Surprisingly, Dusk was The first to respond to Tobin's distress, the small fox squirming out of Alice's arms and leaping nimbly onto The Coordinator's lap. He stared up at him with his icy blue eyes a long moment before quite suddenly pressing the side of his face into Tobin's stomach, small paws momentarily gripping at the fabric of his artistic hoodie. It caused a bubble of joy to blossom within Alice's stomach at the sight, A warm smile touching her lips. Her baby Pokémon was not usually known for his kindness or warmth, Usually preferring to be distant to anyone but her and likely to nip at any unfamiliar fingers. So for him to voluntarily offer comfort to A friend was quite the rare treat. Momentarily pressing her fingers to her mouth as she savored the moment, the young trainer then moved over and sat down next to Tobin on the small bench pushed against the wall. "I think that the professor is going to be just fine . Rai's willpower alone is probably enough to keep her going until she can get better, our fiery friend wouldn't have it otherwise. " She said confidently, though A small twinge of concern still nagged at the back of her mind. After a second of consideration, she also reached out to comfort Tobin, draping her arm across the back of his shoulders.

Her soft green gaze then also passed around the room, touching on familiar faces and feeling the taste of sorrow at the back of her throat. All of these people truly needed help, but she wasn't sure that a handful of teenagers could be able to do much more than what was already being done. They could bring any supplies of what could be spared, But she also didn't feel that it was right to separate from Scott and Rai, Not when they could run into Team Rocket again, especially with them being willing to kill children. She tightened her grip around her friend briefly before turning slightly and meeting is gaze.

"I'm sure that Twinleaf would eventually need help, yes, but I believe that our place is with Rai and Scott... I'm worried that Team Rocket is going to show up again...." She shivered A little at the idea. "They're headed to Jubelife city, so we should go along with that too. I don't want them to get into trouble."

"Glad to know you've got our backs Alice." Scott chuckled as he exited The professor's room, causing Alice to squirm slightly and go pink in the face. "We would love to have you both come along. Right rival?" He continued with another soft laugh, turning to lift both of his eyebrows at Rai.

"Did I hear that you four are planning on heading to Jubelife?" Another voice interjected, a young man stepping forward and looking slightly concerned as he cast his eyes around the group.

"Yes... Is that a problem?" Scott asked uncertainly, wary because of the expression on the man's face

"normally, it wouldn't be." The stranger explained, scratching at the side of his chin. "but I was out there not too long ago with a couple of my friends and we found out that the earthquake did something fierce to the land out there. Split part of it right in half and made this huge cliff wall that we couldn't find a way around."

There was a soft popping sound as Alice's mouth fell open with surprise, quite stunned at the revelation. She couldn't imagine the land changing so dramatically, having been so focused on the damage done to the objects on the surface. It was hard for her to wrap her brain around the information. "so there's no way that we can get into the city?"she squeaked, heart sinking at the idea that they might be stuck in Sandgem for a long time yet to come.

The man blinked, looking a little confused. "I didn't say that you couldn't get to the city. I'm just letting you know that you can't go via route 202. But we did find out that there is a way to get to the city if you circle around to the lake."

Scott looked relieved, glad to hear that there was still a way for them to continue on their journey. It would have been quite awful if they had to call it quits before even having a chance to get started. "thank you." He said to the man sincerely, offering him a small smile. "we do appreciate the help."

"that's going to slow things down..." Alice murmured A slightly worried expression turning down her mouth as she looked back towards her friends. "but maybe that means that it slowed down the Rockets too...?" A spark of hope lit her eyes at this idea. "what do you think Rai? Tobin?"