The WHITE team

Prophet hadn’t come back yet….That was the single thought that kept creeping into Gio’s head. The prophet said he was going to come back real soon, but still nothing. He got tired of waiting though, even with his idol’s words of staying put, he could not anymore, he needed to find his Prophet soon, he knew nothing else really.

He walked and he walked, first on two feet for a while, but that grew tiring, so he switched to all fours, it felt more….natural. Plus his prophet tended to run on all fours also, so it made him happy to be mimicking him even then. Though not happy enough to forget his loneliness. He had never really been alone, all he knew was of that shiny bugger and Prophet, and now he didn’t even have that bugger. But buggers were scary, so Gio was not so sad to not have the bugger. Though the fact that he was not eating AND away from the Prophet meant that buggers would find Gio soon.

He eventually stopped in front of a…..whatchamakalit. If he was here he’d know what to call it. But for now it was a whatchamakalit. A big whatchamakalit though. What to do with it was beyond him, so he sat in front of it, looking out to see if his prophet had come looking for this thing, so they could finally be reunited and go rolling in the berry bushes or something.

“Hey kiddo! You alive?"

He wasn’t expecting that…..not at all. He was hoping for something to happen, but for a stripy pokemon to be poking its head out of the whatchamakalit was not one of them.

“Not ‘live, Me Gio!”

Gio had no clue why they would call him alive, he already had so many other nicknames, many of which he couldn’t remember right now. He wasn’t gonna let some stripy pokemon start making up nicknames for him, that’s The Prophet’s Job.

(skip)

Prince raced through the undergrowth, swiftly changing his course to dodge the incoming attacks from the undead that trail behind him. Gracefully he side-stepped, not losing his speed as an Eelektross slammed into a tree trunk. There were only three infected left now, but theHaxorus couldn't afford to rest. He stumbled through the bushes, forcefully kicking a rock backwards to hit a Leavanny's frail leg with the stone. He was panting, grasping a fallen log to swing at the remaining two as he tripped backwards, landing on his rump but proud that the horde of dead tracking him were finally executed.

He'd been running for days, almost a week, with little to no rest. He had unsteadily roosted a top strong trees and hid into burrows for naps, the undead merciless as they tried to reach him. It was all over now, finally the infected that chased him so relentlessly were gone, and now he could concentrate on his true goal. Prince steadily rose on his bulky feet, quietly shifting as he looked around, inhaling a good amont of oxygen to try and pick up scents. He had to find Pure.

Breathing, he froze when a familiar smell hit his nose. It was a peculiar kind of scent, something akin to a wilting cherry blossom, and immediately the Haxorus was running again, calling the Sawsbuck's name in hopes for an answer. "Pure! Pure?! Are you here?!"

[OOC: hjsdgbkfsd sorry for the late reply! I kinda forgot I had to post. ^w^;; ]

Lotto really wasn't sure why he had decided to look for that 'bugger'. Something willed him to do so, and he always trusted his gut instinct. That normally brought him to a good stash of Oran berries or maybe even a Chesto berry if he was lucky, but there were instances where the Bidoof was simply silly and forgets his meaning in life. He had gone off on his own, sure, and when he didn't find anything he should have gone straight back; but he didn't. Lotto had found a hollow stump, and climbed himself into it. Lotto didn't really think much after that -- but when he came out of that stump, he was wearing that same goofy grin as he always had, doing a lighthearted sashay as he brought himself back to where he'd find Gio.

But the rascal wasn't there when Lotto came to greet him. "Wha? Where'd the little smite go!" He asked in a shrill voice, fanning himself as if he were having a heart attack. He easily recalled those human drama shows where the women would get all frantic searching for babies they were too irresponsible to take care of. How they blamed other causes, when in fact it was their fault all along. The Bidoof began to sniff out where the Cubchoo might have gone, his twitching nose barely catching the bear's scent. He followed after the trail for a bit, but it wasn't soon after that he found himself lost.

"Pure?! Are you here?!" Lotto's eyes sprung upward as he saw this huge dragon -- a Haxorus, oh my! -- charge through the forest in the heat of the moment. Alight with curiosity, the Bidoof began to chase after the dragon, laughter bubbling up instinctively. How odd this was, meeting a Pokemon who was looking for another Pokemon during his own attempt to find someone. It was looking for someone and instead finding someone who was looking for another stranger! This is making my brain hurt, hee! Although the Haxorus was obviously faster than him, Lotto had a lot of stamina, and he was able to steadily keep the discolored Pokemon in sight as they made a mad dash through the woodland.

"I'm coming 'round the mountain, Gio!" He hollered with great jubilation, hoping his shouts would reach the bear's ears. "Gioiello!"

((Should have done this earlier, but gonna wait a turn to see if Pure/Casanova responds >.<))

[OOC: Skip me this round. ^^;;]

The response of the little cub was.... not exactly what Casanova was expecting. The little creature was making happy sounds, almost like a young baby, but then it waved its arms up into the air. The Zebstrika whinnied softly, shakking his long head as the Cubchoo squealed. “Not ‘live, Me Gio!” This took the equine off gaurd, and he simply gaped at the child. Not 'alive'? What the hell? That in itself was simply... disturbing. Cas pawed at the ground with one hoof at the thought of having to deal with more of those blood thirsty monsters. Oh, how he was sick of them. How he wished they would all just go die in a hole. All of them. His bright gaze darkening with his thoughts, he blew air from his nose in aggitation.

That was, until the sweet scent of his beloved came back to him. The Zebstika's eyes softened, that time with sorrow, as he recalled Pure. His Pure. And she was sill just as much one of them as ever. Making a silent apology for the thoughts she would never hear him speak out loud, he cleared his throat awkwardly to the bear cub. I can only assume that what he said is the tyke's name. Taking a shot in the dark, Casanova trotted forward so that he was right before the kid. "Gio, eh, kiddy? Well, I'm Casanova." Grinnin down at little Gio, Cas tossed his head in a gesture to the dame still on his back. "And this here is Pure. Do you know where we a-?"

But the electric type was interrupted right then by a screeching voice, making him nearly jump into the air and drop the Sawsbuck from his back. "What the FUCK?!" Casanova immediately turned to look behind him, meeting the thoroughly pissed off gaze of what was Pure. She nearly had her teeth bared at him. "Put me the fuck down!" Yep. That's the new Pure, alright.

---

Pure had no idea for how long she had been out. She had lost consciousness almost immediately, falling right into the black. She saw weird things, undead and uninfected alike, flame ridded forests and clifftops over oceans, old friends and new ones all mixed together. It was like one huge mind fuck. The undead could not follow whatever her brain was playing for her, and just simply gave up, ending up just following with the flow. She elt her cheast twist painfully everytime Paladin was shown, his old Deino self, but only became full of rage at the coward's state before he had abandoned them all. She was upsidedown and all this other shit, just making the Sawsbuck's brain scramble to try to make heads or tails of what direction was what. Fuck, this. Stupid brain....

"Pure! Pure?! Are you here?!"

Just as soon as she heard the cry, Pure was ripped from her wird dream. Her eyes snapped open, still processing the yell. It was obviously that shiny Haxorus, Princ. But was it real or just in my head? But as she slowly was able to take in her surrowndings, the Sawsbuck realized something else. Where exactly she was. Nostils suddenly flaring, her eyes sparking with intensity, she yelled at Casanova, "What the FUCK?!" The look of shock and almost fear she received made it all worth it. She spoke slower, as it talking to a small, stupid child. "Put me the fuck down!" The Zebstrika looked pathetic, his blue orbs almost seeming to try and plead with the Sawsbuck. But why do I feel like it has more than to do with letting me off of his back? Reminding herself of the silent pact she made to never be miserable again, Pure took unkindly to his silence as it dragged out.

She scowled at him. "Fine." The duel type would never admit that she couldn't feel her legs, or that her neck stung, or that she was just really fucking tired in general, but that would never stop the stubborn doe. With one swift movement, Pure pulled her forelegs from the other side. "Pure-!!" But his warning was ignored on top of being unnessisary. The Sawsbuck had already fallen to the ground in an ungraceful clump. Grunting as she struggled to straighten her legs beneath her, Pure finally got to her hooves. Breathing a sigh of releif, she started in shock when she felt the Zebstrika's side against her's. She glared up into his clamost.... concerned eyes. "You don't look..." Pure nearly spat at him in response. "Look what? Good? Alive? Just leave me alone."

But when she tried to pull away from him, the Zebstrika was stubbornly by her side. Pure would not admit it, but she honestly needed the zebra's support. Having him there, her legs didn't tremble from the effort of trying to hold her wight. She was releived when Casanova didn't respond to her inquiry, but she could not have have helped but wonder when the hell he had started caring so much.

Watching the stripey pokemon carrying the pink one made Gio only miss his prophet. He liked riding on his back also, made him feel taller and more important, and the occasional mush made him giggle. Made him remember that the only reason that he was right in that spot in the first place was because he was looking for that big toothed prophet. But.....he forgot which way he was going in since resting. So for now he'd just see what these two were about.

"C'Noba, Pure...." one of those names was obviously a lot easier to pronounce than the other. Names....they always seem to torment Gio, who can't even properly pronounce his own name, let alone those odd names he was being given.

Odd names for odd pokemon. All they ever seemed to do was fight with each other, and not the fun fighting and name calling he had seen before, just the boring type of fighting. He had no clue how someone could be carried around and still be grumpy, made no sense at all.

"I'm coming 'round the mountain, Gio!"

"Prophet!"

He knew that voice instantly, he could never forget it, it was really the only one he ever recognized. Other than maybe his own of course. But he had no clue what he had meant by that. He never learned what a mountain was, he knew trees and forests, but he had never seen a mountain. But he was smart, little Gio could easily deduce that a mountain was obviously a type of tree or a bush, but a different one. Now to only figure out what made it different.

The he figured it out, the prophet had clearly told him what to look for, he was just too happy to hear him to actually hear him. A round Mountain Tree! Or bush of course. He just had to go looking for the nearest round plant. But he was way too small to see anything like that. Well, he was too small, but that stripey pokemon wasn't. So walking up to the C'noba, Gio immediately tugged on its leg.

"Round Mountain?"

((sorry for the lateness. But it should be Lulu's turn next since me and ciana went out of order to avoid more skips .-.))

"Prophet!"

Lotto had ran alongside the Haxorus because hey, two people looking for others basically equals that they should work together! When the Bidoof had heard the jubilant voice of his little bear, however, something within the beaver just lit up and spread throughout his entire body like some flaming inferno. It urged him on like a pixie leading an elfin warrior, and with a surprising burst of speed that surprised even himself, Lotto found himself leaving the dragon's side and swiftly running through the forest. He began to remember the small signs of familiar territory here and there, and his pace continued to quicken -- a dilapidated tree trunk, a stone split in two, an Oran berry bush. Lotto felt his easygoing smile widen into a full-out grin as a dash of light blue caught his eye. Gio!

The Bidoof jutted his fore paws onto the ground, turning easily and continuing onward with a push of his hind legs. At this point he was at a slower pace, and it was only when he saw two other horses with the Cubchoo that he had to remind himself that they weren't alone in this forest. Akida and Koren aren't here either... He walked slowly when he caught the angry eyes of the Sawsbuck, his heart sort of wrenching in a sad way when he saw that behind the anger, there was a profound sadness. Ah... Lotto really did not like meddling in the business of others, so with a cock of his head he turned to the object of his running -- "Gioiello, my boy, let us have a proper reunion!" He waggled a finger to signal the little bear to come closer.

He wasn't even sure why he had grown so attached to the Cubchoo, but there was that special something that caused him to... try? To stay within sight of eyes glowing in admiration? Lotto gave in to the urge to laugh, allowing a weird snort and chortle to escape him. I'll be Good Father, and he'll be Happy Son, and we'll be one Awesome Family!

He had no time to waste waiting for the stripey pokemon’s answer, that round mountain won’t be around forever, it could spread legs and run off into the forest at any moment, and he’d forever lose sight of the Prophet! Everything right now could be a round mountain, so he just had to go looking through everything in the entire world, simple no? No one would be able to say that Gio is a bad thinker!

And he would have done just that too, gone on an adventure himself, just so that he may find the Prophet, and go on more adventures!

But The Prophet was always 3 steps ahead, already managing to go around that mountain and find him with ease. Halting just out in the distance before the trees began to get all close together again, and waving to him. And not just normal waving mind you, it was telling Gio to come back to him, not that he even needed an incentive to bolt towards the bigger, browner pokemon.

He was so excited to finally see his Prophet again, that stopping wasn’t even in his mind at all. His over-excitement showing itself when he launched into the air to tackle his Prophet into a hug, and to cling to the familiar fur. He knew if he did garb onto him, he would not let go of his Prophet so easily, not wanting to be separated again. Whimpy-ness can go get lost, he liked being around the Prophet, and that was that.


((sorry for the lateness and slight shortness, real world can be so cruel in its demands sometimes |D))

[ooc: Skip.]

"What the FUCK?!"

Well, that was Pure alright. The Haxorus began running faster in anticipation, watching the trees gently thin into a clearing where the Sawsbuck and Zebstrika stood... Along with a Cubchoo and Bidoof. "Pure! I found you!" he smiled, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. "I've been looking all around the region for you... When that Musharna teleported you--you have no idea how worried I was." he coughed a bit, placing one clawed hand onto his forehead. "I didn't want to lose you."

Regaining his composure, he gazed at the smaller Pokemon, he smiled. The way they talked was peculiar, but cute. 'It's been a while since I've met such a fun lot.' The thought made him chuckle. Prince soon redirected his attention to the cervine and equine. "Anyways... You guys hungry? I can go find lunch for everyone, if you want." He shrugged, looking back the way he came. "Saw some nice berry bushes while I was running, some of them had some ripe fruit."

It was oddly satisfying to feel the little tyke run over and tackle him! Lotto knew that Gio was still so young and cute and innocent -- he did witness the bear's birth after all! -- so he was way out of line for leaving him alone, even if he did return. The Bidoof toppled over when Gioiello threw himself onto him, and Lotto laughed joyfully along. Worry later, Lotto! You can get back to it later. He thought happily as he rolled onto his paws once more, ruffling the Cubchoo's head.

"When the Musharna teleported you... I didn't want to lose you." He was distracted slightly by the tender words of the Haxorus, craning his neck just so he can glimpse at the other three nearby. Now, Lotto wasn't blind, but he really didn't want to involve himself. On a second thought, however, he knew that sticking with the others would be better and cooler too. The Haxorus turned to them for a second, acknowledged them, before going back to the other two. I wonder if Gio had eaten yet... He looked at the bear beside him, cooing softly and pulling a funny face.

"Gio," he said in a playfully stern tone. "Let's introduce ourselves to these fine Pokemon!" Lotto motioned with a paw for the bear to follow, before padding up to the much taller animals before him. If he was the one in charge of the child, he was going to take initiative! He was going to teach the bear the ways of his people, and learn how to survive in this epidemic -- Arceus knows how much worse the pandemic had gotten outside of White Forest. Lotto tipped his hat in greetings to the strangers. "Hello, hello, I am Lotto, local White Forest neighbor and friend to all!"

Even when he and the Prophet got up, Gio still did not let go of the older pokemon’s fur. Afraid if he let go, that the pokemon might run off again. So he trailed behind his Prophet, walking on two legs so that at least one of his paws can keep a hold on him. He hated using two feet to walk, it felt weird….but he really didn’t want to let go, never ever.

But things where okay, because he was back, and everything was good again. It was as if nothing had even changed, as if it never happened. The mere thought of it happening again made Gio want to cry, but he wouldn’t let himself, because Gio was not whimpy!

Gio followed along as the Prophet went about introducing himself, the way he had done before with those other pokemon that left. So of course Gio was quick to follow in Example.

“Harro! Gio still Gio!”

Because really; Gio had already introduced himself to the Stripey pokemon, C’Noba and Pure. Just not the giant one with the pointy things coming out of its mouth, which looked like giant teeth to him…. Made him wonder if after teeth grow all huge wide like Prophet’s, that they would eventually grow outwards like that pokemon’s. Gio was back to pulling at his front teeth again with his free arm, trying to see if his own teeth where already showing any signs of enlarging and growing all huge.

Nope….Not yet, maybe someday though, hopefully then he would be able to do an ultra-mega-super-chomp also.

The Haxorus watched as the smaller Pokemon came up to him, the Bidoof tipping his hat in greeting while the little Cubchoo followed his lead. "Hello, hello, I am Lotto, local White Forest neighbor and friend to all!" "Great to meet you, Lotta," the Haxorus smiled. “Harro! Gio still Gio!” He chuckled, bending down a bit so he won't be towering over the young ones. "Great to meet you too, Gio. My name's Prince!" Nodding in delight, he laughed. "I hope we become good friends."

Ah, how he missed the innocence of children. It had been so long since the Haxorus had seen a child, let alone been one. The last one he had met was a small Axew, he remembers, and also Eris the Deino. He paused for a moment to remember the old days, back of the cliffs with Paladin and Pure, watching the sun set as they laughed about their day. It was some kind of utopia, back then, the lands where they slept protecting them as they played be day and talked by night...and such a shame that such days had been crushed so easily. It wasn't long before the dragon paused, the grumbling of his own stomach interrupting his thoughts.

"So... Wanna go get some berries?"

The dragon jovially introduced himself as Prince -- and wow, the name fit such an elegant elemental type! "So... wanna go get some berries?" Lotto grinned toothily at the prospect of a meal (finally!), and rubbed his stomach in appreciation. It didn't feel so long ago that he would give up his share of berries at the orphanage to the growing kids -- no, it didn't feel that long at all! Lotto nodded eagerly in response to Prince, already liking this fine lad. Looking over to Gio, he saw the bear playing with his mouth in a silly way.

It was such a weird action that Lotto burst out in laughter. "Oh li'l Gio, you're so funny!" The Bidoof shook his head in order for him to contain himself, before turning to Prince and tipping his hat. "Lead the way, kingly Prince!" He wagged his tail in excitement as he brought himself closer to the bear. Lesson one of survival; never pass up an opportunity to eat. Lotto nudged Gioiello playfully, signaling to his back. "Hop on up, ye jewel, we're gardeners right now! We hafta gather berries right away!"

[ooc: still trying to get into Lotto's groove again loool]

"Great to meet you too, Gio. My name's Prince! I hope we become good friends."

Priss. It was an odd name, or at least he thought it was an odd name, he didn’t really have much to compare it too. It just sounded different. He liked razor teeth better. It was easier to remember, seeing as Gio could only really remember those massive razor teeth on the giant pokemon. Maybe if Gio asked, he could get too touch those giant teeth or his, that would make him extremely happy!

“Lesson one of survival; never pass up an opportunity to eat.”

Gio wasn’t particularly hungry, but if what Prophet said was true, then they needed to eat! After all, what’s the point of a lesson if you don’t do it? Plus, maybe if he got to them all, he could get a vision and become a Prophet also! He liked this plan a lot; he liked it even better when the Prophet offered up a piggyback ride.

Gio didn’t even need to be asked twice. Being able to be carried on the Prophet was his favorite thing in the world! He didn’t have to walk AND he got to see everything like the Prophet sees it, higher up. The day was getting better already, the sadness of having been separated already leaving Gio’s mind entirely as he rapidly climbed onto Prophet’s Back, already giddy about the height difference.

“Onwards Matey!”

Already bringing his paws up above his eyes in a seeking motion, fully immersed into finding food as if it was a giant game to him. He wanted to show off for his Prophet by finding a berry bush first. But all he saw that where close was a lot of trees and grass, and lots of berry-less bushes. The only color around that stood out were farther ahead, the colorful patch highly noticeable against the green.

“Prophet, Prophet. Berries!” Already pointing ahead with one paw and over-exaggerating his gestures to get them all to notice.


((Why is it that Gio can pronounce Prophet but not other names?.......cause..... xD))

"Lead the way, kingly Prince!" He chuckled, nodding as he turned to delve deeper into the forest, before stopping to find that Pure and Casanova were no longer there. "Hey kids, did you see where the duo went?" he mumbled, looking around. No sign of them... "Huh, maybe they went ahead. Perhaps we'll run into them later." he shrugs, before motioning to the two smaller Pokemon to follow. "Let's go!" Prince grinned as he stepped into the undergrowth, confidently striding through the woodlands.

Stopping at the bushes filled with berries, he turned back to the other two. "Hey, let's make this a game! There's berry bushes scattered all around this area, the Pokemon who gathers the most berries in the course of five minutes wins a prize!" Smiling, Prince stretched upwards to the higher branches of the trees, snatching three, large leaves from their place and handing it to the kids. "Here you go. Just put all the berries you find in the leaves!" Dusting off his clawed hands he grins. "Ready... Set..."

"Go!"

"Hey kids, did you see where the duo went?" Prince asked with concern, and Lotto could only shake his head. Wow, I should have been looking...! The Bidoof thought in rationalization, understanding that the dragon had been running to find those two. The beaver frowned slightly as Prince easily shrugged it off, hoping that he would be okay -- hoping that the two equines would pop up soon, or something! The Haxorus had motioned for them to follow him jubilantly. "Let's go!" It was sort of funny to see such a huge Pokemon grin and run with abash. Funny as in weird, like a dragon hopping through a bush. El. Oh. El. Lotto laughed as he nudged Gio to follow after, before bursting through the bush himself.

Lotto honestly thought that the dragon was pretty cool for being such a huge dragon, but Prince just continued to prove that when he suggested collecting berries become a game. "Brilliant!" He said in a British accent, clapping his fore paws together in excitement. Grinning himself, he gladly took a huge leaf in his jaws, and gave a happy nod. Giving one last salute, Lotto took off towards the nearest bush.

Gio could only look on in confusion as Razor-Tooth gave him a giant leaf to hold. He was almost expecting the Razor-Tooth to tell him to eat it, like it was an alternate form of berries. He was already going to bite into the green thing when Razor-Tooth continued on, talking of races and prizes. Prize he knew, they where like a gift or something, something amazing that he may be able to have.

But race?

No clue.

But at the giant “Go!” that the dragon let out, every fiber in Gio’s being immediately told him the answer. IT WAS A GAME! One that they would all play, AND there was a gift at the end of this game!

Prophet was already underway, dashing to the bush and gathering things onto the leaf, so Gio didn’t waist time. If it was a game, he wanted to play, and play he did.

He immediately went after the Prophet, but went to the other side of the berries to take his part. He was too excited about being able to play that he didn’t discriminate between bush and berry as he went on picking and giggling at the same time. Whole berries and the sticks and leaves still attached to them went into his pile. Heck, quite a few of the berries even ended up getting squished due to his excitement. But he wasn’t paying attention to that. He was too busy having fun.

Gio only paused in his berry picking to wipe his nose, he was moving around so much that more stuff was starting to run down. It was only then that he actually took heed of how big his pile was. Or how big it wasn’t in other cases, but to the bear, his pile was magnificent, and seemed to form its own hill right in front of him.

Gio went immediately back to picking, he had no clue when those minute pokemon where going to come, but he wanted to get more before 5 of them gathered!

As the two smaller Pokemon dashed off, Prince found himself laughing. The Haxorus rose up to get the berries that hung from the trees, maneuvering his tusks to hit them down into his own large leaf. He hit the trunk of the tree with his palm with restrained strength, causing a rain of fruit to fall on him. Brushing off a few of the berries from his head, he moved slowly to the other trees, careful not to let any of his current pile fall. "We're definitely going to have a feast..." he chuckles.

Setting his leaf down so he would no longer risk having his pile fall onto the earth, he slowly got on all fours, before leaping and clinging onto the rough bark of a tree, carefully climbing upwards. The tree groaned with his weight, and Prince jumped to catch a branch, snapping it in his descent. He plucked the berries on the branch he had grabbed off, placing them neatly on the bottom of his pile.

Lotto was humming a juvenile tune as he meticulously picked berries from a nearby bush, creating a small pyramid on his leaf. It's all about the presentation! Nodding at how right that was, the Bidoof turned his head slightly as he watched Gio destroy the bush as he dragged 'basically' the entire thing onto his leaf. Lotto found himself laughing as he scooted next to the bear. "Silly bear, you've gotta put the yummy things on the leaf, and leave everything else. That's like eating dirt and realizing it was really poop!" He grinned at his brilliant example, before he realized that the connection had to be drawn for Gio. "That's yucky, by the way. No bueno!" The beaver patted the ice type's head and ruffled the growing fur in humor.

He took a glance upwards, finding his spirits lifting as he saw the tall trees stretch towards the sun above. Although it had been a good time ago that he had moved to White Forest and used Amnesia to forget how he even got here, Lotto loved the endlessly good weather and the wide expanse of woodland. Many forgotten visitors had come and gone; some uninfected but in fear, some infected and crazed. The Bidoof could barely recall bits and pieces, a broken past of broken memories that only now did he regret losing. Scratching his chin in thought, Lotto understood that he had lost a part of himself in attempting to forget his past. I'll be darned if I let that happen again!

Giving a determined huff, he lowered his gaze and tugged playfully (and not too hard!) on Gio's ear. This kid was so small, he thought, so weird and awesome for something so small! Lotto then lumbered back to this neatly piled heap of berries, quickly plucking a few more to add to his stack. When it was good enough for himself and more leftover, the Bidoof then began to fold the leaf for easier carrying; but he had no thumbs, so he had so much trouble Lotto settled with a messy wrap. If it's good enough for me, it's great enough for everyone else! Beaming victoriously, Lotto placed the bundle on his back and padded back to Gioiello.

"Say hey, Prince!" He waved a fore paw to the Haxorus, calling for his attention. "I was wonderin' and all, but I was thinking about how you knew those horses back there. How do ya know 'em?" Lotto inquired, wondering what was up with that. The Bidoof actually felt rather at ease with the dragon -- when he spotted the Haxorus racing wildly in search of Pure, so desperate, he knew how he felt (to a lesser extent). So yeah, it was an odd kinship with the dragon who could bend a tree, but it was a connection and it worked. Lotto gave an easy grin and waggled his nonexistent eyebrows.

"Silly bear, you've gotta put the yummy things on the leaf, and leave everything else. That's like eating dirt and realizing it was really poop!” Only the Prophet’s words could have snapped Gio out of that vigorous trance he was in of plucking anything his paws could come across, desperately trying to get as much on his leaves before the 5 minute pokemon came and stopped everything. He could barely even figure out what his Prophet was even talking about though. The green stuff was attached to the berries, so it stood to reason that anything attached to the yummy stuff was tasty itself.

“That's yucky, by the way. No bueno!”

Though he had to debunk that idea as soon as he tried the leaves himself. For something attached to the sweet round berries, those green leaves tasted very, very yucky indeed. One nibble and the bear was spitting the stuff out. Even doing it twice and spitting out the long brown bits that he had to taste for himself, even those where yucky…..

“No bueno.....”

Gio couldn’t have that at all, so he immediately went about pulling all the green and brown pieces attached to the berries from his pile. He couldn’t have Prophet or Razor-Tooth eating yucky bits.

The tugging on his ear brought him out of that little world he goes into whenever he gets really interested in something. Gio couldn’t help but to let out a huge smile once he noticed it was the Prophet doing so. He didn’t stay around long, the Prophet was a busy pokemon, one who knew how to do incredible things such as fold a big leaf. But Gio didn’t mind, the Prophet had already left once, and it make Gio very sad….But the Prophet came back, so he knew that if Prophet left again, Gio just had to wait, cause his Prophet would come back for him eventually.

So when the Prophet came padding back to Gio and Razor-Tooth with a neat leaf of berries with him, Gio was proud to proclaim to his Prophet, “No more Yucky’s.”

But that just left the question or what they were going to do with all the berries now. He had no clue if the game was still on; he had been too busy taking the yucky stuff out of his pile that he forgot to keep a look out for the minute pokemon…

Oh well, the Prophet and Razor-Tooth would know.

((sorry about the lateness, guess i forgot what this Team's Order was, and didn't know it was my turn |D))

Still picking his share, his attention was caught when he heard one of the voices call for him. "Say hey, Prince!" he turned, expression curious as he regarded the Bidoof. "I was wonderin' and all, but I was thinking about how you knew those horses back there. How do ya know 'em?" It wasn't long before his complexion transformed into a frown, but quietly he forced it into a sad smile. "Them? Oh well..." he paused, thinking. "I only really knew the Sawsbuck, honestly. I barely knew the Zebstrika."

"Me and Pure, the Sawsbuck, were childhood friends. I used to know them when I was still a little Axew. Pure, Paladin, and I always used to meet up together on a cliff not too far from Icirrus city, where we talked for hours upon hours about our day, random topics, stuff like that." For a split second, his expression had contorted to one of pure hatred when he said the word 'Paladin' but soon turned back into a calm smile as he continued. "It was by pure luck that I was able to find her in this Epidemic world. I found her and Casanova, the Zebstrika, in Icirrus. We battled a couple undead and they both ended up getting teleported, so I began to search for them again. Found them here but now..." he looked deeper into the woods, sighing. "Looks like they've developed a knack for suddenly vanishing without a trace."

"... Pure, Paladin, and I always used to meet up together on a cliff not too far from Icirrus city, where we talked for hours upon hours about our day, random topics, stuff like that..." Lotto only realized that he had stumbled upon a sour topic when Prince's face twisted into something else for a small millisecond. The Bidoof cocked his head in question, wondering what could have struck a chord within the dragon. "Looks like they've developed a knack for suddenly vanishing without a trace." He ended his story on a bittersweet note, and suddenly he found that there was no time to keep 'wondering' at all.

"Prince! Those buggers are behind ya!" Behind the dragon there stood an alarming crowd of Rhyhorns, a rare but nonetheless native animal to White Forest. The quadruped Pokemon stomped their feet angrily, and for a second Lotto thought they had trespassed on their territory. Upon a guttural and inhumane screech, however, he became aware of the deep red eyes and the open wounds. These weren't normal, angry Rhyhorns; they were bloodthirsty, gone-mad infected!

His mind raced with intense thoughts. The first thing that came to mind was Gio -- how was he going to get the little bear to safety? His second thought was how he and Prince might evade these crazed Pokemon. Or will we run at all? Were they going to duke it out and beat the jack-o-lanterns out of them? But what about Gioiello?! Eyes wide in surprise but muscles tensed in preparation, Lotto looked straight into the bear's eyes. "Gioiello. Promise me you'll hide in a bush until we're done okay? Just stay in there, no matter what."

His voice was strained, yet he controlled it and kept it strong. "Go!" Giving one last nudge to Gio to the closest bush, Lotto had just turned his head when the first of the Rhyhorns led the stampede.