The battle between Mina and Rolly
Rolly readily adapted and fixed his views, mentally categorizing their problems. Great, now they were even more a Rock disadvantage, and now they had a glaring Fighting weakness. Thankfully, the Charizard should be able to cover that. But if there was a Fighting and Rock type... Only Terrakion came to mind, but Rolly was certain there could be many more. He didn't even know all the Pokémon of his own region, after all. But if anyone here had a Terrakion, they were probably screwed regardless of it's typing.
By shoving Waltz deeper into the couch as leverage to stand up, who responded with a muffled growl of disapproval and nothing more, Rolly had snapped up at the sound of a challenge. With such an unbearably toothy grin; there wasn't a doubt he was fond of the idea.
"Well, we have'ta go now, so you can show me wat'cha got! Why don't you prove that little boast of yours, and have a match between my Waltz, and your... Erm. Fish." It wasn't the Milotic's nickname, but it was close enough. "Lead the way!"
Mina lead the way without complaint, returning her Pokemon to her pokeballs before leaving the room ahead of Rolly. After a moment of looking up and down the hallway, her eyes lit upon the elevator. She went inside the small compartment and waited patiently for Rolly to join her before pressing the button that had a large "B" on it. The ride down was quick, and Mina skipped out as soon as the doors slid open.
"So, you want a battle between Aquarta and Waltz? Sounds good to me!" she called over her shoulder as she went to one side of the arena and released her Milotic. Aquarta seemed to sense the excitement as her normally shy exterior changed to one of determination and the light of battle shown in her eyes. Mina clenched her fists a bit nervously. Sure, Aquarta could stand up moves like Thunderbolt or Thunder, but if Rolly used physical moves... Well, she would probably end up looking like a weakling.
Aquarta felt her trainer's nervousness and glanced back at her questioningly. Mina gave her Pokemon an encouraging smile and mentally slapped herself. How could she doubt the Pokemon she'd been training with for so long?
On the other side of the spectrum, it was odd. Despite their near constant antagonism of eachother, Waltz and Rolly buddied right back up as soon as they managed to scoot off the sofa. Waltz lowered himself to let his trainer clamber right back on, because Arceus forbid he have to take more than eight steps.
Rolly owed him SO MANY piggy back rides it was unbelievable.
It was a cramped and uncomfortable elevator ride, that was also oddly silent from Rolly's end. He was busy contemplating everything he knew about Mina (that was her name, right?) and her Milotic. Planning outside of the battle was often his best ally. He absorbed information well, but applying it in the middle of heated action was a seperate matter entirely. He was probably rather average in that regard.
Was Milotic a defensive Pokémon, or just a bulky special based attacker? Hold on, Tyranitar and Charizard... Both seemed incredibly bulky, but it was obvious they wanted to take a chunk out of the foe. Now did that mean Milotic followed the same rule, or was she the token defensive member of the team. Mina herself had told him that her Milotic had an advantage over male opponents, didn't she? Seduction methods were incapacitation tactics...
The elevator opened up too soon. But that was okay, Rolly didn't think he had enough information to create a suitable base plan anyways. Barren and flattened basement, the perfectly nuetral terrain that left no side with an advantage. It was so expansive and open, it was even suitable towards the odd Flying type. Nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. Waltz was going to have to bring the hammer down quickly, or it would likely be lights out for them.
Waltz shrugged Rolly off gently, only a few paces from where the boy needed to be, and prowled over to his own little piece of the field.
Normally, this was the part where Rolly would call out some bizarre pre-battle taunt, but this was a bit different from the standard match. It would be best if he could draw things out as long as possible, analyze her strengths and weaknesses as a trainer, and then see if he could compensate for them. As hopefully she'd be doing the same for him. Which didn't mean he couldn't still be condescending about it.
Rolly rested his hand on his hip and casually leaned, even to the point that his legs were crossed loosely. "Isn't the rule of thumb, 'Ladies first'? Show us wat'cha got!"
Mina smiled cheerfully at Rolly; he was going to regret giving her the first move. "Aquarta, use Attract!" she called to her Pokemon.
Aquarta's demeanor had completely changed once the battle started - what had at once been a shy, unsure Pokemon was now a confident and determined battler. Aquarta winked coyly at Waltz and a wave of sparkling pink hearts flew out at the Luxray. All the while, Mina watched with sparkling eyes. Attract always caused something amusing to happen, and she was looking forward to see how Rolly and Waltz would react.
There was a suitable silence from Rolly, but it didn't seem to be one of displeasure. It was more... Boredom. Which was further evidenced as he pulled his arms behind his head and snorted. That was exactly what he had expected, so it really wasn't all that bad at all. It just meant he got to see how lucky he was today. Of course, he may have to pull Waltz back into his ball when everything was done. After battle infatuation just got awkward.
"Well all right then. Waltz, why don't we start things off with a Thunder Wave."
However, others weren't so level headed in the face of horomonal bliss. Particularly the subject of such bliss. The traces of infatuation were slow to set themselves in, but they were just as visible as they were mental. Like most feline nature Pokémon, Waltz had a habit of prowling around his side of the stage during the off moments of a battle. But at the moment, his pace had become stiff legged and awkward, because Waltz just wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with his legs.
And after that small little window of 'how does my body work again?' things became much more demeaning. Waltz puffed his head out and stutted proudly, but rather than poking his nose in the air, Waltz was just rational enough to keep a close watch on Aquarta.
"WALTZ, THUNDER WAVE."
It hadn't been the first time Rolly had yelled it out either, it was just the first time Waltz had actually heard. Everything had been tuned out except for that absurdly attractive Milotic over there. Waltz hoped she liked fish. Otherwise trying to get a dinner with her was just going to be incredibly awkward.
No, no, there was supposed to be something else he was doing.
But what was it...?
Mina barely managed to stifle her laughter as Waltz seemed to be completely ignoring his trainer as he stared at Aquarta like a love struck kitten. It took the girl a moment to regain her composure enough to speak, and when she did she gave her next order. "Aquarta, hit him with a Hydro Pump while he's out of it." She had to try to finish this before the Luxray returned to earth...
Aquarta complied with an amused cry as a powerful stream of water shot out of her mouth and rocketed towards the infatuated Luxray.
The attack struck proverbial gold. A huge mess was created upon the impact, a slick sheet of water puddled the area around where Waltz used to be.
The Luxray in question could be found slumped against the far wall, shaking his dazed head and clearing out his thoughts. The heavy daze of his crush over Aquarta wasn't exactly cured, but the cold pavement and the obvious hint of a feud... He was in a battle! And buried memories began to surface, like Rolly's last command.
"Waltz, get your head back in the game and counter!"
It was all the direction he needed. Sparks raced over Waltz's thick fur ominously, and they popped with a bright flash. There was no opportunity for escape from this attack. Instead of flying through the air, the weak surge hit the puddle and leapt out towards Aquarta. It was frighteningly instantaneous.
"Now get back in the ring and keep moving; don't give her a steady aim!" With a menacing roar of agreement, Waltz sprinted back, but remained a wary distance to keep evasion in mind. He slunk through the puddle in his circling, but the ominous slish sounds were replaced by playful splashes.
The infatuation haze was setting back in.
Both Aquarta and Mina watched the Luxray as it circled around the Milotic. Mina's mind raced as she attempted to asses the situation. Aquarta getting getting paralyzed was something that Mina had hoped to avoid, seeing as her mobility out of water wasn't exactly what one would call quick and being paralyzed would slow her down even more.
Watching Waltz circling around Aquarta gave her an idea, one that would have to work if she was going to win this. "Use Blizzard to freeze the floor!"
Aquarta readily obeyed, quickly realizing her trainer's plan. If was covering the ground then the Luxray would have a difficult time getting any footing, thus making physical attacks more difficult. On the other hand, the Milotic would have an easier time sliding about the arena with her snake-like body.
Due to the paralysis, her movements were slow and jerky as Aquarta unleashed the icy breath on the arena. Mina watched nervously, hoping that her Pokemon would be able to finish the coating of ice before the Luxray was able to attack.
The floor grew mildly slick with frost, but even the puddle hadn't had time to freeze over before Rolly counteracted; it was just the lovely break he could use as long as his luck held up and Waltz wasn't still seducing himself over thoughts of the Milotic.
"Waltz, get your head back in it, and use Wild Charge!" It was the best he could do at the moment. The recoil may not have been the greatest help, but the type advantage would leave a mark. And better yet, cut off that Blizzard.
After shaking his head clear of invasive thoughts, Waltz clearly had the room for that lucky break that Rolly needed. It was also helpful that he'd been completely ignored, which just didn't sit favorably with him for any reason at all. The familiar crackle of electricity came back, but several times stronger. The little sizzles and pops sounded painful, and Waltz's growling confirmed that - yes, this was going to hurt him just as much as it hurt her.
The contact sounded with a strike of thunder, which was personally taught by Waltz to himself, just to seem that much cooler.
Unfortunately, being awesome had a price. All of that misdirected electricity ran right back into his system with a nasty shock that would have left him sprawled out over the ground if he weren't trained to handle it.
But there were costly differences in play.
Waltz went down with a pained cry, limply stretched over the ground. The puddles he'd crossed had rerouted more electricity back into his system than he could usually handle, and had stolen away most of the power in the process. The attack had effectively collapsed in upon itself.
There was one upside to Aquarta being paralyzed: it caused her ability, Marvel Scale, to kick in. This in turn allowed her to survive the drastically weakened Wild Charge and still have enough energy to fight, though it didn't mean that the electric-type attack wasn't painful and she was still flung back a ways. Aquarta seemed to be having an easier time moving as she lifted her head, and Mina quickly took advantage of the probably small moment of movement. "Use Blizzard before he can get back up!" she ordered. Snow carried by an icy wind once again blew out from Aquarta's mouth, it's aim the downed Luxray.
It didn't even had a chance to strike. Rolly's pride wouldn't allow it.
Waltz was sucked back into the safety of his ball, and Rolly wistfully glared at the pokéball before he shoved it in one of the internal pockets of his jacket. 'Giving in' was better than losing.
A cold harshness crossed over him, and if it weren't for the fact that this was his partner, he might've just strode back to the elevator and left to nurse his injured pride. He hadn't lost in quite a while. Was he supposed to expect more losses from this tournament?
No, he couldn't let that happen.
"Well, it looks like I've lost~" Despite the concentrated malevolence of his thoughts, his tone became sweeter. Rolly stretched a convincing false grin over his face, and retreated to the elevator. "I suppose we should head out~? I'm sure there's all sorts of things we need to discuss~"