Ice, Ice, Babies

First topic message reminder :

The last time Osiris had been in this neck of the woods (hue), he'd found himself scrambling desperately for survival while a big feathery rock bird beat up a giant shellfish thing. That was before his great pilgrimage of self-betterment, though, and now that he was fresh off of getting his tail kicked by every other dungeon between here and Grassveil, Osiris thought he could turn the tables on his enemy today. His enemy, of course, being... snow? Winter? The Icy Lands in general? He wasn't sure, but he was definitely here to kick some butt and maybe find some nanners.

The dratini had prepared himself adequately for the task, in his own unbiased opinion. Wrapped around him like a great fuzzy burrito was a durable, high-quality, and expensive winter cloak to protect against the cold. Hitched to his neck by a strap was his sturdy and reliable satchel, packed to the brim with all manners of orbs, berries, seeds, and other fail safes in case he found himself face to face with something that both could and would slurp him up like a noodle. The dragon worm was the picture of determination and immature earnestness as he slithered through the deep snow of Icicle Woods, leaving a very obvious trail behind him.

Now if only he could find some interesting matchups - he was here to practice, learn, and conquer.

50 - 20 energy (entry): 30 energy

He'd manuevered the cryogonal a bit closer to the ground—not quite within striking distance of Maxie, but perhaps she could make it work if she got creative. Osiris hurriedly glanced at the mawile, momentarily puzzled at why she was making no move to contribute. Then it occurred to him that she was actually letting him fight on his own, and he was suddenly struck with a surge of gratitude. Also, a shard of piercing ice that grazed against his side and rended through his scales, but the gratitude felt more important.

The dratini winced and resumed his strafing, focusing his attention on the ice-type. It was the first time in a while, but Osiris was with someone who wasn't treating him like... well, a kid. She was letting him do his own thing, and it had been a while since he got to do that. Osiris grinned and decided that was quite enough observing; this thing had ice shards, ice chains, icy winds... it had ice, pretty much. He could deal with that. Snow, grass, and dirt exploded all around the dratini—or rather, where the dratini had been an instant earlier. After another burst of extremespeed, he suddenly found himself in the cryogonal's glowing, strange looking face, almost hidden behind its snowflake body. There was no sign of surprise or urgency there, and it kind of weirded him out.

Not enough to pull his punch, though. In one smooth rotation, Osiris spun horizontally mid-air and brought his bright flashing tail swinging around. The dragon tail smashed into the side of his opponent, and he winced only momentarily before the force of his blow sent his target flying bodily away from him, crashing into a nearby tree. While Osiris fell to the ground with another soft whump in the snow, the cryogonal nearly hit the ground as well, only just managing to catch itself before it hit the ground.

It levitated in place for another long moment before the first trace of emotion leaked through. Its gaze flickered between Osiris, who was not proving to be easy prey despite his typing and size, and Maxie, who had shattered one of its chains and now stood resolutely on the sidelines ready to interfere. Then it fled. Osiris blinked at the cryogonal almost literally turned tail and floated upwards and away, nearly disappearing into the hanging icicles and heavy leafage of the treetops.

As anticlimactic as it was, Osiris figured it made some amount of sense. Not everybody was willing to fight to the death over a small snack. He sighed as the tension left him and he relaxed in the snow, frowning down at the tear in his cloak and side. "I don't think I like this place," he offered into the silence, gauging how much this was going to cost to fix.

Maxie: [Energy: 0 + 1 (Page) + 7 (Big Apple) = 1]
==================================================
Maxie watched as the Ice-type seemed to flee. She was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to get to participate in this fight. She turned to Osiris when he started speaking. ”I haven’t yet decided if it’s better or worse than the desert,” she replied. She turned her attention back to the remaining items on the floor—the ones that wouldn’t have been helpful in the fight—and started tossing them into her bag.

”If you’re willing to take some small criticisms,” she started, although her tone wasn’t particularly critical itself. ”You let yourself get distracted a few times there. In a battle, you need to be able to correctly balance your attention on three things: Your opponent, your surroundings, and your allies. You need to be able to prioritize which is the most vital at a given time. If you can’t, you’ll put yourself at a disadvantage.”

She was falling into teacher mode, reiterating lessons she had learned from others, from experience, and from book; but mostly from books. She grew up in a relatively peaceful place, so there wasn’t much in-depth teachings on combat, besides the basics of what every mawile should be taught from their parents. She was also relatively new to all of this, so most of what she knew was from books written by old explorers or other such types.

”If you’re too focused on the opponent, they might back you into a corner—or worse. If you focus too much on your ally’s fight, you might get blind-sided.” She withdrew an apple from her bag, and took a bite. Betwen chews, she added ”That all said, you did pretty good. Good work.”
==================================================
Maxie used x1 Big Apple (+7 Energy)
Maxie’s rolls:

Badger carried out 8 launched of one Icicle Woods :

, , , , , , ,

This was... probably the first time Osiris could remember that someone gave him actual constructive criticism. Aside from his classes at Peak anyway, which were so few and far between that they barely counted.

He remembered asking Kiba's mom the secret to getting strong and ways to get better as a fighter, but the essence of what she'd told him was "fight like you're going to die if you lose because you probably will," and "remember how angry you are that you're weak and don't let go of it, it's good motivation." That had been great and all, but not exactly what he was looking for. Which was kind of this—things he could take notes on and improve upon as he was working out in mystery dungeons.

The dratini was tickled pink by the gesture. "Aw, thanks," he murmured, a wide smile blossoming on his face. It was potent enough that he stopped noticing the burning sting in his side for a moment. "The Battling teacher at Peak says pretty similar stuff, but it's kinda hard to get the right, uh, balance of it. Most of the people I've run through dungeons with are really out of place in there, like too strong or too weak. It makes it tough to get it right over and over." he explained, thinking of Acro and Kiba. Partnering up with the same pokemon consistently would probably fix that problem in quick time, but that was just a pipe dream at this point.

The thought of questioning her credibility as an instructor didn't even cross his mind; she was already a guild member, after all, and he wasn't. That was all it took for him. Osiris followed her lead and nosed his tail into his satchel, fishing around for something to heal up the cut on his side.

+2 energy (2 new pages)

the sunset hero carried out 2 launched of one Icicle Woods :

,

Maxie: [Energy: 8 - lots = 0]
==================================================
The mawile nodded in response. ”I can imagine. Having a proper team backing you up would probably help out with that. Together, a team can develop strategies for all sorts of different scenarios,” she was clearly interested in the idea of team strategies. About as interested as she was in having Osiris join her team. Sure, she had only seen him in a single fight, and it didn’t go on for very long—but that was a good thing, right? He’d won a fight against a Pokemon he was at a disadvantage with.

And he was fast, competent, confident… And maybe she was a little more desperate to put together a team than she wanted to think she was. But it wasn’t just that; watching Osiris had given her a little bit more motivation to do so. And he took her criticism and advice like a champ. Yes, she had decided she wanted him on her team.

Maxie tossed the remainder of the big apple—which was most of it—over her shoulder. The massive jaws behind her snatched it out of the air immediately, and the apple disappeared after only a few quick munching motions. ”Join my team.” It was a request, even though it was phrased more like a demand.

After so many adventures where things went horrifically wrong all the time, it felt kind of great to not just win a fight, but be able to talk about it casually with someone he could get along with. Osiris nodded along as Maxie spoke, taking her words in stride. Of course, she offered the best and simplest solution to his little conundrum. He'd love to follow her advice, but finding a proper team was a lot harder than it was made out to be.

Fishing out a reviver seed from his pack (probably overkill considering that he wasn't super injured, but what else were they for?), Osiris popped it into his mouth and made to respond. It was a little rude talking with his mouth full, but it wasn't like his mom was around to see. "Hehe, yeah, I've had the same thought from time to time, but—eughwhattflghk" he cut himself off, choking noisily on the medicine he just consumed. The dratini trailed off into a coughing fit, brain grinding to a halt as he processed what exactly Maxie said.

It took him a few moments to master himself, but eventually, he looked up at her with a strained, surprised expression and cleared his throat. "Sorry, did you just—did I hear you right—you want me to join your team?" he prompted, his voice thick with shock and even a little bit of panic. "Not that I'm not grateful, or, uh, not that I'm not willing, but... really?" For all his life, he'd put the guild on a pedestal and made joining it one day a goal of his... and to have it dangled in front of his face so suddenly was a lot to handle. Even if it was what he was specifically aiming for.

+51 energy (Reviver Seed)

the sunset hero carried out 8 launched of one Icicle Woods :

, , , , , , ,

Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
Maxie was legitimately concerned for the dratini when he suddenly started choking. She was afraid she was going to have to dislodge the seed for a moment—which she wasn’t entirely sure how to do, hence the being afraid. Fortunately she was spared the trial, as the noodle seemed to finally collect himself. He seemed unsure if she was sure. She was pretty sure. She wouldn’t have offered if she wasn’t at least mostly sure.

”Yeah,” she replied, nonchalantly. ”You want to join the guild, I need a team. You’re pretty strong, and I can cover your weaknesses. It’s a win-win. And maybe if you have any friends that are as good as you who are also interested in joining, maybe you could introduce them to me. My friends…” Friend, really. ”Aren’t particularly interested in joining.” Honestly, she didn’t know what Mocha was really interested in. Except maybe on thing…

”So, can I take ‘eughwhattflghk’ as agreement?”

Maxie's explanation of her offer wasn't just reasonably sound, it was also really dang appealing. It hadn't occurred to him before, but as a steel-type, the mawile stood in a really good position to help him deal with any and all ice-types he came across... which was the exact reason why he came out to this dungeon in the first place. He'd arrived looking for experience in a bad matchup, but it seemed like he was going to leave with a new partner suited to his needs as a dragon!

His shock instantly evaporated, replaced by intense cheer and vibrancy. "I... yeah! Yeah, absolutely! I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of hoping I could impress you so you could at least float my name around to any teams interested in a new member," The dratini responded enthusiastically, his pleasure at the good news somewhat loosening his lips. "But this is even better!" he finished, nodding his acceptance hard enough that his head might come off.

She even extended the offer to any friends he had, which was good because he had one in mind. Maybe two—Osiris wasn't sure if sentient weapons counted as team members or not. "There is one person I know; I was gonna ask her to join up with me when I got a team together, but it's been a while since I've met up with her..." he trailed off, appearing pensive for a moment. "Her name's Geo, and me and her ran through Shadowhue a while ago together. She's pretty good. She's a sylveon, I think, already evolved and everything." the dratini pitched. If she had gotten stronger as fast as he had since their last meeting, then doubtless, Geo was a force to be reckoned with today.  

Osiris of Team Tenacity. It had a really good ring to it, he thought.

45 energy

Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
That was easy. Of course, she didn’t expect it to be too difficult. In her (very limited; that is, a sample size of two) experience, those who demonstrated interest in joining the guild would jump at the opportunity to do so when offered the chance. It was also becoming apparent that a fair few people thought joining the Guild required more than it really did. Maybe they needed to start a marketing campaign…

She withdrew her journal from her bag—she had obtained a journal since her last expedition—opened it, and jotted down a few notes. ”Right. Well, that’s that squared away. When we’re done here we can head back to Grassveil together and see about getting you added to the team.” She made a note about this Geo character. Another Fairy-type such as herself. They wouldn’t have to worry about any dragons other than their own, she supposed.

”Not what say we go find ourselves another match? And this time I’m getting a turn.” Her tone sat somewhere between casual and assertive. She was trying not to sound too authoritarian. She didn’t really want to be an end all be all leader of a team—she wanted to be something more like a manager.

It really was that easy. Maxie seemed sold on him at least, and all it took was a little scuffle with a big mean snowflake. Geo joining didn't seem like a certain thing, but she would have her chance to earn a spot on Maxie's team—his team now, too. "Yessssss," Osiris whispered victoriously, long and quiet and satisfied. Whether or not he was agreeing to sign himself up on her team or going to fight more pokemon was left.... vague, but it was probably both. Probably.

He didn't have any issues with Maxie calling the shots at the moment - she was less like a boss and more like a... guidance counselor if such a thing existed. She gave gentle yet firm reminders of what he should be doing and, when needed, told him the right way to do those things. He could definitely work with that. Osiris had no grand ambitions of being a team leader, but having to deal with an inept leader was something he was glad not to have to deal with. The dratini began moving again, feeling no pain in his side when he took to slithering through the thick snow in the same direction they'd gone in before.

They didn't have to go far to spot other pokemon. Osiris paused when they crested a small hump in the forest ground, taking in the scenery on the decline in front of them. It seemed like they'd stumbled upon something of a gathering. Osiris counted three different pokemon nestled in a cozy clearing of the woods, one of which was evolved. A piloswine lounged underneath a tree, half-heartedly watching a younger swinub as it was chased around by a smoochum, the former looking quite frazzled by the latter's enthusiastic pursuit. Osiris shuddered as he watched the part psychic-type, its lips puckered and arms outstretched as it chased its... romantic prey?

"That one probably deserves it," he intoned ominously. That swinub didn't deserve the cooties. "Too bad the bigger one doesn't seem to think so."

Groceries:

Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
As they both watched, another Pokemon, a mamoswine, appeared on the scene in front of them—presumably an elder relative of the two swine Pokemon. After a brief exchange that Maxie couldn’t make out, the entire group seemed to be leaving the area. ”I said it before and I’ll say it again; this place is actually really peaceful—relatively speaking. At least for today, it seems.”

That shouldn’t have left her feeling disappointed, really. Yet it did. She wanted a fight. She was looking for a fight. Why? She wasn’t sure. But now she was regretting leaving the cryogonal all to Osiris. She looked around for any other Pokemon—ideally something that naturally tended to aggression—or perhaps something that was at least easy to provoke…

There were delibird. There were always delibird. But they were neither of those things. They were generally kind and generous. ”Alright, let’s really get moving now. I’d like to think normally I’d be alright with a relaxed, slow paced dungeon crawl, but today… I wanna get moving. I want to find something. There was a rumor going around that something strange has been happening somewhere in the Icy Lands, maybe we can figure out what that was?”

The prospect of a peaceful mystery dungeon seemed farfetch'd to Osiris. He'd been through so many at this point, and the tamest of them was... probably his trek through Pecha Forest. That trip had involved stumbling into some kind of weird acid trip where the laws of the universe stopped working and people got stuck in time loops and everything just kind of did the opposite of what you expected. Shadowhue was less weird, but probably way more dangerous; snakes and spiders and killer mushroom pokemon descended on him left and right.

It was strange that the dungeon with all the ice-type pokemon threatened him the least while the more beginner-friendly ones nearly killed him. Osiris wasn't complaining, though. "Ooh, what kinds of rumors?" Osiris asked, immediately hooked. He didn't consider himself much of a detective, but he'd assisted in solving a mystery before. At the very least, he could be muscle while someone else used their head to figure out the problem again. "People going missing or anything like that?"

He set off once more, trusting Maxie to follow him as he went in a different direction than the flock of pokemon below. As long as he wasn't out looking for a secret grove of rainbow trees again, he was pretty game for doing anything. That had been pretty but he wanted something more exciting this time around.

Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
”Not entirely sure,” Maxie started, still looking in her journal as she followed the Dragon-type. ”All I heard was that this place—the Icy Lands, not necessarily these woods in particular—experiences some pretty violent winds recently. Apparently they carried a strange scent with them. So I guess that’s what we’re looking for. No guarantee that we’ll find it, though.”

She had no idea what “it” even was. Not even the foggiest idea. All she had heard was the rumours, and no matter how much she dug for more info, nothing else came up. She wasn’t particularly hopeful in finding out whatever was the source of this mystery, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to inform Osiris of it.

”Imagine going to join the Guild and being the one who discovered whatever it is that caused that,” She added.

"That would be a good start to all this business," the dratini noted, a growing grin on his face as he imagined the scenario she pointed out to him.

Osiris of Team Tenacity, who solved the great mystery of the Icy Lands before he even joined the guild properly. It was a pretty good beginning to his mission record no matter what kind of explorer he wanted to be. More than that, by itself, the prospect was more interesting than just running around looking for ice-type pokemon to fight. Heck, that would probably come with the mystery; he'd yet to have a dungeon run that was non-violent yet.

He didn't even need to be talked into it, but the exposition was nice. "So we're a-snifflin' for funny smellin' winds, huh." he mused, taking a moment to sniff the air in front of him. It smelled... cold. He didn't think he was good at this. "Maybe we should find someone with a good nose. They could probably track it." he offered.

The little dragon wyrm paused, perched up and surveyed the lands briefly. High up above in the treetops, he spotted a blonde spiky fuzzball sitting on a branch, four muscular limbs sprouting out of it. Its back appeared to be turned to them, but after a moment it turned their way to snatch a fruit from the tree. At that moment, Osiris spotted a big 'ol nose on the pokemon, his grin growing. "Like that guy, maybe!" he exlcaimed, gesturing with his tail toward the pokemon.

Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
She turned to see who it was Osiris was referencing. At the same time, the Pokemon he pointed to—a primeape—seemed to take interest in them. Maxie recognized the Pokemon immediately, and also recognized that it seemed to be getting angry at the mere sight of them. ”Ah, yes. A primeape. I’m afraid he’s not going to be willing to help us, Osiris.” Just as she said the last word, the pig monkey leaped from the branch and landed unceremoniously on the snowy forest floor below.

Maxie turned away from it, leaving her jaw-like horns to face it instead. She began to walk backwards—toward the Fighting-type. ”You might want to get ready,” she suggested as she stepped past her dratini partner. Not all Pokemon were the same—even between two Pokemon of the same species, there were always differences. However, some traits were virtually universal between members of the same species. Mawile, for example, tended to be natural born deceivers; how they choose to use that skill is up to the individual.

Primeape, on the other hand? They were always some form of angry. Something about their nature seemed to cause it. She supposed it could take different forms and degrees amongst different individuals, but in this particular case, she figured it was safe to assume that this primeape in particular was the attack anyone in a blind range sort. And she would be right.

The primeape screeched—a terrible and incomprehensible sound that conveyed no information other than that it was angry and it wanted to hurt something. It charged at the Pokemon before it without warning the moment Maxie had finished her warning to Osiris. As the primeape reached pummeling distance, the mawile’s metallic maw suddenly lashed out, striking the Fighting-type hard and knocking it off course and into a snowbank.

The primeape only stayed down for a few seconds before leaping back to its feet, somehow more angry than before. An expression came across Maxie’s face—not quite a surprise, something more like mild intrigue. She was surprised by just how well the thing took the hit. The primeape prepared to charge again.

Only an instant before Osiris was about to open his big dumb mouth to ask for clarification, the primeape leapt down from the tree onto the ground, sending snow flying all around it in an impressive display of force. From there, it was on.

The monkey pig evidently saw Maxie as the bigger threat, gunning for her right away. It wasn't the smartest idea; Iris found himself draw back in appreciation when she knocked fighting type flat on its ass. That wasn't enough, however, as it almost bounced off the ground with how enthusiastically angry its rebound was. It charged Maxie once more.

It showed some degree of learning capability, this time going slightly around the mawile's jaws in an attempt to get a cleaner angle of attack. It failed to account for the presence of Osiris, however, who suddenly felt throughly ignored. Maybe the polite thing would have been to stay on the sidelines and let Maxie handle this like she did for him, but she hadn't asked for that, so...

Mind made up in an instant, Osiris bounced backward and flicked his tail out at the ferocious monkey pokemon in one smooth movement. Static electricity flowed from him to their attacker, the thunder wave enveloping the primeape bodily. It locked up and seized on the ground, falling to one knee while its eyes bulged in frustration and muted rage.

Paralyzation was dratini's best friend; it always made fights easier. "Batter up!" he called out to his new teammate. It was as clear of a shot as she could ask for.