Ask to Join A Mysterious Island

[Yifun618]

Emma heard all the commotion on the beach, and decided not to go investigate. The people who had just landed could have bad intentions, and she decided she'd rather spy a little bit over blindly rushing in. As Emma made her way back to the ruins, her Pokemon just behind her, she noticed that there was a figure standing there. Emma quickly ducked behind a tree, calling her Pokemon back into their Pokeballs. She finally examined who was standing there at her ruins. It was a girl, not too old, that seemed new to the island. Emma hadn’t seen any people from the time she washed up here to now, so she was very tempted to run up and hug them. However, she held back and curiously watched at what this newcomer would do next.

 

[Vaporeonn]

Billie was happy that the boy, Christopher, had welcomed her in the camp. Knowing she might make new friends made her hopeful that this trip wasn't a bad idea after all. The rain didn't bother her anymore, either.

"Alright, Ai, do you want to go to your Pokeball or sleep outside?" Billie asked her Aipom. Ai let her know, in whatever way was possible, that she would not be going back into her Pokeball. Billie smiled and wished Ai a good night, then went to lay down next to the log.

In the morning, Billie woke up after Christopher. While she was still trying to open her eyes, a boy with a Heracross came up to her and introduced himself. "Hi," Billie said back.

She was starving. She looked for her bag, and took out some food she had in there. Ai woke up too, and looked up at Billie as if to ask for some food, too. Billie gave her some berries she had. Marble needed food too, and to get out of that cramped Pokeball, so Billie made her way to the nearest coastline, and sent him out.

"I'll be back in the evening, okay?" Billie said. Marble made an affirming sound. She waved him goodbye, and went back to the camp with Ai.

When she got there, she saw two more people she hadn't seen the night before, and everyone was getting ready to leave somewhere. "Exploring the island? Maybe it's not a bad idea." She joined the group as they marched onward.

Ai was delighted to finally move to the inside of the island. She could finally climb high trees and find food she wouldn't be able to find in Johto, without Billie worrying. Billie told Ai not to move too far ahead, since they don't know what to expect on an island like this.

 

[Some Scrub]

Ray was still half-asleep, so the idea of following everyone else never crossed his mind. What did is the idea to get some food. Flaafy and Golbat woke up. "Alright Golbat, we'll go find some food." Ray said. Flaafy's stomach rumbled. "You stay here with Heracross." He said to his Flaafy. Golbat flew into the forest, Ray not far behind.

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

Augusta listened for any more movement. Whatever it was, there was silence now. Even the girl who had followed her from the beach made little noise. She wanted to include her in her work, but wasn't quite sure where to start. Augusta thought the crumbling ruins before her might hold some clues about the pokemon of the island, but they were covered in thick, tangled vines.

"Hey, do you think you and your Aipom could help me clear these vines? I think there may be some ancient carvings under all this mess," she asked. "If you could get started on the smaller building that would be helpful. I'm going to check the perimeter for pokemon activity really quick."

Augusta walked around the bigger of the two buildings and squatted down to check for pokemon tracks. To her surprise, she found what looked to be human footprints followed by a pokemon! Long ago, Augusta had studied the tracks left my many species of pokemon and these she recognized to be from an Eevee. Her excitement faded, It's probably just Christopher and his Eevee...I wonder how long ago he came by here. Augusta stood up and walked a few steps into the trees, following the tracks. Are Christopher's feet really that small? she wondered to herself, second guessing her conclusion. She saw movement behind a tree, hoping it was Christopher playing a joke she sang out, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

 

[PKMN Trainer Sedna]

Christopher hung out at the treeline, helping his Caterpie scale trees to knock down leaves and fruits. Oran and Sitrus berries plummeted from the tree tops while Eevee held a vine-woven basket out to catch the fruits with her mouth. After fifteen of each berry was caught and atleast fifty - that was an estimate - leaves were gathered, they sat in a tree, Eevee on his lap while Caterpie perched on his shoulder and ate the leaves. Eevee devoured some Oran berries while Christopher took on the Sitrus berries with a smile. His morning appetite was strong and he was happy to give into the wants of his body. It wasn't until there were three of everything left that they decided enough was enough, and that storing the food would be a better option for now. He noticed the people wondering through the trees but figured since he knew everyone that if it was urgent, he would know.

 

[Yifun618]

Ugh. Cover's blown. Emma thought to herself. If she had learned anything from her time here, it was stealth, though. As she saw the girl approach her tree, she quickly ducked down as low as she could, rolled back behind a log, and then crawled into some thick bushes to help cover her. This all would have played out flawlessly, had Emma not laid down on a thorn in the bush.

"Oh, son of a-" Emma realised that that was out loud, and then tried to stand u[, causing a loud rustling and giving away her position. She just sort of stared forward dumbfounded at the new arrivals, now noticing that there were two figures.

 

[PKMN Trainer Sedna]

After eating and completing their food stash, Christopher chuckled at the sight of Emma struggling with the bush. He understood just how annoying it must be and how unlucky she was to have plopped down into a thorn bush.

"You alright, over there?" Christopher asked as he approached the girl with his hands in his pockets, Caterpie on his shoulder and Eevee at his side. "You might want help to make sure there aren't any thorns left in."

Eevee and Caterpie resisted the urge to laugh at the mistake of the girl, however.

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

Augusta was shocked to see yet another person on the island, although this girl looked like she'd been around longer than just a day. Christopher also came out of the trees and looked ready to help. She hoped the thorn bush hadn't caused too much damage.

"Oh! Hey, uh...so..." Augusta wasn't sure what to say, the girl had clearly been trying to hide from them. She didn't want to be rude or frighten the girl, but the researcher in her wanted some answers. "Who are you...and, uh...what are you doing here?" She tried to sound friendly. For a minute everything was quiet except for the chirping of a Kricketot. Augusta was about to repeat herself when she realized, Wait! A Kricketot?! She whipped around and started searching the underbrush for the illusive pokemon. Finally a wild pokemon! I have to find it!

The little bug type was perched on a large leaf, singing an enticing tune, but as soon as it realized it was discovered, it hopped into the thorn bush. Augusta was so excited and distracted by the encounter that she lunged after the pokemon.

"Wait! Don't go!!" She shouted as she dove after Kricketot, not pausing to remember that thorns...hurt. "Ouch! Ow, ow, ow...ow.....ow" The thorns dug into her skin and Augusta was severely embarrassed by what she'd done. She tried to crawl out of the bush but her pants were caught . As if to mock her, the Kricketot's tune sounded off from somewhere out of view. "I, uh....I need help."

(Hasta manana, peeps )

 

[Yifun618]

“Don’t startle it! The Pokemon here are not used to humans!” Emma exclaimed as she pulled a utility knife out of her bag and cut the loose branches off of the girls bag. Emma pocketed the knife and searched the girl’s bare skin.

“Just ignore this.” Emma said. She wrapped her fingers around a thorn stuck in the girl’s arm, and pulled it out. “Might wanna cover that. Don’t want to infect it.”

After the thorn situation was taken care of, Emma finally got a solid look at the newcomer. Judging by the way she was so invested to the recent appearance of a Pokemon, Emma concluded that this person was either A) lost like her B) a trainer looking for new Pokemon or C) someone researching the island. Either way, it was a new person and possibly hope of getting off this cursed place.

Emma outstretched a hand to introduce herself. “My name’s Emma. I’ve been stranded on this island for about four months, after an accident involving the frequent storms that happen around here and a Charizard.” Almost as if to remind her of the incident, Emma’s leg started to hurt again. She had a pair of makeshift crutches she used (pieces of wood about her height with cloth wrapped around them), but she left them at the cave. “What brings you to this place? If it’s voluntary, why? I have no idea where this is.” Emma asked, rubbing her leg and limping over to the nearby log to sit on and rest her leg a bit.

 

[Vaporeonn]

"Alright Ai, could you clear those vines out like Augusta asked?" Billie asked her Aipom. But Ai seemed hesitant, so Billie added that she'd give her a treat, which immediately sparked Ai's interest.
"Alright," Billie said," I think she wanted this smaller one cleared out first." She pointed to a small building near them. Ai got to work quickly.

Suddenly, she heard Augusta's voice call out for help, startling her. "Ai, stay here. I'll check what's happening." Billie walked in the direction she remembered Augusta taking, at least, she hoped it was the right way. The vines were as annoying as ever, and Billie's worries grew larger. She hoped nothing serious happened. Some leaves fell on her head, which made her think there was something moving up there. At first she thought it was Ai, but wasn't her Aipom at the ruins? What could that have been?

Augusta soon came into view, alongside another girl she didn't recognize. Her clothes indicated she wasn't new to the island, and some type of guilt washed over her. Billie was there for a day and found time to whine, but how could this girl have felt? Billie ran towards the pair, and saw that Augusta was hurt.

"Hey, what happened here? What's wrong?" she asked.

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

The cuts on her arms were stinging like crazy, Augusta wondered if the thorn bush was poisonous at all. She saw Billie had come out to see what was going on and blushed with embarrassment. For a pokemon researcher, she had just acted very foolishly. Of course she shouldn't have tried to dive after that Kricketot, what did she think would happen? That Kricketot would just magically know she meant no harm? Augusta felt her mouth go dry, deep down she just wanted off this island and the fact that Emma had been stranded for four months scared her more than she was willing to admit.

"Four months?...I-I'm sorry, that must've been hard on you," she said trying not to let on how terrified she was. "My name is Augusta, I'm a pokemon researcher and I arrived on this island, Isla Perdue, yesterday by boat. My boat is supposed to come back in six more days to pick me up. Since I've been here, I've run into Billie, James, Christopher and Ray. I was surprised to find any people at all because my data said this island was uninhabited...but James, Christopher and Ray are all castaways only they've just been here a day."

Augusta stopped talking and stared at the ground. Crossing her arms she walked away, back toward the ruins. Out of nowhere, it started to rain.

 

[Vaporeonn]

Billie looked at the unknown girl and smiled. "I think I'll go too. But, you can join us, if you'd like?" But because Billie was in a hurry, she left her before getting an answer.

Billie wanted to run towards Augusta, but thought she might need some space. Besides, they only knew each other for a day or so, so she felt like it would be awkward. Still, she followed Augusta back to the ruins, only at a reasonable distance. Billie couldn't even see her very well, not from all of the trees. She even scratched her forearm on a tree that was oddly spikey. Billie hissed at the pain, but it wasn't that bad.

It started to rain, but this time, Billie enjoyed it. It was warm, and even though the trees blocked out some of the rain, she could still feel the drops on her skin. She paused for a moment to breathe in the scent of the rain, but the air was humid, so she had trouble with it. The humidity of the island had even started to get the better of her hair, too. Horrible.

As Billie was nearing the ruins, she hoped Ai had kept her promise, and cleared out at least the small building. Billie even had an Oran berry ready and everything. She was delighted to see that Ai cleared it out, and was patiently waiting for Billie. "Good girl," Billie cooed, and gave her the Oran berry. Ai ate it with pleasure. Although Billie didn't know much about ruins or history, she still thought it might lift Augusta's mood, so she called out for her to see it. "Hey, Augusta, you might find this interesting!"

 

[Yifun618]

Emma looked up at the rain, and silently cursed to herself. These newcomers were not the brightest, were they? This was a tropical island. This light rain was a precursor to a heavy storm. Emma knew this, as she had been caught in a few on her first few days. She half ran half limped back to her cave, to see that these newcomers were totally oblivious to the rain and were busy examining the ruins. What were their names? Emma racked her brain for a bit, and then decided to forget it. She hobbled past them, grabbed her makeshift crutches (a pair of sticks that went to her armpits wrapped with cloth) and hobbled over to the ruins. The rain was starting to get harder and harder, and Emma knew there wasn't much time. "Hey, uh, you guys might wanna get to some cover. Like, now. I estimate you have about 5 minutes before-" and just like that, lightning struck in the distance. "Correction. You gotta leave, now." Emma said, hobbling back towards her cave. She quickly pulled all the vines away from the door, and hobbled inside.

 

[Vaporeonn]

The sudden sound of lightning sent shivers down Billie's spine. She had a terrible fear of storms. "Ai, get back into your Pokeball," she said, sending Ai back in. She had no idea where to go, so she started going to the direction of the limping girl.

The storm was starting to get worse by the second. Billie was completely damp now, at it hasn't even been five minutes. Another sound of lightning could be heard, and Billie ran quicker. The the realisation hit her. Marble. "No," she whispered. She couldn't leave him out alone. She had to go back, to make sure he was safe.

Billie turned back, and ran towards the spot where she left Marble. She hoped Marble was back by now, that he could somehow sense the storm and her worry, and that he would be safe, right there where they parted. Billie ran quicker than ever before, almost tripped a few times, but hadn't fell once.

Billie got to the spot, and thankfully, Marble wasn't too far from the shore. "Marble!" Billie yelled, and the Lapras swam quicker towards her, as quick as he could in the churning sea. Seconds felt like hours. Another lightning struck near Billie and she screamed, but Marble was so close.

When she was finally near him, she hugged him, "I was so, so worried." Marble let out a yelp, and Billie sent him into his Pokeball. He was finally safe.
"Now, to get to somewhere safe."

 

[Some Scrub]

Ray and Golbat went searching for berries, and when the storm came, he had a sizable amount. "Come on Golbat, we need to get these berries to the others." They went back to where Flaafy and Heracross were, and noticed the storm. "We need to get out of here!" Ray yelled. He ran to the place where everyone else went, his Pokemon following.

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

The rain fell harder as Augusta walked to the ruins. She heard Billie call her name, it sounded like she may have found something interesting but after the lightning started Billie took off running back towards the beach. The trees were like waterfalls, catching the rain in their broad leaves and dumping it down to the forest floor. Everything became as dark as night between the blinding lightning flashes, this storm was unreal. Emma had called to her and the others, offering shelter, but before Augusta ran to join them she saw in a flash of lightning what Billie's Aipom, Ai, had uncovered.

The inner wall of the smaller ruined structure displayed an elaborate stone etching. The artwork was about three meters by five meters and the scene was captivating. To the left was a circle that looked to be emitting strong rays; the sun. To the right, huge swirling clouds were depicted to be pouring rain. In the center was the unmistakable likeness of a pokemon known to be possibly as intelligent as a human, Oranguru. In the carving, the Oranguru looked to be wearing some sort of crown. Augusta could not make out any further details as the lightning momentarily stopped. The wind picked up and a horrible groaning and creaking sound filled her ears as the trees thrashed about all around her. Not wanting to be knocked out by any flailing branches, Augusta took off join Emma and the others in a cave for shelter.

 

[Yifun618]

“Weren’t there more of you?” Emma asked as Augusta entered the cave. “They gotta get to some form of cover pronto. Those storms are nasty and unpredictable.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a plain Poke Ball, sending out her Vulpix, Vera. Emma grabbed from her stack of wood in the corner and made a small fire, using Vera’s fire as help. She fanned all the initial smoke out of the cave until the fire was at a height where the smoke wouldn’t be a danger.

“I hope you have food. We could be here an hour, we could be here a week. No way to tell.” Emma said, not really acknowledging Augusta’s existence directly, barely even looking at her. Vera cuddled up into Emma’s lap and gently started to fall asleep as Emma pat her head. Emma let out a low sigh. She didn’t know how to feel. Sure, she was happy to have other people here, but they were as clueless as her! Maybe more, when it came to survival on their own. “What were you even researching here, anyway? I don’t see why anyone would voluntarily go to this god forsaken place.”

 

[Some Scrub]

Eventually, Ray managed to catch up to the others. "Thank god I found you guys!" Golbat flew in the cave with glee. Heracross ran in with the handful of berries he was carrying. Flaafy tripped, but Ray helped him up and they went in the cave.

Ray and Heracross put down the berries they were carrying. "I went foraging earlier, thought you might need this..." Ray said, grabbing onto a sitrus berry and eating it whole. His shirt wasn't bloody anymore, it was soaked.

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

Augusta was grateful to have been offered shelter, and with the fire roaring she was drying off at a decent pace. She took off her shoes and socks and placed them closer to the fire. Sitting on the ground, hugging her knees, she stared into the crackling flames and admired the bright hues of yellow and orange.

"I was assigned to investigate the pokemon of this island by a private lab in the Unova region," Augusta explained to Emma. "I was under the impression there wouldn't be any people here and I would get to observe the pokemon in their natural habitat free from human influence."

Augusta shifted her attention to the dancing shadows on the walls of the cave and for the first time, she noticed the strange glyphs painted on the walls. They weren't like anything she'd ever seen. She thought about the elaborate carving outside on the ruins and wondered what it all meant.

"Emma, have you ever seen an Oranguru on the island?" She asked, hoping for some insight. "That carving outside really looked like one..."

 

[Vaporeonn]

There were so many trees. Billie felt like she was lost. Did she go this way already? She tried remembering which way Emma walked off to. If she could just find some cover... The storm was getting worse, and Billie was afraid that lightning may hit a nearby tree, which wouldn't end well.

Although Ai and Marble were in their Pokeballs, Billie felt like they won't be completely safe until they were in a place away from the storm. She heard a rustle on the ground, unlike the wind, so she thought it could be one of the people on the island. Billie tried following it, but eventually lost it. Defeated, she tried remembering where the ruins are, but ended up going the opposite direction. Another lightning stroke, setting fire to a tree, but the rain was so hard it immediately drowned it. Billie felt unsafe there and rushed forward. Thankfully, she saw human footprints in mud, and followed that direction, eventually getting to the cave where everyone else was. Billie never felt more relieved to see these people.

 

[Yifun618]

Emma was poking at the fire with a stick, when Augusta mentioned an Oranguru. She dropped it into the fire when she heard the name.

“Oranguru?” A quick flashback happened in her brain. The first day she was here, as she trudged through the forest looking for shelter, she had indeed seen an Oranguru. She hadn’t only seen it, it had attacked her! “Don’t go looking for it. If you’re wondering why I’m limping, you can thank that thing. It’s considered the guardian of the forest by the inhabiting Pokemon, and DOES NOT take nicely to newcomers unless you are friendly with the forest. The way you chased that Pokémon earlier into a bush, I don’t think he’s too fond of you.”

 

[The Quiet Zubat]

"Guardian of the forest? I suppose that makes sense. Oranguru are said to be natural leaders, helping weaker pokemon by giving them food and medicines. The one you encountered must be particularly defensive..." Augusta blushed as she was reminded of her blunder before the storm with that Kricketot. "And I-I really am sorry for how I behaved earlier, I wasn't myself..."

After Billie came in from the storm, Augusta offered a warm smile. She barely knew this girl, but she'd been very friendly so far and was the only other person who wasn't on this island by complete mistake. Outside the storm was raging, the thunder was deafening and the skies were so dark it was hard to tell if it was night or day. Reaching inside her bag, Augusta pulled out some nutrition bars to pass around. Her food supply was diminishing fast.

Between crashes of thunder and mouthfuls of food, Augusta tried to speak. "When this storm passes...I'm going back out there to study pokemon. This time I think I'll be a little more...reserved" The fire was making her tired. "Emma, I hope that come Sunday my boat will come back so you and all the other castaways can finally go home..." She yawned, rubbed her eyes and leaned back against the cave wall, not quite ready to sleep but wanting to space out and think about other things.

 

[Vaporeonn]

Billie was more tired than ever, and although the cave floor wasn't exactly the most comfortable bedding, she had to make do of what she had. Besides, while she was this tired, she couldn't really care about being comfortable or not, just about if she could lay down anywhere and rest.

The cackling of the fire blended nicely with the sounds of the ever-raging storm. The half-asleep Billie had images of her days on the island racing through her mind, in no particular order. There was the sea, the ruins, trees, new friends, trees, the storm, trees, the horrible feeling of being helpless when the storm started, and the feeling of pure joy when her and her Pokemon were safe. Billie heard some talk about an Oranguru, and wondered if the ruins had anything to do with that. It seemed like the island had more interesting things than she first thought. She decided that when she wakes up, she was going to offer Augusta more help with her research. Even though she didn't come to the island with an intention to learn more, she wasn't going to throw the opportunity away.