Waking up in his make-shift camp, Kane immediately started to pack up, which didn't take too long. Once that was completed, Kane realized he actually felt pretty lonely… So, he decided to release Zander. Kane had become even more antisocial since his friend left, so he hadn't even hung out with Zander as much as he used to. However, neither of them broached the subject, instead just walking in silent companionship. Before long, they came across a cave, the sign reading "Union Cave." How ironic. Kane let Zander take the lead at this point, using his aura powers to navigate the place. They easily avoided other trainers, and most wild pokemon. Once they managed to get out of the cave, they saw the famous Slowpoke well. "Think we should make a brief detour?" Zander asked simply. "Well, this is practically a wild Swanna chase anyway…" Kane replied, with a slight shrug. They then dropped down into the well, to investigate a bit. However, there was hardly anything of interest… So, they left and headed into the town. As they entered the town, Kane returned Zander for the time being. As he started asking around, most people told him to have a chat with a "Kurt." So, he got pointed to the man's house, and knocked on the door. "Come in! The door's open," a reply came from inside. So, Kane opened the door and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He glanced around the house a moment, before spotting the man who must be Kurt, who appeared to be… working on pokeballs? No matter. "Hello, you must be Kurt, yes?" Kane asked, looking at the man. "Yes. I'm assuming you want me to make you some Pokeballs, but you'll have to get in line, I've got a lot of orders stacked up." The man said in reply. "I'm afraid not sir; I'm looking for someone. An old friend of mine… Rumor has it, she's been through town recently, and you can help me track her down." Kane said, leaning against the door, as the man turned to face him, examining him. "Well... There've been a lot of people in town, you'll have to describe them for me and I'll see what I know." Kurt said, somewhat hesitantly. "I'm looking for a girl, about my age, brown hair, and she probably had an Espeon with her." Kane said, going on memory and recently gained information. "Alright well, here's the deal kid... You look like the suspicious type, and that girl just run out a gang of shady people, so I wouldn't be too keen on revealing her whereabouts even if I actually knew at the moment, because I don't want you going after her. I'm afraid you're going to have to ask someone else." Kurt explained. "Look man, I don't want any trouble, not with you, the town, or with her. Now, I'm trying to be nice, you don't know what I've been through. So, what can you tell me, about where she is?" Kane asked, starting to get slightly annoyed. "I don't want trouble either, so why don't you just go look yourself. This town owes her for saving all of our slowpoke and if you're a part of that gang then I just can't tell you anything about her whereabouts. It'll at least give her some time to escape. If you're really her friend you'd know where she's going." Kurt said starting to get pissed. "I don't know what gang you're talking about, and I don't care. Furthermore, maybe I screwed up our friendship for awhile, and I'm trying to fix it. Did THAT ever occur to you? Now, I'm going to ask you, one, more, time. Where, is, my, friend?" Kane said, about ready to lose his temper at this man. "Well if you screwed up your friendship, maybe she doesn't want to talk to you. All you're doing is losing time you could be spending looking for her. Leave an old man be." Kurt said, Kane losing it right about then. "Alright, look pal! I'm not from around here, neither is she. This is a wild Swanna chase on my end, unless I get a little help." Kane said, pushing the old man up against the wall, his forearm against the man's throat. "So, where the HELL IS MY FRIEND!?" Kane asked, having lost his temper by this point. Kurt simply spat on Kane's boots. "Alright, now you have crossed the line. Where the HELL is my friend?! You know something, and you will tell me! You will tell me, or so help me Arceus, I will shove that slowpoke so far up your ass you'll be-" Thus was as far as Kane had gotten, before Kurt yelled out. "Fey! Help!" Kane barely registered a severe pain, and a loud crash. Sometime later, Kane woke up. He looked around, and noticed the walls of stone, and briefly wondered if he was in some kind of dungeon. However, in a dungeon, he would be bound to a wall, and said walls would not be moving. Then he realized, somehow, he had been seated on a small group of slowpoke. He promptly stumbled off of them, noticed a note, and released Zander. "I see the interrogation went well." Zander said, to which Kane simply flipped him the Pidgey. He then looked over the note, reading it aloud.
"The girl you're looking for is gone. Go back home and try to live life to the fullest rather than getting into trouble.
-Fey
PS: If you hurt Kurt I WILL knock you out again, and drag you somewhere far worse than Slowpoke Well."
They got back to town, despite the pain in the back of Kane's head, and went to Kurt's house. As they expected however, it was deserted. Kane wrote a reply on the note. "Either you're more closely involved than you'd like me to think, or you're just nosy. If the latter is the case, then you should stay out of my life. If it's the former, then I'm afraid trouble will find me anywhere. May as well have it serve a purpose." They sighed, left the note, and decided to head to the pokemon center. As they approached the front doors however, Zander stopped for a moment, hesitated. Something that was not like him. Kane cast him a glance. "She was here… I'm certain of it…" Zander said, as Kane gave him a puzzled look. Then his eyes widened. She had been there. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? After all, that was one of the main points of aura! Kane face-palmed at his obvious mistake. Oh well, they'd still track her down. For now though, they simply entered the pokemon center. "Hey Nurse Joy…" Kane said some what groggily to the cheery nurse. "Good morning, how can I help you today?" She asked, in a kind, friendly voice. "I just need some pain pills, that's all." Kane said simply, as Nurse Joy nodded, and went to the back, returning with a small canister of little blue and red pills. "Thank you, we'll be on our way now." Next on the list, Ilex Forest. As Kane and Zander walked up to the entrance to the forest, Kane had already had a few pain pills, and was ready to get through the forest. However, as they got lost, night soon fell upon them. Having hoped to get out before then, they didn't have much time to set up camp, so barely bothered. However, as Zander slept, and Kane was about to retire for the night, he heard something in the distance. Grabbing a knife, he approached the sound, only to see a crumpled shape that could only belong to a Zubat. However, it was injured, and didn't look like it would recover before it became a prey item, or died of starvation itself. So, he brought it back to the campsite, and tended its wounds, before finally falling asleep. In the morning, he saw the Zubat was still with them, but also noticed, for the first time in the dappled light, that it was shiny. Zander woke up soon after Kane, and as they packed up their sleeping bags, as that was about as much of a 'camp' as they had set up. Then, the zubat awoke, and feeling better, and able to move its wing, looked up at them, before trying to communicate. Zander responded in kind, and the conversation lasted a short while, before Zander turned to Kane. "She says she wants to join us." Zander said simply, telepathically. "R-really? Awesome. Does she have a name?" Kane asked, as Zander turned to the shiny zubat, and they conversed a moment. Then, Zander turned back to Kane. "No, but she says she's open for ideas." Zander replied, as Kane turned thoughtful. "How about, Jodi?" Kane asked, as the Zubat promptly nodded her approval. "Well, welcome aboard Jodi." Kane said, pulling out a Premier Ball, and gently tapping the zubat on her head with the Premier Ball. Once captured, he released her once more, and she perched on his shoulder. "Well, looks like our next stop is Goldenrod City." Kane said, as they started to move toward the exit of the forest.