Encounter in the Dark Forest.

Having explored several of the other areas around Grassveil Town, Brian the Chimchar had asked some people around town about any other location closeby that he hadn't heard about. After hearing one of the pokemon in the town talk about a dangerous dark forest by the name of Shadowhue, Brian's curiousity took hold of him and ended up he eventually ended up in the forest himself.Coming from the bright and bustling Grassveil Town, to the calming and relaxing Small Pond, and the bright berry filled areas of Pecha Forest, the Shadowhue Forest contrasted in a jarring way at first. The tree's seemed to stretch into the sky itself, seeming to be nearly twice as tall, if not taller than the ones he saw in Pecha Forest. Now only were they tall, but the leaves on them were so gargantuan in size that they blocked out most of the light from the area. Brian couldn't even see the sky beyond them, let alone any light from the sun above. Though thanks to the flame on his tail, he did have a decent amount of light which allowed him to see where he was going. The foreboding atmosphere of the forest probably would have scared off some, but not Brian. Fear wasn't something he felt too easily. To him, feeling fear would just be a unnecessary roadblock in his quest of becoming stronger and exploring new places. Besides, Brian was too interested with the area to just leave without seeing everything it had to offer, regardless of how scary it may seem. He wanted to explore and analyze this new area as he had to with all of the previous new areas he had been too and nothing was going to stop him anytime soon.

"So this is Shadowhue huh? A very interesting place indeed. Hehe, hope those people were right about there being strong pokemon too." Brian said, growing a small grin on his face as he walked onward into the forest, eager to see what awaited him inside.

Energy: 10

Ares was completely lost. Far from his tranquil home in the Black Spear Mountain Range, the Charmander had found his feet carrying him over hill and dale in search of strong adversaries to fight. Though the quarry and opponents in that region of the mountain had proven themselves ferocious and strong, he had long since grown tired and habituated to the circumstances that would lead to his victory. They were all predictable, in that they would charge forward, attempt to attack, and charge again, and became quite dull and boring to pursue. As time had passed, he had adjusted his schema to accommodate this lackluster battling style and finally grown quite impatient with the lack of variety. Surely there had to be a worthy opponent out there somewhere, but they continued to elude his challenge; what a predicament to find oneself in!

With such a quest to find new prey to hunt and new predators to fight, the drake had set off with the intention of taking a short sojourn in a new locale in hopes of finding better opponents. The memory of a dark forest that sprouted forth from the ground just outside of the pansy-infested Grassveil Town had come into his forward processing, and thus that was where he had set his course. Mile after mile, foot after foot, nothing would deter him from the prospect of new opportunities and entertaining battles. It had seemingly been days before he had finally come across the outskirts of the shadow-laced forest, and did not hesitate to penetrate the sacred veil that prevented light from seeping down to its roots. Ares was not intimidated in the slightest by the prospect of dangerous foes or unfortunate misadventure: he had made a pact to evolve, and this was the only way he could do it. Throw himself into the gaping, hungry jaws of danger and hope that it would spit him back out.

As he walked through Shadowhue Forest, the shadows of the skyscraper high trees shrouding almost everything around him, Brian continued analyzing the area, attempting to find something of interest. However, much to Brian's annoyance, he wasn't finding anything interesting to look at. No matter how much of the forest he looked at, the whole are looked exactly the same. While the dark, foreboding atmosphere of the forest was cool at first, Brian soon realized that the same darkness was also making everything look relatively dull. He was slightly dissapointed by this but he felt like something was going to happen soon so Brian kept a smile on his face and kept moving. That is, until he saw a flickering light in the distance.

"Hmm, what's that? Is that a light over there? Maybe their's someone else here." Brian said as he began running towards the light in the distance, curious as to what could be creating it.

Ares, who was attempting to maintain a pioneering spirit and steadfast dedication to discovery, was slowly losing motivation as each path he took yielded little rewards: the sound of his round, stubby feet merely sent numerous feral Pokemon scurrying rather than towards him, and even the largest of predators seemed to gracefully amble away. This was infuriating to him, to put it simply: why would things in such a dark place not feel the need to attack without hesitation? As he pondered this, the flame upon the base of his tail flickered lazily. It burned with great energy and passion as it readied its host's body for an aggressive encounter, dancing in a hypnotizing manner. His tail did little to prevent it from not acting erratically, for its sway with each step sent it rippling in a new direction.

The Charmander would eventually stop his forward progression and begin to question why he had even hazarded coming here. This had been a several day's journey, and he disliked it being all for nothing. While he pondered such a pregnant question, the sound of parting undergrowth became audible. Glee sprang forth from his heart as he readied himself for war, smiling greedily at the prospect of finally getting what he had come for. What was it: an irate predator or a challenging prey creature? The suspense was killing him!

Brian rushed towards the direction where he saw the flickering light, the anticipation of a possible encounter with a strong opponent flowing through him. He wondered what the light could have possibly come from. He thought that a pokemon could have used Flash to create the light, but almost immediately disregarded this possibility because the light would have been both larger in size and smaller in time duration if that was the case. Could a pokemon have started a campfire out here. Could it be a fire pokemon? Maybe a Chimchar like himself? All of these thoughts went through Brian's head as he kept running towards the light, his tail flickering with excitement. Eventually, he saw a figure where the light was and stopped running.

"Um, hello. Hello fellow pokemon. Over here." Brian said as he waved towards the pokemon to get it's, not able to fully make out what it was from the position he was at. However, he could tell that there was some sort of flame in the direction, though he couldn't tell what was creating it.

Here he stood, a brawler ready to begin his honed art, as he imagined the face of the creature hustling through the brush towards him. Perhaps it was a creature with a snarling countenance and fangs that jetted out of its mandible like flowers in spring? Maybe it was a flat-faced creature with horns protruding from the top of its skull in the fashion of splintering branches! The anticipation was causing his body to rehearse its movements so that observation was possible; he would hate to assume that all feral beasts battled in the same mannerism. Small puffs of smoke were pushed forth from his nostrils as he felt his clawed fingers curl outwards, and the sheer thought of battle left them itching to rend flesh. His tail's flame extended its influence further, and blazed proudly.

Suddenly, the rustling stopped. Ares froze as he realized that another encounter might pass him up - fear mutated his facial expression into one of desperation as he imagined the potential adversary eyeing him up and promptly retreating. He was ready to give chase, to pursue this new quarry, when a voice radiated forth from its direction. Disappointment surged through him as he realized that it was just another traveler, and thus he would respond accordingly. His muscles would slacken, and his readied claws would return to their rest position. His voice, which had been prepared to loose a battlecry, shriveled in his throat back to its original decibel. "Hey," he would call out, attempting to conceal the let down he had just experienced, "What're you doing?" He would remain where he was, for there still remained the off chance that this was a thief or outlaw.

"Oh you know, just exploring this forest. It sounded like an interesting from what I heard." Brian said as the pokemon came into full view to him. He saw a pokemon that was around the same size as him with and orange looking color on it's body with a yellow color on it's belly. Analyzing it a bit more, Brian found out that the source of the flickering light that he saw before was coming from the pokemon's tail which had a flame on it just like his own, though the other pokemon's tail was much longer than his. After seeing the tail however, Brian realized what the pokemon was. He remembered seeing a pokemon similar to that sparring against his father, who was an Infernape, except it was much larger and had huge wings on it's back. This realization caused Brian to rush towards the pokemon and start analyzing it further.

"Wow, you look like a smaller version of this pokemon I saw my dad fight against. What was it's name again? Cheriz.....Chari....Charaz...Ah what was it? Well whatever, you still look cool." Brian said, staring at the pokemon in awe, his eyes seeming to sparkle as he analyzed the pokemon.

It appeared that the voice's originator was much closer than it had originally appeared, for the ape's body seemed to be quite visible. From his planted distance - of which he maintained out of wariness - the young drake could make out the shape of an orange furred chimp. Its face was oval like in shape, with prominent, elliptical ears sprouting forth from each side of its cranium; much like his own body, this creature had a flame burning brightly. His tail, of which Ares highly doubted existed, seemed to consist solely of that fire that burned as passionately as his, and thus there was some sort of connection forged towards him. One might describe it as an animal finding some sort of commonality with another species, and the sensation of being kindred spirits arising out of it.

He would nod his head in suspicion as the Chimchar seemed to nonchalantly answer his question. It was a go to answer for any interrogation, for who could deny curiosity driving someone into such a dark atmosphere? As tempted as he was to acknowledge this tidbit with a hasty accusation, he was more drawn towards the ape's second point of him being similar in appearance to one of his greater evolutions. If anything might rend him completely boastful and proud, it was talking about things that might increase his strength; evolution was among such options. His hands would connect with his hips as a confident expression manifested itself upon his smug face, a smile stretching from earhole to earhole as he spoke, "Charizard? Yeah, I'll grow up into one of those someday soon. You seem pretty interesting, too: Chimchar, right? I read about you guys in a book."

"Oh, Charizard's the name huh? Well, I was kinda close I guess." Brian said as he grew a silly smile on his face, chuckling at his previous confusion. He was still curious about the pokemon and wanted to know more about it, especially after he looked at the pokemon's expression. When he saw the pokemon's confident expression and smug, Brian's smile grew even wider. Those expressions told him that this pokemon he encounter was really confident in it's abilities, which made Brian interested to learn more about the pokemon and it's abilities.

"Yeah, I'm a Chimchar and proud of it. Also, I guess I would consider myself pretty interesting. And wait, there's a book about me? Hehe, I only thought that I'd have my own book when I become a famous explorer." Brian said as he grew a cocky smile on his face and kept up his chuckling. He knew that his last comment was somewhat pretentious sounding but in reality, he didn't really care about being some famous explorer. All Brian cared about was becoming stronger so that he could explore cooler places and be able to face his brother once he's mastered his strength.

Ares would allow one hand to vacate its position upon his hip as he shifted it from side to side, as if imitating the shakiness of a boat upon the sea. "Eh," he would begin, allowing his hand to roll in the 'iffy' gesture, "more or less about your species as a whole, but generally it does allow a lot of enlightenment to be shown upon the individual." It was quite peculiar how much he was taking a liking to this fellow, even if he was still uncertain of his intentions. Was this a ploy to get him to lower his defenses, or was he simply making idle chit-chat with another wanderer? As much as he preferred the latter option, the former was still a possibility.

Then the Chimchar mentioned something about exploration. His wariness now escalated about a new subject, one that pertained with this ape's allegiance. This good natured guy couldn't be part of the guild. He seemed so smart!

"Explorer? You're not one of those guild-loving-chumps, are you?"

"Hehe, thought so, though I don't really care too much about having my own book." Brian said replying to the pokemon, still chuckling at his comment. He was really taking a liking to this new pokemon he encountered. It seemed to have an interesting personality, a calm and collected demeanor, a confident appearance, and was just overall really cool. Brian was glad that he hadn't left the forest after realizing how dull Shadowhue looked in comparison to the other areas he's explored, otherwise he wouldn't have met this new companion. Then he heard the pokemon say something related to the guild, so he decided to respond.

"Oh, I guess you're asking if I'm part of the guild. Well, not yet but I'm planning on joining eventually. Why do you ask?" Brian said, curious as to why the pokemon was asking him about the guild. Brian had never heard any kind of negative context go toward the guild so he was curious as to what the pokemon was going to say.

This kid hadn't joined yet? Then there was still hope for him yet!

Ares couldn't help but feel slightly relieved at the news that this Chimchar had not yet sworn allegiance to the guild. There was just a certain air to those folks that rubbed him the wrong way, and thus made him as opposed to acknowledging them as potential equals. He disliked how they coddled the weak and fooled them into a sense of security, and the method in which they elected to do so. It was beyond his knowledge as to why they would lure others to their den with the sole promise of potential fame, glory, and strength. The Charmander could not help but attempt to dissuade any who had such aspirations by enlightening them to the lackluster guarantee that could be obtained through other methods.

"I ask because I care," he would respond, a nod given to confirm this as his true sentiment, "I simply wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let those thieves and enablers steal another goodhearted fellow such as yourself."

"Um well, I appreciate the comment about me being goodhearted. I seem to get that at lot." Brian said as he smiled back at the pokemon. Brian then began to scratch the back of his head with his left arm, a habit that he had picked up at some point, as he thought about the pokemon's comment. What the pokemon said had confused Brian and made him thinks seriously for a while, something he didn't tend to do too often. He wondered how anyone could dislike the guild at all. All of the stories he had heard about the guild from his parents and others around his village were all tales of heroic deeds done by powerful pokemon or discoveries of new areas around the world. All of Brian's knowledge of the guild was in a positive connotation, but for the first time, it seemed that someone was acting towards it. However, that didn't change his goals at the moment as he was still anticipation becoming a guild member so that he could become stronger and stronger.

"I appreciate you're concern, but their's no need to worry about me. I'm gonna be fine at the guild whenever I join. Besides, if any thieves or outlaws come my way, I'll give them one of these and one of these." Brian said as he began punching the air as if he was fighting someone.

Concern once more bubbled up in the pit of his stomach as he listened to the Chimchar adamantly protest to such a philosophy. His brow would furrow as his eyes narrowed, and he took on the appearance of a pensive old man. From what he could discern, there might be nothing that might persuade him otherwise; the ape's heart seemed to be set upon diligently pursuing the objective of joining the guild. Although such was the case - it wasn't too difficult to understand for someone not so set against the organization - Ares simply could not allow such an energetic creature to be manipulated.

"What's your name?" He would ask. It was better to become relatively acquainted with the person by learning their name than standing on top of soap box and preaching to strangers.

Should he get his answer, he would then proceed, "I don't think you understand. You're probably very familiar with the guild and its exploits because you grew up around them. You've probably even heard about all the good things they do and all the people they help - but what about the folks they don't? You never hear about those people, and goodness knows they probably haven't been helped! The guild enables Pokemon to become weak and shirk their work and responsibilities. Outlaws, thieves, murderers: sure, they deserve it, but maybe there's something more to it."

"Well, the name's Brian. Not too spectacular of a name but it's a nice name all the same." Brian said as he stopped punching the air as he laughed at his own enthusiasm. However, after hearing the Pokemon's other statement, the laughter immediately stopped. That statement seemed to hit Brian in a way that he had never felt before. The words that the pokemon said contradicted some of the thoughts he had believed for so long about the guild and how it worked. However, the moment that hit Brian the hardest was when the pokemon mentioned that the guild allowed pokemon to be weak. After hearing that, he felt that he needed to say something.

"That's not true. The pokemon that joined the guild but don't do much aren't weak in the slightest. In fact, they're strong just for having enough bravery to even attempt to join the guild. Those pokemon not doing anything isn't the guild's fault. It was the Pokemon's decisions that brought them to that point. Besides, regardless of what they do or don't do, they can't be weak because there's no such thing as a weak pokemon!" Brian said, the tone of his voice sounding more serious as his flame tail seemed to grow slightly as it flickered.