The food in these festivals was just too good! And everyone else's timing? Terrible.

For the third time now, Doug's porking out was interrupted, though thankfully, it was not the overzealous Mr. Referee this time. Instead it was-

"ACK-!" Doug coughed up as he swallowed his noodles in one go, banging his hand against his chest roughly before leaning back against his seat, saying casually (in a really raspy voice.) "Sure I got time."

Grabbing a bottle of water and swallowing the contents down in one go, the youth banged his chest again before jogging up to the man.

"'Ello there, Mr. Lopez! So how we doin' this?" He said, arms behind his head. There were so many formats to try out- though Doug had his preference. Still, the champ was, well, the champ. One needed to respect their seniors.

TAG: kyle lopez

Doug gripped his chin in thought following those words. A fight against the champion, AND he got to pick? It was almost too good to be true.

Then again, if anything he had heard of the champion was right, he had a dog for every circumstance, so he could very well end up outmatched even on a match up he thought advantageous.

"Thank ya kindly, Mr. Lopez! I'll think of it as a rehearsal for when I challenge ya for real!" He said, pumping his fist excitedly. "Gonna be real soon!"

He certainly had enough badges- recent happenings however, had left very little time for his Gym Challenge. Maybe if he could find the Elite 4s spread all around the city...

He shook his head. Focus!

"Awright, so! How about a double battle?" Doug said, palming two pokeballs. "Guess I'll go first!"

"I now what some people think!" He said, thinking back to his battle with Hideo Kino- the baffled expression on the boy's Rotom's face when he didn't send out a bug for battle.

As a Blissey and a Hatterene landed on the field, Doug grinned, pumping his hand.

"But I ain't the bug-type gym Leader, that's Billi Marsh's gig!" He said, tipping his hat. "I'm the Judgement Gym Leader, and military strategy's my specialty! Now show me what'cha got, champ! I know ya got a collection of badges bigger than Mr. FERNANDO SILPH's bank account- ya better not disappoint, if ya want mine!"

"Prepare for combat!" He said, pumping his fist, prompting Nurse Joy to smile as she and Vivi exchanged looks, a glow being created between them as she triggered Skill Swap.

---

TAG: kyle lopez

"Oh FUCK this." Doug said sharply as he saw that bloody Smeargle, the vietnam flashbacks of his battle at FERNANDO SILPH's gym battling through his mind.

Imprison and then transform was the obvious play, while Pachirisu kept them unable to deal with it...

Not on his bloody watch.

"Sing, Power Whip, go crazy!" The youth ordered sharply, prompting nurse joy to immediately raise her angelic voice up to the sky; didn't matter if Pachirisu was being an attention whore when songs were free for everyone.

As for the wild whipping? Massive vines tore out of the pavement and rose high in the sky, before coming down swinging down; far too large for it to matter if they Pachirisu wanted attention.

CRACK!

Not in the least because they were aiming for the area 'marked' by the bloody painter, destroying its devilish trap.

"I ain't making it that easy- I've dealt with those annoying copycats 'fore!"

---

TAG: kyle lopez

"It'll be annoying if he keeps calling attention to it- Crush that rat!" Ordered Doug sharply.

Against some odds, the Hatterene actually acted, her eyes shining a neon glow, mirroring the the glow surrounding the Pachirisu, before it began to attempt to hold it down and crush it.

Blissey was not much behind, launching herself towards the same Pachirisu with her whole body intent on slamming into it full body.

---

-Hatterene is using Psychic on Pachirisu.
-Blissey is using Double Edge on Pachirisu.

TAG: kyle lopez

Blissey was a pretty resilient pokemon- probably as resilient as they came.

It mattered not with Super Fang. The Blissey gasped as the teeth sank deep and sapped at her strength- though she quickly moved to latch onto the Pachirisu, anticipating her trainer's order.

"Sing, Heal Pulse!" He ordered, now that that the Blissey was much closer to both opponents.

The Hatterene quickly blasted the nurse with a healing ray, washing away her current injuries while the Blissey lifted her voice to the sky and attempted to place both opponents to sleep with a lullaby.

---

-Hatterene is using Heal pulse on Blissey.
-Blissey is using Sing.

TAG: kyle lopez

"Power Whip!" Doug ordered- right before the fire washed over the Hatterene, the reflected Heal Pulse following almost immediately, negating the damage.

The sound of Doug palming his face followed as massive vines tore through the pavement around the transformed Smeargle, attempting to snare and crush it.

"I would like to say I planned that." He said. "But no, I've just been slackin' on my studies."

Studying pokemon that weren't bug types was such a drag- and he still had to study Military stuff. Why was he even using these guys again?

Oh, right. Pragmatism or whatever. His hatred for Rocket went deeper than his obsession with bugs.

For her part, the Blissey was now proper paralyzed- with her arms tightly wound around the Pachirisu, so it seemed like they wouldn't be going anywhere.

---

-Blissey is paralyzed.
-Hatterene is hit by Fire. Hatterene is healed by the reflected Heal Pulse. Hatterene used Power Whip.

TAG: kyle lopez

"Evade it and uproot her!" He ordered in response to his opponent without delay. His inexperience with these two had been showing aplenty so far- A change of tactics was needed.

As the vines cracked the pavement and began to creep upwards, the Blissey leapt and scrambled back from the death trap, releasing her hold on the chipmunk in the process while Doug's Hatterene utilized her newfound grip on her clone to attempt and swing her into the Pachirisu.

Gripping his chin, the youth bit his lip and tipped his hat. Staying in the moment wasn't gonna work when the opponent was kyle lopez. He needed to plan ahead and come up with something...

---

-Blissey disengaged and drew back.
-Hatterene utilized Power Whip to try and swing her clone into Pachirisu.
tags: kyle lopez