Encounter in the Dark Forest.

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Having explored several of the other areas around Grassveil Town, Brian the Chimchar had asked some people around town about any other location closeby that he hadn't heard about. After hearing one of the pokemon in the town talk about a dangerous dark forest by the name of Shadowhue, Brian's curiousity took hold of him and ended up he eventually ended up in the forest himself.Coming from the bright and bustling Grassveil Town, to the calming and relaxing Small Pond, and the bright berry filled areas of Pecha Forest, the Shadowhue Forest contrasted in a jarring way at first. The tree's seemed to stretch into the sky itself, seeming to be nearly twice as tall, if not taller than the ones he saw in Pecha Forest. Now only were they tall, but the leaves on them were so gargantuan in size that they blocked out most of the light from the area. Brian couldn't even see the sky beyond them, let alone any light from the sun above. Though thanks to the flame on his tail, he did have a decent amount of light which allowed him to see where he was going. The foreboding atmosphere of the forest probably would have scared off some, but not Brian. Fear wasn't something he felt too easily. To him, feeling fear would just be a unnecessary roadblock in his quest of becoming stronger and exploring new places. Besides, Brian was too interested with the area to just leave without seeing everything it had to offer, regardless of how scary it may seem. He wanted to explore and analyze this new area as he had to with all of the previous new areas he had been too and nothing was going to stop him anytime soon.

"So this is Shadowhue huh? A very interesting place indeed. Hehe, hope those people were right about there being strong pokemon too." Brian said, growing a small grin on his face as he walked onward into the forest, eager to see what awaited him inside.

Energy: 10

Though at first there had not initially been ignition, smoke would eventually originate from the green needles that sprouted forth from the magnificent pines. It was small initially - a small stream of smoke and smog that trickled forth from a petite flame - but soon burst into life with explosive power. The tiny, flickering flame had morphed into a roaring, snarling conflagration that climbed along its birth-tree and consumed it greedily. The smell of burning wood - sickly sweet and delicious - permeated the atmosphere as the fire coughed up copious amounts of smoke. Up, up, and up went Brian, with the swirling, suffocating smoke and the hungry fire following closely behind. It was like a beast, that growling blaze, that moved sluggishly or quickly depending upon whether quarry lie within its sights. For now it was but an idle, lumbering beast: it methodically moved and sucked the life out of the foliage in which it had been born from.

Penetrating the canopy, the smoke swirled and began to dissipate, as if surrendering itself to defeat as the wind gently blew it away. It was a soft gale that seemed to kiss the treetops, licking at them absentmindedly with idle laziness. While the fire and smog still lingered beneath the tree's canopy, they were beginning to mobilize and begin the arduous journey upwards. The flame had not yet proven contagious, but it might should the wind pick it up and carry it like fleas did the plague.

Ares had lost sight of Brian as soon as he had ascended into the concealing leaves of the trees, his eyes expectantly searching for any flicker of life that he might target. Smoke was creeping out of the corner's of his mouth, and it was evident that he had been preparing a Dragon Pulse attack within the recesses of his esophagus. As the Chimchar sailed downwards, fur being tugged at by the air as gravity shoved his body downwards, the Charmander would seize his opportunity. He would allow his jaw to jerkily open, releasing another sphere towards Brian as he attempted to hold onto the tree. Inertia and physics would make it awkward and difficult to maneuver out of the way consuming ball, and, since no wings sprouted forth from the ape's body, it would be difficult to move mid-fall.

It would be after the Dragon Pulse had been fired that the warrior would see a branch hurtling towards his direction. His claws would increase in size and glow, prior to him slashing them downward and slicing the branch in two. The halves would continue upon their projected path, separated into uneven pieces as they clattered to the forest floor behind him. Ares would lower his hand, and allow a puff of smoke to slip forth from the corners of his lips.

Child's play.

Brian could once again feel the powerful aura of the blue sphere as it rushed towards him again. Being in the air, his mobility was much more limited than before, however Brian still had options. He reached over towards the nearby tree as much as he could and latched onto it and swung himself away from the area just before the sphere got to him. Brian had just barely avoided it that time. He had been to careless in his movement. Also after seeing Ares simply rip away the branch without distracting him, Brian knew that these evasive maneuvers weren't going to help much. So he decided that it was his turn to go on the offensive. He landed on the ground after swinging himself and immediately dashed toward Ares using Leer, growing a more intimidating appearance on his face as he hoped to lower Ares's defenses and then go for a damaging move.

The sphere once more sliced through the air, sizzling the atmosphere and gas that was unfortunate enough to get in its path. It crackled and burned, whizzing past its intended target as Brian once more miraculously evaded his Dragon Pulse. It would surge past the Chimchar's body, plowing headfirst into the tree in which he clung. The tree would groan and shudder as bark splintered off of its coarse semblance, the upper portion snapping off entirely as it took a dive through the dancing flames. Set ablaze by the cumbersome fire, the smoldering tip of the pine would careen towards the earth and introduce the flame to the damp undergrowth. Smoke began to puff forth from the moist plants, and the Charmander seemed to remain aloof and immune to the great destruction that had begun to ensue from his actions. There was a sort of ruthlessness that Ares now exhibited that portrayed him accurately as what his people would have admired: fire blazing, silhouette glorious, and eyes but mere hollowed caverns that had once displayed his spirit. Silence was all that he would utter as he observed the chimp begin to react.

Though one might anticipate him to patiently await for the Leer to conclude its process, he was a warrior. Honor was a mere tool used to stab someone in the back, to take advantage of when the outcome was not in one's favor. He would gain nothing from simply waiting for the move to play out, and thus would intercept its delivery and force the ape back on the run. That was how true fighters fought.

As Brian propelled himself towards the ground, Ares would once more fire a Dragon Pulse attack, aiming it towards where the Fire-type would land based upon his trajectory and propulsion. The black, consuming sphere would hiss forth from his mouth, screeching towards the location with little discrimination until it hit a solid mass - which would hopefully be the little simian. The attack had been timed so that, by the time the creature made contact with the drying earth, the pearl-shaped attack would be but mere inches from the other's face. There would undoubtedly be little time to react, but such was how battles worked: actions and counteractions were but mere milliseconds apart.

Seeing that his Leer had failed and another powerful sphere of energy was coming his way, Brian decided to pull another trick out of his invisible sleeve. His right fist instantly became smothered in the smoldering hot flames of Fire Punch once more, but this time it wasn't for an small offensive attack. Instead, Brian thrusted his smoldering fist directly downward, punching the ground below. The resulting force of the impact was just as much as Brian required in order to be pushed high enough up in the air so that the sphere of energy launched at him by Ares merely passed under Brian, just barely not making contact. Brian didn't want to give Ares any room to breath and believing that using that sphere attack must've drained some energy out of Ares, he felt that his chance had come. Brian descended back to the ground just as the sphere passed under him and instantly started dashing towards Ares as soon as his feet touched the ground. In no time, Brian was right in front of Ares and began to Scratch him, the tips of his hands glowing in a small light as he slashed at his adversary.

It was increasingly frustrating how this Brian fellow seemed to be evading his attacks. His movements, erratic and quite unpredictable to some extent, had worked in the chimp's favor. Though it would be quite logical to assume that the wear and tear of battle might have begun to drag upon the constantly evading ape's body - what with his sporadic and constant movement - Ares remained in tip-top condition. Conditioning and training performed with militaristic intention had eradicated the notion of flight and exhaustion from his mind; his fortitude and excellent stamina continued to yield fruitful results. His movements had been purposefully limited since the beginning of the battle so that he might conserve it for when the conflict became hand to hand, and it was just about to quite productive once more.

He was not entirely impressed by the way his adversary battled: it was too unrestricted and full of maneuvers that might tire a fighter out before they even landed a hit. He had also allowed himself to become predictable, and this was also an unsavory trait. If one's opponent could begin to adjust their own strategy so that they might attack their flaws, then such an altercation was pretty much forfeit. As such, when the Leer had been successfully interrupted, Ares had switched himself into melee mode - his claws had already begun to elongate and radiate with an off-white glow. This was one method of combat that he had been bred for, trained for; ranged combat was not his specialty and persisted in being something that bored him.

Forward the Chimchar dashed, racing towards a most certain defeat, while Ares allowed his feet to slide into a defensive position. When Brian pulled back his hands to begin the movement of a Scratch attack, the Charmander would be ready. In rushed his own lethal, curled claws, fastened upon a single fist, aiming for the ape's exposed face. His attack was a preemptive counterattack: a movement that was meant to prevent the execution of another. Should his attack hit, which one might consider a "Scratch-punch", such force might be generated that the other would either be forced back or become stunned momentarily. Within such close quarters, it would be admittedly difficult to see how such an attack would miss.

As he saw Ares charge towards him with his Scratch punch type of move aiming right for him, Brian realized the mistakes he made with his movement. He tried to dodge out of the way of the attack, but it was too late for him to do anything at that range. Ares's attack made contact with Brian's chest, the force of the attack causing Brian to fly backwards several feet and land on the ground, taking a decent amount of damage from the hit.

"Ugh, that hurt. Guess I should have thought that out better." Brian said as he got up and rubbed the chest to try and ease the pain a little. Feeling that attack, he could see how powerful Ares really was especially in close range and from all of the other moves he had made, he could see how much of a strategist Ares was as well. However, this presented a problem as all of Brian's attack were physical based, meaning that dealing damage to Ares would be exceptionally difficult with how good he was a close quarters combat. Brian tried to think of a solution to this as he waited for Ares's next move.

Contact! The sensation of his smooth, serrated claws swiping rending through flesh and fur caused a great feeling of satisfaction to be generated. His tail's flame, which had already been burning at a generous rate, seemed to explode into full animation as he felt his skin smash into Brian's; its intensity and smoldering increased, causing it to rival that of the burning trees and leaves. As Ares followed through with swing, it seemed as if the world moved in slow motion: there he was, caught in the middle of completing a violent act, allowing his gaze to shift upon that of the recipient. His jaws had parted, allowing faint traces of smoke to trickle from the corners of his separated lips; his muscles had tightened and fixed themselves into place; his pupils had narrowed and locked themselves upon the Chimchar's face: it was funny how much one could notice when an act of aggression had been fulfilled.

As Brian pushed himself back up, the young drake would remain stationary and erect like a statue. He was still kept captive by his predatory nature - and it refused to release its tight grip upon him. It was a relatively harmless comment, too: a simple acknowledgement to the fact that a better strategy should have been thought out. A smirk grew upon his face as he let out a single-noted "heh", and he would allow little other time for him to recover. A dazzling sphere of dragon energy once more sped towards the damaged Chimchar, streaking through the air like a racing serpent. It was as if the last syllable upon the word "better" had been his cue.

As the all to familiar blue sphere of energy was racing towards him once again, time seemed to freeze for a short while as Brian thought of a game plan. He knew that if he just started to attack head on to win in a test of strength that Ares would easily overpower him with his close range combat mastery. Brian then though that with his speed, he could run circles around Ares which would eventually tire him out and allow himself to deal some damage. However, he quickly remembered how easily Ares was able to follow his movements, and the fact that he had projectile attacks could damage him from afar. Also, the fact that Brian has no access to that type of attack yet, he can't deal damage from far away which severely limited his options. Brian was unsure if he could put up a decent fight anymore, but he had to try at least. Right before the sphere of energy hit him, Brian leaped up and forward to dodge the attack and then proceeded to conjure up another Fire Punch and dive down at Ares, hoping to hit him from above.

As, once again, his Dragon Pulse barreled through the air and somehow missed a still recovering target, Ares could not help but feel frustration gnaw upon his mental processes. While the blue sphere plowed into another tree, ablaze with twirling flames, and brought it down, his mind remained divided in how to handle something that could seemingly move just as quickly as his own ranged attacks. Fate and Lady Luck must have smiled generously upon Brian that day and imbued him with their favor, for the agility and endurance that this chimp exhibited was quite unbelievable. What mental fortitude did this adversary have that drove him on, even when he had been placed at a disadvantage? Certainly, there had to be something - anything - to explain this impressive quality that was commanding the other male; persistence was nothing without motivation.

The Chimchar proved to lack the ability to learn from an opponent, for once more he charged forward, gung-ho on meleeing the lizard that had previously batted him away without a second thought. It was obvious quite quickly from the ape's trajectory that this was his intent - for what other motive would bring the creature to lunge forward and into his close proximity? With flames twirling about the ape's fist, Ares would smile coyly and pivot upon moving feet; as Brian came hurtling down, the Charmander would propel himself in a diagonal direction so that he might be in the air at the same time the primate was coming down - they would be at the same altitude. Once more Ares would retaliate, allowing his lengthened claws to smash into the back of his opponent's skull in a Scratch attack. His goal was to send the other's face careening into the ground, if for no other pleasure of demonstrating his own agility.

Once again, the Chimchar had made a fatal mistake with his movements that would end up costing him dearly. Before he had a chance to counterattack, Brian was send falling to the ground by Ares's Scratch attack making contact with the back of his head. The resulting force sent Brian spiraling downwards, like a out of control plane, and just like a plane would, crashed into the ground with a large thud. The power of the Scratch along with the force of the impact had dealt massive damage to Brian, getting a pounding headache in the process. However despite the pain he was feeling, he didn't want to miss this opportunity. With Ares still in the air, Brian felt that he could finally get an attack in on his opponent. So, Brian jumped into the air in a similar diagonal way that Ares did before and attemted to use his own slash, aiming at Ares's back to do massive damage.

Ares watched with great satisfaction as the other's face was smashed into the hardened soil, his brain registering such pleasure with a release of dopamine in copious amounts. He felt lighter than air, as if he were but a speck floating in the universe, before something he had not considered occurred. The concept of the Chimchar recovering so quickly and attacking him as he fell from his evasive lunge's descent had been novel, trivial - an impossibility at best. His brain had considered all options, all logical processing that this one had been simply regarded as implausible. He seemed to be just a few inches from making contact with the cinder- and ash-coated earth when he felt a strike upon his back. The Charmander's eyes would instantly flick back to witness the agile creature following through after a Scratch attack, with glowing claws elongated.

It was admittedly trivial to imagine that Ares could take a huge amount of damage from a weaker Pokemon using a move upon him, but still the other's point had been made. His feet, pivoting so that he might face his attacker, would steady themselves upon the earth as soon as he had felt its heated temperature beneath them, and his claws were instantly wielded. Certainly Brian would be in close proximity - or so his attack landing would indicate - and would leave the belligerent drake more than enough opportunity to attack his quarry. He was swift, just as anyone's reflexes would be in a time of conflict, and would aim another Scratch-punch into his adversary's body so that he might crumple upon his fist and be sent backwards into a tree's hardened base.

As his Scratch attack made contact with Ares's body, Brian felt more excitement than ever before. After all of this hard battling, he was finally able to land an attack onto his powerful adversary, which made all of the pain he was feeling worth it. If he wasn't so focused on the battle at the moment, Brian would be jumping for joy at his accomplishment. Sure, landing one attack wasn't that big of an accomplishment for most, but to Brian, every step mattered. Everything he did would make him strong in the long run, no matter how small. Well, at least that's how Brian thought. However, there wasn't much time to think as Ares was once again attacking Brian with another Scratch punch move that he didn't have enough time to dodge. The attack hit Brian in the chest, sending him flying back into the trunk of a nearby tree, creating a loud thud as he made contact. Brian felt another surge of pain flow through him as he collided with the tree, but was still able to stand up afterwards. He wasn't sure about how much more punishment he could take now. Brian just stood there for a while, thinking of what to do now.

It was a strange sensation to feel a creature's entirety coalescing about one's tightened fist. His knuckles, which had been exposed to much worse, seemed to welcome the squishy sensation of fur, heat, and tissue molding about their form as inertia surged the creature off - the contact had been brief, but would remain memorable. The warmth, the plush fur, the momentary tremor from a heartbeat: they all had exhilarated his senses before it was ripped away in order to leave him wanting more. The ancient pine, shielded by coarse and cracked bark, seemed to shudder slightly as a solid object was tossed with great velocity into its being. Needles rained from its branches, dancing about in the heated atmosphere as the fire grew more intense; many trees that had not been the target of the original Ember were now beginning to generate smoke as their limbs threatened to be ignited.

Ares would remain aloof to this. Here he was, a predator, so easily batting his prey about as if it were nothing more than an irksome, buzzing fly. It was admirable how much this kid could endure - first head trauma, now a fist to the thoracic region - but endurance alone was not something that could win battles. It could prolong and lengthen it, but it was merely putting off the inevitable. There was a merciless look to him as he observed Brian begin to stand, and he would merely allow the consuming fire's light to gleam off the surface of his eyes. He was stoic, stern, and not willing to let emotion be expressed upon his stone-cold face.

"Up," he commanded. He was enjoying the ability to use a willing creature as a punching bag.

Brian stood up after taking that powerful attack in pain, his body trembling for some reason. However, instead of looking like he was in pain or showing any negative emotion, Brian was smiling. Smiling wider than any time before.

"Hehehe, this is the best! This battle is awesome! You're so strong Ares. Like, really strong! You're one of the strongest pokemon I've ever seen. You're even able to keep up with all of my movements and predict what I'm gonna do and perfectly counterattack. This is perfect. These kinds of battles are what I live for! This trembling I feel must be my fear for this battle ending cause I don't want it to end. I would be fine with battling like this for eternity!" Brian said as he stretched out his arms on each side of his body, still grinning wide.

"Come on Ares, attack me! Fight me! Use every strategy you can think of on me and I'll take everything you can dish out. You can knock me down but I'll keep getting up until I have no energy left. I promise you that I won't go down easy. I want this battle to last as long as possible, so that the fun can continue. I know that you have more power in you, so use it! Come at me Ares! Show me what you've really got!" Brian said as his tail flame grew is size, most likely responding to Brian's emotions. As his tail flame was flickering, an even brighter flame could be seen in Brian's eyes as he stared as Ares with the largest smile on his face, enjoying every moment of this confrontation regardless of the pain he felt.

It was at this moment that Ares came to realize why he had taken a liking to this Chimchar. Even with differing views, Brian spoke with the pride and confidence of people originating from his own homeland; the pearl containing the strength of a warrior was buried beneath a jovial disposition. He was determined, hardy, and steadfast - who else would keep forcing themselves to stand even after a battle had been proven unevenly matched? It was not the fair mistresses Fate or Luck that smiled with benevolence and favor towards him, but the ancient spirits Polemos and Alala: the personifications of war and battle cries. Such concepts had long been discarded as abandoned principles within this realm, but to find it once more renewed his spirit. Though he remained unwavering and stoic, his tail would begin to burn brightly.

He was feeling energized: stronger, taller, and in control. He would speak with the authority of a god addressing a mortal, commanding and authoritative, "Let me show you how freedom from a guild has made me strong!"

All at once, like a tide crashing down upon the beach, Ares's body surged forward. A single foot was pushed out to support him before he skid to a halt, spewing forth an inky, sooty substance forth from his mouth and attempting to launch it onto Brian's eyes and face. It was a concentrated SmokeScreen - a rather novel concept - meant to temporarily blind and distract his opposition.