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Anise trudged down the street of Katarina, still not quite believing the recent events concerning Jirachi. It had been a very rough...day? week? time didn't seem to have much meaning in that place. But in any case, the world was back to normal and she was back in it, safe and sound. More or less. She and her pokemon were still tired and sore from their rough encounters with the odd mansion.

Which reminded her that her pokemon needed treating. She could always go to the Pokemon Center in Katarina, but she had a feeling they'd be rather crowded right now, and she tended to prefer treating her pokemon herself. She had no fear of using up her supplies, since she could always find more. So she found what appeared to be a small park and pulled out all her pokeballs. "We could use some downtime after all that. Come on out, everybody!" she said, releasing her four pokemon. She had been delightes to find that new new Chatot had been at her belt when she returned to the world, though he hadn't been with her as she explored the strange mansion.

After greeting everyone quickly, she checked over her Swablu, Halcyon, and her Delcatty, Felix, since they had been banged around during the exploration. They weren't badly hurt, and could be treated quickly enough. Then she checked Gabby, her Chatot, who seemed to be in perfect health, just as she'd last seen him. Then she turned to her newest pokemon, the Zorua who'd chosen to join her in the mansion.

"Hello again. I'm honored that you chose to trust me, and I hope we can be good friends," she told him. She reached out to pet him, not certain how he'd react to the gesture. He sniffed her hand for a moment, then lowered his head to allow the caress. She smiled and gently scratched behind his ears, which, like most canines, he seemed to enjoy. "You need a name..." she mused to herself as she considered the problem. "The dignified air, the transformation, the determination to help and protect your friends...you remind me of a swordsman from a legend I once heard. He's named Okikarumi, or Oki for short. Would you like that name?" The Zorua tilted his head musingly, then after a moment he nodded gravely. (Though the dignity of the action was spoiled somewhat, since Anise was still scratching his head, and he'd begun to wag his tail from the pleasure of it.) Anise grinned back at him. "Great, welcome to the family, Oki."

After one more good scratch, she turned back to her injured pokemon and started pulling out her medicinal plants. A few of the more common berries would probably suffice, though she did want to double-check Felix's eyes and make sure they hadn't been damaged by the sandstorm a wild pokemon had kicked up.

Anise was feeding Halcyon a few berries when she heard the voice of another pokemon nearby. She glanced over to see another Zorua looking at Oki. Anise smiled and said, "Hello there handsome. How're you doing today?" Then she noticed a person standing nearby and looking at her, likely the Zorua's trainer. "And good morning to you too," she said to him. Then she frowned. "At least I think it's morning," she added, glancing up at the sky. She was usually pretty good at telling the time by the position of the sun, but that indeterminate amount of time in that other place had disoriented her a little. Her last watch had been broken by the trashing of an unexpectedly upset pokemon, and she had never bothered to get another.

Anise smiled at the complement the other trainer gave her Zorua. "Thank you, I think Oki's handsome too, though I actually hadn't seen a Zorua until him. Aside from pictures, of course," she said, looking at her pokemon. "I didn't exactly find him, though. It's more like he found me."

Then she noticed the Zorua huff at her and blinked as something the trainer said struck her. Ark was a her? To Ark she said, "My apologies, pretty lady. I meant no offense."

Oki watched the female Zorua approach, sitting down with his tail wrapped around his feet and cocking his head slightly in mild curiosity. At her questioning sound, he barked a "Zoru." that sounded like polite greeting.

The other trainer's latest line of thought intrigued Anise. "Why do you say that?" he asked him. "Is that how you met Ark; she found you instead of the other way around? That's certainly the opposite of how most people meet their pokemon." She started scratching Felix's head lightly, as the Delcatty purred softly and her bird pokemon started hopping around the park, pecking at unseen things in the grass.

Oki tilted his head a little more, considering the offer. "Ruua... (Play...)" he said musingly and considered the offer for a moment, as if the concept wasn't a common one to him. Then he stood up and asked, "Zuuzuu zoruuu, rra? (What did you have in mind, then?)" He watched her expectantly, curious as to what she might wish to do.

Anise noticed Doyle's attention was on the Zoruas and she glanced over as well, but they seemed to be getting along fine. "Nice to meet you Doyle, I'm Anise." She considered explaining how the met Oki, but couldn't immediately think how to phrase it without sounding crazy. So instead she said, "Oh, you have a hurt pokemon? I'm a healer, I could take a look at it if you like. That's what I was doing with my pokemon here." She patted Felix to indicate him, then glanced over at her shoulder to where Halcyon had wandered off to. She and Gabby weren't far off, so she let them be.

Oki yipped in surprise when Ark pounced and nipped him, and took a moment to react when she darted off and challenged him to come after her. Then he stood up and crouched a little, an intent expression and a slight smile on his face. "Zorrr zuuura! (You asked for it!) he said, and bounded off to chase after her.

The yip from Oki made Anise glance over to check on him again, but smiled when she saw he was just playing with Ark. To Doylse she said, "I sure am! And I'd be happy to try and help. I've tended a lot of wild pokemon, so I'm used to calming them down, and my pokemon are used to helping me, especially Felix here." She gave her Delcatty another pat, and he meowed at his name. "We're actually better at soothing pokemon than battling them," she said with a chuckle.

Oki raced after Ark, dove into the bushes he'd seen her dash through, then slowed when he didn't immediately catch sight of her. So it was a game of Hide as well as Chase, was it? He sniffed the grass for a moment, caught a scent that seemed like hers and darted after it, trying to run as lightly and quietly as possible.

When the Archen popped out of its pokeball, Felix immediately recognized it. He reflexively took a step back and crouched in a defensive position, watching Archie through narrowed eyes. Anise was surprised by her pokemon's reaction and initially didn't understand the source, until she got a better look at the Archen. "Oh! That's the Archen we fought before, isn't it?" She gave Dolye an apologetic smile. We were with a group of other people when we were attacked by that Archen. I guess you know the person who caught it?"

To Felix she gave a short whistle, which was a pre-arranged signal he'd been trained to follow in order to calm an upset or unfamiliar pokemon. Immediately he resumed a relaxed, nonthreatening posture and began to Sing softly, a quiet lullaby that was meant to soothe and relax a pokemon without quite putting it to sleep. He would increase the volume as needed if the pokemon proved more hostile, and Anise could always call her other pokemon to join in the song.

Oki continued to tread lightly, sniffing the air and grass as he went. This must be her scent...then he thought he saw a flash of movement off to one side and jerked his head around to follow it. The movement was gone now, but it seemed like the direction the scent was leading. He took a step or two in that direction, then paused as he considered something. Then he crept under the shadow of some nearby underbrush, where a careful observer would notice his form shimmered and appeared to shift. A moment later he bounded out, wearing the illusion of an Emolga. He wandered in the direction of the movement, scurrying this way as if checking some small thing he saw inf the grass, darting that way and standing upright a moment as if listening for some far-off sound. All the while he scented the air and looked for tracks, aimed to circle around behind the place where he though Ark had gone and sneak up on her.

Anise nodded at what Doyle was saying, but she wasn't fully paying attention anymore. She was focused on Archie; there was a pokemon that needed tending to, and she had a job to do. When he sat down, looking drowsy, she smiled. "That's a good boy," she said gently. "Nobody's going to hurt you, we only want to help." She continued to murmur things in a soothing tone as she reached for her bag.

Moving slowly, being careful not to make any sudden moves, she reached in and pulled out an Oran berry and a fresh leaf of Pokenip. Or at least it had been fresh what seemed like a couple days ago. Now it was wilted and a bit shriveled. She frowned at it, wondering exactly how long she'd been in the dream world. Then she shrugged at put it out of her mind. The leaf would still work for her purpose.

She crushed the leaf lightly to release its scent, then rubbed it all over the berry. Still murmuring soft things, she gently tossed the Pokenip-spiked berry at Archie so that it hit the ground and rolled to a stop a few inches from his feet. "There ya go. Have a little treat, eh?" Pokenip tended to be very effective in mellowing out pokemon, and hopefully even this small amount would keep it calm long enough for her to approach it and give it a good looking-over.

Oki was getting closer to the place he thought he'd seen Ark, and with a rush he dashed around a certain tree. Nothing. He slumped very slightly in disappointment, before he noticed that her scent - or what he thought was her scent - was indeed here, and the grass looked like it's been crushed, as if stepped on a few times, very recently. He sniffed the ground and looked around for clues at to which way she went. Just before he went after her, he decided to change the illusion once again, just in case.

A moment later, the appearance of a Lillipup stepped out from behind the tree, sniffing the ground intently. Oki examined the ground carefully, following along the trail he though she had made. The footprints seemed to be farther apart. Was she running? He started running too, as silently as he could, keeping his nose to the ground and trying to project the single-minded intensity of a puppy who really wants to find that funny smell so he could roll in it.