IT'S YOUR WORLD NOW

Admittedly, the peaceful hum of the raw outdoors grew on her a little. It was a pleasant change from Grace's past environments. She could get used to this! Her guard was down and was soaking in nature like a sponge. Even Emory got into the calm state of mind; running around, racing each other had tired them out. Some down time was needed.

Emory heard it first. A patter of hurried footsteps getting louder until something jumped out into their vision. The hyperactive barking that ensued made both Grace and Emory jump. Before the girl could get a case of cold feet, Grace realized that the barking sounded high and playful instead of a throaty, aggressive snarl, and she fully caught her breathe when she noticed that the source was a smallish pup. His cries were enthusiastic and his tail was swishing back and forth frantically. This one wasn't looking to harm.

Cyndaquil noticed it's friendly intentions as well, and after a bit of hesitation, slowly crept towards the stranger, a gray-furred canine. He was crouched in a playful manner, just waggling his furry tail rapidly. The pup looked friendly enough, and very excited to meet him. Emory imitated him. He stooped his front down and stuck his rump into the air. Oh no! Cyndaquils don't have tails! Oh well. He wiggled his butt in circles, and proceeded to squeal happily. His joy fueled a bigger blaze on his back. He'll play with this one!

Grace watched the interaction, not sure what to do. It looked quite funny, both squaring off each other with backsides in the air, tail wagging or butt shaking, and making noises at each other. Emory even had his tongue out, mimicking a canine. It was a weird combo. He took pauses to laugh, and Grace couldn't help but do the same. And what exactly was the other thing? Time for her handy-dandy...



That's cute. They were still barking at each other, and the fire on Emory's back was flaring enthusiastically. She felt like she was supervising a play date.

Emory was having so much fun! As soon as the Poochyena prodded him softly with his wet nose and leaped away, he knew the game. Using his hindquarters, Emory launched himself after the pup, firing an excited cry into the air. When the pooch stopped to glance over his shoulder a few moments later, Emory almost didn't stop fast enough. But he quickly did pull the brakes and got close enough to lightly butt his head against the dark-furred canine. His arms were too stubby!

( "You better run faster than that!" ) he called jokingly with a laugh. Emory pivoted on his heel and ran a large radius around his new friend and bolted on ahead. ( "Betcha can't catch me!" ) he challenged playfully. The Poochyena was really fast though! He might! But Emory ran and ran as fast as his legs and little arms could go, zigzagging across the path. The Cyndaquil took a tumble when a zigzag went too close, though he hurriedly scrambled to his feet. He can't be tagged again!

Grace, trailing behind, gave up and plopped herself onto the grass and watched.

Emory was still trying to catch his breath. He was so tired but that was lots of fun! He liked this Poochyena. They had fun, and even though they have to stop right now or else their lungs might burst, he didn't want to stop playing with him. So when his new friend asked him to maybe tag along with him and his human, Emory was all for it!

( "Yeah yeah yeah! You should come!" ) he squeaked enthusiastically and jumped to show how excited he was of that prospect. The pair trotted their way over to his trainer who had absentmindedly watched the pair frolic. She snapped out of it when they came close. When Poochyena approached her, tail swishing, and licked her, she laughed and scratched his neck. "Hello, little guy!" No wonder Emory took to him so quickly; he was sure friendly. Though Grace wasn't sure why the two had returned to her now. Were they done with their fun?

Since his trainer was obviously not getting it, Emory hopped on forward and threw his tiny arms as far as they could reach around Poochyena's shoulder in a brotherly hug. His large head got in the way, and he ended up banging his skull against the pup's. He beamed at Grace, and if he could've opened his eyes any wider, he would've given her the puppy eyes.

Wait.. Wasn't that Poochyena's job? He was the puppy!

"Guess you two are a package deal, huh?" she laughed, "You can definitely drag your friend along, Emory, if he's alright with it!" The girl stroked the canine's shiny coat and grinned at him. This one was so cute. She was definitely not complaining if he wanted to tag along. And him and Emory seemed to get along so swell. Was getting Pokemon this easy? This was beginner's luck, it had to be.

But if Poochyena willingly wanted to come with, that meant they just avoided a battle. No complaints there. Well, if the pup still wanted one for the sake of it, she and Emory could try.. It was a little weird imaging the two going at each other with whatever a battle constituted after scampering and playing around just minutes ago. Maybe it was best battle was avoided. Unless Poochyena wanted to throw down some. Grace figured she'll try to get him whatever the circumstance. Him and Emory absolutely clicked!

It seemed like Poochyena was onboard! Maybe this whole Pokemon thing might not be so bad after all! The bouncing ball of fur was enough to raise Grace's spirits to the roof. She continued petting the pup as he nosed through her backpack. A second later, the fur under her hand disappeared, replaced with the intangible red light. Though not exactly what she was expecting, at least she didn't jolt like an amateur. She scooped up the Pokeball that now held their new friend.

"Hashtag?" she threw out for a group consensus. Cyndaquil clapped his hands together. He didn't know what that was, but he was happy he had a new friend! Grace smiled. "Hashtag."

The girl tucked Hashtag's ball away, gathered her things, and pushed herself to her feet. Emory ran circles around her, still very much enthused. Grace had just brushed the grass bits off her shorts when a thrill pierced through the air. Both Pokemon and trainer turned their heads. It was a smallish bird with a dashing plumage of feathers. Pokemon sure were flocking, weren't they? Another play date? Emory didn't seem to think so.

There was something in the bird's call that prompted Cyndaquil to step forward. He made a firm stance, though his fur wasn't bristling in a fight-or-flight reflex. Emory didn't sense any intended threat from this avian, just a friendly competition. Grace's first battle was certain on the horizon. Though a bit slow on the uptake, Cyndaquil's trainer eventually understood. But first.. She fished out her Pokedex.. just to be sure. Emory currently only had two moves. That shouldn't be hard to memorize.

"Right, let's see how we do! Leer, Emory!"



Little Emory shuffled a few steps forward. He fixed a stare on the Taillow and contorted his face meant to intimidate.

Ouch. Grace recoiled when the bird's pointed beak slammed into Emory, knocking him off his feet. The Cyndaquil squirmed and clumsily flipped over to his feet. He made a crouch and wiggled his butt, preparing for take off. "Yeeeah, Emory, you got it! Tackle!" his trainer called out. Grace was definitely getting into the groove. Emory had to win! Yay first battles!


The girl eyed the sleek bird opposite of them. She was definitely not your average pigeon. She fidgeted with the Pokedex device in her hands and held it up towards the dark feathered bird. The sensors caught her, and an image of her flashed on the screen.

Emory squeaked in pain as he recoiled from the Taillow's attack. This bird was hurting him! She had that pointy beak of her's, and he was soft and rounded all over! Emory bounced back to his feet, balling his fists up like a boxer. He stared as stonily as he could at his opponent. This one wasn't really up for games, huh?

"Shake it off, buddy! Tackle again!" Grace encouraged from the sidelines. Emory shouldered up confidently and let out a high-pitched battle cry. Yeah he shook it off already! Buddy! And heck yeah he was gonna Tackle again! Emory dropped to all fours and took off running at Taillow.