Private/Closed Exploration of the Froena Region

[MelodyMay]

Welcome, new trainers, to the Froena Region An uninhabited land that the eighteen of you will be exploring. The sign up link will be here:

https://pokecharms.com/threads/exploration-of-the-froena-region-sign-ups.17832/

Please make your form there. I will be making one myself after a couple people sign up so someone other than the thread maker can have first pick there are eighteen pokemon available and once they are gone, no one else can join. Look forward to seeing you

 

[MelodyMay]

Asriel leaned against the ships railing, watching the sea go by. He wasn't supposed to, the water pokemon were unusually aggressive in these seas and he knew larger ones like Gyarados were confirmed to be in these waters. He had been cooped up for days trying to follow that safety precaution and he needed some fresh air. Sleipnir, not be comfortable around so much water, had been kept in his pokeball for the whole ship ride. Asriel, so timid around new people, hadn't made an attempt to get to know the only people he would be near for the next however many months.

The edge of the new region loomed on the horizon. "It won't be long now," he whispered to himself, running his hand over his right ear, making sure the large, golden flower was still there. Grasping the silver locket around his neck, he firmly said, "We're going to figure things out and we'll have fun; just you wait." A sense of determination washed over him, making him feel warmer inside than he had in months.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

The climb hardly gave Heather any trouble. It was the fall itself that she had learned to fear.

Fortunately, in the literal sense, falling from her current height wouldn't be too painful save for a temporary smudge of embarrassment, and the way it was looking, her strong grip wouldn't give for so much as a change in the sweet, stinging wind.

The girl found herself inspired by the ocean view, and in a moment of tired impulse, had started climbing up the side of the ship's passenger cabin in the hopes of giving herself a thrill. She had succeeded without any doubt, grinning like a fiend as she giddily hopped off of the overturned bucket/makeshift stepstool and used her clamoring hands to pull herself to the roof. A few moments of awkward, scrambling movements later, she had done it, pulling her knees to her chest with a content sigh as her hungry eyes locked on the glittering horizon.

Her companion, however, was less than pleased to be awoken by the sudden maneuver. Grunting and grumbling, her Sandile, Lenya, slid lazily from her spot behind Heather's neck over to her shoulder, only to chirp out a frantic croak of discontent at their new position above the ground.

"Oh hush, Lennie." Heather cooed with an eyeroll, rubbing her scaly head with a thumb to be both comforting and playful. Lenya huffed, gently nipping her hand in defiance, before giving in to nuzzle her palm just as Heather let out a honeyed laugh.

 

[MelodyMay]

Looking around in boredom, Asriel saw someone standing atop the passenger cabin. Running over, he yelled, "What do you think you're doing up there? You're going to break your neck!"

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Heather winced at the sudden call, looking first to Lenya, who, acting rather unhelpfully, merely shook her head at her trainer with a little "tut" before scrambling back into her jacket's confines of safety. Now suddenly on the spot, Heather peered down at Asriel below with a confused, nonassuming smile.

"What? There's no rule against it, right?" She asked, painfully sincere. There was probably no specific rule against juggling knives, either, but that didn't make it a good idea. Hoping to change the subject, she outstretched her arm to point at the roiling sea beyond them both. "It's a great view from up here. I really recommend it!"

 

[MelodyMay]

Shaking his head, Asriel stared in disbelief. How could she be so reckless? But what could he do; he couldn't force her down. It may be a low blow, but maybe a guilt trip would work.

"You'd risk your pokemon as well for your stunt? How well do you think a Sandile would take having a grown human fall on it? And if you get badly hurt it'll reflect on the professors. Really, great way to thank them for this opportunity," he said, making his voice sound scathing. It was all true either way but he felt low for throwing it in her face.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Halt walked outside, to check to see how much longer till they reach shore. As he walked out, his Riolu ran over beside his extremely tall trainer. Once he opened the doors, he stepped to the bow of the boat, riolu running and climbing up his back. "Not to much longer." Halt said quietly to his partner. He suddenly heard some yelling from behind him. "Hey, could you stop yelling!" He calls over. "It might agitate the pokemon!" Halt had a deep voice, so even talking quietly, it sounded like thunder. Almost like karma, the boat jerked to the left suddenly, like something his the sea craft.

 

[MelodyMay]

Asriel, barely keeping himself from falling over, looked over at the other boy. "I know," he said, lowering his voice. "But you try getting her down," he added, pointing at the girl on the roof.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Heather blanched, looking to Lenya on instinct as he mentioned the beloved Sandile. Her beady little eyes were peering out from under the denim, and Heather could tell that she wasn't in disagreement with Asriel's argument.

"Oh. Alright then. O-kay. You're right. And I'll stop yelling, too." She passively replied, voice going hollow from the shame of the moment. Her now-twitchy hands made hurried work on their way down from the roof, landing a time or two on splintered wood as she skulked like a whipped Skitty towards the deck. Finally within safe distance to jump the rest of the way, she braced herself to push off and land.

Except, the sharp jolt of the boat came a moment too soon, jamming her thankfully-Sandile free right shoulder into the solid wall of the cabin. Lenya squeaked, and Heather hurried to comfort her after a brief moment of bearing the seething pain.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Halt heard the sound, and ran over to see what's wrong. He jumped onto the side of the smooth boat, and pulled himself up. Luckily, his shoes had very good traction, and he was used to making quick movements due to running on ice back in Snowpoint. "What's up?" He asked the girl as he slid to a stop in her room. "Are you alright?" Right now, safety was first priority, but she was going to get an earful if she was alright, and he ran up here for no reason. (I am thinking this is more of a yhatt style of boat. Correct me if im wrong.)

 

[SmelterSkelter]

"I'm--ha--fine." Heather huffed, scrunching up her brow as she let Lenya crawl out onto her other hand. The tenderness returned to her gaze as she cradled the startled Sandile to her chest, but dissipated just as quickly when she had to look up and face the music. "I'm Heather. Heath, if you're a friend. We're alright, really." She tried by way of introduction. She wasn't about to comb the incident over, but a friendly introduction with her albeit hardly-convincing smile might have managed to take their minds off of her hiccup.

 

[FrostCrispz]

"Could you please try to be more careful." Halt said, in a commanding tone, speaking like he was trying to be nice, and get his point across. His deep voice made it seem like every word, he was yelling. "Your pokemon is still small, it could be hurt easy. Don't you think you need to be careful with it. At least know what is safe or not safe to do?" Halt sighed, being how he said this to many kids around his town. He rolled his eyes at her. "Just don't be reckless when we get off the boat. That would be a bigger mistake than here. It could cost lives."

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Despite Halt's naturally harsh tone of voice, Heather didn't flinch, uttering a quick "Of course!" amidst his questioning to prove she was listening. Heather was no small fry, and upon straightening her already-decent posture, she finally seemed to have some semblance of maturity to her when owning up to the farce. "It's- I'm sorry. It's one thing to do something reckless on my own, but there was no reason to bring Lenya into it. It's just exciting to be here, you know? I know it's silly, getting caught up on the rooftop like a kid, but we've been cooped up on this ship like nobody's business. It won't happen again... unless there's a ladder involved." A slight bow of her head ensured she was finished making her case.

Heather didn't see it, but Lenya snapped her tiny jaws at Halt as he scolded her trainer. Sure, she didn't enjoy the heights half as much as Heather did, but something in her protective nature still didn't like to see her receive a lecture, even if she deserved it.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Riolu noticed the small action by the sandile, and pounded his fist into his hand, like he was ready to fight. He looked well prepared for a battle. "Just being on a roof is dangerous enough. Im not trying to yell at you, it's just you need to think a little more about things around you. What if, I don't know, a jerk like before hit you while on the roof, and you fall in. Or in that manner, your pokemon falls in. What then?" Halt, content he got his point across, walked to the door of the room. "The wait wouldn't be much longer, and if you want to look around outside, the bow is open for us to go onto."

 

[MelodyMay]

With the excitement over, Asriel resumed his place at the railing of the large boat. It was as big as a yacht but reinforced in case of attacks by water pokemon. If you were to classify it just based on how much living space there was, it was a small passenger ship.

A quick look under the choppy waves revealed nothing except the large, glistening white fangs of whatever pokemon hit the boat. It poked it's head out of the water, revealing an angry, territorial Gyarados. It didn't follow anymore so they most be out of its waters.

Feeling lonesome and empty, Asriel left the sun and went into the living quarters, releasing Sleipnir, his Mudbray, in the process. The ground type was nervous as he felt the rocking of the boat and stuck to his trainers side.

"Everyone all right here? A Gyarados rammed us," Asriel commented as he caught up with the two from earlier.

 

[FrostCrispz]

"Yea, we are all fine and dandy." Halt said, and walked past him back to the bow of the boat. He's ready for the boat to land, and get back on dry land. And get away from the people on the ship. He just wants to go explore.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Still slightly shamefaced, Heather murmured her sincerest of apologies to Lenya before setting the little croc back on her shoulder, who clicked appreciatively in response. "Everything's okay, and I'm sorry to have stirred up so much trouble in so little time. That has to be a new record." She chuckled humorlessly, adjusting the straps of her bag in preparation to step onto the bow. "Although... even if I really appreciate the concern, it wouldn't hurt to be a little... nicer? I said my apology, and I'm definitely not saying you should have to give one as well. Maybe you both could just start by giving me your names, and in return, I'll make a special effort not to do anything else stupid for at least twenty-four hours."

 

[FrostCrispz]

"My names Halt." He said, sighing as he said it. "Sorry I kinda snapped at you. I'm from Snowpoint in Sinnoh, and I deal with that kind of stuff all the time. Everyone and their Uncle did that at least once while they're in Snowpoint. This is kinda like a vacation for me, and then you do that. Think how that made me feel about my peace trip." He licked his index finger, and stuck it in the air. "Wait for it, wait, Now!" Halt said, right as a flock of wingull fly over head. "Only about five more minutes." Halt said quietly to his Riolu. "Wingull are coastal birds, and will only fly in flocks close to shore."

 

[MelodyMay]

"Good, I'm feeling a bit stir crazy on this boat," Asriel told Halt with a smile. Turning to Heather with a guilty look on his face, he added, "And I'm sorry; I know I was needlessly mean but this is a boat, not exactly stable footing... It was rude but I figured it was the fastest way to get you down," He explained.

Running a hand through the mane of his nervous ground type, he decided to introduce himself. "My name is Asriel, by the way. Asriel Dreemurr; I'm from Hau'oli City in Alola. This is Sleipnir, my Mudbray; have you guys ever gotten to see one before? I know your pokemon are pretty new to me, especially this little guy," he said in regards to Riolu.

 

[FrostCrispz]

"I've seen them, but not really. Long story, very long story." Halt said. He motioned to Riolu. "This guy is Riolu, my partner for this excursion. But he is pretty rare, even in Sinnoh, so I understand why you might not know him." Riolu took the chance provided, and did a little bow to the trainer before him.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

"It's water under the bridge to me, and no, I've never seen either one up close before. I haven't been out of Unova for... fifteen years now?" Heather said, tapping her chin in thought while admiring the two Pokemon. She greeted both of the partners with a friendly nod, especially delighted by Riolu's little bow as she took her turn to point at the Sandile-shaped lump on her shoulder. "This little gal creeping out in my jacket is Lenya, and in case I didn't say it loud enough for you both earlier, I'm Heather, or Heath, if you feel like saving a syllable.

At the mention of her name, Lenya yawned and licked her lips, frankly indifferent to being put on display as her head peeked back out.

 

[MelodyMay]

Sleipnir, terrified of being on a boat, was laying on the floor and meekly brayed at all the new people and pokemon. Asriel chuckled at all the pokemon. "What kind of habitat do you guys think we'll see first?" Asriel asked. He was hoping to see a grassland, simply for the variety in wildlife.

Giving his most frmal bow, he returned Riolu's gesture before offering all three of the pokemon a sitrus berry. "Anyone hungry?" he asked them cheerfully.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Riolu quickly lept up, and grabbed one of the berries. He quickly started eating, knowing that he wasn't gonna eat again until lunch.
"I gotta say a kind of rocky beach. Being this is a dangerous region, and not many people come here. They plan to inhabit this place, you know. As a kinda frontier for skilled trainers." Halt said in response to the comment. He cracked a small grin when he saw him return the bow. "You do understand that is a sign of battle, a return bow? You just accepted a battle." He almost laughed, knowing that he must've had no idea.

 

[MelodyMay]

The white haired boy blinked owlishly at Halt's words before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and grinning. "Had no idea; thought he was being a polite little fella. But if its a battle he wants, he's welcome to it when we land."

The he grew somber; Halt had a point. "You're right though; the professors are in this for research and knowledge but any government with two regions under their rule will have a lot of leverage. They'll want to know anything we find." Sleipnir felt better with a berry on his belly and so he sought to play with Riolu. Standing and towering over the smaller fighting type, he lightly stamped his hoof, as though he were preparing a charge.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Riolu watched as the mudbray readied a charge, and ran forward with his own, buy lept over the pokemon.
"Yea. Professor Rowan told me that I might be able to be a gym leader in this region when it becomes populated." Halt said. He looked out. "Not much longer." He said, pointing out the short distance till they reach land.

 

[MelodyMay]

"Yeah," Asriel said wistfully. "A gym leader sounds fun; I'm here for more personal reasons," he added, reflexively checking the golden flower behind his ear.

Sleipnir playfully charged the baby pokemon. A sudden lurch of the boat sent him tumbling to the floor. Thinking it to be a rough current, he went to charge again only to be sent sprawling by an even worse lurch. "What is going on?" Asriel asked, hugging the wall for support as a third lurch rattled the ship.

Under the waves, Gyarados and Sharpedo alike were attacking the ship, pummeling the thick, durable metal with everything their bodies had.

 

[Mascara Tigre]

Despite the boat's violent lurching, Nostradamus B. Dammed was relatively unperturbed, as he leaned against the floating hunk of metal that was his Beldum. The tiny figure stood by the railing, but didn't bother to peer over the edge, instead his gaze was focused on the small, black mirror that he held in his free hand. After awhile, he frowned at his Pokemon partner, who was as unmoving and mechanical as ever, and whistled. 'That's not good.'

"The ocean, it wants blood." He said matter-of-factly, letting the words bounce around to whoever might hear it. With that being said, he yawned, and resumed staring into his mirror. He didn't seem to be too bothered by what he had said.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Just as Lenya had scurried down Heather's pantleg to play and nip at the heels of Sleipnir and Riolu, the violent lurching snapped her back into focus. The scaly little fiend looked this way and that for the source of the noise, snapping her jaws with a desire to fight. Heather carefully scooped her back up and set her gently but insistently onto her shoulder again, bracing against the cabin wall for support as she beckoned for Halt to do the same. "Asriel? What do you see? Should we get the professors?" She bellowed.

 

[MelodyMay]

Dashing out onto the deck, and leaving the cabin door open so the others could still hear him, the white haired young man grabbed the rail tightly and peered into the waves. He spared Nostradamus an odd look- how could someone be calm after saying that sentence?!- before turning back to the water to find A Gyarados towering above the boat, snarling with its fangs unfurled.

The beast fired a hydro pump at the deck; the force of the blast nearly tipped the boat. While hanging on for dear life, Asriel noticed something small and blue flying from the Gyarados as it recoiled from the force of the blast. He assumed it to be a loose scale until it bounced back thanks to a thin bit of silver that glimmered in the bright sun. "A held item?" Asriel whispered as the realisation struck him.

"Guys, they aren't wild; we're being ambushed!" he yelled out as the crew started filling the deck. None of them had a full team, that would take too many rations from their normal long voyages, and the pokemon they did have were, for the most part, not that strong against water types. Cat-like pokemon, to chase away pests that tried to stow away, water types that could help out it there was something wrong with the rudder or if a leak needed to be frozen. There were only two or three electric types and all of them were there just for lightning rod; none could comfortably get under the water to get at the bulk of the attack.

 

[Mascara Tigre]

Despite now clinging onto each other for dear life, after almost being thrown out into depths, neither March nor its short trainer seemed particularly interested in the situation at the moment. Though unlike the Beldum, Nostradamus at least had the good sense to stare up at their aggressors, in this case it was a towering sea monster that was very capable of swallowing them both whole. "Neat." That thought gave the boy a reason to gulp softly, though it didn't stop him from staring at his mirror once more, as a busy hand latched onto his unmoving, telekinetic automaton.

After studying the blackened piece of glass in his hands for awhile longer, he turned his attention to the boy that stared at him, and managed a slightly irked tone. "We're probably going to die, if we don't find a past them." He... giggled(?), before taking on a more serious expression. "My voice isn't very loud." The teacup child sighed in a tiny voice. "Do you mind calling out to our friends in the back again? Maybe they can think of a way out of this. One that doesn't involve risking our lives out in the open water." He shrugged, before looking up at the Gyarados again, and huffing. "I sure can't."

 

[EnderTheFox]

Spade huffed as she walked up from below deck "Whats going on!" she shouted before being knocked over. Her head snapped up to the giant pokémon who was attacking them "Tailgate, lets go!" she said while chucking the pokémons pokéball in front of her. The dark pokémon appeared with a white light before huffing and crossing her arms. Standing up Spade looked around "There's a close island, Tailgate could probably freeze the water to make a bridge over!" she called out.

 

[MelodyMay]

Asriel looked back at the new girl, her Sneasel at the ready. "We'll be sitting ducks!" Asriel called back. But then he caught sight of the back of the boat; it was being assaulted by another Gyarados, the great beast trying to wrap the boat in its tail in an attempt to slow them down. "But looks like we don't have many options..." he conceded.

Seeing the young adults, the Captain ran over. His Manectric ran with him, firing off a thunderbolt at the sea beast in front of them. "You! Volunteers, please follow me!" He told them before dashing towards the stairs leading down into the ships belly. Asriel called back Sleipnir- no way should he be out with Hydro Pumps being tossed around!- and ran after Captain Bradford. The sounds of the boat being attacked echoed through the hull of the ship.

Bradford traveled to the front of the boat, on the lowermost level and pulled a switch, opening a hatch in the wall, leaving about a foot of air between them and the water. "This hatch is used when we have to send in sailors to check on the boats condition. Most of our assailants are attacking from behind; head this way and they may not notice your escape to the island. Once all of you are off, we'll turn around and hopefully they'll lose interest," he explained.

Indeed, Asriel could see the shores of the island. It was nothing but a dark outcrop from here. Maybe an hour or two away by foot. It was a stretch but it was also their only chance. Lifeboats wouldn't last under this assault. "This is why no government would fun this trip," he muttered.

 

[EnderTheFox]

Spade followed them down, her sneasel following behind her. looking out into the water she pointed at the sea "Icy wind!", Tailgate opened her mouth "Snea!" she screeched as a chilling blast reached the water freezing it over. The 19 year old looked around "Everyone, lets go, we have no choice its either stay here and die or make it to that island!" she stated point out into the distance.

 

[Mascara Tigre]

Nostradamus waltzed after the other trainers, leaning onto March for support, as he tried his darndest not to fall over. It was not an easy feet, considering that there were at least two leviathans actively attacking the ship through various means, and generally making a mess of things. But somehow, the titch had somehow pulled it off, with tons of help from his Beldum. As the hatch opened, and plans unfurled, the boy finally pocketed his mirror and looked around. He made sure to take note of each of the the faces of his newfound companions, tiptoeing at times to bridge the height difference, before peering over the ice bridge. "Nicely done." He nodded contently, before flashing Spade a (...) completely blank expression, but at least he sounded genuinely impressed. "Well, I hope we don't all turn into fish feed."

 

[MelodyMay]

"You and me both," Asriel commented before hopping out. He gave Tailgate a head rub in congratulations and praise and then offered a hand to the others so they could hop onto the slick surface safely.

"We have to move fast, this won't work for too long," he warned them all.

 

[EnderTheFox]

Spade hopped down, as Tailgate followed she pointed towards the island "Tailgate we need to keep going, can you keep it up?". Tailgate just nodded before opening her mouth again "Sneasel!" she said blowing the chilling air at the water again expanding their surface. The black and white haired female sighed "Come on, the ice with melt faster with us all on it" she started walking towwards the other end of this make shift bridge.

 

[SmelterSkelter]

Sparing herself only a brief moment for panic, Heather pulled herself together to scoop a more-than-willing Lenya into her arms. Like it or not, that ship was going down, but she wasn't about to let any member of the crew go down with it under her watch.

"Halt! Can you move?" She tried, snapping her fingers in front of his face while looking to Riolu for assistance. "Pull it together and get ready to move, or else I'm dragging you by your arm and running for the both of us. You see that kid? If he... she... they can make it onto that ice, then we sure as all Giratina can too. Let's hoof it!" She said, pointing at Nostradamus during the impromtu speech, before preparing to run for the hatch as soon as he started as well.

 

[EnderTheFox]

Spade stumbled back as one of the gyarados started to move closer to the icy platform "Tailgate Icicle crash!" she shouted as the small pokémon turned around. Tailgate grunted before holding out her claw-like hands "Snea, Sneasel!" she called out as a layer of ice dropped onto of the giant pokémon before them. The females head turned as she saw the boat being crushed "We have to go now! The boat won't distract them for long, Tailgate Icy wind lets go!". The pokémon barked before racing towards the edge of the platform they stood on "Snea!" she called out as the cold winds once again froze the water infront of her. "Keep going as far as you can understand Tailgate?" The dark-ice type nodded before continuing with the bridge.

 

[FrostCrispz]

Halt lifted up Riolu and ran forward. "Any of you ever ice skated?" He asked, and stood by the ice bridge. "Im the most experienced here with ice, I bet, so watch me, and try to do similarly, but go a little slower. This is still new ot you, but I don't have time ti teach you the basics, so watch carefully." Halt stood back, and pushed off onto the ice, and started to race across the ice bridge, and lept off onto a nearby rock. Riolu and Halt started to jump from rock to rock, attacking the water to distract the pokemon from the bridge. "Hurry!" He called over.

 

[MelodyMay]

Asriel, seeing everyone on the ice, tried to run and nearly fell flat on his face. "I hate ice..." he mumbled. Having grown up in the tropical Alola region, he had never seen ice outside of pokemon battles. Taking it a bit slower now, he kept nearly falling. It took a while but the group slowly, ever so slowly, made their way to the rocky coast. Mountains, tall and imposing, looked down on them from not too far inland.

Eager to be off the ice, he went a bit too fast and went sprawling on his back. He groaned but, upon opening his eyes, was glad he had fallen. Flying overhead, and never moving too far away from them, was a Fearow. A gleaming black machine on its neck suggested it was fitted with a camera. "It can't be a professor's," Ariel reasoned silently. "They said they'd mark their birds with their region's flag so we don't mistakenly approach fully evolved wild pokemon..."

Standing back up, he pointed to the feathered beast. "So who do you guys think is watching us?" he asked.