It seemed as if his silent question was answered within moments as Cyndaquil squealed suddenly. Shaking his head of the thoughts of internet stardom he looked down at his trusty fire type and then in the direction he was pointing. Off to the side of the road was a curious light purple blob that was facing away from the duo.

"Hey, is that what I think it is?" Eric asked outloud, taking a confident stride towards it.

<"Cyn!"> The fire type cooed, dancing excitedly in place as a reply.

The Whismur turned towards them and trembled. Her little mouth moved but didn't make a sound. Eric quickly turned his back to it and grabbed the selfie stick from his shoulder and loaded his phoneat the end. Carefully he aimed it, turning his head this way and that until he felt confident in his angle until the front facing display showed a lovely shot of both Eric, Cyndaquil and the encountered pokemon in the background.

Eric took picture after picture, turning his head and the angle of his body ever so with every snap until he felt confident in photos. So engrossed in his picture taking he didn't even notice the small pokemon slink away into the tall grass at the side of the route and vanish.

<"Cynnnnnnnnnnn!>" His pokemon whined, pulling at his pant leg in distress.

"I'm almost done, look natural... Wait, what?" Eric asked, turning around rapidly and noticing his first pokemon encounter was long gone.

"Well... shit." Eric said with a frown, closing up the selfie stick and returning the phone to his hand. "At least I got the shot, right... Right?" He pressed Cyndaquil who huffed and continued on.

---

CYNDAQUIL - MALE - LEVEL OO5 - BLAZE

Smokescreen | Ember | Defense Curl | Swift

---

WHISMUR ESCAPED!

@tagname wc: 283

Eric would fiddle with his phone as he absently followed his pokemon along the path. He was scrolling through the pictures he had taken of the last encounter, deleting the ones he didn't like and applying filter after filter to the ones he did until he found one he was happy with. Pausing for a moment in his stride he uploaded the picture to his instagram account, loading the picture up with as many relevant hashtags as he could think of.

And then he waited... When only a few likes trickled in he scowled. "I just don't get it, Cyn? I have over fifty thousand watchers and barely any likes? What is this?"

Cyndaquil simply shrugged, having long ago grown bored of his trainer's frustrations at the lack of "likes" on some social media account he couldn't quite comprehend.  Eric continued to complain and whine as the fire type simply blocked out the noise and concentrated on the path.

Not too far ahead he heard the faint rustling of tall grass moving erratically. Choosing to ditch his trainer Cyndaquil slipped curiously in the grass and followed the sound. He was soon greeted with the site of an odd bear like pokemon, stumbling around as if drunk. He cocked his head to the side curiously as he watched the Spinda stand up, teeter on one foot and fall over. Before he was able to offer help or even question Eric began to call for him.

<"Cynda!"> Cyndaquil called out in response, jumping up and down so that Eric would be able to easily find him.

Eric walked towards his pokemon, pocketing his phone as he did so to watch the Spinda falling all over itself. "Think it's okay? Maybe got into some rotten berries, huh?" Eric mused with a grin.

And then an idea hit him. If this pokemon was too drunk to stand, then perhaps it would be an easy battle. And an easy battle meant lots of good pictures where his pokemon looked well trained, right?

Ignoring his pokemon's cooes of concern he stepped back and brandished his phone, camera facing outwards, like a weapon. "We're gonna fight this drunk thing! Cyndaquil, use smokescreen!"

His battle command was instantly met with a whine of protest from the fire type but it wasn't a strong one. Cyndaquil couldn't recall the last time he had actually and his concern for the seemingly inebriated pokemon was quickly forgotten as he reared back on his haunches and let out a stream of thick smoke from his mouth. The Spinda instantly reacted, rearing up and copying the same attack, blanketing the area in a noxious and concealing smoke.

Eric coughed and cursed as the battlefield was nothing more than a haze. How could he get any pictures now? In anger he called out another attack without thinking, "Use ember!"

Cynadquil did as he was told, unable to see his opponent he shot blindly into the smoke. Although the fire missed the opponent, it set the grass nearby on fire, only adding to the lack of visibility. Eric cursed under his breathe, now barely able to see his own pokemon let alone the Spinda.

The sound of crackling underbrush, alight with his last attack filled his ears and Eric grimaced. Nothing was going according to plan and he was ready to call the battle when Cyndaquil squealed in pain, somehow on the receiving end of a tackle from the Spinda. "Use swift, Cyn!" Eric called to his pokemon.

Rolling away from the tackle Cyndaquil focused on the direction in which the Spinda had came and executed his own attack, running full force into the normal type. Both of them fell back and out of the plume of smoke that was slowly dissipating. "Good job Cyndaquil!" Eric cheered.

The Spinda countered with another tackle, managing to only clip the fire type as it stumbled by. "Use another ember, take it out!" Eric commanded, pointing towards the stumbling pokemon. Cyndaquil did as he was told, launching embers from his throat at the normal time. Spinda cried out in pain, falling back onto it's back and laying there. When he didn't stand back up Eric threw his fist in the air triumphantly and pulled his phone from his pocket, taking a shot of the fallen Spinda with smoke in the background for later.

---

Recap:
Cyndaquil used smokescreen.
Spinda used copy cat/smokescreen.
Cyndaquil used ember/missed.
Spinda used tackle.
Cyndaquil used swift.
Spinda used tacke.
Cyndaquil used ember.
Spinda fainted (or took a nap)
+2 levels for Cyndaquil.

@tagname wc: 725
ooc - dunno what happened to the formatting honestly.

Despite the hits he had taken and the smoke he had inhaled from the last battle, Cyn found himself feeling stronger. It was an unusual feeling, one he could only recall from the very early days of trainer school he had been apart of with Eric while they were being taught how to battle by practicing with each other. It was odd to take delight in his own pain but the fire type relished in it, the feeling almost intoxicating. Was this what it was like to truly be trained? The thought had him grinning from ear to ear as he waddled on.

The duo had continued on from the point of their last battle, Eric hoping the small fire he had created would eventually burn itself and if it didn't... Well, it wasn't as if he had picture proof of himself being there or anything. He had resolved to get through the pictures he had taken after their little romp in the woods, for now Eric was single minded in another goal - lunch.

His original plan was simple, to come out and get a few pictures, upload them, then rake in the adoration. Of course it seemed as if that hadn't quite gone to plan but that didn't negate the fact that the man was beginning to get hungry and no longer as ecstatic about the trip. Eric couldn't help but grin ever so at the way his pokemon seemed to skip with each step.

It wasn't long until they ran across another pokemon, this time a little Starly pecking at the ground up ahead. It seemed unfazed even as they approached, finding whatever was in its' mouth much more interesting then the pair. The flying type's nonchalant attitude brought an idea into Eric's head...

The first picture had not been a success. Was it because he only had one pokemon? What if he had two to show off? Looking down at Cyn who had stopped in his tracks, looking up at his trainer for instruction.

"Cyn, use swift!" Eric commanded.

The fire type nodded and launched the attack, his body becoming almost a blur as it slammed into the unsuspecting Starly. As he cried out in anguish and used his wings to create space between himself and the attacker Starly nestled in on itself, using roost to heal back some of the health that had been taken with the attack.

"Cyn, while it's not moving use ember!" Eric cried, his phone out and taking a small video of his pokemon as it launched the firey attack upon the Starly.

It was a direct hit but didn't seem to do as much damage as Eric had hoped. As the flying type hopped back, slapping his wings over his stomach to put out the smoldering of his feathers it quickly launched forward with a tackle, taking both Cyn and Eric off guard.

As the Cyndaquil rolled away from the attack it was evident that perhaps the flying type wasn't as well off as it seemed. It seemed to struggle to make space between itself and Cyn as it slunk back into an offensive position.

Grabbing a pokeball from his pocket Eric make sure to take as many pictures as he could as he tossed the red and white sphere at the Starly. The pokeball swallowed the flying type in a flash of red and Eric waited with baited breathe to see if he had in fact, caught his first wild pokemon.

---

@tagname wc: 581