The silence of the forest was broken by a voice greeting the Kalosian. Thomas would turn just in time to see the Scyther accompanying the green-haired woman cry out. Thomas would nod to the woman, acknowledging her greeting without uttering a word himself. He would then size up the two, noticing that the Scyther's longer abdomen, marking it as a female.

"I see. Thank you for the warning.", Thomas would tell the woman politely. "It is my first time in the area, though I will say that I accept the risks I take in exploring this area, and that I am prepared to deal with what dangers the area may entail.", he would continue in a polite manner.

"Nice Scyther, by the way. How long have you had her?", he asked her. While he was tempted to bring out Ripper to have the two meet, he was worried about the potential of that being taken as a threat. And then there was the fact that Ripper himself would probably try to challenge the Scyther on sight.

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"Yes, her abdomen is long and pointed, as opposed to the male's shorter and more rounded abdomen.", he would explain to her.

Thomas was surprised that the woman thought that what he did was impressive. "I keep up with such information regularly. Most species of Pokemon don't have distinguishing traits that mark them out between genders as easily as a Scyther, or something like a Heracross, or a Pikachu.", he would respond, before catching himself. "But then, I suppose I'm preaching to the choir.", he added hastily, a bit embarrassed.

As she explained that her Scyther was a recent trade she had received, he looked back to the Mantis Pokemon. "I see.", Thomas started. But before he could inquire further about the Scyther, two Pokemon would arrive. While the green-haired woman would send an Exeggutor to take on the Amoongus, Thomas grabbed for the first Pokeball within his reach, before a Parasect would emerge from the foliage, also acting aggressively.

Thomas would deploy his Scizor, Ripper. The Parasect would raise his claws, before charging at the Scizor slowly, going in for an X-Scissor. "Iron Defense.", Thomas called out to Ripper. The Scizor would brace himself, hardening his body before the Parasect would strike him. Thanks to the reinforcement of his defenses, the attack would barely leave a scratch on his metal exoskeleton.

The Scizor didn't need his master's orders to know what to do next. Raising his pincers up, the Scizor lowered them down for a brutal X-Scissor of his own, slashing into the body of the Parasect. The attack was just enough to cause the fungal zombie to fall unconscious. Perhaps this was a testament to how long Thomas and Ripper had been at it, or just the fact that the Parasect was ill equipped to deal with such an opponent, while the Scizor was more than able to strike it down.

"You doing okay, Ripper?", Thomas called out, concerned about the possibility that the Scizor's attack may have tripped an Effect Spore. When the Scizor turned to him, his movements consistent as ever, and with a nod, Thomas grinned at him. "Good. Very good.", he said. "You did great, bud!", he called out.

Ripper would respond with a skyward fist pump, before walking back over to his master. Meanwhile, Thomas turned to see how the woman and her Pokemon were doing. It seemed that the two were doing just fine, having driven off the Amoongus successfully.

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As Ripper was walking back to his trainer, he would notice the female Scyther looking at him, before bowing her head in submission. While he hadn't seen her battle yet, he couldn't help but cock his head a little to the side. Perhaps it was his natural bloodlust talking, but if he were the younger, inexperienced Scyther looking at the older, more seasoned Scizor battling, he'd want to challenge them to a fight before even showing signs of submission.

"You know, I always thought that a showing of force had a calming effect on the wildlife.", Thomas joked in response to the green-haired girl's remarks.

But before things could continue further, two more Pokemon came onto the scene. A Carnivine floated into the area, coming towards Ripper.

"Ripper, behind you!", Thomas called out.

The Scizor would turn just in time to be greeted with the floating plant wrapping vines around his body, attempting to Wring him Out. Despite his armor, he could feel the vines squeezing his body tightly, causing him to grunt out in pain. Once the attack let up, and the Carnivine eased its grip on the armored insect, the bloodthirsty Scizor would glare angrily at the Carnivine, letting out an angry cry before raising his pincers, and delivering an X-Scissor to the floating plant.

The Carnivine could only let out a short cry of pain before she fell to the ground, the cuts left by the X-Scissor left plainly on its head, though thankfully not enough to be fatal. Once all was said and done, Ripper walked back over to Thomas, panting after such an encounter, but looking back up at Thomas with a grin.

"You okay, bud?", Thomas asked the Ripper, who gave him a nod, and held a closed pincer out to Thomas, who would gently bump it with a closed fist of his own. "Good."

Once all was said and done, Thomas and Ripper would watch as the Scyther struck the Mothim with an Air Slash, before her trainer would toss a Pokeball at the attacking Mothim.

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Thomas couldn't help but smile as the other trainer congratulated her Scyther on her first victory. Even if he was still on the fence about whether or not he could actually trust the woman, at least she seemed to be treating her Pokemon well enough. Of course, he would hope that the Scyther would go on to become a powerful Pokemon, whether she remained the speedy Scyther, or became a tank of a Scizor, just like Ripper.

"Almost six years of battles together, and he's been the best friend I could ask for.", Thomas said, nodding to Ripper with a grin. "I look forward to that, and I know Ripper will look forward to that as well, probably even more than myself.", Thomas responded.

While there was no doubt that Ripper was a violent Pokemon who enjoyed nothing more than getting into battles, he was at least disciplined. Given his trainer's line of work, and natural disdain for maiming other Pokemon in general, Ripper made it a point not to maim or kill his opposition, instead inflicting injuries that would heal, and allow them to fight another day. After all, if he killed or crippled his opponents, then there was one less Pokemon to scrap with.

"My name is Thomas. It's a pleasure to meet you as well.", Thomas said in response.

Just then, something caught the trainer's eye. A large, yellow tarantula hopped out of the tree, staring down Ripper and Thomas. Thomas himself grinned widely at the sight of the Galvantula, considering it was a Pokemon that the trainer had always wanted, especially for its more practical applications.

Ripper let out a grin, and stepped forward to meet the challenge of the Galvantula. Despite the punishment he had taken earlier, Ripper was still raring to go. And Thomas knew better than to cut Ripper off before he had his fill. Even if he went down, Ripper would rather see a fight through than to back out early, a wish the trainer respected in most cases.

"Alright Ripper, if you think you can take him, then by all means. Start out with a Bullet Punch.", Thomas told the Scizor.

The Scizor dashed towards the Galvantula quickly, before delivering a swift, brutal jab at the electric spider with his steely pincer. Despite the fact that its typing gave it a resistance to the attack, thanks to Scizor's Technician, as well as the fact that Galvantula was a naturally fragile Pokemon, the attack would still hurt it considerably. Staggering up, the Galvantula spit up Gastro Acid at his foe, nullifying Technician in the process.

"Ripper, don't let up, go in for a Double Hit!", called out Thomas.

Nodding, Ripper would take two swings at the Galvantula, only for the insect to swiftly leap out of the path both times, before zapping the armored bug with an Electro Ball. Ripper would cry out in pain, the attack clearly hurting like hell. Ripper would glare up at the Galvantula angrily, giving him the 'you little fucker' look.

The Galvantula would follow this up by firing a Signal Beam at the Scizor, who could only cry out in pain as he was subjected to the attack. Despite the fact that his own typing gave him a resistance against such an attack, the punishment he had been taking was adding up, and he knew he couldn't last much longer.

"Ripper, hang in there!", Thomas called out to his oldest friend.

He had to end this quickly. Ripper, without waiting on Thomas to give him orders, used Agility to give himself a much needed boost in speed, before charging the Galvantula. In turn, the Galvantula would attempt to fire off an Electro Ball at the Scizor, only for the creature to leap up and dodge the attack, before coming down to strike at his fellow insect with an X-Scissor.

The attack would connect, leaving the electric spider weakened. With this, Thomas would chuck a Pokeball at the Galvantula, and hope for the best.

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Cap attempt on Galvantula.
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