Journeys and New Beginnings

Zorre shuddered, wet-cold-water falling from the sky, onto his wings and scythes. He sneezed, and then glared up at the sky, blinking as the water got into his eyes. His wings buzzed angrily, fluttering quickly in irritation. He was traveling to Grassveil Town, which he knew housed an Exploration Guild. He wanted to join an Exploration Team, so that he could learn and grow, and also help other pokemon all at the same time. But he wasn't there yet. This town was known as Rainfront Town, and he knew that he had a ways to go before he reached his destination.

Sosio's fluttered into the entrance to town, rain causing her wings to dampen and droop, forcing her to strut along the wet cold ground. She enjoyed the refreshing rain at first, but disliked how she could no longer fly with ease. She looked up, eyes dripping down her beak onto her eyes, immediately regretting that action. Blinking and squinting, the Flethling looked down, watching the rain drip off the tip of her pointed, elongated mouth, shielding her eyes with the feathered arms called wings.

Her attention was directed to her ground and eyes, not paying much attention to where she was going. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of what the guild in the Floating Islands would be like.
Will they accept me? Am I too young? Will I be able to make it there with these tiny wings?
While still lost in thought, she found herself pressed against some pokemon's leg, unable to feel instantly from being numb from cold. She looked up slowly, shading her eyes to find she was in the presence of a very tall--
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
She screamed in pure terror and the sight of a giant bug type, scrambling quickly and clumsily to somewhere for hiding, her expression wide and unchanging with the fear clearly visible on her frozen face, her legs flailing across the ground in attempt of escape, as if no longer controlled by her mind. She found herself behind a rock, breathing heavily, widened eyes, gaping beak, the rain water dripping down her face and off her feathers. She had never been so startled. She hoped so deeply and greatly it wouldn't follow her. Her spine was shivering. She set herself on the ground with her belly, sneaking forward with her legs to peer around the rock, checking to see where the Pokemon had gone.

(Enjoy reading all that XD)

Zorre felt something pressing up against his leg segment, and looked down to see a tiny red and brown bird huddled up against it, shivering. He started to bend down, a gentle expression on his face, when it looked up and screamed in his face. He whirled back, startled by the sudden explosion of energy from the tiny creature. It fluttered away as fast as it could, shooting behind a rock until it was out of sight. Zorre blinked in surprise. What was going on with that bird? It seemed afraid of him, but that was silly. Sure, he was much larger than the tiny bird, but it was a flying type, and if the red was any indication, it might also be a fire type, which gave it a distinct advantage over him, so why would it be afraid of him? He froze in realization. Wait... if this bird was... fire type... he growled lowly, remembering his dislike for all things fire and hot. But then, he reflected, staring up at the crying sky; it would be hard to start a fire in this weather. Zorre wasn't sure what to do. A part of him was all for making sure the pokemon was OK, and the other, more feral part, wanted him to just leave it, or attack it. He huffed, and then walked forward, his wings buzzing as they attempted to keep the rain from sliding in between his shell cracks. It was almost time again for him to shed, and in the time before shedding, he had to be careful to keep himself dry, as water in the wrong places would cause him skeletal-rot. He shuddered at the thought, and peeked his head around the rock, seeing the little bird there, still shuddering.

"Hello," he greeted. "It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you."

Sosio backed behind the rock once more, noticing the Pokemon approaching, her heart pumping the necessary blood through her veins rapidly, throat trembling, giving her the need to swallow constantly. She felt sick to her stomach. She always does when she's scared. Then, a slight realization dawned on her...
Wait, all those bad bugs are in the wild, and would battle. This is a town. Surely this one can only be here if not wild...
She knew she wouldn't be attacked by the large green insect, but the thought still bothered her.
I must've looked ridiculous screaming in public... The wet Fletchling thought with a sigh. I'd better go and clean up and get going...
The trembling wobbly bird attempted to get back up again, but slipped on the wet muddy ground, her legs sliding out behind her, and her belly squelching the brown wet dirt. The next thing she knew, the stranger was once again towering over her, the spoken words unheard over the drumming of the rain next to her ears. She attempted to get back up and flee, only to lose traction as if on ice, her eyes squinted from both pain and fear, her beak gaped open in a silent scream.

Zorre blinked down at the panicking pokemon, wondering what on earth had gotten into the tiny bird. It was just wriggling in the mud, beak open and eyes wide... Zorre turned his head to the side and wondered if perhaps he had run into a feral pokemon who had just landed here to catch their breath, instead of a normal non-feral pokemon taking a stroll through town. Zorre hummed in the back of his throat. "Alright?" he asked, reaching down gently with one of his bladed arms, and turned the blunt edge toward the pokemon, and gently put the bird back on its feet. "Not hurt, you?" he asked, stumbling over the words.

Sosio finally snapped her beak shut, tears leaking from her eyes, but invisible from the dripping of the rain. She snurfed, looking up at the Pokemon, her head flat to the ground. She hesitated quite a while, head jumbling, unsure if the words she had heard were spoken. She reached up a wing, shivering at the oddly dry grip of the insect, squinting and squealing under her breath as she helped herself up. She shivered, dropping the contact wing limp, the other stretched slightly to the side, mud underneath making it uncomfortable in a normal position. Her ribbon was coated with the brown substance, making her look completely disheveled. Her breaths were quick and sharp, either suffering from a temporary asthma problem due to the cold, or just completely afraid.
"Eh. Ma.. Erf.."
She stumbled over her words, coming out unclear. She used the outside of her beak to scrape of some mud off of a claw, only to use it to rub her eye. She pressed her chin against the rock she hid behind, too tired to try and run. There was no point anymore, she already made a fool of herself.

The bird pokemon helped itself up, and Zorre noticed that it was breathing strangely. It made a few strange sounds from its beak, and then accidentally wiped mud into its own eye. Zorre snickered to himself, wondering what on earth was wrong with this pokemon. The bird continued to act strangely, and it slumped against the rock, still breathing heavily. "...?" he didn't even know what to say about the strangeness of the bird. He considered going on with his journey, but his sense of morals told him that to walk away from this clearly incapacitated pokemon was a very bad idea.

Sosio caught up with her breath now, climbing to the top of the rock and sitting on top, letting the rain wash away the mud stuck between her feathers. She never felt so uncomfortable before, and not just with the mud. This strange bug seemed to be mocking her.
Why is he still here? What use does he have hanging around a bird...
The Fletchling shook off the remaining mud and rainwater, her feathers ruffled. There was no need for words, so she decided to ignore the strange Pokemon and only hope it would go away. Of course, though, that wouldn't happen. The bird then hopped off the rock, hovering only about a centimeter above the ground, (which for a small bird would actually seem like a lot). She flitted over to some little rainproof dens and shops, looking to see if she get get anything before leaving.

"????" Zorre looked askance after the bird as it flew away without a word, towards the center of the town. "Rude, was that." He mumbled to himself. He turned away, though. It seemed like the bird was alright, after all, which meant that he could continue on with his own journey without being plagued by his conscious. It HAD been a very strange encounter, though; one he wasn't likely to forget any time soon. He continued on his way through the town, and decided to plop himself down inside a little cafe to stay out of the rain. He eyed the dark sky, hoping that the rain would stop soon.

Sosio returned to her rock, sighing.
"There's nothing to buy... I might as well just leave as soon as I can..."

Then Soski just sat and thought. She thought about the Scyther and his expressions and reactions to her own. His scared and confused face when she fled. His laughing at her goofiness. Then she realized that bug types are pokemon, too. She shouldn't be typist just because a few insects bothered her. Sure, it was easy to defeat the bugs, and would be even more so when she learns a flying type move, but she never knew why she was scared of them, other than the fact they looked creepy.
"I should probably go and apologize, shouldn't i?" She told herself out loud.

She glanced around, seeing him sitting solemnly under the roof of a shop. She then looked around to seem less obvious, realizing how ridiculous she looked earlier, and going back would be awkward. But thunder crashed, lightning shooting down the sky to ground not too far from the town, sending the Fletchling fleeing fearfully to the nearest shelter. She landed next to the Scyther.
"Uh... Hi?"

Zorre looked out at the sky and sighed. It didn't look like the rain was going to let up any time soon, so he was stuck here in this muddy town until it did let up. He ordered another smoothie from the patron, and sat, sipping at the apple and pecha smoothie while watching the rain patter past the open doors. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed, sending a flurry of feathers through the open doors. The ball of feathers landed in front of him, and Zorre recognized the strange bird from earlier. "Um... hi?" it greeted him awkwardly, looking nervous to run into him again.

He looked down at the strange bird, and wondered how to respond. It had been quite rude and strange earlier, but something told him the bird hadn't meant any harm by it. He sighed, and drained the rest of his smoothie before replying. "Greetings. Alright, you, earlier from? Startle you, I?" he stumbled over the words, knowing they weren't put together quite right but refusing to be cowed by it.

Sosio nodded warily.
"That... Er... Was terrible of me to do."
She whimpered with a soft voice.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
She ended it there, not knowing where to start. There were plenty of things she didn't mean to do. At that, she plopped her head gently on the counter, ordering a Pecha Berry au Lait.
"I guess I might as well introduce myself, then... I'm Sosio."
She stated, a nasal sigh following. He didn't seem to have a problem with her there, but spoke in an awkward manner. Must just be his way.

The bird was... apologizing to him? For what??? Zorre was very confused as to why the bird pokemon felt that it had to apologize, but decided that it didn't matter. "Zorre, am I," he introduced himself, signalling for the owner of the cafe to refill his drink, placing some poke on the table for the Bellossom to take. When she came over, she seemed confused, for he had placed enough poke there to pay for the bird's drink. "For you," he added to the bird, and the Bellossom's confusion cleared up. She whisked away the poke and handed them their drinks. "Thankfull, am I," Zorre nodded at the grass-type pokemon. She smiled at him and then headed off for another customer. Zorre turned back to the tiny bird. "Where go, you?" he questioned, wondering if the bird was on a journey like he was.

Sosio nodded thankfully at his payment, watching the grass type take the poke away. Sosio became awkwardly skeptical about what happens behind the wall... But that didn't matter. The Fletchling was skeptical about anything she couldn't see. But that didn't matter right now.
"I'm headed past Rainfront onward in the wild. I'm trying to get to the Floating Islands." She chirped, more comfortable.
His way of speech bothered her slightly, but she dismissed it. Her fears of bug types seemed to be washed over by her friendly habits, glad that she was comfortable around at least one insect.

The Bellosom returned once more, with a couple of drinks, Sosio dragging hers closer to her with her wings. She tilted her head down into the beverage, drenching her beak and channeling it to her throat, then tilting her head up, nodding to swallow.

Zorre nodded at the bird pokemon's words, taking a drink from his smoothie. "Team of Exploration, searching am I. Guild Grassveil, told I am." He said. He shivered as a wind swept through the cafe. The storm outside seemed to be picking up rather than dying down as he had hoped. He stood from the table and crossed to the door, looking out at the sky. It was dark, clouds chasing each other across the wide expanse. He flinched backward as a loud CRRRRRRRRACK of thunder from a lightning bolt echoed all around.