After a little time on her shoulders, the small red robin fluttered up to sitting on Ryan's shoulder once again. When he grabbed it around the body with two fingers, it sung happily. It's singing was more pleasant as he moved it through the air, though it ended on a sudden and sharp note when he released it onto a tree branch nearby. The young lady beside him perked up, excitedly ready to catch the little bird, pulling a pokeball from her belt and readying for battle. "Woah, wait a second" Ryan interrupted, gently pushing her hand down with his own. "She's not bothering anyone." He pointed out "You don't know if she has baby's hiding somewhere. It's not fair to snatch her up and take her away against her will now is it?" He continued, watching as the young girl became slowly depressed before responding with a meek 'no'.
"How do I know when I can catch a pokemon?" She queried, a question that caught him off guard but he endeavored to answer as best he could.
"There is no way to know really. It's best not to catch a pokemon that you don't already have a bond with." The red and gold fox brushed against his leg as he spoke, ushering them to continue along the road to Lumiose City. "Pokemon don't exist when inside a pokeball" She looked confused at this so he continued "When a pokeball captures a pokemon it turns them into data. and it stores the data." She nodded as he spoke, it was usually quite difficult to get her to pay attention to things like this, though if it's to do with pokemon perhaps she'd listen. "So if the pokeball's memory is damaged or corrupted while the pokemon is in there-"
"The pokemon will be changed" She interrupted, clearly she was understanding. "Or maybe even killed?" He nodded, an action which prompted her to unleash her new partner in a flash of light and grab it tightly in a fearful embrace. "I'm sorry! I don't want you getting hurt. Do you want to come with me?" She asked, letting the small pokemon go. Ryan stopped to watch as the small pokemon yipped excitedly and licked her cheek. "Okay! If we find any pokemon who want to be friends, they can come too!" She said excitedly, springing to her feet. A confused look passed over her face though and she looked to Ryan. "But Mr. Cabberin. How can I make sure no-one steals my friends?"
Ryan smiled and nodded a moment before responding. "And that is the only reason to place pokemon in pokeballs. Once a pokemon is tied to one ball, no other pokeball can claim them. You catch them and then let them spend their time outside the ball for safety"
Further along, the road passed between a collection of trees and began to wind into an ever darkening forest. Cutting beside the forest was a fast running river, stepping in would likely whisk even a man Ryan's size away. "So here's your first decision on the road of new life" he began, not looking down at Shauna beside him. "Go through the forest, which though faster is much darker and likely has hidden dangers" Out of the corner of his eye he watched her turn from looking at him to the path ahead. "Or, along the riverside, which is slower, but every danger is visible."
"So you want me to choose between the known and the unknown?" She looked up at him, the two canines sitting between them staring upward. "I guess I'll take the known? But let's walk together! I feel like something exciting will happen if I stay by you!" Was her final remark, a comment that had the vagrant grumble his hope on the negative.
It had been a little over an hour, with perhaps another two to go along the riverside before they could reach Santalune city, the first stop before Lumiose, when something caught Shauna's eye. Ryan had noticed her watching something about the dirt and rocks in the area as they sunk each step into the sandy riverbank. "Oh! Hang on a second, Mr. Cabberin!" She excitedly chirped before rushing up to the trees, her Fennekin happily dashing after her. As the Vagrant was about to follow her he noticed a little red robin plomp down on a tree branch to watch them. It's head tilted as he tilted his looking at it. "Look what I found, Mr. Cabberin! I'll give it to you! I love puzzles, so I watch everything more closely than you might think!" Ryan shook his head and looked down at the young woman who held a battered and old pokeball up for him. Surprised he looked around for where it came from or how she noticed it. "There was a fight, someone got really hurt and hid the pokeball. Maybe you can find the owner?"
With the city of Santalune looming in the distance and the sun creeping toward horizon, Ryan's thoughts turned to where his young charge would stay the night. As he was about to ask her what she planned to do, a small clump of brown, stuff, hurtled from near the trees at them. Grabbing Shauna's shoulder he quickly pulled her out of the way, looking over to see who their attacker was. A small red ape stood at the treeline, cackling and scooping up another handful of mud that heated in its hand before it hurled it at them once again. Patting the young woman's shoulder the vagrant grabbed her hand and began to run. Narrowly avoiding the heated, almost liquid, balls of dirt. Glancing over his shoulder Ryan noticed the small robin flitting around the apes head, prompting the large man to skid to a halt. The small ape's hands were alight as it swung at the robin that frightfully pecked at its face. Ryan knocked his knife from his belt to the ground "Annwn, gimme heat" he ordered before running back the way he came to the small fight. A heated paw slammed across his leg, which Ryan ignored as he dropped to his knees and grab the small ape by the throat and forced it to the ground. He could feel it's hands burning through his thick shirt and searing his skin, but the vagrant simply blocked the pain from his mind until a little white hot knife was dropped by his side. Snatching it up he held the edge of the blade to the apes throat before turning it so the heated blade was pressed against the fur. He let out a growling 'ook' as he did so, which immediately send the ape limp. Through the whole moment, Ryan's eyes didn't leave the Pansear's, not even looking at burning red fur or clawed pale yellow arms. When he was sure it had submitted fully, Ryan moved to kneeling over it, and after a moment stood up and allowed it to follow him to standing. The little monkey shifted to stand behind the large man, where it hung it's head in respect to the alpha.
The large man caught up with Shauna again at the entrance to Santalune city; Annwn, the meek ape, and the little red robin in tow. "Oh! You have some more Pokémon!" Shauna commented, looking up from the table where she sat with a couple of her friends he'd seen her with earlier that day. At his arrival the group began to whisper amongst themselves. As he entered the nearest Liquor store, Ryan overheard the young lady come to his rescue. "So what? He'd never hurt someone he's protecting, that's why they didn't call it murder"