[@LuckyBlackCat] [quote=LuckyBlackCat] Nicholas' Pokemon, a Sentret, made a wild dash forward. By the look of it, not even the sudden burst of speed could match Mellona's, or at least Netty hoped. Still, she had to think quickly. [color=7cff30]"Mel, sweep it back with Gust!"[/color] Mellona braced herself, buzzing louder as she whipped up a much stronger stream of wind than the earlier ones. [/quote] The Sentret was too close to change trajectory. He couldn't dodge the gust that roared after him, and was sent back flying before he could get damage on Mellona. "Seee!" he cried, completely getting swept off his feet. "Emmy! Defense Curl to protect yourself from the fall!" Nicholas commanded. Emmy was able to curl up into a protective ball as he plummeted from the--albeit now dissipating--howling winds. The pokemon seemed to flash red for a moment as his defenses were raised. Still, this was just for his physical defense, it wouldn't help his special defense. The Gust attack would still do full damage should Netty choose to use it again. "Hmph, that was a lucky hit, Bug Catcher. I don't see how you're any different from the other bug trainers I've seen. Tell me, why do you all bother with such a common and weak type?" Nicholas grinned. "Before you answer that--Emmy, try a Scratch!" The Sentret let out a shriek as it headed towards Mellona with glowing claws. Nicholas was relaxed and confident, despite the initial turn. What would Netty's next move be? [hr] [@Jujube] [quote=jujube] [color=lavender]"Magnet! Be careful! Avoid those fire attacks! And..."[/color] She squinted as the Charmander exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. [color=lavender][i]That's... Smokescreen? So this Charmander knows Smokescreen and Ember... Maybe we can use our status moves, before it tries to mess with us. Can't let our accuracy fall when every move counts![/i] "Use Thunder Wave! Focus on paralyzing!"[/color] If they inhibited the Charmander's movement, surely the sides would be evened out a little. Magnet would try to dodge the Ember, then fire off a Thunder Wave. Zaria crossed her fingers.[/quote] Unfortunately, Magnet was not able to dodge the Ember, and was hit by the super-effective move. However, Magnet succeeded in paralyzing the opposing Char after he was hit. The Charmander's movements slowed to a crawl as electricity crackled around his body, locking his muscles in place. "Char!" he growled, trying to fight against the paralysis. "Don't ignore me!" The girl, Rorie, stamped her foot. "Char, hang on! We've been paralyzed before. Fire off a Smokescreen!" The Charmander was slowed, but not fully paralyzed. He snorted and spewed out a thick screen of black smoke. The smog cloaked the battle area, lowering the accuracy of opponents in the vicinity. "You're one of those rangers, aren't you?" Rorie crossed her arms. "Was that story in class about the fire true? Let's see how you handle Char, then!" She grinned. Her Charmander was paralyzed, but they also had a little bit of cover from the accuracy drop they had inflicted. One pokemon paralyzed, and one with less accuracy, who would get unlucky first? Char still had the advantage with his typing, though. That said, there could still be a strategy here. What would it be then? [hr] [@Crimson Flame] [quote] Tim took a moment to think moment to think of his next move. Rocky was faster than Pachi, but Pachi was an electric type, and could probably inflict paralysis on Rocky. That wouldn’t be good. [color=deepskyblue]”Um... Rocky... Use Double Team... Please...”[/color] The Rockruff ran around in circles, and created multiple illusory copies of himself while barking loudly. Tim hoped the Yamper would hit one of the duplicates, and he could get an attack in safely. Tim shuffled his feet and twiddled his thumbs nervously. [color=deepskyblue]”Um... uh... W-w-whatever happens... I-I-I hope our Pokémon can play together sometime...”[/color] He smiled sheepishly. [color=deepskyblue]”Rocky would appreciate a fellow dog Pokémon to play with”[/color] [/quote] As Rocky created multiple copies of himself, Gerald cursed. "Damnit! We need to try to paralyze that inferior mutt! Use Discharge!" Pachi barked happily, letting of a massive, jagged blast of electric energy into their arena. "Yip! Yiip!" Pachi cheered as lightning came thundering down. "As if I would ever let Pachi play with your inferior mongrel!" Gerald shouted back, insulted by Tim's suggestion. "Pachi is a purebred Yamper, the finest of his kind! Your Rockruff could never compare! We only associate with the purest of breeds after all, Pachi would get sick playing with those dirty breeds and all that dander in their fur!" As he spoke, the massive bolts of lightning struck the multiple Rockruff on the field one by one until there was one left. But was it the real one? After a moment it became clear--Rocky had successfully dodged the attack! "Pachi! Hang in there! We'll defeat that dirty cur! Be on your guard!" Gerald insisted. It was Tim's move then! What was he thinking next? [hr] [@Ryik] [quote] Troy couldn't help but notice the attack's shoddy quality, sparser than one should expect and symptomatic of Gulpin's visible inexperience. Even in spite of Shuckle's defensive focus, power split is unlikely to yield much (if any) results this battle, and Shuckle should theoretically do the most damage through brute force. As for Gulpin's attack, although poison is usually very difficult for a Shuckle to deal with before learning Rest, it's shouldn't be an issue for a 1v1 battle with healing available in between, so long as things don't get dragged out. Troy hates to take chances, but expecting a Shuckle to dodge an attack with no setup is like expecting the sun to stop shining. Still, it's not like there's no counter-measures. [color=yellow]"Block it with defense curl."[/color] Shuckle withdraws into its shell and angles itself to avoid direct contact with the sludge as the poison comes to drape itself over his shell. [color=yellow]"Now, shake it off with rollout!"[/color] Shuckle begins spinning rapidly, attempting to shake off the poison while it barrels toward Gulpin. [/quote] Though the Defense Curl raising physical defense didn't necessarily help defend against Gulp's special attack based Sludge, a defense boost was never a bad thing. And the move made Rollout more powerful to boot. Bobby's eyes widened with Shock as the Shuckle effortlessly shrugged off the poison type move. "B-But how?!" He sputtered, recoiling as the Shuckle barrelled into Gulp directly, which sent Gulp skidding back with a cry. The hit had been a hard one. Still the Gulpin rose. It seemed like the opponents weren't defeated just yet... "Gup!" Bobby searched out Troy's gaze. "Don't ignore me, damnit! I'm important!" He jabbed a finger, trembling. "You'll see! Our bond can't be defeated! Gulp, use Yawn!" The Gulpin opened his mouth wide and released a huge, dreamy pink bubble towards the Shuckle. "Ha! You'll be asleep in no time!" How would Troy respond?