"—an emboar!" mika finishes her earlier statement, a bit surprised. she hadn't expected to see one all the way out here in granite cave. nevertheless, despite being a strong pokemon, mika already had a couple of good fire-type pokemon in her arsenal. talonflame, her first pokemon friend, and now vulpix, one of her newest additions to the team. [break][break]

"we need to pass, but i don't want it to come after us, so..." she nods to her musharna. "willa, put him to sleep, won't you?"[break][break]

the musharna yawns loudly, floating away from mika and towards the wild pokemon, instead. before the emboar can react, bright pink psychic waves of energy emanate from willa's body, and the mega fire pig pokemon is knocked out within seconds. [break][break]

mika praises willa after the musharna returns to her side, and keeps the whole party moving along. they walk along for about ten minutes in relative peace, until brynn the mawile reacts again, and mika looks in the direction ahead of them. what could it be now?

[break][break]

+ solo wild; steel/ground/fighting [break]
+ skipping emboar!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

a revavroom. this pokemon is harder to avoid, simply because they are known for chasing down anyone that looks like a potential threat. knowing this, mika has both her vulpix and her toxicroak team up to knock the pokemon unconscious. normally, the act is a little more violent than what mika feels comfortable with, but she ensures the revavroom is still in working order before ushering her team to go further along in granite cave. [break][break]

"whatever is up ahead, that may very well be our next shot. it wouldn't do to leave empty-handed, after all." she says this aloud to assuage her own fears rather than that of her pokemon, but the sentiment still holds.

[break][break]

+ solo wild; steel/ground/fighting [break]
+ skipping revavroom!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

a mienfoo. that would be fine, since fighting types are helpful, and mika recalls that particular species to be graceful and quick learners. they're also known to be isolated, choosing to train in solitary wilds than in the presence of others. the more mika thinks about it, the more they realize that that sort of pokemon would work perfectly on a team of hers. [break][break]
rather than use other tactics to hinder the mienfoo, however, she'd ask one of her pokemon to face the wild pokemon in a fight, instead. "juri." mika and their toxicroak walk ahead of her other pokemon. the mienfoo they approach seems to be in the midst of training, but stops once a foreign presence draws nearer. [break][break]"mienfoo," mika begins to say, "i challenge you to a fight. if i win, you'll come with us." juri speaks up, as well, the toxicroak making noise that only fellow pokemon could understand. as the mienfoo looks between the frog pokemon and its trainer, it nods once in understanding. [break][break]the fight is on. then, an exchange of blows: mienfoo, graceful and quick, while toxicroak is strong and direct. for a while, it seems like the fight could go either way, but juri the toxicroak uses one last poison jab to win the fight in her favor. the male mienfoo falls to the ground, and struggles before ultimately remaining stuck. [break][break]
mika wordlessly leaves an empty poke ball in the mienfoo's vicinity, nodding once. the mienfoo rolls over on its stomach, and stares at the poke ball for a moment. from the ball to the trainer, it hesitates. but then seeing that the choice is between defeat or possibly being left for dead, touches the capsule without hesitation. [break][break]
the ranger picks up the new acquisition, and nods at juri. she brings the whole team around and congratulates everyone for their efforts today. amid a crowd of happy pokemon, mika stops petting and praising everyone long enough to say: "time to leave. come along, everyone. let's bring our newest team member to a pokemon center, shall we?"[break][break]

+ solo wild; steel/ground/fighting [break]
+ catching mienfoo!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]