Through the brush of the special zone was a pretty large looking rusty anchor! Lucia and Hero approached with curiosity brimming in their legs, but once it began to hover about, it had caused the pair to stumble backwards in fear. Hero slithered behind his owner as Lucia backed away after a frightened yelp.

"Ah-I don't think that anchors are supposed to do that..."

While a haunted cry, the ghost type would go on the offensive, launching a POWER WHIP at Hero while the Dunsparce did his best to avoid it. Her counter attacked just as the anchor had finished an attack of its own. Hero began to glow a bright blue color as he surrounded himself in fierce, engulfing flames and speeding towards the ghost-type with a DRAGON RUSH.

The sheer force was enough to send the attacker away, and Lucia collected a pokeball in hand. "Pokeball, go!" The capsule device whirled in midair and surrounded the Dhelmise in its energies. The Pokemon disappeared into the ball while Lucia waited with baited breath.

☉

With an audible click, the strange little ghost type was caught! Lucia celebrated her catch by picking up the safari ball with gleeful hands. "Great job, Hero! You're the best!~" She reached down to pluck her Dunsparce from the ground up by its sides and lift him into the air. With the world's biggest hug done, she'd laugh and nuzzle her head against his cheek.

One celebration later, and the two were off onto the next catch of the day. This one took them into the more coastal area of the park's premiere area. There were several Qwillfish that surrounded the area, with a lone one wandering about aside from the others. Lucia looked down at her pokeball by her hip and smiled, knowing just who to call for a situation such as this one. "Alright, Vulcan, let's blow off some steam,. just like Navy said!" She tossed out the Charmander in question, the grumpy fire-type letting out a sharp cry as he stared down the competition ahead of him.

His eyes went over back to Lucia, sizing her up again. She did her best to remain unfazed and still, doing her best to show no fear. "I, uh, thought it would be nice of you to stretch your legs a little! Don't you want to train more, anyway? These guys are super tough!" Vulcan snorted at her, his tail swaying left to right again before running forward and going towards the single Qwillfish isolated from the rest. The Charmander's scuffle was short lived with the poison type, who ate a direct FLAMETHROWER to the face.

"Nice job, Vulcan!" Lucia smiled, holding her hand up to him while the Charmander continued to huff at her. A moment of silence rang out before she slowly put it down and threw the safari ball at the Qwillfish.

☉

Just as they would be doing a minor amount of celebration, a silhouette rushed Lucia from behind. "Huh? What the-" She turned around, only to have a Gible sized bullet bull rush into her. With its tiny body colliding with the smaller body, the child was sent flying backwards across the safari area. Her form splattered across the ground while skidding away. Although their relationship was rocky, he could recall the many times that she had been trying her best to impress him.

---

A memory, a picnic of the many Pokemon in Lucia's team. "Here, Vulcan! Try some of Paldea's finest!" Lucia handed the Charmander a sandwich packed with lettuce, tomatoes and bacon. She had sliced it apart from her own sandwich and smiled down at him. "We used to make these all the time back home." The taste was a little funny, but the slices of meat in between had made the meal. He ate it up and was treated to another by Lucia, forgoing her own food.

In another memory, Lucia had been working on a fire pit that Navy had been training her to make. The young trainer would motioning to the shoddily made fire pit. "Sorry it's not good enough. I've been practicing and I think I'm getting better." She had worked so hard and while not exactly perfect, there was an effort. He laid down in it and let the fires wash over him.

---

The Charmander's tail fire went from a quiet dim to a visible inferno while he ran at the Gible with just as much fury as the smaller dragon-type. Rearing his head back, the Charmander breathed out a ring of fire around the Gible, the flames brushing against the smaller Pokemon. Its typing worked against it, as the fire damage had damaged it, though by a slim margin.

The Goble was quick to back into the fray, using Bulldoze against its salamander opponent. The ground cracked beneath him as the Charmander went flying. It landed harsh on the ground and pushed itself back up. The fire-type growled and attacked ate Gible again, only for it to jumped at the Charmander's tail and bite down. He cried out in pain, trying to swing the enemy off. Both Pokemon scrapped in a mess of biting and clawing, but in the end, the Gible raised its arm into the air and thrust it at Charmander with a fierce DRAGON CLAW.

In a wounded, hurt mess, the Charmander would end up groaning, trembling to push itself up as the Gible hissed at it. Despite being so much smaller than it, Vulcan was outmatched. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, one that caused him to only grow even more furious. He was lost by himself, fighting a losing battle. With a broken pride and an even harsher anger, he was only able to lay broken on the ground. Until a faint voice called out from him.

"...can! Vulcan! Are you okay?!" Lucia ran up to her pokemon on the ground, clutching her stomach with a pained expression in her eyes. At seeing he was hurt but alive, the girl smiled as she always had, then turned back to the hissing Gible. "We can do this, but we have to work together, okay?" The Charmander breathed heavy for a moment but slowly got back on his feet and let out a defiant cry. The Gible met the cry with its own as the battle continued.

"Let's use Smokescreen!" The Charmander exhaled thick, black fumes of smoke that enveloped the area around them. The Gible swung its form around the veiled air while its vision was obscured. After a bit without being able to see, a dimly lit fire could be seen. "Fire Fang!" Vulcan stepped out of the smoke and chomped down on the Gible's head. The fire was weak, but the force of the bite had caused the Gible to stumble backwards.

Lucia was divided. A part of her knew full well that a dragon-type was a huge responsibility, but she couldn't let the fight go on longer than normal and risk Vulcan's well being. But she also had really really wanted a Garchomp, and a shiny one at that! Lucia bite down on her lip while recalling the advice that Navy had given her. "Damn it..." she cursed under her breath, watching as Vulcan was thrown away and was preparing to use Bulldoze again.

Panic struck Lucia. She threw the safari ball at the Gible as its form would be captured into the ball. The realization of what she had done hit her as every shake of the ball was another inch of her heart sinking into her stomach. Could she afford to feed the Gible if she caught it? What about caring for it? This was entirely way out of her league!

CLICK!

Vulcan turned back to Lucia as the child looked down at her Charmander beyond her little mental funk. They shared a long silence before the Charmander raised its paw to her, though somewhat tired. Lucia's eyes widened at what was offered to them, before mirroring the action and sharing a high five. She cheered on, with Dunsparce wriggling around in celebration. "Good job, Vulcan!"

Baby steps, that's what progress was.

☉

Even after their scuffle with the Gible, Lucia and Vulcan were still more than willing to go the extra distance for their last remaining safari ball. The young trainer winced and continued to walk forward through the brush. It wasn't much longer before they encountered a Scyther stalking in the undergrowth here, its saturated green color able to be seen through the brush. Her eyes lit with joy, spotting the easy prey in front of them.

Even if they were pretty roughed up, she was going to see things through to the bitter end. ”Think you've got one more battle in you?” The Charmander nodded in tandem with her and moved forward, catching the bug-type's attention. The two stood before one another, as the Charmander used FIRE SPIN in an attempt to blast the Scyther away. As the flames burst from his mouth, the attack scorched the Scyther whole into a proper crisp. The bug-type was defeated and Lucia saw her chance.

”Go, Pokeball, go!” The safari ball left her hand, sailing straight to the Scyther as it disappeared into the safari ball.

☉