The blonde walked along in the area around the town. It was a beautiful place and a thankfully nice day. As she was walking, her eyes looked around, trying to notice any leaves that looked different or actual color from the berries in question. Of course, with her eyes up and her glasses off now that she wasn't in a city, Jemma wasn't paying nearly enough attention as she approached some water. The rock which she tripped over squealed and expressed his displeasure in her actions with unprejudiced vocal expressions. The woman winced as she tried to bring herself to her feet.

She tried, adamantly, to apologize, but the wild Pokemon wouldn't have any of it. Instead, he kept trying to push her away, attempting to get her to leave altogether. This woman wasn't going to give in, though, and when she realized the Corsola was extremely disgruntled and wasn't going to let up, she released her Wigglytuff.

"Stephanie, use Thunderbolt. Try to scare him off!" The fairy concentrated her energy, charging the move before sending the bolt straight at the offending water-type. It hit him... and hurt him, that much was obvious. He was even more stubborn than Jemma, though, and immediately retaliated. He was too excitable, however, and the rocks he attempted to pelt the balloon Pokemon with went wide, missing her completely. He grumbled to himself and glowed, healing himself with Recover before he sent a stream of foaming bubbles at the Wigglytuff, knocking her back a little.

Jemma waited to make sure Stephanie was all right before she shook her head at the obstinateness of the wild Pokemon. "Put him to sleep, Stephanie." The Wigglytuff nodded and began to Sing, a beautiful lullaby of a melody that made the Corsola pause in his tracks and stand, suspended as he was enthralled before he slowly fell asleep. "Dream Eater, then Wake-Up Slap," came the instructions. Stephanie's mouth opened and she sucked in as hard as she could, causing an orb of energy to be released from the sleeping Corsola and be brought to her.

Rubbing her belly in satisfaction, Stephanie took a moment before walking over to the Corsola and bringing up a hand to bring down on him, slapping him hard across his wee face. It hit harder than Jemma expected, but regardless, it sent the poor thing flying into the lake. Stephanie wiped her hands of him and walked back to her trainer. "That was a little rougher than necessary, you know?" The Wigglytuff blinked at her and shrugged. He deserved it, in her opinion! As the two began to walk, the came across a rather small bush.

Truth be told, they almost walked right past the thing it was hidden so well. Jemma paused, however, and squinted at it. Kneeling down, she parted some of the leaves and found little green berries. Smiling, she picked what looked ripest and gingerly set them in a bag she had at her waist.

Once she had gathered the berries safely, Jemma went about traveling again with Stephanie at her side. She got her phone out and was making notes in a note pad about the bush she'd found the fruits on, the area around it (most notably that it was beside a lake), and anything she could say about the berries themselves. She even took one out and sniffed at it to see if it had a distinctive scent. The whole time, of course, she was looking about to make sure she nor Stephanie missed anything important, but she focused most of her attention on gathering info for Luke.

Eventually, she felt she had enough information. She put away her phone and realized they were definitely getting farther away from the town. She figured this was a good thing and kept her attention on the trees and undergrowth, just as before. Stephanie hadn't found anything of interest, either, and was feeling like she could do better. That's what prompted the balloon Pokemon to run over and attempt climbing a tree. The resident Stunky didn't take kindly to this disturbance, however, and Slashed from the cover of his hole. The Wigglytuff yelped and jumped back, causing the little skunk to come out of his tree and hiss threateningly.

It was quite startling, but Jemma wasn't going to let this deter her. She returned Stephanie and sent out Ferdinand. The Whismur emitted a loud squeak of sorts and shook himself before receiving the instructions: "Use Uproar!" Immediately, a screaming filled the air and the stomping of feet against the ground caused such a ruckus that it scared some birds from their own homes in the trees. The Stunky attempted to cover his ears, but it did not good. He was weakened greatly by the continuing sound and Jemma produced a Pokeball to attempt catching him to "end his suffering", so to speak. Eventually, Ferdinand calmed down and the blonde gave him a smile.

"You did good, buddy. We're here looking for some berries for a nice professor. Why don't you stay out and help me out? Stephanie was helping, but she was getting anxious." With this explanation, the normal-type gave a nod and would go to pick up the Pokeball (assuming it gave that usual clicking noise saying it was a successful capture) and return to Jemma's side so they could continue. This was fun! For both trainer and Pokemon.

The pair had continued on in the forest, looking all around. Ferdinand really wasn't entirely sure what he should be looking for, but he could at least keep his nose tuned in for any scents that could indicate food? Yeah, definitely. That made sense. So as he sniffed around and Jemma kept her eyes peeled, they'd find nothing. A small sigh of frustration escaped the blonde's nose, but as she looked over to her Whismur and realized he was trying so hard, she couldn't help but perk up. When she saw a Buneary rushing out of the bushes, she raised her brows. The little thing ran straight for Ferdinand and Jemma didn't say a word. This caused the distracted wild Pokemon to smack into the Whismur, resulting in him toppling over.

In a sudden burst of adrenaline and panic, Ferdinand started to transform. While he was evolving, Jemma moved forward to stand between Loudred and Buneary. This way, she could stop him from attacking immediately. "It's okay, Ferdinand," she murmured as the Pokemon settled into his new form. Then she'd turn to the little bunny and crouch down. Only now did it become apparent that the little thing was crying. "Oh no... What's wrong, sweetheart?" Bringing attention to it caused the Buneary to wail. This brought the rest of her group out from the trees. Five Lopunny surrounded Jemma and her Pokemon. The blonde looked around, surprised, and her Loudred became defensive again.

As Jemma observed the behavior of the wild Pokemon, she furrowed her brows a little. Looking back to the smallest of the group, she smiled. "Do you want something super special?" The youngun perked, her ears both extending a little. "Where do you find berries around here? I can make something amazing for you if you help me find the ingredients," she promised. The Buneary looked a little downtrodden, but the rest of the Lopunny glanced at each other a bit warily. What was this human doing?Should they help her?

"I can understand you being a little distrustful, but hear me out. I know that when my parents made me eat my veggies, I often wanted to run away. Especially if it was the same thing every day. If I didn't eat those nourishing, icky things... I usually didn't get anything special... like a treat." Somehow, she'd hit the nail on the head. The little Buneary wanted a special kind of fruit! But she had refused to eat healthier foods so the group wouldn't allow it. Jemma smiled as the Buneary looked at her in awe. "The secret to eating better is to make something delicious out of something you wouldn't normally like. If we find some berries and veggies, we can mix them up." She'd look around at the Lopunny, who all looked a little surprised. They all looked at her a moment, making her question whether they'd actually help.

Then, one of the larger Lopunny turned, started moving, and then paused to look back. Jemma stood up, following after at a relaxed pace. This could work to help her find the berries she needed, maybe! The Lopunny would first lead her to nice little tree with greyish-blue leaves. In it, seven berries grew. "Wow, look at those," Jemma murmured at the spiky little fruits. The Buneary made a face to indicate that it was icky but a few of the Lopunny disagreed. The blonde just chuckled and picked all of them. "Okay, let's look for two other berries and then some of your leafy favorites," she'd suggest. Another of the Lopunny had an idea and led the way.

A brilliant pink tree is what stood before them once they'd traveled a little ways. Jemma stared at the leaves a moment before she'd take just four of the twelve berries that adorned the tree. She saw the bit of a dirty look she'd gotten from one of the Lopunny when she'd taken all of the durin berries so she took it easy on the chesto. Besides, she wouldn't need much. The Buneary, at this point, excitedly hopped up and down. It was this one's turn to lead the way. A few of the Lopunny slipped away, intending to make it easier for this seemingly-kind human and just gather the greens themselves.

The young rabbit led Jemma to a simple tree, a little taller than the others with less leaves hanging lower, but colors that blended much better. Other than the amazing pink of the Mago berries themselves, that is. "All right. Now, all of these berries are pretty tough," she'd remark. "If someone can find me a medium-sized stone that we can use some attacks to make a bowl out of so we can crush up some of the durin berries to start, I'd very much appreciate it. With the chesto berries, we're just going to use them as a garnish. So I'm going to have two of my other Pokemon help us out." When none of the wild Pokemon outright showed disapproval, even if they were a bit concerned, she released Ami and PinPin. "Ami, I'm going to toss up these berries and I want you to use Frost Breath to make them brittle. PinPin, then you use Slash to chop them into small bits, okay?" The two Pokemon expressed their understanding and the deed was done in a matter of moments. Jemma used her sweater to catch the falling bits. At least they wouldn't get too dirty.

It didn't take too long for a Lopunny to come back with a bowl and a stone. "Great! Now let's crush up the durin berries in this. We're making a dressing for the greens," she explained. She had PinPin Slash them one at a time so she could crush them easier, but as she was struggling, one of the Lopunny waved her away and took over with its paws. It was able to punch them, making it into a liquidy mix much more quickly. Eventually, they'd start adding pieces of mago berry to even out the bitterness some, sort of like a raspberry vinaigrette. "Let's get some more bowls," she'd request, and off went a couple Lopunny to create bowls out of stones around the area. Finally, the dressing tasted right and Jemma discreetly offered a leftover piece of mago to the delighted Buneary.

As Jemma smiled at this, the Lopunny that had gone to retrieve greens returned. Soon after, bowls were produced and Jemma started to put a group of greens in each bowl, top it with chesto berries, and drizzle some of the dressing over each of them. "Go ahead, try it!" A few were eager, mainly the Buneary, but others were tentative and carefully ate a single leaf with as little of the dressing as possible. Okay... so she definitely hadn't made it painful, at least... As they ate more, they all showed enjoyment over the mix. There was even enough for Jemma's own Pokemon to share some.


The whole situation caused a bright smile to alight on Jemma's face. She'd helped a lot and they had helped her too. Even if she didn't find any of the berries Luke needed to further his research, she found some others that she could bring back to his lab. She stayed there for just under an hour, enjoying the company and delight of the bunnies. She started to say her goodbyes and saw the crestfallen and disappointed looks all around. Her heart ached at the sight and Jemma dug into her bag.

"I can tell you now that I won't be able to take care of all of you, but you are welcome to all come with me. There are plenty of people who will be able to make foods similar to this or at least buy it for you. I am certain none of you will go hungry and you can all find your favorite foods alongside a human. Okay?" Producing five ultra balls and a single Pokeball for the sweet Buneary, she awaited their decisions.

With all six of the rabbits walking up, one-by-one and choosing to let a ball absorb them, it was the largest one that waited until last. Jemma simply smiled, knowing this almost certainly had to be the leader and most likely was the mother of the Buneary, who had excitedly chosen to poke the Pokeball before any of them could interject. "Humans aren't all bad," she promised. She was well aware there were not-so-nice or even downright evil people in the world, but she wouldn't have anything to do with those kinds of people if she could help it. Even if the trainer that took on this Lopunny was strict or angry, she was sure everything would work out just fine.

The Lopunny finally let in and allowed its capture, allowing Jemma a moment to return her own Pokemon -- even Ferdinand -- while the ball shook a little and then dinged shut. Each of the bunnies were sent back to storage since she already had a full party, but at least that meant they were secure. Moving on, Jemma wasn't having much luck finding anything else of use.

Then, quite suddenly she had company, who was snuffling around and trying to get into her bag. The blonde wasn't sure how the little thing got so darn close to her without her noticing, but he was digging straight into her bag. "H-hey! Stop that," she chided as she tried to grab hold of the sticky little monster. With sugar-covered hands and a sad-looking Swirlix, she sighed. "... You're after a mago berry, aren't you?" The fairy perked, tail wagging a million miles a minute. Well... that was a yes if Jemma had ever seen one. Ungluing one of her hands from the candy-coated Pokemon, she carefully reached into her bag to produce one of the mago berries to offer him.

The Swirlix scarfed it down and Jemma shook her head a little."If you're that starving, you could come with me? I know of an amazing cafe that makes the most scrumptious cakes and I'm sure there's a place that makes candy, all homemade. Just have to do some research to find it. She figured this would probably prompt another excited response, but he certainly could be plenty happy out here in the woods... even if he didn't appear to be a great forager. Who knew...?

Still searching by herself, Jemma emitted a sigh. It was going on about three hours of her being out here, though one of those hours was strictly spent on the Lopunny and their sweet little baby bun. She smiled at the thought of them, hoping she could find them good homes. As she reflected on this and kept her eyes out for more berries, the blonde was finding that she had run out of luck in this regard. Sure, she'd been able to find one berry and she did get a bunch of other information and even gathered new Pokemon, but she really wanted to find a second berry to properly help out Luke...

While searching, Jemma decided to stop and actually part some bushes to see if, maybe, a berry bush had grown stunted and thus was hidden behind more generic plants. She didn't find anything at first and continued on. It took about twenty minutes before she found something, but it wasn't the something she was aiming for. A tiny Ledyba, curled up inside a bush and unmoving. She furrowed her brows and reached out slowly to gingerly touch part of his carapace.

The little bug jumped nearly five feet and emitted a squeal of fear. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry; don't worry, I don't want to hurt you." The insect, now on the ground again, shuffled back a little from her, looking uncertain. Jemma stayed still, looking concerned, and took a deep breath. "It's okay, little one. I want to help. You don't seem hurt at all..." With that comment, she lifted her head to look around her. There didn't seem to be any others around... maybe that was it? She couldn't remember if Ledyba were reliant on their group or not but it was the only explanation she could come up with. Either that or he really was just very shy. "Would you like to join my family?"

Though it was quite uncomfortable, she crouched herself down in the bush and just extended a hand half-way. While she waited for the little bug to move forward -- or not, she considered her last encounter with this type of bug-type. They were much more active... and quick to defend themselves. Maybe he was abandoned because he was too small? Or even just because he was so withdrawn. Either way, she thought he was cute. She belonged with her, most definitely!

The Ledyba had gingerly approached and Jemma smiled at him. Taking out her phone, she sent one of her other Pokemon back to her storage so she could keep this little one with her. It was starting to get a little late, though, and as she gently picked up the Ledyba and let him perch on her shoulder, she knew she had to give up the search. She turned around and started heading back toward Alto. Of course, as she went, she kept an eye out for any berries, just in case, and instead ended up finding what looked like a fig tree. She squinted at it at first, unsure if she was actually seeing the fruit she thought she was. Although she was aware this genus of trees was particularly versatile in the places it could grow, she wouldn't have expected it in Alto.

She was not one to complain, though. She had read that there were uses for the fruit, the leaves, and even the wood. "Would you mind picking some of the fruits and leaves for me?" With this request made of the Ledyba, who hesitantly nodded, she started to back up a bit. Using her phone, she took a picture of it to bring back to Indigo Labs. There were herbal uses for the leaves, she thought she remembered, so maybe that could translate into Luke's work. If not... well, damn, she'd have some stuff to cook with. The picture included the Ledyba as he flew around and picked some choice fruits and several leaves that were as untouched by bugs or bug-types as possible.

"Good job. Thank you so much. Climbing that wouldn't be in my best interest," she offered the Pokemon as he flew back to her. He perched himself right back on her shoulder,
leaves in hand, and Jemma retrieved the figs themselves to put in her bag. With that done and the sky beginning to turn shades of purple and orange, she knew they really needed to hurry up and so continued back toward the town. As she was passing the same lake she had first come across, however, she paused.

Floating there, swimming, was a Ducklett. This wasn't, by itself, what really drew Jemma's attention, however. The sunset was shining off the water, despite the trees. In fact, it gave a particular shimmer when it came through the leafy branches. This little bird, just sitting atop the water and staring down at her reflection, seemed to absorb these beautiful colors of the sky. The water reflected the oranges and yellows onto the blue plumage, giving her a gorgeously bright appearance. However... she couldn't see what this human did. She saw a glaring light and a lacking appearance.

Even as Jemma watched, however, the little bird ruffled up her feathers, took on a steeled expression and opened her beak. Instead of a squawking, grating sound, what came out of the Ducklett was a beautiful song. It wasn't spoken, it was felt. It was an expression of confidence, of knowing the future held better things, even self-reflection. The blonde found herself tearing up at the overwhelming beauty of it all and the Ledyba, not fully aware of everything that would cause such an emotion to bubble forth from his new human, expressed concern. This noise caused the Ducklett to stop, looking shocked, and then embarrassed.

Without warning, the little duck attempted to run away, and Jemma called out, "No, wait, please!" Taking a second to reassure her new bug that she was perfectly all right, she darted after where the bird had gone. Thankfully, webbed feet made it particularly hard for the Ducklett to run -- and she was just too humiliated to remember that she could fly -- that Jemma was able to catch up. "Please don't run, I mean you no harm. I just want you to know that I think you're beautiful."

This shocking remark mixed with the embarrassed tears and those darned feet caused the Ducklett to face-plant. Jemma stopped, catching her breath, and waited for the bird to right herself, which she did... slowly and looking particularly emotional. The human had called her beautiful! She knew she heard it right, but how could that be? Despite her song, she had a very hard time staying as confident as she expressed. Jemma knelt down, sitting down on her knees. "I... I want to help you. I think you can help me too. If you promise to stay by my side and remind me that I just need to believe in who I am, then I will do the same for you. Your voice is beautiful and, if you're anything like me, sometimes you don't realize how beautiful you can be. I... I want you to feel like your song."

The Ledyba... just really didn't get this, so he buzzed a little. It brought the Ducklett out of her shocked thoughts long enough that she ran over to the woman, wailing and leaning into this wonderful human being that recognized her for who she was and not for the awkward-looking little Pokemon she was on the outside. Jemma smiled, gently patting her. "So... will you come with me, then? I think we'll make a great pair."