[right][sub][sub][url=https://youtu.be/Ui6wp7VV9VU?t=165]Gym battle in progress[/url][/sub][/sub][/right]
[@hatakekuro]

Larvesta fired String Shots, and it looked like Cecil would be tied up in it! Basil hatched a final idea that could potentially save the day! Cecil was to fire all he had for the one chance to hit the bug spewing web at it, slowing it down as more web tied between the floor and the spinning Pokémon…

Now, Darumakas have weak firepower. However, by absolutely [i]exhausting[/i] herself and putting [i]everything[/i] she had into the fireball, directed downwards, it still managed to blast her off the floor! There was no way she’d be able to continue battling if this missed! So the spinning ball left the ground, the Incinerate burning through the web tying it to the floor and letting the strands flatter off Cecil’s red body as she flew into the air!

[color=7192de]‘Dodge!’[/color] Lorette commanded, and Larvesta, while surprised by the suddenly launched red spinning ball coming at him, was fast enough to blast himself aside, looking like he was going to avoid being hit by a wide margin…

When a strand of String Shot hanging from Cecil’s body caught onto Larvesta as she passed by.

Larvesta, too shocked by the sudden pull to figure to burn the strand, was suddenly dragged and spun by Cecil’s rolling momentum, thrown by the string of String Shot that had attached itself between them, as the both of them flew over and crashed into the wall of the gym, creating a visible indent!

Cecil took recoil damage from her unorthodox strategy! It wasn’t just Rollout anymore, and that makes it Struggle! Kind of, anyway! But, that didn’t matter, Cecil had enough health to avoid fainting! She was completely drained from the Incinerate, however.

Her opponent, Larvesta, had been slammed into the wall by the string of web that had been attached to him… and he fell fainted to the floor, defeated and out.

And with that, Lorette was out of Pokémon.

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zilL9j2MJgc][i]Basil was victorious![/i][/url]

[color=6ecff6][i]Cecil grew to Level 14! Cecil learned Headbutt!
Roxanne grew to Level 13! Roxanne learned Thunder Wave![/i][/color][/center]
[color=7192de]‘Hahaha! That was… some finish! Well done!’[/color] Lorette chuckled as she stood up on the opposite side of the arena. [color=7192de]‘I knew I was right about you! You’re more than capable of passing my little test!’[/color]

[center][color=6ecff6][i]Basil gained 2500P for winning![/i][/color][/center]

Lorette returned Larvesta to his Pokéball, and then walked forward towards Basil, over the platform, smiling all the while.

[color=7192de]‘Here, you’ve earned this,’[/color] Lorette said, handing something over.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTXMX8zEQUk][center][i]Basil obtained the Shrine Badge![/i][/center][/url]
[color=7192de]‘Oh, and have this, too. When facing many different challenges, it’s a good idea to often switch Pokémon to deal with the current obstacle. This move should help with that! It does decent damage AND returns your Pokémon for you. It’s pretty handy!’[/color]

[center][color=6ecff6][i]Basil obtained TM89 U-Turn![/i][/color][/center]
[color=7192de]‘Don’t worry about if you happen to lose the badge, your victory has already been registered into the Pokémon League database, meaning your feat today won’t go lost with just that. It also means stealing badges won’t get anyone very far. It feels special, doesn’t it, holding a badge for yourself? You’ve now taken your first step towards battling in the Pokémon League itself. Don’t let up now! You’re going all the way, aren’t you~?’[/color] Lorette asked in a happy, playful tone.

[color=7192de]‘That aside, you actually came here for something else, didn’t you?’[/color] Lorette asked, chuckling some more.

Anise stepped forward from where she’d stayed in order to watch the battle. There was some respect in her eyes when looking at Basil, at the moment.

So, what did Basil have to say? Or perhaps he had Pokémon to tend to first?

__________________________

[@Joshua Tamashii]
[sub][sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66LCfFqIbAA]appropriate music[/url][/sub][/sub]

[color=greenyellow]‘What Ledyba knows…?’[/color] Eric asked, and looked to his nervous bug. He eventually nodded, kneeled down and picked out a Potion, he hadn’t figured to bring a Burn Heal, but he could go to the Pokémon Center later in any case. [color=greenyellow]‘Right, Ledyba. Tell us what you know,’[/color] he told his bug.

Ledyba swallowed, as far as a giant ladybug can, nodding to his trainer and then looking towards the rest of them. Leila looked on curiously and Annica crossed her arms.

Ledyba focused his attention, and then… it was time for testimony.

[hider=TESTIMONY: Ledyba][center][url=http://cdn2.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/bb/165Ledyba.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/Bezco9v.png[/img][/url][/center]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledyba!’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Led, ledy, Ledyba…’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledyba, led, ledy…’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledy, ba, dyba…’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledyba ledy Ledyba! Ledy!’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledy-dyba.. ’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘Ledyba…’[/color][/hider]

[color=paleturquoise]‘That… that doesn’t help us,’[/color] Annica said with a face covered in doubt.

[color=3A87C5]‘Palpitoad…!’[/color] Palpitoad objected. To Pokémon present, it meant plenty! It’s just a matter of how they’d translate it to human.

[hider=TESTIMONY: Ledyba (translated)][center][url=http://cdn2.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/bb/165Ledyba.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/Bezco9v.png[/img][/url][/center]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]I tried to steal it![/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]Trainer wanted Water Stone for Amy so I snook off while he was training Surskit…[/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]I was going to try to convince Palpitoad, but he wasn’t there, so…[/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]I was going to just take it. I’m so sorry…[/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]But then I was hit by a fireball that burned me! I fled in tears![/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]It was that Pokémon with a long tail and a hat…[/i]’[/color]
[color=EF864F]‘[i]The one Annica has…[/i]’[/color][/hider]

Soooooooooooo. How would the Pokémon present, in case they were listening, get this across?

[hider=TESTIMONY: Backpacker Leila][center][url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/e4/VSBackpacker_F_SM.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/KdQaabU.png[/img][/url][/center]
[color=goldenrod]‘So, the three of us are friends. We came to Route 2 together.’[/color]
[color=goldenrod]‘We came across the Water Stone, but Palpitoad protected it.’[/color]
[color=goldenrod]‘I sent Barboach to cause an earthquake, but got too scared to take the stone!’[/color]
[color=goldenrod]‘I didn’t dare look back on Annica, in case I looked suspicious!’[/color]
[color=goldenrod]‘Any one of her many Pokémon could have been looking at me!’[/color]
[color=goldenrod]‘I later checked on the Palpitoad and the Water Stone, but both were gone.’[/color][/hider]

[hider=TESTIMONY: Lass Annica][center][url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/0/0a/Spr_Masters_Lass.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/kkQlKFu.png[/img][/url][/center]
[color=paleturquoise]‘I went to set up camp for us for later, because we were going to spend time here.’[/color]
[color=paleturquoise]‘I didn't do much else, just watched Leila nearby by the waterside.’[/color]
[color=paleturquoise]‘So Leila’s Barboach caused the Earthquake. How naughty of her.’[/color]
[color=paleturquoise]‘Leila eventually left towards the site where we found the Water Stone and Palpitoad.’[/color]
[color=paleturquoise]‘It was shortly after that Palpitoad started washing over the route with water.’[/color]
[color=paleturquoise]‘I think Amy’s Staryu can remain a Staryu for now. If it’d evolve, it’d be in the future.’[/color][/hider]

[hider=TESTIMONY: Bug Catcher Eric][center][url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6b/VSBug_Catcher_PE.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/a4txroy.png[/img][/url][/center]
[color=greenyellow]‘We healed our Pokémon at the Center in Pureplain City, then came over here.’[/color]
[color=greenyellow]‘During the event, I was battling the wild Pokémon of Route 2 the entire time!’[/color]
[color=greenyellow]‘There was that earthquake Leila caused, and I saw Palpitoad depart to investigate.’[/color]
[color=greenyellow]‘So there was a time there when the Water Stone was unguarded.’[/color]
[color=greenyellow]‘… I was tempted. I would have wanted to gift Amy a Water Stone for her Staryu...’[/color]
[color=greenyellow]‘But I'm in no rush! I'll find her another one!’[/color][/hider]

[hider=Court Record][list]
[*] Attorney's Badge. [i]… This is a Sun Stone. Annica claims Palpitoad stole it from her.[/i]
[*] Earthquake Testimony. [i]An earthquake happened that distracted Palpitoad. Would have been hard to miss.[/i]
[*] Leila's Barboach. [i]A healthy Barboach. Has inherited a bunch of moves from parents.[/i]
[*] Leila's Belongings. [i]Hiking equipment. A fishing rod. A ridiculous amount of peculiar rocks and stones. A diary with a ton of writing about wanting to compete in contests. There’s a Fire and Leaf Stone among them.[/i]
[*] Annica's Murkrow. [i]A healthy Murkrow. Looks pleased with itself.[/i]
[*] Annica's Fletchling. [i]A slightly damaged Fletchling. Looks a bit nervous.[/i]
[*] Annica's Belongings. [i]A couple Pokéballs and Potions. A phone. The wrapped-up-in-a-hurry remains of the tent they were going to camp in. A pair of tickets for a ferry from Pureplain City to Sunyshore City.[/i]
[*] Eric's Surskit. [i]A damaged Surskit. Still pretty peppy.[/i]
[*] Eric's Ledyba. [i]A damaged Ledyba. It suffered a Burn.[/i]
[*] Eric's Belongings. [i]Bug catcher net and cage. Bunches of Pokéballs and Potions and Repels and anything else a good Pokémon Trainer needs. A photo of a young girl together with Annica.[/i]
[/list][/hider]

Or she could leave. 

[hider=Suggestions to actions]1. Find Pokémon. [i]Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search.[/i]
2. Train Pokémon. [i]With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding.[/i]
3. Seek trainers. [i]There should be some here and there. Note, some may challenge you, regardless.[/i]
4. Talk. [i]There’s some other travelers around. Maybe seek answers to any burning questions you have.[/i]
5. Move along. [i]Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally.[/i]
6. Hurry along. [i]Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination.[/i]
7. Specify. [i]If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result.[/i]
8. Trigger random event. [i]Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you.[/i]
9. Area Specific: Fishermen Huts. [i]See what the fishermen over there's got going.[/i]
10. Current Event: Palpitoad Flooding. [i]Random event.[/i][/hider]

[i]Connected areas: [/i]
Pureplain City. [i]You can get back without complication.[/i]
Infested Woods. [i]You’re right next to it.[/i]
Wet Caverns. [i]May need to cross a bridge or two to get there.[/i]

[hider=Route 2, known Pokémon]Common: 
#13 Weedle
#16 Pidgey
#161 Sentret
#270 Lotad
#283 Surskit

Uncommon:
#60 Poliwag

Rare:
#158 Totodile
#420 Cherubi
#536 Palpitoad[/hider]