And-

And nothing was jumping out at him. Adrien kicked around for a good five or ten minutes, but no matter what he did, nothing seemed to be appearing. To be certain, he could hear the sounds of bird Pokemon in the distance, even see them drifting along high on the thermals up in the sky, and there was the occasional rustle from the grass, but when he actually shifted to strike out in that direction, nothing would happen. There was no wild Pokemon. No sounds of something stirring, no flashes of color across the bright green - not even the yelp of his Totodile where the little guy was padding behind him.

Sighing loudly, he came to a stop, tipping his hips to one side and planting a hand on the cocked out one, tail swaying behind him with an impatient jingling as he regarded his starter with an unimpressed look. "C'mon, Exo," he called, watching as the little crocodile struggled with the grass, not having the same height advantage that his new Trainer did. "Let's get out of here, if nothing's going to actually happen already."

Exochomper 150/150 HP

Exochomper's blast went wide, only catching the edge of the Ponyta's mane. To be fair, that was actually a bit of an impressive feat, what with the distance between the two Pokemon and how the Totodile was still freeing himself from the grass, but it wasn't exactly a good sign. Not if Adrien actually wanted to stand a chance of catching the thing!

"Again!" he commanded, and the Totodile obediently spewed out another burst of water, hoping to catch the Ponyta a little more squarely this time.

Exochomper 113/150 HP

Closing the distance really had helped Exochomper start to level the playing field - the Totodile's water gun splashed directly across the Ponyta's side, where it had the best chance of spreading up and putting out more of the Pokemon's flames. It cried out again before shooting out a blast of its own, pure fire that both Trainer and Pokemon had to hurry to try to avoid. The Totodile yelped when a strand of burning grass happened to catch him across the muzzle, pawing at himself frantically from the burn.

But it was exactly the kind of motivation the little Water-type needed. "Try a Leer, and then get in close with a Tackle!" Adrien shouted, but the Totodile was already ahead of him, his eyes gleaming as he rushed in to close the distance again.

Exochomper 65/150 HP

And that was. Just about as useless. His ears flattened as he lingered over Exochomper's health bar in his UI. This made no sense.

Ignoring the spectacle of the Ponyta crying out and stomping around his Totodile for the moment - or at least, trying his best to, the player wincing with each cry that went up from the dueling pair - before he flicked open his menus, trying to see if he had any other options.

But there was nothing. He could either attack or retreat - there weren't any other options. Pressing his lips together and cursing his luck, he knew there was only one thing he could do. "Exo, Bite it again!"

Exochomper 28/150 HP

Grumbling as he hit the button to warp back, Adrien was honestly surprised when, almost immediately upon the colors resolving around him alongside the sound of birdsong, he found himself bowled off his feet and onto the back of a Ponyta. Which-

Holy crap, was that the same bald spot Exochomper had made before? Golden eyes widened in the handful of moments before the Ponya bucked him off with a whinny. "Oof! he grunted as he landed on the ground, wincing, before he sat up, rubbing at the spot just above his tail.

So the Ponyta hadn't despawned, huh? That was...

Honestly, you know what, he'd take it. "Exo, let's Water Gun this sucker down to size!" he commanded, his mood lifting at the second chance they'd gotten at this.

Exochomper 150/150 HP