Obvious exits:
East <E> leads to Nine-Tails Breeding Center.
South <S> leads to Big Riddle Inn.
West <W> leads to Cinnabar Caves - Steam Cave.
Down <D> leads to Cinnabar Island: Steaming Tunnel.
North <N> leads to Cinnabar Island: Hiking Path.

Strife arrives from Cinnabar Island: Hiking Path.
Strife has arrived.

look strife

A wide-brimmed, battered old hat masks this man's face. It's covered in shadow, exposing only the stubble of the lower half of his face. A permanent 5 o'clock shadow. The lines outlining his face are jagged and harsh, not round and curvy like most people. Shaded lavender eyes peer out from the shadow, alert but somehow always filled with regret.

He wears a long, black, leather jacket that hangs down to just above the ankle. It is dirty and worn, but looks quite comfortable. It hangs open, the sash untied, revealing a black nondescript shirt. His pants are also black, dark jeans that are worn especially around the knees. They slowly turn into dark black leather boots, with many knicks and things in them. Black-and-purple Pokeballs peek out from under his jacket. They aren't the normal red-and-white, but they are attached to a belt as many trainers use.

Carrying:
Strife's Pokeballs

+weather

The sky is cloudy grey, and nothing casts a shadow. The southwest wind is mild. In the forest, the wind rustles the bright green leaves of trees and bushes and carries Oddish pollen, downy seeds, and the fragrance of wildflowers along with it. While at the coast, rain pitters lightly on the deep grey ocean, and the waves are small.

Two... days. Two long, starving, cold (sorta), threatening days with pretty much no attention. The average wild Pokemon could survive well under these conditions. Sadly enough, Peppy cannot.Right now, the pup looks in really, really bad shape. He's probably the dirtiest he's ever been, and he just kinda looks more like a rag than a puppy. Two days isn't *that* long, is it? Apparently, it is. Right now, the dog is lying down on the ground, just kind of peering up at the sky. Eh. It's raining a bit. Who cares?

Argh! All those.. those.. people are enough to drive a man insane. But Strife has his reasons for being here, private they may be. The man walks along a path near the volcano, mercifully touristless, alone. The slight wind blows the tails of his jacket, but it is only slight. The man doesn't even seem to notice it. He doesn't even notice the rain, his wide hat blocks that as much as the sun. He does not notice the dead-looking dog. Yet.

Eyes roll up at the sky. Eyes roll back down at the ground. <Guess I should get some food.> The pup mutters to himself, but makes positively no attempt to get up. He has pretty much no spirit left, and can you blame him? ... well, yeah, probably, since he's barely spent any time out here. He's just so used to a nice warm Pokeball. And all the food he can eat. And havingaffection whenever he wants it. This is just so... so... different. With a depressing "Grrrol." of sadness, the dog snuggles deeper into the ground. Bah. Doesn't even have enough sense to get out of the rain!

The man in dark plods on, and finally stops. There's no one around, yet he speaks up. "Where am I going, anyway?" The man growls, looks around, and sighs. And then he starts clomping up the hill again. "Might as well find a spot to spend the night," he mutters ruefully to himself.

Spot to spend the night? Mmm, that sounds so nice... suddenly, the pup blinks. His head raises off the ground. Oh? A... human? Maybe it's Patch! Sure, Patch never had so deep a voice, but maybe she's, uh... uh... let's not bother with technicalities. <Patch?> Peppy barks. Okay, so it's more like a cough. <Patch?!> He arfs again, this time much clearer. Tail wag! Heck, besides, if it's not Patch, maybe it's, like, Zeph or something. A little raindrop hits the Growlithe's nose, causing him to scrunch his face up a bit.

Strife blinks. "Patch?" he asks, head looking around to the source of the voice. He understands it as well as he understood his former Growlithe. And he blinks when he sees... Peppy. Of course, he doesn't recognize the pup. "Excuse me?" he asks, walking towards the Pokemon.

Peppy glances up at Strife. In less than half a second, the pup's tail has already gone limp, as has most of his body. <You're not Patch,> he mumbles flatly, as if the man didn't already know that. <Sorry.> His soggy head stops straining to peer at Strife, and just kind of looks straight. The dog shakes himself to lodge the light layer of water collecting on his fur... not that it does much good.

Strife shakes his head slowly. "No, I'm not," he says, pulling out a Pokeball and narrowing his eyes. Fancy that no one has tried to catch something that had wandered this far from the volcano. "Patch a friend of yours?" he asks conversationally, although the voice is anything but light and pleasant. He hasn't really even gotten a good look at Peppy yet.

The Growlithe doesn't notice the Pokeball. He wouldn't *expect* to be caught... after all, he already is Patch's Pokemon, right? Of course, people down here probably wouldn't know, but do you think Peppy could understand that? Naw. <My trainer.> The Pokemon arfs, not looking at Strife. <From Celadon.> He's... so cold. So depressed. Such a strange break from his usual, happy self.

Strife blinks. "Oh," he mutters, reattaching the dark ball to his belt. The man shakes his head and sighs. "Celadon is far from here," he says off-handedly, beginning to turn and walk away. That's when it begins to click.. there was another Growlithe away from its trainer near Saffron once. The man slows, but doesn't turn back around.

Ugh. Talk about depression upon depression! Raising a weary head in Strife's general direction, and taking one, maybe two steps towards the man, the pup asks, <How far? Very far?> Maybe... maybe that Wartortle-trainer was wrong. Maybe it's far, but not *too* far. <Can I walk there?> Peppy doesn't exactly plan to follow this man to the end of the earth, hoping to get shelter or food for the time being, but he does plan to extract every single drop of information possible.

Strife stops, smirking to himself without looking back. "Things are as far as you make them," he mutters. "But walking would take a long while, I assure you." He takes another few steps, and glances back at the Growlithe.

The haunting sound of a Scarewulf howl echoes across the MUSH as the database saves. (Saving)

"Grrowl." The puppy mutters, a half-thanks, half-groan type noise that is oddly met with... a rumbling tummy? Looks like *somebody's* hungry. Well, walking's pretty much out of the question, apparently. Peppy gets tired enough taking a little walk down Route 7, and 'walking taking a long while' would be... well... bad. Pausing for a moment, the pup turns his head towards Strife, and adds a weak, <If you see a girl named Patch, could you tell her where I am? Please?> The final 'please' is a more of a beg than anything else. This Growlithe is balancing upon that thin line between heart breaking and just plain pathetic.

Pathetic. Peppy definitly falls on that Pathetic side of the line, at least where Strife is concerned. "Eh. Stand up," he mutters. Well, Peppy is standing, but not really standing 'up.' The man turns around, crossing his arms. "How long have you been lost from this girl?" He casts a closer inspection upon Peppy. This *couldn't* be the same Growlithe, could it?

Okay. Strife is now paying more attention to the pup. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? We'll just have to see. Peppy raises his head to meet Strife's eyes. <About...> The pup gazes down at the ground. Gee. Must've been... two nights? ... *two* nights? It seems more like two months! <About two nights.> The dog mumbles, blushing under his fur. Suddenly, the rain feels more like acid, and his tummy hurts even more. Guess he never really realized that... being in the wild for two days is not really that long. Uh, maybe he can absorb pity through the fact that he's soaked.

Strife sighs. "Two days... you must have really forgetten what it is like to be wild," the man tsks, although his voice doesn't seem angry or full of pity. "You shouldn't stay in the rain," he advises the pup. The man scratches his chin.

The Growlithe blinks, but continues peering at the ground. No, "Aww, you big wuss! Two days is nothing!". No, "Oh, you aren't even worth my time.". Sure, it's not "You poor little thing! Here, let me shower you in burgers!", but at least Strife is showing *some* concern. <I just like being trained, that's all.> The dog mumbles quietly, though Strife may or may not have heard him. A little louder, Peppy replies to the *important* statement. <And go where?> His gaze lifts from staring at the ground, up to Strife, then back at the ground. Gawd. He is miserable.

Strife frowns a bit. "In the caves, you are a Growlithe. Or maybe under a tree. It is not an electrical storm, I assure you it is safe." The man sighs again, torn between leaving the Growlithe and helping him home. Perhaps a compromise? "Liking being trained is one thing, but you should know how to survive out here. This is an easy place to live in."

Blink. Blink. <Easy?> The Growlithe grumbles to himself. Or is that his stomach? <Yeah... I... guess.> Peppy mumbles, before a little shudder. You know, he could easily find a tree. Or head into the... "caves", but, for some reason, he didn't. Maybe he was looking for food, and just decided to fall asleep in this area, or something. Or maybe he's just dumb. <Do you...> he asksquietly. <Do you know where a...> And it's about now that Peppy looks around a bit. Wow. There *are* trees here. <A...> He gulps a bit. How could he miss something so obvious?

Strife raises his eyebrows at the dog, looking down at the Pokemon. He wants to be harder, but.. something in his face would give him away to normal, observent Pokemon. Peppy might, no, he probably would miss it. Contemplative sympathy, perhaps? Still, he doesn't say a word, but just peers at the pup, waiting for him to finish.

Heck, Peppy's not even looking at Strife. And even if he were, he probably wouldn't understand the man's sympathetic look. He doesn't finish his sentence, but instead, starts a new one. <It's kind of cold.> He says quietly. Okay, now he looks up at Strife, but he's squinting and blinking too much to keep rain out to even notice the man's expression. <Cold and wet.> Grumble of the belly, once more. Why's he pointing out such obvious facts? Hinting that Strife should go? Hinting that Strife should take care? Just being himself?

Strife sighs. "Take care of yourself," says Strife, looking away again, but this time looking towards town. "And don't get lost. All right?" Don't get lost.. isn't the puppy already.. lost?Well, Strife doesn't explain himself, he just begins walking again. But he turns and looks for confirmation. "Got that?"

Don't get lost? Even Peppy's smart enough to comment on that. Without making any motions to head towards a tree or anything, the dog just kinda whimpers, <I already am lost.> Kinda flatly, kinda sadly, very pathetically. <But, I'll try not to.. to get... loster.> A small grin is made. Looks like a little bit of the old Peppy is shining through. Cute.

Strife nods. "That is.. what I meant. Kind of." The man considers for a moment, sighs, and shakes his head. "I will come back," he says. Warns? Tells? Something like that. The man begins walking slowly again, this time towards town. Patch, Patch. Celadon. Hrm.

He'll come back? <Okay.> Peppy ruffs quietly, as if not really one hundred percent aware of what Strife is planning to do. For all the Growlithe thinks, the man's only going to return to make sure the pup's found shelter, not to return with food or to find Patch or anything. Not without effort, the dog begins limping - with his right steps... it seems as though *both* of those two paws are a little hurt. Wonder how those occured. - towards the closest tree. Mm. Suddenly, sleeping under a nice tree seems... like... a memory from months ago.

Strife continues down the path. His intentions, like always, are quite unclear, but maybe that's 'cause the man is as confused as the puppy. Whatever the man may be thinking, he dissapears around a bend.