It's Okay to be Helpless Right? [Open/Mod]

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

_{~January Week 3 A.P. 26~}

The water was a bit chilly, but it didn't really seem to bother Feebas any. Her eyes closed in relaxation as Venick placed her in the Emissary's fountain. It wasn't a big fountain by any means, but it was a safe place for her to get some fresh air and safe water at the same time. He'd spent the last week getting to know the Pokemon and doing some research on her, but he was still pretty clueless on how to get her to evolve.

<How am I supposed to make her beautiful in this state?> 

He shrugged as he pet the fish gently. Maybe if she had a name that would help. She hadn't really done much to get a name though. Being his over-analytic self, he needed to really understand Feebas' personality before he could name her. Until then, she'd just be Feebas. 

The little fish shook a little bit, then began to swim around in the fountain. Venick gave a slight grin and leaned against the structure. It was time to do something. He needed to find something to research, something to do, and as much as he hated to admit it, he needed help. There was no way he could make the trek into uncharted territory by himself with just Feebas, or even to New Pallet for that matter.

His eyes started to search everything in their range. Venick needed to find another trainer, or a Pokemon weak enough for Feebas to battle. He sighed and let his hands trail to his messenger bag. With a look back at Feebas, he decided to take out some of the string and start braiding it. A chuckle escaped him as he thought about making clothes for the Pokemon. Then a gasp as he realized that that was actually not a bad idea. With a smirk he nodded and began braiding.. and waiting.

1/100 ft of string braided.

MADE BY OLIVE

[Kenna Barnes]

It had been another day of Anorith-hunting for Kenna--and today, luck was not with her, it seemed. A skitter here, a flash there, but nothing she could do anything with. 

So, when she found herself walking by the Emissary, she decided to pause the Anorith hunting and instead talk to this young fellow here. "Hello thaur," she said, sitting near him at the edge on the edge of the fountain, about two feet away. "That's a--fine fesh you've got...ehr, assumin' it's yours?" She glanced between the lone Feebas swimming in the fountain and the young man beside her. After what Kenna took to be a nod of confirmation, she continued, "Any chance you'd be up fur a practice battle a'tween our Pokémon? 'At seems tae be th' simplest way tae raise them." She grinned at Venick and--finally--just waited for him to respond. 

SPOILER: Click to show

"Hello there,"
"That's a--fine fish you're got...er, assuming it's yours?"
"Any chance you'd be up for a practice battle between our Pokémon? That seems to be the simplest way to raise them."

---

Party: 

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

_{~It's Okay to be Helpless Right? ~}

Venick raised an eyebrow in blatant confusion. Who was this woman? And why in the name of Arceus was she talking like that? His cheek twitched into a forced smile when she asked about his Feebas. Well that was nice of her to say... was she blind too? He opened his mouth to say something, but cut himself off when he thought he heard the woman say something about a "battle." Wha? She wanted to battle Feebas?

With a countenance of uncertainty, he placed his hands in the fountain behind him and beckoned for Feebas to come. She made her way to the edge of  the structure and looked up a the woman with curiosity. "Bass?" Venick softly pet the fish with his thumb and gave a very hesitant nod to the lady.

"S-sure..." There was no way Feebas would be able to take on anything else at this point, unless she was a new trainer as well, but even then. Still, he was really scared to say no to her. "And I'm Venick by the way," he stated with a continued suspicion in his voice. His eyes inspected the woman in an attempt to find out what she was up to by asking for a battle. What? A trainer asking another trainer for a battle!? Madness! Alright, so maybe he was a little paranoid...

"Alright, let's do this I guess."

venick and kenna are going to have a battle!

MADE BY OLIVE

[Kenna Barnes]

Kenna's smile broadened when he accepted her challenge--and fell when he said his name. "Och, Ah ne'er introduced mysel', did Ah? Whit manners, you'd 'hink ah wis raised in a barn. A'm Kenna, 'n' 'tis nice tae mak yer acquaintance, Venick." She reached out and took his hand in hers and shook it, before rummaging for her own Pokéball in her bag.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Oh, I never introduced myself! What manners, you'd think I was raised in a barn. I'm Kenna, and it's nice to make your acquaintance, Venick."

As she looked for Pyroll's Pokéball, she said, "Afair we start, ye shoulds ken--er, know-- A've only jist started thes trainin' thing--my partner here's mair fur helpin' oot than t' battle, but he's nae much guid fur 'at until he kens at least yin fire-type move. Nae need tae gang easy oan me jist fur 'at, thocht!" Finally, she found Pyroll's Pokéball and released him on the edge of the fountain. "'Tis a battle, 'en. Pyroll, scart th' Feebas!" Pyroll looked at his trainer and back to the fish in the fountain's waters. In the water? Really? He started to shuffle over to the Feebas while staying on the fountain ledge, though he did seem very unsure about what he was doing. 

SPOILER: Click to show

"Before we sstart, you should know--er, know--I've only just started this training thing--my partner here's more for helping out than to battle, but he's not much good for that until he knows at least one fire-type move. No need to go easy on me just for that, though!"

---

Party:

• Pyroll is making his way towards the Feebas, intending to use Scratch at...some point. Soon, probably.

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

_{~It's Okay to be Helpless Right?~}

Venick took a step back as the interesting Pokemon was released. His eyes brightened. <THAT'S PYROLL!!!> He at once tried to remove the giddiness that was trying to burst from him. Of course he had seen Pyroll at the lab before, but, never had Oak demonstrated a battle. He always said that he wanted it to be a surprise for the trainer to learn the new species' moves and skills, so this was sort of a big deal to the purple-headed trainer. Maybe after the battle he'd ask Kenna if he could do a little research on the Pokemon. <oh!> Venick snapped his fingers and dove into his bag to retrieve his Data Log. He could research and battle at the same time... right?

As Pyroll started uncomfortably scuttling towards Feebas, Venick was tempted to give his Pokemon an order, but then he caught a glance at Feebas' face. It was so.. blank. Hm. That was odd. She was always so enthusiastic about everything, and this was her first battle. What was she upto..?

Her face stayed blank until the red Pokemon finally got around to attacking. Its large claws grazed Feebas' scaly skin, and in retaliation she hopped out of the water to tackle Pyroll. Venick let loose a little smirk. She shared some of his deception. He liked that. Feebas wasn't a very pretty or strong Pokemon, she probably wouldn't be able to take much of a hit, but she had decent speed in the water, and as Venick just saw, she had some smarts too. Let the enemy get close, and then try to knock them off their platform!

Feebas was hit by Scratch!
Feebas attempted to knock Pyroll off with Tackle!

MADE BY OLIVE

[Kenna Barnes]

Pyroll landed an attack! ...sort of. Well, he made contact with the fish, anyway, but the combination of his surprise at the fish's sudden movement and, well, the sudden movement itself--i.e. the force of the impact and, well, he didn't stand much chance of keeping the high ground. He tried, so hard, and in his scrambling even almost actually kept himself out of the water! ...Unfortunately, the operative word here is 'almost'. His claws connected with a bit of something on the ledge, but as he started to pull himself up, it gave and he fell down right into the water. 

Kenna winced at the 'plop' her Pokémon made as he fell in. "Ye c'n dae it, hon! Mebbe, ah..." Kenna looked pensive for a moment, before giving a sideways frown and finishing, "Nae, juist scart it 'gain."

SPOILER: Click to show

"You can do it, hon! Maybe, ah..."
"No, just scratch it again."

Pyroll frowned. He wasn't fond at all of swimming, he decided, given the most he could do was the instinctive 'doggy paddle.' True, this water wasn't very deep, but it was deep enough for Pokémon of his--and his foe's--size to swim in well enough.

To make things worse, the ledge was too high for him to easily reach. He could get back up there, sure. Well, probably. It would just take, like... five minutes, also known as "a lot longer than a single turn," and he wasn't one to disobey a direct order from his superior. 

...Hey! That was it. He'd think of himself as a soldier in the army he'd heard tell of on the so-called "old world," and Kenna was his drill sergeant. He was part of a battalion fighting a dreaded... uh... Wailord. Yeah. It was an evil Wailord, though. ...Ooh, oh, hadn't there been a thing about, uhh... Darkness Pokémon? Not Dark Types, just, uh... Well, yeah, it was that sort of evil. 

And he was one of the troops going out to fight it. 

It was a cold and rainy night, not that it could get much wetter out in the middle of the ocean. 

The great white whale, which was also simultaneously Darkness, gave a mighty roar. Thousands fell to its onslaught. 

But not I. I don't know whether it was through strength, wit, or just plain luck, but I was one of the few to make it out of there alive.

He managed to think of all of this in a few seconds, as you do when you don't have to articulate your thoughts to anyone else. To everyone else, it just looked like he squinted and stopped paddling quite as heavily and lowered his head so that it was only just above the surface as he paddled his way towards the fish, claws at the ready.

---

Party:

• Pyroll fell into the water
• Pyroll is attempting Scratch on Feebas
• Apparently "Quirky" nature here translates into playing make-believe. I have no idea where that came from but when I had the idea I decided to roll with it. 
• Also I figure Pyroll is probably taking a small amount of recurring damage from being in the water? since, like. he's pretty dang submerged. IDK. 

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

_{~It's Okay to be Helpless Right?~}

Venick attempted to suppress a snort as the Pokemon fell into the fountain. Then it started paddling? He raised an eyebrow. <Doesn't that hurt him?> He shrugged. Whatever. "Alright Feebas, duck under him and go for another Tackle." Feebas had an enormous advantage right now, it was  kind of hilarious and ironic. Quite possibly one of the most useless Pokemon on the planet, and she was still on her way to winning her first battle. 

Feebas did as she was told, unfortunately, the fountain wasn't really all that deep. In fact, if Pyroll were to stand on its tiptoes, it'd probably be okay. But either way, there really wasn't enough room for her to get enough momentum for a good attack. Still, the fish bopped her head against the armor Pokemon's belly, taking another bit of his claw in the process. 

---

Feebas is hit by Scratch!
Feebas used Tackle again!

^~~

MADE BY OLIVE

[Kenna Barnes]

So, it turns out that keeping an eye on your enemy while keeping your head above water--cold water that was doing painful things to your skin--is actually really hard. 

Poor Pyroll was startled and somewhat winded by the Tackle--it didn't have the full momentum behind it that a normal one would have, sure, but he literally did not see it coming. He was knocked barely out of the water from the upwards force and slightly to one side. Unfortunately for him, he started to draw a breath after having it knocked out of him slightly after he splashed back into the water, face and all this time. He spluttered as he resurfaced, arms flailing about as he attempted to cough up that mouthful of water. 

"Ye c'n dae it! Na pain, na gain, luve! 'N' gang f'r anu'r scart while ye're at it!" Her tone was high and happy, if competitive, and may have seemed callously unphased by her Pokémon's distress. However, she did move as she was saying this to be standing right up next to the fountain, as close as she could be to her Pyroll's position within it, and leaned forward with one hand supporting herself on the fountain's rim, closely watching her Pyroll's movements. 

SPOILER: Click to show

"You can do it! No pain, no gain, love! And go for another scratch while you're at it!"

Well, it would be rather hard for Pyroll to find Feebas given its flailing, but at least there was a decent chance of the fish getting hurt if it went anywhere near the claws on its own, right?

---

Party:

• Pyroll is hit by the Tackle
• Pyroll inhales some water, starts coughing
• Kenna moves to be able to grab Pyroll if he does actually start drowning
• Pyroll is still being hurt by being in the water
• Pyroll is attempting to Scratch anything that comes near him, but will not move to it on his own

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

_{~It's Okay to be Helpless Right?~}

Slowly Venick's attention began to fade from the battle and into Kenna. What.. Why was she letting her pokemon stay in there..? And what the hell was she even saying? She was a very interesting character indeed. What did she do for a living? Probably ripped the heads off Hydreigon or something insanely tough and scary like that. Maybe he'd ask her after the battle. Never know when you might need a titan in your travels right?  But wait, the Pyroll. Right. Why was she doing that? Venick bit his lip. He certainly hoped it was just ignorance and not plain disrespect for the creature. Humans were one thing, but abusing Pokemon wasn't exactly a thing he was down with.

He scrunched up his face a bit and a slightly audible "Ummmm..." creeped out. His focus returned upon hearing a splash. Feebas was nicked a couple more times by the flailing fire Pokemon. Before he could offer a command, the fish darted around Pyroll and bumped it from behind. She then proceeded to flop out of the water and onto the opponent's back. Venick cringed. This wasn't even fair  enough to be fun. 

"Kenna.. do you think it's a good idea to leave Pyroll in the fountain like that..?" he interrogated with a tender and concerned voice. The boy took a few steps toward the decorative structure and hoped he wouldn't have to repeat himself. That was a serious pet peeve right there. Notably, it was his fault if he wasn't heard, but that didn't mean he wasn't still ticked off if the person didn't have the Noivern ears to hear him with.

---

Feebas was hit by the flailing scratches!
Feebas (attempted to) Tackle(d) Pyroll!

^~~

MADE BY OLIVE