Kindling Queen vs. Grass King vs. Psymon, Round One
Pre-Round Stats
Kindling Queen (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Kabuto (M) [Battle Armor]
Sig Mod: Nervous Sweat
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: A little jittery
Kabuto's Commands:
Mega Drain @ Medium ~ Mega Drain @ Medium ~ Mega Drain @ Medium
Grass King (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Tadpole (F) [Water Absorb] @King's Rock
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Slightly unnerved by the blaring sirens
Tadpole's Commands:
Body Slam @ Medium ~ Body Slam @ Medium ~ Body Slam @ Medium
Psymon (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Medium (M) [Damp]
Sig Mod: Psychic Power
Sig Move: Headache Burst
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Head throbbing with each wail of the siren
Medium's Commands:
Psychic @ Tadpole/Magic Coat ~ Cross Chop @ Kabuto/Magic Coat ~ Calm Mind/Magic Coat
Arena: HQ on Countdown
Round One: Begin
"Intruders detected. Intruders detected. Headquarters security has been compromised. All Team Aqua members are to report to the docks for immediate evacuation. Self-destruct sequence initiated--T-minus thirty minutes to detonation."
The flat female voice blares through the building's PA system, loud enough to make itself heard over even the wailing of the sirens. Each piercing shriek of the alarm is accompanied by a pulse of harsh red light; if said intruders were not preoccupied with that "self-destruct" bit, they would probably find it intensely annoying. There is no room for annoyance, however, no room in the minds of Grass King, Kindling Queen or Psymon for anything other than getting the hell out before they find themselves trapped in the explosion. Unable to open the door that leads away from the area and its steadily rising water level, and unable to decide which of them should be the first to squeeze through the narrow passageway to safety should they manage to shift it, they resort to having their pokémon battle to determine the order of escape.
...If they manage to escape, anyway.
With a speed that belies her short, cumbersome legs, Grass King's poliwhirl, Tadpole, leaps into action and hurls herself at the mumbling Medium. She is on top of the psyduck in seconds, throwing him to the ground under her weight and slamming him against the damp tile with a small splash. The impact sends a shockwave running up Medium's spine, instantly compromising his coordination and leaving him paralyzed.
Tadpole is quick to get out of the way and leave Medium to the pain radiating along his back--the greenish light forming right above the waterfowl's head doesn't look like something she'd be inclined to stick around for. Kabuto, still shivering slightly and with the eyespots atop his shell glowing emerald, casts a small net of grass-type energy over the gasping Medium and siphons just a little of his energy away. The influx of energy does little to settle Kabuto's nerves--he's still feeling hale and hearty at the moment, so it's not as though he needs it--but Medium, flailing and twitching around on the floor, certainly does not appreciate it.
Put upon as he is, though, Medium finally manages to fight his way to his feet. He sways unsteadily for a few seconds before shutting his wide, vacant eyes in concentration. Tadpole's deceptively nimble legs leave the ground without warning as Medium lifts her into the air with only his mind (just as well given that he probably wouldn't be able to manage with his body at this point). He gets a firm psychic grip on the poliwhirl and then flings her across the room, smacking her into one of the leaking windows. Both trainers and pokémon stop in their tracks for several seconds, watching nervously and hoping that the cracks creeping along the glass have not widened to admit more water; when Tadpole drops to the ground with a barely audible moan, however, they are able to see that the window is still holding strong.
For now.
Tadpole's continued grumbling goes unheard, the screaming sirens effectively drowning out the sounds of her discomfort. There's not much point in moping around, however, nor is there a lot of time--she'll be damned if she allows herself or Grass King to get stuck down here and blown to smithereens, and if she doesn't want that to happen then she needs to flatten some skulls and get them the heck out of here. She gets up, slips a little in the growing puddles of water on the floor and throws herself at the psyduck a second time. The skid ends up costing her dearly, however; Medium flinches as she slides right past him, missing her mark and leaving him unscathed.
Unscathed until Kabuto hits him with another mega drain, at any rate. The rock-type has taken advantage of Tadpole's wild slide to secret himself away behind one of the overturned steel tables, and is pressing the attack now that he feels a bit safer. The grass energy wicks a little more health away from the psyduck and back to the kabuto, however unnecessary it might be. Unfortunately for Kabuto, the drifting globes of life force quickly betray his location. Medium turns toward the table and stumbles his way over with both arms raised, trying his level best to keep his jerking legs beneath him and stay standing. He does fairly well, too, making it all the way over to the large metal surface without losing his footing. As soon as he tries to maneuver around the side and take a swing at the cowering Kabuto, he pitches forward and slides. The tip of his beak taps one of Kabuto's forelegs when he slides to a stop--completely ineffectual contact as opposed to the devastating cross chop he'd been banking on.
With Medium on the ground and half hemmed in by the table, Tadpole knows there's no way she can miss him this time. And she's quite right. Her third body slam, this time started without any embarrassing slides across the tile, connects solidly with the psyduck's back. By some miracle Medium manages to avoid further serious injury to his nervous system, but the strike is terribly painful nonetheless. A third mega drain picking away at his health only serves to make things worse.
Medium lets out a sigh as Tadpole finally gets up and Kabuto skitters away, claws clattering against the sodden linoleum as he puts some distance between himself and his frustrated opponent. The sigh is, of course, immediately lost in the relentless screams of the sirens; the noise, the accompanying lights and the escalating pain wracking his body are all adding up to one of the worst headaches the duck pokémon can ever remember having. How he's supposed to maintain his concentration in such a stressful situation, well, he doesn't know.
...then again, though, if any pokémon is good at emptying its head, it's psyduck. Medium shuts his eyes tight and, after several moments of mental struggling, manages to tune out most of the pain and the racket. Calmer thoughts now have a bit more room to enter his mind, and in spite of his situation he starts to feel relaxed and as though he
can in fact regain control of this mess. Gang up on him while he's trying to figure out how to get out of here, will they... as long as he can maintain this heightened mental state, Tadpole and Kabuto are going to regret picking on
this little yellow duck.
As the pokémon struggle for an advantage on the wet floor below, their trainers are scrambling to force open the small door that leads to the mess hall. It stubbornly refuses to budge, however, remaining tightly shut despite all of their frantic pushing and kicking.
Suddenly this simple battle outing and bit of mischief is looking a lot less fun than they'd thought it would be.
Round One: Close
Post-Round Stats
Kindling Queen (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Kabuto (M) [Battle Armor]
Sig Mod: Nervous Sweat
Health: 100%
Energy: 85%
Status: Confident, if still thinking that self-destruct is a
little harsh just for breaking and entering
Grass King (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Tadpole (F) [Water Absorb] @King's Rock
Health: 87%
Energy: 82%
Status: Special Defense -1; still annoyed about her near miss
Psymon (3/3 Pokémon Remaining)
Medium (M) [Damp]
Sig Mod: Psychic Power
Sig Move: Headache Burst
Health: 60%
Energy: 80%
Status: Special Attack +1, Special Defense +1; Paralyzed (moderate); not doing so well, but trying his hardest to be above the pain
Arena Status: Saltwater is pooling on the floor, its level rising slowly but steadily; the entire floor is currently covered by about 1/4" (0.6cm) of water.
Ref's Notes
-Sorry for the delay in getting this started, but I was hopelessly distracted by something shiny. Shouldn't happen again.
-Tadpole's first body slam paralyzed Medium; her second missed.
-Psychic lowered Tadpole's special defense.
-Cross chop missed.
-Moving while paralyzed costs Medium an extra 1% energy per action.
-I normally include a copy of the arena description in each round for easy reference, but that one takes up a ridiculous amount of space so I left it out. Sorry for any inconvenience.
-Can I get a little more clarification on what happens if a trainer loses a pokémon prior to the five rounds being up? I know what happens during round six/round eleven, but say the trainer's pokémon is knocked out during round four. Do they still send out a pokémon and continue to battle through round five, then come up late afterward, or do they sit out until the five rounds are up and send out when they rejoin the battle on the next level?
-Kindling Queen attacks first next round, then Psymon, then Grass King.
