CLOSED -「ROAD TO NOWHERE」

[seacub]

Who: Emporio, Firepaw, Emmet, Ingo
What: The Third Expedition Team Sets Off
When: Late February
Where: Forest Beyond The City (South)
Warnings: To Be Added As Needed (Possible Psych-Horror due to Hallucinations)

Packing for the Exploration quest is an interesting experience. As pokemon, there are certain advantages and limitations inherent to all of them- Firepaw in particular is quadrupedal, lacking anything in the way of true hands. It means any packs brought along need to be fastened for him, and Emporio quietly wonders if they might be able to come up with some kind of system around that one day.

Ingo and Emmet at least aren't obligate quadrupeds, but the twins are also meeting them at the edge of the town rather than at Emporio's little house. It might not make complete sense- locationally speaking, the adults of this team will be coming from the farthest point, but then again maybe that's the reason in itself. Best to give them as much time to get ready and get there as possible, and who knows how long the boys themselves will take to put things together.

As it is, soon four pokemon prepared for travel are now standing there at the limits of the forest as covered and watched by the Cheri Berries Guild. Even looking forward into the woods ahead, things feel ominous. The canopy visibly creates a greater level of shadow the farther ahead into the woods one looks, and Emporio doesn't doubt it'll only get darker.

And thus, comes the first question to ask before they set out, Emporio slowly sliding his helmet into place with a swallow.

"...Did anyone bring a compass, or something magnetic?"

Comments

[firealone]

Emporio ends up moving closer to Firepaw, who in turn bumps into him by accident, but he just touches his nose to the Cubone's shoulder as a silent apology.

"I don't think so... but I think there's other Pokemon out here. Somewhere nearby."

At least, that's his best idea for why he keeps smelling their species ahead of them. And it's a great idea, until they travel in the direction he thought the clearing would be in, and instead end up right back in front of the bush with Emmet's fur tied to it.

"...How...?"

[offtracks]

There certainly is a vibe out here. It feels not unlike the sensation of having an Alpha Pokemon's gaze upon you...Ingo sticks close behind the others, eying the brush around him distrustfully. He's so focused on watching for external danger that he very nearly trips over whoever's in front of him in turn.

"What?" He turns, and sees the trailing white fur over the heads of the shorter Pokemon. What? How did that happen? He's quite certain they have been walking in a straight line; frankly, he doesn't think they've even gone far enough to loop around again yet no matter which way they were headed. "That is...exceedingly strange."

He lowers his head to sniff the earth again. Yes, it still smells like them.

[outbounds]

"... We have been proceeding in a straight line. Yet we have somehow missed the clearing. And looped back to here."

He's just going to say what they're all thinking out loud, his smile somewhat fixed. Just to get it out there.

Ingo's already ahead of Emmet in trying to check for scent; the Zoroark, on the other hand, is going to look in all directions (including behind them, because didn't they agree to mark this spot right at the edge of where their entrance to the forest would go out of sight? can they still make it out? ... ah, but the fog now...) before trying to approach his own shed fur to see if he can actually touch it.

Huh. Yep. It's real. Well then.

"... So. What do we think it is? Trick Room, twisted dimensions? Illusions? ... Psychic Pokemon who are somehow verrrrry sneaky with hitting us with Confusion?"

[seacub]

Emporio tries to resolve his panic by focusing on the one thing he can pick out of Emmet's questioning.

Which of course, he panics over. "Th...Pokemon can do that?" he asks, voice shaking somewhat. "How are we supposed to navigate at all if they can do something like that..?!"