Training for Black Mist Mountain, Day 2! Trudging through Cattail Marsh!?

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Akuroma grimaced at the sight of the swamp. He knew he was the one to suggest coming here, but after seeing it, all he could think about was how hard it'd be to get the mud and grime out of his gown. As he waited for Enzu to arrive he was debating on if he should try to convince the Pawniard to not go into the Marsh.

Enzu looked around as him and Akuroma continued to make their way through the marsh. There weren't many things to see here, it mostly a seemingly endless expanse of swamp. As Enzu scanned the surrounding area, he noticed something that looked like a scarf that was tied to the branch of a dead tree. "Hey Akuroma I think I found something," he said as he walked over to the tree. When Enzu made it to the tree he grabbed the scarf, "It looks like a Joy Ribbon!" he said excitedly. Enzu had originally gone to Black Mist Mountain in search for one, so it was definitely an exciting find to get one hear in the marsh when Enzu wasn't even searching for one.

((Enzu's Energy: 11))

Guest carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Akuroma looked over at Enzu and his discovery. He used Confusion to clear the grime off the ribbon and nodded.

"That's definitely a Joy Ribbon. There's a shop in Grassveil that can customize it to become something else while still retaining it's power," Akuroma said, lifting up his Raging Storm Cloak a bit. He couldn't believe Enzu had found a Joy Ribbon by sheer chance. They had been through a rough time trying to find them on Black Mist Mountain with no luck. Akuroma had found his Joy Ribbon on his second trip to Black Mist Mountain, and nearly died afterwards. As Akuroma thought back on the moment he noticed the muck and grime behind Enzu beginning to rise up.

"Um...Enzu, I think that Joy Ribbon belonged to him," he said, pointing to the Poliwhirl as the swamp clinging to it slipped off.

((Enzu's Energy: 10 (gained 1 from new page)))

Enzu had only just started to place the Joy Ribbon around his neck when Akuroma mentioned that it belonged to someone. He turned around and saw a Poliwhirl begin to come up from the muck behind him. Enzu attempted to jump back but he didn't move very far because the mud made it difficult for him to jump with his full strength. As Enzu jumped back he watched as the Poliwhirl started to do some kind of dance. As it danced in the mud storm clouds formed over head and it began to rain in the surrounding area.

Enzu began to charge a Psycho Cut, "Akuroma, you mind holding this guy in place for me?" he asked.

(5/25)

Akuroma nodded, his eyes beginnign to glow as he tried to use Confusion. Sadly, the Poliwhirl suddenly disappeared form his sight, and not a moment later was he thrown off his ride and skipped like a stone on the mud's surface. Akuroma groaned, trying to get his bearings right as he shakily pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Thankfully the Poliwhirl decided not to attack him again and instead went after Enzu, wanting it's Joy Ribbon back.

Enzu was surprised that the Poliwhirl vanished as quickly as it did, he had thought that the mud would have made this much less of a speed battle. Enzu tried to figure out where the Poliwhirl would attack from, but before he could spot it the Poliwhirl slammed into Enzu's side sending him flying a short distance. Enzu hit the ground and quickly tried to stand up, he didn't plan on letting this Joy Ribbon go that easily. Enzu then launched his Psycho Cut at the Poliwhirl, hoping he would the extremely fast pokemon.

As Akuroma stood up, he saw Enzu being knocked back by the Poliwhirl. Akuroma knew there was only one thing that could make the tadpole move this fast, and it meant he had to find a way to stop the rain. Or at least he needed to limit the Poliwhirl's movements.

The Poliwhirl was able to quickly dodge Enzu's Psycho Cut. However instead of rushing at the Pawniard, this time it launched as steam of water from the center of the spiral on it's chest. Even though the water gun had more power then normal, Enzu was able to dodge quickly to the side of the stream of water. Unfortunately this enemy was too fast for ranged attacks, so Enzu figured that getting in close was the best option for fighting it. Since the Poliwhirl needed momentum for a slam attack to work, it might not be able to fight as effectively. Enzu then charged up a Fury Cutter and began to charge at the Poliwhirl.

As Enzu began to charge at the Poliwhirl, Akuroma used his confusion on the ground around the tadpole to make a small wall, which it ended up crashing into just a second after seeing the Pawniard charging towards it. Akuroma caused the wall to fold over the Poliwhirl, creating a roof so that it had nowhere to run.

"Take it out Enzu!" Akuroma yelled out, not even noticing that the Lotad he had made into a ride had swam off.

Enzu ran forward and did an type of cross cut on the Poliwhirl now that it was unable to move out of the way. And with Enzu's Fury Cutter blades now at a larger size, he lightly touched one blade to the center of the Poliwhirl's sprial, and held the other blade slightly above his own head and pointed it at the Poliwhirl, "Now if I were you, I would give up now and swim away," he said, "Because I'm willing to let you go, but my friend might not be so forgiving." The Poliwhirl seemed to be frozen in fear and didn't move an inch at Enzu's threat.

Akuroma let the wall behind the Poliwhirl drop back down into the muck below when Enzu finished his threat.

"Three seconds before I decide to make you go squish," the Ralts said, the walls on either side of the Poliwhirl shifting inward slightly. Finally seeming to notice that it bit off more than it could choose, the Poliwhirl quickly disappeared into the marsh. Akuroma let the rest of the wall drop down into the muck.

"Well...I'd say today was productive enough. Should we go back to Rainfront for the night before heading to Serene Cave to get back to Grassveil before making out final preparations?" the Ralts asked. Despite the fact that the two Pokemon had done barely anything in the swamp, Akuroma was done with the marsh. He wanted to get to their hotel, take a nice long bath, then get going to Grassveil.

"I'd say so," Enzu said as he looked around the swamp. The two of them hadn't spent much time in the swamp, but it was productive enough since Enzu had found a Joy Ribbon. "After a good night's rest we can begin our journey back." Enzu then began to slowly make his way through the mud and back towards Rainfront Town. "However if you don't mind, I'd like to take some time to wash myself off at the beach." he said with a chuckle.

Guest carried out 2 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

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Akuroma groaned, "You know our hotel has a bath right? There's this thing called plumbing they invented about five decades ago," the Ralts said as he walked beside the Pawniard. Either way, the Ralts was happy to leave this Arceus forsaken dungeon. He wasn't opposed to getting dirty. However, muddy, grimy, and just plain disgusting he was highly against.

"I know," Enzu said, "but one of the things Rainfront is known for is it's beach so why not go wash off there?" Enzu simply wanted to take a walk on the beach, and he figured he might as well wash off while he was there, Akuroma didn't have to come with him however.

All of the sudden a female voice started talking to Enzu and Akuroma, "Excuse, did my son cause you too any trouble?" it asked. Enzu looked over to see a large Poliwhirl standing next to the Poliwhirl that they had just chased off moments ago. "Because if he did you don't have to worry, he will definitely be punished." the large one said.

The small Poliwhirl didn't look up from the ground, "But mom, he took my Joy Ribbon," he whined.

The large Poliwhirl turned to the small one and gave it a double smack on the back of it's head, "And that's what you get for leaving it around so carelessly!" she shouted at her son. She then turned to Enzu and said, "You can feel free to keep that Joy Ribbon, it will be part of his punishment."

The small Poliwhril started to complain again but his mother interrupted him, "Don't you start complaining, you did this to yourself. Now come on, lets go home." She then started to walk off with her son walking slowly behind her.

Enzu was bewildered by everything that just occurred, "Um...do you know what just happened?" he asked Akuroma.

Akuroma blinked, "We were fighting a little kid...that's what just happened," he said, blinking as he watched the two Poliwhirl leave. He looked over at Enzu and shrugged.

"Hey, at least we won't need to return the Joy Ribbon, nor would he have to fight him and his mother. He was hard to hit as it was," Akuroma said as he began to walk again. As he walked past Enzu he grabbed the Pawniard by the blunt end of his blade and began to walk faster.

"Though I suggest we get out of here before we're greeted by everybody else and their mothers," he said.

"I guess..." Enzu said. He was kind of shocked that the Poliwhirl they were fighting was only a child, it was definitely a skilled fighter, perhaps it was because had trained long enough with the Joy Ribbon and his skills grew quickly. "And yes I agree," Enzu said. He then took his blade out of Akuroma's grasp and began to walk at the same pace as Akuroma. After a short rest, they would be able to go back to Grassveil.