[15] Music Dragon vs Byrus (ref: JackPK)

[Byrus]

oh god that worked

Okay, well, now looks like a good time to mimic that Drain Punch. (Ugh why don't you get that move) Next, if it looks like her protect is going to fail (Flickery and weak), then go for a Seismic Toss to throw her substitute right at her. If the Protect looks stable or you're not sure, just Chill. If you didn't get to use mimic last round, try again.

Finish with a Drain Punch of your own, targeting her energy, unless her substitute is still up, then try out that Seismic Toss manoeuvre now. If she's out of range or you still didn't get to Mimic Drain Punch, go for Vacuum Wave.

Mimic (Drain Punch) ~ Mimic (Drain Punch)/Seismic Toss (Throw sub)/Chill ~ Drain Punch (Energy)/Seismic Toss (Throw sub)/Vacuum Wave

[Eifie]

Oops! 48-hour DQ warning for Music Dragon. Let me know if you need more time.

[Music Dragon]

Bah. Three successful paralysis rolls and a failed Protect roll in the same round? The probability of that outcome was less than 20%... Hmph. Very well.

Use Teeter Dance as soon as you're able to; if you somehow manage to confuse him with an action to spare, switch to energy Drain Punch.

Teeter Dance / Drain Punch (energy) x3

[Eifie]

Round Twelve

Music Dragon

Lillibeth ♀
Ability: Own Tempo
Health: 20%
Energy: 29%
Status: Obliviously oinking away. Has a 3% Substitute. Encored into Protect (2 more actions). 5 Chills remaining. -1 Speed.

Byrus

Zack Ryder ♂
Ability: Guts
Health: 84%
Energy: 27%
Status: Glad for the chance to catch his breath. Pumped up. Guts activated. 4 Chills remaining. Severely paralyzed (22% failure chance).

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Lillibeth continues to oink her little tune, while Zack Ryder continues to pretend to watch in appreciation. (In actuality, he's just completely unable to move, as his muscles choose this moment to refuse to respond.) For a moment, all is peaceful. Lillibeth's shield flickers around her, but Zack Ryder hardly notices, focusing hard on trying to remember what Lillibeth did to summon up that weird green energy around her fist. It was a while ago, and his memory is hazy, but the one part that's still clear to him is the woozy feeling as the energy relentlessly devoured his life force away...

Just as Zack Ryder's thinking he's got the technique down, Lillibeth abruptly snaps out of her musical trance. Indeed, all sense of pitch and rhythm is gone from the Grumpig as she begins uncontrollably lurching around, oinking uproariously at the top of her surprisingly-huge lungs. Eerie soundwaves emanate from the places she touches, their frequencies just slightly off from reality, and the eerie dissociation between what he sees and hears begins to make Zack Ryder feel very, very ill. Dizzily he attempts to take a step forward, the earth spinning all around in circles and seeming to rise up to meet him head-on, and yet he remains standing. Zack Ryder gulps and forces himself uncertainly onward, grabbing aimlessly at the air in front of him until his fingers close around something soft and squishy and nearly weightless. The remains of Lillibeth's Substitute struggle to escape his grasp, and with an angered roar Zack Ryder lifts the offensive creature above his head and hurls it forward into its maker. The Substitute explodes all over Lillibeth with a sickening squelch, and the Grumpig stops moving, startled but hardly actually fazed. Oh well... Zack Ryder's got bigger things to worry about, like how he suddenly seems to be stuck inside the Windows 98 maze screensaver...

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Music Dragon

Lillibeth ♀
Ability: Own Tempo
Health: 19%
Energy: 22%
Status: Huffily wiping the remains of her Substitute off her gems. How undignified! 5 Chills remaining. -1 Speed.
Used: Protect ~ Protect (failed) ~ Teeter Dance

Byrus

Zack Ryder ♂
Ability: Guts
Health: 84%
Energy: 21%
Status: Come on, turn left here... no, no, don't keep going...! Pumped up. Guts activated. Drain Punch mimicked. 4 Chills remaining. Severely paralyzed (20% failure chance). Severely confused (35% failure chance).
Used: [paralyzed] ~ Mimic (Drain Punch) ~ Seismic Toss

Arena Status

• Both battlers are on the small rectangular island below the bridge (see here).

Damage and Energy

• Lillibeth's Health: 20% - 1% (Seismic Toss) = 19%
• Lillibeth's Substitute: 3% - 16% (Seismic Toss) = 0%
• Lillibeth's Energy: 29% - 2% (Protect) - 1% (Protect) - 4% (Teeter Dance) = 22%
• Zack Ryder's Health: 84%
• Zack Ryder's Energy: 27% - 2% (Mimic) - 4% (Seismic Toss) = 21%

Notes

• Speed order: Lillibeth (53) > Zack Ryder (9).
• Mimic took a bit more energy to use, as the move Zack Ryder was trying to remember had been used five actions ago at this point.
• A Pokémon developing a resistance to confusion when it's inflicted repeatedly is hard to explain with flavour, but I guess it's necessary for balance purposes, so Zack Ryder's confusion started at a 40% failure chance instead of the usual 50%.
• Technically, Zack Ryder can never get much of an advantage over any other Pokémon when using Seismic Toss because he weighs less than 50 kg. That on its own is probably a little silly, since he's a Machop, but also Substitutes are pretty light, so Seismic Toss had the normal base power for when the user and target's weights are within 50 kg of one another, but only cost 3% energy (base). The normal base power applied only to the damage done to the Substitute; since Substitutes are really soft and squishy, and Lillibeth's Substitute was nearly depleted, the throw only did minimal damage to Lillibeth.
• Music Dragon commands first.

[Music Dragon]

Energy Drain Punch is our only hope for victory, Lillibeth! Use it whenever there's an opening, such as when Zack's too paralyzed or confused to act. But if he tries to use Encore, Attract, or a damaging move that's not Focus Punch, you'd better Protect yourself. And of course, Snatch any Chills!

Byrus... It wouldn't be fair to say that chance brought you here. You overcame that difficult situation by working as one with your Pokémon. We Trainers raise Pokémon by giving them items and by teaching them new techniques for battle. But we ourselves also learn many things from Pokémon. And this is where your achievements are put to the test against what others like you have achieved. Now! Who can most elegantly dance with their Pokémon in Asber? Show me right here and now!

Drain Punch (energy) / Protect / Snatch x3

[Byrus]

...Looks like it's gonna come down to luck again! Bait the first Protect with a Vacuum Wave, then try and get your Drain Punch in. gg either way, Music Dragon.

Vacuum Wave ~ Drain Punch (Energy) x2

[Eifie]

Round Thirteen

Music Dragon

Lillibeth ♀
Ability: Own Tempo
Health: 19%
Energy: 22%
Status: Huffily wiping the remains of her Substitute off her gems. How undignified! 5 Chills remaining. -1 Speed.

Byrus

Zack Ryder ♂
Ability: Guts
Health: 84%
Energy: 21%
Status: Come on, turn left here... no, no, don't keep going...! Pumped up. Guts activated. Drain Punch mimicked. 4 Chills remaining. Severely paralyzed (20% failure chance). Severely confused (35% failure chance).

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Ugh, no! Why won't the computer listen to him?! It's taking that turn that obviously leads to a dead end, and Zack Ryder's muscles refuse to do anything about it. As he watches helplessly, Lillibeth charges up a vortex of eerie green energy around her fist and drives it into his side, and a strange emptiness fills the Machop, jolting him back to alertness. Weakly he struggles to his feet, the world swirling around him both from nausea and exhaustion. He's got to reclaim some of his energy if he's to have a chance at winning this... so Zack Ryder draws back his fist, concentrating to summon up an aura of swirling green energy around it as Lillibeth's been doing. He stumbles forward, desperate to damage his foe, but Lillibeth is too quick for him. She quickly conjures up a shield of transparent energy around her, and Zack Ryder bounces clumsily off of it, falling backward onto the grass.

The world fades in and out of Zack Ryder's vision for what feels like an eternity. No longer can he hear his crowd of cheering fans. Only the dreadful emptiness creeping through his body somehow rings deafeningly in his ears. Panting heavily, Zack Ryder struggles to call up more green energy around his fist. No matter how hard he focuses, he just can't get it to work. He draws his fist to his face to examine it... but somehow he misjudges its speed, and ends up smacking himself in the face, hard. Ow! Stupid fist! How rude! The last thing he hears is the smug, oinking laughter of his opponent as she looms over him, mysterious green energy swirling around her fist...

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Music Dragon

Lillibeth ♀
Ability: Own Tempo
Health: 19%
Energy: 9%
Status: ... Victorious?! Well... obviously. Brains are more powerful than brawn, after all!
Used: Drain Punch (energy) ~ Protect ~ Drain Punch (energy)

Byrus

Zack Ryder ♂
Ability: Guts
Health: 78%
Energy: 0%
Status: Knocked out!
Used: [paralyzed] ~ Drain Punch (energy) ~ [confused]

Arena Status

• Both battlers are on the small rectangular island below the bridge (see here).

Damage and Energy

• Lillibeth's Health: 19%
• Lillibeth's Energy: 22% - 5% (Drain Punch) + 3% (Drain Punch) - 9% (Protect) - 5% (Drain Punch) + 3% (Drain Punch) = 9%
• Zack Ryder's Health: 84% - 6% (confusion) = 78%
• Zack Ryder's Energy: 21% - 7% (Drain Punch) - 6% (Drain Punch) - 4% (confusion) - 7% (Drain Punch) = 0%

Notes

• Music Dragon finally got a bit of good luck, as Zack Ryder was paralyzed on the first action.
• On the second action, Zack Ryder needed to roll a 25 or lower to hit himself in confusion. He rolled a 26. The RNG giveth, and the RNG taketh away...
• ... And the RNG giveth. For the game-winning roll, Zack hit himself in confusion on the third action, sealing his fate. (Note that Guts influenced the power and energy of the attack he used against himself, as confusion-fail is reffed as a physical attack.)
• Well, this battle really went back and forth, thanks to the ever-fickle Random Number Gods! Both of you battled admirably, and there were so many times when I thought this was bound to end much sooner. In the end, luck favoured Music Dragon just long enough for him to edge out a win, and he'll be proceeding to the next round of the tournament. He gets $40 and Byrus gets $20, and both battlers get their choice of Hidden Ability Pokémon. I split $30 with JackPK. Thanks for a great battle, you guys!

[Byrus]

Aw man, I should really be kicking myself for losing despite a STAB type advantage, but that was a good game regardless. The parafusion combo is indeed fickle. Good luck in the rest of the tournament, MD!

[Music Dragon]

Oh boy! That was probably the most challenging battle I've ever been put through! You truly are a worthy opponent. Perhaps next time we meet, the coin will flip the other way...

Thank you, Byrus. And thank you, Jack and Eifie, for doing a fantastic job as referees. Until next time!