"I'm looking forward to going," Shalin replied with a tone of confidence after the captured Stunky's musk cleared to the point where she could breath again. The release of musk had provoked a discharge of Sweet Scent from a nearby wild Amoonguss, which helped make the air breathable a bit more quickly.

"It's tough to get to," she cautioned when Theo seemed interested in taking a trip to the dangerous, natural icy prison. "You need a diving Pokémon to get there, plus the water around it is cold." Technically it was illegal for her to go to the Trench, but that statute was not enforced except by the warning of no one being there in the event a rescue was needed. "Kiku will be her name," she decided aloud.

THEO BECKETT

{WC: 130}
{PC: 6}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Good
Tari          Scolipede      Fair

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THEO BECKETT CAUGHT THE NIDORINA!

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"You and me both," Shalin replied, having to tilt her head down to make eye contact from her Wyrdeer's back. It was quite a bit higher up than she was used to; after all, Prance had only evolved recently. There were a lot of adjustments she had to make with the forest Pokémon's new evolution. "I've been there before once. Maybe not into the Trench proper, but I took a fall in Shoal Cave and found myself some place that looked way different than a simple ice cave."

Shalin told the tale of her last adventure there, where she rode on the back of a wild Alolan Ninetales to wear it out enough to make an escape without access to her Pokémon. "It was terrifying, but also really fun! If I find that Ninetales again, I'm not giving up until I catch it!"

Suddenly, she heard the bellow of a Scolipede behind her. By the time she learned what had happened, it was too late; a wild Dragalge was prancing around the fainted bug-type. "Tari!" She reached for her Scolipede's empty Poké Ball and recalled her. "Prance, let me down!" This exact scenario was what she was afraid of; Flit's wing was still injured so he couldn't fly, and Tari was ambushed after a long and hard battle wore her down. Prance was her last stand, as her Litleo and Snivy were nowhere strong enough to take on such an advanced Dragon-type.

Not a moment after Prance released the psychic hold on her rider, Shalin slid down and commanded a Zen Headbutt from her. This psychic charge was met with an equally strong Poison Tail, aided by the dragon-type two brown fins. Prance was infected with deadly poison when the two attacks collided! All it took was the one psychic attack to stun the wild, but if it stung Prance again, the poison would be a serious issue. While she had a hard time wrapping her head around how a saddle for a Dragalge would work, she was going to try! And if she didn't like it, she could always release the Pokémon back into the wild. She let her Poké Ball fly...

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Fair
Tari          Scolipede      KO

{WC: 366}
{PC: 7}

Dragalge Capture please!

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BOTH OF YOUR CAPTURE ATTEMPTS ARE SUCCESSFUL!

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Shalin breathed a sigh of relief when the Dragalge stayed in the Poké Ball. She was running very low on them and needed to return to a Pokémon Center soon anyway. Flit's wing was injured, Tari was in horrible condition, and Prance's gait was starting to become more labored just in keeping her trainer safe. That left her with her two younger Pokémon to protect her.

"That's a good idea, Theo!" Shalin answered. "I'll have to keep my eye out for one. I've always wanted a great big Espeon or Umbreon." Those two in particular were fantastic at tracking Pokémon. "I know they're rare, but they would be very good at it." She described a great big Vaporeon she once saw back in Johto; it was slightly larger than she was. Breeders mostly commonly had them, but they cost a small fortune to purchase, along with the remainder of Eevee's evolutions. They could be bred as mount Pokémon, but many of them were at the limits of what was genetically possible for the species.

Shalin turned Prance back toward Dewford, seeing a wild Gloom scattering Stun Spore about as though it were hunting for something. She briefly summoned Kiara and instructed her to shoot a warning Flamethrower wide of it in an attempt to scare it off.

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Fair
Tari          Scolipede      KO

{WC: 221}
{PC: 8}

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THEO BECKETT CAUGHT THE VENOMOTH!

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"They are quite rare," Shalin answered Theo, "which would explain why you haven't seen one before. They're very popular among breeders, but..." She trailed off, thinking about how lucky she would have to be to get one back in her homeland. "Only...very moneyed people have them back in Johto," she sighed, making sure to give a sleeping Golbat a wide berth. With how late in the afternoon it was getting, it was going to be time for the Pokémon to wake up soon.

"Oh, if Flit were any larger, my whole body would be throbbing just flying on him!" She couldn't help but briefly giggle as the lights of Dewford Town came into sight. While it wasn't fully dark yet, she did need to get Flit to the Pokémon Center. While his wound wasn't serious, it was still a wing injury. "I do need to get him to a Pokémon Center though. Wing injuries are serious; with how fast they buzz, Flit might not be able to hold his wings together if he were to try to fly now."

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Flit          Yanmega        Good
Kiara         Litleo         Good
Jugan         Snivy          Good
Prance        Wyrdeer        Fair
Tari          Scolipede      KO

{WC: 183}
{PC: 9}

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THEO BECKETT CAUGHT THE WIMPOD!

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"Was great chatting with you, Theo!" Shalin smiled, waving from atop her Wyrdeer. "You seem like a nice guy. I hope we do get to meet again. You take care, too!" With that, the sound of clopping hooves filled the air around Shalin as Prance bounded toward Dewford Town...

...that is, until a large Water-type distracted her. A wild Swampert along the coast briefly made eye contact with her before turning around and yawning. Being most active during the early hours of the day, it made sense that the wild was about to go to sleep. She was still a little short on Water-types, especially ones that were adept at traveling through wetlands.

While she wasn't happy with it, Shalin decided to battle the wild with Jugan, her young Snivy. Even with a big type advantage, he would fight an uphill battle against the wild if things went long due to the vast raw strength difference. She had to act fast. She hurled his Poké Ball as close to the water Pokémon as possible and commanded a GIGA DRAIN from him.

The Swampert let out a roar at the Grass-type ambush, badly injure from having most of its energy drained away. In an act of desperation, his foe flung itself at Jugan with maximum force, sending the Snivy flying directly toward Prance at high speed. The Wyrdeer instinctively faded her psychic harness around Shalin in case she could not maintain her balance, but she managed to stay on all fours. Just as she saw the Swampert turning around, she tossed a Poké Ball at it, then recalled her badly hurt Snivy. Maybe he wasn't ready for battles after all...

THEO BECKETT

{WC: 280}
{PC: 10}

Notes: Catching Swampert and closing thread!