he glances up when he hears the bonsly's cries, followed by the thump of small footsteps and the rustle of grass as the distraught pokemon comes into plain view. waddling along as quickly as it can, falling over its own two short feet, the bonsly is under attack by a speed boosted torchic who overtakes it with ease but is apparently content to toy with the rock-type by just pecking at the three green spheres atop his head.

fishel regards the duo with a certain detached amusement but even that doesn't last long.

"that's enough." it's soft enough to be gentle, but the bonsly knows - somehow - that it's very much not.

unwillingly, the bonsly stops in its tracks and has to force itself to look at the torchic. fishel has to commend the dramatics. sending the torchic a soul-searching tearful look, the bonsly finally stands his ground, overwhelming the wild pokemon as the gravel and stone underfoot shudders and gives way.

fishel's curt thank you is barely audible over the sound of the rock slide. he's always been partial to native species, and tosses a pokeball at the injured torchic without any further consideration.

@safari + capture attempt

fishel is inspecting the safari ball, the bonsly dancing around his feet because while he did just hurt the torchic, at least he'll have the opportunity to befriend him later. somewhere he hears a chorus of voices, inclining his head slightly to watch the group of eggs bounce by. idly, he wonders whether the cracks on their shells are for aesthetic only or if they're a result of them bouncing so hard against the ground.

he watches them pass by.

@safari + skip

he turns at the sound of a struggle in the bushes. while last time it was his bonsly under attack from the wild pokemon, this time it's his zorua on the offensive.

fishel watches, eyebrow raised but otherwise unfazed, as the puffy four-legged ball of a pokemon struggles to haul something out of the undergrowth. the bunnelby - paws too short to make contact with the zorua's body - tries to slap at the dark-type with its ear-hands, and failing that, drums at the ground to begin a tremor of an earthquake.

it doesn't get very far. the moment the earth shudders underfoot, fishel tosses an empty capsule to secure the pokemon.

@safari + capture attempt

something that sounds like chirping or squealing or something sort of in between catches fish's interest, and he turns to watch as a togepi stumbles from bush to bush, glancing around conspiratorially, in what was likely meant to be a stealthy way of avoiding him.

he's thought about catching the species before but plans changed the moment he saw the smeargle-painted artworks in the safari foyer.

the zorua looks expectantly from him to the togepi and back again, but fish shakes his head.

@safari + skipping

fishel turns at the sound of soft padding footsteps on the ground. the pokemon is laissez-faire; tail grasped in one paw-like hand, the smeargle carelessly swings around the brush, sending speckles of what can only be described as 'paint' at their surroundings.

after several long moments, the pokemon makes eye contact with fishel, as if surprised to still see him there. it raises the free paw to the crown of his head in a mock tip of his beret. the zorua growls at fishel's feet but cuts itself off as its trainer brushes past to kneel beside the wild pokemon.

at that, maybe it would have run in any other circumstance, but the threat of being chased down is implicit if not in the glimmer of the human's eyes then in the glint of the zorua's fangs. a pokeball is extended towards it, and as the zorua puffs up to twice its size in what can only be an intimidation tactic, the smeargle opts to accept the offer without the need for force.

@safari + catching