[11] Mai vs Kratos Aurion (Ref: Metallica Fanboy)

[Mai]

... Oh, right, I actually forgot about asking this. Negrek might've changed negs mind since replying, but this is probably relevant.

 

[M&F]

... Oh, right, I actually forgot about asking this. Negrek might've changed negs mind since replying, but this is probably relevant.

Probably not at this point, seeing as Yakuza fainted at the very last action anyway.

 

[Mai]

For this round, I mean.

 

[M&F]

3vs3 Rotation
DQ: 7 Days
Damage Cap: 40%
Banned Moves: Weather moves, moves requiring external resources

Round 10

Mai (OOO)
Currently out: Kaleidoscope

Female Illumise
Ability: Tinted Lens
Item: Leftovers
Health: 13%
Energy: 12%
Status: 2+ Attack, 1+ Defense, 2+ Special Attack, 1+ Special Defense, 1+ Speed. Wings are badly damaged and moderately immobilized.
Condition: Torn apart.
Commands: Wish/Bug Bite/Snore ~ Wish/Bug Bite/Snore ~ Wish/Bug Bite/Snore

Dia: 17%H/38%E/Phasing, Encored 2A, Substitute 20%
Rael: 55%H/55%E/Stable

Kratos Aurion (XOO)
Currently out: Lesovik

Male Cottonee
Ability: Prankster
Item: Sun Stone
AHBE Move: Sleep Powder
Health: 18%
Energy: 16%
Status: 1- Special Defense.
Condition: Highly demotivated by the waiting in the cold.
Commands: Sleep Powder ~ Dream Eater (energy)/Protect ~ Protect

Thorn: 55%H/55%E/Stable​

Arena: Cold Storage

Driftveil City has plenty of attractions: its picturesque lighthouse, its bustling marketplace, and, most important of all to trainers, its official gym. Surely any of those would have made fine sites for a battle and a worthy introduction to Driftveil's culture.

Instead, trainers and spectators find themeselves huddled, shivering, in a glorified walk-in refrigerator.

As it turns out, it's rather expensive to rent out Nimbasa's music hall for a few crazy trainers to have their battles in. And it's even more expensive when you have to pay for repairs after a couple of those trainers smash a hole in the stage and set fire to the orchestra pit. Over budget and facing a suddenly-inflated insurance premium on whatever location it decided to rent, the league found itself too strapped for cash to secure one of Driftveil's more desirable locales.

There was no way they could simply call off the battle, though, so they made do. And, with a bit of effort, they even managed to wrangle a local into teaching their battlers a unique bit of Unovan battle-style, the rotation battle. He's a heartbreaker... His name... Charles...

In a rotation battle, each player sends out three pokémon from the get-go, though only one fights at a time. Up to once per round, at any time, a trainer may choose to "rotate" their pokémon, swapping the one in battle for one of the two in reserve. Now, though the arena manages to avoid the iciest parts of Cold Storage, the floor's a little slick, and the pokémon being rotated in will need to take an action to get its footing. The act of rotating therefore takes a full action, but is otherwise unpenalized. A pokémon that is rendered uncapable of leaving the field under its own power cannot be rotated out.

The frigid conditions of Cold Storage are going to sap a bit of the fun out of this new battle style, though. It's so freezing that all pokémon in battle will lose 5% health and energy at the end of each round, whether or not they're currently in battle. Ice types, of course, love the cold and are immune to this effect--too bad they happen to offend Charles, who can't stand their shameless aping of his aloof and distant attitude. At the end of each round, any ice type actually in battle has a 10% chance (each) of becoming taunted, tormented, confused, or paralyzed as a result of suffering through Charles' intense, furious, and yet carefree stare for the entire round.

For these battles, the first player to post will post all three pokémon that they will be using, as well as which one will start in the active position. The second will then do the same, as well as issuing commands, and the battle will proceed as normal from there.

Arena status: A portion of the ice was ripped out and sculpted into snow Sableyes.

-----​

Lesovik took position in the frosty battlefield as the defeated Yakuza was finally recalled. Thorn and Rael exchanged a spiteful glare from the background as the tenth round started.

Kaleidoscope accepted that defeat was inevitably afoot. It wasn't to be minded much -- visibly, she played her role. Fisrt things first, she unceremoniously dragged her Leftovers closer to the middle of the arena, but still on her side of it. Then, not paying much attention to whatever her opponent intended to finish her with, she closed her eyes and knelt (knees?) on the cold ground, softly chanting prayer for miracles.

That was one half of how said opponent slipped completely unnoticed behind her back; the other was that his undauntable trickery had a way of granting him stealth. He found this one priceless -- it's that one where the sucker's eyes are already closed so they don't even quite realize them going heavy as they fall asleep. Which is exactly what befell his victim: wishes still half-finished, she collapsed into a lying stance, deep in slumber.

Although the sleeping Illumise may have seemed helpless for the first few seconds, the imagery was soon to change, as highly unflattering snores blasted the Cold Storage, echoing off its walls and almost seeming to quake the place. All others present were very quick to shield their ears... Except the attack's intended target, whose resources for such purpose were quite limited.

Beneath the rumbling noise, indulgent dreams ran their course. Fortune, fame. Honor. A crowd to be waved at. And then there was no crowd, suddenly; just motionless shadows. Lights grew dim, the sun set. A feeling of paralysis kicked in. Little by little, any semblance of energy in the surreal world was seeped away.

That ending matched reality quite well -- the dreamer had collapsed from exhaustion in spite of her relaxing nap, as the Cottonee's final trick laid down the final blow -- absorbing energy through dreams.

The cotton seed Pokémon would hardly outlast his foe, however -- akin to one Honchkrow beforehand, he suddenly ran out of steam, as the unbearable temperatures and his worsening condition did not at all agree.

Thorn released a sound that was somewhere between grunt and sigh. He had been hoping to take on the other largely inactive Pokémon in an equal-grounded duel, but thanks to his incompetent teammates, he had some business to deal with beforehand and would likely have to grant a head start, however minor.

Round 10 – End

Mai (XOO)
Currently out: Kaleidoscope

Female Illumise
Ability: Tinted Lens
Item: Leftovers
Health: 8%
Energy: 0%
Status: Knocked out!
Condition: Ash to ash, dust to dust.
Performed: Snore ~ Snore ~ nothing

Dia: 12%H/35%E/Phasing, Encored 2A, Substitute 20%
Rael: 50%H/50%E/Stable

Kratos Aurion (XXO)
Currently out: Lesovik

Male Cottonee
Ability: Prankster
Item: Sun Stone
AHBE Move: Sleep Powder
Health: 0%
Energy: 7%
Status: Knocked out!
Condition: Done with his last joke for the battle.
Performed: Sleep Powder ~ Dream Eater (energy) ~ nothing

Thorn: 50%H/50%E/Stable​

Arena status: A portion of the ice was ripped out and sculpted into snow Sableyes. Leftovers have been left over near Mai's side of the field.

Additional notes:
- Not entirely sure what Negrek meant in that SS'd post; I'm guessing it's this.
- Apologies if this is inconsistent with any figures I've given previously; my computer's monitor is dead so I can't check my convenient calculation record and am instead having to do all of it from scratch. As plenty of refs are used to, but eh.
- Do point out any mistakes; I've made this at like 1 AM at least.
- I wonder how long it'll take for anybody to realize what Kaleidoscope's dream draws excessively heavy inspiration from. Maybe it almost sounded like a nice original thing for a while.
- Next round, Mai rotates a Pokémon in first, then Kratos Aurion issues commands, and lastly Mai commands.

 

[Mai]

Seems consistent with my calculations. (Says the one who just scraped by on damage, and realized that would happen)

Anyway, because Lesovik is dead, could I attempt to convince you that the encore should no longer exist? Thorn never saw Dia's substitute/went on the field while he was doing that.

 

[M&F]

Anyway, because Lesovik is dead, could I attempt to convince you that the encore should no longer exist? Thorn never saw Dia's substitute/went on the field while he was doing that.

Not quite. I'm not sure if I'm really supposed to let the Encore stay there, but since the rotating Pokémon are to be treated as though they never left the field, there it is. There are many possibilities in flavor to explain why the Encore would still last now.

 

[Mai]

Not quite. I'm not sure if I'm really supposed to let the Encore stay there, but since the rotating Pokémon are to be treated as though they never left the field, there it is. There are many possibilities in flavor to explain why the Encore would still last now.

Yeah, I figured that wouldn't work. Rael's next, of course.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Yeah, about that. I kind of don't want to play anymore, so I'm forfeiting (oh shock, oh horror, "one of the best battlers" is forfeiting the tournament, I don't care). If you couldn't tell by the fact that I've barely posted in anything recently, ASB in general hasn't been a ton of fun for me lately and I have enough other stuff to worry about without trying to strategize making my head hurt and without feeling awful because I know I'm annoying people by putting things off as long as possible. I apologize to both of you for all the delays I caused before; it's easier if I just bow out now rather than make you wait even longer while I attempt to scrape commands together when I'd really rather not.

So, congratulations Mai, and good luck in the rest of the tournament. You were a worthy adversary, and I'm sorry my heart wasn't in it so I could properly return the favor. I would say I'm rooting for you, but honestly I'm probably not going to pay attention to the tourney at all for a while anyway. We'll have to try a rematch when ASB feels like fun again. And thanks for the reffings, MF.

 

[M&F]

Rael and Thorn eagerly moved to the center of the battlefield, ready to put a definite winner into the harsh cold duel... Only for Thorn to be recalled out of the blue. There had been much going through Kratos' head; definitely not in the mood to be undertaking such a complicated battle in such a terrible temperature. The match had been enjoyable for a good deal of its duration, but it really dragged out at a few points.

With Charles wildly clueless about what was going on, the prizes were dealt and that matchup quietly finished its course off (although Mai's reaction to advancing would likely shify well away from "quiet" as soon as the others left earshot).

-----

Well, that's perfectly understandable. Sorry it had to end abruptly, but if you have more stuff that needs dealing with you'd probably be better off focusing on that. And even if that wasn't a factor, enjoyment is still the priority, even in a rather prestiged level of competition.

I'm... Not sure exactly how this is going to work, but I assume I'm supposed to be dealing the rewards as per normal, so, there it goes. Mai nets $20, a Rare Candy and a spot in the quarterfinals; if I'm still supposed to give loser prizes in a forfeit, Kratos gets $10 and a Rare Candy; and I get $15 and no Rare Candy. Sigh. Additionally, Kaleidoscope gets 3exp; Lesovik gets 2exp; Dia, Rael, Yakuza and Thorn each get 1exp.

And congratulations, Mai! Your victory may have been premature, but it was definitely not illegitimate. You've earned this victory just fine.

Also, as for a rematch, we still need to have that Nidoroyalty brawl one of these days, eh? As soon as we're all up for it, I suppose.

 

[Negrek]

No money or other prizes for a forfeit.

 

[M&F]

No money or other prizes for a forfeit.

Not even experience?

 

[Negrek]

No, experience is still given as usual. I don't consider EXP a "prize" in the traditional sense, but I should have clarified. If there's anything like rare candies or "pick X w/dream world ability" involved, though, those aren't given upon a forfeit.