Vanity Fair

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(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...

OOC:

Kimori watched how the Piplup put down the flower and used some sort of water move to wash himself. Kimori couldn't tell what the move was, nor could she clearly understand what the two Pokemon where saying. The Treecko saw something move inbetween the bushes towards them. The others didn't seem to notice the Pokemon. Before she could shout a warning, the Shroomish took the flower and ran away. This confused Kimori. Why would a Shroomish steal a flower like that? It was a bit amusing actually.

Kimori's amusement faded away when she noticed the Igglybuff was waving at her. Was she imaging it? Surely she couldn't have spotted her, could she? No, she did. Kimori sighed as the Igglybuff waved at her a second time and started climbing down the tree. Once she was down, she carefully appreached the two. "Um... Hello. My name is Kimori." She said.

[9+1=10]

When Alki said that it was nice to meet him, he nodded, so as to imply that the feeling was mutual. He took in a whif of the cold forest air, letting the smell of autumn willow oak enter his nostrils. Then he stretched out his left leg and began to yawn.
...
Just a little bit after, Alki asked him what 'that' meant. Clovis was confused. He thought that he had been plenty clear. Maybe she didn't know what it meant to be 'unemployed'? The piplup let out a tiny gasp. Was she really that young? He began to mumble an explanation. "It means that I have far too much free time, Alki." But she seemed to be focused on something else, specifically on the direction that the shroomish had ran off into. He sincerely hoped that she wouldn't be too worked up over the flower. Thankfully enough, she didn't say anything about it, and only gave him an upset look. He looked away so that he wouldn't have to see into her saddened eyes.

For reasons he wasn't sure of, the igglybuff uttered a greeting into the darkness. Eh? Who's she talking to? Then he heard someone introduce themself as Kimori. He turned towards the voice, and saw a treecko approach the two of them. Clovis decided to take the initiative, and give a response. "Good afternoon, I'm Clovis." He said, rather flatly. He paused, unsure of what else to really say.
...
Then a realization hit him, and he spoke up once again, this time with a bit more interest. "Tell me, when did you get over here exactly?" The way in which Alki noticed the treecko, this 'Kimori', seemed to imply that she had been hiding from them previously, which was, in his opinion, a little bit strange.

[16-10=6]

Alki opened her mouth, unsure of what to say. She didn't think the Pokemon would actually come down to meet her! "Um... ah..." She stammered, and then stood back, relieved, as Clovis introduced himself to the Treecko. "A-Alki." She said her name to the treecko, barely audible. She introduced herself as Kimori. She was hiding for some reason, I guess she wanted to be alone too. Alki thought, sitting down and playing with a small puddle of mud a bit away from the two. That's normal.

She began to reflect upon the meaning of the word, unemployed. The Piplup had said that it meant he had a lot of free time. "So am I unemployed? I guess I am..." She thought to herself, splashing the mud one last time, getting herself even dirtier, before standing up. There were still a lot of sounds, she'd rather be closer to the Piplup and the Treecko. She'd certainly feel safer... She stood a few feet away from the two, kicking at a bit of dirt and pebbles, bored. But she didn't want to talk to the Treecko? Talking with the Piplup was enough... "S-She was in the tree." Alki said quietly, staring at the ground. And that's all I'm going to say. How are they so good at talking? They could talk fine, and they could use big words like Unemployed and know what they meant. He could've just said he had free time... she'd never even heard that word before! Not that she talked with other Pokemon much in the first place. Alki hummed a song to herself, beginning to draw a small, crude picture of the Treecko in the dirt using a stick. Anything to pass the time! She looked around the forest, hoping to discover something to alleviate her boredom.

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Putting her backpack back on she thought about joining them, but suddenly the two pokemon looked up, or at a tree. What now... She decided to get closer anyway. keeping low incase she would be heard. Not long, she got close enough where she heard the piplup ask the tree how long its been there. ah, now it makes sense, but It's a bit late for that.

She was careful to avoid the igglybuffs gaze as it started to look out into the forest. however, she couldnt get close enough to see what they were looking at without making too much noise. a twig snapped and she dropped to the ground as quietly as she could. she instinctively thought their heads would probably turn this way. just stay still, if they notice you just hope their friendly. If not, then it looks like I'll have to run. The two don't seem bad... but that third one is questionable.

Kimori listened as the two introduced themselves. She was relieved they didn't attack her. She was worried to be hostile. Clovis asked when she got here. That was a pretty good question. It seemed he didn't notice her come out of the tree, or maybe he did, and Alki didn't notice he did. Either way, it seemed Clovis was suspicious of her.

She had to try to win their trust. She did hope they could be friends, although she didn't trust them yet. "It is nice to meet the two of you. I am sorry for not coming down sooner. I saw how Alki gave you a flower and how a Shroomish ran away with it moments later. I didn't want to intrude." She said in a polite manner. It actually was partly true. She did not want to intrude on them but also was wary of them.

Clovis relaxed his previously apprehensive expression and tone when he received a polite, legitimate answer. "Right, I understand." He said, much more warmly this time. He hoped that by speaking in a more friendly matter he would create a better first impression
than the cold shoulder he had expressed earlier. He thought he heard Alki say something about trees, but was fairly certain that whatever she had said wasn't important enough to warrant his attention.

He blinked a few times, his eyelids growing heavy as he felt a post-lunch tiredness. All the while, he shifted his weight from one leg to the other and tried to think of something to say. He decided to go for the ultimate small talk line and say, "Lovely weather we're having." Just as a way to break the silence. He glanced over at Alki for a moment. Somehow, she had managed to appear even filthier than before. He cringed and was swept with a wave of goosebumps all across his body. He couldn't imagine being in her place.

Alki wandered off a bit, noticing something curious a little ways off. She was absolutely filthy, the mud made her look more brown than pink, which she didn't mind. Brown's a nice color too... She thought, smiling as she found a Pokemon in the grass nearby. A Flabébé? Yeah... she waved at it, forgetting that the forest had a large amount of Feral Pokemon. She simply sat down and observed it, but it didn't seem to appreciate that. It used Vine Whip on Alki, shocking her, sending her stumbling backwards, running back towards the two Pokemon.

"O-Ow..." She whimpered, holding her whipped arm close to her body. It hurt... she began to cry a bit, feeling sad. Why did it hit her? She hadn't done anything... and now her arm hurt. Pretty bad. She released the pressure on her arm and saw a small cut. It's not too bad, but it kind of stings... "I-I was bored, I-I'm so-sorry for wandering..." She said, to nobody in particular, wincing as she pressed against her cut again. She stepped away from the area the Flabébé had been in. She didn't want to fight anyone, she just wanted to heal her cut. But heal pulse doesn't work on the user... She sat down, staring up at the Piplup and the Treecko. They'd been talking and she interrupted them... At least the cut's not that bad, I'll be fine.

[6+1(New page) = 7 - 5 = 2 Energy]

[status: (forgot to post this earlier) Poisoned]

Hearing the conversation the piplup and treecko had, Yooka could only guess who was talking to who from a prone position. However, she started to move again after a bit when she realized they didn't hear the twig. Guess its fine. The third pokemon is friendly and they didn't hear it. Looking back in a semi-crouched position she noticed the igglybuff wasn't with the piplup, and saw that the third pokemon was a treecko. ignoring the two pokemon she looked around for the igglybuff. It took the igglybuff's voice for her to find its location. oh, geez, it iis that igglybuff...

Looking in the direction of where the igglybuff popped out. Yooka could just barely notice the tiny pokemon. Getting behind a tree just a couple meters away from the little, thing. All yooka can see is a floating flower... Flabébé or Floette...? taking a chance she zipped out her tongue and grabbed it and shot it back to herself, just to keep a tight grip on it. I dunno if they saw that but this thing wont be bothering them an- She didnt think it had the strength to fight back, but a mysterious wind launched her towards the group. landing only a few feet away. "ow... well, that didn't work out, not the best of entrances, but uh... how do you do?" she joked, looking up at the group, belly-down.

[is now: Fairy-type]

Kimari was relieved he didn't think badly of her. That was a good start at least. She wasn't exactly sure how to start the conversation, and it seemed the Piplup didn't either. "Well... It is a bit dark in the forest." She answered. The weather was on the nice side, but it was hard to notice in there. Kimori hadn't been paying attention to the Igglybuff, so she had not noticed she was gone for a bit, but she did notice she was covered in mud when she got back. How did she get so dirty?

The Treecko took a step back. She did not really mind being dirty, but she didn't feel like touching Alki either. Didn't she mind being this dirty? Kimori had an idea the Piplup was even less happy about it. She wondered if he didn't like being dirty. Well, there were Pokemon who cared a lot about their looks. He could be one of them, or maybe he just couldn't stand someone being that dirty. Either way, she couldn't be too sure.

Suddenly, a sound appeared behind her and surprised her, making her spin around to look at the source. Only a few feet further, a Pokemon that seemed to be a Kecleon had appeared. The stranger was laying on her stomach. Kimori stepped back. She didn't know if she could trust this stranger or not and put up her guard. "Excuse me, but who are you?" She asked as she kept her eyes on the Kecleon.

The piplup stood still, moving his eyes around to look at the general area in front of him. He took a step back, then took a deep breath. Surely he hadn't come all the way out here to make awkward conversation with strangers?

The piplup turned to his left, and saw Alki, absolutely covered with mud, dirt and Arceus knows what else. She didn't seem to be in a very good way either, which Clovis assumed was a result of her being so dirty. He looked directly at her and turned his head, then said, "Alki, you don't look very happy being all filthy like that." Clovis planted his feet firmly into the ground, and prepared a hydro pump from within himself. "Hold still," he said. "And I'll clean you off."

But regardless of how she answered, he wouldn't get a chance to wash the poor girl, as a loud thud drew his attention towards it. He faced the sound, relaxed his muscles to cancel his hydro pump, and saw a kecleon lying on the ground. He had seen many kecleon before, usually as shopkeepers, but he didn't recall ever meeting this particular kecleon before. It was really strange too, something about this kecleon looked incredibly familiar to him, and gave him an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. But he couldn't explain why. Ah well. He shrugged and looked directly at the kecleon. Before he could say anything, Kimori beat him to the punch, and asked that she identify herself. Clovis just stood there and awaited her answer.

"Yooka! Hi!" Alki shouted, surprised and relieves at seeing her... friend? No... not quite friend, not yet. She couldn't trust her completely yet, but Yooka was the closest thing she'd had to a friend for a long while. Finally, someone I know! She bounced forward to try and help her Not-Quite-Friend up. "W-What a-are you doing here?" She asked, wincing a bit. Her arm still hurt, and she felt awfully tired.

On the bright side, at least the Piplup didn't clean me off... She shuddered. I know they're water types... but how can they stand the water? It's scary... A mental image of the pond and how nervous she'd been of stepping in it flashed through her mind. What if I drowned? She shook her head. She was still covered in mud and dirt as she helped Yooka up. But to be honest, I like being dirty... She stole a quick glance at the Piplup. He seemed to hate how dirty she was. Maybe he's afraid I'll get him dirty? I won't do that anymore... She shook her head, and turned back to Yooka.

"A-Are you Ok?" She asked, come to think of it, Yooka didn't look so well... aside from the fact that she was lying belly down on the floor, she also seemed kind of... off. "C-Can I... ah... h-help? You? I-If you w-want it... o-or need me to..." She stammered, looking at the other two. "S-She's a fr-friend of mine, b-but I don't know... w-what she's doing here..." Alki tilted her head as she turned back to look at Yooka, curious to know why. At least I have one familiar face with me... She wiped away a bit of mud around her eyes and gave a small, nervous half-smile. What can I do about my arm? She wiped a bit of mud on it, not wanting the others to see the small cut.

[energy: 3]
Despite trying to sound friendly, Yooka got really annoyed when the treecko went on edge from her sudden appearance even asking a fairly legitimate question in a semi-rude way. If that didnt make things bad the igglybuff asked Yooka if she wanted help, despite everyone looking at her like she'd give them a reason to attack. Getting up and ignoring the two staring into her skull she said, "nono, I'm fine, but I don't think I will for long if they keep looking at me like that. heh."Although now I do feel a bit weird... I think I may actually be poisoned, cant exactly tell. meh... Getting serious, she looked at the treecko, "Oi. I'm Yooka from the Grassveil Guild. Anyway, I assume I should say 'sorry for accidentally interrupting you guys'" Geez, if they still seem on edge then I guess I'll just leave. No sense being around others who don't like someone purely because of how they met them. That's just being mean.

Kimori glanced over at the Igglybuff. So the two were friends? Did that mean the Kecleon wasn't dangerous? The Treecko hesitated a bit before lowering her guard again. Kimori had enough reasons to not trust strangers. She didn't trust any of the Pokemon surrounding her. Yooka's comment did rub her the wrong way. Was it that strange to be wary of Pokemon she didn't know?

Only when Yooka mentioned she was part of the guild, Kimori eased up a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Kimori. It is nice to meet you. I have always wanted to be part of the guild, but I am not really strong and have just been training." She said to the Kecleon before her.

Clovis continued to stand around, listening to the kecleon introduce herself and sighing as she joked about how they were looking at her. While it was true that he had been staring, he believed that he had a decent enough reason to do so, what with her rather sudden and unusual entrance. The fact that she was a guild member didn't do much to change his opinion either. Working at the guild was just another job, right?

Kimori told Yooka her name. Clovis looked away, uninterested. He was getting a little tired of introducing himself to pokémon. He keep quiet still, and waited for the rest of them to finish their conversations before he would speak up.

vonSteakhand carried out 2 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

,

Alki looked down, noticing the tenseness that the Pokemon around her had. Why were they so... stressed? Worried? Frustrated? Alki didn't quite know what, exactly, it was. But it was weird, and it only made Alki feel even more uncomfortable. She didn't know what to say, or what to do. She didn't want everyone around her to be on edge.

"S-So... ah... um, w-why... or, what... t-that is... I-I'm Yooka's friend." She stammered, closing her eyes. She'd already said that... how stupid was she? "I-I already said that. Sorry." She mumbled. The Treecko didn't seem... well, Alki didn't know her, did she? Kimori... "W-Well... it's nice to meet you." She mumbled. Now Alki just felt dumb. There was no need to repeat herself. There was no need for her to speak up at all. The Treecko didn't look like she trusted Alki or Clovis or Yooka very much.

She looked back at the Piplup, and walked over to him. There was only one thing left for Alki to talk about, and then she could shut up until she could go back to the guild. Clovis was going to do... something to her earlier. He didn't seem to like her being dirty, he probably wanted to clean Alki up. And Clovis was a water type. Water types shot water... she didn't want to get shot with water.  That wouldn't be fun. Water wasn't fun. She'd much rather be dirty than wet. "H-Hey, uh... p-please don't... ah...  s-shoot water... err... y-you see... I-I d-don't like water... I'd rather be... I-I just don't... s-so please don't c-clean me... I-I know I'm dirty, but I won't touch you. Promise!" She said quietly, not wanting to bother Kimori or Yooka. They were talking with each other and Alki was just being plain dumb around them. But of course, Clovis probably thought she was dumb too. He seemed smart. The way he talked and acted and... everything. He just seemed like a smart Pokemon. Definitely more so than Alki. "S-Sorry..."