Forum Thread

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It was a peaceful morning in Starbow Forest. The trees were halfway to bare, a few stubborn orange leaves clinging to the the branches, fighting to remain until the first snow at least. The undergrowth was still populated by tufts of ferns and dandelions and bracken, but they'd gone wispy and light, nearing the end of their lifespan. A breath of a moment, caught between seasons. Tranquil swooped through the air, Paras contentedly gnawed their way through the damp forest floor, and every Pokemon prepared for a bright new day.

Pollux the Cubone stepped out from the shadowy bushes into the flower patch, the weak sunlight glancing off his face. He clutched his bone tighter to his side, glancing nervously back and forth.

You see, Pollux had... well, you could call it bad luck, karma, or even a world just determined to spite him at all costs. If he had a fun bit of small talk with the Teddiursa who lived at the edge of the forest, you could be certain that an Ursaring was right around the corner. If he had a good day, then something was going to go wrong.

Eyeing the stone in the centre of the clearing suspiciously, Pollux held his bone tightly to his chest, prepared to swing it at the first Stunfisk that popped out.

He was so focused, he didn't even notice the Pokemon behind him... until it was too late.

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Lance, a very mischievous Ludicolo and his lifelong friend, starts to use Teeter Dance on Pollux. As Pollux turns around, Lance starts to dance in a very goofy manner, causing Pollux to be confused.

Pollux shrieked, his life flashing before his eyes. He was being attacked! They'd found him! He was dead, he was so dead-

It's a Darkrai. It's a Reshiram. It's every legendary Pokemon at once come to kill me.

He threw himself to the ground, slamming himself facefirst into the forest floor, where he lay there, trembling, waiting for the end. What had he done to deserve this? Why had he been born into a world determined to torture him? Why oh why did he-

Then he blinked. He stared at the two green feet by his face.

Tyranitar? No, no, those feet were too familiar-

"Lance?" He blinked in confusion. No, it couldn't be, Lance would never attack him, never sneak up on him from behind, this kind of mean-spirited prank was-

Entirely in character. Lance would totally do that, who was he kidding.

---

Lance falls over laughing. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you like that”, he manages to choke out between giggles. Still chuckling, Lance reaches an arm to Pollux.

Pollux seethed, glaring up at Lance. "That's not funny," he complained, taking Lance's arm anyway and stumbling to his feet. "I hate that move. I really thought you were coming to kill me!"

Standing on his own now, Pollux crossed his arms, glaring at his feet.

"Hopefully that's the extent of my punishment for living today," he grumbled. "I hate good weather. It's always gotta be balanced out with some random attack."

---

Lance chuckled, an easy, teasing smile playing across his face as he patted Pollux on the back. "Come on, it's not like I was actually going to kill you. Besides, you’ve survived worse than that, haven’t you?" He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by Pollux’s sour mood.

He leaned against a nearby tree, stretching out his long limbs. "Good weather or bad, the world’s always got a way of keeping us on our toes. You’ll get used to it."

Pollux's grumbling only made Lance smirk more. "If it helps, you're not the only one who's been caught off guard. But hey, I can't help it if you’re extra easy to prank today."

"Don't touch me," Pollux grumbled. "You always have a choice on whether or not you'll put me through something. And anyway if I haven't gotten used to it in all my years living in this hell forest, then I'm not getting used to it anytime soon."

He strode towards the stone in the centre of the clearing, eyeing it with disdain- and finally kicking it over. Stunfisk free.

No doubt there'd have been twenty fully-charged babies under it, if Lance hadn't decided to be his bad luck for the day. That was one perk of having an annoying jerk for a best friend, he supposed.

"Sometimes I just want to burn this whole place down," he sighed, then turned back to face Lance. "How's the berry hunting going? You got enough for the winter season?"

---

Lance raised his hands in mock surrender, a sheepish grin tugging at the corners of his beak-like mouth. "Alright, alright, I won’t touch you," he teased. "But you’ve got to admit, that was a little funny. And it’s not my fault the Stunfisk were hiding out there."

He watched as Pollux kicked over the stone, releasing the Stunfisk, and raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. "Oh, yeah, I had a feeling there’d be something under there. You always seem to find the worst spots."

Lance scratched the back of his head with one webbed hand and tilted his head thoughtfully at Pollux’s comment about burning the forest down. “Tempting idea, but you know as well as I do, it'd probably just grow back stronger. The forest’s got a way of fighting back.” He let out a low chuckle, then nodded toward the direction of the berry grove. “But, berry hunting’s going alright. Got a few decent batches of Oran, Sitrus, and Pecha, but the season’s just starting. Could use a bit more of the rarer stuff—more of those big fat Lum berries, y’know? The kind you can really stock up on.”

He took a few steps closer, glancing around the clearing. "Not as much for the winter season as I'd like, though. But hey, I’m not really one for planning ahead. Too much work, and I like to leave a little chaos in the mix. Keeps life interesting."

Lance then shot Pollux a playful grin, his leaf-like fins fluttering as he moved. "You, on the other hand, are probably already prepping for the cold months, aren’t you? Got your little den all stocked up?"

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"Of course I'm prepping. Not all of us have the luxury of being overpowered enough to sneak into Ursaring caves and steal their berries in the winter months. Some of us have to worry about our futures."

Fuming, Pollux crossed his little arms, turning and strolling across the clearing, only pausing to pick up an oran berry.

He flipped it over- and it becane obvious someone else had made it to it first. It was completely covered in bug bites, probably some nasty little Caterpie made its way through half of it before cocooning up into a Metapod.

Pollux sighed.

"My life sucks."

---

Lance, recognizing his friend’s dissatisfaction with life, pats Pollux’s back in an effort to comfort him. “Yeah, life can be pretty shitty. But if it makes you feel better, I have my bad days too. The other day, my friend got caught by a sailor while he was swimming in the lake.” As he continues telling the story, his slight grin shifts into a mild frown. After Lance finishes his story, he says “I miss him a lot” this time mostly to himself rather than Pollux.

"Ugh. Trainers." Pollux shuddered. "They have no respect for us Pokemon. To them, we don't serve any purpose, except to be captured. Sometimes I just want to..."

He grimaced.

"W-Whatever, yeah? It's not like they'll ever come in here. We're not anywhere close to any of the main routes, so we're safe from their tampering."

Probably. Better knock on wood to be safe, knowing his luck.

---

“Yeah. I hate them. Let’s change the subject.” As the two keep talking, the sun starts to lower and the moon starts to rise. “I’m tired, I think I’m gonna head home. Seeya tomorrow!”

Pollux frowned, watching his friend leave. For as fun (and admittedly unproductive) as the day had been, somehow, it felt like it wasn't complete. Like something was yet to come, that something was supposed to happen.

A snowflake landed on the grass in front of him.

He jumped with a yelp and his head darted from side to side, looking for his attacker, but- it was snow! It was snowing early!

Was it? The snowflake wasn't melting.

And finally, finally, Pollux looked up at the sky... and saw the whole thing was ablaze.

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