Individual RP: Akinai

Gaard had managed to pull off his attacks perfectly. Not only had he managed to escape two attacks used in succession, but the Absol had fully paralyzed the Honchkrow as well. While it was possible for the Flying-type to still fly off, it would take extreme will to do so. She couldn't help but wince as the Sandstorm tore into Gaard, however; he had to be wondering why he had been called into such a storm and not someone else, like Cryrosant. “It will be over soon, I promise,” Akinai murmured to Gaard.

Judging by how Honchkrow was faring currently, it did appear that the battle would indeed end soon. The Pokemon's breathing appeared to be more labored now, and the paralysis that was gripping her did not help matters in the least. She held her wings up an a vain attempt to lift herself off the ground and become airborne. Unfortunately for Honchkrow, her limbs appeared to stiffen at the last moment, grounding her once more.

Gaard noticed as well, yet kept well away from his opponent for now. A trapped foe was far more dangerous then a free one, and would be desperate to lash at anything within range. He tossed a sidelong glance at Akinai, but otherwise kept a close eye on the Honchkrow.

Zen's barrier had all but dispersed at this point; all that was left of it was a faint outline trying to stave off the worse of the sand. In an attempt to guard Elgyem, the Gallade had moved his body in an attempt to block off any sand that got through. Thankfully the Sandstorm seemed to be almost at an end; the wind was beginning to die down, and only a few stray breezes of sand continued to move about.

Well, least that's one less thing to worry about. They still had one more obstacle in their way though. Even though the Honchkrow appeared to be quite weak now, it appeared to still have some fight left in it. One more blow would possibly do the trick, but it had to do just the right amount of damage. Any more, and the wild Pokemon was almost certain to faint. Thankfully, Gaard had a decent array of moves at his disposal; all Akinai had to do was pick one, and see how things went from there. She would also have to make sure that Honchkrow did not take off as well. If the creature managed to achieve liftoff, it could fly out of throwing range.

“You did great, Gaard, but it's time to bring this battle to an end,” Akinai called out to the Absol. “Head in fast with a Quick Attack, then strike with a Pursuit.” Ordering two attacks was risky, but Akinai hoped with one of them being of the Dark element would weaken the blow. Seeing Gaard leap forward, she reached into her pack, retrieving a Hyperball. Even though a lesser Ball could be used in this situation, Akinai decided to play it safe and use a stronger type.

Gaard dashed toward the Honchkrow, running at blindingly-fast speed. As he approached within range he swept forward with one of his claws, attempting to strike quickly before his opponent could react. If this attack proved successful he struck again, this time glowing with a dark aura.

Akinai watched the two Pokemon carefully, Hyperball in hand. Once the situation proved appealing enough she aimed carefully at the large Pokemon, letting the sphere fly forward.

 

BP-6: Absol VS Honchkrow

Ranger John Shay

"You did great, Gaard, but it's time to bring this battle to an end," Akinai began. It seemed as though she would try for a capture now. "Head in fast with a Quick Attack, then strike with a Pursuit."

Gaard nodded. He bent down, then sped towards Honchkrow. I blinked - Gaard's speed was blinding! Gaard got within striking range of Honchkrow in mere moments, and the Absol slammed his target. Smiling evilly as Honchkrow tried to back off and regroup, Gaard leaped on to Honchkrow and slammed into her again.

"Honchkrow!" the Pokemon cried. While the moves had been weak moves, Gaard's aggressiveness had been evident. Honchkrow was now completely drained of stamina, and it didn't help that she was was paralyzed as well. Fortunately for her, it seemed the sandstorm was abiding. The winds raged once more, and then settled down for good.

Akinai took out a Hyper Ball. A Super Ball would've done just fine, but the Hyper Ball provided extra insurance just in case Honchkrow had enough energy left to muscle out of a Super Ball. Akinai tossed the capsule, and Honchkrow was sucked into it.

Ding! The Hyper Ball must've worked, as Honchkrow did not come back out of the Hyper Ball. I smiled at Akinai, and picked up Honchkrow's Hyper Ball for now.

"Great job," I congratulated, "You've caught a Honchkrow!"

Zen walked over with Elgyem in tow. Elgyem seemed in awe - its eyes were lit up excitedly. It ran over to Akinai's leg, and hugged her. I could see adoration in its eyes. It seemed that not only had Elgyem been impressed by Akinai, but affectionate towards her after she had Zen protect Elgyem during the battle.

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 0 (Character Count Since Elgyem: 25914/13500)
Park Items:
1x Super Ball
2x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (56%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (100%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

OOC: Just a reminder, Elgyem is Female.


"Great job," John congratulated, picking up the Hyper Ball. "You've caught a Honchkrow!"

“Glad that's over with,” Akinai admitted. “Aerial battles just aren't my thing. Suppose it could have been worse though...”

At that moment, Zen walked back over to the group. He appeared a little tired, but none too worse for the wear. In fact, he seemed to be quite proud of himself. Behind him hovered Elgyem, whose eyes were practically shining with excitement. <Wait until Lia hears about this! The longest time she has ever had a barrier up was only several minutes. That must have been double the time,> the Gallade exclaimed, clearly excited as well.

Akinai grinned back at Zen in response. “You were definitely excellent out there, as well as Gaard and Jade,” she said out loud, recalling the nearby Absol. She then looked over to her Ranger, who was currently storing away Honchkrow's Ball. “Let's continue on, shall we-”

At that moment, Elgyem had rushed forward, reaching out to hug Akinai's leg. Akinai went shock still a moment, then tried to relax. She hadn't of expected the little creature to warm up to her quickly, especially since it had been Zen who had been the one protecting it earlier. She shot a confused look over at Zen, asking him for answers.

<I... may have relayed your commands over to her as well,> Zen admitted, looking downwards. <You said you wanted her on the team, right? And what better way than to get her familiar with your strategies?>

Still, that came out of nowhere. Regardless, Akinai knelt down to the Elgyem, holding out her last Superball and offering it to the wild Pokemon. “If you want, you can join us as well. You can meet the rest of the crew, and maybe Zen can teach you that barrier trick as well. What do you say?”

 

NBP-10

Ranger John Shay

Evidently surprised, Akinai looked at Zen. The expressions on their face changed to understanding and sheepish respectively - they must have been communicating telepathically again.

Returning her attention to the Elgyem hugging her leg, Akinai said, "If you want, you can join us as well. You can meet the rest of the crew, and maybe Zen can teach you that barrier trick as well. What do you say?"

As she spoke, Akinai held out a Super Ball. Recognizing the item, Elgyem's eyes grew wide, and she nodded her head vigorously.

"Elgyem, Elgyem!" she squeaked joyously. The Pokemon softly tapped her head against the button on the capsule. The Super Ball opened up, and sucked her in. Though it was hardly unexpected, the ball hardly shook in Akinai's hands as Elgyem was captured.

"Looks like you've added another Pokemon to your team," I smiled at Akinai. She had captured an amount of Pokemon equal to the maximum she could claim and keep after this run, though odds were she might find more along the way that would pique her interest. "Let's continue and see what else we find."

We continued hiking across the rocky and uneven ground. I watched Akinai carefully - this was dangerous terrain, and as a Ranger, I had to look out for those under my care. I expected Akinai to be fully capable of handling herself, however.

As we walked past a cave etched into the valley wall, Dragonite stopped. She sniffed the air, and looked towards the cave. There was a mixture of interest and concern on her face.

"What's the matter..." I faltered. A faint rumbling could be heard from within the cave. It was getting louder and louder at an alarming rate. Very quickly, the rumbling was so loud that I could not hear myself shout.

Suddenly, hundreds of Unown exploded out of the cave. Clumped together so that they resembled a black cloud marked with hundreds of eyes, the Unowns rocketed over our heads. I frowned. Usually, when Unowns were running from an area in a large clump like this, that meant something had disturbed them.

A few seconds later, the Unowns had flown away into the fog. They were no longer visible. I looked at Akinai.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Dragonite!" my Pokemon called, wanting my attention. I turned my head around to see what the matter was.

One more Unown was flying out of the cave. This one was flying at a much calmer pace. Halting in front of us, the Unown's lone eye scoured the skies. It was shaped like an English A - this was Unown A.

"Unown!" it called repeatedly. It seemed to be calling for its friends. It must have gotten separated from them, and now it was lost. Impressively, it was keeping its composure just fine. There was not a drop of worry on its face.

This was highly distressing. I knew that we would be going into the cave to investigate what had been behind this odd occurrence. But first things first...

"Want to battle this Unown?" I asked Akinai.

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1766
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (56%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (100%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

“Something wrong?” Akinai asked, seeing that both her Ranger and his Dragonite had suddenly stopped. She had been busy focusing on where to step on the rocky trial, but it was almost impossible to not notice a large Dragon-type stopping in place. They appeared to be looking at a cave just off to their side. While it seemed like an interesting place to explore, it seemed like any other path... until the rumbling began.

<Heads up,> Zen warned Akinai, lowering his head down. The Gallade had opted to travel outside of his Ball for now. While he still seemed to be in good spirits about earlier, something inside the cave had him on edge.

As the rumbling grew louder, Akinai lowered her head as well. Barely a moment later, a large cloud of Unown swarmed out of the cave, flying above the group's heads. The display, while unordinary, was also made a little disturbing by the fact that Unown were basically letters with eyeballs attached to them. As fast as they had appeared, they retreated off into the distance.

"Are you okay?" John asked.

Akinai nodded in response, “Wonder what scared them. Unown don't tend to do that, do they?”

At that moment, the Ranger's Dragonite called out to get the group's attention. As they looked over, a floating letter “A”, another Unown, began to exit the cave. It looked towards the sky and let out a loud cry, as if calling out for it's friends. It didn't seem worried though; odd, since the other Unown appeared to be running from something.

"Want to battle this Unown?" John asked Akinai.

“While it is amusing that it's an “A” of all things, I'll pass,” Akinai answered. Unown were not very interesting to her currently, and hardly arrogant enough to capture it and every shape there was out there to complete the set. She then looked over at the Unown, and pointed off into the direction that the other Pokemon had flown off to, “Your friends took off over there. If you hurry, you might be able to catch them.” Zen, be ready with a Night Slash if this Unown decides to stick around for a fight instead. I have a feeling that there's something interesting in that cave.

The Gallade nodded, and one of his blades began to glow with a subtle dark energy. While it was hardly at full power, Zen would be ready to strike if the Unown proved to be aggressive.

 

BP-1: Gallade VS Unown

Ranger John Shay

"While it is amusing that it's an A of all things, I'll pass," Akinai answered. She turned to face the Unown, and pointed into the distance. "Your friends took off over there. If you hurry, you might be able to catch them."

Unown stared at Akinai. I didn't know what to expect from it - Unowns were a very odd Pokemon, to say the least. This one could react in all kinds of ways.

Unown narrowed its eyes. I couldn't tell what it was thinking. Suddenly, a yellow glow of energy surrounded it. This must be Unown's lone attack - Hidden Power. Given the bright yellow hue, I think I knew what type it was.

Realizing Unown was getting hostile, Zen immediately leaped at it to land a preemptive strike. I saw his hand already glowing with dark energy - he had been ready for this. Zen slashed at Unown with his blade-like forearm, and the Pokemon cried and fell. However, Unown still managed to release its Hidden Power. The alarmingly bright flash of energy surrounded Zen's body, and he cried loudly.

Hidden Power ended on as it had started, and Zen landed softly on the ground. His body was steaming a little bit, but Zen seemed to have been able to withstand the attack. Unowns were not known for their offensive prowess, and Hidden Power was only an average move to begin with. Zen should have only taken a little bit of damage.

Battle Statistics
Gallade VS Unown
Gallade: 88%, used Night Slash
Unown: 62%, used Hidden Power

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 4072
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (56%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

Surprisingly, the Unown decided that it was more interested in a fight than finding it's lost group of friends. It narrowed it's lone eye, and began to glow with a bright yellow aura. Fortunately, Zen noticed right away, and struck forward with the Night Slash he had been holding for this moment. It let out a pained cry and fell to the ground, but had managed to release it's own attack first. The aura shot towards Zen, and the Gallade let out his own cry of pain.

“Fantastic,” Akinai muttered, seeing that the Unown had wished to battle instead. She was curious to find out what was inside the cave, but she didn't want to waste a Pokedoll on something like an Unown either. Thankfully, Zen's lone attack had appeared to have done quite a bit of damage. If she told the Gallade to not pull any punches, they might be able to quickly faint this Pokemon and head out.

Zen had managed to get back to his feet at this point, and was looking over at the Unown, assessing his damage. While he seemed a little impressed that his attack had done quite some damage, the Gallade did not seem too happy about fighting this opponent either. Akinai couldn't blame him; it must have felt like a waste of time.

“Fantastic job, Zen, you did quite a number on it,” Akinai remarked to the Gallade out loud. Might as well stick with vocal commands for now. Plus, it could possibly throw off any other wild Pokemon later if they kept alternating from vocal to telepathic commands. “Charge up with a Swords Dance, then finish it with a Slash!” Hopefully this would be enough to keep the Unown down for the count.

Zen began to weave back and forth into an intricate pattern, almost like a strange dance. The move would sharpen both his blades and skill, increasing his attack. Once this was done, he slashed forward with one of his blades towards the Unown, the movement cutting through the air quickly. He could sense from his Trainer that she had no desire to capture this Pokemon, so the Gallade went all-out.

 

BP-2: Gallade VS Unown

Ranger John Shay

"Fantastic job, Zen, you did quite a number on it," Akinai praised her Pokemon. Her eyes narrowed with concentration - it seemed she was planning to end this battle quickly. She opened her mouth and commanded, "Charge up with a Swords Dance, then finish it with a Slash!"

Zen nodded. He spun on the spot rapidly, with his forearms extended. There was a certain grace about him, and I knew this was the elegant and empowering Swords Dance. Akinai's strategy, then, must have been to get Zen to boost his Attack stat with one of the best Attack-boosting moves out there in Swords Dance before finishing off Unown with one final blow.

"Gallade!" Zen cried, suddenly skidding to a spot. He was bent over a little, with one arm extended in front of him in a defensive position and the other one slightly held back, ready to strike with momentum. Zen charged towards Unown, hoping to put a quick end to the battle.

"Unown!" Unown cried. It immediately exploded with Hidden Power again. Zen, too close to dodge, took the initiative and leaped into the Hidden Power. I could hear a thud as Zen's forearm made contact with Unown, and both Pokemon tumbled to the ground. The Hidden Power instantly faded away, halted by Zen attacking Unown.

Unown fell to the ground face-down. Zen touched down softly beside the Pokemon, a little bruised and battered but otherwise not particularly hurt.

Unown slowly picked itself up. Its eye was looking woozy, and the Pokemon itself was clearly a little dizzy as well, wobbling in the air as it returned to its usual altitude. It was obvious that the Unown was almost done for - one more attack should easily take care of the frail Pokemon. Though Akinai must have been hoping for a KO, this was certainly not a bad outcome. Akinai was in a checkmate situation here.

Battle Statistics
Gallade VS Unown
Gallade: 83% ATT+2, used Swords Dance, used Slash
Unown: 16%, used Hidden Power

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 6070
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (56%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

“Impressive,” Akinai admitted, seeing the Unown slowly pick itself off of the ground and hover back in place. She had thought that a powered-up Slash would be more than enough to finish off the Pokemon, but it still had some fight left in it. That didn't make her any more interested in capturing it, however; the last thing she wanted to do currently was to go on a collection spree for those creatures.

Zen had fallen to the ground as well, struck by yet another Hidden Power. He appeared to be annoyed that his attack had not fully done it's job, but otherwise seemed to be fine. He picked himself off of the ground as well, and got back into a battling posture.

Might as well go for a weaker attack now, Akinai mused. The Unown was barely managing to hover in the air, and would have been perfect for capture. She refused to use her last Hyperball just yet, though. “Finish it quickly with a Leaf Blade,” Akinai commanded.

Zen nodded, and one of his blade-arms began to glow once more, this time with a firest-green light. He swiped at the Unown, aiming for a quick, clean hit.

 

BP-3: Gallade VS Unown

Ranger John Shay

"Impressive," Akinai conceded a little reluctantly, as though she was still a little surprised by the fact that Unown had managed to survive. However, it was clear to both of us that Unown would not be able to take another attack, especially with Leaf Blade accounted for. With a tone of finality in her voice, Akinai said, "Finish it quickly with a Leaf Blade."

Zen jumped at Unown, his forearm extended for yet another attack. This time, it started glowing green with energy. This was Leaf Blade, one of the most powerful Physical Grass-type attacks.

"Gallade!" Zen called as he swiped at Unown one last time. The Unown fell to the ground, and did not get back up this time.

It had been a short and easy battle for Akinai, and to be honest, I had hardly expected anything else. For all the mysteries surrounding them, Unown as a species were generally considered to be weak and a detriment in battle. I personally found interest in them due to the slightly more than two dozen forms that existed, but because of the fact that their only attack was Hidden Power, they were completely useless in competitive battle.

"Well done," I said to Akinai, nodding at Zen as well. "Now, if you don't mind, I intend to take us into the cave that the Unown just fled from. There's clearly some sort of disturbance in there, and as a Ranger I am obligated to check it out. Given the circumstances, however, there is a notable chance that we may happen on an interesting Pokemon in the cave while we're there."

I looked at the cave. Something there had definitely caused the Unown to flee - Unowns don't just swarm out like that whenever they feel like it, especially not in such a distressed state. I wasn't sure what it could be given the sheer number of possibilities, but despite my uncertainty, I felt a bit of excitement to truly face the unknown.

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 0
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (56%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

“Great job, Zen,” Akinai called out to her Gallade, seeing that the Unown was finally out for the count. It had been somewhat annoying that it had taken another hit to fell the creature, but she also might have underestimated their endurance. Either way, the battle was over.

"Well done," John said to Akinai while nodding over at Zen. "Now, if you don't mind, I intend to take us into the cave that the Unown just fled from. There's clearly some sort of disturbance in there, and as a Ranger I am obligated to check it out. Given the circumstances, however, there is a notable chance that we may happen on an interesting Pokemon in the cave while we're there."

Akinai nodded in response, “I don't mind at all, I was hoping we could enter the cave next anyway. Sort of curious to find out just what scared off that swarm of Unown.” Granted, knowing her luck, it would probably turn out to be a Ghost-type... she shook off the thought, about to step forward when Zen held up one of his arms, then pointed to the Pokeballs on his Trainer's belt. What is it?

<You might want to heal Jade before we enter,> Zen remarked. <Even if she was showing off last battle, that Honchkrow managed to strike her a few times.>

“Good point,” Akinai remarked out loud, holding out Jade's Pokeball to call out the Flygon. Jade blinked a moment as she materialized then looking around, surprised that there appeared to be nothing to battle currently. Akinai looked over at her Ranger and explained the situation, “We don't know what we're going to see in there, so Zen is going to try healing Jade a bit with a Heal Pulse. She did take some nasty hits from the past two fights, after all.”

Zen approached the Flygon and closed his eyes. A soothing aura began to resonate from the Gallade, which began to resonate towards Jade. Even though Gallade were not as skilled at healing as their other evolution, the move would hopefully heal some of the Flygon's wounds.

Akinai waited as the move took place, holding up the two Pokemon's Pokeballs. Once the move was complete, she would recall the two for now.

 

NBP-11

Ranger John Shay

"I don't mind at all, I was hoping we could enter the cave next anyway. Sort of curious to find out just what scared off that swarm of Unown," Akinai said. I nodded, and began walking into the cave's entrance.

Behind me, I heard Akinai say, "Good point." I turned, but she was looking at Zen.

Akinai saw me looking and explained, "We don't know what we're going to see in there, so Zen is going to try healing Jade a bit with a Heal Pulse. She did take some nasty hits from the past two fights, after all."

I nodded. It seemed logical. I waited as Zen healed Jade. The Gallade held his hands out in front of him, and gently released a light-blue energy from them. The energy pulsed around Jade, and I could see the numerous bruises and scratches on Jade's body fading away.

Akinai smiled, and returned Zen and Jade to their respective Pokeballs. Alright, we were good to go.

"This way," I called, leading her to the cave entrance.

It was dark inside. I switched my flashlight on, and found the entrance tunnel was short and connected to an inner room. We walked into that room, and it seemed that there were no other entrances or exits. It was a pretty small room, with a few stalactites and stalagmites dotting the room.

I looked around. There was nothing around that could've caused such a large disturbance that would have upset the Unown like that. This was odd. There was a small chance that whatever it was managed to sneak out during our battle with the Unown from earlier, but I strongly doubted that. If it had, I should've noticed it given how close we were to the tunnel entrance. And yet, there was nothing here.

I bit my lip, trying to reason things out. It was possible that one of the Unowns had accidentally let off a Hidden Power, upsetting the others and getting them going on a frenzy. I found this unlikely as well, but it was the best I could come up with.

Despite the feeling in my gut, I turned to Akinai. "Whatever upset the Unown doesn't seem to be lingering anymore. I suppose we can get out and continue making our way across the Meteor Valley."

I walked towards the cave entrance, admittedly a little disappointed. Then, I tripped over something.

"Crap!" I cursed. My Dragonite caught me by my arm, and I thanked her as I looked at what I had tripped on. It seemed to be a stone of some sort. There were odd markings on it, and it was the size of my fist.

"Weird..." I muttered, reaching for it with my hand.

Suddenly, the stone started glowing purple. The glow expanded into a spiraling shape resting on the upper half of the stone. Green orbs of light formed around the edges of the purple light. Two green eyes and a crooked green mouth formed in the light. I gasped. This was the rare Pokemon Spiritomb!

"Spiritomb..." the Pokemon cackled, clearly reveling in our surprise. I figured this Pokemon must have surprised the Unown, and got them going on their frenzy.

Regaining my composure, I turned to Akinai. She was quite lucky to happen across a Pokemon like this. "Interested in battling this Spiritomb?"

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), Spiritomb, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 2088
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (100%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

Surprisingly, the cave was much smaller than Akinai had expected; they had just barely entered it and the end of the passage was already in sight. There did appear to be a small room inside the cave, but was completely bare save for the odd natural spikes that hung from the ceiling and ground, whatever they were called. All in all, there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary here. Akinai looked over at her Ranger and, judging by the look on his face, he was just as confused as her.

"Whatever upset the Unown doesn't seem to be lingering anymore,” John said, looking over at Akinai before turning around. “I suppose we can get out and continue making our way across the Meteor Valley.” John began to make his way back to the entrance, with Akinai following not far behind. Before he could exit, however, he appeared to stumble on something in the path. The Dragonite caught John before he fell, and he shone his flashlight down on whatever had tripped him. "Weird..." John muttered. It appeared to be just a stone.

Akinai approached closer, curious on what the object was. The rock was small, just a little larger then a man's fist, and had a foreboding feeling emanating from it. She looked closer, noticed the markings- and froze. She had seen those markings before, both on two occasions she had entered this area and from a certain Pokemon on her team that always refused to listen. “This has to be a joke,” she whispered under her breath. These creatures were supposed to be rare, yet they kept popping up in her path!

John began to reach down for the stone, possibly curious on what it was. Such an action would far more than likely wake up it's occupant. If that happened...

“Don't!” Akinai called out to her Ranger. Please not again... The last time she had fought one of these, it had been a close battle, leaving Jade badly wounded. While they had indeed been training since that day, she had no desire to repeat the experience.

The warning came too late. Whether it was from John's hand approaching the rock or Akinai's outburst, the stone began to glow, releasing a gaseous violet smoke as it did so. The gas was soon trimmed with swirling green lights, followed soon by two menacing eyes and a sinister grin of the same hue. The spirit looked over and gave a small ghastly cackle, clearly amused that these two humans had so easily been deceived. The mystery of the fleeing Unown was now crystal clear; they had been running from a Spiritomb.

John had managed to somehow stay calm through the creature's show- Akinai was jealous, she was anything but calm at the moment, "Interested in battling this Spiritomb?" he asked her.

Oh hell no, Akinai thought, taking a large step back. It had set itself right in front of the exit, thus making escape much, much harder. Maybe if she could take a picture of the wild Pokemon, the flash would startle it enough to escape... Either way, it was worth a shot, and far better then battling one of these creatures again. She reached into her pack, looking for her camera, when a bright flash of white light by her side caused her to look over in alarm.

Gaard was standing by her side, his red eyes blazing as he glared right at the Spiritomb. The Absol's white fur was standing on end, and he gave off a low growl as he readied into a battle stance.

“You want to battle this?” Akinai said to Gaard, completely shocked by the Absol's outburst. Granted, the Dark-type could put up quite a fight against this opponent. Absol were known to only warn against disasters, however, not fight them. Add to the fact that Gaard usually liked to play things safe made this change of character even more bizarre. There must be something else to this story, something I don't know. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can possibly back down without a fight,” Akinai stated to the Absol.

Gaard's only response was slightly changing his pose, trying to establish a more stable footing. He hadn't of even motioned in Akinai's direction. That settled it- like it or not, Akinai would have to fight.

Akinai closed her eyes a moment, taking a deep breath to ready herself as well, “Let's do this, then.” First thing was first, kill the ghost's mobility and lessen the chances of taking a hit. Gaard had not been healed like Jade had been, so it was likely that he was not in the best fighting condition currently. “Gaard, start things out with a Thunder Wave. Next, surround it with Double Team,” Akinai commanded. The last thing she wished to do was run head-on into this fight without having a sense of the Spiritomb's strategy.

Gaard's fur, if possible, began to puff out even more, building up yet another static charge. The Absol then directed this electricity straight at the Ghost-type, hoping that the paralysis would take hold. Once this action was done, he split off into multiple images, then moved along with the clones in an attempt to confuse the wild Pokemon. The images surrounded the Spiritomb, all giving it the same hateful glare.

 

BP-1: Absol VS Spiritomb

Ranger John Shay

Akinai paled; she seemed to be intimidated by the Spiritomb. She reached into her pocket for something, but Gaard suddenly growled.

"You want to battle this?" Akinai asked, seemingly shocked. When Gaard didn't respond, Akinai repeated herself. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can possibly back down without a fight."

Gaard didn't respond. However, I noticed a minor shifting in his footing. Gaard had entered a combat stance - he was going to fight.

Akinai took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's do this, then. Gaard, start things out with a Thunder Wave. Next, surround it with Double Team."

Gaard immediately launched into his attack. The Absol opened his jaw, and fired a wave of electric sparks in a wide radius in front of it. Spiritomb was caught in the middle of Gaard's attack, and was quickly paralyzed. Gaard took advantage immediately, and clones flew out from the original Gaard, leaping to areas so that as a group, they surrounded Spiritomb.

"Spiritomb..." the Pokemon wheezed, looking around carefully. I knew it was a slow Pokemon, and it was likely to match its slow battling style with a slow, analyzing mindset. It was paralyzed, so it would have to do a lot of thinking anyways, otherwise it would find itself backed into a corner quickly.

A calm looked settled into Spiritomb's face. I was familiar with this technique - it was Calm Mind, a relatively common move in competitive battling. Spiritomb reopened its eyes, and as I suspected, there was an empowered look in the Pokemon's eyes. Calm Mind was a move that strengthened the user's Special Attack and Special Defense stats temporarily.

Grinning eerily, Spiritomb eyed the multiple Absols around it. One of them was the true Gaard. I didn't know who the Pokemon intended to find out which one was the real one, but it seemed confident in itself. It seemed to standing back for now, however. I supposed the paralysis was factoring in here, slowing the Pokemon's movement speed.

Battle Statistics
Absol VS Spiritomb
Absol: 100%, used Thunder Wave, used Double Team
Spiritomb: 100% SPA+1 SPD+1 PAR, used Calm Mind, fully paralyzed

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), Spiritomb, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 7091/35000
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (100%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%, in battle)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

Despite being fully paralyzed, Spiritomb still managed to appear calm and collected. Even when Gaard had split off into multiple images, the only change in the wild Pokemon's appearance was carefully watching the images surround him. Finally, the spirit closed his eyes, beginning to concentrate. When Spiritomb opened his eyes once more, the creature appeared to be practically emanating confidence, even giving another ghastly grin.

Akinai gave a slight frown as she watched the Spiritomb's movements, or rather, lack of them. She was fairly certain that the spirit had just used Calm Mind, that would explain why it appeared to be more confident. It's grinning, along with his single action, was far more confusing. The Spiritomb could have had it's attack stalled by paralysis, true, but the Pokemon's reaction would have bordered more on frustration if this was the case; even the most well-trained Pokemon would be annoyed to have one of their attacks fail. Either this was one laid-back individual, or it had a plan up it's sleeve.

Gaard and the images appeared to notice the strange lack of resistance as well. They appeared to fidget in unison, as if unsettled by their opponent's calmness.

Akinai went through a mental list of Gaard's techniques, mulling over what to do next. While Absol could learn an extremely wide variety of moves, she had yet to teach them to her teammate. That, along with a large amount of Normal-type moves that would most likely be useless on a Ghost, left Gaard with a noticeable disadvantage. Thankfully, they had one thing on their side this fight- speed. If they could run circles around their opponent and prevent it from pulling any tricks, this battle could be won in no time at all. Plus, she also had three more teammates to fall back on if things turned out for the worst. For now, it was time to kill the Spiritomb's confidence and go from there.

“Show that Spiritomb that it's no match for you, Gaard,” Akinai called out to her Absol. “Give it something to think about with a Taunt, then use Me First to throw back whatever it tosses out at you!” With any luck, such a combination of techniques would shatter what confidence the Spiritomb had left.

Gaard let off a smug grin upon hearing this command. While most Absol attempted to hold a fierce and regal stature most of the time, there was hardly a Dark-type out there that did not love to mess with their opponent's mind. He began to shriek out insults at the Spiritomb, calling it a weak example of a spirit and a disgrace to it's entire species. The Absol even used the cave environment to his advantage, using the area's natural echo to make it appear as if his voice was coming from everywhere. This would possibly throw off the Spiritomb on locating which Double Team image was the real one.

Once his taunting spree was over, Gaard warily watched the Ghost-type for any signs of movement or retaliation. Once one appeared, the Absol would do his best to copy the attack to the best of his ability and counter before the Spiritomb could finish the move.

 

BP-2: Absol VS Spiritomb

Ranger John Shay

Akinai and Gaard seemed to be unsettled by Spiritomb's lack of concern over being unable to move. I had to admit that the Pokemon was odd, and a little eerie in that respect. However, Akinai and Gaard did not falter.

"Show that Spiritomb that it's no match for you, Gaard. Give it something to think about with a Taunt, then use Me First to throw back whatever it tosses out at you!" Akinai instructed.

Heeding her owner's commands, Gaard began shouting insults at Spiritomb. The sound of Gaard's barking revererated off the words and echoed within the cavern, making it impossible to identify the source of the voice.

Spiritomb's calm expression quickly changed into an irritated one. Spiritomb quickly snapped, and attacked Gaard.

"Spiritomb!" the Pokemon howled in a scratchy, moaning voice. It began glowing with a dark energy. We had seen this attack many times already - it was Dark Pulse.

Gaard immediately leaped into action. I recalled Akinai had ordered Gaard to use Me First as well, and that would mean Gaard would be launching into Dark Pulse immediately. Gaard wasted no time in doing so, launching a dark wave of energy from his body in all directions. Given the speed at which he launched the attack, it was impossible to identify which Gaard had launched the attack.

The Dark Pulse passed through the clones harmlessly, but Spiritomb definitely took damage from the attack. It cried in pain. I recalled that Me First did double damage. I knew Spiritomb did have a Special Defense boost working in its favor from Calm Mind and that Spiritomb was a generally bulky Pokemon, but Spiritomb should still take a bit of damage from the Me First Dark Pulse.

Spiritomb growled, shaking off the attack. I was sure that it had taken some damage. However, that was the first direct attack on it this battle, and Spiritomb still had a lot more energy to use up.

Spiritomb launched its own Dark Pulse. The Dark Pulse was thrown in all directions. I knew the attack should pass through the fake Gaards and only hit the real one, but all of them acted as though they had been struck by the attack. I realized it was to keep the real Gaard's identity concealed. It was an intelligent ploy by Gaard.

All the Gaards dropped to a knee, continuing their game of keeping the real Gaard hidden. One of them was the real one, and he should be wincing for real. However, I suspected Dark Pulse hadn't done too much damage, as Gaard did have a natural type resistance to Dark-type attacks being a Dark-type itself.

Spiritomb frowned. It seemed to me that it had been planning to use Dark Pulse to identify the real Gaard. Since that hadn't worked, it would need a new plan. However, Spiritomb didn't remain down on itself too long. It quickly came up with a new idea, and smiled eerily.

"Spiritomb..." the Pokemon muttered in a ghostly whisper, fading away.

I frowned. If I recalled correctly, this was Faint Attack. Faint Attack was an attack that ignored evasion modifiers like Double Team. That meant Spiritomb should be able to strike Gaard without fail. If Spiritomb was able to land a blow, odds were that it wouldn't let the real Gaard slip away easily. I looked to Akinai. This was a difficult situation for her, and I wondered how she would handle this.

Battle Statistics
Absol VS Spiritomb
Absol: 70%, used Taunt, used Me First
Spiritomb: 82% SPA+1 SPD+1 PAR TAUNT1, used Dark Pulse, using Faint Attack

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), Spiritomb, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 10159/35000
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (100%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%, in battle)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

OOC: Forgot to mention earlier, but requesting that Spiritomb is Male, please.


It did not take long for Gaard's taunting to have an effect on the Spiritomb. The spirit's face had twisted from an irritatingly calm demeanor to one filled with irritation and ire. It began to glow with a dark energy, charging up an attack to strike down this annoyance before him. Judging from the way the attack was forming, it was most likely another Dark Pulse.

Gaard leapt into action at once, forming a shadowy pulse as well. Despite not knowing the technique in his current moveset, the fact that it was a Dark move and the power of Me First let him utilize the attack in it's full force, the strike managing to do more damage than usual thanks to his opponent being focused on attacking rather then defending. The Spiritomb let out a shriek as the pulse crashed into him, though it was hard to tell if it was one of frustration or of pain. Even though Spiritomb were Ghost-types, they were of the Dark element as well. At best, the attack would do neutral damage.

Spiritomb, while hurt, managed to fully charge his attack. As the wild Pokemon's pulse shot out from his body, it struck all of the Absol clones surrounding him. Oddly enough, instead of just one of them staggering from the damage, all of them appeared to winch from the attack. Gaard had managed to figure out the Spiritomb's plan, and had acted accordingly, having all of the clones act. The creature was sure to be frustrated that his clever plan had failed.

“Quick thinking, Gaard,” Akinai remarked, grinning at the Absol's act. She had figured that the images would have dissipated from the Dark Pulse; it was possible that since the attack was not effective that the Double Team had still held. That or Gaard had managed to practice his concentration despite being hit... either way, it had been an impressive display.

Spiritomb had noticed this as well, and appeared at a loss for what to do at the moment. He had been certain that such a move would point out the real one, yet it had failed terribly. The Absol did not even appear that hurt, judging by the way all of the images had managed to regain a battle stance so quickly. The spirit's mouth formed into a frown as he mulled over what to do next, the gears in his head almost visible as it was apparent that he was lost in thought. Finally, something seemed to click in his mind. The Spiritomb grinned one more, letting off an eerie whisper- and vanished.

Akinai watched the Spiritomb fade away, feeling panic grip her a moment as she realized that she had no idea where the Pokemon had disappeared to. Sure, it's rock was still sitting there; she doubted the creature could turn it's prison invisible as well since it was a solid object and was more of an actual chain then being a part of the Pokemon's body. Judging from what had noticed from watching her own Spiritomb, however, she knew they could not travel far from their rock; maybe a foot, but not much more. They could carry the rock with them, but this one appeared to be safely immobile for the moment. That meant that wherever Spiritomb was hiding, it was close by. Judging by the way it had grinned, it also had a plan to flush out the real Gaard. Akinai was not sure if she could stop the discovery from happening, but she could at least try to make sure the Absol would take as little damage as possible.

“Defend yourself with Detect,” Akinai said quietly. “If possible, counter with a Night Slash once you have an opening.” If everything went as planned, the move would let Gaard reveal the wild Pokemon before it struck, and strike back with a vengeance as well.

Gaard's red eyes began to glow in the dim light encompassing the area, making it appear as if there were a set of glowing rubies glaring out of the darkness. The Absol slowly moved his head as he looked about, trying to sense just when the Spiritomb would strike, and from what direction. The lone scythe on his head began to dimly glow as well, as Gaard charged up another Night Slash to use once the Ghost-type was vulnerable.

 

BP-3: Absol VS Spiritomb

Ranger John Shay

OOC: Sorry, I forgot to remind you. I actually thought Spiritomb was genderless until now lol.

"Defend yourself with Detect," Akinai said quietly. "If possible, counter with a Night Slash once you have an opening."

Gaard began looking around himself, looking for where Spiritomb would attack from. The blade on his head started glowing with the familiar Dark-type energy that was being quite a theme now.

Spiritomb reappeared behind one of the Gaards - presumably the real one, as Faint Attack was guaranteed not to miss. Spiritomb tackled Gaard.

"Absol!" the Pokemon cried, immediately sidestepping out of Spiritomb's path. Gaard was using Detect, which would give him an unbelievably quick reaction time and allow him to avoid attacks, even one with impeccable accuracy such as Faint Attack.

As Spiritomb's lunge missed Gaard, Gaard swiped at the Forbidden Pokemon with his Night Slash. Spiritomb winced as the attack struck his side, but landed fine and retreated away from Gaard.

"Spiritomb," the Pokemon muttered. He had his eye on the Gaard that had just attacked him - he knew better than to allow him to slip away. The Spiritomb's shadow began sneaking towards Gaard. I knew this move - it was Shadow Sneak.

If Gaard wanted to avoid this attack, he would have to move first. Shadow Sneak was an extremely fast move, and Detect wouldn't work two times in a row, so that wasn't an option.

Battle Statistics
Absol VS Spiritomb
Absol: 70%, used Detect, used Night Slash
Spiritomb: 69% SPA+1 SPD+1 PAR TAUNT2, using Shadow Sneak

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), Spiritomb, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 14162/35000
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (100%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (78%, in battle)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave

 

Not long after Gaard charged up his Night Slash for use, the Spiritomb suddenly appeared behind one of the Absol images. Judging by the triumphant look on the spirit's face, it was certain that this target was the real Pokemon. As it moved forward to strike, however, Gaard managed to dodge at the last moment thanks to the enhanced senses that Detect bestowed. The Spiritomb was left defenseless as it's attack struck dead air, leaving the Disaster Pokemon a clear opening for an counter-move. Taking full advantage of this, Gaard slashed at the Ghost-type with his horn.

“Perfect hit!” Akinai called out, encouraged by the fact that Gaard had managed to get a clean strike in while dodging the Spiritomb's ambush. Unfortunately, the attack also meant that the wild Pokemon had a very clear idea on which image was the real Gaard. Unless the Absol could somehow disorient his opponent and rearrange the Double Team clones, the Spiritomb would always know which target to go after.

Spiritomb had indeed felt the Absol's attack strike home, wincing as the Dark-infused scythe went through him. Even though normal objects would normally phase through the spirit, elemental attacks and objects infused with an element would damage him all the same. He flinched from the blow, and sulkily retreated back to his stone still resting in the middle of all the Absol images. The Forbidden Pokemon never took his eyes off the one that had struck him though, the only one of them that had actually moved that moment to strike. He began to mutter to himself, the nonsense syllables lost as they were too low for anyone else to hear.

Gaard noticed the Spiritomb's unwavering gaze on his true self, and shifted from one foot to another uneasily. He could hardly lose himself using Double Team if his opponent which was the real one, and it seemed dead-set on keeping it's eye on him. The Absol was used to playing it safe; being out in the open with no fail-safe was the opposite of safe, especially against a Ghost who could just phase into the floor or wall.

Akinai noticed Gaard's unease as well, and frowned. She wished she could give the Absol some advice on how to better guard himself, but was just as stumped as her teammate. It was not like Gaard could just disappear on a whim, or dig underground like Jade... at least not currently. She kicked herself again for not teaching her team a more diverse moveset before charging back into the Park. At least this is going by smoother than last time, she admitted to herself, not for the first time. Still, she was in a disadvantage this fight unless something decided to change.

As if the Spiritomb could read Akinai's thoughts, a factor did begin to change. The darkness around the Ghost-type began to be drown into the Spiritomb a moment, as if the creature was collecting the intangible mass. At first, nothing appeared to happen. Then, almost slow enough for the motion to be considered her imagination, the shadows slowly crept towards Gaard. The Absol, completely focused on the wild Pokemon and not his surroundings, was unaware of this strange phenomenon.

“Shadow Sneak,” Akinai muttered. She had seen Magi use this attack too many times before to not be familiar with the move. Basically, the user would use the shadows to their advantage, striking with an impressive speed and where the opponent would least expect it. She could possibly have Gaard use a faster move like Sucker Punch to break the Spiritomb's concentration, but there was still a good chance that the Absol would still be struck. Plus, with Double Team practically rendered useless, there was little reason for Gaard to stay out on the field. She retrieved the Absol's Pokeball from her belt, and readied the next part of her plan into motion.

“Gaard, return!” Akinai called out, pointing the Ball at the Absol. As the Pokemon was called back in the traditional red beam of light, she lightly tossed out another sphere, aiming for where Gaard had just been standing. “Your turn, Jade! Use Sandstorm, then go with a Sand Tomb when you have the chance,” Akinai commanded. At least the Flygon would grant more of a diversity with techniques for this fight, along with an upper hand if the Sandstorm succeeded. Perhaps this situation could work out after all.

Jade wasted no time at all. As soon as she fully materialized on the field, the Flygon let out a screech and flapped her wings towards the ground, trying to kick up any sand that lay upon the ground. She would then try to manipulate the winds around her, creating a full-on storm within the cave. This would create an environment that would be irritating, if not damaging towards the Spiritomb, but one that was harmless to the desert-dwelling Flygon. Once this move was complete, Jade would then try to move the sands around her opponent, trapping the spirit in a swirling even more damaging tornado.

“This could turn out to be a little more dangerous then last time,” Akinai admitted to her Ranger. She took a couple steps back, but didn't have much room to avoid anything that Jade would be able to summon. In such a small area, there would hardly be any escape from the sand. The best she could do was steel herself and try to shield her vision from the winds that came her way... well, that and hope that Jade did not go overboard like she did last time. Zen was probably not ready to place up another barrier for them, nor willing for that matter. Protecting the Elgyem alone had taken a lot out of the Gallade; covering two humans and possibly a Dragonite would place his powers at the limit.

 

BP-4: Flygon VS Spiritomb

Ranger John Shay

Akinai saw Spiritomb's shadow reach out towards Gaard. From the looks of things, she was able to recognize it as Shadow Sneak. A look of thought crossed her face momentarily, and she quickly decided how she wanted to handle things.

"Gaard, return!" Akinai shouted, holding out Gaard's Pokeball. The Absol turned into red light and was absorbed back into his Pokeball. The fake clones faded away. Spiritomb surfaced from the shadows, clearly disappointed that his target had retreated. This was an unorthodox strategy and not one that would always work, but it seemed to do the trick here for Akinai.

Akinai threw out another Pokeball. "Your turn, Jade!"

Jade launched herself out of Akinai's Pokeball, gliding out until her head was almost hitting the cave's ceiling.

"Use Sandstorm, then go with a Sand Tomb when you have the chance," Akinai instructed.

Jade nodded. She beat her wings and dusted up a thick sandstorm. In the small cavern, the sandstorm would be much wilder.

As if on cue, Akinai turned to me. "This could turn out to be a little more dangerous then last time."

I nodded, and recalled Dragonite to her Pokeball for now. I could brave the sandstorm just fine, but Pokemon tended to take quite a bit of damage from sandstorms.

Jade moved on to Sand Tomb. She began beating her wings again, this time a little more furiously. In the middle of the sandstorm, I could see sand being packed more tightly together around a purple glow that had to be Spiritomb. I remembered this move from earlier when Jade had used it on Abra.

"Spiritomb!" I heard Spiritomb cry in dismay. Clearly, he was not happy about being trapped in the Sand Tomb. However, Spiritomb was not fully incapable of using attacks in this state.

A dark purple energy, visible even through the sandstorm, began forming in front of Spiritomb. He was using Shadow Ball again, it seemed. Spiritomb launched the attack at Jade.

Battle Statistics
Flygon VS Spiritomb
Flygon: 100%, used Sandstorm, used Sand Tomb
Spiritomb: 58% SPA+1 SPD+1 PAR
Battlefield: Sandstorm (1)

Trainer Information
Name: Akinai
Location: Meteor Valley
Pokemon Encountered: Xatu, Abra, Poochyena, Natu, Drowzee, Elgyem, Honchkrow, Unown (A), Spiritomb, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Abra, Honchkrow, Elgyem
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 19749/35000
Park Items:
1x Hyper Ball
2x Super Potion
Camera
2x Pokedoll
1x Ground Type Repellant

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Flygon (100%)
Nickname: Jade
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Serious
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Fly, Strength, Flamethrower

Pokemon: Aggron (100%)
Nickname: Cryrosant
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Docile
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Earthquake, Strength

Pokemon: Gallade (83%)
Nickname: Zen
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Strength

Pokemon: Absol (70%)
Nickname: Gaard
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Thunder Wave