Session 1, VP2

With the sun high in the sky, four new travelers made their ways towards Seeder Grove. Each made their way through Idunn's Heart from a different one of the four cardinal directions, as if some form of magnetism were drawing them inexorably inwards. As they breached the forest's eaves, the travelers paths converged just in time for them all to see a young woman come tumbling through the brush. Once she had been helped to her feet, the five strangers introduced each other.

The young farmer, Gyda, explained that her flock of Mareep had escaped from their pen, and that she had been trying to corral them home with little success. Eager to lend a hand, the travelers followed her into a nearby field of farmland.

Ten Mareep were ambling around aimlessly, not too far away from a panel of broken fence. Alexander had Sirocco use his Sand Attack as a way to deter the Mareep from spreading out further afield, as Reiner and Kuze discovered that the sheep were easier to corral when they were in groups.

Meanwhile, Lauren tried calling out gently to some of the Pokemon, only to be surprised when three of them began to eagerly follow them around the field in a line. Sylvie, on the other hand, had run into a bit of difficulty. The Mareep she had tried to coax along had a serious temper, and circled her while snorting threateningly.

Alexander & Reinhold managed to group a large amount of the Mareep together with the ones following Lauren, slowly but surely leading them back to the hole in the fence. Seeing that Sylvie was experiencing some trouble, Lauren attempted to come up behind the sassy Mareep. As soon as the Pokemon noticed Lauren was there, she charged her wool with a small amount of electricity, barreling into Sylvie to escape.

Thankfully, Sylvie wasn't too badly injured. Lauren helped her back up to her feet as Alexander & Reinhold delivered a large chunk of the Mareep back into their pen. Two Mareep remained free.

Realizing that one of the sheep had been ignoring all the goings-on to eat, Alexander sidled up nearby, leaning against the fence. With a bit of guile, he leaned over the fence, feigning amazement & surprise at something on the other side. This piqued the Mareep's curiosity, and it willingly reentered the pen to go investigate.

This left only the sassy, dangerous Mareep. Much too late to be of use, Gyda explained that "Jezebel" was always difficult to handle. With Jezebel backing her way towards the thick brush, Sylvie reached into her satchel, pulling out some particularly fragrant flowers she had foraged in Idunn's Heart.

The scent of the flowers seemed to calm Jezebel. She cautiously approached Sylvie, bashfully indicating that she wanted the flowers. Sylvie gladly held them out for Jezebel to take; sated, Jezebel calmly trotted back into the pen with her head held high.

Gyda thanked the travelers for all of their help, and the five exchanged a few more pleasantries. After a few minutes, she explained that she had more chores to get back to, and headed back off to her farm. The travelers took a breather to sit in the beautiful meadow after completing their task. A few questions were bandied back and forth, as the group got to know one another.

Once they had recovered, Alexander explained that he had been intending to head further into Seeder Grove, to the large city center. As they were intending to do the same, the travelers decided to stick together for the rest of the trek.

Most of the town of Seeder Grove was made up of large farms and orchards, with small forests here and there. In the rough middle of the town, however, were a few more "modern" buildings, such as a Pokemon Center. Surrounding this area was an open air farmer's market, that Sylvie had traded at a few times previously.

As the party approached the Pokemon Center, they saw a crowd gathered around it, reading posters on the front wall. Sylvie approached one of the market sellers she recognized, and inquired about the commotion. The merchant relayed that there seemed to be some sort of tournament coming into town in a few days, but didn't know more herself. Curious, Sylvie made her way through the crowd to get close enough to read the poster's details, carrying this information back to the other three travelers.

In two days time, an "Entry Tournament" for the brand new Pokemon League would be held in Seeder Grove, free for all to enter. The poster didn't specify what prizes there would be, but indicated that several contestants would receive a Pokemon League-related gift.

Seeing this as a chance to test themselves and their starters, the party decided to look for somewhere nearby to train. As they wandered the pastoral roads further away from the city center, an odd sight met them: a man clad entirely in bright white & bandaged tightly from head to toe.

The figure sat cross-legged in the dirt, although none of it seemed able to blemish his attire. The party warily took in the sight before them; the man had his head resting on one of his fists, as if asleep. At his feet lay a plank of wood, covered in a motley assortment of items.

Lauren & Sylvie had heard enough gossip to recognize that this must be Perthro, an eccentric wandering scholar. None of the group had met him in person before, and they were hesitant to approach. Reinhold eventually walked a bit closer to the man, and hailed him.

Perthro perked up a bit, and glowing cyan eyes began illuminating behind his bandaged face. With unusual flair and aplomb, he invited the trainers to take a look at his wares. The travelers exchanged a few questions with him, particularly regarding his merchandise. Shortly afterwards, they ended up purchasing several Apricorns, Enriched Waters, & a few special Pokeballs.

Perthro refused to take their offered money by hand, and gently kicked a few of the items over to them to complete the exchange. This completed, he theatrically turned his back to the group, staring off into the distance.

Unsure how to handle such an odd character, the party stood in silence for a few minutes, before Perthro looked over his shoulder and remembered that they were there. Perthro put his chin in one of his hands, and seemed to be thinking something over. With a flourish, he reached into his cloak, revealing four Pokedexes.

The travelers recognized the items, but had never seen one before. With the Pokedexes as a prize, Perthro offered them a "wager": if they were able to return to him within 24 hours, each having caught at least one new Pokemon, he would give them the Pokedexes free of charge.

Immediately excited, the travelers figured that this would also be a great opportunity for them to train before the tournament. After Reinhold asked Perthro for directions as to where he could find wild Pokemon, the group set back off into Idunn's Heart.

It didn't take long for them to hear the sound of wildlife in the dense wood. Peeking around a few trees, they saw four wild Pokemon, playing a "whack-a-mole" kind of game with a fifth Pokemon hidden inside a bush.

Alexander, Lauren, & Sylvie released their starters, encouraging them to enter the small clearing and play. No second urging was required, and the Pokemon eagerly joined the fun. While this was happening, Alexander & Reinhold stealthily made their way around the clearing in order to come up behind some of the Pokemon.

Alexander managed to catch a Pineco with ease, as Reinhold used Kuze to distract a skittish Ledyba. Once the Ledyba was focused on Kuze, Reinhold launched a Pokeball straight through Kuze's ghostly form. The Ledyba was successfully caught!

Thistle ran roughshod all over the clearing, and seemed particularly interested in the Pokemon hiding inside of the bush. He came running over to Sylvie with a tan feather hanging out of his mouth. After studying the feather, Sylvie gaze Thistle some fresh flowers to gift to the hidden Pokemon as thanks.

Lauren was busy taking plenty of pictures of the Pokemon at play. For some odd reason, Olli & the Spearow (Great band name.), were hopping around the clearing, pecking the ground in an odd cadence along the way.

Exhausted, the two bird Pokemon came to a rest. Lauren used this opportunity to approach them, and Olli communicated that it wanted to climb onto Lauren's head. Once perched, Olli gave a series of cheerful cries. Seeing that the Spearow was curious, Laruen knelt down and held out their hand. The Pokemon was too leery to be touched directly, instead running behind Lauren and parkouring up his back. The Spearow also began to let out happy cries, high-winging with Olli.

Alexander zeroed in on another of the wilds, managing to add another Pokemon to his team. At the same time, Thistle's gift was graciously received, and the hidden Pokemon hopped from the bush, revealing itself to be a Rowlet.

It took multiple attempts, but eventually, the Rowlet was caught. The travelers decided to make their way back towards Seeder Grove at an easy pace, hoping to see some more Pokemon once the sun had set. The tree covering was so dense that scant moonlight made its way through. As the travelers picked their way carefully across exposed tree roots, they were suddenly ambushed on all sides by wild Pokemon.

Alexander & Lauren managed to avoid the initial assault, while Reinhold & Sylvie each took the brunt of an attack. Putting themselves back-to-back, the party readied their starters for battle. With a few more successful captures, and a myriad of moves being exchanged, the ambush had been quelled. Exhausted from their day's work, the group made their way back to the city center, renting rooms in the local inn for the night. Before settling in for the evening, they agreed they should try to find Perthro on the morrow to claim their prize.