Eva is an empathetic person, knowingly in tune and sometimes hyperaware of others. There’s a concerned look n her face as she peer over towards the young man that she’s pitted against for this round, “Everything alright?” she asks with legitimate concern. The Thievul at her side twitches its tail, casually stepping forwards onto the battlefield between them.

Adrian Malcolm

"Sure. Just havin' a bit of a summer bummer, y'know?" He'd get over it.

Adrian grabs for the pokeball of his Starmie and thinks better of it, but he's running out of options. Changing it out for another, he almost wishes he'd never hesitated with the first, eyeing the Gulpin he'd released wearily.

"...*Sigh* It's your move." Why did I even catch this thing? Grabbing for his phone, he scanned the creature with a pokedex app, trying to identify some of its known moves.

---

Eva Morales

A small, rotund pokemon takes the field. The sight of the Gulpin makes Eva smile. Curious little things, they were. King of cute, but not really. Somewhere in between.

“Summer bummer?” she repeats, not too familiar with the phrase but it rhymed so that means it must be something people used. He must not be having a good tournament otherwise Eva finds it hard to believe someone would be upset about spending so much time on the sunny beach.

“Alright, well, good luck! I’m Eva, by the way,” she adds before encouraging the Thievul forward. The fox steps a few more paces towards the Gulpin, scraping its claws in the sand to HONE them while crouching down into a battle stance.

Adrian Malcolm

Fox uses HONE CLAW

"You too. 'M Adrian, by the way."

He tensed for the battle, adopting more of a scowl towards the pokemon sharpening its claws. Shortly after he commanded Gulpin to prepare as well. "Get 'em, Gulpin." Inflating its sac-like body, Gulpin prepared to exhale noxious chemicals; an ACID SPRAY was elicited from its puffed out gut, sent flinging towards Eva's Thievul.

---

Eva Morales

“Nice to meet you, Adrian!” she smiles back at him as the Gulpin convulses. Fox tenses, tilting his head slightly at the sight before jumping back in surprise as fowl, corrosive acid sprays all over him. He snorts, shaking his head and rubbing against the sand to get the disgusting stuff off of him. Thoroughly pissed off now, the Thievul lunges forward, his tail glowing a brilliant white. At the last moment he pivots, SLAPPING HIS TAIL at the Gulpin like a golfclub swinging at a golf ball.

Adrian Malcolm

Fox uses HONE CLAW

Gulpin reacts to the fluffy tail as though it were allergic to it, sneezing a puff of POISON GAS as its face was tickled, though every subsequent blow gave it whiplash until finally the Thievul found its sweet spot. Careening through the air Gulpin lands a few yards away, its face caked in sand as it tries to spit out the grit, groaning and deflating with disgust. It looked back at Adrian, woefully reluctant to continue like this.

Ugh... I wish you weren't so fuckin' awkward. Its puckered, wrinkled face only made him want to look away, ignoring the pokemon's plight. "Shake it off," he suggested.

---

Eva Morales

POISON GAS puffs in the face of the Fox. He coughs, but regardless smacks the Gulpin away, having it fly through the air like a little golf ball before landing in the sand. A strange, tickle spread in the Thievul’s throat, eliciting another cough. For now, the POISON simply festers. Annoyed by the sudden status infliction, Fox spins around, baring his teeth and SNARLING viciously at the Gulpin.

Adrian Malcolm

Fox uses SNARL

Gulpin trembles and sinks low to the ground, frightened by the rows of teeth clenching before it. A biological reaction takes place as its fight or flight response kicks in, causing excessive amounts of bile to build up in its poison sac. With nowhere to go, it must be expelled from the body as a SLUDGE BOMB. Yet it trickles from its mouth more out of necessity, rather than as an attack.

This thing literally has absolutely no spine to speak of whatsoever...

---

Eva Morales

Disgusting. Fox cringes at the sight of viscous goo pouring out of the Gulpin’s mouth. It’s hesitant enough to allow the Thievul to avoid the Sludge Bomb. Thank goodness, because it was hard enough fighting off the poison that already pumped through its veins.

Completely unwilling to touch the creature, Fox swipes at the air. A dark scythe of energy forms in front of the Gulpin, attempting to hit it with a NIGHT SLASH

Adrian Malcolm

Fox uses NIGHT SLASH

The poor thing makes next to no effort at retaliation, instead pitying itself, holding up its arms in surrender or perhaps simply to ask 'why' as it is pelted with a nasty projection of Thievul's malice. LIQUID OOZE begins pouring out from where it was cut, and the creature grows weary of the battle, flailing as if it were unwilling to battle, though slowly inching closer to the fox. What's with this guy?

Adrian looks over to the good doctor, offering only a disappointed shrug.

---

Eva Morales

Now Fox is just confused . . . and still disgusted. With each step forward, the Thievul steps back, keeping the distance between them. What the heck was this thing doing??

Eva frowns, shrugging back at Adrian. She was just in it for the fun, she didn’t mind the awkward battle. She actually felt bad for the little guy. Maybe he just wanted a hug? If he wasn’t covered in poisonous goo, she’d give him one. No hesitation.

Adrian Malcolm

Fox just BACKS UP

Growing frustrated, the Gulpin fizzled out, thrashing in an upset before deflating low to the ground. Life was hard for the little guy, and he was just too soft for its burdens. Adrian began to grab for its pokeball, wondering what more he could do for it.

---

Eva Morales

Eva sighed, she felt bad for the little slug. It looked like it was trying hard, it just didn’t have the capacity for a battle like this it seemed. Eva scratched at her head, “I think uh . . . maybe battling isn’t for this little guy yet, yeah?” maybe some more training would help it out?

Adrian Malcolm