[FIN] Water is the Softest Thing

[Tymiko]

"Come on, Eni," Tymiko coaxed the hidden Omanyte. As it was withdrawn into its home, she and the Mudkip in the shallow water beside her appeared to be staring at an inanimate shell. "You can do it. Just watch Skipper. Skip?" the girl turned to the Mudkip.

"Kip!" it cried, and used Water Gun into the river they sat on the bank of.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Ty asked the shell, scooping it up gently in her palms. The timid Omanyte peeked out, extending its tentacles gingerly as it felt the girl's hands.

"There you are," she said with a smile. "Want to try a water attack, like Skipper? Or...would you like to try something else instead?"

Without waiting to be asked, the eager Mudkip attempted to give an example of 'someting else' by slapping mud into the water with its tail to demonstrate Mud-Slap.

Tymiko and Enigma stared before Ty laughed. "Yes, like that. Good job, Skipper," she praised him. "Now...why don't we give Enigma a try? Here." She set the spiral pokemon down gently.

Enigma tentatively put its tentacles out towards the water and tested the river's tempterature and current as its trainer and the Mudkip watched.  

[Gwennythe]

Clancy had done shore fishing a couple of times now, and was ready for a change; he kept meeting people who he, mistakenly at least once, believed were interfering with his chances of catching anything.

He spotted a girl and some 'critters' as he walked past, pausing to watch as they practiced? Trained? She had some shell thing that he felt like he'd seen somewhere before, and a Mudkip. At least he knew what that was.

He grunted, sniffing and turning his head; wasn't going to deal with that, but he'd keep an eye on them.
The grunt, out of uniform and dressed in gear that practically screamed 'fisherman', walked upriver to cast off.
Maybe the girl would leave him alone; he thought he'd moved far enough away.  

[Tymiko]

Though the girl had been watching Enigma, a small sound and some movement out the corner of her peripheral vision caught her attention briefly. She wondered if it was a wild pokemon. If it was, this would be the perfect time to practice a team battle, to show Enigma how techniques could be used in combat alongside an ally.

Smiling at this prospect, she grabbed her bag and knelt near her pokemon at the river's edge. The Omanyte had appeared to have gotten comfortable in the most shallow edge of the water and was lightly splashing Skipper for fun. The Mudkip playfully reciprocated until both pokemon noticed their trainer getting ready to relocate. They looked at her with curious eyes.

"Mud?" Skipper asked with a tilt of his head.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun. It's just that I thought I heard something over there. It might be someone we can battle," she answered. "Wanna go check it out?"

"Mudkip mud!" the Water and Ground-type answered happily before hopping up and down and then running around in small circles.

"Whoa, okay, okay! Calm down," Ty laughed. She held out her palm to the Omanyte. "How about you, Enigma? Shall we go see what it is?"

Enigma felt the girl's fingertips with its tentacles before climbing on. Taking the pokemon carefully in both hands, she readjusted her bag strap with a shrug of her shoulder and started walking toward the direction of the sound. "Alright, Skip. Let's go! I heard it coming from over that way."  

[Gwennythe]

Happily oblivious to the fact he'd attracted attention, Clancy was carefully baiting his hook with the remains of some 'mystery meat' he'd gotten from the canteen leftovers.
He wanted water types that liked meat- carnivores, like his new Fuglybator, or Mircalla, were clearly the best kind of pokémon, and water type carnivores were clearly superior to all.
He rather thought a large chunk of meat, even if he had no idea what it was really, was a great piece of bait.

A lazy cast took the bait into the center of the water way, and he used a little stand to hold the rod in place as he sat down to wait.
Maybe he should eat the sandwiches he brought already? He wasn't truly very patient, and it would give him something to do while he waited.  

[Tymiko]

With a Mudkip at her heels and an Omanyte in her palms, Tymiko trudged through the undergrowth. She kept her eyes peeled and her ears open to any more sounds or sights that might have led her to what she'd heard before.

Try as she might, though, Skipper was faster. His sensitive head fin alerted him to the changes in the air that indicated the largest disturbance nearby. "Kip! Mudkip!" he cried, and charged into the foliage.

"Skipper? Wait! Be careful!" she called to him, trying to follow as fast as she could while trying to protect Enigma from the branches and twigs that poked and scratched at them. Enigma, for his part, quickly retreated into his shell.

Skipper believed that if he could find the target and take it down quickly, his trainer would be proud. Even if he couldn't take it down, though, he could at least weaken it enough for Enigma to finish the job. At least that way they could team battle and the fossil pokemon could get some experience.

At last he came to a large silhouette - larger than Skipper had anticipated. He summoned his courage and turned to the side to flick mud at the dark shape using Mud-Slap. He did his best to aim for what he thought might be the target's eyes so as to lower their accuracy more. "Mud KIP!"  

[Gwennythe]

There was noise.
A lot of noise... crashing through the undergrowth and someone- that girl, he was sure, calling after her Mudkip...
Why did they have to be so noisy? They were going to scare all the bloody fish away...

He tried to ignore them, hoping they'd move along and leave him to fish in peace... and then he heard a noise behind him.

He turned to look toward the noise, ready to tell whatever, or whoever, to bugger off and then found himself having mud slamming into his face at eye level.

"WOT THE BLOODY 'ELL?!" Clancy's arms flailed as he was knocked off balance by the hit, and the next thing he knew, he was careening backwards, arms pinwheeling, into the river.  

[Tymiko]

Hearing Clancy's exclamation, Tymiko managed to find him and Skipper just in time to see the latter knock the former into the river. She gasped sharply and set Enigma's shell down before dropping everything else she was carrying, kicking off her shoes and socks, and jumping in after Clancy.

Skipper was confused and distraught. He hadn't expected his attack to have knocked his target that badly off balance, but then again, he hadn't exactly expected it to be a human, either. Guessing his trainer's intentions to save the man, the Mudkip leaped in as well to help her retrieve him. With his kind being capable of crushing boulders, he was stronger than he looked and was sure he could be of some use.  

[Gwennythe]

Clancy sputtered as he bobbed to the surface, wiping at his eyes and spitting, but quickly remembering he'd been 'attacked' by something.
His next move was to reach down and depress the button to release Mircalla into the water.
He could swim well enough- he loved the water- but a mud slap to the face, followed by a bruising fall backward (he was just glad he didn't seem to have a fishing hook inside him as far as he could feel) and the fact he hadn't expected to go for a swim today caused him to recover a little slowly...

And then there were things swimming toward him!
His blurred vision didn't quite register that it was the girl from before, and he was mostly going by the splashes he heard.
Two things were coming to get him after knocking him into the water!

"Mircalla! Defend me, luv! Bite 'em if they get close!" His hand itched to release something else, but Ditty was probably not a ferocious opponent for whatever these were, and unleashing Makara would probably get /him/ eaten as much as it did for whatever was after him...

His vision was starting to become a bit clearer, though the water still rinsed at his eyes as it dripped from his hair; his fisherman's hat was lost somewhere down river already.  

[Tymiko]

Tymiko tried to spot Clancy in the water, but as she hadn't been able to get a proper look in the first place, this proved to be difficult. The thing that stood out most was his red hair, so she tried to keep an eye out for that. Unfortunately, soon there was also a red light unleashing something with a red underbelly and red eyes. Uh-oh. Did its trainer want her to stay away?

Perhaps he just didn't know she meant to help him. As the girl tried to think, she noticed her Mudkip swim past her toward Clancy. She tried to call out to him, but this was rather hard while trying to conserve what little air she could get while above water. Swimming was depleting her of her oxygen as quickly as she could inhale it.

Skipper wouldn't have been able to hear her above the roar of the river anyway. He was too set on his task to turn back now. The sooner he could get that man out of the water, the sooner he could get his trainer out as well and both would be safe. But then - teeth?! What was that sharp, angular-looking thing swimming nearby? A pokemon...was it set on attacking? Should he attack back? But what if Tymiko didn't want him to? What if he accidentally hurt the other human even more?

From high above, a yellow Altaria that sparkled and shimmered in the sun noticed the commotion. It watched the four figures splashing about in the strong current as the river flowed downstream. Deciding to get a better look, the Dragon and Flying-type swooped down closer before realizing it recognized one of the two humans. That girl...but the pokemon and man with her were not familiar. All four seemed to be caught between trying to swim toward dry land and battling the other pair. What was going on?

the wild pokemon said. It craned its long neck toward the Mudkip and Carvanha.

Skipper retorted. Frustrated by the sudden addition of other pokemon, the Mudkip was driven to act on his own yet again. He targeted the Carvanha and readied himself to use Strength to fling the fish out of the river. Tymiko had taught him this once when they had tried fishing for their supper.

The Altaria, seeing the Mudkip close in on the Carvanha, quickly attempted to intervene. it said, glancing at the trainers as they swam decently enough. Swooping down, the yellow-gold creature attempted to pluck each of the Water-types out of their element with its talons. If it could get them to shore and drop them there, their humans would surely follow and sort things out.  

[Gwennythe]

Clancy kicked off for the bank. He could look back to see what was going on after he was safely out of the water.
He was fairly confident that, in her element, Mircalla would be dealing with whatever was coming after him. Still, he decided he'd recall her as soon as he was out and on land. He had that yellow bugger for watery things on land...

Meanwhile, Mircalla was not impressed by finding a Mudkip, and then finding herself plucked from the water by a giant 'cloud bird'.

<< /You/ attacked my master!>> She retorted toward the Mudkip << So I'm gonna eatcha! Gonna eat you too unless ya put me down, Fluff'ead!>>  

[Tymiko]

"Wait! Please, wait a second!" the girl called to the man as she spotted him head for the river bank. She began to swim after him, pausing a moment to see how the pokemon were faring. The sight of the shiny Altaria almost made her inhale water, especially when she noticed the Carvanha and Mudkip in its talons. Were they fighting?

Maybe she would have a better view of what was going on once she made it to the bank. At the very least, she could call her pokemon back before the Altaria flew away with it, but something about the bird was familiar. Ty was also determined to catch up to the red-haired man and apologize for her pokemon's actions and increased her speed with that in mind.

Skipper cried, trying to wriggle his way out of the Altaria's grasp to no avail. To the other captive, he answered,

the Altaria cut in. <He wouldn't have known it was an accident. Pokemon attacking other pokemon is threatening enough, but a pokemon against a defenseless human is very scary for them. They can't understand us like we can them.>

It bent its long neck to look at Mircalla. we get along, at least?> Beating large, fluffy wings, the shiny pokemon descended onto the river bank and deposited its cargo there for their trainers to claim.  

[Gwennythe]

"Wait?! So you can bloody try t' rob me or eat me?!" It didn't escape Clancy's mind that sometimes he could hear pokémon these days, and as he wasn't entirely sure who or what was coming after him yet, he wasn't going to listen right away, and continued going for the bank; there might be some scary dragon after him after all!

He stood on the bank, trudging and climbing his way onto solid ground, and cursing how heavy his clothing felt now. He looked back at the river, though, to try and catch sight of his attacker and Mircalla... and saw only a girl...

"Wot the bloody 'ell?! Wot've you done with my fish?!"

Meanwhile, Mircalla wriggled and gnashed her teeth as she was carried by the big dragon-bird.
<< Yeah! Fluff'ead's right! You went an' attacked 'im! I'm 'ere to protect him!>> She then wriggled and thrashed <>  

[Tymiko]

Hearing the man's words,Tymiko stumbled and almost tripped. If she weren't so concerned right now for both him and their pokemon, she might have laughed. "What? Why would I do either of those things?" she called back, trying not to shiver as the water evaporated off her. At least the sun was warm and would probably dry them off soon enough. "What do you mean, what've I done to your fish?"

Prompted to check on the pokemon again, she was surprised to see that the Altaria had set down Skipper and Mircalla on the bank before perching on a nearby tree. The trio seemed to be having an argument of some sort. Before her Mudkip could cause more mayhem than he already had, however, she took out his pokeball and called him back. She'd let him out again once things had calmed down, but that was enough excitement for the moment and she needed to catch her breath.

"There, see? Your pokemon's fine now!" Ty tried to reassure the upset stranger, putting her pokeball back on her belt before putting up her palms in a show of peace. "At least I think so... That other one isn't mine." Turning her attention back to the soaking wet fisherman, she pleaded, "Now will you please stop so we can talk?"

the Altaria asked the Carvanha, puzzled.  

[Gwennythe]

"I thought you was some kinda flamin' dragon type tryin' t' bloomin' well eat me or summat! In cahoots with that bloody mud-slingin' bugger!" Clancy argued back, before turning to see Mircalla when Ty recalled her Mudkip.

"Ey?! If that un's not yours, who the bloody 'ell's is it?! Y'alright, Mircalla?" Clancy called, not entirely wanting to call her back yet because, well, that bird was big and fluffy and he felt like a big fluffy thing ought to be something Mircalla could beat up if she needed to.

<>  

[Tymiko]

"Huh? How come?" the girl asked, more bewildered than ever. It was one thing to think she was a pokemon coming after him, but why specifically a dragon-type? Maybe this guy just had a fear of dragons...? She smiled slightly as she panted, amused by the man's way of talking and his reference to what she assumed was her Mudkip. He probably didn't find it all that amusing, though, so she quickly dropped said smile to show consideration for his (rather strong) feelings at the moment.

"I'm sorry about Skipper. He's still new and he's a little too eager to show off his abilities," she apologized. "Regarding the other one, though..." Turning to look at the Altaria, she noticed the cloud-resembling creature return her look and tilt its head at her in a bird-like fashion. "I think it's wild, but I might know it. Maybe. It's never looked like this before. But I don't know why else a wild shiny pokemon would intervene in human business out of nowhere unless it was acquainted with one of us."

Meanwhile, the Altaria was too immersed in the conversation with Mircalla to heed Tymiko, let alone confirm her guess. it replied. Craning its long neck to regard the Carvanha's trainer, though - Clancy? - it began to wonder if there was truth to the fish's words. It looked back at Mircalla.