"Welcome, one and all, to this match between pokemon trainers Shadowstar and Crowned Clown!" the referee exclaims, looking and acting as if she's about to burst with excitement. This particular referee is a blond-haired young woman with a set of white mightyena ears on her head that one would assume were fake. It's obvious she's decided to dress up to match the battlefield, as her badge, reading 'Light Mightyena, Offical TCoD Referee,' is pinned to a chocolate brown west that she's currently wearing over a green dress with a distinct leaf motif with the shape of the skirt, compounded by the patterns all over it in gold that imitate leaf veins.
She blends right in with the surrounding forest. Trees dot the battlefield, making it difficult to tell exactly where the field begins and ends, with only a few folding chairs for a handful of fans to sit on. The rest plant themselves on various tree stumps, rocks, and the like as they wait for the trainers to make their appearance. They don't have to wait for very long; Shadowstar is soon seen making her way to one side of the vaguely-defined battlefield, an eevee bouncing around her heels with untold enthusiasm. From the other end comes Crowned Clown, two pokeballs hanging from his belt.
"This will be a one-on-one match," Light Mightyena explains, as one of her wolfish ears seems to give a twitch, quite obviously due to the wind, "Shadowstar issued the challenge, so she will be the first to choose her pokemon. Understood?"
Both trainers give a nod and Shadowstar excitedly tells her eevee to take the field, who bounces forward and tries to look seriously at the opposing trainer. Crowned Clown tosses one of his pokeballs onto the field that opens to reveal a cyndaquil. One of the audience members gives an appreciative whistle at this particular cyndaquil's grey and white pelt and the blue-hot flames that roar into life as the fire type eyes his fluffy opponent.
"Shadowstar chooses her female eevee by the name of Moonshine, and Crowned Clown answers with his male cyndaquil named Flame Tempest!" Light Mightyena raises a flag as she speaks the name of each pokemon, a dark blue one with an eevee head and a cresent moon on it for Moonshine, and a red one with a cyndaquil head and fireball for Flame Tempest that, oddly enough, have the same colouration as Flame Tempest himself and his unique flames. She then holds both flags in the air and bellows, "Let the battle begin!"
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Shadowstar's Pokemon:
[Moonshine]
![Eevee](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/dp/Eevee.png)
(Female)
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Eager to get things started.
Crowned Clown's Pokemon:
[Flame Tempest]
(Male)
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Confident and determined.
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Flame Tempest's body takes on a red glow as he summons a deep inner power, stretching his conciousness into the depths of the earth in a search for magma. Sensing the approach of something painful, Moonshine takes off toward one of the trees, scurrying up it frantically. Unfortunately, eevee aren't built for fast or efficient climbing, and Flame Tempest quickly finds his magma. He grasps it in his will and forces it to surge up unnaturally toward the surface. The little cyndaquil throws with stubby arms upward dramatically as the earth opens up in front of him and lava comes gushing from it. Despite her best efforts to get out of range, some of the lava strikes Moonshine, scorching her fur and burning at her skin. She shrieks and scrambles a little higher, the lava falling back down to earth as her jerking movements dislodge it from her coat.
As the last of the lava from Flame Tempest's attack either cools and hardens or retreats back into the fissure, the cyndaquil turns his attention to the mass of brown and white fur clinging to a branch of one of the trees. Walking over until he stands right under the tree, he looks up and grins craftily at his opponent. Flame Tempest then leans over and digs his paw into the earth. He scoops up a clod of dirt and tries his hardest to aim carefully. One eye squeezed shut and his tongue sticking out, he swings back his arm and hurls the mud at Moonshine. It strikes true, and Moonshine just barely manages to cling to her branch as the mud hits her face.
Her eyesight compromised, Moonshine can only grip to her branch for a moment until she remembers her next order. She starts to climb down slowly, blinking furiously to try to clear her vision. Unfortunately, about halfway down, she missteps and goes tumbling to the ground. Flame Tempest bursts into laughter as Moonshine hits the ground with a dull thud, and is very startled when she gets up and throws herself at him. Able to follow the sound of his laughter, she slams into his side, sending him tumbling back.
Flame Tempest grinds his teeth as he scoops up another pawful of dirt and throws it at Moonshine, giving a small 'hmph' of satisfaction as it hits its target. With her face so thoroughly caked in mud, he assures himself, there's no way she'll be able to aim. Indeed, Moonshine can hardly tell a rock from her opponent by now, and decides to simply take a wild guess at which grey shape is Flame Tempest. Much to the cyndaquil's surprise and anger, she picks correctly, and once again he finds himself knocked back by Moonshine's attack. He growls, his flames burning a little brighter. Of all the dumb luck...
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Shadowstar's Pokemon:
[Moonshine]
![Eevee](http://www.dragonflycave.com/oldforums/images/vbsprites/dp/Eevee.png)
(Female)
Health: 93%
Energy: 96%
Status: Face covered in mud and slightly clumsy due to lack of vision. Some of her fur is scorched from the lava. Accuracy -2
Crowned Clown's Pokemon:
[Flame Tempest]
(Male)
Health: 93%
Energy: 84%
Status: Amused by his opponent's disorientation, but frustrated with her amount of good luck.
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Arena: There is now a moderately-size crack in the earth roughly in the middle of the arena, and a few bits of rapidly-hardening lava nearby it that is still scorching hot to the touch.
Notes:
--Moonshine only took half damage from the Lava Plume
--Flame Tempest needed 1% more energy to hurl the mud with enough force to hit Moonshine when she was in the tree
--Moonshine took 1% falling damage due to her misstep
--Shadowstar gives orders first for round two.