The notorious flask Skyler carries around with her is noticeably missing. Now that it's later in the day and the festivities have caught up with her, she arrives at the destined arena breathless and with glitter in her hair.

"Yeah, uh, you too!" It's the guy's niceness that catches her off guard, much more used to trash talking than... whatever this is.

With a flash, a Dewott materializes onto the field. Despite not being fully evolved, she's one of her best pokemon.

"You can start!"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"thank you so much!"

for this battle and this battle only, cian decides to radiate positivity. his smile is bright, beaming across the battlefield.

"start off easy, aggron! boost your speed up!"

aggron starts shedding parts of her armor with AUTOTOMIZE.

"that's it!"

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

Not only is this guy extremely nice, now his Aggron is also stripping. What the hell? Silver eyes blink slowly as Skyler's brain works to process this. In front of her, Shoalgun turns back to her trainer with a confused look on her face, to which Skyler only responds with a helpless shrug.

"Just do you, Shoalgun."

Bowing down to her opponent, Shoalgun retrieves her shell and waves it around effortlessly, getting used to its weight in a SWORDS DANCE. Her whiskers tremble with anticipation and the look she has in her eyes all but invites the Aggron to attack her.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]aggron continues stripping.

"nice stuff, aggron! keep going! you're close!"

another AUTOTOMIZE sheds more armor. have you ever seen an armorless aggron? well you're about to.

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

This would've been a great time to take a drink out of her flask. Or two. But seeing as the object appears to have mysteriously gone missing, Skyler simply stands to witness the horrors unfolding before her. She'd have to scrub her eyes after this.

As sheets of metal fall onto the sand one by one, revealing more of the steel (?) type, the captain decides that enough is enough. "Shoalgun, kick his ass." And please stop this madness.

The distance between the Dewott and the Aggron quickly disappears, Shoalgun's shell glowing bright white as she directs a RAZOR SHELL at the halfway naked Aggron.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]the RAZOR SHELL stops aggron from losing her steel-type. the attack clashes against her bare skin, drawing blood and a sharp roar of pain.

"woah! that was a nice attack! hopefully we'll be just as good!"

aggron takes a heavy step forward and slams her tail into the ground, sending a barrage of ROCK SLIDE their way.

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

What is it with this guy and his cheerful positivity? Not that Skyler's against it, but it clashes against her natural competitiveness in a way she's not sure she's wholly comfortable with.

"Uh, I'm sure you will!"

The captain's almost relieved when the Aggron attacks Shoalgun, forcing her to dodge out of the way. A rock still finds its way to the Dewott, scratching her cheek with a bloody line.

Growling, the Dewott advances on the Aggron again in order to have her REVENGE, her razor-sharp shell glowing brightly as she draws close enough to hit.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"hell yeah! good hit, aggron! we're slowly chipping away!"

slowly might not be good enough this time because the REVENGE that strikes back is crippling. it drops aggron to a knee, pain surging through her body.

"oh no! don't give up!"

aggron roars, grunting as she pushes off the ground to deliver a HEAVY SLAM into the much smaller dewott.

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

Dewott, being her knightly self, doesn't strike Aggron when the other is down. Her attack hits, but she jumps back to let the steel type get its bearings back. She doesn't expect the sudden rise and the collision against her side, crying out as she's sent sailing to land on the sand some distance away.

"Shoalgun, come on! Get 'em!" Skyler nearly jumps in place, encouraging her pokemon with what appears to be bloodthirsty enthusiasm.

Shaking sand from her fur, Shoalgun faces her opponent once more. Careful not to stay close this time, the Dewott jumps into the air and aims an AQUA TAIL at the Aggron's head.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"keep stripping!"

aggron nods and sheds off the last of her armor. the ones on her head peel off in time to shield against the AQUA TAIL, allowing her to step off to the side after her AUTOTOMIZE.

"you're so fast!"

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

There are some things Skyler would rather never see. A naked Aggron happens to be one of them. It doesn't help that the Aggron's trainer is enthusiastically egging her on.

"Is that- Is that healthy for her?"

Given Shoalgun's expression when she briefly turns back to look at her trainer, she shares the sentiment. Maybe it would be best to try and get this battle over with quickly.

This time no command is needed as Shoalgun launches herself at the Aggron - now deprived of armor - her shell burning a blazing white, slashing down with SACRED SWORD.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","cian"]"oh yeah! she can just put those back on later."

with no armor left on her, the aggron moves at an incredible speed. she slips past the SACRED SWORD, ducking low before coming up to throw her IRONLESS HEAD at the dewott.

[attr="class","noodles"]skyler dross

Only Shoalgun's painstakingly trained reflexes enable her to DETECT the attack against her soon enough to be able to dodge it. Not expecting the Aggron's sudden acceleration, the Dewott lands instead behind her, latching onto her tail for a moment.

"Punch her, Shoalgun!" Comes a voice from the opposite side of the field, Skyler's enthusiasm bleeding into her voice.

While the water type doesn't exactly know how to punch, she does have her shell with her. Attempting to jump up onto Aggron's back, the Dewott would then slash downwards into Aggron's unprotected back with a swift RAZOR SHELL.

CIAN MAHER