Despite paying close attention to their surroundings, the Team Gaia goons fail to notice Jake's movement. For your part, all you are able to hear is the faint noise of cracking branches as the search party moves on.

After a few moments, the line of Gaia searchers arrives at the cliff, and prepare to repel down. They are just far enough that you think you could leave without getting noticed.

"It looks like they really do have some of Locke's friends," Seymour whispered when it seemed the coast was clear again. He wasn't sure what to do with that information yet. "Should we get to safety and figure out what our next move is?" he suggested.

Once you're sure they won't spot you even if they turn around, you come out of your hiding spots. The situation looks rather bad. Judging by what you've seen, their search party is composed of three person per Laconney. So if they find you while they are close together, you'd be outnumbered almost four to one.

Wait, no... make that five to one. Portia is missing.

Jake grit his teeth as he descended the tree and realized Portia was missing. Surely Team Gaia did not snatch her from the bushes as they hid -- they would have heard something. Portia must have sneaked off while the rest of them were hiding. Despite her being on their own, Jake was ready to get out, he nodded to Seymour,
"Yeah, maybe we avoid the way they went. We can tell Portia where we are when she wants to get back. She can teleport, we can't. Maybe lets just go to Bluweil now. I don't want to get caught, there are a lot and they might eat our pokemon."

Bluweil does seem like the safest place to be right now. There's just a problem: you're not sure where the town is.

You have two reference points: Team Gaia's camp, and the cliff the hunting party is going down (and your own camp beyond that).
Crude map

                          Cliff
                 1          [
             8       2      [
Team                       [        Your
Gaia        7   you   3    [        camp
camp                      [
             6       4   [
                 5       [


Based on that, in what direction do you wish to go?

Jake pointed back in the direction of the cliff and suggested they go that way,
"They went towards our camp, so maybe we go the same way so we can keep track of them a bit easier. They are glowing in the night and if they are beneath us on the cliff even if they spot us, we have time to run and hide again."

It easy to follow the hunters discreetly. Not only do they have lights to reveal their positions, one of them is swearing loudly after falling down the cliff. You see the last two are about to head down, one of them holding a Laconney to light their way. At the bottom, the others are spreading out once more.

Seymour followed behind Jakey as quietly as he could, and motioned for his pokemon to follow. It wasn't until after the hunters had descended the cliff that he dared risk speaking again. "It looks like now is our chance to make an escape. Let's try and get to Bluweil and alert the authorities. I think it is... this way." Seymour pointed in the direction one of the cliff faces ran, but he was less than certain he was correct. Still, he began inching in the direction he had chosen. "Feel free to stay if you want, but me and my pokemon are getting out while we still can."

As he moved, he turned toward his laconney with a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry we have to leave your friends behind, Locke. For now. But it is too dangerous for us to stay. However, we will be sure to send people here who have the skills necessary to rescue your fellow pokemon."

---

Seymour is heading along the top of the cliff in the direction of number two.

After leading them to the cliff, it became Jake's turn to be the follower. He didn't want to flash his pokedex around too much in the light for fear of drawing attention, so he nodded and said in a hushed tone to Seymour,
"Definitely, lead the way."

In another world -- a more urban world, with other friends -- more rough friends, Jake probably would have taken a different approach and gone after the two isolated members of Team Gaia, but it was a bit too risky here. He could only follow the others and hope that Team Gaia wouldn't be able to track them down.

You move carefully through the forest, trying to avoid the fallen branches. But after a short while, you look back and see the blue lights heading toward you once more...

You press on as quickly as you dare, until you spot another light, white this time. It reminds you more of the moon than of the wisp-like light the Laconney gave. As you get closer, you see it seems to be a trainer with a Noctowl on his shoulder, using a paper lantern to light his way. Unlike the members of Team Gaia, he's dressed like a bug catcher.

"Should we warn him?" Seymour whispered to Jakey, hopefully quietly enough that the noctowl couldn't hear them. "He might be in danger too if Team Gaia spots them. But on the other hand, they might direct team Gaia toward us if they know we are here too. They could be just the distraction we need to slip away."

Seymour hated the idea of using the bug catcher like that, but they would probably be alright. Probably... But at any rate, he would let Jakey take the lead on how to handle their new predicament.

Jake waited to hear the other's opinion before making a move. One of Jake's primary concerns apart from Team Gaia was getting lost in the woods. Well, getting lost in the woods then caught by Team Gaia. He weighed what Seymour suggested before rushing out, waving his arms at the bug-catcher; despite his animated flailing, he didn't shout,
"Help, help! There are crazy people in this forest!"

The man looks at Jake in surprise. "What? What are you..." Looking behind your group, he spots the floating lights. "Now that looks like trouble" he says, calling out a Spinarak. "Best we get out quick, Spin! Give us some sticky webs to slow them down!"

As the spider covers the floor with nearly invisible strands, the man guides you along the trail he was following. "My cabin's not far from here, we should be safe there." He pulls out his Pokédex, but frowns after activating it. "No signal? What's going on... unless..." He looks worried as he hurries you up.

Jake was too worried to give a sign of approval to the man. That didn't mean he was ungrateful, he was just saving his gratitude for a time of safety. Jake hoofed it following the bug catcher. He was a bit skeptical the cabin would be completely safe, but it would likely be safer than running around the woods in the dark.

He checked behind to see if the others were following him, but didn't check his phone after overhearing that the other man's phone had no signal. He didn't have a reason to call anyone at the moment.

Seymour was glad that Jakey's gut instinct seemed to be correct about the bug catcher. The new stranger didn't even hesitate to help them evade their pursuers. The idea to use webs was genius. And it gave Seymour an idea too.

Since his laconney was already out of his ball, Seymour said to it, "Add some mist into the mix too, Locke. It might help make the webs more effective."

Seymour then hurried along to get to the safety of the cabin. When their new friend commented about his pokedex, he subconsciously mimicked the bug catcher's worry. "What's wrong? What does a lack of signal mean?"

"It means these guys are worst than I thought..."

You soon reach the man's cabin. It's not very big, just a main room/kitchen and a bedroom, but it seems well built. As soon as you're inside, he locks the door. "Looks like that mist of yours mixed them up real good. We should have some time before they reach us. Take a seat, boys. Name's Cary."

He digs through his fridge, and pulls out cans of cola for everyone. "I heard there were more people than usual going around in the woods, and I though they were just poachers or something. But if the Pokédex aren't calling, than they got to have some sort of jammers. Not something your run-o'-the-mill trouble maker carries. Can you tell me anything about these goons?"

Jake happily accepted the soda and found a seat. He was impressed the two strangers had been able to coordinate the delaying tactic, but was worried when Cary implied it was a matter of time until Team Gaia stumbled across the cabin. Still, Jake was ready to express his gratitude,
"Thanks a bunch Mr. Cary, I am Faulkner. We are from out of town and explorin' in the woods to find some more pokemon, but ran into these weird Team Gaia people instead. I think they steal pokemon, but I know for sure they litter in the forest. I didn't run into them as much as my friend here."

Jake gestured to Seymour, who likely knew a bit more about Team Gaia than himself. It was probably a good time to actually listen to other people given the stakes of the conversation.

"Yeah, Team Gaia is supposed to be real bed news from what I understand. The police back in Rivierestel even suspect them to be behind a recent bombing there." Seymour then explained what he had learned about them from the police, and how his Laconney's family had met disaster at their hand. He then mentioned how they had spotted Team Gaia using some laconney as light sources in the forest, which helped back up the credibility of the bombing story.

"So yeah, I have no desire to have a run-in with those goons. Is there a way we could get to a place with a signal for our pokedexes? I have a recording on mine that I am sure the authorities would like to see."

Cary crosses his arms. "It won't be easy. I got no idea how far those jammers work. We could try to make a break for Levallac, but it's pretty far. Bluweil... well, it's not closer, but the local base is specialized in night operations. Odds are, they'll have some patrols going around there. If we can find one, they could help us."

He takes another look outside. "Looks like they got their act back together. If you have a suggestion, now's the time to bring 'em!"

"Bluweil sounds like the better bet," Seymour commented. "And it is where we were headed anyway. I say we head in that direction." He looked to the other to see if they agreed with his logic, or if they had any other insights.

Jake wasn't much a thinker. He had already spent much of his creative energy that night. That, and the best path seemed obvious, go in the direction they had originally intended before everything got so far off track due to Team Gaia. He offered support to Seymour's plan,
"Yeah, I think Bluweil makes the most sense. How do we get there in the dark without them seeing us though?"

After thinking a bit, Cary digs into a cabinet. "Ah! That should help." He hands you a sturdy compass. "The dial is phosphorescent, so you won't need to turn on your lights to see it. Just head South-West, and if you hear someone who's not coming from behind you, crack and shake one of those," he says, holding up three yellow tubes. "The soldiers uses them to signal for help when they're in hostile territory. If a patrol sees it, they'll try to contact you."

He takes another look outside, and calls out another Pokémon. This time, a two feet tall bug with a black carapace appears. "I'll try to blind them with Volbeat's Flash, then I'll try to lure them to the North. If you use your mist again, you should be able to sneak away without being seen.

...They're getting close. Are you ready?"

Jake eyed the compass suspiciously and gestured to Seymour. Jake didn't trust himself with 'advanced technology.' He understood broadly what a compass was, but not the minutia of how it worked. Seymour struck Jake as a smart person, so hopefully he could get the thing to work properly, maybe even be able to figure out what phosphorescent meant. Despite his lack of interest in the compass, Jake was eager to get his hands on one of the yellow tubes. The instructions given for those were easy enough.
"Wow, really cool. Thanks a bunch. I guess I am ready as ever. Even with Team Gaia, this country has so many nice people! Good luck out there. If we run into any patrols, we will tell them to check on you too."

Jake took one last moment with his pokedex to look at the map and prepare himself for rushing out into the dangerous night. Despite it only being the second night in Cadien, it had already become quite an adventure.

Seymour gulped as he looked down at the compass in his hand. He reoriented himself so that he knew where south-west was, and returned his Farfetch'd to her pokeball. He didn't want Farrah to get separated from the group as they ran. He would have done the same with Locke, but they still needed his mist.

After one last unsuccessful attempt to steady his nerves, Seymour said, "Alright. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Thank you for everything, Cary. I'll try to leave a message for you at the pokemon center in Levellac once we make it to Bluweil. Stay safe." And with that, Seymour opened the cabin door, told his Laconney to shroud the area with mist again, then attempted to lead their little group safely to the south-west.

With a final "good luck!" Cary opens the door. Even though you're starring away, the clearing outside the cabin gets briefly burned into your eyes by Volbeat's Flash.

Right at the edge, their Pokéball ready, you see Team Gaia wearing their night goggles. All fifteen of them. The stream of expletive you hear seem to indicate their goggles aren't designed to handle that kind of bright light, and Locke's mist gives you a clean get away from the cabin, while Cary runs off in another direction, using Volbeat's light to both guide him and keep Team Gaia's attention on him.

It's a bit hard to walk in the dark, but by the lack of lights following you, you don't really feel the need to stay stealthy. Unfortunately, Team Gaia isn't the only threat in this forest...

You almost jump out of your skin as Atticus screams in surprise. He turns on a small penlight to see what's on the ground, and you see he just stepped on a very angry Dunsparce.

Locke is the only one out right now, but even then the Dunsparce will get the first blow. Otherwise, time to give your orders.