[indent] [/indent][h3][hr][color=palevioletred]Eryn Montero[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]Route 2 || Sunset[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent] The surprise of seeing a blue, red-ridged Pokemon take a chunk out of a rowboat was quickly replaced by unfiltered delight, courtesy of her brain putting two and two together. [color=palevioletred]“Praise Arceus, of course!”[/color] Eryn slapped her forehead. [color=palevioletred]“The blue reptile’s a Totodile! Why didn’t I think of that?”[/color] As if the Totodile had heard Eryn, it met her eyes, and Eryn froze, thoughts whirling. A water-type—not Dei, then. But Kylie didn’t have an advantage either, and since the Totodile was a water-type, it could easily retreat back into the water if it wanted. But, luckily, not right now, since it was stuck in the sinking— [color=palevioletred]“Ah! It’s sinking!”[/color] Bursting into a sprint, Eryn ran towards the boat, gripping onto the bridge supports as she reached for the boat. Whether or not her shorts got wet was hardly important considering that the Totodile was, in fact, literally stuck in a sinking ship. And, using what forearm strength she had—combined with the tremendously underwhelming leverage her feet offered as they sank into the muddy river bank—she was barely able to keep herself from sliding in after the sinking boat. [color=palevioletred]“Oh no you don’t!”[/color] Gritting her teeth, Eryn redoubled her efforts, digging her feet into the riverbank. Mud be damned, she wasn’t about to let a Pokemon drown. A tug on her shirt prompted her to look back, and she saw Kylie bravely clutching onto the hem of her shirt, and Dei clinging onto the tip of Kylie’s jaws back on the drier portion of the riverbank. “Maw!” Kylie said, tugging valiantly. On the bank, Dei gave a growl just as Eryn felt the boat shift just a bit towards her. [color=palevioletred]“Yes! It’s moving!”[/color] The slight budge of the boat was all the encouragement Eryn needed, and the rest of the tug—though tiring—was relatively quick. Soon enough, the trio had manage to beach the vessel, and Eryn collapsed back onto the riverbank with relief. [color=palevioletred]“Oh my, that’s enough arms for one day,”[/color] she said, panting. Beside her, Kylie was panting as well, as was Dei a bit above her on the riverbank. [color=palevioletred]“Good job—[i]hah[/i]—both of you—[i]hah[/i]—thinking on—[i]hah[/i]—your feet.”[/color] After a moment more of rest, Eryn sat up, breathing deeply as she took in the stuck Totodile. It was still her first day of training, but she’d already gotten two Pokemon under her belt and now had a chance at a third. Did she want to take it? A water-type was, of course, a vital and missing component of her team, considering that Dei was weak to water-types and would therefore be unable to traverse many wet terrains water-types might be able to. In fact, wet terrain itself was a testament to the necessity of water-types, since the majority of Pokemon would be unable to traverse across open water. That said, was a Totodile what Eryn was looking for in a water-type? Sure she’d admired the battle prowess of Feraligatr so often portrayed in media, but she already had two sets of sharp fangs on her team. Although a third nibbler would fit right in, she was uncertain about the prospect of getting so many Pokemon in one day. Was she going to be one of those trainers who winded up catching everything they saw, stowing Pokemon away digital boxes instead of training them like they’d originally planned to do? This, however, might naturally resolve itself when she had a full team. Where she currently needed a water-type, in the future—should she catch this Totodile—she wouldn’t have the need and thus wouldn’t be immediately drawn to thinking about catching a water-type. When she had a full roster, she’d be focused on training the Pokemon she had rather than catching new Pokemon, wouldn’t she? Eryn exhaled, blinking as the Totodile did. Maybe she was overthinking it. Maybe there was an easier way to resolve the dilemma at hand: ask the Totodile. But, to do that, she’d have to get him free first. Sure she’d be giving up a possible advantage in freeing the water-type, but she couldn’t imagine a universe in which she’d want to set her Pokemon like that on a Pokemon she was hoping to capture. She wanted Pokemon willing to fight by her side, not Pokemon forced to obey her command. Considering catching the stuck Totodile, though, had reminded her of another way to free the water-type: If she threw a Pokeball at it, the Pokeball would wrap it up and—by doing so—free the Totodile when it released it. After all, Pokeballs tended to release Pokemon somewhere they’d feel comfortable on their feet. This, however, meant that she’d be throwing a Pokeball at a defenseless Pokemon—something she definitely didn’t want to be doing, since the chances of her catching a Pokemon in that case were so close to zilch she might as well just throw a Pokeball against the ground. Plus, there was the added downside of violating the Totodile’s trust, since she didn’t want to be wrapping the water-type into a Pokeball when she didn’t even know if it wanted to be caught. But, if she informed the Totodile of her plan, then maybe it’d be able to give her pointers on how it wanted to proceed. [color=palevioletred]“Alright, Totodile. Two options,”[/color] Eryn said, getting on her feet. [color=palevioletred]“One, I try and wedge you free. I don’t like that option because that boat is sharp and I don’t want to risk hurting you on the splinters.”[/color] Now that she was closer, she could see the splinters in the cracked wood, and she was liking that plan even less. Though the Totodile had natural defenses in its scales, why take the risk at all if it were avoidable? [color=palevioletred]“The second is that I throw a Pokeball at you because—[i]because[/i]—the Pokeball will wrap you up and deposit you somewhere else when you get out. This way, you won’t get hurt, and I won’t touch you.”[/color] Eryn bit her lip. [color=palevioletred]“And you probably won’t get caught if you don’t want to. So, blink once if you want me to try to pry you free, and blink twice if you want me to use a Pokeball.”[/color] Eryn watched with some trepidation. Was it wrong of her to hope the Totodile chose the second method? She didn’t have ulterior motives—not really—but at the same time she could only admit that she’d be keeping her fingers crossed if the Totodile did go into a Pokeball. [hider=Notes]If the Totodile blinks twice, you can assume Eryn will toss a Pokeball at it. If the Totodile blinks once, I’ll take over and write out another long thought monologue.[/hider] [indent] [/indent][hr][hider=Pokemon][u][b][color=palevioletred] Pokemon Party: [/color][/b][/u] [hider=Dei — Charmander][h3]Dei[/h3][hr][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/charmander.gif[/img] [hr][sup][color=silver]Charmander [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Level 8 [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] ♂ [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Blaze[/color][/sup] [indent]100% [list][*]Physical — Scratch [*]Status — Growl [*]Special — Ember [/list][/indent][h3] [/h3][/hider] [hider=Kyllene — Mawile][h3]Kyllene / “Kylie”[/h3][hr][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/mawile.gif[/img] [hr][sup][color=silver]Mawile [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Level 8 [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] ♀ [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Hyper Cutter[/color][/sup] [indent]100% [list][*]Physical — Astonish [*]Status — Taunt, Growl, Fake Tears [*]Special — Fairy Wind [/list]Holding: [b]Occa Berry[/b][/indent][h3] [/h3][/hider] [h3] [/h3][/hider] [hider=Inventory][u][b][color=palevioletred] Inventory: [/color][/b][/u] Pokédollars — 3500 [list][*]Potion — 1 [*]Pokeballs — 5 [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider] [@PlatinumSkink]