It is unwise to travel alone...

[Winter]

The humidity was absolute torture. If it wasn't the for the constant tree roots gripping at her feet, or the annoyed yells of pokemon who'd been awakened from their midday nap, Ai would have only the heat to complain about. Not that she had the energy, anyway. The hybrid looked up at the sky, unsure of how long she'd been traveling through this endless stretch of rainforest. Of course, all the other pokemon were in a cool, shady spot, so she never heard any of them say a word. They were probably used to this weather. Ai, however, was used to the cold, like her old home in the mountains. Oh, she terribly missed her old home. Mostley because her father was there. Time and time again she had considered going back, weighing the pros and cons in her head. But, her father was expecting her to grow up, and make him proud. So of course she couldn't let him down. Though they were both sad to be apart, they both were proud of the Sneasel. She had no choice but to accept the heat, and stay strong.

Before long, Ai's legs had grown weak. She did her best to ignore the aching pain, not to mention the scratches and bruises she had received from traveling through this infernal forest. But the pain was too great, and Ai collapsed on the forest floor. Rubbing her wounds with her paws, the tiny pokemon took in her surroundings. A few pokemon had come out from their hiding places to inspect the odd hybrid, and soon bored with her, went back to either napping or doing their daily work. The trees towered above Ai, making her feel small, but in a strange way, safe as well. The pokemon began to daydream about what this place would look like during the nighttime, and sighed. In her own world, she imagined the sounds of the nightlife, and of course, the temperature. relaxed, she decided to wait there untill the night came. Ai knew very well it was a stupid idea, as the night before she heard the heavy breathing of pokemon on the hunt, and hid. Those same pokemon were, for all she knew, probably tracking her down at this very moment. However, she decided she could risk it. The sneasel lay there for a moment, with her eyes closed. A fly buzzed over to her and alighted on the tip of her snout, and though she could quite easily crush it with a swipe of her paw, she did nothing. Slowly she fell asleep, letting the fly nap along with her.

[Sephalesh]

Far above the sleeping Hybrid, laid another sleeper. This pokemon, however, was already used to the stifeling clime of the rainforest. He had been born and raised in this forest, and knew every nook and cranny of it. What he didn't know was a Pidgey saw him as a scrumptious meal, nor did the pidgey see the branch tied back with a few loose peices of vine. The pidgey pounced, and the vine became un-done. Thwack! the branch sprang back into position, throwing the pidgey into the tree with enough force to knock it out. The branch did more than knock the pidgey from it's intended meal. The shroomish still slept, but the vine it had been using as a hammock was gone. the only thing that kept him was nothing.

Like a squeeky toy, the shroomish hit each branch with a little sound as he was as soft as a pillow after all. puff puff puff. Each hit against the tree not only made asound, but sent a cloud of spores into the air. The shroomish fell all the way down, rattling sleeping pokemon, and pouncing predators, with his intense softness. After a long fall, he finally reached his end. A sleeping Hybrid was his last destination. Like a fluffy pillow, the shroom pokemon slammed into Ai, releasing a cloud of spores into the air that could irratate the deepest sleeper, except the one who fell. The shroomish continued to sleep on, unaware of his fall from the heavens. He could have woken up easily, but why do that when the entire world was so comfy.

[Winter]

The fly, startled at the sudden falling pokemon, put it's quick reflexes to use and buzzzed off. However, in her deep sleep, Ai didn't notice anything at first. When the mushroom pokemon slammed into her, It felt just as if she had been hit by a bag of soft feathers. Her eyes opened the tiniest bit, and she sprung up immediately, pawing at her face and screeching. The hybrid's eyes were stinging like mad, and to avoid causing them any more pain, she refused to open them. Other nearby pokemon scuttled off, to avoid having their tails crushed by the rampaging Sneasel. One pokemon, a masquerain, Hadn't noticed Ai until it was too late. One of her flailing paws sent the bug flying back, angering it. Before flying off, the annoyed pokemon blasted a good amount of water in Ai's direction.

As the stinging ebbed away from the gush of water, Ai opened them and looked for her funny prankster. However, all that their was were trees, leaves, vines, and a strange looking mushroom. "Grah! I know you're around here somewhere," The hybrid whispered to anyone nearby. She walked around the sleeping shroomish, unaware of his presence. She looked around once more, her anger nearly peaking. Growling, she kicked the mushroom with all her might.

((sorry it took me so long, I was on another site.))

[Sephalesh]

( I did the same thing. I won't reply for a while after this one, though. Have to get lunch.)

The shroomish managed to sleep through the rampaging Hybrids tantrum. Just another massage in the loud waterfalls of Inali. He dreamed about a massager gently caressing his back. Then, all of a sudden, the massager lifted both hands up in a fist, and pounded them(Hybrid kicking him) into the dreaming Shroomish. He went flying into the ground(tree). and seemed to fall somewhat, with a soft plup sound. Spores were everywhere around him in both the dream and the real world. Then something sharp poked him in the but. "Ouch!" the shroomish yelled, as he finally woke up. A angry Caterpie had poked the shroomish's extremely soft underbelly. "What be that for!?" The shroomish yelled.

Instead of seeing the Hybrid behind him, the shroomish managed to keep all of his attention on the encroaching Caterpie. "now, now. me thinks you being hasty!" The shroomish said as he shook his head from side to side. Each shake, brought another plume of spores from the mushroom pokemon. He kept backing up, until he touched something behind him. Like a weavile, but not quite. He looked up and saw it was a hybrid. "Thank me heavens. Me be saved!" the shroomish cried in joy. He hopped around behind the hybrid. "Save me from that monster! It be vicious!" The shroomish told the hybrid, Ai, while bluntly motioning towards the caterpie with his head. he didn't have any arms.

[Winter]

Vicious... monster? Ai would have laughed, if it wasn't for her terrible mood. She glanced at what she thought had been a mushroom hiding behind her. It was pretty surprising once it started talking, and she had never seen a mushroom that talked before. However, she realized that a more logical explanation would be that this critter was actually a pokemon, but still, she had never seen a shroomish before. Ai walked up to the tiny bug pokemon, attempting to look as sweet and kind as possible, as to not get tangled up in a string shot. "Go on now, shoo." She said, swatting at the air in front of the caterpie. It stared at her for a moment with it's wide, captivating eyes. It didn't budge, and Ai's patience began to fade. "Go! Get!" She poked the caterpie with a sharp claw, startling it. as a result, the caterpie dashed away, after tying her paws up in a sticky, gooey thread.

"Wonderfull. You happy now? It's gone." She stared at the shroomish with sharp eyes. It was then she noticed the powdery spores erupting from his body.

"It was you! Ugh, what did you do that for?!" She snarled. "Didn't you ever learn any manners? Think twice next time you decide to have somebody claw their eyes out!" The hybrid dashed up to him, attempting to swing a paw at his face. However, it had gotten stuck to her other one, and it was nearly impossible to do anything with them at all. Defeated, Ai yowled and collapsed on the ground once more, on her knees and trying to get unstuck.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish was glad to have the Caterpie away. They were his natural enemies, and therefore he didn't like them. The hybrid asked him a question. She seemed to be a girl by the tone of her voice, but the Shroomish didn't want to make assumptions. He had one time mistaken a girl kangestkahn for a guy. That had been bad. "Me be happy, now. Thank you." the shroomish replied, bowing his head, except that in doing so he did a frontword somersault, spewing even more spores into the already thick spore cloud. It didn't help that his head was basically his body and his body was basically his head.

The next threat confused the Shroomish. "What be me doing that be bugging you?" The shroomish asked in his heavy accent." Then the hybrid dashed him, and he plopped backwards onto his head, feet flailing in the air. The shroomish was stuck helplessly. AS the Shroomish struggled helplessly against gravity, the sticky string started to dissolve due to the cloud of spores around the Shroomish. It wasn't well known, but those spores would dissolve string shot. They were both stuck where they were.

[Winter]

"Ung... nah?" Ai watched in amazement as the sticky threads started to roll of of her paws, and seemed to melt into the air. She shook her left paw, and succeeded in getting it free. She then grabbed the string on the other paw and tugged at it, releasing her. The hybrid's eyes started to sting again, but this time she was expecting it and closed her eyes. Ai got back up, and started groping around, to see where her new "friend" was. When she felt the soft skin of the shroomish, she jumped a bit, startled. It really did feel like a feather pillow.

"Hey, um... is that you?" She asked. Ai was careful not to let her claws poke him. "Please, at least try not to do... um, whatever you're doing. You're making my eyes sting... pretty horribly, actually." She tried her best not to rub them, which would probably make them even more itchy. Though the hybrid was still mad from earlier, she figured surprising the strange creature would probably just make things worse. Ai would have to try and keep her anger level down when around the shroomish.

[Sephalesh]

That tickled. The Shroomish let out a gruff laugh before falling onto the groung, letting out another little plume of spores. Every time he was bumped or squeezed, spores came off of him, like a cloud. "Sorry. It be me defence ganst predatores." the shroomish apologized before sitting back up in a normal position, not moving very much. He had just had a good nap. Decided to break the awkward Silence the Shroomish asked. "What be your name, lassie?" The shroomish stayed perfectly still during his question. the cloud of spores slowly dissapated.

[Winter]

"Urk..." Well, he seemed polite. Maybe he just attacked Ai by mistake. Either way, she wasn't sure if she liked him or not. His accent was barely audible. The hybrid's tail twitched in annoyance at her own thoughts. How could you be unsure whether you liked someone or not? Well... then again, she had only just met the shroomish.

"I'm Ai." She coughed at the new cloud of spores. It was just another thing she'd have to put up with, besides the heat. She fanned her face with a paw, and spoke. As long as he was going to be polite, she might as well follow his example. "And yours?" Ai asked, her voice the same mimicked sweetness that she had tried with the caterpie. It was pretty easy to tell that she was faking it.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish Sighed. Damn that small little fault of his. Still, He owed the girl an explanation. He wondered why he thought ot the girl as a girl. They probably weren't far in age, but she was very naive to try to take the rainforest by herself. Nobody could defeat the forest. That was rule number one. ""Grandum Pun, be my name. Explorin, Be my game." The shroomish told her. He sat still while watching the hybrid. He ignored the mimicked sweetness. Grandum Pun had other questions to ask in all seriousness. "What be a ice liver doing in me forest?" Grandum asked specutively. "Something to prove, Is that it?" Grandum pun asked with a chuckle at the end.

[Winter]

Hm. This "Grandum pun" was much wiser than Ai would have thought him to be, after he called a caterpie an angry monster. Though she didn't really want to admit it, he wasn't wrong at all. But, she did owe him a few answers, anyway. Ai would have been surprised to see Grandum wandering around her cooler habitat. In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy living in this humid rainforest. She tugged at her ear feather, what she often did if she had been figured out or caught. She tried to think of something to say back, while not seeming too "deep" or "emotional." Ai wasn't really that kind of pokemon, after all. She tried to sound witty and smart when she finally did speak.

"You may be right, Grandum pun. But i don't think it's any of your business." At that, she crossed her arms and looked the shroomish in the eye, daring him to say anything at all.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish nodded, swaying back and forth on his feet. His head was pretty much his whole body, and that made expressing some things. . . difficult. "You be right. Me sees a rare sight in me forest, and wonders what it be doin here. Is that real, me asks meself, but you be right. It be none of me buisness." The shroomish said sadly. It turned around and hobbled away a little bit. Then it turned around again, looking Ai straight in the eye. "Just wanted to help, I did. But no, Grandum Pun, Explorer of the Rainforest, be not good enough." The shroomish turned around again and walked farther off, head mushroom drooping as if it was deflated. The shroomish glance back one more time with puppy dog eyes, and sat down on the ground a hundred steps away from Ai for him. Ten steps away for her.

[Winter]

"Damn..." Ai said, tugging at her ear-feather once more. Of course, the puppy dog eyes were pretty easy to ignore, as they looked rather odd on a shroomish. But, despite her sour attitude, she felt kind of... guilty. It was obvious that Grandum pun was just curious, but it was also true that family matters weren't for everyone to hear. The hybrid was torn between two choices: She could tell him what happened, (Which, deep inside, was what she really wanted to do.) or keep it to herself. Grumbling, Ai walked up to Grandum pun, and sat down in front of him, to tell him about the story of her mother and father. When she finished, she continued to talk.

"My dad, he still lives up in the mountains. Although we were pretty much inseparable, I had to leave at some time or another. I'm old enough to be living on my own, we both knew that very well. I want to show him that I can be successful. You know, find a home, start a family... I want to actually do something with my life. I guess I want to show him that I can be kind and caring, that I'm nothing like my mother was. That's why I have to survive to get through this forest." When she finished, Ai laid down on her back, and stared at the branches looming above her. A few bug pokemon were out, but most of them were gone. She wondered why, and when she thought about it, she realized it must be getting close to nighttime. Ai hadn't kept track of how long she had been talking.

[Sephalesh]

Grandum Pun listened respectfully. It was not his place to judge, and besides. . . It wasn't that different from his own story. He had left his own family for his own reasons, but those were very different. The shroomish noticed the changing of time much more than Ai. The ground was getting dimmer, and the sun was slowly dropping. When the Hybrid was done. "That be reminding me of the time. Have you any place to stay?" the shroomish asked in his thick dialect.

[Winter]

Ai sighed. "Well, no, not really. Last night I slept in an abandoned den." She continued to stare up at the canopy of branches above them, and spotted a nest. Seeing it made her stomach rumble, as being a Sneasel, eggs were possibly her favorite food. Though she was much more accustomed to pidgey eggs. The ones she figured were in that nest smelled much nicer. She glanced around to see if the mother was nearby, and then looked at Grandum, as if for permission. He did know way more about the rainforest than she did. It would be rather dangerous for her to steal an egg if she didn't know what it's mother was like. If it was nearby, she would definitely attack without hesitation, and it was always best to know what you were going up against.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish sighed. "It be all right. The mother won't be back until morning." Grandum pun told Ai. The little shroomish seemed to shift uncomfortably. AS it got closer to night, the ground became unsafe for pokemon. The darkness held many predators that were a lot more dangerous than a simple pidgey, which Grandum could deal with himself. He watched Ai. He wondered how she would tackle getting the eggs.

[Winter]

The Sneasel nodded and smirked, glad to get the opportunity for food. Ai got up, and paced over to the tree, studying it. She felt the bark with the padded part of her paw, and then scratched at it with her claws. The hybrid nodded to herself, and looked up at the bow where the eggs lay, measuring the hight in her mind. She stared at the wide trunk once more. Sure, this tree was taller and thicker then the ones at home. But the bark was soft and perfect for climbing. After her investigation, Ai stabbed at the bark with her front claws and lifted herself up with ease. She used her back feet to find a hold in the rough surface, and dug in with her back claws. Ai continued to climb, her sharp claws making things a breeze. Though her arms were thin and lacked muscle, she didn't seem to tire much at all. When she finally reached her destination, her arms were a bit sore, but no damage was done. The tree, however, had claw marks all the ay up it's trunk.

Ai jumped off the wall of bark, and landed on the wide branch. To keep her balance, the hybrid dropped on all fours and crept up to the nest, head swiveling from side to side, just to be sure nobody was there. She trusted Grandum pun enough, but her instinct told her not to be too careless. She crawled on in a hunter's stance, even though her prey really wasn't going anywhere. She grabbed her prize quickly, before daring to look down at the long drop under her. She calmly walked back out of the nest, cradling the egg like it was her own. Before long, her legs were dangling from the branch and she was sitting as calmly as if she were on a park bench, eating an ice cream cone. She wiped her mouth with the back of her paw and called down to the shroomish.

"Hey, Grandum! How's thing's down there?" She yelled, and took another bite.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish looked up. Ai was really high. She even said something, which Grandum Pun could barely hear. He might as well get up there. "the shroomish ran up the bark, then jumped to the first branch. He wall jumped off the tree, and managed to get to an even higher branch. Each impact set off a cloud of spores around him, which got smaller with each hit. He only had so many spores a day to use, and he was beginning to run out. When he reached the branch Ai was at, the spores were almost non existant. "What did you say?" Grandum Pun asked.

[Winter]

((Lol, Ai's a showoff. ^^))

Ai stared at Grandum pun for a moment, covering her face with one paw and her egg with the other, to make sure that his spores wouldn't get into her meal. "Well, eheh, considering you're no longer down there, it doesn't matter." After the cloud of dust started to float back down to the ground, she continued to eat. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and she spoke again.

"You said earlier that you explore the rainforest, right? Have you ever been out of this place?" She glanced skywards, but still, it was completely covered in green leaves and branches. It had gotten quite a bit darker in the past few minutes. Soon they'd probably have to get off of their branch and back to... wherever they were going to sleep.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish wasn't even tired from his climb up to the branch. He shook himself a little, scenting the wind. there weren't any predators yet. "Me been thinking bout leaving, but tis isn't as easy as one, would think." the shroomish replied looking around for threats. He knew the perfect place to sleep, since nobody else knew about it. He hopped to the branch of another tree. "When you be done, follow with me. It be time to show you my namesake, Grandum Cave." The little shroomish told the hybrid. He trusted her enough not to eat him, and maybe they could help each other out in more than a few ways.

[Winter]

The sneasel looked at him, and nodded, her mouth full of yolk. She swallowed quickly, finishing up the last of the tasty morsel, and dropped the eggshell back into the nest, to leave the mother something to mourn over. Ai dropped onto all fours again, and followed Grandum Pun from one tree to the next.

"So, uh, Grandum Cave? What's he like?" She asked. "Is he, like, a Breloom or something?" It made sense. If Grandum Pun was a Shroomish, then his namesake is most likely something close to it.

[Sephalesh]

Grandum Pun stopped and turned around. He scowled at Ai, not that he ever could not scowl. His face was permanently stuck like that, always. A strange repetitive sound issued from that permanent scowl. It sounded like the little shroomish was choking. "You be thinking Grandum Cave is me brother! Silly, Ai. A old chum, it's not. Grandum Cave be the cave me discovered." The shroomish continued it's choking sounds, which was it's laughter. the grandum Pun came to another tree. "ready to enter Grandum Cave?" the shroomish asked with the ever present Scowl.

[Winter]

Ai blushed severely. She absolutely hated it when pokemon laughed at her, even friends. It was hard trying not to let her anger show.

"Um, okay." She said. The sneasel looked around for an entrance, or anything indicating where the cave would be, but she saw nothing. "So? Where's the cave?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

((Oooh, short post. Not feeling very creative today.))

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish glanced around for any suspicious followers. "It be right here!" Grandum pun announced happily. The shroomish twirled around, not releasing any new spores. Then, suddenly, the tree vibrated as the shroomish smashed into it with tackle. The tree rumbled, and then fell into itself. The inside was smooth and hollow. The bark that Grandum had smashed into had been a simple wall of dead bark. The shroomish jumped into the hollow tree, slipped down, and dissapeared into the depths. The Tree was huge, itself, and the hollow inside was like a smooth shoot into the depths of the tree.

After a rollercoaster of smooth tunnels, Grandum Pun jumped off the last of the slide. It had changed from smooth bark, to glazed dirt, to polished limestone. The limestone smothed out into an expanseful cave. Light shined from holes in the ceiling where the stars were just starting to show themselves. This light bounced off the slightly damp walls in a shining brilliance that was only accuented by the beuitiful crystals that adorned a large portion of the cave. It turned what would have been a dreadful cave into a ballroom of twilight that always flowed as the stars passed over. "Welcome to me Grandum Cave!" The shroomish announced grandly.
(Now you know how I was feeling all week.

[Winter]

Ai's jaw dropped. This place was amazing! Much nicer than the den she slept in last night. She put a paw on one of the walls. "How'd you find this place? It's so well hidden!" She whispered, as if any loud noises would make the whole cavern cave in. She liked the way one could look up and still see the stars, without leaving the comfort of this sanctuary. Her whispering echoed throughout Grandum cave, adding to the magical feel of it.

However, Ai could still hear the sounds of predators and prey from above her head, making her skin crawl. The hybrid was truly grateful to be out of their way. She continued to gaze up at the ceiling in awe, until her neck started to hurt. "Hey, thanks for letting me stay here tonight. It seems we were just in time- I'm hearing some not-so-nice pokemon up there." She pointed skywards.

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish chuckled to himself. "It be a long story. It be a long story. It be all the way back to me explorin roots." Grandum pun moved around the cavern. He walked up a stalagtites that had been chopped off at the top to resemble stairs. He climbed them to bounce atop a box shaped crystal bigger than all the others. It was pure enough to see to the other side, and big enough to put a tyranitar on. He looked back down to Ai. "Predators be no worry. You can hear them, but they no hear you. It be me who was the first to discover Grandum Cave. Nobody else has ever found it, ever." Grandum pun said with another chuckle.

[Winter]

Ai yawned. "Well, that's good. It gets pretty scary up there. It's amazing I was able to live through last nigh alone." The sneasel then yawned again, and realized that she was getting tired, even after her long nap. Usually she stayed up later than this. It must have been the rainforest'seffect on her. "Well, i think it's about time for me to get some sleep. Um..." She looked around for a moment. "Where do I sleep? Just... anywhere?"

[Sephalesh]

The shroomish looked around. There were only rocks everywhere. He had never stayed down here for the night because of it. He sometimes used ingrain in his sleep, and that. . . was hard to undo in rock. In fact, the only soft thing in the room was him. "It be a cave! Sleep where you will!" The shroomish replied thoughtfully. He sat on top of the big stone and looked up at the stars above. Each twinkled in and out of existance in the ceiling. He had never found where those holes where from above. It had actually been his whole reason for becoming an Explorer, to find what nobody had ever found.