"Because of you, we took the wrong path, dumbass!"

"Don't curse," Tsuna mumbled, looking down at his shoes. Mira and Dante gave Gokudera a glare that he didn't catch.

Yamamoto laughed. "You don't have to be so angry. It's pretty foggy, you know? We can always go back."

Tsuna cringed when Gokudera whirled around, scowling. Even through the mist, Tsuna could see how angry the other boy was. "We're not going anywhere, and I'm pretty damn sure we're just walking in circles at this point! Why did you have to go off on your own like that? Tenth almost went crazy when you disappeared!"

Okay, that was a bit of a stretch. Yamamoto only disappeared for like, 2 minutes before Ace led him back to the group. The fog was pretty thick and Tsuna only screamed once, okay? Hibari was a couple of steps behind them, something about "crowding herbivores". Tsuna knew he was still around because Fairy always called for him every few minutes that they were nearby; and for some reason, Fairy wanted him to respond with some kind of affirmative.

"Cleffa!"

Tsuna sighed. "Yeah, I'm alive." He watched Gokudera yelling Yamamoto's ear off for a few more minutes. "Hey, guys. Uh, guys, we should just—"

"—on't need a map!" Gokudera said, shaking Yamamoto by the collar. "I know every route in every region like the back of my fu—"

"Guys!" Everyone froze. Bacchus yawned, all comfortable in Tsuna's arms, and blinked once before snoozing again. "We're going to find a nice camping site and settle, okay? Stop screaming at each other. There's nothing we can do about the fog. We'll wait until it goes away."

"I'm sorry, Tenth!" Gokudera said in near tears.

Tsuna sighed. "Let's just find a spot for tonight."

"Cleffa!"

"Yes, I'm not dead yet!"

It took more time convincing his Pokémon to stay put than Gokudera from strangling Yamamoto to death. In the end, Tsuna managed to have most of his overly-clingy party stay put and guard their things in exchange for more food (and cuddles) when he returned. He couldn't do anything about Hibari, who was napping in a tree, unless he wanted to get punched in the face, so Fairy was left with the responsibility of making sure he didn't die or whatever. Gokudera and Yamamoto went separate ways to gather firewood since Tsuna was pretty sure Gokudera would find some ways to stab Yamamoto with sticks or worse. With Ace and Bacchus in tow, Tsuna went off to find some berry trees.

"Why don't you ever walk on your own?" he said, shifting the sleeping Bulbasaur in his arms. "And stop sleeping for once. You're like Hibari. I'm surprised you guys even function at all."

Bacchus yawned. "Saur…"

Tsuna flushed. "I'm not nagging! What are you—" He winced when Ace suddenly flapped his wings and tugged his hair with his claws. "What? Oh!"

He stopped in front of a tall tree and squinted when he looked up. The fog made it a little difficult to see, but he was pretty sure those were Oran Berries. "Ace, could you drop some?" He placed Bacchus carefully on the ground and unzipped his bag. "Ready when you are."

Ace trilled an affirmative and flew up, disappearing in the haze. Soon, blue berries fell from the tree. "Hey, hey, hey, slow down! I don't need this much! Ace, this is—Oof!" Tsuna tripped over a root and fell but didn't reach the floor. Instead, he was held up mid-air thanks to Bacchus' vines. "Thanks…"

"Saur…"

"I'm not clumsy! I can't see through the fog!"

After Bacchus set him down, Tsuna peered inside his bag and nodded. "This should be more than enough. Here." He crouched, handing Bacchus an Oran Berry. "It tastes good." While the Bulbasaur nibbled on the sweet treat, Ace flew down for his share, too.

Smiling, Tsuna petted them both. It was really nice to have them with him, even if they were pretty clingy. It didn't make him feel so lonely. He stopped for a moment and strained his ear. A strange sound came from the distance. It sounded like…a treadmill? Standing up with Bacchus in his arms, Tsuna looked towards the direction from where it was coming from.

And followed it like an idiot.

Before he could berate himself for being so stupid, he blinked when he saw some candlelight in the distance. Were there other people here? And who would work out on a treadmill in the forest?

"—ernce in a Venomoth's dark and light scales?" someone said. He sounded like he was Tsuna's age.

"I—I'm not—Can I stop?" another boy panted out. "I can't really think…"

"Hey, hey, hey, keep running!" a third boy said. "We're not even close to finishing yet!"

"You didn't answer in time. I'm increasing the speed, Enma."

"H—Huh? Wait, no!"

There was a loud crash and a yelp before Tsuna finally approached the group. He gasped when he saw a redhead boy on the ground, groaning in pain. "A—Are you okay?"

"Who are you?" one of the boys said, making Tsuna freeze in place. All of them were wearing the same blue uniforms. "You're not a student and you're trespassing on school property."

Tsuna blinked. "School property…?"

The fog dissipated, revealing a large, fancy school with white bricks and orange rooftops. The gates had an elegant inscription: Pokémon Technical Academy. Tsuna gaped. Since when was there a school like this? And in the middle of the woods? When he looked back at the group, the other boys were gone, except for the one named Enma. What the…

"A—Are you okay?" Tsuna said, grimacing at the amount of Band-Aids on Enma's face. He couldn't reach out a hand because Bacchus liked being deadweight in his arms, and Ace pulled him back by the hair. "Um, yeah, I'd—Can you stand?"

Enma gave him a shaky smile, but it looked more like a wince. "I can, just… You should leave. It's not good if you stay longer."

"Huh? Why? And where did those guys go?"

Standing, Enma pursed his lips. "Really, I insist."

"But—"

"Who are you?"

Both boys flinched when a shadow loomed over them. Ace flapped his wings more out of surprise than aggression. Tsuna paled at the sight of a tall girl with black hair in a high ponytail—and she looked furious.

"You're not a student," the girl said, glaring at Tsuna. "What were you doing to Enma? Who gave you authorization?"

Enma laughed weakly. "Um, Adelheid, you're—"

His friend didn't listen. Tsuna felt a sense of dread when she took out a PokéBall from her belt. "You're going to regret messing with him."

Didn't she see the treadmill and the boys and the—Ah, crap, Tsuna was screwed. The PokéBall was already in the air before he could try to make a case for himself.

"Cloyster!"

A/N Bacchus is a mood.

Much thanks to my wonderful beta, nico~

Thank you for reading! I hope to see you again in the next chapter.

Have a lovely day~

Little Miss Bunny