A large, otherworldly-looking Pokémon caught Josh's attention shortly after he silently commanded Aslan to resume his canter. Twilight was quick to follow. He had never seen the species before, and it looked intimidating...what with its squid-like tentacle-arms and a black chest glowing with bright spots. The Ranger was fairly certain of one thing, though; this Pokémon was not wild. Of course, he could have been wrong, but something with that kind of body had to be aquatic, and they were quite far from any marine environment.

Twilight's horn-blade hardened, ready to strike at a moment's notice if things escalated. Josh got the confirmation he wanted when he saw what he could only presume was the Pokémon's trainer next to him, waving. He guided the big cat toward the duo, his Absol following a short distance behind. The young Ranger waved back to acknowledge he knew of the other's presence. When the two were close enough, he greeted them. "Need a hand getting back to Fallarbor?" he asked, hoping his Ranger uniform would help him gain the man's trust. "It looks like there's some pretty rotten weather on the way."

It had taken a bit of effort to calm Phobos down once Night had noticed the group approach. His hand kept the Squid Pokémon's beak firmly shut before it could start caterwauling in protest at such actions and to make sure it wasn't about to try and lash out. As reckless as the Pokémon was, Night knew it wouldn't take a risk such as that if he were as close as he was.

He'd glance over as they drew near, mentally patting himself on the back for some correct identification of the Pokémon that the ranger...? had with him. Even if he hadn't quite noticed the sheaths at the man's hips that could only either be replicas of a Doublade. Or the actual Pokémon itself.

Only once he was certain that the Malamar had settled—as he had been waiting for the patterns on the Squid's body to stop pulsing—would Night allow his hand to fall from where he'd been keeping its mouth shut. "My Apologies, Phobos is rather unwelcoming towards strangers." Night would explain, adjusting the bag enough to keep Apple's small form from flying out. He'd just settled one problem he wasn't about to deal with another, Even if Phobos was still glaring at Josh.

"While our trip out here was fairly uneventful, the coming rain is likely to stir something up. If your offer is truthful, then I suppose we will accept it." Not to mention, Phobos would likely stop trying to delay the return to some type of town before the rain fell if there was someone the pokemon was unfamiliar with accompanying them.

---

Josh Devlin

"Phobos?" Josh asked the stranger about his Pokémon. "I've never seen its species before." He was definitely a little intimidated by the Malamar's stare; if it wasn't so obvious that the Pokémon was under the care of a trainer, he would have sent out one of his own to try to scare it away, and wouldn't have been beyond knocking it out. "I've had a couple Pokémon that have taken their time in warming up to me, like Twilight here," he gestured toward the large Absol, who was still on edge from the Malamar staring threateningly at her trainer.

Josh snorted when he realized he forgot to introduce himself yet again! He had a bad habit of getting caught up in conversation without telling anyone who he was. If he was going to be a better Ranger, especially in the sub-field he wanted to go into, proper social skills would be important to have. "Name's Josh. I'm a Pokémon racer looking to turn pro hopefully next season. As you can see, I also do part-time Ranging for Mauville in the off-season, though I'm technically off duty at the moment. And this--" He stopped himself when he could have sworn he felt a raindrop, briefly flipping down his helmet's visor to see if any rain had fallen on the rim. Nope. Bone dry. He quickly flipped the visor back up.

"This is Aslan, one of my closest partners." The Pyroar let out a greeting purr that may have sounded intimidating to those who were not used to big cats. Even Josh felt it just by being atop the king lion. "There's room behind me or Twilight, if you want. We can get you back to Fallarbor a lot faster." Given both of them were wearing full riding tack, the two apex predators at least had to be well behaved.

Ah, well. That certainly made sense. Night didn't expect anyone to be familiar with what Phobos was to begin with; he had long grown used to explaining it to curious passerby when the Malamar dragged him out for an exploration adventure.

"Phobos is a Malamar. Their species is commonly referred to as the 'Overturning Pokémon'" He'd explain, patient despite the much harsher thrashing from his bag. At least until a little green horn had managed to find the flap he was holding shut— and promptly poked upwards through it at a pace that it had the man's hand jolting upwards, giving the Flapple within enough space to wiggle her way out.

Where the dragon just. Kind of hovered there for a moment, mouth half opened as though it were about to start making a fuss of its own, before it had noticed Josh's presence. Instinct at least managed to keep it upright; the frantic little beats of its apple-skin wings having it bouncing in its spot with a curious look over the new arrivals to their company. Though at Aslan's greeting purr, the Flapple seemed to shake herself out of whatever stupor she'd been in momentarily to give a quieter chirrup of greeting in return towards the trio.

"You've met Phobos," A motion towards the Malamar again, who by this time had shifted his glare from Josh onto Twilight instead— "He gets a rise out of causing mischief, so it's best to ignore him." Night explained, ignoring the flail of a tentacle in his general direction to instead scoop the Flapple from the air and cradle her carefully in his arm. "And this one is Apple. Rather upset about her beauty sleep being interrupted a few moments ago." Again, the Flapple would give a quiet chirrup of greeting, this time at least in confirmation of her name.

"As for myself. My name is Night, though I am known to be referred to as 'Nightmare' if that is your fancy." While he'd look over the riding gear, Night would eventually give a shake of his head. "As kind of an offer as that is. I find it hard to trust a Pokémon I have not had extensive interaction with. They may be well behaved, but it does not take much for a signal to be missed and accidents to happen. I will be fine with walking all the way back."

---

Josh Devlin

When Josh heard the Pokémon's name, he immedtaely thumbed over to RangerNet on his phone; the service had a Pokédex-like app on it that had links to all kinds of links within the government database. Much, but not all, of the information was public. "Phobos and Apple," he repeated the names. "This is my first time seeing either one of these Pokémon in person," he admitted. Other than Johto and Hoenn, he hadn't traveled too much, both of these Pokémon species being discovered in distant regions he never had the intention to visit. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," Josh empathetically apologized when Night referred to the tiny dragon being aroused from her nap.

When the stranger introduced himself as Night or Nightmare, it sent a chill down his spine. It had to be a nickname, and one that made Josh think twice about his decision to let the man sit astride his Absol. Even the dark-type herself was instantly on edge after the introduction, her horn-blade turning sharp as though she were about to strike. "Twilight, th-that's enough," the Pokémon's trainer stuttered. Thankfully for him, Night had made that decision for him. He recalled the Absol before things escalated more than they already had. "Understandable. It's just something courteous for Rangers to do, especially when there's weather coming." A big gust of wind blew across the mountain road. "We should get going, Night."

Of course, the difference in the Absol was caught by Phobos— The Malamar fully straightening with a gurgling hiss escaping the squid's beak; a dangerous pulse of the pattern. "Phobos." Night's sharper tone had the Malamar pausing, shooting its own glare towards the man before ultimately backing down again, the light fading from the patterns along its body.

"My point." Well, at least he wasn't offended by the reaction. More amused than anything, even if he did have to abruptly stop the Malamar from retaliating at the Absols' tension. "Understandable, and respectable. But as it stands, walking will suffice." A flutter of movement from the corner of his eye had the man turning just so. Enough to watch Apple's curious prodding towards what had been a passing Krokorok— though now it just kind of stood there as if trying to figure out what the flying fruit was doing around it as the Flapple continued to bob about around its head.

"All is forgiven it seems, more interested in making friends as it is than holding a grudge." Well, if that was what Apple sought out as a companion, then who was he to deny the Flapple? If the Pokémon was amenable, then he'd not have Phobos shoo it off. "But you're correct. The weather only grows worse as it is, lead the way, Racer"

---

Attempting to catch Krokorok!
Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD STEELIX APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] SHEER FORCE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ROCK POLISH	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]DRAGON BREATH
[attr="class","wildtabox"]HARDEN	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]AUTOTOMIZE
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Night Fürst Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD POOCHYENA APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] RATTLED
[attr="class","wildtabox"]TACKLE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]TAKE DOWN
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ODOR SLEUTH	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]SAND ATTACK
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Night Fürst Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Night Fürst CAUGHT THE KROKOROK!

Curious, and oh so patient, Night would watch the confrontation. His hands neatly folded behind him as Phobos 'mimed' a similar action beside him; tentacles firmly settled and marginally twisting at the squid's back. Though an appraising eye would look over the sudden Charizard; taking in the sheer amount of riding gear that had been seen on just the three Pokémon he'd been shown so far.

"I take it all of your companions are well suited to riding?" Night would ask, only once Aries had been pulled back to its ball—blinded as it was by the sand the Poochyena had decided to kick up in a terror-fueled attempt to flee. Fair enough instincts, it seemed. Only turning to continue down the path Josh had started to lead once the ranger nudged Aslan into motion. A far more amused smirk gracing his face at the grumbling from the feline was heard.

The rumble of the ground had the man pausing marginally, just enough to get a glimpse over his shoulder towards the source—A steelix; whether it was drawn from the sound of the scuffle out of curiosity, or simply because there were people and Pokemon in a territory it claimed as it's own for too long and sought to chase them out, he wasn't sure. But he'd rather be safe than have to try and sprint away from a massive steel snake. "Phobos. Handle it." A pause to watch the Malamar's sharp turn towards the steel-type before he'd add in a quick "Gently. We're not out here to fight."

Even if it had a gurgling, clicking protest from the squid, it'd drift closer towards the Steelix instead; the patterns along its body beginning to glow and pulse a much slower frequency and color; drawing the attention of the Wild Pokémon from the rider and trainer and placing it upon itself instead. Allowing the Hypnosis to have an actual chance at taking effect

"I would avoid looking at him, he's likely to put you and your companion to sleep as well as the wild one." Night would advise; having turned away once Phobos had begun to approach the Steelix. "Unless you would rather have a nap in the rain." Was that an attempt at humor? yes. Yes it was.

---

Josh Devlin

OOC: Skipping this round!

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD GOOMY APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] HYDRATION
[attr="class","wildtabox"]CURSE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]BIDE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]FLAIL	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]TACKLE
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Night Fürst Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD MUDSDALE APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] INNER FOCUS
[attr="class","wildtabox"]MUD SLAP	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]STOMP
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ROTOTILLER	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]DOUBLE KICK
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Night Fürst Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Josh Devlin CAUGHT THE POOCHYENA!

"...Just about all of them," Josh smiled, letting go of Aslan's reins with his right hand and reaching for one of the two sheaths clinking about at waist level. He drew half of Yagyu, his Doublade, into his right hand. "Yagyu here is one of the few obvious exceptions." He twirled the longsword Pokémon around in his hand, so the steel-type's eye could face Night in greeting. She started rocking back and forth in her trainer's hand to do her best impression of a hand wave. "Any time I'm going somewhere dangerous, I don't leave without her. I took some martial arts classes when I was a lot younger, so I know how to use her. Not well, but passably. She's already saved my bacon a few times." A wild Mudsdale tromping about in the fresh rain was quick to back away when he saw the tall human with sword in hand pass by.

The warning to avoid locking gazes with Phobos was well-received but not needed; Josh was creeped out enough just looking at the Malamar from far away when he had first met Night. The remark about taking a nap in the rain did get a laugh out of the rider, the hiss of raindrops instantly evaporating upon touching the Pyroar's mane adding to the ambience. "You don't have to tell me that twice," he smiled. The rain wasn't heavy yet; if anything, it was a refreshing rain. It was the kind of rain farmers loved. The only one that wasn't enjoying the rain was Aslan, but the tall and proud lion was a tough one, continuing to walk alongside Night until they got back to Fallarbor Town.