sam glances up when he's addressed. his eyes find a man with dark hair and stark eyes. what a contrast-- thinks the boy with dark hair, yellow eyes, pale skin, and black inked tattoos.

"sure." the offer for a battle is accepted with ease. "specific rules or basic one on one?"

DANNY HALL

these boys and his tats, smh.

but sam gives a polite smile nonetheless and begins tapping against the capsules in his hoodie. which one, which one.

"thank you. i'm sam carter, caretaker of mt. pyre."

DANNY HALL

grimster. cute. the thought's passing as he admires the evolved form of one of his own pokémon, a morgrem. he's not terribly familiar with it though. should have used it in a battle by now.

but oh well.

so he tosses out an old faithful, a haunter. his body is large enough for sam to climb upon, curious as it's evolution is not only grounded but smaller.

"start out strong."

haunter does just that, shooting out a DAZZLING GLEAM by flexing his hands and sticking out his tongue like a maniac.

DANNY HALL

like trainer like pokémon, that shaggy hair. the false surrender had haunter giving a small exclamation of terror, an 'ACK' of sorts, before scrambling to grip the hair.

a grin straight from hell falls on the haunter's lips. sam's smirk isn't nearly as dastardly, but it matches.

"let's shock 'em."

the same wavelength, those two. the THUNDERBOLT that the haunter sends through the hair he's gripped is powerful and just as bright.

DANNY HALL

sam had to stifle a snort. the imagery before him was definitely comical. the laughter tickled his voice as he called out to his haunter.

"create some distance, siph!"

tisiphone that haunter, typically nicknamed siph, released the hair and used the momentum of the previous false surrender to allow his body to be pushed back. as he flew backwards, he brought his hands to the center of his body and prepared a SHADOW BALL, sending it toward the lanky demon.

DANNY HALL

the spirit break has haunter's eyes growing wide.

"brace yourself, gather a bomb in your hands and deliver it when you're closer!"

sam's instruction left his mouth quickly and haunter gathered his hands to his center as the grim fairytale made reality caused pain to move through his body. but the haunter's smirking despite the pain... why?

"surprise bitch."

the SLUDGE BOMB in the haunter's grasp goes off, sending poison everywhere close.

DANNY HALL

the kick gave more distance between them. with that, haunter was able to send out another DAZZLING GLEAM toward the opponent, but it was drastically less than the last. why?

because haunter was winded. coming close to defeat. those spirit breaks were doing just that, breaking the spirit down.

sam could see it, and couldn't wrap his head around how to counter it. haunter didn't have the stamina that his gengar had and because of that, he assumed the worst. defeat? right around the corner.

"nice shot!"

hopefully sam could at least encourage the haunter in his last moments of the battle.

DANNY HALL