Phantom Roses

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Alki hadn't ever been too fond of exploration things, but when she had heard of a brand new dungeon, curiosity had gotten the better of her. And what made it even better was the company she was in! She'd met the fire type, ironically, in a snowy forest. That had been a rather pleasant encounter, and ever since, she had considered the Vulpix to be a very dear friend. Not to mention she had allowed her to join the phantom thieves as well, and even trusted her to have responsibilities in that group! To be completely honest, the Jigglypuff wasn't 100% sure if that was a good idea, but it was nice to be trusted like that, so Alki had never complained.

"H-Hey, Synd'r, what's a phantom anyways?" She asked, wearing a small smile. She'd never heard that word before joining Synd'r's... Organization, and it would probably be a good idea to know what she was calling herself. "Just wondering," She said after, nestling closer to the Vulpix as she enjoyed the warmth she gave off. It must be nice to be a fire type... Did they ever get cold?

Company, huh... Alki looked up, following the Vulpix's gaze as she nursed the small burn on her arm, quick to notice what the leader of the Phantom Thieves had already seen. A duo of Pokemon, off in the distance, both of which already seemed to have seen them. Alki stood up from her sitting position, trying to shake off the still-noticeable burning sensation on her arm. She supposed they couldn't be too careful... The jigglypuff placed a hand over her own shadow, ready to fight should things turn out that way.

Of course, she'd never been all too great at fighting... The girl eyed the duo off in the distance, considering her options should the two unknown Pokemon be more threatening than she expected. If she were alone, she already would've teleported away... But she wasn't about to abandon Synd'r... besides, she'd look like a coward in front of other people! And that wasn't something she wanted people to know...

"H-hey... wait..." Alki said, resuming a more neutral stance. Those two off in the distance were a Mothim, and what appeared to be an Absol... Hadn't she met two people like that before? "I-I think..." She mumbled quietly, keeping her thoughts to herself, before deciding to take a risk.

The girl teleported towards them for a closer look. She was still far enough away that she could get away quickly should she be wrong, but... hadn't she met a Mothim and Absol in the Fallen Leaf Copse? If these were the same...

The Absol began to walk towards her, and the jigglypuff began taking steps back, eyeing the much larger Pokemon very nervously, almost teleporting away on instinct, before she noticed the Pink Ribbon on his horn, and heard him ask her for her name.

The jigglypuff breathed out a heavy sigh of relief before nodding, quite excited at the prospect of not having to fight anyone at all. "Y-Yes, that's me..." She said, trying to straighten herself up and pretend as though she had never been afraid in the first place. "H-Hi, Deimos... a-and, I imagine Russel is here too? Why are you guys here?" She asked, before turning to Synd'r and waving at her. She knew these two! So... there shouldn't really be any conflict at all...

Synd'r blinked, briefly glancing back to Alki as she said to wait. She watched as the Jigglypuff eleported away, frantically turning her gaze back towards the two strangers to locate where she'd reappeared. The Vulpix urgently made her way closer, having no way to know what Alki was thinking by taking such a huge risk.

The Vulpix slowed as Alki turned and gave her a little wave after speaking with the Absol. She tilted her head to the side, silently questioning Alki as she caught up with her. There was still a cautious amount of tension in her limbs as she came to a halt, but she could tell from Alki's relaxed posture and the fact that the Absol was still stood here and not attacking them that they were probably safe, for now.

Russell meanwhile joined Deimos outside the foliage, fluttering over with a small wave of one tiny paw. The Jigglypuff's words were enough to confirm that she was indeed Alki, if the feather hadn't already been enough. He smiled lightly, his orange gaze flickering over the unfamiliar visage of the Vulpix that accompanied Alki.

"Hey there," the Mothim spoke as he waved, briefly turning his warm smile to Synd'r as he spoke, as if to try and put the other pokemon at ease, "We're here to take a look around since this area hasn't been explored all that much. What brings you here?"

Deimos was pleased to see that his fellow wielder of visual identification had plucked up the courage to approach without a second thought. Her means of closing the distance however was an undeniable surprise. "Huh... Didn't know Alki could teleport. Interesting" Deimos muttered as he continued calmly moving closer and into range, doubting that there would be any kind of trouble invoked. He came to a swift halt however upon noticing her moment of backing away, not wanting to force any kind of misunderstanding with what he presumed to be her travelling companion. The feathers the duo wore had sold him on the idea of them being part of a group of some kind, though he admittedly wasn't sure which type of organization it could be.

"Yeah, Russel's here with me, right over there" The Absol replied to Alki's first question without delay, glancing back to his Superior before returning his gaze to the Jigglypuff. "If you couldn't tell from your tour of Fallen before, we are quite fond of gathering information, it's pretty much our job after all. That and i love seeing new places. Even if the Russel didn't want to come along i would have headed here to investigate eventually anyway." He remarked with a quick nod, agreeing with his boss without hesitation. Seeing a barely documented region with his own eyes was undoubtedly something he couldn't resist.

"I-It's... U-Um, t-they're... uh, f-friends of mine," Alki said nervously, as the Vulpix approached her. Synd'r seemed like she'd been kinda worried. She was tense, and that wasn't something that she noticed a whole lot with her. She was always so relaxed and confident, and Alki wished she were that slick, and that smart too! All the qualities she saw in Synd'r, she wished she could also say she saw in herself... She wished she were Synd'r... Her ears and expression fell as she thought about it more, stuck in her own mind, before she remembered...

What was going on again? Wasn't she saying something?

"S-Sorry..." She said, snapping back to reality... She owed Synd'r an apology for going off on her own... However, it's not like she could say much more right that very moment anyways. She turned back to the Absol and the Mothim, wearing a small, albeit rather neutral smile.


What brought them there? Alki wasn't quite sure how to respond... The truth was... Well, she didn't think they'd like it very much, seeing as it was tied to both hers and Synd'r's... other job. So what? "Um... W-Well... T-To be honest, we... we were just looking around too," Alki said quietly, not quite looking either the Absol or the Mothim directly in their eyes. It was kinda far from Grassveil, but it's not like she could just tell them the truth...

"A-Anyways!" She said suddenly, forcing her smile to grow larger as she turned to the Vulpix. "T-This is Synd'r, s-she's... she's a really good friend of mine!" She said, introducing her companion to her previous acquaintances. "A-And... Uh, this is R-Russel and Deimos... I met them in... uh... F-Fallen Leaf Copse, I-I think, a while ago..." She said, introducing the latter to the former. Soon after, she fell silent, feeling a bit tired from all the talking she'd done in such rapid succession.

Synd'r's gaze followed the Mothim as he too joined Alki and the Absol. Alki briefly explained that they were friends of hers, and the brief tension seemed to seep out of her limbs as the Jigglypuff confirmed she knew the duo. If they were already familiar with Alki, then there was no reason that they would be suspicious of them, or pose a danger to them. Synd'r nodded in acknowledgement, letting Alki explain to her friends what they were here for. She did a good job of telling just enough of the truth that it was believable, whilst keeping the part of their reasoning that linked them to more... morally grey activities, a secret.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Synd'r replied following Alki's introductions. She lightly dipped her head to Russell and Deimos in turn, gently acknowledging that she would trust them for now, as Alki's friends.

"Likewise!" Russell replied enthusiastically before glancing back to Alki, "We didn't expect to run into anyone we recognised here, since the area isn't very documented. Nevertheless! It could be a fun development. Would you like to explore together?" The Mothim turned his gaze back to Synd'r as he spoke. He wasn't as familiar with the Vulpix as he was with Alki, but upon first impression the fire fox seemed level-headed and cautious. Traits that were valuable when exploring an unfamiliar place.

Synd'r remained silent for a brief moment, eyes narrowing at the suggestion. She supposed it would make sense for them to travel together as the three of them were already familiar with each other. It wouldn't really impede anything she wanted to do either, and if these two were well versed explorers like they indicated then perhaps having the extra hands could help if they got into a pinch. As the Mothim had said, the area wasn't very documented; they hadn't much idea what they were in for.

She glanced to Alki before turning her amber gaze back to Russell and nodding lightly. "I believe it would benefit all of us to travel as a group," she concluded.

The Mothim seemed elated at the idea. Where his fluttering wings had seemed to wilt slightly in her brief pause - clearly he'd taken it as hesitancy - he'd perked right up again as she'd agreed. Russell clearly wore his emotions on his sleeve, in stark contrast to Synd'r herself.

"I get that you're excited Russel, i am as well. Just... Try to get some caution back alright? This is a new region after all and potentially a dungeon. Synd'r seems to have the right idea with being cautious." Deimos spoke out with a soft chuckle, finding the clear elation of his boss fairly amusing. Such an almost childlike glee wasn't something he was so used to seeing from the Boss, even if in reality he couldn't blame the Mothim. New regions were always interesting to explore and to even successfully get reinforcements mid exploration? This little jaunt to the east had all the signs of a successful exploration!

Quietly calling force another set of spectral claws, Deimos swiftly cut another cross mark into the ground as a continuation of his trail from earlier before deforming the pair. As Russel's second, the ashen furred Pokemon felt the need to be on guard if the boss was going to get overexcited. "Regardless, you've already took an aerial view of the area boss, any preference on where to head next?" The second asked after glancing to the Geysers for a moment. Technically they'd wanted to see them but it seemed their new exploring companions already had done so. He didn't want to start off with a bad impression towards Alki's friend.

Alki glanced between Russell, Deimos, and Synd'r, before finally deciding to stick close to her own leader. They had a responsibility to stick together, right?! At least, she certainly hoped so. She didn't want to leave Synd'r, and she certainly hoped the vulpix would find her worthwhile enough to hang out with... Alki nodded as the group all decided to continue forth together. That seemed like a very good idea! Except... Well, Alki was a part of this group. And that was a problem! Not only was she completely, absolutely useless in a setting like this, she was also fairly certain that she was bad luck. At least sometimes.

"A-Are you guys sure? I'm... I'm pretty sure I c-can be bad luck sometimes, m-maybe I should just wait for you guys at, l-like, the entrance or something..." Alki kicked at nothing in particular, blushing softly, before she turned up look up at Synd'r, her ears twitching. Of course, she wasn't quite enough in tune with herself to realize it, but she was searching for a sign that Synd'r didn't agree with that. If she really saw something in her, she'd object, right? And it'd be nice to have a bit of valuation...

Russell scratched his chin, smiling sheepishly at Deimos. "Haha I'll try. It won't hurt to have a little fun though." It was a compromise, but he was nothing if not true to himself. Synd'r and Deimos together seemed to have enough caution for the four of them anyway. Hopefully Deimos understood that he wasn't foolish enough to put them in danger.


Synd'r watched the interaction with interest. Deimos was a more reserved than Russell, but was clearly fond of the Mothim if his quiet chuckle was anything to go by. It seemed like they trusted one another. She looked to Alki, quirking her head as the other suggested that she stay by the entrance instead of come along with them. Synd'r frowned. Did Alki not want to be here? Or was this a case of Alki thinking she shouldn't be here for some reason. Synd'r wasn't fully sure.

"I don't believe in bad luck. If you want to come with us, you should come," she said simply. She wanted Alki to come along, otherwise she wouldn't have brought her along in the first place, but if Alki didn't want to continue then she wasn't going to force her.

Russell nodded eagerly, "I agree! You should come with us Alki! We'll have more eyes on the lookout. Synd'r doesn't know us either, so it might help us get to know each other as well," he reasoned.

The Vulpix in question remained silent. She supposed it was true that bridging the gap between two groups was easier with someone who knew both parties. She wasn't too concerned with making friends though, just as long as these two aided their search of the Vale.



Deimos soon drew attention back to their travelling direction. "Well, I was going to take a look at the geysers, but I suppose we can see them fine from here. Perhaps we should head further into the Vale?"


Russell: 35 - 20 = 15 + 1 = 16 energy
Synd'r: 26 - 20 = 6 + 1 = 7 energy

[Rolling with Russell's energy]

Solilo carried out 5 launched of one Everspring Vale :

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"Alright... alright. i won't transform into the anti fun police, you can have a little fun, just don't hog it all" Deimos replied with a clear grin. He couldn't really refute such a statement, especially considering how much he enjoyed exploring new places. That was the best part of life, so how could anyone try and steal all the fun away?!

Then despite the good mood, a certain pink companion struck to ruin it. Such thoughts elicited a soft sigh from the Absol as he turned to face Alki. Russel and Synd'r had already posed counter arguments to the suggestion of staying behind so he felt the need to join in as well.

"Unless you're like my and wield Super Luck, luck is just a construct for the lazy. Luck doesn't exist, its just an excuse we all use when we fail to understand how something works and it goes for or against us. Nothing more, nothing less." Deimos spoke with the intent to reinforce the Vulpix's argument, figuring that if a disaster pokemon of all things agreed, there'd be nothing left to argue about.

After flashing a grin at Alki and a small nod, he turned his attention back to his Boss enthusiastically. "That's fine by me, the geysers should serve as a good landmark if anyone get lost as well. What do you two think? I'm open to be convinced of other plans of attack."

Blade12 carried out 6 launched of one Everspring Vale :

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