Jude vs Derpy

Upon being released into the arena, a quiet ethereal void of darkness, all pokemon seem to take a moment to themselves. Doctor, quite lost on his commands, decides to fly upwards out of range of his opponents; Rocky shields himself behind a protective barrier; and both Muffin and Snap boost themselves up for the coming battle. Though their self-centered moment is similar, Muffin focuses more on internal power, calming his aura and mind, whereas Snap is more preoccupied with the physical: snapping his jaws and slicing his claws through the air, whipping his tail around in a fiendish dance. By the end of it, both teammates feel quite prepared to take on their opponents - Rocky even made himself slightly visible for his foes with his protect shield, though now that the action is over and the shield dissipates, his tiny form fades into darkness again.

Not intending to waste this opportunity, Muffin's eyes curve into slits as the psychic-type's mind stretches out towards the enemy shinx. Rocky yelps in pain, his hiding spot ruined, and even worse his mind in torment - the woobat pierces his skull with mental energy and flees fast, not wanting to be caught in a strange mind. Rocky has only moments to breathe before something dark and powerful slams into him - searing energy against his fur burns like fire but doesn't catch and he's tossed onto his side, trying to catch sight of what hit him but it's futile. His only comfort is a small whimper as his rocky helmet catches against skin, but it doesn't dig deep enough in his attacker's hide to draw blood. Rocky grits his teeth - dammit. That hurt, and he's done nothing yet!

Up above, Doctor scans the arena below, his eyes perfectly suited for darkness. He can see it all, but it doesn't matter when he's so high up. Very little he can do will reach his opponents. He chirps, his tiny wings fluttering madly to keep him steady, and sends waves of hypnosive energy towards the sandile's mind - but they fade far before reaching Snap, who doesn't even realize she was targeted. Doctor sighs; what a waste.

Finally, his turn. Rocky's fur stands on end; he lets out a low-pitched growl, reaching out to the heavens above. For quite a few moments, there's no reaction at all - and then there's a flash in the castle, a few unnoticed ceiling lights flickering on and off rapidly before bursting - a window shatters somewhere in the castle, possibly this room and possibly not, only noticeable by the sound of breaking glass - and then nothing. Rocky's fur falls back limply, and he waits another moment, certain that couldn't have been it... but after a few more seconds of nothing, it must have been. He smacks the floor, utterly disgusted.

Muffin seems a bit alarmed, at least, though grateful for sure at the few moments of clarity and light. He now knows where his target is, and is a bit wary of his commands. But he'll try, for sure. He closes his eyes, focusing on the hoothoot, and a mental bubble pops up around Doctor, trapping him in midair. Muffin opens his eyes again, unsure if it worked or not. The sound of screeching from up above meant surely someone had been caught. A thudding sound beside Muffin - paws padding along, and suddenly Snap was in side, maw coated in blood and feathers and a wicked grin. So the hoothoot had been caught; he must have been, for Snap to reach him all the way up there. The sandile wiped the blood from her jaw, along with some remaining dark energy; boy, that was fun.

Rocky had had enough. His fur stood on end once more, a sheen of lightning splitting from his body and flickering Muffin's way. It wrapped itself around the woobat's tiny fluffy body, sinking into his muscles, his nervous system - and the light from the electricity left Muffin just enough time to realize what was happening. He panicked, flapping his wings wildly as his muscles snapped in and out of rhythm, finally managing an unsteady beat that let him stay aloft, slow as it was. He let out a quiet whimper; this ruined everything.

Back up above, Doctor rubbed a wing over his new wound, blood dripping into the bubble that held him steady. He didn't bother flapping any more, trusting he'd stay aloft thanks to the psychic energy; he held no similar trust that his hypnosis would have any effect. Still, no harm in trying, so he sent more hypnosis waves Snap's way... but again, nothing.​

Glad her prey is so handily immobile, Snap barks out a few harsh words at the trapped hoothoot. Somehow, despite being way up above, the words travel the long distance as if being drawn towards the Doctor like a magnet; Doctor twitches in a mild fury at the insults, unable to reach his foe and yet dying to rip the sandile a new one. Seething red, the hoothoot settles instead for the pokemon that trapped him - woobat. He focuses, a hard thing when you're so furious, and tries to find the psychic-type's mind down below - but though the psychic energy reaches further than his hypnosis, he simply can't find reach low enough to grab hold of the woobat. He can see the fluffball, especially as it seems to be glowing slightly, but he just can't... reach it.

Rocky has no such problems. A thin, shivering beam of lightning perks up between his tiny fangs, zipping towards the little woobat - and sparking off the shimmering protective barrier surrounding him. Though the attack clearly failed to hit its target, Rocky bounces from paw to paw, seemingly energized by the electricity.

Snap wastes no time on her next command; the telekinesis's hold seems to be slipping, and she wants to get it in before the hoothoot can escape. She smacks a paw on the floor, and the castle walls shiver like before when the thunder hit - only this time, the walls explode outwards, bricks flinging themselves onto the floating hoothoot and coating him in a layer of thick boulder. Doctor screeches as the rocks slam into his tiny body, and continues to chirp when they don't leave - they stay still, surrounding him and keeping him trapped there.

He chirps louder and louder, his fury growing into a panic. He has nothing to do - he's enraged and can't attack, has no way of hitting anything even if he could. He ends up slamming himself against the rocky walls; over and over until the rocks budge, tumbling down to the floor below. He's still held in place, of course, by the telekinesis, but that will last only a few seconds longer. He pants, rage still pouring through him, and rather bruised from the smashing he just dealt himself.

Unaware of his teammate's plight, Rocky stopped his dancing and instead flung himself forwards, rocketing around the huge room at alarming speeds. Of course no one could appreciate this - it was so dark that no one, save Doctor, could see his speed blurring his shape into multiples, several other shinx forming behind him. He slowed to a sudden stop, and 4 shinx now stood where only 1 stood before.

The clones are short-lived, unfortunately. Having let his protect shield fall, Muffin twitches, muscles cooperating enough to slice through the air so swiftly that Rocky can't even blink before a thin cut is bleeding on his hide, and his clones all flicker into darkness, his concentration gone. Muffin flaps away warily, his head bruised from the impact on Rocky's rocky helmet - nasty. And another shape barges in on Rocky, tiny hands scratching at his head, black liquid dripping from their claws - but Rocky headbutts the claws away before they can grab hold of his helmet, receiving a tiny yelp in response. Snap scitters away, sucking on her wounded paws in agitation.

Up above, Doctor's face stretches into a wicked, beaked grin. The telekinesis hold has finally faded, dropping the last of the remaining bricks to the floor; Doctor's tiny wings erupt back into motion, keeping him aloft, but not for long. He skyrockets downwards, wings glowing bright silver and lighting up the room just barely, and he slams his wings hard against the still-whimpering sandile. Snap screeches, shoved into the floor by the impact, and Doctor's wings stop glowing as he flaps away - leaving Snap to wonder just what it was that hit him, dammit. Only seconds pass and another light forms - Rocky's tail - and this one Snap notices, eyes bulging in fear, and the tail smacks down on her already bruised side. Rocky twists around and flees the fearful sandile; yep, that works.

Meanwhile, Muffin is busy swearing painful revenge on the shinx who paralyzed him. His muscles just won't cooperate any further, and he falls to the floor, unable to even lift himself upwards.​

Bathed in the dim light of yet another protect shield, Snap's tiny claws race across the castle room, her image blurring from the sheer speed she somehow manages to reach. She runs faster and faster around teammate and foe alike, and even in the darkness the pokemon manage to notice blurry images of sandile popping up behind her; as she slows down, there are definitely five sandile where one used to be.

No one seems to pay much attention to this, though. Rocky's fur stands on end, able to see just a bit thanks to his teammate's protect, and he unleashes another thin electrical beam towards Muffin. Even though he can see the woobat, the beam fizzes sideways and sparks against the ground - probably not helped by Muffin's erratic, low flying, but the darkness and the attack's imperfect accuracy don't help either. Still, Rocky's fur keeps sparking even after the beam fades, and he feels the electricity coursing through his tiny body and boosting his mood despite the miss.

Muffin can't believe his luck. He wags his little wings breathlessly, forgetting all about the hoothoot, who obviously can't be hit, and aiming instead for the shinx. Psychic energy flows between the two minds and Rocky's mood suddenly falters as extreme pain rips at his skull - an overwhelming, crippling pain that elicits the kind of whimper he hasn't made for a very long time. Thankfully it's shortlived - Muffin can't concentrate on the psychic energy and staying in the air for longer than a few seconds. Rocky shakes his head furiously, trying to rid himself of that horrible pain.

The room suddenly returns to pitch blackness as Doctor's protect shield fades. Snap's clones are all but useless now; sure, more eyes are great, but there's no light source for anyone to see with. The sandile snaps her namesake jaw in agitation, electricity dancing between her fangs, and jumps at where she remembers the hoothoot being - all her clones moving in unison - and her fangs close on soft flesh, lightning shredding across the hoothoot and lighting the hole room up as feathers singe black. The clones have all disappeared as Snap flings herself away from the hoothoot, sinking back into darkness and leaving poor Doctor to wipe the blood from his new bite marks.

He wastes no time, though, before his reactive attack. The sandile is so close, he must be able to hit! His eyes flicker with hypnosive energy, sending waves outwards towards Snap - but the sandile just doesn't see him. She has no reaction at all, if she even notices, and Doctor curses his damned luck.

Rather similar to his rival, Rocky's fangs charge with electricity and he dashes towards where he remembers the woobat being, hoping its impaired state means it'll still be there. And as his fangs close in on blue fluff, his hopes pan out - electricity surges between the two pokemon, zapping the poor Muffin to his core, and Rocky runs away quickly before the woobat can retaliate. But Muffin has no such intentions.

Instead he stops flapping his tired wings, settling down on the floor for a probably not-so-well-deserved rest. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, feeling his new bite mark closing up rapidly, and even the tiny scratch mark he got from that rocky helmet heals up nicely, at the expense of a bit of energy. Still, though, his paralysis remains...

Proud of her work, Snap takes the time to wittle her claws against a fallen brick, scratching ruthlessly away. The brick remains in top shape but her claws grow even sharper than before, deadly thin and precise.

Unfortunately, her immobility proves deadly.

She has no warning before a heavy blow comes down on her side; she tumbles over the thing, seeing it clearly now - Rocky. The shinx kicks her away, his tail just losing its metallic sheen, and runs back into the darkness before Snap can react. All she can think of is her bruised side, and her burning desire to rip that shinx apart.

Muffin flaps warily back into the air, fully healed but still paralyzed and tired. Still he manages to shake up some stored electricity from his fur, and he sends it sparking over towards where he hopes, from memory, the hoothoot will be. And from the shocked caws, he knows he struck home.

But then something grabs hold of him - not painful, no, just a strange psychic hold - and his paralysis is suddenly worsened. His muscles twitch and convulse, but luckily he manages to remain airborne, though somehow he doesn't feel very lucky. Far off, he hears smug cawing - damned hoothoot.​

Snap grins, hatred still brewing for the stupid shinx that torments her, and barks out the most nasty, vile remarks towards Rocky she can conjure up. Completely unprepared, Rocky's ears perk up at the words - what is she saying...? His mother looks like what? How - oh, oh no she didn't. Rocky's face fumes red and he forgets all about resting, instead running full-force towards where he thinks the remarks are coming from. Snap snaps her jaw shut, skittering away quickly, and Rocky's charge lands him barging head-first into the castle wall. He plops down on his arse, rubbing his head in a fuming rage, and Snap cackles to herself in bemusement. Oh, yes, that will do.

Unaware, Doctor raises his wings and sends a dark, ghostly wave of energy - invisible in the equally dark room - towards Muffin. He can see the woobat just fine with his owlish eyes, so the wave strikes true, but it's so thin and weak that Muffin just barely twitches at it before it fades. Doctor frowns, feeling rather ashamed at his follow-up to last round.

And even worse - a bright light suddenly coats him and he finds himself trapped, just light before. His eyes focus on Muffin, and yes, the woobat is grinning; damn it all. How could he fall for the same trick again? He sighs, resigned to his fate.

Barely able to see her target by the glow surrounding him, Snap's jaw fizzes with lightning and she jumps at the hoothoot, sinking her fangs into his soft stomach and loosing the lightning on the bird. Doctor simply screeches in pain, clearly tormented beyond words - even when Snap jumps away she's still reeling in pain. She's twitching as she settles down on the bottom of her floaty bubble, curling up in her fluff and entering a healing trance - and though it drains her, her many wounds quickly zip shit, blood drying as if it came from someone else. She pants with exhaustion, somehow feeling just as bad as before, but physically in fine shape.

Rocky roars, completely enraged. He storms towards Muffin, enough light now for him to just barely see the woobat, and slams head-first into him; Muffin flaps wildly, righting himself, and Rocky twists around and gives another enraged growl, unsatisfied. His head ended up a bit bashed in from that smack too, and he'd really have rather do more smashing than he managed.

His head's about to hurt even more. Muffin glows slightly, psychic energy flowing between him and Rocky, and the poor shinx's head explodes into pain. His head falls to the floor, his paws clawing at his head trying to rid himself of the pain, but it's no use - only after what feels like hours does Muffin rip himself out of Rocky's skull, leaving a panting, tortured shinx to mourn his fate.

After a moment of confusion, another light suddenly flickers around Doctor; a double-orb surrounding him, hard to distinguish but bringing just a bit more glow to the dark castle room. Neither of his opponents take notice, though, as Snap jumps jaw-first into the forcefield, electricity discharging and the shield tossing her away back onto the floor. Snap twists around, quite literally shocked.

Rocky gets up, now suddenly ready to attack. His hold body stands on end, fur tingling, and a thin wave of lightning shakes free from him, spreading out towards Muffin. The poor woobat has no chance - not only can he barely fly, but the wave spreads round unavoidably, charging into his fluffy body just as painfully as his psychic entered Rocky's. He shivers in pain, wings sagging and dropping him to the floor; he whimpers in sheer agony, but somehow manages to right himself up, fluttering back into the air.

His efforts are wasted, though. He focuses on Doctor, but clearly, the hoothoot's protecting is impenetrable: Muffin grunts and let's his focus go, giving up. Quickly after, the barrier surrounding Doctor fades as well - one of them does, anyhow.​