Individual RP: Akinai

Look in my eyes, what do you see? The Cult of Personality. I heard from my phone. Someone was calling me, that was clear by my ringtone, but I was much too lazy to answer. I figured I'd just let it go to voice mail, and then I'd listen to the message. Kept me from having an unwanted conversation, when I could have just as easily been texted. Once the phone finally got quiet, I picked it up, hoping this was something of importance.

It was a voice mail from Ivy, who I might add was neglecting the run at the Great Lakes she had with two people by the name of Cameron, and Eric, but this wasn't the place for that. "Gary, or Eric, or whatever it is you prefer to call yourself nowadays. We've seen you haven't had the chance to take many people through the park lately, so we want you to take someone named Akinai to Mount Oktori."

"Well. I'm good with this," I said to myself. Akinai was a pretty interesting name, certainly more interesting than a bland name like Eric. Hopefully this meant they were interesting too. There would be no fun in going through the park with a boring person. And who knows, maybe since it was Christmas time, and they were going to Oktori they would be in the holiday spirit. That could be fun.

"Okay, Gardevoir, we're off to work again," I said, as it came out from its Pokeball.

So then, where are we off to this time?

Mount Oktori, so I hope you're ready for the cold.

Well, based on the fact that you have on shorts you're clearly ready

Oh, hush up you. Now lets get going.

I got outside the Ranger Outpost, and figured it'd be best to read up on Akinai. She'd be bringing along three Pokemon; Blaziken, Absol, and Gallade. Kind of weird that she would be having a Gallade with her, while I had a Gardevoir with me. In the way of items she had three Super, and three Hyper balls, so she could catch anything that came her way. Plus who knew, the Camera, or the Apricorn Box could pay off. I guess only time could tell.

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered:
Encounters Left: 15
Pokemon Captured: N/A
CC since last Encounter: 0

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

“I can't believe I got talked into this,” Akinai muttered to herself, trudging along the path leading to the main Ranger outpost. Beside her walked Zen, her Gallade, who, unlike his trainer, appeared to be in good spirits. “Why did we have to sign up for the zone covered with ice and snow of all things?”

Zen shook his head in response, clearly confused that his partner was making such a big deal over the matter. <You appeared to enjoy this place the last time we were here, why the sudden change of heart?>

“Because this won't be the same as last time!” Akinai exclaimed, her irritation clear on her face at this point. The outpost was now within sight, only a mere fifty feet away. She paused and took a deep breath, realizing that she was starting to overreact. Still, the snowy mountain would be nothing like the area they had explored the last time. In addition, she didn't have Jade to rely on this time; knowing that there was bound to be a plethora of Ice-types in this region, she had forced the Flygon to sit this run out. The absence of the large green creature disheartened her somewhat, though.

Zen, sensing his trainer's distress, tried his best to calm the human. <We'll do fine. I can likely take anything this mountain throws at us, and you have Ember and Gaard to fall back on as well,> he reminded, trying to back the statement by sending a positive empathic wave towards Akinai.

“I hope so,” Akinai responded, then took another breath to calm herself. It wouldn't do to have her Ranger ask what was wrong or think that she had doubts when the run had not even begun yet. With that, she headed towards the nearby building.

There was someone waiting just outside of the entrance, a Ranger judging by his clothing. Beside him was a Gardevoir, patiently waiting beside the human as it looked about. At first, Akinai assumed that it was her Ranger, but something seemed off... she looked again, and realized that he seemed ill-prepared for a cold environment, wearing shorts of all things. It was possible that he was waiting for another Trainer. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask if he knew where her Ranger was. “Excuse me,” Akinai waved, walking over to him. “I don't suppose there's anyone else waiting here as well? I'm Akinai, and was told to come here to prepare for my run.”

Meanwhile, Zen had walked over to the Gardevoir, greeting the fellow Ralts evolution. He held out a blade-out for a handshake out of habit, thought better of it, and switched to swift nod instead.

 

“Excuse me,” someone waved, as they came over to me. “I don't suppose there's anyone else waiting here as well? I'm Akinai, and was told to come here to prepare for my run,” she said. She arrived sooner than I thought, which was always good. The sooner we got started, the sooner she could try to capture some Pokemon. I wasn't really sure if she was looking for anything in particular, or if she was just here for the sake of being here, but this wasn't the time to question it.

"Indeed, I have been waiting for you. My name is Gary, and yes I know, it sounds rather generic. But, hey I'm not one for fancy names," I said to her. "Interesting Gallade you have there, hopefully it gets along nicely with my Gardevoir," I said, glancing at Gallade, before Gardevoir spoke into my mind again.

For its sake it better act mature. I'm not afraid to attack this thing if it tries anything stupid.

Relax Gardevoir. I'm sure she has her Gallade under control, I mean she wouldn't want to start an incident right? So let's just get along.

"So then, let's head off whenever you're ready. I'm sure you're very eager to get started, right?" I asked. "All right, now Gardevoir, use Teleport to send us to the front gate of Oktori, if you don't mind."

Not at all, she said, and with that she sent the four of use, and any other Pokemon we hand on hand to the front gate.

"As I'm sure you know Mount Oktori can get very cold, and it can start to snow randomly. I hope you've thoroughly prepared yourself for this," I told Akinai. With that I opened up the front gate, and glared upon the mountain. It was always a magnificent sight to behold. The sight of the mountain with the snow on the top of it, and snow around it. Of course, that thing racing down the mountain wasn't normally suppose to be doing that.

My eye sight was just awful, so I took out a pair of binoculars. From them I could plain as day see that it was a Pokemon. It was a dual Ice, and Dark-type. Though it was a Pokemon four times weak to Fighting, it was still very popular, and very popular. It had razor sharp claws, which would actually make sense since it was known as the "Sharp Claw Pokemon". Seemed to resemble a mix between a cat, and a weasel, which in fact seems like a weird combo to me. It's body was generally black, although it actually seemed like a really dark shade of blue in some lights. It also had four leaves on its body, one where its left ear is, and three on the back of its body. Not to mention the yellow mark it had on its head, and then its chest.

"So, Akinai, not a bad way to start a run. Want this Sneasel?"

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel
Encounters Left: 14
Pokemon Captured: N/A
CC since last Encounter: 2500

Current Encounter: Sneasel

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

Akinai paused, thinking over what her Ranger had just said. Gardevoir and Gallade were from the same evolutionary family, so it would seem like a given that the two would have little trouble with each other. If anything, they would have quite a lot in common. To think otherwise seemed just odd; after all, the Gardevoir on their team appeared to get along great with the Gallade. And yet... she remembered a story that Zen had told her once, shortly before evolving into his final form.

There were a few isolated communities dotting the globe, areas where only Ralts and it's natural evolutions resided. Their Gallade form was considered unnatural, even dangerous, due to the fact that they had a far more martial personality then their counterpart and preferred attacking physically rather then using their telekinetic powers. If someone became a Gallade, or desired to become one, they were publicly shunned then exiled if they managed to evolve. Zen had always been dodgy in explaining why he had left his home while carrying a Dawn Stone, but Akinai felt that she could safely assume that he had been cast out. It would also explain why he was being so stiffly formal to the stranger Gardevoir; for all he knew, it could have been from one of those communities.

"So then, let's head off whenever you're ready. I'm sure you're very eager to get started, right?" Gary asked, shaking Akinai out of her reverie. When she nodded, he turned to the Gardevoir and continued, "All right, now Gardevoir, use Teleport to send us to the front gate of Oktori, if you don't mind."

The Gardevoir said nothing, likely answering the command using telepathy instead, and began to concentrate. The world appeared to shimmer around the group a moment, then fall back to normal upon a completely different scenery. They had appeared in front of one of the Park gates, where their destination lay just past the contraption.

"As I'm sure you know Mount Oktori can get very cold, and it can start to snow randomly. I hope you've thoroughly prepared yourself for this," Gary mentioned to Akinai, making sure that she was ready. With that, he prepared to open the gate.

Akinai nodded and pulled her pack forward, which had a thick coat hooked to the top of it. She had bought the coat shortly after reserving her run to the mountain, judging that the thin jacket that she normally wore would hardly be able to protect against the weather. She quickly slipped off her pack, slipped the coat on, then re-situated the sidepack. When she looked forward once more, the gate had been fully opened, fully revealing the area that they were about to explore.

If there was one word that Akinai could use to describe the sight ahead, “impressive” would definitely be close to the top of that list. The mountain, unsurprisingly, was covered in layers of snow, as well as the land surrounding the area. She had dealt with only a minimal amount of the stuff in her some region, and it had never been enough to stay on the ground unmelted for long. This place, with it's natural terrain and frigid climate, was like a polar opposite.

Zen, if anything, was even more shocked by the sight. His home area had rested near a volcano, and the closest thing he had seen similar to snow had been the ash raining down from the sky during his travels. To be so cold, along with seeing so much ice, was a completely new experience to the Gallade. <This... all fell from the sky?> Zen asked his Trainer, his form standing shock-still.

Correct, and it's also what we will be walking in, Akinai silently responded to her teammate. Might as well be honest with him. After all, they would be fighting in it as well, if this run went well and they ran into something interesting. She walked forward to enter, eager to get this done quickly and leave this frigid zone as fast as possible. After a few steps she looked back, noticing that Zen was still frozen in place. If you don't move, someone will think you're a statue guarding the place, she lightly teased the Gallade.

Zen slightly huffed in annoyance, walking stiffly forward towards Akinai. <I was just surveying the area...> he stated, the tone sounding flat. The alien scenery was clearly unsettling him; hopefully the feeling would only be momentary and evaporate once they had started an encounter against some of the wildlife residing here.

In the distance there appeared to be a moving speck on the mountain, it's dark shade starkly contrasting against the snow-white landscape. Whatever it was, the shape was moving at an impressive speed, and heading directly towards them.

The Ranger, spotting the quickly-move shape as well, had fished out a pair of binoculars. He said nothing while gazing through the eyepiece, trying to discern what the culprit was. Finally, Gary lowered the binoculars and looked over at Akinai. "So, Akinai, not a bad way to start a run. Want this Sneasel?"

Akinai, who had been vainly attempting to figure out what the creature was by human sight alone, slightly jumped as the Ranger spoke to her. “Wait, that thing is a Sneasel?” she asked, surprised by her luck. She had read about the creatures in the past, and was quite interested in them. Supposedly, they were a Dark/Ice type hybrid, and were quite powerful, their strength only outmatched by their agility. In addition, the creatures were clever, using their wits instead of brute force to win the day.

Unfortunately, due to it's type, it had a crippling weakness to Fighting-type attacks, and two of the Pokemon that she had brought along were of this variety. She wanted to capture the Sneasel, not annihilate it. On the other hand Gaard, her Absol, was of the Dark type; while he knew a wide variety of moves thanks to training and a decent amount of TMs, the battle would go by much slower. Still, safe was better then sorry. With that, Akinai reached for Gaard's Pokeball on her belt, ready to throw the sphere forward.

<Wait,> Zen called out to Akinai, walking in front of her. <Let me fight this thing first.> the Gallade raised one of his blade-arms, and shifted his stance to one more suited for fighting.

“What the-” Akinai began, then caught herself and shifted to responding silently. The last thing she wanted was to be caught arguing with one of her Pokemon while in front of someone, especially a Ranger. What are you doing, Zen? You can't really hold back against an opponent like this, and we're not trying to knock it out either! she finished, slightly annoyed. Now she was looking like an idiot, simply standing in place while holding on to a Pokeball for no reason at all.

<We can do this,> Zen answered, oddly stubborn for once, then explained his plan. <This will be a good warm-up, and I can use less-damaging attacks then usual.>

Akinai, fully prepared to argue, paused and let out a silent sigh. If you're that dead-set on it, we can try. If things seem too bad I'm switching to Gaard though.

<Deal.> Zen replied, then turned his full attention to the approaching figure, which was much closer then it had been before. He appeared deaf to anything else safe for the coming conflict; Akinai would have to wait until later to ask him why he was so determined to fight this battle.

“Alright then, let's do this!” Akinai stated out loud, looking forward as well. “Charge up with a Swords Dance, then strike with a Leaf Blade once our target comes within range,” she commanded. It seemed a bit unsportsmanlike to attack the moment the wild Pokemon was close enough, but Akinai doubted that a Dark-type charging towards them was only doing so to be friendly.

Zen began to weave his arms about while standing in place, in an odd attempt to dance while keeping his ground. If successful, his blades would begin to gleam, becoming razor-sharp and ready to slice through anything they touched. Once this was done Zen would wait patiently, the scythes giving off a dim forest-green glow while he took his time. Once the moment was right, the Gallade would strike his target quickly.

 

Akinai did seem to have interest in Sneasel, though not as much as I would think. I was curious as to why, though I didn't particularly want to ask, cause it was her reason. No matter what though she would need to be careful. Sneasel was a very powerful Pokemon, for something that was unevolved, and it had access to some pretty powerful moves. Plus it got two good priority moves in Fake Out, and Ice Shard. And like I mentioned before, its speed is almost unmatchable. Only a handful of things can keep up with it. So I had to wonder what would rear its head here.

“Alright then, let's do this!” Akinai yelled out loud. She had seemed like she was in some state of thought for a few moments, with Gallade looking at her, so if I had to guess Gallade would be battling. It was understandable why. While Gallade was the male counterpart of Gardevoir, it did have some distinct differences. Gallade was also half Fighting-type, unlike Gardevoir who was pure Psychic-type. This would actually give it two advantages over Sneasel. One would be that Sneasel's STAB Dark-type attacks wouldn't hit as hard now, because Dark isn't very effective against Fighting. And the other was, well, due to Sneasel's typing it was actually four times weak to Gallade's Fighting-type. I just hoped that for her sake, Akinai would be able to keep her Gallade's power under control.

“Charge up with a Swords Dance, then strike with a Leaf Blade once our target comes within range,” she commanded. It was a good idea, I mean the boosting in attack would probably prove to be unnecessary, but at least using a move like Leaf Blade, something that isn't that great of a move against Sneasel was smart. Of course, there was always that chance that Leaf Blade could get a critical hit, but she'd have to be really lucky, or in this case unlucky, for this to happen now. Though I don't think Sneasel would let this happen easily. A fresh Pokemon is always a tough fighter, and will do whatever it can to give itself an edge. Even something like a Feebas. That was why the first move of any battle was always a crucial one.

First up came a Swords Dance. Gallade started to do some sort of dance. It mostly just motions its body around some, and this would power it up. At the end you could distinctly see some image of circling swords rise up around the Pokemon. Once Gallade was done powering up, Leaf Blade was coming up. The user would take a sharp leaf, usually their own arm since most things that learn it are Grass-type, and slash it around like it was a sword. Since Gallade sort of had a blade for an arm, it would use its Psychic powers to transform that blade into a grass blade, and slash away.

Sneasel wasn't just going to sit idly by going "lalalalala" though. It took its right hand, and made it into a fist. This fist began to change into a blue color, and actually started to freeze over. Sneasel was using Ice Punch, a powerful Ice-type move, and once that could actually make the Pokemon it hit freeze. And if there is one thing I know from seeing battles, its that freeze is awful, and seven times out of ten it will screw you over. Sneasel charged at Gallade, and in an instant it got a good punch in on Gallade's face, while Gallade got a good slash in on Sneasel's midsection.

Once this exchange was done, Sneasel and Gallade took a break to collect their wits. Sneasel looked more damaged though. Though based on how the looks of things were, Gallade wasn't frozen, and Sneasel wasn't hit by a critical hit. Still though Akinai seemed to put a good dent in on Sneasel.

Current Battle Stats

? ? Sneasel 65% Used Ice Punch
Lonely M Gallade 91% Atk+2 Used Swords Dance and Leaf Blade

CC: 10511/15000​

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel
Encounters Left: 14
Pokemon Captured: N/A
CC since last Encounter:

Current Encounter: Sneasel

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

OOC: Asking for Sneasel's gender to be Female, please.


Sneasel's descent down the mountain and towards them had been much quicker then anticipated. In the time it had taken for Zen to place the finishing touches on his Swords Dance, the wild Pokemon had already approached then and was charging an attack of her own. Judging from the way she was pulling one of her hands back and the icy rime forming around the limb, it was more then likely Ice Punch. The weasel-like creature let out a cry and punched forward, aiming for Zen.

Zen, however, was prepared with his own attack as well. At the same time the Sneasel moved, he slashed forward as well, letting his opponent's momentum work in his favor. The twin attacks hit their targets simultaneously, causing both Pokemon to reel back. While Sneasel had managed to get a lucky strike on the Gallade's face, the damage had been minimal. Zen, on the other hand, had left a nasty slash in the wild Pokemon's midsection.

Akinai took a quick assessment of the two Pokemon, trying to figure out how well the battle was faring. Though Zen was shivering from the added chill that Ice Punch was known to cause, there was no ice on the Blade Pokemon, meaning that he was in no danger of being frozen. In addition, he appeared to be in near peak condition despite being struck, clearly ready for more. Sneasel, on the other hand, was faring much worse.

Akinai had been unable to get a decent look at the Pokemon earlier when it was so far away, but was now able to fully look at the creature. It was shorter then she had expected, being clearly a few feet shorter then the Gallade standing close by, and was covered in a short dark fur that appeared almost blue in the sunlight. It sported three pinkish-red appendages along it's lower lower back along with one on it's head, lying right beside the ear. Judging by the fact that the last feather was shorter then the others, it was safe to assume that this one was a female.

Currently, Sneasel was completely blind to the two humans nearby, opting to focus on the current eyesore standing in front of her. She was holding a claw to her midsection at the moment, wincing from her current wound. While she was currently trying to catch her breath after running so far then being suddenly struck in the gut, it was clear that the thought of trying to retreat was the last thing on her mind at the moment. Sneasel's eyes appeared to have a glint of vengeance to them, and she was now lowly growling at the Gallade that had attacked her.

Zen, for the moment, seemed perfectly content to ignore his opponent's ire. In fact, he appeared pleased with himself for leaving such a powerful mark as a first blow. Granted, he was fighting what had to be his almost polar opposite, so was probably feeling somewhat justified by his attack. The Gallade still appeared to be shivering somewhat, though it was likely from the weather and not from the Sneasel's attack by this point.

Akinai, while she shared Zen's happiness with doing such impressive damage on the first strike, started to have her doubts as well. Leaf Blade, while it was a powerful attack, had a chance of critically damaging the opposing target as well. Perhaps that had been cause behind such a damaging blow? Akinai took a look at the Sneasel again, saw how the Pokemon appeared ready for more, then shook her head. No, a single Swords Dance had done this. A critical hit would have probably left it just barely conscious. Nice hit, but let's not do that again, she relayed over to Zen. We're lucky that didn't do even more damage.

Zen shrugged in response, but agreed all the same, <I don't think she will take another hit like that again anyways. Just look at her; this one is not going to run into any more enemies head-on for a while.> He gestured an arm over at the Sneasel, pointing out the way the Sharp Claw Pokemon was watching his every move.

Let's give her even more reason to worry then, Akinai remarked, then switched over to speech to call out her next commands, “Let's go in with Double Team, then try to get a lucky hit in with Thunderpunch.” While the chance was minimal, the shocking attack had a possibility of paralyzing whoever it struck. If she could cripple the Sneasel with a status ailment, the chances of capture would go up even further. Unfortunately, the only member on her team that had a move that almost guaranteed a n ailment was Gaard, and he was currently not an option thanks to Zen's impatience.

Zen eyed the Sneasel a moment, seeing that her eyes were still steadily following him. The Blade Pokemon slightly smirked, and began to split off into multiple images, moving with them in an attempt to be lost in the chaos. After utilizing this method to circle his opponent, the Gallade and all of his images began to charge pure electricity through one of their fists, then leaped forward to strike.

 

With an attack plus two Gallade, Akinai needed to be careful with any move choices she would make from here on out. A slip up, and she could easily have Sneasel knocked out, and if it was knocked out it wouldn't able to be captured. Sneasel were tough Pokemon, despite their awful defense, so this one would still probably put up some sort of a decent fight. I did wonder what Akinai would do next though. I mean, her Gallade didn't exactly have a lot of moves, so she didn't have a ton of tricks she could pull out of her hat, and Leaf Blade probably wouldn't work again right away. It made me wonder.

“Let's go in with Double Team, then try to get a lucky hit in with Thunderpunch,” she commanded. In thought, Thunderpunch was a pretty good idea. Akinai's Gallade didn't have a status move on it, well unless you counted Hypnosis, but that one was always risky. There was the slight chance that Thunderpunch could paralyze the opposing Pokemon. Although slight, it wasn't impossible for this to happen. Double Team too was a good idea. It would confuse, and baffle Sneasel, perhaps making any attack it use miss it. On the lucky side for Akinai too, Thunderpunch shouldn't have been strong enough to finish off Sneasel.

Double Team, was essentially an afterimage technique. Gallade would look as though it was cloning itself, but in reality it would just be making some images of itself appear. Before Gallade was able to pull this off though, Sneasel took the opportunity, and struck first. It jumped towards Gallade, and if you looked closely at its right hand you could see its claws on it sharpen. Even though its claws were sharpening they weren't changing color, this meant Sneasel was using Slash. An attack where the user slashes at the opponent with a pair of claws, and it would have an increased chance at a critical hit. Fortunately for Gallade though, it was able to move at the last moment, and so Sneasel's claw just slid off of Gallade's body, hardly damaging it, much to the displeasure of Sneasel.

Gallade seized this opportunity, and began to clone itself. It started to twist its feet on the ground, and before I knew it it was moving back and forth rapidly, causing several illusions of itself to show up. These illusions, or afterimages, looked like the actual Gallade, and it give it a golden opportunity to hit Sneasel. A smart thing was done though, and that was while Gallade was using Double Team, it started charging up Thunderpunch, making it hard to tell which Gallade was the real one. Thunderpunch was the Electric equivalent of Ice Punch. It would charge up electric energy, and when ready the foe would be punched. Well this one seemed ready, and so Gallade went to move in. Sneasel didn't want this to happen though, and it tried to mount one more offensive move to counter it. It took some chunks of ice into its right hand, took a deep breath, and started to blow them at Gallade's image clones. Unfortunately for it though it didn't hit the real Gallade, and Sneasel was punched down to the ground.

Sneasel wasn't paralyzed, fortunately for it, but unfortunately for Akinai. Though Sneasel had a very rough time getting back up to its feet. Gallade managed to put a pretty good dent in it, and now it wouldn't take much of anything before it was captured. In fact, I wasn't even sure if Sneasel had enough strength to get out another attack. Akinai had to be careful now though since weak Pokemon had a tough time of enduring a hit. With Gallade's boost power it was now a hit or miss situation here, and the wrong move could end things badly.

Current Battle Stats

? F Sneasel 32% Used Slash and Ice Shard
Lonely M Gallade 80% Atk+2 Used Double Team and Thunder Punch

CC: 15343/15000​

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel
Encounters Left: 14
Pokemon Captured: N/A
CC since last Encounter:

Current Encounter: Sneasel

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

In her haste to call out a command to Zen, Akinai had completely forgotten that Sneasel had a much higher speed advantage, along with a couple priority moves in their normal array of attacks. Before Zen could even begin his first move, the wild Pokemon acted first, slashing the Gallade with her sharp claws. The attack appeared to surprise Zen, causing him to stagger back as he took in exactly what happened.

Of all the... Akinai gritted her teeth in irritation, but tried to remain calm. There was no point losing her temper over such a minor setback. “Zen hang in there!” Akinai called out to the Gallade. “She may be faster, but you still have the upper hand!” all they needed to do was complete their current attack, then go from there.

Thankfully, Zen was able to initiate the Double Team, albeit a little shaken to discover just how fast his opponent was. He darted away from the Sneasel, managing to indeed mix the real him in the false images planted to trick the Pokemon. Unfortunately, with so many images performing the same moves, it was hard to hide the fact that an attack was charging.

Sneasel, of course, noted the electricity beginning to form around the multiple Gallade, and acted quickly in an attempt to cancel the charge. Small chunks of ice materialized in the air, hovering just in front of the Dark-type, and shot forward towards the rival Psychic-type, in a bid to strike first. To the Sneasel's dismay, the shards passed harmlessly through some of the afterimages, leaving Zen completely unharmed.

Zen ignored the ice shards that passed harmlessly by, and jabbed the Sneasel in the side with an electrically-charged punch, knocking the Pokemon down. Sneasel managed to pick herself off from the ground, but only barely. It was clear to all that were watching that she didn't have much fight left in her.

Akinai, judging by the way that the Sneasel was carrying herself, was weakened but had not been paralyzed. This presented a slight issue; while the Pokemon was definitely battered, it still appeared just strong enough to break out of any Ball that she tossed at it currently. Thanks to Zen's increased attack power, however, ruled out any other plan of attack. Unless... Zen, think you can pull of a False Swipe?

Zen, who had been watching to see if the Sneasel was about to pull off yet another fast move, answered back, <I could try... hopefully she won't pull off another boneheaded move and run into my blade again. I need to be very precise with that technique, you know that.> It was clear that he was hesitant to use such a move against such a quick creature, but if the situation demanded it he would at least try.

Let's go with that, then, Akinai finalized, then confirmed the move while pulling her pack forward. “Finish it with False Swipe! If possible, go with a Hypnosis as well,” she commanded. Hypnosis was a far long shot, almost impossible considering that their opponent was a Dark type, and mostly immune to Psychic moves. If it somehow managed to hit though, it would help her chances considerably.

Zen nodded, then swiped forward with one of his blades, aiming to land a non-lethal hit on the Sneasel. The hard part was not hitting the target like most moves, but in striking in just the right area to not outright faint the Pokemon. He would have to take great hit with this hit, especially with his sharpened blades. If he was successful, the Gallade would begin to resonate soothing waves of hypnotic energy, making eye contact with the Sneasel in an attempt to lull the wild Pokemon into slumber.

Akinai, as soon as she had called out the command to Zen, had reached into her pack for one of the Balls that she had bought for this run. Pulling out a Superball, she waited for Zen to pull off his attack. If everything went off as planned, and Sneasel was still conscious, she would throw the sphere forward, aiming for the Pokemon.

 

Would Akinai attack again, or would she just throw a ball? Sneasel wasn't evolved yet, so both the Super and Hyper Balls that Akinai had would make Sneasel even easier to capture, but still it had a decent amount of health left on it, so who knew. And surely, if capturing a Pokemon was to be decided by a dice roll or something, then the capture would probably fail. Akinai would no doubt need to risk another attack, but which one would she use?

“Finish it with False Swipe! If possible, go with a Hypnosis as well,” Akinai commanded. This, was actually brilliant. False Swipe was a move that couldn't knock out an opposing Pokemon ever, so as long as it hit Sneasel would be perfectly able to be captured, provided it didn't do something nuts like Double-Edge. Hypnosis was iffy, I personally didn't think it was needed, it seemed more like icing on the cake really. But it was her decision, and maybe she just wanted to put Sneasel to sleep to ease its pain.

Gallade took its stance, and set its sights on Sneasel. Sneasel was a defiant one though, it stuck its finger up, index finger mind you it must have had some taste, and lured Gallade in. It was Taunting it, maybe to prevent Hypnosis, or maybe just to annoy it. Either way though it seemed to be effective, as Gallade charged at it, and slashed Sneasel down to the ground. The creature tried to get back up, but alas she just fell back down to the ground. Akinai saw this, and knew it was her opening. She pulled out a Super Ball, and threw it at Sneasel. It was sucked in, and put up no fight at all...

"Congratulations Akinai, you are now the proud owner of a Sneasel," I said, as I walked over to put its Pokeball in my pocket.

This Gallade is pretty impressive, I need to admit that one, Gardevoir said to me.

You're better though, some people may think that Gallade is better than Gardevoir, but hey they forget Brave Bird, and Acrobatics. This isn't the place to be discussing this though.

"So, we can continue whenever you're good. Though Gallade looks like its still in top condition and could keep on, so I think we should," I said, leading Akinai along again.

I lead her into the main cave, where I thought we might find some decent stuff. I sent out Chandelure as I naturally did, and had it use its flames to light up a path for us. I didn't want anything sneaking up, and trying to take a cheap shot. I almost spoke too soon though, as the flames revealed a Pokemon standing here. It was a tiny, gray Pokemon. This thing had three brown ridges on the top of its head. You could see what appeared to be three ribs on its side. It also had big red eyes. Though this thing was actually small, it was super powerful, and would end up evolving into a very powerful Fighting-type when all is said and done.

"Have any interest in a Machop?"

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop
Encounters Left: 13
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel,
CC since last Encounter:

Current Encounter: Machop

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

Seeing that Zen had indeed managed to pull off the False Swipe perfectly, Akinai wasted no time at all in attempting to capture the Sneasel. As the Superball sucked in the nearly-fainted Pokemon in a red beam of light, the sphere barely moved as it let off a resounding ping, proof that the creature had finally relented.

"Congratulations Akinai, you are now the proud owner of a Sneasel," Gary said, walking over and pocketing the Ball. Once this was done, he looked over at Akinai, "So, we can continue whenever you're good. Though Gallade looks like its still in top condition and could keep on, so I think we should,"

Akinai, already sliding her pack back on, nodded in response, “Agreed. Have to say though, sort of curious to see what else will just run at us. Wonder if that is a normal thing in this area?” She had remembered reading that the mountain was home to a wide array of Fighting-type Pokemon as well as Ice, so it was possible that the former were always looking for new challenges. To have an Ice-type do it instead though... maybe it was the Dark part of the Sneasel's nature that had caused it to act that way, or maybe it had just been foolhardy. She shrugged off the thought for now, and followed her Ranger further into the zone, Zen following closely behind.

They had eventually reached a cave, it's dark depths bound to be resting with at least one hidden creature trying to shelter itself from the cold. In order to have some light to explore by, Gary called out one of his Pokemon: a Chandelure by the looks of it. Thanks to the light emitting from the creature, it was easy to see what lay ahead for them in the cave. In fact, there was already something standing in front of the group, as if he had been waiting for them to enter.

"Have any interest in a Machop?" the Ranger asked Akinai, pointing over at the human-like gray creature.

Akinai almost immediately shook her head, not interested in fighting this one. Unlike most people, she had no interest in the Machop family, despite their power and their near-broken ability to strike opponents with almost any move without fail. It was possible that she would change her mind in the distance future, but that day was not today. “Let's see if we can just get past it. If it wants to fight, I can toss a Pokedoll at it.”

 

Akinai shook her head at this Machop, showing very little interest in it, and said, "let's see if we can just get past it. If it wants to fight, I can toss a Pokedoll at it.” I had to wonder why she didn't want a Machop, I mean they were pretty powerful. Then again, they were slow, couldn't really take a hit, and were pretty common. Ah well I thought, as I tried to lead her around it. Unfortunately though this thing made it a point to stand in our way. Before I could get a Pokedoll from Akinai though, Gardevoir cut in.

Do you want me to take care of this thing?

No, thank you, but you know Park rules forbid you from stepping in, unless absolutely necessary, so just hold back for now.

"Sorry, but it seems like you need to spend a Pokedoll. Let's hope you won't need to again," I said at Akinai, trying to smile. I took the doll, and threw it at Machop who seemed to like it. I think the little guy just wanted some company was all. Either way though we were off yet again, and we went to look for something else.

If Akinai didn't like Machop, then there was a chance she wouldn't like many Fighting-types that came her way, so I thought it would be best to take her back outside. We went out an alternate opening, or exit, to the main cave, and it wasn't more than a minute before I saw a Pokemon playing in the snow. It was a little teddy bear like Pokemon, the Ice equivalent of Teddiursa really. It had a light blue head, and neck, while the rest of its body was a snowy white. Its nose, as well as its eyes, were black though, and from its nose a considerable amount of mucus was dripping down. Although that was a bit weird, it was actually a pretty cute Pokemon in general. But I had to wonder what Akinai thought of this thing, especially if she didn't like bears, due to their generally vicious nature.

"Would you care to face this Cubchoo?"

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop, Cubchoo
Encounters Left: 12
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel
CC since last Encounter

Current Encounter: Cubchoo

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

While the group tried their best to get past the Machop in any way save literally shoving the Pokemon aside, nothing appeared to work. Even though they had made it clear that they wished to pass, the Fighting-type simply crossed it's arms and held it's ground stubbornly.

The Ranger's Gardevoir began to step forward a moment, as if she was ready to intervene, but paused as if listening to something, possibly Gary silently asking her to not intervene for now. With that taken care of, Gary looked over at Akinai. "Sorry, but it seems like you need to spend a Pokedoll. Let's hope you won't need to again," he stated politely.

Akinai, noticing how the Machop was refusing to move, had already retrieved a doll from her pack, one in the childlike replica of a Rhyhorn. She silently handed the doll over to the Ranger, and watched him lightly toss it to the Machop. The Pokemon's response was almost immediate; it reached out for the plushie and hugged it, as if the doll was a treasured possession.

“Never fails,” Akinai said, grinning to herself as they walked past the Machop. Shortly after, she mentally kicked herself as she realized her mistake. Waitasec, aren't Machop supposed to be fairly common? She had accidentally wasted one of her dolls on something that she could have just fainted! Now Akinai had only one Pokedoll left, unless she wanted to fork over more cash to her Ranger for more of the strange plushies. That is, if he was even carrying any in his pack. She hadn't seen any yet, but after traveling with two other Rangers she knew that the packs that they carried held an endless amount of items. For now, she had to assume that she had only one “free escape” left.

They didn't stay long in the cave, taking instead one of the openings leading out into the snow. While Akinai wouldn't have minded exploring the cave a little more, she didn't mind taking a look outside for a bit as well. Zen didn't appear too pleased to be walking in the freezing whiteness once more, but kept his complaints limited to trying to walk in the least amount of snow possible.

In no time at all, they had stumbled upon another Pokemon who was busy playing about in the snow, this time an Ice-type. It had an ursine appearance and a mostly white body, reminding Akinai almost immediately of a Teddiursa who had caught frostbite. It's head was a light shade of blue, along with the top part of it's body. While Akinai was hardly the type of person who would go about calling some Pokemon “cute”, it was hard to deny that this one would fall under that category easily. The only part that seemed off about the creature was the fact that a large glob of mucous was hanging down from it's nose, apparently refusing to fall.

"Would you care to face this Cubchoo?" Gary asked, pointing over at the frolicking Pokemon.

“Well...” Akinai began, looking over at the Cubchoo while trying to decide what to do next. While she had never really looked up any info on Cubchoo and it's evolution in the past, their Beartic form looked quite powerful. Plus, she was always a sucker for the color blue, and this one was in one of her favorite shades. Unfortunately, she had not originally planned on capturing one, and it was hard to get over the fact that the Pokemon's nose was constantly running. Plus, she already had a pure Ice-type on her team, a Glaceon, who hardly saw any sparring time as is. Perhaps she would let fate decide what her next plan was.

“Let's see what happens when we try to pass it first,” Akinai decided, looking over at her Ranger. “If it's fine with being left alone, I'll leave it be. If not, a fight it is.” Zen, can you ready a Psycho Cut if it comes to that? she asked the Gallade.

<On it,> Zen replied, glad to have something to think about other then the cold for now. He watched the Cubchoo for any signs of hostile movement, and one of the Gallade's blades began to slightly glow with a violet psychic energy.

 

Akiani seemed to be a bit conflicted with this Cubchoo. It looked like she couldn't make up her mind if she actually wanted to capture this thing, or let roam free. Perhaps she didn't know how it could be in a battle, or perhaps she just wasn't sure if she wanted to spend a ball on it. Either way though she would need to decide soon, or else it could just walk away from us.

What do you think she'll do here? Gardevoir asked.

I don't have a clue. Me personally, I'd capture it, or at least attempt to, and hold onto it just in case nothing else I wanted came my way, but that's just me.

I can see your point, guess we'll just wait, and see.

“Well...” Akinai started say, as she was inspecting this Cubchoo. She seemed really indecisive. “Let's see what happens when we try to pass it first, If it's fine with being left alone, I'll leave it be. If not, a fight it is,” she said. This was an understandable idea. I remembered seeing once that my good buddy Eric went to Mount Oktori, and when a Vanillite wouldn't let him escape, so rather than buy a Pokedoll he just decided to battle, and capture the thing. He didn't keep for more than five minutes after he left the park anyway, since he traded it to Cameron, or maybe Leo.

"Right, that's fair enough. Let's let fate, and Cubchoo, decide your future here," I said, as I tried to lead Akinai around Cubchoo. We started to get near, and around it, but Cubchoo had other plans in mind. It started to faintly grow at us, and stood in our way. Sure it was a small bear, but if it wasn't kept calm it could call on a herd of Beartic here. This thing decided that it wanted to battle Akinai, and now it meant that Akiani would battle this based on her choice.

"Well then, guess it decided on things for you. Go at it whenever you're ready."

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop, Cubchoo
Encounters Left: 12
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel
CC since last Encounter 3936

Current Encounter: Cubchoo

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

OOC: Requesting that Cubchoo is Male, please.


Gary nodded in response, as if he had heard of such a situation like this happening before. "Right, that's fair enough. Let's let fate, and Cubchoo, decide your future here," the Ranger stated, then led them towards the Cubchoo in an attempt to pass it. Unless the wild Pokemon was deaf or completely absorbed in it's play, there was no way it could not sense their approach by now.

As if had been waiting for just this moment, Cubchoo stood up in the snow and placed himself with in the center of the path, as if daring for them to try passing. He even began to emit a low growl from his throat, in an attempt to look menacing. While the effect was somewhat lost considering it still had the appearance of a teddy bear with a serious cold, there was no mistaking the fact that the Cubchoo wished to fight.

Gary, seeing this, began to back up to give the two battling Pokemon room, "Well then, guess it decided on things for you. Go at it whenever you're ready."

“Way ahead of you,” Akinai replied, slightly grinning at the Cubchoo's attempt to look fierce. It was hard to take any creature with such an innocent-looking appearance seriously, but it was apparently trying it's absolute best. Granted, it would be a different story altogether if they had been fighting a massive Beartic instead, but she probably would have indeed used her Doll on the evolved form. Either way, it was time to put this cub in it's place. Zen, are you ready?

<Been ready,> Zen replied, holding up his arm as proof. The charged blade was practically beaming with energy now, mirroring it's user's impatience to strike. <Just say the word, and I'll head on in.>

“Alright then, let's start things out with a Shadow Sneak,” Akinai called out, deciding it best to get the first strike in this time around. “Once that is set up, go with your Psycho Cut.” It was not the first time that she had used this strategy before, and Zen was fairly used to it by now. Whether or not he was able to strike the Cubchoo with both attacks was the real question. The Pokemon didn't appear to be that fast, but looks could be deceiving.

Zen, at first, appeared to be doing nothing save for standing in place. To those watching closely, however, they would notice that the Gallade's shadow appeared to stretch towards the Cubchoo as if it could touch the Ice-type. Once the subtle attack was in range, it would attempt to hit it's target from behind, startling the Pokemon.

Whether or not the Shadow Sneak was successful, Zen would finally make his move and dash towards the Cubchoo, slashing the Ice-type with a physical form of Psychic power.

 

“Way ahead of you,” Akinai said with a grin. She was either grinning because she lost her mind, or because she couldn't actually take Cubchoo fierce, even though it tried to be. I'd like to think it was the latter of the two, but still, just because it didn't exactly look fierce that didn't mean Akinai could go at it lightly. Any Pokemon had the potential to surprise you with its power, so laughing at it could really come back to bite you. I'm sure Akinai understood this though, and was just trying to lighten the mood for herself.

I wasn't surprised to see Gallade was up to battle again. It did some real nice work against Sneasel, and didn't even take many hits in the process. It was still fresh, and able to keep going. No sense breaking out Absol, or Blaziken unless she really needed to. I mean, you never knew if something came her way that she wanted, that could handle Gallade. That was the nature of the park, mystery. It was what made being a ranger so fun; seeing what Pokemon the trainer runs into, seeing which of them they want, and seeing how they battle. Speaking of that, I turned my attention to Gallade now.

“Alright then, let's start things out with a Shadow Sneak. Once that is set up, go with your Psycho Cut," she commanded. I liked this combo myself. Shadow Sneak would instantly get Gallade in close range of Cubchoo, giving the bear minimal time to think. It would then strike it, and keep at it with Psycho Cut. This was a pretty big way to get things going, if I do say so myself.

First up was Shadow Sneak. This move was a very tricky one, it was almost like Instant Transmission. The user would extend their shadow towards the opposing Pokemon, and they would pop up behind them, and punch them. This was of course a Ghost-type move. It was confusing just like most Ghost-type moves. Gallade began to use the move, and before Cubchoo could even blink Gallade was behind, and gave it a powerful right hook to the face, sending the bear flying a few feet. There was no rest time for Cubchoo though. Gallade, using its psychic powers, formed some blades, and sent them flying at Cubchoo. This was one of those moves that had an increased chance of leading a critical hit. That was to be expected though, since this was the Psychic-type equal of Slash.

Just as Cubchoo was getting back up from the Shadow Punch, it was hit dead on by these blades, and slashed back down to the ground. Gallade had some serious power, so I had to feel bad for the poor little guy it attacked. Getting hit, and planted into the ground twice in a row like that must have hurt. I had to give it some credit though. While some things would just roll over and stay down, or perhaps flee, Cubchoo got back to its feet, and threw an attack at Gallade. It got back up, and let out a loud yell. I couldn't tell what its aim was, until I started to feel the ground around us shake. Snow was hurdling down the mountain the mountain right at Gallade. It made an attempt to escape it, but there was just too much of it, and so Akinai's Pokemon was nailed by a decent amount of snow. The move Cubchoo used was Avalanche. A rare move for a Cubchoo to know indeed. This attack would strike after the opponent moved, and if the Pokemon using it was hurt in the same exchange of moves, it would turn that pain into power and double Avalanche's strength.

Although Gallade was knocked down, it did manage to avoid half of the snow, and was able to return to its feet, wanting more it seemed. Though this battle just began both Pokemon weren't holding anything back, and damaged the other. While I didn't know what was going to come next, I knew one thing, it was sure to be interesting.

Current Battle Stats

? M Cubchoo 62% Used Avalanche
Lonely M Gallade 68% Used Shadow Sneak and Psycho Cut

CC: 6546/9000​

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop, Cubchoo
Encounters Left: 12
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel
CC since last Encounter 3936

Current Encounter: Cubchoo

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

Things appeared to be going well so far, at least from what Akinai was able to see. Both of Zen's attacks had completely caught the Cubchoo by surprise, even knocking the small Pokemon off of it's feet during both blows and knocking the creature to the ground. If things kept going this way, she would have it caught in record time.

Cubchoo, though winded from being knocked down twice in succession, was still ready to go for more. Though the two attacks had taken it's toll on his form, the Ice-type could possibly take a couple more blows and still be able to fight with little trouble. As soon as the Cubchoo has risen to his feet once more it gave a slight sniffle though this was likely more due to his constantly-running nose then actual crying. Without warning though, his sniffling ceased and was replaced by a loud roaring as the Pokemon opened his mouth wide.

“What in the world...” Akinai murmured, then froze as the area around them began to shake violently. Was such a small Pokemon able to use Earthquake? True, there were smaller beings that could use it, but they were of the Ground type, the same element that Earthquake branched from. Before she should think further on the consequences a full-on earthshake could cause to Zen, her eyes widened as she discovered the true reason behind the shaking- a large amount of snow was sliding down the mountain, and heading directly their way. “Zen, get out of there!” she called out to the Gallade, ready to move as well if the snow managed to hit more then the Psychic-type as well.

<Why would I want to-> Zen began, tossing a nonchalant glance over at his Trainer before looking into the distance to see what the trouble was. As the Gallade noticed the incoming snow as well, his reaction was just as shocked as the human's, <You have got to be kidding! Snow can do THAT!?> He then tried to make his way to the side as quickly as possible in a mad attempt to avoid the land-bound flurry, all thoughts on trying to attack the still-roaring Cubchoo lost for now.

The Gallade was only half successful. While the snow somehow managed to part just enough to avoid the Cubchoo and the two humans, Zen was caught in the edge of the attack. It was his turn to stumble and fall as the quickly-moving snow caught his feet and dragged his body along with it. While the chill from the snow and the damage of being swept along like a ragdoll had done some impressive damage to the Blade Pokemon, Zen was still able to get back on his feet, shivering as he threw a death glare at his opponent, <New plan: the bear is getting a lesson in pain.>

Easy there, warned Akinai, trying to remind her teammate that they were not here to apply a beatdown to everything that crossed their path here. You have been doing great so far, don't get angry just yet. Zen was usually far more docile then this, and had a somewhat dependent side while battling, asking for what to do next rather then taking the initiative. Such a sudden mood change meant either one of two things: the Gallade was having a really bad day, or didn't care in the least for being cold. It was definitely something for her to remember in the future.

For now, she had to decide just what to do about the Cubchoo. It was proving to be a more powerful fighter then she had thought before, being able to do a significant amount of damage to Zen with only a single move. Still, it appeared to be slow; either that, or the move it had used required time to fully charge. Until proven otherwise, she would go with the latter. For now she would try to keep the Gallade as close to the Cubchoo as possible, hoping that if it managed to call down yet more snow that it would be caught in it's own attack.

“Alright... let's not have that happen again, shall we?” Akinai stated, giving a weak smile. She refused to show that was shaken by the wild Pokemon's attack, but was doing a poor job of hiding it. “Go with a Magical Leaf, then follow up with Night Slash!” Silently, she relayed another suggestion to Zen, Try to Teleport behind it while your Magical Leaf is going through the air. That should give you a clear blow for Night Slash.

Zen sent nothing in response, opting instead to immediately begin his attack. While there were hardly any flora, or trees in that manner, nearby, the Gallade opted for an alternate approach by using small chunks of ice that had fallen along with the avalanche, levitating them in the air and covering the ice in a dark green aura, trying to make them as similar to leaves as possible. Once this was done, he let the glowing motes fly forward before shimmering out of sight, hopefully reappearing just behind the Cubchoo. Once fully materialized, Zen would then focus Dark energy into one of his blades, and slash at the bear Pokemon.

 

Akinai, seemed a little uneasy. I didn't know if it was because she was worried that another move like Avalanche could happen, or if it was because she didn't think Cubchoo could produce that sort of power. If Gallade didn't manage to somewhat sidestep it, then it would be in much worse shape. This was what I meant though, you couldn't underestimate anything you face in the park, well short of Magikarp anyway. Now she must have known for a fact not to take this thing lightly. I did need to wonder what she would do though. No matter what there would probably be some retaliation from Cubchoo. Still though, holding back because of being worried wouldn't be a good idea, or else Cubchoo would get an opening to strike. I just I'd just need to wait, and see what she does.

“Alright... let's not have that happen again, shall we? Go with a Magical Leaf, then follow up with Night Slash!” Akinai commanded. It seemed like she wanted to try to finish this up quickly. Can't say I could blame her. Dragging a battle out for a while could be costly, especially if your opponent had a good chance to set up. Plus there was also the fact that no one who came to the park wanted to spend a long time battling one thing. Most people usually like moving around, and seeing what will come their way.

Magical Leaf was due up first. The Pokemon using this attack would form some ordinary leaves. Though from them some energy could be seen being formed. This would be a mix in colors of blue, purple, and pink. These colors are what made the leaves magical, because due to psychic energy being infused into them, this attack couldn't miss its target. It was a great move to use against accuracy abusers, who spam stuff like Double Team, or Sand Attack. It also wasn't too powerful either, so Akinai didn't need to worry about this knocking Cubchoo out.

Gallade closed its eyes, and it concentrated for a second. It opened up its eyes, and raised its right arm. When it did this leaves started to form from thin air, and would be infused with energy. It took these leaves, and shot them at Cubchoo. The little bear creature did its best to avoid them, but alas avoiding did nothing, it would need to destroy, or freeze the leaves, but it must not have known that. Due to this Cubchoo was nailed by them, and sent down into the ground. There was no rest for the weary though, as Gallade was getting its next assault ready; Night Slash. This was the Dark-type variation of Slash, making it very similar to Psycho Cut really. The main difference was that this was a close combat attack. Gallade would strike the instant it saw an opening. The blade on its right arm would sharpen, and become a dark shade of purple, or perhaps black. This could have been bad for Cubchoo.

Gallade began to charge at it, but, Cubchoo wasn't down for the count. It picked up its right paw, and it began to mimic Gallade, well sort of. Its claws grew out some, and became intensively sharp. Then too then became dark in color. Cubchoo was using its own Night Slash to counterattack the Night Slash that Gallade wanted to throw at it. The two Pokemon met head on, and slashed away at each other. Gallade went into first, but Cubchoo jumped up, and bounced of Gallade's head. It then took a chance, and slashed at Gallade's back, causing it to let out a bit of a cry, or yell in pain. You could see in Gallade's eyes that it was mad, and now it turned around, and in retaliation, it slashed Cubchoo right across the chest knocking it back a few feet. Though Gallade seemed angry it still had its sense of reason, as this attack wasn't so powerful that it knocked Cubchoo out. Rather Cubchoo stood back up, able to withstand a little more.

"Well, that was lucky that a critical hit didn't happen, but that was a bit cheap by Cubchoo to slash at Gallade's back. Just a good thing it didn't snap and finish Cubchoo off," I said to no one in particular.

Current Battle Stats

? M Cubchoo 34% Used Night Slash
Lonely M Gallade 60% Used Magical Leaf and Night Slash

CC: 11324/9000​

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop, Cubchoo
Encounters Left: 12
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel
CC since last Encounter

Current Encounter: Cubchoo

Total Items:
x3 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade)
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

Judging from the Cubchoo's vain attempt to bat away Zen's Magical Leaf attack, it was safe to assume that the small Ice-type was completely unfamiliar with the move. For one, the leaves were guaranteed to hit their target, so just swiping at them would do nothing. Secondly, the leaves were magically reinforced to be ultra-sharp, meaning that the Pokemon would just get hurt if they tried using a part of their own body to divert them. In such a snowy environment though, it was likely that the Cubchoo had never dealt with a flora-based move.

That didn't mean that Cubchoo was dense, however. When the wild Pokemon saw what type of move the Gallade was charging next, he began to ready a similar move, the same one in fact. His claws began to glow an ebony black in color, and rushed forward at the same time as Zen. While Zen managed to swing forward first, Cubchoo managed to dodge the first swipe and leaped up, bouncing off of the Gallade's head and landing just behind him before aiming a backwards slash at the Psychic-type's back.

Zen, shocked by the Cubchoo's clever ploy and the sudden strike, let out a cry of pain. While this was likely due more to surprise then serious pain thanks to the Fighting part of his alignment offering some form of resistance, it was clear that the Gallade was furious at such an underhanded tactic. He quickly swerved back with one of his blades, slashing the Cubchoo directly across the chest with a second swipe. The blow knocked the Pokemon back, doing a decent amount of damage. Thankfully, the Ice-type climbed back to his feet, ready for more.

While Akinai winced every time she looked at the mark on Zen's back, she couldn't help but be a little irritated at the Gallade. She had advised him to Teleport in to avoid such an attack, and yet he had charged forward blindly like he was a Rhyhorn on a rampage. Plus, with his rage at being taken by surprise in such a manner, Akinai doubted she could use False Swipe in this battle until Zen calmed down. She had no desire to prolong this fight; one more normal move would have to do, and hope that it was enough. Zen, can you hear me?

Zen said nothing in response, but had heard the human judging by the way his eyes flickered to her a moment before leering back over at the Cubchoo.

Great, so he was deciding to be stubborn. Akinai tried to resist the urge to push the Gallade into the nearest snowbank to force him to cool off, and continued, trying to keep her mental voice calm. We need to end this now. Once this is over, I'll let you have some rest until you want to fight again. Is that alright?

<...All right,> Zen finally replied, some of his irritation appearing to melt away. It was possible that this strange new world of white was what was bothering him so much, and the Cubchoo was just rubbing salt into the wound by first using the snow to attack then using his own attack against him.

Good to hear, Akinai smiled at Zen, then called out her next attack. “Finish it with Thunderpunch! You can do this, Zen.” She pulled out another one of her Superballs, having no desire to use the higher-ranking ones on a Basic and had brought none of the lowest-ranking Parkballs to use instead.

Zen, in an attempt to possibly throw off his opponent, immediately rushed forward, holding back his left arm as he got ready to attack the Cubchoo. At first Akinai slightly frowned, wondering if her pep talk had not sunken in to the Gallade. As she saw electricity begin to materialize around his right fist, however, she nodded in understanding. Zen was trying to fake out the Pokemon, making it think that the attack was coming from one direction but was really coming from another.

Regardless of how this attack played out, Akinai readied her Superball for a throw, ready to toss it at the Cubchoo as soon as the attack landed.

 

Cubchoo was done, but Akinai was smart enough to see that it wasn't down for the count, not yet anyway. It would take one more attack to see to it that this thing could be capture, but nothing too powerful, or else it could be knocked out in the process. I'm sure Akinai knew this herself though, so I'm sure she'd have some self-control here, and not do anything too reckless. Nothing was worse then spending time on weakening a Pokemon you wanted, only to unintentionally knock it out. I was curious to see what she would do though. Would she attack one more time, or would she just attempt Hypnosis, and let things be decided this way?

“Finish it with Thunderpunch! You can do this, Zen,” Akinai commanded, answering my thought. One more attack, provided it hit, was all it would take here. Thunderpunch was a move we were familiar with, as Akinai had already had Gallade use it earlier against Sneasel. It did a pretty good job at that time when it worked it together with Double Team. This time it wasn't a fancy trick though, it was just Thunderpunch on its lonesome. There wasn't really a need for any fancy trick though, as at that time Sneasel was still kind of fresh, but this Cubchoo is nearly beaten.

Gallade charged up the Thunderpunch like before, and while it still had the chance of paralyzing, it was really unneeded. Gallade ran over at Cubchoo, but this bear was a defiant one. It got about halfway back up, and fired one last attack from its mouth. In its mouth you could see a ball of blue energy, and from it fired it a beam of pure ice, ironically enough called Ice Beam. It fired the beam at Gallade, but Gallade kept charging in, and punched away at the beam, only being hit by stray pieces of ice this created. Gallade got past this onslaught with minimal damage, and punched Cubchoo right in its gut. Hopefully it had nothing in its system, or it'd probably throw up from that one.

It was down on the ground, and this was what Akinai was waiting for. She pulled out another Super Ball, because there was no need to spend a Hyper Ball unless absolutely necessary. She threw it at Cubchoo, and it sucked in the creature. Much like with Sneasel next to no fight was put up here, and it was caught.

"Good going Akinai, that makes two captured things so far," I said to her. This was cut short though was another Pokemon spent next to no time in making its presence known here. It walked out from the cave, stomping along. It was a small Pokemon, pretty similar to Machop, and much like with that it had a lot of strength too. It was a gray Pokemon, with some pink vein-like bulges, and black eyes. It was carrying around a piece of wood with it, probably to sync up with what its name was, and what it meant. I wasn't sure if Akinai would want one of these though, since they were like Machop, and she opted to pass on that. I needed to ask though.

"Do you want to take on this Timburr?"

Name: Akinai
Location: Mount Oktori
Area Effects: Cold, light snow
Pokemon Encountered: Sneasel, Machop, Cubchoo, Timburr
Encounters Left: 11
Pokemon Captured: Bold F Sneasel, Hardy M Cubchoo
CC since last Encounter

Current Encounter: Cubchoo

Total Items:
x1 Superball
x3 Hyperball
x2 Super Potion
Digital Camera
Apricorn Box
x2 Pokedoll
1 Type Repellent - Ground
1 Type Repellent - Poison

Ember (Blaziken)
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
TM/BM/etc: Strength

Gaard (Absol)
Gender: Male
Ability: Super Luck
Nature: Careful
TM/BM/EM: Thunder Wave, Aerial Ace, Ice Beam, Hidden Power (Electric)

Zen (Gallade) 57%
Gender: Male
Ability: Steadfast
Nature: Lonely
TM/BM/MT/etc: Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Shadow Sneak, Drain Punch

 

"Good going Akinai, that makes two captured things so far," Gary said, retrieving the now-still Superball; likely storing it wherever he had placed Sneasel's.

Akinai half-nodded in response, her attention placed on recalling Zen at the moment. As soon as the capture was confirmed on Cubchoo, she pulled out the Gallade's Pokeball, true to her word. It was somewhat annoying to realize that one of her most used teammates had a dislike for cold weather, yet was willing to punch an Ice-type move aside. Maybe it would be possible to help him deal with his issue later, something that would be impossible for the other members and their Dragon-type element.

After what seemed like an eternity, yet had only been a few short moments, Akinai realized that the Ranger had not said anything else, nor had suggested to continue on. She followed his gaze, and finally noticed what had caught Gary's attention. It was another small Fighting-type, this one carrying around a bit of plywood. It had some odd bulges on it's skin, looking similar to throbbing veins but she silently hoped it was just a design on the creature's body. After all, what would happen if one of those veins was damaged?

"Do you want to take on this Timburr?" Gary asked, nodding over at the Fighting Pokemon.

“So that is a Timburr...” Akinai muttered, staring at the Pokemon. She had seen a Conkeldurr used in a battle once; it appeared to be quite powerful, but there was something about the way the Pokemon looked that she couldn't bring herself to train one. “Let's see what else is ahead. If it wants to fight, I still have a Pokedoll left.” Even though she felt that either Gaard or Ember could knock out this adversary fairly quickly, she was eager to move on.