[attr="class","spiral"]Bap. Bap. Bap.

Several strike beat against the Dragonite’s arm like a well paced drum. Being able to land them consistently raises the Zeraora’s confidence, all the while not knowing that this was intended. The Pokemon sacrifices its stronger and less valuable limb in order to protect its core. Why does it need its arms when its AQUA TAIL can do this?

RAIN DANCE boosts its power but the water type attack is still up against an electrical. It lacks the same punch it should and the pain evens out to a normal physical attack. The problem is the timing and where it hits. One smooth motion is deft enough to spin the Dragonite into landing a CRITICAL HIT straight on the Zeraora’s face, catching it by utter surprise, and causing it to flinch as its hurled backwards.

It lands upside down and stumbles to get back up.

“Can you continue?”

Fernando is alright with a loss. Even this early into the battle. However, the Zeraora refuses to give up, long winded as it tries to steady itself from being knock flat out. It takes a few seconds to steady, wobbling in place from the well aimed blow.

“Quite the Dragonite you have there Alfric. It seems different than last time.”

He’s still unaware its a different one altogether.

[attr="class","spiral"]Pro-what?

Fernando comes across an unfamiliar word and rather than ask he nods as if he understands. He can surmise enough from the context clues but remains quiet just in case. Sometimes, inaction can prove just as fruitful in the face of the unknown.

“I suppose your break has done you well. I’m happy for you.”

The more they talk the longer his Zeraora has to regather itself. However, the command to ROOST cuts their break short. “It’ll recover,” he warns the Zeraora, which frantically scurries forward in an attempt to break the Pokemon’s healing. It lunges with a straight forward PLASMA PUNCH, ready to turn it into a right hook in the face of obvious resistance.

[attr="class","spiral"]That’ll do it.

The Zeraora manages to land a solid hit by all measures of the word but that leaves it vulnerable to backlash. The responding HURRICANE is powerful enough to uproot it and send it flying back like a mindless ragdoll. Strong winds batter the Pokemon into submission and the way it gets tossed around leaves it dazed and CONFUSED. The vertigo from being turned upside down all comes down at once and when it lands the Pokemon is nothing short of unconscious.

“Look like that puts us at one and one,” he yells, dying to be heard over the dissipating HURRICANE.

Fernando recalls his Pokemon immediately, tucking the ball in the slot behind his back, a resting place for his out of commission Pokemon.

“We can settle this on our last one,” he announces again, pulling one from his right hip.

This time, he reveals Sky Forme Shaymin.

[attr="class","spiral"]...!

It takes a moment for Fernando to realize the intrusion into his mind. It's not a welcome one by any means but he accepts it once he realizes it comes from his next opponent. The most he can respond with is a slight nod of his head before measuring his odds of victory against the Psychic type threat.

"Battle routine set."

As doctored, the Shaymin grins with a perverted frenzy as it kicks one back leg outward, as if ramping up for a full on charge. It's excitement causes a sickly SWEET SCENT to emanate from its flower, taking longer than normal to seep into the battlefield due to the damp moisture of the previous RAIN DANCE.

"Execute!"

The HURRICANE may have died down but the weather still turbulent enough to manipulate. From afar, the Shaymin starts to charge forward, rearing its head in circles as numerous AIR SLASHES cut through the distance and toward the opposing Hypno.

[attr="class","spiral"]The inability to use AIR SLASH comes all at once. No matter how much the Shaymin bucks or jerks, nothing more comes out. Fernando makes no visible expression but merely observes, more interested in his Pokemon’s reaction as opposed to his own. Unlike Cait, he knows little about Shaymin or how potent it can be. From his own analysis, he puts the Pokemon as mid-tier at best, undercutting it’s Legendary status.

Shaymin doesn’t linger on the DISABLE for long. It changes tactics immediately, borrowing what little air power it has left to fire off a LEAF STORM. If the wind won’t cut it then razor sharp leaves will.

[attr="class","spiral"]Confusion paints a perfect picture of the Shaymin’s reaction. Seeing the LEAF STORM brought to a premature end is something it would have never faced in the wild. And in it presents a learning opportunity that Fernando is thankful for Cait for bestowing the two.

The redirected attack returns with the same force, only slightly diluted due to several streams of leaves making it through the initial PSYCHIC hold. However, in a show of chance, the Shaymin also is attuned with its latent powers. Unable to wield it to the same degree or technique as a natural born and raised psychic Pokemon, the Shaymin buffers itself by projects an outward telekinetic force of PSYCHIC, deflecting some of the impact of the attack as the invisible forcefield clashes against the attack’s kinetic energy.

A muted growl escapes the Pokemon’s lip as it face a truly worthy adversary. Until now, Fernando has treated the Pokemon as more a pet than anything else, assuming it to be too unreliable to handle real threats. When faced with an actual opponent, its need to triumph surfaces, pooling up as it charges a bolt of energy from its GRACIDEA FLOWER.

[attr="class","spiral"]This time the PSYCHIC goes straight for the Shaymin. While it should have expected that as a possibility, knowing so from the previous usage against it's LEAF STORM, it's inexperience allows that prospect slip through. So when it comes, a dynamic twist of force suddenly applied out of no where, the Shaymin has no respondence. It's pummeled into the air by an unseen force, landing on the ground, buried in the TOXIC SPIKES that lay underneath.

Poison seeps in fast and all of it reroutes into the GRACIDEA FLOWER. Over time, the toxins will do their work, an insidious beast that decays the veins as they travel upstream and throughout the cardiovascular system. But Shaymin's power also derives from its ability to purify toxins. The sudden boon to its energy reserves finally manifest in a bright green light that explodes in growth several times, pulsing with each progressive expansion.

Still laid out, caltrops sticking to the Pokemon's face and skin, the Shaymin unleashes the built up SEED FLARE in a flash of bright light.


Even Fernando has to turn away to prevent being blind-sighted by the physical manifestation of photosynthesis.