Searching

Julia stopped soon after running from the other area where Matt and the Rufflet were. Both she and Tuck were out of breath as they looked around the area they had found themselves in. There were many bushes and lots of tall grass. She heard the laughter and rustling again and looked toward the source.

The source of the noise had pointy ears and a trickster-like personality. Giggling once more, the Pokemon suddenly leaped out at Julia in an attempt to scare her. She didn't mean harm, just wanted a good laugh.

Purrloin, Female, Level 12

Julia flinched, then smiled. "It's just a cat." She crouched down to its size. "How'd you like to come with me on an adventure?" She asked.

"Purr?" Purrloin tilted her head, strangely impressed at the trainer's quick recovery. Her tail flicked, and she seemed to consider the offer. "Loin," she said with a yawn, she would think about it.

"Hm." Julia patted the Purrloin's head. "Hm. While Matt's still fighting that Rufflet, I might as well look around." She wandered around, walking through the tall grass, although still staying close to the Purrloin as it was near where she entered the area.

Julia wouldn't have to worry about Purrloin wandering away. She followed closely to the trainer, finding it to be the more exciting option than staying put. Rustling in a near-by bush, a fox Pokemon looked out at Julia. Unfortunately, it wasn't the fox she was looking for.

Vulpix, Male, Level 4

"A Vulpix, huh? Haven't seen those since home." She chuckled a little. "You look small. Where's your mother?" Julia asked the little fox after petting it a little. "You should scurry along, something might show up and attack."

Vulpix stared wide eyed up at Julia, and smiled down at her. He was young enough to only have four white tails that were splitting apart. At the mention of his mother, he looked deeper into the forest, and at Julia's prompts, disappeared back within it.

Unbestknown to Julia, an invisible pair of eyes observed the trainer, almost judging her before the watching Pokemon decided to show itself. It was impressed that she wasn't a bloodthirsty and reckless trainer, but there was still one more test to be taken...

Suddenly jumping out from the shadows, a wild Patrat appeared, glaring at the trainer and her Pokemon and baring his powerful teeth. "Rat!" he exclaimed in a territorial rage, jumping at Julia in an attempt to scare her off.

Patrat, Male, Level 10

Tuck, Julia's Machop, quickly jumped to the rescue by launching at the Patrat with a Karate Chop from the side, quick to protect his Trainer. Julia stopped him however, by holding out an arm. "You wanna fight rodent? I've seen Rattata scarier than you." Julia's demeanor was now much darker, and honestly, scarier, at that moment in time. She had fought Pokemon before, and was not scared to do so again. "If you mean to do harm, I ask that you return from whence you came, before I'm forced to harm you."

"Rat!" the Patrat cried as the Karate Chop slammed into his abdominal and did massive damage. He snarled in rage at Julia's voice, and his eyes began to glow menacingly with an angry light, a Leer attack.

Julia shuddered a bit, but hid her emotions at the moment. While she did not want to harm the Pokemon, it was obvious it was hostile and ready to attack. She got into a fighting stance. "Bring it."

Patrat grinned, as if no longer territorial, but excited. His tail swisher from back and forth, and the glow of his eyes subsided. The Karate Chop had already pt him at a hefty disadvantage, but there was a gleam in his eye that only seemed like a reply to Julia's statement. It's on.

He jumped into the air, and created a small black mass in his arms before throwing it at Tuck. It was a Pursuit, an egg move.

Tuck rolled out of the way, then used Focus Energy. With the intense Focus he had built up, he launched at the Patrat once more, using a powered up Karate Chop. Julia watched and gave the occasional command to Tuck, seeing that he was determined to fight this battle.

As Tuck focused his energy, Patrat's eyes glowed once more, taking advantage of the pause to use a Leer of his own. Then, as the fighting type ran at him, he created another dark ball and threw it straight into his path, hoping the Pursuit would force him to jump out of the way to dodge. He couldn't take many more fighting attacks, so he was playing on the defensive side of things.

Tuck rolled his eyes at the feeble attempt, and actually chopped through the dark ball before running at the Patrat again. Julia watched from the side with the Purrloin she had met earlier. She did stopped giving commands to Tuck as she believed that, at the moment, it was his fight. Tuck dropped out of the Karate Chop and started to slide, using Low Kick at the same time.

Purrloin watched intently with her ears perked and nose sniffing the air curiously. It was almost as if she knew something that Becca didn't, because a mischievous smile crept across her face, and she watched even more intently.

Patrat narrowly managed to jump up to avoid the kick, causing him to fall easy a victim to the Karate Chop. He was sent flying backwards with a startled cry, and barely got to his feet. Surprisingly, his attacks halted, and he grinned at Tuck and Julia.

"Wow, that was some fight. You pass." He breathed, speaking in English, but oddly through telepathy. Then, everything became clear. The air around the rodent blurred, and instead of a tired looking Patrat, the Pokemon standing in front of Tuck was a Zorua breathing heavily. "You've earned my respect. I figured you were on the hunt for one of us, and it was about time I found a trainer to test. You have both compassion and strength, so thus, you're returning I've been looking for."

Julia was stunned, then she grinned a bit. She didn't really know what to say. She just nodded a little, still recovering from the shock of finding out the Patrat was a Zorua, in actuality. Tuck, however, didn't take as long to recover, and bowed to the Zorua and smiled. He was both thanking him for the battle, and for choosing his Trainer. Julia soon recovered from her shock and simply said "Thank you." for lack of better things to say.

"Don't mention it," Zorua replied with a swish of his tail. "And you should really thank Purrloin. She's the one who made me curious enough to test you. She usually doesn't like trainers." Purrloin's mouth turned up at one corner into a satisfied smirk. She too had made the decision that Zorua had made. The two knew each other after all, and could keep themselves occupied.

"Ah. Well thank you as well Purrloin." Julia said, smiling. "For taking interest in me, I guess." She continued. Tuck walked back to Julia, breathing heavy, and grinning. "So both of you have come to a decision?" Tuck asked Zorua and Purrloin, curious.

Both Purrloin and Zorua nodded, willing to be caught. Julia had searched for a certain new team mate, but ended up with two.

Purrloin and Zorua would like to join your team!

Julia went into her shoulder bag and pulled out two Pokeballs, and threw them at Zorua and Purrloin, sucking them in with a flash of light.

Both balls shook three times before coming to a standstill, both Pokemon had been caught.

Purrloin was caught! Would you like to give her a nickname?

Zorua was caught! Would you like to give him a nickname?

"Hmm." Julia picked up the Pokeballs and threw them both up, letting Zorua and Purrloin out. Julia, knowing Zorua understood her, took advantage of that. "Hey Zorua, would you or Purrloin want a nickname? If so, what? I don't wanna name you something you don't like."

After a brief conversation in Pokemon speak between Zorua and Purrloin, the two shrugged their shoulders. "Anything if fine with either of us as lon as it's not 'Barf Breath', or whatever childish people name Pokemon nowadays."

"Alright. Then I'll name you Loki, and I'll name you Lilac. That all good?" She directed the name Loki at Zorua, and Lilac at Purrloin. Tuck sat down, waiting for all of the naming to be settled.