Scoffing, the Cacnea crossed its arms. From it a gurgling noise issued and, seemingly in response, the Karrablast let loose a determined cry and scrunched up its face. Its expression became a mask of goofy, overdone, and ineffective intimidation—to Olivie, at least. Buck, though, could only shudder as his trainer snickered. At this the Brunette's eyes widened in surprise.
”You kidding? That's not a scary face at all. Rollout, now!” Grateful for the distraction, the Bidoof tucked himself into a fluffy sphere, ready to smash into his opponent as a wrecking ball. Unfortunately, the Karrablast was faster. It took advantage of Buck's momentary fearfulness to leap in and, with a horn brimming with strength, deliver two diagonal slashes to form an 'x' from their trails. Fresh cuts opened across Buck's back, and the second slash, a bottom-left to to-right sweep, threw him back.
By then, however, he'd tucked himself tight enough and gained enough momentum to power through the pain and roll straight into the Karrablast. The force behind the full-body blow, combined with the added edge of rocks picked up in the roll and sticking out of Buck's fur, dealt a decisive blow to the bug. It stumbled backward, barely keeping itself upright and teetering on its little feet even after it recovered. The short but brutal exchange earned an approving nod from Olivie.
”Looks like it didn't like that Rollout at all.” Buck, still curled up tight, continued to roll around the clearing blindly. His trainer imagined that he wouldn't be able to cancel the attack, but she'd already made up her mind that a repeat performance would be wildly effective. It made sense; though lightweight, fast, and annoying, bugs couldn't typically take much punishment, especially from heavy, blunt objects. Still tottering, the bug in question gnashed its teeth and assumed a solid stance. Olivie watched, suddenly intrigued, as some sort of power began to build up in its horn, visible by a light green glow. Quite unexpectedly, the Karrablast's horn suddenly exploded outward, growing to twice the size and gaining an array of new spikes. Before Olivie could react, it threw itself like a torpedo at the oncoming Bidoof. A pang of fear gnawed at the girl's heart: could her partner make it? By now, all of his rolling had picked up a lot of dust and stones in his coat, making him look like a miniature boulder, but the Karrablast's Megahorn looked fearsome to say the least. As the two Pokemon drew near, Olivie held her breath.
In a flash it was over. A cracking sound echoed through the field as the revolving force of Buck's Rollout diverted the Megahorn's point straight down, and where the horn went, the Karrablast followed. In the end, the Bidoof rolled right over it, burying it partially in the dust and cracking off its horn. Fragments of carapace littered the ground as Buck rolled to a halt, emerged from his ball, and began to shake himself off. He was worse for wear, and terribly dirty, but he was still conscious. The same couldn't be said for his foe. When Buck saw that he'd won, he chattered noisily in celebration, and Olivie knelt by his side to brush him off.
”Great stuff! That dumb beetle really bit the dust. That's three wins under your belt, counting that crappy Pansear.” Rising to her full height, she crossed her arms beneath her chest and narrowed her eyes at the Cacnea, who'd also been looking on. She felt as though the walking plant were sizing her up, but it was an altogether different sensation from what she got from the usual 'sizing-ups' that went her way. This thing was deciding whether or not to respect her from the abilities and attitude of her and her partner alone. Honestly, it was exciting.
Out of nowhere, the Cacnea raised its arms up and began to move. It whirled around and around like a helicopter, its clublike arms the rotors, until it sprang toward her. As it flew her way, Olivie watched silently, noting the dozens of spiky needles protruding from its limbs. Taking a deep breath, she waited until it was in range and then extended her right arm in a backfist punch. The guard of her fighting glove intercepted the Cacnea's arm in mid-air, and it stuck like a burr. After that, all Olivie needed to do was toss her arm to throw the Cacnea off. It landed in a roll, righting itself in no time, and sprang to its stubby little feet. Somehow the brunette didn't think it would attack again, and her prediction came true as the Cacnea crossed its arms again and put on a wide smile. Though Olivie couldn't truly understand it, she tried to imagine what it might be saying.
Looks like yer one tough customer, those beady eyes told her.
Ah guess Ah kin tag 'long with ya fer a while. When the girl picked up a Pokeball and held it out, the Cacnea didn't flinch, so she proceeded to throw it. Surprisingly, the Pokemon struggled a great deal inside the ball—one last test. In the end, it could not break free, and Olivie grabbed her new minion to set it free.
”Aaalrighty. That's two scrappy Pokemon in my team. Welcome to the club, pal. We're gonna go far together, so I hope you've got enough fight in you to keep up.” As Buck and the Cacnea approached one another and began sizing one another up as well, Olivie's gaze fell upon the Karrablast. She hadn't planned on nabbing anything besides the Cacnea, but the blue bug put up a pretty good fight for such a small beetle. Besides, it looked much cooler than any other Bug-type Olivie had seen, and the whole way it used Megahorn was pretty sick.
”Eh, I guess I've got room for one more.” Procuring another Pokeball, she tapped it against the Karrablast's shell, capturing the dazed bug easily. With it contained, she rose back up and tapped the ball thoughtfully against her head.
”Let's see. What am I gonna call you jerks?” She shrugged after a few moments.
”Eh, come on. We're going south. Today's the first day of my journey, and Feyhollow's the nearest place to explore.” Flanked by her two Pokemon, Olivie waded back into the grassy field, headed toward a thick green forest only about forty-five minutes away.
@Balthazar007
