Stranded (rated M for possible adult themes)

[FONT=&quot]Hearing the not too distant sound of raised voices, Prowler started barking in excitement; "Growrowrowrowrow!!!" he called out. Naturally this was enough to arouse Frix's playful side causing the luxio to shed some excess static and bound forward, although he remained silent. The pokémon's flurry of activity was enough to cause their third friend to reveal itself; Celia lightly padded out of the shallow water where she had been all but invisible in her water-like form and swiftly followed her young master and his even younger pokémon.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Well, I suppose they can't miss me now[/FONT] [FONT=&quot], Devin found himself musing as Prowler chased Frix not too far ahead of him, baying loudly all the while. Now that he was closer to this other group he was able to properly observe them; all three looked older than him with the oldest being the guy with a fresh brushed silver mane kneeling next to the rather impressive cook-fire that had been made. Next to him was what he deducted to be the source of the earlier raised voice; a lithe girl who seemed to be in the depths of a modest outburst. I'll have to watch that one, I think, he found himself thinking. Finally, leaving the little morning fire they had was a saffron-haired lad with an aura not greatly removed from that of a kicked puppy.

Devin stole a glance at the small shelter closer to the tree line. Hrm, none of these seem to be the girl I thought I saw in my dream… He'd thought some girl had been tending to him but he wasn't sure if that had been a dream or a snatch of consciousness. We're going to make an interesting troupe.

While he was within shouting range he knew his voice wouldn't hold up to it so he settled for lifting his left arm above his head in an exaggerated wave, being unable to do such with his right due to the dull ache just below his armpit on that side.[/FONT]

Damion was snapped back to reality from his thoughts by shockingly harshness of Victoria's reaction. Even though he was trying to be sincere and apathetic, he never would have imagined a response like that. Thrown back at the harsh response, both in posture and feelings, he sat back in awe at the girls pent up rage and aggression. He really wasn't sure how to react to such unwarranted hostility.

"I... I.. Sorry." After a long pause and him staring, not at the sand in front of him but almost past it, he collected himself and stood up. "I'll leave you alone, if that is what you wish." Clearly hurt, Damion turned away to go gather more of the days catch to get it ready to cook, but headed to the hut to grab a knife out of his bag to help prep the fish.

Vincent Phoenix​

As Victoria sat down next to Vincent's Kadabra, he opened his eyes and glanced towards her for a moment, clearly sensing her anger and distress, but decided not to get involved and simply shut his eyes again, going back to meditating.

After a while, Vincent had collected enough long and sturdy sticks for the fish to be cooked properly and he nodded to himself, pushing away his own worries so that everyone else could eat. With the 15 or so sticks in his grasp he walked back to the fire, noticing the boy from earlier had joined them, and Damion had gone back to the hut for some reason.

He didn't pay it any attention, and only sent a glance at Victoria before walking over to place the sticks next to the fish, wiping his brow a little as they had been quite an armful.

"There we go, we should be able to cook the fish once they've been prepared." He turned to the newcomer, who had laid down and shut his eyes, his Pokémon around him and another moving off towards the woods. He sat himself down and folded his legs, resting his hands on his knees, glancing at the newcomer.

"Hey there. I'm Vincent. This is Victoria." He gestured to the girl. "The guy who just walked up to the hut… erh. I guess I didn't catch his name." He made a mental note to ask him once he came back. He might feel somewhat annoyed by him and his attitude, but that didn't mean they couldn't get along. And reluctantly getting along was better than trying to bite one another's head off.

He sat quietly and thought for a few moments before looking back to Victoria, his face a rather neutral mask, not wanting to seem too serious, and not wanting to smile and make her even angrier by accident.

"I figure that as soon as the fish are prepared and cooking, you and I could head off and find whatever Archie had found yesterday, yeah? Plus, I have to talk to you about something." At this point, he gave her a slightly pleading look, as if to tell her that he knew he had done something bad, hoping that she would notice it and at least cool a little down before he tried apologizing.

Victoria Stone​

"The other guys name is Damion," Victoria answered curtly, the response aimed at Vincent's inability at recalling his name in introduction to the newcomer. Glancing over the newcomer, It was obvious he was in some form of discomfort upon his arrival. What she couldn't tell, was if it was soreness or something far more extreme. Through her anger, she felt bad for the young man, hoping she hadn't made yet another poor first impression. If she kept this up, the whole island would be isolated and repulsed by her presence.

Trying to calm herself down again, she tried to ignore the others for a moment. Knowing that she probably should have offered assistance to the other boy, but not wanting her temper to get the better of her yet again. Victoria truly hoped that he hadn't heard her earlier outburst at poor Damion. She had so much apologizing to do, she just wasn't sure how to go about it. It's not like the others had hurt her feelings. She was now doing to others exactly what had hurt her.

Vincent made mention of finding out what Archie discovered yet again. He also needed to talk about something else? Victoria had no idea what he wanted, to try and hurt her feelings again? She was on the verge of dismissing the idea, until she glanced in his direction. His expression almost comparable to that of a kicked growlithe, dejected and slightly pleading. For some reason, she just couldn't say no at that point. He wasn't her first choice right now to journey into the woods with. In fact, nobody was. However, it was better than stumbling about alone and without support.

"Ok," was all she said in response. Her voice was oddly distant and withdrawn, as if the realization of her actions was becoming manifest.

Damion slowly started back towards the fire pit. Mulling over the situation he started thinking about several different options. He still couldn't believe the reaction from Victoria. Normally something like this wouldn't even phase him. Maybe it was because he knew he couldn't just leave town and move on to the next one. His thoughts then lead him to the idea of leaving these people and going to a different section of the island. He knew he could very well survive on his own, since he had been doing it since he was young. His trail of thoughts kept leading to more disheartening and depressing with each passing second.

He shook his head as if to help clear his thoughts and bring him back to the current situation. With knife in hand, he headed back to the fire pit to start preparing the fish. He silently knelt next to the pile and began to fillet the fish one by one. He used some a few layers of Magikarp scales he carved off as a makeshift plate to hold the fillets and keep them from getting sandy. One by one he started cutting the fillets into an even smaller, more manageable size, and then started putting them on the sticks, and laying them just above the coals.

As they cooked Damion just stared at the coals and poked them with a stick while waiting for breakfast to be done.

Vincent Phoenix​

Glancing towards Victoria, Vincent nodded a few times, before looking back to the newcomer.
"Right, right, Damion."

The guy looked like he was a little uncomfortable, but Vincent figured it was because he had been forced to sleep somewhere else through the night, before he found their little 'community'.
"As soon as Damion comes back, we'll start cooking the fish, and we'll get a decent meal within long. At least there's a steady source of food around here…"

He sighed slightly, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. Everything was a bit of a mess, but everything taken into account, things were going decently enough. He'd have to try and make things right between him and Damion. But first thing's first. Food, then apologizing to Victoria… then fresh water. Hopefully.

He looked up again, as Damion came back with a knife, which actually relieved Vincent quite a lot. He was happy this guy seemed to have been prepared to crash onto an island, unlike himself. As Damion began cutting up the fish, Vincent lowered himself down next to him, muttering a quiet. "Here, let me help." He took the filets provided by Damion and pushed them onto the sticks, sending him a little glance as they worked.

"… You're pretty good at this. Should think you'd been shipwrecked on an island before."
He didn't mean to say it in an offensive way, actually genuinely impressed with how quick-thinking the guy was. After the fish had been skewered and were coking, he stood up again, dusting his hands off and drying them off in the sand. He turned to Victoria and gave a little nod.

"Alright Victoria, should we head out?" He turned back to Damion and the newcomer. "Victoria and I are going into the jungle. Her Pokémon, Archie, found something yesterday and we think it may be clean water. We won't be gone that long, so just… dig in, as soon as the fish are done, okay?" He turned back to Victoria and offered her a faint smile, trying to lighten the mood a little, as he waited for her to rise.

Devin popped an eye open and eyed the newcomer; he'd decided to meet these people one by one if he could and judging by how prepared he was it seemed like a good idea to befriend this one. Well, that and it was best to stay on the good side of anyone that comfortable with a knife, especially in his current, somewhat wounded, state.

"My name's Devin," he rasped. "Do we have any idea what actually happened?"

While he laid there introducing himself Prowler had made it to the tree-line and paused only briefly to adjust to the scents of the forest before plowing on. He continued on through the trees and undergrowth, occasionally pausing long enough to mark his territory. The growlithe could detect the scents of some pokémon he'd encountered before; rattata, pidgy, chatot, tropious, crabby, and corphish. All of them were distant enough that he continued to focus on his current trail, a smell that was new to him.

Victoria Stone​

Nodding her head in response to Vincent, Victoria stood up with a faint groan of discomfort. Wiping the sand off of her and recalling Pixie and Bubba to their respective Pokeballs, she walked past Vincent, Archie perched alertly on her head. "I'm ready," she said in passing. Archie let out a high pitch squawk as he stretched his wings and bounded into the air. He circled the area, an attempt to survey his surroundings again.

"Hey, make sure you fly low and slow! We don't want to lose you," Victoria cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the air after him. Archie acknowledged with a tilt of his head. He turned back towards the forest, whatever is was, it was going to be a little bit of a hike. He disappeared over the tree tops, only to reappear moments later squawking for them to follow in that direction.

"This way," she called to Vincent, making her way towards the tree line. She pushed herself past some hanging fronds, hoping Vincent was behind her. 'What did he need to talk about that it was so urgent?' She thought to herself. The forest was just as imposing as she remembered from the night before. The noises of unknown Pokemon reverberated through the air; buzzing of bug Pokemon, whistles of birds, and the hoots and hollers of various mammalian species. She was definitely glad that she wasn't alone out here, no matter what her differences were with Vincent at this time.

Going a little way in, she turned and waited for him to make sure he was coming. Really however, she was kind of scared to go alone.

Damion just stared at the fire pit in front of him. He could open up to these unknown people but decided that now was not the time, nor the place to do something like that. Despite Vincent talking to him he just kept steadfast in his stare. After he and Victoria had walked away, he pushed some of the sand in front of him with his feet letting the sand run through his toes. He started getting to his feet to start checking the fish. Damion knew that it could go just right to over cooked in an instant, so he started turning and making sure each fillet was cooked to perfection.

Grabbing a spare stick, he pushed some of the coals into a separate pile and put the finished over the coals to keep them warm. "I hope they're back soon. I can't keep these warm forever." Damion said to himself. As he finished cooking them one by one, he left a couple of them on a little bit longer for himself. Taking one of the fillets off the fire and blowing on it a bit, he took a bite. "Mmm, slightly crispy, just the way I like it!"

As he ate, he noticed his 3 Pokémon were taking a nap near the fire. The pleasant sight made him smile a bit as he waited for the others to either return or wake up.

Vincent Phoenix
​

Vincent glanced a little oddly at Damion as he didn't reply to what he had said, but decided to let it slide. He looked like he had been through something pretty rough, so he was ready to cut the guy some slack. Glancing back at Victoria on her way to the forest, Vincent looked back towards Ace, who opened his eyes to look at him.

"Ace, help the others with whatever they need help with, okay? And make sure nothing sneaks up on any of them." "Dabra." Ace, the Kadabra, nodded firmly before shutting his eyes again, going back into his meditative trance, his hands resting on his knees with his legs folded into a lotus position, his mind reaching out around him as a sort of tripwire for any and all who decided to go near their campsite.

With that, Vincent gave a little wave to the two remaining boys and the Pokémon around the fire. "We'll be back as soon as possible." He turned and hurried up next to Victoria, staring into the jungle as he took a deep breath, grasping the second Pokéball at his waist. "… Right. This is going to get dangerous, so… just be ready to fight, alright?" He pulled the ball from his belt and opened it, the red beam shooting out and forming the shape of a Pokémon before solidifying.

A beautiful, slick-furred Ninetails emerged, standing up as it shook it's body, stretching out before blinking and turning its eyes to Vincent, stepping up to him to nuzzle its head against his hand. He smiled and gave the Pokémon a scratch behind its ear. "It's okay Flare. We're in a bit of trouble, but I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to get unscathed through his forest, okay?" "Nih…" She nodded before glancing to Victoria, leaning in to take a little sniff of her at a slight distance, the mass of tails flicking softly in the air behind her. Eventually, she decided that Victoria was good enough and stepped past her, into the forest, padding softly along.

Vincent spent no time waiting as he followed, his head turning left and right to prepare for something, anything. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down to prevent him from thinking irrationally. He glanced back to make sure Victoria was right next to him, and that Archie was leading the way for him, her, and Flare, as he pushed away the leaves and branches in front of him that he'd encounter.

Victoria Stone​

Victoria looked in awe as Vincent unleashed his Ninetales. They were always one of her favorite Pokemon, and it saddened her deeply, that barring a miracle, Pixie would never become one herself. Unless of course, this island happened to be a hotspot of fire stones. Victoria considered that highly unlikely however.

Vincent had come through and maintained a pace slightly ahead of hers, looking back every once and awhile to see if she was still there or okay, she assumed. Archie continued to lead the ragtag caravan through the forest. Going ahead, coming back to squawk more directions and some times, even hovering in place so they could catch up. Every once and awhile, a wild Pokemon would cross their path. A Caterpie here, a Weedle there, nothing overtly threatening however. 'Maybe the scary ones only come out at night,' she thought to herself.

Her anger was still high, no matter what, she was not going to admit to Vincent that she was the slightest bit scared. She hoped he hadn't seen her jump at the few rustling bushes they encountered along the way.

The conversation between them was very sparse, both seem preoccupied with something else entirely. All things considered, it was a pretty uneventful foray. Archie's urgency seemed to increase, his pace quickening with every milestone passed.

Deciding to let Pixie have a little fun, Victoria pulled her ball from the belt and let her out near Vincent's larger Ninetales. Pixie's eyes grew wide as saucers, this was one of the few times she had probably seen one in person. She quickly yipped after the Pokemon, struggling to maintain its faster pace. She plodded along happily, falling pleasantly inline behind it, jumping from paw print to paw print left by Flare. Each of the Ninetales' paw prints, comfortably fit two of Pixie's. It was heart warming to see Pixie so content, yet at the same time, sad.

The silence was extremely uncomfortable for Victoria, even one that was probably for the best. She kept glancing at Vincent, trying to figure out what was going on inside his head. Every time they talked before she was mad, he always seemed to know exactly what he was doing, confident, a one track mind. At least, that was the impression she got. 'Maybe if I wasn't so weird, I would have more friends. Then again, if you get attached, you only wind up getting hurt in the end anyway, right?' The thoughts just kept running through her head, unrelenting. It was times like these, she really wished she could just turn off her brain.

It wasn't long before Archie let out a squawk much different in tone than his last. He hovered in place, unmoving. The trees in this area seemed much healthier than the ones they had seen at the beach. The soil loamy and rich, but above all, moist. She ran ahead, leaving the others behind her. Excitement and thirst getting the better of her. She burst through the tree line, the smell was unmistakable. Fresh water.

Even through her anger, she turned and shouted, "Vincent, hurry up! You gotta see this!"

Vincent Phoenix​

To their great luck, it seemed like the only dangerous Pokémon in this forest were either asleep, or somewhere else entirely, because aside from a couple of smaller Pokémon, they didn't encounter anything unpleasant at all, which made Vincent both relieved, and all the more cautious of something suddenly jumping out at them. He stayed on guard during the entire time, peering up at Archie who seemed determined to get to whatever he had found.

As Victoria released Pixie, Vincent couldn't help but smile as he saw the small Vulpix bouncing after Flare, who acknowledged the smaller Pokémon's presence by glancing back at it, her tails flicking through the air before looking forwards again. Flare had never been one to push away others who didn't seem intent on hurting her or Vincent, and the Vulpix seemed harmless to her.

Vincent was rather happy for the silence between him and Victoria. He wouldn't want to mess things up even more than he already had, and as soon as they had found what they were looking for, he was going to apologize to her. Speaking of, her narrowed his eyes somewhat, a faint rumbling was hearable somewhere in front of them, and just as he was about to mention it, Victoria and Archie went ahead of them.

"… Hey! Victoria, be careful!" Hearing her call out, he raised his brows and hurried after her with Flare right behind him. After a very small sprint, he broke through the last of the shrubbery, his eyes widening a little as he stared at the sight in front of him. The soil was soft around the large lake, a very faint mist of sprinkled water surrounding the base of a small waterfall, about three times his height. The back end of the lake was guarded by a large body of rocks, from where the water was coming from. Vincent figured the source was somewhere in the mountains.

He smiled warmly and let out a sigh of relief as Flare padded over to the lake-side and leaned down to lap up some of the water. "Phew. Now this is what I call a good find. Nice job, Archie." He looked up to the bird and smiled before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before turning to Victoria, opening his eyes again.

"Alright… now's as good a time as any." He cleared his throat quietly, trying his best not to fold his arms in front of his chest while looking at her. "… Victoria, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to offend you, and I sure didn't mean what I said. I've… never been good with social situations, and I used the wrong words when I was explaining myself… and I'm sorry. You're not "tolerable" to be around, you're more than that. I'm very happy to have your company, and… I guess I was just a little stressed earlier, so I got more annoyed at Damion than I meant to… and that then hurt you. I'm sorry."

He looked up at her, seeking to make eye contact while keeping a worried expression on his face, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, wrapping the other arm around his chest to hold up his right arm. "Mrrh… this is what I'm saying about me and social situations. Did I do that right…?" For the first time since they had met, Vincent actually sounded unsure and maybe even insecure of himself as he awaited her judgement.

Meanwhile, Flare glanced at Pixie who came up to the lake to have a sip as well, and after peering down at the little fox, Flare turned her head and gave her a playful little nudge with her snout to make her topple over before sitting down by the lakeside, peering down at the smaller Pokémon. "Niih…"

Victoria Stone​

It may not be exactly the most beautiful place Victoria had ever seen, but at this moment, she couldn't thing of one that surpassed it. The waterfall emitted a most wonderful roar, the water was crystal clear and it was evident that the water was spring fed. She gave Archie a quick nod and cheer right after Vincent had. The little bird Pokemon dove at his highest speed possible, arriving just at the waters edge, a comfortable distance away from the Ninetales and Vulpix. He was always a little skittish among newcomers and he wanted to drink in peace.

She hadn't expected to hear Vincent speak to her right afterwards. It seemed like his plan all along was to talk to her once they got here. He apologized what seemed to be sincerely, in fact, it almost seemed like it was in one breath. He must have been uncomfortable with doing such a thing. Even his body language read as uncomfortable and awkward. It wasn't exactly the Vincent she had grown used to seeing over the past day. He sounded almost...insecure?

Victoria didn't know what to say, actually, she didn't say anything for a long time. She stared at him, her mind racing to think and come up with something to say. He had really hurt her feelings before, would a simple apology be enough? He seemed honest enough, almost like he knew exactly what the problem was.

She cleared her throat, it seemed like the biggest lump in the known world had lodged itself there. "Vincent...you really hurt my feelings you know? More than you might even think..." She paused to look at him appraisingly, his hand was rubbing the back of his neck, the other wrapped around his chest. He really meant every word... "It's just, I've never had a friend before, you know, a true friend? Not many people wanted to hang out with the freaky girl who counted a lot. I know we only knew each other a day, but I found you easy to talk to, you didn't find me crazy. I even had less OCD lapses when I was talking to you."

She looked at Pixie who was playing carefree with Flare. The two of them seemed so content and happy. Pixie had been knocked over, only to jump on the Ninetales' back and curl up on top.

"I just thought, maybe I had the makings of a real friend. Then you said what you did, and I wasn't so sure anymore. I'm sorry I reacted so childish and bratty, if you couldn't tell, I'm not so good with these social things either." She let out a chuckle, the first in a few hours. Brushing the hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand, she looked at him and flashed a wide smile. She found herself wanting to forgive him, against all other previously rational thought on her part.

"Apology accepted, but only if you accept mine too. Okay?" She asked him, her arms clasping behind her back as she averted her gaze to looking at the ground.

Vincent Phoenix​

The silence after he had spoken out his heart was awkward, and almost crushing, to him at least. He stood quietly still, waiting Victoria's judgement and hoping that she could find it in her to forgive him for what he'd said. He hadn't meant it as harshly as it sounded, but now that he was saying it, he could easily see how someone could be hurt by it. And now he was hoping that this –was- actually the issue, rather than something else. If it was… then Victoria might get even angrier with him.

That's when she spoke. He kept quiet as she spoke, doing his best to keep eye contact with her, although he glanced off to the side or down several times, the guilt from making her feel bad only growing from what she was saying. She glanced towards Pixie and Flare, who had laid down next to the lake, seemingly content with Pixie laying on top of her, her many tails flicking through the air lazily.
As she spoke out again, he looked up at her with raised brows and slightly surprise in his eyes, her chuckle making him smile faintly. He had hoped she would forgive him, but hadn't expected her to apologize to –him-. It made him very happy and all the more respectful of her as his smile widened, taking a step closer and finding himself raising a hand to place on her arm.

"Even though I don't think you should be apologizing… it's gratefully accepted. Thanks, Victoria, for giving me another chance. And… about 'having the makings of a real friend'? You don't. You –are- a real friend, and I'll always have your back, alright?" He continued smiling, giving her arm a little squeeze before lifting the hand, brushing his fingers through her hair, letting out a deep, relieved sigh.

"Arceus, I'm –so- happy you forgave me. It's just… hard. The social stuff, you know? It's hard to word yourself just right without hurting anyone. But I'll give it an even better try. Would hate to see you angry at me again. You can be pretty feisty." He pulled off a slightly playful grin, looking genuinely happy now, before turning to the lake again, stretching out his arms above his head with a huff.

"Well! We found what we were looking for, so…" He patted down his pockets and his shirt, frowning a little. "… Mrph. I didn't bring any bottles to the island. Maybe Damion has one or two, he seems to have pretty much everything. But let's have a sip before heading back, yeah?" He glanced to Victoria and then gestured to the water next to the two resting Pokémon and the little parrot, dipping into the water. "Ladies first?"

Victoria Stone​

Victoria was ecstatic, truly happy beyond words. Not only had he accepted her apology and she his, but he had called her a friend. A real friend. Nobody had ever really referred to her in that sense before. The feeling was euphoric, her first real friend, made on a deserted island of all places. She was taken aback a little by him running his fingers through her hair, she hadn't expected it and wasn't sure what to make of it. She decided to let it go however, maybe it's what friends do.

He seemed to be relieved by her forgiveness, both of them apparent fish out of water with the social stuff. He really seemed happy after their conversation and that made Victoria happy again. She knew she had a lot of apologizing to do with the others when she got back to the beach, but for now, all was ok in the world. Apart from surviving and everything else of course.

Victoria silently cursed herself upon the realization of no water carrying vessels either. She had no idea what to do about transporting the water. Damion did seem to have a lot of stuff with him, but water bottles seemed doubtful. "Yeah, maybe Damion has some," she said anyway in reply, not really sure of any other ideas. "I'm starting to worry where he pulls all this stuff out of, if you catch my drift," she joked in Vincent's direction, hoping it didn't come off as too inappropriate or crude for his tastes.

She walked to the waters edge, and looked at its beautiful clearness. Oh Arceus, she wanted to go for another swim. The idea of a fresh water bath sounded great right now. Vincent's ladies first comment was cute and gentlemanly, she decided to have a little fun with it. She knelt down by the water, her body sideways and parallel to his. "Aww, ladies first huh? How wonderfully cliche and patronizing, I'll show you feisty," she said sarcastically enough so he could detect it as a joke.

She took her left hand and began furiously splashing water in his direction, her goal to try and soak him as much as possible. She was really trying to get Vincent to lighten up a little, he was always so serious all the time.

Pixie opened her eyes from her perch atop the Ninetales, her gaze looking in Victoria's direction as she began to try and splash Vincent. Pixie was so pleased to see her, typically quiet and reserved trainer, have some fun for once. She closed her eyes again, the mild warmth of the sun radiating on her fur.

Vincent Phoenix​

"We can only hope he does, I guess. If anything, it's not that far to here." He glanced back at Victoria, rolling his eyes a little at her joke, a light smile playing on his lips. "I'm –hoping- he brought a bag of some sort. Otherwise, I may not want any fish when we get back." The thought of the delicious, warm fish made his stomach growl a little, and he huffed quietly, shaking his head a little.

He knelt down by the water, sighing softly. He was actually really happy, for once in his life. He only felt like this when he was alone with his Pokémon, but Victoria seemed both honest, and caring. She must be, otherwise she wouldn't have been upset at him possibly not wanting to be her friend. He always had troubles with relating to others, or even –liking- them, but to actually chuckle at a joke? It was a rare, but welcome change.

Glancing to his right as Victoria knelt down as well, he looked a little sheepish at her comment, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "Well, I didn't exactly mean it like that, I-" He paused, narrowing his eyes a little as he realized she was joking with him. He opened his mouth to reply to it as she smirked mischievously and began splashing water at him from the lake.

As the cold water splashed against his face, he let out a surprised yelp, falling back onto his rear, covering himself with his arms, spluttering for air, his hair and shirt now soaked. He lowered his arms, his eyes narrowing as he broke into a vicious grin. "So you like abusing good manners? I guess it's only fair to return the favor!" He called out as he dug his hands into the water as well, splashing water right back at her, grinning brightly. He seemed to be loosening up a lot since the first time she'd seen him, ducking his head as Victoria began splashing water back at him.

Flare opened her eyes, peering over at the two without turning her head, slightly curled up. She let out a content little purr/growl, the noise vibrating through her body, moving through the little Vulpix above her as well. She then shut her eyes, letting out a little huff.

Vincent seemed to have had enough of her insolent splashing as he yelled out "Alright, that does it!" He pushed himself slightly further up before tossing himself towards her, grabbing her by the arms. He grinned wickedly before tossing the both of them into the lake, water splashing up the sides, scaring away a pair of Krabbies, which skittered off. Flare jumped a little, lifting her head while looking at Vincent with a rather confused expression, though still lying down, not wanting to push off Pixie.

Vincent moved up to the surface, this part of the lake shallow enough for them to stand up as he pulled his arm back, splashing another wave of water at her while shouting out "Hydro pump!", and now actually laughing, despite his entire body being completely soaked now.

Victoria Stone​

Victoria laughed uproariously at Vincent's new found spunk. The way he threw her in the water and began to splash her, was endearing and unexpected. She really didn't know if he had that kind of fun potential in him. Up until this point, he had always been so stoic and serious. Almost as if he was careful to share too much, or make a serious mistake in front of others. This side of Vincent was something else entirely, the way he shouted "Hydro pump!" before unleashing a seemingly tsunami size wave in her direction was hysterical.

She waded waist deep in the water, looking at him with a devious grin. Her clothes were soaked, head to toe. Her shoes a major encumbrance to her. Reaching down, she unzipped them and threw them towards the shore, landing a small distance away from Archie, resulting in him letting loose a terrified shriek. Much better.

"You're right," she called to him, her wet hair dangled in front of her eyes obscuring her vision. "I do like to abuse good manners," she teased him. "What are you gonna do about it?...city boy."

Pixie looked exasperated and yet happy to see what was happening. She had absolutely no intention of going near that water, no more than to drink it of course. The very idea of being surrounded by it, caused her exhaustion. Victoria and Vincent seemed to be having a good time however, and that was all that mattered to her. She leapt down from Flare, giving her a little lick before sitting regally farther away to avoid the ruckus.

Victoria aimed another splash at Vincent, shouting gleefully as she did so. After that last splash, she ran into a deeper end of the lake, her pants making it an arduous journey. The water was finally deep enough for her to swim freely. She turned back to Vincent, giving him a mock salute in the process. "Dive!" She shouted, as she plunged into the beautiful clear water below.

Underneath was a different world, opening her eyes underwater resulted in a most magnificent view. Magikarp scattered at her very sight, her disturbance most unwelcome. So many Pokemon called this place their home, it was impossible for her to list them all, no matter how much her compulsion demanded her to. She swam under the surface a little ways before coming up for air. Her position more in the middle of the lake now. The fresh water felt just as good as she had hoped it would. The ocean was nice, but this was perfect.

Vincent Phoenix​

Vincent was having the time of his life. He couldn't remember when he'd last been able to actually cut loose and have this much fun, laughing and playing around like any other kid would. It was a weird feeling to him, but he felt that it was… right, somehow. Standing there and thinking about this, caused him to be hit by another wave of water, spluttering for air, lifting a hand to wipe his face off.

He followed Victoria's example and pulled off his shoes, tossing them to the shore, before doing the same with his shirt. It was just going to get in the way anyways. Vincent wasn't exactly an athlete, but he was a healthy type of thin. Not skinny, and not fat. He narrowed his eyes a little at Victoria as she taunted him, baring his teeth in a smirk.

"I guess you'll have to find out, country girl." The comeback was… slightly underwhelming, but he couldn't think of anything better. He wasn't exactly made for quips. Flare, on the shore, didn't seem to bother moving, returning the little lick to Pixie as she headed off, afterwards laying her head on her paws again, keeping an eye on the two trainers.

Vincent dodged one of Victoria's waves by tossing himself sideways, blinking as she headed off to the deeper part of the lake, quickly sploshing after her with just a bit of trouble. As she dived, he let out another little laugh, waiting a moment before leaping into the water to dive under it as well. He took several moments to admire the different Pokémon swimming around happily, before shaking his head, swimming after Victoria, cackling evilly to himself.

As Victoria went up for air to take a breath of… air, Vincent continued swimming forwards and slightly down, smirking deviously to himself as he raised his hands slowly, before grasping onto her ankles and giving them a firm little yank. It would be enough to only –just- pull Victoria's head under, after which point, Vincent swam up and flashed her his tounge on the way up, where he broke through the surface, gasping for air.

He dogpedalled for a while, panting for air from moving so much in the last few seconds, waiting for Victoria to come up to the surface. As she did, he offered her a light grin. "Well… at least we'll be bringing back water somehow, huh?"

Victoria Stone​

Vincent's unexpected sneak attack was devious and effective. She hadn't expected it when he pulled her under the water, taunting her with his tongue of all things. Oh, he was going to pay for that. She still couldn't believe this was the same Vincent, he just seemed so...different. Carefree and happy, then again, that was like the pot calling the kettle black. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun, even onboard the ship before it sank.

"Yeah, maybe we should be getting back? The others might start to worry if we're gone too long..." It saddened her to suggest it because of the fun she was having, but others were waiting. Looking up at the sky, it appeared to be noon at about this point. With a walk back, eating, taking the others back here to drink, etc. It would be a lot to squeeze in before dark.

It had only just dawned on her, that while she was thrown into the water, she was stuck wearing white jeans... The embarrassment potential was extremely high once she decided to exit the water. She sort of just swam in place, thinking of the best way to deal with the issue, but nothing really came to mind right away. This was going to be a problem. Another reason for her to curse these jeans in this circumstance.

She decided to go for distraction and hope for the best. She swam up to Vincent, "Come on, we better go." As payback for earlier, she bear hugged him and dragged him under the water with what little weight leverage she had. Releasing him under the water, she swam back to the shore line, it seemed a little farther than she had remembered it being, but it was no matter. She sat in the shallows, her lower body still concealed by the water.

Once Vincent had resurfaced, she called out to him. "Hey Vincent! Do you think, you could, uhm, leave the water before me?" she asked, hoping that the request didn't sound incredibly stupid.