Chapter 2: It Takes Two to Tangelo

As Steven stalks off towards the Blitzle, Matt scratches the back of his head and looks at Val and Julie "Well, looks like its just the three of us."

The young Steel Trainer looks down at his trusty partner, and a slight grimace comes across his face "So, if we wanna try being sneaky, it might be smart for me and Bul to hang back. We sorta draw attention, what with me being loud and him being walking Armor and all"

Julie looks back and forth between Steven and Matt/Val. She didn't really want Steven to go off on his own, and he looked like he was at least trying to be a bit stealthy... "I think I'll follow off after Steven then, you guys can do what you want. I call catching at least one of the two playing in the water though!" With that, she skulks off after Steven, trying to catch up with him.

2d6

Steven motions for Julie to stay put for the moment, and, while keeping an eye out for the shadowy figures he'd seen earlier, calmly, carefully, walks out of the tall grass and up to the river, Leila's ball in hand in case those figures he'd spotted earlier decided to come out and make trouble. When he reaches the stream, he quickly looks to see how deep it is, before shrugging and wading through. It's warm enough, it'll dry. Once on the other side, he smiles warmly at the Blitzle, intent on making ... it? feel at ease. "Hi there, little fellow. How ya doing?"

As the other two slinked off, Matt looked over at Val before snapping and pointing his finger up "Oh! Maybe instead of just waiting around up here, if we go down there, the Mon would be a bit more distracted by us and they can sneak a bit better" He grinned and nodded "Sounds like a great plan, right? Come on Bul!"

Without waiting for Val to confirm if his plan was indeed great, Matt began to head down towards the river and Pokemon below

Matt & Val

As you two plod along toward the pokemon, two of them immediately take notice. The Patrat swings around, eyes fixed on you, and squeaks out a warning. The Sandshrew immediately bolts upright, looking in your direction. Neither move, but both are tensely waiting, watching for any sudden moves. The two pokemon in the river seem otherwise occupied.

Julie

You are able to stay undetected in the grass, watching as Steven crosses the river. At first you think you see some movement on the other side of the river, in the edge of the grass, but you are able to dismiss it as being just the wind. Steven looks like he's doing okay for now, though...

Steven

You crossed the river easily enough. Your socks are wet, and the bottoms of your shoes are muddy...but you're in a Safari Zone. These things are to be expected. Getting closer, you are now quite certain that this Blitzle foal is a male. The Blitzle lazily looks over at you, its eyes slowly opening, and it snorts loudly before slowly standing up. It doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by your presence, but your efforts at befriending it do not seem to have been particularly effective.

You are certain, however, that there are two pokemon slinking about in the grass behind this Blitzle. You keep catching glimpses of gleaming eyes, shifting black bodies, and whisking tails. At a guess, these pokemon may be stalking this Blitzle...or stalking you. Seeing this kind of behavior in the grass makes something trigger in the more primal parts of your otherwise educated brain. You begin to feel tense, your perception heightened, and you can feel each individual bead of sweat rolling down your skin. Behind you, what you would've otherwise not noticed over the splashing and gurgling of the creek, you can hear Matt and Val conversing. Your every sense is on edge. Is this what prey feels like?

Matt stops when he sees the Mon tense up, before raising his hands up "Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you or anything" Unfortunately, quiet isn't Matt's strong suit, and his voice carried a bit more than he intended in this case

Not seeing anything in the grass, Julie sighs and slowly stands, wading across the river towards Steven and his maybe new friend. She hears Matt and Val talking nearby, but she assumes they'll be fine on their own. She flashes a quick smile towards the blitzle, watching its reaction to her in case she makes it more uncomfortable, and stopping if she does. While she was doing this, she'd address Steven. "Are you sure something is in the grass? I'm not seeing anything..."

Matt smirks and raises an eyebrow while looking at the Sandshrew "Oh come on now, don't just ignore me like that" His hand moves to his side, resting on Brig's Pokeball "If you don't quit trying to run, I'm gonna have to stop you myself. Neither one of us want that."

He turned to look at Bulwark "Alright Bul, I'm gonna need you to stand back if this gets dirty. I'm not gonna throw you against a Ground type for no reason" He also glanced at Val and smiled "So, maybe this isn't going as well as I had first thought. But hey, nothing more fun than a battle"

Looking back at the Sandshrew, he smiles again "Now then, are we gonna do this the easy way? or the hard way?"

Steven starts slightly as suddenly two blurs come out of the grass and head straight for Leila, pushing the poor (if still oblivious) Oddish into the water and injuring her pretty badly. He curses softly, though he's relieved the two felines appear to be more interested in eachother than their potential prey right now. "Leila, stay on your guard, and let's try and relax these two a bit, shall we? Sweet Scent."