Escaping the past

Just smile and try NOT to act like a weirdo for a change, Oth.

It was so strange, being out in the sunlight at his own leisure, being able to enjoy the smell of the daylight and the way it shimmered on everything. Seeing so many Pokemon in one place was both intimidating and exhilarating! He pulled his hood up over his head more as he made his way through all the various stands, eagerly flitting from place to place to see what all the Pokemon were offering. He had nothing to trade for himself, but it was always fun to look! It was all so new to the Braixen, seeing so many free to do as they pleased, with no one to really tell them when or where to be, this was what real freedom felt like, he imagined.

He made a displeased face as his stomach began to growl, the pervasive smell of something sweet and tantalizing was invading his nose, and whetting his already growing appetite. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, he often lost track of food entirely, so used to being told exactly when to eat and what to eat. He sighed when he realized he really didn't have anything he could trade for one of those teasing sweetrolls. He sighed and shrugged defeatedly, scratching over his torn ear as he observed the Pokemon passing by, trying to take his mind off of food as he watched them go about their daily lives. He wouldn't mind some action right about now, anything was better than being idle.

A small pebble flew through the air towards the back of the Braixen's head as Core pulled off her usual tricks. She snickered quietly hoping it would hit as she idly hid behind the Oran berry cart. She quietly peeked underneath catching a view of her unlucky victim only to see that this one was more battle torn than the usual one... 'SCORE!! This guy'll help gain me a few levels for sure!'

Mew giggled softly, the bell on its tail jingling merrily as it weaved in and out of the paths of the wandering Pokémon in the marketplace. Several roaming Pokémon heard the ringing of the bell; since it had made itself invisible like it usually did when it went out, they were all quite confused as to where the noise was coming from.

The little pink Pokémon hadn't ventured out of the volcano where it lived in quite a while, so it was very excited to be out and about and playing again. It wheeled into the sky with a happy cry, doing a few flips and twirls. Mew was especially happy today, not only because it was having fun playing outside, it was also because the ground was all glittery and white, with all the snow covering it.

Mew giggled again, covering its mouth with its paws as it lashed its tail in glee. It could already tell that this day was gonna be super-extra fun, but that feeling only got stronger when it spotted a foxy-looking orange Pokémon down below, one that it didn't recognize. This Pokémon must be a newcomer to the Realm, then! That meant Mew had one more friend to play with.

It suddenly dropped straight down out of the sky, getting closer and closer to the ground until it pulled up at the last second, the bell on its tail ringing like mad. Mew was now closer to the ground, trying to stifle giggles as it neared the Braixen from behind and secretly admiring the little scarf thingy that he was wearing. It was so busy goofing around that it didn't even notice the little white Charmander nearby. She of course couldn't see it, so that pebble she threw struck the pink Pokémon right on the back of the head.

Mew yelped in surprise, its invisible barrier fizzing off for a second before turning back on again. Someone had to have noticed a sudden pink creature appearing in midair and then disappearing, surely...

Are my ears ringing? Surely I'm not that hungry, right?

The Braixen had been sitting in the same spot for a bit now, and the ringing hadn't let up for a while, it almost sounded like a bell chiming a cheerful tune. He'd strained his eyes to find the source, but no Pokemon nearby had bells attached to anything. He stuck a claw into his ear and wiggled it, popping it out and looking perturbed when it didn't stop.

In fact, it seemed to be getting louder.

He stood when he heard the chiming growing louder now, getting a sort of uneasy feeling in his gut. That old paranoia was worming it's way into his brain and making him feel very discomforted, his tail twitching nervously in response. It was only a bell chiming, but it was so otherwordly, it gave him the skeevies something fierce.

He gasped when the bell sounded directly behind him, just as he saw a stone heading his way, hurled from somewhere behind an Oran berry cart. He flinched in preparation to be hit, but his eyes soon widened in shock as he saw it hit something else, "W-wh..." Had he just seen what he thought he saw? Surely not. He reached a paw out in an attempt to make contact with what he'd thought he saw. He'd spent years of his life desperately trying to summon one of the legendary Pokemon of myth, and unless he was crazy, he'd just seen one right in front of his face.

Core peeked out from behind the cart once more only to see something she'd never seen before... "Uh.. wha..." She whispered to herself as the floating ping catlike thing appeared then vanished. Her ruby eyes sparkled as curiosity overtook attitude wondering what the heck that was. But as soon as her expression let up, it immediately fell back to her usually annoyed scowl. She sank behind the cart and began to slowly go through each of the attacks her Mother had taught her about. Something like a school of attacks and what to be ready for, if you will.

She stared at the ground as both confusion and wonder of what this new being was... Did he make this illusion himself? Was he THAT strong?? She couldn't know for sure but she HAD to find out! She closed her eyes and tried to recall a certain attack where the opponent visualizes several 'copies' of the original... but this surely wasn't a copy... Core squeezed her eyes shut in frustration and let out a small, annoyed growl... Despite knowing the name of the pokemon, she knew little to nothing about the Braixen species and what special moves they could do... For some reason she assumed it was a fire type like herself but maybe she was wrong?

NO, She absolutely hated being wrong! She was going to prove that... although, no other pokemon called her wrong but herself... so she'd let this one slide for now... Her mother's kind, but fierce words spun through her head like a fiery tornado, "When in doubt, wing it and don't let up no matter how hard they fight back!" She snorted confidently and hopped to her feet as the wintery landscape loomed around her like a large poison lake ready to swallow up her tail-flame the instant she makes a mistake. She shook her head again and tried to get back on track of the Braixen. 'What kind of Pokemon was this? Fire? Psychic? What was that stick thing... is that actually a part of his tail?? If so, that's gross! Even worse than a Stunky!!' She let out another growl, scooped up a handful of small handful of the exposed rocks and dirt, then pressed her back tightly against the cart aiming her arsenal.

With one mighty heave, she hurled the fistful of gravel as hard as she could at the Braixen then quickly ducked out of sight. This time, it was more along the lines to educate herself rather than to be rude. What she saw and heard had to be some kind of trick, she was definitely going to get to the bottom of it!

Poor Mew was too preoccupied with rubbing the back of its head and whining that it forgot that moving away would be a better idea than just hanging in the air like that. So it unforunately got hit again, letting out a high-pitched squeak of pain and...irritation?

The pink Pokémon's invisibility barrier flicked off, but this time it didn't turn back on, leaving the rare creature exposed to the world. It moved up a few feet into the air above the Braixen, nursing its little stinging wounds with a whimper. It opened one large blue eye, looking around for whoever had threw those before finally pinpointing the Charmander.

Mew flicked its ear, frowning. "Throwing rocks is not nice!" it called, lashing its tail and sending the bell into raucous ringing. The Pokémon grumbled a little to itself, turning back towards the Braixen, who seemed as if he was about to faint. It turned the smile back on, waving with one paw. "Oh, hello~! You're new, I can tell! That means you're a brand-new friend of mine, mew~! And I loooove your scarf thingy! And your stick! Does it come out? That would be really cool if it did, heeheehee~" It giggled playfully, covering its mouth with its paws and seeming to have forgotten all about the rock-throwing incident.