"Woah, woah, woah!" a voice shouted from a distance.

They turned to see an older boy with a tan, vulpine Pokémon, some fifty feet away. It flopped down into a seated position as the boy began sprinting toward them, panicked. He grabbed at a whistle around his neck and blew it - and the Fearow cringed, releasing Nyx.

"Samson, stop! That's enough!" the boy shouted, as he ran. Another two short bursts from the whistle caused the bird to fly up and away from them, and toward him.

"Commere! Come over here! There you go, don't worry about them, just land next to me," he directed, slowing down to a stop once the bird reached the ground. It raced over to him, agitated.

"It's alright," he soothed it. "I know. You're okay. Just stay here for a minute while I talk to them."

It looked displeased at not being allowed to follow him, but obeyed, watching anxiously while he jogged the rest of the way over to Clara and Jasper.

"What were you thinking?" he chastised. "You can't approach a stranger's campsite with your Pokémon out, like that!"

"Us? Your bird attacked us out of nowhere!" Jasper shot back.

"Of course he did! What were you expecting? You were in our territory!"

Clara stuttered, "We weren't trying to - "

"How many badges do you have?" the boy demanded, as though any answer would suggest that they should know better. "You know what? Show me your trainer cards, both of you."

"Show us yours first!" Jasper crossed his arms.

"Jasper," Clara reprimanded. His attitude wasn't helping deescalate things. She turned to the other boy, doing her best to speak calmly. "We don't have any of that, yet. We just started."

That seemed to throw him. He looked them both over, seeming more puzzled than angry. "Then what're you doing all the way out here? You're nowhere near the newbie path."

"We got lost," Jasper grumbled.

"You have an evolved Pokémon."

"Only on lend! She's my grandma's. She doesn't really, um, listen..." Clara hung her head, sheepishly.

The stranger's expression softened. He regarded their Persian, lying unconscious on the ground. "... You guys don't even have a Pokéball yet, do you?"

They shook their heads. He sighed.

"Crap, alright. You're lucky my Abra came to get me when he did. Slinks!"

The furred Pokémon he'd arrived with suddenly appeared on the grass nearby, blinking sleepily.

"Take their Persian back to camp, please, and tell the others not to bother it," he commanded. His Abra toddled over to Nyx and then sat down again, closing its eyes and placing a hand on her paw. They disappeared.

He laughed at the resulting look of bewilderment on the two younger trainers' faces. "Your Pokémon will be fine in the morning. It's just knocked out. You can camp with us tonight."

"But - "

"Come on. Stay about ten feet back, and don't look him in the eye until he calms down." He beckoned them, walking off toward his Fearow.

Clara and Jasper followed at a wary distance. They hesitated when it defensively raised its head feathers again, at their approach.

"Oh, stop that." The older trainer snapped his fingers at the Pokémon, and it dipped its head guiltily, shifting its focus back to him. He questioned it, "Now, what's going on? Why were you back so early?"

It chirped and raised its beak in response, looking away.

"Samson..." he scolded, in an almost parental tone.

It continued to avoid eye contact.

"Did it not go well this morning?"

A quieter chirp. It lowered its head and fluffed its wings, looking a bit... pouty.

"Awe, buddy, that's alright. We've still got one more flock to check out tomorrow. Okay? We'll go first thing. Those other birds'll be fallin' all over you."

It shuffled its feet, bashfully.

"Yeah. That's right," he cooed and petted its beak, which seemed to calm it down.

Clara suppressed a laugh as Jasper cleared his throat, feeling awkward.

"Yeah, yeah, make fun all you want." The boy smirked and rolled his eyes at the two of them. "Anyway, I'm Arthur. This is Samson. You'll have to forgive him; his breed's rather territorial. Now, you guys wanna look at a map?"

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They learned that Arthur had three badges already - three! And he even had a badge case! - but he had taken a break from pursuing his fourth, on account of Samson. It was avian mating season, apparently, so they'd been traveling around to allow the Fearow time to mingle with a couple of wild flocks. They'd struck out in every area so far, including Route 1 earlier that day, so they'd be moving on in the morning.

"It's not a big deal if he doesn't find a mate this season," Arthur explained, as he finished showing Jasper how to build something called a 'keyhole fire' for cooking. "We just wanted to give it a try, since breeders charge so much for match-ups, y'know?"

Jasper nodded as though he did.

"I wanna be a professional trader one day, so the less reliant I can be on breeders, the better," he continued. He called over to his Fearow, "I think that's enough wood for now. Thank you!"

The bird looked up from where it'd been snipping a tree branch into smaller pieces with its beak - something it did with terrifying ease, Jasper noted - and fluttered its wings in acknowledgement. It hopped off to a corner of the camp to begin preening itself.

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"Does this look secure enough?" Clara asked Jasper, nearby. She tested the stability of one of the tent stakes she'd just driven into the ground, and it held taught. He gave her an emphatic thumbs up.

They only had a single, grey-green tent to share between the two of them, and though it paled in comparison to Arthur's deluxe, double-sized orange one, it at least looked to be pitched correctly and they were both proud of that. Satisfied, Clara returned to her spot by Nyx, setting out the cat's food in preparation for her to wake up.

Slinks was still sat next to her paw, sleeping, looking as though he hadn't yet moved an inch since teleporting her there. The bug-like carapace that covered his upper torso rose and fell with each slumbering breath, his snoring sounding like a raspy hum. Though he was roughly the size of a human child, he somehow also managed to resemble a wrinkled old man, napping in a rocking chair.

They'd yet to see Arthur's two other Pokémon, because he'd sent them away from the campsite to 'finish running their drills'... but what exactly that meant, Clara and Jasper had been too shy to ask.

They didn't want to impose on Arthur's hospitality any more than they already had, though he told them it was no big deal. Supposedly, it was an 'unspoken trainer law' to stay with one's opponent if one knocked out all their Pokémon, either helping to escort them to a city, or protecting them for the night, so they'd be safe until their Pokémon recovered from the battle. Clara shivered at the thought that there might be some trainers out there who wouldn't follow the rule, and who would leave people abandoned, with no way to defend themselves...

"You're not gonna cook anything?" Jasper asked, noticing that Arthur had retreated to the side of his tent to rustle around in his bag, and not come back since.

"Nah. Fire's all yours. I've got a canister stove." Arthur swished a hand good-naturedly. He took out several pieces of gear that Clara and Jasper eyed curiously, unsure of the use for. He must have clocked their interest, because he added, "Wanna see how it works?"

They eagerly nodded and came over to watch him set it up.

After that, much of the evening passed similarly, with him explaining the different equipment he had, and them listening intently. Amazingly, he had several Pokéballs - they hadn't realized it could take more than one to capture a Pokémon - and they were all a special kind, with a 'proximity setting.' If one of his captured Pokémon ventured too far from its ball, they would be automatically recalled back inside. He also had a special magnetic glove he could put on, which would pull the ball back into his hand, if he threw it too far after releasing a member of his team. It was fascinating.

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Nyx groggily came-to at the smell of her cat food, and to Clara and Jasper's relief, she seemed well enough after a nice long stretch and drink of water. Thankfully, Arthur had thought to return Samson to his ball beforehand, in order to avoid any potential conflict, so she appeared to be content with their campsite and choice of company.

She lounged across the entrance to their tent, side-eying Arthur's other Pokémon and licking her paws. Jasper sat beside her and busied himself small-talking with the older trainer, until a surprised yelp from Clara caught their attention.

One of Arthur's electric-types had crawled right into her lap. It was primate-like, with coal black skin and bristly, dark yellow fur. Its beady eyes looked at her with reverence, and it promptly sat on her leg so that it could examine her face. She held absolutely still, nervous and unsure what to do.

Arthur burst out laughing. "Manners, Chuck-chuck! Let her alone!"

The curious Pokémon ignored him, fascinated with Clara. It gently reached up to touch her nose. She squinched her face up and turned away, so it simply went after her ear, investigating if there was anything behind it.

"I'm so sorry," its trainer said between snickers. "He's obsessed with grooming people's faces. Chuck-chuck, enough!"

Her scalp started to tingle, hair rising up from her head at the contact with the Pokémon's natural static electricity field. Jasper dissolved into a fit of giggles at the sight of her, hair floating wildly in the air. Clara gave them both a look of mock betrayal.

"Okay, okay, no more," Arthur said, with a smile. He came over and scooped it up under the shoulders, lifting it out of her lap. "Oh man. You're gettin' too big for this, buddy."

He had to waddle to compensate for the weight of it, hefting his Elekid over to set it down several feet away... only for it to begin knuckle-walking right back over to Clara again.

"Hey! I mean it," Arthur warned.

Chuck-chuck sighed loudly, sparking a bit between his two stubby antlers, then begrudgingly scuffed over to sit by the fire and sulk. He periodically looked back at Clara and flared his nostrils, longingly.

As the night wore on, they learned just what an exhaustive amount of care Arthur's team required.

Samson needed help to complete a nightly routine of wing stretches - especially after a heavy day of flying - or he wouldn't be as fast the next day. Slinks had to be reminded to eat, or he'd fall asleep and forget to, and Chuck-chuck's electricity expenditures could accidentally injure those around him if they weren't monitored closely. That wasn't to mention Arthur's fourth Pokémon, a yet unnamed Voltorb he'd had to return to its ball just outside the campsite, because it was still too skittish to safely be around other people.

It all sounded like so much work... and yet, both Clara and Jasper fell asleep thinking only of how much they couldn't wait to build teams of their own.

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They awoke to find Arthur already packed up and ready to leave, the entire campsite broken down - save for their own tent, and the cooking fire, which he'd left for them - as though it'd never existed. He seemed to be waiting for them.

"Morning!" he sang.

Jasper squinted in the sunlight, seeing no Pokémon in sight. "G'morning. Where's Samson?"

"Oh, he left a while ago. I let him out earlier while your Persian was gone."

"While she what?" Clara exclaimed.

Arthur suppressed a grimace. "You didn't notice? Yeah, she uh... ran off last night for a while. She's back now, though! I wasn't gonna leave you guys until she was."

He pointed toward Nyx, who chose that second to stroll out from behind their tent and sit daintily on a patch of grass, looking the picture of innocence, and not at all like the mischievous little traitor she was. Clara glared at the cat.

"I assume she was hunting, or stalking the area, which is normal for a nocturnal predator-type," he continued. "Probably best for you guys to catch something diurnal next, though. That way, you've got a Pokémon sleeping next to you in case there are any... well, surprise attacks."

"Got it," Jasper replied, glancing wide-eyed at Clara, who returned the sentiment.

That their Pokémon hadn't spared a second thought to leaving them all alone, all night, without their knowledge was... disconcerting. Sure, Arthur and his team had been nearby for protection, but somehow they doubted that had actually factored into Nyx's decision.

"Anyway, now that you guys are up, I've gotta jet. Do me a favor, though: get back down to the main path and then stick to it. I mean it." He gave them both a stern look. "The farther away you get from it, the stronger the wild Pokémon are, so don't stay in this area any longer than you have to. Okay? Don't let your guard down."

Clara nodded in agreement, taking the map he handed to her.

"I've been meaning to buy a new one, anyway," he winked, to head off her objections to accepting the gift. "Good luck, guys." He walked off with a wave.

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Clara and Jasper did their best to get back on the road quickly, but as it was their first time tearing down a campsite, they were terribly slow and clumsy at it.

It didn't help that their feet and backs were already sore, and their packs felt inexplicably heavier now than they had the day previous. Jasper's ankle had also swollen considerably in the night and was now an ugly shade of purple. Nevertheless, he insisted they push on.

He brightened upon discovering that his cracked water bottle had been taped up and refilled, ostensibly by Arthur while he'd been waiting for the two of them to get up. He mulled over the unexpected kindness while they resumed their hike.

He decided that Arthur was the kind of trainer he wanted to one day become: someone with badges, and a cool tent, and more than enough supplies... and because of that, someone who could help others like it was no big deal.

He shared that thought with Clara, and she agreed. They'd been buoyed by all Arthur's help, and the fact that he'd spoken to them like they were real trainers, not just wannabes. All things considered, their first day of training hadn't been so bad. They were optimistic that their second day would be even better.

Unfortunately... that wouldn't be the case.