Fires in my Soul (open)

Silverdawn slithered along the forest floor, the dry leaves on the ground whispering and crackling under her belly. She had left that awful town full of stupid pokemon and even some of those horrible psychics, to find a dungeon to collect wares for the shop that she hoped to open soon. Her tongue flickered out of her mouth, tasting the air for any scent of another pokemon. She could feel the vibrations of the forest underneath her, and she stopped, closing her eyes to the dim shadows of her sight. She enjoyed this, listening to the tremors of the earth, that told her so much in comparison to her weak sight and hearing.

Suddenly the temperature dropped. She could feel the heat from the sun fading, but she could feel no vibrations in the earth. What was going on? She twisted her head this way and that, tongue flickering out frantically, not trusting this sudden change in her environment. She braced herself, ready for an attack at any moment. She just knew, without proof, that something was out there, watching her.

BE: 16 - 5 (entering forest): 11

It was a comparatively warm morning in the forests around Grassveil Town. The sun had just risen above the treetops, its warm rays occassionally breaking through the cover of leaves, whose delicate swaying in the wind made the tiny dots on the forest floor dance to an unheard melody.
Only a few Pokémon were up already as it still was a bit early, but times like these were the ones William the Gengar delighted in experiencing. With only few interruptions it simply was much easier to find a place to calm down and think.
It certainly was enjoyable to be able to spend time in the company of his friends of Team Yozora and his other acquaintances, but too much social interaction would quickly get tiring.
It was important to realize, that time to relax was just as important as constantly helping everyone, otherwise one would quickly tire out.

But the Gengar's daydreaming was quickly interrupted when he heard some dry leaves on the forest ground below rustling. Jumping down from the position the Ghost type had assumed in one of the treetops, William then levitated directly above the forest floor, determined not to make a noise that might alert the other Pokémon in the area to his presence.
Many feral Pokémon inhabited this place, so it was always advised to remain on guard.
It probably was just a team of explorers and the majority of Pokémon would decide against attacking a Pokémon of his species out of the blue, but one could never be sure.

Carefully glowing red eyes searched the area for the unknown lifeform.

Energy: 48-5=43

Silverdawn listened closely. The leaves in the trees above her rustled slightly, though it could have been wind. She opened her eyes, squinting, trying to make out anything clear out of the hazy images that beamed to her brain from the light that filtered in. She jerked backwards when she realized what she was seeing: a huge Gengar floating a few snake-lengths from her, looking around carefully. FOR HER, Silverdawn was convinced. She hissed threateningly, even though she knew the ghost-and-poison-type could probably beat her down with a single blow. It wasn't in her nature to back away in submission and let things happen to her.

She bared her fangs, still tasting the air, trying to figure out if the Gengar had any friends hanging around, ready to ambush her.

Suddenly a rather threatening hiss reached the spectral Pokémon's ears.
Whatever it was, that was moving through the area was close - very close.
Carefully the  Gengar made his face wander through his shadowy body, causing it to appear on his back again to examine the potnetial threat in front of him.
It was a purple and yellow worm-like creature, its forked tongue extending from the mouth behind it.
Trying his best to make the mischievous grin that was etched onto his face seem less threatening William began to speak:
"Oh, hello there! My apologies for not making myself known sooner. I simply failed to spot you. I take it you are a new guild member on an exploration? If so, then maybe you'd be in the need of some assistance.  Would you like for me to accompany you for a while?"

The Gengar stopped short, and then his face appeared on his back, sending willies down Silverdawn's spine. She glared as he began to speak. "Oh, hello there! My apologies for not making myself known sooner. I simply failed to spot you. I take it you are a new guild member on an exploration? If so, then maybe you'd be in the need of some assistance.  Would you like for me to accompany you for a while?"

Her eyes narrowed. She didn't trust a word out of this pokemon's mouth. "Guild member?" she questioned delicately. "I find your assumptions offensive. What need do I have for a team?" she spat. "Other pokemon will just stab your back... as I'm sure you would know well, Mister Gengar." Sarcasm dripped from every word that spilled from Silverdawn's mouth. "Why would I tell you my story or what I am doing? You're a fool to offer a helping hand to just any pokemon that comes along -you'll get yourself killed that way!" Her tone was icy, glare filled with angry venom.

She turned away from the Gengar, sensing something besides the Gengar in the trees.

The member 'Silverdawn' has done the following action : Dices Roll

'Pecha Forest' :

The words he heard reminded the Gengar of his own past, one full of rejection and lonelyness.
Wishing to help this Pokémon avoid the very same fate that had once befallen him, he responded:
"It is simple. Having a team can help you overcome obstacles you would fail against on your own. Additionally a partner might just be able to remind you not to antagonize the otherworldly shadow creature that could easily dispatch of you."
Suddenly the Ghost type disappeared into the ground, quickly reappearing as the shadow of the very Ekans that had been talking to him.
Gently a purple hand tapped the snake on her back, followed by the Gengar stating:
"If I truly wished to defeat you, I would have done so now. What reason would I have to bring unneccessary harm? In fact assumptions like these have caused me much suffering and strife for quite a long time."
As he spoke, the Gengar reminisced of the time he was chased out of his own village. Many years had passed and he had finally found acceptance, but the wounds still cut deep.
Sadly shaking his head he continued:
"Maybe you will eventually try to stab me in the back or maybe not. Maybe we both could become good friends eventually. I am more than willing to take the risk."

The Gengar looked at her with a sadness in his eyes. "It is simple. Having a team can help you overcome obstacles you would fail against on your own. Additionally a partner might just be able to remind you not to antagonize the otherworldly shadow creature that could easily dispatch of you."
Silverdawn gulped at those words, but didn't back down.  Suddenly the Ghost type disappeared into the ground. Silverdawn looked around frantically. A purple hand tapped the snake on her back. She whipped around, hissing in fright. The Gengar continued with his point,
"If I truly wished to defeat you, I would have done so now. What reason would I have to bring unneccessary harm? In fact assumptions like these have caused me much suffering and strife for quite a long time."
Silverdawn paused at that. It was true... why would he have bothered to try and trick her when he could easily defeat her on his own? Then she remembered thinking the same thing about the Kadabra who had destroyed her village, and she closed her eyes to the pain. NO, she couldn't trust anyone but herself.
Sadly shaking his head the Gengar continued, "Maybe you will eventually try to stab me in the back or maybe not. Maybe we both could become good friends eventually. I am more than willing to take the risk."
"Maybe you are willing to take that risk," Silverdawn rasped. "But I've thought that before about a pokemon, and they destroyed my village. How can I ever trust a word out of any pokemon's mouth again? Everyone always has an ulterior motive. No one does anything out of the kindness of their own hearts, no-one." she turned away from the Gengar, pain washing through her. Damn that ghost! She didn't want to think about these things anymore! It was why she had traveled so far from her past. She didn't want to be reminded.

The trees rustled, and out stepped a grumpy-looking Nidorino. It noticed the two pokemon, and the feral's eyes turned crazy with rage. It roared and charged them. Silverdawn gasped, and attempted to slither out of the way quickly.

11 - 4 (die roll) = 7 BE

This was surprising.
William had certainly not expected to hear such a tragic reason for the Snake Pokémon's distrust.
"Then I can only offer you my deepest condolescences. But still you have to know, that that only was one, single case. But I can promise you - I do not have any ulterior motives at all. I only wish to make the world a kinder, more gentle place. I have proven that I mean no harm to you. Yet you make the assertion of noone ever being kind. Can you produce evidence to support this rather absolute claim? Because if you can't, then I-"
William's speech was cut short as suddenly he found a rather unfriendly Nidorino charging directly towards them. It saddened the Gengar, that Pokémon had to be in this kind of state, but there was nothing he could do about it right now.
"-then I think we should continue our little debate some other time. We have business at hand."
The Gengar was hit by the attack, the force of the impact tossing him a fair distance through the air and through the tree behind him.
Finally the shadow Pokémon stopped in midair, his eyes glowing eerily. His hands took on a sinister aura of crimson and blue as he in turn was now charging towards the attacker, attempting to land the move Payback. He could easily have left the Ekans alone, but it certainly would not have done his point any good.

"Then I can only offer you my deepest condolescences. But still you have to know, that that only was one, single case. But I can promise you - I do not have any ulterior motives at all. I only wish to make the world a kinder, more gentle place. I have proven that I mean no harm to you. Yet you make the assertion of noone ever being kind. Can you produce evidence to support this rather absolute claim? Because if you can't, then I-"

The Gengar was cut short as he noticed the charging Nidorino. He was knocked back, but he didn't even seem phased, instead focusing energy into his palms and attempting a move, perhaps Payback. "-then I think we should continue our little debate some other time. We have business at hand."

Silverdawn focused on the fight, surprised that the Gengar had hung around. Why wouldn't he just fly away? Then again, this was a rather large Nidorino. Perhaps he hoped to gain some experience. Silverdawn ignored the issue for now, instead striking out with her Poison Fang, knowing the poison-type wouldn't be poisoned but hoping for a critical hit. (flipped a coin) She landed the critical hit, and the Nidorino jerked back, howling. For a moment, Silverdawn thought the other poison-type would give up, but it didn't, instead charging at her again. This time she didn't slither away but aimed to sting it with her tail as it passed, forgetting completely about the other pokemon who was aiming for the Nidorino.

As William came charging towards the Nidorino, he found it charging the comparatively defenseless Ekans again. Soon he would be reminding it why attacking his friends was to be considered a bad idea.
At full speed the Gengar rammed into the Nidorino's side, letting his rage from the recent hit power the attack. The Poison type was swept off of its feet and the two of them soundly came crashing into the nearest tree. Quite a few leaves and twigs rained down on them from the impact, although they just passed through the Ghost type's body.
The Nidorino's back was now adorned with quite a few pieces of bark, that had stuck to the rather imposing spikes on its back. Most other Pokémon would quickly have been poisoned by the powerful venom coating them, but luckily the Gengar was a Poison type himself and thus did not have to worry about such a thing.
Turning towards the Ekans again, he spoke:
"I hope you are all right, my dear."

Silverdawn blinked as the Gengar from earlier rushed past her and slammed into the Nidorino, both of them sailing into a tree at top speed. The Nidorino collapsed, venom dripping from his spikes. The ghost-and-poison type just dusted himself off and turned back to her, a crooked smile on his face. "I hope you are alright, my dear." he spoke.

Silverdawn's cheeks tinted red for a moment. Why would he call me that? She shook herself mentally. Get your mind out of the gutter and say something!

"I... uh.... well," she stuttered. "Thanks," she mumbled. What was going on? Why was this ghost, of all pokemon, being ... well, nice? What did he want in return?

She frowned to herself, sighing internally at what she was about to do. She turned to him and asked simply, "What do you want in return for saving me?" her voice was dead, emotionless. She braced herself, what would he have her do?

Hearing the Poison type's response caused the Shadow Pokemon to chuckle.
Of course she would not be able to simply accept his help.
Attempting to sound as kind as possible, he responded:
"Nothing at all. I did this for the exact reason you did not believe to exist. There is a little saying I attempt to live by. It goes "Be friendly to others. Not because they are kind, but because you are." It would certainly make this world quite a bit better if more Pokémon would adapt it."
It would be interesting to see, what the Ekans' reaction would be. Anger? Denial? Confusion?
He would see soon...
"One can't just leave another Pokémon to their fate like that after all. What kind of friend would I be if I would have ignored you back then?"

The Gengar responded kindly, though this just made Silverdawn even more suspicious. "Nothing at all. I did this for the exact reason you did not believe to exist. There is a little saying I attempt to live by. It goes "Be friendly to others. Not because they are kind, but because you are." It would certainly make this world quite a bit better if more Pokémon would adapt it."
Silverdawn's eyes narrowed at the Gengar. Then she winced in pain. What.... what was wrong with her eyes? She set it aside for now, focusing on the Gengar as he spoke again.
"One can't just leave another Pokémon to their fate like that after all. What kind of friend would I be if I would have ignored you back then?"
She sniffed. "Friend? Don't make me laugh! I have no friends." she looked away haughtily. "So you believe that pokemon can be kind, just to be kind, no ulterior motive?" She glanced at him, that strange pain shooting through them again. "So why are you kind? Because you have this... 'motto' of yours? Why do you have this motto? How did you come up with it? There's always a story, always a reason. No one is kind ONLY to be kind. Most pokemon are kind because they don't want to go to the Distortion World when they die, no? They want to go to the Hall of Origion with Arceus. So they are kind because they FEAR death. That's no reason to be kind." she shook her head. "Besides, my whole life, no one has ever been kind to me. Why should anyone start now? My own parents hated me. Why should you or anyone else be any different?"

Despite trying to suppress it, the Gengar emitted a short laugh.
"The Distortion World...", he chuckled.
"I was born there. I have lived there. I can move to and from it at will. I am completely and absolutely immortal. There is absolutely nothing awaiting me after I die and thus it can be completely ruled out as any sort of motivation."
It would be difficult to convince the Ekans, but William was determined. He had spend large quantities of time in forced isolation and they had not been happy times. The Ekans shouldn't have to suffer the way he did.
"When I was young...well, younger - I still was older than you will ever be I assume - I was chased out of the very village I lived in. I did absolutely nothing wrong, but they feared me. They chased me into these woods, where I lived in isolation for many, many years. Then finally I managed to gather the courage and try again. I wandered into Grassveil Town and befriended a Pokémon. We were planning to sign up for the guild, but in the middle of the process she panicked and ran away, leaving me to return to the forest. The exact same thing happened again later. But after so many trials and tribulations I finally had found an accepting, caring, loving team. My reason for helping you in particular is that I do not wish for anyone to suffer the same way I did. But in general there is no reason to hurt others, so why should I not be kind instead?"