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Description
The trio looked up from their continuous effort to plant foliage for the merchant's leader (seeing as not a one of them had heard from their own leaders in a couple weeks) to look upon the shouting charmander from the rescuers. It was still surprising to see him around Tao again (after he'd taken off for a couple months) but the three only had had fleeting glimpses of him, especially Darcy, who was startled by the lizard into unceremoniously dropping the sapling he was psychically manipulating into the hole Cleo had dug. Antony jumped into action to try and catch it before it fell onto the ground and snapped, though he just barely snagged it and a few branches were crushed.
"Quick, I need all available 'mons to help out! No matter what guild you're in, there's a crisis!" Mike yelled to all the pokemon that were around to hear, then dashed on to find another group and more pokemon to call upon.
Antony, Cleo, and Darcy all looked to one another, though the Rufflet moved to finish putting up the tree they were working on.
"What the heck could be going on??" Darcy muttered.
"Never know with Tao," Antony said as he flitted back to the ground. "We should head over and see what's going on, though," he continued, hopping back toward where the lizard had originated from.

Cleo scrambled to stand and follow after the bird, Darcy quickly floating after. Along the way, other 'mon were heard gossiping about the happenings, most fearful, some excited for the action.
"It's Shade! She has that Jasmine fellow!"
"That Zoroark you hear of every once in a while?"
"Yeah, one of her kids came to tell us that she's got her."
"..She's hiding in a forest of illusions? Do we really wanna trust this?"
Cleo walked with her ears back. "Antony... I dont like this..."

The bird looked up at her when she spoke, her tone childish. He hopped up and alighted on her shoulder. "Is it because it's another Zoroark?"
"Yeah... I dont wanna get mixed up in anyone thinking that I'm doing anything, or helping her or whatnot... Plus I dont know how illusions would work against me..." She explained quietly.
Darcy floated up on her other side. "If you're a Zoroark you may be able to see through the illusions."
"We dont know that for sure. I can see where she's coming from... Cleo if you dont want to go, you dont have to. You can stay here and train in your own powers," Antony said, looking from Darcy to Cleo.
She quietly nodded. "Plus... This sounds really strange. Why kidnap a little fairy that makes things grow?"
Antony and Darcy could only shrug.
"I think I wanna stay here to guard Tao, too. Just in case," she finished.
"I think... I wanna stay behind too... I gotta get used to this body before I do anything dangerous," Darcy said, looking himself over, his eyes lingering longingly on the mask that showed his previous-self's face.
Antony bobbed his head. "That's alright too. You're ghost-type now, weak against a Zoroark's powers. Understandable." Antony himself didnt seem scared. He was used to being the strong one, and forests were his home field. It would be strange not having Cleo at his side, but...
"You'll be alright, Antony...?" Darcy asked.
The Rufflet nodded. "Yeah. I'm a lot older than you'd think, and I come from a flock that trains one for independant battles. I'll be fine~"
The Yamask looked to the Zoroark for her opinion. She could only nod, as she knew that Antony would be fine without them--so long as he was careful.

Antony leapt from Cleo's shoulder and stopped them in their path. "I can go on and see what's going on. You both should keep on planting stuff, just so if we do rescue Jasmine she'll still be able to grow everything."
"You say that like she'll still want to," Darcy had to point out.
The Rufflet clicked his beak. "We can hope, cant we? There's a reason we're rescuing her."
"I'm just sayin' I know it's scary to die, let alone almost die," the Yamask replies.
Cleo looked between the pair, but Antony looked defeated.
"I'll be back when this is all over with..." the bird said, turning and heading back the way they'd been heading.
"Be careful..!" Cleo called after him.

The thought of not returning home didnt once cross Antony's mind as he flew into the center of Tao, where a crowd of pokemon had gathered near the merchant's leader, back to her old color, and the not-so-unfamiliar form of a little Zorua beside her. However, as Antony noted, this one was rather different looking than what Cleo had been--sharp teeth, scowl and a gold bead in her hair all included in that list. Her appearance wasnt all that trust-worthy, but... he had to admit, a lot of dark types had a bad rap.
He alighted near by to hear the goings on.
"You need to follow me real close or you'll get lost in the illusions. And mama has real good hearing, if you make a single sound she'll kill you!" the zorua said, the kecleon beside her not looking too pleased.
"You heard her. You make a sound, you botch this mission, you get Jasmine killed, you're all dead," PK reaffirmed. She looked to the Zorua again. "What about your... brothers?"
"They'll attack us, no doubt. They look like me--they have a gold bead that mama gave us when we were babies," the Zorua replied.
PK nodded. "Alright we best get moving. Rogues, you're following me in to sneak up behind Shade. Mike's guys and my kids, you're surrounding Shade to get a good cover on her--take to the trees, bushes, everything--but dont make a sound!"

Mutters amongst the gathered 'mons flared up as PK turned around to follow the Zorua off outside of town. Antony flitted after, the rest of the group getting mind to follow as well.
The muttering stopped as they reached treeline, 'mons filtering to move in between the trees as they struggled to keep PK and their escort in view. Antony chose to fly high, deftly dodging branches as he followed close, his keen eyes watching for the gold glint of the Zorua's bead to follow off of.
However, using such a method to keep tabs on those below, another gold flash eventually caught the bird's eye. This one was in the distance, close to where the group was being led. Carefully beating his wings, Antony dashed forward into the trees, sneaking up behind where he saw the glint. Sure enough, his eyes caught dark movement.
Folding in his wings, he jetted downward, extending his claws as he would for catching prey. Opening his wings again in practiced timing, the soft sound of wind rushing by his ragged feathertips attracted the male zorua's attention, but not soon enough that Antony didnt already have his claws on the little fox. Pinning the squirming mass to the ground, he made sure to twist it's neck just enough to knock it out, not kill it. Carefully stepping away from the unconscious body, he inspected it before taking off again and heading back to the group.

The travel was difficult as the Zorua had them back track several times, insisting that it was the way to go through the maze of illusions. But the group stayed silent, and eventually the Kecleon and Zorua both stopped, motioning they were close to the heart of the forest. The Zorua dashed off to lead the other teams to circle the heart, while the Kecleon moved in position. Antony dropped to the forest floor to reduce his noise, moving slowly so as not to make a single sound--while he didnt trust his feet to be silent, he knew his wings were no quieter and risked brushing against leaves. He stopped behind PK, his eyes locked on the dark figures in the distant center, but didnt make a move, waiting for the Kecleon to make her move first.

--

Team Cityslickers: [link]
E6.1: [link]

:I; sorry it's such crap. i had the story ill-planned-out but i loved the picture and the plot idea ;w;''

pokemon (C) gamefreak, nintendo, etc
antony, cleo, darcy and art are MIEN

Description
The trio looked up from their continuous effort to plant foliage for the merchant's leader (seeing as not a one of them had heard from their own leaders in a couple weeks) to look upon the shouting charmander from the rescuers. It was still surprising to see him around Tao again (after he'd taken off for a couple months) but the three only had had fleeting glimpses of him, especially Darcy, who was startled by the lizard into unceremoniously dropping the sapling he was psychically manipulating into the hole Cleo had dug. Antony jumped into action to try and catch it before it fell onto the ground and snapped, though he just barely snagged it and a few branches were crushed.
"Quick, I need all available 'mons to help out! No matter what guild you're in, there's a crisis!" Mike yelled to all the pokemon that were around to hear, then dashed on to find another group and more pokemon to call upon.
Antony, Cleo, and Darcy all looked to one another, though the Rufflet moved to finish putting up the tree they were working on.
"What the heck could be going on??" Darcy muttered.
"Never know with Tao," Antony said as he flitted back to the ground. "We should head over and see what's going on, though," he continued, hopping back toward where the lizard had originated from.

Cleo scrambled to stand and follow after the bird, Darcy quickly floating after. Along the way, other 'mon were heard gossiping about the happenings, most fearful, some excited for the action.
"It's Shade! She has that Jasmine fellow!"
"That Zoroark you hear of every once in a while?"
"Yeah, one of her kids came to tell us that she's got her."
"..She's hiding in a forest of illusions? Do we really wanna trust this?"
Cleo walked with her ears back. "Antony... I dont like this..."

The bird looked up at her when she spoke, her tone childish. He hopped up and alighted on her shoulder. "Is it because it's another Zoroark?"
"Yeah... I dont wanna get mixed up in anyone thinking that I'm doing anything, or helping her or whatnot... Plus I dont know how illusions would work against me..." She explained quietly.
Darcy floated up on her other side. "If you're a Zoroark you may be able to see through the illusions."
"We dont know that for sure. I can see where she's coming from... Cleo if you dont want to go, you dont have to. You can stay here and train in your own powers," Antony said, looking from Darcy to Cleo.
She quietly nodded. "Plus... This sounds really strange. Why kidnap a little fairy that makes things grow?"
Antony and Darcy could only shrug.
"I think I wanna stay here to guard Tao, too. Just in case," she finished.
"I think... I wanna stay behind too... I gotta get used to this body before I do anything dangerous," Darcy said, looking himself over, his eyes lingering longingly on the mask that showed his previous-self's face.
Antony bobbed his head. "That's alright too. You're ghost-type now, weak against a Zoroark's powers. Understandable." Antony himself didnt seem scared. He was used to being the strong one, and forests were his home field. It would be strange not having Cleo at his side, but...
"You'll be alright, Antony...?" Darcy asked.
The Rufflet nodded. "Yeah. I'm a lot older than you'd think, and I come from a flock that trains one for independant battles. I'll be fine~"
The Yamask looked to the Zoroark for her opinion. She could only nod, as she knew that Antony would be fine without them--so long as he was careful.

Antony leapt from Cleo's shoulder and stopped them in their path. "I can go on and see what's going on. You both should keep on planting stuff, just so if we do rescue Jasmine she'll still be able to grow everything."
"You say that like she'll still want to," Darcy had to point out.
The Rufflet clicked his beak. "We can hope, cant we? There's a reason we're rescuing her."
"I'm just sayin' I know it's scary to die, let alone almost die," the Yamask replies.
Cleo looked between the pair, but Antony looked defeated.
"I'll be back when this is all over with..." the bird said, turning and heading back the way they'd been heading.
"Be careful..!" Cleo called after him.

The thought of not returning home didnt once cross Antony's mind as he flew into the center of Tao, where a crowd of pokemon had gathered near the merchant's leader, back to her old color, and the not-so-unfamiliar form of a little Zorua beside her. However, as Antony noted, this one was rather different looking than what Cleo had been--sharp teeth, scowl and a gold bead in her hair all included in that list. Her appearance wasnt all that trust-worthy, but... he had to admit, a lot of dark types had a bad rap.
He alighted near by to hear the goings on.
"You need to follow me real close or you'll get lost in the illusions. And mama has real good hearing, if you make a single sound she'll kill you!" the zorua said, the kecleon beside her not looking too pleased.
"You heard her. You make a sound, you botch this mission, you get Jasmine killed, you're all dead," PK reaffirmed. She looked to the Zorua again. "What about your... brothers?"
"They'll attack us, no doubt. They look like me--they have a gold bead that mama gave us when we were babies," the Zorua replied.
PK nodded. "Alright we best get moving. Rogues, you're following me in to sneak up behind Shade. Mike's guys and my kids, you're surrounding Shade to get a good cover on her--take to the trees, bushes, everything--but dont make a sound!"

Mutters amongst the gathered 'mons flared up as PK turned around to follow the Zorua off outside of town. Antony flitted after, the rest of the group getting mind to follow as well.
The muttering stopped as they reached treeline, 'mons filtering to move in between the trees as they struggled to keep PK and their escort in view. Antony chose to fly high, deftly dodging branches as he followed close, his keen eyes watching for the gold glint of the Zorua's bead to follow off of.
However, using such a method to keep tabs on those below, another gold flash eventually caught the bird's eye. This one was in the distance, close to where the group was being led. Carefully beating his wings, Antony dashed forward into the trees, sneaking up behind where he saw the glint. Sure enough, his eyes caught dark movement.
Folding in his wings, he jetted downward, extending his claws as he would for catching prey. Opening his wings again in practiced timing, the soft sound of wind rushing by his ragged feathertips attracted the male zorua's attention, but not soon enough that Antony didnt already have his claws on the little fox. Pinning the squirming mass to the ground, he made sure to twist it's neck just enough to knock it out, not kill it. Carefully stepping away from the unconscious body, he inspected it before taking off again and heading back to the group.

The travel was difficult as the Zorua had them back track several times, insisting that it was the way to go through the maze of illusions. But the group stayed silent, and eventually the Kecleon and Zorua both stopped, motioning they were close to the heart of the forest. The Zorua dashed off to lead the other teams to circle the heart, while the Kecleon moved in position. Antony dropped to the forest floor to reduce his noise, moving slowly so as not to make a single sound--while he didnt trust his feet to be silent, he knew his wings were no quieter and risked brushing against leaves. He stopped behind PK, his eyes locked on the dark figures in the distant center, but didnt make a move, waiting for the Kecleon to make her move first.

--

Team Cityslickers: [link]
E6.1: [link]

:I; sorry it's such crap. i had the story ill-planned-out but i loved the picture and the plot idea ;w;''

pokemon (C) gamefreak, nintendo, etc
antony, cleo, darcy and art are MIEN