@tag, NOTES

The dance was interrupted by a sudden shriek, shrill in the night air. The displeasure coloring the voice was evident, as was the avian nature of the creature it belonged to.

"STAAAR!" The little bird Pokemon trilled,flying from the dense coverage of a nearby tree and aiming a tackle directly at what, in it's mind, was an oversized bug Pokemon that could feed it for weeks; was this Starly the brightest bulb in the proverbial box? Hardly. Though to be fair, Valerie's kimono did throw off the vibes of oversized butterfly wings. The trainer found herself knocked off balance by the body slamming into her and fell with a thud, her hair flying dangerously. Hindsight being 20/20, she supposed that she was fortunate that if a Pokemon did attack her it wasn't with anything more dangerous than a simple Tackle.

"Clef!" The little Cleffa spat at the Starly who'd knocked her trainer over, hopping over to stand between the knocked prone human and the bird Pokemon.

Valerie hadn't really seen such a serious look on her little Cleffa's face ever, or the determination in her stance. It almost brought a tear to her eye. (Or was that from the tear in her hem she'd have to repair?) In either event, as the Starly cockily laughed at the Cleffa's approach, Cece took advantage of it misjudging her. Copycat was a sneaky little move the fairy could use, launching her own Tackle and bopping the Starly square between the eyes for good measure.

The bird fell back, more from shock than from damage given the Cleffa's diminuitive size. She narrowed her eyes before opening her beak to trill once more, letting out a Growl to break a little of Cece's fighting spirit.

"Cece!" Valerie called, rising to her feet, "Let's use this opportunity to play with it a bit. Encore!" Valerie clapped her sleeves together mischievously as she said it, and the Cleffa followed suit, slapping her tiny hands together and causing a faint pink aura to surround the Starly. Encore would force it to keep using Growl for some time, which would buy Valerie time to think at least.

She was a greenhorn Coordinator and Pokemon trainer in the broadest sense, but Valerie wasn't a fool either. She wagered that even against such a small bird Cece was going to have an uphill fight since she was just a baby if all she did was rely on trying to beat it through sheer force. What they needed to do was use every trick up their sleeve if they were going to teach this bird that tackling people out of nowhere was not appreciated. The Starly growled again, and Valerie narrowed her eyes slightly. "Sweet Kiss!"

The Cleffa puckered up before blowing a series of heart shapes in a kiss at the Starly; it wasn't the most accurate move, but it worked this time. Case in point, when the Starly went to Growl for the second time under the effect of it's encore it merely slammed it's head into the ground. "Now, while we've got it where we want it, let's hit it with a Magical Leaf!"

The Cleffa spun, releasing a torrent of green energy leaves that spun at the confused bird and slammed into it. As a flying type, the damage wouldn't be very great thanks to it's resistance, but if all it could do was Growl and occasionally hit itself in confusion?

The battle wasn't exactly the most glamorous of events from there on out, though the Magical Leaves that the Cleffa kept launching were pretty enough Valerie supposed; by the time the Encore had ended and the Starly had shaken itself from confusion, it was rather battered and bruised from hitting itself and the constant pelt of enchanted foliage being tossed it's way. Turning tail, the bird tried to dodge and flee a final Magic Leaf, only to find that dodging the attack was not in the cards. The leaves slammed into it's back as it flew, sending the bird into la-la land and careening into the brush.

"Cece....that was SPECTACULAR!" Valerie cried, throwing up a "V" for victory as her Cleffa preened.

Extra notes;  697 Words; +2 Levels to Cleffa

@tag, NOTES

Valerie and Cece found themselves with a moment's pause, the pair settling into a seat. At least a slight breather after beating back the wild bird Pokemon seemed to be in sight. The moonlight was still fairly strong, which granted them ample vision in the human's opinion at least. Of course, things still went bump in the night with far better night vision than Valerie, and a Hoothoot trilled as it landed nearby the pair from a tree branch. Valerie raised a sleeve instinctively, the recent attack from the Starly having made her a little more cautious about bird Pokemon in general. Yet the owl didn't fling itself at her in a tackle, instead twisting it's body as it cooed to the Cleffa.

Cece wasn't exactly used to interacting with most Pokemon thanks to her youth, but protecting her trainer seemed like a no-brainer to the little star shape creature. When the Hoothoot asked for a match though, it threw her a little off guard. It seemed oddly respectful for a wild Pokemon and touted the pair's handling of the Starly; apparently the other bird was a bit of a bully around the woods of the area, and the Hoothoot was just dying of curiosity to see how it stacked up against a trainer and Pokemon who could best it. Cece turned to her trainer and nodded, which prompted Valerie to raise her sleeve slightly.

"Another battle so soon dearheart? Aren't you tuckered out from our little spat with the Starly?"

Her answer came in the form of the Cleffa stomping her feet impatiently. The night wasn't getting any younger and Cece was loathe to miss out on moon viewing and dancing with her partner any longer. If these birds kept picking fights and pecking at the pair, let them have it.

The Hoothoot, seeing the affirmation of the Cleffa, began by flapping it's wings and launching itself with a Peck; the beak collided with the pink fairy expertly, sending Cece reeling backwards as the Hoothoot circled the battlefield. Cece fired a Magical Leaf that bombarded the Hoothoot with ease, though just like the Starly the leaves didn't seem to phase the owl as much. The Hoothoot circled back around, launching itself into a Tackle attack that the Cleffa barely managed to avoid with a shout from Valerie; Cece wasn't the most nimble or agile of Pokemon, so Valerie highly doubted her ability to evade another attack any time soon.

"Sweet Kiss!" Valerie called, watching her Cleffa launch another volley of magical hearts at the new bird who flew through them with ease. The girl bit the corner of her lip in exasperation. This wasn't going nearly as well as the battle against Starly had; case in point, the Hoothoot managed to close the gap and Valerie winced at what she assumed was another Tackle headed her sweet Cleffa's way. The bird stopped short however, hovering as it's eyes glowed red in the night, waves of energy pouring off it. Hypnosis to put the star shape Pokemon to sleep? A clever ploy, though unreliable at best.

Cece's eyes wavered slightly into a droop before her trainer's voice caught her ear. "Two can play that game Cece! Use Copycat!"

The Cleffa chirped as a faint glow on her two ears gathered in the curl on her brow and spiraled opposite of the Hoothoot. The owl Pokemon seemed taken aback for a moment before finding itself slipping off to sleep. That wasn't part of the wise owl's plan, not one bit.

"Let's use a Sweet Kiss and Magical Leaf combo to seal the deal Cece!"

The Cleffa puckered up and blew another volley of hearts at the sleeping bird which struck true this time, followed by a twirl of leaves that forced it back. The Hoothoot stirred awake as the leaves struck it, but it's vision swam and it slammed a Tackle directly into the ground. Cece fired another round of Magical Leaf at the bird, which pelted it backwards before the Hoothoot landed a Peck on the Cleffa, managing to clear it's swimming vision temporarily. Valerie grimaced, cursing her luck that the bird would wake up and assuming it would also clear it's mind as fast. Fortunately, luck was on the fairy's side for the time being as the Cleffa's next Magical Leaf shredded into the bird's feathers and the Hoothoot retaliated...by tackling into a rock nearby hard enough to knock itself out.

Extra notes;  742 Words; +2 Levels to Cleffa

@tag, NOTES

After fending off the attacks of two birds, Valerie couldn't help but fuss a little over her precious little star Pokemon. Cece had shown a bit more grit than the girl had anticipated, but it was obvious that the recent exertion had tuckered the little fairy out fairly well; the bruises and scratches were proof enough of that, though Valerie at least knew they weren't too far from a Pokemon Center to get treated. She scooped up the Cleffa in her arms, placing a quick peck on the curl that decorated her forehead.

"You were splendid Cece."

The fairy cooed in appreciation before settling into the impromptu nest she'd grown used to being carried in, making herself comfortable to watch the moon as the coordinator began the march back to civilization and the nearest clinic for first aid. Valerie picked her way along the path, wide gray eyes scanning the ground and surroundings to avoid any tumble that could happen. Time had slipped by between the battles and the dancing, especially based on how the moon had begun to sink in the sky; perhaps catching some beauty sleep would be pertinent after all?

Valerie wasn't the only one with a mind towards beauty rest though. The coordinator noticed the shape before the Cleffa, who only paid attention when it finally blocked her view of the moon. Given the fact the pair had just faced down not one, but two, they had a fair guess as to what the haphazard descent belonged to. Another bird, which set the Cleffa on edge.

Yet while the Starly had shown aggression from the start and the Hoothoot's pride had piqued it to challenge the fairy, this bird was a little different. Swablu had been flying for hours, chased out of her nest by a rather mean spirited Noctowl just as she was getting ready to snack on some berries she'd been collecting. Every time she'd try to find a perch from then on out, something else chased the little blue bird away. She could barely keep her eyes open, even if the moon and stars were bright that night.

When the wobbling bird didn't attack the pair, Cece was content enough to settle down but Valerie couldn't. Something felt off about the way the bird shape wasn't gliding so much as rapidly descending; birds didn't normally do that, at least not from what Valerie had ever witnessed. It took a moment for her to realize that the careening ball of...fluff, based on the wings, was about to crash. It was true that they'd been assaulted by two other birds over the course of the night, but Valerie didn't have a hard enough heart to just watch the blue, cloudy bird fall out of the sky. She picked up her pace to overtake the lazy descent and watched the Swablu nod off again.

It wasn't a perfect landing, and Cece was far from pleased, but somehow the girl managed to catch the Swablu before it crashed into the ground, the blue bird slamming into her chest. Opening a pair of weary eyes, the bird stared at the human in the moonlight, expecting to be shooed away or attacked. Instead, all she saw was a gentle smile.

----

Valerie and Cece slept in quite a bit the next morning, and when the nurse woke them in one of the dormitory rooms kept for traveling trainers the girl needed an additional hour to primp. Inquiring as to the bird she'd brought in with her Cleffa in the dead of night, the nurse could only say the Swablu had rested all night and flown off in the morning. It brought a smile to the girl's face.

As the pair headed off once more, perhaps for another dance practice, Valerie felt a sudden weight on her head.

"Lu! Swablu." The bird chimed. Being chased out of her home for an entire day had made the little bird amenable to people more, and this one had gone out of her way to end the night's misery. Not bad, for a human at least.

"And good morning to you too....Lulu."

Extra notes;  Catching the Swablu via the power of friendship (and also by catching it from falling out of the sky) x'D