The Prince and the Pauper

Items:

The jigglypuff found herself back at the Marsh. Why she was there, she only had a vague idea. Something about the fate of the world? To be quite honest, she didn't really know too much. Sure, it sounded really important. It was big news, everyone talking about factions and conflict and apparently the fate of the world being decided also caused every day to be cloudy and drab. That was the worst part about all this. The fact that the sun wasn't really around anymore, just hidden behind clouds. One would think that it'd ensure that days weren't too hot, but it didn't really do much in the way of blocking heat. Just sunlight.

Alki kicked up a splash of mud, only serving to dirty herself. Whatever. She wasn't sure why she was here, in this dungeon. The last time she'd been here, she'd spent a lot of time dirty, cold, and afraid. When she'd finally found someone sentient in this forsaken place, it had been someone who had really seemed to enjoy fighting. And he was good at it too! But he lived in a breaking-down shack, and didn't know how to read and...

"Why the hell do you decide to live here?" She mumbled to herself, marching forward into the marshlands.

To save the world? Or something... It was quite unclear. It was better than being alone in her room, at any rate. Darcy seemed alright with her going to 'Rainfront' quite a bit. And if she was given the opportunity to leave so frequently, why not take it? It saved her from Guild work, anyways...

Adrol Drake had found himself in quite the need for a bit of rest. He had been venturing in the lands to the Northeast for quite some time, and the challenges he had faced there were particularly perilous. He had most likely only made it out by the good graces of his companion at the time, Ms. Opal the guild member, and he was eternally grateful that she had agreed to have been there with him. She was a guild member with many jobs and priorities, however; and he couldn't constantly visit her being a pokemon on the outside. He couldn't constantly be clinging to her, causing a ruckus, generally being ill-equipped to handle tense situations - as much as it had been a blessing to have a good pair of eyes with him.

For right now, Adrol would best spend his time resting up from his encounters in the mountains. He had heard tell of a particularly misty area that he would likely do well in, given it's cool sunless atmosphere and pale colors, which he would adapt quite well to considering his condition and coloring. The only problem... well, one of two major problems with going there and getting there was the dungeon that one had to traverse to even reach the place in question. Adrol's eyesight troubles made him ill-equipped to handle any sort of exploring alone. Certainly he would run into trouble getting to the misty expanse itself, but then... He did feel some fear that he would become lost in the muddled, colorless expanse. If that were to happen... well, he wouldn't be able to see well enough to give an accurate description of landmarks for any rescue request that he might attempt to send! The rescue team that came to help him was sure to get equally lost themselves, or just flat-out frustrated.

Still... Adrol had come to the place anyways. The prospect of a peaceful moment was just too tempting. Perhaps he'd just walk around in the non-descript blots around him for a while and just be with himself. Should he do this without ever finding his destination... well, it wouldn't be such a bad thing. He would still have provided him with the meditative experience he had been looking for.

It took him a moment to realize the one of the oncoming blots in his vision field was another pokemon by the wayside. He sputtered and panicked as he flailed to avoid crashing into the figure. "Uh- I- Oh no!!! I'm terribly sorry!!!" he exclaimed apologetically as he barely avoided a collision (and without much class, at that). He was thoroughly embarrassed, reaching out his hands in order to pacify or catch his unintentional round victim should he have caused anything to happen to them. "Oh, lords, my apologies... Please, if you can find it in you to excuse me, my vision is very poor. I missed you until I got close. Are you unharmed?!!" His gentile nature stuck out like a sore thumb.

Adrol the Snivy - 6 energy

Alki jumped as she heard loud apologies from someone right behind her , and said pokemon brushing past her, slinging some muddy marsh water onto her as he did his best to avoid a collision. She turned around, rather shaken, before smiling at the figure before her. A Snivy, and rather... pale indeed. She was bound to be upset, but she wondered if he was ok. She couldn't be mad at someone sick! Snivy were supposed to be green! Alki shivered - marsh water was cold , it seemed -, and then proceeded to bob up and down in answer to his question.

"Yep! I'm fine! She said. It was nice to find someone who, at least judging by their (admittedly complex) apology , was pretty pleasant! She did her best to sound happy, inflect a bit of her youthful enthusiasm into what had become her usual, fairly monotone voice.

"It's no worries!" She did her best to brush off the mud that had landed onto her body, but given her short, stubby arms, that was much easier said than done. She gave up, then continued. "Erm, w-well, if you don't mind me asking... w-why're you in a mystery dungeon if your eyesight is poor? It can be dangerous!" She meant for it to only be an expression of worry, but now that she thought a bit about that, it sounded rather... pushy? Know it all? She wasn't quite sure, and the jigglypuff's gaze lowered slightly in embarrassment. "S-Sorry, i-it's just, last time I was out here alone, things didn't go so  well for me. So... I mean..." Her eyes drifted over the Snivy, focusing on his color more than anything. It didn't look right "I-I mean, I just want you to be safe, y'know? It's dangerous out here!"

She readjusted the feather between her ear and curl, blushing as she thought over what she was gonna say next. It's not like she could offer much in the way of protection, but she owed the Snivy something after saying so many scary things!

"Err... W-We could go together, if you'd like? To... I mean, wherever you're going? Just so we're both safe!"

Oh, dear, he had gotten the Jigglypuff dirty... he felt just awful. How impolite of him. He really needed to work on paying more attention!! His impairment made him far more prone to subjecting others to these inconveniences when he wasn't aware enough. It was his responsibility to take active measures to counteract this, and he had been doing a poor job of it as of late!! She seemed to have herself taken care of so there wasn't much he could do in the way of fixing the situation, but he certainly planned on offering her more apologies. Or, he did, before she began to ask him questions about his purpose in the area. He certainly didn't want to dismiss her and act even more uncultured.

"Well, I still offer you my sincerest apologies," he quickly and solemnly added before continuing on and brightening up. "As for my purpose here, well, believe it or not I have quite the experience with mystery dungeons!! I can't keep out of them it seems," he chuckled lightheartedly. "In my homeland I went on quite the adventure with my colleagues that ran me through most of the dungeons in our country, believe it or not - and even in this land I still feel the urge to venture into them, I suppose. Both intentionally and unintentionally! I haven't settled anywhere yet, so my propensity for wandering has gotten me into a dungeon or two by accident~"

"I do mean to be here in this dungeon, however," Adrol continued. "I had heard this area was low on sunlight, which I thought would make a good refuge for me. I was hoping to relax, but I'm terribly weak to sunlight so even modestly sunny places won't do for me. I thought if I could reach this "Misty Mire" I've heard tell of, I would be able to blend in and rest while also remaining camouflaged." He smiled sheepishly after explaining himself, realizing how silly he sounded in retrospect.

The kind jigglypuff surprised him by suddenly offering to travel with him! Adrol was surprised by this, as he had usually gone out seeking guides for himself in order to get around. It wasn't common that someone volunteered their time to him on their own volition, especially not after a slip-up like the one he had exhibited!! Adrol was touched by the gesture, and smiled warmly. Who was he to refuse such a polite and generous offer?

"Well miss, if it's no burden to you then I would be happy to accept that offer!" he agreed happily. "I'm not much use in the way of combat as it stands so I may be a bit of an inconvenience to you... but I will certainly try my hardest! If nothing else, I can heal us while we stop to rest."

"May I ask for your name, if that's alright? Mine is Adrol Drake."

Ah yes I forgot: Fluer-de-Lis Cloak equipped xD

Alki continued to struggle to reach one patch of mud that had fallen in such an unfortunate spot. She couldn't reach it! She stared at her short, stubby arms angrily before giving it up. She was just gonna have mud on the back of her head for the time being, it seemed... her ears twitched in discomfort as she sighed, paying attention now to what the curiously colored grass type had to say. As it turned out, he had quite a lot to say! And in such a funny way, too... not many people talked like this! She didn't quite know what to call it, but this certainly wasn't anything like what Grassveilians spoke like! The girl smiled and nodded along with his laughter. He seemed quite nice!

"Where're you from, then?" She asked, sitting down on a nearby patch of semi-dry land. There wasn't anywhere around here that wasn't at least a bit wet, but this would do for now! It was quite rare she met someone from a different country! "I've never heard of another country! Hell, I barely know anything about this one!" This was certainly true. She'd only been to two of the big settlements that this place had to offer: Grassveil and Rainfront, and a few of the mystery dungeons, of course. She'd heard of Grima Outpost and the floating village in passing, but never anything about another country! The girl's curiousity was thoroughly piqued now, and she couldn't wait to hear more!

And the more he spoke, the more curious she became! This place was certainly low on Sunlight, but why did that matter? He was weak to... sunlight? [/color] Like, in the battling sense? Or... some other sense? "Is that why you're white?" She asked, quite suddenly, and much more blunt than she would've liked. She blushed at her sudden question, and did her best to take it back. "I-I mean... s-sorry, didn't mean to be so blunt, but... w-why're you so pale?"

She remained silent for the rest of his speech, perking up slightly as he accepted her offer. He mentioned something about healing, and while she certainly hoped it wouldn't be necessary, it certainly brought quite a bit of comfort to her, knowing that if things did get rather dangerous, she could at least get healed by him! She stood up, thinking that was the end of it, before he asked for her name.

Well, normally, she'd be more than happy to offer it! But she was going to be a thief! And from what she understood, something was gonna happen soon! She couldn't go around having everyone know her name! She couldn't be that public when she was going to be doing something like that?

"E-Erm, a-ah well, nice to meet you! Adrol... b-but the truth is, I... err... d-don't, uh, know?" She said, trailing off as she finished her lie. It sounded more like a question. How did someone forget their name? That... Oh, gosh, that was such a bad lie... the blush returned to her cheeks, as she waited in silence for his response.

My, she was certainly spunky. Adrol couldn't help but smile wider as they continued their dialogue. Perhaps it was simply the joy of meeting a new and friendly face that had him so chipper? It was certainly nice to hold a conversation for a while after a good long bout of being alone and confused. He could certainly relate to her curiosity; He had felt the same way upon arriving in this place after all! He had been completely blind (pun not intended, dear audience) to the civilizations beyond his own before this, as well. It was only natural to be curious when confronted with something new!

He didn't get the chance to relay this to her, though. Her inquiry about his hue deficiency caused him to reflexively begin to chuckle, and then laugh just a bit. It had been so genuine, the way she had asked it!! "No, no- I apologize for the confusion," he grinned, collecting himself quickly. "I also apologize for laughing suddenly! Something about the way you asked that question just struck me as particularly humorous. There's no reason - I mean, it's a reasonable question. I think it was simply the tone of your voice when you asked." He couldn't help beaming after that; however he did feel bad about having laughed so suddenly in her face. He hoped he wouldn't make her too terribly upset.

"My coloring isn't related to my nationality, you could just call it a bit of a mutation I suppose! My parents were pigmented normally. I just happened to inherit this from a distant relative, if records are to be believed." He looked off to the East, staring long into the fog without focusing his eyes much. "There is a land unreachable from this one that lies in the west - I came from a kingdom there. It is not unlike this one, though the settlement sizes are slightly bigger than what I've experienced here."

He turned back to the Jigglypuff with a look of concern as she explained that she couldn't introduce herself. "Oh dear; I'm so sorry. Did something happen? Is it amnesia?"

Adrol the Snivy - 6 energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 6 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

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Alki blushed softly as he began to laugh. Had she said something funny? Her ears twitched nervously as she laughed along with him. She lifted a hand up to her mouth, unsure, yet, if it was a benign laugh, or a critical one. However, as an apology soon followed, there was no doubt left in Alki's mind. This Snivy really was nice! She nodded profusely, happily accepting the apology considering how certain she had been, whether conscious or unconscious, that something bad was going to follow his laughter. The girl lowered  her hands to her side and laughing, then promptly yucking in disgust. The Marshwater felt so weird! And then, of course, she resumed her laughter, softer this time.

"O-Oh! Don't worry about it, heh..." She said quietly, looking up at the Snivy. "T-The confusion or the laughter! I-It's probably not your fault, on the first thing. I'm... well..."  Alki hesitated. She knew Darcy didn't like it when she said what she wanted to. Well, this specific thing, anyways. "Uh..." The words and laughter died on her tongue.  Kind of dumb, is what she wanted to say, but she stammered out some words to replace it. "Y-Y'know... blunt."

She cleared her throat, wanting to move on with the topic as soon as possible. She rushed out her next words, eager to shut out any form of questioning that might have come from the snivy. She leaned forward, resting her arms on top of her feet as she spoke. "B-Bigger?" She half stated, half asked. It was hard to imagine settlements bigger than Grassveil! She'd gotten lost so many times in the town, and she'd grown up in... well, all she'd known for more than a few years was a single house, out in the middle of Pecha forest. Aside from the occasional encounter with an explorer or a citizen when she'd tried to run away from her parents but never quite followed through with it, she never even spoke of Grassveil town, and going to it? It'd been so... overwhelming. "S-So... what was it like then? T-The city you come from? I got lost when I... erm. When I first visited Grassveil. And the second time, and third, honestly!" She said, chuckling softly. "I-I mean, I can't imagine how lost I'd be in a place any bigger! Are you sure it's unreachable? I'd love to visit!" Alki grinned, hoping that he'd take back his earlier statement, knowing that it was highly unlikely. His final question, however, caught her off guard. Amnesia? No... what was she supposed to say? She didn't know why she'd lied in the first place. Her ears drooped and she averted her gaze. Should she tell the truth? Maybe she shouldn't...

"N-No..." She said, almost impulsively. She didn't want to be like that! This person had just poured out their entire story for her! She could... well, no. She couldn't really tell her whole story. But... "I-It's Alki." She mumbled. "I-I'm sorry I lied. T-The truth is... I mean. I just don't like talking about myself. There's... n-nothing really interesting, and... I dunno. I just don't. Y'know?" She mumbled, pulling down on one of her ears, nervously. "I-I'm sorry I lied. It was just the heat of the moment..." She said. Hopefully, she sounded as genuine as she felt.

"Unfortunately, I'm quite sure," Adrol chuckled apologetically. "I remember the tales I was told while I was in court; a great... rift of some kind separates our nations from others outside. ...The way you speak of it does make it sound rather fantastic though, doesn't it? I hadn't thought much of it since I conducted daily life there, but I suppose it was rather grand!" A certain nostalgic joy painted his face as he thought back to the city, however he found these moments became shorter and shorter with the passing of time. Those memories were slowly becoming more of his past, he found. He couldn't constantly live in the thoughts of what had been, when the present demanded his full attention. The thought unsettled him a bit. He could feel a much heavier reality trying to sink in, and it made the pit of his stomach turn slightly.

There was no time to worry about that right now, though. Adrol was more than happy to turn his attention from those swirling uneasy feelings and back to the Jigglypuff as she started to explain more about her strange choice of response. He listened quietly and calmly to the Jigglypuff as she struggled to tell him all the things that she wanted to say. Had it not been for his hearing being fantastic, he might have missed her introduction. Very quietly though, very faintly, he heard the name "Alki" get carried out of her mouth on her breath. His heart went out to her; whatever was making her act this way was certainly a heavy burden on her. He knew what it was like to carry so many heavy thoughts while having no reasonable outlet to share them.

".......It's alright, I understand," Adrol assured her with a gentle tone. "In the future I would honestly prefer if you just be forthright with me when you feel uncomfortable. I completely understand! There are some things that just aren't comfortable introduction topics." He couldn't help but acknowledge the underlying feeling that perhaps there was a reason that she was uncomfortable introducing herself - a reason that could be either benign or nefarious. He was of the opinion that everyone deserved a chance, though. She deserved a chance to show him who she was - or who she was striving to be.

That, and they were complete strangers at this juncture. Not everyone was quite as comfortably loose-lipped as he was.

"We did just become acquainted, after all. I wouldn't expect an autobiography out of you so soon." He chuckled at the irony of the situation. "Perhaps I was a bit too forward myself - I'm sorry if I made you feel obligated to share as much as I did. There's no such expectation. I just... well, my mind sometimes carries me away. I have a little rambling problem."

"Alright..." Alki mumbled, slightly embarrassed at the results of her impulsive lie. It had been a mistake, to lie about that. Even now, with hindsight, she couldn't come up with any sort of good excuse for her to try and hide her name from this Snivy. He was curiously colored, and spoke a tad fancy, but he seemed very, very nice! Considering he was forgiving her. She'd had both eyes shut tightly, expecting an angry remark, or at least a bit of a scolding. But after a bit of a long pause, he told her that he understood. Then he said something about a forthright? she didn't know what that was... But she understood his first remark. And that was all she needed to know, for now. "Alright, ok..." She said, as if reassuring herself. She pulled at her ear again, eyeing the Snivy nervously, wondering if she should be honest with him about some doubts she was having.

Something, however, did come afterwards. Some... Well. This one she didn't quite understand as well. She blinked, trying to make sense of the Snivy's speech. Was... she just dumb? Well, she was, but usually she didn't have trouble understanding other people! She bit her lip, weighing her options before deciding that being honest was her only option here.

"Err, ah... w-well, I don't... know. Some of those words, actually. She said, a bit more confident after his earlier showing of kindness. "Like, erm... A-Acquainted. And, uh, Auto-Biography." She began, perhaps not pronouncing these words altogether correctly. She did her best though! And she would've liked to think she was getting the point across. "O-Or r-rambling. And, erm.... I know what forward means! Just... i-it doesn't really make sense, how you, err... said it. O-Or forthright... or court..." Alki mumbled, her voice getting quieter as her list went on. There were more words that she didn't fully grasp, but honestly? She felt that was quite enough... She felt dumb enough with those already, thank you very much.

Maybe it was the accent? Maybe she could blame the accent...

"I-I understood everything else though! I'm not that dumb, I p-promise..." She said, boucing her feet together nervously as she waited for an explanation from the Snivy. As if to demonstrate her knowledge of what it was he'd said, she attempted to re-enter the old conversation.

"A-Ah, I... I-I mean. Well... t-the court you mentioned, actually. Maybe... I-I guess it's your home?" She said, half guessing. It seemed right though... the way he used it, and the context... It was as good a guess as she could get, anyways. She hoped she was right. "I-If that's the case... t-then... s-sorry. If it's unreachable, really, that... that must be a bit shitty..." She said earnestly. Perhaps the foul language would bother him? That thought didn't cross her mind at all. By now, it was a part of her regular vocabulary (when she wasn't around Darcy, anyways,) and so, she didn't notice it. "I-If... erm. I dunno. Well. Our room has some space, for you, if you need a place, I guess... At the guild. Mine and my sister's room, I mean..." She said, offering nervously.

It occurred to her that they should've been going towards the misty mire by now! She'd been here once or twice before, but not enough to have any sort of layout of the land. She extracted a map from the bag she'd been carrying, and set it down on the patch of semi-dry land. "E-Erm, anyways... h-here's a map, f-for this dungeon I got from the guild, and... w-well..." She pointed in a direction that seemed somewhat right. "W-We can walk and talk, if you'd like? W-We should get going soon, o-or it might get dark..."

(Alki has 9 Energy)

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Adrol blinked. He had never thought before about how the finer restrictions of mannerist speech were superfluous in casual conversation outside the actual castle grounds... or, to put it more bluntly, he didn't need to pad his wording with normal people. He had always accepted that there were others that did not use the gentile vocabulary as he did outside his normal stomping grounds, but never once had it occurred to him that he was now one of their collective. The people of the kingdom typically didn't call him out like this - they too had more than likely just accepted the strangely intricate "noble speech" as the norm. Now he felt just terrible. His face began to flush with embarrassment.

"Oh... n-no, you certainly aren't dumb! I'm so sorry," Adrol exclaimed apologetically. "It has nothing to do with you... I was taught from a very young age to speak with an... 'excessively colorful' vocabulary. It was required of my entire family. It's got nothing to do with you, I promise; and I will try to cut back on my phrasing!! Ah - to clear things up, I just meant that I talk a lot without thinking... and yes, the court certainly was a part of my home. It was the political capital."

He considered, for a moment, her following statement. "Mmmm... it is rather offputting- ah, it does make me a little sad. I've learned to grow with things as they come, though. I'm quite used to living and wandering at this point!" he chuckled. In truth, his homesickness hadn't been going away with time - in fact, it had slowly expanding and changing. It was not unbearable, nor was it enough to change his mind about embracing the life he had chosen. He had been feeling bluer when he reminisced in the past few days, however. Alki's offer made him smile agin. "My, that's exceeding- very kind of you to offer, Miss Alki. I couldn't impose on you, though! Living outdoors is quite nice, and I'm sure one room is already just enough space for two people." He hoped his refusal didn't offend her. It did get him thinking, though... a home base wasn't a terrible idea. Perhaps after this he should begin considering where he should take up permanent residence...?

Oh. Oh, yes; they hadn't made much progress, had they? Once again, he could feel color rising in his face. "Ah, yes! I completely lost track of time," he quickly agreed as he accepted the map. He had to hold it very close to see the details, but eventually he was fairly certain that he picked up on the path that Alki was suggesting. "Thank you for showing me that; I'll let you hang on to it though. I'll have us going 'round in circles if I try to use it." He returned her map with a smile and a nod - only to be suddenly startled by a sound.

"Eeep!!" He fell backwards onto his butt, his body suddenly beginning to emit a strange magical aura seemingly instinctively. It faded as he scanned the area frantically, only to be met with the confused gaze of a lotad skittering past him casually. It took off faster in the direction it had been going, and Adrol released a tense sigh as he righted himself. "My apologies. I recently had a frightful encounter in the mountains, and I'm not well-versed in any combat that isn't 'showy' or 'artsy'."

"....Did you mention earlier that you had been to this dungeon in the past? Could you tell me, is it terribly dangerous?" the snivy asked as he began walking alongside Alki.

[Energy 3]

Alki saw off in the distance a Surskit, scuttling off to who knows where. She watched it disappear off into the distance as she listened to the Snivy's apology. It wasn't really his fault... She should be able to understand anyone! It wasn't his fault that he used smart-people words! But Alki didn't find it necessary to continue to push the subject, and so she simply nodded. "I-It's ok... I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it anyways. That's my bad..." She cocked her head slightly as he mentinoed his hometown as a Political capital. She'd... well, honestly, she wasn't quite sure what that meant either. But... she'd heard her sister talk about Politics once or twice. Or at least mention the word...

"W-What does Political mean?" She asked, feeling rather silly. After all, he wasn't a walking dictionary for her to consult! If she could read well, anyways... She couldn't really consult dictionaries... "L-Last one, I promise." Alki added hastily, looking up at the Snivy.

She listened as he answered her question, about his home. He thought she was kind! Well, that was nice of him to say, but honestly? She just wanted to offer him the same opportunity that she had been offered as an Igglybuff... Alki jumped from patch of dry land to dry land before finally coming up with a suitable answer for what the strangely colored Snivy had said. "Y-Yeah! Don't mention it... If you ever change your mind though... I-It's not a problem, and it'd be nice to have another friendly face..." She mumbled. It certainly would be... Sometimes, she felt a tad out of place there, but it wouldn't do to tell Darcy she wanted to leave...

She shook her head, trying to jolt herself out of depressing thoughts. She took back the map with a smile and a nod. "I'll try to steer us in the right direction then!" She said excitedly, happy at his display of trust towards her. It was nice that he had so much faith in her abilities already. He had more faith in her than she had faith in her! Now wasn't that something?

She had something she wanted to say. She really did. But whatever it was was quickly forgotten as she let out a loud cry, stumbling backwards away from the sudden noise that came from the Snivy. She was about to do... something. Even she wasn't quite sure if she was getting ready to fight, or ready to flee. But either way, she didn't get the chance to do either. She fell into a nearby patch of marsh-water, and sputtering, tried to rub the water out of her eyes as quick as possible to see what was going on. And when she finally could, she saw... nothing?  He'd just... fallen backwards.

"W-What's going on?" She cried out, fearful. Were they fighting someone? Maybe they should just run... But the Snivy soon cleared up what was going on. Nothing... but he was just as scared as she was, it seemed...

"O-Oh... S-Sorry. I'm a bit on edge, I... Well. I had a pretty frightful encounter recently too... I promise I can try and defend us in a pinch though! I'm sure you're better than you say..." She said. Her own frightful encounter had been none too pleasant, featuring an angry Charizard in a marketplace, and quite a bit of collateral damage... Not to mention damage to one of her limbs. It hadn't been pleasant, and she didn't like to think about it. She certainly hoped what she said about the Snivy was true. For both their sakes...

She cleared her throat, and tried to wipe the excess muck off of her round body. "E-Erm, anywho... Y-Yeah, I've been here a bit. It's... I mean. I don't really like to go looking for fights. It's pretty safe if you do your best to avoid Pokemon. There's a few who are friendly, but... Well. It's a mixed bag." She'd only been here once, and she'd been lucky she'd run into Goro the first time. If she hadn't, she would've gotten lost, and from there... Who knows? But she didn't have to mention that. That'd just serve to make them both nervous. [color=#ffccff] "I-I'm sure we'll be fine though! We just have to be... c-careful."

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

"Oh, ah... political just identifies something associated with politics. The word politics itself refers to how a place is run by the people in charge of it; for example, debates over the rules of a place and other things in that vein," Adrol explained after he recovered himself from the ground and began walking again. He was being very careful to explain everything and anything he thought might need more elaboration. "I hope that helped to clear it up... but don't feel like you're a burden! Feel free to inquire about anything I say that intrigues you; I'll be happy to provide more details! There's never anything wrong with having more things to talk about, if you ask me." He smiled.

Alki's assurance did make Adrol feel a bit better about the situation, and his nerves from the earlier spook settled rather quickly. She made a fairly good point after all; most pokemon wouldn't confront someone who hadn't confronted them. The only issue with that was that sometimes random chance wasn't in one's favor... Adrol had gotten plenty of experiences of that during his preceding visit to the mountains. It seemed as though he had walked into a battle more times than he could count back there.

But this place wasn't an enclosed set of ruins, it was a wide-open marsh. It was different; there were far more options for avoiding pokemon - assuming you could see them coming. Which Alki could, so they already had some advantages on the situation he had encountered in the mountains. He knew he couldn't rely on Alki for everything, though. He didn't want to burden her too terribly, as no one could be expected to function effectively under that kind of pressure. The sounds around him were... dampened considerably, but he could still hear well enough to pick out a couple of surskits skittering over the water just beyond him. He just needed to be more focused, this time. He could give Alki a first warning that she might not get otherwise If he worked at it!!

"I'm nothing special when it comes to offense, really," Adrol explained sheepishly while the thoughts turned in the back of his mind. "I only really specialize in one move, but it's powerful enough to compensate, I believe. Truly, I do better with defense. I have a healing move that heals over a large radius - which means unfortunately it also heals potential adversaries, but I suppose that's well and good in it's own right. I also have a move that reflects some moves if timed right. I was always a bit behind my peers in terms of power and level, so it worked out well for me." He chuckled sheepishly. "I'm much like you, to be honest: I don't go out looking to strike up an encounter with anyone, either. I don't really train in the traditional sense, so I don't get all that powerful quite as quickly."

He didn't feel that any of this would cause Alki to think less of him, but he wouldn't have blamed her if she did. It was his choices that had brought him to this point, and he could accept that they weren't always the choices that others would make.

"What about yourself? It seems you find other ways to build up experience, pehaps you might have some suggestions or tips for me?"

Alki nodded at his explanation of the word. That made sense, and it was easy to understand! Even for someone as hard-headed as her! She smiled and nodded more vigorously. "T-That makes sense! So Politics is just like... people trying to decide on rules, then? Basically? For like, towns and stuff?" She said, feeling awfully proud of herself. That wasn't so difficult to understand! What she didn't understand was why people had to make so many complicated words for such simple things! It was kinda pointless, wasn't it? They didn't need to make things more complicated. Words were already complicated enough, as her attempts to learn to read had taught her... All the letters were mushed together! It wasn't any fun...

Alki listened patiently, matching the Snivy's pace as they walked through the marshland. Her eyes scanned the horizon. She had responsibility now! To keep them both safe, so she better take that seriously! This Snivy had a funny accent, and he came from such a far-away place... Alki wanted to learn more about him! Or at least hang around him a bit more... He was so nice! And she really wanted to impress him... Her ears perked as she heard a noise from behind them, but thankfully, when she turned to look, it didn't seem to be anything scary. Just another Surskit, spooked by the duo and walking off in the opposite direction they were going. Things seemed to be progressing just smoothly! Alki put away the map in the bag she was holding, before hanging the bag off of her ear, such that it rested on her side. It looked silly, but it was convenient... She blushed, hoping she didn't look quite so ridiculous as she felt. But she didn't want to carry the bag in her hand across the whole marshland!

Alki listened to the Snivy talk about his moveset. He seemed quite a bit like her! And she liked that... She supposed that one might consider her Flamethrower to be a powerful technique, but Alki never quite felt that way. Not when she could compare herself to a proper fire type, but... It was whatever. The rest of her moves weren't truly geared towards any kind of fighting, offensive or defensive, but more so evasiveness... At least, that was her plan! It was quite useful as a thief, (At least she hoped so. She hadn't really gotten to test them out all too much yet), but for an actual fight? She'd have to figure something out... She couldn't just run away when she had to defend someone!

But first thing's first: Adrol!

"Ah, w-well, I'm sure that move you know will come in handy! I'm not exactly the... strongest Pokemon around... Physically, I mean. I mean... Y-You could probably have guessed that, b-but..." She trailed off, blinking. "H-Healing moves are nice! I used to know one too, b-but, I traded it, f-for something else, I think is really cool... I wasn't any good at using it anyways..." She said, stating it as a matter of fact.

Alki jumped at the last question about herself. Was he asking about her moveset? And... advice? She had no clue what advice she was supposed to give! She had no clue what she was doing half the time! Not like things ever worked for her... Things always blew up in her face. Hopefully not this time. Although things probably would.

"Ahahaha..." She laughed, nervous at the sudden request for tips. "W-Well... Uh. Tips. See, you gotta... e-erm... W-Well, I'm not... sure. Maybe..." Alki smiled as an idea popped into her head. "W-We've got a bit of time! M-Maybe we could show each other our moveset? A-And then keep going, o-of course, b-but... It'd be nice to know what we're both capable of! And then we could maybe give each other tips!" She said, feeling rather proud of the idea. A demonstration would be nice, and while she wouldn't insist on it if he didn't agree on it, she thought it sounded like a rather nice idea... It'd be quite fun, too! They'd been walking for a while anyways... "I might be wrong, but from the sounds of it, you must have had some teachers who taught you stuff, right? A-At the courts? Y-You speak really fancy, and you said your family had t-to speak fancy, a-and, w-well... courts sounds like a fancy word for home, so... I'm just guessing, m-maybe you had... I-I dunno what that fancy word for teachers is..."  She said, punctuating her rambling with a laugh. "Err... Sorry to go on. I-I just... w-well. I dunno. The idea popped into my head. Ignore that, a-all I mean to say is... m-maybe we can help each other, i-if we demonstrate?"

Alki's suggestion made a lot of sense to Adrol. What good would all of this preparation be if the two of them didn't know how to coordinate moving forward? It was more than sensible to work this kind of ambiguity out now while they weren't in trouble, so that if they did get into a bind they would have at least some semblance of a plan! Yes, Adrol liked this idea. He could tell that Alki was a very experienced explorer; she really seemed to know her stuff when it came to traversing dungeons!!

Oh, but he couldn't forget to actually tell her this. "Ah, yes! I completely agree. I think that would be the sensible - smart thing to do. We did just meet, after all! I'm sure it would help us to coordinate if we work out our strategies ahead of time!" He beamed at her. "Well, if you don't mind I would be happy to start. I was taught that the polite thing to do is introduce yourself first, after all..."

Of course, he said this as if he had a plan... but where was he to actually begin?? He paused a moment to consider this. Perhaps he should start from the weakest and least complex of his arsenal, and then slowly work his way up from there. It was enough of a start for him to work with!

"Well, I suppose i'll start with my weakest technique." Adrol closed one eye and stared ard at Alki, his pupil shrinking and intensifying in a threatening manner. "It is a simple leer ability; it works with one eye or two. I'm sure you've seen it used more impressively in your many travels! It is meant to deter enemies and undermine them... but I have trouble making it work. Perhaps because I am not very intimidating." He blinked until his eye returned to normal. "And my healing move... well, as mentioned it heals over a distance. It causes a part of the terrain to be imbued with a healing aura and transformed for as long as i remain in that area and maintain it - like so." He spread his arms and closed his eyes, feeling a portion of that innate energy flow down through his feet and into the ground. For a moment, magical glowing grass appeared around them, but it dissipated as soon as Adrol opens his eyes. "It will heal friend or foe, so I tend to save it for after an encounter, or as a last resort. I have another innate ability - this shield. It's hard to trigger it while not in combat or being attacked, but it reflects any attacks that are energy based - so flames and such. I cannot reflet things like punches and bites that are imbued with energy, however. Finally... I only really have one attack." He held out his hands once more and summoned a small orb of bright green energy from the environment and held it a moment before immediately dismissing it back into the air. "It's a concentrated orb of energy drawn from the environment - obviously, it works best in cleaner and livelier environments. It should be fine here."

Adrol sighed. He felt much better, getting that out of the way. He hope it wasn't too underwhelming to Alki after all was said and done. He took a step back and smiled. "...And that's what I have to work with! If you have questions I'll be happy to answer them, but by all means feel free to start in on yours if you don't!!!"

Alki was quite happy that Adrol liked her idea! Rambling and all, too. He was so kind, and so worried about being polite and all that Alki even felt a tad bit guilty. So if he introduced himself first, and she'd failed to do that, and going first was the polite thing to do, did that mean that she'd failed at being polite? That hadn't been her intention at all, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of her lack of etiquette either. She'd just have to be faster next time! Who knew being polite was a competition... but now she couldn't do anything about it, she supposed. She tilted her head and blinked as she waited for the Snivy to begin.

She wished he hadn't. Or given her a warning of some kind, or... something! She looked up at him and saw him staring down at her, in what seemed like a rather or frustrated way. His eyes narrowed and his pupil dilated and shrank as it stared at her in fury and she felt very, very, very uncomfortable. Alki tapped the tips of her hands together and fidgeted in place, waiting for this particular demonstration to end. She nodded at what he had to say, doing her best to try and seem calm as he demonstrated the Leer. He was very, very wrong about her, she had never seen a move like this before in her life! Why did everybody seem to think she was a good explorer...? And he had the wrong idea about himself too! He was plenty intimidating...

When he stopped, Alki sighed a breath of relief as she relaxed her muscles. She hadn't even realized she'd tensed up... and he demonstrated a healing move that was much, much, much more impressive than the one she'd used to have! There was a bunch of grass growing around them for a brief period of time, and the jigglypuff's already large eyes widened even more and her mouth dropped open in wonder as she took in her surroundings. She'd never seen anything like this before either, and it was so much more pleasant than the leer!

"Oh gosh, this is so cool!" She exclaimed, before the grass disappeared. That was a bit sad. She'd kinda hoped it would stay around... And he showed off a shield as well! That was quite cool, and Alki wondered how strong it was. It reflected energy based attacks, like her flamethrower! That'd be good to keep in mind, that'd definitely help them both, potentially... And then for his attack! An... orb? She listened curiously to his explanation. So it worked better based on how clean the environment was? That was... quite strange, really. Alki couldn't say she'd ever seen any of his moves before... "T-Those were all so cool!" She grinned widely at the Snivy, waiting for whatever came next. And nothing was happening... Still nothing... "OH!" She said, feeling very stupid, very suddenly. She began to blush as she looked at the Snivy. It was her turn to demonstrate. Right...

"S-Sorry, I-I forgot it's my turn..." She explained, before running through her moves in a bit of a panic. What came first? She hadn't put any thought into this whatsoever, what if he didn't like her moves? What if they weren't as impressive as his? She couldn't heal! And she definitely wasn't anywhere near as scary as that first move he'd shown off...

"A-Ah, w-well, I'm... I-I can teleport!" She said, stating the first move that popped into her mind. She demonstrated by teleporting from one patch of dry land to another one a few meters away. "S-So, um, there's that, a-and..." Oh! Right, Copycat, before she forgot what his last move looked like. Her eyes shone even brighter for a second as she focused on what his last move had looked like. The way he held out his hands and what the green orb looked like, how large it was and what color. She held it out proudly, showing it off to him. "I-I can copy you! Or... I-I mean. I can copy any move I see, b-but... o-only for a bit. I forget it eventually, it's not like I remember it for too long... A-Although... I don't know if that's a problem with the move or a problem with me..." She bit her lip, scolding herself mentally. She didn't need to include that last part... "U-Um... I know flamethrower..." Alki said, blinking before looking around for somewhere to direct her flames. In the water would do, right? But... what if there was a Pokemon there? She didn't want to hurt someone on accident... She pointed it up towards the sky, making sure that there wasn't any pokemon flying about, before she leaned forward, and blew fire up into the air. It wasn't very strong, at least, not compared to an actual fire type's, but... it was something! What was left, what was left... Oh!

"I can disable the last move you used! I won't do it, b-because I dunno how... how long it lasts, exactly. I've never timed it..." More accurately, she'd never really used it in a fight, and if it lasted an awful long time, then she didn't want to set the Snivy back in an actual fight... they were both already so small! It wouldn't do to disable his only attack... "A-And lastly, I've got a hidden power!" She said, leaning back and placing a hand on her own shadow. She'd really practiced with this move now, and while it might not be the strongest thing as an attack, it was quite versatile! And she really enjoyed using it... "I-I got dark type, when I used the TM, s-so... I can... erm, kinda control shadows? It's... hard, and I can't control, like, huge ones yet, but... I can use it as an attack, or just move the shadows visibly." She held her shadow in her hand, and it seemed vaguely like a whip in the pink puffball's hand. "I-It's hard to keep around for long, though, and I can't use it too soon after a shadow disappears. I still need to work on it, but... I-I guess that's the gist of it!" Her demonstration ended, she sat back on the ground, more tired than she'd expected herself to be. "B-But... Um. Yeah. That's it for me. I hope it was quite alright... Her own demonstration hadn't been anywhere near as impressive or as graceful as the Snivy's. She hoped he still found her moves at least somewhat decent... She was kinda proud of them.

Oh... she was forgetting one. Thief. It was... should she really show that off? Her mouth twisted into a frown as she looked at the ground. She probably shouldn't... he was smart. What if he figured her secret out? She didn't want him to hate her, he seemed awfully nice... No, she wouldn't. But he'd asked her to be forthright... and honesty counted for something, right? She'd tell him... she kicked at the ground, her frown deepening even more as all the possibilities of what might happen occurred to her. She didn't like a lot of them... "A-And, um... I-I... Uh. I know thief, too..." She mumbled, offering no further explanation as to what that last move was.