Foggy Feelings

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A stone plopped into the water making ripples that seemed to reach all the way to the shore. The pond had a light fog over it that made the area nearly eerie. It was the early morning, and the only sound currently heard was the occasional plop as another stone hit the water and sunk to the bottom of a steadily growing pile. Vanilla was tossing stones idly as if trying to toss her troubles away into the lake along with the stones. Another plop sounded and she sighed and leaned back while kicking her feet. This early in the morning, if she was up, Vanilla liked to wander to quiet and peaceful areas to think about things. Usually it was a relaxing time for her... But her mind and heart kept bringing back up a conflict that ran through her mind. She shook her head and picked up another stone to toss into the pond yet again.

"It is... If only it was that simple. You could just swim away without worry of being caught. No consequences. Swim into the deepest parts of the ocean and still be content. And you could travel farther than either of us could on foot. And search for sunken treasure. Find strange new places." Vanilla said in a slightly dreamy voice.

"Well I assume you'd have to come up to breath at some point. Besides, who knows what kind of scary things are down in the deep blue sea?" Oswald replied, having heard a number of stories of various Water Type pokemons' journey to the sea, and how some saw massive creatures who could easily swallow them whole.

Vanilla shrugged. "There are scary things on land too, like large dragons and... Well yeah, other things." She said, not wanting to mention Gingin. Despite how good things may have gone, the Monferno's twisted smile still gave her nightmares. She flicked her tail as if to dismiss the memory, for now. "I guess there's always being a flying Pokemon..."

"Cept when you run into a rock type, or you run into a thunderstorm. Wouldn't that be horrid," Oswald chuckled, imagining an inattentive Pidgey flying right into a thundercloud. Then, when it'd come out the other end, all of it's feathers would be sticking up in a number of directions, making it look like an Altaria, it'd be hilarious!

Vanilla giggled, making an image of her own. That poor Pidgey, probably electrocuted by the storm. "So I take it you like being a Pokemon on solid ground then?" She asked while wandering into the water a bit. She had to be careful when treading into water, being on the shorter side, she could easily slip into water too deep for her.

"It's not like I can do anything about it. I'm a fighting type, so I better make the most out of it." Oswald replied, stepping out into the water with Vanilla, the cool water calming him and soothing his footpaws. Not that they were aching or anything, but it still felt nice.

"Why, don't you like being a Minccino?"

Vanilla shrugged. Her mouth was slanted upwards at his question, as if in displeasure for a moment, but she thought better and resumed staring at the water. "It's not that I don't like it, but my moves are so limited. I can't be as versatile as other Pokemon. Like Lopunnies, or Furret. I can't even protect myself." She said, remembering how she needed Oswald's help fighting Gingin, in fact, she hadn't done much of anything at all. She felt a little ashamed still, it wasn't in her nature to be weak like this.

"Was that before or after you sent me flying into a tree? You can defend yourself just fine, it's just that you weren't raised to fight like I was. I've been training most of my life to become strong, and you've spent most of your life stealing what you could to survive. Having a versatile set of moves doesn't mean anything if you can't use them properly." Oswald replied, now waist deep in the pond. He had hoped that his words would help cheer Vanilla up, but only time would tell.

Vanilla paused. "I guess... You're right. Even so, I'm out here in the forest. If something happens well. I should be prepared. You saw what happened in the cave. It was quite the trip.. Even so I only had one move to use..." Vanilla said and rubbed her shoulder. It was an awkward topic, but admitting something like this was definitely a step in a different direction for Vanilla.

"Well, you were just more accustomed to seducing other pokemon with your charms, which might not work in a Mystery Dungeon. Besides, it wasn't like either of us were prepared for...well, what happened in there, right?" Oswald replied, planing his footpaws in the mud as he started to move in body in multiple ways, like some sort of smooth, slow paced dance. It was a routine Vermillion had taught him, and it had helped to relax his muscles and focus his mind.

Vanilla stared at Oswald as if he had two heads for a moment. His movements were strange to her. "What are you doing?" She asked. Vanilla had always considered fighting Pokemon to be strange, and this was definitely strange to her. "Are you... Dancing?" She gave Oswald a weird look.

"You could call it that. Really it's just me loosening my muscles, while also exploring the limits of how far my body is willing to bend. Not only that, but it helps clear my thoughts, and allows me to meditate, though with much less effect than the move I had chosen to forget." Oswald replied, continuing on despite the odd looks he was getting from Vanilla. The air seemed to ripple slightly around his paws as Oswald continued his routine, breathing out before suddenly punching outward with his right paw while only standing on his right footpaw, his left arm over his head, and his left leg bent.

A blue flame seemed to burst from his paw as the water rippled around an invisible shockwave that had been summoned from his palm. After accomplishing this, Oswald brought his paws together and stood straight, breathing steadily with his eyes closed, feeling proud that his technique had paid off.

Vanilla raised a brow. She was impressed. Although, she wasn't sure if he had just used a new move or not. She felt the water rise and fall slightly from the shock of the attack and tilted her head. She didn't bother trying to wade closer to Oswald, being about half his height, she didn't know how well she'd fare wading through the water. "So you're saying.. Dancing helps you..?" She finally asked. "Seems a little.. Girly." She said with a snicker.

"It doesn't matter if it's girly or not. What's important is that this is helping me recover, believe it or not. And, if you couldn't tell, it helps me tap into the Aura with me. However, at my current state, I can only conjure up a flicker of it. Still, it is much better than nothing, no?" Oswald replied, bowing before walking closer to the Minccino.

"You should give it a try, it'll help you relax."

Vanilla put her paws up. "I'm glad it helps you, but I think I'll pass. I'm not really into the relaxation.. State of mind.. Fighting type stuff. If I want to relax I'll just curl up in a safe spot and rest for a while." She said. She wasn't so sure his fighting techniques would work for her anyways.

"Fighting type? Are you kidding, a normal type came up with that routine. But fine, if you don't wanna do it, you don't have to." Oswald replied, wringing out patches of his fur as he watched the water pour off of him, his yellow and maroon colored fur darkening slightly from the water.

Vanilla watched him for a moment and then smirked. She had an idea forming in her head at that moment, a somewhat silly one, but still. "Hey Oswald, c'mere. I wanna show you something." She said and beckoned the Mienfoo over.

Without hesitation, the mienfoo drew closer, now standing in front of Vanilla with a puzzled look on his face, "What are you up too?"

Vanilla let out a small snicker, as if she found something funny that only she knew about. She bent over, cupping her paws together and sinking them into the water quickly. After that movement she lifted them up, splashing Oswald with a small amount of water. "This! You don't seem so shy about getting wet, so we can at least have some fun while we're both here."

"You're gonna pay for that!" he said cheerfully, quickly splashing the Minccino with water as he dipped his paws into the water and quickly brought both of them up. The water looked much like a small wave, splashing against Vanilla before dripping back into the pond from whence it came.

Vanilla felt the splash of water hit her. "Hey!" She said with a grin and stepped back a bit, shaking some of the water off. She cupped her paws together, dipping into the water splashing him again. She let out a small giggle, her fur was soaking wet at this point but she didn't seem to mind.

Oswald tried to jump back out of the way of the splash, but quickly tripped, and fell backwards into the pond water. He didn't stay under the water for long, as he quickly popped back up, spitting out a small stream of water to the side as his fur dripped with the cold water.

He looked over to Vanilla, still crouched in the water close to the shore, and within a flash, Oswald leapt at the Minccino, and slammed the water in front of her with a Force Palm, creating a rather large splash with Van in it's center.

"Woah!" Vanilla said as she was hit with the splash attack, just turning slightly to avoid getting hit directly in the face. It was definitely larger than the last. She blinked a few times as the water dripped off her fur. "Oh now you're just playing unfair." She said with a playful smile.

"Oh, what're you gonna do about it?" Oswald replied, slapping the water and sending a small spray up towards Vanilla, chuckling as he did so. This was the most fun he had ever had with the Minccino, none of it life threatening like that dungeon, saddening like their conversations ended up becoming, it was just childish pleasure and joy. It was wonderful.

Vanilla smirked. Oswald had challenged her, albeit playful, she would still take the challenge. She ran through the water, though being on the smaller side she couldn't move as fast as Oswald might've been able to. "This!" She said and leapt, trying to tackle him to the ground with a laugh. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was having more fun than she'd ever had in a while. There wasn't any worry or fear at that moment.