[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/7M7qZxB.png[/img][/center][img]https://i.imgur.com/8kWkWMy.png[/img]
[center][color=E8877C][b]Interacting With:[/b][/color] The Group, Sam Quinn[@Fiber][/center][img]https://i.imgur.com/8kWkWMy.png[/img]
[i]This is it.[/i] This was how she would die: buried alive in a mountain of Ditto. Zola lay there on the ground in the entrance hall and let the swarm overtake her, twice as active as they were during feeding time. Duo had been absorbed into the pile, and even Mr. Spike – standing off by the side – had a few brave hangers-on of his own. Somehow, the rescues could tell that their favourite babysitter was leaving them, probably because all of the hustle and bustle of last-minute preparations.

[color=E8877C]"Mom, help!"[/color]

Zara Amari folded her arms, a fond smile on her face, but she didn't make any move towards the pile. [color=cdcdcd]"Aw, look, they miss you already,"[/color] she said unhelpfully. [color=cdcdcd]"It'll be so much worse when you're actually gone. Are you [i]sure[/i] you don't want to stay?"[/color]

Even if her Mom had put on a polite, concerned tone, it was easily recognisable as just one last rehash of the old argument: [i]it's not safe out there[/i] and [i]you're needed here[/i]. Zola gritted her teeth and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, catching Three-Three and Two-Eight-Nine before they slipped down the back of her sweater. [color=E8877C]"Alright guys,"[/color] she said, [color=E8877C]"Everybody off in three... two... one..."[/color]

The countdown had the Ditto stumbling over one another to pool at her boots, and she was careful to shuffle into a space that was otherwise unoccupied. [color=E8877C]"I love you all very much, and I'll be back before you know it – with gifts! One for each and everyone one of you, how about that?"[/color] She glanced up at her Mom while speaking to let her know she wasn't exempt from that statement. Surprisingly, she said nothing in return as Zola picked up her hiking bag and threw it over her shoulders, buckling the straps to distribute the weight.

Duo wriggled forward out of the crowd, impossible to mistake for any other because of its unique motion: alternating between swinging its knubby arms wildly back and forth for forward momentum or rolling forward over its face. She swept it up into her arms, though it would surely want to walk itself the moment it saw another larger pokemon to copy.

Mom stepped forward and helped to untuck her hair from where it was caught. [color=cdcdcd]"I added some extra candy. You didn't pack enough. Those are important travel rations when you're on the trail, you know."[/color]

[color=E8877C]"I know. Thanks, mom."[/color]

[color=cdcdcd]"And you, Spike,"[/color] she said, crouching down to the eye level of the Cacnea clinging to her trouser leg. [color=cdcdcd]"You keep her safe out there, okay?"[/color]

Mr. Spike was a Cacnea of few words, but tugged on Zola's sleeve in understanding before hauling itself up onto the top of her backpack.

[color=E8877C]"I've got to go before I'm late,"[/color] Zola said apologetically, and her Mom patted her on the shoulder, because going for a hug would disrupt the natural calm around them and prompt another pile-up. As she made it to the garden gate, she turned to wave at the Ditto tsunami her mother was holding back. [color=E8877C]"I'll send postcards, promise! Love you!"[/color]

She didn't stick around to hear the response.

They'd practiced their strategy in the time it took for the others to make arrangements to come home to New Bark Town. Zola had gone on several walks around the village to make sure it wasn't too heavy to carry both of her Pokemon and all of her belongings and found it was just on the edge of bearable. Duo had enough bad experiences of being in enclosed spaces, and Mr. Spike's anxiety shot through the roof whenever he couldn't cling to a trusted person, so she was definitely in favour of keeping them loose outside of Pokemon-Free areas. 

As long as they adhered to the buddy system, everything would be fine. There's nothing scary about the outside world, or so she told herself as she approached the entrance to Route 29, where her friends were gathering. Admittedly, though she'd never seen the appeal of The Journey, a hard pit of nervous anticipation was forming in her gut. Whether it was from the dangers of tall grass or the whirling mix of emotions from meeting up with old friends she hadn't seen in years, who could say?

Duo started wriggling as soon as it saw the other Pokemon, and Zola set it down gently on the path. In a few seconds, it half-morphed into a Taillow, shook itself out into a horrifyingly slimy Delibird, and finally settled on a squashed copy of Sam Quinn's shrieking Natu – something it surely had never seen in person before today. [color=E8877C]"Good morning, everyone. Long time no see,"[/color] she greeted. [color=E8877C]Is that a new Pokemon, Sam? She's beautiful."[/color]