Chapter 20; learning to hunt
The sun's bright rays hit Sonic's face waking him up from his peaceful sleep. Jolting up hyped for another day of adventuring battling and maybe even catching a new pokemon in the safari zone, he gently woke up raichu and the two exited the pokemon center heading to the safari zone. On the way he checked his phone to see if his friends or his brother had texted him. There were no texts from them but 200 unread messages from Amy the last one sent at 5:14 AM.
"Wha… ok it's official she's crazy. If she keeps this up I'm blocking the contact" Sonic thought realizing once again he had dodged a bullet.
Reaching the safari zone he paid the entry fee but was informed that even though raichu could join him it was not allowed to use any of its moves against the wild pokemon otherwise it would have to be recalled until Sonic's tour of the safari zone ended. Sonic was also given a total of 30 pokeballs dyed in safari colors or as the staff called them safari balls.
"Kind of on the nose" he thought.
Entering the safari zone the duo were greeted with an entire horizon of open space as well as several pokemon roaming around. Sonic noticed a normal nidorino and an actual nidorina pass by as well as a tauros running past him and raichu.
"So many options" he commented but is which one could be the best one for the team?" he wondered.
He observed a pack of tauros thinking one was an easy catch.
"Seems strong but it's a normal type. Don't know how much I want one. Nah there's got to be something better around these parts".
Proceeding further in they came across a lake where an orange fish observed them curiously, its head protruding from the surface of the water.
"Goldeen I think" Sonic thought "nope already have a water type".
After a few more steps he heard a cry behind a rock. Slowly looking, the duo saw a kangaskhan with its baby, eating and feeding its baby.
"That's actually cute" Sonic thought smiling "though again. Normal type".
After going back to the path they came across an interesting one.
"A rhyhorn" Sonic thought in surprise "that's actually strong. But how much do I want a second ground type? Oh well I think it too much" he said taking aim and throwing the safari ball.
The ball hit the rhyhorn and wiggled twice but rhyhorn broke out. Sonic was about to throw a second one but rhyhorn growled in anger and stomped its foot to the ground. Raichu took a battle stance.
"Oh boy this is bad" Sonic said as he remembered raichu wasn't allowed to attack "raichu. Very slowly. Walk away".
Raichu cried out its name in question but obeyed its trainer as the two started carefully retreating. Rhyhorn however wasn't having it. It started dashing towards the pair.
"RUN!" Sonic screamed as he started running for his life. Noticing raichu kept forgetting the rule about not attacking, he quickly recalled it and kept running. He heard from behind his shoulder the angry growls and the stampede of the rhyhorn but dared not look back.
Taking a sharp turn Sonic dived behind a rock as the rhyhorn, not seeing well beyond its horn, passed by thinking Sonic had kept on going forward. Sonic observed it run and after making sure it was away started taking deep breaths with his eyes closed trying to catch his breath.
"Oh man. That was a rush".
"Pin".
Sonic opened his eyes confused and his eyes met the eyes of a powerful looking pokemon with giant pincers. The two were looking at each other straight in the eye with the pokemon being right in front of him, not making a move. Sonic gulped.
"Pin. Siiir!" the pokemon growled as it used its pincers to try and grab Sonic. Acting on instinct Sonic dived out of the way and darted away.
"What is this crazy place?!" he said in horror as he saw a tree ahead.
Hiding on top of the tree, he observed the pokemon that had followed him but didn't think to look up. Not recognizing it he took out his pokedex and scanned it.
"Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokémon. A bug type. When Pinsir's horns clamp onto an opponent, they won't release until it's defeated".
"Woah what?" he thought in shock "so if I wasn't fast enough earlier this thing would have cut me in half".
He took one look at Pinsir which grabbed a rock with its pincers and smashed it with ease.
"Now you seem like a good catch" he thought smiling "ok. Ready" he said taking out another safari ball "Aim. Fire" he said as he threw the pokeball which hit pinsir.
The ball wiggled twice again and broke as Pinsir angered, noticed where its prey had disappeared at. Dashing to the tree, it nailed its pincers to the sides and with relative ease started uprooting it.
"YO WHAT THE FU… aaaahh!" Sonic screamed in horror as he was ejected by the force of the uprooting and crashed on the rocky ground scratching his arm. Pinsir let go of the tree and started approaching him. Sonic once again bolted away.
"I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead!" he screamed to himself in terror as he could hear the pincers sound behind him approaching.
Suddenly a rock came out of nowhere and hit pinsir on the head enraging it further but stopping it from pursuing Sonic and instead shift its focus on the person who had thrown the rock. Sonic tried to look at them as well but tripped and fell. Turning he saw a man dressed in a safari outfit throwing another rock at pinsir and which dashed at him. Smiling the man jumped out of the way causing pinsir to crash on a rock behind him. Taking out a safari ball the guy was about to throw it before pinsir fled. He stomped his foot to the ground in frustration before approaching Sonic.
"You ok there kid?"
"Apart from a scratch yeah" Sonic grunted as he got up.
"I assume you're new here. Noone else would be as foolish to try and catch a pokemon like that head on".
"Kind of figured that on my own" Sonic answered back.
"Heh. You got spirit though" the man said extending his arm "I'm Leo".
"Sonic".
"Are you doing the gym challenge?"
"Yeah. What about you?"
"I'm a pokemon collector. I have caught a lot of pokemon but don't have any of them as my partner. That's not a big problem for me though. I have trained a lot to catch wild pokemon without battling them".
"Without a battle? I mean it makes sense in here but outside? Making your life harder on purpose?"
"That's my style. I like a challenge".
Sonic wiped the dirt of himself.
"I see. Well thanks Leo. I'll be on my way".
"Weren't you trying to catch that pinsir?"
"Was planning to. But that thing is dangerous. I'd like not to be cut in half".
"Hm…"
"What?"
"What do you say I teach you how my techniques? They might just help you as much as they have helped me".
Sonic was caught by surprise.
"Teach me your style? Why would you do that?"
"I like to go for hard prey when I hunt for pokemon but sometimes I'd like to have a rival in the hunt. However because trainers like you usually catch something easy and leave, it becomes boring".
"So basically you want to teach me how to hunt pokemon to hold a little contest? No other catch?"
"No other catch. I'll be leaving Kanto soon so I want to have such a contest with a local trainer before leaving".
"I'm not actually from Kanto but if you really mean it, I'll take the opportunity" Sonic said thinking it could actually be a helpful ability to be able to catch wild pokemon without battling them or in case he was unable to battle them for whatever reason".
"Excellent. We're starting right now. So. Rule number 1 of hunting. Pick your target. You need to know what you're aiming for otherwise you will be unlikely to yield a good result".
"So I have to decide what I want to catch?"
"Yes".
"I mean pinsir would have been nice. What else good lives here?"
"Allow me to show you" Leo said revealing a chart of the place.
"So the species I have encountered so far are members of the nidoran family, both the male and the female families, the paras family…"
"Care to enlighten me on it?"
"It's a grass and bug type. Mostly a defensive pokemon".
"Nah I think I'll pass. Terrible combination of types".
"Moving on, there is also there are plenty of rhyhorns around these parts".
"That could be a good one but I already have a soon to be nidoking so another ground type isn't in the plans".
"Continuing" Leo said slightly annoyed "other common species are the venonat family, exeggcute and doduo. Also some rare species are tauros, kangaskhan, chansey, pinsir, your very desire" he teased Sonic "and Scyther".
"I see. Wait are there lakes here?"
"Yes. They contain mostly magikarp, psyducks and poliwag as well as golden which is a bit rare. However I recently heard a rumor that dratini has begun appearing. One visitor even mentioned seeing a dragonair".
"Dratini and dragonair?!" Sonic asked in surprise as dratini being a dragon type made it very powerful and hard to beat.
"That's honestly my main aim. I wish to find one of their kind. So rare. So pretty and precious".
"I'm honestly between pinsir and dratini at this point" Sonic said "I have a good team already, so I'd like something to cover my flanks when it comes to types".
"Alright. You have the targets. Rule number 2 of hunting. Know your target".
"Didn't we just cover that?"
"No. We picked the target. Tell me what you know about pinsir and the dratini family".
Sonic racked his brain.
"To be honest, today was the first time I ever saw a pinsir. I have seen dragonairs and dragonites battle on TV. They are dragon therefore resist a lot of types. Also…"
"Let me stop you here. You describe them with the eyes of a trainer. As a hunter you need to know other stuff like how to track them. As I previously explained, dratini and dragonair live underwater. Therefore if you want to find them you will need to know how to fish pokemon and what lures them. I have special dragon lures with me but they are still not making it very easy".
"Ok. But what about pinsir?"
"Are you leaning towards it or is it just me?"
"Kind of. Its aggressive nature is something I'd like to have in my party. Plus dratini takes a lot of care to raise and a lot of training to become strong as a dragonite and well… let's just say I'm on a deadline".
"Fair enough. Pinsir is a bug type. But unlike most bugs that are usually the prey in the pokemon ecosystem, pinsir and scyther are predators. Therefore they don't live in groups and therefore are hard to find. In their case you need to know about their nature. What they eat and if possible what kind of tracks they live behind".
"Tracks? We're gonna detect tracks?"
"Yes. For someone like you who's about to do their first hunt it sounds crazy. But knowing what your prey looks like makes it all that easier to hunt it. So here" Leo said handing Sonic a few pictures "most of them are pokemon with similar footprints. It's almost midday so I will retreat for lunch. I want you to learn to recognize the footprints. Also on the back I have several notes on where most of these pokemon can be found. Learn them as well. It will make your life a lot easier. That's all for now. Let's meet in 2 hours for our contest. Deal?"
Sonic would have preferred to just use the info to track down and catch a pinsir or even a scyther but after all the help Leo had given him, it was the least he could do.
"Deal".
As the 2 walked out Leo remembered something.
"Before I forget. Rule number 3. Vital one. Predatory pokemon are dangerous and therefore will go for you. Elsewhere your own pokemon would defend you but here you will need to know how to dodge attacks. I suggest you train with your pokemon as much as possible before we meet again. See you later".
Sonic remembering his encounter with Pinsir almost resulting in his death agreed nodding. After a quick lunch he went to a clearing in the woods with his pokemon and had them attack him with their moves. The training was mostly a disaster as Sonic's reflexes were not good enough to dodge incoming attacks like that but by the end he was able to dodge a psychic-thrown object from Alakazam. Deciding there was nothing more to do for now and at worst they would just flee a predator running, they returned to the safari zone were Leo was waiting.
"Finally. Woah you look rough".
"Can't dodge that well yet".
"Just stay away from the prey if it's a predator and you'll be fine. Let's go in" he said in obvious excitement.
After paying the entry fee once again, Leo decided to head towards the lakes to try and fish for dratini. Sonic headed for a rocky section of the zone realizing from Leo's data the pinsir either liked forests or rocky terrains for easy prey. After small walk through the rocks he heard the familiar pincers grabbing something.
"Oh boy" he thought hiding behind a rock and slightly protruding his head to see.
There was but one Pinsir. But to Sonic's surprise it was calm and its pincers were clashing calmly as if it was playing with them.
"A calm predator? I wonder if it has had prey" Sonic thought.
"Found something?" a voice whispered in his ear.
Sonic almost gasped but kept himself from it.
"You scared the soul out of me. Also don't you dare try to catch this I found it!" he whispered.
"Well if you fail to catch it here, it'll be free for all. So what are you planning to do?"
Sonic thought about throwing a safari ball but remembered how Pinsir was not caught the first time around. He didn't like having to rely on luck again.
"Let me give you a small hint about places like this. Pokemon here live free for the most part. Therefore when predators become prey they tend to run. But if you can confuse them but not have them flee, they will be unable to resist the ball's mechanism".
"Confuse them? Like.." Sonic said remembering when Leo threw a rock at the Pinsir from before "throwing a rock?"
"Yes. It angers and/or confuses them. Making them less likely to break out of the ball".
"But what if we tried to lure them with food or something?"
"If you bait it with food it will see you as a food source. Apart from predators seeing you as prey, it makes them harder to catch because they have seen you therefore not only is the element of surprise gone, but when they see the ball coming they will shake off the mechanism. What you have here is a perfect opportunity".
"Ok" Sonic said hesitantly picking up a rock. Winding his hand he threw it at Pinsir hitting it on the head.
Pinsir immediately jolted up looking around as its pincers clapped. Winding up again Sonic threw a safari ball. It wiggled once, twice, thrice.
But the pinsir broke out. However instead of attacking them, seeing as they were 2 it fled.
"Looks like the hunt is on!" Leo said in excitement as he chased after it.
"Damnit no!" Sonic thought as he raced after him.
However after a small run Sonic caught up to Leo who had lost track of the Pinsir. They were at a crossroad junction and Pinsir tracks led to both sides.
"Well that's a bummer" Leo said as Sonic finally caught up.
"So… which track's the right one?"
"Can't tell" Leo said as he examined both sets of footprints "they both look very recent".
Sonic however felt his gut telling him to go right. He started walking towards the right path.
"Where are you going?"
"It's this way".
"How do you know?"
"… I just know".
"Following your gut? Not my cup of tea. I'll stay here and figure this out. See you when I catch my prize" Leo teased him.
Sonic proceeded as the path became uneven after a while. Looking back and realizing he had taken a wrong turn, his eyes widened.
"I'm lost" he thought to himself.
Trying to navigate through the maze of the rocky terrain, he ended up in a small circle with even ground. On the side he saw a pile of berries as well as what looked like the remains of what was once a metapod.
"Oh hell no!" Sonic thought but before he turned to leave he heard the now familiar sound. The sound of pincers.
Pinsir, mad beyond imagination that Sonic had trespassed into its nest, charged pincers forward trying to grab Sonic. Sonic once again dived to the side. Pinsir's pincers were nailed into a rock. Sonic winded up his hand to throw a safari ball but Pinsir unearthed the rock and threw it at Sonic.
"Remember the training!" Sonic thought as he sidestepped, the rock slightly scratching him but leaving him most unscathed. Throwing the safari ball, Pinsir was unable to prepare for it as it was recovering from having thrown such a big rock. The ball made contact and wiggled thrice. Sonic expected it to break out again.
Instead the beep confirming the catch was heard. Sonic dropped to his knees in relief while grabbing his scratched shoulder. Hands clapping was heard.
"THAT.. WAS… INCREDIBLE!" Leo yelled in excitement as he climbed down on of the big rocks and approached Sonic "and you caught it too!"
"You stood there and watched?!" Sonic said frustrated.
"It's not like you needed my help. You even dodged the projectile. Almost".
"It's nothing. I'll just find a bandage or something" Sonic said.
"Let help" Leo responded taking a bandage out of his backpack and bandaging Sonic's arm.
"You were right about following your gut. But so was I about following the tracks. They looked recent because they were. I found a Pinsir myself. Caught it of course. But that one was on the hunt. You followed the one you caught to its nest. Unintentionally I'm sure. But still bold move".
"Thanks" Sonic said not knowing what else to say.
Afterwards the 2 safari goers returned to the exit with their catches.
"I didn't manage to get a chance at dratini or dragonair but it's ok. Pinsir is just as good".
"I agree" Sonic said "though I wonder how I will train this one. It's very wild and I just took it from its home in a way".
"I'm sure it will warm up to you. Predatory pokemon make some of the strongest team members for a reason. Hard to tame. But if you do tame them, you will send fear into your opponent's heart".
"True" Sonic agreed again.
After shaking hands again and bidding farewell to each other as Leo was to leave Kanto the next day, Sonic returned to the pokemon center for the night, beat by the day's events. Hunting pokemon was a rush and somewhat dangerous.
"I do have to admit though. Confronting Pinsir right then and there did feel good" he murmured as he petted raichu who was grumpy at not having the chance to battle any of the safari pokemon.
"Don't worry partner. You'll get to train with our new team member tomorrow. Our other friends too" he said as he looked to his remaining 3 pokeballs as well as the one safari ball. The training session that was to come would surely be interesting.
