A Different Approach?

Lilith looked around her as she landed on a branch, taking in the familiar sight of the forest. She had unpleasant memories of this place, as this was the first place to take shelter after the harsh fire that had changed the lives of her, her brother and probably many other pokemon. It was probably right to let him stay at the pond... she thought. The small pond was a safe shelter, and none of the pokemon staying there were hostile. Besides, he wouldn't have to sense the familiar surroundings yet. Even if he would be able to handle it, she didn't want to expose the memories to him just yet. Honing her senses, the Crobat tried to see if there were any pokemon close by. In the past, this would have been to mug the unfortunate passer-by, now, however, it was for a completely different reason. She wanted to talk with someone, to convince someone...to help someone. To prove that even a "pesky outlaw" was more than willing to change.

Aerie and Cordelia wandered through the thin trees near the edge of Pecha Forest. They had just parted ways with the Leafeon, Kageyoshi, who had guided them safely through the natural labyrinth that was Serene Cave.
"Isn't it just great to be out of those dark tunnels?" grinned Aerie, glancing up at the bright blue sky with her red eyes.
"Yup!" agreed the Rattata, walking alongside her. "This forest smells rather tasty though because of all the Pecha trees. It's making me hungry."

The Venonat turned her attention from the sky, "Well we could always stop and gather some of the Pecha berries."

Suddenly, Lilith noticed a Rattata and a Venonat passing by. Normal passerbys, from the looks of it... this thought made another, unpleasant thought form in her head. And to think how many innocent pokemon I've ambushed...these would probably get on my list, as well, if I hadn't decided to change. A strange mix of shame and determination filled her mind. Deciding not to dwell on it any more than neccessary, the Crobat hovered down to the two pokemon. "Excuse me." she began as she landed. "But I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Seeing as you just exited the Serene Cave and headed here, I'd say you are headed towards Grassveil Town, right?" Lilith pointed at the forest. "I've lived in this forest for a while, so if you want, I can guide you. You can trust me, I promise." she finished, a clear sincerity in her voice.

The Venonat and the Rattata glanced at each other, seemingly sharing the same opinion of the matter. It was Aerie that spoke up though.
"If it's not too much trouble," she smiled, "We'd love if you could. It would probably save us a lot of time!"

Cordelia nodded, agreeing with Aerie's words before she nimbly dashed up a tree to gather some of the Pecha berries there. She came back down with six of them, two clusters with three berries in each.
"How about we stop for a snack first? Do you like Pecha berries, Miss? Oh, and I'm Cordelia by the way."
The Rattata seemed to be just as cheerful as the Venonat. Both seemed to be extremely enthusiastic about the journey they were undergoing.

"It's no trouble at all." Lilith replied, giving the pokemon a reassuring smile. This sort of smile might have looked less awkward if I was any other pokemon... she thought, Crobats weren't exactly known for their friendly appearances. Shaking off the thought, she added. "In fact, I'm just glad to help in whatever way I can."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Crobat saw the Rattata dashing up a tree and coming down with six ripe Pecha Berries."Yeah, Pecha Berries are nice." she gave the Rattata whose name apparently was Cordelia another awkward smile. "I used to share them with my brother before we moved. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Cordelia." she replied politely. "Sorry for asking out of the blue, but is there any particular reason you're heading for Grassveil?"

"Well we were hoping to find a way to earn some money there. Perhaps become an exploration team. I've always loved the idea of exploring!" grinned the Venonat, "Oh, I'm Aerie."
The Rattata then split the berries so that there were two left on each cluster, joined together by the stems and two loose. Smiling, she handed one of the now smaller clusters to the Crobat, "Here! You should have some too! It's the least we can do since you've offered to help us."
Cordelia gave the other cluster to Aerie and kept the two loose for herself. She nibbled on one of them whilst standing on her back legs.
Aerie took a bite out of one of her berries. Her small paws made it hard for her to carry lots of stuff, hence why Cordelia had selected one of the clusters to give to her. It was more convenient to carry both berries in one than two separate ones.

"...Exploring, huh?" Lilith stopped and thought about it for a second. That option hadn't crossed her mind before it was too late. But now that she was working on redeeming herself, she could consider it, if she managed to clear her name first. "Sounds like a good idea. I think you'll make a great team, at least from the little I've seen of your bond so far." she added sheepishly. The two of them seemed close, and they would probably watch each other's backs.
The Crobat smiled as she accepted the berry cluster from Cordelia. "Thank you." she replied as she let it slide into her simple satchel. "But to tell you the truth, I'm not that hungry. One berry is probably enough, you two can share the other one." she suggested. "Also, if you want to, I could carry both clusters. I seem to have enough room to do so."

"Thanks!" they chorused at the compliment. They weren't entirely sure themselves whether they would be a good team or not as sometimes they did tend to get sidetracked by other things. But perhaps after some time at the Guild they would learn to focus better. It was small comments like this that made them all the more confident to prove they could be great explorers!

"It's fine!" smiled the Rattata, "You can keep it and eat it later."
Cordelia had already finished both of her berries. It seemed she hadn't been joking when she'd said the smell of the forest was making her hungry.
Aerie was still nibbling on her first berry as she listened to Lilith's offer.
"Ahh. It's fine. I'll probably end up eating it on the way anyhow." she chuckled.

"Anyhow..." Cordelia tilted her head to the side before carrying on, "Could I ask your name?"

"Alright, thanks." Lilith nodded as she fished one of the berries up from her satchel. "Then I guess I'll join in on the lunch."
As she comsumed the berry, Cordelia asked her the question she had tried to avoid so far. "Could I ask your name?" This didn't come entirely unexpected for her, but she still almost managed to choke on the Pecha remains. "I'm afraid I can't tell my name to you here and now. But you can call me Guide, if you want." The pokemon seemed trustworthy enough, but outside of the pond she was a lot more careful about her identity. After all, she had to clear that name before she could use it as openly as she liked. "As for why...I'm still in the process of changing, so to speak."

Cordelia shrugged, curious about exactly what the Crobat meant, but smart enough to not agitate their guide further by asking for details.
"Guide it is then."

The Venonat's antennae moved slightly to the side, almost mimicking Cordelia's head tilt. Aerie didn't say anything and kept nibbling on her berry, though it was clear that she was intrigued by Lilith's reasons for hiding the name.

Lilith sighed inwardly in relief as she swallowed the remains of the berry. Even if these pokemon didn't seem to fully comprehend the situation, they respected the choice she made of not telling them her name. Instantly feeling more refreshed, the Crobat stretched her wings to prepare for take-off. "Great!" she replied. "There's a pretty good trail that leads almost directly to town just a little further in. It's bright and easy to follow." She explained, pointing to what seemed like a small crossroad. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep!" They chorused, mirroring each others expressions. It was clear that they spent a lot of time around each other as they seemed to react almost identically to things despite the obvious difference in species.

Aerie popped the last of her berries into her mouth and savored the sweet taste. Cordelia on the other hand was using one paw to shade her eyes from the sun as she waited for her friend to finish eating so they could head off.

Lilith chuckled at the synchronized reply. They really were close, after all. She wouldn't lie: seeing two different pokemon having this sort of chemistry made her feel reassured, and confident.

"Well, it looks like we're all ready to go." the Crobat commented, shading her own eyes with her wing. As a nocturnal pokemon, she wasn't too used to the strong sun, but she would manage. "We would probably be best off following the right path. The left one is unneccessarily long, which means we will be saving time and energy."

Cordelia nodded to the Crobat and stopped shading her eyes as Aerie glanced down each path in turn.
"Well that seems logical." smiled the Venonat. The Insect Pokemon then immediately headed fr the right hand path, eager to be on their way.
"Hey wait up Aerie!" yelled Cordelia before hopping after her friend.

"Huh?" Lilith turned around in surprise as Aerie eagerly headed down the right path. "H-hey, take it easy!" she blurted out as she caught up with the Venonat. "We'll be better off at an easy pace. Our energy will be conserved, and we'll be safer." the Crobat proceeded to explain, gliding up besides Cordelia, who had caught up, as well. "Although, there probably isn't much to worry about, at least not where the path's lit up."

"Sorry!" chuckled the Venonat, still cheerful despite her mistakes, "I guess I should remember that in the future."
Cordelia couldn't help but laugh slightly at her friend. Aerie had always been rather free spirited pokemon.
As Lilith continued to explain that they were safe in the light, the Rattata tilted her head slightly to the side, "What about where it's dark?"

"It's okay." Lilith reassured Aerie, giving her a small nod before facing the trail again. "We all get ahead of each other sometimes." As she turned around, the rays of the sun hit her right in the face, making her squint a little. "Looks like I still need to get used to the sun, being a nocturnal pokemon and all." she commented light-heartedly as she looked down. "As for why we should avoid the dark; it's the perfect place for something dangerous to hide. Like feral pokemon...or outlaws." she added weakly, still ashamed over the fact that she was one of them until a couple of days ago.

Cordelia caught the slightly ashamed tone in the Crobat's voice as she spoke but decided not to comment on it.
"Fair enough. I wouldn't want to get ambushed. Not that I carry anything other than this Everstone." she chuckled, glancing down at the small piece of stone that hung from her neck.

Aerie stayed silent, her highly developed eyes glancing around the area, admiring its subtle beauty as well as keeping an eye out for other pokemon, just in case.

Lilith nodded as Cordelia's Everstone caught her eyes."Still, the less trouble we run into, the better." she commented as she lead them further down the trail. "We should probably get close to one of the posts by now. In case you're wondering, the "posts" I'm talking about are stone carvings created to help travellers remember the way to town." Indeed, this place seemed familiar. Of course, it was hard to tell with all the trees, but she felt very secure about soon seeing the carved stone.

"Great!" grinned both, mirroring each other once again as they walked. They both bust out chuckling straight afterwards, always seeming to find the fact that they seemed to continuously say the same things at the same time, funny.

"Anyhow," started Cordelia after they stopped laughing, "These posts seem like useful things for travelers. They should build them in Serene Cave!"

Hearing the two pokemon bursting out in laughter as they mirrored each other yet again, Lilith couldn't help but chuckling, herself. "They are useful, but pretty far apart from each other. So we still need to keep our eyes-" The Golbat got interrupted by the sight of a stone with some two scratch marks carved into it. "Open. Speak of the devil." she added, another small chuckle escaping her mouth. "Well, now that we're here, there's something I want to show you." she said, pointing at the (for the time being, empty) sky. "This is a common migration route for Pidgey. We'll probably see a flock of them soon."

The Rattata and the Venonat rushed over to the post, glad to see that they were on the right path. They both stopped as the Crobat mentioned that the area was a common migration route.
"Really?" smiled Aerie, seemingly exited about the sight despite the fact she was a bug type. "I've only ever seen one or two Pidgey, not a whole flock in one place!"

"Well," Lilith started. "They're pretty common around these parts, but they're more or less harmless unless we wander into their territory. Take it from me." she explained, shuddering a little. The memory of her getting chased across the forest by the birds was unpleasant, yet strangely humorous at the same time. "Anyways, here they come!" Indeed, a V-shaped formation of Pidgey lead by a Pidgeotto flew past them, speeding in between the tall trees.

Aerie stood in awe of the bird pokemon as they flew past. Though she watched then with a look in her eyes that was sort of jealous of their ability to take to the air. Being able to fly had always been one of the things that Aerie had dreamed of, and so she couldn't wait for the day when she would evolve and grow wings. As the Pidgey passed though, the jealous look seemed to disappear as she realized that it was just a case of waiting.

Cordelia watched them pass. Unlike Aerie, she would never be able to take to the sky, even if she did choose to evolve eventually.

Looking at Aerie, Lilith was able to detect a hint of jealousy in her gaze as the Pidgey flew by. I wonder why... she thought for a second, then it hit her. Flight. That could be a likely reason. Venonat evolved into Venomoth, after all, maybe Aerie was exited over the concept of gaining wings? After all, she was practically in extacy when she evolved into Golbat and got eyes. "Say." the Crobat turned to face Aerie and Cordelia. "Would you like a ride to the next post? I can take one of you half way, and then you could switch for the second half?" she suggested.