Zora of Termina vs Metallica Fanboy

[Zhorken]

Format: 1v1 single

Style: Set

DQ Time: 5 days

Damage Cap: 30%

Banned/Restricted Moves: OHKOs, recovery moves, Chills limited to 3/pokemon

Arena Description: Just A Plain-Ass Field

That's it, it's literally just a field. It's grassy. The sky is nice and blue and ripe for weather moves. There's a pond over there for water-types. It's pretty flat and overall boring. The designated arena is about two Wailords long and one Wailord wide. Anything goes, you know unless it's in the banned moves.

Additional Rules: Nope.

[size=+2]Zora of Termina vs Metallica Fanboy[/size]

Zora of Termina's active squad

Cyndra the female Typhlosion <Blaze>
Sheila the female Ninetales <Flash Fire>
Hera the female Kirlia <Synchronize>
Scarlet the female Zorua <Illusion>
Jade the female Yamask <Mummy>
Grace the female Fennekin <Magician>
Q the female Elgyem <Synchronize>
Marama the female Inkay <Contrary>
Alexis the female Doublade <No Guard> @ Dusk Stone
Fiametta the female Fletchling <Big Pecks>


Metallica Fanboy's active squad

Earth Dragon the male Shelgon <Rock Head> @ Life Orb
Daremyth the female Igglybuff <Cute Charm> @ Moon Stone
Scorpicore the female Skorupi <Sniper> @ Lansat Berry
Swing Shark the female Carvanha <Rough Skin> @ Scope Lens
Fort the male Shieldon <Sturdy> @ Jaboca Berry
Kanine West the male Snubbull <Intimidate> @ Red Card
Reaper the female Phantump <Harvest> @ Yache Berry
Hawmucha Hawlucha the male Hawlucha <Limber> @ Mental Herb
My Lips Don't Lie the female Smoochum <Forewarn> @ Lucky Egg
Garage Wolf the female Eevee <Adaptability> @ Thunder Stone


Zora sends out first.

 

[Zora of Termina]

Decisions decisions. But for the sake of things, let's send out Grace. I'd like to get her evolved.

 

[M&F]

Humbugger. No chance of insta-evolving My Lips Don't Lie. I guess I'll be going for the lockdown and sending out Swing Shark who is not quite a shark yet, then.

Let's be annoying as hell. Dive down into the pond, and while you're down there, set up a small Substitute and get pumped.

Dive (down) ~ Substitute (10%) ~ Focus Energy

 

[Zora of Termina]

Alright, let's start off by putting up a Substitute of our own, then we're gonna mess with the weather a little by way of Sunny Day, and then let's finish that off by throwing down a Lucky Chant.

Substitute (10%) ~ Sunny Day ~ Lucky Chant

 

[Zhorken]

Round One​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Darting around and yapping incessantly.

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
Status: Glaring over the edge of the pond at her competition.

-------------------------------------​

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. There is exactly one cloud in the sky, a perfect, saccharine puffy cloud drifting lazily over this charming, albeit boring, suburban park. Yep, a perfect day to tear the place the hell apart with a Pokémon battle.

Grace bounds recklessly around the field, surveying her stage. Yes, it's the perfect venue to put on her first show as a magician. And she even has an audience! She trots over to the pond to introduce herself, but Swing Shark just leers at her through her Scope Lens. She is not in the mood to listen to some bigshot yap all day. She came here for a fight and a fight's what she's gonna get. Right on cue, the ref swings their flag and the trainers start shout out their commands.

Swing Shark swims down to the bottom of the pond. As if she wanted to watch some dork's magic show anyway. Although she swims far enough out to make sure she can still see what Grace is up to over the edge of the pool. You know, so she can still watch if she makes a fool of herself. That's all.

For her first act, Grace rears up on her hind legs, waves her paws around wildly for effect, and channels her energy in front of her. A ball of light appears and takes the shape of another Fennekin, albeit a slightly flickery one, with a somewhat indistinct fur texture. She falls back on all fours and bends her forelegs in a little bow, and the substitute does the same.

Swing Shark rolls her eyes. Big deal, everyone knows that move. And lucky for her, she's been given the opportunity to prove her point. She concentrates her life force and a similar ball of light forms a second Swing Shark. This one's a little rough around the edges, more jagged than the real thing, but if anything she'd say that gives it more style than that show-off's blurry two-bit act.

Grace glares down at her heckler. Well, no matter, that was just a warm-up. Now the real show starts. For her next act, she's going to alter the sky. Again she stands up on her hind legs, and howls at the sky, purely for effect, while she concentrates. The single puffy cloud clears out and the sun intensifies. Swing Shark winces at the sudden brightness, all the more glaring under the calm lens of the pond's surface.

But so what. The sun came out. That doesn't mean a thing. Swing Shark's about ready to crash this party. She races around the pond, snapping gleefully at a wild Goldeen, getting herself psyched up to show that clown that this is a fight, not some kid's birthday party.

Well, if that's how things are, Grace will just have to give her attention to an audience who appreciates her. She spins around to face the humans, and in her most dramatic voice, says The Magic Words. (Unsurprisingly, the magic words are yap yap yap, but Zora gives her Pokémon a round of applause anyway. The others just look mildly bewildered.)

She turns around and sticks her tongue out at Swing Shark, who snarls right back, and they both turn and wait for directions — Grace for her next cue, and Swing Shark for the go-ahead to strart causing some mayhem.

-------------------------------------​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 87%
Status: Excited for the second round. The stage is set. Lucky Chant (five more actions).

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 89%
Status: Jittering restlessly back and forth at the bottom of the pond. Focus Energy.

Arena Notes:

• Sunny Day (four more actions)

Notes:

• Gggggh, sorry for cutting it so close. I've been super-busy with other life- and ASB-related work.
• Zora commands first this round.

 

[Zora of Termina]

Let's continue to be annoying.

Let's start by setting up a Magic Room, then a Double Team to see if you can throw her off. Then try Swagger.

Magic Room ~ Double Team (Two clones) ~ Swagger

 

[M&F]

Let's be more annoying.

Firstly, while this sucker is close enough to the edge of the pond, I want you to come back up, and with a vengeance -- take advantage of the upwards momentum to chain a little lockjaw into it. This should hurt more than enough to smash that puny stageprop Substitute of theirs whilst proving the superiority of ours (incidentally, this is an offical ruling on the damage dealt by combos, which, also incidentally, was issued in response to a question of Zhorken's very own).

After that, or in the action after that you have to take your off-action immediately after the combo, Snarl for the win. Ideally, we'll be hitting before they can get their Double Team on, but even if we don't get to, it won't make a world of difference, since this is a sound-based and naturally wide-spanning move so they probably don't have as many chances of avoiding it (if you have to make an extra effort in order to ensure Snarl hits all clones, however, do it).

And to close the procedures, laugh as they attempt to Swagger you through the Substitute.

Dive (up) + Bite ~ Snarl/nothing ~ laughter/Snarl

 

[Zhorken]

Round Two​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 87%
Status: Excited for the second round. The stage is set. Lucky Chant (five more actions).

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 89%
Status: Jittering restlessly back and forth at the bottom of the pond. Focus Energy.

-------------------------------------​

Swing Shark careens out of the pond, aiming directly at Grace with a stream of water trailing behind her. Only at the last second does Grace's substitute rush between them. Swing Shark ends up chomping down on the sub's neck, unceremoniously flopping around with it between her jaws. Ten seconds of concentrated mayhem ensue, sparks of energy flying everywhere as Swing Shark tears the sub apart, and her own sub bounces around with equal vigour, adding to the commotion. Grace looks on in absolute horror. After what seems like an eternity, the sparks die out, the commotion winds down, and all that's left is two triumphant Swing Sharks lying on their side.

Grace blinks as she regains her composure, and rolls her eyes at her opponent's complete lack of dignity. Some Pokémon just don't understand art, it seems. She's got other things to worry about. She closes her eyes and concentrates, forgoing the gesticulating and ominous muttering this time. A faint purple glow spreads out from around her and over the field. The air glitters for a moment, and then the mysterious aura fades out, as if it has dissolved and the air is now saturated with it. The lens over Swing Shark's eye remains fogged up with pink condensation, but that seems to be the least of her worries.

Swing Shark lies twitching and sputtering on her side, exhausted from all the shredding. The ref reaches for their whistle and cellphone, ready to call the nearest Pokémon Center for an ambulance. But then the fish flops onto her belly with a contented grunt, and begins catching her... breath? It certainly looks like she's panting. The noises she's making are still a little guttural and wet, but she seems to be adjusting just fine to being a fish out of water. (The biology of fish Pokémon remains one of nature's greatest mysteries. There is probably some professor in some far-off region who has devoted their entire career to researching it, likely with little to no conclusive findings.)

Anyway, while Swing Shark lies around making gross noises, Grace has more important matters to attend to. One extra Grace wasn't enough to impress her opponent, but seeing a whole bunch of her should be enough to make anyone think twice before heckling. Plus, of course, she's glad to have an excuse to scamper around and yap some more, which she wastes no time in doing. She runs loops around Swing Shark, faster and faster, and before long, additional foxes begin trailing behind her. When they all stop there are a total of five of them in a ring around Swing Shark, and they're a lot more detailed than the previous fake — no telling which one's the real deal!

Swing Shark squints through her useless Scope Lens, trying to figure out if she's seeing double or if this is another harebrained trick. She lets out a loud, raspy snarl, shimmying herself around with her fins to sweep the entire ring of Fennekins. The illusions blink out of existence one by one, until there's just one fox left, who flops onto the ground and whimpers. When the awful noise stops and Grace stands back up, she looks notably less enthusiastic than before.

Nevertheless, she plucks up her courage and marches up to Swing Shark to return fire, so to speak. In a low, hopefully fierce growl, she gives Swing Shark a piece of her mind: Do you even have any talents besides wrecking everything? This stuff is complicated, but I'd like to see some dumb fish do any better. A few feet to her left, she hears a bemused snort. She looks over, confused, and sees Swing Shark's smug little face staring back at her, andt dawns on her that she's been trash-talking the wrong fish this whole time. She slinks off, feeling thoroughly defeated.

-------------------------------------​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 85%
Energy: 75%
Status: Trying to forget what just happened. Down, but not out. −1 Special Attack; Lucky Chant (two more actions).

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 77%
Status: Still a little weirded out by the whole "air" thing. Focus Energy.

Arena Notes:

• Sunny Day (one more action)
• Magic Room (three more actions)

Notes:

• Sorry it's half a day late, still a lot going on.
• Iiii'm a little confused by the rules about combos but I assume the recharge action can't be postponed. Like, the example in the rules says "[the user's second action] may correspond to its opponent's second or third action, depending on how the combo goes off", but I always figured that just meant that if it fails, there's no recharge action? Bluh.
• Snarl did 2/3× 3/4× damage for being spread out. Regardless of how much sense it makes, it is a single-target move.
• Metallica Fanboy commands first this round.

 

[M&F]

Snarl targets all opponents, actually. I should know, there's that intolerable asshole in the Mauville Food Court...

Anyway. I can't believe we don't have Night Slash. But even without a good means to exploit that little Lucky Chant gap, we can go all-out as long as the Substitute will keep them at bay, and then some more. We might even get a nice flinch if luck is on our side.

Snarl ~ Waterfall ~ Waterfall

 

[Zhorken]

I'm dumb. Let me fix that.

EDIT: Wait, multiple-target moves are weaker too when they're actually targetting multiple, right? Bluuuh I'm gonna take this to the Question Box.

 

[M&F]

They are, yes. I don't think Negrek ever set down a specific multiplier; I use the in-game x0.75.

 

[Eifie]

They are, yes. I don't think Negrek ever set down a specific multiplier; I use the in-game x0.75.

neg did. I believe it's 3/(# targets + 2) but it's in the second (?) post of the A&A guide if you want to check.

 

[Zhorken]

Alright, fixed. Enjoy your one extra damage.

 

[M&F]

Little by little, my victory becomes more complete.

 

[Zora of Termina]

OKAY WOW I CONTINUE TO BE DENSE AS FUCK i didn't even know commands were posted I'M SO SORRY

Okay so. Take advantage of that last Sunny Day action with Solarbeam, try to do it in one actions and if Sunny Day ends before you can get a shot off, then just take the energy hit, won't matter anyway. Protect against the first Waterfall, then give him a little dose of Toxic.

Solarbeam ~ Protect ~ Toxic

 

[Zhorken]

Round Three​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 85%
Energy: 75%
Status: Trying to forget what just happened. Down, but not out. −1 SpA; Lucky Chant (two more actions).

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 90% (+ 10% Substitute)
Energy: 77%
Status: Still a little weirded out by the whole "air" thing. Focus Energy.

-------------------------------------​

Swing Shark takes a deep breath... and pauses for a moment, disoriented by the alien sensation. But she's got no time to waste. Fixing her aim directly on Grace, she gleefully cranks out another deafening chainsaw noise. Grace doubles over and emits a high-pitched whine, and all the humans present jam their palms over their ears. Even the grass around Swing Shark curls up, as if it has gained just enough sentience to feel fear.

Once again, after a few long, long seconds, the snarling dies down, and eventually Grace's whimpering does, too. She takes her paws off her ears asnd stands up straight. She's feeling pretty discouraged at this point, but the sun is still shining bright, and she's got bigger fish to fry. Or, well, she has... this exact fish... to fry. In any case, she begins soaking up sunlight, and her fur fluffs out and begins to glow, producing her own dramatic backlighting effect despite it being two in the afternoon. She fires away, and a yellow-green surge of light rips across the field. Swing Shark's double flies into action and gets absolutely incinerated. All that remains is a small black pile of what was once fake fish.

Grace conjures a translucent barrier before Swing Shark can retaliate. Swing Shark zooms across the field, streaming water behind her, and slams right into the shield without hesitation, but bounces off ineffectually. The shield fades and Swing Shark immediately goes for it again yeehaw, sending Grace flying.

Grace completely forgets she's trying to look professional and spits poison all over Swing Shark. The air feels a little less dense as Magic Room fades.

-------------------------------------​

Zora of Termina (1/1)
Grace ♀ [Magician]

Health: 64%
Energy: 59%
Status: −2 SpA.

Metallica Fanboy (1/1)
Swing Shark ♀ [Rough Skin]

Health: 89%
Energy: 68%
Status: Focus Energy; badly poisoned (1% this round).

Notes:

• Sorry the last half of this reffing is the most half-assed thing in the history of ASB, hahah. I took what I had a month ago and just cleaned it up. I just want to move on at this point.
• I tested Magician a while ago and it does not trigger against Substitute.
• Zora of Termina commands first this round.

 

[Zhorken]

DQ warning for Zora.

 

[Zhorken]

Aaaand DQ time. :( MF wins; The db will figure out prizes.