Alaric was enjoying the scenery. This was the start to his adventure after all, and the sight of the plains was a fresh one to him. Whilst there was plenty of Pokemon and trainers around, he just felt like there was so much space to walk around. The soft feeling of the grass beneath his feet, the breeze on his face, everything just felt far better than it usually did. He was enjoying soaking in the moment when he realised he'd walked too close to a Patrat nest, and a rather overzealous one began to attack Alaric. Feeling slightly guilty but seeing it as an opportunity for battle, he sent out his Ralts to defeat it.
After the battle, Alaric was surprised by the wild Pokemon's strength. He'd also realised how important type match ups were, even in battles with wild Pokemon. He'd have to keep in mind that Emil was far more formidable against these normal type Pokemon than Lance was. Nevertheless, he took a short 10 minute break to apply a potion to Lance and carried on prowling through the plains, looking for more battles to be had.
The deeper she went, the darker the woods had gotten, although this was still a rather small island. She found herself soon seeing the sea again. Just a glance and she could see schools of Tentacool and even a Tentacruel bit further off, around her immediately were the usual fare of bug and poison types, or grass and poison. In particular she spotted a Roselia dancing for a small group of Budew and Oddish. If she were to move a bit closer towards the clearing that she could barely spot, there would be maybe a few Bulbasaurs there too. A slightly dryer area to her left would reveal a Salandit, Toxicroak, and Skorupi. It seems this little island really was full of all kinds of Poison types. She had free choice on which group to approach, likely there may be other water poison types lurking beneath the water too, but that in of itself was a risk.
As Lachlan ventured deeper into the forest, the sounds of birds and bugs steadily died down around him as he looked for more Pokemon to battle or capture. These noises were instead replaced with the sound of buzzing, steadily growing stronger as he unwittingly made his way closer and closer to a nest of Weedle and Combee. Soon enough he would find himself stopping as the forest sounds died out around him, leaving him in complete silence. When he looked around, he would see a myriad of bug eyes watching him from all sides, Weedle and Combee all around watching him to see what he would do next and where he would go. And then, one Beedrill ominously buzzed from the trees towards him, stinger brandished as she prepared to defend her hive.
Beedrill ♀ Battle Experience: 7 Moves: Twineedle Fury Attack Rage String Shot Notes: This Beedrill seems haughty and gives off the aura of royalty, bug royalty anyhow.
An important lesson learned on Alaric's part, he set off into the Plains once again after healing up his Pokemon of their wounds, wandering around to look for more interesting Pokemon. While his battle with the Patrat had scared off most of the Pokemon in the area, he would eventually notice he had a bit of a fan in a Phanphy that was following from a distance and watching him very curiously. Eventually he would lose track of the thing, only to find it a few minutes later in his path as an Ice Shard planted itself in the ground in front of him, looking determined to battle against the trainer who had so handily dispatched the Patrat which terrorized anyone who got even close to the nest.
Phanphy ♀ Battle Experience: 7 Moves: Tackle Defense Curl Rollout Ice Shard Notes: Flecks of frost dust this Phanphy's coat, indicating that one it's parents was an ice type of some sort. Seems like it has something to prove in challenging Alaric.
Arsenic island truly was a sight to behold. Such an abundance of wild Pokémon in such a small area; Henrietta had barely been here an hour and already she had seen a dozen or more different varieties of Pokémon. It wasn’t just that the area was kind to Poison-types in general, it even had differing locations that supported different kinds of Poison Pokémon; Water-types, Grass-types, Flying-types and more could all coexist in the same place. Henrietta had heard that this place was specifically set up to be a home for these Pokémon and the results were apparent in the diversity she was seeing now.
It meant that she had her choice of opponents when it came to training her Pokémon, which was lovely but left her spoilt for choice. Atlas was still raring to go and the Salandit or Toxicroak would be a good challenge for him but she also wished to train her other Pokémon, especially her Gligar who had yet to take part in any battles whatsoever. The Budew or Oddish would probably be best in that regard, but there were so many of them and the Roselia might take exception to her trying to battle them. In which case, perhaps a double battle was called for?
Retrieving another Pokeball from her bag, Henrietta released her youngest Pokémon from its confines, the resulting flash of white light fading to reveal a small, pink Pokémon with features of both a bat and a scorpion. Upon appearing the Gligar took a moment to take stock of his surroundings, looking curiously at the trees and Pokémon, before spotting Henrietta; with a smile on its face the Gligar jumped up on Atlas’s back and used the Mudbray as a stepping stone to then jump into Henrietta’s arms, leaving the other Pokémon to look somewhat affronted. The trainer caught the young Pokemon easily, having expect the reaction, sparing one hand to pat Atlas’ head reassuringly. “Are you ready for your first battle Gregor? Atlas? Do you think you can keep an eye on Gregor while taking care of your own opponent?”
Both Pokemon nodded, Gregor enthusiastically and Atlas with a slow assuredness, leaving Henrietta to smile at them both. The trainer held her arms out in order to give the Gligar a jumping off point to reach the branches above them, the Flying-type spreading its arms to glide further. Pointing towards the small group of Budew and Oddish and the dancing Roselia, Henrietta directed her Pokémon into battle. “Okay Gregor, Poison Sting. Atlas, be ready to intercept.” The Gligar opened its mouth and shot forth a spray of little purple needles in the direction of his trainer’s pointing finger, more spread out than the concentrated stream the Nidoran had used earlier and missing more shots than hit.
Definitely unused to battle, but this would hopefully help change that.
When you step out of the pokemon center, you can't help but wonder where you should go. You could always return to Britannium park, but going back there a third time seems a litte... stagnant? You've seen the sights, you've battled the people, and while there's surely more trainers to be had, "it would be nice if I could find a battle on my way out of town..."
"Oh? You're looking for a battle, are you? I'm on my lunch break, so I'll take you on!"
You turn to find a man in a business suit of sorts, holding a pokeball. You were just talking to yourself, as one tends to do off-screen and never actually on-screen unless it is narratively relevant, but this is quite serendipitous indeed. You suppose it's par for the course, being an international league, for trainers to be all over the place. Well, actually, considering their suit, maybe they're just a native of the region? Well, it doesn't really matter who they are, you're just happy to finally get a chance to battle with an adult for once. Not to say that children can't excel in the art of pokemon battling - there were plenty of famous young champions after all, but most gym leaders and elite four are adults. Maybe there's significance to the pattern, maybe there isn't, but either way, you want to know if it feels different, battling against someone your own age. "Yeah! That'd be-"
Before you can finish your sentence, you're interrupted by a girl stepping between the two of you, wearing similar formal attire to the man. She adjusts her glasses in such a way that her they catch the light, obscuring her eyes with the glare and making her face hard to read. "Mind if I join in?"
"Eh? Jenn? Are you on break too?"
She answers matter-of-factly, "I am now."
"Uhhh..." The man seems uncertain, but this is no problem for you. "I don't mind. In fact, I've been meaning to try double battles for a while now, since I intend to try being a coordinator. What do you guys say? Two against one?"
Jenn responds before the man has a chance to. "I find those terms agreeable." The man seems to want to say something, but Jenn is already sending out her pokemon. "Go Snubbull."
You respond in kind. "Go, Sepher! Demetori!"
The man puts a hand on the back of his neck before relenting. "Go, Houndour." It only occurs to you after he sends out his pokemon that he never actually said whether he's okay with a double battle or not... Oh well, he seems to be rolling with it.
It’s your first time double battling, so you’re a bit apprehensive, but in moments like these, you like to break the ice immediately, with the basics if nothing else.
“Sepher, Water Pulse the Houndour! Demetori, keep Snubbull busy with Fire Fang!” Sepher is quick on the draw, sniping Houndour and dealing heavy damage right off the bat. Demetori follows, charging right at Snubbull. Snubbull extends its paws and leans its head back in an attempt to protect itself, but Demetori just bites Snubbull’s paw.
“Snubbull, Intimidate it with Scary Face!” Snubbull’s face darkens. Its eyes seem to grow deeper, as if they go on for miles. Its jaw unhinges for a second as it opens its mouth to let out a blood-curdling scream.
Demetori makes no facial expression and instead lifts it off the ground and then slams it back into the ground, back and forth. That’s your fearless little baby. ♥
“Houndour! Smog!” Houndour unleashes a stream of poisonous gas, aimed directly at Sepher.
Not quite the same as passing through Sepher harmlessly, but ghost resists poison all the same. “Sepher, Lick!” He seems to be catching on to your strategies, because he doesn’t turn back this time when he sticks out his tongue, as if he’s specifically taunting Houndour. The smog hits him soon thereafter, but he doesn’t seem particularly phased by it and comes out the other end without any lasting harm. “Alright, now finish it with Water Pulse!” Sepher advances on Houndour, knowing full well how helpless the poor doggo must be. Smog isn’t a particularly strong attack, not even any stronger than Ember, considering Houndour’s typing, so its options must be fairly limited. When the Water Pulse hits, no one is surprised to see Houndour go down.
“Damn. Return, Houndour. Let’s go, Hoothoot.” He sends out his Hoothoot unenthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Snubbull and Demetori are still going at it. “Snubbull! Counter it with Bite!” Snubbull, amidst being tossed around like a ragdoll, pulls itself in against Demetori’s teeth and then bites his hand. Bad idea.
“Demetori! Slash it off!” He proceeds to violently shake Snubbull as its sharp claws mess with the inside of its mouth. It holds pretty steady until Demetori begins slamming it against the ground again. When it finally releases its bite, Demetori immediately kicks it off the ground like a soccer ball, and then slashes it away, sending it flying. Needless to say, it has been knocked out.
“Tsk. Snubbull, return. Go, Jigglypuff! Puff up into the air! Ryan, you do the same.”
“Uh, right, Hoothoot, fly up!”
“We’ve got to fight together. Ryan, you do offense, Jigglypuff, we’ll do defense! Use Bide!” Jigglypuff puffs up even further, blocking out Hoothoot from view with a scrunched up face.
“Hoothoot! Echoed Voice!” Hoothoot flies up and lands on Jigglypuff’s head before letting out a piercing cry. You cover your ears as best you can to drown out the wretched noise. The sound is horrible, but it seems like it’s much worse on Sepher and Demetori, possibly due to hearing frequencies.
It occurs to you Jigglypuff is also affected, but it’s still not moving, simply building up the power of bide. An idea strikes you, one that you’re not entirely sure will work, but may just resolve this combat in short order. When Hoothoot finally relents to breathe, you give the command decisively. “Sepher! Demetori! Smokescreen!” They glance at each other once before nodding and letting loose, positively covering the area with smoke. If Hoothoot’s Echoed Voice wasn’t disruptive enough to passersby already, the large plume of smoke definitely seals the deal.
The best course of action now would be to return your pokemon and pretend Sepher and Demetori are still in there, but not sending a replacement out immediately after returning a pokemon is frowned upon in the battling world as unsporting. You’re not sure if there’s regulations against it in official league battles, but you do know that it’s very anticlimactic for a big attack to be negated by an antsy switch. Sure, taking the attack might hurt, but the damage to your reputation is much worse for a coordinator. When you’re performing live onstage, you have to suck up all of your troubles and deal with them afterwards. You suppose battlers don’t owe spectators anything, but coordinators need to be tough on their pokemon and themselves. Well, you suppose you can only hope they feel the same. “Brace yourselves!”
“Some smoke isn’t going to help you! Hoothoot, Echoed Voice!” True to his word, Hoothoot remained perched on Jigglypuff, comfortable to sit there and cry out even louder than before. It starts to get rather unpleasant, but you know it’s much worse for your pokemon right now. Still, they manage to stay hidden, completely enveloped by the smoke.
“Good job, stay hidden for just a bit longer!”
A few short moments pass as Jigglypuff begins to squirm. This Ryan guy is blissfully oblivious. “Hey, aren’t you even going to fight back?”
Jenn is much more level-headed. “If she doesn’t want to fight back, then so be it. Jigglypuff, unleash your energy on them!”
Jigglypuff’s scrunched-up face seems to get even more uncomfortable as it tilts off-kilter and eventually lands on its side. Hoothoot tries to stay atop it at first before eventually dismounting and coming to land next to Jigglypuff.
Jenn starts to look worried “Jigglypuff, what’s wrong? It’s okay if you miss, just do your best.” It’s probably dawned on her that their strategy has a crucial weakness.
Jigglypuff erupts all at once, yelling loudly and slamming into Hoothoot like a freight train. You didn’t think a Jigglypuff was capable of moving so quickly or exerting such force, but it seems that all the damage it took from Echoed Voice snapped out at once like a rubberband. Hoothoot is completely wrecked, launched down the street like a feathery bullet.
“Hoothoot!” Ryan chases after it, down the street and away from battle. Jigglypuff is still standing though, and Jenn seems beside herself with anguish.
It was just a guess, but you did know the basic principle of how Bide worked. It’s a counterattack with strength directly related to the damage the pokemon receives. You weren’t sure if it could be redirected or not, but without a target in sight thanks to Smokescreen, the worst case scenario was making them waste their stored power and accomplishing little in the process. However, this outcome exceeds your expectations.
Jenn doesn’t seem to feel the same. “You! Do you know how far you’ve just set me back with Ryan in an instant!?”
Honestly? Not your concern in the slightest, but it’s time to put on your customer service voice, which sounds exactly like your regular voice but isn’t sincere. Your cast your eyes to the ground and bring a hand to your cheek in a faux nervous tic, helping to sell an expression of repentant guilt. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea you two were…” dealing with some kind of insipid one-sided love bullshit. “-Well, had I known, I’d have probably-” not “-done things differently.” You start to gain a feeling of real guilt, a byproduct of getting in-character. When you commit to a behavior well enough mentally, you can trick your brain into having feelings you can recognize yourself as illogical. Even if you don’t care at all, telling yourself you do and feeling as if you do makes acting like you do a lot easier. “I wish I could help, but I’m afraid I can’t think of any solution” You can think of plenty actually, but they’re all huge hastles. “The only way to help I can think of is to save Ryan’s pride by winning.”
Jenn seems to have reeled in her wrath a bit thanks to your apology, but she still seems mad. “What, and let me come off as incompetent? And denying me of any revenge? Forget that! It may be one against two, but we’ve still got tricks up our sleeves! Jigglypuff, get rid of that smoke with Icy Wind!”
Jigglypuff unleashes a chilly gale, blowing away the smoke. From beneath the black haze, a striking pair of blue and red pokemon are revealed. Instead of a Froakie and a Charmander standing there, you find a Frogadier and a Charmeleon in their place. You can’t believe it. “Sepher? Demetori?”
They each look back and nod.
You simply cannot believe it. You never got to see your own pokemon evolve. You were excited for this ever since you got them so long ago, and just like that, you missed it. you just can’t believe your luck. MAYBE if you weren’t so busy PACIFYING this GROWN ADULT, you could have actually continued THE BATTLE YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF. Then they wouldn’t have evolved while sitting in the middle of a smokescreen! You would have bust out your phone and streamed it live to your fans! Ugh! This isn’t fair!
You know just who to take it out on, though.
“So they evolved, big whoop, I’m still not giving up! Jigglypuff, Mega Punch!” Jigglypuff goes straight to Demetori, being slightly closer to him.
“Demetori, take it down!” Demetori does well to obey, meeting Jigglypuff head on and grabbing the Mega Punch. You expected its signature bite, and you can’t imagine Demetori managed that without taking some damage, but it’s hard to argue with his choices when he digs his claws into Jigglypuff’s nubby little hands. “Alright, now that you’ve got her, get rid of her!” Demetori twirls Jigglypuff around like a lasso before tossing it at Sepher. The temptation to yell out ‘DUNK THAT TRASH!’ is overwhelming, but you resist. Truly, your self-control is unparalleled. “Sepher, dunk it with Quick Attack!” Sepher rises up and slams it down with a well-placed kick, immediately showing off the superior speed of a Frogadier. Jigglypuff hits the ground hard and bounces off of it like the balloon that it is. “Now, finish it Demetori! Slash it all the way to Hoothoot!” Demetori does just that, nailing it with a wicked uppercut that sends it blasting off down the road.
“Go to him. I think he’s bummed he didn’t get to do a single battle. If it seems like the result would have been the same, then losing should sting less right?”
Jenn gives you an annoyed look, but doesn’t seem like she’s going to disagree. Yes, that’s right, go forth my minion. Sing my praises to him and become closer through your collective defeat.
Jenn runs off towards him without a word. You call out to her, “Good luck!” She doesn’t look back.
After beating Colleagues Jenn and Ryan, you call back your newly evolved pokemon and return to the pokemon center you just stepped out of. What they say about trainers practically living in them really is true.
As you hand your pokemon off to Nurse Joy, you start to wonder how you should go about approaching the league challenge. You mostly want a wide, open area to train without worrying about others getting in the way. according to the maps-guides you picked up earlier, Route 2 is full of shops and Route 9 is practically a park. You’re sure you’d be able to find places to train on either, but you don’t want to have to do any searching. They’re only candidates because they’re on the way to Arsenic Island, after all. That being said, there are a couple of forests around the place…
As you get your pokemon back, you ask Nurse Joy what she thinks. She recommends to you the Silumin Reserve, since the poison pokemon on Arsenic Island’s forests make it difficult to train for long periods of time, in addition to being easy to get lost in. You’re always up for a challenge, but from the sounds of things, it’s just more tedious to deal with.
You thank Nurse Joy for the advice and finish up your business in Britannium. Besides grabbing a bite at a local restaurant you’ve been meaning to try, you have to do a photo session with your two newly evolved pokemon. It’s only natural for you to show them off to the world, posting dozens of pictures of them online. Sepher seems to get more tired from the photo shoot than an actual battle, while Demetori is aloof throughout the whole thing. Once you’re finally satisfied, you hail a Flying Taxi and head straight to the Silumin Reserve.
Route 2 || Day 1: Late Morning Route 2 was unlike any route Essie was used to, opening with a slew of shops rather than open land. Staring at the various signs as she passed, she wondered whether there was any truth to the outrageous placards. The first few had been pretty reasonable, with a breeder-run healing service Essie noted for later, but later on down the route, the claims began spiralling. Magikarp scales marketed as miracle cures, Rare Candies going for so cheap the shopkeep was either dumb or dying—or both. Wasn’t there some old people disease that made them forget things? Maybe that’s what was happening.
“Well, that’s lunch taken care of,” Essie said, spotting a curry place setting up, a board titled ‘Brittanium’s World-famous Curry’ propped up beside it. “But it’s still a bit early. What do you two say about a bit of training?”
A happy squawk and slow nod later, Essie was off finding a quiet spot further down the road, where she stopped to allow Mica to swoop down from her shoulder. “Right. Mica, let’s work on your Supersonic. Your aim isn’t that great right now, but if you hit, well, let’s just say your voice is loud enough. Try it against Todd. If you confuse him, I’ll return him, and we’ll be fine.”
Mica squawked happily at Todd, who didn’t look too enthusiastic about the idea. Still, the Torkoal didn’t complain either, turning around to face Mica with a resigned puff of smoke.
“Oh Todd, remember that thing we talked about? The lava-that-won’t-cool-too-quickly thing? Let’s try that out,” Essie said. When Todd looked at her, giving her a questioning ‘Tor,” she shook her head. “No, no, not at Mica. At wherever. Let’s focus on making lava pools since we already know you can hit a target.”
Todd nodded, and Mica squawked again, flapping up from the ground.
Essie grinned. “Let’s do this! Todd, Lava Plume! Mica, Supersonic!”
Now, the first few times Mica missed entirely, and Todd’s lava stayed molten for only seconds longer than usual. Still, as they kept it up, minute improvements started stacking. Slowly, Mica managed to swap the high-pitched shrieks she was doing for lower pitched ones in exchange for increased volume, under Essie’s suggestion, and Todd managed to break through a temperature plateau to rapidly increase the lava’s cooling time. How he did that was anyone’s guess, but Essie was happy anyway.
“Alright, c’mon back, Todd,” Essie said, recalling the Torkoal after Mica managed to confuse him yet again. She grinned as Mica landed on her shoulder, she let Todd out again, setting her hands on her hips triumphantly, noting that some of the lava Todd had spouted had still yet to cool.
“Good job, you two. Really. I’m proud,” she said. “Now, let’s pop by the forest over there and take a look before getting lunch. I’m pretty sure we’re closer to it than the shops.”
As soon as she entered the route, though, a blur of black and white came swooping out of the trees, aiming right at her face. Mica was on it, though, flying forwards and aiming a Supersonic at the object, and the battle was on.
“C’mon Todd, let’s head back,” Essie said, leading the way back to the main route. She could’ve noticed that the Starly’s attack had hit harder than she’d assumed, but she didn’t. Sure, it was clear that her training had helped Mica out, but Mica was still pretty weak. Even the wilds were a bit strong for her.
A light headbutt from Todd prompted her to glance at her Torkoal, and she brightened up again, sighing. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll just have to do a bit more training, which reminds me—what should we name your new moves? How about ‘ultrasonic’ and lava… um… strike!”
Todd gave her a funny look and she shrugged. “What, I don’t have any better ideas.”
Back on the main road, she got both her Pokemon spruced up at the healing shed, taking a second to chat with the breeder manning the stall and thanking them for their help. Her stomach growling signalled that it was time to leave, and she quickly redirected her team toward the food stalls, where she got into the long line for Brittanian curry. Noon was upon the route, and the
“Wow, this place sure is popular,” she said, peering out to the side to admire the line. It wasn’t the longest line she’d ever been in—breeder show meet-and-greets were ridiculous too—but it was longer than the lines at the rest of the food stalls, looking to be at least a few minutes.
“Of course, Brittanian curry is the best. I’m getting my second bowl,” someone said from behind her. “The spicy sauce is where it’s at.”
“What? Spicy? Excuse you, true Brittanians get the sweet sauce,” another voice said.
“... Well, I don’t know about you all, but I think the sour flavor is pretty good,” yet another voice said.
Essie looked back and forth between the line, trying to figure out which of the options sounded most appetizing to her, and by the time she arrived at the front of the line, she’d found her answer. “Large bowl of spicy, sweet, and sour sauce please!” she told the vendor, who paused his writing, looking up with furrowed brows. “I heard they’re all good, so just mix them. Good and good makes good, right?”
The vendor opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again, then shut it again, pursing his lips. “Whatever you say, missy,” he said, writing her order down, and Essie happily paid and took her number, picking up her mysteriously-colored bowl of curry and plopping it down onto an empty picnic table when her order was called.
“Mm-mm! Doesn’t that smell good?” she asked, admiring the scent of the curry, which was quite spectacular if she did say so herself. While it had the telltale smell of Tamato berries, it also smelled of sweet Mago and tangy Grepa, which altogether created a noseful of scents.
“Dig in, you two,” Essie said, divvying the portions into two smaller bowls for her Pokemon. “Ahhm.”
For the first second or so, the curry tasted interesting. Confusingly so. Then, it tasted pretty horrid, but by the time it went down, it was back to tasting okay. The aftertaste—well, it was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t bad.
“Hm, I wonder if it tastes funny because they didn’t add enough sour sauce,” Essie said, looking to her Pokemon. Mica perked up when she looked over, squawking happily without touching her curry, and Todd managed a croaky ‘Tor,’ wincing as he attempted another bite.
“Oh, is it too hot? Well, I mean, you’re a fire-type, Todd. I thought you’d be able to handle it, but if not, well,” Essie said, shrugging.
Actions: Trained Signature Moves for her Wingull and Torkoal (still need the stat increase for the Torkoal), then headed to the forest part of the route and engaged a Starly. Now headed to the shops on the route to grab lunch (curry).
Pokemon Party:
Todd
Torkoal ◼ BE: 8 ◼ ♂ ◼ Shell Armor ◼ 100%
≻ Ancient Power ≻ Smog ≻ Lava Plume ≻ Yawn ≻ Signature Move || Lava Surge
Though Lava Plume’s lava usually hardens immediately, Todd is able to create a mixture of molten minerals that allows him to infuse more heat into his so that it stays molten for longer. As a result, Lava Surge allows him to tap into the force of Lava Plume while creating a field hazard with pools of lava for the opponent. Thankfully, Todd is relatively resistant to said lava, though staying in them too long runs the risk of having them harden on him.
Mica’s love for singing isn’t all for naught, and as a surprising byproduct of her gradually improving her pitching, she’s been able to increase the accuracy of her Supersonic.
"Alright! Looks like we got another challenger Zigs!" Lachlan said as the Beedrill approached. He could tell she was strong, and was ready for an exciting battle. Lach took a step back into a ready pose, Zigs jumping forward off his shoulder. The confident Beedrill continued it's approach, and when in range, it prepared to strike Zigs.
As the Beedrill collapsed, Lachlan reached into his bag and fumbled around for a second, forgetting where his pokeballs were, then when he found them he grabbed one and tossed it at the Beedrill. She would be a great addition to his team, not to mention she had nearly taken out 2 of his pokemon in that battle. The Beedrill was sucked into the ball and the pulse of the red light began as the ball shook, he sat down and recalled his other pokemon, seeing as they were hurt and he had already used a lot of his potions. He knew the actual capture would happen soon or the pokemon would break out, but from past experience, he knew it could take some time.
Henrietta's attack left the group of Pokemon scattered and scared, quickly catching the ire of the Roselia. In response to the Poison Sting, Roselia answered with her own. For a moment it seemed as if it was equal, the poison tipped stinger of the Gligar met the barb coming out of Roselia's red rose, but the reality soon weighed in as Gregor was sent flying back. This Roselia was... Quite strong. Cautiously the other Pokemon watched from the bushes, just out of sight.
To get into Silumin Reserve it required one to go through the university. It was a short walk from the eastern entrance, lined with small stores and some student dorms. It was a large, wide street, leading all the way to the forest, which was also gated by some guards. This was a reserve after all, and all entry and exit needed to be accounted for, so all Estelle had to do was register her name. Trainers were generally allowed to do whatever they wished within the reserve as long as they didn't break the rules, that being just no littering, no damaging wildlife, over-catching, and so on and so forth.
This was a beautiful forest, once in awhile you could see a ranger, sometimes the same one over multiple sightings, patrolling and keeping the place nice and secure. There were certainly some set paths, there was a small square near the entrance where trainers could rest up, as well as some lesser-used side paths, although they came with warnings.
The well-beaten path seemed to not hold many wild Pokemon, as one would expect, but many could be seen from the paths, peeking out or just occasionally coming into view.
It seemed that Gregor would not be able to have an opponent of his own for this battle, given how the younger Pokémon had scattered in all directions to watch from the safety of the bushes, but seeing how strong this Roselia was that may have been a stroke of luck rather than a missed opportunity. With how easily the Grass-type had rebuffed her Gligar it seemed that she was quite strong as well as having a type advantage; it would likely take both of her Pokémon to defeat it, if they could manage it at all.
“Gregor, Sand Attack. Atlas, use Strength”
The bat-like Pokémon leapt for the trees, already a little worse for wear from the opening clash, and briefly took up position among the branches before diving back down to the ground. His claws sank into the dirt, the soft ground easily giving way to his sharp claws, before he flung his arms upwards and launched great clods of the stuff at the Roselia. The Grass-type tried to cover her eyes against the attack but couldn’t entirely prevent it from hitting her in the face and clouding her vision; Atlas took advantage of the distraction and charged into his opponent with a powerful crash, sending the stronger Pokémon flying.
The Roselia quickly climbed back to her feet and pointed a bouquet-like Hand towards Atlas, firing a stream of familiar purple darts towards the Mudbray as she used Poison Sting. The darts struck Atlas and exploded, a couple puncturing skin and turning the surrounding area a slightly darker shade of brown before they too popped; even so it didn’t seem like Atlas had been poisoned just yet. “Gregor, distract with Poison Sting. Atlas, Bulldoze.”
Taking cover from Gregor’s attack, the Roselia threw up her arms and protected her face and body as the purple darts struck her; they did not do a lot of damage, coming from a much, much weaker Pokémon, and there was no chance of poisoning, but they did force the Roselia to face away from the true threat as Atlas jumped towards the Grass-type. The heavy Ground-type slammed into the Roselia again, this time forcing her to the ground rather than knocking her back and stamping his feet in a punishing attack.
As soon as the assault ended the Roselia reached up and placed a rose-like hand to Atlas’ chest, the flower beginning to grow as the Grass-type attempted to use Mega Drain. “Atlas, jump away!” The Mudbray was moving even before the order was given, rearing up to pull himself away from the dangerous attack and then leaping up and over the Roselia to land behind her head. “Double Kick!” From this position the Ground-type raised both back legs and lashed out at the Roselia before she could recover, sending her tumbling as both hits of the attack landed. “Gregor, Sand Attack”
The Gligar swooped down from the trees again, flinging another spray of dirt into the Roselia’s eyes before leaping into the trees once more. She needed to keep up the pressure and prevent the Roselia from regaining its senses or from mounting a proper attack; it was strong enough to potentially overpower both of her Pokémon at once and the type advantage it held made it even more dangerous. Henrietta just had to hope that it didn’t have any particularly troublesome attacks it could use.
Pointing a flowery hand towards the trees and the rough spot Gregor was perched, the Roselia fired another barrage of purple darts towards the Gligar as it used yet another Poison String. Gregor jumped down to the ground and covered his head in a vain attempt to protect himself, but it was ultimately unnecessary as the attack went wide; evidently the two Sand Attacks from earlier were having an effect. “Okay, keep it up. Gregor, Cross Poison. Atlas, Strength.”
The Gligar was slow to react, still cowering away from the missed attack, so Atlas’s attack landed first. The Roselia was struck a heavy blow from behind as the Mudbray crashed into it yet again, throwing her roughly to the ground; the Grass-type turned to look at her aggressor over her shoulder and the look she sent him was murderous, before she was struck again as Gregor slashed at her prone form with both claws glowing a menacing shade of purple.
Injured, but far from being out just yet, the Roselia picked herself up and turned her head to look at Atlas, then Gregor, then back to Atlas; considering her opponents and weighing up her options. Despite the continuous assault from both sides she didn’t look particularly worse for wear; tired certainly and not without signs of damage, but between the fight against the Nidoran and his fighting here Atlas looked like he was closer to falling than she was. Gregor too, despite not being hit at all, was showing signs of fatigue; he was still essentially a baby experiencing his first battle after all.
Evidently coming to a decision the Roselia held her hands before her body for a second before throwing them wide, scattering a number of leaves into the air which began to glow and sparkle with unnatural light. The leaves started to move towards her Pokémon, half towards Atlas and the other half towards Gregor; not simply caught in a breeze, but moving with purpose. Magical leaf. “Dammit. Run, dodge!” Despite knowing it was useless at this point, Henrietta still gave the order, Atlas and Gregor both attempting to avoid the unavoidable attack before it was too late. The Mudbray was struck first, not even managing to start a run before the leaves struck him multiple times, knocking him to the ground and leaving him unconscious before the last leaf even hit.
Gregor had marginally more luck, already being in the trees and being able to avoid the leaves for a few seconds by leaping from branch to branch and putting obstacles between himself and the attack. Rather than be thwarted however the leaves simply went around the obstacles and continued to pursue the Gligar, catching up and rendering him similarly unconscious.
With a sigh Henrietta raised a Pokeball in each hand and returned her fainted Pokémon to there confines. The Roselia was assuredly still angry about the attack and recalling her Pokemon alone wouldn’t be enough to rectify that; rather than push her luck by trying to continue the battle the young trainer decided to back away, hands raised to show her surrender as she tried to leave the clearing.
This would mark her first loss as a trainer, as an official trainer she should say, but one that her Pokémon would hopefully grow and learn from.
Alaric had enjoyed his stroll through the plains again, losing himself in the beauty of nature. Whilst he wanted to battle, he felt as if he was content to simply walk and experience the beauty of nature around him. That was until his tranquillity was once again disturbed by a wild Pokemon. He wasn't ruining the experience, but he definitely noticed the fact he was being followed and when it disappeared, it was noticeable as well. He wondered why it had followed him in the first place, when he had his questions answered. He was challenging him.
"You wish to battle me? So be it. Prove yourself!" he spoke with a grin, as he threw out his Ralts. Today had been exciting.
The Phanpy had put up fierce resistance, and dealt significant blows to two of his pokemon, but after Alaric realised the lesson he'd learnt earlier today, the battle was a cinch. There was not much he could do against Emil's tough armor, even with that unique ice move of his. Alaric admired its spirit and tossed out a Pokemon ball after the battle, to catch it and add it to the party. It would make a worthy addition. He hadn't imagined a Pokemon being the one to win him over, rather than the other way around.
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