She doesn't have much time, so a bird's-eye view is exactly what she needs to make every second count.

From a Pokéball, the enormous serpentine body of her Dragonair emerges in an elegant slithering motion, his sapphire scales shimmering as brilliant as ever. Orm looks as majestic as he always has, and now, right beneath the orb that marks his neck, behind where his shoulders would be if he had any limbs, the adorned straps of a saddle wrap around his body.

She pats the dragon's side, a gloved hand sliding down smooth scales until reaching the pommel of the saddle. She holds it firmly, pulling herself onto Orm's back with ease. Close to the ground as he is, the saddle isn't nearly as tall as it would be on the horses Mars is used to, and there's no need for stirrups or anything. They don't stay close to the ground for long, though.

<'Ready?'>

Tuesday can feel every motion: the movement of the serpentine dragon's muscles and even the way his chest cavity lightly expands with every breath. At this, she smirks.

"Fuck yeah."

That's all the dragon needs to hear to take to the skies, or rather... to rise right off the ground, leaving the soft grass of the Steppes a few metres behind — just high enough to get a better view. Is he... floating? Hovering? Levitating? Tuesday is not sure what to call it just yet, but it does the trick just fine.

Flames shoot up, but by that point both Tuesday and the Dragonair she rides are no longer paying attention to the Ponyta that furiously runs right below them. Still, somehow, the smallest of sparks manages to reach a single one of Orm's scales, causing a reaction from the dragon himself...

<'...Did you feel something?'>

"Hm? Nope."

It's not much of a reaction, but a reaction it is indeed, all while Tuesday herself is too preoccupied with using her hand to shield her gaze from the sunlight, mismatched eyes scanning the rolling hills below them. A bird's-eye view had been the right call, this is so much easier when not having to walk.

This hadn't been the plan. Granted, spending time in the Surging Steppes had been nowhere in his plans for the day, much less spending that time running away from an angry dragon, but of course, Fern had wanted to do something fun, and maybe it's that adorable Vulpix face or the fact that he reminds Muin of one disarmingly handsome and dangerously excitable Kindler, but he had easily managed to convince Muin to come here.

They could have ran into any other Pokémon.

What are the odds of them ending up in this situation?!

Such are the questions the Gardener asks himself while the Vulpix rushes towards the dragon, a disheartened sigh escaping him while fingers reach to pinch the bridge of his nose.

One... Two... Three...

<'Uhmm... Muin... I don't think my EMBERS are doing much here..'>

Ah, yes, there it is.

"Of course not, Duraludon are not weak to fire."

<'What?! But it's made of STEEL!'>

Oh, sweet Fern.

Muin had half expected to have to grab his Vulpix and run away from the Duraludon, or worse... for Fern to quickly white out and end up having to carry him all the way to one of the distant shrines (according to r/UNOVR, apparently the one in the Steppes has mysteriously disappeared), but their saving grace comes in the form of rain and a question spoken from above.

Now, he has never been much for asking for help (or for interacting with people in general), but under these circumstances... having someone else jump in to deal with this angry dragon would honestly be pretty nice. And so, while Fern fruitlessly attempts to harm the Duraludon, Muin cups his hands over his mouth and replies:

"Sure!...If you don't mind."

She's like a wild creature. Muin isn't sure if he should be more impressed or worried, so instead he settles for just standing there and watching the show, blinking as if to make sure he isn't imagining this. He's not.

Had this person just... Jumped on a Duraludon's back and stabbed it with a spear?!

This is not the latest Monster Hunter VR game!

What happened to respecting the sanctity of the Pokémon franchise?! Tradition! This is supposed to be Pokémon fighting Pokémon, not people fighting Pokémon! Sure, UNOVR has trainer subclasses like Armorer and Black Belt, but—

<'Muin! Get out of the way!'>

"Oh, hell—"

The Duraludon uses a ROCK SMASH in a desperate attempt to break free, sending debris flying all over the place and almost hitting Muin. He barely avoids it thanks to the warning from Fern, who steps between him and the dragon and shoots out flames.

But, it's Fern who is hit by the debris, being knocked out cold in a matter of seconds despite the fact that the Duraludon isn't in great shape either.

"Fern...!"

"He will be alright." Muin reminds himself. "I just need to take him to a shrine, it's not like I lost him forever or anything."

Taking a breath, the Vulpix is called back, his attention then returning to the duo of catgirl and dragon. As per usual, he speaks with formality and impeccable diction:

"It would seem the final blow is yours."

Just like that, the not-so-dragon-looking dragon falls, and Tuesday attempts to catch it as if that had been her intention all along. It probably had. Muin would like to think so, at least — it's hard to believe that there's a lot of Good Samaritans in a game like this.

However, even though Tuesday throws her golden pokéball and even though everything points to a capture, the Duraludon remains, as if she had never caught it at all. Why? Well... Muin might just know. He had read about it in the forums: apparently, there's a feature in the game (a.k.a likely a glitch that the developers refuse to fix) where a copy of a wild Pokémon will be available for a second person to catch after the original has been caught. It's kind of common knowledge, but you know... Muin isn't exactly the kind of guy who usually goes around catching Pokémon with other people.

That's why the following question is asked out of courtesy alone:

"...Do you mind?"

It's not like Tuesday can catch this copy anyway, so...