Chapter 1 - A Temple in the Sky

Iris claps alongside the turtle, but not before and continuing to snort with laughter. The display was impressive, even more so that Iris could be impressed by it while also finding it funny.

With the battle over, Light was quick to return to her trainer. She stopped about a foot away from Iris, keeping in mind how Iris had pushed her away earlier, and fidgeted in place, too shy to call out for attention but seeking approval in the end.

Light's fidgeting worked to catch Iris's attention, and she looked hesitantly upon her starter. Light had done a good job, and she had fought very well. She deserved praise, but the words were hard to give out, <What if I trust her too much and it turns out its all a trap?>. Still, Iris couldn't just leave a Pokemon, even one she had such biased suspicion against, untended. She tentatively called Light forwards while making it clear that this was not permission for Light to get all cuddly.

Light perked up and half-bounced towards her trainer. She placed her little paws on Iris's lap as Iris had sat down now. Gingerly, Iris took Light's face into both hands and gave a quick inspection of the Zorua's body, finding the small, canine figure familiar in her grasp. From the fluffy collar that she had to be careful with as it was prone to hiding small injuries to the bushy tail that sometimes tangled like nothing else and so always got a casual brush through during inspections like these, the Zorua's body wasn't much different from an Eevee's.

Light nuzzled whatever she could of Iris's hand during this inspection all the way up until it was done. However, like the well-mannered little kit she was, once Iris finished the inspection and her thoughts made it clear that she was uncomfortable with all the touchy-touching, Light docilely backed and sat in front of Iris. Her head turned this way and that every now and then, keeping a lookout on the general surroundings.

There were no injuries found on Light, and Iris didn't remember seeing Light get hit, so Iris stood up and looked over at the group as a whole. Layl spritzed potion into her mouth like it was one of those spray candies. Iris... was just going to let her figure that out by herself. In the meantime, she closed her eyes to help herself focus on the trio of new Pokemon she had just seen. What information was there to help her understand these creatures?

Shossk slowly lowers his bow as he watches Yoko's display, which ends in the two unconscious leeches exploding into money. It was an intriguing display, to be sure, but maybe not a wholly practical one. "Golld is useful. I am unsure iff it is worth the loss of meat."

Nonetheless, after acquiring his hippo-laden summoning sphere, Shossk dives back out into the shallows to retrieve all of the coins that fell in the water, along with his three arrows if they're still usable. He deposits them on the shore in a pile. "I amm unsure what each coin is worth. I wwould ask that an even share be given to eacch of us."

It's at this time that Layl flops on the ground after spraying a potion in her own mouth, asking for death. Was she poisoned? Had the leeches given her a deathly illness? She didn't look like she was dying, but that doesn't necessarily offer much insight into her condition. "Your deathh would be unfortunate - it would put us at a dissadvantage against the other teams. If you do nnot have healing remedies, perhapss you will heal in time."

Speaking of other teams- "We sshould get moving. Other teams may havve seen us fall. They may try to sstrike while we are vulnerable. We should rest before thenn."

All throughout this Calt alights on a nearby tree branch, preening and ridding himself of any leftover goo from those gross leeches. Eugh.

Layl sputters a little due to the water in her mouth, as she tries to answer Yoko. Instead she just sends a garbled cry and water flies from her mouth as she attempts to sit up. After Yoko starts applying the first aid, Layl finally manages to get a grip of her faculties and stinging tongue. "That poshion tased horrible!, What is wrong with it?" She stumbled some words due to the tongue feeling a bit numb.

She glared at the bottle, fallen into the sand right over there, beside it's other partner. Evil had infected her potions, and that was simply awful, since she certainly needed help right now. Yoko bandaged her up, but Layl knew she needed some magical help, or this could go bad. "Anyone have exstra curatives? Mine sheem to have been poishened"

Yoko looked over to the potions that Layl had accused were poisonous, then turned her attention back to Layl. "I... don't think you're supposed to drink them," she replied with some uncertainty, furrowing her brows in thought. "It's probably an antiseptic, and they're definitely not safe to drink. Since it's in a spray bottle, I think you're supposed to spray yourself with it around where it hurts," she then tried to explain, using her very limited medical knowledge and her own past experiences with using medicine as her basis. After she finished packing up her first aid kit, Yoko got up and walked over to the discarded potions, and then bent down and picked them up. With the potions in hand, Yoko walked back over to Layl and knelt down beside the girl. "So, where does it hurt?" she asked as she readied one of the potions in her hand, the other one being put down beside her first aid kit.

"It'll probably sting a little," Yoko admitted as she aimed the nozzle at the bite marks, but before she sprayed she offered her free hand to Layl. She would wait a moment to see if Layl would take her hand or not, and once she got her answer, she would then spray the contents of the bottle onto each bite mark in turn.

After receiving the pokedex entry information, Iris quietly contemplates over what to do next, <Shelter? Move on? Food? Meat for the carnivores? Go down? Stay up? Explore? Finish?> as she spreads out her bag's belongings. Everything was still sopping wet, and it was still too early to tell the extent of the damage. Well, she could always try out each and every one of her possessions, but that risked further damage than what had already been caused. Delicately, Iris rearranged her bag, putting what she knew was waterproof on the top so that she could access it easily and everything else at the bottom as she had no plans of using any of it quite yet.

"Shossk," Iris stands up and asks while Layl and Yoko figure assess the extent of Layl's injuries, though they were free to join, "If we follow a river that flows from this lake, it should take us straight to the edge of this island. I think it's the best lead we have, and we can try to set up camp somewhere along it. What do you think?". Walking closer to Shossk, she gives a nod in Calt's direction. "We can also use Calt to scout," Iris suggests. She turns to address Calt directly, "If you will allow me, then I can see through your eyes while you fly." Her friendly smile breaks with hesitation, though. With a voice touched by worry, Iris admits to Shossk and Calt alike, "It's just... I've never heard of any of these Pokemon we've just faced. They feel even more alien to me than Calt does. I'm worried that if he is seen by an opposing team who's still on this top island, then he can give away our location even further." To be honest, she still wasn't sure of how to address half of her worries and she wanted to talk about it with the others, but Shossk had a good point, one in which speed was important. For now, Iris would need to settle with approaching each problem as it came.

In the meantime, Light remained with of the Tarphaggos. The two of them had been left without any particular command other than a vague excuse along the lines of, "Wait, I need to figure this out first." Iris didn't trust Light enough to help her come to a decision regarding the group's movements. The Tarphaggos, while a welcome new friend and definitely free to follow along for however long he'd like if he found this interesting, wasn't a part of the team so it wasn't right to burden him with expectations to help.

After a bit of staring at Iris, Light's attention would turn to the turtle Pokemon. She yipped a greeting before circling around to the other side of the green Pokemon, so that now the Tarphaggos stood between Light and her trainer.

Shossk stares at Iris for a moment, silently considering her options. "Ffollowing the river would aid our passage, but it is alsso predictable. If therre is another team on this island, they could easily track uss, or prepare an ambush." He pauses, then tilts his head slightly in thought. "Iff we know there is danger, we can prepare for it. If our eyes are ssharp and we remain unseen, we could foil such an ammbush." He nods at his dartrix decisively. "Calt's eyess are sharp, and we are both skilled in sstaying out of sight."

Calt visibly swells with pride for a moment, Calt's feathers floofing out at the praise. He looks at Iris questioningly, though.

Iris' mention of her powers catches the lizardman's attention, as well. "Cann you see through my eyes as well? Is yourr power limited to these creatures? I agree that Calt sshould not fly above the trees, but such a power would provve invaluable, still."

Yoko winced a little at Layl's vocal wince, and sympathetically squeezed the girl's hand back as she continued to squeeze out squirt after squirt of the potion. She wasn't sure how much of the potion she was supposed to used, but considering that AL had called this a game and had given them so many of these potions, Yoko figured that it wouldn't work unless she used up every single drop, so she emptied the potion as best as she could.

"Done," she announced as she set the now empty potion down, leaving the medicine to run its course. Yoko's eyes widened in surprise as she watched the wounds and scrapes start to rapidly heal before her eyes, yet another reminder of how different this world was to her own. There was still some injuries left over, so Yoko gave Layl a concerned look. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay? We're here to help you out," she told Layl, giving the girl's hand another comforting squeeze.

The Tarphaggos covered its mouth in surprise when the tiny fox suddenly changed shape. After a moment of stunned amazement, the smile returned to its face as it bounced up and down clapping once more.