The Difference between a Rival and an Ally

A small fox like creature with gray fur for a coat yawned and shook herself as she wandered about the forest, foraging for food and items. She also searched for a new victim to steal from. The sun shined on two gold clip-on earrings on her right ear, both on the lower part of her ear. She had recently stolen these from a jewelry store in Grassviel, after having stared longingly at it for days from afar. The Zorua was proud of her catch, and paid no attention to how it stood out with its shining. She thought of it as more of a bait trap, luring pokemon towards the shining object upon her ear for her to steal from. She smirked as she sat down and began to groom behind her ear in the dark forest that was her home. She was comfortable here in the dark, at least so she convinced herself. The zorua was slightly uneasy in the dark, being alone and undefended..

A glint of light got the attention of a relaxed looking Oshawott as she sat on the branch of one of the many trees in the forest. It wasn't much, but with the majority of the forest being shrouded in darkness a glimmer of light shining off of something was pretty easy to see. And if there's one thing I've learned, something that reflects light is usually worth a bit of poke. Ava thought to herself, stepping carefully onto a branch and looking down at the Zorua on the ground. Wearing something like that out for anyone to see. She's either really confident or really strong. Might want to be careful. The Oshawott thought the situation out. Grabbing her scalchop off of her front, she grinned as she took a step back and slashed at the branch, a dark aura slicing through it with a cracking sound and causing the branch to fall, heading towards Mirage.

The zorua had leaped out of the way though. She smirked, a target has been acquired! Not only did the earrings give her a better look, but it baited in other pokemon that might want whatever the shiny item was. Someone had taken the bait, and neared her position. Mirage opened her jaws as a large ball of the emotions of Rage, Despair, and Sadness came together into a powerful sphere. Dark energy cackled around the sphere, as it shot forward towards the attacker, which the Zorua found to be an oshawott. The Zorua's ears flicked and her earrings made a tinkling sounds as they knocked against each other, teasing the Oshawott. She did not know if the oshawott had anything worth any value, but at least she could get some fun out of this.

"That could have gone better." Ava frowned somewhat, putting her scalchop back onto her fur jumping back closer to the trunk of the tree as the sphere of dark energy rushed past, hitting a branch further up. She could hear a jingling sound, the Zorua taunting her with the sound of the pricey accessories. Alright, if that's how you want to do it I'll play along. The Oshawott grabbed on to another branch and maneuvered to the opposite side of the trunk, beginning to make her way downwards and pausing on the last branch a few feet off the ground, grabbing her shell once more and waiting to see if the Zorua would come over.

Mirage was no fool, she stayed in her spot, watching the tree. She thought that the pokemon must have been familiar with climbing in trees, which is why it chose to attack from one. She would have to keep an eye out and pay attention to her surroundings. The oshawott, for as far as she knew, could have been able to silently maneuver its way behind her and could have been preparing to attack from there. The Zorua decided to play it safe, and throw it off guard.
She began to cry. Her eyes watered and her ears flattened in a sad expression, "Why would you attack me?" she asked, her voice mimicking the sounds of a when she truly did cry. She wiped her eyes with her paw as her Fake Tears move flooded down her face and dropped on the forest floor.

Avaria paused as the Zorua began to cry, staying still and deciding that she would wait it out. Going out in the open was definitely not an option since it would risk her getting attacked in retaliation, and Mirage didn't seem to be coming over to her.
"Because you're an idiot. Either you're someone who's weak, sensitive and probably wouldn't last a minute out here on your own, or you're trying to draw me out or get me to lower my guard." The Oshawott called out from behind the tree rather bluntly, not vocally giving her any sympathy. That brings up a good point. Might not be alone, better be careful. She thought to herself, trying to push any affect the crying had out of her head, but still feeling a tinge of guilt at it.

Mirage's eyes began to water even more as her bawling became more pitiful and guilt inducing. Her move continued as she began to breathe irregularly to give effect. When was this oshawott going to get its tail out her so she can shoot a dark pulse at it? It was going to need to come out in order to attack, she tried speaking again, "Thats-*gasp*-So-*gasp*-Mean though! I didn't-*gasp*-do anything!"
Mirage resisted coughing as her irregular breathing ruined her breathing pattern and oxygen flow. She ceased to add that effect and hoped that maybe the oshawott would think she was calming down a bit. Heck, it might try to come out to comfort her, and think that it could swipe her earrings while it was comforting her like she had when she tricked a quagsire into thinking she was playing while she swiped a TM right off of its head.

Arceus, why won't it just shut up? At this rate it's going to attract every pokemon in the area. Well, too bad. It's the one out in the open. The Oshawott thought to herself, wincing slightly at the sound of bawling and lowering her guard somewhat, not paying as much attention though still staying behind the tree.
"I can play this game for however long it takes. My guess is I step out and you attack me, so I would rather prefer waiting for all the pokemon nearby hearing your crying to show up. I've got time." Ava swung her scalchop at the tree, scratching at the bark as she waited for some sort of response from the Zorua. "If you want to speed things up a bit you'll just have to come on over here. I'm not moving."

Mirage held her ground, her bawling slowly fading as her move began to end, but she still kept her weeping act going, "Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?"
She wiped her eyes with her paw once more, if the oshawott wasn't going to move then neither was she. She knew exactly where it was now that it spoke so much, she was able to pinpoint its location which was behind the very same tree it had dropped down from. Maybe it wasn't as much of a fan of trees as she thought it was? Mirage's ears flicked, her earrings jingling once more in what she hoped would be taunting to the oshawott. She hoped that it would remember the reason it came, see her as weak, and come for the rings. She wasn't about to give up these rings though, for they were her precious and she was LORD OF THE RINGS!!!! for they took far too much trouble to obtain just to let them go like this.

"What I'm talking about is that if you were scared and sad I would figure you would be running off, especially since I'm giving you so much time to. Since you're just sitting there we go back to my first point, you're either an idiot or you're trying to get me to come out." Ava called over, running her mouth as she stopped slashing at the tree. I can absolutely wait this out...screw it, let me see if I can get her to react. The Oshawott quickly decided and slowly leaned out from behind the tree, carefully poking her head out and getting a look at the Zorua. While she could try and act like she could spend all of her time waiting, Ava just couldn't change the fact that she really couldn't. The Oshawott kept her scalchop in paw, ready to move out of the way and attempt to get closer should the pokemon attack her.

Mirage didn't move, her plan was working. Her eyes were still watering and her ears were down, showing her sadness through body language, which was key to lying from Mirage's experience. She looked rather pathetic, though she hated appearing this way, it was effective to draw pokemon near. She had to keep from smiling and continue her pitiful frown as she waited for it to draw near, "Why?" both her voice and her eyes said. She hoped that her ignoring the insult of being called an idiot would ensure her appearance of trying to look like one. Mirage certainly didn't plan to kill the oshawott, but from the appearance of the oshawott it didn't have anything on it worth something. She would just have her fun with it then and run. What should she do though? Shadow Ball to the face? Dark Pulse in the gut? Scratch across the nose?

Ava blinked and stepped out from behind the tree, glancing to the side and noticing another nearby tree a bit closer to the Zorua. Good, cover. I can use that. She thought to herself as she stepped into the open, standing still about half way between the other tree and the one she had been just behind.
"Revenge is a universal enjoyment, it's all about how well you suppress it. I attacked you, it's only fair you would want to attack me. That's how it works." She said, keeping a close eye on Mirage and holding her scalchop by her side. Once, or if, she attacks I'll try and make a move for the next tree. I should be able to get pretty close by doing that a few times. The Oshawott decided.

Mirage found herself becoming a bit bored, attempting to hide a charging dark pulse behind her(which was in the form of an orb). She played the waiting game, as much as she enjoyed it, this pokemon was not as idiotic as she had hoped it to be. The Zorua waited until it was in the open once more as it moved between the trees to unleash the dark pulse with a leap into the air. She laughed as the pulse spread rapidly across the floor, covering the ground and smashing into the nearby trees and bushes, trimming the grass slightly and leaving a rather deep mark in the trees when it struck it. When she landed, she looked to see if the Oshawott had been hit. She had just given away her position, but it was growing boring. She might have continued it if the oshawott had something of value, but no. There was nothing.

The Oshawott squinted, watching as the Zorua didn't respond and noticing her leap up into the air. Oh sh- Avaria lunged to the side and jumped, landing behind the tree as the pulse traveled through the area, striking into the tree deeply. She started to breathe heavily, but quickly brought her breathing down to a relatively normal speed, containing herself. Alright, too close. That would have hurt a bit more then I'd like. Ava thought to herself, and moved out from behind the tree, holding her shell in front of her and bluntly rushing towards the Zorua, aiming to ram into the other pokemon and tackle it. She was done hiding and waiting, now she just wanted to get on with things and take her opponent down. Ava had to admit though, the other pokemon was pretty patient and good at what it was doing.

Mirage had been too busy laughing to see the oshawott charging towards it. She was tackled by the small blue pokemon, which only caused her to instinctively unleash a smaller, but quicker Dark Pulse. The pulse was thinner, and traveled slightly higher off the ground as Mirage released it slightly in mid air. She had the ability to change its direction before it was fired, to make it pulse vertically, but right then it was more likely that the oshawott was still extremely near her. The zorua shook itself and ceased its laughter, though still grinning. The tackle had done some damage, but not enough for her to become enraged by it.