"So where exactly are we going again?"

Rory and the braixen had slowed down after running for a bit. It's not that either of them were particularly tired, but the braixen needed 'to keep an eye out for the roots,' so they were now only walking at a brisk pace..

"There are a few places around here where Energy Roots grow naturally," the braixen explained. "This is one of them," she said, stopping her stride in a patch of dirt surrounded by trees. "They like to hide around normal roots of trees, so we might have to dig through the dirt to find them."

"Oh joy," Rory said as he thought about the prospect of digging around in the dirt. He quickly overcame these feelings when his thoughts went back to Flora. "I guess this is for her, so I'll do what I have to."

"You're really fond of that maractus, huh?" the braixen stated.

"Well, I guess so, we're friends after all."

"Friends, huh?" the braixen seemed to mull over that world for a bit before pointing to a nearby tree, "I'll start with this one, so go take a look at the one over there," she directed with another point.

"Sure…"

Rory did as he was told, and started to sift around the roots of his designated tree. The dirt was soft, and thankfully easy to dig through. After a bit of fruitless searching, Rory glanced over in the braixen's direction. The only sounds in the forest right now were the chirping of distant birds and the rustling of the leaves in the wind, which made the tension between them only grow in Rory's eyes.

"This silence is so awkward," he thought to himself, watching her dig around in the dirt with her paws. "But how the hell would I even begin to break it?"

Rory thought some more as he dug around the other side of his allotted tree. It was probably fine to not say anything, but he still felt weird that they both didn't know each other but were still not talking.

The problem was that never before in his life did he have to have an actual conversation with a Pokemon, and he never thought he would, so he had no clue what to talk about. His talks with Flora didn't really count, since they were mostly one sided.

That, and Flora was not nearly as willing to jab at Rory as this Pokemon was.

Well…as far as Rory knew, at least.

Rory was snapped out of his thoughts by watching the braixen get up from the ground and head over to a large rock that was sitting next to another tree. She tried to hoist it up, but struggled a bit as she lifted it, and eventually failed entirely. It didn't take Rory long to get up and walk behind her. He picked up the rock with ease, which surprised the braixen.

"Oh, thanks for that," she replied, without a shred of her sarcasm. "You're stronger than you look…um…" she stopped as she realised she never got his name.

"Rory," the human introduced himself. "And I get that a lot."

"Well, Rory, this trip is going to be much easier with you here," she said as she ducked underneath the rock and started to look around.

"I uhh, don't think I got your name," Rory said, finally finding something easy to talk about.

"Well, my name is -xin, but you're probably wanting the human translation," she spoke from her position below the rock.

"Yes, of course I do," Rory thought spitefully.

The pokemon crawled out from under the rock and hoisted herself to her feet before wiping her paws on her stomach fur.

"Robin," she said, looking up to Rory. "My name's Robin."

"Like, the bird?"

"Yup, that's the one."

"Fitting, I guess."

"There weren't any roots over here." Robin said, getting back on track. "Any luck on your end?"

"No, I don't think so, although I don't really know what I'm looking for," Rory replied while dropping the rock to the ground.

"They're small and look like roots, but they won't be attached to any tree," Robin explained. "Also, whenever they are out in the open, they let out small, green particles. You'll know them when you see them."

"In that case, no."

"Well, let's go search somewhere else then," Robin said before quickly dashing off into the undergrowth again, with Rory begrudgingly close behind her.

It didn't take long, however, for Robin to take the lead. With a leap here and a duck there, she was traveling throughout the brush with much more grace and style compared to Rory's earlier and present struggles. It wasn't long before she had gotten too far ahead of him.

"Hey, wait up, will you?" Rory called out as he pushed aside a thin branch blocking his path. Once again, Robin stopped her stride and regrettably waited for Rory to catch up to her.

"You're kinda dragging me down here, you know," she said with her arms crossed.

"Oi, sorry that I can't jump around in this forest as well as you can," Rory countered, already peeved at her previous attitude returning. "How the hell are you able to move that fast through all this?"

"Well, I live around here, so I guess I've just gotten used to it," Robin said with a shrug.

"You live here?" Rory echoed her statement.

"Yeah, I live in that old building," Robin said with a blank expression as she shot a thumb back the way they had come. "I made it into an apothecary for the Pokemon around here. Wasn't that obvious?"

"Well, surprisingly, seeing Pokemon take over abandoned buildings and repurpose them for their own use is a first for me," Rory rebutted. "I didn't think that would be something any of them could accomplish."

"Seems to me like you clearly underestimate us, then," said Robin, turning her head away after taking offence at Rory's comment. "Most Pokemon are as smart as humans are, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Rory replied in disbelief. "Well if that's the case, then why don't Pokemon have any cities like we do?"

"Who says we don't?"

"I just did," Rory held his ground. "I've never seen nor heard of anything like that."

"Yeah, I guess that's probably the common belief for humans," Robin gave out a sigh. "Whatever, it doesn't matter, let's go look for some more roots."

Rory didn't like how she ended the conversation, but he did agree that they had more pressing matters to deal with.

After more striding/slugging through the forest, the two of them soon got to another place designated by Robin, and they immediately started their search with the trees in the area.

"You sure these are the places to find Energy Roots?" Rory asked, picking up the conversation again as he worked his hands in and around the roots of the trees.

"Yes I am," Robin replied sternly, not looking over to him. "Unless you know of better places?"

"...No, I don't."

"That's what I thought," she quipped. "Energy Roots are good plants for any Pokemon, it's not surprising that they're taken quite quickly after they've grown."

"Speaking of other Pokemon, we haven't seen any others yet," Rory noted. "Didn't you say there were a lot out here?"

"I'll give you one guess as to why that is."

Rory paused as he thought about it. "Is it me?" he guessed.

"Bingo," Robin said with a snap. "I've noticed the Pokemon around here see humans as a pretty big threat, so a lot of them tend to steer clear of your kind. Probably because of how little you guys come out here."

"Hm, makes sense."

"So if you were thinking of finding Pokemon for your team then you're out of luck," Robin said, unprompted. Rory could detect a bit of enmity in her voice.

"Uh, no, I'm not-"

"Hey, you!"

This sudden outburst was made by a third party: a voice unfamiliar to Rory. The two of them turned their attention to this newcomer, who Rory quickly identified was to the right of the clearing and had just jumped out of the bushes around them.

It was a man, older than Rory. He was tall and toned, and his face was curled up in a scowl.

"Uh, can I help you?" Rory asked as he got up from the ground, a little surprised to see anyone else out here.

"What are you doing with that braixen?" the mystery man asked abruptly, his tone not lowering at all.

"Huh?" Rory was a little confused now. Who just shouted that right after meeting somebody? "What's it to you?" he pushed back, this guy's temper spurring his own.

Just then, Rory heard a growl come from his left. He looked down to see Robin had rushed over to him when he wasn't looking. Her teeth were gritted and her hand was reaching back to the branch in her tail.

"Rory, this guy's a hunter," she said, her voice very low and very serious.

"Wait, you mean like a Pokemon hunter?" Rory asked for clarification, although as he took another look at the man, he didn't think he needed it. His dark blue jumpsuit and the large net on his back proved Robin's claim right.

Rory had heard of Pokemon hunters before, of course; everyone had. People who captured Pokemon only to sell them off to the highest bidder were sure to get everyone's attention. No better than slavers, it ended up being gritty work, but because of how profitable it was, the police's fight against them was slow and often pyrrhic.

Rory never expected to be face to face with one right now. He tensed up a little as he assessed this new threat.

"What do you want with me?" Rory called back.

"Shut up, kid," the man yelled, "I'm not here for you, I'm here for that," he stuck one of his fingers over in Robin's direction. "A talking Pokemon like you is gonna get us a ton of cash."

"Tch, this is gonna be messy," Robin muttered before walking in front of Rory and slowly pulled the stick out of her tail. "Stand back, Rory."

Rory raised a confused eyebrow. "You sure?"

"I don't want to drag you into this. I can handle this guy." Robin reassured him. Rory didn't really know why she was insisting, but he decided to not argue and took a few steps back.

"No more waiting, let's get 'em, Croagunk." Without hesitation, the hunter detached a Pokeball from his belt and threw it to the ground. After a bright flash of light, out emerged a small, blue and purple frog like Pokemon. It's eyes scanned the field before landing on Robin.

"Alright, hit em with a Poison Jab!" The hunter called out the first move. The Croagunk obeyed and charged straight at Robin with it's arm extended. The fire type nimbly dodged on the tips of her feet and let the croagunk fly past her before smacking the back of his head with one of her paws. The croagunk recoiled from this attack as it forced himself farther away from Robin.

"Try a sludge bomb," the hunter called out the next move. Recuperating from the previous hit, the poison type put some distance between himself and Robin before puffing up his cheeks and spraying a large glob of purple goo at her.

In one swift motion, Robin took the stick in her hand and put it back into her tail before sweeping it back out horizontally with incredible speed. The friction of unsheathing the stick from her tail caused the wood to light on fire, and as Robin swept it forward, a thin blade of flame went forward from the branch and cut through the glob, causing it to fizzle and fall to the ground.

It was interesting for Rory to watch Robin pull off moves without the help of a trainer, even if he didn't know what any of them were. The way she moved her stick and the use of fire reminded him of the mages from the RPG video games he would play as a kid. Although thinking back on it, braixen in general were probably the inspiration for them.

Wasting no time from her last attack, Robin quickly repeated her previous motion by putting the stick back in her tail and pulling it out again, but this time pointed the end of it directly at the croagunk. The fire that was created this time burned at the tip for a bit before erupting into a stream of fire that rushed over to the other Pokemon before it had time to react. The croagunk was engulfed by the fire, and subsequently let out a cry of pain. Once the fire had subsided, the croagunk was revealed to still be standing, albeit much weaker, and clearly hurt from the burns.

"Oh, come on, croagunk, beat it already! Do something!" the hunter yelled, his composer quickly failing. With the green light to act as seen fit, the croagunk charged at Robin despite his wounds. She returned her stick to her tail and braced herself for another attack.

Rory had mixed feelings about sitting off to the side and watching this whole battle, but he did have to admit; Robin knew what she was doing. Her attacks were fluid, and there was very little wasted movement. Even without being a trainer, Rory could tell that her moves were being pulled off pretty well too. It was entirely possible she wouldn't need his help at all.

Of course, the second he thought this was when Robin slipped up. They both saw that croagunk was throwing a punch with its left hand, but only Rory saw him prep another one with his right hand.

"He's going for a feint," Rory realized. Before he could warn Robin, the croagunk succeeded in faking out the braixen and landed a punch with his other hand right into her stomach. She coughed up some air from the blow, but quickly recovered and was able to swat away another jab with her stick.

Rory clicked his tongue. Guess she still had her weak points.

Despite this hit, Robin still had the upper hand. She continued to dodge or parry the next few hits, presumably waiting for an opening.

Eventually, Rory noticed the Croagunk slip up and tried to throw a punch when he didn't have much momentum. Robin took no time in punishing this mistake by grabbing his outstretched arm with her free hand. Now powerless to do much, the croagunk tried to break out, but Robin didn't give him a chance. Her tail started to glow in a very unnatural, shiny gray color. In a flash, the braixen hopped into the air and spun around in order to bring her tail down upon the croagunk. Instead of the normal fluffy texture one might expect, the croagunk was met with a hard, heavy tail that crashed onto his head with a loud clang.

Robin quickly regained her fighting pose after the attack by spinning backwards and landing on her feet, but the croagunk was not as fast to move again. When he did move, it was simply to fall onto his knees before his whole body fell to the ground.

The croagunk was quickly returned to the hunter's pokeball while Robin put her stick back in her tail. She gave out a long breath as her tail returned to it's normal, fiery color. She then glanced over at the hunter with piercing eyes.

"Is that all you got?" she said without any inflection.

The hunter ground his teeth and tighten his fist for a bit before letting out an angry yell.

"Fine! I'll do it myself!" he screeched before charging at the braixen with an outstretched hand. Robin wasn't prepared for the man to try and come after her himself. She didn't have any time to brace, so she just closed her eyes and waited for the hit to come.

SLAP

This sudden loud noise caused the entire clearing to all the sudden grow quiet, save the sounds of the hunter stumbling backwards. He held his right cheek in his hands as he fell over onto the ground. Once he was able to look up again, he saw Rory standing in front of Robin with his hand flat and outstretched.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" The hunter yelled, as Rory returned his hand to his side.

"I've sat back and watched this long enough," Rory said, letting the weight of his words set in before continuing. "I'd suggest you back off."

"Rory?" Robin said. Her stance weakened as her face questioned his motives.

"Listen, I don't really want to fight you," Rory continued, ignoring the Pokemon behind him, "but this braixen happens to be helping me out right now, so I can't exactly let you take her away. How about you just call it a day?"

"Oh yeah, and how are you going to stop me?" the hunter taunted as he got up. Rory didn't reply. If this guy wanted a fight, then so be it. That would certainly be better than sitting out like he had been before.

Also he couldn't stand this guy. That was reason enough to get in his way.

It was clear that this man was not pleased by Rory's silence.

"Just get out of my way!" he yelled before charging at Rory with his fist raised in the air.

He's aiming for my chest, Rory thought to himself before deftly stepping to the side and letting the blow swing clean past him. The hunter was surprised, but even more so when Rory kicked his legs out from under him, causing the man to fall flat on his face in the dirt.

The hunter was quick to his feet, and tried to throw another punch, but Rory batted it to the side before kicking the man in the shin. This caused him to wallow in pain before backing up and falling over again.

The clearing was silent as the hunter slowly got back up again. Instead of throwing another attack, as Rory expected, the man instead just turned around and hobbled back into the forest.

"You'll pay for this," he yelled as his footsteps grew softer and softer until the ambient sound of the forest took it over.

A few more seconds of silence passed as Rory cracked his neck and rolled his ankle around.

"Been a while since I've had to do that," Rory mused to himself. "Good thing he was all bark and no bite."

"That…was…something ," Robin commented with surprise. Rory could almost swear he heard the slightest amount of admiration in her voice. He turned around to face her.

"Well, I told you I could handle myself, didn't I?" Rory commented.

"That's…uh…not what I thought you meant," Robin replied. "I thought you were a trainer, what with the maractus."

"Nope, never been one either," Rory shrugged. "My only fighting experience is my own."

"Huh…well, from the looks of it, I could have beat that guy on my own," Robin replied. "You didn't need to help me."

"Yeah…I'm sure," Rory said. He admitted that she was probably right, but she didn't need to say it like that.

"That aside, look over there."

Rory followed Robin's finger back to a tree that was on the side of the clearing. At first, he didn't see anything, but after squinting a bit, he started to see faint, green particles fluttering about near the base of the tree.

"Is there an energy root there?" Rory asked.

"There's gotta be," Robin confirmed as she bounded over to the tree and started to look around. "I noticed the sparkles right before that guy showed up…Yup, here it is," Robin exclaimed triumphantly as she knelt down and started to dig through the dirt a bit.

"Oh yeah, let me see," Rory said as he walked over to the braixen. Robin got up off the ground and held up in her hands a small, thick, natural looking tangle of roots that was caked in dirt.

"...That's it?" Rory asked.

"I don't know what 'That's it' is supposed to mean, but yes, this is an energy root." Robin replied.

"Fair enough," Rory conceded. "Now we just give that to Flora, right?" Rory asked, unhooking her Pokeball from his belt.

"Not quite, it's inedible in this state. We'll need to go back to my apothecary so I can grind it up."

"Right, then let's head back." Rory prodded.

"I know, I know, stop being so pushy," Robin returned as she padded her sides for something. "Oh, I forgot my satchel," she noticed before looking over at Rory. "Here, you have pockets," she said before suddenly tossing the plant over to Rory, who fumbled with it for a bit before landing it in his hands.

"Right, because I want to put this super dirty plant into my pockets," Rory said sarcastically.

"Well, carry it, then," Robin returned. "Anyways, we need to get back, so let's get going."

That's what I was saying, Rory thought, but he did agree with her, so he didn't say anything. Without warning, Robin was running off again, breaching the bushes and running off into the undergrowth.

"H-hey, wait for me," Rory called that line out for the second time before cramming the root into his pocket and running after the Pokemon.