Got Wood?

Akuroma looked around as he walked up towards Icicle Woods. He needed some wood for his cabin back in the Black Spear Mountains and this dungeon was the closest place with any. However, Akuroma wasn't entirely sure what tree he should take. All he knew about wooden buildings is that the harder, bigger, and healthier the tree, the more likely it'll hold up good as building material. Then there was the problem on how he'd get the tree back to his home. He'd never attempted teleporting something so large so far away.

He sighed and pulled his hood up over his head, obscuring his face as he began to walk deeper into the woods, guessing that the better wood would be deeper within. At least there wouldn't be anybody to bother him this time.

(13/33 Energy)

The cold air was starting to become one of several things Avaria wasn't particularly a fan of. Considering her previous experience in the area, which involved taking a dip in the icy water that was the Frozen Stream, she had decided to stay away from that particular section for now. While she didn't mind the cold water, the cold air afterwards wasn't exactly welcomed. The Oshawott stuck by the trees, staying quiet as she kept her eyes out for anything strange or interesting.

It wasn't long before she paused by one tree, finding a hooded figure wandering around the area. She hesitated, frowning somewhat. Whoever it was, she couldn't see what kind of pokemon it was, so she had no idea who had the advantage. If odds weren't in her favor, that would be it. So instead, she decided to cross by behind the hooded figure, trying to pass by without being seen. She stayed quiet, not making a sound as she passed by to some more trees, the only trace of her being a set of fresh prints in the snow from where she was.

Avaria-2/22 energy.

Akuroma's horns twitched through the holes in his hood as he sensed a familiar presence nearby. Turning around he looked at the fresh footprints on the ground, his eyes glowing red underneath the darkness of the hood. He shook his head and turned back around, hoping he could simply lose the Oshawott in the woods as he searched for a good tree.

(Had a good idea for this then I lost it in the evolution conversation)

The Oshawott waited a few moments, peaking out from behind a tree and watching as the figure had turned around and began to walk again. That's strange. You don't usually see someone wearing a cloak around like that. I'd say they don't want anyone to know who they are. Maybe up to no good? She thought to herself, and decided it might be a good idea to snoop around a bit. Turning to the tree, she took her scarf off and tied it to the shell on her front, before reaching behind her and grabbing the second shell off of her back. She looked at it a moment, frowning as she remembered the circumstances behind it. What is there to frown about? Nothing. None of that matters. She quickly reminded herself, before digging the untied scalchop into the bark of the tree. Swinging the other shell up by her scarf, she lodged it into the bark and pulled the first shell out, placing it on her back before climbing up the red scarf hanging from the shell. Once up there, she dug the first shell back into the bark and climbed onto it, pulling the one tied to her scarf free. A few repeats of this and she was near the top of the tree, stepping out on one of the branches. She cautiously walked along the branches, hopping between trees to keep up with the figure, watching it curiously.

After a few moments of walking Akuroma stopped, having grown tired of being followed. "Avaria, you should know by now that following me is futile," he said, though with how his voice was nothing like his as a Ralts, being that of a female's, he had no idea if Avaria would even recognize it as his. It didn't truly matter. Akuroma grabbed his hood and pulled it down, revealing his face and the three scars across his cheek. He turned in the direction from which he sensed Avaria and smirked. "Now get down before I decide to knock the tree down."

Avaria's mouth twitched into a subtle frown as she thought about the voice and calling her by name. They know me. That's not good. She ran all the different Pokemon she had come to know in the area through her head, and none of them seemed to match up with the voice and shape of whatever was under the cloak. The Oshawott began to think back further to before Grassveil and the general area before the figure removed their hood. It was a Kirlia, not only that, but one with three familiar looking scars.
"Akuroma. I thought you were done with the area." She showed a small, smug smirk as she spoke, swinging her scalchop attached to her scarf into the tree trunk below her, beginning to reverse the process she had used to go up in other to go down.
"What brings you around here? And what's with the new look?" Ava questioned, getting to the bottom and tying the scarf back around her neck, hiding the older looking scar-like streak across her neck as she looked over at the Kirlia, leaning against the tree.

Akuroma blinked as he saw the scar, though he didn't feel like asking about it. "I'm looking for some good wood. I've got a base over in the Black Spear Mountains and I'm working on expanding it. There's also this thing called evolution, ya know, when a Pokemon meets certain requirements its form changes into the next stage in it's evolutionary line. You should try it some time," Akuroma said, walking up to the shorter Pokemon.

He smirked a bit, "And you? I didn't expect to find you around these parts. After our little monster house in Frozen Stream I thought you were done with this area," he said.

Dracorexion carried out 3 launched of one Icicle Woods :

, ,

"I assure you, I'm trying to get to that point." She rolled her eyes, matching Akuroma's smirk with one of her own. "Just because I haven't gotten there yet, doesn't mean I don't know about it." The Oshawott took a quick glance around, checking for anything that might have decided to come check them out before returning her eyes to the Kirlia, looking over its new evolution.
"I see you traded in the gown for a little something new." Ava decided to comment, wanting to see how Aku would respond to it.

The otter pokemon lost her smirk for a moment, frowning as she glanced around. A rustling of leaves and a few new marks in the snow by the trees caught her attention, though she couldn't place what Pokemon they belonged to.
"Hey, you can sense things right? Anything around us right now?" She asked the Kirlia, turning back to him.

Akuroma's smirk disappeared and he hung his head, "Yeah. I knew Kirlia were feminine but I never realized they were this feminine. Just listen to my voice. I can't wait until I finally find a Dawn Stone to evolve into a Gallade," he complained before Avaria asked her question. He lifted his head up and his horns twitched a bit. Looking over to a bush beside them, Akuroma charged up a Thunder Punch and slammed it into the ground, sending a wave of electricity out towards the bush. The resulting electricity flushed out a Sneasel and Smoochum, along with a totter seed that flew out towards Akuroma from the resulting jump the two feral Pokemon made.

"Ah, so I was right that one was part dark type. The good thing about my evolution is that now I can sense impure dark types, though I do have a range on it. If either of them get ten feet or more away from me, I won't be able to sense their emotions very well, even if I can see them," Akuroma explained as he caught the totter seed and got into a fighting position.

(3/33 energy)

Oh, alright. A bit distressed about seeming feminine, more importantly hoping to evolve with a dawn stone, he's not dumb enough to be a girl and still think he can evolve into a Gallade. Male it is. Ava decided, based on what Aku had said. Taking a step back as he used his thunder punch, she watched as the three things came out of the bush, a Sneasel, Smoochum and some sort of seed.
"To be perfectly honest, I don't particularly care about how they feel while we beat them, I was just looking to see if they were there." The Oshawott snidely commented, getting an idea. She placed the untied scalchop on her back and reeled in her scarf somewhat, swinging her shell in a circle as it began to glow with a dark aura, getting ready to use Night Slash.
"Well? What are you waiting for, princess?" She joked before swinging the scarf out at the Smoochum, using the scarf and shell as a ball and chain type of weapon. It wouldn't give her a huge amount of range, but it did have a bit more reach then the average swinging it around with her paw only.

"Call me that again and you're gonna get a thunder punch in the mouth," he threatened before jumped at the Sneasel and began throwing a barrage of Thunder Punches at it. He made sure not to give the Sneasel any time for a counter attack, landing hit after hit on either side of its head before he grabbed a hold of it and headbutted the dark type into the snow. Once he was finished with it he turned his attention to Avaria and the Smoochum to find the small psychic type trying to run from the swinging Night Slash after a failed attempt at using Attract on Avaria.

"Need any help there Avaria?" he asked, leaning up against a tree beside the body of the Sneasel. He smirked, flipping the Totter seed in his hand as he waited for the Oshawott to finish up with the Smoochum.

"Oh, someone's a bit self-conscious." The Oshawott snickered, swinging the makeshift weapon she had around, barely avoiding Aku and bringing it back around. She swung it upwards somewhat as the Smoochum prepared to charge at her with a pound attack, pulling down on the scarf and slamming the scalchop down on top of the Smoochum, knocking it onto the ground.
"I'm fine, no need to rub it in there." Pulling her scarf back, she untied her shell and wrapped the scarf back around her neck hastily, dashing forward and swinging the scalchop into the Smoochum with the flat side, knocking the Pokemon unconscious. Hopefully, it would stay down for at least a short time. Ava tied the loose end of her scarf hanging over her front to her shell once more and placed the shell on her front, turning back to Aku.
"So, you're looking to build a house, right?" She asked.

"Not build, expand. I've got a base built over in the Black Spear Mountains and I'm looking to recruit some more Pokemon to aid in my research and perhaps join a Tyrunt who lives there in the town she's wanting to build," he said as he began to search the bodies for any items. Finding nothing he frowned and went on to eat a couple of Sitrus berries he had in his bag.

"So, why are you here? You never answered me the first time," he said as he finished the last berry.

(33/33 energy)

"Is that really important?" The Oshawott questioned with a sly smile, shrugging as she decided on what to say. "It's not much really. Just taking another look around. Nothing you need to worry about." She decided to leave it at that, watching as the Kirlia ate a few Sitrus berries.

"How exactly do you plan on collecting wood on your own? I don't suppose you've brought anything to cut up some trees with." Ava continued to ask, quickly moving on from the prior subject. "Maybe you could use some help with that. I could always oblige." She offered, smirking at Akuroma as she waited for a response.

"Oh? What a kind Oshawott you are, almost as kind as a certain Roselia I met in Pecha Woods not too long ago. I believe you know her. Her name's Vesper," Akuroma said, returning Avaria's smirk as he walked past her. "Though I suppose you're right. I was planning on smashing the base with my Psyshock, though a clean cut from your Night Slash would prove better at preserving the integrity of the wood."

Akuroma shifted his bag on his shoulder as he walked past Avaria, patting the shorter Pokemon on the head. "Oh, how's the outlaw business going? If you're scouting out these areas again does that mean you're prey is running thin or getting smart around the towns?" he asked, looking over at Avaria.