Dead Pressure (Amanda; Mod)

[Fianna Hayes]

”Well, I certainly hope we can find something living here. The guides said there'd be plenty of canine-like Pokemon.” Fianna mused aloud while hugging Elena into her chest. The young lady was not scared. Hardly. Ghost-type Pokemon were just Pokemon, after all. Honestly, there wasn't much that actually scared the girl. She was pretty resilient to the typical fear-raisers, and, considering that she wasn't bothered by fire, despite nearly dying in them, she was pretty well-set on the fear factor.

Nah, the girl's problem right now was that she was a little disappointed. She had, on a whim, decided to branch out a bit. You know, not just “farm” in the same location every time. Of course, she was also aware of the fact that the Blissfury Plains had a lot of known locals that did match her criteria. Call it a hunch, call it a whim, call it one's paying credence to the tugging currents of fate- call it what you'd like, Fianna headed to the Forgotten Graves. It was a place which, obviously, was named in an unfitting manner, considering nobody had forgotten about the location and that she herself had been shown the location (albeit, on a rather shoddy map). The place did, however, seem like it would host a number of “occult” Pokemon- the things feared or misunderstood by others. She wouldn't have been shocked to encounter a host of the dead. Undead? Deader? Whatever!

Clad in her navy blue uniform, the girl had opted to go with the official uniform, despite being out on a trip for her own purposes. Her right arm and leg were revealed to a great deal. The course, leathery flesh, darkened since the times of the fire, was free to be seen on either appendage. The scars on her face were hard to see due to the length of her hair on that side, but, if one noticed the burns on her neck (an act not too difficult, should they have closely observed), then it likely would have gone without saying. Of course, the girl wasn't shy or worried about it being seen. She just wore it long to stop relying on that eye entirely. It wasn't too useful, after all.

”Hm. Not to be stereotyping, or anything, but, Elena, do you think you can try sniffing out a find?” The girl tilted her head to the side slightly, and the Eevee wriggled, suggesting she wanted to be let down. Fianna complied, letting the Pokemon go, before blinking and jogging after the little beast. Elena didn't put too much space between the two of them, typically pausing if the distance grew too long, but it was inherently obvious that Fianna was not the sort to needlessly pick up the pace.

There were reasons for that, naturally, but that was beside the point.

Preferred Spawns: Vulpix, Houndour, Poochyena, Purrloin, Zorua, Fennekin

[Amanda Dupomme]

^{''Here's lies Jonathan Francis, too headstrong for his own good, now headless.''}

Amanda sighed: carefully pulling herself up in such a way as to not allow the damp grave dirt to stain her clothing. She had originally been on route towards the Zodiac Ruins; intending to explore the old structure some more: when an accidental wrong turn had lead her right into the middle of this cemetery. Not one to bother too much with specifics: the young girl had opted to explore this new area instead. Graveyards often had quite some lovely tombs and monuments in them. While it was dark to think about it in such a positive way: she would have likely admitted a certain fascination with them. Perhaps: she could even capture something here while she was at it.

Except for one small clause: it seemed that now matter what single tombstone or sign she read: they all had headless jokes on them. Even when the distance would indicate otherwise: every time she actually read them it had switched to something else. The quiet snickering in the shadows made no effort to hide that this was not intentional, only causing Amanda to roll her eyes at the childish antics of the ghost Pokemon likely responsible.

She began to pace through the graveyard, the soft laughing following her as blurs quickly passed alongside the graves: each and every single one having it's letters rearranged. 

<sup>''Here lies Nearly Headless Nick.''

''Jack Daniels: he really got ahead of himself.''

''Bobby Spirits: head in the game, body outside.''</sup>

A soft sigh escaped her lips: half the jokes weren't even particularly thoughtful. All the ghosts seemed to do was bring up heads around her; although she couldn't fathom why.

A snap of dry twigs drew her attention: as she laid eyes on a strange girl: half of her skin visibly disfigured and burned beyond belief. Oh, so now the ghosts were trying to scare her? Increasingly frustrated: Amanda was about to let out an unladylike expression of her dissatisfaction. Only to notice how the girl seemed to be accompanied by an Eevee. So many not quite a ghost after all.

''Um... pardon, excuse me?'' Amanda called out to the other girl: waving her arm. Drawing closer: she took in the sight of the other girl, only barely managing to hide her shock behind a veil of ladylike calmness. Whatever had occurred to the other person, Amanda could only pity the poor thing: unable to imagine the cause of such disfigurement.

''Are you alright?'' she questioned.

Looking for: Dusclops, Bannette, Mismagius, Haunter.

[Fianna Hayes]

Elena led the girl about. Stone to stone, tomb to tomb, it seemed like her fortune was limited, and that the probability of a successful encounter was low. Then again, she didn't really expect too much from an Eevee for scent-based location. They weren't known for it, unless her information was completely off-track. Then again, she wasn't exactly a researcher, so the probability of something like that was. . . probably quite high. She just liked the fuzzballs, after all. However, she seemed to be getting ahead of herself. Eventually, something did filter into her limited visible spectrum. Well, at first, it was actually the audible spectrum. She had to turn a bit before the origin was within her sights.

”Oh.” Was all that came at first. Well, it wasn't a Pokemon. She knew Zorua could take the shapes of others, but it wasn't like an illusion could learn to speak. It was a human, through and through. What was noteworthy? She seemed fairly tall. Blonde hair, moderate length, styled into curls. Her eyes were a dull gold, very similar to a darkened shade of her hair. The uniform suggested that she was a student at the academy. The color suggested. . . that Water-type dorm? Wave, was it? So there was a Wave-dormer here in the cemetery? Well, it wasn't too-too odd. After all, Fianna was from the Bolt dorm. Things of that nature made sense, so it wasn't anything to be concerned over. However, this girl did ask a rather. . . odd question. Well, not so much odd as “typical”, even if it took Fianna a few seconds to realize what the blonde was referring to.

”Oh.” She uttered a second time, for a different reason, before adopting a slight smile. She crouched as Elena skipped over towards her, job apparently done, and hugged the Eevee to her chest before standing straight. ”I certainly am. Wouldn't be able to get around if these were fresh, after all, y'know?” Casually dismissing her state was something easy for her at that point. After all, there was no shame to be had in her body. Sure, it wasn't. . . “clean” like the average body was, but she was comfortable with it, as would be anybody that really mattered in the end-equation.

”You don't seem ghostly. Nor lost. I'd guess you're either out lookin' or huntin', right?” That singular orb finally left the blonde and scanned the surroundings- the second was covered by the length of her hair on the right, after all. There were. . . things out there, somewhere, probably. Wasn't what she was looking for, naturally, but they were there. Finally, it shifted back to the other girl. ”Kinda a bleak place, overall, though, yeah?” She smiled before hefting Elena up, so the Eevee's head was just under her own.

”Well, either way. Name's Fianna. And this fluffbutt here,” Elena yipped at that point, ”is Elena. It's nice to meet something not-dead here. And you are?”

[Amanda Dupomme]

Amanda blinked briefly, stammering incoherently as she realized the other girl may have seen through her attempts to play everything out as normal. Mentally, she chided herself: letting out a deep sigh as she regretted her earlier choice of words. While the dark hair did seem rather casual about her condition, Amanda could only assume that was due to some experience with onlookers. Quantity did not mean quality: however, and Amanda was annoyed with her inadvertent boorish behavior. She needed to be better than that.

Putting on a polite smile, she bowed her head apologetically. ''I did not mean it like that mademoiselle!'' She explained: ''one does not see a lot of students around here: I only thought that you...''

Thought that what, she was a ghost? That she was visiting whatever family may have died in whatever caused her injuries. Amanda chided herself once more: realizing that she had no way of removing the foot that was oh so in-eloquently stuck in her mouth. Perhaps: the best course of action was simply to avoid touching the topic and attempt to be as casual as possible. After a due apology, certainly.

''Peu importe... I do apologize for my crude behavior. I was merely surprised to meet someone in this desolate place!'' A crude giggling emanated from the nearby crypt: drawing a sigh from the Kalosian girl. ''Someone who isn't a mischievous ghost, à savoir...''

Smiling yet again: Amanda extended a hand to greet the other girl. Slightly regretting that her right handed habits could possibly create a bit of further embarrassment in that regard. ''Oui, this place is full of a very unpleasant sort, present company excluded: vraiment.''

Not quite as bad a start: Amanda's smile became more genuine. ''My name is Amanda Dupomme, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Fianna.''

[Fianna Hayes]

Well, even if she didn't mean to focus on it, it did seem that Fianna managed to pin the tail on the donkey, so to speak. This girl, who would later introduce herself as an Amanda, seemed to enter a sort of panic. At the very least, Fianna wasn't bothered by it. Very few people maintained a wholly neutral reaction to seeing her on the first time, unless they were warned or just entirely apathetic. On the one hand, it could be tiring. On the other, it at least meant she had plenty of experience with dealing with people.

What did throw her a bit off-kilter, though, was the set of foreign words injected into this blonde's speech. Considering that the girl had never really gone to other regions, or much out of Petalburg, anything completely outside of the norm was a bit odd. An accent was one thing. No, that was. . . that had to be an entirely different language. It was alien to her, but, at the very least, Amanda didn't flood her speech with it, so she could deal with it for the most part. Ghosts about them- or she assumed it was plural- laughed. Seemed to be emitted from a nearby tomb. Well, so long as they were having fun without bothering others in an unpleasant manner, it was all good. Right?

”Fianna Hayes.” She gave the full name before shifting Elena in her arms. The blonde offered her hand. Coincidentally, it happened to be the hand that demanded Fianna's right. Of course, she didn't mind, but it would be interesting to see how that played out, she figured. She took Amanda's right with her own, the blackened skin, coarse and leathery, gripping the other girl's firmly. It might have been a little strong, even, but that was purely because of the limited sense of touch. It was a little hard to determine how hard she was squeezing at times, but she was careful.

”Pleased to meet you.” So long as they stuck to that language, all would be fine. ”Are you looking for something in particular here, or are you just here to be here?” Unlikely on the first, given the fact that Amanda seemed to have a distaste for the ghosts, but it was all good all the same. She offered a slight smile, as if visual punctuation on her question.

[Amanda Dupomme]

Amanda smiled politely as she shook hands with the other girl. Beyond a bit of a tight grip: there didn't seem to be anything wrong. Once more, she mentally chided herself for feeling bad about it in the first place. Fianna was seemingly a perfectly normal person, yet here was Amanda full of anxiety and feeling awkward about the whole thing, very much unlike her normal behavior.

Pushing her unpleasant thoughts aside: Amanda shook her head slightly. ''Non, I actually dropped in here by accident on my way to the Zodiac Ruins. It seemed pleasant enough to merit exploring though, although...'' she frowned as a chuckling wisp idly drifted by. ''...Pleasant may not be as accurate as I would have hoped. I suppose I'm just looking to capture Pokemon now, though: how about you?''

Amanda imagined the other girl was likely there for the same reason, given her Pokemon being released. Either that, or Fianna was the sort of person who enjoyed dark spooky places. There was no reason for that though, as there was little evidence to suggest such a thing. Nope, none at all. Certainly not the spooky half-burn.

''Perhaps, if you are doing the same: we could search together? Some company would be pleasant in these ghost-infested... tombe gênant!'' her tone went from friendly to sour, as the young girl began swatting away a wisp that had floated too close.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

FOXY FOXY

Ability: Flash Fire
Gender: Female

• Extrasensory

• Inferno

• Confuse Ray

• Faint Attack

WHATS IT GONNA BE?

Don't fear the reaper.

Ability: Levitate
Gender: Male

• Confuse Ray

• Shadow Sneak

• Curse

• Pursuit

No, really. This ain't him.

[Fianna Hayes]

”On the hunt, same as you, it seems.” Fianna responded before drawing her hand back. A few more unknown words had popped into Amanda's words, but. . . well, it wasn't as bad as before. Another bit of whatever-that-was bled into the blonde's words as she fluttered and flailed because of the dead. Undead? Deader? Whatever, once more. The maiden would have responded, but she started to shift onto one leg, peering past Amanda and towards some more lively things in the background. It wasn't a batch of spirits. Or, at least, not just a batch of spirits. Specifically, she saw a little fiery fox. A fox was a fuzzy thing. Fuzzy things were justice. More seriously, that was, if she recalled correctly, a Vulpix. And it was one of the justifications she had for visiting the graveyard, of all places.

”I'd agree to taggin' along, but somethin' fun just popped up. I do believe I'll be tryin' to catch it.” She noted before twirling on her heel in a half-dance around the blonde. Her words occasionally dropped the ending “G”, but it seemed to only occur when she spoke a bit quickly. Regardless of the situation, she had her eyes set on the Vulpix specifically. ”Ah, even if nothin' else interests you, I'd be fine with goin' with you in a bit!” She noted before crouch-walking forward and letting Elena down. It was time to play. Unless the fox was unwilling, there would be a fight.

”I'll say it once and once only. If you don't want to fight us or come with us, please leave. Otherwise, I'll assume one of the prior.” The Vulpix simply stared at the duo, as if asking “Oh, really?”, before seeming to silently scoff at them. ”Right, then. Elena, get ready.” The Eevee crouched into a sort of pouncing stance. Now, going by what she had read, Vulpix was a Pokemon that didn't handle physical attacks well. So, that said, Elena, who had a couple of powerful “tackles”, was going to be able to take care of this thing pretty quickly.

”Elena, open up with Quick Attack!” The Eevee seemed to bounce before shooting at the Vulpix with surprising speed and headbutting it back! The fire-fox, rolling on the ground a few times over before regaining its footing, spewed out a sudden blast of fire. It was powerful an all, sure, but it was so wildly inaccurate that Fianna found herself having to move a little to avoid the last bits of the burst. The fox was weakened and needed time to recover from that attack. In other words, it was time to go in for the figurative kill. She'd never actually kill a Pokemon, mind you.

”Let's go big and finish it all at once! Elena, Double-edge!” Now, Double-edge had a nasty bit of recoil, but, when considering that Elena hadn't taken a hit, it was going to be perfectly safe. The Eevee let out a slight growl. Then, baring her teeth, she charged forward! While not as fast as before, there was notable quality that made it seem inherently more dangerous. Elena slammed into the Vulpix with great ferocity, knocking the fox back and bounding. Fianna actually had to jog a little to close the distance, smiling down at Elena and petting the poor thing's head after the violent assault.

”I still say you're a pretty powerful thing, y'know. Good job, sweetheart. Thank you.” She praised the Eevee before finally closing in on the mark. ”Thanks for sticking around, and thanks for the fight. I look forward to traveling together, Vulpix.” With that, the girl pressed the ball to the fox's side, hoping for the best.

[Amanda Dupomme]

Amanda smiled, stepping aside as the other girl turned her attention to a Vulpix. Perhaps it seemed she had found something already. As a wisp floated near Amanda once more, she groaned and angrily smacked it away: a fluid moment withdrawing a Pokeball from her purse.

''I think I've had just about enough of you!'' she declared towards the wisp: releasing Fisto from his Pokeball. Ghosts were certainly immune to Fighting-Moves, but she knew her Makuhita didn't need to worry about that.

''Upupupupupu... certainly a headstrong lass aren't you? Very well then...''

A blur faded around the wisp: as it slowly took shape into something quite different: a Duskull!

VS

Amanda smirked, mimicking the expression on the face of her Pokemon. ''Perhaps...'' she began: unfolding her Pokedex. ''But allow me to ask you a question in turn: how much do you weigh?''

The Ghost mockingly allowed his skull to redden: ''Upupupu... oh my! Asking a ghost how much he weighs, what a rude question! I think you are getting ahead of yourself!''

Amanda merely nodded to her Pokemon: who, while the Duskull was busy talking. Lunged towards his opponent, slamming the cheeky ghost into the ground with a loud thud. A flash of dark energy erupted under the weight of the Shiny, but seemed to barely cause any discomfort towards Fisto.

''Rude...'' Amanda began: ''...is harassing a lady who is quietly minding her own business my dear Ghost. Incidentally, a lady that does have protection with her, protection that has few reprehensions about punishing boorish behavior!''

As if to accentuate her point: the Makuhita yet again slammed into the Duskull, eliciting a cry of pain from the trapped Ghost.

''Rude...'' she continued: ''...is making all of these annoying head jokes. I don't know why you ghosts seem so obsessed with my head, but it is certainly not coming off any time soon! So stop it!''

With every word, the Makuhita slammed into the ghost again and again: ignoring all of the feeble attempts to fight back. It was not long until the Duskull fainted: still being brutalized.

Casually, Amanda dismissed her Pokemon with an elegant flourish. Smiling as she calmly walked up to the defeated ghost. Carefully bending over: she withdrew an empty Pokeball.

''As fortune has it...'' She giggled. ''I am a kind lady, and instead of merely punishing you for your actions: I shall take it upon myself to rehabilitate you and teach you proper manners. Else you will find that my Pokemon is not the one you should fear the most.''

She touched the ghost with her Pokeball, pulling it inside.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Battle Log}
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Duskull used Pursuit.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Duskull used Pursuit.
Duskull used Shadow Sneak.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Duskull used Pursuit.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Duskull fainted.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Makuhita used Heavy Slam.
Amanda attempted a capture.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

I'm afraid only one of you caught the Pokemon.

Nah. You both did.
Remember to add it to your PC and remove one Pokeball, though.

[Fianna Hayes]

”And that's that. Good work, again, Elena. I'll take care of your injury when we get back.” Fianna assured the Eevee before pocketing the ball that contained the new Vulpix. Scooping up the little trooper that did the fire-fox in, she smiled and hugged the beast to her chest. How such a pampered critter was able to wreck things so mercilessly was a question that would likely never receive an answer. Pokemon did, after all, seem to ignore and toss common sense out the window like a smoker did a cigarette while driving down the road- casually, and without any hesitation or concern. Oh well. That just meant the cute fluffballs were cute, fluffy wrecking balls.

”Lookin' like everything ended up just fine for you, too.” Fianna observed when she finally turned her attention to Amanda. Sure enough, another ball had been used, seemingly effectively. ”I suppose the hunt'll be closed, then. Not really my aim to fight too many things in a trip.” She closed the distance, cradling the Eevee all the while. ”Sounded like I missed something over here, though.” She noted with a slight tilt of her head to the right. Her hair began to shift before the girl straightened her neck. It nearly revealed the depth of her facial burns.

”Well, either way. You'll be headin' out now, yeah?” Fair enough question, she supposed. As much as she could appreciate a stroll, it was better to do so when the chances of being surrounded on all sides by pranksters was lower.

[Amanda Dupomme]

A soft smile on her face as she deposited her new Pokemon into her purse: Amanda rose to face the other girl once more, having momentarily forgotten about her during the heat of the moment. This was not an entirely unpleasant thing; as the experience had been therapeutic enough to calm the young Kalosian down: allowing her to face the unusual girl with a more relaxed approach.

In some ways, being faced with unpleasant individuals allowed one to appreciate the kindness in life. So with the ghosts now keeping their fearful distance from Amanda and her Makuhita: she felt quite a bit more at ease.

''Indeed, a good pace is important in our journey. We don't want to get too overwhelmed.'' She smiled politely, her Makuhita eyeing the other girl with a surprisingly unperturbed expression on his face. If her appearance had any impact on him: his features most certainly did not betray it. If anything, the Shiny seemed more interested in the Eevee above all else: staring at the Pokemon intently, if a bit bored.

''Not much...'' Amanda continued, folding her hands together behind her back. ''Simply teaching some pesky ghosts a lesson.'' Glancing around curiously to assert that she hadn't missed something, she turned her attention back to Fianna. ''I suppose that there is not much left for me to do here, although I wouldn't mind a bit of a walk, should you care to join me?''

Amanda nodded slightly at the other girl, beaming. With the initial shock having worn off, she was now admittedly curious to know more about Fianna. The other student seemed like a perfectly nice person indeed.

[Fianna Hayes]

It seemed that Amanda was of the same mind in regards to pressing for battles. Good, good. Or, well, maybe not. It really didn't matter too-too much, Fianna figured, since it was more her own personal restriction. It might have even changed in the future, if she was sure that her little fuzzballs could handle a second round in the wild. Regardless, it did seem that the blonde was in want for company on her trip away. All in all, she could not fault that mentality, though she doubted she would be able to provide quite what the girl was looking for. Well, up to a point, she could, but once the path split, it would be time to part for the day.

”I can stay with you for a time, yeah. But, once the path back to my dorm pops up, I'll break away and skedaddle. Still, no shame in stickin' together for a while, at least up to that point.” The young lady rolled her head around on her shoulders, getting her neck nice and loose. She then closed in on the blonde and her Pokemon, nodding slightly, before taking up a spot at the side. ”May be brief, but it won't be too bad to share some air and words. And it's not like it'll be the end when we split, either.” Another nod before she started, slowly, towards the exit.

So her trip to the cemetery wasn't bad at all. One catch, and a meeting. Not bad at all.

[Amanda Dupomme]

Amanda nodded as they began to walk out of the cemetery. The company would be pleasant: and the walking would give her a chance to find out more about the other girl. Although the question on her mind was the obvious one, she opted for a more casual approach.

''So you are from the Bolt Dorm?'' she queried, having concluded that from the uniform the other girl was wearing. ''It must be nice there, I'm Water Dorm myself.''

She furrowed her brow: realizing small-talk wasn't really providing her any information about Fianna. Amanda also mused that it was a bit obvious: given she too was wearing a uniform. Perhaps she could find out more about where Fianna was from.

''How are you enjoying your experience here at the academy so far?'' The blonde questioned. ''I mean, are you from around here, or somewhere else like myself?'' she giggled: clarifying. ''I'm from Kalos!''


''Smooth.'' Whispered the freshly employed ball in her purse. Soft enough that only Amanda could hear.