At this point, Slateport was his home. He wasn’t sure why he liked it so much here. Yet, he knew the reason why. The trainer wasn’t much of a partier now a days and not a very social man either. Slateport was known for people traveling from many different regions to gather and mingle in this bustling port city. But whatever the case may be for his reasons for staying in the city, Slateport City reminded the scarred man a lot about his former home before coming to Hoenn. Deep down, the man knew the was the reason why. Even as he roared the cities lower district, he just felt like he was home.

In fact, the man was so out of it he didn’t noticed the collision path he was in until they collided. He stumbled back, mumbled a "shit" as his eyes blinked rapidly trying to both gather his balance and what just happened. It was only when a woman started to apologized that he realized he ran into someone. “Oh no,” he man started as he straighten out his cloths and nodded his head in a no gesture, “It’s probably my fault. I was lost in my own thoughts.” His warm gaze fixed on the blonde haired woman, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s no big deal. I’m good. How about you? Are you okay?”

Before the woman could respond to his series of questions, her expression shifted to what he could only assume to be a mixture of surprise and worry. But before he could ask or interpret her sudden change in facial expression, something clipped his head and ruffled his head. The man ducked out of pure instinct, hands flailed to swat at his head to try to get whatever was on his head off. But the wild pokemon was swift to flee the scene, leaving Maverick disoriented for a moment before he straighten himself out as the woman broke out in laugher.

His brows scrunched together, fixing his already unkept looking hair. “No,” the man replied in a grunt, hands retreated back to his pockets once he was sure he was okay, “I’m good. Never been attack by an emolga before.” The man let out his down stiff chuckle, the edges of his lips curled slightly in a grin before falling once again. “You have a beldum at your feet,” he told her, reaching into his pocket to pulled out a creature, “I’ll get it.”

The ball burst open to reveal a little puppy pokemon known as Houndour. The puppy barked and gave a playful growl at his owner. “Ryoko,” the man mumbled to the creature as he motioned to the duel type at the woman’s feet, “Fire fang.” The houndour turned on a dime and faced the foe. The beldums eyes widen as the canine like creature let a growl rumble in his chest. And turned to flee, but the canine was quicker. Flames licked his throat as suddenly, his muzzle burnt open with flames. He leaped forward, biting down on the poor creature as it hollered in pain. But just as quickly as it hollered, it fainted. The houndour barked as it stubby tail wagged excitedly at his success. “Good boy,” the man praised as he tossed a pokeball to capture the creature. The ball hit its mark and sucked the creature in.

Mav’s gazed fell upon the woman’s again as he waited for the confirm capture. “The name is Maverick by the way,” he offered in introduction, reaching out one hand in a hand shake, “It’s nice to meet you. The houndour is Ryoko.” The puppy let out a ferocious puppy bark as he waited for the ball to be done moving. Ears forward and alert each time the ball moved. “He's friendly,” the man chuckled, “Eager and energetic, but nice.” The canine let out another around of barks, trying to look scary to the woman.

It didn’t take a long for more wild pokemon to appear. In fact, the woman didn’t even have time to respond to him before the houndour suddenly turned his attention away from the stranger. A low growl came from the pup as he lifted his nose to the air, nostrils flared sniffing the breeze. Confusion crossed the man expression, taking notes of the houndour’s odd behavior shift. But before he could question the creature, the puppy turned and began to bark at something behind him.

The trainer turned to see a yellow creature behind him. It waved friendly at him, even coming closer to them. Maverick stared, frozen in shock as it just strolled right up to them without any fear in the world. Typically, wild pokemon feared or hated humans. Most if not all, would rather be free than captured by a human. This ampharos didn’t seem like the rest. However, Ryoko didn’t seem to care how friendly the wild pokemon seemed.

His noose lifted to the air, using odor sleuth to be sure he would not miss his target. And when the wild pokemon was too close for comfort, the houndour leaped forward. His teeth bared as flames engulfed his mouth. He bite down on the creature tail with fire fang, snarling as he tried to rip the creature a new one. His trainer, still frozen is shock, only watched while Ryoko attacked the creature. The electric type flinched, turning to pull the pup of her tail. After a few good tugs, the pup was forced to let go. The creature held the pup in her hands, head titled to one side as he snapped at the creature. She smiled, placing the pup down and patting its head. Ryoko wasn’t done yet however.

Ryoko leaped forward again, muzzle open ready to crunch the creature anywhere he could. By this time, Maverick snapped out of his daze. “Ryoko!” He hollered while he was already in mid jump, “Hold it! Take it easy!” It was to late though. The puppy clamped down on the ampharos hand when it tried to shield itself. It hollered, waving its hand to the side trying to get the pup to let go. Ryoko didn’t, flailing around still attacked. Maverick let out a sigh, reaching into his pocket to grab a pokeball. With a good toss, the man hit the wild pokemon and it sucked it in. The ball fell the the earth with a thud along with the houndour. He franticly got to feet and began to bark at the ball. “Ryoko!” He yelled with a firmer tone, a headache starting to brew, “You got it. Relax.” The pup whined. He just wanted to help.

With the wild pokemon in the ball, Maverick turned to see if the woman was still there. But when he turned, she was no where to be found. He shrugged, letting his gaze fall upon the ball. Of course, Ryoko stood right next to it ready to fight if the pokemon dared to escape. Did he just catch an ampharos? This was definitely unexpected.