Individual RP: Ataro

NBP#1

A-Tar-O. I've heard a lot about him. Actually, I've heard about him a lot; I didn't know him very well, other than that he had a bit of fame behind him. Reputation. I wasn't sure what word best described it in my mind, really.

I was going to meet him at the main office and Teleport to the Gardens, but an issue came up at the Gardens and I was dispatched to deal with it. A group of Snivy had been napping by a Snorlax, and the Snorlax... rolled over, I guess. Whatever happened, it ended with several Snivy crushed under the Snorlax's weight; at least the Snorlax woke up immediately and started crying for someone to help the Snivy group. They seemed pretty resilient; the most that happened to them involved bent and broken tails, and though we couldn't completely heal them, my Gardevoir partner Sela's Heal Pulse mended them enough that a few days should get them back to full strength.

It was a bit of an ordeal, and I really didn't want to trek all the way back to the Main Outpost only to head back here and start a run. I called the Main Outpost to let them know that I'd be waiting for Ataro at the Gardens. It was mostly laziness that led me to do this; I sat there trying to justify this to myself by saying he could get a warmup for himself and his Pokémon on the way...

I bought a pair of Lemonades from the vending machine for myself and Sela. I downed mine quickly and ended up perked up perfectly. All I had to do was wait for Ataro; I was ready to go as soon as he got there, assuming he didn't need to pick anything else up.

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 15
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Type Repellent, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x5

Battle Statistics: No Battle
Area Effects: None
Character Count: 0/????

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

"Thanks!" I said, while collecting the documents and receipts from the counter. I looked at the receipt and it cost roughly about twenty thousand dollars, since I had bought a couple of items from the Park Mart to assist me in the Park run, as well as entrance fees. The receptionist smiled back at me and nodded in acknowledgment. She was a rather cheerful and helpful person, just like how she looked. She was average-built and features, but the most distinct feature would have to be her pink hair, which was almost similar to the color of cherry blossom trees.

I proceeded to walk deeper into the Center itself, following the directions provided on the wall. There hasn't been much changes since the previous time I came for my run, except there were new advertisement billboards this time. They were pasted everywhere, depicting the new changes and additions with Pokemon abilities in the Park, which was probably due to the new generation era of Pokemon that we've stepped into. They had an advertisement billboard for each of the new ability, so it was especially crowded with those banners and posters. Still, it did hyped me up even more, as I continued to walk to the teleportation room for the Botanic Gardens.

I followed the directions and continued walking straight through the now narrow corridor, before turning right at the far end. It was even more crowded here than the lobby, with trainers almost everywhere. There were eight doors in this area, and even though the lobby here only had a few furniture, like the couches and tables, the entire lobby was packed with trainers. There were pairs of ranger and their trainer all around, groups of trainers sitting on the couches and chatting about their Pokemon, as well as groups of rangers having coffee together at the coffee table as well.

My ranger was not with me however. I was told that my ranger, Siless, was sent to handle at emergency at the Botanic Gardens, so he was already waiting for me over there. It didn't matter though, since I knew my way round anyway. The thing that piqued my interest was the emergency. I've overhead from the buzz in the lobby that apparently, a group of Snivy were smashed by a Snorlax accidentally. I can't even try to imagine how painful that would be ... getting body slammed by a Snorlax. Oh my.

I walked up to the fifth door from the left, which was painted in a lush green color - all of the doors were painted in different colors. I assumed that was a simple representation that it was a teleportation door for the Botanic Gardens, although I already knew from the map that the receptionist gave to me. I reached for the silver doorknob and sprang it open. The room was nothing much; there was only a portal inside it. The size of it was almost equivalent to a changing room.

Taking a few steps forward, I found myself surrounded by a blue circular laser that marked the teleportation area. Once I was fully inside it, the luminous blue tile that I was standing on start to emit a flashing white light, which indicated that the teleportation was going to happen soon. Like what I expected, the flashing light turned into a fully developed white beam. I closed my eyes while the transportation magic enveloped me within the lights. After a 'beeping' sound start to emit again, I opened my eyes, and I had already reached the Gardens. I opened the door and stepped out. Siless was probably in the lobby area waiting for me.

I reached for my Pokeball and pressed the middle button. The sphere capsule opened up and a bright flash emitted from within the Pokeball, transforming into a red glow that had the silhouette of a tiny monkey-like Pokemon. Once the light cleared, it revealed a small purple Pokemon, whom had similar features to monkeys. Her face, ear insides, belly, feet, and tails were all colored in a beige hue. She stood to attention and put her arms to her hips gracefully, while looking at me endearingly with her large round eyes and the cheeky smile. Even her three-fingered hand-like tail was curled up in a beautiful way, just like her pose when she first came out. My Aipom had always liked to show off her beauty and cuteness, but I thought she was already pretty and adorable even without her doing it.

"Well, Aipom, we've reached the Gardens. Let's have a great time! Okay?" I looked down towards my Aipom, smiling back at her. She nodded back to me in acknowledgment and hopped onto my shoulder, while we proceeded to walk towards the lobby. Once I've reached the lobby area, which was a little similar to the original outpost except that it had more lush green plants around, I saw a guy sitting on the couch, to which I assumed that was my ranger. I also noticed that there was a Gardevoir beside him, whom was sitting down elegantly with her feet crossed, while holding up a cup with her tiny hands and sipping gently from it. I walked towards them and gave them my greetings, as Aipom smiled at them as a form of greeting too.

"Just one second," I said quickly, as I reached into my brown messenger bag for the items that I were looking for. I already had them in compartments, so it was relatively easy for me to take them out. I took out three items and laid them onto the table in front of me. They were a Pokeplayer, an object that resembled a tiny disc player that was yellow in color, a silver voice disk with the word - 'Tauros' scribbled on it, as well as a small sized can spray that had the word - 'POISON TYPE' scribbled on it as well.

"I would like to narrow down my searches, since I am looking for Normal-typed Pokemon mainly. However, there are also a couple of Grass-type Pokemon that I am interested in. Thus, I thought that using a Type Repellent would be the best choice," I explained, while holding up the can of spray and sprayed it all over my body and Aipom's. It was a relatively quick process and it didn't had any smell or taste, so it wasn't quite bothering. I could tell that Aipom didn't liked it though, as she tried to wipe over her body with her paws to try to get rid of it. Just an action to make herself feel more comfortable, I guess.

"And of course, this," I said, as I picked up the voice disk and inserted it into my Pokeplayer. I pressed the 'Play' button and a peculiar cry that sounded like the sound of a bull started to echo out. Although it sounded weird, it would allow me five chances to meet a Tauros once I'm out in the Gardens. I really hoped this would work, since I've had a bad experience with my previous one. Thinking back, it was such a foolish decision to trade it away. From my findings and poking around, I managed to locate my Tauros down, except that it was mostly futile. There was a rumor however, that the trainer went to explore an extremely secretive area and never returned.

There were speculations from all over, ranging from time travels to spooky encounters, but it remained a fact that my original Tauros was possibly lost in a limbo world. Although getting another Tauros wouldn't be the same, I had hoped that it would be some sort of comfort at least. Once I was done, I put the Pokeplayer back into my bag - the cry was loud enough, so that even if I placed it in my bag, the echoes would still resonate from within the bag. "Okay, I'm ready!"

 

NBP#2

"Okay, I'm ready!" Sela and I stood up once our trainer made it known that he was prepared, and we exited the reception area via the door behind the front desk for the outpost. I regretted not bringing sunglasses instantly upon exiting; harsh sunlight beat down over the entire garden. It hadn't been as harsh as it was now when I was helping the Snivy...

I led Ataro down the road; I normally waited until the first time we came upon a split in the path to give the trainer a choice of where to go so we had a landmark in case we got lost. Ataro's Aipom and Sela followed close behind the two of us. I couldn't really see them (I was focusing on looking out for wild Pokémon) but they seemed to have made friends with each other; Sela was talking to her outside of being requested to, at least. She normally stuck with communicating with Trainers and translating for them, so it was nice to hear her talking to someone else.

I saw the Oran Berry tree marking the split in the road; it seemed there was a single berry left on it. I'd have to check the other food sources soon; if they were running low I was the next one to make food for the wild Pokémon. It didn't happen often; it was mostly in winter or after a population explosion that we had to make sure they had food. It had been a short while since the Unova Migration to the park, however, so Pokémon's individual food stores may not be lasting...

A large figure walked out from the trees into the middle of the path split; it seemed almost armored in its own fur. It grabbed the last Oran Berry, but then it noticed there wasn't any left. The Kangaskhan called out to something in the trees; a small pink.. fuzzball, from where I saw it (I assumed it was a Skitty) ran up, and the Kangaskhan handed it the berry. The little fuzz ran off with it before we got anywhere close; Kangaskhan, however, saw us before it started to leave, and decided to wait for us. It took a small bit for us to catch up, though Kangaskhan obviously wasn't impatient.

"This one seems interested in you Ataro. Would you like it?"

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 15
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x5

Battle Statistics: Kangaskhan/F/??? - 100%
Area Effects: None
Character Count: 7269/25000

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

Siless and his Gardevoir stood up once I told them I was done. We exited the reception area via the door behind the front desk for the outpost. It was a sunny afternoon, and the harsh sunlight were shining down on us. At times, I even had to shield my eyes from the blinding reflections that came off from the crystal clear waters in the lakes.

I noticed that Aipom got along rather well with my ranger's Gardevoir. I don't normally see Pokemon getting so chummy together in all of my trainer and ranger runs, but they seemed to have much to chat with as they continued to converse as if they were already long time friends. Still, I was happy that Aipom was enjoying herself.

We reached a split in the road, where it was separated by a rather bare, Oran Berry tree. Siless seemed to be worrying about something as he looked at the tree; it was probably something ranger-related. Judging from the bare tree, it was probably a food source for the Pokemon living in the Park, and there might not be enough food. The sudden thought of an Oran Berry tree made me remember about my Squirt Bottle. I had won it at a lottery thing and the event organizer told me that it would win me some berries in the Park if I manage to use it on berry plants that sometimes can be found in the Park. While not anything so tempting, the thought of free berries came more as a 'why not' rather than a 'what for' answer.

Suddenly, I spotted a large figure moving from amongst the trees. The next thing I saw was that, it immediately reached out for the last Oran Berry, although there was something about her expression that convinced me she was disappointed that that was the last Oran Berry. I waited to see if she was going to eat it, but she called out to something else instead. The call was responded by a young Skitty whom ran up to Kangaskhan, while the Kangaskhan handed Skitty the berry instead. I was a little overwhelmed with emotions actually. The Kangaskhan, regardless of whether she was hungry or was simply helping another Pokemon, was such a loving and caring Pokemon. Her actions touched me a little, with her showering her care towards her friends in the Gardens.

Especially being a trainer of a Kangaskhan myself, I could understand how lovely the Kangaskhan species are, and they are really one of the most kind and caring Pokemon in the world. Seeing a Kangaskhan itself can already take away all of your troubles. When you look at those species, the way they display their delicate nature and attitude is probably enough to make one's heart melt.

Just as the Kangaskhan was about to leave, she spotted us and seemed as if she had decided to wait for us instead. She was either being polite by not running away at the sight of humans, or she was probably interested in being part of my team. It took a while for us to catch up, but the kangeroo-like Pokemon continued to smile gently. Although a Kangaskhan might look dangerous with its sharp claws and fangs, not to mention its rigid and sturdy body, along with its large build, they are actually extremely loving creatures once you get to know them.

I considered that as part of a reason as to why the wild Kangaskhan seemed to be liking me so much. Unfortunately, as much as I want repay that enthusiasm, I already had a Kangaskhan and really isn't looking for anyone. Although I decided to try and leave, I was afraid the Kangaskhan might get disappointed and upset instead. I suddenly recalled I had some Pokemon food in my bag that I recently purchased from the Daycare Center and thought that I could offer Kangaskhan the food instead. After all, she gave the last Oran Berry to Skitty, so I thought I could reward her with something.

I reached into my bag and grabbed a handful of Pokemon food. I took my steps forward cautiously; knowing that Kangaskhan were actually protective of their baby in their pouch. She seemed to put up no resistance, as I finally reached up close to her. I stretched my hand out and tried to feed the Kangaskhan the Pokemon food, but she started to took a few steps backward instead, although still maintaining her gentle smile. I figured she was afraid that the food might be harmful and thus, asked for Aipom to come forward. Gladly obeying, my female Aipom skipped forward and jumped up onto my shoulder, as I fed her the Pokemon food, to which she opened her mouth and chewed it happily, then swallowing it.

The Kangaskhan took a few steps forward again, and I reached my hand with the Pokemon food out. This time, it chomped down on the pellets of Pokemon munch without thought and ate it happily. She also took some of it with her paws and fed it to her baby herself. It looks like they were enjoying themselves. I gave the Kangaskhan a final pat as I started to walk off; continuing my run with my ranger. I waved towards the Kangaskhan along with Aipom, bidding it farewell while we walked off.

 

NBP#3

Kangaskhan waved farewell and thanked Ataro for the meal; he ran off, and I figured he knew where he wanted to go. If he owned a Tauros before, then he had the chance to learn a lot about them, including their natural habitats and behaviors. The disk kept playing Tauros's call; we both hoped it would attract one, though, at the same time, I didn't want to encounter one on the road... it would be best, I figured, to get to a place where Tauros can charge freely without us necessarily being in its path.

We didn't get to move far, though, before the ground gave way under me. I was caught in a small pitfall; it was more of a minor inconvenience than a trap, but it was a bit jarring falling for an instant. Ataro seemed to have avoided the hole; I wasn't sure if he was just lucky or if he saw it at the last instant or what. I climbed out of the small hole, making a note to put up a warning once we finished about the damaged road, when I saw the thing that made me fall in the first place; a quick-burrowing Furret made the pitfall I fell into and presumably more on the road. It looked to me as if it was just doing it for attention.

"Do you want this one?" I asked Ataro. I knew he was looking for Normal-types, but this was one of the more common ones; I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he had one already. I went off to the side of the road, trying to avoid stepping in another pitfall, but in the process I ran into another, deeper one.. This time, the hole was up to my waist. I started climbing out carefully; I wasn't sure why it was building these, but it could have another one just outside this one and I didn't want to fall again...

"Watch your step Ataro, this one's tricky.."

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 14
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x5

Battle Statistics: Furret/?/????-100%
Area Effects: None
Character Count: 4899/9000

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

We continued moving down the road, while the sound of the Tauros' cry continued to echo throughout the Gardens. If there were any chances of a Tauros appearing, it would probably appear around some vast plains, charging away at anything happily. Suddenly, the ground below Siless gave way and he fell into the small pitfall. I didn't understand why the part I was standing on wasn't giving way, especially when I was walking alongside Siless. My ranger managed to climb back up out of the pitfall and was looking in front instead. I followed his gaze and my eyes met the tan mammalian creature.

It resembled a ferret, and its most notable feature was probably its long skinny body. The Furret continued to stare at us, not making any movement. Siless tried to walk to the side of the road, probably just in case if we were going to battle, but fell into yet another pitfall. I almost felt like going over to help him out, because the sound of his fall was much louder than the previous one, which hinted that the pitfall might be a deeper one than before.

Just as I was about to move, Siless had already climbed back up. A part of me felt like sweat dropping, just like what you can see in the comic books. I wasn't sure if there were any special training for rangers because I didn't had one, but this guy was definitely good at climbing...

"Watch your step Ataro, this one's tricky.." warned Siless.

This Furret was definitely tricky. Although Furrets are rather common Normal-type Pokemon, I have never had one. They do look quite adorable, but if I really wanted one, I would have just bought one from the Pokemart, at least that is the case for the Sentrets or Furrets. I considered attempting to escape from the wild Pokemon just like I did with Kangaskhan ... well, sort of, but something in my mind told me that it would be harder to escape from the Furret with all of these holes. I decided to use one of my Pokedolls instead; those had a 100% working chance. Plus, if I can get rid or even up the road for Siless with some kind of move, that might score me some kind of bonus or just good impression.

"I don't really want a Furret at the moment ... I think I will just use my Pokedoll," I said, as I took the doll from my bag and threw it onto the sides of the road. Once the doll landed on the ground, Furret quickly hopped over to the doll and started playing with it by using its paws.

When Furret was no longer on the main road, I took out another Pokeball and pressed the button to release the Pokemon within. The spherical device opened up and the red beam that was released veiled the Pokemon within with a bright flash of red light. The light cleared soon enough, to reveal a Kangaskhan, looking almost exactly like the wild Kangaskhan we had met before.

"Okay Kangaskhan, let's try to even out the road. Use Rock Slide and fill up each of the hole with a rock boulder. Aipom, as Kangaskhan is doing that, move forward use Rock Smash to shave off the protruding part of the boulders," I said to them two, as they nodded happily, more inclined than ever to work together.

Kangaskhan let out a huge roar as she slammed her heavy tail onto the ground. It wasn't anything quite terrifying like an earthquake, since it was just a sudden vibration that lasted for about five seconds. Suddenly, from within the pitfalls, a huge, rough rock boulder started to 'grow' from each of the pitfall. Due to the nature of Rock Slide, they were mostly uneven edges, and ended uneven at the surface of the road. Even without Rock Smash, it was definitely better than before. At least, people can avoid the pitfalls with ease and just walk around the rock boulders.

Though, Aipom was already out on the field. She ran around swiftly and as she was about to reach a boulder, her fist glowed in a shiny sparkle of flash and she smashed her fist into the protruding edge of the boulders decisively. Once the hit was made, the rock shattered into bits and pieces on the ground, but there was no protruding surface anymore. She repeated the process by running back and forth, and smashing them one by one. Within less than a minute, she was done as she ran back to me, while panting heavily.

"Good work, you two!" I praised them, while pulling out Kangaskhan's Pokeball to return her back to her Pokeball. The capture device emitted a red beam, this time to return her back. "Come on Aipom, you can rest on my shoulders," I said, as she happily got back up on my shoulder and sat on it comfortably. "Okay, we can continue!"

 

NBP#4

Furret ran off with Ataro's doll; I think it appreciated the toy. It stopped begging for attention by potholing the roads, at least. I thought Ataro would want to get back to searching; I was fully prepared to file a report on the damage and block it off until we could fix it, but he instead called on his Kangaskhan to help him fill the holes with Rock Slide. Aipom helped out too, Rock Smashing the boulders protruding from the pitfalls. I went around with Sela to make sure no more hidden pitfalls were going to hurt anyone, but Ataro's Pokémon had fixed them all, it seemed. I still had to file a report; it did save time though not having to block it off until repairs, as the road was still usable.

Rock Slide and Rock Smash made noise, however. I was about to thank Ataro for his help, when I heard a rumbling and a rather familiar roar... It took a few seconds to figure out what it was, but then I realized; it sounded exactly like the Tauros disk.

"Get to the sides, everyone! Looks like you found what you were looking for, Ataro!"

I dove to the side, not wanting to get skewered by a wild Tauros going at full speed; instead, I ended up jumping into a rose bush.. still better than being skewered, I figured. I looked, and saw the dust cloud caused by the charging bull Pokémon was still in the distance. It seemed my avoidance was rather premature, but I didn't want to take any chances at all with this.

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 13
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Tauros/M/????-100%
Area Effects: "Repaired" road, difficult for digging attacks. Surrounded by small amounts of vegetation
Character Count: 4528/25000

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught:

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

Before Siless could even reply or respond, a familiar roar that sounded like a stampede interrupted us. "Get to the sides, everyone! Looks like you found what you were looking for, Ataro!" Siless shouted, as he quickly dived into the sides and headed for a rose bush instead.

The violent and rowdy brown bull Pokemon was in front of me, and was rampaging ahead at full speed. I could barely make out its features, but it was clear that it had a thick, dark brown mane, that was shaking as it ran towards me and thus, the origin of the Tauros' cry voice. The silver colored horns of it looked pretty scary as well; I'm sure they would hurt a whole lot if that actually managed to hit me. As it rampaged on, its tail which resembled a three-tailed whip kept swinging wildly in mid-air. I know that Tauros are rowdy Pokemon by nature, and once they've started a rampage, they won't stop unless they hit something. If I had moved to the sides, for all I would know, the Tauros might have run off somewhere instead. Thus, I decided to not move.

"Alright, Aipom, you're up! Show the Tauros your elegance and beauty! Intercept it with a Fake Out to stop it from rampaging. Once you've strike it, blow out your lovely Attract, but also zap the heart-shaped visuals with your Thunder Wave at the same time!" I commanded Aipom confidently.

Given Aipom's nature, she was incredibly skilled at performing complex combos, and she craved attention especially; thus being a master of moves like Attract and such. The Fake Out would be able to strike first before anything, and therefore be able to stop the Tauros from its rampage. However, since Tauros are such rowdy Pokemon, it might attempt to attack Aipom right away after that, although the chances of its attacks working on Tauros is reduced by half due to the immobilization effect from Attract. Immediately when the Attract was launched, by using a Thunder Wave on the Attract attack itself, it served as a double efficient attack since it manages to both immobilize and paralyze the target at the same time.

I watched on as Aipom quickly carried out my move commands and ran towards the Tauros with such speed. She seemed as if she was already teleporting in the battle, as she moved with incredible haste, leaving a trail of mysterious, yet dazzling light ray. This made it appear as if Aipom was giving off sparkling glitters from her body as well. With a decisive jump, she bounced up and clapped her hands suddenly just when the Tauros was about to hit her with its horns. Once the clap was made, a resounding wind impact was given off from it and the Tauros was forced a few steps back, while stopping in its tracks too. It seemed a bit too shocked from doing anything, which I wasn't sure if it was the damage caused from the Fake Out, or perhaps the side effects of Fake Out itself.

Still, just like I commanded, Aipom had already began using Attract as she looked seductively at Tauros and started blowing out salmon pink heart-shaped kisses which flew towards the Tauros, while it was being thrown back the force of Fake Out. Without missing a beat, she raised her tail on her back which was already charged up with electrical energy even before the Attract, and blasted out several coils of electrical waves which struck the 'hearts' instead. Once contact was made, the yellow electricity surrounded the heart shapes, and they went flying towards Tauros while glowing pink and yellow continuously at the same time.

 

BP#1 (Vs. Tauros Post 1)

I stayed on the side of the road, out of the field of battle. I wanted to let Ataro have room for his battle (at the same time, I didn't want to be trampled, but with the battle started, it looked like this wasn't likely to happen). Ataro didn't move out of the way, presumably to help block the Tauros, had Aipom not been able to halt it.

Aipom had little trouble disrupting the charge, however. She charged the Tauros herself, surrounded by flashes from the Fake Out itself; she jumped and clapped her hands, startling the Tauros and making it stumble in its charge. Tauros immediately got up and began to charge once more to Aipom.

A barrage of hearts emerged from Aipom to protect herself; she backed up this Attract attack by electrifying the hearts with a Thunder Wave. It was a powerful combo, I figured, as even if the target could see through the Attract attack, its muscles may not comply due to paralysis.

Tauros was struck by one of the hearts and once again was halted in its tracks. It seemed to be the Paralysis halting it more than the Attract; it seemed to want to charge even more now. Still, its muscles were halted, so Tauros was left defenseless; it could get back control at any time, however, and from the looks of it, it was ready to strike as soon as it was able.

"Ataro, I think Tauros wants to impress Aipom in battle," I warned. "It's not going down without a fight if it can help it."

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 13
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Tauros/M/????-95%
Area Effects: "Repaired" road, difficult for digging attacks. Surrounded by small amounts of vegetation
Character Count: 8003/25000

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught:

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

Just as the charging Tauros was about to hit Aipom again, it got struck by the electrified heart-shaped attack, and stopped short in its track. I noticed the expression and movement of the Tauros, and managed to spot the faintest sign of electrical sparks being given off from its body ... it wasn't stopped by Attract. It didn't manage to move because of the paralysis from Thunder Wave. From the Tauros' expression, it seemed even more determined now, as it continued to struggle rowdily; trying to fight with the restraining effects of the paralysis.

"Ataro, I think Tauros wants to impress Aipom in battle," Siless warned. "It's not going down without a fight if it can help it."

Hmm... From my researches, I remembered that there were four distinct natures which were able to ignore the effects of Attract and they were; Adamant, Lax, Naive, and Serious. Pokemon that had these natures had the ability to ignore the effects of Attract most of the time, but Adamant stands out from the rest. This is because Adamant-nature Pokemon tends to get even more determined if it gets struck by Attract. Even though there might be a chance that it might be more effective because the Adamant Pokemon might refuse to believe it was affected by Attract, there was also a chance that using Attract might only enrage it further. Whatever it is, I've already done it. If this is the case, I would just have to outdo it with my Pokemon's battling.

I still had a considerable amount of advantage of my side however. The paralysis was already inflicted on Tauros, and the surroundings only served to make it harder for Tauros to attack coincidentally, due to the uneven surface which will greatly lower the initial force and speed that Tauros rampages towards Aipom. By the time a rampage reaches Aipom, the power and speed of the attack would have been greatly reduced to the uneven surfaces. In fact, I was able to make use of the uneven edges that were jutting out from the ground a bit to help Aipom's movement. If Agility was used, I could have Aipom make use of the jutting surfaces and move towards Tauros by using those. Not only would it be incredibly hard for Tauros to focus; even if it did rampage towards Aipom, it would be even harder for it to strike Aipom due to the protruding edges from the boulders that jutted out. If anything at all, it would also help to lessen any impact received.

"Okay Aipom, watch out for the Tauros. Attract didn't work as well as we have thought it would. Since your opponent wants a good battle, we'll just have to daze it with your beautiful battle style. Use Agility on the protruding surfaces by jumping from side to side, while moving towards the Tauros. Once you get a clearance for your attack to hit, strike it with a Fire Punch on its head using your left fist, then follow up immediately with an Ice Punch on the exact same spot using your right fist!" I shouted out the command.

I knew Agility would be one of the best move to use now, since Tauros' speed was already greatly reduced due to the paralysis. With Agility's boosting speed, it only served to exaggerate the difference of speed in these two Pokemon and Aipom would be able to dodge her opponent's moves easier. Striking with Fire Punch and Ice Punch on the exact same spot would have double the effectiveness too. From Fire Punch, the intense heat produced from the punch would deal quite an amount of damage to Tauros. But with Ice Punch executed on the exact same spot, the attack would bring the sudden temperature rise in Tauros' body to a sudden decrease instead, since Ice Punch was a very chilly attack. The sudden change in temperatures would only deal more damage and be more effective. The fact that the attack was done in the exact same spot only served to increase the effect and impact of the attack.

I watched on as Aipom had already started moving. She started running out on the field towards the first protruding surface that was closest to us, and suddenly ran to the one on the left with amazing speed. Once she had gotten her momentum up, she seemed as if she was disappearing in a sudden trace of blazing speed, only to reappear on the other side of the field. I continued to watch as she moved with Agility; resembling a teleporting Abra. As she reached her opponent, I managed to detect the faintest trace of fiery red and icy blue glow that was giving off from Aipom's fists as she continued to disappear and reappear from side to side; she had already began charging for her elemental punches.

 

BP#2 (Vs. Tauros Post 2)

Tauros seemed confused as to where to attack; Aipom was fading in and out of view, and it had no clue of where to charge to use its own natural instincts to its advantage. Instead, Tauros stomped its front hooves down onto the ground and began bucking about in a powerful Thrash attack, attempting to hit anything that neared it.

The blurred Aipom was glowing bright blues and reds from chargings her punches. It didn't help Tauros at all seeing the flashes; it only disorientated and, by extension, frustrated. Tauros left plenty of openings in its rage, but even so, it's near impossible to physically strike such a Pokémon without getting scratched up a bit.

The elemental punches were charged, and Aipom launched herself at Tauros's head with blinding speed; a burst of flame struck Tauros straight between the horns, followed by a ball of frost. It hurt Tauros, but a smidgen of nervousness struck Aipom from the sheer power Tauros emitted at such close range, and Aipom hesistated on the retreat. Tauros was able to get a strike in on this hesitation, catching Aipom on its horns and tossing her away. Aipom landed gracefully, though had taken a couple of scratches from the strike. Tauros, however, didn't stop rampaging. I figured it couldn't have been that disadvantageous to it since it did so so naturally, but it still detracted from its ability to launch more precise attacks or strategic defenses.

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 13
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Tauros/M/????-69%, Raging, PAR, Attract
Area Effects: "Repaired" road, difficult for digging attacks. Surrounded by small amounts of vegetation
Character Count: 12533/25000

Current Battling Pokémon: Aipom 91%, Speed++

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught:

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

As Aipom was rushing in with Agility, the Tauros seemed to be confused about pinpointing down Aipom's location. However, it quickly gave up looking for the exact position of its target, and instead started a rampage of its own. Stomping down its front hooves, it began rampaging randomly with an onslaught of Thrash, ready to hit anything that was within contact range. Even if I wanted Aipom to try another attack, it was virtually impossible to recall my command, since Aipom was too close to Tauros. If I really did that, there might be a greater chance that Aipom will hurt herself instead.

At this time, Aipom launched herself at the head of the Tauros; striking the Tauros in the spot between the horns with a blast of flames, followed up by a blast of frost. Just as Aipom was about to step back to get herself some space, the sheer power of the Tauros proved to be a little too intimidating, as Aipom hesitated a tiny bit on the retreat. This delay allowed Tauros to get a hit in, as it caught Aipom in its horns and tossed her away with extreme ease. Although Aipom was being tossed, she still managed to take control of her movements and used the somersault to perform a perfect landing. The attack didn't seem to do much, but I knew that it might have hurt more if Tauros had been able to get a direct hit in.

I quickly thought about my next choice of moves. The Tauros had been locked in a rampage due to the effects of Thrash. Even though the user of Thrash will get confused once the rampage ends, Pokemon with the Serious nature might be able to ignore the secondary effect of Thrash instead; being confusion. If my deduction from the way it wasn't that affected by Attract was correct, there was a very high chance of this Tauros being a Serious nature. However, there was still a slight advantage that I could take advantage of. Since Tauros was locked in a rampage, it was unable to launch any other attacks, and thus counterattacks, or even any defensive or dodging moves. If I wanted the best chance for Aipom to not get hit by Thrash, or at least have the damage received lowered, the best choice would probably be to attack from a distance.

"Alright Aipom, let's attack it from a distance instead! That will lower the chances that Tauros will be able to hit you, since Thrash is a contact move. Fire your Water Pulse on the ground to wet the entire battlefield, while immediately following up with an Ice Punch on the ground to freeze it up!" I commanded Aipom.

With Thrash, the only possible ways to attack Aipom would be either for Aipom to get in close to Tauros herself, or have Tauros come closer towards Aipom for the attack instead. If I used a non-contact move and prevent the Tauros from getting closer towards Aipom, there would be virtually no chances for Tauros to get a hit in. By using Water Pulse to wet the ground, the entire battlefield would be essentially be filled with a layer of water. Then, by using Ice Punch to freeze the ground, the attack would freeze up the entire layer of water, only leaving the protruding surfaces intact. The entire battlefield would essentially be an icy surface instead, completely slippery and almost impossible to move on. Unlike Tauros however, Aipom had enough agility and speed to move by using the protruding surfaces instead, and thus still being mobile, while Tauros would be rendered immobile. Even if it had tried to move forward, there was an extremely high chance that it would fall due to the slippery surface and hurt itself instead.

I watched as Aipom's tail turned into a calming glow of ocean blue, as a blue aura started to surround her tail too. With a sudden swing of power, a mystic blue torrential orb was flung out from her tail and struck the ground, turning into a quick flow of water which filled up the ground surface immediately. She quickly charged up her fists once more, as a layer of icy frost started to surround both of her fists. With a jump, she threw herself above the water's surface and struck the liquid with both of her fists, as the Ice Punch started to spread out and freeze the entire layer of water.

The sight was both beautiful and magnificent, due to both the combination of water and ice; which was always a good combination to pull off - whether it was in battles or contest, and also due to the light that was being reflected off by the water, or ice from that matter. Before Ice Punch was struck, the sudden torrential rush of water was already an amazing sight. Once the attack was dealt, the sparkling icy blue light that was originally being given off from Aipom's fists, spread out to the layer of ice, as a spectrum of light was being reflected off the surface of the solid ice.

 

BP#3 (Vs. Tauros Post 3)

It looked almost like a natural, sparkling flood; the road was covered in a thin layer of water. It didn't stop Tauros's rampage, however. The bucking Pokémon made powerful splashes through its rage; the water obscured the Bull Pokémon for an instant before crashing back down and being knocked up in another splash. It seemed to be oblivious to the water. Either that or the Tauros just didn't care in its rage.

Aipom's blue fist slammed into the water, freezing it and the entire pathway. All that was left unfrozen was a few of the rock slide's protrusions, and Aipom was sure to capitalize on this, jumping to one of the rocks and watching Tauros's reaction to the frozen battlefield.

Said reaction wasn't really surprising. Tauros was Thrashing about before the field froze, so it was Thrashing about after as well. What was surprising, however, was the force at which Tauros was Thrashing; a powerful stomp shattered a large area of the ice around the Bull Pokémon. The pain of the ice shards piercing its hooves knocked it out of its Thrashing, and the sudden stop allowed the stored-up electricity of Thunder Wave to seize Tauros's muscles, rendering it immobile. Still, it wasn't going to stop battling if it could help it; Tauros roared, ready to fight despite its current immobility. It seemed ready for anything.

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 13
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Tauros/M/????-61%, ATK+, Sp.ATK+, PAR, Attract (Finished Thrashing, Fully PARed, used Work Up)
Area Effects: "Repaired" road, difficult for digging attacks. Surrounded by small amounts of vegetation. Road is Frozen, large area around Tauros filled with spikes
Character Count: 17247/25000

Current Battling Pokémon: Aipom 91%, Speed++

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught:

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

Tauros' Thrash proved to be powerful, as the forceful stomp even shattered a large area of ice around it. The ice shards that jutted out from the surface pierced through its hooves; dealing some residual damage, but also managed to get it out of the rampage as well. Just as it was about to move, it immediately froze in paralysis, while the electricity started to sizzle around its body again. Despite the inability to move, it quickly followed up with a roar as a surrounding glow of red aura started to surround it.

While the attack was being done, the ice shards that pierced its hooves were forced back out with a sudden force of push. From the way that move looked like and judging from the ice shards, it was probably the move, Work Up, which had the ability to boost the user's Attack and Special Attack stat. I paused to take a more careful thought about it. If Tauros had managed to get a hit in now, it'd be even more painful and damaging as before. Not only was Tauros's natural Attack stat rather good, it was even more fearsome now with Work Up. Luckily, I knew what I was going to do already.

"Alright Aipom, watch out for the Tauros's attacks; it's even more powerful now! I want you to take advantage of your speed and quickly make a Substitute while running towards the Tauros using the protruding rock boulders. Charge up your Focus Punch once you're done with that, but don't use it just yet! Make use of Detect to dodge its initial attack and as you make your way past it on the behind, quickly strike it with your Focus Punch from its back!" I told Aipom; noticeably softer than before. I wasn't sure if Tauros could understand my commands but just in case it could, my whisper this time managed to prevent it from hearing the gimmick I had planned.

From what I had had in mind, the Substitute would be a backup plan. A Substitute looks exactly like the Pokemon that had performed it, and it is almost virtually impossible to identify one from its original. It basically also means Substitute is extremely similar to Double Team in the sense of duplication. With Substitute however, even if the opponent manages to get a hit in, the decoy would help to take the hit instead, allowing my Pokemon to not get hurt in the process. This was probably the best move to use before using Focus Punch, since Focus Punch would not work if the user is attacked while using it. By making use of Detect, Aipom will be able to make a feint move by appearing to get in vision of Tauros's target and just as Tauros was about to hit it, Detect would help Aipom dodge the hit instinctively. This would then send Aipom to the back of Tauros; its blind spot, and this would also then be the exact time where Aipom strikes Tauros from the behind with a Focus Punch.

I watched on as Aipom carried out my command. She clenched her fists and shut her eyes with force, as a exact replica started to separate itself from her body. Within seconds, the decoy appeared right beside it, as they smiled at each other cheekily. There were no way of telling them apart. They quickly moved forward and made use of the protruding rocks to jump on, as they ran in a zig-zag formation, essentially confusing everyone with their movements; making it impossible for anyone to tell them apart. Although the Substitute looks like it's moving in a separate direction from the original Aipom, since they were moving in a zig-zag formation and thus at any single time - a Aipom would appear on the left, and another would appear on the right, if at any time the original Aipom would be hurt, the decoy would immediately vanish and appear right in front of the original one to protect it and take the hit instead.

There were different ways that I've seen Substitute being performed, ranging from replicas to feinting knock outs, but this had been the way my Aipom had always performed it. I waited for her to reach the Tauros, while all I could see were teleporting Aipoms all over the boulders, that marked their spots with a bright flash of white light. It was probably the charging of Focus Punch, which emitted from Aipom's tail. For Aipom, unlike the elemental punches which were performed using her fists, she preferred to strike with Focus Punch using her tail instead. It was probably a preference of the additional power, but she enjoyed thrusting her fistful of tail into the opponent; overwhelming them with the tremendous power from Focus Punch instead.

In fact, even if Tauros didn't managed to even get a hit in on Aipom's Substitute, it would also be beneficial for us since we would then have a decoy to work with for the rest of the battle, and for the next one as well, until it is destroyed and thus fades of course.

 

BP#4 (Vs. Tauros Post 4)

Sub-Punch. Ataro was having his Aipom use the powerful strategy combining the powerful punch with a cover that prevents the opponent from exploiting the extreme concentration it requires. Not only that, but Aipom was using a Mirrored Substitute; it would still take blows, but Tauros would not be able to predict which Aipom would hit.

Tauros was having none of it. It focused its mind into a much more controlled Rage than before; Tauros prepared itself to strike at the nearest Aipom as soon as one entered its range.

Aipom had reached Tauros no problem; it and its Substitute both vaulted over the Tauros. The Bull Pokémon jumped at its chance, striking the form on the right; the Substitute took the hit, though it hadn't broken. This drove the Tauros further into Rage, but it didn't have much of a chance to respond to it; Aipom drove its fist-tail into Tauros's back, slamming it into the ground.

Tauros still, in his rage (and attraction), didn't want to just take the blow; it was too late to dodge, but not to counter. It used its speed as it slammed into the ground to blast sharp rocks out of its landing position and launch them towards Aipom. The Substitute took the brunt of the attack, but there were still rocks headed at Aipom once it faded away. The multiple blows knocked Aipom back; she gracefully landed on the nearest rock protrusion, though she was visibly winded at this point.

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 13
Items: Park Ball x5, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Tauros/M/????-26%, ATK++, Sp.ATK+, PAR, Attract (Used Rage, Rock Slide)
Area Effects: "Repaired" road, difficult for digging attacks. Surrounded by small amounts of vegetation. Road is Frozen, large area around Tauros filled with spikes
Character Count: 21965/25000

Current Battling Pokémon: Aipom 58%, Speed++

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught:

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

I watched as Aipom approached Tauros with a speedy acceleration, and Tauros went for a strike on the right, only to smash into Aipom's decoy instead. Though it had taken a hit, the decoy still remained, and didn't fade away. The Tauros seemed even more enraged because it seemed like its attack wasn't quite effective at all. Before it could display any other form of counterattack or emotions, Aipom smashed her fist-like tail onto Tauros's back with Focus Punch.

However, it didn't end over there. Just as Tauros landed on the ground, it took advantage of its weight and the velocity at which it was smashed towards the ground on, and slammed onto the ground to defect sharp rocks; blasting them in a wide spread of direction. The attack seemed similar to a Rock Blast attack, but it was in truth, simply making use of the battle surrounding. Unfortunately, Aipom's Substitute took the full brunt of the attack and faded away, but that wasn't the end of it. There were still rocks headed for Aipom, whom didn't had enough time to react. Thus, the blast of rocks knocked Aipom back; causing some residual damage. Like before, she still landed perfectly on a nearby rock protrusion. She was starting to look tired, however, Tauros was definitely in a much worst state than her.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. I remembered I had asked Aipom to use Detect just when she was in range of Tauros's strike, just so she can anticipate the movements of her foe and dodge it. However, now as I recall it, that attack wasn't done. I wasn't sure if there weren't enough time for Aipom to perform the attack, which was why she didn't, or perhaps she had just forgotten about it due to the three attack command that I had instructed her to do. Though, none of that was a concern now. The Tauros, is now ready, for the final blow.

"Alright Aipom, let's wrap this up. Give it a final blow with a Swift, so that we can get it to a critical health zone, thus increasing the chances of a capture," I instructed Aipom.

Once she heard the command, she did a jump and then a huge somersault, as her tail glowed in a shiny sparkle of yellow at the same time. As she spun in the air, star-shaped missiles burst out of her tail and blasted themselves towards the Tauros. The Swift attack had almost resembled ninja shurikens, except there were yellow in color instead. I grabbed a Park Ball at the same time and threw it towards the Tauros. Once the attack had hit Tauros, the damage would be dealt, and it would be immediately followed up by a capture attempt; leaving no chances for Tauros to counterattack unless it manages to escape from the capture device.

Though, it would also be possible to not use Swift. I had only made use of another attack to lower Tauros's health to the most possible minimum, so that my chances of a successful capture can be maximized. I had originally planned to make use of my stronger capture balls, such as the Super Ball, Hyper Ball, or even the Supreme Park Ball which I had received from a special event to capture Tauros, since Tauros was after all an Intermediate ranked Pokemon which meant that it was harder to catch. However, from the looks of it, a Park Ball looked like it could get the job done as well, due to the health condition of the Tauros. It also looked completely drained at the same time from the battle, so I'd rather use a Park Ball instead.

 

(OOC: I kinda made Detect work as a not very visual attack, more of just an extremely accurate prediction. The first blow probably shouldn't have struck, but the Rock Slide was a last minute change really to keep the battle from being one-sided, and while it wasn't meant to punish (more to keep things interesting), I didn't think it would be in the prediction, though I suppose I should've mentioned it. Still working on this stuff .-.)

BP#5 (Vs. Tauros Post 5)

Aipom slung a barrage of stars at the Bull Pokémon; they didn't seem as strong as they could've been, but they didn't need to be. Tauros was already almost down for the count, though it still had fight in it. Tauros stomped when hit, but at the range all it did was shake up the rock Aipom was standing on a bit; it did clear the ice shards near where Tauros was standing, however.

In its newfound rage caused by its wounds, Tauros was blind to the Park Ball zooming at it. The ball slammed into the Pokémon's forehead, and engulfed it in a bright light. The Bull Pokémon fought from inside the capture device for at least a minute, longer than I've seen any Pokémon resist capture, but it didn't have the strength to break out and the ball finally locked around it.

I walked up to the Tauros in the now-mostly-clear road and picked up the ball. "Congrats, Ataro. You caught Tauros."

A small device starting ringing from within my jacket pocket, sensing Ataro's capture. Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokémon. They fight each other by loc- I turned off the devices voice; Ataro had a Tauros before and certainly knew what he was up against. He didn't need to be lectured on his newly captured Pokémon.

"That was a good show, Ataro. Need some time to rest up, or do you want to keep going?"

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 12
Items: Park Ball x4, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics:
Area Effects:
Character Count: 0/????

Current Battling Pokémon: Aipom 58%, Speed++

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught: Bold M Tauros

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)
Stats: 58%

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

Eventually, the capture device stopped shaking, which represented a successful capture. Siless walked up to the Tauros in the now-mostly-clear road and picked up the ball. "Congrats, Ataro. You caught Tauros. That was a good show. Need some time to rest up, or do you want to keep going?"

"Thanks Siless! Just a bit. Aipom, I want you to use Rest to fully heal yourself of any fatigue or injuries. Once you do that, I'll have Miltank heal you by using Heal Bell, which will help to recover faster," I said, as I threw a Pokeball onto the ground.

Aipom did what I told her to do and curled her tail up to form a sort of 'cushion', while she gently lay herself to a deep slumber. As she started using Rest, she started giving off a faint glow of emerald green, which seemed to cover some of the bruises that she had received earlier from the battle. As my Pokeball opened up at the same time, my Miltank appeared and she called out her name endearingly. These three Pokemon of mine were always close to each other, so they got along really well naturally.

"Miltank, let's heal Aipom up with Heal Bell!"

She nodded happily as she started to jump around joyfully. While performing her action, a resounding bell-sound started to emit from her. The sound was of a soothing and calm tone, one that would not only heal Pokemon's status problems, but also cure you of any mental fatigue. Upon hearing the bell, Aipom woke up suddenly, more refreshed than ever. She hopped around joyfully and thanked Miltank earnestly. Once we were done, I proceeded to return Miltank to her Pokeball.

"Okay, Siless. I'm ready!"

 

(Wasn't sure if you wanted to keep the disk going since you caught Tauros or change it to the Bouffalant disk. You still have 2 uses on the first for this run, and 5 uses on the second, and even not rolling it on this encounter you can get all of your uses in before leaving, unless you leave early, so I thought it best to just give you a Pokémon so you can keep going.)

NBP#5

Under normal circumstances, Rest couldn't be interrupted. If an offensive move such as Uproar or Wake-Up Slap woke the target up, the healing from the rest would be lowered, if it activated at all. However, Heal Bell woke up the target with a soothing sound that granted it energy, amplifying the effect. I hadn't seen it in action before, but almost instantly Aipom looked as if she just got a full night's sleep.

Ataro returned his Miltank to the Pokéball after their preparations for journeying ahead. The road ahead was perfectly fine; it was clear Furret hadn't caused trouble over here. As we walked down, I heard a rustling from a nearby bush. It took a while to figure out what it was; a Deerling was hiding, but was watching Ataro closely. As I watched it it ventured out of the bush a bit for a better view and maybe to let us know it was there, but it was hesitant to approach me. It seemed to be focusing on Ataro, mostly.

"I think this little one is interested in you, want it?"

---
Name: Ataro
Area: Botanic Gardens
Encounters Remaining: 12
Items: Park Ball x4, Super Ball x5, Hyper Ball x5, Supreme Park Ball, Family Repellent x5, Max Potion x2, Full Heal x2, Ranger's Delight (3 time uses), Status Bomb, PokePlayer, Honey x2, Squirt Bottle, Blank Voice Disc, Intermediate Voice Disk (Tauros), Intermediate Voice Disk (Bouffalant), Pokedoll x4

Battle Statistics: Deerling/?/???-100%
Area Effects:
Character Count: 1608/4000

Current Battling Pokémon: -

Encounters Finished: Kangaskhan, Furret

Pokemon Caught: Bold M Tauros

Pokemon: Aipom
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Pickup
Nature: Sassy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Brick Break, Cut, Detect, Facade, Fire Punch, Focus Punch, Hidden Power, Ice Punch, Rest, Return, Rock Smash, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw, Snatch, Strength, Substitute, Taunt, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, U-Turn, Water Pulse, Counter (BM), Fake Out (BM)
Stats: 100%

Pokemon: Miltank
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Attract, Brick Break, Curse, Double Team, Dynamicpunch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Punch, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Protect, Psych Up, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Sandstorm, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Stealth Rock, Strength, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunderpunch, Thunder Wave, Toxic, Whirlpool, Counter (MT), Double Edge (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Iron Head (MT), Seismic Toss (BM)

Pokemon: Kangaskhan
Nickname: N/A
Gender: Female
Ability: Early Bird
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Aerial Ace, Attract, Avalanche, Body Slam, Brick Break, Counter, Curse, Cut, Double Edge, Double Team, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Facade, Fire Blast, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fling, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Icy Wind, Iron Tail, Mega Kick, Protect, Rain Dance, Rest, Return, Roar, Rock Climb, Rock Slide, Rock Smash, Rock Tomb, Safeguard, Seismic Toss, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk, Snore, Solarbeam, Strength, Submission, Substitute, Sunny Day, Surf, Swagger, Thunder, Thunderpunch, Toxic, Whirlpool, Endeavor (BM), Hammer Arm (BM), Wish (SM), Yawn (SM)

 

We continued walking down the road; there was nothing interesting about the route. I had almost dozed off while walking, but was interrupted by the rustling sound of a nearby bush. I looked on tiredly, expecting a creature to pop out any time now. As I had expected, a Pokemon jumped out of the bushes. Cliche, I thought.

It was a Deerling, whose legs were poised in such a position that made it look like it was trying to hide from us. I was baffled. How could a Pokemon jump out of the bushes to alert itself to us and still try to hide? It then separated itself from the confines of the bushes, and walked just a bit closer towards us, while still keeping its distance. It seemed to inspect me thoroughly with its focused gaze - it was probably interested in me.

"I think this little one is interested in you, want it?" Siless told me; even he could tell that the little critter seemed to be concentrating on me throughout.

"... Nah, I think I will pass on this one," I said, not too impressed at a Deerling. I had always thought that Sawsbuck looked pretty ugly, except for perhaps the Winter-forme Sawsbuck. Even if Deerling was a really adorable little critter, which it is, I had no intentions to capture one since I had no particular attraction for it, nor did I have any use for one.

I didn't felt like using my Pokedolls, so I decided to try and run away instead. Or at least, sort of. I went format and patted the Deerling on the head, before trying to walk off, hoping it wouldn't be too persistent and continue to bother us. Suddenly, I recalled that I still had the Tauros disk playing. I quickly took out my Pokeplayer and stopped the player, then taking out the disk. It had already worked and I had already captured Tauros, and I didn't want another one anyway. I took out another voice disk, except this one had 'Bouffalant' scribbled on it instead. I quickly inserted it into the Pokeplayer and the cry of a bull, similar that of my earlier disk, started to resonate through the garden. I continued walking away with my ranger, while keeping a cautious eye on my back, just in case the Deerling decide to be persistent instead.