Left or right?

Jericho leant against a tree, panting. There was little difference between either path. Ilex Forest was a maze of mud and weeds, struggling to grow beneath the thick canopy that kept the forest floor in a perpetual green twilight. Giant webs hung between trees, and wild pokémon roamed freely in the gloom, the threat of ambush constant. It was only a matter of time before nature claimed the remains of this route as well.

At least the gamble so far had paid off. He'd made it as far as the pokécentre before Bugsy's gym trainers, a group of serious looking men and women seemingly oblivious to the rain, had emerged en masse from the gym, heading purposefully the way he'd just been. He'd delayed just long enough to shout through Kurt's door that the girl's grandpa was alright before bolting for the woods.

Maybe he should have just given up after all? Who knows? Orre might be nice at this time of year. Jericho straightened, picking a path at random and moved on. They were both more or less heading north anyway. Noble padded alongside, his vibrant coat looking out of place among the muted greens of the forest as he flicked his ears this way and that, scouting for movement.

"My, have you lost your way?"

Jericho spun around, hand on his pokégear. A young woman with a white painted face stood at the side of the path, clad in the ornate kimono of a traditional Johtonese dancer, pristine despite the muck and snagging branches all around them.

"If so, I am sorry, but I appear to have lost my way as well." The kimono lady smiled and shrugged, twirling a bamboo umbrella with a spray of water. "Perhaps we could find our way together?"

"W-w-well-" Jericho stammered into silence as Noble trotted towards the woman, tail swishing from side to side. "Noble! Noble!"

"Oh my, a most unusual companion pokémon. It appears that he likes me." The lady lowered a hand for the Leafeon to nuzzle against.

"Sorry, he doesn't usually get along with strangers."

"Then let us not be strangers, I am Naoko, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"... Jericho." When the woman didn't react to the name, he dropped his hand from his pokégear.

"Well, Mister Jericho," Naoko smiled once more, sending another shower of droplets from her umbrella. "Shall we be off?"

The pair walked on in more or less silence, at least on Jericho's part, muttering commands to Noble to deal with attacking wilds while the woman, or possibly girl, but it was hard to tell through the makeup, chattered pleasantly on as though she was at a tea party rather than the dark and hostile wilderness they traversed.

Thankfully she didn't mention anything about Noble. Maybe she wasn't familiar with pokémon? Even in the modern day and age there had to be people who didn't understand basic technology? But why was someone with no pokémon out here in the-

"Mister Jericho?"
"Huh? Sorry?" Jericho peered up into Naoko's inquisitive face.

"I was asking where you were headed after making your way through these woods?"

"I don't really know." Jericho sighed. "I thought I'd be heading home by now, but everything keeps going wrong."

His anonymity before the League that Cynthia had talked about had probably vanished the moment Troy had shown up for a hat trick on ruining his life. He was lucky he hadn't been taken in by Azalea's gym trainers already.

"Ah, I understand. I get lost quite often myself, and sometimes it is only with the help of someone else that I find my way."
Jericho winced. And who could help him now? Kurt was out of the question. Cynthia already had, and she was long gone now. The professor? Considering how badly he'd failed on all three tasks, Elm would probably dunk him into New Bark Lake himself, let the Tentacruel sort him out.

"Well... I can at least help you get home, I guess." Jericho looked around as they stepped into a clearing. Most of the paths leading on were blocked by thick pokémon webs woven around fallen timber.

"That is very kind of you, Mister Gold. Perhaps you have not lost your way so badly after all?"

He'd never told her that name.

Jericho snapped his head around, but Naoko the kimono girl was nowhere to be seen, replaced by more webs that hadn't been there before.

A sneering, childish voice came from behind Jericho.

"Somebody always runs into Ilex."