Obvious exits:
North <N> leads to Old Macdonald's Farm.
South <S> leads to Overgrown Lands - Route 11: Off the Route.
West <W> leads to Field and Streams - Route 11: Orchards.
East <E> leads to Footbridge - Route 12: Junction.

Sly has arrived.

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind. In the forest, only the nearest tree branches, half-bereft of leaves, show their full color; more distant trees and branches are colorless and indistinct in the pallid grey fog, looking ghostly and not quite real. While at the coast, the sea is sluggish and grey as fog lays on its surface like a thick wet blanket.

All right, so it's misty. Fog is sort of an unhappy medium when you're a wild pokemon - it's not sunny, so you can't go outside and enjoy the weather, but it's not rainy, so you don't have an excuse to stay inside. It's rather chilly this morning, and even though the sun is ascending from its rest, it's entirely invisible thanks to the thick cloud covering the surface of the island. It's destined to be a very "blah" day. But "bah"ness doesn't stop a determined Growlithe! At least not this one. Padding along the route, halfway stumbling with a droopy tail, ears merely flaps pressed the side of his head, is Peppy, making a half-caring attempt at hunting. Every so often, he'll take a sniff, trying to catch a hint of Rattata, but for the most part, he might as well dunk his head into a lake and inhale. It's seriously wet this morning. Maybe rain isn't so bad, after all...

Fog does one other thing that would make hunting hard: It "suppresses" scents, it keeps them from drifting like they usually would, and so it would be harder to catch them. Perhaps that little fact will allow Sly to keep all of his burgers to himself... or maybe it won't. The teen sits not far from the stream, though a good distance from the farmhouse (far enough not to be able to see it). The ground is cold and wet, so Sly sits on a downed tree; the tree would appear to still be alive, for its leaves remain green, but it's nearly parallel to the ground. Odd, but handy. Sly is sitting cross-legged on it, "Indian-style" in kid-speak, and his eyes are closed. Though he has his lunch next to him (a bag full of burgers and fries), he's not eating it. At first glance the teen might appear to be asleep, but he is not. Eyes closed, he's breathing slowly as he listens to and "feels" the world around him.

October means Kats come out to 'play', save the data! Right away! (Saving)

It's too early in the morning; Peppy couldn't have woken up more than an hour or so ago. Why, then, is he looking so miserable that he'd ready to just head back to the barn and snore the day away? But alas - such is the price you pay when your mate's pregnant. From Peppy's point of view, maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be. Plop, plop, plop. Sniff. Nothing. Plop, plop, plop. Sniff. Nothing. Plop, plop, plop. Sniff. No-... Peppy just comes to a -stop-. His entire body tenses up so tightly that he's not even breathing anymore. He's entirely paralyzed. He smells something. Something very faint. Something very familiar. Something very *good*. There he remains poised for a few more moments, daring himself to sniff again. He's so afraid to let himself down. After seconds of hesitation, Peppy ventures upon one tiny, very timid little sniff. ... He's not mistaken. <... Burgers?> he growls to himself, relaxing very slightly - with the exception of his tail, which perks up and begins to sway back and forth, releasing tiny condensed water droplets. He's considerably close to Sly, but we can probably say his 'burger-detector' is just that great. It's been months.

It's been months since Peppy encountered a number of things, and burgers are only one of them. Even when Sly appears to be alone, he never is. Shade, his oft-invisible Haunter, is usually just over his shoulder. However, for the past couple weeks Shade has been off with Grayson, battling in some tournament. Sly's still not alone, even though his replacement ghostly protectors aren't anywhere near as close to him as Shade usually stays. Two ghosts prowl the area around their trainer, more looking for trouble than really protecting him -- though protecting him is an acceptable side effect. Invisible, and though neither touches the ground, they stalk through the air as if moving through the tall grasses just below them. The slightly larger one, the female, cants her head as Peppy stands and sniffs. The male's invisible ears pin backwards and his tail lashes, sending a clear message to the other Katerwaul: Dog. Ugh. Jazz, the female, ignores Wraith's distaste and stalks closer to the Growlithe. If Peppy's not too distracted by the burger-smell, he might feel the air chill down as Jazz circles around him.

No, Peppy's mistaken. Gotta be mistaken. No way in the world. ... Sniff. ... Okay, -definitely- burgers. No two ways about it. It's very faint, very hard to detect, but it's there. ... Then, the smell might be too slight to say it's -definitely- a burger. No, there's just not enough of it to say for sure. It's probably something that tastes very slightly like burgers. Probably not related at all. ... Sniff. ... No, that's definitely burgers all right. But then, it wouldn't be good to get hopes up...

Wraith joins Jazz, circling in close to the Growlithe. "Waaaul," <Are we out here?> he meows, the cry low and mean and dark... and able to be heard by mortal creatures. From Peppy's other side comes a reply, the tone just different enough to allow for the understanding that there are (at least!) two of them out here. "Kaaat." <We seem pretty 'out there' to me!> And with that, Jazz shows herself. She fades into view, under a foot from the tip of Peppy's nose. Glowing eyes narrowed, she hisses her mocking question at him, <Lost, little puppy?> Wraith, still invisible for the moment, takes up a position right behind Peppy. If the Growlithe spins to flee, the male Kat will snap visible to attempt to keep the hound boxed in. Over on his odd tree, Sly opens his black eyes. Blinks them open. Listens. Frowns thoughtfully. Stands. The Rocket teen doesn't move off into the gloom of the fog yet, instead he just listens. A glance around shows him a lack of Katerwauls, assuming they're even visible.

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind.

Quite ironically, right after he barks, Peppy thinks to himself - this could be the best day of my life! Despite the weather, the pup might be getting a burger! Maybe even burger*s*, so Aurora can have one, too! The thought sends a chill down his back... ... Or did he actually just shiver? ... Why is it so much more cold all of a sudden? ... And what was that vo... ... Ohhhhhh, no. Peppy freezes once again. Every single muscle, every single cell in his body just halts, just as he did when he first smelled the burgers. One word echoes in his mind. Katerwauls. The only exceptions to his paralyzation, the only movements on the Growlithe come from the eyes, which are looking around very rapidly. Actually quite active. And wide. Very wide. Indeed, Peppy has even ceased breathing. The Katerwaul speaks. Peppy would most likely reply with nonsensical babbling, except he's too scared to do even that. He's too scared to -tremble-. All he can do now is peer down at Jazz, waiting for the Katerwaul to give him another scar. Before shredding him into nothingness. Katerwauls.

Showing fear may save some random trainer when they wander into the Tower, but it never saved anyone from a Katerwaul. Jazz smirks a toothy little smirk, but instead of lashing out with her claws, she only extends her head forward, her noise aiming for his. Is this a sign of peace? Will the nose-to-nose touch be a Katerwaul kiss? Will the three pokemon fall over giggling, holding their bellies as they roll around in amusement at the Growlithe's initial fright? Nope. Jazz's tongue pokes out, and she attempts to Lick Peppy on the nose. If he's paralyzed, the Growlithe can't very well run away from their attacks! With a bored yawn, Wraith fades into view. Ears still pinned back, he gives Jazz a surly glance, then swats at Peppy's rump with a pawful of claws. Though Sly hasn't heard anything further from the fog, he starts slowly walking away from his tree (and his burgers). If it had been a 'Spearrro!' instead of a Growlithe cry, Sly might have ignored it, but Growlithe are good pokemon and so he heads slowly in that direction, listening for more sounds from the wild pokemon. After a couple steps, he turns back to get his lunch, then sets off again. Never know when a little food will help with a wild pokemon.

This is just "Blast from the Past" day, isn't it? First burgers, then Katerwauls. What next, a giant Charizard swooping down and taking him to a faraway land? Actually, Peppy would welcome that - it would be a way to escape from being slowly tortured to death by Katerwauls. ... Or Licked to death, whatever works. Indeed, a tiny, tiny portion of Peppy's fear turns into confusion as the female Katerwaul in front of him slurps his nose. And it -probably- hurts, Peppy's just so frightened that he doesn't feel the pain if so. Now. Getting a slash on the bottom is a different kind of pain, and it actually sparks up a reaction from Peppy! Yes, that's it! Scare them away with your... with your... <Ow,> the Growlithe whimpers, somewhat quietly, wondering how in the world the Katerwaul that's right in front of him managed to slice him from behind. Katerwauls are evil like that. Peppy's initial fear has died off, and the pup has cooled off to the point where he can actually shiver with fright. And he does. Only a bit, but. See, only Jynxes and Katerwauls can do this. If it was a Bulbasaur, he would -at least- try to run away. Katerwauls. Grr.

No matter if the paralyzation part of the Lick worked or not, Jazz moves on. Onto Peppy's head, that is. She floats up a little and then steps over to him, intending to place herself atop his head like an odd (yet cute) hat. Unless Peppy ducks, she'll drive her claws into him, anchoring herself to him. "Waaaul!" she meows loudly, the sound a wordless one full of amusement at having something to torture. Wraith, ever-disgruntled at being second to Jazz, takes out his anger on Peppy's butt. He extends both forelegs forward, intending to hook his claws into Peppy's rump. Back arches and then Wraith will pull -- Peppy is being treated as if he was a scratching post, the Katerwaul intending to rake his claws along him. Sly moves slowly through the fog, heading in the general direction of the bark. When he catches Jazz's meow from the same area, he steps up his pace a little. Shifting the bag to his left hand, Sly puts the index finger and thumb of his right hand into his mouth, then whistles. It's a loud, long, piercing sound, one which goes totally ignored by the Katerwaul.

October means Kats come out to 'play', save the data! Right away! (Saving)

Okay, see. There's only so much one pup can take. And maybe it's the pain, maybe it's the whistle, maybe it's the fact that he's been paralyzed with fear for too long. Shoot - if we want to, we can say that "maybe it's because he remembers his true love for Aurora and couldn't even let her down, not now, not ever", even though he's undoubtedly more concerned about -himself- right now. But whatever the case, Peppy's now got nails engraved into his head and a Katerwaul turning his bottom into string cheese, and he doesn't like this at all. And so, Peppy bursts into action! ... <Ow!!> ... Yeah, that's pretty much his entire response. And it's actually pretty loud, and might actually frighten a timid Caterpie. The pup, pretty much reflexively, also shakes his head (only a bit - it's unlikely that he'll actually get the Katerwaul off his head or anything, but at least he's doing something. The Growlithe also (probably accidentally, maybe just to keep his balance) sidesteps once or twice, though if Wraith's claws are scratching his flesh hard enough, Peppy might just drag the Katerwaul along with him, which would -also- really hurt. See, this is the price one pays for being slow. And dumb. And a scaredy cat. Katerwauls. Ow.

On Peppy's head, Jazz hisses as the dog gives it a little shake. <Stop that!> she orders, then leans her head down to try to Bite his ear. Not playfully nip it, not give it a love-bite, a full-out Bite attack, on his ear. Wraith hisses a snicker at Peppy's exclamation of pain. <Oh, you can do better than that!> he notes in a feline growl, then sets about to applying more claws to Peppy's moving bottom. Footsteps are coming closer, something dark moving through the fog. A Wherewolf, come to finish Peppy off? A Charizard stomping in to flame him and then eat him and fly off with Peppy in his belly? A Katastrophe come to finish what its smaller kin started? Nope, it's Sly. Angry Sly, once he sees the scene. Another sharp whistle is produced, this time in a different tone. Firm, commanding. The Kats look the human's way, but neither gets off Peppy. Jazz smirks, keeping her claws in Peppy's head, <We're just playin' with him.> Wraith hisses and fades out, but continues to try to claw up Peppy's rear. Sly's left hand tightens on the burger bag's top.

What Peppy needs right now is a miracle. A Bible or some Holy Water might be effective, too, but 'miracle' would cut it best. Peppy's little miracle has apparently come in the form of a burger-bearing human, which is as much a miracle as the fuzzy one can hope for. The Growlithe is a little too preoccupied with getting his butt whooped (well, scratched) to notice the Rocket manifest from the mist. As Jazz Bites - *hard* - on the pup's ear, Wraith's taunt may very well be fulfilled. Peppy doesn't whimper in pain, doesn't growl in pain, doesn't woof softly in pain - he howls, and howls loud. Squeezing his eyes shut as though it'll help lessen the pain, Peppy's body thrusts forward (though his paws don't move - good for Wraith, undoubtedly), jerking his head up slightly as he howls to the sky. Maybe he has sensitive ears or something. Peppy seems to be decisively more angry now, and his headshakes become considerbly more vicious as he moves it back and forth, as if he doesn't realize how good Jazz's grasp on his head. And for once, he actually responds to Wraith, too. It comes with a body rotation. One particularly painful slice (maybe he hit a spot he already caused a cut on) causes the pup to jump forward. It's two steps, but it might just barely give Peppy the time it takes to turn his body perpendicular to Wraith. That, of course, won't stop an invisible Kat from just waltzing over behind the Growlithe and continuing his shredding, but maybe Peppy thinks it will. Ow. Peppy's just wondering why he's not dead yet.

Both of the Kats look amused at the howl of pain, and the invisible male lets out another snicker as he continues to claw. As the Growlithe shakes his head more, Jazz scolds him in a sing-songing way, <I told you to stop that!> As punishment for the dog not listening, she twists around to Bite his other ear. If Peppy was watching the incoming Sly, it might seem as thought the Rocket was going to join in on attacking Peppy. He drops the bag of burgers and runs towards the little scene. His hand slices out, as if to smack Peppy sharply on the head, but his aim is high. It's Jazz his hand goes through, causing the Katerwaul to glare and hiss at the teen. Sly scowls at her and shakes his head no. She tightens her claws on Peppy in response. Sly shakes his head no again, glaring right back at her. Wraith remains invisible, and uses the cover to continue his attack on Peppy's butt. Slice, slice, claw! Jazz hisses long and loud at Sly, showing him her teeth and the curl of her pink tongue, then vanishes. She not only goes invisible, she leaves poor Peppy's head.

October means Kats come out to 'play', save the data! Right away! (Saving)

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind.

Most of his focus is on the pain he's in, but Peppy just knows that he's a goner. The pain of being Bit on the other ear - which causes another bark, this one not quite so loud - reinforces this fact. Now. Peppy didn't see Sly emerge from the fog, and the boy's whistle fell on deaf ears. That's precisely why the pup is surprised to see the Rocket rush up to him, and his immediate reply is a whimper of fright as he huddles back slightly. A three on one. There's no way he's getting out of this alive. No way. No w- ow. Jazz increases the intensity of her grip on Peppy's head, causing the poor pup to clench his teeth as he cowers into himself. He feels the other Katerwaul - who's been drawing blood for a bit now, though it's mostly only visible through his red-orange fur now - but doesn't give him much attention. Seconds of torture pass, and Jazz... Jazz... Jazz gets off his head, much to Peppy's surprise. And relief. And gratitude. Sure, now he's got cuts on his head as well as on his rear, but now his head only hurts a lot as opposed to a *lot*. Panting hard, Peppy dashes forward three steps, and quickly whiplashes his head over his shoulder! ... Only to see... no Katerwaul? <Wh...> Pant. <Whe...> Pant. <Where...?> Pant. Effective!

Sly sends a dark-eyed glare around the area, but he cannot see invisible Katerwauls any more than Peppy can. Wraith remains out of view, but after a final Slash to Peppy's rump, abandons him so that he can follow Jazz's lead. Unseen by the two living creatures, the ghosts exit the area. With hands in fists, Sly stands where he is, watching for signs of them as well as indications from the wild Growlithe that he's still being attacked. When Peppy looks over his shoulder, Sly looks as well. In answer to the question, a hand comes out of its fist and his fingers make a quick motion, though it's likely meaningless to the pokemon. When the Kats continue not to show themselves, Sly stands down just a little. His hands relax, but there's still a furrow across his brow. He spares more of his attention to check on the pokemon, trying to guess how badly hurt he is.

Peppy just continues staring at the spot where the Katerwauls were for a moment or so, eyes going back and forth. The eyes are, in fact, the only indication that he knows Sly is there - the pup's attention settles on Sly for just a moment, before returning to where the Katerwauls were. ... Nothing. Peppy is still panting heavily, showing no signs of slowing. "Lithe..." he mumbles softly, a tired grin forming out of the side of his mouth... before he simply drops to the ground, his entire body limp stumbling limp behind him as the pup crashes into the mud. "Growlithe grrrowl," the pup whimpers to himself, only just now realizing just how much -pain- he's really in. His preoccupation with being scared softened the pain? Looks like it. Still breathing heavily, the dog nuzzles his cheek into one of his front paws as if to draw comfort, before settling his vision upon his muzzle's scar. A moment's pause is followed by the pup squeezing his eyes shut. <It hurts,> he whimpers once more, though it sounds more like he's talking to himself than Sly.

Now that the danger has passed, Sly takes things a little slower. He doesn't try to catch Peppy as he falls, and he doesn't come any closer. Wild pokemon, especially when they're in pain, sometimes lash out. Sly can't afford to be bitten, he has a job to do tonight. His hand goes into his pocket and removes something. The teen crouches where it is, holding it out for the Growlithe to see, watching if the pokemon recognizes what it is. A potion. With his other hand he pulls a pokeball off his belt, releasing it next to himself. It's another canine, but not a Growlithe. An Arcanine. Firestorm looks from Sly to Peppy as he's released, attempting to pick up on what's happening. He snorts at Peppy's state. "Arrrr," <Something got you good,> he notes. The Arcanine sits next to Sly, towering over the crouched Rocket. The dark haired teen continues to watch Peppy, burgers forgotten behind him.

How embarrassed Peppy must feel. He told himself he'd be strong, be brave, prove that he can too be a good protector. But when it all comes down to it, look at how he reacts. Bleh. Peppy keeps his eyes closed until Firestorm speaks, which causes the smaller fire-type to blink open one eye. Arcanine. Arcanines and Peppy usually don't bode well at all, but after being beaten up by two Katerwauls, Firestorm might as well be a happy Chansey. <My head hurts,> is Peppy's well-thought out response to the Arcanine. Looking up at the larger canine, the Growlithe feels even more bad about himself. His breathing is getting bit bit less intense, though his chest still expands and deflates at a faster (not to mention louder) rate than normal. Maybe he still thinks the Katerwauls are around here somewhere. <Why did they do that?> Maybe he's speaking abstractly? Or maybe he expects the Arcanine to know everything about Katerwauls. Who knows what in the world goes on in Peppy's mind?

Firestorm glances between the waiting Sly and the hurt Growlithe. Sly shows the potion to the big dog, then points at Peppy. The Arcanine's voice rumbles, but it's because of his size and not because he's trying to scare his fellow canine. <Jason, my human, he has something that will make you feel better. Will you let him put it on you? It will make the hurts go away, he puts it on me after fights.> Sly nods to his pokemon's words, but remains where he is until he gets the Growlithe's answer. At the wild pokemon's question, Firestorm's head cocks to one side. <Why did who do what? Fight you? Who is 'they'?> As noon approaches, the light changes in quality a little; the sky is cloudy and the fog thick, so the shadows are not dismissed, just thinned.

Peppy's ear flickers (much to the pup's pain) when the Arcanine mentions his 'human', and, maybe if only to see if he can, the pup tries to get up to all four paws. Sure, his front limbs can, but not his back - now that Peppy's lying down, his rump is saying "Uh uh, you aren't moving anywhere". <Ow,> he whimpers; it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. Peppy's right eye starts to water slightly, though, by turning his head to the side, he tries to play it off. He can get creamed, sure, but if he is, he'd -never- live crying down. <Katerwauls,> is Peppy's rather cold response, and it's rather quickly followed by, <Where is he? He's not going to use a pokeball, is he?> Slight panic. <I really don't want a pokeball right now, I really don't.>

Firestorm doesn't try to coddle Peppy or help him up or keep him still. <Jason's right here,> the big dog turns his head to nuzzle the Rocket at his side. Sly has gotten tired of holding the potion out, and so places it down on the ground next to himself. The teen shakes his head no to the pokeball question, answering it himself even though Firestorm will give the verbal reply. <Jason won't force you into one,> which isn't a lie, at least not in this situation. The teen stands and walks back to where he left (dropped) his lunch. The burgers have cooled, and the fries are cold. He sighs a little as he picks up the bag and starts back towards the two pokemon. If the Arcanine notes the near-crying, he makes no comment on it. <Katerwauls are bad,> he says with a lifting of his black lips, exposing the tips of his canine teeth to the unseen ghosts. <You gotta flame 'em to make them go away.>

October means Kats come out to 'play', save the data! Right away! (Saving)

Peppy turns his head a little as Sly gets up and leaves, his eyebrows furrowing a little as though he didn't realize the Rocket was there. Maybe he's too busy trying not to simply break down and cry his eyes out at the pain in his head or at the blood trickling through the fur on his rump, slowly sliding its way down as though it's merely water on a rainy day. His determination to not break down like a puppy does still give him a little room to reply to Firestorm. Peppy places his head back down on his paws - he must trust Firestorm's judgement. The fact that Sly was *right there next to him* and didn't touch his pokeball must count for something, too. <... Flames?> is Peppy's response as he glances up at the larger canine, his tail giving one quick swish of curiosity. The pain in his butt makes him stop, and he winces visibly. <Never thought about that,> he woofs, sinking deeper into his paws. Well, it's only the most obvious thing in the world.

Firestorm snorts at Peppy not having thought about attacking them back. <Cats are /bad/, you got to put 'em in their place. Whenever they come around, you flame 'em with everything you got. That'll make 'em run.> As Sly returns with the bag of food, he gives Firestorm a long, tired look. A couple signs are made with his free hand, but the big dog doesn't look like he understands most of them. Sly shakes his head no, but Firestorm just grumbles again, <Cats are bad.> Sly crouches back down and reaches into the bag, taking out one of the burgers. He unwraps it and sets it down within reach of Peppy, then picks up the potion again. He points at it, then to the Growlithe, then looks to Firestorm. <He wants to put it on you. It's medicine. It'll make you feel better,> the evolved pokemon explains for the mute human.

For whatever reason, Peppy doesn't use his fire-breathing abilities enough. There are instances when they'd help - he just lacks the intelligence to realize when that would be true. <They...> Grimace. <They hurt a lot.> That would explain the scars, the whimpering, and the blood, wouldn't it, now? <But I... I...> Dun nuh. For the third time today, Peppy just stops. Freezes. Ceases to react to his environment. There's a burger. Right there in front of him. Within muzzle's reach. A burger. From out of nowhere. One burger. All for him. Without asking whether it's actually his burger or not, Peppy, eyes widening with glee and tail excitedly wagging no matter how much it hurts, chomps down on the burger. Pain? Nonexistant. Humiliation? Vanished. It's the best day of his life again! <Okay,> Peppy woofs between mouthfuls, little crumbs, drool, and pieces of meat tumbling out of his mouth as he savors every single bite. He looks practically ecstatic as his head descends upon his paws, his eyes looking ahead blankly. It's been so long. Now, was that '<Okay>' permission to apply the potion?

Sly, fellow burger lover, smiles as he sees Peppy's reaction. He signs something to Firestorm (which gets a blank look from the dog), then reaches in and pulls the second burger out. Sly will have time to get food elsewhere, and these are getting cold anyway... (handy excuses for giving his food to a pokemon that he doesn't even own). He unwraps the second one, and like the first this one is a double-meat cheeseburger with bacon and just about every other topping you can get on a burger. He places it next to the other wrapper, and then pours the cold fries out of the bag and onto the empty first wrapper. All that's left is the one last burger in hand, and of course the potion still on the ground. Firestorm sniffs hopefully at the last burger, but doesn't ask for it more outwardly than that. <He said okay,> he translates needlessly for Sly. The teen sets the last burger down (still wrapped) and picks up the potion. He stands and takes a step closer to Peppy, then crouches again.

The fog is grey-white in the light of mid-day.

"Grrrowlithe!" Peppy woofs contentedly, a sharp contrast to the whimpering and struggling and near-crying he was only just doing. The Growlithe now begins to lick his chops fiercely, trying to pick up -every single crumb- of that burger as possible. It's so good. It's been so long. ... ... Did that boy just put down another one? The puppy would undoubtedly at least thank Sly if it was some other food, but as it stands, he can't wait another half second. Descending his muzzle onto the burger, this one is munched a little slower - not a lot slower, but noticeably so. Maybe he's savoring this one, or maybe he's being distracted by Sly. Whatever the case, Peppy probably isn't going to run, going to hide, or going to Flamethrower Sly right in the face, even if the boy has to touch his new claw-marks in order to do so. "Grrrrrrrrr," Peppy emits contentedly, his tail wagging back and forth. Let's hope that doesn't make it hard for the Rocket.

Everything is grey, veiled by mist. It's chilly and the air feels damp. There is no wind.

Sly doesn't exactly touch Peppy's booboos, but he does have to spray the potion on. He works his way around the wild dog as he eats, though likely Peppy will finish long before Sly does. Firestorm licks his muzzle as he watches, but he doesn't try to snatch any of the food. Once Sly is back around to Peppy's front again, he reaches to carefully spray the last of it on his two ears and the top of the Growlithe's head. When the container is empty, Sly rises, steps back, and pockets it. He has to walk around Firestorm to get back to the last burger, and he pats his evolved pokemon as he goes. The Rocket drops back down to sit on the back of his heels as he takes the final burger into hand. He gives it a long look, visibly having second thoughts about giving the last of his food to the wild pokemon when he hasn't had any himself.

Though Peppy does finish the burger very quickly, the fries are a somewhat different matter. Having never been exposed to this greasy food before, Peppy's face goes from a look of pure happiness to something a little more perplexed. Indeed, even while Sly is spraying the pup's ears, the Growlithe is still examining the fries, prodding them with his nose, sniffing them, just generally playing with them. Not eating them, though - either he's full (ha ha ha) or doesn't like the look of them, because after Sly heads back to Burger Number Three, Peppy ascends to all four paws, still giving the fries a funny look. Blink. The Growlithe's head goes over his shoulder, and he peers at his rump for a moment. How come it doesn't hurt as much? Wh - and then it hits Peppy. And even he realizes that's a no brainer question. Peppy pauses for a moment, before trotting over to Firestorm. Though Peppy doesn't pass the Arcanine - he stops a little short - he does position himself so that he can take a look at Sly, just barely visible through the fog. Another moment's pause. "Lithe!" <Hey!> It's directed towards the boy. Argh. Is he going to bum off that last burger after all?

Once Peppy is done nosing the fries and checks out his lack-of-pain instead of eating them, Sly gives Firestorm the go-ahead to help himself. Understanding Sly's little wave, the big dog gets up and goes over to eat them all up, passing Peppy as Peppy moves to look at Sly. The Arcanine finishes the fries up with a couple scooping licks. The teenager looks to the unevolved pokemon as the Growlithe lithes at him, but he smiles and shakes his head no. With his free hand, he taps himself on the chest a couple times, then shakes his head no again. Sly pulls off a pokeball from his belt and recalls Firestorm; now that he's decided to keep the last burger for himself, the Rocket doesn't really have to worry about scaring the wild pokemon off, especially since Sly has no empty pokeballs on him and couldn't catch Peppy even if he wanted to. The Arcanine vanishes, and the boy turns to go, the burger held at his side.

October means Kats come out to 'play', save the data! Right away! (Saving)

Peppy cocks his head at the boy's actions, his brow furrowing in confusion as he tries to understand what in the world the Rocket is doing. Patting his chest? What's that supposed to mean? Well - even if Sly won't look at him, the pup's still going to do what he set out to do after all! <Thank you,> Peppy barks after the boy, his ears submissively and almost shyly folding to his head (the pup notes that it doesn't hurt much at all). It's as if he realizes that wild pokemon don't and maybe even shouldn't thank trainers, but perhaps that's just one of the values Peppy has kept with him after being trained. <For the help. And the burgers.> One can only wonder if the pup has detected Sly's scent as the one belonging to "that nice guy with a scar who does The Thing".

At first Sly only responds to the thanks with a lifting of his hand -- a wave without turning back. As Peppy goes on and names the two things he's thankful for, Sly looks over his shoulder and gives the dog a smile. He doesn't stop walking though, and he doesn't leave the third burger behind. He moves off into the fog until he's out of sight, and a while after the sound of a motorcycle's engine will be able to be heard for a good distance away. Now, for Peppy's sake, for the sake of his mate and his pups-to-be, the Growlithe better hope that Sly's Katerwauls will follow the teen's bike and not decide that they like it here... A coldness drifts by the canine, and a soft voice full of malice sounds next to his ear. "Waaaul," it meows, then the coldness fades away to nothingness.

Peppy's bushy tail gives a little wag when Sly looks back at him. It's a little too foggy to see much of the smile, but the pup gets the impression. Standing there, watching the Rocket fade into the grey, Peppy... well... Peppy gives off a sigh of relief. A third encounter with Katerwauls, and he's still not dead. Sure, he's now never -ever- venturing out into fog again, but things could be worse. The dog is about to turn around and head back home... but there's a voice in his ear. A Katerwaul. Eyes widening once more, Peppy now peers about frantically, heart racing once more... but there's nothing. No more chill. No more voice. "... Lithe?" Peppy half-squeaks, taking one backstep... another backstep... before whirling around and rushing back to the barn, not stopping along the way.