As Thomas walked through the area, the sound of a feline crying in pain, as well as the feeling that his boot had stepped on something had gotten the trainer's attention, causing the trainer to step back quickly as the now angered Purrloin hissed at him. "Sorry about that.", Thomas tried to tell the Purrloin, who merely lunged at him in an attempt to retaliate against him. Thomas quickly sidestepped the Purrloin, dodging the lunge swiftly.

The Kalosian would draw one of the two Pokeballs from his belt, releasing a ferocious-looking Scyther from the capsule. "Ripper, use Focus Energy!", the trainer ordered. The Scyther, with a menacing grin, did as he was told, tuning his focus in on the Purrloin that stood before him. The Purrloin, still in a fit of rage over her tail being stepped on by the human, lunged at the giant mantis in her way.

The Scyther merely took the attack, grimacing as she slammed into him. "Vacuum Wave!", ordered Thomas.

Ripper grinned, and fired off a wave of energy towards the Purrloin from his wings, hitting the creature before she could react. The Purrloin was sent flying back into a tree, slamming into it. The Purrloin barely got back to her feet, her initial outrage turned into sheer terror as she began to run for dear life.

Thomas blinked for a moment, before looking back to Ripper. "Good work, bud.", Thomas told the Scyther, who grinned back at the trainer, before allowing himself to be put back into his Pokeball.

The Pikachu let out a cry of astonishment at just how quickly his newest comrade had taken care of the Purrloin. It was clear that the Pikachu was glad that the violent creature was on their side, but could only hope that Thomas would continue to reign him in.

---

Scyther gained 1 Level!

In the nearby pond, a fish would pop its head out of the water, just in time to see the Scyther come out of the trainer's Pokeball. The small, blue fish could only watch on as the Purrloin attempted to attack the large mantis, only for the creature to not only all but shrug off the blow, but, retaliate in such a manner that drove off even the dark feline.

The Wishiwashi would try to summon more of its kind to form a school, only to fail in this endeavor, with no others coming to his aid. The Wishiwashi was now terrified that the trainer would turn towards him, and make him the next victim of the rather vicious Scyther. Thankfully, luck seemed to be on his side, as the trainer didn't notice him, and recalled his Scyther. Seeing the human continue along the path without further incident produced a feeling of relief in the Wishiwashi, who could only dive back down hastily into the pond, thankful for his good fortune.

After watching just how quickly and brutally the Purrloin was taken out, he wasn't going to be taking his chances with the Scyther, or the Pikachu perched on the trainer's shoulder. At least not until he was able to summon his School to form a good offensive against such a threat.

The Pikachu heard a splash, and looked over to the pond, only to see that whatever caused the splash was already gone. "Something wrong, Jerry?", Thomas would ask the Pikachu. After a moment, Jerry would shrug, and shake his head, letting his trainer move on. "Alright then, let's continue on.", Thomas said, giving the Pikachu an affectionate pat on the head.

---

Wishiwashi fled

As Thomas was trailing along, Jerry continued to play with the rubber ball in his grasp. Lightly tossing it up and catching it as his master slowly made his way through the grassy area. That was, until his grip slipped during one catch, causing the ball to launch forward. In a panic, Jerry quickly hopped off of Thomas' shoulder, and raced towards his favorite ball. Thomas in turn would hastily follow the electric mouse, doing his best to keep pace with the faster creature.

The red ball would find its way towards a curious little Torchic, that gently pecked at the rubber ball for a moment, as if testing the thing. Once she found it did nothing, she started to gently kick and fidget the thing. That was when Jerry would arrive at the scene, spotting a Torchic playing with the ball.

<"Hey, could you give me my ball back, please?">, the Pikachu would ask the Torchic.

<"Oh, this is your ball?">, the Torchic would chirp in response.

<"Yeah, it slipped right out of my paws, and ended up here.">, the Pikachu explained.

<"Oh, alright then.">, the Torchic replied, kicking the rubber ball towards the Pikachu.

As the Pikachu caught the ball, he would take a moment to look over the Torchic, before looking back down at the ball. <"You wanna play for a bit?">, the Pikachu would finally ask the Torchic.

The Torchic's eyes seemed to light up in excitement. <"Of course!">, the fire-type would chirp out excitedly.

It was at this point that Thomas would rush into the scene, seeing that the Pikachu not only found his ball, but stumbled across one of the two Pokemon he was looking for, a Torchic. The Torchic would look up at the human, clearly worried about his presence.

<"It's okay, he'll let us play.">, the Pikachu reassured the Torchic, passing the ball onto her.

The Torchic would catch the ball with her claw, before kicking it back to the Pikachu, who would catch the thing in his arms, before tossing it back to the fire chick. After a few rounds, the Torchic would finally break the silence.

<"So, what's your trainer like?">, the Torchic inquired.

<"Oh, he's on a journey to find someone that harmed him in the past, in order to bring them down.">, the Pikachu told the Torchic.

<"Bring someone down? Sounds dangerous...">, the Torchic replied, with a hint of excitement at the end of her statement.

<"So you like danger? Well, he's training us to become strong. Of course, he actually treats us very well, something about 'not becoming that bastard'">, the Pikachu replied to the Torchic.

<"So a trainer that pursues strength, and has a kind heart?">, the Torchic would follow up.

<"Pretty much. Why don't you play with him for a bit? I bet he'd love to have you aboard, if you're up for it.">, the Pikachu offered the Torchic.

The fire chick looked up at Thomas as the ball came into her possession. The Pikachu signaled Thomas that she would want to play with him. Thomas would smile at Jerry, giving him a thankful nod, before crouching down to the Torchic's level, holding out his hands to catch the ball. The Torchic would kick the ball over to Thomas, who would catch the object, before sliding it over to the Torchic.

After several rounds of passing the ball back and fourth between each other, the Torchic would slowly approach Thomas. "Do you mind if I reach into the bag for something?", Thomas would ask the Torchic. The fire chick would look to the electric mouse, who gave her a reassuring nod, as if to tell her that what he was doing was safe. The Torchic shook her head to tell him she didn't mind.

From his bag, Thomas would produce a couple of treats, one being handed to his Pikachu, while the other was offered to the Torchic. Seeing how the Pikachu excitedly took his treat, and was digging right into it, the Torchic figured it was safe, and took a nibble into the thing. The Torchic would then go back and polish the thing off, enjoying the flavor of the treat.

"You enjoy that, cutie?", Thomas asked her. The Torchic would nod eagerly in response. Thomas offered out a hand to pet her, letting her decide whether or not she wanted to be touched. After a moment, the Torchic leaned in close to the hand, accepting the invitation. Thomas would begin to pet the feathered creature gently, stroking the top of her head gently, before moving down to her "wings", which she seemed to particularly enjoy. The trainer noted how warm the Torchic felt.

"You're so adorable~", Thomas cooed at the Torchic as he continued to pet her. After a good moment of petting the Torchic, Thomas would finally stop. "I know we just met, little one, but how would you like to join me on my journey? If you'd like to become stronger, I could definitely help you reach your full potential. And of course, there will be plenty of fun to be had.", Thomas told the Torchic.

It was at this point that the trainer and his Pikachu would leave the decision to the Torchic, whether or not she'd join them on their journey.

The Torchic looked up at the trainer, surprised that he'd be asking her such a question. On one hand, the idea of leaving her home like this, to go on a journey with a human made her nervous. But then, he didn't seem to be one of the bad ones, not to mention his Pikachu seemed to be very happy. Besides, she took a liking to the Pikachu that she had met, and wanted to play more with him.

<"If I joined you guys, would you still play ball with me?">, the Torchic asked the Pikachu.

<"Of course! Especially on the days we relax instead of train, Thomas always takes us somewhere to play ball together. That'd be a great time to introduce you to the others!">, the Pikachu told the Torchic.

This seemed to put the Torchic at ease, who looked up at the human, who still greeted her with a warm smile. The Torchic finally stepped closer, nodding her head in acceptance to his offer to join up with them. The trainer in turn would gently pet the Torchic again. "Thank you very much, little one.", he told the Torchic, before producing a Safari Ball from his bag, and gently tapping the Torchic with it.

The fire-type would put up no resistance, allowing the ball to successfully contain her. Thomas would offer the red ball back to the Pikachu, before scooping him up and hugging the yellow creature.

"You did great, little buddy!", Thomas told the Pikachu, who happily took the praise, and snuggled into his trainer. Once that was all done with, the Pikachu got back on his master's shoulder, waiting for the next part of their adventure.

"Now we have one-", Thomas started, before being cut off by his phone.

"Hello?", Thomas answered. As he listened to the person on the other side of the conversation, his eyes went wide.

"What!?", Thomas blurted out, before the person would continue.

"I see. I'm all the way in the Tanba City area, but I can be on my way as soon as possible.", Thomas told the person. "Alright, see you then.", he said, before both would hang up.

The Pikachu cried out to him, as if asking what was going on.

"So much for finding a Riolu. Emergency has come up.", he told the Pikachu, before heading out.

As Thomas made his way out of the Safari Zone, a Dwebble would spot him, and retreat into his shell, attempting to hide from the human. Thankfully for him, Thomas had no interest in battling him, sparing him of an encounter with a trainer and their Pokemon.