[Fin] Peaceful Afternoons

[TawnyAngel]

It was, by anyone's standards, a lovely afternoon. The air was cool and the sun shone brightly down through the leaves of Sandalwood, which were also stirred by the occasional gentle breeze. All together it was an idyllic day to be out and about with your pokemon, or some of them anyway! Today Dith was accompanied by a spotted Espeon - as always - a Rapidash, a Torchic, a Mudkip, and what appeared to be an identical pair of grey and blue Zoroark. The Mudkip and Torchic rode on the Rapidash's back, tired out from a battle against a hiker a little while ago and therefore - for once - also quiet! Much though he loved Gabbie and Gulp Dith had to admit that it was nice to have a break from their chatter today, a walk was good to wind down from the stress of work but a peaceful walk was even better.

These days it felt as though he didn't really do much other than work and train himself and his pokemon and so the hike was just what the doctor ordered- haha!... It had still included a battle of course but he was always reluctant to turn down the chance to pit his team against somebody new, the more experience they had the better! Gabbie and Gulp were nowhere near ready for KSO activities yet but battles like the one they'd just had would get them closer and....

Ah, no, he wasn't supposed to be thinking about things like that today! Dith took in a deep breath of the fresh forest air and tried to clear his mind of anything related to work or training, if you didn't take time away from serious matters every so often then sooner or later you burned out and that was no good to anybody! Especially to you.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The peace and quiet of the surrounding woods faded away as the sound of frantic flapping slowly faded in to replace it. A few moments later, a brown and cream Pidgey swerved around a copse of trees, its gaze focused behind it instead of in front of it, where it should've been. As it barreled through the air at high speed, its gaze shifted ahead of it once more, only to find a large man and a myriad of pokemon right in its path.

With a startled squawk the small bird tried to swerve away, but it had noticed too late; instead, its wing collided with the Rapidash's shoulder and sent the Pidgey careening and tumbling over itself in a smooth arc before it landed in a bush nearby.  

[TawnyAngel]

Abruptly the peace of the afternoon was broken by a high speed Pidgey. Dith ducked away to the side as it barrelled along but as the bird shot towards Dolly the large Rapidash made the split second decision not to try to dodge for fear of dumping her two passengers onto the rather distant ground. The small bird did its best to avoid her at the last second but its wing still clipped her powerful shoulder and sent it spinning away into the bush.

As the Pidgey tumbled over in the air and then crashed into the foliage Dith hurried over to it, closely followed by Viktor and Dolly. "Hey, are you alright little friend?" Dith asked, peering down at the pokemon with some concern.

<> Viktor added.

One of the two apparent Zoroark meanwhile peered in the direction the Pidgey had come from; Lovelace wasn't too worried about the Pidgey - it didn't look as though it had been that bad a crash - but she was wondering why it had been in such a great hurry that it failed to notice the collective bulk of Dima and Dolly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Pidgey flapped its wings, sometime in tandem, sometimes alternately, as it attempted to right itself. He squawked in fright as he managed to right himself, but he flapped his wings more even so. Having broken his wing once before, he might've been concerned about breaking them again were it not for what happened just a scarce few minutes ago - what was still happening. Flying out of the bush meant flying close to the stranger; he couldn't push his way through to the other side of the foliage, and he had a sneaking suspicion that even if he tried, they would just circle around to the back before he'd make it through.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Viktor asked, now perplexed as well as concerned. <>

<> Gabbie hopped up onto Dolly's head for a better view of the other bird. <>

Completely out of the loop of the conversation Dith turned to the pair of Zoroark - he wasn't entirely sure which was Lovelace at this point - and gave them a questioning look. A couple of moments later he frowned and looked back at the Pidgey, having been privately filled in by the disguised Mewtwo. "If there is a problem perhaps we can help?" he added. "Ah, do you need help getting out of the bush? If you stop flapping a minute I can lift you out." He did not fancy getting pecked and scratched, through from what Ada said the poor thing was just scared.

The second Zoroark - the actual one - sniffed the air and moved to join Lovelace in her thoughtful staring into the middle distance. <> he predicted succinctly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

None of those responses were anything like what he was expecting, and the Pidgey ceased his flapping to look up at the group of strangers, growing more perplexed. He asked suspiciously, watching them carefully. They could easily say they weren't with them, but that could always be a trick.

Rustling leaves nearby preceded the sound of two pairs of footsteps, and a few moments later a Braixen burst out from a bush not too far from where the Pidgey had appeared. The brown straps of a bag hung over her shoulders, and something green was visible from the top; one paw held onto the hand of a slim, green-haired teenager that stumbled out behind her. The fire-type stopped abruptly on spotting the group, and the teen stopped short to avoid falling over her. He very nearly did, but he dropped his staff and fell to his hands and knees beside her instead, struggling to catch his breath. The Braixen didn't look nearly as worn out, though she did look at the group with apprehension and uncertainty.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Viktor replied with a wave of his tail to the group in general.

The sound of approaching footsteps abruptly drew Viktor's attention away from the Pidgey, drew the attention of the rest of the group too; Dolly snorted and moved between the sound and the Pidgey with ears slightly set back, Viktor bounded between her legs to stand before her and the pair of Zoroark abruptly vanished.

Dith stood behind his pokemon, huge hands flexing slightly as he waited for the owners of the footsteps to appear. When they did it was... well he wasn't quite sure what he'd expected but it hadn't been a kid with a staff. Was this who the Pidgey had been fleeing? Or was he fleeing something too? He must have been running a while to be so out of breath, or seriously unfit he supposed. Dith had just about reached the decision to move forward and find out if the youth was alright/what the hell was going on when a voice rang out in his mind, Lovelace's.

//Well, I must say you're not what I expected to see. What's going on.... Ion was it? And Jozette.// As the Mewtwo was still invisible and telepathy doesn't exactly indicate which direction it was coming from this may have been a slightly surprising experience for trainer and Braixen.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Hm, they could still have been with the other guys... As he was weighing his options as fast as he could, the sound of footsteps reached him - as well as the rest of the group. Filled with fear and apprehension once more, the small bird ducked down further into the bush, shivering and cooing in fright.

Jozette, for her part, tensed when she saw the group standing there watching her - watching them - and she'd just about made up her mind that they really were with the group when she heard a familiar voice in her head. The fire-type gave a start and glanced around, bewildered. Ion remained where he was, still trying to breathe, so Jozette replied guardedly, she affirmed, then queried, don't see you. We're-->

The Pidgey interrupted abruptly, poking his head out from the bush a moment before he flapped his wings and launched out of it to fly over to the fire-type.

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Hu?" Dith cast around for a moment but realising that it wasn't exactly going to help him spot something invisible he looked back at the young man apparently named Ion instead. "Ah, you know Lovelace? She's around here somewhere, she's-"

More footsteps; Dith scowled, the expression etched deep unfamiliar lines on a face more accustomed to smiling, and strode forward. As the pair of strangers burst out of the brush he folded his arms across his chest and glowered down at them, his single golden eye intent. "Would anyone care to explain to me what is going on?" he asked in tones so unreasonably reasonable they carried a touch of menace.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Albiore squawked in fright as the two strangers appeared, and beat a hasty retreat as he flew up to disappear into the trees.

The pair of strangers grew even more surprised at Dith's countenance, but the closer one gestured to Ion, "This little s**t stole a pokemon of ours! We were just trying to get it back, is all."

Jozette growled as she turned to face the strangers, large ears flicking backwards as she resumed tugging on Ion's arm. With her back to the group of strange pokemon, it afforded Yulia a better view of them; the petite Ralts had her head and her small hands poking out of the top of the backpack, and she waved one aforementioned hand in polite greeting despite the tension in the air. Ion said nothing in his defense, given he was still trying to catch his breath, and instead focused on gathering his strength so he could push himself to his feet... in another couple of moments, maybe. Not yet.  

[TawnyAngel]

O...kay. Purely based on appearances - small scared teen vs pair of adults - he would be more inclined to side with Ion and the fact that Lovelace appeared to know him and not disapprove of him helped as well. Still, he'd been bitten in the arse by jumping to conclusions before so perhaps it was best not to immediately accuse anyone of anything. //Jozette says it isn't true,// supplied a voice in Dith's head. //She might be lying I suppose but if she is I presume they had good reason. Ion seemed... decent when I met him, for a human.// Still frowning deeply Dith glanced around; nobody else had reacted to the mental voice so he assumed it had been directed at him alone.

"Which one?" Dith asked after a short pause, gesturing to Ion and the pokemon with him. "Because all of them seem to know him.... Ah," the large man's large impressive eyebrows rose slightly as a thought occurred to him, "and surely it's a simple matter to check who the pokemon are registered to yes?"

Still concealed by Peter's illusion Lovelace was padding quietly around to stand behind the two unfamiliar humans. To Ion and Jozette she said; //Would you like me to make them regret chasing you? Dima will probably beat around the bush with words for a while but I am perfectly happy to... accelerate matters.// Ada wouldn't go so far as to say that she trusted Ion and Jozette as such - they had only met once - but she was a lot closing to trusting a fellow pokemon and a human who seemed pleasant and kind than two humans she'd never seen before, who in fact she was outright suspicious of.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, none of those ones, they're all his," the man said with a shake of his head. A Growlithe trotted out of the bushes and stood at attention between the pair of humans, watching Dith and the other pokemon warily. "Ah, I hadn't thought of that," he added, reaching up to scratch his chin thoughtfully as he mulled over the other man's suggestion, "that's a good idea."

Since it appeared they weren't going to be chased anymore, thankfully, Jozette abandoned her intention of getting Ion to his feet and instead knelt down so she could remove her backpack and set it on the ground as Yulia teleported herself out of it; in the blink of an eye she appeared on the grass beside Jozette. The fire-type blinked at the voice in her head, but frowned as her ears remained tilted back.
"Don't," the teen wheezed in response, breathless.

<...agree,> Jozette finished with a light huff as she began rummaging around in the backpack for something.

"'Don't?'" Echoed one of his pursuers, seizing the word and twisting its meaning towards his own ends, even if he didn't know why the teen had voiced it in the first place. "What, don't get them checked? You're afraid of them finding out it's not yours, aren't you? Come on, just give it back already you little thief," he said impatiently as he stooped down to put one hand on Jozette and reached for the backpack with the other.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, now let's not be too hasty here! Hands off the pokemon." Dith stepped towards the man reaching for the bag and Jozette with hands held up palms out at chest height to show a lack of violent intent but the look he gave him was very direct. "Why don't you let me do that, humm? I am a neutral party am I not?" Why didn't Ion want them checked?... And actually, he really should be recovering his breath by now. Dith frowned and turned away from the man he had just been addressing, focusing his attention on Ion instead. "Are you alright?" If something was wrong then who might or might not have done what was not the priority anymore.

//Very well,// Lovelace replied to the fire type and her trainer with obvious displeasure, followed by a spike of anger as one of the humans reached for Jozette. //If he tries anything I will...// she paused, sighed mentally and concluded; //I will scare him off, if that's the socially acceptable thing to do.//

Viktor twitched his tail and looked up at his trainer, waiting for a signal of what they ought to do next. <> he said aloud to his team-mates, knowing full well that some of them could be rather... zealous. He then turned to the unknown Growlithe and added; <>

<> Gabbie asked hopefully. <>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While Dith's directness had no effect, his words did; the man paused with his hands near Jozette and he turned a deeply suspicious look to the large man. "I don't know," he replied slowly, eyes narrowing, "are you a neutral party? How do we know you're not with him? Quite a coincidence for him to run into you in the middle of the woods, huh? Nice and convenient, isn't it?"

When Lovelace ceded, Ion relaxed as much as he was able when he felt like he was breathing through a straw. His strained breathing made a quiet wheezing sound, barely audible over the conversation. It took the teen a few moments to realize Dith was speaking to him, and he debated how best to respond with as few words as possible.

Before Ion could speak, the man behind Jozette did so instead. "Nnnnope," he said abruptly as he leaned forward, one hand roughly grabbing the fire-type's shoulder and the other reaching into the bag, "I don't trust either of you now." As he spoke, the Growlithe growled and sent a Flame Wheel careening over the ground to separate them from Dith and his pokemon, to buy its humans a few precious seconds to do what they needed to do.

Startled by the manhandling, Jozette snarled and tried to pull away from him, hunching over the backpack protectively as best she could.

Despite his breathlessness, Ion reacted immediately to the sounds of his Braixen's distress. He pushed himself up to his knees and turned, ignoring the wave of dizziness that struck him as he did so and reached an arm out to try and separate the stranger from his fire-type. Unfortunately for him he'd forgotten all about his second pursuer, but had not been forgotten himself: Said second pursuer moved as soon as Ion did and swung his fist straight into the teen's abdomen, sending him sprawling back onto the ground before he could even hope to protect or defend Jozette.

Too startled to do much else, Yulia stood there with her small hands over her mouth in shock.  

[TawnyAngel]

As the Growlithe launched its attack and the two men acted several other things happened at once.

A Zoroark who had been in the path of the flames abruptly became visible, yelping in pain and beating out its flaming hair. Dith cursed and shouted a command to his team; Viktor and Dolly reacted instantly, the Espeon launching a powerful Psychic attack at the Growlithe and the Rapidash bearing down on the man grappling with Jozette, she didn't attack but she did rear up on her hind legs and strike at the air with a snort, her flames flaring up hot. Gabbie and Gulp, new to the team, were slower to react but soon caught on; the Mudkip launched Water Gun at the Growlithe Viktor was going for and the Torchic jumped onto the man Dolly was intercepting and started to peck his ear.

Dith meanwhile was sprinting around the crackling flames the Growlithe had launched, trying to reach Ion before the second man did anything worse to him.

Behind the two men and their Growlithe another pokemon had of course become visible when the Zoroark's Illusion failed. Lovelace drifted into the air, her eyes glowing with power. //This is not a fight you are going to win, humans,// she sent, including everyone present in the psychic message which crackled with menace. //Leave the boy alone, drop everything and run and I may be merciful.//