FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"You're going to have to remember to only use Pokémon speech here." She said almost absently from beside him, watching the other three appear. "They might just regard human speech as a totally different language, but someone travelling far just to see Tao being rebuilt will be spectacle enough." She swept through the bushes, resorting to walking plantigrade so that they could keep up, and so that she didn't lose her balance. "We'll make a stop by the cave first to arrange for Marlow to greet a second group." She tapped into the bond she had with him, it was still daytime so he'd likely need to feed off of her just a bit to maintain form. "Even if he'll just be a talking skull on the ground at that point." she added, mostly to her self.

"Er... Serena... I don't know what you mean by Pokémon speech since I can't actually speak Pokémon completely. I mean I'm not speaking Pokémon right now, YOU are. Oh my goodness... how... oh my head hurts now..." Kyn rubbed his temples from the information overload that he'd just caused himself. If she'd told him what she meant by Pokémon speech, then it'd definitely clear up a few things.

"Huh, strange, perhaps humans and Pokémon aren't as different as they seem...I mean, it sounds like it's got a very difficult accent to understand, but I CAN understand it as long as I focus." What HAD made her focus this way anyway? She stopped as her eyes caught sight of a Pidgey hanging by it's ankles, cutting it down with one claw, and catching the rope before it hit the ground. "Lucky~ Now Marlow wont have to go hungry." The bird tried to peck at her, even flap it's wings to get away, she let it, holding onto the vine, then pulled it down to hold it under her arm, letting it peck at her scales, but it barely did anything at all to her dragon hide.

"So, you're the first I've met, I suppose Marlow will be the second. Hm, so... Marlow is a Duskull... but, do you think he'd mind if we showed him my true form? I mean if he's a Duskull, then I'm assuming that he wouldn't be able to smell me anyway. It's not like I plan on revealing myself to EVERYONE on purpose, just that I feel... as if I want to confide in more than just you."

"Marlow 'should' already know that we have visitors coming, at least, if he's awake. I don't think he'd mind, perhaps even be ecstatic if Lacu would do him a favor when he doesn't have to keep concentrating." She left out the word your for a reason, here they didn't have property lines like belongings, but soon they had come to the circular clearing that outlined the cave, which from where they stood now was dark and looked lifeless. "Ghost Pokémon here...well they're dead Pokémon...and...they have nightmares of their past life...he had friends before." She touched the rock of the cave entrance and went quiet.

Meanwhile... in Serena's Cave.....

The said Duskull was currently lounging on one of the tables in the cave, while wondering what had happened to Serena. She had been gone for almost half the day, which was not exactly something that happened a lot. He couldn't currently do anything because it was the middle of the day now, and she wasn't around to help him keep his form to look for her... a bit of a predicament. "I wonder what could have happened to her. Of course she can handle herself but, that still doesn't explain why such a routine trip would take so long." A few seconds after he'd had that thought, the indication of his answer had arrived.

"Humans don't really understand Ghost Pokémon much... but of course, it'd also help if they would have a way of communicating with them other than by voice alone. Certainly some would misinterpret let's say... an example of a playful Haunter, as an attempt to terrorize them, but really, if it's like you said, then it would take someone like me, to really I suppose to help with that, or the Pokémon researchers. Hm, this cave does seem pretty big..."

Serena's claws clicked against the stone, making it easy to follow her, more so as the ghost lights lit up as they passed them, turning on the torches to the usual orange color. She wasn't sure if this would impress or scare, but this was the way things were set up. "Marlow, I'm back." Her voice called through the tunnel, and she sidestepped the table and the pillows which served for chairs. The fire was still roaring in the back, lighting the room in a cozy glow. "Told you it was set up for my final evolutionary stage."

"That's pretty interesting... reminds me of certain things back home," he said, specifically talking to Serena. He ducked down and then stood back up inside the cave, just looking around. He casually looked around... looking for Marlow, he didn't want to be rude and ask where he was, considering that Serena seemed to see him perfectly, but what he was looking for, was the conventional Duskull.

"Serena, you've been gone for half a day... Anyway, what do you mean final evolutionary stage? That's not your final evolutionary stage. Who exactly have you brought here?" He was still waiting for Serena to provide him with the energy he needed to be able to maintain his form, and finally move around freely inside the cave.

"Half a day?!" her voice nearly shrieked. "But it was only maybe an hour..." She shook her head, following the sound of his voice to the skull she knew to be Marlow, where she set down the case and snapped the bird's neck, a quick death. It was dropped to the ground moments later. "Well...some acquaintances from a different world." She chose her words carefully, but opened up her mind so that he could browse the images that she had gone through for the time she had been in the other world.

"Ah, so there is a bit of a time distortion between us. We'll have to take that into account." Kyn said, sitting down. He sat down near the fire, and took off a good portion of his clothing, leaving the bare minimum; pants, shirt, overcoat, and boots.

Marlow quickly absorbed the fading life energy from the bird, though the process was invisible to most, and then the blood red energy cloak formed. He immediately hovered, then floated closer towards the newcomers. "Yes, very interesting..."

"Marlow, as much as I'm sure you'd like to look over our guests, we were...gifted something that should be put in the other room...would you mind too terribly?" She held up the PokéBlock case in both hands. "Sorry the meal is so small, there's not much prey out there, it's a good thing the Pidgeotto only eats grain." assuming that the case would have been taken by now, she ran her claws over her headplates as if it would provide her some solace, and really? The friction did help, but petting herself made her self conscious, and the claws dropped to their side.

"I'm assuming I can drop the form now," Lacu said, releasing his concentration, revealing Kyn's true form. He still floated in the air though, due to his preference of at least being eye level with Kyn.

"So, you're Marlow obviously. Well, my name is Kynexn. I pretty much wanna see a small bit of this world, since well, Pokémon are the dominant species here." He didn't make any comment about Marlow not only looking different than a normal Duskull by way of the Skull, but also the fact that the 'cloak' was blood red.

"You can consider us both new to this world... in different ways I suppose," Marlow said rather sadly, though it was barely detectable in his voice. He sighed, or what could be considered a sigh, considering that he didn't really have lungs. Marlow carried the object into the designate area and then returned.

Serena wanted to hug the skull, but figured it would embarrass him, instead she grabbed the scarf, coming up behind him and tying the knot around the front. It was a daily routine that she was used to. She was pleased that Kyn had taken what she said to heart, about not pointing out differences in appearances. "Oh, my apologies Lacu, I should have let you know sooner." She walked to her room where she had her straw bed, and dug in the corner for a portion of their Poke, which was kept in a small sack. "I'll probably be taking them into town, at least to the Spinda cafe--it's all rebuilt now, or at least, from what I could see from the top of the trees..." She didn't have to Elaborate on why she was up in the tree tops, Marlow should have known that she was trying to fly, but she didn't want to say that in front of anyone else.

"Oh Yay! Food. I was looking forward to this part. Anyway... someone should go check on the portal to see if it is still there. Someone will have to tell it to come over to THIS side, until the rest get here. Then we it can just open it to let the rest in later." Kyn said, now knowing that he could freely speak about his world, at least to these two.

"Such strange words. Without Serena, you'd have seemed absolutely crazy." Marlow stated, folding his arms together.

"That's what I said." Serena shook her head, but shot Marlow a look that clearly said 'ask him.' before shifting to the Medicham. "If it had been only an hour spent in your world and half a day here, then it's likely only been perhaps a few moments since we disappeared." She had divided the money into two, smaller sacks, and set them both on the table. "In fact, I'm sure without the memories you would have thought me a bit loopy too."

"More heh, strange words incoming. What we've experienced, scientists call time dilation. I'm certain that it can be fixed though. This was just an experiment, so to speak, and well, it lead to this. I've pretty much traveled most all the places that I can think of, that don't have humans, with the exception of that one time I visited a Pokémon Village. To find a world like this, where essentially ALL of it is consisting of Pokémon Villages is like a dream come true! I just love Pokémon!" He said, not bothering to contain his excitement.

Marlow slightly glazed over at this new information. "So, how many of them are still on the... other side?" he said to Serena, the phrase felt so foreign to him, yet there he was using it as if it was everyday. "If they're more like this group, then the village is gonna be swamped."

"A lot..." she said quietly. "However if we leave the time distortion the way it is, and have only a couple of them come through a day...well, day for us, more like hours for you guys apparently...we can ease the flow...but we'll run out of money if we take them all for a trip to the Spinda cafe. I'm not sure many people will notice since there's new teams joining all the time. They'll just think that they've been sent out on a mission, or out to help clean up or something..." she waved her claw at him dismissively. "I think he might enjoy the bay though, it's too bad that it's so far away...anyway I figure that if you take one group and I take another that we should be still within communication boundaries...you'd just have to be...carried."

"Serena, I just did a quick calculation in my head, based on the information Marlow gave me. If they wait for a least three to five hours there, a full day to a day and half would have passed here, give or take."

"Hmmm... well, I suppose I could... just this one time. If they've managed to convince you enough not to distrust them, then they're acceptable by me. I will guide them." He said neutrally.

Serena fixed an eye on Marlow with a 'don't give anything away.' look, before her nose wrinkled as if she was exasperated with him for not asking the Medicham for help. /Seriously Marlow, when are you going to get another chance? I can't exactly stall much longer./ She pushed that thought through the link, tying the bag in a fashion that it could be used as a backpack.

Being a Psychic-type, he was used to occasionally hearing people's thoughts, but this was something different. I was as clear as they were talking just a minute ago. Of course, Kyn and the rest didn't seem to hear it so... he wasn't exactly quite sure if he was imagining it or not.

/Well, I just figured that it would be best to at least let them get slightly acquainted with this world. At least before my selfish goals are accomplished./ He thought, 'blinking' a few times.

"I probably would have liked to visit that... Bay area, you called it. But yeah, for now I'll just follow you to the Spinda Café. So I guess I'll just leave the other stuff from my world here in your cave, if that's alright with you." Kyn said, now leaving his bag in the cave.

"That's fine, and we'll make a stop by the portal so you can let them know of the time distortion." Serena suggested "That way they will have an approximate time to join us...hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep before the next group joins us." She rather quite blocked him from her torn ranting in her head, she didn't want him to go, and yet she had made a promise to assist him. She sighed inwardly, slipped on the backpack and started out the door again. "If you wish to come with us Marlow, it seems I'm going to be out anyway...don't want you turning back into just a skull." Of course, under the sun he might just turn back into a skull anyway, depending on how much energy she had to close off for her own movement.

"I'd definitely be a taller than average anything... with the exception of a Blaziken, and the monstrous 'mon that are over eight feet tall..." Kyn muttered quietly.

There it goes again... assist... but assist with what? The urge to say something was overwhelming, but it had to be controlled. Those were their thoughts, not his, something that shouldn't be meddled with, unless absolutely necessary, but oh the curiosity!

"Well, I haven't been outside in a while, but let's hurry up and see. The quicker they get here, the quicker things can return to relative... and I do mean relatively normal." He was of course referring to the mission that they had recently been on, of in which they had to clean up some of the remnants of Sorbet's rampage.

"They know about the storm, Marlow." She explained quickly, and hoped that the way she phrased it would give him an idea of just how limited the information had been. Back through the opening in the mountainside, back through the clearing, and back into the forest. "Actually Kyn, I've seen Sceptile taller than Tensa, and also shorter, why would you say that you're too tall to appear to be one?" occasionally she dropped to all fours to reset a trap, but didn't stop walking, it was just a show of how versatile her body was at moving in whatever way she needed it to, even if it wasn't the conventional way for a Bagon to walk.

"Ah, see, there, we've found another difference Serena. It appears... that there is a great degree of size variation here. Where I come from, there is only a few inches margin of difference. Speaking of... you're taller than the Bagon back home." Kyn said, rather matter-of-factly.

"That world seems a bit boring now. Having Pokémon being pretty uniform. I suppose that means that you haven't seen any Duskull that have my rather unique appearance, have you?" Marlow addressed the issue in a way that he understood a major difference, based on the way Kyn explained himself.

"Pokémon actually GROW here before they evolve, you had a thing earlier that called me 'pretty' when you pointed it at me...it probably has the median of what's found here, or at least the height at which we're no longer considered hatchlings." She paused at Marlow. "Marlow...You're the most unique Duskull in the village, though it makes me wonder where they got their skulls from." her claw tapped against her scales. "It'll probably be a good idea for you to pretend you're mute in the village Kyn, and let Tensa speak for you, since you don't speak our language."

"That's fascinating...! As for what you said Marlow... yes, there is absolutely no other Duskull like you. As for the matter of speaking your language... it's just the words that I would have trouble with. If I completely forgot everything I know about being human, it wouldn't be a problem, but of course, I can't exactly do that unless my memory is wiped, and I don't really want to have my memory wiped just to be able to fit in. I don't really think Tensa will be able to help much either. Basically, you can look at it from a sort of dire humorous situation. He's been 'contaminated' by humans too. So, he'll probably have forgotten most of it too, but I don't know. I think that perhaps Striker would actually be best here, since he is still in touch with his primal side, as well as having been a clan leader of a swarm."

"Memory..." Marlow finally said, letting it slip. 'At least you do have memory... and your friends are still here...'

"Living with Trainers pretty much as he teasingly said, 'contaminates' Pokémon a bit. At least the ones that you can say are 'tamed'. There are some in which they are just too primal to be tamed and so they retain their qualities and only the toughest and most skilled Trainers can handle them." Inferno explained.

Serena twitched, she felt that slip, and her tail flicked, she tried to hide it, but it came out in her voice anyway. "There are some Pokémon here that have given up their primal urges, gone herbivore when they are so clearly carnivorous. I guess that you could say that they have become both the trainer and the Pokémon, letting one speak for them at a time, whichever they dub the proper time to let that one speak...Like a Charmander learning to control it's emotions." Her tail twitched again. "Marlow has done his best to make me...civilized...and Merlot has as well."

'I am not a servant.' The memory flooded back to her mind's eye, how she had gotten into a fight with the Lugia, verbally at least. 'You are a dragon, all dragons were meant to serve in Castle Draclugia!' 'I serve who and what I please, this artificial cave of yours makes me feel ill, and so as soon as possible me and my partner will be leaving.' 'Even if I could help you teach him?' 'What did you say?' 'Don't play dumb, I know you've been in the library every day, researching information, but you know better to steal from me, little rogue, very good.'

She shook her head and was glad that they had arrived back at the portal.

"I was definitely resisting the urge to ask you if you had caught any other Pokémon like that Pidgey. I'm not exactly a natural hunter. As you can probably imagine I'd be using more... human techniques to hunt. Though Striker has given me some knowledge about various let's say... natural techniques. Though, my Pokémon have no problem with ME eating Pokémon due to the fact that they are all pretty much at the top of the food chain. Heji is a pack hunter, and he's actually brought food for us, as well as food for himself."

Marlow headed towards the entrance without saying anything else, and waited there, being in a slight hurry to get the rest of the Pokémon here. He still completely passed over any indication of asking the Medicham for help.

Serena shrugged a little. "Back when there was a lot of food here I used to capture dozens of the denizens of the forest at a time, we have cages built into the rock-face back in the cave. A short bit ago I captured a Pidgeotto to assist Marlow with...well...passing through walls with another creature. A Pidgeotto is about my size, so when he could pass that through safely I knew it would be safe for me to travel with him." She paused, realizing she was partially off topic. "She now lays eggs for me to eat, unfortunately they're infertile eggs, so it doesn't grant Marlow any sustenance, but so long as I'm alive he can always feed off of my energy for that." She listened more, then held up a claw to stop him. "You wanted to inform the Pokémon on the other side of the time distortion over here." She pointed at the rift behind them. "But at the rate you're going we'll be waiting here until I've shed my Shelgon plates."

"Hey. We've got plenty of time. After all we did establish that it would only be a few minutes having passed there. But let's go on ahead anyway." Kyn then walked out to where Marlow was, having let sit most of his belongings behind in the cave. "I haven't worn this cape in plain sight in at least three years." He said quietly.

"Where exactly do you get your sense of fashion? These accessories... don't usually appear amongst the Pokémon I've seen." Marlow said, in response to seeing this new outfit.

"It's a lot easier to maintain... if he doesn't have so much clothing on." Though the way that statement was phrased, caused Tensa to chuckle.

"Very well..." She ignored the comment about less clothes. She found her scales to be the most comfortable way to be, but the scarf had been necessary to mark her as a team, and she had grown used to it. She followed the claw marks that she had made on the trees months earlier, leading them to the village, or at least, to a raised overview where they could get more of a feel for the surroundings. "This." She said as she pulled back the bough of a bush, revealing the 'village' down below. "Is Tao. It's grown quite a bit recently." She said with a fair bit of pride; without the rogue's cleaning up the dirty work they would never have gotten this far.

"That... does remind me of a village in our world. Yes. So this is probably what I can expect to see, in more parts of this world. So, Serena, have Flying Pokémon been used to map this area, and maybe the Bay area?" Kyn asked, looking down with his not so eagle eyes.

"Yeah, but it took a lot to get it this way." /Of course it's grown. Rogue Teams get stuck doing the dirty work. And in this case, it was actually literal. Your nose did not like it./

"Excuse me but... you never told us about the Rogues. What do they do? We've learned about the Merchants and the Rescuers but not about the Rogues." Lacu said, finally hinting at the possibility that he knew more than he let on.

"It doesn't look that much different, just that, well, the buildings are shaped like Pokémon once again," Tensa said.

"They have, in fact I think a lot of the villagers are having to relearn their way around the town now that it's been...remodeled..." She looked at Marlow sharply. /Oh for Luna's sake Marlow, I was avoiding our affiliation on purpose! There's a psychic in our midst./ Her temper had visibly risen, the points of her plates at her neck stood out, still she continued on as if nothing had happened, as if it had been a lapse in her memory for the way to phrase the next part. "There should be maps around to assist new teams as well." Then, of course, Lacu spoke, and her pupils slitted at the mention of the rogue teams.

"It wasn't, and still isn't, important what the Rogues do." She said shortly. /Limit this speech Marlow, to absolute necessity./ She stepped off the hill and slid down to the next level with practiced ease.

/Serena you're such a square. Let a little chaos in your life./ "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You should probably not ask about it again." He said flatly. Marlow then stretched his arms and then folded them together in front of him.

"I would have loved to have flown over this village on Tenshi, say maybe 10,000 to 20,000 feet or so, but there is the issue of stone... sleeping. I guess the maps will have to do for now. Serena you don't consider me a stray, do you?" Kyn asked.

"Is it one of those things where it's best not to meddle in the affairs of said group?" Tensa asked, with his arms to his sides. He pretty much had the same thoughts as the rest of them as to who and what the Rogues were. Though, if they were advised not to delve more into it, then he and Kyn, would not do so.

Had Serena been in better mind, she would have been able to smooth things over, tell them that the rogue's got things done by any means necessary, that when others didn't have the stomach they got the job done, and she didn't even want to have to resort to the 'You actually think any of the others would allow someone who is wild in a sophisticated guild like the Merchants or Rescuers' card. The time away from them, just that slight bit of time to breath, gave her back her composure, with less threatening posture. "If you're not having second thoughts, you can come down. A promise is a promise." /I have enough chaos in my life without you adding more to it Marlow./ She snorted, not that he would hear it from up on the hill.

"Oh right, we'll be down shortly." Kyn said quickly, slid down the mound, carefully following Serena. As he eased his way down the slope, he caught a glimpse of something in the distance, but he decided that it wasn't worth it to investigate right now.

Lacu of course floated down the slope as his usual method of movement. One of the advantages of being a Psychic type was definitely the ability to levitate over most surfaces.

Tensa took a different approach of getting down the slope, and jumped as if he were leaping from branch to branch, which looked sort of impressive to those that were still up on the first area of the hill.

Inferno took a similar path and leaped even further than Tensa had, during each step, demonstrating his athletic ability as well.

Marlow, after seeing everybody else down lower, finally took his time floating down to meet them, despite having the apparent sense of urgency earlier. Though in this case, it seemed like he was deliberately trying to agitate Serena into losing her temper.

Serena was no fool, she knew the Pokémon were showing their skills to try to intimidate her, as if she would do something wrong. She was however, close to snapping at Marlow. Her claws flexed, the slight sheen of purple against the blue scales--but she reigned it back in quickly enough as the rest of them joined her down on the lower portion, on even ground with the outskirts, though they still had to get over the moat that surrounded the inner city. "Forgive me, I shouldn't have snapped, perhaps the lack of rest is weighing on me heavier than I thought it was..." She paused, exhaled, then spoke again. "Yes, there are three divisions in this town. Rescuers who do everything by the book, to the letter, but they're mostly kids who want to be heroes. You have the Merchants who just want to make money, they don't care who they sell to, and treat the other two factions equally..." Another pause as she gathered her words properly. "And lastly you have the Rogues...we're the ones who do the dirty work, have to really, to be able to get the job done at no matter the cost. A lot of the teams you see there are thugs, it's true, but that's because when other 'mon fail we're the ones who are put in...we're the last resort. No one wants to deal with us normally, because that would be admitting that things are as bad as they are...I have something to show you before we go to the Cafe...if you'll excuse the detour."

"These divisions sound rather interesting. Is there any way that I'd be able to learn more about them... without let's say... meeting anyone within them? Though if it's unavoidable I guess I could handle it..." Kyn said, looking around the area. "Detour? No, I don't mind a detour. By the way, do you have a sequential way of indicating how time passes?"

"Well... that's a bit interesting. Sometimes, I'd say that Kyn seems like he could be a mix of all three of those that you mentioned. That's not exactly the most clear way of saying it though." Lacu commented.

"Hm, seems like most 'mon don't really understand the Rogues." Tensa said, now thinking about what type of guild he would be in, if he were going to stay.

"I have yet to see an instance where two or more of the guild have been able to get along. At least in my..." he shifted around for words. Technically he was not alive, so he couldn't say lifetime. "time here."

"Well, I like helping people, so maybe I'd be good at being a rescuer. But, for now we're just getting a tour obviously, and are not here to form teams." Inferno said, looking around.

Serena stepped across the bridge that crossed the moat. "You've already met two from one of the guilds...Us. We are rogues...and you're very right, we're not understood; we're considered the bad guys because our methods are...questionable." There still weren't many Pokémon around, they were likely all in the Cafe, but she directed them towards the Snowflake Memorial; the air was cooling, and she wrapped her arms around her middle for warmth.

"That's not entirely true Marlow...but you haven't been in the town, haven't heard the stories..." Soon they were standing by the memorial. "This...is the snowflake memorial...formed from..." Her voice stuttered, "N-nevermelt Ice...On the inside...are all the names of the Pokémon that were lost during the blizzard...during the time when Sorbet the Kyurem went on a disturbed rampage...when all the guilds worked together to save as much of the village as we could...this was before Marlow and I joined the rogues...but I listened." she paused. "Pokémon die in these fights...in this world." Her face was serious. "As well as I'm sure you'd defend Kyn in any setting, I would be accountable if any of you lost your lives here...If you became ghosts of your former selves and couldn't remember anything of your old life." The last words were directed at Marlow, as were her eyes locked on him. "Isn't that right, Marlow."

"A sudden influx of ghosts to this village would be... interesting." Kyn said, thinking about what Serena said, and at the same time being careful about the way he phrased it and the tone in which he said it.

'So that's what they were thinking about... Marlow's memory.' It made sense now, those stray thoughts that he could hear as they traveled. "I don't think we're going to be here very long though. Maybe only a few days. Though, there is the possibility that we'd visit you again.

"Enough to get acquainted with some, and observe the various lifestyles, I suppose." Tensa added.

"A sudden influx of Ghosts to this village would be... interesting." Marlow said at the same time as Kyn. "Yes... I suppose there's no more avoiding it. I've only seen glimpses. Nightmares, the worst memory of some of my previous life."

"I don't think it will work like that. Even if we all... um... die together. I doubt we'd all end up here." Inferno said, not sure of whether or not what he was saying would come as across as rude or insensitive.

"Not all Pokémon do come back as ghosts, it's true...some will be gone forever." she looked up at the memorial names, then subconsciously moved towards Inferno, who was, as a fire Pokémon, warmer than the normal air otherwise. "As it is...this is why I will request, and hold you to a promise...If there is danger, you'll run away and leave me to face it...I'll risk my own life, but not yours." She didn't wait for the response, instead working her way towards the Cafe which was, of course; shaped like a Spinda head. "I think that with all this talk that we should make our way to the cafe now, shake off this...gloom."

"FEED ME SEYMOUR!" Kyn shouted with a chuckle. He was pretty sure that Serena wouldn't get the reference. He then walked with her to the Spinda Cafe.

"Definitely sure that as a chef himself, Kyn would definitely appreciate the artistic aspect of the food there, if there is any." Tensa said.

The rest of the group followed silently, keeping their thoughts in their heads, perhaps for a later date. They too were interested in the food that the Cafe had to offer. As it turned out, there were close to lunch themselves.

"Been a while since we've been to this place Serena. Maybe the menu has changed." Marlow said, looking around.

The Bagon lead the way, opening the door into the cafe and entered, her eyes scanning the the tables, and when she found one big enough she started walking in that direction, ignoring the look from the cashier Hops, who was a Shuckle. She slit into a booth with a sigh, shifting the bag from her back to beside her chair where she could keep an eye on it. "I doubt it, but perhaps..." She didn't, of course, get the reference. "Vertigo will be here soon, try...not to watch him walk." she advised.

relaxing. "Now of course, we're settled in."

Marlow simply floated nearby, at the opposite end one of the booths. If he were to "sit" down, it wouldn't really do much, as his skull would just look awkward sitting on a table or a seat.

"Eh?" Serena blinked at Kyn? "Oh, no no, in fact just looking at him can make people dizzy. He is a Spinda and has his own tempo." She paused, realizing she had just made a pun. "That brings up a question...have you all felt any different after coming here?" She shifted, looking away from the Spinda as he came around and handed out menus to the rest of them, all in footprint runes.

"Hello, I'm Vertigo and I'll be your waiter tonight." the Spinda said. "Can I get drinks for you today?" "Pecheri shake for me." Serena said to the Spinda, "The check will be mine when it comes as well, Vertigo."

Lacu acted quickly and due to his knowledge, was able to relay the information to Kyn to allow him to at least understand the menu. He'd had experience with it, but was sure that most of the others had not. "I think I'll just have a plain milkshake."

"I'll just have some simple Oran berry juice." Kyn whispered over to Serena.

"I'll have what she's having." Tensa said, to the Spinda.

"I'm pretty good, for now I think I'll just take water." Inferno said.

"Right, so then...two Pecheri shakes, a water, Oran berry juice and a milkshake." he teetered away, not bothering to wait for Marlow's order. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that you wouldn't be able to understand the menu...quick thinking." Her eyes looked at the Medicham suspiciously. "The question still stands."

"I've been been feeling fine." Was the answer pretty much mirrored by everyone, except Lacu. His voice came out out rather nervously as he tried to think of the best way to begin. "Well... I'm not sure if it's normal but... it seems as though I've been able to hear all your thoughts as clearly as if you were speaking them, ever since I came here."

Serena shifted a little, tilting her head. "Well...when I was on YOUR side, I felt like I was limited...like an ability was missing from my arsenal...there just wasn't a good force behind it when I tried to make sure I could still summon the dark energy to my claws." she looked at them for a moment. "I would think that that's because we're /unhindered/ here. I know most Treecko prefer to go without accessories because then they have stronger abilities when they're unburdened."

"Then I guess you'll just have to get used to it. I'm not even remotely Psychic but, I'm sure that when it comes to telepathy... they have to learn how to deal the the large amounts of thoughts ... let's say, floating in the air." Kyn said.

"You're right about some parts. It's never been this overwhelmingly strong before." Lacu replied.

"You were a Meditite once, put yourself into a partial trance and you can ignore them, you would, however, have to really focus in order to participate in the conversation." Soon their drinks had arrived, and Serena sipped on her shake, which was topped with a Cheri berry. "It will get worse as more 'mon come in." she shivered a little as the shake hit her stomach, it was cold, but not unbearably so.

"Oh dear. That makes me wonder what someone like ME," he stressed the word allow them to focus on it, "would be affected by this change."

"I suppose I could do that but, I think I'll just have to deal with it for now. Guess it'll just be the equivalent of a stadium filled with pe---Pokémon." Lacu said.

Marlow chuckled at Lacu's almost slip up, and then continued to observe the rest of the group.

"I.... couldn't read the menu either..." Inferno said with a slightly embarrassed tone.

Serena shot a glance at Marlow. "You're testing my patience today Marlow." her nose wrinkled. "Well Kyn, I'm sure that if you had any hidden abilities previously that they would show now." Her eyes flicked to Inferno, a little shocked. "Ah...hm..well then, your eating habits? Then perhaps we can assess what you would like to eat...that goes for anyone not -brave- enough to admit it previously." The word had been said as if it was a quality to be proud of, as if he had nothing to be ashamed of. /Honestly, what is with you?/

"I'm an omnivore, more on the carnivorous side. Though I'm a pretty good herbivore too, but," he then quieted his voice again, " it's just that once one tastes meat... it's hard to go back to being an herbivore all the time."

/I Have no idea what you're talking about Serena./ "That does make sense." Marlow then chuckled seemingly at nothing.

"I'm pretty much and omnivore too, more on the herbivorous side though. Though I won't refuse meat if it is offered to me." Inferno said.

"Well, you can say that I started out as a omnivore too, became carnivorous, then herbivorous. I'd pretty much eat anything." Tensa said.

Her mouth twitched at Tensa's comment, the only sign she had heard him, and took the phrasing funny. "Right then...so you'll have to trust me for your meals this lunch." Serena found herself in a position of selecting food for Pokémon when she wasn't really sure what any of it tasted like cooked, since she preferred hers raw. /You're being annoying today, stop it or I'll put some gashes in that cloak of yours./

"Here goes nothing...." Kyn said, waiting to see what types of things that would possibly suit his very open and willing taste.

/Sounds like a mother threatening to discipline her child./ "I wish I could taste stuff too." Marlow said, chuckling at Serena, fading under the table and disappearing.

"Serena, you and I should go hunting later." Tensa said under his breath. He also was waiting for his choices.

"Just remember they don't serve other Pokémon here." she said. "There's Tembrava, Roasted Combusken leg with chips, Takoyaki, Grilled Remoraid, Roasted Ducklett, Deep fried Stunfisk, Octillery Sashimi and Bulba buns." She hadn't given any offers that were too expensive, nor that were sweet desserts. She thought she would try the Tembrava, it sounded interesting.

Kyn looked slightly disappointed still when he was reminded that they didn't serve that particular form of meat there, something that he was sure of that back home would be highly controversial. "Takoyaki. Be interested in tasting what it is like without...." He didn't need to finish.

"I believe I will just have some of that er... Combusken leg with fries." Tensa said, also sharing some of Kyn's thoughts about the lack of certain ingredients.

"I think I shall pass on eating anything for now," Lacu stated.

"I'd hate to do this to them, but I think I'm going to take the Sashimi. I may just order it again later.... and cook it!" Inferno said.

Serena nodded and waved the Spinda over again. "Takoyaki, Roasted Combusken, Tembrava for me, and Sashimi." she said pointing to them one at a time in turn for who the orders were for. She flicked her tail and swallowed some more of her shake. "Yes Tensa, I think that we should, perhaps in Gambitville if we had the time to get there."

"Hey. Don't exclude me just because I'm.... ME," Kyn said. "I do know how to hunt too." His tone was that of slightly joking, slightly serious.

"Hmm, well, that's really up to Serena. I don't mind since I have seen you... own the prowl." Tensa added.

"It sounds like you all might be able to work together, to take down significantly larger prey that way then." Inferno commented, having a little bit of experience on the subject as well.

"I don't know if I'll be able to help you all the way though. Only when you get back, then." Lacu said, thinking about the process in which they would be acting by.

She flicked her tongue out, showing the tipped point. "Kyn...I don't think you know what you'd be up against here...and you don't have claws, nor sharp teeth, nor decently tough skin. You're not hunting; you'd be a liability, and a hindrance." she looked at Lacu meaningfully. It wasn't an insult, though it probably would have come across as such. "Marlow. You might just have a decent meal yet."

"I don't need claws or teeth, or a tough hide Serena. I have tools. As long as they don't use their elements against me, or are as fast as Scyther and Ninjask, I should be fine. Oh, and if they happen to be at least twice my size." Kyn tried. It should make sense. There were many more situations that he could think of, but right now he just wanted to see if those factors would convince Serena.

At this moment, Marlow chose to reappear, and made a comment. "You will too, won't you?" he asked, thinking about the size of prey that Tensa might have hunted, being human sized.

Marlow's popping up made Vertigo, who was walking around delivering the food to the table, hop back and almost lose the meals left on his arms, but he recovered and set down the rest of the food, as well as the check beside Serena, when he walked away she resumed speaking. "There is no honor in using more than what you have been given from birth...and Gambitville have 'mon like Tauros, which are dangerous for even skilled hunters that are working together." she had folded her arms so that her head rested on her wrists. She glanced down at Marlow, then back up at Kyn. "...Show me you can do that, because I doubt that your tools will even 'work' here, and then we'll see. For now, enjoy your lunch."

"We shall see." He didn't feel like now would be the best time to talk about that particular aspect of hunting back in his world. At the current moment he did just exactly as Serena said, and then he started to eat the Takoyaki. He picked up one in each hand, and then took a careful bite of one in the right hand.

Tensa, picked up the leg and then took a rather large bite, being surprised at the taste, but enjoying it, as shown on his face.

Inferno picked up a piece of the Sashimi, and felt it in his fingers for a bit, before simply popping it into his mouth and eating it, without saying anything.

"I suppose I should apologize to Vertigo for startling him like that." Marlow stated solemnly.

Lacu levitated his milkshake and then took a sip of it.

Serena picked up one of her Tembrava with her claws, and bit off everything but the decorative tails in one bite. She didn't have to chew it too much, but swallowed soon after. There were only two of them, and as it joined the other food in her stomach her body realized how hungry it really was. The other was gone in an instant, and she reigned in her hunger, playing with the garnish that she would never eat. "Why? He knew you were around, and he knows your personality well enough, he should have expected something like that...what were you doing under the table anyway?"

"I was just looking at things from a different perspective." Marlow said honestly. He then floated back up to eye level with the table.

"Well, this Takoyaki IS different but... I still enjoy it." Kyn said, now fully digging into his meal. He still was very delicate with it. Even though it was differently made, it was still Takoyaki and he didn't want the steaming inside to leak onto his fingers. The others appeared to be enjoying their meals as well, and did not engage in conversation while doing so.

She waited for the others to finish their food, in the meantime reached out to poke the crack on Marlow's skull. "The crack is getting bigger." She muttered. "I do hope that the reward from our last mission is an Evo scroll..." She sighed a bit, whether or not the poke had connected. Then she brought her attention back to Kyn as he spoke. "Well, I've not had anything other than what might have been served here, so I wouldn't know, but I'm glad you are enjoying it."

"Alright, well, thank you for paying for us Serena." Kyn said, finishing the last of his Takoyaki balls. The rest of the gang were finished their meals too. Tensa finished after Kyn, followed by Inferno. Lacu was only about a quarter of the way through his milkshake.

The Spinda collected the empty plates, and Serena gave what would have been a very disturbing smile to anyone who might see it. "It's no problem, It was just going to sit around and be a hoard for a while anyway." She said as if it was nothing. She played with the shake that was about half way done.

"About how far is it to Gambitville anyway? Will it take us more than a few days to get there?" Kyn asked. He really wanted to go and see if he'd be able to find the larger Tauros type Pokémon.

"Now hold on Kyn, we've got to get the others here first before we do anything else." Tensa said, but still understood his eagerness.

"I've never ever been that far myself. the most I've gone is from the Creeping forest, to here." Marlow chimed in.

Serena took a moment to answer, thinking of the ONE time she had gone there before she answered. "Two days, roughly, without breaks or resting, two and a half if we're not pushing ourselves and taking a break occasionally." She drank down the rest of the drink in a gulp. "which, no doubt, will be ideal for you...I'd much prefer to travel at night, as that's my usual...awake time." She yawned, putting her claw in front of her mouth to make the appearance of her teeth lessened. "Oh? Right, you wanted to bring the others here,I suppose some of them will want to come hunting too...we will probably insult the Luxray if we went without him."

"Possibly. I still have more to tell you, though not at this current location. Shall we head back then?" Kyn stated.

"I want to visit them for a bit," Marlow stated, referring to the Pokémon on the other side. Inferno nodded in agreement with Marlow, and stood up. Lacu had finally finished his milkshake. They all stood up following Inferno's example, and waited for Serena.

"Mmm...I will not join you on the other side this time, I need sleep." She picked up the bill and the bag beside her, walking to Hops the Cashier and dealing out the money quietly, before walking with them out the door. Thankfully these guilds didn't take money from the teams as /others/ did; and slowly she found herself walking them back to the rift, where she laid herself in a plant. "I...shall wait here." The bag of poke which was a bit lighter now that she had paid the bill, clutched to her chest.

Well we'll be back in a matter of minutes, so... uh..." Kyn stammered. He simply stopped chatting after that and walked through the portal.

Marlow, allowing himself to be carried by Kyn, braced for an unknown effect as he traveled through the portal.

"I suppose we might as well do the same, closing our eyes and waiting for a few minutes." Inferno said. Lacu nodded in agreement with him, and he then he began to meditate.

"A few minutes there is still a few hours here..." it was the last bit that she said before her eyes closed and she was out like a light.

On the other side, Kyn and Marlow emerged from the portal, to meet the group who were waiting for new. "Guys, I've worked out the more specific aspects of the time dilation. We need to space our arrivals every four hours here. Three more of you should come with me. I'll explain everything on the other side." He quickly said. The three members that decided to go next were Striker, Heji, and Pendragon. Then he attempted to step back through the portal but was stopped by Marlow.

"Hold it... all of these Pokémon are... with you... fascinating. The four team member limit does sort of limit us slightly. It seems like such a feat to be able to have all of these Pokémon at your command." Marlow said quietly.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly put it like that... I'm not really commanding them in most cases. Just giving suggestions. Anyway, I really want to get back as soon as possible." Kyn said.

"Very well, Marlow said. "This world really isn't that much different than ours, with the exception of the excessive number of humans." Marlow then went quiet and Kyn took that as his cue to go forward, and walked through the portal.

The rest of them slowly followed, simply walking through due to their trust in Kyn.

The hours passed and Serena slept, finally when she felt the portal ripple again, her eyes snapped open, and her pupils slitted automatically. Somewhere along the line, night had fallen. She shook off the sleep, and sat up. "Ugh." she stretched. "That's NOT my usual 5 hours." Her neck popped as she turned to face the human, her green eyes glowing as a cats' would in the dark. "Welcome back to this world." She muttered, more to herself than the newcomers.

"This should be an interesting experience," Striker said.

"Hello again, Serena." Heji said, looking down at her. It hadn't been that long since he had seen her, but he said it anyway.

"So, where exactly are we going to be going then?" Pendragon asked with slight boredness in his voice.

"Actually... I forgot... Serena, what are we going to do with the groups again...?" Kyn asked.

"I was going to go back to Serena's cave, and I think you might have been headed there as well, even if you didn't say so." Tensa said.

"I think the answer he was looking for was this one, Tensa." She said as she stood. "Is this. Hunting. I do hope that your choices for the hunting party will prove not to be their folly." She directed the next question to Heji. "What do you think of Tauros, Heji..." she had remembered the name this time. "...And perhaps the idea of taking one down...Of course before that Kyn has something to prove to me, before I will allow him to come with us."

"I need to go back to your cave first." Kyn stated seriously. He had several items in his pack that he would need if he were going to be on equal footing with Pokémon again.

"Tauros... are something that I have not hunted in a long time. Mainly because I mostly go out on my own and it would take a lot longer for me to take down a Tauros than if I were to do it in a pride. Now everyone in the party is my pride, but they are not all pack hunters."

"Ah, that might explain why Kyn decided to bring me through then. If we are going hunting, then he brought the most ideal of us." Striker commented.

"So what does that make me then?" Pendragon said a bit incredulously.

"I don't know, have you ever hunted before?" Tensa asked.

Serena might have said, 'incredulous' but it was too big of a word for her. When Tensa insinuated that he had never hunted before, she snorted indignantly. She ignored it other than that, choosing to focus on Heji. "It was brought up at lunch, that we might go for a journey and hunt together. Tauros roam two days away from here in a place called Gambitville." after she said this, her eyes looked to Kyn questioningly, then began to lead the way back towards the cave, stopping after a few steps. "Actually...since prey is so few in these woods...I'll be your prey. If you can track me back to my cave before dawn, then we'll consider you hunters worthy to hunt a Tauros. Stay here and I'll be back with your pack Kyn, with whatever it is that you need from it." She didn't, however, wait for a response. Instead she took off, digging her claws into the soil as the blue green energy took over her body, allowing her to run with little to no wind resistance...then once more she returned; mere moments later, without the bag of coins, but with his pack in her claws. This she held up to him in one palm.

Kyn took his pack from Serena, and then said, "A human's sense of smell is far inferior to animals and Pokémon. I am not a hunter in the conventional sense."

Heji, was curious as to the way Kyn would go about this task. He had the ability to track by means other than regular vision alone.

"Let's see you put some of what I taught you to use then." Striker said with a grin.

Marlow, now able to maintain his energy cloak again, tagged alongside Serena.

Serena closed her eyes for a moment. "Hunters are not made by senses that you lack, but those that you have." her shoulders rolled. "You have my scent...I expect you before dawn...and if you can not make it back to me by that time, I will be going to look for you." Once she was sure that she had been heard, she climbed a nearest tree, leaving marks in the bark, and once she was out of sight to them, she jumped down, scraping the bark on her way down purposely, leaving tracks, breaking small limbs, the typical signs of a creature--but she didn't travel in a straight line at all; instead swerving like a normal animal would. These were her hunting grounds. Half way through, she stopped making purposeful tracking signs, instead going into hunter mode. No claws to dig into the soil, and soon she had easily made her way back to her cave. "This, I think, shall be interesting."

"I won't use it unless I absolutely have to. I doubt the point of this exercise is for that." Kyn said. He then headed in the direction of which Serena headed. The first thing he noticed, was a disturbance with one of the trees, as he was paying attention to a few of the typical signs that might be left by her. "No way. There's no way she'd make it that obvious. It must be that she's got something more difficult planned down the line." He moved closer to the affected tree. Upon closer examination, he was able to extrapolate that Serena had indeed caused it. His next move was to climb up the affected tree, and look from there. From this perspective, he saw even more signs of her having been here. He wasn't able to see any immediately obvious signs with his naked eye, so he went back down to his pack. "Well, she definitely started going this way. But, I need a bit more information." He said, to pretty much either one in the group excluding Tensa.

From his pack he retrieved a pair of binoculars, and looked around at the trees for obvious signs of disturbance. After assessing similar markings on another nearby, tree, he traveled to that one and did the same. He managed to make his way deeper into the forest, following the obvious signs, and waiting for the point in which they would start to disappear. The signs did stop as he expected. She had stopped playing with him here, and it was now a completely new game. Kyn took out his hunting knife, and made markings of his own in the trees, leaving a pattern similar a three clawed animal. As he sat down in the tree, looking around, he decided that he had no choice but to use technology, a fact that disappointed him slightly. He took out his Pokédex, and switched to the newly integrated PokéRadar feature, after making a pass over the last visible tracking sign that Serena had made, he then started heading in another direction, that took him farther away from the previous track than he would have thought possible. "I really wish I didn't have to do this. I'm a modern human, not all of us are trained in hunting and tracking anymore. I'm going to get some advice from a Ranger when I get back home," He said, following the indications by the PokéRadar.

Serena stayed seated at the entrance of the cave, her eyes focused on shadows that her eyes could JUST make out, she knew the Pokémon of the group would be able to JUST make her out too. then she saw the illuminated screen, and frowned, more to herself than Marlow beside her. She sighed breathlessly, running hear claws over her headplates. Her eyes opened after a short blink, and she slowly waved her fingers towards his Pokémon, hinting at breaking off one by one covertly.

"This... isn't what I expected at all." Kyn sighed and continued progressing. He stopped, to once again climb up a tree and look around for anything that might give an indication as to where she had gone. When he couldn't find anything else, he just instead followed the general path that the radar had indicated, and eventually exited the forest.

Serena was waiting for him, as promised, her one arm had crossed across her body; the other had a Dragon pulse perched upon it, coating her and the surrounding area in an eerie blue green glow. She didn't look up at him this time, the frown creased her features. She wasn't going to confront him about it, instead, slowly her slitted pupils traveled up to meet his eyes; if he was going to lie, it would be to her face.

Kyn sat down near Serena, and sighed. "Well Serena. You certainly moved in an interesting way. I wasn't able to track you at all past a certain point. It appears as if I need to go back to the Rangers and learn a bit more again. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I just didn't realize how out of touch I was. I do remember one important thing though. If I had more time to study you, I may have had a better chance. That's what I used to do."

"If you took time to study me you would have been more lost than you already were." She stood, and threw the dragon pulse up into the sky, not as effective as launching it up, but still. "The reason? It was a typical pattern left by a Pokémon who had narrowly escaped capture and was running for it's life."

"I suppose then, that that is why I wasn't able to recall. I haven't really encountered anything like that yet. It will definitely be another method to learn. Though, of course, most of what I've ever encountered... has never really gotten the chance to flee."

"If you were tracking something, and another creature came across it's path and startled it, you would lose the trail with that way of thinking....Did you even LOOK at the displacement of leaves, or assume that because I was no longer setting down my claws that I no longer was touching the ground or leaving footprints?" she chided. Did she dare leave him alone though? No, that was the problem, she didn't, not with Devonshire around, not with the scavengers at the bone yard.

"You've failed." She finalized. "However, since you didn't try to hide it from me, since you had enough honor to do that..." she sighed, she was going to regret this, she knew. "...You can come and see if you can't assist in one way or another."

"I did seem to forget a lot of what I learned. Perhaps this place will be better to practice than back home and... I'm not sure what to say about you letting me come along other than a thank you."

She wrinkled her nose at his thank you, instead just waving it off. "I'll give you all one last chance then, to get some sleep--since you managed to get here before dawn, and to decide if you DON'T want to come, just because you were picked does not mean that you have to obey without question, not here at least." she still thought of Poké Balls as torture devices, no matter how many times she had try to convince herself otherwise. It was actually for a good reason that she was going to try to convince herself of this, but didn't let on just now. "After we start however, I won't deal with whining, and you'll, naturally, eat only what you can catch."

"It reminds me of one of those survival shows back home, the only whine you'll find is the kind that you drink." Kyn said with a chuckle, picturing all the non actual ways to survive.

"Kyn, you know you only watch those shows to get a chuckle out of what most people perceive surviving in the wild to be." Tensa said.

"I've already made my decision Serena. Though, it has been quite some time since I have actually done anything hunting related." Striker said, rubbing his blades together.

"You shall have my decision in the morning as well, Serena." Heji said, padding closer to her.

Marlow, to the best of his ability tried to show how happy he was on his face. "Depending on what size 'mon they bring down, they might not be able to eat them all at once..."