The sun was dropping rapidly, the radiance of the sunset giving way to growing shadows. Eleyna chased Growlithe as best she could, but he was incredibly quick, dodging through the grass like he had been born in the fields. She gave only a single glance back towards the camp, which was now small in the distance. Any hesitation that such distance would have caused her, any momentary reconsideration of her safety so far away was quieted by her desire to prove to this Growlithe what she was made of.<br/><br/>The herd of Pidgey was nearly within a stone's throw when Eleyna stopped, crouched down in the tall grass which had become a thicket of shadows and dark. She looked for the Growlithe, but couldn't see him till a slight fluttering of the the nearby grass and a momentary dart of white hair gave him away. The Pidgey hadn't noticed yet, though. She saw one bobbing around in the grass, pecking at the dirt. It was bobbing slowly away from the flock. Eleyna rose up slowly, looking at the grass, watching it move as the Growlithe circled behind, close to the herd, putting himself between the lone Pidgey and the rest.<br/><br/><i>Of course!</i>Eleyna thought as she observed.<i>Separate one from the herd.</i>She felt her heart beating in her chest, knew that this was it, this was her moment. In only a brief few seconds she would be a trainer issuing commands and her and Growlithe would be a team, a<i>real</i>team!<br/><br/>And then it happened, a sudden burst of movement. The Pidgey startled, tried to take flight, but Growlithe was on top of it, bringing his paws down, smacking it out of the air. The Pidgey tried to recover, but before it had the chance, Growlithe hit it again with a tackle, knocking it to the ground.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Yes! Go! Tackle!</span>Eleyna shouted.<br/><br/>The Growlithe turned, a fierce look in his eye as he brought his paw around scratching at the Pidgey as it spread its wings, making it tuck one back in to protect itself.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Tackle!</span>She shouted again. The herd of Pidgey's looked up from the dirt, two dozen avian faces all turning to look.<br/><br/>Growlithe looked at her, annoyed. In the brief moment he had his eyes turned on Eleyna, the Pidgey acted, coming in with its talons, scratching across the canine's exposed flank. Growlithe growled in pain and snapped at the Pidgey, missing, and quickly reorienting.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Quick, use Growl! Weaken it!</span>Eleyna ordered.<br/><br/>The Growlithe looked at her, angry, snarling to tell her to shut up and let him handle the fight. The Pidgey came in at him while he had his back turned, hard. It rammed him with tackle, throwing him down, spread its wings and took flight, blasting him with a gust as it rose, cawing angrily.<br/><br/>Eleyna raised her hand to her face to protect her eyes from the sudden gust.<i>Why wasn't he doing what she said? This wasn't how it was supposed to go!</i>All around her was suddenly a flurry of sound, of wing beats and Pidgey calls, She lowered her hand and, in a sudden shock of cold fear that made sweat begin beading on her, she realized that the flock had risen, and they weren't retreating. She jerked painfully as she felt Something hit her in the back, throwing her to the ground. Feathers hit her face as the Pidgey flew back up. She pushed herself up, half laying on the ground and shivered in fear as she looked at the swarm circling in the last rays of light, eyes flashing down at her, screeching, cawing in anger. It was loud,<i>it was so loud!</i><br/><br/>One dove at Growlithe, another, he dodged, snapped, missed. Another, and another, a gust caught him, threw him off balance, a Pidgey hit him. He roared as Eleyna had never heard him do before, roared in fury. She looked on in horror as a glow began, flames licking from his jaws as he took in a deep breathe, snarling, saw a Pidgey coming in at him, and opened his mouth. Eleyna squinted as the night air turned to day, the Pidgey being consumed in a jet of fire. The Swarm rose and fell on Growlithe, and he spun, cutting his flamethrower across the sky, cinders and smoke spraying as he burned a swathe through the Pidgey. The flames fell, ignited the earth, the grass field catching fire. The Pidgey leveled gusts down at the attacker, the wind catching the flames, fueling them, make them jump and spread, turning the grass into a raging inferno.<br/><br/>Eleyna screamed and curled up as the fire spread around her.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>As Steven made his way into the valley, the light rapidly gave way to dark. Pokemon nestled and rested in hidden places, just as other arose in the night, ready to prowl. As Steven continued, the sounds of night became interspersed with the sound of grass parting nearby, but upon observation, no source could be determined. Yet, each step taken seemed to yield a response, as though something were keeping just out of sight in the tall grass. He was being hunted.<br/><br/>Soon enough the source made itself known, a Poochyena burst from the grass! Charging him! As the Pokemon readied and attack, there was a sudden burst of light from further in the valley, a flash of fire cutting into the night. The Poochyena was caught off guard, and hesitated, creating an opening for either attack or escape!<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>