Courage: Grace, under Pressure[Mod/Scyther/Pokemon]

[Justice]

Justice walks into this territory that he remembers all too well. The trees, the air, the sounds--everything seems so familiar. Despite the time difference between his original visit and this one, the entire forest seems to be just as it was at the time of his first visit. Justice remembers back to that fateful day, when the guardian of the forest granted him the creature that now lies in his arms.

Justice smiles, knowing that he effortlessly avoided being caught by any Diamond guards posted at the border, and he also avoided any who looked knowledgable enough to remember of Justice's previous actions in Diamond. Now, he looks around at his surroundings before looking to Grace, his new partner. He smiles at the little creature, happy to know that there is still someone in his life that cares, as Grace has grown to do.

Grace chirps up at Justice as she looks around as well. Completely unaware of her surroundings, she holds tightly to Justice's body as the young man walks through the forest. Grace's markings on her body glow slightly with the lavender and peachie colors that they always do when Grace feels strong emotion, however, there is no reason for Grace to feel any sort of emotion at the moment, at all. Justice wonders about this and he can only assume that this is a result of the creature being brought back to the place from which it originated.

Justice doesn't know why he felt the need to come here, he just knows that he did. Perhaps he is here to prove to the Guardian that her wishes are being met, perhaps he has come here merely because something about the entire place seems to draw his attention, or perhaps he has come here, merely because he wanted to get away from Diamond, and all of the stress that is involved with that.

Justice looks to his side, where his friendly Budew walks along happily, often glancing around at her surroundings, and within Justice's pack lies the egg that still has yet to hatch, although signs show the creature won't stay within the egg for long. And there, next to Justice is his Sylveon. His oh so strange Sylveon with the strangest of abilities. He looks at her as she happily hums, feeling at home in this place for some strange reason..

Justice doesn't say a word as he walks, yet the woods seem to reply, saying things to the lost prince he would never have heard in the kingdom he calls home.

Celebi Stryker

[Stryker]

I have such bad luck. Stryker thought as he stumbled on a tree root. He had been challenged by two pokemon, a staravia and a primeape. I sure showed them who's going to stay boss. he thought chuckling under his breath. The battle had been close, as Stryker had little energy left when it was only him and staravia left. He won of course, glaring at the two dazed pokemon when he had finished. Now he was looking for sitrus berries to soothe his hunger and wounds. Kicking at the ground every so often taking out his frustrations when he failed to fin any bushes that had the berries, he sighed. I also need to do patrols around the border...Gah. he thought his frustration getting higher. Breathe, relax, you have an entire day left. No need to rush. he thought to himself as he held his bruised arm to him. Need some cold water for that. he thought shaking his head. He kept walking slowly, scanning the area for berries, and grumbling under his breath. But as he looked around his surroundings he spotted a human. A human here? he thought thinking about driving it away. But he has pokemon with him. A grass type, a fairy and something in his arms. Ignore him, get back to berry finding. he thought tripping over a root again. 

[Justice]

At the sound of some rustling leaves, Justice lifts his head to the origin. A..Scyther?[/s] Justice thinks as he looks to the oddly colored creature who seems to be not only in a hurry, but he seems mentally consternated. Justice watches as the creature falls over and Justice quickly puts Grace in his Sylveon's care, allowing her ribbons to hold the baby Pokemon, so that he can help the bug type that seems to be in some form of need.

Justice walks slowly over to the creature and lowers himself as to not look like agressive. "Hello there little one. Are you okay?" Justice says, despite the likliness of the creature understanding him. Justice holds out his hand to offer the creature assistance as he wonders what other Pokemon could lie within this forest.

Justice looks at the Scyther's head, wondering why the Pokemon would be wearing a helmet in a place as peaceful as this one. Justice remembers seeing, on several occasions, groups of Pokemon whose leader often had some distinguishing mark or object that made them different from the others. This Pokemon seems to have two: Its color, and its helmet. Justice thinks about this while awaiting a response from the bug type.

While Justice does this, Budew and Sylveon, along with Grace, make their way slowly to the place of the fallen creature, all the while wondering what their master is doing.

[Stryker]

Looking over, Stryker saw the human move towards him. Great, just great. Stupid feet. he growled in frustration as the human reached out to aid him. "Hah, little. I don't need your help." Stryker hissed as he heaved himself up, "A human shouldn't be anywhere near the forest, so what are you doing here? Pokemon here are getting into more fights every passing day." He muttered. And winter is here, soon snow will fall and food will be even more scarce. he thought struggling to keep his footing on shaky feet. He ignored the pokemon approaching, focused on looking around him tiredly. "You best leave as soon as possible." he muttered as he tried to move on, steadying himself on the trees.

[Justice]

Justice is surprised when he hears the Scyther before him speak. It..can speak?[/s] Justice thinks as he looks around for anyone who could possibly be this Pokemon's master.

Justice doesn't understand how a Pokemon could ever naturally speak without a bonded human, or at least a psychic medium through which the words are translated. Obviously there are no psychic types here, and obviously, there aren't any other humans around here to be Scyther's bonded.

Justice listens to the creature's response, shaking off the strange anomaly as a spell or a curse, something he could expect from an enchanted forest. Hearing the prideful reception of the creature doesn't surprise Justice, as many Pokemon that don't interact with humans end up not wishing for anything to do with them, but what Scyther says next piques Justice's interest.

The fact that Pokemon are fighting more frequently, requires that Pokemon were fighting at all. Justice knows that minor squabbles happen on occasion, but, here especially, there shouldn't be nearly as much violence as there is elsewhere. Justice wonders if perhaps Celebi's mission and gift had something to do with this, but wondering is about all he can do.

Justice wants to help the bug up as he struggles to raise himself, but something tells the purple-haired boy that this creature doesn't want the help. Justice listens to the creatures last comment before speaking.

"Well, I'm glad for the information and warning, however, I'm not just here wandering, and, as you can see, I have my friends along with me to protect me. I've come here to show the Guardian of this forest that I have kept her keepsake safe." Justice says as he grabs Grace out of Sylveon's ribbons.

[Stryker]

"Guardian eh? It'll take you some time to find her. Celebi right? Or is it the other one?" Stryker asked, attempting to be nice. "With all the fights over the lack of food, seems that any guardian will be driven away for a bit." he muttered pausing to catch his breath. He looked at the human sideways, focusing on the pokemon. "Would you like to follow me to my village? I'd hate to leave anyone outside, person or pokemon, with the cold and the fights. Afraid we don't have much food, but we at least have a warm place to sleep. Don't want the little on to catch a cold. " he said looking at the baby togepi. "Winter is here, the snow's going to fall at anytime now. Though you might get a few sour glares from a few pokemon, they only know of the evil humans. And my name's Stryker." he said, looking into the human's eyes, waiting for a response. 

[Justice]

       Justice listens as Stryker explains that the Pokemon are fighting over food. Food..I don't remember there beign any signs of shortage before..I wonder what could have happened.. Justice thinks as he listens to the bug before him. 

       As the creature's tone begins to change, Justice realizes the reason for his protectiveness. The Pokemon before him is the leader of a village. A Pokemon village to be exact. While Justice has heard of communities of Pokemon, he has never before heard of designated villages for Pokemon. 

       Justice begins to respond, looking down at Grace as he answers. "Yes..I suppose that would be wise. Thank you for your hospitality. So, do all of the creatures of the forest know of the guardian? And, there are more than one? Justice replies, ending with a question.

       Justice stands back up, ready to follow Stryker to wherever he leads, hoping that perhaps he hadn't come here in vain.

[Stryker]

"Well, there are many legends in the world, some still waiting to be found. Wouldn't be impossible for many guardians of this forest. Most pokemon know them through stories they were told when they were young. I only know of three, if you can count Victini as one." He muttered as he led the way towards the village. "I suppose you were wondering about how I can communicate with you. Xerneas cursed me, giving me the ability to speak with humans, but there was a bad side. Don't clearly remember it. Mustn't have been important. " Stryker mumbled as he made his way through the dense, bare trees. Eventually he arrived at the wall Victini had so kindly made, along with the charred tunnel. "Here we are. You can rest at my den, there's plenty of room in there for you and your pokemon. I'll be taking a nap. I'm quite tired from the fight earlier. I can trust you to not get into any fights with the pokemon yes?" he asked as he pointed to the great oak tree, and in the direction of his hole near the middle of the tree. 

[Justice]

Justice listens as the young creature speaks of legends and another guardian, Victini. Then, the little green bug speaks of Xerneas. Xerneas..the God of Life..and light..Of course..such a being would suit this place nicely.. Justice thinks as he remembers back to all of the literature he has read of the many "deities" that exist throughout the world. But..Victini..The God of Victory..what would a creature like that be doing here? The texts of Crystal rarely spoke of.. Justice continues as he tries to grasp the aspect of the multiple deities dwelling within the forest.

Justice thinks about what Stryker said about his "curse". He truly doesn't believe that what the bug type recieved from the Deity was anything bad, and definitely not a curse, however, Justice wasn't going to argue with a Pokemon..

As the group arrives at Stryker's village, Justice wonders how any group of Pokemon, uncivilized or not, could ever make a wall such as the one before him so intricately..Yet a hole still lies within it..not causing any instability to the wall itself. Justice stands in slight awe for a moment before nodding to Stryker's comment.

"Thank you, Stryker, for you hospitality. I promise my stay won't be long lived..I came for my mission..And I won't burden you with it." Justice says as he walks over to the tree. Upon entering the hollow space, Justice and his partners rest for quite a while. After awaking, or whatever you call it when you arouse from half-sleep, Justice walks out into the clearing as his fellow partners begin to rise as well.

If only our world..could be a peaceful as this.. Justice thinks as he looks up at the clouds.

[Stryker]

An odd one that human is. Stryker thought as he placed his helm with the other pieces of stolen armor and flopped down into his comfortable nest of moss and other parts of plants, falling into a dreamless sleep.
What's a human doing here? thought a tough looking spearow. "Spear spearrow spear?!" "Who else thinks this human needs to go?!" she cried into the evening, attracting a few pokemon. A sneasel, farfetch'd, and a stunky appeared from their homes, eyeing the human Stryker had brought with contempt. They all thought the same things, that the human was not welcomed and that they should drive him out, with or without their leader. Spearow and the other pokemon blocked the human's path, each shouting at him, and eventually the spearow swooped down to harass him. 
Hearing the commotion, Stryker woke up and groaned. Not even a minute? he thought as he stepped out observing the agitated pokemon. Let's see if the human can earn his place, will it be by peace or by force? he thought watching the human closely, ready to intervene if need be. He also completely forgot where Victini was last, and was praying to the legendaries that there wasn't a fire.

[Victini]

As if brought by the leader's thoughts, Victini rained down into the village, a shooting star that oddly made no noise, although the heat would have been fit to cook several of the less-resistant pokemon had they not been fighting frostbite before her arrival.

"WOOOOOOOSH!!! Heeheehee! I love doing that!" The goddess landed softly, turning to see the human surrounded by angry pokemon. Ooh! Are we playing a game? I wanna' play, I wanna play! What are the rules? Who's it? How do we tell teams apart? Is it human vs pokemon? That doesn't seem fair, what with him outnumbered!" The goddess bounced along between the troublemakers, oblivious to the hostile mood of those present...

[Justice]

Justice looks at the Pokemon that seem to have gathered because of his own presence. He looks at the creatures, wondering why they dislike his being there. Justice dodges out of the way as the Spearow, the most upset of the group, swoops down in an attempt to either scare of attack him. Budew jumps up on Justice's back in a fit of exitement as he looks at the strange Pokemon. Budew doesn't attack anything, however, for Justice has taught him better.

Justice backs away from the creature to prevent any unnecesary violence, and, as the energetic Pokemon enters into the scene from the sky, Justice's eyes widen. So..That's..Victini.. Justice thinks, in a way disregarding the flying type's outburst as he watches the creature jump around exitedly.

Justice, not knowing exactly how to deal with Pokemon that don't trust him, simply makes a statement to the watching Pokemon, a statement that is all Justice can attempt to do to prevent conflict.

"I'm sorry if I've bothered your village. If it truly is in your wishes for me to leave, that is what I will do, however, don't assume that all humans are as bad as you make them out to be..for the actions of one..cannot decide the actions of many." Justice says, not knowing if the Pokemon before him can even tell what he is saying. Justice looks to Budew with a smile as he pets his head. "Could you say that to them, Budew?"

Budew jumps up and down when he is given a task by his master, who is normally ocupied with taking care of his newly hatched partner. Bud! Budew! Budew dew dewbud dew dew bud bud, bud buddew dew." Budew says, reiterating what Justice had just said, while adding some bit about how great Justice is..

Justice looks to the deity of Vicroty that is before him, wondering why she so readily appeared before a human. Justice awaits a response from the Pokemon, ready to leave if necessary. It's not like there's much he can do if he were to stay here anyway..

[Stryker]

Observing the group of pokemon surrounding the human he sighed. So he chooses the peace route. And what about actions of one deciding how the others would be viewed as? I assume that may be right... he thought as he looked at the victory goddess thinking that everything was a game. 
The pokemon in the group in front of Justice were all looking at Victini and back at the budew, still agitated. "I swear, if we need to waste our food for this..." the spearrow cawed at the human. The rest of the pokemon nodded their heads, glaring at the human.
"I wouldn't worry about the human if I were you." Stryker muttered with acid in his voice as he landed between the pokemon and human. "If you pokemon don't agree with me bringing a human here, you can leave and stay out in the cold. Got a problem, go right ahead and tell me. Problem with food for his pokemon? I'll go right ahead and find it myself." he hissed to the pokemon. He turned back to the human, sighing in annoyance. "My apologies. Leaving this late is a bad idea, it's going to get colder, and I doubt you'll find a warm place to sleep. You hadn't told me your name yet human, so I can properly address you. Have you two introduced each other yet?" he asked, between Victini and the human. "The only reason Victini gave me for being here was that she was bored at her "Big Brother's place". Would you like to join me in searching for dinner? Both of you?" he asked, trying to be friendly.

[Victini]

"Dinner? I LOVE dinner! What are we going to have today, Sylar?" Victini hopped up to Scyther, her body radiating enough heat to creat a mist in the cold weather, blanketing the 'village square' with a layer of chilling fog. The goddess took no time at all to completely forget the almost-fight that had been brewing mere moments ago...


OOC: sorry for such a short post, but honestly Victini isn't paying a terrible lot of attention here, and therefore doesn't have much to say...

[Justice]

Justice listens as Stryker calms the creatures that were previously so vehemently angry. Justice begins to speak, addressing the little bug-type's statements.

"Thank you..for your hospitality. My name..is Justice, to both of you, and it is a pleasure to be in the company of you both. So, dinner you say? To the Gods eat the same food we do? What are we to search for? Justice asks, trying to make conversation with two creatures less than half his size..

As Justice walks, his Pokemon partners are following closely behind, as none of them wish to stay with those less than welcoming Pokemon of the village. Justice, now holding Grace carefully watches as his body escapes the mist created by the sheer energy of the deity of Victory. If..Victini..is one of the less powerful Gods.. Justice both smiles and worries at the same time as his mind flutters back and forth among the many pieces of information he knows about deities. Justice continues to think as he awaits an answer.