Pokémon: The Promised Land [IC/PG-16]

[Sethera]

Jewel flushed and stammered. "A-are you sure you want m-me to go with you...I'm sure you'd rather not have m-me slowing you down or anything. U-uhm...but alright...I'll go with you!"

 

Right as Deyna was about to speak, a rather flashy-looking Pokémon approached. One of the newer denizens of the White Forest, Lamier Jnaou, he was known for his glamorous appearance, rivaling Donna's--who hadn't been too keen on sharing the spotlight with a "mutt." "You two. Do eizer of jou know who I should speak to about zis, erm... "Donna". Zhe has appeared to have gone missing, non? Zat isn't good. I eckspect zat zere is some kind of, erm, search and rescue group, for ze missing Delcatty. Where, eckzactly, could I join zis party, young Buizel, Archen?"

 

"Well, we j-just made our own party to go and find her... And if anybody would know a-anything about the situation, It's Deyna right here.  You should know that h-he's the village chief's son after all... I-If you want, you can come with us!"

 

Deyna took the reminder of his father with good grace, nodding politely at Lamier. "We'd be glad to have you." While the sea weasel didn't know much about the various Pokémon species, not enough to label himself an expert, he made it a point to learn some of their strengths and weaknesses. It made it easier when divvying up tasks or determining the best way to solve situations. Dogs were known for their great tracking skills, so having Lamier along would be a boon and a half.

 

"Ah, gud! Wonderful, een fact." The Furfrou paused, realizing how his words could be interpreted. "Ah, erm, not ze whole, 'disappearance' zing, of course. A-ah meant being able to help." The dog shook his head as if to clear it. "If eizer of jou need assistance, I'll be right behind jou. Despite my rather pompous looks, ay'm a natural born fighter. Been trained all my life." He stamped a paw in emphasis. "Not to mensheon my nose iz one of ze best. I assure you, we'll find 'Donna'. But, erm, are we ze only ones in ze group? Or, are zere more on ze way?"

 

"I don't know for sure yet," the Buizel admitted with a hint of worry. Murmur wasn't back yet, but it hadn't been that long. "Hopefully there will be more, though with the festival preparations, I can't blame anybody if they can't come..." Still, this was Donna they were talking about. One of the more famous Pokémon in the forest, along with his father, Laputa, Shaolin, and Uru. Speaking of Uru, she was busy tending the shrine at the moment, but he didn't doubt she already knew what was going on. Nothing seemed to get past her. But anyway, there will probably be at least a few more, considering who it is that's gone missing. I told Murmur to be somewhat quiet about this, but...well, that might not happen.

 

"I was going to go round up a search party," Deyna continued. "There are a couple others I was thinking of bringing along, anyway." Such as Neos, who worked as a scout for the patrol. A Ditto who could transform into a Pidgey even without a model, his versatility had been extremely useful and the sky patrol had nothing but praise to speak of him. Borea, the North Wind, wing commander and co-leader of the patrol with Laputa, had mentioned him to Deyna's father when speaking of their more promising rookies. With Neos' eyes, they might even be able to find the Delcatty before nightfall. It was mid-afternoon now, but combing the forest would be no easy task.

 

A few figures approaching the hill caught the Buizel's eye, one of whom looked to be the very Pokémon he had just been thinking of. "Speaking of...I'm going to go ask them!" he bounded the few dozen feet it took to reach them. "Hey there!" he greeted. "Are you all busy? Because if not...well, I need your help."

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Duchess nodded in satisfaction upon seeing Neos following her. “Good, you at least know how to listen. There may be hope for you yet.” At least, hope that he can be a good grunt. Obviously he would never come near her level but she wouldn’t refuse to acknowledge the lesser successes of lesser Pokemon.

 

“Now we should hurry be-eep!” She jumped into the air a bit, after suddenly having her tail chomped on. She glared at the offending Pokemon, Apo of course.

Though the glare probably didn’t mean much to the Deino. “You...you....ugh! Fine, just be careful will you? I don’t want anything...marked. Bad enough I have to deal with your slobber, you should feel honored I’m letting you do this. Now any other surprises? No? Good, let’s carry on.” Duchess marched onward, barely acknowledging Lumina’s presence. She probably didn't need the Riolu's help but this would be a satisfactory search group nonetheless. “Lalum carry on here, be ready when I return or I’ll have to talk to the chief.” She knew the girl was asleep but she felt it necessary to say anyway, as her goodbye.  

 

They headed out, making a rather unusual group, with Duchess in the lead. She struck a calm and aloof figure with her head held high...The effect being slightly lessened by the Deino she was guiding as if on a leash.

 

"Hey there! Are you all busy? Because if not...well, I need your help."

 

And there he was, Deyna. Duchess approached him and, after shaking Apo off her tail, spoke. "When am I ever not busy? You know how much of a mess this all has been? You're lucky I'm here or nothing'd get done...ah but this isn't the time for that. I have heard we lost our singer, I've brought some Pokemon to find her. Of course, there are plenty of things I need to do, if we could get this underway quickly that would be much preferred."