[X] My Assistant

[Fei Fei]

Alex was about to step farther into the cave, followed by Hiiro, Ouji, and Hime, when she stopped next to the hole that Kuchi had been digging. "I wonder what she was doing here," she mused out loud, running a hand over the chipped away wall. She pulled her hand away, however, and looked at it curiously. "It's wet...the wall is leaking?" She looked down at her monsters, who looked back up at her in confusion. "If there's water," she explained, "then it might be connected to the outside. At the very least, we'll find some cave lakes, which we might be able to follow up to the surface." With a step back, she rushed forward, slamming her shoulder into the brittle wall.

Catching on, her pokemon did the same, slamming into the wall in unison with her timed bodily throws. Alex seemed about ready to give up (what had made her think that she could slam her way through a rock wall, anyway?) when she felt the rock crack beneath her shoulder. She stopped to consider the crack, and, with a determined look, stepped back, and lunged forward, throwing all of her weight into a last ditch tackle.

The wall broke apart.

"Good God I don't know my own strength," she cheered, bending over as she caught her breath and steadied herself. Well, they were still in a cave. Not too great, but at least this one was a tad bit lighter than the other one had been, and, upon looking down, she saw that there was a thin film of water trickling down the stone floor. "Well, it seems I was at least right about the water thing." Jerking her head to the side, she motioned to her monsters to follow, and then they were off once again.

She was relieved to note that, the farther they walked, the lighter the tunnel became. It was only a few minutes before she she first saw the proverbial (and, in this face, literal) light at the end of the tunnel.

Mawile is my new best friend, Alex cried in relief, mentally noting to give the little monster whatever she wanted for digging that hole in the wall.

Shielding her eyes seemed like a brilliant plan as her senses were assaulted by the harsh light of the sun. After a moment, she was able to stop wincing whenever she moved her hand from her face, and began to look around where the tunnel had let out.

She seemed to be back in the forest, though a different part as there was a worn dirt path cutting through this section. A relief, she supposed. At least now she wouldn't be wandering through some valley or mountain. This way, she might be able to find Mercedes and Dynh again.

Hiiro raced out from behind her, jumping up and down in front of her as he pointed to something in the distance. "Eh?" Alex looked in the direction he was pointing in, and noticed a curling of smoke coming from above the trees in the distance.

"A house!" She took off immediately for it, sparing a moment only to recall her monsters. She could see the front door of the house when the bushes to her left began to shake, and she stopped short, ready for another attack. I'm not quite sure what I wouldn't be ready for, at this point, she thought wryly.

This post has been edited by Fei Fei: Jun 30 2009, 11:45 AM

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes trucked her way back the way she had been dragged. Each step she took increased her horror as it dawned on her just how far she had been pulled along. But the tell-tale signs of displaced dirt and rocks and holes through the bottoms of bushes told her that this was indeed the way she had come. She got off track a few times when the 'path' came to a clearing and there were fewer indications of her passage, but she would then find a twig or a stone she had snapped or passed over and she'd be back on her way.

After about ten minutes of this she found to her mild surprise that she was back at the bizarre wooden road sign that didn't help her go in any direction at all. She studied it for a moment. Well, 'this way' was right out, and she was still of the mind that 'up' and 'down' wouldn't help her (of course, at this point, Mercedes suspected that that old man probably would have required her to dig under the forest to actually get out). The only 'directions' left to go in were 'nowhere' and 'that-a-way' and she was about to choose the latter when she paused. The old man was crazy (he probably had all manner of mental diseases), and an insane person would make it so that 'nowhere' was actually the place you wanted to get to. She was probably putting too much though into this, but Mercedes decided to try it. She'd mark the trees along the path with her knife and, worst comes to worst, she would just have to back track and the only danger it would (hopefully) result in would be a loss of time. So she turned and set her course for 'nowhere'.

...

Mercedes had been walking for over two hours, she found as she checked her watch, and was, not for the first time, wondering if she had indeed put too much thought into her decision and had chosen the wrong path. She had paused to check her pokeballs a few times, and was at least happy to find that her tired little monsters were getting some rest. She found it difficult to believe that she had started out bright and early, safe and sound from the Pokemon center this morning while she was trudging around, tired and bruised, in this God-Forsaken forest. She was walking with her head down, wondering just how the day had taken such an unforeseeable turn, when a smell brought her out of her musings.

Smoke.

This could either be extremely good or extremely bad. Either she was now caught in a forest fire and she would more than likely die, or she had stumbled close upon a camp site or a cabin or some other sign of human presence and she was more than likely saved. Picking her head up and quickening her step, Mercedes looked around and caught sight of a chimney between the trees.

'Eureka!' She thought and, looking left or right, decided that she'd take a short cut through a near-by bush (it looked like clearer ground on the other side). After rustling around, trying to get through for a couple of seconds, she popped out the other side.

And stumbled right into Alex. Mercedes' surprise was mirrored on her face.

"Alex!" She exclaimed.

[Fei Fei]

Alex landed hard on her butt for the second time that day, but was considerably more relieved this time when she heard a familiar voice cry her name.

"MD!" She exclaimed as she scrambled back to her feet. "You found me! Thank God!" She pulled the girl into a very tight hug and kissed both her cheeks. "I thought I was going to die out there! I fell off a cliff, and then into the really dark cave! And you! You were dragged by something, weren't you?! I hate this place!" She brought her arms back to her own person, and crossed them in front of her chest. "I'm going to kill whoever did this. And we've still got to find Dynh, too." She looked to her side, in the direction of the house, and then looked at Mercedes from the corner of her eye. "I think it's probably a good idea to check out that house, don't you think? Best case, Dynh found her way here safe and sound. Worst comes to worst, whoever pulled this is in there, and we get them to find her for us."

Grabbing Mercede's wrist, she pulled the other girl along (unnecessarily) towards the house and, once she reached the door, she didn't bother with knocking. She simply kicked it open forcefully, and then stopped short, jaw dropping at the sight inside.

"Oh...my...God..." she muttered in horror.

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes smiled, relieved and grateful. She had been afraid that she would have to find her way out of the forest herself, leaving behind her two new companions. It was directly against her nature to leave behind someone in need, but this forest was maddening, and she'd never be able to find them again if she left the forest entirely. Her expression quickly turned to a kind of nauseous horror as Alex recounted her little tale.

"You...fell off a cliff...?" Her throat went a little dry at the news. "Oh, thank God you weren't killed!" Mercedes slumped slightly. "The owner of this forest has a very morbid, very wrong sense of humor." She sighed. "But I'm fine. I must have triggered a trip wire and I was dragged a long way off; I'm not even sure I want to know how far it was. All the walking I've been doing has been killing my ankle, though..." She tapped her foot against the ground, as though to asses her own statement. A wince confirmed that, indeed, her ankle was throbbing.

Mercedes was dismayed to hear that Alex didn't know what had happened to Dynh, but something told the nurse that Dynh was the type to get into fixes, but never actually get hurt in them. Hopefully, the girl had somehow gotten herself lost in a place close by, and they'd be able to find her. But, Alex was right; the cabin did seem like a good place to start looking.

She was dragged by Alex to the cabin, wincing as the door was unceremoniously kicked open, and a similar look of shock appeared on her face. However, her brain seemed to function more favorably under the surprise, and the nurse was able to articulate slightly better than her new-found companion.

"Dynh?"

[Duck Tape]

Dynh looked up at the two girls and smiled brightly. She was sitting at a low traditional japanese style table with the old man, drinking tea. “Hey guys, how's it going?” she asked with a cheeky smile. “I'm so glad you made it out of the mountain cave place, and the forest!” she jumped up and gave both MD and Alex a tight hug. “Grandpa said that we passed the test and now we get prizes!!!” she exclaimed happily.

“Ohohohohohoooo” The old man laughed. “I am Old Man Trickster. And you young girls have made it through my Trick forest. Come have some tea.” he offered, two cups of steaming liquid already on the other sides of the table.

“I got an egg!” Dynh said holding up a pink egg with a blue top and a red spot. “Itsn't it adorbable! I hope it's a really cute pokemon! Like Shaymin! OOO I hope it's a Shaymin!” the hyper girl rambled.

[Fei Fei]

Alex stood in the doorway, accepted Dynh's hug rather woodenly as she sputtering for a moment before seeming to decide on something to say. "Are you crazy?!" She finally exploded. No need to ask that one. Dynh obviously was. "He pushed me off a cliff! He dragged MD through a forest by her foot! How can you be sitting here drinking tea with him?!" She threw her hands up in the air, as if the whole thing was something that couldn't be believed, ridiculous in the extreme.

"And what they heck is that you're holding? Where did you get an egg like that?" The pattern was familiar, as if Alex should have recognized what pokemon rested inside, but she was too flustered to really think too hard on it.

[Charlie Piers]

By now, Mercedes had pretty much composed herself, and was now more amused by Dynh's unexpected turn-up than anything else.

"I hate to break it to you, Dynh, but I doubt that's a Shaymin egg. It's not even green, for one; it's pink. Not to mention the likelihood of anyone ever actually coming across a legendary pokemon is so close to nil that you may not even want to entertain the thought." She looked kind of guilty, dashing Dynh's little dream, but better to get the idea out of her head now before she actually got disappointed. She then turned to face the Old Man Trickster.

"Good afternoon." She began, her voice slightly terse. "I would first like to thank you for inviting my companion in." She paused "Next, I would respectfully like to ask why on earth you feel it would be a good idea to litter this forest with such dangerous traps. I believe there is a fine line between trickery and intentionally harming uninformed travelers."

This post has been edited by Charlie Piers: Jul 3 2009, 08:46 PM

[Duck Tape]

The old man laughed. “Oh ho ho ho,” he smiled brightly to MD and Alex and motioned over to two pink boxes, lovingly wrapped with white bows sitting on top. “Here are your prizes girls,” he said.

“Ooo, I hope it's a computer!” Dynh laughed. “and mobile internet.”

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes planted her face in her palm with defeat, and decided to let it go. Some battles, especially those with small children and the mentally impaired, were better left alone. So she sighed and looked over to what the elderly man had indicated.

"Dynh, it's all the wrong size and shape for a computer..." she noted absently, as she walked over to inspect the mysterious package she had somehow won through sheer survival instinct.

The box, wrapped in pale pink paper, topped in a white ribbon, was about a foot tall and two-hands' width wide, and heavier than she had expected as she picked it up. She didn't want to shake it or anything; God knew what the dementia-afflicted old man had put in there. She looked over to said old man.

"May I open it?" She asked him, a note of interest creeping into her voice.

The old man smiled a gentle, vacant smile, his hands clasped behind his bent back as he shuffled over to the boxed prizes.

"Certainly you may." He said jollily with a slow nod.

Mercedes hesitated, looking it over, the interest warping to something closer to suspicion as she suddenly seemed to remember who she was dealing with as the man in question spoke up again. Her curiosity won out, however, and, really, what was the worst thing that could be in there? An angry rattata? The nurse methodically removed the ribbon and paper, and revealed to herself a thick plastic case, with a cushioned bottom. Resting in that bed of cloth was a pokemon egg.

Mercedes' eyes light up on their own as she gently removed the casing, setting it aside, and then picked up the egg, cradling it in her hands. It was pink and relatively plain; not many distinguishing features. It felt cold in her hands at first, but seemed to warm marginally as she held it.

[Fei Fei]

Alex watched the old man move about mistrustfully. He didn't look harmful...in fact, he looked more like your friendly, average grandfather rather than an insane old man who gets his kicks from messing with the minds of unfortunate passerbys. Her mistrust, however, gave way to curiosity, much as Mercedes had succumbed to her own fatal interest, and so she cautiously approached the various packages sitting on the table.

Picking one up, she moved it around in front of her, looking at it from all sides before taking the chance to open it. She found a similar dome shaped case that cradled an egg in it's cushioned bottom. "Eh? A monster egg? This is quite the...thoughtful gift," she said, almost grudgingly as she stared at the package. "What is it? I mean, what kind of monster?" She asked this almost absentmindedly as she removed the casing, taking out the egg. It was largely red, with few other inconsequential markings aside from a yellow blot on the front. The egg was comfortably warm in her hands, and she found herself holding it closer.

She turned back to the old man who seemed to have decided not to answer her question; rather, he was watching her with that same kind, almost encouraging smile that he'd looked at Mercedes with. "...You're not as insane as you make yourself out to be, old man. Well...thanks for this...although I suppose such a thing would only be appropriate after putting us through such torture."

The old man laughed. "Ohohoh. Of course, of course. Though I would be sure that no actual harm would ever come to someone under the watch of my forest, it is the least I can do. It is also deserved, of course, since you each showed such remarkable skill in watching out for yourselves." Alex actually felt a surge of warmth at such heartfelt words, and she smiled.

"Alright then. Thanks." She turned to look over at her other companions, each of whom were looking at their eggs wonderingly.

"I guess we should be off, huh? We're not getting....well, where ever we're trying to get to just by standing around here. Say...where exactly is it that we're going, anywho?"

[Duck Tape]

The old man smiled, “If you're headed to get your gym badges, then you should head east to the river. You will find a raft there; the raft will take you down river, and the river will flow down-stream to the crater around Arasam and Mount Carello. If you want to fight that gym I hear's down there, I suggest you pick up some electric and water types while you're in the area.” he said pointing out the directions on a map that hung from his wall.

“... So we're suppose to get... like electric fish? I call an electric Eel!!!!!” Dynh yelled raising her hand high into the air and looked around.

“Now, you should go before the sun sets; the forest is very dangerous. And more so at night. Good luck girls!” The man said pushing them out of his house and set them on the road.

The camera pulls out to view the girls walking down the path into a blue midday sky, a white 'to be continued' appeared in the corner of the screen as a disembodied voice spoke, “And so, their adventure continues. Tune in next week to see what challenges await these young girls.”

Dynh looked up to the sky with wide eyes. “Guy... I think I hear the voice of the government. And it's following us!”

[Charlie Piers]

Mercedes followed the old man's instructions meticulously with her eyes, committing the directions to memory. Unfortunately, the map the Old Man Trickster had mounted on his wall either showed that there were no towns with Pokemon Centers anywhere in the vicinity or didn't indicate them in the first place. Either way, Mercedes had no way of knowing if she'd be able to get herself and her two new companions to a Center safely before Arasam, so it looked to her like the best option would be to, as the old man said, move on down-river, slug through the Mountain, and make it, hopefully, safely to Arasam.

"That sounds like a fair enough plan." She offered her opinion aloud to the group. "So long as we actually find this raft." Some part of her doubted that such a craft was even there. If it was, they would probably have to climb a tree, or dig ten feet to get it. She rolled her eyes with affection at Dynh's comment. Regardless, if anyone in the group did have designs of fighting gym leaders, it was a fair suggestion.

Mercedes was about to agree with the old man's statement about the dangers of forests, night or day, not withstanding, as well as thank him, but she was cut off as the old man all but shoved them out his door, (in the friendliest way possible, of course).

The three were not-so-gently put on their course to the river when Dynh spoke in that paranoid, hushed way Mercedes had already heard a few times that day.

"Whatever you say, Dynh. But I don't think it will do to be so paranoid." Best to 'disagree' gently. One of the first things Mercedes had learned in Med school when dealing with eccentric-but-not-quite-certifiable people was to keep them calm, above all. She patted the girl on the back gentle, and looked before them, wondering, if today had been any judge, just what insanity this newly formed, odd-ball of a trio would encounter on the road to come.

[Fei Fei]

Alex stumbled out of the house as the old man pushed them on their way. She took a moment to look back at him, waving and smiling at his front door as he saw them off, and she smiled.

"I guess he wasn't a psychotic lunatic after all, huh." Alex mused, hugging the egg case closer to her. "I can't wait till this guy hatches. I wonder what it'll be." She looked down at it wonderingly, then just shook her head. "I'll just have to wait until he's ready, I suppose."

After a moment of thought, she held onto the case tight with one arm while she swung her backpack around with her other, balancing it on a knee as she zipped it open. "I'll put it in here, so I don't drop it," she murmured to herself, placing the clear case in the bag, making sure it was snug between two blankets.

They were well along their way to the river when Dynh professed her opinion that they were being watched and/or followed by 'the government'. She looked over at Dynh, eyebrow raised as she looked at the twitchy girl. "What in the world are you talking about, girl? There's nothing out here besides the three of us." She smiled as she closed her eyes, shaking her head affectionately. "You sure are paranoid, Dynh. It's going to be fun, traveling with you."

[Duck Tape]

"... No really guys!"

This RP is finished and ready for grading.

This post has been edited by Duck Tape: Jul 16 2009, 05:43 PM