A Tour Through Town

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It hadn't been long since Jet's last visit to the town. Of course he hadn't been in and around the town for very long either. The town looked just the same as it had earlier when he had left it: peaceful, sunny with clear weather, and happy Pokémon going about their usual day-to-day activities in the streets. Whether they were going shopping at one of the many stores or simply wandering the town for relaxation's sake was difficult to tell at a glance, but Jet found it rather amusing to occasionally watch a pedestrian and try to guess just what it was that they were out and about for. However, he would not be so easily distracted this time. Not when he had a responsibility to uphold; a promise to keep.

Not even five minutes ago, Jet and his new acquaintance, Avery the Croagunk, had been battling it out in the Small Pond just outside of town. It had not been a serious battle, but more of a simple, practical sparring match between the two on Jet's provocation. The result of the battle had been more than decisive, leading Jet to a quick, and admittedly rather painful, defeat. Not that he had really expected anything more of himself...not when he could not gain any additional information on his opponent before the battle had begun. But even so, it had proven to be a valuable learning experience and he had even made another friend in Avery that he felt comfortable with. In exchange for the somewhat quick bout, Jet had promised Avery that he would try his best to be a decent guide for the Croagunk and show him around Grassveil. And that was what had led the Buizel back to the town.

Jet and Avery had started to make their way through town, headed toward the north side where the Guild was located. That was their end destination, since that's where the Croagunk ultimately wanted to end up. With any luck, they might even run into Lee, Jet's current teammate, on the way there. The walk was rather tough going for Jet, however. He still felt the leftover dull aches and pains from getting beaten down by the Croagunk's barrage of attacks. He even had to take a quick breather once as they travelled to keep himself from falling over in his exhaustion. He had just stopped in front of the large police station and started vaguely describing it while he rested. He simply assumed that Avery knew what a police station was and what it was for, so he skimmed over the topic. The one thing he made sure to mention, however, was that the police station was where the town's public outlaw notice board was available. He had taken note of this rather quickly upon his arrival, since he mostly wanted to help stop bullies and criminals as his motivation for getting stronger.

However, the first spot of interest that Jet really took to was the Springfall Dojo. They presently stood just outside of the gates of the Dojo. He had come by not too long ago too see what kind of training regimen could be offered here.

"This here is the Springfall Dojo," Jet said with clear enthusiasm as he led the two of them to the gates. As he had shown Avery around the town, his timidity had started to disappear. He had started to grow more comfortable with the Croagunk and thus felt less awkward around him. "This was one of the first places to catch my attention, Avery. The whole place is run by a single Oshawott. Not only can she help train you, but she can also teach you new moves and even runs a Technical Machine store on the side. I've been thinking about coming here for training someday. Unfortunately, I think she only trains each Pokémon individually, so it's rather slow-going." He then looked at the Croagunk for the first time in a while. "What d'you think, Avery?" he asked.

The satisfying sound of his attack hitting the Charmander's flesh was truly bliss to Avery's ears. The left corner of his mouth curled slightly in a mockery of a grin. It was almost simultaneous to the Charmander's own smile. Showcasing that both truly loved the thrill of battle. Avery's own smirk disappeared though when he saw the open jaw and the light forming inside the Fire type's throat. Lifting his arms in front of his face, Avery crossed the limbs in a makeshift shield for his most important body part.

Avery's first clue that Jet had done something was the raindrop he felt on his skin. This one drop was both a torment as a bliss to the hybrid's body. It soothed him slightly, but also reminded him that he would receive the water's opposite straight in the face. The second clue was when the flames were far weaker than they had been. Surely the Charmander had not yet lost that much power, had he? The exclamation of Jet's strategy, followed by the rain, was his final clue. The Buizel had performed Rain Dance. A move that not only healed his wounds and health, but weakened a Fire type's flames.

The emotions on the Croagunk's face could be described as utterly terrifying. Such an emotionless creature should not have the ability to showcase this amount of emotions. The smile on his face told the Charmander what Avery thought. 'I'm going to screw you over soooo much!' This was immediately followed by two simultaneous slaps to the Charmander's ears with his palms, in order to disorient the Fire type. A combination was added in the form of another knuckle punch in the throat and sweeping kick to the lizard's feet in order to make him lose his balance.

The rain was healing his burned skin. He was going to enjoy this soooo much more. Avery would definitely thank the Buizel later. First he had a firebreathing lizard to curb stomp.

The Charmander's eyes widened as he saw his flames greatly weakened through the falling rain. The expression on Avery's face really seemed to put him off for a moment. And fortunately for Avery, that opened him up just enough for the hybrid's attack to sneak through his guard. Suddenly, the Poison-type's hands palms slapped themselves against the sides of his head, temporarily disorienting the poor Pokémon and causing him to let out a grunt of pain from the hard blow to his ears. That, in turn, caused him to fall victim to his opponent's next series of attacks.

Avery's punch slammed directly into his throat, effectively ruining whatever sense of balance and defense the Charmander still possessed. This was quickly followed by a leg slamming against his feet. "Gah...!" he cried out, legs getting knocked cleanly out from underneath him. The attack forced him hard onto his back at Avery's feet. His disorientation did not stop there. He groaned for a moment, not able to make any kind of offensive attack. This left him wide open, allowing Avery to really continue his assault.

Meanwhile, Jet stood ready to rush in and assist Avery should his friend need his help further. In the rain, even he would be able to fight back properly. But for now, it seemed like the Croagunk had this fight in the bag. He had started tearing into the Charmander with apparent ease as soon as the rain had started. And even if the Charmander managed to mount some kind of counterattack, Jet could quickly rush in, aided by his own Swift Swim ability, and use his Aqua tail as either an offensive move against the Charmander or to help Avery recover even more strength. But for now...he simply did not want to get in his partner's way. So he chose to stay back and only move in to make a move as he was needed.

Avery's smirk grew on his lips at the execution of his moves. Seeing the Charmander fall defensively on its behind please him far more than any previous opponent. Probably because the Fire type had been such a pain in the ass. Avery hated pain in the asses. Even with the rain healing his wounds Avery knew he had to finish this fast. It did, after all, do nothing to his fatigue. Giving the lizard no time to recover from his previous combination, Avery grabbed him by the legs and heaved him in the air with an overhead sling. The lizard would not long know the feeling of flight, as Avery would then slam him straight in the ground, followed by a jump on the back and finishing with a Drain Punch. The energy flowing in the formed fist would hopefully finish the battle. Because if not, then Avery would have to pull out all the stops and performing the same finishing combo of this mornings' fight with Jet was not something he felt like doing.

The Charmander groaned and could do nothing. He was a bit punch-drunk from Avery's last barrage of attacks and was only vaguely aware as his legs were helplessly grabbed by the Croagunk before he was subsequently lifted upward and off of the ground, getting thrown like a doll into the air. His body remained in the middle of the air for only a brief few moments before he knew the feeling of solid ground yet again. His front side slammed powerfully against the ground as Avery slammed him back down...but that was still not the end of it. He soon felt two strong legs slamming down powerfully onto his back, causing him to cry out loudly in pain from the stomp. And even then, it seemed like his enemy was still not through with him. A moment later, a powerful punch slammed into his body and he could feel his power draining away, straight into the Croagunk's, serving to recover his strength at the cost of his own. And with that, he laid limp on the ground at Avery's feet.

Jet watched Avery's assault with wide eyes. He could really use Avery's help in his training, that's for sure. If he could manage to fight like his friend, he would be more than satisfied with his progress. "W-wow, Avery, th-that was amazing...!" Jet exclaimed, seeing that the Charmander did not seem eager to stand back up after getting crushed into the ground like that. "Y-you really did a number on him. I-I don't think I've ever seen somebody move and fight like that...." he stepped toward the hybrid Pokémon and walked to his side. Hopefully the Croagunk was still alright....

Avery kept his guard up for a few more moments after his last attack. Only after making sure that the Charmander would no longer stand up, did Avery walk away from the downed opponent and allow himself to fall down. The hybrid sprawled on the ground and took in the air around him as if it would go out of style. The rain falling on his body truly helped his body heal, but it would take a good night's rest before Avery would be completely 100% once more. That Charmander had been a far too large pain in the ass dammit! While the fight had been fun, now that the adrenaline was fading away Avery saw how useless the whole thing had been. There had been no reason behind the whole battle, except for some petty greed on the assaulter's part. The fight also told Avery that he needed to either get stronger or he needed to learn something akin that Rain Dance.

His musings were cut short by the arrival of Jet. Though his voice had long since arrived before Jet's body. The hybrid gave a weak smile at the praise, before he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the rain hitting his fatigued body. At this moment Avery couldn't care less if an explosion occurred right next to him. He probably wouldn't be capable of moving out of the way fast enough anyway.

Jet made his way over to the Croagunk's slumped body, now sitting down simply to enjoy the rainfall. The Buizel certainly knew that feeling well enough. He himself could never get enough of the rain. In fact, that was the whole reason he had gone off and purchased his Rain Dance TM in the first place. Not only would it help his Water-type attacks to be stronger and increase his speed...but it also felt great. He loved the rain...and he could only imagine just how much Avery was enjoying it right now as well. He did, however, notice that the Croagunk was rather quiet and looked like he was exhausted, despite his healing body. "Hey, are you alright?" Jet asked as he moved to sit down beside him. "That fight looked pretty rough."

The Buizel paused for a moment as he thought about the reason the fight was so tough in the first place. "And...speaking of that...I...I just wanted to apologize. I don't know what came over me. I...I should have been in that fight by your side the entire time. B-but...I don't know...something just...stopped me. I-I don't really know what it was. I-I could only stand back and watch until...until it looked like you were one step away from getting beaten. I'm sorry it took me so long to get my act together. B-but...I just want you to know that...even if you don't want to keep travelling with me or helping me...I'll try not to be such a coward if there is a next time."

Avery wanted to wave the Buizel's concerns away, but his arms felt a bit too heavy for him to perform such a useless gesture. Thus he lay there, waiting for Jet's excuses to end before he answered. "You had little reason for joining that fight. You barely know me and thus it would be a bit illogical for you to risk your health. To be honest I was quite surprised you helped at all. I had gathered from your personality you'd be too uncertain. I am quite glad I was wrong."

Grunting the hybrid sat upright, before pushing himself of the ground. Giving a glance at the downed Charmander, Avery mulls over Jets first question as he gazes at the dark clouds once more. "I'm fine, and will get better the longer it rains. But I'll need a place to sleep in order to heal up completely as the rain does nothing to my fatigue." Looking at Jet with his emotions once more kept in check. "You wouldn't know a place where one could crash for the night? I recall a Café, but also that it was closed."

Jet let out a small sigh at Avery's words. "N-no, that's...that's not it...." Jet murmured lowly. "Th-that shouldn't be...that's not an excuse for me. Th-the reason I wanted to be part of the Guild in the first place was so that I could help other Pokémon in trouble on top of wanting to make myself stronger." He looked over at the Croagunk, appearing disappointed...though more with himself than with anyone else. "Illogical or not...I should have been helping you." He then let out another small sigh. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this rescuing business...b-but I suppose that that does not mean that I cannot keep trying...."

He then nodded to himself. The Buizel turned his gaze over to the hybrid Pokémon as he pushed himself off of the ground and onto his feet. He followed suit, standing again and looking at the Croagunk. "O-oh, right...." he murmured, trying to shift gears in his thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on something like that, he supposed. "W-well...the rain won't last too long. A Rain Dance move is only fleeting. It should be ending not too long from now. As for a place to stay for the night...." He paused and thought for a moment. Then, an idea struck him. Could he do that...? He wasn't sure...but it was the least he could do for the Croagunk. "...You can come stay with me at the Guild, if you want. Lee and I have a room there...but Lee hasn't been back for some time. S-so the room should be empty, other than me.... Is...is that alright with you?"

"I wouldn't say you aren't 'cut out' for it. Just that well, you don't seem to project a whole lot of self-esteem yourself." Was the only thing said about Jet's self-doubting speech. He had long since gathered that it was no use to orally encourage the Water type. The only way to encourage him was to use physical force, to show him where he truly stood and how much he'd toughened up later on. He was slightly annoyed by the information of the Rain Dance's time span. He'd prefer for it to rain at least ten more minutes. Those had been some nasty burn marks. 'Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.'

As he thought that, Avery searched for his trusted pipe. Finding the item, he put it in his mouth before blowing slightly in it. Unsurprisingly, every bubble that left the pipe immediately burst by the rain drops. Yet Avery kept the item between his lips, just because he felt like it. Ignoring the strangely acting Buizel, Avery checked his surroundings in an attempt to find out what became of the bystanders. Said attempt failed when the Water type pulled his attention to him once more. Avery lifted an eyebrow at the offer granted to him. It was an offer he had little reason to refuse. It would serve as a way to inform him of the Guild's location as well as grant him the possibility to meet the Master. He was after all interested in joining the Guild.

He blinked at that, before looking at the Buizel. 'I suppose that'd make us guildmates, if nothing else.' Not really having a problem with the Water type, Avery gave him a nod. "I will most gratefully take you up to that offer. Do lead the way." He finished with a very small lift of his mouth's right corner.

Jet weighed the Croagunk's words for a moment, ultimately deciding that the hybrid Pokémon was right. Again, that was part of the reason why he wanted to become a member of an adventure team in the first place. There was very little point in giving up at this early hour. Perhaps he should simply use this as a learning experience then. He needed to work a bit harder to work up his courage when it came to things like this. He still highly doubted that he would be able to make much of a difference...but if he kept training at the Guild, then maybe one day he could turn out to be a successful teammate. And one that could provide more than a mere support role. The idea of participating more actively in the battles beside his friends was certainly an appealing thought, although perhaps a bit far off.

Finally, Avery distracted the Buizel from his own thoughts when he looked over at him and finally accepted his offer to join him at the Guild. While that did not necessarily make them teammates just yet, it was a good step in the right direction. Lee may not be around, but perhaps he could have Avery join, with his approval of course, without Lee's presence. After all, as the co-founder of the Team, he could probably act as temporary leader until the Froakie's return. And having the Croagunk stand with him in the Guild would certainly help make him more confident in his exploits....

"R-right," the Buizel answered at last, nodding to him and turning away. "Th-the Guild shouldn't be too far from here, I don't think," he said. "W-we should be there in...I don't know...a few minutes maybe?" He looked back at the Croagunk once more. "Are...you going to be okay walking that far after the rain stops? I-I don't want you to push yourself or anything...."