Obvious exits:
East <E> leads to Nine-Tails Breeding Center.
South <S> leads to Big Riddle Inn.
West <W> leads to Cinnabar Caves - Steam Cave.
Down <D> leads to Cinnabar Island: Steaming Tunnel.
North <N> leads to Cinnabar Island: Hiking Path.

Patch arrives from Cinnabar Island: Hiking Path.
Patch has arrived.

Fair weather clouds sail across the blue sky, propelled by light breezes from the west. It's warm in the sun, cool in the shade, and the air is clear and dry. In the forest, the wind rustles the bright green leaves of trees and bushes and carries Oddish pollen, downy seeds, and the fragrance of wildflowers along with it. While at the coast, the ocean is a deep cool blue today, the waves lapping at the coast gently under the pleasant spring sky.

Mm. Yet another lovely day, but it gets increasingly hard to appreciate those when you've been separated from your trainer for years and years (almost two weeks, actually). Unlike his usual self, Peppy is *not* sleeping, and he is *not* eating - rather, he's sniffing the area around a tree, looking for... food, probably. But, hey, it's a start, right? Actually looking for the food he eats? And not sleeping, hoping it'll just come up?

The long-unseen trainer approaches the area from the east, keeping her eyes wide open and alert to any movement in the trees. She clutches a small piece of paper with writing on it in one hand, as if it were her lifeline, and she keeps glancing at it every now and then, as if to assure herself that it's real. Charles and Rosie are out and about, strayed to the left and right of Patch to search for the lost Growlithe. Their three voices slowly fade into hearing, calling constantly, "Peppy! Peppy!"

Hark! Do you hear what I hear? Two Pokemon and a girl calling out Peppy's name? With a sudden jolt of energy, and a quick tail wag, Peppy *almost* lifts his head up from the ground... but doesn't. No, no... he's either dreaming, or hearing things. No use getting his hopes up. No use lifting his head up, either. Still sniffing the ground, the pup *thinks* he smells an old, yucky burger... but he can't be too sure.

Rosie scampers about with much energy, probably because of the nice weather. <Peppy! Where are you?> she calls, giggling. She doesn't seem to realize the seriousness of the situation - she treats it more like a game of hide-and-seek. Charles takes it a litle more seriously, pushing aside bushes, peering around tree trunks, and whatnot. Patch just sticks to the main path, hoping to catch a glimpse of orangey-red somewhere, -anywhere-, that isn't the color of Charles.

Peppy's right ear perks up curiously. Hmmm. You know, that Pikachu voice sounds very *loud*. A little too loud to be dreamt. And awfully... cheery? Happy? Two guesses - Choochoo, or Rosie. And it's probably not Choochoo. Oh, heck, take a chance. "Grrowlithe?" the pup barks out, lifting his head off the dirt a bit to do so. It's not an extremely loud woof - it mostly hits the dirt below Peppy - but it's one that any of the three might just hear.

Rosie's ears prick up, and she stops for a moment. <I can hear you!> she shouts with glee. <You can't hide much longer!> Charles just shrugs and keeps on searching, but Patch pays attention. "What? You heard him, Rosie?" she calls. "Where?" <Over there!> the Pikachu says, pointing, and Patch follows after her as fast as she can.

Hiding? Who's hiding? Without even giving it a second thought, Peppy grudgingly puts his nose back down to the ground, and begins sniffing some more. Of *course* he was just imagining things. And what a silly hallucination, too! As if he was playing a simple game of hide and go seek! Ha! ... say, that sounds like Patch's voice. Another dumb hallucination. Grumble. The dog keeps searching for that discarded burger on the ground - it's got to be around here somewhere!

Charles gradually decides to follow after the other Pokemon and his trainer as Rosie approaches the tree where Peppy is. Patch sees him first, however. "Peppy? Is that you?" she calls, her voice nearly breaking. She almost believes that it's just another wild Growlithe (especially since he's foraging around and all, so unlike what Peppy would do) - until she sees the snowflake collar a few seconds later. There's no doubt in her mind now. "PEPPY!!!" She sprints towards him at surprising speed, reaching down to scoop him up in her arms.

Ack! Okay, his head is definitely playing tricks on him. That actually almost really did sound like a convincing sample of Patch's voice. But nope! This Growlithe's way too smart to fall for it! Why bother wasting *all* that time of looking up, when it'll just bring his hopes up, and then, just let 'em drop right back down when he sees that Patch isn't really there? Nope. Peppy's not going to believe it.

A Katerwaul slinks closer, bright eyes all ablaze ... so whisper a prayer and start that save! (Saving)

Patch hugs Peppy tightly as if never wanting to let go of him again. "Oh, Peppy! Finally! Finally!" She's very emotional, but she doesn't dare cry for fear of stinging the fire-type with the wet tears. Rosie hops up and down yelling, <Yay! We found you, we found you!> over and over again, while Charles smiles happily. <Thank goodness.>

This is probably one of those times when tears are acceptable, despite Peppy being a fire-type. Heck, the pup's letting a couple little soaking tears drizzle down his face (not many - they don't hurt as much as, say, rain, but they're still kind of hurt a little bit). <It really is you!> He barks, appreciating being held so close to Patch. <I thought I'd never seen you again! I was so scared! It was raining, and I was hungry, and tired, but a man came by, and he helped me, but I still wanted you, and...> He takes a deep breath. So much has happened.

Patch kisses her Growlithe on the head a few times, now finally unable to hold back her tears as they come rolling down in a flood. She sits down against the tree, still holding Peppy tight. "I looked all over Celadon and Saffron for you! I had no idea you'd be all the way in Cinnabar. I'm so glad you're all right."

The Growlithe only flicks his ears a bit as Patch's tears hit them, and otherwise seems to take little or notice besides that involuntary action. <It... it was a... a...> What did Citine call him? A... <A Charizard.> the pup whimpers softly. <I didn't want to go, but he... flew me.> Hrm. All of those frightening memories can all disappear now, though - he's safe right now in Patch's possession.

"A Charizard?" Patch asks, hardly believing it. "Are you sure you weren't imagining things? It could have been a Team Rocket trick, though I don't know why they'd go to all the trouble of capturing a Growlithe that would probably eat them out of their headquarters." She grins a little. "It's too late to go all the way back to Celadon now...but maybe we can spend the night at the Pokemon Center here."

The puppy just sniffles a little bit, but no longer cries. Terrific. <M... maybe it wasn't, but that's what that boy said.> He rubs his face against Patch's shirt a bit. <But it was a big, big flying Pokemon. He attacked me.> He gestures to his side, which now has a small, but not very noticable, mark. As the mention of Celadon, the Growlithe's tail wags, threatening to hit Patch, but he says nothing in reply.

Patch carefully stands up, still holding on to Peppy. "Well, I don't know. It might be, I suppose, since this -is- a good place for fire Pokemon...I wonder if it's owned by Team Rocket, maybe...?" Charles puffs himself up a bit. <One of my relatives would never do something like that to a fellow fire-Pokemon!> Rosie looks at him with awe. <Oooh, you're related to Charizards?> she asks. <Of course,> he tells her.

Peppy glances quietly down as Patch picks him up, and Rosie and Charles begin chatting. The Growlithe doesn't even realize he's speaking out loud when he mutters, <It did kind of look like Charles... but... bigger... n' with wings.> A few signs of tiredness are starting to wear on the pup, but it doesn't really look like he's going to fall asleep soon. Not until he knows he's safe, at least.

Patch carries Peppy back eastward as Rosie and Charles follow behind. "It's been a long day," she remarks. "Time for us all to kick back and relax." The other two Pokemon nod their agreement.

Mmph. As Patch starts walking back to Cinnabar, fatigue starts to show well. With every step, the pup's eyes close a notch, and within a little bit, Peppy is already fast asleep in his trainer's arms, barely moving at all, just growling quiet little contented nothings. "Grrowl... lithe..." And after all that, he's still absolutely adorable.