[PSYCH]

What looked like a miniature sandstorm of kicked up dust approached from the south-west run up to Little Fungitown which wasn't a strange occurrence to wandering denizens seeing as the town and its surroundings were mostly desert. But those who peered more closely would see that the sand cloud contained a group of rolling, rumbling shapes.

Eggs. Giant eggs decorated in polkadot. They rolled together at speed across the land, guided by one in front who made a honking noise as a signal to the others to stop. They approached a path of giant mushrooms in bright polkadot colors that grew steadily upwards into the clouds above.

The eggs soon ground to a halt, and one in front burst outwards into fragments of white shell to reveal a pink dinosauroid character with a large protruding snout. A decorative bow of red silk ribbon fluttered in the breeze atop her head. She held a clawed hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked up towards the clouds.

"Okay team, we reached the first checkpoint," Birdo called back to the other eggs, "Welcome to Little Fungitown! Or at least, the path that gets us up there. Let's do a roll call." She looked down at some notes scribbled on her hand.

"Do we have... LICH, LUIGI, ASH and KUPPA?" She looked at the eggs expectantly.

(OOC: Welcome to the first part of the Resource Run! You have all started out with a one-use ability activated at the start of the mission: Shelly Transformation!

You have been transformed into a giant egg as described at the bottom of Birdo's profile, just to help with transportation between checkpoints as the eggs can easily roll across the ground. You can choose to stay in this form for as long as you'd like using the stats and abilities shown in the Shelly profile to replace your own or you can simply use the Hatch move to pop out of your egg and transform back into your character at which point you will lose Shelly transformation until Birdo gives it to you again. The choice is yours!

Once you've all checked in with Birdo during the roll call, we'll get going.)

[Arrow Rinehart]

Whilst the egg made its way towards its destination, the surprise of Kuppa remained certain of one being pleasant surprise. It was not only a new duty of choice that he was undergoing, but the fact that this particular ability had been granted by the benefactor of this very mission. It was to be his first shot at success, a real chance to prove to himself that he could help Li, furthermore helping out the Koopa Clan's image through his efforts. It was no surprise to him that this test of his skills was going to be one of a worthy effort.

As the tumbling came to an end, whilst he wasn't entirely sure which way was up, he still did manage to appreciate the near anonymity that it gave. Some part of him being a bit shy as to what others might think of his appearance, perhaps they'd mistake him for his elder twin? Any number of thoughts that ran through the diplomat's mind did slowly fade as he took a breath and responded to the rather energetic voice that he'd heard announce names.

"Kuppa is present, a nice technique you've got here. Not very used to egg rolling for travel, its likely faster than shell spinning, but that can be tested out later for curiosity sake if it arises later." Though he'd finally ceased talking, something that he realized was nervous chatting, Kuppa's fists clutched together as he steadied himself out. He didn't often go into the field for work, but he trained rigorously for it and this was the time to prove that.

[LuckiCorii]

One of the eggs following suit is... unusually bouncy. It was an egg marked by its peculiar green and yellow spots.

It wiggled and jittered and went boing-oing-oing all over the place.
"Can't see, can't see...!" A rather high-pitched voice whined a little as it squirmed and flopped and flailed and span around, before...

Plop! A pair of runner's legs clad in polished squishy boots pop out, and the running hatchling runs in a circle before tripping over a small elevation in the ground and crashing to the floor, as the shell broke riiiiight open into many pieces, revealling a young blonde boy with a neckscarf and shorts.

Weird, that's not a Lich. The bow from the egg landed right upon the boy's head as he bounced right up. "Heyo! Uh, Lich had some... last minute setback, so I'm in her place instead! I'm Corii! I'm a super speedy guy who likes to run. Glad to meetcha!" Corii clarifies whilst also introducing himself, tipping the conveniently placed bow like a hat as a polite gesture before pulling out a bean from his hammerspace to munch upon. To new friends and new adventures! Corii was beaming brighter than the sun and more keen than a prodigy taking their first job.

[Ash Ketchum]

Ash Ketchum
HP: 170 / SH: 60

Pikachu HP: 120 SH: 35	Charmander HP: 150 SH: 50

Misty       HP: 140 / SH: 55
Psyduck HP: 200 SH: 75

---

"WhhhhooooooaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!!!/PIKAAAAAA!!!"

A trio of eggs rolled toward where the group met; one of them had red polka dots, one with blue polka dots, and a smaller one with yellow dots.

They all bounced off a small bump and hit the ground, shattering into pieces, but thankfully, not the beings inside. Indeed, it was a dazed Ash and Pikachu, and they brought a plus one: Misty.

"Owwww..." Seeing stars as she sat up, Misty rose a hand, "Uhh...present..." Shaking the dizziness out of her head, Misty massaged her temples, reaching into her red bag for something to drink...until she felt something very important that wasn't in her bag. "Wait...! WHERE'S TOGEPI?!?"

A little egg with red and blue markings rolled by her before uncurling...

...into a baby Pokemon who smiled from the fun of rolling like his mommy. "Toge!"

"Togepi," Misty sighed in relief, hugging the little Pokemon.

[TartoonHand94]

“WoAoWoAoWoAoWoAoWoAo-!” Last but not least, an egg with forest green spots came rolling chaotically up the rear of the pack, drifting side to side in consistently failed attempts to keep a straight trajectory. It managed to roll cleanly up and off a ramp and crash into a nearby white block. Out of the explosion of egg shell bits, emerged a local superstar, famous for saving the kingdom and the world time and time again’s… little brother, Luigi. He rolled head over heels under residual inertia from the egg before coming to a flat stop on the ground.

“Oho… Mama Mia…” He groggily sat up and lifted his trade mark L cap up and uncovered his eyes. “Where am-a me?” Fungi Town? Was all that rolling necessary, Birdo? He could’ve just taken a pipe here!
“That-s a me!” He jumped up to his feet and saluted upon hearing his name in the roll call, before looking side to side for the other names called.
“Wai-Kuppa?... Ack!” He turned to find King Koopa’s brother and through sheer impulse alone, fled to hide behind the aforementioned white block.
Luigi, get a hold of yourself! Don’t forget, he’s your team mate in this mission. If you can make peace and alliance with Birdo, surely he can’t be That bad. When was the last time he threatened the Mushroom Kingdom? What would Mario say.

“Eer…heh…ulp. S-sorry about-a that.” Luigi shyly re-emerged from his hiding place. “I-I’m-a got so dizzy I’m-a forget what’s-a going on.” He sheepishly tried to play off his cowardice as dizziness.
“Let-a me restart over: ‘Ello everybody, I’m-a Luigi. And I’m-a here to help.” Luigi grasped his overall straps trying to straighten the tie he realized he wasn’t wearing and introduced himself. “…So how am I’m-a helping?” He turned to ask Birdo.

Luigi

150/150 HP

50/50 Shield

Status: Normal

[PSYCH]

"Well gee, that's too bad about Lich. Hope he's not getting into trouble." Birdo mused, tapping a claw on her cheek while she listened to the newcomer who wasn't on her scribbled list.

"Anyways..." She said, "Welcome to the team CORII, it's great to have you on board with us!" The pink dino-bird then turned to the team of Pokemon and their trainers.

"And welcome to you too, MISTY, PIKACHU, CHARMANDER and PSYDUCK!" Cheered Birdo, twirling to address Ash's companions, "I should've figured as a Pokemon trainer Ash would bring along some company." Birdo threw her arms wide and twirled into the front of the group scattering purple love hearts in the air. She was thrilled twice as big an audience as the one she'd been expecting.

"Well, it looks like that's everyone accounted for," She announced, "Let's continue!" She gestured up towards the climbing path of giant mushrooms.

"These giant shrooms protect Little Fungitown from invaders," Birdo explained, "Most of the infected lack the coordination needed to make their way up the path without getting repelled off. I'll demonstrate what I mean..."

The pink dino-bird turned away from the group and dashed towards the lowest mushroom. She leapt into an elegant swan dive which bounced her onto it, and the mushroom instantly repelled her upwards with an audible BOING!

Flying through the air, she aimed her body at the lip of the next tallest mushroom, somersaulted and hit it with her feet which bounced her again but this time bounced backwards towards the shortest mushroom again behind her. She hit it with her back which bounced her backwards again bringing her to ground level where she landed nimbly and presented herself to the others.

"See? Just like that!" Birdo said, "You need to bounce up the mushrooms until you get all the way to the top above the clouds. We'll meet at Little Fungitown together. Just watch out for Buzzards - those pesky desert vultures like to circle around the higher mushrooms and throw you off your game so you bounce yourself into danger. I'll stay down here and try to help you cross if you need it! Good luck!"

(OOC: Those Buzzards are just airborne pests with 5% HP each. Feel free to use them to flex some of your moves while you travel up if you like. Have fun!)

[Arrow Rinehart]

As Kuppa chose the safety of Shelly for his travels perhaps due to shyness of his own, he waved a hand though it was unseen from within the protective shell. Something that he promptly responded to Luigi's commentary once Birdo was done speaking. Meeting her up in Fungitown was going to be fine, it might let him get a good warm up in whilst on the way up. Already thinking of his own choice words and focus 'never let the foe see what you've got until its time' and 'Better hidden in the open, than seen and known'. Some philosophies that might serve him alright, though he was already adjusting his usual focus of unity to working with this new team. He was flexible as he'd always been, but it wasn't a major thought of his on whether or not he'd find success. It was in a simple decision of his own that he'd make the success he needed by making things work.

"Rest assured, Luigi I am not your foe nor my brother. And it seems we've got what we need ahead, a path...let us seek the way forward together. We shall succeed, I shall give this a go."

Once calmly stated, he'd rolled Shelly forward and boosted off of the ground, despite not really knowing the masterful motion of the shell he managed to get up. Launching the large Egg after some rolling and bouncing on the first of the mushrooms whilst working his way up. Slow, step by step he imagined he'd get there, and after the second bounce, he felt that things were headed along the right way. Skyward to the next of the mushrooms, and the town in the air and blue sky!

[Ash Ketchum]

Ash Ketchum
HP: 170 / SH: 60

Pikachu HP: 120 SH: 35	Charmander HP: 150 SH: 50

Misty       HP: 140 / SH: 55
Psyduck HP: 200 SH: 75

---

"Uh, don't forget Togepi!" Though how did she know Charmander and Psyduck were around when they were in their Pokeballs? Maybe because the Pokeballs in this world are transparent? She sometimes did wonder what it was like inside a Pokeball. Maybe that's what it's like? A big nothing? Now, it makes her wonder why most Pokemon would stay in their Pokeballs. She sure wished Psyduck would...

"Whooooaaa...!" Ash watched the bird-dino...not-Pokemon bounce on the giant mushrooms. But they have to jump on those to get to the clouds?! Wow, that sounds dangerous...but Ash is pretty sure he has done worse in the other world. "Ha, this is gonna be easy! Let's go, guys!"

“...Ash, you’re seriously not going to-”

Ash and Pikachu leaped onto the lowest mushroom… “WAAAH/PIKAAA!!” …bouncing them incredibly high toward a taller mushroom while their cries of excitement were pulled with them.

“Ash!!” She shouldn’t be surprised that he’d do something this crazy, but she couldn’t help but be that. Why does she stick with him if he’s this dumb? Something about a bike, but she could’ve sworn her bike was repaired. Oh, it can’t be because people assume that she has a crush on him…

…because that is just fake news. Not true! No siree! Heh heh…

Well, she can’t stay down here. Someone has to keep an eye on that blockhead. “Togepi, stay in the bag where it’s safe.” Gently stuffing her baby Pokemon in her bag, she took a deep breath to hold back her fear and leaped on the mushroom…

BOING!!

...and was shot high into the air. “WAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

[PSYCH]

UH-OH!

Shelly-Kuppa, Ash and his friends made their way bouncing up the mushrooms just as Birdo had shown them when suddenly they fell into a trap set by the Buzzards. One of the giant mushrooms had been pecked at so that it lost its spongy head. Now it was just a huge flat platform with no bounce at all. The group was brought to a standstill and a gang of mean-looking Buzzards lay in wait for them, sat together smiling malevolently.

What was worse, the gang appeared to have a gang leader who was bigger and stronger than the rest. This Big Buzzard must've been the one who ate the mushroom and increased in size and strength as a result!

As one, the Buzzard gang took off into the air and flew in circles around the perimeter of the mushroom platform glaring hungrily down at their prey.

"Uh-oh!" Cried Birdo, spotting that her group had stopped bouncing and was now in danger. The dino-bird leapt into action and started bouncing towards the platform. "Hold on, I'm coming!" She was too far out to assist for now, so the group was left to fend for themselves. 

BATTLE TIME!

Big Buzzard	HP: 50% Status: N/A
Buzzard 1	HP: 25% Status: N/A
Buzzard 2	HP: 25% Status: N/A
Buzzard 3	HP: 25% Status: N/A
Buzzard 4	HP: 25% Status: N/A

(OOC: You'll have to take down the Buzzard gang to be able to continue Arrow Rinehart  Ash Ketchum ! Birdo will come to assist when she can reach you but for now you'll have to work together to defend youselves! No need to roll to hit, simply choose moves to attack!)

[Arrow Rinehart]

This was definitely something that Kuppa took exception to, some random assortment thought they'd halt something important? No they most certainly would not, it was a lot in him, from pride to focus that came into action as he retorted through the shell.

"You've made your choice then, buzzards. You are foes and you will be defeated as such, prepare yourselves!"

Naturally he didn't take very long to get into action, as he prepared to attack the nearest of the buzzards likely at the first. They thought moving eggs were a target? How very foolish of them! He was already considering action of his protection, it was not unlike shell spinning...just now Egg rolling, he'd let the first of them have a sample of this!

3YCfsteSp_1d20+3

Kuppa struck with the aim of applying Shelly's offensive skills to flattening the first of these birds to the best of his ability, now it remained to see if the attack landed true!
1d20+3

[TartoonHand94]

“You not?--I’m-a mean—That’s-a right. You not-a your bro… And not-a my foe neither.” Luigi repeated with a hint of self-consciousness behind the affirmation. He was more than a little embarrassed for the fact that, if anyone, Luigi should know better. He was all too familiar with what it’s like to be mistaken for your brother after all.

“Not-a so bad!” Luigi clapped for Birdo’s demonstration. “Thanks but-a no thanks.” His tone grew smug and clapping tempo condescending at Birdo’s offer for assistance.
“I’m-a no know if you know, but I’m-a Mario Bro and jumping? That’s-a kinda what-a we do best.” He boasted with what could only be described as a squat spam, showing off the flexibility of his knees. “It’s-a pity Mario’s not-a here to show off just-a who jumps higher~.” He backed up for a running start of his own.

“Here I go!” Seizing his opportunity to shine, Luigi burst into a galloping sprint and extended his arms outward like an airplane about to take off. “Eya!” At the end of his runway, he bounded into the air, legs waggling behind him onto the lowest mushroom. “Hoo!” Like well coiled spring, he bounced off, even higher onto another mushroom, and then, like an Olympic gymnast, or an aircraft in trouble, he turned his momentum into several consecutive somersaults. “Wahaa!”
Until the sight of a Buzzard broke his concentration.

“…Dooph!” Unable to right his trajectory in time, or at least land on his feet, Luigi face planted, joining the rest of the party on the flat mushroom circled by buzzards.
“Owie...” He whined muffled before peeling his nose and moustache off the ground.
“Oh Nohoho! Don’t-a take my hat!” Looking up to the source of the shadows circling his party, Luigi shrank back down and held his cap tightly down over his eyes. Between Shifting Sand Land and the Forgotten Isle, these birds built a bit of a reputation about themselves.

Luigi! What are you doing? Weren’t you demonstrating that you’re a Mario Brother like 7 seconds ago? What else do Mario Brothers do best besides jumping? Jumping onto things!
“I’m-a no let you have it!” Luigi jumped back to his feet and joined the battle.

“Yeee-Haw!” Winding up like a top, Luigi jumped and spun out with two fists extended, this T-pose granting him lift like a helicopter to slap around the first Buzzard unfortunate enough to get sucked into the man-sized monsoon that was the Luigi Cyclone.

(Luigi Cyclone @ Buzzard 1+2; Does 28% Damage, split between two means just 14% each if it connects.)

Luigi

150/150 HP

50/50 Shield

Status: Normal

[Ash Ketchum]

Ash Ketchum
HP: 170 / SH: 60

Pikachu HP: 120 SH: 35	Charmander HP: 150 SH: 50

Misty       HP: 140  SH: 55
Psyduck HP: 200 SH: 75

---

"WEEEEEE/PIIIIII!!" While Pikachu gracefully bounced on the mushrooms on his fours, Ash's trajectory was out of control, like bouncing on his head, back, shoulders, and never his feet, but he didn't care. The mushrooms were soft enough not to cause any injury, so it didn't matter except going with the flow and having fun.

"AAAAAHHH!!" Misty, however, didn't share Ash's enthusiasm but did share his 'grace.' Unlike him, she feared the death-defying heights that they could fall to, and it didn't help that the first mushroom shot her too fast for her to endure mentally. But, she held onto her bag, protectively, where she kept her darling Togepi.

They bounced up to a flat mushroom that was not bouncy, which Pikachu noticed. He landed neatly on his fours...

WHAM!!

...but alas, Ash and Misty weren't so agile as they hit the mushroom on their backs. "Oooo0www...."

...that is sure to hurt them more later on...but they'll have to endure right now for they had bird trouble surrounding them. "Pikapi!!"

"Uh?!" Hearing his call, Ash sat up, noticing the birds around them with obvious hostile intentions. "Are those Pokemon?" It's hard to tell when many creatures who look like Pokemon are not. "Go, Pikachu! Quick Attack!!"

Quick Attack: [Light DEX DMG 5%] Pikachu darts in blinding speed in any direction. Perfect for recovery and dodging attacks. This gives him +2 dodge for only one turn, and this has a 1 turn cooldown.

"Pika!" Springing high, Pikachu zapped up like a lightning bolt, ramming into Buzzards 3 and 4 until he was in between them.

"Now Thunder!!"

Thunder: [Heavy WIS DMG 20%] Pikachu harnesses all the electricity in his cheeks, summoning a massive bolt from the sky to crash down on him, blasting away foes close range or above him. Because he has to focus, this gives him -2 dodge on his next turn, and it has a 1 turn cooldown.

While still airborne, "Piiiiikaaaa...!" The clouds raged before it shot down a lightning bolt onto Pikachu's tail.... "CHUUUUUU!!!"

And he let it out with a literal electrifying explosion upon the two birds.

"Owwww..." Sitting up, Misty nursed her back. "Uh?!" But then she saw Ash fighting a bunch of birds...Pokemon maybe? Well, that didn't matter, for they look dangerous, and she's not going to sit back and let Ash do all the work...which is something she kind of does most of the time. She needs to fix that.

Standing up, she grabbed a Pokeball from her belt, "Staryu, I choose-"

BON!!!

"PSYYI!!" Did someone call for the wonderful Psyduck? Because he's here!!

"WHO SAID YOU CAN COME OUT???" she roared, frightening the duck. Every time, he thinks every name sounds like Psyduck to him.

BON!!

This time, she released the crustation Pokemon who sped in the air like a spinning saucer.

"Staryu, use Water Gun!!"

Staryu's Water Gun [Misty's DEX Light DMG 8%] - Psyduck's own Water Gun is as powerful as a school water fountain, so Misty uses her Staryu to use the attack on the foe. This has a 10% chance of Soaking the target. (Note: Though Misty is using a different Pokemon, it's still technically Psyduck)

The starfish circled behind Buzzard 2 and fired a blast of water from the top end of itself.

[LuckiCorii]

"There was never mushroom for boredom around here, cousins! Here I come!"
Bounding from 'shroom to 'shroom came Corii, eagerly and gracefully springing as he twirled in a flip. He soared through the air of the largest jump, arms and boots spread like a bird taking flight. His puffy shorts and shirt flapped in the wind, and air ran through his front and side bangs, wavering his rich blonde hair.
"Hoo-haaaaaa~!" He exclaimed, before drawing his hammer at the apex of his jump, before throwing his hammer stylishly like a boomerang, spinning forward at the Big Buzzard, a big ol' beakful of mallet heading its way!

"I want some turkey, too!" Corii chimes, bouncing onto the ground with his rump and then onto his feet, softening his landing.

Hammer Rush [Medium DEX-based attack. 10% damage with a 50% chance to Flower. Can be thrown like a boomerang, hitting twice but with 7% per hit and -1 to both accuracy rolls.]

eWEwe0RKp_1d100 p_1d100 Flowering chances. One success (22)1d100·1d100