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Freth would continue on through the forest and she had to admit, she was getting a bit tired herself. These zones were massive, she had to admit. Though she figured they had to. They were full of Pokemon all with different territories and such. She then took notice to yet another Yungoos. The wild Pokemon and the hybrid locked eyes for a moment.

"You're contemplating again, aren't you?" The hunter spoke up. "Don't bother, I know you are."

"Shut up-" she then looked to see the Yungoos make the mad dash, rattled by the hybrid's presence. "...son of a...ugh. I need to stop...I need to take a break."

"From running from a bunch of Pokemon to waiting on them to come after you now?"

"What? No, hardly. Seriously, my feet are starting to kill me and I am getting a bit irritated between listening to you and dealing with anything that I might trip-" A realization then occurred to Freth just now. "Come to me, huh?"

"The hell are you thinking?" Freth walked over to a clearing, took off her pack. She pulls out a bunch of bait and a jar of honey. "You were dubious of using items earlier."

"Apart from Pokeballs, these are basically the only exceptions that I know for absolute certain." she said. "We'll set this aside for something to show up and see what this forest hides. At worst, the most I get out of this is a rest. At best, I might actually find something worth while in here. And if this does come out to a bust, maybe I can try again in the next zone."

"This is borderline poaching."

"Says the hunter." she said. She sat the items out for Pokemon to find then went into hiding.

(honey and bait in effect, 1-25 roll, honey to replace #15 and #20 for a Hisuan Sneasel)

[Purposely didn't roll in my last post. Rolling now after use one Bait and one Honey. Range now cut down to 25 [numbers 1-25] and numbers 4 and 6 are now 'Oshawott. Two rolls left for Honey and Bait is used up with this.]

The ball would burst back open and the fish would be free, the Magikarp immediately smacking with its tail one of the broken pieces of the Safari Ball and sending it flying at Sub's head, the man barely moving his head in time to avoid it. "Man, you really are ornery." Sub commented as he went to get another Safari Ball. The more it resisted him the more intrigued he was. He looked over at his Froakie who was just sitting back and staring out of the lake, relaxing and completely ignoring his trainer as he dealt with this Magikarp. "You know it's a good thing it's only a Magikarp, stuck on land. Anything else and I might actually get hurt." He spoke up at his Pokemon, Hop-Frog just looked back at his trainer and scoffed before turning back around. "Well geez, you don't have to be so moody, not my fault we came across the meanest Magikarp in the lake." Sub said, finally finding the Safari Ball he needed.

"Alright you, you're going to get in this ball and I'm going to take you home and make you into the meanest Gyarados since the red one from another lake, you hear me? Stay in this one." He told the Magikarp as it continued to feebly flop around, every now and then getting a good bit of air as it used Splash. He had a feeling this one had potential. Tossing the ball at it underhand as it flopped up into the air and ball would drawn in the Magikarp like before and slam shut, falling to the ground and shaking, slightly less violently than before but still resisting all the same.

Freth would sit back and wait under the cover of a bunch of brush, but leave a spot where she could actually look out where her bait spot was at. She had to admit, despite having a tree to brace up and lean back against, it wasn’t the most comfortable spot to actually hang out at. Whatever, at this point, she needed the rest. She would then check her SNAG at the map. The Grasslands was still a ways away. She was confident that given enough time. Probably within the next 20 minutes or so she’d be good to get back up and start walking off for the Grasslands again, make it, and start hunting down anything worthwhile and maybe get Hakamo-o some sufficient training to work the shadow virus out of his system. Now that she thought about it, she still also had that Grovile as well. Even if she gets done with this, she still got a whole other Pokémon to go. She would sigh at the whole prospect of it…

Ten minutes went by…nothing so far. Bait was still out. She could very well smell that honey. Potent as all get out. She imagined a whole swarm of Heracross would be jumping on top of that as if they thought a buffet was being presented. But…nothing.

Fifteen minutes now, Freth was starting to actually get comfortable against that tree, odd as it was. She was sure that she was going to get stiff if she stayed there in this weird hiding spot. She then looked back towards the bait spot and then…pay dirt. There was movement. She shifted her position a bit. There was something there. She slowly moved about…and then stared in absolute confusion. “What…” she whispered to herself. This Pokémon…it looked like a Sneasel. But…there were a few things off. The coloration, first and foremost. It was a very light purple, maybe leaning towards white or a shade of gray? The claws and face however was a deep solid purple, as did its longer ear. Being one for ice types as did her significant other, this was…bizarre.

“Oh no…is that…Freth, that thing is Hisuan.” The Hunter spoke up.

“Hisuan? Okay, good to know I haven’t gone totally insane in thinking that there are different shiny variants, but what in the hell is that doing here? This is Galar, and over 200 years later. That thing shouldn’t even exist. Let alone here.”

“This is not boding well for me; I hope you know. Wait, what are you doing?”

Freth was taking out Hakamo-o’s Pokeball and started to make her way out of hiding. “Sub got to know about this. I’m going to see if I can’t cap this thing.”

“Evidence, I presuming. I suppose just as well.”

“Yea, I just hope this doesn’t get screwed up.” She said. She leaped out of hiding and gave a hard toss to Hakamo-o’s Pokeball. The Sneasel jumped in shock from the sudden movements, realizing it was being attacked. The ball bursts open and out came the Shadow Hakamo-o, ready for battle. The Hakamo-o roared out, staring down the Hisuan Pokémon. The Sneasel hisses at the Hakamo-o as the two stared each other down. “You wouldn’t happen to know what a Hisuan variants types are?” she then asked Freth.

“Hysterical now that you are asking me for help, but sadly no. I dealt more in Ultra Beasts, not in supposedly extinct species like this thing or your Braviary. You’re going to find out the hard way.”

“Great. Hakamo-o! Drain Punch!” she shouted. While the Hakamo-o did have a break in its Pokeball, she had to admit it wasn’t that long. She wondered if the Shadow Pokémon was resilient enough to actually capture this thing…and perhaps not disobey commands while she was at it. The Hakamo-o rushed in and smashed its fist right into the Sneasel, however, despite its smaller frame, the Sneasel stood its ground, practically catching and locking claws with the Shadow Hakamo-o’s claw with a severe agitated grimace on its face. It was mad, wanting vengeance for the attempted blindside. Worse, the attack did next to nothing to the Sneasel, as Freth would note. It wasn’t an Endure skill…it was straight up not effective at all. “Oh, that’s…not good.” With an infuriated screech, the Sneasel retaliated, its free claw glowing a fierce purple and lunged hard at the Hakamo-o. The Hakamo-o staggered back from the attack, a stronger attack compared to many in this forest. Worse, she started to notice something. The Shadow Pokémon was favoring that injury now…while otherwise it wouldn’t. Freth looked back as the Sneasel was getting ready to get back on the attack, noticing that as it whipped its claw aside itself, poison leaked from its claws. “Venomous claws? This thing is a Poison Type!?”

“That mostly explains how it took the attack like a champ.” The Hunter stated. What was originally starting disadvantaged, she now had to admit Hakamo-o and her safari chances were now in peril. Hakamo-o was poisoned and it was getting the better of him. She was on the clock. On top of what all Hakamo-o dealt with today, he couldn’t possibly last long against this Sneasel if she wasn’t careful. “Freth, if you want the best chances on capturing this thing, you’re going to have to do some things you’re not going to want to do in this battle.”

“You want me to use Shadow Attacks?” she asked. “Not happening.”

“Hakamo-o is going to lose.” The hunter bluntly stated.

“I’ll figure something out. If push comes for shove, I’ll just get him to use Outrage. Shut up. Hakamo-o! Use Screech!” she shouted. The Hakamo-o unleashed a soul-shattering screech upon the Hisuan Sneasel. The Sneasel cringed a bit, clamping its claws down over its ears, losing composure from the defense lowering wail. The Sneasel would then wail out, psyching itself up. Freth would notice that as it tensed up, it grew slightly bigger and as it done so, it seemed as if it was about to bust a vein in its forehead. “Did this thing just Bulk Up!?”

“A Fighting…type?” Even the Hunter was confused at this point. One surprise after the next.

“Hakamo-o! Hurry! Outrage!” Freth then shouted to her Shadow Pokémon. The Hakamo-o rushed in, completely lighting up in draconian fury and started to thrash away upon the Sneasel. The Sneasel stood its ground as it was pummeled away furiously at the Sneasel. The Sneasel was then smashed away by a massive draconian haymaker. It tumbled across the ground, but it managed to right itself, driving its claw into the ground to slow itself down and subsequently stop. The Sneasel then put its claws together, forming a massive mound of sludge then with a infuriated screech, fired it with severe force towards the Outraging Hakamo-o.

“Freth! A Gunk Shot!” she shouted.

“I know! Hakamo-o! Move!” There was no moving away from the attack…rather the Hakamo-o refused to move. The attack blasted the Hakamo-o and driving it back with such force. Freth thought it was good as over, if not from the attack itself but the poison that was currently coursing through Hakamo-o and the Sneasel was going to get away. However, the nigh-suicidal resilience of Shadow Pokémon started to show itself. The Hakamo-o’s shadowy aura started to become visible and its irritation finally reached its limit. “What the-Hyper Mode!? He hasn’t been using Shadow Attacks though! He’s been in his ball a little while, even! He should have calmed down by now! Blast it, Tristen wasn’t kidding about them just going off whenever they want to.”

“You have dragged it around this forest with so few fights and been demanding not to use those Shadow Attacks. Then when it steps out of your rules, you have reprimanded it, basically going against its own artificially-induced nature. Of course, it is pissed off now. You’re using those Shadow Attacks, like it or not now. Which might be a blessing in disguise. You need to get an edge over this Sneasel somehow, for one, and the added damage from these Shadow Attacks should be able to put it over the edge, regardless of this Sneasel roiding out now.” The hunter explained.

“I really wanted to avoid this…” she said, shaking her head. “Fine, hopefully he’ll still listen. Hakamo-o! Shadow Rush!” she shouted. The Hakamo-o was more than happy to oblige in that attack. It rushed for the Sneasel; the Sneasel not knowing what could come from such an attack dodged out of the way, still retaining its nimbleness. It went into a tumble then pivoted into an attack, rushing for the Hakamo-o with yet another Poison Jab attack. “Hakamo-o! Use Shadow Rave!” Hakamo-o turned around and glared at the assailing Sneasel. Shadowy tendrils started to slink and quickly slither away from the Hakamo-o then finally as the Sneasel passed over, the tendrils stuck straight up, impaling the Sneasel with its shadowy power. The tendrils would vanish and dropped the Sneasel on the ground. The Sneasel trembled as it managed to push itself up, the attack was no means kosher. But it still had fight, much to Freth’s disdain.

A realization then occurred to Freth. The Hunter might be right about one thing. This could be a blessing in disguise, but not in the way that the Hunter was suggesting. Even if Hakamo-o wins the fight, there was the matter of capturing the Sneasel and getting the Hakamo-o back in the ball once it does and it’s usually a pain in the hide to recall a Pokémon back into a ball while it is in Hyper Mode. Perhaps the reverse could work out…if the battle goes on long enough, Sneasel could take out Hakamo-o finally, then she’d turn around to capture the Sneasel. Granted, she had to hope that the Sneasel stay in the capturing ball in short order…it was a gamble, but it was the best route that she could figure.

The Sneasel quickly rushed back to the Hakamo-o, quickly juking about with great speed. Agility. At least there were some similarities from the standard one, to her fortune, but it was still putting her in a worse and worse position. The Sneasel then rushed in from behind the Hakamo-o, driving its claws down on the Shadow Hakamo-o, a mighty Slash attack. The Hakamo-o got on all fours, the claw marks from the attack clear on its back. The Hakamo-o then pushed itself back up; it was weary. It was running out of gas. The poison, the damage. It was becoming too much. Maybe… “Hakamo-o! Shadow Break!” she shouted.

Like Double-Edge, Shadow Break was a rather reckless charge of the Shadow Pokémon sorts. It might be enough to put Sneasel down and with the condition Hakamo-o was in, perhaps able to neutralize itself. The Hakamo-o picked itself up and lunged after the Sneasel as it was trying to slash down on the Hakamo-o once again. The attack overtook the Sneasel and sent it flying off, leaving it tumbling once more, but there was no agile springing back up again. The attack was too much for such a thing. The Hakamo-o then fell back over again on all fours, trembling itself. The spirit was more than willing, the body was too weak now. Perfect. That’s what she needed.

Freth took out a Ultra Ball and gave it a hard toss. The Sneasel perked up, seeing the ball, going wide-eyed as it pelts the Pokémon and then gets ensnared in the high-grade ball. The ball shook about, the Sneasel was still struggling to get out…

The Ultra Ball continued to rattle, the Hisuan Sneasel constantly trying to fight in the ball, ever so desperate to get out. The shaking then started to become uncommon. Then finally, a click. It was over. Mission accomplished. The Hisuian Sneasel was caught. Freth had a sigh in relief. While this might or might not win the competition as a whole, this does at the very least show signs that there are problems in the world that are going to need to be addressed. She took the Pokéball and walked off towards the Hakamo-o who he himself was starting to lose consciousness, mostly out of the poison it took from the Sneasel. She recalled the Hakamo-o with little trouble and sighed. Forget going to the Grasslands at this point. She was getting checked out and going home…this was a long afternoon…

Captured: Hisuian Sneasel (5 star rarity)
Pokémon used: Hakamo-o (shadow)
Battles: 9 battles – 4.7 purification + 3 (Vivid Scent) pts gained

One...two...three...and click! Oshawott was caught!

"Sweet!" Sub cheered, holding up his open palm for Hop-Frog to give him a high five, the frog leaping off the ground and slapping its palm on Sub's palm as they celebrated their victory. With the Oshawott caught Sub would walk over to the Net Ball and pick it up. He would then take out the Safari Ball containing the Magikarp in his other hand and press the button on the front twice in quick succession before tossing it over the lake. The device would burst open and break in half, releasing the Magikarp into the water in a show of red energy as Sub released it. The Magikarp wouldn't acknowledge the one that freed it, instead immediately retreating into the water below. "Goodbye, big guy." He said, giving his goodbyes to the fight.

Pocketing the ball containing the Oshawott Sub would pick up Hop-Frog and give him a hug. "Thanks Hop-Frog, you did really good. Take a much deserve rest, we're going home." He told the frog before recalling him and stashing away his ball. With that Sub took out his hoverboard, unfolded it, and after jumping on top of it began to set off for home.

[Pokemon captured: Oshawott, 4 Star Rarity]
[Evo Points earned: 6.40]
[Pokemon battled: 11]

Aden found himself stopping when the slams began being heard again, shaking his head. "Oh come on, did I just go in a circle?" It wasn't a surprising outcome, forests often lended well to getting crossed up and otherwise lost. This one was no exception to that, and he wasn't worried about getting his bearings back later. But the slams were close; closer than earlier, he could swear, and he heard a couple of cries alongside it. One sounded close enough to a Farfetch'd, easy to assume it was from the one he saw before and he got some confirmation when he finally decided to scout things out again. When he got close enough to actually see things, he'd see that Farfetch'd from before- he was sure of it, their energy felt similar- as well as a Ferroseed and Hatenna. Each of them were staring each other down, each of them trying to intimidate the others into backing off. Eventually, seemingly growing tired of the noise, the Farfetch'd would take their leek and send the other two Pokemon away with a single Brutal Swing before letting out a battle cry.

At this point, with Aden trying to get a little closer, he'd end up nearly tripping on the tree he was using as cover and bring attention to himself. Immediately, he'd see Farfetch'd turn and stare him down, making him stop and back up a step. "U-uh!" Hands up to reveal he wasn't meaning for any funny business, he looked at the angry bird and tried to keep his cool. "I'm not here to fight, honest! Just gonna back right off here and you can go back to what you were doing, good? Good." But that wasn't enough to make things de-escalate. If anything, it made Farfetch'd stare him down more as if they were trying to confirm something themselves. After a moment, they'd put the leek down with a thud, long enough to pull out a black eye mask tucked into one of their wings, putting it on before picking up the leek again and making an even louder battle cry.

His SNAG would suddenly beep to life as GRAY decided to chime in, playing music just as suddenly as apparently something was deemed fitting for the situation. "Oh, I see you've found El Pato. Good luck."

"El who?" Aden asked, practically shaking the SNAG as soon as he grabbed it. "GRAY, you want to elaborate on that one? Like, I don't know, NOW sounds good?" Not only would he not get a response, he'd find that the music also wouldn't shut off as El Pato began to approach him in a rare moment of deciding to fight a Snagem.

"Come on, you can't just say that and leave! F-fine, Wooloo, get ready!" Jumping back just in time to avoid a downward swing of the leek, Aden sent his Wooloo back out and had a feeling this was going to be rougher than he'd like to admit. As soon as he did, El Pato would direct his intimidating Leer at the sheep before him, dropping her guard as she started backing up closer to her trainer. That is, until he pushed her back in front. "It's fine, we can handle this. But we're gonna need the defenses. Cotton Guard!"

A surprised bleat came as she looked at Aden briefly before looking back at El Pato, questioning what the hell her trainer was thinking. "Look, I don't think we're getting a peaceful resolution here. Feels pretty strong for a Farfetch'd too. Don't think I've seen one like this either, so probably a regional variant- Wooloo, move!" El Pato not being one to waste time, another Slam would try to strike, now aimed at Wooloo. She was barely able to get away from it in time, but it was enough to spur her to just go with the earlier command and forcing her fleece to become especially fluffy again in an effort to weather whatever might come.

"Like I said, not avoiding a fight now. Go for Headbutt, see if we can't fight back now!"

Though Wooloo would reluctantly start rolling at El Pato, he'd see the attack coming well before its execution. As soon as she got close, he'd deftly dodge it with a timely Detect before striking back. But Aden could feel energy pouring into the leek this time, culminating into a Brick Break to bat Wooloo away like the ball she looked like in the moment. She'd slam into one of the trees and knock a bunch of berries down for it and if wasn't for the combination of her increased defenses and the natural protection of her fleece- a thankful advantage of her Fluffy ability- Aden was fairly sure she might've been knocked out then and there. "Wooloo!? You alright over there? Can't exactly send anyone else out here!"

She'd manage to right herself and give a soft bleat, but she was definitely hurting from that. "Alright... think we're gonna need more speed here, see if we can't confound him somehow... I've got it, here!" Quickly loading an X Speed into the Wonder Launcher on his Snag Machine, he'd fire it at Wooloo to give her a welcome speed boost. "Now, let's try that again! See if we can't get him this time!"

The now-speedier sheep would find herself rolling at El Pato faster than she thought possible, fast enough that despite his attempts at dodging it again with Detect, he wouldn't be able to and took the hit. It caught him off-guard enough that he also flinched from it, unable to immediately act on it despite otherwise shaking it off. Once he could, he'd move with more swiftness than before and scoop Wooloo into the air with Knock Off. With her bouncing upon hitting the ground, otherwise handling the attack better than the last one, he'd stand his ground and start charging something as more energy poured into the leek he wielded.

"...grass energy?" Aden asked himself, picking up on it quickly. "What kind of attack is he about to use? Can't be Leaf Blade, that'd be pretty simple for most to use- wait." He'd go a little pale when he realized what might be happening, recognizing that sort of charge if he was readying Solar Beam. And last he checked, Farfetch'd couldn't use that and chances were this couldn't either. "Crap, probably Solar Blade then. Wooloo, we need to strike now before he finishes charging that! Go!" Interpreting it as to use Headbutt yet again, she'd have no trouble rolling into him with the move. But as she was about to make impact, he'd manage a sort of shoulder charge that didn't hurt Wooloo much and really only made her shift slightly off course, otherwise still charging his attack.

"Not good! Wooloo, we're gonna need a bit more oomph, so go for Double-Edge this time! Give it everything you've got!" As he gave the command, solar energy not only cover the leek, but make it look far taller than it originally was, like some sort of greatsword ready to smite anyone foolish enough to be in its path, let alone El Pato's. His swing began to go downward with a loud cry, just as Wooloo rolled in place to build up speed before going for the harshest tackle she could. "There it is, now Wooloo!" The Solar Blade would slam down with a mighty crash, practically shaking the ground and slicing through the forest itself with how it looked. Aden's call would come just in time for her to veer away from it, stopping at El Pato's side before rolling in place and revving up again to land the reckless Double-Edge. She was able to catch him before he could defend against it, both of them flying back from the impact.

For the moment, both were relatively standing- though it took an effort for both of them, but the fight had seemed to stop for now. "Is... is that it?" He asked himself, watching and preparing himself in case it wasn't actually over. But the SNAG would stop playing the music as El Pato glared at Aden again, staring him down as if contemplating a second round or to cut his losses.