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Jan Was always excited. Sperra was always high strung. This didn't change... in fact it got more so as they entered the forest.

Jan was, as usual, ecstatic. So many things to draw. So much mood lighting!
He was a bit bummed that his new friend... he was going to call her 'Numbers' in his head... wasn't there. He had been sort of hoping she would be.
But!!!
"Sperra! Look!" he pointed to movement beyond the trees.
There was a deerling wandering around! He had seen one! He had always wanted to draw one!
He wished they would stop, but he supposed he could try doodling while walking. It was a terrible idea, but that had never stopped him!
He thought he could call the deerling closer. Better to draw them! He waited to see the flash of curious green before opening his hand, walking slower than before.
"Here you go!" he said, offering an oran berry.

Sperra was practically sparking again in her usual panic. SO MANY TREES. SO MANY PLACES WHERE HORRIBLE THINGS COULD HIDE. She was freaking out, majorly and was tense as she strode very close to Jan. She had no idea what her charge was doing.

Del had gotten an offer to ride with gypsy and, not wanting to stress Anise's zebstrika, accepted. She talked for a while, but then fell asleep in transit: between Sperra and Jan, the girl rarely got a break such as this. She awoke to find that it was much later than she remembered and they were in the woods.
She nudged Gypsy groggly.
"Hey. We aren't stopping?"

Chocolate peeped out of her den, rising on hindlegs to investigate the activity in the forest. New things! How terrifying! How exciting! She sniffed the air and bounced closer, sticking to the trees.

(This is several days later than when Del and Anise met, according to the timeskip post.)

Anise had been happy to talk to another healer, and Gypsy had been fine with allowing Delah to ride as often as she wanted. As far as the Zebstrika was concerned, they might be able to learn something from each other. They'd had some good conversation as Anise explained some of the common plants she usedm which occasional detours as Gypsy hunted out fresh versions so Del could see the life plants. When Del fell asleep during the ride, both Anise and Gypsy let her rest, being careful to make sure she didn't fall off as they went.

After Del woke up and asked why they weren't stopping, Anise looked over her shoulder to her fellow rider. "Well, it looks like this is the route the Caravan leader picked, and there's still daylight left. Beyond that, we'd have to ask her. We do seem to be going slower now, though." She looked around the forest and added, "I don't think we'll be leaving the group to look for plants any more though, at least until we leave the forest. Considering how thick the vegetation is here, it'd be easy to get separated if we strayed too far."

Anise's other pokemon concurred. Halcyon was having a hard time flying through the trees, so she allowed Anise to recall her. She usually left her pokemon out, but this was far too uncomfortable for a large Flying-type. Felix, Oki and of course Gypsy remained out. Both Felix and Oki stayed close. Felix because he usually did, and Oki because he wanted to be near enough to react in case of danger. He did think he heard something moving around in the trees, and kept a sharp lookout to try and spot what it was so he could decide if it was a threat.

Genesis rolled her eyes at Doyle's support, but her smile showed she found amusement in her own situation, as well.

"I hope we don't run into much trouble," she said aloud, changing the volume and pitch of her voice to the one she'd used for Eliza. "It really would be-- oh, welcome back, Perry."

"Perry" harrumphed. He had expected a more well-thought out welcome after he had risked his own skin flying around this strange territory! It was true he had met with absolutely no danger both during his search and his return, but that didn't mean threats weren't hiding behind every corner!

With another indignant squeak, he dramatically stuffed himself through the arm of Genesis' sleeve, poked his nose out, and grunted a few times to make sure it was known that he'd be taking a long rest to recuperate.

Genesis patted the lump on her arm indulgently before letting it hang down. She wasn't in much position to battle now, seeing as the only Pokémon she'd brought out was now sleeping, but at least he'd chosen to burden her non-dominant hand, and the two wilds that had shown up had not yet chosen to leave. She thought the one in the trees was getting closer, too. It was amazing what a group of trainers could attract.

The Raikou had stopped and looked around when his sensitive ears had caught the rustling of another pokemon. He tried to pin point its exact location of it. The rustling of leaves caused his head to snap up wards. A low growl escaped the legendary as he began to contemplate if he should send a small electrical storm into the trees above. What ever it was, was a tad annoying for it seemed to cause their journey to slow. Itzal just wanted to get to where they were going to camp for the night so he could have some more of their cooked food.

Electricity began to jump within his bristled fur as he continued on his decision. It would make things go much faster, however how would the humans feel about it? Why did he even care? he never cared before. No, he didn't care...did he? Out of frustration with his own thoughts the large cat shook its head causing a few sparks to jump off of him.

(Pardon me if I am incorrect, Lex, but with popping your kickstand up, I'm going to assume that your character is in motion.)

Shina glanced over at the newcomer and used her knees to urge Rasha a bit to the side, allowing the cyclist room to ride abreast of her. "Hello. I don't think I've seen you with the group before?" Shina said.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the Raikou sparking. "Excuse me," she said, and quickly reached into her saddlebag. Fishing out a block of oat-and-berry bar that had become the standard way of dealing with excess oatmeal, Shina whistled. "Raikou! Hey, catch!" She tossed the treat to the legendary, hoping that the snack would distract and calm him.

~~~

Above September, the leaves rustled again. Carmine eyes peeked out. "Ri!" 'Hi!' the small pokemon said cheerfully. 'Look at all the humans!'

((They eyes aren't new information, but one of the syllables in the name is "ri" and it is a small pokemon!))

September was relieved to see that the pokemon in the trees was friendly. "(There sure are a lot of humans,)" the deerling agreed. "(I wonder what they want?)" He looked around at the sound of hooves, and saw a blitzle approaching. It seemed to be a wild pokemon.

"(Do you know why the humans are here?)" September asked him hopefully. The issue was beginning to truly concern him.

When he heard the noise the pokemon made, Rory looked around him, up in the trees. He put the kickstand down on his bike once again and removed a pair of binoculars from the backpack he had with him with supplies.

He looked through the eye pieces hoping to spot whatever was making the noise.

Delah nodded. “Ah. Right.” She patted Gypsy, appreciative of the smooth ride and of the help, and slid off. She needed to stretch her legs after her nap, and felt that, on the somewhat rough ground, it would be better for the zebstrika to have fewer weights on her back. She did walk beside them, though.
She glanced around to check on her brother. He had... Mostly... Stayed out of trouble. Aside from a few sketches done with or without permission, he'd been good.


Jan approached closer, smiling broadly and holding out the berry, then blinked and frowned. He had lost the little apparition. He wandered a bit closer to where it had been and heard the soft murmur of pokemon voices.
He smiled again, and approached, oran berry in hand.
“Hello?” He called gently to the wild pokemon, “Don't be scared, I just wanna draw you!”

Chocolate Joined the group of wild pokemon looking at the humans.
“Bune! Bunea! ” she had never seen so many in one place before! In her place!
She looked up at the blitzle and the Deerling.
“Bunebunary. ” She sniffed and poked her head up out of the bushes.
“Bunee!!!”
She hadn't eaten today.
She frowned at the blitzle.
“Buu? ”

There, see?
Thought Del, He's being good
She looked around. She hoped he would rejoin them soon. They were moving pretty steadily.
“What is Jan doing?” she wondered aloud.