Dance Dance electrocution.

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Lucerne tugged at her new Ribbon, it was longer than her first, so she needed to tie the bow bigger. The larger ribbon also matched her fins(?). overall she thought it made her look really cute. She still wished to maybe get some eyeliner from the boutique, but she didn't have the money.

adjusting her bow she walked into the town square. something was different. there was music playing! she looked around and saw a small band set up, with a donation box. Street performers!

She rushed over, and disregarding her current lack of funds, threw a couple poke into the box. She requested something graceful, and after a few moments a new song started to play.

Lucerne smiled. concentrating, she surrounded herself with the comforting feeling that she used to summon aqua ring. Soon enough water droplets in the air started swirling around her, and she began to dance.

As she twirled around to the tune, she brushed the rings as the spun, each time sending out a small amount of mist, which was pulled around by the force of the aqua ring. Lucerne manipulated the rings with her movements, spinning them like hula hoops at some points and at others tilting them with her movements.

Before she knew it the song was over, and her grin was almost too wide for her face. She even seemed to have brought in a few more people into the small crowd around the band. She stood there, taking in the moment, letting people appreciate her beauty. It was great.

{OOC: I like the way you think. And PS, Raze hasn't won a battle against a civilized Pokémon except for Hidon, so... Don't expect him to win anytime soon. :P}

"Hm? We can't use moves on each other... Oh yeah. Shame, really." he said with a hint of disappointment. The Minun couldn't tell if it was just the awkwardness around his typing talking or the truth in full, but he didn't care. "Hmm, that would be an issue..." Raze thought out loud, crossing his arms to think. If we can't use moves to fight... What's the point then? I mean, it's not like we can magically start attacking each other... Without using... Elemental... Hey, that's something! Woohoo, hooray for accidental good ideas! The mouse nodded and bore a huge grin, ready to share his proposition.

"I think I've got something!" he began with a joyous expression. "How about we just spar without using any attacks? You know, like in those old stories when people use to fight each other with nothing but their fists and stuff!" As a child, Raze had been told many of these stories and knew basic knowledge of how to fight in case his electricity didn't work. Most attempts at this ended up with him falling face-first into the dirt within mere seconds, but he didn't care. "If you want to, of course. Don't count on me losing!" he declared, striking a challenging pose.

Mother mew forgive her for lying. Lucerne was in too deep, all she could do was follow through. luckily it sounded like Raze hadn't actually fought without moves before, so she wouldn't lose too much face. She just hoped this would be over quickly. Lucerne steeled herself for things to come and took a breath before speaking.

"That. Sounds. Great!" Lucerne said, barely concealing her anger. "Where do you want to do this? after my fall I don't want to be seen for a while."

At least that last part wasn't a lie. Moral ambiguity aside Lucerne might actually learn something about fighting, though It probably wouldn't be very effective against a sentient stone tree... or a ghost. Lucerne Seriously questions why the pecha forest is considered an easy dungeon.

Raze practically bursted with excitement, ready to start right away. A lingering question stopped him, though; where would they spar? Sparring in the middle of town wasn't allowed and the Dojo was costly. ...Still no ideas. There's always- Hey! The areas around town! I'm on a roll today, maybe I'll get lucky with the battle too! the Electric type concluded with a pleased nod. Besides, the mouse was more familiar with areas around Grassveil than the town itself. "They won't let us spar in the middle of town, so how about somewhere just on the border? There's tons of dungeons, and they're usually easy."

The Minun still had to figure out which area would be the least problematic with ferals and such. Shadowhue Forest was the first one to be eliminated; it was so dark in there that he couldn't see Lucerne, and even less the other way around because of his dye. Fallen Leaf Copse was tempting, but the ferals were a bit stronger than usual lately. The Small Pond was like digging his own grave by agreeing to fight in the Buizel's own element. That being present, the only viable option that left fairness and ease would be Pecha Forest. "I guess Pecha Forest would work. It's got some easy ferals if we ever find any, it's not too crowded around this time, and I know my way around. How about it?" Raze offered. If Lucerne had any other location in mind, he would have been fine with it... unless it was Shadowhue. That would cause more than a problem.

lucerne felt her heart drop down into her stomach. Pecha forest. the place with demon trees. She obviously couldn't say that out loud, Raze probably could take them on easy. If they were to go there it would be clear to him that She has no idea whatsoever of how to fight. What was she going to do.

Ok calm down. there had to be a good reason not to go to pecha forest. She just had to think of it. oh wait, her bow! she could tie a little truth into her lies.

"No, like I said I just got this bow, lost my last one to a feral, I'm pretty sure it's more sturdy, but I want someone who actually knows about these things to tell me that." Lucerne said with confidence. "We should spar outside a dungeon."

Nice, she sounded like she handled that ferrel, when really she got lucky. also it was the truth, which was easier to say then come up with more lies. She just had to stay the course and Raze wouldn't find out about her incompetence.

"Oh.. Whoops! Sorry, never thought of that!" Raze apologized, being quick to rebound from his mistake. After all, if something like that happened, would anyone ever want a repeat of it? "Heh, guess that's out of the question then! How about just outside of town? We could always go towards the Small Pond or something." The Electric type hadn't even realized that was what came out until a few seconds later. If Lucerne realized that it was almost like home turf to her, he was done for!

"U-Uhh... If you want to, of course! We could always go to the front gates of town, there's a little area where people go for sparring!" the Minun hurriedly tried to drive the idea out of Lucerne's mind. The pond would not only limit his options, but would cause him to think twice about falling in. If his science was logical, one touch with a spark and a few dozen fried Magikarp would float upwards. Urgh, me and my big mouth... Raze thought with a soft sigh, low enough for Lucerne to hear faintly if she was listening close enough.

"Yeah I'd rather go to the gate, I was actually in the middle of some errands when I noticed that band playing." Lucerne said, you know, IF errands meant window shopping. She really needs to learn how to fight.

Lucerne also wanted this over with quick. at least she avoided the worst case scenario with having to use moves and use them in that hellhole. One step at a time. she just needed to get strong, get exploring, and get money... speaking of which, Raze had told her that the dye job didn't cost much, but not where he got the money.

"Uh I'm a little low on funds and uh... Dungeoned out at the moment" Lucerne said, off to a good start "Since you aren't an explorer yet, where did you get the money for that dye job of yours?"

She wondered if the boutique hired part timers. maybe there's an employee discount. That would be too good to be true. Still, there might be work at a cafe, or maybe she could ask that band if she could take a split of the donations if she performed with them, she was getting pretty good at her aqua ring dance.

The Cheering Pokémon almost let out an audible sigh of relief when Lucerne stated her desire to spar just outside of town. Had she realized his disagreement with the Small Pond and decided against it for his sake? Did she want it to be fair and chose to stay away from her natural element? Did she even realize that he was against the Small Pond in the first place? He would never know. "Really? Sounds great to me!" he said with a grin. With that, he figured out where the gates were, heading towards the western exit, when his Buizel companion stopped him.

"...Huh? My dye job?" Raze asked curiously, examining his arm again. She seemed to be very interested in it, no matter how much he thought it wasn't that big of a deal. "I guess I just found some money lying around in some dungeons. For some reason, they're always just sitting there unattended. Was some guy strolling around with a sack of money, leaving them out for people?" the Minun said jokingly. He had no idea how he had gotten so lucky with finding spare change and the like, but he took it almost as a game on his explorations; find as much money as possible. "So, with that out of the way... Shall we go? I'm ready when you are!"

"Yeah I knew a guy. They said that doungeons were both different worlds and the same world that we live in. So stuff like money gets left around in doungeons because something to do with how it always changes, and it picks things from this world to change with it? something like that." Lucerne said, trying to remember how exactly Her saviour had described doungeons. "yeah let's get moving"

She brushed past Raze and started heading toward the town gate. She was disappointed that Raze didn't have a side job, but also kind of relieved. She Didn't want to work extra, but at the same time she DID want to stop window shopping.

just outside the town there were a few dirt fields, worn down by battles, any grass long since burned, sliced, buried or washed away. It wasn't exactly elegant, but Lucerne didn't have the right to be picky. Hopefully she could get this over with and go find someone to actually train her. Maybe she should just take out a loan and buckle down and head to the dojo.

...Different worlds? Raze thought. He had never thought of dungeons like that, always assuming it was just the way the world worked. He related it to the desire of Arceus itself, seeing as there wasn't really a proven cause of it. The mouse had heard some pretty crazy theories, but this one seemed like it might actually be close to the truth. Mystery Dungeons were always the way they were; constantly changing with no predictable pattern and must be navigated purely by instinct. Heh, guess that's why I always have to ask for help! he thought with a shrug. Upon reflection, he was very reliant on allies during his explorations. Meh. That's what friends are for, right?

By the time the duo reached the gates, Lucerne had already found an area. The Electric type could barely hold in his excitement and cracked a huge grin, taking his position at the other end. "About time we got here! Alright, so remember: no moves, and just speak up when you give up! Ready?" With this, Raze had already stretched a bit and loosened up. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!" While not very courteous to his opponent, he usually let his sparring partner attack second. This strategy rarely worked in the past seeing as it has landed him sprawling on the floor before a strike even lands, but it was too late to think twice anyways; the Minun was already charging forward to ram his shoulder into her stomach. It was a miracle that after all of the losses, Raze never learned how to stop without falling forward.

Lucerne wasn't really ready, so when Raze charged in she just held her paws out instinctively. Unfortunately she blocked too high and was knocked back by the Shoulder charge. It took a few moments for Lucerne to realize what was going on, but after a second she understood what happened.

Raze was small, and fast. Lucerne could only hope that whatever way she attacked would hit. She decided to go with a punch, It seemed like a good idea at the time. She aimed her paw downward towards the little mouse and hoped for it to hit.

Lucerne had no idea what she was doing. Sho just hoped that Raze wouldn't notice. She didn't need to win, just put up a good fight. she could do that, at least she thought she could. This was a terrible idea.

Landing a hit like that, a first for him, boosted Raze's confidence through the roof. "Should've warned you I'm no pushover!" he boasted, backing up and crossing his arms. The Cheering Pokémon had enough morale to last him a while, and he had no plans on letting up until the end. In fact, this was probably going to be his downfall. Raze shrugged and shook his head, taking his eyes off of Lucerne. "Heh, guess I give myself less credit than I deserve! That was really-" he began, only to be cut off by a blunt strike. The mouse staggered backwards and fell down on his behind with a grunt.

"Ugh... Nice one." he said, wiping his cheek and springing back up into a shifty and loose stance. Though it wasn't a very powerful strike, the punch had caught him off guard at just the right moment. "But it's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down!" With this said, he dropped down to his hand and attempted to sweep Lucerne's legs with a swift kick. The advantage of this was that if he missed, the Electric type was acrobatic enough to quickly recover into a standing position, no matter how shaky. If he managed to land the strike, however, it would make it harder to compose himself again for a follow-up attack due to the impact of the blow.

Lucerne was genuinely surprised that her Punch hit, maybe this wasn't so hard after all. Didn't make sense that Raze was talking though, this was a fight. or maybe it did, Lucerne didn't know how to fight, so she didn't know what was normal!

Just as she was thinking this, Raze fell down, thinking he tripped lucerne walked forward, only to have her balance knocked out from under her. Then she remembered something. It really hurts to do a belly flop. She wondered if that logic worked both ways. So she aimed her fall at the small mouse, trying to spread out her body like a belly flop usually works.

He was genuinely surprised that the attack connected, so much that he didn't even try to backpedal away from the Buizel as she began to fall. "You want to watch me carefully and see what I do before you think about it." he began. Lucerne said how she wanted to train, and giving advice was the best thing the mouse could do at the moment while they were still sparring. However, this would not continue for long. "That way, when I try something like that, you-" he began, only to be interrupted by a weight being pressed against him. Struggle as he might, Raze couldn't get out from under the entity. He was forced to lay stomach down, restricting his field of vision.

"H-Hey, what are you doing?! Lucerne, get it off, get it off! What is it, what just fell on me?!" he began panicking. Wriggling out from under her enough to see her, Raze sighed and turned red from embarrassment. How could the Electric type not see that she was the one who had trapped him on the floor? "I-I totally knew it was you who did that, hehe! Nice one, though; had me for a second!" he stated, trying to cover up his own mistake. ...Huh. Never thought of that strategy, guess that she's entitled to use it because she's bigger than me. All right, guess I'd better adapt! With this, Raze pulled himself out and took up his stance once more. "I've gone a bit too much on the offensive, how about you lead this time?"

Lucerne got up, and after checking that Raze was ok started giggling. This was pretty fun all thing considered. Maybe she didn't have to force herself through this. Lucerne stopped giggling long enough to talk, "Am I heavy enough for you now!? ha! Alright, alright, get ready."

Lucerne thought about what would look cool. She should change things up, maybe with some kicking. She got to go first this time, so she had a bit of time to think about it. Maybe some kicking. how would you make the most out of a kick? she could spin, but Raze already saw her dance, so he might either be distracted and it be unsporting or he would know what she was thinking. then again her belly flop seemed to work well, so why not apply that to a kick?

Lucerne took a running start, jumped, and extended one leg, bringing it down as she fell. The jump wasn't very high, so it looked kinda funny, but It still looked cool, probably. Now it's time to see if Lucerne being 'Heavy' can help kick this mouse's sparky little butt.

A smirk arose from his face. Luring Lucerne to attack was a surefire way to gain the upper hand... Right? Wrong. Hehe, I bet she's gonna try something like a punch! Like she'd ever hit me! he thought with a cocky attitude. He had always been competitive when it came to sparring, but the Minun's mindset after boosting his confidence always was revolving around a self-centered, prideful thought process. This usually clouded his judgment and ended up leaving him with a loss, but he was convinced that this time he was right. "I saw that one coming from a mile away!" he boasted, moving to his side... only to be knocked back into a kneeling position.

"B-But... How did you...?" he stammered in disbelief as he wiped his cheek again. The dust that was kicked up from his skidding halt stung his eyes, but the Electric type didn't care. What?! I was sure that she wasn't that experienced when I challenged her! How is this even happening? he thought in absolute disbelief. Returning to his feet, he grunted and charged forward to try and land an uppercut directly onto her chin. If there was one thing that his height allowed him to have an advantage for, it was for landing blows to the lower parts of the body. "Nice one, but I'm gonna have to step it up a notch!" With this, he closed his eyes and threw his arm upwards with closed eyes and crossed fingers.