"Greyson Connors. The Captain has been waiting for you." One of the four soldiers manning the gate informs the challenger as he finishes examining the documents, handing them back. The chain fence opened as the soldier gestured towards it. "Follow me."

He stops for a moment to roll his eyes next, looking down at the floor were a little Growlithe follows behind, tongue waggling.

"Not you."

Leading the way, the man took Greyson through a straight line towards the field exercise training grounds. Dug up Trenches, stacked sandbags, dug stone cabins.

The whole thing had the air of a century old battlefield, because it was. Camp Winstrate was that old. As a Gym's Battlefield however, the antiquated installations served a worthwhile purpose.

A young man stood on the other end of the battlefield, casually folding back his sleeves as the soldier and challenger came to stand at the other end.

"Thank you, Private Smith, Spike. Dismissed." He said with a smile, prompting the man to salute before he began making his way back to the entrance... Growlithe in tow.

The Gym Leader turned his gaze to the challenger next, pulling onto his gloves as he grinned.

"We're both busy men, presumably." He said, producing a net ball before throwing it high in the air, releasing a Scolipede into the field. "Let's be prompt 'bout it, Mr. Greyson. The challenger has the first move."

John Sullivan

greyson follows wordlessly, eyes sliding from one new attraction to another. the entire base gave off the vibe of something that was out-of-date; at least compared to the more modern installations.

as they enter the battlefield, he made note of the many items scattered about. they were likely here for more than visual effect. he made a mental reminder to see what he could do with them.

"captain," he gives in greeting. despite being outside of any military structure, he was technically a league officer himself. he gave the rushed leader his due respect.

with a nod, he releases his own pokemon, the delphox appearing moments later. she looks to greyson, and then onto the bug- and poison-type pokemon. she cracks her neck and retrieves the wand she keeps hidden deep into the fur of her forearm, understanding flowing through her.

"a little prep work, autumn." he says, moving to give her the space she needs.

his delphox responds accordingly.

autumn raises her wand above her, pointing its tip at the sun above. with a pulse of violet energy that begins at the base, and expels outwards at the end, the entire battlefield begins to heat up. her SUNNY DAY now into effect, she closes her eyes for a single moment to expel the nerves of battle and keep a CALM MIND.

when she opens them again, her expression is of fiery confidence.


notes + calm mind increase spatk/spdef (1/6) | sunny day increases FIRE damage by 50% (1/5)

"No." Cpt. Douglas said in response immediately, his speedy Scolipede having already been reeling back as he spoke, before it brought its forelegs crashing down unto the soil with a thunderous crash.

The soil underneath cracked and shattered in waves, spreading outwards to the fox as massive boulders sprouted from the floor, the field becoming an uneven mess of upheaved rock and soil, snapping and threatening to swallow and crush her whole as the ground split and cracked.


"Keep her on her toes." He ordered, his pokemon rolling up into a ball before swiftly accelerating to dangerous speeds, launching through the newly made half-pipes and dirt tracks towards the fox, gaining a layer of dirt and rock as it rushed forth.

---

-Speed Boost triggered.
-Wamu used Earthquake, severely altering the landscape while attacking.
-Wamu used Roll Out.

John Sullivan

the effect is immediate. the ground beneath grayson and autumn begins to shake violently enough to force the trainer to one hand and knee to brace himself, eyes watching to make sure he doesn't fall into any pitfalls.

"get yourself off the ground!" greyson yells once he thinks he is safe. but the delphox is already moving.

autumn surrounds herself in the same violet light as before, and with a CALM MIND empowered PSYCHIC, she lifts the chunk of falling earth beneath her half a dozen feet into the sky, effectively avoiding the worst of it. as she goes to levitate away, a boulder juts out and cracks her against her left hip. 

her maw pulls back in irritation, revealing sharp canines.

but greyson knew she couldn't hold it like this forever, and with the approaching ball of poison spikes and fury, he needed to act fast.

"light 'em up!"

autumn draws a circle of fire in front of her, and aims it slightly downwards at the scolipede.  with a single tap in the center with her wand, a torrent of MYSTICAL FIRE propels forwards. empowered by her SUNNY DAY & CALM MIND anything it'd hit would be devastated.

quickly, she moves to jump back down onto the ground.

notes + calm mind increase spatk/spdef (1/6) | sunny day increases FIRE damage by 50% (2/5)

"Get wet." Cpt. Douglas ordered sharply.

The slowly growing boulder that was Wamu suddenly spurted heavy sprouts of venom as it rolled through the land, the gathering mud and dirt around growing wet, heavy and purple as it was infused with more and more of the pokemon's own poison, before Doug held up his hand, curling it into a fist.

"Drop her on her ass."

With a massive boost of speed, the rolling pokemon jetted forth towards the oncomming flames, tilting to one side to take a turn towards an incline.

It shot forth and sailed through the air at incredible speed, barreling into the oncomming, powerful wave of fire to the sound of sizzling venom and crackling dirt.

Blasting through the fire now caked in burnt soil and carapace, Wamu unleashed her pains and frustrations into a scream as she barrelled towards the Delphox at dangerous speed, now a hot, poison spike ball of death.

---

-Speed Boost triggered.
-Wamu used Venom Drench, coating itself into a heavy mass of liquid poison to more or less ward the fire.
-Wamu used Roll Out. Her coating of dirt grew thicker and heavier, making the move stronger.
-Wamu took damage.

John Sullivan

"counter attack!" greyson orders, yelling over the carnage.

autumn's CALM MIND went to work, assessing the best way to handle this situation. pain was inevitable. that left only two options.

resignation and retaliation.

she takes the venom drenched attack, throwing her forearms in front of her in a cross-arm guard. with her opponent's ROLLOUT enhanced by SPEED BOOST, it tore even through her thick fur. like a cornered seviper, the delphox hissed.

but she needed to counter-attack. before it moved off.

with an explosion of energy, she released a wave a PSYCHIC energy. it would aim to wrap the scolipede in a ball of psychic energy that quickly tightens, and constricts.

"give it another mystical fire!"

alight with pure hot anger, she summons another pillar SUNNY DAY empowered MYSTICAL FIRE. combined with the psychic prison, it could prove devastating.

notes + calm mind increase spatk/spdef (1/6) | sunny day increases FIRE damage by 50% (3/5)

"Shatter her grip." Cpt. Douglas ordered sharply.

Psychic energy wound tightly and compressed around the Scolipede- and it responded by glowing a neon green, the energy swiftly swirling and wrapping around its horn before it sprang forth, brute forcing out of the psychic grip with its Mega Horn.

Gravity took hold once more, its body falling to the ground- but a pillar of red fire was fast approaching all the same.

There was no evading that.

"Attack." So the Scolipede simply did as she did, and became faster, Rolling Out towards the close ranged Delphox even as her body was consumed in a fiery blaze.

---

-Speed Boost triggered.
-Wamu used Mega Horn to break out of the Psychic Grip.
-Wamu used Roll Out. Her coating of dirt grew thicker and heavier, making the move stronger.
-Wamu took heavy damage.

John Sullivan

greyson had to admit. the captain and his scolipede were certainly tenacious. despite taking autumn's strongest attacks time and time again, it still kept coming, and coming. he couldn't help but respect that mindset.

but, what greyson and autumn were doing, simply wasn't good enough. this wasn't just a random stranger. this was a gym leader. he couldn't afford to make a mistake here.

meanwhile, the delphox watched with a mixture of irritation and confusion as her opponent once again barreled straight into her empowered flames. it was definitely getting injured, that much was clear. was this a battle of attrition? did he think her so weak that she would fall first? the scolipede was underestimating her. that only made her angry.

"get it in the air. control it's movements!" greyson commanded, voice rising over the torrent of flames.

the delphox did as he ordered. she reached out with both hands and caught the rapidly advancing pokemon, her entire mental will pushing out with PSYCHIC energy to keep him in place. the spiked carapace dug into her thick fur and reached her flesh, but autumn simply hissed and concentrated, both physical and mental muscles straining.

then, and only then, did she enhance her assault with another PSYCHIC pulse. it would lift it off the ground as if it was a baby that needed coddling. with her mind red hot in fury, she threw the scolipede dozens of feet into the air.


notes + calm mind increase spatk/spdef | sunny day increases FIRE damage! (4/5)

"Rather reckless." Trying to hold the bug in place, as fast as it was, and thinking she would get her say?

Who was the one underestimating who here?

The Scolipede sprang open from his rolled up form at point blank, a burst of neon green signaling his Mega Horn as it went to gore the haughty fox.

---

-Speed Boost triggered again.
-Wamu used Mega Horn at point blank before it could be thrown.

John Sullivan

"you should've stayed in your ball," greyson adds.

the MEGAHORN breaks through her PSYCHIC hold and slams right into her clavicle, sending shockwaves of pain up through her body.

hissing in pain, her breathing painful, she reaches out with one of her hands and grasps the appendage. her fingers take on a violet-hue and she empowers her grip with PSYCHIC once more, ensuring her grip could be strong enough.

then, hell breaks loose.

a torrent of flames rises up from the delphox, surrounding her like a burning cloak, as her BLAZE ability goes active. meanwhile, with her other hand, she  summons a MYSTICAL FIRE empowered by her SUNNY DAY, CALM MIND and BLAZE abilities.

it unleashes as if the gates of hell have been thrown open, flooding anything in front of her in its cleaning flames.

it wouldn't kill the enemy pokemon. but by arceus's name, it would remember this day.

notes + calm mind increase spatk/spdef | sunny day increases FIRE damage! it will end next turn!(5/5) | BLAZE activates increasing her fire damage further!

"And she should've considered the size difference." They youth replied- Average height of a Delphox? A little under 5 feet. Average height of a Scolipede? About 8 feet. Why does this matter?

Probably because the Scolipede had brought its fore and rear legs crashing unto the soil with a booming thunder.

The world exploded around the Delphox and Scolipede in a searing blaze indeed. But there was quite a bit of rock and dirt as well.

The sky turned red as a massive blaze rose, and the soil cracked, shuddered and fissured as boiling rock rose under, striking out at the weakened Delphox as she unleashed her fury.

A moment later, the great conflagration came to a close, the Scolipede tiredly collapsed, her chitin burnt crispy. A trip to Nurse Joy the Blissey was probably in order.

---

-Speed Boost triggered again.
-Wamu used Earthquake at point blank.
-Wamu fainted.

John Sullivan

the gym leader's words speak the truth. as her rage takes over, releasing her hellish fire, the dual-type reacts simultaneously.

rocks jut up and out from the surface, striking the weakened delphox in vulnerable areas. by the time the flames, smoke and debris have scattered, both pokemon lie on the ground, unconscious.

around them the battlefield is a mess of small fires, open fissures, and a number of other liquids produced by the captain's pokemon. it was an impressive display. he couldn't imagine the clean-up cost, though.

greyson recalls autumn, tucking her capsule back at his belt. he moves to approach.

"that was a good fight. the use of rollout and venom drench to weaken her fire. never seen it used like that before."

"Be a bugcatcher for long enough and you'll see all kinds of Fire type moves thrown at'cha. Either adapt or put down yer straw hat." Cpt. Douglas said as he returned the Scolipede to its ball, his accent noticeably stronger than before.

As he approached the challenger, a pokeball slipped onto his palm, the man releasing a Blissey wearing a field medic uniform, to whom he handed his Net ball.

"If ya like, Nurse Joy'ere will handle your pokemon's healing." He offered as he approached before finally stepping up to the man and offering his hand. "Good battlin', Mr. Greyson. A little straight forward, but it suits a gym challenge rather well."

A shiny badge slipped into Doug's palm, the youth holding it up for Greyson to see.

"This is the Judgement badge, Mr. Greyson. Winning or losing matter little were this particular badge is concerned." He informed the man. "Performance under pressure and reasoning is more important where this one's concerned, and ya did mighty fine."

Mistakes were made, but then, they were from both sides; he didn't expect flawless decision making- consistency was enough.

"As Mauville City's Gym Leader, allow me the pleasure of granting ya this badge." He said, flicking it towards the man with a smile. "I look forward to hearin' of yer success in yer gym challenge."

Then, his eye glinted, a smirk appearing over his lips.

"And to fighting you in the Hoennian Stars Tournament next week. See ya 'round, Mr. Greyson."

---

tags: Greyson Connors