Chapter 2: It Takes Two to Tangelo

The Blitzle, startled by the sudden appearance of two predatory pokemon, started stamping its feet aggressively at the two felines.  The Litleo paid the Blitzle no mind, but the Shinx took notice and, rather than flee, turned away from the Litleo and began to stalk towards it.  The Shinx glared at the Blitzle as the feline pawed slowly toward it--at least, it tried to, however it ended up coughing up a hairball instead.  Simultaneously, the Litleo, seemingly unaware of the failed attempt to capture it, began to stalk his way toward Leila, turning to leer at Steven and the newly-appeared Petilil as he made his way toward his prey.


Brig hit the field, still clutching his mysterious carrot, and stared down the Sandshrew with a contemptuous, "Tch...Nid."  As Ajax went in to grapple the Sandshrew, the Patrat started to stare down Ajax, Brig, and even Bul.  This must have especially intimidated Ajax, because the Sandshrew was able to escape from his grasp.  Quickly rolling up into a ball, the rodent began to spin rapidly, bowling his way through Ajax and Bul, even as Brig launched a psychic attack, which produced a mild, muffled grunt from the shrew.

As all of this was going on, the Phanpy and Hippopotas began to close in on the Sandshrew and Patrat's position.  As the Phanpy got in close it curled up into a ball, similar to the Sandshrew, and rolled closer.  The Hippopotas, however, didn't make it quite as far.  It was clear that it was not an especially fast swimmer.

Leila, happy and oblivious as always, shakes herself off as she lands in the water and merrily skips behind Steven, before releasing a poft of sweet smelling pollen in the air.

Litleo, Shinx, and Blitzle all seem a little woozy after Leila's scented cloud is released. This does not stop the Blitzle, however, from attempting to kick the Shinx with its front hooves...an attack the Shinx just so happened to sway right into! The attack looked to do significant damage, but the hungry Shinx showed no signs of backing down.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Patrat took Ajax's attack hard. Flanked by Brig, the Patrat decided to exercise that great and noblest of traditions, and it fled! It took off, dodging any attempt to strike at it, and only stopped once it was in the safer company of the oncoming Phanpy and Hippopotas.

Julie looks to Steven and grins at him. "Seems we're having trouble with this whole capturing thing, huh? Well, here goes!" With that, there's another lob, directed at the Shinx! There's a nice, satisfying smack as it hits the Shinx, pulling it inside the Safari ball.

Julie's pokeball finally landed true, striking the Shinx which seemed to sway into it--no doubt a side effect of the sweet scents pervading the air. The ball rolled furiously on the ground, but eventually chimed. The little feline was caught!

Meanwhile, Matt tried his own hands at catching, tossing a safari ball at the Sandshrew rolling about the battlefield. The ball struck the curled up pokemon, which gave a surprised squeak as it was absorbed. That ball, too, chimed cheerily, signaling another pokemon caught!

As this was going on, however, the other pokemon were not idle. The Phanpy rolled forward, bouncing itself forcefully into Ajax. The Hippopotas liberated itself from the water and began to plod over toward over toward Ajax and Brig...then it saw it. A big, juicy, delicious carrot...

"Po...tas...," the hippo said, licking it's lips.

"Nid! 'Tch, Nid...oran," Brig said derisively, clutching his carrot.

Whatever words had passed between them seemed to anger the Hippopotas and it rushed forward, jaws agape.

"Hip-po!," it shouted, chomping down, aiming for Brig's carrot!

Brig looked shocked as the Hippopotas's strong jaws clamped down around his carrot...and himself with it. This shock quickly turned to irritation and righteous indignation.

"Nido-ran!," he shouted back angrily, trying to pull himself--and more importantly, his carrot--free from the hungry, hungry Hippopotas's jaws.

As the battle with the ground types unfolded, the Litleo shook his head and snorted loudly, clearly not happy with the scent...but satisfied by its dietary options, especially with its competition gone.  It looked between the three pokemon before it...and its eyes finally settled on Leila.  The little Lion launched a fireball at the shrub--far larger than it had any right to be.  Fortunately for Leila, being covered in water, in the middle of a river, would offer some protection...but not enough to avoid being left a steamed turnip, bobbing unconscious in the river.

Julie looks at the state of the battle and squeaks a bit as Leila goes down. This wasn't going well, and she didn't want her Petilil to suffer the same fate. However, she could probably fire off one more attack. Hopefully. "Absorb, Litleo, got it?" Keep the commands simple and hopefully she wouldn't miss like last time, right?

"Leila!" Steven shouts as his little turnip topples over, unconscious and slightly smoking. He glares at the Litleo as he recalls her, before releasing Sirius behind her. "Sirius, end this cat. Quick Attack." he orders, his voice deadly calm. The Riolu nods, quickly slamming into the feline's back.

The Hippopotas was struck square on the nose by Julie's safari ball and started at the blow! It opened its mouth, letting out a pained cry, and subsequently releasing Brig and his carrot, who flopped onto the ground. Before the Hippo could recover though, it was drawn into the ball, which shook violently before chiming pleasantly. The Pokémon was caught!

Brig got up, dusting off himself and the carrot before turning his back on the pokeball. He stuck his nose up in the air at the whole affair. "Tch...Nid."

Sirius struck hard and fast, bashing the Litleo square on the head. The Litleo slid back a few inches as Sirius tried to follow through, clearly injured from the drawn out battle, but did not buckle. The little lion glared up at Sirius, snarling, and the two locked eyes for a brief moment, an intense stare passing between the two.

The moment passed. The Litleo swatted Sirius's hand aside and rushed forward, aiming to bash into the Riolu's body!

The Blitzle snorted loudly and stamped in the dirt as the Litleo went down. It looked as though it was ready to bolt, but when Steven spoke, it stopped.

It looked him square in the eyes, sizing him up and listening as he spoke. It began to settle down, and its breathing slowed as the Pokémon relaxed. After a long moment it finally blinked, nodded its, head, and tapped the Safari Ball with its nose. It gave a loud neigh as it was drawn into the Safari Ball, and the Pokémon was caught almost instantly.