It wasn't long before a pokemon came across his path, the snow making it harder for them to hide. Chespin seemed to be enjoying itself, but the cold is just too much for its small stature.

Feeling bad for the little tyke, Adrian still isn't willing to sacrifice one of his allotted pokeballs to save them from the cold outdoors. Instead, after kneeling before them, he tries to convince the grass type that it might be warmer tucked inside his jacket.

Taking well to the arrival of their new friend, Chespin climbs inside the makeshift sanctuary without delay. Sticking its head out back out after getting situated, Adrian is quick to ask for advice. The Chespin may know this place like the back of its hand. Or, in other words, where certain pokemon were holed up.

"Which way would I head if I were looking for more pokemon?" Allowing the chespin to guide him, Adrian's feet would soon carry him in the specified direction.

@tag

There was a voltorb along the way he'd taken, which was surprisingly active considering the snow. Perhaps the cool environment was allowing it to process and function at a higher capacity than usual, without the risk of burning itself up. He didn't give it much more thought.

It was incredible how much snow was already built up, the path ahead deeper beneath the blanket of powdery whiteness than he would've guessed. It was a good thing he liked wearing boots. He continued to trudge deeper into the safari, wanting to explore more. He had to see a little bit of everything before he'd let the fear of missing out get to him. There was still plenty of time.

Although admittedly he was already cold.

tl;dr skipping

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After listening to the snow crunch beneath his boots for long enough to lull him to sleep, they finally came upon something interesting. The most unusual colored phantump he'd ever seen, although he almost thought it was just snow clinging to its frame before he spotted the red leaves.

Whatever it was, he wanted it. And there wasn't much to it, the pokemon had already seemed drawn to him out of curiosity. He tossed a safari ball up in the air, catching it a few times before tossing it to the phantump once, hoping it would want to play catch. It skirted away from the ball however, but then it looked back at how let down Adrian seemed, going back over to it and picking it up.

Only to toss it back at him, something reminiscent of a smile spreading across its face. Adrian decided to keep this charade going for awhile longer, until eventually the pokemon began to bounce excitedly while they played their little game. And then he threw the safari ball much faster, hoping to catch the pokemon unawares.

But it only seemed excited to accompany its new trainer, disappearing into the glow of the pokeball with almost no visible resistance.

tl;dr attempting capture

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Satisfied with his capture, Adrian began to wander aimlessly through the frost touched grounds, the chespin in his jacket shivering as even he noticed a sudden shift in the temperature. It was dropping fast, and soon enough he saw why when an odd species of pokemon started jumping in his path, trying to garner his attention.

Might as well see what it wants, he decided as he padded a few steps closer. At this point chespin had abandoned Adrian, evacuating from the sheer cold given off by this pokemon. Adrian began to shiver, but he knew he could rely on Howitzer if he truly needed, and instead decided to press on with this new and intriguing pokemon.

It led him all over, jumping and pointing at snow constructs it had put together, through snow clad brush and rime coated trees. Whether or not it led him anywhere useful didn't matter; it was kind of adorable, watching this creature hop around excitedly. It put him in the holiday spirit. The last thing he was thinking about was taking it away from somewhere it enjoyed visiting.

tl;dr skipping

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Eventually the darumaka led him to a small tunnel passing through a hill, coming out on the other side only to see a strange snow-cloaked vulpix. It was definitely an elegant pokemon to behold, and so without hesitation he waved the darumaka off before sneaking up on the vulpix.

Darumaka remained at his side, refusing to leave of course.

It was fixated on its gorging of berries, allowing Adrian to poise for a perfect throw when the wind suddenly shifted, sending his sent the vulpix's direction. It straightened up and turned around to find the trainer holding a hand high, and the darumaka jumping with joy beside him. It looked to be frozen with fear at first, a leg taking an apprehensive half-step before it eyed the darumaka curiously.

Adrian lowered his raised hand, and the pokemon seemed to relax a bit more. Kneeling on one leg, he held a palm out to try and coax the pokemon over to him. Darumaka gave him a high five on that same hand at the earliest opportunity, and it honestly made him angry, but he burst out with laughter. And that had been enough to tempt the vulpix to his side.

When he realized that, he'd started whispering to it gently, trying to win it over with his dulcet tones. As it finally got close enough to touch, he stroked his finger delicately against its muzzle, stroking along its neck and torso firmly. Its coat of fur was silky to the touch, something he just wanted to bury his face in. They should make pillows out of this.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he spoke with sincerity. His other free hand began running over its ears, and although it seemed to shrug off his petting, it didn't seem to entirely distrust him. He considered trying to catch it with a pokeball, but worried whether it would try to flee at the first sign of him raising his hand again.

"Would you... like to come with me?"

There was only so much he could do to influence its decision, but given the pure of heart nature of this pokemon, it felt wrong to force it along with him by capturing it. He wanted this pokemon to be his friend, and he hoped it would reciprocate that feeling...

tl;dr attempting befriend capture

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Successfully endearing himself to the vulpix, Adrian was able to start making his way back out of the safari grounds... except he'd honestly not paid enough attention. Pretty sure he'd gotten himself lost paying attention to all the pokemon, actually. He was beginning to shiver more frequently, so he fished his arcanine's pokeball off its place on his belt, unleashing her in the snow before climbing onto her back.

"Mmm... go that way," he gestured towards the footprints, and Howitzer obeyed. They'd cover quite some ground until Adrian lifted his eyes from Howitzer's dense fur coat to see where they'd gotten off to. He didn't recognize this area for the lake that was frozen over. Clearly they'd started heading the wrong direction. Oh bother.

A starmie was gliding along the frozen water, and Adrian couldn't be sure whether the shadowy reflection beneath it wasn't another one trapped beneath the surface. Or perhaps it was a game they were just playing, either way he couldn't be troubled to interrupt or help them long enough to find out. Grabbing Howitzer by the scruff of her neck, he directed her towards where their pawprints had come from...

Except he couldn't find their old trail from that point. He stopped her again, not wanting to double all the way back to where he'd found the vulpix. "Hmm..." At the very least, he knew a safari warden would come looking for him once time ran out, so he wouldn't be stuck here forever.

tl;dr passing

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