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Belle's eyes widened at the talk of ghost Pokémon, but that wouldn't change her plans. She just had to… be a bit more careful. That's all. In the end, Belle drank a large glass of water and went to sleep first, to ensure she was the first awake. And her bladder woke her up in the middle of the night as planned. The girl took out the note she wrote earlier. She hesitated and then placed it on her pillow. When the others went to look for her… they'd see it. I'm leaving. Don't look for me. Be well. I'll miss Don't do anything stupid. Normies. ~B Her eyes stung and her chest hurt, but… this was just how things had to be. If she couldn't find a way home, she'd just go at her own pace. The others were too ambitious, too eager, too… nice. 'They're cramping my style,' she told herself as she exited the Pokémon Center slash Day Care. If she said it enough times, she might even believe it. Part of her felt like, in some ways, this was fate. Perhaps in another world, she was the one the others left behind. She could almost see it. Stumbling through a swamp, meeting a girl with purple hair and a rough-and-tumble boy, and journeying together until the inevitable end. She wasn't cut out to work with others. Nate and Quinn were nice, but how long would that last? No, she had to leave first. Before she let herself get hurt like that time so long ago. A little girl ran out toward the beach, wearing a white dress and a sunhat over silky sapphire locks. Her golden eyes sparkled like gemstones under the summer sun. She grinned, revealing a gap between tiny baby teeth, and shouted a greeting to a group of children her age nearby. The kids' expressions twisted. One held his nose, another made a gesture to ward off evil. Even more spat out vitriolic words, while others turned away as if she didn't exist. The girl's face fell. She grabbed the sides of her dress and twisted them in her hands, looking down at the ground. The earth underneath was flat and mixed with yellow clay and sand. Belle crouched down and reached out a hand. The girl took a finger and swirled it into the sand, creating shapes in a corner of the beach by herself. Every so often, she looked up, biting her lip and gazing at the other children wistfully. "Why don't they like me, Mommy?" she asked her mother when she arrived to pick her up from the beach. The woman gave a painful smile. "Because you're different, and people don't like those who are different." "I…" the girl trembled. "I don't wanna go outside anymore, Mommy." "What? But you've been wanting to go to the beach all month! And what about our trip to the park next week?" "No!" the girl screamed. "I don't wanna do that anymore!" She sniffled. "Sorry… I know shouting's bad." "No, it's fine." Her mother frowned. "I understand. Take as much time as you need. But please, don't shut yourself away." The girl shook her head and said nothing. Belle withdrew her hand from the ground and snorted air from her nose. This wasn't the end of her journey, but this was the end of her journey with other people. She stood up. Maybe one day, she could let herself heal, open her heart, and move on. But that day seemed faraway, as distant as the stars in the night sky above. And then she began to walk. Step by step, on the road that would lead her to her eventual destination.

uhhhh my mind went to saphira from eragon i guess that was kind of the "first" dragon where i was like "oh she's cool" but i wouldn't say she's my favorite. i think spike from my little pony (g4, didn't watch older gens so idk how those versions were) is underappreciated, like, he has fans, but it's always "the mane six... and spike" which sometimes gets examined but not really. him getting wings was dumb, though. i've got an mtg commander deck that, while it technically has a running stable of possible commanders for it, i still call it my "nicol bolas" deck sometimes. he's pretty cool, just sitting there reading a book and/or plotting to take over dominia. oh i've got this guy on the sleeves of two thirds of my decks actually

The wave of emotions-- That was surprising. As mixed together as they were, it was impossible to tell the difference between them; whether they were foreign or from her own soul, Es could hardly tell. Even still, she could hardly tell where they ended and where she began, and yet… She felt them. All of them, at once; in one big, messy ball of emotion. It was difficult to parse even as she tried to read the code filling her mindscape, the core filling so fully with it that for a moment, a brief moment, she couldn’t even tell where she ended and began-- And then, everything began to glow. Inside and out, it only took one cursory, conscious glance through her eyes to reveal that the others felt it too; that the others were glowing as well, and that… The mist was receding from their light. Even inside the digital landscape of her mind, a smile spread across whatever face she had; mimicking that which stood ever-present on her body. They were doing it. They were winning. Her heart soared (no matter the fact that she was pretty sure, being a ghost, she didn’t have one anymore), and she actually found herself having to avoid cheering. Of course, in the aftermath, there was still other things to discuss; which as the emotions faded, and her mental-landscape grew less… Crowded, Es found herself listening to with rapt attention. Of course, the others responded first; they pretty much always did, as Es found the disconnect from her mind and body to be an ever-present nuisance; but they brought up good points as ever. Of course, she couldn’t comment on one of them; but given they were Pokémon now, was there any reason for them not to sleep outside? They were… Beasts after all. Still, there was still a conversation to reply to. “Of c-c-c-course we’ll do it, Silly!” Es laughed, zipping around Jirachi with considerable speed; a surprising amount, even; as if being as still as she had been had been a drain on her. “We’ve b-b-b-been through enough already, haven’t we? We’ll always be Happy to Help!” she cheered, LED eyes shifting towards upward arrows as she cheered. “After all, if we’re helping a g-g-genius, there’s no way we can lose!”

Penelope frowned. Much of what the maid was saying made sense at first glance but she couldn't help but feel there was something she was missing. She wasn't nearly satisfied with the answers. Particularly not the hand wave of what happened with her sister. The idea that she'd willingly get drunk in a place like this was absurd. Though it seemed likely that she had somehow been put to sleep. Or else there was no way she'd not have done something to stop Gaston by now. "You know things would go much better for us if you answered everything so readily." Penelope said, starting to grow impatient with the way this woman spoke. Unfortunately her impatience made her miss the signs that the woman was about to break free until it was too late. "I ain't 'ave time fer ye two, so I'll jest be on me way. Ye gots yer answers, so leave me be, an' I'll do ye the same." "Not nearly enough answers, I still haven't...hold, hold I say!" Penelope started after the woman, only to be caught up in a flurry of feathers as the birds took off. "Don't think you can jus- ah!" she called out in alarm as she tried to force her way past only to end up falling backwards in the process. Gunther breathed out a sigh of relief. It seemed that everything would be alright here now. Even as the villagers seemed to brush off their thanks Gunther gave a short bow. "Please, accept our gratitude. You didn't have to do so much for people you don't know yet you still did. I can say with certainty that the people of Phar are good folk." When they began to clean up Gunther considered offering to help them. But then he paused. It suddenly occurred to him that in all this time he hadn't see Penelope nor Alois. They should have been able to investigate the entire house by now yet they still hadn't returned. "Ah. This might be sudden but I must go now." He told the others. "I must be sure that Penelope is safe." He figured that Citron would stay with Peaches for now and he had no authority to tell her nor Raki what to do anyway, and he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to enlist Raki's help just in case. And then there was Edrick which.... "I should be fine on my own. Link must have caught that man by now so perhaps..." he looked around at the mess as if to suggest helping. Though he couldn't with any confidence say it out loud. With an awkward grunt he headed back for the house on the search for the younger princess. "Eh?" Came Cora's surprised reaction as Tsetseg hit Gaston with an arrow. "Ehhh?" Came another as Gaston kept going. "Ehhhhhhhh?" came a third when Gaston literally grabbed his horse and stopped it from moving. "....Wait!" She called out suddenly, broken out of her shock as the man tried to climb back on his horse. "You...you stay right there, we have to take you in, dagnabit!" She looked to her horse then paused. She didn't want to ride it too close to that wyvern after all. So instead she just advanced straight on towards Gaston on foot, this time drawing her sword. "You're making a right fool of yourself Gaston, get back here this instant!" She looked over at her companions. "Acantha, Phai, cut off his escape, don't gotta get too close just make sure he don't go nowhere if he tries riding off!"

Team JAA/AJA/AAJ Anneliese wasn't so sure she liked what Anima had said. "Hm, are we supposed to fight with the Pokemon? Have I been doing it wrong this whole time? Oh dear, I've been making poor Leopold get hit when I should have been getting hit alongside him." She seemed to stress somewhat about this for a while until of course the time came to set up camp and she grew distracted. --- "though I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to start a fire on a grass...hmmmm...Well, I'm sure we can deal with any problem anyway, Corsola's a water type anyway right?" "Oh yeah!" “As for what you can do to help… Jacklyn’s right, we should start figuring out for a fire-- But she’s also right in that we shouldn’t be starting it on the grass. The Corsola where I come from at Ghost type, after all,” "Oh no!" Anneliese furrowed her brow. "Something to burn..." She looked around, eyes lingering on the tent for a few moments longer than she should have before deciding that, no, that would be a bad idea. Thankfully Anima brought up wood and Anneliese gasped. "Oh my, I forgot, wood burns! That's right, I believe my parents told me that primitive people used to heat their homes by burning wood...how novel!" She clapped her hands together. "Very well I shall go on a hunt to find wood to burn!" She sent out her Shinx, who gave her a confused look and glanced around to find something to battle. "Come, Leopold, we must gather wood!" From the grass nearby, something watched. Body tensed up as it observed the humans moving about. Then it ducked farther into the grass and waited. Team BQN “I am a ghost!” "And I'm sure you're a spooky one at that when you put your mind to it." Billy said without missing a beat as he led them inside. "Don't get many ghosts. Some Ghost Pokemon of course, they're a tricky bunch to keep from wandering off but they're harmless for the most part." He paused. "Oh right, if one of them slips into your rooms don't worry just come get me or my brother and we'll get them back in the fence." “I get a little excited sometimes.” Billy laughed as well. "Ah it's alright. Good to see passionate young folk. Means you'll be sure to take care of your Pokemon right I'd say. If you wanna know more about caring for the Pokemon my brother does much of that. I mostly talk with the trainers, he's not very good with people, and do the cooking. But I can show you a thing or two about Pokemon food tomorrow if you're interested." Billy had led them over to a hallway that had multiple doors on one side and only two on the other. "As for Bearble, course I know about them. That's one of the Starter Pokemon the Professor raised right over in her place at the edge of town." He stopped then and gestured towards the doors. "They're all empty right now so feel free to choose however many rooms as you're comfortable with. Me and my brother's rooms are right across the hall if you run into any trouble." His eyes lingered on Belle a moment and a small frown crossed his face, as it seemed he noticed something was wrong, but then he smiled again and decided it was none of his business before wishing them all a good night.

Penelope and Alois "Oh, go an' blow a flabby one, ye pinprick-pinteled wandought," the maid spat crudely. If looks could kill, she'd have speared him through already. Fortunately for Alois, he remained intact and whole. Unfortunately for him, the maid found her second wind shortly after. Fueled by frustration and anger, she used Alois's momentary lapse of attention to her advantage. The woman heaved the fighter off of her and regained her feet. "I ain't 'ave time fer ye two, so I'll jest be on me way. Ye gots yer answers, so leave me be, an' I'll do ye the same." The maid hared out the door, swerving around Penelope, the sudden motion causing a flurry of activity from the pigeons in the dovecote. It would be difficult to follow her through the hail of birds. Gunther, Citron, Raki, and Peaches Luckily for Peaches, with Citron leading the way, and Gunther, Raki, and the villagers helping, the operation went without a hitch. The arrow was out, and the biggest danger had passed. Despite the wyvern's body still being injured, sore, and weak, the sharp pain that had wracked her chest had lessened slightly. All that remained was to wait for recovery. The bandages would need to be changed out for fresh ones every so often, and the wound checked in case infection set in. But that was, at least, familiar territory for most of them. When Citron expressed her gratitude, Thile grinned. "Oh, t'was no problem a'all. Us Phar folks, we git things done." "Right glad I am t'see the wyvern's doin' all right. Wouldn't be right t'see one o'em go. T'would be a bad omen, 'em being so alike to—" Achos wiped his brow. "Aye," Pheodea spoke over him. "I'm sure it would. But for now, we should focus on cleaning up the area." The older woman turned to Raki. "I don't know how you got here, and I don't know what your purpose is, but anybody who would help a creature in need like that is somebody I'm willing to trust. If you do no harm to Phar, then no harm will come to you here neither." The weaver smiled momentarily at him before purposefully turning her back to the Isaurian and barking out orders to the other villagers. "Clean up the area. Any sharp pieces need to be cleaned up, sharpish. Make sure all the blood is gone, or it'll attract flies. Gather up all the cloths." When one of them gave her a sullen look, she shook her head. "Don't look at me! I'm just an old woman! You're lucky my old bones even made it over here." Link, Tsetseg, Cora, and Garinphasia Tsetseg's arrow struck true, and Gaston staggered with a cry like a wounded beast. "Oh, woe is me! Lackaday, for I have been besieged most aggressively by these foul ruffians." A mad glint came into his eyes then. "But ho, there is yet promise." He stumbled forward, angling toward his horse. Were Link or Cora to approach him, he would ignore both. Meanwhile, his horse, still galloping, veered to the side to avoid Garinphasia, running over her tail. Spittle flew from the horse's mouth as it turned, aiming away from the trees and toward open land. Where Gaston stood, arms outstretched, though one of them was bent at an odd angle. "You will cessate now! For your master! You are but a mere beast, and I, a hunter of beasts. I, Lord Pylauses Gaston, commendate you!" When it became apparent the horse would not stop, his brow furrowed, and with his good hand, he grabbed hold of the animal by the neck, forcing it to a stop in front of him. The man laughed wildly. "Yes! Yes! If you shall not acquiesce, then I must bring you to heel. Now, let us go!" Once more, he attempted to get back astride the horse.

As the questioning between the princess and the maid continued, Alois let out a sigh as it seemed that this was getting them nowhere. As Penelope turned to Alois, suggesting what was about to happen, he simply said, "yeah yeah alright." Placing more pressure on the maid's arms the boy said, "so a noble's a noble eh? Sure, but where do you think you'll find your next paycheck from? A disgraced asshole who left you here to fend for yourself? One that's probably gonna die or be thrown in jail in the next few hours anyway. Or better yet, where do you think you'll find employment as a killer without arms?" The woman attempted to shift in place, gritting her teeth when she couldn't move. "Tough talk from Sir Noodle Arms 'imself. E'en wivvout arms I could take ye, one on one, when yer not hidin' behind some bird's skirts." Alois's brow furrowed, clear annoyance on his face as he said, "alright." With his patience with this woman having been tested and already having the go ahead from Penelope he let go of one of her arms, bringing a knee to her gut before she could move and taking a hard swing at the woman's face. Resuming his hold the boy glared at her. "I'm not a professional at this, I'm just pissed. So I'll keep doing this until my employer tells me not to, and I've taken stronger folks arms then yours." A pause, before a very obviously annoyed, "bitch." "Oof," the woman let out a grunt, eyes going unfocused for a moment before she leaned her head sideways and spat at his feet. "Fine, fine." She laughed in a crackly voice. "Whaddaya wanna know? I'm warnin' ya, though. I don't know nuffin'." Giving a wry smile Alois said, "that's the spirit. Alright, first, what were you hired for?" "I was hired to look after 'is lordship." The maid smiled. "I clean the place, cook the meals, and if'n the worst comes to pass an' a group of bullies like you come along, I protect 'im." "Was ''is lordship'," a clear mock in his tone as he referred to Gaston as such, "the one who hired you?" "Who else?" the maid spat. "Sure, 'e ain't the friendliest, but at least 'e pays well." "Alright let's try this then. Has he ever talked with any other nobles you've seen, around here or otherwise?" "Not that I've seen. Ye can ask any o' the villagers about that. They'd be on it quicker 'an flies on honey. Just can't shut their yaps when it comes to gossip." Unsatisfied, Alois sighs for a moment before saying, "fine. Last question then. The princess- the bigger one that came in here not her. What happened to her?" "Oh, her. She got drunk an' passed out. I helped put 'er to bed in the guest room meself. Ain't seen 'er since but I ain't been payin' attention, what wiv everyfing going on and you standin' here 'olding me arms hostage." The maid scoffed. "Great," Alois said curtly. Turning to Penelope he said, "well, we've already searched every guest room there is and there hasn't been any trace of Cat. At least we know what happened." Turning back to the maid he said, "now, see, was answering a few questions really so hard?" With Gaston no longer being on his horse, Tsetseg kept her bow at the ready to fire an arrow off if he tried anything against either Cora or Link. She got an arrow ready and was about to pull it back just to prepare, when she spotted something else. She had been aware of the wyvern, obviously, the whole time and had been somewhat conscious of its actions even though Gaston falling off his horse had given her a brief lapse in spotting it. But she noticed it was no longer doing anything, save for staring back at her. The girl locked eyes with it, seeming to understand that there was some kind of a challenge being provided from it on an instinctual level, letting out a growl to match its own. Hers was, of course, much less intimidating coming from a smaller, human, body though perhaps was equally as so for that very reason. While she had a half mind to respond to it with actual violence, as it was no longer attacking anything and Gaston was running, Tsetseg had to put her grudge behind herself for a moment. Pulling back her arrow, she broke the staring contest with the wyvern as she fired it towards Gaston's leg, attempting to keep the hysterical man from fleeing in anyway.