(Not So) Lonely Island

[Energy: 22 - 11 (Entrance Cost) = 11] 
[Held Item: Lucky Ribbon (Reduces cost of every item rolled by 1)]

Just a few hours prior, Ashen thought that she had finally found a partner to start her exploration team with. But then, as usual for the Houndour, everything went wrong. She ended up returning home alone after a huge argument with her Stunky companion. 

How could I have been so stupid? She asked herself, kicking a pebble in frustration. All I needed to do was ignore it and let her have her fun... But she just kept spraying everyone that walked by. I couldn't just stand there and watch! I had to say something... The hellhound let out a defeated sigh, and continued walking down the dirt trail. After such an emotionally draining experience, Ashen needed to unwind, and she knew the perfect place to go: the Fallen Leaf Copse. The small, wooded island was easily the most beautiful place in the entire region. Perhaps if she spent the rest of the day there, she could cool down... 

After a brief walk along a dirt path, Ashen found herself at the shore of the lake which contained the copse. Now, all she had to do was use the stepping stones to get across... But what if she fell in the water? She knew from her experiences at Cattail Marsh that she coild barely swim... The Houndour stood there for what seemed like hours, worriedly staring at the lake.

(Energy: 20-11=9)

"B-beautiful...!"

It truly didn't need to be said that this Togepi was thoroughly enraptured by the sight of the island, situated in the middle of a lake which appeared to be tinged by a variety of orange and yellow colours. Having never been to this area before, the young girl was nothing short of captivated.

The Togepi, known by the name of Cirrus, had recently been on the receiving end of a harsh wake up call in regards towards the dream she held so dearly, far much more so than the last awakening in which a Houndour of an alternate colouration saved her from injury in Pecha Forest at the cost of being hurt herself. As a result of recent events, attempts to strengthen herself in order to protect her precious friends were in full swing. They had led Cirrus here from Grassveil Town, thus making for her longest trip towards a dungeon so far.

Her Togekiss mother left her in Grassveil to allow this young Pokémon to expand her boundaries and seek out her own knowledge. Cirrus intended on doing exactly this today. Emboldened by these thoughts, she begun making her way along the same dirt path that Ashen had not long traveled through...

((Sceptile, Gengarzilla, PurpleSoul. There's our posting order. I'd have it edited into the original post so we can easily see it.))

Twinkle was wandering around on her own, she was feeling rather sad, lonely after all she managed to get herself lost again Perhaps she was bound to be alone, yet for some reason, she wasn't feeling as sacred as usual,  she felt overwhelmed by sadness, she thought that her friends probably forgot about her, it was just horrible.

The little skunk pokemon kept on walking just trying to keep those sad memories away from her mind, yet after a few hours of walking the emotional pain became too much, she thought to herself. "Why am I so weak, why can't I help myself..." As she just....broke down, she started crying loudly. The memories of her old companions, how weak she had felt lately, she didn't had anywhere to go. She felt trapped.

The noises of her sobbing echoed around the place giving away exactly where she was. She just wanted things to turn out nice for once. It was everything she wanted...Twinkle just could hope that something happened that would at least take her mind away from all that had happened before. All the pain and loneliness that had taken over her young naïve mind.

Energy 18-11=7

Ashen finally looked up from the lake when a familiar (and kind of disgusting) odor caught her nose... There was a Stunky nearby, no doubt. But was it Kaori, her estranged partner? It certainly smelled like her... Maybe she followed me because she wanted to apologize, Ashen thought to herself. If we can smooth things over, then I might still have a chance at starting my team! The hound smiled at her realization, and turned in the direction of the foul stench. 

It wasn't long before she could make out a small figure heading towards her on the dirt path... But it wasn't Kaori. Not even a Stunky, actually. Ashen sighed in disappointment, and reluctantly headed towards the strange, egg-shaped Pokemon. "Uhm, h-hi," The hound nervously rasped, trying her best to force a friendly smile. I'm gonna screw this up, I just know it... I'll say something stupid, and then they'll think that I'm weird, just like everybody else. Maybe I should just go before I mess up...

Cirrus soon saw her and quickly cracked a smile in return, not noticing that Stunky odor as a result of a Houndour's sense of smell being much greater than that of a Togepi and most other non-canine Pokémon species. "Hihi~" she replied with comparative ease, just as she did with the smile. Being herself, being this way. It... seemed to come naturally for her.

She had previouly met a Houndour of an alternate colouration before. Although it was a shame that this wasn't that same individual she held admiration for, the girl quickly shook this off. The trip here was rather lonely so she'd take any willing company if possible.

"Are you here for the dungeon too?" Cirrus asked of Ashen, hoping that she was.

Filled with sadness over the feeling of being lost, the little skunk pokemon just kept there crying, she was unaware that she was fairly close to the two pokemon that just found each other, under any other circumstances she would had just hid or ran away.

That would had been what she would have done, but right now she felt too distracted by her own feelings, not even noticing that she was so close of them, it was almost as if her current grief just distracted her mind completely, obviously enough, after everything that has happened to her it was odd that it didn't happened sooner. She was finally having a complete emotional breakdown. All she could hope for by this point was to have at very least a distraction to ignore the crippling depression

"Uhm, n-no, I-I'm actually here f-for the scenery..." Ashen shakily started, but quickly realized that she had misinterpreted the question. "I-I mean, y-yes, I'm going in the dungeon, b-but not for training or items or anything..." She told the Togepi. It seemed that the hound's social anxiety had already ruined the conversation. Why can't I do anything right? Ashen asked herself, her ears flattening and her tail lowering in disappointment. Stupid, stupid, stupid... They think that I'm stupid because I am stupid! I can't even hold a simple comversation without screwing up...

She sighed, and looked up from the ground when the familiar smell became stronger. Sure enough, a Stunky became visable as they made their way down the very same path that both Ashen and the Togepi had. "Kaori...?" Ashen involuntarily mumbled as the troubled-looking skunk unknowingly made their way towards the Togepi's back. "Hey, uhm... I-I'm REALLY sorry about what I said before!" Ashen called out to the poison type, hoping that this would prompt her potential partner to apologize for her own behavior at the pond.

Cirrus was only confused by what appeared to be a sudden chance of mind, but there was one thing that struck clear in her head. "I'll try and watch your back if you're going into that dungeon too. What else would I do?" She hadn't ever encountered someone with such debilitating shyness and wanted to keep a protective eye on Ashen. It only felt right, since they were both going in this same island

Twinkle soon came into her view too as she followed Ashen over. "You two already know each other? That's nice~" she almost immediately exclaimed, not yet privy to the Houndour's mistake in identity.

Twinkle sniffles and looks over at ashen, unlike how she usually acts she didnt ran off, she felt slightly intimidate by her but decided to explain the obvious misunderstanding. while she cried "S-sorry miss...i am not the one you are refering to....My name is twinkle." She said as she continued crying she was seriously having an emotional breakdown, she could barely care much over her surroundings or the fact that there were two pokemon near of her. Yet she felt a little bit of relief since they sounded like they were nice. Thankfully she was on quite an unique mood, otherwise running at her like that out of nowhere would had ended on them both getting skunked. Perhaps both the togepi and the hound could attempt to lighten her up a little.

Ashen blushed in embarrassment, absolutely mortified by her mistake in identification. "Oh, y-you aren't...? I-I'm sorry, y-you look just like her, ehehehe..." She apologized, nervously giggling and hanging her head low. I'm such an idiot... The Houndour thought to herself as she tried to give the Stunky a reassuring smile. Given how ashamed of herself she was, she knew that she probably looked more upset than friendly... 

It took the fire Pokemon several moments to realize that the Stunky had introduced herself. While socially awkward, Ashen knew that it was common courtesy to do the same. "Uhm, th-that's a pretty name. I-I'm Ashen..." She told Twinkle, and eyed the Togepi, as if asking her for her name. At least I did something in this conversation right... She thought as she waited for the egg Pokemon's response.

In a somewhat risky attempt to calm down the skittish skunk Pokemon (and to distract herself from her numerous screw-ups), Ashen decided to ask her about why she was so upset. "Uhm... A-are you okay...?" She questioned, tilting her head. "Wh-why were you just crying?"

Twinkle definitely was a pretty name, Cirrus thought to herself as she grabbed Ashen's cue with both of her stubby hands. "My name's Cirrus, it's nice to meet you both." she said to the Houndour and Stunky in response to it.

Seeing Twinkle in such a state... Even though she was effectively just an acquaintance at this point, it still tugged hard at the Togepi's heartstrings. She couldn't ignore this scene now, no matter how hard she could have tried. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked in a different tone of voice, tinted with a comforting air and capped off with a warm and inviting smile, all in the hope of presenting herself as such. Cirrus simply didn't like seeing sadness of that level.

She sniffles and seems to slightly settle down a little noticing the concern the strangers were showing, this made her smile a little "U-umm...w-well...its...I got lost...and i think that my friends...well..forgot about me...probably because i am weak..." She said looking down, somewhat sad.

She mannaged to smile a little after a few minutes despite still feeling quite heartbroken "Thanks for your concern...you two are kind" she said while looking down still tearing up, yet she seems far more calm now, having them around was working well onto getting her mind out of the negative things. at least for now. Perhaps if she hanged out with them for a little while she could be happy, but would they even want to hang out with a pokemon like her? she thought to herself as she looked over at the duo.

Ashen couldn't help but become teary-eyed as she listened to Twinkle's story. "Oh, that's awful!" She exclaimed, feeling an immeasurable amount of pity and sympathy for the poor Stunky. Of course, the hellhound couldn't really grasp the feeling of being abandoned, since she never really had any friends in the first place, but the lonely aspect of Twinkle's situation resonated with her. 

The Houndour smiled when her new acquaintance thanked Cirrus and her for their kindness. "Uhm, y-you're very welcome," She replied, modestly breaking eye contact with Twinkle and looking at the ground. I guess this is what it feels like to be appreciated...

And then, an interesting idea popped into the young fire type's head. Maybe Cirrus and I should bring her with us, Ashen thought, glancing at Cirrus again and giving her an inquisitive glance. Deciding that a simple look wouldn't be enough to communicate her message, the Houndour reluctantly decided to whisper to her travel companion. "Uhm... M-maybe we should take her along, too..." She rasped, hopeful that Cirrus would agree... She seemed pretty nice, after all.

Cirrus admittedly couldn't sympathise with Twinkle as much as Ashen did due to not having lost or split off from any friends yet, but make no mistake, the aspect of loneliness certainly made up for the lack of familiarity. She herself had a lonely side to her and couldn't imagine the horrible prospect of being abandoned by any of her friends upon being perceived as weak... "That sounds like a nasty thing to go through..." she managed to murmur as tears flooded her eyes too. The thought had legitimately terrified her.

The Togepi took in some of her stored happiness from her shell to pull herself together, just in time for Ashen to suggest to her that they let Twinkle accompany them. She didn't even need to consider it. "Absolutely." she replied. "I'd love to see her smile."

Twinkle looked over at ashen and cirrus as she sniffles she kept just looking over at them slightly confused about what they were going on about just wondering what they were even wishpering about. After a few seconds she ended noticing the fact that she was probably coming off as a very weak pokemon she then looks back down trying to stop crying, she felt quite weak since she was pretty much crying in front of two strangers as if she was a little helpless baby. She lowers her ears looking down.

Despite the wishpers...the fact that they showed so much concern over her,  a complete stranger and also the fact that they didn't looked that bothered by her smell as much other pokemon were, made her feel slightly more comfortable around them. She mannages to stop crying a little bit more. just trying to pull herself together by thinking on that possitive things.