Rhubarb settled down a few miles away down a path. She was picking at a few seeds that were left on the ground, when Leo caught up to her. He breathed heavily, bowing over on his knees. "Whew, Rue, you gotta warn me 'fore you do that." Not that Leo wasn't used to exerting energy - he was on the school's swim and track team, after all - but he hadn't even gotten to stretch. He leaned back, stretching his arms up in the air, when suddenly, his eyes caught the site of a young Dedenne.

[break][break] "Hey, little guy," he cooed, immediately dropping down to his knees. The lil guy sort of looked like Queso, but different. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a biscuit cookie and offered it to the other. The Dedenne, sniffing the air for a moment, hesitated before hopping up to Leo and nibbled on the end of it.

[break][break] While he was distracted, Leo tapped a pokeball against it's head and with a grin, said, "Gotcha!"

[break][break]

+ used 1 safari ball ! (1/3)

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The little mouse was admittingly adorable, and right after catching him in the pokeball, Leo couldn't help but to release him. He immediately went to cup the pokemon's cheeks in his palms and cooed at it. It was so cute! However, his bonding moment with the rodent was cut-short as Rue suddenly darted forward to peck at the small creature.

[break][break] The Dedenne gave a squeak of surprise, and in a matter of minutes, the two were chasing each other in circles in front of him. It was hard to tell whether the two were getting along, playing tag or something like that, or if Rue was trying to take a nibble out of the small critter! With a sigh, Leo reached into his pocket and returned the Dedenne in a flash of light. Maybe he didn't get along with Rue - but he was sure that Queso would enjoy the company.

[break][break] With a chirp, Rhubarb returned to her spot on her shoulder and Leo headed off path more deeper into the safari zone. He ducked over a low-hanging branch, and then let out a spooked shout as a Duskull floated past. "What the heck," he said, with a huff, eyes wide. Leo didn't like ghosts, even if they were technically ghost pokemon. He was sure his mother would have said something like Adios Mios, it's bad luck, mija! He could practically hear her voice in his head.

[break][break] Taking a deep breath, he turned around and instead hopped up on Peanut. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her neck, pressing his face into her mane until the rapid beat of his heart ceased.

[break][break]

+ skips on the duskull (1/3)

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Peanut might have given him attitude sometimes, but she was always there for him when he needed it. After all, they'd been together the longest time. Leo still remembered when she was a small filly, shoving her cold nose into his hands as his parents argued in the distance.

[break][break] With a deep breath, he sat up and looked around him. Where were they? Cupping a hand to his forehead, he looked far into the distance and he saw a ... small bunny hop in the distance. Aww! It was so cute. Leo was tempted to adopt the small pokemon to his team of misfits, but he saw the Buneary hop to a family of other Buneary. The three of them mingled about, and with a pang, Leo was reminded of his own family. He should really visit Mama more often.

[break][break] Gently, he kicked his Zebstrika's flank and together they headed off on their way, heading back to the main path and away from the family of Buneary.

[break][break] Leo wasn't a homewrecker!

+ skips on the Buneary (1/3) !

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Peanut gave a high-pitched whinny as they were nearly bowled over by a herd of stampeding Tauros.

[break][break] Leo, for his part, gave a small shout as he grabbed onto his Zebstrika's mane as she reared on her hindlegs and then jerked to the side. He was nearly thrown off! But he wasn't, and as he watched the rampaging Tauros continue stampeding the rest of the way, he wondered if maybe he should have caught one.

[break][break] But Caroline had plenty of them on the ranch! Well maybe not as many Ponyta as she had or she wanted to have, but maybe the next time he swung around the Foster's farm, he could ask if she had any baby bovine he could kidnap.

+ skips on the Tauros (1/3) !

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With the Tauros stampede far in the distance, Leo and Peanut are clear to walk the rest of way down the path. A lot of the snow has melted by now, and in fact, as Leo stares down at the dirt-path, he wonders if he's imagining the scorch marks. He points them out to Peanut with a finger, but the Zebstrika just snorts in disbelief.

[break][break] He pouts. "But they really do!"

[break][break] What - did Leo expect a motorcycle to run through these parts?

[break][break] However, what comes next is not a motorcycle, but actually a collection of wild Chimchar and Aipom in the distance. They are hanging off of bare treetrunks, the latter hanging off their tails and the former running across the treetops. "Hey! Let's get closer, Peanut!" With a nod, the Zebstrika kicks against the ground to follow the two pokemon. The Chimchars shoots FLAMETHROWERS and HEATWAVES towards the other, the sparks of which land on the ground and create scorched patterns in the melted snow.

[break][break] "Oh, woah, girl watch out!" But Peanut doesn't need the warning. She is quick to avoid the flames, but rather than speeding up, she slows down. "Hey, what gives?" She huffs at him, giving him a look. "Okay, okay, not worth it. I get it."

[break][break] He pauses, pouting a little bit as the Chimchar disappear from view, and then looks around. "Oh, how about over there? Let's go rest on those rocks. We can have lunch!" He grins at her, and she relents, leading them towards the rock outcropping.

+ skips on the Chimchar (1/3) !

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As the Zebstrika slowed to a stop, Leo hopped off and pulled his backpack off of her. He then set his backpack on the ground, pulling out what looked to be several plastic boxes. At the same time, light spun from the backpack releasing the rest of his pokemon — Yams, Queso, and Crumbles. Even Rue flew in from the sky, settling on his shoulder and plucking at strands of his hair as Leo set out their lunch.

[break][break] For Yams and Crumbles, he set the small containers of pokefood for them to crunch on. For Queso, he handed the Togedemaru a small blackberry to nibble on, and for Rue, he set aside some sunflower seeds in a cup. The Fletchling fluttered over to the edge of the metal tin, dipping her beak inside.

[break][break] Or perhaps, she would've, before letting out a squeak of surprise and terror when a wild Drampa appeared out of nowhere, slurping up the seeds. Yams barked with surprise and even Crumbles stepped back, stunned. "Woah!" Leo said with a shout, before realizing that the pokemon didn't mean harm. He laughed, running his hand along it's cloudy scruff. "If you were hungry, all you had to do was ask," he said, with a smile, before pressing a pokeball to the pokemon's spine.

+ attempts to capture Drampa (2/3) !

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