Ice, Ice, Babies

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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

Maxie: [Energy: 0 + 1 (Page) +1 (Blue Gummi)= 2]
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Osiris did not disappoint. He was ready, and he made a brilliant move. Maxie was not upset that he stepped in—in fact, she was quite the opposite. It was a brilliant move, paralysing the wild Fighting-type. Now, even if it managed to take a hit, it would be of much threat. The dratini even offered a bit of banter, which she was all in favor of. The primeape was still trying to make an attack, even though its limbs seemed unwilling to cooperate. This only seemed to make it more angry—if such a thing was even possible.

Maxie hit it with another Iron Head. This time, when it fell into the snowbank, it didn’t immediately hop back up. It was still very much conscious, and still very much seething with rage, but it seemed unable to get itself back onto its feet. ”Nice work,” Maxie complimented her partner-to-be. ”That’s good teamwork. Nice paralysis.” She figured they didn’t need to beat on the primeape anymore. It wasn’t going to be able to retaliate against them before they could just leave the area.

Maxie turned away from it and started waking in a seemingly random direction—away from where they had already been. ”Now, let’s see about that mystery, shall we?” She was feeling confident again. It was a huge step up from how she had felt most of the time back in the mountains. She had never admitted it to herself, but the events of that day had left her doubting her ambitions. Now, though, those doubts couldn't be any further from her mind.
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Used x1 Blue Gummi (+1 Energy)

Osiris laughed freely at their victory, and the sensation of being praised for his contribution for once felt great. It was also nice to see that Maxie could punch above her weight; not that he had doubts that she couldn't do her thing as a guild-member, but seeing was believing and all that. "It's saved my bacon a lot," he grinned, casting the fallen primeape one final glance before moving to follow his mawile teammate.

He was still a little bit confused as to why, exactly, the fighting-type monkey felt the need to shriek like a lunatic and bumrush them for... existing in its vicinity, honestly, but it seemed obvious to Maxie and he didn't want to come off as stupid for asking. So onto the mystery, then. "I guess we'll have to ask around if we can't find a sniffer." he mused as they made ground once more. "Those guys earlier looked pretty, uh, peaceful. The swinub and the piloswine, you know, those guys. I don't wanna get smooched by that smoochum but it's an option." the dratini pitched, careening his head in the direction of the pokemon they'd passed by earlier. To his knowledge, smoochum kissed just about everything they came across.

Osiris was hoping they came across someone else before they resorted to that, though.

40 energy

[Energy: 2 + 5 (Apple) = 7]
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Maxie took a moment to consider what the dratini said. ”Well, it’d help if we knew what we were actually looking for. The rumors were, of course, not particularly helpful. They didn’t even describe the smell in any way other than ‘strange.’ What scents would be strange to smell in a forest such as this?”

As she walked, she glanced around, observing the area as if she would somehow spot the supposed odd scent. He wasn’t wrong, though. A Pokemon with a superior sense of smell would surely come in handy more than once when exploring. She wondered if sylveon were particularly good sniffers. She spotted a snover—it wasn’t asleep like the abomasnow they had encountered earlier, but it didn’t seem particularly interested in them all the same.

She took out her journal again, jotting down little notes and thoughts as they occurred to her. She was making a short list of things that would be odd to smell in this particular area. Scents you would normally only find in towns, and those that you’d expect only in specific places, such as flowers that could never grow in a place like the icy Lands. ”Any ideas?”
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Used x1 Apple

Osiris chewed on the inside of his cheek as he gave thought to Maxie's prompting. What things would be out-of-place enough in this dungeon that would prompt people to talk about it? "Smoke, maybe? Or anything, like, chemical..." he mused out loud, not finding an easy answer to the riddle. "It just smells like wood and grass and wilderness out here—whatever it is would have to be pretty strong to stand out like that. It's fishy." the dratini concluded, trying to put his brain to work for once.

He coiled up, gathering his serpentine body up into a pile and snuggling into his cloak while they gave the matter thought. Looking up at the treetops as he contemplated, he twitched when he spotted another very big, very evil snowflake in the vicinity. Osiris stuck his tongue out at the cryogonal, but it seemed content to ignore their presence. Maybe it'd been warned of how much of an absolute killer Osiris was by the other one—or more likely, it just wasn't hungry.

"I guess rain would be one," he shrugged. Or, well, tried to. Dratinis didn't have shoulders. "Fruits, too, maybe. Sea salt would be really weird—I don't think we've come across a fresh water source yet. They'd probably be frozen, but still. It could just be a grimer or a muk hanging around. They're supposed to stink pretty awfully."

Maxie: [Energy: 7 + 1 (Blue Gummi) = 8]
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She noted down Osiris’ suggestions. ”If it were smoke I’d imagine the rumors would have been quite specific about it. Rain would mean a significant weather change, which I’d imagine would be really noticeable, so that’s out, too.” She crossed these things off the list.

She wasn’t quite sure what the mystery even was, so that made trying to narrow down the potential sources fairly difficult. It could have been grimer or fruit or chemicals. She wasn’t sure if they were looking for a Pokemon, a landmark, an undiscovered location, treasure, or anything else. Whatever it was, though, she was intent on finding it. She might have completed any missions or done anything big for the guild as of yet, but by discovering the source of this strange phenomenon, she was certain it would help her in her quest to become a renowned explorer like those in the books she’s read and the stories she’s heard.

At the very least, it’d help her feel more like an important explorer.
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”Used x1 Blue Gummi (+1 Energy)

Badger carried out 8 launched of one Icicle Woods :

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"So that leaves us with fruits, the sea, or a really stinky poison-type." Osiris mused aloud. "And then whatever it's actually going to end up being because those are pretty off-the-wall guesses." It was pretty likely in his opinion that the mystery was going to be some unknown element. All the best mysteries were. That, or it was going to be something they had guessed but with some kind of twist that they hadn't seen coming.

He shivered. "Let's at least keep moving so I don't freeze before we figure it out," he suggested, starting off at a casual slither in the direction they were moving in before stopping. In his peripheral, nestled atop a far away hill, he spotted an amaura and its older aurorus kin trading ice-type attacks back in forth, locked in some kind of dominance struggle or training match, and decided not to approach them. It looked fun, but there was a raging miniature snowstorm all around them, hail and heavy snow circling the two.

Plus, they were busy.

Maxie: [Energy: 7]
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Maxie followed the wyrm more or less silently. He was right about their guesses. They were staring into the dark—or rather some other equivalent analogy that was related to the sense of smell rather than sight. Maxie barely looked away from her journal, only glancing up to make sure she was following Osiris’s path and that she wasn’t going to walk right into a tree.

On one of these glances, while her partner was looking off to the side at the two Tundra Pokemon, she just managed to catch the odd white shape before them, practically hidden in plain sight due to the matching color of the terrain. ”Whoa—” It’s sudden appearance startled her just a bit. It was a ninetales, but not the typical reddish brown sort; this one was clearly adapted to the climate of the Icy Lands.

And it was just standing there in their path, staring at them both. Silent. Maxie couldn’t decipher what exactly it was doing or thinking. ”Uh, hi…?”

Maxie's utterance clued him into the presence of another pokemon. Osiris turned to quizzically regard the arrival of another pokemon. It occurred to him that neither of them sensed this creature approach them, and for all intents and purposes if it wanted a fight, it could've already ambushed the crap out of them. It tempered the dratini, and he found himself raising up simply to nod at the creature respectfully.

Then he got a good look at it, and suddenly found himself reminded of another pokemon that he had come across before. This thing looked like a Ninetales, but it... wasn't. Or it was different, anyway, and he had experience with this. "HEY DO YOU KNOW ROBIN?!" Iris blurted out stupidly, the mere possibility of solving the strange vulpix conundrum that had been plaguing his brain urging him to throw the question out there. Ever since he met Robin, he'd wondered why, exactly, she was a snow-white vulpix who had a thing with ice instead of fire.

... and yeah, he could've gone after the two white vulpixes earlier, but they ran away! This thing wanted to talk, and everyone knew Ninetales evolved from Vulpix. This was his chance.

Maxie: [Energy: 7]
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The virtually expressionless ninetales gave Osiris a look. It was barely different from before, with just the tiniest hint of confusion. Maxie gave him a much more clear look of confusion. ”... Who’s Robin? Wait, no, hold on. That’s not important right now. Excuse me,” she turned her attention to the mysterious newcomer. ”We heard a rumor of some strange occurrences around here; strong winds, a peculiar scent? You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would yo—”

The ninetales dipped its head just the smallest bit, then suddenly turned on the spot and began walking away. Maxie was flabbergasted. ”I-is that a yes? Or a no? …Are we supposed to… follow?” She looked at Osiris. ”Are we supposed to follow? I think they want us to follow.” Her question was apparently rhetorical, since Maxie proceeded to turn her attention back to the fox and bagan following.

"What a rudey tootey..." Osiris muttered petulantly as he followed after Maxie and the mysterious Ninetales. All he wanted to know was if it knew someone; what was the harm in saying no? He supposed he'd have to corner the Ninetales later, or find another one of those white vulpixes and interrogate the answer of them. There would be another time.

For now, they were making... progress? Maybe? "I guess a fox pokemon would have a pretty good sniffer," he whispered to Maxie as they went along... forgetting the fact that it would stand to reason the Ninetales would have pretty good hearing on top of that. "It probably knows what we're talking about. If not, we're pretty out of luck."

Maxie: [Energy: 7]
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The ninetales glanced back at the two Pokemon following it, seeming ensuring that they were in fact following. Maxie didn’t respond to Osiris. She was far too busy looking around as they went and trying to figure out what exactly the Ice-type was doing. Did it really understand them? Did it know what they were talking about? Did it know what the mystery was?

Yes. It did. As they would both find out after several minutes of traveling. As they made their way up a light slope, the first signs of what was awaiting for them at the apex of the incline became apparent. Cold winds, more powerful than those previous, were coming from ahead. And with them, they carried a distinct scent, which Maxie didn’t immediately recognize—sea water. The forest was thinning out now, too, which Maxie had begun to notice.

Just before they reached the top of the small hill, a particularly strong gale of wind kicked up a flurry of snow between the pair and the ninetales. When it died down, the Fox Pokemon had vanished. ”... Well that was… Dramatic.”

"Showoff..." Osiris grumbled after the disappearance of the ninetales. He too had picked up on the strong scent of sea water, and since Maxie had directly referenced the mystery, he had to assume they'd been brought to the front door, as it were. Still, the unpersonable nature of the ice fox left him feeling bitter toward it.

He sniffed once more. "It had the decency to take us closer, at least. I don't know about you, but I could honestly go for a swim. I think there's water nearby," he spoke, excitement gradually growing. "Maybe it's like a big ol' cavern hidden in the hill that leads down to an ocean or something." he went on to muse aloud. Osiris peeked down the side of the hill where they were presumably supposed to go.

"Let's not waste time, yeah?" he prompted his new teammate, earnestness leaking into his tone and expression.

Maxie: [Energy: 7]
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”You want to go swimming in this weather?” She seemed concerned by the idea. ”It’s freezing out here! You’ll turn into a block of ice.” After a moment, she added an addendum. ”Actually, the water probably wouldn’t freeze around you, salt water has a lower freezing point. But you will still freeze.”

The warning made clear, the mawile proceeded to follow the dratini’s lead. And by following his lead, she of course took the lead. A couple steps forward over the top of the hill was all she made, however, before suddenly disappearing from sight with a yelp. Osiris’ prediction of a cave was spot on, and Maxie had just found it. A hole in the ground led to the cavern, which had been covered by densely packed snow. Fortunately, the floor below was also covered in snow, which broke her fall quite well.

”I’m okay!” she announced from below. Taking in her surroundings, the place didn’t seem like much. But there was a sound she could hear, echoing down the cave from up ahead. The sounds of crashing waves.

Ooooh, right. Yeah, water tended to freeze when it got cold.

Man, it was a good thing he found Maxie.

The dratini summarily hopped down after her as soon as she voiced her condition, plopping down in the thick snow next to her. "Hah, I called it!" he exclaimed, looking around the cave eagerly. Maybe he was pretty good at this detective stuff after all. "Well, even if we can't swim, there's probably other cool stuff to do. Like go fishing or whatever." he went on, beginning to slither through the thick snow, a silent invitation to Maxie to follow him.

Osiris was entranced by the sound of waves impacting something, strong currents of water lapsing into each other and echoing throughout the cavern. Whatever they had just found, it was a big find, he felt. Now it was time to check it out.