At least a couple of hours had passed since Tanis attempted to make some resemblance of a thing dubbed 'progress' in terms of actually finding anything different besides the blades of grass that constantly assaulted his vision and face as he moved. Though he hadn't realized it himself, he had begun veering to his left slightly. With a lack of ability to actively see where he's going, he would only naturally divert slightly off-course. This has resulted in him walking in a huge circle. Unlike a much bigger Pokémon, who would leave a much larger impact on the grass and the ground in and of itself, Tanis has absolutely no idea he's doing it. Relative to where he was previously, he has barely moved any further than a simple ten minute direct stroll could make. The only difference, is the difference of the time of day and how fed up Tanis was getting.

He begun to feel as though he should've seen at least something by now, something different than what he can actually see. Yet, as he slowed to a stop, the conclusion he has managed is nothing: No Pokémon, no items. Just eternal and overgrown grassland. Surely there was a limit to all of this, the entire place couldn't be coated in this stuff, right? Sighing to himself, Tanis marched on, continuing to shuffle and push past numerous blades of the grassy substance as he continued on his blind course to what he envisioned as forwards.

Approximately five more minutes of blind wandering occurred until, finally, something different from the mundane occurred. Tanis didn't notice it at all at first, simply pushing himself past what he thought was an objectively but otherwise non-different tuft of grass that was in front of him: Pushing and stepping over it like he had done with many others relative to that size. It would turn out that particular tuft of grass actually belonged to an owner, whom did not take kindly to being stepped on. Tanis himself never noticed anything was amiss until he heard what sounded like something being dispersed, like air escaping out of a balloon that wasn't making the raspberry noise.

He turned around from the direction he had gone, only to be met with a face full of innumerable green particles that mixed and filled the surrounding air. Tanis could not help but begin to inhale the strange substance, in spite of him covering his nose and mouth with his paws. He ducked to the ground and made a hasty dash away from the origin point of the powder that plunged his lungs into a coughing fit. His dash changed to a four-pawed run, having given up his attempt to inhale the stuff, the trail he left behind was only coated in his coughing. Every exhale he made proved that he had inhaled the powdered substance.

Tanis had no idea what happened, was it a trap? Once he found himself away from the streaming and floating powder that had filled the air, he stopped his run and looked back at the carnage he just escaped from. Whatever it was, it was definitely a local move, effective only at a specific range. At least not enough that it followed him. Feeling the inclination to divert from where he had run to, Tanis strafed right and moved no further than four seconds in that direction before stopping completely, turning and facing in the direction he had come from. He wasn't completely convinced it was a Pokémon's doing, it wasn't an attack he recalled seeing before after all, but he wasn't going to take any chances. As the seconds turned into double digits, he felt his body exhibit virtually no change whatsoever from what he's used to. Even he realized by then that he'd inhaled some of that stuff, as each exhale he made resulted in more green powder coming out of his lungs, yet besides coughing and making him dash away from the stuff, it didn't seem to be doing anything. This was another point against it being a Pokémon's attack: Who would use a move that did nothing?

His forward progression halted, he watched and waited, hunched down on all fours, staring intently at what, if anything, caused the sudden appearance of that powder...

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OOC - Nice of you to join in Kade. Welcome. Time to find out what happens when you cross an Outlaw with a Militia.

Trust... Yes, that's a word that he has heard a large quantity of times, mostly from the time he spent recovering after failing to defeat a team of Pokémon, where his personal memory technically began. It's a broad and often misused word with multiple meanings for everyone. It's a simple matter of targeting the largest threat at the present moment: Oddish is assaulting him, Sableye was throwing questions at him. Last time he checked, attacks and moves hurt more than words did, so his priority moved to the one who was actually attacking him, rather than the one who he was literally one second away from actually making an enemy of. Does Tanis trust the jewelled spectre? Only in the sense that he isn't the one that threw the powdered substance at him, otherwise, no.

Though actually assaulting the Oddish is a good start.

Disappointment or not, the jewelled being can throw out more than mere words, as it would turn out. Tanis didn't understand why it was necessary for him to acquire Oddish's attention, which in spite of only loudly proclaiming and pointing at it, he achieved. Methods aside, he seemed to be getting the results he intended. The Astonish move itself worked to a degree, enough to effect the Oddish at least. Although Tanis himself heard the yell from the ghost type, he was just a bit more focused on what the Oddish itself was doing for him to be affected by it as much as it was. It didn't look like it was doing very much besides shaking, evident by its head leaves swaying to and fro slightly. His 'companion' noticed the result of the swaying right away. Having been plunged already by two sets of powders which have clogged up his sense of smell somewhat, it took a few seconds for Oddish's Sweet Scent, which lingered in the air to affect Tanis as well, to be picked up. By the time he realized it was another move used by the grass type, it was already too late. The alluring scent, that the ghost type described as sickening, he would describe as soothing. A distinct and pleasant aroma that is most certainly not the worst scent that he's smelt in the past, he could easily live with it. Of course, that's precisely what the move is intended to do, unbeknownst to Tanis: Take his mind away from future incoming moves.

Which, for all intents and purposes, he wasn't really afraid of. The ghost type already worked it out, more or less, yet while Tanis isn't aware of the real reason himself, the only attacks that Oddish has used so far by his knowledge was ranged moves that relied if not on scent, then by the act of breathing the substance in. He is convinced that those powders in particular are supposed to do something, if not at the time of him inhaling the stuff, then at least by now. It's no secret that he's inhaled at least some of the recent Stun Spore, as evidenced by the occasional golden powdered flake that escapes his mouth each time he exhales, he suspects Oddish has realized it as well. If that's all Oddish is capable of doing, then what Tanis should do is pretty obvious. With it in his mind, he could only wonder why this Sableye would try to get Oddish's attention. Perhaps he's immune to the stuff as well? ... Well, if he is, Tanis doesn't know yet. Until he does, he's not going to chance it. And if this ghost type is going to assist in dealing with this Oddish, then he's not going to object. After all, he was going to attack it anyway, so...

His left arm planted on the ground again, in a very similar manner to the position he placed himself in before he begun his charge on the Sableye, Tanis takes only a brief moment to regulate his breathing. Even to this day, the mystery behind how he uses this move eludes him, only that he can use it. To him, it's as if time slows to a crawl, as he makes his charge towards his foe. Whereas the reality is that time hasn't slowed, he's just sped up. Tanis takes one visual pace forward, his right leg planting on the ground, and in that millisecond, he's gone. The only remaining indication that Tanis is presumably still there, is the blades of grass that have escaped the confines of the ground and being thrown into the air, signifying the path that he is taking to Oddish. The path itself is more of a slight curved line, slightly like the letter 'S', but with much more emphasis on moving forward than diverting left and right. By the time Tanis becomes visual again, with his forward momentum stopped thanks to Oddish, he had already smashed his two tails into Oddish's side to complete the Quick Attack. Definitely a lot less verbal and scale in comparison with The Ghost-type's Astonish, but it had just as much of an impact, or so he felt at least.

His plan, as well as exacting some punishment onto Oddish, was to direct attention back to himself. Mystery or not, Oddish's moves has, so far, done nothing that would cause Tanis any concern. It would be better, perhaps for the ghost type as well, that attention remained on him. What else it could do, he didn't know... But if they have a similar aspect and effectiveness as its other moves it's used so far, Tanis wasn't worried. He whips his tails back and begins facing Oddish again, his gaze not once showing any signs of remorse or any sign of backing out of this fight yet. Though he hardly towers over the plant-like being, in fact they are approximately the same height, his stature is that of intimidation, confidence, pressure. Forcing Oddish to make an otherwise problematic decision. Continue its focus on the Sableye, or swap to the more imminent and initial cause of its problem(s)...

Or, perhaps a third option is more appealing?

Now within close range of Oddish, Tanis' stance has changed slightly. While his left arm and paw still covers his mouth, his right is now perpendicular to his body, bent at the elbow and at chest height. His left leg is also behind his right by a fair distance as opposed to him originally assuming a normal standing position. Far from subtle, but if he feels comfortable in that position. Perhaps the more important question however, is what the other two Pokémon are thinking of doing next? Not all battles are fought as plain and simple as Tanis does once he gets in close.







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OOC - Pleasure is all mine. Don't worry too much about delays though mate, I never do. :3 It was worth the wait I think.

Oddish certainly seemed to be making a bit of a meal behind its choice of what it should do next. Tanis wouldn't have said no to it giving up... Albeit maybe minus a few more hits for good measure before he accepted it. A just punishment for the annoyance that he had been put through with this thing. It was taking its sweet time in deciding on actually doing anything, which had given just enough time for the lingering scent of its previous Sweet Scent to briefly assault Tanis' senses a second time. He still wasn't really sure what the purpose of it even was, even now as it lingered in his nasal.

That scent was quickly replaced however. Though Oddish's motions were... Odd... It didn't seem like it was going to do anything in stopping neither him nor the Sableye from doing their thing, especially the Ghost type, whom was moving to a superior position, whose original position Tanis had unknowingly blocked line of sight with. It hadn't slowed down Oddish however. Noticing the situation, and having moved to its strange position, it unleashed a purple powdered mist, much in the similar regard to the previous two powders it had used. Instead of aiming for Tanis however, this time it was a lot more wide-spread and general based rather than at a specific target. It forced both it and Tanis to be within its influence. Being a Poison type itself, as well as the move's user, and a Grass type whom Sableye correctly concluded are immune to powder-based moves, was completely unaffected by its influence, and darted out of its area with no difficulty, ready to assault the Sableye with its Absorb. Tanis' only advantage, was his typing. While it's true that he would not be inflicted with Poison due to it being a powdered-based attack, he was still breathing it in, and it was still a Poison-type move, a type that he didn't get on with at all. As a result, his breathing became more labored and his coughing more violent. All it took was one inhale of the stuff to put him down and out for the precious few seconds that Oddish was after. Slumped down to his paws and knees, he tried to get himself as low as he could to prevent the stuff from afflicting his lungs so horribly. It did little, initially.

His coughing spate lasted for as long as the Poison Powder remained so low on the ground. Once it started being mixed in with the air, and lifting upwards as a result. Easily one of the more severe of the powders that Oddish could've used. In similarity with the previous two that he was subjected to, he continually breathed out the purple substance he had breathed in with every exhale. The difference this time, is that the substance was thicker and much more prevalent as opposed to just locally based on his exhales. The powder continued to linger even after it escaped his system for just a few seconds before mixing in with the air like the rest. Tanis' initial conclusion was likely that this was the third time that Oddish had done something like this to him in just a short span of time, his lungs likely hadn't properly flushed out the full effects of the other two powders yet. Regardless of the reason, he escaped the substance, once again proving to Oddish that moves like that will only temporarily stop Tanis. Granted, it was the plan all along, but he didn't know that.

For better or for worse, he was too engrossed in coughing up his lungs to notice the clash of ranged moves that Sableye and Oddish shared. All he saw were the aftermath. The pair were facing each other, with Tanis more-or-less behind the Oddish a few running seconds away. He didn't understand what had actually transpired, but he was convinced that something did. Regardless, he was in a prime position to actually do something lethally to Oddish now that its back was to him. It took Tanis a few seconds further to decide what he should do next. Another Quick Attack certainly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world: He can close distance quickly and do something to it before it had a chance to react. Before he finalized his decision on what to do next, he shot a quick glance at the Sableye. Perhaps seeming a little troubled, but otherwise fine, it had been the first time that Tanis had actually taken stock of what he actually looked like, and what he was sporting. The bag on his back wasn't too interesting, but the bandana that he was wearing over his mouth looked very unique indeed. Those white teeth in particular reminded Tanis of that Tyrantrum's jawline. He may have been mistaken, but didn't Sableye have teeth more or less exactly like that anyway?

It was at this exact thought that an idea struck his head like he just got hit by some kind of idea hammer. At that, he smiled broadly. Yes... That would work quite nicely in this situation! His decision finally made, Tanis broke out into a four-legged run towards Sableye and, more importantly, Oddish. Noticeably a lot slower than the first charge towards Oddish he made, but there was a specific reason for it this time. His eyes remained clearly focused on Oddish, whom, now that it had recovered back somne of its strength, it felt it was high time for the Ghost type to take a wee nap. After all, what better way to drain the life out of your opponent than when they're lay there in dreamland. Oddish produced its own smile as it kept its glance on Sableye, definitely looking like it is concocting something. The ever familiar popping sound and rushing air gushed out as it begun spraying a green powder that Tanis recognized right away.

Whether because of Tanis, or because it was forced out of its trajectory, the powder never reached the Sableye. The next instant, Oddish was subject to a shock of its own when Tanis grabbed it on its sides with both of his front paws. This brought the attention back on him, and the resulting powder to be mixed into the immediate surrounding air as opposed to Sableye's path. Too focused on the task at hand, Tanis ignored the spray of the powder, and instead reared his head and upper torso back while keeping his hold strictly on Oddish. With an uncharacteristic snarl, he lunged his face, mouth agape, into Oddish's awaiting back. Teeth meet skin as Oddish lets out another uncharacteristic squeak mixed with shock and mostly pain. Tanis' white teeth combine with Oddish's flesh as he presses his jaws together as tightly as he can muster with his Crunch. He removes his teeth from Oddish's back only after he is content with his work... Only to dig his teeth in a second time on a different portion of its body! This time the outcry from Oddish was followed by it squirming to break free. At this point, the sorry excuse of a Sleep Powder dissipated into nothing more than a glitter show as it was completely ignored and more focus was placed on getting free. This didn't exactly help its own health when trying to remove the teeth from its body resulted in even more harm and damage from Tanis' jaws.

Tanis wasn't letting go. In spite of Oddish's ultimately futile attempts at getting free, his paw grip kept it firmly in place in plenty of time to release it and crunch down for a third time on another section of Oddish's body. Now desperate to stop the assault on its back, Oddish relied on another of its numerous tricks to get out of it. It had come from the grass blades on its head originally: A brown liquid began to seep through a pore of its head as it begun to trickle ever so slightly down the front of its body, that was the initial tell that it was coming. Tanis hadn't realized it at all until it was too late. What followed was a shower of Acid that sprayed from the top of its head that Tanis was much too close to even avoid the initial onslaught of. He didn't understand what it was at first, perhaps another powdered attack, as he continued his pressure on his biting attempts, which had been very effective so far. That ended the millisecond he got splashed by just the first of many specks of Acid that rained down upon him. It struck his left arm, which immediately began to sizzle and inflict a great deal of pain. Immediately, Tanis let go of Oddish, removing his apparently sharp teeth from the grass type as he elicited a pained response of his very own. This followed through with the numerous other drips of acid that winded up touching any segment of his body: Body, legs, face. Every one provoked a pained shriek from Tanis as the Acid reached its conclusion. While not as prolonged as his own onslaught, Oddish landed a clean hit on its assailant, which both drained some of his strength, and stopped the crunching in its tracks.

A lesson learned, Oddish begun turning and facing both Tanis and Sableye now. Making the damage it took to its back more than obvious each time it turned to face Tanis. Three rough and sharp-looking teeth marks adorn its back now, a testament to facing the wrong direction when up against another herbivore, of all things. The owner of said teeth did all that, but at a cost. Even after the Acid finished doing its duty, sizzling sounds continued to exude from Tanis' body as brown steam escaped from his body from every origin point that the acid struck him. From his downed state, it took him four tries for him to not feel enough intense pain to simply plop back down on the ground. even then, his body continued to object to him wanting to do it that fourth time. Now back upright, he slowly returns to his position: Right arm outstretched, left arm and back paw covering his mouth. Strange how just one attack was enough to knock some of the bravado out of him.

Oddish found a weakness!

Pained, but far from out of this yet, he relishes only in the delight that Oddish suffered just as much from his own onslaught as he just had with Oddish's. To an extent, it is true, but whether that would make a sizeable impact to the battle as a whole... Well, part of that relied on the Sableye. Here's hoping he had a bit of time to figure out a strategy of his own to end this before Oddish could do irreversible damage to them both.






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tl;dr:

- Tanis used Crunch a total of three times with thanks from Kade 'suggesting' the idea.
- Oddish used Acid to break free.
- (Thanks to level difference) Tanis is injured.
- Oddish is keeping eyes on both Kade and Tanis now.

Pleased enough that the ghost type managed to follow through on his own advance of an assault, it granted Tanis a few precious seconds to take note of the situation and what would be the next course of action to take. There was no doubt in his mind that Oddish had taken a serious pounding with the combined efforts of the pair making its world an absolute misery. Of course, it had also launched some punishment of its own, but some of it was ineffectual in actually doing anything long-term. The constant powder it spewed had so far all been directed at or near Tanis himself, short-term, it did well enough to incapacitate him, long-term however, it did nothing worthy of note. He smirked at the prospect that they've got it right where they wanted him. There is always the unknown factor of what it could do, but for all intents and purpose, things were progressing in the positive direction, the only direction that is worth taking.

Whether the Sableye realized the tides of the battle pushing in their favour, or he grew a backbone, he lunged forward and started putting those claws to work. Among everything else he hadn't realized, Tanis didn't know those claws existed until he put them to work right then. Not that it's a bad thing of course, merely that Tanis hadn't been all that observant about the ghost-type's looks, though considering he was about to attack him, it would've been a smarter idea to do so. He was much more focused on getting payback and assaulting the cause of his problems rather than take stock and observe. He had done the same thing to Oddish, and he paid for it. Now that he's been woken up and taken a pretty bad hit, his mind is a little more focused than it was before. That being said, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the methods that he'd been applying up to this point: It was still working, so there wasn't any reason to change it that much. Sableye likely thought the same way, hence his own onslaught. It proved quite effective, dwindling Oddish's strength further. It was easy to tell that it was faltering with each swing.

Made more evident with the use of its Stun Spore.

Tanis didn't realize it at first, but it seemed to be taking Oddish a few moments to actually push out the air and bring out its Stun Spore. Observing and watching the onslaught unfold. He guessed that the ghost type was so engrossed in his own attacking, that he either didn't realize the powder was coming, or didn't even try to do anything about it. In either case, Tanis bore witness to the golden flakes of powder escape Oddish and surround both it and the Sableye. Tanis reacted with his eyes widening a little and bearing his gritted teeth. He spent all that time out of range, likely to prevent getting caught by one of those powdered attacks, only to now get caught by one. As if tethered to the ground, his pained and steaming body refusing to initially act, he watched and waited for any sign of anything to happen in that powdered cloud. He could hear a few more swipes of claws being performed, the gap of each swing growing after each sound, however, it was the first cough that the ghost type made that sprung Tanis into action.

"No!" Hunched down on all fours in a span that took no longer than half a second, he forced his body to ignore its complaints and hunched down on all fours, stretching out his right arm to his right side as he kept his eyes strongly focused on the Stun Spore cloud that obscured the view of what was going on. The first cough turned into two, then three... His body tensed as he allowed the formation of his Quick Attack take hold of him. Like the first time, the world around him seemed to slow down all of a sudden. The Stun Spore particles that were once violent and reacting to the air, were now swimming graciously to a tune that he couldn't hear. It was only then that he broke out into his run. The smaller blades of grass that had yet to grow into jungle-like properties to the height of the three Pokémon here stood little chance of staying in the ground, as with each step Tanis took, grass flew out to grant witness to the path that he was taking. There was no subtlety this time, as he made a direct beeline for the Stun Spore's influence. He charged specifically for the location that he saw Oddish in before it used it, hopefully he'd find his target.

In spite of his own plan, he was literally just running head-long into 'darkness', where he couldn't see what's going on until he gets in there. For the second and a half that it took for him to close the distance, his mind raced for an explanation as to why he was blindly charging in without at least waiting for the Stun Spore to subside. He had plenty enough reason to do just that. At the same time however, he had enough reasons to do exactly the opposite. His own health is first, Oddish is preoccupied with the Sableye, it's the perfect time to recover a little before acting again. At the same time, he felt as though he owed the ghost type a favour. It's true that they didn't exactly start out on good terms at all, a true fact for anyone who first meets Tanis usually, but he had every chance and right to leave the battle that he wasn't initially directly involved in. He didn't. He stuck around and assisted the cause and help fuel and fill Tanis' own stupid logic for attacking Oddish. Is that really something that a random passerby would do in a first encounter? Well... According to this ghost type, it was. Oddish had proved time and again to Tanis by now that its powdered attacks don't effect him for its intended purpose, merely brings a coughing spate. If that stuff really did do anything, the Sableye is surely affected by it now. That's the reason Tanis is charging straight into the stuff. If anyone's going to do anything to help assist the situation, it was him.... Or Oddish, but he doubted it'd do anything of the sort.

His attack plan was actually genius, for him. As he entered the Stun Spore, his vision clouded by its particles, he kept running at his full pace. He remained in the Stun Spore for no longer than two seconds in real-time. During that duration, he collided into... Something, that gave way and started travelling in front of his now crossed arms. Acting as if he was blocking, Tanis threw his arms out in front of himself, and turned his head to the side, a literal blind charge! His plan was to hopefully hit something with substance, and run out of the Stun Spore with it. Ideally, he wanted to hit the Oddish, but hitting the Sableye wasn't the worst situation either. In either case, he couldn't tell who he actually smacked into, he merely hit something and kept running. At this point, his Quick Attack had slowed now that he had a 'passenger', his speed reduced to only a third of the pace he started with. Nonetheless, he kept running, even after he exited the Stun Spore cloud, for at least another three seconds. At that point, his breath got caught and he felt his coughing coming. Though not as prolonged as every other time, this time only being in the substance briefly, it was enough to stop him. He had no idea what was even going on in there, at that point, he didn't care either.

This turned out fortuitous however, as his passenger was grateful for no longer being a part of his Quick Attack. Tanis had succeeded in hitting Oddish, and drove the plant out of its Stun Spore and away from the ghost type. Good news for him, was that he didn't have to suffer any kind of follow-up attack from Oddish as he suffered from his Paralysis. Bad news was he was in the substance for a little bit longer. Whether Tanis would've winded up hitting the Sableye from his blind running he didn't know, He didn't feel a second impact at any point, so he figured he didn't. Of course, being oblivious to Quick Attack not working on ghost types is a good thing too. In any event, the combination of all the attacks it had suffered already, as well as the entire combination of all those Fury Swipes was enough to bring Oddish down. The Quick Attack was merely a formality that prevented any last second shenanigans from occurring. Defeated and severely injured, Oddish had no more will to continue the fight. Instead merely lay on the ground, trying to prevent the burning in its lungs by inhaling so much air. Tanis didn't know what or why Oddish was doing all of that, but at least the deed was finally done. Retribution was delivered and one less troublemaker in the world. Not that he was really out to pacify all the troublemakers of the world... Only the here and now.

It's finished!

That was quite a bit more action that he was expecting for merely teaching a lesson to who he considered a troublemaker. As he stood over Oddish, he felt no remorse or pain for it. It would be fair to say he'd more likely kick the Oddish some more while it was down and defenceless like that, and he would as well. He doesn't though, because he doesn't feel like it. The animosity he felt initially has dispersed and has been quelled, there was no reason to prolong it any further. He did however relish in Oddish lay beneath his feet and at his mercy, so to speak. Perhaps it should even be grateful that this was as far as Tanis would draw out this fight.

Sighing, Tanis turned around to look at the remaining combatant left unaccounted for. The Stun Spore, by now, had begun dispersing into the air and becoming harmless once more, much as he suspects to the delight of the ghost type's lungs. It was at that point that he bore witness to the actual effects of the powdered substance that had coated around Oddish and the Sableye. He remained frigid, a little like he was taking some kind of nap, yet somehow still wide awake. It was almost like he literally had no control over his own body. Is that really what the powders do? Tanis stood there a little perplexed at the scene that the Sableye was revealing. He would agree that the numerous colours of powders that Oddish was spewing out was debilitating, annoying and taxing on the lungs, but he didn't think they would do something as heavy as... That! With Oddish defeated on the ground, and the Ghost type indisposed temporarily, Tanis remained the only one currently standing. How many outlaws could relish in this situation in their lifetime?

What Tanis decided to do next, on the other hand, is perhaps not quite as obvious as his... Title... Might suggest. In spite of being labelled an outcast and an outlaw by his hometown, he still has his morals. In spite of the Sableye's inability to currently stop him from doing anything, he did still assist in this battle, certainly more than most that Tanis can immediately think of. This ghost type has strength and is not ashamed to share it. Ulterior motive or not, he is at least worthy of his title of 'Explorer', whatever that is. His eyes fixed on the ghost type, Tanis began a brisk walk back to his position. Although his gaze is far from comforting, his body language suggests that he's not preparing an attack, at least not in the ways that he's been witnessed doing them during the battle with Oddish. His expression remains mostly neutral, showing only a brief pained expression when his body's protests begin to flare up a little too much before he wills it back down again. He stops moving once he reaches the Sableye, watching, waiting. If he's not upright at that point, Tanis lends a paw to get the ghost type back on its own two feet. He's earned that much.

Regardless, he waits. They got off on the wrong foot, he'll admit that, but he will not say sorry for it. Rather it did appear as though the ghost type was trying to say something... Before they both got interrupted. Now that the tension behind the powder-attacks has been dealt with, he is at least willing to hear this ghost type out... A little more than he was originally intending to at least. Conversation is not one of his best traits, that and he doesn't have anything to really say himself. He imagined Sableye did though, hence why he approached. That and he does owe him a favour for his assistance in dealing with Oddish. He currently won't admit to it just yet however, first, he needs to see if this Sableye is worthy of talking to. He's strong, no doubts about that... But how strong?

... Well, he's not going to find out just at the moment.

If Sableye only knew just how accurate he was.

In spite of what the ghost type must've been feeling as he lay there twitching and seemingly 'ignoring' the assistance to get up at first, Tanis didn't play it too much mind. Moreover, he was more intrigued about how he got into that state. He'd seen the condition before, he imagined all Pokémon have been Paralyzed at least once during their lifetime, himself included. The only method he recalled ever being inflicted by it however has always been from electric moves. He has never seen, certainly not upon himself, any kind of powder, regardless of its origin, causes paralysis. Yet, here he was, rooted to the ground and temporarily stuck in place. That was definitely Paralysis, but could Oddish even do such a thing? While taking a spate of time, Sableye eventually locks paws with Tanis and eventually gets the ghost type back on his feet again, albeit with a little slapstick near-fall experience from the pair of them. Tanis was forced to plant his left foot into the ground to stop himself from going with him. While he looked a little silly putting on such a display just to get someone upright who initially struggled to stay under his own weight, a combination of the both of them, mostly Sableye himself, got the end result they both yearned for. Tanis let him go after that and took a couple of paces backwards. There was such a thing as personal space to him after all.

Sableye was also spot on about his thoughts on Tanis wanting to make small talk. His comment on being a decent team fell largely on deaf ears. Tanis heard him alright, but he made no indication whatsoever that he was going to respond in any sort of way to that remark. Tanis' presumptions that he figured this thing actually had something he wanted to say, and figured it would be worth listening to had so far been false, which was unfortunate to say the least. While he collected himself upon the realization, Tanis used that opportunity to glance around and see what had transpired since declaring the battle over. The grass around them had definitely been disturbed thanks to their three-way tussle, not to mention that local Pokémon had slowly gathered to see what all the commotion was all about. None seemed too eager to get involved or intervene further, either because they don't want to, or were more interested over the fact two unknown Pokémon had just stomped over an Oddish. Whom, coincidentally, had already taken the moment to flee the scene now that the focus on it was gone. Now it was only them two with who knows how many pairs of eyes were looking over them. Tanis could see two sets of eyes that was watching them, he couldn't tell who they belonged to, or whether they were the only two, but it seemed as though they were uninterested in doing anything... Yet.

The ghost type's next comment is the main draw to capturing Tanis' attention however. Not so much about the bad hit though. It's true that Oddish landed a solid and troubling hit onto him amidst the numerous powdered attacks that it was throwing around, mostly at him. It was hardly the worst attack that he's had to endure and feel in the long run. After all, the orange scar that is covering the majority of his chest is testament to a much larger scale wound that he had been forced to recover from... Although merely thinking about how or where he got the thing gives him nothing more than a headache and a sharp pain that is enough to make his eyes squint and make a small hissing sound as the initial phase of it passes. He doesn't recall where it's from, but he still suffered it. Compared to that, the aftermath and damaging effects of Oddish's Acid doesn't mean too much. That will impact him in the long haul here, but overall, it's nothing he's concerned about. His reaction is more to the passing comment of heading back to Invictus. That got his attention again in no time. A very ironic twist of fate that it seems a denizen of the very location that Tanis had been wandering towards just so happened to be here at... Wherever this is... at the precise same moment as he was. He hadn't realized just how long ago he was supposed to be at Invictus to attend his own hearing about what they were going to do with him, time doesn't mean too much when you're wandering around hopelessly after all.

Ignoring the significance of the Sableye looking around, indicating how lost he really was, Tanis mused the idea in his mind. Yes, this would be ideal... This ghost type would do... Whatever it is he's supposedly doing himself, and Tanis would find his way to Invictus, everyone benefits and everyone's happy, for what it's worth. If he had indeed come from Invictus, than the opposite direction that he had come from was the way to go. Judging by the fact that he appeared to Tanis' right side, that meant that he was, in fact, going in the correct direction in the first place. That was implying that Sableye also hadn't done a giant loop for lack of a sense of direction. For the few seconds that the ghost type spent looking around, Tanis spent that time clicking his brain into gear, which eventually saw him looking to his right. Regardless of the direction that he faced, there was nothing but grass in the immediate view that led to more grass he suspected. He based the direction of his facing based purely on what happened prior to Sableye's arrival to the scene from the initial direction Tanis was facing. If he was correct, which he doubted, Sableye came from that direction. So logic dictates that if they went that way, they'll eventually get to Invictus. There was probably a superior way of doing it, using the direction of the wind, the direction the clouds are going in the sky, the current location of the sun... The remnants of the battlefield they left could also be used in some way. Tanis had never tried to think about this stuff before, yet no matter how much he tried to think of ways that anything tangible could be used to help locate their location, all that came back was emptiness, nothingness, solitude. Nothing but a mental scar and a massive headache came back to assault Tanis. It forced him to place his right paw on his head in a vain attempt to quell its influence. Why is his memory nothing but more recent implications? Why is he even doing any of this in the first place?

Being a team or otherwise, Sableye is the one to break the ice once more to ask Tanis his name. Such a simple question, yet only begets more questions to him than answers. It succeeded in quelling his head from thoughts he tried to dredge that he wasn't sure even existed at that point. No, there was no point in trying to think of anything that isn't there, let's focus on the here and now. As tempting as it would be to continue walking blindly, as is his nature, he does still have somewhere to go. Judging by the ghost types responses, so does he now, and both locations are connected. Though he loathe to admit it, assisting and cooperating with this ghost type does yield benefits as opposed to working alone in this place. Of course, that does bring some drawbacks: Food being one of them. Tanis didn't have anything to his name at the moment, flora is something he could find given enough time. Is this guy a Herbivore? Can he sustain himself? Plenty of advantages, but plenty of disadvantages. But the main thing they have against them right now, is that they're both hopelessly lost. There is one thing that Tanis can utilize to gather their bearings. He hadn't located any such thing himself as of yet, but that never stopped him from trying before. The only question is whether Sableye would be on board.

Tanis wasn't going to stick around to find out.

He left only a few parting words before he begun to make tracks. "We need a vantage point..." The only true way of finding out which way you're going, is to find something taller than the two foot grass that surrounded everyone to scale and gather their bearings from there. Obviously the taller the better, but anything would do for Tanis at this junction. They're in a plain-like area after all, surely there's at least a single tree in this place. Either way, Tanis begun traversing to his right, the direction he suspected the ghost type had appeared from initially. He took a total of a dozen paces in that direction before he looked back at Sableye, whether he followed or not. Of course, he was asked a question. It would be decidedly rude of him not to at least acknowledge the fact that he was asked it. Well, that and the fact he still owes that favour he has yet to admit to. "... Call me Tanis. Everyone else does..." With a sly smirk, he turns back around and continues his trek. That's what everyone in his home town called him, so that's the identity he assumed. The reality is that he doesn't have any real memory of actually using that name for any type of correspondence, yet that's what everyone called him, so that's what he's been using and answering to. Ironic really that he's assumed the name Tanis, yet has no real past recollection of actually using it in his younger years. Still, he was asked for his name, and he gave it. That should satiate the curiosity he hoped. Now it was a simple matter of enacting the next phase of this tale.



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OOC - Quick and sloppy reply is quick and sloppy. I'll try and do better next time. Haha! If you want to advance things to something a little more exciting, feel free.

Tanis hadn't paid the Sableye much mind prior to turning back around after finally and belatedly introducing himself. Instead he was a little more focused on the path ahead. Of course, besides the ensuing chaos they were both involved in creating a disturbance in the natural way of how the grass grew, there was no actual indication that this was even a 'path' to start with. The fact this entire place is literally just a labyrinth of tall grass and troubling grass types that fling powder about like it's out of fashion, doesn't exactly help at all with having any inclination of which way to go. It never really troubled Tanis too much in that regard, namely because he uses it as an excuse to wander around aimlessly until he reaches 'a' goal, whether it's the one he desired or not. The real problem at this point in time is not so much whether Tanis knew where he was going, but rather did the ghost type knew where he was going? The direction he started heading towards was more of a gut-feeling based on the battle they've just had, and the direction that the Sableye had originally come from. He assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the ghost type had come directly from Invictus, and that it was in that direction.

Before he could be considered out of sight, the Sableye introduces himself as Ross. While Tanis does stop moving in his chosen direction, he doesn't turn around prior to him revealing his name. He never considered that the name was a fabrication, after all, why would anyone really lie about their own name? At the very least, it was a name to refer to him instead of... Any other name that he might've used. Alright, so Ross is his name. Now he has a name to plaster onto the talkative and bandana-wearing Pokémon who is roughly the same height as he was. The telling sign that the name was a lie was most likely Ross fiddling with his bandana. Having never turned around, Tanis never saw him do it. He does turn around however, when he pipes up with another item of note. Namely, his map.

He knows where to find a vantage point?

That's certainly music to Tanis' ears, and grabbed his attention unlike the big name reveal. Ross revealed the location on a piece of parchment that he had already unveiled by the time Tanis turned around. Although he was willing to share Tanis a glance of this magical parchment, he had to backtrack the way he had gone in order to actually see it, considering Ross never moved prior. He referred to this... Thing... As a map. What Tanis actually saw was not so much a map more than it was a drawing of some vague description that he wasn't entirely sure what it actually was. It was definitely very green, so green, it threatened him to be the more greener item here. Alongside the vegetation that it apparently depicted, were a couple of other colored splodges, all of which that had names. The one Ross pointed out was a distinct looking splodge that he was unsure how to get to. Tanis could easily see why, considering that this map is still mostly just green, and isn't exactly saying where they are right now. That being said, is that what maps are supposed to do in the first place? Having no recollection of having ever seen a map in his life, or so he thought, the contents of this parchment is more confusing than it is helpful. That and he's looking at the map upside down. While Ross is holding it the right way for himself, Tanis is peeking directly opposite and in front of him, meaning he's looking at it backwards. Not that it helped him very much anyway, because even though he could see that the segments that weren't green each had their own set name, he couldn't make out at all that they depicted the name of those particular locations. Again, it's partially because he's reading them upside down. He'd laugh at his own misgivings, if he realized that was a problem. They were words, he could see that, but what they said, upside down or otherwise, he had no idea. Loner's Roost is merely 'That large blob amongst green' on Ross' map.

That's when the suggestion flooded into Tanis' ears. Of all the ridiculous ideas that Ross could've come up with, a simple one such as that, without anything to support either of them? As if it sounded like the worst idea on the planet, Tanis glanced at Ross with a distrustful and somehow angrily sincere, as if he figured that Ross had lost all manner of sense in just that single solitary sentence. Even Tanis would admit that it wasn't without its merits, after a moments thought into the matter. He is light-weight in comparison to most Pokémon, not even breaking a stone (14lbs) in weight, lifting him up and keeping him lifted was perfectly doable. He would be able to just about peek over the long grass, if his guesstimating of Ross being the same height as he was accurate. While he may not have worked it out himself yet, Tanis is a climber and his body design, or rather his paw design, did allow him to cling to surfaces. Staying on Ross' shoulders would be a simple matter, it would more boil down to whether he could keep Tanis upright long enough so that he could survey the scene and fine his vantage point he pointed out. In spite of all of this, there was literally no support to keep Ross from toppling over or buckling all of a sudden. While he isn't aware that he is a Sableye specifically, he could easily tell that he was not the most muscular of types. If he were a Machop, a Meinfoo, or another equally strength-based Pokémon, he imagined he could be lifted off the ground all day without breaking a sweat. Plus, this is not a rock or another inanimate object that he's suggesting to support on his shoulders here: Tanis was a living and breathing Treecko in every sense of the word. One mistake, and that's a broken neck. His disproval of the idea was perhaps more evident on his face than any words that he could say to Ross. In fact, there was only one thing that made him do a 180 on his decision to the idea... The rumble of thunder.

Tanis' eyes widened slightly as his attention went to the sky, that he had been ignoring the entire time. The once partially cloudy but otherwise sunny exterior of the sky had been replaced with a quantifiable more clouds, and dark ones at that. That was most definitely a threat of rain, if the thunder hasn't already made that obvious. That's certainly not ominous. But it does make things intriguing just how much a simple threat of rain can change Tanis' complete temperament, moreover, what he thought of the idea. The sooner he got out of here, and away from the potential weather change that would seriously dampen his day, the better it is for everyone, mostly him. All of a sudden, the idea of using Ross as a stepping stone seemed more appealing. That said, would he even be able to find what Ross was even pointing to on that parchment? He wasn't about to start questioning it now. As if he was now taking control of the situation, Tanis approached the hunched ghost type, changing his position so he was to his side rather than in front of him. "... Alright, fine. Stand up!" As Tanis finished the 'order', he 'leapt' onto Ross' frame. More specifically, he placed his right knee on Ross' left shoulder, and swung his other leg onto his other shoulder. His two front paws were latched firmly onto each side of Ross' head, braced and ready for him to stand.

He suspected the ascent to not be the most graceful of stands, especially since Ross would've had to try and do so with something literally clinging to his head and shoulders. In spite of that, this was primarily the reason Tanis took the position he did. He couldn't just stand perfectly from the offset, otherwise there would be a massive balance issue since Ross would have effectively grown twice in size with a hat that was just as tall as him, and trying not to drop it. Even so, Tanis did suspect that Ross would still lose balance, so this was why he kept as low as possible, literally leaning into the back of his head with his stomach and his paws firmly gripped to his head and left shoulder. The very paws that he uses to clamber and scale surfaces, was what was keeping him from falling by his own power. He imagined anyone that was watching the scene were laughing from no end of the entertainment, but the main benefactor is that the combination of Tanis' attempts to keep things as low key as possible, and Ross... Standing up... Was enough to get them both upright, finally finishing with Ross fully standing and Tanis replacing his right knee with his right back paw on his shoulder. The transformation, and slapstick comedy act, was complete. If Ross didn't figure that Tanis had solid gripping skills when it came to his paws, he likely realized it when he felt them on his head as he was getting upright.

In any event, Tanis was up on the Sableye's shoulders. No longer hunched over himself, and his front paws removed from Ross' head to grant him just that tiny additional height, maintaining his balance with just his back paws, which he was clenching the other's shoulders with tightly to keep him from going anywhere. What he evident saw was... Well... Certainly a better view than what Ross could certainly see, that for sure, however, Tanis could just barely peek out from the foliage of the sprouting grass. He still couldn't see the total landscape as such, but a partial unobscured view was better than what he had previously. Immediately, he could tell that the rumbling clouds were not local to them, they were covering the sky completely. Much to his dismay, and from the pits of his stomach, Tanis could already feel his fear creeping up on him as he came to the reality that it was going to rain, and there wasn't anywhere he was going to be able to go to avoid it. This made him feel weaker, vulnerable, exposed! What vigor he had evaporated into thin air, which Ross could feel as both of his tails, losing their life, bapped him on the back as gravity took them from their prime position, to just being tails again.

However, a weather report wasn't what the pair were after. They were much more interested in finding that rock that was pointed out to Tanis.... Or he assumed that was a rock, Ross said it was a rock, so. Thanks to his additional height, finding the protruding rock wasn't too difficult to find, it mountained over the grass very easily and was quite easy to spot after a few seconds of glancing towards the horizon that Tanis could actually see. He couldn't tell how tall the rock face was, but it wasn't exactly closeby either. The rock turned out to be about 40 degrees to the left of the direction that Tanis had headed before Ross pulled out his map. Going in that direction, Tanis would've missed it. Well... Looks like Ross can come up with solid enough ideas after all. Though whether that's the rock that he was talking about, or another one, that was the uncertainty. As if to signify the point further, a crackle of lightning, which followed shortly after by another thunder roll lit up the sky, and the rock protrusion, very nicely. As if to signal to them both that it was right there. Tanis sweated at the sight, that most certainly wasn't the least bit eerie or any less wanting to actually go over there. Even so, he wanted to make sure Ross was aware. "... That's probably it..." He couldn't say with 100% certainty that this was 'Loner's Roost', but he could say that it was a rock protrusion, and it would be good enough as a vantage point. Tanis doesn't hide the fact he was looking in that direction, there was no reason to, and it would give Ross an idea where it was.

A little life returned to Tanis by this point, evident by the lifting of his tails again from Ross' back. Okay, so they both have a goal now, hopefully they can get there before the rain sets in. With the goal set in stone, Tanis prepared to dismount from Ross' shoulders. In fact, he was virtually on the verge of doing so, when something seemed to stop him, and to turn completely around. He could just barely see like this, in which he saw something off of the corner of his eye. He had to get Ross to turn physically slightly so he could see what was actually going on. Even with that assistance, he couldn't quite see who or what was going on at first. Numerous grass blades, dirt and dust was forming what could only be described as a dust cloud that was travelling at a fast pace. Though it wasn't headed directly for them, the cloud was quite wide, and they were in its path, Tanis predicted. But the origin of what it was, wasn't completely clear to him until he heard what he could only describe as bellowing, approximately ten seconds after he first laid eyes on the scene. By which point, he suspected, and hoped, that Ross heard it too. If it wasn't clear what he was looking at, it was pretty clear now. He still had no idea who or what it was, or how many, but whatever it was, it was coming, and fast! This was a good a time as any to actually get off of Ross' shoulders, as he suspected he should've done a few seconds prior. In total, he was up there for about a minute, but that minute showed him more than he'd seen the entire time he's been here so far.

But that doesn't eclipse the fact that there's something more pressing happening...

Leaping off of Ross' shoulders was a much simpler task than getting up to that position in the first place, and required little interaction from Ross himself. Tanis placed his front paws on his shoulders, before taking his feet off of them, and back onto the ground with a soft thud. A quick couple of brushes of Ross' shoulders completed his dismount, before he promptly begun a jogging pace in the direction of where he saw the rock protrusion. He stopped after taking five paces to turn to Ross. "Something's coming! We are leaving!" He ushered him towards him in an attempt to get him to actually run. Hopefully being up on his shoulders for that long didn't drain him enough that running wouldn't be possible, otherwise he wasn't quite sure what to do. He was vague in telling Ross what was coming, but that was because he couldn't tell what it really was, just something that was making noise and they were in its path. Regardless of what it was, the sense of urgency that was in Tanis' voice was a clear enough indication that he both wasn't kidding around, and he was going to act on what he wanted to do whether Ross followed him or not.

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OOC - Whew, that took a while to conjure up. Apologies for the delay. As we agreed in our PM, I pushed things forward just a tad to get the ball rolling again. Hopefully I didn't do anything that Kade wouldn't wind up doing. Feel free to let me know if I did, and I'll change it up. :3 Also feel free to move on with your own plan mate, what I conjured up was more of a 'Get to that rock faster' solution.