"Christ, I said light a fire not burn down the field!"<br/><br/>Isaac suddenly found himself rather glad he'd pulled together a bunch of rocks around his little camp fire, as the flare might well have lit a small brush fire. From where she sat across from him Alabama chirped idly, bouncing on gently clawed feet before nosing the very rocks that contained her little burst. As nice as the night was, their little campfire was certainly welcome--summer nights cooled quickly up in the hills of Route 3, and though the sun hadn't quite set it was apparent that the night would be quite dark.<br/><br/>"Alabama 1, Boy Scout Training 0."<br/><br/>He'd tried it himself, of course, but actually getting a fire started was harder than he thought. I mean, sure, dousing something in enough lighter fluid would get it going, but between carrying it around and finding decent wood that didn't come from a tree filled up with nests of creepy insects, it seemed like a lot more work than letting his little pal crispifry his little tepee. Leaning over the rocks for a moment to ensure that the logs had caught, he colored himself satisfied and reached over to scratch the little firebug behind the ear. The newest of his acquisitions, she at least was useful for something other than blundering around biting things.<br/><br/>Or flopping around.<br/><br/>...stupid Fish.<br/><br/>Isaac didn't look like a pokemon trainer, or at least not the sort you usually ran into around here. It was usually the fresh-eyed youngsters who kicked Brock in the rocks and ran off with his badge, not the guys like him that just didn't get started until later, but he had to start somewhere. His first real measurably victory that wasn't over some kid with a ratata, he smirked slightly in the dark and pulled out a cigarette. Alabama crawled over--she practically answered to Bic--and offered up her tale, and a moment later he was lying back enjoying all the nicotine-filled wonders of home while the little lizard curled up at his side, half-vigilant and half-sleepy.<br/><br/>The fire was visible for quite a ways, and might as well have been a welcome beacon. Try as he might it wasn't as though he could charge admission, and he'd picked up a few stragglers along the way just by having the warmest spot on the road. There were worse ways to make friends, he supposed.