Why Are These Trees Fabulous?

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This dungeon talked a lot of crap for being in Osiris' backyard.

A tiny, cerulean noodle slithered through the tall grass of Shadowhue Forest, eyes squinty and mistrusting. This dratini liked to think he'd been around the block a few times, but when running through his mental resume of being an awesome dude, he realized he hadn't quite explored the depths of Shadowhue yet. He hadn't really explored any of the dungeons close to Grassveil, and while Pecha was excusable because that was boring and for little kids, this place was supposed to be different.

So. It was on. As part of his new resolution to get his act together, get strong and powerful and skilled, and defend his friends and help them out of the awful situations they'd found themselves in, he was going to climb the ladder. He'd start with this dungeon and work his way up to the biggest and baddest of them, and then he'd swoop back into their lives like a superhero and fix everything.

For now, he merely pasted on a determined expression, fastened his satchel to himself, and slithered into the depths of the gloomy forest. The dragon-type's eyes were peeled for interesting matchups and discoveries.

43 - 10 (entry cost): 33 energy

”Not really,” Osiris sheepishly answered, thinking about his own moveset. It had improved a lot since he’d started adventuring and started learning new things, but… ”The only ‘trick’ I have is Thunder Wave, which I used earlier to light up the tunnel. It’s really handy if I can pull it off—it slows things down and sometimes it locks them up completely—but that’s all I bring to the table as far as, er, utility, I guess. Everything else I know is just ways to hit things.” he admitted ruefully.

”I can move really, really fast with Extremespeed, though, and that’s saved my bacon a bunch of times. It’s useful,” The dratini chewed on the inside of his cheek while he thought, trying to put some kind of strategy together for their probable upcoming fight. ”If we get the jump on him, maybe I can rush up real quick and hit it with a Thunder Wave. We’d have the upper hand right at the start that way… Maybe that’ll spook it enough so that your Roar can drive it off, and that’d just be the end of it?”

Their goal wasn’t so much to beat down the honchkrow so much as it was to just get into the Prism Hollow place. Robin could get in, take whatever notes or do whatever research she was here for, and then they could get out before the honckrow could shake off the paralysis and intimidation.

19 energy + 1 (new page): 20 energy

the sunset hero carried out 10 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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Hey, at least he had different ways of hitting things. That was more than Robin could say. "Sounds like a plan." She agreed. It would be nice if they could win the day without fighting too hard - for her personal taste, she'd done more than enough of that for one day. She wasn't sure how well it would work, though... she wasn't exactly intimidating. Wait, actually- "Hey, I know I don't look very scary, so what if I stayed in the bushes?" She suggested. "So that way, it wouldn't see me, just hear my voice."

Granted, her voice wasn't exactly very frightening, either. But showing her face definitely wasn't going to help. Still, after strategizing a bit, she had to admit, she felt like they had decent enough odds. "And if that doesn't work, I'll probably try to keep out of range, so I can attack it with Powder Snow and chip away with hail. I'll also be trying to put it to sleep. Maybe that will be more feasible once it's paralyzed..." She tilted her head. Battles weren't her strong suit, but strategizing for them wasn't so bad. She felt oddly optimistic, even.

Her face lit up at a flash of color up ahead. It was hard to tell through the shadows, but up ahead... was that a streak of ice blue in the bark? Right, she couldn't get overconfident. They were close, but they had one more battle to get through. "Almost there! I'm ready when you are, Iris."

Robin's Energy: 2
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Venusian carried out 2 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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”Ooh, that’s a nice touch,” the dratini murmured appreciatively, trying to imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of that idea. Sudden paralyzation followed by a mysterious voice screaming at you to get the heck out of dodge would be pretty spooky, especially when the noodle that just tagged you clearly wasn’t doing the roaring. ”Yeah, that’s a good idea. You can stay way out of its range and pepper it with all that stuff and I’ll try to keep it locked down where it’s at.” Osiris agreed, excitement and hope blooming up within him. He almost felt bad for the big bad bird… almost.

He spotted the irregularity in one of the nearby trees when she did and came to the same conclusion. They were about to get to the bottom of this mystery one way or another. ”Let’s do this,” he exclaimed, a lively grin on his face. Osiris took point, slithering in front of Robin a ways and keeping his eyes peeled for any movement in his field of view.

This streak of the forest was curiously—or not so curiously, considering how this honchkrow spent its time—empty, however, leaving only the dratini and the vulpix trotting around in search of trouble and rainbows. Every so often, Osiris heard the flapping of wings and caught a flash of movement above, but every time it was a false alarm. A noctowl migrated south, passing over them from far overhead, and a ninjask and a shedinja crossed its path moments later, heading in the opposite direction together. He even spotted the red and black spots of a ledian on the move, but it was moving very much away from where he and Robin were heading… for obvious reasons, in hindsight.

No honchkrow in sight, however. A bit of unease trickled into him, but he squashed it. It’d take even a vigilant flying-type some time to notice intruders in its territory. Maybe they should help it out. ”How ‘bout I try calling it out while you hide?” he turned and suggested, keeping his voice low this time around. It wouldn’t do for them to be caught flat-footed, so to speak.

She had to admit, this plan was starting to sound pretty solid. She actually felt... almost confident. Now, that was a rare treat. She nodded quietly in response, slinking into the undergrowth and fighting her way through the deepest bushes she could find. "Sounds good. I'm ready when you are." Answered the muffled voice from the bushes, finding the shadiest spot she could to try and hide her fluffy white fur, pushing past the burrs and thorns that tugged at her. If even the feral pokemon were avoiding this place, this must be the Honchkrow's territory. Perhaps even it's nest? That would explain why it was so defensive over this place...

... unless it was simply being greedy, and hoarding what it saw as a pretty place to itself. With the grim rumors that flocked around such a pokemon, perhaps that wasn't impossible, either. She filed it away to think about later. She swallowed hard, gathering all her courage as she waited for the bird pokemon to make it's appearance.

Now, she just had to figure out how to sound frightening. Something dire, something personal... if the bird would even be able to understand her speech. Maybe a show of force would be a better approach? That, at least, was a universal language.

Osiris slithered around in a wide circle in the clearing, waiting for Robin to get situated before he made his move. Once he got the signal from her, he nodded resolutely. ”Okay,” the wyrm mumbled half-to-himself, gathering every bit of courage and spunk he had for their upcoming stunt. They were ready and they even had a plan—all they had to do was go through the steps.

The dratini sucked in a great breath, cheeks bulging with air as he held it for a second. Then it all came out in an explosive challenge. ”HEEEYY!!” Osiris hollered to the heavens, his head stretched outwards as he watched for any sign of an approaching flier. ”Come on OUT, you BIG STUPID FEATHERBUTT!! We’re here to TAKE OVER!!” His shout seemed to echo through the treetops, crushing the absolute silence that had reigned before. Doubtlessly, if the honchkrow was anywhere close by, his voice carried far enough to reach it.

An outraged shriek was the answer they were given. The deafening caw sounded off to the west of the duo, causing Osiris’ head to whip around in response. Faintly, the rapid beating of wings signaling a takeoff could be heard following the response, and that was as obvious as it could get to him. It was going down.

The dratini faced west, eyes peeled and totally focused. Aside from its initial ascent, the honchkrow’s flight seemed soundless, but he didn’t think it would take the long way to address any challengers. ”Here it comes, here it comes…” he chanted, overwhelmed with frantic energy and an absolute need to do something. As soon as he saw it burst through the trees, he was charging.

The hail kicked up again in response to Robin's fight or flight instinct, though an amused flicker of a smile crossed her face in response to Osiris' taunt. She kept her head down, but didn't shy away from rustling the bushes. It wasn't so bad if the crow knew she was here, as long as it didn't learn what she was. Snow began to stir into existence, gathering on the trees, the branches, the leafs. She idly hoped that she didn't damage this place... she couldn't imagine that Windrose would be pleased with her, if that happened. At least she could lie and say it was like this when she got here?

Avoiding damage at all was ideal, though, as she was broken out of her thoughts by the beating of wings. It dipped higher into the air to avoid his charge before swooping back down, trying to grab the little wyrm in it's talons. She knew she was supposed to wait until it was paralyzed, but it was still an anxiety-inducing sight, and she was ready to jump into the fray if it looked like the dragon was in trouble.

She fought against her instincts, and forced herself to wait instead of running, channeling her restlessness into her Powder Snow attack. She couldn't get hasty, as anxious as it made her to see the enemy Honchkrow with it's talons bared towards Osiris, outstretched and almost hungry. He could handle himself, after all, better than Robin could. She just had to focus and wait for her chance.

The honchkrow grew bigger and bigger in Osiris’ view, until suddenly with a twist of feathers and a gust of wind it was simply gone, and he crashed into the soil in a rough landing. The wyrm was up in an instant, head aimed at the sky as he tried to pinpoint the bird pokemon that just juked the heck out of him. He spotted it just in time to duck a pair of outstretched talons aimed for his neck, scrambling to the ground in a hasty dodge.

By the time he’d pulled himself up to lash out at the honchkrow, though, it’d taken to the air and the prospect of attacking it seemed like one heck of a risk. If he missed, he was airborne and practically bird food. Osiris aborted the action, coiling up defensively on the ground as he prepared to dodge its next attempt. The honchkrow rose up high in the air, circled and dove, beating a direct path toward him—

Until a strong blast of wind and snow crashed into the unsuspecting bird from the side, and Osiris’ face lit up with a grin. It wasn’t according to the plan, but heck if it didn’t feel good to make progress! ”Gotcha!” he sang, taking credit for the attack. It was just a little bluff, but there was a chance the bird would buy it and assume he was responsible for the ice-type move, as opposed to Robin who was hiding nearby.

It was a sudden interruption, but it was also the best shot he had at the dark-type since it showed up. Osiris slammed down against the dirt hard, blasting himself off into the air with Extremespeed right after their enemy took the ice-type attack. It was dazed by the surprise hit, but not incredibly hurt, judging by how quickly it noticed him leap up after it.

The dratini’s tail crackled with electricity as he did everything in his power to twist mid-air, spotting dark, slashing talons aimed for his… everything, really. It wasn’t enough though, as when he met the honchkrow mid-air its left talon dug deeply into his side, effortlessly tearing through his scales’ defenses and rending a bloody gash down his serpentine length. In that instant of contact, Osiris instinctively let his thunder-wave loose, static electricity sparking in the air as it surged out of him.

Judging from the surprised squawk he heard as he fell to the ground, it was a successful gamble—even if he took a nasty Night Slash in return. The dratini landed hard, wincing from the impact and pain. The honchkrow, meanwhile, flapped haphazardly as it tried and almost failed to regain its bearings mid-air, movements visibly slow and jerky… it was a wide-open target.

It was an anxiety-inducing sight, no doubt, and she couldn't resist the temptation to batter it with snow and hail. It chafed too much against her instincts to do nothing. She shifted in place as Osiris dueled the bird, unable to find a comfortable place to put her paws. If the honchkrow didn't know she existed yet, there was a fair chance it would assume that Osiris was the guilty party. It depended on how smart it was, she supposed. It was tricky to tell whether it understood speech, or if it just responded to a loud noise in it's clearing. It was definitely angry, either way.

Focus. She saw her chance, rustling the bushes around her in a gambit to make herself seem bigger than she was, a faint growl escaping her muzzle. She should have thought harder about this part. What could she say? She forced her voice to grow low and scratchy, a guttural croak that ripped at her throat, sounding more like a demon than a little fox. Another blast of snow slammed straight into it as it struggled to fly, nearly ripping the honchkrow out of the air.

"Mine." Came the guttural croak. Ow. That voice hurt. It broke on random syllables, unable to quite keep her voice solid. It took some amount of effort just to get through a sentence. "EvERYthing in this world is mine." Ow. Ow. She hoped it paid off, because this was not a voice she was looking forward to using again. "I'M takING your territoRY. And if you don't MOVE, I'm TAKing your life."

She desperately needed lessons on how to act scary, because as it stood, she just felt ridiculous. More like a monster from a child's story than anything. She was trying too hard, but what else could she say? Not to mention her voice chords burned... she wasn't sure whether it would be better or worse if it couldn't understand speech. Still, there was no going back now. Iris would be disappointed if she didn't even try to live up to her end up the plan.

She reached deep and found the willpower to unleash a horrible, guttural roar, accompanied by a fresh sheet of snow that whipped at the enemy Pokemon, gathering on it's feathers and wings.

Bewildered, confused, and paralyzed as the honchkrow was, Robin’s cryptic unseen warnings seemed to exacerbate all of its sudden concerns. The bird had just righted itself mid-air from her second attack, trying and failing to whirl around to spot the mystery attacker. It seized up mid-movement though, body locking up awkwardly, and from where he lay on the ground Osiris could see faint sparks of electricity around the creature.

The alolan-vulpix’s words echoed ominously around them, theatrical but still scary—Osiris remembered where she was in relation to him, but with the raging hailstorm around them, he’d have trouble picking her out. In his opinion, the marauding flying-type stood little chance of locating her even disregarding its litany of problems. The bird seemed to come to a similar conclusion, beating its wings forcefully for another takeoff.

It wasn’t meant to be, however. Robin’s roar rushed across the clearing and slammed into the honchkrow like a physical thing, a vengeful, ghastly gust of wind and snow enveloping it and carrying it bodily into a tree, even pushing it up against it for another few seconds before the force relaxed. Their enemy collapsed bonelessly to the ground, chest heaving rapidly in panic and stress. It didn’t even cast another glance at the dratini, lain on the ground injured as he was, before it pushed itself to its feet and staggered away, taking a few moments to gather the strength to run. It even abandoned the notion of flight, as every time it’d tried since it was paralyzed Robin had punished it for the attempt.

Osiris’ grin blossomed into an ecstatic smile, joyous triumph bringing with it a second wind that let him push up off the ground. ”Aaand stay out!” he called after the fleeing pokemon, voice chipper and thrumming with excitement and adrenaline. ”Ha ha! The Hyper Bandits of Shadow send their regards, jerkface!!” he hooted and hollered as it disappeared into the depths of the dark forest, shamed and defeated.

That left him seemingly alone the clearing, with only falling chunks of hail and a whirlwind of snow to accompany him, but Robin was nestled in one of these bushes. Osiris glanced between them, waiting for her to poke her head out, pride in their conquest evident in his expression and posture despite the bloody gash carved into his side.

Robin poked her head out of the bushes, laughing weakly and all but collapsing in relief. "I-I can't believe that worked." She said, her voice hoarse from strain. It was worth it, despite the burning in her throat. Seeing it scramble off like that after hurting Osiris... she'd be lying if she said it wasn't satisfying. Her weak laughter was cut off by her sore throat. She could hardly talk, and dear Arceus, she could go for some water. "That was perfect, Osiris. Thank-" Her voice broke again, and Robin coughed, looking up at the dragon a bit sheepishly.

"Thank you. I couldn't have made it here without you." Slowly, then, the hail began to clear, the leftover snow glistening as it melted away in the sunlight. Maybe those kids could even play here now... that was a nice thought, to Robin. A place like this shouldn't be hoarded to any one pokemon, so she thought. The last of the hail sputtered out to the ground, leaving the skies finally clear, a fresh burst of sunlight breaking out across the clearing.

It really was like nothing Robin had ever seen. The scrap of bark in her bag was a pathetic comparison. They towered far over her head, dwarfing the little Vulpix as she stared up at the trees. They were streaked in colors she had never before seen in nature, not like this, overlapping dark blues and warm oranges, a bold red, a leaf green, an icy blue...

"This is amazing." Robin murmured, the words drawn from her muzzle without her command. She bounced back towards Osiris, a silly smile etched across her face, dipping her head in a deep bow to the little dragon. "Thank you, Osiris!" She echoed again, a bright, pure joy in her voice. What else could she really say? If her voice hadn't given out, and it wasn't still so scratchy and dull, she would have said it again, a dozen times over.

Oh, there was so much she had to collect- She should grab leaf samples, definitely. Sure, the leaves weren't anything special, but the fact that they were from something special sort of made them special by extension, right? She turned around a fallen branch in her mouth, giving up and deciding to carry the whole thing with her. She wasn't going to be doing much talking with her voice like this, anyways.

She all but bounced back to Osiris, a comically large branch still in her mouth, blue eyes practically sparkling.

It was captivating, in a way, seeing Robin light up as she did. As a smile blossomed on her face, so did too the forest around them, hail dying out as the sun shined down on the now dewy forest floor. Surrounded by melted snow, wet treetops lined with icy branches, with the incredible visage of vibrant and colorful trees behind her, the sight of the vulpix struck an intimidating kind of admiration in Osiris. This was why he should be doing these kinds of things—to help good people like her, who really deserved it.

The smile on his face persisted, refusing to diminish as he watched his friend turn on a dime to collect a… sample for her research, it seemed. Turning back to him excitedly with an entire branch in her mouth, she looked kind of like a happy growlithe with a bone. ”Aw, noo~” he feigned modesty, but was audibly and visibly pleased with the praise. It felt great to be recognized for his efforts for a change of pace. ”I just tagged along, mostly. You did all the investigating and stuff. And you did great just now.

“I’ve never seen someone Roar like that before. And I mean, wow, the ice-shower really sold it. I knew you were around, but between all the ice and snow and wind, I had to wonder for a second if someone else swooped by to take us all out.” he giggled, overcome with a little bit of admiration for his ally’s performance. ”It’s a pretty extraordinary trick, your hailstorm.” Iris admitted. He certainly had nothing like it. With a thought, she could manipulate the weather around her to suit her strengths as an ice-type—the best assets he could acquire after long weeks of practice, study, and training were decidedly less awe-inspiring.

The dratini rose up and shook the stiffness out of himself, mindful of the long cut on his side. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be low enough to chafe against the ground as he slithered. ”If you ever want me to tag along out here again… or just any other kind of trip like this, just lemme know, yeah?” Osiris offered, going out on a limb. He’d thought he was too tough for Shadowhue, but one little errand for a stray vulpix had taught him otherwise. More of this would be good for him. ”I really like this kind of stuff, and it’s crazy easy getting along with you.” the wyrm finished, voice a little hushed towards the end as if he was embarrassed admitting as much.

She couldn’t respond with a branch in her mouth though, so he thought it was pretty safe to put out.

Even if he playfully downplayed his own role in their little adventure, the Dratini was clearly pleased with himself, and rightfully so. She certainly would've been chased out of the forest on her own, or perhaps met a more violent end. While the thought didn't scare her as much as she suspected it was supposed to, she still owed her success to the little wyrm. And the clearing here was beautiful, well worth the effort to reach. She was still ecstatic that it was real, filling her with a rare, almost childish sense of wonder that she had long since forgotten.

She was practically glowing herself as Osiris complimented her, scraping her paw on the ground. She was usually praised on how helpful she was, how easy to get along with, if anything at all. Certainly not her battle prowess. She didn't know how to answer that, but at least the branch she was carrying gave her a convenient excuse, a grateful smile flickering across her lips.

It's a pretty extraordinary trick, your hailstorm.

She almost dropped her 'sample', at that, a slight tilt of her head and widening of her eyes betraying her surprise. He didn't know the damage it could do, didn't know the chaos it could wreck if she let her focus slip and gave it half an opportunity. She'd even battered Osiris with it, when they'd first met. Surely he couldn't mean that. It was... a nice thought, though, and one that she could believe, for a moment, that just once it had been put to use for good.

"Fhamks." She managed. It was genuine, if a bit sheepish. "Nho, wreally, I-" Oh, this was hopeless. At the end of Osiris' little speech, she dropped the branch for a moment. After a moment of fumbling, she managed to sling it along the strap of her bag. It was still extremely unwieldy, now jutting out awkwardly in front of the Vulpix. She wasn't sure if this was better or worse, but at least she could speak now.

"... no one's ever said I'm good in a fight before." She admitted after a moment, her smile shifting into something a bit melancholy. It was a half-truth. Sure, she'd been reassured that it was okay, that she couldn't help it - but no one had complimented her on her uncontrollable hailstorms before. She wasn't entirely sure how to process it, truth be told, and it was easy enough to tell that she was thrown off balance, unable to find a comfortable place to put her paws.

... he wouldn't have offered to go exploring again if he didn't want to, right? A faint smile flickered across her face, looking over at the injured Dratini. "... I appreciate your help today very much." She finished, her voice falling, peaceful and quiet. "... I think I might take you up on that, if you'd like. There are always more rumors popping up, and it's such a lucky thing when they're true. Thank you, Osiris. I'm so glad that I could see this place." She could tell he was a bit embarrassed to admit she was easy to get along with, and Robin decided to let that part rest, for both their sakes.

Just this once, she wouldn't let it dampen her spirits.

Osiris' heart skipped a beat when his companion elected to drop the branch in her mouth. So much for it being safe to say he thought she was cool. But no, it turned out all the vulpix wanted to say was... well, "thank you." She had said it a second ago, but when she coupled it with agreeing to ask him out on another adventure, it seemed a lot more potent. The smile on his face brightened, and he felt grateful to have found someone as awesome as Robin in a place like this. "Me too," the dratini echoed. "I thought maybe it'd be a little lame when you spelled it out for me, but this is actually... really pretty, heh." Osiris admitted, taking a moment to survey their surroundings. He might have to come out here again sometime. Maybe Geo would like it.

He exhaled calmly, tension and adrenaline fading from him now that all the conflict was over for the day. And you know, it's true. About you being good in a fight," he said afterward. "That big bird would've been a big problem for me, but you ran it off like nothing. You fight smart." the dratini went on, much more comfortable talking about the battle rather than icky things like budding friendship and feelings. He wondered at that comment she made; had Robin never fought side-by-side with someone else before? He felt like anybody would have to take note of how good she was, but maybe she'd just paired up with jerks until now. There were enough of them in the world for that to be possible. She deserved to know how talented she was, though.

The dragon-type wyrm lowered himself to the ground and stretched out a bit, ignoring the strained pain in his side in favor of working out kinks and stress. It was gonna be a long trek home, probably. "I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I live right around the corner in Grassveil. I'll give you my address when we make it out of here—just swing by next time you want me to come out with you, yeah?" the dratini finished. As much as it was probably time to get a move on, he didn't quite want to leave the rainbow grove quite yet. Instead, he slithered up to the edge of the tree line and waited for Robin, content to let her set the pace for the walk out of the dungeon.

"Heh... it does sound kind of silly when you spell it out, huh?" She admitted, but the confession did little to lower her mood. She wished that she had some way to draw a picture of this place, but she was the polar opposite of an artist. Maybe she could bring Alki here someday. Hopefully it would be more relaxing than their first adventure... it shouldn't be so stressful now that she knew where this place was, so she hoped. Maybe she could even save it as a surprise for her. "I'm glad it was worth it, though." She truly, honestly was.

... the Dratini's words threw her for a loop. To be honest, she was confused. Moreso by the fact that she... couldn't actually deny it. That Honchkrow had left a nasty slash on the little dragon; if she hadn't been there to scare if off, he might have been in trouble. Even a broken clock was right twice a day, she supposed. Besides, it felt good to be useful. Even better to be appreciated. "That's very kind of you to say." She echoed again, a bit surprised that she was actually starting to believe it. Maybe she could fight decently, sometimes. She'd been helpful this time, at least, and maybe that was something worth being proud of.

"But, yes. If you'd like to go exploring again, I'd like that." She set a leisurely pace back towards Grassveil, her voice unusually serene. "I'd like that quite a lot." She would have said such a thing regardless of whether she meant it or not - but she did, this time. Wasn't that a bit unusual? She would like to explore with this little dragon again. It would be worthwhile. Who knew?

It might even be fun.

"I'll be waitin' then!" Osiris chirped back, following the vulpix with a hearty grin. "Anytime you need some muscle for some more investigating or anything like that—or even if you wanna go spelunking for fun! I'm your guy." the dratini affirmed, already looking forward to their next outing.

The expedition didn't go like he expected, at all. He thought he was going to come into this dungeon, smack everything aside and explore every nook and cranny before coming to the realization he'd outgrown the domestic dungeon. On the contrary, he'd found the most unique-looking vulpix he'd ever seen and gone on a harrowing adventure that almost rivaled his and Kiba's disastrous outing in Everspring. The dratini was given a healthy dose of humbleness and rewarded with someone who, in his opinion, was going to be a pretty awesome friend.

Not a bad day, all in all. He resolved to stick around home a bit more; there was more good fortune to be found.