[ti]spawn[/ti]spore galore

They walked down the path, crunching autumn leaves. A big plus was that the grove was scenic—it was easy enough to keep an eye on his surroundings in broad daylight, and as long as they didn’t wander too deep in, they could stick to clearings where wild Pokemon can easily be identified.

<Pudding has found the shrooms!>

Saint couldn’t help smiling a little, hurrying to join Pudding. Despite her excitement, Pudding kept a safe distance, letting Saint crouch down to identify the mushroom she found.

A new issue: This was Pokémon. Much of the mushrooms looked quite similar, and quite unrealistic. He squinted at the reddish orange fungus. It was based off a popular one, the fly amanita. But if he remembered correctly, there was a mushroom item in the original games that was considered gourmet, so was it edible? Poisonous, unless prepared a certain way? It was unfortunate he didn't know more.

“Let’s see if we can pluck it out. Please stand back, Pudding.” He rummaged his pockets. The gloves he had were much like the medical supplies in his pockets—not particularly effective on a technical standpoint, but a good precaution, not to mention a good example.

Saint turned, finding nothing amiss except for Pudding looking elsewhere. “Did you find something?”

<No.> Pudding huffed, waddling over. <Pudding would like to see the shroom.> She tugged at his coat.

“Okay, okay,” Saint knelt down, gloved hands cradling a mushroom wrapped in plastic. “We’ll need to have this properly identified, but it is likely poisonous. The mushroom I’m familiar with is known for it, but ingesting doesn’t necessarily mean dying—upup.”

Pudding hissed, glowering at him, which really was not that effective.

Saint kept the mushroom out of reach. Pudding hopped on her stubby legs trying to reach it. “You are not eating this! Never eat a mushroom you aren't positively sure you've identified.”

“Can we strike up a deal.”

<Girrv’ Prrdd’n the shrmmm, buy.>

He’s halfway up the tree with an espurr clinging to his ankles using her mouth. Saint was now debating how far he could throw this mushroom and whether his reflexes were fast enough to nab Pudding before she broke a world record finding and ingesting a poisonous shroom.

It was surprisingly not a gamble he was eager to take. Even as she chewed his socks into strips, she still looked precious.