the houndour suddenly sprints off, hefty paws taking him forward in large confident strides. "theron!" alia calls after him, her legs picking up speed to chase after the dark canine. the dog yips excitedly as he chases after its prey, kicking up dried brown leaves in his steps. alia grits her teeth as she fights to increase her speed, the years of running still no match to the houndour's innate skills. "come back, theron!" she yells again, beads of sweat beginning to culminate on her temples. [break][break]

lani screeches a shrill cry as she zooms to halt the canine, a blur of purple in the corner of alia's eyes. by the time the ranger caught up with her two pokemon, however, the houndour had already unleashed a fiery ember at a poor unassuming skiddo, catching its soft grassy pelt aflame. the young goat shrieks in pain, the fire charring its soft body as it attempts to slink away.
[break][break]

theron presses his body close to the ground, eyes narrowed as he prepares to lunge at the escaping skiddo. alia rushes forward, firmly breaking him out of his stance with a nudge of her foot. "that's enough." she ordered, putting herself between the canine and the goat. "you're not here to terrorize every pokemon you see. if you do that again, you're back in your pokeball." she stares down at the houndour, blue eyes unwavering as she waits for him to back down. the canine flattens his ears as he stares back at his new trainer, unwilling to let go of his prey. when alia remains in position, however, he steps back, letting out an unhappy growl as he whirls around to leave. he stalks forward, frustration radiated off of him in clustered waves. [break][break]

alia sighs before nodding at the rest of her pokemon to resume their trek. it was going to be difficult to suppress the houndour's hunting instinct, it seems.

+ skipping skiddo!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

another target catches the groups' attention shortly, although this time it makes its presence known by sound than scent. the noise takes form in a consistent buzzing, increasing by the second as alia and her pokemon move forward. "that sounds like a bug, don't y'all think?" the young ranger says aloud, her eyes darting around their lush surroundings to locate the source. its her noibat that successfully pins down the location of the noise, however, her large round ears proving to be much more useful at the task. [break][break]

alia glances at the direction her noibat had pointed to, catching a glimpse of the scyther that was partially concealed by the foliage. a well-trained scyther would be useful in battle, she muses to herself, but a glance at her houndour immediately changes her mind. maybe later, she decides. she already had her hands full with one predator pokemon, let alone two. [break][break]

theron's lips were pulled back at the sight of the new foe, drool collecting in the shallow dips of his jaw. "hey. we're not doing that again." alia chides immediately, frowning. the canine lets out a small huff before he obeys, stalking past the green bug.[break][break]

+ skipping!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

to the dark canine's relief, he didn't have to suppress his hunter instincts for much longer. at the sight of a small larva-like pokemon, alia turns to the houndour, giving him the permission to attack. he jumps into action immediately, and soon enough short bursts of intense fire were exchanged, illuminating the loosely-dressed trees with an ominous glow. as the flames burned brighter by the second, the ranger moves her palm to her belt, mere seconds away from her marshtomp's pokeball. she wasn't trying to make the evening news for arson, thank you very much. [break][break]

once the houndour howls in victory, alia tosses a pokeball towards the fainted bug. she had a feeling it was going to be a strong asset to her team in the future, with its rare type combination. it was wins all around today, it seems.

+ catching larvesta!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]