Rainbow After the Storm

Prima yawned, stretching out as she climbed out of her bed. Her partner was still snoozing away and she took the chance of a quiet morning to wander off on her own for the day. It had been raining nonstop all night, and as she wandered down the halls of the guild she noticed it had died down to a faint drizzle. Prima took her time, not wanting to get caught out in the rain and walked through hallways for a while. Eventually she saw that the drizzle had become a mist and decided she should leave now before most of the Pokemon began to stir. It was early morning, meaning that chances were she wouldn't meet any Pokemon and just enjoy a few quiet moments to herself. Walking around Grassveil would be good for her.

Sometimes Prima needed alone time, as she was sometimes a shy and awkward Pokemon. But she still tried her best to socialize and her partner was bringing out her more outgoing side bit by bit. Although sometimes the energy of Nugale could be quite overwhelming. She shook herself lightly, her shiny pelt shaking off a buildup of mist and she sighed. "Maybe going outside wasn't the best idea..." Prima mumbled, unsure of her choice with the current weather and all.

Luke trudged along the wet dirt road, his head down, his tail drooped. The town was pretty empty at the time, most of the shops were closed. It was early in the morning, small beams of early sunlight pierced through the thick cloud of mist that was surrounding most of Grassveil, giving it a gloomy atmosphere. Of course, that was all Luke's opinion, who was gloomy anyways. He sighed, not caring about the world. Luke wasn't even sure why he felt so sad. Or maybe he did but just didn't want to admit it. He paused to shake off water that was soaking his fur. A few seconds and a dog shake later he continued his aimless walk, his fur less wet, but more poofy. 'Why..." he said out loud. His mind seemed to stick to that word as he walked, his mouth muttering the same word as he delved deeper into the darkness of his conscience.

Prima decided not to bother with taking care of her fur until she was in a dry area. None of the shopkeepers had stirred yet, and it was easy to hear her own pawsteps, yet something else caught her attention. It was another set of pawsteps. Her curiosity got the better of her and she followed after the sound only to hear muttering along with it. She caught sight of a figure, becoming more and more familiar as she got closer.

"Is that.. That Poochyena from before...?" The shiny Purrloin said to herself. She couldn't quite remember his name off the top of her head and followed after trying to think of it. Lan.... Loop... Lou... Luka.. Luke! She suddenly realized. Although at this point calling out to him would be awkward, incredibly awkward for Prima. Should she wait, leave him alone, or call out to him now? She couldn't quite decide. She inhaled nervously and let out a call for the Poochyena.

Luke's ears twitched as he heard someone say his name. He snapped out of his daze and looked around. He spotted a Purrlion a little ahead of him. As he got closer he recognized her as Prima, that pokemon from the cafe. He tried to portray a cheerful face as he padded up to the other pokemon. "Hello..." he said, trying to sound upbeat, but failing. His face seemed to subconsciously twist into a frown and his eyes seemed to take a great interest at looking at the ground. An silent moment passed when he suddenly started shaking the water off his fur, letting out a small downpour of water to descend in his vicinity, including Prima. He smiled weakly, trying to look apologetic and shrugged. "Sorry... instinct." One of his ears were up while the other was flattened. His head fur was disheveled, giving him a comical look, despite the gloom emanating from him.

Prima rubbed her face, which had been splashed a tiny bit by the water he had shaken off. "It's... Okay." She said, clearly thrown off by the random action. She shook her head after pawing off some of the water. Her fur was damp and flattened against her body, making her look slightly slimmer than usual. "Why are you walking around by yourself? Don't you sleep in?" She figured with him being a Poochyena and all he'd be the type to stay in until later on in the day. Prima tried to avoid saying anything about appearance, not that hers was really any better.

Luke gave another shrug. "Usually..." He pawed at the ground. "But that would mean I would have been sleeping last night. But i wasn't. Not that I'm tired." He let out a large yawn as soon as he finished his sentence. "Anyways. To answer your first question. Why am i walking around by myself?" He gave a weird frown/grin. "You know anyone who would want to walk around with me...?" He felt himself teetering at the edge of sadness, he pulled himself back before he descended into depression. "So, what about you? What are you doing out here on a damp morning like this?"

Prima glanced around. Her yellowy-green orbs searching for something else to look at. Surely he didn't really mean that. Surely. She smiled nervously and shrugged. Normally she wasn't used such negative attitudes from Pokemon who inhabited Grassveil because they gave off such positive energy. Luke on the otherhand was another story. Her ears went back just the slightest. "I... Wanted to take a quiet walk before things got rowdy and loud around the guild. They can be really energized and upbeat. But besides that, if you're so negative, how can you expect someone to want to walk with you?" She asked. It didn't make sense to the Purrloin at all. He made it sound like he was unpleasant to be around, and therefore shouldn't have any company. Wouldn't that drive Pokemon away?

Luke blinked in surprise. Not because he was shocked at what the Purrloin said, but because she said it at all. That was the first time anyone ever openly pointed it out to him. The funny thing was. He knew what he was doing, pushing others away, and he hated it. But...that's the only way he knew how to live now. He could sense Prima's discomfort. "I'm sorry for ruining your walk." He gazed upwards at nothing in particular. He looked like he was about to howl. But only a murmur escaped his mouth. "I wasn't always like this..." And it was true. His soft voice seemed to echo, like the whisper of a ghost (pokemon). His everstone catching a single ray of sunlight that managed to reach through the fog.

Prima's eyes narrowed. "My walk was already rough because it was raining... I doubt it could get any worse than the fact it's raining really." She said and lowered down to the ground just slightly, a weird habit she had picked up, granted she was already on all fours. "If, if you weren't always like that can't you change?" Prima asked and tilted her head. She herself was trying to, it couldn't be that hard for any other Pokemon to change. "If you're unhappy isn't change good?"

Luke looked at the ground. Be didn't say anything for awhile. "Change...". He finally said. "Is a complicated subject... For me.". He started pawing at the ground again. "Changes requires you to act different.". His paws now scratching the soft dirt. "It requires you to move on.". He had now made a small divot in the ground and he didnt appear to be stopping. "It requires you to forget!". His face was now rigged with anger as he dug deeper into loose dirt. He dug as if he was trying to search for something in the ground. Using his dog inherent skill he in a matter of minutes dug a hole deep enough to stand in. A sigh emanated from the hole. Although Luke couldn't be seen, his voice echoed out from it, sounding tired and defeated. "I just can't go through that again..."

Prima looked confused. He had just dug a hole in the ground. In the middle of a walking path actually. The pile of dirt behind him was a fair size too. That was going to be a pain for any Pokemon to clean up, and he was probably messy from it, and not to mention it was raining. Prima contemplated all these things on top of how he was getting out.

"What... Why would you dig a hole like that?" She asked. Sometimes she liked to scratch things, but that was because she needed to to take care of her claws. Prima didn't want to get too close to the hole, lest she take a fall and hovered around it as she paced in a circle. "If you can't go through it, you're just going to be miserable? That doesn't make sense." The somewhat blunt Purrloin said. It wasn't that she tried to be blunt, but more that she didn't know how to make things sound nicer as of yet.

Luke was quiet for awhile. The rain drizzled into the hole with small plops and splashes, washing the mud off of Luke's face. Water started to slowly fill the hole, but he didn't care. He looked around the small dirt hole he created. He blinked. After a few seconds he poked his head out of the hole and looked at Prima circling him. "Have you ever lost something before?" He said abruptly. He looked around the top of the hole. "How do i get out?" He thought out loud.

Prima gave the Poochyena an odd look. "I'm pretty sure every Pokemon has." She said. That was a pretty obvious question, even for her. "Umm... Getting out? I'm not sure... I guess I could try to help you." In truth the Purrloin didn't want to fall in herself, but she couldn't just leave Luke stuck in there. She padded over to the hole, unsure of how he wanted help getting out. "I guess I could just help you climb up, or something like that."

Luke twitched his ears in annoyance. "No no no. Like, something important" He looked around for a foothold. Rain was still splashing into the hole, making everything muddy and slippery. He looked up and saw the Purrlion looking down from the top of the hole. "Hey, umm... I appreciate the gesture but, i wouldn't want you to get stuck down here too. It's pretty slick near the opening." He looked around, found part of a hole that was alittle lower than the rest, tensed his muscles and jumped. For a second he clung to the rim of the pit before the mud gave way, sending him landing bak down with a sploosh! He sat back up and shook the water off his coat. Afterwards he sat there, staring at nothing for awhile. a feeling of calmness washed over him. Then a small smirk spread across his face, as if he remembered a funny joke. He smirk turned turned into a grin, then he started laughing. "I guess." He said in between laughs. "You know. You hit rock bottom. When. You get yourself. Stuck in a hole. On a rainy day." His laughs died down into chuckles as the rained poured on.