[ti]spawn[/ti][S][SPAWN] The Fox and the Hound

Josh squeezed Raiden's sides, the black and white horse accelerating and leaving Saber behind. Not one to be outdone, static built up in the wolf's four legs before Saber discharged it, sounding like crashing thunder as he whizzed past the galloping horse in a QUICK ATTACK unlike anything the scout had ever seen. He was already going at a good clip when the yellow and blue blur rocketed past, leaving him in awe of the speed one of his favorite electric-types was capable of. If he eventually was to saddle a Raikou, this would be a good stepping stone to build up to the vomit-inducing speed the electric legendary was capable of.

"Faster, Raiden! QUICK ATTACK!" Josh commanded. The glowing equine entered a sprint of his own, but even that was not enough to keep up with Saber. All of a sudden, combat gauges appeared on his HUD despite not being within the Tall Grass. Perhaps Saber had found something waiting in the weeds.

The HYPER VOICE was grating, but it didn't cause any harm. In fact, it... healed Josh's Pokémon some? He was not expecting the normal-type to patch them up with the sonic attack. "Wow, that's on theme," Josh mumbled to himself, his heart still racing from nearly being bucked off his electric horse. "That will be something to keep in mind. Might just stick around and let the next one heal me up if I find another."

What a neat little Easter egg!

As the Audino disappeared, Josh coaxed his Zebstrika onward... more gently this time. Though they were used to going fast, the Pokémon still didn't like his rider making sudden moves! Wouldn't want that happening in a race!

The scout checked as he let his Zebstrika wander along the weald's road, and indeed his PokéSpeech settings were on, but to a lowered setting. The setting was that only "special" Pokémon in his party could speak: his starter, starred "favorites", and other important ones. Dragging it all the way to the right would let all of his Pokémon speak, and given how much of a handful Alicia's squad was, he wasn't sure he could handle it... particularly if he ran into an ornery soul like Terry. He groaned at how difficult it would be breaking that Pokémon to the bridle after evolution.

Taking manual control again, Josh reined Raiden toward a larger field of Tall Grass, keeping an eye out for the fox Pokémon he was after. Where were all the shrines to Alola, anyway? The one Galarian one was in the Surge Steppes, which he needed to visit later to get a second healer on his squad. "The woods are getting a bit dense, Raiden. Let's pump the brakes a little," Josh said, loosening his hold slightly on the Zebstrika to get him to slow down.

Sitting just outside the Tall Grass, Josh looked at the crisscrossing silk tethers tangling up Raiden's legs. There were so many that the horse could barely run. "How to get this cleaned up..." the scout trailed off. The most obvious solution was to burn the silk away with Ares' fiery tail, but that would leave nasty burns if things got out of hand. Pazuzu's talons were to small to cut through them, and Xira's wing vibrations would dissolve not only the silk, but the skin beneath. He wondered what material the Yanmega's saddle was made of to feel comfortable, yet be able to withstand the strong vibrations it was capable of making with them.

Sighing, his best bet seemed to be with a combination of Ulysses and Ares, the Dewgong giving the horse a chilly shower once the flames got too close. He knew Raiden didn't like cold, but it was the best he had. "Ares, Ulysses, need a little help with cleanup here!" He released the two Pokémon, the Charmeleon looking more invested in the wild Pokémon in the Tall Grass. "Hey, Ares, can we get a hand with getting this String Shot off Raiden? Just need your tail is all."

The snippy fire-type rolled his eyes. "Had you used me instead of Raiden, this never would have happened."

The performing fairy-type became upset as its entire audience fell asleep. Hidden beneath the bottom of its microphone was a Sharpie-like marker. The furious wild drew circles, diamonds, hearts, and stars all over the Charmeleon, Dewgong, and their trainer. Getting all of that ink out of their skin would take multiple baths, and they were all helpless to even realize what was going on.

The Jigglypuff approached the sleeping Zebstrika, its anger reaching a fever pitch when it saw the black marker wouldn't be very visible on its skin. Taking its frustration out on the electric-type directly, it inflated to a large size before landing a coup-de-grace BODY SLAM upon Josh's motionless Pokémon.

By the time Josh woke up, the normal-type was long gone, the red notification of his Zebstrika fainting making his heart race. He started to shake his other two Pokémon awake, but to no avail.

Already drowsy from the Jigglypuff's lullaby, the spore cloud threw Josh into such a deep sleep that the game had marked Josh and his Pokémon as AFK. At the time Josh and Ares had awoken, he was greeted with a flurry of Pokémon knockout messages; the other wilds of the Birchwild Grove had incapacitated both Ulysses and Pazuzu, as well as left the fire-type with some nasty scrapes. Furthermore many in-game hours had passed; the sun was starting to set. Just how long had he been out for, and how long had he been logged in?

With every one of his steeds incapacitated, it was tempting to abandon the hunt for the Vulpix, visit the nearest Shrine, and log out for the day. He wasn't quite ready to give up yet, and neither was Ares. "We're not leaving without your Vulpix in a Poké Ball," the Charmeleon huffed, only to get a yawn from Josh.

He was out of it.

With every battle victory, Josh and his team's experience point count rose, and his wallet of BYTES filled ever closer to his target to unlock features he had been chomping at the bit to since finding out about the Identity Parlor's existence. He wasn't too happy about going against the Charmeleon's wishes, but he felt he had little choice.

"Ares, I think we should change course for the Noonlight Shrine, just to get everyone back on their feet," Josh suggested.

"Now that's more like it!" the Charmeleon replied, hearing his trainer make a wise decision giving him a second wind.

"We don't have to retreat completely. If we run into the Vulpix on the way, great. If not, we'll be ready for it once it shows up."

Ares turned toward Josh and gave him a pat on the arm. "Now you're learning. You're working smarter, not harder. And that's the ticket to being a successful trainer." The master Kindler embraced his Charmeleon before Josh marked his destination as the Noonlight Shrine. A marker appeared on his mini-map, and the two followed it. It was quite the walk without a ride Pokémon, realizing just how much he relied on them for travel.