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A Dunsparce was the next thing to jump out at them. Or rather, it was already out in the open and turned to look at them as they approached. Seeing a Pokemon it had never seen before made it curious, and it sent a Mud Slap at Sparx before Brian could give any orders. Luckily, the Yamper, knowing that the Ground-type move would be super effective, was quick enough to dodge, albeit only just. "Dunsparce is a Normal-type, so Fighting-type moves would be the most effective on it," Brian mused, half to himself. Unfortunately, from what he'd read up on Yamper, he knew the Electric-type canine couldn't learn any Fighting-type moves, so they would have to go with what they knew best. "Alright, use Bite," he said.

Sparx leaped forward with his fangs glowing white, intending to bite into the Dunsparce, but the Normal-type was having none of it. It waited until Sparx was close to it before using Protect, then while the Yamper was reeling from bouncing off the green glowing shield, used Mud Slap again, point blank. Sparx howled in pain, the super effective move doing quite a bit of damage, but he wasn't down for the count just yet. No, he still had some fight left in him. So instead of waiting for Brian to give him a command, he launched right into a Nuzzle, managing to get close enough to rub up against the Dunsparce and leave it paralyzed.

"Use Charge followed by Spark," Brian said, taking advantage of the paralysis. Sparx howled as his Special Defense was raised, and before the Dunsparce could react, rammed into it was a powered-up Spark attack. This sent the Normal-type reeling, and before it could recover, a Pokeball hit it in the head, the red-and-white device opening and sucking the Normal-type inside in a flash of red light. Brian watched as the Pokeball rocked on the ground, waiting to see if it would stay closed, or if the Dunsparce would be able to escape.

It didn't take long to find their next encounter, and Brian was slightly surprised when he saw what it was. Sandshrew were normally found in caves or underground, so it was unusual to see one out in the open like this. Still, he wasn't going to try and battle it, seeing as Sparx would be at a major disadvantage, and although it had seen them, the Sandshrew didn't seem keen on battling either, instead waddling away into some tall grass nearby. Shrugging, they kept going, eager to see what else the grasslands had to offer.

The next Pokemon they encountered was even more of a surprise than the Sandshrew had been. Brian had heard of this particular Pokemon, even seen a few in televised contests or battles, but he'd never actually encountered a wild one. The Pokemon across from him was mostly gold-furred, with red fur on its arms, legs, and the tip of its tail. Beautiful chocolate eyes burned with intelligence, and a curiosity about the interlopers to its domain. This was a Mienfoo, one of the various Fighting-types one could encounter, first seen in Sinnoh.

Brian wasn't all that surprised to see it; he'd been expecting something interesting to happen. He just wasn't expecting to see it giving him and Sparx a measuring look, as if it was trying to see just how much of a workout it might get if it battled. It seemed to be somewhat pleased with what it was seeing, as it took a fighting stance and waved one paw at him, as if saying "Bring it on." Nodding with a grin, Brian gave Sparx a nod, and the Yamper bounded forward, his body crackling with electricity. He was trying to go for a Nuzzle, having seen how well it worked on the Dunsparce.

The Mienfoo watched almost impassively as Sparx got closer and closer, and when he was almost upon it, its eyes shone for a moment before it did a backflip and landed on its paws, then launched an Aura Sphere at Sparx. Knowing the move couldn't be dodged, he had Sparx use Swift at the Aura Sphere, stopping the attack in its tracks and causing a small explosion. He knew he wouldn't be able to see through the dust kicked up by the explosion, he had Sparx use his sense of smell to find the Mienfoo, who had taken advantage of the dust to try and launch a sneak attack. A High Jump Kick was aimed for Sparx's side, but the Yamper sensed it at the last second and used Dig, effectively dodging the attack and causing massive damage to the Mienfoo in the process.

Once the smoke cleared, Brian could see the Mienfoo crouched on the ground, holding its injured knee, and although he couldn't see Sparx, he knew the Yamper could hear him. "Use Bite when ye come out of the ground, Sparx," he said. He knew it wouldn't do too much damage, due to the Mienfoo's resistance to Dark-type attacks, but hopefully, it would give them just enough of an advantage to finish the battle. Sparx leaped from the ground just behind the Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokemon having no time to dodge as the Electric-type bit down on its arm and hung on. While the bite didn't hurt all that much, it was still annoying, and the Mienfoo placed its free paw on Sparx's forehead and used Force Palm in an effort to free its arm, but the Yamper was stubborn.

As the two struggled, Brian watched Sparx use Charge, and right after that, something happened. It looked like Sparx was trying to use a new move, one that he hadn't used before, and if what Brian was seeing was accurate, this was a move he recognized. Using Charge might have given Sparx the energy he needed to execute the attack, but Brian knew that the attack would be a gamble at best. "Use Thunderbolt!" he ordered, and the Yamper lit up with electricity.

The Mienfoo, unable to get away since the Electric-type was still attached to its arm, took the brunt of the point-blank attack. Unstable as it was from being newly-learned, the Thunderbolt still did a lot of damage, thanks to the power up from Charge. Sparx, having used a lot of energy with the unfamiliar attack, let go of the Mienfoo's arm, panting heavily, while the Fighting-type just stood there, unmoving, sparks flickering about its body as paralysis set in. Knowing he couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture such a determined fighter, Brian tossed a Pokeball at it. Hopefully, he could catch it, but if not, he would use his final Pokeball on it.

Failure. The Timer Ball immediately burst open, and the Mienfoo, which he'd been hoping to add to his team, disappeared, leaving Brian feeling just a tad disappointed, yet happy at the same time. While he didn't manage to capture the Pokemon he was hoping to get, he did get a pretty good capture with the Dusnparce, so he wasn't going to walk away empty-handed like the first time. All in all, he and Sparx had done some pretty good battle training, and the Yamper had even learned a new move, though Brian knew he would have to work with Sparx on that to get it under control. So with a smile on his face, he walked back to the Friend Zone entrance, ready to call it a day and see what else lay in store for him and his team.

Moving along through the Forest, leaving the fallen Snubbull to its own devices. Freth went back to explore the forest. Surely by now she had to have explored a fair chunk of it already. Maybe perhaps that was all there was. Moving to a new zone to find something good to capture while she was at it became a bit more enticing after all. If nothing else, she would like to have some shot at winning this contest, if not to put out the streak of anger she was starting to feel with trying to keeping this Hakamo-o under control.

As she looked up in the trees to make sure she wasn’t missing anything, she took notice to a Ferroseed once again. Remembering the last one she ended up having to deal with, she decided not to try to shake this one out of the tree. There’s a blast zone from the last one, after all.

Freth left the Venomoth, trying to figure out what to do. She needed to get out of the Forest. That was perhaps her only hope. Find some other zone to roam around, maybe get Hakamo-o to Drain Punch attack a few Pokémon, maybe find something worth while to capture. Though part of her wondered if she should have captured that Galarian Farfetch’d from earlier. That was a bit something else, now that she thought about it. Water under the bridge now. As she progressed onward, she then started to realize what the Hunter was talking about earlier. The noise she was making Hakamo-o to do in its screech attacks, a Snubbull found its way over. Not wanting to take any chances like the one from earlier, she guided the Shadow Pokémon away…albeit not without frustrations to do so.

As Aden continued his way through the forest, having stopped to sit by a tree for a bit of a breather, he started looking around to keep getting a feel for the area. Something didn't feel entirely right, but he wasn't sure how or why. Or if it was just him being apprehensive after the whole thing in Ultra Space. After a while, he decided to get back up and continue, but it was barely a few seconds later when he heard an upset cry and made him look around for the source.

"Er?"

His cursory glance revealed a Fomantis nearby, gesturing angrily.

"Your berry? What do you mean I messed up-" As Aden stepped back, he now realized his apparent error when he saw the flattened Sitrus Berry he'd unknowingly stepped on. "...your berry? Uh, look, I'll get you another one, I didn't notice it?"

Another cry, now as angry as the gestures, as Fomantis started running at him, tackling his leg and falling backwards. "Uh..." Other than the impact of Fomantis hitting him, he wasn't hurt in the slightest.

"Go Wooloo?" He said, almost asked, feeling bad about fighting back. But he felt that he wouldn't be left alone otherwise. "Headbutt!" Wooloo, having less reservations, gave out a bleat as she rolled at Fomantis, knocking them back down almost as soon as they got up and messing up their day even more. Fomantis would retaliate by rushing at their new assailant, slashing at her with Fury Cutter but doing little more than slicing a bit of her fleece.

She'd give a confused bleat before looking over at Aden, who only shrugged. "I kinda stepped on their berry and they're upset," he remarked, followed by Wooloo noticing the now-flatter berry on the ground she apparently rolled over. Needless to say, Fomantis was angrily going on about how their meal was ruined, until Wooloo rolled into them with another Headbutt to shut them up.

While they were still down, Aden figured it was better to recall Wooloo and disengage. "Yeah, uh, I'm just gonna leave you be..."

Aden would, however, notice a Weedle crawling up one of the many trees of the forest and made sure to keep more of a berth from them, not wanting to agitate them.