An Afternoon Showdown

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Energy: 23 - 11 (entrance fee) = 12

Equipped Item: Defense Scarf

After stopping by Dandy's Boutique to pick up his brand new scarf, tied cape-style around his neck, Raze was jumping from stone to stone to reach the island inside of Fallen Leaf Copse. Considering the amount of excitement based around his explorations around Grassveil, he had never had any time to battle another civilized Pokémon. All of his battles inside dungeons had been with ferals, but most were mindless and posed almost no threat. Maybe there's someone who comes out here at this time, I guess they'd be up for a little battle... he thought, reaching the end of the stepping stones.

Leaves fell around like a barrage of green, yellow, and brown. The soft breeze rustled them, however, once they hit the floor. Letting his bag drop to the floor, the Minun stretched and looked over the lake. The peaceful scene acted like preparation for him as he got ready to look for someone to fight. The electricity already began to charge up at a slow, leisurely pace. Heh, and this time, I'm not losing without a struggle!

Energy: 1

Raze was genuinely surprised at his response. Not only did he want to continue, but his intent was still on winning? The Cheering Pokémon admired his determination, but agreed with him 100% when he stated that it was just sparring. He's an odd one. Sure, I wouldn't run away from a fight, but continuing with a status like that? He's got guts, I'll give him that... he noted, placing his bag back on his shoulder. The Minun leaned forward and offered Hidon his hand to help him up. He lost... BAD... But I might as well be a good sport here. He had me if it weren't for that lucky Discharge. he thought, wondering if he would see the Charmander again after this. It seemed pretty slim, but Raze had a feeling that this wouldn't be their last encounter.

"Well, I guess I can count this as a win. You're alright, right? I'm not sure that we have much daylight left, considering that those ferals took up most of our time. We missed a sight, too. That time that we were so focused on the Teddiursa? They say that it's a sight that could practically give you the drive to just keep going, y'know? Kinda bad that we missed it..." he trailed off, trying to start a conversation. Light was quickly dwindling yet still allowed a massive field of vision as he casually leaned against a tree.

{Energy: 0 + 2 (new pages) = 2}

Hidon looked up at the Minun standing over him. When Raze extended a hand to offer him some help up, the Charmander initially hesitated to accept it. He didn't like relying on his opponent for help in doing anything; especially not immediately after getting beaten by him. But he knew that Raze was not trying to show him pity or seeing him as weak or anything. He was merely offering him the help as a sportsmanlike gesture. So this time, he supposed it couldn't hurt. Especially after a fight that intense. Besides, if it hadn't been for that last paralysis, he might have even actually won that battle in the end. So, there was no reason to dismiss the hand. Once he'd decided on that, a slight smile appeared on his face as he lifted his arm up, grasping the blue hand and using him to pull himself back onto his feet once again.

Hidon stumbled for a moment once he was back on his feet, but seemed more than capable of keeping himself up. "Y-yeah, I should be fine," Hidon replied back, dusting himself off. He was still weak, but he should be able to manage now that he had his balance back. "Heh...and I hate to admit it, but yeah, I guess you beat me fair and square." He looked off to the side, looking at the lake that he had originally crossed to get here. He let out a slight sigh at Raze's words. "Yeah, I guess they did kinda eat up the whole day. But...what do you mean a sight?" He then turned back to the Minun, looking at him curiously. "What kind of sight are we talking about here? Sight of what? I heard that this place was pretty and all that, but I don't remember hearing about that."

Energy: 1 + 1 (another new page) = 2

The Electric type's eyes lit up at the mention of the site. Considering he hasn't seen it for himself yet, he did happen to read a book on Fallen Leaf Copse. The words rolled off of his tongue like second nature as he retold the dialogue of the expository literature and added his own bits of information and input. "You haven't heard? Well, there's this strange occurrence every afternoon here. When the sun is angled just right and the wind blows at a certain rate, at the same time every day, it supposedly shows a beautiful sight of the leaves falling. Sure, there have been a bunch of folk legends and stuff telling about lovey-dovey stuff at that time, but I don't really believe in them. Anyways, the sight; people say that it makes you feel emotions stronger than usual, like it's a tool used for reflection on your adventure here. No wonder it's my favorite training spot, hehe!"

Raze let out an audible yawn a few seconds after he had finished. ...Did I really just yawn? Never felt tired before... he noted, stretching a bit to attempt and relax his muscles. Another day of training had passed, but he felt that this one held real results. Not only had he sparred with Hidon, but he had fought a literal bear and his worst fear, a Ghost type. Even better, he (technically) won all three! Never thought I'd say this, but I have enough to call it a day if I wanted to! Can't just ditch on Hidon, though... he thought, nodding. "So... Anything you want to do right now? Otherwise, we'd better be heading back. You've still got your guild thing to attend to."

Hidon cocked his head slightly as the Electric-type seemed to immediately cling to the mere mention of the so-called sight. And then, before Hidon could even realize what he had started, the Minun's words began to snowball, falling out quickly and the speech continuing to build on itself. But thankfully, he was still able to follow what Raze was saying and actually began to get rather intrigued himself. He wasn't really sure what folk legends and "lovey-dovey stuff" as he'd put it were about, but apparently he didn't put much faith in them anyway. Although he still couldn't help but be somewhat curious. The Charmander looked out over the lake, trying to imagine the sight as the Minun was describing it. Unfortunately, his imagination was hardly strong enough, and he had a hard time picturing anything that wasn't already there.

"Man, if that's true," Hidon replied. "I might want to stop by here more often, even if I do have to go across that water again." For a moment, he was tempted to ask if the Minun wanted to come back here with him at some point and see it for themselves, but quickly bit his tongue and stopped himself. Even he realized just how many doors for taunts and jokes that could be made against him for suggesting something like that. Especially after mentioning something about "lovey dovey stuff." So instead, he merely decided to add, "...Y-yeah, if it does that, then this might become a place for me to train too."

He looked over at the Minun again when he finally asked if there was anything more to do. He thought for a moment. The fight was over, ending in his defeat. He was exhausted, and even though he wanted to train harder, he knew that his body couldn't hold up. The only thing he could really think of was gathering more materials for his upcoming mission with Pilot, but that might end up leading him to get into a battle that he could lose quite easily in his condition. He let out a small sigh, stepping over to a nearby tree and letting his body fall backward so that gravity would cause him to smack into it back-first. It was merely a lazier way for him to lean against the tree. "...I guess not," he murmured. "I mean, I could go looking for-"

bonk

Hidon flinched and let out a grunt of pain when something fell from the tree above him and landed cleanly on his head. The small, round object bounced off of him and rolled to the side. The green object turned out to be a Lum Berry. It must have somehow gotten loose after he had hit the tree with his back. "Ow!" he had grunted, rubbing the top of his head, grumbling to himself. "I swear, these stupid freaking trees...."

Energy: 2

Raze nodded, picking up the wrong hint instantly. "...Interesting. So you're saying that you'd come back here, too? What, you going to try out that myth too and bring your little friend?" he snickered, imagining that Hidon was referring to the legend he had read in the book. "But yeah, if you want to know the time that it happens, you can just give me a shout. I hang around Grassveil a lot anyways; gotta get better at fighting if I want to apply for the guild." Then it hit him; he'd never even tried to apply yet! Then again, it would be awkward to bunk with someone he rarely knew if he couldn't find a partner. Asking the Charmander wouldn't be a smart idea, seeing as he'd probably already been assigned a room.

Guess I can cross that bridge when I get to it. I need to step up the training if I want this to happen soon. the mouse noted, drawing his attention back to Hidon. He had smacked into a tree, causing a Lum Berry to fall onto his head. Raze instantly burst out in laughter when it struck his head and caused a grunt from his companion. "Oh god... Hehe... T-That's a Lum Berry, right? Just eat that and we can get out of here... Hehe..." the Minun struggled between giggles and breaths. At least it had ended in a bit of comical relief; battles had been way too intense and serious in Fallen Leaf Copse, and a good laugh eased the tired feeling he felt. Besides, Hidon isn't that bad. I wouldn't mind running into the guy again.

Hidon grumbled slightly when Raze snickered slightly at his words, as well as the berry that had smacked him on top of his head. He rubbed his head and made his way over to the fallen Berry, scooping it up into his hands. Still, though, the conversation turned away from it quickly enough, and he was still tired. So he decided to drop it for now and just move on. The Charmander nodded back to him, smirking slightly. "Yeah, sure thing," he replied. "Though...I don't think I need to eat this unless we encounter something else. Lum Berries are the ones that restore any status problem, right? I'd better save it for later if I can. Besides, I should be able to find a Cheri Berry when I get out of here. Either that or just wait until it wears off. Let's just get going; I'll be fine." He just hoped that the Paralysis didn't hinder their travel back toward the town. And with that, he took his first steps toward the stone pathway again.

But then, what the Minun said fully dawned on him. "But wait, what was that about the Guild?" he asked, turning to look at his companion. "You're looking to join the Guild, are you?" He then couldn't help but grin. The idea of seeing this guy at the Guild was nice to think about. That'd give them plenty of time to get some rematches.

Energy: 2

The Cheering Pokémon confirmed his suspicions with a nod. "Of course I would! What, did you think I was just some random crazy Minun who prefers to just hang out around a particular town?" he said with a lighthearted look. "Obviously I'm going for the guild! But you know, I need to train up first before I even think about applying." Raze still didn't quite trust his abilities enough to get into a team, nevertheless be able to rely on any teammates without reassurance that they were capable. The mouse was never able to fully rely on someone before, always insisting that he either takes care of things alone or with them. It wasn't that he hated taking things on alone, but was afraid of if others could do the same.

Raze was so absorbed in his thoughts that he snapped out of it five seconds after his reply. "Well, I guess we should get going right now. You can walk, right?" he asked with a small head tilt. It was amazing how he could immobilize someone with one attack, though it backfired tons of times. Most of them ended with an attack that knocked him down, but he managed to get up time and time again. In a way, Hidon was in a similar situation during their sparring match; every attack came with a price, and it backfired once he missed. The Minun did acknowledge that he was a bit more resilient than most, but not much credit since it would sound like he should have won. "Promise I'll drag you back to shore if you almost 'fall in the lake' again." the Electric type said with a snicker.

"Heh. Yeah, I can walk," Hidon said with a slight grin. "Who do you think you're talking to, huh? I can..." He pocketed the Berry and started walking again, only to wince slightly. But he played it off, hoping the Cheering Pokémon didn't notice the slight moment's hesitation. He'd be fine, anyway. He just needed to walk it off for a while. Instead, he decided to keep up the conversation about the Guild. That was something he already knew about and could actually act like a mentor on senior in that regard. "Oh. And hey, don't worry so much about the Guild. The Guild is a perfect place to train and help other Pokémon at the same time. And the application part is easy. Just about everybody who applies gets in. But it's the ones who take the job seriously that get strong."

He then grinned slightly. "Just like me, y'know. I'm actually already a member of the Guild. I mean, I'm new, so my team is still on the lowest rank, but we're going on our first mission soon." He then grinned. "Maybe once you're in the Guild, we can have a rematch or something. Maybe we can come back here for it. It'd be easier to figure out if we were both staying there I guess."

However, his mood shifted slightly when Raze, once again, made another snicker-worthy comment. He groaned and crossed his arms, stepping forward at a faster pace. "I'll be fine this time, you won't have to worry about me."

Energy: 2

Hidon's response earned him a small chuckle from Raze. "Yeah, and I'm Giratina." he said, turning to the stones that led to the exit. No matter how much he wanted to see his companion try again, it was getting darker at an alarming rate. A shame, really. That was the funniest thing I'd seen here all day! he thought, allowing a small smile to appear. Tightening his cape around his neck, he glanced over at Hidon. "Hate to leave you here, but I've got somewhere to be! Later, lizard!" the Minun said with a grin as he charged towards the stones. A single step, however, left him sliding into the water. He had slipped on the first stone and fallen headfirst into the lake.

Raze swam upwards instinctively and started spitting out water. "I-I meant to do that!" he shouted, swimming over to the nearest stone and slowly making his way to the smooth side once more. ...I'm an idiot. he thought, sighing. Taking it slower, he made it to the end and turned to wave to the Charmander. Then, just like that, he swiveled around and continued to run back to Grassveil.

Hidon grunted in response to Raze's Giratina comment and shook his head. He couldn't believe that he'd let himself lose this fight. But hey, he'd taken a quite a beating prior to the end of their actual battle. So he could always use that as a reason for his defeat. But of course, he hadn't exactly been slacking off in any of the previous fights either. Raze had done about as much work there as he had, so he supposed that that was hardly a good reason. He was simply trying to look for excuses for his loss. And he shook his head again at that thought. He didn't want to be the kind of guy who spat excuses for every defeat he was handed. He just needed to keep getting stronger and win in their rematch!

The Charmander was suddenly distracted from his thoughts as the Minun called back to him again. He watched as the Minun grinned at him and then began charging toward the stepping stones. "Grr...you little-! The name's Hid-!" he started, but was cut off when, suddenly, the Minun slipped as soon as he had laid a single foot on the lake stones. And then he saw those blue ears fall right into the water. The sight took Hidon by surprise for a moment, but he quickly smiled...and then burst out laughing!

The laughter continued even after Raze had picked himself up and back onto the surface of the water, spitting water out like a Water Pokémon. "Yeah, you meant to do that!" Hidon replied in a sharp, sarcastic tone. Then, he realized he had a chance here. And he wasn't gonna miss it. "And I'm Giratina," he added, sarcasm only getting sharper. With that, he resumed laughing as he began to cross the stones once again...though this time without worrying quite as much as he had before.

Eventually, his laughter ceased and he made it to the opposite side without problems. He simply nodded to the Minun. "Yeah. Later, Half-pint!" he called after him and then started back himself. But not before casting one last glance at the island behind him. On the shore where the two had just been battling, he could just make out a Sentret, which had probably been watching them and waiting for them to leave. He shrugged it off and began heading straight toward the Guild for a well-deserved night's sleep after a day of hard training.