<div align="center"><strong>Ilex Forest</strong></div><div align="center"><strong>Lusa and Spinarak</strong></div><br/>Lusa's vision was not great at the best of times; even with glasses and full sunlight, things were still slightly fuzzy. In the darkness of Ilex Forest, her vision was downright abysmal. She was mostly relying on Spinarak to alert her in the case of an imminent collision. His vision in the dark was excellent, as a Pokemon who had lived most of his life in the dark woods. As it were, she had avoided disaster thus far, as he chirped in her ear every time she was about to ride over a rock or root.<br/><br/>She was saddened at the lack of Pokemon in the forest; the books she had read had mentioned that it had teemed with life, with Bug, Grass, and Flying Pokemon inhabiting the trees and grass abundantly. There seemed to be little resemblance to that description now, and it made Lusa uneasy; if that was different than what she had read, what else might be different? She hated to feel unprepared for a situation, it made her anxious. Spinarak must have picked up on her feelings, and nuzzled the back of her neck comfortingly. Many girls would not enjoy such contact with a Bug Pokemon, but Lusa found the type to be rather adorable.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, Spinarak's affectionate gesture distracted both of them from the path ahead, and Lusa didn't notice the young man until it was almost too late. She braked hard, swinging her bike to the side, flinging leaves and other forest litter into the air as she managed to avoid an accident. Spinarak however, was flung from her back straight at the stranger, unable to hold on against the momentum.<br/><br/>