bug catcher [catching/forest 3-18]

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

A rare day off for him meant that he was back in the woods, catching Pokemon and training the ones that happened to be falling a little bit behind. It was his own fault. The last day he'd had off he'd done the bare minimum of cleaning up the gym and then went straight back to bed with a book and a cup of hot tea to try and kill the headache he'd gotten stressing out over the fact that he had run out of filter plants for the pond. He'd ordered more but there was always the chance that before they came his pond would be ruined and he would have to get entirely new ones. Therefore he'd made the trip all the way to Bosky to pick them up himself and they told him it would be a few hours before he could pick them up even though he'd called ahead. "You'd think that they would be able to rush an order for a gym leader..." Instead now he was killing time with Cole, his Nincada who hadn't really gotten as much training as some of the other Pokemon he owned. For some reason the little bug always seemed to skitter off before they could get into real serious training but now he had a grip on the situation, offering the bug sweets and such in order to pacify him into training. It wasn't the best route to go and he was worried it might have some lasting effects but so long as the bug could defend himself he wouldn't be too worried about it. If sweets were what the small baby needed then he wouldn't mind giving them to him. It wouldn't be too hard to find some Pokemon to battle, and if they were bugs maybe he'd even catch them depending on the type. He needed to fill his team with a couple more so that he could take on trainers who wanted to do a full team challenge. "Don't worry too much, if you start to get in over your head then Maab can back you up alright? Or even Aveline will give you a hand." Setting the bug on the ground he watched as Cole skittered over a couple dead leaves, picking them up and setting them on his back. Garrus didn't understand the small bugs peculiarities whenever it came to things like that but he didn't bother questioning it either. If Cole wanted to wear dead leaves on his back then who was he to stop him? Watching the Pokemon carefully he followed behind as it continued moving from one place to another, turning leaves over and either rejecting them or placing them on the pile on his back.

POKEMON: WORDS: 560 TAGGED: MOD working on training some of the gym leader's pokemon while trying to catch more. deltra of gangnam style

[Hanelli]

A MUSHROOM HAS APPEARED!

No it's not a 1-Up

Paras pokemon

Male gender

Effect Spore ability

Growth		Aromatherapy
Spore		Slash

^{CODED BY LYRO}

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

It took Cole by surprise that when he picked up the next leaf there was actually something underneath it. Sure the leaf had been sitting awkwardly but there was no way for him to know that there was a Paras underneath. Especially not when that Paras didn't seem to be too pleased for the leaf to be removed and hissed at the Nincada, raising his claw at him and slashing at him. Stunned he couldn't move out of the way in time and Cole was already injured. "It's okay Cole, you're faster than he is so use that to your advantage." With gentle encouragement the bug type shook the scratch off and began to scuttle around, followed by the angered Paras. It was no good if he just kept running though. Eventually the other Pokemon would catch up and eventually there would be a battle. "Cole, use Dig! Do it quickly." Dirt flew as the bug dug into the earth, burying itself and hiding inside of it so that he could take the other bug off guard. Quietly he sat under the earth, listening to his opponent above moving around until finally it stopped. The Paras wondered for a moment if the Nincada hadn't simply just given up on battling even though his trainer had told him to do otherwise until it felt the small movement of dirt from underneath. Out of the ground came Cole, pushing upwards on the Paras' body in an attempt to knock it off balance. It wasn't top heavy like Parasect was but it was still awkwardly shaped enough that landing it on its back would cause it to take a few moments to try and turn back over. "Good job. Keep working at it. Use False Swipe." It wouldn't do enough damage to cause the Pokemon to faint considering it was a move specifically designed for catching Pokemon. But Garrus wouldn't mind if Cole did manage to faint the Paras. After all this was supposed to be a training exercise for the NIncada. Catching a Pokemon was just an added benefit to that fact. Reaching his claw back he struck at the Paras, only to hit the other bug types claw as it reached back for a Slash. It hurt but instead of giving up he tried it again with the other claw, hoping that the Paras wouldn't think to block again. It worked but only just barely and Garrus let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. It was far too stressful training a Pokemon that didn't want to be trained outright but as a gym leader he needed all of his Pokemon to be able to fight. "Keep it up. Don't stop moving. Once this battle is over you can rest." He hoped it didn't sound like he was being too hard on Cole. He didn't want the bug to end up hating him but he also didn't want to send in another Pokemon when it seemed like he was doing well enough on his own. Breaking his confidence like that wouldn't do anyone any good and that's just what sending in another Pokemon would do. The opponent wasn't going to back down though, in an attempt to gain an upper hand it used Growth but it wasn't enough to cause the now smaller Pokemon to back down. He was in a sort of tizzy as Cole began to use Metal Claw on the larger Pokemon. Over and over again he struck until the Paras fell to the ground. "Cole that's enough. You can stop now." Leaning down he grabbed the still flailing Pokemon so that he could stop it from going overboard on attacking. "You did good. You can stop now." Holding a small piece of food out for the Nincada he smiled as it stopped flailing about and instead relaxed in his hands. Not one to let a bug Pokemon to go to waste he pulled a Pokeball out and used it to attempt to catch the now fainted Paras. If he could get this Pokemon strengthened up he would have another Pokemon as well. "I'm proud of you Cole."

POKEMON: WORDS: 700 TAGGED: MOD tried to catch paras via battle. training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Lich]

. . . !
Congratulations, POKEMON was caught!
One Pokeball must be removed from your inventory!

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

Checking his Pokemon over to make sure that there weren't any lasting damages or anything to stop him from battling further he was relieved to see that everything seemed to be okay. Cole wasn't any worse for wear and at the moment they would be okay to continue going on for now. Settling the bug back on the ground he wondered if the Nincada would keep piling leaves on his back or if that was done and over with now that he'd found an enemy behind it. "Don't be afraid to do what you were, you beat that Paras no problem and they even had a type advantage over you." He didn't bother to mention that the grass type hadn't used any damaging grass type moves but that wasn't the point. Plus he was pretty sure that the bug type covered the ground weakness to grass. He'd need to go over the books again. He was too frustrated to remember right now. Like before he dug around, not putting as many leaves on his back and looking only for the ones that were flat on the ground. It seemed he'd learned from the last time and whether or not that was a good or a bad thing he had no idea. Learning was good but when it was conditioning towards not doing the things you wanted to do then it was bad. Very bad. "Pick up the ones you want. Just because a Pokemon attacked you before it doesn't mean you shouldn't take the ones you want." He didn't want his Pokemon to be afraid of anything. Carefully the Pokemon picked up a leaf that had landed leaning on a tree and scuttled back over to his trainer. Holding the leaf out Garrus took it gently so that he wouldn't break it. "Thank you, its a very nice leaf."

POKEMON: WORDS: 310 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Dracken]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

Gotta Catch Em All

Shelmet pokemon

Male gender

Shell Armor ability

Body Slam		Acid Armor
Struggle Bug		Leech Life

^{CODED BY LYRO}

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

Luckily for the pair of them this time there wasn't anything hiding under a leaf, instead something came marching down the tiny path they were walking almost like a little soldier. It fit considering it seemed to be wearing a suit of armor. Cole paused from his gathering, looking at the other bug type and then back at Garrus. It was easy to see he was questioning whether or not they were going to fight this Pokemon as well and with a small nod towards him. "We can battle this one too." Hearing the word battle the Shelmet seemed to straighten up even further. If these intruders wanted to battle then he wasn't going to hold back. It was his duty to guard the road and while he had been willing to let these intruders pass without incident hearing that they intended to fight meant that he couldn't simply let them go. "Since he doesn't have the jump on us this time set up the battle properly, start with Sand Attack. Follow it with a damaging move." Digging his claws into the earth Cole flung the loosened sand and dirt at the other bug type in an attempt to catch it off guard. It worked well enough but instead of going for an immediate attack Cole used Dig while the other Pokemon was desperately attempting to blink the dirt out of his eyes. It was a good strategy but unnecessary right now. Garrus bit his lip and watched as his Pokemon tried it. Sure they needed to train the right way but his Nincada's willingness to hide instead of go in for an all out attack could cost them precious seconds in a real gym battle, something he didn't want to happen. The Shelmet wasn't just going to sit and take it though, raising its defenses with an Acid Armor it waited for Cole to pop up out of the ground and when he did he was met with a harder resistance than he expected. "Cole that's why I said to use a damaging attack, you used too much time and they raised their defenses." Not only did the resistance shake his claws but it also shook Cole's confidence slightly. The attack had worked as intended in the last battle so he figured that it would work this time. Still stunned he took the Shelmet's attack head on, the Body Slam knocking him back into the hole he had come out of. "Cole! Come on get up. Dig and then attack." Desperately he hoped that the nincada hadn't managed to get paralyzed from the attack. He didn't want to have to dig the bug out of the ground with his bare hands but if he did have to... Well it would probably mean it was break time for Cole for awhile. It was quiet for a moment too long when Garrus started to walk towards the hole. Only to be surprised whenever the earth started to shift and out of it came Cole, claws shining as he tried to land a Metal Claw on the unsuspecting Pokemon. So sure that he'd won he hadn't been counting on the Nincada to come back with another attack. It wasn't enough to take him out but it was enough to stun him so that Cole could come in with another Metal Claw, pushing the Pokemon into the hole that he'd dug and because of the size difference causing it to be trapped. "Good work, keep it up. A couple more hits and we'll have this okay?" He didn't want Cole to get out of hand with his battling like he'd almost done last time so keeping a close eye on him was necessary. With False Swipe and a Metal Claw hitting once more it pushed the Shelmet further into the hole. If this kept up it would be pushed in and unable to get out. "Enough. You've beaten him." Picking up the Nincada he pulled out a Pokeball and tapped the Shelmet. He wasn't going to try and dig him out of the hole he'd been pushed into and he didn't want to leave him there to try and do it himself. So he'd take him along. Another bug for the gym was just what he needed. Though since Shelmet wasn't a dual type he'd have to be careful using him.

POKEMON: WORDS: 730 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Hanelli]

. . . !
Congratulations, Shelmet was caught!
One Pokeball must be removed from your inventory!

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

It was successful luckily enough and he felt a bit more confident it Cole's ability to contain himself after they finished the battling. He'd calmed down a lot quicker and didn't devour the small treat that Garrus held out for him as rapidly this time. Not wanting someone else to fall into the holes that they'd dug since they'd gotten a bit on the large side after continued use he pushed the dirt back where it belonged with his foot. It didn't fill them in completely but at least if someone stepped on it they wouldn't break an ankle. At least he hoped they wouldn't. Getting lost with a broken ankle would be a very shitty thing. "Alright, lets keep moving..." He'd managed to catch two Pokemon so far but his team could always grow. He needed to be able to counter anything an opponent would throw at him and since bug types had so many weaknesses that was so hard to do. His initial team helped but there were so many things that needed to be done. Picking Cole up the bug crawled up his arm and tucked next to his neck. It was nice to have a ride as they walked through and attempted to find other Pokemon for him to fight. He didn't really enjoy the battling much but it was something to do. Especially whenever they attacked him first. "Once we get back we should be able to put the new plants in... Then we won't have to worry about the pond getting scummy or anything." Cole liked to help work with the plants, even if they were the ones that were going in the water he could at least help take them out of the container instead of actually sticking them in the ground himself. He had to be gentle though, his claws could ruin them easily if he didn't remember to be very gentle and that always made him sad.

POKEMON: WORDS: 330 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Sylvie]

A GREEN ARACHNID HAS APPEARED!

Still not radioactive though.

SPINARAK pokemon

FEMALE gender

INSOMNIA ability

POISON JAB		AGILITY
PSYCHIC		STRING SHOT

^{CODED BY LYRO}

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

Garrus almost didn't notice the gentle change in weight on his head as something landed on it. He also almost didn't notice the fact that something was trying to burrow and push past the hair on top of his head in an attempt to make some sort of nest. At least that's what he assumed the Pokemon that had decided to hitch a ride was doing. Not wanting to startle whatever it was into biting him he stopped walking and gently brushed a hand through his hair lightly and felt a couple spindly legs attach themselves to it. At least he hadn't been bitten yet. From the feel of the legs he was at least dealing with another bug type. They wrapped around him gently and he lowered his hand to check it out. A small hissing noise came from the green arachnid. "It's alright, we're not going to bother you." What was it with bug types and his hair? It seemed as though it was some sort of magnet for them. Maybe it was the thickness or the sort of shampoo he used.  Cole took this moment to look up at the bug his trainer was holding, confused as to why they weren't battling. After all that's why they were out here right? Clicking slightly he tried to get the attention of his trainer to put the other bug down so that they could fight. "We aren't fighting right now Cole." Sure it seemed like the other bug type was a little on the vicious side for the moment but he wasn't going to try and force it to fight while he was holding it in his hands. The last thing he needed was to be bitten by the poisonous bug. The nincada didn't really understand though and instead started to climb up his trainer's pants leg to get a better look at the tiny hissing bug in his hands. Garrus didn't want the nincada attacking the small bug right now, if at all. The main point of this wasn't to destroy everything they saw. Cole needed to learn restraint too. A pokemon couldn't just go wildly attacking everything they saw once they finally came out of their shells to start battling at all. So therefore he tried to keep an eye on both of the Pokemon, the one that had finally managed to climb its way up his leg and onto his arm and the one that was working its way up his other to explore the strange territory that she suddenly found herself in. "Cole, don't attack her." The spider finally seemed as though she was somewhat calmed and instead of biting and hissing she was simply exploring. He could feel the nincada tensing and then relaxing over and over as it watched the other bug move about, only to finally relax once she seemed to burrow down into his jacket. Garrus wasn't completely sure what was going on but it seemed like Cole was learning when it was appropriate to attack and when it was appropriate to hold off. He was lucky that his Pokemon seemed to be picking these things up relatively quickly. He wanted to be a good gym leader but that meant being able to communicate with his Pokemon and the Pokemon that would potentially join him. Helping the Spinarak to realize that they weren't a threat was progress towards both since he'd also been able to make sure that Cole didn't attack. He could tell that she wasn't sleeping, but instead waiting inside the folds of his jacket hood and watching to see what would happen next. So long as she didn't try and bite him again he was okay with her sitting there. After all he was out here to grab bug Pokemon and a Spinarak that was trained right could be devastating against the right team.  "I'm going to move around a bit. Don't bite me okay?" He shifted and felt both of the bugs dig their hooks into the jacket he was wearing as he wiggled the backpack off of his back. This was one of the reasons he wore such heavy jackets. It was almost as dangerous as a flying type trainer not wearing heavy gloves when dealing with larger birds. Only his Pokemon were potentially poisonous making them even more dangerous. Not that his Pokemon would hurt him intentionally. But there were always accidents and adding wild Pokemon onto that just made it even more dangerous. He pulled a Pokeball out of the bag and carefully reached back and scooped the Spinarak out from under his hood. "You're alright... Don't squirm or anything. You'll like it back at the gym." He made sure to keep moving slowly so that he wouldn't startle either Pokemon as he brought the Spinarak and Pokeball together. Gently, he tapped the green bug with the red and white sphere in an attempt to capture it. He really hoped that this didn't piss the bug off or anything. If it did he might actually have to fight it in order to capture it and that would potentially hurt the progress that Cole had made so far.

POKEMON: WORDS: 860 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Hanelli]

. . . !
Congratulations, Spinarak was caught!
One Pokeball must be removed from your inventory!

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

A decent catch and one that showed Cole that not all of the Pokemon they met were appropriate to fight. The lesson probably hadn't completely sunk in since they had just done it the once but there was always the chance that they would come along another Pokemon. After all they'd had some pretty good luck so far. "See, that was easy wasn't it? Being nice pays off too." Cole curled against his neck, resting his legs after skittering around so much on the forest floor. It was good to see that he was enjoying himself though. He was worried that training him alone wouldn't work very well but so far there were only minor hitches. He'd have to figure out who he was going to pair the bug off with in gym matches because everything was a double battle. "I'm sure you'll work great with anyone I pair you with..."  It was starting to get a bit on the late side though and he didn't want to miss picking up his plants. He'd head back after one more battle or after they found one more Pokemon. After all he had to walk back anyways. Humming quietly to himself he brushed off his hands and started to walk the way he came. Spending so much time in his gym gave him a pretty decent sense of direction whenever it came to finding his way back to where he started. He didn't even have to look at the bee markings on the walls anymore and while there were no markings here for him to follow he just had to look where he'd broken down the grass and moved branches in order to get through. A small path was all it took to make sure he could get back to town.

POKEMON: WORDS: 300 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. deltra of gangnam style

[Deleted]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

Gotta Catch Em All

Karrablast pokemon

Female gender

Shed Skin ability

Bug Buzz		Peck
Scary Face		Headbutt

^{CODED BY LYRO}

[Garrus Gregor]

bittersweet.

Unfortunately for the pair traveling through the woods they didn't have too much of a respite. The sound of small feet running after them and then the sharp sensation of something hitting his leg caused it to buckle some. The Karrablast that had been following them ever since they caught the Shelmet was slightly out of breath but pleased with the fact that it had managed to wound the human who had taken her friend. She wasn't about to let him get away with just snatching Shelmet up while he was out patrolling the area like he did every day. If only she had gone with him instead of staying behind to make sure that everything in their nest was well taken care of. Garrus could already feel the bruising from the impact and wondered if anything was seriously damaged. Taking any kind of attack from a wild Pokemon was dangerous for a human to do even if it was just a small bug type. He didn't have to tell Cole that this was not a time for peaceful resolution. Instead the nincada jumped from his trainer's shoulder and onto the ground. His claw already raised he ran at the other bug type with his Metal Claw attack primed. Knowing that the trainer must have had a very powerful Pokemon in order to defeat her friend Shelment she jumped back and dodged the Metal Claw. She didn't have much in the way of defense just yet but that would all change when she finally evolved. Not that it was going to happen without her friend. They'd promised each other that they would evolve together and now she had to rescue him from this human in order for that to happen. Barely trusting Cole to handle the battle on his own Garrus sat down on the ground and attempted to survey the damage done on his leg. Cole wasn't pleased that the Karrablast had managed to dodge his attack, that much was obvious by the angered hissing sound the bug let out. He didn't have a mean streak per say but he did know that this bug had hurt his trainer and without Garrus he wouldn't be much more than fodder for new trainers to battle so that their own Pokemon could get stronger. Such was the fate of bug Pokemon like him. Kicking up his feet he tried to block the other bug's sight with Sand Attack. After all if she couldn't see him coming then she couldn't dodge out of the way. Quickly she tired to wipe the sand out of her eyes so that she could continue to dodge and move out of the way. Digging into the ground he tried to get closer without being seen. Just in case she did manage to knock some of the dirt from her eyes well enough to be able to tell where he was. Quickly Karrablast looked around, knowing that the other Pokemon was probably underneath her since she could see the hole in the ground. Maybe if she kept moving... It looked stupid but she quickly began to run around in circles. If the Nincada couldn't tell where she was then he probably couldn't hit her! Unfortunately though that wasn't quiet the case. Cole popped up out of the ground in front of her, claws raised and hitting the surprised insect with a Metal Claw attack. This one came in contact, knocking her backwards and causing her head to spin. Not waiting for her to recover from her stupor he rushed forward again, this time with a False Swipe. It wouldn't take her out completely. In fact it would at least leave her conscious but he was mainly hoping to disable her enough so that his trainer could catch her. Garrus knew that it was dangerous to leave a Pokemon like this out in the wild on a trail that humans commonly walked. If it came across a child or something then they could get hurt. With a grunt he pulled out a Pokeball and stood back up, tossing it at the Karrablast and hoping that it stayed inside. He wanted to get back and have his leg looked at as soon as possible. Maybe he would have Maab carry him if it got too bad...

POKEMON: WORDS: 715 TAGGED: MOD bonding with cole training cole. tossed a pokeball at karrablast. deltra of gangnam style