She'd ridden Dodrio backwards a handful of times before, and every time she made up her mind to never do it again. The experience was jarring. Everything bumped up that normally bumped down-- it was like mastering a level of a video game, then getting told to turn around and try it the other direction. 

Alternately firing tongues of flame, branches of electricity, and hissing bursts of frosty breath, Dodrio hurtled down the shoreline like someone had been trying to pull out its tail feathers. And that was only half-true, Jess defended herself as she pounded on the Pokemon's back, gripping with her knees. "Cut it out, dammit!"

In response, the Dodrio hurtled something in its way-- something Jess couldn't see, but definitely felt when the Triple Bird Pokemon suddenly went airborne. Her stomach dropped as the Pokemon crashed back down, huge bird claws scuffing the dust, and Jess hit its back again a second later with a yelp.

Through the pain, now half-cocked on Dodrio's back as the bird continued to run, Jess saw a startled-looking Slowbro uncovering its head and sitting up behind them. It had probably thought it'd be trampled alive. She shook her fist at it.

<Honk hoooonk!> The middle head bent back to tell her something upside-down, its fellows still outstretched like parallel lines as the Pokemon ran. Jess tightened her grip on the Pokemon's tail feathers. "There's a what?"

SKIPPING SLOWBRO

Shadows had appeared on the ground all around them-- fighter-jet-shaped, they formed a loose V with Dodrio at the forefront. "Something's chasing us from above?" Jess demanded, noticing for the first time. At least this explains why Dodrio took off like that. 

Hooking her arm around one of Dodrio's necks, Jess scooted farther up the bird, craning her head to see what was casting the skein of shadows paralleling their course. She was sun-blinded for a moment, but the glints of red and green finally registered in her vision and she realized what was skimming the treeline overhead. Yanma. They're territorial-- we must have been trespassing.

"Dammit! Clear 'em out with Pursuit!" Jess shouted, snaring her fingers in Dodrio's matted feathers for a more secure handhold. She didn't acknowledge the irony of using Pursuit while trying to run away.

The Triple Bird Pokemon skidded around, throwing up chunks of earth, and lashed out with both legs. Talons carved twin gashes of shadow into the air, forming a pair of dark scythes that hurtled into the air to dissuade the approaching Yanma swarm. "Well, don't stop runnin'!" Jess exclaimed, "We gotta get out of these guys' territory!"

SKIPPING YANMA

Dumb as they were, there was nothing that could actually outspeed a Dodrio at full tilt-- not by land, air, or sea. Jess would have been halfway proud of the Triple Bird if it hadn't been so obnoxious while doing it.

One head cackled visibly as the Yanma swarm fell behind.

Another head turned around to honk something in Jess's face. "Quiet, you! Hell if this is my fault!"

The third head was attempting to peel a banana, but lacking hands/fingers/help, it just ended up shaking it vigorously from side to side like a dog with a bone. "Give it here," Jess ordered, wrestling the fruit away from the middle head and ripping it open. All three heads swooped back to take hungry bites out of the banana.

It seemed ordinary at first, but after a moment the ex-ranger did a double-take. "Hang on, where the hell did you get this?"

The middle head honked something passionately.

"...And who's driving?"

As if all coming to the realization that no one, not even Jess, was actually looking ahead where they were going, the three heads turned back just in time to see a massive Tropius rear up in front of them. Another banana fell from its neck, which (audaciously enough) the middle head snaked out to catch. The dinosaur opened its head and roared, its massive, leafy wings spreading as it reared up defensively.

We're gonna get squashed, Jess thought glumly, already resigned to death and/or serious injury-- on the sand, with no time to do an about-face, there was no avoiding the collision course. As useful as Dodrio's Run Away ability was, there were negatives to reaching max speeds and not paying attention to where you were going. We're going to be a Safe Riding PSA poster. I can feel it.

"Hey, watch out!"

Jess ducked just as a Pokeball flew over her head. It struck the Tropius in the center of its chest and the grass-type immediately swirled away in pink energy, disappearing into the ball. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a male trainer standing in the shallows, having just thrown the capsule. They must have been in a battle, she thought dazedly, explains the bananas all over the beach.

"Thanks!" she called, giving the startled man a little salute as Dodrio ran through.

Well, no stopping them now!

CATCHING TROPIUS