A frown formed across Koko's lips as she watched the girl deflate before her at Koko's lack of helpful knowledge. With several stops of hesitation along the way, Kokoro reached forward to pat the girl's shoulder much like she had done for herself not long ago.
"I'm uh... Really sorry, that sounds rough." Being unsure of when it would be appropriate to remove her hand from Serah's shoulder she simply opted to leave it there.
"You know... If you can read maps I do have one, it's uh... Not been much use to me so far..." As the girl metioned her continued travels the thought that she'd end up alone again crossed her mind, she hadn't even realized how relieved she had felt just talking with someone. It was something she didn't want to let just slip through her fingers and as her resolve hardened so did her grip on Serah's shoulder tighten.
"Uh, you know it's safer to travel in a group! And you know, if you can read maps I've got one! It's a... Win-win situation, right?" Though she didn't want to come across as desperate desparation is indeed what she felt. If she wanted to take this whole 'trainer' thing seriously she'd have to find the professor as well, and right now this seemed like the most promising route for her. On her own Koko was always a failure, she had learned to rely on others early and was not afraid to do so, even now.
"Uh... Please?" With that she casted her gaze up into Serah's eyes once more with her large, puppy-like blue eye.
'Dear goodness, that look... I literally can't say no to that.' Not that Serah was extremely opposed to a little company, but that expression was impossible to resist. As Kokoro probably intended, she was like a little lost puppy that needed guidance and attention. Being around Koko was not completely unpleasant and she was at the very least kind. Serah sighed and ruffled the other girl's hair with her hand as it left her shoulder.
"Okay, okay, okay. I'll travel with ya for a while. But in return, ya gotta stop being so formal, alright? It's a bit off-putting. We're gonna be friends. It's not like I'm your granny or somethin'." She offered a smile this time before fishing around on her belt. Popping off a red-and-white ball that should be familiar to anyone alive in the world, she pressed the button in the center and let the Pokéball enlarge to full size.
"If you're gonna be traveling with me, you should probably meet my little friend as well. Come on out, Louie!" She tossed the Pokéball above her head, letting it erupt into a burst of light, a red beam emitting from it and taking shape beside Serah. In but a second's time, a small and flat creature would be laying beside her. The strange and rather silly-looking brown blob would look up at Koko with a rather blank expression. He held his stare for a solid minute before his strange beak-like mouth would curl up in a smile, his eyes even seeming to shape into smiles themselves as he let out a rather bizzare-sounding cry. The exclamation point design on its back curled up as his tail went into the air and lightning bolt-shaped fins tucked into his body like a happy bird. Serah would laugh and crouch down to scratch under his chin.
"This is Louie, my Stunfisk. He seems to already like you." The Stunfisk seemed to take great pleasure in the scratches, letting out a low, hummed version of its cry.
At the sensation of Serah's hand atop her head Koko closed her eyes and let her own hand fall away from the girl's shoulder and back to her side. It was a comforting sensation that, despite Serah's words, conjured up memories of Kokoro's time with her grandmother. Smiling and looking happy enough that she might cry her clear blue eyes shot open upon hearing Serah's agreeance to taking Koko along.
"You got it Serah!" With a wide grin she wrapped her arms around the girl's torso without hesitation,
"You'll be glad to have be along, I promise! I make some really good tea!" Pulling herself away she spent a moment to collect herself before looking curiously to the Pokéball Serah had pulled from her belt. The light show that followed was impressive to the young girl despite it's rather mundane nature to most. With heavy anticipation she waited for the light to clear to see what wondrous Pokémon would emerge!... What she saw however simply earned a slow, dumb blink from the girl. She tilted her head curiously at the odd creature that sat before her whose stare only matched her own. The creature was in no way elegant or even cool, but its appearance held an undeniable charm that Kokoro couldn't quite put her finger on. As Louie cried out and smiled Kokoro followed Serah's suit and leaned down as well to get a closer look at the Stunfisk.
"Well! Nice to meet you Louie." After spending a moment to acquaint herself with Louie she reached back to her side and retrieved a Pokéball of her own.
With a press at the central button and a toss into the air Koko shouted,
"Come on out Wally!" From the stream of light formed a floating orb surrounded by wispy purple gas that floated about shoulder height.
"This is my Gastly, Waldstein."" The Gastly's gaze wandered lazily from Koko and over towards Serah, the mischievous glint in its eyes was undeniable but it seemed that it would behave for now. Kokoro gave a glance between Waldstein and Louie a few times before giving a small frown,
"I can't scratch mine. No fair." Waldstein let out a cry in response to that, almost sounding a bit like a laugh as it began to wisp around in circles around the group.
Serah's eyes would widen with interest at the wispy creature with the mischievous glint in its eyes.
"Gastly." She repeated. Before now, she'd never encountered a Ghost-type before. It interested her to say the very least. It would be more accurate to say that she was fascinated with it.
"You're a pretty cool dude there, Waldstein. It's great to meet you. I'm sure Louie feels the same." Looking to her friend, she'd find that the opposite was in fact the truth. Louie was seriously unhappy with that creature floating around in the air so free. Without a command, he prepared and launched a Tackle attack, only to find himself going straight through the purple Pokémon. He tried it once more before Serah recalled him without warning, shrinking the Pokéball and putting it back on her belt.
"I am so sorry. I have no idea what came over him. He's normally so carefree and relaxed. Super chill, y'know? He must not like Wally for some reason." Her expression was definitely confused. Louie had really only ever been kind to other Pokémon. The Sentret and Poliwags and even Diglets. The pieces weren't really fitting together as she tried to figure out what was up with him.
Kokoro's eyes widened as she watched the two Pokémon interact, she didn't seem particularly alarmed or upset. Waldstein seemed to feel quite the contrary as it cried and cackled at Louie's futile efforts, apparently finding the whole ordeal quite amusing. As the Stunfisk was recalled Koko raised a brow and scratched idly at her cheek,
"Hm... Well I wouldn't worry too much about it, Wally doesn't seem to mind." Her head inclined slightly to the side as Waldstein floated gently down to the ground and willed his purple wispy smoke into the rough shape of a Stunfisk and started flopping about.
"What a weird-o..." She shook her head and recalled Wally back to his ball before turning her focus back on Serah.
"Well uh... Did you wanna see the map now or should we just get moving to find some place to rest? I'm not really sure how many more hours of daylight we have... And my legs are already pretty tired if I'm honest." A sigh passed through her lips as she reached to her pack and rummaged through it for some time before pulling out a plastic tube and popping it open. With a little convincing and a few smacks the old looking paper map slid free from its protective case and Koko handed it over in Serah's direction.
"Here you go." "Oh. Right, yeah. I'll figure this out." She muttered as she took the map from Koko. It was certainly not difficult to read at all and the fact that Koko was confused by it confused Serah a little bit, but she said nothing and turned around from where she was originally walking from.
"I missed a fork in the road before. It looks like it'll take us to the nearest town. It shouldn't be more than a couple hours, I think... Yeah. Looks about right. Come on, then. Follow me." Serah turned around and motioned forward with two fingers for Kokoro to follow suit. This would begin the partnership of the two girls Serah and Kokoro as they head towards the town known as Ashen City for a night's reprieve...