EASTER EGG HUNT #1

Talk about right place, right time! Taylor had just so happened to be investigating the Rookery when an event pinged on her interface. Tapping the popup and reading through it had her intrigued, which was probably a good thing since her current placement in the world seemed to have automatically entered her into it.

“Well okay then!” She laughed, releasing Mumble from his ball and crouching to speak to him. “Hey Buddy! Wanna play a game?” A wordless squawk of ascent made her grin and gently scritch the top of his head. “Apparently there’s a bunch of musical instruments around here – like a treasure hunt! Wanna see if we can find some?”

Before the Piplup could respond, a flash of white and orange sped past, rippling the wildflowers in its wake and making both Taylor and Mumble jump. “Was that a Scorbunny…?” Taylor wondered distractedly, and unfortunately failed to redirect Mumble’s attention in time.

<Heeeeeey! Wait uppppp!> The considerably slower water-type crowed, taking off after the other starter, promptly forgetting what he was supposed to be doing.

“Damn it…” Taylor sighed, rising to her feet and not yet noticing Kazuki approaching in pursuit of the bunny. “Mumble, get back here!” She was, naturally, soundly ignored.

Scorbunny cackles, feeling the wind in his fur, and the embers on the soles of his feet. He can hear his trainer chasing after him but he refuses to be deterred- he is a ‘mon on a mission. And he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means turning the Rookery into a second Giant Omelet.

Speaking of omelets, it appears he’s got company.

<You there!> Scorbunny brightens, slamming the breaks and coming to a skidding stop. He bounces up to Mumble and throws his arm over his baby blue shoulders, chummy despite having known him for all of two seconds. <You’re just the ‘mon I’m lookin’ for. You wanna get this job done, yeah? Get those sweet, sweet instruments? Make your boss happy?>

He bulldozes on regardless of the response. <I’ve got the perfect plan. See, the problem’s all this… nature, yeah?> He kicks at a blade of grass. <Can’t see for squat! It’ll be years before we find a tiny harmonica under all that. So let’s just get rid of it!> He hops excitedly on his feet. <I’ll let loose an itty-bitty fire to clean up, and then you—you brilliant, adorable bird—can put it out with some fancy water moves! What do you say, pal?>

Kazuki, meanwhile, comes to a stop near the girl whose pokemon had just tailed after his. “What the hell is that little maniac up to?” He narrows his eyes at the pokemon, but doesn’t attempt to approach. He hasn’t had Scorbunny for long, but what he does know is that the rabbit is unpredictable; for all he knew, trying to disrupt their huddle could spell doom for Taylor's pokemon.

Looking around, the only other trainer he can see is a blonde guy with the name Caspian hovering over his head, and his distracted bulbasaur. A bulbasaur. Fantastic.

“Oi, blonde! Might want to return the vegetable!” He calls, because quite frankly he’d like to avoid a body count in the Rookery. He still wants to hatch a dog. “Unless you want it boiled.”

A fire type, a water type, and a grass type walk into a very flammable field.

To say Mumble was thrilled that the Scorbunny stopped and turned to address him would be an understatement. His eyes grew to the size of saucers and his chest puffed out in pride in response to the first statement. <I am!?> He breathed. The bunny had been looking for him?! That was such a coincidence, because here he was! Wow! <I mean, yeah, I am!!> Of course he was just the one he’d been looking for! Mumble was great at finding things! Scorbunny must had heard about all the top-tier pebbles Mumble had found recently!

<Yeah! Yeah!> He agreed with gusto, head bobbing rapidly enough that it made him a little dizzy, actually. Those all sounded like brilliant things to do! He wasn’t really sure what an instrument was, but he was certain they were great! The use of the word boss tripped him up for a moment, but he cleverly deduced that Taylor must be his. See, he was great at figuring things out – surely he’d be perfect for the job!

The Scorbunny’s failure to really listen for an answer paired brilliantly with Mumble’s naive agreement. Wide, awed eyes gave the impression that the Piplup was listening intently as he nodded along with the explanation. He was certainly listening. Whether he was really understanding or retaining much of what was being said was another matter entirely. Still, it sounded like a great plan to him! They certainly couldn’t spend years searching – he wasn’t sure how long it was until dinnertime, but he knew it was definitely less than years!

<Yeah, I can do that!> He beamed, bouncing on the spot as much as Scorbuny’s arm over his shoulders would allow. <I’m great at putting out fires, and I bet you’re great at starting ‘em!> Truly, it was a perfect idea – he really couldn’t see how anything could go wrong! <Where should we start?>

Taylor had given up the chase when the Scorbunny that Mumble had been following stopped and started up a conversation. When Kazuki drew up beside her, it was to find the dark-haired woman with her hands on her hips, watching the pair with an expression somewhere in between concern and exasperation. She slanted a look the other trainer’s way as he called out to yet another player in the field, his words more than a little alarming.

“Should we be letting them do… whatever it is they’re doing?” She asked, a little at a loss as to what exactly it was the two pokemon were up to, huddled together like that. But if the kindlers words of warning were anything to go by, it posed some danger to life and limb. “Mumble, you’re being careful, right?” She called, and the only answer she received was a nod of the head that could have been directed at her, or the Scorbunny. Hardly reassuring.

She was about to call out a reminder to the Piplup of just what he was meant to be doing – the water-type did tend to need frequent reminders to stay on task – when a voice called out from behind where she and Kazuki stood. She offered a smile to the approaching player, before rolling her shoulders in a shrug and raising her hands in something of a what can you do gesture.

“Supposedly we’re searching for musical instruments, but this pair seem to be getting themselves into some mischief!” Whether the mischief would be harmless or… not… remained to be seen.

Another player came to join their group, this one already carrying an instrument. Kazuki clicks his tongue impatiently, wondering how the man had already nabbed one while the rest of them were being hassled by their pokemon. Taylor answers Morpheus’ question first, calling what Mumble and Scorbunny were up to ‘mischief’. “Knowing the little bastard, it’s probably less mischief and more literal crime.” And on any other turf, maybe he’d be proud of that.

But they didn’t have proof yet. Caspian refuses to return his pokemon, and the dynamic duo huddling ahead of them appears to be relatively civil. Scorbunny in particular, seems positively ecstatic, bouncing with Mumble as if they were engaging in a little dance. <We can start anywhere! The world’s our oyster!>

But before he can begin the bonfire, a new pokemon protests nearby. Scorbunny pouts at Hibiscus. <No, we won’t! It’s just a little fire! A teensy bit!> But it doesn’t stop the bulbasaur from tattling to the trainers.

When Caspian turns to him, Kazuki’s expression is less horrified as he is severely disappointed. “Nah, that sounds about right.” Theory confirmed, Kazuki finally heads over to the pokemon, intending to break things up before anyone can cry some more or get them banned from the Rookery.

Scorbunny panics, seeing his trainer stomping towards him. <Shoot, the boss!> Think! He has approximately 5 seconds before the operation is toast, and with Mumble dragged in, he can't afford to fail. He just needs to—<Stand back!> He lunges, moving to grab Hibiscus, realizing the bulbasaur is far heavier than his little paws could dream of lifting, and instead just kind of. Lies there, draped over Hibiscus' bulb. <I have a hostage!>

It does actually stop Kazuki, whose brows rise high. “As if you’d actually burn him.”

<I can and I will!> Scorbunny leans down to whisper to Hibiscus. <I won’t actually, so ah, just play along, yeah? I just need a couple’a seconds…> His little leg stretches down the bulbasaur’s side, the fire patch on the bottom of his foot lighting up as he wiggles his toes, trying to touch the grass.

Kazuki snorts, looking over his shoulder. “Hey, Taylor! Tell your bird to douse the rabbit.”

The smile stretched across Caspian's face snapped, leaving a more shocked expression in its place. "Sounds about right?!" He was clearly very alarmed to hear something like that coming from the Scorbunny's trainer, as if this were just something to expect. Now he could understand why Hibiscus was so panicked, if that actually were what was being thought up. While he was all for players having lasting impacts on the game's world, he wasn't exactly looking to turn the Rookery into scorched earth. He would like to think that it wouldn't do anything to hamper the future ability in getting eggs, but he wasn't sure just how serious the developers were in long lasting consequences for in game actions.

Hibiscus, meanwhile, had gotten ready to run straight for his trainer's side, desperate for the safety that the man would be able to give him. Only before he could actually get moving, the fire rabbit had decided that he was going to take him for hostage. Hostage! Clearly this was not something that the Bulbasaur was down for, although he couldn't really do a whole lot. Mostly because the fear of getting lit up like a pile of dry hay in the middle of August kept him paralyzed.

Seeing the rabbit's foot reaching down to touch the grass, Caspian was quick to point. "Hey, he's going to seriously try to light it all up! And Hibiscus is going to go with it!"

<Wait, what?! No no no... do something!! Use your ability, make me bigger!>

Bigger? Oh yeah, that's right! He had that with his skill that was activated. Looking through his UI real quick, he selected Hibiscus and clicked on the activation for aesthetic effects of his trainer class. Immediately, Hibiscus began to blow up in side, effectively lifting the Scorbunny higher up so that its foot definitely couldn't reach the ground while perched on top of him. And as that happened, Caspian gasped, pointing at something that was glinting in the grass directly underneath his starter Pokemon.

"A flute!" he exclaimed, dashing forward to snag it while he could. "Yes!" At least he got an instrument.

Morpheus approaches as Scorbunny is trying to execute their brilliant and foolproof plan, and it only appears to upset the bunny further. “Why are ya… Why are ya being so MEAN?” He sniffs as he’s scolded, or at least that’s what it looks like to him. All he wants to do is carry out the operation. A little bit of arson, and now this stranger is telling him he’ll make his boss unhappy?

Even though said boss is literally a few feet away, clearly pissed after hearing what 'the plan' actually is from Mumble and Taylor. “That’s not going to work,” he hisses to Morpheus. “Aaand now he’s doing it again.”

And by ‘it’, he means the thing Scorbunny does when he’s angry that isn’t a flaming tantrum. The bunny puffs up his cheeks, trying to look intimidating, only to end up resembling a tomato as he holds his breath.

Before Kazuki can tell him to cut it out, a panicked Hibiscus calls out for help, and Caspian is quick to answer his pokemon’s distress. The bulbasaur grows, doubling in size, colors vibrant as if having ingested a miracle growth solution. The speed of it launches Scorbunny off the ground, his arms wiggling in the air in a panic, before he crashes belly-first on Hibiscus’ bulb.

And he burps, releasing a ball of fire straight onto the grass.

Kazuki blinks as the fire quickly gains traction over the dry wildflowers. “This might be a good time for—” Mumble spits out a bucket’s worth of water over Hibiscus’ head, missing the blaze entirely. “… that.” Taylor is facepalming, and he’d join her in a heartbeat were there not more pressing concerns.

“Damn it!” He runs over, slamming his foot down on the flames. The Kindler class allows him to resist some of the heat, but he still curses as the fire licks the fabric of his shoes, and starts crawling up the cuffs of his pants. “Don’t just stand there!” He barks at the trainers. “Put it out!”