ECC: Monbrey

As you enter Meteor Valley you realize you won't be flying around on your Charizard because of the fog. In doing so, you might miss the Pokemon on the ground because of how thick it is. Instead you see two options. A nearby cave that might have valuable Pokemon that might be lurking within. You also see a sign that points East talking about a small body of water that rare Pokemon usually like hanging around with.

Spoiler

Battle Stats:

Name: @Monbrey;
Items: 3 Park Balls; 2 Super Balls; 1 Hyper Ball; 2 Lava Cookies, 2 Energy Powders, 1 PokeDoll
Location: Meteor Valley
Encounters: 0 | 5 Remaining
Area Effects: Foggy
Pokemon:
Charizard
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
EMs: ALL OF THEM

 

I walked into Meteor Valley, following the Ranger assigned to my contest run. For some reason he had made no attempt to introduce himself, but that was fine. I admired his efficiency.

I had been looking forward to this excursion ever since someone had told me to enter for no real reason at all, and I for some reason agreed, despite usually being quite lazy on my park runs. Although there wasn't really anything I needed from the National Park, free Pokemon was always nice, so I figured "Why not?". Plus. it was a contest, so a bit of competition was always fun.

Unlike usual park runs, the rules of the contest stated I could only take one Pokemon, so naturally Charizard was at my side as we walked towards the foggy valley. Once he knew it was a contest I knew his competitive spirit wouldn't let me down, though I had to make sure he didn't get TOO excited.

Ever seen a Charizard wagging his tail? Duck. Just... duck.

I had a nagging feeling that I had read somewhere that only Flash was required for Meteor Valley, but luckily Charizard knew Defog to deal with the strangely low cloud cover that we found in front of us. I suppose you never could rely on National Park staff to get their facts right. Too busy playing dress-ups.

Near the entrance was a sign showing the way to a lake that apparently contained rare water Pokemon. However as everyone knows, water Pokemon aren't used by REAL battlers, so instead I began to venture towards a nearby cave, hoping to find some rare Pokemon in there instead.

 

You decide to go into the cave. The park lords are angry at your attitude towards them and you fall into a trap hole. Luckily, your Charizard is quick and catches you before you fall onto some toxic spikes. You proceed with caution down the cave and notice a Purrlion cleaning itself towards the side. Will you attempt to battle it or try to pass it by.

Spoiler

Battle Stats: Purrlion 100% Charizard 100%

Name: @Monbrey;
Items: 3 Park Balls; 2 Super Balls; 1 Hyper Ball; 2 Lava Cookies, 2 Energy Powders, 1 PokeDoll
Location: Meteor Valley
Encounters: 1 | 4 Remaining
Area Effects: Foggy
Pokemon:
Charizard
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
EMs: ALL OF THEM

 

As I walked into the cave, I could see that the fog was really building up in the confined space. It was difficult to see very far in front at all. Charizard walked behind me, snorting in annoyance at the cloudy air, sending wisps of it swirling around his flared nostrils.

Venturing further into the cave, the floor suddenly gave out, and I began to fall down. Luckily, Charizard was quick and managed to save me from the spikes at the bottom.

"Who the hell maintains this place... Useless..." I muttered to myself. The deities watching over me are clearly complete jerks, I thought. Never mind that though, I was here for Pokemon.

Continuing on past the numerous unchecked safety hazards, I noticed a Purrloin to the side of the cave, quietly cleaning itself. Purrloin wasn't really what I was after, so I signalled to Charizard to stay quiet, as we slowly attempted to creep past the cat.

 

Purrlion decides to let you pass. You are thankful you didn't have to waste time battling it, not that it would be much of a challenge anyways. As you walk further down, you keep your eyes peeled for any other traps this place could hold. Unfortunately, you don't look too carefully as you trigger a near invisible tripwire. You hear a rumbling sound and notice a big boulder rolling your way. You and your Charizard take off running in the opposite direction. You look frantically for some shelter. Charizard notices a small opening that the both of you could fit in and quickly grabs you and goes in.

Wiping away the sweat from your forehead, you manage to successfully come out of that alive... again. You then notice a Gothorita standing in front of you. Will you battle it?

Spoiler

Battle Stats: Gothorita 100% Charizard 100%

Name: @Monbrey;
Items: 3 Park Balls; 2 Super Balls; 1 Hyper Ball; 2 Lava Cookies, 2 Energy Powders, 1 PokeDoll
Location: Meteor Valley
Encounters: 1 | 4 Remaining
Area Effects: Foggy
Pokemon:
Charizard
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
EMs: ALL OF THEM

 

The Purrloin looked up as we snuck past. After acknowledging our presence with a sharp meow and a look of apathetic disdain, it returned to grooming itself. It seemed like battling would simply be too much effort for it. You could always count on the laziness of a cat.

Leaving the Purrloin behind us, Charizard and I continued on down the cave tunnel, looking out for any more dangerous hazards. It seemed pretty clear, so I relaxed a little and quickened my pace, but a sharp tug on my ankle soon informed me this was a bad decision. A loud rumbling signaled that I had sprung the tripwire.

"Wait... a tripwire? God damnit, this shit is intentional!" Charizard nodded and grunted his disapproval as we both flattened ourselves against the walls of the cave, looking for somewhere to hide from the impending danger. Charizard, who was not particularly good at flattening his large draconian body, spotted a hideaway in the cave wall. Reacting quickly, he pushed me along with his tail inside as the boulder hurtled past, continuing for some distance before hitting a wall and crumbling into a pile of rubble.

"Thanks mate, second time you've saved me from this cave. Or perhaps this Ranger..."

Charizard responded with a toothy grin and a snort of smoke. "Zarrrd!"

I stood there for a moment gathering my bearings, thinking about how nice it would be to return to the luxurious, modern and totally safe Referee HQ. Looking around, I noticed a Gothorita peeking out at me though the fog, from where the boulder had started it rampage. While it wasn't on the top of my wanted Pokemon list, it still held some value. It wouldn't hurt to try and catch it.

"Alright Charizard, I think we'll battle this one. Play it safe, it's still pretty foggy in this cave, and the dust kicked up by the boulder certainly isn't helping. Your tail flame gives your position away though, so you'll have to keep a sharp eye on Gothorita."

Charizard took heed of my instruction and put himself in battle position while I considered our best options. Gothorita was only a basic Pokemon, so using my best techniques wasn't going to be a great idea if I wanted to catch it. I also had to take the contest scoring into account, and I was reasonably certain char-grilled Gothorita wasn't going to score me many points if I dragged it back to the judges. This wasn't Iron Chef after all.

I knew the easy way to get points was through damage and status, but the Rangers also liked really long, drawn out battles that were good for really detailed write-ups; that always seemed to earn contestants more points. Though I was fairly certain the safety report for this place alone would have been a good 50,000 characters.

"Alright Charizard, remember, we're going for points, not a quick kill. Start things off with Will-o-Wisp, try and inflict a burn on the Gothorita."

Charizard growled, cupping his clawed hand where a glowing blue fireball was beginning to form, illuminating the fog around it. I never quite understood why my fire-breathing dragon threw the fireball for this particular move, but I had to admit it at least made for a good lights show.

 

You decide to battle Gothorita, which was a wise choice. The area was a bit foggy, but you should still be able to manage. Without wasting time, you instruct your trusted partner Charizard to start the battle off with Will-o-Wisp. Charizard manages to hit Gothorita with the attack, but then Gothorita breaks down crying. Your Charizard, unsure of what Gothorita was doing, let's his guard down just a bit. The wild Psychic type decides to take advantage of this with a Psyshock attack.

Spoiler

Battle Stats: Gothorita 87.5% BRN Charizard 90% SpD-1
Character Count: 3135/15000

Name: @Monbrey;
Items: 3 Park Balls; 2 Super Balls; 1 Hyper Ball; 2 Lava Cookies, 2 Energy Powders, 1 PokeDoll
Location: Meteor Valley
Encounters: 1 | 4 Remaining
Area Effects: Foggy
Pokemon:
Charizard
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
EMs: ALL OF THEM

 

Charizard lunged forward and threw the blue fireball flew fast through the fog, in an almost baseball-esque style pitch. The orb arced, hitting it's intended target and inflicting a burn on the small Gothorita. I resisted the urge to make a bad "STRIKE" pun.

Charizard looked pleased with its work, and I was too. The burn status would weaken Gothorita, damage it over time, plus earn me a few bonus points. All in all it was a good start to the battle. I was going to have to be careful to manage the ongoing burn damage though, and ensure I caught it before the Pokemon fainted.

Gothorita looked shocked, staring wide-eyed and fearful at my Charizard as it loomed over her. At least, that was the case, until her eyes welled up with tears and the small girlish Pokemon began to cry. Big tears drops fell onto the dusty cave floor. Charizard seemed confused - it hadn't been a strong damaging attack, and this was an odd reaction. Charizard let his guard down and took a couple of steps forward towards the Pokemon, who was now sitting down in a curled up position sobbing.

Gothorita quickly looked up with a grin, a pulsating ball of white and blue energy floating in between its hands. The colours inside the orb swirled around each other as Gothorita jumped back to her feet, her hair-like protrusion bouncing as she did. I hadn't been able to see it while it was huddled up crying, but now I could clearly tell it was a readied Psyshock attack.

"Psyshock and Fake Tears. Fantastic." I thought to myself.

The ball of energy launched at Charizard with great speed, colliding with his belly and knocking him back the few paces he had taken. He let out a wheezing roar as he staggered around - the attack must have knocked some wind out of the large Pokemon's lungs. Despite this, Charizard didn't seem too hurt overall, the ball of blue and white energy dissipating as he regained his footing.

"Fake Tears. You fell for that Charizard?"

Charizard turned his neck, with a look that could only be described as sheepishness on his face. He blew a tiny flame at me that fluttered through the air, fading out about a foot short of my face. It was as if to tell me to back off, in as friendly as he knew how. I guess I hadn't spotted what Gothorita was doing at first either.

"Forget about it buddy. By the looks of things her attacks wont be dealing too much damage. Just don't take that to mean you should get hit by them all, alright? The next Fake Tears could be in a gym battle - be glad you can learn from it here."

Charizard usually learned pretty quickly, and I hoped he wouldn't be caught off guard like that again. Gothorita was obviously a cheeky battler, and wasn't above resorting to cheap, dirty tricks like Fake Tears. Charizard was probably annoyed that he had fallen for it, and would want to strike back.

"Charizard, take your time and keep your guard up with Defence Curl. And you thought it was a waste of money buying that TM!"

Charizard snorted, his opinion clearly unchanged by the fact he was going to use one of his more useless moves.

"Oh fine. While you're curled up, prepare a Mud Slap attack too, that should ruin Gothorita's battle stance and make it harder for her to attack back."

Charizard seemed a little more satisfied with these orders as he hunkered down into a defensive position, a steelish glow radiating over his skin. I knew that he preferred a more direct battling style, but he usually appreciated the intricate strategies involved too. With any luck, this would be one of those times.

 

Gothorita used Psychic. Charizard responded with Defense Curl and Mud Slap. Gothorita was now covered in mud and hurt by the burn. She begins using Rock Tomb.

Spoiler

Battle Stats: Gothorita 59% BRN Acc-1 vs. Charizard 85% Def1
Character Count: 6675/15000

Name: @Monbrey;
Items: 3 Park Balls; 2 Super Balls; 1 Hyper Ball; 2 Lava Cookies, 2 Energy Powders, 1 PokeDoll
Location: Meteor Valley
Encounters: 1 | 4 Remaining
Area Effects: Foggy
Pokemon:
Charizard
Gender: Male
Nature: Brave
Ability: Blaze
EMs: ALL OF THEM