Safari Contest [Caverns] (Time extended)

[Darksol88]

In an utter refusal to just give up, Sol decided to go back in to find something, anything. At this rate, he'd even be fine with the lowly Spinarak he encountered twice.  

[Darksol88]

What Sol would run into, however, wouldn't be the constant group he had a tendency of running into as he wandered in circles. One of his feet would end up stuck in a small hole, barely stopping himself from tripping over it. A glance down revealed what the case was as he quickly got his foot back out, and not a second too soon either. A pair of pincers followed his foot through the hole, only to retract back inside relative safety.

"Is that...? Trapinch," he spoke up, sending out the antlion, "burrow into the ground. I've a feeling as to what's around here." It wouldn't take long before the Pokemon burrowed and made a new hole, only to find himself digging into an already existing tunnel. Despite the darkness, Trapinch could see enough to tell something was there and tried to attack it from behind. Before anything of the sort could be done, however, the two would end up clashing for a bit, jaw against pincer.

A few moments would pass before Trapinch would come out of one of the holes, opting to get away while he could. As soon as he did, though, a Durant would come out too, trying everything to rid itself of its newfound foe.

"So I was right," Sol mused, seeing that this could be a decent find. He already had an idea in mind as he readied one of the Safari Balls. "Trapinch, hold your ground and go back in!"

Still running from the Durant, Trapinch retreated into a hole again, only to be given chase. He'd only manage to take an Iron Head from behind, the tunnel's close quarters allowing Durant the perfect chance to land a hit. Trapinch would soon careen through the tunnel, sliding to a stop and starting to dig downward for safety. He could hear as the bug drew closer and closer, turning around and opening his jaws as wide as possible.

Durant's desire to rush headlong at its assailant ended up causing it to fall down the new, small chasm... and into a harsh Crunch attack, though it didn't seem to do much with the bug's hard exoskeleton. If anything, Trapinch's jaws now hurt from the effort, but instead of trying to get rid of it, he tried to start climbing up and clamped his jaws down as hard as he could. This ended up being less than ideal, as Durant's pincers had easy access to its foe's tongue and forced its way back out by hitting such a weak spot. It soon gained the upper hand, using Vice Grip to keep itself clamped down on Trapinch as it started to be flung about violently in an effort to get it off his tongue.

Getting fed up and desperate, Trapinch eventually tried a last ditch effort to get Durant off. Energy welled up inside Trapinch's mouth, the tunnels suddenly growing brighter by the second before a powerful Hyper Beam was fired. Durant found itself being thrown along with the attack, going through the earth at a rapid pace before finally being thrust out to make a third hole, nearly hitting the cave's ceiling before finally straying from the blast itself and starting towards the ground.

"Strange, I don't recall Trapinch showing off something like that before now," Sol commented, quickly chucking a ball to try and catch Durant before it landed.  

[Darksol88]

Unfortunately, Sol wasn't as good of a shot as he hoped for, the Safari Ball missing Durant completely and rolling into one of the holes. "And apparently, I'm a poor shot," he remarked, immediately chucking a second Safari Ball as Durant struggled to get up.  

[Darksol88]

The second ball didn't miss, but Durant revealed that it actually had more fight in it than one might think. It caught the ball with its pincers and, in a prompt display of its Guillotine, effectively cleaved the ball outright. "I see you're more hardy than I thought... try to cleave this, then."

In a last ditch effort, Sol pulled a Dusk Ball out and hurled it at once, daring Durant to pull something with this one.  

[Darksol88]

Perhaps it was luck or being too fast with the last ball, but Durant wasn't able to catch it this time, instead being caught in the ball itself. Despite everything, it tried to fight its way out, the ball nearly ending up in another of the holes before it nudged away and came to a stop. Sol kept his guard up until the ball clicked, finally going over to pick it up.

"Wouldn't go down without a fight... probably would've gotten away too."

Careful to avoid the holes, he'd see Trapinch trying to climb back out. Quickly recalling him, he'd start back out of the cave again, this time with a bit of closure.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

When the second Safari ball entirely missed Duskull in the whorl of silver powder, Cadenza went to make one final attempt but stopped abruptly when Odd stirred. In the soft light cast by the Silver Wind, Odd drew from his pocket a ball he had forgotten he carried. A Dusk Ball he had been in possession of for quite some time.

Wait.

The single word was all it took for Cadenza to halt and he saw why only after Duskull escaped the wind and came after Cadenza with a Shadow Sneak. It had plenty of fight left and Cadenza was running low on tolerance. With a carefully timed Telekinesis, the opposing ghost was caught up in Cadenza's mental hold, the two staring one another-down, eye to eye. "Shed!" The Shedinja declared before sending a point-blank gust of Silver Wind into Duskull's face, launching it into the ceiling, where it bounced off and slowly floated down to the floor, it's single glowing eye cast to the ground in submission, knowing it had been bested at last.

Odd, sensing the change in Duskull's energy, pitched the Dusk Ball at it in an attempt to make the capture, this one's energy strong and showing true promise.  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Duskull was drawn into the ball and with a few lazy rocks, it clicked, the Ghost-type sealed within at last. "I hate using that ball for this, of all things...... But if I win, I think Duskull will be a good partner for our team." He thought again as he got up. "How long was I out?"

Long enough to almost lose. You're lucky I was your partner. I know what you like.

"So true....Though I kinda feel bad for not bringing A'Capella on this little venture." The channeler admitted to his partner's spiritual jibe as they made their way toward the exit.