Billi Marsh

Moana was taken aback, once again, at the speed and efficiency with which Billi's bug Pokemon took down the Drapion, which seemed a terrifying beast in its own right. Billi caught the poor poison-type, and Moana had to stifle a chuckle at the thought of the berserk monster joining Billi's already deadly entourage.

Moana nodded when the conversation picked back up. "Yeah, bug Pokemon are all just super cool. Though, well, I'm from Alola, and pretty much everyone there has to get used to bugs if they don't want to suffer for the rest of their lives, cause there are just so many of them." At Billi's next point, Moana's smile turned into a thoughtful, neutral expression. "I've heard that they're arachnids, sure, but what makes something an arachnid? It can't be the number of legs, because that's inconsistent. It feels like it's just an arbitrary label to me."

The conversation was then interrupted by a rather unique newcomer. Moana squinted, confused. The Nidorino ambling about aimlessly was far from an unusual sight on its own, but Moana didn't think they were supposed to be that shade of---

Realization struck. "Oh, wow, a shiny!" he exclaimed. "That's so cool! I never thought I'd ever see a wild one again." Pulling out a Pokeball, he continued, "I've seen a shiny once, back in Alola, though I didn't have any Pokeballs at the time. Do you know Lurantis? It's tall and looks like a pink bug, but the shiny one was light green." By now, he'd thrown the Pokeball at the confused and disgruntled Nidorino.

Sénon Game

Moana, in the distance, saw what he thought was a Prinplup swimming past. His suspicions were confirmed as the flightless bird swam closer to him, curiously pecking him on the arm. Moana smiled and rubbed its head, which it seemed to like, because it made a strange throaty sound that must have been the bird equivalent of a purr. Wali watched the interaction, flapping above the waves and staring as blankly as he always did.

Moana turned to see the other dude take down a Murkrow and capture it. "Dang," he said. "Do you catch a lot of Pokemon? You seem really good at it. Plus," he waved his hands at the members of the team that were out, "your team speaks for itself."

Moana looked at the Prinplup, who he seemed to have instantly grown on. "I, meanwhile, catch a lot of Pokemon like these. Ones that don't mind coming with me anyways." He held up the Pokeball, pushing the button on the Prinplup's forehead.

As Moana began to head home, he was dogged by a strange pursuer. A Cramorant landed next to him, gulping down an Arrokuda and turning to look Moana straight in the eyes. It waddled a little closer, seemingly curious.

Pertapa and Tynnu, still wary from the encounter with the Persian, raised their claws and arms, respectively, preparing to fire off another salvo of stones, but Moana hastily waved them down. The Cramorant simply squawked, and did nothing else.

Moana shrugged and started to walk away, but the Cramorant followed. He stopped, and so did the Galarian bird. 

"Well then, this is what you get," Moana grumbled, chucking a Pokeball at it. He was running low on those, he realized.

BFdXzXZ|

---

Why the hell was he here?

Moana took a moment to curse his past self. Seriously, why did he think it was a good idea to come to a warfront? He knew himself. He knew he was smart and adaptable...

But this situation? He looked around, and even as someone unfamiliar to the region, he recognized a few of the faces around him. There, on the motorcycle, was that the champion? He was so brutally out of his league. He should have caught the ferry to Sinnoh instead of this alien-ridden hellscape.

And yet, there was no use worrying about the past. He was here now, and there was a part of him that was glad he was: the same part of him that protested every time his fingers dipped into a passerby's pocket. He would be doing something good by being here.

His Pokemon accompanied him. Wali floated alongside him, the Sigilyph showing no expression on its body. Moana carried Keila in his arms, since the Pineco couldn't really move around on her own otherwise. Though she looked heavy, she was surprisingly light for her size, and Moana had little trouble carrying her. Well, not for now, anyways, but the protective utility she provided was absolutely worth a little extra weight. Pertapa and Tynnu stayed on the ground nearby, the rock types looking anxious but determined.

Moana started towards the Guzzlord and the aliens who were accompanying it, joining a group of others.

"Keila, Protect! Wali, Light Screen!" he said, and the Pineco in his arms and the Sigilyph floating nearby formed a barrier that would hopefully lessen the onslaught of attacks at him and his team. He looked at the opponents he was up against and smiled a little to himself. He may not have been trained in combat, and his team may not have been the most powerful, but he knew from his time in the gang that even the weakest Pokemon could pose a threat to any human, and hopefully, any alien.

Plus, he fought dirty.

"You two, Rock Blast! Aim for their faces!" Moana commanded, and the Dwebble and the Geodude, sheltered from attacks behind the dual barrier that was formed by Wali and Keila, begin to fire a barrage of stone projectiles the size of Moana's fist at the enemy. The attacks weren't the most powerful, but they were fast and numerous, and a decent-sized rock to the face would not be good news for anyone, alien or not.

---

SUMMARY
- Moana (holding Pineco) braces himself for what's about to go down.
- Pineco uses Protect and Sigilyph uses Light Screen as Moana and his team approach the Guzzlord and the other Megalopolans.
- Geodude-Alola and Dwebble fire a barrage of Rock Blasts at the aliens, aiming for their faces.

His next encounter with the local wildlife was a lot less dangerous. A Cubchoo approached him and his Pokemon, growling softly and nervously, but it seemed more timid than the blatantly violent Persian from a moment ago. 

Moana approached cautiously. "Is something wrong, buddy?" He asked the Cubchoo, imitating how he had seen rangers deal with wild Pokemon. However, the Cubchoo didn't seem to want his help. He was sure that Pertapa and Tynnu's suspicious glares didn't help, either, and sure enough, the Cubchoo soon turned around and fled.

Sénon Game

Moana began to reply, "It's nice to be able to---"

The conversation was rudely interrupted by... wow. A huge Salamence landed directly to the right of the swimmers and their pokemon, roaring loudly. Well, then. Wali was already on the job, launching blades of air at the aggressive intruder. The Salamence flinched slightly, the attacks damaging it, but it did not let up. By now, Moana had summoned his team's newest addition, Topeng, as well. The Ledian flew about, hissing in surprise at the Salamence.

"Swift!" Moana directed, and the Ledian assaulted the dragon with star-shaped blasts of energy. Adding to their assault was this other guy and his Pokemon, along with... was that a Barboach? The little fish jumped up and slammed the Salamence with an Aqua Tail, which looked impressive but merely irritated the dragon, who barely bothered other than to clasp its teeth around the poor Barboach's body.

Moana winced. That wound didn't look good. He fished out a Pokeball, chucking it at the Barboach to try and save it. If he could keep the fish in stasis until it got medical attention, it might be fine. As he retrieved the ball, he saw that the combined effort of Wali, Topeng, and the other guy's Pokemon had defeated the dragon, and the other guy was catching it. Moana couldn't say he wasn't a little envious. That Salamence looked like a real fighter.

Billi Marsh

"Makes sense that you'd be used to it if you were around it for a while," Moana replied. When asked what brought him to the place, Moana had to consider how much he'd want to reveal. Billi seemed relatively harmless, of course, and he was sure that nothing he said could really hurt him, but he didn't want to go around airing his past to everyone who asked.

Then he realized Billi probably meant what brought him to the forest, and he felt really dumb.

"I just wanted to get some fresh air, honestly. Petalburg's a nice city, but I like being out in nature sometimes. It helps me think." He shrugged. "It helps to get away from other stuff, sometimes."

As he was speaking, there was more sound in the bushes nearby. He turned to see what had caused the disturbance and spotted a short, two-legged Pokemon with a leaf on its head. It seemed curious and a little nervous, but not hostile.

Moana hesitated, remembering what had happened to the poor Weepinbell who had unwittingly intruded on them just a moment ago. However, before Billi's spiders could demolish the Nuzleaf, something else that was much bigger, and oh god. How had he not noticed it before? The Drapion lunged at the Nuzleaf, slashing its clawed arm at the body of the grass-type.

The Nuzleaf stumbled in pain and surprise, sending a volley of sharp leaves at the buglike monster, but the Drapion only shrugged off the attack, grabbed the Nuzleaf, and plunged the forked stinger on its tail into its body, knocking it out instantly. The defeat of the Nuzleaf seemed to invigorate the Drapion, who then turned and growled at Billi and Moana, seeming twice as dangerous as before.

The poor Nuzleaf seemed terribly injured, so Moana grabbed another empty Pokeball and aimed it at the grass-type, sucking it into the device. Hopefully he could get it some medical attention soon, but the Pokeball would keep it in stasis until then. But there was still the matter of the Drapion.

With boosted attack from Fell Stinger, the poison-type felt nearly invincible. Snarling at the two of them again, it brandished its pincers threateningly. The boy who had just stolen his prey with a Pokeball released a teammate, a wimpy-looking Dwebble that hissed almost comically from its shell. And the other boy...

Moana felt... the presence of something nearby. He stopped, and looked all around him, but he couldn't see anything. But he was almost certain that there was something watching him... or following him. Pertapa seemed to feel it too, becoming less interested in scouting out rocks and more interested in looking around and being wary.

Sure enough, they were proved right soon enough. The lithe form of an Alolan Persian ambushed them, though they were sort of expecting it at that point. It leaped straight for Moana, and it was only thanks to his reflexes and quite a bit of luck that he had rolled out of the way.

His heart pounding in his ears, Moana pushed the button of another Pokeball at his belt. Tynnu appeared next to Pertapa, a little confused. 

"Rock Blast!" Moana said, pointing at the Persian. Pertapa was already on it, firing shots from her extended pincers that burst against the dark-type's body, causing her to hiss in pain. Tynnu took a second to assess the situation before following suit and adding his own force to the barrage, adopting a similar pose with one arm outstretched. Soon enough, the Persian retreated, and Moana was reasonably sure that it wouldn't attack again.

 
Sénon Game

Moana didn't even know what he was doing anymore. Why did he travel so much? He was new to the region, with no shelter except the tent he carried on his back and hotel rooms that he booked in the case of extremely harsh weather. He really shouldn't be seeing the sights like some common tourist.

Except that he did, because he was curious, and sometimes those odd jobs paid more than he foresaw, so travel didn't hit his wallet as hard as he expected. Moana supposed that the low travel rates were a side effect of living somewhere where Pokemon were used for transportation over half the time.

Regardless, here he was in the water routes near Pacifidlog Town. It reminded him a little bit of home. His home was wet, too, but not always in the sunny, beach-like way that these routes were. Ula'ula Island seemed to be half-covered with gloomy rainstorms for ninety percent of the year. Even so, the humidity here (and in many other places in Hoenn) was a pleasant, if bittersweet, throwback.

He was swimming, and he was good at it. Feeling adventurous, he paddled a little further away from the shore than he'd normally go, trusting in the abilities of Wali, his Sigilyph, to keep him safe in case something happened. The flying Pokemon was skimming the surface of the waves, occasionally dipping down into the water as if he was curious.

Moana spied another person in the water, who seemed to be playing with their Pokemon. He swam closer, curious and eager for some interaction. "Hello!" he called out.

Moana stood on an isolated area of the beach of Lilycove, his shoes sinking into the sand. A good distance from him, people ran about, enjoying themselves in the water and the sand and the sun. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see beyond him.

Lilycove was an interesting place. He could blend in, since it was full of vacationers. The fluid population meant that he drew little notice, and that he could find things to do to keep himself occupied. People had as much a need for jobs as they did anywhere else, if not more, so he was always doing something and getting compensated. Even if he still hadn't found a living arrangement besides the tent he carried with him... well, life was good, for the first time in a long time. 

Pertapa scuttled along beside him. She seemed at home on the beach, with her rock being carried around on her back already changing twice in the day as she found more suitable replacements. The Dwebble, like most of Moana's other Pokemon, was starting to warm up to him beyond just battle, and Moana felt that it made him satisfied. Perhaps, he mused, he'd take the league challenge sometime soon.

Billi Marsh

Moana looked up as some spider pokemon burst through the foliage, hissing at... was it him? Moana wasn't sure. But the two of them were immediately followed by a... flying phone? Oh, it must've been a Rotom. And then the trainer himself pushed past and Moana had to do a double take. This guy was pretty big, but Moana adjusted quickly. After all, his time in the gang had hardened him to intimidating people. 

And, anyways, anything intimidating vanished as soon as the friendly words came from his mouth. "Hey, there," Moana replied. "I'm a little surprised myself, since there was basically nothing in the forest, which wasn't what I expected. So I suppose you and your Pokemon are a welcome intrusion." He smiled. "I'm Moana. It's nice to meet you."

Before any other words could be exchanged, though, there were more newcomers who decided to intrude on the scene. A floating Weepinbell and a hovering Ledian appeared. The Weepinbell seemed disinterested at best in the two of them, but the Ledian was more curious. It approached, and then let out an ear-piercing screech that buzzed in his skull like a siren. Wincing, Moana pulled out a Pokeball, only to realize it was empty.

Oh well, he thought, chucking the ball at the Ledian. This would be as good a way as any to shut it up. He addressed the other guy again as the noise was at least temporarily quieted by the capture attempt. "Wow, that was loud. I wonder if it was an attack."

Note: Capture attempt on Ledian