Chapter 1 - A Temple in the Sky

"Er... I just wanted to make sure," Iris answered right back as she started swinging her underwear around again, "You didn't release Bang during our last fight... or at all since we've descended into this level. I thought you might have had a reason for that."

"Ah... is that so..." Iris lamely ended... and awkwardly turned around to finish flapping her clothes dry. Silence probably followed for the rest of the washing and attempts to dry. Presumably whenever Yoko finished washing her sleeping bag, Iris would accompany Yoko back to camp. Her underwear and inner wear probably wouldn't be dry even then, so she would be limited to only wearing her also wet jacket-tunic-thing.

With everyone rested and the plan discussed, all that's left to do is carry it out. Calt allows Iris to channel him and see through his eyes, then dives back down over the edge to peer into a number of dens he remembers seeing on his first pass around this part of the island.

<Calt, come up,> Iris spoke to the owl, not wanting it to tire itself out with the stress of remaining hidden. Standing near the edge of the cliff, she was in dry clothes again. All the talking, preparation, and rest had given her clothes and her body time to dry in front of the fire. It wasn't quite the same comfort as freshly laundered clothes, but much better than feeling like she was going to develop a rash at any moment from constantly rubbing her skin against water-laden fabric.

To the trainers, she divulged all the information she could come up with, as well as what she couldn't, and followed it up with, "Well, that's all I know. I could try looking into the other three Pokemon, but that just means more chances of Calt's presence waking them up. For now, I think we should put our all into sneaking in to capture one of them without waking it up, so that the other doesn't wake up and run away. Then we can capture the other as well and halve the number of trips it'd take to get down to the next island."

Shossk is silent for a moment, then nods. "Capturing mmore than one flying creature large enough to carry uss would lessen the risk of being spotted on our way downn."

Following that is several minutes of planning how to tackle the problem at hand. At first Shossk is all for the idea of focusing on one creature at a time, but soon the idea to split up and take on both creatures at once is brought up. Shossk is initially against the idea - "Don't split the party" is one of the golden rules of adventuring. But in this case it was the surest way of capturing both fliers with minimal risk of either escaping. There was no lack of intelligence as both dens had been scouted beforehand, and both groups would be substantial enough to handle a single target, anyway. At least, that was the theory.

Shossk secured his length of Sturdy rope above the entrance of the fluffy, glowing flier's den, as that was Shossk's target. Light, the dark fox, would be going with him alone, without Iris. She'd made it clear that she was no good at sneaking around, so she'd be seeing through Light's eyes and giving instructions that way instead. Shossk made sure Light was secure in his travel pack, which he shoulders, and descends the rope down the side of the island. His motions are slow, fluid, deliberate, and reasonably silent, so as to not alert his quarry.


He steps off from the rope as silently as he can, and sets Light down next to him. Calt swoops down into the cave as well, the owl being completely Stealthy and silent.

Prior to Shossk's descent, Iris had tossed Shossk a dusk ball prepared with a lock case and suggested that he use the ball as it should offer the highest chances of capture in this current situation. As for Light, she is released and given a short explanation of the situation at hand. As always, Iris is unintentionally wary of the Zorua. However, in this situation, it couldn't be helped. After forming a connection with her trainer, Light descends with Shossk, either hitching a ride on the lizardman or his bird.



When the Zorua enters the cavern herself, her entrance isn't quite as smooth as the lizardfolks, but hopefully her species' natural penchant for making no noise (stealth capability) would serve well enough to keep the bird from awakening.

Meanwhile, Iris prepares for what's to come next. From what she sees through her Zorua's eyes, she makes a Small Prophecy and sees a small glimpse of what's to come ahead. She readies to take her chances and alter any unfavorable outcomes in what she sees.

Layl waits until the moment Yoko's feet touches the ground, springing into action the minute they do. She gives Yoko a quick wave, before turning and chucking the prepared pokeball with a lock case, Straight at the dragon she intended to catch.

Even in the darkness of the cave, Shossk's prey could easily be seen with its subtly glowing plumage. Shossk waves Calt forward to stand next to the gently heaving mass of sparking feathers, just in case things went south.

Shossk primes his specially prepared Dusk ball given to him by Iris and throws it with the same precision as Layl does in the other den.

Iris didn't know about the other end, but it appeared hers went as smoothly as they could have hoped. It became apparent while Shossk picked up the ball that the other end likely had a similar success. At least, if the lack of any battle sounds said anything. Without anything really better to do, she looked through Light's eyes and observed the rest of the cavern that was once home to the rainbow bird.