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[PKMN FULL] Journey Optional [T] [IC]

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11
Years
Journey Optional

Chapter Eight - Dion Town

Town Info: Dion Town is a fairly large town surrounded by picturesque meadows. It's a quiet place that many elderly people choose to retire to.

Spoiler:

Leader: Elva
Type: Fairy
Info: Elva, rather disliked by her neighbours for her rowdy disposition, is unpredictable in attitude and in battle and is the self-proclaimed number one fan of metal group Landslide of Smut. She takes great joy in employing unusual, but highly effective, strategies in battle. Challengers at her gym face her in a three Pokemon aside single battle where nobody can switch out. Those who defeat her obtain the Trickster Badge.
Team:

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Slurpuff (Aroma Veil) - Cotton Spore, Belly Drum, Play Rough, Giga Impact

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Togekiss (Super Luck) - Air Slash, Roost, Moonblast, Aura Sphere

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Gardevoir (Synchronise) - Psychic, Moonblast, Calm Mind, Shadow Ball

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Ribombee (Shield Dust) - Quiver Dance, Dazzling Gleam, Pollen Puff, Energy Ball​

A catch-up week will follow this chapter.

 

Aquacorde

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡
12,453
Posts
19
Years

GANMONDYNE CITY

Mihira vs Abel


"Oh, you're here again? Heh. I've seen all your tricks, lady. I'm just going to beat you faster this time."

Mihira grit her teeth and refused to rise to the bait. It had been made clear yesterday that the leader was constantly compensating for something with his attitude, but that didn't make it any less obnoxious. Just as having a plan didn't make Abel's damn gym rules any less irritating to deal with. Mihira wordlessly released Solrock.

A frown briefly flashed across Abel's face, quickly replaced by his usual smugness. "Silent treatment? How childish. Whatever- here's Froslass. I'll start slow- maybe give you the satisfaction of getting a hit in. Make it Hail!"

Clouds formed near the high ceiling of the gym, beginning to drop ice crystals down into the field. There was a reason the had chosen Solrock, though- whirling sands whipped up on Mihira's side, slicing the clouds into wisps of smoke. Abel commanded Hail again, but was met with another Sandstorm. Abel clicked his tongue in disgust and recalled Froslass.

"You would come here just to annoy me."

Gengar found itself released into a whirling storm, unable to see what it was meant to be fighting. A glow alerted it to the opponent's presence and it darted after, but lost it again in the shifting sand. Another glow to its right had Gengar bounding after Solrock again, this time coming in contact as Solrock fired Ancient Power directly at it. Even as Gengar bounced along the ground, Solrock shuddered and froze as it tried to use its attack once more.

"Hah! Cursed Body! That's what you get!"

Mihira rolled her eyes. Solrock's Rollout was good enough to finish Gengar in two hits, just in time for the sandstorm to die down. Banette replaced Gengar, looking around the field and finding its opponent just in time to be hit with Rollout. Banette shrieked in annoyance and disappeared- Solrock popped out of the spin, confused, and immediately was slammed in the back with Phantom Force. It shuddered, but retaliated with an Ancient Power as Banette tried to dart out of range. Another Ancient Power was swiftly interrupted by a Sucker Punch to the face- a sandstorm whipped up in an attempt to hide, but Shadow Sneak sent Solrock rolling back out of the field.

"I let you take down Gengar, of course. But you're not getting through these two anytime soon!"

Abel was partially correct. Flygon gave Banette a good Crunch, but Abel switched out for Froslass once he realized what his opponent was. Hail sent the sandstorm packing and left Flygon to hide with Dig, doing his best to evade Ice Beam. The battle of evasion dragged on until a Crunch to the back of the neck helped pin Froslass to the floor, where Flygon mercilessly bit her until she fainted. Banette came out once more, but didn't even see Flygon before he chomped on its head, dropping it easily.

"Ugh. You only beat me because you studied my techniques. You still lost the first time, and that's what matters." Abel sniffed, handing over the badge with obvious disgust. Mihira graciously yet still wordlessly accepted the token and turned to leave, tuning out the rantings of the gym leader behind her.


- please excuse this disappointment -

Team Mihira

Flygon (Levitate) - Crunch, Dig, Bug Bite, Gust

Solrock (Levitate) - Rock Polish, Sandstorm, Ancient Power, Rollout

Torterra (Overgrow) - Work Up, Seed Bomb, Earthquake, Tackle

Corsola (Natural Cure) - Aqua Ring, Ancient Power, Bubblebeam, Ice Beam

Piloswine (Thick Fat) - Ice Shard, Take Down, Icicle Crash, Mud Slap​


 

HyperMorian

Busy with University.
3,084
Posts
7
Years
In a blazing heated battle between two Trainers, Heatmor fought hard against his opposing combatant?an Emboar whose eager to clash its tough knuckles against anyone on par with him. The unnamed Black Belt, who kept ordering to go for total offense instead struggled to keep up with the defensive strategy that his Pok?mon used. While the chain blows were not very effective against a Fire-Type Pok?mon, Heatmor successfully to keep his foe at bay by deflecting all of his slow attacks away from him. When the stalling took its end, Heatmor lunged upward with his snout?unleashing a powerful uppercut that hit the Mega Fire Pig Pok?mon after lowering his defenses to the point he could subdue him through an instant reversal. Falling onto the yellow grounds with carried dusts, Emboar was easily defeated by the Anteater Pok?mon who didn't even struggle against a foe that could always defeat him in a direct combat.

"Argh! Even Emboar couldn't get nearer at all! Your Heatmor is really incredible!" Spoke the Black Belt in awe.

"Huh? Uh...yeah..."

"Hey! You've been this quiet for awhile! Are you feeling unwell?!"

"I-it's nothing, really." He reluctantly answered, "Sometimes I'm kinda...spaced out for reasons I can't tell, sorry."

"Oh, I see! Mark my words! We'll defeat you when we return from my training!"

Parting their ways while waving hands of friendship, Shin glanced toward the Ultra Ball that he had kept in his belt for awhile before putting it back to move onto the residential area that he was about to visit. The weeks of training has made his team powerful enough to overcome the many obstacles that awaits, but a strange feeling has been clouding the Trainer's personality himself. His smirk of confidence was never been visible anymore, all replaced with an expression refusing to be cheerful and stayed neutral in the way. Not everyone knew the true reason to it, though some tried to not remind him of the cause of it.

"Moooooo."

Feeling tickled, he looked down, noticing his Heatmor trying his best to cheer him up by licking him in the hand. Pulling his hand away in usual disgust, he withdrew his Pok?mon inside so to not coat his hand with unwanted fluid that might give burn scars at random. Sighing, he stared toward the azure lake reflecting the white clear clouds from above. The water edge stayed still, calm and flat. At times like this, he'd usually pull out the fishing rod as a common habitual trait?if not a customary mostly spoken by Fishing Gurus entrusting the said tool to anyone.

After a while, he walked onto the city just upfront of him without saying any other words nor doing anything out of his interest. Through the welcoming board placed on the entrance greeting the arrival of many visitors, he stopped on a nearby Pok?mon Center before advancing.

The Challenge Goes On
The weather is clear.

"By recycling the Project 'BK', we went further to our research on Synthetic Pok?mon. Our study yielded many important assets and information. We also managed to create another Pok?mon based on the discarded blueprint. Please take it along with you. Perhaps by trusting each other, it might be able to open up with humans and see the better world out there."

The words echoed inside his mind, slowly sinking when the nurse brought back his Pok?mon into perfect condition with an attractive smile. Leaving the resting place crowded by Pok?maniacs in furry suits, in the soggy atmosphere, Shin thought on taking a walk onto the local park known for its beautiful landscape?hopefully to gain something from what seemed to be more of an aesthetic reward.

By pressing the button in the middle and throwing the Ultra Ball upward, enshrouded in bright light?a peculiar Pok?mon came out from its place. The chimeric Pok?mon descended down with a loud stomp on four and grunted, signing his disobedience toward the man who stood before him.

"Oh, and maybe you want to give it a nickname. The codename for it sounded way too literal, so you probably should come up with one."

With the hardest wrinkles that he had, he came up with one and called him.

"Alright, Morian. I'm Shin, your Pok?mon Trainer."

Not batting an eye toward the speaker, his attention were too drawn with the floating flowers around him. He tried to call him again.

"Morian, please, look at me."

With a loud ambiguous grunt coming from the brown limiter helmet, the Pok?mon jumped playfully with the wild Comfey that became its flower crown. Feeling ignored, he walked up toward him, soon taking a step back when he hissed aggressively. A walking passerby revealed to be a Collector of some sort stared at the two, and ran toward them with the intention to brag his collection by mocking him firstly.

"Hey! What a hideous looking Pok?mon!"

Provoked, Morian turned and charged toward the man who've just mocked him with two sharp front toes. Shin widened his eyes and hastily took the Ultra Ball within the instant, only for him unfortunately slipping the object as it fell into the tall grasses, giving him more work to search for it. The wild Comfey quickly averted its vision and fled as the man screamed in agony with the claws broadening the wound even more, until the Trainer managed to withdrew the hostile Pok?mon back before anything fatal continued to do its course of action.

Dripping red in the road, the man coughed as Shin checked up on his terrible condition. Eyes flickering about, the weak body refused to give while the loss suggested so. The confused tourists started to look at many directions, but they failed to detect the source of the sudden intrusion when Shin quickly dragged him into the shrubs?covered in many verdant leaves to minimize the witnesses.

"Aaahh, help!"

Hearing about his plea on receiving help due to his sudden unintentional assault still burdened him with the deal, especially when things were made worse when he saw two men in uniforms walking nearer from afar and the red's now became a trail. Going stealthy in the bushes just like the good old times, he hid him inside with more leaves while attempting to stay not visible against the four watching eyes, with a hand covering the mouth of the man to prevent suspicious voices.

"What the-? Strange fluid out of nowhere?!" Gasped the blonde guard.

"Hmm..." Puckering his eyebrows into suspicion, he observed the surrounding and placed his ring finger onto the soil and licked it. Licking the red soaked finger even more, his sidekick watched in uneasiness and waited for him to come up with a lead. After several seconds of tasting something unorthodox, he concluded, "Hmm...thick and juicy. A little bit spicy, tastes like Cheri."

"I'm not sure how soil taste like, and your method is really disgusting."
"What are you, questioning my forensic techniques?" He stood up and pointed sternly, "I'll have you know that I've participated in numerous anti-riot acts and I-"
"Dirk, we're safari wardens. This isn't our responsibility and we have to attend our rotation schedule right now."

Saved by the obliviousness of the two, Shin sighed and released the man from his grip as the two left the scene. However, citing from one of his statement, he stripped his shirt and discovered a leaking bag full of various red berry juices. Squinting his eyes toward him, the collector got up and spoke,

"Dang, it got spoiled..." He continued, "Anyway, do you want to see my collection of kinky berries?"

"No."

After an awkward moment in the cramped shrubs, he left as if he saw nothing happening in particular.
???
The two walked on the park again, hoping that he'll at least calm down and behave. Instead, Morian snarled wildly toward a terrified Skitty that was passing by while Shin tried his best to restrain his temperamental behavior from going into an adversity. Going rampant, Shin decided to withdraw him back into the Ultra Ball he had within his possession and find a way to make him more docile.

"Hmm...Pok?mon like sweets, don't they?" He thought to himself while searching for a nearby sweet shop.

Though he was unable to locate any open confectionery which otherwise could be found in Ganmondyne, he still managed to find a vendor that was selling cotton candies. He bought three, and the payment was made. He eagerly ran toward the previous spot he was in and released Morian out from his place.

"Look, this is a cotton candy." He demonstrated by consuming one, later passing the other one to him. Morian stared at the pink wooly sweet in front of him and did so for several seconds before glowing in bright light. In the process, three colored orbs were formed and Shin placed the cotton candy on the floor before staying away for recognizing the attack pattern. Soon, the destructive energy contained within utterly demolished the food with triple concentrated elemental attack.

"...Well...I still got one more. Maybe this thing is clearly not your thing."

Leaving the road singed, he withdrew the Pok?mon and sat onto a nearby bench with both palms covering the forehead thereafter.

"No, this is far too different with the Pok?mon I had." Shin thought to himself, "He won't listen to me at all, he will destroy everything in sight, and what kind of trust do I need to make him at least obey?"

Leaning over the wooden bench, he closed his eyes trying to find an effective troubleshooting. Not long after that, he heard bell noises. It was soothing. Things turned out to be more relaxing the moment he listened to the ringing chimes. When he looked around to find the originating noise, he spotted a small bazaar accompanied by a lone Chingling selling variable size hollow objects as a timely souvenir with unusually little interest for the tourist nowadays.

The bulb lighted an idea for him being too attracted with the faint melody. Running toward the counter with a fat wallet, he rang the bell.

*ring*

"Huh? Uh oh! A customer!"

A feminine voice hurried out, somehow ramming the knee onto the wooden plank clumsily by accident. Looking sleepy, the girl quickly swept her disorganized appearance with a cheery smile. He wanted a small pair, the one tied with a long red knot hanging on the nail on the leftmost plane. The girl gave what he wanted, in return, he placed a large sum of money despite the cheapness of the item he bought and left without saying any other words. Unable to get any answer from his doing, the two shopkeepers laughed at each other and closed their shop out of happiness.

The twin silver bells?now in the palm of a Pok?mon Trainer rang again. Although unsure what'd happen, he tossed the Ultra Ball once again. Jumping out from it with a growl, Morian faced toward the same Trainer that has been with him lately. This time, he lessened his wild behavior when the chime reverberated around the area where they were. Detaching the red knot and tying it on his neck, the Synthetic Pok?mon only sat and didn't fight back like usual?although it was getting itchy for him with the rear leg scratching the body repeatedly.

"I hope you like it." Said Shin, as he effectively won with the brilliant idea he got. "Now I know bells are effective against considerably arrogant Pok?mon."
???
With the problem with disobedience being mitigated by the help of an item for the time being, he decided to find a place that became an interest check for the city he resided.

Into the entrance of the special preserve known as the Safari Zone?where rare Pok?mon normally not found in the home region are likely to be found, Shin took a step through the gate that was opened by the local rangers. Inside, the straight brown brick tiles separating the twin tall grass lanes ended with a stair leading into the open corridor with two counters on both sides. On the way, he also encountered the two identical men that were curious with the happening event not long ago. Sitting on both opposing sides to keep an eye for visitors in the cramped corridors with sacks of similar catching tools, the two were cipher and nice despite being rude to themselves.

"Welcome to Safari Zone!" Greeted the blonde guard, "Initially, this place was made so Pok?mon distribution in Diminia might pop with lots of variety. Turns out we have too many and so we decided to open the Safari Game eligible for everyone. That being said, do you want to participate in the Safari Game?"

"Interesting, I'm in." Shin confirmed his decision.

"Alright, there are only two rules you need to follow. You can't use your Pok?mon to fight the Pok?mon inside, and once you ran out of Safari Balls, it's a game over! Good luck!" He explained, as the warden beside him prepared a sack consisting of Safari Balls as well as several useful tools. In exchange of 500 Pok?dollars fee, he carried the bag and entered Area 1.

...

"Wait a minute...are those mud?" A slight realization struck him. The place might be wide, but no one really told him that the place was entirely a marshland. Feeling reluctant to advance for not wanting to get wet, he turned back to the gate that was guarded by the ranger.

"You still have four hundred and eighty six steps left! Are you sure you want to quit?!" Asked the ranger loudly.

"How did you...uh...um..."

"...No?! Well then! Looks can be deceiving! But this isn't your average Safari Zone! I'll just say this!?Try to catch five different Pok?mon and you'll be rewarded handsomely!"

Turning back onto the side where he was supposed to go while fingering his deafened ears, he decided to continue with the challenge so to not let the money he paid into a waste. Raising his leg inside the bogs, a Froakie suddenly leaped out from the dark water and landed onto the floating tree branch nimbly.

"Froak." Froakie croaked.

"He really didn't lie about this place being this dope..." Clutching something from the bag, he hurled the camouflaged Pok? Ball quickly before it could get away.

Surprisingly, instead of hitting the supposed target?the Safari Ball stopped midair and glowed in pink. Noticing the closeness, Froakie hopped away into the dark waters as Shin stared at the floating Safari Ball with a confused look. He tried to approach the Safari Ball, but now he also couldn't move his legs as if something was binding his movements. Unsteadily standing at the brown spot, he heard a rustling noise coming from the tall grasses.

Revealing himself in the shadows, the man stepped onward with an Alakazam by his side with a mischievous look.

"What? What do you want?" Asked Shin.

"Nothing personal, kid." The Psychic continued, "I'm here to mug you."

Moving closer with a no good reason, he reached out his pocket to grab his wallet. Shin hissed in return, but the Psychic also smirked while controlling him to splash into the waters.

"Sucks to be you, scrub!" Releasing his control over him, he stepped deeper into the woods.

However, with the anger building up, Shin emerged from the water and threw a Safari Ball toward the Alakazam that was unaware of his quick riposte. Noticing the incoming attack, the Trainer quickly deflected the Safari Ball with a swipe, and it continued when Shin barraged them with the remaining Safari Balls as the man went down after several hard throws.

"H-hey! Don't be a thief!" The Psychic yelled with some of his limbs still hurt from the continuous impact.

"Give it back!" He threatened, pointing his dart gun in front of his face?soon interrupted by the loud megaphone that was roaring to call his name since he ran out of Safari Balls. The nearby rangers quickly dragged him to the exit while Shin tried to break free from their grip in order to retain his pilfered object but to no avail, he was overwhelmed while the crook laughed at his desperation.
???
Exiting the Safari Zone with a long face, he sat on the stairs being unable to come back due to the lack of payment fee for the next visit. Refraining from getting overboard with something that he couldn't even catch at all, Shin grumbled out of dissatisfaction of the result and the fact that he also lost his Trainer Card made him more stressed.

With the new bells worn by the artificial Pok?mon, his Morian jogged along with the jiggling bells playfully as if he got a personality change within the instant. The Trainer, however was neither happy or amused with the outcome since he was too mad for being cheery after the happening incident befalling him. A reason why the seemingly strange Pok?mon earned a space for his team roster remained untold, however.

The skies remained clear throughout the noon, few clouds were visible in the atmospheric sense, and the temperature wasn't really hot even at its highest. Nonetheless, Shin checked the map from his phone to see another place that became an interest check. Aside from the Safari Zone he recently visited, a Pok?mon Gym was located just few meters before his position. He called his walking Pok?mon to follow him, but Morian was too focused grunting against the iconic statues that was placed in the middle of the city, depicting of a Simipour pouring its water fountain along with a happy Simisage and a terrified-looking Simisear?design might be probably intentional to remind local Trainers to remember type-advantages.

Into the entrance of the glass doors, before entering, Shin devised his planning against the Gym Leader that he was about to face. Several questioning has given some information that the Gym Leader uses Water-Type Pok?mon that was known for their versatility in both offense and defense. Checking on his own team, the standing out among all'd be 'Gengar' the Metagross, Sylveon, and Morian the Synthetic Pok?mon?whereas the rest were too weak or won't stand out against the said typing. Chances of winning might be slim without having any viable super-effective moves to use, but he believed that he'll make it through even if the victory'll be a fluke.

All settled, he entered in with his usual determined look even if there was something sketchy about him.

"Hmm? A challenger?" Asked the robust-looking man.
"That's right." Casually posing to his usual style, he pointed the Dive Ball toward him, "I'm Shin, a Pok?mon Trainer. I'm going to challenge you in a Gym Battle."

"Good, I like the sounding of that." Folding his purple shoulders, he also pointed a Pok? Ball that he acquired from his jacket pocket, "I hope you're prepared for the incoming ravaging waves."

The two took their battle stances as an official match was about to begin between a challenging Pok?mon Trainer and a Gym Leader. Shin leaded out with his Metagross that has been accompanying him for a while even though the odds of its appearance was unexpected. On the other side, Carthage simply smirked and started by tossing a Pok? Ball containing a Pok?mon that was made specifically for it. The Iron Leg Pok?mon roared intimidatingly, but Crawdaunt was unfazed by its menacing appearance and took a battle stance, ready for a set of command soon to be deployed by him.

"Crawdaunt, tear it with Night Slash."
"Gengar! Avoid the attack, then Iron Defense!"

Staying committed, Crawdaunt charged toward it with a black pincer to pummel against. However, its might didn't match its speed, causing the Metagross to easily dodge the attack and reinforce its defenses on safe range. That was to be expected, when the attack was alternated onto the other unused pincer on quick time lapse?initiating a linear strike that damaged it badly even with the lower momentum strike.

"Come on! Don't lose your hope now!" Cheered up Carthage to increase the intensity of the official match.

Shin couldn't really say the same when he had little to no way on damaging his foe. Biting his lips, he commanded his Metagross to go for the hit and run tactic. The first attack he yelled was to use the move Take Down against the Crawdaunt that was always ready to intercept, and so it tried its best to do so. The dangerous black pincer came again, and 'Gengar' rushed onward to fight back. The clashing between the two damaged the metallic body more than the crustacean fighter, unsteadily falling down on its weakening four legs, Shin called it back so to not prolong its suffering from an unfavorable type match up.

"Ah, darn it." He muttered, later sending out his second contestant to amend the cornered situation that he was put in.

Gracefully landing on the solid brown floor, Carthage already prepared a special move to engage the foe before it executed the expected move. Predictably, Shin decided to go gimmick instead of going for the obvious. Crawdaunt rapidly approached the Intertwining Pok?mon with a jet of water torrent from behind, and so did the Pok?mon when she used Quick Attack to avoid the incoming attack.

"What?" Surprised by its direction of attack, Carthage quickly ordered his Crawdaunt to turn back quickly before she was able to execute the move. Luckily, the range to reach between the two points gave her the vantage to charge the attack. Closing up onto the opponent attempting to cancel the attack, it was too late to make up for its overdue when the deafening voice cloaked the agile Pok?mon in destructive pixie energy.

As expected from the taken damage, Crawdaunt easily went down while Sylveon cheerfully jumped for her usefulness for the first time.

"Most impressive! Here comes next!"

The next Pok?mon he sent out was the Water Bubble Pok?mon?Araquanid, and Shin also switched out to ensure he still got some tactical advantage to boot. Landing onto the floor with the twin bells still attached, Morian turned back toward his Trainer and stared at him intently. Carthage was curious with the strange Pok?mon that was facing toward his Trainer instead against the Pok?mon that was at his side. Thus, he asked for clarification on the origins of the said Pok?mon.

"That is something I've never seen. What kind of Pok?mon is that?"
"Well, I wonder." He subtly fabled, "Let's cut it out and just battle already, right?"

"Fair enough." With a smirk of confidence, he jutted out his hand for the next attack to come, "Araquanid, Poison Jab!"

The attack was too quick, the two weren't ready with Morian still staring at his Trainer motionlessly despite his attempts to avert his attention toward him during the battle. Due to his unawareness, the attack landed easily, wobbling onto the side still steady and tough despite the damage he took from the free attack. His focus changed toward the foe that assaulted him with a move, and Shin stepped in to command him to do an actual battle.

"Morian! This is a Pok?mon Battle! And, that Pok?mon is our opponent!" He yelled, "Now, follow my orders and use Tri Attack on that foe!"

Not amused by his speech, he unruly ignored his orders and charged in by self-command like a wild Pok?mon?believing on his own instinct more than given orders from his caretaker as in not really understanding what he has to say. Perhaps a Gym Battle as the first battle was not the best way to start.

Carthage continued the offense by trapping the lone Pok?mon with a spider web in order to restrict his movements. Shin kept on yelling at him to listen to him for once, but the solitary Pok?mon instead fought Araquanid stubbornly with an ineffective battle style?constantly rushing forward despite being slowed by the sticky water silk, Carthage went the easy way and told his Pok?mon that easily dodged most incoming slow attacks to smash the foe with a big bubble of water.

"Hmm...your movement is too disorganized?barely effective for being called gimmick." Spoke Carthage, rubbing his chin to go for the next move, "I don't know what's the cause nor the trick behind it, but if you don't work together then you're just giving your opponent the chance to take you down."

"S-stay calm, buddy." He comforted, "It's just that, I was here to make the battle easier for you. I don't know if you like me or not, I don't know if you'd enjoy the nickname I came up with, and I don't really know the true reason why you were entrusted to me."

Struggling in the sticky web that covered the heavy body, the second attack struck him again?damaging the Pok?mon that he fell into the floor. Shin has yet to gain the trust with the Pok?mon that was torturing himself in an unorganized fight, and it was considerably the most difficult compared with the former that was replacing his stead. With clenched palms, Shin continued,

"But we're a team now. We work together to overcome the obstacles to come. This is one of them that was blocking our path and we have to fight back in our defense. So please! Let me guide you at least once!"

The arachnid Pok?mon approached again with a big bubble of water, intending to deliver the decisive blow toward the idle Pok?mon that has been surviving the strongest attacks so far. Morian, not quite touched with his motivating words, however decided to make a change by readying a battle stance facing toward the foe that was ready for the finishing blow.

Although feeling indecisive for knowing nothing of his ambiguous reaction, nevertheless, Shin continued the first attack he called out which is Tri Attack.

Surprisingly, three different colored orbs were formed around him and those were made bigger than what to be expected. The heaviness of the water bubble made Araquanid to go slower than usual, but the attack'll make a score that anyone unable to resist might get knocked out. Successfully charging the three on different masses, orbiting altitudes, the triple attack were launched forward. Scorched, zapped, and coagulated, the blue orb took the most contributing effect as Araquanid was frozen solid?effectively stopping its tracks from landing the critical hit.

"Whoa, you really did great! Now, how about you go with Crush Claw?" Commanded Shin.
"Darn...I must've miscalculated this one..." Stated the Gym Leader.

Turning back toward his Trainer, he gently nodded while the bell chimed along with the rhythm. Idling, Carthage waited for the challenger to do his next move since he has no way to win this round, for how it was helpless to break free without its water bubble. Two glowing sharp claws were thrust toward the frozen Pok?mon, shattering the bubble into cracks of hollow ice and the defrosting Pok?mon inside was defeated easily after a continuous counterattack by the challenger's side..

"The table has been turned, but the water too has been boiled even further?just like my aquatic spirit."

Still having two left, he could only choose one between them. The choice was made, he took the Pok? Ball on the left side and threw it into the field to reveal his final Pok?mon.

"Carracosta, it's your turn to brawl the odds!" He exclaimed, and the Pok?mon began to roar its battle cry.

Morian, the artificial Pok?mon that was weirdly sturdy, looked up toward the big Pok?mon slapping its blue powerful flippers together to eject several rocky portions out of its body. By doing so, the defenses were reduced, but soon remedied when the white leaf was consumed by the Prototurtle Pok?mon. Now looking stronger and nimbler, Carthage led out another order to attack the foe by propelling onward with a jet stream of water.

"Let's try it again! Tri Attack!"
"That Pok?mon won't last long! Try your hardest!"

The two clashed, and Carracosta spun itself to maximize the damage done. Morian, albeit being weakened from the previous attack endured through the attack and initiated the elemental attack?intentionally charging the yellow light bigger and brighter to envelop his opponent with a beam of electricity on point blank range. Despite being made of many elements that might ignore the hard defenses of Rock-Types, Carracosta didn't seem to be damaged pretty badly.

However, the static from the beam has caused the Prototurtle Pok?mon to weaken. Carthage was surprised again with the resulting aftermath?while the first Tri Attack resulted in a freeze, this time his Pok?mon was paralyzed from the not very effective attack!

"Cretin pleb..." He muttered angrily, though still keeping his cool intact, he readied another move to combat out the annoyance. Retreating back to its former spot, Carthage ordered his Pok?mon to bury its foe with a barrage of falling rocks. Rocks were created and hurled throughout the battlefield, all falling down toward his side of location even if the user was not concentrating due to the paralysis.

"Watch where you're aiming!" Shin shouted, with his Pok?mon having an easy way to dodge the inaccurate falling rocks while charging the same attack continuously. The beams were shot once more, and Carracosta has to endure it as the punishment.

Carthage was tensed with the tough situation that has happened. His plan didn't go very well with a status ailment screwing what seems to be an easy, solvable battle. The Pok?mon that he fought turned out to be pretty indomitable despite his slight disobedience toward his Trainer, and there's not much that he could really do for his usual extensive troubleshooting in the direst condition he was put in. By not much, the only way to do so is to take down the foe without any hesitation and quickly.

Clearing his throat in discomfort, he exclaimed again.

"Carracosta! Aqua Jet then Crunch!"
"Almost there!"

The beams kept coming, the rocky armor it donned chipped off bits by bits for every attack it took. Getting weak and sluggish from the paralyzing attack, it propelled one more time onto the Synthetic Pok?mon that has been attacking it with ranged moves. The speed difference was noticeably slower than the initial, but the propulsion power was boosted further by an empowering set-up move done from the start. The last beam continued to scorch the body of the Water-Type Pok?mon, but Carracosta managed to crept in with a slow leap and a gaping mouth.

"Gaaaa!" Carracosta balled in hopes to get a bite, and it actually did successfully. Carthage grinned, Shin looked paranoid when the pain was too much for him to take. Going rampant, it still didn't let go its jaw and the pressuring force kept him in company. In the verge of defeat, Shin decided to withdraw Morian back as an emergency exit.

"You did pretty well, despite it being your first." He whispered, who also returned with his Sylveon that has won a round back into the battlefield.
"So it's just between the two of them. Who'll win this, I suppose?" The Gym Leader tensed up?now aware and bit by bit learning from the gimmicky tactic that he used in the previous fight, decided to go for a mind game which he also used without really telling themselves the plannings.

"Can Sylveon really do this? I think she could win this if she got the chance to use Hyper Voice. But if she got caught, I might lost the battle. Maybe this could work..."

"That Sylveon is still active and undamaged. My Carracosta can really take it down in one move, but I'll have to be aware on what kind of move he'll order out. Will he go with the same tactic or go for an all-out attack?"

The two stared at each other, both thinking about their decisions on what to do. Sylveon kept on being cheerful, while Carracosta was suffering from the ongoing paralysis that hasn't been cured yet. Shin quietly signaled her Pok?mon through subtle hand language, which she understood by tilting her ribbons toward him slightly. On the other side, Carthage also silently signaling the Prototurtle Pok?mon about what to do and what to expect.

The battle has turned into a rock-paper-scissor-esque, with an imagery of the statue located just in the middle of the city. Simipour trumped the terrified Simisear with the blue water, but Simisage didn't seem to be bothered with the barrage of water and rejoiced. However, was the Simisear really terrified of the water or just aware of it? The positioned eyes was also facing toward the unaware looking Simisage as if it was planning to do a surprising tricky attack. It might've been or not to be, but if it was, then it might be demolished since no one'd insert a flamethrower on a public fountain.

Slowly raising their hands up, the two commanded their Pok?mon with their respective moves simultaneously.

"Aqua Jet!"
"Baby-Doll Eyes!"

Carracosta pushed onward with a stream of water after told so, but hesitated when it saw the glittering sad expression that she faked. Stopping midway due to paralysis, Sylveon puckered her cute face into a devilish smile?soon chaining the attack by gathering a lot of fairy energies in her cheeky mouth. With eyes wide open still in the midair, Carracosta flapped about and cried out in cartoonish panic as she gaped her mouth widely. The loud roar reverberated the whole area, very devastating that it blew Carracosta straight into the wall of the gym.

Carthage knelt down conceding defeat, followed by screaming his disapproval of his apparent loss on the troubling paralysis that has been hampering his plan all the time. The victorious Trainer reunited back with his Pok?mon that contributed the win for his seventh badge, gently stroking her in the head as a consolation gift before returning her back into the red and white sphere.

After a brief congratulation from the tough Gym Leader, the Life Badge has been kept deep down in the realms of his pocket. Speaking of his pocket, he was also reminded with the recent happening that befell him not long ago. Though he was about to search for the one who took his wallet, the same Black Belt greeted him again after passing by and the identical Psychic that he recognized was also beside him.

"...D-do you know him?" Asked the Psychic.

"Yeah, a pretty cool guy to spar with. Have you met with him before?" The Black Belt questioned back.

With a heavy heart, the Psychic pulled out the identical object that he stole from him and returned it back to him. Additionally, it seemed that the money inside has gained some weight in numeric.

"Okay...but what's with all these money?" Asked Shin.

"I think some pretty lady wanted to return the excessive pay out back to you. So...there you go."

However, before he could really keep it back into the safe spot, the Psychic quickly took it away and raised a Pok? Ball against him. The energetic man beside him also raised his Pok? Ball toward him, leaving the blue haired Trainer puzzled with the sudden actions.

"But only when you defeat us! Since I technically took it from you, now you've got to acquire it back from me!"
"And I think I improved a lot! I'll tag along with my friend so I hope you're not too bothered with it!"

Looking serious, Shin got along with flow to settle the petty adversary in a fair fight despite being confused with the reasoning behind it. An Alakazam and an Emboar, tagging together as the Brain and the Brawn against a Trainer that has just won one of the most difficult battles that not everyone can overcome. To face the foes in front of him, he picked both Floatzel and Heatmor to fight by his stead against the two Trainers that were pumped to follow the Trainer Code.

The four came closer and clashed. The conclusion remained limited for those who didn't witness the result from it, even for one particular entity who didn't get to see the misadventurous hijinks after such fateful encounter with the one that he still held a grudge with just down below.
 

ImMrRoboto

That's MISTER Roboto to you!
254
Posts
8
Years
Damien King
39.png

Spoiler:


Damien lay on the ground, looking up at the night sky. Almia was lovely and all, but he had never seen a sky like this. The stars, the silence, the wind.

The Murkrow sitting on his head, pecking his head. The Pok?mon he'd caught recently seemed to like being out at night, but almost never else. Oddly enough, the pecking didn't feel bad.

Damien gently waved his hand, causing Murkrow to obediently hop off of his head. Damien arose and stretched. He had only paused momentarily, as he needed to get to the next gym. Apparently, this one was in a large city. As Murkrow flew up and onto his shoulder (as she enjoyed the night air), Damien set off once more. The night was pretty, but silent as a majority of the Pok?mon in the area were asleep.

Laaaaaaas... Damien and Murkrow turned. They had heard a gentle whisper that sounded like it had come from right behind them, but when they turned around, no one was there. Damien and Murkrow looked at each other, shrugged, and continued walking.

Laaaaas? Certain that he had heard something this time, Damien whirled around once more to see nothing there again. "I must just be tired." Damien to himself as he turned back around.

Laaas As Damien turned around, he came face to face with a Froslass. Startled, Damien turned and ran in the opposite direction. The Froslass laughed as it gave chase, following him quickly.

After a short time, Damien heard Murkrow caw at the Froslass angrily and then Damien heard her fly off of his shoulder toward the Froslass. The two grappled with each other for a brief moment as Damien stopped and turned to watch. He knew that both Pok?mon were at a type disadvantage, and he couldn't be sure of how powerful this Froslass was.

After breaking apart, the Froslass began to charge a white orb between its appendages and from the orb came a white beam that seemed to freeze the air around it. Murkrow flew out of the way and dove toward the Pok?mon before it could cease the beam. Murkrow cawed aggressively as her wings glowed grey-white and hardened to steel, Murkrow flew past Froslass, striking it with her wings, which sent the Froslass soaring back into the ground.

Murkrow flew back up to plunge down onto the grounded Froslass, but it was too quick. Froslass leapt out of the way, causing Murkrow to hastily recover from her dive before she hit the ground. She tried again and again to hit Froslass, but this continued to happen. Froslass elegantly danced out of Murkrow's path and laughed at her tauntingly, enraging her.

Eventually, Froslass suddenly turned onto the offensive, launching a Shadow Ball out of nowhere at Murkrow, which she just barely avoided. But Froslass had more. It reached out it's arm and fired waves of Shadow Balls straight for Murkrow. However, Murkrow charged recklessly toward them, dodging each one as her wings began to glow once more. Murkrow dodged the last of the Shadow Balls and struck Froslass once more. This time, Froslass didn't get back up.

Suddenly, a Gengar leapt out of the darkness around them and it's eyes glowed, producing a Dazzling Gleam. Damien shielded his eyes but he could hear Murkrow's distressed cries before she fell to the ground. As the glow subsided, Damien pulled out her ball and returned her to it.

'Gengar is a Poison type, so maybe a Psychic' Damien though to himself as he pulled out Kirlia's ball and sent her out. Gengar tried to Gleam again, but it had not affect on Kirlia, who instead calmly reached out her hand and, surrounding Gengar in a blue glow, used Confusion to toss it over her head. Gengar hit a tree and fell down, confused and disoriented. Kirlia dashed toward it to deliver a final blow when suddenly, a red light came out of nowhere, hit Gengar, and recalled it.

"A Trainer!" Damien cried, surprised. He turned around to see that Froslass was also gone. Once more a Pok?mon, this time a Banette, leapt from the darkness, where Damien realized the trainer must be standing. Kirlia fell out of the air and stumbled as she landed, falling onto all fours. Banette leapt back, melting into the darkness. Damien silently cursed that he didn't have enough time to switch out Pok?mon. As Kirlia nervously stood up, she was constantly looking around, anticipating Banette's attack.

Suddenly, Banette lunged out from the shadows and tackled Kirlia, pinning her to the floor and electrocuting her with Thunder Wave. Banette elegantly jumped off, but Kirlia found that she couldn't move. Eventually, she stopped trying and Damien withdrew her, quickly substituting Gabite.

Gabite leapt into action immediately. As Banette tried once more to melt into the shadows, Gabite gave chase, catching it in his jaws before it could disappear completely. The two struggled for a while before Gabite yanked Banette back and started swinging it around like, well, a rag doll. Eventually, Gabite released it and found that it had already fainted.

But before anyone could celebrate, a Shadow Ball came out of the darkness, followed by an angry Gengar. Gabite just barely managed to avoid the attack, but the second one. It caught Gabite directly on the head and sent him sprawled out on the ground. Gengar laughed as it stood next to him, charging a third, when suddenly, Gabite burrowed underground, surprising Gengar and cancelling the attack.

In the soft soil, It was easy to see the Bugs-Bunneary like mound wherever Gabite went, and Gengar attempted to attack that. Shooting Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball, but none of them managed to hit. Gengar was starting to get fatigued.

Suddenly, a white light erupted from the hole and the mound began traveling at an incredible speed. So much that not even Gengar could keep up with it. No one could, in fact.

Then it stopped. The mound came to a sudden stop right at Gengar's feet and from it erupted a Garchomp. Shocking everyone, Garchomp landed on the ground, grabbed Genagr in his mouth and swung it over head before slamming it back down onto the ground. As soon as Gengar's back hit the dirt, Garchomp stomped a foot onto it's chest and gave a massive roar. Even Damien had to cover his ears and saw a vague silhouette of someone doing the same in the distance. Looking back at the scene before them, Damien could see that the Gengar had already fainted. It, too, was recalled and as Damien and Garchomp ran over to where the Pokemon had been coming from, to find no one there. Just a badge, lying on the ground.
________________?_?___________________
 

MurkMire

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c
910
Posts
12
Years
Chapter Seven


Dmitrix the Clown
aka Dmitri Bolokov
ClownSprite_zpsu4ljogoj.png


Current Party
Spoiler:

In Storage
Spoiler:



Sedeena City, a city of coldness surrounded by lakes and marshland. The sky was a gloomy grey, mixed with different shades of clouds, looking like a painting in the sky. The city was quiet, and peaceful. The sun had risen, the warm glow reached across the coldened landscape, and the gloomy city.
Inside the gym, a tall man with blue hair was doing some training with his Pokemon. It was a Crawdaunt, practicing it?s Aqua Jet attack. But, the doors had swung open, the light from the sun began to fill the room. Dmitrix and his Grumpig stepped through the doors, and walked inside. ?Hello. Is this a good time?? The purple clown asked curiously, seeing Carthage and his Pokemon training.

?No. My gym is open at specified times, and you?re right on time. I suppose you?re here to get on with a gym battle. Is that correct?? The man stood up, and returned his Crawdaunt. Dmitrix nodded his head.
?Very well. My gym rules are as follows. This will be a three on three, single battle match. Only you may switch out. Defeat me, and the Life Badge is yours.? Carthage?s eyes peered at the purple clown. Rumors were spreading about a strange purple clown, after Abel came in contact with such a person. But, Carthage set these thoughts aside. ?Referee, we?re ready.?

A young man stepped on the edge of the field, between the two trainers. ?Let the match begin!?

?Slowbro, I choose you!? On the gym leader?s side of the field, a Slowbro appeared, and stood up as if it was sleeping. It gave a hearty yawn, then proceeded to stare? aimlessly. ?Pigaro, I choose you!?
The Grumpig sprang onto the field, and snorted at the Slowbro. Pigaro was met with not even a response. ?You may have the first move, challenger,? Carthage called out. ?Pigaro, use Psyshock!? ?Slowbro, use Psyshock.?

Violet sparked emitted from Pigaro?s black pearls, and shot towards the Slowbro, only to be met by a retaliation. From Slowbro?s head, violet sparks were holding back the attack. The power looked even between Pigaro and Slowbro. The bolts had ceased in an instant, and Carthage called out with, ?Use Calm Mind.?
Slowbro had closed his eyes, and it?s body began to glow. ?Brroooo?.? A contented sigh fell out of his mouth. ?Pigaro, use Shadow Ball!? Grumpig bounced up into the air, and held a black mass above his head. ?Slowbro, counter with Scald.? Slowbro lazily looked up, and spewed a stream of Scald. The Shadow Ball had collided with the Scald, causing a small explosion. Steaming water rained onto the field, on both of the Pokemon. While Pigaro tried to fan himself and avoid the searing droplets, Slowbro just sat there with that blank stare.

?Slowbro, use Scald again.? Slowbro fired off another Scald attack, with which Pigaro took the full force of. It oinked in pain, and landed on his back. ?Try another Shadow Ball, Pigaro!? With a swish of his arms, Pigaro released a writhing sphere of black mass, colliding with the unmoving Slowbro. But with the force of the Shadow Ball, it knocked Slowbro across the field. That was, until it lazily got back up, huffing more. ?Slowbro, use Slack Off.?
Slowbro gave a loud, contented yawn, the scrapes and overall damage seemed to fade away. ?Broooo?.? The Hermit Crab Pokemon remained the oblivious expression. ?Pigaro, bounce into the air above, and use Shadow Ball!? Pigaro did so, and fired another Shadow Ball attack, striking Slowbro again. This time, after it got up, it began to shiver. ?Slowbro, use Calm Mind,? Carthage called out. ?Pigaro, keep up the Shadow Ball!? Again and again, Pigaro relentlessly attacked with Shadow Ball.

?Slowbro, time to move.? Slowbro began to dodge the Shadow Ball attacks. ?Now, use Scald.? ?Pigaro, use Psyshock!? A collision of psychic power and searing water caused another explosion. Both Pokemon were evenly matched, but Dmitrix knew Slowbro had an advantage in defense and healing factor. ?Pigaro, use Power Gem!? ?Slowbro, use Scald.?

This time, when the attacks collided, Power Gem had given way to Scald, striking Pigaro again, knocking it out. ?Grumpig is unable to battle. Slowbro wins.? Dmitrix called back Pigaro, and returned him to his Pokeball.
?Venomiss, I need you!? Out came his sparkling, graceful Venomoth. It shrilled happily, flitting her wings and scattering sparkling scales. ?Now, let the match continue!?
?Slowbro, use Psyshock.? ?Venomiss, use Psychic!? The violet sparks shot forth from the Hermit Crab?s head. But, Venomiss tried to hold the attack in place. She stuttered in place. ?Venomiss, get away and use Poison Powder!? She flapped her wings, and flew up as the psychic attack missed her. She flapped again, and rained down poisonus scales onto the field, and onto Slowbro. ?Now, use Scald.? Slowbro, without missing a beat, fired that searing attack at Venomiss, striking her fully. ?Venomiss, use Giga Drain!?
She spread her wings wide, and a green energy erupted forth, and snatched at the Hermit Crab. It struggled, but could not escape. ?Release yourself with Psyshock.? The violet sparks had caused the Giga Drain to cease, and to recede to Venomoth. ?Now, use Morning Sun!? A gorgeous light filled the room, as if the sun outside had begun to spill into the room again. As her form was rejuvenated, she flitted and fluttered happily. ?Now Slowbro, use Scald again.? Again, Slowbro fired. But this time, Venomiss flew around the attack, straight at the Slowbro. ?Use Giga Drain, again!? A full on Giga Drain had enveloped the Slowbro, causing it to fall to the ground.
?Slowbro is unable to battle. Venomoth is the winner!? ?Good job, my little miss!? The Venomoth and her trainer danced happily. Carthage, however, just continued with his next Pokemon. ?Now, Carracosta, I choose you.? A rough looking Carracosta had appeared on the field. It?s eyes seemed to pierce anything it looked at. Dmitrix thought for a moment, and then pulled out the Pokeball for Venomiss. ?I?ll need you to return, but you?ll be back. I promise.? She receded into the Pokeball, and Dmitrix pulled out a different Pokeball.

?Alright Jules, time for your high flying debut. Come on out!? Out came a Mienfoo, he spun through the air and onto the battlefield with a bow. Carthage paid no mind to the circus trick, and began to command Carracosta with, ?Now, use Aqua Jet!? ?Use Quick Guard!? Carracosta shot through the air in a stream of water, but Jules sprang into the air, and stopped the attack. ?Impressive, challenger. Carracosta, use Rock Slide.? Carracosta bellowed, and rocks began to form above Jules? head. They began to fall in rapid succession, knocking him to the ground. ?Jules, use Force Palm!? The rocks that piled on the Mienfoo suddenly shot in multiple directions. ?Now Jules, use Dual Chop!? The Mienfoo sprung into the air, and crossed his arms in a crossed shape.

?Carracosta, intercept with Crunch.? Carracosta opened his jaws wide, but Jules chopped him on the head twice. It reeled back and bellowed in pain, but lunged his head to snatch Jules? right arm. Jules yelped in pain, and was thrown against the wall. The Carracosta slowly turned to face Jules, unblinking.
?Jules, are you okay?? Mienfoo shakily stood up, but gave his trainer a thumbs up. Dmitrix chuckled, and replied with, ?Alright then, use High Jump Kick!? Jules rushed to just inches in front of Carracosta, before he knocked the Prototurtle into the air. He bounced off of him, spinning back onto the field as Carracosta hit the field.
?Carracosta is unable to battle! Mienfoo is the winner!?

Carthage quietly returned the Carracosta, and eyed both Dmitrix and his Mienfoo. After a short deliberation in his head, Carthage called out, ?Now, Araquanid, I choose you!? An impressive looking Araquanid appeared before Mienfoo. The referee continued the match, and Dmitrix took the offensive. ?Jules, use Force Palm!? ?Araquanid, use Poison Jab.? Before Mienfoo could get close enough to deliver the attack, he was hit by one of Araquanid?s long legs. He was flown back, and began to reel in pain. The violet aura Dmitrix was familiar with began to glow across Jules? body. ?We don?t have much time. Jules, use Cross Chop!?
?Araquanid, use Spider Web.? Araquanid dashed across and around the Mienfoo, ensnaring him with a beautifully constructed Spider Web. It covered quite a bit of the field, and even above the field. Mienfoo got stuck during Araquanid?s quick moving. ?Jules? use Force Palm!?
?It?s no use. Now Araquanid, use Liquidation.? The Water Bubble Pokemon was enveloped in a raging bubble of water, and it scuttled with great speed, crashing into Mienfoo with great force. Dmitrix opened his eyes widely in disbelief. Mienfoo fell too, and was knocked out. ?Mienfoo is unable to battle. Araquanid wins!?
After returning Jules, he threw out another Pokeball. ?Venomiss, it?s finale time!? Venomiss appeared back onto the field, and fluttered her wings as if to stretch them. The referee cleared his throat, and shouted out, ?Now, for the final match. Let it begin!?
?Araquanid, use Spider Web.? ?Venomiss, use Psychic and repel it!? The webbing shot from the mouth of Araquanid, aimed straight for Venomiss, but she began to hold it in place with Psychic. However, the Water Bubble Pokemon released the web from his mouth, and lunged towards Venomiss. ?Now, use Liquidation.? Araquanid hit Venomiss with a crash, knocking her out of the air, and closer to the ground. ?Venomiss, use Poison Powder!? She flapped her wings. One, two, three times, poisonous scales began to fall. Some landed on the bubble that enveloped Araquanid?s head, changing to a purple color. It?s legs shook weakly, but it still stood strong. ?Araquanid, use Spider Web across the field.? Araquanid did just that. Again, it scuttled swiftly, spinning and shooting webbing all over the field, making Venomiss easier to catch.
?Venomiss, use Giga Drain!? ?Dodge, and use Liquidation once more.? Once again, Araquanid enveloped itself in a water bubble, and rammed itself into the Venomoth, the water bubble exploding onto her upon contact. She fell, and was ensnared in the Spider Web. ?Venomiss, no!? She struggled and shrilled, but the struggle just made it worse. ?Now Araquanid, finish this with Liquidation!? ?Venomiss, use Giga Drain!?

Before Araquanid had the chance to finish the battle, Giga Drain snatched Araquanid and weakened it greatly. And just then, the poison had taken affect before it could get back. Araquanid then fell, back onto the field, unable to move.

?Araquanid is unable to battle, and Venomoth is the winner. Thus, the victory goes to the challenger.?
Dmitrix scooped up the Venomoth, and gave her a big hug before returning her to the Pokeball. But as he stood up, Carthage was already there. ?You have certainly proven your training skills. You may take the Life Badge, and go on.? He quietly gave the badge to Dmitrix, and walked away. Dmitrix only looked on in confusion, and annoyance. He shrugged it off, and left the gym. After that, only one stepping stone was left.

One more gym leader.

 

Who's Kiyo?

puking rainbows
3,229
Posts
12
Years
3 Things About Swamps That Everyone Needs To Know
Sedeena City -- You can and will die, no matter who you are.
tD3N5PA.png
-----
As I'm sure you know, dear readers, I'm a fan of the dangerous - the untrekked, the thrilling - and so, upon seeing the hazardous environment surrounding Sedeena, I was inspired to gain some perspective into the life of famous marsh hikers such as the town's adventurous founder: Patricia Pastoria - who history buffs will recall as the namesake of a similarly marshy city in the Sinnoh region, and wrestling fans will recognize as the ferocious great-grandmother of Crasher Wake - and her present-day spiritual successor, Leader Carthage, that involved challenging said league official to a battle within the nearby boggy terrain. I thought it'd be just the thing to replicate what it'd be like back in the days of the discovery team, who noted in their diaries engaging in battles with ravenous beasts never exposed to humanity or the concept of mercy before; I presumed that I couldn't very well trust the local wildlife to provide a likewise situation, their genes having been tainted with varying levels of domestication over the decades. I was even excited to find that the day of my appointment with Carthage came with a light shower of rain, as it was destined to make the encounter all the more treacherous and alive.

-----
I was naive before my arrival in Sedeena. Here is what I've learned.

-
Preparation Is Irrelevant

-----
The incredibly generous citizens of this quiet corner of the world did their best to answer my inquiries about safety protocol after one of them spotted me trying to enter the wetlands with nothing more than a reserve of unbridled enthusiasm and a box of peanut-butter cracker sandwiches. A crumpled sheet of wide-ruled loose leaf detailing proper stepping technique and an updated look involving a rain hat and backpack full of quintessential boy scout camping tools later, I was feeling both confident and so self-assured of my easy return that doubt hadn't formed in my mind, let alone been addressed. It was in this state that, far from my intended meeting place, I tripped off a small cliff into a deep, thick mire.

-----
I stood up as best I could to find my knees and everything below them gripped by the mud. At first I wasn't too troubled by the event - I believe it struck me as humorous even, as it would one who hasn't had their optimism siphoned out of their personality yet - I figured, "oh, what a hilarious happenstance to include in my article," and "I bet this occurred to Ms. Pastoria and her crew all the time, I feel so woke," with other such ideas, and went for a companion to help yank me out of my conundrum.

-----
I'm sure some of you are assuming that this anecdote ends with me sending out Spinarak to weave a vine of silk that pulls me ashore, or with my Poliwhirl skillfully navigating my sorry self out of the treacherous waters, and you'd be right ... if my very next sight hadn't been both of their Pokeballs - as well as the others I packed for the trip - several feet away, sinking into mucky oblivion. But no worry, you think, I have that whole bag of - ssh, ssh, stop, don't finish that sentence. Like my Pokemon, my other survival effects were scattered about, due to my bag having ripped open. You should've assumed this via context clues. I love you, don't make a fool of yourself.

-----
Despite all odds of success shining in my favor, Mother Nature and the Fates deemed it necessary that my endeavor strand me a few feet below the dirt with no evident solutions. But that's no hindrance to the go-getter my audience have grown to know me as, right?

-----
This is when I learned my next lesson.

-
Screaming Does Not Help, and the Unsolicialized Fauna
Are, In Fact, Heartless Creatures

-----
Around Hour Two of my plight, I had worn my voice down to a scratchy pulp barely distinguishable from a common scab. It was increasingly apparent that intelligent men stay away from this marsh out of fear, and that all who did dare enter its clutches were preserved below in the loamy maw that now was consuming me; their combined efforts leaving a stretch of territory that was a desolate breeding ground for vengeful wraiths that pleasured in bottling my screams before they reached civilization. Also, I found that desperation makes me more lyrical.

-----
Struggling only angered the tarry soil, it being insulted by my insolence and prideful escape attempts. It clutched my feet with invisible hands and claimed more of my body as I typed impromptu sonnets into my signal-less phone and grieved over all the Poetry Out Louds I would never be able to participate in. But as luck would have it, in the middle of writing a verse bridging an allegory between a fateful brunch date and the last world war, I noticed a sifting through the gunk that flooded me with relief and gratefulness.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Upon revision, it concerns me that Rhodes' last sentence may be misleading to some readers. She did not mean to connote hope, and actually - in her own words - meant for the word "luck" to be: "read disparagingly. It is my desire for the entire piece to illicit the terror, despair, and hopelessness that seized me when I noted the evil in that Quagsire's eyes."

-----
It was the first sign of life I had seen all day, and I used the remainder of my energy to wave it over; the effort costing me my hips and most of my stomach to the mud. It slowly and silently dug its way to me, slithering out of the goo when it was just short of my reach. I threw my arms towards it, thanking it profusely for answering my calls, begging to be pulled out.

-----
However, it just stood there ... with a plain, emotionless smile. I was confused, of course, but it maybe it hadn't understood me? I was speaking in an unfamiliar tongue, with a hoarse voice at that. I pleaded many times over for its aid, but it didn't move a muscle in response to any of my requests. It stared firmly with an intent I couldn't register, but once I slipped further into the ground, I realized what it was in horrific clarity: pleasure. Deep, cold enjoyment. I was dying, and it came to watch.


no god of love or mercy crafted this face

-
The Bottom of a Bog Is the Realm of the Unholy

-----
Unsurprisingly, vivid hallucinations are common among those suffering from oxygen deprivation set on by forceful submersion into filthy sludge. Here is a comprehensive transcript of my personal visions:

There is panic, I struggle. The Quagsire moves, finally: it bares its teeth. That wasn't a Quagsire.

There are bubbles around me; they are filled with the last breath of my relatives. I produce one myself. My descent stretches me like taffy; my lips so close to air, yet my feet drop to the core of the earth. Science was wrong, the world was but pure, mushy death, and I ... and we, its sleeping servants awaiting enlightenment.

Dragonflies fly through the mud, a faint crimson glow surrounding them. We are in water ... when was this the sea? No, no. This isn't water. This is worse. The city is below. Oh god, it's burning my flesh. What is this place.

The bugs hover still, sucking my life from afar. They await the moment I become part of their king. The milk of my blood feeds them, as it has for centuries. I've been here for eons ... or have half-seconds become years? My thoughts become numb and I become but another freckle on the form of great destruction incarnate, a withered sore that nourishes the waste of the universe.

Melting, melting ... what is melting? I am now but red, and only red. There is red.

Red.

R̡e͡d҉

R̶̸̟̥̠̺͍̔̏̂͛ͣ̈̃͗͜e̵͎̺͋̇d̨̪̥̣̪͍̉ͨ̿̂ͦͩ̈̀̚͠

Ř͙͇̯̦̬̤̘̯̺͈̙̲̦͍ͥͧͯ͆͌͆̉̊̈͒̏ͬ̉̊̚͟͟͠ȩ̯͉̬̰̣̭͉̭̙̤̪̤͉̗̬̘̝̘̻̍ͧͬͨͤͮ̍ͪ́͛͒ͦ̿ͪͥͮ́d̢̫̗̥̥̣̬͇̯̱̗̬̤̍̎̔̈́ͤ̇̓̀ͤ̅ͧͭͮ͋͗͋ͮͨ͘̕͡

-----
It was around here where I felt Carthage and his Pokemon rescuing my corpse. They managed to resuscitate what life stubbornly clung inside, forcing me to suffer a violent, convulsing rebirth into my physical form. I looked into his eyes through a filter alien to me. This was no longer my body, I knew, for I am no longer Rhodes. Her personality and history were taken by the marsh. I am simply what remains of her, the shell within her shed skin, plagued with the knowledge that hell is real.

-----
But I feel much better after drinking this complimentary hospital coffee, so you should expect my usual update schedule.
Parasol Lady Rhodes // Having worked her way up from a meteorology internship, she's now proudly known as ONBS' most prolific online columnist. The next Sylvia Plath.

Spoiler:
 
37,467
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  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
I - TIAMAT

Erest town was tiny enough for everybody to know of the kindergarten teachers. And when there was only two of them, everybody recognized the young one - she was the one whose hair wasn?t gray and whose body wasn?t as wide as it was tall.

Bulbasaur had always been sturdy and reliable. He looked after the kids just as much as Marlin herself did during playtime, and they all loved him to bits. But a battler? She couldn?t quite picture him out on a battlefield, facing vicious opponents. He was gentle with the children, he wasn?t a ruthless victor.

When she had first picked him a few years ago, she had been prepared to become a trainer. Her outfits were planned, her backpack bought. But she started working extra at the kindergarten when her mother was injured, and in the end that was where she stayed. Bulbasaur had accepted it, and so had Marlin.

She wasn?t sure where the idea had come from now. Perhaps it was when the kids started talking about how many challengers the obscure pok?mon gym had gotten lately. When they wanted her to retell the stories of how she captured the wayward Smoochum again. Perhaps it was then she decided to challenge the gym herself. She told her pok?mon that it was for the sake of the kids, to make them feel like their kindergarten lady was exciting.

Truth is, it was probably just as much for her own sake. Just one gym battle. She assumed that she wouldn?t win anyways - Tiamat used dragons, for crying out loud! But to have challenged the place at all, would be somewhat of a personal victory. Perhaps.

She did it in the evening, when the gym was empty. As much of a loner as the dragon girl was, she never really did let other people training in her facilities. Sometimes, Marlin had seen her outside of the city with some cosplay friends. Not Marlin?s cup of tea, but she definitely approved of it if it brought joy in life to the odd gym leader. She always tried to steer the conversation away when the kids started poking fun at Tiamat?s choice of outfit. Nobody would make fun of each other on her watch.

Despite Tiamat?s less than love for visitors, the gym was never locked. Marlin gingerly walked through a corridor, at the end of which a light shone. It turned out to be emanating from the battlefield hall itself.

Perched atop one of many rocks and cliffs scattered over the arena, was the gym leader. Her trusted companion to which she had matched her looks, flapped lazily in the air above her head. Noibat noticed when Marlin entered the hall, and screeched. Tiamat was jerked out of whatever deep thoughts she had been in, and blinked towards the intruder blankly.

?Hello, Tiamat,? Marlin began, smiling softly.

?Hello, Marlin,? Tiamat replied.

For a few moments, they both just took each other in. It had been a long time since the two had properly spoken last. Possibly years since they had even exchanged proper words. When you are playing together in kindergarten, everybody is a friend, and dreams and reality blend together. When you grow up, lines become less and less abstract. You take a risk and follow your dreams, or you get a job and learn to survive.

?How have you been??

?Good.?

?Good! Me too. The kids wish that you would visit them with your dragons!?

?Do they??

?Of course! You are the mysterious gym leader. You?re their hero!?
??I?? Tiamat looked away, and Noibat landed on a rock beside her, quietly. ?I don?t think I am. I think you are.?
Marlin opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not immediately sure of what to say to that.

?Surely not-?

?You?re there for them every day, and they? They look up to you. They find me weird. Just weird.?

?No, they don?t. They just don?t understand you, Tiamat.?

When the gym leader didn?t respond, Marlin walked up and crouched in front of her, forcing her to meet her eyes.

?You really should come by some day. Show them your impressive pok?mon. Then, you won?t just be a strangely dressed figure in a gym - you?ll be their hero.?

Tiamat blinked at her momentarily, before she swallowed and looked away again. ?Perhaps. D-did you just come here to talk, Marlin? I didn?t think we were friends anymore.?

And there it was. The harsh reality. Marlin stood up.

?It doesn?t have to be black and white. The lines don?t have to be solid like that. We both had the same chance, and you took it. I stayed behind. You became a successful trainer, and took over the gym in your hometown, all within a few years. It?s just a pity that you didn?t have time to? well, stay in touch.?

?Are you not? angry with me for that??

?Of course not! You were very busy.?

?I don?t believe you,? Tiamat said, finally looking straight up at her old friend.

Marlin sighed. ?Alright. I admit? I was jealous. But I don?t regret my choice. I live a happy life. I just wish I could share some of that happiness with you too.?

It seemed like Tiamat was almost convinced at that point. But Marlin wasn?t going to give her even a chance to retreat now. She better keep going when the steam was running.

?There was another reason for my visit though, you?re right. I came to challenge you. As a gym leader, I mean.?

Now, that certainly got the other girl?s attention. She straighened up.

?You? With Bulbasaur??

?Yes! The kids thought it would be cool, and I figured? Why not? A battle between you and I. Like the rivals we never became. What do you say??

There she was. The old Tiamat, who always shone up at the prospect of a pok?mon battle. She hadn?t become a gym leader for no reason - maybe Marlin could make her find the reason anew.

?Like the rivals we should be,? she said, almost smiling. Good enough.

They put some distance between them on the battlefield, and Noibat took a spot on the ground in between them. Marlin had never known the pok?mon well, since Tiamat had left Erest shortly after them getting their first pok?mon, while Marlin and Bulbasaur had stayed. But she had always known that it was Tiamat?s best friend through thick and thin, even refusing to evolve so far becuase they didn?t want to risk changing their friendship one bit.

Luckily, Bulbasaur and Marlin were definitely best friends too. She sent him out of his pok?ball to materialize a short distance from Noibat. He gave the bat a smug grin. Marlin was still a bit worried about heading into battle at all - sure, Bulbasaur had proven every now and then that he had skills, but the Noibat was properly trained. All she could hope for was for the grass pok?mon to come out of the battle decently unharmed.

?Please do start,? Tiamat said.

?Alright. Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!?

?Counter with Air Cutter!? Tiamat called out as soon as she had heard Marlin?s order.

Bulbasaur sent the sharp leaves towards its opponent, who swiftly countered with blades of air. The attacks canceled each other out, but Marlin noticed how they stopped noticeably closer to Bulbasaur than Noibat. Worrying. She needed to be clever and adaptable - like Tiamat was - if this fight would have any chance of not ending prematurely.

?Agility!?

Noibat took off into the air and started soaring in circles above Bulbasaur, steadily increasing its airspeed. At a clear disadvantage, they would have very little chance of hitting the bat with a Tackle or simple Razor Leaf now. But maybe one of Bulbasaur?s less used moves?

?Charge a large dose of Leech Seeds and spray them up into the air!? Marlin called out.

Bulbasaur did his best to obey. The glowing seeds show out and up from his bulb and trickled down through the air around him. Several seemed to hit and get stuck onto the speeding dragon! As they started to work their magic, Noibat cringed and slowed down.

?Good job Bulbasaur!? Marlin called out. Tiamat didn?t look too impressed, but Marlin refused to let that get her down in the window of success she could see now. ?Use Razor Leaf again now!?

He did, and they hit the dragon, but it seemed as if Noibat merely shrugged the leaves off, without them doing too much damage.

?Oh no??

?Air Cutter!? Tiamat ordered calmly.

There wasn?t enough time to counter the move in any way. The sharp gusts struck Bulbasaur head on. It was knocked out in a matter of seconds.

Sighing, Marlin walked up to her fallen champ and cradled his unsconscious green body. He had done well, despite the quick demise. She was proud as she sent him back into the pok?ball.

?That was? Nice,? Tiamat said. ?But you were doomed from the start. Grass attacks are extremely ineffective towards a flying dragon.?

?And that?s why you?re the gym leader, and I?m not a trainer,? Marlin laughed. ?You know these things!?

?You? You used to know them.?

?I guess I remember a few things. Like dragons often being sensitive to cold, so ice types work well.?

?That?s right.?

?But I still didn?t pick my ice type pok?mon, because she really isn?t a battler.?

Tiamat?s eyes widened, and she picked at the hems of her dress. ?You have an ice pok?mon? With you now??

?Yeah, little Smoochum. I met her lost in the forest a few months ago and couldn?t find her trainer, so I guess in the end I adopted her. The children love her, but we have never battled together.?

?I think you, um. I think you should try. Now.?

Marlin was surprised. ?Really? Now? Against a gym leader??

?You?ll have the advantage.?

?But-?

?Please battle me more! I enjoy it!? Tiamat exclaimed, only to seem embarrassed directly after. ?I? Miss you,? she added quietly.

?Tiamat? We don?t need to-? Marlin started, but stopped herself. Battling was how Tiamat felt alive. They maybe did need to battle. Besides? Why not let Smoochum have a chance? To see if she liked it at all. ?Fine. Smoochum, let?s go!?

The small pok?mon appeared on the battlefield from Marlin?s ball and cheered, possibly for itself just because it could. She was seldom upset, this little one. The kids indeed loved her.

?Will you fight for me, Smoochum?? Marlin asked carefully.

Her pok?mon immediately cheered louder. Strange. Maybe she had underestimated her.

?Let?s do it!? Tiamat said, more eager now than ever before. ?Noibat! Use Bite!?

The bat dove down from its place in the air, mouth wide agape. Marlin had to try to be as quick as the gym leader had been to counter her own moves earlier.

?Heart Stamp!? she called out. Just because they had never properly battled before, didn?t mean that she hadn?t explored and memorized what Smoochum could do.

The psychic pok?mon elegantly jumped up just before Noibat could deliver the Bite, and kicked it accurately in the head, sending it crashing into the rocky floor.

?Whoa,? Marlin said.

?Wow!? Tiamat shouted. Hearing her brought Marlin back into the present, away from awe-land.

?Powder Snow!? she called out, almost instinctively. Ice. Ice against dragons.

?Agility, Noibat!? Tiamat screamed.

Noibat shuffled to get up into the air on time - it was really not as fast when running on the ground. But the Powder Snow sprayed widely enough to reach it still. Screaming in pain, Noibat fluttered up into the air, a chill having damaged his wing badly.

?It was that effective?? Marlin asked.

?It?s not just a dragon? It?s also flying type,? Tiamat said in dread.

So it was super duper effective! Time to finish up. ?Don?t let it get away! Powder Snow!?

The snowy bits hit the flying pok?mon and chilled it down enough to make it fall to the ground again. And this time it really didn?t want to get up.

?You beat me,? Tiamat said, looking blank but there was a tremble in her voice as she recalled her pok?mon to its ball. ?Smoochum enjoys battling.?
?Maybe she does!? Marlin admitted. Smoochum looked happy, not at all riled up in a bad way.

?You used two pok?mon. I will too.?

?What??

Tiamat didn?t waste any time. In an instant, a new pok?mon had materialized in front of the relatively tiny Smoochum. A relatively large and certainly intimidating dragon.

?Oh. That?s??

?Druddigon,? Tiamat finished. Marlin could tell Tiamat was eager to continue the fight. Well. If both her opponent and her pok?mon were enjoying themselves, who was Marlin to stop them?

?Let?s do it,? she said.

Druddigon rushed forward, claws ready to deliver the Scratch attack his trainer ordered. Smoochum had time to counter with another Powder Snow move, which chilled the dragon slightly but didn?t stop it entirely. The Scratch was delivered with force, slamming Smoochum away several meters.

?Don?t give up!? Tiamat called out, and Marlin was sure that it was more to Smoochum and herself than to Druddigon. ?Bite!?
??Okay!? Marlin responded. ?This Bite won?t be delivered either! Sweet Kiss!?

As Druddigon lunged down to clam its teeth around the smaller pok?mon, Smoochum jumped away and delivered a sweet kiss to the dragon?s nose. It made Druddigon stumble backwards with a confused look.

?Get it now, Heart Stamp!?

Smoochum kept its momentum up and kicked the dragon in the face, enraging it.

?Smack Down!? Tiamat called out, but the dragon?s slamming fists ended up crushing its own toe. ?Finish it!? Tiamat said then, and Marlin knew that she was talking to her.

?Powder Snow!?

The move made Druddigon pass out, falling into a limp pile onto the floor. Marlin had won. No? Smoochum had.

The two trainers approached each other on the battlefield, Smoochum jumping up in its trainer?s arms and Druddigon being recalled to the pok?ball.

?You wanted me to win,? Marlin remarked.

?I wanted you to battle.?

?You helped me.?

?You wanted me to.?

?I?? Marlin couldn?t help but laughing. ?Thank you. Old friend.?

?No problem. This is yours now, by the way,? Tiamat said and handed her a small thing. Marlin?s eyes shone up as she took it in her hand. ?The Erest gym badge.?

?I? I beat a gym.?

?Yes. Good work? Friend.?

She couldn?t wait to tell the kids about this.​
 
Last edited:

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
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  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022







Roza Lyndon

The Hex Maniac






Vs The Entirety of Last Month



Roza awoke to a pounding headache and a bed that was entirely too full. To her left was Sakura?s face entirely too close to her own, and if was the betting type it was her arm that was also providing the small amount of pressure she felt on her butt. To her right she could feel the extremely thin cloth that constituted most of Teru?s body. Carefully extracting herself from the situation without waking up the entire bed, she sat up and held her head in her hands. Ryuji stirred at the foot of the bed, the small dragon curled up much like a cat would. She gently scratched his belly, and the Fraxure let out a sound suspiciously similar to a purr.

It was easy to see why Tiamat loved these things so much, they were damn cute.

Standing up was a challenge, her vision spinning as the copious amounts of alcohol laughed in her face from beyond the graveyard that was likely her liver now. The bottle of aspirin was on her hotel desk, right next to her odd keystone. She should probably feel bad about using her pokemon as utility items, but the 108 damned souls that was currently softly snoring made a damn good alarm clock. The next on her list of needs was water for her parched throat. Making her way to the bathroom, she passed the newest addition to her team, a spinda, passed out on the hotel?s armchair.

Splashing water on her face, she took account of her situation:

Somewhere she acquired an awesome eyepatch and a new Misdreavus themed dress. Things happen on a month long binge.

Somewhere she acquired a Spinda, and found out it prefered the name Clint. Things happen.

Somehow Clint had acquired a cowboy hat and several bottles of whiskey. Once again, things happen.

She was sure she shared this hotel room with several girls with vague similarities to Tiamat during this binge, the memories were quite fuzzy. Things. Happen.

Most surprising of all, she somehow managed to complete the Tethely Gym while completely wasted. The badge was now in her possession, and she had no idea why.

Grabbing the computer chair now that the aspirin was down her throat, she pulled out her journal to begin connecting the dots. Skipping past all the drunken rambled, she found a coherent piece describing the battle. Thankfully wasted Roza was smart enough to realize sober Roza probably wanted to know just how she pulled that off.

Apparently the gym leader?s name was Jane? or Jean. Drunk her swapped names quite a bit. She apparently had no opinions on the girl as a person, except wishing that she was in a shallow grave as soon as possible. She was also apparently a thief, or so Rhodes said.

Oh god, Rhodes. She hung out quite a bit with Rhodes while she was here, didn?t she? She?s probably to blame for all this. Cringing internally at not knowing what exactly she did with that psychopath, she just hoped there wasn?t an article about her somewhere. Or compromising pictures? Very? Compromising pictures. It was a crazy month? okay?

So back to the battle. Jean/Jane apparently had a koala that looked like it had been hit by a car, put on life support, and someone never had the heart to pull the plug. That is to say, in a coma. You can just say it was in a coma Drunken Roza, no one is impressed with your poetry. Anyways, apparently she decided Teru was a good match up. Problem was, Teru couldn?t hit the damn thing at all. After a few embarrassing moments of having to dodge wood hammers like crazy, she caught on and swapped out. Thankfully, the Wood Hammers apparently hurt quite a bit, and she managed to finish it off with Kudzu. Drunk her didn?t describe any water in the arena, so how Kudzu managed to fight was a total mystery.

The second of the leader?s pokemon was apparently a three headed bird. That name was so mangled there was no way she was going to be able to decipher it, she?ll just check the Pokedex later. She apparently had Clint at this point, so that was one mystery about the Spinda solved. The Spinda?s drunken motions confused the bird, which caused the three heads to fight among themselves. A few choice punches that either had extra power from the drunken spirals (Dizzy Punch is what that?s called, dear drunken me), or those that sucked the energy from the bird managed to finally do it in.

The last Pokemon was a big bear, and not the human kind. Ryuji was a good matchup, and the dragon was always eager to please. The bear?s massive girth (god damn it. I would be fine never reading that again, Drunken Roza) could shake the whole building, and several pieces of mix matched scenery dropped on Ryuji. The scrappy little dragon shrugged it off and landed a few good rock smashes on the creature. In a desperate last move, the Ursaring recklessly thrust it?s arm forward, catching Ryuji off guard and hurting the both. With his last bit of strength, Ryuji did a hell of a reversal, and won the match.

It sounds like a stupidly good battle, the kind she could be very proud of, if she could only remember it. Sighing and closing the journal, she leaned back and took another look around the room. By now, the others were waking up and waiting anxiously for what they were going to do today.

As much as she would love to sit and nurse this hangover all day, her cash was running out, and she was probably incredibly far behind the others. This was no way to win Tiamat?s heart. As she sat around here engaging in various acts of self loathing and alcoholism, someone else was probably wooing her girl.

For the time being, she had to get moving. And somehow along the way, work those bottles away from Clint before the sight of them makes her puke.





Team



Teru || Banette (Insomnia) - Shadow Sneak, Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Disable

Kudzu || Skrelp (Poison Point) - Smokescreen, Water Gun, Acid, Acid Armour

??? || Minior (Shields Down) - Tackle, Defense Curl, Rollout, Swift

Sakura || Lilligant (Own Tempo) - Sleep Powder, Petal Dance, Hidden Power (Fairy), Entrainment

Ryuji || Fraxure (Mold Breaker) - Dual Chop, Rock Smash, Reversal, Sleep Talk

Aku || Spiritomb (Infiltrator) - Curse, Confuse Ray, Feint Attack, Ominous Wind

Clint || Spinda (Contrary) - Teeter Dance, Dizzy Punch, Psych Up, Drain Punch



 
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II - REED

Everything happened so quickly. Before Marlin knew it, she was out on the road, her two pok?mon ready for battle, and herself packed for any necessity she could face. Well, mostly.

The kids had gone absolutely wild over the Chromatic badge and it all had ended with Marlin starting the journey she never had gotten around to do those years ago. Tiamat sent her off with a generous gift of a handful of pok?balls and potions.

The pok?balls had gotten used rather quickly. Marlin hadn?t tried to capture every wild pok?mon she came across, but some she just couldn?t help but adding to her team. Before the group reached the next populated area, Marlin?s pok?mon team consisted of Bulbasaur, Smoochum, Axew, Mudkip and Rhyhorn.

The next town over already held a gym as well. Tiamat knew him a little bit, as he was quite alright with her choice of clothing and behavior when the gym leaders of the region had their meet-ups. Apparently he was quite alright with most things. Marlin hoped he was quite alright with giving her a not too challeng
ing battle, too.

Markemak City itself was beautiful. Trees lined every street and there was greenery everywhere. Marlin and her pok?mon spent a nice evening just relaxing and having dinner in the outdoors.

The next day, there was no time for relaxing. Super serious, Marlin marched up to Reed?s gym, Bulbasaur, Smoochum and Axew ready for battle. As much as she?d like them to be able to participate too, she was a wise enough trainer to recognize that Mudkip and Rhyhorn would have too many weaknesses against the grass pok?mon this gym supposedly sported.

The young man who was the gym?s leader seemed distracted when they stepped out on the grassy arena. Marlin was distracted for potentially other reasons - the battlefield looked like a garden, with grass, flowers and small shrubberies here and there. Perfect for grass type pok?mon.

Cottonee was Reed?s first pok?mon in the battle. Hoping she had anticipated his plans correctly, Marlin sent in Bulbasaur first. Her pok?mon really enjoyed the refreshing smells and natural atmosphere in the field. But he was also serious enough to remember that she had brought him here for battle, not for leisure.

?A grass type against my grass type. Clever,? Reed commented. ?Typing alone won?t save you though. Fairy Wind!?

Cottonee whipped up a glittery wind and blew it towards Bulbasaur, who braced himself.

?Amnesia!? Marlin called out. Bulbasaur closed its eyes and seemed to forget about the attack hitting him. When he opened the eyes again, he looked much lighter. Even smiling.

?Huh,? Reed said. ?Oh. It?s also poison type. I forgot. They?re strong against fairies.?

?A gym leader forgot about typings?? Marlin said in disbelief?

Reed shrugged. ?Got many things on my mind, you know.?

Marlin chose to simply keep going. Leaving some worries behind usually heightened Bulbasaurs ability to deliver strong Special Attacks. ?Use Razor Leaf!?

The sharp leaves shot straight at Cottonee and damaged it slightly.

?Mega Drain!? Reed shouted out, which Marlin countered by ordering another Amnesia.

Bulbasaur seemed to mostly shrug off this attack too, before he fired off yet another two batches of Razor Leafs. The increased intensity of them seemed made Reed decide to retreat his pok?mon prematurely.

?That?s bad,? he said. ?I?m usually the strategist. You won that round. But you won?t win the next.?

He sent out Skiploom, and Marlin wondered what his plan could be here. It started off with a Swords Dance, after which Bulbasaur fired again his Razor Leaf at it. Skiploom managed to avoid it, however, by initiating an Acrobatics attack. When the flowery pok?mon finally struck Bulbasaur with it, it completely knocked him out.

?Told you,? Reed said with a smirk.

Marlin felt a bit upset, but had to admit Reed had only been clever and straightforward, not sneaky in any way. She accepted defeat, and instead sent in Smoochum.

?Aha. Clever,? Reed admitted. ?I?ll have to try my best. Seed Bomb!?

?Powder Snow!?

The glowing bomb was shot up into the sky, only to be split up into smaller seed bombs shortly after. But the Powder Snow froze them on the way down and lowered their velocity so that Smoochum could avoid them.

?Very clever,? Reed praised. ?But snow melts in strong sunlight. Sunny Day!?

Skiploom?s flower glowed as it made every source of light in the vicinity heat up and shine even brighter. What was left of Smoochum?s attack on the grassy field melted away.

?Uh-oh,? Marlin said. But wait? They had the antidote for this! ?Rain Dance!?

Smoochum did a corny little dance for a few seconds, during which Reed and Skiploom only watched in surprise. Then the light in the room faded again, and waters started dripping from the ceiling, mysteriously.

?Nice try indeed,? Reed said with a slow nod. ?But you forget - grass types only grow stronger in rain! Acrobatics!?

The refreshed Skiploom spun around happily in the rain before it bounced up and speedily manuevered in the air towards its opponent. Marlin knew that this was their chance to end it.

?Powder Snow! Give it all you?ve got!?

Smoochum had already begun firing it off, sensing what her trainer intended to do. As Skiploom went close, the ice attack struck the falling rain around it, and made it hail down upon it. The surprising turn of events made the gym leader?s pok?mon miscalculate its aim and fell down into the ground in front of it. Smoochum?s Powder Snow continued and now struck Skiploom dead into the face. Being double weak to Ice, the Grass/Flying pok?mon was knocked out immediately.

Reed actually clapped a few times after returning Skiploom to its pok?ball. ?I underestimated you. I really should not have entered this battle distracted. You deserve all of my attention. Prepare to lose.?

Marlin was given no time to enjoy her brief win, as Petilil was sent out quickly. Also benefitting from the still falling rain, the grass pok?mon looked eager and fresh to bedazzle any enemies it had to, despite the now half icy floor between the opponents.

?Powder Snow!?

?Sunny Day!?

The rain dissipated within a second, and the lights and heat increased again before the snow could hit its opponent. It melted and became squirts of water splashing onto the Petilil, who didn?t seem to mind.

?Energy Ball!? Reed called out and had the tiny grass pok?mon fire a huge chunk of green energy at Smoochum before the latter could defend herself. It struck her hard.

?Rain Dance!? Marlin tried.

?Magical Leaf! Don?t let it finish the dance!? Reed called out.

The magic leaves, fated never to miss, struck Smoochum before its dance had even reached halfway, and knocked her out at last. Marlin cradled her and hugged her tenderly before she was retreated to her pok?ball. Such a good fighter. Who would have known?

?Fine. Let?s go all out in the last round!? the challenger announced as she sent out her final trick. Axew.

The Axew was a tad bit shy, but Marlin also sent out Rhyhorn and Mudkip to cheer on her from the sidelines. That seemed to encourage the dragon enough to face the final obstacle that stood between her team and the Herbal Badge. A tiny arrogant Petilil.

Petilil?s Magical Leaf hit its target, but it didn?t damage it; Axew struck the leaves down with her strong Dual Chop. She then proceeded to hit Petilil itself with the Dual Chop. Desperately, the fragile grass type used Synthesis to heal itself up, but Axew struck it with a surprise Aqua Tail. After a barrage of more Magical Leafs and Dual Chops, it was clear that the grass type wasn?t the one with the advantage in this fight. Eventually, Reed simply retreated it.

?Congratulations. You outsmarted me. It doesn?t happen too often, you know??

?Thank you for the good fight!? Marlin said, keen on being polite.

When she left the gym with a new badge in her hand and a happy little dragon by her side, she couldn?t help noticing Reed looking distracted again. She wondered what was on his mind? But didn?t linger to ask.​
 
37,467
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  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
III - EG

Winning two gym badges was something Marlin never thought she would do in life. But it was happening. She got encouraging texts from the kids at home on her pok?gear, even a shy congratulations from Tiamat. There was no way Marlin would stop now. It was time to admit that this was her very own pok?mon journey, at last.

The next place she could reach which held a pok?mon gym, was Charol Town. She wasn?t going to rush though. On her way there from Markemak, she not only captured a Hawlucha and a Vullaby, but also trained so hard that Axew and Mudkip evolved into Fraxure and Marshtomp.

Although she was exhausted on the evening when she finally reached the new town, Marlin couldn?t make herself go to bed immediately. The city was known for its brilliant night sky view from the mountains, and she let all of her pok?mon get a nice relaxing glimpse of it before they finally went to rest.

The morning after, she of course went directly to the gym. But she knew very little about it. Apparently too little, as the leader wasn?t even there when she arrived. She was told he had gone out for a hike and wouldn?t return until the next day. So she would have to wait around? No way. The kids were counting on her to train hard, and while the town was pretty, the mountaneous area around it was even more so. She set off on a hike of her own to find the gym leader as soon as possible!

It didn?t prove to be easy. Her pok?mon had to fend of plenty of wild ones, which Marlin opted to not capture since she wanted a team she knew well when she met the gym leader. On the flip side, they got some nice experience in, fighting the clever wild pok?mon in this environment, and she had stocked up well on potions and medicines before she left town.

It wasn?t until the evening when Marlin finally literally stumbled into the gym leader?s campsite. A majestic Absol barked at her, but was calmed down by its trainer. The two battlers approached each other.

?Who goes there?? the man asked.

?I?m Marlin from Erest Town! I?m challenging all the gym leaders I can, on a journey through the region. Are you? Are you the gym leader from Charol Town??

He stepped into the light of the campfire at last, and she could see that he was quite the handsome and friendly looking man. Wait what, shut up. He was her opponent! To fancy him was really not going to help her.

He revealed his identity, Egeus the Charol gym leader, and Marlin immediately demanded a battle - before she could get too charmed. Thankfully, he gladly accepted, despite the arena being less than conventional.

His first pok?mon was the Absol from before. Marlin suddenly realized something. Absol was a dark type pok?mon. Did that mean that Egeus was a dark type trainer?? That didn?t seem like him! Trying not to feel too disappointed with whom she had believed to be a fair and polite man, she sent out her first champion: Hawlucha.

She and the fighting pok?mon had gotten along well from the first moment they met. Together, she and the wild pok?mon had saved another trainer from angry water pok?mon near a river. Marlin had run there as fast as she could, but arrived just when what seemed to be a random vigilante did too. After the water pok?mon were driven away and the trainer had thanked them both, Hawlucha simply seemed to like Marlin too much to let her go without him. He always fought with a smile, and knew how to make Marlin smile too. The perfect opponent to the somber Absol. Or so she hoped. He gave her a happy wink before he jumped into battle now, which she returned with a cheer.

Absol started with a Quick Attack that Hawlucha unfortunately didn?t have time to avoid. He regained his prideful composure quickly though, and threw a Feather Dance at his enemy. With all the down whirling around in the air now, a lot of it getting stuck in Absol?s fur, the dark pok?mon wouldn?t be able to hit as hard and accurately! Absol tried to not seem bothered by it, Taunting its opponent with a smirk.

Although angered now, Hawlucha tried to use being airborne to his advantage, diving down into a Wing Attack. Absol countered with a Night Slash, that seemed stronger than the wings. Hawlucha was badly damaged, but at least he inflicted some harm upon Absol too. The dark pok?mon came in for another slash, but Hawlucha managed to avoid it by getting into the air again. On Marlin?s order, he used Steel Wing instead, striking Absol even harder than its Night Slash could counter. Hurriedly before Absol could regain its composure, Hawlucha finished it off with a hard Karate Chop.

Although tired, the fighter was happy when the battle was won. Egeus seemed to take the loss well and congratulated Marlin. She said that light and fair fighting will always win over dark tricks, which made Egeus raise an eyebrow.

?I think you have the wrong idea about dark type pok?mon,? he said. ?I?ll show you fair fighting.?

He sent out a Pawniard, who?s pose maybe wasn?t as bragging as Hawlucha?s, but certainly as proud.

?We?ll see,? Marlin said.

Pawniard fixed Hawlucha with it?s dark glare and sent it a grim Leer. It didn?t discourage Hawlucha too much though - he soon shot back up into the air and threw out another Feather Dance onto the rocky grass field they were on. It was getting dark though, and Marlin hoped that the dark pok?mon wouldn?t actually see better than hers in the dark too?

As Hawlucha dove down for a Karate Chop, Pawniard sprung upwards with a Slash. Although the cutting attack hurt Hawlucha, its Karate Chop seemed to hurt Pawniard more.

?Typing is on your side,? Egeus admitted. ?It is hard for a steel and dark pok?mon to win against a fighting type. You were well prepared coming here!?

Marlin could only nod, knowing it wasn?t true. She hadn?t even known that he was training dark pok?mon. She wasn?t going to relax just because of a type advantage though; she had kids back home to win for.

Pawniard tried to block the Karate Chops from Hawlucha, now both on the ground, with Fury Cutter. But even though the steel type?s attacks were slightly faster, they hardly made a dent in the resistant fighter. In the end, it seemed as if Hawlucha was to get another victory rather easily, when Pawniard suddenly sneakily struck him with a Slash out of nowhere. No command had been given from its trainer. Hawlucha fell, and Marlin had to call him back.

?That wasn?t fair!?

?It wasn?t unfair. My pok?mon often use moves on their own. I merely suggest their actions since I have a good overview of the battlefield.?

She really didn?t like his smile right now. But alright. She had other tricks up her sleeve too. Egeus returned Pawniard as well, sensing that it was too tired to keep going. What he sent out next slightly freaked Marlin out. It was a ghost of some kind, oh right, a Sableye. Ghost/Dark type. Hawlucha wouldn?t have been able to chop this thing anyways?

She sent in Smoochum. Egeus frowned.

?Don?t you know that psychic types are weak against dark types??

?I?m not letting type advantages fight the battle for me,? Marlin said with a relaxed smile.???As you wish? Shadow Claw!?

?Rain Dance!?

Smoochum swirled around on the spot and made rain fall down from the dark skies above just before the Shadow Claw struck her hard. Marlin didn?t let her suffer - she immediately returned the small pok?mon to its pok?ball. ?Thank you,? she whispered, before pulling out her main player.

Marshtomp materialized on a rock between the players. He yawned through the rainfall, and then dunked his big fins against each other as if to tell Sableye ?come on then, I?m ready?.

Before Sableye could approach much though, Marlin made her pok?mon fire a strong Water Gun at the ghost. Angered about first having been rained on and now extra soaked, Sableye recovered quickly and attacked Marshtomp with a vicious Brick Break. They both tumbled down from the rock, but Sableye shot up quickly in its ghostly ways. They were now close to where Marlin was standing; she shuddered at being creepily close to the dark ghost.

The water pok?mon hurled a Mud Slap from the dirt on the ground at the ghost, making it feel even more miserable. It did manage to send a Confuse Ray Marshtomp?s way though, making Marlin?s pok?mon fall over in the mud from sudden confusion. That gave Sableye opportunity to strike it hard with a Shadow Claw. Marshtomp seemed too confused to attack back, merely crawling around in the dirt without being able to focus. As Sableye came in for a finishing Shadow Claw, Marlin thought the battle would be over?

But it missed. The rain, still falling over the battlefield, and the mud in Sabeleye?s face, had lowered its accuracy! Marshtomp chose that moment to focus enough to send an Ice Ball attack straight into its befuddled opponent. Getting hit by an ice move was even worse in the chilling rain, and with a finishing Scald spray, the sensations became too much for the poor ghost.

Marlin had won again.

Spoiler:
 
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MurkMire

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c
910
Posts
12
Years
Chapter Eight


Dmitrix the Clown
aka Dmitri Bolokov
ClownSprite_zpsu4ljogoj.png


Current Party
Spoiler:

In Storage
Spoiler:



Walking through the streets of the large, but rather pleasant town of Dion, Dmitrix and Pigaro were looking for the final gym. He noticed that a number of the residents were eldery people, so he tried to avoid any spontaneous tricks and performances. He simply strolled on by, in his purple clown outfit, getting dirty sneers and looks every once in a while, hearing a sigh behind him when he walked past folks that looked irritated to see him.
One of them even ?politely? asked him to not cause a commotion.
Dmitrix sighed, and continued.

He and Pigaro slumped towards the gym. ?Me, oh my? it?s not easy being both a clown, AND a trainer?.? The clown sighed. Pigaro simply oiked at the clown, and urged him with a pointed finger. Looking forward? was the final gym. Dmitrix opened his eyes wide, and sighed with utter relief. ?At last? the final leg of this journey has come? let us earn our final badge!? ?Grrump!? The duo walked a bit faster towards the gym. That was? until they got close enough to hear music literally coursed through the walls. A number of people tried to avoid getting close to it, as the bass was unbearable to some. Dmitrix steeled himself, and trudged forward, until he opened the doors, slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

On one of the bleachers for the gym was a punky looking girl, blasting some sort of metal music over the speakers. ?So, she must be the gym leader? I shouldn?t be surprised. Most of the gym leaders here are wild.? The girl continued to jam out, and Dmitrix just plugged his ears. Pigaro already folded his ears when they first entered. The song had eventually ended, and the young girl looked over to Dmitrix and Pigaro. ?Ahh, whoops. Hey, I guess you?re challengers, huh?? She hopped over the rail, and landed on her feet flawlessly. ?Sorry, I was rocking out to some Landslide of Smut. I love to pump the bass when challengers aren?t coming often.? Dmitrix shook his head. ?Er, eheh? that?s quite alright.? ?Hey, you a traveling clown? That?s kinda rad, I guess.? Dmitrix simply chuckled. ?Eh, but yes, I?m here for my final gym badge.?
The young girl blinked at him. ?Well, I never see a travelling clown be a talented trainer either. Eh, whatever. As the gym leader here, I, Elva, am ready for your challenge. ?

Both trainers, standing at the field. Both trainers, ready for battle. ?Hold it!? The referee ran in, panting and looking a bit annoyed. ?Hey, c?mon, where were you?? ?You sent me to get snacks, you bum! Oh? hello, you a challenger?? She looked just as punky as Elva, but she wore a referee shirt, and wore a whistle. That was pretty much any resemblance she had to a referee.
?Yeah yeah, let?s do this. Oh, and in this battle, once we throw in a Pok?mon, neither of us can switch out. No backsies~? Elva smiled mischievously, holding her first Pokeball in her hand. ?Fine by me,? replied Dmitrix. ?I?m ready for any unexpected tricks. I am a clown, after all.?

?Alright, the ground rules have been set. Let?s make it clean, and no music, Elva!? Elva shot a glare, but sighed. ?Fiiine. Let?s do this. Togekiss, I choose you!? ?Aero, I choose you!?
Both Pok?mon materialized onto the field. ?Now, let the first battle begin!?
?Aero, use Confuse Ray!? ?Togekiss, use Air Slash!?

But before Togekiss could even form it?s attack, Togekiss was blinded and bewildered by the glow of the eerie light coming from Aero?s eyes. ?To-to?kiss....? The Togekiss flapped clumsily, and whiffed the attack. ?Now Aero, strike with Poison Fang!? With lightning speed, Crobat flew past the Togekiss, giving it a direct Poison Fang. Aero immediately turned to face his opponent. ?Excellent, Aero!? ?Togekiss, use Roost!? Togekiss flew up to the rafters, and a light began to emanate. It cooed loudly, and flew down towards Aero. ?Now, Air Slash!? With a few, strong flaps, Togekiss sent blades of air after the Crobat. ?Dodge, and use Wing Attack!? Aero dodged to and fro, seemingly perfoming acrobatic tricks while flying towards Togekiss. ?Now, dive, and rise!? After the last Air Slash, Aero flew straight down for a moment, and immediately rised as it was directly beneath Togekiss. It sliced through with his left wings. ?Ugh, a Poison-type that?s extremely fast? not good.? Elva muttered this to herself. ?Alright Togekiss, use Aura Sphere!?

Togekiss, without missing a beat, releases an Aura Sphere. It immediately collided with Crobat, knocking it pretty hard. Aero flipped back up into position, after shaking off the attack. ?Aero, go into a Quick Attack, and then a Poison Fang!? The Crobat sped off instantly, bee lined towards Togekiss. ?Agh, Togekiss, Aura Sphere!? Unfortunately for her, Togekiss was already hit hard by the Quick Attack. ?Togekiss!? She could only watch in awe, as the Crobat deftly zipped downwards, and strike once more, before her Togekiss hit the ground.

Togekiss was unconscious, and unmoving. ?Woah? nice Crobat, mister.? Elva shot a glare at her friend, with full rage. ?Oh, er, Togekiss is unable to battle! Crobat wins! Please don?t hate me?.? She shuddered, and laughed nervously. ?Peh? it makes sense I?d meet a trainer as talented as yourself. But, I didn?t become a Gym Leader for nothin?. Let?s go, Gardevoir!? Gracefully, and almost magically, a Gardevoir appeared before Dmitrix and Crobat. ?Let?s get this battle underway. Gardevoir, Psychic!? She raised her hand, aimed at Crobat. ?Aero, mo...? But there was no escape. Gardevoir and her psychic power was incredible. Aero crumpled in place, held by an invisible force. ?Now Gardevoir, Shadow Ball!? With her left, she amassed a dark mass, and fired it at the Crobat. Immediately, it fell to the ground. Dmitrix looked in shock. Such power, such force? Elva was not to be taken lightly. ?Ohh, this is getting good? Crobat is unable to battle! Gardevoir wins!? The ref jumped up and down for joy. Gardevoir bowed before Dmitrix, and Elva laughed heartily.

?Now that?s what I?m talking about! Who?s next?? Elva grinned. ?Alright then. Pigaro, let?s go.? Pigaro oinked loudly, and bounced onto the field. Gardevoir shook off her dress, and leered at Pigaro. ?Now Gardevoir, use Shadow Ball!? Elva called out. Gardevoir held out her hand, and amassed another Shadow Ball. ?Pigaro, dodge with Bounce!? Gardevoir fired, but Pigaro bounced high into the air. The force of the Shadow Ball?s explosion propelled Pigaro higher.

?Woah!? The ref was surprised, as she and Elva both kept eyesight on the Grumpig. ?Now, land!? Pigaro flew back down, about to crash into Gardevoir. ?Gardevoir, dodge!? She gracefully stepped out of the danger zone, almost as if she glided out of the way. Pigaro landed hard, but met Gardevoir?s gaze. ?Gardevoir, use Shadow Ball!? ?Pigaro, use Power Gem!? Pigaro fired off a concentrated, violet beam. It was met halfway by Gardevoir?s Shadow Ball, causing a large explosion.

?Urgh, agh!? The ref fell on her back from the explosion, but both trainers stood their ground. Both Pokemon were unwavering. ?Pigaro, use Psyshock!? Sparks of violet light flash from the pearls on Pigaro?s head, and struck Gardevoir. Though it was a Psychic attack, Gardevoir still fell to a knee. ?But how?! Ugh, Gardevoir, use Calm Mind!? Through the pain, Gardevoir closed her eyes, and began to glow a bright white light. She struggled again, but stood up, still wincing. ?Now, use Moonblast to get him off of you!? Gardevoir held both hands, up above her head. A beautiful, lunar light had shone, blinding Pigaro and ceasing his attack. ?Now, use Shadow Ball, and end this.? Elva glared at the opponent, not wanting to lose to a clown. ?Gardevoir held her hand up again, holding the black mass. An immediate explosion knocked Pigaro back, rolling across the ground. Pigaro oinked weakly, but stood up. ?Pigaro, Power Gem!? ?Gardevoir, Moon Blast!? Another explosion had knocked out both Pokemon. ?Woah? epic. Both Pokemon are unable to battle! This is a tie!?

Elva and Dmitrix both recalled their Pokemn quietly. ?Now, Slurpuff, it?s all up to you!? A Slurpuff joyfully bounced onto the field. ?Now, Beroro, I choose you!? A Lickitung appeared on the field. Elva?s friend called out, ?This is the final match. Let it begin!? Elva looked over at her, thinking ?What the fu? whatever. Slurpuff, Belly Drum!? ?Beroro, use Belly Drum as well!? Both Pokemon slapped their bellies, making an echoing, drum-like sound. Both trainers watched their Pokemon. The ref was deeply intrigued, but chuckled out loud at the sight.
?Slurpuff, use Cotton Spore!? ?Slurrr-PUFF!? Out of the Slurpuff?s mouth was countless puffs of cotton, spewed at the Lickitung. ?Tuunnngggg!? It ?roared? at the Slurpuff, not at all deterred. ?Beroro, use Lick attack!? Beroro?s long tongue lapped at the Slurpuff, making her cry in disgust.
?Pbbfff HAHAHA? Elva?s friend rolled her head back and laughed loudly. ?Hey, REF! Maybe a little more professional, huh?!? She glared at her friend. She stopped her laughter, and wiped tears out of her eyes. ?I-I?m sorry, I just imagined? nevermind. Continue.? Elva muttered something only a sailor would say. ?Now Slurpuff, use Play Rough!? The Slurpuff jumped towards the Lickitung and began beating it. Beroro groaned and cried out. ?Beroro, use Lick again!? And again, Slurpuff reeled back from the attack. Elva immediately glared at her friend, making sure she held back. Her face was beet red, and she held back with all her might. ?Ugh, fine. Giga Impact!? Slurpuff was surrounded in a wild energy. She dashed, and crashed into the Lickitung, making it fly into the wall. It slowly crawled back up, but struggled to stand.

?This is our chance, Beroro! Use Power Whip!? The tongue lashed out, and whipped Slurpuff with great might, making it fly into a wall as well. Elva saw the inevitable. It had to recover, but it had to endure one more attack. ?Now, use Slam!? The tongue wrapped around Slurpuff, and held it high in the air. It slammed the opponent into the ground, making the field quake, dust rising and clouding the area. Elva looked on in desperation. But, Slurpuff was also out for the count. Beroro still stood, raising his arms in victory. ?That?s it! Slurpuff is unable to battle! Lickitung is the victor, and Dmitrix is the winner!? Elva grunted, and recalled her Pokemon. ?Wow mister, you?re extremely talented! Can I have your autograph?? Her friend was already in front of the challenger, somehow with a notebook and marker.

Dmitrix chuckled, and shook his head. ?I?m sorry, but I can?t do that.? Her friend sighed, but looked over. ?Come on, you have to admit. He was pretty good.? Elva grinned a small grin, and walked up to him. ?You really outdid yourself. Here, this is the Trickster Badge.? And in her hand, she held the badge. It was a twinkling, pink star, surrounded by purple and black sparks.
Dmtrix graciously took the badge, and after recalling his Pokemon, left the gym. Elva looked at her friend with a grim look. ?What the hell, girl? I know he was good, but? really?? ?Sorry? I have a thing for clowns.? She giggled, and hid her face.

?Yooooo, what the fu? you?re so weird.?


 

HyperMorian

Busy with University.
3,084
Posts
7
Years

Recollection and Resolution
It's all coming to an end.

In the early dawn of time where the skies are hued navy, an usual figure leaned still on the steep hill. A line was dropped already, the Poké Ball-shaped buoy stayed on the edge with the one who had embedded it dozing off from the wait. The very same river--albeit different in spot, slowly flows the current toward the identical mountain range continued to make a relaxing ambient; in fact, the clearing is big enough for a temporary encampment.

Lonely and half asleep, the man mused the days ever since he took the gauntlet with the two of his trusty partners. The seemingly daunting start took its commence the moment he stepped in the region he's unfamiliar about. Only two of his Pokémon were foreigners, and the two were also the team that he set out with. A thought to witness various battle styles across the world had always been kept within his mind, and to exploit the most effective part among all has always been the strategy he mostly wanted to carry out.

However, the notion was forgotten despite its actual benefits. He himself couldn't recall the time where he ditched his own tactic to gain information, let alone the surprise factors that were mildly exciting to simply a straight up unjustified crime. At times like this, somebody might be reminding him about the reason why he deserted the idea. The only he could theoretically near and understand with, someone he had known for a long time ago.

Without a clear clue to remember, he decided to not prolong his thought and focused back on the fishing rod in front of him. Adrift, the rippled surface has yet to attract any wild Pokémon since the overnight. He's unsure whether he picked the wrong location, or he's just being unlucky for the present day. At one point, he's tempted to use some baits made of various berry types. But now he also couldn't remember the last time he actually bought any.

"...Oh?"

He apparently took notice on things that he hadn't looked at much--intentionally hid in an easy to reach place but instead getting senile. Looking plain, by scattering all seven pieces and other junks on the grounds beside him, it's amazing that he'd gone way too far from what he could ever imagine. He browsed the badges he had, picking one piece at a time to examine and reminisce at the same time.

The very first badge he acquired was the Chromatic Badge. Funnily, the scale patterns are actually made of a certain Dragon-Type Pokémon shedding.

It's all started when the three snooped from the outside, covered in green bushes with the intention of scouting, somehow deviating into arising suspicions and turnabouts. Though witnessing a law enforcer to do something obscene for himself is disturbing, he's unsure with the act he put through. There's no one to answer the question he was about to ask, and it's unknown whether what he did is a justifiable self-defense for someone.

The battle was tough, but he managed to take the upper hand and won valiantly despite his inconsistency on winning. A Roggenrola with deformed body parts may look creepy, but not scary enough for the glory of his first victory--as in the Gym Battle as the first Pokémon Battle he had in the region. That's where he got the badge, paying a visit into the Pokémon Center, and then advance onto the Erest Mountains only to end up in some cryptic experiment lab guarded by a robot with a dart gun and an educational monster overdose.

"Come to think of it, why didn't Roggenrola get any at that time?" A memo he previously read mentioned that they were attempting on an experiment to increase a Pokémon's overall power without the need to train it. Weirdly enough, when the two were captured and evolved by force, one of them gained the capability to understand human speech but not the other one. Surely beneficial in its own way, but they all'd have to suffer the same way as the two did...if he chose to believe them. Wanting to prevent more victims, he decided to break in and liberate all the Pokémon that were caught inside the confinement cells like a league of heroes, and some surely were captivated by their heroic acts in exchange of pledging their services.

One of them was a Pokémon originally owned by someone who lived in a manor in Markemak with the intent on returning back to her owner. They tried to, but they were too late. She was bluntly rejected when she already brought another identical Pokémon in replacement of her own stead. By technicality, she was already released from her care. Brokenhearted, she couldn't find a way to blame herself whatsoever and felt unwanted. However, he thought the opposite and decided to take her with him anyway.

"...Now I remember why I didn't bother to keep with the initial planning, but still..." He mumbled.

The second badge was the Herbal Badge, probably the first badge he acquired with a sense of guilt. At that time, it was still drizzling a bit in the midnight and chances that a thunderstorm'd come to set the skies ablaze in loud crackling noises may happen at anytime it wishes. Thinking it wasn't late enough to call it a day, he rushed in without preparations. Fortunately, the Heatmor he encountered sometime in between their trekking from Erest to Markemak carried the Gym Battle for him--now becoming a staple in his team.

"Wait... I'm sure he did something..."

Reversing the time a bit, he reckoned that something happened in the middle of the second Gym Battle. The Gym Leader whose name's Reed wore a sleeping pajama and grabbed a peculiar looking tube that he managed to hide from view with the bushes beside him, The battle then commenced, and Heatmor went ahead with a burst of flames which's easily evaded by a Cottonee... Oh right, unintended combat residue surely made a big toll that may take forever to rebuilt once burnt long enough. Birds were flying 'high' too, maybe.

Moving on, the third badge took appearance of a crescent-shaped moon, both having sharp ends and colored bright yellow that was meant to be the gleam in the dark. At that time, a fishing guru approached and handed him a fishing road on the way he was about to walk on. Though not speaking any other words to explain the reason behind it, he's fairly sure that the tool was meant for him and he had kept it with him ever since. It stayed still facing toward the edge of a riverbank, waiting for something to snag on it and still no luck.

When he was still a snotty kid, he'd often go to a lake in his hometown and cast the line out with a homemade fishing rod he crafted by himself. To find the right stick and tie the tough string he bought with his allowance, his past seemed to be very fun for him--even if it mean that he'd have to dig a big hole in the garden just to create an artificial pond for his captures consisting of mostly Magikarp and get scolded for flooding the house. He may be born as a hardworking fisherman, but he ultimately decided to not take the seafaring path.

Somewhat identical but larger, a spring lies just east of the town. He attempted to do some fishing so he could get anything good, but instead became conducted with electricity for not realizing it. Some said that the cables were faulty and putting them below the water level was a terrible idea, but they have no choice when the power ran out mysteriously without any confirmation on electrical adjustments in the mountainous Power Plant. The cabin situated in an islet revealed that a certain Pokémon has been residing inside with all lights on. Its biological parts didn't seem to match of a generic, and particularly had the same capability as his Pokémon did. Now under the ownership of the Gym Leader of Charol Town, it looked as if she has found her new sun.

Despite its connection, it didn't really solve the power crisis between two towns up and below as they're actually unrelated. The only way to find out was to investigate the site itself, and they were uncanny with the surroundings already. Dark, quiet, the place itself felt so deserted that not even a guard was spotted along to patrol the area, as if something's amiss in the whole past situation. What's more scarier was when the abomination came to haunt his sleep for days, weeks, up until now. Imagining it'll just make it worse for sure, but he couldn't forget it every time he saw 'Gengar' the Metagross. Whose fate that acquired the Pantomime Pokémon was untold, however.

The fourth badge he took was the Grey Badge. True to its name, it's literally a circular grey badge. The shape may not look very interesting at all, but the person who entrusted these isn't an average Pokémon Trainer to be told from experience. All she had to get was a morning energy drink, and whammo, she's entirely a different person with impressive hyperactivity--a secret known only to several who witnessed her true self in exchange of a hurtful, embarrassing revelation.

It was also the first Gym Battle where they employ more than two Pokémon on the field, whereas he surely have shown his own brisk clarity. The opponent's battle style may be relentless--no sign of stopping and the barrage'll continue until the end of it, but they failed to even knock one of his Pokémon and were completely defeated with his simplistic, yet complicated guidance to utilize specific strategies effectively.

"I think field effects made a lot of difference if used effectively." He mumbled, "Though admittedly, I wasn't blank even though I didn't scout... What am I talking about again?"

He shook his head and carried on with his nap, joining with the others that were fast asleep around him. They didn't make any disturbing snoring, the calmness of the surrounding around him felt like he was having a lucid dream. He's still aware that he wasn't dreaming at all, it's just that he was having a restless day and night ever since it happened.

*rustle*

He heard a rustling noise and glimpsed upon the pole that was caught between the heavy rocks. Nothing, nothing seemed to be nibbling on his line for now. Only some orange maple foliage that fell from the deciduous trees upfront, soon landing and carried away by the stream. Back then he thought it was still summer when he was in Cere, it seems that autumn came a bit ahead faster than expected.

Speaking of the only holiday paradise in the region, the Ascension Badge was the fifth badge he won sometime during their encounter. The shape simply reminded him of the big mountains located not far from here, and somehow several boxes of Old Gateau. He'd usually sit on a bench with his Pokémon and unfortunately chomp them all since good snacks won't make you full at all.

When he was about to fish up some aquatic Pokémon on the pier, things went crazy. A big ship somehow sank, and people were screaming about the accident. Not only that, another ship that braved its path to the open seas heading toward the big city afar. It also came from the harbor when a local man cried out loud for earnings theft, cursing them that they're more degraded than a wild Pidgeotto was. And the chaotic nature were summed with several police cars coming all over with their tires onto the white sands.

It was an unexpected afternoon, and it was also a nice way to get an early free ride. During the trip onto the open seas, the Gym Leader of Charol revealed himself as a former detective working with the police department before retiring over his rose as an official Gym Leader. Although mostly trivial, stories told by him was fascinatingly interesting for him. They had a good laugh all the way until they arrive at the biggest city in all over Diminia.

Until that part ended, another page may be flipped. The sixth badge was known as the Peace Badge, but the person who handed out these lacked the peaceful part. The odd among the others, advantageous against many, however easily defeated with the help of the helping hand in the form of a scarf bestowed upon him. A blessing indeed, but things went too easy the moment he made his Pokémon to wear it--though he's not complaining as long he could win.

"... ... ..."

However, that's just a partial thing that happened in that particular day. Something else also happened, and he tried his best to overlook the incident a few knows but'd rather to keep their mouth shut. He was getting upset somehow. but to keep his self-imagery, he set the upsetting thoughts aside--abruptly stopping the details after what happened in between the sixth and the seventh even if the audience was only himself.

The next and the last, the seventh badge--the Life Badge. Its translucency matches of that river just in front of him, repulsing its waves irregularly--representing the hardship on the main objection, but still flowing toward its destination steadily. There're many paths to take from the direction where the maple leaves went afloat, but they're still going as long the main road on the front until they arrived at the estuary, inevitably obstructed, or end up in a different ending.

If the main road somehow split and multiply, the divided path'll take them somewhere--followed by their own compilations. A path where things are leeway as it is, a path where mysteries are abound to be solved, a path to take things with extra dedication, a path revolving around the bonds between the two. There're so many to choose from, but there can't be more than one.

The badge he recently earned during one of his fiercest battles, and he always thought that acquiring such thing was a fluke. He has always been the one who carried out orders for his Pokémon to follow, and they mostly resulted splendidly in many victorious rounds, sometimes a setback depending on the situation of the outcome.

Yet, he was unsure about himself. It all went like he was the know-it-all person, and the smoothness contributed the seemingly impossible, into possible winning conditions. The Trainer's vigor waged through the most treacherous parts, his bluffing wasn't a mere joke to begin with and the rarity of Trainers that kept their determined words consistently were actually slim.

The amount of Trainers that started their challenge were substantial. But as time goes with the flow, their numbers are slowly decreasing--never to be seen for a long time or worse, forever. Some thought that they lacked competence to become a Pokémon Trainer and strove to train harder in order to get better--a pretense mostly told that was easier said than done.

There're many reasons why they chose to stray from their original goals, but none of them'd bluntly state them. Although they'd fall short after a bitter defeat, they still had two choices to pick from; either to rise to the challenge, or give up on their dreams--the former giving them the chance to try again, the latter giving them the chance to end it all in a whim.

However, the entirety for the latter was still relative. Should they postpone their ambition to claim the rightful title they're craving for, they still had the ample time to spend with what has been left when they're still what they're used to be. They could train harder to become stronger, they could learn strategies to improve their capabilities, or they could spend their time together to form a closer bond between them. Pokémon and humans are inseparable for many irrefutable reasons. The opportunity to make a comeback is always there, just standing still on the dimly lit floor with their iconic red and white coloration.

"Hmm, why am I imagining such philosophical sense about this badge more than any others?" He wondered.

A drop of water fell down toward the blue edge, causing a ripple on the water surface rather calmly. Scratching his back tiredly, he yawned and leaned back against the grassy hill to watch the dark skies. Badge still intact on palm, he shoved it down back to the specified pocket and swiped the rest back inside their respective places. He continued to watch the line to drop afterwards while waiting for sunrise to come.
---
After dawn comes morning, should the juxtapositions met between the sun and the clouds. The chirping of many Starly that flew away to stand close with their flocks rang through the daybreak, giving the surrounding a tranquil sense further bolstered by the slow water flow. The sun ray slowly emerged between the mountains from the east--the direction that he was facing at. A little dazzling when stared at directly, but the trees helped enough to block the very spot he was on.

Looking to the side a bit longer, he saw several lilac flowers starting to bloom their enclosed petals altogether when they were hit by the sunlight. It's quite a sight to behold, as not everyone could really witness such occurrence directly. Incidentally, the deciduous trees upfront started to fall their orange foliage, soon landing and carried away by the stream. He let out a lousy yawn and splashed his face toward the water surface of the river.

First, he should be packing all of his belongings before his departure. He approached the embedded fishing rod as he already gave up on finding something in the flowing river in front of him, but something felt rather heavy the moment he lifted it upward. He managed to pull the hook, and as expected, something static happened to be stuck on it. It was a Pokémon, and it was grabbing the hook with its hand-like innards, all this along without giving him a clue.

"Pyu?" It released itself from the hook and fell onto the solid grounds, withdrawing the white innards back and stared back at the Trainer in front of him.

"Uh...do you want to be part of 'PC Boxes'?" He offered.

"Pyu." It released the innards and connected both index and thumb to form a gesture of agreement. Although the way it retracted its insides was looking a bit disturbing, it seemed that it understood things pretty well even if it was a stranger.

The thrown Quick Ball caught a glimpse of the Sea Cucumber Pokémon upon impact, and technically captured it with the built-in sensor. Several shakes, and it proceeded to continue with a clicking sound, which then followed with the sudden disappearance of the Poké Ball itself.
---
Arriving at the long route as spoken by the welcoming signboard in the open wooden entrance, he entered the gate through the road that was still covered in yellow dirt while leaving both sides covered with light green grasslands and red forests. His familiarity with the surroundings reminded him of most things he thought during the lonely night, from the start of his early morning routine into the day where he embarked into the depths of the region he chose.

The chirping of the Pidove scurrying around to fetch spread seeds to consume added the ambient of the scenery he walked into. The carriage carried the wheat harvested through, many Mudsdale waiting in the stables seems to be rather content to enjoy their breakfast. A rancher sat on the piled straws to play a calm music with the harmonica he carried with him, uniting the nature and the wide array of livestock grazing inside the wooden fences of the grasslands they stomped upon.

"Ra ra ra ra!"

Perched inside a nest on a cliff, a Braviary stared down at the peaceful ranch and spread its wings wide and began to flap away into the blue skies above to follow the tailwind. The shadow of the large Pokémon that flew ahead blocked the sunlight for a split second, leaving several shedding of blue plumage during his flight in the air heading toward the mountainous peaks.

...After he swooped down below the flying altitude to take the bearded hillbilly with him into destination unknown.

"...That was most unfortunate." He shrugged and left the scene as if he hadn't seen anything.
---
Back to the track, the town he was looking for is now in front of the very sight of his vision. Rumored to be a very calming and serene place, many elderly and silver-haired people chose to live here to spend their retirement. Obviously, that didn't mean it was only for middle aged people--this town was meant for everyone after all. Since he wasn't really tired, he decided to pay the Pokémon Gym a visit.

And of course, while people were trying to act decently normal, there were still some people who thought they could do anything just cause.

"Hando overu youre handobagu!" The granny threatened by pointing a cane, "Elsu, you shallu desu wo re wratho!"
"Oh, oh! Oh no! Noooo!" Screamed the old man.

"Sometimes I wonder what sort of imaginations every people had..."

While the town wasn't really crowded with people walking about, he did found many dedicated Pokémon Trainer estimated at the same age as his hanging out on the entrance. They seem to be itching for a battle with the Gym Leader, but none of them seemed to be looking really happy at the slightest bit. Perhaps they're feeling down because they lost?

When one of them came out from the opening glass door, the Trainers quickly took glance upon the one who exited through. One of them approached him and inspected him as if it was a security measure of some sort, except it was done after entering the building.

"Seems like something you don't usually see." He thought to himself, still hiding inside the green bushes.

"Aha! You'd do better than to conceal your smile!" The female Ace Trainer shouted.
"What? What do you wa-"

Without much further ado, she elbowed the Trainer as hard as possible into the face. Other Trainer came in hurry to assist her by stripping him off, and what happened afterwards was disturbing to say for the least. As expected, none of them seemed to have caught a glimpse of the shiny thing called 'badge', and the wounded Trainer was later hospitalized and they were charged with...nothing.

"Well, something happened."

Putting a stern look to walk by the street, he approached the glass door of the gym while they were staring at him intently. Although his inner self was aware that he may end up just like that one Trainer just before if he wasn't careful, he was unperturbed by the ramblings of indecent losers who weren't good enough to win the Gym Battle.

And so he entered the gym as one of them pointed 'the forbidden gesture' at him. A sharp glare was given internally, but the deed may not be done now.
---
Inside the door lie a big dome with an iconic rectangular lined field, a platform, and all sorts of musical equipment on the sides--only they were covered with grey tarps for some reason. Without a doubt, he immediately took the challenger's side and waited for the Gym Leader... And it also didn't take long for her to notice him.

"Hiya! You must be a challenger who wants to win!" She cheerfully greeted while walking around the platform, "Sorry, but maybe you should turn back. You louts look tough but in the end, disappoints me beyond words."

"Obviously." Despite not knowing what may happen the moment they started, he stayed firm with his decision and pointed a Quick Ball at her, "But that's a terrible excuse to decline the challenge."

"Hmm, alright then! You do look similar with that 'special someone', after all."

"I'm Shin, a Pokémon Trainer. I challenge you into a Pokémon Battle."
"Fufufu, I like your straightforward style." Jumping from the platform, she took her position as well, "Sorry, but this girl's taken!"

"Just what's she thinking?"

Both opposing sides were occupied by two Trainers, each holding three Poké Balls and a special rule was made clear as they started to get ready with their leading Pokémon. Shin stayed with the one he took a hold with and threw the Quick Ball to reveal what he was holding--which is a Fire-Type Pokémon who has accompanied him for so long and became a fixed candidate. On the other side, Elva decided to take her turn by throwing her own too, and out came a puffy-looking Pokémon that was made of edible sweets.

"Alright, Heatmor. We shouldn't make a mistake now."
"Moo."

The battle started with Slurpuff acting weirdly on the spot, shaking its whimsy body and patted its tummy repeatedly with a red leaf. Heatmor didn't seem to bother with the suspicious behavior and pressed offense with a burst of flames spit from afar. The Meringue Pokémon was alarmed by the approaching fire ball and quickly stepped onto the side to avoid the attack. Although the attack somehow landed and exploded onto the grounds without the intend to crash at the foe, it created reasonable amount of black smokes around the vicinity.

"Hiyahaha! Don't get so lousy! Now we go all out!" She pointed her fingers optimistically to lead the onslaught given the chance of his failed attempt on offense, "Giga Impact!"

This was to be expected by the one who learned the next step of what comes, determinedly trying to outwit the cheap, yet effectively quick and efficient capable of taking out one or two unprepared combatants. Slurpuff ran faster and faster in circle to create momentum and dissipate the hazy field, until an orange streak surrounded the Pokémon's point of aim, followed with a purple energy enveloping the body of the Meringue Pokémon. As the time for it to launch the attack on full force was properly ready, Heatmor simply stood there beckoning the foe to come at him in the challenger's side. Elva didn't seem to notice the oddity and gave it a carefree signal.

Coming ever closer, Slurpuff launched itself into the sky and attempted to struck Heatmor down with an incredible power exceeding of a natural powerhouse. However, at the same time, he released white smokes that covered the battlefield, combined with the clouds of dust and rubble in the grounds resulted from the impact. The view was obscured by the two Trainers, Elva seemed to be pretty confident that the attack connected, while Shin was still in question mark whether it actually worked or not.

"Perhaps this is my 10th win streak! Eureka! Maybe you should turn back now!" Said Elva provokingly.
"Oh, hey, that's right." He followed, "But maybe you'd like to save the latter when you've cornered us down."

And the odds were on the challenger's favor, Slurpuff was tossed upward and crashed down onto the solid grounds just before the disrupting clouds dispersed mildly with a burn scar on its face.

"Hiyahaha! ...Wait what?! H-how come?!"
"Your Slurpuff didn't blunder when it performed the attack." He smirked, "Actually, it hit the wrong target instead."

As the clouds dissipated overtime, the cracking grounds revealed the forecast of the clash between the two. At the center of the crater lie a peculiar green plush toy, desecrated out of pity and disappeared within the thin air later on. And beside it was a Pokémon who was supposed to be the target of the unconscious, left unscathed and unharmed. Heatmor managed to prevail with a whip of flame and so defeated the powerful yet weakened Slurpuff with the smart brain of his own Trainer.

"Humph! Lest underestimate your foe they say..." Annoyed, she withdrew her Pokémon back and resumed the battle after she made a quick but sound choice.

The next round, she took the second Poké Ball and flung it upward. The Pokémon was released from its containment, spread its triangular broad wings and stayed midair with a flat face knowing no harm, only kindness. From there, Togekiss was chosen to present as the second Pokémon in the battle by the Gym Leader's side.

This turned out to be pretty bad knowing that Heatmor couldn't do much against foes out of his reach. He thought on withdrawing him to replace with somebody else that could outmatch the Jubille Pokémon in both offense and defense. Just as he tried to lift his Poké Ball and press the shift, Elva yelled,

"Nay! None in this battle is allowed to switch out!"

"That's ridiculous. Besides, I'm just playing catch with it for a bit."

"I forgot about it being listed as one of the rules." He thought to himself, clenching his teeth deeply, "Fine, maybe he wouldn't win but he could put a good fight still."

The fight continued when Elva continued her chuckling with an attack. Togekiss flew high and sent several crescent-shaped blades made of air onto the grounds below as it spiraled its way through the ceilings of the dome. Shin knew that these kind of moves were close to impossible to deflect, resulting in him commanding Heatmor to try avoiding the incoming attacks which didn't go very well due to his sluggishness weighting him up.

"Hiyahaha! How about something that never fails?" She suggested.

"Something that never fails?", He wondered to himself.

Still flying about in the midair, Togekiss released an imbued sphere of aura toward the suspecting Pokémon. Apparently, his guess was correct and thus he smirked. Heatmor also realized his Trainer's intent, about most ball and bomb moves being able to be manipulated if there's a concentrated force that exceeded the power of the prior. At the time it was about to hit, he released its chain of flames and precisely retaliated the Aura Sphere back toward its attacker.

"Hiyahaha! I don't know how you can do that!"

Flicking her fingers, she raised her hand confidently. In contrary, Togekiss simply dodged the backfiring attack and sent out more Aura Spheres through the two of its wings. Heatmor managed to do the same, stopping them from their point of attention but that wasn't really the intended attack to use from her side. While he was busy trying to avoid taking damage, Togekiss was ready to finish the battle with a clear, white energy made of air itself.

"Sorry, Heatmor."
"Moo."

The energy turned light blue and was thrown from afar at high speed. The move's appearance took form of a glowing saw disc-like, and at a glinting speed, it sped up faster until Heatmor took a clean hit from it. The impact between the two caused quite an cloudy explosion. As soon it dispersed along with the air, Heatmor was found lying on the ground, eyes spiraling marking his defeat for now.

"I still have more tricks in my sleeve! Now, which one should you play for the next round?" She inquired.
"I'll go along. It's your turn, 'Gengar'!"

An exemplary choice, but wasn't really what she'd expect. Instead, a large Pokémon went out and stomped down with its four legs intimidatingly.

"Hiyahaha! I get it! Weird nicknames!"
"Oh, you actually noticed."

The grounds trembled as Gengar roared for dominance, though Togekiss begged to differ by staying still on the ceilings freely waiting for another order to attack its foe.

"Aura Sphere!"

With the light blue ball of energy created from its two tender hands, it threw the destructive orb toward the Iron Leg Pokémon who was still grounded steadily. The impact caused an explosion to occur, creating more cloudy smokes obscuring the sight between the two.

Elva continued the offense by adding the total damage, and Togekiss attempted to create more Aura Spheres to use them all against 'Gengar'. A certain victory, but only if it works.

"It's time!"

A blue figure ascended through the cloudy atmosphere and spun its body upward violently soon clutching the flier with its powerful legs. Shin smirked again when it successfully caught the flying Pokémon despite the method was prone to inaccuracy.

"C-come again?! Metagross can fly?!" Caught by surprise, twice, she started to exude cold sweats.
"The more you know." Extending his hand, he exclaimed, "Iron Head!"

Togekiss struggled to break free, but the grip was too strong. The cross-shaped crest began to glow in white aura, making it seem black and white from sight. White glowing trails followed through as gravity took effect, both falling down as 'Gengar' overpowered the Jubilee Pokémon by slamming its crest onto the solid grounds. The colliding two caused a big cloud of dust and rubble to appear, and a tremor also occurred due to that effect. The floor became cracked, somehow turned into another crater of crushed rocks just like from the initial.

"Wow! You're actually a better Trainer than what I thought!" She complimented.
"Yeah, maybe you should say that to those outside there."

"Now we decide who'll win this! Get ready!"

She withdrew her fainted Togekiss and took out an Ultra Ball. Flung by the girl upward, the Poké Ball popped open and revealed a anthropomorphic Pokémon by her side. The melodious tone it gave, it sounded more like a song of terror that she will brought down upon the very battlefield itself.

"It's been a while, Gardevoir. Now we'll go wild today!"

"I got mixed feelings about this..."

The two faced against each other in a ravaged arena. The Embrace Pokémon greeted politely while 'Gengar' didn't seem to get an idea why she did that. The next moment, her eyes illuminated and she disappeared within the thin air. This time, Shin was more surprised when his foe became invisible at will.

'Gengar' seemed to be looking perplexed just like its Trainer, trying to figure out where did she disappear into. It wouldn't be wise to stay in one spot, however. So Shin told 'Gengar' to stay mobile while inspecting the whole area.

"Hiyahaha! Confused? I'll give you a hint!" Elva pointed her finger into the ceilings. Enveloped in pinkish aura, Gardevoir was levitating in the air trying to prepare an attack. From the two of her green hands, she was charging up a big black blob that seemed to be ready to open fire. Shin decided to use the same tactic to intercept the attack, but they were too slow.

"Shadow Ball!" As the words echoed, the ball was released from her slim hands--now chasing against the Pokémon that was attempting to repeat the same plan. Another explosion occurred in the midair, the results seemed to be favoring the one who attacked firstly. The ramblings of the defeated fell down with the body, crashing the grounds once more with its heavy weight to ruin the smooth relief into craggy land full of rubble.

"Hiyahaha! Your elegance hasn't gone blunt for once!"
"Oh no... Sorry, 'Gengar'." He closed his eyes, firmly taking the Dive Ball with him to withdraw the one who had the chance but was unable to do so.

The next choice'll change everything they say. He couldn't afford to lose after getting this far. From the four Pokémon he could chose, he thought a little bit and made his choice quickly.

"Rest easy for now, you did well." Taking a similar looking Ultra Ball with him, he tossed the Ultra Ball upward to send out the Pokémon he encountered during that fateful night.

"You've turned very different from the very first day we met, and I believe I can count you on this matter and so on. I think you felt the same, because if you weren't, you wouldn't have a reason strong enough to destroy that mask, right?"

"We'll do this, let's go Morian!" The Ultra Ball opened the Pokémon encased inside, with the glowing white ray materializing a quadrupled Pokémon. He landed on his two strange looking front legs, followed with his rear legs and a little chime from a pair of silver bells tied around his neck. His appearance, while at the same time weird looking, still reverberated a tense aura of a certain power indescribable by science alone.

He stood up regally against his foe that was facing at him, both were incredibly powerful Pokémon that could possibly rival the Pokémon spoken by the myth. With them standing at opposing sides in an important battle, they knew that none of them could put a joke in the middle of the battle--except for several cute bell chimes every time he moved around.

"I've never seen a Pokémon like that before..." Said Elva, curiously squinting toward his Pokémon, "What?! A fin as a tail?!"
"Well, nothing seems to be out of ordinary, right? Let's do it."
"Alright! Then we've got nothing to lose either! We'll fight to the bitter end!"

Without further ado, Morian charged frontally with sharp claws. With his recent armor removal, he had a rather easy time to move around now, until he tripped and rolled down anticlimactically onto a crater created in previous rounds.

"My my, I don't know what to say about that!"
"T-that didn't go well... C'mon Morian, pull yourself together!"

Jumping in a high arc back to the grounds, he honed his claws and attempted to continue his pursuit but Gardevoir was nowhere to be found. The lateness has caused a rather petty opportunity loss, but the two stayed steadfast since the battle has only just started. It appeared that Gardevoir somehow disappeared again, and Shin began to review where she could've gone.

"One thing I'm sure is that it's not invisibility, but teleportation! I should take advantage of the ample pause here!"

"Morian, freeze the area with Tri Attack!" Commanded Shin.

At his behest, Morian attempted to follow his order by spreading a focused beam of ice into a frost laser, aimed toward the grounds below to set the battlefield frozen in hopes to fulfill the condition he wanted. On the other side, Elva seemed to be suspicious with the act he put with the battlefield. Why'd he froze the battlefield? And more of it, why some chunks of ice were made taller than another?

When the time called, Gardevoir warped herself back from the rear and channeled her powerful psychic attack toward the Synthetic Pokémon. However, he quickly jumped onto the side before her point of focus turned up onto the spot he was previously at.

"My my, I felt surprised again!" Stated Elva, "How come it could avoid that unavoidable attack?!"
"If we expected the worst." Explained Shin, "Thanks to the mirrors, we know where we should go and avoid. Now we'll go offensive!!"

The landing friction skewered the ice plate a bit, and his Trainer was attempting to use the environment once again to use a particular move it couldn't naturally learn. Broken ice shards on the grounds soon joined together along the light blue energy he created, immediately opening fire toward his foe who also happened to be throwing a shadowy black blob onto the incoming projectile.

The collision caused another explosion of energy that obscured the vision for everyone in the icy battlefield. The glass-like structure that layered the floor began to melt for every seconds passed, yet the two were barely damaged throughout the battle and it obviously wouldn't end until one of them fall to their own defeat.

"Hmm, what should I do next?" He thought about an effective way to defeat her Pokémon in just one strike.

"I suppose it's time for me and Gardevoir to conclude the battle!"
Looking surprised by her statement, he tried to reconsider a bit, "I see, she's planning to end the battle quickly... Because there's something that she's also trying to exploit. Don't worry Morian, it's all according to keikaku."

Levitating stoically in the midair, Gardevoir waited for the next move to carry out from her Trainer. Of calm demeanor, the Synthetic Pokémon sat on the slippy floor to scratch an itch on his neck like a confused canine though still showing a determined figure as well.

"Screw this, Tri Attack!" He extended his arm confidently.
"Use Moonblast!" She ordered in conjunction to her Pokémon pose.

The two of them charged their respective moves; one gathering a great amount of power through the moonlight to create a pink orb that made the dome to turn dim, one creating three elemental orbs, artificially prepared to shoot at his foe. Technically, Moonblast has more power compared with the attack he used, and that's where he decided to tweak the situation a bit.

Elva let out her loud laughter once more, before Gardevoir released the big and powerful pixie energy she gathered from prior toward her foe. The attack was getting faster in velocity as it approached the target. On the last second, both Trainer and Pokémon smirked at each other assuredly.

"Jump!"

Morian didn't choose to waste the attack he wanted to use against the foe. Instead, he chose to dodge the attack by jumping high through it--letting the ball to destroy chunks of ice on the challenger's side, shattered parts blown away by the force. Surprised for the fourth time, Elva gagged as Morian caught Gardevoir unaware by discharging the move from above. Scorched, electrified, and glaciated, Gardevoir took the three beams and fell down from the blast.

"Gahahaha!" She let out a manly laughter, "We blundered again!"
"Thanks for reminding." He subtly thanked, "Now you've got it! Here and now!"

Onto the finishing blow, Shin flicked his hands to cue the final attack,

"Crush Claw!"

Desperate, Gardevoir tried to counterattack by using a move as her staple to keep her foe at bay. One thing came in mind, and she threw a Shadow Ball toward Morian who happened to be coming closer and closer. However, her panic didn't seem to help her case, ever since he was flawlessly undamaged at all from the start until the end of the battle.

The danger was getting nearer as ever, and she haven't gotten a good plan from her Trainer to aid her own riposte. The watery trampling made her tremble, there wasn't enough time to even warp herself elsewhere around the dome, nor use an attack to fightback the offender. She closed her eyes and grabbed her head in fear. Her struggle was put into an end where he pounced and turned back, ultimately leaving her unharmed in the aftermath. Morian knew when to stop, just like what his Trainer had always suggested when they don't want to fight anymore.

"Darn it...looks like we lost, for real." Continued Elva, "But hey, you're pretty cool! Not as cool as Morfey, though."

"You did a pretty great job, Morian. Actually, we've accomplished something not a lot can do." He congratulated the Synthetic Pokémon who carried the sweet victory between his grasps. He seemed to be very content with the praise, and began to wiggle his fish-like tailfin attentively.

After both parties recovered from the battle, she later handed him a box. The contents inside the box was obvious, it was a badge that he had earned--the Trickster Badge. The time has come for him to claim the last but not least, the final badge that he needed to qualify himself as a certified Pokémon Trainer who attained all the badges with impressive prowess.

"...Not yet, there's another obstacle that I need to tackle..." He thought to himself before leaving the place, shoving the recent badge inside his pocket for safekeeping until everything turned black despite the time itself was still morning.
---
He blinked his eyes, pointing skyward and down to look at the surroundings once again. The same moon, the same flowing river, the same line cast on the water, everything taking place seemed to be practically identical from the past. He checked his phone, and it was at the same date, and at the same time, ticking down steadily. Was he dreaming all along?

To debunk it, he tried to take a quick look at his possessions. The same pieces and junks, scattered along the grounds beside him looked very usual. Fortunately, if it was dream, he couldn't legitimately obtain the final piece which is also placed with the remaining seven. Clearly, he really did gather all of them. He was unsure, however. What happened the moment he lost his consciousness instantly? Also, how did he end up on the same spot and it was also in the midnight? There was no explanation, as it happened way too quickly to be recalled for.

Getting a little headache, he didn't continue to overwhelm his mind with bogus theories and started to collect the junks back into the vest full of versatile pockets. From badges, the pink book, the toy dart gun, even the full-o-money wallet. However, one thing was left on the grounds he sat on beside him.

It was a single brown feather, looking a little bruised on the side barb.

Just by recognizing its origin made him skip a heartbeat. He dazed awkwardly in the morning of the starting day with familiarity. He never really tried to pluck any, neither he tried to collect the shedding plumage. It must've been slipped somewhere along, but every bristles won't just leave only one. Chances like this are close to zero, especially when he always had most of his belongings tight and safe.

But how did it ended up there? He was left wondering with the riddle he made by his own accord, and he was also the only one who could answer his own question. It was quite a lonely journey without a Pokémon that was quite chatty in the way. When he did that, he ended up being the impersonator for not being able to recognize their speeches. It felt like speaking to a living statue--no matter how small or big, when he couldn't understand what they say, he'll end up interpreting the wrong things.

Closing his eyes while picking the shaft and leaning over the grassy hill, he stared back. The moonlight was mild enough for him to see through how translucent the object can be, just like his flowing tears wetting his dry cheeks during that night.

"Arf!"

A little startled by the barking of a familiar presence, he rubbed his eyes and turned back.

It was Morian, the nickname he didn't put a lot of thoughts that he gave upon the Pokémon he was entrusted with during that night in a short period of time. A Pokémon of mysterious origins and existed for unknown reason, artificially created by an organization who pilfered and recycled most confidential files and projects to use for exploitation cause--although they were forced and ruled by a megalomaniac who was no more but a memorial in the seabed, they were still responsible for most incidents that had happened in past days.

Looking at each other awkwardly, Morian grunted and turned away. Not sure what to come up with next, his Trainer also turned back into the river just in front of him.

"...Whoa!"

Not long after that, the Synthetic Pokémon pounced at his side and shoved him over on purpose. He was knocked over and he got up quickly to squint at his Pokémon's sense of playfulness, but he let his guard down when he proceeded to lick his face to show his affection. It was tickling, and a little bit stinky, but in return he gave him a pet on the head.

Around the higher grounds of the steep hill, he noticed the other Pokémon that he let to stay on the camp watching them intently. A little tempered, Heatmor walked in and joined the licking party. Everyone around him felt very relieved to see his usual expression of disgust, though he'll need to take a bath after this, surely.

The skies remained dark, but there were many things that seem to be floating in the clouds. The full moon illuminated the night with its light, the view was magnificent enough that their eyes reflected the twinkles of the stars.

Somehow, a bright shine followed with a long line of light went downwards as if it was falling down somewhere. Their eyes were affixed onto the rare phenomenon that occurred just before them, quite a sight to behold making them very eager to celebrate it. They closed their eyes and made their own respective wishes, leaving the Pokémon Trainer who doesn't really believe in superstitions in awkwardness. Deep down, he always thought it was just a myth, but their strong beliefs made him convinced that it shouldn't hurt to sheep around.

Just as they're done with their childish requests, they yawned and slept on the spot to take their rewarding rest. Shin was leaning still on the steep hill, contemplating his journey so far one more time. He knew what happened, and how it ended up. He wanted to forget it, but he couldn't let it go. In the end, he was only stalling himself on his own personal experience.

But, it has already became his least concerns from now on. He had just found something that he overlooked, and obviously he didn't want to discard it anytime soon. A memento from his childhood friend and a subtle will that he could understand more than any others could. His last request was honorable, and he'll do anything to fulfill their promise. As for now, he swiped everything he put to return back onto their respective sections.

"No matter how dire it'll be, I'll always stay being a Pokémon Trainer." He yawned, "May we meet again somewhere, good night."
 
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