Individual RP: DrStubbsberg

((OOC: Sorry about that, I'll try and make it more clear in future))

I saw Caliban smile in appreciation of the compliment, before realising that he had done and quickly returning to his usual, sour demeanour. It hadn’t been a long lapse in his normal negatively emotional stance, but it was an important sign; back when I’d first captured him the closest I would have gotten to a smile was a cruel, self-satisfied smirk.

Anyway, celebrating my small victories would have to wait until later, for now I still had Liepard’s capture to attend to. Based on the sounds coming from the tree, Liepard was still sound asleep, which afforded me a little time to throw out some damage before he started up again. It also afforded me a few seconds to analyse the battle so far.

Liepard’s key tactics seemed to revolve around trickery, backed up by blinding speed; there was nothing I could do about his trickery beyond being vigilant, so that left restricting his speed, which meant that I was on the right track. It occurred to me that this Liepard seemed to practically be following the teachings of one of the greatest tacticians of all time, the ancient warlord Sun Tzu; ‘Speed is the essence of war’ and ‘All warfare is based on deception’ were two quotes from his famous treatise on war – I was starting to like Liepard more all the time.

“You’re doing great, Caliban, now fire an Ice Beam directly at Liepard,” I commanded. The soaking that Liepard and the tree had just received should cause one or both of them to Freeze, either directly immobilising Liepard or making it difficult to move through the icy terrain.

Caliban set to his task with relish, although I couldn’t tell whether he was responding to my kind words or simply eagerly anticipating the chance to hurt someone. He opened his mouth wide and emitted a two-streamed beam of bright cyan energy. Both streams of power shot across the battlefield like lightning, twisting and arcing around each other in a complicated helical spiral, surrounded by a corona of dazzling icy sparkles as they froze the raindrops they passed close to.

@AmericanTreeFrog

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg -Forgot to put damage on so that is corrected this turn.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #6
/--\

“You’re doing great, Caliban,” Roph called out encouraging to his Pokemon. “Now fire an Icebeam directly at Liepard.”

A smug smile passed across Caliban’s features when it realized what it was going to do. I quickly caught on also, because it was raining, Liepard was soaked with moisture, and the ice from the attack would instantly freeze when it came into contact with the Pokemon. It might not be a full freeze, but at the very least the speed of Liepard would be hindered.

Caliban opened his small mouth and fired a twin beam of cyan colored energy. Despite being the color of cyan, the attack easily resembled a bolt of lightening as the the attack arched towards the tree. The attack left a trail of frozen ice in its wake. There was a loud cracking sound when the Icebeam hit the tree. Immediately the tree froze, and to my surpise, the tree became coated in a thick sheet of ice, with only the bark remaining unfrozen.

“Wow, that’s a lucky turn of events,” I said to Roph.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 74.39%{Used Icebeam}
VS
Liepard 54.21%[Slp2][Con0][Frz][+2Def]{Sleeping}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 9,877 | 13,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%​

 

As planned, the Ice Beam had frozen the tree, leaving it glistening like a Christmas decoration, delicate icicles formed by the water that had been cascading down. Now once Liepard awoke it would have difficulty moving due to the patina of ice on its own fur, along with the ground beneath it being too slippery to get a good grip on.

Unfortunately a capture at this point would still be next to impossible; Liepard’s current health, combined with his fighting spirit, more than compensated for the twin status conditions he was afflicted with. That meant that I had to pour some more damage into him fast, he would likely awaken any second, eliminating one condition, and the Freezing wouldn’t last for long, particularly under a barrage of energy attacks; I would have to select my attacks carefully for maximum damage output with minimal heating.

The obvious choice was to strike him with a Water or Ice attack – Water was preferable because the Rain boosted its power and it had a significant kinetic thump as well as the energy component, which would help keep Liepard off-balance. So that narrowed me down to three; Water Gun, Water Pulse and Hydro Pump. Hydro Pump was the most powerful , but would probably knock Liepard out and Park rules forbade capturing an unconscious Pokémon, which left Water Gun and Water Pulse…

“OK, Caliban, get up high and then let’s hit him with a Water Pulse from above.” By firing from overhead, Liepard was less likely to be able to dodge if he awoke, because of the ice under-foot, and there was also little chance of the shot blasting him out of the tree; it would also negate most of the cover provided by the tree.

Caliban rose up into the air, easily navigating the air-currents to a superior firing position, and then letting rip with another orb of water. The ball of water shot down through the air, growing in size as it drew in ambient moisture from the rain, heading straight towards where Liepard was securely nestled amongst the frozen foliage.

@AmericanTreeFrog

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - Sorry for the wait.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #7
/--\

Roph contemplated the frozen tree and Pokemon and I knew he was pleased. While he wasn’t looking for a frozen Pokemon, it didn’t exactly hurt his chances at a capture, it increased them in fact. The status also protected Caliban from being engaged and sustaining more damage. But for how long Liepard would remain frozen was unknown, and the drenching rain would help melt the ice.

Roph took a minute to think over his actions before he order the next salvo of attacks. “Okay, Caliban, get up high and then let’s hit him with a Water Pulse from above.”

I thought this choice was interesting in that Caliban didn’t need to go higher to attack. I must have seen something different that Roph, or he just want Caliban too attack from above. Either way it didn’t matter that much.

Castform were Pokemon that naturally levitated in the air, so it was easy for the Normal type Pokemon to reach a higher elevation in only a few seconds.

When the Pokemon was about eye level with the sleeping Liepard, the Pokemon quickly created another orb of gushing water. Just like the previous Water Pulse, this one had a greater than normal size because of the rain. As the ball barreled towards the tree I saw that Liepard had woke from its rest. Judging by the Pokemon’s darting eyes I could tell it was thinking of a way in which it could escape the confines of the ice. But it had no moves that would melt the ice, it would have to wait for the ice to melt naturally before it could move.

The Water Pulse attack slammed into Liepard, but because of the size it managed to hit portions of the tree and lose some of its power. But despite that, it still did a good chunk of damage. The frozen form of Liepard even rocked in the tree from the force of the attack, Roph had to be careful that he didn’t knock the Pokemon from the tree and cause the ice to shatter.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 74.39%{Used Water Pulse}
VS
Liepard 28.61%[Con0][Frz][+2Def]{Frozen}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 11,871 | 13,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%​

 

Caliban hadn’t managed to avoid as much of the frozen foliage as I’d hoped with his attack, but I was certain that his attack would have been more impeded if fired from ground-level. It was difficult to tell through the ice surrounding it, but Liepard was certainly beginning to look fairly weak and to my mind that spelt capturing time; I definitely shouldn’t rely on him staying Frozen much longer.

My throwing arm had been on fairly good form today, but I was determined to capture this Pokémon and didn’t want to risk trapping one of the few balls I had remaining in the iced-up branches of the tree. No, to play it safe I’d go in close for this capture. I reached into my backpack and withdrew a Superball, emblazoned with the NP logo of the National Park with a silver central divide between the two camouflage-patterned halves to denote its relative capture-level.

I dropped my bag to the ground and ran towards the tree, tapping the Superball’s button to enlarge it for use as I ran. Once I was below the tree I leapt up and grabbed one of the lower badges, using the momentum to swing myself up onto a higher branch. I reached up through the frozen branches that encircled Liepard, tapping at a few areas on his body to try and get a successful contact through his glacial prison.

@AmericanTreeFrog ((Use Superball))

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
NBP #11
/--\

Roph seemed to take in the complete situation before he came to a decision. He rummaged in his bag for a few seconds and came up with a green Park Ball with big yellow ‘S’ branded on the top. Roph tested the weight of the item before he looked up at the frozen Liepard, a competitive gleam in his eye.

Then to my surprise he took off for the tree, tapping the center button on the Super Ball to enlarge it to its capture size. When he was at the base of the tree he grabbed on of the lower branches and swung up into the canopy of tree. I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but I saw a red flash and Super Ball come falling from the tree, wiggling furiously. Roph jumped down a moment later and we watched the Liepard fight to free itself.

After a few seconds the ball dinged and the Pokemon was captured.

“You know you didn’t have to jump into that tree to capture the Pokemon,” I said smiling, “But you still caught the Pokemon so congrats. I’ll give you a moment to gather your Pokemon then we can move on once you;re ready.” I walked over to the tree and retrieved the Liepard, placing it in my pack alongside the Wynaut.

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 2 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: F Wynaut Bold | M Liepard Careful |
CC since last encounter: 0 | 0,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 74.39%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%​

 

((OOC: I think you made a mistake on the stats above, Zuse should be on 30-something % health; it’s not a problem though as I’m remedying it below))

I let Gaius retrieve my newly captured Pokémon whilst I approached Caliban, satisfied with the hard-fought capture. “You did a great job pal, couldn’t have done it without you,” I said, gently rubbing his head in a friendly manner. He initially stiffened at the intimate contact and seemed to be on the verge of responding warmly when he pulled away, blowing a few weak embers in my direction as a warning; the small tongues of fire flickered briefly in the air between us before fizzling out in the heavy rain, leaving a small cloud of steam and smoke.

“Ok Caliban, I can appreciate that you’re still not ready for that yet, but my friendship is always on offer for you. How about you take a rest for a bit,” I offered, pulling out his Pokéball; he gratefully accepted. Sometimes my efforts to reach Caliban seemed to be ‘two steps forward, one step back,’ but I felt like I’d made some real progress with him this time; but it almost hurt to feel how much he’d needed the physical contact but still refused to accept it.

I recalled Caliban to his Pokéball and withdrew Zuse’s ball from my bag, bringing him out so I could heal him of his earlier wounds. “You did fine work too Zuse,” I told him as I searched for some restoratives; I knew that he understood and accepted his limitations regarding the battle with Liepard, but it never hurt to give a little positive encouragement. “Here you go, this’ll get you back up to speed in no time,” I declared, taking a dose of Energy Powder Plus from my bag.

I was yet to find a single Pokémon that liked the taste of this functional medicine, even though I had serious doubts about Zuse even having a sense of taste, so I tended to mix the powder in with an MRE to soften the blow. I tore the top off the sachet containing the military rations, poured in some hot water from my thermos and added the dose of medicine, presenting the instant meal to my Pokémon. Zuse used a small display of Psychic aptitude to telekinetically lift the meal from the pack as a single, watery mass and float it into his mouth, downing the meal in one with a grimace of distaste.

“We’re ready to move on when you are Gaius,” I said, returning Zuse to his Pokéball.

@AmericanTreeFrog ((using Energy Powder Plus))

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
NBP #12
/--\

Roph walked over to his Castform and gave the Pokemon a rub on its head. “You did a great job pal, couldn’t have done it without you.” The Pokemon stiffened at the contact at drifted away from his trainer, blowing an Ember attack at Roph, but the flame was quickly doused by the pouring rain.

“Ok Caliban, I can appreciate that you’re still not ready for that yet, but my friendship is always on offer for you. How about you take a rest for a bit.” Roph pulled out a Pokeball and recalled the Pokemon. When Caliban was safely inside the Pokeball Roph took out another and called forth his Metagross. He spoke to the Steel type and fed it some Energy Powder to heal it.

“We’re ready to move on when you are Gaius,” Roph commented to me, recalling his Pokemon.

“Alright, let’s continue along this path for awhile.” I immediately began to walk down the dirt path, hoping to find a good Pokemon for Roph.

We hadn’t walked very far when I spotted a bug-like Pokemon against a tree. I almost missed it because it blended with the bark pretty well.

“It’s a Shedninja. Want to catch it or move along?”

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 2 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 2 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 6 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ??? | ??? Shedninja ??? |
Pokemon Captured: F Wynaut Bold | M Liepard Careful |
CC since last encounter: 0 | 0,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 74.39%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 89.01%​

 

Shedinja was a fairly interesting Pokemon, but defensively it was weak without its Wonder Guard. As Fire-type Pokémon were prevalent in war time, along with the increase in usage of Ghost-types, that left it far too vulnerable on the battlefield; I was sure it would have a much happier life continuing to live here in the National Park.

"I think I'll pass on this one, Ranger," I said, “assuming he’s willing to let us go without a fight.” On one level it irritated me to leave it without a battle, according to my watch I was probably about half-way into the time I’d paid for and even though I’d caught two Pokémon already I still hadn’t seen any sign of the one I was really looking for.

@AmericanTreeFrog

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
NBP #14
/--\

Roph looked at the Pokemon only briefly before making up his mind. “I think I’ll pass on this one, Ranger.”

This was entirely understandable because not only was Shedninja not that good stat wise, but its health was a point of concern. It literally had the lowest health of any Pokemon. It’s abilith negated some of the because only super-effective attacks could KO it, but most Pokemon knew such a wide array that it was practically useless.

“Yeah, I understand. Keep heart though, we should find a least one good Pokemon eventually. But for now, let’s see of this Shedninja wants to leave us alone.”

I steered Roph away from the floating bug, but it continued to trail us sedately. After a few minutes of the Pokemon behind us I knew that it was bothering any other potential game. I sighed in exasperation and turned to my charge. “You’re going to have to deal with the Pokemon, it’s chasing away any other Pokemon. You can either battle it or try to flee again.”

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 2 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 2 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 6 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ??? | ??? Shedninja ??? |
Pokemon Captured: F Wynaut Bold | M Liepard Careful |
CC since last encounter: 691 | 15,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 74.39%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 89.01%​

 

"Persistent little guy isn't he," I commented, "shouldn't take more than a few seconds to chase him off though." I pulled Zuse’s Pokéball from my bag and released him onto the battlefield; I had no need to resort to his power level, but Caliban could probably do with a rest after his hard-fought victory against Liepard.

Zuse had obviously been paying attention to what was happening from within his Pokéball, because I had barely started ordering him to use Pursuit when a dark aura surrounded him. Zuse tucked his legs against his body and then used rocketed through the air towards Shedinja, floating on telekinetic power.

@AmericanTreeFrog

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #1
/--\

“Persistent little guy,” Roph said, more to him than to me. “Shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to chase him off though.” He reached to his belt and pulled off a Pokeball; I rocognized it as the one containing his Metagross called Zuse.

Seeing as how he had only brought two Pokemon along it would have been an easy guess if I hadn’t recognized the capture device. Shedninja could only be KO’ed by using a move that was super-effective, and Zuse had more than enough moves to do just that.

As if some unspoken command had passed between trainer and Pokemon, Zuse curled his blockly limbs underneath his steel body and rushed towards the Ghost and Bug Pokemon, his body growing darker with each passing second. I knew the move to be a Pursuit attack, an attack with a low base power, but with Shedninja’s low health it didn’t matter so long as the attack was a supereffective one.

The Shedninja stared at the oncoming Zuse and tried to dodge the Dark type attack, but Metagross was too fast for the slower Pokemon and hit the Pokemon at full power. Shedninja collasped against the ground with a feeble beat of his small wings and lay still.

“Poor little Pokemon, Shedninja aren’t much in the way of battling Pokemon. Let’s move away from here.”

I led Roph away from the scene, casting one last look at the rousing Shedninja. We hadn’t gone very far when we came across a fork in the road. I knew one led to caves and the other led to the small body of water at the back of the valley.

“Well, which way do you want to go?”

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 2 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 2 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 6 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ??? | ??? Shedninja ??? |
Pokemon Captured: F Wynaut Bold | M Liepard Careful |
CC since last encounter: 0 | 0,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 74.39%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 89.01%​

 

I took a brief look down the two paths I had to choose from; based on the terrain it looked like the left would lead to a body of water whilst the right was headed towards rocky ground. According to the National Park guide on my Pokégear there weren't any Pokémon I was interested in inhabiting the Meteor Valley's wet regions, so it was a fairly easy decision.

“We’ll take the one on the right,” I decided confidently.

 

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - Remember to keep your posts above 500 characters.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
NBP #14
/--\

Roph studied the two paths intensly before making his choice. “We’ll take the one on the right.” The one on the right led to the more rocky regions, and if that’s where he wanted to go then that was where I would take him.

While this terrain was tougher to manuvuer than the rest of the valley, we made good time and quickly ascended its flanks in a short period of time. We were almost to the cave complexs when I heard a soft wailing sound. I located the origin and found that it was a small Shuppet hidiing in the shadows beneath some large rocks.

“A little Shuppet, interested?”

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 2 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 2 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 5 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut Bold | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard Careful | ??? Shedninja ??? | ??? Shuppet ???
Pokemon Captured: F Wynaut Bold | M Liepard Careful |
CC since last encounter: 418 | 9,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 74.39%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 89.01%​