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)

"Let's go." Lumina murmured to the Swablu next to her. She stalked out of the bushes, her head held high and her tails flowing behind her. She had a vague plan of intimidating the Nidorina. If she and Varda could show that they were in good shape to fight, and the feral Pokemon probably wasn't at the top of her game after the Murkrow, the Nidorina might decide that it was a loosing battle and retreat.

Although with how fiercely she had just been fighting for the item, perhaps the Vulpix should've known better. Lumina let out a low growl and puffed out her fur, trying to scare off the poison type. The Nidorina paused, as if considering the challenge, but after a moment she responded by rearing onto her hind legs and returning the growl.

The six-tailed vixen narrowed her brown eyes. "Let me know if things get out of hand. I'll use Roar and try to scare it off." Since the feral Pokemon was already in a standoffish mood, Lumina wasn't sure if Roar would actually succeed in scaring it off right now. Using the move right now might just aggravate it even more. But if things got serious, she could try it.

Varda had been waiting for the moment, but he still wasn't sure if he was entirely prepared when the order to move finally came. He wasn't even sure if he had ever wanted it to come, not really having been looking forward the fight that surely would ensue! But still, Lumina was the leader. What else could he do except follow her lead and do what she ordered? A team needed each other, they had to be able to trust each other and know there was always someone watching your back. If Lumina would move out, the Swablu would just have to do the same!

The little bird hopped out and followed the fox Pokémon, his steps nervous as they approached the large, bulky Pokémon that had just withstood some rather nasty attacks from the Murkrow and still be standing – even if now looking worse for wear. Following Lumina's example, Varda too fluffed up his feathers in an attempt to be intimidating, the dark little button eyes staring at the unknown Pokémon in the middle of all the fluff. He even let out a little chirpy growl, failing badly at the whole intimidation side of the things.

It certainly wasn't working. The other Pokémon wasn't backing down, seemingly not thinking Lumina and Varda were a threat of any kind. Not even after the Murkrow attack. After a moment of staring at the pair and ready to attack, the Nidorina bared its fangs with a snarl and lunged at the Vulpix.

The Fox Pokemon watched her foe carefully. When she saw the poison type lunge at her, she swiftly backed away to avoid being hit, throwing off the Nidorina's momentum in the process. The feral Pokemon landed hard on her feet, but regained her footing gracefully, with barely a stumble. Lumina knew it would be difficult to get a chance to attack, but she felt ready.

Lumina looked back at Varda. "If you think you can distract her, I could try and get off a Flare Blitz." She offered. "With the damage she's already taken, and with the sun out like this, I think it might be enough to knock her out. Or at least get fairly close to it." She added in a hushed tone. She wasn't sure if the Nidorina even understood her, but if she could, it wasn't worth the risk to give away her plan.

The fire type kept an eye on the Nidorina, and saw that she was again ready to attack. Using Double Kick, the Nidorina aimed a pair of blows at Lumina. Though the Vulpix managed to deftly dodge the first one, she hadn't expected her enemy to hit twice, and so the second kick hit her on the flank and sent her reeling.

Varda reacted with a slight delay as the other Pokémon attacked Lumina, spreading his wings and jumping to the air as his friend luckily managed to dodge. And luckily for him, the attack was directed towards Lumina or else he might have gotten hit himself! It was clear that the wild Pokémon wasn't built for the fastest attacks, they had already seen that when it fought the Murkrow... And luckily for them, both the Swablu and the fox were rather small and relatively quick on their feet compared to the lumbering beast!

A bit dazed and lost after the surprise attack, Lumina's order caused the bird to snap out of his thoughts and concentrate on the battle, flapping his cotton wings softly to stay in the air.
"I'll try," he chirped with a little nod, this time slightly more prepared for any possible attacks as he flew further away, not wanting to be in front of the other Pokémon. Luckily – or unluckily – it didn't seem to be interested in him at all, rather sticking to attacking Lumina – and despite her speed, a kick finally connected.

Varda let a little worried chirp as he flew closer, not wanting the Pokémon to have another chance at attacking Lumina while she was down! Swooping in from behind, he did his best to be a distraction that couldn't be ignored. Indeed, his flapping and poking was rather annoying, causing the Nidorina to snarl and swipe at the air as it tried to push the bird away, but the Swablu didn't ever leave for too long. That was enough for the Pokémon to actually start snapping at Varda, moving towards him as it tried to actually hit.

Like the Murkrow before him, the blue bird had the advantage of being able to fly just out of reach to try to keep the attacks from connecting. However, unlike the Murkrow, Varda was slower. The Nidorina didn't seem to be able to kick the bird, but eventually one of its fast, random swipes at the air did hit the Swablu and cause it to fly backwards a bit, air knocked out of his lungs.

Varda worked on distracting the Nidorina, seemingly trying to annoy it in a fashion that wasn't unlike the Murkrow before him. Hopefully, the Swablu would have some better luck then the previously bird to go up against this Pokemon. The Vulpix turned away while her partner kept it busy, racing to the other side of the clearing. She would need some time to build momentum, as she was too close to pull off a Flare Blitz at her current distance.

The Fox Pokemon wondered if the Nidorina thought she was running away. She wouldn't have minded if it thought that, as she would've been able to take advantage of the surprise. Facing the Nidorina's back, the vixen closed her brown eyes. When she reopened them, there seemed to be some fire in them, and if one looked closely they could see a faint reddish-orange aura surrounding her body.

Then something happened.

The Swablu got hit, and Varda seemed winded. She briefly considered abandoning the attack to go help him, and while that was what a more emotional Pokemon would probably do, Lumina just thought that was a stupid move. She could get off the attack and give the Swablu a chance to get away once she hit the Nidorina and got it's attention herself. Assuming it wouldn't have even fainted. That way, she gave Varda a chance to get away and fought the feral Pokemon. Everyone wins, right?

She rushed towards the Nidorina, faint whips of fire clinging to her fur. The poison type spun around just in time to see Lumina crash into her, but too late to do anything about it. The attack left the Vulpix winded, too, but she knew it was worth it. With her head held high, she glanced to the Nidorina, watching to see if it got up. With the sun shining like it was, her Flare Blitz might've been powerful enough to knock it out, but that was far from a guarantee.

Varda's plan had worked enough to at least distract the feral Pokémon, hopefully leaving enough time for Lumina to get up and ready – assuming she wasn't too hurt to do so. The bird hadn't had enough time to even take a look, having been so busy with not getting hit that all his focus was on dodging, not looking at his friend. And as he was trying to lead the Pokémon away from Lumina, she was often covered by the Nidorina's body, blocking his line of sight.

And once he did get hit, he had some other worries in his mind. Mainly, flying was difficult when he had a bit of trouble catching his breath, his flaps slowing down and causing the bird to gently float on the ground where he coughed a couple of times and did his best to start breathing normally again. He didn't have much time however, as the wild Pokémon saw its chance now that the Swablu was grounded, approaching him and ready to take care of the problem.

The soft thumps of running paws caught the ear of both of the fighting Pokémon, making Varda forget about the situation for a moment as he tried to peer past the bulky body of the other Pokémon... Which similarly turned around to see what it was. But for the Nidorina, it was too late. Even though she saw what it was and realized that it was an attack, she couldn't dodge or block it now, the attack was already coming and it was way too close. The Vulpix, covered in faint flames, rushed at the Nidorina, tackling the Pokémon hard. So hard in fact, that the poisonous Pokémon slid backwards a bit as it tried to resist before it fell over on its back!

Varda took a couple of steps backward, slightly concerned about what was going to happen next. For a moment the feral Pokémon didn't move after the powerful attack, making it almost seem like the battle was finally over. But no, with a bit of strength she had left, the Nidorina rolled over on her belly and tried to push herself up with her arms, her body shaking as she did her best to force herself to continue. But in the end, the Pokémon fell back down, its arms giving out under its weight, a soft hiss escaping its throat.

Lumina paused, ready to fire some Embers at the Nidorina if she decided to get back up, but it was unnecessary in the end. The feral Pokémon struggled to get back to her paws, but with little success. The Vulpix nodded to herself, content with how things had gone down. It would've been worse if she had just gone with her initial plan of rushing in, but that was why she had asked for Varda's input, right?

"Good job, Varda. You alright?" She asked, though it was more of a gesture than anything else. Neither of them had taken many blows in that battle, which was good for Lumina especially, who was still feeling a little weak from denying herself rest after that battle with the Weepinbell and Murkrow. She was starting to feel it again, after the recoil from her own attack.

Varda gave Lumina a little nod as he was breathing heavily, a bit winded after all the flying and the hit that had forced him to land. But luckily the hit hadn't really managed to do much more than that, not having been extremely strong. It wasn't all that painful, it had just hit that right soft spot that could have been really difficult to recover from if the bird had been fighting alone.

"I'm not very hurt," the Swablu still chirped in case his friend wanted to hear more, waddling towards the fox and taking his time, not feeling any need to rush over to her in this case. It was better to rest and take it easy after a battle, after all, and Lumina didn't seem like she needed any immediate help, either.
"What about you? You got kicked," Varda asked in return, his eyes looking a bit worried as he watched the other Pokémon, occasionally glancing in the direction of the feral one that had attacked them, still lying on the ground. Just in case...

The blue bird also looked at the little orb still stuck in the ground, its surface smooth and glinting in the sunlight. It was the whole reason they had fought... Probably. At least the Swablu didn't manage to find any any other good reasons. Surely Lumina didn't start the fight just because she wanted to fight, right?
"I don't need the shiny thing, so you can have it, if you want."

Lumina had strayed towards the shiny blue orb, using one of her forepaws to scrape off the dirt. She was glad that Varda was alright, and the Swablu would surely want to know what their reward was. She moved the orb gently, as so not to break it as she observed what it was. "A petrify orb." She murmured, nodding to herself. "This was well worth it. These things can be real lifesavers, they can paralyze an entire room's worth of feral Pokémon at once."

Her ears perked as she heard Varda continue to talk. "... thank you, Varda. This will come in handy. And thank you also for the concern, but I'm okay. I'm pretty sure that we're almost out of here." That last part, at least, definitely wasn't a bluff. This forest couldn't go on for much longer, Lumina was sure of it.

Varda took a couple of steps closer to the orb, looking at its smooth, shiny surface. He let the fox be the one touching it and removing it from the ground however, not wanting to accidentally break what was now hers. The bird cooed a bit as he listened to Lumina talk, explaining him what the orb actually was and what it did as she examined it. It seemed like she knew a lot about different kinds of items one might find, too! It was quite amazing.

"Yes, I saw one of those before," the Swablu chirped cheerfully, not really needing a demonstration as it was already something he had already experienced,
"I found one with my friend! I guess it was quite handy back then," he continued as he remembered back to that day when he first met Tina and how they had seen – and used – a strange orb exactly like this one, apparently. At least that one had made their attackers stop moving when it was broken!

"You're welcome!" Varda nodded and opened his wings happily before folding them neatly against his back again, enjoying the thanks he was getting – though Lumina was the one who deserved the orb, really. He didn't even want it and she had been the one who decided to go after it, so she had to want it really badly!
"I hope so, I'm getting quite tired myself," he chirped as the fox Pokémon mentioned that they would surely be out of the forest soon. He didn't think he even knew where he was anymore and couldn't find his way back to Grassveil Town even if he wanted!

The Vulpix had a bit of trouble holding the orb, with her lack of either hands or a treasure bag. For now, she was holding it in her mouth with some difficulty, being cautious not to drop and break it as she walked. Maybe she still had that old patchwork bag from her old home? She would have to check with her mother if she had brought it along when they moved.

Lumina was starting to run out of fuel, so to speak. The two of them had been here for quite some time. She would be ready to use the orb if an emergency struck, such as her and Varda wandering into a monster house, but she hoped she could hold onto it. It would come in handy in the future, the Vulpix was sure.

She nodded back to the Swablu in agreement as he hoped that the Mystery Dungeon would end soon. Even though they hadn't found any items, Lumina was about ready to leave. She wasn't an explorer for the loot, anyways.

Varda walked next to the fox, staying close to her in case something would somehow jump at them again. He felt like they could take on anything if they stayed together, though! They could surely defend themselves. However, the bird did notice that doing that might have been difficult to Lumina when she tried to hold onto the Wonder Orb they had found, the round pearl-like item being slightly too big to be held properly in her mouth. He grew a bit worried... What if she broke it in her mouth? Would it affect her? It would surely at least hurt? The orbs didn't seem as sturdy as one might have thought at first, they didn't seem to be completely solid...

"Would you want me to carry it for you?" The Swablu finally said after a moment of observing the Fire-type by his side, offering a solution to the problem he believed she was having,
"I could put it in my bag! We are both going to Grassveil Town anyways, so it wouldn't even be an issue," Varda chirped, certain that his idea was a rather good one! At least he saw no downsides to it and there couldn't really be any good reasons to be carrying the orb in one's mouth, either. It seemed risky and needlessly difficult when there was an easier option out there.

The vixen gingerly put down the orb to speak, as she would have difficulty doing so with the object in her mouth. At first she was going to say she could manage, but she paused. Varda was offering, right? Plus, he was the one with a treasure bag. It only made sense. "Alright. Thank you." She nodded. "If you could return it once we're out of the Mystery Dungeon, that would be good."

Some part of the Vulpix felt a bit ashamed. She did her best to manage on her own, unless she was sure that she couldn't. Surely holding the orb would've just been a minor inconvenience? It was nothing to bother the Swablu over, and make herself look weak. ... Well, that was that. No use whining over it.

Varda stopped walking as Lumina lowered her head and placed the orb down on the soft grass, obviously needing her mouth free of any items to be able to talk. That was another good reason for him to carry the orb in his bag instead, it would have been a rather quiet and lonely trip if the fox Pokémon wouldn't be able to talk at all! ...Or at least a very long trip if she was going to have to stop and drop the orb every time when she wanted to say something, traveling would have taken so much time in that case...

"No problem!" The bird chirped happily when he was being thanked, only happy to be able to help. He opened the bag and used his wing to gently roll the Wonder Orb into the opening, finally closing it up and making sure it would stay that way. Varda didn't want it to accidentally roll out now that the delicate orb was entrusted under his care!
"Of course, you can have it back anytime you want. Probably when we're back in town, that would sound like a good idea so you don't have to carry it for too long," the Swablu nodded a couple of times, the feathers on top of his head shaking along.

"It would be fun if we could do this again," he spoke up as he started to walk again, slowly waddling in the direction they were going earlier.

"... It would be." Lumina agreed. She wasn't sure how much time she'd actually be able to spend with Varda, since the Swablu was in an Exploration Team and would likely be busy with guild jobs. Not to mention his other team members. But once in a while, the Vulpix didn't think she'd mind coming back to a Mystery Dungeon with him.

The Fox Pokémon took in the atmosphere as they walked. Without the feral Pokémon running around and picking fights, it was actually pretty peaceful here. Even if they ran into something, Lumina thought that maybe she could just scare it off with Roar. She wasn't in the mood, and didn't really have the strength, to fight right now.

"Would you mind if I asked you about something, Varda?" The vixen slowed her pace slightly. "I'd like to know about the guild, if you don't mind telling me. I'm going to ask the guildmaster about it later, once we're out of here, but I think I'd like to see a member's perspective of it, too."