Vanilla Ribbons

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Vanilla paced through Pecha Forest with ears alert for the slightest sound of a rescue team nearby. She had heard that someone was coming out on a mission to retrieve and item left in the Forest and eagerly awaited their arrival. Vanilla had been longing to snatch something yet again from an unsuspecting Pokemon. She cackled to herself as she thought of the last victim, a sweet Patrat who had only been trying to help her find a 'lost item.' Vanilla hummed a soft tune as she started to proceed to a perfect spot, it was near a clearing between the trees to reach a deeper area and climbed up the limbs of a mangled old tree.

"Come on rescue team, I'm not getting any younger. Cuter maybe, but not younger." She smirked to herself and kicked back to wait for them. Rayo wasn't with her this time, but she figured she could handle herself like she did before.

Vanilla snorted. "Oswald you'll never understand, not being an adorable female and all." She shrugged her shoulders with a slight smirk. Of course she'd never admit that Lopunnys made her feel out competed at time. The brown and white rabbits with fluff were incredibly agile fighters on top of that.

Prima cut in after Vanilla's sentence. "To be a better Pokemon! I want to help, and give instead of take." She nodded in agreement with herself for a moment. "I was spoiled when I was with my parents, and I'm not going to be spoiled anymore. I'm going to work hard!"

"Well, it's good to know that you want to get better, because the last time I checked, this mission was a B ranked mission. Trust me, It'll be like a Pidgey learning how to fly, with a safety net of course," Oswald attempted to reassure, not even realizing how rude his comment could've easily been taken. And, of course, speaking of rude comments, Oswald simply couldn't help but make a retort at Vanilla.

"Then I guess you and I have the same problem," Oswald chuckled, knowing that he really shouldn't be teasing this outlaw, but he just couldn't help it. After all, it was Vanilla's fault for making it so easy to make a joke out of her comment. However, Oswald still felt unsatisfied, and continued, "But seriously, what do you not like about them? Their body shape, their various range in moves, their speed? What makes you feel so bitter towards them?"

Vanilla gave him a dirty look. "You'd love to know wouldn't you? Why so curious all of a sudden? Perhaps you're going to want stories to tell to your Lopunny friend?" She gave him a narrowed from the corner of her eyes after she had turned to look at the area of the forest we were in. It had definitely started to look unfamiliar to her.

Prima watched the two in confusion. She was unsure as to why Vanilla had a dislike towards Lopunny. Or why Oswald was curious as to why she disliked them. Pokemon are weird. She thought to herself as she watched the way Vanilla glared at the Mienfoo.

"I don't know where she went. She never told me where she had gone, she just...vanished. I'm only curious because you sort of avoided the question the first time I asked you. It isn't anything more than that." Oswald replied, slowing the pace for a moment as they entered a much deeper part of the forest. He remembered this part of the forest, all too well in fact. After all, he had been the rescuee in a number of previous exploration missions, simply because he had been too stubborn to try and train in the "safer" parts of the forest. The mienfoo tensed up and stopped, holding out his left arm to signal everyone to halt for the moment.

"Alright, now, before we move on, I have to warn you two, it is going to be much more dangerous from here on out. Hopefully we don't run into a Roselia out here, so let's take it slow and steady from here on out, okay?" Oswald suggested, glancing around as he tried to spot any assailants that my lunge at them through the tree line, or even any grass types who might attack from above.

Vanilla let out a hmph and turned away from Oswald. She didn't want to talk to him at the moment and stopped after nearly bumping into him. She twisted her mouth at the thought of getting poisoned by a Roselia. She had forgotten her Pecha berries after all too. "Well I'd rather keep moving than stand still right now." She said and took a step forward.


Prima peeked out from behind Oswald. "Do you think we're close to the Honchkrow?" She stared into the dense forest trying to see what he was looking for. "I bet they're watching us right now or something. Waiting for us to walk into their trap." She glanced at Vanilla then back at Oswald. "We can always use her as bait." She said in a low voice with a snicker.

Oswald tipped his head to the side slightly, not quite understanding why the Minciccno was getting so angry over something like appearances. Beauty was skin deep after all, and yet, still, the Mienfoo couldn't place the odd feeling he had in the pit of his stomach, and it only continued to nag at him as time passed by.

"Watching us? Ha! Murkrow are hard to find in this forest, and even then, they don't attack other Pokemon until the sun sets. I guess it partially has to do with them being nocturnal. And no, I would never use any pokemon as bait. It's dishonorable to betray a pokemon like that, and that isn't my style." Oswald replied, obviously opposed to Prima's "plan" even though it was meant to be more of a tease than any real thought out plan.

Oswald continued to hold his arm out, stopping Vanilla and pointing to the right, "Straight ahead is a popular Roselia nesting ground, so if you don't want to get a whole flurry of ailments, I'd suggest we loop around this way. That way we won't have to fight as many pokemon, and we'll be in peak physical condition for when we take on the Honchkrow."

Vanilla sighed and decided to agree with the Mienfoo. She figured that if she went along with his plan he'd drop the Lopunny hatred thing if he noticed she randomly started to cooperate more. "And what if they manage to see us?" She asked as she finished listening to his plans.

"Awe... That's not fun." Prima said and lowered her head in disappointment as if she sulked at his opposition. "We won't get caught if we're sneaky and not talking loudly like you are now." She pointed out to Vanilla while standing behind Oswald. "I'm sure the whole forest can hear you right now." Prima said with a smirk.

Vanilla gave her an annoyed look. "Look shiny, I'm not gonna hurt you okay? I'm just along for the trip is all."

Prima gave her a suspicious look and glanced at Oswald for the next bit of info on what was happening.

Oswald paused, "Well, if they manage to see us, then we should fight them at range, so as to avoid any possibility of them infecting us with any aliment of any kind. The last thing we need is to wander around with poison running through our systems. Especially this deep into the forest, of all places,"

Oswald continued to retain his calm composure, logically plotting out a little strategy for almost every predicament that could occur. For example, if the Murkrow were awake and patrolling around, then they would simply have to stay hidden under the foliage, taking shelter under bushes until the birds would pass by.

"Hey, the trip would certainly be a lot smoother if you two didn't go at each other every step of the way. You'll give away our position."

Vanilla and Prima both nodded in agreement to his plan, but both looked at him when he pointed out their constant squabbling. Vanilla rolled her eyes. "I'm just following you alright? If Ms. Shiny over there can't control herself she can head back home. I'm sure she can find her way out." Vanilla said through narrowed eyes.


Prima stared her in the eyes for a moment, and decided to stand on the opposite side of Oswald. "Sorry I don't like someone who likes to steal things." She re-positioned herself in her new spot and turned her back to the Minccino with her head held high as if trying to keep her pride in tact.

"You would know all about having sticky paws though wouldn't you." Vanilla smirked and looked at Oswald. "Let's get going then? I'm eager to see this Honchkrow's nest."

"And I'm eager to beat him to a pulp, after all, I doubt he would go down without some kind of a fight." Oswald stated, leading the duo around the Roselia resting grounds, making what looked to be a meter wide radius away from the spot, trying to be as quiet as possible. However, this silence was quickly ruined as a concussive force pushed all three pokemon forward, a small crater sitting at the position where they had talked only moments before.

"Intruders, we do not take kindly to intruders..."

Oswald heard the voice and quickly jumped back up to his paws, his eyes wide as he saw a Deerling approach the trio, it's pelt a green color to symbolize the warm summer climate.

'What?! What is a Deerling doing out here? I thought they were deeper in the forest than this...' Oswald thought, gritting his teeth as he readied himself for battle.

"Alright, Vanilla, Prima, I need you two to circle around behind this Deerling and hit em with any strong physical attack you know. Try your best to aim for the legs or knees." Oswald instructed, meditating as the Deerling seemed to glare at the trio angrily.

Vanilla flew forward in surprise at the sudden attack from the Pokemon. "Wha-" She cut off as she realized it was an aggressive Deerling. The green pelted Deerling seemed ready to attack them all again. She circled behind it, watching it carefully and readying herself to use a Tail Slap attack. She figured she'd avoid using Echoed Voice until the area behind it was clear.


Prima jumped in surprise as the attack hit and heard Oswald call out some instructions. A panic rose up in her at how aggressive the Deerling was. She had been used to seeing the happy and content ones that grazed or lounged by ponds. Prima was worried because she only knew how to scratch the opponent, but merely ran around to other side opposite of Vanilla and charged in to scratch the green deer Pokemon with her sharp claws.

In a high branch a small Pokemon with a small black hat watch the camotion. What's Van doing with Giuld members? he asked himself. "Electroweb." he whispered launching his attack on the Green Deer like Pokemon.

The Aggressive Deerling quickly followed the smaller of the duo with it's gaze, readying another Energy ball before it's muzzle was suddenly closed by the mienfoo behind it. Oswald, hoping that the Deerling would focus on the group running around behind him, had taken the opportunity to strike the Deerling on the back of the head with a pound, his strike pushing the Deerling into both a scratch and a tail whip.

With nowhere to move when the recoil of all three attacks hit, the Deerling had no where else to go but right back onto the ground, and, upon hitting the ground an electrifying web entrapped the Deerling, the four way assault doing enough damage to knock the poor out numbered creature unconscious.

Oswald looked up at the tree where the electric web had spawned, and saw a Joltik sitting there in the tree branch with a small black hat sitting atop his head. Oswald remembered seeing the outlaw's photo on one of the many bulletin board bounties, and it was easy to piece together that he and Vanilla were a team, why else would he help them?

"Friend of yours Vanilla?" Oswald asked, crouching down to see if the Deerling had dropped anything that the team could use on their quest.

Vanilla looked up at the Joltik. "Oh hey Rayo! Thanks for the help there!" She wouldn't admit she had missed Rayo, but was definitely glad he had appeared and used a sneak attack move on the Deerling. It had been knocked out fast and she sighed with relief.


Prima jumped in surprise at how fast the Deerling fell in battle. "Who's that?" She asked barely noticing the tiny Joltik. It had used an electric attack on the deer and had surprised her as well. She remembered what her special ability was and realized that she couldn't be paralyzed. She beamed inside at the fact she had a chance against the electric Pokemon with an advantage like that. "Is he an outlaw too?"

Rayo crawled down from the tree towards the trio of Pokemon. "Where have you been Van? I've been looking alover for you." He looked at Ozzy and Prima, "Who are these guys?" he asked.

Oswald whispered quietly to Prima, all the while searching the unconscious Deerling and finding a single blast seed wedged behind it's ear, "That's Rayo, Vanilla's partner in crime. Just calm down, alright,"

Oswald stood, stuffing the blast seed inside his pouch before returning his gaze to the Joltik, "I am Oswald, team leader of Blazing Glory, and this is Prima, my client. We struck a deal with Vanilla, that we'd work together until we defeated the Honchkrow that lives in this forest, and that Prima here regains her white ribbon."

Vanilla nodded slowly at Rayo. "Come with us Rayo, I'm sure you'll be useful against those bird Pokemon with your electric type attacks. And I'll make sure they don't grab you okay?" She said trying to convince him to come along.

She noticed Oswald whispering to to Prima and looked away. She wasn't sure which one made her want to avert her eyes more, but she did have a plan forming in her head. As long as Rayo would go along with it.


Prima nodded at Oswald. "Okay..." She said. It was another Pokemon on their side. And she told herself to relax like Oswald had said. She sucked in a breath, held it, then let go of it. She calmed down a bit and noticed Oswald had found some kind of seed on the Deerling. She was curious as to what kind of seed it was though.

Rayo shuddered slightly he hated bird Pokemon. "As long as you keep them off my tail. Fine I'll join ya." he said adjusting his hat a little. He then crawled on top of Prima's head.

"Alright then, let's get back on track. The day is still young, and we've certainly got a lot of ground to cover." Oswald stated, stretching his arms as he walked down the grassy path layered with dried mud. After getting past ear shot of the Roselia resting grounds, Oswald turned to Vanilla, and thoughts seemed to race through his head. What was it that drove her into this line of work? Was it a troubled cubhood, was it her parents, or was it the environment she lived in?

"Hey, Vanilla? Why did you become an Outlaw?" Oswald asked, the path that they took was dusty and worn, as it was a trail that he and his mentor would take everyday to traind, but Vermillion's scent no longer lingered in these woods, and neither did she.

Vanilla looked at Oswald. "I was born into a family of thieves. They taught me how steal food when I needed it from Pokemon. But they did say to never take more than I needed, granted I didn't follow that rule often." She didn't elaborate on the fact she loved taking ribbons. It was a thrill for her, she got enjoyment out of it. And she had a secret ribbon collection stowed away somewhere. "Why would I join a guild like that after living a life like this for so long? It's an opposite world really." She noticed how dusty the road was, and wrinkled her nose as she realized she'd have to clean herself up yet again.


Prima shook her head as Rayo climbed on and let out a yowl. "Get off get off! I don't like bugs!" She shouted and ran circles around Vanilla and Oswald, and then in front of them. She wiggled, kicked her legs, and shook her head to try and get the Joltik off. It didn't occur to her that she could smack him off with her paws.

Rayo was actually struggling to hold on to the flailing Pokemon. "Wll you relax? I'm not going to hurt you!" he shouted hanging on for dear life. Eventually he jumpped off of Prima and landed on Van, "There ya happy now?!" he said in a harsh tone while adjusting his hat.

Oswald's ears flattened against his head when he heard how Vanilla was raised. To be brought up to steal when one was so young...she must have had a pretty hard life. Oswald nodded, "Yeah, being in a guild is a lot different. All our food is foraged and paid for, we get our own housing, and we get paid for exploring new areas, helping out other pokemon, etc."

Oswald glanced around at the forest before them, and just smiled gently at the dark beauty of the forest before sighing, "I was raised to live off of the land, to take only what I needed, so that those less fortunate than I could receive the same blessings that I had. I remember, before all the pokemon in this forest became so aggressive, that there was this huge tree in the center of the forest that was covered with apples. Big ones, small ones, all of them fresh and juicy. It was enough to provide for every Pokemon in the forest. But, when all of the pokemon in the forest started to become so...violent, that apple tree was the first to go. It was ravaged, all of it's fruit picked clean, branches picked right off of it, all of it's sap sucked dry...I think that is why I joined the guild, to keep such beautiful things from being destroyed, so that I could become strong enough to protect something. But you probably don't care about that."

Oswald turned his somber expression upside down, smiling once more, though it didn't really seem all that genuine, "I'm sorry about Prima, Rayo. She's still new to adventuring out like this. It shouldn't be long before we reach the Murkrow nest, so everyone please keep your guard up."

The dusty road now grew muddy and moist, which was an oddity for the mienfoo, who was not expecting the sudden change in soil. Noticing how much Vanilla hated getting dirty, Oswald gingerly picked the Minciccno up and carried her on his back, letting her piggy back ride as he stepped across the now muddy soil.

Vanilla glanced up as Rayo landed on her. "She must be scared of bugs or something." She commented. She turned back to Oswald as she heard his comment about wanting to protect those things. "I might be an outlaw, but I'm not so cold to those kinds of things. It's true that Pokemon have destroyed things like that large apple tree, and that is sad considering it's a part of nature and all."

She let out a surprised sound as he picked her up to carry her on his back. "Hey! I'm fine on my own you know! It's just... Dirt and mud." She lied. Vanilla didn't want to look like a pansy, at least not in front of all these Pokemon.


Prima rubbed her head and squinted her eyes. "No I don't like them. Especially Beedrill!" She said and ran over to catch up to the trio. "Oswald aren't you gonna get tired carrying her? She's probably kinda heavy or something." Prima looked around at the forest, it felt eerie and darker than the earlier parts they had been in. "I don't like it here." She mumbled and shrank down a little as she followed behind the Mienfoo.

Rayo turned to face the Purrloin, "Aw who's scared of the dark?" he mocked. Although he was afraid of Bird Pokemon he wouldn't let these guys know especially Vanilla.

Oswald snickered, "Don't worry about it Prima, I'm fine. Besides, I'm doing this so Rayo can keep a look out on the tree line. We don't want any Murkrow swooping down on us from above while we trudge through all this mud."

Of course, this was just to cover for the fact that Oswald was a very chivalrous pokemon, and was willing to help Van, even if she was an outlaw, and didn't treat him very well in most of the circumstances they had experienced together.