Cattails, Foxtails, and a Very Tiny Bug

Energy: 18 - 15 (entrance fee) = 3

This place was absolutely awful in Cinder's opinion. With water that soaked her tails and drenched her when she encountered a feral, reeds of plants that were annoying due to an apparent resistance to fire, and her unlucky tendency to think of seeing a berry yet coming up with nothing, it was pretty much borderline torture for the Vulpix. "Arceus, it's like they made this place to give me nothing but bad luck. Can't get much worse, though..." she mumbled to herself, trudging along. Each step was hard considering that she was partially submerged in water, she was being very cautious as to not alert any more ferals, her Defense Scarf was wet and dragged her down, and she knew that even Fire Blast would be reduced to little more than a common cooking burn should she have to fight. Little did she know that even Energy Ball would be useless against some of the enemies here and their Poison type attribute.

After a few moments, she could feel the water in the area thinning out. Was this the end of the marsh? Finally! I'm outta here! she thought giddily, picking up the pace. Unfortunately, this wasn't the exit: she was far from it. Instead, an unpleasant drop in the floor sent her diving into the water face-first which sent water everywhere. Not only that, but a huge noise sounded around the area as she yelped in surprise and plunged in. Managing to regain her footing and spit out the water she had in her mouth, her heart was pounding in her ears for what seemed like an eternity. Seriously?! Oh, come on already! I've only been here a short time and I feel like I've spent days here! I just hope I didn't attract any Pokémon from that little incident: having to fight like this would hardly do me any good. Or even worse, if someone saw that and thought it was pretty funny... Maybe? I dunno.

Energy=4
Boris's day had been pretty bad so far. He had an encounter with a particularly incessant and persistent Zubat that just wouldn't go away! Luckily, a well aimed Thunder Wave had brought it down, relieving him of his predicament. As Boris was recalling the events that had transpired earlier in the day, he heard a noise, pulling him out of his reminiscing. The tiny bug, realizing that he was actually very low on energy sought out the source of the noise. Maybe it would be a Pokemon! Hopefully they were friendly...

Trudging through the marshy, wet area, Boris had become unpleasantly soggy. He had pinpointed where he thought the sound was coming from and followed it to the best of his ability. He came across a sharp dip, and stood on the edge. As he scanned the area, he saw a Vulpix. Boris froze instinctively. A fire type! Boris wanted nothing to do with them, but then an idea crossed his mind. It brought a grin to his face. 'The Vulpix is wet, right? And they're a fire type! So...that mean they won't be able to burn me!' Boris almost shouted for joy, but had to stay stealthy. He went around the dip, and stealthily bounded into the soggy fire type's fur. It was a bit wet, but it would have to do.

Energy: 3

After waiting a few more seconds with seemingly no response, she shook her head and continued moving. Good, I don't think anyone saw that. That would have been quite the sight for a laugh, I guess... Cinder thought to herself with a small smirk. She puffed a small wisp in front of her to regain her composure and paid extra attention for any other dips in the floor. Testing her luck again was not what she wanted to do; the fox was lucky that nothing was attracted to the sound of her unexpected blunder. Then again, there was always that eerie feeling that something was trying to get her attention, like they've got a paw on her back. Turning around showed nothing but the way she came, and looking up then down yielded air and water respectively: no Pokémon in sight.

"Must be some Ghost type around here messing with me... Hello? Anyone there? I just came here for a little evening walk, that's all. Mind showing yourself?" the Fire type asked politely, sitting down and looking around. She still felt that same feeling of an entity touching her back, yet was completely oblivious to the small Joltik clinging to her fur. She was drenched from head to tails, so everything felt soggy and heavy anyways. "Or... You know, you can stay invisible too. That's okay. But can you please stop trying to spook me by holding my back? It's kinda creepy and the silence is getting to me. How about we talk about something, whoever you are?"

Boris stiffened a bit when the fire type blew out a teeny puff of fire. For a while, he nestled into the fur and started sapping the static electricity which was not much. He had to use his recources though. Boris quickly snapped to attention when they started talking. There wasn't any other Pokemon nearby, so they had to be talking to him....But then they mentioned something about a ghost type? So they were aware of his presence, but didn't know what he was. Interesting! He settled down and tried to stay quiet. The fire type mentioned something about wanting to talk? Huh, looks like this vulpix isn't mean! He crawled along the fur, moving toward the shoulder area. When he got there, he said, "Hi there! You said you wanted to talk, huh? Oh, and by the way, I'm not a ghost type, silly!" Boris was especially cheerful at having met someone whose first response was to attack him! That cheerfulness certainly showed in his voice as well.

Energy: 3

Hearing the sudden statement made her jump a little as she looked to her shoulder, noticing a small yellow bug. So that's a Joltik, right? Aw, it's just so cute! she thought, making eye contact with the Electric type. "Whoops, sorry about that! Didn't see you the first time, little guy. What are you doing around here?" Cinder asked, giving him a warm smile. Her tails swished around the water absentmindedly; they were drenched anyways, so what was the point of drying them off if they were just to get wet again? Oh well. At least talking to... Whatever his name is will cheer me up a bit! He's really tiny, so I bet it's pretty hard for him too. I know I've had a pretty bad experience, but I bet this place is like a lake to him. It's amazing how he even arrived out here!

Speaking of strange occurrences, something felt off. The water seemed to be carrying ripples that gently brushed past her paws. Something was coming their way, but not very fast by the looks of it. Seeing as it was almost nighttime, it almost definitely wouldn't be another friendly traveler. "...Hold that thought for just a second. Do you see the ripples? I can't see any lights, but that might just be a feral. Still, it might be good news for all we know: a friend told me that Volbeat and Illumise light up the area at night! They said it was really pretty and that I just had to see it at some point! We still want to be on guard, though. Want to hang around, if you'll excuse the pun?" the Vulpix said with a smirk.

MCLikeANinja carried out 3 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

, ,

"It's fine! A feral Pokemon kind of chased me here...Yeah, it wasn't fun!", He said, recalling the day's previous events. Boris let out an audible sigh of relief. Good thing they weren't a feral or just plain mean! Boris stared at the fox Pokemon, especially at the tails. Did the tails produce the fire, or....How DID this fox Pokemon make fire? He straightened up, ready to ask his million poke question. However, he was interrupted. He was a tiny bit annoyed, but quickly shook it off. "Ooh, really? I've never seen those before! I'd love to 'hang' around like you said!", Boris giggled. "Should we be worried about the ripples?", Boris gestured toward the spot that the Vulpix had mentioned earlier.

9,000 Bees carried out 2 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

,

Energy: 3 - 3 (rolls' results) = 0

"Worried? Probably not, but it's best to be careful, y'know? Sometimes these kinds of places get really dangerous. I should know: my parents used to be explorers and they told me all about their adventures! One important thing they said is that when you think you're safe in a place like this, you're probably just not seeing what's there." she stated enthusiastically. Hearing about her parents' adventures was a huge part of her childhood, and she aimed to follow every piece of advice they gave her to her best ability. If they were able to make it with those tips, who's to say that she couldn't as well? "I have an idea of how to lure out what's hiding. Watch this!"

With that, Cinder summoned two blue, ghostly wisps of fire and stopped talking. She carefully and slowly moved them further out in front of her like a lonely lantern. The ominous flames flickered for a moment before going out. She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Nevermind, this isn't working. Any idea how I can get whatever's out there to come on out-" the Vulpix was about to ask, only to be cut off by a force pushing her to the floor and weighing her down. Whatever was hiding had just pounced onto her back, thrashing about and holding her tightly. "W-What the-?! Get off of me, for crying out loud!" she shouted, rolling over and barely managing to break free. The feral that had assaulted her was a lone Sligoo, staring at her with its green, misty eyes. ...Well, I'm totally having nightmares from that thing.

"Wait, really? Your parents were adventurers? You just GOTTA tell me about their daring adventurers and awesome discoveries!" Boris was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Then the Vulpix summoned blue, ominous fire that seemed to fill the yellow bug with a sense of dread. Boris crawled backwards, away from the fire. He was shaking slightly, but let a sigh of relief when they flickered out. Boris was getting ready to climb back to their shoulder, when some ripples in the water caught his attention.

He peered down at the curious occurance, and suddenly a blue face with yellow whiskers popped out of the water and stared at him. He was starting to say,"Hello!", but the Pokemon didn't respond. Instead, it released a thin, forceful stream of water from it's mouth. The stream hit Boris directly, pushing  him. He tried to cling on to the vulpix, but instead was knocked off the fox, and landed at the shore, winded and dazed. The blue Pokemon dove back underwater. Boris blinked, clearing the spots from his eyes. He groaned softly, and saw his new friend in the distance. It looked like they were being attacked! By what? He couldn't tell. He slowly rose to his feet, helpless and weak, unable to assist his friend who was in danger.

Energy: 0

Calling for Boris to help her defeat the Sliggoo wasn't an option considering the small insect had its own fight with a Whiscash, another Pokémon she would struggle to beat with fire. "Man., why are my attacks so- ...Wait a second. Heads up, I've got this!" she exclaimed, smiling down the fish. Turning her attention away from the Dragon type, she charged up a green energy that formed just before her mouth. Taking a somewhat precise aim for a few seconds, the newly formed Energy Ball rocketed out from its starting position into the trajectory of the Whiscash. I'm a genius for thinking of this! With Water and Ground typing, this should be a piece of cake! Unfortunately, this won't work for Sliggoo, but- Hey, wait. Where is Sliggoo? Cinder thought, turning back around to find nothing but empty space.

A tidal wave of the murky water suddenly surged up, crashing against the Vulpix and sending her tumbling over backwards. The Sliggoo was charging at her using Muddy Water to knock her over and keep her disoriented. With reflexes and a touch of luck, she managed to roll out of the way and fire off a Dark Pulse at the feral. The attack didn't have any significant damage behind it, but any attack would wear down her opponent. "How are you holding up over there, huh? Try to find some items around here or something, we might need them!"

Energy:4-4(Rolls)=0
Boris shakily rose to his feet, and let out a wordless exclamation of surprise when his assailant was blasted with a green ball of energy. He turned to his companion and shouted, "Hey, thanks!" They wouldn't be able to respond, because they were currently being charged at with a wave of dirty water. This new development came as an unpleasant shock to Boris.  He rushed forward, forgetting about his fatigue, but stopped, realizing that there was water keeping him from leaving the shore. He thought for a moment about how he could assist his friend in danger. The tiny bug perked up, an idea forming in his head. Boris sprung into the air, and crossed his forelegs in an 'X' formation. They started to glow purple, and a large glowing purple X appeared in front of them. Boris attempts to accurately hit the slimy, purple pokemon, but he was just so far away...He uncrosses his legs in a single quick motion, and the X flies forward, striking the Fox pokemon's opponent in its lower body area. The Sligoo was knocked back, but didn't topple. However, a sickly purple aura started to surround the Sligoo. Every once in a while, that aura would flash, and a pained expression would appear over its face. Boris dropped to the ground, overcome with fatigue. Once again, the yellow bug rose to his feet, nodded at his friend's suggestion, and crawled into the sparse undergrowth, looking for something, anything , that could help them in their battle.

Energy: 0

Cinder was just grateful that the Sliggoo was too distracted to lunge again. Having another assault wouldn't exactly be something that she would want to happen twice in a minute. Seeing as she deemed it incapable of fighting for a few seconds, the vulpine Pokémon quickly swished her paw around in the water to perhaps look for any spare items that another explorer may have dropped. Underneath the ripples rested a shiny disc labeled with the word "Defog", a small bottle with a strange red top, and a seed. "I got something I can use, keep looking!" she called out, shoveling the disc and bottle into her bag while taking the seed into her paw. The Sliggoo had barely regained its senses and took up a charge at her.

"Got something for you, Ugly!" the Fire type exclaimed, sidestepping the attack and forcing the seed to strike its chest. The Dragon type tottered and swayed around like a drunken Spinda, occasionally steadying itself before swaying the other way. Unfortunately, Cinder knew all too much what that was like currently; because she used the seed up close, she felt the effects too. "Bad idea, bad idea..." she stated, still trying to stabilize herself. The ground felt almost as if it was rolling, trying to make her fall over. The water seemed like it was pulling her down, her Joltik companion being nowhere in sight.