Thankfully the trainer easily joined him without resistance. It would've sucked if he had to worry about two people getting lost in the woods. The guy seemed pretty good-natured and charismatic, perhaps a Sagittarius? Pretty good star sign compatibility, if so.

Aster's eyes light up at the mention of tracks and crouches down to better scrutinizes the ground around them. "Yeah, no luck so far. But if these are his tracks there's no sign of injury, which is great news. Hopefully he found a place to spend the night." He locates the clearest sign of a shoeprint. It's just the toe of the shoe but that's enough to discern a vague direction of where he's heading. He follows the course with his eyes. "Don't worry about getting lost with me here," he chuckles, "I'm a certified ranger, best there is." He finally looks up and winks.

"But seriously, let me teach you a thing or two real quick. The best way to stay orientated this deep in the forest is to leave markers," Aster gestures to red x's he sprayed on several trees just before running into him, "And if you do end up a bit lost and don't have a compass, the best thing to do is stay put. The whole thing about moss growing on a specific side of rocks or trees? Total myth. Follow a river downstream as a last resort if things are desperate." Just as the words leave his mouth he notices a branch broken in the direction following the line of the footprint. The soil starts to get look moist a few yards ahead.

"Speak of the devil... It looks like our friend might have been heading to a water source." Aster stands up, brushes himself off, and offers the trainer his hand. "I'm Aster. Nice to meet ya. By the way, do you happen to know your star sign?"

Aster mentally fist pumps at having guessed right about Kazimir being a Sagittarius. When the fellow trainer starts to ask him about his own sign, he is briefly excited to nerd out about his own star chart.

Damn, it would have to wait.

Worry creases Aster's face as he takes in the rapid current and the ominous shoe in Kazimir's hand. His lack of water type pokemon is certainly his main failing as a ranger. "Shit, yeah not the best situation, but at least it's something. I'll ride Basil here," he gestures to his Gogoat, "And follow the current down a ways. It'd be nice to have another set of eyes looking out on the other side of the bank or up above if you have a flying type."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small crystal. He close his eyes briefly and rubs it between his hands while thinking of finding Remus safe and sound. He then offers it to Kazimir.

"Here, please take this. It's clear quartz. S'pose to amplify intentions and all that," he says with an earnest expression.

Aster nods in appreciation at Kazimir's respect for the crystal. A good guy in his books now for sure. "I know it's not for everyone, but if it works, even a little bit, it's worthwhile I think. Keeps ya in a positive mindset too." He mounts his gogoat and rides along the bank until Kazimir circles around to let him know that he'll be taking off in the other direction. "Good thinking, I'll have my bellossom use magical leaf into the sky if I come across anything."

He takes off in a gallop. His gogoat sniffs the air and skids to a stop about 50 yards down. Aster jumps off and follows his pokemon until his snuffles come to a stop at a long drag mark and a right footprint heading back into the thick of the woods. He touches a finger to the wet soil and brings it up to his face for a closer inspection. Traces of blood. Not good. Aster frantically sends out bellosom and has her send up their signal. He runs into trees using the track as a guide.

"Remus!" he calls, hands cupped around his mouth. "Remus! Anyone out there?"

"he-HEY! YES! I'M HERE. I HURT MY -augh," someone answered. Aster rounds a fallen log and spots Remus trying to stand on a clearly broken leg. He's still wear his biking gear but it's so covered in dirt and rips that the fabric blends him into the background of earth and branches.

"Stay down, stay down. It's okay, don't strain your wound," Aster says in a calming tone, "I'll have my gogoat use MILK DRINK, it'll help the pain and at least heal the smaller cuts."

"Nice work," Aster nods to Kazimir, pleased that Remus wouldn't have to wait in pain. When he turns his attention back to their no-longer-missing-person, he notices that he is still a bit frazzled and looking worried. He crouches down so that they are eye level and puts a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"You're ok now. We've got you, you'll be well taken care of. Just take a deep breath." Remus mutters small thank yous between gulps of air. "It really is important that we understand what happened. Take some time to gather your thoughts and then let's get to the bottom of how you got into this mess." Aster reached again into his pocket and offered the man a small amethyst.

"Hold this. It'll help calm you down." Remus took it absentmindedly as he steadied himself and began his story.

"I-I was just biking my usual trail. A wild whirlipede came out of nowhere and started to chase me off course. I was able to get away but... I lost track of where I was. For some reason, wild pokemon kept chasing me down. I kept moving because I had no other choice. Finally I encountered a Vespiqueen but I could only get away by running into the river. The current was too fast and my leg got caught and I lost my bag. I was... really starting to worry."

Aster give Remus' a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you, that was very good Remus. I'm glad we could find you in time." He turns to face Kazimir. "It's a bit strange for the pokemon to be so aggressive and targeting in this area. There must be more to it." After a brief moment of pondering, an idea strikes Aster like lightning.

"Remus, you didn't happen to have an open jar of honey in your bag did you?"

"Well damn, that explains it," Aster says as he stares with a look of horrified disgust at the sticky amalgamation. "Now, I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but don't even think of carrying that many berries through the woods ever again," he admonishes to Remus who nods his head frantically. Aster sighs and turns to Kazimir.

"Yep. Job well done. We know what happened and our man here is safe," He offers a hand to his partner and smiles widely, "It was nice working with you dude, thanks for all your help. Should we exchange contacts? You know, in case you ever need a handsome ranger or want a star chart reading."