Tal was a little taken aback as the gardevoir suddenly addressed him. What was she saying? He hadn't even said those words- Did she read his thoughts? The idea made him uncomfortable- it felt invasive, to have someone poking around in his mind. Years of having to work with others- humans and pokemon, often upset or scared- let him put aside his own defensiveness for a moment. Looking back on his own thought, he could see why it would be upsetting. It would hurt his feelings too, if someone implied he wasn't a real person. He had worked with Pokemon a lot, and many weren't like this Gardevoir. The mareep that his parents herded certainly weren't, and a lot of the pokemon he rescued as a ranger acted more like animals than humans. But Pokemon could vary in intelligence, and it was always important to treat them as individuals.
He raised his hands. "I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. Or, rather, I didn't express myself well. Pokemon are worthy of respect- I truly believe that, as a ranger." He knew it could vary, but sometimes he felt rangers could be even more aligned with pokemon than trainers, some of whom seemed to think pokemon were tools to be used or dominated. "Stylers don't capture like pokeballs do. They simply convey the ranger's intentions to a pokemon. When I use a styler on a pokemon, it tends to be for the pokemons own safety." It could range anywhere from pet skitty stuck in trees, to rescuing pokemon from a natural disaster like an earthquake. "Or to work together with them". He had befriended mudkip and buizel to put out fires. It made wild pokemon feel more like his neighbors. "I simply meant that, well... I wouldn't really have to use a styler to get my intentions across to someone like Christina, since we could communicate in words. Something that's possible for you as well, but not always with other wild pokemon. I have some practice talking with pokemon as well. But, well... it's not always feasible." Sure, an intelligent phsycic type like her was in a different league compared to gogoat wo got their heads stuck in fenceposts.