learn. Never make any mistakes and you'll be the most ignorant person in the world.

[Leo Tregillas]

"Works for me," Leo said, feeling relieved with Ferris' and Kyle's suggestions, as he didn't want to be part of a smaller group at times like these. "So, when we reach a river, I'll let out my Pidgeotto who then could keep an eye on the other side will we cross the river. Does that sound good? Anyhow, this idea is the best so far, and I'm all for it."

[Kai Turner]

"Yeah, that's probably the way to go" answered Kai, "And we'll most likely be able to see each other across the river, so it's not like we'd be drastically divided. The only problem would be the potential need to get survivors across the river. Doduo is a pretty good jumper, but with trees hemming him in, I'm not sure what he could do."

[Kyle Silver]

"Survivors..." Kyle thought for a second, trying to find answers instead of bringing up more questions. He flashed back to the Police station in Celadon, right before the first mission he'd gone on. The picture he'd studied of the city and its surroundings...he crouched down in the dirt and began to draw with a stick.

"Right. According to the map I saw before the Warehouse Run/Plant Recon, there's a river not too far north of here..." he drew a squiggly line in the dirt. "We're about here." he pointed to a part of the woods nearest the river's southward bend, before it turned. To go upstream would be going Northwest. "If we follow the river to it's source..." he made a straight line cutting across the river.

"There's the high-speed train from Saffron to Goldenrod. And there'll most likely be a bridge across the river. Assuming that it's still standing, all we'd have to do is locate it, and we could kill two birds with one stone, by getting survivors across, and seeing if Celadon is the only region being attacked, or the world outside us is going on like normal."

[Kai Turner]

Kai nodded, bending down to study the drawing. "Alright, that sounds good. It might take awhile to get to the bridge, but the benefits outweigh the difficulties in this case." Straightening up and snapping Mudkip's pokeball off her belt, she continued. "We should probably get started, anyway. We're not going to find anyone by talking the issue to death."

[Evolutions]

Apologies for the lack of updates. I'm typing with an injured hand ATM, so you can imagine how difficult this is.

Splitting up on both banks and moving Northwest, the group is only exposed to ever increasing levels of detestation. Clearly, there have been fights between groups as they watered here, or searched for food along the banks. A discarded backpack, with its contents spilt onto the ground, gives you some vague hope that there are still people out here....though with the food from this pack having already rotted, there's little hope that the owner of this particular backpack is still able to retrieve their goods.

The sound of the forest surrounding you is now non-existent...if that's just because everything's dead, or because it's trying consciously to be silent, you have no idea...and you're not entirely sure you want to either.

[Ferris Smith]

Ferris, walked along, scanning the area carefully and resting his wrench against his shoulder. It was the only weapon in the group since Jenny wasn't willing or wasn't able to issue firearms to the group.

He didn't like this. The backpack and rotten food suggested there had been people in this area but likely they weren't there anymore. The evidence of fighting also disturbed him. However, what disturbed him the most was the river. It was barren, without so much of a trace of water Pokemon. Usually it was teaming of life.

He had a feeling in his gut they would find no survivors. There was something in this forest that had stripped it clean of all food. Whatever it was in the state of mind the Pokemon were in would easily and happily kill any humans unlucky enough to be in the area.

Still, he trudged on. Perhaps, there were people who had found some kind of shelter and those most likely to be alive would be near this river.

[Kyle Silver]

"Blarg." Kyle muttered, examining the scuffle marks on the ground. Clearly, there had been a battle here, between a Trainer and who knew what. The size 8 shoes and scorch marks were a dead giveaway. There was also a bit of Acid nearby, he didn't want to touch that.

Knees popping as he straightend up, Kyle glanced over the river and saw Ferris, Leo and Aero a little farther ahead than he liked. "Let's move, ladies. Nothin' to see here." he motioned to Kai and Midori, and they continued their trek along the river. In truth he was a little worried. Then again, who wasn't? Midori came up to his shoulder, and Kai's head just barely would have touched his chin. But they were both confident, he'd give them that. Midori looked like she knew how to use her bow, and though Kai didn't have a visible weapon, he was sure her Pokemon would be a help. Why was he thinking about this? Oh well.

Now that the two groups were right across the river from each other, he turned back to look at his surroundings. Almost everything edible was gone. Everything. Berries, leaves. Everything. Pausing, he drew the arrow and cross on another tree, before resuming the patrol.

[Midori Mikana]

"I don't think the airborne sign is working..." Midori says, noting how far they had walked looking for survivors with the sign overhead. "And Pidgey's probably getting tired of flying with extra weight by now..." She stares up at the sky, attempting to peer through the stripped trees to see if the Pokemon was okay.

[Kai Turner]

Fishing out her swiss army knife and flicking out the blade, Kai glanced briefly at the burn marks before calling out Mudkip and lifting him onto her shoulder again. "Just like before" she murmured, giving the little pokemon's head a quick pat, "Scan the area for anything that moves, 'kay?" With an affirmative squeak, Mudkip closed his eyes and began to wiggle his fin.

[Leo Tregillas]

Leo was still doubting the chances of finding any survivors, yet he kept on searching like the others. Still, he was trying to keep his hopes up, and the backpack they had found meant there had been, at one point of time, a human here. And that meant there might still be someone around.
Looking up at the small Pidgey that was occasionally seen above him, Leo is reminded of a small target used for training, but tries not to think of it in that way. Yet he still thinks that people who have been hunted by pokémon, would not easily approach one just because it is bearing a sign.

[Aero Blazer]

OOC: Ooh god! I'm so sorry. I was moved to live with my grandparents and I just recently persuaded them to get internet. Please excuse my absence and thank you Kyle for seeing myself as still part of this.

BIC:

Aero wished he could have spoken up earlier about the groups splitting apart. Unfortunately though he was too dumbfounded and practically shocked still by Yami and his Raltz. Kyle made his point valid though and so did Ferris, so it was a good idea to split the groups up. Something is just too strange though. There must be a higher purpose for why everything is so deprived of food. The water couldn't be poison, the trees would be completely dead if that were true. Also, the backpack who wouldn't finish all the food before it did become rotten.
"Do you think?" The boy finally spoke. "That there could be poisonous pathogens in the air or something?"

He thought about it more. "Or what about Bug Pokemon? Not just little families of them but giant swarms. Couldn't that strip all food supply within moments?"

All of the mystery was stabbing at his brain and mocking him. He thought of his training as a Ranger, of course with Ferris and his whole anti-Ranger thing he had to be careful on what he said. For survival one thing is shelter so why not caves near the banks of the river. Then next is food, but that would strike out the whole cave thing due to foraging for food so the party would have to move on. Come to think of it. Why would you want to head upriver if the source of food of everything dying would be heading down. Also it's only human nature for a group of people to disagree with each other. As for example ours; so it would only be natural that the survivors group may have split apart too.

[Evolutions]

Your search comes to an abrupt end as the forest team comes running out of the woods chased a massive flock of Murkrow. You're all forced to retreat well into the city before the Murkrow flock finally gives up and returns to the woods. You return to the police checkpoint. Yami is still sitting in the back of the patrol car. The other wants to know what happened which you explain on the way back to the police station.

You're all taken back to the police station for a debriefing. Jenny was not pleased to hear about what happened out there. Most leave but Jenny keeps Ferris and Kyosuke longer, likely for full debriefing. You all return to the Pokemon center dejected.

MISSION COMPLETE
Pokemon injuries:
None

Human injuries:
Ferris and Yami were a little banged up from their...scuffle. However, both will be ready for the next mission.

Obtained items:
None

Obtained Pokemon none:

XP
-All participants gained 1 XP
-All participants gained a bonus 3 XP and a fate point for the issue with Yami
-Yami and Ferris each gained an additional XP and fate point for handling the situation
-Midori gained 2 bonus XP for thinking of the sign
-All participants gained a bonus XP for thinking of searching up the river