Being someone who made their residence in Slateport City, Sio wasn't always too aware of the rumors that stretched to the further ends of the vast Hoenn region.

But then again, the howling of canids was always easy to hear- especially on dusky walks like this one. Such a curious thing, how such sounds carried across the winds.

As the detective sets out on foot to determine just what kind of pack was causing so much ruckus- both for their own curiosity and everyone else's safety- it's abundantly clear that a different canine is just as curious. Quill, the ever eager Smeargle, sniffs the ground in front of Sio, tail wagging furiously as he tries to find this mysterious pack...

Maybe they were getting closer, but who could really say...?

Ettie

The rocky steps that lead up from Route 115, into the mountainous land which Meteor Falls is set into, are quiet for the time being. The weather, though cold, is clear and calm. Wild pokemon don't prove to be much trouble, either, from the looks of things...

... But, the further up one goes, the more signs there are of the pack's presence - that they were treading into their territory. Quill's nose would be able to pick up the occasional scents of different canids. A keen eye might be able to note signs of their passage, such as trails of pawprints and places where the more scraggly growth present had caught a tuft of fur or two.

There was something curious about it all, however. Namely, in the sheer differences in scents, in the fur, in the shapes and sizes of the pawprints. It was as though there were multiple different species of canines co-habitating here... Perhaps not the most out-there possibility, but it wasn't something that tended to happen in the wild!

But, another feeling that soon came, was the sensations of being watched.

The sound of fluttering wings above would show a Honchkrow roosting at the edge of a ridge above - staring down at the two with a cocked head, watching them... Awfully closely, really.

What was going on here?

SIO SOTÍ

The more Quill saw and smelled, the more confused he grew. He was a wild pup at one point too, but he never dared to try and live with this many other species of canid pokemon before! Still, it's something that only proves to heighten his curiosity.

Sio, meanwhile, keeps their mental log of their own observations. They assign different pawprints to the pokemon the detective knows they belong to - and they even take small samples of fur tufts stuck in the overgrowth.

However, at the feeling of being watched...

Both pokemon and detective notice it at the same time, but Quill is the first to actually act on it. He looks back up at the perched Honchkrow, tilting his head in a similar manner to her. His tail wags lazily behind him and, not wanting to scare the bird away, he gives a soft, curious set of yips and barks. Was this a friend, or a foe?

Ettie

Perched upon the ridge, Adraea studies Sio and Quill both. As the Smeargle yips and barks in a soft tone, the Honchkrow responds with a low croak - a cryptic response, though one that ultimately did not imply any ill will. She was simply here to observe - and she saw all that she needed to know.

And thus, with a beat of her wings, she flutters away - further into the mountainous terrain in these parts. A bit of a strange place for a bird to lurk, as opposed to the forested area beyond, wasn't it? Though, a honchkrow wasn't a canine - how likely was she to be related to the mystery pack?

Perhaps more likely than one might otherwise think.

Because before long, as Sio climbs up a slope, she is met with the sight with a small cluster of canines of different shapes. A couple of Lycanroc, a Lucario, a Mightyena, a Houndoom, and finally a Delphox. At first, there is a certain tension of being studied by such a pack of grown beasts. But atop the back of one of the Lycanrocs - the Dusk one in particular...

... Is a familiar child, whose eyes light up upon seeing the duo. "Oh! Friend!"

SIO SOTÍ

Hm..hm hm hm. The Honchkrow's low, cryptic croaking is met with a nod from Quill, as if understanding her response fluently. After all, there was no signs of hostility between the two.

But now that leaves even more questions for the Smeargle- more avenues to be explored to their fullest! Quill yaps louder, tail wagging faster as he leads Sio higher and higher up the slope. And the more he picks up in scents, the more...oddly familiar they become to his little beagley nose. After all, he'd claim that he was quite the conniesseur of scents- of sniffery, even! And even though Sio themself isn't entirely familiar with the whole pack, there is one member of it in particular that grabs both their and Quill's attention...

"Ettie? What are you doing all the way up here, hm?" Sio questions, a sort of concerned warmth in their voice. After all, this was no place for a child to live, even with the pack she had to protect her! Though, this certainly did explain the stranghe mixed howling that brought them here in the first place...

Quill, meanwhile, is more than eager to greet the pack, and Ettie as well! He bounds up to the group, hyper as ever and barking up a storm! There they were! His friends!!

Ettie