FLIGHT AND FREEZE

[heartonachain]

Who: Kris, Umemiya, Archnemon, Shoka, Bigby, Siffrin (SA), Kinger, Sanji, Need, Ren, Akechi, Anasui, Emporio, Ingo, Emmet... and Noelle!!
What: Move over Team Intimidate, there's a cooler Pokemon that needs saving.
When: Early October
Where: All over
Warnings: Will update as needed!!

Noelle has vanished while recovering at the clinic and nobody can find her! She may have run away while having a mental health crisis. Please, bring her back safely!

Mightyena doesn't know where Noelle went, just that she was still in recovery when she vanished. She thought Noelle couldn't have gone far in her condition... but if that's the case, why hasn't she been found yet?

[ QUEST START ]

After a tense day of discussion, organizing and planning, Kris and Ingo gather the volunteers at the outskirts of Bottlecap Bay. Supplies are handed out, groups are chosen, and everyone is given a quick debriefing on the plan: start close to home, then work their way further out as they narrow down her location. Some groups should hang back, ready to set out once a fresh lead is established—the pearls are perfect for this, so everyone should keep their own handy. Spreading out too wide will only make things difficult once they find her trail, so it's important that everyone stays on task.

Once everyone's roles have been assigned, it's time to set out. It's going to be a long, long day.

BEFORE THE SEARCH
TEAM A | TEAM B
TEAM C | TEAM D
TEAM E

Comments

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin is better equipped than Bigby for the drop in temperature - but their winter coat has only just started to grow. Despite their more and more aggravated circling, and the way they try to poof their fur up... it's not very long before they also start to show signs of shivering. It gets more violent as a sharp breeze slices across the side of the slope.]

It's... I can't find it -

[Great job, Siffrin! There's one thing you're here for and you still couldn't handle it!! They don't even know why - shouldn't it have been getting stronger as they got closer?? (It's the cold, and the wind that's gusting intermittently - but they don't know enough to realize.)]

[When Bigby mentions a path, their head jerks up. They try to rein in both hope and desperation in their voice - Bigby's tracking was useful earlier in the woods, maybe,] Can you see something? To show which way...

[There's a soft clink against the rocks as Siffrin's grumpearl slips out of their hat, loosened by that jerking motion and all of the racing around they were doing up until this point. They scoop it up without thinking, and stare at it dully.]

[telewarped]

[Shoka doesn't move from where she stands watching the two of them, her heart sinking as their words fall on her fluttering ears. They've given this their all, and they're still trying, but it's become rapidly, mercilessly clear that they're out of ideas. Deep down, she already knows that they've done all they can. It's the sight of both of them shivering that finally makes her heart hit rock bottom.

Frustration and despair make her voice emerge as a too-harsh snarl.]

If he could see something, he would've said something, wouldn't he?

[She's more static than shadows again, the edges of her hidden true form jagged and jittering beyond her control. Particles of it continue to escape from the tear in her disguise, scattering in the wind. Her eyes focus on Siffrin, then their Grumpearl, and then on nothing. She doesn't want to say it... But someone has to.]

We... We have to go back. [Her voice shrinks, the frigid wind rendering it almost inaudible.] I don't... wanna lose you, too...

[wolfcut]

[ He wraps his arms around himself to stave off the bitter cold. Bracing against the harsh breeze, all Bigby can think about is finding something, anything, to keep going. When he hears Siffrin's question, he's still pacing around, looking, hoping, but he can't bring himself to actually answer. There's nothing.

When their pearl hits the ground, he stops, suddenly jolting from a trance he didn't even realize he was in. He starts to shrink into himself. Shoka's words are like a punch to the gut. The weather is quickly becoming relentless. If they don't back off soon, Noelle won't be the only one in need of rescue.

He looks up toward the mountain one last time, before motioning his head toward Siffrin's pearl. Another dead end for the search party. ]

... Let's call it.