[FIN] Back in our day...?

[Gwennythe]

<< They are very seldom fun...>> Treestar agreed. He liked it better on the base, and training, and playing. He'd been so -sure- once upon a time he wanted to be a mission pokémon and be helpful- he still wanted to be helpful- but after experiencing a few and watching Tambrey nearly die once or twice, he'd lost enthusiasm for actual missions. <>

Tambrey started to get up with Aulus did, stretching a little; it would have been nice to sit here a while, but... well, it was for the fossil 'mon they were here. She smiled at Helix, and wondered if he... 'said' anything at all... She realised she hadn't heard anything translated as having been said by him...

Millicent scowled a little at the revelation.
<< Our bodies were there first, we should own it.>>  

[TawnyAngel]

When he received the translation Aulus shrugged. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. Borealis, mind if I put Helix on your back? You okay with that Helix?" Borealis gave an affirmative and Helix waved his tentacles with what looked like a happy expression so the spiral pokemon was placed on the tundra pokemon and Aulus gestured up the path. "The way it works is that humans who have a lot of money have bits of paper saying something, or some place, belongs to them," he went on. "It's fine to ignore them so far as I see it - generally - but it doesn't make for a peaceful day out you know? If we were going to go to the place where I found your fossil we'd need to do some recon first... that is we'd have to spend some time watching it from a distance to see how we could get there without getting noticed."

Borealis looked rather concerned by Treestar's revelation. <>

<> Juno shrugged, <>  

[Gwennythe]

Aaw, Ammonite riding an Apatosaur... That was cute...
Tambrey, of course, wasn't privy to the translation, but she could understand what Aulus said in reply, and looked concerned.
"We've really not planned for any real kind of mission, light or otherwise..."

<> Millicent pointed out, instinctively feeling that /this/ was the way you solved who owned what, not with... whatever paper was...

<> He nodded in agreement with Juno. << I don't think you'll have to for ages too, but when a good one happens, everyone on the base gets all excited and a lot of humans, and pokémon, often all get together... And there are treats!>>  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Juno replied. <> The Heracross then filled in Aulus on what Millicent had said.

Aulus then filled Tambery in both on what Millicent had said and what Juno had said. He then shrugged at her, making a 'so now what' face. It was her pokemon, he didn't want to overstep the mark in how to handle the situation.

<> Borealis said, apparently warming up to the idea of missions a little or perhaps cooling down in her case. <> she hazarded hopefully.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey looked concerned, and nodded in agreement with Juno as Aulus translated.
"Um. That might be how you feel territorial.. uh.. disputes are settled, but it wouldn't work anymore, not here especially... Besides. Um, it's not a great place, I don't think?" She looked to Aulus for backup "Just rocks and caves. Not nice trees and things that you'd like, Millicent... Besides. You already share territory with me and the others, okay? Remember the room?"

Millicent frowned.
<< Pack. Herd. Family. I do not know swarm but these three, I do know to be the same. We are family? A herd? I can defer to the needs and wishes of the family.>> She looked from pokémon to pokémon, and then to the humans too.

<> Treestar wasn't really paying attention to what Milli' was saying, and he was excited to describe the treats that might be given. Kale was a favourite of his, which might have been odd for a pokémon that literally had a leaf growing from his head, but he really didn't see how it would be. Unusually, kale was something that made the leafy sauropod somewhat hyperactive, so he wasn't really allowed it accept on special occasions.

The humans were moving about! Or going to! And the pokémon were riding each other! The red and white orb widened its eyes, now that it had managed to right itself and see what was going on from it's place in the bushes.
It pushed itself forward and began rolling toward the group... It was rather thankful they were more downhill from it than up.  

[TawnyAngel]

Juno passed on the translation again and Aulus passed it further on to Tam, relaxing a bit as he spoke. "Swarm's a bug-type sort of a word for the same concept, at least as far as Juno uses it," Aulus supplied, and Juno nodded her confirmation. "Shall we go on up the path a bit, explore some more? And it really isn't all that much to look at back at the site, rocky scree and a cavern with a couple of chambers. All the interesting stuff got buried in the rock, like you guys I suppose."

<> Borealis said with obvious excitement; she had no idea what they were but suspected that if Treestar liked them then they must be good.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey smiled. Huh.
That was actually a lot easier than she'd expected; she made a mental note to try and explain Team Rocket itself as being a kind of 'herd' for them, but for now, it worked out if Millicent thought of Aulus and their teams as family, or a herd.

"Mhm. See. No nice forests to play in around there, or nice trails like this... Uh, just caves and rocks and such... And, our little herd wants to explore this trail a bit today."

Millicent seemed to give a shallow nod, and was chewing over her understanding of everything that was explained.
<< I understand Swarm. Swarm is a good word.>>

<< Kale is my favourite! It is very tasty and it has lots of energy in it!>>  

[TawnyAngel]

Phew!

Aulus gave a lopsided grin and nodded down at the collection of pokemon below eye height and then over to Treestar. "Great, let's go on then!" With that said he struck off up the path at an easy pace, they weren't going to anywhere and he figured that the fossils pokemon especially might be interested in pausing now and then to investigate their surroundings.

<> Juno nodded at Millicent, <>

<> Borealis suggested.

Helix waved his tentacles to let them know he was still interested in what was going on, but this 'kale'? It didn't sound very... very... fleshy.  

[Gwennythe]

Treestar was taken aback by the Omanyte's sudden tentacle wiggle, but grinned at the shelled pokémon as he got over the surprise.
<< Yeah! That's a good idea! I'm sure we can explore really really well and they'll give us some!>>

<> Millicent wasn't sure about that term. << Oh. Like... family but not? Swarm-friend.>> The dinosaur, thankfully, decided quickly, once she felt like she understood the term.

Tambrey was fairly pleased about the easy pace set too; she could walk, even run, and train again now, but technically she was still 'healing' rather than healed, and she knew she'd be out of breath, or aching, too quickly if they were having a serious hike.

As the group walked, the red and white orb stopped itself rolling, by rolling into a patch of grass directly ahead of where the group with walk. Unfortunately, it rolled itself face down, and thus... a red and white sphere, looking vaguely like a pokéball or item capsule, might be seen very shortly ahead.  

[TawnyAngel]

If Aulus had a middle name that wasn't Steven - and he'd take that one to the grave thanks - it would be paranoia, or possibly hyper-alert. As such when he spotted the out of place object he stopped dead and thrust a protective arm out in front of Tambery. At the same moment claws slid out of the fingers of the other hand with a metallic snick.

Aulus narrowed his eyes at the thing on the ground and then slowly started to relax. "Hu." With this said he moved forward, stooped, and reached out to touch it with his metallic hand.

<> Borealis wondered aloud.  

[Gwennythe]

"Wha.. What the frak?" Tambrey blinked as Aulus called a halt, did his... protective stance thing, and then called out his claws.
She couldn't see ahead of him, so couldn't see what he was reacting to.

Treestar could. He didn't really know what it was though. It... felt like it was a pokémon, or a pokéball, but... he hadn't seen one that... felt quite like this to him.
<< I don't know... It looks kind of like our pokéballs!>>

Millicent snorted and tried to stomp up right beside Aulus and lower her head at the... thing... She could show she could defend her herd from weird spheres!

What was that?! That wasn't human skin! That wasn't anything skin! Was a steel type here and touching it?!
The orb whirled quickly, vaguely panicked, it hadn't seen any steel types; that was an unknown factor!
A pair of eyes looked back up at Aulus, clearly surprised.
"TORB!"  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus sprang back a couple of feet from a crouching start and said something that could not be broadcast before 9pm, and even then only maybe. After a heart-racing moment of I am either going to die or kill the thing Aulus relaxed a fraction and almost laughed. "Oh. Oh it's a Voltorb. Bloody hell." He cleared he throat and waved at it. "Uh, hello, you startled me."

<> Borealis said with a measure of wonder in her voice. <So round!>>

Juno looked from the humans over to the Voltorb and then shrugged. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"A... Voltorb? Out here? What.. What the frak?" Tambrey peeked around Aulus to see that... yep, that was Voltorb.
Oh frak.
Oh... frak... Please do not explode. She took a step back.

If one could understand the Voltorb, and unfortunately the pokémon, of course, could, one might be surprised at how similarly to Aulus the sphere pokémon had reacted. What the heck was wrong with that humans' weird protrusion? They didn't usually have a steel type's skin there...

<>

<> Treestar agreed.

Millicent growled and lowered her head.
She could knock the little round thing right off the mountain!  

[TawnyAngel]

As Juno passed on the words, Aulus blinked. "It said that it found us?... You were looking for..." Aulus paused to think, always good to do before you speak. "For humans?" Not them specifically he assumed, and assumptions were useful things in the right place. "I can't understand you but I can understand Juno," he waved to the Heracross, "so... yeah, you want to talk?" He really, really hoped it didn't explode or zap them.  

[Gwennythe]

<>
It seemed to pause and think for a moment, before deciding to try and roll around and roll toward Tambrey.
<>

It was rolling toward her! Tambrey backed up and held up her hands with a very anxious smile. Why was it still coming toward her?
"Hello there! Uh. I can't understand you either..."

Treestar watched with a frown, before trying to address the creature.
<>

<< I SAW YOU ALL FROM UP ABOVE AND FOUND MY WAY DOWN! IT IS NICE TO ME->> He was cut off as, Millicent, deciding she'd had enough of whatever the thing was talking like it was shouting all the time, headbutted it into the air.

The Voltorb sailed toward some bushes further up the trail.
<> It called, mindful of its manners, even as it flew through the air, before it vanished into the vegetation.