Thomas Benoit once again found himself traveling down Route 101, after a visit to Littleroot Town. Hands tucked in the pockets of his jackets, gaze fixed at the sky as he walked onward. This time, the trainer wasn't walking alone, as his faithful Scizor trailed right beside him. As the two of them walked down the path, Thomas began to reminisces on his first trip down this path, which began with him being attacked by a Ludicolo. From there, things got better, where he had a brief, yet sweet encounter with a Mimikyu. Then he met Bunni, his precious Audino.

The sounds of mewling snapped him out of his state of thought, as he would spot a Skitty running down the path, before stopping, eliciting a giggle from a woman who was presumably her trainer. It was then that Thomas got a good look at the woman, recognizing her from a brief encounter he had with her about three or four years ago in the Unova Region, about the time he completed his training for the International Police. He remembered how energetic, and almost childlike she was in nature. And while the encounter was brief, and the two didn't exchange names, he still couldn't help but wonder about her, whether she was alright, or her nature got her in some sort of trouble.

In any case, Ripper recognized her as well, having accompanied him during this encounter. The fact that she was another trainer with nothing but cutesy Pokemon annoyed him at the time.

"Excuse me, miss, were you in the Unova Region about three or four years ago?", Thomas finally asked the woman, not too far from where she was.

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@reila

Well, at least he got the right person. As the Skitty bounced onto his shoulder to nuzzle him, Thomas nuzzled her back, petting the Skitty with one hand affectionately. "I missed you too, little one~", Thomas cooed at the Skitty affectionately. "Oh, I guess you could say I've been doing fine. How have you been?", Thomas finally said in response to Reila's greeting.

A Swablu flying through the area would spot the two humans, one with a Skitty on his shoulder. After a moment, the Swablu simply decided to keep on flying through the area, questioning if it would even be worth dealing with them.

Thomas chuckled as she called him Bob. She then introduced herself as Reila Winters. "It's nice to meet you too, Reila. My name is Thomas Benoit.", he would tell her. "And my job reassigned me to the Hoenn Region. While I miss the cooler climate of the Unova Region, I do understand why they brought me out here.", he would tell her.

"So what brings you out to Hoenn? You continuing to see the world, or you moving here?", he would ask her.

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Skipping Swablu

@reila

"Happy coincidence, I'd say. Maybe it was fate?", he said to her, jokingly with the last question. He couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. A part of him had to wonder if she was hiding something beneath the surface. But then, judging by how sweet her Skitty was, and how she got along with Pokemon in general, he couldn't help but admire it.

It was then that he noticed her get to work on capturing a Komala. The trainer couldn't help but chuckle at how sweet the moment was, even if the blue bear was soundly asleep. All he could do was hope that Reila would take care of the little one. But even then, judging by how happy her Skitty was, he figured the Komala was in good hands.

Thomas' attention snapped towards the frantic cries of a Kangaskhan, and its baby nearby. Thomas quickly rushed over to the source of the cries, only to find the Kangaskhan trying to keep a fallen tree upheld, one that trapped the baby, struggling to make sure her baby wouldn't be crushed by it.

Thomas quickly sent out his Pangoro, who looked to Thomas. "Brutus, lift that tree as much as you can!", Thomas called out to him. With a nod, the Pangoro got to work helping the Kangaskhan, their combined strength allowing them to lift the tree up more than enough for the baby to escape. For his part, Thomas quickly scooped up the baby, pulling her to safety, much to the relief of the mother.

After checking on her, the trainer would walk over and hand her back off to her mother. "She's gonna be okay.", he reassured her. The Kangaskhan cried, hugging her mother. As the Kangaskhan comforted her baby, she looked to Thomas, who recalled his Pangoro. "Take care, alright?", he told them, before heading back off to Reila.

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@reila

The sound of Reila letting out a panicked screech caught Thomas and Ripper's attention immediately. But what the two would see would baffle them at first. A rather large Vigoroth had grabbed the smaller female, and seemed to be snuggling up to her. While Ripper would look on in disbelief, Thomas couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

But when it was clear that the Vigoroth was hugging her too tightly, and was risking crushing her, Thomas knew he had to act. "Ripper, Bullet Punch!", Thomas called out hurriedly.

The Scizor looked surprised that Thomas would make such a call, but knowing that it had to be serious, Ripper complied, quickly dashing up to the Vigoroth, and delivering a swift, steely punch to his head. This caused the Vigoroth to drop the girl. Thomas would rush in to catch her, and to get her away from the fight. With an angry roar, Slash at the armored insect. The Scizor was barely phased by the attack, only looking down at where the Vigoroth's claws left a scratch in his armor.

"Ripper, Swords Dance, then X-Scissor!", Thomas would call out.

Ripper would perform a quick Swords Dance to boost his fighting spirits. The Vigorth would attempt to build his focus into a single, powerful punch. But before he could go through with it, Ripper would slash at him with both pincers in a diagonal pattern, leaving shallow wounds on the Vigoroth's body. The Vigoroth looked down in shock, before fainting. He was still clearly breathing in his unconscious state, making it clear that Ripper kept him alive.

"You okay, Reila?", Thomas asked the girl softly, before turning his head up to face Ripper. "Good work, Ripper!", Thomas called out, to which Ripper gave him a grin.

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@reila

Thomas let out a sigh of relief as she responded to his question. He saw how her face went from pale to red, choosing not to comment on it. After all, she nearly got crushed by an overly affectionate Vigoroth, so it was best just to let the poor girl settle down. "No problem. Glad you're okay.", he would tell her gently. Ripper gave her a baffled look when she thanked him. Even if his trainer made the call for the sake of saving her life, Ripper just enjoyed the brief skirmish.

Thomas, for his part, was saddened that it had to come to that. The Vigoroth seemed to just be an overly affectionate Pokemon, similar to that of a Bewear. But in the end, if he didn't step in to act, the Vigoroth would've surely crushed the poor girl, either crippling or killing her in the process. The whole situation was ugly and unfortunate, but Thomas did have to act.

A Simisage would spot the group from a distance. The Simisage would immdediately use Grass Knot to grab at the Scizor's legs binding them to the ground before attacking with an Acrobatic maneuver. Ripper, turning his head to see the grass simian coming, immediately fortified himself with Iron Defense, before he was struck by the opposing creature, staggering back before retaliating with an X-Scissor. The attack would clearly leave its mark on the Simisage, and as the Scizor began ripping his legs free from the Grass Knot trap, the Simisage knew he wasn't going to win this battle, and fled as quickly as he could.

The Scizor shot the fleeing Simisage a look of disgust. He would let out a cry that would translate into calling the Simisage a pussy. He would then go to check up on Thomas and Reila.

"Good work. Shame it fled instead of staying to finish the fight.", Thomas remarked, which prompted the Scizor to nod, his expression still sour from that.

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@reila