{Squish}Marshy{Squosh}Lands{Squash}

[~/Birdybot\~]

~Eeeeew.~

Fairo alwas seemed to get the first word on every part of their journey, and today seemed no exception. There was no water in this part of the route, but thick, wet mud was hard for the Charmeleon to get across. With each step he brought with him countless disgusting muck which stuck to his paws. He almost wished they would reach some water so they could clean this stuff off.

Minari was finding it easy to cross, because of the great brown and white wings he had outstreched above him. The Starravia flapped them twice, rising higher in the sky to join Fiela where they flew around each other as they sank a little lower. It was impossible to miss the look of jeleousy on Fairo's face. Minari and Fairo normally got on really well, but if he and the Espeon flew together, the Charmeleon suddenly became cold.

Fiela noticed it too. Did that mean that perhaps Fairo liked her? She liked him too, but not that much. She just wanted to be friends with both the lizard and the bird. She didn't want to become girlfriend to another Pokemon, at risk it might sever their friendship for good. Well, not just yet, at least. If a Pokemon came along and she felt love, it wasn't really her fault... right?

Contrasting to what the others felt intirely, Mizu and Zen were enjoying the mud. They threw mud balls at each other, laughing as the stuff cooled their skin from the surprisingly warm March day. They watched as Sulteron walked over to a dry spot, raised like a little island in the sea of mud.

Sulteron was lucky she had managed to find a dry spot. Testing the ground, she knew that as it was dry, Fairo would prefer it to the mud. "Come on, I've found a dry spot!" she called to her Pokemon. The two with wings swooped down and landed next to her, giving Fairo a lift as they did so. Zen and Mizu were happy to stay in the mud beside the island.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

A small yellow blob came out of a mud puddle near Zen and Mizu. Big, white eyes eyed the two curiously. "Psy?"

[/color] it said as the rest of its body came up out of the mud puddle when it came upon the dry land. Its two hands rested on its head, and it looked completely and utterly confused... but, that's how they usually look, right?


Wild Psyduck appeared!

The Psyduck looked at Mizu and Zen, not knowing that Sulteron, Fairo, Fiela, and Minari were there as well. Mizu and Zen had disturbed its sleep, but they didn't look too threatening. The Psyduck shot a playful and weak Water Gun at both of them, cocking its head afterwards, waiting to see what they would do.

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Minari saw the chance for a fight, and could not see why the two Water types should sieze it when he was at a lower level, and could do with a little training. Naturaly, the Starravia swooped over the heads of the curious Buizel and Dratini, and, when Psyduck attacked, landed and took the blow with one of his feathery wings. He looked back to his trainer, clearly wondering if he was allowed to battle.

Sulteron walked, or squelched, her way to the bird's side. "I hope you don't mind if Minari battles. He's two levels weaker than you, and it's good to have a relatively even team." she explained to the others, who nodded. Fiela and Fairo watched with interest as they waited for Psyduck's move.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

The mud dripped slowly off of Psyduck as it watched the Staravia step in the way of its harmless attacks. Why had it done that? Its questionable emotions taking over its mind and body, the Psyduck's eyes began to glow a purple color. It didn't take notice of its trainer; the Staravia had simply interfered with fun.

The Psyduck's eyes were all purple now, and a purple glow enveloped Staravia as the Psyduck used Psychic, sending the Staravia flying backwards into a particularly mucky area. As soon as the Psyduck had finished its attack, its eyes returned to normal, completely oblivious of what it had done. "Psy?"

[/color] it said. Obviously it didn't talk much, and its vocabulary was, as far as you could tell, restricted to 'Psy'.
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Minari gasped in shock at the attack coming from the duck which was usually said to be one of the most stupid Pokemon in the world. He thought he'd heard somewhere about them possesing strong powers, but not even knowing they could use it until they evolved into the stronger, intelligent Golduck. What a strange Pokemon. The Starravia got up and cooed to show he was all right, then faced Pysduck again. It was true that the duck remained unaware that he had done anything.

Sulteron and Minari exchanged glances and shrugged. "It's fine. Minari, use Wing Attack!" Minari leapt into the humid air with a single flap of his wings. They skimmed the top of the mud with each downward stroke, as the bird sped toward the Psyduck.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

Before the Psyduck could do anything else, it saw the Staravia coming at it. Why was that thing looking like it was about to attack it?, the Psyduck wondered. Before it could put two and two together, it was sent flying backwards a good ways by the Staravia's Wing Attack. "Psy!"

[/color] the Psyduck growled angrily as it got back up. To the Psyduck, the attack had been quite unexpected, and it was, as usual, confused. But, again, as its emotions took over it, it used Psychic again, enveloping Minari in the strange, purple glow as the Psyduck's Psychic was much stronger this time. When the attack was over, the Psyduck cocked its head again. It was then that it noticed Sulteron for the first time. It waddled over to Sulteron and looked curiously up at her. +You is funny looking,+[/color] the Psyduck managed to say.
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Sulteron raised an eyebrow, and everyone presently exchanged looks. They supposed that meant the fight would never be in existance, but that was fine. The Espeon 'morph nodded to the little duck. "My-" she nearly said the word 'DNA', but that was only likely to confuse the Psyduck further. Instead, she said. "I am part Pokemon. Part of me is like a human, but some is like a Pokemon called Espeon." she spoke slowly, pronnouncing everything clearly in her British accent which was contrasting greating with the American one of the Psyduck.

Minari shrugged, and the five Pokemon gathered around to see what the stupid Pokemon's reaction would be. The Starravia, although he had not actually battled in the end, wondered what it would be like for the Psyduck to battle. He wasn't sure if Sulteron wanted the duck on her team or not; although it was clearly stupid, it evolved into something awesome and his trainer didn't care about a Pokemon's reputition.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

The Psyduck cocked its head at the mention of being part human and part Pokemon. Now, how was that possible? The half-human, half-Pokemon being was annoying the Psyduck a little by speaking slowly to it. Sure, the Psyduck were known to be stupid and whatnot, but this one, at least, understood English perfectly. And... an Espeon? Wasn't that one of those purple four-legged Pokemon that had a jewel upon its head and was Psychic or something?

+I may appear an idiot, but I is really not,+

[/color] the Psyduck said after Sulteron was done talking. Well, if it could talk, it wasn't at least completely stupid, though its English needed some work. The Psyduck placed its two hands traditionally on its head and cocked it yet again, looking at all the Pokemon around. There were... so many of them. The Psyduck had a bad feeling that this wouldn't end well... perhaps being a bit superstitious and claustrophobic didn't help.
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Sulteron grinned. The Psyduck was cute, and seemed more intelligent than most, at least. She saw it glancing a little fearfully at her Pokemon, and decided it was her job to reassure it. "Guys, step back a bit. I don't think Psyduck likes you being so close." she told them, and they shuffled back a few steps to allow the duck more room.

Mizu cocked his head. ~Why are you scared, Psyduck? We won't hurt you. Is something the matter?~ he asked. Fiela swished her tail. +Probably just a little nervy after Minari. Or, we've discovered something interesting here, like a bullying or a egg-stealer or a murder...+ she spoke to Sulteron alone using telepathy, who sent her back words that conveyed her feeling that the Espeon was overreacting, +I doubt it, Fiela. Quick assuming the worst.+[/i][/size]

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

The Psyduck was glad when the Pokemon stepped back a bit, but was still overwhelmed at how many there were. Now, if they had all been Psyduck, maybe even a Golduck, it would feel better, but the Psyduck knew that wouldn't be possible. After all, it had been the sole survivor after a bunch of trainers had come to take the Psyduck and Golduck away. Well, it wasn't even sure that those had been trainers, but something... more evil.

The Psyduck cocked its head the other way at Mizu's comment. +Bad experiences with other humans and their Pokemon,+

[/color] the Psyduck said sadly, dropping its head to look down at its reflection in a puddle of water at its webbed feet. +No more Psyduck or Golduck is here. All taken,+[/color] the Psyduck said, plopping itself down in the mud as it continued to look at itself in the puddle of water. Obviously this Psyduck was the only one here, and Psyduck wouldn't be smart enough to think up of lies that big... perhaps the only reason why it was still here was because it seemed smarter than the rest, and a little more powerful, since most Psyduck didn't learn Psychic until after they evolved.
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Sulteron looked shocked, and Fiela had an I-told-you-so expression on her face. All the Psyduck and Golduck... stolen? But... why? She could certainly see uses for them, but what would an evil mastermind possibly need with a bunch of carefree, if slightly stupid, Pokemon?

"Psyduck, that's terrible. We... we may be able to do something about this. Or we could at least try. Tell me where they went, what they looked like; everything you know. We'll get the other Pokemon back, I promise." she told the Psyduck. She thought she had heard something like this before- involving a boy, Celebi and something called 'Team Vex'.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

+They went everywhere. They had big metal things that could fly. They looked like normal humans should...+

[/color] the Psyduck paused as it glanced at Sulteron, not meaning her kind, obviously. +They had the same things they was wearing. It had a shape like this on each front part,+[/color] the Psyduck said, as it drew a 'shape' in the mud, which resembled a 'V'. +They was talking about something about making up a loss to their boss, too. They was saying if they got enough of us good ones that they would make up for the loss of their evil cone,+[/color] the Psyduck said. By 'cone', it probably meant 'clone'. The Psyduck went on speaking though. +Even if you tried to get them Pokemon back, you would not succeed. They have those big metal flying things that go fast. They also has very strong Pokemon... stronger than the Golduck that were once here. They was all so big...+[/color] the Psyduck said, remembering the sudden attack.

It had been nighttime. The Golduck and older Psyduck were looking after the young ones and any eggs that hadn't yet hatched. All at once, a huge roaring sound startled them all. The Psyduck, most being completely oblivious to danger, were running about in confusion, the Golduck trying to round them up. The roaring got extremely close, and seemed to not move for a while, before it disappeared. The Psyduck had been crying out in confusion, and a couple of Golduck went to investigate. Before they even reached the nearest bush, a couple of huge, electric nets were shot out, wrapping around the two Golduck. Both cried in astonishment and agony as they were electrocuted for about ten seconds, then a small group of humans showed themselves, each carrying a huge gun of some sort. "Well well, look what we have here. Start rounding them up. Boss will be happy that we got so many Psyduck and Golduck. After all, once the Psyduck evolve into Golduck, we can do some major damage," the one in the middle and farthest up said. The remaining Golduck sprang to attack, each using their own attack. Water Gun, Water Pulse, Cross Chop, and a few others were directed at the trespassers. Each person released a Pokemon of their own; Jolteon, Electabuzz, and Raichu, and all attacked the Golduck, easily defeating them. All the Golduck were rounded up after that, and soon after, all the Psyduck, or so they thought. One Psyduck remained, hidden behind some bushes, behind an egg. It had watched the horror before it, wanted to do something, but knew better. As soon as it had heard the roar, it had headed for the bushes, taking its only egg. The three other eggs that had been there were gone. Two had been taken, and one had been shattered, killing the baby Psyduck inside it. The Psyduck had trudged to where the pieces lay and had cried. There were no other Pokemon nearby... it was the only Psyduck left in the wild.

The Psyduck looked up, remembering the egg it had been taking care of. It had been sleeping with it in the mud-water earlier, when Sulteron and her Pokemon had disturbed it. It quickly went back there, disappeared for a few seconds under the murky water as it retrieved the egg, and quickly came back up, an egg in its hands. +This egg only thing left besides me,+[/color] the Psyduck said. Considering the Psyduck didn't look like a parent, it seemed to be taking good care of the egg for however long it had taken care of it. Excluding the mud and gunk on it from being underwater temporarily, it looked extremely healthy.
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A 'V' on their uniforms. That probably stood for 'Vex'. Sulteron's expression went grim, cutting off the 'I-told-you-so' one Fiela was brearing. "That's terrible!" Sulteron explained, thinking hard how to catch up with those flying machines. "Fiela, Minari, fly up high. Tell us if you see anything, and we'll be right there." she told the two Pokemon who could fly, and they launched themselves into the air, circling above.

[{ ~ Ironhide ; ; }]

+Don't waste time looking for them. They was here two nights ago, and they not stay around after attack,+

[/color] the Psyduck said. +Unless they is nested somewhere nearby,+[/color] the Psyduck said, rubbing its head as its headache worsened from thinking too much.

As Fiela and Minari flew up, however, it was obvious that, in fact, as the Psyduck had said, they were 'nested' somewhere halfway nearby. A few miles away, a couple of small buildings were barely visible through some taller trees in the swampish area, along with the metal flying things which were now recognized as helicopters. At the moment, not a whole lot seemed to be going on, though. But, at this distance, there was no way you could tell for sure.
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Minari and Fiela swooped down together, not landing but hovering overhead. ~Buildings! And helicopters! Follow us!~ they cried, leading the group off to follow them. After much running, they reached a clump of bushes which they brushed carefully apart to reveal the building...