Barren trees and threadbare bushes passed like frozen soldiers as Dom walked. Without thick foliage to dampen the noise, the woods sounded strangely hollow. The creaks of branches and sounds of scuffling echoed and bounced, never quite coming from their true source. A frantic scrabbling caught Dom's attention. He stopped so quickly that Mags nearly ran into him. After taking a moment to orient himself, he pushed off the path and into the wilderness proper. It wasn't a few feet from the route itself that he found the source of the noise: a young Houndour had its leg caught in a wire trap. The ground around the Pokemon was scorched and singed from its attempts to incinerate the trap. Smart poachers used metal wire when placing traps like this in areas that had abundant Fire types, and for good reason.[break][break]

"Stay here, Mags," Dom said as he slowly approached the struggling Pokemon. The Houndour fixed him with a stare immediately, its ire shifted from the restraint to the human. A gout of flame flew at him, and Dom scrambled backward to avoid it. "It's okay," he said in his calmest tone. The Houndour was having none of it. Dom frowned, hesitating just out of reach of its fire. He released Nova, who cocked her head at the trapped Pokemon. "I need a distraction. Confuse it." He hated using his own team's moves against wild Pokemon, but sometimes they were too afraid or aggressive for him to get close.[break][break]

Nova turned and locked eyes with the Houndour. Her tails wagged enchantingly and her eyes seemed to glow. The Houndour cocked its head, then faltered a bit. Dom took his chance, darting in and slipping the wire from around the Pokemon's leg. He could see the Houndour's attention follow him, but always just a bit too late. He was in and out before the confused Pokemon knew quite what had happened. Recalling Nova, Dom backed off into the brush and watched the Houndour wander safely into the wilderness.

[break][break]

+ skip.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Dom watched the Houndour slip off into the undergrowth and gave a contented little sigh. This was why he loved the job. Nature had an amazing way of bouncing back from any perceived slight, whether human-made or of its own design. He was happy to give it a helping hand when all seemed lost, though. After a wistful moment, he turned back toward the trail, collected Magnolia, and continued on his way.[break][break]

As they walked, Dom became aware of a strange sound echoing from deep in the woods. It wasn't one that was familiar to him and, with the obvious presence of poachers in the area, he was compelled to check it out. Weaving quietly through the tangle of branches, he did his best to follow the rhythmic scraping. He walked further off the path than he really wanted to, but the way the sound bounced with so few leaves deceived him. Finally, as he rounded a copse of trees, he caught a glimpse of gold. There, in a small clearing, not having noticed him, was a Seviper sharpening its tail on a rock. Giddy, he carefully pulled out his phone to film. He knew this behavior existed, but had never had the chance to actually witness it. Seviper were generally so secretive and aggressive that it was hard to catch them in such a vulnerable moment.[break][break]

After filming for a while (he was definitely going to send that to Matilda Greenlaw), Dom quietly turned and headed back for the trail.

[break][break]

+ skip.

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Dom successfully slipped away from the tail-sharpening Seviper and started back down the trail, Magnolia in tow. Their walk was quiet, save for the crunch of sticks underfoot and the occasional rustling of forest life. For hours they walked on like that, their path twisting and curving lazily through the trees. It was almost meditative. Dom could swear at times like this he was on some other reality, somewhere between asleep and awake.[break][break]

Until a wholeass Carvanha hit him square on the top of the head.[break][break]

Dom yelped and recoiled, the blinding pain ejecting him sharply from whatever reverie he'd been so comfortable in. He stumbled, hands clapped over his head and eyes squeezed shut, and ended up sitting down hard on the ground. Magnolia, for all her steady bravery, stared at the flopping fish. She squinted between it, her pained trainer, and the sky. It was a miracle.[break][break]

Dom finally forced his eyes open, groaning. The poor Carvvanha looked worse for wear than he did. It was covered in scrapes and scratches, not to mention a line of shallow puncture wounds across its sides.[break][break]

"Got caught by some bird Pokemon, huh?" Dom asked it through gritted teeth. Sometimes birds would get spooked mid-flight and drop their dinner. It just usually didn't happen directly on someone's head. Clamoring to his feet, Dom pulled out a Pokeball. Neat, the lump on his head was about that size already. "Can't leave you out here in this condition, little guy. I'll make sure we find you a Pokemon Center and get you fixed up."

[break][break]

+ catching the carvanha!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky