A flurry of brown fur mixed together, lighter shades blending into the darker, longer strands of Norn's coat as the both of them curled in on each other and rolled across the path. With a swift kick to the gut, Norn detatched the cub from his underbelly and flung the somewhat larger creature to the other side of the path. Both of them were on their feet in a moment.

Norn let out a low rumble from the back of his throat as his cream-colored mane started to bristle. The normally fluffy, soft texture of his fur grew ridged and coarse as he glared at the source of his interruption.

From the other side, the cub took an equally defensive stance. His chubbier back legs stood at a wide stance, one front paw digging into the dirt as it waited for a chance to strike. A normally rather timid and joyful Pokemon, the Teddiursa seemed to have been aggitated by something prior to the trainer and her partner walking in. At least, that was the impression Leah got when she caught up to the two of them.

"Norn, be careful!" She called out once she was in earshot, though rather far away by most trainer standards. "Try to use your Charm to calm it down."

Norn's ears flicked at the command, though the rest of his body was far less responsive. He continued to eye the bear, his fur in a defensive, fluffed out way. Slowly, he took a step forward, watching the way the cub tensed in response. Quietly, the fox-like Pokemon made a chattering sound to the other Pokemon as he took another step closer. His posture relaxed ever so slightly. Another chattering sound came as he took once more step.

All the while, Leah watched with bated breathe, a fist held tight right in front of her lips. It was, after all, the first time she had even seen two Pokemon fight, let alone seeing how aggressive a wild Pokemon could be. It was all she could do not to cry out for her precious partner to jump into her arms so that they could run away.

Just as the idea crossed her mind, Norn rushed forward. Taking advantage of the lowered defenses in the Teddiursa, the Eevee pounced and sunk his fangs into the tender neck of the bear. Once more, the two of them toppled to the ground, coiling into each other as they fought with each other.

The Teddiursa let out vicious cries and scared shrieks as Norn bit, clawed, and kicked at the tender parts of the Pokemon. After what felt like an eternity of them duking it out, the Teddiursa was thrown from Eevee once more. Though this time, he shuddered as he strarted to stand up. All it took was a low growl from Norn before the Teddiursa limped off in defeat.

"N-Norn!" Leah cried once the bear had limped off. In seconds, the aspiring nurse was kneeling in front of her partner, delicate hands running through his fur in search of any wounds or weakened spots. Much to her surprise, she never felt any blood and nothing seemed to hurt on the small Pokemon.

Tail waggling happily, Norn was practically grinning as he panted up at his trainer. Did I do good? was plastered all over his face.

Leah, with a sigh of relief, shook her head. "You're crazy," she breathed as she ran her fingers through his mane in an affectionate way. "But I guess I didn't do a lot of good with the whole trainer thing, did I?"

There was hardly a moment's peace shared between trainer and companion before the sound of rustling grass snapped their attention to further along the path.

Perhaps fueled on andrenalin from the previous fight, Norn bounced from Leah's arms and took a defensive stance not too dissimilar to the one he had held against the cub. Legs far apart and ears perked forward, he stared with as aggressive eyes as something as cute as him could muster.

Toppling from the grass was a pink fluff ball. Triangular ears flopped and twitched as the cat-like creature flicked its tail around in a rather charming manner. As if excited, the kitten opened its mouth and made the cutest noise Leah had ever heard in her life. A gentle meow that carried across the fields and soothed both her and Norn in almost an instant.

"How adorable!" Leah cooed as she clasped her hands together. "I absolutely must add it to the team. Think you can--"

So eager to begin the fight to add her newest addition to the team, both Leah and her companion hardly noticed when the Skitty suddenly changed its entire demeanor. Like flipping a switch, the cat grew feral and rushed forward. Through the tiny slits that were its eyes, Leah could have swore she saw a murderous red glow, painting the Pokemon with ravenous hunger.

"Look out!" She had just enough time to bark the command before the Skitty came barrelling between the both of them.

Leah hopped to the side, stumbling over her feet temporarily, and Norn to the left with significantly more grace. Both of them were startled, but the Skitty seemed to feed off their indecisive nature. In a flash, it rushed towards Norn with reckless abandon. Body tucked in low, much like one would picture a wrestler aiming to thrust his body into his opponent.

Dazed and lacking the strength from his trainer, Norn received the full brunt of the tackle. He yelped sharply, his body twisting in the air as he righted himself to land on his feet. Surprisingly, he stuck the landing and evne let out a small huff in defiance. With the Skitty soundly between Leah and her partner, Norn just had to glance over the Skitty's shoulder to look to his trainer. In some ways, it was advantageous.

Snapping from her confusion, Leah quickly issued a command: "Trump Card!"

In an instant, Norns expression changed. Worry was gone and in its place confidence. After all, this was his favorite move.

He took half step back, as if to right his posture, and then bent his knees. With his eyes locked on the Skitty, they stared at each other, unmoving and waiting for something to happen. Naturally, Norn was the first to move.

Kicking off from the ground, the Eevee let out a shrill cry, whipping his head towards the sky right as all four of his feet planted into the dusty path. The sand was kicked up in a brilliant display of showmanship. But, what truly stole the crowd was how thin, but large cards took shape from within the ground. They materialized from what could only be described as Norn's energy and hovered around his body.

The Skitty, now taking a half step back in hesitation, let out a low growl, fur bristling in the standard oh shit stay away manner possible. Not that it did much to dissuade Norn's assualt.

He kicked off once more, but this time with a flurry of blank cards hovering raound him like attack helicopters. Once he was close enough, they honed in on Skitty with merciless precision. One after another, they bombarded the kitten as Norn danced and shuffled around the kitten. It seemed like it hardly lasted a moment before the Skity stumbled over its own feet, cried out in defeat, and made a hasty retreat to the tall grass, limping and mewling in agony when a stray card flicked at one of its back paws.

From the sidelines, Leah exhaled, just now realizing she had been holding her breath the entire time. Her shouldesr relaxed as she looked to Norn and, as the emotions started to hit her, a grin spread. Without thinking, she hopped into the air and squealed a bit.

"You're so cool, Norn!" She exclamed as the Eevee puffed out his chest.

Her excitement was infectious, it seemed. By the time she landed on the ground with a little skip, Norn was all but laughing alongside her. Though he didn't seem to have the energy to bounce quite like she was, his tail beat against the ground happily and he did a little dance right in front of her.

"Maybe we are cut out for this," Leah said with a delighted grin. She crouched down in front of her partner and gave him a loving pat on the head, fingers weaving through his fur and scratching behind an ear in just the right way to earn a purr-like noise from him.

Thankfully, both of them were able to enjoy their celebration in peace. By the time both of their excitement had settled into just happiness, nothing had leapt from the foliage with a startling bark or caw or screech. In fact, there wasn't even any distant cries that preambled the coming of some threatening foe. It was a nice change of pace given how the last two encounters had gone.

So, Leah and Norn stood up and continued their way down the path. The blonde would hum a gentle tune as attentive eyes scanned through the stalks of the particularly large flowers. Aside from the scurrying of younger, or smaller, Pokemon, they seemed to be alone the entire walk. Sure, a few bird Pokemon flew above and cawed to each other, but that was about as exciting as it got until they neared the city boarders.

Maybe twenty feet or so from reaching the nearest building, a low giggle stole away Leah and Norn's attention. Both trainer and Pokemon came to a full stop and looked towards the noise. In seconds, they were greeted with a purple monkey dancing around in a bundle of petunias. It grinned at them with surprisingly white teeth and a dead-inside stare. Oval ears bounced and flicked as it watched the on-comers with a curious expression.

Neither Leah nor Norn wanted to pick fights, so they just started moving. After all, if it wasn't jumping them, then there was no--

With surprising speed -- downright intimidating speed -- the Aipom burst from the flowers and rushed straight up to Norn. Eyes wide, teeth bared, the monkey screeched at the top of its lungs right in front of Eevee. Its voice alone had enough force to ruffle the furs on Norn's face.

But the fox hardly even blinked. Completely unphased by the assault, he just stared. I dare you to hit me was the closest way to describe the Eevee's posture and expression. But despite that, Leah jumped in quick with her commands.

"Trump Card!" She announced as she back stepped a few paces -- had to give them enough room to fight, after all.

With the Aimpon so close, there was no room to do the dramatic build up. Norn just stepped forward half a pace so that he was all but pressing his face against the Aipom and then let out a low growl. Both him and the Aipom stared at each other for an intense second before dust was kicked into the air and the shriek of the monkey claimed a successful hit.

The cards, just like before, had simply materialized around Norn and, with him and the target being so close to each other, the moment they did, they had crashed into their target. Each exploded in a burst of air upon smashing into the monkey, thus causing the dusk cloud around them.

From the debris, the monkey toppled over itself. Only from the help of its hand-like tail did it recenter itself and brace against the ground. Whatever game it thought it might have been playing was thrown out the window. It rushed forward with no hesitation and rammed right into Norn. Claws lashed out and around Norn as the monkey grappled with its foe. Careless attacks were thrown at any part of the Eevee it could touch. Head, ear, belly. Nothing was off the table in the short period of time the monkey kept its hold on the fox.

"Charm it away, Norn!" Leah cried. Her voice wavered as she watched the brutal onslaught, but at least she hadn't forgotten her role as a trainer this time!

It was difficult to see just how the attack worked, let alone why. Norn had let out a pitiful cry, his body going limp. He couldn't make eye contact with his target from the angle, but the submissive and pained approach seemed to get the job done. The monkey's grip loosened. Though it continued to growl aggressively, it seemed like it wasn't too interested in fighting something that would hit it back.

"Trump Card! While its guard is open!"

The command was reflexive and unnecessary. Norn had already begun his counterattack, even if it wasn't a full blow attack. A swift kick to the face fully detached the monkey from his body and put a bit of space between them. But because he already knew what to do next, he could prep the attack and launch it before the Aipom could even right itself. Large bursts of air bellowed from around Aipom as the cards hit their mark. After only a couple blows, the dust had started churn in the air, swirling around in mini dust devils that collided into each other around the Aipom.

When the last card landed, Aipom's body hit the ground. For the first time, they had properly knocked out a Pokemon.