Safari Contest [Damp Cavern] - (Open)

[Darksol88]

Deciding to try and keep her mind off of recent events, Amaranth took a moment to go to and explore the Damp Cavern. It didn't seem like the kind of place one would go to for a good time, but it got her out of the HQ for a bit, so it seemed like a worthwhile tradeoff to her.  

[Darksol88]

A Magby would be noticed in the distance shortly after she entered, appearing to mind its own business thankfully. Figuring it was best to just leave it be, Amaranth decided to start going deeper into the cave.  

[DragonYolk]

Dan entered the safari, a glint in his eye as he smirked. If there were Axew to be found here, he was definitely going to snag one! Well, not in the sense of stealing, just catching... Anyway, he head in further, deciding to bring his Shelgon along for assistance.  

[DragonYolk]

Their first encounter was with a Paras who bravely scuttled up to them. It looked pretty pissed off as it charged them with a raised claw. "Shelgon, Ember" Dan instructed, the sparks of fire stopping the insect in its tracks. It looked at the dragon in shock before trying to recover lost health but was again stopped by Ember. With the bug down, the duo continued on their way.  

[DragonYolk]

((Generating a number))  

[Darksol88]

It'd feel like no time had passed at all before Amaranth found herself at the edge of what appeared to be a small pool of water, a natural result of just how damp the cave could get. If anything, perhaps too damp, feeling more like it was beginning to rain. The fact that this was happening inside a cave was baffling to her, until she felt a sudden push against one of her feet. She'd move it just in time to notice a purplish goop and hear the sound of something squelching and sliding along the ground, looking down to finally see what the apparent source of it was. It wasn't something she could recall seeing before, but it didn't look like the kind of thing to disturb either. She was ready to turn and walk away when the weird goopy thing decided to turn as well.

"Goooom?"

She was even more baffled that it decided to greet her, as if people coming into the cave was a common occurrence. Or maybe it was used to people for one reason or another. She backed up a step out of shock, prompting the Goomy to do similar and give a dejected look as it melted into the ground slightly. Was it actually upset at her actions? Either way, it made things all the more awkward. Amaranth was more used to being attacked or somehow inciting a wild Pokemon's wrath than anything like this, and she wasn't sure if she should ask why it was acting like this for fear of that very thing happening.

Instead, she offered a small apology to the Goomy and went on her way. This worked for a while until she had to stop and rest, sitting on the ground for a moment and inadvertently giving the Pokemon enough time to catch up to her, offering its greeting again and looking up. Its eyes, solid as they looked, had an oddly hopeful glimmer to them that perhaps the person it followed had come around.

What it got instead was Amaranth scooting away, trying to figure out why this Pokemon was acting like a lost puppy. Maybe someone had released it in the past or something, but she had no way of telling unless she spoke up to it. Maybe it wanted her to go ahead and catch it, dreaming of a day outside of the cave. It seemed hopeful when he saw her take out a single ball, only to resume its dejected look when it was opened up to reveal a Woobat.

Surprisingly, though, an attack wasn't ordered as Amaranth stood up. "See what it's wanting, but be careful," she spoke up, wanting to keep her distance in case her boots wouldn't be the only thing covered in goop by the end of this. She wasn't interested in a battle if it wasn't needed, so she hoped this would be a fruitful endeavor, confused look from Woobat or not.

Still, the odd looking bat hovered over to the Goomy and moved down to its eye level before deciding to speak. The Goomy did seem friendly enough for what it was worth, striking up a conservation pretty quickly and the two chatting for a little while despite them having a hint of apprehension that one of them would attack the other at some point.

But through the conservation came a few revelations as Amaranth listened in on them. From what she could hear, the Goomy was both used to people and spending most of its life in the cave. The first thing it could remember seeing was the face of... someone, before being unceremoniously dropped off inside the cave with whatever pieces of an egg shell remained. How it wasn't hostile off the bat or now was nothing short of a miracle, if not a testament to the Goomy's hopes that it'd see that person again. As far as it was concerned, maybe they'd come back for it.

Suffice to say, Amaranth and her Woobat didn't have the heart to tell it that whoever it saw probably had no intentions of coming back. If anything, it made her want to consider catching it anyway, so she pulled out a Dusk Ball and prepared to throw it. At least, that was the intent before Goomy suddenly decided to "hug" Woobat the only way it knew how, startling the bat and making her unleash a Confusion attack to repel it before squeaking loudly in discontent.

While Goomy didn't seem too bothered by it, it figured this meant a call to arms and struck back with a sudden exhale of Dragon Breath in retaliation. Though Woobat would shake off the attack without too much trouble, she was having more trouble moving around from Goomy's earlier attempt at a hug and her wings being gooped up as a result.

Seeing this, Goomy stopped its assault as quickly as it had started, moving closer and trying to apologize. By now, though, Woobat wasn't having much of it, letting off another Confusion to keep Goomy at bay as well as she could. This kept up each time it tried to get close, taking hit after hit and refusing to back down. Even as Goomy was weakened, moving slower and slower each time and giving pained cries, it was determined to apologize for startling her. As the broken record continued to repeat the same scene, something different would finally happen as the Goomy tensed up and a shield of chi surrounded it. The Confusion would still hit, but the sudden Protect meant it'd do little to stop it this time.

By now, even Woobat was exhausted from trying so hard to keep the wild Pokemon away, surprised when Goomy simply stopped, offered its apologies, and turned to go back into the depths. It wouldn't get very far before Amaranth recalled her Woobat and spoke up, causing it to stop in its tracks.

"Sorry. You... can come. Just no hugs," she said, tossing the Dusk Ball still in her hands before Goomy had a chance to either escape or try and hug her out of sheer joy. Maybe not so much joy about the ball coming for it, though...  

[Darksol88]

Despite not being so crazy about the ball coming, Goomy didn't appear to fight it, letting itself be caught without much hassle at all. The whole series of events was still weird to Amaranth, slowly walking over to collect the ball before resuming her exploration. She doubted she'd let the Goomy go so easily lest she crushes the poor thing's hopes and dreams, but it felt like a waste to spend such a small amount of time in here.  

[RCCaughtem]

Ryan arrives at the Safari Location. His ability to sense water sources was going to do him no good in here. With so many natural water sources along with the pokemon was making things one big blur. As he stood there, he could here the croaking of frogs. There was a frog here? And now he had to step inside.

As Ryan began his journey into the cavern, he would call out Ursula, his Remoraid. He catches her and starts the hunt, holding her like a rifle.