Natural Remedies

The day was perfect. Birds singing in the trees as the sun shined down, dotting the forest floor with light. A short young woman was walking through with a leather bag at her side. She seemed to be scanning around the forest floor for something. She was dressed in a light pink hooded jacket that had bunny ears on the hood. The young woman had bright, light green eyes and pink hair that was lighter than her jacket.

"Where did she run off too?" A young man in green said as he walked through the forest in search of something. It was meant to be an easy and relaxing job for him. Find some herbs for a local pharmacy, spend some time exploring the forest for a bit, then return back to town. Yet things never seem to work out that way. "I leave my attention off of Phosphera for only a second and she disappears like this. I really hope that none of the wild animals got to her."

Meanwhile a yellow mouse like creature with large straight ears gave chase after a butterfly. After trying to her best to catch it, she jumbed at it one last time to only end up hitting into a tree. Phosphera shook her head as she looked around trying to locate the butterfly, but it appears she lost it. All she saw instead was a woman wearing some kind of pink constume. Curious, Phosphera decided to move in closer to the girl, trying her best to remain unseen as she did so.

The young girl smiled as she found what she was looking for. She knelt down and picked some leaves that were growing low to the ground. The smelled fresh and were bright green. "Alright this basil is just what I'm looking for. This will help people who have high blood pressure." she said before picking more and she looked up a bit seeing the strange light yellow mouse watching her. "Oh hello there. What are you doing here?" She said softly and smiled kindly.

The shy Pichu backed away when the woman spoke to her. Despite the woman's friendly look, Phosphera was easily spooked. The only reason she hadn't ran off yet was her curiosity about the strange looking girl.

"Phosphera? Where are you? Come back here now please. It's dangerous out here. You can get yourself serious hurt. Phosphera?" Malm's voice could be heard calling out from the distance.

Phosphera turned her head towards the direction of his voice, before looking back at the woman in pink. She can return to Malm any time she wants. Right now though, she wants to know who exactly this woman in front of her is, and what exactly was she doing with that plant. It looked much like what Malm was doing earlier before Phosphera got bored and caught sight of that fluttering butterfly. Where did that butterfly go anyways?

"Don't be scared, I'm a friend. I'm Rini." the young woman said before looking around in her bag. Rini then pulled out a strawberry and held it out to her. "Here, you hungry?" She asked smiling before hearing a voice calling out. Rini stood up quickly a bit scared. "What is someone doing here so far in the forest?" she said in a panic. Rini sat the strawberry down for Phosphera. "Here you go." she said softly. As the voice began to get closer and closer Rini hurried and slipped behind a tree hiding. She listened and peeked around the tree to see the owner of the voice.

Phosphera looked down at the strawberry then back up at the woman as she went into hiding. The Pichu didn't quite understand why the woman was hiding. Was she afraid of Malm? That didn't make sense. Malm was such a nice person (not that the young pokemon understood that Rini wouldn't know that.) Yet Phosphera decided to ignore it for now in favor of the treat that was placed in front of here.

It was around this time that Malm emerged from the foliage around him. "There you are Phosphera. I was getting worried about you." Malm said as he caught sight of the yellow mouse. Then as he knelt down near her, he took notice of something in her hands. "What do you have there? A strawberry? Where did you get that from?"

He paused for a second to look around him before picking up the Pichu while she ate her treat. Malm knew that there wasn't anywhere nearby that she could of gotten the strawberry from. So either she just happened upon the strawberry while she was wondering around, or someone gave it to her. And if it was the later, was it likely they were hiding nearby? Well there was one way he could find out.

"Hey. I know your hiding out there. Don't worry. I don't mean you any harm." Malm called out as his eyes carefully scanned the forest around him. He actually wasn't sure if any one was around, but thought it was worth a chance. He highly doubted that a person who gave Phosphera a strawberry would mean him any harm, and he hoped that they would believe that he was telling the truth about not wanting to hurt them either.

Rini jumped at Malm as he he called out that she was hiding. She took a deep breath and slowly peeked around the tree she was hiding behind. She was quiet as she spoke, H-Hello..Um I'm guessing she is your's?" she said pointing to Prosphera. She stepped out from behind the tree more shyly. "She is very cute. I've never seen anything like her." Rini said softly with a small kind smile. It was easy to tell how shy she was. "I'm Rini, Rini Hara." She said walking over a bit more. He didn't seem to look like he would hurt her so she started to relax around him slowly.

It actually worked?! Was Malm's first thought when Rini revealed herself from her hiding spot. He honestly was surprised that she didn't call his bluff on knowing that she was there. At least now he knew he didn't just made that bluff for nothing. Plus she seemed to be friendly enough, if not a little shy.

"Yeah. Well she's not exactly from around here." Malm admitted as he rubbed the back of his head with his right while still holding onto Phosphera with his left. "The name's Malm by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you Rini." He then added as he gave her a small smile.

A question then occured to Malm. "So if you don't mind me asking, what is a young woman like you doing out here in the middle of the forest? It's not exactly a safe place to just be wandering around in." Malm asked curiously. She didn't exactly seem to be the adventuring type to him. Though, then again, he has seen more then once that looks can be deceiving.

Rini opened her bag and showed him the mean herbs she had collected. "I'm gathering herbs to help people I come across that need it. I'm trying to hard to become a professional herbalist." she said smiling before walking over and began to pet Prosphera's head gently. "What are you both doing here." she asked smiling kindly. He seemed nice and cared about Prosphera a lot. He even seemed to be a bit like her only less shy and stuff. "You wouldn't happen to be here for the same reason, would you?"

"Wait you don't want to..." Malm tried to warn Rini as she tried to pet Phosphera. He quickly braced himself for the inevitable, but was in for a pleasent surprise when nothing happened as Rini petted the Pichu.

"Huh... She doesn't usually take to strangers this quickly. Especially when they move to pet her without her permission. It tends to be a very shocking experience for them." Malm then commented. He was honestly surprised by how Phosphera was behaving as Rini petted her. It was completely unlike the Pichu. Could it be that the strawberry the woman gave her had something to do with her more relaxed nature right now? Well what ever the case may be, Malm was just happy that Phosphera didn't end up zapping the poor woman after all.

"Anyways yeah. We're here collecting herbs too. Though I wouldn't exactly call myself a herbalist. They're for a local pharmacy in town." Malm said with a smile. He then finally took notice of the basil in her possession using his plant sense. In hindsight, he probably should of notice that earlier. "Y'know. If your still in need of some more basil, there's a fresh patch over by that tree over there?" He told her as he pointed at said tree with his free hand. Nothing wrong with a little demonstration of what he can do if he is also helping her out in the process.

Rini was smiling happily as she petted Phosphera. When he pointed out the basil to her she looked over and smiled more. "Thank you so much Malm. If you ever need anything just asked or find me in town at the inn. I'm basicly just getting paid from just helping people by myself. It be nice to have someone who also knows about herbs and their medical purposes." she said smiling. She was starting to get tired of just working by herself and she felt more relaxed around him than she would be around other people. Was it because he know about herbs? Or he helped people with medical problems? Or even him just being a really nice person? What ever it was she felt happy being around him.
Rini then turned around and walked over to the basil patch that Malm pointed out to her. "This patch is really nice, better than most I've seen today. Thank you to much Malm."

"It was no problem at all. I'm happy to be of some help. Besides I'm afraid I have someplace I need to be once I get this job done. Sorry." Malm told Rini as he rubbed the back of his head again with his free hand. He wished it wasn't true though. It's rare for him to meet someone who appears to have a similar appeal to plants like he does.

He then had an idea. "Y'know. If you still need to collect some more herbs today, I can help you find them. I have a knack for that sort of thing, and I can't exactly leave a young woman like yourself wandering this forest alone." Malm offered. While he already collected the herbs he needed, he didn't have to deliever them til later today. So he might as well see if he could assist Rini with her task while he still can.

Rini was a bit sad when he said he was going to leave but when he decided to help her she smiled relieved that she would get to be with him longer, as well as Phosphera. "Thank you, I'd like that a lot Malm. I need only two more herbs but they are a bit hard to get. I need some hanging moss which are hanging normally on cave walls, then I need some Nirnroot which are near water." she explained. "But that's not the hard part normally animals make their homes near plants like these, they are signs that the area is healthy." she added. She really didn't want to get into trouble with anything like a bear or something.

"Hanging Moss and Nirnroot huh?" Malm said as he stroked his chin, thinking of the nearest locations he could find said herbs at. If he remember correctly, there should be a cave right next to a river not to far away from here. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll do my best to ensure your safety." Malm told her with a small smirk on his face.

"Now if I remember correctly. There should be a cave by a river just about a half mile north from here. Do you want to take the lead, or should I?"

"You can lead the way." Rini said with a smile. Letting Malm lead the way she follow him walking over fallen logs and stumps with easy. She would walk along the legs without making a sound. She made balancing on things look so easy. "So Malm tell me a bit about yourself." She said a bit curious to see if they had more in common with each other.

Malm nodded before taking the lead. He was almost at home in a forest, being able to travel through it with little effort needed. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Rini doing some sort of balancing act on the stumps. She seemed to be pretty well practice at doing such a thing. He guessed she probably has spent a lot of time in the forest, or practicing acrobatics in general.

"I don't think there's much to tell really. I'm just a wandering mage who likes to help make peoples lives a little easier where ever he goes." Malm explained to her with a slight shrug as he returned looking in front of him. While he knew he could probably expand on that some more, he didn't want to accidentally say something that could possibly unnerve the girl.

Rini jumped down from the stump and walked over to Malm. She then gave Phosphera a relaxing pet smiling. "What about her? Where did you find her?" She asked happily enjoying petting Phosphera's chin. Rini really thought Phosphera was cute and a sweet heart.

Phosphera let out a happy sigh as she was petted by Rini again. While she wasn't exactly sure how to feel about all the attention she was getting, she was enjoying getting petted. It's been awhile since she got petted like this. Now if only Malm would allow her to perch on his shoulder.

"Phosphera? Well..." Malm paused for a second in order to think back. As he did so, he noticed Phosphera struggling a little in his hold and decided to loosen his grip so she could climb up onto his shoulder, which she did. "I have a friend who owns a bookstore back in Hargeon. She received an egg as a gift from a trader from Kanto, but not being one for pets, she decided to let me have it. And it so happened to be the very same egg Phosphera hatched from." Malm explained to Rini.

Rini smiled, "That's so nice, you have done so well with her haven't you. She is so sweet." She was enjoying just being with Malm. He was interesting to her and seems really kind. "How much farther now?" She asked looking around the forest as they walked. She watched some birds fly by in the trees. Singing their sweet songs.

Malm looked over at Phosphera as she laid on his shoulder. "Sweet huh? Well I guess she can be sweet at times. At least when she's not causing, or getting herself into trouble." Malm said as he was still a little frustrated about her disappearing on him earlier. Yet Phosphera didn't seem to be paying him much mind as she seemed more intrigued by the singing birds above her. Malm just sighed as he scratched the Pichu behind her ears.

"Anyways. I believe we are just a few minutes away from the river. It shouldn't be much more of a trip now." Malm said to update Rini. He sadly wasn't exactly sure how much farther they actually had to travel, but he knew they would eventually reach the river as long as they keep heading in this direction. "So if you don't mind me asking. What exactly made you want to become a herbalist?" Malm then asked curiously. Just trying to keep the small talk up until they reach their destination.

"Well when I was younger I had found a small rabbit that was hurt. A hawk had tried to get him but it had only hurt the rabbit. I then found some plants I thought would help it an after about a week the rabbit had healed up nicely. So I let it go. That's when i thought that maybe being a herbalist would be great. So I studied hard and began to take notes of plants i find to help people and animals the most." She explained before pulling out a small leather journal. She opened it up and showed Malm all the notes she had so far. The journal had small drawings of different plants and notes about them, where to find them, and the best way to use them on both people and animals. The journal was only half full. "I'm hoping maybe I could find some more plants that I haven't already wrote down yet."

"That's some interesting notes you have. I can definitely see that you spent a lot of effort into making that journal." Malm said, intrigued by all the notes Rini had made so far. It was amazing to him how much work into making those notes, especially without any signs of her research being assisted by magic. It showed how dedicated she was to her work. Malm could definitely respect that.

As they continued to walk, the sound of moving water would soon be heard. "Good. That must be the river. We're getting close." Malm told Rini with a slight grin as they moved forward. It was nice to see that his sense of direction was still accurate.

"Thanks." Rini said, smiling a bit. It felt nice knowing someone liked her work.

When Malm spoke about hearing the river she listened and could hear the running of the water. "I can't thank you enough Malm." she said only wishing there was something she could do for him.

"Thanks, but you really shouldn't thank me just yet." Malm told her as they made it to the river. While he appreciated her thanks, he didn't feel like he really deserves it just yet. After all she hasn't fully accomplished her task.

Malm took a second to scan the area around the river. Everything looked clear of danger so far. "Is that the nirnroot your looking for?" Malm asked as he pointed her towards a nearby the plant that lied on the rivers bank.

"Yup that's it alright." Rini said and walked over to it. She carefully the pulled the plant out. "Alright now for the hanging moss."

Rini put the root in her bag before scanning the river's banks for any caves.