A Land of Opportunity (Open for 1)

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A cool, Autumn wind blew through the town of Grassveil. The scents of crisp Fall were in the air, and the surrounding forests were like an explosion of orange, red, and yellow colors. The little village was largely quiet. Only a few Pokemon were actually out and about, and the place had a quiet, sleepy feel to it that was almost relaxing. The padded, dirt streets were largely clear and the buildings stood as flanking structures to the road.

Calculative, reptilian eyes of a rich amber color took the scene in with a measure of contempt and exasperation.

A newcomer had come to town. He didn't stand very impressively compared to the more evolved inhabitants, and was only about 2 feet tall. With a slender body layered with fine scales of a bright lime accentuated with golden stripes, he revealed himself to be a snivy. The fanned leaf on the end of his tail, the stubby arms and legs, and the haughty way he held up his head only clarified this.

He seemed to be taking note of the place as he slowly made his way through town, elliptical eyes scanning the surroundings. For whatever reason, he seemed displeased. His reserved, irritated expressions spoke of this. Despite this, he carried himself with a sense of dignity. Regardless of his small size, the male snivy seemed to have a presence that spoke bigger than what one could normally see. In fact, he radiated it, displaying it with the way he carried himself. The few pokemon who took note of him and who were still on the streets gave him a wide berth as they went about their business.

Every now and then he would stop at a stall or shop, glancing over prices and what was listed for sale. Other times he would survey help wanted posters, or check out points of interest like the local inns and rent homes. Taking note of the homely, humble places and the monthly rent, he would gawk, frown, and then move on. He was obviously agitated from what he saw.

He muttered under his breath, a clear, precise voice layered with intensity. "Miserable peasant town… Where do I even begin with this place?…"

Mirage was surprised by the sudden assault. She gave a cry in shock as the snivy tackled into her, also in response she attempted to use scratch with her hind legs to score across the Snivy's underbelly as it tried to pin her. She kicked rapidly with her hind claws glowing white as they were filled with the power that gave the move strength, her Scratch attack trying to either hit the Snivy or ward him off.
She had not expected the snivy to try and battle her, so her movements were clumsy from the shock as she tried to regain her thoughts and actually form a plan. Her illusion quickly disappeared as she was tackles, and she proceeded to attempt to charge up a Dark Pulse during the scratch attack. Her thoughts had been too scrambled to do so, and she was left with merely kicked, scratching and flailing.

((Note: To explain why certain pokemon cannot perform the move "tackle" I've made it a headcanon of mine that the attacks such as Mirage's scratch are more powered up, any pokemon can tackle/scratch/pound, but its more effective if it's the actual attack. Also sorry for short post |D)

Jeremy grunted in response to feeling the scrambling of sharpened claws land hits near his sides and underbelly. In retaliation, Jeremy attempted to back up, swinging his tail around with the momentum of the action. The intent was to slap the female zorua, but regardless if it hit or not, at least Jeremy could regain his composure. Grimacing in pain, the male snivy managed to roll to the side, using his stubby limbs and muscular underbelly to regain his stance a few yards away.

To say Jeremy was inexperienced would be a lie, but it wasn't completely false either. In terms of an actual brawl with the intent to harm, this was a first for the Grass Snake Pokemon. So far, all battles had been spars with House Men at Arms and revolved around learning some basic techniques any pokemon of his stature was capable of. Even then, it was only a few lessons.

It would have to come to use here regardless though. By this time, Jeremy's slitted eyes were rapidly searching the battlefield, making note of 'Ida' and any potential weaknesses in her stance… All the while trying to ignore the throbbing, shining pain from where the claws scored hits, trickle of sappy, sticky blood gently leaking from the wounds.

Although still very much enraged, the snivy at least had a basic idea of the seriousness of the situation. He tried to keep his mind calm and calculative enough to form plans and react more appropriately.

Lets see… She could scratch… What else?

Memories of the barrel exploding sent a small jolt of fear down his spine.

Crap! Thats right! Lets see… Obviously it compressed force then rapidly expanded it… The black energy could have been warped dark matter. The attack seemed to be an area of effect that used her as the center, which meant he had to be close to her. But then again, there was no telling how far the pulse could be extended or how dangerous it would be to him… It was a dark type move… He was sure of that. He didn't think it had any special harm over grass types, but the move itself seemed dangerous so that didn't help him either. Could it be dodged or avoided?

All these things were taken into consideration. She was fast too… It would be a relatively simple matter to simply run at him and then unleash such a devastating attack.

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. But it also required concentration… Now that he thought about it, when they were at each other earlier he saw the dark sparks go off, but didn't think anything of it until they had to separate. She had to focus, and if that were the case…

He still had a shot at this. She was beat up as much as he was… At least he thought so. that tackle jarred even him a little from the force, and her claw wounds were now a throbbing ache that made him sore and slower than usual. No… FOCUS!

Taking a deep breathe and letting it out slowly, Jeremy gently closed his amber eyes, trying to draw up the gift the Blackwoods were infamous for. He only used this technique a few times as its effects were directly psychologically stressful to the recipient. Doing little spars were one thing, but this kind of move was used when you were serious.

Mirage was successful in knocking the Snivy off of her and harming him it seemed. Mirage growled, her eyes glowing slightly as she used Leer as dark energy began to crackle around her like electric shocks. She had seen the Snivy preparing himself for something, so she tried to do so as well. Her concentration was broken once more, not yet ready to use the attack yet. She growled before retreating slightly more into the alley, and hiding herself behind another barrel. She did not want to risk growing near the focusing snivy, since it was also the large attacks that need more focus. She was still at a fairly low level, once she became stronger, she would not need to focus the dark energy as much. She would even be able to control her illusion ability a bit more! Mirage snapped her thoughts away from day dreaming and back to the present, What's he up to? she thought before peaking around the barrel.

Jeremy made sure to keep track of the female zorua's movements even though his eyes were closed. Being closely related to other serpent pokemon, the snivy was capable of detecting mild vibrations caused by movement, and his flicking tongue could pick up on the taste and scent of his opponent… She seemed to be going for cover, putting some distance between them. The crackling sound of dark energy was still present though… She was preparing her attack.

The Grass Snake Pokemon felt out the bloodline power within himself, drawing up on its abilities as he slowly felt the veins around his eyes become prominent and a power fill his darkened vision.

By the time Mirage had peeked her head around the barrel, Jeremy opened his eyes…

The pupils were thin and flecked with a red iris. An ephemeral purple glow radiated from the now red eyes as Jeremy attempted to lock his eyes with Mirage's. A typical glare attack, by locking gaze with another, the opponent could be paralyzed by the hypnotic terror it inspired.

Mirage was unfortunate enough to have caught the amber-now-purple eyes of the plant like reptile. She froze, but instead of doing nothing, the dark energy from earlier recollected itself, and was released upon instinct of fear. Her fear had taken over her concentration and a clumsily made dark ring of energy emitted from the ring of dark electric sparks that had surrounded the zorua.

The pulse of energy shattered the barrel she hid behind and released the apples within it. The pulse managed to continue onward, surging towards the snivy and threatening to collide if the snivy did not react in time. Though the barrel and other objects in the area disrupted most of the ring, and made it merely a slash of energy traveling through the air.

Mirage was paralyzed, and vulnerable to attack, she realized. The zorua had barely registered her own move, as it was out of pure instinct like one flinching at the sound of a gun shot in another world. The zorua could not even hiss or growl at the moment, instead she was frozen in the spot with her eyes wide open in fear.

Jeremy felt a twinge of accomplishment for being able to pull off that move after not using it for so long. He was not certain if he would be capable of pulling it off. The serperior blood line did not naturally have glare as a move. It was due to the fine breeding of both his father and mother's conjoined bloodlines that he was able to access this power.

And it was working… He had this irritating little upstart right where he wanted her. Jeremy was prepared to gloat his victory, asking if 'Ida' had enough yet. However, this was not to be. As the male snivy was preparing his approach, glowing eyes still locked onto the female zorua he faltered when he noticed something.

The gathering dark energy that she had attempted to expel earlier was actually gathering somewhat, black and red lances of energy sizzling the air. He had barely any time to react when he realized what was about to happen.

When the other barrel exploded, the leftover energy surged forward in an arc. Gritting his teeth, Jeremy uncoiled his body in an effort to leap over it.

It only half worked. The energy was too wide and the attack came too quick to fully dodge. He felt his lower body graze the arcing pulse, and his amber eyes widened at the sensation.

It was an awful feeling… Like his body was freezing and then burning at the same time. A strange sense of dread pervaded his mind and his nerves shrieked with fear. Whatever it was, it felt terrible, and the Grass Snake Pokemon could barely get a gasp of pain out.

As he hit the ground again, he rolled slightly, sitting there for a second before shakily getting back up on his stubby little legs.

A low, reptilian hiss of pain and anger escaped his lips. Jeremy, still slightly unsteady started to move forward once again before he composed himself for one final tackle. He would not lose here! Or at least… That was what he thought.

The mirage pokemon growled at the reptilian, and leered at him. Her eyes glowed with a slight aura that intensified her leer in attempt to lower the reptile's defenses, using the actual Leer attack. She saw that the green snake like pokemon, only with arms and legs, was going for one last tackle attack. She growled in anger before moving just out of the way of the Snivy's attack.

Her forepaws began to glow as her claws became longer. She raised her paw as the snivy passed by her and tried to take a swipe at him with her Scratch attack. Killing was not her aim, only the cowardly kill their victims. The cowardly kill because they are afraid of the opponent coming back, stronger and more experienced, and putting an end to the murderer. Mirage was different, she was confident she would have been able to take on her victims twice along with every other time she defeated them. She was no coward, she thought, or was she just afraid of taking the life of another herself?

(Sorry for short post ;A;)

He could do this! He knew he could! There was no way, Arceus as his witness that he would lose to this little sniveling brat who DARED insult him! He would put her in her proper place once again! He would show her his strength with this move! He wou-

He faltered somewhat in his charge when his amber gaze caught the sight of eerie, glowing red eyes. It turns out that was all the female zorua needed. She side stepped him, and Jeremy realized for a split second just how exposed he was… That was a beginner's mistake. With an almost somber realization, Jeremy knew what was coming next before he even felt it.

No way to change it though.

A flash of pain erupted along his side, combined with a force that sent the male snivy wheeling into the side of the alleyway. Already almost out of breathe from a silent gasp, the rest of the air was pushed out of his lungs.

Reflexively, Jeremy tried to take in panicked, pained gasps… His body felt numb, though his side felt like fire, and an awful ringing in his head persisted now.

A blurry image of 'Ida' staring him down earned a set of gritted teeth and a shaky sneer from the snivy. He was not done yet. However, when he tried to rise on his shaky, stubby limbs, he found them failing him and Jeremy was forced once again back on to the ground.

There crowd was mainly silent, but a muscular machoke pushed his way through the mass toward the zorua and the snivy. He had a bemused smirk on his face, but his eyes were a tad less friendly due to the escalating seriousness of this 'argument'

"Alright, that will be enough. He is done."

"I am not done you peon! I still have fight in me yet!"

The machoke just shook his head at the snivy. "No can do. I think everyone knows that you guys are taking this a bit too far. We are not going to have a death in our little village."

A pause as the machoke raised an eyebrow, slamming one fist into an open palm as he cracked his knuckles, red eyes taking in both the defeated snivy and especially the still standing zorua. "Unless you wanna go through me first…"

Jeremy gritted his teeth and cast his reptilian eyes downward, wincing when he realized he was bleeding from the side. With a muttered curse, he brought a hand to it, fierce expression still on his face. It was dissipating though as the adrenaline went down and the full extent of his injuries started to catch up on him.

The machoke smiled somewhat at this before folding his arms. "How about you guys call it for quits today?"

The question was implied to be rhetorical.

Mirage huffed, "Only cowards kill," he spoke. She wasn't very intimidated by the Machoke, sure he was big and a fighting type, but she was confident she could flee if need be. She hopped up onto a nearby barrel with a top that had survived the fight, she now stood at half the height of the Machoke, the barrel elevating her. If the machoke attacked she could easily leap and go for the eyes.

She suddenly found herself shivering slightly and unable to move, she was still paralyzed from the glare attack slightly, she had forgotten about the glare until now. It would be a while before she would be able to get those eyes out of her mind.

She waved her tail and spoke, "I don't mind stopping, nor did I want one in the first place. He was the one that started it." A wave of her tail caused the tip to point at the weak Snivy, who would now have to look up to see her. She was basking in victory though, thinking that since she beat him once, she could do it again.

Although, she had not meant to make the injuries so serious looking. She was relieved that the snivy did not die, since that would make her look like a coward she had defined a murderer as.

The machoke rose an eyebrow. "Killers kill Missy. Out here in Grassveil, we don't take kindly to them." He seemed stern, if relaxed that the fight had been resolved. The muscular fighting type red eyes met the female zorua's in silent warning though. The message of 'don't cause anymore trouble' was pretty basic. At this time, the machoke turned his head around to take in the snivy.

Jeremy was unsteadily getting back on his legs, swaying slightly from the pain and injuries he had sustained. He grumbled to himself, wincing every time a wrong twitch or move would send a jolt up his flesh.

At Mirage's second comment, Jeremy scoffed. "You peon! So if thats how it is going to be, how about you go into detail about all the property you destroyed huh? Or the fact you were casing out that jewelry stand over there!" The Grass Snake Pokemon pointed at the female zorua in an accusatory fashion.

The machoke just furrowed his brow before glancing back at Mirage. "You DID blow up a lot of barrels, but what is this about a jewelry stand?"

"What? I was simply admiring the earrings, that's all. I'm too poor to afford such fascinating things, so I was merely looking," Mirage seemed offended that she was accused of planning to steal. She flattened her ears as if she were hurt, but thought with victory that they had no proof that she was scouting out the earrings with the intention to steal them later on. They had no choice, but to let her go even if they got the police involved. She also did not start the fight and was merely defending herself, again, calling the police would put the Snivy in the slammer instead of her.

Mirage did have a tint of truth in her words though. She really had been admiring the golden earrings that she desired to adorn her ear with, she really was unable to afford it along with having merely been looking. With her voice laced with truth, they would surely have no choice but to believe her.

The machoke gazed at the female zorua for a moment longer before he shrugged. "Well… The barrels are still an issue. You may have to talk to the police to file an official report to get that taken care of. A far as everything else is concerned…" The machoke pointed a meaty finger at both Mirage and Jeremy. "I want you two to stay out of trouble from now on." The fighting type gave a grin and a chuckle soon after. "Not often we have some newbies scuffle, so it was amusing to watch anyway."

The Grass Snake Pokemon grumbled out something that may have been compliance as he composed himself somewhat, the shrieking wounds now becoming a dull ache.

"We got some healers in town. Might wanna have them look at whatever injuries or status effects you have… I mean… You can tough it out probably after a few days, but if you have some poke, get that fixed if you can."

Jeremy gave a mute nod before turning around and walking off, the crowd dispersing somewhat to let him through… While the rest whispered and chatted about what happened in addition to exchanging bets.

The machoke turned to face Mirage and rose an eyebrow. "Not bad sister… Next time, you might wanna focus your attacks near the limbs. Get rid of the balance first. But overall… Not a bad little spat all things considering. Should be at the dojo next time though. Not in the street." The muscular fighting type walked off, offering a wave. "Stay out of trouble."

OOC: End thread with your reply?

Despite Mirage's rather rude nature, she quite liked the Machoke, mostly for complimenting her. She smirked and released a snicker, "Thank you, and I'll try, though trouble seems to be attracted to me more often than I search for it,"

When the machoke was gone, Mirage ran to catch up with the stumbling Snivy. She stopped behind him, following him silently for a bit. She wanted one last gloat. One last and final rub in to throw some salt into the wound, maybe that'll encourage the snivy to come for her one day and she'll have some more fun. She attempted to nip the end of his tail, before taking a bound forward and running in front of him, trying to brush her tail against his nose as he would turn if she succeeded and with a bit of luck, make him sneeze, "Thanks for the fun Mr. Grump~" before running to a safe distance.

(Post once more and then i'll end it and we'll have a page)

Jeremy winced as he continued to walk on, thoughts dark and brooding, but mainly just confused and maybe a little ashamed. That was completely beneath him, and yet he let her get to him far too much. It was accumulated into a public fiasco that had probably made him a laughing stock for the next few weeks. Why did he do that?

Jeremy sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his snout with two fingers. He wanted to get these wounds treated a-

He yelped slightly when he felt a sharp pinch on the leafy frond at the end of his tail, right before his vision was suddenly obscured by darkened fluff, getting into his mouth and nose as Jeremy spluttered and coughed, stubby arms flailing in vain.

His amber eyes opened just in time to see 'Ida's' cyan ones, and he fixed her a livid expression as the female zorua got her last cent in as she ran away triumphantly.

Leafy fists tensing up in anger, Jeremy swore he would learn from this and come back stronger for it. A proper Blackwood did not lose in the end… And neither would he.

He would find a way to succeed in this land… And when he returned home, he would inherit the crown as it should be.

(And… Done. This thread is officially done.)

MIrage cackled as the snivy got worked up over her finale. She leaped into the air, a purple aura enveloping her and cloaking her with a disguise as she leaped into an alleyway and used her illusion ability to become lost for any searching eyes in the crowd of the next street over. Her time here was done, she needed to return to Shadowhue and rest up after that battle, perhaps train a bit and prepare for when the snivy came after her. Who knew? Maybe by the time the snivy came after her, she would have evolved and be able to rip him to shreds. She would not though, for maybe she would intimidate him before he even challenged her...