As the Kalosian continued his stroll down the path, he would spot something. It was what seemed to be a dancing pineapple with limbs, and it was coming closer to him. The Interpol agent would attempt to play it cool, and see if the Pokemon in question was just passing through. Instead, the trainer would be greeted with a Hydro Pump coming right towards him, prompting him to dive to the left in order to evade the oncoming torrent of water.

"Looks like you've got your fight...", Thomas muttered as he reached for one of his Pokeballs, before throwing it towards the Ludicolo.

When Ripper came out of his Pokeball, he looked to the opposing Ludicolo with a bloodthirsty grin, ready to take out the walking pineapple. As the armored insect raised his arms up, and got ready to charge to deliver an X-Scissor to his intended victim, the Ludicolo would respond with a clap of her hand, sending a shock wave towards her opponent. While it didn't hurt too much, it caused the Scizor to flinch.

The Ludicolo would laugh and dance around for a moment, causing the Scizor to become enraged. The Ludicolo primed herself to fire a Hydro Pump at the Scizor. "Use Agility to dodge!", Thomas called out to Ripper.

The Scizor took a moment to concentrate, before the torrent of water would come towards him. In response, the Scizor would dodge the attack with a quick leap to the right.

"Now, X-Scissor!", ordered Thomas.

The Scizor would charge towards the Ludicolo, pincers raised and open to deliver the attack to the Ludicolo. In turn, she would reel her head back, ready to deliver a Zen Headbutt to the insect. While the headbutt connected, the attack barely phased the Scizor, who managed to go through with the X-Scissor. The Ludicolo, after feeling the sharp teeth of the pincers tearing into her, would feel herself losing consciousness. Rather than potentially be killed by the Scizor, the Ludicolo instead opted to turn tail and get out of dodge.

Ripper grinned, and raised his pincer in the air, before lowering it down in a fist pump-like motion.

"Good work, Ripper.", Thomas told the Scizor, who turned to Thomas to give him a nod, before continuing to gloat.

When the Scizor finished gloating, Thomas beckoned his companion to follow him. With a nod, Ripper trailed behind his trainer, still grinning to himself about his first fight in the Hoenn Region. And it wouldn't be long before Thomas spotted something coming towards him. From a distance, it appeared to be a Pikachu. But as Thomas got closer to the creature, something seemed off about the "Pikachu" that was approaching him. The closer he got, the more apparent it was that it was something dressed up in a crude rag fashioned after a Pikachu, with a face drawn on. And the tail seemed to be a stick.

The Mimikyu's cry, which sounded like an ethereal imitation of a Pikachu's cry, raised eyebrows. Whatever this creature was, was it pretending to be a Pikachu? It was then that Thomas remembered reading about a particular Pokemon that seemed to hail from the Alola Region, a Pokemon that donned old Pikachu-themed rags to disguise itself as a Pikachu. It seemed to be an attempt at befriending others.

Thomas crouched down to the level of the Mimikyu, offering his hand out to pet the creature. The Mimikyu excitedly took him up on the offer, gesturing him to allow her to pet her "head." Thomas did so gently, making sure not to break the neck of the disguise, and set her off in the process. "Aren't you adorable~", Thomas cooed the Mimikyu, who let out a cheerful cry in response. The Mimikyu seemed to be eating up the attention she was getting from the human.

Thomas would eventually stop, and reach into his bag for something. A small treat was produced from the bag, which he would offer out to the Mimikyu. The Mimikyu would graciously take the treat carefully, giving the trainer a thankful cry. "You enjoy, little one. I've got to keep going, it was nice meeting you though.", Thomas told the Mimikyu, before getting back up to his feet, and continuing down the path.

The Mimikyu would wave at the trainer with a shadowy tendril, before continuing to enjoy the treat.

While Thomas had been traveling along the route, something had been watching him the entire time. And while the battle between the trainer's Scizor and the Ludicolo was justified in that the Ludicolo attacked the trainer with no provocation, the sheer ruthlessness and bloodlust of the Scizor made the observer worried. But when the trainer showed the Mimikyu a brief moment of kindness, rather than attacking it or mocking it, the Pokemon watching his trip decided that maybe this human wasn't too bad.

Deciding to show herself to the trainer, the Audino would make her way over as quickly as she could. Thankfully, the trainer and his Scizor were walking slowly. It was when Thomas heard a familiar sound that he would stop, and turn to see the source. An Audino would greet the duo, and immediately use a Heal Pulse on the Scizor, healing off what little injuries he sustained during his bout with the Ludicolo.

While Ripper was baffled by this, Thomas smiled at the Audino. "Thank you so much, little one.", Thomas said to the pink and cream-colored Pokemon. Hearing the soft, familiar cry of the healer continued to cause Thomas to smile warmly. It was no secret, especially to those who knew him in the Unova Region, that he absolutely adored the species, and always wanted one of his own.

Today, Thomas would finally meet one of these wonderful creatures in the wild. But rather than have Ripper attack her, and weaken her for capture, Thomas had something else in mind for the little one. He would once again fish out one of his treats from his bag, crouching down and offering it to the Audino. The bipedal rabbit would walk over closer to the trainer, and would sniff the treat briefly, before taking it out of his hand, and eating the thing. Thomas smiled as she seemed to enjoy the thing.

"Do you mind if I pet you?", Thomas would ask the Audino.

The Audino would extend one of her feelers, and place it against his heart. She could feel the genuine warmth, how enamored he was with her, and the desire to be her friend. With this, the Audino gestured to allow him to pet her. As the trainer would pet her, he would feel how her pink and cream colored fur felt. The familiar texture of the Audino's fur brought a fond smile to his face. For her part, the Audino seemed to be enjoying it.

Thomas would offer to pet her feeler, knowing that the species particularly enjoyed such contact. The Audino would allow it, prompting Thomas to lovingly rub her feeler. As if channeling his love and affection into that contact, the Audino seemed to particularly enjoy it, crying out happily. Finally, Thomas would offer to hug the little one, which she happily accepted, the two briefly hugging one another.

Ripper could hardly believe what he was seeing. His trainer, someone he had been through many battles with, seemed to be going soft over this Pokemon. While it could be attributed to him resting in his Pokeball during Thomas' previous encounters with the species in Unova, it was still enough to shock him, maybe make him a little sick. If not for the earlier battle, he would swear that his trainer was finally going soft.

"Would you like to join us, little one?", Thomas asked the Audino. While she found him to be sweet, the hesitation on her face said it all. "What's wrong?", he would ask her. She would look up to Ripper, who was surprised for a moment. But when she cried something out, his reaction said it all. It seemed that she didn't like the idea of battling. Thomas picked up on the reaction, and it was far from the first time he saw such a thing. Just about every time, it was related to a Pokemon who either didn't want to battle, or trainers who refused to battle.

"You don't want to battle?", he would ask her. The Audino gave him a nod, and a frown. Thomas would gently ruffle the top of her head affectionately. "It's okay, I won't make you battle. If you'd join me as a healer and friend, I would gladly take you in. I promise to take good care of you.", Thomas told the Audino. While Ripper would give Thomas the "are you serious!?" look, the Audino would give him a look of surprise, then hold her feeler to his heart again. "All I want is to be your friend, little one. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do.", Thomas told her. His heartbeat would indicate that he was indeed telling the truth. That he wouldn't force her into battle.

It would now be up to the Audino whether or not she was willing to join him.