Aaron eventually ran into a Pokemon playground of some kind. While there was some nocturnal Pokemon playing, there was only one that caught his interest. Well, two, but the second one was a repeat. His eyes fell on the Mimikyu just on the outskirts. No one wanting to play with it. It looked...lonely. Walking around so he wouldn't scare the others away, he found a berry and offered it to the little guy when he sat down. A black tendril sneaked out of the disquise and snatched it. As it munched underneath the poorly made disguise, Aaron offered to play a game. After a few rounds of catch, the little guy hopped up on Ace's shoulder and started to rub his face with its own. "If you wanna come with me, we can play some more." The blonde offered up the Safari Ball. With some thumbs up encouragement from the Dusknoir, the Mimikyu booped the Safari ball and in it went. Ace had Mimikyu on his list for a while now, so he was glad to finally get one.


Capture attempt

Aaron moved on. That was one...maybe he could get some others. Walking around, he felt something brush past him. Looking down, he was missing one of his Safari Balls. Dusknoir was already moving, floating fast towards however or whatever stole it. Aaron ran after them. Jumping over logs and braving foliage, he nearly fell into a couple of basic traps. Just what stole his Safari Ball? The blonde lost track of them, and had to use his whistle to locate them, with Dusknoir using Thunderpunch to show him the way. Walking towards the light, he soon found them. A Nickit growling at the Dusknoir, behind it the Safari Ball and a bunch of berries. Aaron grabbed the ball and walked away. He heard Dusknoir hit the Nickit from the hurt howl and felt its presence behind him. Poor thing must have thought the ball was a berry. Still dumb to steal from someone with a Dusknoir...if you wanna talk about scary ghosts, he was one. Either way, Nickit wasn't a ghost or steel type, nor evolve into one, so he ignored it and moved on.


Spawn Skip

As the sun set, and the wind blew through Aaron's hair, it was soon time to start moving. Since he only had a limited amount of time here. Granted, he was only after certain types of Pokemon. His first prey of the night was barely visible inside the building. And made its presence known with a Shadow Ball. Dusknior got in the way and knocked to the side, the difference in power obvious. The large ghost threw some Shadow Punches at it. When nothing happened, the duo cautiously approached the building. Peaking inside, there was a Galarian Yamask staring at the several massive holes that Shadow Punches left. Seeing the opportunity, he threw one of his Safari Balls at it. He already had the evolved form, but a different usable build would nice to have as well. Stepping out, the five foot four blonde moved along to a different part of the zone in search of more prey.

Capture attempt on Galarian Yamask

The Mime Jr. was caught in the water spout. Time to end this! Ace was about to give a command when Zach went ahead with his own. The little guy dove in...then disappeared. It didn't take a genius to know what happened. "Be on your guard, he used Phantom Force." The anchor looked around in front of him, while Ace kept an eye on the ghost's back. His own personal favorite was using Phantom Force to strike at the back...despite how predictable it was, no one seemed to be prepared for it. And there it was, the tiny little portal showed up. "Gyro Ball! Behind you!" Glowing silver, Dhelmise spun in a white ball of light backwards. Sadly missing.

Still, it was just one of many good moves Zach had pulled during this match, surpassing many people's expectations. Maybe Ace had served too much to be a paragon of young trainers that everyone else thought that he would win outright. Metronome was given another chance to shine. Gamble too much, and you're liable to get burned. The second one was a lucky break though, Aaron recognized it as Foul Play. Too bad it wouldn't land. "Phantom Force." Dhelmise slipped into a portal before the blow could land. Lucky break that he used one of his physical attacking ghosts...even if it did know a special move like Whirlpool. When Dhelmise did reappear, it would shoot out like a rocket in a slide to clip the little Mime Jr. in the legs from the right.

zachary stellar

Aaron Toral was back at the Safari Zone. With his Dusknoir following him. There was some Pokemon around here that he was interested in getting. He had just gotten done training a bunch. Well, at least what moves they know and such. You never wanted to stay stagnent. Always strive to get stronger, get better. Moving on, he liked to keep a variety. Even repeats could be trained for a different role entirely. Worse case, the Safari Zone was surprisingly interesting and varied. He started to go through the forest, keeping an eye and ear out for anything unusual. The blonde soon found himself kind of on the border between between the forest and a small deserty area.  How did they manage this? This was fantastic! Aaron just sat down and watched, enjoying the fresh air and the scenary. He may have a limited time, but he was going to enjoy it.

Aaron scratched the back of his neck at the dirty look. "I mean, only if it's not too much trouble." Besides, it was Zach's fault that he was drenched. So...he wasn't entirely sure the dirty look was warranted, it was the least he could do. Anyways, they descended. And Zach seemed on board. Mostly. "The one I came through was surrounded by League. Worse comes to worse, I'm sure we could find one controlled by them if you don't mind a scolding. Otherwise we could also use the one we just used." The thought of Team Rocket didn't really occur to him right away. But did just a minute afterwards. Still, Zach wasn't going to leave him alone. Nodding, he put back on his shirt.

The blonde then released his blue ball that was Jelliscent. "In that case, shall we? Assuming you're ready to go. Just watch your step on the bridges, they can be difficult to see." With that, he hefted up his backpack and awaited confirmation. His watery ghost floated past him to be a guide of sorts. The mist was thick, so they did have to stick together. Hopefully they wouldn't get too lost...Ace just picked a direction and went, with Jelliscent marking the edges of the platform and the first bridge they crossed...

14 engage in battle with the vengeful and vestigial spirit of moltres or victini. Check
15 become lost in the mist.
19 involve a waterfall in some way (e.g. training, obstacle). Check
21 encounter soulmarchers, marching parades of warrior spirits (pokemon or human) with feet that do not grace the ground.

zachary stellar

After a hearty laugh at being spared, Navidson brought him to a wall of solid granite with words inscribed on it. A tradition for the gym. The tools were there to do it. Aaron took the badge, and thought about what he wanted to put in. His normal motto was a good one, but he wanted to do something different. The kid took the tools, and started. Hopefully this wouldn't be too wordy. "Persevere. Know when to retreat and survive another day. Learn lessons from defeats. But never stop growing and getting stronger." His normal motto dealt with how life wasn't a game of luck, and that if you wanted to win, work hard. The only consistant thing in this world was yourself, never stay still. His goal was to always become ever stronger. With six badges under his belt now...he was ready to move on.


Michael Navidson

buying 1 premium safari ticket please!

Total: 50 pd

When Aggron gave the gym leader a hug, the match was called. With a snap of his fingers, Metagross and Klinklang backed off of their targets. Navidson pressed a couple of buttons that stopped the fog, and lit up the place. Getting down from the platform and making his way towards the man, he was told there was something else he wanted to show the blonde. If Aggron didn't mind. Aggron barked a laugh and nuzzled the guy before dropping him gently and joining Aaron with a loud thud. "Sorry about that...he can be...mischievous. He held back too, any other time he would have licked you before letting go." With that, he would follow Navidson to whatever he wanted to show the young lad. Sixth badge down...two more before he'd feel right in challenging the elite four.



Michael Navidson

As soon as Dhelmise reappeared, Zach had a plan. And Metronome just happened to work in his favor this time. A gamble well played. The Mime Jr. zoomed away, covered in flames, avoiding Dhelmise's slam of a Phantom Force. Then the little fella ran up the Reflects and bounced back towards Dhelmise. Time to use a trick. "Whirlpool." With a half spin, the anchor summoned the beginnings of essentially a water tornado. But it was enough to dowse those flames and send the Mime Jr. away without damage. The fact that it was able to do that showed how experienced Mime Jr. was. Particularly when it used Mimic at the same time to learn Phantom Force. Uh oh. That...wasn't good. Ace didn't have much for that, aside from expanding the water tornado...

That could the be the trap. He'll wait for now, see what Zach's next move would be. Maybe force it to react in a way that would make him predictable. "Sword's Dance" Dhelmise glowed again with swords surrounding it, dancing all the while. Ace would hope that one hit would be all it took. Whirlpool may be the defense...but Anchor Shot would finish it. Now to see what Zach did. Would he attack or place more defensive barriers? Aaron ignored the audience...some people just couldn't appreciate a good battle as an audience member, could they.


zachary stellar

Zachary had his Pokemon add on to the little guy's misery via Kadabra's Shadow Ball. When the Victini tried to counter with a V-Flare, two of his Pokemon used Psychic to send it right back. The Future Sight came and distracted it enough for everyone else's attacks to connect, including the backwards V-Flare. Another round of attacks, and the little fella dropped. Only to fling itself away from them, to the next mountain. Well...that was exciting. "Nice job, everyone. Rest now. Except you, Drifblim...I still have one more job for you before you can rest." The monotone teenager returned his Dragapult and Dusknoir. Turning towards Zach, he gave a suggestion. "Let's finish getting down...and if it's not too much trouble, burrow Dizzy to help me dry off...I see the faint outline of a tree, there's likely a platform there for us to land on."

The blonde had Drifblim to help him glide down there. Looked it wasn't just a single tree, but a few. And enough wood/twigs for a small fire. Delphox seemed like it had a lot of control, if the use of Magic Room was any indication. So hopefully he can set a pile on fire without burning it all to ash in milliseconds. Getting set down gently on a stone platform, he returned the Drifblim and started to gather wood for the small fire. Hopefully Zach would help. Upon a fire being made, Aaron would strip off his shirt, revealing an odd, inky black kanji marking that he had gotten mysteriously while cleaning up a church. And falling into a hole. And discovering weird ass things. Putting in near the fire, but not so close that it'll burn, Aaron didn't go much further, just doing the same with his shoes and socks. "Last time, it was a Moltres, after we used a spell tag of some sort. I have the same one in my pack, but it wasn't activated. There's another one that does the opposite, that was how we drove it off the first time. That, and I learned about something called Avatars when one of my group members grew ice wings and threw some ice at its face.

Long story short, this place is a bit hazardous. Between wrathful spirits like that one to the barely visible bridges that connect these platforms. If you wanna leave, now's the time. Otherwise, I'm going forward for now. Once I dry off at least." It was an out for the other teenager. Ace knew what he was doing. While he would appreciate the help, he wouldn't blame the guy if he backed out now. But considering his enthusiasm earlier...he sort of doubted Zach would back out this early in the game.

14 engage in battle with the vengeful and vestigial spirit of moltres or victini. Check
15 become lost in the mist.
19 involve a waterfall in some way (e.g. training, obstacle). Check
21 encounter soulmarchers, marching parades of warrior spirits (pokemon or human) with feet that do not grace the ground.

zachary stellar

Aggron barely saw the other Pokemon. But merely winked at the hidden fourth Pokemon. Oh, Ace already told him to be gentle. And he knew exactly how! Aaron focused on the battle at hand. Noticing the Salamence failed to attack...he pressed on. "Giga Impact." Tempting as it was to set up, he felt it best to not postpone. Besides, Klinklang was tough. Assuming the Flygon didn't use Earthquake again. The metal gears spun and charged, surrounded by energy, to full on body check the dragon. The Flygon, on the other hand, destroyed the last clone and smacked Metagross, sending him a bit away since he wasn't used to full on flying with Magnet Rise. But the range was optimal. "Psycho Cut." The X-glowing on its face, the blue meteor fired another X-shaped blast of psychic energy at the Flygon.

Aggron, on the other hand, had moved around to behind the gym leader. With a big jump, he landed behind Navidson. And gave him a big hug and rested his big metal head on the man's head. Sort of...he wasn't going to put his full head's weight on the guy. Hopefully the implication would be obvious. And stop the fight. Aaron's goal is winning. Maybe not at any cost, but close to it.

Michael Navidson

The comment didn't deter Aaron at all. The good thing was that Zach followed his advice, and had Dizzy use Magic Room. It allowed everyone to get a solid foothold, and helped cover them. First the bird used Future Sight, and hopefully Dizzy will do the same in quick succession. The Kadabra fired a Shadow Ball at the little legend, only for it to be met with a fire ball. Drifblim stayed close by, but unleashed it's own Shadow ball, though the Victini dodged it. Just a little bit longer...

Dusknoir kept the pressure with Shadow Punch, keeping it from attacking too often, or if it did, in defensive measures. Soon enough, the opening came. From behind the Victini, a portal opened up, and his Dragapult came zooming out, smacking the creature hard in the back, making it slam into one of the boxes over the two boys. "Now! Give it everything you got!" Hopefully Zach's Pokemon would join the blonde's in a devastating array of ranged attacks. Dragapult using a boosted Dragon Dart attack, Dusknoir sending more Shadow Punches, and Drifblim using Air Slash. With any luck, at least one Future Sight would be incoming as well.

Aaron could only hope that this will be enough to send it packing...and maybe get himself dried off too...

14 engage in battle with the vengeful and vestigial spirit of moltres or victini. Check
15 become lost in the mist.
19 involve a waterfall in some way (e.g. training, obstacle). Check
21 encounter soulmarchers, marching parades of warrior spirits (pokemon or human) with feet that do not grace the ground.

zachary stellar