Metallica Fanboy vs Sandstone-Shadow

[size=+2]Metallica Fanboy vs Sandstone-Shadow[/size]

Arena said:

Format: 2v2
Style: Set
DQ: 1 month
Damage Cap: 49%
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct recovery, Pain Split, any moves that instantly faint a battler (Explosion, OHKOs, Destiny Bond, Perish Song, etc.), Attract. Chills are restricted to 7 per Pokémon.
Arena: Derelict Ship

I'm sure it must have been a cool arena that these two trainers must have originally been planning to fight in, if it was only accessible by boat. What a shame, then, that it turns out that a quick Metronome Battle doesn't really make for a good way to pass the time in a marine trip. Fortunately -- or, perhaps, disappointingly -- the ship is still standing; however, avoiding the increasingly distressful seas has ultimately led to it being rammed against the shallows. The crew has evacuated in an orderly fashion, using lifeboats efficiently enough that many were left on board... But instead of going home, the trainers suddenly the decided that the abandoned vessel actually made for one sick arena, too.

The fight will take place aboard a ship that lies trapped in shallow water, standing perfectly straight despite a gaping hole in the bottom of the hull. The battlers will begin from the upper deck, with access to the lower deck below via a flight of stairs, and then to the cargo hold via another, each taking about an action to climb down for a Pokémon of average speed and with adequate limbs for the motion. Of course, holes through the floor can work just as well as means of locomotion across the decks. It's also possible to take the fight all the way to the shallows, providing even a good chance to disturb the maritime wildlife (although it may furiously retaliate if sufficiently provoked -- you never know if there are Gyarados in the water!).

Additional Rules: Sleep will only be successfully induced once against each team (arena effects aren't affected by this restriction and don't trigger it).

Click to expand...

Metallica Fanboy's active squad

Super Macho Man the shiny male Machop <No Guard> @ Black Glasses
Earth Dragon the male Shelgon <Rock Head> @ Life Orb
Fort the male Shieldon <Sturdy> @ Jaboca Berry
Legal Alien the male Elgyem <Synchronize> @ Twisted Spoon
Kanine West the male Snubbull <Intimidate> @ Red Card
Reaper the female Phantump <Harvest> @ Link Cable
Angriest TV Chef the male Pansear <Gluttony> @ Fire Stone
Glorisus the male Piplup <Defiant> @ Custap Berry
Country Eater the female Phanpy <Pickup> @ Yache Berry
Taillte the female Pichu <Static> @ Soothe Bell


Sandstone-Shadow's active squad

Horsea the female Horsea <Swift Swim> @ Scope Lens
Bulbasaur the female Bulbasaur <Overgrow> @ Shell Bell
Fennekin the female Fennekin <Magician> @ Leftovers

Command Order

As previously agreed: MF sends out Indyelle a Pokémon, then Sandstone-Shadow sends out and posts commands, then MF posts commands.

Thanks for picking this up! And thanks for not taking the perfect opportunity to rename my entire active squad just in time for the altered names to be set in stone for the match.

Anyways, let's lead with Reaper.

Metallica Fanboy said:

And thanks for not taking the perfect opportunity to rename my entire active squad just in time for the altered names to be set in stone for the match.

Click to expand...

god fucking dammit

Seconding the thanks! Oh man, here we go. Good luck! :)

Bulbasaur, I choose you! Let's start right off with Toxic and then follow through with Venoshock. Then, since Reaper's holding an item, let's end with a Knock Off.

Toxic ~ Venoshock ~ Knock Off

Thanks, and likewise. Also, just in case this becomes necessary to anyone, this is me on the Question Box about the way Abilities Traced by a Link Cable behave.

Now then! First of all, Reaper -- Overgrow is flat useless to us right now and won't be much better later, so I need you to drop that Link Cable first of all so we won't have to eat full-power Knock Off later. That shouldn't take an action, though, so let's get down to what moves you're actually using this round.

Let's see... I could do the old "Protect against the move that matters most to their chain" routine, but... nah, that's a tedious way to fight. Still, we should avoid that boosted Venoshock, so let's Phantom Force across the first two actions -- vanish in the first, then come out in the second. After this... well, why don't we try something a little amusing? Toxic is only that much of a problem if the fight drags on, so, we make sure it goes faster, one way or another, by laying down a Curse. Quick, before I get less tired and realize what a terrible idea this probably is.

Phantom Force (in; drop Link Cable) ~ Phantom Force (out) ~ Curse

Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀ @ Link Cable
Ability: Harvest, Trace (Overgrow)
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Humming a little tune under her breath.

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Basking under the light of the sun.


The surface of the calm sea sparkles in a picturesque manner under the light of the setting sun. Nary a ripple disturbs the water around the base of the abandoned ship, perched exquisitely upon the edge of a random rock. The perfect scene for mass destruction... wait, is that a hole already present in the hull? Is this a challenge?! Surely the brave people of Asber can inflict more damage than that...

And thus two Grass-types are sent out onto the upper decks of the ship to carry out the deed. Sandstone-Shadow's Bulbasaur promptly begins hacking up the contents of her lunch onto the wooden floor, the caustic chemicals of her favourite Durin Berries smoking ominously to burn a small hole in the floor. Whoops, she totally didn't mean a spit a wad of it at poor Reaper over there! So sorry, dude... The unfortunate Phantump squeaks in distress as the poisons eat a small hole through her tree bark mask and begin to absorb into her bloodstream. Chattering frantically, she waves her tiny arms about and then disappears with a loud pop as she flees into another dimension, leaving only her Link Cable behind.

Bulbasaur stares at the abandoned item in front of her, nonplussed. Well, what's she supposed to do now? Destroy the ship?! Sandstone-Shadow, still unfamiliar with the ways of Asber, quickly cautions her not to destroy the ship. Metallica Fanboy and the referee roll their eyes in disgust.

Before a full-fledged debate on the history of Asberian thought can break out, a spooky light begins to shine faintly behind Bulbasaur, an eerie purple smoke drifting out of it as Reaper tears a hole in the fabric of space between dimensions. Bulbasaur turns her head sharply as a ghostly cackle echoes from seemingly nowhere, but she locates its source too late: the rematerialized Pumpkaboo tackles her hard from behind, shoving her face-first INTO HER OWN PUKE OMG TOO GROSS?! Bulbasaur cries out in agony as not only is her face smashed into the hard wood, but the smell of regurgitated Durin Berry floods her nostrils: clearly the worst punishment of all. Nose smarting from the variety of assaults upon it, Bulbasaur scrabbles frantically against the wood, dark energy surrounding her hind legs as she viciously kicks behind with all her strength. Having discarded her Link Cable, Reaper has nothing on her for Bulbasaur's claws to catch upon, but still lets out a shrill cry of pain as the dark energy tears through her wispy body.

Shaking, Reaper retreats all the way into her tree stump to plan her next move. Her eyeholes glow bright red as she mutters unintelligible curses under her breath. All is quiet for a moment, aside from the occasional gagging noise as Bulbasaur struggles to her feet. And then the silence is pierced by a wavering, unearthly scream. As Reaper falls limply to her side, Bulbasaur's vision suddenly wavers, and she begins to feel horribly ill...


Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 44%
Energy: 90%
Status: Twitching slightly inside her tree stump. Toxic poisoned (2% this round, 3% next round).
Used: Phantom Force (disappear) ~ Phantom Force (reappear) ~ Curse

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 80%
Energy: 92%
Status: Not entirely sure what just happened to her... Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round).
Used: Toxic ~ nothing ~ Knock Off

Arena Status

• A Link Cable is lying randomly on the deck. One of its ends glints ominously in the light of the setting sun as it snakes its way around the base of the mast...

Damage and Energy

• Reaper's Health: 100% - 9% (Knock Off) - 45% (Curse) - 2% (poison) = 44%
• Reaper's Energy: 100% - 3% (Phantom Force) - 3% (Phantom Force) - 4% (Curse) = 90%
• Bulbasaur's Health: 100% - 15% (Phantom Force) + 2% (Shell Bell) - 7% (Curse) = 80%
• Bulbasaur's Energy: 100% - 3% (Toxic) - 5% (Knock Off) = 92%

Notes

• have not done ref for several months, pls excuse (lol I will think about how to actually write Curse next round, maybe)
• Speed order: Bulbasaur (45) > Reaper (38).
• Bulbasaur did nothing the second action, as she was clearly unable to reach her opponent.
• Phantom Force was a critical hit.
• For reference, all damage from Curse is rounded down, and it ignores damage caps. Because of the flooring, it doesn't actually matter that I ignored Reaper's poison damage until the end of the round in my calculations.
• Metallica Fanboy commands first.

Looking good so far! Now, let's take a little control and a little advantage of the terrain, shall we?

Lead with a snapping Bulldoze. If your first go of that doesn't reach your opponent, keep trying. We should have the Speed lead after a pop -- and if you can do this without missing out on the Speed drop, I'd like you to make sure you bang up the deck as much as possible with the move. Because we're Asberians, obviously, but also for a possible strategical edge.

Once you've landed your Bulldoze, we take advantage of your hovering and your ghostliness (or, if possible, your hovering and that Bulldozing arena damage). Try to hover through the deck -- phase through if you can, or just use a hole on the deck to get through. Either way, you can float just under the floorboards and our enemy can't, so that should give us at least a momentary lead. Once you're through, or straight away if you can't get through, we use Psychic power twice to attack from behind our improptu cover.

On the third action, if you're through the deck and you're going to use Psychic and the floor above is sufficiently banged up by the earlier Bulldozing, see if you can't Psychic that Bulbasaur through the upper deck and all the way down to the floorboards on the lower deck. That's gonna have to hurt a little more than the usual fare, to say the least.

Bulldoze ~ Psychic(float into lower deck)/Bulldoze ~ Psychic(smash through upper deck/float into lower deck)/Bulldoze

Alright, Bulbasaur! Let's try this again - that was my fault, not yours. That Curse will speed things up a bit, so let's try to get some damage in.

You should be able to hit her this time, so let's try Venoshock again. If for some reason you can't hit her, brace for those Psychics with Light Screen.

After this, Reaper's going to try to move underneath the floorboards. Assuming Bulldoze struck, she may be able to move faster than you, but try to set up a Light Screen (if you didn't use it before) while she's moving underneath the deck. Hopefully you can get one up before Psychic hits, if she's busy moving. If you used Light Screen in the first action, aim through a hole in the floor and hit her with a Sludge Bomb. If you don't have a clear shot, use Confide to lessen those Psychics a bit more - she should still be able to hear you, even if she's under the deck.

We should really Protect to block that second Psychic and the fall through the floorboards, but if you've got a Light Screen in place by now, you should be okay - let's make use of that Shell Bell and deal a little more damage. Brace yourself as much as possible, then when you're on the lower deck, use Sludge Bomb. If Reaper wasn't able to get you through the floor, aim through a hole and use Sludge Bomb anyway; if you don't have a clear shot, use Double Team to reduce her under-the-floor advantage.

Don't give in, Bulbasaur!

Venoshock/Light Screen ~ Light Screen (while Reaper's moving)/Sludge Bomb/Confide ~ Sludge Bomb/Double Team

Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 44%
Energy: 90%
Status: Twitching slightly inside her tree stump. Toxic poisoned (2% last round, 3% this round).

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 80%
Energy: 92%
Status: Not entirely sure what just happened to her... Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round).


Struggling to ignore the high-pitched ghostly voices now echoing within her skull, Bulbasaur turns back to her opponent as the bulb on her back splits apart. A torrent of offensively-purple fluid spurts from it and showers upon Reaper's tree stump, rapidly eating through it to penetrate her skin. Reaper shrieks in agony as the venom interacts with the poisons already flooding her bloodstream, causing her to seize violently. She pounds her little branches on the floor of the deck, and a rippling shockwave of brown Ground-type energy spreads from the side of the impact. Small cracks appear in the floor as tremors run through it, tossing the helpless Bulbasaur up in the air and smacking her back down on the ground. She lands awkwardly on one of her hind legs with a sickening crack, and even when she shaking stops, Bulbasaur finds it difficult to get up, unable to put her weight on her injured leg.

Emerging from her stump at last, Reaper studies the floor thoughtfully. No, there's not enough room for her to get her tree stump through... the best she can do is reach out with psychic feelers to get a hold of Bulbasaur's brain, sending a wave of pure mental pain at her opponent's nerve receptors. Bulbasaur grits her teeth and digs her front claws into the wood, struggling against the pain to concentrate on setting up a protective barrier around herself. A cube of brilliant golden energy appears around her, and for a moment the force of her opponent's psychic assault lessens, and she breathes a sigh of relief. But just then her opponent happens to strike at a sensitive spot, and Bulbasaur cries out as she's unable to fully regroup her mental defenses. Desperately she releases another stream of sludge from the bulb on her back, this one thicker and more viscous, and Reaper is forced to halt her attack as the poison splatters over her, corroding away at her tree stump.

The Shell Bell around Bulbasaur's neck chimes as a bit of life energy flows from it into its owner, but its healing force pales against the voices in Bulbasaur's head that grow ever louder, sapping more of her life force away...


Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 14%
Energy: 76%
Status: Exhausted already. But she hasn't wrought enough destruction yet! Toxic poisoned (3% this round, 4% next round).
Used: Bulldoze ~ Psychic ~ Psychic

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 54%
Energy: 78%
Status: Shaking her pounding head in agony. Protected by a Light Screen (4 more actions). Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). -1 Special Defense, -1 Speed.
Used: Venoshock ~ Light Screen ~ Sludge Bomb

Arena Status

• A Link Cable is lying randomly on the deck. One of its ends glints ominously in the light of the setting sun as it snakes its way around the base of the mast...
• Both battlers are located on the upper deck.

Damage and Energy

• Reaper's Health: 44% - 16% (Venoshock) - 11% (Sludge Bomb) - 3% (poison) = 14%
• Reaper's Energy: 90% - 4% (Bulldoze) - 5% (Psychic) - 5% (Psychic) = 76%
• Bulbasaur's Health: 80% + 2% (Shell Bell) - 6% (Bulldoze) - 13% (Psychic) - 6% (Psychic) + 2% (Shell Bell) - 5% (Curse) = 54%
• Bulbasaur's Energy: 92% - 7% (Venoshock) - 1% (Light Screen set-up) - 5% (Sludge Bomb) - 1% (Light Screen upkeep) = 78%

Notes

• Speed order: Reaper (38) > Bulbasaur (30).
• lol I'm probably not going to remember how to write at any point during this battle, sorry
• Phantump's Attack stat is good for a basic, probably, but it's not even in the 50th percentile of all Rattata Pokémon, and Bulldoze was very much not a critical hit (rolled a 94), so Reaper was unable to destroy the deck enough to leave room to get through it. Her tree stump is also quite solid, which prevented her from phasing through the floor.
• The second Psychic lowered Bulbasaur's Special Defense.
• Sandstone-Shadow commands first.

Good work, Bulbasaur! Almost there!

Let's give her another Venoshock. If you can't hit her, use Amnesia to boost yourself up a bit.

For the second action, use Venoshock if you didn't hit her in the first action and you can hit her now. If you did hit her and she's still standing, use Sludge. Otherwise, use Amnesia.

Do the same thing for the third action, but use Growth if you've already used Amnesia.

Venoshock/Amnesia ~ Venoshock/Sludge/Amnesia ~ Venoshock/Sludge/Amnesia/Growth

Hmmm. Dire, but since we're commanding second and have the Speed lead, we should be able to work through this.

Firstly, let's take a more direct approach to going under the deck. Dig down into it. Stay away from gaps on the deck above as much as you can once you're down there, we don't want any of that nasty stuff dripping down on us.

Once you're in, we'll try to Psychic that Bulbasaur up and way once more, but this time, I have a more esoteric destination in mind: toss her overboard. This will probably be difficult between the Light Screen and the Amnesia and the fact that you're not a Psychic-type, but all you need to do is push her off the ship. Take two actions on it if you need to.

If you still have an action at the end of the round, get as close as you can to any light filtering through the roof -- the hole you tore on your way in should do the trick if you can get there in time -- and put that chlorophyll to work. We'll need to keep this bout going in order to get as much out of the Curse as we can, and of course, there'd be no harm in preparing our final attack while we're at it.

Dig (down) ~ Psychic (toss overboard) ~ Growth/Psychic (toss overboard)

Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 14%
Energy: 76%
Status: Exhausted already. But she hasn't wrought enough destruction yet! Toxic poisoned (3% last round, 4% this round).

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 54%
Energy: 78%
Status: Shaking her pounding head in agony. Protected by a Light Screen (4 more actions). Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). -1 Special Defense, -1 Speed.


Destruction! There must be more destruction! Desperate to inflict an acceptable amount of destruction (otherwise Metallica Fanboy has promised to turn her into a frisbee), Reaper slams her stump straight down into the already-battered wooden floor of the deck. A few more heavy thunks are enough to split a decently-sized hole in the ground which she easily slips through, falling face-first on the front of her stump. Oops. Scrabbling over to a corner where she can hide among the shadows, Reaper closes her eyes and extends a portion of her limited psychic powers, unleashing a wave of mental force at... well, she's not sure what, really. Some vague presence above that she sure hopes is her opponent, anyway.

Meanwhile, on the upper deck, Bulbasaur closes her eyes and obliviously basks in the sunlight, apparently having accepted that the battle has now ended. And now that it's over, who needs to remember how to knock away a foe's item? Not Bulbasaur! So she throws that knowledge out, dulling her mental faculties in order to prepare herself for any psychic assaults by her next foe. You know, she doesn't really need to know how to lock onto her opponent with mysterious psychic leaves, either... As Bulbasaur continues to refine her store of inner knowledge, she remains completely oblivious to the wave of psychic energy that goes rushing toward Reaper's discarded Link Cable, tangling it up even tighter around the ship's mast.

Unfortunately for Bulbasaur, the battle is far from actually over. A second blast of psychic energy explodes from below, probably very impressive at first, before it weakens as it passes through her Light Screen and even more as it passes through her now half-empty brain. Bulbasaur only feels a faint annoying tingle of psychic power in her brain, but that's still too much. She must forget more! Why does she need physical brute force, anyway? An amateur trick.


Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 10%
Energy: 64%
Status: Getting kind of bored down there... did her attacks even hit? Toxic poisoned (4% this round, 5% next round).
Used: Dig (down) ~ Psychic (missed) ~ Psychic

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 45%
Energy: 69%
Status: Who needs to remember who their trainer is, anyway? Knock Off, Magical Leaf, Take Down forgotten. Protected by a Light Screen (1 more action). Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). +5 Special Defense, -1 Speed.
Used: Amnesia ~ Amnesia ~ Amnesia

Arena Status

• A Link Cable is twisted tightly around the ship's mast. The tension in the wire is visible as it struggles for dominance...
• Bulbasaur and the Link Cable are located on the upper deck. Reaper is on the lower deck.

Damage and Energy

• Reaper's Health: 14% - 4% (poison) = 10%
• Reaper's Energy: 76% - 2% (Dig (down)) - 5% (Psychic) - 5% (Psychic) = 64%
• Bulbasaur's Health: 54% - 4% (Psychic) - 5% (Curse) = 45%
• Bulbasaur's Energy: 78% - 2% (Amnesia) - 2% (Amnesia) - 2% (Amnesia) - 3% (Light Screen upkeep) = 69%

Notes

• Speed order: Reaper (38) > Bulbasaur (30).
• From using Amnesia, Bulbasaur forgot, in order, Knock Off, Magical Leaf, and Take Down.
• On the third action, Bulbasaur was given four conditionals (the maximum allowed amount is three), so the move she used was randomized out of those choices. I am a dumb and remembered this only until I actually resolved the third action, and also misread Sandstone-Shadow's commands anyway, but thankfully she rolled to use Amnesia anyway so I don't have to rewrite anything. Ehe...
• Psychic is still a vision-based attack, as it doesn't ignore Double Team clones. I cut the accuracy down to 50% instead of making it certain to miss entirely only because I'm pretty sure there is precedent for the Pokémon somehow being able to ~sense~ its opponent. (I personally don't buy it.)
• With the heavily reduced accuracy, Bulbasaur's Light Screen and buffed Special Defense, the fact that Reaper is neither a Psychic-type nor an especially strong special attacker, and the fact that she would have no idea where Bulbasaur was in relation to the edge of the ship (which does have a rail, by the way, so it's less pushing and more tossing over it), throwing Bulbasaur off the ship from belowdeck was a no-go.
• MF are you testing me... I assure you I am quite competent >:(
• Metallica Fanboy commands first.

Eifie said:

MF are you testing me... I assure you I am quite competent >:(

Click to expand...

Nah, I'm just doing a lot of things just for the hell of it.

But hey, just this round, let's play properly, even if it's in a boring way. Being that right now stalling will be a net positive for us, we might as well play the long game for most of the round. Let's take advantage of all the space and stay where the darkness makes you hard to see, while also Double Teaming up a little extra obfuscation. Hopefully, in those two actions, our opponent won't be able to land a hit, even if she manages to attack through the deck. Speaking of, if you see her digging into the lower deck herself, Dig for the cargo hold in the second action.

For a wrap, try to wait for her move, then bring the Phantom Force back to action, although in only one action this time -- you might have to get close to her position in order to pull it off pinpoint, but hopefully, reappering into the necessary surface won't be an issue. Do make as much sure as you can to move after her, even if you end up not managing to pull off the move at all or if you end up having to finish it in the next round instead.

Double Team (max clones) ~ Double Team (max clones)/Dig (down) ~ Phantom Force (wait)

Eifie said:

[*] On the third action, Bulbasaur was given four conditionals (the maximum allowed amount is three), so the move she used was randomized out of those choices.

Click to expand...

Ohh I did not realize that, that makes sense!

Well Bulbasaur. Reaper's going to try to drag this out, and we really don't want that. Let's do something about that. Use Swagger; let's get her so angry that she damages herself, since we can't easily reach her.

Repeat Swagger if it wasn't successful in the first action; if Swagger was successful, use Sunny Day.

Next, charge up a Solar Beam. (Spend the extra energy to use it in one action if you have to, but I don't think you'll need to if you pulled off Sunny Day.) Use it to blast as many holes in the deck as possible - we want light down there so we can see Reaper. The more you spread it around, the more you might be able to hit Reaper below the deck, as well. She'll be waiting for you to move, so maybe you can catch her. But focus on breaking the deck first.

Swagger ~ Sunny Day/Swagger ~ Solar Beam (one action)

Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 10%
Energy: 64%
Status: Getting kind of bored down there... did her attacks even hit? Toxic poisoned (4% last round, 5% this round).

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 45%
Energy: 69%
Status: Who needs to remember who their trainer is, anyway? Knock Off, Magical Leaf, Take Down forgotten. Protected by a Light Screen (1 more action). Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). +5 Special Defense, -1 Speed.


Sitting around on the lower deck is making Reaper feel kind of antsy. Pushing herself up off the floor, she begins to zoom around the spacious interior, grumbling at her trunk as it slows her down. Despite this setback, she manages to move fast enough that three identical Phantump leap out of the shadows behind her, but that's just not enough for Reaper. After a brief rest, as the voice of her opponent echoes from above (Reaper doesn't really care what she's saying), the Phantump gets moving again, her three clones behind her, and manages to whip up three more.

Meanwhile, on the upper deck, Bulbasaur's wandered over to the hole in the ground and begun screaming her lungs out at... who knows what, really. She puts as much vitriol as she can into her words, attempting to really set her opponent off, but there's no response. She sits back for a second to rest her voice as her Light Screen finally fades away, and then attempts to start up again, but manages to choke on her own saliva? How embarrassing. The deck below is eerily silent as Bulbasaur attempts to recover from her sudden coughing fit...

Shrugging, Bulbasaur trots over to a higher point on the deck, the better to see the setting sun, and closes her eyes to concentrate as she harnesses the power of the sun's rays. The bulb on her back glows brighter and brighter until she can take it no more, and unleashes a blinding ray of sunlight from her bulb straight at the floor of the deck. The force of the impact nearly knocks her backward, but she grits her teeth and digs her claws into the floor, sweeping the beam forward so that it burns in a long line through the wooden panels. Bits of wood fall through to the lower deck with a loud clatter, and as Bulbasaur's reservoir of solar energy is finally exhausted, all she can do is hope that something fell on her opponent.

Alas, she finds herself not so lucky. At that moment the air behind her cools ominously, and a familiar feeling of dread tingles along her spine. This time, not one but seven Reapers claw their way out of a dark void in the space behind her, viciously assaulting Bulbasaur with their branches. Bulbasaur cries out and desperately attempts to shield her face as the Reapers, cackling gleefully, thump her over the head one more time for good measure and then retreat to surround the ship's mast.


Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 5%
Energy: 49%
Status: Not feeling nearly as thrilled as she's pretending. Has 6 clones. Toxic poisoned (5% this round, 6% next round).
Used: Double Team (3 clones) ~ Double Team (3 clones) ~ Phantom Force

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 33%
Energy: 51%
Status: Kind of embarrassed at how this round went. Hopefully nobody will read it. Overgrow activated. Knock Off, Magical Leaf, Take Down forgotten. Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). +5 Special Defense, -1 Speed.
Used: Swagger (missed) ~ Swagger (missed) ~ Solar Beam @ floor

Arena Status

• A Link Cable is twisted tightly around the ship's mast. The tension in the wire is visible as it struggles for dominance...
• Bulbasaur, Reaper, and the Link Cable are located on the upper deck.
• There is a large, elongated, smoking crater in the center of the upper deck, through which the lower deck is visible. The floor of the lower deck is covered in various bits of detritus from the destroyed deck above.

Damage and Energy

• Reaper's Health: 10% - 5% (poison) = 5%
• Reaper's Energy: 64% - 3% (Double Team) - 3% (Double Team) - 9% (Phantom Force) = 49%
• Bulbasaur's Health: 45% + 2% (Shell Bell) - 11% (Phantom Force) - 3% (Curse) = 33%
• Bulbasaur's Energy: 69% - 4% (Swagger) - 4% (Swagger) - 9% (Solar Beam) - 1% (Light Screen upkeep) = 51%

Notes

• srsly what was I even supposed to write for this round. please don't read it, have I mentioned lately how much I actually hate writing lmao
• Speed order: Reaper (38) > Bulbasaur (30).
• I can never remember what multiplier I actually use for Double Team, so let's just make it division by 12.5, rounded down.
• Swagger isn't actually a sound-based move (since it doesn't bypass Substitute), and also doesn't ignore clones, which I interpret as the Pokémon just looking so ridiculous aiming its bluster at some random clone that the real thing is totally unaffected. Along those lines, Swagger is unfortunately going to be completely ineffective when used from the top deck while Reaper's on the lower one, even if no clones are present. (The second Swagger was actually a miss regardless.)
• Bulbasaur's Light Screen wore off after the first action.
• Two-action moves condensed into one action take a while to pull off, such that the actual unleashing the attack happens at lower priority. Of course, this applied to both Reaper and Bulbasaur, but from the lower deck Reaper wasn't really able to see what Bulbasaur was doing, so she waited a while (during which time Bulbasaur was charging up her Solar Beam), then disappeared, then Bulbasaur unleashed Solar Beam at the deck, and then Reaper attacked.
• The damage from Curse triggered Bulbasaur's Overgrow.
• Sandstone-Shadow commands first.

Do I get Shell Bell credit for Solar Beam, then, even though I damaged the deck and not an opponent? (Just wanted to make sure I'm actually supposed to get that!)

Hey Bulbasaur, we did some damage to the deck! Cool! We are learning some of the ways of ASB, I think. Maybe not all of the ways yet. But we're getting somewhere.

It doesn't look like Reaper's going to survive this round. Let's start with Sunny Day and use another Solar Beam, this time to sweep around the deck (or under the deck, if she moves down there) and eliminate the clones. We want to see the real Reaper; it's okay if it doesn't do much damage. (If you can't hit her, use Growth.)

Then, since we've got Overgrow activated, use Giga Drain. It won't do much, but we don't need very much. If you can't hit her, use Growth.

Sunny Day ~ Solar Beam/Growth ~ Giga Drain/Growth

Sandstone-Shadow said:

Do I get Shell Bell credit for Solar Beam, then, even though I damaged the deck and not an opponent? (Just wanted to make sure I'm actually supposed to get that!)

Click to expand...

Yes. The description says health is regained upon successful use of a damaging attack, so it doesn't even have to hit its actual target, anyway.

Eifie said:

Yes. The description says health is regained upon successful use of a damaging attack, so it doesn't even have to hit its actual target, anyway.

Click to expand...

Good to know. Thanks!

Beautiful hustle out there, Reaper. Pity you're not making it past this round, but we can leave a mark before it's done.

Facade ~ Protect ~ Facade

would've been more interesting if I could Grudge the hell out of that Solarbeam, but eh, the odds of that Giga Drain landing are going to be too low

Metallica Fanboy (2/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 5%
Energy: 49%
Status: Not feeling nearly as thrilled as she's pretending. Has 6 clones. Toxic poisoned (5% last round, 6% this round).

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 33%
Energy: 51%
Status: Kind of embarrassed at how this round went. Hopefully nobody will read it. Overgrow activated. Knock Off, Magical Leaf, Take Down forgotten. Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). +5 Special Defense, -1 Speed.


Screeching in pain from the poisons now violently coursing through her system, Reaper launches herself forward at her foe, accompanied by her six clones, and FRICKIN' BEATS HER UP WITH FRICKIN' BRANCHES AND SHIT. Yeah, you take that, you gross... poisoner! So gross. Clearly hurt and despairing from this sentiment, the battered and bruised Bulbasaur backs away with a sharp cry to the horizon. The rapidly darkening skies above instantly lighten as the few clouds in sight rush away and the sun emerges from behind them, its heat radiating down stronger than before.

Bolstered by the increased sunlight, Bulbasaur prepares to absorb more solar energy into her bulb, but just then she notices the light glinting off a nearly-transparent bubble that surrounds her opponents. The seven Reapers cower within it, suddenly panting and apparently very near the end of their collective rope. With a shrug, Bulbasaur resigns herself to simply basking in the sunlight, a few flowers blooming beautifully from the bulb on her back to fill her with renewed strength and energy. And then the Reapers let their bubble down and comes rushing toward her again, screaming senselessly as they slam their branches down upon Bulbasaur's head once more. Startled, Bulbasaur launches one of her vines toward the nearest one, attempting to tap into its life force, but the Phantump simply disappears with an eerie cackle that its comrades soon take up. Until one starts coughing uncontrollably, and then another, and another. Five of the Reapers pop out of existence as the original falls to her side on the ground, twitching madly as the poisons work their magic upon her system. She struggles to reach out a branch toward her foe (probably to beat her up one last time), but at last the light in her eyeholes goes out and she lies still, unconscious.


Metallica Fanboy (1/2 left)

Reaper ♀
Ability: Harvest
Health: 0%
Energy: 31%
Status: Knocked out!
Used: Facade ~ Protect ~ Facade

Sandstone-Shadow (2/2 left)

Bulbasaur ♀ @ Shell Bell
Ability: Overgrow
Health: 6%
Energy: 37%
Status: Relieved, but somewhat unsettled... Overgrow activated. Knock Off, Magical Leaf, Take Down forgotten. Cursed (loses one-tenth of current health at the end of each round). +2 Attack, +2 Special Attack, +5 Special Defense, -1 Speed.
Used: Sunny Day ~ Growth ~ Giga Drain (hit clone)

Arena Status

• The sun is shining brightly (7 more actions).
• Bulbasaur is on the upper deck.
• There is a large, elongated, smoking crater in the center of the upper deck, through which the lower deck is visible. The floor of the lower deck is covered in various bits of detritus from the destroyed deck above.

Damage and Energy

• Reaper's Health: 5% - 6% (poison) = 0%
• Reaper's Energy: 49% - 8% (Facade) - 2% (Protect) - 8% (Facade) = 31%
• Bulbasaur's Health: 33% - 14% (Facade) - 14% (Facade) + 2% (Shell Bell) - 1% (Curse) = 6%
• Bulbasaur's Energy: 51% - 5% (Sunny Day) - 4% (Growth) - 5% (Giga Drain) = 37%

Notes

• Speed order: Bulbasaur (30) stands alone.
• Metallica Fanboy sends out and commands first.