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[lycanthropphire]

[So beyond the open, peaceful meadows of the landing strip, the wilderness of the Drifting Land stretches on. And Pokemon Trainers are adventurous folk, of course - whether to test their resolve or to catch new Pokemon or simply to explore lands uncharted, wandering off into the woods is not an uncommon thing for them to do.

Wanderers beware.

Something is watching you.

Venture into the forest, and you will be tracked - quietly, persistently, with suspicion. Pay attention to your Pokemon! They may be able to smell or hear or sense the stalking presence. It is small but vicious, not quite human...and it wants intruders out of what it is now declaring "its forest".

Grrrrr.]

Comments

[herebesparkles]

[Ah, what a wonderful day for a scrapbook photography outing! The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, and a pleasant temperature... Yep! Today is good.

Ruby's ventured quite a distance away from the hustle and bustle around Levanta Town for a decent backdrop. He's got his tripod tucked underneath one arm, and his team follows him in a straight line along the hewn forest paths (traveling through the thickets may mess up their grooming, after all).

He's completely unaware of Sapphire's presence, but Ruru and Nana can sense something... odd near their position at the back of the line. Nana tenses, perking up her ears. Ruru wraps her arms around Nana's hindleg for comfort.]

[lycanthropphire]

[....hehehe.

Sapphire begins moving parallel to the path, some yards away and crouched low in the undergrowth. She watches, waits, and follows him for another few minutes, nearly silent.


And then - when he's reached the perfect place to scatter the sound, where her voice will seem to a dragon's unrefined hearing to fill the space from all directions - she lets out a low, rolling growl.

Don't worry, Nana. It's a playful growl. But all growls sound the same to Ruby, don't they?]

[herebesparkles]

[Wolf growls? Yes, they sound the same. Dragon growls? No. But even that's losing refinement since his dad has gone. Regardless, this sounds like terror to him. Angry terror and a sign that this is very much not our picture spot]

Ahahah... We're... just passing through. No need to get upset, whoever you are! We'll be out of your hair very soon... Nana this is a really bad time to be pawing me for pets-

[lycanthropphire]

[LOUDER GROWLS.

Louder...and louder...and rustling...]

[herebesparkles]

[Backing up and backing up and backing up-]

[lycanthropphire]

[ONE WEREWOLFBULLET DIRECTLY TO YOUR EVERYTHING, RUBY

this will end with her sitting on you and looking excessively pleased with herself]

[herebesparkles]

[This... well this is like his version of screeching, which sounds more like a growl that crescendos into a scream.

You

just-!

why is this always a thing?!]

Sapphire! [Too undignified at the moment to complain. Give him a minute to reboot prissy.exe]

[lycanthropphire]

I - got - ya!!

[STUPIDLY PLEASED AS USUAL

Sapphire hops off and bounces around rambunctiously, as though waiting for a return tackle - she doesn't expect one, though, and when the moment of impulsive glee has passed she darts over to hug and ruffle Nana.

That's right, Ruby. First she tackles you to the ground, then she puts her dirty forest hands all over your newly-groomed dog. Best friend, or best friend?]

[herebesparkles]

[Nonono. Bad dog. So much bad dog. He's just going to yell at you while you bounce; this is probably routine by now.]

How many times have I told you not to do that?! Saying "Hello" like a normal person would be a great way to keep yours and my clothes clean and- Nana's fur! All my hard work... [;~; Bad dog. Best friend.]

[lycanthropphire]

But tha's no fun.

[She parts rather reluctantly from Nana and wanders back to Ruby, crossing her arms behind her back.]

What're ya doin' out here, where're ya goin'?

[herebesparkles]

I needed Nana's fur pristine so I could take photos of her for my scrapbook... that's why I came here. That's my idea of fun. I was looking for good backdrops for my pokemon, but now I have to pause to fix Nana with what I brought with me... [SIGH]

[Ruby by anyone else's standards the contents of your backpack that you're pulling out could be considered a full salon-]

[lycanthropphire]

She looks jus' fine.

[ :c scratching behind Nana's ear

no ruby she's fine you don't need to take the smelly stuff out.....]

[herebesparkles]

She's not fine, you've had your hands in the dirt! It's gotta be in her hair now...

[Smelly stuff is how he gets the dirt out though! Nana doesn't care either way, really. Brushing and petting both feel really nice...]

[lycanthropphire]

[Sapphire makes an exasperated noise and backs off with a grimace, shrugging in a way that resembles Ruby's own mannerisms.]

Whatever ya say. Such weird things, I'll never figure it out...

[herebesparkles]

[He looks up from preparing his grooming tools for a moment... Are you mocking me with that mimicry over there?]

How is it weird for me to want Nana to look clean?!

[lycanthropphire]

[Not intentionally. All your humanesque body language is rubbing off.]

I jus' don' get why ya care!

[herebesparkles]

[Tripping over his words for a moment. How can you even- ?!]

Because it feels, looks, and smells better to be clean? I'm putting myself in her shoes! Er... paws!

[lycanthropphire]

[sssssiiigh. nooo it does not feel good to be scrubbed down and poked at and come out smelling syrupy strong of who even knows what. it just plain doesn't.

She paces around a little, waiting for him to do what he needs to do to Nana.]

[herebesparkles]

[Doot doot. Thank you for the water, Mimi! I'm just shampooin' my dog~





Okay he's done. Nana shakes herself out.]

Have you ever bathed in anything besides a river? You'll never really know if being clean is something you like until you actually try it, you know.

[lycanthropphire]

It smells, though.

[herebesparkles]

It's gotta smell better than your dirt does...

[lycanthropphire]

I smell normal! Those things ya pull out are so strong, it's like...kinda like....like gettin' fluff in yar eyes, it's thick an' itchy an' feels awful an' on top a' all that ya can't even see!

Oopsie wrong icon.

[herebesparkles]

[...Cool let's translate that from Sapphire Speak into English.]

So... you're saying it's as if... you can't see with your nose if you use soaps? That one I used on Nana smells like pecha berries, how does that smell bad?!

[lycanthropphire]

'Cos it's strong!

[powertrades]

[And not a single fuck was given that day.

Seriously, he's just going to laze around on this branch and give a grand total of zero fucks. Sneasel's also chill... If only because Silver's chill. Gotta trust Silver.]

[lycanthropphire]

[The Sapphire below you is radiating pure, undiluted grr.

Grr huff glare.]

[powertrades]

[...He feels intensely threatened and is seriously scared right now. Just look at all of that fear on his face.]

Grr to you too.

[lycanthropphire]

Ya can't be hangin' around here.

[powertrades]

Because...?

[lycanthropphire]

'Cos this place is mine!

[powertrades]

...Right. Okay. [Ugh stupid territorial puppies-]

[lycanthropphire]

[She stands up and thunks her hands against the tree trunk and glares up. Don't make her come up there >8T ]

[powertrades]

[Grumblegrowlgrumble. Can a guy not get some peace around here? He does sit up, at least, in the event that this actually does break out into a fight. He still seems pretty passive, though.]

[lycanthropphire]

[...

climbing that goddamn tree.]

[powertrades]

[See now Sapphire, that was the wrong choice to make. Dead wrong. Horrible, really, because the second Sapphire is within range, she's getting a good hard slam to the head from his tail to get her to fall back down. Nothing too hard, but enough to get the point across.]

[lycanthropphire]

[OW.

Sapphire's grip slips, and she falls to a lower branch, laying across it for a moment as her head spins.]

[powertrades]

I don't want to hurt you. [Just making that very clear here.]

[lycanthropphire]

[Then why aren't you leaving? As far as Sapphire's concerned, antagonism is antagonism, whether physical or territorial.

She growls sharply and looks up at him for a moment...before releasing Jiro, who flies up with beak outstretched and wings sharp. Sapphire is darting back up the tree again just behind him, counting on any amount of distraction to get close enough to not be pushed down again.]

[powertrades]

[-Oh fuck this noise Sneasel, Ice Punch. Sneasel isn't afraid to clock Jiro right in the beak, and Silver is quick to jump up to a higher branch.]

[lycanthropphire]

[The bird screeches and flails furiously to shake off the ice and abandons the mission immediately, flying off into the woods. Sapphire doesn't do anything to indicate that she's noticed, charging straight for Silver in a shining display of boneheadedness.]

[powertrades]

[Sneasel hops up to Silver, Silver grabs Sneasel, and...

...And they fly off to another tree. ...Well, not fly, but glidehovering totally counts. Stupid puppy.]

[lycanthropphire]

[...He's moving. Sapphire is a little annoyed, but...if she can get him to leave her area, then it's just as good as a win.

She treehops a few over and starts moving towards him from a different angle.]

[powertrades]

[Leave her area? Yeah right. He's just going to keep hopping between the same couple of trees. You're lucky, Sapph. He'd usually have picked a fight by now, but you're an exception.]

[lycanthropphire]

[…Ugh, fuck this. On one pass, Sapphire lets out Rono and Toro onto the forest floor. Toro uses Sky Uppercut to strike at Silver from below, and Robot throws his weight against the trees Silver's using as perches, making them sway and shudder.]

[powertrades]

[It's so on. Silver tosses Sneasel over onto another tree and Sneasel gets to work on his own, intending to head over to Rono with a low kick. Silver has nowhere to effectively land, so he doesn't. instead landing on Toro's Sky Uppercut (that hurts) and using the motion to fling himself into another tree.

Once he actually has his footing again, it's time to let Kingdra out to use Rain Dance.]

[lycanthropphire]

[But can you Low Kick an Iron Tail, Sneasel?

Shit, rain. That makes everything muddy and scent-murky...but. It does remove one major problem that was keeping Toro from using some of her attacks. A forest that's being rained on can't catch on fire.

So instead of punches, Silver gets to enjoy jets of Flamethrower coming up at him from beneath the canopy.]

[powertrades]

[Sneasel can't Low Kick an Iron Tail, but at least he can dodge one. Of course, that's all he's planning to do right now as he's seeking high ground.

Silver doesn't seem too concerned about the Flamethrowers, either, and the reason will become pretty clear once a giant rush of water in the form of a Rain Dance boosted Surf comes to clear out Sapphire, the portions of Flamethrower, and her Pokémon.]

[lycanthropphire]

[oh gdit

Sapphire is able to return her Pokemon before the Surf hits. The surge pulls her from where she's holding onto a branch, sending her tumbling along the forest floor with her eyes and mouth tightly closed and limbs reaching for something to hang onto.

When the water settles out, she's got her arms wrapped around the base of a tree trunk, breathing hard and soaked through. Ugh…]

[powertrades]

[Silver lacks any sympathy for her; she started it, he finished it. Or so he'd like to think, anyway. Besides, she's a puppy. She'll get over it. For now, he just settles into the branch he's on, hoping that she's learned her lesson... And rubbing his feet. God damn, that hurt.]