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Aila nodded as her company further explained. It really did seem implausible to try and make them so fragile that they could break with a toss, unless she stored them with excessive padding... But then they would be difficult to carry and use on missions, so that was out. Hmm...

His offer to teach her the use of a slingshot elicited a small "oh?" of mild surprise. "Really?" She shifted slightly, crossing her legs in the opposite direction. "I wouldn't want to trouble you, though..." He was already going out of his way accompanying her to the lake, after all. And besides, "No, I haven't..." Was archery another thing that she should have learned from a school? She'd heard her mother mention it from time to time as essential knowledge for any noble lady, but it had been impractical to obtain a bow and arrows, let alone practice with them.

She wasn't quite sure what 'no say' implied, but she knew for a fact that were people that would care about that research. "Well, I know I'm interested, if it's of any consequence. And I'm sure there are others that would be too, if you looked around." If such a breakthrough got enough attention, a recruiter might even seek him out actively...

"If you say so..." She wasn't convinced it was really as little trouble as he insisted, with her lacking what seemed to be basic knowledge and him apparently having never instructed in the activity before, but she couldn't deny that she wanted to learn.

His words elicited a slight breath of a laugh. "Of course. Don't worry - I'm good at keeping secrets." Besides, who would want to endanger that kind of research? It certainly had great potential, possibly even beyond the realm of grass-types if investigated thoroughly enough.

And then the lake proper came into view, the late afternoon sunlight illuminating its glassy surface. Passingly Aila noted that he was saying words she didn't understand again, but she could hazard a guess to their meaning in the face of such a landscape. "Pitre, down please," she murmured, sliding off of the Metagross's back with a brief flutter of her dark skirt when the steel-type complied. Her first instinct was to approach the lake and crouch at its bank; she dipped her hand into the clear waters, raising it to watch the shimmering droplets cascade from her fingertips. "It is pretty," she affirmed, rising and turning back towards Inigo with a bright smile. The view of the lake alone seemed to validate her entire journey. It really was gorgeous, and she couldn't wait to see it as it reflected the sunset and the nighttime sky.

She noticed where he stopped in his approach, tilting her head slightly but not making much of it. Perhaps she was simply a little too excited. He lived in the area, after all, so it was understandable that he would be less enthusiastic about the environment. The same, it seemed, did not apply to Leilani, though, and Aila took a few steps in retreat to avoid being too thoroughly splashed, laughing at the excited Meganium as she did. "She likes the lake, does she?" she asked, if not rhetorically.

"I suppose I'd ought to prepare a camp before anything, hm?" She spoke mostly to herself, reaching for a pokeball and pressing to release. A vibrantly pink Growlithe appeared from the resulting beam of light, regarding her human with a quizzical gaze. Aila reached to run a small hand over the fire-type's head, "Charmant, retrieve some wood for me, will you?" She received a brief, perhaps even coincidental, nod in reply, and the puppy pokemon turned and moved at a brisk pace towards the forest in search of the requested items. That done, Aila returned her attention to Inigo, "Do you have any specific suggestions for the site?" Higher ground, shelter from potentially unpleasant weather, a fire pit - she was aware of the basics but unsure of any limitations the area might present.

The displeased expressions of the Meganium and her trainer went unnoticed by Aila and Charmant alike, the former focusing on finding a place like what Inigo described while the latter snuffled about in the nearby underbrush gathering branches.

"Pitre, come over here," she said, beckoning the Metagross towards a spot that fit her company's suggestion. "You can deposit the bags and such here." The steel-type answered her subtle command with a roll of his red eyes equating to 'oh, can I really?' and did so, gently tipping forward so that the luggage slid forward and landed neatly on the ground. She separated the one containing her simple tent and began unpacking it. "Ah, thank you, by the way," she called over her shoulder. It seemed camping in the area around the lake wasn't as different as other areas she had done so, but she appreciated Inigo's input nonetheless.

She began to voice an objection, an insistence that she was more than capable of seeing to the task's completion herself, but it seemed he refuted her every time and so she chose to accept, "Thank you, I would appreciate it." Setting up a tent would proceed certainly proceed more quickly with both of the humans contributing and with Leilani's experience in flattening the ground, and activity that Pitre observed with an increasing sense of gratitude that he didn't have to be the one to take care of that. The woods really needed a better WiFi signal.

By the time the tent was successfully pitched, Charmant had returned from the forest's outskirts, her mouth full of branches which she deposited at her human's feet. She stared up to await her next command, which she promptly received, "Could you dig a pit for the fire?" The Growlithe quietly complied, the fire was built (a much simpler task thanks to the presence of the fire-type), and a small container was refilled with the lake's water. The campground complete, Aila breathed a sigh and brushed at her clothes to return them to a neater state. "Well, that was quicker than usual," she observed. "Thank you again."

She reached to pet Charmant in thanks for her work, the Growlithe's ears twitching silently in response. It seemed her job was finished, so she moved and sat down beside the fire, content with its warmth.

Aila, at Inigo's words, forcibly restrained herself from commenting on her wish to avoid troubling him. It seemed he was making offer after offer and refused all refusals. She felt guilty in a way, but she couldn't argue that she appreciated his assistance. "Sure, if that's all right..." She couldn't help herself - she just had to throw on the qualifier, inwardly excited as she was to learn something useful.

She watched the demonstration in rapt attention, noting both his words and physical nuances as best she could. Aila was generally quite observant, but she couldn't help the feeling that there was more to it than it appeared. Nonetheless she accepted the slingshot when it was offered to her, turning the assembly in her hands and studying its structure before making any direct motions towards using it. When she was satisfied with her inspection, she located a rock similar in size to the one Inigo had used and fitted it into the band, feeling somewhat clumsy as she did so. Her left hand gripped the handle as she raised her arm and locked her elbow as instructed. She then reached for the elastic band, grasping at the rock set it in its pocket, and drew it back carefully. It offered a fair bit more resistance then she had anticipated, and she put a bit more force into--

A brief hiss of pain accompanied the sudden descent of the slingshot from Aila's hands, the forked item tumbling unceremoniously to the ground. She hunched forward slightly, her right hand clamped tightly over her upper arm. Taking good notice the overt change in her disposition, Pitre and Charmant watched closely, the Metagross especially. The silly human had forgotten about her injuries, and she was suffering for it - as was indicated by her shuddering breaths and compressed posture. She may well have had tears in her eyes, but she wouldn't admit to it even if she did.

Her largest concern, rather than the pain, was the sudden absence of sensation in her fingertips. It was only recently that the numbness had begun to subside. How could she have forgotten her injuries? Stupid...

Aila's attention was redirected by a nudge to her back and a quiet "meta," Pitre having appeared behind her to offer one of his large legs for support. She indulged in this offer, leaning backwards and keeping her eyes firmly on the ground. She grasped tightly at her arm; it was horribly sore and her fingers felt like useless pieces of dough, but it didn't seem that it had been physically torn, at least. This did nothing to assuage her fear that she had this time permanently damaged her ability to feel things in her left hand, a fear that manifested itself in a slight quivering of her shoulders even after her breathing returned to a normal pace.

"...I'm sorry. It's no concern." Well, it was a concern. A massive, terrifying concern. But not Inigo's concern, so she did her best to brush it off, kneeling to retrieve the fallen slingshot despite her reluctance to remove the support of her hand from her arm.