The road to the forest in which Feyhollow Town lay was not an exhaustive one, but the forest itself turned out to be another matter entirely.  The overwhelming greenness of the place, from the thick brush on the ground to a profuse canopy that let very little light through, turned the path into the woods into a gaping maw that made Olivie furrow her brows.  Upon entering, she couldn't shake the feeling that this verdant expanse was swallowing her up.  Behind her, the visage of sunny meadows faded away into the distance, and Olivie felt as she glanced back over her shoulder at it that her adventure into parts unknown was truly beginning.  Her partner Pokemon, Buck, padded beside her.  Determination battled against weariness in the little Bidoof's body, and for what must have been the tenth time Olivie reminded herself to seek out a Pokemon Center as soon as she arrived at the town.  In contrast, her new Cacnea walked in front if her, full of energy and bravado, unafraid of the shadowy maze of trees.

In most intimidating situations, silence set the scene, but here Olivie found it was quite the opposite.  The forest around her, in every direction, brimmed with noise.  The songs of bugs and birds blended together into a cacophony that confounded the brunette's attempts to relax.  Every inch of the place, from the flowers, to the unafraid Pokemon that she spotted moving among the plants or across the path, to the dappled sunlight, filled her with a sense of natural beauty and vivacity.  [i]If that's what it is, it suits me perfectly,[/i] she thought with a wry smile, but in reality the entire scene unnerved her just as much as it fascinated her.  In the end, though, she trusted in her new companions, and in her own martial abilities, to take on whatever came her way.

Roughly twenty minutes into her walk, she spotted a column of light next to the path up ahead.  When she drew near, she recognized it as a little clearing where a single tree had been felled and a bench erected on its stump for weary travelers to sit.  Olivie did not count herself as tired just yet, but thankfully took the chance to rest the feet of her and her Pokemon alike.  The rough-hewn nature of the bench struck her as pleasantly quaint, but it didn't quite compensate for the hardness of the seat.  Buck hopped up next to her to flop onto his side, and the girl's Cacnea pulled itself up with its burly arms.  Glancing around, Olivie found that the bench sat in the middle of a fanlike array of creeping vines, which seemingly slithered out from between the other plants to wrap like curtains around the legs of the bench.  This interested her for only a moment, however, and she was quick to check up on her Pokedex to see what updates awaited her.

[color=954535]”Six trainer points, huh?”[/color] she asked her Pokemon, who did not respond.  Unbothered, the nineteen-year-old continued, [color=954535]”They sure go quickly...I only have one Pokeball left.  I'll have to make sure I don't waste it on some loser.”[/color]  Her thoughts landed squarely on the Karrablast.  Had it been a mistake to pick it up too?  After all, until she found a Pokemon Center, it wouldn't even be able to help her out.  As she mused on this, an ad popped up on her Pokedex, and as Olivie instinctively moved to close it, she happened to read something that bid her pause.  Her interest piqued, she examined the ad.  [color=954535]”Hm.  There's some team calling itself League Prime that sponsors battlers.  Extra trainer points...?”[/color]  Her eyebrows raised quizzically, but her decision had already been made.  [color=954535]”Hell yeah!  We've got a lot of asses to kick before we're in the big leagues, so we might as well get bonuses for it.”[/color]  The Cacnea watched her with renewed interest as she accessed the League Prime's site.  Deftly her long fingers entered her information into a membership request form, and only a few moments later the application was on its way.  [color=954535]”Nice.”[/color]  She looked up, taking in the forest around her, and putting the Pokedex away as she did.  [color=954535]”Well, let's get to it.  Sooner we get to town, the better.”[/color]  As she got up, her cactus companion hopped down after her, and Buck heaved himself to his feet to follow along.

Unbeknownst to her, a large, dark, angular shape began to move as well, steadily plodding through the underbrush as it pursued her.

[@Balthazar007]