[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 4/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Alright. First thing's first, it was time to find something shiny. The Pokemon in the Warden's back lot were always a different color from the norm, and their fur practically sparkled in the light. Not only did it make them rarer and more valuable, but it also made them easier to find. All Isaac needed to do was look for the light-[break][break]

Ooh, a coin! Isaac snatched it up, smirking a little as he turned it over in his hand. Never a bad time to pass up easy money. After all, it wasn't every day you walked through the safari zone and found-[break][break]

Another coin! Nice! Isaac grabbed it up. Finding one coin was nice. Finding two was pretty great-[break][break]

And finding three was fantastic! And a fourth! And a fifth! Coin, coin, coin, coin, coin! It was like every few steps, another little glimmer caught Isaac's eye. So what if his traumas were flaring up on the regular nowadays? So what if he was tied down on the tracks of the inevitable war sweeping Hoenn? So what if even when he won (which was surprisingly often), he felt like he was losing? He found life's money faucet, and that made things a little bit better.[break][break]

Or at least, it did before something dropped onto his head. Isaac grabbed that something, holding it away from him before a flurry of flailing claws started slicing up his skull. It was the first of the back lot's shiny Pokemon, a Purrloin with greed brimming in its eyes. You had to spend money to make money, and this human clearly had money if he was hear in the Warden's back lots![break][break]

Unfortunately, the human also had Pokeballs, and was not afraid to use them. He pitched the cat away, then tagged it with a Safari Ball before it could scamper away.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 3/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]The good news was that Isaac had caught his first Pokemon of the night. The better news was that now he had a ton of coins! It wouldn't break the bank or anything, but it'd be a pretty penny for him to pocket when he made his way back home. All he had to do was load it into his bag and, boom, he was set. Nothing could ruin this day![break][break]

Just one problem. Murkrow liked shiny objects. Isaac was now carting a buttload of them around. And this leg of the Warden's back lot was filled to the brim with bright pink Murkrow, circling overhead like a pack of slavering vultures. Isaac froze up, still as a statue. Maybe they were circling over some other poor sap instead?[break][break]

Then Murkrow swooping season began, and Isaac ran across the Safari Zone like his life depended on it.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 3/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac had made it out of there with his life intact. His coins, on the other hand, weren't so lucky. The Murkrow's swipes and pecks frayed the bag to its breaking point, and when the straps snapped they set upon it like Vullaby on a carcass. All that treasure was gone, like tears in the rain.[break][break]

Oh well. At least he still had the biggest, shiniest coin to himself. He wouldn't be leaving the Safari Zone empty handed after all! He took a second to admire it as he sat back and caught his breath; its oblong shape, its coarse texture, its beautiful shade of greyish-brown-[break][break]

Hey, this wasn't loot! This was a rock![break][break]

A giggle from behind Isaac caught his attrntion. As he peeked over his shoulder, he saw a Fennekin clutching his coin in her mouth. Magician. Why did it have to be Magician?[break][break]

Before it could dart away, Isaac wound up a safari ball. "Oh no you don't!" Isaac called, pitching the ball right towards the fleeing fox.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 2/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]The troublesome Fennekin had been rounded up, but more importantly, Isaac had gotten his coin back! Score! Isaac held the coin up to the light, a little grin on his face as he made sure that he didn't go all of this way for a counterfeit. Thankfully, no. This was 100%, genuine, solid gold, real deal.[break][break]

And it was also punching Isaac right in the face.[break][break]

The hell? Isaac skidded back, eyeing the coin suspiciously. Sure enough, in its facets, he could see a reflection that wasn't there before. A Shuppet, a Pokemon notorious for possessing discarded objects, had taken up residence inside of this coin. And with how it squinted down at Isaac, it seemed he was playing for keeps.[break][break]

Yeah. No. That shit wasn't worth it. Once you started getting your ass kicked by coins, More Money More Problems went from a metaphor to very pertinent life advice. Isaac cut his losses and doubled back, letting the Shuppet do . . . whatever the fuck a Shuppet did with money. Stupid universal love for shiny objects.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 2/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]ALright. He'd done it. He'd escaped. Now Isaac could get back to the most important part of this trip; shiny hunting! But the next Pokemon was a rather reclusive one, even in a place as pristine as the Warden's back lot. Hattenna kept away from humans and Pokemon, even members of their own species, to avoid getting swept up in any strong emotions.[break][break]

Hey, now there was an idea! Irritation at losing his coins in a series of increasingly convoluted and improbable circumstances absolutely counted as an emotion. Isaac dug deep down inside himself, tapped into his frustrations, and got Big Mad. He swiveled his head across the Safari Zone; the rivers, the trees, the bushes-[break][break]

Perfect. A Hattenna, overwhelmed by his ire, popped from the bushes and broke into a run. The second it emerged, Isaac lobbed a ball its way.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] 1/4 WARDEN SAFARI BALLS REMAINING!

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Success! The Pokeball bounced off of the Hattenna, securing it for the boys back home![break][break]

Then, as it bounced off of the ground, it promptly got stuck in a nearby spiderweb. On the bright side, the sticky web would gum up the Pokeball's release mechanism and help make the catch even more of a sure thing. On the downside, there was now a baby blue Spinarak scuttling around the web and interfering with the retrieval of Isaac's catch.[break][break]

Normally, this would be a problem. However, Isaac had Safari Balls on his side, and those things were nuts at catching Pokemon. Isaac lobbed a ball at the Spinarak as it crawled around on the web, content as this ball, too, landed on the web. Piece of cake. He'd be heading home with a full foursome of Pokemon with plenty of time to spare![break][break]

Oh, dear. Even as Isaac approached, the web just kept quivering.[break][break]

It took all of Isaac's speed to pluck the two Pokeballs off of the Spinarak's web, bundling them in his arms before a cascade of Spinarak started pouring out from the fringes of the web. Nope! Isaac had been getting chased around by too many Pokemon today! He was not adding a spider tsunami to the list! He gathered his things and bailed, counting his lucky stars that this wasn't a real situation in the wild.

[break][break]

[break]