▲

the first pokemon that the pair would come across was an absol. it stood in their pathway, fixing them with a look brimming with distrust and the barest hint of hostility. ash surmised that it had been taken surprise by their seemingly random appearance, its posturing stiff as its claws dug into the soft earth of the forest floor. 

"perfect," ash said. 

a pleased little smile took shape as she gave the dark-type a once over, relying upon her admittedly shoddy guesswork to determine its potential. 

'seems strong enough.' 

"glal," her companion rumbled. 

ash jerked her head in the absol's direction. 

"get 'em." 

the glalie, once he had set upon the dark-type, would summon forth a collection of light blue energy. he closed the distance between himself and the absol as quickly as he could, and only allowed the beam of frigid energy to strike the dark-type once he was roughly several meters from the 'mon. 

"ab!" 

once the attack had successfully connected, the dark-type would be knocked off its paws. foreign energy engulfed it, covering it in a sheen of light blue as it shuddered, its eyes dilating and bulging slightly within the confines of their sockets as it proceeded to shiver violently. it managed to recover just enough to retaliate with a 'psycho cut', but its movements were stiff. 

"dodge, baron!" 

the ice-type dodged two crescent-shaped blades of energy that were launched toward him, but failed to avoid the last. the power behind the attack nearly knocked the pokemon out of the air, but he remained steady, a grimace upon his face as he scowled fiercely at his foe. 

'that dodge was...' 

ash squinted her eyes, a hint of disapproval twisting at her features as she observed the fight.

'okay - it was okay.' 

"try 'sheer cold'!" 

using the immensely powerful move was a gamble - and a shitty one at that. it had the potential to inflict a significant amount of damage, but it more often than naught missed due to its path of trajectory being highly predictable. ash decided to make use of it only due to the fact that the absol had yet to properly shrug off the glalie's previous attack. 

"glalie!" 

a completely frozen absol was all that was left, the pokemon encased in a thick collection of ice that prevented it from moving. ash couldn't help but find the sight of its partially shocked face to be oddly beautiful. 

"good job, boy. ya actually hit it." 

▲

baron responded very little to ash's praise, merely peering in her direction with his unblinking gaze and a increasingly familiar stoic expression upon his face. the young woman met such a look with her own, unperturbed by the ice-type's lackluster reaction.  

"right." 

they pressed deeper into the forest, both straining their senses to pick out anything that could make for a potential target. ash, after all, intended to bolster the ice-type's strength as much as she could within the time she had set aside for their particular venture. 

'he's pretty good when it comes to verbal commands.' 

additionally, he had accepted her authority with little to no issue despite him originally belonging to her elder sibling. ash had been positively delighted the moment the 'mon had been presented to her, and had gladly exchanged her glaceon for him. she didn't regret such a decision - not even for a moment, and relished the mere idea of such a creature being her's. 

"hey," ash breathed, halting the moment a hulking figure had lumbered into view. "i think it's a - " 

the woman blinked owlishly at what could only be an abomasnow. it was surprising to see one out here, especially since it was ill-suited for such weather. the heat that permeated the air obviously brought it some form of discomfort, the creature appearing mildly annoyed as it endured a particularly warm breeze that brushed past it. 

'it hasn't noticed us yet.' 

"alright, baron." 

the girl's voice was both steady amd barely above a whisper as she addressed her ice-type directly. 

"it hasn't noticed us yet," she continued. "catch it by surprise with a 'sheer cold'." 

they were a considerable distance away from the 'mon, and it was getting farther as it walked with its back turned away from the human and glalie. 

"follow the attack up a 'double team' to confuse it right after." 

despite his size and heft, the glalie was surprisingly fast, and would prove a difficult target to hit once the abomasnow was forced to fight the frigid creature. their quarrel was a surprisingly short one, with baron managing to tank the wild dual-type's hits and retaliating with his own. ash gave very little input for the duration of the battle, careful to avoid the attacks that threatened to reach her as she pressed closer to bear witness. 

"nice," she murmured, pleased. 

she stepped closer to eye her companion's work, the now limp form of the abomasnow revealing the amount of damage that her pokemon had inflicted upon it.

"it's down for sure. let's keep moving." 

the pokemon rumbled and shifted his gaze toward the path they had wandered from.

"glalie." 

▲

the next 'mon the pair would encounter would come in the form of a territorial bitch, who confronted them the very moment they had crossed its path. ash's gaze narrowed upon the beast as its hackles rose, her expression slightly pinched as she quickly realized that her glalie would be presented with a glaring problem. he was disadvantaged due to the fact that houndoom were very much capable of producing a plethora of potent flame. 

'is he even ready for that?'

the young woman retreated a step, turning her gaze to eye her ice-type up and down.

"i - "

the houndoom lunged for the red head before she could finish up her verbal command. the canine's teeth sinking into the flesh of her arm as ash raised the limb in an attempt to protect her face and neck from the dog's assault. 

"glal!"

her pokemon rammed into the wild beast with a dull roar of anger, managing to remove its limber form from the startled woman. ash scrambled to get up the moment the canine's weight was lifted, her arm awash with crimson as she bled from the bite wound. she ignored the pain in favor of focusing upon her glalie, who managed to administer a 'freeze dry' before being completely and utterly undone by the use of 'inferno'. the damage inflicted by such a powerful attack knocked the ice-type out of the sky, a dazed look upon his face as he almost immediately lost unconsciousness.

"shit."

the houndoom's head snapped toward the woman before it proceeded to prowl closer, its lips curling to reveal milky white teeth. those eyes gleamed with malice, and ash felt herself grow still as she sucked in a panicked breath. 

"shit."

just as the dark-type prepared itself for a lunge, a white light took leave of one of the many capsules that had been secured upon her belt. it was her goomy, the goo-covered creature having boldly placed himself between his trainer and the 'mon seeking to bring harm to her. 

"goo-my!" 

cleric proved himself to be capable enough in battle. and while he couldn't be considered proficient nor naturally talented at the art, his tenacity and desire to protect was enough to make the houndoom reconsider its options before it beat a hasty retreat.

"it's gone." 

ash trembled, and shifted her injured limb to examine it. she was bleeding, but not as profusely as she assumed. her goomy murmured softly, concern present within his tone and beady eyes as he pressed closer to his mistress. 

"i'm - uh - i'm fine," she reassured. 

the girl stood upon wobbly legs and moved to return the unconscious baron back into his capsule. 

"let's get outta here. i need to get this looked it." 

the little dragon's features brightened as he was granted the opportunity to accompany his mistress, and would hurry himself along to keep up with her pace.