Meursault vs Aletheia

Open up with a Taunt to block the confusion, then Telekinesis and finish off with Hypnosis.

Taunt ~ Telekinesis ~ Hypnosis

Format: 3 v 3 single
Style: set
DQ: two weeks
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct healing, chills, ohko, attract. Evasion and picking Pokémon with STAB type advantage is considered poor form, though not banned.
Arena Description: Outside the Battle Arena

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Delve pulls a face at Franco, and hisses a taunt about how scrawny the Noibat is. How is she keeping her huge head up with just those tiny wings? What are those weird cereal bowls doing on her head? It must be so boring to have a corporeal form, especially one as weird as Franco's. Franco takes the bait and screeches a challenge in reply, her entire body shaking with anger. Delve makes a smug face, but stops smiling quickly as Franco opens her mouth and spits a glowing purple ball of energy at her. Delve goes a bit transparent as the energy passes through her, causing a burning feeling in the few solid atoms she has.

She shows her fangs, and focuses and closes her eyes. The Gastly reaches out with a tendril of psychic energy and grab ahold of Franco, locking her in place in the air. Franco squeaks in surprise as her wings lock in place, leaving her levitating unnaturally in the air. She rocks back and forth, trying to escape Delve's invisible grasp, but quickly gives up. Actually, it's not much different than flying, and takes less effort. She could get used to this, she thinks, as she wiggles her feet experimentally.

Delve frowns as Franco quickly gets used to her new immobile location. She was hoping that the Noibat would put up more of a fuss.. Lost in her thoughts, the Gastly doesn't have much time to process the ball of energy flying towards her once again. She hisses in surprise as it hits her right in the side, leaving a slight discolouration in her gaseous form. That really hurt!

Franco chirps proudly, nodding at Delve's wound with a quick motion. Delve doesn't appreciate the gesture. She floats closer to the Noibat, glaring with all the venom she can muster up, and forces Franco to make eye contact with her. Then, her eyes flash red and Franco slumps down, completely unconscious. The Noibat is such an odd sight, completely limp but still hovering in the air, that Delve has to laugh at the sight.


Notes
-It's raining (1 action remaining).
-The second Shadow Ball lowered Delve's Special Defense by 1.
-Meursault commands first next round.

That special defense drop would make me worried about Snore damage and wakeup, but we are blessedly immune! Still, the fate of this bout pretty much hinges on the Sleep Talk rolls. We kneel in prayer to the random number gods, in a direction blindly chosen after spinning around a whole bunch in an office chair.

As it happens, Hex and Dream Eater give us the same points difference! We're going to go with Hex though, since I don't actually care to check whether the ref does antistab or not. Hex as long as Franco is sleeping, Icy Wind if she wakes, and do nothing if she protects.

Hex/Icy Wind/nothing x3

DQ warning for Aletheia. You've got 48 hours, give or take some.

Sleep Talk untill the end of time, if you wake up continue your attempts to confuse by screeching

Sleep Talk/Supersonic x3

(clearly I spent the entire week pondering this course of action)e

Format: 3 v 3 single
Style: set
DQ: two weeks
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct healing, chills, ohko, attract. Evasion and picking Pokémon with STAB type advantage is considered poor form, though not banned.
Arena Description: Outside the Battle Arena

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Delve's eyes narrow as she starts to chant a dark spell under her breath. She grits her teeth, and the faint glowing outline of a magic circle appears in the air before her, before going flying towards Franco. There's a flash of light as the Hex hits, and Franco's face screws up in pain. At any rate, she quickly goes back to being deep in sleep, and starts to mutter nonsense words under her breath as well. Delve watches curiously as the Noibat starts to take on a faint red aura, still talking to herself under her breath. Suddenly Franco goes silent, and the red aura around her explodes outwards in a burst of flames. Delve hisses as the heat burns her core. At least the rain has taken away some of the flames' heat, but above, the skies are starting to clear up again. And just as the rain stops, Franco unceremoniously drops to the muddy ground as well.

Delve looks closer at the Noibat, who is twitching and making faces now, but still appears to be fast asleep. She draws back and starts to chant again, creating the same faint magic circle as before. When it hits Franco this time, she rolls over and makes a weird noise that might be a curse, might be a snore. She still seems to be asleep, though, and Delve smirks at her luck. She's not smiling for long, though. Franco mutters an almost coherent sentence and snaps the tip of her wing forwards right through Delve's smug face, burning with black flames. The Gastly makes an undignified, pained noise and reels backwards as the leftover energy eats at her form. She eyes Franco suspiciously. The Noibat got really lucky with that hit, for a sleeping Pokemon.

She starts chanting again, though this time, Delve is almost spitting the words out. The magic circle appears regardless, and flies at Franco with increased speed. Franco groans and groggily opens her eyes, then closes them again as she realizes how much pain she's in. When did she fall asleep? Why does she feel like she's burning? Why is she on the ground? Franco lifts off the ground with a couple of strong wingbeats and a confused expression, then turns her attention to Delve. The Noibat opens her mouth and makes a couple of high pitched clicking sounds, which make Delve cross her eyes slightly and make an odd expression. Franco yawns, not too sure about all of this. She isn't feeling great, but the Gastly isn't looking too good either, which makes Franco feel a little better.


Notes
-For the record, I don't do anti-STAB.
-Franco's Sleep Talk on the first action called Heat Wave.
-The rain stopped, and Francisco Franco stopped floating at the end of the first action.
-Franco's Sleep Talk on the second action called Shadow Claw, which was a critical hit.
-Franco's woke up on the third action and used Supersonic, which was successful.
-Aaand the winner of this bout is Aletheia! One more bout to go.

-Meursault sends out first
-Aletheia sends out and commands
-Meursault commands

Nooooo the crits :( ah well, you did your best Delve. Refraction is up next!

Franco doesn't lie down for anybody! B)

God is up next- let's finish things up in a big way!

I'm not sure how annoying that Natural Cure is going to be, but to be safe we're going to hold off on direct status effects for now. instead, work yourself up a bit before striking with some Thunder and a Shock Wave, too. if a Sub comes up, Snatch that cute thing, if a Protect or whatever is up, keep the Work Up

Work Up/Snatch~Thunder/Snatch/Work Up~Shock Wave/Snatch/Work Up

Okay Refraction, I have a BRILLIANT PLAN. I'm going to send you out on the roughest patch of dirt I can see, and you're going to put up some Camouflage. Not right away, though! You're going to use Secret Power first, and hope God goes the eff to sleep. If she does, then yippee! Let's have a field day with him! Psych Up to steal the boosts, then Hydro Pump while he sleeps. If she's not asleep, go ahead and Camouflage, then go for a one-action Skull Bash.

Secret Power ~ Camouflage/Psych Up ~ Skull Bash/Hydro Pump

God is a girl >:(

Aletheia said:

God is a girl >:(

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Corrected! My bad, forgot to double check.

Format: 3 v 3 single
Style: set
DQ: two weeks
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct healing, chills, ohko, attract. Evasion and picking Pokémon with STAB type advantage is considered poor form, though not banned.
Arena Description: Outside the Battle Arena

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The final bout of the battle begins with a bright flash of light as Refraction the Staryu and God Killing Himself the Rattata are sent onto the turf. The referee just.. stares for a moment at the Rattata, then shakes her head and raises her flags to start the battle.

Refraction hums quietly as the gem in its center starts to glow, cycling through a number of bright hues before stopping on a bright, grass green. God narrows her eyes and looks straight into the light with suspicion, which proves to be a mistake as suddenly, a beam of light shoots from Refraction's core right into the Rattata's face. She squeaks and stumbles backwards, and begins to mutter to herself. It's alright. This is just the beginning of the battle. She can turn this around. Yeah. Yeah! God starts to get more confident as she keeps muttering, shooting angry glances over at Refraction.

The Staryu doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the Rattata. Or maybe it's paying close attention? It's hard to tell. At any rate, Refraction spins on one of its appendages and digs itself deeper into the muddy ground, its core pulsing with light as it analyzes the earth below. The Staryu makes a quiet pinging noise as it determines that it is definitely sinking into mud, which is.. mostly dirt and soil, right? With a quiet hum, Refraction shivers and starts to take on a rough texture, its gem core turning slightly brown.

God watches curiously as Refraction pops back up to the surface of the mud and spins, sending the mud on its appendages flying. She wrinkles her nose and turns her head to the sky, calling back the dark clouds retreating over the horizon. The air fills with the smell of ozone and the Rattata's eyes flash yellow, and with a loud crack, a bolt of lightning drops from the sky and strikes the ground a few feet to the left of Refraction.

The Staryu jumps, despite itself, then gathers its wits together and hunches down as if it's laughing. God makes a face. It wasn't that funny, okay. What, like the Staryu's landed every single attack it's ever used? No way- she's cut off as Refraction launches itself towards her, spinning wildly and slamming core first into the Rattata's chest. God gasps in pain as Refraction retreats with a high pitched noise that could be laughter, and she bares her teeth angrily. The Rattata rubs her paws together and builds up a static charge on her fur, then releases the electricity with a cry. To her surprise, Refraction doesn't seem to be affected at all as the electric sparks hit its body, and harmlessly run off into the ground. The Staryu makes a musical noise as God grits her teeth and digs her paws into the ground, the frustration pouring off her in waves.


Notes
-God Killing Himself's name is the toppest of top quality
-Rattata's XY sprite doesn't seem to be loading so??? don't mind me
-The terrain is like 70% grass, 30% mud (due to rain and the Surfs at the beginning of the battle), so Secret Power's added effect was grass. The sleep roll failed, though.
-That being said, the closest thing to 'rough terrain' on the field is soupy mud, which is... still mostly earth, but not quite? I had Camouflage change Refraction to Ground type, but it cost 1% extra energy to get the Ground type sorted.
-God's Thunder on the second action missed, at any rate.
-God's Show Wave failed on the third action, as Refraction was Ground type.
-Meursault commands first.

Yessss an ideal outcome. Okay Refraction, since you don't have any STAB moves to take advantage of, the name of the game is Bolt Beam Pulse. or something. Not in that order. If God protects, use Cosmic Power. Otherwise, Ice Beam, Water Pulse, then Thunderbolt, but go second. If God starts charging at you with a Super Fang, Teleport to the water and resume your attacks from there.

Ice Beam/Cosmic Power/Teleport ~ Water Pulse/Cosmic Power/Teleport ~ Thunderbolt/Cosmic Power/Teleport

STOMPS FOOT TO INDICATE THAT THIS IS BULLSHIT. I'll lead you to victory yet, God >:( with a shitty art film as your namesake you can't lose!

Dig down to dodge that nasty beam, then leap out gallantly to bash the staryu's ugly face in or something- you'll get wet for your trouble, but that's fine, get yourself four cool clone bros to hopefully dodge the thunder and keep Refraction busy while we try to figure out how to get it off your tail >:B

Dig~Dig (cont'd)~Double Team (4 clones)

Format: 3 v 3 single
Style: set
DQ: two weeks
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct healing, chills, ohko, attract. Evasion and picking Pokémon with STAB type advantage is considered poor form, though not banned.
Arena Description: Outside the Battle Arena

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Refraction seems to be tuned out of the battle (or maybe it's just waiting for something?) as far as God can tell, looking suspiciously at the Staryu through narrowed eyes. An awkward moment passes, then God decides to just take advantage of the opportunity, and digs her paws into the gross, soupy mud. She makes a face but presses on anyways, quickly disappearing underground and leaving Refraction to itself on the surface. The Staryu beeps uncertainly, and approaches the hole God left behind with caution. Its gem core starts to glow, and it sort of half-heartedly fires a thin stream of icy energy at the hole, to no effect.

Refraction can feel the earth shaking under its appendages suddenly, but doesn't have time to consider this or move out of the way as God bursts out of the ground beneath it, sending both of them flying a few feet into the air. Refraction chimes wildly as it lands hard on its gem, flipping over with a weak buzzing noise as God trots away with a smirk. The Staryu whirls upright and takes a moment to assess its pain, before deciding it would be fine enough to continue. Its gem and the blue stone around its neck both glow bright blue, and Refraction releases a blast of water from its core, which strikes God and makes her head hurt.

God shakes the water from her fur and chatters angrily at the Staryu, then takes off running around the field in a big circle. She speeds up until she's sprinting at top speed, and there are four blurry Rattatas streaming along behind her. The five Rattatas screech to a stop in a circle around Refraction, and shriek a taunt at the Staryu. Refraction doesn't seem to be bothered, though, and spins around to face a clone at random. Its gem flashes yellow and a bolt of electricity streaks away from it towards its chosen Rattata, who to its surprise, does not immediately flash and disappear. God shrieks in pain as the electricity courses through her body, and her clones immediately flicker away and disappear as she loses control over them. The Rattata hisses a challenge at Refraction, and she can barely be stopped from charging at the Staryu as the referee waves her flags to end the round.


Notes
-Dig took 1% extra energy, due to the mud caving in God's tunnel for the first two or so feet.
-God's Dig on the second action was a critical hit.
-Refraction's Thunderbolt hit on the third action and destroyed God's clones. I guess you've been at the RNG shrine lately, huh?
-Aletheia commands first. It's the last round, so make it count!

hrrrrrrrgh

we've got this >:(

show that despite your health disadvantage you still have divine Swagger, then go for an Endeavor- if it lands, swtich to Ice Beam; if a Protect/Other Thing comes up, Curse yourself >:o

Swagger/Curse~Endeavor/Ice Beam/Curse~Endeavor/Ice Beam/Curse

Pah, I am unconcerned by this Swagger chicanery. Drop your camo and Hydro Pump, then Teleport onto the Arena roof (or into a tree or something) where that Endeavor can't reach you. Finish of with a Brine for good measure- unless Hydro Pump missed, in which case come flying down with a Waterfall to make good use of that attack boost.

Hydro Pump (drop Camouflage) ~ Teleport (to roof) ~ Brine/Waterfall

Regardless of how this turns out, good game Aletheia!

Format: 3 v 3 single
Style: set
DQ: two weeks
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: Direct healing, chills, ohko, attract. Evasion and picking Pokémon with STAB type advantage is considered poor form, though not banned.
Arena Description: Outside the Battle Arena

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Refraction's core flashes once, and the Water Stone tied loosely to its back starts to glow as the Staryu shakes uncontrollably. The rough texture on its appendages suddenly falls away and its gem returns to a bright red colour as Refraction continues to give the impression that it's lost control of its limbs. God backs away cautiously, but doesn't get far before a ridiculous, impossible jet of water shoots out from Refraction's core, blasting her down into the muddy ground. The Rattata gargles weakly and tries to scramble away, but the pressure is far too strong and she doesn't really have anywhere to go. As the stream of water peters away, God limply gets up and does her best to shake the mud from her fur, glaring at Refraction.

As she cleans her fur she starts insulting the Staryu, quietly at first, and then increasing in volume until she's yelling at the top of her lungs, dirty fur forgotten now. Refraction boops in surprise, and then angrily as God continues to screech about its flaws, rather shrilly. The Staryu moves as if it's going to approach God, then, to the Rattata's surprise, her opponent just.. vanishes from sight. She looks around wildly, seeing no trace of Refraction on the field. A flick of movement from closer to the Battle Arena catches her gaze, and her jaw drops as she spots Refraction balancing precariously on top of the tall wooden structure just in front of the Arena.

God figures there's no way she can reach the Staryu from her current position, and decides to just let it come to her instead, and give herself time to prepare for whatever it threw at her. She starts chanting a low incantation under her breath, eyes glowing red for a moment as she sways to an inaudible beat. When she stops, her eyes aren't fully focused, and she's got the start of an odd expression on her face.

From its vantage point, Refraction can't really tell what's going on with its opponent, but it's still furious at being taunted earlier nonetheless. Its core starts to glow as it mentally reaches out towards the salt water surrounding the Battle Arena.. and then in its blind anger, it literally reaches out a bit too far and comes crashing down from the fencepost, landing heavily on its gem with a panicked buzzing noise. God doesn't take too much notice of the Staryu though, nothing her opponent's distance with a nod and barely reacting further. She starts to chant and sway slightly once again, her eyes unfocused as she faces vaguely in Refraction's direction.

With a quiet cough, the referee looks at her watch and raises her flags to signal the end of the round, then rushes over to do a final check on the status of the battling Pokemon. It's a close one, but she can judge that Refraction is in slightly better condition, and that Meursault is the winner of the match!


The Trainers and the referee spend a few moments congratulating each other on the battle, before all parties involved go to collect their Pokemon. Just as Meursault heads up the steps of the Battle Arena to recall Refraction, the front doors of the Arena open to reveal Arena Tycoon Greta standing there, looking curiously at Meursault for a moment before noticing the torn up turf and flooded pathway in front of the Battle Arena. The referee freezes. Aletheia and God freeze, and Meursault quickly recalls Refraction before freezing as well.

"What.." the Frontier Brain starts, then stops, speechless. "Did you have a Pokemon battle out here? Seriously? Less than a hundred feet from one of the top battling facilities in the world? And you chose to have a battle outside the building, rather than inside, where it could be contained?"

The referee makes a face and looks like she's about to reply, before she hesitates and years of Asberian referee training kick in. Instead, she turns and grabs Aletheia. The Trainer barely has time to recall her Pokemon as the referee drags them towards Meursault at a sprint, and holds onto the two Trainers' sleeves tightly as a League Abra Teleports in and away with them before the Frontier Brain can react. Another international incident avoided. It looks like no one's going to be arrested for vandalism and destruction of public property today!

Notes
-tbh I've never fought Greta so I have no idea what's she actually acts like oops
-I was a bit ehhh about dropping Camouflage, but apparently there's been a ruling sooo. Hydro Pump cost an extra 1% energy to compensate for the few seconds it took to drop Camouflage (though the Water Stone made up for that so it didn't really matter in the end?)
-Refraction's Teleport on the second action landed it on top of the weird fence posts in front of the Battle Arena, as the roof seems pretty sharply sloped and I don't know how well that would turn out.
-Refraction hurt itself in confusion on the third action.
-And the winner of the match is Meursault, by a narrow 4 points! That confusion made it pretty close at the end.

Okay uh let's see here. Bass gets 2 EXP and 3 happiness, Franco and Refraction get 2 EXP/happiness, Tank and Delve get 1 EXP/happiness, and God gets 1 EXP/2 happiness. (whew) Meursault gets $24, Aletheia gets $12 and I get $15. Nice battle, everyone! Remember, if the frontier authorities show up, this never happened.

Excellent game, Aletheia! That last bout really came down to the coin flip on Teleport. And major kudos to Dragon for reffing this, thanks a bunch!

Meursault said:

Excellent game, Aletheia! That last bout really came down to the coin flip on Teleport. And major kudos to Dragon for reffing this, thanks a bunch!

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I totally missed this ending and now look like an ass omg ;-;

thank you likewise for having me! this was a good exercise to get back into ASB, certainly