Stormy Silph

greyson saw the vague shape of an approaching person in his peripheral, wanting immediately to 'reset' and give the best possible version of himself. but, seeing as how his skin was slick in sweat, hair drenched and lips halfway to dry and cracked - it wasn't likely.

there was a time and place to save face and this wasn't it.

"uh, yeah, no. i'm okay." he said, wondering if he wasn't at least being partly dishonest. was this male bravado? pride? "i guess i forgot to pack the necessities." greyson chuckled, hand moving to rub his neck. a bad move. he pulled it back down, rubbing the sweat stained hand on the back of his pants.

"if you've got some extra water and maybe an idea of how to navigate this place?" greyson asked, hopeful. "read online this place was a shortcut, but-" he didn't finish, letting it sink in through just how worse for wear he looked that it wasn't, in fact, feeling that way to him.

Stormy Silph

arceus, this was humiliating.

a deep shade of crimson rose across greyson's face as she spoke to him. she had a point, he knew. greyson wasn't exactly in a hurry when he had first decided to take this path, but that was soon all he could think about the further he went in. typically, he'd have one or two of his pokemon with him. for company, more than their sense of direction mostly. the only real exception was z. but the idea of bringing in a seven foot tall territorial bird of prey with wings sharper than knives in an already cramped space didn't exactly make greyson feel comfortable. the others were at a disadvantage due to their typing, so he wanted to spare them as much discomfort as possible.

the more he thought on it, the less he realized he probably should've came this way.

his hands reached out for the flying bottle, a shameful nod and an awkward smile of thanks sent her way as he caught it. "uh", he started, letting loose a deep breathe. "thanks. for the words and the water." he didn't want to take a drink of it yet. it was awkward enough right now. "still kind of new to all this and i guess the excitement got to my head. didn't really look too much into this place before just diving in." a rookie mistake, but also one easily avoided if he actually prepared for things before leaping into it. he'd work on it. probably.

taking her in for the first time, he couldn't help but notice how fine she was with all of this. not a bead of sweat on her skin, nor did she appear flushed in any way. perhaps she had a higher tolerance to the heat than greyson? he didn't think too much of it, instead turning his head to look a bit further down the cavern, a strange noise echoing. greyson furrowed his brow, but didn't take his eyes from the noises origin.

"did you hear that?"

Stormy Silph

greyson found the woman- stormy, her name evidently- to be quite charming despite the initial abrasiveness. greyson of course didn't hold it against her when she short with him. this likely wasn't her first time dealing with foolish tourists, and if he had to guess, probably not her last. he would've happily carried on their conversation if not for the untimely interruption that soon followed.

"i think so," he replied, his voice low. both of their attentions land on the fire-type as it emerges, it's mane a brilliant combination of gold and crimson. notable muscle is seen beneath the short-hair of it's fur and it stands poised and tall. it was an intimidating beast and it knew it.

greyson's brow furrowed, however. it was true that he had heard a noise, certainly, but it was more.. squish. could they have interrupted the predator during it's meal? no, that didn't seem the case. the fur around it's mouth had no traces of blood or gore of any kind. so what was that other sound he'd heard earlier? and weren't pyroar known as pack hunters? something felt... off.

the trainer's eyes shot out wide, his arm reaching out to grab the woman to his side around her bicep. he'd apologize later for not asking her permission first, but right now wasn't that time. with as much strength as he can muster, he pulls her, and himself back. he's careful not to overpower her and toss her to the ground, but greyson doubt's he'd even be able to man handle the woman enough to do so.

it's barely enough.

from above, neatly snugged into a crack into the cavern ceiling, a large mushroom like creature drops with a thud. it's FEINT ATTACK likely strong enough to break a bone or two. before the creature can move to attack again, greyson acts, his entire body surging with adrenaline. he tosses a dual-colored orb in front of him, a bright ivory light follows, soon fading into the form of arco, his poliwhirl. "we'll get this one," he says to stormy, not waiting for her reply before beginning his fight.

"arco, let's get it out of her way." the poliwhirl nods, raising it's gloved white fists in response. the cavern trembles slightly as arco's EARTH POWER lifts a boulder no bigger than himself and tosses it at the amoonguss. it makes contact, knocking the creature into the cavern wall and out of the general pathway. without being told, arco moves to follow.


notes + and they're off!

Stormy Silph

greyson chuckles, more out of nerves and adrenaline than anything. "one or two," he replied, eyes darting between the pyroar and the amoonguss. it says something that despite the apparent ambush, stormy is far more calm and collected than himself. cracking jokes in a situation like this? greyson was impressed. but then again he wasn't yet the veteran trainer she was. it was hard to split his attention. so he didn't. greyson copied arco's advance, sticking close to the wall as he did so.

already the grass- and poison-type was regaining it's balance, slight bruising becoming visible on the surface of it's skin. it'd take a lot more than that to fell this creature, greyson knew, but it was a good start. "we need to finish this quickly," he told arco, watching the dual-type peel itself off the wall. the longer this dragged on, the more likely arco was to get injured due to the wild pokemons type advantage.

"hit it again," he commanded, the poliwhirl once more taking a piece of earth and hurling it the fungus pokemon. if he couldn't beat it in one go, he was hoping using EARTH POWER to whittle the creatures stamina down would suffice. as the rock covered the distance, it impacted with a solid thawck, breaking apart on the amoonguss's body. why hadn't it dodged? was it too injured from the previous attack to move? when the dust cleared, however, greyson's jaw set.

the wild pokemon's body was encased in an aura of ghostly red energy. it was something greyson had never seen before, but he knew something had to be up. "get read-" he tried to yell. but it was too late. a beam of condensed white energy shot from the center of the amoonguss's body, directly towards the poliwhirl. arco, sensing trouble already, had just enough time to get his arms up in an x formation in front of him. the BIDE empowered energy landed squarely against both of his forearms and the water-type was sent airborne into the cavern wall.

greyson watched the entire ordeal, quickly diving out of the way of the flying creature. what the hell was that? greyson promised he'd figure that out later, but for now, he needed to get this over with. "arco buddy, you alright?" he asked, voice carrying towards the injured poliwhirl. he noticed a line of blueish blood beneath his mouth, but said nothing as arco got back to his feet, grim determination in his eyes. "like we practiced," he instructed, hopeful the poliwhirl would understand.

arco only nodded, bellowing out the latter of his name twice. with a push off the wall, he set off to a sprint, gloved fists banging against the hypnotic pattern of his stomach in a BELLY DRUM. each time his fist made contact, greyson could see the damage arco was doing to himself. but it was a necessary sacrifice. it was a strange ritual among their kind, but in return for damaging themselves, it also empowered them unbelievably. when the drumming stopped- it was time.

while the poliwhirl prepared it's attack, the amoonguss wasn't slacking itself. it's bulbous eyes tracked the water-type as it ran, short, stubby arms placed in front of it. with a last ditch effort it released a wavelength of violet energy, it's ASTONISH covering the gap between them incredibly fast. arco simply barreled through it. putting every last ditch of his empowered attack into his body, the poliwhirl's shoulder lowered and placed itself squarely into the amoonguss's chest, the BODY SLAM carrying him one last time into the cavern wall. rock was shaken loose from the cavern ceiling at the impact, but the grass- and poison-type pokemon lie still, beaten.

arco sat, stamina drained and heavily beaten from the ordeal. most of the damage was self-inflicted luckily, but he'd still need a break before he was fit to go fighting anything else. "good job buddy. get some rest." greyson returned the grateful water-type to it's ball and tossed an empty one at the wild pokemon. he wasn't interested in the creature for his team, but maybe he could trade it to someone else. finally, he turned his attention to stormy and the pyroar and-

well, this was a sight.

notes + capture attempt on amoonguss.

Stormy Silph

when greyon turns on his heel to see how stormy was fairing, expecting some grand duel between two prideful pyroar's for dominance, the scene certainly surprised him. where he expected regal kings circling one another, greyson instead found two docile kittens with nervous twitches. either they had witness what arco could do- a task that took all he had to muster- or they simply didn't wish to fight one another. either way, the matter seemed to be settled, and that satisfied greyson.

"yeah, i think you're right," greyson said, agreeing with the woman. the adrenaline from the whole affair was just tapering off, greyson's mouth swallowing in an attempt to get some liquid down his throat. he picked up the water bottle from it's place on the cavern ground and, this time without caring, took a long gulp of it. he released one large breathe at the end, then finally another more calming one. he then bends down and retrieves the now unmoving ball from it's spot, and tucks it away, all while listening to her as she speaks. "next time, i call dibs on the one that's not interested in a fight." he chuckles as he says it, ensuring she doesn't mistake it for anything but a joke. well, mostly a joke.

he looks down at his beat-up chucks at her comment, but nods all the same. there were probably a few cracks in the soles, and he definitely didn't want whatever that was to seep through. "i wouldn't expect one of those down in here," he said, stopping to also look at the gunk. "could it have perhaps adapted to the heat?" the question is more for his own thinking than for her, but that doesn't stop him from asking it aloud. suddenly, he remembered they were in the middle of something earlier.

"right, before we got interrupted," he says, standing again. "stormy, right?" at least he remembered that. "greyson," he holds out his hand a second later, making sure it's more condensation from the water bottle than sweat. "and, i don't mind being stuck with you if it's any consolation. you seem to know a hell of a lot more than me when it comes to this place." and in general he wants to say, but doesn't. still, the smile he puts on his friendly and his eyes are earnest.