[X] My Assistant

[Toogee]

Before entering, Pan first took off her boots. Years of being told not to walk on wood floors with boots made her take offf her boots almost by reflex. Besides, she liked sliding around on the smooth wood surface. The room permeated with the smell of corn soup; it would have been more tempting had Pan not eaten during the trip here.

"Actually I already ate, but do you think we can borrow a thermos? We can have some of this later," Pan replied, predicting that they may needing dinner. She quickly added, "And some water bottles, if it isn't too much trouble."

Meanwhile, Turnip helped himself to the bowl of Pokefood, first taking a small bite to test the taste. He approved and took bigger mouthfuls, careful not to spill any on the floor.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph nodded as she finished her soup. Sighing in content, she placed the bowl on the table. "Ok, hang on a minute," she told Pan as she went to get a thermos and some water bottles. A shelf was nearby and she opened it, knowing that it was where her aunt usually kept her kitchen stuff. She pulled out a large thermos from the shelf, examining it for a moment, then placed it on the table. She also took four empty water bottles.

"Jii, mind helping me out?" she asked Jii, who was sitting on the floor, finished eating. The Emanate Pokemon nodded and carried the thermos and two water bottles easily, not even complaining. "I'll just wash these and fill the bottles with water," she explained to Pan. "There's a clean well at the back."

After some few moments the two came back, Jii holding four full water bottles as Saph carried the now clean thermos. She quickly poured the soup from the pot to the thermos, carefully so as not to spill a drop. When she was done, she realized that she had emptied the whole pot. "Rats, I'll have to leave a note," she mumbled to herself while closing the thermos tightly. She thought for a moment, thinking how to leave a message for her aunt. She can't scratch the table, or she'll really get a taste of her aunt's anger. Her eyes darted around, looking for some writing material. She saw her aunt's pocketbook, the one she always reads.

I hope she doesn't get mad at me... Saph prayed as she went towards the book, scribbled a short message explaining the situation and laid the book beside the empty pot.

Aidan and Alexis eyed their trainer curiously as they ate. Yawning widely, Alexis then returned to the safety of her Pokeball by herself. She always does that. Aidan shifted his gaze to the Pokemon Food then Saph, telling her to bring some food for him and the other Pokemon as well.

After a sigh, Saph tied open end of the sack to close it, and motioned for Jii. The Riolu happily obliged to bring the food. Saph turned to Pan. "I've never been in an adventure, so this is my first time," she said.

[Toogee]

"First time? I don't believe that for one second," Pan replied, "You whole life's an adventure: an experience with unknown outcomes! You might be able to say you never been camping or into the forest, but you can never say you never been on an adventure." Indeed, in Pan's view, Saph was being silly. All one had to do was go outside, do something different from the usual, and that would be an adventure.

After the conversation on adventure, Pan looked around the room for pictures and items of interest. She didn't think Saph needed help packing; she seemed to know where everything is.

"So do you live here too?"

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph mulled over Pan's words for a minute. In a way, she was quite right. This brought a small smile to her lips.

"Not here, really," Saph said as she zipped her bag close. "This is just a hut of my aunt's, where she hangs out when she's bored or something. Our house is just a block or two away from here."

After double-checking all the things needed, Saph heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe, just maybe, now they can finally start. Jii held the sack and water bottles firmly, grinning proudly as he did. Aidan climbed up to Saph's shoulder as his trainer carried the thermos.

"Let's go," Saph said as she exited the wooden hut.

[Toogee]

"Alright, let's roll!" Pan slid across the kitchen all the way to the exit. She put her boots back on and motioned Turnip to follow. While Saph led the way, Pan grabbed her digital camera from her vest pocket, making sure it was charged and ready. She put it back in her pocket and looked ahead. The forest stretched as far as the eye could see, the canopy thick with leaves. It would probably be significantly darker than out on the plains. Though they's probably be OK without a flashlight, Pan still wished she brought one along.

"So, do you have any idea what is living in here?" Pan asked, trying to continue the conversation.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph shrugged. She had really never been in the forest before, but she heard some stories about it. "Bug, Grass-types, I think," she said uneasily. "And some flying-types too, but they aren't permanent residents."

Aidan was glancing around suspiciously. He occasionally caught glimpses of something moving, probably a wild Pokemon. Jii was walking closely behind, not minding the load that was entrusted on him. Aidan went down to Jii, slightly jealous of his strength. But when he was approaching the fighting-type, he tripped on a vine on the ground.

"Char!" Aidan complained loud enough for everyone to hear as he fell face-first to the ground. Realizing what had happened, Sapphire carefully picked Aidan up and put him back on her shoulder. "Char...man...der..." Aidan muttered softly, scratching his head.

"You have to look before you leap, you know," Saph told Aidan. She turned to the vine, and for a split-second she thought it moved. It might be more than just a plant, her instincts told her as she watched it closely.

[Toogee]

Pan looked around as they entered the forest. She was glad that it wasn't as dark as she expected: though the trees were thick, beams of sunlight penetrated the canopy to allow a dim glow over the forest floor. Sevaral bird pokemon flew through the trees, singing short melodies that echoed through the branches. She looked down at the game trail they were traveling, it was littered with the footprints of humans and various pokemon. Pan quickly looked straight upon hearing the "Char!" from Aidan. He had apparently tripped on a vine, one that was undamaged despite being on a well-traveled.

This seemed very suspicious to Pan, so she got down on her knees to investigate. While Saph cmforted the Ccharmander, Pan massaged the vine between her thumb and fingers, Turnip tried to push Pan away from the vine with his own vine, but Pan took the vine and examined it in similar fashion. She thanked Turnip for offering a comparison, but the bulbasaur gave a grumpy growl. Once again his trainer just had to touch something that could be a pokemon.

"This vine does feel similar to Turnip's...I wonder where it leads?" Pan said outloud, looking beyond the trail to see if the source was visible.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Once Aidan was safely on Saph's shoulders, Saph looked towards the vine, tracing it with her eyes. She was trying to concentrate on the kind of Pokemon that had these kinds of vines, but the singing of the bird Pokemon from above kept interrupting her thoughts. Funny, how the glorious sounds of nature made her irritable.

The source of the vine was hidden under a bush. Saph hesitated before she walked up to the leafy plant. When she was about a foot away, the bush quivered, then the vine was quickly withdrew by its owner. "Definitely Pokemon," Sapphire confirmed as she nodded. She felt Aidan's grip on her shoulder tighten; her Charmander got easily frightened, by the looks of it.

"That Pokemon must surely be a grass-type," she assured Aidan. "Being the fire-type you are, you've got a good advantage, so no need to worry." She felt Aidan sigh, and his grip loosened a bit. Inhaling deeply, she cautiously tried to clear the leaves of the bush to see what exactly they were dealing with. Unfortunately, her right hand was met with a painful smack.

"Hey!" Saph said quickly as she withdrew her hand, shaking it vigorously to try to get rid of the pain. She was quite sure that it was the same vine from before that hit her hand. "Owowowowow..." she mumbled rashly as the part where the vine hit her hand began to turn red, causing a pinkish line across the back of her hand to appear.

[Toogee]

Pan looked to the quivering bush, taken completely off guard when the vine slid through her fingers. She jumped back to her feet, standing next to Saph. "I second that," she replied in response to Saph conclusion of the vine's source. Pan grabbed her camera as Saph went in for a closer look. She quickly put the camera away as Saph backed off, holding her injured hand.

"Here, let me see," Pan said, insisting to examine the injury. She was no doctor, but she knew a little bit about first aid (though she was kicking herself for not bringing a kit along). "Jii, we're gonna need a water bottle," she asked the Riolu. Though the creature wasn't hers to order around, Pan hoped Jii would understand the situation.

Meanwhile, Turnip, curious as to what grass-type was hiding, approached the bush. Rather than cut through the leaves, he sniffed at it from a safe distance, then responded with a series of vocalizations.

"Bulba bulba?" he asked the bush, hoping it would reveal its identity to a fellow grass-type.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Jii calmly nodded once and handed Pan one of the water bottles. Being quite worried about his trainer, he watched Saph with concern. Saph tried not to wince from the pain, clenching her teeth to stop her from doing so. She promised herself not to do that close observing again.

As Turnip made an effort to start a conversation with the grass-type, Saph ran the names of the grass Pokemon that can learn Vine Whip in her mind. Her reason for doing this was because she was slightly curious, also to distract her from her now numb hand. There were a lot of possibilities as to what creature had slapped her hand.

The bush quivered once more when Turnip stopped speaking. Low squeaky sounds could be heard from the plant. Sounds like a baby, Saph thought. Then another sound, probably trying to answer Turnip's previous statement, revealed what had been hiding there.

"Chiko...." the creature said unsurely, still hidden beneath the leaves. "...Chiko...chi..." It sounded like crying.

Jii was about to go nearer, but decided against it. He positioned himself in front of Saph and Pan, ready to fight back in case the creature wanted to attack. Though he was quite sure the grass-type won't, hearing that it was still a baby.

[Toogee]

"This might sting a little," Pan said, pouring some of the cool water on Saph's wound. After washing the injury, she closed the bottle and placed it on the wound. "Hold that there for a bit. That ought to numb it up." Pan smiled and continued, "It's a good thing you didn't stick your head in that bush!"

Pan then looked over to the bush. Turnip was apparently successful in communicating to the unknown creature. The creature not only sounded young, but also in distress. Ever since she was little, Pan knew Turnip was good with young pokemon, though the bulbasaur wouldn't admit it. On the other hand, it was probably important to show the pokemon that Saph wasn't a threat. Establishing trust could bring some light onto why the grass-type was in distress.

"Maybe you should try giving it food, Saph," Pan said. "At least it won't be too afraid of us, and we might find out what's wrong."

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph held her breath as Pan washed her injury, managing a light chuckle at her last remark. She turned to the bush, a small irritated gleam present in her eye. She now held a grudge on that Pokemon, baby or not. Upon hearing Pan's suggestion, her mind instinctively said 'no'. She didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't quite good in that. Plus, if she sticks her other hand inside the bush, it might be in danger of another vine whip. One injury was enough.

"It still might be scared of me," she said lamely, searching for a probable excuse. "I mean, we don't want it to be frightened away, right?"

Jii turned to her, sensing a little of her anger aura. He grinned teasingly. "What?" Saph turned to him a little too innocently. Aidan grinned at her now too, joining in the teasing. "What are you grinning at?" she demanded of her two Pokemon, who kept on smiling like there's no tomorrow.

"Fine," she muttered darkly. "Give me the sack Jii." The Riolu handed her the sack eagerly and she used her injury-free hand to get a small piece of brown Pokemon food from it, all the while keeping the cold water bottle on her wound. She slowly and carefully approached the shivering bush, stopping halfway through. "Are you sure this is a good plan?" she asked Pan with uncertainty. She would like to protect her good hand from any further pain.

[Toogee]

In response to Saph's excuses, Pan also started to grin, "Saph, are you afraid of a little baby pokemon?" Pan had to admit that the wound looked like it hurt, but she had to hold herself back from laughing out loud. Of all the pokemon to be afraid of, her friend feared the wrath of a baby. What next, butterfree?

She watched as Saph caved under pressure and approached the bush with food. "Well, I would have just put the food in front of the bush, It's more afraid of you than you are of it, though I think it's a close call," Pan giggled. She signaled to her bulbasaur to watch for any vine attacks. Turnip stood his ground next to the bush. Using his vines, the bulbasaur sketched a picture of leaves in the dirt, signifying food.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

"Er...no," Saph replied shyly. But it used a freakin' vine whip on me! the darker side of her mind retorted. She sighed. At least it wasn't a bug-type Pokemon with colorful wings... She shivered at the thought.

She slowly and carefully placed the food right beside Turnip's sketch, and backed away almost immediately. She watched it and the bush closely, waiting for the baby to come out.

A vine went out of the bush, and a sound like "chiko, chi" was heard. The bush quivered and revealed the Chikorita's scared face. It hadn't come out yet, watching Turnip. It turned to the leave picture on the ground, and then to the food Saph had placed there. It hesitated, before picking up the food with its vine. It examined it closely for a moment before taking a delicate bite.

"Chiko..." the Chikorita mused as it gobbled up the treat. It didn't seem so scared now, so Jii took a step forward. The grass-type looked at Jii with the same terrified expression as before, and hid itself inside the bush once more, letting the leaves cover its face. Its eyes watched the strangers, obviously frightened.

"Still scared," Saph concluded. I knew it wouldn't really work, she thought to herself.

[Toogee]

After observing the outcome, Pan concluded, "Well, we did try. I guess we'll leave it alone and keep moving." Pan looked at her Poketch, tracking latitude-longitude coordinates of the Chikorita sighting. She typed in the word "Chiko" as a reminder of the event. In Pan's opinion, if it was the group that bothered the pokemon, then leaving was the right thing to do. If there was something else, the creature was welcome to follow.

She then pulled out the map from her backpocket, unfolding it and holding it up with both hands. She tracked the trail with her eyes, following every turn. "It looks right we're headed in the right direction. Come on everyone, before we run out of daylight," Pan said, putting away the map. Turnip went back to his trainer, but not before looking back at the bush. He nodded to the chikorita inside, a silent farewell as they continued onward.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph nodded once and began to follow Pan, casting one last glance at the scared Chikorita. Jii was sad to leave the poor baby alone, but followed his trainer nonetheless. Aidan wasn't at all bothered by their leaving.

Saph looked up at the sun, noticing that it was beginning to set. She quickened her pace. It won't be long until night comes, and they have to stop to rest. She thought about the tree Pan mentioned, and wondered what made this certain tree so special. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft yawn coming from behind her. She looked to see Aidan sleepily clinging on to her shoulder.

"You should rest now, Aidan," she murmured softly as she pulled out Aidan's Pokeball. The Charmander obliged easily as it turned into red energy being sucked inside the orb. As she placed Aidan's Pokeball back on her belt, she looked behind her to check on Jii. "Feeling alright?" she asked.

"Rio!" Jii replied, as energetic as ever. Saph nodded. Jii never seemed to lose his energy.

[Toogee]

CLICK CLICK CLICK

As the two continued onward, Pan was making good use of her camera. She took pictures of flocks of Pidgey, Tailow, and Stary, getting some great shots the birds taking off into the sky. Her camera also found Cherubi hanging off trees, a trio of Pichu sticking their heads out of a tree hole, and a pair of Ledyba fluttering over a small field of flowers. Pan soon noticed that the native pokemon were beginning to retreat. The beams of sunlight that lit the forest were dimming, and small openings to the sky revealed a light orange glow, the clouds with a purple tinge to their color. It was about time they begin setting camp.

"Shoot! I totally lost track of time! We need to find some shelter." Pan put her camera away in its case, then in her bag. "It'd be nice to find a good tree to sleep in. I'd hate to sleep in the dirt-"

Pan stopped walking as she looked ahead. They had come across a small grove totally open to the evening sky. There was a fairly large tree, large enough to hold two people and their pokemon. Finally, in the middle of the grove grew several bushes, each dotted with different specks of color. Pan smiled: after a long day of exploring, this was probably their best find so far.

"A tree for sleeping, berry bushes, the sky above us. We couldn't have asked for a better place to camp!" she exclaimed. Turnip darted past her to examine the berry bushes, bringing his appetite with him.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph was looking around, interested, as Pan took a lot of pictures with her camera. She soon concluded that Pan's job wasn't as boring as she thought at first. Nature was just so beautiful, even in the forest, and she wondered why she hadn't been here before. Why hadn't she thought to train here in the first place?

She soon noticed that her vision was dimming. No, it wasn't really her eyes, night was just slowly creeping in. Pan found a nice place to camp, a grassy meadow with a big tree with a lot of colorful bushes surrounding it. Saph saw some innocent eyes from the bushes, probably from wild Pokemon like Rattata. With a jolt, she remembered the baby Chikorita from moments ago, and pity took over her, even if the grass-type slapped her at first. She shook the thought off, assuring herself that the Chikorita might be okay now.

"Rio...lu..." Jii said softly, obviously awed by the view. He hadn't seen anything as beautiful as this before.

[Toogee]

Pan headed towards the open area, which consisted of a small patch of dirt. "This would be a good place to start a fire...if I had the sense to bring a pot for cooking food," Pan said, making another mental note about bringing cookware. "I don't know how warm the soup will be, but it looks like there are enough berries around to make a decent dessert. I'll see what I can gather." Pan set her bag at the proposed campground, then joined her bulbasaur at the berry bushes.

As Turnip munched on some berries at the bottom of the bush, Pan examined berries on the top. She sampled one, swirling the fruit in her mouth to better enjoy its sweetness. Unfortunately, these berries weren't quite ripe, so she was met with a rather bitter taste, almost like horseradish without the spice. Pan quickly spit it out; it was by far the worst berry she had ever tasted. Turnip, however, couldn't get enough of the fruit.

"How can you eat these?!" Pan said to her bulbasuar with a surprised but somewhat disgusted look on her face (the taste was still in her mouth).
"Saaaaaaaauuuuuuur..." Turnip replied, enjoying the nice treat.

Meanwhile, unknown to Pan or Turnip, another pokemon decided to visit the campsite, specifically Pan's unattended bag. The small squirrel pokemon moved slowly from tree to ground, then moved like a blur straight into the bag. The momentum caused the bag to knock over, the owner still unaware of the potential thief.

[Phoenix Sapphire]

Saph sat down on the grass as Jii put down his load. She gazed dreamily at the sky while Pan started to look for berry desserts. With a contented sigh, Saph opened the thermos, checking the soup from her aunt's hut before, and pulled out two bowls from her bag. She hadn't noticed that Pan's bag was wide open and something was rummaging around its contents.

"Rio!" Jii was the first to notice the squirrel and rushed towards Pan's bag. The squirrel's tail was poking out, wagging around as squeals can be heard from inside the bag. Jii promptly tried to pull the squirrel out, his strength allowing him to do so.

"Jii!" Saph said, catching the two in their tug-of-war. "What are you--wait, that's Pan's bag." She turned to Pan, who seemed to be have tasted something really bad, and called, "Pan, something is trying to mess with your things!"