Individual RP: Siless

NBP-10

Ranger John Shay

Siless smiled as well, rejoicing in our meeting with Mew. In his eyes, there seemed to be something that resembled familiarity. Looking closer at Mew, I could see the same thing. They must have met each other before, although the silence between the two suggested they hadn't built a particularly close relationship.

Siless took out his camera, and snapped a few photos of Mew. Those would be worth quite a bit, and while it seemed almost inhuman to take pictures of legendary Pokemon for money, the legends in question were always more than happy to help out the Trainers. Thus, it had become common for Trainers to take photos when they encountered legendaries.

"Well, we should probably get a move on," I commented. We wished our farewells to Mew and Sunkern. I watched as the two talked a bit, and Mew allowed Sunkern to hop on her back. They flew off towards the gardens, and I smiled once more.

Siless and I began trekking through the tall grass. It was much tougher terrain than the path through the flower gardens, though it wasn't too much of a problem either. I was sure that Siless was more focused on looking around for Pokemon than he was concerned with the knee-high grass.

We walked for a few minutes without engaging a Pokemon successfully. A few Pokemon skittered away underneath the grass when we got close to them - it was evident through the shaking of the grass. We also walked past a few ponds, but there was nothing worth mentioning at the first couple ponds.

However, we did see something interesting at the third pond we happened across. As we walked closer to the pond, we both noticed a large green Pokemon slurping water from the pond. With its green-and-brown coloration, it had been difficult to spot against the grass. However, when we got closer, we could see the yellow fruit hanging from its neck - it was a Tropius.

"Tropius!" the Pokemon bellowed in a calm tone when it noticed us.

"Would you like to battle this Tropius, Siless?" I asked my Trainer.

@Siless

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1517
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

The Fruit Pokémon was towering, and there was no doubt that it could do some damage if it was trained properly. However, it was simply not able to fit on my team; it didn't have the power to deal enough damage in harsh sunlight unless it was using Solar Power, which made it too slow to utilize in a Sun-based battle, as its horrible defensive typing would just lead it to being torn up by rocks or fire or whatever other common type the opponent was using, leading it to maybe getting one move off that would get it knocked out from Solar Power.

When I looked at Tropius, I saw an avalanche of ideas telling me why I shouldn't use it. That was more than enough for me. "Let's try leaving it alone."

 

NBP-11

Ranger John Shay

Siless looked at Tropius, and there was an evident lack of interest on his face. I was not surprised when he said to leave the Pokemon alone.

I nodded. "Well, let's see if Tropius will leave us alone if we try to walk away."

Siless and I crept away from Tropius. I looked at it to see if this Pokemon would let us get away, but no. Tropius flapped its large wings, flew over our heads, and landed in front of us.

"Tropius!" it bellowed, clearly itching for a battle.

"Well, looks like you'll have to battle this one too. Why am I not surprised?"

@Siless

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 2217
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

I had lost count of the battles I had been forced into so far. All I knew was that, after this, I would be making sure I had a ton of dolls for my next run. I was already on my second one for the run, and at the moment I was only using them for Pokémon that I would have to worry about in battle that I didn't want to catch. I plopped the second doll on the ground in front of me.

"Let's get going. Again." I was far from amused at the turn of events, having every Pokémon want to beat me down for some reason. I suppose it had to happen eventually, though. I suppose it gave more time for Sela and Cosmos to both rest as I avoided battles this way, but there had to be something soon I wouldn't mind having. Hopefully.

 

NBP-12

Ranger John Shay

Siless plopped down another Pokedoll in front of him.

"Let's get going. Again," Siless said without humor.

I nodded, and I led the way for Siless as we skirted around the distracted Tropius. I was starting to feel bad for him, though we were still progressing pretty quickly despite more than a fair share of battles.

We continued making our way through the tall grass. This was, in my opinion, one of the least exciting parts of the Botanic Gardens. Thankfully, however, it was a very small area, and we would be out of this area soon.

All of a sudden, I fell over - I had been blindsided by something.

"Lopunny!"

The Pokemon stood over me, worry evident in her eyes. I got back on my feet quickly, however. It had hardly hurt, and the grass had broken my fall anyways.

"Now, how did you manage to barrel into me like that?" I asked the Pokemon, dusting myself off. However, it didn't respond - it was clearly afraid of something. I noticed my Dragonite was snarling at Lopunny. "Down, Dragonite! It was an accident."

"Lopunny, Lopunny!" the Pokemon cried, then stumbled. It was clearly a klutz. If barreling into me hadn't been enough to tell me that, the way it stood was even enough evidence.

"Well, Siless, it seems this Lopunny is your next Pokemon encounter. Want to battle it?" I asked Siless.

@Siless

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 720
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

OOC: Male bunneh

I can't say I expected to come across a Lopunny, and I would have preferred a Buneary simply for being able to raise it, but I didn't have the guarantee that one would show up later. Lopunny was klutzy, but that same klutziness gave it a lot of potential; while it wasn't able to utilize most of it in the wild simply by virtue of not having access to certain items, it was still capable of utilizing the unpredictability that being klutzy implies in movement, whether it actively tried to or not. Trained properly, it could be extremely powerful, and it didn't have the restriction of trying to fit on a gym team.

"Sela, let's battle." I figured I might as well make a good impression on the Pokémon that would hopefully be a member of my team after the next few minutes. Sela was my best bet for this; she would do her best to introduce me and her and the idea that we would like the new Pokémon on our team, and she could handle herself in the resulting battle. I also decided I would wait for Lopunny to make the first move; with a klutzy opponent like this, I would have to figure out what it would do before devoting our own resources to a particular strategy.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-1

Ranger John Shay

"Sela, let's battle," Siless said. At this, Sela stepped forward, clearly ready for a battle.

Lopunny returned the Gardevoir's gaze, and when he realized he had a battle on her hands, he jumped in excitement.

"Lopunny, lopunny!" he cried. He made the first move in the battle, and zipped towards Sela. The Rabbit Pokemon gave Sela a quick jab to the face.

"Gardevoir!" Sela cried in surprise.

Lopunny continued with her combination, and jumped. It was pulling a leg back, and I instantaneously recognized this as Jump Kick. I looked at Siless, wondering if he realized this. If he did, he would have a small window to try and land a hit on Lopunny before the Jump Kick was executed. If not, however, Sela would take a legitimate hit from Lopunny's powerful legs, even when factoring in Sela's type resistance.

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 78%
Lopunny: 100%, used Quick Attack, using Jump Kick

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1887
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Lopunny took a leaping kick at Sela. It was a powerful move, but it came with a risk of harming oneself if they didn't land properly; while it was easy to land softly after a proper hit with the move, a deflected blow or a complete miss would be much harder to recover from. There was enough time to hit Lopunny with a small attack before the Jump Kick connected, but I decided to play it far safer and let Sela save her energy for the offensive.

"Sela, Protect yourself!" A spherical blue energy began to form around Sela, cloaking her in a powerful protective barrier. Protect was usually strong enough to withstand strong blows, with very specialized moves and a special ability designed to bypass it, though it weakened severely if it was used multiple times in quick succession. There were many ways Protect could fail; the shield could fall before the blow (or during it for sustained attacks). The shield could be weakened enough in certain places to allow attacks to pierce through. It could even fail to come up at all. Sela hadn't used it at all in our park run, however, and I was almost certain she could get it to full strength; the only concern was if she could get it up in time.

As I watched, waiting to see if Jump Kick would connect or not, I felt a little bit of Lopunny from inside Sela. I had completely forgotten about her ability, Trace, until now; any time Sela was sent into battle, she copied an opponent's ability for her own use. I was almost certain that Lopunny's ability would be Klutz (though it could just be generally klutzy, and actually have Cute Charm or, far less likely, Limber), and this would be a good way to find out.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-2

Ranger John Shay

"Sela, Protect yourself!" Siless commanded.

It seemed Siless was planning on playing defensively - for now, at least. A blue bubble of energy quickly shimmered into existance around Sela, and Lopunny's Jump Kick slammed into the protective maneuver. All of the momentum of the attack was absorbed by the Protect, and Sela avoided taking any damage from the move.

All of a sudden, Sela's Protect faded as she seemed to lose her balance momentarily. Lopunny landed on his feet, and quickly took advantage with a swift jab aimed right towards Sela's face. However, he seemed to lose his balance as well.

Both Pokemon quickly regained their balance, and leapt away from each other to regroup. I was confused; what was going on? I knew Lopunny was a klutz, but Sela too? Then, it dawned on me. Sela had the Trace ability, meaning it would copy some of the characteristics of her opponent (who, in tihs instance, was the klutzy Lopunny). This truth seemed almost comical, and it seemed like something where 'facepalm' was the perfect response. However, it made perfect sense as well when the facts were considered.

Since that was the case, I figured this match would likely be a botch-fest. Missed moves and flat-out embarassing trip-ups would likely mark this battle. However, in some ways it did add a new dimension to the battle. How would Sela and Lopunny take advantage of the others' mistakes when they cropped up? I was interested to watch this battle, which was likely to be more eventful than the last couple of battles.

Lopunny eyed Sela, and once again sprung into action. The Bunny Pokemon dashed towards Sela, and pulled back a fist - while oddly pumping the fist in a circular motion. This must be Dizzy Punch. If Sela were to get struck by the move, it would be a big problem, seeing as confusion coupled with her current klutzy state would make everything from attacking to even moving much more difficult for Sela.

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 78%
Lopunny: 100%, used Dizzy Punch

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 3549/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Sela took a hit, though it was honestly less than I expected, even with her resistance to the blow. It seemed her stumbling from Klutz caused the failure, but most failures resulting from the ability were from movement (and usually only when the user lacked an item; I didn't exactly have something to give Sela at the moment that wouldn't be just jerkish to the Lopunny, though. We were fighting on equal grounds, with only the skill levels separating the two Pokémon). I figured, if I kept Sela at a range, any trip-ups she ends up going through would be far less painful in the battle than if Lopunny tripped up trying to close the gap.

At the same time, I wanted Sela out of the way of the Dizzy Punch. Confusion would…simply hurt while Klutzy. I could utilize that to my advantage, but not if Sela was confused herself. Getting her out of the way, simply out of range, was the best strategy most likely, especially as Protect was already used in the battle (and failed on the first try, even. I wouldn't be trying it again this battle most likely).

"Sela, Teleport away and use Psychic!" Teleport, in my mind, was a relatively safe form of movement in this particular battle; even if Sela couldn't control her newfound Klutziness, she would be away from her opponent and have more than enough time to recover. What worried me more was having an attacking move that would be safe to use under Klutz as well, and I thought Psychic was best for the job; it required absolutely no physical exertion (not even a directional arm wave), utilizing only mental powers, where the state of being off-balanced wouldn't have anywhere near the effect on a Pokémon who has it as its most natural defense.

After a bit of damage, I would have to start focusing on disabling the Lopunny more; it would be easier to hit with the status once Lopunny has a bit of energy taken from it, but at the same time, damage would be easier once the status was inflicted. I had ideas for if Klutz was too powerful, though I wasn't sure if it would help or hurt the Klutz user. I could test on the Lopunny first, and if it helped, I could always cancel it out. At the same time, I could do the same to Sela if it hurt her, so I had a choice. I would decide in a bit; I wanted to see how the attack panned out.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-3

Ranger John Shay

"Sela, Teleport away and use Psychic!" Siless ordered.

Sela disappeared immediately, narrowly avoiding Lopunny's Dizzy Punch. Lopunny's fist went straight the empty space that had been occupied by Sela mere moments ago, and the punch's momentum knocked Lopunny over.

"Gardevoir."

The calm voice of the Psychic Pokemon seemed to be imbued with power, and I looked to my left to see Sela in the new location she had Teleported to. Her eyes were glowing blue - she was preparing Psychic again. Blue energy of the same hue enveloped Lopunny, and Sela tossed Lopunny into the air. This was an excellent strategy from Siless. Psychic was a completely mental ability - it allowed no opportunity for Klutz to interfere.

Sela relinquished control over Lopunny's body, and the blue aura of energy faded away as Lopunny crashed ten feet or so to the ground.

"Lopunny," he muttered resiliently, slowly returning to his feet. Psychic had clearly done a fair amount of damage, but he still had plenty of willpower left to battle.

Shaking off the attack, Lopunny returned to the offensive. He dashed over to Gardevoir in a speedy blur, and smacked the Pokemon in the face. However, it seemed to me that Lopunny had put more effort into speed than he had into force of the actual attack. This seemed odd, but I quickly realized Lopunny had not intended to deal damage. Instead, Lopunny had wanted to get close to Sela. This allowed him to safely launch off a close-range move - moves that made up many of his repertoire.

Lopunny crouched down low, pulling a fist right below Sela's chin. This position seemed weird to me, but Lopunny quickly rocketed his fist upwards and I recognized the move. The Sky Uppercut threw Sela into the air. She did have a natural type resistance to Fighting-type moves, but there was no doubt a powerful move like this would deal a decent amount of damage.

Lopunny backed away, and Sela crashed down to earth. Slowly, the Pokemon returned to a vertical base. She was breathing heavily. Lopunny locked eyes with Sela, but I moved my eyes to Siless. How would he respond?

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 58%, used Teleport, used Psychic
Lopunny: 77%, used Quick Attack, used Sky Uppercut

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 5835/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

The battle was getting interesting (though I much preferred Sela be winning it). Lopunny got a decent combo off, and we were forced on the defensive. The situation would be much better if we could keep Lopunny out of close range and have Sela stand her ground until she got a Wish off, but I had to force the first to even have a chance at the second. I had multiple defensive techniques to choose from, and, if I used them right, I would either have the situation that I wanted or enough time to set up to make that situation ourselves.

"Sela, hit Lopunny with a Thunder Wave!" It was a blindingly fast attack used solely for Paralysis; I figured its speed was what made it hard to avoid, though it looked to be easier to control than the wilder Charge Beam. It was also the move that most accurately inflicted Status that Sela knew; as long as it hit, Thunder Wave worked to grip its opponent in Paralysis unless it was immune to either the move or Paralysis in general, while Hypnosis could fail even with a direct hit. More importantly, though, I wanted to see how Paralysis interacted with Klutz; it could possibly make it more difficult for Lopunny to control its own movements, leading to more stumbling and far less attacks (if it didn't work out that way, I still had a limited speed and the chance of full Paralysis to work with as well, so it was worth hitting Lopunny anyways).

I thought about ordering a Psychic to put distance between the two, but Thunder Wave would be more accurate at close range (even if it already was accurate enough, I didn't want to take a chance with it missing). I could perhaps order it next, but a Thunder Wave might actually turn the tides enough on its own that we could press on the offensive.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-4

Ranger John Shay

OOC: My bad, messed up Fake Tears. Post fixed.

"Sela, hit Lopunny with a Thunder Wave!" Siless commanded.

Sela nodded. Personally, I thought this was a stellar idea. By slowing Lopunny down, the pace of the battle would be much slower, and Klutz interference would be reduced quite a bit as a result, though it would be reduced for both Pokemon and not just Lopunny. Not only that, but having a Paralyzed opponent would make things a lot easier as well.

Sela held her arms out in front of her, and fired a wide sweeping wave of electricity from her hands. The wave connected with Lopunny, and he was Paralyzed.

"Lopunny!" he cried, falling to a knee. Small sparks coursed around his body. Lopunny got up, and tried shaking his head. He seemed more than a little disoriented.

Realizing this, Lopunny began to pout. His lips started shaking a little bit. His eyes welled up. I knew what was going to happen, but it seemed too illogical for me to be correct despite crystal-clear evidence. Lopunny started bawling. Tears flowed from his eyes, and the Pokemon crumbled in a heap, crying like a baby.

This made no sense to me. Why was Lopunny crying? Sure, it had been hit with a Thunder Wave, but that wasn't a big enough deal to stimulate such an odd response.

Then, I noticed something. Though Lopunny was crying, his eyes were not closed in sadness. Instead, they seemed to be, oddly enough, studying the surroundings. It seemed as though the Pokemon were simply trying to buy time to regroup after being Paralyzed. The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Then, I came to my conclusion: Lopunny was using Fake Tears.

Sela was watching Lopunny with a soft and remorseful glance - she had fallen to the move's effects. I turned my head to Siless. An experienced Park-goer like him should have realized this or realize it very quickly. Fake Tears was a move that reduced the target's resistance to Special Attacks. That must have meant that Lopunny was planning to switch to an offensive gameplan that was more focused on Special Attacks - a smart strategy since the Speed reduction that was a side effect of Paralysis could hinder Physical Attacks. Lopunny could still end up fully paralyzed (rendering it unable to launch off any sort of attack at all), but lowering Sela's Special Defense helped even things out. I wondered how Siless would respond.

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 58% SPD-2, used Thunder Wave
Lopunny: 77% PAR, used Fake Tears

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 7575/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Lopunny started crying, and Sela immediately started letting her defenses down. It wasn't like any Pokémon that had battled enough to evolve to allow sadness to interfere with its battling, so I wouldn't have been surprised if it was a Fake Tears attack. Regardless of whether it was or not, however, the effect was the same, so it didn't really matter; I had to get Sela back up to fighting condition, as one of her strongest traits, her ability to take Special Attacks, was falling drastically.

"Sela, Psych yourself Up!" Psych Up, essentially, was a form of autohypnosis where the user copied direct status changes from the target. (I was almost certain the Speed drop from Paralysis wasn't counted, as it wasn't a direct change, and Psych Up couldn't even allow for such a change if the target was, for instance, Paralyzed and stuck in multiple layers of Cotton Spore, but even if Sela somehow persuaded herself to take the speed drop, it wouldn't hurt her as she could just Teleport to move instead and her Special Attacks didn't rely on her own speed.) Psych Up would get Sela back to the exact same fighting condition as before Fake Tears, and I would have a chance at being able to prevent it from happening again.

I don't know whether Sela knew if the Lopunny was actually sad or not; she was usually highly in-tune with others' emotions, so she would know better than I would (though there was still the chance she was manipulated, and she could still simply be caught off guard by the crying, both of which would explain its effect on her). My next step, I was adapting to the idea that Sela was affected by Fake Tears in the manipulative way (assuming both it was Fake Tears and not actual crying and that Sela was manipulated by it) simply because, if it was manipulating her (or if it was genuinely sad), she would be much more likely to act, and if it wasn't, she would know why I'm doing it (because, in the heat of battle, we don't have time to explain everything to each other).

"Sela, Taunt some fighting spirit into Lopunny!" Taunt forced the target to use physical attacks by aiming it to be more aggressive either through harassment, anger, or simply urging the target to fight. This was simply an extension on the last one, and hinged on the simple fact that we were in a battle, and it would simply do no good to fight an opponent that was apparently not into the fight. Sela, if she was affected by the tears in the manipulative way, would bring up the Lopunny's spirit high enough so that it would not only be fighting, but also be doing nothing but that, severely limiting the use of Lopunny's status moves. If Sela wasn't being manipulated, she would have no problem Taunting anyways, and we'd simply get a much more aggressive Lopunny, which, while it was Paralyzed and we had our defenses back, would fall right into our plans.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-5

Ranger John Shay

"Sela, Psych yourself Up!"

It was clear that Siless had not fallen for Lopunny's Fake Tears. By using Psych Up, Sela would copy all of Lopunny's stat boosts and drops. In this case, that meant Sela would return to having no boosts or drops whatsoever - the Psych Up had essentially negated the Fake Tears. Additionally, Sela would not copy Lopunny's lowered Speed, as that was a result of a status condition and not a true stat drop. It was completely failproof.

"Sela, Taunt some fighting spirit into Lopunny!"

Sela nodded, and stared into Lopunny's eyes. A smug grin appeared on Sela's face, and she sniffed arrograntly, as though she were, simply put, a better being than Lopunny. The cockiness of the gesture enraged Lopunny, and the Pokemon struggled a step forward. He had clearly succumbed to the move's effects, and now only wanted to get Sela back for her taunt.

In terms of dealing damage directly, Siless hadn't accomplished anything here. However, they had still given themselves some momentum by ridding themselves of stat drops and furthering limiting Lopunny's ability to move. It was a sound strategy.

"Lopunny," the Pokemon growled, clearly annoyed. Not only had the effects of his last move been eradicated, but his ability to use moves had been further limited. Lopunny opened his mouth, and charged up a yellow ball of electricity. Suddenly, he fired the beam at Sela. The bolt of electricity rushed towards Sela at an incredible speed - would she be able to counter in time?

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 58%, used Psych Up, used Taunt
Lopunny: 77% PAR TAUNT, used Charge Beam

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 10435/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Lopunny was making a move; it was an electric attack, which it couldn't learn by pure instinct. Lopunny had to be powerful for it to learn such a special attack in the wild, and if I hadn't already decided to catch it, its power from training on its own might have persuaded me. Still, it didn't look like the most powerful Electric-type move to use. If I was correct, it was Charge Beam, which meant two things; Sela would be able to take the blow without much damage due to its low power and her high special defenses, and the attack would store residual electricity in Lopunny in an attempt to raise its own special power. This was a big chance, and I planned to take full advantage of it.

"Sela, strike now with a Thunderbolt!" She didn't have much time to build up her own electricity and launch it, but even lacking that setup, it should be able to hurt Lopunny considerably; my goal was to overcharge Lopunny by combining our Thunderbolt with the residual energies of the Charge Beam in order to cripple it. The overcharging would potentially hurt Lopunny a lot, but I hoped moreso that it would enhance the electric-based Paralysis.

As useful as overcharging Lopunny in this way would be, I had to have a contingency plan. Sela was likely to be hit by Charge Beam, and while it hit her at her strongest point, it was still going to do damage, and she was already hurt badly. The best thing to do would be to get her prepared to take multiple hits later in the battle, and the best way to do that was to get her back in top fighting form by healing her.

"Sela, make yourself a Wish once you attack!" Sela had a powerful healing move in Heal Pulse as well, but she couldn't turn the energy of Heal Pulse on herself; instead, she had to put her healing energy into her very hope and fighting spirit (moreso the first than the second) and recover her own health that way. This method took a bit more time, but it required far less energy on her part, and she could act while waiting for the recovery. On the off chance I had to switch, it would recover whoever was out in her place instead, which gave her a method of healing allies in single battles such as this one as well, though that was a bit trickier than hitting them directly with a Heal Pulse.

I had one more concern in this battle; Lopunny had the natural ability to use Mirror Coat. If Lopunny would use it (which seemed unlikely, as all damage so far was through special attacks anyways), it would hurt a lot. Even Taunt couldn't prevent it, as despite the fact it couldn't do damage without relying on another move, it was still offensive enough to use it in the middle of a Taunt. It was a slow move, however, and I was certain Lopunny couldn't react to Thunderbolt with it simply because it was already attacking. If it overcharged through Thunderbolt, that would cut the likelihood of it being used in the rest of the battle further, but if it didn't, I would either have to feint it out, make Lopunny unable to attack, or work on other methods of damage.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-6

Ranger John Shay

"Sela, strike now with a Thunderbolt!" Siless commanded.

Curious. It seemed Siless was trying to fight electricity with electricity. Sela didn't have much time before the Charge Beam struck, but managed to get a ThunderBolt off. Sela's bolt of electricity met the Lopunny's more concentrated beam of energy. However, Siless' plan seemed to backfire.

The ThunderBolt merged with the Charge Beam - due to the charging nature of Charge Beam, ThunderBolt seemed to only make it stronger. The stronger Charge Beam blasted into Sela, and she cried as she was knocked over. Fortunately, Lopunny's Special Attack was not all that impressive, meaning Sela had not taken too much damage. However, the move had also boosted Lopunny's Special Attack stat - the next Special Attack would be stronger.

"Lopunny!" the Rabbit Pokemon cried suddenly. I looked at the Lopunny. He was on a knee, wincing. Sparks were visibly dancing around his body.

What had happened? I thought it over quickly, and came to a conclusion. When the ThunderBolt had been absorbed into the Charge Beam, it had resulted in a stronger Charge Beam. While that had done more damage to Sela, the outside source of added electricity must have made the move harder to control, and it must have backfired on Lopunny. I suspected he had been hurt a little by the slight overcharging of the move, and not only that, but the overcharging seemed to activate his paralysis. Lopunny was now fully paralyzed.

However, if the Charge Beam had been stronger, it was relatively safe to assume that the subsequent boost from the move had been raised as well. Studying Lopunny closely, I could tell his Special Attack had definitely been boosted more than it normally would have been from a standard Charge Beam. He was a little more calm than he should've been had the Charge Beam only supplanted him with the usual boost.

Despite the Lopunny getting stronger, it seemed to me that this moment was one Siless could really capitalize on one way or another. I looked over to Siless and Sela.

Oddly enough, Sela seemed to be almost glowing white. I recognized it immediately, having an Espeon that was a very experienced user of the move that caused this effect. Sela was under the effects of the self recovery move Wish - her wounds should be recovered quite a bit shortly. I probably missed hearing Siless command the move. This made things much simpler for Siless. He had multiple options now, with his opponent Paralyzed. What would he do?

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 42% WISH, used ThunderBolt, used Wish
Lopunny: 74% SPA+2 PAR TAUNT, used Charge Beam, fully paralyzed

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 13465/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Lopunny sat wounded and Paralyzed while Sela still had plenty of energy left and more to come as well. The battle was as good as ours; we just had to finish it. We already had the opponent wounded and with a status condition that aided in a capture, but Lopunny still had plenty of energy left and we needed to make sure that the ball itself would be able to hit safely.

"Hold Lopunny with a Psychic attack!" It was one of Sela's most powerful moves, utilizing her high Special capabilities and targeting the opponents' defenses to make future attacks more effective. The move manifested itself in many forms, including pure mental waves washing over the opponent and overwhelming it, but in its most basic form Psychic was forced levitation. Naturally, during this levitation there was a powerful mental assault and a spinning and crushing of the psychic energies that added physical pain to the mental stress and confusion, so it was much more than just forced levitation, but it was the basic idea of the most basic form of the attack.

Sela began to glow a bright blue as she attempted to mentally grab Lopunny and hold it in the air. The Psychic assault was perfectly controllable (though Sela couldn't hurt anything else when focusing on a single target unless she used that target in the attack, which was a surprisingly effective double battle technique), which meant a capture attempt would have nearly no risk at losing the ball. I grabbed a Super Ball from my pack; it was the lowest form of the Park Ball that could catch Lopunny, and I wanted to be prepared for potential future Pokémon in this run, which meant saving the Hyper Balls for powerful, fully evolved opponents, or for a final encounter, when right after I could restock. I had plenty of Super Balls available, in case one failed, but I wouldn't be diving into the Hyper Balls unless absolutely necessary (I tended to transfer Pokémon to standard Pokéballs after catching them anyways, so what ball I did catch them in didn't really matter anyways besides what I would have available to use before I restocked).

I was ready to let my Super Ball fly. All I had to do was make sure Psychic connected, and then I could throw it that instant. If it didn't, then I would have to follow up, but it seemed likely that Lopunny was stuck with the attack.

 

Gardevoir VS Lopunny: BP-7

Ranger John Shay

"Hold Lopunny with a Psychic attack!" Siless instructed. He took out a Super Ball, clearly intending to try for a capture very soon.

Sela complied immediately, understanding that she had a small window to launch off an attack. She started glowing blue brightly - with more time and less pressure from the opponent to get off the move, Sela could gather herself for a particularly strong Psychic.

Soon, the paralyzed Lopunny started glowing blue as well. He was lifted into the air, and his eyes could only look around in fear as Sela lifted her with mental energy alone. Then, the mental assault began. Lopunny began screaming, and Sela threw him wildly into the ground. It was a mess of limbs.

The blue light faded away from both Pokemon. I noticed the faint white aura from the Wish that had been faintly emanating from Sela was now gone as well. That meant the Wish should have been fulfilled. Indeed, it seemed as though many of the bruises and scratches that had marked Sela were now healed and her stamina replenished.

"Gardevoir!" the Pokemon called enthusiastically with newfound energy.

"Lopunny..." Lopunny returned to his feet. He had his mobility back - for the moment, anyways. He stumbled forward a bit. I noticed he wasn't as enraged as he had been a moment ago. Being paralyzed must have helped to calm him down - Sela's Taunt was no longer in effect. He spotted Siless with a Super Ball in his hands, and realized what Siless wanted to do.

With an against-all-odds look in his eyes, Lopunny opened his mouth. A bright white energy began manifesting within the Pokemon's jaw. I had no trouble recognizing this move. This was the famous Hyper Beam.

I looked at Siless. He should know as well as I did that this move would be incredibly powerful if it connected with Sela. It had a whopping Base Power of 150, and Lopunny had a big Special Attack boost due to the overcharged Charge Beam from earlier. However, I doubted Siless would let that happen. He had more than enough time to throw the Super Ball before Lopunny would get the attack off. Regardless of whether Lopunny was captured or not, the Pokemon should not have enough time to completely prepare the move and launch it off. It was only barring extremely unfortunate circumstances that the Hyper Beam should be a problem.

@Siless

Battle Statistics
Gardevoir VS Lopunny
Gardevoir: 92%, used Psychic
Lopunny: 49% SPA+2 PAR, using Hyper Beam

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, Doduo, Purugly, Mew, Tropius, Lopunny, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 15787/15000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-3x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (83%, in battle)
Nickname: Sela
Gender: Female
Ability: Trace
Nature: Mild
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Hidden Power Fire, Thunderbolt, Destiny Bond, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Swagger, Attract, Skill Swap, Protect, Rain Dance, Grass Knot, Charge Beam, Light Screen, Taunt, Safeguard, Snatch, Torment, Toxic, Flash, Thunder Wave, Reflect, Psych Up, Heal Bell, Will-o-Wisp

Pokemon: Roserade (88%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

"Sela, cover yourself with Light Screen and Protect!" A sparkling orange wall would buffer the powerful beam that would be aimed at Sela if I missed, and the blue sphere would hopefully block whatever got through. Sela's defenses would probably be able to take the blow, but it would still be a massive hit, and any protections we could get against it were great precautions to take. While the battle was slowing down, a massive hit could turn the tides, even with the pure power of Hyper Beam making Lopunny have to recover itself.

I gripped the camo-patterned Super Ball in my hand and threw it; if I hit my mark, the ball would disrupt Hyper Beam, though if I didn't hit at all the attack would go off (and even worse, if the attack went off before I hit it, the ball would be completely destroyed unless I was incredibly lucky. I didn't want to think about the possibility of a Hyper Beam that quick though). I was fully prepared to continue the battle if I had to, but I had a chance to finish it right here.