In the middle of Jenever's investigation, Jenna took one last chance to scan their surroundings. There was no noise, pardoning the sniffing of her Houndour. If there were any pokemon nearby, the sounds of their approach would have attracted them or chased them off, but wouldn't they have heard something?

Jenna, in her musings, could only guess that they should keep moving and try their luck somewhere else. She twisted, ready to go back the way they came. Maybe a different approach would help–

The blue-haired Ranger stopped dead in her tracks, realizing why she hadn't heard any pokemon. Why? Because the pokemon that had been watching them had been levitating. It had easily glided into the clearing without making a single noise. If Jenna hadn't been ready to turn back around to the main path, she may have missed it completely.

The floating Bronzor was gearing up to attack. Jenna could only presume that she had wandered straight into its territory, without even realizing it.

“Jenever. Here.” Jenna snapped her fingers, pointing toward her side. “Seems like we got a fight...” What the heck was this thing? The Ranger squinted for a few moments before the name came to mind: a bronzor. Before entering into the safari, she had heard some trainers exiting the facility laughing off their encounter with one. Something about it being “full of surprises.”

Well, it was a steel type, so Jenna knew exactly what to do.

The Bronzor, having already prepared its attack, went first. It released a shrill noise, followed by a concussive phycic blast: confusion. Except, when Jenever jumped in front of the attack, it seemed to bend around her, causing no damage to the dark-type pokemon. “It knows psychic moves? Good thing I chose you, then. Use ember.”

Without hesitation, Jenever parted her maw to spew a hot spray of the crackling particles of fire and smoke. The bronzor was too surprised by the failure of its attack to successfully dodge in time. “Hah. We got 'em.” Except, now it was Jenna's turn to be surprised. As the smoke from the fire attack cleared away, the bronzor looked... not as harmed as she had expected.

“What the hell?” Even Jenever looked confused. “Don't let it phase you, Jeni. Might just be an ability.” A very convenient ability.

The bronzor took a moment to shake off the remaining embers, shrugging off the fire-move as if it were no different from any other. It seemed to realize that another confusion attack would only be a waste of time, so it geared up for another move instead. Another noise escaped the floating metal pokemon, but of a much softer note. Distorted waves of energy were directed towards her Houndour.

“Aw, shit.” Jenna dropped down to one knee, cupping both of her pokemon's ears to try and keep it from hearing the sweet serenade of Hypnosis. It wouldn't block out all the noise... and at least the attack had a high chance of failing. As the serenade came to its end, Jenever was awake and still standing. Maybe a little groggy, but still awake. “Alright. We don't have any other choice, do we?”

And Jenever unleashed another ember attack.

This time, they didn't have to wait for the smoke to clear. The bronzor charged her Houndour, bursting from the building brume. After watching its last two attacks fail, maybe it hoped a tackle could turn the battle its way.

The attack made contact; but, it was far from a fight finisher. Jenever skid back after taking the impact, immediately releasing a third ember. Once again, the heatproofing ability dampened the attack of the attack, but it had already endured the brunt of three attacks. It had to be close...

Another tackle, another ember. The cycle from before repeated again. Except, this time, Jenna could see the singe marks that adorned the bronzor's metal body. Did that mean it had been burned? Or was it just the continual damage?

Gearing up for a third tackle, the steel-type glided across the ground. Jenever, after taking the blunt of the damage from the last two tackles, had finally gotten a feel for the levitating pokemon's patterns. She lunged to the side, releasing the fourth ember. An absurd amount of moves to use; especially on a steel-type.

It ended the fight. The moment the bronzor dropped to the ground, Jenna released a long sigh. “I was almost worried.” Jenever returned to her trainer's side. “We better keep looking.” Who knew how much time she had wasted doing this battle?

I CALL YOU BY YOUR ANCIENT NAME

The battle must have attracted attention.

Jenna Wright twisted on the ball of her heel, ready to move on from this area, when something small and green managed to catch her eye. Greener from the rest of the scenery, the in-deciphered creature ducked behind a nearby tree–trying to avoid the trainer's line of sight. She could have missed the movement entirely, if it weren't for one factor. The quills. As the pokemon pulled itself back, the lengthy quills atop its head were still poking out from behind the tree.

Nice try. The girl waited, arms crossed, as the pokemon took another peek. Their eyes locked. She wondered what the pokemon would do–run or flee? She had been told that the Safari tried to raise their pokemon to be approachable, just so they could get caught. “What are you doing, huh?” Jenna spoke softly, dropping to one knee. She had hoped to seem approachable. If it worked, maybe she wouldn't have to have Jenever interfere. That would be nice.

Slowly, the Chespin released the tree and stepped out. It was small. Cute, too. The expression on its face seemed far from pleased, but its non-threatening appearance could have fooled anyone. Any trainer might have believed that the pokemon was incapable of causing harm; the ranger wasn't fooled. She squinted when the grass-type lowered its head as if to prepare for–

It used rollout. A sneak attack!

The blue-haired trainer lunged to the side. It was that burst of quick reflexes that kept her from being spurned. The little ball of quills was quick to zoom straight past her–and straight for Jenever. That must have been the intentions of the attack the entire time. Sneaky lil' bastard–

“Jeni! Ember!” She blurted out, just as her Houndour became of aware of what was going on. Flames escaped from the dog's maw, but not fast enough to stop the rolling Chespin. Both attacked collided, simultaneously. She could hear the loud yelp of both pokemon as they bounced off one another; one injured from the rollout, the other from the ember. “Damnit.” Jenna was quick to pick herself up from the ground, rushing over to the dark shape in the smoke that could only be Jenever.

The Houndour was on her last legs. If she sustained another attack, Jenna knew she'd be rendered unconscious. “You did good,” and she petted back the ruffled black fur around Jeni's skull cap. Seeing her pokemon injured was never a pleasant sight.

But, it wasn't the end of the world. She'd keep her temper. It'd be unsightly if she were to pitch a fit the moment a battle steered out of her favor.

Jenna brought her Houndour back into the pokeball, just as the injured Chespin was rising to its feet. A trainer should always expect things like this. Pokemon battled. It was just their way. It was nature.

That one attack had showed cunning. The Chespin was clearly a bold one, hoping to win a fight against a fire-type. That was always a trait that a Ranger should look out for. “Nice shot.” She confessed... before chucking her safari ball straight at the grass type.

I CALL YOU BY YOUR ANCIENT NAME

Jenna approached her thrown pokeball, adding the newest team member to her waist. Interacting with the newly captured Chespin was the last thing on her mind; it'd be best to let it get acquainted to the pokeball it was stored in. Give it a chance to settle down after that big fight. After that, they could get to know each other and she could introduce the grass-type to everyone else. Until then, she had to keep moving and find more pokemon to interact with. There were only two safari balls left and the girl intended to put them to good use.

It was just a shame she had to withdraw Jenever. Without her Houndour, she lost her best tracker. Finding worthwhile pokemon would become more difficult.

“Oh well.” She murmured to herself, continuing deeper into the foliage. Her Houndour would need the chance to rest. In her mind, Jenna had already planned a visit to the nearest Pokemon Center when this little excursion was finished; the rollout attack had packed a strong punch. Some of the medics there could help out with any residual bruising and scrapes. After that, she could hop on her Lapras and embark on the long trip back to the mainland...

The foliage was becoming less dense. Breaking away from the overhanging canopy, a wide clearing awaited her. Not a single trainer was in sight. Just the swaying of the blades of grass as a breeze passed through the area. The ranger released a long sigh. She had managed to break away from everyone. Good.

And up ahead, she could see a small Drillbur poke its head from a small hole in the ground.

Huh. It was cute... might as well, right? It seemed like it was one of the more desirable pokemon being offered. To be honest, Jenna had thought they had been all caught already.

She chucked out another member of her team–someone that she didn't bring out very often. Her Lapras appeared from the soft red light. If she was uncomfortable with sitting on top of the grass, Jenna couldn't blame her. There wasn't any water nearby.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let's blast that one with a watergun to start things out. If everything works, we can try sing and capture it.” For once, Jenna was initiating a fight. Her Lapras seemed to hesitate, but after a few moments of coaxing, she finally attacked.

The Drillbur, who had noticed their approach, quickly dipped back into the hole before the water blast could reach. “Tch.” Figures. “Now, where'd it go–” It blasted out from the ground–to their left. In midair, the drilling pokemon initiated a spin; both hands clasped together to form a solid tip.

Lapras wouldn't be able to quickly avoid. Not while she was on land.

The rapid spin collided with Lapis' hard shell. Maybe that managed to dampen some of the impacts from the blow, but Jenna wasn't sure. Her pokemon had a long enough neck to twist towards the furious mole and retaliate with another water gun–this time, at a much closer range. Her Lapras was easily frightened. If she had attacked without being told to do so, then Jenna knew she had been rattled.

“Calm down, girl.” She raised a hand to her neck. The water attack had been successful, throwing the mole off from the Lapras' shell and skidding across the clearing. “Remember what I said. Now, try the–” The drillbur jumped into another hole. One that Jenna only noticed after the mole vanished from sight. “...Are you shitting me?” Was this going to be a game of whack a mole?

“Okay, it's gonna come from somewhere. Where, where?” She glanced around as fast as her head could allow. Would it use the same hole as last time?

It came from the front. Except, this time, Lapras wasn't the intended target. With its claws parted, it lunged straight from the ground, straight from a new hole, to try and scratch straight at Jenna. “Oh shi–” Except, in some ironic twist, Jenna tripped from her quick back-step by stepping on her own shoelace.

And the Drillbur was floating through the empty air, striking at a target that was no longer there.

But Lapras was–and she let her frustrations be known by delivering a point-blank water gun. In a mad scramble, Jenna pulled out one of the two remaining safari balls. She had to be quick before the little bastard snuck off into another hole–!

She gave a desperate toss, watching the round capsule collide into the recovering Drillbur.

I CALL YOU BY YOUR ANCIENT NAME

She awaited the result of her cast pokeball with baited breath. One shake... two shakes... and then that glorious click of victory. Sitting on her knees, Jenna allowed a rare burst of triumph to consume her. “Yes!” She pumped both fists to the sky. That toss had been risky. Honestly, she thought the Drillbur would have escaped back to the network of tunnels. While the drilling mole was an unexpected addition to the team, she was satisfied none the less.

Pushing herself up from the ground, the ranger found herself picking up another member of the team. Another new pokemon to get to know.

“Alright, just one left...” How much time was left? It had to be running out. “Okay. I gotta move. No more messing around.” Jenna wasn't going to waste her last few minutes. Not when she was this close.

She withdrew Lapis back to her pokeball, letting the flustered Lapras get a break from their surroundings. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could make a mad sprint and try to find another clearing like this one–

Something brown caught her eye. The one brown thing that had caught her attention back when she had glanced at the roster. Jenna was fixated to one spot, trying to stay quiet, as her eyes darted back to where she had seen the head of brown fluff... an Eevee. A versatile pokemon. It could be anything it wanted to be. In her Ranger training, she had been taught that they were valuable assists for this flexibility.

“...” She took a small breath. Out of all the other pokemon she could have encountered, she had marked this one as her preferred choice. Not because they were rare. Not because they were cute. Just because... they seemed like a wise choice. Why not get the jack-of-all-trades?

She released Prick from his pokeball. “Showtime.” This was for the money. The Eevee noticed the deployed Nidoran and prepared itself for battle.

“Poison Jab.” She wanted to get the first attack; wanted to start stacking ailments. If she could poison the small pokemon, it'd be much easier to catch.

Prick charged to meet the Eevee head on. He was never scared of confrontation; except, his attack was predicted. The moment the Nidoran closed the distance, the Eevee unleashed a well-timed sand-attack. The success of that move came at a price. While the sand did obscure Prick's vision, it did not stop him from delivering the blow from his prepared attack. “Don't let up. If you do, it'll get the chance to dodge around you.” Prick didn't even glance back to Jenna, didn't acknowledge her commands, but she knew he'd listen. Battling was second-nature to him. He would accept the guidance if it meant victory.

He did not relent. From poison jab, he transitions into horn attack. The Eevee had staggered from the initial poison jab–perhaps poisoned. Its attempts to regain its bearing left it wide open for the second strike.

But, that didn't mean the brown normal type was going to let Prick do as he pleased. The moment Prick collided his horn into the Eevee, it collided back with equal force; a tackle. Locked head to head, both pokemon were pushing and shoving into each other, trying to overpower the other. Even when the horn continued to dig against the Eevee, it remained unfazed.

To Prick, this was the manliest fight he had ever encountered–

And then Jenna threw her pokeball. The moment it collided with the Eevee, the Nidoran stumbled forward and tripped, no longer having a foe to push against.

“Oh, sorry. Did you think I wasn't going to catch it?” Prick glared daggers in her direction–fixating her with a look someone would receive if they turned off the TV right when a movie was reaching the climax. “...Whoops.”

I CALL YOU BY YOUR ANCIENT NAME