Continuing further along the forest path, several more minutes would pass. During those it wouldn't escape Ryusuke's notice that Treecko was acting increasingly out of character - it was already strange that the Wood Gecko hadn't left his shoulder despite the woodland being his favorite kind of environment to explore. Rather, he seemed tense. Not to a degree that it would've been immediately noticeable to someone who didn't know the lizard, but Treecko was definitely alert, the Pokemon continually observing their surroundings as the blond moved forward.
"Okay, seriously. What's up?" Ryusuke finally said, stopping and shifting his coat enough to allow the blond to turn his head enough to get a good look at his partner. It wasn't often that the Grass type showed such obvious caution, and the Pokemon's only response wasn't an immediate one - at first he showed no sign of having heard Ryusuke at all. It wasn't until the trainer started to open his mouth again, however, that Treecko finally responded, letting out a quiet hiss and holding up a single finger to cut off Ryusuke's words. As clear an indication to be silent as any, and enough to immediately shift the human's previously cavalier attitude. Few things got the Pokemon's attention like this without being an obvious threat, and fewer still that hadn't already earned the Pokemon's respect beforehand. All Ryusuke could pick up on, though, was the sound of a soft breeze and the rustle of leaves to accompany it.
At least until a soft hiss made itself know, alongside something far more concerning - the small of something rotten.
Both Ryusuke and Treecko picked up on the latter around roughly the same time, but not quickly enough to cover their mouths and noses nor to avoid breathing in the gas carried by the wind. The smell alone was bad enough, but the worst of it was the sudden feeling of disgust roiling in Ryusuke's stomach, and judging from his face Treecko's as well. Far more than the smell alone would've warranted, and given Treecko's earlier behavior Ryusuke recognized almost immediately what was happening. Hand quickly dipping into one of his coat pockets and Treecko jumped down to the ground ahead of the blond - feet unsteady - the trainer would pull out a small blue vial and toss it to the Wood Gecko, Pokemon catching it and only briefly hesitating with a glance to his trainer before flipping it open and downing the liquid in a single gulp. It was the only antidote they had, and while Ryusuke would've preferred to have split the dose he needed Treecko in fighting condition if their attacker decided to make another pass at them.
What happened instead, though, was that the leaves in a bush upwind of them would suddenly rustle. Wasting no time even as he recovered from the initial effects of the poison, Treecko would suddenly dart forward, nearly a blur from a single use of Quick Attack to give him a burst of speed. Diving into the bushes ahead and breaking through to the other side, the Wood Gecko would quickly brake and pivot as he passed a
very surprised Pokemon the likes of which he'd never seen before. One clearly not expecting to have its escape route cut off so quickly - hesitation and surprise clearly flashing across its face, the much darker colored lizard would take an instinctive step back from Treecko and her blocked escape route before managing to regain their composure.
("Oh, fast one, aren't you?") The Pokemon spoke, voice clearly feminine and carrying a note of respect as she looked Treecko up and down, scaling the Wood Gecko up - Treecko doing the same, albeit his expression much colder. It was one thing to attack him, but Ryusuke was crossing a line and at that moment in time the Grass type wanted nothing more than to beat their attacker into submission until she regretted ever having done it to begin with. That said, he wasn't stupid. Something had been watching them for a while, and Treecko had been unable to figure out what or from where until the Pokemon in question had attacked. More to the point, if she wasn't a Poison type it would come as a surprise to Treecko. She had very much the look of one, and while it'd been a while since he'd had to deal with the move he recognized Poison Gas when he was hit with it. Eyes on his attacker, a quick glance to the bushes behind her beyond which Ryusuke was approaching would almost immediately result in the Poison type trying to dart past Treecko off to the side, a move which saw him quickly move to block and bringing the Poison type to an immediate halt again.
("Oh, come. You're clearly fine, so why not just... let me go?") Salandit spoke, tone genial enough but tail swishing and twitchy, a clear indication that she was outside of her comfort zone being caught. Reasonable words were it just them, but Treecko knew his partner had been hit just as he had, and a cough from the trainer as he pushed through the bushes only confirmed that things were going to get bad if they dragged this out. So, Treecko's response was a very simple one - no words, just a single arcane gesture of offense made with one hand that he had picked up during his years spent with a human family, albeit one that the wild Pokemon seemed to understand perfectly well.
("Oh, fine. If you insist.")The moment Salandit opened her mouth wide Treecko knew he couldn't afford to be hit by the coming attack, but what he was
not expecting as he darted to the side was
fire. Perhaps another Poison Gas attack, but this was a new development that completely changed the situation, something that Ryusuke understood immediately as he emerged from the bushes, face pale and a cold sweat beginning to form across his brow as the poison began to take its effect. A single Poison type was a threat, but hardly an unmanageable one. More often than not they didn't tend to be quite fast, and so long as you stayed upwind and avoided any liquids they might use you were generally fine. Fire types were a completely different story, though. Their attacks generally were quite difficult to avoid due to speed and wide areas of effect, and what moves they did have tended to hit
very hard compared to Pokemon of similar level. It wasn't a Flamethrower that erupted from Salandit's mouth as several small globs of flame were spat onto the ground that Treecko had occupied a moment before, but as the dry leaves there began to smoke and burn the entire scenario had very quickly escalated into one that the Wood Gecko couldn't handle alone. Hand dropping to his belt, the blond wouldn't waste a second pulling a Pokeball free and popping it open to release Froakie as Salandit continued to spray globs of flame, herding Treecko away from her initial escape route.
"Froakie, fire control! Don't bother trying to get close to it, just use Bubble, let Treecko handle the up close fighting." Ryusuke shouted, edging away from the fight lest any of the wayward flames find their way to him. A look of glee would pass over Froakie's face at the idea of being useful, however. Still somewhat sore over his loss to the Grass type during their meeting, it was an ideal opportunity to show what he - no, Water types in general - could do, especially as it was something that Treecko
couldn't. Wasting no time, Froakie immediately set to work as he approached the trouble spots with a handful of hops, mouth opening to spew thick foam at the burning leaves and quickly smothering the flames before moving onto the next outbreak of fire.
The inclusion of a third Pokemon to the fray, however, was something that very much surprised and distressed Salandit. She'd fought her fair share of trainers in her time, and never once had they sent out a second Pokemon. It was a departure from the usual rules of battle that they seemed to follow where fair odds and one on one fights were a sacred thing... and thus something that could be exploited when she couldn't simply get away and avoid a fight entirely. That moment of distraction, however, was exactly what Treecko needed as he used another Quick Attack to get in Salandit's face before she could react, fist coming up with a Pound to the underside of her jaw with the move snapping it closed before she could use either Ember or Poison Gas again.
Thrown off balance, Salandit would stumble back while throwing out a wild Scratch in panic, a move that Treecko would deliberately take the hit from. Not without reason, however. Wincing as Salandit's claws raked across his shoulder, the Wood Gecko would step after her to seemingly deliver an open handed blow to the Fire type's face again before leaping back. As he did so, however, the seed that had been in his hand would violently erupt as it was pressed atop her snout. Vines quickly slithering over her jaws and extending to cover her body, the vegetation would begin to constrict tightly enough to impede the Pokemon's movement. A moment later a column of thick foam would slam into Salandit's side before she could move out of the way, a very smug Froakie standing ready and awaiting another chance to strike now that the open flames had been dealt with. Tumbling and off balance, Salandit was unable to remain upright with her movement impeded and fell to the ground, growing weaker as Leech Seed began to do its work. Still wary after the initial trouble she'd given them, Treecko would cautiously approach the bound and muzzled Pokemon. Still very much conscious, Salandit seemed to have simply stopped struggling, realizing the futility of continuing a battle she clearly had no chance of winning and with escape no longer an option.
"We done?" Ryusuke asked from the sidelines, eyes on the Poison type.
("Think so.") Treecko responded, scratches on his shoulder already beginning to heal as Leech Seed sapped Salandit's remaining strength. While he didn't understand the words exactly the affirmative tone was enough for Ryusuke as the tension finally left his body, at least as much as it could with him feeling like shit. Eyes on the restrained wild Pokemon, though, the question was still up in the air on what to do with her. She wasn't unconscious, so untying her wasn't an option if the previous exchanges and actions were anything to go by. Given how she'd attacked him and Treecko earlier it was probably a poor decision to leave her out here at all - had someone younger and less experienced crossed her path this could have ended
very badly. That only really left one option. Not one that Ryusuke was overly thrilled with, but a lot of that was likely biased due to how ill he felt. The Pokemon wasn't a bad fighter by any means, and with only three names on his roster there wasn't much reason
not to add another as Ryusuke began to step forward, pulling an empty Pokeball from his coat pocket.
("Wai-") Treecko started, tone and expression both one of surprise and disbelief as he saw the orb in the blond's hand, but quickly cut off as Ryusuke gave the orb a soft underhanded toss that would let it fall onto Salandit, sucking the Pokemon inside. Clearly disgruntled by the lack of input, Treecko would simply stand in silence as he watched the shaking orb with a dubious look.
