Fallace in Blunderland

Since the escapades that had brought him into contact with the large displaced cloud, Astir had failed to leave the dark and overgrown forest. Granted, he hadn't exactly tried to leave said forest, either. He was too easily distracted by everything around him; a weird branch here, a hostile pokemon to fight there, round the corner and oh, hello, another bush appears. He had spent so much time in this place that he came to accept it as world canon; that is, he came to think that the world was made of these tall, dark trees. That they stretched out forever, or at least until it came back to a point that it had already passed. That was something Astir had done quite a few times, thus he found the world to be rather small. That's what he would think, anyways, until suddenly the trees looked completely unfamiliar and he came across a path he didn't recognize. THEN the world became an ever-expanding place again, a void in which he continued to find new avenues and new things to harrass explore. Such was the cycle that Astir had been experiencing, that had fully immersed him in this rather straightforward place.

Today, Astir was feeling a bit under-stimulated. Things in the tree world were fairly normal: the sun was out (probably? or the moon was really bright), the hostile inhabitants were apparently taking the day off, there wasn't really anything to be found in the trees... and he certainly hadn't seen anything remotely Danger-esque about to challenge him. What was he looking for, anyways? He didn't have a concrete idea, just that it was big and it hit like a sack of bricks. There were things like that in this forest, but for some reason none of them felt quite right. They weren't exactly what he was looking for, or at least he didn't want to believe that a bunch of buff bugs and drooly dogs were the challenge he was meant to devote his entire life to conquering. That just felt... incredibly underwhelming compared to the foggy silhouettes he saw in his mind, the figures that he saw looming below and above him in his sleep. What were they? He could only ever make out blobs, no matter how hard he tried to focus.

He found himself a spot under a pile of leaves to watch the world go by from. He was fully concealed, because of course he was. It was easier if he couldn't be seen, easier to catch mons should he need to confront them for.... well, out of boredom, really. He wished somebody knew where all the cool things in this forest were.

"Bleh," Astir mumbled under his pile of leaves. "Blep. Ble, blor. Bloop blaaah, ble..." At this point he was just making noises for his amusement. Kind of defeating the purpose of concealing himself in the process, but again, he definitely hadn't thought that far ahead.

Astir - 7 Energy (Dragon Sash Equipped)

Alki had no particular reason for being in Shadowhue Forest, aside from the fact that it wasn’t the guild, and it wasn’t the Phantom Thieves Hideout. She had been spending far too much time in both of those locales recently. The only reason she’d been in the guild at all was for the sake of Darcy, but truth be told, Alki simply wanted to leave the guild. After that whole fiasco in the Town Square, she wasn’t sure that it was an overreaction either.

   Whatever. That wasn’t what she was here for. The thieves hideout was underground, and dark, and honestly? The biggest issue was that it was lonely. Cecil was usually there, sure, but the last time that the jigglypuff had spent a large amount of time interacting with a Petilil, it had resulted in one hell of a headache, and a stupidly large amount of time missing in her memory.  What had happened during that time, she still didn’t know. And whatever the stuff in those bottles was, Cecil seemed very fond of it.

   Alki didn’t want to spend her time like Cecil.

   What she wanted to be, she wasn’t quite sure of either. A guild member seemed to be out of the question. Frankly, she sucked at it. The last time she’d tried to be a guild member, a real, honest-to-Arceus guild member, she’d almost gotten someone killed. She’d gotten lucky, and Alki wasn’t ever going to risk getting anyone killed again.

   She couldn’t try to be something she wasn’t. She’d always sucked at being a guild member, hadn’t she? But Darcy had always encouraged her, so she’d always tried. Talent be damned. Enough was enough. She wasn’t going to get someone killed trying to please Darcy. She was good at being a thief. Half-decent, anyways, but she was somewhat confident that she wasn’t going to get anyone killed doing this. She supposed time would tell.

   The jigglypuff sighed and kicked at a twig that lay on the floor. Maybe she’d find someone here. Feral, wild, or otherwise. It was all the same. She just wanted something to be different. Cecil was nice and all, but sometimes it was just a bit too much.

   Alki’s thoughts were interrupted by what sounded almost like vocalization, except the voice in question seemed to not care very much about effort. The jigglypuff turned in the general direction of the sound and waved. It didn't sound quite as angry as a feral would. She was fine, probably.

  “Oh. Hello.” She said, her voice seeping with a strange mixture of boredom, depression, and ennui. At least she was doing something. Maybe today would be a happy day. With a little bit of luck, it would. Right? She was due for one, at this point.

   She thought about what to say next, but what does one say to what amounted to senseless syllables? Alki was silent as she shrugged her shoulders and waited for a response from the ‘Bleh’.

[24-10 Energy = 14 left]

“Oh. Hello.”

Oh, a voice outside the leaves! Astir knew exactly what to do.

"BWA-HA! You've been had!! Now I've got you!!" Astir cried out at the voice outside the leaves as he burst out approximately twenty seconds too late. He wasn't surprising anyone, though he definitely thought he was. Granted, he also thought he'd be surprising something about 100x more intimidating than what he was actually faced with upon breaching out of the leaves. Which was a tree. He had come out facing the wrong way. Unsurprisingly, this misdirection confused Astir in all the wrong ways and for all the wrong reasons. He continued under the impression that the voice had originated from the tree, because there was nothing behind or around the tree that would make him consider any other alternative source of the noise. Ignoring the bushes and dead leaves and other trees that were also present in the vicinity.

"Tree? Why are you suddenly talking now? I'm pretty sure you haven't done that ever," the periwinkle snake questioned. This was a strange new development that faced him with a slew of new questions about how the forest worked. If the tress could talk, why hadn't they been this whole time? Had they not noticed him? Even when he was crawling on them?? Were they asleep or something? They had to be some sleepy trees if they were that out of it.

Around this time, Lennox was scuttling his way through the forest in hopes of finding a way out of this rather mundane area and into the more challenging territory of the Northeast. He had grown really impatient with these places frankly; and he had had enough of the sleepy atmosphere to satisfy him until he died. Which would happen of boredom soon if he didn't get out of here. Grassveil was certainly a quaint place at that point, and that was fine for mons who were fine with that kind of thing. Lennox, however, had not signed up for this whole "relaxing atmosphere" thing. The guild wasn't all that appealing to him, though he could only judge by what he had heard from word of mouth because he wasn't remotely able to make out what the sign out in front of the establishment was saying. Also, he'd have to live in this dead town to work there. Same went for the prospect of police work. No, he was certain that he would much prefer to head out to the mountains and live in a place that provided a constant challenge without minor conveniences like the ability to read. He was also undeniably curious about the rumors he had heard concerning some kind of strong kingdom or something in those mountains. If they were real, he wanted to see how strong they really were.

Yes, the Northeast really did seem like the place for him. The only problem was getting there, or more specifically interpreting the map that was supposed to get him there. He couldn't read the blasted thing; he could only recognize the major landmarks printed on it. This large, dark, intensely dense forest, for example. This was the first step... he thought. He wasn't entirely sure, but fuck it, he was already here and he'd find an exit eventually. He didn't expect the locals to be much help navigating, so his best option was pretty much himself-

-Oh, wait, those weren't locals. They could probably help, he thought. That thought was quickly stifled by the revelation that one of the pokemon, the snake, was talking to a tree while the other stood and watched. Weird... was that a normal thing? It struck him as odd... but as the same time, he really didn't know enough about it to argue. Hell, maybe the trees could give him directions.

"Uh, 'm I missing somethin' here? Or is a tree talking?" Lennox asked anyone who could give him an answer.

Lennox the Venipede - 11 Energy (Scolio-Horn equipped)

Quite a bit of time passed without Alki receiving a response. For a moment, she wondered if perhaps she had merely imagined the tone-deaf voice. After all, who refused to acknowledge a greeting for this long? Alki had given up hope, simply shrugging again as she turned to leave, before the voice screeched out again. Unmistakable this time. Alki scrunched her eyes and flattened her ears, trying to prevent the voice from causing too much of a headache. That seemed like too difficult a task for her though, sadly. When the girl opened her eyes again, she found… nothing there. Where was the voice?

“Huh?” She mumbled, looking around in confusion. The voice was certainly there! And she could see who it belonged to: A Dratini, who had come out of the bush facing the complete wrong way. She shrugged, letting the voice continue. Tree. Something about a tree? There were certainly a lot of trees, but Alki had no idea why the Dratini was so focused on talking about… wait. He couldn’t…

“I’m not a tree.” She said, half-yelling. Really, it wasn’t something she should have been all too upset about, but there was something about being mistaken for a tree that rubbed her the wrong way. She just… She wasn’t a tree! “Trees don’t talk!” Any idiot knew that! Even she knew that!

She heard another voice, and for a brief moment, Alki felt an intense embarrassment as she realized that someone had snuck up on her. That wasn’t supposed to happen… Although the girl rapidly justified it by using the fact that one didn’t run into a Pokemon who thought trees talked every day. She turned towards the new Pokemon, a Venipede - a poison type, she reminded herself - and nodded at him. “Hi.”

She looked the Venipede up and down before deciding that he seemed alright. She offered an answer to his question, laughing a bit as she said it. “Oh no, there’s no tree talking. Just… I mean, I guess he thinks there’s a tree talking.” She pointed at Astir as she said this. “But no. There’s not actually a tree talking.”

Alki paused for a second, looking between the two, equal parts nervous at being around a slightly crazy Dratini and a complete stranger of a Venipede, but also, a bit excited. This was, indeed, different from her usual life, and it was a welcome change. “So. Um. Why are you two here?” She asked, offering the Dratini a way into the conversation. She’d been having a pretty shitty time, recently, but Alki began to feel bad, ever so slightly, for the Dratini that was clearly off his rocker. She looked back and forth between the two pokemon, before offering a quiet word of apology. She moved on quickly, hoping that the Dratini wouldn’t be upset with her. “Just a bit strange to see people around here, I guess.”

Lennox had barely been there for a minute before the Jigglypuff had some kind of meltdown about not being a tree; something he did not nearly have enough context to remotely understand. He chose not to encourage it with a response; He couldn't imagine that going well for him in any circumstance. Also, he didn't care. He hadn't come here to get wrapped up in tree drama. "Alright, whatever you say; just had to confirm that. Can't tell sometimes in these wacked-out places," he responded. He tried sizing the ball up, but he couldn't much get a read on eyes as big and doe-y as those. They were just... endless, and vaguely soul-stealing. He couldn't imagine having eyes like that, just staring into nothing and yet everything all at once. Thoroughly deterred, Lennox averted his gaze for a minute and re-gathered his thought.

"I uh... well I'm just traveling, like I figure most people are when they pass through here." He wasn't... entirely sure why passing through the forest was strange? After all, people had to do it all the time to get to town, right? Or was he missing something? He would have expected at least a few passersby, or... hey yeah, how were there not reams of guild teams scouring this forest for their treasures or lost people or whatever else it was they did?? Shit, maybe he was lost. He was starting to hate that stupid map. He gave a disgruntled sigh before he continued, "I mean I don't know how strange it is to go through one of these places; I thought it was pretty standard. Doesn't matter either way, I like a challenge." If it was really so strange, Lennox started to wonder what she was doing out here...? He gave here a look- nope, nope; nevermind, not those eyes. He could just ask about it or something. "I'm just passing through; 'M trying to get to the mountains in the Northeast. The ones with the rumors and whatever else living up there. Can't really speak for that guy, but if I had to take a crack at it I'd say he's talkin' to trees."

Astir cocked his head as he processed all of the conflicting messages this tree was now giving him. He wasn't sure what to say to these new things it was telling him loudly for some reason. It was not a tree; but it was most certainly a tree. A perplexing riddle that Astir could only assume was meant to communicate something to him about the nature of this forest that he had been inhabiting perpetually. Perhaps it was actually a secret message that would lead to what was beyond this never-ending patch of forest? Yes, that had to be it. Suddenly, his enthusiasm was spiking once more, and the forest opened up into a limitless field of possibilities. The world was a wide, wide place once more, just waiting for him to go out and conquer! He looked all around, in search of the next clue-

Oh shit there were people behind him. There hadn't been people behind him before, he was certain of that. His flawless disguise would have allowed him to catch them before they had even gotten close. That must have meant they had gotten there within the past few seconds when he had been speaking with the identity-confused trees that didn't speak. That short amount of time had gotten them that close??? Who were these master ninjas who could just appear and disappear like this??? He snapped to attention, focusing his prying gaze on the two of them as he took down their silhouettes and calculated their skills. One was a pink ball, clearly a master of the rolling arts and being incredibly conspicuous. The other... was a red potato ninja? What a weird duo. He didn't see how a potato and a ball were supposed to get anything done together.

"I see you're very talented forest stalkers as well, ninjas!" Astir exclaimed with a smirk. "You're very clever, appearing so quickly while I was addressing other issues of the forest. Very well done; you clearly know your stuff!" He was so off the mark and he had absolutely no idea. "I hope you're not here to challenge me though; I would hate to ruin my impression of you already by emasculating you in a showdown!!"

Lennox... had no idea what any of that meant. It was like the Dratini was completely in a world of his own; in fact, the bug was sure that had to be exactly what was going on. He let out a long, gravelly sigh. Kids were weird. Especially kids with imaginations that completely and utterly denied reality like this one. This was the reason Lennox wasn't having any of these. They were absolutely a hazard and they were impossible to make sense of. The tussle-happy bug couldn't even take that challenge seriously with how far out of left field it had come; he had barely processed it at all. He already struggled to make sense of everyday things like maps. He decided the kid needed to come back to and dignify them with a proper response.

"What are you on about, string cheese," Lennox retorted. "What in the hell does that have to do with the conversation we're havin' right now? Have you been payin' attention at all to what we're sayin', or is this just completely missing you. Where do you even get ninja out of either of us two?"

"-Uuuhw?" Astir coughed. Conversation? Had he missed something? He realized now that he was having trouble putting the past moments together in his head. It was fuzzy and muffled now, like his memories of things would get sometimes. Maybe he had dreamed all of that, or maybe he had been thinking too hard and had given himself another headache. That would make sense, actually. The trees had never talked before; he wasn't sure how they would begin to start now. And they were not ninjas... ...Yeah, on second glance, he wasn't wure why he had mistaken them for ninjas. They didn't really have the aesthetic, nor the equipment... He had to give the benefit of the doubt though, "I- well," he stammered with all the intention of formulating a response, but none of the form. He wasn't sure how to jump in from this strange revelation he had just experienced. "...Right, I, guess I must have missed that. It's easy to miss stuff when you're thinking really hard. You were asking-?"

"What the heck you're doing here."

Astir found that question asinine. "What? I mean nothing specific right now; I don't have anything to do if that's what you're asking. If you're not, I don't know what to say? I don't need a reason to be in here, I just live in here; like you guys and everyone else does!"

“Y-Yeah. I guess.” Alki mumbled, feeling a renewed sense of shame at her reaction to being called a tree. It would have been one thing, had the only one who’d seen her reaction been the tree-talker, but this presumably normal Venipede had stumbled upon them, and now thought Alki was just as crazy as the Dratini. It seemed, no matter where she went, something just HAD to go wrong for her. Whether it was a haunted house, the guild, Grassveil town or some dark, dank forest.

Fuck Alki, right?

The girl let out a long, tired breath as she looked up at Lennox. To her surprise, it seemed he was almost… afraid of her? Or at least, somewhat intimidated? No, not even that. It was something different, although Alki couldn’t quite figure it out. Sure, it was rare that she got to be the same height as someone, but that didn’t make her scary! She was still a pink cotton ball. At least he looked somewhat intimidating! Why was he afraid of her?

Did she look weird? Maybe she hadn’t cleaned herself properly, or maybe her curl looked weird, somehow? Or her ears? Well… not much she could do about that, was there? If she was scary, then so be it.

“I mean… I guess these places are like shortcuts? I’m not sure, honestly. I’m not really fond of them. Or challenges. But it’s nice to...” Be alone? Evidently not, seeing as Alki was now in the company of two complete strangers. No, it wasn’t much good for being alone after all. “It’s nice to get lost, once in a while. Y’know?”

He mentioned something about mountains. Alki knew about those mountains. At least, she’d seen them on the explorer’s map she was given as a guild member. Been there? No, she hadn’t ever been there. But there was a first time for everything! And if she was an explorer…

“Mountains? I could help you get there. I don’t… well, I’m working a couple jobs right now. I guess. But there’s not much going on in either, so I could probably take the time to help you out there. If you like.” Besides, rumors were always interesting to hear about! And she needed supplies too, for both her ‘jobs’. Maybe she could find some on the way.

The Dratini, in response to her offer, began to talk about ninjas. That was a really weird word. Ninjas. The girl closed her eyes as her ears twitched, completely on their own. Even his voice was grating. Not to mention he might as well be talking non-sense. Something about a challenge? Honestly, she’d tuned out at that point. What the fuck was a ninja? Wasn’t she a tree just a minute ago?

Whatever. She let the Venipede deal with him. She chose to simply sit back and watch. She wasn’t usually this mean-spirited. Under normal conditions, she would’ve tried to mediate and downsize the situation. But she’d been having some very shitty days recently. So now, instead, she watched the situation unfold, and did nothing to help the poor, confused Dratini. Was that a bit cruel? Maybe.

The jigglypuff sat down on the ground as she waited for things to calm down.

Somehow, the situation got even more ridiculous than before with the Dratini’s answer.

“Um...” Was he really that off his rocker? Was he being serious? Alki felt bad about her earlier inaction. Maybe this Dratini needed more help than she could offer. Or maybe he wasn’t being entirely serious? That was what she hoped for, anyways. “I don’t… I don’t think either of us live here. I live in Grassveil Town. And… Um. There’s other towns too. Rainfront. Grima, I guess, and then Aileron, and… well. There’s a lot of places out there. That aren’t this forest, so why… have you never left it?”

That was ridiculous! Even when she’d been a kid, in Pecha Forest, she’d known that there was stuff beside her house. Sure, she hadn’t ever exactly been hopeful she’d ever go, but she knew. How was it possible? “Are… Are you ok?”

The Dratini’s weirdness had to take precedence for Lennox as well. Whatever response he had for Alki died in his mouth as the little periwinkle dragon spoke about The forest as if it was all that existed. Where had he gotten that notion into his head? Lennox hadn’t exactly had a “travelled” childhood, but he certainly hadn’t been under any impression that the mires and marshes were just... all there was. Er, well, he hadn’t been for long, anyways. He had gotten just lucky enough to have parents who were addicted to gambling in other parts of the world, so he had known full well that there was more out there. Yeah, he had definitely known. In the wake of all his thoughts, Lennox went from grumpy to confused a little faster than he could handle. He just sat there for a moment and processed while the puffball talked it out with the confused snake. The more it went on, the more Lennox couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Astir had a good, long stare at the pink scoop of ice cream as he processed what she was saying. Grassveil... Town... huh. Something about it was familiar. Those fuzzy spots in his memory seemed to light up as he thought about the name, as if... it was telling him something. Had he been there at some point? But Astir had been around the forest more than once at this point, he couldn’t believe that after all that time he had missed something so crucial? Or maybe it was some kind of ethereal purpose calling him there; a silent indicator of where his sworn foe was perhaps??? If that were the case, he needed to seek it out!!!

“Grassveil... that’s a place in the forest...?” Astir asked as his thoughts began to leak out of his mouth.

“No, not even close,” Lennox chimed in. He was starting to get it. String cheese over there was a lot like him - a Pokémon without opportunities. He wasn’t so bright - probably had grown up without any kind of guiding voice to tell him what’s what. The kid was just going by what he knew. As much as the childish behavior was annoying to Lennox, he could relate. “Grassveil town is a big ol’ settlement next to the forest, not inside of it. The world ain’t a forest; in fact, there ain’t even just one forest in the world. You’re just confused.”

“So... the world is a lot of forests?” Astir asked, not quite getting it.

“N- Nuh-uh. Buddy, there’s more than- ugh, damn it, this is impossible. And stupid.” Lennox’s stinger appendages twitched in distaste. “You know what? Forget it. Just come with me through this stupid forest, and I’ll get you goin’ so that you can see for yourself,” Lennox griped. He turned to Alki, “And like you were sayin’ earlier, maybe you can at least help me read this god-forsaken map. Maybe get me goin’ on the right road for once, seein’ as they make these things impossible for a normal person to read.” He gave the perfectly pedestrian map in his bag a glare of distaste.

Astir considered the angry red bug’s offer. On one hand, it sounded intriguing. If there really was a so-called edge to this forest, Astir wanted to see it. On the other hand, there just couldn’t be an edge! He had searched high and low; even looked out over the miles and miles of trees! It went on and on, with only the occasional clearing here and there. He was still suspicious of this strange duo accosting him.

“Hmm... your offer intrigues me,” Astir finally reasoned after a moment of consideration. “But how do I know you’re not just trying to trick me?! How do I know you’re not just going to lead me far away from my home and then move in on it for yourself?!?!” he exclaimed, trying to sound loud and intimidating. It wasn’t working and it just looked goofy.

Lennox stared at the Dratini. It was... a fair question, and Lennox didn’t have a very good answer. The reasoning was ridiculous, but the caution was warranted. “I uh... well I mean, I sure as hell don’t have a criminal record if that’s what you’re askin’,” he offered as he looked over at the Jigglypuff - not making eye contact, but looking directly at her form - with a fluster expression, “What about you? What do you got?”

Astir the Dratini - 7 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 7 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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Lennox the Venipede - 11 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 10 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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[/color]

Alki was more than content to let the Venipede talk it out with the confused forest Pokemon. It was, quite honestly, a bit much for her. She’d said her piece, and now she was more than happy to let these two talk it out as Alki scuffed her foot on the ground, or stared up in the sky, or took turns doing both of these oh-so riveting activities. As excited as she was to partake in them, at the very least, it didn’t involve any risk, like ganging up on a mentally-deranged Dratini with a complete stranger did. Alki shook her head and scoffed, tuning out the conversation at hand.

This seemed like as good a time as any to steal from him, if she wanted. This was an objective truth, after all. She had teleport, and… well, he was lost. Just take what she wanted from his bag while he was distracted and... well, leave him behind. Both of them, actually. It wouldn’t be hard at all! But… no.

Alki twisted her mouth in a frown of distaste, tapping her foot rapidly on the ground as she chose to focus on the map rather than his bag. That wouldn’t be right. No, not at all… It was different when it was some rich kid in the Towne Square in Grassveil, who could do with a bit less coin in their bag, or a few less berries, but… it was different here. He was lost. She offered a small mumble of agreement as he requested her help with the map. Yeah, she could help him with that.

He was trusting her to help. No, that wasn’t the kind of person she wanted to steal from. Hell, that wasn’t the kind of thief that she wanted to make herself. That wasn’t what the good ones did, was it? No, the good ones would help out. Synd’r would help out! And Cecil too, and Vesper… Well, she didn’t want to be the worst person out of all of them, did she?

Rhetorical question. Of course she didn’t.

“Hmm?” She said, turning her attention back to the other two pokemon as the reasonable and smart one seemed to turn her attention to her. “Uh...”

What did he say? Alki… really had no clue what he meant. Criminal record? Why was he asking her about that? There’s no way he knew, was there? There wasn’t any way, they hadn’t even done anything yet! “I-I don’t… I don’t have a c-c-criminal record, I’m a guild member!” The child said, looking (and feeling) as though she were about to cry. “W-Why are you accusing me...”

This was not the kind of reaction she imagined she’d have, if anyone ever accused her. She always imagined thieves… outlaws in general, really, to be a bit more suave than this. But she supposed, at the end of the day, Alki was still Alki, and so… well, she’d act like Alki.

How did he know? “T-That’s not fair, I haven’t done anything… I-I’ll help you with your map!”

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Both of the pokemon grew silent and looked at the Jigglypuff as she faltered and then began to stumble over her words. What was she so nervous about all of a sudden? The question hadn't been that weird, had it? Lennox sighed audibly as he began to reason that maybe it had been. He couldn't keep track of what offended who anymore; it was just too much. He hadn't really expected the Jigglypuff to be that type, but maybe he had given her too much credit? He wouldn't say anything out loud since she hadn't, though. He still didn't know for sure that that was the case, and to be perfectly fair to her she hadn't said anything to rub it in his face. He could let sleeping dogs lie.

Astir, who had no concept of the intricacies of modern-day social spheres, was far more concerned with the Jigglypuff's behavior. It was sketchy when she really had no reason to be sketchy. She could easily be lying about her status as a non-ninja. That's what ninjas did!! He needed to investigate more, clearly. He didn't want to fall into some kind of trap and be deprived of his home! He was too good at this to let that happen!! " Hang on a second... Nobody accused you of anything!! Except of being a ninja, I did that. But I only asked- !"

"- Knock it off." Lennox suddenly interrupted with an eyeroll. Clearly this snake was entirely clueless; the bug didn't expect him to understand the finer concepts of other pokemon's psyche. Things had stayed pleasant thus far and he intended to keep them that way. "Don't worry about it. There's no reason to panic over one little slip-up. She's friendly enough," he gruffed at the snake, resigning to now officially take responsibility for this spaz's outbursts. "I'll... try to explain some things to you on our way out. Anyways... Alki was it? Sure, if you can help me that'd be great. Let me just pull this out so we can read it along the way." Lennox proceeded to busy himself with unfurling the map he was carrying on his back, which was difficult considering his stubby size and build. He made an embarrassing attempt to hold the map up to Alki, which he tried to play off as totally not embarrassing at all. He still completely avoided eye contact, looking at the pink patch that was smack dab in the middle of those green holes to nowhere instead.

Astir, now thoroughly shut down, stayed quiet. He did not stop giving the pink orb the stink eye, though. Maybe the red guy wasn't seeing things clearly, but Astir was. He was watching this "not-a-ninja" lady, and he would be happy to say "I told you so" if they started to get assassinated. He held up the end of his tail an d made an "I'm watching you" gesture at the lady. He picked up an apple that had fallen off a nearby tree and took a dramatic bite out of it, chewing slowly and thoughtfully like a pensive detective. He would defeat her yet.

Astir the Dratini - 0 energy + 5 energy (Apple)

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 3 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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Lennox the Venipede - 0 energy

Alki knew very well that she was acting suspiciously, but all the same, it was too much for her to even try to maintain a neutral face. Everything about this sucked, from the reason she was in the forest in the first place, to her company, one of which seemed to be accusing her of… crimes? Why else would he be asking about her criminal record if not to accuse her? And forget that he was right! That didn't matter! He had no way at all of knowing that he was right! It just wasn't fair! She hadn't even gotten to do anything big with the phantoms yet! And if she was outed as a thief, then what would Darcy think? Nothing good…

 This thought alone would have been enough to send the pink ball into a full blown spat of crying if not for the timely intervention of the Venipede’s blunt words. Knock it off, he said. Alki looked up, wondering if (expecting that) these words were meant for her, and to her (pleasant) surprise, she found out that they were not, in fact, for her.

The girl tilted her head, too surprised to cry as she searched for the appropriate words. Once she'd thought she'd found them, she was surprised even further by what came next. She's friendly enough. And he remembered her name! Alki lowered her head, as if looking at her feet as blush marks appeared on her cheeks. She really hadn’t been that friendly, but…

“Thanks…” She mumbled to her feet, feeling awfully embarrassed and decidedly not-nice. But she wasn't the type to deny herself a compliment. Those precious commodities were few and far between for her. She looked up at the Venipede who now seemed very focused on the patch of fur between her eyes. She reached up to touch it herself before mumbling to a Lennox a still-dejected “Is something wrong?”

Alki stood there for a few seconds, her hand stupidly placed between her eyes, as if she didn't even know that area of her body existed and she had no clue what was there at all. The girl slowly removed her hand and blushed even harder as she realized just how stupid she looked.

Map. Talk about the map.

“S-Sorry, n- nevermind that…” Her gaze drifted towards Astir, and Alki suddenly felt intimidated by the half-crazed Dratini. She stumbled closer to the Venipede without really realizing it, her blush still apparent and her eyes widening even more. “Let's have a look at that map then…” She mumbled again, staring in fear at the Dratini instead of the map Lennox had just unfurled for her.

With all of that madness aside, Lennox unfurled his map and set it down for Alki to see. Astir slithered over as well, easily peeking over the shoulder of the short insect in order to peruse what was going on. He saw many colors, shapes... and understood what none of them meant. He had the vague, ghosty feeling deep down that he recognized a few of those words, but he couldn't say for sure because he couldn't recall what they meant. He just recalled that he knew them somehow. His brow was visibly furrowed as he stared down at the perplexing piece of paper.

Lennox seemed equally as unacquainted with the map. Try as he might, he could not get his bearings on these landmarks. Which bundle of trees was the one he needed again? "Uh... well I know we're here," he stated bluntly, trying to cover up his frustration by acting nonchalant as he pointed to Pecha Forest on the map, "… And I need to get here, to this place. 'Black Mist,' or somethin'? I know its a really dark mountain and all the names are black-based." He was definitely pointing at Mt. Frostmeer and not Black Mist Mountain. He traced along the Frozen Stream path that connected Grassveil to the Icy Lands, still using Pecha Forest as their current location. "So, all of that considered... It should be as easy as this to get there, right? So why am I not there?" he grunted in frustration.

"How do mountains work in a forest, anyways?" Astir suddenly questioned in the silence that followed Lennox's inquiry. "Are they just... big trees with dirt on top? That sounds pretty cool actually, but also really dumb. I'd like to see that, at least. But how did you guys find mountains in the forest?? I've been everywhere in this place, and I never found the mountains!!" He pouted slightly in frustration.

Lennox stared at him. "I- wha- kid," the bug stammered incredulously, "There ain't a forest in the mountains. Also, I just got to this place. What in the world are you talking about? You're not still on that whole 'everlasting forest' thing, are you??"

Astir rolled his eyes and sighed. "Clearly you guys don't get out much. I can understand since you just got here from... wherever. Outer space, probably. Or maybe like a clearing in the forest or something. Maybe that's why you don't get it; cause it's clear where you're from. But this is aaaaall a forest. We live in a big forest!!!"

This was still too much for Lennox to comprehend. Did... did this kid understand anything he was saying?? The bug was beginning to believe not. Arguing with him was getting nowhere, but damnit... This guy was seriously challenging him!! This kid was talking down to him like he was stupid when he was right this time!!! He couldn't stand this. He couldn't let this happen. Lennox only got to be smart so often, he was going to prove to this mentally stunted snake that he was being entirely backwards. "No, it's not. I'm tellin' you. But since tellin' you apparently does nothin', I'll show you. I'll show you that there's more beyond this stupid forest," Lennox exclaimed angrily. He turned back to Alki. "Alright ma'am, let's here how to get out of this hellhole. We need to show peanut over here that he's acting like a loon."

Astir the Dratini - 0 energy

Lennox the Venipede - 0 energy

Alki shrunk away from the Dratini as he approached her, looking over her shoulder as she tried to focus on what the Venipede needed assistance with. She didn't know how to read, not really, but she could kinda-sorta read a map! And she knew a bit about how to orient herself, especially in a forest! Darcy had told her about these methods, and while she didn't want to explore anymore, she did find herself in random dungeons more often than she would really like. If only to feel like she deserved to stay at the guild. It was her job. While it wasn't the one she was good at, it was the first one she'd gotten. And she'd made a promise, to her teammate, and to Faye. She owed both of them at least the illusion that she cared. If she didn't at least pretend, then she didn't deserve to see her.

Alki turned her attention to the map, and saw that the Venipede was... pointing at the wrong spot entirely. But... well, he seemed smart! He was calling her 'Ma'am' ! And he was much more willing to talk back to the Dratini and his... antics! Besides, it was once in a blue moon that she was right and the other party wasn't! Unless it was someone like the Dratini, but... not being literally insane was a low bar to meet. So yeah, she supposed they were there, and...

Well... No. They weren't, actually, although... everything she'd said about him was true! He was nice and polite and he gave her respect! But... he misread the map. They were in Shadowhue! Not in Pecha Forest! And if she went with it, they'd both... they'd all get lost!

But she didn't want to tell him that...

"Y-Yeah!" She said, with perhaps a bit too much gusto. "W-Well, if you want to get to Blackmist, then we need to go... Uh, E-East?" That sounded about right, East… And to the North, a bit? It was hard to visualize it when the Venipede was tracing the wrong part of the map…

“E-Erm, well, i-if we wanna go East, then it’s just a matter of finding some moss, cause, w-well… my sister told me it always grows North, so... ” She didn’t want to sound intelligent, she didn’t even want to pretend she was. She was just lucky a small piece of trivia had come in useful.

But she could read maps!

“I-Is it ok if I hold the map? I’m… well, not really all too great at d-defending myself and, w-well, especially not against Dungeon pokemon, so… i-it’d be easier if I carried it anyways, if you’d be alright with that?” She mumbled, trying to think of an excuse, however lame, to get to analyze the map a bit better. It wasn’t as simple as just walking east, they needed a landmark or… something to base themselves off of. And even though she could read maps, it didn’t mean she was good at it. It’d be much easier if she could just look it over, by herself...


(lul I forgot 0 energy oops)

"Oh, man, is that how moss works? It grows all over the place where I came from, so I never really thought much about it," Lennox mused, sounding impressed. He was certainly a little pleased that her ambiguity had somewhat supported his suspicions, making him feel like he had been right. "And uh - oh, yeah, here. I can't exactly hold it and walk at the same time anyways. We're probably better off if you hold it." he liked this lady. She seemed capable and good at exploring - probably did it professionally, if he had to guess. He wondered if organized exploration was something he should get involved in? It had clearly taught Alki a lot; maybe it could help fill in the gaps that he was always so painfully aware existed in his education... his non-existent education.

Astir was mostly excluded from the conversation at this point, not that he particularly wanted to be included in whatever those two weirdos were talking about. He had made the decision in his mind to follow them, if for no other reason than to figure out what their deal was. There was something fishy going on... something that was just begging for Astir's copious amount of skills to expose! He could always find his new home again later - in fact, it always seemed to find him. He wouldn't have to worry about it; especially not while there was nothing there! No, this new opportunity demanded his full attention.

All around them, pokemon local to the forest were mulling about their own business. There was a slakoth hanging from a tree, a flabebe tending to a bush of small flowers by a creek, a shedinja scavenging the groung for....food?... There was even a pinsir who was looking rather violent, although they seemed more interested in the tree they were currently displaying their strength on. At this moment, the forest seemed relatively uninterested in ruining the adveturer's paths as they continued down the road.

Astir, ever vigilant, moved to catch up to the two suspicious characters he was now hanging out with for some reason. "The forest is full of danger just waiting to be pounced on and throttled," he murmured, looking right and left as he tried to identify the nearest threats that he might possibly need to get his fight on with.

"What are you on about?" Lennox asked flatly. He was beginning to not like this snake kid talking. Just... whenever it happened, nothing good came out. It was almost unnerving; being around such an unpredictable kid in an environment that was so opportune and peaceful. Not that Lennox couldn't handle when push came to shove. He just didn't see anyone that looked like they needed a fight right now.

Astir rolled his eyes. Amateur. Couldn't even properly identify a danger. "I'm just saying, you gotta look out! Looks are deceiving," he clarified. "I saw it happen to some strangers the other day. They were walking really peacefully and then - boom! An entire group of dangers mobbed them and fought them! I heard people saying it's becoming a problem - pokemon attacking in mobs. Anyone could be an enemy!" He whipped around and looked at the ninja, knowingly. Just reminding her that he was on to her games.

Astir the Dratini - 0 energy + 10 (oran berry) = 10 energy
-1 Oran Berry
-1 Heal Seed to cure poison.
Lennox the Venipede - 0 energy + 6 (pink gummi x2) = 6 energy
-2 Pink Gummis
-1 Chesto Berry

Alki put on a small, smile, wistfully looking at the ground as she took the map from the Venipede. It was nice to receive a compliment. She knew that she didn't deserve any, any at all. But for the time being, she could at least savor it, and pretend, if only for a moment, that she did. She mumbled a word of thanks, nodding at the Venipede before absorbing herself into the work of figuring out where they actually were going to go. So... if they were currently in Shadowhue, then that did mean that they had to head North! East. Northeast. But she didn't know where in Shadowhue they were, so then that meant that they had to... just go east, she supposed? It would be hard to miss mountains...

Alki listened attentively, the Dratini going on and on about danger and mobs and fighting. That was all hogwash, wasn't it? Surely, that couldn't happen? But if it did, well... She hadn't been lying! She really couldn't defend herself!

"H-How big was this, ah, mob?" She mumbled, shivering as she turned to look at the Venipede. She just wanted to reiterate: She had no clue, whatsoever, how to actually fight! She mouthed these words silently to the only competent Pokemon present. What was she doing in a mystery dungeon? Who knew. Why was she serving as a guide when she couldn't protect herself, let alone others? Again, who knew? But now that the possibility that she might be attacked presented itself, she considered the possibility of just teleporting away, if the need arose.

"M-M-Maybe we s-should go back to town, and, ah... f-find a guild member? I'm not... I mean I technically am one, b-but... n-not really, i-it's just... b-better safe than sorry? Heh..." Alki mumbled the words, completely unaware of the glare the dratini gave her. She really did believe this though. Better safe than sorry...

Lennox rolled his eyes. The little snake was really good at talking a big game, but that's all he was really doing. Talking. Lennox had no fears about running into fights in the dungeon, in fact, he welcomed it. But... all that bloated talk about mobs seemed to have really upset Alki. She mouthed to Lennox that she couldn't fight well, and Lennox could understand that. Not everyone had been brought up fighting like he had been, and he imagined they all had their own ways of getting around the dungeons safely. That was reasonable. Lennox himself wasn't exactly living in one constant scrap; he often got around by just leaving the local pokemon be. He shook his head when Alki suggested that they go find a different guild member. He wouldn't have that - he could tell she was perfectly capable.

"Nah, I don't think that's necessary," he countered. "The little guy is just blowin' smoke up our asses. I've been around this area a while now and I haven't seen a single thing that makes me concerned that there will be pokemon picking fights with us, so if we don't pick a fight with them it stands to reason that we'll be fine." He shot a glare over to the pasty snake, implying he should kindly shut his big gaping yap. "'Sides, it seems like you've been at this for a while. I trust your ability to get us through this forest. If I go back to the guild now I might get stuck with some chump who knows half of what you do."

Astir reared back in offense, dumbfounded. This stumpy bug was dismissing his well-intentioned advice??? How could these two be so silly?! Astir had all the qualification in the foresty world to make calls on the threat levels of this place!!! "Excuse you!! I know what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed, totally missing the whole "don't talk anymore" memo. "I have dedicated my entire existence to seeking out and defeating danger - I know what I'm talking about! I do research!! This whole place reeks of danger!" he continued, despite Lennox's dissatisfied look. "I do out and I search the world for danger - and I can assure you even the plants reek of him. And I've seen the mobs in-person while I'm out looking!" He slithered over to a nearby tree, where a Paras was resting on the cool moss. Astir thumped his tail against the tree a bit roughly and inhaled as he started to make his point, thoroughly startling the little bug. It scattered some spores and fled on the ground, which disturbed a nearby Shroomish. The Shroomish also panicked and scattered spores on Astir in defense before fleeing, shaking the web of a nearby Ariados as it ran. The Aridos twitched it's feelers in disapproval of it's post-meal nap being disturbed. It shot a poison stinger in warning at Astir, causing the snake to be exposed to three total types of poison.

Astir groaned and coughed. "...See?! It can happen any time!"

Lennox rolled his eyes.

"You might be in danger, but us normal folk who can manage to not disturb everyone in our path will be fine. Maybe you should try it so you don't put the rest of his in danger," the bug commented snidely.

Astir immediately perked up, despite his triple poison. "Did you say danger - is he here?!?" He began to look all around in search of his nemesis with renewed spirits. It was finally the time!! He would finally face his greatest adversary!!!!

Lennox balked. "I- in danger is what I said!!!" he exclaimed. He turned to Alki for confirmation. "I said 'in danger,' right??"