Kristina had been looking around lazily. She wasn’t actually too invested in whether they found anything off the bat or not. The point was coming out there again. Emerson, however, was much more aware of his surroundings, or more specifically, the emotions of his surroundings. Glancing into a patch of densely packed wood, he frowned a bit as he sensed…. Negative emotions? Looking back at Kristina, Emerson made a small motion for her to follow him. Catching sight of the motion, Kristina blinked a bit slowly before frowning and starting after her Gardevoir. Where was he going?

What they would come to was a strange creature standing in the brush, her eyes aglow with light. Kristina blinked slowly staring back at it. “A… Stantler?” It was none like she had seen before, and the way it seemed to glow gave an eerie feeling. Emerson, meanwhile, had stopped walking a few feet from the other Pokemon. She…. was the source of such feelings? He couldn’t quite understand— His thoughts reached out to her, but no, a Ghost barrier was up causing him to waiver some. Looking back at Kristina, Emerson frowned. This wasn’t good.

The Stantler’s call startled both Kristina and her Gardevoir. A blast of Psychic energy began to reverberate off the Stantler’s horns and went cascading towards both human and Pokemon. “Double Team!” Kristina called immediately. Emerson would not, however, as he was standing between his trainer and this foreign Pokemon. Taking the blast, he winced a bit and shook his head. “Em—“ Kristina understood right after the reasoning and winced in response. “Ok….ok… Hypnosis!” was the call. If they had to battle, they needed to force it to rest for now. The Gardevoir was quick to sway into a hypnotic dance that had the Stantler swaying a bit. Shaking her head, she stomped her foot and managed a Future Sight before falling asleep standing up.

Kristina moved around Emerson rather quickly, closing the distance between herself and the Stantler. Raising a hand to it, she felt over it and was assured it was real…. And… odd feeling… flimsy in the way Ghosts were. But it had most definitely used Psychic power. Maybe Mom knows… Before much more could be thought or said, however, the Future Sight took effect and came crashing down. Emerson was quick to Teleport to Kristina away from the blast, but it was enough to awaken the Stantler again. “Shoot— wait!” Kristina called, but the Stantler had already turned and run. “After it!” Emerson gave a nod. Both human and Pokemon sprinted in the direction of this strange creature..

As they broke through the brush, Emerson would catch a hold of something and Teleport it into Kristina’s bag for later. His main focus, however, was on the Stantler. The ghostly creature had finally stopped running and turned around to them again. In this clearing, however, Kristina now saw a horrifying sight. Ruins… that had been caved in recently. Looking from it to the Stantler and back again, some part of her understood. “This was… your home…” The Stantler looked back at her aglow with uncertainty. Kristina bit her lip and nodded. “It’s ok… it’s—“ The Stantler recoiled, and Emerson was quick to Teleport Kristina out of the way of a blast.

And yet the girl persisted even after appearing again, she talked to it softly, abet uncertainly, and slowly but surely the Stantler came around. “You don’t… have to stay here… you know…” she finally spoke. “You can come with me… it’s ok?” The Stantler hesitated but agreed. The girl produced a ball and held it forward. The Ghostly Psychic pressed her nose against it and disappeared inside.

As the Pokeball dinged in capture, Kristina perked a bit and smiled. Clasping the ball and turning it over in her hands as she watched it flash off back to her PC, she glanced back to Emerson who looked equal parts relieved and pleased as well. The negative energy in the air had ceased, and he was glad for it. “You wanna keep looking around?” The Gardevoir gave a small nod, and with that, girl and Pokemon started on again.

They walked for a while before coming to another strange building, this one much more intact than before. Wedged into the wall was even a— wait a minute. Golden eyes blinked a couple of times as Kristina focused in. Wandering forward, she reached into the crevasse and began to dig into it some. Sure enough, the item came loose from the wall and fell into her hands. Huh… She pocketed it for later as a sound caught her attention.

Atop one of the ledges, a Vulpix stood swaying some. She was clearly a fox in every form and function, yet Kristna couldn’t stop her voice frome resounding out a single “Kitty!” Emerson snorted. The Vulpix looked cross. A soft laugh escaped from the girl as she fished out a Pokeball. “Let’s battle, ok?” Emerson glanced from his human to the Pokemon and then to the Pokeball in her hand. A sigh escaped from him after the Vulpix called out her intent for battle as well. Well, at least it seemed they were off to one start or another.

A flash of light, and a Drowzee stood now ready to go. “Start off with Dazzling Gleam!” Kristina called. The Pokemon swayed one way and then the other summoning up power within himself and sending it crashing towards the Vulpix. The latter sprung from the ledge she had been standing on and broke into a Quick Attack, rushing through the bright light and slamming into her foe. The Drozee winced, but as the Vulpix flipped back after executing her attack, it was clear who was more hurt right then. “Keep going!” Kris encouraged.

The battle that followed was a quick display of lights and speed. The Vulpix had both a Quick Attack and a Flamethrower under her belt, but several Dazzling Gleams made it harder and harder to hit her foe. When an unexpected Hypnosis was ordered, she went crashing down unable to attack further. Kris was quick to fish out a Pokeball and toss it at the Vulpix.