It felt like one never had to go too far along this route to run across trouble. These pokemon were fiery in every sense of the word, which would make it a perfect training spot for Squeak. A ponyta came bounding into view, looking rather irritable as it stamped at the ground in challenge of the strange pair invading it's home turf. Despite it's aggressive approach the pony didn't immediately attack the pair, which seemed like a perfect opportunity for Frederick to take advantage of. He would look down to the azumarill with a smile, his relaxed appearance betraying the worry that still lingered in the back of his mind. "Let's try working together today Squeak, yeah? I bet the two of us could pull of a lot if we were to cooperate."

Squeak crossed her arms as she stared at the challenging pokemon, nose scrunched into a rather unimpressed expression. Her features softened slightly as she looked back up to the trainer addressing her, almost as if she actually developed a bit of respect for the man. No matter how much she agreed with his case she couldn't bring herself to openly agree with him, only managing to force out a shrug and a small nod. This was all the ranger needed, as it was already a vast improvement from his previous experiences. "I'm glad we can agree." Thumbs slipped behind his suspender straps as he looked back to the ponyta, who was still stamping her feet and waiting for her challenge to be accepted.

"Rollout," Without warning or a twinge of hesitation the Azumarill would sprint forward, building speed as she moved toward the pontya. At one point she would tuck her body in, forming a nearly perfect sphere that would start to spin even faster than when she was simply running. Yet the ponyta was still faster, as she would engulf her body in flames and charge out to meet the attacking azumarill. The flame charge and rollout clashed, but it was clear that Squeak won out. Between her surprising strength and the type advantage of the attack, the flame charge proved to be not very effective.

The ponyta was sent sliding back from the attack while Squeak kept charging forward, ready for another attack. "Keep up your momentum." The aquatic rabbit's spinning only got more intense as it charged forward, building speed and power as it rushed toward the ponyta. It was clear that fire attacks wouldn't do much here, which left the wild pokemon with only one defense. Rearing up she would raise her front hooves in the air, delivering a well timed stomp attack to the oncoming pokemon. The attack landed, but she quickly found her hoof caught up in the rotation.

The hoove was pulled out of her control, which only made the impact of the rollout to follow that more devastating. The attack sent her tumbling back and sliding across the ground, her chest heaving in shallow breaths as she came to a stop unconscious and defeated. Yet Squeal didn't stop there. She continued to charge forward, only to uncurl her body at the last second to place herself in a standing position right next to the flaming horse. She would take a few steps closer before raising a foot to rest on her defeated opponent's body. a hand pointing at the creature's face as she spat on the ground. How dare this dumb horse even think to challenge her.

Frederick simply laughed at the display, hands clapping together as he approached the thuggish azumarill. "Good show, my friend. Granted that wasn't the most complicated encounter, but you still performed well." Squeak nodded firmly in agreement, the pleasant sensation of praise filling her body with warmth. Sure it was reward enough to crush and humiliate an opponent, but it was also kinda nice to get some recognition for it too.

                          

Before the pair could even start back onto the path it seemed that another challenger decided to make itself known. Hot on the heels of the ponyta was a pokemon that was all too familiar to the retired law officer, a growlithe. He had fond memories of working with these fine creatures while on the force, but oddly enough didn't really feel the need to have one in his party at the moment. His team was just as loyal as any canine could be, and getting one felt like it would just be an attempt at recapturing some small part of his past. And he certainly didn't have much interest in that. No, it was much better to look toward the future and what may be accomplished going forward. But maybe someday he will bring one of these loyal creatures into the fold.

"No time for rest Squeak. Start with an aqua tail." The aquatic rabbit took a step forward toward the growling dog, his piercing glare and intense posture almost being enough to give the azumarill pause. She was going to have to be careful with this one. As much as it irritated her she was going to have to pull her punches a bit and avoid over committing to her attacks, just to make sure the mongrel didn't take advantage of any openings. Not that she was intimidated or anything.

Liquid started to swirl around her tail as she sprinted forward. With a short hop into the air she would tuck her body in forward, performing a forward somersault midair. Her aqua tail would come crashing down on the growlithe, releasing a surprising amount of water at the moment of impact. It caused Growlithe to yelp and step back a bit, shaking and heating his body to quickly dry himself off. But he wouldn't be defeated by some punk water fairy. Lunging forward with teeth bared the orange dog would juke to the side and attack from the flank, aiming to bite at his attacker's tail.

Squeak let out a cry of her own as the teeth sunk in to her thin tail. The attack may not have been particularly effective but that didn't mean it wasn't irritating. "Watergun." Watergun? Shouldn't she just get him off with a bit of rough play? Well if she was trying this 'listening to her trainer' thing out she may as well go all the way. She opened her mouth to release a thin but powerful stream of water, the attack potent enough to send the growlithe tumbling back a ways. "Now chase him down with a rollout."

Once againt he azumarill would curl into a ball and start rolling toward her opponent in a textbook rollout attack. Growlithe may have been on his last leg, but he wasn't about to go out without a fight. The fiery dog charged forward, hoping that a strong attack might bring about a reversal of fortune. The attacks clashed, sending both fighters flying back and skidding across the ground. But Squeak was the only one to stand, albeit with some rough injuries. If she hadn't been resistant to that sort of impact she would have been down for the count.

Frederick casually walked up to his pokemon, a hand digging through his satchel and pulling out a potion as he drew near. "I appreciate you listening to me there. Here, this should help." Squatting down beside his pokemon he would start to spray the potion onto his injured pokemon, the spray soaking in to her skin and helping to dull the pain while accelerating the healing process. "Let's go one more round before heading back. What do you say?" Squeak simply shrugged at this, refusing to make eye contact with her trainer as he administered the treatment. She wasn't used to actually getting healed after training like this. Did all his pokemon who obeyed like this get this sort of treatment? Was it really so simple?

                          

The two of them continued along the path for a short way in silence, neither one feeling much need to try and communicate with the other. It was actually nice to know that he would be able to relax and enjoy himself while Squeak was out by herself without worrying about her running off and getting into trouble. It felt like she could actually be consdered a trust worthy part of the team, assuming she didn't do anything stupid to betray that trust. Which given her rebellious attitude was not outside the realm of possibility.

Squeak would stop suddenly, her nose twitching slightly as a smell caught her attention. Her trainer would pause alongside her, his gaze falling downward as he tried to figure out what caught her attention. "Pick something up? Where is it?" The aquatic rabbit looked off into the brush, a very faint stream of smoke lingering in the distance. Her eyes narrowed as she would start to march off toward it, only to pause after a few steps and look back at her trainer. An arm extended toward him, beckoning the human to follow after. The dark haired ranger laughed softly at this, his head bobbing slightly as he nodded in response and moved to follow after. She could take the lead in these matters. The fact that she asked him to follow rather than just expecting him to tag along was a good sign. Even if it wasn't the most polite way for her to go about it.

After a short trip off the beaten path the pair would come across the source of a smoke. A slugma was slowly making his way through the area, leaving a path of smoldering shrubbery in his wake. "Ah, a good find Squeak. Attack, but try not to touch it. There's no doubt that will lead to serious burns." Squeak nodded as she stepped forward, chest puffed out as she stared down her oblivious opponent. "We're going to try and keep our distance this time. Watergun."

Her body compressed slightly as she released a stream of liquid from her mouth, the strong watergun directly at the magma pokemon. The creature was caught completely unaware, as he was seemingly more interested in reaching his destination than paying attention to her surroundings. But as the water connected with his body and caused his form to rapidly and painfully cool he realized he would have no choice but to deal with these interlopers.

The sluggish pokemon turned to his attackers surprisngly quickly, the magma making up his body beginning to boil with greater intensity. "Brace yourself Squeak." The slugma opened it's mouth, it's body lurching as it released a sizable ball of fire toward it's attackers. The flame burst connected with Squeak, who was plenty well braced for the attack. However the explosion was larger than expected, catching both her and Freerick by surprise. The ranger took a few steps back, his arms raising to protect his face as he did so.

Squeak looked back at her trainer, her eyes turning unusually soft with worry as she tried to make out his condition through the smoke. It took a moment, but as the smoke dissipated it became clear that the man was unharmed. He watched with an amused grin as he caught the final moments of the azumarill's worry, her expression hardening the moment they made eye contact. It seemed that she was starting to get attached to him after all. "Don't you worry about me Squeak. Just hit it with another watergun." Her face scrunched with frustration at the order, eyes narrowing at the slugma before her. How dare this idiot pokemon make her feel worried for that human? Her chest expanded and compressed once more, sending out a continuous torrent of water toward him.

The watergun was too intense to weather. Squeak was putting everything she had into this attack, as it was her only chance to bandage her wounded pride. But much to her surprise the hot bodied pokemon was still standing, even if just barely. It was clearly exhausted, even letting out a yawn as it struggled to stand. The yawn was intense, even managing to make the furious azumarill start to get a bit drowzy. Upon seeing this Frederick's smile would vanish, his voice gaining a certain sharpness as he gave one last order. "Finish it with another watergun now."

Squeak lazilly followed through with the order, expelling one last watergun before falling face first into the dirt. Luckily for her the final blast of water was enough to finish off her opponent, who had been reduced to a puddle of slowly bubbling lava on the ground. The ranger slowly approached his sleeping pokemon, squatting down next to her and rolling her round body over so he could see her face. She looked so much more peaceful when she rested, almost like she wasn't the most prideful pokemon in the world. With a soft laugh Frederick would give her a soft pat on the head, the amusement returning to his face. "Come on big girl. Let's get you back to town for some real rest."