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"Cor, sol!"

"I know, Wiltbur, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep us out so late." Darcey flicked on her flashlight for the nyctophobic corsola, who sighed in relief and picked up the pace to walk in the spotlight. "It got dark out so fast! We must've lost track of time." 

The troop of four; Darcey, Wiltbur, Rymm and Bully, had spent their day chopping wood in the Wild Lands. Michal urgently needed repairs done to the veterinary wing of the ranch so that they could begin safely treating clients- and their own pokemon, for that matter. Michael's Timburr was doing great helping with construction, so much so that their wood supply was depleting faster than expected. And Darcey ever-so-helpfully volunteered to chop some more. Although Michal didn't want her handling any large, dangerous trees, he sent Darcey to bring in wood from smaller saplings and shrubs. 'Piece of cake,' she thought, before realizing how few appropriately sized saplings were growing on the ranch outskirts. She and her pokemon must have delved deeper into the forested wild land in search of wood than she realized. Now the sun was setting, pitching the already-overcast forest into total blackness.

Darcey adjusted the sling over her shoulder, dragging their wood haul behind her. Bully and Rymm, tugging the rear corners of the loaded tarp, grunted under the strain. Wiltbur was afraid of the dark, she knew, but it felt unfair for the other Pokemon doing the heavy lifting that he get off the hook to chase a flashlight.

"Alright, sir," Darcey bent down carefully as they walked to not disturb their fragile formation, "If you can't help lift, you're going to navigate." She carefully balanced her compass in the center of his back, clasped in place by his ghostly coral horns. Since her flashlight was already trained on him she could keep an eye on it just fine. She didn't know these woods as well as she did back home, but as long as they kept south she'd have no trouble getting them home. "We're getting close, troops! Hang in there!"

"Toad!"

"Touga..." Rymm and Bully grunted under the strain. 

"Come on, Bully, think of it as training! Imagine how much stronger we'll all be once this construction is done!" Darcey shot an encouraging smile back at the tirtouga. Admittedly, his flippered self wasn't particularly cut out for traversing land, let alone hauling this kind of load. At least Rymm was on board. Thank goodness she'd evolved to a palpitoad. Her newly acquired legs were much welcome.

"Palpi!"

"That's the spirit," Darcey giggled, turning her attention back to the front. "How's our heading Wiltb-" Darcey's eyes popped wide, noticing how very compass-free the corsola's back was. 

"Cor?" the pokemon obliviously wondered. 

"The compass! Did it fall?" Darcey stopped in her tracks, disrupting their delicate formation and causing Bully and Rymm to drop their load. She desperately began throwing the flashlight's beam around in search of the fallen instrument. Distressed Wiltbur, meanwhile, desperately chased the beam in attempts to return to the safety of its spotlight. "Rymm, Bully, help me out here! There's no way we can navigate home in the dark without it!"

"Pal!"

"Tir!" both dutifully began their search- as best as they could in the pitch black, anyway. Darcey felt her heart start to race. She'd camped overnight in the wild area before, but not without supplies. Stranded without supplies, they wouldn't last five minutes if they were to encounter a wild pokemon.

*WOOSH*

Rymm jumped in fright, Bully snarled defensively, and Wiltbur screeched before diving behind Darcey, who was no better off herself. The three regrouped quickly together, backs turned to one another for protection.

"What was that?" Wiltbur was no longer concerned with hogging the flashlight as Darcey attempted to identify whatever made the noise. She flicked it about erratically, trying to catch a glimpse.