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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 10, 2011 10:54:52 GMT -5
What a sight she must've looked.
Lorna McKinley really wasn't one to worry about her looks or how others viewed her, but sometimes she wondered if she went a little too far for her field word. As it was she was currently hanging upsidedown from a tree to study some shiny Zubat who were nestled inside the hollow trunk. Why upsidedown? Well she wanted them to feel more comfortable with her presence that's why - looking at the world from the same perspective was a good start.
Then again the rest of the scientific community was pretty sure she was as nutty as she was brilliant.
Carefully she took a few photographs, sans flash and some recordings of their vocalizations that she could study later back at her base camp. She smiled at the cooperative little bat pokemon. "Love it when subjects behave themselves."
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 10, 2011 14:43:15 GMT -5
For today, Arcanine had been Terrance's choice in travelling companion through the wilds of Kansai. His new work as a Warden was interesting to say the least, working with the Rangers of Sienna town to make sure all was well on the island; it was strange, although he wasn't truly affiliated with them, the Rangers seemed to treat him as if he were their boss. Terrance found it bizarre, and insisted they don't call him 'gov' but alas, some things never change once they've stuck. He had at least managed to shake the constant offers for a Ranger to accompany him in his patrols; but Terrance always kindly declined, he preferred the company of his Pokémon and the occasional company of people he met along the way. He was never a 'commitment' kind of guy when it came to other human beings.
Anyway, Terrance and his Arcanine; whom he had named Tabia, had come close to where Lorna was doing her research. It was Tabia that noticed first, pausing in her step and scenting the air with an intense look of curiosity on her face. Terrance turned to look up at her, the large orange hound several inches taller than he. “What’ve you picked up Tabia?” He asked, looking around but seeing nothing. Tabia’s nose drifted to the ground as she began to follow the female scent that led them deeper into the woods. Not before long however, Tabia would emerge from the bushes to see an upside down Lorna hanging from the trees. Terrance wasn’t far behind and was too rather bemused by this sight! They’d tried to be quiet, but bats had awfully sensitive hearing, there was a large chance they’d startle Lorna’s subject.
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 10, 2011 16:20:49 GMT -5
Lorna hummed quietly to herself, still hanging upsidedown as she scribbled in her notebook. Without warning the Zubats started to emit high pitched squeals, flapping their wings and bursting out from the hollow in an attempt to get away from whatever had scared them.
"Oh damn!" she sighed as she watched them disappear into the foliage - she hadn't even gotten the chance to tag or collar them yet. Looking up - or down rather she saw a curiuos Arcanine peering up at her with its trainer standing nearby. "Terrance? Oh hi I wasn't expecting -"
She was cut off by an ominous groan as the branch she was hanging from started to give way. "...Shit."
The branch cracked and Lorna fell a few feet, trying to twist in midair but her leg snagged against the lower branch and knocked her askew so that she landed flat on her back on the loamy forest floor. "Hm not my most graceful dismount but I'll give it a 5 out of 10."
Terrance's Arcanine sniffed her hair curiously and she patted the canine's nose. "Hello there," she said with a slightly dazed grin as she looked up at Terrance, still laying on the ground. "So what are you doing here? You know other then scaring off my research subjects and making me fall out of trees."
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 11, 2011 4:44:55 GMT -5
The Zubats had taken flight, Arcanine snapping playfully up at them as they flew away. Terrance stepped beside Tabia, “Hi Lorna-woah!” The branch beneath Lorna cracked, that groan of wood about to snap all too familiar to the Warden. He flinched and instinctively went to help to go and catch her, buuut fell a few feet short. He cringed upon Lorna’s impact and instantly held out a hand to help her up, “I’m really sorry Lorna, I was out patrolling. Blame Tabia, she led me here!” He joked, rubbing the top of his head.
“But yeah uh, I don’t know if you got the memo, but – well, not a Gym Leader anymore. Warden now.” If Lorna grabbed his hand he’d pull her up in one graceful motion, “I see you managed to get close to one of those shiny Pokémon, anything new on them or did I get in the way too fast?”
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 11, 2011 10:43:06 GMT -5
"Thanks," she said as he hauled her upright in one easy motion. She was a little surprised when he mentioned hanging up his GYm Leader's cap - but the fact that he was the Warden was very comforting. If ever there was a man for that job it was Terrance. "Hm? Oh the Zubat - ah well I still have to analyze my data, then I can tell you whether or not you screwed up my project."
She of course said this teasingly. She could always find the little group of Zubat again she was certain and besides she'd managed to record the vocalizations she was looking for anyway. "So Warden now huh? I think it suits you."
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 12, 2011 5:45:13 GMT -5
Terrance chuckled, "Well, I hope that I didn't mess anything up for you and that you get what you need." He then gave a sort of uncertain shrug combined with a head bob that sort of indicated that he wasn't entirely sure, "I'm still new to the role, to be honest half of the time I'm not even doing anything. People still mistake me as a Gym Leader, guess the news hasn't quite gotten out yet that it's Vera now."
He shrugged again, this time with much more certainty, "So, Ms. McKinley, are you in need of any assistance at the moment? I'm sure Tabia could smell out some Pokémon for you to study or, something. Please. I need to feel like I'm being useful." He added quietly.
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 12, 2011 11:11:07 GMT -5
Poor Terrance - she wasn't used to seeing him so - well so unsure of himself. Lorna stroked her jaw thoughtfully at his suggestion of helping her.
"Hmmm well I'm still waiting on my new radio equipment so I'm back to tracking pokemon the old fashioned way. Maybe you could be of help," she said with a grin. "There's a herd of wild Rapidash and Ponyta not too farm from here - I'm supposed to track them down and get a head count on how many foals are left from this years birthing and send the data to Brooke. Not the most exciting job but we need the stats - trick is they move all the time and they're bloody fast so it's difficult to predict where they'll be but my sources say they're nearby. Do you think Tabia might be able to sniff out a trail?"
Truthfully she could've just hopped on Dragonite's back and tracked them from the air, but the problem was the horse like pokemon were easily spooked into a run - tracking them on the ground would hopefully eliminate that problem.
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 12, 2011 11:23:39 GMT -5
“Rapidash, Ponyta. Yes! We can definitely help with that, Tabia’s flash fire would be useful as well should they get a bit agitated. Tabia, you know what to do girl.” Terrance ran his hand over Tabia’s warm red fur and then patted her shoulder so she could get to work, the Arcanine gave a low, booming – but never the less cheerful – bark and began to scent around to try and pick up a trail.
In the mean time, Terrance figured a bit of small talk was sort of in order, otherwise they could be cursed into an awkward silence, “So, Lorna. How’ve you been?”
Tabia in the mean time seemed to have latched onto something interesting, but hadn’t made a sound as to whether she was certain or not. She’d begin to lead them in a westerly direction, but skirted around, still trying to get the scent of something certain.
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 12, 2011 11:36:15 GMT -5
Lorna nodded and carefully watched the fiery canine pokemon sniffing about the area, gradually starting to lead them in a westerly direction, but she was still deviating about trying to lock on a firm scent.
"So Lorna how have you been?"
"Hm? Oh same old same old I suppose," the biologist shrugged. "I spend most of my time at my basecamp in the north just doing my field work. I've been tracking the flight paths of the migratory bird pokemon and their nesting grounds - I have to go to Soren Forberg's at some point - Brooke refuses to go near the place; he's built a rookery and apparently the bird pokemon have chosen his estate as an artificial nesting ground of sorts."
She halted when she realized she'd gone off rambling again - it seemed to be a habit all scientists share; ask about their work and they will talk about it until they're blue in the face. "So what about you? You must be pretty busy working with the Rangers and all."
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 13, 2011 4:52:52 GMT -5
Terrance nodded, “Forberg’s eh? Interesting, I can’t help but wonder where all the bird Pokémon go for the winter, I know they can get pretty harsh here; it’s not uncommon to see snow in the desert. I guess that’s what happens when you dump a load of sand where it doesn’t really belong.” He shrugged, it never did any harm so no one particularly minded. Terrance himself hadn’t witnessed this snow on sand scenario so maybe it was entirely false.
“Me? Oh. Well uh, you’d think that. The rangers cover most things, its only when things get a bit tight when they have to send me in. I mainly do the arrests if they need it, like if they find a trainer abusing a Pokémon – they’ll call me in to sort it out. Doesn’t happen very often though thankfully, but jeez, there’re some evil people around.” He groaned, arresting someone was never pleasant because nine out of ten times you ended up having to beat them into the ground with a ferocious Pokémon battle. Thankfully, the trainers he normally had to take in were weak in battle, fuelled only by rage and where never in control. So far anyway.
Tabia gave a delighted bark and hunkered down, she’d found the trail. “Atta girl Tabia!” Terrance said, gesturing for Lorna to follow as Tabia crawled along, trying to not make her large orange body seen. They were drawing in close when they came to a clearing – there the Rapidash and Ponyta were grazing. “Nicely done Tabia.” Terrance whispered, then turned to Lorna for his next set of orders.
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 13, 2011 10:36:53 GMT -5
Lorna nodded at Terrance assessment. "True, that was never meant to be a desert in the natural sense - but then again I wouldn't be here otherwise. Kansai has one of the most unique ecological systems in the world."
She listened in silence as he spoke about his job and gave him a sympathetic smile. Arresting people didn't seem like it would be very pleasant and heaven knows she wouldn't have the patience to deal with something like a trainer abusing their pokemon. She probably end up getting arrested herself for assult. Her grin brightened however when Terrance's Arcanine appeared to find a solid trail at last, leading them to a clearing where a sizable herd of Rapidash and Ponyta stood grazing. "Oh well done! That's some nose your Arcanine's got!" she chuckled, fishing out a pokeblock from her bag and feeding it to the fire-type. "Okay now we need to count how many of this years foals are still in the herd. Look there, see the foals from this year don't have the flames on their legs yet - they don't fully come about until after the first year and a half of age, that's how you pick 'em out."
She dug around in her satchel again and produced a pencil and notepad, handing them to Terrance. "You skirt around them to the left, I'll go right and meet you in the middle on the other side of the herd." she explained. "It's better to have two counts to make sure everything is accurate. Try not to spook them, they'll either stampede or the head stallion is gonna try and stomp you into the mud."
With her own notepad in hand Lorna started to creep around the clearing, counting the Ponyta foals as she went, quite glad to have some competent help for a change.
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 23, 2011 12:14:11 GMT -5
Tabia hungrily lapped up the pokeblock that Lorna offered her, grumbling happily afterwards. Terrance in the mean time was looking out at the herd, seeing what Lorna meant by the flames on their legs. “I can’t believe I never noticed that before. Alright, let’s do this.” He’d nod to Lorna and told Tabia to stay put – it would be easier for her to remain where she was, less easy to spot. “If we get spotted and things get bad, don’t be afraid to come and help, okay?” He instructed the large orange dog. She nodded and lowered herself down, pressing her belly on the ground to make sure she wouldn’t be seen.
“Okay, let’s go!” Terrance whispered, moving off to the left, using his warden skills to silently tread through the foliage. He was grateful that the summer was lasting, less leaves on the ground – less noise to be heard. Terrance scanned the group for the Ponyta foals, he found it awkward at first, not quite being able to distinguish; the flames all seemed to blur into one. Eventually he got the hang of it and began to count.
Terrance very nearly stepped on a twig, but had looked down from counting just in time to see his foot only inches away. He took a deep breath, adjusted his footing and then placed it down in the grass. He flinched, just as he placed down, he heard a cracking noise. Terrance froze and looked back to Tabia, she shrugged, wasn’t her. He looked over to Lorna to see if she was alright, Terrance hoped to Ho-oh that it was just one of the herd.
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 23, 2011 13:04:46 GMT -5
Lorna made short work of counting the foals as she skirted around the right flank of the herd. A sharp snort drew her attention and she looked up from her notebook to see one of the Rapidash - the lead mare, swinging her head about and stomping irritably. Soon most of the adults had stopped their grazing and were now standing on alert, ears perked and nostrils flaring trying to pinpoint the danger they sensed. Lorna froze when she heard the trees on the edge of the clearing rustling to her far left, close to Terrance's position. She made out a dark four legged shape - several of them in fact and swore under her breath.
A pack of Mightyena were starting to surround the herd, clearly hoping to pick off one of the yearlings. The lead mare finally caught sight of one of the canines and reared on her hind legs, whinnying loudly. Lorna stood, knowing full well a charge was about to happen and she barked at Terrance across the field. "Get your arse in gear they're going to run!"
On cue the ground the Mightyena broke cover and the entire herd started to charge, the ground rumbling from the hundreds of hoofbeats. The biologist managed to reached the warden just as the herd was starting to move in their direction. She tossed out a pokeball and Dragonite emerged with a confused growl. "No time!" she said scrambling onto his back and holding a hand down to Terrance. "Unless you fancy racing a Rapidash herd I suggest you get on up here!"
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Post by Terrance Fletcher on Aug 23, 2011 13:33:29 GMT -5
He had held his breath for longer than he had thought he could, it was when Lorna shouted he snapped out of it and saw the dark figures only a few hundred yards away. Tabia had begun to rise to jump to Terrance’s defence, but Terrance held a hand out to halt her. It was too late though, the Mightyena had moved into sight and that sent the herd wild. They charged, Tabia threw herself in front of Terrance as Lorna ran round to meet with them, Dragonite being released.
Lorna climbed aboard, Terrance cursed loudly through his teeth and returned Tabia to her Pokéball, grabbed Lorna’s hand and swung himself up onto Dragonite’s back with her. “Well shit. That was a bit close for comfort.” He laughed, “I ought to invest in a flying type.” He mumbled, more to himself as a memo than to Lorna. Terrance gave her a goofy grin, “On the plus side, I managed to count twelve foals.”
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Post by Lorna McKinley on Aug 23, 2011 14:10:03 GMT -5
As soon as Terrance's Arcanine was safely in her pokeball and said warden had swung himself up onto Dragonite's back behind her Lorna squeezed her legs against her dragon's sides and he obediantly took to the air, hovering about fifty feet above the stampeding herd. The biologist craned her neck back and laughed at Terrance. "Admittedly a good flying type does come in hand from time to time, isn't that right buddy?" Lorna chuckled, patting her pokemon's horned head as the dragon growled appreciatively. "Excellent I got twelve as well and I don't think the Mightyena managed to take one down. Once that herd gets running it makes sure all the young ones are in the centre, very hard to get to when they're bolting at top speed."
Lorna directed Dragonite over towards her small base camp where they touched down and dismounted the large dragon-type. She petted his scaley hide and gave Terrance a grin. "Thanks for your help today by the way, much obliged."
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