Marsh Meetup

Alki was taking great care to avoid the same mistake she had made last time she'd been in this dungeon. Falling into a hole once had been embarrassing enough, but doing it again...? Well, in all honesty, if no one saw her, it couldn't really be all that bad... Key-word being if. If somebody did see her, then it'd be so much worse! She hopped from island to island, taking the time to measure her bounds as carefully as possible, pausing as she landed, and if she didn't feel comfortable, then she simply teleported to the nearest safe haven from the pockets of marsh-water interspersed throughout the terrain.

It was after one of these bounds that she took a minute to rest, and looked around at the terrain. She was, once again, in the marsh for no reason in particular. "Maybe I just relate to it..." She mumbled to herself, lost in thought. The marsh was cold, wet, and disgusting. That's how she felt most of the time. Maybe that's why she enjoyed this place so much.

Alki flopped onto her back and lay there, suddenly paralyzed by a wave of disappointment in herself.  Nothing had even happened and she was already acting like this. She was so stupid...

The girl sighed before picking herself back up and looking around. It was then that she noticed a shack, broken and run-down that seemed quite familiar to her... Someone she knew lived there! Someone who'd beat the crap out of her last time they'd met, sure, but he'd been pretty nice otherwise! And he had tried to train her... It wasn't his fault that was impossible!

She made her way towards said shack, her mood lifted slightly. That is, until she remembered that the last time they'd met, she'd been an Igglybuff... what if he didn't recognize her? Did she still look like her old self? What if he beat her up for real? Hadn't he mentioned that he beat off ferals who wandered onto his territory? She didn't want to get beat up... Her earlier wave of sadness returned in full force, but by then, she was practically on his doorstep, and with nothing left to do, she called out:

"G-G-Goro...?" She cried out, in as loud a voice as possible, that somehow managed to sound even more timid than her usual tone. It'd be nice to see him again, at least, assuming he recognized her...

Goro, in contrast to Alki, was not feeling half as anxious or depressed. In fact, the only thing Goro felt was raw contentment. The croagunk was laying down in his old straw bed, staring up at his half fallen-in ceiling with a genuine smile on his face. Leaving so often for work, training, and plain old travel had taught Goro to be much more appreciative of his home. Just spending time under his own roof gave him such a strong sense of belonging and security.

He'd fallen in love with the area that he would later go on to establish as his territory in Cattail Marsh at first sight, true. But the more time he spent here, the more times he left and came back seemed to amplify that love so much that he found himself homesick when he wasn't around his shack. He felt at ease here. Comfortable.

That feeling lasted for a few more seconds until a loud voice called his name outside. For a long moment, he merely stood up at the ceiling wondering if he imagined the sound, but it kept ringing in his ears. The croagunk was not on a first name basis with a lot of other pokemon. And he was certain that he didn't know anybody who would actually make the journey into the disgusting dungeon that was Cattail Marsh to find him. He wondered briefly if a police officer was outside his shack right now ready to haul him in for being an outlaw, or maybe a team of guild members.

... The voice, though, was familiar. Strangely apprehensive, as well. With a grunt, the croagunk hauled himself out of bed and onto his feet, rolling his shoulders in preparation. This was one time where he was not in the mood for a brawl. But he couldn't very well ignore the fact that someone had learned his name and tracked down where he lived... and was now calling him out of his house. With a sigh, he took a step outside his door and scowled fiercely.

"Who's askin—..." he began to call out, his tone hard. But his voice trailed off almost immediately once he got a look at his visitor. Small, pink, fluffy, and nervous. This pokemon looked very, very familiar to Goro. But it wasn't quite right. The pokemon that came to mind didn't quite match up with the pokemon in front of him; this one was a bit too big, a bit too round. It had a big set of ears that weren't there before, the eyes were a blue, and its hair was a different style as well.

Goro realized that he'd fallen silent for more than a few seconds and quickly cleared his throat. "... Alki?" he asked, tentative and much softer than before.

"A-A-Ah..." Alki mumbled, considering whether she'd be better off just turning around and booking it out of there... The footfalls from inside the house were loud and noisy and his tone of voice didn't sound very pleased at all... He sounded kinda upset... Alki took a step backwards, ready to turn around and run away before the door opened, quite suddenly... and there she froze. Too nervous to say anything, too frightened to run away... She simply stood there, frozen in motion, staring at the Croagunk, that simply stared back. He was the one to break the silence first, indicating that he had, in fact, recognized her.

He sounded much less upset now, too... whatever it was that she'd done to upset him, he was over it. Now she could relax. Thank Arceus for that... "U-Uh... Y-yeah. T-That's me. H-Hi." She managed, waving as she said her greeting. She paused for a few seconds to calm herself. She couldn't quite leave the conversation at that, though, could she? "I-I was... Um. J-just... w-wandering around here, and I saw your house, a-and... w-well... it's nice to see you..." She took a step forward, towards the Croagunk, managing a shaky smile up at him. It was nice to see him...

Even if the last time she'd been at his place hadn't gone as smoothly as she'd hoped, (and certainly not as smoothly as Darcy had probably hoped,) she'd still enjoyed her time there. She'd learned a lot, and he'd taken good care of her too, and been friendly to her, even if she had burned his blanket...

The jigglypuff leaned slightly to the left, trying to peer into his home. Hopefully there was a blanket in there... if there wasn't, she'd have to go and buy one in Rainfront or something, but... she could worry about that later. She couldn't see inside anywho, and she'd been quiet for an uncomfortably long period of time at this point...

"U-Uh... S-So... Um." She cleared her throat, quite uncomfortable with how much she was speaking. But she wanted to be friendly! Friendly people spoke a lot, like Darcy! She'd have to learn how to speak that much too... "H-How... have you been?" She managed, before clamming up for good this time. Her smile widened slightly as she finished her stuttering. She hoped he'd have time for her... it'd be nice to spend some more time with him. It'd been quite a long time since that little sparring session in front of his house...

Goro boggled when the pokemon confirmed his guess at her identity. This really was Alki! She'd changed. It was obvious to him that she had evolved since he last saw her. The realization came a feeling something not dissimilar to uncertainty. He supposed it was a good thing she had gotten a bit tougher, but it was also difficult to match up the tiny little igglybuff that had gotten lost in his marsh and this pokemon who seemed... mostly the same in demeanor, but different nonetheless. Bigger, with some totally different features.

"I've been... good, I think," he responded after a moment of consideration. It was sort of a loaded question. Goro had been through a lot since he'd met Alki, some bad, but mostly good (by his standards, at least). He stepped closer to the normal-fairy type, all of the bluster and firmness leaking from him as he studied her further, noticeably gentler than he was when he wasn't sure who she was. "You're bigger than you were last time. More... round." he went on, not totally sure how to articulate what he was feeling.

He felt awkward after that, rubbing his right forearm with his left hand. The other dangled loosely but carefully at his hip, visibly misshapen and bruised. The broken fist was perhaps the only significant change to Goro's appearance since Alki had last laid eyes on him, aside from the suspiciously red stained joy ribbon that was still tied to his bicep. The shack behind him was also largely the same. Some of the wood had rotted a bit further, the roof was a bit more fallen in, and there was more junk strewn around the inside, but by and large Goro and his home were mostly unchanged.

"A-Ah, I see..." She responded. "It's good that you're good..." She said, and began to feel incredibly dumb as soon as the words came out of her mouth. Who said that?! It just sounded dumb... She looked down for a moment, until her gaze was brought back up as he stepped forward, and began to gaze at her intently. She blushed as he pointed out one of her changes, but nodded. It was good that she'd evolved, wasn't it? There were a lot of things about her that she ought to be ashamed of, but roundness wasn't really one of them... truth be told, she liked herself just a tad bit more when she'd evolved, so she took some pride in it anywho.

"Y-Yeah!" She exclaimed, brightening up ever so slightly as she nodded. "I-I, uh, evolved... I got rounder, and... Um, I got a curl on my head... and these!" She finished, wiggling her ears to punctuate her remark. She paused for a moment, thinking. It wouldn't hurt to ask... "D-D-Do you, um... like me better, like this?" She asked. Just like earlier, she regretted asking almost immediately. Nobody asked stuff like that... But what was she to do now?

Her gaze flickered about as she waited for a response to her dumb question. The first thing that she laid eyes on was a joy ribbon. Considering she'd lost hers recently, she'd been on the look-out for one. But stealing from a friend certainly wasn't the way she wanted to go about replacing hers... besides, it was tied to his arm. She wasn't sure she could even pull something like that off... she was still new to that whole stealing thing... And it was stained red with something anyways...

Blood? Alki shifted uncomfortably, eyeing the joy ribbon with apprehension. Was that blood? She felt like it was, but... she didn't want to ask... That'd be awkward. She'd already asked plenty of stupid questions... She chose instead to ignore it, eyeing the other things around and about the Croagunk. His house seemed mostly the same... It still seemed just as broken down as it had the last time she'd visited. Maybe she could get someone to fix it? She probably had enough Poke to pay someone... It'd be nice for him, wouldn't it? Whatever... She chose instead to focus back on the Croagunk, but something around his hip caught her attention... His hand.

She'd broken her own arm once, when she'd first met Cecil... After that experience, it was easy to tell that something was wrong with the Croagunk's hand. It was definitely broken. She suddenly started to regret having forgotten Heal Pulse. She could've helped with that... She should stop staring at it... He was going to notice. For some reason, however, she just couldn't stop staring. It looked kinda bad. But at the same time, she didn't want to say anything... She was sure he knew it was broken...

"I don't know," Goro said honestly. "You're probably a bit stronger, since that usually happens with evolution, so... that's good." he continued, sizing her up in interest now that she had asked for his opinion. There wasn't a dramatic change in Alki, though, aside from her size. She seemed the same as ever. His eyes flicked up and down her form before he nodded resolutely. It was a good thing, of course. It was just surprising to walk out his front door to see her waiting there for him looking different.

The croagunk's gaze drifted from Alki to his front yard. It seemed like he had a guest—that meant he should play host. He'd done this a time or two after even Alki's last visit. When Goro was in the rare mood to receive strangers, he'd always brought them to sit outside since there wasn't a lot of room in the shack. The front yard, though, had the closest things to furniture that he owned, those being a couple of dead logs that he'd tossed around a fire pit to sit on when he cooked food.

He pointed at Alki with a finger before waving it nonchalantly at one of the logs, gesturing for her to take a seat. "You want some food?" he asked bluntly but politely. "Or a rag to clean yerself off with?"

Were he a smarter pokemon, he might have realized that her question stemmed from insecurity, but he wasn't, so it simply struck him as a strange topic of conversation. His opinion on her evolution didn't really matter, honestly. It was her who had changed, and she was the one who had to live with the change. That being said, he couldn't deny he was curious at when and how it happened, but there was an order to these things. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable and stuff before they got to really talking.

"Oh..." Alki said, nodding along as the Croagunk stated his views. The fact that it started off with an I dunno did little to soothe the girl's fears as is, but what came after didn't help much at all. He said that she was probably a bit stronger (So he wasn't even sure?), and offered nothing besides... Was that really all that had changed about her? And he hadn't even answered her original question, so if he was dodging it, did that mean... did that mean that he didn't like her better?

Alki could feel her heart start to beat faster at the potential implications of this, and her face fell momentarily. But she'd just said it was nice to see him again! And that hadn't changed, just... she was starting to regret having evolved... She started to force her disappointed face back into a smile, and within a few seconds, it was difficult to tell that she'd been feeling any negative emotions at all! At least, that was her hope. Being sad only made things inconvenient for other people, and she didn't want to be like that when she was a guest! She didn't want to be a burden.

"Y-Yeah. That is good." She said, ever so slightly delayed from the ending of the Croagunk's speech. Alki pressed her hands together, trying to make herself feel more upbeat. She couldn't manage that very easily, though. Just keeping up appearances was hard enough... She widened her smile on purpose, and looked up as she heard the Croagunk ask her something.

"Yeah... A rag would be nice..." She said, marching off towards the seats, and promptly falling onto her back on the floor, staring up at the sky. She didn't want to wear down his seats... the floor was comfortable enough... Yeah! She felt nice...

Alki's smile fell ever so slightly as she watched the clouds drift by. She hated how slowly they moved... But at least thinking about them kept her other thoughts somewhat still...

The croagunk walked back into his shack, stepping in and peering around for what he was looking for. He had all manners of different ribbons, bands, and scarves, and other cloths laying around. At random, he picked up a decently clean rag from a pile of fabrics and headed back out. The kid was laying on the ground in front of the log weirdly enough, but he wasn't going to try and bully her into sitting where he wanted. He liked Alki, and for whatever reason, she tolerated him last time and seemed to like him enough to come to find him again for a visit.

"Here," he muttered, handing the rag out to Alki. He plopped down on the log next to her, tucking one leg up under the other as he leaned back. "If you get cold, I can start a fire, too." he offered, glancing at his fire pit. He had some dry wood piled up around the back of the shack, and that aipom that'd strolled through showed him a very handy trick when it came to starting fires that he was eager to put to good use.

Goro followed her line of sight after a moment, looking up at the clouds as well. There wasn't much going on up there though—hadn't been for a very long time. "Do you like it better?" he asked casually. "The way you are now, I mean." It was her thoughts on the matter that mattered most, after all. Even if it was beyond help at this point; Goro had never heard of a pokemon devolving.

34 energy - 0 (Goro's home dungeon)

the sunset hero carried out 10 launched of one Cattail Marsh :

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"Ok..." Alki mumbled, gently cleaning as much muck off of herself as possible with the rag. "T-Thanks." A fire would be nice, for sure... Alki knew flamethrower, but she didn't want to mention that. He seemed kinda excited to play host, and after her awkward question, she didn't want to give herself the slightest chance of embarrassing herself yet again. She simply remained silent and appreciated the kind gesture. How did you start a fire without a move anyways? Not that it mattered much to her...

Having finished with the rag, Alki set it on top of her stomach and continued to stare up at the clouds. She registered the Croagunk's question, but she remained silent for some time, considering how best to answer it. The question troubled her more than she thought it would... The way she was? She'd never liked herself! Did she dislike herself more as an Igglybuff, or as a Jigglypuff anyways? She wanted to dodge the question, but she didn't want to be disrespectful to him either... She'd better answer it somehow... "I-I mean... I guess? I dunno. I've... I h-haven't really thought about it all that much. Haha." She paused again, forcing herself onto her feet. "I-I guess I do. A bit. B-But... I'm still me, at the end of the day." She walked over onto a bench and sat herself down. That was about as good an answer as was gonna come out of her. And it was kind of vague too! It wasn't bad, as far as answers went. It was kinda the truth, too...

Alki set her guild-bag by her side, it's weight starting to wear on her. It was nice to take it off... it's not like she ever needed anything in there. Or could find anything in there, even if she did need it.
She'd been meaning to organize it for a while, but she just never seemed to feel up for it...The jigglypuff always made sure to keep her feather on top of the pile of stuff inside, however. Whenever she wasn't wearing it, anyways. She wanted to keep it as clean and neat as possible. It really meant a lot to her... "S-So... have things been mostly the same around here? S-Since the last time we saw each other? Or... W-Well..." She trailed off, unsure of herself. What was she supposed to say now? Her first question had already brought the mood down quite a bit, hadn't it...?

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 :

Goro nodded when Alki didn't seem opposed to the idea of a fire and sat up. He bustled between behind the shack and inside it as she spoke, listening to her all the while. Toward the end of her explanation, he came out from behind the structure with an arm full of dry sticks and twigs and a hand full of dark, sharp rocks. The croagunk absently punted a goomy away from the corner of his firepit as he set the load down, sending the diminutive and dimwitted pokemon rolling out of sight.

He contemplated her answer as he positioned the sticks in an amicable position to being set on fire. She seemed very nonchalant about evolving. No doubt if it were him, he'd be confused and at odds with himself and his new likeness to his parents. The extra strength and size from evolving was a welcome addition but Goro would be lying if he said he didn't have any baggage when it came to evolved form, Toxicroak. The last thing he wanted to see when he looked at his own reflection was the face of his mom and dad staring back at him all the time. But maybe he'd get used it... If Alki could manage the change, so could he.

"The same... probably," Goro said in response to her question. "Nothin' seems different, anyway. But I've been away from home a lot, so I don't know for sure."

Taking the two black stones in hand, he rubbed them against each other furiously until they produced a strong spark. It caught on one of the twigs in the woodpile and Goro blew on it gently until the cinder grew a bit larger. The embers started to spread slowly after that while Goro leaned back as he inspected it. An aipom named Cracker had taught him that little trick and told him where to go get some spark rocks of his own to start fires easier. It was a much easier method than rubbing sticks together, that was for sure.

"More pokemon are showing up around my place than they used to. I guess it's 'cos I'm not here to kick 'em out as often." he went on, casting a speculative eye on the land surrounding his home.

There was a large pond at the base of his front yard, as his shack was sitting on the high rise of a bank, and he could see evidence of many water-types in the pond. A pair of poliwags were floating very nonchalantly on their backs through the water, and curiously enough, the sight didn't incense him at all. And a lombre was ambling along the bank on the other side of the pond, peering at the lily pads floating in the water as if any one of them could be a lotad.

34 energy - 26 (rolls): 8 energy

Alki eyed the Croagunk curiously as he seemed to remove himself for a moment as she continued her explanation. She supposed he was going to get what was needed for the fire... a few moments later, he returned with a bunch of weird rocks, and then a bunch of somewhat-dry looking twigs. The twig's use was pretty obvious, but the rocks...? She had no clue. She supposed she'd see in a moment. She watched with detached interest as he began his work, first punting a stray goomy away, then setting the twigs in a rather optimal position.

He gave his own answer, and Alki's eyes widened as he mentioned he'd been away from home. What had he been up to, then? Maybe he was considering moving out of this place? That'd be nice... It'd be much easier to visit him if he just moved to Rainfront, or something... But that'd be awkward to ask, if he were ditching his home. Instead, she simply asked: "S-So... what're y-you, uh, doin' away from home?" She hoped that wasn't too awkward an answer. She watched with wonder as the stones he'd picked up seemed to start a fire all by themselves! Her using flamethrower probably would've been easier, but it was good to know that she could start a fire like that! Just throw a bunch of sticks together and then pound a couple rocks against each other! "Cool..." She mumbled quietly, watching the fire grow in strength. One of her best friends was a fire type, and she'd grown to like fires quite a bit since learning flamethrower. They were pretty...

[30 - 15 - 15 = Tired Balloon (0)]

"I got a job, kinda," Goro said. "Doing some... security work, I guess. We move around a lot."

It was something that he was proud to admit. Goro regretted the fact that he couldn't go into much detail about his new line of work since everything they did so far was pretty fucking illegal. And even if he had no issue in bragging about his accomplishments (even if it wasn't something he would do), it was not a smart idea to go blabbing to the wrong person and implicate his boss or anyone she associated with. Still, the croagunk spoke with a quiet edge of gratification, self-satisfaction written all over his expression and body language.

He blew a few more times on the fire and watched as it caught in earnest, spreading to the larger pieces of wood. As it began genuinely crackling and burning, he sat down on the log again, crossing his legs and resting his bad hand on his lap gently. In his good hand, he fiddled with the spark rocks absently, rubbing them and scraping them against one another for lack of anything else to do.

"I think we're gonna be closer to town from now on though, which is good. 'Cos I don't like leaving home for long. The critters around here get uppity," he said with a grin, making eye contact with a froakie in the distance, peeking out from behind a small tree. The other frog pokemon squeaked and darted away, spooked by the croagunk and unfamiliar pink pokemon with him. If it weren't for his present company and the fact that he wasn't hungry, Goro might have been tempted to give chase to the water-type and wrangle himself up some lunch.

"Security, huh..." Alki said, disappointment and excitement both present in her voice. She was happy for the Croagunk, that he was getting out of this icky place and doing some work that he would doubtless be good at, but at the same time... what was it with everyone she knew getting jobs that went against what she wanted to do? What if he were working security when she tried to steal from a target? What if he actually beat her up? The odds of her running into him while they were both working were odd, granted, but they could happen! And it'd really suck if it did...

She waited for a bit, nodding at his later statement. Maybe she should ask him? It wouldn't hurt... If she were vague enough about it anyways. "Yeah... T-Towns are nice..." Alki said quietly, before falling silent, her face paling ever so slightly as she made an effort to calm her voice. "Say, if you were... working security, and... uh... c-caught, like... a... thief? Or something like that.... w-what would you do? I'm just wondering... She paused a few seconds too long, attempting to think of an excuse. Having found one, she added in hastily: "O-One of my friends is thinking of g-getting into, uh... security w-work..."

Goro snorted in amusement. "I'm not a police officer or anything," he replied, his lip curling in amusement at the idea of him going around catching pickpockets. "The only time I'd ever tangle with a thief would be if they tried to steal from the lady I'm workin' for—which ain't a smart thing to do, all things considered."

He had trouble just envisioning that scenario. Who would be dumb enough to steal from Krikka? Honestly, Goro catching them in the act would probably be the best case scenario. He'd seen her punish others with everything from light teasing to sudden deaths. If it were up to him, he'd just take back what they stole, teach them a painful lesson, and send them on their way.

"Otherwise, it ain't none of my business who takes what from who." Goro finished with a shrug of his shoulders. As long as they didn't steal from him or his, then it was of no concern to him. The croagunk raised an eyebrow as he regarded the jigglypuff sitting next to him. "Is yer friend worried about pickpockets, then? It's not your sis, is it? I thought you two were workin' at the guild in Grassveil." he asked.

Even in her evolved form, it was difficult to imagine Alki doing anything dangerous as guild work. He didn't even have the clearest picture of what that entailed, but he at least knew that they rescued other pokemon in danger. And that they sometimes captured outlaws and did 'missions', whatever those entailed.

He wasn't a police officer, he reminder her, and Alki nodded in acknowledgement, her spirits somewhat lifted. Well, that was a relief, she supposed... There was always the chance she picked the wrong target, but there was always that danger! So long as she knew who this target was, she could avoid getting kicked around by the Croagunk next to get in some unfortunate future.

"What's the lady you work for like?" She asked, much of her earlier apprehension about asking questions seeming to subside. "Actually... U-Uh. What do you do in security work? In... Uh, broad strokes?" She was legitimately curious now... She didn't think they were police officers, exactly, but did they really not care about the law? If he didn't care who stole what from whom...

Alki's thoughts were disturbed by the Croagunk's question in turn. Who was she asking for? Definitely not her sister... "N-No, U-Uh... Not my sister. Ummm
.. Who was she asking for? She simply mentioned the first person to come to mind. "U-Umm... A-A new friend of mine... A Vulpix..." Synd'r definitely wouldn't be interested in security work, but... He didn't know that...

She frowned. She didn't enjoy lying so much, but she couldn't quite make herself stop either... She'd probably have to get used to it though. She wondered what would happen if she just told someone. But she doubted she was brave enough to ever do so.

"She's actually a really g-good... Uh... F-friend of mine... And kind of my boss too..." She mumbled absent mindedly, reflecting on her own inner turmoil instead.