Afternoon Snack

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It was dark and cramped. There were passages she could not fit through, but the main path still presented her with enough room to move comfortably. Victoria's footsteps echoed throughout the caverns, stealth was not an option. She didn't quite care particularly about that, however, as she felt that she was capable enough to defend herself in times of attack. The queen held her head high-or at least as high as she could- as she continued her stroll through the caverns. It started out as a simple walk, but curiosity about the recent events had brought her here.

A powerful pokemon was stated to have resided here at one point. Mewtwo, it was called. Explorers fought the creature-one of which she was vaguely familiar with. Sova. A glaceon that helped her get her heirloom back. The very necklace remained wrapped around her neck despite her drastic shift in size. She had to get it fixed after she evolved, but it still shined as bright as the day she got it.

The tyrantrum remained alert while she traversed. It was entirely possible that the monstrous pokemon was still around. While she considered herself powerful, she knew better than to think she would be able to face off against that kind of creature. The rest of the inhabitants of this cave, however, were simply...a snack.

Victoria Energy: 30

The little pink fluffy thing insisted upon the wishwash of thinking. Again, it seemed as if Darcy ignored her words. A rumble echoed from deep down within her. It was frustrating. It felt as if the kitten pokemon were trying so desperately to paint her as the villain here. It was almost enough to make her reconsider her offer to help the cat through the caves-especially after she'd been so kind as to allow the guild member to ride upon her!

"It is just you." The tyrantrum insisted with a short and curt tone, "It is far too easy for the wicked to take advantage of the kind. They must be properly punished, as it is the catch-all way to learn the error of mistakes and discourage them all together."

"Pokemon come together as civilizations to have order and security in their lives. Failure to provide that will just make them leave. There are far more wicked pokemon than you think there are out there, some even may seem like the nicest of pokemon with the best intentions at heart. You fail to understand that things are the way they are for a reason. Not every pokemon even wants help, they just want to do as they please without the consideration of others. Civilizations exist to protect against that. In order to discourage that behavior, punishments are a necessity."

"You are acting as if I'm going to enforce a death sentence against someone for stealing a lowly apple from a careless merchant. I kindly ask that you cease this insulting presumptuous behavior immediately. You very obviously do not understand the intricacies of what it takes to lead a large number of pokemon even after I have explained the main complications to you multiple times. So until you do, I advise that you cease acting as if I'm the monster here."

She finished her sentence with a huff, very much frustrated with the skitty's tone and implications behind their words. The tyrantrum focused her attention ahead, though she now failed to pay much attention to her surroundings. She was far too cooked up in her own head, thinking about the sheer audacity Darcy had. The skitty knew nothing in the queen's eyes...and it was pointless to argue with a child.

Darcy blinked as Victoria’s tone began to shift towards one of annoyance. Truthfully, if the Skitty had been on the look-out for such a shift since the beginning, she would’ve noticed it quite some time ago. But as it was, the Tyrantrum’s frustration was only just now beginning to become apparent. She cleared her throat as the Tyrantrum spoke, hoping to butt in to provide her own counterpoints. However, Victoria either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and the Skitty was forced to remain silent throughout her absurd assertions. Not once did she call Victoria any sort of monster! She could be an amazing ruler, for all Darcy knew! But if she had that kind of image of the world, and of mon’ kind, then she had a hard time imagining it was so.

And to say nothing of her actual points! Not only was she putting words in Darcy’s mouth, but her logical points were also just plain wrong! If pokemon were fundamentally bad, and never considered the feelings of others, or the needs of others, then it stood to reason that goodness only ever existed in the big, sprawling cities like Grassveil or Rainfront! But that wasn’t true! She’d met plenty of kindly pokemon who had decided to make their homes in mystery dungeons. Crude? Sure! And maybe she wasn’t the biggest fan of some of them, like that Goro fellow, but they seemed to have good intentions! He’d helped Alki out when she’d gotten lost, and even if he wasn’t the brightest star in the sky, he’d meant well! And… Well, she was sure there were plenty more like him!

Perhaps, if she were a bit more hot-headed, Darcy would’ve spoken back in her own irritated tone. She’d never implied that Victoria was bad! Just wrong. And that much was obvious! She wasn’t wrong! Pokemon were good, and societies were just there to accentuate that goodness! Good morality and ethics were natural, and ‘evil-ness’ was borne out of circumstantial hardship… Civilizations were good because Pokemon were also good! Not in spite of it!

But… She had finally wisened up to her companion’s irritation, and such, she kept her mouth shut, for the most part. However, she couldn’t help but add her own final thoughts. “...I’m sorry about that… I was just voicing my opinions! I have a right to ‘em too, y’know… And they’re just as valid as yours!” She was entirely convinced in the truth of her words, yet again, and spoke without really considering the difference in the two pokemon’s background. Perhaps the Tyrantrum’s thoughts had more weight because… Well, she was actually leading a kingdom, but… At the same time, she couldn’t help herself! And she didn’t much appreciate the implication that she was stupid, either...

The tyrantrum wasn't exactly ready to accept any sort of apology. She would continue on her irritated and insulted path. "I agree that they are and find it insulting that you think you need to tell that to me," she growled, "It is not your opinion that I take issue with, but the implications that you place into your words and tone. You consistently ignored the cruxes I pointed out. I have a kingdom to protect. While I may have the power to make decisions and decide the fate of such rulings, I can't simply do as I please even if I were to decide that a pokemon was in need of forgiveness over punishment."

"A king and queen needs to keep the majority happy, otherwise there is unrest within the community. Then, it falls just as my father's did. The way you insist upon not punishing those implies that you assume that I'm in total agreement with his ways. The truth of the matter were that neither of them were right. It's important to have a balance. A Royal needs to show that they will not back down in the face of adversity, but still aren't...well, as most put it, total assholes."

She didn't exactly register that the skitty was trying to forfeit the argument. If anything, Darcy just ended up insulting her even more. What disrespect the little skitty showed to her with their words! She considered the kitten lucky that she knew better than to raise the argument to the next level: physical violence. She was confident that she could take the skitty in a battle, but just because she could doesn't mean she should. She was very much familiar with that concept.

“Well, you were also implying some rude things about me as well!” Darcy protested, her voice turning quite pouty all of a sudden. She wanted to put this behind her! She wasn’t the queen here, but she certainly felt like the more mature one! Truthfully, the fact the conversation had escalated as far as it had was most likely the fault of both of the parties involved. EIther one of them could have ceased talking at any given moment, but neither seemed willing to compromise. Darcy was, for a moment, but the Tyrantrum just wouldn’t stop! And she didn’t want to take it all lying down… She was a guild-member! Maybe not a queen, but she deserved some respect as well!

“Y-You’re putting words in my mouth! I wasn’t implying anything! Not that you’re a monster, o-or a bad queen, o-or evil, or… I don’t know what you think I was implying! If I may be frank, I just think you were wrong. That’s it! She said, her voice betraying her own hint of irritation. She paused for a moment, taking note of her own emotions. Her cheeks were flushed, her ears flat against her head, and her tail hung low, and motionless. “...Not to mention you’re implying I’m dumb. Or child-like... which probably means the same thing as dumb, to you. Can’t we just put this behind us?” She said, her final question sounding much more like an order than a request. Honestly, she’d forgotten all pretenses at mannerisms and courtesy; this felt more like dealing with her younger siblings than dealing with a queen, and Darcy… Well, she didn’t want to spend however long they were going to be in this cave bickering like a bunch of immature children! Both of them....

"I am not implying anything," the tyrantrum spoke a little more calmly than before, "I'm saying it."

"Though intelligence and ignorance are not one and the same," she was quick to elaborate, "It is not that you're dumb, it's that you do not yet understand the world around or...or you just choose not to." The tyrantrum didn't look back at the skitty as she spoke. Her eyes might as well have stared into space with how she was more concerned with the conversation at hand.

"And yes, we can. I would prefer it actually. It would be much nicer to have a conversation about something else, especially considering the way ahead of us is long. It's probably even going to be dull as well since the pokemon I wanted to look for likely isn't even here anymore." She wanted to get past this, but she felt the need to make her stance on this matter very clear. There was no way she was going to let this little skitty go off and tell others about how much of a cruel and wicked person she was.

An ass, however, she was fine with that.

Darcy seemed to wilt at the Tyrantrum's first words. So... She did think she was stupid...? Well... She was stuck there, now... And she didn't want to make a big deal about it, but... Was being hopeful a sign of stupidity? It wasn't some random, mean Pokemon in the street who was telling her this. It was royalty! Was she missing something...?

If she had turned to look at Skitty, she would've been met with quite the pitiful look. Everything about her seemed to be wilting, and her face wore quite a defeated frown. She rested her head on her forepaws, closing her eyes. It was... Well, it was quite hurtful for it to be said so frankly...

Of course, she picked up as soon as the Tyrantrum clarified some more. So... She didn't think she was dumb? Just... Ignorant? Well... maybe... Darcy still doubted it, of course, but she could live with that! After all, she wasn't so prideful so as to believe that she was 100% right.

"...I can live with that. I'm sorry if I was hurtful... I didn't mean to be... For what it's worth, you said it earlier, but... I don't think you're a monster. At all... I guess... I dunno. I just see the world differently." She said simply, her tone of voice much lighter than her facial expression which she still wore.


She was still a bit hurt that she hadn't managed to change the Tyrantrum's tune at all, and she was still quite convinced in her own arguments, but she was far from the kind to continue to pursue it after everything that had happened.

She nodded at the Tyrantrum's remarks, before nodding to herself. "...Well, I mean, the weather's nice, huh?" She remarked slyly, a smile beginning to re-emerge on her face at the sound of her own corny joke.

"It is very apparent that you do." The rock type decided to finish the conversation with...though then Darcy commented on the weather. It was a joke, yes, but it seemed to go a bit over the queen's head, "No, it hasn't. Not since the big idiots decided to drag the world into their little feud." The queen huffed in disdain. She assumed that the skitty would know what she spoke of. After all, an explorer should be well informed of this sort of thing, right?

"It's honestly insufferable how they're acting. The only one with their head on straight seems to be the one that dubbed itself Zygarde but even then it's ridiculous how it needs the help of simpler pokemon to gather its lackeys for it. You would think that it would do it itself." Well, at least she wasn't salty with the skitty anymore. Instead her anger and frustration was simply redirected to a different target-one that required to be rather bold and audacious to even think about criticizing.

Energy: 6

Kat carried out 6 launched of one Serene Cave :

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Darcy blinked, unsure of how to respond to the quite serious response to her little joke. She... Well, she didn't want to go through another conversation of such a serious nature so shortly after the first one! At the very least, she could hope that this one would be less personal in nature than the first one. After all, who really cared that much about the whole legendary-pokemon battle? As far as Darcy could tell, it just seemed like a bunch of sibling-esque bickering. Granted, she wasn't sure if they were actually siblings, and they were quite powerful... but still! It seemed childish...

Although... Well, Darcy couldn't say she liked Zygarde very much... All that work, just to keep things the same...? Giratina was... well, not very pleasant, that was for sure, but she couldn't help but be a bit attracted to Arceus' ideas. What was the point of so much suffering...? Her teammate was always so sad all the time... And she always seemed so intent on hurting herself with poisonous thoughts and ideas of her own creation. Her whole family was struggling to make ends meet, and were suffering because of a freak accident... She alwas saw how many outlaw missions were on the guild boards, and how many Pokemon were in need of rescuing... Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just get along? If everyone could be happy?

"I-I mean, they're all supposed to be more powerful than pokemon like us, right...? I sure do think they're probably capable of handling it by themselves..." She cleared her throat, nervous to speak her thoughts, but not quite afraid enough to remain completely silent. "But... I-I do think Zygarde's not... Well, they're about the status quo, right? Just... keeping everything the same... But the world's not perfect...  There's suffering, and greed, and that leads to hatred and fighting and... and..." She paused, taking time to recoup her thoughts. "I just think that if you took away all that greed and suffering and pain in the world... Well, it'd be a better world. And everyone would be happier... Isn't that what everyone wants, in the end? ...And... Um, isn't that what Arceus wants?"

"What Arceus describes is a slippery slope," the tyrantrum scoffed, "The only way to truly achieve peace and comfort for all is to extract them of free will, if not then weed out all of those who do wrong permanently so that they cannot disturb the peace."

"Besides, if he wanted to do such a thing, why wait until another deity is threatening to tip the balance to campaign so actively for peace and prosperity? The world the evil one describes sounds cruel and horrific, but Arceus' offer is highly suspicious to the critical eye. It's far safer to side with someone who promises to return things as they were than to risk whatever change the other two have in mind." She was quick to respond, not an ounce of hesitation behind her words. She spoke with confidence, yet with annoyance. She wanted things to go back to the way they were, so she didn't have to look upon every strange and unfamiliar face with a thick wall of caution...

Annnnd so wild feral pokemon would stop harassing her citizens and risk inflicting whatever disease they have upon them.

Darcy tilted her head, nodding softly at Victoria's words. She supposed it made sense what she said. Free will was important! For sure, but... Well, she was willing to sacrifice a bit of free will if it meant everyone was happy... And what was the harm in it, anyways? Suppose he just made everyone forget what had happened? No one would know they'd had freedom in the first place, and then everyone would be happy, and none the wiser... Ignorance was bliss, after all!

Although... The more she thought about it, the more unsettling the idea started to become. "Don't... You think it'd be nice though? If everyone were happy, and stuff? Just... keeping the world the same seems so..." The Skitty paused, searching for the right word to describe her feelings. After a few seconds of indecision, she finally settled on one. "Underwhelming. Shouldn't we be trying to improve the world? Isn't... Well, isn't that the point of it all? And I mean... If the happiness of everyone comes at the price of a bit of freedom... Isn't it worth it?"

Darcy paused, readjusting her bag once more. Had he gone too far? Maybe... Although she certainly didn't feel like she had. It just seemed like a pretty natural idea to her, and she wasn't going to shut up completely! If the queen started to show signs of irritation again, she'd drop it... Probably... But it just seemed like such a good idea, what Arceus wanted to do...

As they continued further into the cave, Darcy found the urge to ask, once more, how close they were to their destination. However, she swallowed down the words that were just on the verge of coming out, preferring instead to extend some hospitality to her travelling companion. "A-Are you hungry, by the way? We... Um, I packed some food, s-so... if you'd like some, just let me know..."

If the tyrantrum were capable of reading this skitty's mind, she'd be appalled by the kitten's thought process. It was fortunate that she weren't capable of that and very much unfortunate that Darcy decided to voice her thoughts anyways. A deep grumble rippled in her throat at the skitty's naivety.

"You might be willing to give up your free will, but what of others? How could it possibly be right to take that from them if they are unwilling to do such a thing? Are you about to steal the one thing that can't be taken? Sure, they wouldn't be able to mourn the loss, but that simply makes it all the more mortifying."

"Imagine if someone important from your life was taken from you against your will-perhaps even killed so you don't have to fear for their safety any longer. They could have stayed, but someone decided that you'd be happier and more comfortable without them. Perhaps they were a burden in some way to you-but now they're not around to be a "problem" any more. So they tell you that you should be happy. They punish you when you cry-so you're forced to pretend everything is fine simply so you can continue to exist.." The tyrantrum's voice raised in volume until it boomed throughout the cavern.

She didn't turn to look at the skitty, but instead glared at the path before her as if she imagined the skitty to be right in front of her. What the skitty said crawled under her skin. It felt as if she'd stepped in something wretched and couldn't clean it off no matter how hard she tried. It was disgusting how this cat thought.

"THAT is what that sort of world sounds like to me. Times are tough, but it's through our efforts that make it all worth it...and that all doesn't even begin to address why we were given free will in the first place if it's just going to be taken away, why Arceus is deciding now of all times to give us such promises of happiness, and why he even allowed for such miseries to exist in the first place. He can't be trusted." She snorted as she finished her tirade. It was clear that she wasn't about to be persuaded by the little feline.

"...and whatever little snack you packed isn't going to do much for me unless you're volunteering yourself to be the meal," she sneered, "even then, I don't eat marshmallows."

Darcy's ears flattened as she began to very much regret her decision to take on this mission. Or maybe she just regretted being so friendly with the queen? What did she regret, actually...? At the moment, she honestly was beginning to regret waking up... Or just opening her mouth. She should've just kept quiet and agreed. Oh dear. What was she thinking?

Sorry probably wouldn't cut it now... Darcy cleared her throat at multiple points during the Tyrantrum's rant, but she found her voice small and weak compared to the queen's growing volume. She seemed very angry... Darcy mewed to herself softly, unsure of whether to try and defend herself, or whether she ought to keep quiet. Truthfully, she was beginning to see the other mon's point. And she almost felt guilty for suggesting what she had.

But now Victoria was yelling... And she even seemed spiteful at Darcy's offer, and... Was that a threat?

Darcy's words died on her lips, and turned into a low growl, as she turned and hopped off of the Tyrantrum's back. First off, she didn't feel entirely safe on there anymore, after such a comment, and second off, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to accept the help after a threat like that! Of course, she wasn't going to yell, and she didn't want to escalate the situation... But she wasn't perfect! And she didn't want to take something like that lying down...

"W-What, do I just not taste good enough for you?" She asked, laughing softly as her paws found the ground. The Tyrantrum was significantly larger than her, but despite her abrasiveness, Darcy was fairly certain that she wouldn't actually try to kill her. And if she did, she'd be keeping an eye out! And she was... decently fast, too. "I mean, come on! I think you have a point, and I do think I agree with you now, but... Don't you think you could've made that point without the yelling? And I think you certainly could have avoided that comment about eating me."

Darcy glared up at the Tyrantrum. Despite the difference in size, she wasn't going to be scared into shutting up... She was a capable Pokemon herself, even if she wasn't a queen! And she didn't much care for the queen's attitude...

Shock and offense was dragged right into her frustration and outrage. The skitty took offense at her comment and she took offense that the skitty took offense. At this rate, it was just a cycle that was being fed again and again. Victoria felt the skitty jump off. She could hear Darcy laugh, but in a way, it felt mocking. The skitty stuttered over her words, which quite frankly annoyed Victoria as well. If the skitty was going to stand up for herself, she might as well do it with confidence and pride.

The tyrantrum stopped. She turned her head to look down at the kitten with a single large eye and spoke with a voice notably quieter and far more politely strained than before, "I said, "I don't eat marshmallows." not that you don't taste good. I don't eat innocents, even if they are getting on my nerves. I was also not shouting. You haven't even heard a part of my shouting voice. If you had, you wouldn't be here-and don't you dare twist that into me trying to imply that you'd cower. You would be physically unable to remain where you are."

Darcy continued to stare rebelliously up at the Tyrantrum for a few seconds. She was far from convinced. Was the idea not the same either way. Saying she didn't eat marshmallows still implied that Victoria could if she wanted to, and Darcy was pretty convinced that her intention had been to remind the Skitty of the fact. The feline slowed her pace, so she'd end up slightly behind the Tyrantrum. As much as she'd love to be friendly and forgive everything, she WAS still partaking in a mission, and she was still interested in remaining very much uneaten...

Darcy growled softly to herself, unimpressed with the Tyrantrum's words. Why continue her anger though? She was still offended, but if she held on to that, she was bound to just make the whole situation much, much worse. The Skitty finally looked away, hoping to defuse the situation.

"I dunno. I'm stronger than you think I am." She said softly. If the Tyrantrum yelled at her, she could probably... Not get blown away by it, or whatever Victoria was implying would happen. But why argue that? Better to not give Victoria a reason to yell at her, even if it would let Darcy prove her wrong. She had to be the bigger 'Mon! ... Figuratively speaking.

"... I'm sorry to get upset. It's unlike me. I do think I agree with you, though. I just haven't given the whole Arceus thing that much thought... You have good points." She finally said. She didn't really see too much need for her to apologize, nor did she think the queen was about to, but she was willing to swallow her price to keep this civil. And the latter part was true... The more she thought about it, the more she found herself agreeing with Victoria...

"I've moved golem with my voice," came Victoria's retort, "If they can't stand against it, you certainly couldn't. If you'd like to try, then be my guest." The reality of it was that Victoria had absolutely no intention of threatening the little skitty. If anything, she was mocking the skitty's common sense. The meal was far too minuscule for a pokemon of her size, it should have been clear to the feline in her eyes. There was no way she actually expected the skitty to accept her challenge-especially since to her it was clearly unwinnable. Roar as an attack blasted any pokemon away-only specific circumstances could weight them down.

A small "Hmph" sounded from her throat, "While I accept and appreciate your apology, there is no need to be sorry for for something you're passionate about...what you should be sorry for is that stutter and uncertainty. You fought so hard for your argument when you were either fearful of your opponent or uncertain of your own side. Do not attempt to fight with such ferocity when you can't stand your ground or if you doubt your argument. It makes you look like the fool."