A Smelly Partnership

Ashen traveled down the path to Grassveil Town alongside her new friend Kaori. While their initial confrontation had been far from endearing, they had watched each others' backs during their journey through Shadowhue Forest, and the Stunky had ultimately gained her admiration by the end of the trip. She was a fantastic fighter, and they seemed to get along well. Seeing her as a perfect candidate for a teammate, Ashen pondered the possibility of inviting her to form a team at the Grassveil Guild together. Raze had suggested this at the beginning of their adventure, but she hadn't actually taken it seriously until now.

Of course, fearing rejection, the timid Houndour was reluctant to pop the question. What if she says no? The fire type hesitantly thought to herself. Ugh, that would be awful. She probably wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore... No, I'm just psyching myself out. I have to be brave and ask her!

The hound Pokemon opened her mouth to question the skunk about joining the guild, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she said something different entirely. "Uhm, I-I don't think I ever asked... Do you have a place to stay for the night?" At this point, she was just delaying the inevitable.

The stunky wandered around with the houndour, looking around, truth to be told. the was amused. she hasnt been in grassveil before, as a matter of fact. it had been probably years since last time she saw one, due the long time she spent being on her own in the forest.

She had a lot of thing going by her head at the moment, why wasnt the houndour upset for what she did back in the forest, how the houndour could even stand her scent, most pokemon always do their best to stay away from pokemon like herself. and then ashen asked her that odd question.

"Umm...well...ashen....i dont...in fact....this is my first time in this town! heh...most pokemon here havent even seen one of my kind before...or smelt" She joked and laughs trying to seem upbeat pointing out the fact that some pokemon that walked too close of her were clearly offput by her smell.

Deep inside...she really wondered why would she ask that?...was she trying to suggest something.

"O-oh, really?" Ashen asked Kaori, giggling. "W-well, if you need to, you could stay at my mom's house over the night. I'm sure she wouldn't mind," She suggested, shrugging. Actually, now that I think about it, Mom might not be thrilled because of the smell. Not that she'd say anything about it in front of her... She thought, but then suddenly remembered that she smelled even worse than the skunk! Between being sprayed by Kaori and being vomited on by Raze, she absolutely reeked. I'm going to need to wash up before I can go apply for a job at the guild, She realized, not looking forward to bathing in the Small Pond. Being a fire type, doing so was extremely unpleasant.

"Uhm, I was just wondering, why are you out here, anyways?" The Houndour questioned, giving her travel companion a curious look. Most young Pokemon who traveled to Grassveil were looking to join the guild, but she got the feeling that Kaori wasn't one of those Pokemon. She hadn't responded at all when Raze mentioned the guild, and didn't seem to be at Shadowhue for the purpose of training (actually, it seemed like she was there to prank whoever walked by). Still, Ashen wondered if the mischievous Stunky would be interested in a job at the guild. She just had to find the right time to ask...

"You want me to stay with you? Sure!" She could not actually believe that ashen was inviting her over, she smiled at her, deep inside she was really wondering why she would invite her. this was very kind. perhaps this is what friendships are actually like.

She listens to ashen as she asked her for her reasons to being out there in the forest "Well...you see.. I live out there in the forest...you could say i am a feral pokemon. I just...wait around and mess with other pokemon from time to time." She did not go too in depth about it not wanting to talk about her past too much.

"Great!" Ashen beamed, giving her new friend a warm smile. Even if that isn't what I was originally going to ask her, I'm glad I did. Maybe I could mention the guild tonight, and we could apply tomorrow if she wants... The hound thought to herself, still unsure of whether or not Kaori would be interested in becoming an explorer. She was certainly tough enough, but did she have the desire to help others? Ashen had seen two different sides of Kaori at Shadowhue: one that was a mischievous prankster, which she showed when she had gotten sprayed, and another more altruistic side, which revealed itself when the Stunky showed remorse for her actions.

As Kaori explained her current situation, Ashen listened intently, occasionally nodding her head in understanding. "Y-you live in the forest? All alone? W-wow, you must be really strong..." She murmured, ignoring the second part about "messing around" with other Pokemon. If she could survive in the wilderness all by herself, she had to be powerful, right? Suddenly, Ashen had the urge to spar with her companion. If she could get her on a team, she'd have plenty of opportunities to battle her...

"Me? strong...hehe...I wouldn't call myself strong, The reason why i could survive out there is because my scent is often enough to keep others away..." She answered to ashen, then again, that wasn't completely true, ashen had seen some of her attacks, and the one that she used on that pinsir that was holding her was particularly strong, which made it obvious that she could make for a decent sparring partner.

"You could say i stink at fighting" She joked looking over at ashen as they continued walking "Say...how long until we get to your house?" she asked wondering where she lived around this town, after all. this place was huge.

Ashen chuckled at the pun, although she was still convinced that Kaori was a good fighter. "I-I dunno, the way that you handled that P-Pinsir back in Shadowhue was pretty amazing. I mean, if you didn't do that, he probably would've snapped me in half! Thanks for that, by the way..." She murmured, her head hanging low. She was a bit embarrassed that she had gotten herself into such a situation in the first place. Letting Kaori stay at her house was the least she could do after she had pretty much saved her life.

"Uhm, my house isn't that far from here. It's kinda close to the guild," She answered, trying her best to slip in a reference to the Grassveil Guild. If she was lucky, the Stunky would ask her about it, giving her an opportunity to mention that she wanted to join. Right now, her goal was to give Kaori subtle hints so that asking her wouldn't seem so sudden.

"Oh...amazing? hehe t-thanks...i rarely use that move...w-well...no problem! i am glad i could help you! it was the least i could do" She said. it was fun to hang out with ashen, she was even starting to hope they could hang out together more often. As they continue moving ashen said her house wasn't that far, apparently it was close of some sort of guild, kaori wondered what was the guild exactly. so she decided to ask.

"Hey ashen....this is a little embarrasing...but...what exactly is 'the guild'? " Seems ashen's plan was working. and kaori ended up doing just what she hoped to get by answering that way. which was asking her about the guild.

"It's right here, I'll show you," Ashen told the Stunky, happily padding over to a rather large structure, which seemed very distinct from the rest of the village. Instead of the typical wood and sod construction that was characteristic of Grassveil Town, the guild building was made primarily of mud brick and stone, giving it a much more solid appearance. "Uhm, this is the Grassveil Guild," The Houndour lectured Kaori, standing right in front of the imposing building. "Members of the guild do a lot of things, like rescuing Pokemon who are lost in dungeons, arresting outlaws, and exploring... Dangerous, maybe, but sounds like a lot of fun. I've wanted to join for a long time, but I have yet to find a partner who would join with me..."

The young fire type frowned, perhaps trying to guilt trip her friend into saying something, but before Kaori could say anything, she started moving again. "A-anyways, my mom's house isn't too far away fr-from here..." She murmured, looking back at the Stunky to see if she was following her.

"Exploring...That sounds like fun...I-i would like.." She looks down. She was suddenly feeling shy to ask ashen if she wanted her to be her partner. What if she would say no? She had given ashen some reasons not to like her. mainly spraying her. She wondered if she really wanted her on the team.

She gathers enough courage to ask her. as she took a deep breath."S-say ashen...i-if you dont have any partners...i...i would like...to be your partner" She looks down already expecting ashen to answer negatively. But why did she asked? She felt ashen was her friend, and wanted to get to spend more time with her.

Wow, that went right to the point. I honestly thought that we were going to drag this thread on for much longer, but hey, I'm not complaining. Anyways, since the main purpose has been accomplished, we could probably end this once we finish the first page, saying that they went to wash up before meeting the Guildmaster. And unless if you want to have a brief thread at the Small Pond, we could just go straight to the guild thread. Does that sound alright? =]

"R-r-really...?" Ashen stuttered, her eyes opening wide. Suddenly, it felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off the hound's shoulders. She bolted over to her new partner and glomped her with a silly grin on her face. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She barked, instinctively licking the Stunky's face in excitement. She had never felt so happy in her life! It seemed as if years of training and searching for a teammate had finally come into fruition. This is the best day ever... She thought, overlooking all of the horrible things that had only happened to her hours ago.

Once she realized that she was making a scene, Ashen backed off. Her cheeks burned red, but her tail was still wagging a million miles a minute. At this point, she didn't even care that every passerby was giving them strange looks. She was finally going to be part of an exploration team!

Kaori smiled and laughed a little as ashen glomped and licked her "hehe! you dont have to lick me like that!" she said while laughing, this was quite sudden but i gues there was no doubting that ashen really saw her as a close friend now.

"Alright..." She said getting up. "What should we do now ashen?" Kaori asked wondering what Ashen would do now. Ashen wasnt the only one that felt extremely happy about what was happening, after all kaori was happy by knowing the fact that she had made a friend.

Ashen glanced longingly at the Guild building, and started to pad over to it, only to stop herself at the doorway. Wait, no... I can't go in there smelling like this! She realized, sniffing the air around her. Just as she had suspected, she still smelled of blood, skunk spray, and vomit. Yuck! Yeah, I need a bath... It's not going to be pleasant, but I'm gonna need to do it eventually... The young fire type thought to herself. While she wasn't nearly as opposed to water as fire types with external flames were, she knew that she was in for an uncomfortable experience.

"Uhm, actually, I should go down to the Small Pond to wash all of this grossness off of me," The Houndour told her new partner, sighing. "You know, I don't want to look bad when we go to Guildmaster Faye to make the team..." She continued. "If you want, you could come with me... B-but you d-don't have to. Really, it's probably not going to be very exciting..." She murmured, looking down at the ground. The last thing she wanted to do was end up coming off as rude.

"Sure i can go with you, just dont count on me going in the water" She said looking over at her and smiling "I am not a big fan of water myself" That might explan why the stunky's fur wasnt very pleasant either, yet she just smelled like skunk, so even as terrible as that was it was more bearable than ashen's scent. as odd as that might seem. Not to mention, she would have a way easier time explaining the scent than ashen.

"It was nice of you to invite me to come along...heh...maybe i will get to spray some other random pokemon on the way, it would be funny!" She smirks on a rather mischievous way, seems she was already thinking on ways to entretain herself while ashen was off showering. Hopefully she wouldnt get herself in too much trouble.

Isn't that a little... Err, mean? Ashen thought with a concerned look on her face. I mean, I cried after she sprayed me. Doesn't she understand that it's not right to do that? She questioned, weighing her options. She didn't want to tell the Stunky off, lest she discourage her from being her teammate, but still... It just seemed like such a rotten thing to do to a Pokemon. The hound let out a pained sigh, and then looked up to address her new partner.

"Uhm, that doesn't sound very funny to me..." She murmured, shifting awkwardly. "You can do that while I'm bathing, but I don't want to watch..." The Houndour finished, frowning. She had no desire to see another Pokemon suffer the same fate that she had only several hours ago. I hope she doesn't end up trying to do stuff like that on missions... Our goal is to help Pokemon, not prank them!