After finally recovering from the shock of being bitten, Peggy pushed herself onto her knees and gave the Houndour a sharp look, only to find the dog Pokemon was growling, with its fur standing on end slightly. And in its eyes... was that fear?
Well, now she felt like an asshole. She'd obviously startled the little guy - or girl, she wasn't sure. Feeling a little guilty, she slowly reached out her hand to pet the Houndour, only for its growling to deepen a little. She could feel her hand shaking slightly as its eyes fixed fiercely on her.
Maybe she should just leave it alone? Then again, though, it was her Pokemon, wasn't it? If she didn't at least try to establish a good bond with it now, it might never accept her. She reached out for it, ready to pet it gently on the head-
And it bit her again, this time on the hand. It hurt. A lot.
"Owwww," Peggy grumbled in pain and could feel tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. Again with the biting! However, she didn't withdraw her hand this time, in fear that doing so might make the wound worse. She waited for a moment, hoping the Houndour would let her go. Eventually it did, pausing for a second as if it were examining her hand. It sniffed it for a moment cautiously before finally allowing it body to relax a fraction, though the fear and fierceness didn't completely fade from its eyes, and Peggy wasn't going to risk petting it again.
Peggy cradled her arm against her chest like a baby as she got up back onto her feet. Well, she guessed that would have to do for now until she was able to completely earn her Pokemon's trust. Still holding her injured her arm, she noted Avery, who had gotten his own Pokemon after her, a Phanphy. Also, it seemed worth noting was that Avery was... crying?
Well, someone had started properly crying early on in this journey and for once, it wasn't Peggy.
Score one for Team Peggy and her superior resilience!
... but seriously, why was Avery crying? Somewhat nervously, Peggy tiptoed towards him, her Houndour following slowly after her, growling slightly at every living thing in its vicinity as is it so, ears flattened against its skull.... skulls?
"Erm..." Peggy was about to talk to when she noticed that someone else had come over to comfort Avery, a cute pink-haired girl who had chosen a Mareep.
“Uh, hi. I’m Melody. Melody Avery Hemlock, actually! I was wondering… are you alright?” the girl asked, bending down so she was level with Avery. Wait, this girl's middle name was Avery? She might possibly be travelling with two Averies?... Well, that was a weird.
"Ye-yeah," Peggy managed to stammer out.
"Ar-are you alri-right, Avery?" Cautiously, she put a hand on Avery's shoulder, only to withdraw it a few seconds later as she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.
"Y-your Pokemon didn't bite you too, d-did it?" She nervously eyed the Phanphy as she said this.
Speaking of biters, the Houndour was standing just behind Peggy and was glaring up at Melody, suddenly looking incredibly on edge again as its black fur was starting to stand on end.
"S-stop that!" Peggy scolded the Houndour, her tone surprisingly harsh for the little girl. The Houndour glared up at Peggy but, while it did continue to growl, it did so more quietly now.
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