awesome! I'll post soon. Also, I was thinking I could take on a fifth player for the RP. So I reached out to an RP friend and am happy to announce they have joined the game! Welcome, @zeroSH
I plan to finish up the battles, then I'm thinking the day can wrap up IC with the characters talking in their dorms before bedtime or something. That's when zero can briefly introduce their character before we move on to another day.
@Crimson FlameGreat question! Yes, even though they are collab posts, you can still add PP for sure. so for every collab post you make, you can add 1 PP. :)
Antoinetta's facade may have cracked earlier, but it now broke completely as Troy's Shuckle put the plan into action. Stomach plummeting, she stared, watching Shuckle use Mellona's Gust against her - and miss. She breathed a sigh of relief. If that Defense Curl and Gust-bolstered Rollout had hit, the battle would have been over in one turn.
She pulled herself together right away. The crowd must have seen that mini freak-out, but she faced Troy with her usual prideful smirk as if it had never happened. "Did you really think that was going to work?" she taunted, while making a mental note to call a move that wouldn't give Shuckle so much leverage. "Mel, prepare yourself with Struggle Bug!"
A sparking, shimmering red aura built up around Mellona, just as it had in the previous battle. Holding her ground and keeping a safe distance, the Combee unleashed the energy in a firework-like burst.
Shimmering red sparks flew out of Mellona before transitioning to green missiles and curving towards Shuckle. Troy was impressed. Although it probably came down to training with Combee, everything she did was pretty flashy. Shuckle can use struggle bug as well, so it was easy to see how the Combee's struggle bug was more brightly colored and bombastic than usual. Frankly, Troy was out of his depth. It was hard to even think of ways to make Shuckle's current moveset be more flashy. Just using Rollout over and over again wouldn't really be in the spirit of a contest, he would think, since they usually have a short timer. That being said, going for a knockout with rollout is probably the best option in a contest as well...
In any case, he doesn't need to give the most impressive performance, he just needs to be more impressive than his opponent. "Return fire with Infestation."
Shuckle begins to generate tiny black particles around Mellona, swirling into Mellona from all around her like a vortex. The particles move in currents, giving the appearance of flower petals curling inward or eldritch tentacles reaching for Mellona, depending on your point of view. They'll cling to Mellona on contact, producing an unpleasant stinging sensation continuously. Ideally, her performance will suffer under duress, though residual damage doesn’t hurt either. Shuckle is likely too weak to beat Mellona in the first hit of Rollout anyway, even with the extreme type advantage. Some Infestation damage might remedy that.
More or less at the same time, the red sparks of Struggle Bug begin to crash against Shuckle. They converge onto Shuckle, forcing him into his shell and battering it in small bursts of light.
Mellona's graceful flight patterns gave way to frantic squirming as she tried to flap away the black specks. It was no use. The particle cloud kept converging in, threatening to overwhelm her. Netty's ribs clenched. From what she knew of this particular Bug move, it restricted opponents' movement - not good for a dance based contest battler.
Struggle Bug and Infestation from both opponents hit. Shuckle’s Special Attack dropped, although considering the pokemon was mostly sticking to Defensive moves, it didn’t seem to matter too much. All the while, Mellona was infested with the tiny black particles that would sap away at her HP slowly.
There was only one possible counter. "Another Gust!" Netty called. "Blow them away!" Mellona, her twirling much more urgent and rather less agile, whipped up another whirlwind, aiming it at Shuckle while trying to dislodge as many particles as she could in the process.
As the insectoid dust ‘clears’, Troy presses the attack. ”Now, rollout through anything in your way.”
Mellona was not as swift or evasive as she had been prior with the Infestation hindering her movement. While the Gust helped to dislodge some of the damaging particles, it didn’t blow away the Infestation attack completely so it would continue to sap Mellona’s health while also interfering with her movement. Her evasiveness was not what it had been at the beginning of the battle either. But the Gust did help once more in blowing the Shuckle off trajectory, resulting in Rollout narrowly missing Mellona. Once again, the students were whispering to each other; Would the Combee fall to the damage of Infestation, or a Rollout attack? Or would the Shuckle’s tough shell crack under the pressure of the battle? Who would faint first?
"Aw, Magnet! You alright?" Zaria exclaimed as the floating ball of steel took a hit. He was able to shake it off somewhat, but his defenses had been lowered for the rest of the battle too, so those Tackles would do even more damage.
Magnet let out a metallic cry and unleashed a Thundershock which somehow connected, which Zaria thanked her lucky stars for. Although who knew if it would hit again? She considered using a Supersonic attack, but the move had pretty shaky accuracy to begin with, and Rocky's evasion was already up.
She let out a short breath. There really wasn't anything to do except attack and hope for hits. "You're doing great! Just keeping going for Thundershock!" Zaria encouraged, trying to look effortless and relaxed. Magnet charged up an attack once more.
Even though Tim said he didn’t want to look, he still peeked through his fingers. Rocky landed a Tackle on Magnet, but he also got hit with a thundershock. Rocky yelped in pain. “Rocky, are you ok?”
The Rockruff barked. Even though he was still paralyzed, and had just been hit with electricity, he still acted chipper.
Tim breathed a sigh of relief. Rocky seemed to be fine for now. That relief did not last long. Zaria went in for another thundershock, which meant he still had to be on the offensive. ”Ok... um... use Sand Attack, and try another Tackle.”
Rocky the Rockruff lv. 11 Tackle* Sand Attack* Double Team* Leer* Endeavor Last Resort Thrash
Rocky ran forwards to kick up sand and land another Tackle onto the Magnemite. But just as he did so, the rock puppy began to slow and seize; the visible yellow current of paralysis sparked around his body. Since the real Rocky had just telegraphed his attack and then stopped quite abruptly, it made it just a teeny bit easier to tell him from the various clones still on the battlefield. Magnet was able to land another successful Thundershock. As of now, the current states of the pokemon on the playing field were different; Rocky was looking winded and damaged, while Magnet had sustained a few scratches. Yet the battle wasn't over just yet. Would there be any changes in strategy?
Zaria swallowed and stared ahead, her brows furrowed and her teeth clenched. This was exactly like the Charmander battle had been, and she'd barely scraped by that one on luck alone, she was sure. But Rocky had thankfully been paralyzed, so the only thing do now was keep attacking and hoping for hits. She scanned the field, trying to discern one doppelganger from the next, then took a deep breath and crossed her fingers. Damnit!
"Alright! I can't tell one from the other but we're gonna go for it anyways 'cause I believe in you! Use Thundershock, Magnet!" Magnet charged up a yellow green wave of electricity towards the target he hoped was the real one.
”Hang in there Rocky! Tim exclaimed once Rocky got hit by the paralyzing waves. He bit his bottom lip nervously. Rocky still got the Double Team off in time, but he had been paralyzed. Now he would be slowed down, and sometimes be unable to move. He also didn’t think Paralysis was going to be pleasant for the Rockruff. Even so, the rock dog still seemed chipper.
Zaria went in for the Thundershock, and Tim wrung his hands truing to come up with a solution. It might miss, and hit one of the duplicates, but it also might not. He could try a sand attack but, he knew sooner or later he’d have to go in for a hit... Rocky’s only move that could inflict damage was Tackle. That wouldn’t do much to a Steel type... There was one idea, but he wasn’t sure it would work...”Ok... uh use Leer to lower it’s defenses, then go in for the Tackle!” He covered his eyes with his hands. ”I can’t look.” This could end badly.
Rocky the Rockruff lv. 11 Tackle* Sand Attack* Double Team* Leer* Endeavor Last Resort Thrash
The two pokemon clashed. Rocky's eyes shot a piercing glare right through the Magnemite's soul it seemed, and a blue glow washed over the mechanical creature as their defense fell. With Magnet temporarily distracted by the debuff, Rocky was able to successfully nail a solid Tackle onto the pokemon. However, Magnet countered with a Thundershock, and a large bolt of green and yellow electric energy swathed the Rockruff directly. Neither paralysis nor evasion had won the upper hand this time, it seemed. The battle went on.
Zaria's triumphant grin stiffened as she heard the words of her peers echo around her, but she tried not to miss a beat. "That's fine, luck is a part of a lot of battles," she said shrugging and trying to feign an air of nonchalance. Marching up to Rorie, she shook her opponent's hand. "Well, uhm...I'm still in training. We've still got a long way to go. But thanks, your Charmander was pretty tough."
After their pokemon were healed, Zaria found herself standing in the semi-finals facing off against Tim. It felt unreal. Troy and Netty were here too and Zaria briefly wondered who she'd face off against next—but she was getting ahead of herself. Need to focus on what's happening now, she told herself. If she didn't, the round would be lost, if it already wasn't.
"Magnet! Thunder Wave!" The battle against Tim could be tricky; Zaria wasn't sure what moves Rockruff learned, as the battles from earlier had taken up her attention completely. Still, it seemed like a status ailment was a safe bet in most situations. "We're going for paralysis!"
Tim blinked in disbelief. Did he really just win that battle? Carpea made it official. “I-I-I actually won?” Tim quietly muttered. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Tim completely ignored Gerard’s words. There was clearly nothing he could say at this point. Instead, he went to the battlefield, and rubbed Pachi’s belly. “You’re a good boy! Yes you are!”
Rocky barked, slightly jealous that his trainer was giving another dog Pokémon attention.
Tim got up, picked up his own Pokémon. “You did a good job Rocky.” He patted his own dog on the head, as we walked away from the battlefield.
After Rocky was healed, Tim found out that he and the other transfer students made it to the semifinals. He was facing off against Zaria and her Magnemite. At which point, Tim lost all hope he could actually win this. Not that he had much of that to start with. How was he supposed to defeat a Magnemite? It was a Steel type. Not much could hurt it.
Still, Rocky was enthusiastic. He barked and wagged his tail.
Zaria went in for the Thunder Wave. If this connected, Rocky would be paralyzed, and that would hinder him greatly. “Um... uh... use Double Team!” That worked out well the last time.
Rocky the Rockruff lv. 11 Tackle* Sand Attack* Double Team* Leer* Endeavor Last Resort Thrash
Magnemite was solid steel type with some useful moves at their disposal, while Rocky was an equally tough Rock type with speed and agility on his side. Neither had moves that were super-effective against each other, but they both seemed equally capable of winning.
"This should be interesting!" Tessa grinned.
The battle started off with no frills or chatter. Tim and Zaria, though both seemed equally uncertain, had pokemon with enough gumption to make up for their trainers lack thereof. Magnet shot the paralyzing waves off, while Rocky tried to evade by using a Double Team. Interestingly, both strategies seemed to play out. Rocky was paralyzed, but had gotten his Double Team off successfully. There were some clones running about or staying put defensively on the field, yet they all seemed to be sparking with the paralysis status ailment, so it wasn't easy to distinguish the real Rocky from the clones. The students chattered; Tim and Zaria both still seemed to be evenly matched up. The battle was just beginning though, so what would their next moves be?
Netty stood speechless. She’d expected Nicholas to keep talking tough, so the sudden apology caught her by surprise, and resonated with her. So he did know what it was like to have people make fun of him and his Pokemon. She opened her mouth to reply, to say something similar… But no, she couldn’t. Not in front of all these people. She was the winner, she had to act like it.
“Well, does this prove a point about overlooked Pokemon?” she said instead, gesturing to the victorious Mellona, who squealed and twirled. Netty glanced at the crowd to drive the point home, briefly wondering if she came across as badly as Nicholas had.
It didn’t matter, she decided as she went to get Mellona healed. What mattered was the crowd might now think twice before underestimating someone.
That bout of confidence faded as Netty stepped up to face her next opponent, Troy. Hundreds of battles, if not thousands… His earlier words replayed through her head as she gripped the Pokeball containing Mellona. Assuming he actually had been telling the truth, she and Mel wouldn’t be in for an easy time.
“Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes to back up those claims of yours,” she said nonetheless, sending Mellona back into the fray.
Troy on the other hand, remains blissfully oblivious. Claims? Was she referring to the homeroom icebreaker? Could it really be that hard to believe he didn’t like talking about himself? What does that even mean, if she’s saying it here and now? Is she trying to provoke Troy or is she referring to something else? What is there to even prove in a matchup this lopsided? A Shuckle versus a Combee just feels downright unfair. Maybe things would be different if Shuckle was running a more defensive set, but considering the sheer unga bunga that Troy’s been making use of, Shuckle may as well be using one of the most aggressive strategies in the class, if only because he has the defense to get away with it.
Troy couldn’t help but to hate this. This battle, this feeling of arrogance, like his win was already assured. It was a sickening feeling of unavoidable complacency. He wasn’t sure why it felt so disgusting. Aiming to be the very best meant there should be countless easy battles along the way, so surely there’s more to it than just that. It wasn’t fear of failure; his only concern was the opportunities lost through it and that was solved in the previous matches. It wasn’t vicarious either, since Antoinetta had good matches earlier as well. She proclaims her goal is as a pokemon coordinator anyway, losing a battle shouldn’t even be an issue to her, so what exactly is the problem?
Maybe it’s the same feeling you get when you can’t help but think you know better than your parents.
Well, as Troy has told his class, he didn’t like talking about himself. Troy puts it out of his mind and tosses out Shuckle’s pokeball. Shuckle springs forth, chipper as ever, nonchalantly smiling in an infectious way that instantly put him at the focal point of Troy’s attention. It was always easy to forget all else and focus when Shuckle was involved.
”What say you we make this interesting?”
At the sight of Troy's Pokemon, Netty's facade of composure faltered. A Shuckle. An irresistibly cute one, yes, but of all the Pokemon to face, it just had to be a Rock type. Netty could practically feel all eyes on what was likely the worst match-up in the tournament.
Mellona, however, seemed up to the challenge, squeaking a cheery greeting as she took her place. Overcoming type disadvantages, Netty reminded herself, was an important part of Pokemon training.
"I see you really do appreciate the Bug type," she replied, trying to sound unfazed, even though the way Troy said 'interesting' put her on edge. "Hmm, interesting in what way? I guarantee Mel's battle style is gonna be show-stopping as it is, but let's hear."
”I was just thinking this battle might be better training for you if we treated it as a contest showdown.” Troy’s knowledge of contests is limited, but conducting the battle this way seemed like it might be somewhat less depressing for both parties. If fighting Antoinetta wasn’t going to feel good, he may as well help her train instead, right?
A contest battle. The suggestion should have made Netty feel better. She and Mel might just have the upper hand now, right? But if he was simply letting them look good, would it mean anything? Shouldn't they shine by their own merit?
"Sounds good!" Netty replied nonetheless. "For us, anyway. You may end up regretting it." For all the tough talk, her voice still shook. Ugh, she had to get a grip. This uncertainty wouldn't inspire Mellona at all. "Ok Mel, show off your dance moves with Gust!"
Mellona twirled in elaborate loops, round and round, her buzzing reaching a crescendo as she sent a mini tornado spiralling towards the Shuckle.
It only now dawns on Troy how unprepared he is for a contest showdown. His moveset and win conditions weren’t exactly flashy, at least compared to his father’s rental pokemon. It may be an unfair comparison, but it nonetheless serves as his standard of normalcy. Regardless, it’s important to be able to improvise. ”You’re no stranger to a little spinning, right Shuckle? Get ready with Defense Curl, then use the tornado to jump-start Rollout.”
Shuckle does as Troy instructs, curling up into its shell and spinning with the same rotation as the tornado once it hits.
When it came down to it, the match up was interesting. There was a speedy but somewhat fragile Combee, along with an extremely slow, but defensive Shuckle. When it came down to it, a hit or two could knock out the Combee, but would the Shuckle be able to land his mark on such an agile opponent in the first place? Neither Troy nor Netty had gauged much on the opposing pokemon, and as such, they seemed to be a level playing field. The students leaned forward eagerly in the bleachers, anticipating the outcome.
"How fun, a contest battle! Well we don't have a point system set up on the battle interface, but next time I'll have to keep that in mind," Caprea murmured to herself.
As Mellona's Gust swept around the stadium, and the Shuckle curled itself into a ball, there were 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the students at the fierce display that happened next. The Gust attack swirled and charged into the Shuckle, damaging him some. As Shuckle spun into a Rollout by trying to absorb the wind speed, he shot off successfully into the air, but his trajectory was off and missed the speedy Mellona. Rollout was a hard hitting move, yet Gust was proving to be surprisingly useful. Now then, that was just the first round, plenty more to go. How would they adjust their strategies accordingly?
