Marshy Marching

(19 - 15 = 4 energy)

Rouge frowned, he wasn't sure what he was doing here. The ground was wet and hard to move around in. Every step he took here felt like three steps, and he was growing weary very quickly. Looking around, Rouge spotted nothing of interest to him. 'Look for a cave near the cattail marsh' they said, 'It will be fun' they said. Rouge huffed with discontent, there was nothing he hated more than trudging through water with mud in it than a liar. He swung his club in front of him a few times as if hitting those lairs in the face. The only thing that he got from those Pokemon was some more experience in speaking. he wasn't as bad as he was before, but he wasn't at all perfect. At least he didn't need to sound out almost every single letter any more. Suddenly he stopped and listened. He heard splashing coming towards his location.

[Energy: 19 - 15 (Entrance Cost) = 4]
[Held Item: Lucky Ribbon (Reduces cost of every item rolled by 1)]

Ashen slowly trudged through the Cattail Marsh. While one might think that a fire type such as herself would dislike being in the water, it didn't bother her very much. After all, it only came up to her knees. As long as the canine wasn't completely submerged or soaked, she wouldn't be in any discomfort. She just hoped that she wouldn't encounter any water-type foes... Given the wet environment, it was only a matter of time before that would happen.

In the distance, she spotted a lone Cubone, swinging at the air in front of it with its signature bone club. Knowing that it was not native to the area, Ashen curiously approached it. Was it looking for a sparring match, maybe? Battling a ground type would definitely be good experience for her; she would be at a type disadvantage for the first time in ages. Excited by the idea, the hound Pokemon tried to hurry towards the stranger, creating an audible splashing noise.

Rouge turned to face the splashing only to see a houndour rushing towards him. A fire type? Here? this was an odd encounter indeed, but he wasn't about to turn tail and run. Rouge sloshed around in place in an attempt to find some firm footing. He kept slipping slightly until he managed to brace his heels on two rocks he found in the mud. This had taken a few moments but left him just enough time to get ready to block any sudden charge attacks like tackle or quick attack. Even with being ready, he'd never be able to hit back or even block all of it. An ember attack, how ever, would be something he couldn't contest or get away from like that, but getting burned would be a risk Rouge would have to take.

"U-uhm, h-hi," Ashen stammered, unable to look the Cubone in their eyes as she continued to get closer. "Are you h-here to train t-too?" She asked hopefully, forcing a kind smile. Maybe she'd be able to get a quick sparring match with the stranger. Or perhaps they could travel together... Yes, either of those things would have been fine with the young Houndour. As long as she was fighting something, it didn't matter to her. After all, that's why she had come to Cattail Marsh in the first place. If she could get a little stronger, maybe she'd have a shot at getting in the Grassveil Guild...

Ashen eventually noticed that the Cubone was in a defensive pose. She stopped a few meters short of it, trying to give the Pokemon some space. Hopefully they're friendly, She thought, glancing at the seemingly hostile Pokemon. She knew it wasn't a feral, but it looked like a rugged Pokemon. So rugged, in fact, that she thought she may have stumbled upon an outlaw. Even with that thought, she relaxed her posture to look more approachable.

"lo-ok for h-om-e." Rouge responded. This was the truth, he was looking for a place he could call home, albeit this was not a good place to do so. He kept his guard up, ready for a sudden attack. Seeing that this Pokemon was nervous, Rouge looked around slightly to make sure no others were around. Nothing had happened with in the few moments sense he had spoken. He noticed she had even stopped a few meters away and wasn't even tense for a fight. slowly he let his bone down just skimming the water as he moved it to his side. He stood up, de-bracing himself. This one wasn't here to harm him, if she was she would have already done so.

"who....?" Rouge asked, wondering who this Pokemon was. He took a step forward trying to be non-threatening. The water, now showing it's true match up to his height, was half way up his stomach, making him look only smaller and more harmless than he was before.

"Ro-ug-ge Bo-ne." He simply stated. Rouge recognized she wasn't just nervous, but curious, perhaps about him? It didn't matter in reality, but he was curious about why a fire type was here besides just training. he thought for a moment, somewhat eyeing Ashen up, then decided to make an offer.

"T-ra-vle to-ge-th-er..?" Rouge asked, one hand out offering to shake on it. He had worked with a few others before and knew there was safety in numbers. he saw his hand quivering ever so slightly, he knew he was abit cold standing in this water, but he had made it though worse back on the mountain. He only hoped that Ashen would want to work together as much as he hated to admit it. He was lost, very lost. This may be his one chance to get out of this place, even if it took them a while.

[Energy: 4 - 0 (Lucky Ribbon eliminates the cost of item finds) = 4]

"Rouge Bone..?" Ashen asked as her curiosity peaked even more. What a, uh... unique name, She thought to herself. The Cubone's strange response provoked more questions than it answered. Sounds like he could've come up with it himself... I don't think his parents named him that. There's no point in asking him about it, though. He's still probably uncomfortable with talking, so I'll just keep quiet for now, The Houndour decided, giving Rouge Bone a strange look as he sized her up.

However, her confused expression was quickly replaced when the Cubone asked her if she wanted to travel with him. She flashed a friendly grin, and nodded her head. "S-sure, we could do that if you want to," The canine replied. She knew that having a travel companion with her could really help, especially if she got in a tight spot. Knowing that the dungeon was primarily populated by water Pokemon, a mismatch was inevitable for the young fire type.

When Rouge Bone extended his scaly arm, Ashen couldn't help but giggle in amusement. Being a quadruped Pokemon, it wasn't very often that she had to shake another Pokemon's hand. Still, she obliged, pulling one of her front paws out of the water, and completing the odd social ritual. Taking notice of Rouge's shivering, Ashen gave him a concerned look. "Oh, a-are you cold? I could make us a fire once we're through this dungeon..." She offered, giving the reptilian Pokemon a motherly smile.

"Had wo-rs-e... fir-e ni-ce th-ou-g." Rouge was slightly embarrassed that she had noticed, but was his eyes sparkled slightly at the offer of a warm fire. Ashen was definitely not a bad Pokemon and he'd be happy to get though here as fast as possible. He looked away for a moment to see if there was any Pokemon coming towards them. He wasn't sure if this place was a good place for them to be, but it would provide a good challenge for them, that was for sure. He smiled and readied his bone just in case one was to pop up behind him.

RougeBone carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Ashen nodded, already envisioning the two of them sitting by a campfire after their trek through the marsh was over. While not quite as cold as Rouge was, the Houndour had traveled for hours to get to their current location, and her legs were sore. She wanted nothing more than to sit down and rest... Of course, she would only get a break once they had cleared the dungeon, so like her partner, she wanted to get through as quickly as possible.

"Look over there," The canine Pokemon whispered to Rouge, pointing her paw in the direction of a Poliwhirl, who seemed completely oblivious. "Let's go battle it," She suggested, slowly padding over to the frog Pokemon. It was difficult for her to avoid splashing and creating noise, so it wasn't long before the feral noticed her. Almost immediately, the Poliwhirl let out a strong Bubble Beam. Unable to dodge due to the thick mud, she was hit directly, yelping in pain.

If I could get close to him, it wouldn't be too difficult to knock him out with a Sucker Punch... The Houndour thought to herself, leaping through the shallow water towards the enemy. She was creating quite a ruckus; other Pokemon in the area were bound to hear her and come to defend their territory.

(4 - 2 = 2 Energy)

Rouge wasn't able to leap like Ashen was able to, nor could he move quickly. Instead he moved slowly and deliberately, toward the poliwhirl. Once he finally reached it, the Feral Pokemon's back was turned toward him. 'one well aimed skull bash will take care of this.' Rouge thought, taking aim and raising his club above his head. The moment he grunted to swing at full speed the poliwhirl turned and caught it with one hand. Rouges eyes went wide as his bone was pushed aside, the only noticeable harm rouge had done was that the Poliwhirl's hand stayed down by it's side, clutched in a ball. There was a small cracking sound as the club had connected, signaling that it's hand may be broken, but it's attention and focus wasn't. The poliwhirl merely shifted it to a smaller easier to hit target.

The poliwhirl immediately show out another Bubble beam into rouges face, slowly forcing him under the water's surface. Rouge visibly thrashed under the water, trying despratly to hit the poliwhirl and get some real breathing room before things got bad.

Shortly after the Poliwhirl had forced Rouge under the water, Ashen finally got close enough to the foe to attack it. She opened her maw, expelling a weak Ember attack, which was enough to distract the frog Pokemon. It lifted its damaged hand to swat her away with a Double Slap technique, but before it could do that, she Sucker Punched it square in the face, causing it to release its grip on her partner. The Poliwhirl stumbled back, but managed to keep its balance. The water type narrowed its eyes at the canine.

For some reason, Ashen was unable to follow her attack up. She was too busy staring at the swirls on the Poliwhirl's chest. They appeared to be swirling around, and around, and around... It was already too late when the young Houndour realized that it had used Hypnosis on her. She fell to the ground, completely unconscious for the time being.

Rouge popped up from under the water taking a deep breath. He saw Ashen fall to the ground, out cold. Rouge took a step toward ashen before realizing that it would be a mistake, the poliwhirl was still there. He dared not look to the poliwhirl just incase it tried the same thing against him. He pondered for a moment as he heard the feral pokemon move toward him, more than likely wanting revenge for his broken hand. Rouge look down, he knew his chances were bleak at best currently, but then he noticed something, the water was very reflective. He stood there watching the water until the Poliwhirl was right behind him readying for the hardest double slap of it's life when Rouge turned, eyes closed, catching it right in the stomach with his club. as it doubled over trying to catch it's breath, Rouge didn't wind up for a strong overhead swing but instead moved it with as much speed as he could. One satisfying thwack later and the poliwhirl floated there, rendered unconscious.

Rouge rushed to Ashens with the immediate threat now neutralized. "As-he-n!" he pushed her gently trying to wake her up as gently as possible. He didn't know if it would work, but he could try, he at least make sure her head wasn't under the water.

Ashen groaned and got up to her feet, having been roused awake by her bone-wielding partner. "Ugh, is that Poliwhirl finished..?" She asked absentmindedly, still half-asleep. She looked over to her side, and found the enemy, who appeared to have been knocked out. I guess Rouge dropped him while I was asleep... She thought, already pleased with her decision to travel with the Cubone. While he might have been a little odd, she was thankful to have him around. If it weren't for him, she probably would've been KOed by the water type while she was asleep.

"Uhm, right... That's over with. Let's move on," The young Houndour told her companion, shaking herself to dry her dark pelt. Once her fur was sufficiently drained of water, she took the lead, pressing on further into the dungeon.

"So... You said you were looking for a home, right?" Ashen started, trying to create some conversation. "Are you heading to Rainfront Town, then?" She inquired, cocking her head in curiosity.

"No..." Rouge responded, and it was the truth. "Lo-ok for em-pt-y cav-e..." He had believed the Pokemon in the building outside the town, which in hindsight wasn't the best idea. He sighed at his own stupidity, but at least they were safe for now. Rouge thought for a moment, curious about why she was here besides just training.

"why tr-ai-n h-er-e? tr-ain for w-ha-t?" Rouge inquired. He moved his helmet up slightly, scratching his nose and under his right eye before letting his helmet settle back into it's position. He trudged along side Ashen, both waiting for an answer and just trying to keep himself distracted from the fact that he was wet and there was a breeze chilling him further.