Tracking License: Catching Tinkumise

Kavi sighed, pushing back his hair as he walked through the tall grass. He held his elbows high, making sure they didn't drag as he scanned his surroundings, but he was mostly lost in thought.

The Fog had brought calamity to the region. Entire cities had been cut off from each other, people had died. A lot of people had died. More yet were displaced from their homes, losing precious belongings. Families had been separated, and many were yet to find their loved ones in the wake of it all, especially with so many covert operations being run by Teams Ethic and Cynic. Crime had surged massively in the aftermath, with people braving empty homes lost to fog while preventative measures were being staged.

And somehow, in all of this, Kavi had lost his tracking license.

He'd had one from the day he'd turned of age, getting his provisional license on the same day as Echo, despite the fact that their birthdays had been split by a midnight turnover ringing in the New Year. "I can wait a year," she'd joked. "For my little sib." They'd both passed their testing and both gotten certified, then got all their gym badges, then updated their licenses when they turned 18. They'd traveled to other regions, gotten licensed to work with ride Pokemon and more... and now he couldn't even help with the Pokemon the fog were mutating.

It had been months of business, and of assuming he'd find it sometime. But now? Now it was definitely time to go.

He needed SO much wool, and the only way to get as much as he needed without paying a king's ransom was... to grin and bear it.

Besides, it wasn't as if his old team was with him anymore. He'd lost them when he'd lost contact with the rest of his family. His only hope was that they'd managed to take his precious Pokemon with them wherever they went. And that they were all safe.

He turned as he heard furious buzzing heading in his direction.

-~-

Sizzle startled as she felt her Pokeball shift from storage to battle mode. Something about it always did, alerting her in time to be fully at the ready when she was called out. And Kavi never played around with releasing her-- if he touched the button on her ball, he was going to give her outies.

It was quite the surprise, then, for her to see a wild Pokemon. She hissed, scrambling to move between it and Kavi without so much as a word from him, then turned her head just enough to make sure that nothing would try to get him from behind her while she focused on her opponent.

When Kavi opened with an "All right, let's try using a Flamethrower, girl!" Sizzle couldn't help but glow with excitement. She'd lost her ability to use fire type moves until all-too-recently, and letting loose with a flame was nothing short of incredible! She aimed towards the shiny bug and let out an intense stream of flame, connecting immediately.

The tinkumise made a pained noise, before retreating somewhat on the field and immediately eating a berry. It had clearly been badly injured, but this!!!-- she couldn't help but hiss-- this felt like cheating!

She crouched defensively as she waited for a return move, but instead, the pink bug only sparkled, rejuvenating itself further.

"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" Kavi said. She was soothed a little to feel his irritation-- he had the sense to be insulted, just like her. She perked up in anticipation of his command.

"Change up! Go with a Will-o-Wisp!" ...dissapointing, but sometimes, the Trainer did seem to know best. She spat one out, watching as it floated idly towards the bug, hitting it squarely after it tried to loop around it in a dodge.

That, at least, was satisfying. When the bug returned with a slashing attack, she dodged, missing its claws so scarcely that she felt the air ripple across her chest.

"Great dodge!" her trainer praised her. "Now let's use Smog!"

She lunged forward as she released a foul smoke into the air, gleefully shriek-hissing at the instruction. [i]Yes[/i], this was what he wanted! He was going to have her make the bug [i]suffer[/i]. She dodged again, but this time not far enough, with claws making contact on her. It wasn't enough to phase her, though. She jumped back between her trainer and the opponent, and settled into her rhythm.

They traded another smog and scratch, and then another. The bug was barely able to stay in flight. She turned back towards her trainer, ready for the word on a killing move... and instead, found Kavi readying a ball.

She hissed in confusion as he held it out, expecting it to recall her, but found him, instead, to be throwing the thing at the bug. She watched as it was caught in its confines, turning to look at Kavi with her best bruised expression. This! Was! A betrayal!!

The ball wiggled, and wiggled again, and stopped shaking. The ball lit up, and Kavi pumped his fist. "Great! Good girl, you did SO well!" She stood there sullenly as he surged forward, but she couldn't couldn't help herself. When he pet her, she let him, chattering reproachfully to let him know her opinion of how this battle had gone.

"I know, I know. But you did so good. Thank you, sweet girl."

Maybe, just maybe, if he continued to praise her like this, he could pay her back.

In time.