katja walks down the beach, the sand uncomfortably warm against the soles of her feet. she briskly makes her way toward the ocean, grateful to step onto cool, wet earth and feel an oncoming wave swirl up around her ankles. deeper she goes, pausing each time a cold wave brushes against dry skin, until the water is nearly lapping at the frayed hem of her shorts.
[break][break]
a finned head pokes out of the water near her, inky black eyes affixing themselves on the visitor entering his little slice of sea. "hello," she tries, her voice rising, as she sticks a hand out in his direction. his head bobs back under the surface of the water. he hasn't fled, but the befriending approach hadn't worked in her favor.
[break][break]
"ah..." she retracts her hand and pivots to a different approach — food. retrieving some pokétreats from her back pocket, she flicks a few in the dratini's direction. they float aimlessly on the surface of the water for some time before dratini is brave enough to chomp down on one with a small splash. then another. each one is eagerly hunted down by the sea serpent. once the bait on the surface is exhausted, he raises his head from the water to look at katja with big, pleading eyes. more.
[break][break]
"you want more?" he swims closer, bold. she takes one of the empty safari balls off her belt and shows it to him. "come with me and you can eat as much as you want."
[break][break]
he hesitates. she takes out another treat and holds it up in her other hand. the dragon-type swims right up to her, almost bumping into her legs. he rises high enough out of the ocean to eat the treat straight from her hand. she holds out the safari ball, hoping he keeps up his end of the bargain. 
[break][break]

+ catching dratini

katja presses the safari ball against cool scales and the long serpent disappears inside. the ball struggles once inside her grasp, then goes still with a satisfying ding! with more training, he could definitely become a valuable member of her team — especially if he is actually food motivated and not just bad at hunting for himself.
[break][break]
she attaches the ball back to her belt and bends down to dip her hands into the surf. the prickle of warmth along her exposed arms is a quiet premonition of an upcoming sunburn. she rubs wet hands up her arms to cool them off, but the regret of not wearing sunscreen lingers. 
[break][break]
she feels something brush against her hands when she puts them back in the water, scales and fins brushing against her palms as it swims by. it's a tiny, barely-there touch that could easily be mistaken for seaweed or some kind of sea debris — which is exactly what katja assumes it is. the wishiwashi continues to follow whatever course it's taking into the waters to her left, unknown to her. 
[break][break]
not that she'd be very hurt if she knew a pokemon had slipped away just — quite literally — under her nose. the only dragon-type in this zone, that she knows of, is a nigh six-foot serpent.  
[break][break]

+ skipping pog

a wailmer erupts from the surface of the ocean, bobbing on top of it like a great beach ball. katja lifts her chin, taking her eyes off her submerged hands, and feels a knot of disappointment when she sees who is making all the splashing. not a dragon. [break][break]katja and the wailmer watch each other for some time before the whale pokemon grows disinterested in the nothingness hanging in the air between them. with a languid cry of its name, it disappears back under the waves with a splash.
[break][break]
katja straightens up and presses a salt-soaked hand against her brow to shade the bright afternoon sun. surely there are more dratini around here?
[break][break]

+ skipping pog

an inkay swims by. not a dragon.
[break][break]
i should try swimming out further. the first dratini had likely been some kind of fluke, venturing so close to the shallows as it did. she tosses a pokeball and her kingdra appears in a flash of light. "take us out there," she tells him, pointing out towards the endless stretch of blue. the seahorse swims to her side and offers his back with a huff of his name, sinking ever so slightly as she climbs onto his shoulders. 
[break][break]
"okay," she shifts her weight, wincing as her denim shorts wick up ocean water. "let's go." she rocks back slightly as kingdra kicks it into gear. the dragon-type begins to ferry her toward the deeper parts of the ocean, leaving a wake of foamy waves trailing behind them. 
[break][break]

+ skipping pog

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"we're looking for a dratini," katja tells her kingdra. "you know what to do." in truth, her kingdra and dragalge know little else beyond the fine art of beating the shit out of things. she slides a leg over her kingdra's back and dismounts with a graceless splash, the cool water swirling up to her chin before she begins to tread water. her kingdra disappears beneath the surface to keep an eye out for dwagons.
[break][break]

+ skipping pog

[attr="class","pokeclass"]