Phantoms in the Snow

Snow crunched under soft paw-steps as Synd'r made her way through the icy forest. The Vulpix had had quite the outing the last time she'd been in the area, meeting rather... varied characters. On this second visit however, she had come mostly for the view. The snowscape was a sight that she very much appreciated but it was one that she didn't often get the chance to see. Finding any sort of target here would just be a bonus to be completely honest.

Either way, the snowy forest here was the perfect place to think. It was peaceful and - for the most part - quiet. Synd'r padded forwards, vaguely aware of her surroundings but concentrating mostly on thoughts of what she would need to get started all on her own. Though she had previously been adamant on her independence and making a name for herself for her own merits, after some self reflection, Synd'r had realised that having allies to call upon would be more beneficial in the long run. After all, the Black Quill Thieves had been highly successful with their thievery, however they had been established for a long time before they disbanded and it would surely take a while to establish a new organisation that would garner the same level of success.

It would be hard work, that was for sure, but Synd'r was sure that the hard work would all pay off when she had allies by her side to back her up during her escapades. Perhaps along the way she would find something similar to what she had with the Black Quill Thieves... something similar to a family.


ooc// Synd'r's energy = 23 - 20 = 3!

The snow was unlike anything the young Igglybuff had ever seen. She’d heard others talk about this place and its beauty, but now that she was there, she could see why. She was light enough to walk on the snow, so long as she didn’t bounce. A lot slower, to be sure, but Alki didn’t mind. The bright sky lacked any clouds at all, and the powerful, majestic blue provided substantial contrast with the bright white of the snow and the dark green of the trees. The sun shone overhead, but did little to dull the cold.

The natural beauty of the world only made her feel regret for the time she’d lost, stuck in the Pecha Forest. Stuck with her family. She never would’ve gotten to see any of this if she hadn’t run away. Not the night-lights in Cattail Marsh, not the lush forest of Fallen Leaf Copse, not the Snow covered woods of this new place. If only she’d run away sooner. She sat down on top of the snow, accompanied by her bitter-sweet thoughts.

Still, she’d found friends, and she loved them. But if she was truly going to make up for lost time, she had to find something she loved. Both Yigo and Darcy were so sweet to her, but she couldn’t see herself joining them in the guild, or in the police. Helping people was all well and good, but Alki was inept for guild-work, her attempts for the past month or so had done nothing but teach her that. Inept at fighting, inept at everything that made a good guild member. She didn’t want to hold either of the two back. She’d just have to find something she was good at. They’d understand why, and besides, it wasn’t like she’d have to stop being their friend.

She sighed. It was great to dream, but it was another thing to find an actual alternative. The guild and police were, to her knowledge, the only organisations that mattered. She’d have to just grin and bear it at the guild a bit more, she supposed. Darcy’s company made it all better, but the fact that she was pretending to work hard at something she knew she’d never be good at, there was something wrong with that, something that made her feel like she shouldn’t be there. In any case, she’d rested enough.

As she got up, she noticed another Pokemon walking, not too far away from her. It occurred to Alki that there would probably be ferals in these woods too. A shame, it was so pretty! Alki had a hard time thinking of anything that could taint it’s beauty. Ferals didn’t seem to care about beauty though. Or anything, for that matter. And they certainly didn’t think, not like this Pokemon seemed to be doing. She hardly seemed to be paying attention, she was so lost in thought. Alki hadn’t been sitting that far away, after all…

      “Hey!” She called out, her voice seemingly the only sound in the woods. Everything was so quiet . Of course, that wasn’t a bad thing. It brought a sense of peace and serenity to it all. It occurred to Alki that Darcy had been lecturing about trusting strangers non-stop ever since they’d come back from the marsh. Still, how was she going to meet anyone new if she didn’t take a few risks? Go out of her comfort zone. After all, someone who went out all this way just to sight-see couldn’t be bad! “Who… W-Who are you?” She asked curiously as she ran to catch up to this new Pokemon. She was almost double Alki’s size, but she didn’t feel too scared. She seemed alright, and with the new move she’d learned recently, she could at least defend herself if that didn’t turn out to be true. But for now, she was willing to take her chances. “Whatcha doin’ here?” She asked, a small smile tugging at her lips. It was nice to meet a new Pokemon here, in the woods so far away from Grassveil.

My art piece, excuse the quality, took it with my phone:

Synd'r was nearly scared out of her skin as a call of "Hey!" broke her from her thoughts. She physically flinched at the suddenness of the voice, her head instantly whipping around to identify where the sound had come from. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn't checked her surroundings, even though her keen ears should have detected the sounds of someone moving closer. It was a rookie mistake really, not concentrating on any level of caution.


The Vulpix fully turned her body so that she was facing the culprit of the sudden greeting. Blinking, Synd'r looked the pokemon up and down. It appeared to be an Igglybuff... not a particular species she would have expected to see around here. This, plus the fact that they were speaking to her rather than just launching a surprise attack served to put her mind at ease a little. She had made a mistake, but it wasn't a terrible one. She had gotten lucky.

"U-uh...-"

Synd'r was normally so good with words, but she was unused to being the one caught unawares. Normally she'd be the one to sneak up on someone else, gaining the element of surprise for herself and watching another party fluster like she was just now. This time it seemed as though she'd gotten a bit of a taste of her own medicine - and she didn't particularly like it.

Finally getting her words to do what she wanted, she answered the Igglybuff's questions. Such a small pokemon, and more than likely a child, didn't seem like they would pose too much of a threat to her. As a result, Synd'r had no qualms introducing herself with her real name.
"Er... I'm Synd'r. I guess i'm just here to look at the scenery," she replied simply, her tone still a little sheepish at being caught off guard, "How about yourself?"

My art! Just a sketch:

Alki watched as the Vulpix in front of her jumped and looked at her, up and down and up and down. She'd never surprised anyone like that before. She'd snuck up on the Vulpix! Her! Alki! She realized with a start that she was grinning, rather widely too. As she looked up at the Vulpix, the excited, childish grin was soon replaced by a shy, embarrassed smile. Alki found herself tilting her head so as to hide her face. She really hadn't been in Grassveil too long, and if this was proof of anything, it was proof that she had a long way to go when it came to interpersonal skills.

“S-Sorry… sorry about that, m-ma’am. Alki managed to stammer. This Pokemon seemed alright. Synd’r? That was a nice name. “I-I’m… A-Alki, I guess… and I came here cause… well, I don't know. Something to do?” That was a half-truth, at least. Part of it was just sight seeing; she came to sight-see and to explore. That's what guild members did! Even the shoddy ones… Alki shook her head. She didn't want those sorts of poisonous thoughts. Especially not after her and Darcy had fixed things so well in the swamp. A smile returned to Alki’s face at the thought of that experience. It wasn't one she'd forget anytime soon.

She began to observe the Vulpix in front of her closely. She'd met one before, in the market of Grassveil. And she was having the same thoughts now as she'd had back then: Why do Vulpix have such majestic tails? One wasn't enough for this majestic Pokemon, no, they needed six! Alki found herself feeling very simple and lowly all of a sudden, so she tore her gaze away from the vulpix’s tails and instead focused on her face.

The Igglybuff felt a tinge of amusement return to her. Synd’r was still shocked! Between her expression she was wearing, and the way her words sounded, unsure, unclear… Alki giggled, looking down at her feet. She was still on the snow, not sinking. It had never occurred to her that her light-weight would be useful for something! She quite liked the snow covered forest, and she hadn't even been there that long! It was pretty, and it made her feel unique too.


   A thought began to occur to Alki, one that made her feel a buzz of excitement and joy. “I snuck up on you, didn't I? I-I didn't mean to sneak up on ya… She mumbled, as a small smile began to appear on her face. She could hardly keep the excitement out of her voice, but it had to come out in some way, eventually. “But I did, didn't I? Alki giggled, looking up at the Vulpix's eyes with a child's joy. That had been a rush she didn't think she'd have. Who knew something so simple could bring that sort of happiness?

Alki sat down on the snow, letting the hood drape behind her. She'd begun to get both curious and worried about it; it was still sticky, yet it had been a few weeks since she'd found it. Considering where she'd found it, maybe retrieving it hadn't been such a good idea. She shook her head, as she tucked her feet in, a shiver briefly overtaking her body. She could worry about her clothing back at the guild, for now though, she just wanted to talk to this Pokemon in front of her. And maybe make a fire.

“I really like those feathers, you have, ma'am.” Alki said, noting them for the first time. It was the truth, they were pretty, and it never would've occurred to Alki to use something like feathers as an accessory. “They’re really pretty.” She smiled at the Vulpix, lifting the hood up so as to look at her better. “Why are you wearing them? Or… where did you get them?” She asked, suddenly curious about their origin.

Synd'r watched the Igglybuff's facial expression go from excited to embarassed, and found her own calming from shock to amusement in the process. This pokemon clearly wasn't used to sneaking up on people... though they seemed to be somewhat decent at it nonetheless seeing as they had sneaked up on her without her knowledge.

She chuckled lightly, raising a paw to her mouth as if to hide the small snickers of laughter. It was almost - she dared say it - cute, but it reminded her of herself when she was but a youngster learning how to be as sneaky as her guardians.


"It's quite alright," she replied, although a little reluctantly. It seemed she had a bit of a soft spot for youngsters, enough so that she was willing to let this go without much thought. Had anyone else snuck up on her like that, she'd probably have been planning some way to get back at them already.
"Though I am surprised you were able to sneak up on me, distracted or not. Most pokemon can't do such a thing."

Synd'r found herself almost blushing at the sudden compliment to her feathers. Not many sought to comment on them, but being such an intrinsic part of her past she really did love them and couldn't help but like it when others appreciated them too. This child seemed to be poking at all of her weak spots without even realising it.
"These are actually a gift from my family," she explained vaguely, "They were a reminder of both our unity as a group and of the skills that we- that I posses."

my art still lacks color:

Alki looked up at the Vulpix before her, the shy, bashful smile still lingering on her face. She’d been a tad out of line, perhaps, but the older Pokemon certainly didn’t seem to care. If anything, she was slightly amused at the situation, a paw daintily blocking… a smile? Laughter? Alki knew from personal experience, that if she’d actually upset this Pokemon, she wouldn’t care enough to hide it. So she was happy, and that made the small explorer happy as well. Laughter escaped her mouth, the sound small and fragile. This pokemon seemed alright…

   This was only further confirmed by her response, a confirmation that she was fine with Alki’s actions. Alki began to relax, even though she had never been aware of tensing up in the first place. She sat down atop the snow, waving her feet back and forth slowly, listening to the Vulpix talk. Her bashful smile was accompanied by the rosy red cheeks that usually came when someone praised her. “Most Pokemon can’t do such a thing.” ... Yet Alki had done just that. And even if it had been something that wasn’t quite on purpose, the fact this Pokemon was praising her for it only made her feel special, and unique, and that was a feeling that she’d been in desperate need of. She didn’t say anything, but a giggle escaped from beneath her hood, it hadn’t been long at all, but this strange Pokemon was already making her feel nice. She briefly wondered how Darcy and Synd’r would get along, but those thoughts left as quickly as they came, as the Vulpix began to shed some more light on the topic of her feathers.

   She gazed up at the Vulpix in wonder, as if expecting a grand, exciting story. And so, one couldn't exactly blame Alki as she felt a bit underwhelmed from the Vulpix's vague answer. That wouldn't get in the way, though, even if Synd'r was being a bit vague, perhaps even on purpose. Alki could figure out where they came from! Perhaps she could even impress her newfound companion in the process.

    “Skills? Well… hm. They come from your family , not your co-workers or teammates, so I don't think you're from the Grassveil Police, or the guild. I'm from there, the guild. I know we don't wear feathers to symbolize anything… all we get is a badge. Alki paused, kicking up a small amount of snow as she stood up, suddenly excited at figuring this puzzle out, all by herself. “So you're not from any of the big organizations in the towns, are you? Because then you wouldn't have mentioned your family… and that excludes most of those other, erm, independent organizations I've heard about from other Guild-Mons… Feathers… black ones…” Alki trailed off, her gaze coming to a halt atop The greyish-black feathers. She felt she'd seen them somewhere before, recently. Had she read about them? Or maybe she'd seen them on another Pokemon, but… No. She would've remembered that. Feathers were unique, and she was quite confident that this was her first time seeing them in person. So that left the only other option: She'd seen them in a book. But which book? She hadn't read a book about feathers, after all. She closed her eyes, wracking her brain for the memory she needed, mumbling her thoughts out loud. “Grey Feathers… black feathers. Black… Black Quills? Blackquill! Blackquill… thieves…”

   Alki gazed up at the stranger's feathers again. She knew where they came from, but despite this, they were still shrouded in an aura of mystery. She was a thief. She had to be! No other group did anything like that...

  “Y-You said most Pokemon can't sneak up on you… That's because you're a thief. I mean, what else could you be? I read a bit about that group… those feathers… at the guild.” She trailed off, her point obvious. The thought of what she was supposed to do flickered through her mind. She was a guild member… apprentice, still, but to be in the company of an outlaw… any outlaw, thief or otherwise. It was her duty to capture her. That was what the guild master would expect, at least.

  But a sense of wonder overcame the small semblance of duty the Igglybuff possessed. Curiosity getting the best of her, she sat down atop the snow, gazing at the thief with excitement.

    “It's… I'm not a very good guild member anyways, so… could we just talk, err, a bit? That's… I read about you guys, I said that. But… I didn't think I'd meet anyone from that group, and… what you did sounds really cool.” She mumbled, the blush returning to her face. “What I mean to ask, is… what was it like? What did you guys do, exactly? And… what's a thief doing, out here?” Alki, perhaps a tad naively, hoped that the Vulpix wouldn't have any qualms with her being a guild member. She was a thief, but… did that matter, so much? She'd been friendly before, after all. She just hoped the Vulpix would be alright with her questions.

As the Igglybuff began to puzzle through what she had said, Synd'r chuckled and lowered the front half of her body so that she was lying in the snow and eye level with the child. She leaned her head into one paw, watching patiently with a small smile of amusement as the Igglybuff spoke her thoughts aloud. To put it quite simply, Synd'r was intrigued.


The Vulpix would occasionally nod or shake her head very gently, the movement almost unseen as she responded silently to the Igglybuff's trail of thought. The smug smile on her face grew subtly larger as Alki managed to make the connection between her feathers and the Black Quill Thieves. She was a little surprised that someone so young would have heard about them, but she was proud that their reputation would allow them to remain present in the minds of the next few generations despite them now being disbanded.

Synd'r sat back up as Alki stammered a little. She still had that smug and almost proud smile on her face as the result of her family's legacy, but she was ready to make a run for it if this situation didn't play out in her favour.

"My, my," she replied after Alki stated she was a thief, "I won't deny something so explicably true, but you are definitely a sharp one." The Vulpix was honestly impressed by the Igglybuff's deductions. Perhaps it was just because Alki was genuinely curious, but it was spectacular skill to have nonetheless. She wondered what the limits of her intelligence really were, if she was such a smart kid already.
"You aren't going to arrest me are you?" she asked, a light chuckle in her voice.

The Igglybuff sat back down and began to talk about how she wasn't a very good guild member anyways. The Vulpix couldn't help but think about how useful it would be to have a frie- acquaintance on the inside, someone who was a part of the Guild who could help her stay off the radar. It'd certainly be a lot easier to do her thing if she could count on her face never showing up on a bounty poster.

Luckily for Synd'r, it seemed that Alki merely wanted to talk. Having an ally in the Guild was appealing and this was a chance to gain that asset, but Synd'r also loved to show off when it came to her family and their skill. Thieving was fun as hell to her, and if she could interest someone like this in her antics, perhaps she would find herself an ally through mutual appreciation. There were two metaphorical birds to kill with this stone, if she could do this right.

She began to think back to her time with the Black Quill Thieves. She had many a fond memory of those that she called family, but she didn't really know where to start. Instead, the purest of the expressions she had made today spread across her features. There was no smugness or amusement in her smile, just pure joy as she spoke. If anyone asked her later, she'd say it was all in the name of convincing Alki that she wasn't worth pursuing and getting the Igglybuff to sympathize with her. The truth was much simpler. The idea of speaking to a child who she saw as being able to do her no harm made her more open, and feelings that she would normally keep close to her chest poured out as she thought fondly of her family.

"What was it like?" She parroted Alki's question, "Honestly, it was... the best time of my life. It was fun and I always felt like I belonged there. We would sometimes plan things for days, weeks even. And the feeling of pulling off something complex without a hitch, of timing things just right and getting away scot-free was... incredible."

She paused, considering her words as her smile faltered a little, "It's a shame we disbanded..." she trailed off to address the other of Alki's questions, "Though I promise I really am just out here to enjoy the scenery." This time at least.

Alki couldn't help but grin as the Vulpix confirmed her assumptions. She was right. The fact that she knew this Pokemon was a thief, and she was a Guild-Mon carried with it some rather worrying implications about her loyalty to the guild, and while these facts did cross the child's mind, she discarded them as quick as they came. Who cared if she was a thief? She was retired, after all, and she seemed like a nice enough lady. She was even making the extra effort to stoop to Alki's eye level, just like Yigo had done when they'd met in Grassveil. It made Alki feel less small, but for naturally taller species like Vulpix or Sandshrew, it had to be at least a little embarrassing. Nice Pokemon didn't embarrass themselves for the sake of others, after all. Besides, she hadn't seen Synd'r on any of the wanted posters at the guild. Who would ever know they'd met, anyways? Certainly not Darcy or Faye.

  “No, I won't arrest you. Even if I wanted to, I doubt I could… the moves I know aren't exactly impressive, after all. And, well, if you were a thief, and you must've been a good one if I'm talking to you right now, well… you must be really good at fighting as well as sneaking…” Alki mumbled, choosing to ignore the compliment rather than confront it. She didn’t deserve compliments like that, all she’d done was read about those thieves in a book, Synd’r was being too nice to her. Nevertheless, a spot of blush appeared on her cheeks, and her gaze was diverted towards the Vulpix’s paws rather than her eyes, feeling a tad embarrassed.

“I mean… I don’t mean to pry, it’s just… it’s all really cool...” She said, looking up at the Vulpix again. Alki couldn’t help but smile, both at the safety this thief offered her, and the kindness she displayed.  Surely, it must’ve been a risk for the Vulpix, even staying to chat. It wasn’t like she was guaranteed that Alki was as weak as she stated. But here she was, lowering herself so as to make herself seem as non-intimidating as possible. “But… why did you guys disband? I mean… You guys must’ve been really good, if you didn’t get caught… so why quit?”

A more pressing concern quickly came to the forefront of the Igglybuff’s mind, however, and she quickly added another question to address the Vulpix. “Are… Are you gonna do it again? Thievery, I mean, I… I know I’m a guildmember, but… I wouldn’t go after you! That’s really cool, just… as long as no one gets hurt… I read a book about thieves, not… not the  Blackquills, it was a story, but… it was real cool!” She said, recalling a book she’d read somewhat recently. A story of noble thieves, of helping people who needed help and hurting those who deserved to be hurt… not with violence, but with stealth and charm and guile. What wasn’t to love? And she had a hard time featuring this pretty, kind Vulpix ever hurting anyone. Perhaps she was wrong. But the thrill of something new made sure she didn’t care. She looked up at the older Pokemon with starry, wondering eyes, and while at the time she would’ve denied it, she would later come to realize that she wanted to join this Vulpix. There was no way she could be worse at something than she already was at Guildwork.

   “I-I’m still an apprentice though! About what I said earlier...” She added, a bit nervously. “I’ve… my old moveset was really bad, I’ve learned a couple new moves I feel a bit proud of… I could show em to you, if you like? I know I could learn even better ones, eventually...” She said, hoping the Vulpix wouldn’t dismiss the tiny Igglybuff in front of her out of hand.

Art with and without shading.:

A small but almost sinister grin crossed Synd'r's features for a brief moment as Alki spoke of how the Vulpix must be good at fighting and sneaking. Sneaking? Most definitely. Fighting? Well, she still had a long way to go, but she could definitely defend herself in a pinch. The best part though? Alki had admitted that she and her family must have been good at what they did, for they had never been caught and she still walked free.

And that was what caused her to smile: sinister, but proud. She made no move to speak up though, merely allowing Alki to continue as she spoke of how cool it all sounded, before finally asking the Vulpix questions that popped up to the forefront of the Igglypuff's mind.

Synd'r paused for a moment, glancing upwards towards the blue of the sky as she considered Alki's first question. "As for why we disbanded, it was a combination of things. We scored big one time, and we could feel that the police were getting closer and closer. I guess it boils down to quitting whilst we were ahead..." she trailed off, flicking her amber gaze back to the Igglypuff.

She let out a small breath of a sigh, "Honestly, I'd love to have kept going..."

The Vulpix left the statement hanging, as if not quite willing to expand on whether she would or had already begun stealing again. Synd'r couldn't help the small smile of satisfaction that she got from seeing the youngster hanging on to her every word. Alki seemed so enthusiastic about the things Synd'r was telling her, that it was a wonder that the Igglypuff wasn't a thief herself already.

Who knows, perhaps she would welcome the occupation if Synd'r were to suggest it.

For now though, the Vulpix nodded to Alki, getting to her feet. "I'd be interested to see what you've got to show," she replied, stepping back and giving the other some space to demonstrate the strengths that she was proud of.

Alki seemed almost to tremble with excitement as the Vulpix explained what made them quit. It seemed almost like one of those stories that Darcy so loved to read to her at night, before they went to sleep. Almost like a game… Cops versus Robbers. But the robbers won! She’d never played it, but she’d watched the other children at the pond play it. The Robbers almost never won! A large smile crept onto her face, and Alki giggled as she closed her eyes for just a moment. The one in front of her did win. And even though the small, dutiful, guild-member part of her was telling her that she probably shouldn’t be befriending a thief, but again, it’s not like she was bad!

Right? Now that she thought about it… Alki couldn’t really be sure about that, could she? It seemed reasonable though… thieves weren’t really violent, were they? They stole, sure, and… well, that was the worst of it, right? And if they stole from the right people, then… well, then it wasn’t really that bad! Right?

“Ahh… A-Alright.” Alki mumbled, suddenly nervous at the position she’d just put herself in. She didn’t even really know how to use her new moves all that well… and should she ask her? That was probably important, huh? It’s not like thieves were automatically excluded from being violent. Although, if you asked Alki, they kinda weren’t really thieves anymore, but that was besides the point.

Yeah. She should ask. No harm done, right? Unless she was violent, and got offended, but… Alki’s mouth twisted into a small frown as she worked up the courage to ask. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself before finally gathering enough courage to speak.

“S-So…. Um, before we go any further, I just… well, I gotta ask,  but… um… d-did you guys ever hurt anyone?” Alki mumbled, visibly nervous as her whole demeanor seemed to shift completely. The Jigglypuff’s big blue eyes made an attempt to meet the Vulpix’s brown ones. The girl’s eyes were filled with nervous excitement, and if the Vulpix told her what she wanted to hear, then… then she’d trust her. And a lot of that nervousness would disappear, and be replaced by just sheer excitement.

“A-Ah, anyways… W-Well… First thing’s first… m-moveset.” She mumbled quietly, a different kind of nervousness returning to her. She wanted to impress the Vulpix. Even if she was tiny, and even if her species was notorious for being soft, bouncy, and weak, well… she could still have impressive moves! But what to show off first…

“U-Um… W-Well, I only know four moves right now, but my teammate said it’s possible to learn more? I… I dunno how that works, but yeah. For now, I only know four… Um...” Sing? Heal Pulse? Copycat? Hidden Power?

Well… maybe she should start with the least impressive? If she started with her best, then her other moves would be a letdown! And that wasn’t what she wanted to be…

“U-Um… Well, actually, I don’t… know if I should demonstrate a couple of them, the last time I did, well...” She recalled that little, embarrassing sparring match in the marshes. That had been a while ago, hadn’t it… “Um, things didn’t turn out so hot. So… I mean, I know Sing! That can put people to sleep, and… well, I mean, I have to sing for a bit, but… there’s that.”

She kicked up a bit of snow before willing herself to continue with her little demonstration. “The others I can demonstrate just fine though, so...” What do next? The girl quickly decided on Heal Pulse. That definitely seemed to impress Darcy, even months after they’d first met!

“Ah… real quick…” Alki bounced closer to Synd’r and took one of her front paws in both her hands. “It’s not an attack, don’t worry!” She said, doing her best to put on an excited face, although… well, what the Vulpix thought remained to be seen, right? Alki began to use Heal Pulse, closing her eyes as she poured all her concentration into it…

For a few seconds, anyways. She didn’t want to exhaust herself so early on! That’d just make her look weak. As if it wasn’t clear already, Alki smiled and nodded, hoping that the move would have the same effect on Synd’r as it did on Darcy.

“I can heal!” She said, clapping her hands as a small amount of confidence seemed to enter her. And now for Hidden Power! She’d need a bit of help to demonstrate Copycat…

Alki seemed to poke at the ground behind her, touching her own shadow. She made a show of it for a second or two, before bringing it up off the ground. She smiled, and couldn’t help but mumble a small Tah-Dah! Before explaining it to Synd’r. “I-It’s Hidden Power! Or it’s mine, anyways… I’m not really super good with it yet, but… I got Dark Type! And I get to play with shadows.” She let go of her shadow, letting it float back into place before nodding happily. “S-So yeah! I’m proud of those ones, but… Um...”

She paused for a brief moment, thinking of what to say next in regards to Copycat. She could just tell her, and save them both a bit of time, but… it would be so much more impressive to show her! The Igglybuff smiled for a moment, nodded, and made a small, polite request to the Vulpix. “C-Could you use one of your moves? Real quick… N-Not on me though! It’s not, like, defense curl or something like that… just towards a tree or the snow or something?” Alki said quickly, excited to show the Vulpix her most impressive move!

She wondered what she thought of the three she had already shown...

Synd’r listened to the Igglybuff’s question, pausing for a moment. That was… a good question. Honestly, for the duration that she had been with the Black Quill Thieves, they had always opted to avoid conflict when necessary. That was what Hypnosis was for after all. But, she had no idea what they had done before she had been a part of their group. After all, Synd’r had the knowledge that she hadn’t been born into the group of thieves, but no memory of her blood relatives.

Nevertheless, she gave Alki a smile as she replied, “During the time I was with them, we’ve had to use our strengths against others, yes. I won’t deny that. However, we’ve never gone out with the intention to harm. Only to defend ourselves.” It was an honest answer, to the best of her knowledge. If her answer would help to put the young Igglybuff at ease; allow her to trust Synd’r more, then she wasn’t about to bring up the past that may or may not have concerned her.



As the Igglybuff moved on to begin demonstrating her moves, Synd’r sat down to watch. Alki began by explaining that she possessed the move Sing. Sing was just as useful as her own Hypnosis move in a pinch, both being able to put enemies to sleep without bringing any harm to them. She could see why a guild member might also learn it. But the move itself also concerned her for how easy it would be to send her to sleep and just arrest her, despite Alki claiming that she wouldn’t.

Synd’r had briefly raised her front paws from the ground before her as Alki spoke of the move, almost a default reaction of self-preservation. She did it subtly and only by a few centimetres, but was prepared to put her paws over her ears so that she wouldn’t hear the singing and fall asleep, only to be left vulnerable if the need arose. As it happened the young Igglybuff moved on quickly to the next move in her arsenal, defying her ingrained expectations. Blinking, Synd’r didn’t regret the short moment of caution, but was still pleasantly surprised that the guild member hadn’t taken advantage of the situation.

“Ah, yes. Sing is a handy move indeed,” she commented instead, returning her paws to the ground and watching as Alki bounced closer. One of her paws was quickly grabbed by the Igglybuff and Synd’r nearly pulled it straight back again. Luckily, Alki had the forethought to attempt to clarify what she was thinking. The excited expression on the younger pokemon’s face was enough to convince the Vulpix to give her a chance, indicating as such with a small nod.

Alki proceeded to close her eyes, the corners scrunching in concentration as she attempted to demonstrate another of her moves. Synd’r was a little confused for a moment, before she began to feel the tell-tale tingle of an ability that aided healing. She hadn’t felt the sensation of suddenly regaining her energy for a rather long time and widened her eyes in surprise.
Soon enough the Igglybuff had left her paw, clapping her hands as she confirmed that she could heal.

“A healing ability like that is very impressive,” Synd’r replied honestly. She would love to be able to learn something similar herself, as it would surely aid her and her allies in times of need. Well.. she thought a little sombrely, If I ever work alongside allies like my family again.
“Where did you learn such a thing?” she asked, genuine curiosity coming across with a small tilt of her head.


The next ability that Alki demonstrated was definitely one of the more curious phenomenon that Synd’r had experienced, and she had worked alongside dark types for majority of her life. At first, the Vulpix hadn’t been certain what the other had been attempting to display by touching her shadow, but it was made clear when she raised it from the ground. The ability was certainly interesting in itself, and Synd’r wondered if the shadow worked in a similar way to the Shadow Sneak move that she had once seen an opponent use. If so, it could certainly be utilised for a surprise attack in a pinch.

Curious, Synd’r asked, “Have you ever used your Hidden Power in an actual battle before? I imagine it must have some interesting applications.”


After the discussion around Alki’s Hidden Power came to a close, the Igglybuff made to demonstrate her final move. However, rather than using or explaining it, she instead merely asked Synd’r to use one of her own moves. She had quickly cut off Synd’r’s initial line of thought that it might be some form of Protect or defensive move, which piqued the Vulpix’s curiosity.

“Use one of my own moves?” she asked, repeating Alki’s query as she paused to consider just what surprise the Igglybuff might be keeping up her sleeve. Something that affected her moves? Disable maybe?

“…Alright. if you’re sure,” she then added, getting to her feet as she prepared herself to use Ember. The Vulpix felt the beginnings of her natural flames bubbling in the back of her throat but paused as she had an idea.

“Actually, how would you feel about a small spar? I’d love to see some of your moves in action. A friendly one though, I promise,” she suggested, turning to the Igglybuff to see what she thought of the idea.

“Ah...” Alki mumbled, taking in the Vulpix’s response thoughtfully. On the one hand, this did mean that she was, in a manner of speaking, a violent criminal. But… guild members could be violent too! And if they were only defending themselves… Well then, that wasn’t so bad! It was only really  violent crime if they attacked innocents! If they fought back when someone attacked them, well then, that was a different story! “Well, that’s not so bad then!” She said, smiling, as she gave the Vulpix a sign of approval that she hadn’t even asked for.

She was going to trust Synd’r. The only thing on the Igglybuff’s mind was the methods she would use to impress her. After all, it was only natural for a very lonely girl to want to impress a new friend, right?

Because that’s all it came down. Making new friends. As Alki showed off all her new moves, the foremost worry wasn’t that she was alone, in a mystery dungeon with a stranger. It wasn’t what Darcy might think of all of this, and it wasn’t even that she was trying to befriend a thief. (Although all these thoughts did come to her, the Igglybuff made short work of clearing them away.)  No, the principal worry was whether or not she’d be impressive enough to keep this friend.

However, as her little demonstration wore on, Alki found herself more and more hopeful that she would, indeed, be impressive enough. After all, her moves all seemed to garner some form of praise! Sing even seemed to frighten her a bit, although she supposed that was more from the context of their meeting. They had both confessed their chosen professions, after all, so it was only natural to have a bit of healthy paranoia! Alki really couldn’t blame her.

Heal Pulse especially seemed to impress the older Pokemon, and the girl pulled the cloak tighter and tighter around herself, attempting to hide her blushing. She really liked her moveset, huh? Even if Alki herself didn’t think it was too impressive,  it was nice to know that others thought differently. The Igglybuff littered in her own words of gratitude at every remotely congratulatory word that the Vulpix offered. Thank-you-Ma’ams , and Awww, Goshes at every opportunity that the Igglybuff could find.

Although, of course, Alki did answer Synd’r’s questions as best she could. However, the little girl did have quite a few introverted tendencies, and as much as she appreciated the compliments, she did have trouble hiding her shyness. “A-Ah, well, H-Heal Pulse was an egg move and n-no, I haven’t used m-my hidden power in a battle yet, Ma’am. I-I just learned it, actually,” She said, punctuating her answers with a bit of nervous laughter. She’d left Copycat for last, and now that she had a bit of time to dwell on it, well… was it really that impressive? It was just using someone else’s move, after all… literally copying them! And nobody liked a Copycat…

Alki shifted her weight from foot foot, slowly sinking in the snow as worry began to take over her mind yet again. She… Synd’r was impressed, right? Heal Pulse was a nice move, but… would a thief really be so impressed by it? It’s not like Synd’r was a doctor… And the shadow looked cool! But she couldn’t really attack with it yet…

“A-A spar?” Alki repeated the words, audibly nervous, but she made her best attempt at smiling, hoping that it was as confident as she wished she actually were. Sparring was… not her thing. Fighting, as a whole, wasn’t… and if the Vulpix saw that… Well, her moves were only as impressive as she could use them, after all!

But she couldn’t say no… only cowards did that! “Y-Yeah, sure. W-We can spar. I don’t… Well, I’ll do my best, but… Ah… C-Can I use items?” The Igglybuff very much wanted to justify her lack of talent in advance, but… Well, that was a sign of weakness! Or Cowardice. One of the two, but either way… why would a professional thief want to be friends with a person like that?

If it meant keeping a friend, she was more than willing to get beat up...

The Vulpix's head seemed to bob from side to side as she thought about it before the movements halted. Synd'r's gaze returned to Alki from where they had been situated on the clouds above them.
"Sure, if you'd feel more confident with items on your side," she replied, figuring it might make things more interesting in a way, especially if the Igglybuff wasn't too familiar with using their moves in an actual fight.

"But I really would like to see each of your moves in action," Synd'r added lightly. She paused, watching Alki for a moment before she chuckled quietly at her nervousness trying to put her at ease with her next words."I know I'm a scary thief, but I don't plan on harming you. When I said 'friendly' I meant it."

Synd'r took a few pawsteps backwards, allowing for a little more space between her and Alki. She then paused, waiting for the Igglybuff to make the first move.

OOC//:

But fights were anything but friendly! They were nasty and disgusting and they hurt quite a lot! Fighting wasn't right, it wasn't pleasant, there wasn't anything good about it! Why did she want to fight her? Why did anyone like fighting at all, come to think of it? She should refuse, it'd be painful and just embarrassing to her, and she didn't want to get hurt out here in the snow. She was kinda cold as is, she didn't want to be hurt and cold!

Although, granted, she would rather not warm up by having the fire type breathe, well, fire on her.

"Ah, well..." Alki mumbled, bouncing backwards, away from the Vulpix who, for all her kind words, couldn't quite calm the Igglybuff down from currently freaking out, or where she was right now. She couldn't really bounce in the snow, and so she trudged forward, half bouncing, half walking to a distance that seemed about right?

What would she know? She'd never done this before! But if it meant impressing the Vulpix... it'd be really nice to make a new friend! But what kinda person would want to be friends with a weakling?

Alki looked up at the Vulpix, before realizing that Synd'r was waiting. For... the fight to start? That'd make sense... but what to start it with?

The Igglybuff did not put much thought into it. She simply used the move that felt most comfortable for her, and hoped that it would work out. Sing! She'd always known it...

"HELP!" She started off her sing, eyes nervously looking at the Vulpix, waiting to see what she'd do. It didn't sound very melodious... She was nervous, Alki was nervous...

"I need somebody..." She continued her song, hoping it'd last long enough... it'd be nice to not have to fight. Was it cheap? Maybe... but truth be told? Even if it was 'friendly', it still felt more than terrifying for Alki.

She wished Darcy was here...