After a first, and hopefully her only unsuccessful attempt, Ava trekked on, Bulbasaur keeping notice of any Pokémon worthy of catch. Nothing popped up as of yet. A few bugs there, a few more bugs here, a couple Spinarak to remind her of what was lost that could have been… Still, nothing stuck out to here that she'd grow to use. She kept walking, her footsteps mushing against the damp grass as raindrops fell atop her head. Bulbasaur looked up, squinting his eyes in delight as he outstretched vines from the bulb on his back.

Ava looked back, seeing her Bulbasaur lying down on his bulb, arms out in each direction. "Bulbasaur, what are you doing? Are you almost done photosynthesizing over there?"

Bulbasaur let out no reply; only a tiny cough, as if to tell Ava that she wouldn't understand such a complex process.

Ava sighed, walking over to pick up Bulbasaur. "We can photosynthesize on the way."

Bulbasaur grumbled, though ultimately went limp in her arms.

As the two walked, Ava strayed from the original dirt path to one more elaborate, stepping on a branch in the middle of her depart.

The twig snapped in half under her weight. Bulbasaur sat up, jumping off of Ava's arms to sniff around the broken branch. Ava couldn't help but chuckle at this seemingly useless act that Bulbasaur had thought was so important.

"Bulbasaur, what are you doing? We've got to go!" Ava bent down to pick up Bulbasaur, when something made noise from behind her.

She quickly stood up, immediately forgetting that Bulbasaur was still on the ground. "What was that?"
Nothing replied.

Ava bent down, picking up Bulbasaur and backing up. Something cracked. She again asked who was there. Nothing replied.

She finally gave in, jolting behind her, violently pointing her Pokédex toward whatever creature was behind it. The device beeped with vitality as the being slowly emerged from the darkness of the overhanging trees.

[Unfezant, Pokémon #0521. A Normal/Flying-type. Male Unfezant threaten their opponents by swinging their heads.—]

Ava closed the Pokédex, not bearing to hear any more.

"...Unfezant?" she asked, slowly getting closer. The Unfezant, on cue, sauntered out of the trees, aggressively gaining pace on Ava's tracks.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, buddy. Okay, uh, you don't have to be that fast here."

Her pleading proved invalid to the Unfezant as it started getting closer. It minaciously started swinging its head from left to right. Ava slowly stopped moving. "Was… Was that supposed to threaten me? Y'know, if all you're gonna do is swing your head, I don't think you're gonna get that far, buddy. I can swing MY head too."

The Unfezant growled in aggression, not liking Ava's tone. Just as she was done satirizing the three-foot bird Pokémon, another force flapped its wings and appeared behind it.

"...Don't tell me."

A second Unfezant was behind her, chirping hostily as it placed a wing on Ava's shoulder, turning her around. Her fingers fiddled nervously, accidentally pressing another button on her Pokédex.

[—Female Unfezant's flying skills surpass that of male Unfezant.] The device rang.

"Of course they do…" Ava mumbled under her breath as the Unfezant outstretched its wings, into a fighting stance. Bulbasaur's eyes folded, angrily hissing at the bird. The bird, not intimidated in the least, squawked back. "Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur backed up, before rapidly running toward the Unfezant, vines popping out from under the bulb on his back. Unfezant quickly jumped off of the branch, swooping down to the two as they ran. Ava grabbed Bulbasaur, running deep into a clearing in the forest.

She slowly bent down, her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. She breathlessly sat on the grassy floor, Bulbasaur crawling next to her head, nuzzling her nose as if to assure her it'd be alright. Ava closed her eyes, sighing to herself. She still couldn't exactly shake off the feeling that something was around her though.

Something chirped from behind the bushes. Bulbasaur alertedly held his head high in the air, sniffing around. His eyes darted around the forest, before finally landing on a nearby Pidove. The Pidove looked up from the ground, flying onto Ava's head and pecking at her hat.

Ava sat up, feeling the weight of Pidove on her skull. "What th-…"

Bulbasaur slowly crawled over. He held Ava's Pokédex in his mouth, plopping it in her hand. With an exhausted arm, Ava pointed the device toward the tiny bird Pokémon.

[Pidove. Pokémon #0519. A Normal/Flying-type. This very forgetful Pokémon will wait for a new order from its trainer even though it already has one.]

Ava shut the Pokédex as she's still on the floor. "You're lucky I'm way too desperate to find a better option…" she said exhaustedly as she held up a Pokéball. Pidove tilted its head, still not quite understanding what Ava meant by that—or said at all.

Pidove slowly inched closer. Ava nodded, pushing the Pokéball toward Pidove to bridge the gap between the two. Pidove lowered its beak, pecking at the opening of the device. The Pokéball opened immediately, converting it into glowing, red energy and siphoning it inside.

Click.

Pidove was successfully caught!

A smile tugged at the ends of Ava's mouth, as she slowly whispered into the ball. "Thank you."

The Pidove cooed from the inside of the ball, ruffling its feathers.

Ava slowly got up from the ground, dusting the dirt off of her jacket. Bulbasaur shook the excess grass from his body, climbing back up onto Ava's shoulder. She reached behind her, gently setting the Pokéball in her bag. "Ready now, Bulbasaur?"

Bulbasaur stretched out his arms, nuzzling into the crook of Ava's neck.

"Yeah, I know," Ava replied, holding out a finger to scratch under Bulbasaur's chin. "Exhausted, huh?"

He nodded. Ava stared up into the atmosphere, looking up at the flocks of different airborne Pokémon heading skyward. She pondered where they were going, and where they might have come from.

Ava smiled as Bulbasaur's head rested on her cheek. "I wonder what Aiden's doing right now."