Though she didn't know it, Thomas' responses were the norm. The Interpol Agent was a man of few words, preferring to communicate through action. In the middle of the action, Thomas was not one for small talk.

"Checks out, to be honest. Whiscash are highly territorial Pokemon! Let's hope that they're wild, and not under the guidance of human hands!", Thomas called back to her.

Thomas tossed out two more Pokeballs, bringing out his Pangoro and his Clawitzer.

The Clawitzer would be released in the waters, wasting no time in firing off an Aura Sphere at the Barboach supporting the Whiscash. Meanwhile, his Pangoro, Brutus, would charge the Whiscash, attempting to smash it with a Hammer Arm.

Kalameet would transition to raining down Dark Pulse fire down on the Whiscash to support the Pangoro. Kiryu, taking the Water Guns to protect his master, would retaliate by charging at them, and hacking at them with his Dragon Claw.

As much as Thomas wanted to have Kiryu retaliate with a Boomburst or Earthquake, he knew what a terrible idea that was. He knew how much could go wrong using such a move in a setting like this, let alone the harm that would come to his partner.

---

tags: Yujin Ha
notes: tl;dr

Thomas would listen as she spoke, giving her the time to get her bearings. He was familiar with the Ultra Wilds, especially the Border. Admittedly, he had to make more time to explore the different Wilds.

"Interesting.", Thomas remarked.

"To be honest, I invited you over, as I felt it would be a mutually beneficial opportunity for the both of us.", he'd begin. "After the cave opened up, I intended to explore it. Then I remembered what Daisuke told me about you, and figured you'd want to explore something like this.", he'd tell her.

"Truth be told, I just want to make sure this cave doesn't house anything that'd endanger the Pokemon living on the property.", he'd disclose to her.

---

tags: Shalin Nariya
notes: tl;dr

A Galvantula would approach the trio, with Mordred being the first to notice. To prevent them from leaving, the Galvantula formed a Spider Web around the area. Not that it would stop Mordred.

The Ceruledge charged the Galvantula, Bitter Blades heating up as he closed the gap. The Galvantula would manage to Sucker Punch the armor, causing the Ceruledge to grunt in pain. Nevertheless, the Ceruledge slashed at the Galvantula with his Bitter Blades, knocking the creature out, and absorbing life force from it in the process.

"You good, Mordred?", Thomas asked.

The Ceruledge nodded, before grabbing the unconscious Galvantula, and transporting it out with Phantom Force. As always, he'd get it to a safe area.

As Thomas waited for Mordred to return, he'd watch Vanilla's battle.

---

tags: Vanilla Kingsley
notes: Skip

Thomas sized up the Absol that was summoned. It was certainly a large one, which only made his Ceruledge even more eager to fight it. Blades clashed against each other in eager anticipation for the coming battle.

And with the battle beginning, Thomas called the first move.

"Mordred, Bulk Up!", Thomas ordered.

The haunted armor would take a deep breath, before focusing his strength into his 'muscles', becoming stronger and more resilient with the act.

---

tags: Josh Devlin
notes: Ceruledge used Bulk Up
(+1 Atk +1 Def)

Thomas had little time to react to the Antidote being kicked out of his hands, as he saw a hulking Megalopolan charge at them. He couldn't even stop Vanilla from swimming down to collect the parcel, despite the danger.

Compounding an already grim situation, Nihilego tentacles began to shoot up from below, and attack them. Thomas kicked up, and attempted to swim away from them.

Freke fired off a Focus Blast towards the hulking corpse of the Megalopolan. The corpse, little better than a puppet, lacked the presence of mind to dodge the Focus Blast, being sent careening through the Ultra Sea by the force of the attack.

Once Vanilla came back with the Antidote, Thomas wasted no time in pulling out a syringe from the bag, and attempting to inject her with the Antidote.

That was when he saw Skyler being impaled by a Nihilego Tentacle.

"Shit! Skyler!", Thomas called out, sending out Ripper the Scizor to come to her aid. The Scizor would attempt to sever the tentacle that had impaled Skyler.

---

tags: skyler dross Vanilla Kingsley
notes: Prompt 19: be hunted by the corpse of a large megalopolan with a nihilego controlling it by way of its toxin in the open realm or The Quaestor Lucis.

The entrance to the Ranch would be unmistakable. A large sign with a happy-looking Audino waving to those coming in.

Instead of being greeted by Thomas, several Audino and Eevee would converge onto the pink-haired woman, and her Arcanine curiously. A Florges would float up to the Arcanine, giggling as she watched how the large canine acted. It was endearing, for sure, just like Rufus was. The Florges would offer to rub the Arcanine's belly, something that Rufus himself enjoyed.

One Audino in particular, with a longer, fluffier coat of fur, approached Desiree first. He would hold out his feeler, offering to feel her heartbeat. If she accepted, he would take a moment to gauge her emotions, before offering to give her a big hug.

---

tags: DESIREE BLOOMS
notes: tl;dr

"Good to see you, Devlin.", Thomas greeted the Gym Leader.

Thomas silently listened as the Gym Leader laid out the rules of the challenge. He would give the man a nod to confirm that he acknowledged and understood the rules of the challenge.

Thomas sent out his first Pokemon, a Ceruledge. Or was it? After all, if Josh had knowledge of his team, he'd know the man had a Zoroark waiting in the wings. So was this really Ceruledge, or was it Zoroark?

---

tags: Josh Devlin
notes: Thomas brings out Ceruledge(?)

Thomas would start by recounting the brutal events that transpired that night. Explaining to her his previous dealings with the teenager who unfortunately got swept up in the Rocket Machine, and lost his life for it.

Any other questions Dahlia had for him, Thomas would gladly answer. He would also have his own questions and concerns for the Commissioner.

---

tags: dahlia goode
notes: tl;dr

"The world's already been changed, Selena. The moment Silas drew first blood all those years ago, the game changed.", he'd tell her. "I'm just trying to wake everyone else up to that simple reality."

Truth be told, Thomas questioned his decision to walk away from the League. Truthfully, his attempts to cut the cancer out of society were fruitless. For every one scumbag that he killed, more would come to take their place. And frankly, he wasn't powerful enough to take on those who really needed to die.

"And you think the new status quo introduced by Rocket would be any better?", he questioned. "After having lived in Kanto for six years, I saw how Rocket operated, even before Silas took over. I saw the way they exploited those unfortunate enough to live on their turf. I saw how their monsters murdered innocent people for little reason, if any.", he'd tell her.

"There is no justice with Rocket's terror. It all boiled down to one little man with daddy issues, who decided to take them out on the world. Now it's all about satiating their greed, while they lie to idealistic fools about a better way of life.", he'd continue.

"Rocket is the last group I'd trust to fulfill the needs of the people. I want things to change, yes, but I don't want to introduce something worse than what we've got!"

---

tags: Selena Desmarais
notes: tl;dr

"I'll look into them sometime.", he'd tell her.

Thomas had to wonder if his mom had heard of them. But then, even if they were an indie label, he was sure she had. After all, they managed to sign on a talent she sought after.

"Still, I just want to make sure they're happy with what I call them.", he'd remark.

Thomas listened to what she had to say about finding her Tropius. It was a tale all too familiar to the Kalosian. It was actually how he met his faithful Hydreigon. A starving Deino struggling to even move through a cave. Had he not fed the little guy, he surely would've died of starvation.

Thomas looked up at the Tropius, and smiled. But before he could introduce himself to the tropical beast, it locked eyes with a Furfrou. Meanwhile, a Krookodile charged towards the group. The Dark-type let her Intimidating presence be known.

Ripper, stepping up, maintained a Calm Mind in the face of his opponent. The Krookodile lunged towards him, attempting to Bite down on the armored insect. Ripper dodged the attack with ease, before throwing a Bullet Punch at her head. The normally quick jab hit especially hard, thanks to Technician.

The Krookodile Leered at the insect, before attempting to violently Thrash the insect. The Scizor allowed the Krookodile to Thrash him around for a moment, before delivering a Bug Bite on the beast with his pincer.

This time, the Krookodile let out a cry of pain, before falling unconscious. Ripper pumped his pincer into the air, elated at his victory.

"I'm gonna check in on Alexei Ivanov, Fortree's Gym Leader.", he'd tell the idol. "He's a friend of mine, we go back.", he'd quickly elaborate.

"By the way, I live on a ranch in Verdanturf Town. If you'd ever like to check it out, here's my business card.", he'd say, before offering the woman his card.

The card itself was warm and inviting, with an Audino waving and smiling on the card. The name was Duvet Ranch.

"I'm sure you'd love the little ones living there. And I know they'd love to meet you."

---

tags: DESIREE BLOOMS
notes: Skip

The sight of the Pineco immediately alarmed Thomas. He was intimately familiar with what they did. Sending out Mordred, the Ceruledge would lunge towards the troublesome insect, and cut it down with a Bitter Blade.

Before it could go through with its Explosion, the fiery blade of the armor would knock it unconscious. The Ceruledge would grab the unconscious Pineco, and spirit it away with Phantom Force, to drop it off far away from either of them.

---

tags: Vanilla Kingsley
notes: Skip