"Oh, uh... you know we kinda wandered off the trail to get here," Eli said guiltily. "So, I sort of don't know how to get out of here."
"YOU WHAT?!" Now Alex was furious. "You're saying we're lost in a creepy forest, alone and without food, water, or shelter?!"
"Yeah, basically," Eli said, slightly embarrassed. "Wait! We aren't completely alone! We got our Pokemon!"
"And each other?" Alex asked blatantly.
"Oh, yeah that too," Eli said.
    "Well, I would not like to be lost in a forest, especially not with you,"Alex complained."So, how about we look around and try to find our way out of here?"
     "Sure," she replied. They start looking around a bit, trying to figure out which direction they came from. However, the forest all just looked the same to them, so they started wandering in circles.
"C'mon, the path is just around the corner, I can feel it!" Eli, trying to be positive.
"We've been wandering for hours, so FACE IT! WE'RE LOST!" Alex shouted.
"Pshh, stop worrying so much!" Eli said, trying to brighten up their situation.
     "How are you NOT worrying?! We might be stuck here forever!" Alex panicked.
    Eli responded, "Dude, if we both have mental breakdowns, then there's no way either of us are getting out of this mess! So let me think!" She looked around, trying to navigate her surroundings. All she saw were trees, grass, and bushes. Ok, this is getting me nowhere. I can't tell any of these trees apart! For all I know, we could've walked into this same area five times! If I can't figure this out, then who will? She looked over to Alex, who had contemplated on Eli's reasonings and was also trying to stay calm and think rationally. I really don't want to ask him for help, but he might be our only chance. Hmm... I have to do this subtlety.
   "Hey Alex, got any ideas?" Eli asked.
   "Well, not yet," Alex said while he was still trying to think. "Hey, have you ever gotten lost before?"
    "Well, not in a forest, but I have gotten lost in a grocery store multiple times. My mom always said to just stay still and wait to be found, but I don't think that'll work out well in our case." Eli replied.
    "Uhh yeah, definitely not," Alex said. "Hold on, oh great, we're both stupid!"
    "How so?" Eli asked, slightly annoyed by the comment.
     "Instead of wandering around aimlessly, we should've retraced our steps!"
    "Oh yeah! Hey, we could still do that, right?" Eli stated determinately.
   "Well, problem is I have no idea which way we came, since the trees just all look the same, and I can't see any of our footprints," Alex said while scratching his head.
    "Well that's inconvenient," Eli muttered. "Well then, we got to think of something else."
    "Ok," He answered. The two rested their chins on their fists and brainstormed for a while. Finally, Alex came to a solution.
    "Ah-ha! I've got an idea!"
    "About time! What is it?"
    "We go in the direction that leads to the next town!" Alex said with confidence. "Ok, which direction do you normally walk to get to the town past Viridian City?"
   "You mean Pewter City? Oh, you go North," Eli responded and answered.
    "Ok, now, we've been in here for a while, so the sun is on the verge of setting. So we find out which way is north, and we keep walking!"
   "Hey, maybe you aren't so dumb after all!" Eli said teasingly while elbowing him.
    "Yeah, yeah. Hey, how's about you figure out the rest of this?" Alex said slyly.
    "Hmph, fine" Eli said with a little smirk. "Well, the sun sets in the west. If I face in the direction of the sun right now, then I can decipher which way is North." She turned in the direction the sun was, which was behind her. She paused, then held out her arm to the left of her, which was North. "There. That's the way to go."
    "Alright! Gee, I wasn't expecting you to figure that out so easily!" Alex kidded Eli, causing her to start fuming. "Ok, forget I said that! Just please don't explode in my face!"
    Eli took a deep breath and said, "I won't, or at least I'll try not to. Ok, let's get going, everybody!" She took a quick look around, only to panic when she realized that one little thing was missing. "Wait a flipping second, WHERE IS SYNA?!"
    "I don't know! I remember last seeing her walking with us just a short while ago! She couldn't have gone that far!" Alex tried to calm her down, as well as calm himself.
    "That Eevee could be anywhere! She can get pretty far in a few minutes!" Eli just kept freaking out, extremely worried that Syna had gotten into some serious trouble.
"Well there's no time to waste then!" Alex stated hurriedly. They walked in opposite directions, running around and shouting frantically for the lost Pokemon. It took the two nearly half an hour before Eli finally came across the elusive Eevee. She spotted her prancing around with a few wild Pokemon, two Rattatas and a Pikachu. However, the three wild Pokémon quickly scattered as they noticed Eli approaching, leaving Syna in the dust. Syna searched around in confusion but quickly discovered why her new friends had fled. She saw as Eli ran to her and scooped her up in her arms, nearly squeezing the life out of her.
    "Syna, for the love of Arceus! You really scared me! Why do you keep wandering off like this?!" Eli scolded at her partner, causing her to sulk a little.
     "Ee-vee..." Syna whimpered.
     "I understand you like to make friends with other Pokémon, but you just aren't being obedient. I might have to-" Eli started to say, but stopped when Syna looked up at her with big, gleaming eyes.
    "No! Don't use baby-doll eyes! I can't handle the cuteness! Stoooooop!" Eli cried out, desperately looking away. After a few seconds she peeked out of one of her eyes to see if Syna had stopped. Unfortunately, she wasn't done, and her eyes were even bigger and sadder than before. Eli, practically hypnotized, sank to the ground and started cuddling her partner, while at the same time stifling a whimper. Alex, who wasn't too far away, heard this and rushed to her, thinking something bad had happened. Seeing her hunkered down on the ground raised his concerns even more, and he cried out, "Eli! What's wrong? Did something happen to Syna?!"
     "She broke my heart, that's what she did!" Eli looked up at him with moist eyes. Alex looked over an inch to see the little Eevee snuggling up on her while secretly smirking.
   "Oh, thank goodness! I thought Syna had died or something!" Alex breathed out in relief. "Hey, what's up with you?"
    "She used baby-doll eyes on me," Eli sniffled. "Her cuteness is just too much!"
   "Wow, and this is coming from the same person who called me out for getting all emotional over a Pidgey I nearly killed?" Alex asked, kind of in shock but also on the verge of laughing.
   "Well..." Eli wanted to lash back at him, but just didn't have the will to. "Whatever. Let's just go."
"Oh, of course," Alex stated rather cheerfully. "Only problem is-" he pointed up at the now starry sky "-we're stuck."
Eli groaned. "Syna, I love you, but why?" Syna just snickered, realizing the situation they were in.
"Yeah, thanks to mischievous little Eevee you got there, we're going to have to wait 'til dawn to get moving again," Alex stated with a hint of annoyance.
Well, the more rest the better, so let's get unpacking!" Eli said eagerly. Both got into their backpacks, where they kept their sleeping bags and other items. Alex's was just a plain orange bag while Eli's was dark blue with a Gyrados and a few other water-type Pokemon "swimming" on it.
      "Hey, it's getting a little chilly," Alex said. "Maybe we should build a fire?"
"Right, let's split up and go look for some firewood."
The two went separate ways, their partners tagging behind them. Eli walked through the thick foliage, picking up a few stray sticks here and there. However, after a short while, she turned around and noticed that Syna wasn't behind her, which immediately made her anxious. She was about to call out for her, when she heard a bush behind her rustle, and her beloved Eevee jumped out, with a whole bundle of sticks floating above her head.
"WHAT THE-SYNA! NO!" Eli exclaimed at the top of her lungs. Syna immediately jumped back, and all the sticks dropped to the ground in front of her. This and the screaming got the attention of Alex, who had already started building the campfire.
"Hey, did Syna do something?" Alex shouted to Eli, curious as to what had happened.
"Umm..." Eli tried to quickly come up with something to say. "She just-uhh.. came out of a bush covered in mud and sticks and stuff! At least I hope it's mud!"
Alex laughed hearing this. "That's funny! Can I see?"
"Umm... just a minute!" She shouted nervously. She ran to Syna, picked up a handful of mud and slathered it over her fur. She then grabbed a handful of leaves and stuff and stuck it on. Hope this is convincing enough. She picked Syna up and came out of the bush to the small clearing where they set up camp.
"Here we are!" Eli said while she held out the Eevee, who just frowned and huffed at the act Eli had set up. Alex cracked up, and Eli followed. Alex then replied, "Haha! She sure made a mess of herself!"
"Yeah, she's gonna need to get washed off somewhere!" Eli said, relieved that Alex had fallen for her lie.
    "Let's save that for tomorrow," he said "Hey, didn't you collect some sticks?"
    "Oh, uh, yeah! I dropped them after I saw Syna!" She scratched the back of her head nervously. She ran back and picked up all the sticks she, rather Syna, had collected.
"Woah! Where did you find all of those?!" Alex exclaimed, shocked by the stack she had found.
"There was a-uh- dead tree." She said casually.
     "Lucky." Alex whined. "Here, let me set this up. I go camping a lot, so I know how to do this." He arranged the sticks in the circle, all of them leaning on each other in the center. He made sure that the wood wouldn't touch any other foliage so to not start a forest fire.After he got all the sticks in the pile, he then sent out his partner, Torch, and asked him to light the fire with an Ember. He did, and the wood lit up in a gorgeous orange blaze. The two snuggled themselves into their sleeping bags, almost mesmerized by the fire. They laid on their backs, comfortable but still not will to give in to sleep. Both were somewhat anxious of the situation they were in. Eli, a bit bugged by the silence, then tried to start up a conversation.
"So, uh, are you actually tired?"
"Well, honestly, I'm too nervous to sleep right now, so not really."
"Pfft, stop being a wuss. Nothing bad is gonna happen!"
"How are you so confident? There are a lot of wild Pokémon around here. What if one just suddenly jumps out and attacks us? They do that you know!"
    "Worry, worry, and more worrying! What is it with you? Can't you just think on the bright side of things?"
    "It's not that easy with so many bad thoughts in your head."
    "Well, just get rid of them! Take a deep breath, clear your head."
     "It really isn't THAT easy."
     "It is for me!"
      "Well I'm not you! You're you and I'm me! We have our differences, our own problems, and we solve them differently. You have all the courage in the world, and I don't, so I have it harder. Is it that difficult to understand?"
     Eli was rather dumbfounded by Alex's rant. She didn't reply immediately, or give a sarcastic comment. She just stared at him, while he looked up at stars, trying to ignore her.
    "Umm... I'm sorry..." Eli finally spoke very quietly to Alex.
     "About?"
     "About calling you a wimp and an idiot. I'm just wanting to help you."
"Sure you are."
"I am! I swear! If you can toughen up a little, then you'll be much better off, like when you're battling. I can see why you have fears, but if you are too affected by them, then they get in the way."
"I get what you're saying, but not your means of expression. How is bullying gonna help me be more confident?"
"Well I..." Eli tried to provide an answer but even she was confused with her methods. "I-I don't really know. It's worked for me my whole life."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, whenever I'm being a baby about something and I realize it, I kind of metaphorically beat myself up over it. It reminds me that if I'm not tough on myself, then everyone else will be. Weird, sure, but it works in my case."
"Yeah, that's..." Alex didn't have a word to describe her self-inflicted behavior. Mentally bullying herself? Man, I thought real bullying was rough! At least I don't keep punching myself in the face when I've already been beaten up! Wow. She's really strange. She acts so rude and arrogant, but at the same time she has good intents, and she's optimistic. I still don't like her, but she's interesting. Maybe if I got to know her... he turned on his side to see her, only to discover she'd fallen asleep during their conversation. Heh, how on Earth did she fall asleep so quickly? Oh, whatever. I guess I need my rest, too. He turned to his other side, facing away from Eli. He then looked up at the starry sky, and heaved a sigh of contentment. And he, too, eventually fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"RISE AND SHINE!" Eli screamed practically in Alex's ear. He bounced up, wide awake and utterly terrified by the scream.
      "MY ARCEUS! What was that for?" Alex shouted back in complaint.
     "I was trying to get you up for five minutes! I almost thought you had died in your sleep or something!"
     "I am NOT a morning person. Plus, I went to sleep a while after you did."
     "Alright, but we better get packing up! The sun is in a perfect spot for us to find our way home, so I want to get moving!"
"Oh, ok," Alex said as he folded his sleeping bag and stuffed it into his backpack. Eli did the same, and they both tossed their bags onto their backs and started trekking North. After a few painful hours, they finally saw a clearing. They ran like there was no tomorrow, and as they crawled past the last few trees, they could spot some houses and other buildings in the distance. They both sighed in relief.
      "FINALLY!" Eli and Alex exclaimed in unison.

Oma that was a long time between episodes! Geez, srry guys. I had a writer's block, and I was getting a little stressed from high school stuff. BECAUSE HIGH SCHOOL IS STUPID. I'm not saying you shouldn't go, you really should, but you are going to suffer, no matter what you do XD. Anyways, next episode I'm planning to maybe introduce a new character (maybe) and then there will be BATTLES! Oh, and the episode after THAT will be the first gym! Woop woop! Poor Alex tho, he's gonna die XD. Ok, I gotta go, hope you enjoy the episode! See ya sometime next week! (Hopefully) 😜