Path of Redemption

"This place is nice." Datura bounded around taking in the bright scenery of the low level dungeon. Despite the slight bit of cloud cover it was still a nice day. A light breeze rustled the grass which kept the temperature nice.

"It's alright." Soul looked around. There wasn't much to do here. Barely any feral pokemon called the dungeon home, and there were no pokemon in need of rescue at the moment. At least Datura was enjoying himself, and for now that was enough.

The two just walked through the dungeon, Soul watching as Datura looked around at just about anything he could finding a few things along the way. While Soul would much prefer to be helping people she knew they had to work their way up to doing higher stakes dungeons. She sighed quietly to herself. She was being impatient she knew that; she'd waited long enough to start that she could be patient now that she finally had. Shaking herself out she pushed those thoughts away. From all her research she learned bonding was important for a team, and this low states dungeon was the perfect place to bond with Datura.

"Enjoying yourself?" Soul walked over to where Datura was looking at one of the sunflowers that dotted the area.

Datura perked up. "I love it! Everything is so nice and green and exciting!" He bounced around the area, eyes wide with wonder.

"That's... good." Soul nodded stiffly. Thankfully Datura didn't seem to notice her general awkwardness.

Soul was made painfully aware that she had no idea what she was doing. Thankfully she was saved from trying anything else at the moment by another pokemon approaching them. Of course Soul was instantly on edge, this dungeon still had a feral pokemon population after all, but Datura was quick to place a hand on her shoulder. "They seem friendly!" He smiled.

"No offense, but..." Soul glanced at Datura's hopeful face and sighed. "Nevermind." She forced herself to relax.

At a glance the approaching pokemon appeared to be some sort of eevee fusion. "Hey there!" She shuffled her wings. "Couldn't help but notice you two were new around here. Visiting I assume?"

"Yep!" Datura bounded over to the eevee fusion.

"We are simply looking around." Soul came up to Datura's side. "May I ask what pokemon make up your biology?" Soul tilted her head.

The eevee fusion blinked, clearly trying to process the question for a moment before chuckling. "Ah I'm an eevee, pidgey fusion. I think that's what you were asking? Name's Griffon by the way, though most people just call me Grif." Griffon held out a paw.

Datura took it with a smile. "It's great to meet you Grif! I'm Datura and this is my partner Soul." He gestured to Soul.

"I take it you two are a team then? I've been seeing a lot more teams coming through here recently."

"Yes, we're on a quest to conquer all of Coldour's dungeons. We decided to start here." Soul hummed.

Griffon perked up. "Oh for real? That sounds super cool."

Datura hummed as he looked between Griffon and Soul. "Why don't you come with us?" The shaymin put an arm around Griffon's shoulders. "We could use some more teammates!"

"Wait what?" Both Soul and Griffon said at the same time.

"Yeah!" Datura jumped to face both of them. "The more teammates the better! That way we have more backup." He looked at Soul. "And more friends!"

"Oh! If you're looking for teammates I have a friend too. We've both been thinking about joining up with a team soon." Griffon tapped her paws together. "As long as I'm uh not imposing or anything."

Datura looked at Soul hopefully. She sighed. There was no way she could say no to that face. "Let's meet this friend of yours Griffon."

Griffon perked up. "Follow me!" The eevee fusion led them over several bridges. Datura seemed to have a good time watching the rushing water below them. Eventually a sandshrew came into sight. Griffon waved and the sandshrew waved back.

"Yo Grif." The sandshrew slung an arm over Griffon's shoulder's. "Who're these two?" As he turned to regard the two more carefully Soul couldn't help but notice scars on his chest and wonder what they were from. Whatever they were they didn't look clean. They seemed old though.

"These two are a team that are looking for new members Para. I know we've been talking about finding a team so..." Griffon grinned.

Para pulled his arm back and puffed his chest out, walking up to the two of them. Soul couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the display, it was clear he was trying to intimidate them. To his credit Datura did back up slightly. Soul lowered her head the ghostly scales on her back forming into hands in her own display. Para faltered and stopped, locking eyes with Soul. Both narrowed their eyes. The tension in the air was thick and Soul was preparing for this to come to a fight. Suddenly the tension vanished as Para scoffed and turned away. "Alright you seem fine enough I guess. I suppose I can do you the favor of joining your team." He smirked. "Hopefully I don't outshine you too badly."

"Delightful." Soul said in a monotone voice.

"It's a pleasure to formally welcome the both of you to the team!" Datura had apparently recovered from the attempted intimidation. "I look forward to working with you!"

"Oh yeah, it sure is a pleasure for you." Para winked.

Griffon lightly smacked him on the back of the head, frowning. "Oh knock it off." She turned back to the other two. "Don't mind him. I'm sure he'll settle down once he gets used to everything. I look forward to working with you both as well."

It was an odd end to the day but as the team, now doubled in size, left the dungeon Soul found that she didn't mind it too much. It just meant more work for her to bond, but with some other to watch she was sure she'd get it in no time.