[center] [color=007236][h1]Rheese Laudat[/h1][/color] [h2][color=007236]v[/color][color=00aeef]s[/color][/h2] [h1][color=00aeef]Lan Sohai[/color][/h1][/center]
[center] [h2][color=007236]Mesalon Gym[/color][/h2][/center]


[color=00aeef]"I will admit, you are not the first person of your group I expected today."[/color] Lan said as he stood up to face the challenger. [color=00aeef]"Though I can tell by the look in your eyes that whatever happened yesterday has pushed you to grow as a trainer. Let us hope that it is in the right direction."[/color]

[color=007236]"I...It had to."[/color] Rheese said, shaking slightly now that the moment had come. It was time to prove to himself that he wasn't the hindrance Ray's words had made him believe. Despite his body language, there was a steeled look of determination in his eyes. 

The referee, one of Lan's students, stood at the middle of the arena. After he explained the rules of a standard three versus three pokemon battle, both sides decided on the Pokemon that would kick the event off. 

[color=007236]"Cottonee!"[/color] Rheese shouted as he threw the Pokeball to reveal the small ball of cotton.

[color=00aeef]"To the front Doduo."[/color] Lan stated calmly as the Pokeball in his hand opened. The two headed flying/normal type emerged immediately. Aside from the difference in size, the type difference made Rheese a quite a bit less confident. 

Even so, he couldn't back down now. Cottonee however, wasn't phased in the slightest by the match up. She smiled up at the doduo as though it was a simple play date. 

[color=007236]"Cottonee, use leech seed!"[/color] Rheese commanded, snapping the grass type out of her friendly demeanor. A burst of seeds covered Doduo and began sapping its health. 

[color=00aeef]"Doduo, Aerial ace."[/color] Lan said. The attack struck Cottonee and sent her spiralling upwards. The fact that she held on through the attack was surprising in and of itself, but it likely wouldn't be enough.

[color=007236]"Strike back with fairy wind!"[/color] Rheese yelled. Cottonee's attack was clearly less effective than its opponent's, but combining it with the leech seed was still fairly formidable.

[color=00aeef]"Finish them with another Aerial ace."[/color] The command came, signalling the end of the first round. Cottonee was launched directly into Rheese's arms. The unconscious pokemon twitched slightly. 

[color=007236]"You did good, I couldn't have asked for more."[/color] Rheese said giving Cottonee a quick pat and returning her to her ball. [color=007236]"Minior, your opponent's weak! Let's go!"[/color] Rheese shouted as he threw Minior's ball. As he should have expected, the spherical pokemon launched itself directly at him. By now, however, Rheese's reaction time with his Pokemon had improved drastically. He sidestepped Minior's assault and caught the Pokemon before it had the chance to resume its assault. [color=007236]"I'm happy to see you too Minior, but we're in the middle of a battle. I need you to focus up."[/color] Rheese whispered right next to Minior clearly calming it down. This was his ace in the hole, the Pokemon that had the clearest advantage against everything Rheese had seen Lan use...It was stupid to rely on type advantage so heavily, but he was already behind in this battle and he needed anything he could get.

[color=00aeef]"Hmm? A good choice of typing for this battle, though it's clear your Minior's training is lacking."[/color] Lan said, earning a glare from his opponent.

[color=007236]"Minior, use rollout!"[/color] Rheese shouted, not dignifying Lan's accusation with a response. Minior launched itself at the opposing Doduo and plowed through it with little resistance. The red glow of it returning to Lan's Pokeball made Rheese smile slightly. In one move, Minior had both evened the score and retaliated to Lan's statement.

[color=00aeef]"Go, Furfrou."[/color] Lan said, clearly unphased by the Doduo's defeat. Immediately, Minior changed course and hurtled towards the new opponent with gusto. [color=00aeef]"Cotton guard."[/color] Lan said just before the Pokemon impacted causing the rock type to glance off of Furfrou. The defensive move certainly lessened the damage, but anyone could see that the move was still fairly effective. If this went on and Minior continued gaining momentum however, it would eventually push through.

[color=007236]"Keep going Minior!"[/color] Rheese encouraged his Pokemon. It felt a little cheap to bulldoze through like this, in fact it felt very cheap. It wasn't the battle he had hoped for at all. He wasn't winning as a result of his training, he was using a 'strategy' that relied solely on Minior and not his other Pokemon.

In little to no time, Furfrou was finished and Lan's Munchlax was all that remained. [color=00aeef]"Munchlax, use zen headbutt."[/color] Lan commanded. The bright energy that surrounded the normal type's head collided with Minior's rollout causing an impressive shockwave that launched both Pokemon backwards. Minior rose back into the air in a few seconds, its shell cracked and crumbling. It quickly shook off the rocky coating and began spinning up once more. Munchlax picked itself up as well, the bluish pokemon scratched its head where the attacks had collided before reaching behind it to reveal a sitrus berry that it scarfed down immediately. 

Despite the additional health, the next collision ended the fight in Minior's favor. With that, the battle was over. Rheese had won, though he wasn't happy with the method. If Lan was displeased by his loss, his face didn't betray it at all. The stone cold stoicism he had shown in previous battles carried on as he handed Rheese his badge.

[color=00aeef]"I can sense your unease with such a victory."[/color] Lan said, forcing Rheese to look up. [color=00aeef]"It's not unfounded, your victory was a display of your minior's strength not your own."[/color]

 The already hollow feeling victory being punctuated like that by the gym leader stung. It would've been easy to shrug off if he hadn't already been thinking it. 

[color=00aeef]"Though, that should be the furthest thought from your mind."[/color] Lan said, confusing Rheese. [color=00aeef]"You cannot raise your Pokemon properly if you compare your own performance to theirs. Instead of chastising yourself, you should be praising your Pokemon. Your Cottonee performed admirably, and despite its behavior, your Minior has quite a bit of potential. Remember this moving forward."
[/color]
[center][hider=notes] 
[hider=Team]
[img]http://pokeunlock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/wooper-21.gif[/img]lv:11 [img]http://pldh.net/media/pokemon/gen6/xy/546.png[/img]lv:10
[img]http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/4/41/774Minior_Green_Dream.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20161118185504p[/img] lv:13
[/hider]
[/hider]
[/center]

[center] [color=bc8dbf][h1]Rachel[/h1][/color][/center]
[center] [color=bc8dbf][h2]Mesalon Cave[/h2][/color][/center]
[@Dusksong][@LuckyBlackCat][@AbysmalDemon][@Noxx]

Eventually the group reached a sort of archway at the end of the tunnel. It seemed to double as both decoration and a load bearing support. Rachel motioned for the young trainers behind her to stop as she advanced. Supports like these would often hold traps or other means of deterring intruders. 

She inspected the intricate carvings carefully as she replicated them to the best of her ability in her notes. As she did, she saw the slightest bit of Cradilly's light reflect off of a string at the bottom. Her mind immediately raced with possibilities as she traced the tripwire to the source. Once she found the mechanism it was attached to, she grew quite concerned to see that it was attached to some barrels. The easiest assumption to make was that the barrels would explode once triggered and the tunnel would collapse... Though, upon closer inspection it seemed that someone or something had already disarmed the trap. 

Rachel sighed in relief and wiped some sweat from her brow. Something like this could have been disastrous if a trainer would have wandered into these caves and stumbled over this unknowingly. Still, the possibilities of another explorer having delved this deep were intriguing to say the least. 

As an extra measure, Rachel snipped the wire and continued forward offering a nod back to the trainers behind her. The path through the archway opened up to a what appeared to simply be a massive cavern. However, once Cradily emerged from the tunnel behind Rachel it was revealed to be much more incredible. It seemed that the cave they had entered through was a mere escape tunnel connecting to what was once a massive underground highway of sorts. On Rachel's left what appeared to be a large road extended as far as she could see, though on her right it appeared that a large portion of the ceiling had collapsed to block the path.

Rachel's jaw practically hit the floor at the discovery. Purple flames sat upon pedestals lining the sides of the road and dimly lighting the path. She reached for her Pokenav to contact Kraterdesh's gym leader. Purple flames like these weren't natural, they generally used souls or other supernatural sources for fuel...And of course [i]he[/i] would probably be quite interested to hear about this. 

Unfortunately, she was completely unable to receive a signal from this depth so it was kind of a moot point. Instead, she let the rest of her Pokemon out of their balls as an extra security measure. Archeops took to the air above the group and Tyranitar walked right beside Rachel. A few ghost Pokemon lurked, clearly interested in the group, yet not brave enough to challenge one of the gym leader's Pokemon that vigilantly watched every direction. It was clear that this wasn't their first time dealing with such a situation. Even so, Rachel clasped her keystone. She knew it was irresponsible to keep going with these fledgling trainers, but there was something close...Perhaps her adventurous side was simply getting the best of her.

[color=bc8dbf]"Everybody stay close."[/color] She said simply.