If nothing else, Apple admired how well these trainers were doing for their first battle. Clearly some of them had prior Pokemon knowledge. But the Professor wasn't planning on going down without at least a little resistance. She already knew how everything worked, so she just as well knew Bailey's Duskull was the bigger threat, even if Miu herself was a more skillful trainer. Her Aron couldn't touch that Duskull, and her Honedge wouldn't do much...yet. That Poliwag, on the other hand, would also be capable of doing some damage. Aron could attest to that. If only to get Honedge ready to take on that other ghost-type, Poliwag was where Apple's attention was now. Especially after the Poliwag's second Bubble hit its mark, bringing Aron down with a metallic clunking sound. "Return," she ordered, opening the Steel/Rock's Pokeball. Now, on to that Poliwag. "Honedge, use Fury Cutter on that Poliwag!"

"Great job, Duskull," Bailey cheered. She sure looked excited. This was the first time she'd actually seen a Pokemon in action. Of course it was thrilling! Never before did she have this kind of power obeying her. The closest thing she'd had up until now was a family Chandelure that was supposedly just warding off bad luck. Caught in the thrill of the fight, Bailey eagerly ordered "Do it again! Send that Honedge packing!" She'd get to do this every day that she was on this adventure? Now she really wanted in!

Miu smirked as the Aron fainted. Yeah, this battle wasn't too bad after all. She didn't even need Bailey's help to pull through - heck, maybe she'd win on her own. Odds were good. Then the Honedge struck Poliwag, the pokemon too off-guard to try dodging. The water-type rolled to a stop near Miu's feet - not fainted, but the battle was clearly wearing on it. Miu knew as Fury Cutter struck, it'd only get stronger each time. Well. "Poliwag! Bubble again!" Poliwag struggled to get back onto its feet and fire off the attack - which went absurdly wide. The tadpole pokemon didn't look steady enough to try dodging - Miu took a step back, in case the Honedge tried attacking the Poliwag where it stood. She had enough half-healed scars to know pokemon attacks did hurt.

The A-Unown, which Zubat had targeted, began to level out and drift to the ground. The attack had been critical - between Azurill's Water Gun and the super-effective Leech Life, the Unown could no longer fight. Only the pokeball light enveloping the Unown kept it from hitting the ground and instead returning to the pokeball B held. This left only the Y-Unown out, who could only hit Azurill. Well, best to keep going. The Water Gun sent the Y-Unown spinning before it righted itself and shot off Hidden Power at Azurill again. It had no choice but to ignore the Zubat.

"You two don't seem bad," B commented cheerfully. The S-Unown rolled its pupil.

The Azurill jumped in joy for a bit, until that is it got hit by another Hidden Power. At first it stood well, but almost stumbled. The Azurill looked really hurt. Hmmm, critical hit maybe? or low on health... who knows... Vincent thought as he analyzed Azurill. Noticing that the Unown was only targeting the Azurill, that it must be a ground type, being ground can't affect Zubat. "Azurill, finish with another Water Gun!" He commanded the Azurill, and as such it hit the Unown straight at it's eye. Who knows if it will faint, only time will tell...

For a moment Jess was silent while the A-Unown returned to its Pokeball, unable to continue the battle. Finally, a wide smile broke out on her face. "Now we're talking, buddy! For a second there I thought you were going to let me down, but then you turned right around and fainted your first Pokemon! Hate to say this B, but I think we've got this in the bag! And thanks, Vince. You and your partner aren't so bad yourselves! Hang in there." She waited, full to burst with energy and enthusiasm, as the Unown and then the Azurill took their turns. It seemed that Zubat was free to do as he pleased. Once the battle had cycled back toward her, Jess gave her next command. "Okay, little guy. Leech Life, once again!"

She cast a glance at Miu and Bailey to see how they were doing. It appeared they were making headway; already, the Professor's Aron was out of commission, leaving only the Sword Pokemon that had almost sapped Jess's life force earlier. She didn't know whether to be resentful for Miu's progress or supportive for Bailey's sake. Ultimately, she decided against saying anything and focused instead on her own fight--grudges were for the weak, after all.

The Y-Unown might've managed to cling to life if only the Water Gun had connected. But again, the combined attack knocked this Unown to the ground, and B called it back. The S-Unown was spinning, perpendicular to the ground and clearly irked. B shared none of its irritation, instead beaming at Vincent and Jess. "I have to admit, you two are naturals! Maybe I should step it up..." There was a second of ominous silence before he chuckled. "But I jest. I'm just glad we won't need to worry over you two." He glanced to Apple's fight, still in progress. "Nor will we have to worry about them. It's pleasant, having competent help." The Unown drifted back over to the table and laid down flat, squeaking. B looked over to it. "Now, now, we lost fair and square. Speaking of-" He went back to the table as well, rummaging through a bag for something before producing it - two small stacks of credits and, on top of each a Revive crystal. He held them out to the two new trainers. "Take these with my compliments. Arceus knows they can only help!"

Apple could say she'd achieved one of her goals – Vincent and Bailey both now seemed more confident about their new partners, especially as Bailey's Duskull let loose another Night Shade at Honedge. Honedge was starting to sway a bit, though not as badly as Miu's Poliwag. Another Fury Cutter landed, and Poliwag rolled back into Miu's legs. The Poliwag staggered to her feet, and Miu nudged her forward. Miu might've considered herself superior to the rest but she wasn't showing Apple it was true. That left Jess – a nice kid, to be sure, but she really needed to learn a bit about her pokemon. Especially the fact that eventually her Zubat would need a strong relationship with his trainer to reach his final stage.

It was Miu's turn – her voice was no less annoyed, but this time, the Poliwag's Bubble connected. It didn't do a lot of damage, but with Bailey's move next, she knew her Honedge wasn't going to last the round to finish the Poliwag. Just a reminder that some battles would be struggles.

Bailey's enthusiasm wasn't dampened by the need for a final attack. Honedge went down, and Apple called it back. It was interesting to see how the two reacted – Bailey invited the Duskull to rest on her shoulder, and Miu crossed her arms and waited for Poliwag to walk back to her side. Unsurprisingly, the Poliwag blew another raspberry at her trainer before sitting down on the ground.

“There's a healer just down the street, on the way to the bridge.” Right, the reward. “B, your bag?” B nodded, though it was the S-Unown that brought the bag to her. First, the money. Miu pocketed it immediately; it was a little amusing to see Bailey and Duskull admiring it before tucking it away. Then the Revive crystals (B had paid for them under the belief they wouldn't get far otherwise). “These are Revives.”She spoke up – unlikely B had bothered to explain what they were. “If a pokemon faints, use it to wake them back up.” Simple enough. “You'll also probably need these.” She now offered four small bags – in each, five pokeballs and a pokedex. That was her contribution. “They'll help with data-gathering. That only leaves one last thing – my first errand.” She walked back to the table and sat, where B was struggling to unfold a map. She managed to hold it down and indicated to Snowbelle City. “The gym leader, Wulfric, reported that he found something of interest to my evolution research, at the Pokemon Village. He couldn't stick around long enough to collect a sample for me, and he doesn't have the time to spare to go back. I'd like you four to go investigate. I'd send B, but he's going to Shalour City for me.” Here, B waved. “Does everyone understand?”

Vincent smiled as the Azurill ran back up to his shoulder. "Ah you prefer to be out your Pokéball? Alright alright... but at times i might need to return you into it..." He had told his Azurill. He then looked over to the assistant who just complemented them. "Why thank you..." He had said bowing in respect, then he got some useful items for the trip. "Sweet! Especially since I only have a few amount of Poké left..." He had said accepting the gift. He looks over to Jess. "Good job out there... you learn quick!" He said tilting his head lightly with a smile.

"Glad to hear it, Vince! I was worried there for a while. With you you on my team, though, I should have known better." With great pride Jess received her winnings from her gracious opponent. She instantly identified them as the first payoff of her grand career as a blooming Trainer, for her and her partner both. A name for the overjoyed Zubat formed in her mind as she studied B's map with the others. Lastly, she pocketed the Pokedex and the Pokeballs, taking a good look at all of them but especially at the device. She ran her fingers over the grip strips on either side of the phone-sized machine. She could definitely see that rubber growing worn and pitted thanks to constant use during her coming adventure. Who knew; perhaps it would gather sand from the western beaches, or spatters of dried mud from the purportedly haunted marshes northeast of great Lumiose City. It didn't matter as long as she was with her little buddy.

"Of course, ma'am." After voicing her assent to Apple's request, she turned away from the group and held out a finger for the Zubat to land on. It took a moment for the happy Pokemon to realize what she was doing, but once he spotted her he perched upside-down on her outstretched finger immediately. "I've thought of a name for you, little guy. It's a really cool one: Belial. From some old stories I loved to read as a child." She paused for a moment as she wondered how to phrase her next thought as newly-named Belial squeaked ecstatically. "It means 'worthless', but I have a good reason for it. A lot of people are going to see you and call you worthless, a cruddy Pokemon, an annoyance and a joke. Your name is a reminder of the adversity you're going to face in life. And it's a reminder of how you've got to prove them wrong." Though initially crestfallen, Belial seemed to dimly understand what she was saying, and squealed again in reply. "Good man."

She turned back around, lowering her hand slowly as Belial took wing once again to perch on the underside of her cap. "So! Off to Snowbelle, then. Never been. If its name is any indicator, I hope some of you brought warm clothing!"

"So! Off to Snowbelle, then. Never been. If its name is any indicator, I hope some of you brought warm clothing!"

"I'd hope so," Professor Apple concurred. "If not, I know there's a boutique both there and in Santalune City; you should be able to find something at either destination. From the looks of it, it seems that at least one of you didn't take the chance of visiting cold places into account." Apple's eyes drifted toward Bailey in particular, who was carrying nothing more or less than the Pokeball her Duskull came in, the bag B was handing her, and a second, larger black bag over her shoulder that was clearly empty. Setting her eyes back to Aquacorde City's one and only bridge leading out to Route 2, the professor said "I hope you kids enjoyed your time in Santalune Forest. The only way to get to Snowbelle from here is through Santalune City, meaning you're going back through again. If you also plan to become Pokémon League Champion someday, a quick stop at the gym there wouldn't hurt either, though last I heard the Santalune Gym was closed for the time being. Viola - the Gym Leader - had some business elsewhere, I believe."

I knew I'd forget something important... Just her luck, Bailey figured. Forget to pack some warm clothing, and the first place they're going is reputably cold. She got some prize money from her victory against the professor, and she was given some money for the adventure ahead of her when she left home, so she could at least spend that up. And there was also prize money people got by beating other trainers, so if she felt real confident in Duskull's abilities she could always tackle the gym like the Professor proposed. She had some Pokeballs now, so there was no reason she couldn't catch a Pokémon or two on the way there. She was still kind of nervous, but at least now she was feeling at least a little good about this adventure getting started. "If that's all, should we start heading out?"

Miu groaned at the mention of 'Santalune Forest'. Not again! Ok, this time, she'd have a pokemon of her own to chase off the feral ones. And a Poliwag could beat a Pansear any day of the week. Still, no less annoying. She had no desire to get lost there again. As if reading her mind, B tugged the map away from Professor Apple and began trying to fold it back up. For a world-famous professor, she had some lousy assistants, Miu noted. Hopefully, this was the last they'd see of B - well, after he held the map out.

"Professor Apple will probably keep in touch with more errands. I think you'll need this more than me." He tried a smile. Miu didn't return it. Someone else could grab the map.

"Yeah, sure. Hitting up the healer, catch ya at the bridge." They better not abandon her in this two-bit town. Poliwag made a confused sound, and Miu called it back to the pokeball. Without acknowledging anyone's replies, she left, following Apple's directions earlier to the pokemon healer. What a sad little town, that even a pokemon center wasn't possible. Her mind wandered to Apple's suggestion about the Pokemon gyms. She could probably do it, but why bother? She had nothing to prove. If the rest of the group did, well, why would they all have to slow down over that?

B blinked at Miu's departure. "Well, someone won't need a parka." He almost sounded miffed, though it was nothing next to the way the Unown glared from his shoulder.

Too hyped about her journey's beginning to stand still, Jess turned and ran in the direction Miu had gone, shouting "Thanks, Professor! See you later!" over her shoulder. Her running shoes thundered across the wooden bridge, drawing the attention of a few fish Pokemon lazing about in the sparkling waters below. Belial raced to catch up, flapping his thin, veiny blue wings furiously. Jess saw none of that; she only had Santalune Forest in mind. Not encountering any grouchy wild Pokemon on the trip here had been a blessing, but now, with a partner of her own, she felt invincible. "Time for our first real battle, yeah!" She crossed the threshold of the forest and vanished beneath the shade of the trees.

Without a moment's hesitation, the forest Pokemon obliged. Barely had she taken a step through the thick, tall grass than her foot impacted something thick and warm. An electric jolt resounded through her body, causing a brief spasm. "Gagh!" As she recovered from the shock, a yellow head poked from the foliage, contorted with anger. "Pika, pikachu!" It spat, and raised its lightening-bolt-shaped tail, evidently preparing to zap her again. "Belial," Jess shouted, suddenly painfully aware of leaving him behind, "Engage!"

Just in the nick of time, the Zubat appeared, darting down from between the branches to hover in front of his trainer, shielding her from the wild Pokemon. The Pikachu seeming acknowledged the battle and jumped backward to put some distance between itself and its challenger. Before Jess could issue a command, the Mouse Pokemon made its move. It growled at Belial, and he seemed vaguely upset by it. "What...?" Jess yanked her new Pokedex from the satchel given to her by the Professor and clicked it on. "Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon," it spoke in an electronic monotone. "It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs. This one knows Tail Whip, Thunder Shock, and Growl." The girl narrowed her eyes. "Alright then. Leech Life, go!"

Eager to prove himself to his trainer once again, Belial charged forward and sank his teeth into the Pikachu's yellow fur. It squealed in protest but was unable to stop the Zubat draining away a portion of its health. When Belial returned to his position, however, he seemed affected as well somehow. Bolts of yellow static arced across his tiny, furry frame, and he seemed to be having a hard time staying airborne. "What's up with you?" The Pikachu took its turn, waggling its tail. This endearing act made it seem far less tough than it first appeared, and Belial partially let down his guard. When he tried to perform Supersonic, however, he found himself unable. More yellow electricity wreathed his body, preventing him from moving. "You've got to be kidding me. Remember what I just said about adversity? Power through whatever's keeping you from attacking, come on!" No sooner were the words out of her mouth, however, than the Pikachu had released a powerful thundershock that sent Belial spiraling down to the forest floor, unconscious. "[i]WHAT!?[i] We lost!?" Jess stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. It didn't take long for her to start rationalizing it. "Whatever. Must have been one of those critical hits Dad was talking about the other day. Win some, lose some." As the Pikachu fled, she knelt down with a Revive crystal and began prodding Belial with it. "Wake up, bud."

Firmly setting a hand on Vincent's shoulder, Professor Apple declared "Actually, Vincent here feels to me like he'd be more useful in the lab than out on the field. B and I both do a lot of traveling for our research anyway, and I'd like to have someone to watch the place whenever I'm not in. Last I'd checked, he also happens to live in Lumiose, so I'll just bring him with me. The rest of you still have a task at hand, though." Nodding to Bailey as a means of sending her off and not releasing her death grip on Vincent's shoulder, the professor watched the last member of the quartet-gone-trio take the map, thank B for it, then take off.

Duskull faithfully following mere inches behind her, Bailey made her way back down in the direction she'd come from. She also passed Miu along the way, and stopped there, entrusting her Duskull and his Pokeball in the hands of this healer for a brief moment while he did his thing. She had to admit, even if her time here was brief, Bailey kind of liked Aquacorde. Very tranquil of a place, at least if her brief time here told her anything about town. Maybe she'd come back here someday. Maybe not. That was what an adventure was about, right? If nothing else, Bailey was certain she'd learn whether that was it or not while out on an adventure of her own. For now though, her Duskull had a need to be healed some. While she waited, Bailey supposed she may as well strike up a conversation with Miu, as well as keep her updated. "Professor Apple says she's going to take Vincent with her back to her lab. She said she wanted someone to keep an eye on the lab while she and B were traveling for their research."

The healer hadn't taken long at all, though the chat about the various local pokemon left Miu half-bored to death. She already had a reasonably good idea on what lived around here, she certainly didn't need the lecture. Most of them didn't catch her fancy - a Pidgey, maybe, raise it into a Pidgeot to fly around with, but that was about it. Just as she received her Poliwag back, Bailey entered and handed over her Duskull for healing. The healer didn't seem half so inclined to bother her. Go figure.

Apparently, since the healer wasn't chatting to Miu anymore, Bailey decided to take up that duty. The first bit of news was almost depressing. "A chance to work with one of the most famous pokemon professors who's here by luck, and it went to him. Great." Granted, she would've responded similarly if Bailey or Jess had been told to do the same. She at least had known about Professor Apple's work when she got the letter. The fact they'd all gotten a chance to meet her and even battle her was wasted on them. She noticed the folded paper - probably B's map. She raised an eyebrow at Bailey, wondering why she had chosen to grab the map instead of leaving it to Jess at least. Not that Miu felt like carrying it for Bailey.

"Jess go on ahead?" She was the only one unaccounted for. She groaned. "Whatever. Going to Santalune, don't get left behind." After all, Poliwag was better now. Maybe she should nickname it. 'Ripper' didn't seem too fitting for the tadpole pokemon, though. Later then. She departed the healer's and soon Aquacorde altogether. It was simple enough to pass through Avance Trail - no encounters, though she did spy a Zigzagoon splashing by the river's shore. Not the kind of pokemon she wanted, so she kept to the path.

Jess was easy enough to find. Miu didn't even have to pass far into the forest to find her trying to revive her Zubat. "Pretty sure you're supposed to snap the crystal." Did they honestly not know how to use items? Sure, Revives weren't the most common item but... Miu looked around. "You haven't seen a Pansear, have you?" She owed that dumb monkey a couple of Bubble attacks.

Mumbling "I was getting to that," in a sulky undertone that did not at all suit her, Jess firmly gripped the Revive crystal with both hands, for which she set down her Pokedex on the gravel path. Her irritation manifested itself in a touch of roughness, making what ought to have been ginger placement into a soft toss. Had it landed on its screen it would have most certainly been scratched, but luckily only its case hit the tiny pebbles. The girl snapped the gem with ease, releasing a spray of violet powder that settled over her fainted Pokemon, momentarily painting his fuzzy cyan coat a comical, purple-speckled blend. Nothing appeared to happen. Jess's patience, already sapped by the loss, deteriorated quickly, but before she could voice her annoyance Belial gave a squeaky cough and lifted his head. Forgetting her ire, Jess's face lit up, and she smiled again. "There we are. Feeling better, little guy?" She held out a palm to the Zubat, and he climbed aboard.

Standing up straight, Jess simultaneously realized she had both risen too quickly and developed a bit of a cramp in a hip. As such, she paused a moment longer before replying. In that moment, she considered ignoring Miu, but decided to prove she was the better person by being as helpful as possible. "Nope, just the Pikachu. I could probably help you look for one, though. Shouldn't take too long; I saw a couple of them playing around the trees when I first passed through." Though most Pokemon were unknown to the girl, she knew the elemental monkeys because a Day Care client she made friends with years ago owned all three varieties. Pansage was her favorite, since green was her favorite color, and it always gave her a clump of herbs from its tuft when she made it laugh.

Nearby, a bug-type Pokemn rested in a bush. Until now it had remained stationary and hidden in the foliage, but as some errant particles entered its air intake it felt the uncontrollable urge to sneeze. As it did, it exuded a blast of powder from its pupa, throwing off the leaves and twigs that had block it from the new trainer's sight. Suddenly exposed, the Spewpa wheezed once more and began to inch its way toward another bush.

The tiny, colorful explosion caught Jess's eye. "Hey, there's something. Not any of the Pans, though. Doesn't look very tough; I bet we could take it, huh, Bel?" After a somewhat tentative squeak from her Pokemon, Jess turned back toward Miu. "Or...we could get looking for your Pansage. Pansear, I mean."

"Jess go on ahead?"

"I think so. Wouldn't you know that better than me since you got here first?" At the very least, it made sense to her. If Miu got here first, wouldn't she be more likely to see Jess go on ahead? "I don't see her here, so I think so." And then Miu up and left. Seems she was eager to get started on this adventure. It wasn't until Miu was in the trees that the healer handed Bailey her Duskull back, with a big smile on his face. He sure was friendly. Well, now she and Duskull were all ready to go! Making her way toward the forest as well, Bailey saw a few small Pokemon. Little guys, like a Fletchling or a Bunnelby. And it seemed neither Jess nor Miu had gone too far ahead, as not long after getting into the forest itself, there they were. Maybe she'd find something interesting here, or maybe not. No way to tell.

For now, she settled with making her presence known to the group. "What kinds of Pokemon can we find here? Do either of you know?" Bailey sure didn't.

The Moss Rock was a strange phenomenon; in select places throughout the world, chunks of a certain element could be found within rocks, and if those rocks were exposed to certain stimuli, an unusual compound would be released into the surrounding area. In the case of the Moss Rock, were any species of moss to grow on the rock, that moss would undergo a mutation and release a compound that affected the Eevee species; prolonged exposure would trigger their unusual genetics to force them to become Leafeon.

With the rarity of Moss Rocks, samples of the mutated moss that covered them were prized and coveted by many; and this and a request from a friend were what brought Charlie to Santalune Forest today.

“Ohdearohdearohdear-”

Or so the plan had been. In reality, the boy had been wandering about the forest for a few hours on a wild goose chase, looking for something that wasn’t really there. There were stories- perhaps apocryphal- that there was a Moss Rock somewhere in Kalos, in a forest nearby Santalune City.
And now it certainly seemed as if he’d been fed a shaggy Furfrou story; a solid few hours of searching had been utterly fruitless, and whilst he’d been into the forest before and was at least relatively familiar with the geography of the place, looking for that sodding rock had gotten him off of the beaten path.

And to make matters worse? He was slowly running out of repels.

“Phil..?” He called out to his companion, pausing and trailing off slightly as he went a few moments without any kind of response, “Where are you? Phi-”

A sudden crackle and acrid stench from behind him cut him off; and whilst this would be cause for concern for most people, it was a reassurance to him.

“There you are,” He said to the grinning Gastly floating a couple of meters away from him, as it floated about lazily, without a care in the world, “I think we should turn back, buddy. We haven’t found a single thing all day and-”

Again, the Gastly cut him off as it suddenly ejected something towards Charlie at high speed; and to his credit, he only jumped a little bit as the spherical object smacked into the ground and rolled towards his feet.

“... Okay, that’s cool and all, but it’s not a Moss Rock,” Charlie muttered towards the Gastly, which just seemed pleased with itself as its trainer squatted down to pick up the Pokeball it had found, “I think Jean lied to us, so let’s just try to get out of here before it gets dark.”

He spoke mostly firmly despite himself; but if anyone else were to listen in on him, they would pick up a hint of nervousness in his tone. Charlie was nervous by nature, but held up surprisingly well on his own; but now he’d gotten himself slightly out of his depth, that nervousness was creeping over him.

Fortunately for him, the Gastly didn’t give him any trouble; as he pulled his map out from the pack on his back, the little ball of gas and ectoplasm just followed suit, eyes darting about as it went.
________
As the boy walked throughout the woods, a pair of eyes followed him.

The odor surrounding him was fading quickly; whilst too faint for any human to pick out, the unmistakable stench of a repel lingered on him, dissuading the absolute majority of Pokemon from coming near him.
Elsewhere, the majority of Pokemon either hid or paid more mind to the other, larger party moving through the woods; but as the odor around the boy faded, the insect’s two eyes were drawn only to him.
And as the boy stopped to take something out of his pack, it made it’s move and leapt from its hiding place-
_______
As Charlie reached around for his pack to retrieve another Repel, he was suddenly and unpleasantly conscious of a stabbing sensation in his calf.
Taking him by surprise, he fell to the ground with a soundless yelp of shock; but when he looked down to set eyes upon his assailant, he just stopped in place.

There was a Scatterbug biting his leg. And now that the initial shock had cleared, it seemed it wasn’t even doing a good job of it.

“Scattascattascatta,” It growled incessantly as it sunk its one tiny little fang into Charlie’s leg, trying its best to seem intimidating-

As Charlie just pulled himself together and kicked it off.
_______
The insect went flying through the air, hitting the ground hard as the boy shook it off.
Just as soon as he was back on his feet, it pulled itself back together, bristling with fury and glaring at him as it charged, spewing out a cloud of yellow power as it went-

Before a purple cloud came from above and devoured it in one fell swoop.
The powder was blocked out and destroyed by the power of the cloud, and the insect froze up, coughing and spluttering as it felt the toxins force their way into its bloodstream…
_______
“Poor thing,” Charlie just muttered to himself as he watched the Scatterbug take the Smog attack from Gastly. His partner had been quick to react, and whilst the attack was extremely weak, it seemed as if it had worked; Scatterbug had taken a high amount of damage from the poisonous cloud and seemed to have been poisoned.

As said cloud cleared, Charlie just watched for a few moments as the Scatterbug collected itself and began to continue to move towards him; glaring at him some more with telltale signs of purple in its eyes from the poison.
______
It continued to move forwards despite its great pain, glaring at the boy some more as he was froze in place.
It was unfazed, it was strong-

It squeaked slightly as something spherical hit it on the head.
______
It hadn’t been a difficult capture; with Scatterbug already severely weakened and poisoned, the one Pokeball Charlie had on him had been enough to snag the little caterpillar.

“... I guess I could hang onto you for a bit,” Charlie mumbled to himself as he tried to make a bit more sense of what he had just done to himself, as Gastly shot down to the ground and, scooping up the ball with a tendril, threw it towards him, “At least, I could probably get you healed up before releasing you.”

Catching the ball, Charlie just did as he had meant to do before and, removing his pack from his bag, pulled out another repel and sprayed it about himself; and as Gastly stuck its tongue out in disgust at the smell, he took the ball in his hand and tucked it into his pack, before getting back up and looking off to his side-

Where, as luck would have it, he could see a speck of a figure at a few hundred meter’s distance.

“OhthankGod,” He mumbled to himself, hints of his nervousness creeping out now that he’d at least found someone who might have some vague idea of where he was, before he started moving towards them with Gastly in tow.

“Hey, uh-” He started up towards the figure after about 30 meter’s distance, now making out that it was a girl with a blue-ish shade of hair, “You couldn’t help me out, could you?”

Miu watched at Jess cooed to the Zubat. Yeesh. "You're gonna get a marshmallow of a pokemon that way." She wasn't going to make that mistake with her Poliwag. Who, as if it had heard her thoughts, jumped out of its pokeball and began looking around. She frowned at the tadpole pokemon before examining her own pokeball. She was reasonably sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Even if she preferred the tougher pokemon, those also had a tendency to go after people. Had Professor Apple gotten a defective pokeball? After the errand was done, or if they ran into her on the way out, she'd ask.

Jess described what she saw, and Miu shook her head. "It was this one jerk. If we see it, it's getting a Bubble to the face, no questions asked." And if they were, Miu wasn't going to answer them. She had her pride and dignity. Both things that apparently Poliwag lacked, since the pokemon had spotted a sign and was struggling to clamber up it. Maybe 'Mago' - thing was more of an entertainer than a fighter. She'd seen a Pidgey on the way here from Santalune, if only she could remember if it was the path or the forest where she saw it. A Pidgey would be a decent fighter, hopefully. Not so cutesy.

Bailey finally caught up and asked about the pokemon. Miu could field that. "Well, you have Panpour, Pansage, Pansear, Pikachu it seems, Scatterbugs..." She eyed the Spewpa. "And apparently Spewpa." She held up her pokedex to examine it, skimming over the entry for its moves. Only Protect. "You can fight it, but it's gonna be a pain in the ass." She pocketed the pokedex once more. If she was gonna train Mago, it'd preferably be on something that didn't waste a lot of time or energy. Actually, Pansears in general didn't seem like a bad idea.

Before she could ask where exactly those Pansears were, a new voice spoke up. She turned and looked the kid over - bit taller, looked and sounded like a total nerd. She sneered, even as Poliwag gave up climbing the sign and was now bouncing over to this new source of attention. "Jeez, what could you want from three girls alone in a forest, huh?" Miu wasn't nervous - it just seemed more interesting to rile him up if she could.

Jess only smiled; she had no intention whatsoever of making her Pokemon into a 'marshmellow'. Strength was what mattered, and that was the young trainer's goal.

The arrival of Charlie distracted both Jess and Belial from the wild Spewpa long enough for it to escape into a thicket, through which there was no chance of pursuit. All it left behind were a few multicolored flecks brushed off onto the thicket, sparkling in the inconsistent, dappled light that filtered down through the trees. Before Jess could say anything -even a greeting- Miu was already talking. After rolling her eyes, Jess used the time to quickly size up the boy. As best she could gather, he seemed like an utter wisp. Not really thinking about what she was saying, he put her own two cents in. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with asking other people for help, even if he is a weenie." It took her a moment to realize she had just insulted him. "Uh..no offense or anything. Sorry about that." To recover, she breezily powered through into an introduction. "Let's start over! I'm Jess, and this is Mee-you. What do you need help with?"

Belial gave up probing the thicket for any good openings, maybe figuring out that he'd scratch his tender wing membranes no matter how hard he pushed through the thorny brambles, and flapped up to land on his trainer's cap. There he rested, covering the little Zoroark mark on her hat. Though he lacked eyes, he seemed to be looking straight at Charlie.

When the girl in the distance didn't respond immediately, Charlie paused; had she heard him? It was pretty quiet around here; even with the rustling of the trees and bushes as wild Pokemon fretted about and fled from the invisible stench of the repel surrounding him, thirty meters should have been no obstacle to his voice. Nonetheless, it seemed he hadn't been heard; and so, desperate and undeterred, he moved in closer at a moderate pace, confident from the sound of crackling energy from behind him that the Gastly was following.

Now at only fifteen meters, he could figure out why the girl hadn't heard him; she seemed to be with another girl, and talking to her about something. He didn't know exactly what; he made something out about a 'pain in the ass', which he didn't have the foggiest about cluing out. God knows he couldn't figure out half the stuff the girls he knew prattled on about; he had even less luck with this.

But anyway, as he approached the two girls, he gathered his composure up and asked them again ("You couldn't help me out, could you?") as he approached and came within ten meters of them-

"Jeez, what could you want from three girls alone in a forest, huh?"

Only for that to fly out from the other girl's mouth and smack him in the face like a metaphorical boot to the head.

He paused. Froze. Tried to comprehend what the girl had just insinuated.
And even as the little blue tadpole- he guessed a Poliwag, by the distinctive marking upon its stomach- came bounding towards him, he only drew a blank as-

"I... what?" He asked, failing to sound even a little reserved as a bit of anxiety crept through into his tone and some of the colour drained from his face. In his state of mental paralysis, he barely noticed the other girl join the other two and offhandedly refer to him as a 'weenie'.

Meanwhile, as the little blue tadpole bounded towards Charlie, there was a perceivable crackle behind it as a slight stench began to creep out into the surrounding air.
As something appeared behind it.
"Gasssss," Gastly hissed, as it eyed the little tadpole in amusement, oblivious to its trainer's state of mental paralysis.

Miu snickered at the boy's utter consternation. She hadn't expected it to be that easy! Jess was right, he was 100% weenie. A real pokemon would probably make him wet his pants. She didn't snicker at Jess' pronunciation of her name. "It's Miu. Not that hard to say, yeesh. So what were you saying, weenie-boy?"

The Poliwag jumped at the sudden intrusion of her personal space by both sound and stench, much less by another pokemon. The Gastly seemed amused by her distress. No one else, not even her trainer, seemed to notice. Well, that wouldn't do. She tried jumping a bit higher, pushing off with her tail. No luck. Everyone seemed more interested in this other human. Why? What made him more worthy of attention than she was? She leaned back, balancing on her tail with a huff. Could he do that? Bet not!