Jeri

Once the acorn stopped having his nervous breakdown, he was able to provide at least enough new information to satisfy Jeri for the moment. "Arceus…" the Dunsparce mumbled grimly, trying to commit the name to memory. "So like, a Pokémon god? Great. Perfect. How the hell are we supposed to get back to our own world if fricking GOD brought us here?!"

Jeri angrily thumped her spade-like tail against the ground, then winced as she suddenly realized she had a tail and it could feel pain. She had to do something, ANYTHING remotely productive to deal with this pent up frustration.

While the others seemed fascinated by some yellow stuff in the wall, Jeri figured it must be up to her to tend to the fire. The bee-snake shivered as she poked her head just outside the cave to look for more sticks. She couldn't find any in the immediate vicinity, but she did find some scraggly mud-covered roots.

Jeri sighed grumpily, braced herself, and began to pull at the roots with her mouth. Jeri wasn't sure what kind of food Dunsparce ate, but judging by the disgusting earthy taste in her mouth, she felt certain it wasn't dirt. She had a little trouble trying to pull backwards with her snake-like body, but eventually she had more luck hacking at the roots with her spikes... on her chin?... WHY would anything ever have spikes on its chin??

Jeri slithered back with a few roots and placed them near the fire. They should be dry and useable in a few minutes. She curled up close to the flames with a bit of a smug smirk. Looks like the limbless one was tough enough to provide for everyone.

"So does Pokémon just have one god, or are there others? Or a Pokémon devil? If you're right and a god brought us here, maybe we could make a deal with one of his enemies to get us out. Not saying I'm about to make a deal with the devil, but... just wanna know our options."

---

There was apparently some kind of god Pokemon that could have brought them there, but Lance was much more interested in these games that Nathan had mentioned. "Are you saying this situation happened in one of these games? If, so then this 'Charmander' could have valuable information." It seemed like Trevor knew much more than the rest of them, so Lance assumed that he was the 'Charmander' that Nathan was referring to. Since he'd gone out into the storm, though, that would have to wait. "Celina, you wouldn't happen to know anything about these games, would you?"

As the fire began to fade, Jeri began using her mouth to dig up roots near the cave's entrance. She looked quite triumphant as she brought them back to the fire. "Those won't last long. We should hope the others had enough sense to bring firewood." He pointed out. Though, even if they did bring wood, he wasn't sure if the fire would even last until they got back.

As the pokeparty went to explore the forest, Vi felt a little mischievous and wanted to test her powers. Frankly, it wasn't something that she'd have any functional experience in, at least as a human. Clearing her mind, focusing her thoughts onto a single point, imagining something happening, and so far nothing happened. For the first few seconds Vi may even feel some level of disappointment as nothing occurred. But suddenly, a twig that Ravi was crawling by jumped into the air. For seviper and charmander, the twig had simply jumped up as if someone had thrown it into the air. But for Vi she would've seen a vague shimmering where she had been looking at, as if she had just caught a glimpse of a mirage. That being said she didn't really feel any feedback from the action, no trigger or indicator that it was her doing. Perhaps she'll need to keep practicing. Or perhaps, something was already here, watching and stalking them...

Aside from Vi's shenanigans, nothing would seem particularly out of the ordinary for Trevor and Ravi. At the very least nothing seemed to be moving that would catch their eyes, though if they looked up, perhaps due to a certain someone throwing twigs into the air, they could spot what appeared to be a bird's nest high into the trees. It seemed fairly large, though that may just be because they were very tiny pokemon. Still it'd be a long climb up to get to the nest, and a long climb down if there was anything to gain from it. If nothing else however, the nest seemed rather dry and would make perfect tinder for the fire back at the cave, even if they did have to destroy some poor bird's home.

Back at the cave, nothing of particular note was happening. The fire was still going, as weakly as if could at least. Celina's curiosity poked the strange yellow stone, and it easily fell out from the wall. She may vaguely recognize it if she bothered to clean the dirt off of it. The stone felt oddly warm to the tough, and soft too. Even in her weak baby-like form, she could feel the stone getting compressed and possibly break if she simply put it in her beak or claw and gripped it tightly. There didn't seem to be anything else in the hole that the item fell out from. Additionally as the roots that Jeri had brought near the fire started to dry off, upon close examination they didn't appear to be roots so much as brown carrots. While questionable if these things were edible, they at least seemed like familiar food should the pokemon choose to be adventurous.

"Well, I have some good and some bad news. In the games I played Arceus was more along of a Norse God, powerful but not omnipotent. Bad news there are plenty of other Pokémon who could have done this, including a Legendary Trio with control over Time, Space, and it's own alternate dimension respectively." Nathan really didn't know if this would reassure the Dunsparce or not but he decided that for now he might share as much info as he could. After he was no longer dizzy he got up and walked closer to the fire in order to warm himself up before it went out. Due to him being lost in thought trying to figure out what else he should tell the other he didn't notice that Celina got the crystal out of the wall nor that it was a Yellow Shard

"I think the Pokémon with it's own dimension, Giratina, is the closest to a Devil that I know off. It's not necessarily evil though, just violent and powerful and content to stay in it's own dimension. But once again this situation is from a spin-off I'm not familiar with, so keep in mind my knowledge isn't flawless. In fact I agree with Lance that the Charmander is probably the better choice for info."

Trevor stopped in his tracks to watch as, for no adequately explained reason, twigs near Ravi seemed to just jump up into the air. Whether he got an explanation or not, once that was over, he said "So... I just saw something up there. Not sure how you'd feel about eating some random bird eggs, but that might help stave off hunger, and, of course, failing that, the nest itself is made of relatively dry twigs, so we could bring that back for some kindling," after that, he took a look at the group... Hm... Ravi's probably the best choice for this, at the moment... snakes are good at climbing trees, and Vi might get blown away. after that thought, he asked Ravi "Hey, Ravi, mind climbing that tree for us? I'm sure you can pull that off, but uh... if you don't want to, I could try" he then simply waited for Ravi's response as he tried to make sure nothing was going to ambush us... of course, Trevor didn't feel the best about the bird pokemon, let alone what might happen if the egg's parents decide to come back, but... he almost felt like this had to be done... there was almost nothing else in this place, for some reason, save for whatever Lance saw when he ventured out of the cave before us.

---

Ravi caught a glance of the flying twig, but it failed to produce any reaction out of him. Still carefully focusing on his surroundings and traces for other pokemon to eat-Meet! Yes, meeting friendly pokemon that would give them all some tasty, non-alive food. Turning his eyes with an unintentionally threatening glare, merely curiously taking note to Trevor’s suggestion to climb the tree. Ravi lifted his upper-half to pinpoint the nest's location in the branches above. Hmm—There it was! Could he scale that tree? He was a snake and that didn’t seem out of the ordinary. But that would imply his body would act appropriately and he’d have enough muscle strength to do so. In this miserable weather, it was unlikely anything would lunge out and peck them apart in a matter of moments. Weighing the reward vs the risk in his thoughts and pondering potential alternatives as his tongue wiggled out every now and then.

“Maybe Vi could drop it down here with her power…” Ravi suggested. How would they bring the kindling back in the pouring rain? He found an answer, unpleasant as it may be. “And we'd be able to keep it dry by-storing it in my mouth.”

Unbeknownst to him that she’d already moved something, even it was after attempting to either set him ablaze or blasting him with spiritual force. He gave another piece of advice that might help it result in success. “It should make it easier to control them if you try to focus on the nest alone.” Who would argue with that assertion? Especially one coming from an unwittingly scary Seviper? “At least I'd like to believe so. It would certainly be easier than either of us climbing all the way up there.”

---

Well that was disappointing. Hmm. Maybe she did it wrong? Maybe it wasn't so much as something vague as willpower, but something else entirely. The Misdreavus frowned lightly, still clinging to Trevor's head as she started thinking of other things she could try - until she gave a startled yelp, nearly letting go from the Charmander's head. The twigs near the Seviper had simply launched into the air, as though someone had thrown it. Definitely not a natural phenomena. Also bad because she was fairly certain she hadn't done that.

What was more concerning, was what she briefly saw in the distance. A shimmering light, briefly. Like a will-o-wisp, if she had to be reminded of some earth mythology.

"Uh, nice suggestion, fangs." Vi quickly replied, keeping her eyes peeled as she observed the rainy darkness. "But I don't think I can do anything like that yet." What did it mean? Was there something following them? Or was it just her imagination? Or maybe she had done it and she'd just need more practice, but that would be difficult to do here if she had to keep herself anchored to the lizard. "Which means no, that wasn't me that just flung that twig."

A pause as she let the implication sink in.

"We should be careful. The night is dark and full of terrors, wohoho~" A creepy giggle followed by that statement was probably not comforting in the slightest.

---

As Celina got the rock out of the wall, she noticed it color and shape. She instantly reconised what it was and looked surprised a bit at this. She think a bit as she carefully clean to make it it was what she though it was and smiled. "Well guys.. good news is if someone faints.... we got a revive that can help them... maybe even bring them back from close to death? Not sure how this world works..."' she says before looking towards the brown carrots that were dug up. She moved to them. . ""Well.. that i dont reconise... brown carrots... err.. anyone want to try it or not? I... maybe I could but I am unsure. What you guys think? " she says before thinking a bit.. and what he abilities were. If she had the hidden ability.... then those clouds would be gone... so she probably had something else. What was it? She tried to remember, then think just a bit. .

"I... I am going to try them. I think I got Natural Cure... if they are poisonous... I might be able to heal off that." she then says before breathing deeply before going to use the foot claws to cut a small piece of the carrot.. and go to swallow it. Worst thing, she might get indigestion or food poisoning. Best scenario, they are edible and safe. If it is the last one, then the group probably will be able to try to find more and actually use that for a main food supply for a bit.

Jeri

Jeri uncurled just a bit to shoot a glare at Lance. What a jerk! Being all Negative Nancy about her contribution without lifting a finger of his own to provide any SOLUTIONS to all the problems he pointed out.

The Dunsparce tried to quell her rage enough to listen to Nathan's explanations. This 'alternate dimension' Pokémon sounded like another candidate for the scumbag who brought them all here. There was no way Jeri would be able to keep track of all the little details the Seedot provided -- but in a way, it was comforting to know somebody knew that much about their suddenly real video game.

"Well, you're doin' alright for now," Jeri addressed Nathan. "Ya know more than me, at least." The Dunsparce looked at him and chuckled wryly. "Good thing we're not in MY video game of expertise, or else we'd be shot at by now."

Jeri warily watched Celina take a bite of the brown carrots. It was utterly foolish to eat unknown plants if you were nowhere near starvation. But the blue bird said something about healing from poison, and Jeri figured she should take people's word for it about these Pokémon powers. She wondered if the plants would actually be more valuable as tinder than food, though.

---

Ignoring Jeri's glare, Lance instead turned his attention towards the stone. Despite the fact that they'd just dug it out of the cave's wall, it looked like it had already been refined. "That's odd. You would think that it would have a rougher appearance if it had just been mined." Then again, this world was awfully strange. Maybe the stone just happened to form underground in that shape.

It supposedly had the ability to bring someone back from the brink of death. "If this 'revive' really does what you say it will, then it will certainly be useful." As useful as it was, though, he hoped they wouldn't be put into a situation where they'd need to use it.

At first, Lance saw the roots as tinder, but as they dried out, they began to look more edible. The bird decided to be the first to have a taste, without even bothering to cook or even wash the dirt off of them first. "If these are edible, then it may be in our best interest to conserve them. We don't know how long we'll be trapped in this world, and we don't know if we'll find another food source."

Nothing of particular note happened as the trio of pokemon were debating how to reach the bird's nest. The rain was picking up a little, and with it the wind, but this deep into the forest it wasn't immediately noticeable. Should the pokemon choose to climb, the bark of the tree was course enough to provide an ample enough grip, and a few stubby branches could make for improvised handholds. Of course it'll be treacherous for any pokemon, even Vi, as the wind came in short gusts that could threaten to knock and of them off the tree and towards the ground. The nest was merely the current option for the youngsters, and perhaps there were safer, lower hanging fruits to find.

Those back at the cave would wait to see how Celina would react to the mysterious roots. It was... Bad. Largely because it tasted like a raw, dirty carrot. But aside from that and the awkwardness of eating the stiff tuber, it didn't seem poisonous or otherwise toxic to the fluffy bird. Indeed, perhaps if they actually wash, peel, and roast these things, they would make for a half-decent snack. But speaking of the fire, the flames were getting low to the point that the embers were starting to die out. Their fire wouldn't last more than an hour at most without some sort of tinder to keep it going. The other three hadn't been gone for long, but there was no telling when they'll be back.

In the distance, there was another crack of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning. And then, cutting through the darkness, a faint orange glow. And following that glow came a more thunderous boom but not from the skies. It sounded more like a tree had fallen. For those listening carefully pass the rain and wind, they may even make out some sort of garbled noises akin to barking and shouting in the distance. The ones who left the cave would hear it more easily, but it was loud enough that even the ones within the cave could hear it if they were looking for it.

Nathan looked at the fire and came to a decision, since he was the only one to actually know an attack he was the best choice. Before he could tell the others though he realized the flaw in his plan. "If I had hands I would go outside and look for some relatively dry wood."

The Altaria's reasoning about Natural Cure sounded good but something was nagging Nathan, it was only after Celina tried the carrots that he remembered Steel-types couldn't get poisoned at all and he decided to remain quiet about it.

While the Dunsparce's reassurance that he was doing well was nice, he was still worried, if this was real and he gave out wrong information someone could be hurt. He turned to the bladed Pokémon, Lance or something. "Well even if she can eat them that doesn't mean we all can. In the anime at least Pokémon had different diets, just like animals in real life."

---

Ravi didn’t understand what was so funny about their situation. A decision needed to be made soon as they were gaining nothing from merely gawking at the trees. If there was anything else to spot, chances are that it would’ve been. The gusts of wind lowered the probability of success of anyone but him to make it all the way up where that nest laid. Not wasting time to discuss matters further, he found himself coiling around the tree and making his way up as efficiently as possible. His grip remained tight while enduring the elements, as it wouldn’t do them any good if he fell now. It was surreal how used to his body’s movements he’d become without noticing. Maybe his athleticism had transformed with him; that or his optimism and hunger were a potent combination.

It was true that they would benefit by finding food. But many of them were cold-blooded Pokemon and desperately required that warmth to properly function, especially after going out in the rain. The only viable option in Ravi's opinion was stuffing that nest in his gaping maw. Progressing at a reasonable pace as he was getting ever — so — close to his target...

“You can do this! This isn't any more challenging than my calisthenic practice. Stretching is just a warm up for the main event.” Ravi’s inner-cheerleader kept himself focused on the task at—hmm…

The point was Ravi hoped to accomplish what they’d set out to do, regardless of the danger and skepticism he faced. Thus proving to his team members that he was a valuable ally. Leaving Trevor and Vi with the responsibility to keep vigilant of their surroundings...

The wind picked up, and thunder boomed as Ravi climbed up the tree. Trevor was just about to ask him to do that, er, again, but it seems like he already got the memo. Ravi was getting close to the nest, and was climbing oddly quickly for someone who was slowed down by the cold. "Come on, you can do it!" Trevor cheered, though, he was almost certain Ravi was too involved with his task to notice... Trevor then kept a lookout for any larger birds that might try to... honestly rightfully... defend their young from the invader. Sure, in the games, all pokemon more or less ate the same stuff, just basic berries that healed status effects, healed health, or did nothing of value in a pokemon battle, but it was much more likely that a snake would eat an egg than a watmel berry, considering the fact that ALL snakes were carnivores in the real world... or, at least, the ones Trevor was familiar with, and, while other options might have been available, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as the saying goes. Trevor kept his lookout, and assumed that Vi was doing the same, though, he wouldn't be too surprised if she was just goofing off, considering the few things he'd gathered about her, up to this point. Trevor was prepared to shout at Ravi if he saw anything, but, considering the rain, it seemed a bit... unlikely that he'd see anything, even if they were approaching, but at least the thunder finally woke him up, so, there was that, at least.

---

Now... that carrot.. that carrot tasted too dirty. She frown a bit at this and made a face that told the group that it didnt taste good. "N.. not poisonous.. but ugh.... Needs cooking.. and cleaning." she says before noticing the fire starting to die down. She though about it... before going and using her wings to go and clean up the carrot. She then tried to remove some of the carrot parts that would be less edible, pecking on them and trying to get some small parts off, some parts that could be use as fuel to the fire. Soon enough she removed a good quantity of the roots that were on the carrot and tried to slowly feed them to the fire, trying to help it stay alive. She looked at Nathan.

"Ya.. that would help.. more wood... but with that rain... would the wood even be dry enough..." she says before trying to see if she could find more of those carrots here. Maybe those could be a good food supply to use for now for the group. She also was wondering how the others outside were doing, hoping they would be safe and they would not get hurt. Last thing she wanted was finding them freezing cold and dead on the ground.

---

"Ugh, man, I'm gonna need an hour just to fix my hair after all this wind..." Vi complained. So far, very little was happening. Even so she was still wary. Whatever that light was she saw was unlikely very friendly, and if she was a ghosty ghost then there was a reasonable expectation that others could be around as well...and from what little she remembered from the games, she was quite certain some pokemon loved this kind of weather.

For the most part, Vi kept a lookout. There was little else she could do as she clung onto Trevor's head in an attempt not to get swept away by the wind. She'd suggest going back, but the others seemed intent on at least trying to get something and she had no reason to try and dissuade them for the moment. More trouble than it was worth.

The nest yielded some good results at least. No eggs surprisingly enough, but there seemed to be a rather large assortment of fruits and berries here. Most of them looked like some sort blue berry, but there were a few pink berries and what looked like cherries too. There were also some egg shells, nothing inside of them but apparently whatever egg was here was already hatched. Curiously, no signs of said birds though. There was also a few of their feathers with the only notable feather appearing to be black with a red tip. All in all Ravi found a veritable mother lode, but now he had to figure out how to bring it down. Perhaps he could drop them, or maybe if he's careful he could carry them down.

Then, there was a howl. It was close too; perhaps not specifically heading in their direction, but it sounded frantic. Soon there was more howling and yapping, followed by the sound of another fallen tree.

Back at the cave, the single root didn't do much to feed the flames, but it would buy a precious few minutes regardless. Not much else would occur in the cave if the pokemon don't leave, but they too can now hear the howling in the distance. Thanks to having a higher ground, those looking outside may even seen bolts of electricity shooting out from the forest. It didn't have any thunderous noise like the natural lightning, but whatever the source it appeared to be coming above the treeline or at least within the canopy.

---

The ticklish feeling of your whole body tingling when you’ve exceeded expectations. Ravi’s eyes sparkling at the smorgasbord of fruit hanging on the adjacent northern branch that was obscured from the others viewing it below. His grin widened and he giggled giddily. "This was perfect!" But he snapped out of his awed state, remembering that he still had to be observant.

His stomach’s dismay aside, the nest lacking eggs was the best case scenario. It meant there was less chances of an overzealous ‘momma bird’ reigning fury upon the predators invading her homestead. The scattered eggshells and stray feathers could have implied that it was abandoned? That’s the answer his optimism was sticking towards. Unfortunately, a secondary possibility was introduced through blood curdling howls which caused his tail to tremble. Followed by erratic yapping and the loud crashing of a tree. Survival instinct superseded any sense of heroism as he hoped strongly for that tree to have trapped the pokemon making those noises to spare them the trouble. Regretting his instinctive callousness would come later. The next predicament pertained to how he would gather everything? His mouth might even struggle stuffing it all inside. He called out, hoping to be heard in spite of the weather. “I found food! I’m going to try knocking it down!”

Putting his plan into motion while coiled around the branch. Opening his maw and carefully gripping the edge of the fully formed nest and making sure it was secured and not blown away from the wind. Holding it underneath as his tail would be lifted upwards, gently swatting all the colorful little berries inside the nest like nature’s fruit basket until it was full. Which would then be cautiously crammed into his cheeks. The larger pieces and what was remaining could then be knocked down. Maximizing their gains and minimizing the berries that would splatter from the fall. A couple of bruises was a small price to pay for such a hefty reward that would be enough to warm and feed the entire group.

Once finished he would start his descent to the other two, where they needed to collect whatever they could and help guide him to the cave. The drawback of his idea had become self-apparent rather quickly. As his tongue made it much easier to navigate in the darkness, but he was now unable to stick it out with his overloaded mouth without risking some lost goods. Ravi couldn’t communicate that either, though one look at him should’ve sufficed. Hopefully Vi would be supportive and stick beside him instead, so he’d receive some much needed direction. Preferably getting back as quick as possible, because he was starting to get cold. “Please, let’s skedaddle before we learn what all that ruckusss was about!”

Celina was right, even if he could carry it back Nathan was unlikely to find any wood dry enough to burn, so instead he watched the carrot burn wondering how else he could use his knowledge to help.

When he heard the distant howling he got a bit worried about the group outside looking for food. "This could be bad, I don't know many Pokémon that howl, not counting the attack, but they are all predators and hunt in packs. If they found the others...." He didn't bother finishing his sentence since he was sure his point was clear.

He got up and walked to the cave entrance. "I'm going to look for them and at least warn them." He hoped that he didn't reveal how nervous he was. Sure the fact that he actually knew an attack gave him a huge advantage over everyone else, but the fact that he had to take damage in order to deal it was bad. He silently gulped and looked around for any prints he could follow before heading of.

---

Out in the distance, there was some kind of howling. It almost sounded like a pack of wolves. "What on earth?" Lance peered outside, and was greeted by what looked like lightning, though it was coming from somewhere in the treetops. The acorn seemed concerned. According to him, any Pokemon that howls was likely a pack predator. "Do you honestly plan on going out there alone?"

At first, Lance had been reluctant to go out there, but now there was a clear threat to those who had gone out into the storm. His new body was very clearly built for combat. Whatever these creatures were, he could probably handle them. "I'm going as well. Celina, Jeri, stay here and keep the fire going." With that, he disappeared out into the storm, right behind Nathan.