Lost? Or simply wandering?

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This clearing truly was a great place to relax. The clearing was quiet, only disturbed by the mild noises one can find in the wild. The sun's rays were gently covering the clearing and making the pure water glint with their brilliance. A gentle breeze traveled through the air, soothing all who walk in the hot, unshaded areas by caressing their bodies. And for some reason, the breeze carried with it some bubbles. The pond was surrounded by trees that stood tall and proud, their leaves slowly but surely returning to them with the season of Spring. While the clearing seemed devoid of life, one would only need to follow the direction of the bubbles to find the source of their creation.

Sitting on a branch of a tree surrounding the pond, one can see a dark blue creature leaning against the trunk. Its eyes had a sickly yellow color in them and were surrounded by black marking. The creature's cheeks were orange, expanding and contracting as it breathed in and out, joined with a croaking sound. Its chest possessed a black ring and white bands, with the feet and hands being of a black color, its middle fingers being orange. In one of its hands the creature held a long, thin pipe, the source of the bubbles whenever the Pokémon blew in its pipe. One of its legs was hung over the branch, lazily going back and forth.

The Pokémon, a Croagunk, was truly at bliss in the clearing. No annoying orders, no rushed travels, just him and the relaxing calmness that was spread over the pond. As he blew on his pipe, the Croagunk contemplated his next action. 'Hmmm, perhaps I should have taken the left path instead. Certainly, I wouldn't have found this spot but at least I would have been productive.' The Croagunk sighed, a mix of satisfaction and frustration in the exhale of air, before he took his pipe again.'I guess I'll just stay here until the sun sets. That way I can relax and be productive. Yes, that's a good idea.' With that thought, the Croagunk put his pipe away and lowered his eyelids, planning on taking a good nap. He oh so hoped he wouldn't be disturbed, or at least not be disturbed for no reason.

At first, Jet thought that his collision with Avery was successful. And it was, given that his attack had actually made contact as he had hoped. However, the result of the attack was not what he had expected to happen. He may have had the fear embedded in him that it was a possibility...but that did not mean that he expected it. He felt the Croagunk's arms reach out and firmly grab hold of his tail, just as he had feared. He didn't even manage to make his sparring opponent flinch or skid backward or anything. His tail was simply stopped and it felt like it was stopped so easily to him. He figured that his weak strength played a part in that, he had figured that the fact that he was using Aqua Tail would amount to something. But apparently, even his strongest Water-type attack was not enough. But what could have gone wrong...?

Before he even had a moment to think about it, Jet felt his tail getting pulled. His eyes widened with both shock and fear as he was easily lifted off of his feet and brought around, well over the Croagunk's head, and slammed hard into the ground on his stomach. "Ngah...!" he grunted in pain as his body connected solidly with the ground, jaw smacking the earth with enough force to jar him for a moment longer. Because of this, he was unfortunately unable to resist Avery when he started to pull on his tail again. He was helplessly pulled back into the air and started to get spun around and around. He let out a fearful cry as he was helplessly swung around until finally, he was released and sent flying. He soon crashed into the ground a few meters away, landing hard on his stomach and skidding for a moment along the grassy plain. He let out a pained grunt as he finally hit the dirt again.

It took Jet a moment to regain his composure after being tossed around like he had been. But once he was back to his senses, he climbed back to his feet and turned to look at his opponent once again. He believed that he was well outmatched, but that didn't mean he was about to give up. However, what he saw caused his eyes to widen with shock once again. The Croagunk seemed completely unharmed, even after his two attacks. "Wh...what...!?" he exclaimed. "B-but...how are you not...?" He trailed off for a moment there, stunned into silence and stillness. He knew that he wasn't that strong and that his Aqua Tail had been a failure, but he saw that his Sonicboom had hit...so what had went wrong?

It was at that point that it occurred to him. Could his newfound health actually be linked to his special Ability? But then...what was it? What kind of Ability could he have that could have healed him in that situation...? Or had he simply used some kind of recovery move when he wasn't looking? Whichever the case, he needed to identify its source quickly so that he could put a stop to it....

Avery kept a steady gaze at his downed opponent. This spar was quite an enjoyable way to pass the time in his opinion, although a good nap would have been fine with him as well. Watching the Buizel push its face of the ground and give him a bewildered look, Avery grabs the pipe that was put on his back and put one end in his mouth. The look on the Buizel's face was priceless, and one of the reasons he enjoyed fighting Water Pokémon over any other type. They are so certain their water based attacks would damage him greatly, only to receive a smack in the face when the Croagunk'd look completely healed. After that revelation it simply turned in a beat-down for the Water type. The hybrid hoped that this Buizel wouldn't break down like the other Water types. And if it did, then he'd be capable of going to town all the faster.

Hearing the sputtered question coming from his adversary, Croagunk simply shook his head. If the Water type believed Avery was going to explain what just happened and how it happened, it would be stupider than he gave it credit for. Giving the Buizel some time to recompose itself, Croagunk pulls the pipe out of his mouth before speaking. "Have your fighting needs been sated, or do you wish to continue?" The hybrid's voice was calm and pleasant, just as it had been before the fight. He did not taunt, he did not flaunt and he did not abuse his opponent, who had done little harm to him, verbally. Those actions were reserved for those that received his ire and for those that were incapable of backing up their words of grandeur.

Jet's gaze never left the Croagunk, as he looked at his foe's healed body. That Sonicboom was guaranteed to have done some decent damage at least, since he had seen it hit with his own two eyes. There was no doubting that fact. Yet at the same time, the Croagunk remained completely unharmed after he tried to strike with an Aqua Tail attack. He had taken his eyes off of him for only the briefest amount of time. Although he supposed that it also could have happened while he had been slamming him onto the ground by the tail or when he had been thrown. But those seemed less likely to him. He couldn't really think of any recovery moves that other Croagunk he had met could use that didn't involve causing damage. Jet's best guess was that it was an ability that activated somehow. But the question was...what was the exact trigger?

He watched as Avery pulled out the same pipe that he had been using before and slipped it into his mouth. In response to his question, however, Jet quickly shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face. "No way." he replied. "I haven't met a Pokémon like you before...and now I want to figure out as much as I can about you on my own. And since you don't seem to be nearly as arrogant as I have seen others be...you make for a great training partner. I can't get stronger like I want unless I fight with strong opponents like you. So let's keep going!" His smile brightened a little and he readied himself. He may not have much confidence in hi ability to win this battle...but he was going to give it everything he had regardless.

Avery chuckled at the praise he received from the Buizel. He had to admit, being complimented by an opponent, even if it was only in a spar, was a new experience for the hybrid. One that he found quite pleasant. Another pleasant fact was the excitement coming from the Water type. Seems like Avery was capable of literally beating the timidness out of the Pokémon. Keeping the pipe in his mouth, Avery made no move whatsoever towards the Buizel. If the Buizel wanted to continue it should just come at him. He had been putting a lot of physical effort in the spar, consisting of running, jumping and spinning in order to deliver a crushing kick, and then heaving and throwing the Buizel around. While these actions were not going to be a severe damage to his stamina, they were quite taxing. Thus Avery opted to simply stand and gather his breath back. His wounds had been healed by the water, but the liquid did nothing to his fatigue.

Jet paused for a moment, watching Avery closely. He needed to make sure that the Croagunk wasn't going to be making any other moves. He certainly didn't want to get taken by surprise by a Sucker Punch or anything like that. After a few short moments, Jet decided that he may as well attack now. So, without further waiting, he rushed forward on all fours. He didn't have much in his arsenal in terms of attacks, and his physical strikes weren't going to be the strongest in the world...but he didn't care. He was determined to do his best. There was just something about this Croagunk that was unique. Something about him that made him want to try harder to get stronger. But even he wasn't sure what it was.

Once he was close enough, he tried to lunge forward, lowering his head as he jumped. He tried to slam his head into the Croagunk's midsection and deliver a solid headbutt to his gut. It was the easiest move to make from this position that could cause damage or at least throw him for a loop. He tried to keep his attention on his opponent the entire time, but that was rather difficult to do with his head lowered like it was, which left quite a large blind spot in his attack.

Avery watched calmly at the Buizel, giving him some props for not charging at him the first moment he could but instead think of a plan. Perhaps the Pokémon had another long range attack he could... Nope, never mind. Just a dash towards him. The hybrid did not even bat an eyelid when the singular typed Pokémon lunged at him, intentions as clear as pure water. The Croagunk kept blowing bubbles from his pipe even when the Buizel was but mere inches away from hitting him. It was the moment just before the Water type's head would make contact with his own torso that Avery reacted. In one quick movement Avery not only side stepped out of harm's way, but also pulled the pipe out his mouth and used the item to hit the Buizel on top of his head. After the hit, he did not waste any time and delivered a kick in the bend Pokémon's stomach followed by a chop on the back, before jumping backwards and creating some space between the two. His sturdy pipe was once more in his mouth and he watched the reaction of the Buizel with calculating eyes.

OOC:

Jet had figured that Avery would evade this attack. But he had hoped to be given an opportunity to hit his adversary while he was in the middle of his evasion. But unfortunately, he didn't have the time to do anything of the sort. He felt a quick, dull pain as the pipe was smacked into the top of the head and he winced. However, it was what came next that really caught him by surprise. A sudden kick delivered to his gut caused him to stop in his tracks, winded from the blow. He instinctively reached to grasp his soft belly where he had been struck, but before he could even get to that point, he felt another blow to his back. This blow caused him to get slammed directly downward, smashing into the dirt at the Croagunk's feet before he had jumped away.

Jet coughed as he continued trying to recover from the kick to his gut. He managed to push himself back to his feet after a few moments, however. He couldn't give Avery too much time, else he might decide to move in and continue his assault. So, he tried to spin around and launch another wave of energy using Sonicboom by slashing his tail through the air like he had done before.

OOC::

Avery smiled goodhearted at the Buizel and its tenacity. It seemed the twin tailed Pokémon was far more difficult to keep down that first believed. But Avery was starting to lose interest in this spar. He had seen everything the Water type could have shown him, and it seemed it was starting to grow desperate. If the incoming projectile that had been easily dodged by him the first time was any indication. Perhaps the Buizel believed the attack could hit him, as it had before. If he did, then Avery didn't hold it against him, though. With the effort the Buizel was putting in this fight, the Croagunk thought he could humor the orange furred Pokémon for a bit longer. But that projectile wasn't going to hit him though. Especially not when Avery dashed at the attack just as he had before, pipe held tightly in a hand. And just like before, Avery would then jump over the compressed air, land behind it and dash at the Buizel once more. Just before the two would come in striking distance, Avery pulled the pipe in his mouth once more and blew deeply in it. This created a multitude of bubbles that could surprise the Buizel due to their sudden appearance, and because they were created so close to its face. If his surprise worked then Avery would attempt to Astonish it again, attacking him with a fast and hard jab in the ribs.

Jet watched as Avery ran directly for the wave of energy, just as he had done earlier in the battle. And, just like last time again, he jumped over it. And from there, Jet knew that he had to pay close attention to the Croagunk's movements. Would he attack with Mud-Slap this time, or just throw an attack his way? He braced himself, watching the Croagunk's every movement carefully. One motion caught his eye soon enough: when Avery brought the pipe to his mouth. Either he was planning on using both of his hands for this next attack or he was going to somehow use the pipe. He got his answer soon enough as the Croagunk blew on the pipe, causing bubbles to spout out of its tip and into his face. He blinked for a moment in surprise, but he wasn't phased much by the move. He had more or less expected such a strange tactic from Avery at this point.

It was then that Jet saw Avery's arm start thrusting forward, clearly aiming a jab at him. This time, however, Jet was ready. A small smile appeared on his lips, as though this were exactly what he had expected would happen. He moved just slightly to his left side, narrowly avoiding the jab to his ribs. He had been waiting on the actual attack to come toward him. After all,, that was what he had done previously as well: turned an evasion into an attack.

Once he evaded the attack, Jet reached out and tried to grab onto the Croagunk's arm, trying to swiftly follow it up by pulling his fist back and throwing it forward. He attempted to dig his own punch into the Croagunk's midsection, hoping that he could use the dodge of an anticipated attack to his advantage.

Avery's eyes narrowed just the slightest margins when he noticed the grin on the still unnamed Buizel's face. He gained a sour feeling inside of him when he saw that his own tactic was being used against him. Though he was proud to see that the Buizel was growing, he would have preferred to gaze upon this growth when he wasn't about to get a retaliation from his opponent. What he wouldn't give for a mid to long range attack at this exact moment. Especially when his extended limb was grabbed by the Buizel, almost making it look as if their previous positions had been reversed. But unlike the Water Type, Avery could do something about the incoming punch. But for some some reason this 'something' did not include protecting himself. Instead of moving his free hand in front of his midsection, Avery lashed out with the free limb, his pipe still in said appendage, and jabbed the pipe in the Buizel's windpipe just when he received the punch in his gut.

'Ugh. No pain, no gain I guess.' Avery thought to himself as he released a grunt of pain. Putting the negative feeling in the back of his head, Avery was not going to give the Buizel any time to act and makes a tight fist with his free hand that no longer carried his pipe. Soon green energy was gathering at his fist and within seconds the appendage was covered by a sphere of the oddly colored energy. When the attack finished loading, Avery lashed out with his fist straight in the Buizel's stomach. When the fist would make contact with the Water type's body, not only would the Buizel receive damage, but Avery would be healed from the damage that had been inflicted in him during their short close quarter battle. This healing would be made obvious by the green energy that floated away from the fist in the Buizel's stomach and going straight in Avery's body.

Jet's eyes widened with surprise when the result of his evasion and counterattack combination finished. Not only was he surprised that he had actually managed to land a punch, but the Croagunk had managed to counter his counter. And that was what really caught him off his guard. He felt a sudden blow to the base of his throat, just underneath his floatation sac, and his body had no idea how to react. The force of the pipe getting suddenly jabbed at his throat was so unexpected and such a foreign feeling. He grunted in pain from the attack, and for the moment, felt like he was suffocating. He wasn't, of course, and it was only a momentary feeling. It certainly wasn't comfortable, however.

But what really got to him was the sudden punch that Avery threw into the pit of his gut. He had seen the green energy flowing around it as the Croagunk had pulled the fist back, but he didn't recognize the move. And the blow to his throat didn't help him much either. His body immediately folded slightly over the Croagunk's fist. If he had had difficulty breathing after the blow to his windpipe, then this was not going to help anything. He coughed hard and simply stood there, wincing as the Croagunk's fist was firmly embedded in his gut. He and his body had no idea how to react to the combination of attack. He was winded, that much he could tell...but it was going to be much harder to regain his breath after the hit to his throat.

Jet simply stood there, partly folded over Avery's fist, completely winded and completely vulnerable, to the point where his head--primarily his jaw--would be awfully inviting to most opponents that wanted to continue the offensive. But at the very least, he had been able to recognize that the punch had restored the Croagunk's health once again, which had probably made his own punch pointless.

Avery looked down at the Buizel that was folded over his fist. The Water type had fought quite well and had forced him to use his strongest attack. Well, forced may be a bit of an exaggeration, but Avery had still deemed it necessary to utilize the health stealing tactic which deserved some praise. Even if it was done mentally. But while it had fought decently, it seemed the Buizel still lacked some experience fighting opponents who would go for any part of the body, including the windpipe. Avery would have been more than happy to teach him more in these ways, but he didn't want to show the Water type all of his tricks. In his eyes the spar was over, and any more fighting would be redundant. Every attack the twin tailed Pokémon could sent his way from afar would either be dodged or would only end up giving him an even greater advantage due to his ability to literally soak up water. It was simply a bad match-up for the Buizel. And though he believed the fight should be over, Avery was of mind that the Buizel did not agree with him. Thus it was with a bit of reluctance that the hybrid followed his Drain Punch with another combo.

Pulling his fist out of the Water type's body, Avery took half a step back so that he could deal his attack. Lifting his leg, Avery kicked the unguarded lower jaw of the Buizel full force, which should make the appendage clatter with his upper jaw and snap the orange furred Pokémon's head up, which would leave his body wide open. Something Avery was going to take advantage of by dealing a barrage of body shots consisting of simple punches, jabs and kicks. If someone not accustomed to a fight would look from afar, then they could compare Avery with a twister of flying limbs that was busy dealing damage to the Buizel. Avery would then finish his onslaught with a double palm hit in the Buizel's back that could sent him flying.

The combo was something Avery only kept as a last resort, as it took a considerable amount of stamina out of him. If the Buizel could still stand up from a barrage of Avery's best hits at full power then the Toxic Mouth Pokémon would have severely underestimated the Sea Weasel Pokémon. "Hah. Hah. Are you. Hah. Satisfied now? Hah." The question was asked in between deep breaths, as air was something Avery needed badly after the combo.

In his mind, Jet knew that this sparring match was as good as over. But still, if there was anything other than his intelligence that he prided himself on, it was his endurance. Because of the abuse he had been forced to endure in his upbringing, he had been able to grow quite a bit of endurance and persistence over the years. He always wanted to prove himself, so he stayed in a fight even when it was pointless to keep fighting back. Sometimes it had gotten him into worse situations, since he often used it in a stubborn manner...but sometimes it would even cause others to get bored of a victim that wasn't willing to just take the abuse. So he had full intention of continuing this battle. At least for now.

That is, at least, until he finally felt the Croagunk's fist leave his stomach, finally allowing him to reach down and grasp it with both of his paws, practically wrapping his arms around himself. His legs were shaky and nearly caused him to sink to his knees. However, he wouldn't even get the chance. A powerful foot connected with his lower jaw, causing his head to snap upward and his arms to instinctively get thrown to the sides, dropping his guard around his body as well. What followed was something that he could barely describe as a whirlwind of painful hits. He could feel the Croagunk land one blow after another; first a punch to the chest followed by a kick to the stomach, a jab here, a knee there...until finally, he felt two open palms strike his back where his two cream-colored ovals of fur showed proof of his male gender. He felt the palms hit him hard and he let out a cry of pain, getting thrown forward and landing hard on his stomach quite a distance away.

Jet landed hard on the ground and there he lay, groaning for the moment. He could still feel the painful attack combination that he had just endured. When he heard Avery's voice speak up again, he hesitated. He could tell that the Croagunk was tired after that barrage. Maybe, if he could just stand up again, he could impress him...that would be an accomplishment in and of itself for him. And so, he pushed his paws underneath him and started the struggle.

Eventually, Jet was able to climb back to his feet, but only just. He wobbled slightly, thinking about how he should answer his opponent. Had this been a more dire situation, such as in the middle of a guild quest or something, he would have refuse to accept defeat. But here...this was supposed to jut be a quick spar. And his opponent, while tired out, had an uninjured body. He was still smart enough to understand when he was beaten, even if he wanted to impress his opponent even more by saying he could keep going.

Jet finally allowed himself to sink to his knees to give his legs their much-needed break, using one of his arms to keep himself balanced and upright. "Y...yeah...." he replied between breaths. He had a smile on his face, despite the beating he had just received. "I know when...I'm beaten...."

When Avery saw the Buizel putting its hands on the ground in order to stand up once more, the dark blue Pokémon groaned to himself. The Water type could take a beating if nothing else. That thought made him pause however. How could this Pokémon, who did not seem much stronger nor older than Avery, keep taking his hits and still have the energy to keep going? The more he pondered on this, the less he found the possible answer pleasant and the more he frowned. After all, it made little sense if even the most resilient Pokémon his age from his Tribe were not capable of standing up after Avery dealt half to three quarters of the damage he did to the Buizel. Including his rival, if he could call her that, Daporre who was a Klink. His unpleasant train of thought was derailed when he noticed the Buizel standing up completely. The Poison/Fighting hybrid could see that it took everything the twin tailed one had to simply stand. But the spar was not over until the Buizel stated so, after all it has he who wished for it. Thus Avery readied himself to jog at him, a dash was not possible after his onslaught, but stopped when the Buizel dropped to his knees.

This reaction gave him the very first facial expression of Avery that did not include his stoic face. It was in the form of a surprised blink with the eyes. When he saw the smile on the Buizel's face and heard it had enough of the spar, Avery let out a loud laugh that was filled with mirth. "Hahahahah! Thank Arceus, that's over." And with that declaration, Avery walked calmly at the Buizel before taking a seat next to him. His trusty pipe was once more in his mouth and releasing bubbles, while his face regained its usual neutral expression. "You're harder to take down than a Steel type, you know?" Avery confessed to him. "Take it from someone who fought periodically with one. Though if you don't mind me asking, what kind of training did you go under? Or should I perhaps say, perils?" While the conversation started with a pleasant air in it, the question had a more serious tone to it. Avery did not look at the Buizel however, giving him some semblance of privacy. If the Water type felt uncomfortable with the question, Avery would never know from his visage and only if the Pokémon opted to talk about it.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence once Jet had finally allowed himself the pleasure of surrendering and ending his punishment. But then the first thing that broke the silence was the Croagunk's laughter. Once he heard the Toxic Mouth Pokémon's laugh, he couldn't help but let out one of his own. He managed to turn himself around and get his legs out in front of him instead of beneath him, sitting down beside Avery, who had just come to sit next to him. For a moment, he simply sat and watched the bubbles fly from Avery's pipe. When the Croagunk complimented him on his endurance, he couldn't help but allow his cheeks to flush slightly, "Th-thank you," he responded, not really sure what else to day in his embarrassment. He was very rarely complimented like that. His uncertainty, however, lasted only up until he asked him a direct question. At first, he considered whether or not to tell him anything. But then he figured that there wasn't much point in not saying anything. But then it was more a question of how much should he say?

After a moment's hesitation, Jet allowed a small smile to cross his lips again. No, there was no point in beating around the bush. Avery was trustworthy. He somehow felt certain that the Croagunk wouldn't make fun of him about his weakness or anything like that. "Well...it's hard to say, really," Jet murmured in reply, looking down slightly. "...I was never much of a fighter. I was never anywhere near as strong as the other Buizel in my home. I was constantly picked on and bullied back then. They all had plenty of fun kicking me around all day. My parents didn't even seem to care. All they cared about was making me strong, so they kept telling me that I was only getting beat up because I was too weak. In retrospect, I guess they thought that it would make a good motive to train harder. But...I couldn't take it." He then let out a loud sigh. "...I left and came here with the hopes of joining the Guild so that I can become a stronger Pokémon...one that's able to help Pokémon in situations like mine."

Once his little mini-story was complete, he looked back up at Avery with a sad smile. "I guess all of those beatings did something good for me. I'm guessing that they helped my endurance at least. There's no way I could have lasted as long as I did against you if I was still back home."