Espeonage

[Birdybot]

"Well done, Poochyena!" Luna praised the puppy as he skillfully pulled off the Tackle. He was quite brave to run so confidently through an attack. His own attack had shown a good deal of promise too. It was well executed, showing he knew what he was doing. She was glad too that Arget had managed to return Barnes' Tackle with one of her own.

Faced now with another Psywave and Tackle, the choice of attacks unsurprising when the Pokémon in battle were too low leveled to know any variety of moves, it would appear Luna had to think and act quickly to save Arget from taking a lot of damage this turn. "Poochyena, try taking the Psywave for Arget," she said before thinking of what else she might do. Removing the Psywave from battle was a priority as the attack traveled quickly and Poochyena offered an easy way out of taking it. By now Arget's defence had already been lowered by the Leer. It was a shame her and Poochyena weren't in a position to be able to combine moves to make something stronger and more inventive like the sorts of thing she'd seen on TV, but that would come in time. "Might as well just keep them attacking for now," Lazarus said with a flick of his tail, prompting her to speak her orders for the turn. "Arget, use Leer and Tackle as well. Poochyena, use a Tackle as well!" So many Tackles. It was quite the popular move.

Arget growled when her defence was lowered, and turned that growl into a glare and a snarl as she used Leer. She tried not to pay the Psywave much mind, hoping Poochyena would deal with that. It was Barnes she needed to concentrate on so she might dodge his attack this time. Once again, however, dodging proved too tricky and the Patrat rammed into her, tossing her to the ground in a fluffy ball of rage. Getting back to her feet as quickly as she could, she did her best to ignore the battering and bruises, lunging at her opponent in her own Tackle.

[Rin]

Poochyena's tail wagged happily as Luna praised him. He was doing well! But he couldn't get overconfident. He turned around and watched what was happening, sharp teeth bared in a battle-grin. He saw the Spoink aim the Psywave at Arget and braced himself, ready to run into it again. Luna couldn't give the order soon enough - he gladly leapt squarely in the way of the Psywave, just feeling a pleasant coolness as the attack was harmlessly absorbed into his dark grey fur, blocking the line of psychic power from reaching Arget. Cheria glared at him from the other side of the battlefield, and Youngster Luke scowled.

Meanwhile, Barnes chattered victoriously from having hit Arget. His ears flicked back nervously as she snarled at him, feeling his defense go down from Arget's Leer. He jittered with nervous anger and tried to streak away as Arget came in for the Tackle, but failed and was also thrown to the ground. He had taken several defense-lowered hits now, and was feeling it in aches in his limbs. His eyes narrowed as he faced Arget again, baring his teeth. Meanwhile, Poochyena had tried to dash towards Cheria again, but it seemed as if the Spoink were more experienced than her Patrat companion, because as Poochyena neared her she quickly bounced out of the way, leaving Poochyena to skid to a halt with a few barks of frustration.

"Fine. This time, Headbutt at Poochyena, Cheria, and Tackle again, Barnes," the Youngster ordered. Cheria nodded, beginning to bounce towards Poochyena, head lowered in what looked like a Tackle with a bit more force behind it. Meanwhile, once again the Patrat ran with his head down at Arget. The Youngster's Totodile daemon ran in circles around him, biting at random shrubbery to show her excitement (and perhaps concern?) at the fight. It seemed as if the tide were in Luna's favor, at the moment at least.

[Birdybot]

The battle appeared to be going well for her, but Luna didn't let that make her try any less hard. She'd just lost her first battle and she wasn't about to lose her second. Lazarus flicked his forked tail disapprovingly at the Totodile-dæmon, expression showing no sign of those feelings but Luna detecting them all the same. He would never act as foolishly and childishly as that. He could be excited, true, but in those times he still maintained his dignity. Luna was different. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as the battle continued. This time there was no convenient Psywave to absorb harmlessly. Poochyena might end up taking some damage this turn, too. Dodging was proving challenging for Arget, so she tried to think of a way to make it easier for the time being. Barnes was targeting her. If she ran at Cheria, he'd have further to go and might just escape the attack. Cheria was stronger than her and hadn't had her defence lowered, but Arget's defence had been lowered and another Tackle would be tough on her. "Arget, dodge Barnes' Tackle by running for Cheria! Use a Leer then a Tackle on her before she can use Headbutt. Poochyena, use Tackle on Barnes!"

Arget saw where her trainer was coming from. By switching targets, they would create a bit more confusion. The shiny Shinx darted away from Barnes and kept running, distancing herself from him and for once avoiding the Tackle. That was an immense relief. She was concentrating too hard on her own task to notice whatever Poochyena was doing. Cheria firmly locked in her vision, she glared at her angrily, letting out a growl to try getting the Spoink to look in her direction to see the attack. All the while her paws pounded at the earth as she charged on in her Tackle attack.

[Rin]

Luna’s tactics were good – the Spoink, Cheria, was so focused on Headbutting Poochyena that she was startled by the Leer and Growl from the shiny Shinx and wavered in her move, her defenses lowering and leaving her open for Arget’s Tackle. The impact overbalanced her and she flopped on her side, oinking angrily and ending her Headbutt completely. Poochyena sighed in relief as he saw this, but it was too soon – the puppy took the first hit of the battle for his inattentiveness, for crashing into his shoulder came Barnes’s Tackle. The Patrat had noted the change of targets and had decided to go for Poochyena instead.


Stumbling, Poochyena let out a Howl of Frustration, boosting his Attack as he ground his teeth. He had been doing so well! His shoulder ached, but he tried to shake himself to tough it out. It looked like Cheria, Barnes and Arget were much more beat up – Cheria was breathing heavily, still struggling in the grass to right herself. He had to get this Tackle right. Narrowing his eyes at Barnes, he leapt towards the Patrat with his fluffy weight behind him, crashing into the brown Pokemon with a victorious bark. Patrat scampered away, breathing heavily and looking very winded. It might only take a couple more solid hits to finish him.


The Youngster bit his nails in frustration. It looked like Barnes might be going down soon, and while Cheria had some fight in her, he was worried as she had taken several good hits as well. He had already captured a Pokemon – he didn’t want to lose the thrill of victory just yet! ”Okay Cheria, get up and Headbutt the little Shinx near you! Barnes, I want a Leer and Tackle, on Poochyena!” The Spoink finally righted herself, lowering her head and bouncing quickly towards Cheria. Meanwhile, Barnes glared angrily at Poochyena (the pup winced as he felt his defenses lowered) and sped towards him as well.

[Birdybot]

That last turn had gone surprisingly well for Luna's team. She smiled. This battle could be her first victory. Lazarus purred to see how swapping opponents had actually worked. Barnes was nearly out, but the problem here was that Arget was now facing Cheria, a stronger opponent who had taken fewer hits. She'd been watching the Spoink warily, and prepared to dart aside once the Headbutt was on her. The bouncing Pokémon was too fast. Being stronger than her, and with Arget having had her defence lowered by Barnes' Leers, she sustained quite a bit of damage from the attack. Pausing to catch her breath, she stumbled backwards to put some distance between herself and her opponent.

"That's it, Poochyena, that Patrat can't be far from fainting now! Arget, be extra wary of Cheria. Use Leer then Tackle, and run away from her as soon as you can," Luna called to her Pokémon. She was tense with the excitement of it all. At any moment, the whole battle could shift.

Arget had caught her breath by now. She lowered her head and bared her teeth in a snarl. Eyes gleamed with malice. An intimidating look, all in all, followed by a charging sprint. Her head was lowered to protect her face. Her paws thudded along the ground as she picked up speed, hoping to strike her target. Regardless of the outcome, she would spring back away from Cheria. That would give her more time to react to the Spoink's retaliation.

[Rin]

The Youngster punched his fist into his hand happily as he saw Arget get pushed back by Cheria’s Tackle. This battle was definitely still within his grasp – he grinned at Luna. His grin quickly slid off his face though (his Totodile daemon abruptly transformed into an angry-looking little Deino that tore fiercely at the grass around it) as Arget’s tackle connected with Cheria, sending the little grey pig skidding back. At least she hadn’t fallen over this time, but she had taken several Leers now and her HP was getting low. Same with Barnes, as well, and to make matters worse, Poochyena had managed to dodge Barnes’ attack, though the pup shivered a bit at the Leer. His Defenses were decently lowered now, but everyone in this battle had lowered Defense at this point.


Hearing Luna’s orders, Poochyena whimpered with a little bit of confusion – Luna nor Lazarus had directed for him to do anything this turn, but he didn’t want to sit around and do nothing at all. She had encouraged him with ‘that’s it’ – maybe he should just repeat what he had done last turn? He raised his eyes to the sky for a brief Howl – his Attack was well boosted by now – and lunged at Patrat, trying to Tackle him. He felt his skull connect with the rodent-like Pokemon and he gave a happy bark of satisfaction as he looked up to see Barnes lying on the ground, close to fainting and struggling to get up.


The Youngster was mad now. “Get up, fuzzball! Tackle that puppy, TACKLE him! You too Cheria! Take it down! Down to the ground!” He jumped up and down, flailing his arms about in his irritation, almost appearing as if he were doing some sort of crazy dance. Beside him, the Deino daemon had torn up several clumps of grass. His Pokemon, however, both ran towards Poochyena whose ears immediately flattened with fright at tge sight of both Tackle and Headbutt.

[Birdybot]

Two more hits, and the youngster's Pokémon both looked like they didn't have much left in them, Barnes more so than Cheria. The boy had gone into some sort of frenzy, his dæmon tearing at the grass in frustration. Lazarus exchanged glances with Luna. Their opponent had let his desperation to win take over. His dæmon could still shift after all, but that wasn't what the pair were thinking about. He wasn't thinking straight acting like that, so might be easier to defeat. Both his Pokémon were targeting Poochyena. That was good as it left Arget free, but bad since both hits could knock the puppy out. While their attention was turned, she needed to get Arget to take them unawares. Everyone in the battle had lowered defences, but Poochyena had a boosted attack so would be strongest. Barnes was closest to fainting, so if Arget went for him while Poochyena dealt a stronger attack to the stronger Cheria... it could work. Cheria might pull through, or an attack might miss, but it had potential.

"Don't worry, Poochyena! Arget, use Tackle on Barnes, get him out of Poochyena's way if you can't knock him out. Poochyena, focus on Cheria but brace yourself because dodging at this range will be hard. Use another Howl then Tackle her as hard as you can!" she called, trying to think quickly while letting her Pokémon know exactly what she was doing.

Arget's task was relatively easy. Both opponents had their backs to her as they made for Poochyena. She was left free to do as she pleased. A Leer wouldn't work with the two facing away from her, so she didn't add that to Luna's instructions. She did as she was told, running at Barnes. She curved her path so it covered a greater area to build up more speed and so momentum. Not leaving it too long so not to give the Patrat a chance at striking Poochyena, Arget aimed to knock him aside in plenty of time.

[Rin]

It seemed as if the Youngster’s anger and desperation was leading him to silly tactics – Poochyena had more strength than Arget as he had been hit less due his immunity to the earlier Psywaves. And, as Luna had observed, this left both Pokemon’s backs to the feisty Arget. Her Tackle hit true; the Patrat named Barnes yelped as he was flung out of the way, mid-Tackle. He hit the ground and seethed furiously, glaring at Arget, legs trembling as he tried to get up. But it was to no avail – a few seconds later, he slumped to the ground and fainted. The other Trainer returned him to his Pokeball yelling, “Nooooooaaarrrgghgh!!!” And now it was 2-vs-1.


Even though Arget had taken out Barnes for Poochyena, Cheria was still a force to be reckoned with. It was true, it was impossible for him to dodge at this range, and he was hit squarely in the chest with the Headbutt, tumbling over in sort of a somersault. He whimpered. It hurt. But he did have lots of adrenaline, and while he was panting now, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, tail held not quite as high as it had been before the battle started, he still was determined to help Luna as he said he would. Mustering his strength, he boosted his attach once more with a loud Howl that sent a flock of Pidgeys scattering out of some nearby trees, and ran towards Cheria, eyes narrowed.


Unfortunately, the little pig had bounced backwards after attacking Poochyena, and had put enough distance between her and the pup that she was able to dodge his Tackle. He skidded to a halt in order to avoid hitting a tree, confused and upset. But once he saw that she was nearer to the trees, his ears perked. Maybe Arget and him could trap him in? But it was the opponent’s turn to attack – it seemed the Youngster was too distraught and angry to give Cheria any orders, so she fired a Psywave at Arget. Without being asked this time, Poochyena started running to it in an attempt to take the hit for the little Shinx, but he doubted he could get there in time as his battle partner was on the other side of the battlefield.


The opponent’s Patrat has fainted! Levels will be received after the battle.

[Birdybot]

Even Lazarus smiled when Barnes was defeated and returned to his Pokéball. The battle was half won now! "You haven't won yet. Don't underestimate Cheria when we're this close to winning," he warned Luna. She nodded, scarcely able to wait to see how this would pan out. Two against one! If Arget and Poochyena could hold on for one or two more turns, they would win for sure. Cheria couldn't attack them both. Could she? No doubt there would be some tricky tactic out there that would make such a thing possible, but this turn she was using Psywave. That wouldn't even effect Poochyena. "Poochyena can't take this hit for you, Arget, he's too far away!" she told the Shinx in case she hadn't yet realised.

Arget could see that clearly. Nice of her trainer to point it out, but it was unnecessary. She watched the beam near her. It was quick, so she started moving straight away. Unfortunately, her limbs were too tired. They complained at being forced to move so quickly and suddenly, lacking the strength to dodge effectively. She was caught by the Psywave on a hind leg. Stumbling, it gave in and refused to hold her weight. The shiny closed her eyes for a moment to gather her strength, breath coming heavily by now. There was still hope. Poochyena's last Howl had been strong enough to scare nearby Pidgey, his attack stat must be impressively boosted by now. "Poochyena, Arget, another Tackle each. Give it your all!" came Luna's cry.

Arget shuffled back to give herself a better run-up. Hindered by the leg that just took a hit, however, she couldn't move fast. It kept threatening to buckle under her weight. Limping, she ran as fast as she could, putting her full mass behind the attack. The Tackle couldn't be all too strong in her state, so she hoped Poochyena and all those Leers would be of some aid.

[Rin]

Poochyena ran as fast as his stout legs would allow, but it was still several meters away when he saw the Psywave hit Arget. He trotted to a halt, shoulders slumping. He couldn’t keep his battle partner from getting hit, and now it seemed the shiny Shinx was hurt in the leg, where the Psybeam had hit. Luna had ordered another Tackle – he resisted the urge to go over and sniff at her leg to check that it was okay. He was feeling almost a vibrating in his muscles now, they felt like the could put out a lot of power – he suspected that it was from the Howls that had boosted his Attack. His side still arched from one of Cheria’s previous headbutts, but he bolted towards the Spoink with his all in as strong of a Tackle as he could muster.


The hit was fast and true – Cheria was knocked over, the small grey pig squealing loudly. It sounded as if the Leers and Howls combined had created a devastating attack from Poochyena. Once she was on the ground, she was an easy target for Arget. Even though Arget’s attack wasn’t too strong, all the Leers and the damage from Poochyena’s attack were enough. After the impact, Cheria oinked one last time, struggled to get up, and slumped in the grass. Luna had won.


“WHAT! That’s…that’s so unfair! You’re…you’re…” the Youngster cried and sniffled after returning Cheria, his face red and screwed up as tears streamed down it. “BUTTFACE! Meanie! Waahhhh!!” and the kid and his daemon ran off on the Route back towards Ellsport. His cries could be heard for several minutes following his departure. Poochyena, however, was elated. “Ohmigosh!” he cried, running towards Luna and happily bouncing around her leg and nuzzling it. “That was totally awesome! I learned a lot – I totally didn’t know that I was immune to Psychic-type attacks. And Arget was so pro, too! That last Tackle, was just like, pew!” he grinned at the shiny Shinx. And then he was suddenly struck with an idea, although he wasn’t sure how the Trainer or her Espeon daemon would take it. He so hoped she would agree, but…well, he wouldn’t be sure until he tried. “Luna, I really enjoyed fighting like that. And I want to get stronger, too – and I promise to do my best in battles to come. Would you maybe…allow me to join your team?” He blinked hopefully up at her. “I mean, I…I understand of course, if you would rather not. I dunno if I'm the type of Pokemon you're looking for.”


Luna wins! Split between two Pokemon, Arget gains 4 levels, Poochyena gains 3 levels. Allow Poochyena to join & continue onto Route 2?

[Birdybot]

Poochyena's Tackle looked to be extremely powerful for such a basic attack, but it left Cheria still just about in the battle. Arget's far weaker attack put an end to that and the fight. Seeing the pig collapse at last, she flicked her tail and turned to her trainer with a smug smile on her face. "Nobody gonna bring this Shinx down that easy," she declared with pride, limping forward. Luna hurried towards her to get a better look at that leg. Whatever she was saying, she was as vulnerable to serious damage as any Pokémon. As expected from a battle between rookies fresh from the lab, there was no lasting harm. Luna returned her to her Pokéball.

"Buttface?" she said in amusement to Lazarus as the boy ran off. She could still hear his crying. Must have been so full of that victory he'd had in catching Patrat that he'd not accepted that he could still lose.

Lazarus chuckled. "He'll learn to deal with losing sooner or later. He should at least come up with better insults," he replied. The guy had been young. There was plenty of room for him to grow and improve. A good adventure with his Pokémon would teach him an awful lot, as he hoped it would teach Luna, making him a more mature person.

Luna grinned as Poochyena nuzzled her leg. He was adorable. "I learned a lot, too, thanks for battling with me," she told him. She expected him to talk off into the route as Skitty had done, but he stayed. That was fine, more company would be nice. He went further than that, though. He was offering to make his company more permanent. Joining her team... well, she couldn't refuse! A trainer was supposed to expand their team. She wasn't the 'catch them all' type, since loads of Pokémon would be far too difficult to handle, but any addition was welcome, really. At this stage it would only make her stronger. Poochyena had proven himself a strong battler, and was friendly to boot. Arget appeared to like him, and she could see him getting along very well with the younger Prometheus. "Of course you can join my team! Here," she took out a Pokéball, "I'll press this button here, and then you'll be taken inside the Pokéball. If you don't struggle, then it'll catch you and you'll be officially on my team," she explained before pressing the button.

Used one Pokéball! Will be continuing to Route 2 after Poochyena.

((OOC: They wouldn't gain quite to many levels. The levels gained from defeating each Pokémon are shared out, so three from defeating Cheria and two from Barnes. That's five in total, so I'd say three to Arget and two to Poochyena, since I'm guessing Poochyena's at a higher level.))

[Rin]

Poochyena shook himself – he could feel the strength from his Howls fading now that the battle was over, and once the adrenaline was gone he was feeling a little tired. But he certainly had come out of the battle better than the other Pokemon, and he was thankful for that. He waited nervously for Luna’s answer, and his ears pricked straight up when she accepted his offer. “Oh, thank you thank you thank you!” he yipped happily, bouncing around Luna and Lazarus with his fur sticking up all over the place. As she explained how she would catch him with the Pokeball, he swallowed nervously – he’d heard wild Pokemon talk about how cramped and awful they could be. But he’d have faith in his new Trainer, just as he did during the battle. He nodded, and allowed himself to be drawn into the Pokeball. At first it was dark – he yelped and began kicking outward, and the ball wobbled on the ground. Poochyena grit his teeth and reminded himself to calm down though, and soon he realized the inside was actually fairly roomy and comfortable. Curling up, he waited until he heard a –ping!- and giving a big puppy grin, he knew he had been caught.




Poochyena has been caught!
Level: 9
Gender: Male
Ability: Run Away: Except for trainer battles, can always run from battle. Cannot run during Mean Look or Block or when the opponent is trapping with the Arena Trap, Magnet Pull, or Shadow Tag ability.
Nature: Relaxed – Poochyena is in general a very cheerful, chill guy. He doesn’t back down easily to intimidation, but he isn’t the confronting type and tends to work quite well with others. He isn’t the type to take leadership, but prefers to work on a team. He follows orders well (to a fault) and tries hard to do his best for his Trainer.
Moves: Tackle, Howl, Sand-Attack

Ooc:// Huh, I thought that since Cheria was 2 lvls higher than Arget and 1 lvl higher than Poochyena and owned by at Trainer, the levels were 4 and 3 as dictated by the Enerapedia? But I suppose it depends, since Barnes was the same level as Arget and lower than Poochyena by 1? Whichever you want to go with, I suppose – just say the word and I’ll change it if you’d like.

[Birdybot]

((Oh right, I'd forgotten about trainer pokemon earn extra levels! Yeah you were right))