Sunrise over the Mire's Mists.

The tunnel that Serenne had swam through had lead them straight to the mire that had been their intended destination. The Feebas grinned, marveling at their good luck. The natural tunnel had been longer than expected, and now the pale orange light of sunrise could be spotted filtering through the water, even through the grey mists that swirled above the water.
Still grinning, Serenne looked back at the golden Magikarp who accompanied her. She was clearly excited about finally being here and finally being able to search for a way to evolve.

The magikarp had been floating upside down for a moment, dazed and confused from the currents before correcting himself and swimming up to take a look out of the water. The sky was blocked out by a common nuisance, a tree. Proteus huffed in annoyance and splashed water at the tree as if to say to the tree, "how dare you block out the sky!" before swimming back down to rejoin the fellow fish.
"Should be around here somewhere!" He spoke happily, his annoyed mood gone from his voice and face but fresh in his mind. The Golden Fish stood out in the water though as the Feebas blended a bit better in the dull colored water. Bird pokemon wouldn't be able to swoop down and pick them up though unless they wanted to get tangles in the moss above them.

The Feebas swam contently onward, chuckling a little at the golden Magikarp as he cried out to the trees, chiding them for blocking out their view of the sky from the water. Serenne didn't particularly mind, after all the sight of the sun's soft rays as it rose on the horizon could still be seen and that was beautiful enough for her. Besides, even if the trees weren't blocking the sky, the mist might have done the job for them.
Turning to Proteus, Serenne spoke, "I don't know where to look first... I mean, it's a big place..."

"Well, there's bound to be as many hiding spots here as there is hiding spots in Coral Forest. We can look under tree roots, things could be caught in the plants, and other pokemon could be holding things."
The magikarp was obviously excited to get things started. He swam forward ahead of the Feebas, "We should probably go a bit deeper in before looking. I doubt there's anything in the outskirts of this place. They better items are usually where it's harder to get them." Proteus's golden scales glittered when he passed through a ray of light that managed to make it to the forest, if there were any pokemon nearby, they would surely see the golden color among the dull and dark green.

"Sounds like a plan!" smiled the Feebas, following the Magikarp. As Proteus swam through the sunlight she couldn't help but silently marvel at the glittering appearance his golden scales took on. She kept moving, glancing around for any Pokemon native to the area. After what had happened with the Mudkip in the flooded marshes, she didn't particularly want to encounter anyone else.

And then a wailord appeared
Proteus was nervous about his coloring in this area though, he acknowledged that he would be in deep trouble if he were to be spotted by a hungry pokemon. He attempted to avoid the beams, but currents pushed him right on back. The magikarp was about to give up and go with the flow, but something suddenly plopped in front of him in the water. He yelled in fear and returned to the feebas with all he could, hiding behind her.

This dice is not existing.

Serenne blinked as the Magikarp suddenly swam back towards her at full speeds, hiding behind her duller form. Confused, she looked back to where he had come from to see that a small red berry had fallen from one of the trees above and landed straight in the swamp's thick, dull water.
Stifling a small chuckle so she didn't make Proteus feel bad for being scared, she swam over to it and picked it up, bringing it back to the golden Magikarp to confirm it was just a berry.
"Don't worry," she smiled handing the berry to him, "There's nothing there that I can see."

This dice is not existing.

"I knew that!" he lied and swam forward as if nothing happened, trying to keep his "cool". He gave a swish of his tail and rode a current forwards. He gave another yell of fear when something sunk into his path and got into his eyes. He flailed about, hitting a nearby shape in his flail. The cloth finally moved enough for him to see as he retreated towards the feebas once more, "Wh-What's this? Wh-Who are they?" he stammered, hung on his top fins, was a beauty scarf.

This dice is not existing.

Serenne followed the golden Magikarp, letting the current drag her along. She quickly used her fins to bring herself to a halt however, when she heard Proteus' yell. Cautiously swimming closer, the Feebas, spotted a Marshtomp. It had been swimming through the muddy swamp water when the Magikarp had accidentally hit it, flailing to try and rid his eyes of what was blocking his sight. The Marshtomp's angered cry attracted yet another Marshtomp and a Wooper, surrounding the two fish Pokemon as they came to investigate.

It was then that Serenne noticed what had blocked Proteus' vision. It was a scarf, mostly pale blue in colour but it faded into a deeper blue the closer it got to each end, finally becoming a stark pinkish-red at either edge. It was no doubt a beauty scarf, sharing the signature colours of a Milotic's tail. As the original Marshtomp made to attack Proteus, it's comrades followed suit, using Tackle and Water Gun.

Swiftly, and rather skillfully swimming around Wooper's Water Gun attack, Serenne drew closer to Proteus. If she could just reach the Magikarp and evolve, perhaps she'd have a chance at holding off all three of the attacking Pokemon, or at least get her and her companion to safety. Dodging a second Water Gun from Wooper, Serenne used a burst of energy to propel herself upwards and over the Magikarp's current position, grasping the Beauty Scarf in her fin as she did so.

Proteus was relieved when the scarf was removed. He was struck with the water gun but little damage was dealt. The Golden Magikarp gave a swish of his fins as he launched his own body at the marshstomp, only to quickly swim between its arms and body and strike the wooper. These pokemon were obviously stronger, and they wouldn't stand a chance against them!
He did not fear this time though, he smashed into the wooper only to be knocked back by a Marshstomp. The magikarp was daze for a moment before returning to his senses and coming back to see..

As she obtained the beauty scarf, Serenne's body began to glow with a bright, white light. The fish Pokemon swam gracefully around the two Marshtomp and the Wooper as her body grew longer and more elegant in shape. The light from the evolution temporarily blinded the attacking Pokemon as it filtered through the dark water, quite a change from what the native pokemon here were used to, even with the occasional beam of sunlight that would filter through. Still glowing, the Feebas-turning-Milotic's lithe body weaved it's way around the feral Pokemon, finally dispersing and revealing Serenne to be a newly evolved Milotic, Joy Ribbon retied around around her tail. From behind one of the Marshtomp, Serenne parted her jaws and used Dragon Pulse.

Proteus was both blinded and astonished by the sight, his mouth fell even wider than it ever had before in a large gape. The pokemon's transformation was quite unexpected, since he was unaware that the item they had been looking for was in his face the entire time. He stared as the Milotic opened its mouth and sent forth a ray of a bright purple that struck the pokemon. Proteus had not yet realized that he had been loitering around doing nothing. The pokemon thrashed his body about in a Flail attack, his only attack, and his tail fin slapped the nearest Marshstomp and he swam away before it could hit him with a normal attack. He gave a groan of annoyance when one of the marshstomps curled up in a bide attack, any damage dealt to it would be reflected upon them. Proteus looked on the bright side though, as long as they didn't attack it, it wouldn't do anything!
<161>

Turning her attention away from the Marshtomp using Bide, Serenne elegantly swam around the second Mud Fish Pokemon, wrapping her long, lithe body around it in what was decidedly a Wrap move. The newly evolved Milotic focused on protecting her friend with her newfound power and grace, her scarlet eyes wandering to where the third Pokemon, the Wooper, swam towards Proteus once more.

The wooper had used the end of its tail to propel itself closer to the submerged Magikarp. It howled as it used Tail Whip to try and attack the Magikarp in a makeshift attempt at Slam. Proteus was struck with the normal attack, his defense lowered a bit, but he was still alright. He was beginning to feel a bit of fear wash over him, there was no way out of here other than to win. Was he sure he could win?
His fear brought him to flail about and slam his body into the roundly shaped pokemon. It screeched in pain, and decided to stay and seek revenge against the magikarp.

Squeezing the energy out of the Marshtomp with her Wrap attack, Serenne used her long tail to grip the Mud Fish pokemon around the waist, lifting it out of the water and placing it neatly between two branches in the trees above the water, keeping it out of their way. After this, instead of returning to attack once more, Serenne closed her eyes. She remembered the tales her mother had told her, of how she could calm the negative feelings of others with nary a flick of her tail.
Acting on pure instinct, the newly evolved Milotic parted her jaws and let out a soft cry. It echoed through the water despite the liquid's inability to properly carry sound. The cry itself was almost like a soothing melody, reaching the ears of the attacking Wooper as well as the other Marshtomp who stopped his Bide upon hearing the Tender Pokemon's voice.