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Zinnia, Zach the ralts, and Zarya the mismagius waited for Lenore at the edge of town. The ralts had bonded well to the mismagius due to the ghost type's gentle and shy nature, so while the rest of Zin's team rested in their pokeballs, Zarya was the one to comfort Zach and to actively help look for his family.

Zinnia spotted Lenore approaching the appointed spot and lifted an arm in greeting. "Hey!" she called to her friend. "Over here!"

Zach peeked out from behind Zarya's skirts and smiled warmly in Lenore's direction.

Without hesitation, Zin hopped forward and wrapped her arms around her red-eyed friend. She released her just as quickly, turning to the ralts. To answer Lenore's question, Zinnia asked him, "Where do you think we should start, Zach?"

The ralts's smile wavered as his eyes narrowed in concentration. He scanned their surroundings uncertainly, then pointed.

"Thataway!" Zinnia told Lenore with a wide grin. She followed the ralts as he made his way in the direction he'd pointed. His eyes roamed the wilderness as if he expected his parents to be waiting for him nearby.

Zarya drifted toward the back of the group, closer to Mephistopheles. She glanced at him briefly before blushing deeply and burying her face in her high-necked collar. Dreydonna, the reckless gengar, had been her only exposure to another ghost-type pokemon for a long time. It made her nervous that the dusknoir would be the same way, but curiosity also drew her to Mephisto.

"So, how's your team doing?" Zin asked Lenore idly as they walked. She watched Zach stop to peek into a group of bushes, but the ralts clearly did not find his parents there, for he continued walking after a few seconds. "Thanks to training with you, our team's gotten a lot stronger." She flashed her friend a grin. "I'd like to see anyone try to mess with us now!" By 'anyone,' she meant Team Rocket, but she didn't feel ready to tell Lenore yet that she was an ex-criminal wanted by a criminal gang.

Zarya blushed again and stammered, "(U-um, uh...)" she floundered as she appeared to forget the name of her own species, and thus all of her words. "(Y-yes. I mean. Y-you too. Mephistopheles.)" She drifted closer to the ground and seriously considered sinking into it just to escape her embarrassment.

Zach continued to lead the way quietly, though he could taste the emotions of the people and pokemon behind him.

Zin laughed at Lenore's assessment of her odd butterfree. "I'm glad she enjoyed them. I don't think Shadow cares much for battling but all of my team seem to be happy to be getting stronger!" However, when Lenore asked who would mess with them, she coughed awkwardly. "Um... well, you know. Wandering around in the wilderness, other trainers or wild pokemon might challenge us out of nowhere. But when we're this strong, we'll never be caught unprepared." She hoped that Lenore would buy that.

"(It's.... Okay, I guess...)" Zarya replied. She stared at the ground sadly. Her previous trainer had abandoned her because she was no good at winning battles. Zinnia had given her no reason to fear that she would do the same, but at the same time, the mismagius was highly aware of her inadequacy on the field.

The ralts stopped again, and appeared unsure of which way to go. He turned back to Zinnia with large puppy dog eyes. Grateful for the distraction, Zinnia crouched down and held her arms out. Zach ran to her and she picked him up. "Are you lost?" she asked the small psychic pokemon. Zach nodded and appeared to be suppressing tears. "It's okay!" Zin reassured him. "Your parents must be looking for you too, right? Probably. So let's just keep looking around here and maybe we'll bump into each other!"

Zach tried to sense his parents, but the only emotions he could pick up were the search party's. he wondered sadly.

"That wouldn't happen," Zinnia said decisively. "If they got caught, their trainers would help look for you just like we are."

"(R-really?)" Zarya asked, finally meeting the other ghost's eye. "(D-do you think that I could become strong like you, too? W-would you... um...)" her voice faded as her embarrassment grew. Finally, she mumbled, "(Would you... m-maybe help me...?)"

Zinnia glanced back at Lenore. "Maybe we should take a break?" she asked the other girl. There was a shady tree nearby, so she nodded in its direction. They hadn't gotten very far into the wilderness, but it was clear that Zach needed some time.

The ralts sniffled and nodded, resting his head against Zinnia's chest. Her words encouraged him a little, but he still feared the worst.

Zarya blushed, but she finally smiled. "(Th-thank you,)" she said gratefully. It was only Mephisto's kindness that gave her the courage to ask, "(M-maybe... I c-could join your t-team? J-just for a little while, b-but if not, that's okay...)" She hastily tried to cover all of her bases, afraid that Mephistopheles would reject her outright.

Zinnia blinked in surprise. She turned to her mismagius and asked, "Is that true?"

Zarya ducked her head, hiding her face beneath the wide brim of her hat. Hesitantly, she nodded.

"Well, I think that's a great idea!" Zin beamed. "I think you'll do great with Lenore's team!" Zinnia greatly admired her friend's skill when it came to training her pokemon. Zarya was a welcome addition to her own team, but she'd always been a bit of a misfit among Zin's gang of outcasts. She could tell that Zarya was already close with Mephisto, so if joining his team would give her some of the confidence she lacked, the pigtailed teen was all for it. She pulled Zarya's pokeball out of her bag and passed it over to Lenore as she sat down beside her.

Zach crawled out of Zinnia's arms and rested in the shade. he asked the mismagius. Though he hadn't known her long, the ralts liked her gentle spirit.

"(Y-yes, I will,)" Zarya responded with a shy smile. She felt very grateful to Mephisto and Lenore for allowing her to switch teams. She drifted closer to Lenore. "(Th-thank you,)" she told the girl.

Another pokeball fell out of Zinnia's bag, and Dreydonna burst out. "(If the tiny ghost is leaving, I have no reason to stay!)" she announced. She rounded on Zinnia. "(This partnership was based on us both looking for Adriel,)" she accused, "(But we've been in town for this long and haven't found him, so it's obvious he's out there somewhere." The ghost gestured with one arm, encompassing the entirety of the wilderness in one sweep. "(You're planning to stay in the city for a long time, so I have to go look for him myself. I'm leaving!)" The ghost cackled as she zoomed away into the forest.

Zinnia blinked. "I... I think she just became a wild pokemon," she said. It wasn't all that unexpected, really; she never had been able to tame the gengar that she'd found in the forest so long ago.

"Uuuummmm.... Ye-eessss....?" Zin said uncertainly. "Hartless was a guy I met a couple years ago, and I wanted to be friends, but he's a real mysterious guy so I haven't been able to find him. I think Dreydonna might have been in love with him but I'm not sure." She laughed. "Kind of weird, right? I mean, Hartless is a human and 'Donna is a gengar." She twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she glanced at Lenore's face. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Zin asked abruptly.

Zach tasted Zin's emotions curiously. He wasn't familiar with the feelings emanating from Zinnia now, although they weren't unpleasant. He watched the pair, hoping to find an explanation for the new emotion.