Individual RP: Siless

NBP-1

Ranger John Shay

"Alright John, I've got a run for you. I'm streaming the Trainer's information to your PokeDex now. You'll be going to the Botanic Gardens."

I pressed the broadcast button on my wireless radio. "Sounds good to me. I'll report back to you after."

I was resting on the back of my Dragonite as she glided leisurely above the National Park. I tapped her shoulder and told her where we had been assigned to by HQ. She nodded affirmative, and immediately swerved towards the Botanic Gardens.

Within minutes, I was sitting at the Ranger Outpost just outside the Botanic Gardens, waiting for my Trainer. I watched lazily as my Dragonite flew circles above me, and wondered what Pokemon we would see in the Gardens.

According to my PokeDex, my Trainer's name was Siless. He had only brought along two Pokemon, but also brought plenty of items as well. Not only that, but his Pokemon looked experienced and well-trained. He had also been on a couple of prior runs as well, apparently. I suspected accompanying an experienced Park-goer like him could be a wonderful learning experience for me.

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 0
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

I saw a Dragonite circling the Ranger Outpost at Botanic Gardens. That was a sure sign that there was a trainer there, and probably my Ranger for the run I signed up for. Sure enough, I could see John waiting for me under the Dragon-type's shadow. He was the newest ranger, though to me it didn't matter much; I wasn't out to kill fellow rangers, and I wasn't about to purposefully make the trip difficult for anyone except perhaps an overly aggressive wild Pokémon.

I released my Gardevoir, Sela, from her ball like always for the run (an extra pair of eyes was always handy) and I introduced her, and myself, to John. Once through with the formalities and with turning the finished paperwork into the outpost, I drew the Poképlayer out from my pack with the Petilil Voice Disk already set to be played from my pack. I was ready for my run (and ready to hit the Play button as soon as I stepped out the door), but I always gave my Ranger the courtesy of starting; I wasn't here to rush things, just to go through the park and hopefully catch some Pokémon (and, if I had to, do a bit of work, but that was besides the point).

 

NBP-2

Ranger John Shay

I heard footsteps.

Turning around, I saw my Trainer, Siless. He had seen me too, and was walking towards me. We shook hands, and exchanged some pleasantries.

"Nice to meet you, Siless. My name is John Shay, and I will be your Ranger for your run through the Botanic Gardens. You know how the National Park works, so let's get straight to it."

I called down my Dragonite, and Siless called out his Gardevoir. The green Psychic-type Pokemon majestically blossomed out of her Pokeball. Siless also took out a Pokeplayer from his bag. I noticed there was a disc in it, and wondered which Pokemon Siless was looking for.

Siless clicked the button, answering my questions. The peaceful trilling of a Petilil started playing. We began walking down the path together, with Siless holding up his Pokeplayer. Almost immediately, a Petilil jumped out a bush beside the path.

"Petilil!"

The adorable light-green Pokemon was looking at Siless curiously. It was looking at the Pokeplayer Siless held, realizing it had been tricked. It didn't seem to be angry, however. In fact, Petilil seemed interested by the device.

"You know the drill, Siless. If you want to battle this Pokemon, go ahead."

That was just a formality. I knew Siless would battle the Petilil. Even more of a question was which Pokemon Siless was planning to use.

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1126
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

NBP-2

Ranger John Shay

I heard footsteps.

Turning around, I saw my Trainer, Siless. He had seen me too, and was walking towards me. We shook hands, and exchanged some pleasantries.

"Nice to meet you, Siless. My name is John Shay, and I will be your Ranger for your run through the Botanic Gardens. You know how the National Park works, so let's get straight to it."

I called down my Dragonite, and Siless called out his Gardevoir. The green Psychic-type Pokemon majestically blossomed out of her Pokeball. Siless also took out a Pokeplayer from his bag. I noticed there was a disc in it, and wondered which Pokemon Siless was looking for.

Siless clicked the button, answering my questions. The peaceful trilling of a Petilil started playing. We began walking down the path together, with Siless holding up his Pokeplayer. Almost immediately, a Petilil jumped out a bush beside the path.

"Petilil!"

The adorable light-green Pokemon was looking at Siless curiously. It was looking at the Pokeplayer Siless held, realizing it had been tricked. It didn't seem to be angry, however. In fact, Petilil seemed interested by the device.

"You know the drill, Siless. If you want to battle this Pokemon, go ahead."

That was just a formality. I knew Siless would battle the Petilil. Even more of a question was which Pokemon Siless was planning to use.

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1126
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Almost as soon as we stepped out, a Petilil appeared to respond to the Voice Disk I was playing. It seemed curious; without warning it was examining the Poképlayer, recognizing that it made similar sounds to itself while not being anything like another Petilil. I didn't plan on letting the opportunity to catch it pass by.

I released my Roserade, Cosmos, from her ball for battle. (Sela, though already out, would just sit back and enjoy watching.) The flowered Pokémon looked over the young bud, wordlessly telling it that she would like to battle; the look in Cosmos's eyes almost seemed to be like a mother's care, albeit a mother that would refuse to go easy on her opponent simply because of it being her child. Cosmos took her time getting across the garden's path to make room for the battle, allowing the Petilil to prepare herself. And though it had seemed she had given up the space, Cosmos knew she was fighting on her own terms.

Once the Petilil seemed ready to battle, Cosmos lashed out both arms, spikes tinted with purplish venom spreading out over the road. I typically had her start with a Toxic Spikes attack when the opponent was vulnerable, and though the battle had just started, there was already plenty of time for me to change that strategy if I had wanted to, so Cosmos decided to take the initiative. I had no problem with this, but I had to take part in the battle as well; the best thing for me to do was to strategize for Cosmos as she focused on the battle.

"Cosmos, spray the field with Cotton Spore!"

My Roserade lashed out once again, this time spreading around white, fluffy spores that stuck to the poisonous caltrops. Normally, it was used to severely hinder the opponent's movement, but covering the Toxic Spikes seemed to be an altogether better idea; Petilil would still have its movement impaired if it moved through the spores and allowed them to stick to its body, but more importantly it wouldn't be able to see the spikes or even know it was affected until it was too late, as the spikes themselves caused no damage at all. The entirety of the damage from Toxic Spikes was from the poison that the spikes were covered in, and it may be able to sap a bit of energy before it's noticed. Better yet, Cosmos was immune to her own venom; she'd be able to traverse through the spores without the risk of poisoning herself, if she had to.

 

Almost as soon as we stepped out, a Petilil appeared to respond to the Voice Disk I was playing. It seemed curious; without warning it was examining the Poképlayer, recognizing that it made similar sounds to itself while not being anything like another Petilil. I didn't plan on letting the opportunity to catch it pass by.

I released my Roserade, Cosmos, from her ball for battle. (Sela, though already out, would just sit back and enjoy watching.) The flowered Pokémon looked over the young bud, wordlessly telling it that she would like to battle; the look in Cosmos's eyes almost seemed to be like a mother's care, albeit a mother that would refuse to go easy on her opponent simply because of it being her child. Cosmos took her time getting across the garden's path to make room for the battle, allowing the Petilil to prepare herself. And though it had seemed she had given up the space, Cosmos knew she was fighting on her own terms.

Once the Petilil seemed ready to battle, Cosmos lashed out both arms, spikes tinted with purplish venom spreading out over the road. I typically had her start with a Toxic Spikes attack when the opponent was vulnerable, and though the battle had just started, there was already plenty of time for me to change that strategy if I had wanted to, so Cosmos decided to take the initiative. I had no problem with this, but I had to take part in the battle as well; the best thing for me to do was to strategize for Cosmos as she focused on the battle.

"Cosmos, spray the field with Cotton Spore!"

My Roserade lashed out once again, this time spreading around white, fluffy spores that stuck to the poisonous caltrops. Normally, it was used to severely hinder the opponent's movement, but covering the Toxic Spikes seemed to be an altogether better idea; Petilil would still have its movement impaired if it moved through the spores and allowed them to stick to its body, but more importantly it wouldn't be able to see the spikes or even know it was affected until it was too late, as the spikes themselves caused no damage at all. The entirety of the damage from Toxic Spikes was from the poison that the spikes were covered in, and it may be able to sap a bit of energy before it's noticed. Better yet, Cosmos was immune to her own venom; she'd be able to traverse through the spores without the risk of poisoning herself, if she had to.

 

Roserade VS Petilil: BP-1

Ranger John Shay

In response to the appearance of the Petilil, Siless threw his other Pokeball. His Roserade, Cosmos, appeared. The Rose Pokemon delicately touched down on the ground, and eyed her opponent with watchful eyes. The Petilil stared back, and there seemed to be a sort of mutual respect between the two Grass-type Pokemon.

Cosmos slowly began walking within battle range of the Petilil. It was clear she could've walked faster, but she seemed to be allowing the weaker Petilil to have a fair chance of putting up a fight by giving her time to prepare. This would be an interesting battle.

When Petilil was ready, Cosmos made the first move. She immediately tossed purplish spikes onto the battlefield - this was the Toxic Spikes move. It seemed Cosmos and Siless were going to play a smart game.

"Cosmos, spray the field with Cotton Spore!"

Now, this seemed interesting. I waited to see how the Cotton Spore would be applied. Cosmos tossed balls of cotton into the battlefield, and they softly landed on the surface of the road. I noticed that this was a subtle way to hide the Toxic Spikes Cosmos had just laid down, and it also hindered Petilil's ability to maneuver around the area, especially with the hidden Toxic Spikes strewn all over the place. Cosmos, meanwhile, would not be limited as much due to her Poison-type, which prevented her from being poisoned. I could see a problem with Cosmos absorbing the Toxic Spikes (something Poison-types could do) by accident, but I knew that wouldn't happen enough, if at all, to become a problem.

I looked at Petilil. She was looking around cautiously, and seemed to be assessing the situation like I had just done. I did not know what conclusion the Pokemon eventually came to, but she was clearly not going to wander through the now potentially dangerous battlefield.

"Petilil!" the Pokemon cried. She shook her head, and I noticed green spores were floating off of her and on to the nearby spores. That was the Sleep Powder move, and I realized Petilil was setting up a self-defense system by covering the nearby spores with the Sleep Powder.

I looked back at Siless and Cosmos, intrigued to see how they would respond to this turn of events. This battle of intellect was going to be very interesting indeed.

Battle Statistics
Roserade VS Petilil
Roserade: 100%
Petilil: 100%
Battlefield: Covered in a layer of Toxic Spikes hidden underneath a layer of Cotton Spore; Sleep Powder is covering the spores near Petilil

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 3506/9000
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

If Petilil wasn't going to willingly go into the trap laid before it (I didn't expect it to just walk right into it, though it would have made it easier), I would have to force it to move. Either that, or it was a sitting duck for my Roserade's attacks.

"Cosmos, force the Petilil to move with a Swift!"

Cosmos jumped and spun to her left, launching stars in the Petilil's general direction in a right-to-left arc. Petilil had ample chance to avoid the blows as they moved towards it, but there was only one direction to go, and eventually it would run out of room. If all went according to plan, Petilil would either dodge away into the field of poison spikes and spores, or end up taking damage from Swift, and with Roserade's practice with the Technician ability, the normally-low-powered attack would be devastating.

Petilil seemed to be tactically minded, though, and I was going to be ready in case Petilil could pull out of this. "Prepare a Sweet Scent attack for when you land, Cosmos!" Though the attack had significantly less direction than the prior attacks, it didn't need any, as the sweet-smelling distraction should fill the field and make future attacks more difficult to dodge.

So far, I had forced a long range battle and laid traps that both prevented easy transition to close-quarters combat and blocked escape room for Petilil, each little thing playing to Cosmos's strengths. Petilil may have lacked the Quiver Dance of its evolution, and therefore a significant portion of its power, but it was still able to hold its own in battle, and Cosmos and I had to be ready for whatever it could pull out.

 

Roserade VS Petilil: BP-2

Ranger John Shay

"Cosmos, force the Petilil to move with a Swift!"

Cosmos leapt into the air, and tossed stars of energy in Petilil's direction. Strategically, this was a very intelligent move to make. If Petilil didn't move, she would be hit by the Swift. If she moved, she would be forced to walk into the Cotton Spores and risk being poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Not only that, I remembered, but she would have to be wary of the Sleep Powder she had spread earlier as well. This was a win-win situation for Siless, and the opposite for Petilil.

The stars rushed towards Petilil. The Pokemon appeared to be unsure of what to do, and her hesitation led to her being unable to move out of the way of the Swift.

"Petilil!" the Pokemon cried, falling over. She landed on a spore, but did not become poisoned or fall asleep - lucky. Still, the Swift had clearly done quite a bit of damage. That could be attributed to Cosmos' Technician ability, which powered up weaker moves.

"Prepare a Sweet Scent attack for when you land, Cosmos!" Siless ordered. I noticed that Cosmos was falling back to earth - she had been lifted into the air by the momentum of the Swift move. When she landed, the Pokemon spun in a circle gracefully. A sweet-smelling aroma wafted through the air. I looked over to Petilil. The Pokemon had an almost clueless look on her face - she was clearly enjoying the scent of the aroma. Then again, I suppose it always looked clueless.

Petilil shook her head, trying to focus. Realizing what Cosmos was trying to do, she tossed a seed from within the patch of leaves on her head. It embedded itself in the ground, and alarmingly exploded in a mini-explosion of gas. This was the Worry Seed move. I had never seen a Pokemon use it on itself before, but it seemed intelligent in this case. It prevented Sweet Scent from seducing Petilil too much, and also made her immune to her own Sleep Powder.

Petilil then looked at Cosmos. She started glowing green, and Cosmos was soon enveloped by a similar aura. Green balls of energy leeched themselves away from Cosmos, and they were absorbed into Petilil. I realized Petilil was using Giga Drain to replenish some of her own health while reducing Cosmos'. However, it seemed to do very little damage due to Cosmos having two resistances to Grass-type moves.

Battle Statistics
Roserade VS Petilil
Roserade: 97%, used Swift, used Sweet Scent
Petilil: 71% WORRYSEED, used Worry Seed, used Giga Drain
Battlefield: Covered in a layer of Toxic Spikes hidden underneath a layer of Cotton Spore; Sleep Powder is covering the spores near Petilil

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 5103/9000
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Bits and pieces of Cosmos's energies were sapped away and transferred to the Petilil, but it didn't seem to be much as Cosmos didn't even seem to be fazed by the damage it should've caused. This meant she could keep her focus on the battle, and the blow shouldn't disrupt her aim at all. More importantly, Petilil had hit itself with a Worry Seed attack, replacing its ability with Insomnia by influencing its own thoughts towards worrying; this allowed it to traverse its own traps effectively while negating an ability that had been useless so far in the battle, as I had no way of Confusing or causing harsh sunlight with Cosmos to trigger its possibly abilities. This also meant, however, that Petilil would not be able to trigger a sunlight-based ability through its own Sunny Day, as if it had one, Worry Seed would be covering it.

I had a thought, and I wasn't sure if this thought would be able to work. However, it would take a mere moment, and if it worked the battle would be as good as won. Worry seed worked by forcing its target to worry excessively; it was a tactically sound move as the level of worrying caused didn't seem to affect the battle other than the resultant Insomnia. However, I had never seen an attempt to use it multiple times on a single target unless the first missed, and if the multiple seeds caused a larger amount of worry, it would start distracting the target more than it would be helping. It was mostly an in-battle experiment at this point, but trying it wouldn't take too much time, and that was the only resource at the time that mattered.

"Cosmos, try hitting it with a Worry Seed!" Cosmos shot me a glance before moving to act; she wasn't able to see me think out my plans like Sela was able to, but she also knew that I couldn't explain them quickly enough for the purposes of battle. I would be able to explain my thoughts to her later, but at the moment it confused her enough to give me a quizzical look before the attack; she had never used Worry Seed on a target already affected with it. It seems this was an experiment for both of us.

"Follow it up with a Poison Sting!" This was far more straightforward. It was incredibly weak, but it was boosted not only by Cosmos's Technician ability, but also by its own natural poisons. The spray of needles that composed the attack would be able to cover a wide area, if necessary, so the attack was more difficult to dodge, and on top of that, Petilil was weak to the poisonous blow, so even more damage would be done. Finally, if Cosmos's poison took hold, Petilil may be more willing to walk right into the spore-traps laid out, thinking they're less threatening if it's already poisoned, but multiple applications of the poison have a worse effect to a point (granted, this last bit was banking on inexperience on the Petilil's part, and I certainly wasn't counting on it happening. It'd also be significantly less likely if the second Worry Seed attacked worked, but it was still a decent attack otherwise).

 

Roserade VS Petilil: BP-3

Ranger John Shay

"Cosmos, try hitting it with a Worry Seed!"

I did a double take at this, and so did Cosmos. Siless was trying to use Worry Seed on a Pokemon already under the effects of the move. What would happen? I looked at Siless. There was an almost inquisitive look on his face. Clearly, he didn't know either.

Cosmos commenced with the move. She flung a seed near Petilil, and it exploded in a similar fashion to Petilil's seed from a moment ago. The Pokemon jumped, and her eyes opened even wider. Clearly, the worry had multiplied to an almost paranoid level. Petilil's eyes started flicking from side to side. She seemed extremely cautious, and hid behind a spore. This was, I remembered, the one she had fallen on earlier. It was one that did not conceal any Toxic Spikes.

Well, it had been an odd strategy to begin with. I didn't know if Petilil had hit the paranoia level, or if she was just being really cautious. I couldn't tell if it was going to be beneficial or detrimental to Siless' cause, either.

"Follow it up with a Poison Sting!" Siless commanded.

It seemed Siless was reverting back to a more fundamental strategy. Cosmos tossed multiple poisoned darts in Petilil's direction. Petilil saw them from behind her spore, and hastily retreated further behind it to get out of the darts' range. However, I noticed she stumbled. Looking closer, it seemed she had stepped too far behind the spore and on to another one - one that concealed a Toxic Spike. I could already see a purple tinge creeping up Petilil's lower body.

"Petilil!" the Pokemon cried, clearly panicking. If the two Worry Seeds had not been enough to drive the Pokemon over the edge, being poisoned clearly had been. She was dancing around oddly.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Cosmos was dancing as well. Odd, I thought as I looked over. Cosmos was dancing the exact same dance as Petilil. What was going on?

Suddenly, panic filled Cosmos' eyes as well. After having noticed the immense level of panic in Petilil's eyes, there was no mistaking it. But what was going on?

Then, as I looked at Petilil, it dawned on me. Petilil had not been dancing in panic - it had been using the Entrainment move while panicked. That's why I had not noticed it initially.

Now, both Pokemon were panicking. I wondered how Siless was going to handle this.

OOC: In the battle stats, I listed the Pokemon as under the WORRYSEED(2) condition. That's very improvisational, but I'm sure you know what I mean. :x

Battle Statistics
Roserade VS Petilil
Roserade: 97% WORRYSEED(2), used Worry Seed, used Poison Sting
Petilil: 59% PSN WORRYSEED(2), used Entrainment
Battlefield: Covered in a layer of Toxic Spikes hidden underneath a layer of Cotton Spore; Sleep Powder is covering the spores near Petilil

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 8113/9000
Park Items:
-3x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric[/QUOTE]

 

I wasn't sure if this was a perfectly-tactical thought-out move on the Petilil's part, or more of an act of panic, but either way, Petilil turned the table on us. An enhanced paranoia ability had taken control of both Pokémon, and Cosmos was the most fearful I had ever seen her be. I had to stop it, but at the same time, this was her battle, and sending Sela out to sub for her would make her feel horrible (more so than she was feeling right now with the paranoia), so that wasn't an option. I had to take control of the situation, if even for a single attack.

"Cosmos, stop." This was the most commanding I had gotten with Cosmos, and she needed to get a feeling of both support and authority to get going once more. "Close your eyes; I won't let anything hurt you." I walked up to Cosmos to make her feel safer; there was plenty of room for me to sit right behind her in the battle. "Relax, and use an Aromatherapy." The move was essentially a defensive Sweet Scent, the fragrance used designed to recover ailments and give energy. This worrisome state wasn't going to be healed, but it was likely to calm her long enough for an actual attack, and I planned on making this as easy on her as possible.

"Cosmos, can you launch a Poison Sting away from the sound of my voice?" It didn't require Cosmos to see whatever it was she was so afraid of, and I was right next to her, giving her support and letting her know exactly where I was. I was hoping a potentially wide-area attack would hit Petilil, but either way I was going to attempt a capture; the sooner I could end this battle, the better.

I slipped a Park Ball out of my pack and lobbed it towards Petilil. If Cosmos attacked, the speed of the sting would most likely make it reach Petilil before the ball, and even if it didn't, it was too weak to cause any damage to the ball anyways so the attack wouldn't cause the capture to fail. If it worked, I could get Cosmos back in her ball and she would only take a few minutes to recover as Entrainment wore off. If it didn't, then I would sit here, throwing balls and comforting her until it did. I knew my Pokémon; if she couldn't finish a battle she had started, she was going to torture herself over it. I was going to help her finish this as best I could, and that meant getting the capture as soon as possible.

 

Roserade VS Petilil: BP-4

Ranger John Shay

"Cosmos, stop. Relax, and use an Aromatherapy," Siless instructed calmly.

Cosmos, hearing her Trainer's calm and relaxing voice, immediately took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She did as her Trainer had commanded, using Aromatherapy. A sweet-smelling scent (different than the Sweet Scent from earlier, but very similar) exuded from Cosmos, and she was instantly calmed down.

"Cosmos, can you launch a Poison Sting away from the sound of my voice?" Siless commanded. I thought this was smart - allow Cosmos to relax and keep her eyes closed for a little longer while still being able to hit the opponent.

Cosmos flung multiple poisoned thorns away from Siless - where Petilil was. The Pokemon had stopped her dance a while ago, and was now eyeing her surroundings with increased paranoia - there was no mistaking it this time. When Petilil saw the Poison Sting coming at her, she immediately ran out of the attack's range. However, she walked on to another Cotton Spore, and this one concealed multiple Toxic Spikes. She was badly poisoned, and this meant the damage she was taking from poison would only escalate.

I noticed Siless had pulled out a Park Ball. Was he trying to capture the Pokemon now? I suspected the odds were in his favor, though not by a whole lot. Siless flung the Park Ball at Petilil, and the small Pokemon was enveloped by the capsule. The Pokeball wiggled once...

It wiggled twice...

No. The Pokeball burst open, and Petilil leapt back on to the battlefield. The Pokeball rolled into the cloud of spores on the ground. It was hidden, but probably still structurally intact, having its fall broken by the soft spores.

"Petilil!" Petilil mewed. Her paranoia seemed to be booming more than ever, now that Siless trying to capture it had become a reality. She unleashed a furious Magical Leaf attack, and leaves glowing all sorts of colours rose from behind Petilil and flew at Cosmos. Cosmos, with her eyes still closed, did not see the attack coming. However, the Grass-type move did not do much more damage than Giga Drain had done. Perhaps the energy stemming from Petilil's overworked state of mind had powered up Magical Leaf in bulk, but I doubted it had done too much damage to Cosmos.

Petilil wasn't done yet, it seemed. The Pokemon inhaled, and a green orb of energy formed in front of her. When it grew to about the size of a volleyball, the Energy Ball was tossed at Cosmos. It zoomed towards the Roserade, and I wondered what Siless was going to do about it.

Battle Statistics
Roserade VS Petilil
Roserade: 90%, used Aromatherpy, used Poison Sting
Petilil: 41% TOX WORRYSEED(2), used Magical Leaf, using Energy Ball
Battlefield: Covered in a layer of Toxic Spikes hidden underneath a layer of Cotton Spore; Sleep Powder is covering the spores near Petilil
Notes: Park Ball hidden underneath spores somewhere

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: N/A
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 10439/9000
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 (100%, in battle)
Nickname: Cosmos
Gender: Male
Ability: Technician
Nature: Careful
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: Sludge Bomb, Flash, Cotton Spore, Swift, Solarbeam, Hidden Power Electric

 

Cosmos was almost instantly calmed down, and while she had taken a blow, it was great that, not only did it not do much damage, but it didn't trigger a panic attack from the extreme worrying. This told me that Cosmos's worrying was subsiding, at least with the Aromatherapy still working.

I shuffled back away from the battle; Petilil was starting on a paranoid offensive, and it would just be stupid if I allowed myself to get hit. "Cosmos, up!" Cosmos's eyes shot open to witness a large ball of plant energy coming at her.

"Hit through it with Swift!" Cosmos's Technician may have been blocked off by its Insomnia, as Aromatherapy certainly didn't completely remove the effects of the Entrainment, but it was still stronger than the Petilil statistically. I was certain she'd at least be able to block the blow, but there was the possibility a few of Swift's stars could get through as a counterattack.

I drew a second Park Ball, ready to throw it after Cosmos's Swift; Swift was significantly stronger than Poison Sting and about the same speed as a thrown ball, so I had to wait or else risk damage to the ball during the capture attempt.

 

Roserade VS Petilil: BP-5

Ranger John Shay

"Cosmos, up!"

That was a vague command, but it spoke to the connection between Siless and Cosmos when Cosmos' eyes opened to see Petilil's Energy Ball flying at her.

"Hit through it with Swift!" Siless commanded.

Cosmos immediately threw stars of energy at the Energy Ball. It was blown to bits, most of them falling to the side and disappearing. Some blobs of the seperated Energy Ball still managed to splash on to Cosmos, but resulted in minimal damage.

Meanwhile, a few of Cosmos' Swift continued to rush towards Petilil. They were definitely weaker without Technician powering them up, and a lot of them had been destroyed during the impact with the Energy Ball. However, a few leftover stars did make their way towards Petilil. The Pokemon tried to run away, but Swift was an unavoidable move and Petilil was knocked over. She took considerably less damage than she had from Cosmos' first Swift, which made sense given how nerfed the move was this time. However, the loss in damage was made up for the Toxic poison damage to Petilil, which was beginning to add up. The Pokemon was clearly on the brink of fainting, and Siless chucked a Park Ball at it.

The wiggles were weak, coming from a Pokemon that was hardly conscious. I knew this time, it was going to be a guaranteed capture from the beginning, and it was.

The battle was over. I congratulated Siless, then went to retrieve Petilil's Pokeball. I put it in my backpack gently.

"As you know, you're only allowed to keep three of the Pokemon you catch in a Park run. You'll be able to claim this, should you want to, after this run. Well done, however. Shall we move on?"

Then, I remembered something. I told Siless to wait, and ordered Dragonite to use Roar. Dragonite did as instructed, and roared loudly. Her voice blew the Cotton Spores on the road into the air, and they floated away. Next, I told Dragonite to reclaim Siless' Park Ball from amidst the Toxic Spikes. Finally, I commanded the Pokemon to use a combination of Ice Beam and Flamethrower on the area that was littered with Toxic Spikes. It would create a sheet of ice trapping the Toxic Spikes, and then melt the ice with Flamethrower. From there on, the poisoned liquid would seep underground, where natural processes would break it down.

All this served two purposes. It would remove the spores and the Toxic Spikes (which would be an unnecessary obstacle), and would also allow Siless to reuse his Park Ball later on.

As Dragonite gave my Trainer his Park Ball back, I asked, "There's a fork in the road a few minutes up ahead. Would you like to go left towards the field of flowers, or right towards a pond area?"

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 0
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 added the recovered Park Ball to my pack, and returned Cosmos to her ball, congratulating her for a well-fought battle. I thought about having Sela use a Heal Pulse to top off Cosmos's energy, but Cosmos generally preferred to deal with it herself if the wounds weren't too bad, so I would have her drain an opponent or use Synthesis later to keep it from getting too bad.

John cleaned up the battlefield rather quickly, though I was ready to fix it up. I wasn't, however, about to complain, so I focused on the task at hand; deciding where to go next. There was a choice of a flowery field or a pond, and I wasn't going to throw a curveball and head into a deep thicket, so I went to a reasonable place where Grass-types would likely be found. "Let's head to the field."

 

NBP-3

Ranger John Shay

Siless thought about where he wanted to move on to next as he returned Cosmos to her Pokeball. Eventually, he made up his mind.

"Let's go the field," he said. That made sense to me. Siless was looking for Grass-types, from what I knew, and he would find more in the field. Granted, the pool in the Botanic Gardens was not inhabited by any Water-type Pokemon, and was more of a habitat for Pokemon that lived by water, not in it. However, Siless would definitely find more "true" Grass-types in the field.

We began walking, and went left towards the flower fields when we got to the fork. Soon enough, the path opened up into an open and neatly arranged garden of flowers. There were lines of lilies, rows of roses, and trails of tulips. We walked through into the garden, walking along the path so as to avoid stepping on the flowers.

Quickly, Siless' second Pokemon encounter appeared. It had been camouflaged amongst some sunflowers, but my Dragonite noticed it quickly and pointed to show me. It seemed to be... a Sunkern! The Pokemon noticed we were looking at it, and hopped out on the path eagerly.

"Sunkern!" the Pokemon cried joyously. The cute yellow-and-brown Pokemon was radiating joy, and was looking at Siless. Clearly, she was open to a battle with Siless.

"Want to battle this Sunkern?" I asked Siless.

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 774
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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

 

A Sunkern sat there in our path, seemingly interested in me. I didn't have much use for one in my gym; they were honestly much more useful when I was doing my Ranger job here at the Gardens, as they could help me warn others of a large battle, or call forth a great sunlight, or in extremely desperate times help me escape with a Grasswhistle or something similar.

This Sunkern was possibly one that helped me on my job, but I had a thought; it could be the one that tagged along with me in my last run; it ran off to help warn of a battle, but never came back. If it was the same Sunkern, it would no doubt want to tag along again. If it wasn’t, Sunkern were generally docile, and it wouldn't try to bite my ear off as it rode on my shoulder (and if it did, Sela would fling it out of the field to keep it from hurting me). I offered the Sunkern a chance to tag along; I didn't want to battle, but it wouldn't hurt to at least give it a chance to wander with a trainer.

 

NBP-4

Ranger John Shay

Siless shook his head. No surprise there; there was very little appeal in a Sunkern, even to a Grass Gym Leader. Odds were that better Pokemon could be found later on in any run through the National Park. However, Siless continued to look at the Sunkern. There was an intrigued look in his eye, but I had no clue what he was thinking.

Siless stretched out his hand towards the diminutive Pokemon, as if to ask the Pokemon if it wanted to accompany him for a bit. Sunkern seemed to think about it for a bit, then shook its head furiously. It started to pout, and plomped itself down in front of us.

While we could definitely walk past it, it distressed me to see a Pokemon in the Park like this.

"You might as well battle the Pokemon, Siless," I insisted. "It won't take too long, and it'll make Sunkern much happier."

OOC: Kind of awkward in retrospect, but meh. q_q

Trainer Information
Name: Siless
Location: Botanic Gardens
Pokemon Encountered: Petilil, Sunkern, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???
Pokemon Captured: Petilil
Character Count Since Last Encounter: 1745
Park Items:
-2x Park Balls
-2x Full Heal
-3x Hyper Ball
-3x Super Ball
-Camera
-Pokeplayer
-1x Shroomish Voice Disk
-2x Heal Potion
-4x Pokédolls
-1x Petilil Voice Disk (4 uses left)
-1x Solosis Voice Disk

Pokemon Information

Pokemon: Gardevoir (100%)
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 sighed. I would have to engage the Sunkern for at least a bit to satisfy it, but it really wasn't something I wanted to do. Still, we could do a quick battle to leave both sides relatively satisfied and not cause too much damage, hopefully.

"Sela, let's give this Sunkern a quick battle." Sela nodded; it was obvious to her what the Sunkern wanted. "Let's start with a Confusion attack!" It was far from the strongest of Sela's moves, but it was near effortless and could still turn a battle in the user's favor. Confusion attempted to grab the opponent and flip it around several times; it didn't last as long as the very similar use of Psychic, but it was more disorientating than the stronger variant, causing confusion instead of having the stronger attack's damage against the opponent's defenses against non-physical attacks.

Sela's eyes began to glow a soft blue. It was nowhere near as bright as with a Psychic attack, but it was far more controlled. I waited, saving any more complicated strategies for when they were needed; the light attack would help me judge our opponent and decide which strategy, if any, was best.