Though the sky overhead was blotted by ash, Adrian made his descent astride a sleek lustrous Corviknight all the same, wreath in a scarf and goggles to keep the debris out. As they neared the ground, the heavy fluttering of its wings could be heard like grating metal, soot billowing away from where its gnarled talons touched down.

"Hey. Long time, no see." It was ironic, seeing as they'd met briefly during the tournament, but it still felt fresh. Neither of them had really caught up, so now seemed the perfect opportunity. Except they had a task. "Any leads yet Hoffman?"

A Growlithe lost out here had a decent chance of making it alone, so he wasn't too worried for it; but the idea of so loyal a pokemon abandoning its family and home... He assumed something must be keeping it from returning at once.

---

DEREK HOFFMAN

"Yeah. Likewise." Derek responds with a small wave as the trainer, Adrian, steps down from his Corviknight. The question he bears warrants a shaking of the head, telling him the apparent troubles they'll be facing. "There are all kinds of tracks left by pokemon in the direction the Growlithe was last seen. And the ashfall is covering them up as we speak. I looked up what a Growlithe footprint looks like just in case, but..."

Looking out in the direction they'd soon be headed, Derek couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic. "We might need to get a little more creative. The owner gave me their shirt to try and help them back with the scent. It's already cut into pieces. I'm gonna make a trail and hope we notice something while we're out there. You wanna go on ahead on your pokemon to cover more ground?" Offering some of the pieces of fabric should Adrian agree with the approach, Derek waits to hear their decision before pressing further out into the wild.

---

Adrian Malcolm | 2/5 MISSION

"No, Corviknight is beat." They'd flown in all the way from Slateport, and such a short time after the tournament. Exhaustion crept up on them more quickly than usual, and he was loathe to place such a burden upon the creature when he might do just as well on foot. "Give me some of the cloth, we should scatter them around," Adrian suggested while holding a hand out expectantly. It was their best means to approach the situation, though he wondered whether the pokemon was only lost, and nothing else.

"We can leave them a little ways off from the town, just to get it close, and see if it can't do the rest." Though he remained optimistic, he wondered whether the constant smell of volcanic ash wouldn't prove overbearing to a pokemon's olfactory senses.

With some of the shredded linens in hand, he carves a path through the low lying grass, caking his boots in soot and leaving a path of emerald in his wake. Every thirty paces or so he discards a scrap of the scented fabric, leaving a bread crumb trail for the lost pup to pick up on. Derek and him cover more ground separately, but do not lose sight of one another over the vast, level plain while looking for any undisturbed paw prints.

In a far off memory, he can see fresh prints in the snow, and a dashing blur of black-on-orange fur to whom they would have once belonged to...

---

DEREK HOFFMAN

"Here." Derek hands over some of the fabric offered before the two are on their way, distant but not out of sight. Spanning a considerable distance before staking the fabric to a tree with tacks, he repeats the process until they're well over a hundred yards out from where they started. The path behind him is obvious because of the trail, but he isn't sure how confident to be in the Growlithe's ability to pick up on the smell with all the pumice that smelled of molten earth and gas.

Still proving at least a little optimistic, Derek continue to press on. As he did, however, the sound of something other than the wind could be heard. Faint to the point that there was no telling what it was, he looked over to Adrian who also seemed to have stopped for a moment to place another piece of cloth. "Do you hear something? It sounds like it's coming from your direction." Speaking loudly so that they could hear, Derek remained quiet hoping the sound could still be heard.

And it could, something high pitched like a yelp.

"There it was again. Think we should check it out?"

---

Adrian Malcolm | 3/5 MISSION

"Yeah. It could be something." Adrian knew the cries of distress, even so faintly carried on the wind, and released a pokemon of his to serve as his escort; a Mudsdale trots along at his side, matching his brisk pace with a leisurely gait.

Though he recognizes the sounds carrying on the wind, his ears are not so keen; Adrian cannot pinpoint its location. Nor can Mudsdale be of much assistance to him, its sense of smell hardly its selling point. "Can you tell where it's coming from?"

---

DEREK HOFFMAN

Sprinting over in Adrian's direction, Derek can tell that it's still further ahead of them yet. And as he drew closer, not only did the sounds become more apparent, but something else. "This way, c'mon!"

The sleek silver wings of a wild Skarmory glinted in the light, soon circling overhead in the direction of the sound. It had discovered what it believed to be prey.

Not long after that, the prey came apparent to the naked eye. A Growlithe, fitting the description they were given, was defending an injured Buneary that was hiding under the stump of a tree. And it wasn't just the first Skarmory they saw, but a whole flock of them taking turns diving at the heroic hound.

Beginning to lose his breath, Derek took out a pokeball containing one of his latest catches, hurling it up into the air with the Skarmory. "Saber, use Discharge!"

While otherwise foolish, the Magnezone's aerial positioning was key, along with it's magnet pull that prevented the Skarmory from pursuing anything on the ground. The imminent discharge sent a shock rippling through the lot of them, and some even appeared to become paralyzed.

The Growlithe began barking at the combatants aggressively, rather than frantically, dealing out a potent flamethrower that engulfed a duo of paralyzed Skarmory whole, leaving them to roast. The magnetic force began to dwindle, however, being spread across so many foes.

The remaining Skarmory was much bigger, and resisted Saber's pull so well that it was able to land perfectly before the trainers. Letting out a vicious call, it quickly ran them down with the intentions of goring them with it's drill peck.

---

Adrian Malcolm | 4/5

"Go ahead and help them to safety!" Adrian gave Mudsdale its mission, and it began to exude mud and dust from its body in a MUD SPORT meant to reduce their chances of being struck by DISCHARGE. It trotted over to the tree and helped the Buneary escape, but the Growlithe was determined to fight back. Don't be stupid, run.

Now who did that remind him of?

When the head honcho of the Skarmory crew lands before them, Mudsdale cannot return right away, helping the Buneary to safety. But its superior land speed allows it to catch back up the the party; as the Skarmory makes a lunge for them and they dash aside, its gangly movements causing it to lumber around sluggishly until a delayed Mudsdale BULLDOZES through the grounded avian in a devastating rush.

---

DEREK HOFFMAN

Watching Adrian and his horse take down the remaining Skarmory, Derek allows Saber to remain outside the ball in case any of them somehow managed to get back up.

The Growlithe's wild friend, a Buneary, was unable to flee the area during Mt. Chimney's eruption. It seemed the Growlithe was aware of this, and risked it's life to protect them.

"C'mon boy, let's get you both home." After taking a moment to examine the Buneary on the surface, he ammended that. "Or maybe the pokecenter first."

Allowing them to sit on the Mudsdale or Magneton on the way back, Derek walked at a brisk pace to make short work of the way back. "Nice working with ya, by the way."

This is said to Adrian once they close in on the Growlithe owner's house. Derek couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a Mudsdale, but he'd always enjoyed watching ground type pokemon duke things out.

Once they returned the dog and collected the fee, they were both free to leave.

---

Adrian Malcolm | 5/5 Mission Complete

"Yeah, you too." Derek was a swell guy. Handled himself well. But Adrian's mind was elsewhere, triggered by the doom-driven nature of the Growlithe they were tasked with recovering. It brought back memories of the day Empirio Saiga murdered Howitzer.

"Let's do it again sometime, somewhere less stressful." Derek wouldn't understand why he was bothered, and might get the wrong impression, but Adrian couldn't control that and he wanted to explain as much even less. "See ya around, ace."

---

DEREK HOFFMAN