Artemis looked over at her sisters. Athena was studying the atlas she brought, searching for any nearby cities while making sure Aphrodite didn't wander too far away. Their middle sister had a disturbing propensity for getting lost due to her "condition," as Athena called it. Artemis didn't know the entirety of what was wrong with her gentler sister, but it worried her nonetheless.
Athena sighed as she looked down at her atlas. "It appears we're not as far from home as we'd like… but any distance is good, I suppose. I knew we were out of the way, but good heavens…"
Artemis looked over. "What? Something wrong?"
"Well…" Athena looked up from her book at the forest in front of them. "I must admit, I don't like forests all that much… so easy to get lost…" She frowned.
Aphrodite shook her head, smiling. "It'll be okay! If we all stick together, we can do anything, right?" she asked, looking at her sisters, the forest, and back at her sisters.
Artemis nodded, smiling back at her. "Aphie's right, Athena. We can handle anything!"
Athena sighed, "As long as we're careful… there are wild Pokémon in there, and who knows what could happen with them…"
"Don't worry, Athena," Aphrodite said, giggling. "Things are gonna be just fine!"
She started through the forest, followed by Artemis and Athena. By pure force of habit, Artemis' eyes couldn't stay in one place, always looking for threats. She scanned the trees and forest floor searching for any human or Pokémon who meant them harm. Artemis started to play with the zipper on her jacket, zipping and unzipping it until Athena gave her an annoyed look. "Oh for Arceus' sake," she snapped, "would you give it a rest?"
"And I'm guessing you're not scared at all, egghead?"
"Just who are you calling egghead, you–"
"Guys!" Aphrodite's voice, sharp and angry, stopped the other two in their tracks. "Stop fighting! We're supposed to stick together!"
"Sorry…" Artemis mumbled as they kept walking. She knew her sister wasn't actually angry; it was the fear talking. Aphrodite had always been afraid of conflict. Artemis never really understood why, but she guessed it was just in her nature, and with the stress of the situation at hand… Well, it wasn't like Aphie fully understood due to the nature of her condition, but Artemis could sympathize with her older sister.
Something shuffled in the bushes next to them, and Artemis' head jerked up to look. She couldn't see anything or anyone, except for a flash of orange fur. That wasn't good… Artemis' heart kicked into overdrive as Aphrodite looked back at the others. "Did you guys hear that…?"
"I'm sure it's nothing," Athena said, shaking her head. "Just a wild Pokemon, nothing that would harm us."
"Don't some Pokemon kill people th–"
Athena gave Artemis a warning look as Aphrodite's expression changed to one of panic. "Kill people?! What?! What are we doing out here if–" She frowned, her train of thought stopping in its tracks. "What was I talking about…?"
"Nothing," said Athena quickly.
They kept walking, Aphrodite positively ecstatic at all the flowers and trees as Artemis kept an eye out for predators, either human or Pokemon. Athena, meanwhile, was focused on her atlas and guiding the three of them through the forest. They were getting close to a path—she had told them earlier—and from there they could stay on the beaten path and avoid forests like this. If Artemis was telling the truth, she wanted to be out of this forest as fast as possible. She kept hearing that shuffling and barking every now and then, and she didn't like it. It was creeping her out.
The barking sound came again, and Aphrodite screamed. Athena just sighed, "Aphrodite…"
"What?!"
"You're being awfully dramatic…"
"Dramatic?!" Aphrodite cried shrilly. "Did you hear that?! It could have been a wild Pokémon, and we would have been food for the–"
"Alright, that's it." Artemis grabbed a knife from one of the pockets on her cargo pants. "I'm going in. If I'm not back in ten minutes, go on without me, okay?"
Aphrodite just nodded, watching her sister with a concerned frown, as Athena put a hand on Artemis' shoulder. "Be careful."
They both watched as Artemis went in, pushing branches and such out of her way. She brandished the knife, waving it around as she glared at the trees. "Alright, listen up! If anyone's there and you're gonna hurt my sisters, you're gonna have to go through me first, got it?! I'm the strongest of all of us and I'll–"
Something barked again, and Artemis stopped. The flash of orange fur she'd seen before appeared again, and Artemis realized it had been a Pokémon. A Growlithe, to be more specific. It was staring up at her, barking happily, almost like it was laughing.
Realization hit Artemis like a brick. "You didn't want to hurt us, did you?"
The Growlithe shook its head and jumped, knocking Artemis to the ground with its paws placed firmly on her chest. Artemis giggled, whether out of relief or happiness she didn't know, and grinned at the small orange Pokémon. "You just wanted to have some fun with us, huh?" Artemis knew the feeling; she did the same thing to her sisters sometimes on particularly boring days.
Growlithe nodded, giving Artemis a friendly tap with its nose and barking. Artemis ruffled its fur and picked it up as she stood. "Hey, what if you came with me and my sisters? We're out on a journey, and I think we'd make a great team."
Growlithe barked happily again, and Artemis removed one of the empty Poké Balls from her belt. Tapping the button against the Pokémon's fur, she watched as the ball shook three times before coming to a stop. She had caught her first Pokémon… and now she could protect her sisters more effectively.
Speaking of her sisters, Artemis looked up as she heard them running towards her. "Hey guys! Over here!"
Athena was the first to arrive, looking at Artemis in a mix of worry and relief. "You scared us to certain death! What were you even doing–" She stopped when she saw the Poké Ball in Artemis' hand. "Did you catch it…?"
Artemis nodded, grinning. "It was just a Growlithe that wanted to have some fun. It seemed to like me, so I invited it to come with us."
"Awww!" Aphrodite had appeared behind Athena, a few leaves in her hair and on her dress. "That's so sweet! You and Growlithe will be perfect, I can already tell."
"You're certainly both very rambunctious…" Athena muttered. Artemis normally would have shot back with a devastating insult, but she didn't really want to right then. She was too busy riding the high of catching her first Pokémon.