Rivals Reunited [Private]

[katya]

Volta didn't bother moving, although Griff thought she should've, but she knew his mind quite well by well. Griff intended on giving her a few seconds if she remained standing after the next ice beam, but he didn't see the point of her pushing too hard in a meaningless match. Fearless as always, she stared down the three swirling beams of ice and unleashed a final Air Slash before the Nidoran's attacks toppled her over.

Even down, she started to protest her good health, nonexistent as it was. It was, Griff figured, a matter of pride for her, and she so disliked being showed up by the solosis. <Molga! Emolgaemomomomomomol-->

"Yeah, no. It's Sprite's turn, Volta. You did well," Griff said firmly, because the emolga would've gone on fighting if he'd asked it of her. With her statement made and shot down, Volta grumbled and spat onto the ground in distaste before collapsing in an unconscious heap.

He called Volta's sleeping form back into her pokeball, and then reached for another. With a press of the button, Sprite materialized in the arena, floating lightly with its telekinetic power. He glanced at the Nidoran, assessed the damage it had already taken, and calculated the best of action. Sprite was like that.

"Start with Reflect, Sprite," Griff commanded, and the solosis agreed. A prism of pinks and blues formed around Sprite's body, doubling his already significant defenses.

Volta used Air Slash and fainted!
Sprite used Reflect!

[EspaApparition]

Max and Chikara both saw the wavering of Volta's will and guessed that the last ice beam had done it. It was this sense of victory that most likely put the nidoran off guard. The emolga's final air slash caught her at full force and knocked her across the battle field. Max ran out to check on her but Chikara was already on her feet, she was looking weaker after a couple of full blast attacks but seemed determined to carry on.

As Sprite, Sunshine's Solosis (tongue twister) came out on to the field Max tried to remember all he knew of the psychic type. Nidoran were weak to psychic moves and Chikara didn't know any moves which were strong against psychic types. Max sighed, he had no advantage here. "Chikara, watch out for psychic moves, avoid them if you can," he advised but dodging psychic moves could often be hard.

The solosis used reflect and a wall was created in front of it, meaning physical attacks would be less effective. "Chikara, try another ice beam attack and follow it up with a growl." Chikara released another three beams from her mouth which were fired towards the solosis. She then made her eyes big and growled cutely at her oponent.

Chikara used ice beam then growl.

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[katya]

Now wasn't the time for dodging, not when Sprite's stamina was at its freshest and fullest, and his strong defenses stomached most of the ice beams' blow without terrible trouble. Sprite could take a few blows before it effected his fighting ability, and he was the best damage soaker on Griff's team. "Acid Armor, build up your defenses, and then psywave," Griff said, although he already felt Sprite lurking in his mind to dig up his next orders.

The cytoplasmic shell that covered Sprite turned from pale green to sickly arsenic as he altered his very cells to take a liquid form. Sprite's theory of battle was directly opposite to Volta's; he preferred a high defense to outlast any opponent even when taking hits, whereas Volta rushed for the kill while trying to pass off speed as a defensive tactic.

Sprite turned his attention to the Nidoran and attacked with Psywave. A flare of light around the solosis gathered and channeled out from behind the walls of his Reflect like a prism, splitting the colors into a rainbow array as it spread toward the Nidoran.

Sprite used Acid Armor and Psywave!
lv07 ~ Magic Guard ~ Psywave, Reflect, Rollout, Acid Armor

[EspaApparition]

Max swallowed nervously as Chikara's legs shook from exhaustion, Sprite turned sickly green as his defenses were built up. Max saw the psywave coming and so did Chikara. The nidoran couldn't see anyway to escape, the light split into a rainbow array of colours and spread out. Chikara started running on shaky legs, Max shouted "Chikara go left!" She changed direction and ran to the side, trying to get beyond the coloured light of psychic powers. Max could see the tiredness in her eyes and bit his lip, she was running more slowly and he could already see she wouldn't make it.

The psywave rippled through Chikara's body and she cried out in pain. Chikara's legs gave way and she fell to the ground for a moment. The nidoran tried to stand up but Max was already running towards her, wanting to stop her before she carried on the fight. "No, Chikara, you can't go on you're not strong enough." The pokemon's eyes shone, she was very upset at the prospect of losing but Max couldn't let her carry on. He took out her pokeball and returned her to rest, she vanished in a flash of red light.

Max looked up at Sunshine and grimaced, he couldn't believe that he'd lost a fight to his childhood rival, "It's over Sunshine, you win." Max approached him, extending a hand to shake on the battle.

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[katya]

Sprite looked like he was about to say something, and knowing Sprite, it wouldn't be very nice. Griff could already count on Sprite giving Volta an earful about how she overspent herself on two lowly pokemon, but he knew Volta could suffer the diatribe without giving a flying fuck. Griff didn't think the Nidoran needed to hear Sprite's opinions on her skill in a fight. "Back, Sprite," Griff said, calling the solosis back into the pokeball before the pokemon had time to even call of his defensive powers. To the pokeball, Griff added, "Well done. Don't let it get to your head."

To Max, he didn't personally hold any grudges. The law caught up to everyone--no one ever heard of criminals running about forever--but Griff still wasn't sure how he ought to treat the other boy. For now, Griff took Max's hand in a casual handshake. "This time, sure. Next match could be yours."

153 words
low word count is low notes
espa/fin? tag

[EspaApparition]

Max was surprised at how polite Sunshine was being, he'd shaken his hand out of habit - they'd been taught that at the academy. He had liked Sunshine as a child but after he was caught stealing from their house... Max wasn't sure, he just didn't associate with people like that. Then again, Max hadn't met anyone who'd been in prison so his idea of a criminal was more based on TV dramas and films. Sunshine actually seemed, okay, not so different from the boy he'd known through his parents.

Max smiled, slightly surprised at how this had turned out, "yeah, we should battle again, a bit of preparation for the gym in Featherwing City. I'll get you next time." The second comment was made only half-jokingly, Max wasn't happy to have lost, he was very competitive and didn't want to lose. It wasn't helped that because Max had labelled Sunshine as a criminal he instantly felt superior to the other trainer. It was wrong, and even Max knew it, sort of, but it was the way he was brought up - his snobbish streak. "What do they call you now, anyway? Surely you've dropped Sunshine, right?" Max knew it was a cheap shot but he was feeling sore after the match.

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[katya]

Well, that was surprisingly warm, coming from the guy that'd caught Griff trying to empty his house of valuables one year ago. Back then, Max had seemed... well, more or less the same as he'd been when they were children. Spoiled, rich, pampered, and honestly kind of unpleasant to be around for a street tough like Griff. Yet now, it looked like they were both here as the same thing: pokemon trainers.

"Yeah, we should battle again, a bit of preparation for the gym in Featherwing City. I'll get you next time."

Griff grinned at the thought--lord knew Sprite and Volta could use being taken down a notch or two. A touch of reality would make them more able to understand what they'll be fighting for in Featherwing Gym. "Hey, definitely. Volta's a flier too, it might help if your pokemon get used to her whizzing about before you take on Adelaide."

"What do they call you now, anyway? Surely you've dropped Sunshine, right?"

He still cringed every time anyone called him Sunshine. But how can anyone blame him? You try surviving juvie with Sunshine Rainbow as the nameplate plastered onto the outside your door. It'd taken all his wit, charm, and occasional bouts of sheer nastiness to overcome that hurdle. "If you're used to it, Sun works fine, but I usually go by Griff now."

222 words
sunshine rainbow notes
espa tag

[EspaApparition]

Max nodded, "Yeah, being stuck on the ground wasn't helpful with Volta flying around," he laughed, "I had better work that one out before tackling the gym." It was a bit of a worry, really, Adeliade would be a challenge if he couldn't get close to her bird pokemon. Sunshine would be good practice before the gym battle.

Max smiled when he heard that the other trainer had dropped his first name, he wasn't surprised it wasn't a name you'd want to have in prison, particularly. He grinned when he saw the other boy's grimace and reassured him, "Griff's fine." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper, he scribbled down his number and passed it to Griff. "Why don't you give me a call when you're in Featherwing and you feel like battling?"

Max gave him a final smile before heading towards the exit back into the changing rooms. He wanted to check on and reassure his pokemon that they did the best they could.

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[katya]

"Yeah, I talked to some trainers in the hostel. She only uses fliers, and they apparently don't much like staying grounded. Throwing Volta out against Adelaide's my Plan A, but I don't think she's going to be enough alone, so there's a lot of training in my future too, I guess." And strategizing--mostly strategizing, in fact. Normally a cool-headed mastermind, planning ahead of his gym battle was tougher than he'd anticipated. Griff just wasn't an expert in these matters yet, so he had a lot to think about.

"Why don't you give me a call when you're in Featherwing and you feel like battling?"

Griff took the slip of paper and glanced at the number. "Sure thing," he agreed easily. Griff returned Max's departing smile with considerable more warmth than the smile he'd slapped on his face before their match. He couldn't say he liked or trusted Max yet, but he seemed like he had the makings of a decent trainer, and Griff had a need for people to practice against.

Back in the locker rooms on his side of the field, Griff checked the premises for any guards and found none. That was unsurprising; it'd be rather rude to put security guards in where the trainers undressed and such. Griff walked past a series of lockers, knocking on the doors to see which were empty and which didn't ring hollow.

Griff left the locker rooms with his pockets heavy with coin, whistling as he went.

242 words
rematch woot! notes
LE FIN~ tag