[FIN] Discoveries Abound

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Man, if you don't know what the right word is then I don't know," Abel retorted with a laugh and a shrug, "but I know what you mean. All right gang," he turned to address his group of pokemon, Vanessa included even if she still hid under her hood, "spread out and find some berries to pick. You can empty your pails in Sonia's bucket, and if you're not sure if a berry is good or not then you can ask Taavi, yeah?"

He received a mixture of responses from them all but they were all more or less positive, so as they all headed off a bit away he retrieved his own pail from Sonia's bucket and he turned to Taavi to give him a pat on the shoulder. "Congrats, man. About time, yeah?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Haha, right?" Taavi just about resisted the urge to dance on the spot or anything as dorky as that but he did grab Abel to give him a brief hug. "This is the best! And um, you know, I was thinking; new job right? I've kind of been looking around but... I guess I've not been that motivated but then I was thinking about maybe signing up with the KSO? I mean sure I'll still get all my money taken but at least I'd be doing something I'm really passionate about right? I just ah... heh, I've been kind of nervous to take the step of applying. I don't want to get rejected." He knew he had plenty of skills and experience that would fit perfectly but having kind of been kicked around by life since he'd got here had knocked his confidence a bit.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel returned the unexpected gesture after a brief moment of surprise - really, he should've expected it - and tried not to bump Taavi in the back with his pail as he did so. "It is pretty great," the blond agreed as he stepped back once Taavi was done, "and that sounds like a good idea, yeah. I should be in the clear in another month or so for going back to all my work responsibilities or whatever the technical term is," he gestured vaguely with his free hand, "which means I should be good to handle stocking and unloading trucks again. Which unfortunately means they won't need a temporary position anymore," the blond ended, his expression and tone apologetic. "So yeah, I think it's a great idea to start checking out other places. Definitely somewhere better than Meat Palace, yeah?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh definitely," Taavi agreed with a laugh, "it can't get a lot worse than that mess. Eugh. If I never hear another country song I might just die happy! So um, yeah, I think I'll look into that." As he spoke and they walked Taavi peered around them in search of more bushes; just as he finished his sentence he paused abruptly and then indicated a small bush a few yards off with a small noise of triumph; "Oh look, Grepa! I didn't expect to see them here either. I guess I should have expected things to be a bit out of whack at a trainer hotspot like a lake's shore though." Especially in a region without rangers. How did they manage? Well, he guessed training hadn't been all that big here for long and still wasn't compared to places like Hoenn and Unova so the impact wouldn't be quite so big.

"Hey Vanessa," Taavi gave the Lopunny an apologetic smile. "Sorry again, for the staring and all. Would you like to try one of these? They're kind of sweet and sour, fairly mild, and the flesh is really tender."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He chuckled and nodded, and since he had little else to say about the matter - Taavi had been fired ages ago, after all - and since his friend had turned to Vanessa, Abel left it at that and moved away to begin plucking berries from the bush Taavi had pointed out a couple minutes previously.

While Taavi was keen to apologize again for his earlier behavior that brought her unwanted attention, Vanessa was just as keen to move past it. She hesitated over his apology a bit before she gave a small nod, Once she agreed, she headed to the aforementioned bush - alongside Taavi, of course, since she had no intentions of going by herself - but hesitated near it, small paws clasping and unclasping again as she merely stood there, studying it.

Tabitha assured her gently as she walked over and halted beside the taller pokemon.

she said quickly, her clasping ceasing for a moment before her paws started up again, It wouldn't bite her, of course, that was silly... That was silly, wasn't it? Berries didn't bite back, of course... But things in bushes could bite... ...there wasn't anything inside the bush, was there? Right? ...right?

Vanessa's paw hovered very hesitantly over the bush as she tried to convince herself that there was not, in fact, anything inside the bush.  

[TawnyAngel]

Wow. This was really weird, really cool but also weird! It really was like listening to somebody talk on the phone wasn't it? Taavi smiled down at Vanessa and nodded to the bush. "How about I pick one for you first, then if you like it you can take some more for yourself?" He wasn't sure what it was that she was nervous of but that wasn't important, what was important was that she enjoyed herself and that wouldn't happen if she got too stressed out.

"Here, it's best if you grip just by the stalk and then pull down or up at an angle," Taavi demonstrated, pulling one of the fruits free and holding it out in his palm to Vanessa. "Either that or break the stalk off actually, for the any we're putting in buckets anyway! It's easy to bruise these if you grab the by the middle."

Also strange; he was becoming aware of occasional words just on the edge of hearing as wild pokemon went about their business. What normal types would be out here? Pidgey for a start, possibly Buneary and Deerling; he wished he could catch what they were saying better so that he'd maybe get a hint! It was also really, really tempting to call Valour back down right now but no, he was going to wait and act casual and then surprise him. Ha!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Vanessa was well aware of the fact there were other pokemon nearby, but as they sounded like they were some distance away - plus Taavi and Tabitha were with her - they didn't make her too nervous. She accepted the berry with a quiet noise at first, but then as an afterthought - she'd forgotten already that he could understand her - she said, When she had the small fruit in her paws she turned it over slowly, studying its yellow surface for a few moments before she took a careful bite of it. It was... not as sweet as she was hoping, but... she said after a few quiet moments of deliberation. It had a nice mix of flavors, and though she didn't like the bit of sourness it had, it wasn't too bad. she said with a quick glance down at Tabitha before she popped the rest of the berry into her mouth. With her paws free, she carefully pulled a second berry from the bush - Taavi had demonstrated that there was not anything hiding in the bush, and so she wasn't hesitant anymore - and offered it to the Mareep beside her.

the electric-type said with a pleased smile, then took a step closer so she could accept the offered fruit.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Better's a good start!" Taavi replied with a grin. "We'll keep looking for something a bit sweeter though hu?" Something as sweet as honey preferably, he wasn't sure they'd manage that but it was worth trying! The Grepa berries would be good for wine though so he picked a bunch of them and added them to his pail.

"I'm going to head into the trees a bit more," Taavi announced to the others with a vague gesture. "Some berries prefer a bit of shade, shall we spread out or stick together?"

The vote was for sticking together and so as a group they moved forward filling their pails and chatting idly; Vanessa and Tabitha stuck close to the humans while Isaac and Caleb stuck a little further away, and Sonia moved between them all collecting berries from pails into her bucket.

Taavi was still grinning like an idiot practically constantly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Vanessa was growing more and more used to the fact that Taavi could understand her now - even if it was a little odd to think about still - and when she and Tabitha moved to another bush, the Lopunny pointed to it and looked over at Taavi. She asked, pointing to the leafy green bush littered with curved pink-colored berries with yellow tips. They looked so strange!

Abel glanced over when he heard Vanessa but returned his focus to picking more berries soon enough. His mood had improved substantially since they flew out here, and for the first time in longer than he remembered he actually felt... relaxed. Relaxed and content. And, to an extent, happy - happy that Taavi could finally understand pokemon. When Sonia made her rounds again he carefully dumped his pail of berries into her bucket. "Thanks girl," he said once he'd finished, and reached a hand up to give her a good scratch behind the ears.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Humm?" Taavi looked in the direction Vanessa was pointing and brightened. "Ooh, those are mago berries! Yeah they're safe, and they're sweet too, especially they curvy ones, they're more mature than the - err - less curved ones." As he spoke Taavi headed to the bush and started to load some of the fruits carefully into his pail.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Vanessa said as her eyes widened. Sweet berries! The Lopunny stepped forward too and picked one before she carefully popped it into her mouth. A couple of bites later she turned wide eyes to Taavi. She said, then covered her snout with her paws and continued in somewhat muffled tones, both from the paws in front of her mouth and from the half-eaten berry still inside it, She finished eating that berry in short order and proceeded to pick several more to eat - though after two or three she did offer one to Tabitha before eating more.

Tabitha finished eating hers and waited a few long moments, and when it became clear that Vanessa was content to just stand there and eat them all rather than pick some for their pail, the Mareep picked up the pail by the makeshift handle and cleared her throat meaningfully.

she blurted out quickly, flustered and embarrassed by her behavior, and promptly dropped what berries she had in her paws into their pail. With her paws now free, she turned to pick more specifically for the pail. ...although she couldn't help but eat one or two more in the process.  

[TawnyAngel]

"They're pretty good right?" Taavi grinned (well, kept grinning), taking a moderately curvy one for himself and chewing contentedly. "They'll be really good for the wine I think, we won't need to add so much extra sugar which is good. I always kind of feel like I should avoid refined sugar, there was this guy Hunter where I worked as a ranger in Hoenn? Oh man he was serious about refined sugar, and artificial flavours, caffeine, and all sorts; he went raw vegan for a while but that didn't last past the next barbecue, he-"

Taavi froze; as he'd been speaking he had been moving around the bush picking some of the ripest berries; he'd just come to the other side of it and found himself face to face with a blue Scyther which was hastily clambering to its feet at the sight of him. Greenish blood was oozing from deep wounds in its carapace but it snarled defiantly and raised its blades.

<>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Vanessa nodded her head eagerly (her mouth was too full of berry for her to want to reply properly) and listened to Taavi while she picked more berries. When he stopped talking mid-sentence she froze as well and looked up, but at the unfamiliar pokemon's words, coupled with its frightening appearance as it stood up above the bush, she made a strangled noise in the back of her throat as all the berries slipped out of her fingers. She crossed the distance between herself and Abel in the blink of an eye with a single leap and immediately darted behind him, twisting her fingers into the fabric of his shirt and burying her face into his lower back.

The blond half-twisted to put a hand on her head, bewildered and concerned. "Taavi, what is it?" He asked, on edge now that there was an obviously aggressive wild pokemon in the area; he didn't need to know what it said to know that. Poor Vanessa had seemed to be enjoying herself so much, especially once she'd found berries she liked, and now...

Sonia and Caleb both perked up their ears and set their burdens down, hackles raised, while the latter started to growl low in his throat. Tabitha, for her part, carefully set her pail down and walked around the bush to join Taavi. she said, her voice calm and gentle,  

[TawnyAngel]

"Scyther, injured," Taavi replied to Abel a little distractedly, the majority of his attention was focused on the injured pokemon. There was no way it - she, going by the size of the abdomen, was going to survive if she didn't get some help, the wounds were pretty deep and looked to have been bleeding for some time.

"We're not a threat, it's okay," Taavi continued to the snarling bug type, holding his hands out to show that they were empty, other than a very unthreatening pail of berries. "You're injured, you need help." This would be a lot easier if she would consent to come with them but she didn't seem in a very trusting mood, which was pretty understandable....

Understandable.

He had understood what she'd just said, how-? No, not now, would think about that later.

"I can understand you, so will you talk to me? Can you tell me what happened? Is anything after you?" Taavi asked, his voice calm and steady. "My name's Taavi, this is Tabitha. What do you call yourself?" If she lunged at them he was going to be in trouble, even injured as she was he didn't fancy his chances of getting out of the Scyther's way. Best to make sure he didn't have to then. Where was Swift? He'd trotted off by himself a little while ago but he wouldn't go out of earshot, was he watching from nearby now? If he was Taavi seriously hoped he didn't do anything to make the situation worse.

The Scyther's snarl was interrupted by surprise at a human understanding her speech, what sort of human was this? <> Breathing hard the Scyther forced herself to straighten up and made a mock swipe through the air with one blade. <>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah," he said. "Uh.. Okay." He... really didn't know what to do about it. Taavi was okay for now though, but the Scyther looked angry... Very angry. But Taavi was trying to reason with it, so maybe it would be okay? The fact that Taavi understood it passed over his head for the moment, he was too focused on the very angry Scyther near his friend and his Mareep.

Said Mareep huffed a bit and sat down on her fluffy rump, unfazed by the blade slicing through the air. she said simply as she looked up at the bleeding pokemon, keeping her posture as non-threatening as possible. the electric-type went on with a glance through the bush, although she couldn't see well through the leaves,