Moana felt... the presence of something nearby. He stopped, and looked all around him, but he couldn't see anything. But he was almost certain that there was something watching him... or following him. Pertapa seemed to feel it too, becoming less interested in scouting out rocks and more interested in looking around and being wary.

Sure enough, they were proved right soon enough. The lithe form of an Alolan Persian ambushed them, though they were sort of expecting it at that point. It leaped straight for Moana, and it was only thanks to his reflexes and quite a bit of luck that he had rolled out of the way.

His heart pounding in his ears, Moana pushed the button of another Pokeball at his belt. Tynnu appeared next to Pertapa, a little confused. 

"Rock Blast!" Moana said, pointing at the Persian. Pertapa was already on it, firing shots from her extended pincers that burst against the dark-type's body, causing her to hiss in pain. Tynnu took a second to assess the situation before following suit and adding his own force to the barrage, adopting a similar pose with one arm outstretched. Soon enough, the Persian retreated, and Moana was reasonably sure that it wouldn't attack again.

His next encounter with the local wildlife was a lot less dangerous. A Cubchoo approached him and his Pokemon, growling softly and nervously, but it seemed more timid than the blatantly violent Persian from a moment ago. 

Moana approached cautiously. "Is something wrong, buddy?" He asked the Cubchoo, imitating how he had seen rangers deal with wild Pokemon. However, the Cubchoo didn't seem to want his help. He was sure that Pertapa and Tynnu's suspicious glares didn't help, either, and sure enough, the Cubchoo soon turned around and fled.

As Moana began to head home, he was dogged by a strange pursuer. A Cramorant landed next to him, gulping down an Arrokuda and turning to look Moana straight in the eyes. It waddled a little closer, seemingly curious.

Pertapa and Tynnu, still wary from the encounter with the Persian, raised their claws and arms, respectively, preparing to fire off another salvo of stones, but Moana hastily waved them down. The Cramorant simply squawked, and did nothing else.

Moana shrugged and started to walk away, but the Cramorant followed. He stopped, and so did the Galarian bird. 

"Well then, this is what you get," Moana grumbled, chucking a Pokeball at it. He was running low on those, he realized.