Chapter Nine: Choosing Paths
The rhythmic pounding of the rain hitting against leaves and dirt did little to cover up the noise of Rin's sobs, the sounds amplified as they bounced off of the close cave walls, despite the fact that she had pressed her face into the soft fur of her Poochyena partner. Salem let her do it, pressing back against her cheek, needing the comfort almost as much as she did. Something about the stranger he and his trainer had met in the woods had set his teeth on edge, had made his fur stand on end, and then he had smelled The other Pokémon the man had been carrying. They had smelled wrong. And then he sensed anguish roll over Rin, nearly the same emotion she had felt on The day they had met one another, and his instinct to protect her had flared. So he let her cry herself out while she hugged him a little too tight, listening to the sound of the rain.
When her tears finally stopped flowing and her breathing was reduced to shaky pants, Rin at last lifted her head, sniffling loudly. " sorry Salem. That encounter hit a little too close to home." She croaked, Her voice sounding scratchy and congested. He whined in response, nuzzling up under her chin in reassurance and giving his tail a wag.
Managing a weak laugh, Rin rubbed the spot just between his ears before relaxing her hold. Settling him onto her legs as she stretched them out. She grimaced at the ache in her muscles, Somewhat stiff after sitting for so long. As she readjusted, she finally noticed that she and Salem hadn't been as alone while she had cried as she had thought they had been. But she now noticed that one of the baby Vulpix had made their way over to her at one point and had curled up next to her hip, laying a tiny paw on her thigh. Blinking with surprise, Rin tentatively reached out her hand to pet the little fire type's head, the Vulpix responding with a squeak and a tiny shiver that might have been the start of a wag in her single White tail.
" thank you little one. I'm feeling much better now." Rin whispered, rubbing The side of one of her fingers against the Vulpix's cheek, offering a gentle smile.
At this point, Salem leaned in towards the Vulpix, bumping her with the end of his nose before he licked One of her pointed ears. She yipped, giving her head a vigorous shake that made her ears flap, Before another tremble wiggled her tail. The Ninetails interfered at this point, releasing a croon That had her kit springing up onto her paws and racing towards the back of the cave, heading for the soft nest of leaves her mother and sibling were laying in.
Rin smiled after the little Pokémon. She was feeling remarkably better at this point, still sad, still worried, but The emotional release of crying combined with the comfort emanating from the Pokémon around her eased those emotions into a more manageable state. She felt as if she could go on, instead of wallowing in grief. Shifting her weight again, Her legs protesting the action, Rin managed to slip her backpack from her shoulders, the bag falling with the soft thud to the cave floor.
" I don't know about you Salem, but I could really use some food. And something dry to wear."
As expected, Salem had been thrilled by the idea of eating, but had inevitably grown restless when the food had proven as uninteresting to watch cook as it had been the first time. He had eventually drifted towards the back of the cave, Where he and the Vulpix siblings had started to play at one point, carefully watched by the protective Ninetails. Rin had pulled off her wet clothes, replacing them with her pajama bottoms and shirt after drying herself as best she could with a washcloth she had among her belongings, and had laid out her wet things to dry. She had set up her flashlight to reflect off the low ceiling and provide them all with light, had gotten the food cooking, splashed her face with some water to wash away the residue of her tears, And had spread out her sleeping bag against one wall.
Sitting atop her sleeping bag now, Rin was working out the last of the braid her hair had been in as she watched Salem get team tackled to the ground. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the excited Pokémon enjoying themselves in their game and she caught Salem shooting her a triumphant look. She realized then that he had been hoping his and the baby Pokémon's antics would cheer her up. She grinned knowingly at him, but any reaction he would've made was covered up when one of the Vulpix landed on his face.
Eventually, the pot of food began hissing, signaling that it was ready by releasing the excess steam. Salem instantly scrambled to his paws and bounded over, tail wagging. In contrast, the Ninetails and her kits appeared startled, the Vulpix fleeing to hide under their mother's tails. Ninetails sat up, a quiet growl issuing from her throat. Rin immediately lifted her hands in response, worried that her stove, or her self, was about to get a flamethrower.
"Wait! It's all right! It's just the food letting us know it's ready to eat! I didn't mean for it to startle you." She blurted, Hastily explaining.
The growling slowly stopped, but Ninetails still looked as if she were ready to spring across the cave and attack should that action be necessary. Eyeing Rin and the now quiet pot, she waited to act. Rin took several slow breaths, trying to decelerate the beating of her heart, and carefully reached for the lid of the pot, her every move being scrutinized. Salem pressed up against her knee, his own gaze locked onto the fire fox as she lifted the lid and set it aside. Immediately, the smell of tomatoes, cheese, and pasta wafted through the cave and the Ninetails reactively twitched her nose, sniffing at the air.
"See? Just food." Rin murmured soothingly. " I even made some for you and your little ones if you want it. To say thank you for letting us stay here."
As Rin slowly separated out three bowls of penne noodles, she noticed with relief that the Ninetails seemed to be relaxing the longer nothing dangerous happened. By the time she carefully got to her feet with one of the bowls and approached the mother Pokémon, she even felt as if she wasn't going to get attacked immediately. Not wanting to push her luck, she set the bowl down a few feet away before retreating back to her sleeping bag. Resettling herself, Rin offered One of the remaining bowls to Salem before picking up her own and collecting the fork she had set aside.
Spearing a couple of noodles on the end of her fork,Rin tried not to look uncomfortable under the piercing gaze of Ninetails as she placed the bite into her mouth. At her side, Salem still hadn't shifted his own attention from the fire type, despite the fact that there was a fresh bowl of food in front of his paws. Rin gently nudged him, finally breaking his concentration, and pointed her fork at his food.
"Eat. The more normal you behave, the quicker she'll relax." She said, Taking another bite.
The Poochyena mix blinked down at the bowl as if surprised to find it in front of him. Glancing up quickly to make sure that his trainer was eating first, he then crouched low and licked up One of the noodles. He snorted once, giving his head a quick shake, before casting a sideways squint at Rin. Before she could question him, he had gone back to eating. Apparently, Salem wasn't a big fan of tomatoes. Or cheese. She couldn't quite tell which it was that he objected to.
On The other side of the cave, Ninetails had finally taken a tentative step towards the bowl Rin had left, sniffing carefully at the pasta. Apparently, if the strangers she had let into her home were eating it, it wasn't going to hurt her. She took a small bite, Clearly hesitant, before that was followed by another, and another. She crooned to her kits after that, Calling them over to try some of the strange food, and Rin had The opportunity to enjoy the site of the little family excitedly eating the noodles together. They obviously didn't object to tomato sauce. She turned a small smile on her partner that he never saw before returning to her dinner.
As the quiet sounds of eating filled The atmosphere, the occasional unexpected hard click or rattle of her fork against the side of her bowl gave Rin a few surprises. As her hand gave yet another involuntary twitch, making the fork poke painfully into her lip, she frowned at her robotic fingers as she ran her tongue over the sore spot. Setting the fork carefully into the bowl on top of the last of her noodles, the young woman held up her hand in front of her face, watching as small twitches and shivers passed through the fingers and down into the arm. She had thought that the involuntary movements had been caused by stress earlier, but with her emotions almost back to normal, she couldn't understand why the shaking was still happening. Setting down her bowl, Rin started inspecting her artificial limb, running The fingers of her normal hand along the ridges and grooves. Salem took notice at this point, abandoning a half eaten noodle as he sat up, whining worriedly as he watched his trainer inspect her arm.
"...I don't know. Not yet." Rin responded to his supposed inquiry, working her fingers further down the robotic limb. " my arm isn't acting right... I think-" Her voice trailed off as her fingertips found a gap That shouldn't have been there.
Twisting her arm over, she saw that a section near her elbow, on the outer edge of her arm where the ball joint fitted into the socket of her forearm, the metal had developed a small dent. Not only that, but the seam where the two pieces of metal met together in that area had partially opened up, exposing the wiring underneath. As she squinted at the deformation, she thought she saw a partially severed wire.
"...Which would explain the twitching." She murmured to herself, eyes growing distant as she thought over the last few days, trying to pinpoint something that had happened that would have resulted in damage to her arm.
Apparently growing impatient by the lack of information, Salem barked sharply to draw his trainer's attention to him. When she blinked at the sudden sound and looked down at him, he huffed, flattening his ears.
"Oh, sorry Salem." Rin smiled apologetically, readjusting so that she could twist her arm over and give Salem a look at what she had discovered. " I can't be positive, but I think that when that man shot a dart at me earlier, it hit just the right spot to actually cause some damage." She then pointed at the dent and gap.
The Poochyena mix growled at the memory of the stranger, briefly baring his teeth. He then gave Rin a concerned look, Grasping only that she was hurt in some way.
" I'm fine." She automatically responded. "Really." She added as Salem continued to look unconvinced. "And besides, there's nothing I can do about it right now. I don't have the tools, or the knowledge, to fix it anyway. I'll just have to get it checked out when we get to the next city."
Sighing at the idea that she would have to wait until they reached Silverbank to get the involuntary twitching to stop, Rin then made a mental effort to focus her thoughts on something more positive. She didn't like focusing on dark topics for too Long if she could help it, especially since she had developed the habit after the years of therapy she had faced.
"Do you remember me talking about what kind of future I wanted for this journey?" Rin started, Hoping that the change of subject would help dispel the stormy mood around Salem as well. He did at least respond by lifting his ears from where they had been pressing against his skull, though he still looked somewhat sullen. "Well, I still am undecided about exactly which kind of battle challenge is the right fit, I'm pretty sure we won't be dressing up for contests or start researching breeding, so we'll be fighting more often."
By this point, Salem was looking considerably more interested, Even though Rin could tell that a lot of what she was saying was still going over the Poochyena's head.
"We need to train more. Not just to be better in battles, but if we run into another situation like we had with that man earlier. I need to stop dragging my feet over moving forward in this journey. I want to help you get stronger. I want- oof!"
Having a Pokémon jump straight into your stomach was quite an effective way of stopping any form of speech Rin found out as a rather excited Salem leapt into her lap, slamming into her diaphragm. And before she had caught her breath, he had already hopped back onto the ground and taken up a ready stance, looking at her expectantly.
"Okay..." Rin groaned as she massaged her stomach. "I'm glad to know that your tackle is in top shape. But how about we practice on something that's not me, since I'm assuming you think training is a good idea."
Salem managed to look sheepish for a brief moment before his excitement won out once more, dancing on his front paws until Rin laughed.
"Alright! You've made your point." She conceded, ruffling the fur on his head before pulling over her backpack and opening up the side pocket to retrieve her Pokédex.
Doing her best to ignore any twitches from her arm, Rin opened up the device, turned it on, and selected The option for team information and refreshed her memory on the moves that Salem Was likely to know. Chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip, she glanced up and around the cave, trying to decide the best way to handle training. There weren't any convenience sticks laying around this time, nor was she going to have Salem attack the nearby wild Pokémon, and rocks didn't seem like the smartest thing to try and bite... Digging around in her bag once more, she found the empty spray container of the potion she had used on Salem after their fight with Anna, Having forgotten to throw it away when they had been in Timberfall. It wasn't the ideal training target, but it had to be better than a rock.
"It's not perfect, but it's what I have at the moment. You're going to attack this empty potion." Rin instructed, getting up and putting the empty spray bottle in the middle of the cave floor, making sure to keep it away from Ninetails and her kits to avoid potential conflict. On her way back to the sleeping bag, she collected the bowls and set them out of the way. "I'll try to find something better to attack in the future. For now, why don't you try out scratch?" She mimicked a scratching motion with one of her hands to help get the point across.
Salem looked from her to the empty potion and back again before he finally lifted one of his front paws and copied her gesture, swiping his foot through the air. He quickly glanced at his trainer to make sure that he was doing it right, receiving an encouraging nod in return.
"Nnow try it on the bottle."
Taking a hesitant step towards the potion, Salem once again lifted his paw and swiped at it. The empty bottle skittered across the floor and, encouraged by Rin, the Poochyena mix hurried after it, looking pleased with himself. There came another click of claws on plastic as Salem batted The empty container in the opposite direction. He then improvised tactics, pouncing onto the potion bottle, pinning it down with one paw and raking his surprisingly sharp claws across The surface with the other, leaving furrows behind.
"Now bite it! If we can practice getting your bites stronger, you can start making opponents flinch." Rin instructed, once Salem had gouged several lines into the plastic.
Quick as thinking, the Poochyena leaned his head down and snapped at the empty potion. The first couple of bites glanced off of the irregular shape, but eventually he managed to fit his teeth around it, biting down as hard as he could. Getting into the training now, Salem dropped the bottle, leaped over it, whirled around to bat it away with another scratch, and then raced after the bouncing container and grabbed it between his teeth.
After a few more bites, Rin could hear the hard plastic starting to crack under the abuse, so she moved on to her next command. "Drop it and use ember."
Obediently opening his jaws to let the potion clatter to the ground, Salem concentrated on building the fire in his mouth before shooting the flames at his target. The shot was a bit off center, but it still managed to blacken part of the container. Huffing slightly, Salem repeated the move, managing to hit more squarely the second time, and he snorted with satisfaction.
"That's great Salem!" Rin grinned at her partner encouragingly, getting up from her spot on the sleeping bag and moving in for a closer look. " I think we should work on cutting The time down next though. The more time you take building up your fire, the more Time your opponent has to react."
With a quick nod of his head in understanding, Salem squared his little shoulders, Opened his mouth, and built up another small ball of fire. He scorched The bottle again, quickly licked his lips, and concentrated on going even faster. The second attack did manage to form a Little more quickly, however Salem still looked frustrated at the slow progress. But just as he had opened his mouth again, both he and Rin jumped with surprise as a light golden head moved into the space between them from behind.
Ninetails regarded their shocked expressions passively for a moment before giving off a slight air of amusement with a sniff. She then turned her focus towards Salem, addressing the Poochyena in a series of wavering notes and yips. And although Rin didn't understand a word of it, she couldn't help but feel as if the fire type had taken an interest in the training session and was offering some advice. A moment later, as if to confirm her suspicion, Ninetails opened her own mouth, quickly built up a small flame, and shot it out in front of her. Without giving them time to blink, she rapidly fired off three more embers, The flames flying through the air and out into the darkening rain. The entire process had only taken a handful of seconds.
Salem looked considerably impressed, and Rin even had to admit that she was a little awestruck herself. Then she smiled.
"Well, I think we just found you an excellent teacher."
Together, the three of them had trained hard, until Salem could barely keep his eyes open and started stumbling every other step. Even Rin was feeling exhausted by the end of it, yawning every few minutes. Not wanting to make her partner train so diligently without putting in any effort herself, she had worked with Ninetails to try and teach Salem a move that normally Poochyena couldn't learn, she had sprinted around the cave in tandem with the fire fox, holding out her robotic hand in several different places and trying to get Salem to dart around in order to tap a paw or his nose against her palm, or Ninetails's leg. In The end, they hadn't been able to teach Salem The quick attack they had been going for, but it helped hone the Poochyena mix's agility and started the process of building up his endurance.
Body shuddering with a huge yawn, Rin gratefully climbed into her sleeping bag after going through the process of brushing her teeth and washing her face. Plumping the small pillow extension on the bag into a more comfortable position, she pressed her cheek into the soft fabric with a long sigh. With a yawn of his own, Salem wormed his way into the sleeping bag, curling up next to his trainer's chest, and dropped his head onto her extended arm like a pillow. Rin chuckled sleepily, Keeping her eyes open only long enough to turn off the flashlight before she put her hand on Salem's back, giving him a brief scratch before relaxing. His only response was to snuggle closer. And together, they drifted into the world of dreams.
The storm had finally died out in the early hours of the morning, The clouds breaking up just enough at the edges that the moon was visible as it started to sink below the horizon. By the time it was ready for the sun to be coming up, the dark mass of storm clouds had moved on, leaving behind their gentler, fluffier counterparts to blanket the sky and white. The sun barely managed to filter through the obstruction, bathing the Misted Wood in a grey, washed out light, but it provided just enough illumination that when it entered the cave, Rin stirred.
Moaning softly, Rin squinted at the mouth of the small cave, wishing she could sleep just a little bit longer. But now that she was conscious, her stomach protested loudly that it was being neglected, the late lunch she had eaten yesterday having been far too long ago. Closing her eyes again with a soft sigh, Rin mentally prepared herself to sit up, Before readjusting so that she could lift her self up on her elbow.
She almost wished she hadn't.
It felt like every muscle in her body was protesting the movement, her legs stiff from all the running, her abdomen sore after the bout of crying, and her arm... She wasn't exactly sure what she had done to make the muscles in her arm so sore, but she thought it might have had something to do with her run through the woods yesterday. Perhaps she had hit a tree... Biting her lower lip, Rin forced herself into a seated position, wrinkling her nose as she straightened out her legs.
Still partially inside the sleeping bag, Salem snorted as the movement roused him from sleep. He cracked open one eye before lifting his head and blinking groggily around. After spotting nothing of particular interest, he yawned, and squinted up at his trainer.
"Hey, Salem," she rasped, Coughing to clear her throat. "You feeling yesterday's adventure too?"
In response, Salem grunted before slowly sitting up himself. His nose similarly wrinkled as his own muscles protested, but with a grumble, he slipped out of the sleeping bag and started stretching his legs and back. Rin chuckled at him sympathetically.
"You know, that's probably not a bad idea." Working her self out of the sleeping bag as well, Rin grimaced as she started stretching out her aching muscles too. After a little while, it even seemed to help. "I'm sure this will get easier if we consistently train.," she groaned as she leaned over to touch her toes.
Salem didn't offer any opinion as each of them continued to stretch, loosening up their muscles. When some time had passed and both were feeling considerably more limber, they sat next to one another on the sleeping bag as Rin sorted through some of her food supplies in her backpack.
" I forgot I had packed some fresh fruit yesterday," she murmured as she polled out a paper bag with a few pieces of fruit inside that she had purchased when she had gotten breakfast The day before. "I had been planning on having these for lunch yesterday... We'd better eat them now so that they don't go bad."
Paper crackling, Rin reached inside and pulled out a couple of oranges, a pair of bananas, and a small plastic container that had been in a bag of ice, but was now just water. Freeing the tub of honey dew, she shook off some of the excess water before she pulled out her last clean bowl and let the water from the bag out into it. Digging out her small pocket knife, she then went to work on removing the peels from the oranges..
Ninetails and her kits had woken up at this point and were watching curiously, the two tiny Vulpix energetically racing over to stand to either side of Salem. Apparently, the little family had completely accepted Rin and her partner at this point. Glad to be out of the threat of being burned, Rin willingly included the fire foxes as she divvied up the fruit. She also got out a couple of Pokébites for each of the Pokémon, which Salem was rather excited about.
Breakfast went by quickly, with a granola bar supplementing Rin's portion, and the young woman had her things packed up and tidy, a fresh set of clothes on, and her hair in a ponytail a short time later. She stifled a grumble as she slipped her backpack onto her shoulders and her left arm complained about the weight, managing to put a smile on her face as she slipped the strap of the sling that held her egg over her head and headed out of the cave. For a moment, She wavered at the entrance, her smile faltering as she noticed the little body of the mutated Vulpix had been covered in a pile of leaves, Hiding it from view. Sucking in a deep breath to steady herself, She glanced over at nine tails, who had joined them at the entrance.
" i'm sorry about your son," Rin murmured saufley, hesitating for a moment before she crouched down and wrapped her arms gently around the fire fox. "Thank you for letting us stay here."
Again, Ninetails flinched at the unexpected contact, but quickly relaxed once more as she pressed her nose under Rin's ear. The girl giggled at the cold contact before squeezing tighter for one heartbeat and then retreating, wiping a tear away from her face. Salem darted in at this point, nuzzling up against the Ninetails and receiving a gentle swipe of her tongue across the top of his head before he said his goodbyes to the Vulpix siblings. Then, together, he and Rin turned and headed off into the rain washed forest.
The rain had succeeded in making everything somewhat damp, but Rin had always enjoyed the fresh, clean feeling to the air that always followed after a good storm, so she was relishing the trek through the woods. The clean air was doing wonders for her anxiety, pushing them to the back of her mind with each lungful. By midmorning, she even found herself smiling more often than not.
Salem picked up on her improving mood and seemed to feed off of it, working himself up into a joyous state. He gamboled about frequently, took to trotting ahead to keep a look out for anything of interest he wanted to steer his trainer towards, and practically exploded with excitement when she brought up battling against some of the wild Pokémon they might encounter in the forest.
Struck with humor over the similarities of when she had brought up training the first time, Rin laughed as Salem once again started hunting around for any other Pokémon that he could locate, tail twitching with anticipation. Trying not to put a damper on his enthusiasm, Rin started looking around her self, attempting to sight any of the wildlife before her partner. Luckily, she spotted the Spearow pecking at the ground off to their left before Salem caught sight of it and inevitably would have gone hurrying over and gotten into a battle without her.
"Salem," Rin started in a soft voice as she crouched down and stopped her partner by placing her hands on his sides, "I can see a Spearow we can fight, but I want to try sneaking up on it. Sometimes you need to be quiet when dealing with wild Pokémon, because they might run away otherwise."
Salem quivered with excitement, twitching as if any moment he would shoot forward, but managed to hold himself back, impressing Rin. Both of them still had learning to do, but she hoped that with practice and maturity, she'd be able to train him not to run headlong into every battle they came across whenever she brought up training in the future.
"It's to our left," she then whispered, directing Salem's gaze with a point of her finger. "I'd like you to try getting as close as you can without letting it hear you. Once you're in striking distance, I want you to tackle."
Salem thought it over for a moment before he huffed in agreement, relaxing his muscles and crouching down when she finally let go of him. Slowly, he started forward, the end of his tail twitching along with his nose. A few Times, he had started to speed up, but caught himself mid stride and froze, collecting his excitement before starting off again.
Rin couldn't help but bite at her lower lip as she monitored his progress from a spot behind a tree, almost as excited as her partner at the possibility of a battle. She saw him get within a yard or so of the bird before it suddenly lifted its head, squinting in Salem's direction. She hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until her Poochyena suddenly exploded out of the bush he had been crouched within, racing The last bit of distance and tackling the Spearow before it could take flight. But her breath escaped her now with a huff of relief as she hurried forward to get in on the action.
"Don't let it get away Salem! Bite it!"
He responded quickly to her shout, lowering his muzzle and biting down on one of the Spearow's struggling wings. It screeched angrily, pecking hard at Salem's nose and causing him to yelp and release his hold. The Poochyena stumbled back a step, giving the Spearow The opportunity to wiggle free and hop away several steps before it turned back towards its attacker and glared. Salem flinched slightly, but bared his teeth in a silent growl in reply.
"Try and tackle it again! Pinning it down was a good idea," Rin instructed, her heart pounding in her chest at the energy of the fight.
Salem shot forward, nails digging into the soft ground, and tried to tackle the Spearow once again. But it managed to step aside at the last moment, delivering a sharp stab with it's beak on Salem's back. Luckily, the hit bounced off of one of the boney ridges he had there, causing the bird Pokémon to reel back with surprise. It recovered quickly however, flapping its wings furiously as it chased after Salem and started a barrage of quick pecks at every inch it could reach of the Poochyena. Salem grit his teeth under the assault, taking a few steps back, but released a defiant snarl and shoved his way forward, planting his shoulder against the bird's chest and knocking it off balance. With a look of triumph, he pinned the Spearow beneath his front paws and opened his jaws wide. Taking the initiative, he quickly built up and then shot out a small ball of fire That hit the Spearow directly in the face.
"Looks like it's just about finished! Use bite One more time," Rin cheered, pushing back the instinctive worry for her partner at the idea of him getting hurt while battling. He enjoyed it, so she should support him.
Salem happily complied by opening his mouth wide once again, peeling his lips back from his fangs, and bit down hard on the Spearow's other wing. The bird Pokémon squawked weakly in protest, squirming one last time in an attempt to wiggle free, but collapsed back into unconsciousness. There was a moment of stillness before Salem snorted loudly, jumping backwards off the Spearow and turning a toothy grin on Rin. He trotted over to her quickly, placing his front paws on one of her knees.
"You did it! I'm so proud of you," Rin crowed, Picking up her partner and hugging him close to her chest before spinning him around. Salem snorted happily in return at the praise, his tail wiggling fast enough that it was starting to go in a circle.
"Do you feel up for another battle?" Rin put the Poochyena mix back on his feet as she asked, ready to dive into more training now that her mind was made up, and he barked excitedly in answer.
As the day was starting to head into the afternoon hours, and after Salem had successfully come out on top in a battle against a Wurmple and a Hoothoot they had accidentally woken up, Rin felt her stomach starting to growl. Pushing aside a low hanging branch, she quickly glanced around at yet another small clearing and couldn't help but sigh. She hoped they would come across the path soon. With the sun still hiding behind the clouds, she couldn't tell which direction they were heading and her Pokédex didn't have a compass installed on it. Making a mental note to get the program onto her device at the next Pokémon center, she started off across the clearing.
"If we don't find the path in the next five minutes, we're going to stop and have some lunch," Rin informed her partner, glancing down at him as he walked beside her.
Salem glanced up with a hopeful expression. Rin noticed that he had started walking with a slight limp, Though she hadn't remembered him getting hit on any of his feet. She supposed he could have gotten a bruise on his hip when the Hoothoot had barreled into his side before it had made an escape...
"And we can see if there are any oran or sitrus berries growing nearby. I think I remember them being able to help with speeding up healing. Or i'll just use another potion," she added thoughtfully, pausing to scoop Salem into her arms. He sighed gratefully, relaxing his head back against her collarbone. Rubbing at his chest fur, Rin started walking again.
But after nearly ten minutes had gone by, they still hadn't found the path. Frowning to her self, Rin turned her steps in the direction of what she thought was water, a soft gurgling noise catching her attention. Stepping around a thick clump of bushes, she found herself standing at the edge of a small Spring fed pond, edged partially with bushes and flowers, nestled on one side of a small meadow. Her scowl turning into a look of happiness at the unexpected surprise of such a serene setting, she quickly headed over to the clear Area and set Salem on his feet, settling down next to the edge of the water her self.
"Well," she said softly as she looked around, "I'm glad we found such a beautiful place to take a break. But... i'm sorry to say that we are definitely lost."