[15] Crazy Linoone vs Byrus (ref: Negrek)

1 vs 1 Sky Battle
DQ: 5 days
Damage Cap: 35%
Banned/Restricted Moves: OHKOs, Direct recovery, Pain Split, moves that KO the user; see here (just above the late bracket's fixtures and prizes) for a list of arena-barred moves
Arena: Skies over Azure Bay

The Azure Bay is a body of oceanic water at the northwestern limits of Kalos, near Route 12 and Coumarine City. Its vast blue of perdition is ocasionally broken by arrays of small isles that serve as guiding landmarks for the swimmer and the sailor alike. A shallow near the center of the channel contains a rocky pit that's thought to be associated with a legendary seafloor-dwelling Pokémon, and it is also said that even now, an energy that flows from that den beckons to powerful flying Pokémon that answer to the legendary's call when they become lost.

For this late bracket of the tournament, players will participate in a Sky Battle. By wearing the special suit of the Sky Trainer, the entrats will be able to remain airborne, miles up from the surface of the water and any land near it, where the clash will take place. Only flying/hovering Pokémon can enter a battle in such circumstances, as it's mandatory to remain aloft. Inherently flying/hovering Pokémon are able to stay in the air naturally and without cost, but consentually flying/hovering Pokémon will constantly expend energy as they make an effort to remain airborne. Either way, as any roost is entirely out of bounds, no Pokémon, inherent flier/hoverer or consentual flier/hoverer, will be able to roost properly, making it so each Chill will only restore half as much energy as would be regular. Moreover, in order to prevent plummeting accidents, no Pokémon can be put to sleep in this match, although other statues are as legal as usual, and moves that depend on the ground for their execution will tend to fail or be banned, while Nature Power will become Air Slash if ever used.

Crazy Linoone's eligible Pokémon

Kwak'wala the female Xatu <Synchronize> @ Wise Glasses
Death Canon the genderless Porygon2 <Download> @ Dubious Disc
Blazhy the female Aerodactyl <Pressure>
Delicious Cannelloni the genderless Porygon <Download> @ Up-Grade
Kitchen Appliances the genderless Rotom <Levitate>
Faraday the female Murkrow <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Marchen the male Archen <Defeatist>
Porygon the male Gyarados <Intimidate>
Baloney the male Drifloon <Unburden> @ Lucky Egg


Byrus's eligible Pokémon

Tak the male Spiritomb <Pressure>
Clockwork the genderless Golett <Iron Fist> @ Weakness Policy
Mollser the male Koffing <Levitate> @ Black Sludge
The Strand the male Eelektrik <Levitate> @ Thunder Stone
Deschain the male Escavalier <Shell Armor> @ Zoom Lens
Misery the male Misdreavus <Levitate> @ Dusk Stone
Blood donor the female Woobat <Unaware> @ Soothe Bell
Dolus the male Cottonee <Prankster> @ Sun Stone
Synodic the male Munna <Synchronize> @ Moon Stone

Up next:
1.Byrus sends out
2.Crazy Linoone sends out and issues commands
3.Byrus issues commands

Go for it, Misery.

Alright Faraday, you're up! Put on your best troll face, because today is the day you piss off a Misdreavus.

You've got the advantage of speed, so go ahead and start off the battle with a Taunt. If the Misdreavus is ordered to Magic Coat you, Mimic that Magic Coat instead of Taunting. If the Misdreavus is going to Protect, Calm Mind.

On your second turn, if the Taunt went through, Swagger because you're awesome and Misery is not. If the Taunt didn't go through, Taunt again, unless the Misdreavus is going to Magic Coat or Protect, which then Calm Mind once more. Go think up some nasty insults while you're at it. Also Calm Mind if you can't do anything else for some reason.

Finish off with Fowl Foul Play! If you're paralyzed or there're clones or you have trouble with Foul Play for any other reason, or if the Swagger didn't go through, Dark Pulse instead (sweep it around if there are clones). Go ahead and Calm Mind again if Misery is going to Protect, or if you can't hit it for some other reason.

Oh yeah, since ghost phasing mechanics were phased out, you should totally sit on the Misdreavus's head during all this for maximum annoyance. Don't bother if it's too much effort or if it'll interfere with your commands though.

Taunt/Mimic/Calm Mind ~ Swagger/Taunt/Calm Mind ~ Foul Play/Dark Pulse/Calm Mind

Eh, since we can't use magic coat, we'll have to use a riskier method to avoid that taunt. Creep up on Faraday with a shadow sneak before she can get the drop on you, then taunt her from the shadows before giving her a whack on the beak. Finish with a thunder wave to get the speed advantage. If she does manage to perch on your head (or, um, your body in this case, since you're literally just a floating head), then hopefully the jolt of electricity will dislodge her.

If it goes wrong and she manages to taunt you, use icy wind. If she's on your head and you can't aim properly, use a thunderbolt to try and jolt her into losing her grip.

Shadow sneak + taunt ~ thunder wave/Icy wind/thunderbolt

The skies over Azure Bay are a clear, piercing blue. It's the kind of perfect day that only comes once or twice a year or, perhaps, at the behest of a few dozen pokémon frantically working weather-control behind the scenes. Everything needs to be perfect for Asber's championship tournament--it's inevitable that the battlers will screw everything up by the time they're done, of course, but it's the principle of the thing.

The bay's little atolls are crowded with eager spectators. For once they're not staring out across the bay's calm, glass-green waters but instead watching the skies, armed with binoculars, or staring at large screens erected amidst the rickety temporary bleachers. They're still dark, but a cry goes up from a few eagle-eyed audience members as they spot a couple of dots high overhead. An excited wave of mutters sweeps through the crowd as the specks draw nearer, resolving as they do into Negrek and Byrus, sailing along in skysuits blazoned with the Asber League's seal and the logo of the tournament's generous sponsor, Altoram Department Store.

For a few minutes the audience is content to watch them circle, the viewscreens flickering to life to show dizzying, high-altitude views of the bay and close-ups of the trainers. As time wears on, though, impatient murmurs start to work their way through the onlookers. There's something missing here, or rather someone. There's no way they'll have a battle with just one trainer and a referee, and a battle's what everyone made the trek out here to see. The volume of their irritation grows to the point that most don't notice the strange droning overhead until the culprit actually putters into view.

While skysuits serve most humans just fine, they don't work very well with linoone anatomy. It took a bit of last-minute scrambling, but in the end the League managed to rustle up a reasonable substitute: a miniature biplane, comfortably linoone-sized, with a still-tacky fresh coat of paint that is only moderately successful in covering up the plane's advanced age.

Still, it looks like it's running well enough, and Crazy Linoone circles up just below the humans. She adjusts her flight goggles, then waves up at the referee. A hearty cheer goes up from the crowd as the battler's statistics appear on the video screens and pokéballs are hurled, the pokémon appearing in twin flashes of light: from Byrus' team, a misdreavus, and from Crazy Linoone's, a murkrow.

Faraday lets out a cackle of pure delight, turning a wide loop in the air as she revels in the freedom of the skies and the distant cheers of the crowd. It's only appropriate that there be such an audience for her greatest heist yet! She's going to steal victory right out of Misery's ghostly, non-existent hands!

The misdreavus looks a bit less excited, or at least less expressive, than his opponent. He hangs in the air like a stubborn cloud of smoke, buffeted by the high-altitude winds but keeping his ectoplasm to a tidy form while he watches Faraday turn loops and crow. Under ordinary circumstances the murkrow might find Misery's silent appraisal a bit creepy, but the she's too excited to care today. So the ghost's gonna be spooky? Let him be spooky! The Great Thief Yatagarasu fears no creature, living or dead.

Now that the pokémon are on the field, it's time at last to get the battle started. The referee's announcement is followed by another distant outburst of claps and cheering, and Faraday finally stops her acrobatics, fixing Misery with a confident smirk that the ghost responds to with a disarmingly sweet smile. Let the battle begin!


Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (F) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Commands: Taunt/Mimic/Calm Mind ~ Swagger/Taunt/Calm Mind ~ Foul Play/Dark Pulse/Calm Mind
- Bring it on!

Byrus (O)

Misery (M) <Levitate>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Commands: Shadow Sneak + Taunt ~ Thunder Wave/Icy Wind/Thunderbolt
- Ready to put this noisy bird in her place.

Faraday opens her beak wide, ready to deliver an introduction that's sure to make Misery green with envy, only for the misdreavus to disappear right before her eyes. The murkrow doesn't even get a chance to shut her mouth before the misdreavus' back, sideswiping Faraday in a disarmingly swift rush.

The ghost draws back a bit, having some trouble finding shadows to lurk in in the sun-washed emptiness of the open air but doing some champion lurking nonetheless. He starts in on his own tirade, only to be drowned out by a rude screech from Faraday.

Getting a little rough is par for the course in a pokémon battle, but you do not steal the spotlight from the great thief! The murkrow lets Misery have it in no uncertain terms, drowning out the ghost's attempts to speak up. Her beak still smarts a little from Misery's attack, but as always, expounding on her own greatness before a captive (if stewing) audience is the best medicine in the world. Faraday's speech only gets more inventive as time goes on, her exploits more elaborately embroidered and her flight more full of flourishes and unnecessary swoops as she loses herself in her tirade.

Misery finally gives up trying to get his taunts in edgewise and settles for glowering at Faraday, who by now is twisting and swirling through the air in pointlessly showy arcs. The ghost does his best to convey by gaze alone the idea that flighty birds who don't watch their mouths are in serious danger of ending up as pig food, but Faraday isn't paying her opponent even the slightest bit of attention. When the murkrow sweeps down, tangling her talons in Misery's locks and trying to perch on the semisolid ghost, Misery can contain his anger no longer. With a shriek so loud it actually makes Faraday let go, he gives himself a violent shake, a wave of grave-cold air blasting in all directions. Faraday's knocked for a spin, ice forming on her feathers, but the murkrow is no more than temporarily inconvenienced.

Think you're gonna slow me down, huh? she caws back at her opponent. Doesn't matter. There's no way a slowpoke like you could ever catch up with me! She barely manages to get all the words out before Misery flies at her, screeching wordless rage. It turns out to be more work than Faraday expected to evade the enraged ghost, but she manages to stay ahead of Misery's mad rush for just long enough, until the frustrated ghost is so worked up that he can't stop when Faraday suddenly spins to face him, wings flared as she brakes hard. Misery keeps going, passing straight through the murkrow, whose beak, fizzing with dark energy, cuts a nasty gash through his ectoplasm as he sails past. The murkrow chuckles to herself, then ducks with a squawk as Misery wheels around again, diving at the murkrow with a furious scream even as his ghostly body starts to knit itself back together.

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (F) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 88%
Energy: 89%
Used: Taunt ~ Swagger ~ Foul Play
- Ha! You'll never catch me! -1 Speed

Byrus (O)

Misery (M) <Levitate>
Health: 80%
Energy: 93%
Used: Shadow Sneak ~ Nothing ~ Icy Wind
- I'M--GOING--TO GET--YOU!! Taunted (1 more action). Confused (moderate). +2 Attack

Final Notes
- Sorry for the delay in this reffing.
- Faraday and Misery are so close in speed that which one moves first is a toss-up. Since both of you were assuming Faraday would be faster, that's how I reffed it this round, but in the future, if they have equal speed modifiers, they speed tie, and both have a 50/50 chance to move first during a round.
- I didn't see shadow sneak being able to make taunt happen any faster, so I broke Misery's combo up into two separate actions. Her taunt failed.
- Evidently the misdreavus X/Y sprite is missing, so... Black/White sprites!
- Byrus is up next.

Minor error: Misery is male. Does he still have the attack boost from swagger btw, or did that wear off?

Alright, that didn't start off too hot, so try venting your anger with frustration. Hopefully this will leave you less bothered by the swagger, so follow up with two thunderbolts. Use heal bell if you got paralyzed on the first action, but don't let her try and out-wait you and paralyze you again straight after you use it. And if she tries to snatch heal bell away, just fall back on thunderbolt. Otherwise, magic coat any attempts at status conditions on the following actions.

Frustration ~ Thunderbolt/Heal bell/Magic coat ~ Thunderbolt/Heal bell/Magic coat

Ah, sorry about that. All fixed now, and yes, Misery still has the attack boosts.

DQ warning for Crazy Linoone. Twenty-four hours left.

Hey hey hey



Nice one, Faraday! It's time to turn your annoy-o-tron on to MAX, because we're gonna go wreck some things.

While Misery is busy being miserable, go Sucker Punch it in the face and use that momentum to + Fly (up) out of the range of all future attacks. After that, wait around in the sky until the Misdreavus finishes throwing around all of his Thunderbolts, then go ahead and smack the ghost with a Fly (down).

If you can't combine Sucker Punch and Fly (up) in the same action, just Fly (up) on your first action. Hang around in the air doing nothing until you're sure the Misdreavus has finished firing its Thunderbolts, then fly back down and smack the ghost around with a Fly (down) + Assurance combo.

...if you can't combine Fly (down) with Assurance, just give up on all the comboing and Fly (up) ~ Tailwind ~ wait for all the Thunderbolts to be over with then Fly (down).

Sucker Punch + Fly (up) / Fly (up) ~ nothing/nothing/Tailwind ~ wait and Fly (down)/wait and Fly (down) + Assurance

Between rounds, the crowd below waits with bated breath as Faraday and Misery, commands given, hover in their respective locations. Occasionally, the Murkrow barks out a harsh laugh and jeers at her opponent, or the seething Misdreavus makes as if to lash out at her before seeming to settle for an angry glare. Eyes fixed on the screens displaying different views of the battle, the audience members murmur to their neighbors with theories about which Pokemon is the stronger contender or how the next round will play out, as there seems to be a delay in the round's beginning. The reason becomes apparent, however, when the original referee places an urgent call to the league's headquarters before summoning an Abra to teleport out, and soon, another skysuit-wearing referee swoops in and raises her flags, signaling for the round to begin.

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 88%
Energy: 89%
Currently: Ha! You'll never catch me! -1 Speed.
Commands: Sucker Punch + Fly (up) / Fly (up) ~ nothing / Tailwind ~ wait and Fly (down) / wait and Fly (down) + Assurance

Byrus (O)

Misery (m) <Levitate>
Health: 80%
Energy: 93%
Currently: I'M—GOING—TO GET—YOU!! Taunted (1 more action). Confused (moderate). +2 Attack.
Commands: Frustration ~ Thunderbolt / Heal Bell / Magic Coat ~ Thunderbolt / Heal Bell / Magic Coat


Misery turns towards his opponent, who seems to still be encumbered by her ice-encrusted wings, and recalls her screeching from the last round to work himself into a frenzy. Slowpoke? He'll show her slowpoke! With a yell, the Misdreavus flings himself at Faraday, going so quickly that little strands of pinkish-purple ectoplasm flicker and break off the tips of his hair, but his opponent chooses then to make her move. Coating her beak in a black aura, Faraday zooms not away but into the attack faster than should be possible, appearing merely a bluish blur. Stunned by the bold maneuver, Misery backs off, and the Normal energy sparking around his body fades for just a second.

The pause gives Faraday enough time to carve a sheet of her opponent's ghostly skin up and away with her beak, nearly severing the strand of spiritual force holding his necklace together. She gives a raucous shriek-laugh and flaps upwards and to the side as quickly as she can, aiming to disorient her opponent with zigzagging acrobatic maneuvers. Misery regains his wits and continues his anger-driven charge, but Faraday's tail just barely escapes his grasp, and the Murkrow flies faster than he can float. As excess ectoplasm closes his wounds so he can maintain his shape, the fuming Misdreavus takes his anger out on a nearby cloud in lieu of Faraday, who's no more than a blackish-blue dot among the white of the clouds. The crowd below joins Misery in craning their necks upwards, trying to pinpoint Faraday's location…

Without warning, an avian form drops down from above in a deadly swoop, wings spread wide. Still angry from Faraday's sudden attack, Misery wastes no time in lashing out, battering the bird with tendril after ghostly tendril, but in his rage he ignores the fact that the Pokemon he's attacking is an innocent wild Wingull making her rounds over the bay. The angered Wingull swipes and pecks at Misery in retaliation before flapping weakly away, and the Misdreavus tends to his wounds angrily.

Misery curses under his breath: then where's Faraday? Squinting against the sun in an attempt to see where his opponent is hovering, the Misdreavus builds up charge within his center gem. Unable to make out anything but blue skies and white clouds all around, Misery gives it his best guess, and the audience gasps and yells as a white bolt of crackling lightning leaps out of his necklace and shoots into the sky. But the electricity arcs down much too soon, and it dissipates with a fizzling sound without hitting anything. Misery curses his luck again, and he could swear there's a cackling sound coming from above the cloud over there. Darn that crow!

Wanting to avoid another mishap like the Wingull one, Misery notices but doesn't move out of the way when another bird Pokemon plummets out of the clouds above. But this time it's Faraday, dark blue wing and hat feathers ruffled by the air, a pale blue aura surrounding her entire body. The Murkrow slams into her opponent, driving him downwards and tearing a gash in his head. As the new referee brings her flags down, Faraday flaps a few meters away to smirk and caw confidently, hiding how much staying in the air took out of her. Exhausted from the round's events, Misery scowls and sighs.

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 88%
Energy: 76%
Currently: Cackling with glee. -1 Speed.
Used: Sucker Punch + Fly (up) ~ nothing ~ wait and Fly (down)

Byrus (O)

Misery (m) <Levitate>
Health: 53%
Energy: 81%
Currently: Tired of Faraday's evasive maneuvers already.
Used: Frustration (missed) ~ (confused) ~ Thunderbolt (missed)

Field Notes
-Movement order: Misery (85) > Faraday (76).

Action Notes
-The Sucker Punch part of Faraday's combo had its base damage reduced because she was using it more fly upwards than to deal damage.
-Misery's Taunt wore off after the first action. His confusion and resulting attack boost faded fully after the last action.
-Frustration's base power was 100.
-Faraday's speed drop from Icy Wind will wear off at the end of the next round.

Crazy Linoone commands next.

(Thanks for picking this up, Keldeo! )

Wow, Faraday, can you believe that Misery is attacking innocent wild Wingulls?! Completely unacceptable! Well, it's Payback time. Wait until Misery has moved and when you're pretty sure you can hit Misery with Payback (aka he's not Shadow Sneaking, Protecting, Detecting, etc etc), then go and smash his head in. Deal some extra hurt for that poor Wingull, won'tcha?

If there are clones, if you can't move well enough to use Payback properly, or if you have trouble using Payback for whatever other reason, Dark Pulse instead. Make sure to sweep if there are clones!

On your last action, if you've successfully attacked both your previous actions, Icy Wind. Otherwise, Dark Pulse. If you can't Dark Pulse but can use Icy Wind, do use Icy Wind that instead. As with before, wait until you're pretty sure you can hit the Misdreavus that action before firing off your own attacks.

If you can't do any of the above attacks for some reason, Chill.

Payback/Dark Pulse/Chill ~ Payback/Dark Pulse/Chill ~ Icy Wind/Dark Pulse/Chill

DQ warning for Byrus. You have a little more than 48 hours to post commands.

Let's go all out! Telekinesis (which works on dark types) should stop payback, then throw some zap cannons her way.

Telekinesis ~ Zap cannon ~ Zap cannon

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 88%
Energy: 76%
Currently: Cackling with glee. -1 Speed.
Commands: Payback/Dark Pulse/Chill ~ Payback/Dark Pulse/Chill ~ Icy Wind/Dark Pulse/Chill

Byrus (O)

Misery (m) <Levitate>
Health: 53%
Energy: 81%
Currently: Tired of Faraday's evasive maneuvers already.
Commands: Telekinesis ~ Zap Cannon ~ Zap Cannon

Field Notes
-Movement order: Misery (85) > Faraday (76).


More than ready to get his opponent back for what she's done, Misery focuses on the arena around him, slowly extending his telekinetic influence to envelop the entire sky, but finds a frustrating Murkrow-shaped block in the middle. The Misdreavus huffs a sigh and ponders just how he's going to go about immobilizing something he can't even touch with telekinesis. A particularly strong wind batters him to the side—ooh, now that's a thought. It's his turn to cackle in glee: that crow won't even see it coming. Misery's eyes glow a faint indigo as he capitalizes on Azure Bay's sea salt-laced breezes, forcing the air currents this way and that with psychic power.

Faraday squawks as a suspiciously bluish gust blows her to the left, and then to the right, and… Wait a minute. Despite her strongest efforts, she isn't quite quick enough on the draw to escape Misery's psychokinetic ring of air before the Misdreavus tightens his hold and boxes her into a comically splayed position. He's even got the nerve to cackle the entire time, and that's her schtick! Snarling in fury and barely able to flail around, Faraday shapes all the spiteful, unpleasant emotions she's been bottling up into a burst of explosive darkness, then fires it straight at Misery. The Misdreavus hisses in pain as the chilling thoughts impinge upon his mind and the shadowy energy eats away at his ectoplasmic skin.

Misery closes his eyes, trying to concentrate past the pain, and feeds energy into the air. Soon, his efforts come to fruition as a tiny spark of unstable electricity flashes in front of him and grows, swelling in size from a grain of rice to an apple in seconds. The Misdreavus lets out an absent chuckle as the sphere grows to eclipse the size of his head, then gives it a push in his opponent's direction with a spinning flourish. Helpless to move out of the attack's path, Faraday screeches in alarm, panic, and then pain as the crackling ball collides with her, scorching every feather it touches and leaving her twitching.

More angry than ever, the Murkrow forces her desire for revenge into a sheet of pure darkness, jerking her head as far as she can to aim it at Misery with a snarl. The shadowy energy manages to strike a weak point in the horrified Misdreavus's center gem, making an ominous-sounding noise and almost but not quite cracking it. He tries to fend off the wave, but when that fails he settles for glaring at the Murkrow. What's that? You want an encore? Misery shrieks, half in fury and half in feigned naivete, gathering another compressed bolt in front of his damaged necklace. Well, here you g—whoa! The electricity suddenly bursts into an uncontrollable blast, much larger than before, that shoots Faraday's way with a crackling staticky noise that's soon drowned out by the Murkrow's pained screams. Misery watches in satisfaction as the gentle breeze carries some of his opponent's burnt feathers to and fro beneath them; he's got to get one of those sometime, they'd make an inimitably Kalosian souvenir.

Once the pain stops, Faraday takes a deep breath before summoning wind spirits laced with frost that chase her opponent down. Misery attempts to float out of the way but doesn't quite manage to avoid the hindering cold as the phantoms giggle and drift away, and his concentration on other matters is making the wind-cage around Faraday slip. The Misdreavus grits his ghostly teeth and tries to reassert his telekinetic influence, but he can't hold the focus before it scatters. Finally free, Faraday squawks a high note and takes spasming flight towards the Linoone-carrying biplane next to the battle, while Misery floats over to his trainer with a pained grin before descending to where some of the Murkrow's feathers are still floating about.

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 53% (capped)
Energy: 60%
Currently: Perching on her trainer's head to rest her locked-up wing muscles. Paralyzed (severe: 20-25% chance of failure, 25% speed, 3% more energy for movement for 4 or more actions).
Used: Dark Pulse ~ Dark Pulse ~ Icy Wind

Byrus (O)

Misery (m) <Levitate>
Health: 18% (capped)
Energy: 61%
Currently: Trying to catch a feather for his collection. -1 Speed.
Used: Telekinesis ~ Zap Cannon ~ Zap Cannon

Field Notes
-Movement order: Misery (70) > Faraday (22.75).

Action Notes
-Misery's speed drop from Icy Wind will wear off at the end of round 4.
-Since the battle is already taking place in the air, Telekinesis only immobilized Faraday, so she used Dark Pulse. Her Telekinesis'd-ness and speed drop from Icy Wind both wore off at the end of the round.
-Faraday's second Dark Pulse was a critical hit. So were both of Misery's Zap Cannons.
-Misery's second Zap Cannon bumped Faraday's paralysis back up to severe.
-edit 3: Faraday will be able to improve her chances somewhat by using moves that don't need a lot of movement or concentration. Other aspects of severe paralysis are listed in her description.

Byrus commands next.

You don't roll for paralysis fail at all for moves not requiring movement? Guess I'm really screwed, then.

Well, if nothing else, we got to use the magnificent ZAP CANNON, so there's that. Let's go with confuse ray, because hax is pretty much all we can hope for at this point, then finish with two thunderbolts if you're still around.

If Faraday attempts to use psycho shift or a status move, taunt her. If she attempts a combo, be it a sucker punch priority move or something, protect.

Either way, you tried your best, and I'm sorry for messing up so much.

Confuse ray/Taunt/Protect ~ Thunderbolt/Taunt/Protect ~ Thunderbolt/Taunt/Protect

Nicely done, Faraday~ Sorry about all the Zap Canons, but we're almost through! Close your eyes to avoid seeing all the confusing blinky lights and Calm Mind. If you don't think you can close your eyes fast enough to avoid the Confuse Ray, just Protect against it. Whatever.

Finish off with Dark Pulse x 2 while I attempt to avoid all the incoming Thunderbolts ASB plane, I believe in you, please don't fail me nooooooooow

Calm Mind/Protect ~ Dark Pulse ~ Dark Pulse

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone
Health: 53%
Energy: 60%
Currently: Perching on her trainer's head to rest her locked-up wing muscles. Paralyzed (severe: 20-25% chance of failure, 25% speed, 3% more energy for movement for 4 or more actions).
Commands: Calm Mind/Protect ~ Dark Pulse ~ Dark Pulse

Byrus (O)

Misery (m) <Levitate>
Health: 18% (capped)
Energy: 61%
Currently: Trying to catch a feather for his collection. -1 Speed.
Commands: Confuse Ray/Taunt/Protect ~ Thunderbolt/Taunt/Protect ~ Thunderbolt/Taunt/Protect

Field Notes
-Movement order: Misery (70) > Faraday (22.75).


As the referee lowers her flags to begin the round, Faraday tries to hop off her trainer's head to caw a few insults at Misery, who's diving after her scorched feathers far below them, but her wings and legs splay and spasm awkwardly when she tries to move them. The Murkrow gives an exasperated groan-sigh and tries to wait it out; yeah, there's no way she'll be able to fly in this state. Far out of view of the cameras trained on the "action", Misery tucks the final feather behind his necklace with the others to keep it secure, glances towards his opponent with a smirk, and floats slowly back towards the battle. But as he goes, a swarm of spirits taking the form of tiny, multicolored sparks flickers into being from the center gem of his necklace, weaving into and out of another dimension and making discordant noises eerily like too-high-pitched laughter.

Faraday looks at the Misdreavus quizzically as the lights zoom towards her but realizes too late the technique Misery's attempting. She tries to shut her eyes, but a group of spirits work together to push her eyelids up, forcing Faraday to pay attention to their glittering companions. The lights dance in intricate, distracting almost-patterns just past her beak's reach, leaving flickering trails of iridescent light all across her field of view—and then an arc of glowing, painful electricity hits her square in the chest, leaving a blinding afterimage. Invisible to the Murkrow, Misery smiles tiredly as the electricity and sparkles fade back into his necklace.

Having nearly been knocked off her trainer's head by the force of the blow (which is to say nothing about said trainer's having been electrocuted or the state and/or quality of League-owned Linoone biplanes), Faraday clacks her beak together a few times, blinks a few times in a futile effort to clear her vision, and takes off falteringly, annoyed at being effectively forced to fly blind—but if she remembered right, Misery should be right about… there. Reaching into the most spiteful parts of her mind for resources, Faraday aims a creeping wave of shadowy energy towards where she estimates her opponent is, smirking when a pained hiss tells her she's hit her mark, but scowling and snapping when the distracting lights intrude into her vision again.

Pushed downwards by the mental strike, Misery can barely find the energy to float back to his original position, let alone the distance to his trainer to fork over his prized feathers. How did that Murkrow figure out where he was…? Regardless, he's not going to fall for the same trick again. Seeing that Faraday is busy flapping and clawing at glittering visions only she can see, the Misdreavus forces all his energy into his next attack, creating a crackling sphere of electricity before firing it in a streak towards his opponent. But the sizzling hiss of the attack's buildup is enough to snap Faraday out of her rainbowy daze and let her pinpoint her opponent. Gathering one final ball of gloomy thoughts and emotions in her gem, the Murkrow blinks away the remaining lights and purges her negativity with a murky blast aimed directly at Misery's center gem, and this time the beam strikes true, shattering the jewel.

His ectoplasm alternately floating away with nothing to center it or eating dangerously at itself, the Misdreavus gives a choked hiccup, sways unevenly in midair for a few tense seconds, and soon drifts into unconsciousness, to a burst of applause from the audience far below. Byrus recalls Misery before his levitation gives way, and swoops over to Crazy Linoone's biplane for an amicable handshake and, of course, a pose for the cameras. For her part, Faraday manages a photo-bomb even with her paralysis before flapping down to where the spectators are watching, eager to find someone to crow about the fight to. Once the prize distribution finishes, the referee wishes Crazy Linoone the best of luck evading the herd of police officers that will undoubtedly be soon descending upon the location, before summoning a league-owned Natu to teleport herself and Byrus back to the safety of ASB Central.

Crazy Linoone (O)

Faraday (f) <Super Luck> @ Dusk Stone (activated)
Health: 23%
Energy: 52%
Currently: Now, no one's gonna underestimate the Great Thief Yatagarasu!!
Used: (paralyzed) ~ Dark Pulse ~ Dark Pulse

Byrus (x)

Misery (m) <Levitate> @ retconned-in Dusk Stone (activated)
Health: 0%
Energy: 48%
Currently: Fainted.
Used: Confuse Ray ~ Thunderbolt ~ Thunderbolt

Action Notes
-Faraday was too paralyzed and slow to do anything against the Confuse Ray on action one. Her Dusk Stone activated for the last Dark Pulse, but it didn't matter for the end results.
-So I managed to overlook Misery's dusk stone for the entire battle. This doesn't impact much battle-wise (Faraday just loses 4% health at the end here, since she hit the cap last round) but Misery gets to evolve now. Sorry about that!

And that's that. Good game, everybody! Crazy Linoone gets $15; good luck in round 3, and don't forget to claim your extra $7 by linking this post in the bank. Byrus gets $8, so you'll have to claim your extra $4 by linking this post in the bank; good luck in any future tournaments you choose to participate in! Negrek and I both get $6, which I think they'll have to claim manually? I can't close this battle yet, though, since I haven't been declared as an e-ref. As for experience, Faraday gets 2 exp and happiness, Misery gets 1 exp and happiness, and both of them can now evolve.

Good game, Bryus! Trying to gain control over a Misdreavus definitely required a lot of nasty plotting on my part -- those Zap Cannons hit hard.

With that said, why are the police here? We didn't even blow up the battlefield that much -- no m'am I don't know anything about the Draco Meteor -- nor the stolen wallets -- uh, I mean, there were stolen wallets? I didn't know that there were stolen wallets -- wait, what'd you mean that miniature bi-planes are illegal?!

Yeah, good game! You certainly outplayed me there. Good luck in the rest of the tournament.

I've marked Keldeo as an e-ref for this battle now. None of you seem to have claimed prize money in the bank so I'll hand that out manually.