Acerola
She remained still, her body aching with pain. She didn't really want to anger the Pokémon, yet st the same time, she didn't particularly enjoy laying on the ground. 

"What do I do?"

She whispered very softly. She probably would have been fine if she got up normally, but she wanted to be safe. The last thing she wanted was a Heracross's horn jammed straight through her.
Guzma
"You can get up. They ain't aggressive. An' this one sure don't seem to be. Heracross ain't often a problem, it's Pinsir you gotta watch out for." He told her quietly. 

Guzma's Ribombee fluttered down from his shoulder, apparently apologising to the larger bug and - as she had with the Scolipede earlier - bribed it with a sweet honey-flavoured pollen puff. 

"Just don't step on it when you do stand up. I mean, it'd be fine but it ain't real nice, y'know?"
Acerola
She sighed softly, as she slightly pushed herself up with her hands. She made sure to watch her step, as she slowly stood up. She stepped a few inches away from the bug, and dusted herself off.

"Excuse me, Mr. Heracross, but could you try to find a better sleeping spot next time?"

Even though it was mostly her fault for not watching where she walked, she still blamed the Heracross. The Heracross wasn't too happy, but he didn't really care enough to do anything.

"Come on! If there's a Heracross out here, who knows what else will be up ahead?"
Guzma
Once Acerola was back up on her feet, Guzma reached out and touched the Heracross' horn. Though not entirely new to them - you could find them on Poni island of you were lucky - they were still impressive Pokémon, with an impressive horn. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm right behind you." He muttered, standing up again and carefully stepping around the big before continuing on his way, not wanting to lose her in this forest - because then he'd feel inclined to look for her and that would be a nightmare in the dark. 

"Let's just hope their ain't a Pinsir. Or a Scyther."
Acerola
She nodded, not saying anything back to him. She instead kept her eyes on the trail, as to not trip on anything else. She treaded lightly, trying her best to hear her surroundings. It was hard to see anything in the dark, but she could definitely hear something.

"Wait.. Do you hear that?"

It almost sounded like.. Something was burning? The faint sound of crackles could be heard just to the right of the path.
Guzma
He almost walked into her back as she stopped, placing his hands on her shoulders for a second so he wouldn't stumble over. "What?" He asked, tucking his hands safely back in his pockets. 

"I hear... Something." It did sound like burning. He looked toward the source of the sound, trying to see if there was a flame lighting up the darkness. It should be easy to spot. He shifted the air too, hoping he wouldn't smell burning. A forest fire would not be good.
Acerola
She looked around, to see if anything was glowing. She saw a faint glow to the right of them. She didn't hesitate to quickly follow the light. After pushing aside some leaves and bushes, what she saw was.. Something unique.

"Woah..!"

What she saw was six Litwicks, circling.. Some sort of shell? That shell would belong to a Shuckle, but she didnt know that. She stared in awe at the six ghost candles, paying no attention to the shell.
Guzma
"Hey, wait-!" He followed after her, stopping behind her once he saw the same thing. What were they? And what were they doing?

....Was that a weird rock? Something about it looked vaguely familiar. There were holes in it, rimmed with white. Where had he seen that before? He must have seen a picture online, which meant it was probably a bug type... How many bugs had round red shells? Ledyba? Orbeetle? No... Shuckle? That could be it. 

"You're the ghost expert. What're they doin'...?"
Acerola
Unfortunately for Guzma, she was not listening to him at all. She casually picked up one of the Litwick. It didnt put much fight against her. 

"Aww, look at you!"

The Pokémon was definitely warm to the touch, but she didn't mind. She quickly turned towards Guzma, the Pokémon's flame merely a few inches away from him.

"Look at it? Ain't it the cutest thing ever?!"
Guzma
He looked from the Shuckle shell to see her holding the fire type up to him, jumping back as he almost burned his face on it. 

"Fuck-! Careful with that thing!" He huffed, glancing back at the shell. Ghost types... They were probably trying to eat its soul or something. Poor Shuckle. But just like he was sad to see the Mothim go down, it was to feed the Galvantula. One thing about loving bugs was that you had to come to terms with the fact most of them had pretty short life cycles compared to other kinds of Pokémon. Really gave you an appreciation for the whole... Circle of life bullshit. He didn't wanna see the Shuckle go down like that, but at the same time it wasn't really their place to interfere.
Acerola
The shell could be seen shaking ever so slightly, a tiny, yellow head slightly coming out of one of the holes. It looked over at Guzma, with a blank, but semi-scared look. But, of course, the Litwicks immidietly started harassing it. They didn't really seem like they wanted to eat it, but it looked like they just wanted to torment it.

Acerola, of course, was only worried about the candles. The carefully placed the one she had on top of her head, where it sat. The Litwick couldn't really do anything about it, so it stayed sat in her head. She quickly grabbed another one, and turned towards Guzma, almost burning him again. 

"You want one?~"
Guzma
"Shit! Would you watch what you're doin' with those things?!" He snapped, letting out a sigh. "No, I don't want a demon candle." He said, shaking his head. "Wait here. Don't move a damn inch." 

With that said, he pushed past the last branches, stepping over the circle of dancing candles to pick up the scared looking Shuckle. He didn't want to interfere, but if they were just messing with it because they were bullies then he didn't feel so bad about it. 

"Damn bullies..." He mumbled, holding onto the rock bug as he moved back to where he'd left Acerola.
Acerola
With the candle still in her hands (and on her head), she looked down at the shell, then back up at Guzma.

"..You're more interested in a rock than a ghost candle?"

As she said that, the Shuckle poked his head out once again, this time staring straight up at Acerola. Both of them exchanged blank looks, as they stared at eachother for a few minutes. She quickly placed the Litwick back into its circle, but kept the one on her head with her.

"It's a rock noodle!"

She definitely wasn't the most mature person, but that was to be expected.
Guzma
"I think it's called Shuckle. I've only seen them online a couple times. They don't seem too popular..." He muttered, looking down at it. "Even those candles were bullying it." 

It had a derpy little face and didn't look much like a bug type at all, but is was kind of cute, in a... Strange, noodly way. Its head was clearly empty, but so was his Masquerain's.
Acerola
She looked down at the helpless Shuckle. It was obviously happy that he was relieved of the torment. The Litwick on her head also seemed relieved. Out of the six in the circle, she was the only one who didnt wanna bully the poor thing.

"You gonna keep it? I'm gonna use this Litwick as a light, so we can see better when we walk down the path."
Guzma
"I dunno... Shuckle's only feature in battle is it's bulk, an' I ain't really in need of another defensive Pokémon... 'tween the five Pokémon I got, I got a pretty well-rounded team... An' even though it's got rock moves to help against flying Pokémon, it just ain't strong enough to use 'em." He sighed, holding the Shuckle with one arm and lightly scratching its head with the other hand. 

"Sides, part o' me still wants a Galvantula or a Vikavolt. Electric would help with flyin' types too. Especially the damn Wingull. ...You gonna keep the candle?"
Acerola
She looked up at the Litwick on her head, who was just chilling. It didn't really mind.

"Hmm.. Maybe. I'll bring it with us for now, see if she wants to be on my team!"

She walked over towards where they came from, and turned around to face Guzma once more.

"You done here? You gonna bring the noodle for now, or you gonna carry it?"
Guzma
He looked over toward where the Litwick were and sighed, looking down at the Shuckle and squatting down to place it on the ground. 

"What do you want, lil guy? Do you wanna stay? I can deal with those bullies for you if you want." He said with a little smile. One sweep of a Liquidation would show them who was boss.
Acerola
The Shuckle responded by rubbing his noodle-head on his body, with a smile on its face. This alone made Acerola coo.

"Aww, how could you say no to that? That little guy reminds me of myself, cute and irresistible!"

She struck a cheesy pose, and chuckled. The Litwick laughed, too. The two definitely looked like they made a good team.
Guzma
"Arceus, you're kinda cute. Okay, seems like a yes to me." He said, standing up with a grin and tossing Golisopod's Pokéball up to let it out. "Alright, Liquidation!" 

In response, the huge bug formed what looked like a sword out of water, sweeping it low to catch all of the little fire types and send them flying. He wasn't about to feel bad for that. They got what was coming to them.
Acerola
The candle on her head responded by pointing and laughing. Seems like she never liked those other Litwicks. The Shuckle had a smile on its face, and Acerola lightly pat its head.

"They won't bother ya anymore."

She picked him up out of Guzma's hands (without even asking), and placed him where they found him. She waved bye, and went back towards the path.

"COME onnnn *Guzmaaa!*"
Guzma
"What're you so impatient for? You have no idea where we are, you dunno where to even look for the damn thing, an' we ain't got any kind of destination in mind." He barely even had time to return Golisopod before they were moving again. He glanced back over his shoulder to check on the Shuckle one last time before it disappeared into the darkness. 

"Y'know where we *Should* Be goin'? Back to the mansion. It's late an' I don't think bein' out here *All* Night is a good idea."
Acerola
She kept going down the path, the Litwick acting as a lantern. She stopped when she heard Guzma, and she thought for a moment.

"You may be right.. But where's the fun in that?! Plus, it would be rude of you to abandon a child deep within a forest~"

She chuckled softly, continuing down the path. She was quite certain that he would have no problem abandoning her, but she was hoping otherwise.
Guzma
Guzma snorted at that, shaking his head with a smirk. "Yeah, better stick around and keep an eye on you so you don't start a fight with a Bewear. You couldn't get it to a Pokémon centre all by yourself." 

He really wasn't worried about her. She was like one of those creepy kids in horror movies. She talked to ghosts, was *Weirdly* Strong, and had the cute, innocent appearance. Hell, she was probably already possessed. But at the same time, he didn't have any more of a clue of how to get out of here than she did, so why be lost separately when they could at least be lost together? Even if she did irritate him. Nanu would probably have his head if he left her alone out here anyway.