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As Jacklyn made her proclamation about training Anima had immediately split off to go do some of her own. With just her an Anneliese to do their own training the two went off to explore the area around them. With Anneliese being distracted by just about everything along the way, though it wasn't as if her curiosity was any problem to Jacklyn. "My, the grass really is tall, do they not have a caretaker here?" "Caretaker huh? I know some public spaces have people mow their lawn, but I don't think I've ever seen so much grass in one place before so I guess not? But more tall grass just means more places to scour and find things in! After all, you can't hide something if it's shorter than a blade of grass right?" "Oh goodness that man is wearing such dark clothes, and a mask at that, does he not get warm running in the sun so much?" "Just be careful if he starts trying to sell you poketchs or something." It wasn't until a bit later, after Anneliese had been attacked by a wild starly and started getting into a trainer battle of her own - "yeah, take him down, Anneliese!" - that Jacklyn had realized that she had been so wrapped up in keeping pace with what her companion had been doing that she had been neglecting her own training montage. Not that there was much need for her specifically since she and Rus were already the ultimate combo, but there was no reason to deny herself such fun either. Splitting from Anneliese for a moment, the girl then looked into the grass to see what she could find. There were wild pokemon all over the place for Rus to take on and fight, but of course Jacklyn had a shiny new premiere ball to use and wanted to add to her team. And of course it couldn't just be any pokemon that she got, she needed something that truly spoke to her. Sure Starly's were neat and all, and Jacklyn understood the necessity of having a bird in her adventuring team. After searching for a bit, and Rus embering away some of the wild pokemon that came at her, Jacklyn was disappointed in the lack of anything that really drew her attention. As she was ready to get out of the tall grass and go back to Anneliese to see how her fight had gone, the girl stopped as her eyes fixed onto something. What appeared to be a pokemon, one she recognized as Buneary if only because she had a predisposition to such types of pokemon, had stumbled towards her. A clueless expression on its face as it looked at Rus and Jacklyn, cocking its head and letting out a, "bu?" Most strikingly to Jacklyn though was neither the pokemon nor the way it acted towards her. She knew what a Buneary was. She knew how one looked. Brown fur with like a beige? fluff around its ears and bottom fur. But this one, it had more a red and pink tinge to its fur, something far more unique then a regular Buneary. A shine in her eyes Jacklyn shouted, "Rus! Rus! Look! Look! Isn't that amazing!? I've never seen a Buneary like that before, are you like super rare? Super strong? Super cute? Of course you are! Alright come on Rus!" An annoyed expression crossed Rus at his trainer's exuberance but it was quickly switched to a more fierce one as he got ready to battle. The Buneary, however, still seemed incredibly clueless about what was happening, seeming to throw Rus a bit off his game before Jacklyn shouted, "go and tackle it!" The Lepash moved quick and slammed itself into the Buneary, the pokemon rolling back from the hit before landing on its feet and hopping back up. Seeming to know that there was now indeed a fight going on, the expression of the Buneary changed as well to that of something trying its best impression at something that would be seen as tough. Hopping in place, the Buneary started to close the distance between itself and Rus before hopping in place...and that was it. Rus was, again, thrown off its game as the Buneary appeared to be doing nothing of consequence. "And now hit it with an ember!" The Lepash reluctantly complied as it shot fire from its mouth towards the Buneary. With the pokemon weakened Jacklyn said, "alright, so you weaken them first before going in for the capture right? Well, Rus is plenty strong so that should be enough. So come on and join the team!" With that, the girl took out her premiere ball out of her bag before tossing it at the still confused but active Buneary. The pokemon was enveloped in the light from the Premiere Ball. One shake. Two shake. Three shake. "Wahoo let's - " It broke free. Jacklyn froze in place, her exuberant expression locked in shock, before it finally shifted into a more humorless one. Buneary, for its part, didn't seem to understand what had just happened, instead hopping around harmlessly yet again. Letting her head fall and hang in shame, her arms following suit, the girl let out a heavy sigh. Taking out a regular pokeball she tossed it again. One shake. Two shake. Three Shake. Click. Jacklyn walked over, defeated in spite of her victory and picked up the pokeball. Looking at the newly caught pokemon's pokeball, then to Rus's, the back and forth again the girl said, "maybe I'll paint it a different color." Sending out the pokeball to see her new companion, the Buneray was let out, letting out yet another "bu," as it did. In spite of its injury and combat with Rus, it didn't seem to harbor any hard feelings about what had just happened. Rus, who still didn't really feel like he had taken a fight he wanted at all, was still a bit confused letting out a "pa," as it apologize to the Buneary. The Buneary simply cocked its head to the side, walking over to Rus and patting it on the head, which elicited the Lepash to back off a bit. Staring at the Buneary, Jacklyn's previous disappointment had all but vanished as she simply shouted, "you're so cute!" Diving in and picking it up, rubbing her face against it she said, "what an adorable pokemon and party member! Welcome to the squad uh," the girl looked at the Buneary before saying, "Cherry! That's your name now! Welcome aboard Cherry, c'mon let's go meet up with the others!" With that, she let go of the Buneary before running back to meet up with Anneliese, the two bunny pokemon following from behind. When she caught up, it had seemed Anneliese had almost caught to Anima before asking Jacklyn for pointers. Confused by the question she said, "speak loud? Hm, I can't really think of how I do it but people seem to be able to hear me easy enough. Oh I know!" A flash of insight came to the girl. "It's simply really. It's all about projecting your adventurous spirit! First, look to who you want to hear you. Then, think about how much you want them to hear you. And then!" The girl took a deep breath before shouting, "hey Anima! Look what I found!" Smiling to Anneliese she said, "like that see? Oh, oh, oh, you should also look at what I found too. Say hello to Cherry, my newest pokemon!" The girl threw her hands to the side to emphatically point at the Buneary that had just caught up with her.

“It is still just a bruise, however!” Quinn said, even as he thrust his shirt back down to cover their injury. “It only hurt when I touched it, and only a little. Rest assured, Belladonna, this is nowhere near the worst thing a Pokémon has done to me.” Quinn tightened his grip on Cassiopeia’s strings. “Besides, we have come to an understanding. I see no reason to think they would do so again.” With zir free hand, Quinn took the berry and inspected it. If they remembered his berry charts correctly, it would be a useful boon for later, especially since she had already had to use a potion on Cassiopeia so early into the journey. And if xe did not, surely fae would be able to find a replacement chart at another town or otherwise find a way to look up such information. She felt Cassiopeia tugging again. “Oh, would you like to hold it? Very well, I see no reason why you should not. Perhaps you will be able to tell me what it does, then.” Cassiopeia went to consume the berry right away and Quinn had to pull her back. “Later, you silly balloon! When you need it! We are already on our way to a Pokémon Center. You will be polished clean and ready for action before you know it.” The trip to the Pokémon Center was uneventful, but then, all three of them had already cut such a swath through the route, leaving little in their wake, that now that the time came to retrace their steps, there was little left to encounter. Other trainers were still licking their wounds, and any further wild Pokémon stayed well inside the bounds of the taller grass. It was the first time Quinn used the Center, though, which turned into a whole thing. “Cassiopeia, return to your Pokéball so the nice nurse can heal your wounds,” Quinn said for what felt like the seventeenth time. But the Balloon Pokémon acted in her nature instead, stubbornly drifting to the corner of the ceiling furthest from her trainer. The nurse was only offering as much help as she could without getting out from behind the counter. “We do accept Pokémon who have rejected a Pokéball for one reason or another,” she said in a rather joyful voice that betrayed a hint of laughter. “The healing process is slightly different, but it is just as effective.” “No, I am the one who prefers to keep her outside her ball,” Quinn said. “She-” He took another running leap to try and grab at Cassiopeia’s strings but got nowhere near enough height. “She is perfectly fine with it on most occasions, and she needs to learn to be alright with this if our journey is to continue. We just started our Pokémon adventure today!” “Really?” the nurse said. “I couldn’t tell!” Quinn tried another jump, missed, and gasped when they hit the ground, feeling the bruise once again. The nurse noticed, and her demeanor changed. “We also offer our clinical services to trainers. Perhaps you can both get looked at at the same time,” she said. Quinn stared at Cassiopeia, who was no longer fidgeting in the corner but was now drifting just far enough away that she could react to another wild grab if Quinn tried it. “Will you get in your ball if I get looked at with you?” Quinn said. “Please, Cassiopeia.” Fae held out the ball, and Cassiopeia, with one of her handstrings, tapped its button and allowed herself to be sucked in. Treatment for its injury was about as simple as Quinn could hope for. While the Poké Center worked its magic on Quinn’s two Pokémon, the nurse and a Chansey wrapped Quinn’s stomach “In a few days, you can use a rag soaked with hot water as a compress,” the nurse explained. “It will encourage blood flow, which will help shrink the bruise.” Quinn did not have the heart to tell the nurse about her condition and how that too might affect the healing process but accepted the advice all the same. Normandie and Cassiopeia finished right at the same moment, and Quinn accepted them back as well, though they kept Cassiopeia in her ball for the time being. “Well, my friends,” Quinn said as they exited the center and returned to Nathaniel and Belladonna. “Now that I have caught a Pokémon and we are all healed up, I suppose we have a lot of training to do. Normandie still has to get used to fighting with a trainer, after all, and while Cassiopeia and I have performed well so far, we are clearly still both novices. Let us return to our adventure!”