"Hello there, friend! And who might you be?" she smiled, gesturing for Riley to sit down. "I see! Pleasure to meet you, Riley! Would you like to tell me what you're into?" ... "No? That's okay, I won't pry, then! Hopefully I'll learn as I get to know you!" She, too sat down. "I suppose getting to know you means introducing myself as well. My name is Ayaka, and I'm a botanist. People from all over Chinocko come in person to buy the flowers that I grow in my greenhouse! I don't do shipping because the vehicles often are known for damaging plants. A shame, right?"

She got up and went over to the counter, and poured a glass of lemonade for Riley. She handed it to him tentatively, silently asking him if he wanted it. He grinned and took it! He was parched, really! What a pleasant solution! Lemonade!

"I bet you're here because you like plants, right? Well, if you wanted to buy some, I would gladly sell them to you from my greenhouse." Ayaka smiled, cleaning up the area of her large but homely house that she set up for First Aid, carefully cleaning up the sweat and sap-like blood that came, supposedly, from the Carnivine.

"No? You're not here to buy flowers?" Ayaka looked puzzled, fixing her glasses. "Great! You actually, really want to talk to me! How exciting! Not many people come to Mount Charm just for conversation! What can I help you with?"

Riley explained. "Pokemon training, huh? Well, look no further! The entire mountain is overflowing with strong Pokemon! In fact, there are so many unique ecotystems on the mountain alone, that... Well, there's just a lot of ecosystems, you know? It's fascinating!

"For example, there's the base of the mountain. Plentiful forests down here make for many Grass-type and Bug-type Pokemon! The rocky cliffs of the mountain are home to many great climbingPokemon, such as Gogoat, as well as Rock-types and Steel-types. The interior of the mountain is home to shade-loving Pokemon like Diglett, Dugtrio, and several Rock-types, Ground-types, and Dark-types.

"Furthermore, the peak of the mountain, where a small village is, is home to multiple species of Flying-type Pokemon. And the mostly-dormant volcano within the mountain is, as you would guess, the location where numerous Fire-type Pokemon can be found, like Puffpyre, and its evolution, Pyrantern, and also Toxock in its Fire-type Igneous Form!"

"If you're asking about training your Pokemon, that must mean you're a Trainer. Why don't I heal your Pokemon for you?" Riley explained that his Pokemon were already all very healthy after visiting the Pokemon Centre.

"Oh? Then never mind! But come back anytime you need healing! I have all the appropriate supplies you would need for healing your Pokemon, and I'm right at the base of the mountain so you wouldn't have to walk from another town to get back here."

Smiling, she waved goodbye to Riley as he confidently took on the challenge that the mountain would surely pose him with. As he walked away, Ayaka called out after him. "Head to the eastern side of the mountain- or to the right- and you'll find a small patch of forest! It's different from the others because the entrance to it is a gardening gate which has vines growing up it!" She mumled to herself something about how she'd installed that gate, and that she planned to install more of them in the other forest patches after her major plant sale in the spring.

But deeming that unimportant to Riley, she continued on her earlier topic. "Inside that forest patch, turn right at the first crossroads in the path and you'll find a cave entrance! That cave entrance will lead you further up the mountain! All of the other cave entrances- at least that I know of- are dead ends or just lead to the other side of the mountain! And remember, you can always come beck here for some resting and healing!"

Riley followed her directions and, making L shapes with his fingers to remind himself of his left and right, he turned to his right. He followed a dirt path along the side of the mountain. There we plentiful trees. No shortage of trees. Lycanroc playfully ran around the base of the mountain, tackling each other, their Rockruff friends joining them as well. Riley couldn't help but be fascinated by them. He registered them into the PokeDex, both species, so that their information could be used to help their species if it became necessary.

There it was! The garden gate which had vines growing up it! The one which Ayaka, the sweet girl who reminded Riley a bit of Lilly in her excitement, had mentioned. He sighed, lifting his shoulders, and ran up to it! The patch was so thick that the outer trees seemed like a wall that kept the Pokemon inside its boundaries inside and Pokemon outside of its boundaries out.

It was almost like this small garden gate was the only seam. He walked through, the forest atmosphere immediate. He looked around, feeling almost like he'd just entered a gateway to another world. Smiling, he followed the pathway which was mentioned by Ayaka. There were occasional breaks from the path, but Riley was scared of getting lost in this dark forest.

The first crossroads? This was surely it. There were three options here: go forward, turn right, or head back to the entrance. In the middle of the path was a circle of slightly raised ground which had a bush on it which had a tree in the middle of it. From the tree, a Bug-type Pokemon hung. Just a single, lone Bug-type Pokemon on this tree. Granted, the plant was small. Riley scanned the Pokemon with his PokeDex. Perhaps it could identify it.

"Pupinstar. Bug- and Ghost-type. The Pupa Pokemon. This Pokemon is in a state of great and impressively fast growth. In this stage, like a Pokemon Egg, its growth is reliant on time. Like with Eggs, Trainers often compare this period of time to the time it takes to walk x amount of steps. As it's immobile in this state, it attacks using extensions of its hard silk covering."

But then, as Riley turned the bend, his heart sank. His breath froze. He did not want to be alive to see what he saw.

A web was lined over the aforementioned cave entrance, blocking it. But the web was not what Riley was scared of.

What terrified him was an eight-legged Pokemon. It was black. Its surface shined in the light like metal. It had a lightning bolt-shaped marking on its terrifyingly large abdomen which glowed as it breathed. Its fangs were the length of Riley's fingers, and its feet were so pointy they could be compared to needles.

W-W-Widyzer.