[IC] Pokemon: The Spectre Conspiracy

[Fish of Oblivion]

As the little tadpole Pokemon reacted with annoyance to its actions, the Gastly just snickered with crooked delight, and as it went into some weird dance, it only snickered a little harder out of prolonged amusement. Either the fumes were playing havoc with its sensibilities or the Poliwag was annoyed at not being the center of attention over the human. Either way, the Gastly just snickered some more before looking up at its trainer.

Noticing his state, the Gastly stopped snickering for a second; the sounds of amusement quickly shifted into a groan, the crookedly delighted expression of the ghostly little glob of gas disappearing as it felt a twinge of pity for the human. It was happening again.
So, rising into the air, the Gastly let out a quick burst of foul-smelling gas to bring Charlie back to focus, before zooming right up to be on level with his head in a flash of sulphur as a long ectoplasmic tongue scraped across the boy's cheek.

Smelling the gas and feeling the slimy tongue leave a trail up his face, Charlie shuddered; but it was nothing new to him, and the minor sense of revulsion served to bring him back to focus.
His mind was still reeling a tad from what the girl had said to him before; but as she asked him another question (and tacked on another insult whilst she was at it), he only spared his partner a quick sideways glare (to which it responded with a grin) before gathering up his composure and replying with;

"I, uh- I was wondering if you, um- knewwhereaboutsintheforestwewere?", he started shakily, choosing to ignore the insult before continuing with a somewhat more confident, "I was looking for something- the Moss Rock!- and kind of got off the track."

Seeing Charlie restored to at least some semblance of conversational competence, the Gastly disappeared in another flash of sulphur- and within a few seconds, the hisses and snickers of the little ghost could be heard coming from just behind Bailey, Jess and Miu.

[Lugubrious]

Once she had delivered an appropriately withering glance to Miu for using her mistake to further torment the boy, Jess waited for him to respond. Ten seconds later, she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him. His eyes seemed blank, expression frozen into something between nervous and...well, stupid. This time, however, Jess managed to restrain herself from commenting until Charlie's Gastly started to move, sprinkling its trainer with gas and delivering a sloppy lick to its face. Jess watched it with interest; she had never seen a Pokemon like that before. She wondered if its lick was a sign of its affection; several of the Pokemon that frequented her parents' Day Care behaved in a similar way.

Finally, after a wet dollop to the face, Charlie seemed to recover. His glance at the Ghost-type that had revived him would have indicated to a more observant person that this wasn't an infrequent event, but Jess didn't notice. Listening to what he had to say concerned her more. "Moss Rock, huh? I've seen some mossy rocks, but you make it sound a lot more impressive than a planty pebble by the side of the path. Speaking of which, the main path through these woods is only a few dozen yards behind us. I saw a Pikachu and left the path to battle it.

Responding to the low chortles coming from the brush nearby, Belial hopped off of Jess's cap and fluttered down to ground level to find out what was making the noise. After some searching and sneaking while the others were talking, he uncovered Gastly, who was watching him with an unnerving grin on its face. Eager to prove he could still fight after being brought back from fainting, he let loose a little Supersonic at the ghost. The blast of sound was point-blank, so the odds were in favor of it hitting. Of course, if his goofing around didn't provoke the Gastly, there would be no battle, and the two might play instead; it all depended on whether or not the Gas Pokemon took offense.

[Fish of Oblivion]

"Well, kinda-" Charlie began as Jess asked him about his quarry, a reasonable deal of skepticism evident in her tone, "It's kind of this weird natural phenomenon- you know what Eevee are, right? Moss Rocks have this weird little thing- elements inside of them that cause them to evolve into specific Pokemon. Friend wanted me to collect a bit of the moss and, well, uh- here I am wandering around in this place, I guess."

The girl seemed nice enough, which was a reassuring enough contrast to the other girl in the group who he had interacted with; so, as she recounted her route into the forest to him, he nodded and pulled out his map, his eyes tracing up it as she spoke.

"Oh, looks like I'm down pretty far south..." He mumbled to himself, mentally cursing himself as he picked out his rough bearings on the map, before he lowered it to look at the girl and her friends, "I, uh- I really appreciate the help and everything, but would you mind if I- ummm... tagged along with you guys until we reach Ouvert Way? I promise I won't be a bother, it's just... kind of a lot further south than I thought I was and I'm low on repels."

The Gastly watched the little Zubat swoop down towards it as it hissed and cackled, and as it was noticed by the bat, it shot the fellow poison type a grin.
And got a Supersonic to the face in turn.

With no real room to dodge the blast of sound, the ghost took the attack straight to the face; and shuddering, it hissed in confusion as its pupils began to spin around and around in delirium, moving faster and faster, from regular to erratic as they went; before the Gastly shook its head and stared forwards, directly at Belial.

For about ten seconds, the Gastly just stared at the Zubat, an extremely ambiguous expression upon its face,

And then the Ghost just broke into a high-pitched cackle, seemingly not even bothered by the Zubat's attack. If anything, it seemed to have been endeared to Belial slightly; if the slight recedence of the grin into a less disturbing smile and the movement of the Ghost around the little bat, as if inspecting and sizing him up, were any indication.

[Lugubrious]

Sensing that Miu was about to deny Charlie's request, possibly with the addition of another cutting remark, Jess bulldozed right over her. "Sure thing! We're headed that way anyway. The Pokemon Professor herself has asked us to go to Snowbelle City." She turned back in the general direction of the pathway, though her eyes were still fixated on the boy's map, identifying familiar locations. For the moment, it seemed she had forgotten all about her Zubat in the excitement of meeting and dealing with this new person. She turned in such a way that she was between Miu and Charlie, and she motioned for him to walk with her. "Come on!"

Meanwhile, in the brush, Belial reacted to the cackle with a second of hesitation. He had been expecting anger, even a full-on battle. Instead, he found his potential aggression rebuffed by the Gastly's joviality. Once he had realized this, he perked up from a ready stance and breathed in deeply, getting a feel for the other Pokemon's powerful scent. He found the unmistakable, enjoyable aroma of a poison-type on his tongue, which settled the matter. With a happy squeak he executed a series of little flapping jumps, moving around the ghost and taking in his scent as the Ghastly examined him.

The two might have commenced playing around had both their trainers not started moving away together. Not wanting to be separated from his partner, Belial fluttered across the loamy soil until he was free of any vegetation and then took to the air in a flurry of frantically beating wings. In no time at all he was darting through the still forest air to land on his trainer's shoulder. No doubt the Gastly would be doing something similar.

[RBYDark]

Miu stared at the Gastly. What was wrong with this pokemon? She knew a few things about good pokemon, and they never actually went after their own trainers (other people, sure, but not their trainers). Then again, the boy seemed fine. Actually even answered Jess. His Gastly vanished shortly thereafter - seemed to disappoint Bailey. Something about the whole thing apparently had her utmost attention. Miu shrugged it off. So maybe Bailey was a Gastly fan. Her suspicions seemed confirmed when a faint smile appeared at the sound of the unknown hissing and snickering. Duskull had turned and apparently could see the fellow Ghost-type. Miu assumed anyways - he was looking at something behind the group, and Miu didn’t feel like turning around in case the Gastly thought she’d make a good target.

Jess and the guy - still no name - were talking about... Moss Rock? It was mentioned in classes once, about Leafeon, but that was about it, and she’d never felt the desire to look into it further. Leafeon wasn’t high on her list of ‘good pokemon’. Well, it didn’t seem to be here at any rate, and she made no effort to suppress a giggle at his expense.

Bailey wasn’t listening at all - she was watching Jess’ Zubat and the boy’s Gastly play together. How did he get it, she wondered - a family companion, maybe? It was a little young but sometimes they laid eggs. She was tempted to ask if he’d join their quest - the more Ghost-types around, the better - but knowing her luck, he had somewhere else he needed to be. It was then that she noticed the rest of the group moving on without her. “Hey!” Not intended to stop them - more a sudden exclamation of surprise. She dashed after them, Zubat zooming past her to land on Jess’ shoulder. She managed to catch up to Miu, who was holding her Poliwag - the poor thing was upside down, though the pokemon seemed to be smiling. Duskull’s eye rolled in its socket as he tilted his head. The Poliwag was strange, that much was clear, though it was hard to tell if Miu noticed or not.

“Um, Miu?” Bailey kept her voice low, afraid Jess and the boy would overhear. “What’s he looking for?” Miu scoffed.

“Seriously? You know, deaf trainers don’t get far.” Bailey was about to point out she wasn’t deaf, but Miu kept going. “He’s running around like an idiot looking for a Moss Rock. Something in the forest - for Leafeon.” Poliwag chirped in agreement. “She didn’t ask you, Mago-” The Poliwag interrupted with a raspberry. So Miu actually nicknamed her partner? Bailey wondered what she could call Duskull before something clicked in her mind. She didn’t know if it was correct, but it wouldn’t hurt to mention, right?

With a muttered ‘excuse me’, she nudged past Miu towards the boy (ignoring the shout of annoyance), pulling out B’s map. “So, Moss Rock’s in a forest?” That sounded better in her head. Duskull however nodded, urging her on. “Well, just that there’s another forest - it’s after Snowbelle City.” She gestured to the city’s location on her map. “Winding Woods? We’ll be going through there too for the professor. So I guess if you can’t find it here, it might be there?”

[Fish of Oblivion]

Seeing Jess put herself between himself and the other girl and then invite him to join them until they got out of the forest, Charlie quickly spared the two other girls in the group a slight, nervous glance before nodding and following Jess as she went. He closed up his map and tucked it back into his pocket, making a mental note to have a word with Jean when he got back to Lumiose; Santalune Forest wasn’t exactly the most dangerous place in the world, but getting stuck for hours in a place filled with wild Pokemon wasn’t exactly that appealing an idea to him when that stupid rock wasn’t even here in the first place. The stupid jerk.

However, as he mentally cursed his airheaded Kalosian friend, Jess spoke up again; mentioning something about a Pokemon Professor and being asked to go to Snowbelle; instantly, the gears in Charlie’s head started to crank and turn.
“Pokemon Professor… You mean Professor Apple, right?” Charlie began, at first sounding somewhat unsure but then rising up into something of an amazed, impressed tone; “You’re actually working for an actual researcher? Do you have a Pokedex?”

Meanwhile, the Gastly watched gleefully as the Zubat began to flutter and dance around it, and followed quickly on his trail as he returned to the group and his trainer; from what the Gastly could see, its trainer seemed to have fallen in with them after his initial little mishap.

One quick scan over the group later, and Gastly disappeared in a puff of smoke; barely even a second later, it appeared behind Bailey and Miu as they trailed behind Charlie and Jess, observing the two as they walked along with their Pokemon. If the Poliwag’s antics towards her trainer were any indication, the little tadpole seemed to be a fellow troublemaker; albeit one with a somewhat faulty sense of humour if her reaction to itself earlier served as indication of anything. The Duskull, meanwhile, was a harder nut to crack; the other Ghost-type just seemed to glide along quietly, only sparing a sideways glance to the Poliwag’s antics as it went. The Gastly would check in on him later, if anything.

It would see about the humans later; for now, it just disappeared in another silent puff of smoke as he re-appeared nearby to Charlie and Jess, hissing to let its trainer know he was there.

“Oh, there you are, Phil,” Charlie said to the little ball of gas as he heard it and turned around to look at the Gastly, “Was wondering where you went off to, buddy.”

Seeing the Gastly just grin at him, Charlie shook his head and turned back to Jess; unsure whether she’d processed his question, he opened his mouth to ask again-

Before he was cut off by a sudden commotion from behind him. He turned, and saw the blue-haired girl he’d approached earlier barge her way over towards him.
He froze slightly- the way she said ‘excuse me’ to him suggested to him in his state of nervousness that she had some kind of issue with him like that other girl had seemed to- but as she actually started to speak properly, he relaxed and let the tension drain out of him.

“Well, just that there’s another forest - it’s after Snowbelle City.” The girl said, as she pointed to a location on her map; and Charlie noted with a sense of dawning realization that she was pointing towards a patch of green just a few miles distance along the eastern road leading out of Santalune and down to the next town over that way, “Winding Woods? We’ll be going through there too for the professor. So I guess if you can’t find it here, it might be there?”

Again, Charlie froze. Paused. Contemplated.
And then he groaned in realization. Jean hadn’t been lying; the stupid jerk had just given him some very unspecific directions.

“... Alright yeah, I see what I did,” he said, groaning and banging his fist lightly against his forehead in frustration, before thinking over the girl’s implied offer; “... I guess I could? I mean, if you, uh- don’t mind and all. Gotta call home, make sure no-one’s wondering where I am, but- yeah, thanks,” He replied to the girl, seemingly flustered and a fair bit sheepish over his own mistake as he gave his somewhat muddled answer.

[Lugubrious]

"Phil, huh? Maybe I was a bit...excessive with my partners name. Nah, it suits him completely! Yours does too. Seems like a jolly little fella."

Jess watched the Gastly and her own Zubat play around as their trainers walked. Bailey was speaking, but Jess was more absorbed in the joyful Pokemon. She figured that the purple-haired girl would only be relaying information that Professor Apple had already given her, at any rate, and that didn't need to be listened to again. Thus, Jess remained with her eyes fixed on the Pokemon -mercifully not running into any snaring plants during this time- until forward progress stopped as Charlie did. Curious as to the cause of the interruption, Jess diverted herself from Belial's entertaining loop-de-loops and glanced at Charlie. She found him stock-still, with the same look of consternation that he had worn a few minutes ago plastered on his face. Instantly, the girl's energy was replaced with irritation. The notion of shoving him to knock him out of it popped into her mind and, without hesitation, she prepared to do exactly that.

Before she got the chance, however, Charlie regained his normal composure on his own. Jess halted with her arms halfway-extended, and quickly crossed them to hear whatever he had come up with in his miniature trance. "Sure, go ahead and call whoever. We can't wait long though."

[RBYDark]

“He can take as long as he wants.” Miu finally piped up, catching up with the others since Charlie’s abrupt stop. “He just shouldn’t be too surprised if we leave him.” Mago squeaked, either in agreement or finding some humor in the situation. The forest was still fairly thick, but she didn’t think it’d take much longer to reach Ouvert Way. She had already made the trek earlier today. In fact, they could probably make it to Snowbelle City before nightfall if they kept moving. If his phone call ran long, well, Miu wasn’t going to suggest hanging around. She pushed between Charlie and Bailey before the latter could respond.

Charlie took a slight step back as Miu pushed herself between himself and the other girl; aside from anything, he remembered what the girl had said to him earlier and didn’t particularly want to risk another snipe from her. However, any further regression from him was stifled by the fact that the two other girls seemed willing to invite him along until they reached Snowbelle; even the girl in front of him seemed to be apathetic at worst to the idea, meaning he’d just have to keep out of her way. Wouldn’t be too difficult, at least for him.

“Alright, uh- I’ll call home soon as we get to the Santalune Pokemon Center, okay? Need to sort a few things out and, well- got another Pokemon besides Phil here that needs some attention.”

Hearing Charlie mentioned him, the Gastly just hissed and looked around the group again, hearing the loud, sharp squeak from the Poliwag he’d spooked earlier.
Quick as a flash, Phil swooped down from his position floating around Charlie and lowered himself to the base of the forest floor; eyeballing the little tadpole Pokemon quietly, and also sneaking a quick glance towards the Duskull also floating upon the floor of the forest.

Again, Bailey seemed to perk up at the mention of another pokemon - Miu guessed she was hoping for another Ghost-type. She picked up her pace, not quite quick enough to avoid hearing Bailey ask “You have another? When did you catch it?”, but quick enough that any other replies were just muffled sounds. The trees were thinning around her, with more light seeping through the canopy of Santalune Forest. Not far now, though it seemed the relatively large group had been keeping most pokemon away.

It took her a minute to realize the possible issue with this mere seconds before the Caterpie dropped onto her shoulder.

Of course, if they caught up, she’d deny the shriek had been hers, no matter how implausible that denial would be. The Caterpie hit the ground, and Miu dropped Mago. She landed on her bottom, rolling back and forth slightly before looking up at her irritated trainer.

“Mago! Bubble!” The Poliwag tilted a bit - she was Mago? - before deciding that her trainer’s full attention was a good thing. She jumped to her feet and shot a Bubble attack at the small bug pokemon. It wasn’t enough to knock it out, but Mago’s attack did push the Caterpie into the sunny path of Ouvert Way.

[Lugubrious]

Anger flashed across Jess's indignant face as bratty Miu shouldered her way between her and Charlie. A second later, she had calmed herself down by asserting mentally that the best way to beat this loser was to not give her the rise she needed. Jess was honestly surprised at how quickly the little bully's rudeness had caused her to see red; maybe that was to be expected from now on. She wondered if there was any sort of official process in making rivals, or it just happened naturally like this. In the time it took Jess to muse about this, Miu was already gone, forging on ahead alone. Being alone suited her.

Jess was preparing to resume the conversation where she left off when a noise rang out from the path ahead, around a forested curve. Though some distance separated the source of the noise and Jess, it was easy enough to tell that it was a surprised scream. Guessing who it was, Jess couldn't help but snicker at the image of Miu cowering before some Pokemon or another.

"'Scuse me. I've gotta see this." Eager to see the scene she pictured come to life, Jess made haste around the bend. As such she wasn't prepared when the morning sunlight pouring through Santalune Forest's edge temporarily blinded her. It didn't take her long to recover and notice that the tree line ended here, and a couple hundred feet away she glimpsed the roof of a building poking above a few large bushes. Between her and Santalune Town, however, was her newly-anointed rival and her Poliwag. When she caught up with Miu, it took her a moment to find exactly what had startled her so. After several seconds, Jess traced Mago's life of fire to a tiny bug Pokemon, barely visible in the grass. All she could do was briefly exchange a glance with Belial (more of an emotion, really; Zubats, of course, lacked eyes) before she burst out into raucous laughter.

"Good Arceus, what have you gotten yourself into!? You'd better run now 'fore it starts inching toward you!"

[RBYDark]

Bailey winced at the scream before looking at Charlie, thoughts of his other pokemon forgotten. Jess hadn't seemed too concerned, admittedly, and Duskull looked more curious than worried. Maybe nothing was wrong, not if she was the only one thinking something bad could've happened. Bailey coughed and looked to Charlie. "I guess we should hurry then." As if to explain why, she held up the map one last time before folding it back up. Ouvert Way wouldn't be easy to get lost on, but after then the map would probably be important. Duskull nodded and flew ahead. Apparently, Bailey's words had been all the permission he needed. Her eyes widened. "Hey, not so fast!" She broke into a jog - trying to keep Duskull in her sights but not wanting to lose track of Charlie either.

Duskull naturally arrived at the scene first, in time to hear Jess mockingly telling Miu to run. The 12-year-old was bristling.

"Let's see YOU stay calm when that thing's on your face!" The Caterpie fired a String Shot at the Poliwag, getting her feet caught on the ground. "Ugh- Bubble again!" The Poliwag complied. Duskull settled against a tree trunk. The fight didn't last long - the Caterpie's instinct seemed to be to trap the Poliwag, and Miu just kept ordering the same attack. She was probably lucky that Bubble took so long to exhaust and it lasted longer than the Caterpie did. Miu groaned as she walked over to the Poliwag and pulled her free of the string-shot mess left over. "You're gonna learn how to dodge. End of story." The Poliwag chirped in response. Something else did too - a Pidgey emerging from the tall grasses to poke the Caterpie's unconscious body. Duskull saw how Miu's eyes widened. "Everyone shut up." She crept closer to the Pidgey, reaching for her bag; for nothing. The Pidgey saw her and took back off into the grasses.

"Get back here!" And Miu was after it. Duskull blinked and swooped over to Jess, as if to ask if they'd both seen that right. He could hear Bailey catching up; might as well wait a bit.

[Fish of Oblivion]

As Bailey asked him about his other Pokemon, Charlie paused for a brief moment; and taking in that, like Jess, she seemed friendly, he thought quickly and replied with-

“Oh, my other Pokemon? Uhhhh… It’s nothing particularly special, just a Scatterbug that jumped me a few minutes before I bumped into you guys, really. Don’t even know if I’m going to keep i-”

And then the relative quiet of the forest and the conversation was completely perforated by a sharp, shrill sound of fright.

As with Bailey, Charlie’s initial reaction to the shriek coming from the edge of the forest was to freeze and flinch; zoning out for a brief moment as his thoughts began to roll about his head in minor panic.
What the hell had happened to produce a noise like that?!?

Whatever it was, Charlie wouldn’t get the chance to dwell on any thoughts about it; he noticed Jess mumble something and move towards the source of the noise excitedly, and a moment later he was brought back to attention by Bailey addressing him again.

"I guess we should hurry then," She said to him, pointing out a few locations on the map before taking off after towards the sound of the shriek and her Duskull.

“... I guesso,” He said, quiet enough that only he would hear it, before following after the girls with Phil in pursuit.

Phil didn’t seem shocked or disturbed by the sudden sound; if anything, the little Ghost seemed as excited as Jess did at the shriek. Obviously, something FUN had just happened a short distance away, and he wanted in!

Anyway, within a minute, Charlie reached the source of the commotion, just a little shy of Bailey’s arrival; catching sight of a highly amused Jess, an equally amused Duskull and a very pissed-off Miu.
Who promptly yelled out in frustration and took into the forest again after what he could now make out to be a Pidgey attracted by a very unconscious Caterpie.

“... What the hell happened?” He asked aloud, his sheer curiosity and disbelief overtaking his nerves as he failed to piece together what could have happened to warrant a shriek that loud.

Phil, on the other hand, seemed to lose interest in whatever had happened as soon as he realized it was over; and with a sigh of disappointment, faded back into floating about, sneaking a couple of glances towards the other Ghost-type present as he did.

[Lugubrious]

Is that bird really going it eat it? Jess had never seen one Pokemon eat another before, but it did make sense, so she was both intrigued and horrified at the prospect. Before her question was answered, however, Miu apparently took an interest in the creature and chased it into the tall grass. It all happened so quickly; she could only shrug at the quizzical Duskull nearby, confused as it was.

Jess honestly didn't think that Phil had it in him to curse. Given his weak composition and reedy appearance, she had taken him to be the kind of boy who would admonish anyone of any age for exclaiming something as innocuous as 'crap'. She recovered from the slight surprise and started to explain to him.

"Well, Miu there," she indicated the tall grass, where the other girl's head could be seen bobbing amid the fronds, "was ambushed by that fearsome caterpillar thing. She beat it and the Bird Pokemon appeared,and I guess she wanted to catch it so she went after it." The urge to spite Miu by leaving her behind did not go unheeded, but, then again, Bailey wasn't here yet either. "Do you think we ought to wait for her? She knows where we're going; I'm sure she can catch up to us in Santalune City." Belial, silent throughout the ordeal so far, now chirped in agreement.

[RBYDark]

Duskull waved to Phil. Once Bailey caught up, he'd catch her up as best as he was able to. The whole story...well, it'd be very amusing to act out. Shortly after Jess posed her question, Bailey caught up. Probably a good thing, Duskull decided, as his curiosity over the Pidgey's fate had been winning out. He just wanted to know how it (Duskull was fairly sure it had been male, actually) would fare against the ill-tempered trainer and her lazy Poliwag.

Bailey bent over, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Miu was nowhere in sight, Jess looked amused, Charlie looked confused, there was an unconscious Caterpie... She stared at her Duskull. "Did I miss something?" Duskull cackled in reply as he flew around her in a wide circle. The chance he'd been waiting for, honestly.

"Skull!" Indicating to the Caterpie. Hitting a crumpled fist into an open palm. A loose 'v' made by his left hand. Flapping his arms like wings before pointing to the Caterpie again. Off to the side, making an angry growl and glaring. Back to the original spot, miming flying. Pursuit. And then Duskull awaited for Bailey's reaction. She stared quietly for several minutes before finally asking, "So, um, she chased what?" Well. At least some of it got through.

[Lugubrious]

Jess didn't wait for the Duskull to translate anything else for Bailey. "A bird Pokemon! Small, brown, don't know its name but off she went," she exclaimed hurriedly. It seemed that she had decided that Santalune City couldn't wait; after making sure that Belial was on her heels, Jess took off in the direction of the town in an ungainly sprint. "Catch up!"

She was out of breath when she arrived, but she was forced to hold it again in awe as she beheld the magnificent brazen statue at the settlement's center. Upon rushing toward it, she discovered the water within was as clear as crystal, and she splashed it on her face with both hands to help refresh herself. After doing so, and letting the invigorating droplets slide down and drip from her chin, she became aware of a chuckle from behind her. "First time in Santalune?" She heard, and she turned around to face the owner's voice.

The first thing she saw was a Pokemon that stunned her simply with its looks. It was a big one, with four legs and long arms with huge, nasty-looking claws. Its body was segmented into deep purple and lavender sections, but that made it look no less fearsome. Despite its appearance, the ferocious creature seemed at peace, looking right at her but making no move to attack. Jess wondered if the Pokemon was so powerful that it could talk to people.

Immediately after, Jess noticed its trainer, and cursed herself for her stupid thought. The young man that had spoken to her was sitting at the Ogre Scorp Pokemon's side, one leg straight across the ground and the other's knee raised. He wore a white hoodie with purple highlights and black track pants striped with blue. His face, though lined in stubble and sporting large sideburns, was a friendly one. "No," Jess answered him cheerily, trying to calm down Belial, who had gone crazy when he saw the bigger Poison-type,"But I didn't notice the fountain or you last time. What Pokemon is that?" The trainer, happy to display his knowledge, began to inform her all about it. Though initially interested in what she learned was a Drapion, Jess quickly grew bored. Where the heck are the others?

[UnendingEmpire]

With not much of an answer, Jess sped off ahead. At least now Bailey knew the whole story. And she was curious to see how it would end. With her Duskull not at all far behind, Bailey made a run for the light at the end of the path, not sure if she wanted Miu to catch...whatever she was after, or if she kinda deserved to not catch it for the way she'd been acting thus far. Maybe either one was fine?

Whatever it would turn out to be, she and Duskull stepped out of the relatively dark Santalune Forest and reeled back for a moment from the sudden change in brightness. They were fine, though. Nobody had gone blind, and Bailey could see Miu and caught occasional glimpses of whatever she was pursuing. It fit Jess's description pretty well. Small brown bird. not much else to say. Didn't seem all that great to her, but she was no person to debate a Pokemon's potential. And so, more than eager to see how it ended, Bailey watched, remaining as silent as possible to not scare off the bird and/or grab Miu's attention too soon.