The joy of unexpected things.

"Thanks for keeping me warm, Ziggy," she rubbed the little raccoons on the head, making sure to pat all of them at least once, "hm? Oh, you have a beauty mark! Let's call you Beauty. Hm-- oh? You want a name too? Wait, I can't possibly name all of you! Get your mommy to name you... Oh, you're a different colour than the others! Let's call you Sparkly-- no, I need to stop naming you guys! Lord knows I have awful naming sense!"

Citrine was currently being crowded by a dozen little Zigzagoons fighting for her attention. She had somehow tamed herself a Zigzagoon army after feeding them a bunch of Poffins.

Linoone cosied up to her, resting its head on Citrine's lap after nuzzling against her stomach for a while.

Citrine blushed bright red, "no, c'mon!"

She caught sight of Loudred and Lombre, who stared at the sight looking devastated beyond belief. They looked half a moment from crying.

Suddenly she felt like a husband being caught cheating. Frantically, she waved her arms about, trying desperately to explain herself.

But too late, Lotty was wailing like a baby at this point, and Crowy was fluttering frantic circles around the Lombre. Magney, mindlessly stirring the pot on the other end, sulked and pretending it couldn't see a thing.

"Wait, this isn't what it looks like--"

Whismy used Uproar.

"Oh, not again!"

-

After an extended search, it seemed that the Zigzagoon were chased from their den because of a bad thunderstorm few nights back that wrecked a good portion of the forest.

That made sense. Loudred wouldn't have let anything else into her tent. Citrine felt significantly better this morning, curled up in softness. It's been a while since she slept near a source of heat regulation, after all. And the Zigzagoon were fluffy.

"Bye, Linny!" she waved at the Linoone as it led its litter back into the forest, "good luck finding a new den!"

Now to get back on the road.

Citrine could see the damage from the hill she stood. A whole portion of the jungle caved in, trees were broken at the trunks and some were peeled off by its roots. But because the trees were cleared out a certain portion, the white of brick peered from the gaps in the scenery.

A building, she realized. There was a building there-- shaped like a dome... an observatory?

"The Weather Institute!" she gasped, "that's the weather institute!

It was a little more east than Mount Chimney, but around the same distance ahead. If the wreckage stemmed from that area, and there had been a thunderstorm a few days ago... ah.

"So Ruby and Norman's fight happened a few days ago!" she set a fist on a palm, solving the equation. "That means they're headed off to uh, Verdanturf now... and Saphire's headed to Lavaridge-- ah, so the volcano's gonna die soon. That defeats the purpose of my visit to Lavaridge."

Silence, one, two.

"Okay guys, change course!" she declared, "let's go to the Weather Institute instead!"

Loudred, in his shock, dropped the whole pile of berries he was gathering. Lombre slipped on a loose roll of firewood and smacked chinfirst on the ground. Zubat crashed right into Magnemite like a blind idiot.

"First, let's fold up my wheelchair," she said with a smile.

-

It's all impulse, but what was a journey without unexpected twists and turns?

At her pace, she would probably reach Lavaridge after Sapphire does, meaning the volcano would be dead and Lavaridge's hot springs would be null. Citrine wasn't going to get any physical therapy done if the town was panicking about something far more serious.

So what if she took a slight detour?

The Weather Institute was a straight road from here, and it was a research facility. That meant strange infrastructure, mysterious chemicals, extended notes- and of course, records of weather patterns had plenty to do with Berry Researching!

After all, Hoenn's humid temperatures and high sea-to-land ratio was among is most unique points. If Citrine wanted to really master the Berry Encyclopedia, the research data from there would definitely come in handy.

And since Ruby and Norman's fight is over with, she didn't have to worry about being caught in that mess.

A win-win situation.

-

It was a straight road.

It was supposed to be a straight road.

So how did she get lost??

"Why is there a desert here?!" She yelled to nothing, then grabbed Crowy and Magney back before the sandstorm buffeted them away. "Oh dear, Magney fainted just from the weather condition."

She tucked the Magnemite and Zubat into her bag, then set it aside with her folded wheelchair. Standing up, she set a hand on Whismy as she looked out into the horizon. She did faintly remember a desert along this path... it was such a strange place to have a desert, though.

She was near the entrance, so if she worked hard enough, she'll be able to retrace her steps and get back on the road.

(Or, she could cross the desert as a shortcut on the route toward Fallabor.)

Lombre tugged at her shirt, and pointed frantically in a certain direction.

"What is it-- oh, oh, woah."

In the distance, though the storm was gallant and the view was obscured far too much-- there was a building.

She could only see a very vague silhouette, but it was there. A tower, reaching high into the skies.

She didn't think twice.

"Whismy!" she called out, "take the wheelchair, we're going to hide out in there for shelter until the storm passes!"

She collapsed the bike and set herself on it, pulling the straps of her bag into her arms before Lombre clung to her shoulders. The wheelchair was folded into a portable size, and Whismy hefted it up.

With a little effort, she began to cycle, each step coming deceptively easy to her strained limbs.

"See that, Lotty? That's called Mirage Tower! It shows up every once in three to four times you pass by," she said, "don't lose track of it! We're going to explore!"