The Second Expedition Attempt

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Missions:

Jet glanced down at the papers in his paws that he had taken from the Grassveil Guild's bulletin boards. He had been out here on a mission before from the guild but it had ended in a failure. However, this was one Buizel who was determined not to let this one defeat get the better of him. This time, however, Jet had decided to be a little bit more bold. His new mission as to rescue an Egg that had been stolen from a Beautifly. This one was an Outlaw mission, and it was one that he knew that he needed to start doing to try to toughen himself up. Perhaps, he figured, a more drastic situation could spark the strength he needed, rather than sticking with a safer escort mission. His other mission was all-too-familiar, however. It was to rescue a Meowth's "beloved." A side note had been placed on the latter mission's note saying that this "beloved" was actually a bag of money that needed to be returned. He recognized this mission as the very same one that he had failed previously, and this was his chance to try again.

The awkwardness of the second mission aside, Jet knew that these would probably be the perfect missions to take for now. Not only was he slightly familiar with the contents of the Pecha Forest, due to a previous excursion into these woods once before, but it was a very straight-forward mission with very little that would interfere with him, as far as he was aware. Sure, the layout of the woods was sure to change due to its nature as a Mystery Dungeon, but that didn't concern him. He was always good at mapping terrain in his head anyway.

The only thing that worried him was this gang of Pokémon that had supposedly taken the Meowth's bag. Hopefully, he would not have to deal with them directly...but was he actually that lucky...?

In any case, he made his way between the trees, finally entering the Pecha Forest, and started hunting for his mission's objectives. He was slightly nervous to be heading off on a mission by himself...but he wanted to get stronger for when Team Mizuchi took on their first mission together as a full team.

[Remaining Energy: 22-5=17]

Aaron waited while the water type did what he had to do. When he came back, Jet explained to Aaron that there was still one more mission he needed to do. Him? In a place like this? Not alone, he's not! His fears are going to get him into more trouble! "Hey! Let me come with you then." The Deino blocked Jet from his path, refusing to let him go any further. So much for a well needed rest. He figured that any other mission, he currently have shouldn't be too long. "No offense, but I don't think you're confident enough to fight yet. I know it's disheartening that I said that, but think of it this way. If you were to encounter a feral and I wasn't around, you'll just panic and let that feral take advantage of you." Panicking. One of the most dangerous  emotions to have in a fight. He remembered the first time he did that, oh boy did that fight ended BADLY.

"It's my job right now to make sure you're safe. Teach you a few things about how to fight." He was Suddenly taking in charge of the Buziel, something that he didn't really meant to do. Aaron moved out of the way, clearing the path for Jet. "It's your choice though. If you want to do this solo, go ahead. I Seriously don't recommend it though."

{Energy: 2 + 1 (new page) = 3}

Jet suddenly stopped when he Deino stepped in front of him, his eyes widening slightly. He hadn't expected the Dragon-type, who had just been trying to tell him that he was better than he thought, to suddenly stop him from going off on his own. And worse yet, he hammered in the fact that he wasn't capable of completing this mission on his own. However, he had already come to terms with his own weakness by this point. So the fact that Aaron claimed that he was too weak and wasn't confident enough to go it alone was not something he took offense to. And of course, he knew good and well that every word Aaron spoke was completely true. If he ended up fighting a feral Pokémon, he would probably end up panicking. Especially if they outnumbered him.

When Aaron finally moved out of his way and offered to let him go alone if he so chose, he paused. When the Deino had claimed that it would be his job to make sure he got out of here safely, he suddenly had slight concerns about the Deino's well-being. "W...well, I-I don't want you to get hurt trying to help me or anything..." he murmured lowly. But then he let out a small sigh. "S-still...I-I think you're right. I-I won't be able to accomplish this mission by myself. S-so...so if you want to come, th-then I-I would appreciate it."

With that decision made and those words said, he started forward again. Now, he just had to track down these Sableye that had supposedly stolen something of great value....

Aaron nodded. "Don't worry about me, I can handle it. Can't let my own guild mate do this alone now can I? Anyway, This doesn't mean that you shouldn't fight. I highly encourage you to fight. I just don't think that... Well, lets just go alright?" He was pretty much beating a dead ponyta at this point. Besides, he was going to protect him and teach him how to fight anyway. If the mission he's in involve fighting some Pokemon, he'll be the muscle for him. "So what's this mission? Are we looking for berries? Saving some Pokemon? Are we going to fight some Pokemon?" Aaron bombarded Jet with questions as they walked together, so much that he eventually repeated what he asked earlier. However, he soon realizes that he was getting extremely redundant with his questions and apologize.

"With that out of the way... Tell me your moves and abilities. Trust me, the more I know about you, the better I can get an idea on how you fight." Aaron couldn't help but grin. He was going to have fun playing 'Teacher.' "My ability is called hustle. I can't hit that often with physical attacks, but when I do, it hurts!" Aaron explains. "Though this doesn't count with attack like flamethrower and such, so I have to keep that in mind. But yeah, overall I can seriously deal a lot of damage with both physical, and special. Fitting for a dragon type like myself. I'm... just not that fast."

Jet listened quietly as Aaron tried to explain to him again that he was going to be doing plenty of fighting, if that became necessary. But at least he was assured that this Deino could handle it. He just hoped that the Dragon Pokémon wasn't simply saying that merely to ease his concerns. Then again, Dragon type Pokémon, historically speaking, have typically been strong, capable Pokémon. He supposed that if he wanted somebody to accompany or help him, he couldn't hope for much better than a confident Dragon-type, could he? When he was told that it was time for them to go, Jet nodded. "Y-yes, of course," he replied hesitantly. After a moment, hebegan taking his steps forward, together with this Deino.

When Jet was asked about the mission, he did not even pause to think about it. After all, he had just finished thinking about it moments ago. "M-my final mission m-might be even harder to finish than that one was, d-depending on the strength of each member." He then turned his head slightly to look at Aaron, though he quickly recalled that this Deino probably wouldn't be able to actually see his expression. "B-basically, a Meowth's 'beloved' was taken by a gang of Sableye as they ambushed him in these woods. A-and the mission is to retrieve his beloved." He then let out a small, uncertain sigh. "I-I just hope we don't have to fight them. I-I don't think I'd have what it took to accomplish the mission that way.

"A-as for my abilities..." he murmured, thinking about it as they continued to walk together. Truthfully, he had not needed an explanation on the Hustle ability. He had long-since educated himself by studying in the Grassveil Library. "W-well, my ability is Swift Swim. B-basically, it lets me move twice as quickly while it's raining. T-to go along with that, I learned Rain Dance from a TM at the dojo. S-so I can start rain anywhere I need to. O-Other than that, a-all I have is Aqua Tail, Sonic Boom and Water Sport, wh-which I planned to use to help other Pokémon that might be vulnerable to fire. I-in summary...I-I can be fast all I want, b-but I don't have much strength to go with it. I-I've also been told that I have good endurance too. I-if that makes any real difference."

"Alright, alright. That's a pretty good synergy there." Aaron complimented. While he had some good moves, something feels odd about it. "It's a huge defensive set up, that's for sure. Though, I don't think you need to go that far." Aaron couldn't help but chuckle at the water type. "It might be a good idea on paper, but think about it. Since you're a water type, you can already resist fire. So having both Rain dance AND water sport at the same time seems to be redundant, don't you think?" He had a feeling that the Buizel felt stupid. Whatever that's true or not, he kept going with his lecture. "Don't worry, this is a common mistake. We think this is a good synergy, but then we test it on actual combat and it doesn't work like we hoped it would. Even the greatest fighters are a victim of it. It happens to the best of us. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good synergy. I would just forgo of Water Sport. If you want that is."

His first lesson, or rather, offering feedback. It was pretty nice, really. Though As much as Aaron loved swapping combat tactics, they should focus on the next mission. "So we're getting his beloved huh? If you don't want to fight them, we can accomplish that. No guarantee though." Aaron had this childish smirk on his face, leaning in on the Water type's ear and whispered. "You ever heard of a thing called... Stealth?" Aaron knew that this was going to be fun.

Jet couldn't help but smile slightly when Aaron complimented the synergy of his moves. He had to admit, he wasn't used to such praise at this point. He nodded when the Deino identified it as a defensive set-up. He was right, of course. Jet knew that he didn't have the physical strength necessary to produce result in an all-out offensive or anything close to that. So, he had decided to try to go the defensive route. It was a better fit for him. But then, the conversation took a turn when the Deino began criticizing his set-up. He thought about it, an his companion had some very good points. Of course, Jet didn't think his position was perfect...far from it.

"W-well actually, um..." he murmured lowly, looking down and too the side, clearly not fully confident in his upcoming words. "W-well, th-the main reason I'm still using Water Sport isn't for my own well-being." He let out a small sigh. "Y-you see, one of my teammates was a Croagunk. H-his special ability was called...u-um...Dry Skin. I-it allowed him to restore his strength from water...b-but he was even more vulnerable to the fire attacks." He then paused as something dawned on him. "...Erm...w-well, that is...h-he's not around right now s-so maybe it is still a bit redundant...." He rubbed his arm again. "B-but as long as I have it, I-I can still help any other Pokémon that might be vulnerable to fire. N-not just myself."

If there was one thing that he could consider himself good at, it was pre-planning. He was not very good at adjusting to a real situation, but he could plan things out ahead of time.

"...S-stealth...?" he repeated when Aaron decided to go back to their mission. he did shrink back slightly, though, when the dragon leaned over to him and whispered to him. It had really taken him by surprise. "Erm...y-yes, b-but I-I don't think I'm very good at that. M-my teammates were, b-but...I-I have bright orange and cream-colored fur. I-I don't think I'll be very good at hiding myself...."

Aaron ignored the Water type's comment about his moveset, he wanted to focus on the mission first. "Oh come on, stop doubting yourself. I'm sure you'll be fine." Stealth wasn't he ideal thing either, however, it couldn't hurt to try. Besides, he heard it was really fun. Trying to not get yourself caught, it was like the tension of dive bombing in the sky. That what he heard anyway, he isn't a Hydreigon to completely test this theory. "If we get caught, then I'll fight. It'll be fun, trust me! All you need to do is lay low, and move as slowly as possible." Aaron demonstrated his stealth skills by crouching on the ground and moving as slowly as he could. "I'm blind, so I don't think I could find it, but darkness can really help you hide yourself." At any case, he stood up, though it took a while. He isn't exactly the most flexible Pokemon out there.

"Well, there we go. Now lets have some fun! Where too?"

Jet looked on as Aaron demonstrated how he was supposed to be stealthy. He actually almost rolled his eyes at the Dragon-type's words and actions. But knowing how rude that was, even if Aaron couldn't see him, he stopped himself. He usually wouldn't have minded somebody belittling him, but this one almost seemed insulting to his intelligence. "I-I didn't mean I don't know how to be stealthy..." he murmured, trying to hide his minor annoyance. "I-I just meant that my fur is so bright...e-even if I were to stay in the shadows, I-I'd still be sticking out like a sore thumb,"

However, he decided to not press the matter. they had a mission to focus on for now. He could only hope that he was lucky enough not to get involved in a fight with these Sableye. "U-um..." he murmured, thinking back to his mission. "W-well, the note didn't specify. B-but an entire group of Sableye shouldn't be too hard to find out here..." Although, he wasn't quite sure how this Deino could possibly think that their upcoming task was going to be fun. They were going to be outnumbered, likely at least two to one! How were they ever going to pull this off...?

Aaron took note on Jet's annoyed voice. While he did hide it well, Aaron still caught on. Maybe he was getting a little bit carried away with the whole teaching thing. Aaron was Embarrassed, he was teaching him as if he had a low IQ. "I know that... I just figured to give you tips and all that." At this point, me might as well scrap his idea out the window. Now he gets to the really fun part. "Alright, forget stealth than. If there's a group, I'm positive we can beat them, we just need to be smart." Now, they're dealing with a group of Sableye. Chances are, they'll be outnumbered, though that wasn't much of a problem. It was where outmatching them that counted. Question is, can he and jet outmatched them? He tossed some ideas around his head, tapping his feet to help concentrate. Eventually, he had some sort of an Idea. "Alright, now listen up." Aaron shouted.

"We might be outnumbered, but don't think about that too much. It's all a mind game. They're counting on us to panic and make mistakes due to how many of them we're facing. It's a combat tactic, and a really useful one if used right. So here's my idea. We play a mind game of our own. I... Admittedly didn't go that far into the plan, but if we work together, I'm sure we can figure it out."

Jet regretted almost immediately talking to Aaron the way he did. The Deino was only trying to help him, and he'd let his emotion get the better of him. Still, the Deino did not hesitate to continue, so he was going to have to save the apology for later. Assuming he even remembered to do it later, of course. "O-oh, I-I see," he said when Aaron mentioned merely trying to give him tips for being stealthy. "E-erm...w-well, that's, um...o-okay then, I-I guess." He had found a chance to more or les apologize in a less direct way, which he was rather grateful for. He always had a hard time talking to somebody directly, after all. However, the conversation topic quickly changed, and the possibility of a stealth mission was completely dropped. But he was fine with that. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught and put this Deino at risk.

Jet was honestly rather flattered that this Deino seemed to think so highly of him, despite the fact that they'd met only a short while ago. However, he just hoped that Aaron wasn't going to get them thrown into a losing battle just because he expected more than what the Buizel could offer. However, not wanting to embarrass Aaron any more than he already had, he kept his mouth shut. He had decided then and there to go ahead and do anything Aaron wanted to do, whether he thought it was a good idea or not.

And soon, that idea came to meet him. "...A mind game?" Jet repeated, thinking about it for a moment. He supposed, in a way, that made sense. "I-I guess so." Still, the fact that they were outnumbered gave the Sableye more than a mind game advantage. "W-well...I-I'm sure you'll come up with something impressive," Jet added, forcing a slightly awkward smile. "A-although, I-I'm not sure what kind of mind games they would be falling for if they're the one that have us outnumbered...."

Aaron nudges the Water type with his head. "Hey, don't worry too much about it. If we have to, we can just run, grab her, and get out." Aaron had no idea that this 'Beloved.' Wasn't a Pokemon at all. Though, if he were to find out what it really was, he would just most likely sigh and pity the Pokemon who requested it. Anyway, Jet was right. What kind of mind game would they play? Despite being a dark and dragon type, he isn't exactly the 'scariest' Pokemon out there. Nor jet had the skills to scare them off or screw with them... Or does he... "...Hey Jet? I think I got an Idea. We just need to take advantage of your speed." He didn't want to spend too long explaining it, so he decided to be brief about it.

"If you can use your rain dance, your ability will make you faster than the Sableye. The faster you are, the less likely you're attacked. Your goal is making sure you don't get surrounded, and at the same time, running circles around those goons and using hit and run tactics. While they are focusing on you, I'll have the preemptive on them. Do you know where I'm going with this?"

The Buizel was nudged with Aaron's head and he smiled slightly. Aaron had a good point there. If they didn't think they could fight the Sableye properly, they could just rush in, grab that Meowth's beloved, whoever it was, and leave as quickly as they'd come. It was an overly simple plan with a lot of potential flaws, but it certainly seemed more likely to work than him trying to fight off an entire group of Sableye. Suddenly, he felt a lot more grateful that Aaron had decided to come with him. After all, the more he thought abut having to deal with an entire group of Sableye, the more panicked he would feel. If it weren't for the Deino's encouragement, he might have already given up and turned back.

But then, Aaron got his attention again. "Huh...?" he murmured, looking over at the dragon Pokémon curiously. "My...speed?" he repeated. He knew immediately to what he was referring, of course. There was no doubt it was his Swift Swim and Rain Dance combination. Even though the Deino bothered explaining it anyway, he decided to say nothing about it and merely let him finish this time. His eyes widened slightly. He had to admit, Aaron was absolutely right. That would be a great use of his speed. Why hadn't he ever thought of that before? He had only considered using that to augment the speed and power of his attacks.

"W...wow, that's a good idea," he said, his voice betraying just how impressed he truly was. "I-I never thought to use my speed that way...."

Aaron nodded, this was going to work, though a true fighter expects some unexpected changes in their plans. And such, the Deino and the Buziel would have to adapt. "Alright, then it's settled. Just remember, while this is a solid plan, just expect some changes. Not everything are going to go our way." Aaron advised "Worse case scenario, we grab her and book it." Aaron yawned a little. After all of this was over, he was going to have a long, LONG nap. Nevertheless, he still had a job to do. "Right, lets show these Pokemon what happens if you kidnap a Pokemon! You ready?" Aaron was getting eager to the fight, as evident by the fact that he was hopping around like a child getting ready for sweets. The Tension, the adrenaline, it was going to be amazing! And while Jet was a bit unconfident about himself, he will fall in love with the things he mentioned, like all fighters.

The more he hung out with the water type, the more excited he was teaching him how to fight. This Pokemon had potential, even if he didn't admit it. After investigating his skills, the Deino can safely say he was more of a 'fragile speedster.' Basically, while he lacks defense nor strength, he was extremely fast. As such, he relies on dodging more and out speeding any foes he fight. Though he had to wait until they get through this fight to confirm it.

Jet couldn't help but smile slightly at Aaron's words. He couldn't believe this. This guy was truly an experienced, veteran explorer. And he was just giving him tips and pointers on how to fight using his speed, which he'd never even considered before. He gazed upon the Deino with a new look of admiration, much like he had given his own teammate, Avery. The two of them had taught him a lot in the short time he knew them...and perhaps one day, he'll be able to actually see some real results after all. Maybe this whole trip to Grassveil, which had been a lot of disasters one after another, would soon become worth it in the end after all. And maybe one day, he could return home a stronger Pokémon....

For now, though, he had something that he had to buckle down and focus on. He nodded to Aaron's words. Though when he quickly remembered that the Deino couldn't see him, he decided to respond verbally. "Y-yeah, of course," he replied. "A-after all, even the best laid plans will go awry." As a Pokémon who had always enjoyed posing as a tactician, he had certainly learned that lesson by now. Of course, there were still a few lingering doubts. For example, what if one of them couldn't get away? It was a completely possible scenario considering that they were going up against a group of Pokémon of unknown size. Still, he decided to just push that doubt to the back of his mind. He was confident that Aaron had probably already considered the possibility himself.

"R-right, I-I guess I might be a little ready," he murmured shyly, still trying not to sound very enthusiastic. Of course, even he couldn't help but feel a little bit more confident now. And that was very difficult to keep out of his voice, so Aaron probably picked up on it. This Deino sure was something else, being able to inspire even him.

"Alright then lets hit it!" Aaron cheered, noticing that jet's voice sounds a bit more confident. Maybe that's what he needed all along to get more confident, someone to guide him on how to fight. He wasn't an expect by any means, but he knows what he's doing. Aaron waited for the water type to walk past him before following him. While they were getting to their destination, Aaron continued to think about their plan. While it was pretty decent, it would be a good idea to think of the possibilities. For example, what if one of them couldn't get away. The phrase, 'Never leave a Pokemon behind.' Comes to mind. If Jet was trapped, Aaron would be there to help him, no matter what circumstances and would expect the same with the water type. Regardless, they shouldn't have to worry about this type of situation as long as Jet uses his speed to his full potential. Engage, then disengage. Rinse and repeat.

Aaron silently cursed himself for his lack of sight. If only he could see the Jet in action, he'll have a time of his life!