The sudden sound of a bird's purring caught Derek's attention, but even with this advantage, he still had not proven quick enough to retrieve his pokeball before the pokemon could take to the sky. If memory served him right, this was a Tailow...? It definitely beat your everyday Rattata. Taking hold of the device, Derek clicked it once quickly before tossing it up into the air. As if they were there the whole time and conscious of what was going on, the trainer was swift to deal out his command.

"Zeke, hit'em with your flamethrower!" Seeing as they were both air-bound with Charmander facing upward, it was their only chance to use a fire type move without risk of setting the tall grass ablaze. The Rangers would certainly never let him hear the end of it in such an event. Regardless, the Charmander that came sprouting out of it's ball and into the sky was quick to dish out punishment, the morning sky filled with fire as it erupted from the little lizard's open maw before falling to the ground.

The Tailow did it's best to manage an evasive maneuver, but due to the manner in which the attack was executed, the feral pokemon hadn't managed to go completely unscathed. One of it's wings had been engulfed in the inferno, causing the pokemon to spiral out of control now that it's aerial balance had been disturbed.

As they fell down to the ground and struggled to flap their wings to take flight once more, Derek had proven reluctant to attack further. It seemed to be burned to some extent, as the pokemon was in obvious distress the way it frantically thrashed about in a desperate attempt to get away. He felt rather sorry for it. Zeke the Charmander, on the other hand, was in hot pursuit. Upon reaching the bird, he used his tail to trip it at the ankle before stepping on it's other wing to pin it down.

It all seemed rather unpleasant, but as the moment came to pass, Charmander held a distinct look of remorse upon it's facial features. Striding up behind them, Derek took a knee before offering up a pokeball to the wild pokemon. "If you come with us, we can go to a center and get that checked out. How's that sound?"

Without much work, Derek and his Charmander were fortunate enough to cross paths with yet another pokemon. The little guy was up ahead pumping his fists and flexing like nobody would believe, that was except for the two bearing witness to it. The trainer had never seen a wild pokemon so gung-ho before, and the moment it made eye contact with him, he could feel the sheer intensity that was it's personality. Before he or his Charmander could even react to the staredown, the pokemon began to march their way from the clearing ahead, seemingly set on picking a fight as it began to chant 'Champ, champ!'.

"What in the- H-hey, wait for me you jerk!"

The Charmander Zeke, however, seemed to have something else in mind. He'd never encountered such a bold pokemon, and for some reason didn't seem keen on doing battle. Derek was quick to follow after his pokemon upon noticing they'd already made a hasty retreat, looking back over his shoulder every few moments to see whether or not the Machop was still in pursuit. He'd almost tripped over his own feet with how fast he was going, but thankfully for them the wild pokemon had given up after enduring several meters of the fruitless chase. They definitely looked proud of it, though, strutting their stuff some more and making sure to see them off before returning to whatever it was they were doing there.

"Phew, that was too close for comfort. And geez, Zeke! Way to hang me out to dry..."

The Charmander waddled over to it's trainer with a frown for a face, tugging on his pants lightly in the direction of the city. "Oh, so now you wanna go home? No way...I wanted to catch another pokemon so the Taillow we just caught can make a friend that isn't the one who just grilled their wing. Let's just go this way...it'll be okay."

Pressing onward into a cluster of trees, Derek took the lead in his pokemon's stead, using his hands to shake the smaller trees as best he could in hopes a pokemon would fall out. Preferably not onto him...

Purposefully shaking the trees above him, Derek had not taken notice of the pokemon his Charmander had begun to engage not many meters ahead. Hopping down from it's place in a tree branch, the wild Tyrogue took a stance and immediately braced itself for impact as Zeke primed himself for the offensive.

"H-huh?" The trainer looked over to see the mass of orange-and-yellow acting of it's own will, watching it rear back it's dominant hand in order to make a mean swipe for the Tyrogue's head. Only they weren't having it...

As if caution had been thrown to the wind, the Tyrogue's eyes gleamed as he moved in on the attacker. Before Derek's Charmander could even make it's swipe, the fighting pokemon dished out a nasty jab, causing Charmander to lose his footing and fall back on his rear. He seemed taken aback by the move, proving unable to react to the next move the Tyrogue had made.

Pressing forward with all it's might, the Tyrogue's tackle hit Charmander with all of it's might, causing Derek's pokemon to come tumbling back to him. It was the first time he'd ever seen his pokemon knocked unconscious. The trainer, in fear for his pokemon, quickly raised and waved his hands in the air. "No more, please! That's enough! You win!"

The trainer's words were urgent, scooping the pokemon up into his arms. The Tyrogue, seemingly content with this 'demonstration', began to pace away in compliance, leaving Derek to sprint back towards town. There would be a pokecenter there, and hopefully they'd be able to give him and his two pokemon good news. Either way, he felt at fault...

The fact his pokemon had a mind of it's won was fine up until he acted on his own accord. Picking a fight with the Tyrogue like that definitely wasn't the right way to go about it. He could tell just by it's demeanor that they'd seen enough battles to know their way around a puny little Charmander like Zeke.