Back to Basics: Monbrey

@Monbrey;

NBP#5

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Ryan looked ready to capture the Mankey. The only problem was that he had to get his camera back first. Ivy wasn't really sure how it worked if he didn't—would a Pokeball suck up a digital device with the Pokemon too?

Thankfully, the Trainer had a plan. “Charizard, time to wrap this up,” he said. “If you can get that camera back, I'm going to go for a capture. Use Quick Attack to get in there fast, before Mankey has time to anticipate your movements. Then, aim straight for it with False Swipe and get that camera back while it's distracted.”

Charizard nodded and snorted, flexing his limbs as he got ready to fly out. In the meantime, Ryan pulled out a Super Ball and hit the button to expand it as the Fire-type jetted off.

A stream of white smoke followed in the almost-dragon's wake, kicking up other dust and loose stones. The Mankey tried to scramble backward, but he was at the end of his strength. He threw his hands up as the Charizard faked him out, reaching out to claw but feinting at the last second.

With quick limbs, Charizard snatched the camera back, grazing the monkey while he was at it. Then, he was out of the way, clearing the path for the Trainer to throw the ball.

The startled primate didn't even see the device coming until it was too late. In a beam of red light, he was sucked inside, and the ball gave off a minute shake before stilling and lighting up the center in red. The ding was loud among the fake trees, which started to fade as soon as the wild Pokemon was caught.

The dirt flattened out and faded until it was the normal gray of the tile, and the walls lost their three-dimensional look as the trees disappeared and panels took their place. Ivy walked over to pocket the newly caught Pokemon, letting it join the Abra in her zippered pocket.

“That makes two out of four,” she told Ryan. “Nice job on that camera retrieval. Make sure that stays away from prying eyes now. Your girlfriend might not appreciate being broadcast on the net,” she teased.

Haji joined her on the path and they began walking again, leaving the Trainer to follow. Eventually the hallway changed again. This time, there was a whisper of long, dry grasses, and a soft soil replaced the material under their feet. The sandy area was filled with craters and other potholes.

A cheerful babbling caught the Ranger's attention, so they stopped so she could point it out. A little ahead in the path was a small pink Pokemon with brown-tipped ears. It was dancing around one of the craters singing some kind of song as it moved its arms around. When they approached, it stopped took look at them, waving.

“There's a Clefairy there,” Ivy said. “You interested?”

---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Clefairy: 100%


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
15 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In a sandy hallway.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 0/9,000 [Unommon Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 100%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn

 

Charizard charged at the Mankey, claws outstretched. It looked for all the part that in a matter of seconds they'd be inch-deep inside Mankey's face, but thankfully the stunt worked. As Mankey moved to defends itself, Charizard feinted, snatching up the camera in his claws with only a glancing blow to Mankey.

I ran in and chucked the ball at the staggering monkey, sucking it inside in a flash. Mankey must have been too dazed to put up much struggle, the light from the ball quickly fading, signalling a successful capture. As Ivy walked over to collect the newly captured Pokemon, I headed over to where Charizard was standing to thank him, and retrieve my camera. Ivy turned to poke fun at me as I did.

“Nice job on that camera retrieval. Make sure that stays away from prying eyes now. Your girlfriend might not appreciate being broadcast on the net."

"Eh, it wouldn't be the first time we've accidently..." ...Probably better not to finish that, I thought. "Lets just say since then, I always remember to check if the webcam is still on," I said with a grin.

The virtual surroundings had already faded back to the plain, blank panels of the Engima Ruins. The two of us began to walk down the corridor again, as Ivy's Gallade and my Charizard followed behind. I was anxious to catch my final two Pokemon and head out, but I was also keen to find out what Pokemon could still be found in this strange place. I'd end up frustrated if I left too early and missed something good.

The hallway was beginning to change again, long grass and soil appearing around us. The sound of a happy Pokemon could be heard nearby.

Ivy stopped and pointed out a small, pink Pokemon that was dancing around a crater, almost like it was performing a ritual. It was a Clefairy, and seemingly had no interest in fighting. It saw and and waved, still smiling.

"You interested?" Ivy asked.

I was a little undecided. Clefairy had recently been discovered as part of the new Fairy type. However its pre-evolved form Cleffa was relatively easy to obtain. I had been hoping to find rarer Pokemon on my expedition.

"Nah, I think I'll pass on this one. It is cute though. Maybe I can give it a PokeDoll if it wants to play?" I waved back to the Clefairy and continued walking, not wanting to disturb its happy dancing too much.

 

@Monbrey; Doll used—500 to be subtracted.

NBP#6

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

The small pink Pokemon, one of the newly recognized Fairy-types had caught the interest of some. However, Ryan didn't really look that interested. If Ivy remembered correctly, Cleffa, the stage previous in the evolution line, was fairly easy to obtain on the mainland.

“Nah, I think I'll pass on this one,” the Trainer said. “It is cute, though. Maybe I can give it a Pokedoll if it wants to play?”

The Clefairy didn't look too happy at Ryan's lack of interest. It puffed up its cheeks as it got red in the face, and it even stomped around like a temperamental child for a second. In response, the Trainer complied with parting with a doll. Upon offering the plush toy, the mood of the wild Pokemon immediately changed.

Ivy still wasn't completely sure how they worked, since even the most brutish of Pokemon couldn't resist whatever they made these things out of. The Fairy-type snatched bounced up to Ryan and snatched the doll out of his hands, eagerly running back to the pit and holding the doll's hand like it would a friend. Then it continued to dance around the crater.

Ivy shrugged. At least it wouldn't put up any more of a fuss. With a wave she led them on, Haji taking point. Vergil was still following behind, though he had been pretty quiet. The Ranger kept her eye on him just in case he was the one that decided to be fussy.

They walked down the now-normal hallway until the Ranger heard a crash. She stopped so she could listen again, and the sound of something heavy sliding across a floor reached her ears, although it was faint. Her eyebrow raised as she headed for the nearest door. It was an automated one, and as they neared, it whooshed open almost silently.

An abandoned room greeted them, but this one was filled with stuff. It looked to be some sort of classroom setting, with long tables and chairs scattered around. Most of the tables were pushed up against one side, and one was tipped over. That was probably the source of the first noise.

There didn't seem to be anything unusual about the room until one of the chairs set up on top of the table fell off. Then, she saw what had caused the disturbance.

A cream and red-colored Pokemon wandered out from the mass of desks, looking a little dizzy. It wobbled around on unsteady legs, and as she watched, it bumped into the table with its head. Dazed for a moment, it reached up to rub its head before looking in their direction.

It was a hybrid of some sort of rabbit and teddy bear, she thought. Other than a large cream circle on its stomach, most of its body was dipped in red. Its feet were spared so it looked like it was wearing socks. On its head and floppy ears, spots of red were scattered.

“There's a Spinda,” she told Ryan. “It's said that no two are alike since the spots are in different places. What do you think?”

---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Spinda: 100%


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
14 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In an old classroom.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy, Spinda
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 0/15,000 [Borderline Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 100%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn

 

$16,500 - $500 = $16,000
@WinterVines;

---

Clefairy began to get agitated that we didn't want to play, so I held out a Pokedoll. Immediately its demeanor changed, running up to grab the toy, which looked remarkably like it, and ran back to the crater to begin dancing again with its new friend.

It wasn't long before another new room greeted us, an automated door rushing open to reveal what appeared to be an abandoned classroom. I had no idea what part of the Park this was from.

A chair fell off one of the tables with a loud crash. In its place stood a small, staggering bear-like Pokemon, with swirl patterns all over its body. A Spinda.

“It's said that no two are alike since the spots are in different places." Ivy mentioned. "What do you think?”

She had a point - due to Spinda's unique qualities, they were often highly valued to collectors. But I was here looking for additions to my own team, not stuff I could trade, and Spinda didn't really have a place in my battle line-up.

"Going to have to pass again. Guess I should have a doll ready in case this one, or any Pokemon really, want to play like that Clefairy did."

Spinda's wild staggering was starting to make me dizzy, and I still had plenty more of these virtual rooms to investigate. I was eager to head off.

 

@Monbrey; Escape successful.

NBP#7

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Spinda were sort of rare, but they were also part of a niche and a little gimmicky. That said, Ryan wasn't really interested. He was probably looking for some other battle-oriented Pokemon.

“Going to have to pass again. Guess I should have a doll ready in case this one, or any Pokemon really, want to play like that Clefairy did.”

Thankfully, this Pokemon didn't put up much of a fuss. It looked at them curiously, but its eyes wouldn't focus. As such, it stumbled around some more, banging into tables. This time, it started wandering back into the mass of tables. Another bump happened, and a chair clattered to the ground.

“I guess this one's not that interested,” Ivy said, heading out of the room. The automatic door whooshed behind them.

They kept going down the hall until the Ranger picked another random room to explore. This one looked to be some sort of storage place too, although it was still filled with boxes. Large wooden and steel crates were piled up around the room, cloaking the room in shadow. The overhead light above the door was burning a steady orange, but it wasn't very bright. Were the other lights out?

“Looks like the Rangers missed this room,” she said. “I'm not really surprised. They've been mapping out the place since it was uncovered, but it's pretty spacious. I'll have to send them a message later,” she added, taking out her phone to put a marker on her GPS.

Then, a noise caught her attention. When she looked up, a small, green blob was hovering from behind one of the boxes. It was jelly-like. She recognized it as a Solosis.

“What about that one?” she said as she gestured to the wild Pokemon. “If I remember right, its final evolution is a pretty serious battler.”

---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Solosis: 100%


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
13 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In a storage room.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy, Spinda, Solosis
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 0/9,000 [Uncommon Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 100%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn

 

The Spinda continued to stumble around the room in an erratic fashion. the sound of more furniture crashing to the floor resonating around the strange room as we left. The automatic door shut behind us, and we were back in the strange white-walled hallway. Ivy took the lead, looking for another room to check for Pokemon. She stopped by one with a faint orange light reaching out into the hallway. It appeared to be a storage room, filled with various different crates stacked around the sides. The light barely illuminated the room with it's eerie glow.

“Looks like the Rangers missed this room,” she said. “I'm not really surprised. They've been mapping out the place since it was uncovered, but it's pretty spacious. I'll have to send them a message later."

"Fair enough. I didn't even realize this place COULD be mapped. Seems totally random to me." I watched her mark down the GPS co-ordinates on her phone, wondering if the strange transforming rooms were truly random after all, or fixed in a pattern.

The sound of movement in the storage room snapped me out of my thoughts. We both looked up to see a Solosis, slowly floating up from behind one of the piles of crates. A strange Pokemon, the floating blob of green jelly was known to have powerful psychic abilities. Between it and the Abra I had caught earlier, it looked like I'd be adding some powerful Psychic Pokemon to my battling options.

"What about that one?" Ivy asked. “If I remember right, its final evolution is a pretty serious battler.”

"Yeah, this is much more what I'm looking for." I replied. "Charizard, do you feel like battling again?"

Charizard looked at me, yawned, and lay down next to a pile of crates, tail curled up next to him.

"Guess that's a no. Alright then, Empoleon can battle this one, ya lazy shit." I said, picking both Pokeballs off my belt. "Charizard, return." The orange Dragon disappeared in a flash of red light, and I re-clipped his Pokeball.

Solosis was definitely a lot slower than the Abra that Empoleon had fought earlier, but it was still just as capable of playing tricks with its psychic powers. Empoleon would have to be careful.

"Come out Empoleon, we have another capture to make." I pressed the button on his Pokeball, and with a flash Empoleon appeared, stretching its fins. Solosis watched intently, floating out around the crates to face Empoleon in the crowded room.

"Alright, you're up against another Psychic type, so watch out for the same sort of tricks Abra threw at you earlier. It's pretty crowded in here too, so you wont have as much room to fight as you did out in the open. Think you can handle it?"

Empoleon nodded, taking a step towards the green blob. Empoleon had some powerful moves, but it probably wouldn't be great idea to use a move like Earthquake indoors, and I doubted it would even have much effect on the levitating jelly, unless a crate fell on it or something.

"Empoleon, get started with Bubblebeam! Keep your eye on Solosis, it might try to use the crates in here as cover. You might need to change position." Rather than go with all-out attack just yet, I wanted to gauge how Solosis would react to the battle challenge.

Empoleon took a deep breath, his chest puffing out as he took aim and prepared his attack.

 

@Monbrey; Gender?

BP#6

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

When the Trainer saw Ivy marking her phone, he said he was surprised the place could even be mapped. “Yeah, the structure of the base itself is static, but the machinery in the rooms changes. There are actually sensors all over the park, and it's pure luck which ones happen to be triggered in each room. Once upon a time, there was a control panel that regulated all of that, but we haven't been able to find it yet.”

In response to her question about the Pokemon, Ryan answered, “Yeah, this is much more what I'm looking for.” The jelly-like Pokemon wasn't super common, and if the Trainer liked battling, this one was a good candidate. “Charizard, do you feel like battling again?” he asked his orange lizard.

The Fire-type leveled him a good look, yawned, and proceeded to curl up and sleep as an answer. Ivy shook her head as she smiled, and Ryan returned Charizard with a grumble, sending Empoleon out in his place. That was probably fair anyway since the dragon had just finished battling something else. The penguin had had more rest and more experience against this type of wild Pokemon.

“Empoleon, get started with Bubblebeam! Keep your eye on Solosis—it might try to use the crates in here as cover,” Ryan advised.

The large metal penguin stepped forward and sucked in a huge breath, puffing out his chest and throwing his head back for an instant before lunging forward and spitting out a rapid stream of bubbles, jetted along by small veins of water.

While normally not very threatening, the sheer amount of bubbles in the blast made for a jarring effect. The stream shot straight at the Psychic-type before it could move out of the way, and as soon as the fragile bubbles made contact with its skin, they popped. The Solosis let out a cry of surprise, but it was drowned out in the noise of many bubbles bursting at once.

Stunned for a moment, the wild Pokemon could only endure the blast. It even tried floating behind the boxes for cover, but the Bubblebeam was so intense that it could only move inches. Then it realized that it had to act from its stationary position in order to make it stop.

With a flare of energy, a nearly-invisible screen of pinkish light materialized in front of the Solosis at a diagonal. The obstacle veered the stream of bubbles off to the side and harmlessly against the wall: a Light Screen. Free to move, even Ivy could feel the Solosis gathering energy as her skin prickled. It was strange—normally a Pokemon used many screens at once, either protecting itself in a wide arc or lining them up. There was only one screen here. Where were the others?

“Be careful,” Ivy warned. “I don't see the other Light Screens with this low of visibility, so watch out for them springing up where you least expect them.”

Then, the Psychic-type fired off a return attack. Green energy morphed into a ball in front of it, wobbling unsteadily similar to its own body structure. Lining up its shot, it fired the Energy Ball straight up the path of the bubbles. The beam attack popped and scattered orbs as it flew, finally snapping Empoleon in the beak and making him stumble back.

The jellybean, panting a bit, then gave a cry and floated behind one of the boxes so it was out of sight entirely. Due to the size of the room, Empoleon might have a hard time moving around with his bulk. On the other hand, the Solosis was tiny, so hiding in small cracks wasn't going to be a big issue. Ryan would have to get tricky in order to maneuver around this.

---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Solosis: 76% LS1 [Used Light Screen and Energy Ball]
Gentle M Empoleon: 88% [Used Bubblebeam]


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
13 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In a storage room.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy, Spinda, Solosis
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 3,273/9,000 [Uncommon Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 88%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn

 

@WinterVines;

Empoleon unleashed the torrent of bubbles at high-speed. Although Bubblebeam didn't appear dangerous, it was a useful attack for disorienting and slowing an opponent - exactly the effect it was having on the Solosis. The bubbles hit the jelly-like Pokemon hard, popping and causing small ripples on it's green surface. It tried to float out of the stream, but the slowing effect was too strong. It would have to protect itself some other way.

With a flare of pink light, the bubbles were deflected against the wall, hitting a nearly invisible barrier instead of their intended target. Solosis must have set up a Light Screen.

Ivy turned to me with a warning. "Be careful, I don't see the other Light Screens with this low of visibility, so watch out for them springing up where you least expect them.”

"Good point. Guess I should probably avoid special attacks for now."

Solosis was now glowing with a faintly greenish light, which quickly materialized into a brightly glowing ball of energy in front of it, almost the same size and shape as the Pokemon itself. Solosis shot it directly back at Empoleon, clearing the way of bubbles and colliding directly with its open beak. As Empoleon tried to regather its footing, Solosis floated back behind a stack of crates, now free from the barrage of bubbles.

Although I could almost see light refractions in certain places, it was impossible to know where all the screens were, or how big they were. On top of that, Empoleon couldn't move to attack too much in the cramped room, especially with near-invisible barriers all over the place.

I had to come up with a way to either find the barriers, remove them, or render them obsolete.

I began muttering to myself out loud. "Not maneuverable enough to dart around them... Brick Break? No, too tiring to break them all, and not a good attack against Solosis. Water would change the light refraction patterns..." I looked over at Ivy. "Can I- no, never mind, that's stupid." Pretty sure I already knew the answer to "Can I fill this room this water?"

"Although... maybe I still could. Just not as a liquid." I realized what I was saying made no sense out of context. "Empoleon! We're going to have to try and find those Light Screens. So first, I want you to use Mist to fill this room. Check for anywhere that light patterns change, or the swirling of the mist gets blocked. That's where the Light Screens will be, you'll need to try and avoid those until they fade."

Empoleon nodded. Although it could be a formidable fighter, Empoleon was also quite intelligent, and generally enjoyed using slightly more passive, but tricky strategies. I was still going to have to come up with a way to fight Solosis without destroying the room, and special attacks weren't an option with all the Light Screens in play.

"Really wish I had brought a Ghost type, these crates wouldn't even be a problem." Empoleon however, a bulky Steel type, was anything but immaterial. "Actually... maybe it doesn't need to be COMPLETELY Ghost-like...".

I was talking out of context again. Half-formed ideas do not make good conversation starters.

Shadow Claw was an interesting technique, and would probably come in handy here. Although it was commonly used as an extension of the user's own claws, would be able to pass through the crates, I remembered seeing a very different usage of it. A Simisage had been able to place its hand on the ground, controlling projecting it's own shadow and extending the claw attack from the ground, allowing for a very sneaky technique. Combined with the shroud from the mist, I doubted that Solosis would see it coming, though with it's Psychic abilities who could be sure.

"Empoleon, this one is tricky, but I know it's possible. We're going to use Shadow Claw to hit Solosis, but instead of attacking directly with a conjured shadow, I want you to use the technique to project your own shadow along the ground." I looked around the room. "When this room is full of mist, the lighting is going to be casting shadows everywhere. I have no idea if that will help or hinder you, so good luck Empoleon!"

This was definitely not an orthodox technique, but the awkward battling conditions of this storeroom left me no other options. At the very least, it would be interesting to see how Empoleon handled it, and good experience for the future.

---

OOC: Simisage thing comes from here, under the "in the anime" section.

 

@Monbrey; That's a pretty cool way to use it. Usually people don't think about execution so Rangers make up whatever they want XD

BP#7

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Ryan, seeing that his opponent had disappeared, started mumbling to himself as he tried to think up a solution. The problem was that Empoleon was pretty bulky for this small room, and he couldn't just go crashing through it because something would break. The insurance companies weren't too thrilled about that sort of thing, so Park staff had to dissuade it.

The Trainer opened his mouth and began a question, but Ivy didn't catch it before he silenced himself and continued his train of thought. Then, he seemed to come up with something. The missing Light Screens were the first priority, since they could really mess up an attack, so he focused on those first.

“Empoleon, we're going to have to try and find those Light Screens. So first, I want you to use Mist to fill this room,” he said. Empoleon nodded and was going to start up the technique when Ryan thought of something else. “This one is tricky, but I know it's possible. We're going to use Shadow Claw to hit Solosis, but instead of attacking directly with a conjured shadow, I want you to use the technique to project your own shadow along the ground.”

The Trainer seemed to have an idea of what he wanted to happen, and Ivy thought the Mist was a good idea. The big penguin took a deep breath and then opened his mouth, a white, milky fog rolling out of it. It took a few seconds for enough of the haze to fill the room, but when it did, the shape of the room was distorted. The crates were obscured, but the fog had to move around them, so the eye could faintly see where it was.

Ryan planned to use the same theory to find the Light Screens. Ivy saw it work almost right away. In the fog, there was an unnatural looking bend to the air right in the middle isle—another of the screens. It was a good thing that one was pointed out right away. If Empoleon had tried to charge through it, he would've been blocked.

Then, Empoleon charged up his other attack. His body became coated in a dark purple energy for a second, but then it trailed down to his feet where his own shadow was placed, just like his Trainer asked of him. At first, nothing happened. Then the shape grew and stretched, seeping out into the rest of the room.

It would be less like a scratch from a claw and more like a wave like this, but the ghastly energy could go through the crates a little easier. It would get obstructed a little bit, since it wasn't totally immaterial, but Empoleon was pretty strong, so the leftover energy would be able to do some damage.

It was unlikely that the penguin would completely surprise the jellybean, since Haji had told her on a couple occasions that Psychic-type's like himself could sense all sorts of energy around them. Even Dark-type energy, whose Pokemon of that type were immune to psychic assaults, were detectable—Haji just looked for absences or holes in the air instead. Solosis might not be able to detect exactly what the attack was or even where it was coming from, but it would probably be aware that something was going to happen.

That didn't really matter, though. With a concentrated burst, Empoleon let his attack fan out, spreading into the room and sailing through the crates of whatever the other Rangers had missed. It didn't take long for them to hear the wild Pokemon cry out, falling into the isle where it was more visible—although that was relative because of the mist. Looked like it had been hiding within the cluster of boxes after all.

It had to shake itself off and straight up from the sideways turn its body had taken, and then the air in the room changed as it gathered energy. Shadows were drawn to the green Pokemon, coiling up together in a ball. Some of the fog gathered with it, giving the orb a milky purple color. Since it was a shady room and Empoleon had just used a similar attack, it had plenty of energy to work with.

As such, the orb grew to about double the size she usually saw them, about one and a half times the width of a basketball. It was pretty visible since it was a huge dark mass in the foggy space. The wild Pokemon then floated upward, taking the Shadow Ball with it, rising above the lip of the Light Screen in the center of the isle. Then, it fired the attack, making sure it could clear the screen.

Empoleon, a little winded and perhaps still adjusting to the different look of the room, didn't get out of the way fast enough. The Shadow Ball impacted its middle, knocking it back with a whoosh of air. He was plenty heavy, so he didn't slide too far, but Ivy felt her hair move.

The Solosis floated back down to the ground slowly, obviously tired from using so much energy in that last attack. It even rested completely on the floor instead of hovering, and if it was taking a break from that, it probably wasn't moving for a few seconds. If Ryan wanted a time to strike, soon would probably be a good idea.

That didn't mean it wasn't going to act, however. Even though it was stationary, Haji still alerted her to more energy being conjured. The Ranger noticed right away that her hair started fuzzing, as if there was a static electricity charge in her. Then, the sky overhead darkened, and she saw flecks of lightning flicker in clouds that formed. That wasn't good.

Ivy called out to the Trainer, “Solosis only learns one type of electrical attack, and Thunder is it. I would hurry.”

Thunder was a massively powerful attack, and in such a small room, it wouldn't be hard to hit Emploen or even everything else with a huge blast. Ivy started calculating in her head, wondering if they were going to have to take action to protect themselves from it. That was the hard part—it was almost impossible to predict what a wild Pokemon would do.

Still, Empoleon had gotten some good hits off, and if they kept at it, maybe the battle would end before anyone seriously got hurt.

---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Solosis: 51% LS2 [Used Shadow Ball and Using Thunder]
Gentle M Empoleon: 78% [Used Mist and Shadow Claw]

Area Effects: The room is full of mist.


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
13 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In a storage room.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy, Spinda, Solosis
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 7,628/9,000 [Uncommon Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 78%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn

 

Empoleon managed to pull of the strange Shadow Claw technique with pretty impressive success - a loud cry was heard from the Solosis' hiding place. However, having now been found, it was prepared to fight. A bright ball of energy could be seen moving upwards through the clouded room, and was quickly flying straight at Empoleon.

Although the Shadow Ball hit him square on he took the force pretty well, just sliding back a small distance. Steel typing was always good for taking a hit.
The small green Pokemon floated back down to the ground, clearly spent after it's efforts.

Thinking I'd have a little planning time, I began working out my next option. I felt I was close to a capture, but Solosis still appeared to be pretty strong, despite its tiredness. However my thoughts were soon interrupted by Ivy. Apparently a Thunder attack was on it's way. Great.

A Thunder attack on a Water Pokemon in a room filled with Mist? We'd all be in trouble there. I looked around for something to protect ourselves with... and couldn't see anything. Mist everywhere. Oops.

Alright, time to come up with some alternatives. "Empoleon, that Solosis is charging a Thunder attack - we're going to need some insulation. Do your best to close it in with a Rock Tomb attack. Don't worry too much about the Light Screens, they shouldn't get in the way. Do watch out for the crates though - we don't want to trash this room."

Without any useful Ground attacks at Empoleon's disposal, I figured I'd try the next best thing - rocks. Not exactly the most scientific method of finding out if Rock Tomb is made of non-conductive material, but we were probably going to get the answer either way.

 

@Monbrey; Geez I'm so tired. I hope this made sense.

BP#8

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

The mist was damp against her skin—and that was going to be bad news if the Solosis' Thunder went off. Ivy was tense, her shoulders coiled, but there wasn't much she could do. Haji would defend the group with a Protect shield, but that might not help against an attack that could potentially fill the whole room. Ryan was going to have to act. She'd gotten shocked a couple times and it wasn't pleasant.

Thankfully, he told his Pokemon they had a need for insulation, and to do this, Empoleon was to use Rock Tomb.

There was only one teeny problem with this—there wasn't any rocks in this room. Usually this wasn't a problem, like in the hallway against the Mankey, because this facility was able to often replicate environments. Except this was a storage area, and nothing had changed.

Ryan had warned his Pokemon about trashing the room, but the penguin looked pained. He looked around and didn't see any rocks he could use—there was only the crates.

Empoleon was smart; he could see the mounting danger and made an executive decision. Dashing forward, he slid into a crate, pushing it closer to the Psychic-type as it charged up its attack. He did the same thing several more times, trying to close the Solosis in to negate some of the damage Thunder would cause.

On the last one, Empoleon heaved his shoulder into the box and slid with it, closing off the jellybean Pokemon in a box ring. And then it hit an invisible wall.

A pearly gleam of light flashed for just a moment—one of the Light Screens was there. Usually, the barriers deflected attacks, but technically they were still packets of energy. Empoleon could've probably pushed the crate through the screen with a little more force, but he had run out of time.

The Solosis, seeing what Empoleon was doing, took action. With a weary cry, it let loose the energy it had been storing, illuminating the hazy area with yellow gleaming light. Ivy tensed and watched it closely.

A lot of the outward burst hit the wooden crates and dissipated—wood wasn't too great of a conductor compared to other materials. Some of it even reflected back onto the Solosis since it was too close to the boxes and it ricocheted.

However, the Light Screen had not allowed Empoleon to finish the box ring, and lightning snuck through the crack. The penguin called out as the shocking energy whipped out, getting clipped with electricity. Thankfully, his surroundings protected him a little and prevented a full attack. In the mist, that would've been very bad.

But getting some negative feedback had sapped a little more of the Solosis' strength, and it was worn on its face. Its entire body sagged a little, no longer hovering above the ground.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up, and Ivy had to shield her eyes. The mist obscured it a little, but it was still bright. Mostly, it affected the area around the Psychic-type, like headlights driving through the fog—the brighter it was, the harder it was to see at close range.

When the light dulled, Ivy couldn't make out the Solosis' form at all. It had used the Flash to disappear into the room again, aided by the fog.

The good thing was that it was getting too tired to keep up the hide-and-seek. Empoleon would probably find it pretty easily.

---

Current Encounter Stats:

??? ??? Solosis: 43% LS3 [Used Thunder and Flash][Not visible]
Gentle M Empoleon: 70% [Used Crate Tomb]

Area Effects: The room is full of mist.


---

Trainer Stats

Name: Monbrey
Location: Enigma Ruins
13 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: In a storage room.
Pokémon Encountered: Abra, Dunsparce, Palpitoad, Mankey, Clefairy, Spinda, Solosis
Pokémon Captured: Docile F Abra, Naive M Mankey
MCR: 9,307/9,000 [Uncommon Rank]

Items: 2x Hyper Balls, 1x Super Balls, Pokeplayer, Vulpix Voice Disk, Digital Camera, 4x Super Potions, 3x Full Restores

Pokemon Stats

Charizard @ 80%
Gender: Male
Ability: Solar Power
Nature: Brave
EMs: All of them (aka Ebail was too lazy to list)

Empoleon @ 70%
Gender: Male
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Gentle
EMs:TM06 Toxic, TM13 Ice Beam, TM14 Blizzard, TM26 Earthquake, TM48 Rock Slide, TM50 Substitute, TM59 Hidden Power: Ghost, TM64 Protect, TM98 Brick Break, TM101 Rock Tomb, TM121 Shadow Claw, TM129 Stealth Rock, TM135 Grass Knot
HM01 Cut, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, HM10 Defog
BM Agility, BM Yawn