[crow]

Lupin was actually startled when Oko flattened himself too. Wait, what was he doing? Lupin had thought that he was going for the head on approach, and had planned his own strategy accordingly, but now Oko wanted to hide too? That was no good! That meant the enemy would be looking around, which meant they might find Lupin too.

He couldn't afford to be distracted for long though. A moment later, he saw the glint of something sharp in the grass. He had a hunch as to what the enemy Pokemon might be, but on the other hand... Sometimes the best fight was no fight at all. "Run," he hissed to Oko, before darting off to the side at full sprint. That was right, this was a tactical evasion!

[Silver]

Oko was prepared for a fight. At least he was trying to be prepared for a fight. He would probably not tell this to his new friend, but he had never been in a fight with a wild Pokémon before. At best, he had only sparred with his team members. Though they were more well trained than he was, they were also always holding back.

Run. Wait. Run? Oko looked pretty confused. He thought they were going to fight! Well, he wasn't about to argue with his new teammate in front of an arguably terrifying wild Pokémon, so run was exactly what he did. At first he awkwardly ran on his hind legs before he seemingly remembered that he was actually a frog who should probably hop. He was much faster at hopping.

[crow]

Lupin didn't usually bother to do this, but just this once, he looked behind him to see if his teammate was following. Usually, he didn't have to. He hadn't been entirely blowing hot air when he had introduced himself as a lone wolf to Oko. He did usually work alone. It was just that, these days, he usually worked alone at home.

He shouldn't have felt so relieved to see Oko doing what he'd said, but... Well, he wasn't used to anyone listening to him. That was about the only relief he got though. Behind Oko, he could see a much larger figure following behind. "Run faster!" he urged, his tail fluffed out in panic.

[Silver]

It made sense to him that if they got the head start, they would have no trouble out-running their unseen opponent. While it was a nice thought, it was unfortunately looking to be untrue. Oko raced forward as quickly as he could, but they didn't seem to be getting any further away from the daunting shadow behind them.

Oko had to think fast. He had to act fast. Just like the leader he knew he could be. He skidded to a halt and turned around to face the enemy. As soon as all of his feet hit the ground, he leaped up into his powerful Bounce attack. If he had timed it right, he would come crashing down just at the right time. If he didn't... well, he would deal with that if it happened.

[crow]

Rather than running faster, Oko had actually turned around and launched into an attack. Lupin cursed under his breath, muttering a series of expletives that were actually pretty impressive given his age. Without the lead they'd had, it was going to be that much harder to get away.

Lupin wasn't a great fighter. His combat prowess was... nothing to write home about. He wasn't about to try something like facing the enemy head on. But he did have other tricks up his sleeve. As his litany of curses came to an end, he said, "Ugh... Transform!"

A moment later, what looked like a Charizard reared from the grass and bellowed at the enemy.

[Silver]

For a newbie adventurer, Oko had timed his Bounce pretty well. In all but a second, he calculated how fast they were moving and where his opponent might be by the time he came crashing down. What he could not account for was Lupin's sudden transformation.

Though he knew that this was possible, Oko still found himself turning and staring at the huge Charizard now standing before him. This distraction caused him to hit the ground off target. Fortunately for him, his intended target didn't even seem to notice him there. He made a quick retreat.

The Seviper that had thought a little Froakie would make a good meal had second thoughts once it came face to face with a beast much bigger than itself. It considered for a moment whether or not it wanted to fight the Charizard that came in to protect the young Pokémon. Ultimately, it decided instead to flee.

[crow]

Lupin did his best impression of a Charizard's roar. Truth be told, he wasn't really a transformation expert yet. He practiced lots and lots, and he was getting a lot better at getting the visuals down, but it was the voice that got him. His mother, in particular, had an incredible knack for voice impressions, but Lupin hadn't mastered her tricks just yet.

Fortunately for him, it seemed to have done the trick this time. As soon as the Seviper was far enough away, he released the illusion, returning to himself again with a slight 'poof' noise.

[Silver]

"Wow!" Oko cheered as soon as the Seviper was out of ear shot. He hopped over to Lupin and inspected him as if something would be different about him now. "That's so cool! How do you do that?" Clearly, he had never met a Zorua before.

"I can transform, too, but it's not as cool. Check it out!" Oko could barely contain his excitement. He dropped puff of smoke and disappeared into thin air. Where he was, only a log of about his height remained. After a second, he came tumbling back into view and grinning.

"See, I didn't really turn into it, it just looks like I did." Oko looked proud of himself. The technique was a complicated one that took a lot of practice for him to learn.

[crow]

Lupin was still a little shaken up over that encounter, but Oko's amazement restored his spirits somewhat. He was just about to fluff himself back up and brag when Oko demonstrated a skill of his own, which caught him entirely by surprise. He yelped rather ungracefully when the log appeared, his fur fluffing up for an entirely different reason.

As soon as he realized what happened, he tried to play it off as though he hadn't startled. It wasn't very convincing though. "R-Right," he said. "Yeah. I knew that." Clearing his throat, he said, "That thing I did is an old family secret. I can't teach it to anyone else. Yours is almost as cool though."

[Silver]

It was very Lucky for Lupin that Oko was too busy displaying his little trick than paying attention to the rather undignified way he reacted to it. It was truly a wonder that the two of them had managed to sell themselves to well to each other. They both seemed to think the other one was more skilled than he was, and they were also both concerned about when that illusion would fade.

Oko nodded in fascination. An old family secret. He wondered what secrets his family might have known. He supposed he would never really know. Not that it mattered too much to him. He had a different sort of family now.

They would certainly be concerned for his well being if they knew he was out here. His face flashed with remorse when he thought of his guild back home. All he could do was succeed on his mission so that he could come home triumphant, and they would see that he knew what he was doing all along.

"Better carry on, huh?" Oko said. He was in a hurry to put those thoughts behind him. He waited to see if Lupin would follow and hopped along in the direction he thought they were headed in. That is, if the battle didn't disorient him too much.

[crow]

Lupin evidently thought it was a great concession to admit that anyone was nearly as cool as himself, and his manner in delivering that statement was not unlike someone deigning to give a great compliment. Of course, it was gratifying how impressed Oko looked at the prospect of his family's secret techniques too.

He shook himself off thoroughly, as if ridding himself of dust, then nodded to Oko. "Lead the way," he said briskly, trotting behind, looking very much as though he were in high spirits. For better or for worse, Oko's somber mood was completely lost on him.

[Silver]

Oko was particularly quiet as he hopped along. He was considering the weight of his mission for perhaps the first time since he left. He would have to succeed, not just for his new friend, but for his family back home. He wondered if they would be angry with him for leaving. He just hoped that he would be able to find out when he went home.

He paused briefly and surveyed the area around him. He couldn't really remember where the fog was. There was a tree nearby, however, and he thought he might be able to take a good look from up there. "I'm going to climb up and see if there's any new developments in the mist," he explained. "You stay here and keep an eye out on ground level, okay?" Wow, was he really taking charge like a real leader? He was proud of himself.

[crow]

"Fine by me," said Lupin, agreeing immediately. He wasn't much of a climber anyway, and he had already relegated the responsibility of actually finding this mist stuff to Oko anyway. Keeping a lookout--- he knew how to do that pretty well! A thief always had to have his wits about him, and look out for potential enemies. It was as natural to him as breathing at this point.

He did scramble up to a rock though, since some of this grass was pretty long. Squinting into the distance, he surveyed the grass for any sign of motion. No way was he going to let them get ambushed again!

[Silver]

Oko swiftly hopped from one branch to the next and made his way up the tree. It was a quick and easy motion for an excellent jumper like himself. Though he did find himself wishing his arms weren't so short. It was probably easier to climb trees if one had longer arms and some kind of claws or something. Like a Zangoose maybe!

The time to imagine he was bigger or stronger was over once he got to a high, outward branch of the tree. He crawled to the tip of the branch as far as he could and squinted into the distance. It was clear where the fog was right away. Was it that close before? How far had they gone? Oko was a bit nervous now to see how close they actually were.

[crow]

Lupin tried his best to be a good sentry, really he did. He knew it was an important job, which was why it had been given to him in the first place, right? After he had shown off his prowess earlier, there was no way Oko could have failed to realize his potential!

But it... sure was kinda boring when nothing was happening. What Oko was doing seemed a lot more fun, climbing up and up and up like that. Not that he wanted to find danger or anything, but...

[Event posts end here]