FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Serena nodded to Striker and had to resist the urge to swat at Heji's tail, it was a stupid impulse, but one that showed that she was still a kid. Her own tail flicked as she resisted what her body wanted to do. She was glad that Heji and she were on the same team, and that a direct force of his Intimidate wouldn't be used on her. "Ah, you've just reminded me, if not purposely Heji, to notify you that your Species limitations of only having one ability has been lifted." she thought about what she was saying. "Well, perhaps you can feel the difference as I could, being a hunter and more in tune with your body."

"This is not something I have noticed yet. I may need to battle before I can feel the difference. Either that or something needs to anger me." Heji stated.

"My abilities are unhindered here? Then that could be useful in some cases. Striker pondered.

"This is still something that I'm going to have to getting used to. They'll be able to use completely different strategies as well." Kyn said, thinking of all the new combinations that could be used. With Heji's Intimidate, combined with the other abilities, would make his moves much more powerful.

"I don't think I really would be much different even if I had an additional ability here." Tensa commented.

Marlow sighed again. "Though each of my forms only have a single ability, so the only difference that I noticed there was a slight decrease in intensity, or some similar word."

Serena looked at Marlow for a moment. "Don't get all mopey on me again." She said, taking off her scarf and folding it on the ground. "Heji...if you would like to battle, I would be more than willing to give up a few hours of sleep to let you experience the difference..." She trailed off at Kyn's words however. 'He's doing it again...' she thought to herself.

"Doesn't that get annoying?" She asked Heji quietly, her voice little more than a whisper. Clearly she didn't like the idea of being told what to do. This was a wild world, and even if a bystander might see more than what she could, she wasn't exactly keen on letting people tell her what to do. This world was a place to get back to your roots, back in touch with the earth around them, at least, that was what she believed it would be for them.

Heji padded over to Serena even closer and then laid down closer so that he could whisper to her. "It's a lifestyle choice. I wanted to become stronger, and I knew that I couldn't do it simply by surviving off stolen food in a city. He doesn't really give us 'commands' like other Trainers do. There's also something that we all really love, that absolutely confuses his opponents to the highest degree. This sounds strange to them but it won't to you. He uses a method that puts us in direct control of the battle, allowing out instincts to take over, albeit limited. Where as the other Pokémon are reliant on Trainer commands, to the point where they're at a major disadvantage. I have achieved my goal. I am stronger than I was."

She frowned a little at the explanation, running over each sentence in her head. "Then why would he need to formulate strategies for you, if it's your instincts that drive you still?" It was a sign of how much she was forcing herself to trust to allow the Luxray this close to her, had he wished he could have easily gutted her from this position...well, at least if his claws were as sharp as she THOUGHT they were. In order to get her instincts to shut up, she walked to his side, about to his forepaw shoulder and sat beside him, not really putting her weight on him, but this way she was away from the claws, and would have enough reaction time in case he DID attack...and of course they could still talk, that was another point, though they were now almost completely blocking the entrance to the cave, and that notion reminded her of the others, the bugs in particular. "It's warmer in the cave for you insectoids, if you would like to go in...just don't eat my curtains or bedding." She looked up at Marlow suspiciously with a 'do you need to sleep too?' look.

"It's really more of a façade," Heji admitted, "Back home, battles are officially sanctioned by a League. It's really like you think there in that case. Technically Pokémon that are owned, and I say owned loosely, more like brainwashed, by Trainers, aren't supposed to make moves without their Trainer's orders. It would look strange, if we just started battling without being told to. It allows him to allow us to think for ourselves." Heji gave a yawn after he finished his story.

"Thank you for the offer Serena, I will humbly accept your invitation. Oh and, yes, lucky for you, I do not have a preference for inorganic material," Striker said with a smile.

/Well, you do have to consider that while you were gone, I was still in my base container, with no way to move. A bit lonely too./

Striker's comment made her a little more uneasy, since her cotton curtains and straw bedding were VERY organic material, even if they didn't look it. Still she took Heji's answer at face value, rather than asking questions to a tired mind. She picked up her scarf from the ground after scratching her neck with her claws, then putting it back on. /In that case, see to it that our Pidgeotto gets fed for the next couple days, Won't you? Before we leave we're also going to have to move the big rock over the doorway so that no intruders would be able to get in./ This wasn't -totally- true, as there was another way for creatures to get in, but they wouldn't know about it, since it was over the berry garden and not connected to anything else.

/Oh, I suppose I will. It simply won't do if our bird weakens./ Marlow drifted back into the cave afterward.

"Oh, Serena, this may seem like an odd question but... do you know how long ago you hatched?" Kyn asked, facing her.

"Don't you ever get tired of asking Pokémon that question?" Heji drawled.

Serena looked a little annoyed at the question, really, but since she was still young, and knew he hadn't had much experience with dragons (or she assumed he didn't) she didn't exactly mind answering. "Maybe 10 seasons ago? With all the snow from Sorbet it was hard to judge the change this past year, so it could have been as few as 7...I would advise you against asking anyone but child level dragon types that question, for the record...we can get to have survived a VERY long time and still be considered in our prime...If you'll excuse me, I have some things to take care of before I sleep, don't let me keep you awake." /Going to check on the covers of the berry patch./ she relayed, moving to the side of the wall as her claws coated themselves with the shadow energy she was so used to using, climbing up the face of the mountain to the ledge that, if she wasn't on, would have been invisible to the Pokémon from both above, and around it.

"I don't ask EVERY Pokémon that I meet that question. Also, I wasn't planning on asking anyone else that question. I can understand why she advised that. For one, it'd be like going up to someone back home and asking, 'Excuse me sir, you look pretty ancient. About how close are you to death?' in the worse case I'd assume. But it's just generally not something I plan on doing here. She just well... from what I've experienced in the Dragon Village as well with Lance and the Blackthorn City area, is very young. I didn't want to start with that question, so I figured I might try to ask it a bit more casually later. As it turns out, it seems that my initial suspicion was correct. Though of course, she definitely acts well beyond her age." Kyn said to Heji.

"Do you think, that your knowledge of Pokémon will come in handy here? We've already been shown that it is in some ways vastly different than our world. You're going to have more of their abilities to contend with." Heji retorted.

Marlow took what little time he had left, to prepare enough food for the Pidgeotto to have at least two days worth, since he wouldn't likely be able to move very much.

Serena looked over the grate of leaves and where there were some missing, she added them. The grid of wood down below the soil provided decent stability, and the thin layer of leaves still let enough light in to nourish the berries within the cave. Of course if someone did accidentally fall through, there was also a net hanging from one side of the wall to another to capture any unsuspecting Pokémon--it had been difficult to convince the Spinarak to give her their old webs, but well worth it. Soon, at least, soon enough, she was running off the top of the ledge and jumping down, the fall wasn't high enough that she NEEDED to use her head to cushion the fall, and so she didn't, choosing instead to hook her claws into the rock face and obliterate the marks she had used to get up there, this had the bonus of sharpening her claws to further points.

Kyn leaned against the wall near the cave entrance to wait for Serena. He wasn't tired himself, like some of his Pokémon were, so he felt ready to depart as soon as she was ready.

Heji passed the time by looking around himself with his X-ray vision, and after he'd pretty much seen all there was to see outside, he turn around and began looking inside. Having not really looked through thick rocks much, his first impression was that of a scientist examining an oddity. "Well, these rocks certainly look strange with their varying density in places. Oh, there's Striker." He said, narrating his experience.

Serena hadn't been too long upstairs, of course she wasn't sure what to think when she heard Heji talking about the density in the rocks, and her muscles tensed. "Just so long as what you see stays in your head and isn't broadcast." she muttered as she passed Heji. She sombred as she looked up at Kyn, it was an unfortunate difference in height. "I have something to discuss with you, however..." She tugged at the end of the scarf subconsciously.

"Er... is it something that is going to be discussed in the cave or... can it be discussed out here?" Kyn was used to bad news coming in the form of a sentence beginning 'I have something to discuss with you,' but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Heji nodded at Serena, and then his eyes went back to normal. "I'd like a tour of your cave before we leave though, if you don't mind."

"It'll...have to be discussed out here...Marlow's in there feeding the bird..." She had looked down. "Marlow...will be leaving, I don't know when, perhaps when he's evolved, or perhaps when...he's got his memories back." She blinked back tears that were threatening to fall. "When he's gone, I'll be all alone here again...I don't...want to be alone again. I can't go into the Dragon's forest with my own kin, and even there they...don't socialize with one another."

"I see... well, that does pose a bit of an issue... but, I think I have an idea, but I don't know if you'll like it. It involves being slightly deceptive..." Kyn said with concern. He'd been in a similar situation, but not quite exactly how this one was, but enough to understand her feelings.

Heji was able to see that this was a difficult topic for Serena to discuss so he decided to temporarily go deaf.

She didn't meet his eyes, she couldn't, her tail even had curled around her leg slightly, as if it could offer any more protection than she already could afford herself. "Rogues...aren't exactly known for being straight out honest, deception is part of the game." she said, a bit conscious of the fact that Heji was there. "If you have something in mind...I'll hear it out."

"It involves placing a desire in his subconscious to be near you. It doesn't have to be all the time, but he'd probably go on a quest to see if his friends were... given a second chance at existence, and if not, then he'd come back to you. It'd be so subtle that he wouldn't even notice it. Have you ever had a primal urge to just do something, then after you did it, didn't realize why you did it?"

Serena shook her head. "Making someone want to be around you isn't the same as a normal friendship, it would be the same as if a trainer was ordering him to go somewhere...and it would be as you dictated. 'Not knowing why he came back.'." she sighed, flicking her tail back out behind her. "No, I don't want to begrudge him a life with his friends, even if they are his old friends and not me...after all, what kind of friend would -I- be making him do that?"

"That is an excellent point. But, have you ever considered, that maybe the subconscious thing that I said... may already be there? That's another thing that you'd be able to find out, if you asked, I suppose, though you might consider that too personal of an intrusion. I don't know."

She went quiet, her mouth twitching. "The only reason he's staying with me now and not off looking is because I'm the one that he's tied to...the reason that I can talk to him mentally is because he leeches from my energy to be able to do anything during the time that Father is in the sky." She slipped, she didn't care. "Only when Mother watches over us, can he even form his cloak of his own accord, and if he hasn't eaten even that is difficult." she paused. "What I'm looking for..." she phrased it carefully. "Is a way out...if it's not there, if he never comes to see me when I'm considered an adult, and I'm left to my own devices. I will never take a mate here, not in this region, this I already know. I'm an anomaly, I have a tail, and while it's a good survival tool now, it marks me as...defected."

"This seems like a situation in which you feel as if once Marlow no longer depends on you that he'll leave you to look for his friends, and you're conflicted on that because, although you don't want him to leave, you also feel like he deserves to have the opportunity to look for his friends. This... actually reminds me of something I've encountered before. With the exception of the manner of you having a tail. That is a..." he phrased it carefully as not to cause offense, "...situation in which it unfortunately comes down to nature's way of dictating survival. That I have no control over. As for Marlow, I think you SHOULD tell him how you feel."

Serena snorted. She had come to terms with the fact that she was a freak a LONG time ago, mentioning it now made no difference. "I have no right to disrupt what life he has a right to live...Gambitville is the place of which he thinks that his friends--and he--came from...in his past life. He'll have to open up and ask him himself...but if Lacu can help him regain his memories, then I'm sure he'll find him there while we're hunting." For the first time in a LONG time, she felt weak, as if she'd just crawled out of the egg after fighting so very long against her shell. "I should let you relax...I'll see you in a couple hours." She walked away, nudging Heji with the tip of her tail in a way that could have been a pat on the head from any human, and took survey of all those inside as her claws clicked against the stone towards her straw nest.

Kyn took the time to take in this response, before deciding to remain silent, and follow her inside. He pet Heji under the chin before walking inside the cave as well.

"I guess I'll just... stay out here and... I dunno, guard or something." Heji said, as Serena passed.

"You need not, if you don't want to." Her voice called back as she walked in, laying down in her nest before pulling the curtains across the chamber, sheltering her from the light of the torches and the fire. Once she was alone, she let the silent tears fall, and drifted back to sleep.

It was the birds that woke her up at dawn, or at least, things that SOUNDED like birds. The air vent that lead over to the berry patch was relaying the sound to her, and immediately her eyes snapped open. The curtain she had drawn over was flung back. "Marlow, Birds in the berry patch!" She hissed, looking up to his usual sleeping place on the mantle.

"Serena, what can I do now? The only thing I might be able to do is have the possibility of scaring them away." He said, not on the mantle, but from a corner nearby.

"Useless." she hissed, running over the table and making it creak, she couldn't help but notice that the cave was practically empty. Without Marlow she couldn't go through the wall to get to the patch, she had no choice but to use the aerial entrance which might as well have gotten her trapped in the web already. She ran outside and to the left, and pushed herself via a mix of Dragon Rush and shadow claw, up the almost entirely vertical slope. "Oh damn me..." She muttered, the leaves had been blown away, the grid was in shambles, and of all things there were not only PIDGEOT in there, but Swellow as well. She twitched in rage, they were just birds...really, powerful birds that could drop her from a height even her headplates could save her from, but just birds none the less. Of course, this also meant that her Spinarak netting was covering one of them, making it harder for them to move. Still she stood frozen. 'No chance...' she realized.

Heji had since moved out the way of the entrance, consider a suggestion that Kyn had made about an hour into their time outside.

Marlow realized that Serena was in for a bit of a struggle, so he searched around for Striker. After finding him, he quickly said, "We're having a bit of a bird problem up above. Do you think you'd be able to carry Heji up to the top of the cliff face to assist Serena?"

Striker considered this for a moment, before saying, "I can try, but since he's about the same size as me, it will be difficult." He headed outside, to meet Heji and Kyn, and tell them about Serena's situation.

"I see... I think you can do it Striker, so go for it!" Kyn encouraged.

The fall wasn't long, not was it hard, but still it took a lot for Serena to even jump from where she had stood into the damp, gloomy cave. There were no torches in here, it gave her the upper hand since she was nocturnal, but still it startled the birds. There were four of them, two Pidgeot and two Swellow, and they were now all staring at her like she was a worm. "Those. Are. MINE." She roared as best as she could, being a Bagon it wasn't as impressive as it would have been had she been fully grown. It was no surprise when they came at her, she had expected it. Normally she would have been launching herself from a tree at them, but she had no trees here aside from the shabby berry trees that they had been eating from. Oran, Sitrus and even yes, Micle berries littered the floor, half eaten. She managed to dodge one of the four birds--she wasn't sure how, which ran into the wall and--she didn't have time to look, but hoped that it had knocked itself out cold.

The others pecked at her, and she let her instincts turn her back on them, the sharp tipped points of her headplates, and her headplates themselves, the most of what they could reach with their beaks and talons. Her instincts screamed for an opening, to turn this fight back around to the offensive, but with the relentless pecking she didn't see an opportunity. One slash made it down her back to her tail, and she winced as she felt the warm blood start to trickle down her back. Even a fully evolved bird could damage a child dragon, she knew all too well. Thankfully it was shallow, and wouldn't hinder her too much IF she was given the opportunity to attack back.

Striker explained to Heji that the most probably way for him to be carried would have to be by gripping him around the back, while they were face to face, since they were practically the same size. Striker wrapped his scythes backwards around Heji, gripping him tight.

Heji placed his paws around Striker's back as instructed, and then moved forward to land on his, or what would be the equivalent of his, lap. He then wrapped his hindpaws around Striker's legs.

"Um, not to rush you or anything but, I do believe that Serena wouldn't protest if you were to arrive right NOW." Marlow said.

"This would have been easier if we had Reshiram..." Kyn commented quietly.

Somewhere along the line one of the birds pecked another's head, and two of them started squabbling amongst themselves, this had been the opening, and her claws didn't disappoint her, she spun almost on point, and while the claws themselves were JUST out of reach of the birds body, the energy streaming off of them collided and knocked the one bird back, bloody gashes across it's chest, but it could still fly, could still fight. The opening gave her time to run away from the wall, the walls were both her friends and enemies here, and when the one had been blown back it attracted the attention of the others, who resumed chasing her. She wondered, idly, if she had enough room to make a Dragon Rush blast work, or if it would make the entire thing crumble around her--and decided not to risk it. Still as she ran she had enough focus to form a Dragon Pulse in her mouth and between her hands, trying to get it to a reasonable size, which was fairly difficult.

Striker and Heji made their way up the cliff face, and after they landed, Striker collapsed on his side, so that he wouldn't be on top of Heji. He was panting rapidly, and was visibly strained. Definitely not looking forward to having to bring Heji back down the cliff, and he thought about alternate ways to get back into the cave, and how he'd get there, after he'd recovered.

"Heji... .... this.... really shows.... ... my age...." Striker said, the negativity in his voice showing. He was strong at his age, but he tired out much easier. Heji made his way over to where Serena was, by tracking her scent, and dropping down. The scent of blood was also recognizable.

The black shape caught her eye and she groaned, another one? No, it wasn't a bird, but a lion, HEJI? How had he gotten even UP there to come down? She didn't have time to ponder it, instead turning in mid leap to fire off the green ball, landing on her back to which she gave a hiss of pain. She was vulnerable, and before she could turn over she saw a flash of red across her stomach, they were trying to GUT her now? Her instincts had had her turning in the direction the talons were coming though, and she found herself almost entirely unable to move. Dirt would help cinch the wound, but now she had another to worry about. She was starting to get angry at these birds, as if she wasn't before, and to make matters worse the one that had hit it's head was getting back up! Damn her luck. {Marlow?} Her voice was feeble at best, but she'd made her way to the trunk of one of the trees, which offered her a little protection from the birds, though not much. {If I don't get the chance to say it later...you were a good partner.} She wasn't bluffing, she knew that these birds were really trying to kill her now, she'd never been so out matched, and where HAD this birds come from anyway? Yesterday there hadn't been so much as a Pidgey around the cavern.

Heji began to build electricity around himself, causing the surrounding area to glow. This allowed him to notice more of his surroundings without needing to use his X-ray eyes. He spotted Serena as well as the group of birds attacking her. His peripheral vision didn't catch the Pidgeot near him currently as he was too focused on Serena. "Serena! Dig your claws into the ground, and close your eyes!" Heji called out. He moved closer towards the birds, hoping to lure their attention away from her.

Serena, unlike Heji, did see the Pidgeot behind him, and since she trusted him, She dropped to all fours, pushing her hand and hind claws into the soil, her head turned and her mouth wide open, green sparking between her fangs and growing quickly. She didn't however close both eyes, ONE, but not both. She needed to be able to aim properly, or she would hit HIM instead of her mark. -Do it- she thought, she was waiting, just for the right moment. The other birds still were focusing on the dragon that wanted to take their food away, and as such wouldn't notice Heji until he was almost upon them. She imagined several things would happen at once, Heji's blast to go off, and the Dragon pulse leaving her mouth as her mouth snapped shut in pain. Whether or not the Pulse ball would hit the Pidgeot or not would depend on the rear power of the Discharge, but either way that annoying bird--which was all that it was to her, was going to be knocked out, if not killed.

"You're a strong dragon, you can take it!" Heji's built up electricity made the glow even more intense, and after fifteen more seconds, he rushed towards the group, stopped, and then released it, causing the room to be filled with electric light, whose arcs were so many that some of the birds were hit more than once with the attack.

Her body tensed as the electricity passed through it, and as predicted the ball left her lips, passed through the wave of electricity--picking up that energy as well, then came into contact with the Pidgeot behind him. The combined energy impacted it with the effect of a sonic boom, harmless except to those who were flying, and to the Pokémon's ears. For those who were flying, they would have been knocked back into the wall, away from the charge of energy but not before being thoroughly shocked. Serena panted, half in pain, half in exertion, as she fought and stood up on her hind legs, the shadow energy covering her claws, both on her hind feet and on her foreclaws. No, she would have never been able to do this alone, but now that the birds were fried, she had no remorse about taking advantage of it, using double-edge to get away from the forks of electricity, and slitting two of the three's throats. Three down...The last one was caught in the webbing, and Serena snorted. Rightfully, it was Heji's kill, but she still stood guard over it with bloodied claws, as if it might get up. "Bloody birds." She spat out, verifying that the cuts weren't too deep, though the electricity still made her twitch every once in a while.

"This situation could have ended up a lot worse. I realize that you can handle yourself sometimes but, I don't think you expected to be this many here," Heji said, understandingly, "and two Pidgeot, of all things. It was practically a swarm."

Serena took her eyes off the bird for a moment. "Save your blather for someone who needs to hear it." She snorted as he said 'swarm' "What was that? Oh sweet Sol..." she muttered. "Hurry up and come take your kill, we need to get Striker out of the open." this was a snap, an order, and if he didn't move, she would have finished it off. It hurt to move--and was glad that they had Inferno, he could cauterize the wounds and while she would be in pain, at least they would have stopped bleeding.

"Oh, right. Yeah." Heji quickly and effortless snapped the bird's neck in his jaws, and then dragged it out of the way. "Well, Striker's kinda exhausted right now. Kyn's going to have to give him an item to recover." Heji guessed that Serena would be able to understand the concept of recovery items.

His guess would have been right, but she had this dangerous look in her eye that would have told him that it wasn't the time to answer unasked questions. She strode to the corner, ignoring the pain and the trickle of blood from her wounds, and launched herself back and forth from wall to wall until she could catch the rim of the upper level, where she found Striker of course. Her eyes narrowed at him as she walked. "Swarm ability. You never had it before, did you?" It was a demand, if he had done this to them on purpose there was going to be hell to pay.

"That might explain a few things." He was now sitting down, what little he could with his abdomen in the way, and bracing himself up with his scythes. Her tone to him implied that it was a was basically an interrogation. "No, I've never had it before. An effect of this place no doubt."

She nodded. "Unhindered...some blessings are more of a curse." she noted, holding her stomach closed with one hand as she closed her eyes and tried to ease the blood rage that came with her species. 'Salamence are known for rampaging' the book had said, and she would have stayed beside him, but the loss of blood was starting to make her dizzy, and she knew that most wouldn't be able to reach them there. "There's four dead birds down there, Two Pidgeot and two Swellow." she muttered before jumping down, but this time landing on one knee. It wasn't the fall that brought her down, but rather the loss she felt like she was suffering. {Dead.} She said. {They're dead...I don't know if you can eat them from there, but you might want to try, Marlow.}

"Taking down two Pidgeot by herself seems like it would have been a nearly impossible feat. The Swellow might not be as difficult, but that's four birds that can attack from multiple angles." Striker said to Heji.

"She's not injured that badly, though they did manage to draw some of her blood, something that I'm sure annoyed her." Heji explained.

{I'll just get a little bit closer then. Serena, are you sure you're alright? If I take anymore energy from you, you might just collapse... Won't you just ask someone for help?} Marlow was concerned not only due to the bleeding, but due to the fact that she was still close enough to be connected to him.

{Just shut up and take it.} was the response he got, and stood up; walking towards the cavern entrance. She was tired of them telling her that what she did was reckless, she already -knew- that. Her eyes narrowed. 'get some help...' well, she planned on it, at least for the cut on her back, but she WANTED the scars to be there, they were a record of what you had made it through in that stage of your life--and the fact that they disappeared when they evolved was like wiping the slate clean. She walked passed Kyn, virtually ignoring him as she reached for the torch on the wall, and gritted her teeth, determined not to make a sound as she seared the wound on her stomach closed, but even so, it nearly made her pass out. Now she just had to deal with the other one, but it wasn't viable to do herself, nor to ask Kyn. Recovery items...she could guess that this was how they had lived to be fully grown Pokémon, but wanted nothing of it.

Kyn had noticed that Serena obviously had shown signs of battle on her hide, but his experience told him not to directly get involved unless she asked, and he didn't think that she'd ask him either.

{Alright alright.} He moved closer to the area where the wall that would separated the berries. The energy was still there, but just barely, and the closest one he was able to absorb was from the most recently deceased Pidgeot. He then decided to phase into the wall to get closer to the other sources.

Serena sighed, with that wound closed she walked deeper into the cave to get her salve, of course, she hoped that that was where Inferno was still resting as well. "Inferno." she spoke softly, the torch was still in her hand, and with Pendragon not accounted for either, she hoped that one was without the other. The salve was next to her nest, and it burned when she put it around the scorched cut, but it was that good type of burn that said things were working properly. She didn't want to make a big deal out of this, usually Marlow was the one to sear the wounds closed, but she kept distancing herself from him, a little at a time.

Being a light sleeper most of the time, Inferno was able to be disturbed by Serena calling him. "Asdaacm,faf" he mumbled instinctively, not really saying anything, but still beginning the process of waking.

/Once you've eaten, see if you can assist Kyn./ She wanted to keep him away from her as this was done, and promptly blocked the connection out afterward. She was out of danger, he knew that already. "I need to borrow your fire." She spoke, tossing the torch into the fire, ignoring the pungent smell of the salve. How had he slept through all the racket she had made earlier, she wondered, if it was this easy to wake him.

"Serena...?" Inferno groggily muttered. He sat up, and then blinked his eyes a few times, before seeing the blurred shape of the Bagon in his line of sight.

Marlow finished what he was able to, and then went back outside to meet Kyn, not exactly sure what Serena meant by helping him.

"Marlow, Striker and Heji haven't come back down yet, can you go check on them to see what the situation is?"

Serena rolled her eyes, the blood loss was starting to make her snarky. "No, it's some other random female Bagon that you know lives in this bloody cave." she snorted. "I could use your help stopping the blood from oozing down my back, do you mind?"

"Well, depending on how fast you want it sealed, I need to examine the wound first of all." Inferno said, in a doctor like manner. He'd figured that Serena did want it closed right away, even though it would be painful.

"Well, they definitely didn't take as much damage as Serena did, and of course I worry about her, but she has her own way of going about things like that." Marlow said, before moving up the cliff to meet the two in question.

"Well, I suppose you're here to check up on us, aren't you?" Striker asked, testing his wings to see if they recovered from the fatigue yet. They barely made enough movement to create a sound.

"This cliff isn't really that high up but... I don't think I'll try jumping down it." Heji said, judging the drop off distance.

Serena snorted again, turning around and sitting down so that it would be easy enough for him to see and sear close. "Just sear it, yes, I know it's got dirt in it, don't really care, can't be any worse than me eating the siding from my own cave as I expand." She muttered to him. Marlow always insisted upon washing the wounds first, she hoped he wouldn't be like Marlow...when wounds were wet it always took more heat to sear them closed. "Since you were asleep,I suppose I should inform you...Two Pidgeot and two Swellow were found in my berry garden today, ate all of my crops...Thankfully it's the middle of summer and they can be persuaded into bearing another harvest before winter comes around." to be fair, even if Heji had done a lot of the work, it was still bragging rights, at least to her.

"Your entire crop was lost? How many were in there?" Inferno took one of his plates off, and then breathed a slow but intense flame onto it, to the point in which it looked like it would melt, and stopped there. He then applied it directly to the wound. Obviously she wouldn't be able to answer him now, so he waited. After about ten seconds, he removed it.

"So, do you want me to fetch something for you then?" Marlow suggested. If it was smaller than his arms then he'd easily be able to carry it back up to them.

"Well, tell Kyn that Striker could use a Full Restore, and then he'll give you the item to bring back up to us to use. He'll know what you mean." Heji said.

Her words were cut off by the searing pain, her body tensed and she was insanely glad that she hadn't needed to find a tree at that moment, as surely she would have lost control of her bladder. "Three Oran, two Sitrus, two Pecha, a Micle and a Rawst." She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the burnt scales, passing him back the salve which was OBVIOUSLY made from the last berry type she had just mentioned.

"If you don't mind?" She muttered. "The trees themselves are fine, and on the bright side, we have enough breakfast for everyone."

"Serena, Kyn never told you why he so willingly gave you that PokéBlock case did he?" Inferno said, taking it and then quickly applying the salve to the visibly charred scales.

As Marlow drifted back down, he felt like he had become and errand-mon of sorts, but in this case he didn't mind since he was helping guests. "Heji says to ask you for a Full Restore."

"Oh, well then, take this, and if you would, give him only four drops. That should be enough." He said, taking out a small bottle filled with a golden clear liquid. It had at mechanism in which the liquid would be able to escape if turned a certain way, and it would either come out in drops, or in a stream.

"No, he didn't." She felt like a captive audience, and her scales shivered as the salve was applied. "I did find it rather odd to be -given- something...nothing around here is free." It didn't take a genius to guess that she was referring to the blood on her claws, and the birds that she had just killed.

"He'd probably never tell you this but I will. He doesn't really how lucky he is to be able to just... have almost every Berry he wants. Sure he has to pay for it but, it's like, that crop that you mentioned... he'd know people that have ten times that amount, and yet he doesn't see the value in that. He mostly uses them to make his PokéBlock, and something that you haven't tried yet, called a Poffin." Inferno said solemnly.

Marlow took the bottle in his 'hands' and then brought them back to Striker. After doing what Kyn showed him to, he brought it over to Striker's head.

"Ah, thank you Marlow. It's still a bit of a wonder for me, this stuff." He then held his mouth open, and waited.

Heji simply laid down after, waiting for Striker to recover.

Serena blinked at him, actually turning her head to look at him and accept the small jar of salve back from him. "So you're saying that he gave because...he has an excess and doesn't care about it?" She licked her claws clean and stood up. "I'll probably need some help hoisting the corpses up out of the berry garden, and for that I'll need vines..." she rubbed her claws over her head as she thought. "it's a bit ironic that I used my last ones when we captured the Pidgeotto."

"No, well, it's not exactly like that. He gave them to you because he saw that you really enjoyed them. You could consider it a sign of friendship, in the sense that, he's willing to give up the hours of time it took to make those. He's probably already got plans to make more, now that he's met you. Oh, and there's one thing that I suppose we all inherited from Kyn, it's big speeches!" He chuckled and then finished addressing the rest of what she said. "You could also probably use rope. So... about those birds... who is getting what?"

Marlow tilted the bottle at an angle until a very large drop appeared out of the opening, and onto Striker's tongue. He repeated the process three more times, and then closed it. "Is this little amount really going to help you recover faster?" He asked, not really believe it that much.

"Yes, actually, you'll see in..." As soon he said that, Striker's wings began to flutter at full speed, to the point that they were a blur, and he was lifted up and hovering. "Three seconds. Let's go Heji. Going down is much easier than taking you up."

"Anyway, thank you for your assistance in this." Heji said, resuming the position again. He was certain that Striker would have been able to easily take him up the cliff without getting exhausted had he been a lot younger, but at least he was able to get him up there, and that was something.

Serena looked at Inferno again, setting the jar of salve on the table. "I've probably only got one, maybe two more Shadow claw left in me, so I'll probably do the tying of the vines/rope around the bodies...I'm putting this together as I go, but obviously I wont MAKE anyone help me with it...For you herbivores we have berries and wheat, or we should still have wheat, Marlow's been feeding the Pidgeotto lately..." she trailed off, absently starting to walk back out to the spot where Kyn and the others were likely beginning to gather, she opened up the link to Marlow again. {Been having fun?} Sarcasm, even the thought was coated with it.

Marlow didn't answer her at first, and instead focused on Kyn. He brought the bottle back, and then went inside to talk to Inferno.

Striker brought Heji back down the cliff, as he said, not having to work as hard so he didn't get completely exhausted. "Seems like a pretty intense battle went on. There's apparently four dead birds that need to be dealt with." Striker said.

Heji didn't comment back, but instead went inside to see Serena.

"Getting up that cliff seems like it should be something I look into." Kyn commented. "I'll help with the birds then, since I can get up that cliff." Inferno said, walking with her to meet the rest of them.

Marlow was the first to reach them. "Did you eat?" She eyed him warily, she really didn't want to have to face ghost versions of those birds, of course the newly forming scars would be that which attracted the most attention later. For the second time of the day, Heji appeared in the corner of her eye, and she braced herself for another 'stern talking to', so to speak. It was likely unavoidable, but she nodded to Inferno. "Claw marks will let you know where to climb up." She was trying to think, and it wasn't working very well at the moment, probably the loss of blood, but it wasn't like it wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before.

"There was not a chance to take care of all of them." Marlow said casually before looking at Inferno.

"Serena, I was wondering, have you taken down prey their size or bigger before?" Inferno asked, curious as to the scale of her hunting prowess.

About halfway through his trek Heji encountered Serena, and Inferno. "Serena... I have some questions for you." He said.

She flinched at the news. "Alone? The Swellow perhaps, but not the Pidgeot, however...as I've said I've managed to subdue a Pidgeotto; and those with only a couple scratches." She flicked her tail in annoyance, still at the news that Marlow had given. {It's too bad we didn't know the timeframe in which creatures can turn to ghosts...} "By all means." she directed at Heji. "Ask away."

"First question, do you regret my assistance in the matter of dealing with the birds?" Heji asked in a firm but at the same time curious tone.

{Well, there's always the library again... or asking an ancient ghost.} "I'm a bit curious of that as well Serena. Together, you two managed to take out two Pidgeot, and two Swellow."

"It seems like this has turned into a bit of a questions and answer session." Inferno commented.

{...I'd rather not visit the library again anytime soon...may I request that you return to your skull form? I know that you'll be stuck that way for most of the day considering recent events, but I'd rather not be separate from you at the moment.}

"No." the reply was easy. "A hunter knows when they're outmatched, it would have been dumb luck had I killed them without damaging myself beyond any repair that the Doctors in town could have managed...but I had to...Didn't know WHY I had to try at the time...but I know now, they weren't attracted by the berries, but by Striker."

{I've already mentioned earlier Serena that if I took anymore energy from you, you'd probably collapse. I have no trouble returning to that form.}

"By Striker?" Inferno said. "Is there something about Striker that draws wild Pokémon to him? That's never happened before."

"Well, Serena and I have discovered that it is... one of his abilities." Heji said, saving Serena the trouble of having to say it again.

Serena held out her claws just under Marlow's skull jaw, and gripped it so that when the cloak dissipated she had a hold of him. It would have looked strange to anyone else, she was sure, but when the energy left, she transferred him to her arms. "Since he's stronger than the average Pokémon, he attracts stronger than average Pokémon as well...speaking of bugs, has anyone seen the Scolipede? I would hate for him to have swarm too and be out on his own." She didn't remember his name, she would have to amend that later, but right now her mind was elsewhere, and her mouth twitched. "They DO have it here."

"He's not as strong as Striker though, but I suppose Heji and I should go look for him, since we'll like be able to combat the type's he's weak against together." Inferno said.

"Pendragon can be a bit of a loner sometimes. We'll probably find him in the forest... messing around with the locals." Heji suggested. "If the same thing happens to him as to you, then it'll be best if we leave now. Wait, this could be a problem. If you combine Striker's Swarm with his.... then we might just have an even harder time, and require the rest to remedy the situation."

{I think I'll just take a nap then.} Marlow conveyed

Serena nodded to the both of them. "We'll work on getting the birds out of the berry patch while you're gone then...and discuss what will need to be adjusted a little later on. Right now if I don't get meat in me my body will shut down and our trip will be postponed another day...I'm not exactly the patient type." she muttered. {Alright.} She walked back towards the back where Marlow's bandana was and wrapped it around his eyes, then tucked him into the front of her scarf so that she could move around freely. "Don't worry, I'll see if I can't convince Tensa and Kyn to assist me while you're gone."

Heji and Inferno now exited the cave, forming a part of two. On their way out, Inferno asked Kyn for his red bandana with the Poké Ball design, and just for the heck of it, Heji's yellow one. After tying his around his neck, and then Heji's around his, they set off into the forest to find Pendragon!

Serena followed them out of the cave, standing in the shadows, she really didn't want to have to speak to Kyn again after last night, but there was no choice. Once the two were off, she stepped out of the shadows and approached him quietly. "Kynexn." she said business like. "We...have a situation on our hands."

"Does it involve the four currently extra crispy birds that I was informed of?" Kyn guessed. He noticed that she used his full name, and not his shorted nickname.

"Hm, Serena, it seems that our group is currently dwindling." Striker added, noting Heji and Inferno leaving for the forest.

"Yes...and yes...It is, for a good reason...Pendragon has the swarm ability as well...which is the same thing that lured the birds, except the time before it was Striker that attracted them...I don't think that I can take another four birds attacking me today, so they've gone out to find PD before he gets everyone into trouble...AS for the birds, we need to get them out of my berry garden if we're going to have breakfast. I was hoping that I could recruit both You two and Tensa in assisting me with that, and perhaps Lacu since he's not needed to work on the illusion at the moment, levitating things surely would be easier than trying to pull them out with rope...I'd like to have this done by the time that the boys get back, I'm sure that they shall be hungry when they do." She paused, licking her lips, and realized she hadn't had her morning water, poured herself a bowl of it and took a drink before saying. "Any questions?"

"I would be glad to help. A single Pidgeot would probably be able to feed at least three or four humans. ... that is, if they ate them. Anyway, I do have some questions. The first one, is probably just a repeat of an older question. Why do you seem so adverse to Poké Balls?" Kyn asked.

"If I can help, I will." Tensa said in response to Kyn's agreement.

"I'll be able to help you get up the cliff, I think. You're familiar with the technique I'm referring to, I'm sure." Striker added, pointing a blade at Kyn.

"..." Serena stared at Kyn as if the question had an obvious answer. "Look...all of the Poké Balls that I have seen here, are all smashed and broken from when the Pokémon were released here." She sighed. "They're just not natural, from being forced to be who ever uses them on you, to the fact that they can brain wash you into doing things you wouldn't normally do--no, it doesn't matter that you don't use them, but the very fact that they exist grates against my being. I would not be able to tolerate the use of one, even to a person I trusted." She addressed Tensa next. "There are vines out on the trees, I'm sure you saw them last night, I'm sure I can entrust it to you to find sturdy vines to use to pull the birds up...Unless you'd like to find Lacu."

"Hm... You're the first Pokémon to really bring up several of the reasons why I hate using them now. I've always wondered if Poké Balls do brainwash Pokémon, though as you know, they are my friends, and not tools. You remind me of... a special human that I once knew. Maybe someday I'll find him again. I think he'd really like this world, though there is that issue of him being a human, but other than that..."

"I believe I shall return with the vines. After all, the forest is my still MY element. There are two kings. The kings of the jungle and kings of the forest." Tensa said with a grin.

"Serena, I too have often wondered why humans use Poké Balls when if they were like Kyn they wouldn't need to. A few of my clanmates were ready to tear Kyn apart for being 'one of those humans that captures and enslaves us'. He does seem to have an interesting way of going about his interactions with Pokémon." Striker said reminiscing on the scene.

She crossed her arms over her chest, barely flinching, but it was still there, the pain from the wound. "I've said it once, I'll say it again. Humans that want to impress upon a Pokémon their desire to be friends, do not need technology to do so. It might take longer, sure, in fact, it might take intuition, and actual BRAINS, but the bonds forged in trust don't break." She touched the lump in her scarf. "I would know." Her tail flicked slightly, as if circling back to it agitated her, and instead began walking to where her claws had left indentations in the rock face. "Yes, he has an interesting way about going about it...like stepping in front of a portal that's the only source of getting back to your home, for instance, he's just lucky I didn't have any hatchlings or when he stuck his hand through he would have pulled back a nub."

"And I'm AGREEING with you. Also, I wouldn't have reached my hand in had you not pushed the rock back. Anyway, we'll need to have Miru on this side of the portal eventually." Kyn reached into his pack, and pulled out a rope that was coiled up about twenty feet long, and handed it to Striker. "Fine, the next question I have for you is, are you still hesitant around me, or have you come to the point to where it's easier to accept me? Oh, and there's another thing. When next I speak to you, I'm going to sit down. I feel as if it's a little bit bothersome for you to have to look up at me all the time. I hope you don't mind that."

Striker then, took the rope, an flew up the cliff with it. He then put his foot on the end and tossed it back down over the cliff.

Serena blinked at him. "I can't say that I trust you for being you." She had started climbing in the mean time, so that she didn't have to look at him. "However...with these Pokémon who trust you, through them you have gained some measure of trust from me. I can not say that I totally trust them either, however Heji has earned my respect." she reached the top and brushed her claws off. "As a hunter, perhaps he always had that advantage." Almost as soon as she was up on the top she had dropped down into the area with the birds, and her stomach growled accordingly.

"Then, let us deal with these birds, so that we may begin our trek to that place, Gambitville." Kyn called out to Serena, having reached the top now. He followed Serena over to where the entrance to the Berry Farm was, and dropped down into area the area with her. "Hm, it looks like they really did a number here. How long do you think it'll take you to replace these?" Kyn asked.

Tensa ventured back into the forest, gathering vines, also figuring that Inferno and Heji had probably found Pendragon by now.

"Using the bones and pelts of the birds that caused the damage and the fruit themselves as Fertilizer? Perhaps two weeks, not any less if we don't, however." She sighed. "Ironic, since we just transplanted some in here after the snow started melting off, but there's no use crying over lost berries, they'll grow back." She did take the time to examine the trees as she couldn't have before, but focused more intently on the birds. Those that she had slit's throat had bled out over the soil, and ignoring the pain from using the arm, she hefted the Pidgeot over her head, moving it towards the center and away from the wall. "Gambitville is a place of rolling plains and desert." She said, more to make conversation than anything else.

"Striker, be on the lookout for any more uninvited guests, if you don't mind?"

"More questions. Er, about how much food do you consume on average?" Kyn wondered due the fact that even at his most hungry, he'd never be able to consume an entire Pidgeot in one sitting, or even half of one in one sitting.

"I do so apologize for that incident Serena. I have no idea how to control it though, so it may be a blessing or a hindrance when we get to Gambitville." Striker commented, also thinking about what they were going to do with the two very large birds that based on what Kyn told him would be able to feed at least a human family of three for a few days.

"I know, normally it would have been something you learned to control at a very young age...it might help if you're not thinking about hunting..." She paused at the question. "Over the course of my waking hours, depending on what I'm doing, about the amount of meat that a Pidgeotto has, half of it in one sitting. Of course those are rare, these even rarer...it will be a shame to have to either tote these out into the woods to let the scavengers have them, or bury them...Fowl doesn't exactly store well under ground, so I don't recommend the latter...but it is a very good thing that we have more than just me eating, and more than one bird, as I'm sure that IF Heji partakes in it raw, that he and I will be quarreling about the heart, at least, if not the liver." She walked over to the one that had been hit with the dragon discharge and shook her head. "Three birds, this one isn't fit for food, charred to the bone, would be like eating charcoal."

"Then I shall inform you... that Poké Balls, can also be used to store items, and well, as odd as it is for me to say this, it doesn't differentiate between a live 'mon and a dead 'mon, so you could store it that way." Kyn said with an awkward tone in his voice.

"Well, the insides will have a, what's that phrase... rare doneness, to them, I think. At least from what I can understand. I can't tell unless it is cut apart; from the outside." Striker commented.

"You sound as if you know this from experience." She said calmly. Death and life were a normal part of her day, and as if to prove her point to Striker, she gave a tug on the bird's wing joint at the base, and it just cracked exactly like charcoal. She tossed that up to him with her good arm, and could hear it crumble as it hit the earth. "-Still- think so? Make a note, Dragon Pulse + Discharge = Devastating." She made a point of crushing what was left of the bird's skull with her foot. "At least it'll be good mulch."

"...I do. It was only an experiment, and I wasn't the cause of it. As for the items thing, it's only logical if one understands that technology that it can be used to store items."

Striker made his way over to the drop, and glided his way down into the area, to meet the two of them.

Serena turned, again having to wipe off her claws, this time from charcoal instead of the rock as it had been. "You already know what my logic indicates. Couldn't this Pokémon League champion disallow the use of Poké Balls for capture, and let the Pokémon choose whether or not to stay with the trainers?" She nodded to Striker, starting to work on bringing the other birds into the center, the one that Heji had killed was the most obvious, as it didn't have the red slash across it's neck, but across it's chest instead. "Though I suppose the humans would find it cruel that someone would make them do that."

"Once again, I wish you could have met this person. He tried to do just that, only on a bit more extreme scale. He believed that humans and Pokémon should be separate no matter what. As for the matter of disallowing Poké Balls... if he had succeeded, he probably would have forced the League to disband, and thus that would partially become a truth." Kyn said.

Striker moved over to a Pidgeot that wasn't completely charred, and then quickly cut it in half with one of his scythes, revealing the meat inside. "This is what I was referring to."

"In that case, I'd call him a fool before I called him friend. Inhabitants of a world should be together in one way or another...and without the regulations set by this league of yours I'm sure his plan would have backfired badly, he would have been overthrown as a dictator." She looked at Striker skeptically. "You should have been specific, for one, and for another, you've just made our work a bit more messy. It'll be harder for us to find a grip on the wall with bodily fluids all over us as well...Hopefully Tensa will be back with the vines soon."

"I haven't seen him in a long time though... I wonder where he is. If I could find him again, I would have so much to ask him, and so much to tell him." Kyn said, not exactly dreamily, but with a strange fascination.

"I'd still say that I probably would have been able to identify how cooked the meat was." Striker said, partially ignoring Serena's comment about the fluids.

Serena merely rolled her eyes at Striker, walking over to the corner where the marks were still in the wall, making it so that she didn't need to use Shadow Claw again to climb, conserving her last two uses, when she was at the top she stood up and flexed her claws. "Life is a journey that takes you to many places Kyn, it's possible that you have been following just behind him...though I would think...that when the time is right you'll find him again." She turned around to look for Tensa, who should have been coming back soon...and she hoped that the other two would as well.

"Anyway, about Gambitville... hypothetically speaking, if I could take down a Tauros by myself, what would you say about that?" Kyn asked, not necessarily let on that there were people who regularly hunted Tauros single handedly, without much technological assistance back home.

"You really are interested in Gambitville it seems." Striker commented.

"I would say that any Tauros you've faced back home will likely be very different than the ones here, and that you shouldn't underestimate them like that...but SHOULD you be able to, I would allow myself to be...ugh, captured, as that's the only way that I would take back what I said about them being torture devices."

"I see, well, then I shall do my best. And, as for the last thing you said... What makes you think I'd even use one of those on you? Also, the word is 'caught'. Captured and caught have very different meanings there." Kyn was curious as to how she would respond at the idea of him NOT wanting to use a Poké Ball on her.

Striker chuckled at the way Kyn phrased his statement, and his response to Serena's last.

She didn't take the statement in any way he would have expected, nor did she say anything pertaining to it, instead her mouth turned into a frown. "We're not over there, but perhaps you should explain the difference, since I apparently don't have the distinction you would." She paused, then carefully phrased another sentence. "Going by your previous statements about Poké Balls, it seems as though you defend their use, at least in your own way. I thought that perhaps you would have sought to change my disposition towards them...if I was mistaken, I withdraw my statement."

"In order for a Pokémon to be caught, they have to be registered to a Poké Ball, which is why once a Pokémon has been caught in a Poké Ball another Trainer cannot re-catch that Pokémon in most cases. There have been... tampered with balls that do. The second word, captured refers to Pokémon Rangers that I actually have mentioned a bit earlier. They don't use Poké Balls at all. The sort of have a device that allows them to sync their hearts with Pokémon and their desire to be friends. That's pretty much all I know about that aspect. Now, as for the second part of what you said... It's actually a bit of a dilemma. I feel as if I have the need to defend my race's use of them, in legitimate ways, and yet, because we were under the understanding that I would never force you into one, there is no real need to change your opinion, and then it comes down to the matter of defending my race's use of them. And there is one other thing. I want to show you a special type of Poké Ball that I have. If I show you this, it's relevant."

Serena listened. "If I had offered it wouldn't be a case of forcing, now would it?" She shook her head, still not looking at him as she ran over what was said afterward. "I see....I think I prefer Rangers over trainers, no offense intended but...You should be able to see why." In her mind, the first part of it would have made sense, but then he told her about tampered balls, and it threw out that thought before it left her mouth. If there were balls that could cap-catch an already caught Pokémon then it wasn't for their own protection. She snorted at the mention of special Poké Balls, with the idea of tampered Poké Balls fresh in her mind, she thought that this was what he meant by special. "What!?" Her green eyes turned on him, almost as menacingly as they might have been when she was fully grown.

"Ah, hold on Serena. It seems that you are misunderstanding me about what I meant about my Poké Ball. It has nothing to do with those other types that I mentioned." He saw the look in her eyes and immediately tried to remedy the situation as fast as he could.

She snorted at them. "You've been around me for a day, you should have adapted by now, how many times must I say SPEC-IF-Y what you mean if you're switching from one thing to another. Ugh, you should be sooo glad that you're not going to the Prismatic Jungle. The dragon types there wouldn't even give you a moment to correct your statements, you upset them and you're toast."

"I see... well, here. Take a look at this, I'm going to throw it up to you," he said, giving her an indication, "It belongs to Heji." He maximized Heji's Luxury Ball and then tossed it up to Serena. "Because it belongs to Heji's there no risk of you getting accidentally caught by it."

Catching, one of the things her claws definitely were made for, of course with the action her claws scraped the metal of the ball, and caused the slight screeching that usually came accompanied by it. It was too big for her to hold it only in one hand, and so to turn it and get a better look at it she had to use both of them. It was certainly different than the one she had seen Inferno get pulled into...she snorted, and the front of the ball fogged before reflecting her eyes back at her in its surface. "What about it?"

Kyn jumped up the walls, and exited the drop before answering Serena, "Well, for some reason, people have said that Pokémon that ARE in that type of ball, which is called a Luxury Ball, are more comfortable. I've also confirmed this by asking Heji."

She blinked at it, then poked the button in the middle of the ball with a knuckle rather than a claw, expecting the light from before, but instead it of course popped open to expose its insides to her. After getting her fill of looking inside, her nose twitched and she closed it back, almost gingerly offering it back to him. It WAS shiny, after all.

Kyn grinned quickly, hoping that Serena wouldn't see, and then he took it back. Living up to her Dragon-type attributes and being attracted to the shinier than average ball. "I just happen to like the Luxury Ball because since I don't need to catch them in them, I might as well just give them something luxurious to call their own when it suits them. I don't give ALL my Pokémon Luxury Balls though. Oh, that's erm... another thing. Adding to the fuel of what I dislike about Poké Ball is... well, they actually make ones that are STRONGER, and more difficult for the Pokémon to escape from, for those that are just going about the process in the manner of, viewing you all as objects."

Serena visibly twitched at the mention of stronger balls. "Well, the good thing seems to be that they seem to be easy enough to break...though I'm sure that the trainer would be even more furious if they did, and try harder." she flexed her claws as if to make a point, her eyes turned back to the forest in silence; it was a little while after that she broke it again. "Heji mentioned that he wanted to get stronger, and that's why he joined you...you have a way of measuring strength."

"I find it quite humorous when they do break yeah. If they paid a lot for them, serves them right. Though this Luxury Ball is damn expensive but is nothing more than a glorified Poké Ball. Measuring your strength can technically be done, yeah. But I've gotten pretty good at judging a Pokémon's strength without using technology. Plus, technology can't tell you if they have potential or not. Are you interested in a technological evaluation as well as my own?"

Her eyes closed as she thought, exhaling through her nose, finally she lived up to her trait and said. "May as well." she was confident that if the other Pokémon could go through it, it wouldn't be too unpleasant, at least, since she had only seen that thing that he had pointed at her other than the Poké Balls, and hadn't seen anything on the Poké Ball to measure strength.

"Though, I'll probably have to rely more on my own intuition, since After all this world has a different set of rules. Anyway, just a sec. This pack is organized in such a way that it's easy to find things... most of the time." He searched around for his Pokédex from Isshu, and then brought it out. "You might remember this from when me met for the first time."

She opened her eyes when he spoke the second time, and made a grunt of confirmation that she did, her eyes focusing on the trees, what WAS taking them so long? Her eyes flicked to the horizon where 'father' was beginning to peek, covering the sky in shades of soft yellows and oranges. "If Tensa and the others don't get back soon, I'm going looking for them."

"Alrighty then! Let's get started." He pointed the Pokédex level at her, and then it read out her moves. "Well now, that's interesting. Serena... how does evolution work in this world? The answer you give me, may greatly boost your opinion of yourself, as well as mine."

"I'm aware that I'm at a stage where I 'can' evolve to the next stage, I'm probably one of the few that are still in touch with their bodies to be able to do it naturally...but I'm not allowed to. Members of the guilds--all Pokémon here I guess--have to get a piece of paper from doing a mission called an evolution scroll, which allows you to get...erf, training sessions with Master Foo or Master Shao, and they're supposed to teach you how to 'tap into' that energy...and I've already decided that Marlow will get the first one we acquire."

"Well, I don't know if you realise how far along comparatively you are. Your abilities... are well into the Salamence stage back home. Though that thing about you being able to do it naturally, I also find that interesting. Now, what this Pokédex tells me is that, you'd catch a whole bunch of humans as well as other Pokémon off guard back home."

Inferno and Heji had found Pendragon in a tree, relaxing. How he'd managed to get up there was beyond their guess at the time but they didn't worry about and instead just explained to him the situation. "Your Swarm ability combined with Striker's could pose a problem." Pendragon hopped down, and then traveled back with them.

Tensa had gathered a significant amount of vines from the forest, enough to cover both arms. It looked like a a vest made of vines. He figured that if he headed back now the others would have returned with Pendragon as well.

"I think your tech's glitching on you." She said. "If what you said is true those birds wouldn't have been able to scratch my hide, let alone put gashes in it." She was, admittedly, advanced for her age, but she didn't think that she was -that- far along. "I'm guessing that you've at least met a couple people who tried taming dragons on the other side?" She adjusted Marlow's skull beneath her scarf, even with the bandana against her scales, she could feel the crack in his skull, and it made her uneasy.

"Heh, tried. I got this cape from Clair's home town. She's a Dragon Tamer. So, Serena, I can appreciate how you would think that, but... well, those bird weren't normal strength. Correct me if I'm wrong but, the Swarm ability here might attract Pokémon that are of a similar level, correct?"

Tensa arrived back at the cave, and set the vines in a pile. He saw the other three coming in the distance as well.

"Level? Um...you mean like of experience? Usually a bit above since they believe that it will be a swarm of the creature that they got the reading from and want to be able to overpower them easily." she shrugged as if this was not new news, but then, she supposed that it was to him. There was Tensa, now...ah, there were the others, good, her shoulders relaxed.