Battle Format: 2 vs 2
Battle Style: Double
DQ Time: 3 Days
Damage Cap: 60%
Banned and Restricted Moves: Chills, Rest, OHKO's
Arena Description: A simple Indigo League Water Arena. Simply a pool with floating platforms for non-aquatic Pokemon.
Additional Rules: No Non-Aquatic/Flying/Levitating Pokemon Over 200kg, as the platforms wouldn't be able to support them.
For once, the designated battle arena was normal, simple, and down-to-earth. No floating platforms in the sky, no colour-changing rocks, just a pool with platforms placed in various locations for Pokemon without the ability to swim. The referee sat at the edge of the pool, idly biting her nails as she waited for the trainers to show up. She didn’t have to wait long. The double doors that served as the entrance to the room flung open and in strolled Grass King, a widely-recognized resident of Asber, and Xaldin, a face that was newer to the region. The two newcomers clustered around the referee, who quickly went over the rules and restrictions. The sound of water lapping at the gutters made the battlers impatient to start the fight, and with a dismissive wave the referee signaled for them to take their positions.
They obeyed gladly. Grass King thought for several moments before throwing two Pokeballs, one with each hand. Twin flashes of light revealed Sandy the Trapinch, who nervously scuttled away from the edge of the platform she was sent out on, and Spooky the Gastly, who hovered above the surface of the water. Xaldin grinned, clearly quite confident, before throwing two of his own Pokeballs. Tenebrae and Lumen appeared on the same platform. A faint sparkle could be seen around the Eevee and Ralts, and the referee craned her neck forward to take a closer look.
Round One
Grass King (OO)
Sandy (F) <Hyper Cutter>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Eyeing the huge pool anxiously.
Commands: Sleep Talk @Tenebrae/Faint Attack @Lumen ~ Sleep Talk @Tenebrae/Faint Attack @Lumen ~ Sleep Talk @Tenebrae/Faint Attack @Lumen
Spooky (M) <Levitate>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Cackling to himself.
Commands: Curse @Lumen ~ Torment @Tenebrae ~ Torment @Tenebrae/Shadow Ball @Lumen
Xaldin (OO)
Tenebrae (M) <Adaptability>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Hopping from paw to paw.
Commands: Shadow Ball @Spooky/Detect/Dodge ~ Shadow Ball @Spooky/Detect/Dodge ~ Shadow Ball @Spooky/Detect/Dodge
Lumen (M) <Synchronize>
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Nervously returning the referee’s stare.
Commands: Hypnosis @Sandy/Protect ~ Dream Eater @Sandy/Hypnosis @Sandy/Protect ~ Dream Eater @Sandy/Hypnosis @Sandy/Protect
Of course, due to the fact he was not bound with the limitations of a corporal body, Spooky was the first to make his move. While Sandy was just starting to comprehend her commands, the Gastly broke out in an awful, loud chorus of insane laughter, startling every battler into silence. They knew all Gastly were unhinged in some way or another, but this… What they didn’t know was that Spooky’s mirthful screeches were imbued with a terrible, ancient power. Threads of water, somehow murky despite the fact that the pool was crystal clear, slowly slithered their way out of the pool to wrap around Lumen’s feet. He cried out in alarm and tried to jerk a foot back, but it was like someone had nailed him to the floor. Spooky’s chuckles transformed into words that sounded like the crackling of a hungry blaze; as if encouraged by the strange language, more watery fingers extended from the pool to grip at its victim. With a loud shout from Spooky, the murky liquid seemed to be sucked into Lumen’s skin, and he stumbled as an overpowering feeling of nausea crashed down on him. Spooky seemed to be afflicted by the same sensation, though, as he suddenly dipped dangerously close to the surface of the water.
As Lumen struggled with his new condition and Sandy lazily worked her jaws, Tenebrae glared at Spooky. Whatever he did seemed pretty nasty… better make sure he didn’t do it again. The shadows all throughout the arena seemed to be plucked from their place to be formed in a black-purple blob in front of the Eevee’s snout, rendering the arena oddly two-dimensional. When the Shadow Ball was just smaller than his head, Tenebrae gave it a nudge, and the unstable orb hurtled forward to explode in Spooky’s face. He snarled as he was blown backwards, the energy burning horribly at his skin. Even when the shadows retreated back to their original places, he felt a sting; if he had been able to see his own chin, he would see a patch of black, seared ghost flesh.
By that time, Lumen had managed to suppress his urge to vomit, and he swung his head up to stare at Sandy. The Trapinch, giant jaws still slightly open, stared back, completely oblivious to the soothing psychic signals Lumen was sending her until he felt a weight descend on her eyelids. Within a few seconds the Trapinch was asleep, legs sprawled out ungracefully and huge head resting on the platform. Not another moment passed, however, before she started muttering in her sleep. She staggered to her stubby legs and opened her mouth to reveal that her teeth were gleaming with a faint shroud of bug-type energy, but when she approached the edge of the platform she wavered uncertainly before collapsing back on the ground.
After dipping his body a few times in the cold water to dull the burn of his bruise, Spooky swung his head up and gave Tenebrae a challenging stare. The Eevee’s returning glare slowly withered as the Gastly spewed out colourful sentences aimed mostly at his low-caliber tactics –
super effective attacks, huh! Try winning a battle without spamming that one valuable move! Tenebrae’s ears drooped in shame and he stared down at his paws. He didn’t want to look like a fool in front of all these Pokemon… So preoccupied was he with his mental brooding that he neglected to attack at all. Spooky chuckled inwardly.
Lumen took no notice of his humiliated partner. Instead, he delved into Sandy’s dreams and slowly glanced around. Sandy was prancing about in a desert, perfectly at home amidst the howling winds. Giggling darkly to himself, Lumen reached out and snatched away the chunk of ground beneath the antlion; without any ground to stand on, Sandy immediately plummeted down, down, and down, screaming all the while. Lumen continued to tear pieces of the dream away for himself, and when his concentration ran out and he was forced to retreat from the Trapinch’s mind, he was feeling quite satiated. The Ralts had no wounds to speak of thus far, however, and the dreamstuff did little more than fill his stomach.
As if the horror of having her dream ripped into shreds had poked the languid creature into action, Sandy stumbled to her feet. Lumen started, thinking that she had woken up, but her eyes were still sealed shut. The Trapinch opened her jaws again. This time, though, words poured out of her mouth; mangled, slurred words, but coherent sentences nonetheless.
You, she half-shouted, dramatically jerking up one foot to point at Tenebrae,
you think y’r sooo pretty, wizzat shiny coatta yours? Blafpemy! See my
skin? Smoothed by… lotsa sand? Now that’s
shiny. Tenebrae fumed indignantly as Sandy laid her gigantic head back on the platform with a snort. How dare that ugly, oversized antlion mock his appearance? A red haze of anger clouded his vision, even as his muscles became uncoordinated with the need to
rip something apart.
With Tenebrae sufficiently distracted, Spooky turned his attention on Lumen. Once again the arena was robbed of its depth as shadows were sucked towards a spot in front of Spooky’s face. When it was complete, the Gastly swatted the murky ball with his tongue, sending it straight into Lumen’s stomach – or at least that’s where it would’ve ended up, if the Ralts had not quickly erected a translucent green shield at, literally, the last second. The Shadow Ball burst apart on contact with the energy barrier.
Tenebrae watched as Spooky executed his attack, almost bursting with rage. The Gastly had just used the very move he had been criticized for, with that smug, infuriating grin plastered all over his face. What a hypocrite! The fury in the Eevee’s little body flared up with renewed vigour as he forcefully yanked the shadows out of their places for the third time this round to form a wobbly sphere at his snout. He pushed it, nearly tripping over his own paws as he stepped forward, and it barreled straight into Spooky. It clipped the side of his face, momentarily blowing that section apart into wispy pieces that reformed swiftly, but not without a new feeling of agony. The two Shadow Balls, combined with the Curse he had cast earlier, were seriously wearing down on his health – and it hadn’t even been a single round.
As usual, Sandy was the last to move. This time, she didn’t even bother to stand up. She sleepily snapped her jaws several times, and with each snap two or three clear, colourless orbs appeared around her head, orbiting it. With a final snap, all the orbs stopped in place, turned a blue-green colour, and homed on Tenebrae as if guided by an invisible hand. He attempted to sidestep, but that brought him dangerously close to the water. Without any other options, he crouched on the spot and cowered, wincing as the spheres slammed into his body. He cried out in pain when several hit his sensitive eyes and nose. Each orb left behind a stinging sensation, as if a tiny fire had burned him. Still whimpering, Tenebrae crouched on the platform and pawed at his nose, embarrassment and rage bubbling within him like boiling liquid.
Next to Tenebrae, Lumen had let his Protect fade away – and suddenly doubled over, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. If the trainers squinted, they would have been have to just make out wisps of light blue separating themselves from the Ralts’s body as the curse laid on him sapped away at his health.
Grass King (OO)
Sandy (F) <Hyper Cutter>
Health: 89%
Energy: 78%
Status: Uncomfortably asleep. Presumably still plummeting down a deep chasm in her dreams. Asleep (moderate).
Spooky (M) <Levitate>
Health: 29%
Energy: 83%
Status: Feeling very battered already. -1 Sp. Def.
Xaldin (OO)
Tenebrae (M) <Adaptability>
Health: 88%
Energy: 84%
Status: Livid to the point of no coordination. +2 Attack. Confused (strong). Tormented.
Lumen (M) <Synchronize>
Health: 90%
Energy: 84%
Status: “My stomach…” Cursed.
Terrain notes
Nothing to note.
Final notes
Grass King attacks first next round.
Xaldin, in Tenebrae’s commands you said to either ‘get the hell out of the way’ or ‘use Detect’ if he was attacked. Both options were viable on the last action, when he was attacked, so I rolled a dice and got the ‘dodge’ option. Unfortunately, his dodging abilities don’t do well on the edge of a platform.
Sandy’s Sleep Talk turned up Fury Cutter (which failed because she needed to cross the pool to reach her target), Swagger, and Hidden Power (Dragon).
Tenebrae’s first Shadow Ball lowered Spooky’s Special Defense.
Tenebrae didn’t attack on the 2nd action due to Torment.
Hidden Power scored a critical hit.
I have a feeling I missed something in the final notes. Huh, double battles are loooong.
