Vanity Fair

(OOC: Discussed in this thread.)

[Energy: 19-10=9]

T'was a windy, chilly day in Shadowhue, the kind of day in which most pokémon would sooner spend time near the comfort of a pleasant fire in Grassveil than running about in the woods. But for whatever reason, a particular pokémon didn’t seem to be spending time getting cozy and warm, and was instead moving forwards, away from the comfort of civilization and towards the dark woodland of Shadowhue.

This pokémon was a piplup named Clovis, a local of the general area, albeit not one too familiar with the in and outs of such a dark and dungeonlike place such as Shadowhue. He had found himself on the outside of the forest as the result of an aimless afternoon meander, and as he had far too much free time, he decided that he would stay.

Clovis blinked before looking into the dark, thick forest. Many 'mons he had met in the past warned him to avoid such a place, but he paid these warnings little mind. So long as these woods existed, and ferals roamed them unrestrained, there would need to be civilized pokémon like himself to explore the unknown and shine metaphorical light into the literal darkness. So he walked into the forest, prepared to spend all afternoon learning whatever secrets lay in the gloom in front of him...

[Energy: 16-10 = 6]

Alki bounced through the forest, shivering. It's cold. Is what she was thinking as she suddenly crossed... something. She'd felt it before, while travelling from her house to Grassveil town. But this was worse, she shivered again, more violently, but continued to bounce forwards. I want to be alone, and who would want to come into a place like this?

She continued to bounce through the forest, a bit on edge. Every single sound put her on edge, and she started to tremble, bouncing slower now. She looked through the forest, but she couldn't see much. It's dark.. She looked back the way she came, but shook her head. It's too crowded in the town right now, I'm not going back there.

A few minutes pass before Alki suddenly bounced into something, and she fell to the ground, panting. I'm tired... She looked up to see what she bumped into, but was instead met with a who. It was a Piplup, a bit taller than her, and now a bit dirty. Alki looked down at herself and realized just how filthy she was. "S-Sorry." She mumbled, picking herself up and taking a step back. She'd come into the forest to be alone, she should probably go. As she stepped back, she heard sounds coming from behind her. It's probably nothing... but even so, it's scary. She stumbled forward, towards the Piplup, trembling. If she was going to be stuck with him, she should probably introduce herself. "I-I-I'm A-Alki." She scanned the Piplup, up and down. He seemed pretty clean, for the most part, except for the small, muddy stain on his feathers from when Alki bumped into him. "Sorry..." She said, sitting down next to the Piplup. She didn't realize it, but she began to hold his wing, jumping at every little noise that came around her. Why had she come here? In the end, I didn't even get to be alone. She thought, staring at her feet.

[23 - 10 = 13]

Dang it... where'd I go wrong. I swear it said to go this way... A Kecleon was in the middle of a dark forest looking at a crudely hand drawn map of the Grassveil region and it's surrounding areas. Shadowhue forest being near the edge of Grassveil. Why did I even bother attempt to find this so called Aileron Village... "Gah. it's hopeless." Putting the map back in her backpack, she continued through the forest. Looking around only to notice it was dark. only it wasn't, she was not near one of the few lit up areas of shadowhue forest. However, she did notice a pokemon a bit away.

Curious, she hid behind one of the larger trees. She looked back at the pokemon but noticed there were two. Oh fun. What's a piplup doing with an igglybuff. wait, is that the same igglybuff as before? Shaking her head she turned around behind the tree and started to laugh to herself quietly. Should I go interact with them? no, I'll stick over here and just watch them for a bit. If thats the same igglybuff then this would get awkward real fast. She couldn't hold her smile for long though as she turned to look again.

[Energy: 14-10=4]

Shadowhue Forest, a place not many adventurers eagerly go to. It is rather dark in there, at some places one would not know the difference between night and day. Various ferals have made this forest their home, and lurk in the darkness within.

In between the trees, one could spot what seemed to be a Treecko. The grass type had her arms wrapped around herself. It was a little cold for her, but not unbearable. She hoped she would be able to train in this forest. She had no intention of going to the deepest part of the forest. It was rather dark there after all. She would prefer to be able to see at least something.

Kimori suddenly stopped. Did she hear something? The Treecko glanced around herself. It could have just been the wind, but it was best to stay cautious. Worried that someone would ambush her, Kimori climbed into a nearby tree, keeping her eyes open for any other Pokemon.

Clovis had barely taken a few steps into the forest, when he was stopped in his tracks by a pink little round ball bouncing right into him. He winced when he was hit, but remained standing, and instantly flashed an angry gaze upon whatever had hit him. It was a pokémon, and a civilized one as well, that much he could tell. But what was its species? Wiggly-something? It didn’t matter. What mattered was that someone had just done something very foolish, and that it was his right, his duty even, to give them a piece of his mind.

The pokémon in front of him apologized and got up. Clovis could now see that the pokémon was an igglybuff, and a rather frightened one at that. His anger faded. Shouting at such an innocent looking pokémon was far below him. The igglybuff backed off a bit, then approached him again. She told him her name, Alki, and for whatever reason, the igglybuff looked at him all up and down. What? He almost asked. Is there something on me? Clovis looked down at himself and saw an ugly brown stain smeared across his torso. He went almost numb for a second... the feeling of filth rubbed against him was almost unbearable. His anger rose oncemore. The carelessness and negligence of the igglybuff had gotten him covered in... something. He ground the top and bottom of his beak together to satiate his rage.

The igglybuff apologized oncemore, and began to hold onto his flipper. It warmed his heart... But still, Clovis felt that some explaining needed to be done. "Lass," The piplup began. "This had better be mud." He said, sighing and trying to wipe away the stain with his free flipper.

"Of course it's mud!" Alki said, tilting her head. "What e-else w-would it b-be? Oh. Hey!"Alki said, her voice as rising as she realized what the Piplup meant. What's he getting at? I'm not THAT disgusting... am I? She thought to herself, as she observed her current state of cleanliness. Well... I guess I do look kind of gross. Her cheeks were flushed red, although the mud and dirt partially hid it from sight. She quickly got up and begun to help the Piplup clean the stain. It's working... kinda? She thought to herself. No, it didn't... all I did was smear it. She said, staring at the now larger stain. She looked at her hands and realized how muddy they were."S-Sorry, I-I just wanted to help..." She mumbled, staring at the ground. If he wasn't mad at her before, he certainly was now.

What am I supposed to do now? I don't want him mad at me... Alki thought, remembering how many times she'd been yelled at or scolded for doing something wrong. A lot of times. I don't want that... She scanned the nearby area, unsure of what to say or do to get on the Piplup's good side. There had to be something? A gift? But there's nothing in my bag... She began to panic, breathing heavily. He's going to be mad at me, He's going to be mad at me, He's going to be mad at me. She thought, closing her eyes tightly. What could she do? She didn't want to be yelled at again. She grabbed a nearby Flower and showed it to the Piplup. "Take this please I thought you'd like it and I'm sorry I got you dirty I didn't mean to it's just that this place is really scary and I wasn't watching where I was going and  I didn't mean to get you dirty and I'm really clumsy and please don't be mad at me, please?" She said, all in one breath, trembling. A gift will do! He can't refuse a gift, there's no way he'd be mad at me now... When she was done with the large, clumsy sentence she began to pant, looking up at the Piplup pleadingly. Being stuck in a forest is bad enough, and being stuck in a forest with another Pokemon is even worse, but being stuck in a forest with a Pokemon that's mad at me? She thought, trembling again, wanting nothing more than to leave, but it was just so dark and scary... Hopefully he won't be mad...

Yooka watched the two pokemon, too far to hear or be heard. As the piplup turned around and look at the igglybuff, it looked like it was about to give it some smacking, instead it didnt do much. So, the Piplup isnt a feral. That's good. The igglybuff actions seemed the same from when yooka encountered an igglybuff at grassveil town. This cant be the same igglybuff, but then again back in grassviel she was surounded by alot of pokemon, and she was technically stealing an apple. Here, its a bit quieter and less crowded, but the igglybuff was afraid of actions and others. oh, right. she liked to be alone. so perhaps the forest isnt so bad. I dont know. Yooka continued to watch from her spot at the base of a tree, hidden by a couple bushes.

Kimori climbed on a branch and glanced below her. There was nothing down there, yet she knew she heard something. The Treecko heard it again. It sounded like voices. Was there someone in the forest? She had to go see who they were. Maybe she could try to make some new friends. But what if they were dangerous? Then she could be in trouble.

Kimori looked around her. She did seem pretty well hidden in the tree. They might not notice her in one. The Treecko smiled and jumped from tree to tree, careful to not fall down or to not make too much sound. It didn't take her too long to find the source of the voices. She had jumped into a rather old looking tree and she could see two Pokemon under it, an Igglybuff and a Piplup. She hid herself into the shadows and watched them, trying to determine if it was safe to approach them or not and hoped nobody noticed her.

Clovis couldn't help but crack a tiny smile at just how caught off guard Alki was by his little joke. He almost started laughing when he noticed just how rosy her cheeks had gotten, but was interrupted with shock when she began to rub her dirty little hands all over him...! The piplup inhaled sharply and thought of a few choice words for the little imp that had been such a massive source of irritation, but before he could think of a fitting line of insults, the igglybuff apologized yet again, this time without making eye contact, presumably out of shame.

Clovis sighed and shook his head as Alki turned away from him and picked something up. She then presented him with a flower and an incredibly longwinded plea for forgiveness. It was obvious from the pure look in her eyes just how earnest her apology had been. The piplup shifted around a bit. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, or perhaps even guilty, himself. It was as if the igglybuff was using some sort of charm against him. He had no choice but to accept the flower, even if he had no use for it. He took it out of her hand, being careful not to damage the delicate plant, and then gave a soft, almost forced "Thank you." as a formality.

She smiled, staring at the ground as he took the flower from her. Thank Arceus... She heard the Thank you and smiled even more, too happy to detect the stiffness in the words. He's not mad, he's not mad, he's not mad! I avoided him being mad! She smiled, and she walked forward to give her a hug, but remembered how dirty she was, and just how much the Piplup seemed to hate getting dirty. "O-Ok." She said, sitting back down, unsure of what to do now. A silence filled the forest, and she whistled to herself, a happy little tune, trying to fill up the silence.

"Um. What a-are you d-doing here?" She finally mustered the courage to ask. They'd bumped into each other and now she'd apologized to him and... I don't know his name! She thought to herself, usually people told her their name before she told them hers. But then again, so far, this had been a pretty weird day for Alki. "Err... w-what's your name?" She stammered, looking up at the Piplup, her eyes wide and sparkling. She was happy! She'd met a new Pokemon and he was friendly and was willing to thank her. Thank her! "T-Thank you..." She said, unsure of what for. A flicker of doubt flashed across her face, but she nodded. She didn't know why, exactly, but she felt like she had to thank him. "T-Thanks."

Yooka heard a noise from above, but ignored it considering she was cloaked. She blinked to look at herself. She was indeed cloaked. I almost forgot about our natural talent for changing color... but I'd wish our little belly pattern could disappear aswell. She looked back towards the two pokemon, The igglybuff was in the process of handing a flower to the piplup. [color:16d0=77CC00]The fudge did I miss? what? this can't be the same igglybuff... there's no way it would be this open. She started to climb the tree she was next to in order to get a better point of view, but stayed on the side of the tree so she can see if they move.

((risking it: this is one of those average spenders that take a butt ton from newer pkmn! please be items... any pokemon rolled will be towards the two pokemon... so hope for not many xD (If my character reaches 0 energy from this roll, she'll fall off the tree and use recover. so you can say you heard a noise in the distance if that were to happen, but you wouldnt know it was her. lol ))

Ravio carried out 6 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , , , ,

Kimori sat down on the branch and watched the other Pokemon closely. It didn't seem like anyone had noticed her yet. She was actually a bit relieved about that. The Treecko hadn't noticed the Kecleon that was hidden somewhere close by.

Kimori could tell the Piplup was irritated by the rather dirty Igglybuff. The small ball looked like she could use a bath. Had she be rolling in the mud? Kimori had gotten dirty herself a few times, but she doesn't remember if she ever was that dirty. She was unable to tell if she could approach the two strangers yet, but her first impression was that they weren't dangerous. The Treecko was debating if she should go down or not.

(OOC: Permission obtained from Yooka to utilize pokémon in her roll.)

Clovis still held the little flower in his flipper, but decided that he would discard of it onto the ground the second Alki looked away, as it was neither a particularly good looking or good smelling flower. While he didn't want to make the igglybuff feel bad, he certainly didn't want to carry around a worthless little plant either. He set it down next to him, and while the igglybuff was whistling a tune, he summoned forth a heavily restrained hydro pump from within himself, and used it to wash away the outermost layers of filth which covered his abdomen.

While he was picking away at the minute flecks of grime which could still be seen, the igglybuff asked him a question- and that was his purpose for being in the dark forest. Truthfully, he didn't have much of a reason for visiting, unless wanderlust counted. He had difficulty answering honestly, it was more that he had just wound up there than anything else. But thankfully, he didn't even have to give an answer, as Alki asked him another question before he could come up with an answer to the first one. This one would be easy to answer, she only wanted to know his name. "My name is Clovis." He said, with his voice loud enough to be heard very clearly over Alki's 'thank you's. "I'm unemployed and I live with my parents." Anyone else saying this would likely have felt pathetic, but the confident, shameless, and humorously blunt way in which he spoke kept him from losing a single shred of his self-worth.

He smiled, as if he was being amused by his own joke, and looked down to where the flower had been. Mysteriously, it was gone, and on the horizon, he could see a shroomish running away as if it had stolen something. He tilted his head, and gave a soft, uninterested "Huh."

(OOC: I don't care what the plebs say, Costanza was legendary.)

Alki stared at the ground, her… whatever it was that had made her think it was a good idea to talk so much was gone. She simply nodded and sat down, staring at her feet. They were a bit dirty, but her hands were much worse. She giggled, keeping her thoughts to herself. It’s pretty fun to get dirty… “I-It’s nice to m-meet you, Clovis.” She said, smiling while still looking down at her feet.


He mentioned being unemployed. That’s a big word… “W-What’s that mean?” She asked the Piplup, looking at him sideways. She hadn’t heard that word before, at least not that she could remember. Why was he using it? What did that have to do with living with his parents? And he said it so bluntly… I’m missing something… She pulled on a bit of nearby grass, nervous. Am I supposed to know what that means?


Wait… what’s that? She saw a nearby Shroomish as she averted the Piplup’s gaze. He’s holding something… a Flower! She glanced at the Piplup’s wing and noticed that the flower wasn’t there. He was tilting his head as he looked over at the Shroomish. It had stolen his flower! She could tell Clovis wasn’t very interested in it, but Alki didn’t care. Or she chose not to care. Anything to get away from talking. What was I thinking, talking to him like that? That never ends well.. She noticed a Treecko, up in the branches. She waved at it, having second thoughts about going to get the flower, she didn’t want to fight anyone. She glanced at the Piplup with sad, apologetic eyes. But getting hurt over a Flower isn’t worth it. She thought to herself, and there’s no way she’d ever win a fight. Everyone had always told her she was too weak. So instead she turned back to the Treecko and waved at it again, trying to figure out if it was hostile or not. Alki didn’t notice a nearby Kecleon, who she had already run into once before. “H-Hello...” She mumbled.

she was still climbing the tree but froze as the igglybuff started looking around. Was I seen? no impossible. even with movement, the shadows of the forest would prevent unaware things from seeing me. relaxing she continued to climb. Suddenly, she felt a prick in her hand. she looked at it and noticed a clump of spikes sticking out of the tree. Taking a couple of them out she noticed they were cacnea spikes. However, she also started to feel dizzy. Were these spikes a cacnea's stray poison sting? where did the cacnea even come from? ngh... she decided to climb back down the tree before she became to exhausted to hold on to it, which isn't a problem really. She would just rather take it easy, but she wanted to watch the two pokemon.

Looking back on the two when she was about halfway back down she noticed a shroomish moving away from the piplup. it was pretty much in the brush by the time she recognized it was a shroomish. When she reached the bottom of the tree, the little igglybuff looked around a bit, seemingly like it heard something. Oh? is something else happening? wait, when did the piplup get... no. I dont think it was dirty at any point. But it seems a bit more... clean... then it used to be. whatever. she leaned against the tree on her shoulder, still looking at the two. she took off her backpack to put the three spikes away.