The atmosphere outside Stark mountain is quiet and peaceful, and the haze of ash floating down casts the place in a blanket of gray. The lava pits at the bottom of the hill seethe and bubble away, bathing the place in a vicious warmth.
The silence is suddenly broken as the air ripples and distorts, and three trainers appear in a burst of psychic energy, along with a sleepy looking Abra. No dangerous or tiring treks for them. They all inspect their surroundings carefully while the referee recalls his snoozing Abra, and they all quickly inch away from the boiling lava pits below. However, the fiery battleground is actually pretty tame as far as things in the Asber league go, and it certainly makes a change from rowdy bars.
Each trainer makes their way to opposite ends of the rough patch of grass, nervously clutching their lava proof™ umbrellas as they go. As the referee signals for things to begin, the Pokémon are released in two bright flashes of light from each side of the field.
Mercury the Oshawott and Umbra the Litwick appear in front of Legendaryseeker, while Djalène the shiny Vulpix and Valicorth the Venipede appear in front of Zhorken. The two fire types immediately take well to the surroundings, but Valicorth and Mercury look much more uncertain. Val utters a startled squeak as he sees the fire down below and immediately scampers behind Djalène, who tries to calm him with a few reassuring words.
Mercury winces and tries to shield his eyes from the falling ash with his stubby arms, squinting over at his foes with a critical eye. The Litwick next to him cheerfully gives off a few sparks of flame as his yellow eyes light up, trying to encourage the grim looking Oshawott.
Zhorken (OO)
[Valicorth]
![venipede](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/venipede.png)
(M) <Poison point>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Nervously hiding behind his partner.
Zhorken (OO)
[Djalène]
(F) <Flash fire>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Calm and collected.
Legendaryseeker99 (OO)
[Umbra]
![litwick](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/litwick.png)
(M) <Flash fire>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Excited and ready to go.
Legendaryseeker99 (OO)
[Mercury]
![oshawott](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/oshawott.png)
(M) <Torrent>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Looking a bit hesitant.
Round one
Djalène is the first to move, and the speedy fire type quickly zooms in on Umbra. The Litwick is slowly making his way to the wonderfully inviting lava, but he’s caught off guard when his opponent suddenly begins turning up the heat in a very different way. Djalène wags her shining tails at the little ghost, and flicks her head, showing off her sparkling coat as she tries to catch his attention.
Her display is all too effective: Umbra blinks rapidly in surprise at the weird start to the battle, then finds himself staring at the wonderful sleekness of the Vulpix's golden fur. He always did secretly admire shiny Pokémon, and meeting one in person really is a treat!
Mercury spares a glance over at his partner and frowns; what on earth is he playing at? He’s going all googly eyed over that egotistic Vulpix when he’s supposed to be in a battle! Grumbling to himself, Mercury turns away from Umbra to focus on his own endeavors, hoping to lead him by example.
He eyes up the frightened little bug with a devious grin; time to show his team mate how it’s done. He dashes up to Valicorth with a (somewhat) intimidating battle cry, preparing to leap up into the air. The frightened Valicorth quickly snaps to attention, and begins generating a potent mix of toxins to deliver to the unsuspecting Oshawott. As Mercury leaps up and prepares to deliver the strike, Valicorth spits out the purple blob of poison, which splashes onto Mercury’s chest with a nasty hiss. Mercury lets out a disgusted cry, but he continues his attack without faltering, and delivers a slashing blow to Valicorth from above.
Mercury immediately begins to frantically wipe at his chest when he lands, and manages to dislodge the worst of the muck, but the rest of it has already seeped into his skin. He groans as he’s suddenly overcome by a horribly queasy feeling, and doubles over. It’s only going to get worse from here, and the Oshawott spares a moment to glare daggers at Valicorth, who is worriedly inspecting the slash mark on his armour.
Meanwhile, Umbra suddenly remembers that he was supposed to be doing something… what was it? Oh yeah! Jump into that lovely lava. He was so busy admiring the wonderfully shiny colour of Djalène’s glorious coat, that it almost completely slipped his mind. With one last admiring glance at her, he makes his slow but steady way to the lower area, his sights set on the widest lava pit.
Djalène pads along after him, much to his delight, and the Vulpix tries to hide her irritation at the candle Pokémon's lack of speed.
The heat from the lava grows even more intense as Umbra finally moves up beside the edge, but neither fire type appears to be bothered by the lake of fire. In fact, Djalène openly basks in its warmth, closing her eyes contently as the heat washes over her. Umbra takes the sun worship one step further; he casually slides into the lava, and floats placidly in its fiery depths. Soon enough, the blue flame atop his head suddenly explodes into a raging fireball, and the Litwick’s body begins to drip ethereal wax as his inner flame begins to burn even brighter.
Djalène looks at Umbra’s display with interest, then quickly takes the opportunity to praise the triumphant looking Litwick and compliment his beautiful fiery demeanour. Umbra blinks in surprise at the sudden slew of compliments, and smiles bashfully as Djalène flutters her eyes at him and wags her tails again. Not only is she pretty, but she’s really nice too! Grinning widely, he breathes out a small fireball, and molds it into a rather crude heart shape, then proudly displays it to his new love. Djalène struggles to suppress her laughter at his hap-hazard work, and nods her head approvingly. Hey, as long as he isn't roasting her all too flammable friend.
Mercury’s jaw nearly hits the floor as he sees Umbra fall even harder for Djalène’s silly antics. This is ridiculous! He’s sorely tempted to march on down there and try and slap some sense into him, but he supposes he’s just going to have to make do with pushing around his friend’s new found love interest instead. With a fiercely determined expression (although with his clownish face it’s still a little hard to take him seriously), Mercury digs his stubby paws into the ashy earth and begins to rapidly churn up dirt. Soon enough, he’s made a sizeable enough tunnel to take shelter in, and it brings a welcome relief from the thick cloud of ash falling down. He huddles down in his tunnel and taps his chin as he tries to think of the safest way to get to that deceptive Vulpix.
Valicorth is also relieved to see that Mercury won’t be bothering him again for now, and he cautiously scurries over to his partner. He falters a bit as he comes even closer to the lava, hating the intense heat that’s washing over him. He braves onward nevertheless, lowering his head down as he struggles onward. The heat only gets worse as he reaches the edge of the pit, and the little bug has to stop and take a few moments to catch his breath as he tries to get used to the unwelcome warmth. Looking into the fiery depths is terrifying, so he tries to hone in on his current target instead.... who is also on fire. Oh Arceus, so much fire...
Gulping nervously, the Venipede begins generating the familiar mix of toxins, then spits out the sludgy mess at Umbra and hopes for the best. By some miracle the glob of poison hits its mark; Umbra is snapped out of his day-dreaming as it hits him square in the face and immediately begins to sink into his ghostly form.
The nasty sizzling hiss the acidic mess makes is barely audible over the lava, but its effects are just as potent. The Litwick’s dreamy expression turns to one of pain and disgust as he feels the nasty stuff rapidly working its way through his system. Djalène tries to keep up the ruse by giving a shocked gasp, and leans over the edge with a look of feigned concern.
In his underground tunnel, Mercury listens carefully for any movement above, then cautiously begins to plot his digging path. He’s going to have to be extremely careful if he wasn’t to avoid getting roasted in lava, so he continues to listen for movement as he begins to churn up dirt again. Time to put an end to Umbra’s silly infatuation… or maybe just cause him to get mad. He winces; hopefully not the second one.
Sooty earth continues to fly as the Oshawott digs away, moving with impressive speed for someone with such stubby arms. Soon enough, Djalène gives a small yip of surprise as the earth under her paws begins to shift and crumble. She quickly backs away, just as Mercury bursts from the ground, scattering dirt everywhere and scaring the living daylights out of her. He delivers a vicious blow as he raises up, knocking the startled Vulpix off her feet and coating her with a layer of grime. Umbra gives a horrified gasp as he sees Mercury bowling Djalène over, and he immediately begins to give his partner a stern telling off. Mercury grits his teeth and holds his head in his paws as Umbra continues his tirade about his friend's terrible lack of manners. Look at the mess he made out of her beautiful shiny coat!
As their opponents bicker, Valicorth hesitantly approaches the lava, and scuttles around in a panic as the fiery warmth engulfs him. The Litwick is vulnerable at the moment, as his attention is currently elsewhere, however, he's also immersed in the lava, which puts him quite out of the bug's range.
As the dismayed Valicorth looks helplessly on at the Litwick, Djalène raises up again with an irritated glance at Mercury. She's not pleased to see the layer of dirt over the dazzling sheen of her fur, and she gives herself a good shake before she sets about her commands. There doesn't seem to be much point though; the Oshawott doesn't appear to haven't bothered with the dancing part of his commands and instead focused on the covering her with dirt part.
She gives it a go anyway, and her eyes glow with an eerie pink light as she taps into her psychic abilities. Mercury gives a small shiver as Djalène deploys the psychic link with his mind, scanning through the thoughts and analyzing his current state. He gives a small sigh of relief as she abruptly breaks the link with a disappointed growl, wondering where that horrible feeling came from.
He doesn't dwell on it for long however, as his supposed team mate is still acting up, and the Oshawott is worried about how he's going to snap him out of this foolishness.
End of round one
Zhorken (OO)
[Valicorth]
![venipede](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/venipede.png)
(M) <Poison point>
Health: 93%
Energy: 89%
Status: Horribly uncomfortable in the heat, and still sticking close to Djalène.
Moves used this round: Toxic (Mercury) ~ Toxic (Umbra) ~ Struggle bug (Failed)
Zhorken (OO)
[Djalène]
(F) <Flash fire>
Health: 90%
Energy: 89%
Status: Still shaking dirt off her coat and looking a bit irritable.
Moves used this round: Captivate (Umbra) ~ Attract (Umbra) ~ Psych up
Legendaryseeker99 (OO)
[Umbra]
![litwick](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/litwick.png)
(M) <Flash fire>
Health: 99%
Energy: 98%
Status: Furious at his partner for daring to harm his new love interest. Currently in the widest lava pit.
Flash fire activated | - 2 special attack | Attracted to Djalène (Severe), Severely poisoned (2% next round)
Moves used this round: Jump into lava ~ [Attracted] ~ [Attracted]
Legendaryseeker99 (OO)
[Mercury]
![oshawott](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/bw/oshawott.png)
(M) <Torrent>
Health: 99%
Energy: 80%
Status: Frustrated with Umbra's naivety.
Severely poisoned (2% next round)
Moves used this round: Aerial ace (Valicorth) ~ Dig ~ Dig (Attack Djalène)
Arena notes
The Pokémon started off at the top of the hill in the patch of grass. Umbra is currently in the wide pit in front of the entrance, while the other three are near the edge of the pit.
Battle notes
- Derp, sorry for the delay, hopefully there's not too many errors.
- Valicorth and Djalène used very minor energy to follow Umbra down to the pit.
- Valicorth was unable to reach Umbra in the lava, so struggle bug failed. He didn't waste any energy on it though.
- I apply the full energy cost for dig when it's used for attacking, otherwise it costs half the full amount.
- Psych up didn't actually copy anything, so Djalène only used half the regular amount of energy on it.
- Zhorken attacks first.