Toughening Up

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[Energy: 17 - 10 (Entry Cost) = 7]
[Exclusive Item: White Silk (Reduces cost of every other Pokemon rolled by 1)]

It was a dark, rainy day in Shadowhue Forest.

Conditions were particularly unfavorable for a certain Taillow. The rain had completely soaked his feathers, making flight much more laborious. Not that he would be able to go anywhere. The foliage was so dense that one couldn't even see the dark, cloudy sky. It was as if the treetops were a barrier, completely preventing Pilot from escaping the confines of the shady woods... It made him nervous, to say the least. In his opinion, Shadowhue Forest sucked.

But at the same time, it was perfect. During the small bird's battle with Hidon, his new partner, the surrounding environment had helped him win. However, he knew that he wouldn't be so lucky the next time. Pilot had decided that he needed to train in every possible location, and in all conditions, to be as prepared for his next sparring match as possible. Arceus forbid he fell behind his new partner...

...He didn't come to Shadowhue Forest just to physically challenge himself, however. There was also a subconscious component to his choice of location. Pilot had been raised very close to Shadowhue Forest, and the similarities between his birthplace and the murky woodland were stunning.

Ever since he had left the nest and became a messenger, the Taillow never heard back from his parents. And when he returned to his mother's nesting site, it was completely abandoned... The unknown whereabouts of his family troubled him, to say the least. Almost instinctively, Pilot was guiding himself towards the place of his birth.

To keep himself distracted from the physical and emotional discomfort he was experiencing, Pilot began to sing. Music made him feel as if he wasn't completely alone (which was a feeling he hated), and as narcissistic as it sounds, the sound of his own voice soothed him. One song in particular fit the situation quite well. "The sky is crying~♪," Pilot sang, "Look at the tears rolling down my beak...♪"

Before any further moves could be made the wretched Paras, sure enough, the familiar beating of wings could be heard from behind. It got incredibly close until eventually she felt the Tailow's sharp talons clutch her skin. In a matter of seconds Mim and her partner emerged from the spores, her vision clearing and fresh air finally filling her lungs. However, when the wingless pokemon tried to prepare herself for safe landing, she noticed her feathered friend wasn't approaching ground. Worried and somewhat dizzy, she tried her best to glance up at him, unable to move or do anything to protest to the flight. "Where are you...?" The wanderer tried to speak, but the condition she was in simply made it too hard to fight back.

The second she realized what was wrong though, it had been too late. She felt his grip loosen, and soon Mim found herself plummeting rapidly back down to the earth. Before a scream could be let out, the Helio's slender body smacked against the hard terrain, knocking most of the wind out of her and a pathetic "Oof!"

Now, was Mim not only in a paralyzed state, but on top of that, sore limbs as well. "Urgh..." A weak groan sounded from Mim as then she used one of her arms to slightly extend off of the ground. Pilot! Where's Pilot?! She asked herself frightful, gazing around the wide field until her recovering vision caught sight of the bird crashing into one of the tall trees before her. She watched as the explorer descend onto the dirt, landing in such an awkward way that it made her cringe and flinch away from the pitiful cry that followed.

"P-PLIOT!" Mim called out to her companion with a voice laced with dread. He had definitely broken his wing, and Mim was the only one at fault for that. Had she thought of the spores before diving in head first, they wouldn't be stuck in this terribly risky situation. Slowly, the slink-like pokemon tried to heave herself back up onto her legs, but instead buckled and fell on one knee in the process. She groaned miserably, feeling incredibly hopeless by how much was screwed in a matter of minutes. Literally anyone could've done ten times better.

The paralysed Helio looked over her shoulder, the cloud of spores the insect had released beginning to clear up, revealing a pleased pokemon behind it. Mim shamefully turned her eyes away from it and onto the terrain around them, desperately trying to think up a solution that could save them both. Then, from several feet away, Mim could make out a familiar red shape sitting unharmed apon the wet dirt.

...My apple! Mim thought urgently, forcefully pulling herself around to face the plump object. If she were to eat it, perhaps enough energy would be regained to finish off the pesky bug type! But how was she going to get to it in this state? Maybe if I run fast enough... Her head whipped back around to her friend, remembering the small pouch he carried beneath his wing. "P-Pilot! Can you move?!"

[Energy: 5 + 1 (Natural regeneration) + 1 (Leveling up) = 7]

Pilot groaned miserably, clearly in a lot of pain. C'mon, get up... He told himself, trying to overcome his paralysis. He had received a much smaller dosage of Stun Spore than Mim had, and by sheer force of will, was able to get up. That dirty piece of..! He's dead! Pilot angrily thought to himself. Was he going to let a tiny bug Pokemon make a fool out of him? Hell no he wasn't! If he could defeat a fiery lizard that was twice his size, he could certainly down a tiny bug Pokemon! Pilot was back in the fight, and he wanted revenge...

...But before he could charge at the pesky Paras, he remembered his partner, Mim. Where was she? He scanned the area, and located her. The Helioptile was lying on the ground, reaching for the Apple she had obtained earlier. "M-Mim!" He squawked, awkwardly bounding towards her (his feet weren't exactly unscathed from his fall). The bird shoved the Apple in his partner's direction, and warily watched the enemy. "C'mon, get up!" He shouted, still writhing in pain. It wouldn't be long until the Paras charged at them...

[Energy: 0 + 1 (Natural regeneration) = 1(WOO)]

Unlike her determined partner, Mim was still struggling against the blight-like move. Often only being able to inch along was beginning to drive the wanderer mad. That's why when she heard her injured partner approaching, it brought a little reassurance to the Helioptile. At least one of them had better mobility over themselves.

Her eyes were forcefully knitted shut, as she was putting most of her focus in attempting to "break free" of the spores. Hearing the Tailow's brief motivation, Mim couldn't help but scoff. For a second she considered responding with, "That's easy for you to say.." but kept her mouth shut when a part of her remembered his conditions. "Hah...H-How can I?" Mim challenged, her eyes finally loosing tension and slightly re-opening. They widened back into their full shape when the slink realized her apple was now right in front of her. Her mouth gaped open in a sudden need as she forced her hands forward, clutching the piece of fruit on both sides and bringing it forward to her face, which itself was quite a grind. Mim rapidly bit into it continuously, each bite strengthening Mim's will, and her ability to move.

The apple was finished in a matter of moments, leaving the roamer to feel not entirely powerful, but containing enough energy to get back up and finish what they started. Mim was standing up now, a hardened glare hinting at her frustration about the whole thing. She said nothing, but instead stared down the shroom pokemon standing merely a few feet away. Although furious, she awaited for it to come towards them, scared that one step forward could re-enact their previous failures. Sure enough, the Paras began to scuttle forward, surprisingly approaching them at a rapid pace.

"Lets get this done with!"

[ Energy: 1 + 5 (Apple) = 6 ]

Pilot almost grinned as Mim struggled to her feet, but he was still too angry to crack a smile. He wanted revenge on the little butt munch. But, at the same time... There wasn't much he could do to help. His strongest move required being in the air, and with a broken wing, it would be impossible to use. His only other option was pecking the bug into submission, but that didn't seem like a good idea, either, as it would simply use its spore attacks to subdue him. Rushing the Paras was simply out of the question. He had to think of another plan...

"Listen, I'll distract 'im, you get 'im from behind, right?" Before he could hear her response, the Taillow let out a Growl attack, and ran towards the foe, before taking an abrupt turn and leading it in a different direction. The Paras, being a mindless feral, essentially followed its target around like a lost Lillipup. This opened up a window of attack for Mim; the Paras would be too focused on chasing Pilot to notice her sneak up on it. I'm a genius, Pilot thought, pleasantly surprised with himself. Although, it did annoy him that he wouldn't get to hit the pesky Pokemon.

With Pilot taking off almost immediately after the enemy and setting the plan in action, the paralyzed serpent was left muttering "Ok" to herself. She stood still and observed the scene before her, at a loss of what to or how to strike. Mim shivered from the bit of shock still apon her skin, knowing that it would take a lot of strength to strike the bug pokemon. She watched on with wide eyes. The Tailow was still able to outrun their healthier opponent despite his serious conditions.

Finally, Mim gave a quick thrash of her head and glared at the vulnerable bug type, her body tensing with preparation. She recalled back to her previous attempt at charing the Paras, and how she recalled the familiar feeling of instinct taking over. Though it was too faint to guide her movements, and thus she only ended up with an awkward Tyrunt-arm position. But now, when there was a desperate need within her to defeat this woodland scum, her thoughts finally revealed a sensible way to preform her move. As she took a few steps backwards, preparing for the charge, the paralysis danced along her skin, but Mim was determined to not have it slow her down. Not this time.

With the steps back taken, Mim finally burst into action and bolted forward. Serious effort was put into the child's movements, but it appeared to pay off when she began to approach the opponent at a brisk speed. As she closed in on the Paras, her instincts took control and suddenly her legs pushed off the ground. It was a strong, forceful push. Angled in a way where the yellow reptile spun around on her side and the front of her was facing away from the feral, her long ears moving with the dynamic and blocking her vision. With the leap, the weight of the Helio's tail was brought forward at the very last seconds before impact. It solidly smacked against the Paras's behind and even forced it forward, its tiny claws loosing balance. Mim didn't land so gracefully either. But telling by the pained cry their opponent let out when hit, her blow was clean and best of all, unexpected.

She smirked at it as it turned to face her, casting a furious glare in response. As expected, it turned away from the feathery pokemon and scuttled towards her instead, causing the adventurer's chest to drop. Backing away as it approached, Mim did her best to try and seem intimidating as well, more instinct suddenly taking over when her droopy ears arose from their dead state and begun to rapidly fan the air. She had no clue what had awoken this action but made no attempt to stop it. It oddly made herself feel taller, an addition to her attempted furious, frightening image. She continued to glare on, her mind wandering from the Tailow behind them.

Pilot grinned when he heard the pained cry of the Paras. The bird slowed to a stop, panting heavily from being chased by the foe. His muscles were still cramping from the Stun Spores, but he knew that he had to push through the pain. Swinging around, he watched Mim and the Paras stare each other down. Then, the Helioptile did something that caught his eye. She began fanning her ears, which allowed her to stand up straighter, effectively making her look taller and more imposing... To the feral, at least. In Pilot's opinion, she looked pretty silly, and he found it very difficult to suppress his laughter.

As the Paras charged towards Mim, Pilot decided that he wasn't simply going to spectate. No, he still wanted revenge on that little buttmunch of a Paras. And now that it wasn't facing in his direction, he didn't need to worry about those nasty spores which had made fools out of him and his partner. The avian Pokemon bounded after the bug Pokemon, and just before it could make contact with Mim, he awkwardly dove at it, attempting to use a Peck attack. However, he quickly realized that this was a mistake, as now he would likely collide with both the Paras and his partner.

The longer Mim held her glare apon the bug type, the more it came clear that her 'terrifying' appearance was working. Though the Paras had more of an upper hand in the situation, it was becoming hesitant to attack first. Mim would occasionally thrust herself forward when the feral got too close, forcing them to take caution and retrace their steps. But finally out of impatience, the enemy took a sudden dive forward. Their tiny yet sharp pincers outstretched and directed towards the wanderer herself. Mim froze with fear, knowing she wouldn't be able to preform pound again without the required momentum. But with so little space between her and the bug type, the only thing she was able to do was simply stand there in confusion.

That was her idea until the her winged companion was seen hurdling towards the attacker, his beak coming into contact with them first and jabbing at it from behind. But then came the rest of his body, which collided into the rest of the Paras and forcing it off its balance yet again. But unfortunately, the direction of the attack was no different, and was heading straight towards Mim. Her ears were still uselessly expanded outwards, (except this time from shock) as both the enemy AND her partner slammed into her. With so much happening in those few mere seconds, Mim grew confused and panicked. Her hands shot forward and clutched onto the equally confused Paras, torn on who they should've been attacking.

As the reptilian pokemon forcefully held the bug type her ears suddenly ceased movement and instead did something that would've been too complexing for Mim if she were able to see it. The yellow frills suddenly...unfolded? Instead of fanning, they literally quite formed in a fan-like shape, revealing that there were actually three layers to the long, droopy features instead of being completely flat. They oddly began to glow bright, brighter than the yellow already coating most of Mim, and creating small static sounds the more luminous it became. Suddenly, small bolts of static shot out from these apparent generators, immediately traveling down to the ferals mass and striking their body, the Paras crying out when it had been hit.

After colliding with both the enemy and his partner, Pilot rolled away, attempting to get some distance and strike again. However, when he got up, he was distracted by a distinct crackling sound that he identified as electricity. Where was that coming from? Was his partner an electric type or something? Pilot had never met a Helioptile before, so he didn't know. Sure enough, when he located Mim, he saw tiny bolts of electricity shooting from the frills on her neck and into the foe. The Paras let out a shrill cry, and didn't move afterwards. It appeared as if she had knocked it out.

"Wow, you just fried him!" Pilot shouted, clearly impressed by the attack. His beak went agape. Why hadn't she just used that attack earlier? It would've made the confrontation with the Paras go much quicker...

After it seemed like they had finally defeated the Paras, the small slink let loose a long, heavy sigh of relief. She released her tight grip on the fainted pokemon and stumbled backwards. She said nothing to Pilot's amazement, being not only paralyzed but too exhausted to immediately respond. "Hah...Yeah.." She gasped out between breaths. The taller oneturned to look at her partner and offered a weak smile. For her first real battle, that had been the most tiring thing Mim ever went through.

Finally, after her breathing was returned to normal, the electric type arose from her slouched over position, her expression a mixture of victory and relief. "I have no idea what happened there, to be honest. Heh, I didn't even know I could do that." Mim replied honestly, a hand coming up to her forehead and rubbing it questionably.

"Whatever. At least we kicked out that dumb thing, right?" Mim began to limp over to her friend, a slight grin forming on her face. "How's your wing, by the way?"

Mim hummed disapprovingly, not entirely satisfied with the Tailow's answer. She slowly began to reach out to Pilot's wing but stopped herself when he began to seem impatient. The wanderer withdrew her hand and took a step back from her partner. "....If you say so, but that looked like a pretty nasty fall." Mim smiled again, this time tue expression seeming a bit more genuine. "Maybe we shouldn't overwork ourselves from here on out. I mean-we'll do our best as a team to defeat any more enemies coming our way-" The younger of the two spoke calmly, despite knowing that there was a lot more ahead of hem to deal with. "-But, maybe we can just...take it slow?" Mim was unsure how this idea would come off to her 'leader' a.k.a an actual explorer. Were there plans different? Was going slow and steady out of the question? Not being in one herself really made it difficult to think and act properly like them. Oh well, Mim would get that knowledge soon enough. "Um, would you like me to lead this time?" The Helio asked, giving the small avian another look of concern, mixed in with a soft smile.

OOC: Really? Another Paras... We just wrote a whole page about a fight with a Paras! Ugh... Well, I tried to make this confrontation a little different.

[Energy: 7 - 5 (Paras) = 2]

Pilot sighed, anxious to leave the gloomy forest. Between being drenched in rain from before and being utterly exhausted from fighting that Paras, the bird wanted nothing more than to return to Grassveil. His impatience was nothing new; he was always like this. Everything from his reckless battle strategy to his hasty demeanor implied that he liked to take things quickly. In truth, it was because the bird knew how short his species' lives tended to be. At most, he had about 10 healthy years ahead of him... It simply wasn't enough time to do everything he wanted to do, which was why he tended to rush through everything. And he certainly wasn't going to waste a precious night camping out in Shadowhue Forest with some girl that he barely knew...

But at the same time, the gloomy woodlands had a strange nostalgic feeling, likely because its close proximity to the Taillow's birthplace. It made him feel at home, in an odd way.

Rolling his eyes, he conceded. "Fine, we can slow down if you want," Pilot said, trying not to sound too annoyed. After all, she had just knocked out the Paras that made a fool out of him, so she deserved respect. Just as he hopped through the way they had gotten into the clearing, he stopped, knowing he was forgetting something. "Right... My bag," He murmured, swinging around. Once he saw what was happening in the clearing, his beak dropped, and his face turned beat red. Next to his bag was another Paras, and it was messily going through the contents, spilling them all out on the ground. "Hey, what the hell are you doing!?" Pilot piped, trying to fly over, but cried in pain when he tried to spread his wings. When he realized he wasn't going to be able to get in the air, the bird bounded over to the bag and the new enemy. The Paras panicked, stuffing most of the items back into the bag, and making a run for it. "Hey! Get back here, you little buttmunch!"

(Whoop whoop more buttmunchers! Also, sorry for my lack of responses today. I've been quite busy. )

Mim only smiled when her friend agreed to the terms, despite looking as though he didnt want to. Still, the reptile was relieved to know that any more trouble there way wouldn't be as exshausting...or so she thought. When her smaller friend mentioned the pouch he had left behind, she only nodded in response and turned to retrieve it with him. The sight she saw as soon as her eyes lifted from the ground bought back even more stress. Mim couldn't help but groan with irritation. "Are you kidding me?" The electric type asked particularly to no one. She gasped at her partner's attempt to fly again and rushed after him, agitated by the fact he was still trying to use his injured wing. "Pilot! I thought you said-Ugh!" Mim gave up halfway through her response, figuring it would be useless to argue with the fact the avian was straight up robbed. Without further protest, the yellow slink raced after her friend and the thieving Paras, having no clue where this chase would lead them.

OOC: It's fine, don't worry about it; everyone has a life. And yeah, I think that "buttmunch" is going to be Pilot's new catchphrase. XD

The exhausted bird simply could not keep up with the feral Paras. He tripped over his own feet, falling flat on his face in a spectacular fashion. "Oof!" He grunted as his face impacted the ground. Rather than getting up, Pilot remained there, panting heavily. "Mim... Get him!" He managed to rasp in between his breaths. Spotting an item that the Paras had left behind, the tiny Taillow brushed himself off and slowly hopped towards it. It was a Blast Seed. Almost instinctually, he scooped it up with his good wing. Suddenly, the bird had an epiphany. If I could get close enough to that Paras, I could light him on fire with this! Pilot realized, appreciating the fact that the Pokemon had dropped that particular item. The only problem was, both Mim (who had presumably followed his directions to stay on the bug) and the pesky Paras were out of sight. He only had a general direction to go off of...

"Wait up!" Pilot huffed, hopping towards the end of the clearing, hoping that he would see some sign of his partner and the enemy. As soon as I see that stupid Paras, he's gonna get the surprise of his life, He thought, grinning slyly.

Hey, thanks for understanding, man! And omg if it does, Mim will refuse to refer to him as anything other than buttmunch x)

"Im...Im on it!" Mim gasped out, her main focus on her painfully slow speed and the runaway Paras. Due to the ground collision moments before, the electric type was unable to work herself that hard without stirring up pain in various parts of her body. So she limped after the bright red inscect, which would've left her in the dust of their opponent wasn't so slow as well. She determinedly pursued them through the achingly long pathways of the forest dungeon. Mim thought it might be a dead end before the path took a sharp turn to the right and opened up into another clearing, thankfully this one was a little smaller. She noticed other Shadowhue dwellers a few feet away to them, but paid no mind Paras disappeared into another thin woodland corridor. The reptile continued to give chase and then suddenly realized this path was leading thm right back into the clearing with Pilot in it. Oh no. Had he given chase as well? Mim knew this would keep up for hours if they didnt get this bug type soon. To hell with it. She'd think of up an idea in the clearing. The path finally gave her space to see into the clearing. At first, Mim could see no sign of the small bird, her gut dropping with stress. "Agh, why wont you just give up already?!" The wanderer shouted at their enemy. it paid no mind and continued to scuttle into the field, right into Pilt's trap. And so did Mim.