Originally Posted by Kusarigamaitachi
1 vs 1 single
DQ time: 14 days
Damage Cap: 35%
Banned: OHKOs, Direct Healing, Attract, Dig
Arena: Jesus Lake
The entire battlefield at first seems to be your regular, crystal-clear lake; though quite deep in the centre, one can see right to the bottom. The dirt seems, mostly, inclined to remain at the bottom unless someone intentionally stirs it up, and even then it will quickly settle when left to its own devices. As sunlight reaches to the bottom, plants have no problem growing in patches underneath the surface, although the environment might not be entirely appropriate for the seaweed that grows there. Indeed, the lake seems like a normal one, if perhaps purified by Suicune on a regular basis. That is, until you take a closer look and wonder - are those boulders... floating?
As it turns out, the surface of the lake is very solid. Pokémon, no matter how heavy, can easily walk on its surface, and the surface (but only the surface) even shakes with the effect of an earthquake when the appropriate attacks are used. It is this surface that the boulders must be resting on. It would also seem to explain the smooth surface of the lake, although the surface you walk on isn't the lake's actual surface; instead, it appears to be about two inches underwater.
However, pokémon inclined to swimming may do so, and the lake will seem like normal, though insanely pure, water to them. Anyone can easily switch between "lake" and "ground", though how it works is unknown. A swimmer, for example, can put its hands on the surface of the water and push down, to help pull it onto the surface, and from then on it can walk or run. If it wants to swim again, it can leap or slip or dive into the water as it pleases. Pokémon will not automatically float to the surface and suddenly find something underneath them, however, nor will the invisible surface suddenly disappear should they wish to go underwater. It requires actual movement to do this, although it doesn't take a full action. Startled, flinching, sleeping, or fully confused pokemon can find themselves falling into the water if they move while in this state, so pokemon can be pulled into the water.
Any impurities above the two-inch-deep surface of the water will remain there, but any others will sink to the bottom very quickly, to be absorbed by the tall, purple, seaweed-like plants.
The lake appears to be surrounded by beautiful beaches of multicoloured sand, and beyond that, lush green grasses that eventually lead to a forest on one side, and a distant village on hills on the other.
Green blades of grass rustled in a gentle breeze, the light gust sending waves of motion through the lush fields. Encircled by the healthy pasture was a beach of grey, tan, and red-brown sand; and surrounded by
that was an immaculate, crystal clear lake. All the silt and sediment the gigantic pond had seen in its lifetime had settled on the lakebed, swallowed by the discoloured seaweed at the bottom to leave nothing but insanely pure liquid.
A wondrous, invisible second surface supported several boulders about two inches from the actual surface on the lake, and it was on that supernatural face that a helicopter with four occupants landed on. One of the humans inside gave a little squeak, no doubt fearful that the surface would suddenly give way and plunge the aircraft into the lake’s unforgiving depths. Miraculously, though, the shell held true, and three of the four people scurried out. The two battlers immediately started prancing about on Jesus Lake, obviously relishing their fleeting moments of levitation, while the referee scrambled off to shallower areas, her fear of deep water written all over her face.
After several moments the referee barked sharply and waved her arms about to indicate that the battlers should take their positions. They reluctantly obeyed, and after several minutes of going over rules and restrictions, two Pokeballs were dropped simultaneously. On Kusarigamaitachi’s side was Ozzy the Lombre. Immediately upon release, the leafduck skittered towards the middle of the lake and slipped underwater, where he began to tread at a leisurely pace.
Like his opponent, Jinkosen the Prinplup flung himself eagerly at the lake once the red light of the Pokeball had died away. He, too, approached the center of the body of water and snarled a challenge as he drew close to Ozzy.
Round One
Kusarigamaitachi (O)
Ozzy (M) <Swift Swim>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Enjoying the purity of the water.
Commands: Substitute (15%) ~ Energy Ball/Sunny Day/Chill ~ Energy Ball/Sunny Day/Chill
Full Metal Cookies (O)
Jinkosen (M) <Torrent>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Trying to intimidate his opponent.
Commands: Substitute (15%) ~ Drill Peck ~ Drill Peck
Rolling his eyes at the near-duplicate command strings, Jinkosen plunged his beak in the water to suck up a mouthful of liquid. Once he had his mouthful of precious fluid he swilled it around in his maw, mixing what was in his mouth with globules of sticky life energy he drew from all around his body. The Prinplup poked his head above the second surface and spurted the solution onto the invisible floor; as if it had a life of its own, the viscous, glistening syrup congregated into a large puddle which heaped upon itself, again and again, to form a roughly penguin-shaped structure with crudely-formed limbs, beak, and head crest.
Ozzy was, essentially, doing the same thing as Jinkosen was. While his methods of execution were quite different, the results really were fairly similar. The Lombre made a gurgling sound at the back of his throat, then began to cough mildly until a small seed came flying out of his mouth. It landed with a faint
plop on the unseen floor, where it began to unfurl rapidly. Within a few moments it resembled a Lombre made of vines and buds and with a huge, flat daisy in place of the standard lily pad. Both structures, pseudo-penguin and pseudo-leafduck, looked blankly at each other before literally dropping into the water as the surface under their feet seemed to disappear, landing in the lake with two medium-sized splashes.
Ozzy and Jinkosen both regarded the other’s Substitute with disdain before preparing their respective attacks. Ozzy held his arms out on front of him, palms facing each other, and gathered lime-green energy between his hands, while Jinkosen leapt out of the water, sending droplets of water spinning in every direction. In the end, the Prinplup was a smidgen faster than Ozzy. He angled his dive so that his beak pointed at his opponent’s lily pad then jerked his body around to add a spin to his fall. A faint glow of flying-type energy surrounded the penguin’s beak before it struck – though Jinkosen didn’t strike his intended target. At the last second the leafduck’s faithful structure threw itself in harm’s way, and he had to be satisfied with boring a hole through the Substitute’s head. Despite having what would be a fatal wound to regular, breathing creatures, it managed to hold itself together, if only to take another blow for its creator.
By now, Ozzy had gathered enough natural power to form an unstable orb the size of a bowling ball. Taking careful aim he lobbed it at his opponent, only to have it blocked by Jinkosen’s Substitute. Like his own, the structure suffered a massive injury – its entire left wing, as well as three quarters of its chest, had been burned away by the searing emerald energy – but stubbornly refused to disintegrate. Awkwardly it used its remaining flipper to swim back to its master’s side; Jinkosen, unnerved by the sinister new condition of his Substitute, edged away a bit.
Ozzy ruthlessly exploited his opponent’s hesitation to gather and launch another sphere of glowing pine green energy. Half-dead as it was, Jinkosen’s Substitute had absolutely no hope of surviving the attack: upon the instant of contact, it literally crumbled into powder that slowly began to drift to the bottom of the lake. The creator of the structure let out a worried trill, clearly reluctant to be exposed to Ozzy’s wrath… Oh well, if his Substitute disappeared, his would have to, too. Once again he popped out of the water like a cork before coming down again, body spinning rapidly and beak covered in a faint shroud of sky-blue energy. Ozzy’s protector swam in front of him and spread out its arms in a heroic attempt to shield its creator from harm. This it accomplished, though it looked like it would be the last thing it would every do: unable to stand up to the sheer magnitude of the impact, the complex of vines snapped and unraveled, then bobbed forlornly to the surface.
Kusarigamaitachi (O)
Ozzy (M) <Swift Swim>
Health: 85%
Energy: 82%
Status: Pumped and ready for more action.
Full Metal Cookies (O)
Jinkosen (M) <Torrent>
Health: 85%
Energy: 82%
Status: Relieved that, at the very least, the Substitutes are out of the way.
Terrain notes
The blue powder that was Jinkosen’s Substitute is slowly drifting to the bottom of the lake, while there are the vines that were Ozzy’s Substitute are bobbing about at the surface.
Final notes
FMC attacks first next round.
The 1st Energy Ball was supposed to destroy Jinkosen’s Substitute, but an unlucky dice roll reduced the damage by 1 point – enough for it to survive.
Sloppy and uninspired reffing pfff.