Social Quandaries~

There was still snow.

It still snowed outside.

A week had passed since Radar first came to Grassveil Town, since he first met Yigo, first explored the town with him...a week since all that drama with a certain Jigglypuff and Zangoose broke out. That was a stressful moment in time, one Radar was happy to put behind him after a week of amazement and bliss with his new best friend, his first ever friend. He was currently living with Yigo the Sandshrew in the Ground Type's burrow since the young Murkrow didn’t have anywhere to go or stay, and a week of living and sleeping—Yigo slept, Radar had Insomnia for an ability so couldn’t—with the Sandshrew was the greatest week of his life.

So where was Yigo, now?

The answer was simple;

There was still snow.

The Ground Type didn’t seem to like the cold, Radar could still perfectly picture Yigo falling on his haunches and the loud, startling shriek that came with it the second his butt touched the snow. It was still early and Radar had sneaked out while Yigo was sound asleep, perched atop a thick and strong branch protruding from a large tree in the park Yigo had shown him a week ago when the bird first came, roosting as he looked down at the other Pokémon. The Dark-Flying Type started to feel increasingly bored as he watched kids frolic around and play in the field of flowers near the tree that was now covered in a thick blanket of snow. The Dark Type was running low on Poké, and Yigo didn’t have any, so that was a concern he couldn’t get out of his mind, stressing him out a bit. Radar missed Yigo, wished he could be here to play...but, unfortunately, Yigo didn’t enjoy the snow, so...the child had to entertain himself for a little while, just to kill some time because he was bored and stressed. Not a good combination...

Man, had this been a bad idea...

Leander had been hanging from the large tree in the park for a while now, sipping water from one of its branches to quench his thirst. He had traveled to Grassveil Town to visit his mother, unaware of the snow that was to fall on the area, and was now suffering for his poor predictions. Hanging completely still as usual, he had gained a hat. A puffy, cold and white one. And since he had hung there for a while, Leander worried that he'd fall if he shook his body, which was weighed down by the water he had drunk, too much. And thus, the hat persisted.

The branch'll block out the snow, he had thought.

Obviously, he had been wrong. The wind could easily blow snow askew. And because of that, he was now pretty cold. Even the water that he got from the tree was chilling, making the situation reminiscent of someone drinking a slushie during the winter. Which is to say, a terrible idea if you get cold and sick easily. And sadly, that was exactly the case for Leander. Yet, he remained in the tree. He had bothered getting up, and was not going down before he had gotten his fill. After all, the walk to Eleanore's house was pretty long and exhausting for someone so tiny, and he had been going without water for a while already.

He would soon notice another pokémon in the tree, which he had missed the arrival of due to being too lost in his own thoughts. Without moving any other part of his body, he began observing the fellow.

It was a young murkrow with a fluffy plumage that sat perched a few branches below him, with his red gaze resting on some other children playing in the park beneath them. Remaining quiet, the seedot simply watched him for a while. He did consider scaring the poor bird to humour himself and lift his mood, but with the crow seeming to be feeling down, he felt like it would be in poor taste. Instead, he decided that he would try and talk to him. There was still some time left before he would be too heavy to hold on to his branch. Some, but not much. But he had nothing better to do during that time, so some talking couldn't hurt even if he should not have time for a long conversation.

"Anything the matter?", he asked.

His impulsive mind did not consider that just speaking up without prior warning of him even being there could scare someone anyway.

Mille yawned widely as she padded through the snow. The soft chill of the fresh snow underpaw was serving to help keep her awake, but she still felt as if she could fall back asleep the minute she touched a warm blanket.

It obvious to anyone that knew her that Mille wasn’t a morning person. She would much rather be curled up in her bed until midday than be up at the crack of dawn, no matter how beautiful the sunrise was supposed to be. Unfortunately for her, she had a stall to open and although Grassveil Town was covered in a nice layer of snow there were still be a number of Pokemon who would be out taking advantage of the day to shop. This time of year was a time for giving after all.

The Fennekin shivered lightly as a cold breeze blew through the streets. She should have gotten herself a scarf or something before the snow set in. Perhaps she could enquire around some of the stalls in the square later. Deciding that getting to the warmth of her stall quicker was the best option for now, Mille veered off the normal path she took towards the square, instead heading through a park.

The terrain was a little more treacherous for the small fox pokemon to get through. Unlike the pathways of Grassveil, the snow here hadn’t been periodically removed to make it easier for the residents to go about their day and it was quite deep for someone as small as herself. She was making a long line through the snow rather than just the cute little footprints that some of the local bird pokemon had left behind.

“Anything the matter?”

The voice caught her by surprise. She didn’t think that anyone else was here so early in the morning. Curiosity got the better of her and she scanned the area, noticing a murkrow and a seedot in the tree. Neither of them seem to be paying immediate attention to her though, so she assumed the words must not have been directed towards her.

It wasn't often that Clovis was up at dawn, but today was a bit of a special day, for a number of reasons. The Piplup's own favorite, very special, season-specific weather pattern had appeared. Snow! That white, fluffy stuff that never failed to brighten his day, and bring out his joyful side. Thanks primarily to his feathers, and slightly to the insulating effect that his diet had been having, the Piplup had enough protection from cold that standing outside in the snow wearing only two thin garments brought him no discomfort.

On that day, the Piplup wore two accessories. His joy ribbon, for one, tied into a dandy string bow tie as usual, as well as a brand new outfit piece from that old Delibird, Saint Nick. An extravagant and opulent thing— a golden masquerade mask, small in size and covering an area around his eyes, as well as a small beak extension. While masks often had roguish associations, this one in particular seemed to be thoroughly ineffective at hiding its user's identity, and served more to accent the uncovered parts of the Piplup's face, and to give off something of an illusion of wealth.

The revealing nature of Clovis's new mask meant that he was still capable of eating with it on, and so eat he did, having been plenty plagued with his usual morning appetite. As Clovis strolled about through town, he held a bagel, wrapped in one of his flippers, which he periodically pecked at. It was slightly warm, though cooling fast, and mostly plain, aside from a few seeds and seasonings on its outside. It was thick and filling, but perhaps a bit dry. Clovis felt that he would appreciate was he was eating a bit more if he had thought to match it with some milk or tea, but walking around with both a bagel and a drink would leave him no free flippers, which could lead to inconveniences.

For the time being, he supposed that he ought to sit down with his food, for comfort's sake. A park was his first thought for this, for surely there be would places to sit there, in the form of tree stumps, flat rocks, or perhaps crafted seats, if anyone had thought to put them there. He made his way across a few streets and around a few corners, with his unusual fashion turning the heads of a few Pokémon who noticed him moving in spite of his short stature. After a good couple minutes of walking, Clovis arrived at one particular park which had passed by several times before, but not often bothered to enter. It appeared to be reasonably popular at the moment, with a number of young Pokémon playing about in the snow, a Fennekin idle on the ground, and what looked to be a bird roosting on a tree branch. Though the Piplup recognized none of them, he still made his way into the park and found himself a nice little rock to lean on, adjacent to the tree and a few yards from the Fennekin. From this spot, he identified the bird as a Murkrow, and caught sight of a new Pokémon hanging from the tree, a Seedot, resembling an acorn. A bit of a strange place for them to be, but Clovis assumed that hanging from trees was only a natural thing for that particular species to be doing. Or something. He was more concerned with finishing his food than anything else.

Alki was a thief. Generally, that meant that she was good at taking other people's stuff. Apparently, however, it didn't mean she was good at keeping track of her own stuff, as she had found out. She'd lost quite a number of her belongings recently: seeds, orbs, and perhaps most upsettingly, her joy ribbon. She would've been fine with the other losses, but she knew that the joy ribbon was expensive. And it wasn't just a matter of money! She could make it back with time, and it probably wouldn't take her too long. But... that joy ribbon in particular was special to her...

The jigglypuff sighed heavily, kicking up a cloud of snow with her foot. She liked the snow. She'd met someone who was very important to her in the snowy woods somewhere far away from Grassveil. But she wasn't in the best mood today. She'd lost something very valuable, and she was cold, and she didn't have much of anything to do. For now she was just wandering around, quite aimlessly, hoping that something would happen that might cheer her up. After so many shitty events recently, that would be quite nice...

She made her way under a tree, eyes cast downward as she made her way through the park. A clump of snow fell on her head from a tree above her that she only passingly shook off. Why was she outside anyways? She didn't have a lot of energy to do much of anything right then... A voice brought her attention upwards. Anything the matter? She looked up and saw that Fennekin from the cave! She'd been awfully nice to her, and a small smile appeared on Alki's lips as she approached her.  She'd even noticed her again! Although she'd rather that Mille not have asked that... there were quite a few things the matter, but she didn't want to burden her either...

"O-Oh. Hi. N-No, nothing's the matter. Just a b-bit t-tired is all..." She mumbled to Mille. There were still patches of snow on her head that she hadn't quite bothered to get completely off, and her expression still remained rather forced. It was a welcome site to see the Fennekin, but that didn't just make everything that had happened recently all better...

“Anything the matter?”

The squawk Radar let loose from his beak at the nearby voice was one of the most high-pitched in his life, almost falling from the tree if not for his wings and the sweet, sweet gift of flight. After fluttering his way back up to the branch he was roosting on, eyes frantically shifting and searching for where said voice had come, he noticed there weren’t any Pokémon in or on the tree...at least none nearby. “Hello?” Radar asked, fear evident in his voice and eyes. He started searching everywhere, noticing a Piplup eating something by a rock, a Fennekin and a Jigglypuff talking which he could faintly hear. “O-Oh. Hi. N-No, nothing's the matter. Just a b-bit t-tired is all...” They were two far away, it couldn’t be them...then it hit the bird. The voice was just one of those natural, disembodied voices. Believe it or not, that explaination made more sense to Radar than the fact that there was a Pokémon hiding in plain sight. Wait...

“Please don’t tell me I’m going insane again...” The Murkrow pleaded, eyes looking up to the sky—and tree branches—above him. “Why now? Why in front of so many Pokémon?” His voice sounded tired, yet Radar was horrified of what was yet to come. The blurriness and orangish vision would come soon enough...things that weren’t there to begin with would come soon enough...the voices were always the beginning. Radar's facial expression immediately sank into sadness, eyelids drooping down as he gazed back down at the ground, looking at all the Pokémon down below. “I’m hella not in the mood for visions, I hella miss my friend, and I think I’m just gonna go home, please just...don't make me crazy...? Is that how it...” The child’s voice trailed off when he looked back down at the conversation he'd overheard a little of, recognizing that voice...Oh sh*t...

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

“Yigo? Yigo?!”

“H-Hi... Alki! I didn't know you... Uhm...”

“Uh-uhm, Y-Yigo, I was, uhhh...”

“M-Maybe... Could she come with us instead?”

“...wondering if you could show me around this Marketplace a bit more!”

“NO!”

“W-What did I do wrong?”

“How do you not know when you’ve done something wrong!?”

“I-It's all your fault...”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

That voice...it was the same as that Jigglypuff's! Alki! From when he first came here! Radar's eyes shot open, his heart pounding, breathing heavy from fear. I need to get away! Radar thought, gaze unwavering from Alki and her Fennekin friend as he slowly got up to fly to a higher branch—hopefully—away from view. Would she still be mad? Yes. Would she want revenge for yelling at her and following Yigo? Yes. What do I do? What do I do!? His mind was panicking as Radar flew from branch to branch trying to get away from the Jigglypuff's view, praying she didn’t look up. He’d flown about a few branches up, stopping at one with an acorn hanging from it, heartbeat starting to slow down now that the Dark-Flying Type could possibly be out of view. “Please don't see me...” Radar quietly repeated to himself under his breath, unaware of anymon else who might be on that same branch with him...

Even Leander himself reacted with surprise to to the murkrow's shrill squawk and almost-fall from the tree, but it was revealed only by his shrinking pupils. I should have introduced myself or something. Whoops. Oh well, I guess I'll just do that now instead. And apologize, he thought. After the murkrow uttered his "Hello?", Leander was ready to answer, but was bothered by how frantic the bird seemed. Usually, people wouldn't be that terrified after such an innocent question, even if they heard it suddenly. The impact of the surprise wore off fast in nearly all cases. Why was he so stressed? And would speaking to him now just alarm him even more, seeing as the innocent nature of his words didn't help?

Uhh..., his mind went as he watched the crow look in all direction. He would follow his gaze around, trying to figure out what was wrong. It fell on a fancy-looking piplup, a tired fennekin and... what was this? A jigglypuff! Leander would usually be thrilled to see one, as they were, in his opinion, one of the cutest pokémon in existence. Right now, however, he was preoccupied with finding out what was wrong with the murkrow, and thus had to remain in the tree, preventing him from heading over for a chat. His worry about what he had done to the murkrow had to be resolved first. And what the bird said next would not help him worry any less.

Go insane? Just what had he set afoot now? The exhaustion - the tiredness one felt when awaiting the inevitable - that plagued the darkness pokémon's voice told Leander that he had been through bad things before. This wasn't just something he was saying to mess with him. As the child's face grew more sombre, he wanted to reach out and tell him that he was not fabricated by whatever was happening to his mind. Tell him that he could talk to him, if there was anything he could do to help. The bird was still speaking, though, and he did not wish to interrupt. That led him to just watching while he trailed off after spotting something, followed by a fearful escape to the upper branches. What did he see? he wondered, peering down himself. There was just a jigglypuff and a fennekin there. What threat did they pose? They seemed peaceful enough. Maybe the murkrow had seen something else? He did say that he was going insane, and the acorn knew that some mental illnesses could make you see stuff.

At least he had not fled away from where Leander hung. In fact, they now shared the branch. Talking would easier this way, the nut reckoned, then made the noise of gently clearing his throat. Just a little something to make his next sentence less sudden on the poor bird.

"I'm... not going to make you insane. I'm right here. Was here from the start, so you're not, uh, seeing things. If that's what you're worried about, anyway. Sorry for startling you." He then stopped talking for a second, thinking about what else he could say. "My name's Leander. Is something scaring you now? Is there something below us?" he asked, slightly strained by both the tough subject and the fact that he had to put actual focus into holding on to the branch he was hanging from. He had stopped sipping new water in order to be able to hang there longer, but the water from before still made holding on a challenge. Like doing pull-ups while trying to comfort someone.

Mille had been about to continue on her way when a familiar voice spoke. It was quiet, but the Fennekin recognised Alki from her time in Serene Cave. She was a little confused at what the Jigglypuff seemed to be saying though and stared briefly at Alki, almost dazed as her still waking mind tried to put everything together.

Oh!

It hit her after a moment or so. Alki must have heard what she had, but mistaken it for herself asking the question. As she put together that realisation, someone in the tree started moving around, saying something to themselves. Visions? Crazy? It was way too early for this sort of thing.

Mille ignored the strangers in the tree for the moment, instead actually taking in Alki's appearance. Despite what the Jigglypuff had said in response to the question, she didn't actually look fine. Even her smile seemed a little off. Mille tilted her head to the side slightly, reaching up to brush a little snow off of Alki's head.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, genuinely concerned this time.

There was just a little bit of bagel left. A few more pecks, and he would be done. He'd be finished, but the question remained: would he be satisfied? Was this one bagel enough to free him from hunger for the entire morning? Maybe. Maybe not. There was only one way to find out. He crammed the remaining bits of bagel into his beak and began to chew it right up, though it was no easy task. It was thick and dry, and with no drink in his possession, Clovis was forced to chew the entire thing down on his own.

Ever closer and closer he came to being able to swallow the great mass of bagel in his beak, before a shrill squawk came from the murkrow up above, capturing his attention. "What?" He asked aloud to no one in particular, while his voice remained muffled by food. While it would probably have been easy to ignore the murkrow after the shriek if that was all the noise that they had made, this was not the case, and the murkrow called out to the wind before breaking down into some mad rant. Insanity and visions and craziness. "Well."

By now, he had swallowed every last bit of his bagel, and he could say that he was, for the time being, satisfied. At least, he was satisfied with regards to his hunger. His curiosity had only become stronger. With no food left in his possession or in his beak, all he could do was stare. That seedot, Leander, had taken to trying to comfort the murkrow. Better him than me, anyway. The piplup took a few looks around, and it seemed that everyone else was talking with someone about something... Oh well, at least he looked fashionable.

Alki heard something about someone going crazy from somewhere nearby, but she didn't feel all too concerned about it. Was that bad? She just... well, it wasn't her issue, was all. It's not like she could help whoever the voice belonged to out. It's not like she could help anyone out, really... She wasn't very good at things... The jigglypuff directed her eyes downwards, trying to remind herself to not act like this in front of other people. She shivered in the cold; her fur wasn't very thick, and she hadn't really bothered to get a coat or a hat or anything to help her with the snow... and the snow on her head wasn't helping...

The Jigglypuff jumped and winced as she suddenly felt something on the top of her head. She directed her eyes back upwards, towards the Fennekin. She was reaching for the snow on her head, and Alki had... been afraid of that? She felt like crying all over again. Why was it so easy to make her cry? She needed to calm down... She blinked rapidly, forcing back her tears. Her voice would be alright, right? It was cold, so...

"N-No, I'm alright, t-trust me..." She said, her voice fairly normal outside of the stuttering. "J-Just... k-kinda cold, is all..." She shivered as if to prove her point. She was very far from Ok, to be quite honest... but she wasn't about to admit that to other people. If she couldn't handle her own problems, then she didn't deserve to burden others with them. They weren't Mille's problems, or Darcy's, or anyone's aside from her own. She could figure it out...

He gazed down towards Alki's direction, eyes catching something shiny and moving towards that. Radar, you see, had a real weakness for shiny things, they always looked so sparkly and nice...irresistible to him. The sight of this shiny object on the Piplup's face calmed him, helping him relax as he gazed at it. He could take it, steal it, keep it for himself, he just had to fly fast...but what about Alki? She'd see, and if her and Yigo ever became friends again, she’d tell him and keep him away from the Dark-Flying Type because he was a bad Pokémon...but that mask was just too shiny to pass up, what was it made of, gold? Radar started playing with his wings again like he usually does under stress, something he isn’t aware he even did. It’s a scary tell, really. He fiddled with and rubbed his wings together when he lied to that Gabite a year ago, when he was about to steal something, and always whenever Hiro was around...it was a sign he was uncomfortable or nervous. It was bad he had a sign for that. Than Radar was startled by somemon clearing their throat, deciding to talk. “I'm... not going to make you insane. I'm right here.” Radar started to look all over the tree and the branch he was on. Nothing. “Was here from the start, so you're not, uh, seeing things. If that's what you're worried about, anyway.” He probably wasn't seeing things, there was just some Pokémon hiding...he wouldn’t even blame them. “Sorry for startling you.”

Looking back down at the ground, Radar let out a tired and bored sigh, feeling ashamed of himself for calling someone real not real. Why did he have to open his beak at all? Why can’t he just rope it shut and never open it again? Better yet, why can’t someone just cut off his entire beak? The whole thing? That way he won’t ever be able to say things like he just did and humiliate himself, and possibly hurt somemon's feelings in the process... “I-It's fine...” Radar replied, not bothering to look up—not knowing where to look. His voice was a little sad...he wanted something to do. Yigo wouldn’t come out in the cold, and Radar didn’t want to just stay inside all the time. He really should be thinking about what he was gonna do after Grassveil Town. This was his breather, a nice, calm place before he continued to roam the land for his home...the world wasn’t so big, he’d find it...eventually... “S-Sorry for...calling you fake and not real. Even if you are in my head, I don’t have the right to do that...” Still ever rubbing and writhing his wings together, his eyes looked back to that Piplup...and that thing he had on his face. It was just so shiny, he couldn’t resist, he needed that shiny. Radar was now—as of this very moment—completely and helplessly enthralled by the sparkles before his eyes.

He could just fly down there, into the Piplup, grab the shiny and than fly away as fast and as far as he could. Luckily, he could hopefully lose anyone who chased him in Pêcha Forest, which was just outside Grassveil Town's borders. But what if someone reported him? What if somemon increased the possible bounty on his head, possibly sending more exploration teams after him and even the police! He already had a run in with the police here, it was not an experience he’d like to repeat. But...but that shiny was just...Radar's muscles relaxed, practically lying down on the branch like before. “Have you ever wanted something so bad you’d do anything for it?” Radar asked, his thoughts clouded by the beautiful gleam of...whatever it was. It didn’t matter, Radar just wanted it! His eyes rested on the Piplup—wings calming down and folding at his sides—as a dumb, happy smile curled up on his face. Oh, how he loved shinies...then Radar remembered he was with a Pokémon currently, smile fading as his eyes blinked rapidly, trying to snap himself out of Shiny-Hypnosis. Shineosis. “Oh, uhm, sorry, I like shiny things and that Piplup down there has something hella shiny and...” Radar explained, quite rapidly at that, before calming down with a few deep breaths. “I just hella miss my friend, is all...he doesn’t like the snow, so he stays at home. I didn’t want to stay inside, so I snuck out and he doesn’t know...” His voice was low, ashamed, embarrassed, and a couple of other things, eyes helplessly resting on the Piplup and his shiny.

“I-It's fine...” the murkrow had told him.  “S-Sorry for...calling you fake and not real. Even if you are in my head, I don’t have the right to do that...” Honestly, Leander understood his issue. This was far from the first time he had been mistaken for something other than a pokémon. It was, however, the first time someone had thought they had invented him in their mind. But after dealing with stuff like this a few times, this incident did not hurt his feelings at all. Hell, he was even muttering a quick "It's all right" after the corvid had finished apologizing. The strain in his voice was slightly more apparent now. He would have moved more to make his location more apparent, but right now he most definitely had to remain still to stay in the tree. Oh, had he only had arms to climb up with...

Since his conversation partner was now above him, Leander could not see what was going on up there. This made him very curious as to what the crow was doing whenever he heard the sound of feathers shuffling. He sounded like he was moving... in some kind of way. He was not sure in what way. Is he still looking for me? Or maybe he's looking at those two under us... They were talking to each other, the fennekin removing snow from the jigglypuff's head. Aww, how thoughtful. No, they still seemed too innocent to be causing anyone this kind of distress. If it even was distress. He couldn't see anything, after all. Soon, his pondering was interrupted by an odd question from the murkrow.

“Have you ever wanted something so bad you’d do anything for it?”

Why was he asking this right now? Thinking about it, though, Leander could recall a few times where that statement would have rung true for him. He chose not to answer, though. Any reply he had would either kill the mood even more, out him as a kleptomaniac, or both. Speaking a lot right now was still not a good idea, either. And he'd definitely have to elaborate if he brought anything like that up. Luckily, he did not have to answer at all, as the murkrow began explaining himself instead.

His first statement did make him curious - was he plotting to take that mask? Yet that curiosity was quickly brushed aside as the next thing he said elaborated on something else of interest; that friend of his. Something had clearly not been right between them, and that seemed to be the reason why this kid was so sad to begin with. He had expected something long and heavy. But in the end, they just have different preferences? Hey, I could probably help him with this. Leander had come here from Rainfront Town, a place known for its mild winters. Those gentle temperatures were exactly why he lived there himself. It was a few days away, but a little holiday trip never hurt anyone, right? Especially not when remaining home's only wrecking your friendship, anyway. He had just about forgot that he was supposed to only speak briefly when he began voicing his suggestion.

"Hey, it'll work out somehow. But uh, have you been to Rainfront Town before? There isn't snow there right now, and I don't think it's gonna get any for a while still. There's a lot of guest housing, and even a nice inn. Maybe you could go there with your friend? I've never been to the inn myself, though. Just heard some others talk about it. So I'm just guessing here, ka ka-" That last self-ironic laugh was the last straw for his stem, which at that point simply snapped loose from the branch.

He had predicted that he would eventually fall, but had not accounted for any other factors. Like the one that came to mind right now; the positions of others.

There were pokémon below us. Where I'm falling now. He did not have time to look. No time to explain, either. All he could muster was to scream in warning, and pray that nobody was directly under him, or that they were deft at dodging falling objects.

Mille blinked as Alki jumped, the cause being the Fennekin brushing the snow from the top of her head. Was she that on edge? It was clear that something was wrong, but at the very least, Alki seemed reluctant to talk about it.

After a brief pause, the Fennekin glanced up at the tree, a thin dead branch snapping from its place as her gaze landed on it. The branch floated down to her, Mille using her Psychic to telekinetically bring it towards her. Taking a brief step back from Alki, Mille breathed a small Ember upon the branch, lighting its tip. She then offered the branch to the Jigglypuff.

“Well, if you ever do need someone to talk to, I’m always willing to listen,” she smiled lightly, “But if you’re cold, hopefully this will help a little.”
Rather than push for the Jigglypuff to talk when she was so against it and make her feel more uncomfortable, all Mille could do was let her know that there was someone who would listen if she wanted.

Mille had been pretty much ignoring the other sounds and conversations in the area after her attention had turned to Alki’s downheartedness, but the loud snap of a branch and the scream of another pokemon above her immediately drew her attention. Reacting quickly, she utilised her Psychic once again to break the Seedot’s fall, halting their movement in mid-air before dodging out of the way. Releasing the Psychic, the Seedot now had a much shorter drop onto the layer of snow.

“Are you okay?” Mille asked, padding a few steps closer now that the Seedot had landed relatively safely.

Well, that was it. No more food. He'd eaten all he had, there was no bagel left. It had filled him up, but now he had nothing to do, besides stand around and look good. He did think that he could do that pretty well.

The Piplup took a big whiff of the dry winter air. It was nice and crisp, and perhaps especially pleasant to breathe so close to a tree, even if that moaning Murkrow and the Seedot were up in it. Come to think of it, he could've sworn that the Murkrow had been looking at him here and there, rubbing his wings together... Probably admiring his attire and rubbing his wings for warmth, most would probably find the current weather pretty chilly.

Clovis turned his attention away from the tree. The pokémon up there were mostly just mumbling to one another. There were quite a few other pokémon in the park, anyway. Like a Fennekin and a Jigglypuff with a voice that seemed like it reminded him of someone. But he didn't know too many Jigglypuff, did he?

While Clovis stood still and looked at the pokémon around him, he heard a shout from the Seedot, and turned his head towards the noise. That Seedot had lost his grip...! Clovis could feel his muscles tense up for a second as instinct compelled him to act, but he was a pretty good distance away from the tree, and...

The Fennekin had managed to, essentially, slow the Seedot's fall with some psychic power, and his landing would thus be painless. Quite the relief, as he wouldn't have to be so worried about Leander's safety, and a good effort by the Fennekin, too. As the Fennekin went over to check up on Leander, Clovis gave the Fennekin a little compliment for her skill, "Nice catch." He took in the situation with the Seedot and the Fennekin with his head slightly uptilted, and remained where he was, relaxed while leaning against the rock, observing from a few yards away.

Alki couldn't control when she was scared and when she wasn't, but all the same, it was embarrassing to be so jumpy at everything... she hated being such a scaredy-cat. The Fennekin had only been helping her get the snow off her head, but she had to go and jump and quiver like a frightened little child... her ears dipped towards her head, the thoughts causing even more internal turmoil in Alki. However, at the sound of a soft snap over-head, the girl looked up to see a small branch floating towards the two. The Fennekin held the branch in front of her, with a move of some kind, and breathed a small fire onto it, before offering it to her.

"Hmm." Alki said, taking the stick. The fire looked pretty... The girl stared at the fire for a few beats too long, before turning to the Fennekin and offered a small smile that wasn't entirely ingenuine. "T-Thank you..." She mumbled quietly, before bringing the stick closer to herself. It did help, at least with her lack of warmth. The fire was fairly hot, and did well to offset the cold surrounding her. With her small form, no part of her felt particularly untouched by the fire's warmth. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the stick.

That is, until a scream pierced the cold, chilly air, directly above her, prompting a scream from the Jigglypuff as well... Had she known that the Fennekin would act as fast as she did, Alki wouldn't have bothered getting out of the way. But she didn't want to take the risk of getting hit by whatever was screaming above her, and so the Jigglypuff teleported away from the group and the scream, not knowing quite where she'd land.

Fortunately, it wasn't too bad... She landed in a rather thick patch of snow, and the jigglypuff sunk a bit into the snow. Alki began to trudge back towards the group, the lower half of her covered in snow, but she had avoided the screaming, and any potential harm that might have come with it. She rejoined the group, standing slightly behind the Fennekin should a new threat arise. It was a Seedot that had been screaming, she assumed... "H-Hi..." That was all she'd managed to say to the Pokemon. She was still pale and embarrassed and from her fright, and shrunk behind the Fennekin shortly after her greeting.

Alki's gaze wandered upwards, into the tree that she assumed the small nut pokemon had come from, and there was a... pretty familiar Murkrow... Had he been with Yigo, that day? He had, hadn't he... Alki shrunk back, hiding even further behind the Fennekin, before building up enough guts to re-emerge and face him. "H-Hello to you too..." Alki mumbled, establishing eye contact with the Murkrow, hoping that maybe she'd be able to make her previous mistakes right this time...