[attr="class","matias"]the screening process was more arduous than it needed to be, but finally, after days of waiting, matias finds himself approaching the chain fence of camp winstrate.

a figure lays resting — it is one matias does not recognize.

"where's the gym leader?"

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

"Yer lookin' right at 'im, bucko." The youth said casually, not moving much from his position, feet still propped over the windowsill, arms still behind his head.

Hey, if the guy wasn't gonna bother with manners, then he wouldn't bother with promptness. This was his own goddamn base, and it was his bloody break time, damn it.

That aside... Ah yes! A kid wearing a straw hat manning the entrance booth as lazily as humanly possible.

Surely the Gym Leader.

Casually, the youth grabbed at the wakie-talkie on his belt, bringing it up to his lips.

"Challenger's 'ere." He said, and a moment later, the chain fence gate began to open automatically, the sound of squealing metal feeling the air as the youth rotated his swivel chair away from the window and stood up, yawning as he stretched his arms far above his head, spine curling far.

A moment later, his arms flopped down to his sides as he exited the booth, rounding around it before leaning his shoulder against it, staring at his challenger.

"Anyway, ya wanna see yerself to the battlefield, or do ya need a guide? Place's pretty big." He said; this much was obvious even at a glance; though rather small for a military base, it was comparatively massive compared to the average 'gym' installations.

"Hello 'gain, by the way." He said with a yawn, not building up on those words, waiting for the man to remember him. If his colorful straw hat didn't tip him off, nothing would.

---

TAG: MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","matias"]this is the gym leader?

for brief moments, matias is astonished, but then he shrugs it off, remembering the turmoils of the region. "hello again," he repeats, but the meaning is lost on him, "you're young! impressive. i'll see myself, thanks."

on the way to the battlefield, he calls out his blastoise, whose appearance immediately causes white-fluffy clouds above to shift and darken. "oh good, you already know." soon, thunder cracks. his electivire is summoned not long after that.

matias waits for his mark.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

Doug tilted a brow as the sky darkened. Drizzle was not an ability belonging to either Blastoise or Electivire, far as he knew.

Should he make a call on pre-emptive action?

Before he could decide whether he should or not, sounds of protest were already emerging.

A pair of grassy bugs stomped up to the trainers and the other two pokemon, properly incensed. It had been such a beautiful, sunny day- absolutely perfect for a sunbath.

Look at it now!

"... Well, I suppose we know who your opponents will be." The youth said after a moment, deciding to forego any punishment. The man hadn't made any orders after all, so he would overlook it this time.

The two bugs harrumphed, nodding testily as they fell in line besides the youth.

Soon enough, the battlefield came within view, a blonde woman standing at the foot of it, a folded fabric with a cap sitting atop it in her hands.

Battlefield was certainly the proper word for it.

Dug up Trenches. Stacks of Sandbags as cover. Even dug low stone cabins, often featured in old wars. The whole thing had the air of a century old battlefield, which naturally was because it was. Camp Winstrate was that old. As a gym arena however, the antiquated battlefield could serve a worthwhile purpose.

As the rain continued to fall, the soil began to slowly turn muddy. Regardless, Doug gave paid it no heed as he walked ahead, gesturing to MATIAS SILPH to take his place while he made his way to his own.

As he did, the blonde held out the fabric and cap towards him, humming.

"Here you go, Captain! Best luck out there!" She said as she handed him the items, saluting him with a grin.

"Thanks. Sorry to take the job off yer hands again." He said while taking his straw hat off and handing it to her, to which she simply chuckled as she took it, shrugging her shoulders.

"It is your job, sir. I'm not about to get angry for that." She said, before narrowing her eyes playfully. "Maybe don't make me stand out where it can rain on next time, though?"

The youth scratched at his cheek sheepishly at that.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said, fitting the cap atop his head before saluting back, prompting her to scurry away, back inside the base and away from the rain.

And with that, the youth swung the cape around himself, draping it atop his shoulders as his Leavanny and Lurantis leapt onto the field and faced the challenger, their bladed arms held in front of themselves as weapons.

"Challenger Matias! Allow me to introduce myself properly; I am Captain Douglas, Commander of this base- and Gym Leader of Mauville City!" He said, producing a gleaming, colorful badge with a flick of his wrist, holding it up between index and middle finger for Matias to see. His trophy- if he earned it. "The challenger has the first move. Now let us begin!"

[attr="class","matias"]the tension in the air is electric. excitement, adrenaline, the rush of an intense battle that's to come — matias stands across the gym leader, determined.

"captain douglas!" his voice booms across the thundering battlefield. with a prominent grin, he points at the colorful badge. "that will soon be mine."

challenge start.

blastoise and electivire stand side by side a few feet apart. it should come as no surprise that by now the RAIN DANCE has taken its full effects. eyeing the grass-types, matias plans for a counter to their counter.

"buff and immobilize. nothing new."

drowned out by the sound of the rain, a soft sheen runs across blastoise's shell, hardening its exterior with an IRON DEFENSE. it stands its ground, unmoving for now.

thunders crack above in a powerful symphony of the elements. electivire raises an arm, pointing it to the skies, summoning a jolt of lighting to strike it. electricity courses through its MOTOR DRIVE, allowing it to contain it, channel it, and use it.

with sparks jolting across its fur, electivire swings a heavy arm forward. a surge of THUNDER WAVE flies across the battlefield, looking to paralyze.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

Cpt. Douglas smiled, tipping down his cap.

"I'll be the judge of that, Challenger Matias."

The Clap of thunder followed as the Electivire raised its arm to the sky. Considering the command given, what was to come could be extrapolated with a measure of certainty.

"Neutralize and punish." Came the Captain's response, his Pokemon launching to action immediately after.

Ollante the Leavanny lead the charge, long strides carrying her forward as her figure colored and shimmered, green and yellow becoming nearly indistinguishable from the land as she crossed her bladed arms in front of her-

And split in half the thunder as it came towards her, parting the wave like the red sea without so much as flinching, lighting seeming to not notice she was there at all.

A pink blur came shortly after, launching off the crouched Leavanny's shoulder in the air before it swung its arms wide, launching itself to the soil.

Kimono the Lurantis slammed into the mud with a sonorous clap, the very earth quaking underneath her heel as it parted and split, cracks spreading towards the Matias' pokemon, Earth rising and falling both as the cracking earth launched sharp waves of grime and soil like pressured water.

---

-Leavanny utilized Camouflaged. Due to their surroundings, her typing has become Ground.
-Lurantis utilized Nature Power. Due to their surroundings, it became Earthquake.

[attr="class","matias"]the expression that matias wears is one of cold indifference. the battle extends beyond what's happening between their pokemon. he studies the gym leader, looking for a falter in his expression, a tell to exploit. he doesn't find one yet.

"avoid."

blastoise immediately drops to the ground, and it only takes mere seconds for its limbs to retract into its shell, hardened by the prior IRON DEFENSE. electivire jumps onto the shell, holding on as blastoise tanks the impact of the splitting earth.

the two water cannons remain aimed, and as soon as the earth subsides just enough, a HYDRO PUMP fires towards the leavanny.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

The Gym Leader's countenance spoke little of his thoughts. He simply smiled at the man as he delivered his response.

Given the previous maneuver, the Lurantis would have stood directly in the Hydro Pump's path, should it target the Leavanny in the back.

Worked for him.

"Shield her, Kimono." He said, to which the Lurantis shifted back with heavy, thunderous steps. The Earth shifted underneath them, Nature Power coursing through the land, cracks spreading from where her feet had stomped, Earth shifting and growing uneven as rock and soil upheaved itself before a large portion of it rose in the Hydro Pump's path.





As the powerful, surging river shaved away at the rock's mass until cracks began to spread all over its form-

"Nail it to the floor. String shot." The Leavanny sprang up from above the boulder, pirouetting elegantly before shooting powerful, adhesive webbing at the Blastoise's carapace, seeking to immobilize the large, heavy pokemon.

---

-Lurantis utilized Nature Power to create a barrier between Leavanny & itself and the Hydro Pump.
-Leavanny utilized String Shot. It's aim is to pin blastoise's carapace to the soil.

[attr="class","matias"]tch. the muddy terrain makes it difficult for electivire to find his place in the battle. it stands out, uncomfortable as it trudges through heavy mud. a dismissive click of the tongue stops it.

"keep your distance. they're annoying."

thunder cracks once again. by now, the dark clouds have reached their most volatile, and as they encapsulate the battlefield, trapping it with its downpour, the water droplets start to transform.

the THUNDER that jolts at the leavanny is nothing more than a distraction for what's to come. blastoise, unmoving against the onslaught of STRING SHOT, closes its eyes.

suddenly, water turns to ice, and the strong winds that accompanied the rain now morph into a powerful BLIZZARD. razor-sharp ice travel, soaring across, falling down, as they look to freeze both grass-types.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

Thunder cracks at the Leavanny, washing over it harmlessly. The Leavanny lands on the muddy soil with a splash, eyes narrowed to slits after the blinding bolt had seared into her sight.

As frost begin to permeate the battlefield and he becomes able to see his own breath, the Captain tips down his hat. A myriad of choices, but the most convenient is to be inevitably discarded; the field remains unused around them, despite its aptness for battle.

Time to put it through the paces.

"Ollante, make for cover. Kimono; disrupt." He orders, and duo move to obey. Turning sharply on her heel, the Leavanny sprints towards the Lurantis, her body low, shoulder slamming into the other's stomach. The Lurantis folds around it without putting any resistance, and is thrown atop it like a sack of potatoes, carried away by the sprinting bug.

Frost and ice gives chase like an avalanche- but the Lurantis is not merely the Leavanny's charge. She has a very important role- her arms weaving through the air as they pop and lock in a strange dance.

Was her disruption a series of crude, offensive gestures?

No.

Like a bomb going off in the sky, a hole is suddenly blown through the mass of dark clouds. A strong, unnatural light filters through as the hole's expansions slows down but never quite stops.

Sunny Day.

With an agile jump, Ollante vaults over a barrier of sacks of sand just as the wide eyed Kimono suddenly moves to cover the other's back as a few shards of ice catch up.

A scream tears out of the Lurantis as they bite into her back, her body yanked down below cover by the Leavanny before more damage can befall her.

Ollante cupped the injured Kimono's cheek, gritting her teeth as she yanked out the ice shards before narrowing her eyes.

Oh, her patience was really being tested now.

---

-Leavanny hauls ass with Lurantis in tow.

-Lurantis pops and locks a sick Sun Dance for a sweet Sunny Day while being towed about.

-Lurantis shields Leavanny from some ice shards from the blizzard. It's super effective! Leavanny's kindness is running thin!

[attr="class","matias"]"don't let them."

the distance provides ample cover for blastoise to engage in a similar, off-putting RAIN DANCE. the clouds move overhead as they turn a darker shade, soon filling up the hole that once shone down bright light. it's petty, perhaps, but matias doesn't care.

another lighting cracks down from the heavens, striking at the immune leavanny. but the electricity soon pulses, crackling as a THUNDER WAVE bursts for the lurantis.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan

Rain dance and Sunny day mix and match in some sort of mockery of Hoenn's deities famous spats, holes opening and closing swiftly.

The Sandbags provide cover from frontal assaults, the clouds are beginning to pool back around the hole (his jacket is getting bloody drenched; he signed up for the military, not the navy) and the Electivire is making no move to advance.

He can't entirely say what's to come next, just that given the cover, it's probably not coming from the front- the other man's utilization of rain dance despite hardly utilizing any water type moves offensively has been noted.

Lightning comes down from the heavens, and washes off the Leavanny harmlessly, the electricity conducting down towards the soil and grounding it.

A yelp under it is what calls it attention and alarm however- the Lurantis trembles, crackles of lightning around it. It doesn't seem like it'll be doing anything this round.

"Advance, razor leaf." He orders, and the Leavanny obeys, vaulting over the cover while swinging her arms wide, unleashing a spread of razor leaves towards the Electivire and presumably string shot'd Blastoise, the leaves flying towards them like thrown knives before sprinting forward, arms crossed over her chest.

"Just a little longer Kimono." He muttered to the Lurantis, who didn' seem to be having a good time.

---

-Leavanny: Razor Leaf.

-Lurantis is paralyzed.

[attr="class","matias"]since the battle started, they never had to move — matias understood the mobility of their enemy and concluded that the best plan of action was to stand their ground and be an immovable force. it's not unlike their usual battling style.

so the STRING SHOTS that hold blastoise in place does little to deter their resolve. electivire leaps forward, utilizing its large frame as cover. RAZOR-SHARP LEAVES slice into its skin, drawing blood, but it holds under the pressure because it knows its duty.

blastoise, unmoving, conjures up another BLIZZARD, turning rain into ice that flow past electivire, riffling yellow and black fur as it looks to damage.

[attr="class","noodles"]John Sullivan