Round Three, Act Three
By this point, Darkrai is honestly a bit tired of slinging thunderbolts. It would rather be wielding its native element, introducing its hapless enemies to despair and darkness. Still, China is fading quickly; if the bronzong is going to get finished either way, what does it really matter which attack it uses?
The dark legendary extends a lightning-ringed claw once more and blasts a thunderbolt down at China and the trainers clinging to its arms. The bronzong lets out a low, hollow note of pain as the thunderbolt strikes it, and its eyes dim--but a faint spark still glows deep in their cores. Darkrai snarls in indignation as Giratina gathers a ball of ghostly energy at the back of its throat, then fires a shadow ball at China. The burst of ghastly energy is enough to finish the bronzong off, and the safeguard protecting it and its teammates cuts out abruptly as the psychic bell plummets. Darkrai isn't satisfied, though--that was
its kill! If it hadn't been so stuck on showing off its lightning, it could have brought that stupid bell down itself. The legend's single eye slides around to regard Aries with undisguised hatred.
A moment later it blinks in surprise as the cottonee, confronted with Darkrai's displeasure, lets out a nervous squeak and, with a small popping noise, puffs up to twice its initial size. The cottonee's white fluff is now so deep that its body looks nearly spherical, just the tips of its leaves poking out of the cottony mass. It's a wonder Aries can see anything at all, with his nervous yellow eyes staring out through a thick mass of fibers.
Of course, the grass type has already had the misfortune of attracting one other legendary's attention. He makes another strangled noise as a presence suddenly looms large in his mind, Mewtwo's overbearing psychic awareness compelling him to stillness as the legend zaps across his synapses. The legend dissects Aries' psyche with dispassionate thoroughness, until it feels it knows the little puffball inside and out. Then the legend is gone again, as swiftly as it arrived, and Aries gives an involuntary shiver of relief. It's good to be alone with his thoughts again, although something seems... different.
Giratina grumbles to itself. How is it that all of a sudden that flying marshmallow seems somehow... intimidating? Above the dragon, the normally expressionless Mewtwo cracks a slow, toothy grin. Well, well, well. All of a sudden it feels as though it's time to have some real
fun.
Fortunately for Giratina, Ptah has no further plans for slicing open its stomach. In fact, the gliscor has had more than his fill of the stuffy, smelly dark, and is eager to be back in the open air again. He makes a dive to his left, slipping onto the dark plane as he goes. It's a short trip from there through the ethereal representation of Giratina's body and back out into the sky proper. Ptah sails back into reality and, after a brief moment of disorientation under the brilliant sun, slams a dark-rimmed claw against Giratina's side.
The dragon whips around and snaps at him, but Ptah is already pulling up, evading the dragon's teeth by the sparest margin. Chief Zackrai whoops with delight and shouts insults back at the legend as Ptah seeks to put a healthy distance between himself and the undead creature.
Monopole takes its time maneuvering, lining up its shot. It's a tricky one to make; it wants to hit all three legends, but without damaging Aries, who floats near Darkrai and Mewtwo. At last the metagross is confident it's got things right and, extending two clawed arms in opposite directions, blasts a thin gust of icy air at its opponents.
The weak attack hardly does more than sting the mighty pokémon, but their metabolisms do dip ever so slightly, taking the edge off their incredible speed. And, as a yell from below indicates, reinforcements are arriving to join the fray. A swellow shoots up past Monopole, screeching a battle cry, while a spiritomb floats along behind at a more sedate pace. With him he brings three humans, levitated by his psychic power: his trainer, Wargle, blazheirio889, Derpy, apparently rescued from a plummeting China.
Monopole lowers itself to the spiritomb's level, and an exchange takes place, Superbird giving himself over to the ghost's psychic grip and blazheirio889 and Derpy clambering up onto Monopole's back. It's quite cramped with the two of them and Grass King all squeezed in together, but the metagross' psychic abilities are easily enough to support them all.
Not so for Mr. Wonderful. If he has to concentrate on handling more than his own trainer, well, he simply won't be able to fight. That in mind, the spiritomb lets Superbird drop, and the trainer vanishes downward with an astonished yell, to be caught--one can only hope--by one of his comrades below.
He is narrowly missed by the meteor that goes tearing across the battlefield, batting Aries aside as it flies. The put-upon cottonee temporarily forgets his new grimness and lets out a distressed squeal as his fleece lights up with phantom dragonfire.
Team Legend
Kratos Aurion (O)
Giratina (X) <Levitate>
Health: 892
Energy: 967
Used: Shadow Ball @ China
- A little chilly. -1 Speed
Pathos (O)
Darkrai (X) <Bad Dreams>
Health: 875
Energy: 962
Used: Thunderbolt @ China
- ...okay, enough thunderbolts. -1 Speed
Kusarigamaitachi (O)
Mewtwo (X) <Prankster>
Health: 986
Energy: 961
Used: Skill Swap @ Aries
- Feeling devilish. -1 Speed
Team Asber
Grass King (O)
Monopole (X) <Clear Body> @ Leftovers
Health: 100%
Energy: 67%
Used: Icy Wind
- Still in good shape. Knows shadow force. -4 Speed
Barubu (X)
China (X) <Levitate> @ Leppa Berry
Health: 0%
Energy: 98%
Used: Nothing
Knocked Out!
Derpy (O)
Aries (M) <Pressure> @ Sun Stone
Health: 85%
Energy: 89%
Used: Cotton Guard @ Darkrai
- 300% more fluffy, 100% more on fire. +3 Defense
Chief Zackrai (O)
Ptah (M) <Hyper Cutter> @ Life Orb
Health: 97%
Energy: 85%
Used: Faint Attack @ Giratina
- Savoring the fresh air.
Up Next Round
blazheirio889 (O)
Ventus (F) <Guts> @ Life Orb
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
- Spoiling for a fight.
Wargle (O)
Mr. Wonderful (M) <Pressure> @ Expert Belt
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
- Eerily amused.
Final Notes
- Ptah's night slash and first faint attack were critical hits.
- Next round's commands are due by midnight Friday the 24th--Christmas Eve!