The professor had dressed for rain or sun with a broad-brimmed hat that ought to protect her from any stray drops falling from trees. She wasn't exactly suited for this environment, honestly: while her hometown of Sunhaven was just as hot, it was a drier heat, usually, and the humidity was already making sweat beat on her forehead. But she fully intended to give this expedition her all, and to that end she wore rubber waders that reached past her knees, just in case she had to head into the mud to go after a Pokemon. Absol walked beside her, looking around solemnly, while Oddish's Pokeball sat on her belt. At some point, she imagined they'd take a break to let Oddish out to play -- the swamp seemed like a good environment for the little Grass Pokemon.

---

Team: level 10 Absol, level 5 Oddish



Absol // Level 10 // female


Ability: Super Luck - Absol crits on attack rolls of 1 and 2 rather than just 1's.
Held item: none
Moves: Feint, Leer, Pursuit, Quick Attack




Oddish // Level 5 // Female



Ability: Chlorophyll - doubles the ability-bearer's Speed during bright sunshine

Held item: None

Moves: Absorb, Growth, Acid

Fortunately, the professor was paying close attention to her surroundings, so she spotted the Spinarak's web in plenty of time to avoid stepping into it. That would have been a bad experience for both her and the Spinarak. She also put a hand out to stop Absol: "Careful, Absol. Don't step into that web."

Absol looked up at her with a slight huff, every so slightly miffed by the idea that she might do something so undignified.

Now that they were safely stopped, the professor could take a moment to examine the Spinarak and her web -- she approached carefully, not wanting to damage the web or alarm the Pokemon. With all spiders vanished from Deprin for decades, Yew had never actually seen one or its web before. She'd looked at illustrations, of course, but none of them captured the beauty of the actual thing -- the way the light bounced through the raindrops hanging in it, the delicate patterns. Books often spoke of spiderwebs as disgusting and unpleasant; Yew couldn't imagine why.

"This is beautiful," she told the Spinarak. Then the professor hesitated: she would love to bring this Pokemon home, but a battle would destroy the pretty web that the Spinarak had clearly spent so much time working on. Maybe instead ... She took a Great Ball out of her bag and put it down near the Spinarak's web, then backed away.

"I would love for you to come home with me," Yew explained to the Spinarak. "I think we could learn a lot from each other, and I would like to see more of your work. But you've clearly put a lot of work into this web, so I understand if you don't want to leave it. If you don't want to come with us, we'll leave you in peace."

The professor couldn't help grinning ear to ear as she looked down at Absol. She was really glad she'd succeeded, and equally glad that she hadn't had to hurt Spinarak or damage her beautiful web. Most of her attempts to talk Pokemon into Pokeballs hadn't succeeded, so she was glad that she had proof of concept now. After all, she still felt kind of bad about how they'd attacked Oddish on first meeting her -- and she wondered if that contributed to Oddish's nervous nature.

"That went wonderfully," the professor commented. Now, what next ... She still didn't want to destroy the Spinarak's beautiful web, even if the Pokemon no longer lived there, so she turned and went back the way she'd come, beckoning Absol to follow. They'd look for a branching path to explore more.

"Oh, a Nidoran female," the professor said to Absol -- quietly, to avoid startling the Pokemon. "Fascinating. The Nidoran line are the only Pokemon that are considered completely different species based on gender, I believe ... Although there are other Pokemon whose evolution is affected by gender, and those that only appear in a single gender, of course."

Absol looked seriously up at the professor. "Sol?"

Right. She had to decide what to do about the Pokemon, not just talk about its scientific nature. Well ... the professor didn't see any more reason to attack this Pokemon than she had with the Spinarak. The Nidoran just seemed slightly curious, not aggressive. Of course, she knew that her chance of catching the Pokemon this way was lower than if she battled it, but she thought it was worth the risk.

"Hello," she called softly to the Nidoran, rolling a Great Ball towards it. "Would you like to come with us?"

---

The professor uses a Great Ball.

The professor grinned at Absol. "Two for two."

Absol simply stared back at her, solemn as ever, and the professor laughed. "Are you getting bored? I'm glad we haven't had to fight anything. I don't think we should attack Pokemon who don't seem interested in a fight. In fact ... if we're not planning to fight, why don't you go back in your Pokeball, and I'll walk with Oddish for a while?"

With a tilt of her head, Absol conveyed a certain doubt about the idea. But the professor insisted: "It'll be fine. I think she'll really like it here."

Then the professor activated Absol's Pokeball, drawing the Dark-type Pokemon back into its ball, and placed it in its holder on her belt before releasing Oddish.

"Dish?" Oddish's eyes widened in incipient panic as she found herself in a strange environment.

"Oddish, it's OK," the professor said quickly -- though she made sure to keep her own tone calm, as she knew Oddish would only get more anxious if the professor sounded upset. "I brought you out because I thought you'd like it here in the marsh, with all the wet, rich soil, but you can go back in your Pokeball if it's too scary."

Oddish took a deep breath and looked around, examining her surroundings, then glancing back at the professor. "Di ... dish ..."

Carefully, Oddish started off down the path, making sure to glance back at the professor to make sure she was following -- which, of course, she was.

---

The professor has switched active Pokemon from Absol to Oddish! Oddish has a Speed of 8, so this should be interesting.

Oh no! Professor Yew's hand rose automatically to her mouth as the bigger Pokemon struck Oddish hard. "Oddish!"

"Diiish," Oddish said, a little blearily, from the ground.

"Are you hurt?" The professor headed over to Oddish.

But her movements made her the Heracross's next potential target. Oddish pushed herself up, eyes wide. She couldn't let this weird big bug attack the professor! Not after the professor had been so nice and gentle with her, and had apologized for attacking her, and was even now trying to look after her. "Diiish!"

The professor saw Oddish move between her and the Heracross, fire in the little Pokemon's eyes, and realized that Oddish wanted to battle. It surprised her a little, but that was an urge she was eager to support. "OK, Oddish, use Acid! Don't worry -- if you get tired, Absol can come out and spell you."

---

OOC:

Oddish uses Acid.

I have used 0/3 items.

Oddish: 9/12
Status: none
Stat changes: none
Held item: none

Oddish stumbled back, somewhat intimidated by Heracross' Leer. She looked to the professor for guidance.

"It's all right, Oddish, you can do this!" the professor called, trying to encourage her nervous Pokemon. The truth was, she wasn't actually sure Oddish could do this -- that first attack had hit pretty hard, and the Heracross' Leer would further lower Oddish's defenses. But she wasn't about to show any of that doubt to Oddish. It would be fine. If things started going badly for Oddish, the professor would pull her out and send Absol in to finish off the fight. "Try another Acid!"

Oddish turned back to the Heracross with determination, once again spitting acid at it.

---

OOC:

Oddish uses Acid!

I have used 0/3 items.

Oddish: 9/12
Status: none
Stat changes: Defense 11
Held item: none