[09] Grass King vs L'il Dwagie

Man, those Croagunk don't let up do they.. could really do from some rain right about now.

Anyway Alya darling, we've lost our speed advantage, but we can fix~ Lead off with a Trick Room to lead us right into our element~

Next up, I quite like the look of the giraffe's ability, we'll take it! Hit him with a skill swap and prevent any semi-insomnia power-naps.

And finally, paste him with a Dark Pulse~


If for any reason you miss an action, just move your next back a step and try for it again.


Trick Room ~ Skill Swap / Trick Room ~ Dark Pulse / Skill Swap

If Odor Sleuth misses or you're confused, use Crunch, but if you hit her with Odor Sleuth then use Facade!

Odor Sleuth ~ Facade/Crunch ~ Facade/Crunch

Alya has no idea what the Battle Pike has in store for her, but Janus by now is at least a little prepared for the possibility of croagunk attack. Already made skittish by the misfortune that's befallen him in this battle, the girafarig is more jumpy than ever, and as soon as he hears rustling coming from the reeds he's off towards the far end of the island, shivering and stamping as he watches the suspicious spot.

It's no croagunk that emerges from the plants, but instead a yanma. The bug's wings are invisible in the sand-streaked air, and its going is slow as it fights against the sandstorm winds to make its way towards Janus. The girafarig constantly retreats, wanting nothing to do with the strange bug. The yanma tries to call out to him, but its buzzing voice is drowned out by the sandstorm. When all attempts to hail Janus fail, the yanma gets exasperated, chucks the oran berry it had been carrying at the girafarig's head, and leaves in a huff. Janus shies back when the berry strikes him in the forehead but, bending down to sniff at it where it comes to rest in the short grass, decides it's quite edible. The girafarig gobbles the oran berry down and almost immediately begins to feel a bit better.

A second yanma has gone off to deliver a berry to Alya, who receives her insectoid visitor with more curiosity than fear. She accepts an oran berry from it more out of politeness than anything else; she's only just been sent into battle, after all, and is hardly feeling hungry. Nevertheless, the berry is delicious, and she does feel a little more energetic after finishing it off.


L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Levitate> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Chills: 0/3
Commands: Trick Room ~ Skill Swap / Trick Room ~ Dark Pulse / Skill Swap
- Struggling to hold herself together in defiance of the sandstorm.

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3
Used:

Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Early Bird>
Health: 65%
Energy: 98%
Chills: 1/3
Commands: Odor Sleuth ~ Facade/Crunch ~ Facade/Crunch
- Already feeling under the weather. Badly poisoned (5% next round). Confused (very mild). -1 Attack

The snack break has restored a little calm and clarity to Janus' mind, and he lifts his snout and sniffs at the air. With a bit of concentration, he is able to pick the scent of his opponent out from amongst all the others in the arena--not the strong scent of coffee he would have expected of Twitch, but instead a damp, mildewy grave-scent that sends a faint shiver along Janus' spine. He commits the smell to memory, ready to follow it to his target whenever the need should arise.

Alya doesn't notice she's been identified, even though the girafarig's odor sleuth pins her solidly in the material plane for the moment. She is too absorbed in the spell she is casting, a complex affair that will twist the very laws of time and send it flowing backwards. She drifts aimlessly through the sandstorm, chanting an intricate incantation and here and there pausing to make some sign with the tendrils of smoke that serve her for hands. The air in the arena grows thick and choking as the power summoned by Alya takes hold, and seen from the outside, it appears to be covered in a cage of glowing energy, the world within the boundaries of the spell warped almost beyond recognition.

With the power of trick room at her back, Alya is able to fire off her next attack before Janus can respond. She has the opportunity to do so, anyway--but try as she might, she can't seem to find the girafarig in the sandstorm. She works her way back towards the center of the arena, casting out pulses of psychic energy, but none of them connect with anything substantial, and she must finally give up.

Janus, on the other hand, need only follow his nose. The girafarig wanders around the island at the center of the arena until he finds that Alya is floating just overhead. Rearing up on his hind legs, Janus seizes Alya in his teeth and drags the duskull out of the air. Alya flails about in shock and pain, wondering how Janus was able to find her and, even then, to hurt her with nothing more than physical strikes. The girafarig, humiliated, poisoned, and still a little foggy with confusion, hurls Alya to the ground and tramples her into the muddy ground, taking all his anger out on the unfortunate ghost.

Alya at last manages to peel herself off the ground and get an attack in edgewise. There's no need to worry about finding her opponent now; he's standing over her in a towering rage, so it's a simple matter to perform a quick psychic exchange. After the skill swap, Alya is infected with a kind of twitchy alertness, a bit of the nervous energy that allows Janus to resist sleep attacks. The girafarig is momentarily distracted by a light, fluttery feeling: it's as though, if he leapt into the air, he would simply hang there, never falling back to earth. The girafarig shakes his head, driving such fanciful thoughts from his mind. Alya is hovering a bit lower in the air than usual, and that puts her at the perfect height for another beating. The girafarig goes at his opponent with a vicious will, and Alya finds herself once more caught under the girafarig's angry hooves, her suddenly-corporeal body getting sullied with mud.

L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Early Bird> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 65%
Energy: 81%
Chills: 0/3
Used: Trick Room ~ Skill Swap ~ Skill Swap
- Floating near the ground, covered in mud. Odor sleuth locked (6 more actions).

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3
Used:

Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Levitate>
Health: 57%
Energy: 83%
Chills: 1/3
Used: Odor Sleuth ~ Facade x2
- Too angry to care much about his new ability to hover. Badly poisoned (6% next round). -1 Attack

Terrain Notes
The sandstorm is still raging and making life difficult for the battling pokémon. Now its fury is contained within a glowing web of psychic energy, within which events seem to happen all out of order (3 more actions). The Pike Aide opens her mouth, probably to foretell croagunk as usual, then blinks and stops mid-thought. Shaking her head, she murmurs, "I seem to have heard something... It may have been whispering..."

Final Notes
- L'il Dwagie attacks first next round.

Well, ouch. Those Facades are a little more painful than I thought... We'll just have to return a tricksy little favour. Phase out of there, plenty of energy to spare, and no more of that nasty muddiness.

Now, he may still know where you are thanks to that sniffer of his, even if he can't pound you, so let's throw him off a little.. again. Throw a Confuse Ray his way and get those dancing lights back a'dancing.

Finally, knock him off kilter with a nice Dark Pulse.

Finally, if he protects on the latter two turns, no worries, just take a chill pill and use Calm Mind, he'll be there for us, tehe~


Phase ~ Confuse Ray / Calm Mind ~ Dark Pulse / Calm Mind

Shadow Ball ~ Shadow Ball ~ Shadow Ball

Alya flees from Janus, who stomps and snorts as he gets his anger back under control. Only the lingering threat of croagunk attack is enough to bring the girafarig back to his old, wary self, and he doesn't bother going after Alya as the ghost melts back into the sand-whipped air. The attack he fears never comes, though, nor does anything else--not even an inexplicably helpful insect. Both pokémon wait, reluctant to commit to an attack if they're just going to be interrupted by the fickleness of the arena. At last the pokémon can stall no longer and turn their attention back to the battle at hand.


L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Early Bird> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 65%
Energy: 81%
Chills: 0/3
Used: Trick Room ~ Skill Swap ~ Skill Swap
- Floating near the ground, covered in mud. Odor sleuth locked (6 more actions).

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3
Used:

Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Levitate>
Health: 57%
Energy: 83%
Chills: 1/3
Used: Odor Sleuth ~ Facade x2
- Too angry to care much about his new ability to hover. Badly poisoned (6% next round). -1 Attack

Alya prepares to do what ghosts do best, dissociating herself from the physical realm and returning to a state of incorporeality. As she tries to phase, however, she finds herself remaining distressingly solid. Try though she might, Alya just can't get her molecules to disperse as they should. Something is holding her back, binding her to her physical form--Janus' odor sleuth maintains its hold on her, forcing her to remain manifest against her will.

Janus follows his nose, finding a frustrated Alya hovering not too far away. As her baleful red eye turns his way, the girafarig is gathering a ball of ghostly energy in front of his snout. The duskull darts sideways, but even with the warping powers of the trick room to lend her speed she can't escape Janus' attack. The shadow ball bursts against the ghost's body, hurling her into a tailspin.

The affronted duskull pats at her tattered ectoplasm for a moment, then turns a baleful eye on Janus. The girafarig is already charging another shadow ball, and with a flick of his chin sends it whirling in Alya's direction. This time the duskull, alerted to its coming, has no problem dodging below the wobbly projectile while contemplating her retaliation.

Alya reaches back through the enlarged eye socket of her skull mask and wraps a tendril around her eye. She pulls it out and holds it cupped in her tendrils for a moment, keeping it sheltered from the blasting sandstorm. She's a bit reluctant to let it go--it's her eye, after all, and if she loses it she's going to be in a bit of a fix--but she has her orders, and she thirsts for revenge.

The duskull releases her eye and lets it go spiraling down through the sandstorm, blinking periodic pulses of red light as it goes. Janus perks up a bit as he notices the weird speck growing closer. The girafarig backs up warily but can't hide his fascination as the glowing spark reaches a level with his head and begins to describe a slow circle around him. Janus turns to watch its progress, entranced by the glowing light and unwilling to let it out of his sight. He's so caught up that he doesn't notice the spell the confuse ray lays over him, distorting his perception of the rest of the world and creeping deep into his brain. As Alya's eye rises again, Janus cranes his neck to watch it go, wobbling a little on suddenly-unsteady legs.

Alya, guided by some deep instinct, reaches out to snatch her eye as it floats back up to her. She jams it back into her skull and swirls it around a bit to get it comfortable, then peers down at her opponent. It certainly is amusing to watch the girafarig stagger around, staring at empty air, but she has little time to waste. Her trick room is waning, and her confuse ray will wear off in time as well.

The duskull gathers dark energy to herself, then releases it in a concentrated blast of negative energy. Janus is actually knocked sideways off his feet by the force of the attack, and he has little luck rising. His flailing hooves deal as much damage to himself as they help him get righted, and in the end he has to stop and take a break, still lying on his side in the mud, and attempt to get his head back in order.

As he does so, the cage of psychic energy that Alya had erected flickers, then evaporates entirely. The ghost experiences a feeling of lethargy as her sudden quickness is replaced by her normal, sluggish pace, while everyone else caught in the trick room feels as though an invisible weight has been lifted from their shoulders.

L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Early Bird> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 49%
Energy: 70%
Chills: 0/3
Used: Nothing ~ Confuse Ray ~ Dark Pulse
- Feeling smug, albeit sluggish. Odor sleuth locked (3 more actions).

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3
Used:

Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Levitate>
Health: 39%
Energy: 74%
Chills: 1/3
Used: Shadow Ball x2 ~ Confused
- Lying on his side, dazed. Confused (severe). Badly poisoned (7% next round). -1 Attack

Terrain Notes
The world-warping effects of trick room have dissipated, but the sandstorm howls away as fiercely as it ever has. The Pike aide announces, "A cold breeze is racing around the arena..."

Final Notes
- Little Bluberry Bomb attacks first next round.

DQ warning for Little Bluberry Bomb.

Holy crud, it lives. Well now where were we...

Almost done, as it happens! Hrml... Alya I think we should be finishing this soon. I want our speed coup intact if this is to be the final stretch, so lead with a Trick Room, as per usual. Then, plaster him with Dark Pulses and see if we can't clean house right off.

Now, if you get taunted or similar and can't use Trick Room, just head for a Dark Pulse straight off. If you can't TR or hit him for some reason, just chill.

And, as it always goes, if you can't reach him with Dark Pulse, go for a Calm Mind. In addition, if at any point you fall to 10% or less HP, use Rest right away.



Trick Room / Dark Pulse / Chill ~ Dark Pulse / Calm Mind / Rest ~ Dark Pulse / Calm Mind / Rest

Suuuper late DQ warning for Grass King.

Shadow Ball ~ Crunch ~ Shadow Ball

While the pokémon are still growing acclimated to the sudden return of normalcy, the arena around them blooms. In the scruffy grass and tall water weeds flowers open, the vileplume that normally stay hidden away from the fighting that goes on in the Battle Pike lending their aid to the battling pokémon. The fierce sand-laden winds threaten to dilute their scent to such an extent that it will have no effect, but there are so many pokémon contributing to the attack that their combined efforts are just enough to make Janus raise his muzzle, sniffing curiously, and Alya pause in plotting her next attack, her eye roaming around her empty skull as it seeks the source of the relaxing scent.

The aromatherapy grows stronger as more vileplume add their fragrance to the attack, and Janus sneezes, eyes watering. The strong smell is doing him good, however, leeching the deadly poison out of his blood and leaving him refreshed and restored. Alya, with no particular afflictions for the aromatherapy to act against, is merely soothed and relaxed by it, and she does have to admit that she's glad of a little break--the trainers are momentarily transfixed, the thought of giving orders driven from their minds.

The vileplume aren't able to keep pumping out aromatherapy forever, however, and one by one their flowers close again. The sandstorm rapidly disperses what is left of the scent, and the pokémon rouse themselves, rather reluctantly, for another round of battle.


L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Early Bird> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 49%
Energy: 70%
Chills: 0/3
Commands: Trick Room / Dark Pulse / Chill ~ Dark Pulse / Calm Mind / Rest ~ Dark Pulse / Calm Mind / Rest
- Feeling smug, albeit sluggish. Odor sleuth locked (3 more actions).

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3
Used:

Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Levitate>
Health: 39%
Energy: 74%
Chills: 1/3
Commands: Shadow Ball ~ Crunch ~ Shadow Ball
- Lying on his side, dazed. Confused (severe). -1 Attack

Janus is feeling so much better that he thinks it's time to try getting back to his feet. The muddy girafarig heaves himself back to all fours, then tentatively tries to stand. With a little struggling, he manages to raise himself off the ground and, shakily, come to a full standing position. Well. It's good to be back on his feet. He peers up into the haze of flying sand, grinning vapidly up at the red spot of the duskull's eye hanging in the air overhead, starts to take a step, trips, and ends up back on the ground.

Alya is paying no attention to her dazed opponent. She's been enjoying her speed advantage, and she intends to get it back. Once more the duskull is weaving a complicated spell to reverse the normal flow of events, working small for the moment as she twists the intricate web of psychic power together. As soon as she has the form of the trick room worked out, she adds more power, letting it expand from between her tendrils to engulf the whole of the arena. Once again the air within the Battle Pike grows dead, the sandstorm muted, a heavy weight falling upon the speedier Janus and an invigorating jolt of agility taking hold of Alya.

Janus is still reeling, and Alya doesn't hesitate to press her advantage, letting pure darkness bleed into the air between her tendrils before she brings them slashing down, releasing a swift pulse of black energy in Janus' direction. It slams into the girafarig, the shock of pain and despair enough to, at last, shock him out of his confused daze.

And, with his airheaded optimism dispelled, the girafarig discovers that he's angry. That ghost has made a fool of him, and if he doesn't get back on the top of his game soon, he's going to lose. Where before he could barely stand, he now surges back to his feet, baring teeth stained black from his own reserves of dark energy, and leaps, snapping at Alya and catching the ghost with a powerful crunch, dragging her down out of the air and shaking her back and forth, his teeth ripping her ethereal train into ribbons.

Alya isn't going to let the girafarig just rip her apart like that, though. She fires another dark pulse straight into his face, etching a black scar across his muzzle and causing him to let go of her immediately. While Alya beats a hasty retreat, Janus is temporarily shocked into inaction, too stunned by the point-blank dark pulse to do anything but stand still and cringe. Meanwhile, the bonds that had locked Alya into her corporeal form finally fade away, allowing her to relax back into a more comfortable semisolid state.

L'il Dwagie (OO)

Alya (F) <Early Bird> @ Reaper Cloth
Health: 36%
Energy: 51%
Chills: 0/3
Commands: Trick Room ~ Dark Pulse x2
- A little peeved, but still confident.

In Reserve:
Twitch (F) <Levitate>
Health: 4%
Energy: 8%
Chills: 3/3


Grass King (XO)

Janus (M) <Levitate>
Health: 19%
Energy: 68%
Chills: 1/3
Commands: Confused ~ Crunch ~ Flinch
- In dire straits and trying to gather his wits. -1 Attack

Terrain Notes
No sooner has the trick room dissipated than it returns, once again holding the arena under its spell (3 more actions). The sandstorm goes on unperturbed, and the Pike aide listens carefully for a moment before announcing, "I seem to have heard something... It may have been whispering..."

Final Notes
- DJ P0N-3 attacks first next round.

DQ warning for DJ P0N-3. Twenty-four hours.

That's the DQ, then. Grass King advances to the fourth round and gets $30 and a rare candy. I get $25. Twitch gets 2 EXP and 2 happiness, Ectoplasm gets 1 EXP, Alya gets 1 EXP, and Janus gets 1 EXP.

Which leads me to ask: did Alya get given away, or was she not caught in the system transition?