Bluberry Bat and Sylph vs Coloursfall and Sunflower

[size=+2]Bluberry Bat and Sylph vs Coloursfall and Sunflower[/size]

Bluberry Bat said:

Format: 2v2 Double
Style: Set
DQ: 1 Week
Damage Cap: 20%
Banned/Restricted Moves: OHKO's, Direct Healing, Attract. Protect [And analogues] limited to 3 uses maximum per Pokémon.
Arena Description: Sea of a Thousand Currents

The largest expanse of open water on this particular region, this arena is exactly what it says on the tin. There's nothing but water for kilometres around. Occasionally huge, winged amphibious creatures will rocket from below the depths on the edge of view, but beyond that it's calm, quiet, and very very wet.

Over a hundred metres below the surface lies a field of reef, and all the colourful life to go with it - where it stretches out like a forest, right up to the edge of a massive chasm, murky and dark and filled with currents that would rip apart even the strongest of swimmers - making it all but inaccessible.

Due to obvious arena conditions, only Water-type and clearly Aquatic Pokémon are eligible for this battle; and the arena is considered to be from the surface of the water, all the way down to and throughout the coral reef.


((Match is four-player, 1 Pokémon each, doubles. Me and Sylph versus Coloursfall and Sunflower.))

Click to expand...

Team 1

Bluberry Bat's active squad

Anastasia the female Lucario <Inner Focus> @ Expert Belt
Vivian the female Vaporeon <Water Absorb> @ Leftovers
Terra the female Snivy <Contrary> @ Sachet
Malika the female Larvesta <Flame Body> @ Exp. Share
Adrianne the female Joltik <Compound Eyes> @ Wise Glasses
Zora the female Zorua <Illusion> @ Lucky Egg
Mina the female Skrelp <Adaptability> @ Black Sludge
Nyx the female Eevee <Adaptability> @ Soothe Bell
Jasper the male Skiddo <Sap Sipper> @ Big Root
Comet the genderless Staryu <Natural Cure> @ Water Stone

Sylph's active squad

Tiamat the female Horsea <Sniper>
Chaos the female Vulpix <Flash Fire> @ Fire Stone
Takumi the male Marshtomp <Torrent>
Zeno the male Natu <Synchronize>
Hall Om Mig the female Ducklett <Big Pecks>
Benjamin the male Froakie <Protean>
Freddy the male Teddiursa <Quick Feet>
Chica the female Torchic <Blaze>
Bonnie the male Buneary <Run Away>
Foxy the male Fennekin <Blaze>


Team 2

Coloursfall's active squad

Spy the male Sneasel <Keen Eye> @ Razor Claw
GLaDOS the genderless Porygon-Z <Download> @ Scope Lens
L'Arc-en-Ciel the male Togekiss <Serene Grace> @ Electirizer
Edward the male Persian <Technician> @ Amulet Coin
Moo the male Drifblim <Aftermath> @ Jaboca Berry
Jinkosen the male Prinplup <Torrent>
Sunnyside the female Volcarona <Flame Body>
Sputnik the genderless Metang <Clear Body> @ Iron Plate
Hexxus the male Grimer <Sticky Hold> @ Leftovers
Emiline the female Dratini <Shed Skin> @ Lucky Egg

Sunflower's active squad

Holly the female Lillipup <Vital Spirit>
Caesar the male Growlithe <Intimidate>
Mondo the male Drilbur <Sand Rush>
Euclid the male Deino <Hustle>
Tyri the female Pichu <Static> @ Soothe Bell
Lollipop the male Panpour <Gluttony>
Darwin the male Archen <Defeatist>
Greg the male Espurr <Own Tempo>
Aine the female Flabébé (Orange Flower) <Flower Veil>
Miku the female Finneon <Swift Swim> @ Lucky Egg

Battle progression
Team 1 sends out
Team 2 sends out and issues commands
Team 1 issues commands

I'll send out Comet the Staryu~

Takumi the Marshtomp!

Emiline's up.

Lead in by getting FIRST BLOOD with Extremespeed, then use that to lead into a Bind, both of which are targeted at Comet. Finish up with Thunder Wave on the same target, while holding on tight as you can. If they escape or you didn't grab them, try and grab them again, and if you can't use TWave but you still have successfully used Bind, use Thunderbolt. If for some reason you can't grab them at all, Dragon Dance instead.

Extremespeed @ Comet ~ Bind @ Comet / Dragon Dance ~ Thunderwave @ Comet / Thunderbolt @ Comet / Dragon Dance

Let's glub, Miku.

Throw a Safeguard around our team to start with. Then get get in there to Takumi and Tickle him a little. Cute! But it's not so cute when you turn around and Scald him. But if you can't tickle for Protect or whatever other reason, back up and Double Team, then get in close and Scald.

Safeguard ~ Tickle @ Takumi/Double Team ~ Scald @ Takumi

All right Comet.. nothing really to do about that Extremespeed, so we're going to have to take it on the chin. Let's bolster up with a quick chant to the stars (Cosmic Power), because there are going to be waves, and how.
There's no need to get caught up, of course. Teleport right out of that Bind, and put yourself in a good firing position for an Ice Beam at Emiline to really drive the point home. Water Tribe, Yo.

Cosmic Power ~ Teleport (Away from/Out of Bind) ~ Ice Beam @ Emiline

Let hit it Takumi.

Seems out buddy Cosmic here is going to be in quite the bind, and Miku is aiming for you. So lets see what we can muster, hm?

Takumi, first things first. Mimic the Safeguard Miku is setting up so we can share in the spoils. After, follow with a Hidden Power once Miku is close and pray its a favorable type. Finally, use Magic Coat against Miku's Scald to bound back what you can. If all goes well, we will be set up for something nice next round.

Mimic: Miku's Safeguard ~ Hidden Power @ Miku ~ Mirror Coat @ Miku's Scald

The waters of the open ocean are astoundingly clear, to the point where the reef a hundred metres below is still teeming with vibrantly colourful life. Overhead, the image of the sun dances through the water’s surface, and filters down even to the ocean floor, though even here it cannot penetrate to the abyssal depths, where only the murk betrays the speed of the ocean currents. Here, though, where four trainers and a referee are suspended in the waters in appropriately-themed diving gear, only the circular wave action gently pushes the trainers about.

Bluberry Bat and Sylph toss out their poké balls simultaneously, and both burst open in twin bursts of light. Comet the staryu makes an experimental spin, then relaxes, floating in the water. The ocean is where its kind lives, though it would be more comfortable closer to the sea floor. Unlike Comet, Takumi the marshtomp doesn’t immediately feel at home. The water that passes over his gills stings and burns, and it takes a moment to get used to. He’ll survive, and he’ll fight, but he won’t be enjoying this…

Coloursfall and Floette take a few moments to murmur either strategies or sweet nothing to each other, then they throw their own poké balls in perfect synchrony. In twin flashes of light, the long serpentine form of a dratini appears alongside a much smaller finneon, whose tail momentarily gives her the silhouette of a beautifly. Coloursfall calls out his commands with a savage grin, while Floette’s expression is rather less vicious as she explains to her pokémon how best to hurt its opponent. Bluberry Bat and Sylph both counter with their own commands, and—

Bluberry Bat [O]

[Comet] Staryu (X) Natural Cure + Water Stone
Health: 100
Energy: 100
Cosmic Power ~ Teleport (Away from/Out of Bind) ~ Ice Beam @ Emiline
Status: Serene.

Sylph [O]

[Takumi] Marshtomp (M) Torrent
Health: 100
Energy: 100
Mimic: Miku's Safeguard ~ Hidden Power @ Miku ~ Mirror Coat @ Miku's Scald
Status: Uncomfortable with the salt water passing over his gills.


Round One

—Emiline shoots forward and smashes into Comet’s core even as the shout to “Begin!” leaves the referee’s lips. Her momentum carries them both a few metres, with water swirling in her wake. She gives Comet a satisfied stare, observing the nice scuffing she’s given its gem and body. She can see her reflection in its gem, so she sees the exact moment when a pale green aura emanates from her skin. Emiline casts a grateful look in Miku’s direction. The finneon, wearing the same green glow, flutters her tail in response.

Well, nothing to be done about that. Comet focuses elsewhere, on the countless heavenly bodies that would dot the sky so beautifully had it been night, that would glitter off the surface of the ocean and silently call all staryu from the sea floor. Its core flashes red in remembrance, whether of some ancestral memory or one of its own, and it feels bolstered by the power it knows lies beyond the daylit sky. Takumi, too, just floats still and brings his mind away from the current moment. He had been watching when Miku summoned up that pretty green aura, the way she went still for a moment in concentration, the way she drew out her energy in a gentle protective coating and even summoned the same around her ally. Now that he’s focusing, Takumi thinks that he too could learn to do the same. He could probably do it right now, in fact, but his orders are something else instead…

…but before he can move on to them, Miku darts forward toward him and reaches out with her forefins. She wiggles her fins to brush lightly against his armpits and side, and he can’t help the giggles bubbling from deep inside him. He knows he ought to be taking this seriously, but he can’t help but let his guard down when Miku turns this from a battle to a tickle fight. It’s a rather unconventional way of rendering him temporarily helpless, for a battle, and any onlookers would probably admire the cuteness of the sight.

“Onlookers” wouldn’t include Comet and Emiline, though. The two pokémon are entirely focused on each other instead. Comet waits a brief moment as Emiline darts around it, and then with a pop of displaced water, vanishes in time for Emiline to squeeze her body around the suddenly-empty water. Comet reappears behind Emiline, its gem flickering as though in laughter.

Takumi finally manages to dive away from the tickle attack, his mouth still forming a wide smile, and he shakes his head to try to regain the mindset he’s supposed to have. He focuses on his own self, deep inside what he might consider his “heart” or his “soul”, and finds a power there that is uniquely his. It’s a familiar feeling, like it’s something that he’s always had the potential for. A pink aura surrounds his body, and orbs of the same pink light dance around him. He returns his mind to the outside world, focusing on Miku, and with a wave of an arm, sends the orbs in a swirling beam at Miku. She winces as they hit her, but despite it coming from the very depths of his soul, they honestly aren’t anything special, as far as she’s concerned.

Well, if that’s how he wants to play it, the peaceful minutes of aura-summoning and tickling are over. Heh, as though she wasn’t planning to do this anyway. She turns to him (is he glowing? no, there’s something glowing around him, every colour of the rainbow, and she could tell that his true power is a mental one but it wasn’t this) and spews out—something. Bubbles burst into being around the stream of water, though Takumi doesn’t even get the chance to wonder why before it bursts across his arms and chest. It’s no mere stream of water—it’s like blades driving themselves into his skin, like fire. But his shock is nothing compared to Miku’s when the shimmering coat of energy flashes and shoots a beam in return. She lets out a cry of shock and pain. This is—it’s like a beam of pure hurt, leaving no mark but leaving her thrashing in the water.

Even with that over, Takumi’s skin tingles and burns. He glances down at the damaged skin. It hurts when just floating, and even more when he moves his arms to pull himself through the water. Still, the water is cool, and he can imagine it leaching the fire away.

Comet, still ignoring that bit of drama, flashes its core red, then a brilliant bluish white. But this time it doesn’t just shoot off a beam of nebulous energy. Instead, water flash-freezes into a finger of ice that instantly traps Emiline in its grasp. She twists around to look at her midsection, which is covered in a ring of ice that attaches her to a huge ice spike, although the green aura sends cracks through it and shatters the ice.

Well, now what is she supposed to do? She doesn’t have Comet in her coils, so she should be trying to do that, with… um… er… bind, right? Or was she supposed to ignore that and just go for those two electric moves this time around? And there was another order—um—ah—yes, dragon dance. Wait, but was she supposed to bind instead? Er... well her trainer didn't repeat that order the way he normally would at the end. With some lack of surety, she swims and moves her body in waves and circles and tight coils in the way of her ancestors, calling on the ancestral power that fills her with confidence. Well, with that level of confidence, probably she did the right thing...

End of Round One

Bluberry Bat [O]

[Comet] Staryu (X) Natural Cure + Water Stone
Health: 92
Energy: 90
Cosmic Power ~ Teleport ~ Ice Beam @ Emiline
Status: Pleased with results so far.
Defense +1, Special defense +1

Sylph [O]

[Takumi] Marshtomp (M) Torrent
Health: 89
Energy: 86
Mimic: Safeguard ~ Hidden Power (Psychic) @ Miku ~ Mirror Coat @ Miku
Status: Trying not to move too much. Mimicked safeguard.
Burned (moderate, -3%/round)
Attack -1, Defense -1


Notes:
- Welcome to underwater battles, where everything is up to ref’s discretion. Ice beam has a greater chance of freezing but its power dissipates faster over distance.
- Bind missed due to being dodged with teleport.
- Takumi’s hidden power was psychic-type.
- Scald burned Takumi.
- On the fourth action, even if it wasn’t in the command summary, Emiline had been given four commands. She chose dragon dance.
- Damn, but some aspects of the formatting get ugly when I try to right-align things.

Next round:
- Team 1 issues commands
- Team 2 issues commands

DQ warning for Sylph and Bluberry Bat. You have 48 hours.

Takumi, time to get to work.

First I want you to use the Safeguard move you mimic'd. Follow then by swimming down to where its colder to try and sooth those burns some. Once down there though, I want you to whip up a Whirlpool to trap your opponents. If you are unable to use whirlpool for any reason, swap out for Curse to give yourself a little boost.

Safeguard ~ Swim down to cooler waters ~ Whirlpool/Curse

All right, we'll make this nice and simple. Start with a Psych Up on Emiline and gather up that tasty Dragon Dance for yourself. If you end up unable to do that for any reason, though? Cosmic Power. Stat whoring is a-go!

Next up, tuck in and see the previous line, because we're Skull Bashing. Use it in one turn on Emiline, unless blocked by some means, in which case save your energy and wait on it.

And finally, if you already Skull Bashed, have a Chill. If not, unleash it now.

Psych Up / Cosmic Power ~ Skull Bash (Rush) / Skull Bash (Charge) ~ Chill / Skull Bash (Release)

DQ warning for Coloursfall and Floette. I'll give you another 48 hours since it's a tag team battle.

To start, Wrap Takumi up to keep him from going anywhere! You can maybe even use him as a shield against that Skull Bash, maybe. Then use Frustration twice, but switch to Return if you feel a bit better.

Wrap @ Takumi ~ Frustration @ Takumi / Return @ Takumi ~ Frustration @ Takumi / Return @ Takumi

Looks like we're going after Comet then.

Chase it down and show it some of your Swagger. Then soak up all that delicious stat boost with Psych Up. Finish by setting up another Safeguard.

Swagger@Comet ~ Psych Up@Comet ~ Safeguard

Bluberry Bat [O]

[Comet] Staryu (X) Natural Cure + Water Stone
Health: 92
Energy: 90
Psych Up @ Emiline / Cosmic Power ~ Skull Bash (rush) @ Emiline / Skull Bash (charge) ~ Chill / Skull Bash (release) @ Emiline
Status: Pleased with results so far.
Defense +1, Special defense +1

Sylph [O]

[Takumi] Marshtomp (M) Torrent
Health: 89
Energy: 86
Safeguard ~ swim down ~ Whirlpool / Curse
Status: Trying not to move too much. Mimicked safeguard.
Burned (moderate, -3%/round)
Attack -1, Defense -1


Round Two

Miku gives an arrogant little flutter of her tailfins and smirks at Comet. Miku is the prettiest pokémon here, the fastest pokémon, the only pokémon who belongs out here in this part of the ocean, and that’s why she’s going to win. She’s even the only real fish around here, nothing like the so-called starfish that Comet is. Comet bristles. Staryu live among the corals and they rise up to the ocean surface at night; this part of the water column is certainly a place staryu belong. And besides, there’s a reason the relevant zoologists like to call staryu “sea stars”. Miku’s words don’t make much sense, anyway, since this isn’t a beauty contest and speed isn’t everything, especially if she’s not even using it to bring on the pain. But it’s not the words Comet is reacting to anyway, but rather, Miku’s entire demeanour, her arrogance and her total dismissal of everyone around her. The rage comes over Comet like a tidal wave, sweeping away all of its senses until it can only see Miku. It feels dizzy and sick and it can’t remember its orders but it knows that all it wants to do is punish the damn finneon for thinking she’s the queen of the ocean. Comet lunges forward, not seeing where it’s going, and it just smacks itself on the long pillar of ice that it created with its ice beam.

Emiline swims forward, too, and this time she’s after someone who can’t teleport out of the way. Takumi is bigger and heavier than she is, but all she has to do is restrain his limbs. She winds her long body around his arms and legs, keeping them tight against his body, and though Takumi squirms, he finds himself bound far too tightly. But without either of them putting any effort into swimming, unable to move, they find themselves very slowly sinking downward. Not fast enough to be a concern, though, and indeed, Takumi pays it no heed at all. Instead, he focuses on the move that he recently learned from Miku, and perfectly replicates the pale green glow around himself and his partner.

But Takumi isn’t the only one copying his opponent… though Miku does it a little more efficiently. She closes her eyes and reaches out with her mind to the still-spinning staryu, and she feels his overwhelming anger, the way it shakes with rage, and, underneath that, the unbreakable connection with the stars. She takes that into herself, the rage without the obsession, the sense of deep connection without the understanding of the cosmos, and opens her eyes again, just in time to see Comet spinning angrily in the wrong direction. Comet’s arms crash through more of the ice and leave bruises and cuts against its arms, but it barely even pays attention.

Emiline giggles to herself. That was pretty funny, and now, things are going pretty okay on her end, although she hasn’t forgotten about what happened a minute ago. Still, she thinks she feels more good than bad, and she uses that to fuel a good smack-down on the prey wrapped in her coils. Or at least, she’d like to, but there’s not much that she can move, so she’s stuck awkwardly hitting Takumi with her head and tail. Takumi grunts, not really paying much note, and instead tries to think of a way to swim lower while bound like this. He pushes out with his arms as best he can, and he thinks he feels Emiline’s coils loosen, but it’s not enough to free his arms.

The pale green aura fizzles out around Miku and Emiline, but only for a moment, and with another flutter of her tail-fins, Miku brings it back. She casts Emiline an encouraging look—things are going their way despite how put-out Emiline appears—and glances at Comet to see if it’s regained its senses yet. And it has, for the moment, but it finds itself with a different sort of confusion. Comet knows it hasn’t skull bashed yet, so it can’t chill, and honestly it doesn’t want to anyway, as much as that might help its dizziness. But it was specifically told to release a charged-up skull bash otherwise, and it doesn’t have one ready to go. What is it supposed to do? And could it aim that at Miku instead?

Emiline once again finds herself not feeling that strongly one way or the other. It’s not that she’s apathetic, but rather, her feelings are mixed. She managed to stop Takumi from swimming down, and she’s still successfully coiled around her target, but she still feels a little twinge of annoyance at how she can barely hurt Takumi when she can’t move. So she uses that to fuel her rather weak head-butts and tail-smacks, which Takumi again barely pays attention to. Takumi ponders for a moment whether whirlpool would be helpful, and decides that it only applies if he managed to escape. There’s no way to set up a whirlpool without catching himself in it, after all. Instead, he closes his eyes and silently makes an offering. A dull red glow surrounds him, underneath his green aura, and he prays that the spirits accept a loss of his mobility to give him strength. Whether or not any spirits are truly involved in this is difficult to prove, but when he opens his eyes, he does indeed feel a little stronger.

End of Round Two

Bluberry Bat [O]

[Comet] Staryu (X) Natural Cure + Water Stone
Health: 82
Energy: 86
confused ~ confused ~ nothing
Status: Dizzy with rage. Protected by safeguard (2 more actions). Confused (moderate).
Attack +2, Defense +1, Special defense +1

Sylph [O]

[Takumi] Marshtomp (M) Torrent
Health: 71
Energy: 78
Safeguard ~ failure ~ Curse
Status: Frustrated. Wrapped by Emiline (1 more action). Protected by safeguard (2 more actions).
Burned (moderate, -3%/round)
Speed -1


Notes:
- Comet attacked itself in confusion on the first two actions. It had neither skull bashed nor prepared skull bash, so it could do nothing on the third action.
- Takumi was unable to swim lower on the second action due to being wrapped up. His attempts to extricate himself loosened Emiline’s hold on him, however.
- The battle isn’t going amazingly well or poorly for Emiline; the return had 60 bp and the frustration had 50 bp. However, since she’s wrapping Takumi, both were weakened due to lack of maneuverability.
- Nothing unexpected happened to Miku, but everyone else got an entry, so she gets it for free.

Next round:
- Team 2 issues commands
- Team 1 issues commands

All parties have agreed to end this match in a draw. Bluberry Bat, Sylph, Coloursfall, and Floette receive $8 each. allitersonance gets $10. Coloursfall's Emiline and Floette's Miku get 2 exp each. Bluberry Bat's Comet and Sylph's Takumi get 1 exp each. Comet can now evolve.

Prizes will be resolved in the database shortly.