Beginner RP: Warrior of Fire (Great Lakes)

NBP1 - Ranger Margo Sterling
((@Warrior of Fire Hi, and welcome! Let me know if you have any questions!))

Beady orange eyes peered up from the surface of the lake, framed by jagged black fins. For a moment, the water rippled gently, disturbed only by the lake’s natural waves; then the massive predator lunged, throwing itself forward on heavily-muscled forearms with huge mouth gaping. The Wingull sitting on the bed of pebbles, pecking at flotsam, let out a squawk of fright and flung itself into the air. The Swampert skidded to a halt, its great black tailfin twitching in frustration as it sat back on its bulky blue haunches.

“Cut that out, Undertow,” Margo said, trying and miserably failing to keep her amusement at the massive newt’s antics out of her voice. “We’re supposed to act professional.”

Undertow let out a petulant groan, then stalked up to Margo on all fours and flopped down onto his belly, lying in the sand with his chin on his huge front claws. For a moment, there was silence between them as Margo flipped through the notes-to-self on her phone. “Hm, Michael… last name redacted, that’s kind of weird.” From his profile, Margo saw that Michael was fairly old compared to a lot of Trainers; he was actually Margo’s own age. Age didn’t always equal experience, though; this was his first journey into the Park, and he’d specifically requested to stay on the Great Lake’s outskirts, away from the bigger, more powerful Pokemon. These warm-up runs had been popular for new Trainers lately; Margo was pretty happy that the Park honchos were taking initiative and welcoming in newcomers.

The sun was just starting to go down. Margo was grateful that she’d brought a jacket and warm pants, given how cold the Great Lakes got in the evening. Long shadows came from the trees behind her, not quite reaching the long stretch of sand and scraggy grass that Margo was sitting on. She and Undertow sat patiently, watching wild Wingull fly by while they waited for their ward to arrive.

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Michael.
Location: Great Lakes, early evening; it’s kinda chilly.
Items: Park Ball (x3), Energy Powder (x1), Lava Cookie (x1), Poké Doll (x1)
Encounters Remaining: 5/5
Pokemon Encountered: ???
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: ???/???

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy/100%
EMs: Blaze Kick.

Hewdraw/Deino/M/Hustle/Bold/100%
EMs: N/A.

 

There was a light rustle from the underbrush in the trees as a small, quadrupedal dragon emerged. The Deino was carrying a Chimchar, and the two were followed by their trainer. Michael adjusted his gloves as the Chimchar lept down.

“You guys ready for this?” he asked as the Deino let out a light, restless roar. “I get it, Hewdraw. I can’t wait to see what we’ll find, too.”

 

NBP 2 - Ranger Margo Sterling
The lap of the waves and cries of wild Pokemon were the only sounds for several long minutes. Margo was leaning up against Undertow; the slight slickness of moisture on his skin was an acceptable cost for the warmth his body radiated. The Swampert’s extra body fat was an adaptation for an amphibian who was constantly hopping in and out of cold bodies of water, and it made him an excellent pillow.

Margo was so comfortable that she almost nodded off, but when Undertow began to stand up, she was jolted into wakefulness. She sat up as Undertow drew himself up to full height and began staring intently down the path. When she turned, she saw a few figures walking towards them. The shadows of the trees made it difficult to see, but when they stepped out into the sunlight and began crossing the grass towards the shore, she saw a tall man with a Chimchar and Deino beside him. Feeling a little self-conscious about nearly falling asleep right before a run, Margo stood up, brushing off sand and slime from her jacket.

“Hi, there!” she called, only just managing to keep herself from extending a sticky hand to the other Trainer. Instead of a handshake, she offered her friendliest smile. The other Trainer was a big guy, a little bit intimidating, but he seemed decent enough. Margo noticed that he had good, sturdy boots and a decent coat - stylish, and practical for walking around in the cool evening.

Undertow, meanwhile, was growing curious about Michael’s Pokemon; he walked over to the monkey and dragon, towering over the other Pokemon. Neither of them seemed too impressed by the looming amphibian, but Undertow didn’t particularly mind - instead, he extended a friendly paw to the Chimchar.

Margo watched this interaction with a grin, then looked back at Michael. “You’re Michael, right? My name’s Margo Sterling, and I’ll be your Ranger for today; it’s great to meet you.” She paused as Undertow let out an amused chuff at the other two Pokemon. “And your friends.”

She clapped her hands together, “Could you do me a favor and withdraw one of your Pokemon for me? I hate to ask, but it’s Park rules that you can only go one-on-one with any given Pokemon. So we like to have Trainers to only have one Pokemon out at a time, in case we have an encounter.”

She paused to give him time to comply, but something else caught her eye, something brown moving about. “Speaking of encounters… There’s a Bidoof right over there.” She pointed to the shore, where a Bidoof was dragging a ragged plank of wood along in its teeth. As if sensing that it had been noticed, it looked up at the gang of humans and Pokemon, its tiny ears twitching. Turning back to Michael, Margo said, “Well, what do you think? Do you want to try and catch this one, or move on?”

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Michael.
Location: Great Lakes, early evening; it’s kinda chilly.
Items: Park Ball (x3), Energy Powder (x1), Lava Cookie (x1), Poké Doll (x1)
Encounters Remaining: 4/5
Pokemon Encountered: Bidoof/?/Simple/?
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 374/4,000

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy
EMs: Blaze Kick.

Hewdraw/Deino/M/Hustle/Bold
EMs: N/A.

 

Michael grinned sheepishly and
scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I think I'll try to catch it. And one recall, coming right up." He reached into a pocket in his coat and pulled out a Poké Ball, while Hewdraw stepped forward and scratched at the ground, preparing to charge at the wild Bidoof. The Chimchar stretched its right arm and looked up at Michael.

“Hold up, Hewdraw,” Michael said, glancing at Margo. “I know you’re itching to fight, but I did promise Inferno he’d definitely get the first battle here. So, come on back.” A red beam shot out of the Ball and touched Hewdraw, causing the dragon to disappear.

Inferno crouched down and flared up, tensing itself to spring into action. "We don't want to just knock it out," Michael added, "but, at the same time, I've only got three Balls and I would like to find a Wooper for the team."

 

BP 1 - Ranger Margo Sterling
((Remember, you get to choose the genders of the wild Pokemon you encounter, so feel free to set the Bidoof’s gender in your next post!))

Undertow snorted softly at the Chimchar and Deino as the former turned away toward the Bidoof and the latter disappeared into his Pokeball. Margo tapped him on the arm; the Chimchar’s disinterest was almost definitely nothing personal. After all, Chimchar was a naturally energetic Pokemon, and this one seemed to be especially eager to mix it up. Heck, Margo was kind of glad that the Fire-type was up to bat. The flames it was emitting were nice and warm.

“Gotcha, gotcha,” said Margo, watching the Bidoof with one eye. On seeing Inferno psyching himself up for battle, the Bidoof was looking warier and warier. “One thing, though - you’re allowed to catch as many Pokemon as you want, but for this run -” she began talking faster as the Bidoof began curling up into a ball; she didn’t know exactly what it was doing, but it was almost definitely prepping for battle, “you’ll only be allowed to leave with one Pokemon so keep that in mind.”

Margo had been afraid that the Bidoof was going to use Rollout; however, to her surprise, it remained stationary for several seconds. “Oh,” she said, “I think that it’s using Defense Curl? A lot of Bidoof have this ability that makes them better at boosting their stats, so watch out for that. On the plus side, anything you do to lower its stats should be extra effective.”

As Margo finished her spiel, the Bidoof uncurled, looking at Chimchar. Behind those beady black eyes, deep plans were being made. The rodent was smart enough not to charge directly at the flaming Fire-type - and it was, in fact, smart enough to try and quench the flames. It turned around and began scraping at the ground with its little black paws. She’d seen Undertow fight enough times to recognize a Mud-Slap in the making, and she glanced at Michael, wondering how he’d use the few moments of reaction time he was getting.

Battle Stats

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy/100%


Bidoof/?/Simple/?/100%/DEF+2 (used Defense Curl, using Mud-Slap)​

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Michael.
Location: Great Lakes, early evening; it’s kinda chilly.
Items: Park Ball (x3), Energy Powder (x1), Lava Cookie (x1), Poké Doll (x1)
Encounters Remaining: 4/5
Pokemon Encountered: Bidoof/?/Simple/?
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 1,219/4,000

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy
EMs: Blaze Kick.


Hewdraw/Deino/M/Hustle/Bold
EMs: N/A.

 

“All right,” Michael said, “That should make things interesting.” As the Bidoof uncurled, he saw that it had five nubs for a tail, marking it as male. It turned around and appeared to be preparing an attack.

Michael knelt next to Inferno. "Approach it with Flame Wheel, and try to strike it from behind with Scratch using the extra momentum from Flame Wheel to hit harder. And if you see an opening, follow up with a Blaze Kick."

Inferno leapt forward and began breathing fire. He flipped, the flames from his mouth joining with those from his rear. He hit the ground rolling toward the apparently unsuspecting Bidoof, a ball of flame with specks of brown occasionally showing through. As Inferno neared the rodent Pokémon, he leapt again, cut off the flames, and swiped with his right hand, using the full momentum the Flame Wheel. There were also embers around his right foot, ready to swing out with a sweeping kick.

 

BP 2 - Ranger Margo Sterling
Fire leapt from Inferno’s body with a furious whoosh; heat, light, and crackling noise followed the Chimchar as he rolled as fast as could be toward the Bidoof. His daring and directness were impressive - but slightly misaimed. With surprising strength, Bidoof kicked backward, sending a spurt of wet sand flying into the air. Margo could’ve sworn that she heard the Chimchar let out a cry. Bidoof, on the other hand, definitely let out a yelp of pain as Chimchar scratched its side, the speed from his Flame Wheel attack allowing it to slash through fur and skin with ease.

Big buck teeth flashed as Bidoof prepared to retaliate - but his focus changed when he saw sparks jumping to life around Chimchar’s foot. He braced himself, mimicking the Defense Curl he’d done earlier in a last-ditch effort to protect his vulnerable belly and sides. When the Blaze Kick connected, Bidoof was knocked backward and singed - but when he uncurled himself, he seemed to have taken little damage from the kick. He was favoring his right side, though, where angry red scratch marks still showed through.

Inferno hadn’t gotten out of that exchange unscathed, either. Now that the dust had cleared, Margo could see that he was covered in mud and damp sand, and he was rubbing at his eyes with his little pale paws. Some of the grains must have gotten in there; that could not be pleasant, or good for the sight.

Bidoof wasn’t going to get any closer to make life easier on him, either. He stood in the clumpy beachgrass where he’d landed, mouth hanging slightly open to show off his impressive teeth. But this was more than just a threat display on Bidoof's part. When he let out a bark, there was a noise; more interesting, though, was the ripple of white energy formed around Bidoof’s mouth. It was some sort of sonic attack, Margo could tell that much, but which one? Bidoof barked again, and there was even more light, and the sound was much louder. Echoed Voice, she realized. That was a tough one; it was one of those moves that got stronger and stronger the longer the Pokemon carried on. Inferno rubbed at his eyes once more but looked on with Bidoof with steely determination, evidently ready to pummel the beaver into submission.

Battle Stats

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy/88%/ACC-1 (used Flame Wheel, Scratch, Blaze Kick)


Bidoof/M/Simple/?/78%/DEF+2 (used Mud-Slap, using Echoed Voice)​

Trainer Stats

Spoiler

Name: Michael.
Location: Great Lakes, early evening; it’s kinda chilly.
Items: Park Ball (x3), Energy Powder (x1), Lava Cookie (x1), Poké Doll (x1)
Encounters Remaining: 4/5
Pokemon Encountered: Bidoof/M/Simple/?
Pokemon Captured: ???
Character Count: 2,136/4,000

Pokemon Stats

Spoiler

Inferno/Chimchar/M/Blaze/Hardy
EMs: Blaze Kick.

Hewdraw/Deino/M/Hustle/Bold
EMs: N/A.