[15] Ampharos vs hopeandjoy (ref: pathos)

Both young pokemon are quite enthralled with the arena choice, taking a moment to check Prism Tower - or try to, as it seems to reach so high into the sky that their necks ache before they can see the end of it. Everything around them is equally stunning, the shops intricately detailed - though closed for business, now, with the tournament - and the people bustling about, cheering them on. That gets them focused, at least, returning their attention to each other.

Cardina is first to move, technically at least, since she doesn’t move so much as clear her throat and cough a bit until some phlegm leaks out of her mouth. Appearing a bit disgusted, she lobs the spit Wei’s way, only to have it smack into an invisible shield, sliding down onto the pavement with a singe. Wei grins, glad to have avoided that nastyness, and let’s go of the protect.

Feeling motivated, Wei decides down is the perfect time to pump himself up. The crowd cheers him on as he shows off his muscles, emphasizing his tiny biceps, posing to flex them, then getting down to do some quick push ups. He’s feeling totally amped to take on anything - except for the twin seeds that plop onto his back and wriggle into his fur, digging in tight before he jumps up and tries to rub them off. He keeps scratching but the roots have stuck under his skin now, sapping away tiny bits of energy for their master…

Wei’s expression darkens as he turns to glare at Cardina. Oh, that nasty, mean little plant! Oh, she’s got one coming! He stomps towards her, dark energy focusing into his tiny palm, then speeds up a bit as he closes in - and with a scream he slams his fist down on her oran berry, smacking it off so hard she’s knocked into the street face-first. She lets out a muted yelped - it hurts - and reacts without thinking, unleashing a psyhic torrent of pain into the pancham’s mind, so eager to get him away - and it does, he scrambles back and runs, tripping over his feet and scratching at his head to try and stop the pain, until finally it does. He bends over on his knees for a moment, panting, while Cardina tries to bounce back upright. Both pokemon are coming to doubt this whole battling thing.​

Wei’s commands are a bit tricky - he has to wait and see what his opponent does, while also being unable to do so, if he wishes to remain prepared to protect… So he’s relieved when he notices a tiny flaming ushering from the pumpkaboo’s mouth-hole, giving him enough time to rush up a protective shield. The flames dance towards him drunkenly, zigging this way and that, and finally extinguish themselves on his opaque barrier with a hiss - good. He lets down the shield…

… Only to sweep up another one, as more flames flicker his way from Cardina’s yawning mouth. The pumpkaboo’s frustration is clear on her face as her tiny flames scatter uselessly against Wei’s protect, going out once again as he lets down the shield with a sigh of relief. Both pokemon eye each other, at a bit of a stand-still.

Wei isn’t dumb - he knows his chances of succeeding with another protect are near non-existant. So when another flame sputters to life, fluttering slowly and unsteadily towards him, he closes his eyes to put all his focus into this one last attempt - not even opening them to see if it’s working, no, just hoping, hoping - and gasping, a tiny yelp as he feels the singe land white-hot on his cheek. His paws rush up to smack out the flame, but it’s too late, his fur and skin below it are deeply burnt. Cardina finally grins. It took all round, but she got the job done.​

Before Cardina can even think of her commands, Wei springs forwards, a terrible grin on his face, and lands claws first on the pumpkin, green energy sapping itself from Cardina to Wei. The pancham slurps every bit he can get - there’s not much, and it seems to be hard for him to hold on, until he finally lets go and backs away, licking his paws. Cardina blinks in shock - what the hell was that? Some sort of mock giga drain? She’ll show him how it’s done.

A green glow spreads around her, and tons of tiny flecks spread towards Wei, planting themselves in his dark fur and draining - draining hard, every bit of life he’d sapped from Cardina, flowing back to her. Wei’s face tightens in pain while Cardina smirks with bemusement; oh, yes, this is a giga drain. She feels the life flowing back to her, and a sudden passion for battle overcomes her. She can do this forever.

As the green lights fade, a purple one replaces them. Cardina’s eyes are closed now, diving deep into Wei’s mind, until she finds a sore spot - and presses hard. Wei screams out in sudden shock and pain, falling down to his little paws to hold himself; it hurts so much and it’s in his head, he can’t get it out! Finally the screaming drives Cardina out, but she’d probed hard and left a weak spot for later…

Wei sniffles and wipes his face as he gets up. Uhg, that hurt. That really hurt and he hated it and he wants to show her how mean that was. Yes, he’ll definitely show her… A dark aura covers him and he rushes towards her, a tiny ball of black rage, slamming into her side and pummeling her backwards with his force. It takes all his energy to fuel his rage and once he hits, it’s gone - he flops back onto his butt looking miserable, while Cardina struggles to push herself back upright.

With a heavy shove, Cardina manages to right herself, and latches on to Wei, more green energy flowing between them quite suddenly. Wei yelps in shock; it hits a bit harder than before, and he tries to get up and run, but the orbs follow him, sapping his life wherever he goes, until he braces himself and turns to face the pumpkaboo. Black covers him as before, and Cardina has only a moment to prepare for the assault before Wei slams into her, a ball of rage, tossing her sideways with a furious cry. He lets go of the dark energy and steps back, panting hard and definitely in pain, while Cardina tries to get back to her feet again.​

Perhaps hoping to avoid any more burns or seeds, Wei looks around for something to build himself a miniature out of. There’s little in the ways of building materials… Everything is cemented hard into place, and unless he wants to start punching walls, it looks like they’re going to stay that way. Frowning, he starts pulling out his fur - quite a drastic move, going by onlookers faces - his stubby little paws dropping piles and piles of the dark fluff on the pavement, spitting at it in apparent disgust. An experssion of determination crosses his face, and he smooshes his fluff together, building it up into a misshapen, lumpy figure, somewhat resembling himself if made by a blind person. It works well enough, though, once he breathes a bit of life into it; it stands awkwardly to life, bumbling beside its master, waiting to protect it.

And no sooner does it stand, than it crumbles - as Cardina attacks it, green energy flowing from her towards the doll in ribbons, ebbing back and forth. The life rushes from the doll to the pumpkaboo, so fast it seems to shred on the pavement it lay on only moments ago. Wei eyes it, then Cardina, quite warily; he’s definitely relieved to have avoided that, despite the cost to his baby.

Stuffed now, Cardina settles down to enjoy a break from the tireless fighting. Wei joins her, a momentary cease-fire; the two pokemon resume their friendly nature from before the match, even chatting a bit, as they groom their wounds, feeling their energy restore slowly. It’s all too short-lived, though; the battle must go on.

Once again, Wei is first to move, charging a bit hesitantly now with hurt burns towards the pumpkin. Dark flecks ooze from his jaws as she clamps down on Cardina’s large hide, shaking his jaws feverishly like a dog worrying its prey, though of course Cardina is much larger than the tiny panda, too heavy for him to actually lift. Still, his fangs gauge deep into her flesh, as is obvious when he lets go - the bite wounds are deep, oozing orange-yellow tinted liquid. Cardina frowns, rubbing the fresh wound, while Wei backs away slowly.

She’s got no time for this - no time at all. The entire battle is running out of time, it seems, only one round left, it seemed to move so fast to her, she wishes she could relive it. It was so fun, more fun than she expected. A strange, heavy psychic energy wraps itself around the plaza, stretching slowly from her mind, her desire to go backwards, relive the battle as she could have - shoulda, woulda, coulda - and time seems to stretch backwards on itself. Everything is so slow - the pidgey flapping above, the sewaddle crossing the sidewalk carrying tiny leaves, the onlookers shouting out their favourite pokemon’s name - while at the same time, Cardina herself, and Wei too, can move so much faster. Like scyther racing across a field of grass, Cardina can feel her movements in super-speed, like she’d never felt before…​

Before Cardina can finish gloating, Wei snaps at her, grabbing her in his tiny slobbering jaws. He’s drooling dark, viscous liquid that burns whatever it touches, most notably Cardina’s soft pumpkiny flesh as Wei tears into her like a rabid dog. She cries out; it hurts, oh, it hurts, until he finally loses his grip and falls back, slobber flecking his chest and jaws and a mad look in his tired eyes.

Hoping to get that lost health back, the green glow surrounds Cardina again, flashing between her and the poor pancham. It catches him by surprise - somehow, even after having been hit by it over and over again - and he’s literally dragged by the glowing lights towards her, scrabbling across the cement as his life is sucked dry. He’s screeching, clawing away from her, and he breaks free, stumbling away drunkenly - his head is so heavy, he can’t see for a moment, everything is blurry… For a moment, it’s all he can do to reach for his oran berry and shove it down his throat.

Slowly, the berry’s juices give him the tiny burst he needs, flushing cold life down his veins. His eyes flash alert and he jumps paws-first onto Cardina, snapping his jaws closed on her bite-marked sides, worrying her from side to side, until she shakes him off with a tiny yelp of pain. Immediately as he lands, the green spreads about him, sapping back as much as it can to repair the new wounds; Wei doesn’t bother getting up from his prone position, lying and waiting until the pain stops. He barely even notices when it does; everything, now, is pain, a dull constant aching.

So it only hurts him so much for him to get up and stomp towards Cardina, chomping her one more time. The last time, he knows, before he can rest; and when he lets go, he feels a calm wash over him even when Cardina sucks his remaining life force towards her. It still hurts - it hurts as much as before, so much he’s waiting, eager, just to sleep - but when it stops, he’s still there. Shaking, barely able to stand, but conscious - unbearably so.​