Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. The Rights are owned by the Pokémon Company.

I risk sounding like a broken record, but thank you for the views and reviews, they have successfully been keeping me on schedule.

Finally, the day has come. I'm bursting with energy, my entire body is aching to begin. I shall venture out of the dark and into the light. I shall head out into the world to obtain something I've been idealizing for months! A teacher! A mentor! Someone who'll make the world make sense and give me the Answers! The Answers to LIFE, THE UNIVERSE ANd everything...

Who am I kidding? I'm knackered. I was so excited about the thought of finding the 'mon and finally reaching my goal that I couldn't sleep on account of the nervous energy and the butterflies in my 'chambers'. Spent the whole night barely napping, waking up and going to the entrance to see if dawn had come. The only thing I accomplished was making myself more anxious. What if I'm somehow late? I might not even get to meet him! Maybe he's gone off on some journey of his own... What if I passed him by in the tunnels? Will he even agree to take me on? What if... No! Shut up, Brain! *Narf*

I didn't get this far by doubting myself. I've got this far by taking things one jet at a time, so take a deep breath, make some fuel, and get the hell out of this cave.

Putting thoughts to action, I blast out of the cave with an (maybe overly) enthusiastic jet that sends me flying past the point where there used to be the remains of two Graveler.

'Huh, seems like they've already put themselves back together... Wonder if they ever mess up and change parts? "Hey, that's MY hand!", "Hand me my right hand, yes, the one on the left."...'

In my eagerness I seem to have failed to take into account the outside terrain; the exit comes out in middle of a steep foothill, the exit is amidst a forest, the forest is quite thick and has decent sized trees, and the forest floor has a fair amount of undergrowth.

My flight ends, and my landing ends the life of a half-dozen trees and makes a furrow in the earth and plant-life. Taking a brief look at the damage I give myself a 7/10, good distance but I could have snapped a few more trees fully in half.

After my self-gratulatory moment I take a moment to turn and take in my surroundings.

Since I left my nest in spring, I am currently experiencing the wonder of a temperate summer, or at least I'm guessing Johto's and Kanto's climate is temperate, inferred from the mix of spruce-like evergreens, various broadleaved trees. There's enough room that I might be able to navigate through the woods without mowing down too many trees on the way, and the undergrowth is dominated by thin grass, moss and shrubbery. While the terrain isn't rocky, there are a few big-ish moss-covered stones laying about. There are a few trails leading off into the woods which were clearly made by much smaller 'mon than me, so nothing I can properly follow.

The surrounding forest isn't anything like the idyllic picture I witnessed on the day I set off from Mount Silver; the sun is rising, but its rise is casting the forest in shadow from behind the hillside and mountain. Add in the storm-grey clouds visible in the west, the silence that has fallen over the area, and you get an unnerving atmosphere that tells the 'ominous' arrival of a foreign danger treading into new territory. If there was a creepy violin playing tension-music the horror-impression would be complete, and I'm all about first impressions.

Having finished my musings, I find myself staring down at a pinecone-like 'mon that seems frozen in fear, or maybe my amazing landing has it frozen in awe?

Before I can do more than offer a "Um, h-" it unfreezes spectacularly in a self-destruct that explosively sheds bark-like parts that shred through the undergrowth and blows some actual bark off the nearest evergreen, while leaving me unharmed and nonplussed.

'Have the 'Boom Brothers' been giving out lessons or Is this kind of self-defence a bizarre cultural phenomenon in this territory?'

Left over is a much thinner figure that looks to have gone unconscious or is hopefully just 'playing' dead, I can't exactly go over to carefully check, so I'm not really able to tell the difference. Deciding there's not much I can do for the little guy, I leave him be. I've got places to go and a 'mon to see.

Before I get moving I need to know which direction to start heading in, even if it'll be a bit difficult, I am going to climb up into the hillside above the cave to survey the landscape. The talk with 'Maia' taught me that having a plan and knowing a little about the layout of wherever you're headed is much better than just going in a straight line hoping to stumble onto something. I committed that mistake when I set out from the 'Water-Way', a blunder that I'm not inclined to repeat.

As I make my way back up to the cave entrance to find a good place to continue further up the hillside, I'm already starting to see that this part of the journey is going to be much worse than the three comparatively blissful months of 'easy' movement underground. Sometimes being gigantic and without limbs is a little inconvenient; if I was smaller and had limbs I'd climb a tall tree to get a good look around, if I could walk uphill then the vegetation wouldn't be such a damned bother.

I try to use my jets to 'jump' my way up the incline, but sticking the landing without sliding or tumbling backwards is fucking hard.

I hate vegetation, it makes using my earth-carpet technique impossible, it gets in the way and screws with my access to the earth. So I'm cut off from the method of transportation that enabled moving at a slow, careful and silent pace. Whatever flimsy stealth-capability I had underground is gone anyway, hiding my gigantic body is never going to work here on the surface. How big am I now, somewhere around 7 meters and probably weighing in at a couple of tons? I guess I could cover myself in moss and make myself out to be a stone.

-Look out-

After a long and aggravating hour of climbing I finally reach a look-out spot, a cliff that gives me a clear sight over the treeline. The elevation reveals the enormity of the valley, if that is even the right term, and the lake located in the centre. The whole valley-floor is covered in trees, there are some clearings that I suppose could be meadows or marshland. I can see one river that runs into the lake from this side of the valley, probably water coming down from the mountains behind me, no doubt there are many more water sources feeding into the lake. I think the lake's outlet is on the south-west side, where the terrain and lake seem to become narrower.

It does make me wonder which kind of natural processes made the valley, was it shaped by a glacier, water erosion, or a combination? It is kind of bowl-like in areas so maybe a big impact or some kind of volcanic activity? Possibly tectonic movement followed by water erosion? Huh, never thought I'd geek out over this kind of stuff. This fascination with the landscape might be my rock/ground-type showing, because I don't think human-me was interested in geology.

Even with the dodgy looking clouds this is one hell of a view, untouched nature, no city or farmland in sight, which doesn't rule out smaller human-habitations existing along the waterways, they usually do. 'If you are lost, then find a river and follow it downstream, it will sooner or later lead you to civilization.'

Well, I know my heading. If I go downhill in a northern direction I'll reach the river, following it will lead me down to the lake. Since the territory's Champion is titled 'Watcher of the Lake' I assume that the lake is the central point of the territory, hence the perfect place to find someone to ask for directions. Or maybe I'll luck out and find someone on the way that'll know where I should go to find the mentor 'mon.

I hope I don't have to cross a river or the lake itself, I'm not made for swimming, not that I've ever tried but I am reasonably certain that I can't hold my breath and move simultaneously while submerged under water. 'Jump-Jet Pupitar goes over water, not under.'

I wonder if I could hold my breath in one chamber and use the others to circulate the water through my system to propel me forwards... if the experiment works I'll be 'The Amazing Water-Jetting Pupitar', if it doesn't I'll be 'The Darwin-Award Winning Pupitar'.

Since I'm going to be attracting attention no matter what I do, I might as well save some time and do my descent in style, destructive style. I fill my cambers to capacity, compress until it hurts, and then I launch myself off the cliff at an arch that maximizes my aerial travel distance. I'm sort of a speed-freak, I have full confidence in my shell's ability to take the punishment and this stunt is oh-so-satisfying. The air-time, the speed achieved during my bouncing tumble-slide down the hillside, the havoc visited on the unfortunate plant-life, and being able to look back at the destruction and proudly think 'I did that'.

After several minutes I roll to a stop in a ditch at the bottom of the hill, I wait a minute for the dizziness to go away and then I'm ready for moving on towards the river.

-Making inroads to the River-

Moving through vegetation again, oh joy! Navigating through the woods is really slow when you have to brute-force your way forward. The trees prevent any clear lines of travel, the underbrush gets in the way, the cushioning from the decomposing organic matter and moss causes me to sink under the pressure of my weight. I'm forced to apply the same jump technique I used to climb the hillside, at least here I don't risk falling backwards and undoing too much of my progress, but the amount of obstacles makes my route zigzag, so the distance I have travelled and the direct distance covered differ by a lot.

I am a bit mystified as to the lack of 'mon in the area, you'd think there'd be tons of bugs and birds to stumble over. Then again, I am being a little loud, making a racket might keep some of them away from sight. Or maybe they're camouflaged and I'm just terrible at spotting them, my field of view is pretty limited through my eye-holes.

When I land on the crest of a small rise and stop to locate my next landing target, I suddenly get the feeling that I'm being watched.

Turning my shell a bit to the left I get a long-distance look at a weirdly tiny giraffe standing halfway hidden behind a bush, it's got a yellow colouring and a pair of white horns, it's not too big of a leap of logic to deduce that it is the palindromic Girafarig from the second generation games. When it realizes that it's been spotted it turns tail and runs away far faster than I can follow, though it did give me a view of the dark back-end with the creepy second head.

Well, that's annoying. How will I ever find someone to ask for directions if they either blow up or run away as soon as I get a look at them?

The upside is that my turn to the left brings with it the sight of a small stream behind the spot where the Girafarig stood, in other words, a perfect guide towards the river I plan to follow to the lake.

Crossing back and forth across the stream in a zigzag eventually brings me to the river, at this point the sun's position indicates that it's passed midday, and I am starting to feel kind of tired and hot. Taking a break sounds like a good idea, so I choose a spot to 'lay down' under one of the big trees and take it easy for a while. With the humidity and unfamiliar pressure in the air it wouldn't surprise me if there's a thunderstorm brewing. If it's going to rain I might just consider clearing away some grass and digging out a bit of dryish soil to get a meal in before everything gets too wet.

-Watcher-

During my mealtime I am interrupted by the sound of flapping wings and a big gust of wind that signals the landing of the biggest bird I've ever seen, upon identifying the type of bird I'm certain that announcing its presence with the noisy landing was intentional and a way to gain my attention.

The bird is standing on a tree-branch that seems to be suffering under its weight, it has puffed up its feathers and is watching me with keen eyes. It has brown plumage and there is a darker brown triangle-pattern of feathers running down its chest. On top of its head are a pair of cream-coloured feather 'horns' that connects like an eyebrow with a short spike in the middle that forms a fork above the ring-patterned feathers around its red eyes. Under its beak is a long cream-coloured feathery beard and the beak is the same light colour as the sharp talons that are gripping and carving into the branch it's perching on.

If I didn't know I was in the Pokémon World I'd say that I'm looking at some sort of strange abnormally sized Eagle Owl, but the impressive bird is clearly a Noctowl, with the long beard it looks to be an old one at that.

Reaching out to me with an energy that feels like aged authority he speaks with a clear dignified voice that reminds me of a Shakespearean actor. "Your harsh entry and destruction of the environs has sent a multitude of the inhabitants in my domain fleeing, many have come to notify me of the disturbance, to apprise me of an unknown threat invading and bringing devastation to my territory. I am normally very tolerant of newcomers, but as I have been awoken in the middle of the day to come assess the situation and, if necessary, deal with it, I will give you one chance at explaining why you have come here and what your intentions are."

Good news, I found someone to ask for the body-sculptor.

Bad news, I possibly already pissed off the Lake's 'Champion', no, there's no 'possibly' about it, I have undoubtedly pissed off the 'Watcher of the Lake'.

To salvage the situation I'm going to have to speak plainly, to boldly lay all my cards on the table, maybe try for some eloquence? Fortune favours the bold, right? Eh...

"Greetings, 'Champion'. I bear no ill intentions towards you or any of yours. My motives carry no intended harm upon any being in your territory, not even the 'animal' population will suffer any harm from my predation as my diet is rather earthy. My purpose, the only reason I have come here, is in search for tutelage under a 'mon that I was advised would 'take pity on the uneducated' in hope that he'd give me some guidance, knowledge about the world and myself."

During my explanation the Champion's appearance has reduced in puffiness, and he tilts his head as I take a moment to select my words for explaining why I'd come HERE to look for a prospective teacher.

"I set out from 'The Old Grumpy Sea-Serpent's Water-Way' on the advice that I had to go into the deep tunnels to find 'him'. Eventually I encountered an old 'Onix' who helped narrow down 'his' location and she, with great certainty, said that my quarry could be found in the area of 'Lake Crucible'. So after three months of travelling through the underground labyrinth I arrived here, after exiting the caves I've found that my mobility on the surface is much hampered by the plant-life, causing me almost as much grief as I in turn visit upon it."

While talking, I am slightly distracted by the Noctowl's head tilting, its head has gone from Left to Right and back again several times, changing directions every time a new piece of information is revealed.

With his head still tilted he interjects with a question that demands something more specific. "And whom is it that you are looking for?"

I get the feeling that he's already considered and made up his mind about my future status, the question is there only to punctuate his thoughts and decision.

"As he was titled and described to me, I am looking for 'The Body-Sculptor', who is also 'an old charmer'."

The Noctowl bobs his head, hoots out a strangled laugh, then gathers himself and relaxes his 'ready-to-attack' posture to one that says 'tired and resigned'. "You're going to cause me all kinds of headaches and I'm certain I'll regret it, but seeing as you've come this far I will grant you a right for accommodation until his return, as long as you don't become a problem. If he is agreeable to your overture, you can stick around, if not... you can still stay, if you have caused no trouble and found a place to fit in amongst our community. That is our accord, do you concur?"

I'm a bit confused, but the message is clear. "Yes, thank you for the hospitality."

He hops off the branch and glides down to land in a tree closer to my position. Seems like the serious stuff is out of the way.

"As you might've guessed by the often used name, 'Lake Crucible', we are quite used to all kinds of disturbances, the difference in those cases being that those disturbances are caused by known quantities. Lake Crucible is a mixing-pot where all kinds of 'forces' interact to shape and change each other. Life is all about change and development, so here I facilitate the meetings of minds and bodies. Be that through interacting in conversation or battle."

This is an introductory speech and not a conversation, because he continues before I can even think to respond.

"The significant detail that caused your entry's disturbance to require the response of me coming out for a little talk was the first impression formed from your perceived behaviour. The din of destruction as you 'mindlessly' felled trees and tore up the forest while 'running off' the locals. Now that I see and know the real circumstances, your form's difficulty in advancing through wooded areas, I will make sure to spread the information concerning your 'disability' to not cause havoc all around you. However, please try to keep the wreckage to a minimum. "

With the swelling of energy that accompanied the 'Please', I can tell that it wasn't a polite or courteous 'please', but more of an ordered 'Please'.

'I say, did he just call me disabled?! I find my predilection towards breaking stuff charming and a bit funny. It's not my fault that everyone doesn't share my...'

"If you follow the river you'll come across the central meeting area, there I shall have sent someone to bring you to 'Indulger's abode, and further inform you of the codes of conduct that you will be expected to follow while staying in my domain. Once you have settled in, I might take the time to come over for a talk, you are quite the oddity."

Without waiting for an answer the Owl Pokémon takes off with a massive beat of his wings. The weather chooses to aid in his dramatic exit by adding in a flash of lightning, shortly followed by the rumbling of thunder.

Well, that went better than I expected. I now have permission to stay in the area indefinitely and I don't doubt that what I am didn't play a factor in his decision; being a friendly specimen of 'one of the tyrants', or it could be my size that he was referring to, both make me interesting enough to keep around as a novelty-piece. Oddity wins the day.

While he didn't give me a time frame to make it to the meeting area, I think I should start heading downriver right away.

Almost right away. He did disturb my lunch.

-Downriver-

I thought that following the river was going to make my journey to the lake easier, while it helps me to navigate, the tree coverage on the riverbank is much thicker and the bends in the river bring an uncertainty to jumping too far without seeing if the landing area is 'safe', this has slowed me down considerably since I don't want to stray too close to the river. I don't know if I'd survive falling into the water, so for safety's sake I have moved my traversal a small distance into the forest, just enough that I can still hear and occasionally see the river.

An hour after my lunch-break it starts to rain, as if I needed things to get any more difficult. The rain drowns out the sounds from the river and reduces the visibility enough that judging my jumps gets even harder. Fuck it. I'm taking shelter under a couple of trees to wait out the rain, not that it'll stop me from getting any wetter, but it'll keep the drumming on my shell to a more tolerable level...

At least this proves that I don't disintegrate, melt or experience pain when I get wet, so my type-weakness has to have something to do with my aptitude in water. When I get situated and get some 'free' time I'm going to take the opportunity to figure out if taking a dip into or under water will kill me, then depending on the result I might be able to find some way to swim or at least not sink and drown.

...

When the storm finally passes, taking the clouds and the rain with it, I continue downriver. After jump-jetting for several hours I'm starting to get tired again, while my endurance is quite high from being 'on the road' for three months, the extra effort needed for travelling in this kind of terrain is really kicking my ass. I can't imagine how I'd be able to keep a Sandstorm ready and still be able to travel like this.

Being tired and seeing no sign of the lake makes me decide to call it a day despite my night-vision making travel by night possible, there is no reason to kill myself rushing to get there, only to find myself unable to follow whoever is in charge of greeting me and leading me to 'Indulger's abode.

'Indulger', what does he indulge in I wonder? Or maybe he indulges others? Fitting for a mentor!

Finding a dry spot is impossible, so I take leave to wreck a part of the small clearing I've stopped at, I decide to make a 'bed' by jumping into a copse of trees and laying down on the broken remains to avoid sinking too deep into the soggy ground.

That night is my first time sleeping under open skies.

I don't know what made me flip over on my back but it allowed me yet another first when I am treated to the grand majesty of a star filled night sky untainted by light pollution.

Looking up at the awesome display of the galaxy certainly has a way of putting things in perspective.

I'm a small rocky being, on a big speck of earth, in a vast ocean of stars.

-Meeting the Guide-

The next day dawns with clear skies and I set off as soon as I wake up, no cloud cover and sun might make the day uncomfortably hot, so it's best to get a move on.

By midday I reach the meeting locale, it's a big open area where a stretch of the stony lake-shore is met by a cleared out grassy area where most of the trees looks to have been felled several years ago, with some big old trunks still lying around. The only trees left standing are several oak-like trees that are wide and open with several limbs that look perfect for birds to perch on, something I can tell by the fact that there's currently a bird perching on one of them.

Of course the Noctowl would send out one of his own, a Hoothoot standing on one foot, it looks at me and exaggeratedly blinks a couple of times, seemingly lost for words. It has large red eyes encircled by black feathers that look like a mask with two clock-hand eye-brows/horns sticking up from it. Its feathers are mostly brown while its underbelly is cream-coloured.

It hoots a couple of times in bafflement before flying down to perch on a log lying on the ground in front of me. It takes a moment before I feel the prod of energy which reveals that the owl is a female, young-ish with an undercurrent of deep curiosity and irritation.

"He never said that you'd be this huge! Losing some sleep is almost worth it for the sight alone! By the way, YOU'RE LATE! I've been waiting here for over half a day! Since I was told to 'not fly off or get distracted' I couldn't even go off to catch something to eat!"

So that's how we're doing this, no pleasantries, fine, I can do passive aggressive.

"Hello, some people call me 'Odd'. Nice to meet you. Fine weather we're having. Those trees are quite impressive, they look old and sturdy. Did you know that forests tightly packed with trees are a nightmare to traverse when you're as big as me, then there's the rain that made the ground all soggy and slippery, it can really limit how fast you're able to go when every jump risks you getting stuck and sinking into the ground, it really limits your movement speed, you see."

I can tell I've succeeded in my attempt at explaining myself without apologizing when she bobs her head and lets off an apologetic and sympathetic hoot at my roundabout almost-apology.

"Sorry, I didn't consider that you'd be so hampered. You can call me 'Loopy'. I'm the lucky gal appointed to be your initiatory guide-tour-leader-'persmon'! I know all the stuff and how it works! You'll find that I am the best and only source of information that you'll ever need! Now before we begin, what ARE you?"

As the 'All-Knowing One' ends on the question she leans forward, her eyes flash and gain a faint glow as she begins hopping around to inspect me from all sides.

The hopping goes on for over a minute, and I answer the first question as simply as I can.

"I'm a 'Pupitar'"

This sets off an avalanche of questions that go back and forth from 'what' questions to 'why' questions: "What's a 'Pupitar'?"-"What does that mean?" - "What's a rock-pupa?" - "Why do you call it that?" - "Why is it a rock/ground-type?" - "What is a type?" - "Why is it GROUND and what makes it ROCK?" - "Then what am I? Why?" - "...Why? What? Why? Why? Why?"

When I notice that the shadows from the trees start to lengthen I decide that the Q&A session has gone on long enough and I'm going to have to remind 'Loopy' what she's actually here for. With a contrite and embarrassed hoot she hops back onto the log and proposes that she'll fill me in on the codes of conduct while on the move.

Then she takes off flying, leaving me to wonder how long it'll take her to realize her oversight. After little over a minute she's back and looking impatient, until I again point out the limits of my mobility.

'I bet the 'Watcher' knew what he was setting me up for, the title 'Loopy' certainly suits her.'

-The Trip and The Codes-

The trip took two days... TWO DAYS! Two days of more "Why's" and "What's"...

First thing I had to do when we set off was to figure out how to cross a river, it wasn't too wide, so I managed it with a full-powered jet, after which 'Loopy' inquired "Wow, how did you do that?" Which started another round of questioning.

From there we kept on going until we had to stop so that she could go for a hunt and get some sleep, she was quite messed up from staying awake all day. While she was otherwise engaged I used the time to have a meal of my own and a nap.

I was rudely awoken in the middle of the night by an impatient 'Loopy', she'd woken up and decided that despite ME being asleep SHE was ready to carry on.

Travelling in the dark doesn't bother me considering my night-vision, but being commanded by an owl to "Get up, don't dawdle, let's get going" does.

After an uneventful day we finally arrive at 'Indulger's Abode the next night.

The positive thing about all the travel time was that the Hoothoot's penchant for asking too many damned questions had previously been put to use against others, which allowed me to reap the benefit of someone else's irritation.

During the two days she gave me all kinds of information about the area and what to expect from the other 'mon, where I should be careful not to cause too much of a disturbance and where to avoid.

Then she supplied an in-depth explanation about how the 'Codes of Conduct for 'Lake Crucible' functioned in practice. Without there being any 'true' rules and regulations like you'd find in human society it was still impressive how 'advanced' it turned out to be.

I guess the best explanation would be that it is layered, the first layers are simple and can easily be followed by even the less sapient of the 'mon, but if you are of the mind to understand and use the system, you are free to join a reciprocal 'society' where potentially anyone can be a benefit to everyone.

At its most basic it follows the same principles as Mama Bear's explanation of how to act in 'polite' society, but dig a little deeper and the foundation is there to facilitate the 'meeting of minds in conversation and battle'.

So here's a bit of liberal paraphrasing of 'Loopy's rundown on the Codes of Conduct.

The Simple Explanation and The Advanced Explanation

...

Ethics for Dummies.

Don't Be A Dick.

Respect Others.

No Senseless Violence.

...

The Keystone of 'Watcher's Philosophy and Cultural Practice.

The Principle of the Crucible is to share of yourself to promote and influence growth and development;

Of the mind, through the sharing of knowledge.

And the body, through the growth and development of your own capabilities and in competition against those who are willing.

Through concentrated interaction both can be accomplished.

Mastery comes from Community.

...

'Come together to Live together to Talk and Fight together to Learn together.'

Apparently many years ago 'Watcher' and 'Indulger' met and after exchanging their views through 'verbal' discussions and 'physical' discussions (combat), they decided to combine their values and principles, together they would go on to conquer the Lake-territory as partners and afterwards made it 'official' that everyone under their umbrella had to adhere to their principles, values, and rules of behaviour.

They had a hell of a time achieving it, because the preexisting Champion was a 'Sea-Dragon', even nowadays the whole area periodically gets an influx of newly-grown 'Sea-Serpents' that have to be kept in line. After defeating the Champion they had to subjugate the population of the surrounding valley before they could properly enforce their rules.

Once they had won over the inhabitants the Noctowl took on the main role as 'Champion' and the 'Indulger' took an advisory role and serves as reinforcement whenever needed.

This part of the story more or less confirmed my suspicions, 'Lake Crucible' is in fact 'The Lake of Rage' from the games. I thought that lake was made by the Gyarados or something, but there's no way any amount of Gyarados could've somehow make a lake this big by throwing a tantrum and blowing a crater into the ground. I think this is another example of the games fudging the details and context because they were limited to only showing a little piece of it, kind of like the cave systems underneath the over-world.

-Parting Ways-

'Watcher' had apparently told her to bring me close to 'Indulger's area and leave me to my own devices, so 'Loopy' brought me to the 'border' of his part-time territory and pointed out the general direction where the 'Indulger's Abode' was.

She gave a well-wishing-advice/warning before finally leaving me alone, the 'Mouthy Owl' advised me to find his place and set up my own area somewhere nearby. "...sharing is caring, but don't share the space, you're more likely to crush something or someone, and if you want any chance at convincing 'Wisdom's Ally' to ever mentor you; don't destroy his home or desecrate its vicinity!"

The first time I heard her refer to the Champion as 'Wisdom' I had a moment of inspiration and dubbed the long-bearded Noctowl as 'The Wizard', 'Gandalf' and alternatively 'Merlin', though the stories about their partnership seem to suggest that the 'Indulger' is the one who plays the role of Gandalf or Merlin, considering his position as an advisor.

Anyway, I've spent the last few days constantly on the move and I'm starting to feel the backed up toil of keeping up with a flyer that regularly 'forgets' my much more strenuous and tricky means of transportation. Though, I admit that I powered through because of my own impatience, both to finally reach our destination and my patience concerning the owl running out... being respectful is in the fucking rulebook, can't lose my temper against a possible relative of 'The Wizard'.

After she leaves I take a few blissful minutes to enjoy the feeling of being alone again, then I shelve the idea of beginning my search in the middle of the night, instead I'm going to bunk down on the spot and get a few hours of sweet uninterrupted sleep. Hmm, yes, letting my internal muscles rest for ten or so hours sounds wonderful.

No inquisitive harping or chattering to ruin my sleep. Just the quiet sounds of a slumbering forest... and the slowly increasing drone of angry insects.

*BUZZ*

I am so not in the mood.

-Reflections while picking my teeth with a tree trunk-

I guess there are several life-lessons I learnt on my own without a teacher.

Apparently leaving a trail of destruction attracts attention, like ringing a door-bell, they have to come to the door to make you stop. Why come to them when you can have them come to you?

Even the bad kind of attention is good attention if you have good intentions, but at the end of the day, if you have pissed off someone with power over you they'll make sure you suffer for it... which brings me directly to my next lesson:

Some Owls make for miserable travelling companions.

Let's see... What else?

You only need to cut a tree once, it won't suddenly regrow if you leave the area and come right back... the games lied, they LIED!

I never needed the move 'Cut', I developed my own equivalent of the move to suit me as a Pupitar, I called it my 'Brute-Force Jump-Jet Deforestation-Technique!'