We learned in short order that the man's name was Isaac, he was a researcher, and he had been on the run trying to escape a rouge Parasect for the past five minutes. The second fact threw me for a few different loops; Florence's village had left me under the impression that all of past Johto would be some kind of communal land, one containing no technological advancements or artists at all. Just one look at Isaac and his neatly-stitched clothing made it clear that the past was much more advanced than I had thought.

Isaac was from Azalea – it was oh-so-comforting to hear a familiar name for once – and had a daughter not much younger than me who he mentioned with a big smile on his face within two minutes of meeting us. He was a very talkative man, and he didn't seem to notice that Michael still had his guard up or that Florence was glaring at him fiercely. In fact, he was so genuinely nice and open when compared to all the other messed-up people I'd met that I liked him almost immediately.

"... but after I managed to get away from that Parasect, I saw that there was light up ahead, which I hoped meant I had found the shrine's clearing!" Isaac said, summing up his long-winded explanation of how he had made his way there in the first place. He had only gotten up enough to sit cross-legged where he had fallen, and he brushed grass out of his curly brown hair mindlessly as he talked. "I had to fight my way through plenty of shrubberies to get here, of course, but it was decidedly worth the journey."

"That does not explain what you are doing here," Florence continued in her uniquely rude way. She had let go of me once Isaac fell into our midst, but she was still standing right next to me, and the glare she was shooting at the man was aggressive even for her. She wasn't the only unduly suspicious one; Drowzee had waddled up to my side at a pace unusually fast for him as soon as the man appeared, and he was staring at Isaac with unblinking eyes.

"I am visiting the shrine, of course," Isaac replied casually, as if it was the most obvious statement in the world. Florence looked slightly put off, but she clamped her mouth shut anyway. Then Isaac tilted his head to the side, peering up at her (we were all still standing, after all). "Why? What are you doing here?"

"Traveling," Michael said in a clipped voice from behind us as I opened my mouth to say that it was a long story, really. "Mister... Isaac, would you mind explaining to me how you managed to go through the forest without a majū?"

"Caution and a good deal of running," Isaac replied with a grin. I giggled despite myself, which made Florence shoot me a flat look. A glance over my shoulder revealed that Michael seemed hesitant, but not like he was going to complain. Then again, he always seemed a bit glummer when his Hoothoot wasn't with him, and she had flown off further into the forest a bit before.

"But I see that you do not have that sort of problem," Isaac continued, gesturing toward Drowzee. My Pokemon laid his ears back flat and narrowed his eyes. "He's yours, boy? Would you mind if I looked at him?"

"It's Monroe," I replied automatically before hearing the rest of his words. "... um, what?"

Isaac had already gotten up to his feet and walked the few yards over to us before I replied. My Pokemon looked like he might swing a punch at the man at first, but then Isaac rubbed a hand over his head gently and Drowzee’s ears flicked up straight in surprise. From there the man started to carefully examine my starter’s ears and trunk with an occasional murmured request for him to turn this way or that. After ten seconds or so Drowzee had actually relaxed enough to stop glaring; he even looked a bit pleased at the attention.

My jaw must've dropped, because Florence elbowed me and shot me another disapproving look. Michael had walked up to join us, and he looked plenty surprised as well.

"Your majū is very young," Isaac said, but he sounded approving rather than surprised. "I suppose that is why he listens to you, yes?" I nodded immediately, but my hand dived into my pocket as I palmed Drowzee's poke ball with guilt. It was stupid – it was perfectly normal for people to catch their Pokemon – but the way these people treated the creatures, like they had to be won over into complete trust and love or something, all of that was starting to get to me. Isaac gently felt along Drowzee’s arm and hummed in thought. "You ought to have him exercise his limbs more, he needs to build up the muscles for battle. He is in good health otherwise and seems to be a perfectly agreeable Drowzee."

"How do you know all of this?" I blurted out as Michael muttered "What do you know of majū?". Florence looked away and pretended not to care, though I was willing to bet that she was vitally interested.

"My studies are in understanding majū, so I have sought to learn a great deal about those already tamed," Isaac replied in an amused tone as he bent down to examine Drowzee's feet. "Drowzee are often seen in these parts, and one trainer with a specimen as his partner passed through our town in the past. I had a chance to examine him in depth then."

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"That sounds very interesting," Michael said softly from behind me. When I looked at him, his eyes were lit up with some emotion, fascination, I guessed. "You're studying them to find ways to build up defenses?"

Isaac continued examining Drowzee's toes, testing how well the joints worked, but his smile faded. "You are from one of the smaller villages, I suppose? Yes, I know of the dangers, but my research is for, well, academic purposes. Ancient humans lived in harmony with the majū, you know."

"Some of us still do," Florence replied softly. I looked at her in surprise at that remark. She had her head lowered so that her bangs covered her eyes, and she was examining her hand intently. I grinned slightly when I noticed that her nails were clearly bitten, just like mine.

"Very true," Isaac commented with approval. "My people, for example, happen to be very well situated. Of course," he said with a grin as he stood up straight, "the Forest of Ilex is a rather different matter."

"Azalea has this obsession with Slowpoke –" Florence started to mutter to me as Michael stepped up to Isaac, asking him some question or another.

"I know that," I replied automatically, insulted. I wanted to retract the words as soon as they were out of my mouth, though, since Florence actually looked a bit hurt. And really, it was pretty interesting that Azalea had kept the same traditions for so long. Maybe. Whatever, I could pretend to be interested. "Sorry."

She huffed, brushing her bangs away. "So, some things are still the same in your time, Trainer Monroe?"

I contemplated slamming my forehead against a handy nearby tree. Were we seriously back to the whole trainer thing again? At least she had dropped it while yelling at me. "Uh, yeah. Not much, though. Thanks for trying to help."

She made a face at my choice of words, but Michael saved me from future altercations by interrupting with a well-timed "Trainer Monroe?"

"Yeah?" I replied, wincing at the title again.

"Isaac has kindly volunteered to examine my own partner back in his lodgings if we accompany him back to Azalea once he has spent his time at the shrine. Do you object to this?"

"Um..." I glanced over at Florence, wondering why she wasn't being given an option, but she just stared blankly at me. "Sounds fine to me, I guess."

Azalea. Azalea would maybe be similar enough to the town I had visited twice on field trips to give me a few clues as to what to do. Once in Azalea, I could get back on track.

"Thank you," Isaac said, smiling down at me. When standing he was easily much taller than me, and also noticeably older than Michael. "Now, if you do not mind...?"

Michael herded me out to the other edge of the clearing while Isaac sat down in front of the shrine, with Florence and Drowzee following the two of us close behind. He immediately delivered a fast whispered lecture about how this could prove to be an invaluable opportunity for the entire village as long as Florence and I didn't mess it up, so if I could just stay out of the way and keep my mouth shut so none of my odd nonsense would spill out, that would be lovely. Okay, that wasn't what he actually said, but it was effectively the tone of his speech.

He turned to Florence once he had finished with me and demanded to know how she had known about Celebi.

"I... saw her in the forest earlier," she replied, and I realized with a start that she had done no such thing – she had seen Celebi in my notebook! "I had seen glimpses of her before, so I wanted to investigate."

"But she is not dangerous? The majū only cares for plants?"

Michael's interest in the Pokemon ended once Florence had convinced him that Celebi would never harm another living being. I wanted to learn more, but Florence kept glancing between Isaac and Michael and shushing me aggressively whenever I tried to ask.

Isaac finally finished whatever he had been doing at the shrine, and then he and Michael figured out which route they would take to get to Azalea, which Isaac said was close by. I was glad to hear that it was only an hour's journey to reach the town since night was starting to fall in the forest, which I found plenty creepy. The wild Pokemon didn't attack us in the clearing, though they would sometimes fly or run through, but I could only guess what would happen if I tried to sleep there.

"Listen, Monroe," Florence whispered to me as Isaac led the way out of the clearing. "Do not tell him of Celebi –"

"Whassit?" I didn't know the fairy's name at that point in time, after all.

She rolled her eyes, no surprise there. "The green majū, idiot. Don't let Mister Isaac find out. She is special, so only trainers should know of her."

"You're paranoid," I accused, though I privately decided to take her advice. I needed to do some deep thinking about the fairy, after all, and about the ideas connected to her, like how to get home.

"If I am, it has worked very well for me so far," she replied firmly, and she actually smiled a bit as she gestured for me to move in front of her. I took the opportunity and jumped ahead so that I was walking next to Drowzee, hoping that he would keep protecting me from the crazy bug Pokemon that liked to attack my feet.

So we were off to Azalea, and hopefully to (real!) answers from there.