"I read your report, we need to talk."

Nothing soils one's pants like getting an ominous email from your boss. Even if they were friends, Oscar feared Gavin's wrath more than anyone else's within Rocket. Oscar's first thoughts were what did he do? Which report did Gavin read? The memory of Slateport was in the back of Oscar's mind, what with his plans to rip apart DEVON's hold over Hoenn's power. So as Oscar observed the meeting place, he thought nothing of it. He simply did as he was told.

Gavin had cleared the arena for them, and the pieces were slowly coming together. Was he to battle Gavin? Why? It only became clear when Gavin spelt it out, and the memories of that horrific day flooded back into Oscar's mind. Of course Gavin was there, Oscar had seen Lugia take part in the battle. How could have not realized? He chalked it up to being a byproduct of trauma and focused on the task at hand.

Sure enough Gavin wanted to battle, his newly acquired crystal shadow pokemon against Oscar's. Oscar had to admit he was curious about his new additions to his team, though he had been to distressed to explore their capabilities. Without a word, Oscar pulled out a pokeball and released Desolence, the Nidoqueen. She was a ghastly sight, her already monstrous form accented by the effects of her corruption. The scales that trailed down her spine and tail had been completely replaced with black crystals. More crystals sprouted from her shoulders and arms, making her appear more like her male counterpart nidoking.

The shadowy monster let out a roar, shaking the ceiling lights with its eminence. Oscar smiled and raised an eyebrow, "Your move boss. Gotta be polite." With the stakes much lower than anticipated, Oscar anticipated an enjoyable showdown.

Cillian Quinn

Gavin lets out a low whistle as the Nidoqueen emerges from her pokeball. A regal creature made terrifying by the black spines that accent her hulking figure, Nidoqueen's roar sends an involuntary shudder down Gavin's spine. He smirks, nods to oscar clayton.

"She's magnificent."

They are offered the first move, and Gavin's sharp whistle draws the attention of Aerodactyl. Under the pale artificial light of the ring, its purple-hued hide gives it a sickly appearance. The undersides of its wings are midnight blue. It had been an ordinary gray before the Light-Devourer had made its mark.

"Use your instinct," he tells Aerodactyl. "Fight as you will."

He does not yet know the extent of its change.

With a grating shriek reminiscent of scraping rock, Aerodactyl starts off with a hyper beam; blinding light forces Gavin to look away, and the entire structure around them shakes with the impact. Where an ordinary Pokemon would need time to recover, Aerodactyl propels itself forward with every intent of continuing to fight. It roars in pain, but does not retreat.

As the aerodactyl charged its beam, Desolence looked to Oscar for orders. Oscar scratched his head, it had occurred to him that even before her transformation he had never used Desolence in battle. In fact, he had never bothered training her. Oscar concluded that this was as good a time as any to see what she was capable of and said, "Do what feels right. Show me what you got." The beam was fired, and Desolence turned to it.

Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was a gut reaction, but Desolence had decided to use Iron Tail upon the hyper beam. Oscar squinted as the tail collided with the blast, whoch exploded upon impact all the same. Did she expect the attack to lighten the blow? Perhaps even out the damage? As the smoke cleared, Desolence was clearly damaged--but not as much as Oscar expected. In fact, something seemed off.

Her normally blue and beige skin was now as black as the crystals on her back, and seemed about as hard too. Oscar wouldn't be able to see it, but Desolence had changed her typing to Steel/Ground. The nidoqueen let loose a metallic screech as she dug into the ground, seemingly waiting for aerodactyl's impact.

Cillian Quinn

Aerodactyl's hyper beam connects with its full force, and Gavin predicts a potentially short battle. Though shadow Pokemon were stronger than their pure counterparts, it was still a hyper beam.

Yet Nidoqueen seems — not unaffected, per se, but resilient.

"It's changed colour." Gavin sounds fascinated, grinning. "Perhaps it possesses something similar to Greninja's Protean?"

The late gym leader, Alexander Stone, had used a Protean Greninja to great effect against Gavin in their battle.

"Does it know any moves of a different type?"

With no direction given, as its master focuses on science, Aerodactyl focuses on Nidoqueen. This dark predator has adapted tunnel vision toward its foe, disregarding all else. Fangs of fire line its open maw as it slams into the crystalline queen and sinks in its teeth.

Oscar stroke his chin as he yelled back a response to Gavin, "She doesn't know much to be honest." Desolence stood her ground, unwavering as she embraced the aerodactyle's attack. Her own fangs began to glow purple, an indication that she was about to use Poison Fang. Her opponent did not need to fear getting poison, her Sheer Force ability prevented its possibility. But as the aerodactyle's fangs sank into her, she would sink her teeth into its shoulder. The attack's staggering increase in power made up for the lack of venom.

The fire however was not as easily withstood as the hyper beam. Through her clamped teeth Desolence screamed in agony, her blackened skin boiling. Oscar watched with fascination as the crystal around the aerodactyle's fangs dripped away, revealing her true skin underneath. Oscar snapped his fingers, "It's an armor! She can make the crystals into some sort of shell. Although, why does it look like it hurts so much? Nidoqueens are ground type so they should be able to shrug off fire attacks."

Cillian Quinn

Poisonous fangs take hold in Aerodactyl's wing joint, drawing a furious screech from the prehistoric Pokemon. It thrashes about, pulling itself free as the Nidoqueen screams in pain.

Gavin watches the blackened shell melt away, a soft laugh bubbling in his throat. "Incredible." To Oscar, he adds, "Greninja's Protean sees it change its type to match that of the last move it used. My theory was that it might have shifted typing to Steel; it bears a resistance to Normal-type attacks as well as a weakness to fire. What I wonder now is if it's Poison-type..."

Beating its wings to put some distance between itself and the Nidoqueen, Aerodactyl then drops from the sky to slam into it once more.

"The easiest way to test it would be to attempt to poison her. I have an Antidote on-hand, and can produce a Pokemon who can inflict the condition... unless you'd prefer to use one of your own, of course?"

Protean huh? It's possible, though her skin probably should have changed again. As the Aerodactyle went in for another attack, Desolence finally decided to move. With great effort, she pushed herself back, pushing up dirt as she slid out of the way of the Aerodactyle's strike. She then charged forward, hoping to once again Crunch into the flying leviathan. 

As she did so, Oscar observed the melted armor. It had begun to regrow just as quickly as it had melted, drawing a chuckle out of the Rocket Beast. "The armor reforms!" Oscar called out. He was so busy watching his Nidoqueen fight, he nearly missed Gavin's suggestion. "I am not so sure. If you're right and she's turned herself into a steel type poison wouldn't affect her anyway. Her armor didn't change again when she used Poison Fang, so maybe it only works for Iron Tail?" 

Oscar rubbed his chin, thinking more on Desolence's fighting technique. "This new form also seems to sacrifice speed in place of power and defense. Although maybe now, she seems to be charging just fine. Additional note, while the armor reformed, I doubt it healed the skin underneath."

Oscar tilted his head, wondering how this next move would play out.

Cillian Quinn

Aerodactyl screams with rage as teeth scrape its wing, utilizing its AGILITY to tear free and soar up to the top of the cage. It rattles as Aerodactyl's talons curl around one of the bars, the Pokemon hanging off the side.

"So it does." Gavin watches as, in the absence of Aerodactyl's violence, the protective crystal coating hardens anew. "Ah, you're right, I'm getting ahead of myself." He laughs; his face is flush with colour, a clear sign of his excitement. "Perhaps only certain moves, yes. Maybe just the one, maybe only a few, maybe only Steel-type moves? Either way, it's fascinating. I wonder if her typing is pure Steel, or if it's a mix of Steel and something else?"

Oscar rubbed his chin. "Well um, if you'll allow the divergence I know how to test that." Oscar pulled out two pokeballs, and from them emerged his Malamar Malum and his purple dewpider Clovis. Oscar pointed to Desolence and spoke softly, "Now Desolence hon, I need you to take some damage alright? I swear you'll be fine, just a prick or two."

Desolence seemed reluctant to deviate from the battle at hand, but eventually she turned toward her master and waited. Oscar snapped his fingers toward Malum, who cooed cruelly as his tentacles glew. He whipped his tentacles at Desolence (Psycho Cut), and yelped in surprise as he bounced off. Desolence seemed generally unbothered, if she were poison type that should have hurt a lot more. Malum pouted at his ineffective strike, and Oscar quickly withdrew him before he could throw a fit.

Oscar snapped his fingers toward Clovis next, who reeled back before firing a mighty spear of water from his bubble directly at Desolence (Liquidation). Desolence faced the hit calmly, but immediately regretted it upon impact. The strike sent her flying several feet, her armored body sliding against the ground. As she came to a stop, the nidoqueen let out a groan of pain as he armor melted away. The attack was very effective.

Oscar recalled Clovis. "She was no longer weak to psychic types, but was still weak to water. So assuming she did change to Steel type, she must have been Steel and Ground. Very interesting--though I think that's all we're getting out of her for now." Desolence attempted to get up multiple times, but just couldn't manage it. It would seem her fight was over.

Cillian Quinn

Gavin dips his head in acquiescence of the diversion, letting out a sharp whistle to call off the Aerodactyl before it did any further damage to Nidoqueen.

After a few attacks, they've managed to guess at her new typing: Steel/Ground was hardly unique, but it gave her a certain edge if she was able to armor herself like the highly resilient Steel-type could. No amount of resilience could shield her from the liquidation, however.

Aerodactyl shrieks irritably as its prey is returned; Gavin returns it, as well, not wanting to deal with the Pokemon's temper.

"You have others, correct?"

Next, Gavin sends out an Eelektross whose teeth and claws have been replaced with sharp spikes of crystal. It levitates where it is released, coiling like a serpent.

Oscar sneered as Gavin brought forth his second shadow pokemon created by Necrozma, and Oscar was suggested to do the same. This time he was very familiar with the afflicted pokemon, and in fact he would train with it regularly. Their sessions were actually so built into Oscar's routine that he had learned a few of the new tricks this pokemon had gained from its transformation. 

Oscar did not hesitate to send it out, "Let me introduce you to Rook--whoops sorry, he actually had a name change recently. He's now known as King." It was clear to see why, this Bisharp was given a very regal makeover by the black crystals. The crystals had formed a slimming armor all across King's steel body, and had completely overtaken his arms. The crystals had made his left hand into a rapier like formation, while his right hand was transformed into a massive rotating lance. The most notable change was the reason for his change in name, with the crystals forming a sort of jagged crown upon his head. 

King narrowed his stained glass eyes at his opponent, calmly sizing them up. Oscar didn't snap his fingers, but rather simply pondered on what to show off first. Eventually he came to a decision, "Show off your new abilities to the best of your knowledge. At your pace of course."

King disappeared. One moment he was there, and the next he wasn't. Oscar cackled, "Good first choice!" A few seconds later King reappeared directly in front of the electross, shoving his rapier hand toward its body. The Extremespeed of the attack caused a sonic boom upon his emergence, which rippled dust across the arena. This should be an interesting fight.

Cillian Quinn