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When you're hot, you're hot. The hound was doing his job, and although the little b*****d was a grumpy, stubborn jerk, he was grateful for the heal. Once they got on the trail of rare pokemon, that's when Gage cornered, battled, and captured the shiny Rufflet. One eagle in the bag. Common, but since it was shiny - not so common. Moving back into Asude, Gage made sure to stick only to the pokecenter, not sure he wanted to be found by a Team Celestia member.

But alas, they had spotted him and his new Houndour, thus, it was demanded that Spheal be returned now that Gage had 'caught his next starter' like he had promised. Wasn't the plan, yet now he could stay clean. Bye bye Spheal and goodbye to its goofy face. He handed over the pokeball without a word, and went back on the hunt. Rumor was of a shiny golden Swablu somewhere to the south of here.

Depositing the Rufflet and moving on, again the hound proved his worth. After they hunted down the pack of cloud birds, Gage nailed the shiny yellow bird after they set up a net trap for it. That one was going to fetch a pretty penny back with the newbies of Blyse.

Keeping up the swift pace, Gage left Addobe way behind him, had no interest in Emmoco, and passed up the graveyards of Asude. Really moving at a half jog, half run, now Gage had his Houndoom out to start searching for rare pokemon. Rumor was that a mother Zoroark out this way just had pups, and one of his new sources in Etura had the tip for him. If Gage was lucky, it wasn't just a wild goose chase.

But while he was here, Gage took the time to train his pokemon since he was going to need all of their help. Catching his breath, he found a good place to stop for a few minutes, out in the middle of the Route where all was quiet, not another human in sight. Letting out all six of his team, Gage stood in the center of his pokemon, each of them cowering slightly at their trainer and his Houndoom. That is, except the jingle-bell Eevee, who thought Gage was just the neatest person she's ever met, and she jumped into his arms, purring. The rest, Croagunk, Pikachu, Trapinch, and Yamask exchanged nervous glances.

Houndoom growled deeply, head lowered on those massive shoulders, and just like that Croagunk knew he would have to evolve if he was ever going to be the second-in-command of this little party. Gage, however, would be the Alpha. He'd already established that.

"Peeks, time to evolve, buddy."
Gage fished out the Thunder Stone and tossed it to the Pikachu. She caught it out of surprise, and blinked at the yellow gem-like stone in her paws. Oh well, she thought, here goes nothing. She closed her eyes tightly as the evolution process began, light enfolding her from the depths of the Thunder Stone. When she again opened her black eyes, what she saw was everyone staring at her, and no longer did they all look so very, very big to her. The once-Pikachu looked at her arm, noticing the orange fur, and whipping her tail around, she could see the end was now tipped with a lightning bolt.
"Rai rai!"
She liked it. She liked the new power coursing through her. Twice the size, twice the power. Raichu was power-drunk.

Gage smirked, and got out an empty pokeball for emphasis. He tossed it up once, caught it, and showed it to his team.
"Somewhere out there is a bunch of defenseless baby Zorua pups, and we're going to catch one, got it?"
There was an unanimous vote all around, each of them eager to prove themselves the best pokemon on the team. Even Trapinch, confused and dull as he was, was starting to get into the whole spirit of things, even though he didn't know why for exactly. Gage had it all planned out.

Petting his Eevee's ears, Gage looked at each of his pokemon in turn.
"Let's get to work, kids."

Houndoom was having his own adventure meanwhile. Catching the scent, he smirked to himself, knowing he was going to win this race and catch his trainer's favor above all else. And above that stupid, ugly little fox-rat. Running at full tilt, it was hard for Yamask to keep up without phasing through trees and bushes to stay up with the Dark Pokemon. Finally Yamask just caught hold of Doom's tail, holding on tight and being dragged along.

'Release me, ghost! Suddenly stopping, the hound whipped around, fire wreathed teeth snapping at Yamask.
'Argh, wait, Doom! I can't keep up if I don't hold on!'
Using the nickname that Gage had given him, Doom paused, and growling still, his barbed tipped tail writhed in Yamask's grip.
'Very well. Only because Master wishes for us to stay together.'

The two continued on, Houndoom impatient because the trail was fresher. Sniffling and snuffling, he changed his course slightly, and that's when they came across the Zoroark and her children. She shrieked bloody-murder at the fire hound and flashed her claws, and Yamask faded out of view, leaving to let Doom fight this battle. Spitting flames, Doom wasted no time, lunging at the mother, and scattering the cubs around her feet.

The two fought, bit, scratched, and flames and darkness flew, Houndoom thinking he needed to defeat the Zoroark to catch a pup. But Yamask was much more intelligent. As they clashed, the ghost lurked in the shadows, sneaking up on an unwary Zorua. Yamask grabbed hold of the fox's tail and zoomed behind the Zoroark, just as the two separated from a roll.

Doom saw Yamask with the cub, and knowing they had won this day, fled along with the ghost, leaving the distraught and vicious mother alone. Zoroark wouldn't notice one of her cubs were missing until it was much, much too late. Yamask was bullied, under pain of death according to Houndoom, into handing the Zorua over, and carrying it in his mouth, Doom started to run back to Gage to deliver the prize.

(( Rarity, coloration, and ability on three pokes. ))



When without tools, what better trap was a pitfall? Well, kind of cliche, if you know what I mean, for a criminal, but Gage didn't know that. Houndoom did a quarter of the digging, along with Croagunk showing his stuff, but the real digger who shone was Trapinch. The ant lion was really booking it, making soil fly in record time, and within ten minutes they had a huge pit trap. Some leaves, some grass, a thin layer of soil and it was almost ready.

Meanwhile Gage had been weaving a net out of some bark, and putting the finishing touches on it, deposited the Zorua cub inside. Tying up some more stripped, twisted, and braided bark, the crying fox made the perfect bait for a worried mother, suspended over the hidden pit fall. Backing up with a phased out Yamask as the watch, Gage waited hidden in the tall grass to hear the signal.

(( Rarity, coloration, and ability on three pokes. ))



Hours later, Gage was starting to snooze as the day wore on. Raichu was bedded down next to her trainer, taking a cat nap ... a rodent nap. Trapinch was returned to his pokeball an hour ago when he started to make rude noises and foul odors, and Croagunk shifted restlessly from side to side, bothered by the cry of the Zorua. Ever diligent, Houndoom stood at ready, still waiting for that Zoroark to appear for another battle.

(( Rarity, coloration, and ability on three pokes. ))



Finally, Doom lay down, ignoring the night calls of the wild pokemon surrounding them. Not before long, the Houndoom's chin rested on his large paws, smoke dribbling from his nostrils. A little time later, the Houndoom's eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. Gage was snoring softly, and Eevee was huddled close to his chest for warmth. Raichu took up the next watch, and even it seemed like Croagunk had fallen asleep sitting up.

(( Rarity, coloration, and ability on three pokes. ))



Hound and beast collided, knocking Gage down with their combined weight. As they scratched and flailed, Houndoom quickly got a hold around Zoroark's throat and flung her away from her trainer. Gage slowly uncurled from the fetal position, his arms used to protect his face and neck, but that didn't save him from taking a few deep gashes from Illusion Fox's claws along his forearms and abdomen.

Doom, smelling his Master's blood, went into a blind rage, doing nothing but thinking of protecting the pack. Gage quickly got to his feet, Raichu and the real Croagunk now at his sides. Eevee lingered in the back in Yamask's arms. Stunned, he watched as the two feral pokemon tore into each other, fur flying everywhere and blood splattering the ground.
"Raichu, Thunderbolt."

The orange rodent leaped forward on all four feet into the fray, and whipped her tail about her. Then the very tip of the lightning bolt touched the Zoroark's
forehead, and Raichu loosened the bolt, electrocuting the mother and sending her running. Gage wrapped his poncho around the worst gash on his arm to help stanch the bleeding. He got the Zorua cub carefully from the net, and as funny as it was, spotted a second cub that had been separated from the Zoroark in the battle.

Adding the second to the first in the bark-net, Gage thought how useful it would be to have a spider or bug pokemon to make silken threads. Moving on, Houndoom started to sniff the ground again, having the scent of blood of the mother.