Hot Dogs and Frogs

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Goro wasn't entirely sure if this trip was turning out to be a success or not.

On one hand, he had seen a lot of interesting sights and battled pokemon he'd never even heard of. He was learning how to fight in new ways, using his head for the first time, and gaining valuable experience in coping with his new fist injury. On the other hand, every time he called it quits, the croagunk ended up getting terribly lost and ending up someplace entirely new - on accident. At this point, he just wanted to go home! He was tired, sore, kinda hungry, and long since finished with his little 'training trip.'

"The dewgong said go south 'til I find Raintfront..." he muttered to himself, wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead. "That's a volcano. That's like the total opposite of Rainfront."

The thug had found himself approaching an impressively sized gorge of some sorts, kind of like Venen Gulch. Except instead of the air being coated with poisonous mist, it was just hot. Goro's breathing was ragged and he moved sluggishly, having somehow ended up hopelessly lost in the eastern desert. Specifically, the Fiery Chasm - he hadn't found himself at the lip of the crater, trudging along about fifty feet away from it. His gaze was raised high, staring up at the massive volcano in front of him. It was his first time seeing one. Despite the absolutely awful location, he found himself kind of enamored.

33 - 25 (entry) = 8 energy

Still engrossed in his own problems, Goro didn't notice the pokemon running at them until Clovis himself had reacted. The croagunk snapped out of his reverie, his good hand curling into a fist around his bindle. His first instinct, upon recognizing the approaching fire-types, was to stomp his foot down hard into the earth and set off an Earthquake. But he stopped himself mid-motion, remembering the presence of Clovis. There was no telling how he would react to such a strong move; he'd play things by ear, for now. Maybe his old pal would want to resolve this coming conflict without fighting...   

The piplup merely struck a pose and called out to the band of fire-types, and the absurdity of it tickled a memory of Goro's. Clovis had done the same thing to a Whiscash, he could remember. A big stupid smile spread out on his face at the reminder, and he snorted in amusement. To each their own, he figured.

He merely settled for rolling his shoulders and studying the approaching pokemon. He recognized one of them; it was a very, very familiar looking growlithe. A split-second later and he made the connection - that looked like Opal, the guild member that he'd played with up north. Goro was torn between excitement and dismay at the realization. On one hand, the idea that she recruited some allies to come to fight him with was incredibly thrilling. On the other, Opal had crap timing. Clovis' presence kind of soured the reunion; it was a jerk move to involve the piplup in his battles.

Well, he'd already kind of made the first move. Goro merely stood to the side, shifting his bindle to the other hand so his good fist would be ready to lash out, just in case any of them weren't taken under Clovis' little attract move.

The trio laughed merrily as they slid down toward their target. That foolish frog wasn't even going to see them coming! Opal was going to make sure that no items were stolen, for she was a law-abiding citizen, but scattering the contents of Goro's bag sounded hilarious and should knock him down a peg or two. It was full tilt ahead for the fiery pup as she led the charge.

However, the little blue penguin did something unexpected. Opal skidded to a halt at his flirtatious display. She had initially been focused on Goro, but the growlithe found herself instead looking at his companion. Why on earth would this be the reaction they showed to a bunch of potentially hostile strangers rushing them? The pup stared, confused but also a little intrigued.

Fred the fennekin and Spike the cyndaquil slowed down and stopped at Opal's side. Being males, neither of them were affected by the use of Attract, and they were unaware that the move had been used.

"Hey, what's up?" Fred inquired, "Aren't we going to spill the frog's stuff? Let's go!"

"Not much point now. We've lost the element of surprise," Spike chipped in. The two tagalongs looked disappointed that they had been denied their fun.

[Energy before rolling: 22]

Frebedor carried out 10 launched of one Fiery Chasm :

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Ah, ah, alright. They'd stopped. Clovis wasn't sure if this was the work of the move or not, but they'd stopped. All three of them. And that was good. In particular, it seemed that the growlithe was the most focused on him out of the group, so perhaps that was the one he had affected.

"Hey, what's up? Aren't we going to spill the frog's stuff? Let's go!"

"What?"

"Not much point now. We've lost the element of surprise,"

"Well, I should hope none of you were planning any mischief." The piplup scolded. Rotten bunch, those three must have been. But now they were foiled. Or something. This heat was frying his brain. With an exasperated look, Clovis turned to face Goro once again, and shook his head once slowly. Turning back to the trio of fire-types, he stood still, shifting his gaze between the three of them.

They didn't want anything else, did they?

+1 energy (new page)

The notion that someone would stop an assault just because they lost the 'element of surprise' struck Goro as cowardly. His upper lip curled in distaste and the croagunk's grip on his bindle tightened even further. They were lucky Clovis was here, especially since he caught Opal with his attract move. Otherwise, these punks would have just picked a fight with the wrong croagunk.

As things were, he stayed his hand, taking Clovis' single head shake as a silent indication for him not to do anything stupid. Maybe he'd decided that this riffraff wasn't worth the trouble. Goro himself had no standards when it came to his enemies, but he kind of liked that sentiment. Still, it felt weird, having a bunch of pokemon run up on him and then suddenly quit. He felt impulsively agitated, impatient, and reckless—he wanted to punish these kids.

"Ya bet your ass they were. They're just too big o' cowards to go through with it," Goro said with a smarmy smirk on his face, his low tone deliberately provocative. "Must be short for brains, too, if they're dumb enough to follow a mutt like this around."

He gestured at Opal with his chin briefly, hoping to provoke the two fire-types into striking first. That way, Clovis couldn't be mad if this broke out into a brawl, and he could get away with hurting them. He was also curious as to their relationship with the growlithe—he knew that she was a guild member. Did that make these two her teammates, or were these just friends of hers? How they responded would either satisfy his urge for conflict, or it would shed some light as to who they were to his littlest rival.

[Energy: lolnope]

"Well, that's not very nice of you to call us cowards," Spike replied in a tone indicating he wasn't all that phased by Goro's rudeness, It's just not as fun if the one you were going to prank knows it's coming. That kind of defeats the point of the prank, doesn't it?"

"Yeah!" Fred cried out, "Opal's right about you! You're mean! No wonder she doesn't like you! We don't, either!"

"You're the dumb one if you think they'd follow someone like you over someone like me. I'm not sure if you know this, but nice pokemon tend to be more popular than rude wastes of space."

Opal growled her response, clearly the most annoyed of the three, and her lips drew back in a snarl. She'd had more than enough of being around Goro when they were in that frozen forest, and she absolutely was not willing to put up with his foul manners any longer. There was one thing she was curious about, though.

"What are you even doing here?"

Spike remembered there was another pokemon on the scene, and took a moment to turn to the piplup and address him. "I apologise for upsetting you. I really can't say the same for the frog, though. He's insufferable, if you don't mind my saying."

Cowards, huh? That sounded about right. They had very nearly started something, prank or otherwise, but had then stopped themselves, without even giving Goro, the one threatened with a bag-spilling, the courtesy of an apology. The mutt part seemed a bit off. Of the three fire-types, the growlithe seemed to look the most respectable. There must have been some history there. Yikes.

"Well, that's not very nice of you to call us cowards. It's just not as fun if the one you were going to prank knows it's coming. That kind of defeats the point of the prank, doesn't it?""

W-what? This 'mon had very nearly charged the pair of them, and would have gone through with it had the circumstances been right, but thought that Goro was the mean one? All the frog had done was use his words!

"Yeah! Opal's right about you! You're mean! No wonder she doesn't like you! We don't, either!"

Opal? Which one was that, the growlithe? The trio's tirade was a bit difficult to keep track of, but that'd be his assumption.

"You're the dumb one if you think they'd follow someone like you over someone like me. I'm not sure if you know this, but nice pokemon tend to be more popular than rude wastes of space."

Oh. Oh dear. That was mean. It wasn't even directed at him, but Clovis still felt some of her words cut him like claws. Ouch. A bit presumptuous of her to be calling anyone else rude, innit?

"What are you even doing here?"

Clovis would probably like to know the same of the three, though his first guess would be that they were temperamental natives.

"I apologise for upsetting you. I really can't say the same for the frog, though. He's insufferable, if you don't mind my saying."

Yeesh, they must have had it out for Goro. Quite a spiteful lot. Though Clovis had received an apology of some kind, it did little to quell his discomfort. Goro was the one who had taken all of the insults-- the only offense they had committed directly to Clovis was wasting his time.

"That's uh," Clovis turned his head inquisitively to the side a bit, taking in all three of the pokémon in front of him. "That's all you wanted to say, is it?"

Opal's two hanger-ons didn't amount to much more than background noise to Goro—the two of them didn't have much to say other than loosely echo Opal. And for all that she operated on the right side of the law, she had quite the sharp tongue on her. He'd almost forgotten that in the brief time they'd been separated since their little misadventure up north. The croagunk let her words wash over him and did his best to ignore them; he'd gotten worse tongue-lashings from his boss before. He didn't need nor want followers, anyway. He was strong enough on his own.

"Nothing bad, don't you worry yourself over me. I'm not lookin' fer trouble at the moment. Just a way home," He turned, pointedly looking at their fiery surroundings. "Fuckin' dewgong back there musta gave me bad directions 'cos I wound up here instead o' Rainfront."

Goro sighed, turning back to the three fire-types with a put-upon expression. Poor Clovis at his side sounded equal parts lost and alienated at what was happening; he probably didn't get into a lot of confrontations like this. Best not to stir these kids up into a frenzy, on second thought. It'd be a big dick move to get him hurt over something silly like a reunion with Opal and her pet flunkies.

He raised a hairless eyebrow at the growlithe, amused at the notion of her running up on pokemon with her goons. "What about you, huh? You take up harassin' travelers in yer free time, little miss guild member?"

"The dewgong... Talis, I think her name was? Or was that the other one?" Opal thought out loud, sounding questioning for a moment before resuming her hostility toward Goro, "Well, I found my way to Rainfront rather easily. I thought you were taking a detour when we split up. Turns out you're just an idiot."

The growlithe sneered. Her focus was not on the piplup who walked with her nemesis, but it didn't need to be right now, for she had no quarrel with him. Quite the opposite, actually, despite his choice of company. The pup found herself liking him for some reason.

Spike was calm as he continued his own conversation. "Pretty much. We don't actually want to hurt anyone. There's not much entertainment for young pokemon out here, so Fred and I make our own."

It apparently didn't occurr to Spike and Fred that travellers moving through such a harsh landscape might not appreciate being jumped upon by the local inhabitants. Fred was definitely oblivious, looking more disappointed and still eyeing up the non-fire types.

Meanwhile, Opal was still exchanging verbal blows with Goro. "Me, harrassing? Ha! That's rich coming from you, outlaw!"

Whatever history existed between the croagunk and the growlithe was beyond Clovis, who, for the most part, was content to wait a bit until the two of them had finished calling each other idiots. He hadn't heard about any sort of background behind Opal and Goro's disagreeable attitudes towards one another, though the fennekin and cyndaquil were probably just backing Opal.

While Clovis had mostly forgotten Opal's companions in favor of watching Opal and Goro have at each other, the cyndaquil did continue speaking and addressed him as he stood. "Pretty much. We don't actually want to hurt anyone. There's not much entertainment for young pokemon out here, so Fred and I make our own."

Fred, that must be the fennekin. The cyndaquil's explanation was well-crafted, but Clovis still found himself a little peeved at the bunch of fire-types for their unusual attempts to entertain themselves. Couldn't they like, read or something?!

Back to the big argument, some interesting terms had been thrown out. Guild member, well, running up on him and Goro like they had didn't seem like it embodied guild ideals, but whatever. Opal gave a retort that caught Clovis a bit off-guard, referring to Goro as an outlaw. Probably just another meaningless insult, but coming from a so-called guild member, it did prompt the piplup to turn his head a bit and give Opal a confused look. He was still behind Goro in this little fight, but there were plenty of going-ons that he lacked context for.

"Bold accusation," Goro noted duly, not really concerned with Opal throwing his tentative outlaw status in his face. He'd never seen his face up on a poster before, but after recent activities, he had suspicions. Nothing concrete, though, unless Opal had something on that front. He almost hoped she did. It would be nice to have confirmation. "Well, Clovis, this here's Opal. She's fun—I went on a little hike up north with her a little bit ago.

"Opal, this is my buddy Clovis. You'll like him, probably. He's tough," he went on, introducing the two pokemon and giving the piplup some much-needed context. He'd left him up to dry long enough. The croagunk didn't much worry about his wellbeing in this situation, even if it turned sour. If there was one thing about the Grassveil native that stuck in his mind after meeting him, it was that he was surprisingly powerful. "Who're your friends?" he asked. "These your little teammates or what?"

It'd be nice if they were. Goro thought of Opal occasionally on his way here, wondering just what she would do to gain the edge against him in their inevitable confrontation. The growlithe had vowed to bring him in if he was an outlaw, and since he was pretty sure he was, it was something that was bound to happen. A few teammates to help her gang up on him would be a very effective, immediate solution.

Opal permitted herself a small glance in the penguin's direction. Clovis? An odd-sounding name, but not as silly as Goro. The awful, smelly frog was the threat right now, though, so she refused to drop her guard. "Enough!" the growlithe roared, "You're a wanted criminal, and I'm going to bring you in!"

As the challenge to battle was issued, the weather began to get even hotter. Opal's little entourage stopped and stared at her. They'd just been seeking fun, but things looked like they were getting really serious! Their new friend looked really angry, and had she just used Sunny Day? Neither of them knew the move, but growlithe didn't learn it naturally, either.

There wasn't much time for Fred and Spike to dwell on the matter. Opal had just launched herself forward. She'd transformed from a pretty lass into a snarling ball of fury and fluff. There was going to be a fight, and they hoped she'd be okay. Should they help?

"Bold accusation," spoke Goro in response to the "outlaw" comment. From the way Goro spoke, it sounded more like a throwaway claim than anything to be taken seriously. The croagunk threw the accusation aside and began to introduce Clovis and Opal to one another instead. Opal and Goro had spent some time together up north recently, which explained how they knew each other. It did not explain their apparently hostile attitudes towards one another, and while Clovis had picked up on the guildsmon-outlaw dynamic that appeared to exist between the two of them, he wasn't entirely sure as to whether any of it was serious or justified at all. Goro hadn't done anything wrong, so far as he could tell, but Opal's prank did seem pretty un-guildly.

With Goro's introduction of him to Opal, and his compliment, he gave a little nod. "Tough" might not have been the first word he'd use to describe himself, but he'd take it anyway.

On then, Goro asked a bit about the "other" pokémon. The followers, the locals. Fred and whatshisname. Whether they were teammates or friends or whatever else-- but Opal did not answer. She shouted, "Enough!" with a voice loud enough to provoke a wince, and went on with her boldest of bold accusations. "You're a wanted criminal, and I'm going to bring you in!"

It was all quite forward, and quite sudden. The heat was hard enough to bear already, but with a little maneuver from Opal, it began to burn and scorch as though the sun itself had descended from the sky and down to the level of ground-dwelling 'mons. Sunny day, a move which would doubtless be a scourge to the piplup, had been brought out to fry him or Goro up where they stood.

After summoning the power of the shining sun, Opal dashed straight forwards with a look of madness and fury on her face. She would attack Goro, no doubt, but this wasn't something that Clovis could allow. Goro liked to fight, that was the thing that Clovis most remembered about him, and so too did Clovis if he was in a certain mood, but the heat of sunny day provided enough discomfort to make fighting something he wanted to avoid in his situation.

With his head raised high as though imitating some noble deed, Clovis slid in front of Goro and commanded the growlithe to "Stop!" in a voice consciously made to sound about as commanding and dignified as he could make it. She'd have to get through him to get to the frog, and as a guild member, she wouldn't dare to attack him, an innocent 'mon!

...and should this fail to appeal to her ethics, then, hopefully she would still be enchanted by his attractive display from earlier. The bird braced himself slightly for impact, should worst come to worst...

Well, maybe they weren't her teammates, then. Opal went from sassy and mildly confrontational to full-on frenzied in an instant, declaring her intention to bring Goro in (again). A second later, he felt the intense heat of the Fiery Chasm get even worse. He recognized the sensation, as strangely uncomfortable as it was. When he and Opal were up north, trekking through deep snow, treacherous ice, and hostile ice-type pokemon, her Sunny Day move had been a great boon. Now, though, it just felt raw and distracting.

Still, his heart began pounding faster in glee and anticipation. This was a development Goro was more than okay with. It was mostly for Clovis' sake that he'd been so passive up 'til now, but getting into a brawl with this growlithe at her insistence kind of superseded that. Not only was it bound to be a great time—she even brought friends!—but it wouldn't even be his fault if something bad happened, because he hadn't started it! Plus, the only way to stop her would be to... well, stop her! With his fist!

An excited grin bloomed on his face, and it only faltered slightly when Clovis slid in front of him an instant later, commanding Opal to halt. That fit what he knew of the piplup. Unlike him, Clovis' passion for combat wasn't what he lived for, Goro didn't think, even if Clovis was surprisingly powerful. For that reason, he wasn't too put out, instead deciding to focus on Opal's two little pals. Goro took two large steps backward, clenching his bindle with his right hand, his band hand, ignoring how painful it was, and raising his left. His eyes flickered between Spike and Fred, alert and ready for any kind of aggressive movement.

He still didn't want to throw the first punch, merely because he actually cared what Clovis thought of him. They got along well last time they met, and he didn't want the piplup to think of Goro as some kind of meathead who threw hands with actual law enforcement at every given opportunity... even if that was true.

The two fire-types, unfortunately, seemed as shocked at Opal's aggressiveness as anyone else. Disappointing, Goro thought, but perhaps not unsurprising. They'd given up on their little ambush as soon as they lost the element of surprise a few moments ago.

Opal was ready to meet Goro head-on, and was agitated when the blue penguin pokemon placed himself in her path. She didn't want to harm the piplup, since she didn't know if he was an accomplice or simply naive. However, she couldn't allow this opportunity to slip away, and this stranger was supporting someone she knew to be a criminal.

Opal spent a moment wondering what to do, then remembered she had some Bound Seeds in her bag that she'd picked up on other explorations. They were the perfect solution for this problem, being able to disable the piplup without actually hurting him. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this," she said as she hurled one.

(-1 Bound Seed from inventory)

Sometimes, Clovis was a lazy 'mon. While he had traveled relatively far and often across the continent for someone of his young age, he was still very much inclined to leisure in his downtime. He had little in the way of a training regiment for his expeditions, and relied a lot on both natural talent and on knowledge gained from hearing and reading stories of adventure. Though sound of mind, his reflexes weren't the fastest, and his muscles probably ought to make up a bigger percentage of his body weight than they did.

Perhaps Clovis wasn't a very fast pokémon. This didn't stop him from putting two and two together when the growlithe pulled a seed out of her bag, and proceeded to give him an audible apology and a warning. She was going to throw the seed at him. He figured that out pretty fast. What he hadn't figured out was just what kind of seed it was, or how he was supposed to react. Goro was right behind him, so if he moved, it might just wind up hitting him instead. But Goro was pretty quick, wasn't he? Surely he'd have no trouble.

Unfortunately for the blue bird, standing still and thinking up his next move took a little more time than he had to spare. The seed tapped against Clovis's beak, and opened up to release its effect. Clovis gave a quick grunt in response as his limbs became bound with invisible rope, and he tripped onto the rocky ground. "Urf...!" He tried to wriggle himself free for a bit, but the effort was fruitless. Either his strength was insufficient, or the nature of the seed prevented him from breaking free so quickly. The only course of action, it seemed, was to curse his predicament, and the dog that had inflicted it. "C-contemptuous little f-" He shut his eyes and took a quick breath.

"Fool!"