>>5956011>>5956109>>5956176"So, what happened on the Track?" You ask.
"We bit off way more than we could chew." Kathryn replies, shaking her head.
"After the first couple of days, the track became more of a rough suggestion than an actual track." Jean adds.
"And the pokemon..." Judy says. "They were really strong and they weren't friendly."
"Specifically, there's this massive flock of Doduo, Dodrio and Espathra that roams up and down the track." Martha adds. "I don't know if it's the inspiration behind the old tall tales behind Old King Bob, or if there actually *is* a gigantic bird-pokemon that leads all those pokemon, but either way... they completely <span class="mu-i">destroyed</span> us - all our equipment, all our supplies... it was all we could do to run away and stay ahead of them long enough for the Rangers to rescue us."
"...Hm." You say intelligently. "So, what's the plan?"
"Well, we've replaced most of our gear and got food again, but we're at a bit of an impasse on whether to try again." Jean explains. "We need a tiebreaker."
"If you want me to vote as well, it's only fair Gareth and Holly do as well." You note.
"That's fair." Jean concedes.
"I don't think we should." Gareth says immediately. "That flock is notorious with good reason - it's not just massive, they hate intruders. Especially humans. There's no placating, bribing or reasoning with them and fighting them is just provoking them to go back to raiding settlements."
"They used to raid settlements?" Holly asks, startled.
"Yeah, with the aim of knocking everything down." Gareth says.
"Hm." Holly says intelligently. "Well, there're seven of us and I've got faith that Alex could get us through the track unscathed." She says.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." You reply, even as you feel a twinge of unease.
It would've been really convenient if Holly had've been as cautious as Gareth about the whole idea.
>...Maybe after I've gotten a few more badges.>Hey, with seven of us, it ought to be doable. We'll just need to pack a lot of Repel.>Maybe we should try the Divide instead. It's still a challenge, but I'm a lot more familiar with it.>No, this sounds really dangerous. Let's just travel together instead.>Other 