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Aden would have to say a similar deal for the Sewaddle he happened to see as he kept exploring; they seemed fine to just go about their day, so he saw no reason to just up and ruin it on them and otherwise continued as before.

Freth decided to bite the proverbial bullet and give another Safari a go. However, who to train became a point in contention for her; she had options, to say the least. Perhaps she could actually get to know Cufant better, she hadn’t really done much with that steel-type pachyderm. The Galarian Darumaka was also a curious sort, it was probably about time to see about what that little bugger was about. Oshawott, captured from a previous Safari contest thanks to Himonchan, as a Tyrogue at the time, was also a thought. She could always use another Water Type in the party, that she thought. As enticing as the possibilities of those were however, she also recalled some more immediate issues. She had two Shadow Pokémon that she had to take care of. There was a Hakamo-o, the Alolan based fighting dragon that she caught from within the massive horde. She had it come out some during a mission in Mauville City already, mostly out of no choice in the matter, and nearly regretted it. She also had the Shadow Grovile, the Pokémon that was snagged from a fallen trainer during the stated mission. She needed to at the very least get those two under wraps so they wouldn’t outright infect her others. Freth was starting to realize how Tristen had been feeling all this time: this is growing pretty tiresome. Perhaps some Super Training is in order in the near future…

Since Hakamo-o already had some progress on it, she figure to see if she can’t push him closer to purification. Arriving at the Friend Zone in Kalos, she made her way to her ready position and released the Hakamo-o. The beast looked back at Freth in its dull stare once more then out to the field. She then stared herself at what was before her. Apparently four quadrants to go after…though…the ‘Friend Zone’? “I wonder if Kalosians know that there are other connotations for those two words…” she asked the dragon. There wouldn’t be a reply out of the beast. Not that she’d expect otherwise.

“Different cultures have different connotations.” A voice spoke up to her. Freth sighed out.

“Oh, now you’re talkative.” She said. “You still owe me answers.”

“You’re still going to harp on me about that?” the hunter stated. “I don’t remember promising you anything other than you killing Blizzard in exchange for my silence. But you basically spat in my face with that.”

“I swear I will find out what it was exactly that legendary managed to pry out of you…”

“I doubt that.”

Agitated, Freth would then make her way to the forested area to see what she could get her Hakamo-o into. Hopefully something challenging to help get this Hakamo-o’s condition worked out all the sooner.

She made her way through the forest some more, after leaving the Hoothoot in peace, but as she continued to travel, making her way through the brush, she then took notice to a clearing nearby. She made her way out into the clearing, noticing a Venomoth about its own business. Not a Venonat, like she would have expected, but its evolved state. “Well, there’s a start…” she said.

“Question, apart from PokéBalls, obviously, are any other items allowed in contests?”

“…maybe?”

“Maybe? You don’t know?”

“Never had a situation to come up. Usually, any time that I would ever really need one, I’m basically done anyways.”

“You know these things are notorious for poison and paralysis, right?”

“Well, if I get disqualified for getting Hakamo-o to put down a Lum Berry, then whatever. Hakamo-o, get to it.” She said to her Shadow Pokémon. The Shadow Hakamo-o made its way forward and got ready for battle. The Venomoth fluttered about aggressively, getting on the defensive. It started to realize something was not right about this dragon. “Hakamo-o, Screech attack!” Freth shouted. If nothing else, she could try to end this fight quicker to make it a non-issue.

The Hakamo-o reared back then unleashed a soul-shattering wail at the fluttering Venomoth, stopping only long enough to cringe as it could from the sheer amount of noise that washed over it. The Venomoth snapped out of it long enough to retaliate, focusing a bit then fired a beam of power in retaliation. “A Psybeam. Nearly forgot they can learn that.” The hunter commented. The Hakamo-o was pelted, staggering back a bit. The blank, droll stare out of the Hakamo-o started to turn into agitation.

“Hakamo-o, Dragon Claw!” she then shouted, trying to stick to her strategy. She needed to end fights quickly, not just for the health of this Pokémon, the other issue was its shadowfied state. The longer they stay out in battle, the worse it gets, and moreso if one starts commanding Shadow Attacks. She started to hope there was nothing out here that would warrant such a thing. The Hakamo-o fortunately stayed compliant for the moment, its claws lighting up with draconic power and rushed in, slashing furiously at the bug. With its shattered defenses, the Dragon Claw dug deep into the bug. The Venomoth hissed in pain as it was furiously swatted away. It managed to flutter back up, refusing to go down as of yet. “Oh come on…”

“It wasn’t going to go down that easily.”

“Well, one could hope at times.” Freth said.

The Venomoth then started flapping hard, unleashing a thick yellow cloud upon the field. “Oh crap…” Freth quickly backed away from the battlefield more than what she had already. The cloud of powder started to fall down, the Hakamo-o starting to cough a bit then started to feel numb…well, more than what it already had. It was an unusual sensation for the Shadow Pokémon as it fell down to one knee. “Stun Spore.”

“I warned you about this.”

“Shut. Up. Hakamo-o! Can you use a Automize!?” she then shouted. With paralysis being an issue, she had to get her Pokémon to compensate somehow. Unfortunately, the Hakamo-o was unable to move for the time being. It was still left with this paralysis sensation that was so overbearing, even as a shadow Pokémon. The Venomoth then once again blasts the Hakamo-o with yet another Psybeam, blasting it back once more.

“This isn’t good…screw it, go for broke, Hakamo-o, use Dragon Claw!” she then shouted.

The Hakamo-o managed to fight through the paralysis and then made a hard dash for the Venomoth. It clawed hard upon the bug once more, driving it down into the Venomoth, dragging it down to the ground. However, the Paralysis started to set in once more, preventing Hakamo-o from sticking the landing. At the very least, the Venomoth was finally taken down. Freth rushed in and pulled the dragon off of the Venomoth. She had to pull out a Lum Berry, but at least not until after she was clear of this Venomoth should it come back to again…

And because the fates need to let Freth know what the hell the next Pokemon needs to be...

Crystal would look at the map of the Friend Zone, debating on where to go. Her Bronzor, Donne, would be hanging out near her head, looking at what she was looking at. "Hm.... Alright, I think we're going. Donne? Any opposition to the grasslands?" A shake of the little steel type would be the needed response for Crystal, as she put away her SNAG after that and nodded. "Alright then, let's go." The pair would walk out and depart for the grasslands with that, curious to see what all they'd find there.

Crystal would be looking around in front of her, wondering where some of the other Pokémon were when the Bronzor would chime up, looking behind them. When she turned around, she'd notice the same Vivillon from before, starting to sprinkle a dark red powder everywhere. "...Nope. Nope. Not about this now. Let's go, Donne!" And thus, the two were off, hopefully not having to deal with a potential of explosions from a less than usual source. Now what she was expecting, but at the same time, just no.

Cave

Clare arrived in Kalos with a bit of help from Claydol and found their way to the site of this "Safari contest". As they recalled, this was how they'd come to know Rasana as well. This one was in a location far less cold than the last one had been, however. Approaching the sign-in area, they'd register themself for the contest along with marking Visage as their required singular partner. Once they'd filed the paperwork and received the trio of Safari Balls to use for the contest, they would take a moment to look over the areas that were marked for the contest area. "It looks like there's a cave here... I might find something there that might catch our interest for a new friend." They voiced aloud to themself before exiting the sign-in area and heading for the cave zone.

Sub and Hop-Frog would arrive at the Friend Zone, the Froakie out of its ball already as its trainer decided to take today's opportunity to bond with it. He had captured Hop-Frog some time ago but never could find the right time to train it, let alone spend time with it which was unfortunate as Sub prided himself in being a good trainer. Upon learning of the environments the Friend Zone had to offer the Snagem leader decided to make his way for the lake area, figuring that his Froakie would enjoy a little aquatic adventure and if they got into any battles the frog would definitely be in its environment. "Let's see what trouble we can't get into, Hop-Frog." He told the little critter who responded happily with a croak.