I might whisk it!

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(Energy: 16-10=6)

"This place... It sure earns the name. Shadowhue Forest..." Cirrus the Togepi remarked quietly to herself while slowly venturing into the dungeon.

She didn't quite know why, but she felt confident enough to try tackling this dungeon today. Some may call her attempt a foolhardy folly, that she should stick to Pecha Forest for the time being, that she would need a good amount of Reviver Seeds, and other such stuff. What she did have though, was her optimism. And it was overflowing on this particular day.

Cirrus then heard a noise. Someone nearby? A feral? Or perhaps another explorer? She would certainly love to have some backup in this forest...

"Hello? Someone there?"

(Poisoned, No Energy Regen)

"Sorry, I'm not sure what we could find here either..." Cirrus admitted to her teammate over his question about whether they could find a Pecha Berry in this forest. This definitely wasn't going as planned, as much as she didn't like to admit it. A feeling of tiredness was beginning to wash over her. She would definitely require a use of Morning Sun soon, lest she pass out and need Bui to carry her.

The idea of walking side by side did sound appealing, so she nodded in approval and headed onwards with him, drawing upon every last ounce of strength just to keep up while willing herself to not flop there and then. The Shroomish and trap had taken a lot more out of her than she had anticipated. While trying to keep up with Bui, Cirrus could have sworn that she heard the sounds of Pokémon approaching.

(Energy: 9 - 11=0 because rules)
Bui could here something heading in his direction, somewhere off to the side. Bui turned to face the direction of the sound, stepping around Cirrus so that he was between the approaching Pokemon and her.

I guess this is where I get to play the bodygu—Bui's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stinging pain. Bui let out a pained sound as a purple powder made contact with him, which appeared to have drifted down from a tree he had just passed.

Looking up, Bui was able to make out the silhouette of a paras—the obvious source of the poison, but clearly not the source of the sound. The other Pokemon was still coming.

"Erk, uh, Cirrus, we might have a problem. . ."

The sound of Bui's pained cry pierced its way through Cirrus's utterly exhausted daze, upon coming back into a muggy focus she noticed that he had also been poisoned by a Poison Powder from a Pokémon silhouette that she was too far out of it to identify.

"No, not you too..." she quietly exclaimed in exasperation, not towards him for getting poisoned, but towards this whole forest. She got back to his side and pulled one of the Buizel's arms over her to support him as she also heard the approaching Pokémon.

Looking into Bui's eyes, her mind was set. "...We're fighting this oncoming Pokémon together. On my last leg or not, I refuse to let my new friend go at this alone. We can do this..." she exclaimed firmly before beginning to stumble. She was obviously straining herself greatly at this point.

"Metronome's out of the question right now... but I do have one last trick... This...!" she said, just as the Pinsir emerged. Upon its arrival into viewing distance, Cirrus let loose her Charm move, mustering up the cutest share she possibly could in her current state. Within a few short moments, her round sparkly eyes and absolutely adorable facial expression had affected the feral stag beetle enough for it to momentarily forget both about Bui's presence and its intention to rip both of them into shreds.

"T-There... Your opening..." she quietly whispered with shallow breaths, looking as though she could faint at any second...

Bui was most definitely impressed, and surprised, by the togepi's ability to stop the raging pinsir, but he realised he didn't have long to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Bui. . ." This was going to take every last bit of his strength away, so he had to make it count. Sonic Boom always does the same damage so long as it hits, so the only way to do more damage is to hit more. Fortunity, his only target was big, still, and distracted.

Bui unleashed his prepared Sonic Boom, hitting the pinsir directly. This provoked the pinsir to change focus from the adorable togepi to the desperate buizel. Bui moved as quickly as he could in his condition, and unleashed a second Sonic Boom, and then a third—each slightly more off centre than the last. His fourth one missed entirely, and Bui stumbled and fell again.

I can't tell if I've done anything to it. . . The forest is starting to seem darker. . .


"Cir-Cirrus, I don't think I can do much else," Bui said with strained breathing between every few words. He was moving a lot, pushing the poison through himself quicker. "This. . . Wasn't supposed to go this way. . ."

(Morning Sun. 5/2=2.5, rounding down. Energy: 0+2=2)

She couldn't tell if the hits had worked either. It was indeed a hopeless situation... but she wasn't about to throw in the towel and let that Pinsir have its way with them. She began to glow in a faint yellow-golden light whilst using Morning Sun, restoring a little bit of her energy and vitality. Just enough to stand steadily and continue against the lingering poison.

Cirrus could now tell that a good amount of Bui's Sonic Boom attacks had indeed connected because the Bug type had some visible damage on it. "I'll take it from here. Metronome, you'd better not fail me now!" she called out, going back into that well and producing an Iron Head attack from it. Upon connecting her hit, she found herself quietly admitting that she needed an actual offensive move.

Bui looked up just in time to watch Cirrus slam in to the pinsir with unpredicted force. The pinsir was surprised by the tiny Pokemon's power. Bui was impressed.

We might not be able to knock it out, but we could convince it this fight isn't worth the effort. . .

Bui stood up, unsteadily, and began a second wave of Sonic Boom attacks—they didn't need to hit, necessary, they only had to come close and seem endless. Bui's goal was to convince the pinsir it would be overwhelmed it it stayed here.

Hope he's not brave—I can't keep this up for very long. Bui's vision was starting to blur; he'd fall unconvinced soon.

After adding in one more Growl to ward it off, the Pinsir indeed leaves them as a bad job and saunters off back into the bushes. Way, way too close for comfort, Cirrus thought. She put Bui's arm around herself again and proceeded to move onwards with him, using the residual glow from Morning Sun as a temporary makeshift flashlight. Hopefully the dungeon wasn't too big, as she would soon be enveloped in its shade again if they didn't pick up the pace.

"Save your strength now, I'll get us through this place, even if I have to support your unconscious body... We're going to be ok." Cirrus said to him. The poisoning still pained her, but that restoration move had stabilized her own flagging stamina for the time being. What she really wanted to do was raise the morale of her teammate, whom didn't appear to have such a move.

Bui pushed himself to carry his own weight, as well as help support Cirrus. We are weak and getting weaker. Why did we both have to go and get poisoned? We'll both faint if we keep straining ourselves like this.

"Cirrus, we need to stop, we're only going to speed up the poison's effects if we keep moving. We need peacha berries, heal seeds, something." Each word came out strangled. Bui had moved a lot, but Cirrus was smaller—both were at equal risk.

"I suppose you're right..." she conceded. It was a fair point he'd made. She took some time to listen out for any oncoming ferals... Nothing. They seemed to be in a rather quiet area of the forest, so it should be alright to let Bui rest.

Cirrus looked around and saw a patch of grass that appeared suitable for their needs before guiding him towards it. It was off the beaten path but concealed enough by the nearby trees to hide them for the time being. She laid Bui down in it, being noticeably more concerned for his condition than her own. There was still some fight in her but she found the idea of leaving him behind to be abhorrent. This dungeon exploration had been an unmitigated disaster so far, although she clutched hold of the hope that they had in fact nearly cleared it and were a short walk away from the end.

"There... You should get some rest." Cirrus took a moment to turn away and reflect. Her initial confidence was long since gone. She considered using Metronome to try beyond hope of pulling a status cleansing move, but thought that it would be too much to expect that move to come through for the third time in this forest... "Bui, maybe I should scout ahead? We could be near the end..."

Cirrus was displaying genuine, true concern about Bui's well being, even though she herself was at just as much risk as he was. Bui wasn't used to this amount of worry over his well being from anyone, and never had he ever felt such a strong urge to return such concern to another. Not until now. There was something about this young togepi that Bui now found himself invested in. She was kind, considerate, and surprisingly strong—both in will and physic.

"I said we should rest, the both of us," Bui wasn't particularly fond of the two separating, considering neither were in any condition to be fighting, or even traveling. "If you think you'll be alright, then fine, scout ahead," Bui shuddered from a sudden surge of pain. "It's not like I could stop you anyhow. But if you find anything useful, take care of yourself first; we don't need you going down trying to bring something back for me. And if you see another feral, just hide."

Bui relaxed were he lay in the grass, finding it tiresome to do anything more than breathe. Before Cirrus could leave, he forced out one final warning: "Be careful, Cirrus."

Seeing Bui's shudder almost made her change her mind, as did the insistence that she prioritize herself first should she find something to help them, but Cirrus kept steadfast to her glimmer of hope... until she realized that she had effectively decided to go off by herself within moments of claiming that she would carry him out. That decided it. After mentally scolding herself, she'd made up her mind.

"...My mother, a great doctor-" she said, turning back towards him "-would have wanted me to stay with a Pokémon that needed help. I'll stay here, with you, until you feel fit to continue.". With that, she ever so gently got her hands dampened from Bui's thin Water Veil and rubbed one of them on his forehead to try and cool off the ailing Water type. With no supplies, it was the best thing she could come up with to alleviate her new friend's condition.

Bui was not entire sure what Cirrus was saying—or even if she was actually still there, perhaps he was only imagining her voice. He was fading in and out of conciousness now. He felt useless; a hindrance unto Cirrus.

Is she going to stay? Good. I think. Maybe. . . Maybe she's right, though, maybe we are close to the exit. Sitting around isn't going to do us much good. . .


Bui felt Cirrus's hand on his forehead. She's trying her best to help, and I'm holding us back. Moving on it's own may not help us initially, but it has a greater potential to do us good than sitting here dying will. Bui sat up painfully, and slowly struggled to his feet.

"Cirrus, you might have the right idea, if we don't move, we're basically giving up. Let's keep each other going, find the exit, get somewhere nicer. Once we manage that, I'll let you play doctor, and maybe you teach me something," Bui said with a pained grin. He offered his paw to Cirrus, and gestured back towards the path with the other. "Let's get out of this stupid, dark, bug-infested forest."

"Yes, let's." she said back, helping him to avoid toppling over. This exploration may have been a difficult and deeply strenuous trial in and of itself, but Cirrus was now expecting to look back on it more favorably after she had grown older and stronger. Tough as the journey was, she'd made a new friend in Bui. That's truly what mattered in the grand scheme of things... Running into him during the exploration was comparable to finding a Rare Fossil hidden inside a massive pile of Grimy Food, and she was very grateful for it to have turned out as such.

She kept going, supporting his weight despite her stamina beginning to falter somewhat and the poison wearing her down, until she heard something.