The UNION Team

([ermehgerd, skip pwease. Nothin to do here |D If someone wouldn't mind, can they kill linger? That would be appreciated.])

Even as he got closer not a peep arose from the location that the rock was thrown from. Normally one would expect a type of sound to come to acknowledge him, like a ‘Psst’ or a ‘Hey’ or something right? But nothing, no sound, and even if this cave has been quiet for some time now, right now it felt eerie.

Closer and closer he got, every wary step closer was a moment expecting some sort of sign. By the time he got to the large boulder acting as a wall where the stone originated from, he was desperate for any friendly encounter in this dark void of a cave.

He chanced the faintest of questions. “H-Hello?” Before hearing a resonating “Don’t do That!” The walls of the cave distorting the voice and bring it to a terrifyingly low pitch. Theo did the only thing that came instinctual to him after months of surviving all by himself In fear. He jumped over the wall boulder and hid from whatever may come, not knowing that he had just jumped right next to the greatest danger out here.

It was hotter behind the wall of boulders…..You’d think the heat would come from the ground, or the boulder, or something reasonable. Yet it was coming from the figure next to him, who Theo was only just now noticing due to the temperature change. It couldn’t be Lostcall, way too short to be him. And that new guy….Tony, way too big to be him. Which only left Seruru or the Kirlia, Claire….

“Seruru?” And nothing responded, so he tried a bit louder, hoping that whatever is out there didn’t hear him, “Claire???” Still nothing. He was beginning to fear the worse, that they had come running after him only to get hurt or worse and stay slumped behind the rock. So he timidly reached out to the figure, he paw waiting to come in contact with warm familiar skin of a pokemon he considered a friend.

“All mine”

But it never made it, well…it would have if not for the sudden brightness that overtook his sights and made his arm instinctively come to shield his eyes, saving his face from the intense fire that burned his arm. The awful smell of burning fur hitting his nose at full strength and making the scream of pain that erupted from him become an odd fusion of yelling and gagging.

Theo didn’t even get the chance to look at his burnt arm, for the light that pierced the darkness and brought pain came again, aiming for his face again, but stopped by his already injured arm. His left arm engulfed in pain, and burns, the fur literally absent on the underside of it.

And then it happened again…

The rage that could not be stopped. The anger that filled his being and overpowered all other emotions. All fear, all worriedness, all nervousness abandoned, but especially all sense of danger out of the window. All he wanted to do right now was to inflict more pain on the one that caused all this than the crippling pain his arm was going through right now.

Slash was volleyed with the good paw, the physical strength of the Ursaring double by this strange force overtaking him. The smell of blood urging him on when before would have made him flinch. But now it wasn’t him getting hurt, it was the bastard flareon getting cut up.

Another light came from its mouth, the tall tell sign of another fire attack coming. But Theo reacted on survival instincts and smacked the thing right into the giant boulder it was hiding behind before. The spinning fire jetting up into air. He didn’t relent though, he kept slamming the dog like thing into the boulder, its struggles bringing a rage fueled smile to his afflicted face.

It still struggled, it bite at him with fiery fangs, his good arm bleeding, and being burned over as he kept slamming the thing into the boulder, its skull making more of a squishy noise with each thrust. He didn’t stop even after it stopped struggling, even after there appeared a gaping gash on the back of its head, not even when the form of the skull was misshaped beyond recognition. If anyone was yelling at hims he would not even have heard them because he just kept yelling and thrusting the lifeless mass into the rock, painting it with blood and gore.

Until finally the mass of flesh in his paw was so crushed and bashed and covered in blood, that one would not be able to figure out what it was before. The undead was gone, but his arms still hurt, they still burned with a pain that overtook him. He was still angry, and as he huffed and huffed to catch his breath, Theo in is raged state was not calming down, but instead trying to figure out what to be angry at.

But he had no target to direct his rage, so instead he was just angry at everything.

((Again, this is Theo in his Guts state, he was too timid/shy and Ursarings are notorious for being angry Mo-FO's, so decided to awaken that anger and rage whenever his guts ability is active. But since he is burned instead of frozen this time....it's gonna take a lot longer for him to snap out of it i think >.<))

((Oh, and FUCK YEAH, 45TH POST! Its long as hell, but i like how it came out |D))

Luke just wanted to crush the the Shuckles shell in his jaws and be over with the old pokemons annoying orders. The only one that was aloud to order Luke around was his trainer, Jay, and he wasn't around anymore.
The next thing the Shuckle did took a lot of Luke's strength not to toss the shell pokemon against the a rock and fry it with his Flames.
The Shuckle had taken one of its feeler, arm, things and began to tug on one of the Houndoom's horns, making a fire burn at the back of his throat, but he didn't let it out.
"There he is son! Go go go go go!" The Shuckle said as it tugged in one of the direction. He could really care less right now, but we went in that direction anyway.

What Luke saw when he finally caught up to Theo was something he hadn't expected to see from the large bear. It was hard to believe that that bear was once that little teddy he had met outside the cave.
Theo had just killed something, it was hard to tell what, though the Houndoom kept his distance from the Ursaring, so he wouldn't turn out the same way that pokemon did.

Realizing the damn shell was still in his jaws, he let out another grunt before opening them and letting it fall to the ground, not even lowering his head so the drop wasn't so bad.
Once the Shuckle was out of his mouth, he walked over to Theo. "Hey, Theo." He said when he got close, though not close enough that the bear would be able to lash out at him without having to come closer. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own." He added, his tone betraying no kindness, it was the same tone he had used since the two had first met.

(Sorry guys, I've gotta skip. My computer is kinda fritzing and wont be repaired for a while. Just assume Seruru was pretty concerned about Theo and his behaviour.)

Now Tony wasn't one to get angry, nor would he ever be, but when you're dropped a good three feet onto your back with no explanation and no apology? You're gonna get pretty ticked.
"What in the sam-hell was that for?!"
He gave a sharp look to the Houndoom, who appeared to be focused on Theo. First, he saw the anger in the child's eyes... then... he felt fear. Pure, unbridled fear coursed through him like acid, eating away what little bravery he had. Backing away, he misjudged where he was and began rolling down a slope in the cave, quickly falling into darkness...

He awoke feeling groggy and hurt. Maybe he hadn't blacked out too long... maybe he had. Either way, he was screwed if he stayed in the dark with nobody there to protect him. Humming nervously to try and keep himself occupied, he heard... something. Wait... that was a distinctly familiar growl. Oh thank heavens! It was probably Theo he heard, still angry, but at least it wasn't Infected. At least... that's what he thought. Then he saw it. Eyes flickering, body radiating the stench of death. A Crobat. An Infected Crobat. It approached... and he tried to scuttle away. Then suddenly it was upon him... about to eat him alive when... he yelled. Accidentally using Round, he sent a Sonic Pulse of his voice straight into the creature, simultaneously making his voice heard all over the cave. Ignoring that, and attempting to stay alive, he wrapped his feelers around the beast's waist, and craned his neck to shout directly in his ear with Round over and over, the sound getting progressively louder until.... something inside the Crobat's head burst... and a slow trickle of blood fell from its ear.

Jumping off and wheezing like the old man he was, he saw the creature hobble momentarily... before falling over... dead. He'd killed something. It didn't matter it was Infected... he'd just killed something....
(( Not something I'd expect Tony to do.. so this is kinda crappy in my opinion. Not the best battle of all time I tell you what.))

The pulsating throbbing from the now blistering skin was driving Theo insane. Even the smell of burning fur couldn’t escape him, in this closed off cave, that smell would stay here for a while, and it just kept pissing him off. He felt like smacking something just to release this pent up anger, knowing full well that that would do nothing to help him. He needed to smack someone around a good bit, feel the adrenaline of a fight to make him forget these excruciating burns on his arms.

"You shouldn't have gone off on your own."

Yeah sure, NOW he cares, now that he just beat an undead fire bastard to a bloody pulp does the hound care about his wellbeing. It probably wasn’t even real anyways, the houndoom probably only wants Theo around now that he knows he could be used. Well fuck that, he doesn’t need their fake ass sympathy. They were going to abandon him before, they made their decision, they can go fuck themselves and leave him alone, better off anyway.

Theo’s rage told him to lift his arm up in prearrange to attack the houndoom, the one who he trusted the most, but he never swung it down at all, for the unbridled fear in the elder Tony’s eyes momentarily brought some sense to what he was about to do. That he actually WAS something to be feared, hell, he was about to attack a pokemon he thought of as a friend….

So instead of attacking, Theo brought his hand down to the burn on his other arm and squeezed like crazy, the pain a reminder of what almost happened, and what he didn’t want to happen despite all his rage. “Just.... Go fuck off you dumb Dog!”

He yelled back as he took off, not even noticing that the shuckle was getting himself into danger, just trying his best to get as far as possible before he gave into rage again and hurt someone.

Theo kept running, his arm still at his burns giving off grueling squeezes of pain to keep his head from plunging into full on rage. Sadly, even ignoring the ever growing scream that echoed through the cave, the voice all too recognizable as Tony. Instead he merely increased the pressure, his claws digging into the burn, threatening to reopen wounds.

Light enveloped him before he knew it, and for a moment he thought he had died, and he found it strange that he wasn’t so depressed by that notion. But as the strong light dulled as his eyes grew accustomed, he recognized the light of the sun, and collapsed onto the ground, strong arms smacking the hard earth repeatedly in rage and frustration. He was made at his friends for thinking of abandoning him, he was mad at the world for getting this bad, but worst of all he was mad at himself. Mad at what he was doing, mad at what he had become, and even mad that he was getting mad. He just wanted everything to go back to normal….


((even knowing he's still in a burn induced guts/rage fit, still starting to think that Theo is a little Bipolar))

Loneliness was a disease more crippling than the virus itself.

Day in day out, he suffered in the knowing he was unwanted, unloved by all. The Harbinger knew not why, only that it hurt. The pain in his heart still chewed away at his erratic mind, already ravaged by the virus to leave him searching for not food, but friendship. Figures emerging from the cave drew the plant’s attention, their allegiance taunting him.

My friends…

The small, blue canine, the Riolu, he would be his friend. The Carnivine was clinging to a nearby tree, body tainted red as his leaves were shrivelled, sapped of life. Huge jaws hanging agape, limbs of past victims still forever impaled on gory spikes, his eyes never left the Riolu.

You can’t leave me…

Fearing the loss of his new friend, the Harbinger acted. As the foolish hound neared, vines lashed at the shocked mutt to grasp his prey in a pair of decaying tentacles. It squealed in fear, thrashing as it was held aloft by its captor, the Carnivine shifting to hang upside down on its branch to meet his friend’s terrified stare.
“Friend…” He hissed in a melodic voice, the Riolu left helpless whilst the Harbinger cradled its vulnerable head in leafy arms. But it continued to struggle, lashing out at him whilst tears began to cascade down his face. He wanted to run away… like everyone else. “You will stay,”

Upside down, eyes never leaving his stubborn friend, the Carnivine grinned as the screams began. Roots were burying within the creature’s tender flesh, the canine’s skin rippling and shifting until the pressure gave way. Ingrain was a marvellous attack. His prey howling in agony as the roots writhed out of his skin like restless serpents, blood oozing from the collection of gory openings, the Harbinger relished in the energy taken from his weakening foe.

Draining him of life, of his rich blood, the plant lusted for the substance, his body now rejecting water. The creature was shrivelling before his eyes, his screaming quieting into desperate gasps for air as his bones cracked, caving in on themselves as organs exploded within his fragile body.
“You. Will. Stay,” He enunciated each word with a tighter grasp of his limp, only just surviving victim. The Riolu’s eyes had burst long ago, one of the roots inhabiting the gruesome, open socket as it strayed to bury back into the canine’s open mouth, locked in a permanent scream.

“Friend…”

A sickening crack as the canine lost is fight for survival, torn in half as the roots retreated away to their source at the Harbinger’s tentacles. Grinning maniacally to himself, the little blood his body held rushing to his head as he regarded the Riolu’s companions with longing. They could be his friends, too. But first, he had to ensure that the two halves of the Riolu never left him. Sliding down from the tree, the gory remains of his victim left wrinkled and punctured in a pool of blood, Carnivine begun to feast. Ingesting the canine in greedy bites, a severed paw now impaled on one of the merciless spikes. The Harbinger was satisfied.

He’d made a friend.

What was going on? What had happened? It was all too much to comprehend at once. It was strange... as if the whole world really was an endless wasteland of death. After all this time the timid Shuckle had tried to ignore that fact. Then... after the Crobat... after hearing that ominous voice and those screams of pain and terror... it was all too much for comprehension. It sickened him. To the very core Tony felt ill. Age did not take kindly to one's heart and soul, and his aging mind found himself silently weeping as he crawled away from the stench of death. It overpowered him. He couldn't even sing anymore. His voice was too stale and dry from sheer sadness to make a tune.

All because of that voice. In the dark he couldn't see it. The smell of decay was strong though. The only thing stronger was the sound. The noise of that poor Riolu being ripped, torn, and emaciated. It was disturbing as it was saddening. He couldn't even think straight because of such horrors. Then... he saw light. He could get out! Free from the cave and the darkness! He heard the faint growling of what he assumed was Theo. Good... a friend.

"Theo! Are you alright! Theo!"
He attempted to move faster, but stumbled in his delirious state and merely rolled and bumped lightly into the Ursaring's leg. He gazed up blearily to attempt to see through the tears. He began to grow tired and weary... he needed to sleep. Tony made a great yawn and drifted asleep.

Oh Arceaus….even his hands were hurting now, smacking them repeatedly on the ground so many times, but the pain was good, Theo figured the pain was the only thing keeping him grounded at this point. He could literally feel the anger trying to overcome him, the pain losing a constant battle for consciousness. Theo clawed at his burn a bit more, trying desperately to not relapse, but the burn for some reason seemed like the source of his anger for some strange reason.
How he just wanted to crawl into a hole and die at this moment, better than hurting anyone in a fit of rage. He’d probably have to live his whole life in constant worry, for fear of the endless rage coming up at any moment. That was not a life he had dreamed of all his youth…..

Something ran into his leg, and for a second he almost lost himself, the urge to pick up that rock and throw it as hard as he could against a wall just barely registering before he noticed the familiar pattern on it. That old bastard Tony…..that just made everything so much more confusing, first he got scared and ran off, now he was running to him again….and where was Luke?! That damned hound was supposed to be taking care of this old man…..

Theo took a deep breath before the anger came rushing in again and he actually did desecrate the hard shell of Tony. He didn’t want to have the older pokemon around; he could hurt him at any minute. Plus he falls asleep at the weirdest of times, making for easier prey for his outbursts. And worst of all was that Theo needed to be treating his arm for the painful burn instead of playing caretaker while he was still sane, so that it doesn’t get infected.

He didn’t want the elder pokemon with him, and he didn’t want to just leave him there…Theo was at a loss of what to do….

Instead he just looked around for anything near him, there was a bush with some strange berries nearby, but he couldn’t think straight to figure out which were for burns, so instead he just ripped a lot of them off and smashed them against his burns, if anything the cool liquid insides helped a little, even if none of those were for this purpose..

“You gonna sleep all day or what?!”

Nope, treating the burn like this didn’t help his irritableness….

((didn't really know what to write with the teams sudden downsizing .-.))

You gonna sleep all day or what?!"
Tony jumped in fright as he was awoken so abruptly. Normally he'd be calm, but this was not time for being rude to Tony. Either way, he still swallowed his retort and looked at the angry Ursaring calmly as Theo smashed berries against his arms to try and heal the burn. None of those would heal a burn... hell... some of them made it worse!

"Ain't none of them berries gon' help you none. Lemme have a look-see and I'll find ya some berries son."
He crawled tiredly over to the bushes, wheezing fiercely from his lack of rest. Scanning the berries with old, tired eyes, he stretched his feeler out to grab a Rawst berry, which he saw between some leaves. Grabbing it roughly, he yanked it out, knowing one berry would be enough to heal the burn... but the pain would take time to numb... so he grabbed an Oran berry for good measure.

"Eat these. Y'all feel better I promise. Ya ought not to grab random berries for that... you might make it worse. By the looks of things ya almost did. Ya nearly grabbed them Cheri Berries and they woulda made the burn hurt like hell."
He extended the feeler with the berries in the kindly, smiling at the irritated bear to attempt to remedy the conundrum with which they were now faced with.

Theo was putting all his concentration in biting his lips and trying his hardest not to spout out any more profanity. He was not one to use that sort of language, heck, he wouldn’t have even know about them if it wasn’t for the infection. But in this state….it just made him want to curse out the old shuckle more than anything. Even if Tony was doing nothing but being patient with him and trying to help out. Even the urge to punch that man was rising up again….

Mostly because he was mad at himself, because yet again he had made things worse…the only thing he knew about berries were that the blue oran ones were delicious, and apparently none of what he added to his burns helped at all. So there he was biting his cheek to keep from saying anything while the older pokemon examined his burns before handing him some berries to eat with a smile.

This kindness was killing him….

There he was wanting to throttle the other, for no reason whatsoever other than that he wanted to, and Tony was being as ignoring his outbursts and helping him…He did not deserve this all…

He took the berries, but avoided eye contact with the shuckle. Successfully managing to mumble out a “Thanks…” even if it was a bit lackluster. Because despite all he did, this shuckle was the only one to still come after him.....even Luke and Seruru left…..

But it was for the best, Theo knew he would have only made it worse for them.

“…..Probably shouldn’t stay here…” Whether Theo meant the shuckle shouldn’t stay here, or if they both shouldn’t stay, even he did not know.

((sorry for the lateness, been busy >.<))

"...Probably shouldn’t stay here..."
Tony looked at the Ursaring. He could tell it was hard for the bear to suppress his anger... even in the face of kindness. Thankfully, Tony was patient enough to deal with it. He slithered up Theo's leg, up his torso... and to his shoulder, where he perched politely. Like a bird.

"Yeah I reckon we outta go."

He clung to his shoulder securely, looking like a satchel that hung the wrong way.

"Wouldn't want a mean mother-hubber to tear us a superfluous new behind."

Theo froze in place, cold wiggling tentacle like appendages crawled all over his body, the feeling of him about to be eaten by a tentacruel running through his mind as he mentally urged the older shuckle to hurry up already. It was bad enough the elder gave no warning of moving to his shoulders, but to have it squeeze onto his shoulders for dear life was bothering Theo. That urge to break the odd pokemon’s shell resurfacing again, but not as bad anymore.

Maybe it was the overwhelming kindness, or that his burns were starting to feel less painful, but little by little Theo was starting to feel like his old self again. But that didn’t give him much gratification. The fact that he turned twice now meant that it wasn’t some random act of rage, no, that inner violence would come back again, he could feel it…

There wasn’t really any other direction to go that east and follow the path. He really should be more worried about staying on the wide open path, and instead go through the trees to avoid detection. But the fact that he could see some sort of town in the distance kept him on the path.

“Do you know anything about this town?”

He was a little wary to enter a town so easily, he…..he never had much good experience with towns, just full of hiding undead, or pokemon hording supplies in one of the buildings. He was afraid that in his state, he would be more inclined to hurt strangers than pokemon he knew.

Tony was confused at the question from the child. Then again he hadn't explained who he was and what he did during his life.... didn't matter now either way.
"I used to live there. Sang in the courtyard every day. There's a hotel that might have food if we look hard enough."

He nudged the kid with a feeler, urging him forward, but not forcefully and rudely. Gently. As if he were trying to coax some happiness out of the angry child. It was unnerving seeing people grow so violent in such a short amount of time... not that he was going to hide in fear. Tony was prepared to wait out the storm that fueled the Ursaring's rage and hatred. However he wasn't sure how long exactly that would take. He wasn't sure at all. This didn't matter now, as the priority was getting food and water....now.

“I used to live there. Sang in the courtyard every day.”

Tony the shuckle used to sing daily….Theo wasn’t sure if he should find it surprising or not….seeing as how he never lived in a human town before, but he knew one thing, he was not currently in a mood to indulge the shuckle and ask about the singing. Before he would of with wide gleaming eyes, ready to have his ears delighted with any sort of rhythm, but he wasn’t so much in the mood right now for that…maybe later. Maybe….

The town was small, least it was compared to the other ones he saw, but those were called cities, so it would mean towns were just small cities in the end. Just a handful of buildings, the only recognizable one to him being the pokecenter, it too was in ruins like the one he had saw before entering the Union Cave. Hopefully this one doesn’t get smashed like the other one.

“Which one is the ‘Hotel’ anyways?”

All human buildings basically looked the same, the only difference being the outside color. That and the squiggles they wrote in front, but those were meaningless to Theo. So he had absolutely no clue which of these were the hotels…

As if to emphasize his question, Theo’s stomach growled. Those berries Tony had given him where good, but they were far too small in number to satisfy his large size. So finding this ‘Hotel’ was their best bet next to robbing this area of all their berries.

((Sorry about that, so used to this team being taking long cycles >.<))

Tony gave a tired yawn and pointed a shaky, tentative feeler towards a large, decrepit structure about 30 yards away. Instead of speaking and evoking possibly more anger through the babblings of an old Pokemon, the Shuckle decided quickly to let him relax on his own. There might be food in the Hotel, but right now he wasn't entirely certain. After all, he'd never gone in there. Something told him that it'd be nice if he sang, but he was too tired to sing.

Tony gave another wracking yawn that made his shell shake before resting his head with a flop onto Theo's shoulder. It was 'nappy-time' as his Momma always said, Arceus rest her soul.
"If ya' want, Ah' can cook up some a' them berries right-quick. Might be good if yer in the mood for some home-cookin'. I know this one recipe for Oran Berry Pie that could make 40 Steelix crawl to my door wanting a slice."

He yawned again, shutting his tired eyes and allowing himself a momentary, if not necessary, rest. However, he was old, and allowed that excuse as a hope Theo wouldn't judge him for resting so frequently.

The shuckle fell asleep again….since meeting the elder, this has been the 3rd time he was witnessed the pokemon fall sleep, at first Theo thought that this was natural for pokemon of that species, but now…Just seemed too much tiredness for one pokemon. As if this shuckle was tapping into the collective tiredness of every pokemon in the vicinity and sleeping to compensate for all that weariness. But that would only be the case if this pokemon was a psychic type, which it obviously was not.

He bit his tongue and didn’t say anything and instead chalked it up to one of the odd things about the shuckle. Best to just go looking inside this ‘Hotel’ that the shuckle barely managed to point out before going to sleep on his shoulder.

It was one of the biggest buildings in this town, Theo had almost thought it was a pokemon gym from the size alone. Maybe that was why he was so cautious about entering there…That and the fact that if something was lurking inside, that would mean he’d have to take care of it by himself….

By himself….that was a concept he had actually started to think would no longer apply to him after meeting up with Lostcall and the rest. But like most things that was only temporary. Least this time he had Tony, so he wasn’t completely on his own…

The inside was dark, the few windows that led in light barely helping in this dank atmosphere. Like all buildings he had witnessed so far, this one was messy inside and had broken furniture inside. Paintings of landscape ripped to shreds and chairs dismembered all around. Theo had to be wary of where he walked or else cut his foot on something. He would have never entered this place if not for Tony, he had managed to make something Theo did not know about at all seem appealing. He very much wanted to try this “pie” he spoke of.

Now…where would humans hide their food….

(skip please)

The back….

It was really the only place that made sense to Theo really, when hiding food, one would want to hide it as deeply as possible so that others wouldn’t just walk up and take it. Right? Well, that was what he was sticking to as he walked through the remains of this ‘Hotel’. Not even being able to figure out the purpose of the building by the inside. Just random human furniture, most of which he still did not know the purpose of.

Until he set his eyes on one familiar setting he did know the purpose of and the name. A Kitchen. Least that’s what he could distinguish in the windowless room. No light poured into the room except for the very little from the door he pushed open. The once shiny steel instruments now sullied and tainted with age. He had seen many of these rooms before, always in search for food, almost never finding any, but still knowing that these where the places to start the search.

Theo cautiously opened random drawers, looking for anything remotely resembling food. But a lot of it was human stuff, so Theo wasn’t so sure what to do with them…He thought about waking up Tony, maybe asking him if anything looked familiar. But that thought was shoved aside as he opened the largest cabinet door, only to stumble backwards in fear as something stared right back at him.

His breath was forced out of him from the combined efforts of a gasp, and from falling backwards, so no scream gave him away as he stared face first into the lifeless eyes in the dark.

It took a few seconds of Theo’s life flashing before his life before he realize that nothing was attacking him. And with further inspection, that no undead was in here, only a dead. A normal non-moving being. A human by the looks of it, its hand clutching a sharp instrument, and its arms covered in blackened old blood. Theo didn’t even want to imagine what it had to have seen to make it end its own life and stay rotting in a cupboard. He didn’t want to try thinking of It also, so instead he opted to closing it up again in hopes his traveling companion has not seen it before trying to wake him.

That is if he already wasn’t awake after that fall Theo had…

“Hey, Tony…You see anything in here that could help?”

After being startled awake by a nasty fall Tony covered his mouth to suppress the urge to shout in terror at the corpse inside the cabinet. Instead he turned away and looked around the kitchen he found himself in. He knew how to use most of this equipment. After all, cooking was the only other thing he really could do in his old age besides singing. The Shuckle tilted his head at the question he recieved from his bear companion.

"Anything useful? Hell son. Gimme 10 minutes and a nice fire and I'll take these berries ah' got with me and we'll eat like Kings. Well... really poor Kings.... but still... Oh what am ah sayin'? Find me some matches if ya will son."

If there's one thing Tony knew, it was that gas powered stoves didn't require electricity to still work, so even if the power was out, the stove would remain function. All they needed was a match to light the Pilot Light again and they could cook down here. He still had a few berries left... he could make a Poffin or two... and if he found more he could make that Pie for Theo...

"Ah'm gon' go look for some more Oran Berries. Then ah' can make some o' that Pie I told ya' about."

With a wrinkled smile, he crawled off Theo and slowly scuttled away to find more berries, searching every cabinet, cupboard, spice rack, and assorted linen closet.
"Raindrops are fallin' on my head.... but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red... Cause cryin's not for me... Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'..."

“…Find me some matches if ya will son."

Right…..Matches….

The had been too busy feeling the sensation of wiggling appendages crawl down his body to properly give an answer. He swore, Tony crawling on him was a feeling he just would never get used to. The only consolation was that he no long had any thoughts of smashing the shuckle’s shell against the wall for it, maybe telling him he was better.

The shuckle immediately went to work, humming and kinda lost in its musing, that Theo was too dumbstruck about what to do. He had absolutely no clue what a match was. Probably some human thing by the sound of it. And the only human utensils that he could properly name were the knives, ladles and spoons. All of which he could see scattered across the dusty room.

If he just had any idea what exactly a pie was, then maybe he could discern the use of these “Matches” by the object they were trying to make. But then again, thinking back to it, Tony did say they needed a proper fire…So maybe something to start one? Or possible something where the fire was put into…. Theo quickly tried to focus his thoughts on finding the item, because at the rate it was going, he was about to think about the fire type friend who would have been so useful at the moment. And that was one scab he did not want to reopen so soon after it had healed up.

So instead Theo rounded up a few items around the kitchen, all of which were items he had no clue what they were used for. Two wooden round things that looked like smooth sticks, the center part of it rolled for some reason, he figured maybe with those two he could rub them together fast enough to start a fire. One tiny box, which upon further inspection rattled with mysteries hidden inside, only to reveal more wooden sticks inside, but sadly they were too small to rub for a fire, but he figured they could be used as firewood to kick start the fire. And finally two heavy rocks, in the shape of rectangles, each with numerous slashes across them for some reason, he had seen some pokemon smash two special types of rocks together called flint to make sparks, maybe these were that.

“Um, any of these it?”

He would feel ashamed if none of these were what Tony was looking for. He was hoping he could make it up to the shuckle from being mean before, by being helpful now, but there wasn’t much Theo could do in a place like this….

((So the items I had Theo brought where 2 rolling pins, one box of matches, and 2 knife sharpening stones. Just kinda wanted to get the point across that Theo knows just about nothing when it involves Human made objects |D))

Smiling gently at the Ursaring for trying, he grabbed the box gently and set it down beside him. Using his back feeler, he grabbed a pan from the sink while with two others he pulled out a match and a few berries. With a snap he had the match lit and placed it above the gas burner, smiling as a quiet, calm blue fire burned slightly beneath the pan. He broken open a few of his many berries and emptied their contents: seeds, fruit, juice, into the pan, reaching into the cupboard with another one of those stretchy appendages to attempt to find flour. Upon success in his search he hurriedly plopped the flour into the growing pile of hissing juice and fruit in his skillet.
"Look closely here son. All ya gotta do is..."

He shoved the skillet forward and up, making the battery, pancake-like pastry flip onto the other side, but not before spinning in the air once or twice.
"....Just like that. Just ya' wait Theo. Ah'll be havin' ya' cookin' just like me if ya' give me a few days."

He grabbed a spoon from the nearby sink and used it to test the rapidly cooking food, removing it when he got a gooey batter instead of the desired golden flakes. He flipped it once more, this time shaking the pan as it landed to distribute heat to the pastry. Oran Beryy Hotcakes. It was his specialty. Other than singing of course. Again, after a few moments, he tapped the buttery-gold cake, and smiled as he got crumbs. Quickly he grabbed a plate, flinging the spoon away. He flipped the rather large Pancake onto a plate, grabbing a knife and slicing it in to before it got cool.

"Dig in son!"

((OOC- That takes like three or four minutes in real time when I cook berry pancakes... so whatever ya wanna have Theo do for those three minutes... XDDD))

Danny was sitting in the dirt just beyond the small, ramshackle building he and his father had chosen to occupy. Tiny for his species, the young canine wore an expression of melancholy, hiked to an almost frightening intensity. His paws were absently tracing images in the dust, wide honey eyes staring out into the distance of the barren town and the looming forest beyond. Yet he saw nothing. Locked in an almost trance-like state, Danny could sense the foul, dangerous emotions emanating from his father. They drifted on the air, spreading like a disease to render him immobile with their sickly intensity. His vulnerable, youthful head turning to regard the building housing the monstrous Beartic he was meant to love, Danny gave a shudder. He must be having one of his turns.

A mountain of coarse, white fur, the Beartic’s head grazed the ceiling of the dilapidated house at his stood on his hind legs, staring from a broken window. Catching sight of his reflection within the shattered glass, the faulty artificial light of his surroundings illuminating his intimidating stature, the giant bear was smiling to himself. Lloyd was here again.
“I don’t know, Lloyd,” Jack shrugged his powerful shoulders, dark eyes locked on the familiar hallucination beyond the window. To anyone else, he looked insane. Nobody was there, the mammoth creature simply addressing an invisible force like an old friend. Within the Beartic’s unpredictable mind, Lloyd stood as clear as day, his signature wolfish grin sat proud on his vulpine face. “I just don’t know what’s wrong with the boy – he just doesn’t care, doesn’t want anything to do with his ol’ Pap,” Huffing, gesturing to his son innocently playing beyond the thin, bloodstained walls encasing him, Jack’s smile vanished. As usual, Lloyd was telling him to strike some fear into the kid, make him respect him. Jack didn’t know whether he had the heart for it. Sure Danny pissed him off now and then, but he truly did love the little bugger. “Maybe I should, eh? Grady said somethin’ like that to me once too,” Lloyd replied that Grady was a most intelligent gentleman.

The young Riolu sat bolt upright, ears pricked as he was blinded by the malice, the hateful vibrations that flowed from the building behind him. Wincing away as the emotions sought to mar and destroy his own dwindling supply of joy; the child was only brought out of the effects of his horrendous gift as a more heavenly scent wafted into his acute nostrils. Head turning in the direction of what was a warm, sweet aroma; Danny’s eyes lost their earlier frenzy to be replaced with a childlike curiosity.
“Smells good, Tony,” The canine muttered, a tinge of excitement lacing his voice as he spoke to an imaginary friend. Smiling over at the non-existent Riolu, Danny gave a slight giggle as the manifestation of his loneliness ushered him to go investigate. What’s the worst that could happen?
“Daddy told us to stay here, though” Although he didn’t feel obliged to follow his parent’s orders, unwilling to trust anything that escaped the Beartic’s mouth, the canine realized the dangers of the epidemic world. Pouting a little, his soft gaze volleying between the tempting smell and the space Tony inhabited, a smile suddenly broke across the Riolu’s face. “Okay, we can’t be long though! Daddy’s already upset,”

Trotting on all fours, not wasting time in brushing the dust off his small frame, Danny moved surprisingly fast for a long-legged child. Of course, he possessed the same lopsided gait of an over-enthusiastic colt, but his movements remained endearing. Soon enough, he stood alone before the door of the house. At a closer range, the smell of food wasn’t the only indication of safety, of life. There was scents of pokémon too – alive ones! Not the normal rot of the undead, but warm smells that mingled with the sweet aroma of food to provide a tempting combination.

Taking a deep breath, swallowing his inhibitions, the canine pushed tentatively on the door.

Wide eyes immediately fell onto two figures, a brown, smaller version of his father and a strange creature encased in a shell. Frowning at first, a little alarmed at the sight of the stature of the bear-like creature in particularly, Danny’s fears remained quenched by the smell of food. Lingering in the doorway, silent as he stared up at the strangers with deep, round eyes; Danny’s countenance eventually took the shift from immediate awe to a shy but glowing smile of joy.

(( So glad to be here! :3 Also, I should explain that these two are pretty messed up characters, lol. Danny’s imaginary friend is ‘Tony’ and Jack suffers vivid hallucinations, with the most frequent ‘characters’ of his mind being ‘Lloyd’ and ‘Grady’. Hopefully it’ll become more obvious in time. :3 ))

It kept itching….

It hurt to scratch at it with his sharp claws, but it annoyed him sooo much more if he didn’t. His burns had stop throbbing, and had blistered over, and the berries Tony applied to it helped a lot, but it didn’t help against itchiness. Even when his claws reopened the wounds on the open skin and made him bleed, he was still itching. Going so far as to use a pointy human instrument with many edges to scratch with, anything to make it stop.

He had been so busy trying to alleviate his discomfort that the intoxicating scent of something baking didn’t faze him until after Tony spoke up. All that effort Tony put in in trying to show Theo how to make these ‘Pies’ and he was too busy scratching himself to take heed. Instead it was as if the shuckle had started off with a seemingly random assortment of items, and magically made a heavenly meal appear before him, flipping through the air with such ease that could only have come from experience.

"....Just like that. Just ya' wait Theo. Ah'll be havin' ya' cookin' just like me if ya' give me a few days."

He had nothing to say at that, he didn’t want to disappoint the elder shuckle who was offering him food, something practically no one else would do in these times anymore. So instead he just awkwardly nodded before going back to watching the ‘pie’ start to turn brown before Tony deemed it ready to eat and cut into it, telling Theo to dig in.

“The Pie looks great.”

Just…how exactly do you eat these? Was there a certain method, or do you just eat it normally? It was too much thought to put into just to eat something, so hopefully Theo wouldn’t be embarrassing himself when he grabbed a chunk of the soft morsel about to pop the thing into his mouth when the faintest creak stopped him and put him on edge.

He was expecting an undead pokemon to have wandered in on the smell, and start attacking them both, so he was surprised to be seeing a small blue pokemon in the doorway. His small chunk of ‘pie’ barely saved from hitting the dirty floor from his shock.

Theo knew why the young pokemon would have walked in here, he was in that same position himself not too long ago. Being able to smell food in an abandoned human building, but finding it taken and horded by bigger stronger pokemon who never share. Never…..

And now he was on the other side, staring at a smaller pokemon who wandered in on his food. And despite the fact that this technically wasn’t his food, that it was Tony’s since he made it, and Theo was just lucky enough to be offered up a share, Theo couldn’t do what all the others have done to him.

Casting an apologetic look at the older shuckle, Theo waved the new pokemon over, offering up the small piece of ‘pie’ in his paws, and in turn his share of the delightfully aromatic ‘pie’. Something he wouldn’t have done a few minutes ago in his raged state…..

((I know its Pancakes and not Pie, but Theo doesn’t xD And Welcome Snitch! Already love the imaginary friends & possible Schizophrenia from the daddy. AND ANOTHER BEAR, SO MUCH LOB |D))

Wandering the region as lonely as a cloud, Carnivine once again found himself in humble Azalea Town. He’d befriended a riolu here once. Now the aroma of more survivors sweetened by fruitful pastry had drawn him back.

Slithering on rotted tentacles, the Harbinger was strangely silent as he sniffed out the illustrious scent of the living. The stench of cooking was something new, almost off-putting against his typical idea of the perfect scent, but it led him directly to his targets. There were voices now. Soft, innocent and filling the Carnivine with a vicious jealousy. Why didn’t they speak kindly to him? Why weren’t they his friends?

Hissing, infuriated at the downright cruelty of the creatures within the building, Carnivine slithered up the wall, his bloodstained head suddenly crashing through the window. Glass flew into the kitchen, embedded in the Harbinger’s numb face as his wild eyes latched onto the closest creature, a shuckle.
“MY Friend!” He snarled savagely, half his body inside the building as shredded, leafy arms reached out to grasp his terrified victim. Thrashing within the plant’s vicelike grasp, Carnivine was deaf to his pleas for mercy as he strengthened his grip. Dragging the shuckle towards his agape jaws, the dangerous spikes housing mementos from his list of victims, the Harbinger hadn’t been conscious of the flame lurking just beneath the frying pan.

The hot cooking utensil dropped to the ground with a crash, the Harbinger numb to the ravenous fire as the struggling shuckle was held cruelly over the blue flame. Screaming as its body alighted, the intense heat charring the shell and eating away at the creature’s delicate, flesh, Carnivine found the stench of burning far more appetizing. Grinning maniacally whilst the shuckle blackened, its movements slowing as lumps of skin melted off its exposed bone structure, the Harbinger let out a laugh. Who’d want to be friends with him now!?

Wide eyes on the ursaring and riolu also sharing the room, Carnivine snatched his prize away, disappearing out of the window as the gooey remains of the shuckle splashed into the cooking flame. The Harbinger claimed the empty shell, sliding it up a charred tentacle to wear it akin to bracelet, black with decorative splashes of gore.

Making his exit, Carnivine had added yet another friend to his collection.