March Akech-all

[truthdecided]

Who: Goro Akechi and YOU! (With some quest prompts too)
What: Quests and general adaptation to being a small borb.
Where: All over Bottlecap Bay.
When: Throughout March.
Warnings: N/A

It's been over a month since Akechi found himself in a strange world and a small body. In that time, he's gradually adjusted to flight, reconnected with Ren, and made a name for himself through investigating the hexed items and partaking in several guild missions.

But it was during one such mission that realization hit Akechi hard, by way of one annoyingly heavy Purrloin, which is why Akechi can be found...

A. Strength Training (OPEN)

It may be a curious sight, seeing a volleyball-sized bird trying to lift heavy objects in his talons. Those in the Oran Berries may notice he's spending a lot of time in the training room specifically pushing his ability to lift large and heavy objects, but that same persistence applies outside the Oran base as well.

For instance, he can be seen near the edge of town, near where Heliolisk leads the initiative for paved roads. Though Akechi has yet to approach a partner and thus hasn't formally signed up for the mission, he does spend some time observing the operation with great intensity.

"Cobblestone would be another useful weight. I suppose there's also the option of scouring the canopy..."

What matters is, he needs to get stronger. What does it say about him, that he struggled to lift one cat?

B. Busy Berries (Locked to Dark Heart)

While foraging is a lighter activity, it does give Akechi the opportunity to hone his flight, sharpen his senses, and gain a greater mental map of the canopy. Not to mention, Dark Heart is one member of the Oran Berries fairly shrouded in mystery. As of now, Akechi hasn't spent any significant time with him, though the two have seen one another, in no small part thanks to A.B.A's impromptu "sleepover."

Much like his previous foraging mission, he comes prepared, with a basket in his talons to hopefully carry a respectable load.

Thus, he waits near the entrance to the Canopy, perched on the basket's handle.

C. Swoobat Swarm (Locked to Ren and Shoka)

The Swoobat present an excellent opportunity for Akechi to put his skills to the test. Sparring is one thing. In a spar, you have to hold back. But this is different.

The enemies are larger. They're psychic.

To Akechi's credit, he didn't immediately charge in. Instead, he used his flight to scout ahead and observe the Swoobat from the cover of the leaves in the Canopy.

Once he's satisfied with his observations, he quietly makes his way back down to his teammates, swooping down before them.

"They're fast, but appear frail. The way I see it, we could either bring the fight to them or divert their attention to the forest floor. However, we'll want to coordinate to ensure the best results."

That shouldn't be an issue in theory; he's worked with both Ren and Shoka before. It's simply a matter of working as a trio.

D. Wildcard!

Feel free to have your character bump into Akechi wherever! I'm also down for plotting either in PMs or at Dorked.

Comments

[telewarped]

At some point, an attack must have hit her, because pain lances through her head, but she is so transcendent in this moment—pure adrenaline and joyous violence, further urged on by Ren's distant cheering—that it barely slows her down. When Akechi's Air Slash knocks back a pair of remaining Swoobat, she's there to finish one off, savagely tearing it out of the air with a sweep of her claws and landing heavily atop it.

"Get wrecked!"

Its partner watches, its ruff of blue fur bristling as it considers its next move... only to then turn tail and fly off in a hurry. With an almost catlike hiss, Shoka takes a swipe at it, but only manages to graze the heart-shaped end of its tail. As a colony, the Pokémon were completely beyond reason, but the few that remain—only one other now—seem to have regained some amount of sense, because they choose to retreat, fluttering in a panic back from where they came.

"Hah!" Shoka jeers. "All bark and no bite, I'd say."

Well, maybe a little bite. The fabric of her disguise rag is distressed, allowing particles of her formless, true body to spill out, and her trembling is only partly from excitement. And then there's Ren, clearly still suffering from the effects of one of the Swoobat's Psychic moves (she gets it now, at least a little, considering the way her own head is pounding).

"Think we need to chase 'em down?"

They're not the only team out here, after all, and she doubts those remaining two stragglers will be up to causing any more damage.

[colorsflyinghigh]

Well, Akechi's hit certainly manages to finally snap Ren out of confusion- or perhaps the status effect just ended when the Swoobat fled. It's hard to say, but finally, he stops swaying on his feet, and he can think clearly again. Well, mostly- that psychic attack hurt mentally in a way that's hard to describe, similar to a Psiodyne... but not quite.

Still, it looks like most of the Swoobat either fled, or are down- courtesy of Shoka. He may have been confused for most of it, but he's fully aware of the berserk mode she just went in. Goddamn.

"Well- I do need to catch up to you two. I didn't really get a chance to beat any up after a certain point," he hums with a sigh. Still, looking at Shoka's ragged- well, rags, and the way his own head still pounds... "But eh. I'm sure they've learned their lessons for now." He grins. "I'll get you both next time, though. I just got unlucky."

[truthdecided]

"I'm inclined to agree, if only for your sake." He eyes Shoka's damaged disguise. That can't be pleasant. "While I'd like to do more, I believe we've done enough to send a clear message. The question is whether or not they're fully cognizant..."

He stares off in the distance, toward the direction the bats came from. "With the way many Pokémon are behaving of late, I'm not fully convinced this is the status quo."

[telewarped]

"My sake? I'm not the one who had his own attack blow up in his face."

But Ren seems to be perfectly fine now, all of a sudden, and if she were to be honest with herself, she'd notice that she's run herself a bit ragged (literally). That aside, they're already surrounded by an impressive pile of fallen, unconscious Swoobat.

Speaking of which, what are they even supposed to do with all those now?

"... But fine. Guess they've had enough. For now."

In any case, checking up on her teammates comes first.

"You feeling okay now, by the way?" she asks Ren, hopping down from her fainted Swoobat perch and shuffling over. "You were pretty out of it..."