it wasn't long before greyson stumbled across the first exclusive pokemon available to him in the wildlife reservation.

it was shorter than he expected- standing barely a foot tall, just narrowly visible from greyson's height. if it wasn't for the fact it's head resembled a kid's birthday party hat from the eighties, it could've gone entirely unnoticed. excitement bubbles up in him like the magma of mt. chimney. in response, the hatenna shivers, looking up at greyson with an unreadable expression. despite it's goofy appearance, a wild pokemon was still that- wild. the calm pokemon rode the high of greyson's emotions and opened it's small mouth, a gleaming ball of multicolored light forming. the DAZZLING GLEAM propels forwards and towards the trainer. all the while, hatenna's expression doesn't change.

greyson ducks, turning at the waist to follow the projectile as it soars past him and dissipates. a look of.. shock? it'd come from no where and was entirely unwarranted. could he have entered it's territory? it didn't look the type to care about things like that. then again, it also didn't look the type to attack him out of the blue. he bit the inside of his cheek, reaching for penn's capsule. avoiding the fight, while the more preferable path, wasn't always one that was available. "i can't even see it's eyes," greyson grumbles, remembering Stormy Silph 's words of wisdom.

when the grookey appears in the long grass, it's no more visible than the psychic-type. the only thing visible was the heart shaped leaf on it's head and greyson watches as it twitches in irritation. without any prompting, leaves from a nearby tree break off and races towards the group, veering downwards at the last second as the RAZOR LEAF reaps the nearby grass to shreds. he really hopes that doesn't count towards their destructive property rule.

"hit it with a wood hammer," greyson commands, taking a cautionary step back from the two. penn rolls his tongue around his teeth as he reaches for the branch atop it's head. with a kick-off, he jumps towards the creature, a pulsating green light emanating from the branch in his hand. before greyson's very eyes the small branch becomes thicker and longer. no longer resembling something like a chopstick, it now looks like a forearm long log. bringing it down with his entire weight, the grookey yells in triumph, descending onto the wild pokemon like a demon!

wait. no he wasn't. penn looks around with a look of confusion, his entire form held in place just mere feet away from the hatenna. the PSYCHIC from the opposing pokemon seemed effortless as it held the struggling pokemon. penn yells in frustration. "calm down penn!" greyson shouts. "break it's concentration and you'll be free!" the grookey thinks for a moment, remembering the fight back at route 103. sucking in a massive breathe, he releases a SCREECH that flattens nearby brush. and, thankfully, forces the calm pokemon to break his composure and his hold on penn.

he lands ungracefully but quickly regains his foot. "now!" greyson shouts again, louder this time. the roar of battle thrumming in both of their ears. filled with battle fervor, he raises his WOOD HAMMER and brings it down on the enemy. a massive thunk and the hatenna collapses just before a safari ball flies in it's direction, consuming it in energy. "good job, penn." his trainer smiles at him and penn can't help but feel proud. slightly annoyed at the ordeal, but proud none-the-less.


notes + capture attempt on hatenna.

giving penn another nod of thanks, he returned the grookey to this ball and reached for another. in moments, ellie floated in the air in front of him, hovering with a flower and tethered to the wind. "i thought you might like these," greyson said with a smile, leading her in a cupped hand towards a large meadow. it went as far as the eye could see, in shades of every color greyson could imagine. the comfey squealed louder than he'd ever heard from her, diving in. "be careful now!" content to enjoy the experience and not rush through it, he swung the bag off his shoulder and propped his back against a tree, sitting at the edge of the meadow.

he awoke an hour or so later, having unintentionally fallen asleep. his eyes immediately widened, pushing himself to his feet while his heart raced. greyson quickly checked the time on his phone, only briefly calming down when he realized there was still some time left in the park. greyson stood, eyes scanning the field, bouncing from flower to flower in an attempt to locate the fairy-pokemon. his breathe caught when he finally catches a sighting. ellie seemed to be making barely audible squees- at least from where he stood- of happiness. but what truly stopped his breathe was what she was playing with it.

standing just over three feet, on four hooves, and housing the comfey on her horn, was a gorgeous ponyta. he'd knew certain regions had mutated types, but this was the first time he'd had the pleasure to see one. greyson took a moment to calm his nerves, but also to soak in the sight of the two enjoying themselves, before he approached. "are you having fun elles?" greyson asked softly, a grin plastered on his lips. the ponyta released a small cry and bounded off a few feet, turning to watch them nervously. greyson lifted the fairy-type to his ear and ellie prattled on and on in excitement. he responded a few time with "oh," or "is that so?" but mostly let her talk.

after a time she seemed to calm down, slapping her tiny hands against his, itching to go back down. he did so, watching ellie float back towards the mutated ponyta. and then he watched ellie chatter her ear off, suppressing a small laugh. he waited a few more minutes, sitting comfortably among the flowers just simply watching them. when they approached his smile was warm and welcoming.

"hello," greyson started, "are you ellies friend? she's told me a lot about you." just because he couldn't understand her, doesn't mean he didn't know what she was droning on and on about. she stood nearly even with greyson when he sat, and they shared a deep intensive look into one another's eyes. he wanted to ensure she was respected; she wanted to gauge his heart. greyson, breaking the silence, holds his cupped hand outwards, slowly revealing it to be some small apple slices given to him by the rangers for an extra charge. he'd taken the past few minutes to prepare. last thing greyson wanted was to startle the unique horn pokemon.

satisfied by her inspection, she lowered her neck and ate from his hand. again, his breathe catches, and with a slow hesitation, he reaches out with his free hand and begins to stroke her neck. the ponyta stops eating for a moment, and greyson stops, only for her to resume a moment later. taking that as permission, he too continued. and there they sat for a time, both in peace.

when he and ellie made their way out of the meadow and in search of new areas of the park, he'd added another new friend to his team.

notes + capture attempt on ponyta! thanks for the mod!

greyson was beginning to slowly understand the 'horse girl' mentality he'd seen all over his dating apps. already he was thinking of the ways he could groom the ponyta, and prepare it for competitions. lost in the idea of what brush to buy, he failed to lift his foot properly, kicking an extremely heavy rock and stumbling to the ground. he didn't yell or scream, instead just lied on his back, staring at the sky.

"i hope no one saw that." he said aloud, standing after a minute. "i should really be more careful." he eyes the stone sitting atop the grass, thinking to himself how odd it looked. but with a shrug, he moves on.

"i wonder what other unique pokemon they have here."


notes + the timeless 'trip and skip'. thanks for the mods!

after nearly breaking his toe, being attacked, and almost touching a poisonous leaf, greyson was getting kind of tired. he spotted in the distance a bird-like pokemon dancing to music he couldn't hear. for a moment he stood there with a goofy grin. the moment revitalized dwindling energy. greyson picked up the pace, diving further in.


notes + skip.

greyson puts distance between himself and the battle. he’d come across this shellos mere minutes ago and, without a moment to gauge its intention, was immediately beset upon. greyson was barely able to release penn from his capsule in time before falling flat on his back in the marsh, muddy water riding up his shirt like a curious eelektoss. it was cold and disgusting. mindful of the battle, he lifted himself out of the water and onto more stable land. his shoes trapped the dirty water, and walking felt like slogging through weeks old jello.

arceus. it was going to be a miserable journey back to his hotel room.

while his trainer re-organized himself, penn lept straight into battle. the edge of his BRANCH POKE caught the shellos just beneath the neck, a small bump forming from the impact. he quickly followed up with a RAZOR LEAF, watching with pride as small cuts appeared over it’s body. then, with pure astonishment, the type that formed from a small trickle of fear, he watched his opponents wound RECOVER.

but that wasn’t it.

with penn enthralled, the shellos exerted it’s will into the surrounding water, three jets of MUDDY WATER propelling upwards at breakneck speeds. the grookey dodged one, but being knee deep in water slowed his movements exponentially. slowed enough to be easy prey for the last two. one landed against the grass-type's left bicep, throwing the entire of his upper body into disarray. the second, on the other hand, was far more dangerous. it landed squarely against his solar plexus and forced him off his feet and backwards, disappearing into the tall weeds.

“penn!” greyson’s voice echoes, his own legs pushing through the thick mud that’s accumulated where he was. the shellos doesn’t let up. two more jets of MUDDY WATER disappear into the weeds and greyson’s worry only heightens. hands push through cat-tail, looking for the grookey, before a massive white light envelops the area.

when grookey emerges, it’s, well, no longer a grookey. penn’s evolution to thwackey couldn’t have come at a better time. he radiated confidence. greyson’s frown shifted to a grin, one that penn echoed moments before he was racing across the swamp. with his new form came a new power. a stronger power. penn raises his arm upwards and brings it down as a massive ethereal WOOD HAMMER consumes the wild pokemon, ending the battle.

a anti-climatic safari ball is thrown at shellos, a tense respect for the pokemon’s strength and commitment. greyson approaches the now thwackey, a sigh of relief escaping his diaphragm.

“good shit, man. good shit.”


notes + last capture!