Setting out from Santalune City, Rowan Ginkgo had high hopes. Being a researcher in training, he was very much working at the forefront of behavioral dynamics in Pokémon. Which was why, as he walked along amicably with his trainer escort, Amelia, he seemed at the top of the world.

"So you've never even owned a Pokémon?" Amelia suddenly asked.

Rowan looked over to regard the 18 year old Pokémon trainer. With Back length Auburn hair, wide emerald eyes, and a rounded face accented by freckles from sunlight exposure, the 5'5 Pokémon trainer looked as though being outside was not her thing. Heck, he thought, even her clothing didn't seem appropriate. She was wearing a denim skirt, some kind of floral patterned flats, and a wide brimmed hat. If it wasn't for the belt with poke balls and the backpack she carried, he would have thought she was just some well off child.

Guess appearances aren't all they're meant to be.

I grinned at the thought that perhaps the kids making it into university aren't as bad as I thought. Still, I was curious as to why she volunteered for this job. She didn't say anything outright when I saw an email a few weeks ago from my advisor that an escort for my research had been found.

Amelia and I eventually found ourselves on route 4 outside of Santalune. With an expectant look, I dismounted my rucksack, then allowed myself to stretch quickly.
Amelia gave me an amused look as I did this. I found her gaze and expression to be uncomfortable. I felt like I had somehow embarrassed myself in front of her. With this in mind, I went ahead and asked.

"What?" was all I could think to ask.

"Nothing." she responded as she shouldered off her backpack, "I'm just wondering how you're going to be able to continue on for the next 2 months if you are having problems now is all." She said that neutrally, though I could tell that she was secretly amused.

I was tempted to rise to her bait and defend myself. Perhaps even win her admiration by telling a few old stories that pertained directly to how I even got into college. Instead though, I gave a grin. "We'll see who's going to be able to continue in due time. It never hurts to stretch as often as possible."

With that said, I then turned to fully survey my surroundings. This route was rather elegant in design. The central path was bordered on both sides with a combination of flower patches and a hedgerow maze. Down the road by about a mile was a marvelous central fountain. It was a common leaping off point for new trainers apparently. With such a peaceful atmosphere, I couldn't help but to feel myself becoming more at ease.

I could readily attest that before being selected for Field Work studying the Ralts line, I did not give myself much time to slow down and smell the proverbial roses. With how quaint this place was, I felt a pang of regret.

Looking to Amelia, I tilted my head then finally asked "Ok so what's your story? You used to be a trainer and now you are attending college. What's the game plan?" My curiosity won out in this discussion.

After a short pause, Amelia finally gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. It looked to me as if she were trying to formulate the best response. With a small smile, she finally elaborated.

"Well, the truth is that after all these years on the road I wanted to settle into a life of taking care of Pokemon that have been abandoned." She looked away as if there was a deeper story associated with her motivations.

I sat in silence for a few moments. Curiosity compelled me to allow her the breathing space to spill the beans. However, she simply sat there lost in her own thoughts. With a shrug, I returned my attention to the surroundings. I didn't want to be the one to say it, but this probably wasn't the kind of trip for someone who wanted to run a refuge.

"What about you?" She suddenly asked, "Why are you out here chasing Ralts around? I mean, there are so many new fairy types that have even less information. Why would you dedicate the summer to such a... well, non-stellar Pokemon species?"

Amelia looked a bit embarrassed to say such a thing. However, I knew she was right. To a Pokémon trainer, The Ralts line was actually rather dull. It was not exactly a powerhouse in battle teams. It was cumbersome, and did not actually know moves commonly associated with Fairy Pokémon. It was, from her standpoint, a pointless specimen to have. Maybe it could be considered something of a cute pet, but it wasn't the best.

I gave a grin as I nodded in concession. "You are right. There are more interesting species..." I began, then heavily emphasized "From a battle perspective. They are weaker than a number of other species and there is less known about a fair few other Pokemon species. However, what warrants a closer examination is the fact that they show the clear signs of having a culturally based society. There is indications that they self-organize and utilize complex tools for their day to day activities. '

"You see, over the last 14 years, examination of Gardevoir settlement zones indicates artifacts which have a non-sapient origin. The complexity of some of these items; clay pots, stone implements, tools, to put it simply, suggests that a number of assumptions about gardevoir are incorrect. For the past 80 years, it was assumed that they were not as intelligent as humans because they did not have our complex machinery. By comparison, they were simple animals living off the land. No different than that Pokémon you carry with you. "

I gave a nod to her poke ball then glanced around.

"The surprising number of...incidents... over the past 5 years all seem to indicate that advanced reasoning is common in the gardevoir species. That their attachment to humans is a function of a shared instinct between us and them: Organization and community. To a limited degree, reliable evidence indicates that a number of these... relationships, occur as a result of the Ralts line coming into adulthood and attempting to form a family bond with its trainer. When you think about it from a purely psychological view, it is only common. They see their trainer as the light of their world and seeks to understand them more. Both sides develop emotions for one another, and the race for pairing is on. "

I gave a slight shrug. "But more interesting is what happens afterwards. In about 20% of the cases, mating is successful. But more interestingly, is how the Gardevoir begins treating the other members of the Trainers team. Now that they are on equal parity, they then begin assisting their trainer in the upkeep of their Pokémon. Were it not for the sophistication of their reasoning abilities, the argument could be made that they are mimicking human processes because they believe themselves to be human. Thankfully, research into their ability to learn our languages indicates that they are actually very much self-aware. In every case studied to date, in exact parity with humans."

Upon saying that I finally sighed. I was not a fan of these kinds of discussions due to the negative connotations they carried.

"So, what then, you want to prove they are basically humans?" Amelia asked after a few moments.

With a slight shrug I replied to her "No, I just want to understand why they self-organize, why they utilize tools, and why they tend to easily form these bonds. My hope is that upon observing a family group, some insights might be gained. "My eyes suddenly shifted.
"Oh, hey another Flabebe. They certainly seem abundant here"

The subject abruptly switched just like that. I brought her attention to the bug like flower Pokémon that seemed to frolic here.

For a few minutes she sat in silence before she spoke up "Is it possible that they didn't want to be subservient to us?" came her quiet voice.

"Who knows? I'm not a Pokémon psychologist and I'm not about to make guesses at their motivations psychologically if I don't have the evidence to support such claims. "I responded.

It was only after I said that, did I realize that I might have spoken out of term with her. I then turned to look her in the eyes. Sure enough, those words had struck a chord with her.

Before she could speak I suddenly stated. "That's not right actually... I don't want to say whether we are or are not until I am certain I can say what is really happening. I want to get both sides of this, ours and theirs, before I would ever say one way or the other. Besides, if you really care about how they feel, then you see them as being worthy of your love and support. How could anyone ever say that they love something, yet treat it like it is less than them?" I gave a slight apologetic smile after I finished.

Amelia looked down at the ground for a moment, then gave a slight nod. My clarification seemed to help her make up her mind about something.

"So, is that why you don't have Pokémon?" she suddenly asked.

Taken aback, I quickly replied "Oh, no not at all, my parents and I lived a peculiar lifestyle of being on the move a lot. I just never had a stable enough environment for one. I guess the fact that due to this reason I never really gave it serious thought does also play into matters."

With that said, I glanced around once more. There were a peculiar amount of Flabebes floating around the flowers. However, I began to realize that there was some measure of variance to them. At least 3 prime groupings were apparent: Red, Orange, and white. Intrigued, I idly noted the numbers of each.

After another couple of hours I finally stood up once more, then proceeded to stretch. Amelia was passed out not too far away. She had likely gotten bored by this. But then, I couldn't blame her. The area Ralts usually appeared at was seemingly in this narrow corridor. Only ever alone, and usually in Orange flower beds.

I began to worry. It was getting late in the day, yet there wasn't even a sighting yet. With a sigh, I walked over to Amelia, then gently placed my hand on her shoulder, then gently shook it.
"Hey," I said quietly. "Wake up..."

Oddly enough, the woman snapped out of her sleep then sat up rapidly. Her eyes were wide as she looked around, as if to establish who was attacking her. By this point I had stepped back a good 5 feet. Previous experience taught me that such encounters rarely ended well. Especially when someone woke up that quickly.

"What is the matter?!" she asked somewhat loudly.

With a sheepish expression, I allowed her the time to get her bearings. After a few moments, she seemed to realize where she was and what was going on. She then finally turned to me with a somewhat cross expression on her face.

"What was that all about?!" she asked, clearly irritated.

I gave her an apologetic look, then brought my hand up to rub my neck. However, I made haste in answering her. "Well, I was just wondering if we shouldn't try a different loca-...what?" I stopped speaking as she began to point more or less towards me, but slightly to the left.

I slowly turned around to see what had caught her attention.

There, maybe 40 feet away, was a tiny Ralts. It seemed to have just emerged from the flowers directly behind it. It was frozen in place, looking at us with an unreadable expression.

"Never...mind" I said quietly as the pair of us stared down this elusive Pokémon.
After a few moments, I began feeling as if I were being questioned. Well rather, a sense of foreign curiosity. Then, I began to feel as if I were being prompted somehow to answer. Finding this odd I paid close attention to the ralts before speaking slowly.

"Hey there little guy." I said in a quiet and comforting tone.

The Ralts seemed hesitant at first. It did not make a move for about 30 seconds when I suddenly felt something. Like a light headache, I felt as though something foreign was occupying my mind. I felt my heart race as I became aware of this presence, then a sense of… violation. However, as suddenly as it began, it ended. The Ralts regarded me with curiosity for another moment, then gave what appeared to be an excited chirping noise. Its tiny body danced from side to side as it made this noise.

Fascinated, I knelt down to the ground, then looked quickly at Amelia.
"Hey, I guess the speculation about them approaching people is correct!" I stated in a somewhat excited tone of voice.

Amelia regarded the Pokemon for a moment then asked "Want me to put it to sleep so you can tag it?"

Despite me stating that this would be the preferred method of tracking it, I suddenly had an idea. "Well, let's hold off on that. I get the feeling that to do so would only work against us. Since their behavior clearly shows that they like human interaction on a certain level, we might be able to follow it back without recourse. If something suddenly startles it enough to make it run off, then by all means knock it out. However… I want to see if we can follow it back."

With that said, I then slowly reached over to my rucksack, then produced a Banana. Oddly enough, this semi seedless fruit was abundant in this area. Even though the Rhizome plant did not require the seed pod that the banana fruit itself used to be, through some quirk in evolution, it continued to produce them. The current accepted model was that the current Banana plants seen in the wild were descendants of the plant Musa Basjoo which is known to be able to endure cold weather environments of -28 degrees Celsius. While it is not well known as to how the mutation has fully progressed, it is known that this has resulted in an extended range of growing. Further, given its Rhizome reproduction sequence, the bananas are vegetatively propagated by means of 'suckers' which develop from buds on the underground rhizome. Each plant is genetically identical to its parent plant. This means that each banana species consists of a group of genetically identical plants (a clone). Variation between clones results from mutations in the vegetative cells of the plant. In all there are some 300 daughter breeds of Musa.

The Ralts attention seemed to perk up at seeing this fruit in my hand. With a curious expression, I slowly peeled it, then broke off about 4 inches of the fruit before holding the piece out for the Ralts.

The Ralts seemed to regard it with curiosity for a moment before it quickly stepped forward, grabbed at the offered fruit, and then began eating it ravenously. With a curious expression, I wondered if it was either hungry, or if they were considered a major food source for this species.
Or perhaps, I also thought, this was considered a specialty food that the Ralts preferred over most others.

In short time, the offered piece was consumed. I broke off a small piece of the fruit for myself then handed the rest over to the Ralts. As I watched it eat, I heard Amelia laugh quietly.

"It looks as though it likes them." She said. Her voice was quiet as well so as to not disturb the Ralts.

Given the activity in this route, I wondered if talking in a normal tone of voice was even needed. The Ralts did not seem to acknowledge the steady stream of people moving north along the route. Instead, it seemed content to eat seemingly without a care in the world.

With a smile, I slowly sat back to watch it.

"Charming little creatures aren't they?" I asked, "If I didn't know better, I would have assumed that this was a child that had gotten lost. "

Aside from its pale white skin, green hair, and horn that is. With this opportunity, I began to examine it as it ate.
It stood at about .42672 Meters tall, (1.4 feet) with a head slightly proportionately larger than its body. Without being able to physically measure it, I would estimate that its head alone was 60 cm in circumference. (23 inches).

As it finished its meal, it suddenly looked back up to me. With this motion, its peculiar red eyes could be seen. I regarded those eyes for a moment. They were scarlet. Much like the peculiar red eyes one sees in animals with albinism. Yet, the refraction of light off the irises seemed to indicate that this was not due to a genetic defect so much as actual melanin influence. This is quite peculiar in that it varies from the usual melanocortin 1 receptor. I found myself wondering if this was a common genetic sequence that had not been previously known.

As if sensing my curiosity, the Ralts suddenly gave another excited chirping noise, then proceeded to grab at my hand. With a few insistent tugs, I allowed it to guide my hand.
Rather than try leading me off, it seemed instead to desire contact. With a charmed smile, I decided to indulge it for a moment by patting its head.

For some reason, this simple action resulted in what could be described as an endearing vocalization.

"Hey, Amelia, are you seeing this?" I suddenly asked, "This is direct visual confirmation of the Ralts line directly seeking tactile stimulation for pleasure purposes." I looked back to her in a somewhat excited tone of voice.

Seeing this, she came over, then proceeded to kneel down as well.
"It's actually kind of adorable!" she proclaimed as she reached her hand out to pat it as well.

In a most peculiar fashion, the Ralts seemed to have a negative reaction at her hand. It drew away, then gave a short, quick, vocalization. Indeed, its entire demeanor seemed to change when she made to pet it.

Bemused, I looked at her to figure out what had prompted the different reaction. However, I could detect no real difference, her posture and expression was similar to mine. I could not see anything but endearment in her eyes as she tried to reach out and win the Ralts over.

However, something had, and it then reflected on her face as she sat back with a dismayed face.

"I guess it doesn't like you" I stated plainly.

"Well yeah, but I don't know why…" she said.

In this middle of this quick exchange, the Ralts, who had been since getting further pats from me, suddenly pulled away from my hand then faced away from us.

"This is odd." I suddenly said as it seemed to rock from left to right, then made a sudden call.

I wondered if it had detected a similar call from another Ralts line. However, I was unable to determine as I had heard nothing.

"Amelia did you hear something?" I asked her.

Confusion was on her face as she shook her head. "No," she stated "Nothing."

We continued to watch for a moment as the Ralts then turned around to regard us. It gave a light call, almost hesitant. It seemed to be trying to communicate something to us. Suddenly, I had the distinct impression that it was feeling hurried and upset. If I didn't know better, it was reluctant to leave.

"Rowan what's going on?" Amelia suddenly asked.

I regarded her with curiosity then asked, "Did you not feel that?"

Suddenly, I stopped then considered what I said. I felt something was amiss in this situation. The Ralts, by all appearances, had been communicating with me. Finally, I decided to just ask Amelia.

"Earlier, when the Ralts appeared, did you get a feeling like someone was sitting next to you and listening in?"

Amelia seemed taken aback as I asked that question "Yeah but it didn't feel very good. "

"Like an invasion?" I quickly asked.

"No, like I was being hated. "

I gave her a long considering look then looked back to the Ralts. A thought occurred to me, but given that the Ralts seemed impatient about something. I decided to do the most logical thing at the time. I waved to the thing, then made a pointing motion, as if to say I understood that it needed to leave.

Suddenly, a feeling of sadness came over me. The Ralts gave a downcast cry before it turned away, then began to slowly make its way into the wood line.
I watched it go, counting the seconds as it crossed the 3 meter distance to the undergrowth of the woods to our west.

I found myself counting the amount of time it took to cross the distance. 12 seconds from us to the wood line. .25 m/s

I found myself suddenly in fascination of this little detail. A few seconds after it vanished into the wood line, I turned to Amelia.

"Let's follow it." I pronounced, "If we want to see what its social structure is like, now is the time. Its sudden change in demeanor, and apparent sadness? I am willing to wager that it heard a searching cry and decided to return to whatever social group it has. Besides, something that young isn't the type to be left alone for too long."

Amelia, oddly enough, had a reluctant look on her face.

"Is this really a wise choice though? What if its parents decide to attack us?" She had a point, though it was a redundant point.

"That's kind of where you come in. You are presently in possession of a dark class Pokemon correct?" I asked.

With a nod, she answered my question.

"Well in the event of an attack, your job is to stall for time and fight defensively until we are able to escape. Sleep powders, stuns, whatever is needed to help us get away. We will follow it at a distance though. 200 or so feet behind it preferably. "

With a worried sigh, she then gave a slight nod.

"Alright, but I hope you know what you are doing…"

I gave a slight grimace as she said that. In truth, I did too. Not much was known about the psychic range of the Ralts line. There was no knowing whether or not it was able to detect us where we currently stood, let alone how close we will be allowed to approach before sparking defensive postures.

Finally, I shrugged these thoughts off as I picked up my bag. "I know that as long as we stay away, we will not be attacked. So keeping this range should suffice."

With that said, the two of us set off into the woods to follow the Ralts home.

Upon departing from the well-worn paths, we saw a flash of green and red ahead of us. Apparently, the Ralts hadn't gone very far by the time we gave chase. It was, at best, 150 meters ahead of us. We followed its path by use of an apparent game trail. I regarded this path as we gave chase. It seemed as though this was made by something the size of the Ralts. Could it be that this trail was made by the ralts over the course of many days or weeks? The thought crossed my mind as we slowly gave pursuit.

Our pace was leisurely to say the least. The Ralts excitedly walked along the trail but oddly enough never seemed to assume a guarded position. I regarded this with curiosity as we continued to follow it along. The thought then occurred to me that we have not seen a single Skitty or other carnivorous Pokémon in a while. They seemed to give this wooded area a wide berth.

Due to our attempts at maintaining some measure of stealth, I was not able to voice this question to my companion. She, it seemed, was focusing more on the path than where we were going. It seemed as though she were used to walking through woods without a care. Now, she was forced to mind each step to reduce noise.

I smiled at her diligent efforts then resumed watching the departing Ralts. In short time, it had proceeded about 800 meters from where we had started, then abruptly turned into some manner of a clearing.

Amelia and I stopped, then moved northwest off of the path until we were at the brush line that separated us from this clearing as well. As We crept forward to get a good view, I couldn't help but to notice that the soil had slightly changed in composition. The soil, which had previously been loamy and clay like, now had a more sandy grey appearance to it. Recalling the geology lessons I learned back in my undergraduate years, this indicated we were now in a karst topography. That would explain why there was a clearing here…

I was shaken out of my thoughts as the Ralts let out a long series of excited cries.
Curious, I leaned in, thus gaining a clear view of the nearby field. There seemed to be a pond or spring source to the north of the clearing, while along the south end, there was a broken tree line. The Ralts, however, seemed to arrive at a slight dip in the field whilst making the cry.

From the western portion of the field, an answering cry was heard. I tilted my head at the sound. It was very much a deeper sound. I was faintly reminded of bells being rung. Only... there was a lot of complexity to this call. I guess that meant it was a more mature adult. Shortly after the answering cry, an Adult Gardevoir emerged from the western side. Its steps fast as it appeared to run to its child.

"I'll be damned..." I muttered as I watched this.

"What?" Amelia asked in a similar quiet tone.

"If that Gardevoirs pace is any indication, we might have just witnessed the equivalent of a child straying too far while the parents weren't paying attention" I explained. "I cannot be certain, but that pace seems quicker than one usually sees in a Gardevoir. Do you suppose it was worried about it?" I asked this more to myself than my companion.

"I dunno..." she answered vaguely, "I can relate though"

When she said that, I stopped watching the pair in the field, then gave her a curious look.

"Oh come on" she said with a tone of irritation in her voice. "If I had wandered off, wouldn't you be concerned?"

I tilted my head as I considered what she said, then finally nodded. "I suppose anyone would be." Came my simple answer.

"Well look at it like that, plus, what if that Gardevoir is the Ralts parent?" She asked.

I gave a nod at this then turned my attention back to the two in the field. The Ralts seemed to be vocalizing excitedly. The Adult, in turn, was matching its tempo with more drawn out soothing tones. In all, it seemed like they were actually conversing with one another.

Suddenly, however, the tone of the Adult stopped being calming, then turned sharp. The Ralts vocalized again in, what I guess to be the same thing, what it previously said.

The Gardevoirs head suddenly turned towards the treeline. As Amelia and I were well under cover still, we would not be visible. Plus, since we were not moving, I had confidence that the Adult would not investigate further.
Without warning, I felt a more...commanding presence. It seemed to fill more and had a defensive feeling to it. Again, I felt the vague sense that I was being invaded. This time it was a more insistant feeling. The feeling with this one seemed to give me a sudden throbbing headache. As I gripped my temples, the feeling abruptly passed. There was a confused sensation as I felt the presence leave.

I sat back from watching them, then looked around in confusion. Amelia was still watching the two out in the field. Apparently, the feeling was confined to me in this regard. I thought about it for a moment, then warily asked Amelia, thus voicing what I felt.

"Amelia, did you... feel anything just now?" I asked with a certain amount of trepidition.

"What are you talking about?" she simply asked.

I gave a confused expression, then waved my hand slightly. "Forget it. I think I just had a brief headache."

"Whatever..." she muttered while still watching the two in the field, "Oh! It looks like they are leaving!" Her hand suddenly shot out to point at the two.

This brought my attention back to the field. Sure enough, the adult had taken the childs hand, then proceeded to lead it back to the west side of the clearing.

"Well, let's skirt the trees then..." I said as I stood up. I slipped my rucksack off, then pulled a camel back off of it. Wonderful inventions. A large bladder of water you could wear on your back or in a rucksack. I made sure it held tight, then pulled out a pair of Binoculars and a small food pack. Food packs were very useful in the field it seemed. It was a double layer system. There was an outside durable canvas frame which looked like a pouch. It was held closed with metal snaps. Inside though, was the real genius. It featured a plastic sealing pouch that could be zipped close, much like the classic ziplock bags one could find at any grocer. However, unlike them, the plastic was thicker (About 1 mm thick) and the zipping apparatus seemed to be re-enforced.

With those items grabbed, I proceeded to lead the way. Amelia, for some reason, did not remove her backpack. Instead, she occasionally twisted a branch as we walked along. I understood why she did that, though felt it unneccesary. Since we were so close to the treeline, all we had to to was run back until we saw the rucksack. Besides, I reasoned, we wouldn't be staying here all night yet.

As the two of us approached, we could still hear the voices of the ralts and the Gardevoir. We managed to get to within 75 feet of them before we stopped. The Gardevoir suddenly made a louder cry, which was answered shortly afterwards by at least three more voices.

I was shocked. 3 Gardevoir at the same location? This was a family group or at the least some kind of social group! I pulled out my Binoculars to have a closer look. Indeed, I could see into the woodline they had disappeared into enough to discern a sheltered clearing that had organization to it. Inside this clearing, there were at least 4 Gardevoirs, not counting the adult that had come out to retrieve the Ralts, and at least 1 egg that was plainly visible. The 4 adults seemed to be oriented near those eggs.

This was curious... Most pokemon have eggs, but then abandon them or leave them in very specific places. It was only in social groups that...

"Amelia, this is a family unit..." I whispered.

"A what?" She replied.

"A family maybe 2! They live in a communal system!" I excitedly whispered again.

"Is that important?" she asked in a quiet tone.

I gave her a mildly irritated look then nodded.

With that, I continued to look at them. 4 Adults, one seemed to come up to the Gardevoir and the child. That Gardevoir looked leaner and seemed to be slightly smaller than the other one. Sexual dimorphism usually occured when one gender took on the more physical tasks while the other one nurtured the offspring. In human society, by looking at bone remains, it was discovered that until rather recently, there was little sexual dimorphism. This meant that men and women shared equal roles in the society.

Here though, it looked as though one was clearly different. I wanted to get closer to see if I could spot gender differences. However, I feared that getting closer would give us away. Instead, I watched in excitement as there seemed to be some kind of ritualistic crying. Perhaps more verbalization.

"Hey..." Amelia whispered.

"What?" I suddenly asked in an iritated voice.

"I think that they are talking to each other. This isn't just them making noises. I'm hearing structure..."

I put down my Binoculars then stared at her after she made this pronouncement.

"What?" she suddenly asked, now uncomfortable with my look.

"You'll have to tell me about it later..." I whispered then continued to watch them.

I wish a play by play could be given. However, from the greetings, it eventually settled down. After another half an hour, food was produced.

Bananas.

Really? Bananas?

I gave a quiet laugh upon seeing that, then slowly made to stand up. Off to the west, the sky was starting to darken.

"Come on..." I said to Amelia.

She gave me a confused look as I pointed to the sky. "We need to get camp set up..."

Later that evening, we settled into a spot about 75 yards from the clearings edge and off the trail we followed the Ralts in on. It was still visible to us at 30 yards distance, but we were far off enough that we would not directly attract attention.

That night as I wrote up my field notes, I paused upon writing in the encounter with the adult. Should I include more? Should I mention that I felt like it was reading me? Learning who I am? Trying to judge me perhaps?

With a shake of the head, I moved on. In research, it's best to move beyond feelings after all...

TBC

I slipped the narrative style from third person to first rather unintentionally. However, I feel like it flows better that way. The prime thing I wanted to communicate in this was that for all that is written in his field notes, much of his experience is omitted. Instead, an attempt at objectivity is communicated. In this chapter, the prime conflict is thus established. It is something that mere observation does not fully encapsulate and I look forward to building on this in the future.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.