Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I can't believe that you really wanted to do that the entire time, Magmar. I actually did that without even thinking about it and you did it with a smile on your face. Well...that is if you could actually smile." The boy said as he continued on down the path. "At least the Vulpix isn't dead...but man, really, I would have allowed it if it was a bad guy or something...like Zyra." A wave of heat rushed by the boy. "You might not think so, but Zyra was a bad lady. She made you into...this...you shouldn't be like that. You really could be a lot better than that. Really better than that." The Magmar stopped then turned back towards Tristen.
"Fine, I'll stop."

Apparently, there are still allegiances held to Zyra and he can't understand why. Brainwashing? Who knew. Meaning that this is nothing more than a wavering truce at best. That was unnerving to the boy. Just keep the battles coming and it should be fine. Hopefully. Preferrably no more dragons. With the whole matter settled, for a lack of a better term, the two continues on to explore the inactive volcano. The boy continued on, finding his way back down the inactive volcano, trying to cover as much ground as possible and get Magmar recovering some. If anything if he can continue spacing these apart, the longer he could stay out here to battle and the more battles he can get in to closer work the virus out of Magmar's system.

As the pair made it back to the base of the volcano, the boy perked up, hearing a hiss. A Yungoos came out of a set of rocks, reared back and ready to fight. Apparently the two found their way into Yungoos territory. "Blizz said those things were all over the place on that island..." Tristen said. "well, at least this one was wanting to pick a fight. Magmar, you ready?"

The Magmar stepped forward, looking down the Yungoos. The Yungoos was quick to attack, rushing up and clamping down on the Magmar's arm with a piercing Bite attack, the Magmar snapped back and tossed the Yungoos off, a sentiment that the Yungoos was happy to do. The flaming body of the Magmar was doing a number on its mouth, making hissing and spitting sounds as it was trying to cool its mouth down. "Magmar! Use Flamethrower!"

To make the things all the worse for the Yungoos, it was quickly caught up in a mass slew of flames that engulfed the rodent. The Yungoos managed to escape out of the pyro, covered in various burns. It quickly spun around, scooping up the soft soil around and tossing it, slapping it upon the Magmar, making it rear back hard as the mud covered its face. "A mud slap? Great." Tristen said. The Magmar frantically started scrape and burn the dirt off its face, trying to regain its vision.

The Yungoos rushed in while the Magmar was distracted, smashing full speed ahead with its Take Down attack, right in Magmar's gut. The attack knocked the Magmar over. The Magmar managed to regain some of its sight then looked up towards the Yungoos. "Magmar! Use Fire Spin!" Tristen shouted. The Magmar unleashed the flaming tornado upon the Yungoos, managing to ensnare the yungoos in place. The Yungoos couldn't do anything, trapped in the dense vortex.

"Gotcha. Smog, Magmar!" Tristen then shouted. While he wasn't too proud to do such a thing to the Vulpix before, but considering this Yungoos was trying to get clever and he didn't know what else this thing was capable of, he didn't want to take the chance. Besides, it'd probably humor the Magmar just a bit. The smog starts to overcome the entrapped Yungoos and promptly sets off another fireball to torch the Yungoos, finally bringing it down. No shadow attacks. Still no shadow attacks. That's all he needs to do. He then makes a heavy sigh. "Sorry, Yungoos..." He said. "Alright Magmar, come on."

Battles: 5
Magmar Hyper Mode 6/10

The wear was now starting to show for certain now on the Magmar. The damage from the various attacks, the fatigue was starting to be overwhelming, even for a shadow Pokemon, the constant putting everything into every last attack instead of being a bit more conservative. Tristen could tell it. Magmar needed a break, if the Magmar wanted it or not. Ok, Magmar, stop. This was probably a good as time as any. Magmar still hadn't reached its Hyper state yet from the constant shadow attacks, though it looks as if it could trip at any second. Maybe this was a sign that he was working the virus out of its system. He was told the closer to purification, the more likely Hyper Mode would happen and if that were to happen, he'd have to bail out, not only for everything's sake out here, let alone his own, but it'd be impossible to heal Magmar while in such a state. It was a cold comfort though, honestly. Among other things in this excursion out here.

"Wait a second, Magmar. You might need this." Tristen said, taking off his pack and started to take out a Hyper Potion that was packed before the trip.

"MAGMAR!"

"Wait! Seriously, this will help you keep going. Look at you. All those attacks are starting to show now. I know you don't feel like it, but what you feel like and what it actually is are two different things! That virus isn't doing you any favors! If it was, you'd know better than that! This will help you keep fighting like you want." Tristen said. It wasn't something that the Magmar was willing to accept, turning to Tristen, the heat starting to intensify. Fear started to overtake Tristen. The Magmar seemed like it was done listening to the boy and it was about to take it out on him. "Magmar, don't do it." He said, trying to sound threatening, reaching down for a Pokeball once again. That said, as the Magmar stepped forward, the boy stepped back once. Tristen realized it as soon as he did it. He couldn't back down, just like he did to all the others that wanted to intimidate him. Horus, Dragonite, Blitzle while Shadowfied...this was just another time for him to stand firm. He looked back towards the Magmar. "Don't do it." he said with a little more confidence.

The Magmar charged the boy, breathing in and unleashing a mighty fire towards Tristen. The boy leaped out of the way, tumbling on the ground, but getting back on his feet once again. Quickly, he retaliated with his own attack, a Thunder Wave. The electrical attack gripped the Magmar, bringing it down to one knee. "Now look what you made me do." Tristen said. "I didn't want to do that, but...I guess its not your fault anyways. Blitzle tried to hurt me too when he was a Shadow Pokemon." With the fatigue and the damage setting in on Magmar, the paralysis was doing its job for the moment. Tristen couldn't waste any more time. He got the hyper potion ready and tended to Magmar, then gave a Lum Berry to him afterwards to rid him of the paralysis, a process that took roughly twenty minutes or so, trying to carefully apply the medications and not get burned in the process. "There...you should go a bit longer now. Even as a shadow Pokemon you should be feeling a difference now."

"......" No response out of the Magmar.

"Come on, there's probably more to find out here." The boy said, walking off. The Magmar complied. For now.

As the two walked the rocky path once again around the inactive volcano, Tristen took notice to the shifting of rocks above. "Huh?" Very small rocks started to roll down the slope and stopped right behind the pair. However, one of them was actually alive. It was a blue in color one, had orange feet and a stubby like antenna like rocky appendage all accented with a yellow core. "Its a Roggenrola...let's not bother thi-Magmar? Wait Magmar! No! Don't fight it!" It was a rock type. Granted it was perhaps a weaker Pokemon like most of the Pokemon in the area so far, but even then, Magmar didn't have a lot to cause any significant damage other than his Shadow attacks. Tristen no longer hesitated. "Magmar, no! Return!" he shouted, recalling the Magmar back into the ball. After going through headaches with the fiery Pokemon, it was perhaps about time to leave it in the ball until there was something that the fire Pokemon could take on with a bit more ease.

"Sorry, not going to bother you, bye!" Tristen said, rushing off before the Roggenrola decided to do anything rash.

Battles: 6
Magmar hyper meter: 9/10

As the boy continued along, he kind of regretted doing this. When his father went to a similar place, he was more interested in trying to learn the Pokemon since he heard about there being newer discovered Pokemon around and variants of ones that already existed, such as the Vulpix from before. Tristen came here and fought a bunch of Pokemon, where one victory after the next started to feel more and more hollow in hind sight. It was then he was pretty convinced...Zyra had no soul at all to allow Magmar to fight to its hearts content and as a Shadow Pokemon no less. All it did was make the boy sigh. A little depressed he was. Either way, he'd settle going back to the Headquarters and just work it out the hard way back in the training room like with Blitzle.

Tristen fiddled the Pokeball with Magmar in it around in his fingers as he tried to figure out what to do. He doubted it was going to be any easier than it was with Blitzle. Worse, he actually remembered during the time with Blitzle's shadow state, he did manage to pick up a couple of scents to help towards the purification. It was another thing on the growing grocery list of the Electrike hybrid that he'd probably need to get. "Urrrgh, I need help..." Tristen said.

He perked up, taking notice to the nearby wood line as a Pokemon started to reveal itself. It was a small Pokemon, canine it looked. Tristen took out his SNAG and took a look at it. "Rockruff...that's...cool actually..." Tristen said. Then something that he read further on in the entry. "Pokemon that live in packs...and that one looks kinda you-oh...I think I better go..." He said, worried if there was a parent close by, especially now that he seen the likes of what the evolutions looked like in the SNAG entry. He definitely didn't want to see the red furred Pokemon in a dark alley at night. He then rushed off before any fight sprung up.

Battle: 6
Magmar Hyper Mode: 9/10

After getting through a massive panic that was another Drampa, the kid had to stop and take a breather, looking around for a second then leaned up against a rock face to recollect himself. "I really don't like those. I think those things are as bad as Salamence." Tristen said to himself in between breaths. He looked at the SNAG, taking another look at Drampa's entry. The more he looked at the image, the more he started to realize it is deceptively powerful. Any other time, one probably wouldn't have thought twice if they were not in the know.

After the slight break, Tristen made his way off back, going a different way than when he was going originally, hoping to avoid the Drampa nests in the process. As he continued to walk along, he noticed a Pokemon, pink and brown in color, and...absurdly cute. "Its a teddy bear..." Tristen said, taking out his SNAG and taking a look at it. The entry finally came back to the Pokemon's entry. "A Stufful?" Tristen spoke up. He read up on the entry as the Stufful went about its business...and as he did, he realized that this thing was also a deceptive Pokemon. Despite this Pokemon's small stature, this thing had an absurd amount of strength. For that matter, it wasn't one that liked to be touched unless its on its own terms. He didn't want to incite the wrath of such a thing, not even with Magmar.

Oddly enough, he saw that this thing had a peculiar trait that allowed it to absorb a heck of a lot of damage, not too unlike how one may try to hit a pillow. And just like a pillow, though, it was heavily more flammable, which Magmar could probably take on, now that he thought about it. It was tempting to get another battle in. The boy then just shook his head. No, not going to chance it just yet. He then walked off to look for something else.

Battles: 6
Magmar Hyper Meter: 9/10

Tristen continued on with the SNAG out, making his way back along where the jungle meets the rocky terrain of the inactive volcano once again. It seemed like there were more colorful Pokemon around here where higher up, he usually see dragons, rock types, and fighting types. Sure, when you get really high up, you might see an Ice Pokemon like those Alolan Vulpix earlier, but that's the only exception. He decided to try to try his hand back down at the lowest points of the volcanic area.

As he looked about, he wasn't finding much of anything like he hoped he would. Maybe there wasn't anything and those Yungoos earlier was just a fluke. The boy felt distraught now, sitting down now up against a tree. He still wasn't hearing anything out there in the wild either, still. He kind of wondered if everyone else packed up and left the island too and no one told him. That couldn't have been right though, there was still time on the clock, that he knew of. The boy checked his SNAG to make sure. All in all, the boy felt a little distraught. He didn't get as much fights in as he hoped with Magmar because he chickened out in what the Magmar could possibly do in its hair-trigger state and it didn't seem like he was going to come back home with anything interesting. With a sigh, the boy started to get back up. He was convinced this trip was a wash.

When he started to dust himself off after that few minute break. As he did so, there apparently was some sort of sign of life that he could hear, and it was close. "...?" From the brush, he saw a black looking cat with piercing yellow eyes. It wasn't a Meowth, not even the Alolan one that he could tell. In fact, he wasn't sure what that was. He took out the SNAG once more and started to look at it. "...Litten?" Tristen said, looking at the entry. As he stood there, the Litten got really defensive, its rear higher than its head, defensive stance and gave a slight hiss. "Uh..." Apparently it didn't care for a stranger being here.

Tristen took notice to something though as his eyes moving back and forth from the SNAG to the Pokemon before him. This thing was known to be used as a starting Pokemon for trainers in the Alola region, something that you'd be hard pressed to find out in the wild. It was a rarity, and finding such a Pokemon right here, right now, was perhaps a rather large stroke of luck. Tristen then started to think about something just then. It was interesting finding such a thing...not what he expected, or perhaps even hoped for though, but at this point, the way this excursion was going, beggars couldn't be choosers. The question is, could he keep Magmar on a short leash long enough to actually get this capture in?

The train of thought stopped immediately as the Litten rushed over towards Tristen, its mouth lighting ablaze. Tristen hopped off to the side as he heard a large snap of the cat's jaws and embers flickered everywhere from it. "A fire type..." Another problem. Fire attacks was now out of the question. Tristen would have to rely on the Magmar's poison based attacks, provided that it was willing to listen. Tristen gave a hard sigh...all or nothing gamble at this point. "Go! Magmar!" The boy shouted. The ball was tossed out and out came the Magmar.

The Magmar looked around, then saw the boy right behind him, perturbed at him. "Sorry, but I found you another battle, okay? That right there!" The Magmar looked ahead, seeing the Litten ready to strike again. "Magmar! Use Smog!" The boy shouted. The Magmar wasn't complying though. "Mag...Magmar?" Tristen spoke up. "Smog, please?" The Magmar rushed forth, a shadowy aura coming forth. "MAGMAR, NO!" Tristen shouted. The Magmar ran the Litten right over, smashing into the tiny cat with Shadow Rush, sending it hurling off and causing a great deal of damage to it. "Magmar, how could you!?"

"MAG-MARRR!" The Magmar shouted out, its flames on its body roaring out of control, the shadowy aura flaring up along side of it. The Magmar achieved hyper mode. This was exactly what Tristen feared, now it wasn't going to comply hardly at all, and even then if it would, it was only going to use Shadow attacks. Something that he couldn't afford to do on a Pokemon like Litten perhaps without killing it in the process.

The Litten managed to get back on its feet, unsure what on earth just rocked its world. Tristen took notice to the cat, grateful seeing that it was still concious. "Litten! Run away! I'm sorry! Magmar is out of control! Run!" Tristen said. The Litten however wouldn't comply, it stood firm, albeit a little shaky from such a powerful attack. "Don't do it!" It would fall on deaf ears though. This Litten was wanting to fight. Tristen quickly had an idea, looking at the SNAG and looking at the Litten's possible capabilities. There were a few things to work with, but it wasn't going to make miracles, Tristen thought. He wasn't going to chance it. Once again, Magmar's Pokeball was taken out. "Magmar, return!" Tristen said, ready to recall the walking inferno.

Quickly the Magmar turned around and unleashed a bunch of shadowy tendrils, Shadow binding the kid in place and dragging him to the ground, making him drop the Magmar's container and his SNAG "Ooomph!"

The Litten looked confused...what was going on here? What was going on with that Magmar too? This wasn't normal by any means. "Litten, I'm sorry, I can't...hurry, run away! Seriously! Unless you got something clever, get away!" The Litten, not able to stand by, unleashed and howled out towards the Magmar. When the Magmar turned back around, staring at the Litten, the Litten constantly howled out, virtually antagonizing the Hyper state Magmar. Tristen stared in confusion for a second, trying to figure out what he was doing until finally "Swagger? Litten! No! That's the last thing you want to do!"

"MAR!" The Magmar shouted. It rushed forth full speed ahead with another shadow rush, however, the Litten averted the attack, if only barely. The Magmar ended up slipping and crashing into a nearby tree, hurting itself rather badly in the process.

"Or that...could work too...I think...ugh, what am I doing!?" Tristen started to try to force himself out of the Shadow Bind attack. However, the grip was far too strong. Tristen used Spark, a strong one to try to shock the shadowy grip off of him, only to no avail. "Augh!" As the boy struggled, the Litten stepped a few steps back as the Magmar stood back up, shaking its head, completely infuriated with the Litten. The Magmar's body flared up again, pursuing the Litten with its Shadow Rush attack, however, the Litten manages to dodge again, leaving the Magmar to ram right into another tree and hurt it. The Litten then quickly retaliated, clawing away at the body, one frantic swipe after the next of Fury Swipes on the Magmar before it kicked away when it attempted to swat the cat off of him.

Tristen looked up. Despite some self inflicted damage and the flurry rush of the Fury swipe attack, this Magmar wasn't slowing down. It was just far too strong. "Magmar. stop it!" Tristen pleaded as he constantly struggled in the bindings. Another Spark attack lights up the kid as he at the same time pressed to brute force and struggle his way free out of the bindings. It was all he could do at the moment.

The Magmar got back up, finally done with the Litten's making a mockery of him the way it has. "MAGMAR!" A new shadow attack rushes from the Shadow Pokemon, a Shadow Wave rushes from the body of the Magmar. Instead of the direct approach, the Magmar was going to be sure that it hits his target. The display of unusual power caught the Litten off guard and before it could turn tail, the wave sweeps the cat away with awful force, causing even more immense damage to the Pokemon. The Litten was not moving after such a display of power from it.

"LITTEN!" Tristen shouted. Tristen pushed his Spark attack harder, and pushed out, with his arms with greater motivation harder. The boy gritting his teeth as every ounce of his strength was getting put into getting free. With a puff, several tendrils started to give way around his upper body. Tristen quickly looked around. Magmar's Pokeball was out of reach. The boy then reached for another Pokeball, a empty Great Ball. The boy tossed the ball off towards the Pokemon, ensnaring the Pokemon in the container.

"Magmar!?" The Shadow Pokemon exclaimed as it watched the Litten disappear. The two of them watched the ball shake. "...don't Litten, please. Stay in...please stay in...you done enough..." Tristen said. The boy watched as the ball shook then finally, a click and silence. "Thank you..."

"MAR!" The Magmar turned around towards the boy, angry that once again that its quarry was gone.

"You're done, Magmar, we're going home." Tristen said, managing to pull the final tendrils off. As the boy was getting up the Magmar rushed for the child trainer with a super powered Shadow Rush. Tristen getting caught off guard gets blasted back from the attack, skidding off from the attack. "Mag...mar..." Tristen said. "I know this is not your fault...but you got to fight this whole thing and stop. Get back in...control..." The boy said, managing to push back up off the ground. He was shaky though. He could tell the Swagger was still very well giving fuel to this walking fire. He hadn't been hurt like this in a long time.

"MAGMAR!" The Magmar shouted, its aura flaring up and unleashing another shadow wave, trying to make sure that it was going to hit his target. Tristen rushed off as hard and as fast as he could, diving out of the way of the Wave, nearly eating dirt in the process. The boy, in a rush of adrenaline and a act of desperation pushed back up off the ground then turned towards the Magmar. it wasn't the only one that had some sort of wave. Tristen unleashed his own paralyzing pulse towards the firey Pokemon, a Thunder Wave. "Magmar!" The fire pokemon yelped. With an opportunity there, Tristen threw caution to the wind and tackled the Magmar. While his clothes was giving him some protection, it wasn't covering every part of him. Not to mention, he was feeling the searing temps rush through him anyhow. "Magmar, I'm sorry, I know this is not your fault! But this is for your own good!" Tristen said, pressing down on the head of Magmar to make sure he couldn't get back up easily as the Magmar flailed about.

Tristen lit up once again with electrical power, electrocuting the Magmar with his Spark attack. Everything that he had left to make the Magmar submit. The attack lasted a good few seconds, every second was a tougher strain than the last until Tristen gave one gasp of air and fell over off of the Magmar. The Magmar wasn't moving, electricity sparking off of his own body along with the dying embers. The Magmar was calm now...KO'd, if not close to it between the surge of electricity and the paralysis doing a number to him. Tristen laid there next to the Magmar to the sky above, breathing heavily and burns covering several parts of him from that stunt. "I wanna go home now..." He said, rather exasperated. Tristen was done for the day.

(fail = 8 or less, success = 9 or more)

Captured Pokemon: Litten (5 star rarity)
Battles: 7
Magmar Hyper Meter: MAX

"What... is that?" Keiko asked, as she and Cutie watched in surprise as a Turtonator wandered the cavern.

"That's a Turtonator," GRAY explained. "It has both Fire and Dragon types, which means that not only is it not weak to Fairy, it has moves that are super-effective against your bug. But please, make it suffer if you really want to."

Keiko refused to dignify GRAY's jeering with a response, simply walking away from the fire dragon in search of something a little more manageable.

Keiko had to step back when she almost stepped on a Yungoos. The Normal-type growled at her, but walked away when she didn't move.

"That was close," Keiko sighed. "Come on, Cutie, let's keep looking."

Keiko had to stop when she realized that Cutie wasn't with her. She found the Bug-type hovering over a baby Magby, who was reaching up to try to catch her. Keiko had to scoop Cutie up to keep her from getting burned. "I don't think you'd last long in a fight against a Magby, Cutie," she cooed.