Should have brought a hardhat.

[Alex]

Alex couldn't believe that it was hailing, it was at least fairly light hail so he was able to use his trench-coat as cover to an extent. What the hell was up with Johto's weather? He was missing good old Kanto even more by this point.

On top of that the hail would hurt his Pokemon if he released them from their Pokeballs so he had no one to talk to/at with the weather how it was. He'd barely reached the area of Cherrygrove when the hail had started, he was just glad that he'd seen it before any had hit him.

But because of the hail, Alex had gone off the path leading to Cherrygrove, having taken the added protection of tree cover over a clear path. It helped, and gave rest to his hands, which were both numb and sore from the hail hitting them when he held up his coat.

Nothing seemed to be broken, but he was sure that he'd have several bruises later. He was fairly happy about not running into any Pokemon, or insane Trainers for that matter, not something he really wanted to deal with at the moment, though that applied much more to the latter.

Any Pokemon that was still out here would at least be looking for shelter, possibly making them less resistant to going into a Pokeball. The Trainers would just be nuts if they wanted to sit out here and Battle with the hail coming down like this.

He'd been pondering leaving any of them that wanted to Battle out here to get a concussion, wasn't as if he was required to bring them to safety anyway. Still it hadn't actually come up, and he'd probably knock them out and drag them to cover anyway, wouldn't be right to leave them out here.

That was of course excluding Rockets, if indeed there were any in the area. He'd be more than happy to let them remain out here with no head-cover at all on their person.

If he was lucky though, the hail would let up, or he'd reach the police station, Pokemon Center, or PokeMart shortly. For now, he continued on his way through the city streets.

[Kataya]

The hail that beat down on the Cherrygrove streets was something most people decided they did not want to be outside in, so many were shielded in stores and houses, wherever they could seek shelter. A Skitty that had been hiding in a garbage can knocked it over and dashed past Alex, taking over under an awning to a shop.

The town was fairly quiet, except for one strange noise. Something was churning under the ground, and the sound could only get louder as Alex made his way forward. It was like the noise was following him. Finally, whatever had been hiding itself for so long popped out. It would have startled any small child, but maybe its trick hadn’t worked so well, like it had intended.

A small Mole Pokémon twisted its body around as it sat in front of Alex, waiting for him to do something. It was unaffected by the hail, at the moment, since it had been traveling underground the entire. It had felt the vibration of Alex’s walking from below, and decided that it wanted to have a little fun. But then it stopped and thought of something? What if this guy wasn’t so amused by its joke? Worse, what if he didn’t get it?!
____________________________________________________________
Info

A Wild Diglett (Level 9) has appeared!

[Alex]

Alex hadn't really heard the Diglett due to the hail, but he felt it, and when it popped up, as if to surprise him, he was less than amused. On top of his mind being on more important things, like getting in contact with headquarters, the Diglett was not being very funny, he had no idea what it hoped to gain by exposing itself to the hail like this. But he was still thinking about if he'd Battle it, since he didn't have a single Pokemon on him that would do well in the hail, but by that same token he didn't have one that would do horribly either.

He could send any of them out and they'd all suffer equally, but he knew that Diglett was of the Ground-Type, which meant his best bet was likely his Bulbasaur due to the Ground-Type's weakness to Grass-Types. Plus if the Diglett got hit by the hail, it would take even more damage from that as well, causing it to faint much sooner, or allow Alex to capture the thing. He'd used them before, years ago, and wasn't a huge fan of them, but the Ground-Type did have it's uses.

Plus even with the hail, Sunder could use the experience for now anyway. The closer he got to evolving the better. So Alex grabbed the Pokeball containing the Bulbasaur off his belt, and enlarged it before throwing it toward the Diglett to release the Pokemon for the Battle. "Sorry about the weather Sunder, but you're my best bet for this Battle. At least the Diglett and I will be out in it at the same time. Anyway, I want you to start off with your Vine Whip. We won't waste any time because of the hail."

Alex knew that Grass Pokemon were bad against Ice, but that this technically wouldn't do more damage to Bulbasaur compared to the Diglett, but Sunder could possibly be bothered emotionally by the ice much more than the Diglett. If it got too bad he knew that he'd need to swap out the Bulbasaur for one of his Pokemon that would have no reason to fear ice. Uziel used an Ice-type move, so he'd be good, Zorro would probably hold the Diglett above him to absorb the hail, which would be amusing to see if nothing else, and Arawn would likely find it annoying, but he'd deal with it.

Krieger had the same issue as Sunder, but without that offensive Type advantage on the Diglett to help her end the Battle sooner. She'd be a last resort at best, if the others were somehow defeated he might use her in this Battle, more likely though would be escaping from this thing if it got that bad. Foe now all he could do was wait for the Battle to actually get underway when the two Pokemon would attack each other.

[latani]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Diglett looked disappointed as nothing but mild surprise registered on the man's face. It would have slunk away in defeat had he not released a Bulbasaur into the cascading hail. It stared at Sunder, deep in thought, wondering what kind of opponent the reptilian plant would be as Alex reasoned with his partner to get him to cope with the pellets of ice showering them from above. They bounced off of the Diglett's rounded head, which it ignored as it felt a thrill at the thought of being able to get a battle in before the weather get worse.

Sunder was getting ready to release a slender vine to lash out with when he saw the Diglett retreat into the ground. He paused, red eyes sliding about anxiously for a sign where the small mole might pop up. It suddenly burst out of the ground beside him, uttering a loud shriek. Despite his training, Sunder couldn't resist yelping in fright and leaping away, heart skipping several beats. The Astonish attack certainly did what it was named for.

The Ground type snickered as it disappeared underground again and emerged from where it had originally been, only to find itself facing a long, green whip whistling in its direction. Sunder's vine lashed deeply into the Diglett's side, eliciting a pained cry from the mole, before retreating into his bulb. The Bulbasaur shook his head as slightly larger, bullet-like hail pinged off of his cranium, inflicting a bit more damage to what he'd already received. The bright side was that the same happened to his opponent too.

Wild Pokémon Battle

---

Wild Diglett: | Level 9 |
Health: 26% (6/23 HP)
Status: LOLBOO; Normal
Diglett was struck by hail!

The weather is currently: Hail

Alex's Sunder: | Level 9 |
Health: 72% (21/29 HP)
Status: Oh god my poor heart...; Normal
Sunder was struck by hail!

[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[Alex]

The result of the attack, combined with the hail, was rather nice. The Diglett seemed to be very low on it's energy, while Sunder still had most of his reserves untouched by either the Diglett or the hail. It was quite clear how this Battle would end up for both parties, and Alex figured that it would be pointless to extend this one-sided Battle longer than it needed to last. It'd be like adding insult to the injury, even more so if he'd had Sunder use non-damaging attacks.

Since he was planning to catch the Diglett, making it hate him right off the bat from actions like that were counter-productive since he did plan on using it, along with the rest of his Pokemon, just not right away. But considering the dangers of their job, he'd need "replacements" ready in case of serious wounds or fatalities. Plus for type advantages for normal Battles.

So Alex grabbed a Pokeball from his bag, "Keep out of the way Sunder, we're gonna catch this thing." he said before throwing the Pokeball at the Diglett. He wanted the Battle to end so they could get out of the hail before some really big ones started hitting them, which made him wonder if the hail would knock the Pokeball off it's course.

[Sarai Smythe]

Sunder shifted to the side as Alex whipped out his arm, sending the pokeball spinning through the air. His concern over the hail was certainly a valid one, and both trainer and bulbasaur watched as the ball slaunched sidewise midair, pelted by hail. The diglett ducked into its hole as soon as it saw the sphere flying through the air, leaving behind only a hole. For a few, long instants, it seemed as though Alex may have missed out on his chance, the pokemon vanishing before the capture device could even reach it!

The ball shifted over and down, its arc curving strangely thanks to the pelting of the tiny bits of ice- and fell right down the hole left by the diglett’s Astonish attack!

Both Alex and Sunder were left to look at an empty bit of road with several holes with it, the only sound audible to them that of many tiny hunks and bits of ice bouncing off of the ground (and each other, and the buildings, and trash cans).... actually, the hail was pretty loud.

This might explain why both of them were surprised again by the diglett, as it punched up out of the ground between the two, the pokeball Alex had thrown balanced precariously on its head.

”Gliggalig gliggalig glig glig glig!” The mole pokemon cheered, shifting through the dirt in a quick circle around both Sunder and Alex, rolling the ball the whole way atop its head, almost as if to mock the two.....


And then it rolled it -just so-, and blinked as its nose depressed the trigger button, causing the sphere to snap open.

With a bright red flash, the diglett was sucked into the ball, which continued rolling gently away from the hole the brown pokemon had occupied.

The button on the ball glowed red as the ball rolled to a stop, jiggling and jittering like it was full of joltiks hopped up on caffeine- and then stopped.

For a moment, it lay still...

And then the button glowed red, and it shook and-

No, no, the capture light turned off.

And this time it stayed off.

---

You have captured a Diglett!
To complete your capture, please fill out and post this form:


[img]http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/pokemon/050.png[/img]
[b]Diglett[/b]
Name: (Name)
Gender: [color=blue]Male[/color] ||| [color=pink]Female[/color]
Level: 9
Attacks: Scratch, [color=FFCC66]Sand Attack[/color], Growl, [color=663399]Astonish[/color]
Ability: Arena Trap OR Sand Veil
Nature/Personality: (Pick/Describe)


[Alex]

Diglett
Name: Quark
Gender: Male
Level: 9
Attacks: Scratch, Sand Attack, Growl, Astonish
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature/Personality: Naughty

[Updated, I also updated the levels Sarai missed.]

---

Alex wasn't thrilled that he'd caught a Diglett, he had caught one when he'd been younger, plus he didn't really plan to use it too much, but if nothing else the hail wasn't coming down as hard now. There were still a few patches where hail was coming down, but nothing major that he could see. As he walked through the city, he had found the police station and reported in, to find that he'd been given a few more Pokemon to add to his current duty roster. It was a nice surprise, and he decided to bring along one of them, the Aron he'd traded a girl for, and the Poochyena he'd traded a younger Trainer for.

The new Pokemon he brought, a Swinub, was of the Ice-Type, so it'd do well in the hail if nothing else. From what he'd been told, along with being immune to the hail, it was better at evading attacks in hail as well. Which would be a very useful ability, at least in the current weather anyway, but the data did say that it could be taught how to make it's own hail as well, so that would make it more useful to keep around. Though he did feel a bit bad about the name.

His Poochyena, would greatly help with his duties. Dogs were always great for police work, plus Mato had the advantage of not being a Growlithe, so Alex felt he could work with this dog. Since he was of the Dark-Type, he'd also be useful if Arawn went out of control, though that probably wasn't likely to happen. From what he'd heard about the Poochyena, he loved to fight and he was loyal, so Alex was expecting him to fit right into police work.

The Aron, who had the nickname Erin, would be his defensive "tank", she was Steel and Rock-Type, so she could take a beating. She wasn't too strong yet, but he knew what she'd grow into later on, and she'd be able to give as good as she got at that point. For now though, she could stand to get a bit stronger, but again, she'd still be great to use defensively, she could stall for time if he needed to treat one of his other Pokemon or take care of something else.

He'd grabbed something to eat for himself and his Pokemon while he was at the station, it was a local PD so they didn't have a section for officers of the IPO, but they could get in contact with the HQ in Goldenrod, so it worked out anyway. He wasn't there to sit around for too long anyway, just checking in for a progress report. He hadn't been told about anything to major, which was nice, since it meant he didn't need to stay in Cherrygrove to deal with anything.

He would need to get moving again, but for now he needed to get his Pokemon some more experience from Battles, so he went out into Route 30 to look for something, or someone to have a Battle with to get them stronger.

[The REAL Joey]

If it was a confrontation Alex was striving to encounter, then it would be perhaps a fortune occurrence that was about to unfold or more accurately, rope him in. The lands had been recently pelted by a harsh barrage of hailstones and a dusting of snow by the recent blizzard which had stormed through. Having subsided somewhat and leaving behind thick snow clouds in its wake, it meant that a number of brave souls were daring to venture out and frolic about in the snow. After all, it was a rare opportunity indeed to experience the chilly delights of snow first hand in these areas. Patrolling on down Route 30's etched pathway, it seemed that a youngster off in the distance was distraught by something. His palpitated fear would be put on hold for the time being as he rushed towards Alex in a desperate bid for help. Whether the keen eyed youngster had seen through Alex's true identity as a policeman or was just so troubled that he needed help from any passing stranger was left open to debate but as he came within feet of the male, the youngster doubled over, breathing heavily as he tried to wheeze through his plight.

"HEY MISTER! I *wheeze* Am so *wheeze* Glad that someone else was about. I was *wheeze* Enjoying some time out here in the snow..." Standing up and pulling a strained face, it seemed he had caught up with his exhausted breath. More so surprising was the fact this youngster was clad in typical attire of a kid his age, it was just odd to think he could withstand such chills while wearing just a pair of shorts. "And I was about to send out my Pokemon when this strange goopey green monster came outta nowhere and ate my Pokemon!! You gotta help mister, ya just gotta!" Panicking as the experience flashed through his mind, he gestured with a jolt of his head in the direction the scene had played out. "I was mindin' my own business too! I did nothing to provoke it." Most young boys may have been known to agitate matters but the boy seemed truthful enough. Unbeknownst to them both it appeared, a recent swarm of wild Gulpin had immigrated to the area for whatever reason.

"C'mon! It'll eat my Pokemon!" As he charged off willing for Alex to follow after him, it wasn't long before he caught up with the oddity in question. Having not got very far thanks to all the snow, the green monster had left a disgusting trail of slime behind its track as if corroding through the snow with a potent acid. Unfortunately, even with the corrosive acid working in its favour, Gulpin were never known for their lithe athleticism. Stopping and turning around to see what all the commotion was behind it, the green stomach sac almost jumped into the air at surprise of the trainer coming back for his Pokemon. Well renowned for the fact they could dissolve anything in a mere matter of minutes, the Gulpin was a bit sore over the fact it was having trouble digesting the Pokeball it had swallowed from earlier. Its body bloated by the spherical capture device, it tried to make itself look intimidating but if anything, came off as goofy despite its attempt. "That's the no good monster, mister! Can you get my Pokemon back? Please? I'd do it myself but... That was my only Pokemon."



Encounter

---

A naughty Gulpin (Level 10) has appeared!
Please select a Pokemon for battle.
Hail will be in effect.

[Alex]

Alex was surprised when a young boy in shorts had come running over to him, and said that his Pokemon had been eaten by some goopey green monster. Alex didn't know what it was, since he'd never seen anything like what the boy had mentioned, but he was assuming that it was a Pokemon of some kind. But it was surprising to see what the boy was wearing, the weather should necessitate a better form of clothing, though maybe the boy was wearing it just because he didn't know better, but he didn't have any bruises on him so he might just stick to areas with some kind of cover.

Though that didn't matter, as before he could say anything to the boy, he ran back the way he came, wanting Alex to follow him to where the monster was supposed to be. So Alex followed the boy, even if he knew he couldn't trust every word the boy said in case it was a trap, it was his duty to try rendering aid to those who needed it. It wasn't likely to be a trap though, most people wouldn't lie in wait without proper clothing or cover on them all the time, all the same he wasn't about to lower his guard just because it was a kid that had approached him.

As he ran after the boy, Alex saw what appeared to be a trail of slime, likely leading away from where the boy had been. It hadn't been long after that, that they saw a small green "goo" slowly moving along the ground, which the boy pointed out as the monster. It looked bloated, but for all Alex knew that was how it normally looked, it then turned to face them once it heard them, and Alex decided that it had to be a Pokemon of some kind, so he pulled out his Pokedex, and scanned the creature.

The small device told him that the goo was called "Gulpin", it was known as the Stomach Pokemon, and it was of the Poison-Type. The worst thing it said though was that the Pokemon digested anything it ate in a very short time, though compared to the display this one did in fact look bloated, so maybe it wasn't digesting it as quickly since it was in a Pokeball. Either way it meant that he couldn't waste any time in trying to save the boy's Pokemon.

So he grabbed a Pokeball off his belt, and threw it to release the Pokemon that was inside of it, a Swinub that he'd named Rudolph, it had been a Pokemon that Team Rocket had experimented on, and he'd had it given to him while he was at the Cherrygrove police station. He needed to get some practice with the Pokemon, plus being of the Ground Type meant that this Poison Pokemon would be at a disadvantage, and he was Dual-Type Ice, so the Hail shouldn't bother him too much either.

Alex just hoped that he could win without Rudolph being swallowed by the Pokemon as well, he'd probably be fine as long as this thing had the Pokeball inside itself, so he'd need to try winning before the Gulpin spat out the Pokeball and tried to eat Rudolph. "Alright, I'll do what I can to try saving your Pokemon, just stay back so you don't get hurt." Alex said to the boy, making sure he didn't promise to save the Pokemon unharmed, he'd learned long ago not to make a promise like that.

He then turned to the Gulpin, "Alright Rudolph, we'll need to hurry up and beat this thing senseless, I want you to start with your Powder Snow for now." he said to his Pokemon. It wasn't the strongest attack in the world, but he knew that it's other effect could be useful in the Battle.

[Sky]

The bloated Gulpin puffed itself up further, trying to make itself look as intimidating as possible. Damn it all, it had been this close to getting away with a tasty snack... Sure, the Pokeball had a metallic aftertaste, but once it dissolved, the Pokemon inside would be forced out. That would be the tasty part. And it didn't understand why this kid was getting all upset. Pokemon had to eat sometime. Why did this brat have to interfere?

The Gulpin jumped a bit as Rudolph burst forth from his Pokeball, his antlers held high. The gluttonous Pokemon frowned, a bit disappointed that it wasn't going to be able to eat this Pokemon as easily. The wild Pokemon eyed the antlers, wondering if the Swinub was going to ram them into its stomach. That wouldn't end well for either party. Luckily (or rather, unluckily, as it turned out), Rudolph was ordered not to use his antlers, much to his chagrin. Instead, the tiny reindeer-mole hybrid opened its mouth and expelled a rather forceful blast of snow, knocking the Gulpin backwards and coating it in a layer of frost.

Shivering from the attack, the Gulpin slowly righted itself, now even more annoyed with the meddling brat who had brought this man. The cold would slow down the gluttonous beast's digestion, which meant that the Gulpin would have to wait longer for its tasty snack. Narrowing its eyes at the strange Swinub, the Gulpin tried to force itself to move quick enough to attack, but to no avail. The icy attack had also slowed the creature down even more, if that was possible. Feeling rather drowsy, the Gulpin merely opened its large mouth wide, letting loose a dark purple cloud from the depths of its belly. The gas quickly encircled Rudolph, and while the mole quickly escaped the gas, the damage had already been done. The Reindeer Swinub swayed slightly, feeling rather nauseous and sickly. His head pounded as the poison worked its way into his body, sending pricks of pain from inside every couple of seconds.

---

Battle!
(Weather = Hail)

Wild Gulpin | level 10 |
Health : 78% (29/37 HP)
Status : Normal
Attack : A successful Poison Gas
Gulpin is damaged by hail!

VS

Alex's Rudolph | level 10 |
Health : 94% (31/33 HP)
Status : Poisoned
Attack : A successful Powder Snow
Rudolph is hurt by poison!

[Alex]

First round in and his Pokemon had been poisoned, it wasn't that bad but it wasn't a start that he liked either. He wasn't too worried about what the wild Pokemon could do in terms of damage, as he knew the thing was the Poison-Type, whereas his Pokemon was dual Ice/Ground-Types and resistant to Poison attacks. It was just a shame that it wasn't an immunity to Poison, if left alone the poison could become a problem, plus it would make his Pokemon dislike him in his opinion anyway.

Plus the Poison could cause some problems as the Battle went on longer. The thing couldn't damage Rudolph, but he didn't have any Ground attacks that would effectively damage the Gulpin either so the Battle could take a while, his moves would still be more effective though so he was pretty confident that it'd go well, but there wasn't really a reason to potentially make things worse by ignoring the Poison even if he doubted it'd change much.

So he pulled an Antidote out of his bag and sprayed the medicine onto his Pokemon to take care of the poison. He hoped that the thing didn't just poison Rudolph right after this, but there was nothing he could do about that anyway, if it did he'd just need to go on the offensive instead. He'd never win if he didn't attack, and clearing the poison every time would do more harm than good since he'd be unable to do any damage.

The Gulpin didn't seem to do so well in the hail though so that combined with being part Ground-Type gave Rudolph a clear advantage, but Alex knew that having the advantage didn't always translate to a win, he'd just need to react as the Battle continued for now.

[Sky]

Rudolph seemed to sigh slightly in relief as the Antidote started to take effect, shaking his tiny body as he felt the sickening feeling of the poison leaving his system. The effects were almost instantaneous, and the Antlered Swinub was standing a bit taller now, looking more ready to battle than he had been just a few seconds earlier.

The Gulpin seemed even more irritated when it saw that its poisoning had been for naught. A spiteful part of the gluttonous creature wanted to try poisoning the reindeer-like Swinub again, but even this dull-witted creature knew that trying the same trick twice never worked. Instead, the Gulpin heaved itself into motion, bouncing along as it moved toward Rudolph. With each bounce it got higher and gained more momentum, until suddenly it was right upon the Swinub. With a flip, the Gulpin slammed its fin-like appendage against Rudolph's nose. Rudolph flinched, a slight whine slipping out of his mouth before he regained his composure, shaking his head and waiting for his orders.

---

Battle!
(Weather = Hail)

Wild Gulpin | level 10 |
Health : 73% (27/37 HP)
Status : Normal
Attack : A successful Pound
Gulpin is damaged by hail!

VS

Alex's Rudolph | level 10 |
Health : 79% (26/33 HP)
Status : Normal
Attack : Antidote used

[Alex]

Rudolph seemed to be doing pretty good and was no longer poisoned so Alex felt ready to go on the offensive again. "Alright Rudolph, I want you to use a Tackle this time. Try to make this thing spit out the Poké Ball if you can, we don't want it to start digesting it." he said to his Swinub, hoping that the Pokémon would be able to hit the opponent with enough force to get the Poké Ball out of it's stomach.

If that failed his best bet would be to knock the thing out and try to get the Poké Ball out without poisoning himself or getting the corrosive fluids inside the thing on his hands. Even without the stomach acid this thing had, he knew how dangerous it was to touch Poison-Type Pokémon with your bare hands. If it came to that, he'd be better off getting Erin to help him since she was immune to Poison. She probably wouldn't like the hail, but he doubted that she would be hurt by it very much either due to her hard body.

Beating this thing would be good experience for Rudolph, but his priority had to be getting the Poké Ball out of it. That was the entire reason he was here after all, and it was his duty anyway. Dragging the Battle out might cause the boy's Pokémon to be harmed if the Poké Ball got damaged, and Alex didn't want to be responsible for someone losing a Pokémon.

[Kataya]

Route 30 (?)  Weather Effect: Hail

Gulpin was quite happy with the ball in its stomach. It was quite excited to be full with such a glorious meal. Yes, yes absolutely glorious! It wiggled a bit just thinking about the next time it would eat something so good. But it was clear, or would be in a minute, that Alex and his Swinub didn't feel quite the same way. Rudolph was already preparing at Alex's command, tucking in an stepping back a little, before charging at the Gulpin. The Gulpin felt the swinub collide with its stomach and in moments, its perfect meal left its stomach. It flew out, and the Pokeball sailed until it landed on the floor, rolling the rest of the way. It was caked in mud and Gulpin's stomach fluids when it finally came to a stop at Alex's feet. The Gulpin was beside itself. Why would they make it...give back such a beautiful meal? Angry, it let loose on the Swinub, smacking at it with a pound attack that made the poor Swinub reel back, quickly making the way back to Alex's side of the battle area. ---- Battle! Wild Gulpin |Level 10| HP: 16/37 HP Status: Normal Gulpin used Pound! Gulpin was hurt by hail! I was still eating that. VS. Alex's Rudolph |Level 10| HP: 16/33 HP Status:Normal Rudolph used Tackle! What did that even taste like?

made by redox of gs

[Alex]

Alex was pretty pleased to see that his plan had worked, as the Gulpin spat out the Poké Ball and the item landed next to him. The Poison-type had landed a hit on Rudolph but he still seemed to be up for continuing the Battle even with the damage. "Nice hit Rudolph, I want you to do that again. Hit it with a second Tackle. But try to keep that thing away from the Poké Ball, I don't want it to swallow this thing again." he said to the Ground/Ice type.

Alex then knelt down and started to wipe the Poké Ball off with his overcoat. He didn't want to touch it with his bare hands and wasn't about to let the kid grab it in that condition. Speaking of the kid, he figured that he should let the boy know that his Pokémon was safe now. "I've got your Pokémon kid, the Poké Ball is intact so it's probably fine. Just let me get it cleaned off for you." he said, taking a quick look at the kid first to see what he was doing. He didn't look like he was up to anything, but Alex still didn't know enough to rule out an ambush.

All he had to do now was deal with the Gulpin before it went for one of his own Poké Balls or something, but he was sure it was too busy with Rudolph to try that again. It had apparently swallowed the boy's Poké Ball in ambush, which was vaetly different from doingnit in the middle of a Battle.