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Gloved fingers tightened at the surface of one of the miniaturized capsules resting at her side, the grunt fully prepared to sic her wild hound on the Anorinth as it scuttled out of the darkness. Her attention pulled toward the Lileep as it hopped its way from the shadow as well, short tentacles wriggling about its face in warning to the trainer and the pokémon the wild pair had worked to surround.[break][break]

Her hand withdrew from the ball at Vash's laid back demeanor, his confidence in his pokémon convincing Ten that the help wouldn't be necessary.[break][break]

''Lileep will be able to hold its ground against your wind. You'll have to be persistent.''[break][break]

Flicking a pair of fingers toward the fossil the trainer signaled for the onslaught to begin. Apollo's talons carved furrows in the dry rock of the cliff as he launched himself back, metal wings spanning wide to catch the wind. With a strong push of its muscles, the Skarmory rose up into the sky, body still turned toward Lileep as he climbed steadily higher to put a safe amount of distance between them. Lileep seemed too focused on Shieldon to pay the bird much notice, its roots cutting deep into the earth to ɪɴɢʀᴀɪɴ itself in the dusty stone. It only took a single ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ to divert its attention.[break][break]

Lileep's form bowed under the sharp current, the sharp strike of wind causing it to snap back in a flinch. Apollo simple spanned his knife-feathered wings once more, sending another torrent of a singular, cutting gale to slice at the stone grass pokémon. Lileep shuddered as it bowed toward Skarmory, struggling to lift its round, bulbous head to spit a shot of ᴀᴄɪᴅ to its airborne attacker. The poison spattered across its intended target, coloring the bird's metal chest in an ineffective sheen of poison. Another ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ was enough to cripple the pokémon, its body sinking battered toward the ground as it craned its head to try for another attempt at ᴀᴄɪᴅ - the poison landing fruitlessly at the bird's armored foot as its wings drew back for a final ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ, leaving the Lileep to sink fully against the ground as it lost consciousness.[break][break]

Apollo bent his leg, shaking his foot to free it of the drops of poison still lingering there. Ten, in the chaos of the fights, had managed to pull her phone from her pocket, her attention centered on its screen.[break][break]

''We're here looking for pokémon.''[break][break]

The answer was as simple as her tone as her thumb brushed along the surface of the screen.[break][break]

''Are you here to train?''

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Vash's sense of humor was lost on Ten, the response to his light-hearted teasing amounting to nothing more than a stark silence. Her eyes followed as he leaned a short ways toward the smaller pokémon, tending to its wounds. His answer gave her more information than she had expected, the additional notes cataloged on the off chance that they proved useful later. A ranger. She wondered how the more longstanding members of his team might behave in battle.[break][break]

Ten turned her head, gaze following after the Shieldon as he bounded toward his next opponent, the thick metal of his shield ready to butt them head on. His words appeared to be little more than sound against her ears as she shift her weight, hip rolling to one side as she brought her phone up to steal her attention away again, taking note of Nosepass' icon appearing on her screen. Despite the attention given the machine, she hadn't missed a word.[break][break]

The phone was lowered to grant the ranger a glance, head lifting to level her eyes with his as he wondered over his pokémon's age. It seemed a viable conclusion to her. The Shieldon's technique was simple, verging on exploratory, and though it held its body with confidence it lacked the control she would expect of a pokémon with years of experience under its belt. Cocky. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.[break][break]

Her eyes passed toward Shieldon as he stepped back to his trainer, victory earned. As it disappeared into the light of its capsule her gaze locked back on Vash, somewhat confused by the words that sounded to be of excusal. Sure enough, his hand rose in a wave as he set back down the mountain, leaving her to her work.[break][break]

The metallic crow of her Skarmory broke the silence to settle over the cliff, boots shifting against the dirt as she turned to glance in the noise's direction. The poor bird's body was being drawn in by Nosepass' ᴍᴀɢɴᴇᴛ ᴘᴜʟʟ, his wings beating wildly to try and tear him from its hold.[break][break]

''Apollo.''[break][break]

The call of her voice didn't offer any sense of security, though the bird was at least glad his struggle had been noticed.[break][break]

''Let the pull take you. I want you to steel your wings. Your metal will cut through Nosepass' rock.''[break][break]

The bird dropped its struggle, using the momentum of the magnetic force to glide in quickly toward Nosepass, the metal of his wings hardening with a newfound coat of steel as he gripped his talons against the rock to avoid meeting the pokémon with his chest, opposite foot planting firmly to sweep his weight around and bring his sᴛᴇᴇʟ ᴡɪɴɢ to collide with the pokémon's side. The strike sent Nosepass toppling to one side, electricity skating frantically over its body before reaching out in wild, jagged strands of light, paralyzing Apollo in a ᴛʜᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ. The dance of light wasn't enough to alarm Ten, but to the pokémon who hadn't expected it, his mind quickly spiraled into a panic. His movements were frantic as he dug his heel to the ground, struggling to pull himself away as the electricity coursed through his metallic body, jumping sporadically from his form.[break][break]

''You're not fighting alone. I'm here with you.''[break][break]

The words stunned the bird farther than the shock of lightning had, eyes pulling wide as the Nosepass righted itself and dove in for a ᴛᴀᴄᴋʟᴇ.[break][break]

''Focus on following through with your wing. Be persistent. You'll get it.''[break][break]

The talons anchoring him to the rock kept him rooted in place as Nosepass bounced back off his form, squat legs hurrying to bring him in for a second as he tried to knock the bird off the cliff - apparently unaware that the bird was more likely to end up stuck to his body than anything else. The determined rock managed to score a second hit against his chestplate with ᴛᴀᴄᴋʟᴇ, though given the sᴛᴜʀᴅʏ build of his metal, it proved to be of little use.[break][break]

Lowering his shoulder, Apollo lunged forward sharply, managing to break through his paralysis just enough to strike at Nosepass with his sᴛᴇᴇʟ ᴡɪɴɢ. His body continued forward from the force of the hit as the pokémon fell in defeat to the side, the effect of its magnetism fading with its consciousness. His foot struck out quickly to catch him, wings twitching before breaking successfully through the paralysis to span wide.[break][break]

''Like that.''[break][break]

Even with the helmet distorting her voice, she sounded cheerful. Apollo was learning.[break][break]

Her head turned to stare down the steps, curious how far the other trainer had gotten. It was too bad he had already left.