With a glance from Portia, Houdini vanishes from her shoulders... and reappears between the woman and her companion, scaring them apart. The move is so sudden, that the Kirlia still vanishes, bringing Houdini with her by accident.

The woman is stunned... but gives a nervous grin. "Ha! We got your Abra! Don't follow me if you want to see him again!" She starts to run away. A good thing, seeing how Houdini teleports back to Portia moments after the empty threat.

Even though he's safe and sound, Houdini gives a worried "Braa..." while pointing along the path the woman is taking.

It didn't take Abra re-appearing to cause Jake to start off after the tie-dye woman. He quickly recalled Skipper into its pokeball once again so it didn't slow him down as he tried to accelerate to a break-neck pace to catch up to the woman before she could alert others to their presence... or whatever she was trying to do. The forest floor was a type of ground he was not familiar with covering at a fast pace, so he tried to pay some attention to where his feet were landing so as to not trip and fall on his face. He hoped and figured Fetcher would be able to keep up, or at least to be able to find him as he raced after the woman.

In fact, he took of so quickly, he hadn't even realized that the Abra was safe with Portia, he called after the woman,
"Come back, you littering thief!"

There was no sense of irony in those words despite Jake knowing full well he was guilty of both of those crimes from time to time... but he wasn't doing them now, so it was fair to call someone else out on it.

As much as ever, Portia and Houdini appear to be in sync - she just held her arms out in a cradling position and, after a moment, her Pokemon popped back into existence in her embrace without her so much as batting an eye.  "Guess these guys aren't that smart, huh?  Who honestly thinks they can kidnap a teleporting Pokemon?" she muttered as he helped Houdini back up to his usual seat atop her shoulders.  Portia looked back down the side of the cliff below and called out to Seymour and Atticus.  "Get up here!  Looks like there's gonna be trouble!"

With that, however, Portia didn't linger to wait for the others to join up.  She turned and hustled after Jake, close on his heels - he may have had his Pokemon with him, but she didn't want to risk him getting caught up in danger alone.

With the entire group atop the cliff, you chases after the woman... only to pause as you get a look at their actual camp. Between the scattered trees and the camouflage webbing, it's hard to figure out how many tents there are. You clearly see a pretty pavilion, with a smaller tent connected to it, opened toward the forest path you're on. Beyond that you count two or three more large tents, probably large enough for half-a-dozen people each.

Jake manages to grab the woman, but you already see some movement. Multiple people wearing tie-dye clothes, gathering toward the pavilion. Perhaps that was the Kirlia's destination.

For now, you need to decide what to do with the woman. And fast, before someone comes looking for her.

As he climbed the cliff, Seymour returned his laconney down below to its pokeball the moment Portia had mentioned the "tie-dye brigade." AKA Team Gaia. And when he reached the top of the cliff, it took him a moment to recognize what exactly was happening. But he gave chase with the others when they ran after the woman. He even signaled to his farfetch'd to fly back toward him in case any new dangers cropped up.

To his surprise, Jakey had managed to grab the woman he was pursuing, but it looked like their trouble was only just beginning. There were a whole lot more people here than he had anticipated. It was unlikely they would be able to stand up to them if an outright fight broke out. And these were the guys who would eat the pokemon they defeated... A shiver ran down Seymour's spine at the thought.

Almost without thinking, Seymour pulled out his pokedex and held it up so that it had a great view of the area. Perhaps they could put some of that government surveillance to good use. "I'm going to record everything that happens here," he mentioned to his companions, then pressed record. "Maybe Team Gaia will be less likely to attack if they know the government is watching, and can get our current location in order to track down their camp." He made sure he pronounced the words "Team Gaia" clearly into his pokedex's speaker, just in case the government was listening in in real time. Then Seymour watched to see how Jakey handled his catch, the littering thief.

For what it was worth, Jake had no idea to do with the woman he caught, he tried to keep her quiet with one hand over her mouth. Craning his head with a confused expression to Portia and the others,
"Should we teleport her back to the cliff so we have a chance to talk to her about the littering? I feel like we are the baddies right now, I don't really want to fight, I just want to talk."

In his free hand he also held his pokedex that seemed to be recording. Seems he had the same idea as Seymour. He was a bit eager to hand off the prisoner so he didn't have his attention quite as divided.

"They're Team Gaia.  While I'm not sure I fully believe the word on all this, they're apparently the ones responsible for a bomb attack back in the city that killed a bunch of Pokemon."  Portia huffed as she caught up with Jake and offered the woman he'd caught a dark glower.  "And considering how keen she was on kidnapping my buddy, and making a mess of the local Pokemon's home, I'm pretty inclined to think the officials might actually be on the level here.  Seems these guys are a bunch of criminals.  Maybe I should dump her back with all the Exeggcute and Exeggutor - I bet they'd love to see her."

OOC: Just to be clear, the Kirlia was trying to teleport her trainer. When Houdini teleported between them, the Kirlia teleported with him by accident. The woman's shout was just a desperate attempt to make you hesitate.

OOC: That's how I understood it to begin with, yes.  Portia's remark isn't saying that she believed the woman set out to snatch Houdini in the first place, but is holding her to account at being so eager to make a threat at the first apparent opportunity.  Given the two guys chasing Laconney earlier and the fact that the woman's first knee-jerk reaction to such a surprising moment was basically "Hah, now we have a hostage!", Portia's plenty convinced these guys are no good.

A bomb attack? Maybe teleporting the woman away and interrogating her was a good thing. Still, Jake wanted to see a bit more of this Team Gaia, but not in a fight,
"I mean, we gotta do something quick. Maybe just bring her back to our camp to show her all the trash and stuff. I wanna take a quick look around to see what they are up to here."

Jake thought he could probably get back to camp on his own. And lurking around was one of his specialties.

In the camp, the gathered people are heading around the large tent, and toward the path you're on. The Kirlia seems to be leading them. You only have a short time to hide or run, and it would be hard to drag the woman along with you either way.

"I... don't think we have time to drag her back..." Seymour commented, already nervously taking steps backward toward the cliff they had climbed. They didn't have the time, and Seymour definitely didn't have the muscle required to drag an unwilling person safely down a cliff face.

"I would rather cut our losses and make our way back to safety." Seymour still held his pokedex aloft to record as much as he could, but he was very clearly heading back they way they had come now.

As you hesitate, your prisoner decides to take the initiative. With a well placed elbow, she stuns Jake and manages to free herself. She stumbles down the trail, screaming for help and encouraging the rest of Team Gaia to hurry. You manage to hide in the bushes, but only just.

As you hold your breath, you hear the group talk.
"I got attack by trainers!"
"What? Where did they come from?"
"I don't know, they just jumped me..."
"What were you doing that far anyway? Aren't you supposed to take care of the cooking?"
"...I was dumping the used water..."
"...Weren't you supposed to dig a hole for that?"
"...Hole, cliff, what's the difference?"
"We'll discuss this later." The tone tells you it won't be a nice discussion. "For now, we need to find these trainers. If they get back to Bluweil, they'll blab and ruin our plan on the Night Challenge. And I will NOT waste the effort our friends made to get these Laconney."
"Got it. I'll tell everyone in the camp."
One pair of feet head to the cliff, before turning back and returning to the camp. "...This will be a long night."

Team Gaia has walk far enough that you can get out of hiding, especially as the sun has set, leaving you to decides what to do in a dark forest. While dozens of people are chasing after you.

Seymour's heart was still pounding heavily in his chest long after the Team Gaia people had wandered out of earshot. Still crouching nervously, he risked a whisper to his friends. "This is insane. We gotta get out of here before they spot us. I do NOT want to die in the middle of a dark unfamiliar forest at the hands of terrorists..."

Seymour wasn't going to stop anyone if they wanted to stick around, but he was already looking for the best way out of the area without being spotted. For himself and his pokemon if not for anyone else. He wanted to get to safety and find a way to alert the authorities about what they had overheard. In addition to the recording he was already making, of course.

Despite all her indignation at the situation, Portia was too accustomed to fleeing from danger all her years thus far to necessarily stand firm and fight.  Especially not with the others hastily wanting to make a quick retreat as well.  Though she hunkered down in hiding, she stewed and seethed to do so.

"We can't just leave!  Didn't you hear what that one said about the Laconney?  They might have captured some alive." she hissed in a low voice.  "You guys can head back if you want, but I'm not gonna just sit by while there's Pokemon in danger.  Houdini and I can watch our for each other."

The darkness spreads quickly, the moon barely visible in the sky. As you try to decide what to do, you notice ghostly blue lights floating through the trees. One of them seems to be coming toward you.

OOC: I've updated the map. You are currently at the camp right of the road. You all have some form of light, but using it may make it harder to hide.

Jake seems to take Portia's side. While he did not seem overly interested in the plight of the Laconney, he seemed interested in getting team Gaia in trouble. He talked in a hushed tone, figuring talking louder might attract attention,
"Yeah, I want to take a closer look. Maybe you can go to the south and we can catch up later, we have our dexes to stop us getting lost. Uwha?"

Jake made a confused noise and pointed in the direction of the blue light coming towards them,
"I don't think that is a flashlight, do you think they all have bright pokemon, or are those wild?"

Jake presumed the lights were caused by pokemon. He was a bit skeptical that the team all had matching pokemon, so figured they were not in imminent danger of being caught, so he switched his pokedex to identify the pokemon and tried to get a read on the one approaching

Seymour stopped in his tracks when Portia mentioned Laconney, and a pang of guilt resonated throughout his entire body. His new friend, Locke, had put his trust Seymour. He couldn't betray that. Not without even trying to get some fresh information. And if Locke's fellow Laconney might be in the camp, leaving would be unforgivable.

With a deep breath to settle his nerves, Seymour nodded to the group and turned his attention back toward the camp. "I suppose the last place they would look is in their own camp," he admitted.

When the blue light showed up, Seymour was about to use his pokedex on it when he noticed Jakey had beaten him to it. So instead he looked at the light more carefully to try and determine if its source was a friend or foe.

Between the darkness, the trees, and the distance, the Pokédex is unable to find out the source of the lights.

As one of the lights move closer, the other three seem to form a line, moving through the forest. Cracking branches can be heard, and if you don't move, whatever is approaching will be directly on you.

Jake muttered something inaudible as the light continued to approach and he could not identify whatever it was with his Pokedex. Hiding was something he was familiar with though, and they were surrounded by the means to hide.

If he began to run, it would make far too much noise and risked him tripping in the forest. Rather than running or simply hiding behind a tree, Jake looked for a nearby tree that looked like it could be climbed and tried to climb it to get out of sight. He didn't know what the others would do, but he was to most concerned about himself.

"You hide for now too," Seymour whispered to Farrah Farfetch'd. But Seymour himself stayed out of hiding and faced the blue light. He released is Laconney from his pokeball.

"Are these friends of yours?" he asked Locke, pointing toward the approaching lights. Seymour felt exposed and vulnerable standing out in the open. His knees were actually shaking too. But if these actually were Locke's friends and family, he figured the risk was worth it.

And if they weren't... Well, hopefully Farrah could be his surprise backup plan...

Considering how high the lights are, a Laconney would have to be flying... or be held up.

The more Seymour looked at the lights, the more he realized they probably were not actually the Laconney he initially believed they might be. "Locke," he whispered to his pokemon as he knelt next to it. "Your species isn't particularly nimble in trees, is it? And you don't evolve into anything that can fly? ... I'm thinking we may want to hide out ouf sight after all..." Seymour his with his Laconney in an attempt to stay out of sight of the approaching lights.

The group quickly hide in the bushes and trees, holding their breath as the light draws closer.

As they get closer, you're finally able to see them clearly. Team Gaia are combing the forest trying to find you. The lights are indeed Laconney, held up by some of the seekers. Their tail lights are kept low, just enough for the humans to see with their light-amplification goggles.

Two of them stop right under Jake's tree.

"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"A pop, I think?"

Jake tried not to make any sound as he slowly lurked in the branches of the tree, trying to bring himself into a position where the leaves of the tree would hide him from view of the ground. He kept his ears open for the popping sound they mentioned. Was it him? Was it something else?