Scrambled Boogaloo!

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With Bui at her side, Cirrus continued to trudge on towards the location where she had heard that water. She kept moving them forward, quite drained as a result of their difficult exploration in the forest, until something truly astonishing caught her eye as they arrived in the clearing.

"A waterfall..." Come to think of it, she'd heard one rumor about such a place known as Monochrome Falls but had doubted it before now. Yet here it was. The blue luminescent mushrooms dotted around the landscape gave this area a much quieter and calmer atmosphere than a dungeon, with nary a feral Pokémon in sight either. This appeared to be a suitable area to give her Buizel teammate a much deserved rest, especially since she could feel the poison within her system ebbing away as a result of clearing the dungeon.

Bui shook his head, but still didn't face Cirrus. "N-no, It's—I'm fine. . . Just. . . Let my thoughts get to me, that's all. . ." Bui wiped the tears away and recomposed himself. Once he was sure he had his emotions under his control again, he turned to face Cirrus—for once, Bui didn't seem to have his confident expression anymore.

"I just was thinking, how different—and how much better my life would be, had I had a real family instead of whatever it is I ended up with. . ."

What's even happening right now? Why am I suddenly so emotional? Why only now am I getting these thoughts—why only now am I suddenly thinking about family, wishing my parents had been good?

Bui definitely looks different, Cirrus thought to herself. She could understand why he'd have begun musing about that family after she told him of her own stable and loving one. It was beyond evident to her now that he'd never had this in his life.

Before she could even offer up a soothing response, a yawn came up instead. "S-Sorry, starting to get a little sleepy..." Even despite their berries filling them up, it was tough to reach this point. "I think I'll take some sleep now..." Cirrus sleepily said to him while folding her head spikes back together, only strengthening the egg resemblance he noticed when they first met.

Bui nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same here. . . It's definitely been a day. . ." Bui turned to face the waterfall for a moment, appreciating the nature around him. He then turned to face the now resting Cirrus. Thinking now, I am a bit surprised she stayed awake this long. We've both been through a lot today—I guess it could have been worse, though.


Bui leaned against the tree again, trying to push away any thoughts that would keep him away from sleep. He focused on the sounds of the waterfall and the faint blue light that barely penetrated his eyelids. Soon the sounds of the waterfall seemed to grow more distant, and Bui was soon sleeping soundly.

She woke up early the next morning and got to her feet, nice and rested, and began looking around for Bui. Having found him still sleeping by the tree, Cirrus then decided to explore the nearby area, soon standing close to the waterfall.

"Mmm... I could grow to like this area" she muttered, soaking in the water spray and the atmosphere. In this cool and tranquil state, she could have almost noticed a cave hidden behind that waterfall... Wait...

Her curiously piqued, Cirrus investigated the cascade of water and indeed discovered a cave concealed beyond it. Another dungeon? What really caught her eye for the time being were some yellow flowers bearing green leaves, dotted around the cavern mouth... They looked like herbs. She remembered a medic she recently met having told her that knowledge of such herbs and their uses could save lives... With that in mind, she gathered some of them into her bag before going to wake up Bui.

"Hey, wake up..." she said, a little wet from going through the falls twice.

"Hmm?" Bui awoke slowly. Even once he had his eyes open and sat up, Bui felt as if he was in a dream. After a moment, he focused in on his souroundings and come out of his daze. "Oh, mornin' Cirrus, sleep well?" Bui noted the togepi was wet. "Hey, did you go swimmin' or something?"

Bui was once again caught by the beauty of the area—the sounds and sights around him had made the world of the awake still feel somewhat like a dream. Yeah, this place is nice—I could really get used to hangin' around here. . .

"I slept quite well, thanks~!" she happily chirruped in response. "I'm a little wet became I went to check for something behind that big waterfall before going to wake you up. Turns out that there's some sort of cave entrance right there, maybe it's even another dungeon?"

She sat down in front of him afterwards. The thought had left her rather excited, evidenced most especially in her tone of voice. The prospect of more dungeon exploration with Bui was right up Cirrus's avenue, albeit slightly sobered by the difficulties endured last time. Despite being as peppy and wide awake as she was, such a strife couldn't be ignored easily.

Bui wasn't as excited as his companion to be going in to another dungeon. "Are you sure you want to go in to another dungeon so soon after what happened yesterday?"

She's always so optimistic and enthusiastic—what will it take to bring her down if yesterday's events didn't phase her? . . . I kinda wish I was a bit more like you, Cirrus.

Bui stared at their waterfall, taking in it and the surrounding areas beauty one last time. I probably don't stand much of a chance arguing with Cirrus here. I know her too well now—in this short time—that I think I'd actually feel a bit bad leaving her on her own in another dungeon.

Bui sighed. "Let's just hope there's no poison-types. . ."

"Hmm... Actually, it might be best to save this for another time. I do want to explore this one but we're probably not ready yet..." As excited as she was to explore the new dungeon, Cirrus simply couldn't deny that they had struggled too much on the way here to effectively handle what laid ahead of them.

With that, she took out her map, one which was limited enough to be outright useless beyond the Grassveil area, and gently rubbed a smooth white stone against their approximate location to leave a visible X mark. "Once we've both grown stronger, let's return here and explore that dungeon together. Deal?"

Bui was relieved that they weren't going to go through another dungeon so soon. "Yeah, that sounds like a deal. Don't get me wrong, I also want to explore that dungeon—but after yesterday, I'm a bit hesitant to be going in to any dungeon outside of, say, Pecha Forest." Bui stood up and stretched.

"So if not the dungeon, what's today's plan then? Should we start our way back to Grassveil together?" As much as Bui liked the location, he was not very happy about being surrounded by a dark forest that had nearly killed him less than twenty four hours ago.

"Sounds fair. Let's head back then." she replied to her partner. Cirrus took a step forwards to start heading off before something crossed her mind. It was a tough ride, but they somehow made it. Together.

"Hey... Bui." Cirrus said before turning around to face him. "I'll be straight with you here, I don't think I'd have been able to reach this beautiful point without your help in the dungeon, so... thank you. I sure wish I had something worthwhile in my bag to give you..." It was absolutely empty aside from the map and herbs, neither of which would be sufficient enough to display her gratitude.

(If you're still wanting to give me the ticket from before, there's your in character chance.)

"No, no, you don't have to give me a thing. In fact, if anything, I owe you, you practically dragged my sorry tails through part of that forest," Bui said, and he reached in to his bag and pulled out a small scrap of paper. "I found this in Pecha Forest, someone told me it was called a 'Strange Ticket.'" Bui offered the ticket to Cirrus.

"It's some paper thing—I don't know what it is for and since I can't read, it's entirely useless to me. Maybe you can find something to do with it. I'd give you something more, but it's all I have with me right now."

She took the ticket and read it out loud for her illiterate friend. Apparently, they could be redeemed at the Springfall Dojo alongside a sum of Poké for the owner's assistance in learning "tutor moves". An idea began to take form in Cirrus's mind, she recalled her mother once using a move that was called Heal Bell during one session with a patient... Perhaps she could use this ticket to learn it herself?

"Thank you, this is actually a really great gift. It's going to help so very much in my goal. You're the best." Cirrus happily responded to Bui with a delighted expression on her face, putting the ticket into her bag.

"Yes. Yes I am," Bui said with a smirk. "Alright, as beautiful as this place may be, I am ready to get on outta here."

Bui slung his bag over his shoulder. "I wouldn't mind getting back to Grassveil and getting something nice to eat somewhere, maybe do some shopping for supplies since the forests are not in favour of me taking their stuff from them." Bui tried to remember just how much poké he had saved up back at home. "Ay, Cirrus, got any plans for what you'll do when you get back to town?"

"I haven't got any plans, no..." Cirrus said to him. "I suppose I'll just have to decide that as it comes." She had a moderate amount of Poké safely stored away back at home so a shopping trip like Bui mentioned wouldn't be too far out of the question...

Then again, the ticket did need to be redeemed alongside Poké... This was what became the deciding factor. "I'm going to go back home, rest up for a little bit, then do some research on the prices of the Springfall Dojo's services." she declared to Bui. "I already know which move I'll set myself up to learn so it's just a matter of finding the costs."

"Sounds like a fair plan," Bui said, nodding in agreement with his own statement. "Maybe when we get together again, for that dungeon behind the waterfall, we'll both be stronger, and better prepared."

I am starting to get bored of the areas around Grassviel, maybe it is about time I start doing some serious training, prepare myself for more challenging dungeons. And with Cirrus, with her ever-increasing medical knowledge, together we might actually be able to do some pretty amazing things. . .


Bui began his journey away from the falls and out of the dungeon alongside Cirrus. Bui turned his head and called back to the cave beyond the waterfall, "We'll be back, cave, don't you worry about that!"