The Pterrible Pterradactyl and an Irritated Vulpix

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Energy: 25 - 11 = 14

Pterra soared over the treetops, circling the perpetually-autumn copse of trees. He hadn't had much luck in the Black Mist Mountain stealing from travellers; so when he had heard about the new dungeon that had explorers flocking to it like combee to honey trees; Pterra knew that he just had to get in on the action. He was currently circling the forest, searching for the perfect pokemon to steal from; he had already stolen a joy ribbon from an unsuspecting vulpix named Lumina; it was currently wrapped around his neck like a scarf, covering the heart scale that he also had hanging around his neck.

Synd'r watched with a cautious air to her brown gaze as the Aerodactyl lowered his body through the air so that his voice wouldn't carry. The Vulpix stifled a small smirk of victory that the fossil had listened to her without question and her ears twitched as they received his question.

"You're really not going to try and stop me?"

"I'm not a hypocrite," she replied indignantly. Of course the Aerodactyl hadn't really had any reason to assume she'd be an outlaw or a thief before now so it wasn't really his fault. She flashed him a mischievous smile as he commented on how he'd misjudged her.

As the fossil introduced himself for a second time, this time rather more courteously, Synd'r couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the change in his attitude. Nevertheless, she figured she'd play along for now.
"Synd'r. I don't have an epithet, but I suppose you could call me the 'Seer of All Things' if you want one," she replied with a rather predatory grin. She enjoyed subtly flaunting her unique abilities, even if she couldn't control them how she wished. The Vulpix knew the -albeit slightly cocky sounding- title she'd given herself would probably confuse the Aerodactyl, as there weren't many who knew of the ability she possessed and most that did considered it naught but myth and legend unless they'd come into contact with it previously.

Solilo carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

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Pterra twisted his head sideways in a curious manner. "Cinder is your name?" he asked. "Er... not very... original, is it? Then again; I guess my own name isn't too original," he hummed thoughtfully, unknowingly misconstruing the name of his companion and putting his foot once again in his mouth.

Pterra blinked, the rest of Synd'r's words registering in his brain. "Wait... what do you mean by "Seer of All Things?" Are you somehow a psychic before being a Ninetales?" He asked suspiciously. He didn't generally like psychic types because he disliked the intrusiveness of a pokemon able to sense one's emotions and thoughts.

Not very original...? A flash of confusion crossed Synd'r's gaze as she heard these words. She'd never met anyone with her name before, so it can't have been all that common, even here... Abruptly, realisation dawned on her and her fur suddenly bristled in annoyance.
"You totally spelled it wrong, didn't you!?" she called, her suddenly rather higher pitched tone portraying her irritation at the conclusion she'd reached.

It was quite a change in demeanor from the casual aloofness she'd been keeping too previously. However, forcing herself to keep her temper in check, Synd'r then made to answer the Aerodactyl's questions. She coughed slightly, both to clear her throat and as an attempt at moving on from her irritation at Pterra's butchering of her name within the fossil's mind.
"Wouldn't you like to know~," she replied, the mischievous smile returning to her face. The inflection she placed upon the words indicated that she wasn't particularly interested in elaborating further and would much rather see the fossil debate over the possibilities of what she could mean.

Synd'r
Energy: 0
From rolls

Pterra blinked at the vulpix's sudden temper. "Uh... sorry?" he said in confusion. "Um.. how else can 'Cinder' be spelled?" he asked curiously. He'd only ever seen 'cinder' spelled one way.

He narrowed his eyes at her next words. "Don't go around reading my thoughts," he warned. "It's rude when a pokemon hasn't given their permission," he said in irritation. He had no way of knowing that her ability had nothing to do with psychic powers.

"S-Y-N-D-apostrophe-R," she spelled out with a short glare, willing the Aerodactyl to commit it to memory so she wouldn't have to reiterate the spelling later. With a small huff, the Vulpix turned and began to wander off in the direction of the Wurmple and Teddiursa once again, hearing their footsteps drawing closer whilst she and the fossil conversed.

"There's nothing in your mind that would be useful to read anyways," she commented in reply, not confirming psychic powers but not denying them either. Synd'r's ears stood to attention as she attempted to locate the exact position of the targets that Pterra had spotted.

Pterra blinked at the spelling of the vulpix's name. "Well... I take it back; that's quite unique," he said after a moment. Then he bristled at the vulpix's next words, but merely gave a huff of irritation, not wanting to start another verbal sparring for Synd'r to mock him in.

He shook his head irritably. "So, if you really do want to rob those pokemon with me, what exactly is your strategy? I usually swoop in when they aren't paying attention and grab their bags, then proceed to mock them from the air, but I suspect your methods are much different."

The Vulpix seemed to smile quite uncharacteristically happily as Pterra changed his opinion to state that her name was, in fact, rather unique. She was proud of her name and identity after all, and was quite happy for others to acknowledge her individuality.

Synd'r had to take a small moment of silence to consider the Aerodactyl's question.
"I suppose I don't really have a specific strategy. I have multiple ways of doing things and some that fit certain situations better than others."
She paused, considering her options for this situation. Pterra had mentioned that the duo he'd spotted seemed like explorers...
"If you're right about them being explorers, then the easiest thing to do is to act friendly until you find a moment to steal their stuff, and leave before they realise what's gone. If you want to keep to yourself, it's better not to draw large amounts of attention," she replied with a flick of her tail. She figured revealing a tactic or two wouldn't do any harm. The secrecy of her thieving techniques wasn't a huge deal to her, unless it concerned her rather rare abilities.

Pterra tossed his head impatiently. "Act friendly? Pah. Act dumb more like. Civilian pokemon are so trusting and foolish," he said, sneering. "Can you believe; some pokemon actually believe in there being good in every pokemon inherently, and that most people are kind." Pterra snorted in derision, clearly revealing his own feelings on the matter.

"But I suppose it is easier when someone wants to keep a low profile," he admitted. He looked around, trying to spot the two pokemon he had seen earlier again. "I think they were explorers; they had one of those Guild Bags, at least. Unless somehow they too are outlaws. But what would be the chances of that?"

Synd'r blinked at the Aerodactyl's words, holding back a frown so that it didn't show on her face as she tried to figure out why Pterra felt that way. Sure, she was a thief and an outlaw, but that didn't make her a bad pokemon. She had a family and acquaintances just like anyone else. Whether you were 'bad' or 'good', 'kind' or 'mean', it all depended on your point of view.

"I don't know. You can be a thief or an outlaw and still be kind," she replied, attempting to pry further by first giving a sliver of her own opinions on the matter. Her adopted family might have been a little dysfunctional, but they were kind at heart. At least when it came to each other.

Nevertheless, the Vulpix shook her head gently at the fossil's last comment. It was unlikely that they too would be thieves, but it was worth being cautious just to be safe.

Pterra raised an eyebrow at the vulpix's response. "Really? I didn't take you for someone who believed in the good in pokemon," he said off-handedly. "Then again, nearly all my immediate impressions from you have been proven wrong. Perhaps I should start assuming the opposite of my immediate thoughts," he hummed thoughtfully. "Anyway... I don't believe in good pokemon. Some pokemon may act good and kindly, but I believe there is a monster lurking behind every pokemon, just waiting to come out. Some pokemon, like me, don't bother with the whole facade and just follow what comes naturally. Better to lie to others than lie to yourself, in my opinion."

Silence fell after this speech, and Pterra looked towards Synd'r curiously, wondering what her response would be to his statements.

Synd'r chuckled quietly to herself at the Aerodactyl's suggestion that he assume the opposite of his immediate thoughts about her. It would be quite the experiment to see if it actually worked.

"I don't deny that everyone is capable of being quite the monster when it comes to it, just what will drive someone to be that way is different for everyone," she replied thoughtfully, "However, good and bad are not mutually exclusive like you seem to think. The world isn't painted in black and white. There are shades of good and bad in everyone. The most terrible thief can truly care for their family, and the most stand up of police officers could turn to murder if they believed they were in the right to do so," she finished with a light twitch of her ears, blinking to see how Pterra would respond.

Pterra shook his head at the vulpix's words. "hah. Don't be so naive," he said scornfully. "Good doesn't exist. Only selfishness disguised behind 'pokematarian' ideals and morals. All supposed 'good deeds' exist only for selfish reasons, and selfishness is inherently 'bad', no? If you go by society's definitions of 'good' and 'bad', at least. I just tend to relish in my 'badness', if you get my meaning," Pterra said, staring at the sky with a distant look in his eyes. "Even for those who care about their so-called 'loved ones'; it's still just a disguise for selfishness -the desire to not be alone, the need to have company... that's why they care, because they can't stand to be alone, so it's still selfish."

"If everything we do is for selfish reasons then by that meaning selfishness cannot always be bad. It's almost paradoxical," she replied, "Good and bad are just concepts, but there cannot be a bad if there isn't also a good to put both into perspective. What is classified as good and bad just depends on the individual and their views."

The Vulpix paused to consider her own words, "In that way you could say that you as an individual view everything as bad, but that doesn't mean that everyone else sees it that way."

Pterra shook his head in disgust, but he was tired of the argument. "I suppose I'll concede the point," he admitted grudgingly.

He returned his attentions to the pokemon pair they had spotted earlier, only to find that they had disappeared from view during the two outlaws' discussion. He blinked, looking around for the two pokemon, unable to find them.

"Well, hello there!" a voice sung from behind the two outlaws, and Pterra turned in the air to see the teddiursa and wurmple they had spotted.

Synd'r's expression broke into an almost smug smile as the Aerodactyl agreed to concede the point to her. Her smirk was quickly removed however as she realised that she'd gotten completely off track during their interesting philosophical discussion and that their two targets had actually managed to come up behind them.

Ignoring the small flush of embarrassment at her lack of judgement, Synd'r turned around to the new voice, intending to put her original plan into action.
Blinking, she brought a more positive expression to her face, softening her features as she replied with a small, almost shy sounding, "Hello."