[09] Negrek vs blazheirio889 (ref: Chiropter)

(( Looks fine to me, although I guess Yoshiya filling his ears with dirt while chilling was deemed undoable? ))

Okay, Yoshiya, we're out of the range of snatch and it'll take at least an action for Yukianesa to reach us, so start off by covering your ears, closing your eyes and chilling up for the final haul.

I imagine Yukianesa will remain invisible, and she'll have a hard time fitting into your hole, but if you do happen to spot her, give her a flamethrower to the face. Otherwise aromatherapy if you've been paralyzed by the arena, keeping your ears covered. Do nothing elsewise.

Chill ~ Do Nothing / Flamethrower / Aromatherapy x 2

Well, there's not much we can do. Yukianesa, give me a 20% Substitute, then Chill, and end with an Avalanche. See if we can't bury Yoshiya.

If you fall asleep due to the arena's effects, Chill the first action and do nothing for the rest. When you wake up, 20% Substitute.

And if you are fully paralyzed, shuffle your actions.

Substitute (20%)/Chill ~ Chill/Substitute (20%)/Nothing ~ Avalanche/Chill/Substitute (20%)

((Actually, it was deemed moot-point-since-he's-underground-anyway, and then it slipped my mind to mention it. Sorry.))


Back above ground, all over the seemingly empty main island, circles of large, mottled petals slowly rise from their hiding places beneath the tall grass, their vileplume owners roused by the sounds of battle. They begin to flap noisily up and down, releasing invisible clouds of fine particles into the air that soon spread over the entire arena. Yukianesa tenses - invisibility won’t help her here - but then a sweet, perfumey scent reaches her, and suddenly the froslass finds herself feeling relaxed and calm, soothed by the pleasant aroma. Smiling, she twirls around happily, almost not even noticing that she does so without any hindrance - the paralysis gone from her body as if it had never been.

Reinvigorated now, Yukianesa takes time to sculpt a second substitute. The ice sculpture quickly takes form in midair - to everyone watching, it abruptly solidifies from out of nowhere - and lights up with ghostly lines as it floats impassively. This completed, Yukianesa takes a moment to relax and regain some energy - at the same time, down in his hole, Yoshiya does the same.

After a few moments of that, though, the cleffa, young as he is, becomes restless and tired of sitting still; he fidgets uncomfortably, waiting for some kind of direction from his trainer. The tunnel is small and wet and dark, and it’s starting to make him feel a little lonely; he crawls forward a bit, finding a little bit of light filtering from above and taking some comfort in it…

…when out of nowhere, the walls around him begin to shake, the light is abruptly cut off, and Yoshiya hears something falling into the tunnel and rolling toward him. He leaps back with a frightened yelp as something cold bumps into him; reaching out, he feels what seems to be a small, ice-encased rock. Hesitantly, Yoshiya tries to move up the tunnel again, but bumps his head on a cold, slippery barrier: a wall of icy stones completely blocking his exit.

On the surface, Yukianesa observes with satisfaction the large pile of frigid boulders blocking the cleffa’s hole. The tunnel was too small, unfortunately, for any of the large boulders to fit, but she feels confident that the little pokemon won’t be making his way out through that. Yoshiya, meanwhile, curls up in what little space he has left, shivering a little from the cold emanating off the rocks and trying very hard not to panic at the thought of being trapped down here…


Battle notes:
Avalanche didn’t do any damage: only the smaller rocks could fit through the cleffa-sized hole, and they mostly clogged in the tunnel before they could reach Yoshiya.

Terrain notes:
A large pile of ice-encrusted boulders sits over Yoshiya’s hole, blocking the exit. Smaller rocks fill the tunnel about halfway down its length.
"The distinct aroma of pokémon is wafting around the arena..." the attendant mutters again. The referee grips his head and screams in frustration, beginning to despair of the battle ever ending with the randomizer always getting the damn healing options.*

Next round:
Blazheirio889 attacks first.

So... are substitutes supposed to go invisible if their owners are? If so, I can add something to that effect.

(*Not saying whether or not it did get the happiny this time, but come on! Make with the bad luck, RNG!)

Crap, I forgot to tell Yukianesa to reappear again. That's some wasted energy.

Well, my frigid ghost, you can go ahead and turn visible, but if at any time your Substitute is broken, turn invisible again.

Now that that's out of the way, actual commands! Well... We can't do much until Yoshiya comes to the surface. Do nothing until he does so. When he does, Taunt. Do so until it works. If he's been taunted, or you can't taunt him for whatever reason (if he's got his ears plugged, maybe you could talk telepathically, I don't know. You do have some psychic powers, after all), Ice Beam.

Nothing/Taunt/Ice Beam ~ Nothing/Taunt/Ice Beam ~ Nothing/Taunt/Ice Beam

Lazy commands are lazy ._.

DQ warning for Negrek.

(( Hey, I was hoping for status. Odd though it may seem, the arena being all benevolent has been putting kinks in my plans all battle. =/ ))

Okay, Yoshiya, no worries. We'll be getting you out of that tunnel in no time. Before we go, though, I'd like you to take a moment to vomit some toxic onto your soothe bell, there. After that, dig back to the surface and ping Yukianesa's substitute with your attack. A fire blast ought to finish it off after that.

Toxic @ Soothe Bell ~ Dig (attack) ~ Fire Blast

After the out-of-nowhere avalanche has ended, covering up the tiny hole on the central island, the spectators are left watching an artificial swamp disturbingly devoid of movement, save the froslass-shaped ice statue floating eerily above the soggy ground. Within a few seconds, however, the pokemon that was the model for the statue reappears from out of thin air, critically examining her surroundings. Yukianesa is wary of anything coming out of the tall grass; after a moment, though, she relaxes somewhat, having seen nothing but a few magikarp flopping rather un-dramatically out of the water. Judging herself safe from the arena - for now - she watches the ground beneath her. Sooner or later, he’ll have to come out…

Yoshiya, meanwhile, is rapidly losing the battle against his panic response. Trying to calm himself, he unties his soothe bell from his ear and cradles it in his stubby paws, its soft chiming mildly comforting in the pitch blackness. It helps him regain some presence of mind at least, and he manages to slow his breathing somewhat as he holds the silver bell up to his mouth. His face scrunches up as he produces a foul-tasting, syrupy mix of poisons from his saliva; gagging, he spits some of the goop onto the bell, as much as can stick to it, then hurriedly spits the rest to the side. Gingerly, trying to keep the poison from dripping onto him, he ties the bell back to his ear, then turns to the side of the tunnel and takes a deep breath… and starts digging maniacally, slowly pushing out a new tunnel and making his way steadily upward through the soggy earth.

Back up above, the splashing magikarp have remained the most exciting event in the past few moments; from the bleachers, a buzz of disgruntled conversation begins to build as the audience waits impatiently for something to happen. Yukianesa, growing rather bored herself, folds her arms on her substitute’s head and rests her chin on them, idly tapping her fingers on the ice. She heard the little cleffa’s trainer order him back up… surely, it won’t be long now.

…Any second.

Doo de dee dee dee, doo de dee dee dee…

Any more magikarp to watch?… darn…

A small explosion of earth suddenly breaks the monotony as something small bursts from the ground beneath the substitute, battering the ice sculpture with dirt and revealing itself to be a very dirty, very distraught Yoshiya. The cleffa looks about ready to cry as he stumbles away from Yukianesa, hoping the ghost will give him a moment to compose himself before going on the offensive again. And indeed, the froslass makes no move to attack him yet, merely glides leisurely to the side of her slightly-cracked substitute and eyes him spitefully. Yoshiya’s relief lasts only a moment, though, as the soft voice of the ghost suddenly invades his ears like a cold, stinging wind…

“What a joke,” it hisses scornfully. “Look at you, falling to pieces! This is a tournament, little one, it’s for big pokemon, not for someone their trainer just picked up from Day Care.” Yoshiya’s eyes widen in shock, then narrow angrily as he processes the froslass’s words. “Why don’t you just run back into your little hidey-hole and cry like we both know you want to? Maybe the scaaaaaaary ghost won’t get you there!”

As her derisive laughter echoes in his ears, Yoshiya furiously wipes away the few tears that had leaked out and faces Yukianesa, his round, pink face bearing an expression of supreme indignity. All his lingering panic and distress has been utterly annihilated by a hot spike of anger towards his taunting opponent. Taking a deep breath and holding it, he lets fire energy build up inside of him, his burning anger seeming to add fuel to his internal furnace.

Yukianesa quickly moves back behind her substitute as the cleffa unleashes another kanji-shaped blast of fire, this one seeming even larger and hotter than either of the others. She shudders as the heat from the flames washes over her, but her substitute successfully fields the attack, though at the cost of being reduced to a tiny puddle that the swampy ground quickly sucks up, and a few wisps of steam. Immediately, the froslass re-cloaks herself in invisibility; without something standing between her and any potential future fiery pain, she is much more wary about Yoshiya, who is still looking quite furious as he makes a hand gesture in her general direction that she’s almost certain he didn’t learn at any Day Care Center.


Battle notes:
Fire Blast was a critical hit. (Yukianesa’s substitutes seem to attract those, don’t they?)

Terrain notes:
A large pile of ice-encrusted boulders sits over Yoshiya’s hole, blocking the exit. Smaller rocks fill the tunnel about halfway down its length. A second, unblocked tunnel leads down to the same hole.
“A cold breeze is racing around the arena…” the attendant mutters again.

Next round:
Negrek attacks first.

We got this, Yoshiya. Let out a bit of your frustration with some random pounding; if another substitute or Yukianesa herself pops up, let her/it eat flamethrower, swept if necessary to destroy clones.

Pound / Flamethrower x3

Alright, Yukianesa. By my calculations those three Flamethrowers should deprive Yoshiya of energy completely. So, let's turn visible. To lessen the damage, though, stick up a Light Screen. Next, Spite the Flamethrower for good measure. End with Hail.

Should you fall asleep, though, do nothing (doesn't really matter if you can stay invisible while sleeping, really). And if you, by chance, become fully paralyzed, shuffle your actions.

Light Screen/nothing ~ Spite/Light Screen/nothing ~ Hail/Spite/nothing

Before Yukianesa can decide on the proper reaction to Yoshiya’s… challenge, both pokemon are distracted by the heavy, rhythmic sound of vileplume petals beating the air all around them. The rigorous flapping soon begins to waft clouds of light, purplish powder from all directions toward the center island, suffusing the air around the two pokemon and becoming all but impossible to avoid. Yoshiya coughs harshly as he inhales some of the poisonous spores; at the same time, some of the powder seems to stop in midair and outline a vague form, before Yukianesa fades back into view, wavering a bit in her floating as the malignant poison seeps from the spores into her body.

Though already starting to feel a little nauseated, Yoshiya’s white-hot rage explodes anew upon his foe’s reappearance. Face scrunching up in a fusion of anger, discomfort, and growing exhaustion, he forces his body to produce more of the fire he needs to destroy his nemesis. Recognizing the cleffa’s attack preparation, Yukianesa quickly holds her hands in front of her and concentrates; a shimmering wall of energy spreads out from her hands, growing outwards until it becomes a transparent, circular plane that shields her entire body.

And not a moment too soon. A thin jet of flame streaks toward the ghost, but stops short at the glimmering barrier; half of it bursts harmlessly against the light screen, leaving only a greatly diminished flamethrower to pass through and burn its target.

Yukianesa takes the reduced attack with only a slight wince, and once the flames have gone out, smirks at Yoshiya and begins weaving her fingers in a familiar arcane pattern. Yoshiya recognizes the cold, clawing feeling at the back of his mind, but ignores it, readying another flamethrower and not really registering that it suddenly seems to be taking more effort to stoke his internal fire than it had a minute ago.

One weakened flamethrower later, Yoshiya’s driving rage suddenly and completely evaporates, clearing his mind - and leaving him utterly spent. He coughs weakly and collapses, feeling as though he had exhaled all his remaining energy along with the flamethrower. He can’t even summon the energy to lift his head to watch as Yukianesa raises her arms to the sky, preparing to call down a storm of ice - though he does hear the loud whistle that suddenly pierces the air, as the referee gets up from where he had been lounging lazily at the side of the field, waving a colored flag indicating the attempted use of a banned move. The froslass lowers her arms and crosses them, scowling; really, what stupid contest manager had a problem with a little hailstorm? She turns her gaze to the little shaking pink thing, motioning impatiently with her hand as if to say, Come on, let’s just get this over with…

Gritting his teeth and whimpering, Yoshiya slowly and shakily pushes himself up with his stubby little arms, trying to summon up enough energy for one last hurrah… For a few exhausting seconds he comes up empty, but finally locates a tiny ember of power still burning, and wills it to flare up… He wheezes ineffectually a few times, but then feels the heat building up in him, and he triumphantly breathes out a final line of flames at the ghost.

Half of it is, again, absorbed by the light screen, and Yukianesa is only mildly irritated by the heat, but none of that matters to Yoshiya; his last iota of strength used up, the cleffa rolls over with one final rasping cough and lays motionless on the ground, passed out from his overexertion.


Terrain notes:
A large pile of ice-encrusted boulders sits over Yoshiya’s hole, blocking the exit. Smaller rocks fill the tunnel about halfway down its length. A second, unblocked tunnel leads down to the same hole.
The attendant closes her eyes and murmurs, “The distinct aroma of pokémon is wafting around the arena…”

Next round:
Negrek sends out.
Blazheirio889 attacks.
Negrek attacks.

Here’s hoping we’ll finish this by the end of the year!

Time to get serious. Mandarb, you're up.

Oh dear, this isn't looking good. Well, you're protected by the damage cap anyhow. Let's just soften Mandarb up as much as we can before we go out.

To conserve energy (every bit counts at this point), let your Light Screen fall. Then, start with Taunt. If she tries to cover her ears or something, feel free to speak telepathically (I'm pretty sure you can).

Follow up with Thunder Wave and a layer of Spikes.

If Mandarb Protects or Detects at any time, do nothing. Also do nothing if Mandarb tries to be tricky and use Magic Coat. And if at any time Mandarb is not Taunted, fix that with, of course, Taunt.

Taunt/Nothing ~ Thunder Wave/Taunt/Nothing ~ Spikes/Taunt/Nothing

DQ warning for Negrek.

Beat her to the taunt while she's waiting to see what you'll do, then swords dance and night slash.

If you *do* end up taunted, instead crush her beneath a rock tomb. Hopefully she'll have some difficulty zapping you or scattering spikes through wall of rock and soil. Then blow an icy wind through her prison to slow her down all the more. Finish up by laying out a future sight.

Taunt / Rock Tomb ~ Swords Dance / Icy Wind ~ Night Slash / Future Sight

Round 9​

Yoshiya is quickly returned to the safety of his pokeball, and after a moment of thought, Negrek selects her second and last combatant: Mandarb, an absol bearing a shiny set of light armor over her chest and head, as well as a nasty-looking barb on her scythe. A dark, tattered Reaper Cloth flutters behind her, making her appearance even more imposing; Yukianesa, despite herself, feels her confidence faltering just a tiny bit at the sight of her new foe. Mandarb simply stares at her disdainfully as her trainer gives her her orders…


A sudden noise makes Yukianesa flinch, but it’s only a few magikarp splashing around behind her. Ticked at herself for letting the intimidating absol make her all nervous and jumpy - she just beat the thing’s partner, didn’t she? - Yukianesa ceases concentrating on her light screen, letting it shimmer out of existence, and (with a hint of hesitation in her voice, as if part of her is worried that this maybe isn’t a smart move) starts flinging insults at Mandarb. She focuses mainly on the absol’s accessories, sneering that the absol must be so weak and insecure that she needs to hide behind armor in order to face other pokemon, and how her scythe must be duller than a bidoof’s wit for her to have added that stupid-looking barb; and as for the reaper cloth: “…wow, can we say ‘tacky’?”

Mandarb, who had her mouth open ready to do some verbal battle of her own, abruptly shuts it as Yukianesa’s taunting reaches her ears. A soft, ominous growl builds in her throat as the froslass’s words continue, and her eyes narrow in fury. How dare this pathetic little ghost talk to her like that! “Dull scythe?!” I’ll show you a dull scythe, how’d you like to be sliced in half with this dull scythe?! (And my cloth isn’t tacky!) For now, though, she contents herself with slamming her forepaws into the swampy floor, sending a tremor down through the ground and towards her foe. Yukianesa yelps as the ground suddenly erupts under her, large chunks of wet soil and even a few blocks of concrete from the underlying foundation of the arena rising above her, only to collapse and force her to the ground, trapped beneath a cage of earth.

Smirking, Mandarb watches with great satisfaction as the froslass struggles to free herself. She’s still left with plenty of aggression to spare, though, and before Yukianesa can recover inhales deeply; on exhaling, a cold wind blows forth, glittering with flash-frozen moisture. Yukianesa briefly looks up from her struggling to sneer at the frigid gust as it hits her - the mound of earth and stone over her actually shields her from some of the attack, while the remainder she takes without so much as a shiver - though the wind does leave a slight frost over the mound and the exposed parts of her body, impeding her movements somewhat.

Giving up for now on escaping her earthy cage, Yukianesa manages to awkwardly twist herself into a position that allows her to take aim at Mandarb. The air around her crackles with energy as she fires an invisible electric current at the absol. Unfortunately for her, the same blocks of wet soil that shielded her from Mandarb’s attack also serve to block and redirect a portion of the electricity from hers; Mandarb gives a sudden involuntary twitch as the thunder wave hits her, but otherwise doesn’t seem much affected by the weakened attack.

Grumbling to herself, Yukianesa tries a different angle: no one can quite see how, but her hands are suddenly full of tiny, caltrop-shaped objects of indeterminate material, which she proceeds to throw in Mandarb’s direction. A lot of them stick in or bounce off the soil and rock that still entraps the froslass, but many fly through, scattering over the ground around Mandarb’s current location, and becoming concealed beneath the marsh plants spread over the field - each tiny spike laying in wait, ready to inflict moderate discomfort on their creator’s enemy… at least once she starts moving.

At the moment, though, Mandarb is standing perfectly still, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Suddenly, her eyes become unfocused, as if the absol was staring at something behind Yukianesa; they glow briefly with psychic power, but after a second return to their normal state, and Mandarb stares back at the froslass still stuck beneath the rock tomb, grinning in anticipation of the near future…


Battle notes:
Mandarb is no longer Taunted.

Terrain notes:
A large pile of ice-encrusted boulders sits over Yoshiya’s hole, blocking the exit. Smaller rocks fill the tunnel about halfway down its length. A second, unblocked tunnel leads down to the same hole.
A mound of large blocks of marshy soil and a few heavy concrete blocks pins Yukianesa to the ground on the main island.
Spikes are scattered over the main island.
"I seem to have heard something... It may have been whispering..."

Next round:
Negrek attacks first.

(I could not for the life of me think of a way for a froslass to generate Spikes...)

If there are cricketot out there that feel like chirping I am personally going to go out there and squash every last one of them. Anyway.

Keep it up, Mandarb. Get her back with some taunts of your own, then dig down and calm mind it up. If the taunt doesn't work on the first action, try again on action two, and if she still isn't hopping mad last action, dark pulse.

If you're too taunted to taunt on the first action, instead fling your reaper cloth at Yukianesa. Then dark pulse and finish with faint attack.

Taunt / Fling ~ Dig (down) / Taunt / Dark Pulse ~ Calm Mind / Dark Pulse / Faint Attack

If there are cricketot out there that feel like chirping I am personally going to go out there and squash every last one of them. Anyway.

Keep it up, Mandarb. Get her back with some taunts of your own, then dig down and calm mind it up. If the taunt doesn't work on the first action, try again on action two, and if she still isn't hopping mad last action, dark pulse.

If you're too taunted to taunt on the first action, instead fling your reaper cloth at Yukianesa. Then dark pulse. Dark pulse again if the first one didn't hit Yukianesa. Otherwise scratch if you're still taunted, calm mind if not.

Taunt / Fling ~ Dig (down) / Taunt / Dark Pulse ~ Calm Mind / Dark Pulse / Scratch

If Negrek has scared away the Cricketot (poor bugs ;~;) then just throw a Thunder at Mandarb and go out with a bang. Hopefully it'll aggravate her paralysis.

If the Cricketot decide to show up in defiance to Negrek, Taunt Mandarb before she can Taunt you. Then aggravate her paralysis with another Thunder Wave and follow up with Confuse Ray. If you do happen to get Taunted, however, then ahh, Thunder and Natural Gift (aimed away from her armour if somehow possible).

Thunder/Taunt ~ Thunder Wave/Thunder ~ Confuse Ray/Natural Gift

/uninspired

For a few seconds after commands are given, silence reigns over the arena as absol and froslass stare each other down, one fighting paralysis and the other still struggling to pull herself free. (Whether they’ve taken heed of Negrek’s oh-so-casual musings on the potential fate to be risked by any thinking that now might be a good time for an energy-uplifting song, or there are simply none present, not so much as the faintest kricketot chirp is heard from behind the reeds.)

Before the silence can stretch on for too long, Yukianesa, groaning at the mental exertion involved, calls upon her species connection to the weather and summons a tremendous lighting bolt from the sky. Thunder crashes as the bolt snakes down to strike Mandarb, illuminating her and lifting her off her feet for a second as she howls in pain. The absol collapses to the ground, snarling and spitting as sparks fly off her armor.

Looking to retaliate, Mandarb jumps back to her feet… and her snarl gives way to a smirk as she sees the froslass laying limp beneath the mound, her eyes closed and her energy utterly spent. Yukianesa’s frail form dissolves into energy as blazheirio recalls her, and the battle fully enters into its final phase as she ponders her final combatant…


Terrain notes:
A large pile of ice-encrusted boulders sits over a small hole, blocking the exit. Smaller rocks fill the tunnel about halfway down its length. A second, unblocked tunnel leads down to the same hole.
A mound of large blocks of marshy soil and a few heavy concrete blocks sits on the main island.
Spikes are scattered over the main island.
"The distinct aroma of pokémon is wafting around the arena..."

Next round:
Blazheirio889 sends out and attacks.
Negrek attacks.

Let's let my starter take the stage. Khao, you're up.

Open with Eruption. I don't know if it'll be considered super-effective since it should completely engulf Mandarb, including her armour, but who cares it's a solid starting move. Go ahead and throw up a medium Substitute if you can't hit Mandarb due to Protect, Detect, or if she runs away with Quick Attack shenanigans, etc. (Substitute not included).

End with Flamethrower and Heat Wave. Try to aim for her armoured parts if possible. Sweep the Flamethrower about if there are any clones. Earthquake if Mandarb ends up underground at any time, and Howl if you can't hit her for whatever reason (Protect, Detect, etc. not including Sub, once again).

Simple stuff; can't be bothered to think -_-

Eruption/Substitute (15%) ~ Flamethrower/Earthquake/Howl ~ Heat Wave/Earthquake/Howl