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It had been peaceful, at least for a time. But the roar of Hyper Voice stopped the pair in their tracks. It appeared that they'd wandered into the territory of a Whismur, and it wasn't all that happy about it. Remembering the rule on not destroying the environment, Josh realized he was going to have to be careful about how he approached this battle. He'd need a precision attack, then. "Lightning, you're up!" he called to the Raichu, who quickly pounced on the Whismur in order to stop the Hyper Voice. The Whismur went for a Pound, but the Raichu darted to the left on instinct without Josh's input -- very much expecting it to try and counter.

Josh had grown much as a Trainer. But it was perhaps understated just how much his partner had grown as well over the years.

"Thunderbolt!" Josh called out. "Raaaaiii-CHUUUUU!" came the reply as Lightning launched a Thunderbolt, hitting the Whismur and taking it down with a quick and precise attack. Josh pulled out a Safari Ball and tossed it...

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-Click-

With its defeat, Whismur's ball would snap and crackle, before being transported on the spot to the Ranch's PC. His mother would take care of that and send it outside to get to know the other Pokemon. Hopefully by then, it would be able to acclimate to the environment and be calmer when Josh got to it. But for now, the battle had caught attention. Josh didn't have long to celebrate before a Durant attacked with Iron Head.

"Lightning, come back!" he called to the Raichu, bringing out a Pokeball as he sent out a Fletchinder. "Logu, Aerial Ace!" he called to the Fletchinder as it caught the attention of the opponent's Iron Head, before using Aerial Ace to first dodge it, and then catch it on the rebound. "Flame Charge!" he called for the finisher and as Logu sped into it, Josh quickly took out a Pokeball and fired...

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-Click-

As the Durant was captured and disappeared, Josh wondered if his target might make an appearance sometime soon. He realized quickly that somehow, the time had flown by and he still hadn't found the Pokemon that he was looking for. Anxiety began to settle in. He hadn't used all his Safari Balls and this trip was very expensive... Was he about to waste that money if he couldn't use all four in time? It seemed he would have to be a little more indiscriminate-

"Osha!"

The cry startled him. The Oshawott had snuck up behind him while he was scanning the bushes. But it didn't seem ready to fight. Actually, it was sniffing at his pockets. It seemed that Josh had something it wanted. Taking a deep breath, the blonde fished through his pockets until he found the Poke Treats he had on him that the Oshawott seemed to be looking for.

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OH SNAP

THERE IT BE

THE TREE.

Josh had just been in the middle of catching the Oshawott that he had befriended, thinking it could be a nice gift for someone, and it wasn't like he had much time left so he might as well use what balls he could. But the rustling in the bushes from earlier had caught Lightning's attention and Josh soon followed the Raichu's gaze. The bushes rustled once more, and suddenly the very thing Josh had come hunting for would lunge out of the trees and aim for him.

Realizing it was out for him and not for Logu or Lightning, Josh quickly extended the staff once it was off his belt in order to block. Lightning took the initiative, slamming into the Treecko before it could follow up, and sending it skidding back. "Remember not to damage the environment, Lightning. You're a powerhouse now, compared to last we were here. Watch yourself" Josh warned the Raichu. Treecko went for the Quick Attack, and Lightning would decide to meet it head on in order to negate the environmental damage.

The clash reminded him of when he first met Terry, his own Sceptile long ago. Perhaps now it was time for that Sceptile to make the jump to Hoenn. But first...

Lightning would take advantage of the close range to attack with Thunderbolt, right then and there, focused square on the Treecko...