"Whooa!" was about all that Daniel could articulate when he first entered the battle sphere. It consisted of two major entrances on each end, apparently for the dramatic appearance of battling trainers. Daniel was walking into it through one of these entrances.
Before him laid a large arena of plain dirt with lines drawn out to indicate the starting placements for pokemon and trainers. To the side, next to the entrance that he just came out of was a computer. One of the butlers who worked to maintain the battle sphere had explained to Daniel that the computer could be used to generate virtual challengers of varying difficulty and also to change the terrain setting on the arena.
As the trainer continued to walk forward, he lifted his eyes upward to observe the clear dome surrounding the arena. Beyond the dome, Daniel could see row after row of audience seating, all currently empty. Clearly the dome served to protect the audience from any stray attacks during a battle. Daniel could imagine those seats filled with noisy cheering fans as confident trainers fought it out in the arena.
Eventually, Daniel found himself standing in a circle on the ground which indicated where a challenging trainer should stand during a battle. There he lost himself to his thoughts, envisioning himself as one of those confident trainers commanding fearsome pokemon, the excitement and thrill of the conflict, and the roar of the crowd in his ears.
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Joey stalked off through the corridors of Castle Vonmoto by himself except for his Pokemon currently in their Pokeballs. He couldn't remember the last time that he's had them all put away, but right now, he just needed time to think. About everything. Coming up on a set of revolving doors, he walked through, being cautious. Revolving doors were not a strong point of his. Where it opened up to, he looked like he was behind stage to something. He walked closer and peered out. He was right behind the open entrance to a large, and empty battle arena. It looked really official, and intimidated the young trainer. Wait, it wasn't empty. There was another kid standing out in the arena in the designated spot, looking awed.
Joey slowly and carefully walked out to see the kid better. He looked younger than him, but taller and thinner. He scoffed inwardly, almost wishing he had been dealt a better physique, but being short and young-looking had its advantages as well. Such as catching an opponent off guard. He passed by a computer that looked to have a lot of complicated settings. He figured he better not mess with it. Perhaps another time.
Now that he could see the kid better, he noticed he was nothing remarkable. He was tidy looking at best, but didn't appear to be a major threat. Subconsciously, Joey couldn't believe what he was doing. Here he was,
he, standing in the middle of a battle arena, facing an
opponent. Was he truly an opponent? They weren't fighting, yet. He was just standing there. He didn't have any business battling Pokemon. Joey told himself all this while reaching into his front scrubs pocket, feeling for his Pokeball. He tensed, seeing the other trainer's reaction. There's no time to wait, no hesitation. There's a battle to be won. But what if he didn't win? Joey swallowed his insecurities, and vowed to give it his best shot, and then called out a Pidgey that only remembers life as a pet at least, and a friend at most.
"Claw! It's all you!"
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Battle Sequence : It's Long! (click to showhide)
Amissa:
"Whaa!" Daniel exclaimed, looking straight ahead and only now realizing that he was facing another trainer. The smaller boy must have arrived while he was daydreaming. Now he was calling out a pokemon and Daniel wasn't ready for battle! He felt himself pale slightly as he came close to panic. Crap! Crap! Crap! What now? Wait, I'm a trainer and I have pokemon too. Plus, you can never back down from a challenge of a pokemon battle. So really, there's only one question, and that's which pokemon. Daniel quickly regained composure as he contemplated this decision.
Daniel was no expert in pokemon battling. He'd never done it before and had never even studied or practiced simulated battling like many novice trainers. He did, however, have a decent understanding of biology. And he knew that in the natural world, birds ate insects. Thus, when Daniel saw a pidgey emerge at his trainer's summon, Daniel knew that he didn't want to send his bug pokemon against a natural predator. For him, this left only one other option.
"Time to battle, Hercules! Come out!" Daniel called, grabbing the first pokeball on his belt and holding it out so that a Machop emerged to face their opponent. "Machop!" the pokemon called, flexing his muscular arms and obviously ready for a fight.
"Hercules, use Focus Energy!" Daniel commanded. That's one thing that Daniel was thankful for considering ahead of time. After obtaining each of his pokemon, he'd made sure to memorize their attacks and what each attack did. He'd still never seen the attacks though, so he watched in wonder as his pokemon inhaled a deep breath. For a moment, the machop glowed slightly and the dust covering the floor seemed to swirl around the pokemon as though stirred by some mysterious force. Then the glow faded and the dust settled. Daniel was deeply disappointed. It didn't really seem like Focus Energy had done anything, and Daniel wondered if using the attack had really been such a good idea.
Hercules, however, felt confident and stronger than ever. The Focus Energy attack had allowed him to prepare and to calculate. Now, if he was going to strike, he knew that he'd have a greater chance of doing some serious damage.
Shadow:
Joey watched the Machop perform the move. It was more aesthetics than anything, he figured, until he saw the determination on the Pokemon's face.
"Claw! Watch it. Keep your guard up," Joey told the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Claw raised his wings and assumed an intimidating pose before looking back at his trainer. This was an entirely new experience for him, but he knew a fight when he saw one. Living on the streets does that to you.
Joey thought back to what he saw Claw capable of doing. Not finding much, he brainstormed on how to improvise, but first he needed to stall.
"Sand Attack, Claw!" The bird Pokemon immediately started billowing sand towards the Machop by backpedaling his talons and flapping his wings in strong, complete motions. He put his whole body into the moment, and not long after, Joey could hardly see for himself.
"Now, Tackle!" Claw fluttered rapidly towards the opponent, making a zip-line through the dust.
Amissa:
The dust kicked up by the pidgey nearly blinded both Daniel and his pokemon. Hercules kept one arm bent over his eyes and squinted in an attempt to keep his target in sight, but his vision was badly impaired. By the time the machop saw the bird pokemon erupting from the sand storm it had created, like a monster from the obscurity, it was much too late to dodge.
"Chop!" Hercules cried out as he took the pidgey's tackle hard in the chest. The force knocked the air from his lungs and the machop stumbled back a step. He grit his teeth from the shock and the pain.
"Use Karate Chop, Herc!" Daniel commanded, coughing on the dust. The trainer had hardly seen the pidgey's attack and wasn't sure how much damage it had done. He could only hope that Hercules was up to this. He's been through much worse, Daniel thought, he'll pull through like he always does.
Hercules heard his trainer and leapt into action, attempting to land his attack quickly while the pidgey was still within his weakened sight from his tackle attack.
Shadow:
The Pidgey made contact with the Machop, but it was an awkward hit, sending the small Pokemon sprawling quickly then gathering himself into a stumbling stance.
Well, Joey thought, pretty good for the first time attacking anything.
Claw didn't have much time to catch his breath before the other trainer ordered the Machop to Karate Chop. It caught him square in the back and sent him tumbling, gasping again, and chirping weakly.
"Claw! Get up!" Joey shouted through the dust. Claw brought his feet underneath him and lifted himself, quickly preening his feathers back into place, trying to take the roadkill impression off. Joey scanned his own mind to try to think of something.
"Try a Gust attack!" Pidgeys were supposed to know Gust, right? Claw started flapping frantically, but it looked so weak. All it managed to do was stir up some dust and twirl it around. Oh God. "Claw it's time to stop fooling around! I said Gust!" The Tiny Bird Pokemon worked into overdrive to produce a Gust, but it just wasn't happening. He made a light breeze at best, and actually managed to blow away most of the effects of the Sand-Attack. Freakin' kidding me. Then Claw stumbled back a little bit more, but managed to keep his overall balance and stopped the pitiful flapping from fatigue.
"Claw...." Joey didn't know what to say. He looked at the arena they were in. There wasn't a lot to help any combos. Nothing but a dome. A dome....
"Claw, do another Tackle! And put some altitude into it," Joey ordered. Now it was time to rely on gravity for some extra power. Claw launched himself, his breathing seemed to have steadied, and gained some height to attack directly over the Machop, before aiming down, flapping hard twice, then tucked his wings in for the Tackle.
Amissa:
Yes! A hit! Daniel thought, but then immediately felt a pang of guilt as the little pidgey tumbled and gasped from the pain. He was almost relieved when the pidgey recovered, forgetting momentarily that his goal was to knock it unconscious. What a tough little bird. What's it doing now?The other trainer had commanded his pokemon to use a gust attack, but after a few brave attempts, it was clear that the attack couldn't be completed. Daniel was thankful, however, that much of the dust was blown away so that he could see better. Upon getting a better glimpse of Hercules on the battlefield, he noticed that the machop was still rubbing his eyes. Apparently, he was still having a difficult time seeing due to the irritation caused by the sand.
"I think rubbing it is only going to make it worse, Herc. Think fast! Above you!" Daniel cried. His opponent had ordered another tackle attack and his pokemon was cleverly using its flight advantage to put more power into it.
Hercules looked up just in time to see the ball of bird hurtling towards him. He raised his arms to protect his head from the impact as the pidgey crashed down on him from above. This attack knocked the machop entirely off-balance and he fell backwards onto his tail. "Maaa" he moaned woozily.
Daniel clenched his fists, not daring to look away no matter how hard it was to watch his companion in pain. "C'mon buddy," he pleaded, "get up, big guy. You have a battle to finish. You're not going to lose to that little bird are you?"
"Chop! Machop!" Hercules responded and managed to pull himself to his feet. He didn't look well, however, and Daniel estimated that he'd be out after one more hit. He knew that Hercules knew two other attacks that he hadn't tried yet, Leer and Low Kick. Daniel tried to envision the attacks in his mind but couldn't imagine them being very useful against such a small pokemon and a flying type at that. Plus, with Hercules in such shabby condition, Daniel didn't want to take the chance of trying something new. Let's stick with what works for now.
"Okay Herc, try a Karate Chop like before," Daniel instructed.
"Machop." the pokemon muttered the response, eyeing the pidgey angrily. He clenched his teeth in determination and launched himself at his opponent, his every muscle poised and ready. He raised his right arm, bruised from taking the brunt of the last blow but still strong and dangerous, and brought it down with his hand flattened and forming a blade like a knife. He held nothing back. He knew this might be the last attack he'd get to make in this fight.
Shadow:
Claw had little time to gain his stance before the opposing trainer ordered another Karate Chop. This one could be lethal, but the bird used his abnormally small size to dart underneath the Machop's outstretched arm and behind the still visually impaired Pokemon. The Karate Chop came down on thin air, and it was obvious that the Machop was running low. He had a dazed look in his eyes, and a shortness of breath. We've got him, Claw.
"Claw, good thinking! Now be quick before he can turn around, Tackle Attack!" Claw lost no time in swiveling himself around and darting towards the Machop at a run and taking flight in the last instant before impact, successfully knocking the Machop out cold.
The panting Tiny Bird Pokemon hopped and limped back to his trainer eyes wide in disbelief at his incredible feat. He stood with one foot poised on his trainer's boot and rubbed his beak against the pant leg. Joey bent down and rubbed underneath this head feathers.
"You did a good job today. Have a rest, I won't call you out again." The Pidgey went still as it was converted into a flash of energy and sucked into the Pokeball Joey had clicked against his shoulder. The trainer then stood and while twirling his dog tag, looked at the other trainer. He put Claw's Pokeball away in his front scrubs pocket, and pulled out another one he knew to be Jet's Pokeball.
"You did well against my trusted Pidgey, but Jet's a little more enthusiastic!"
Amissa:
"Herc, no!" Daniel cried in horror as he watched his machop take the pidgey's blow from behind and fall unconscious onto the ground. He hesitated then, taking a moment to rally his thoughts. He'll be fine. Pokemon faint during battle, but they're fine after some rest. And he certainly gave his all. Brave little guy.
He recalled Hercules into his pokeball and placed it on his belt looking a bit sullen. He looked up, meeting his opponent's eyes when the trainer complimented his battling attempt and warned about his next enthusiastic pokemon.
"Mine might not be terribly enthusiastic," Daniel admitted, "but he's reliable. Geb, your turn! I choose you!" Daniel took the second pokeball from his waist and held it out, expecting the usual red light to signal the emergence of his pokemon onto the battlefield. He was left sorely embarrassed when nothing happened. "Geb, where are you at? Geb! Why aren't you coming out?" It looked as if Daniel's boast about his "reliable" pokemon was ill-founded until a smile finally lit up his face.
"Sorry, I remember where he is now." Daniel apologized to the other trainer before suddenly pulling off his hoodie over his head. Then the bug pokemon, a nincada, sleepily climbed from resting on Daniel's back to his bare shoulder. "He likes to sleep under my hoodie. I must've forgot that he was there. Geb, it's your turn to battle, buddy." Daniel lifted Geb from his shoulder and set him gently on the ground where he scurried out onto the battlefield to await the opposing trainer's next pokemon. Daniel hurriedly thrust his hoodie back on over his head, still smiling to hide his embarrassment.
Shadow:
Joey watched as the young boy click the Pokeball uselessly, making a hollow sound. The astonishment on the boy's face almost made Joey laugh, but he kept a straight look on his face, allowing maybe a smirk. The Nincada climbed out of the boy's hoodie, obviously just awoken from a nap. Now, that's just adorable. The Pokemon scuttled out onto the battlefield, looking battle-ready.
"Jet, it's all you! Let's win this." The Seel burst out of the Pokeball, waiting for this moment. He was going to get to play with another Pokemon! He flopped out onto the field, opposite the Nincada. To Joey, the Nincada looked a little better-trained, which could make all the difference. He automatically started calculating his advantages and disadvantages. So far, he knew Jet only knew two moves, which wasn't a whole lot he could do with that. He would really have to crank up the creativity. Also, he would have to worry about his Pokemon's maturity and focus.
"Jet, let's start things off with a Growl attack!" The Seel tucked his head under, letting the growl form in his throat before snapping his head up and arching his back so that only the tips of his flippers remained on the ground and let loose a surprisingly intimidating Growl attack.
Amissa:
Daniel eyes grew wide with delight with the trainer called out his next pokemon, a seel. He loved seels, from their soft blubbery bodies to their tongues which always seemed to stick out as if teasing a friend, and everyone was their friend! When the pokemon produced a fearsome growl, Geb scuttled backward a bit, seeming a bit less willing to attack. Daniel, however, was completely unintimidated. Instead, he was enthralled. "What a great growl attack!" Daniel cheered. "Geb, why don't you show him your sand-attack?"
The nincada obeyed by scurrying about around the opponent's seel and kicking up dirt and sand from the floor of the arena in the hopes of blinding the ice pokemon. Daniel smiled confidently as the battle arena was obscured by the flying sand for the second time since the battle had begun. The opposing trainer's pidgey had demonstrated how effective such an attack can be, and Daniel could be confident in Geb's own accuracy thanks to his compoundeyes ability.
"Good, now use harden," Daniel said. He felt much calmer than he had felt when his machop was battling. He was determined to be smarter this time, to use every possible advantage. The insect pokemon, though now hidden in the veil of sand, glowed white for a moment as he stiffened all of the muscles in his body. The glow faded abruptly, leaving the nincada's exoskeleton harder than before. Now, even if the seel could land a hit, the damage taken would be reduced.
Shadow:
The sudden flash was all that the hard-headed Seel needed. Without Joey's command, the Seel rushed forward and slammed the Nincada with a Headbutt. Exasperated, Joey yelled, "Jet! Did I tell you to Headbutt?!" All the loving Seel did was turn back and smile sheepishly with his tongue sticking out. Even though the Sand-Attack filled the immediate arena, Jet was now close enough to attack. One good turn deserves another, Joey thought about the Sand-Attack. That Nincada was quick, and could probably attack circles around the Seel. So it's best to just do all you can do.
"Jet, don't let it out of your sight! Keep up the Headbutt attack. Don't chase after it. Let it come to you and then Headbutt it. Stay in that one spot and turn, don't let it behind your back!" Joey hoped for the best, knowing this was the best strategy for now. He could tell that Jet was having trouble seeing through the sand, as it was irritating his eyes. He was shaking his head back and forth and every now and then trying to swipe a fin at his eyes. This wasn't good.
Amissa:
"Niiin!" Geb hissed as he suddenly found himself on the wrong end of the seel's powerful headbutt. He was flung a short ways and landed awkwardly back onto the arena floor. The nincada righted itself, maintaining some distance from the opposing pokemon as it listened for orders.
"You weren't kiddin' about that enthusiasm, huh?" Daniel said. He could faintly see Geb amidst the sand in the arena, but he couldn't gauge how much damage the pokemon had taken. He had heard the impact, not seen it, and it had sounded brutal. He hadn't witnessed enough battles to know how powerful a move like headbutt could be. He just knew that he'd prefer it if Geb didn't take another one. "Keep moving! Try to throw it off and use a leech life attack!"
Geb shifted and circled, scurrying around the arena as fast and as quietly as he could. Suddenly, the bug darted forward to sink his proboscis into the seel to suck its blood and drain its life-force. Geb immediately attempted to retreat back out of the seel's field of vision after the attack, fearing another vicious headbutt.
Shadow:
Jet was trying this best to keep the swift Nincada within his sight range, but it was scurrying around him too fast. He was starting to get dizzy and trip over himself when trying to readjust his position. In the middle of a turn, the Nincada rushed forward and Leeched Life from Jet's neck. It completely caught the Seel off guard and shocked Joey as well. Apparently, he had underestimated the Nincada's level. The Nincada then skittered away before Jet could headbutt it.
"Okay, Jet, keep an eye out for it. That trick can't work twice. You'll be expecting it now and can Headbutt it if it tries again. Keep up your technique." Joey stood still, arms crossed, in contemplation. There's nothing else to be done yet. His expression was blank to what he was thinking, any strategy he could employ.
Amissa:
Daniel worried that the other trainer was right, that such a technique wouldn't work a second time. "This time, use your scratch attack, Geb," Daniel ordered. No matter what, he knew Geb couldn't attack without getting close. His hope was that scratch would be a swifter attack, one that would allow Geb to get in and get out quicker than the seel's blubbery body would allow it to attack. It was the only strategy that Daniel could think of, though he did consider another sand-attack. He worried that throwing more sand around would just be overdoing it and annoying to boot.
Obediantly, the nincada darted forward once again, this time brandishing its sharp front claws. "Nincada!" he hissed like a war cry and dove at the seel, delivering the powerful scratch attack before attempting to scurry away again.
Shadow:
The Nincada darted in and scratched Jet, but while he took the full brunt of the attack, he was ready for it and managed to cuff the Nincada and force it back. Then he pursued it and forced it to dodge and counterattack. There was enough fooling around now, and Jet kept pursuing the quick Nincada with an unremitting offensive of Headbutts, raking his horn towards the insect.
The Nincada proved too fast, and the Harden attack and Leech Life earlier allowed it to survive more hits than the hard-working Seel could place. Plus, after each lunge the Nincada utilised the open opportunity for a counter-strike with a Scratch attack. They started to add up and Jet started showing some weariness. He was just about out of steam, and both trainers were shouting encouragements and orders of attack, dodge, to your right, behind you, to their respective Pokemon.
Finally, a well-placed Scratch attack sent Jet sprawling backwards with a sigh. The Sand-Attack dissipated and Joey ran out onto the field to his Pokemon and held him in his arms. The Seel half-opened his eyes and sighed, "Seeeeel...." then closed them. "You did a good job, Boy. Just imagine when you're trained for real. I'm really proud of you." Joey clicked the Pokeball to his Seel and promised him a good rest. He would remember to use the Healing Machine by the entrance before he left. He looked up to the opposing trainer, gave a respectful nod, and walked out the way he came, healing his Pokemon. He wasn't one for words.
Amissa:
Daniel heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the seel go down. He felt sorry for it and hated to see any pokemon (especially a seel) suffer. But he'd wanted to win, and he rejoiced openly when his nincada scuttled back to him, battered and exhausted but victorious. "You did a good job, Geb," Daniel cried as he carefully picked up the pokemon with both hands, "You did a real good job!"
The young trainer was surprised, however, when his opponent gave a polite nod and began to walk away. "You fight good!" Daniel shouted, unable to think of too much else to say at the moment. He watched as the trainer dissappeared as suddenly and mysteriously as he had arrived and Daniel couldn't help but wonder who he was. He'd hoped to get at least a name and maybe a phone number or email address to contact the trainer in the future for a rematch. Aw well, I guess I'd better get going as well.
Daniel healed his pokemon using the machine near the entrance, but then decided that he'd rather stay and sit in the audience around the battle dome. "Maybe we can learn some more about battling this way. There's bound to be more trainers who will come here looking for a fight." Daniel said to his newly healed pokemon. Geb said nothing, but crawled back into Daniel's hoodie presumably to finish napping. "Chop!" Hercules agreed, though he still looked sullen from fainting in battle.
Daniel led the way into the audience seating area and chose a seat that offered the best view of the battle arena. Hercules decided to sit on Daniel's lap, despite ther being plenty of empty seat around. Daniel didn't complain, but rubbed the machop's back with one hand while he surfed the internet on his cell phone with the other. He would research pokemon attacks and type matchups while he waited for the next battle to start.
This post has been edited by LittleShadowPokemon: Jan 15 2010, 09:05 PM
Jan 9 2010, 05:55 PM
