The CANALAVE Team

Jerome had a surprisingly peaceful sleep for the six hours that he had before Namdnas woke him up for his turn of the night watch. The Bisharp jumped out of his sleep and raised a single arm defensively, an eerie, dark aura surrounding it as he readied a Night Slash. He relaxed when he saw the ghost, however. He nodded and muttered, "Fine," as he got up, stretched and wandered over to the tent's entrance. He sat down against the door, looking out at the silent city with an unease that he was keen to hide within his constantly hardened expression.

Living dead Pokemon, huh? I wonder what became of the pack...?

Everyone was rushing to the boat. A man was holding a Pawniard's hand as he ran through the crowd, not caring if he was getting cut there or not. "I'm sorry, sir. You have to leave your pokemon behind." "What? Why? I demand to know!" "Sir, just say your goodbyes, it's for your safety." A fight soon broke out between the attendant and the man. The fight ended when the man was pushed into the water and eaten by an undead Sharpedo. The Pawniard cried out in terror and fled the scene in tears.

Courtney woke up, nearly screaming at the nightmare she had. Her breathing was heavy and she had a cold sweat. She looked around and saw that the sun was up. "Oh thank Arceus it's morning..." She whispered. The Pawniard stepped outside of the tent and yawned, still half asleep. She streched a little bit and moved forward towards her evolved form. "Morning, Jerome." She said.

(OoC: Twerribly sorry for the short/crappy post. Especially since half of it was all a dream!)

With the risen sun turning the clouds golden the Haunter moves like he is stretching, his ghostly smoke unwinding and recoiling as he makes a small noise of satisfaction.
The long chill night in the small shelter was over and they could look forward to a long hike through the forest in search of another city to shelter in.
The poison ghost understandably felt more comfortable around human settlements.
"Good Morning Courtney." He says to the pawniard. "Beautiful morning isn't it?

As the sun finally managed to creep its way over the horizon in the distance, Jerome breathed a sigh of relief that the night was over. He had been spying on a group of undead Sneasel who were busy skulking their way through the streets in search of an easy meal. Jerome was worried that their shelter, the only building in the city that was standing, would have been an instant interest to the group, but thankfully its small size had been its advantage, and the group had eventually moved on without giving it a second thought.

"Morning, Jerome." Courtney's voice caught him off guard a little and he quickly raised his arm in defense, but soon lowered it again as the sleepy Pawniard shuffled her way over to him. "Good morning," he replied in his usual offhand tone. He got to his feet and stretched, sucking in the cool, crisp air. Turning back to the inside of the tent, he spotted Namdnas. "The sooner we get moving, the better," he stated, a look of sternness surfacing on his usually monotone face.

Jerome had raised his arm in defense, obviously caught off guard by Courtney's greeting. The action made her jump slightly before he put his arm back down. "Good morning," he said to her in his usual tone. She used her bladeless arm to rub her eyes so she was awake. When she turned to the side afterwards, she jumped slightly once again, this time at Namdnas. "Good Morning Courtney." He says to the pawniard. "Beautiful morning isn't it?"

Over the night, Courtney had completely forgotten about his missing eye. It still worried her, though, as it reminded her that everyone is destined to die at some point. Though Gyro, Apollo, Chi, and Hinge all died before their time was up, Namdnas was going to die when it was his turn. But for now, he was still alive, so the Pawniard shoved all those thoughts in the back of her mind. "Good morning, Namdnas. It is a beautiful morning. Almost like there was no epidemic."

"The sooner we get moving, the better," Courtney looked back at her evolved form before looking at the town. "Normally, I'd go look to see if we could gather last minute supplies, but I don't think any of the supplies survived..." She said in a less than cheery tone. "So we should get going..." She then remembered that Jerome said he was going to help her train so she could evolve into a Bisharp like him. She didn't want to bring it up now, not wanting to sound pushy, but secretly hoped that he still remembers.

"Yes I think that is all that's left." The Haunter says with optomimism, picking up and dusting off the Poffin box from earlier.
Again he picks up another one of the human-made confections and eats it in his strange ethereal way before offering them to Courtney.
It is a surprisngly beautiful day. The morning sun shines bright in the sky and from the surrounding forests comes the tide of song as the Bird Pokemon greet the new morning. The air has a hint of chill about it, just enough for it to be called bracing.
The Ghost breathes in deeply and feels the new air swirl inside him.
"If it comes to that I'm sure we could live off the land, berries and so on...apparently tree bark can be surprisngly nutritious." He adds with a hint of a smile.

Courtney agreed with him to get going, also noting that it was unlikely that any food or supplies had survived the Xatu's powerful Psychic attack. Namdnas pointed out that tree bark was nutrious; a piece of information that Jerome really didn't need to know. The Bisharp signaled his impatience by looking over towards the exit which led into the forest seperating the two cities and swinging his arms around to get himself warmed up.

"Let's go then!" He couldn't be bothered to wait any longer. He marched onward towards the gate, shivering as the city's silent air crept up on him again. You're usually so used to the silence ... why does it bother you now?

Courtney gladly accepted Namdnas' offering. "Thank you." She said before taking one of the poffins. She took a bite of it and let it sit in her mouth for a bit, letting the sweetness sink in. It reminded the Pawniard of a time when Dennis was around, when the two of them would be sitting outside and just enjoying the summer day by the beach.

She took a few more bites of the poffin before it was gone. It tasted great to the steel type. Jerome said that he was ready to head out and began marching to the gate. Courtney followed him, hoping that he still didn't forget about training her. She looked back at the Haunter. "Come on, Namdnas!" She called out.

Jerome glanced behind him and saw that Courtney was rushing to catch up. He suddenly remembered that he'd agreed to help the young Pawniard to train, and inwardly groaned at the prospect. Right now he just wanted to get to a city that actually had shelter and didn't expose them to the predators. Stopping in the forest to train her would waste time. But, at the same time, training in the city would be dangerous and would attract attention. Not that it was any different in the forest, but they were less at risk there since there were not as many prey. Guess that's the only option...

"On the way to Jubilife, we will stop for a while and we can start your training," he stated as he marched along, starting to feel a little better as the gate got closer. "Is that all right?"

(Skip. Won't have time to do a post, so just say Courtney was alright with Jerome training her.)

Cheerfully following the ebb and flow of the surrounding winds the Poison/Ghost drifts after the two Dark Steel types. It does his aged smoke good to see that the two are getting along so well. Should something ever happen to him it meant that Courtney would at least have someone she could rely on and despite the Bisharp's act of cool indifference the Haunter quite liked him to.
Namdnas breathes in deeply as he looks over at the ruins of the once great city, reduced in mere seconds to a featureless rubble.
"Resquiat in pace." He says to the spirit of the once thriving human settlement, to the great library with its vast stores to knowledge, to the homes where human and pokemon had lived together in harmony.
It was sad to see so many years erased but the future marched on and took him with it.
The Haunter's baleful red eye looks up at the clouds as a chirping flock of flying bird pokemon pass in front of the sun.
They are too far away for him to tell if they are living or dead or what kind of bird pokemon they are but the sight fills him with a sense of peace. Just looking up at the sky he could almost pretend the world had not changed at all...
Namdnas starts as Courtney's call breaks him from his potentially fatal bout of day-dreaming. More than anything else the disease eating into him had affected his attention span, the misty dreams of nostalgia ready to sleep him away at a moment's inattention.

Courtney seemed to be all right with Jerome's plan to train her en route, and the Bisharp saw no further prompt to speak and so did not say another word until they were at the gate. It was a small building with a high ceiling and tiled floor. A short walk later the group were back out into the open.

Instead of fire and debris, tall evergreens surrounded them on all sides. A peaceful expanse of water lay a few dozen metres away, and Jerome immediately took a right turn and headed towards the dense trees. "This way." Leading the group back the way he had come felt somewhat odd. Awkward, even. Maybe this is how all leaders feel when they are rewarded leadership of the pack. Jerome growled and clenched his fist; it was a privilege he had never felt.

"We should find some more food soon," he bluntly stated as he walked on, keeping a sharp eye out for anything moving other than themselves. "I would also like to stop at the water for a drink."

That's right. Tell them both what to do. Enjoy the feeling while it lasts.

Courtney silently followed Jerome out of Canalave City. "Goodbye home..." She whispered to herself as she looked back at what remained of the town. "This way." The blue bisharp said. Courtney thought that he was sounding a bit harsher than normal. "We should find some more food soon. I would also like to stop at the water for a drink." He just didn't sound like himself. Sure, he wasn't the nicest sounding person, but the tone in his voice threw the young Pawniard off. She couldn't figure out what it was, though.

Jerome sighed as he slowed into a slow walk rather than a stubborn march. Get over yourself. He could wallow in his bitterness later. He was the only one who knew the way, and right now it was his responsibility to get the group to the other side of the forest unharmed. You weren't born to lead a pack. Get over it.

Through the trees to his left, the pool of water was visible, its liquid sparkling in the early morning sun. "We should stop for a drink," he said, making a turn and kneeling at the shore, scooping up the cool, refreshing liquid in his hand and gulping it down. "Courtney." He paused as he finished, wiping his mouth. "I've been wondering. Why are you so adamant to evolve? Aren't you happy the way you are now?"

He had been thinking about that throughout the night when he was on watch duty. The Pawniard was so determined to get stronger, even going so far as to ask him for help. Was it because the world was becoming more dangerous, or was she genuinely unhappy with herself? Jerome stood up and looked at her silently, awaiting her reply.

Courtney was a little hesitant in getting something to drink. She had a fear of water from what happened to Dennis, but she needed something to drink. So the Pawniard carefully took a drink of water from the body of water. As she was cautiously drinking, she heard Jerome say her name. "Courtney." He said. The Pawniard looked up at her evolved form. "I've been wondering. Why are you so adamant to evolve? Aren't you happy the way you are now?" The subject on why she wanted to grow stronger was a touchy subject to her. But, she needed to tell him.

"When the infection first started, my master tried to take us to a boat. There was a man there blocking his path. He wouldn't let us on because I was with him and no pokemon were allowed on the boat. He tried to argue with him, but the rules still stood firm. The two soon got into a fight. I tried to help, but I was too weak to stop what would happen next. The man pushed my master into the water, and he was eaten alive. Since then, I've had a fear of being in water. Long story short; I want to grow stronger so I don't make the same mistake twice..." She looked down at the ground sadly, but didn't cry. Jerome was right; crying wouldn't bring dead people back. It didn't bring Gyro back. It didn't bring Apollo back. It didn't bring Chi or Hinge back. So why would it bring Dennis back?

Jerome stood in silence, listening to Courtney as she told him everything. He was somewhat surprised that she had opened up to him so much. Her story tugged at his frozen heartstrings, although he tried hard not to let it show; displaying pity was a sign of weakness. And you are not weak. Holding his pride by the strings, he struggled to repress a woeful sigh as the Pawniard finished her story.

"You mustn't blame yourself, Courtney," he said, kneeling down and looking her right in the eye. "You did all you could. You fought to the best of your abilities, despite the dangerous situation. You were not afraid to risk your life for the one you cared about. That is not weakness. That is great strength. I'm sure your master would be proud of you." He stood back up and looked out over the calm waters. "If you don't like water, perhaps its best if we move away." He wandered over to a nearby tree, sliced off some of the bark and ate it. It tasted surprisingly good.

Courtney looked at Jerome, who was now kneeling down to her level. "You mustn't blame yourself, Courtney. You did all you could. You fought to the best of your abilities, despite the dangerous situation. You were not afraid to risk your life for the one you cared about. That is not weakness. That is great strength. I'm sure your master would be proud of you." He then went over to a tree saying that if she didn't like water, they should move away. The Pawniard followed suit, and went over to where Jerome was. "Thanks for listening, Jerome." Courtney said to her evolved form. "Your words were really helpful, but I would still like to grow stronger. You know, just to stay safe in this world."

Jerome chewed noisily on the tough bark as Courtney joined him. "Thanks for listening, Jerome. Your words were really helpful, but I would still like to grow stronger. You know, just to stay safe in this world." Jerome swallowed the mouthful of bark and bit off another chunk. He did not say anything until he had swallowed that too. "That's understandable. I suppose a lot of Pokemon evolve for that sole purpose these days." He sawed off another piece of bark and handed it to the Pawniard. "Try this. It's good. Namdnas was right."

(Skip me for now. I can't think of a post at the moment and I wanna give Kaze a chance to catch up with the team.)

"Perhaps in these times it is best if we all got stronger." The Poison/Ghost says morosely as he floats by their side. Courtney's story had reminded him of his own sense of helplessness at being unable to save his own trainer. Further evolution through sheer strength alone was impossible for him but perhaps...
"Jubilife is large city, there will be many opportunities there."
Turning his three clawed hands over he drags them across the trees light golden bark to tear away a strip, exposing the lighter heartwood and amber coloured drops of sticky sweet sap.
The gooey sap clings to his claws and the haunter licks it off with a tongue made of a shimmering haze of gas, like hot air wavering above a sun baked pavement.
It was delicious, like watered down honey which as not surprising as it was from the sap of this golden barked tree, native only to Sinnoh, that the Combee made their Honey.
In fact the sweet scent diffusing through the air is no doubt bound to draw some of the busy bug types or any of the other kind of pokemon that enjoyed gorging themselves on the sweet sap.
Carefully Namdnas carves out a candy bar sized slab of the sticky but softer heartwood. Covered in the the rich amber sap the inner wood is less fibrous and easier to chew.
He offers this sliver to Courtney, smiling to let the Pawniard know it is good to eat.

Jerome watched in silence as Namdnas soaked a piece of bark in tree sap and handed it to Courtney. The shiny Bisharp realised that he was the only one out of their little trio that had never been with a human at all in his entire life. In fact, the closest contact he'd ever gotten from them was when several of them attempted to capture him in his youth. Both Courtney and Namdnas's hearts flowed with infinite kindness. The cold hands gripping Jerome's heart started to relax as he watched them both converse happily. Did the humans have something to do with this? Maybe I should've let them catch me. Perhaps then I would have a lighter heart now ... and I never would've lost in front of the whole pack.

Sighing ruefully, Jerome wandered back over to the tree and mimicked what Namdnas had done; he sliced off a large piece of bark and soaked it in the soft, gooey sap. Taking a bite, he enjoyed the warm sensation of it slipping down his throat. "It's good."

This is the first time that you have felt so content in ages ... Are you really willing to give it up?

In silence Namdnas continues licking the sap from his fingers, his other hand still tightly clutching the twisted length of Reaper Cloth like a security blanket.
While the soothing feel of it against his skin was a comfort to him he knew from experience that the square of cursed cloth hoarded by Dusknoir was not the kind of item others appreciated.
It was a purple even darker than he was and woven from the remnants of lost souls, or so the other Gastly had said. Now it came to lie upon his grave he did not know but when he carried it with him he was carrying a bit of Lavender Town too.
In his strange ghostly way he eats a bit more the tree bark, breaking it down into the raw material's needed to make his wisps of gas stronger.
Already his head wound is growing wider and wider as it always did with action. Even being awake sped up his general decay but lately he found more and more he could not sleep.
His one red eye looks closely at Jerome. He was no Psychic Type to read feelings and thoughts like pages of a book but he could tell from Courtney that not all of the species were so mechanical in their motions and guarded.
"It doesn't hurt to smile you know." He says teasingly.

For once in his life, Jerome actually felt content as he leaned against the tree and chomped on the bark. He had two new friends, and although he still had his suspicions about them - mainly regarding whether or not they were just pretending to like him - he tried to forget those for now. He knew that he couldn't feel sorry for himself forever, and dwelling in self-pity when there was an epidemic of some sort going around was not a wise idea.

But then Namdnas decided to come along and disrupt the peace with a rather snide remark. "It doesn't hurt to smile you know." Jerome scowled and stood up to his full height, squeezing the piece of bark until it crumbled in his hand, the sap running down his arm to the tip of his bladed elbow. "It's none of your business what I do," he snapped, stomping over to the water and throwing what remained of his breakfast into it. He watched it float away for a second before marching off into the trees. "Come on," he ordered, shoving aside a branch. "We need to get moving!"

Oh dear, now Jerome was upset.
The Haunter didn't know what had caused the dark type's gloomy attitude or the many deep scars all over his body but it had been something big. Fearing his gentle teasing had been insulting to the taller pokemon Namdnas drifts up beside him and prepares an apology.
The dark amber colored sap dripping down the bladed arm looked almost like blood.
"Look Jerome..." He begins to say when a dull humming sound meets what passes for his ears.
It sounds like bug wings beating and his fears about the sweet sap scent attracting something are realized.
A Combee is buzzing its way towards them, drawn by the sweet scent of the honey tree.
Its normally golden flesh colored bright purple by the infection it is in a bad state. The middle 'face' has been torn free, leaving it to buzz fast but unstably towards them on its two wings.
Its red eyes are blank.
"Watch out!" The poison/Ghost cries as a Gust attack stirred up from the buzzing wings causes his gaseous form to waver.

Jerome inwardly seethed at Namdnas's guts to start teasing him, but didn't have much time to think about it as a Combee, who looked like it possessed that strange virus, came buzzing towards them. The Bisharp stood his ground, raising his arms and planting his feet firmly into the dirt as the Gust attack threatened to unbalance him. This is it, he thought, a determined grin surfacing on his face as the attack ceased. This is your chance to prove yourself.

He allowed the Combee a couple more seconds to fly closer to him and then jumped up into the air, slicing the Bug-type in half with Night Slash. Blood and rotten internal organs rained down as he landed. Holding his breath as the terrible stench wafted into his nostrils, Jerome went to turn back to the others but then an even louder buzzing noise halted him.

"There's more of them," he stated, just as a swarm of around ten Combee emerged from a hole in a nearby tree. Following them was a Vespiquen. The large Bug-type was barely recognisable; her dirty wings were matted and torn, the red gem on her head was crushed into her skull and her abdomen was practically falling apart, with internal organs and rotting flesh hanging out. "Take cover!" Jerome yelled over the racket as the Vespiquen screeched in fury and ordered her swarm to attack. "I'll deal with this!" Let me do it! Let me prove to you that I am not a failure!

After quickly using Iron Defense to protect himself, Jerome proceeded to hack and slash his way through the persistent swarm of bugs. He hadn't noticed that the Vespiquen had circled her way around the fight and was zooming down towards Namdnas, an Air Slash threatening to erupt from her glowing wings.