Braving the Path.

[Wolf]

Conor Fitz and his Numel, Eruptor, had just defeated and caught a Shroomish. Conor was originally going to name the Pokemon Stink Weed after the odor that the Shroomish emitted when they first met. Of course, when he told Eruptor about the name, the Numel just gave him a look that said, ~No way.~ Rethinking the name, Conor had finally settled on Spore. Now the two were currently just entering the route that ran alongside the Red River.

Conor looked over to his Numel and realized that he would be out of his element here, so close to the water. That would not be helpful during any battles. Especially if the Numel was thrown into the water. And, something told Conor that Numel do not swim. Giving a sigh, Conor took out Eruptor's Pokeball and said, "Eruptor, I think that you should stay inside your Pokeball for the time being. Ya know just until we get a little further away from the river. I'll let you back out afterwards." The Numel just nodded his head and replied, ~Okay, I'll just take a nice nap then. G'night trainer!~ The Pokemon was then sucked into the Pokeball, where he would take a nice rest.

Putting that Pokeball away and taking out another, Conor said, "Fang, come on out!" The Poochyena then materialized into existence from the Pokeball. Giving a glare at his trainer, the Poochyena gave a growl. Sighing, Conor squatted down and said, "All right, now chill out. You lost and we won. That is it. But with me, you can win. That is for sure. You have spirt and strength, but what you lack is strategy. So tell you what. I'll train you and make you even stronger. All you gotta do is just listen to me. Then we are sure to win many battles. All right?" The Poochyena seemed to think it over for a moment, then gave a nod of agreement. Giving the Pokemon a pat on the head and a cheshire cat grin, Conor stood up and continued down the route. This time, however, Fang was at his side following his... trainer. A bond of trust and friendship was beginning to build between the two..

[~/Birdybot\~]

A large, squishy ball rolled out of the water. It rolled around quickly, shaking all the water off, and settled in front of Conor. The ball seemed to be covered in fine, watertight fur. It blue, with white dots on two sides, to the left and right of Conor. Also, it seemed to have a puncture or something, because it was so squishy. At least, it definately seemed like it. However, at that moment, it becan to shake, like vibrating but more. A cry of ~Spheal!~[/color] came from it as two cute ears and a little face appeared. The ball seal Pokémon uncurled, not that there was much difference between now and when it was curled into a ball.

So, a Spheal. She was so cute! Her shining black eyes fixed Conor in their gaze, and her mouth was curved upwards in a cheery grin. Aw, she wanted to play! ~Pheal! Eal Sphe Spheal!~[/color] she squealed in her high pitched voice, clapping her pudgy front flippers together.[/size]

[Wolf]

Now, like most canine Pokemon, Fang was immediately interested in the rolling ball. Just as he was about to go over and start playing with it, it popped open, revealing a face and two small ears. Jumping back, Fang immediately bowed to the ball-shaped creature saying, ~All hail the ruler of all things round. I am your humble servant, oh great one.~ Sighing at his Pokemon's lack of intelligence, Conor picked up the Poochyena and said, "Relax, Fang. It is just a Spheal, not the ruler of all things round and squishy." As Fang was put back down on the ground, he pointed his head in the opposite direction of Conor, and mumble, ~I knew that...~

Walking over to the cute little Spheal, Conor squatted down. Putting his hands on his knees, the young man said, "Hello there little one. I'm Conor. Do you want to play with me?" As he asked this, Conor mimicked the cheery grin of the Spheal with his own very cheery grin.

[~/Birdybot\~]

ooc// Only Pokémorphs can understand Pokémon speak XD

ic// Spheal bounced up and down excitedly, clapping her fins together. Her whole body moved as she nodded furiously, giggling. The Ice type seemed fairly young. She also seemed very hyper, cheery and playful. She motioned for Conor to follow, then rolled towards the river bed. She looked happily at the water, gave a squeal of delight, and the Ice type bounced as high as she could, landing in the water with a huge splash. She laughed, splashing Fang playfully.

[Wolf]

ooc:~~Sorry 'bout that and the inactivity.~~

ic: Conor grinned as the Ice-type played in the water with Fang. Taking off his shoes and socks, Conor rolled his pant legs up to about knee level. He was about to stick his feet into the water, when he felt the temperature. Sure enough, it was somewhat cold. Deciding against going into the water, the young man sat down on the edge of the bank and watched the two Pokemon play happily. Fang seemed to be as happy as ever, judging by the speed at which his tail was wagging. The Poochyena was jumping around in the water and splashing the Spheal whenever she splashed him.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Without warning, Spheal gave a squeal of fear. A loud buzzing filled the area, until a Pokémon came into a view. A Yamna, wings making unnessesary noise to frighten the little rotund seal Pokémon. It was working. The Spheal shivered in terror, regarding the Yamna in utter horror. It was soon discovered why. The Yamna, with a none too pleasant grin on his face, picked up Spheal without warning and flew off out of sight along the river, Spheal's screams for help fading out of earshot.

Oh, dear. How on earth would Conor be able to save Spheal? Well, however it was done, there was perhaps a little hope with a worried looking Corphish who was staring at the route Yamna had gone.

[Wolf]

Conor jumped up ready to fight as the Yanma took off with the Spheal. He had to save the young Pokemon. Fang, apparently reading his mind, was already prepped for action. "Darn it. Fang, let's go!" said Conor already for a fight. Just as he was about to charge after the Yanma, he noticed the worried Corphish staring in the general direction the Yanma went. Walking over , Conor asked, "Hey, do you know where that Yanma is taking Spheal? Can you show us?"

[~/Birdybot\~]

Corphish looked at Conor as if he were crazy. At first, the crab took a few steps backwards, but it then felt that it seemed Conor was concerned about the poor Spheal. Taking a moment to understand Conor, Corphish thought about the answer. He had seen Yanma around here before, but he hadn't been brave or suicidal enough to follow it. He wasn't even sure what happened to those taken by such a beast. He supposed, however, he wanted to help Conor. He shook his head to the first question, then nodded to the second.

The Corphish began to walk, sniffing the air and searching the plants for any sign that something had passed by. He knew the vague direction he was heading in, but he couldn't find the correct path. He looked to the trainer, Conor. Hopefully he was much better at tracking that the Corphish was, and could find the path of the Yamna without extreme difficulty.

[Wolf]

Conor realized that he had made somewhat of a mistake. Apparently, the crab-like Pokemon was not the best tracker. When the Corphish lead them to a path that the Yanma might have gone through, Conor knew that this was probably as far as the Corphish could take them. Seeing the Water-type staring at him, Conor gave it a grin and said, "Thanks for your help. We probably should take it from here," turning to Fang, Conor continued, "Fang, do you have the scent of the Spheal? If so, you might be able to track it and the Yanma down. Think you can do that?" He then waited to see if the Poochyena could follow through with the task.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Corphish smiled to Conor as he left, hoping he would succeed. A Poochyena would be very useful indeed for this tracking stuff, for they had a pretty keen sense of smell, so he'd heard. The crab wished Conor luck despite the fact that he wasn't likely to be able to understand, and scuttled off back to the river to continue with his daily life.

Fang had managed to pick up the scent effectively. Yamna had been none too careful, knocking branches and such as he flew. Eventually, after a few solid minutes of tracking, a faint buzz could be heard. Walking closer, Yamna could be seen. He was hovering in the air, pinning Spheal down on a rock. The young Ice type whimpered, barely audible. She was close to fainting.

[Wolf]

Conor gave the Corphish a small wave before turning his undivided attention back to Fang. Seeing how easily the Poochyena picked up the trail made Conor think, 'Huh, so he might not be good in the brain department, but he is good in tracking. I'll keep that in mind.' Conor then followed Fang towards his quarry.

Soon enough, they found the Yanma and the Spheal on the brink of fainting. Seeing the state of the poor Spheal made Conor's blood boil. Looking over at Fang, Conor noticed that the Poochyena was even angrier than himself. Now was the time to strike. "Fang," Conor whispered, "I want you to charge forward and use a Tackle attack on the Yanma. Immediately after you drive the Yanma away from Spheal, I'll step in and move the Spheal out of harm's way. Then we fight the Yanma in a full on assault." Fang gave a toothy as he listened to Conor's plan. "Alright Fang, let's go. Use Tackle attack on the Yanma!" ordered the Poochyena's trainer. As soon as he said this, Fang charged towards the Yanma, ready to strike.

[~/Birdybot\~]

Yanma grinned, about to strike the finishing blow to the cowering Spheal who was now shaking in fear. The Bug type stopped, however, as he found himself being rolled over and knocked aside by the Tackle attack of a Poochyena that he didn't remember; after all, he hadn't been paying attention to the witnesses. The dragonfly snarled, turning to Fang, completely distracted. He would show this mutt who's boss in a fight!

This would be a good chance for Conor to sprint out and grab Spheal before any further harm could come to her. Meanwhile, Yanma was ready to fight pretty much instantly, a natural warrior. The Pokémon let loose a cry of battle as his wings moved so fast they were a blur, projecting him at a great speed at Fang in a strong Quick Attack.