Following Portia's lead, you follow a small trail into the thick forest. The smell of moss is mixed with hints of jasmine, while the distant thrumming of Metapods replaces the sounds of the highway.

You keep on the look out for wild Pokémons, but only find traces of rattatas and bidoof. They probably prefer to stay hidden this close to the city. Still, the peaceful forest is a nice change from the bustle of the city.

As the afternoon grows late, you settle into a small clearing for the night. While Laconney starts a fire, you notice a rustling in the bushes around you...

Atticus' legs were already sore from all the walking they had done, so it was nice to get a chance to rest for the night. He found the clearing peaceful and since his Pokemon had been stuck inside of their balls for the majority of the journey, he decided to let them out to play and get to know each other. "Bubby, Shelby, come on out now," he told them cheerily before the Bulbasaur and Shellder joined the small group. He figured Bubby would enjoy the environment they were in but he wasn't sure how Shelby would act now that he was no longer by the beach. He then heard the rustling in the bushes and lifted his head up alertly. "Hey guys... do you hear that?" he muttered quietly, fists clenching by his sides nervously as he tried to see where the rustling was coming from.

Jakey kept both of his pokemon out as he walked. While Fetcher had no issue keeping up, Jakey needed to hold Skipper part of the time and let it hop along side the other half. Despite the long walk, the scruffy youth seemed to have lost no spunk. The only spunk he seemed to lose was when he realized he had never been so far away from the city and without a path before. It was a bit scary, but he was happy to rise to the challenge.

He did his best to relax as they set up camp. He was no stranger to rough'n it, but he was outside his native environment. He did his best to mask his uncertainty as he made himself comfortable. He seemed to notice the bushes moving as well. He drew his pokemon closer to him and grabbed the sturdiest looking stick he could find in close proximity to arm himself.
"Yeah, I heard that. You think it is some punks or pokemon?"

He suspected the latter. The young crew were probably the only punks in the forest.

Now that you're paying attention, you realize the sound is surrounding the clearing. Between the bushes, you can barely catch glimpse of small shapes moving around, too fast to identify.

As you try to decide what to do, an onslaught of rains on your camp. You're not hit, but you're left confused as you see pieces of blackened cut potatoes, berry cores, and a few bones. All smell faintly of dish washing soap.

Seymour had enjoyed the trek through the forest for the most part. It was a nice day and the wilderness was beautiful. And as long as they kept moving, the mosquitoes weren't too terrible either. Seymour was having fun getting to know his fellow trainers better as they walked as well.

He let each of his pokemon spend some time outside their pokeballs, and even managed to come up with some names for his Laconney and Farfetch'd. He decided that the Laconney, with its little outfit, looked kind of like a cuddly little warlock. So Seymour named him Locke. His Farfetch'd seemed rather strong and well-groomed, and he felt Farrah would be a good name for her. But Seymour opted to keep his Lotad's name as Lotad. He had been calling him Lotad for so long, it would feel weird to change it now. Perhaps he would revisit the name-change concept if Lotad ever evolved into a Lombre. And of course Glumpy the Shroomish already had her new name.

When they settled down for the night around their campfire, Seymour's pokemon were all resting in their balls except for Locke the Laconney, who could help with the fire if necessary. Locke was currently resting on Seymour's lap as he pet the dozing pokemon. But he nudged the pokemon awake as the food waste came pouring in. "Who's there? Why are you picking on us?" he called out to the night.

To Locke, he said, "Think you could help illuminate the area a little more?" He held his little rabbit up in the air, blazing-blue tail outward. Seymour peered out into the darkness to try and see who (or what) was invading their campsite.

---

Hoping to use Laconney's Glow ability to illuminate our surroundings better.

Jake would have acted decisively to chase down whatever was causing the commotion if there was just one thing ahead, but it seemed to be all around. Still, he didn't want to be completely helpless -- even if the debris didn't hit him and didn't smell particularly bad. He rallied his pokemon to his side,
"Skipper, Fetcher, let's return fire! Skipper, knock down anything that gets too close. Fetcher, let's bat it back!"

Jake then demonstrated with his own stick what he expected his bird pokemon to do, to bat the various bits and pieces back into the bush. Jake wasn't as sure what he wanted his mudkip to do, so just having it do some target practice was fun.

Locke pushes the shadow a bit farther, briefly revealing the shapes moving through the bushes. It looks like pink balls... no, more like eggs. Many of them. It doesn't take long for Seymour to recognize a pack of Exeggcute. It's clearly not the only group though, as other bushes a shaking on the opposite side too.

As a second wave of table scrap flies their way, Jake swing wildly, not hitting anything. Still, it's enough to inspire his companions, who do a good job batting aside the trash. A few of Skipper's bubble float between the trees, causing an angry scream to fill the forest.

"EXEGG... GUTOR!" A two meter tall palm tree enters the clearing, giving you an angry glare with it's three coconut heads.

Just as it was dawning on Seymour which species of pokemon were surrounding their campsite, the exeggutor emerged. The trainer staggered backward and held his laconney tight. "Ex- Exeggutor!?" he blurted.

Nervously, he looked toward Portia out of the corner of his eye. In a loud and nervous whisper, he asked her, "Do you know what to do? What with your psychic connections and all? There are exeggcute in the bushes too." Seymour had no idea if Portia had any actual psychic connections, but she had a psychic pokemon she was close to.

Then it finally dawned on Seymour that he had a grass type pokemon he was close to too. In fact, he had two grass types. He suddenly found himself wondering if he himself knew anything that might help them in this situation. Why was the exeggutor so angry with them? Were they in its territory? Was it just itching for some confrontation? Something else? He did his best to calm his fight or flight instincts and soak in the clues.

---

Seymour is using his Intuition and Pokemon Knowledge to try and assess the situation. Namely, why is the exeggcute/exeggutor here, and what can they do about it? Just how much danger are they actually in right now?

Portia remained calm at camp despite the growing agitation in the bushes - she hardly seemed to pay attention at all, really, even when debris began to rain down on the group.  Not a single bit of it actually hit her in lieu of falling short or just whizzing past her head.  Houdini was her early-warning system, after all; just as he'd Teleported them away when the Shroomish were an immediate threat, the lack of response from him seemed to assure Portia that she wasn't in any real danger.  Instead she focused her attention on what had been thrown and scowled as she turned over some of the refuse.  Blackened, hand-cut food scraps...

"I don't think we need psychic powers to figure this one out, Seymour.  Rope it in, boys - don't attack them." Portia reassured her companion as she finally did rise and set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  She stepped ahead a short ways toward the Exeggcute and Exeggutor, hands open and outstretched to show she meant no threat.  "Easy friends, easy.  All this garbage... I bet it was left by other travelers making a mess of your forest, huh?  I'd be pretty mad too if someone came and dumped their bin in my home.  We're not gonna leave anything behind when we pull up camp, I promise." the young woman kept an affable, gentle tone as she spoke to the wild Pokemon.  "In fact, why don't we help you?  If you show us where other Humans left messes, we can help clean them up.  Would you like that?"

Portia will make use of her "Pokemon Friend" strength in an attempt to calm and cooperate with the wild Pokemon, based on her deduction of what the garbage means.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:40, Mon 06 Jan 2020.

Portia's deduction makes sense. It's not rare for Pokémon to blame all humans for the bother caused by some. Though they remain angry, the offer to help did end the rain of trash.

Multiple Exeggcute jump out of the bushes, shouting to one another and to the Exeggutor. Finally, the palm tree turns sideway, and leads you into the forest. It's a short trip, ending at the base of a small cliff. The area is mostly covered by thick leafy branches, invisible from anywhere but below. The perfect place for a group of Pokémons to hide.

Except for the smell of soap floating over the area. Bits and pieces of food are scattered about, clearly the remains of human cooking. Looking a bit closer, you spot strands of spaghetti hanging from higher branches, hinting that the trash fell from above.

The cliff is close to vertical, but does have plenty of hand-holds and is only five or six yard high. Climbing it wouldn't be very difficult.

Jake was thankful that the others with him were able to de-escalate the issue. It was unlikely any of the trainers were in a position to challenge an evolved pokemon... especially not one with support. He eagerly followed the pokemon through the forest. When confronted with the cliff, he recalled his mudkip into its pokeball but left Fetcher out -- after all, it could probably swoop up on its own.

He was happy to see a challenge that he felt he could surmount. He wasn't familiar with climbing cliffs, but he had scaled small buildings before. The fit youth nearly attacked the cliff face, racing towards it and leaped up to try to get a hand-hold as high up as possible to reduce the climbing time further. He took just one moment before the radical action to explain his actions,
"Imma take a peek and see if they are still there!"

As Jake looked down to the others to explain himself, Portia gave an encouraging double-thumbs up.  Though, as he turned back around to look up at his destination above, he'd find Portia suddenly already up at the top of the cliff ahead of him.  Leave it to a teleporter to show off and take the shortcut by not even bothering to travel between Point A and Point B.  The smirking girl knelt down to offer her hands out to help haul Jake up and make his climb a bit easier.

"C'mon, the buddy-system exists for a reason." she urged with a grin.

It takes a bit of shaking to get Houdini to react, but Portia soon finds herself at the top of the cliff, and she helps Jake reach her. You see there's a trail leading away from where you stand, one used by humans it seems. It's a bit hard to see between the trees, but farther away you spot what seems to be tents. Camouflaged tents.

Before you can move closer, you notice movement coming your way. A woman dressed in a garish tie-dye shirt.

Not being much of a climber himself, Seymour opted to stay at the bottom of the cliff until he was needed. But he did release his own farfetch'd into the air to go join Jakey's. "Help them if they need it," he instructed to Farrah Farfetch'd, then send her flapping up to the top of the small cliff.

"Oh thanks, you're sure speedy!"
Jake cheerfully says to Portia as she helps up him the cliff. He then waves to Seymour at the bottom of the cliff in thanks for sending his pokemon up to help them if need be. He then pops Skipper out of its pokeball and scritches it at the base of its neck before pulling out his pokedex in case the approaching figure was angling for a fight.

He waves to the approaching figure with his free hand. He figured accusing them of littering as the first thing to come out of his mouth would be a bit rude so opted for something more cheery
"Hi there, nice to see some other campers in the forest!"

The woman didn't seem to be paying attention as she was walking toward you, probably more focused on the barrel she was carrying on her back. That changed when Jake called out, surprising her. She falls on her back, causing the barrel to spill soapy water.

Instead of standing up, she pulls out a Pokéball. "Kirlia! Help!" In a flash of light, the green-haired Pokémon appears in front of you, ready to fight.

OOC: Although she is hostile, you can try to talk them down before the fight starts. Seymour and Atticus are close enough to hear the woman's shout, and shout back as well, though they obviously don't know what Portia and Jake are seeing.

Seymour didn't know what was going on up top, but it sounded like it was more than just an abandoned campsite. With a sigh, Seymour approached the short cliff and searched for some good handholds. "Sounds like it would be a good idea to head up," he commented reluctantly to Atticus.

Portia scowled as she caught sight of a familiarly-colored shirt.  She might've considered the group nothing but a bunch of low-tier troublemakers if it hadn't been for what they were accused of back in the city.  While she wasn't so convinced that she could trust what the officials said, the woman's immediate fear of attack didn't exactly reassure Portia as to their innocence either.

"Oi, it's the tie-dye brigade." she leaned back over the ridge to call down to the others below.  Specifically Seymour, in case he felt the need to stow Laconney away for safe keeping.  With that, Portia looked back to the panicked woman and her Kirlia with a deadpanned expression.  "Rope it in, lady - we're not looking to pick a fight.  And believe me, you really don't want to push it." she warned.  Though she made no aggressive motions herself, there was something decidedly eerie in the way one of Houdini's eyes slowly peeked open just enough to give an intimidating gleam as if daring the other Psychic to give him a reason to test his new Move.  "Your camp's been dumping your rubbish off the side of the ridge, huh?  You know you're really ticking off the local Pokemon." Unlike Jake, she had no qualms with being rudely direct on the matter.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:23, Sat 11 Jan 2020.

The woman looks embarrassed as she gets back on her feet. "Yeah, well... you kids shouldn't be out here! Go back home before you get hurt!" She holds on to her Pokémon's arm, as it's eyes begin to glow.

To Seymour and Atticus' surprise, the cliff is actually pretty easy to climb. The two reach the top soon enough to see the stand off, as well as Farrah about to make a fly-by attack on the Kirlia...