Houndour barked in agreement with Lonnie. Even Kee nodded. Then came the roaring hiss of three Liepards. "Yeah. You up for this, Houndour?" The dog barked in confirmation as it jumped out in front Kee. Two went after Lonnie, but one came up after him. The Liepard attacked with claws. Houndour jumped over it, and used Leer, intimidating the lone Liepard. But it still attempted to use its claws, this time getting Houdour across his chest. The dark and fire type shrugged it off, and used Howl. The cat attacked with Sand Attack, but Houndour ducked underneath and dived forward, fangs glowing red. Houndour bit hard into the hind leg of Liepard, using Fire Fang. Throwing it away from them, he followed it up with an ember attack. The kitty had to be barely standing now.

Kee didn't see much about what was happening with Lonnie's side, but the wounded wild cat started to limp away after a hiss. The blonde let it go. It was odd...the original tracks he saw that scared both the kids and the Pokemon were definitely not Liepards. Looking towards Lonnie, he decided to help out with that situation. Houndour used smog, catching one of the dark type cats in a poisonous cloud. That one jumped out, and fired a Dark Pulse, making Houndour tumble backwards. The black dog got up, and countered with an ember attack, making the cat screech in pain. Lonnie's Dragapult was still up. But the Liepard that Kee was facing was also ready to withdraw. Kee would let it go if it left, but he guessed that depended on that battle...

The attack from the Metagross was enough for it to release the Chewtle. Kee let go as well, and nabbed both babies and held them close to his chest as he hit the water. The blonde let them go. The babies cuddled his face in thanks, and swam away to deeper waters. Where Kee landed, he was just short of touching the bottom with his feet, so he had to swim a little bit to get to shore. The waded through the high water. One good thing was that at least it washed off most of the mud. Still, he crawled out, and laid down on his back, breathing hard. A few of the little turtle Pokemon did cuddle his face as if to thank him, and moved on. Kee had no words to pipe back at Derek. Whose name combined with his face finally dawned on him. But that was a conversation for later.

Kee just put up an arm and gave him a thumbs up sign. His own Pokemon escorted the last batch to the water, and kept a close eye. But there were no more attempts. The blonde was dirty and wet and exhausted. "I hope my next babysitting job won't be this bad..." It wasn't long before their employer drove up in a jeep. Kee was uninjured, just really took it far in protecting the Chewtle. He recalled all of his Pokemon, and their employer took them back to her house, where she let Kee use their bath and change clothes and rest a little more while she made one more errand.

Hopefully, Derek would check on him as he laid on the couch. "You're that former gym leader, right? The one that left shortly before the Ultra Beast war?" Normally, he wouldn't pay any attention to stuff like that, but it was everywhere. Even in the small town that was Littleroot, it was pretty well known. He hoped the guy wouldn't lye to him...he seemed like a good enough person.

Mattis seemed to enjoy their little conversation. He evidently adored rock-types. Well, that explained a lot about why he was here then. He also seemed to latch onto his bro's choices with enthusiasm. Something else he didn't blame the guy for, all of his bro's Pokemon were cool or cute. The pokeball stopped shaking, signifying that he caught the Golem. Picking up the pokeball, he watched as it disappeared in a flash of light like the last one, another friend to go to his older brother's place in Johto. The Lycanroc seemed to have grown attached to Keenen too, if the like on his hand was any indication.

"Well, I'm glad..." Even Spheal rolled up next to the Lycanroc and gave it a wave. Hopefully, then they started heading back to town. Well, more like Kee being escorted back to town, since he got lost and hadn't been in a town for a while. They soon came across a sleeping Onix. Kee sputtered. "Hey...I hate to ask you this...but mind if I take and use one of your spare pokeballs? Assuming you have an extra one...I wouldn't mind that Onyx either..." And doing so would not go unrewarded. He couldn't decide between a small dinner as thanks or a kiss on the cheek if the guy gave him a pokeball. Upon being gifted one, he threw it, hoping a surprise would allow him to catch it, just like how Mattis caught that Barbaracle...

capture attempt on Onyx

The guy seemed to have checked him out. Well, that was good. The lovely brunette said that he was indeed enjoying the view, and commented about the garden. "Same. Despite the trips I've made here, it was always for something else." Was it just him, or did lovely boy's voice quivered a little? So cute. The guy introduced himself as Atticus, and also introduced his Dragonite to them. Even Kee's Grubbin kind of peeked at it. "As if. Dragonite are cool. And with such a soft face and expression, it's hard to be afraid of them." As if to emphasize his point, Kee's Grubbin hopped onto the bleachers and gave the big guy a cute wave.

Kee giggled. "See? Normally she's super shy. I'm Keenan." The amber eyed teen smiled at Atticus. Kee was wearing a green T-shirt with Treeko and Grovyle designs around the hem, blue capris, and neon yellow sneakers. He had a normal black belt with some pokeball holders on it. He couldn't really think about much more other than something to break the ice. "So, what brings you to Oldale town anyways? I'm on my way to Rustboro for a gym challenge..." It still seemed so far away...but also right around the corner. He was definitely nervous about it, but the best thing to do was just dive in head first.

@fal

Purchasing two Pokeballs.

Total: 40 PD

Keenan listened in. "Yeah, I'm good. If that burglar tried anything here, they'd get a baseball bat in the face along with everything my Pokemon have. Now piss off." The guy slammed the door shut. And they could hear the lock being, well, locked. Well, that could have been better, but also worse. Peeking around the corner, he walked over to her. "Well, that could have been both better and worse. What did the guy look like?" After getting a description he just wanted to wait until Sizzilipede came through.

The bug had hid, and waited for the guy to leave the door. The guy had went up the stairs and out of sight. The bug made his move, crawling out, then went to the door. The little guy managed to get up and unlocked the door. And managed to push the door open. Kee smiled and recalled the little guy, after telling him good job. Foolish as it was, he went in first. Quietly, he looked around. Nothing of note, really. But he soldiered on, not knowing if the young lady was going to follow or not.

As they went outside, they saw that Adrian's back was against a tree, in front of him was Kee's Houndour and Tyrunt. In front of them was a swarm of Beedrill. The ball that they were playing with was on the ground to the left. This wasn't good. Kee didn't want to antagonize the bugs too much. But at the same time, he wasn't going to let all three of them pinned there. Both of his Pokemon out there had moves that would knock the crap out of the Beedrill. Grubbin could help with crowd control with string shot, and Spheal could use powder snow and rollout. Sizzilipede could also add in his ember attack with Houndour's. But was violence really the only way out?

No, a thought hit him. "Aimi, go get earmuffs or headphones, anything that would stop us from hearing anything. Evette, can your Swablu's sing attack get everyone?" If they put all of them to sleep, then move Adrian inside, and move the Beedrill back into the forest surely would get them to forget it, right? Or maybe just taking their target off of their hands would do it? He hoped Evette had an idea of which one would do it.

The baby was about to slobber all over his hands when the sweet thing was pulled away. Kee giggled like a little school girl. "Cute name for a cute Pokemon." When Kee got lifted up and saw the stains, his face morphed to a very uncharacteristically serious expression. He became oddly silent and nodded in agreement. Lonnie sent out another Pokemon, a Gotherita. Kee started to think that maybe the guy was constantly hungry considering he named all of his Pokemon after food. It was both funny and odd. She pointed down farther in the path.

Kee's Houndour barked in confirmation. Upon being set down, they went in that direction. They found tracks, with some blood on it. The blonde took out a first aid kit, ready to help if he needed to be. They moved forward and found a hollowed out hole in a still standing tree. Kee made a motion for Lonnie to hold still. He walked forward and went down. He could see the duo. The Pokemon that they were looking for. He couldn't tell which one was injured, but they were terrified. Getting up, and walking back to Lonnie, he gave his report. "Well, they're in there, but one of them is injured...I'd hate to approach and terrify them even more..." Pure intentions and even as harmless looking as he was, injured and cornered creatures of any kind were jumpy and aggressive usually. He was at a bit of a loss on how to proceed.

Keenan found himself by the community garden in Oldale Town. Despite having been to the town several times, he never had the time to actually take a look at it. He was going to leave without his beloved brother. It was going to be interesting how he was going to fair. He kind of relied on his little bro for much needed information. The five foot eight blonde kept Grubbin out, thinking that she would enjoy the plants much more than his other Pokemon. While she did stay on his shoulder, she was letting out happy chirps every so often. Amazing how much she had opened up since she joined his team.

Kee himself kept looking around, just enjoying the sight. Then his eyes came across a Dragonite. A very cool and rare Pokemon. It was just relaxing next to someone. And suddenly he felt his cheeks warm up. Next to the Dragonite was a very handsome brunette. It has been a while since a boy has caught his attention. Oh, he had seen many handsome and cute boys over the years, before and after his awakening of sorts. But this one...really caught his eye for some reason. Trying to act cool, he made a roundabout way over. Hoping to show up behind the lad and next to him, opposite of the Dragonite, he spoke, leaning against the small set of bleachers that his target was siting on. "Enjoying the view?" He immediately regretted going with such a mundane and uninformative comment. He only hoped the guy swung his way and played off of it...assuming Kee was even his type.

Kee just looked at her. Okay then...yes, very good point. "Fair point. My only contention is that there could be extenuating circumstances that making the Meowthe follow their orders. She went with his tentative plan. Though the comment towards him made him chuckle. "Sorry honey, I prefer men. So you got nothing to worry about with me." He was fairly open about his preferences. Still, she released a Spiritomb. Which made him gawk. That was a really cool ghost. His brother would love to have it. He also waited for the door after she rang the doorbell. An angry guy opened it. "What do you want?" The guy was awfully gruff and mean. Kee didn't know what he looked like, but he didn't sound like a nice person.

Sizzilipede went out of the room. Luckily, the door was open. And they went exploring. It wasn't long before it found a small collection of electronics and jewelry. In addition, it saw a cage with several other Meowth. They were alive, but not in the best of health. The one that they had followed was on the outside, trying to comfort a couple of them...seemed to be making the rounds. Looking at how cruelly they were being treated made the bug Pokemon mad. What little time it had with Keenan, the guy had been nothing but upstanding to it. It quickly scurried past the room and went on the walls. It soon found the front entrance, where the guy was yelling at the lady...

He got a simple introduction, and she seemed to have forgiven him. Though something kind of seemed off with her. Even with a genuine and warm smile on her face. Evette even gave him some advice. "Like with everyone, certain buttons can be pushed to get you there. Stealing my friends is one of my buttons. I'm usually pretty chill, everyone that knows me well can tell you that. But don't mess with my friends, human or Pokemon, or family. Also, do not make me try to do idol work. Ever. Our ensemble class was bad enough..." He grabbed his shoulders and shivered. He was one of his class's better dancers and singers, hence his selection. And it sucked so much. The clothes were fun though, but that was the only redeeming quality.

He got up and started to move to where Aimi was. "I'm going to check on Aimi." He went up the stairs and soon found her in a room with Grubbin having a cute silver bow on it, and the Alolan Vulpix had a red one. Spheal had a cool collar on him. Aimi spoke up to him. "Hey there, Pinky." She grinned at him maliciously. "What? Guys can wear pink." She frowned, and the two started to argue. Then they heard a scream. It sounded like it came from outside, where Adrian was playing with Houndour and Tyrunt. All of them got up and ran outside to see what was wrong...

Kee laughed a little as he got out his phone and brought up a picture of their family. His dad and big bro looked a lot alike, where Aaron and him took more after their mother. In the picture, one of Aaron's eyes was blue instead of amber, like Kee and Derek. But both his dad and big bro looked pretty average compared to the two pretty boys that were the younger ones. He showed the picture to her. "Brutal, maybe, but facts. Aaron and I took more after mom, he took more after dad. Personality is great though. If you remember him, it'll be because of that." Caroline emphasized his name and thanked him again. Once again offering to help if he ever needed it. Even going so far as to offer a rideable pokemon for longer walks.

"Oh, yeah, he will be. I dropped him off at the Pokecenter before checking into a hotel. Me and the lady I was with interrupted it having an argument with a Wigglytuff. She wanted the Wigglytuff, I wanted the Granbull. It knew Outrage. I didn't even know it could learn that move, since it's a dragon-type attack. And a powerful one at that. Anyways, he seems to be adjusting pretty well at Derek's place already, I just need to spend some time with him." They soon passed beneath an entrance with a curved sign, and was welcomed back by a herd of Ponyta and Rapidashes. He just smiled warmly at them and waved.

The guy give him a thumbs up. Well, that was good. Mattie didn't have a Crustle yet, and apparently had a thing for rock types. Well, everyone had their own style and interest. "Some people like certain types. I don't care much about types, if they look cool or cute, I'll take them. My baby bro on the other hand adores ghost and steel types. He has a Trevenant, Shuppet, Honedge, and Magnemite." It wasn't long before Mattie caught it. "Lycanroc seem to be fairly popular. Not that I blame anyone, they're pretty cool in all their forms." He gave the rocky puppy a tentative pet, careful of the rocks on its mane.

They soon heard a roar, and both Keenan and Spheal had to get out of the way of a boulder. That boulder turned out to be a Golem. "Spheal, use water gun!" The seal Pokemon spat out a strong stream of water at the rock. Golem was another cool looking rock type. He was going to get it. The water blast sent the Golem stumbling back. It was his last Pokeball, so he had to make it count! The blond threw it, and the pokemon went inside. Now it was to wait and see. "I better catch it...that was my last pokeball...."

Capture attempt on Golem