All eyes fell to the water's surface as bubbles started to emerge, a sure sign that something's rest had just been disturbed. Immediately Frederick rose to his feet, taking a few steps back to gain a safe distance. "Tiny, come with me. You're sitting this one out." With a grunt the Nidorino fell back with his trainer, both of their eyes locked on to the pond as they awaited the arrival of the opposing pokemon. Meanwhile Race hovered above the surface, high enough up that it would be safe from attack. Looking up at the bug the trainer would put on a serious expression, his gaze hardening as he slid his hands into his pockets. "Race, you're going to fight what comes out of there no matter what it is. Do you understand?" The yanma nodded, though the fear didn't leave it's eyes. This was unacceptable. "You look pathetic. Shape up and focus on the task at hand."

The insect stared at his trainer for a moment before turning back at the water's surface. It had been difficult for the big bug to watch Tiny continue to grow stronger and more skilled while he simply watched, too paralyzed by fear and indecision to strike. As much as he wanted to progress and impress his trainer there was something holding him back. Something that he didn't quite understand. Though he had a lot of time to think about it as he stared at the bubbles, as it seemed that whatever was lurking under the surface was taking it's sweet time to make it's way out.

Everything made sense when a slowpoke slowly floated to the surface, it's eyes and ears peaking out of the water as it looked up at Tiny and Frederick. "Bug buzz." Race's eyes widened as he heard the order, his wings immediately flapping much more quickly, causing the sound of his buzzing to grow much more intense. Flying closer to the water's surface Race would tilt his body, directing all of the vibrations of the bug buzz directly toward the slowpoke. The sluggish pokemon's eyes went wide as the pain traveled through it's body, the intensity of the sound and vibrations giving it the most intense headache it's ever felt.

But she wasn't about to go down without a fight. Turning around in the water the slowpoke opened her mouth, aiming a water gun directly toward the yanma. The attack struck, causing him to lose his balance and spend a moment struggling to regain his balance. At this rate he wouldn't be able to prepare another attack before the slowpoke shot out another blast of water, even with his usually impressive speed. "Quick attack before it can recover." The moment Race regained his balance he would dart to the side at breakneck speeds, like a red blur that was difficult to track with the naked eye. Just as quickly he would charge down toward the slowpoke, lowering his head as the quick attack connected.

The slowpoke let out one last gurgle before losing consciousness, it's body floating on the surface of the lake. "Get it out of there." Frederick wasn't sure if a slowpoke could breath underwater, but he wasn't about to risk killing an innocent pokemon just to get some experience for his team. The large insect lowered himself to the water and gripped his now resting opponent with all six legs, lifting her out of the water and placing her carefully on dry land.

Once that was done Frederick would extend a finger toward Race, silently beckoning him forward. The pokemon slowly moved closer to his trainer, unsure exactly of what they had in mind. But he was within arms reach he would receive a pleasant surprise. The dark skinned trainer place a hand on the side of his head, giving it a gentle rub. "See what happens when you follow orders? I need you to not think about what your opponent. Keep moving, use your speed, and do exactly as I tell you. It's that simple." He offered his teammate a reassuring smile, which seemed to help perk the yanma right back up. Almost too much.

Race flew forward and gripped the front of his trainer's shirt with all six of his legs, his wings fluttering happily as he embraced his trainer. Normally Frederick wouldn't have put up with such a display in the middle of a training session, but this time it was a good thing. It was a sign that Race was finally starting to understand and would hopefully be more cooperative in the future. With one last pat on the head he would let out a sigh, though it was clear from his expression he was more amused than anything else. "That's enough Race. Focus or we'll be out here all day." Reluctantly the yanma released his trainer, now looking somewhat eager for another challenge to present itself. Luckily for them the sounds of battle never failed to attract more pokemon to battle.

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY

There was a tense moment as they waited for something to emerge from the bushes, the nidorino's keen hearing giving them a direction to focus their attention to. All three waited quietly, Tiny's throat emitting a low growl, Race buzzing eagerly filled with a new determination, and Frederick standing in his usual relaxed posture. All of the tension came to a head as a tiny little bird creature came hopping through the bushes, creating a rather anticlimactic conclusion to their wait. The tiny pokemon stared intently at Frederick, standing perfectly still as they locked eyes. The human returned in kind, silently staring at the green bird without a word. Meanwhile Tiny and Race looked to their trainer with confusion, unsure of why he didn't give an order to attack.

After spending some time locking eyes with the bird he would suddenly smile, letting out a soft chuckle as he gestured toward the bird. "Cut him off Race. Then use Bug Buzz." The moment Frederick started to move the natu would turn around and start hopping away, it's wings flapping rapidly as it tried to make it's escape. "Don't underestimate this thing. It's much more powerful then you might think." Race darted after the natu, still feeling the momentum from the previous battle as he darted forward. Energy built up within him as the fighting went on, which would start to reveal itself in a faint green glow surrounding his body. And with every passing moment the insect would only grow faster.

His wings beat rapidly as he drew near to the small bird, his movement coming to a stop in front of it to block his path. The natu let out a chirp of surprise as the yanma focused the vibrations of his wings toward his opponent, his body curling toward the target as he focused the intense sound. The flightless bird let out another chirp, wincing as the pain traveled through both it's mind and body. At this point he was willing to do anything to get the sound to stop. Fighting through the pain he would hop forward again, wings flapping as hard as they could in hopes they would somehow accelerate his round body as he threw himself at the yanma. His efforts bore fruit, his peck easily breaking through the insect's carapace to inflict serious damage.

Tiny darted back as the beak pierced his tail, letting out a sudden buzz of pain. "Don't get scared now. Give them your all and I'll be proud no matter what happens." The yanma looked up at his trainer, who had moved closer to the action while he was distracted with his quarry. The hint of fear that was about to enter his eyes immediately faded away, being replaced with a new wave of determination as he looked back to the natu. "Good. Finish it off with another bug buzz." The single word of praise sent a shiver through the pokemon's body. Was it really this easy? All of this time it seemed like his trainer was largely indifferent toward him, seeming to favor Tiny during training. Was it because he was actually taking part in battle this time? With that simple thought all of the sudden the fear that came with battle now had a hint of excitement to it.

Race darted back down to his opponent, who had tried to use this as an opportunity to escape the battle. Unfortunately for him the yanma was much too fast, nearing his maximum speed as he moved in to deliver the decisive blow. His wings vibrated once again, focusing all of the vibrations toward the fleeing bird. With one final cry the natu collapsed in a heap, the momentum from it's hop causing it to tumble and roll forward in the dirt. Frederick came up beside his injured yanma, giving him another pat on the head as he stared down at the unconscious pokemon. "Hopefully it learned it's lesson. Running away never accomplishes anything. It's better to stand and fall in battle than to be a fallen coward." He shot a glance to Race, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the pokemon's expression. It was clear even to the slow witted insect that that wasn't simply directed to their defeated opponent.

Reaching into his bag Frederick would pull out a potion bottle, a faint smile appearing on his face as he did so. "But today you've done well. You faced your fear and came out the victor. You've earned this." Moving around the hovering pokemon Fred would bring the squirt bottle to the wound on his tail. After taking a moment to apply the medicine to the wound it would start to heal over, much more quickly than if simply left on it's own. The yanma watched in shock, not at all expecting this from their usually harsh trainer. "There. Now let's find ourselves one more before we retire." Frederick started to walk deeper into the forested area, his pokemon following closely behind. During the quiet time Race considered the situation. Slowly but surely he was finally starting to understand his trainer. Maybe he should have jumped into battling sooner...

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY

The group continued deeper into the woods a bit longer, the yanma focusing on his trainer as they pushed onward. Race buzzed a short way behind his trainer, his previous excitement fading as he slowly started to understand exactly what was expected of him. It was as if no matter what the end result was, the only thing that mattered was giving everything he had. But it couldn't be so simple, could it? Was that all Tiny was doing that helped him to get stronger so quickly? This was all too much for his tiny bug brain to handle.

Tiny suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking over to the nearby foliage as it started to softly rustle.The others stopped as well, watching intently to see what would emerge. "Get ready Race. On more and we'll call it for the day." The yanma buzzed forward, placing himself between the others and the bushes as he readied himself for battle. After a moment of tension, a rather sleepy looking pokemon would stumble out into the open. The drowzee lazily looked at each of the intruders, his eyes eventually locking on to the yanma that seemed intent on battling him. With a weary sigh the drowzee locked eyes with the red bug, preparing himself to do what needed to be done.

"Bug Buzz." Race quickly moved forward, closing the distance with the large nosed pokemon and rapidly beating his wings to create that familiar buzzing sound of bug buzz. The vibrations were directed toward the drowzee, whose features tightened as he felt the sharp pain enter his mind. Now more than ever he wanted this loud insect out of his way. With his eyes still locked onto Race's, the drowzee would psychicly transmit a signal to his victim in an attempt to hypnotize him. Despite the fury with which he was previously flapping his transparent wings the yanma's movements started to slow, his eyes struggling to stay awake as he was bombarded with the intense desire to sleep.

Frederick watched this in silence, his expression turning neutral as he and Tiny stood by. The pokemon shot a glance up at the other two, waiting for them to make a move to try and stop him. When it was clear that they didn't seem interested in interfering he would take a step toward the yanma, hungry eyes locked on to it's head. Both of the creature's heads started to glow as he used dream eater, a semi-transparent orange energy flowing from the bug's head to the hypnotic pokemon's. There was a moment of silence as drowzee devoured his target's dreams, seemingly energizing himself in the process. Eventually Race would stop fidgeting, the shallow breaths of an unconscious pokemon the only movement left in his body. The trainer let out a soft sigh as his pokemon was so thoroughly defeated, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. "You tried your best Race. There's no shame in that."

But the drowzee's appetite was not satisfied, his eyes turning toward the nidorino as he attempted to employ the same technique on him without warning. "Don't look into his eyes." Immediately the nidorino would avert his gaze downward, focusing on the pudgy pokemon's soft exposed belly. "Very good. Horn attack." With his head already lowered the poisonous pokemon would charge forward horn first, the pins riddling his body bristling outward as he braced himself for impact. The drowzee watched with wide eyes, seemingly shocked that he wasn't able to put his target to sleep before he managed to strike.

The horn hit squarely in the psychic pokemon's stomach, causing it to tumble over backward and wind up flat on his face. As much energy as he gained from Race it was clear that it wasn't nearly enough to repair the damage done by that devastating bug buzz. The dark haired trainer stepped over to his knocked out yanma, kneeling down to give him another pat on his round head. "You did good, my friend. Let's get you back so you can rest up." Reaching to his belt he would retrieve the proper pokeball and recall the injured creature, allowing him the rest he so deserved. Once that was done the ranger would waste no time in rising to his full height. He looked down to Tiny with a smile, giving him a nod of approval before turning to head off back the way they came. "The boy's finally starting to prove himself. Let's see how far he's willing to push."

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY