[Serena Miller]

If her adventures into the mountains outside her dorm were any indication, most of this island was actually not settled. Considering how much Pokemon research and training was going on here, it wasn't that surprising. The wild Pokemon did need a place to live after all. This was a great relief to her because before she got here she figured this place would be nothing by sky scrapers and concrete. In the end, the vast majority of it was an odd mix of biomes collected together in one place. It was almost magical really.

Serena was growing more comfortable with the island by the day, and was starting to adjust to her new school life. Talking to people was still hard, but it's always been that way. As much as she likes to be around them, she's always been too shy to talk to them, and being around this many at once was still a bit overwhelming. At least being able to retreat to a nice area outside was possible.

As she began looking into some of the other biomes around the island, she knew that she had to visit the forest sometime soon. Serena had been on the island for less than a week and she was already starting to feel a bit homesick. When she got there, it felt like less of a forest and more like one really big tree, but it was still better than nothing. The really big tree was absolutely amazing as well. Much like the buildings of the city, she didn't even know trees could get that big. The trees in her hometown were pretty tall sure, but this tree was significantly bigger and had much more girth to it than the tall, skinny trees in her hometown.

When she landed, the first thing she noticed was how soft the ground was. It was nice to feel actual grass again instead of just rock. Once she was safely on the ground, she recalled her Aerodactyl due to her tendency to completely ruin the atmosphere of such places, and to scare of animals and Pokemon. Then, Serena drew her bow and got an arrow ready. She would never dream of shooting any people or Pokemon, but if she could find some wild ducks, turkeys or even deer then maybe she could make a nice dish for Amelie tonight. Though, in the end, she was here mostly to check the place out. She didn't even know if there would be anything edible here, aside from maybe some plants. So, she didn't bother to try to be as stealthy as she normally would be while hunting. The important part was knowing what was there so she could be more prepared next time.

[Kotone Kato]

"Tae! Come back here!" Kotone shouted as she chased after her stubborn Deino. "Tae!" 

She had brought her Pokemon to the forest for a change of pace, a chance to retract from the bustling city and enjoy the wild outdoors. It was meant to be a day of relaxation, but her Pokemon seemed to have other ideas. As soon as he was out of his Pokeball, the Deino had run off, no doubt in retaliation for not allowing him to battle recently. But, Kotone just couldn't seem to catch him. Every time she tried to recall him, the Deino darted out of range, using the dense underbrush to his advantage and leaving his trainer to trace him only by the sounds of his goading cries. "Tae!" she threatened angrily. "If you don't come back here, I won't let you battle for a month!"

Up ahead, Kotone could see a large tree breaking through the skyline. Its branches spread in every direction as it encompassed the entire area; it was a telltale landmark, and Tae seemed to be heading right for it. So, with a triumphant smile, Kotone picked up the pace and broke through the bushes onto the other side, directly in front of the tree. "Hah! I got you now!"

It wasn't until she had finished speaking did she finally notice the red-headed girl standing in front of her, and realized that Tae was nowhere to be seen.

[Serena Miller]

While looking around for animals, Serena saw something dart past her.  She didn't get a good look at what it was, but it was much too small to be a person, and much too fast for it to just be some foliage blowing in the wind or something like that.  It seemed likely that it was some kind of wild animal or Pokemon.  Serena's eyes lit up just thinking about it.  It hadn't even been five minutes since she landed and she already found something!

"Natalia, seek!"

She wasn't giving her Growlithe a battle command, but rather one of the many hunting commands that she had taught the Pokemon back home.  If it was a small animal she could easily bite she'd just try to catch it herself, if it was a large one, she'd just point out to Serena where it was, and if it could fly, she would just stir them up and make them take to the sky.  Serena figured it would be case A based on what little she saw, so Natalia would just bite it herself.  That was fine, even if it was a Pokemon, maybe she could just catch it.  Natalia took off even faster than Serena could keep up, and Serena raced behind her so she wouldn't get too far ahead.  It didn't take too long for Natalia to catch up to the creature, and with one final leap, went to go bite into the creature.

Serena was so focused on the hunt that she didn't even notice the person right away, until she heard some unexpected rustling in the bushes.  She immediately turned around and pointed her bow in the direction of the noise.  She just blinked when she realized she just pointed a weapon at another person, and sheepishly lowered it, her face flushing a bit in embarrassment.  Sadly, that feeling was only likely to get worse once she realized that the creature she was hunting belonged to this person, and that her Growlithe was trying to take a bit out of it as she stared at the girl.

"Um...S-Sorry!"  Serena glanced between the new girl and her Growlithe for a moment.  "Um, are you okay?  Do you need help getting up?"

Natalia looked like she had the situation under control, so Serena could afford to be distracted for a moment.  Another person was more important than a successful hunt in the end.

[Kotone Kato]

"Um, are you okay? Do you need help getting up?" 

Kotone shot to her feet, her face flushing in embarrassment as she hurriedly explained, "N-no, I'm alright. Sorry for disturbing you, but you wouldn't have happened have seen a Deino run through her, would you? His name is Tae, and he just ran away from me all of a sudden," she ran her hand through her hair in exasperation. "and I guess I really should have expected it, but I didn't think he would be this fast and-" Kotone suddenly clamped her mouth shut at the sudden horrifying realization that she was rambling; she didn't think her face could get any redder.

[Serena Miller]

Serena was relieved to hear that the other girl was okay.  In response to her question, she paused for a moment.  She hadn't seen any Pokemon here except her own so far, so it seemed unlikely that hers was around here.  She opened her mouth to speak, and then immediately close it again as she remembered the flash she saw moments ago.  Oh  no, that couldn't possibly be her Pokemon right?  Without speaking, she darted off in that direction.  Fortunately, it wasn't too far away, so she didn't lose sight of the girl, and it was close enough to see exactly what her Grolithe was chasing.  Unless she was horribly misremembering what certain Pokemon looked like, her Growlithe was definitely chasing a Deino.  Serena froze as she saw her Growlithe in mid-air, getting ready to take a bite out of the poor thing.  It was too late to stop her at this point; it's not like she could just make her Pokemon suddenly land when it was in mid air after all.

"U-Um..." she slowly turned back to the other girl.  "Um...th-that one over there...it um...wouldn't happen to be the Pokemon you're looking for would it?"

[Kotone Kato]

Kotone had trailed after the other girl, confused, when she suddenly stopped with a sharp gasp. A Growlithe, was attacking Tae, who appeared to have been backed into a corner. For the first time since the pink-haired girl met him, Kotone's Deino had never backed down from any challenge and he was living up to his egotistical personality as Kotone instantly noticed the stance he was in: Tae was preparing himself to headbutt the other Pokemon.

"Tae, dodge it!" Kotone shouted instead. From the looks of the situation, she could only assume the Growlithe belonged to the other trainer, and Kotone didn't want to stir up trouble nor have either Pokemon get hurt. So she could only hope that, for once, Tae would listen to her and get out of there safely.

[Serena Miller]

The other Pokemon quickly moved out of the way of Natalia's attack, and even looked to be trying to counter attack.  Natalia herself was still content to continue her hunt, but there was no way Serena could allow that to happen now that she knew what this Pokemon was.

"Natalia!  To me!"

Natalia looked momentarily confused, but backed down and just glared at the other Pokemon as she returned to Serena's side.  She still clearly wanted to attack the poor thing, but ultimately knew that she wasn't supposed to anymore, and she was content to listen for the time being.

Serena on the other hand was red faced and her body was stiff.  How exactly was she supposed to make up for attacking someone else's Pokemon for, more or less no reason?  For a moment, all she could do was stand there, swaying back and for slightly.  There was just a huge lump in her throat that made it difficult talk.

"Um...I-I'm glad you found your Pokemon?"

[Kotone Kato]

The moment the other girl called off her Growlithe, Kotone jumped on her Deino, snatching him from the ground into her arms. "What were you doing?" she berated him. "What would have happened if I hadn't found you in time? You could have been hurt!" And, as per usual, Tae paid no mind to Kotone's obvious distress. Instead, he turned his nose up at her and looked away nonchalantly, prompting her to sigh and mutter to herself, "I wonder if all Deinos are this hardheaded..."

Then, she turned back to the other trainer with a kind smile. "Yeah, thank you. Who knows where Tae might have run off to if your Growlithe didn't stop him. She seems really well-trained, you must have spent a lot of time working with her." Kotone paused to pat Tae on the head fondly, anger alleviated as quickly as it was instigated, when something else suddenly crossed her mind. "Oh, wait! Sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Kotone Kato." As she spoke, she shifted Tae under her left arm and held out her right hand for a handshake. 

[Serena Miller]

"Um...well..."

Serena was not sure how to take the compliment.  She received them so infrequently that it felt as weird as seeing a UFO or something.  Not to mention she felt like it was inaccurate.  Natalia would normally listen to her at least, but she'd often be grumpy about doing so unless it was something she already wanted to do (like chase wild animals).  She didn't think she had her for that long either, until she really thought about it.  Her father gave her Natalia when she was about eight years old, so that meant that they've been together for around seven years now.  Had it really been that long?  It certainly didn't feel like it.

While she thought about all this all she did was stare at the ground and sway in place for a moment, holding her bow to her chest.  Was there a rule for how she was supposed to handle a situation like this?  She remembered some of the things her mother said to her, mostly angry things about her not being able to take compliments that didn't seem like compliments.  So based on that, there probably was a correct response.  She wasn't completely sure if this was it, but it seemed reasonable.

"Um...th-thank you?"

Of course, during all that the other person was still talking and Serena missed part of it.  She did catch the name at least, so she was probably just introducing herself.  Serena's face flushed a little for messing up the conversation once again.  After almost attacking her, and then her Pokemon, and then not even being able to get the conversation right, it was becoming difficult for her to maintain her composure.  Still, she had to do her best to not make the situation any worse.

"Um, I-I'm Serena.  It's um...nice to meet you!"

[Kotone Kato]

"It's nice to meet you too!" Kotone grinned reassuringly, though she had to glance away when Tae began squirming again. "Tae, stop it or I'm putting you back in your Pokeball." She wagged her finger at the Deino as if he were a disobedient child, which, in every sense of the phrase, he was. But, when he forced himself out of Kotone's grasp, she just sighed and reached into her bag for another Pokeball. "Finn," she called as her Eevee landed on the ground gracefully. "look after Tae, alright? Make sure he doesn't get into anymore trouble."

Finn nodded obediently before running off to follow the Deino as he ran around the clearing. In the meantime, Kotone turned back to Serena. She could tell that the other girl was uncomfortable, and she didn't want to push her too far, although Kotone was curious. "I wanted to ask you, what are you doing out here with a bow? Practicing archery?"

[Serena Miller]

"Oh, um, I was going to see if there were any animals out here and maybe get some fresh meat.  Um...I-I think that's okay since we can freely capture the Pokemon out here um...right?"

It seemed like a good idea at first, but now she wasn't so sure.  As nice as a freshly roasted duck sounded right now, she didn't really want to upset anyone either or get into any trouble.  She probably should have asked someone first now that she thought about it.  The very idea of going after protected animals made her shift uncomfortably again.

As the other girl's Pokemon ran off again she was a little concerned, and started to wonder why she let that one roam free if it did this as frequently as the other trainer suggested.  She just blinked a few times as they ran off.

"Um...are they going to be okay?"

[Kotone Kato]

Kotone laughed sheepishly as she twisted the hem of her shirt. She understood why the other girl was confused; everyone thought the same thing when they first learn that she's not a firm believer of keeping her Pokemon where she can see them, although she does have her reasons no matter how embarrassing. "Well, Tae doesn't listen to me anyways, and if I leave him in his Pokeball, he's only going to be more troublesome to deal with later. Honestly, he just has a lot of energy he needs to work off, and Finn will keep him out of trouble. It's not the first time I've let them roam around together, especially since Finn keeps up with Tae a lot easier than I do. Oh, and also, don't worry about it. Anything in the forest is free pickings for the locals, although I do have to say that I'm impressed."
Kotone peeked over her glasses to get a better view of Serena's bow. Sometimes, being farsighted was more useful than people realized. "You must be a pretty good shot to be hunting live animals."

[Serena Miller]

Serena looked in the Pokemons' direction as they ran off.  She wasn't entirely convinced that they'd be okay, but in the end it wasn't really her place to say anything more.  It was this other person's responsibility.

There it was again.  That was two compliments in just a few minutes when Serena hadn't really done much of anything, let alone something actually praise worthy.  In the end, she still had no idea how to handle any of this.  It was just completely foreign to her.

"Um...well, not really.  I mean, it's harder than hitting a target that's not moving, but um...I-I still miss a lot?"

[Kotone Kato]

Kotone laughed merrily. "Well, that's fine. All things take practice, after all. But," she turned to look Serena dead in the eye excitedly. "I think you're better than you're willing to admit. So, how about this? I know this forest like that back of my hand, being a Mavro City native and whatnot, and if you want to go hunting, I know all the good places to find wild animals. You just have to tell me what you're looking for, and I can take you to it. There is a catch though. If you do catch something, would you mind sharing it with me? Since Mavro City is on an island, we don't get much fresh produce, and I've always wondered if meat fresh off the line tasted better than the packaged lumps that the supermarket sells." Then, realizing that she may have, perhaps, been too forward with her request, Kotone grinned sheepishly and added, "But, that's only if you don't mind, of course. If you'd prefer, I can still show you where the animals are, and then I can leave you alone to do your thing."

[Serena Miller]

Serena leaned back a bit and looked to the side when the other girl stared at her so intently.  It was actually a little intimidating despite the girl's small stature.  She wasn't quite sure of Kotone was being honest though.  It seemed strange that a place with so much wildlife wouldn't have fresh meat, or that a small island wouldn't get fresh fish.  She couldn't think of a single coastal civilization in history that didn't eat fish.  Still, if she was lying, it wasn't to be malicious.  Serena could at least recognize that she just wanted to make her feel better.

"Y-Yeah!  I can do that, um, probably.  Let's see, um..." she thought for a moment.  "I think duck and deer are the things I cook best, so I guess we should try to find those?"

Serena was content to follow behind the person for the time being, though she knew that she probably shouldn't be standing behind her once she saw some animals.  Really, by the sounds of it Kotone had no experience what so ever with this kind of thing, which might be a problem.  She didn't want to say it like that though because that would just be mean.

"Um...Once we see them, do you want to find a place to hide?  It can be dangerous, and um...it can be useful to remain  hidden so the animals don't get scared away.  They can be really hard to hit when they're trying to run away from you.  Especially in a forest."