Image: Pretty sure it's been over 48 hours with no new votes. I think we can move on.

Bendy: Up the river we go!

The group continues walking up the river, with only a little bit of chatter coming from Frisk, Chara, and Asriel. As they walk, the smell of roses continues to get stronger. Soon, the group can see something in the distance, beside another set of docks and surrounded by cobblestone walls.

Chara: Are those roses growing over those walls?

Star: Are those roses growing on trees-

Calla: Yes and yes.

T.B: Are those roses blue?!

Calla: Probably muddied mauve in just the right light.

T.B: Unless mine eyes deceive me-

Calla: Your eyes deceive you. I can turn into a rose, remember? Blue isn't a pigment that exists naturally in the rose family. I have to either drink food colouring or mix in a different flower to turn into a blue rose.

Alika: You drink food colouring...?

Calla: Occasionally. For experimental purposes. Such as blue roses.

Gray: You did something weird! I'm so proud!

Ela: Guys, should we go into the garden?

Nightmare: Wait! There's a set of docks up there too! And boats!

Aqua: But they go downstream! We're not planning on rowing further upstream, are we?

Image: There's nothing else upstream anyways. We'll get blocked by more mountains and too far away from the Boarding House. If we take the boats, it's only downstream.

Star: At least we have that much information. But won't that just be backtracking all the way to the last set of docks we found?

Alyssa: Not if we continue going downstream farther than those docks. We didn't explore all the way downstream yet, because we chose to follow the river upstream at those docks.

Image: There's an old rumour about this forest. One part of it is apparently magic fueled by the power of The Void, imagination, and negativity all together. Especially the type of negativity matching illusion inducing negative voices, which goes hand in hand with imaginative power.

Alika: Knowing how great your powers can be, it would've been super to have that information earlier.

Aviana: Where is that spot in the forest?

Image: Nobody knows. But it's by water, so we probably missed it downstream. I'm not sure what this power spot does, so going back may not be worth it. For all we know, it could just boost my own powers. That isn't too helpful in this situation. I set a specific rule for myself for no overuse of my powers.

Ela: Does that specific rule happen to have any exceptions for missing friends?

Image: No exceptions. Overuse of my powers is dangerous, both to me and to everyone nearby, especially with a power boost.

Ela: Right. Makes sense.

Alika: Too bad you weren't there to see the consequences of her using her powers as a solution for everything. That was interesting.

Alyssa: It was painful.

Alika: Sure, but if anyone's going to suffer with me I want it to be Ela. Simply because I want her to suffer.

Ela: Hey!

T.B: We've only really talked about the docks. Are there any benefits to the rose garden?

Image: We know that it's here and we can come back to it. However, I think it's unlikely that we'd find our friends there considering Eevee has a pollen allergy. They may have passed through, but I don't know if it's worth an inspection.

Alyssa: But Clefairy and Clefable love gardening, and Eevee and Pikachu both love exploring no matter what stands in their way. Plus that place looks kind of quiet. Didn't Charmander go with Eevee and Pikachu because the boarding house was too loud?

Greninja: This is a puzzle that Bunnelby would love and Diggersby would sleep right through... Probably in the shade of those rose trees.

Cyan: Speaking of trees, Sudowoodo would totally play a game of Hide And Seek in those. But Frogadier is kind of a safety nut, so are we sure they would go in there with Eevee and her pollen allergies?

Clementine: Cyan was the best detective on our ship. We should listen to her.

Cyan: I haven't come to a conclusion yet Clem.

Alika: Have any of you considered, it's entirely possible that our friends aren't together?

Everyone turns to Alika.

Alika: Think about what they all like. Most of them, especially Pikachu and Eevee, are relentless explorers. Clefairy and Clefable like gardening and Clefable likes abstract art, which can still be done with plants. Bunnelby likes puzzles. Charmander likes peace and quiet and Diggersby just wants to sleep all the time. Koffing likes comedy and is always practicing new jokes with larger audiences of people he knows.

Ela: I don't know what you're building up to or how you'll fit Dragalge's favourite candy into this, but if it matters much he likes licorice. Popplio loves to sing, Cinderace and Raboot are both crazy over sports, and Sudowoodo just wants to play hiding and finding games.

Calla: That's right. Mudbray likes pranking as many people as he can at once, Grookey will turn just about anything he sees into a drum, Krabby definitely would've followed the river as we have, and Rookidee likes to practice her accuracy for a pokemon battle with Rhyhorn, because he likes running around and won't make himself an easy target.

Ela: Vulpix likes camping, Froakie likes to read, and Frogadier likes chess... Those are all their favourite things we just named.

Alika: See! Now we're getting somewhere! Now, who's to say anyone from the group was actually making them stick together? So, here's my theory.

Alika takes a minute to draw out a chart in the soft sand along the river. There are three sections, each with names under them. Like a t-chart, but with three sections.

Alika: Let's assume someone else heard about the Ruins at some point before leaving the house. Let's also assume they all got past the mountains. Some of them would go to the garden, others would try to find the Ruins, and some may have gone somewhere else entirely.

Alika's Chart:

Garden - Clefairy, Clefable, Charmander, Diggersby, Dragalge, Sudowoodo, Krabby

Ruins - Pikachu, Eevee, Bunnelby, Popplio, Grookey, Vulpix, Froakie, Frogadier, Mudbray, Koffing

Somewhere else - Raboot, Cinderace, Rookidee, Rhyhorn

Alika: I put everyone who prefers quiet places to exploration in the garden. I also added Krabby to that list since the garden is right beside a river, and he prefers water to land.

Ela: And Mudbray and Koffing are in thr Ruins because that's the largest group, so they'd most likely be there pranking people or trying to be comedic relief.

Alika: Trying to prank and be comedic relief in a place where as many people as possible can appreciate it.

Calla: And everyone who would be finding a clear space for their own activities would be going off the trails entirely.

Alika: Exactly.

Image: How did you figure this all out on your own?

Alika: Missing persons cases are not something that we take lightly in my home country of Phoenix and Whisp Islands. Now, let's see where the readers want to explore first. Since we have no idea where the Ruins are, our options remain the same. Garden, or downstream to see if we can get to that suspected power spot. You never know, there may be something else that's useful down there. I doubt something powered by imagination would be as predictable as a simple power boost.

Your Options:

- Go downstream towards the supposed POWER SPOT using the boats at the docks.

- Explore the ROSE GARDEN and try to find Clefairy, Clefable, Charmander, Diggersby, Dragalge, Sudowoodo, and Krabby.