Starting Line (Open)

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Lumina was stationed in front of a forest, her same old perpetual frown on her face. This Mystery Dungeon seemed nice enough; it was bright and sunny, with green leaves and seemingly weak Pokemon inside. But the Vulpix knew better than to let down her guard, lest she end up fainting and making herself look like a fool.

The reason she came here, to Pecha Forest, was twofold. On one hand, she had always been interested in Mystery Dungeons. This seemed like as good a time as ever to get a chance to explore one. If there was one positive to her new home in Grassveil, it was that there was a pair of Mystery Dungeons right at her doorstep.

On the other hand, she just needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the town. She was already in a better mood, now that she had some room to breathe.

Lumina had decided to tackle the easier of the two Mystery Dungeons first; it just seemed logical to her. And so here she was, ready as ever to get the job done. The Fox Pokemon padded into the forest, her eyes narrowed as she silently scanned for any sign of trouble.

(Energy: 11/16)

Lumina smiled lightly, looking back at Varda. "I go exploring a lot, so I've learnt about many Pokemon that way." She explained, slowing her pace a little so she could keep up a comfortable pace with the Swablu. In truth, there was another reason she knew a lot of Pokemon so well, and that was her mother. She was a very wise Pokemon; that probably came with living for hundreds of years. Lumina's mother had shared some of her knowledge with her. But the Vulpix was a little reluctant to share that much information with the blue bird Pokemon.

As she was walking, something popped out at her, making the Fox Pokemon give out a surprised yelp. It was an Aipom, who was hanging on a low tree branch by her tail. She gave a loud laugh at the Vulpix's shocked expression before scrambling back into the leafy treetops.

(Energy: 6)

Varda cooed in admiration, he had no idea he was traveling with such an experienced explorer right now! Lumina was particularly a veteran! ...At least in the simple bird's eyes. And at least when compared to him. The Swabu had basically just stepped out of his own nest and into the world, he had barely any knowledge of everything that had been surrounding him.
"Will I learn too while I explore?" The bird chirped in awe, obviously wanting to become more like the fox. She was so smart and knew so much, he hoped that would be where he too would be eventually! Assuming of course, that he didn't find his way back home and stay there instead of exploring...

It was a bit easier to walk after the other Pokémon when she slowed her pace, but Varda didn't seem to even notice it, quite happily bouncing after her. However, he was forced to come to a stop when Lumina did the same, giving a yelp that caused the blue bird's feathers to ruffle defensively. It took him a while to register what had happened, but the sudden appearance of a purple-furred creature hanging from a branch and the insensitive laugh told the story rather clearly.

"Y-You can't do that!" The Swablu chirped after the monkey-like Pokémon as it scurried back into the tree,
"It's mean!" Varda furrowed his brow a bit, not exactly liking it when his friends – or anyone for that matter – got picked on and was laughed at like that. It wasn't nice to go around scaring Pokémon!

Lumina stared blankly in the vague direction of the Aipom, likely looking like a fool. That had been embarrassing, especially after the Swablu had just been complimenting how much she knew about the world. Her brown eyes sharpened into a glare as her mood turned into a strange mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"It's going to pay for that." The Vulpix growled, her six tails puffed out in an instinctive reaction, as if she was trying to make herself look bigger. But how was she going to attack it when it was in the canopy? Like she had been saying to herself earlier, she would need to watch her fire here. Those green leaves might end up catching flame easily, and Lumina didn't want to burn Pecha Forest.

Then she felt a strange sensation, almost as if something was being unlocked from her genetic code. Or maybe she was just being overly poetic about this and she had just sharpened her skills to the point where she came up with a new battle move. One of the two. But the Vulpix glared into the tree branches, her red fur fluffed up, and let out a loud bark. It was almost like the shocked yelping sound she made a few seconds earlier, but twice as loud.

Now it was the Aipom's turn to be surprised. It dangled from the branch, hanging on by her tail, hands covering her ears. Lumina looked over with a small sense of wonder. Think I learnt something...? Was that Roar? The Vulpix smiled to herself. She had seen her mother use Roar before, to help drive off feral Pokemon when Lumina got in over her head. Now it looked like she had picked up on the skill, too.

Varda looked at Lumina, worry in his eyes. She looked... Off, somehow. She wasn't really doing anything. Surely she hadn't been attacked? The bird had been so sure that the monkey creature had just tried to spook the poor fox, he certainly hadn't seen it strike his friend in any way at least! But now he wasn't even sure anymore, seeing the way she reacted.
"Um, Lumina, are you alright...?" He asked carefully, unsure if she actually was very hurt. He was afraid that she actually was.

However, the fox Pokémon just ended up growling and puffing up all six of her tails, her fur standing on end in anger. The Swablu chirped a quiet little peep as he quieted himself, not sure if he should be asking questions from her in that state. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit worried when Lumina made it clear that she was looking for revenge. He didn't think that would solve the problem or teach the mean Pokémon a lesson!

"It's gone already... I think it would be better to let it go," Varda's voice was rather quiet as he didn't want Lumina to grow angry at him for objecting now that she already was rather ruffled. But she didn't seem to be listening! Suddenly, a mighty roar escaped the small fox's mouth, so loud it almost seemed like the entire forest was shaking! Bird Pokémon suddenly erupted from the trees as they flew up to safety and away from Lumina – and yes, the purple monkey seemed to have been caught by it too, slipping up and hanging by its tail, now having been surprised itself. Perhaps it was the right kind of medicine after all...

The Swablu however, had also been quite surprised, not having expected such a voice coming from such a small Pokémon! Again he had landed on his feathery behind, his beady eyes round and large in surprise as he blinked a couple of times, looking at Lumina. He had no idea what to say!

The six-tailed Fox Pokemon paused. She hadn't meant to go overboard with the Roar, but it was only the first time she'd ever used it. Perhaps she'd be able to learn to control it better with time. But she was still proud of herself, and despite her thoughtful nature, seemed almost oblivious to Varda's discomfort as she was caught up in the strange rush of her new power.

The Vulpix watched as the Aipom looked over at her with a fearful gaze before dashing clumsily back into the cover of the canopy. She didn't bother roaring again, hopefully the purple monkey had learnt her lesson. "You deserved that." The vixen murmured under her breath.

Indeed, it looked like she had caused quite a stir. The nearby bird Pokemon had flown off, the Aipom had gotten a taste of her own medicine, and... Varda. The blue bird-like Pokemon with cloudy wings was staring up at her, looking as if he had seen a ghost. The rush of her new move subsided, and Lumina froze.  

"... Apologies. I didn't mean to scare you like that." She added, looking down at her paws. Did she sound insincere? To be honest, Lumina wasn't sure. She wasn't very good at saying sorry. Even for the more social Pokemon, that seemed to be a hard skill to master. The Vulpix took a deep breath, gradually returning to her former composure.

Varda was still on the ground, sitting on top of the soft grass as he looked up, blinking a couple of times in surprise. The forest around them had grown quiet as everything else had escaped and left the two Pokémon on their own. Even the purple monkey was now gone, when the bird's eyes looked high enough to notice it missing from its branch! Apparently, it hadn't wanted to stick around when Lumina was like that, either...

The Swablu looked over at at the fox, still quite unsure what to say, not getting up yet. For a moment those deep, dark little beads just stared at her before a small smile finally formed after her apology.
"It is okay!" The little bird chirped happily, accepting the apology without any second thoughts. Slowly, he even climbed back on his little feet, shaking his feathers clean of any dust that might have gotten on them.

"No one got hurt, just a little spooked," Varda continued in his usual cheerful manner, certain that no harm had been done. He was fine and it seemed like everyone just ran away. He didn't hear any yelps of pain or saw anyone fall from the tree or anything, so there hadn't been anything bad Lumina had actually done.
"I didn't know you could roar like that!" The Swablu cooed, though even he wasn't entirely sure if he was admiring her lungs or just saying what he thought. He wasn't entirely sure if it was something to be admired or not, even...

The vixen broke into a wry smile. "I didn't know either. That was the first time I've ever used Roar, so I suppose I lost control of it." Still, Lumina had a feeling that it would be a very useful skill. Maybe she could even handle the other forest, Shadowhue, with it. She wasn't half bad of a fighter, not to mention that the rewards for exploring that dungeon were probably much greater...

... but she could cross that bridge once the time came. Right now, she was exploring Pecha Forest with a Swablu who she was getting along surprisingly well with. And hoping that they didn't run into any more Weepinbell or Murkrow, she was doing that too.

The orange Fox Pokemon took a few steps forward. "We should continue. I must've attracted quite a lot of attention with that, and we don't want the feral Pokemon to find us once they come back."

Varda cooed in awe when he was told that the fox actually just now picked up the mighty, loud roar she had used, never having actually done something quite like that in her life before. It did sound quite amazing, she had to be a natural! Or perhaps everyone had the ability? Lumina had been provoked and reacted in the way that drove her teaser away, everything had locked into place just perfectly. Would that be a way to figure out new things at the right moment?

The Swablu nodded as he quickly waddled after the other Pokémon, obviously wanting to do as the team leader said! They should continue if Lumina wanted to, though the bird couldn't help but wonder if they were in any actual danger after what she did.
"I wonder if they're going to come back in a while after that," he let out a little giggle as he walked, not feeling very threatened anymore. He was quite certain no Pokémon was left in the bushes or trees around them – and obviously he wouldn't be scared of Lumina, because she was nice!

"Do you think I could do that too?" The little bird just had to ask, his eyes bright in excitement. Perhaps it was rather silly to even assume that such a small little thing could ever let out a strong roar that would scare others, but Varda didn't seem to be letting that stop him.

Actually, he has a good point. The feral Pokemon might not come back for a while. The small Fox Pokemon thought. Was her new move really that powerful? There had to have been a lot of situations in which Roar could be useful, Lumina knew that she had barely scratched the surface. Still, that's no excuse to be loitering around.

As she was about to continue walking, she heard her companion ask another question, still seemingly filled with wonder. She did have her doubts that the small blue bird with cottony wings could learn Roar, but then again, Lumina would guess that she didn't look very intimidating either. "I wouldn't think so, but I don't know the moveset of a Swablu. It's not impossible you could learn it sometime in the future." She decided. She would've shot him down, but as she didn't know for a fact that he couldn't learn Roar, the Vulpix didn't want to be proven wrong sometime in the future. Stranger things had happened, after all. Such as Magikarp evolving into Gyarados.

Varda hopped after Lumina, jumping over the thick roots of the trees as he kept following the fox, his own short legs making it a bit difficult but it seemed like he wasn't minding it much. The small bird did seem to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm that helped him keep moving over any obstacles in his way.
"You think so?" The Swablu chirped hopefully, obviously much rather considering the option that he could learn to roar just like Lumina! Even though she suspected that he couldn't, she still felt like there was a chance and that was enough to him. After all, the fox was so smart and seemed to know so much!

"Do you think I could practice it? Maybe I could learn," the bird suddenly got his master plan as he jumped down from a root protruding from the ground, gently floating down by using his wings. Varda didn't waste any time before he already fluffed up his feathers, becoming a quite poofy, soft ball of blue feathers and cottony clouds. A soft little chirp escaped his beak, his best attempt at looking and sounding intimidating.

Though she wouldn't have said as much aloud, and break her current persona, the Swablu's attempts to look intimidating turned out rather... pathetic, in Lumina's eyes. The small bird Pokémon looked more cute then threatening, with his feathers puffed out and making Varda appear as if he was simply a ball of fluff. The soft, white cloudy wings didn't help matters. Not to mention that his chirp was far from a roar.

Look what you've done now, Lumina. He thinks he can roar. The little voice in her mind chimed in, with the Vulpix swiftly forcing it silent. Maybe he can learn, with a tutor. Or after he evolves. An Altaria could look intimidating if it wanted to. She replied. Then she stopped, deciding that it was stupid that she was arguing with herself.

"... You might have better luck with some instruction, Varda. A tutor of some sort." She said, padding up to the Swablu. She sat down, her six tails draping across the grassy ground. "I would offer to help, but I've just learnt the move myself. Even if Swablu can learn it, I doubt I know Roar well enough to teach it to anyone else."

Varda looked up to the other Pokémon as she approached, the beady black little eyes being almost buried inside all the fluff. After a moment the bird flattened his feathers, looking more like himself again – still quite fluffy, but much less so after his previous form. He cooed in deep thought as he pondered on Lumina's wise words, it was quite clear that she hadn't been scared at all when he tried to roar... So maybe he did indeed need some help.

The fox-like Pokémon doubted she could do so, however. Even though she clearly demonstrated that she could do it, the Swablu understood. Teaching was a lot harder than just simply doing it, one needed to know it inside and out and have a lot of experience to really know how they could instruct another Pokémon! Varda didn't blame Lumina at all and he definitely didn't want to pressure her. Instead, another thought popped into his mind.

"Oh yes, Violet can teach all kinds of moves!" The bird chirped as he opened and flapped his wings a couple of times,
"She has a Dojo or something. I wonder if she can roar," he mostly thought out loud, wondering about it. Was there a move Violet couldn't teach? He didn't know, but she had said that she offered that kind of services to other Pokémon. He certainly could ask her what she could teach him next time he went to visit her! Though the bird Pokémon did hope that next time he would visit her, he would already have some kind of rare berry to give to her...

"You've mentioned this Violet character once before. You say she has a dojo?" The Vulpix's expression perked with interest; a dojo could be useful to her. Some training couldn't hurt, not to mention that she might be able to learn some new moves. That would definitely be helpful, Lumina doubted that she needed to know Tail Whip. Perhaps she could replace it with something a bit more useful?

What kind of Pokémon was Violet? If she knew all kinds of moves, and could presumably teach others, she must have been very knowledgeable. Lumina's first thought was a Mew, the legendary Pokémon that could supposedly learn every move, but she chased that thought away. It was ridiculous. A legendary couldn't live in a town like Grassveil without being at least a little better known, plus the fact that Lumina didn't believe in legendary Pokémon in the first place.

Or maybe Violet was a Ditto? That made sense to the Vulpix. Ditto could use every move in the book via Transform, not to mention that it was a purple colour. The name 'Violet' would fit a Ditto perfectly. Varda had referred to the stranger as female, and although Ditto couldn't technically be either gender, wasn't it possible for one to identify as male or female?

"Violet doesn't happen to be a Ditto, does she?" Lumina wondered, deep in thought. She was overanalyzing this, that much she was vaguely aware of, but the Fox Pokémon was sure that she was onto something.

Varda nodded happily as his friend seemed to be quite interested in Violet now that he had mentioned the Dojo she was running, confirming both of the things Lumina had said. Indeed, it was the same Violet he had spoken of earlier, but that time it was her berry garden he had mentioned instead of the other type of services she also provided.
"Yes, I heard she does train other Pokémon for a price! She can apparently also teach moves," the blue bird chirped as he told more, of course wanting to please the fox now that she had heard something that she clearly wanted to know more about.

"I don't know how it is, though. I never have been trained by her... Though she does grow rather nice berries!" The Swablu smiled, not exactly enjoying the sparring and other heavily physical activities as much as the pretty – and tasty – berries Violet had in her berry garden. Last time he had mentioned the berries however, Lumina hadn't seemed to be all that interested...
"Oh, noo," Varda let out a soft giggle as the fox Pokémon wondered if Violet happened to be a Ditto, of course finding the idea rather absurd when he had actually seen Violet himself. Though suddenly, the bird's certainty and giggles stopped as he took on a more serious face, thinking of something.

The Ditto were known to be able to shapeshift. Violet didn't look anything like a Ditto, but... That wouldn't prove anything, now would it? She could have changed her shape if she was in fact one!
"Well... She didn't look like one," the Swablu chirped as he looked at Lumina, a bit confused now,
"She was... Well she said that she was an, an... Oshawott! Yes, that was it!"

In some ways, the fact that Violet was an Oshawott seemed even more impressive to the Vulpix. Imagine how much someone would have to know to teach moves of all kinds, yet never using them yourself. ... or maybe she actually was a Ditto under the guise of an Oshawott? Come on, Lumina. Start thinking like that, and before you know it, you'll think everyone's a Ditto. The six tailed vixen lightly chided herself.

"So, she can teach moves? That's interesting... maybe I'll drop by the dojo sometime." She decided. She was fairly sure she had caught a glance of a dojo yesterday, while Noel was giving her that tour of the town. It shouldn't be too hard to find. "Anyways, thank you for the tip, Varda. I'm fairly new to Grassveil, I didn't know they had a dojo there."