Ava stared at the sky with Bulbasaur by her side, her Pidove still cooing quietly inside its Pokéball. Now that she had her second Pokémon caught so far, there were only three things on her mind at the time: what she could do next and what happened to Aiden. He was far off in the woods, managing to break a stick with each step he took. His Spinarak followed not far after, scuttling past trees and hissing at nearby birds. Aiden looked around, gazing at each tree.

Aiden stared at the tree, squinting his eyes as he recognized the exact markings on it, along with the giant mass of ivy hanging from one of the branches.

Aiden stared down at his Spinarak, who stared back up at him, tilting its head. "We're lost, Spinarak, aren't we?"

Spinarak hung his head. The face on its back curled into a frown as it sadly nodded.

Aiden sighed as he sat on a nearby wilted log. "That's just great."

Spinarak planted two legs on Aiden's knees as it climbed up into his lap. Aiden slowly smiled, sitting back up with Spinarak in his arms. He started moving again, gradually picking up pace with each step.

It got darker and Spinarak grew more wary the more he walked, almost as if it could predict something bad was going to happen. Aiden stared down to see Spinarak shivering, not knowing what to do.

"Spinarak? You okay, bud?"
Spinarak looked back up, frantically shaking its head. Aiden could tell it was scared of the dark. How silly—why would a spider be scared of the dark, he thought.

Aiden sighed. "I know, boy, but I'm doing all I can to get us un-lost. We did take this path, and all we have left is to, well, grin and bear it."

And so they trudged on, Spinarak aggressively clinging to his shirt as they walked.

After a few more steps, the two grew more tired. Even though it was the middle of the day, it was pitch black. Aiden stretched out a hand, feeling around for anything solid.

His arm pressed against a nearby pinecone as he bent down, its tiny yet firm spikes poking Aiden's palm. He felt around, slowly moving upwards as he sightlessly prodded.

As he started moving more, the dark forest started to lighten. His eyes were shut while he inspected every step as he took it. Sunlight phased through his eyelids as he started feeling something. Spinarak opened its eyes, climbing onto Aiden's head.

The thing was long and thin, and felt hairy to the touch. If he moved his hands up, he almost felt something smooth—almost like an egg.

"What on Arceus's green earth…" he muttered, hesitantly fluttering open his eyes. His eyes widened.

He was touching the back of Ava's head.

Aiden shrieked, the Spinarak on his head scuttling onto the floor from the sound. Ava bolted behind her, jumping up, shrieking in turn.

"Avesie?" Aiden muttered.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Ava shouted.

"I WAS BUSY GETTING LOST, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Aiden shouted back.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT AM I DOING HERE?! I WAS HERE FIRST!" Ava yelled, dropping her bag. Pidove's Pokéball rolled from the bag, clicking open as Pidove emerged.

"I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE HERE!" Aiden yelled as Spinarak hid between his legs.

"YOU TOUCHED MY HAIR!" Ava barked. The two were going back and forth.

"Prrrrrrr-DOVE!" Pidove shouted, wanting to be a part of the yelling.

Aiden suddenly went silent as he stared at Pidove. "What is that?"

"My bird," Ava said, picking him up. Pidove stared up at Ava before scooting over to lightly peck at Ava's chin. "He's short and tiny and dumb but I love him."

"What's he doing?" Aiden inquired.

"Being short and tiny and dumb," Ava responded. Pidove moved up from Ava's chin and started pecking her cheek.

"You just let that thing peck you?"
"It's called being attached to your Pokémon," Ava said sassily. "Y'know, the point of these things isn't just to watch them fight and watch you win. It's about making bonds and forming friendships."

Aiden chuckled, laying stomach-up on the grass. "I don't think 'making bonds' or 'forming friendships' will help you defeat the Elite Four, Avesie."

"That's what you think," Ava adamantly replied. She sat down, laying next to Aiden.

"So what can that bird exactly do?" Aiden questioned.

"I haven't taught it much moves yet." Ava replied, pulling out her Pokédex. "I've heard this thing's got a new search engine thing, so maybe I could use that to teach it some.

"Good luck with that," Aiden chuckled. "I've heard Pidoves are hard to train."

Pidove looked up, tilting its head and cooing, almost as if responding to its name.

"I've also heard they're hard-headed and slow thinkers." Aiden continued. Pidove flew over, pecking at his forehead.

Ava chuckled, almost snorting. "I don't think he liked that."