A Sad Excuse for Cooperation

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The Small Pond. A lovely little area Mim had the pleasure of being to before. Whether the title was actually its name or the locals were too lazy to give it one, the simplicity of it was...quite soothing to the small traveler.

Too bad Mim wasn't in a good enough state too enjoy it.

With a grey night sky stretching overhead, it was to be expected that a little area like this had no one in it. Except for them, of course. Mim and her...cold, questionable companion. Her first dungeon run had been an utterly ehxsausting experience. The amount of effort it had taken to get through Shaodowhue felt far too vigorous for any decent explorer to be expected to undertake. The thought of doing all that again...and again...made the reptilian almost want to puke. Despite this overwhelming stress Mim kept a bitter expression plastered over her face, partially because she still couldn't get get over the events that took place the hours prior.

It was no exaggeration to say that both pokemon were completely wrecked by the enemies back there, two in particular leaving the team with issues for the rest of the trek. The first enemy encountered had obliterated their energy, leaving them tired and even being the reason why the avian's wing was terribly injured now. The second one...Well, defeating them didn't exactly sit well with the slink. Knocking them out would've been one thing, but letting them crisp and fry in flames was another.

Sure, it may have robbed Pilot of his belongings, but it was a feral. It probably hadn't known any better. Watching two traspassers knocking out their comrade probably didn't give it a good first impression. No matter how hard Mim tried to ignore it, the image of the unlucky Paras and the uncaring words of her partner stayed in the fore front of her thoughts.

Finally, as they approached the round source of water, the rustling grass beneath their worn out feet and
ragged breathes breaking the silence, Mim couldn't hold it in anymore.

"So, are explorers always that merciless with their opponents? I could've sworn the point of being one was saving pokemon." She asked, her voice laced with a bitter and grudgeful tone one might refer to as 'salt'.

Hours later, Pilot woke up. Ugh, what happened..? The bird groggily thought to himself, getting up and dusting himself off. He was still in considerable pain, with his injured wing in worse condition than before, and his muscles sore from the fight. Gradually, his memory of what had happened that night returned. So I was in a fight with Mim... And... Did I win or lose? I can't even remember... The Taillow turned around, finding that his Helioptile partner was also unconscious, several meters from where he had passed out. At this point, he genuinely couldn't remember how the last part of the scuffle between them had gone down. They both appeared to have fainted, so was it a tie? The bird shrugged, and hopped over to Mim.

And all of this was over some stupid Paras, Pilot thought to himself, frowning. They had wasted a lot of time, and he knew that Hidon was probably looking for him. Not wanting to wait for the slink to wake up, he pecked her on the side of the head. "Yo, wake up, kid," He said impatiently, twitching his bad wing. If she didn't get up, he was considering just leaving her. After all, there was training to be done! There was only a limited amount of time before Team Rising would take its first mission, and he needed to be prepared. After all, he didn't want to end up failing his first request with the guild!

Mim's asleep state consisted of no dreams during those long hours. Just a silent, blissful dark landscape. The little reptilian was so exhausted she didn't even have the energy to dream. Eventually, she was forced awake by a hard jab taken on the side of her head. "Ow...." the youth mumbled miserably, her tiny hand slowly dragging up off the grass to protect the area that had been hit. Meanwhile the rest of her body reluctantly lifted from the ground. "Ugh-my head......Pilot?" Although Mim' vision was blurry at first, it quickly cleared up, revealing the sight of an injured Tailow standing in front of her.

Mim's blank stare shifted to the ground as she then began to recall the events before. She sat there in complete silence as it all sank in. The argument, the fight, her...Her victory. As unbelievable as it seemed, Mim could still recall her last moments before defeat. She had pinned her feathered enemy to the grass, and then he fainted. She must've did the same not long after, because that's where the memorit's ended. By now, the yellow slink carried a wide eyed look of disbelief, blinking back at Pilot.

"I won...I think? You fainted first, right?" She asked, convinced that her competetive companion would actually answer honestly.

Pilot tilted his head, trying to recall what had happened. Now that he was completely awake, he did remember it, to his dismay... Tripping over his own feet, and then getting pinned on his bad wing... It still hurt, too. However, he tried to keep a look of revelation from his face. After all, Mim wasn't even sure if she had won, so perhaps if he stretched the truth, he could make it look like he had won, or at least that they tied. It wouldn't be easy, but the Taillow had always been a skilled liar. Quickly, he tried to think of a way to make the Helioptile feel as if she had lost.

The bird plastered a grin on his face when he finally came up with something. "Heh, you were close, kid... But I saw you faint after you tried to pin me!" He lied, trying to use facts that he had implied to make it look as if he were actually conscious. But would it work? He had no idea how gullible the young slink was. She seemed pretty naive, but would she be able to pick up on his lie?

Mim, who was much too tired to stand up whole the conversation proceeded, merely kept her rump planted on the comfy plot of grass beneath her. Meanwhile, she found it difficult to focus on the Explorer and his words. All of the horrid events taken place that day left behind a headache that insisted on staying. Mim knew it was going to be a while until she felt absolutely nothing.

Though the mind pain was distracting, Mim was able to make out the last bit of Pilot's answer. Her eyes went wide and the hand that carassed her face quickly moved away so she could stare at him. "What?! N-no....I won! I mean...I swear I did..." Her protests were silenced and replaced with a miserable sigh."Ugh, whatever." She paused and reached out for the bird's shoulder so she could hoist herself up. "Let's just...not talk about this again. Can we do that?"

"Fine," The Taillow responded, looking smug, as if he had won. In his mind, convincing Mim that he had been triumphant was a victory in itself. Lying, cheating, stealing... It didn't matter to Pilot, as long as he looked good in the end. He did feel a bit bad though, as he had essentially pilfered the young slink's glory. "You were a tough opponent," He admitted, looking down at the ground. "Not bad for a kid. You only just learned Thundershock yesterday, right?" The bird then shuddered, remembering the damage that the attack had caused. "Honestly, I don't think I ever want to be on the receiving end of THAT again."

Well, I'd better get back to the guild, He thought to himself while waiting for the Helioptile's response. One more day of training before the big mission... That Pidgey's gonna go down! I don't think Hidon is going to be very much help, though. I wish he knew something useful like Thundershock... Pilot reflected on the amazing power that Mim had displayed during their battle. If only his hotheaded partner was that strong...

And then, a wonderful idea popped into Pilot's head. What if he could bring Mim on the mission? He couldn't see the reptile refusing the offer, as she apparently wanted to become an explorer. All he had to figure out was how to ask her.

When Mim got back up in her feet, she stood there blinking at her smaller acquaintance- or friend. Honestly, she didn't know what to title him after that bitter fight. "Oh, thanks." Was all the hatchling said in return, a bit too embarrassed to stare him in the eye for too long. Though it was satisfying to hear she had caused difficulty for the guild member, there was no erasing the fact that this fight all started because of her childish outburst. Looking back on it now, Mim couldn't believe how quickly the composure was lost and felt downright ashamed she allowed that to happen.

Pilot's remark about her Thundershock was actually kind of flattering, and Mim nodded a yes in response to the quick question that came with it. She glanced at him and smiled before a question came to mind. What am I going to do now? The first idea was to go immidiately head back to Grassveil and apply for the guild, as it was one of Mim's top priority.

"So," The tyke figured it would be best to end her partnership with the Tailow on a positive note. "Where you going after this? Oh! To the guild, right? Uh...maybe we could head there together?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm heading to the guild. My idiot partner's probably already up," Pilot replied, nodding his head. "But..." He trailed, looking away from the Helioptile. It felt awkward asking a younger 'mon for help. "Uh... How do I say this? I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping us for that mission I mentioned... And maybe, if you do well, we could let you join the team? At the very least, it'd give you an idea of how being an explorer works..." The bird nervously asked, still looking down at the ground. Now that he had actually offered, he wasn't so sure that Mim would accept. After all, he probably looked like a bumbling idiot...

The more youthful battler was staring down at her partner with a tired eyes. Yet they carried no sign of hatred or hostility. Her fit must've really taken up a lot of energy if she was able to let Pilot's insults go. At least for now-no doubt she'd try to bring it up again if there was ever another conflict between them. Right now Mim was too worn out to process any violent emotions, and so she treated the Tailow indifferently.

While he tried to fund the right words for his question l, Mim split her focus out onto the townscape several yards away. The unexpectancy of the question attracted the reptilian's attention yet again. "Uhm-What?" The response was let out with a chuckle as Mim curiously eyed her smaller friend. Was he joking? What made Pilot want her help so suddenly? "Well um, I don't really see what use I'd be. After all, I lost to you, didn't I?...But uh. Yeah. Sure, I guess I could tag along."

"Cool!" Pilot exclaimed, grinning. Almost immediately, the bird reverted back to his cocky, confident self, and all traces of the anxiety he had been experiencing were completely gone. His posture straightened, and he looked up from the ground. It was quite odd how quickly his mannerisms changed.

"Yeah, well, we're trying to catch this outlaw... And she's a flying type, so we know that she's going to be difficult to arrest. My partner probably won't even be able to hit her as long as she's able to fly, so I was thinking that an electric type could really help us take her out quickly. Not that I couldn't do that myself, it'd just be a lot easier with you around...” The Taillow explained, trying to answer Mim's question. That, and you kinda won the fight... Not that you'll ever find that out, He thought, his beak almost forming a sly grin.

"Hmm.." Mim hummed her approval, mainly because she was trying to recall if Pilot's accusations were true. He didn't really win the fight, did he? The thought was very displeasing, but the slink knew nothing could be done about it. She would have to settle for at least putting up a fight."I just hope it'll go a lot smoother than our Shadowhue run..." As they began to close in on Grassveil, a question danced along the Helio's tongue she hesitated to ask. "I was wondering though...Shouldn't we at least rest up some more? Personally, I don't think we'd be able to do much in this state." Tempting as her own question was, where in this crowded ville would they stay? Perhaps her bird companion would know the answer to that one.

(So sorry for my lack of posting!! You think maybe after you reply to this one we could finally start the job?)

OOC: It's alright, I'm sure that you had something much more important than this going on, like school or work. Anyways, do you want to close the thread here, or keep going until we get to the next page? Now that Mim accepted Pilot's offer, we no longer have to wait to start the mission, so we might as well finish this page up. =]

Pilot heavily sighed, twitching his wing in irritation. As much as he wanted to tell Hidon that he was ready for the mission that day, even he knew that trying to take on an outlaw with a broken wing was a bad idea. Especially when said outlaw was a flying type. No doubt about it, the fight between Team Rising and the Pidgey would inevitably be in the hands (or wings) of Pilot; the two would likely get into a dogfight while the others spectated from above. At least, that's how he imagined it happening. In his mind, they wouldn't have a chance if his wing didn't heal up.

"You're probably right," The Taillow somberly agreed, still looking rather annoyed. "We should probably take it easy for a while... I've got a spot around here that I usually sleep at. It's not much, but it sure beats being trapped in that guild building..." Pilot said, disdain creeping into his tone as he mentioned the undesirable possibility of sleeping inside. His chronic claustrophobia gave him a natural hatred of enclosed spaces.

(don't mind finishing the page~ Depending on how soon we do finish it, we could end when they get to Pilot's little house?)

"'Long as I don't have to pay for my stay." Mim spoke out, the sarcasm being pretty obvious. A smile crept up along the edges of her mouth, trying to relieve any awkwardness that still might've lingered between them. The reptilian stood tall beside her companion to ensure she'd be ready to leave whenever. "Also, 'trapped'? What, is it a small guild?" Mim turned her head back out towards the town's massive landscape, trying to pick out the iconic figure of said building within the many simple stalls and more advanced structures. The star speckled sky stretching out above made it quite a pretty scene, and she considered the idea of asking to go there first, maybe get the needed supplies before they went to take care of the mission.

"Eh? Yeah, sure, that's it..." Pilot murmured, turning away from the Helioptile. He didn't want to explain his claustrophobia to her, especially considering she had already bruised his ego by defeating him in combat. Between that and countless other mishaps, the bird had been embarrassed plenty during his first adventure with his new partner. It's a good thing that Hidon wasn't around to see all of that... Pilot thought to himself, cringing. He would've ragged on me for days! Let's just hope that Mim doesn't squeal.

The Taillow sighed, and pointed in a general direction with his wing. "My house, if you could even call it that, is this way," He chirped, hopping deeper into the forest, and further away from the Small Pond and Grassveil Town. He wasn't sure whether or not Mim would still be coming with him; she was probably expecting him to have a real home within Grassveil...

CURSE YOU BUSY LIFE!!))

Mim, who was as beaten and bruised as badly as an apple, said nothing to protest against her friend's odd sense if direction. Though that didn't quite mean she wasn't curious about it. She was certain a home meant one of those wooden shacks lounging all over Grassveil. Then again, he was pretty small. All that room would just be wasted on him. "Oh. So... I guess you don't in town? Makes sense. You being a bird and all..." Despite her willingness to fall asleep anywhere at this point, there was one confllicting thought that did occur in the Helio's mind. "Uh-This house of yours will be big enough for me...right?"

OOC: Haha, don't worry about it. Anyways, the mission thread is posted here. We already started, but there's still plenty of time for Mim to make her entrance while Pilot and Hidon battle. If you don't have enough time to post, you could always have your character show up on the next mission. =]

"Nah, I live a few minutes away from town," Pilot answered, not particularly proud of the fact that he didn't have a proper house. "And yeah, there's plenty of room. It's not a nest like you probably think it is. It's more like a treehouse, I guess..." The bird trailed, frowning. It felt demeaning to even hint at his current situation to the Helioptile. He was dirt poor, had no family, and was living in a shelter probably constructed by some random kid from Grassveil years ago as a playhouse. But that was why he joined, the guild, right? Fame and fortune...

Sighing, the Taillow started in the direction he had pointed in. "It shouldn't be too far now," He announced, still feeling rather beat up from their strenuous battle. Man, she really took it to me, He thought to himself, still feeling an unbearable amount of pain in his broken wing. I really gotta train harder if I could get beaten by a little girl... How am I going to be able to beat that outlaw Pidgey for the mission? He questioned, his confidence having gone down the drain.