Keldeo vs Lord of the Fireflies

[size=+2]Keldeo vs Lord of the Fireflies[/size]

Format: 2v2 single
Style: set
DQ: 10 days
Damage Cap: none
Banned/Restricted Moves: OHKOs, direct healing except Chill, Super Fang, Endeavor, attraction except from the Lovers card
Arena Description: "Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." -Igor

Nothing is ever quite the same about the velvet room, not its residents or its layout or its purpose, save for its overpoweringly blue color and for its master, Igor. Even the battlers and referee aren't quite sure how they all got there, but at least for now, the room has transformed into an arena perfect for a battle. The battle will take place in a large rectangular indentation in the floor, with stairs on each end to navigate back up to the rim. Past the rim, the room's walls cannot be seen, only the floor as it fades into darkness. Owing to the supernatural nature of the Velvet Room, all pokémon that would normally need water to swim in can instead swim in the air, treating it as if it were water. All resources necessary for using attacks will appear from the void of the soul, and disappear afterwards if there's no reason for them to stick around.

On the rim of the arena are the Velvet Room's residents. Theodore, Elizabeth, and Margaret, three siblings and attendants of the room's residents, watch patiently from close to the rim. A bit farther back, Nameless plays his piano and Belladonna sings the Aria of the Soul, over and over. This soothing music will restore 1% energy to each pokémon that hears it, every action, though if either Nameless or Belladonna are struck by an attack and thereby distracted, the song will stop for three actions. Every action, there is also a 10% chance that the Demon Painter, having sketched a pokémon using a move on his canvas, will allow a random pokémon to use a random move they cannot normally learn for the rest of the battle.

But the most important Velvet Room resident, of course, is Igor, who sits in front of a small table watching the battle with an enigmatic, emotionless expression. At the beginning of the battle, and at the end of each round, he will turn over a tarot card from his deck, chosen at random, and each will affect the battle in the following way for the following round:
0: The Fool - In the spirit of infinite potential and the beginnings of a journey, this card will not affect the battle.
I: The Magician - In the spirit of creation and willpower, all moves that require a resource not already present in the arena will deal 2% more damage for 2% less energy.
II: The High Priestess - In the spirit of communication with the unconscious, all special moves will deal 1% more damage and all physical moves will deal 1% less.
III: The Empress - In the spirit of creation and nurturing, all pokémon will temporarily have a random two stats raised and one stat lowered.
IV: The Emperor - In the spirit of order, trainers cannot use conditionals this round.
V: The Heirophant - In the spirit of group identity and spirituality, all moves will deal 2% less damage but cost 1% less energy.
VI: The Lovers - In the spirit of bonds and relationships, all pokémon will become attracted to each other for the duration of the round.
VII: The Chariot - In the spirit of charging forward, all physical moves will deal 1% more damage, and all special moves will deal 1% less.
VIII: Strength - In the spirit of inner strength and control, all stat drops will disappear for the duration of the round.
IX: The Hermit - In the spirit of understanding and solitude, if a pokémon uses Chill, a random two of their stats will permanently rise by one stage.
X: The Wheel of Fortune - In the spirit of chance and luck, all moves' secondary effect chances triple.
XI: Justice - In the spirit of justice, each pokémon will take half of their attacks' dealt damage in recoil (this damage cannot be avoided).
XII: The Hanged Man - In the spirit of seeing things from a different point of view, each battler will be able to use moves from its opponent's moveset.
XIII: Death - In the spirit of death and rebirth, all pokémon will take 1% extra damage whenever anything else (move, status condition, etc.) deals damage to them.
XIV: Temperance - In the spirit of mixing opposites and finding compromises, super effective and not very effective moves will deal damage as if they were regularly effective.
XV: The Devil - In the spirit of letting go and letting your instincts take over, the pokémon will choose their moves randomly, on impulse, ignoring their commands.
XVI: The Tower - In the spirit of collapse and strong foundations, all moves with a chance to miss will miss and no secondary effects with a chance of less than 100% will activate.
XVII: The Star - In the spirit of individuality and wisdom, all moves will have perfect accuracy.
XVIII: The Moon - In the spirit of haziness and lack of clarity, a constant mist will fill the arena (that cannot be removed) which will temporarily lower every pokémon's accuracy by two stages.
XIX: The Sun - In the spirit of light and enlightenment, all pokémon will restore 2% health and 1% energy per action, in addition to any other sources of health or energy restoration.
XX: Judgment - In the spirit of judgment, the pokémon with less health at the end of the round will be dealt 10% untyped damage.
XXI: The World - In the spirit of the release of energy, all attacks will deal 2% more total damage and cost 1% more energy.
Additional Rules: Only unevolved Pokemon that can evolve further, please.

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Keldeo's Eligible Active Squad
Shay - Cranidos <Mold Breaker> @
River - Ralts <Synchronize> @
Anne - Wooper <Water Absorb> @
Kiel - Pawniard <Defiant> @
Aisha - Shuppet <Insomnia> @

Lord of the Fireflies's Eligible Active Squad

Chime - Zorua <Illusion> @
Hook - Croagunk <Anticipation> @
Aramis - Treecko <Overgrow> @
Athos - Oshawott <Torrent> @
Lupin - Ralts <Trace> @
Icarus - Togepi <Serene Grace> @
Harlequin - Slowpoke <Own Tempo> @
Waulter - Gligar <Immunity> @
Autumn - Snorunt <Ice Body> @


To start the battle
~Keldeo sends out
~Lord of the Fireflies sends out and commands
~Keldeo commands
~Souls begin to clash

Let's start with Aisha!

All right, Icarus it is!

All right Icarus, start with a Nasty Plot, then follow with a double Shadow Ball!

If she tries to Snatch that Nasty Plot, use Shadow Ball instead, and if they Protect / Detect, use Nasty Plot instead. If they try to status you, go with a Magic Coat.

Shadow Ball / Nasty Plot / Magic Coat x3

Ooh, I have an idea. Shadow Ball while he's Nasty Plotting, then Imprison him. End with a Gunk Shot for some nice damage. (edit: If it turns out to be a Zorua, Dazzling Gleam instead.)

Shadow Ball ~ Imprison ~ Gunk Shot / Dazzling Gleam

Ah, the Velvet Room. No one, not even its attendants, is quite sure what this place is - only that it is “between consciousness and unconsciousness”, removed from the world save for conspicuous velvet-blue doors scattered around the world that only a few chosen people can see.

Unlike most other venues Asber has infiltrated in the past, the Velvet Room welcomes the two trainers and referee who walk into the room with eagerness and metaphorical open arms. Though none of them are imbued with the power of Persona, they have their own personalities and wills that will be shown in the battle today.

Igor sits behind a small coffee table on top of which the Fool card is overturned, overlooking the arena, and several golden-haired attendants sit on the rim of the arena, legs dangling off of the edge, watching intently for any lessons this battle might teach them about the nature of the universe and the mind. A calming melody rings out from the musicians behind them, and the two trainers take their places at opposite ends of what is now the battlefield. The poké balls are thrown, and explode in brilliant flashes of light.

Neither of the pokémon particularly resembles any of the persona in the compendium so far. The first is a small ghost, with an inflated head with a sharply curved horn, deep, contemplative eyes, and a wavy body that fades into nothingness behind it. Its opponent is an equally small, if not smaller, infantile pokémon with cream-colored skin, its limbs adorably poking out of the egg it hatched from. The referee takes his place, and raises his flags for the battle to begin - slowly, to let the peaceful atmosphere continue for just a few more moments until it is destroyed by a fierce battle of souls.


Icarus saw his opponent begin to attack before it happened, but that did nothing to lessen the impact of Aisha’s Shadow Ball attack. The traditional ghost-type attack slammed into the Togepi’s small body before he could react, pushing him backwards and giving Aisha a quick lead. A lead that she wouldn’t maintain for long, Icarus was certain. Oh, the things he would do to her...this environment would be perfect for that sort of attack, wouldn’t it?

The thoughts flowing through the Togepi’s head were, of course, on full display to the Velvet Room residents, two of whom reacted with intense interest and the third with intense apprehension. But if Aisha heard the contents of Icarus’s Nasty Plot, she didn’t show it - rather, she simply began her next attack, her head glowing with a faint blue aura as a similarly-colored circle of light appeared around Icarus’s feet, the patterns within it growing more complex as the seconds passed, until it resembled a very specific alchemical circle. Then, the faint cyan light shot up from the ground and quickly enveloped Icarus’s body. A second later, it had disappeared, and Aisha continued to float calmly in the air staring contemplatively at her opponent.

Icarus was not particularly elated with her opponent’s actions. With a dark frown, she began to conjure a Shadow Ball, the same attack her opponent had just used against her, in between her hands. A few seconds passed, during which all the observers watched with interest and Aisha looked on calmly with a nearly imperceptible smirk, and it soon became evident that Icarus wasn’t getting anywhere with this attack. For some reason, the Togepi was unable to conjure up a Shadow Ball with which to attack his opponent.

Aisha gave him little time to contemplate this fact, however, before she took action once again, opening her mouth wide and beginning to charge another attack similar to the Shadow Ball she’d cast at the beginning of the round. But this time, it clearly wasn’t darkness that she was building - it was poison. Fading into existence, small solid blobs of sludge were attaching themselves to a steadily growing orb in front of the Shuppet’s head. And as soon as that orb got large enough, she fired it at her unfortunate opponent.

Icarus saw the attack coming and tried to dodge, but it was to no avail. Despite his attempts at evasion, his tiny little legs could only carry him so far so fast, and the Gunk Shot was a square hit on the poor thing. The ball of waste shattered harshly and disappeared as quickly as its parts had done the opposite, leaving a fallen Icarus on the ground, coughing and trying to regurgitate the small bit of poison that had gotten into his system. But it was no use - he was already feeling nauseous. And he couldn’t use Shadow Ball either - what a terrible situation to be in, truly. After a moment’s hesitation, the Togepi decided to contemplate a little bit more the options available to him to torture his opponent in revenge for this. He would make that Shuppet sorry she ever messed with him, he would make sure of that.

As the round drew to a close, Igor shuffled the Fool back into his tarot deck, and drew a new card to replace it. The seventh card - the Chariot, representing willpower, signifying the importance of following through with one’s actions and staying loyal to one’s ideals and motivations. This card was to inspire the battlers for the round to come.


Arena Notes
~The card for the next round is VII: The Chariot. All Physical moves will deal 1% more damage and all Special moves will deal 1% less, after all other calculations, for the duration of Round 2.

Referee Notes
~Since Icarus knew he couldn’t use Shadow Ball, he defaulted to Nasty Plot on Action 3, seeing it as the next best option.
~Gunk Shot moderately poisoned Icarus.
~Keldeo commands first next round.

Nasty Plot didn't take .5% energy, did it? edit: Oh, that makes more sense.

As for commands, I'm not liking that +4 Special Attack, but there doesn't really seem to be anything we can do about it. Start with Taunt to prevent any shenanigans; if he Magic Coats, Protects, Detects, or is otherwise unhittable, switch to Chill and Taunt him next action. Then just Gunk Shot away to take full advantage of the Chariot boost. Target a random clone if he has clones, kill subs with Gunk Shot, and use Calm Mind and delay your actions if he's unhittable in any way besides Double Team/Substitute, including Magic Coat if you would Taunt.

Taunt / Chill ~ Gunk Shot / Taunt / Calm Mind ~ Gunk Shot / Taunt / Calm Mind

Keldeo said:

Nasty Plot didn't take .5% energy, did it?

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Nasty plot takes 2% energy. It's just that the Aria of the Soul playing in the background restores 1% energy per action, as per the arena description.

Okay, Icarus, we'll go and try and make his life hell. Use all the rage you can muster and throw a Mud-fucking-slap at her face. And mean it. It's gotta bury into those eyes like a thousand spears. Then shoot some DAZZLING GLEAMS. I want you to DAZZLE the shit out of her! Rage, son of darkness, blind this fool into oblivion! Do whatever you can to make it impossible to hit you, hide behind the piano, move around, roll if you must, but those inaccurate Gunk Shots must not hit!

Mud Slap ~ Dazzling Gleam ~ Dazzling Gleam

EDIT: Impressive reffing Superbird. Your writing has matured since we last met.

Lord of the Fireflies said:

Impressive reffing Superbird. Your writing has matured since we last met.

Click to expand...

<3


Aisha continued to stare down her opponent, the smile on her face reverting to a neutral expression. Icarus, of course, didn’t care what she was doing - as long as her eyes were open, that’s all that mattered to him right now. Running with his stubby little legs, the Togepi began to charge towards his opponent, preparing to attack.

Observing that her opponent was clearly not playing defensively this action, Aisha then took action - for the first time this battle, she began to speak. What exactly she said, no one could understand, but as she spoke her solemn gaze bored into Icarus’s body with a fierce pressure. And though her words were incomprehensible to any who were not pokémon, her thoughts were as visible as anyone else’s would be in the Velvet Room, and those thoughts were filled with pretentiousness and hostility. Clearly, she was provoking Icarus to attack, and by the looks of it her strategy was working - the moment she finished taunting her opponent, the enraged Togepi leapt up from the ground, one hand full of mud that had materialized as he had run, and threw that mud right in Aisha’s face.

Aisha’s eyes instinctively closed as the Mud Slap impacted her, but it wasn’t fast enough, and the Shuppet let out a sharp yelp of discomfort, blinking fiercely to try and get the mud out of her eyes. It took her a few seconds to realize that such a thing wasn’t exactly an option, and as soon as she did she began to charge another wad of sludge, firing it after another moment.

Icarus, still busy retreating to his side of the battlefield, was completely unprepared for the attack, which slammed fiercely into the back of his head and considerably shortened the duration of his trip, as well as providing him a brief preview of the sort of flight he might experience when he evolved. But for now, that wasn’t very comfortable at all, and as soon as he hit the ground the Togepi struggled to push himself up. He was even more perturbed now than he had been before - that was the last time he was going to let himself get hit by that attack, he resolved, before giving a short hop in the air, surrounding himself with a coating of Fairy-type energy, and releasing it all in one huge flash.

The Dazzling Gleam blinded everybody for a few seconds, forcing them to shield their eyes, and in Belladonna’s case, stop singing - and Aisha, having no way to shield her eyes other than to lowering eyelids and suffering more irritation from the mud, she was affected arguably even more than everyone else. But she knew where her opponent was, so she didn’t need to be able to see for this attack. Quickly, before the light faded, she conjured another wad of sludge, and launched it right at where her opponent was supposed to be.

And finally, this time, the Gunk Shot missed its mark, hitting the floor of the Velvet Room a couple feet past Icarus and dissolving into nothingness. It was Icarus’s turn to smirk now, for his plan had worked, and once again he leapt into the air and released a Dazzling Gleam for the whole room to see.

Igor, somehow, seemed unaffected as he picked the Chariot card back up and shuffled it back into the deck, drawing another and placing it in the center of his table. This time, it was The High Priestess, the guardian of the unconscious and a symbol of meditation and wisdom. This card would affect the battlers in the round to come.


Arena Notes
~Belladonna and Nameless were distracted by the Dazzling Gleam attack, and will start playing again in two actions.
~The card for the next round is II: The High Priestess. All Special moves will deal 1% more damage, and all Physical moves will deal 1% less, after all other calculations, for the duration of the next round.

Referee Notes
~Aisha’s first Gunk Shot was a critical hit, and the second one missed.
~The first Dazzling Gleam distracted the singers, thus cutting off the Aria of the Soul for three actions.
~Lord of the Fireflies commands first next round.

OKÉ. This is gonna be hard, but try to live the next round!

The card is with us this time around, so let's make good use of that! Begin with a Zap Cannon! Try to get as close as possible for that one, we want it to hit! If they Protect / Detect, use Future Sight! If they have a substitute up, use a full-powered Dazzling Gleam instead! Use Zap Cannon until the Shuppet is paralyzed, and keep on using Dazzling Gleam, using it if they have a substitute, too! On the last two actions, if they use Protect / Detect, or for some reason you can't use any one of Dazzling Gleam and Zap Cannon, try a Double Team (tonload of clones). If you can't use either Zap Cannon or Dazzling Gleam, revert to the other one. Opt for Dazzling Gleam if there are clones, or your vision is impaired - use Zap Cannon still if you absolutely can't use Dazzling Gleam.

Zap Cannon / Dazzling Gleam / Future Sight ~ Zap Cannon / Dazzling Gleam / Double Team x2

I'm confident in your ability to live what he throws at you, so Psych Up then Hex all the way.

Psych Up ~ Hex ~ Hex

Round three began under the watch of the High Priestess, but neither of the battlers really embraced the card’s ideals. Rather, Aisha began the round not by striving to understand her unconscious, but rather by trying to understand her opponent’s conscious mind. She closed her eyes, imagining her opponent’s mental state, and before long the mud beneath her eyelids was gone and she felt much stronger, and a good bit more angry.

Meanwhile, the angry Icarus was running back across the arena towards his opponent. When Aisha opened her eyes, seeing the Togepi running towards her, she began to expect another Mud Slap, or at least another physical attack, and began to float backwards and upwards to try to get out of reach. But that wasn’t what Icarus was doing - as Aisha hurried to get out of the way, the Togepi’s body slowly and steadily started to gather electricity. And Aisha didn’t notice this until she saw Icarus’s devilish smile as he looked straight at her, now at point-blank range. The Shuppet’s eyes widened, but it was far too late for her to avoid the normally-inaccurate Zap Cannon, and she let out a screech of pain so potent that the Velvet Room’s attendants even cringed.

Aisha no longer felt confident at all once the powerful stream of electricity began to dissipate and Icarus started backpedaling again. She could feel the static electricity remaining in her body, even if it was incorporeal, and it was more irritating than the mud that used to be in her eyes. Trying to get her thoughts together, she stared at Icarus, trying to see what he was going to do next.

It was a mistake, for as soon as the Togepi saw her eyes, he took a short hop straight upwards and again made an explosion of bright pinkish light that seemed to sear through Aisha’s body, giving her no time to blink - and who’s to say blinking would have helped even if she had? No, she couldn’t take that attitude, she couldn’t afford to after taking so much damage already this round. Rather than being hasty, this time Aisha waited for the light to fade away before attacking, so that she at least had a general grasp on her opponent’s location. And there he was, continuing to walk away from her. She would show him!

Aisha screeched in that characteristic Shuppet way, and surrounded both herself and her opponent with a dark purple aura. Icarus turned around in a sudden motion - though the attack hadn’t really caught him by surprise, it was quite painful - he felt like he was being torn apart from the inside, and his nausea seemed to get even worse. The attack only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt like minutes to the Togepi, and he was thankful to get out of it.

His opponent was on the ropes, he could see that - she must be about as weak as him now, and considering how tired he felt that was probably a good thing. That must have been why that attack was so powerful, he reasoned. One good attack was sure to finish her off. And so, he jumped in the air one more time, releasing another horrendously bright Dazzling Gleam attack and forcing everybody in the arena to turn away. But Aisha didn’t - she just cringed, doing her best to withstand her attack, even as her levitation began to falter and her floating became more and more erratic.

But by the time the light faded away, she was, somehow, still conscious. Fighting for consciousness, sure, but conscious nonetheless. Before Icarus had time to recover from his Dazzling Gleam, she used her ghostly powers to grab him once again, covering him with the same purple aura as before and attacking him with mystical energy right where he already hurt. lcarus, too, began to feel his consciousness slipping away, and by the time the Hex ended he was panting for breath, his nausea feeling even worse now than before. But he was still conscious...he could still fight, and win…!

As Igor withdrew the High Priestess from his table, the Togepi collapsed on the ground, finally meeting the High Priestess’s ideal. Aisha’s eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed again as she forced a victorious smile. The referee waved one red flag, declaring Icarus unable to battle, and as Igor drew another card from his tarot deck - The Empress, this time - the Togepi was recalled to his poké ball for a nice rest.


Arena Notes
~Belladonna and Nameless will start their performance back up on the next action on which they are not distracted (as they were distracted as they were going to start this time)
~The card for the next round is III: The Empress. For the next round, Aisha will have raised Attack and Defense with lowered Evasion, and Icarus’s replacement will have raised Attack and Evasion with lowered Accuracy.

Referee Notes
~Zap Cannon was a critical hit.
~Icarus fainted to poison damage at the end of the third action.
~Lord of the Flies will send out a replacement, and then Keldeo will command first.

I'll go with Aramis.

Hmm, they're faster, so we can't just Destiny Bond, and we're attacking first so pulling off a combo probably wouldn't be the best idea anyway... Go ahead and Sucker Punch away to see if we can't get at least some damage off before we go down. If he does anything you can Snatch, Snatch it, and if he tries to status you, Magic Coat.

Sucker Punch / Snatch / Magic Coat x3

ALRIGHT ARAMIS. YOU KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS. GET'EM!

hurrr hurrrrr hurrrrrrrrr

Mimic that Sucker Punch, and use it again against them! If for some reason you can't, just Giga Drain instead.

Mimic / Giga Drain ~ Sucker Punch / Giga Drain x2

Lord of the Fireflies sends out Aramis to replace Icarus - a one-and-a-half-foot-tall gecko pokémon who, as soon as it emerged from its poké ball, didn’t even glance at the surroundings before focusing on its opponent. The substitution was quick, and the fourth round began almost immediately.


Aramis didn’t move immediately, though Aisha did. Slowly as it was due to her paralysis, she tried to determine whether or not her opponent was going to attack. Was that a twitch? Ah, that’s it! With a significant amount of effort, she threw herself towards her opponent faster than she should have been able to, attempting to land a sneak attack when he wasn’t prepared.

It didn’t work, though - though Aramis had taken an aggressive step forward, he hadn’t even begun to attack yet - it was in response to the background music, which Nameless and Belladona had started to play again - and had plenty of time to react to his opponent’s move, which he proceeded to analyze. It wasn’t difficult to figure out - just a quick attack before they expect it and while they’re preparing their own and unable to dodge, right?

He proceeded to show Aramis how it was done, as she prepared to try again and was unprepared for his retaliation. The Shuppet slowly drifted to the ground, and the referee raised a flag to signify that she was unable to battle.


Arena notes
~The Aria of the Soul has started playing again.
~Igor again drew the Empress card. For the duration of the next round, Aramis will have +1 Accuracy and Evasion and -1 Special Defense, while Aisha’s replacement will have +1 Defense and Special Defense and -1 Accuracy.

Referee Notes
~Keldeo sends out, then Lord of the Fireflies commands first.

Let's go, River!

Aramis, m'boïïï, begin with a Leech Seed! If she sets up a Magic Coat, or tries to use a status move on you (including stat drops like Charm), or uses Protect / Detect, set up a medium substitute (15%). If she would Encore your Leech Seed, use the designated damaging attack for this action. For the first action, this would be Bullet Seed.

For the next actions, use Leech Seed if it's not done yet, setting up a substitute under the same conditions. If you already have a substitute up, default to the designated damaging attack for these actions, Energy Ball for the second action and Giga Drain for the last.

Default to your designated damaging attack if somehow you wouldn't be able to hit her with Leech Seed.

Leech Seed / Substitute (15%) / Bullet Seed ~ Leech Seed / Substitute (15%) / Energy Ball ~ Leech Seed / Substitute (15%) / Giga Drain

If I'm reading those conditionals right, Aramis will have to wait for you to move on the first action in case you use a status/stat-drop move and he has to set up a substitute. So go ahead and Teleport outside the rectangular depression, since Treecko are pretty short, which should make him Leech Seed all the way or try to hit with his damaging attacks since you haven't been seeded yet. If you would teleport but can't teleport outside the rectangle thingy for any reason OR I'm totally misinterpreting the arena description and he either is in fact taller than the rectangle depression or would easily be able to aim attacks at someone not inside the rectangle (you should be able to figure this out at a glance; if you can't, default to sub), set up a medium sub. If for some reason he's already Leech Seeded you when you would Teleport or set up a Substitute normally, though (i.e. do not wait for him to move to see if he's going to Leech Seed you, that'll only create a waiting paradox), nix that and go with Encore.

Next up, if you have Encored him successfully, Telekinesis to render his Empress boosts moot, then Hypnosis for your last action - if he has a substitute up for some reason, default to Calm Mind. But if he hasn't been Encored or it wasn't successful for whatever reason, stack some Future Sights. If you would use Future Sight but either can't for some reason or wouldn't be able to hit him from your current location (bar substitute, use Future Sight against subs - unless he's been encored successfully, in which case use calm mind), default to Calm Mind. ugh this is super complicated but I /think/ it should work out fairly well...

Teleport / Substitute (15) / Encore ~ Telekinesis / Future Sight / Calm Mind ~ Hypnosis / Future Sight / Calm Mind

Recalling her fallen Shuppet, Keldeo throws another poké ball out onto the arena, and out popped a small white creature with obscuring green hair. The Ralts waddled curiously out onto the arena, looking less ready to fight and more ready to explore the overwhelmingly blue arena, but when the referee declared the start of the round, she immediately shifted her focus to her opponent, taking a traditional psychic-type stance that showed she was ready to fight.


The Velvet Room was quite tense for a moment, as the combatants stared each other down. Aramis’s eyes narrowed as he tried to read his opponent’s actions, but River stayed very still, eyes invisible underneath her long hair. Several tense seconds passed.

And then Aramis decided not to wait any longer, and with no delay began to use his power as a Grass-type to conjure some seeds in his mouth. Doing so only took half a second, but that little twitch was enough for River to know what she was supposed to do. Aramis quickly spit his seeds at her, his focus enhanced by the Empress card, and they sped through the air.

But they never reached River. Well, they reached the spot where River had been, but by the time they got there all that remained were dissipating light particles. Aramis’s eyes widened, and he frantically looked around for his opponent. There she was, standing on top of a struggling Theodore’s head as Elizabeth and Margaret looked on with intense fascination. Aramis immediately began to run closer - even with the boost from the Empress card, he couldn’t nearly hit her at this distance.

While her opponent moved, River began to slowly conjure a glowy ball of energy in between her hands. As Aramis approached a distance from which he could actually hit, the orb stopped increasing in size, and, looking into the future to see where her opponent would be, River threw the orb forward towards the center of the arena. It had scarcely left her hand before it dissolved into thin air.

But thanks to that distraction, Aramis was successful this time. As a few stray glittery sparkles quickly faded away and River turned her focus back to the present, the Treecko spat out a single tiny seed, sending it through the air in a perfect arc. The moment the Leech Seed landed on River’s green head, it began to spawn dark green vines, which quickly dug into River’s hair. The Ralts only barely felt the vines, but what she registered of their presence was not something she liked - slowly but surely, it was as if they were eating her from the inside.

With that little step out of the way, Aramis could get on with the real fight. While his opponent was still reacting to the Leech Seed stuck in her hair, timidly batting at it in a halfhearted attempt to get it off, Aramis began to glow with a bright green aura, characteristic of the Grass-type he was, and large greenish orbs of energy began to rip themselves out of River’s body. The Ralts swayed back and forth a little bit, but came far from losing her balance under the Empress’s protection, and the attack served to snap her focus back on her opponent. Once again, she tried to look into the future, and launch an attack there. But...all she could see was the attack she had already launched. That was going to hit, but what about another one? It all went blank after that…

Before she could move, the referee called the end of the round, and Igor shuffled the Empress back into the deck, drawing The Hermit to replace it - the card representing solitude, introspection, and exploration. This was the card that would influence the battlers in the round to come.


Arena Notes
~The card for the next round is IX: The Hermit. In the spirit of this card, the move Chill will grant permanent stat boosts to its users, in addition to its normal effect.

Referee notes
~Commands were hard to figure out this round, so I hope I did it right.
~River avoided the first Leech Seed with Teleport, but as per his commands Aramis tried again on action 2, this time getting closer again. Though he suffered a decrease in accuracy, he did hit that time.
~You can’t stack Future Sights on a single target, so River’s second usage failed.
~Keldeo commands first next round