"Now that you mention it, he did seem a little shady. Disinterested too." Hiro got lost in thought for a moment. "Do you think we should just avoid him? It'd be pretty rude, but if you think it might be safer...I guess you could stay behind. I'm going to see him, anyway. If you guys don't want to follow, should we meet up later?" He asked, feeling a little less confident about meeting the stranger. Then, he remembered something. "Oh! I think he's a traveler like us, by the way. Judging by his clothes, he isn't a local. In any case, I'd appreciate it if you guys would accompany me, but you're free not to."

And with that message, Hiro started heading south; the direction of the beach. Once outside, he saw a figure standing at the edge of the grassland and the beach. Assuming this was the man from before, Hiro waved and kept walking.

"Eh..." Marlene listened to Hero, nodding as he explained he was going regardless. If that was the case, Marlene really couldn't let him go without her; If it was dangerous, a tough gal like her would surely come in handy. This guy was a traveler, according to Hero, but that could mean anything. A traveling bandit trying to take advantage of new Pokemon Trainers being one example in her head. She decided to offer the man the benefit of the doubt, before following after Hero, firmly placing her hand on his shoulder. "Ah've got yer' back, you can count on me!" She said, determined obviously.

"C'mon, Mable!" Marlene called, hand soon releasing Hero's shoulder as they continued along. Noticing someone up ahead, she wondered if that was the guy... Nothing seemed too shady, but regardless, she kept her guard up.

Mable agreed with Marlene as started heading south with Marlene close behind him. Hiro was there boat mate and that probably meant they should stick together MAble smiled running to catch up with the two. Mable readied her Shinx for a battle, but otherwise tried to look calm when the man came into sight. While Mable waited for Hiro to speak she gently cradled her love ball curious thinking what pokemon would fall in love with her Shinx as they walked toward the man.

"You needed us for something sir?" Mable asked wanting to sound kind despite her nervousness "My name is Mable"

Having left the city, the group uneventfully traversed the grasslands to reach the man standing at the edge of the beach. He frowned as Mable introduced herself and immediately questioned him. He simply said "A'ight." and shrugged off the question. He gestured to follow and stepped several feet onto the beach. "From the looks of it, Marcy didn't do anything weird. That's good because that means I can do what I brought you here for, and then leave. Pay attention now." The man took a moment to make sure the trio was looking at him before drawing a poké ball from his pocket and picking up a pebble from the ground. He looked around for a moment, before tossing the pebble at something. That something was in fact a pokémon and it scurried over angrily. The man carelessly sent out his pokémon as some form of mismatched battle began.

---

The pokémon that had scurried over was an Anorith. Odd as this was, the man didn't seem very impressed, and his Scizor didn't seem to care too much either. The man's voice resounded loudly across the beach, sounding a lot less disinterested than before. "Scizor, False Swipe!" The Scizor swiftly moved forward and struck the anorith. The anorith seemed to be hurt and slightly intimidated, but tried retaliating with Scratch. Anorith's attack didn't even faze Scizor however. The man turned to the group and said "This is the point where you should throw a poké ball." and just as he said it, he did it. He simply flicked the poké ball towards the Anorith, who had little opportunity to dodge and fot caught in it. The ball shook once, twice, a third time, and with a familiar click, the pokémon was caught.

The man picked up the poké ball, put it in the only remaining empty spot on his belt and said "You probably knew how to catch pokémon already, but it can't hurt to get a reminder. In any case, you'll want to bring a pokémon's HP down as far as you can before throwing the poké ball, this increases the chance the pokémon will be captured. Once they faint, you're out of luck, though." He reached into his bag and received three identical grey discs; TMs. "You should take this. It's the move Scizor just used. It's not very strong, but it won't ever knock out a pokémon. This makes it perfect for new trainers to help them catch pokémon." He handed everyone a copy of False Swipe and walked off. Without looking back, he waved and said "Hang in there, kids. You might make it big someday if you do." With this final message he left, soon disappearing out of sight.

Hiro closed his notebook (it seems he'd been taking notes during all this) and put the TM in his bag. He turned towards the girls and smiled. "Alright, that wasn't so bad. Let's go catch ourselves some pokémon, shall we? I do believe a saw a Buizel when we got past here this morning, and I've been itching to catch it since!"

---

Like a child, Hiro darted off towards the waterside, letting Petilil out of her poké ball in case a wild pokémon attacked. Kind of lost about how he should get the Buizel's attention, Hiro scolded himself. With no better option in mind, hiro simply took off his boots, rolled up his pants and walked into the sea until most of his lower legs were submerged. He tossed a few pebbles he'd picked up earlier at some places, looking for a response. Eventually he saw something move underwater and tossed a pebble at it. The creature nimbly dodged the projectile and maneuvered towards Hiro. Seemingly he'd get his battle after all!

Hiro sent forth his Petilil and commanded "Petilil, use Absorb!" The other pokémon was faster however, and used Sonicboom! A small shockwave hit Petilil, and she seemed hurt, as if she were holding on by the skin of her (metaphorical) teeth. To launch this attack, the pokémon had launched from the water, where it was revealed to be the Buizel Hiro was looking for, score! Petilil's pain was swiftly eased after she hit Absorb, but clearly she couldn't take another hit like that. Praying to whatever gods there were, Hiro threw his poké ball. It hit the Buizel and floated atop the water. It turned around a few times before a wave struck it towards Hiro and it resounded with a reassuring click. Buizel had been caught! With his new partner, Hiro returned to the beach (and his boots), deciding to check how his companions were doing.

"An' what exactly did'ja bring us here for?" Marlene questioned, though, instead of getting an answer, she got a lesson; A lesson on how to catch Pokemon! It wasn't anything that wasn't obvious, truly, but Marlene had never done it herself before; So witnessing it live was good for her. She watched as the man's awesome Pokemon fiddled around with the wild Pokemon, fascinated that such a big, awesome Pokemon existed... What'd he call it? She'd gotten so caught up in the moment, she already forgot. Oh well, she'd find one someday! So. Cool.

As the man caught the Pokemon, Marlene listened to him intently. Accepting the odd disc given to her. TM's; Technical Machines. She'd heard of them before; A lot of them were apparently made in her region in some labs, or something. In a manor...? The words were fuzzy, she was too distracted to think hard. Instead she just nodded in appreciation. "Well thank ya! Ya'll take care of yerself!" She shouted to the man, before slipping the TM into her bag. Maybe she'd use it at some point...? Could Mudbray even learn it? She figured it wasn't possible to know unless she tried...

But, she could do that later. For now, a search! The girl was intent on catching something. What, exactly, she wasn't sure. But coming up empty handed was not an option! "Yeehaw! Let's mosey!" She cheered, beginning to make her way out towards the water, curious as to what she could find. Before she went too far, she caught Hero's comment about some Pokemon he saw. She didn't even know what that was, but it sounded cool!

"Ah'm headin' further down! Catch ya'll in a bit!"

---

Splitting off from the group, Marlene found herself following the water for a bit; Not going in due to not spotting anything interesting. She wanted something tough, big, good in a fight! But... There seemed to be nothing but little fish around. Disappointing. She continued her search for awhile, walking on, and on... Eventually she got bored.

Approaching some rocks by the shore, Marlene sighed, plopping down next to them, leaning back against the rocks as she considered just stopping. It'd felt like forever already, and no cool Pokemon showed up! Ugh, forget it, she needed a break. Opening her bag momentarily, she reached in and pulled out some of the bread she'd brought along to sate her hunger. She sat it on the rock, for a moment, while she dug for a bottle of water.

Pulling out the water, she grinned. "Guess ah'll munch for a min--"

Hand reaching the rock, she reached around for a moment before turning her head, realizing it was gone.

"Tarnation! Where'd mah food go?!" She questioned, upset, until she noticed something scurrying towards the sea awkwardly; Some odd spider-like Pokemon that was green and black; It seemed to have a water bubble around it's head, as it waddled away.



Snapping her Pokeball off her belt, she held it out, shouting. "Let's gettum, Bri!"

In a bright white flash, her Mudbray appeared, momentarily studying the situation before noticing the pokemon beginning to scurry away. It didn't move, until Marlene shouted again, anyways. "It's gettin' away! Go after it!"

a slow trot quickly turned into a gallop as the mule charged forward, going after the Pokemon. It glanced back, before sweating in a panic, attempting to run away faster; It's four legs scurrying as fast as they could. Though, it wasn't fast enough, as the hulking little mule rammed into it, causing it to stumble over, into the sand.

"Use yer' hooves and trample 'em, but don't knock it out, Bri!"

Raising it's forehooves, Mudbray attempted to bring it's weight down onto the Pokemon, but it managed to pull it'self up onto it's legs and turn to face him, eyes squinting in annoyance. Face puffing up, it was quick to fire out a bunch of bubbles; Which popped in Mudbray's face, causing it to stagger back.

"Crap! Water moves!" Marlene gasped, before quickly taking action. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out an odd blue berry; From her time on the farm, she learned what many berries did; And this one apparently made the one who ate it more resistant to a water move when it hit!

She threw it, getting Bri's attention. "Eat that, boy!"

Neck twisting somewhat, the Mudbray caught the berry in it's mouth; Munching it down. Just in time, too; The enemy was preparing to fire more bubbles, and they needed to act on that! "Alright, Bri! Give 'em yer' magnitude attack!"

As she commanded, Mudbray lifted it's forehooves even higher than before; Slamming them down and causing the ground to shake. It was strong, too! Marlene almost toppled over, and the enemy actually did fall; The bubbles spurting out into the air, making a pretty sight in the sunlight. This time it was struggling to get up; A panicked look on it's face as it struggled, attempting to roll, only to stuff it's face in the sand, which soon became wet and sinky due to it spurting out water in it's panic.

"Yeah Mudbray, yeah! Now it's mah turn!" She spoke enthusiastically, pulling out a Pokeball; She chucked it, and within a moment it smacked into the opposing Pokemon; Absorbing it into the ball via some odd red light, before falling to the ground, shaking frantically.

Marlene stared, silently hoping she managed her first capture... The sound the Pokeballs made during these struggles made her paranoid... Get in there... She thought to herself, eyes focused on the ball.

Mable wandered off after the tutorial seeing Hiro sprint off. Mable was excited hoping that a squirtle might be in the river nearby. Mable traced a river between the ocean and forest staying on the beach as a shadow moved quickly racing towards Hiro. It stopped before getting to close doubling back towards Mable as she stepped in the river. When it doubled back Mable fell back out of the river the pokemon waiting just out of sight. The pokemon had a reddish hew to the top of it with a yellow dorsal fin. Mable knew as it turned away what it was that had been hurtling towards Hiro. Carvanha sat below the water staring up hungrily at the young trainer and her shinx.

Mable rolled to the left with her Shinx as Carvanha jumped out of the water biting through a rock near where they'd just been. Mable screamed half in fear "Shinx use Tackle" Shinx sprinted forward cutting itself on Carvanha's hard skin but knocking it into a nearby rock. The Savage pokemon roared angrily flying into a rage as Shinx tackled it again trying to avoid a direct hit. Shinx moved quickly Mable on the defensive with her as they rolled an dodged. The Carvanha was unfocused trying to attack whichever one was closest in its bite attack. A second hit against its rough skin had Shinx panting. Carvanha followed through using rage on shinx to knock the small pokemon back at Mable. The Carvanha was winded panting covered in pebbles and marks from the tackles slowing slightly as it charged Mable. Mable half out of despiration and half out of respect threw her pokeball at Carvanha ready to run if it failed.

Marlene's poké ball, despite being so unnerving to her, proved succesful in containing the Dewpider!
Mable's poké ball hit it's mark and was succesful in capturing the Carvanha!

---

after approximately 45 minutes of scouring the beach for Pokémon, the group had managed to capture some water-type pokémon for theselves. Hiro, who finished capturing his pokémon the soonest, made his way over to Mable, just in time to see her attacked by a Carvanha. He rushed over to her side (Carvanhas are scary mofos) and once more, he was just in time. Just in time to see her succesfully capture the Carvanha, that is. "Congratulations on catching that Carvanha! You did really well."" Hiro praised her, glad to see her unharmed. He scanned the beach to see if he could find Marlene. It turned out; he could. She seemed to pick something up, had she perhaps found a nice item? Or maybe she'd captured herself a Pokémon? All kinds of possibilities came to Hiro's mind, only good things, though.

"Mable, wanna check on Marlene? or would you rather keep looking for a while." Hiro waited for her answer and then headed off to Marlene, curious as to how she'd done. Before he really reached Marlene, but what he deemed to be 'shouting distance' Hiro waved at Marlene and yelled. "How'd it go? Snatch something good? Between questions he kept walking towards Marlene, looking to close the distance so he could stop shouting. Once the gap was closed, he asked Marlene almost a similar question to the one he'd asked Mable. "Do you want to keep hunting for a while, or should we return to Dredear town?"

"Gahh! That bug took mah bread with it!" Marlene cried, running over and picking up the Pokeball, shaking it momentarily out of frustration. She snapped out of it as she heard Hero, turning her head to look at the approaching young man. Lifting up the Poke Ball victoriously, she declared; "Yeah!"

Returning Mudbray to his Pokeball, she turned to face Hero once he got close, blinking at his question. "Ah think goin' on back t' town would be a good idea. Need ta go heal these little critters!" As she spoke, the Pokeball in her hand burst open; In a white flash, Dewpider appeared, before rubbing up against Marlene's leg, getting her pants all wet due to the water bubble constantly around his head. "Aw, c'mon, quit that!" She demanded, attempting to back away, only to stumble over, landing on her backside. She grumbled as the Dewpider approached, and decided to reach out a hand; Sticking it through the mildly warm water bubble to scratch the Pokemon's head.

"Pretty cool, ain't he? Ah got no idea what it is, but he's unique lookin'!" She seemed proud of her first catch, though if that was clouding her judgement on it or not, nobody could be certain. She laughed a little as the Dewpider spat bubbles out, letting them float up and shine in the sunlight. What a neat little trick.

Mable looked up to hiro panting heavily not responding still a little shell shocked imagining the pokemon catching hiro from behind. Mable returned Shinx to it's ball proudly. "You did a great job Shinx sleep up." It had been a close call and Mable felt the ball on her hip twitch gently. The Carvanha would need a firm hand to reign in that temper. Mable nearly laughed at the unharmed remark "Thanks and your right, I guess I didn't get my arm bitten off at least."

"I think I'll head to the infirmary before I try anything else. My Shinx is tough, but that fight was brutal for her." Mable happily followed with Hiro to Marlene admiring the Dewpider ""Wow, It is really cool and you used your bread as bait? That was genius." Mable smiled good naturally helping Marlene to her feet. "I agree it's probably best if we all heal up, maybe next we can go into the forest like you wanted."

Back in town, something odd is brought to your attention. You enter the infirmary, but behind the counter is no nurse Joy...they're not even female! Not only that, when you ask the doctor to heal your pokémon, he refuses! He explains he isn't allowed to treat unregistered trainers or their pokémon. Anyone would understand this simple, yet disturbing message; You cannot heal.

---

As if by God's goodwill, a strong-looking man walks in and tells the doctor to treat the group's pokémon, anyway. The doctor hestitates a moment before obliging. While the pokémon were being treated, the man adressed the group and laughed. "You aren't very lucky, are you? Worry not, this problem seems bigger than it really is. You'll just need to register yourselves as official trainers, back at 'the Capital'." He'd almost gotten a serious expression at the end of the sentence, until he burst out in heart laughter again. "Where are my manners? M'name's Imamu, I make sure things don't go haywire in this place. Ahem, I'll get to the point. To reach 'the Capital' you simply head in north-north-west direction until you reach it. You'll be unable to use the infirmary until you're registered trainers, though."

Not too long after, the doctor returned the pokémon, all as healthy as they could be. Imamu, the Ramotse, gave the group directions and sent them off to 'the capital'. About half a minute after the group left, Imamu came rushing out of the infirmary, catching up a surprising speed. "One final thing, I was supposed to give you this--" Imamu panted, handing over 3 rolls of paper. "These- *Huff* -are wonder maps.- *Groan* -You can use them to keep track of your location as well as destination, but only places you've been to before. I've already marked 'the capital' on this map, good luck!"

---

Opening his map as soon as the group was out out of town, Hiro was surprised to see it actually did work as Imamu'd explained. As they walked on, tiny bits of the map were revealed. With a chuckle of bitter irony, Hior said "Well, here we are, the forest. Let's quickly get to the capital. The sooner we're done witht this, the better."

Hands slamming onto the counter inside the infirmary, Marlene was, needless to say, pissed. "The hell?! Ah could understand payin', or somethin', but ah can't just let mah pokemon wander about like this! If ya don't, ah'm gonna--!!" She managed to stop, as a man came into the infirmary and told them to heal their Pokemon anyways. She'd call it a job well done, but they seemed uncertain of denying that guy's words, so she figured she actually had nothing to do with it. As she turned, she could tell her words and actions had gone noticed, a stern eye coming her way, and caused sweat to slowly slide down her forehead due to being nervous.

"'The Capital'?" She repeated, listening intently. Sounded like a trip they needed to make; If not only for her sake, for everyone's. Not being able to heal up was a bummer; But if they really needed to, they could just rest normally. But what if one of their Pokemon became poisoned...? Oh, god. She had to think of a solution before it was too late on that front. She thought of one, but noted she couldn't do anything until they reached the forest. Nodding at the directions, she figured now was better than never to get going; This was important for her, and the others, too. This needed to be sorted out quickly.

Getting her Pokemon back, she nodded at the man, Imamu, appreciating his help. "Thank ya kindly! Ah'll be headin' there now... Ya'll are too?" After their leave was confirmed, Marlene kept in pace with the others as they began to set out. But paused as she heard Imamu catching up to them. Accepting the paper, she stared at it. A map that filled itself in? What the heck? Well, whatever. "Thanks! Take care of yer'self!" She said happily to the man, before finally taking leave with Mable and Hero. Noting the Capital was marked on her map, she felt it was strange. Couldn't they have just gotten normal maps? It'd make figuring out where to go much easier.

This had some charm, though. Fun charm.

---

"That's true. But.." Marlene trailed off momentarily, before continuing with her concerns. "There's plenty'a'pokemon in the woods that could poison us or somethin'... It'd be wise if ya'll stayed on t' road; Ah'll cut off fer' a bit and find some berries." Smiling at the two, she assured, "No worries! Ah'll be fine--"



"Don't bother answering that, loves! I overheard everything at the infirmary! You're heading for the capital, right?" The young man had a huge grin on his face, a walking stick he clearly didn't need tapping on the ground as he observed the group.

"Uh... Who are you?" Marlene questioned, blinking.

Actually looking momentarily insulted, he regained himself. "Dearest me! You don't know an outstanding legendary superstar when he stands before you, for shame! With a swing of his hips, a tilt of his sleek black walking stick, and a hand raised into the air, the man laughed a haughty laugh that could tick off just about anyone. "I'm a star! Quite a popular one back in Kalos, but my movies have been seen across the seas! Surely you've heard of my work, my famous romance, "Piplup In Love"?! I played the charming teacher to the young Pokemon, teaching her how to finally come into contact and gain the affection of her true love, Scraggy!!"

"Ah don't have time for this, Ah'm out." Marlene grumbled, wandering off into the woods in search of berries.

"If my name didn't come to you already, it's Perdy. Perdy Babea; The most fabulous man to grace this earth! I couldn't help but notice that you were trainers, and as I'm here, learning the hardships of a trainer for my next acting role, a battle is simply a must!" He seems to specifically eye Mable, a sly look on his face. "I couldn't ask for a better battle than against a beautiful woman like yourself!"

Noting that all of them weren't able to heal back at the infirmary, he added in a tidbit to assure them it'd be fine. "Don't fret about our Pokemon being unable to be healed. As a superstar, I have a lot of money. I'll heal your Pokemon afterwards as appreciation for you gracing me with your time♥! So what do you say?"

Mable was having a frustrating day she thought as the infirmary tried to refuse to heal her pokemon. Mable was a professor's assistant, but that meant nothing to the clerk. Mable was overjoyed when the mayor healed her pokemon and gave her a map. It was finally looking up for her a warm smile across her lips. Mable could nearly taste the forest air hoping to find apricorns and a few pokemon. Instead she found what appeared to be a man coated in pink moss propositioning her friends for a battle. Mable shrugged barely listening until the man mentioned convincing a piplup to try to fall in love with a scraggy.

Mable shook with fury "How dare you convince two pokemon to fall in love only for there hearts to break when they realize they can't breed. You ruined an innocent Piplup's life! I'll never forgive you! Go Shinx"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBodCoVRAGM

@Masterkeun

"D-Don't bring reality into fiction! That's unswell!" Perdy stammered, somewhat scared, before pulling a Pokeball from his jacket. "My lovely little Pokemon will show you! Vanillite, go!"

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-556473325

As the battle began, Mable's rage proved to aid her in battle; Her tactical use of Shinx's double kick instantly pummeling Perdy's first Pokemon into the ground, causing him to squeal in fear. "Nilly, Baby, no! Return to daddy!" He cried, tears forming under his glasses as he gritted his teeth, pulling out another Pokeball. "You might've handled him, darling, but can you handle this stunner?! Smoochie, show them who's boss!"

While it was a struggle, Perdy's Smoochum managed to come out on top against Mable's Shinx with it's surprisingly physical strength; But Carvanha soon came in and cleaned up, leaving Perdy out of usable Pokemon as he ran forward and picked up his little fainted Smoochum, sobbing; "Smoochie, oh, my little Smoochie! Are you alright?! D-Daddy will take care of you! Don't worry!"

Glaring at Mable, the victor, Perdy reluctantly handed her two items. Two bottles of medicine. "I cannot believe you managed to beat me without either of your Pokemon fainting! Benefits me though, as I can keep this wonderful Revive item for me~ These potions will do you just fine."

Smiling, Perdy bowed politely, the Smoochum still in one of his arms. "It was a good fight! I think I learned something from this... But, now that we're through, I must be off! A superstar doesn't wait, he goes and snatches his desires! And my newest desire... Is to be strong enough to defeat you, love!" He seemed enthusiastic, at least. He ran ahead, his haughty laugh echoing in their ears. "We WILL meet again!!"

And with that, he was gone. As quick as he appeared, though with his promises met. The distraction had been enough for Marlene to wander deeper into the woods without anyone truly knowing where she was.

That could be troublesome if they were to try and regroup... The trio turned duo would simply have to hope Marlene would find them later. As wandering through the trees was probably more dangerous of a task than they would like to take part in.

As the stranger approached the group, Hiro was flabbergasted by the walking sparkle. Who? Hiro's inner question was soon answered by the man(?) saying he was some sort of actor. Riiiiiiight... Mable acknowledging the man didn't exactly help either, as soon the two were engaged in battle. And did she really just get mad at him for a movie? Hiro was sort of glad he didn't fight the stranger, though. His team wouldn't hold themselves very well against Ice-types, maybe if Buizel could defeat the man on his own, but that seemed unlikely. Hiro sighed in relief as the battle ended, finally they could leave this looney behind, none too soon too.

"Alright, with that out of the way...Let's keep going, girls." Hiro smiled and turned to Mable. Realizing Marlene had disappeared Hiro's smile quickly ran away from his face. "Mable, do you know where Marlene went?" Upon hearing negative, Hiro called for her. "Shit! MARLENE! Where are you?" Sending out his Buizel, Hiro dashed off into the forest. "Quickly, Mable! We need to look for her!" Sending his buizel forward to help look for Marlene, he turned around for a moment to see if Mable could keep up. He'd run off rather suddenly, despite having stated his intentions. If Mable wasn't keeping up, that'd be another problem he'd rather not deal with. Either which way, Hiro kept running, if he turned back now he'd never catch up to Marlene. With twilight settling in, he'd better find her fast, or this could be a rough night.

The night wouldn't be the only rough thing however, as his search also soon hit a rough patch. Buizel had run into a weedle, while not the biggest of threats, Weedle could still leave a nasty pokémon that he had no way of dealing with right now. Luckily, the weedle was dispatched in a single Sonic Boom, and Buizel quickly rushed forward again. Before a lot of distance could be covered however, Hiro ran into another pokémon, quite literally. While Buizel had shot straight past it, hiro had tripped over a small, out-of-place bonsai tree, which got up and was revealed to be a Bonsly. Hiro ordered Buizel to turn around and use Sonic Boom. The attack hit Bonsly, but didn't manage to defeat it just yet. Instead it just left the pokémon tearing up. Bonsly didn't start crying before using Copycat, hitting Buizel and leaving it with a measly 2 HP. Hiro would've told Buizel to attack again, but something in him decided to catch the Pokémon instead. Hiro hurled a poké ball at it and Bonsly tried to run from the projectile coming his way, but his speed was inedequate to dodge the poké ball thrown from so close. The pokéball shook thrice, and with an affirmative click, Bonsly was caught!

Hiro was happy to have a third pokémon, but had little time to celebrate, as he once more returned to looking for Marlene.

---

Level progress:
Shinx -> Lv7

Mable could hear the fear in Hiro's voice as he ran foward away from her into the sunset. The dark would be dangerous, before Mable could ask what the plan was Hiro vanished into the woods ahead of her. It was just Mable alone in the road now. There were wild pokemon in the field and her friends were lost. It would be smart for Mable wait near the road. If she lit a fire maybe her friends could find their ways back. Mable got to work gathering some wood and setting up her tent near where the two still had fresh tracks. When she did a small pokemon floated down for warmth. Mable was happily impressed with the tiny fletchling perched on her tent.

Mable was hopeful sending out Shinx whispering "Be careful shinx we want to catch it while it's still strong it may be able to track our friends in the morning" Mable beamed having Shinx tackle the small bird. Fletchling was hit circling back to peck shinx. Shinx took it easily the peck not seeming effective as it launched a second tackle. When Fledltchling hit the ground Mable smiled gently hoping the twitching bird would be strong enough to fly as she tossed her pokeball. "please arcues for my friends" Mable waited with hopeful breath as the ball glowed red

Marlene had traveled deep into the forest. She figured the farther she went off the path most walked, the easier finding natural resources would be. She hadn't found anything yet, however, much to her dismay; No pecha, oran, or any type of berry. It was disappointing. She eventually stopped, breathing a little heavy as she had paced herself pretty poorly; That guy had been annoying and it took what felt like forever for her to be out of earshot. She had moved quick, not truly thinking as she shuffled between the trees, searching for any supplies that'd help on the way to the Capital.

Stopping and leaning against a tree, she swore under her breath as she wiped sweat off her forehead; Noting it was pretty stuffy in these woods. "This sucks..." She grumbled, before lifting her head and glancing about. It had gotten pretty dark; It was a bit harder to see, and as she looked around in a slow spinning motion, she became confused. Where had she came from? Everything was trees now; She couldn't even see her tracks in the dirt to make certain anymore.

"Wha--" Marlene grew quiet, hearing rustling. The bushes shook, to her left. The tree branches shambled to her right. Slowly, she began to back away, uncertainty filling her mind. Unclicking a ball from her belt, she released her Mudbray, which let out a confused cry as it looked around. She clicked her tongue, getting his attention. "C'mon, boy. Keep up... Dangerous round' here."

The two walked along, the young woman jumping at most things; Expecting a Pokemon at any moment. Thankfully, nothing. They were safe, it seemed. Though... Marlene had no idea where they currently were. She stopped, pulling out the Wonder Map, looking at it. Judging by how the map was revealed, she'd been going the wrong way for awhile. She had completely avoided the north; And that was no good. But thanks to the map, she'd be able to find her way.

She studied it, not paying enough attention. A small Pokemon crawled up to her, observing her leg. It wiggled, it's stinger apparent to anyone who looked. Her Mudbray glanced downward and noticed, letting out a loud cry with a stamp of it's hooves; Startling the small Pokemon and Marlene; But the girl hadn't been as startled by his noise as she had been by the sharp pain in her leg; She looked down, noticing a damn Weedle. It had... Strung her?

It must've gotten startled. Shit, this wasn't good.

"G-Get lost!" She yelled, kicking the worm; It was sent flying, slamming against a nearby tree. But that had caused the stinger to be removed, and the blood began to gush out without anything to hold it in. She sharply inhaled in response, the pain obvious as she limped over to a tree, falling down onto her stomach. A burning pain in her leg; That's all she felt. It was a Pokemon's poison; The damn thing had POISONED her! She'd die!

"Bri-- Aaaahhh, god! God... God, god, god... Ah need somethin' t' fight the poison. Ah need to wrap this up--" She pulled herself up, sitting against a tree. she cried out as she was forced to use her leg to push herself a bit.

She unclicked the other ball on her belt. Mudbray's was somewhere, she dropped it; Hell if she really knew. But she soon released Dewpider. "H-Hey, buddy... F-Find me a pecha berry with that sense for food you have!" She pleaded, the Dewpider looking concerned for her, but it nodded, quickly scurrying off. Mudbray walked over and laid by her side, loyally. He simply watched as she removed her bag, slamming it onto the ground.

"Now where is that damn shirt..." She spoke with urgency, and annoyance. She was not dying to some weedle; Though the burning was starting to go up her leg. This crap began to spread fast once it got in your system; This was crazy...

And there was nobody within distance that she could even hear to call to help her. She simply put her faith in Dewpider.

"Ah hope the others are alright..."

Marble's prayers were answered as the poké ball clicked in success. Fletchling was caught!

---

Things did not continue to look so well for Mable however, as she'd find out she had nothing to start the fire with. Luckily, no pokémon seemed to approach her on the road, for now, she was completely safe, and...completely alone.

---

Hiro wasn't doing much better on his end...until he ran into a different section of the forest, marked with berries. All kinds of berry trees stood here. Chesto berries, Oran berries, Cheris berries, Pecha berries and several other types of berries, though he didn't recognize those. He was about to step away from the tree he'd been leaning against, but was surprised by a less-than-pleasant encounter. A little ways ahead of him, stood a large Bewear, quite clearly, quite a bit too strong. Hiro distanced himself as he began to plan. Surely he'd have to take this opportunity... Berries could heal his pokémon, even if the infirmary couldn't. Waiting for darkness to fall, with all his pokémon out of their balls to guard him, he set his plan in motion.

Darkness fell and he sent Buizel out to grab an Oran berry. Buizel rushed back and forth and soon retured with 1 Oran berry. Hiro monitored the Bewear as it gleefully ate some berries from a different tree, making sure it was distracted before sending buizel out again. This went relatively well and soon the entire Oran berry tree had been plucked, rewarding Hiro with 9 Oran berries. After using 4 of these to heal his Bonsly and his Buizel, Hiro decided he could probably use some of the other berries as well. This too went fairly well, until after retrieving 1 Cheri berry, 1 Chesto berry and 1 Pecha berry, a Stufful cought wind of Buizel. Noticing this, Hiro returned Bonsly and Petilil to their poké balls and ran after Buizel as it shot passed him. Hiro was closely followed by Teddiursa, Teddiursa wassn't really that fast, but it was a lot better at maneuvering between the trees.

Leaving the Berry trees behing them, Hiro and Buizel turned around, it seemed Stufful wasn't going to give up. Turning around, Buizel immediately used Sonic Boom, though oddly, the Stufful didn't retaliate. Buizel used Sonic Boom again, but missed! The Stufful then unleashed Bide, knocking Buizel out in a single attack. Hiro sent out Bonsly, who was immediately greeted with Tackle, by using Copycat Bonsly responded in kind, and after a few rounds of this, Bonsly emerged victorious! With this victory, Hiro made his way further south, arriving back at where he entered the forest around midnight. As much as it pained him, there was nothing Hiro could do for Marlene, and looking for her at night wasn't an option with his Pokémon wounded.

---

Marlene was still not found by the others! She's on her own for now.

---

Level Progress:
Buizel -> Lv6
Bonsly -> Lv6

"Gaaaahhh!"

As time passed, the burning got worse. Her entire body was starting to feel hot; She could hardly see, the darkness making it too difficult to do so. Not to mention the poison had her to a point where it was difficult to keep her eyes open. She had managed to wrap her wound, though the shirt was now blood-soaked, along with her pants, at least around where the wound was. Sharp inhales of desperation kept her going; The urge to die filling her every time she let her breath out.

Mudbray rubbed against Marlene affectionately, seeming worried. She smiled at her partner, slowly lifting a hand and scratching his head. It was weak, and unsatisfying... But at least it was some affection for him. "It'll... Be okay. alright, pal...?" She spoke, uncertain of her words. Everything was becoming dark; She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before she just ended up dying. Though, fortunately enough, Dewpider came back in a frantic manner, spewing bubbles as it chucked the berry from it's mouth into Marlene's face; Making a thud before she grabbed it, ignoring the pain or just being too numb to actually feel it.

Looking down, she could faintly see the color. Pink... Yes! A pecha berry! They naturally fought of poison! If she ate it, she might just have a chance. Quickly, she tore into the berry; Savagely eating it our of desperation, ignoring it's strong taste. As she finished, she dropped the stem in her lap, leaning back against the tree, eyes wide. Reaching to her bag, she dug out a bottle of water, before unscrewing it and jamming it into her mouth; A satisfied groan escaping her as she washed the berry down and quenched her thirst.

"Aah... Ah think... Ah think Ah'm okay..." She muttered, the burning beginning to stop; At least it wasn't as severe as before. Weakly, she pulled herself up, using Mudbray as support. Knowing the mule's strength, she slowly climbed onto his back, figuring they needed to find somewhere to camp tonight. Though where, she wasn't sure...

weakly kicking his side, Mudbray began to mosey. Dewpider followed them, nervously keeping an eye out for threats, and food. As he had worked up an appetite after finding that berry and not eating it.

"w-we'll find somethin', ya'll. Let's just...Keep movin', fer' now. Until we find somethin that can eat us all..."

Mable smiled in the dark wanting to bond with pokemon while she waited. Mable smiled sending out fletchling first petting it's soft feathers. They were warm to the touch and relaxing as Mable spoke to it gently. The pokemon seemed weak and tired, but Mable tried to be supportive feeding her pokemon and eating her rations. Carvanha was the slowest to start to relax. Mable smiled coaxing it with some simple rations petting it's soft spot gently. Carvanha slowly shut it's eyes seeming relaxed.

Mable happily turned to shinx "You did an amazing job today." Hiro stumbled out of the forest near Mable. Mable smiled up happily waving "Hiro over here I have a camp set up where you can sleep" It wasn't much just some warm grass underneath a blanket and sticks, but it would hold a little heat and keep the wind off Hiro.

"Oh! Mable! Thank god, you're still here. I thought I'd lost you. I couldn't find Marlene though, we should probably get up early to search for her." Hiro let out a defeated sigh. He was fine with Marlene traveling on her own, but he would've liked a notice. For all he knows now she might be in a pinch. Worried, Hiro fell into a restless slumber.

---

The night treated Marlene well, most pokémon were asleep and the few that weren't usually kept watching from their trees. It was however very dark. So dark that it was hard to distinguish trees until you were 3 feet away from them. The foliage blocked out the light of the stars and moon. Despite this, light seemed to flicker in the distance, a faint glow emanating from beyond the trees.

---

End of Day 1

---

Hiro woke up early the next morning, he'd waken up several times that night and he still felt tired now. The sun was just rising, so Hiro decided he should start looking now the sun was coming out. He shook Mable to wake her up and said "Come on, get up. We could probably search more of the forest together." Hiro shifted his bag from his jacket to clean up his makeshift bed. He put on the jacket and with a large swing, he swung his backpack over his shoulder. Doing a routine check, he was relieved to find all 3 poké balls still on his belt. "Mable, could you inform Imamu? We need any help we could get. I'll head into the forest on my own in the meantime." Hiro was filled with determination. Today we'll find her for sure.

---

Level Progress:
Dewpider -> Lv6