In short order, Hideo was introduced to the gym leader. He waved, doing his best to be polite and give a good first impression.

Hideo smiled, following along with Alexei Ivanov as he tapped around to ensure he didn't trip on a stray rock or root. It was a pretty pleasant gym to just walk through; whatever the outcome of this battle, he definitely intended to visit this gym in the future, just to hang out.

Hideo was even further pleased to hear the first thing the gym leader mentioned was the Tournament. Not about his pseudo-runaway status. "Yeah, I was in the Hoenn Star Tournament," Hideo said, a hint of pride in his voice, "Did pretty well for my first tournament, I think." He would've preferred higher than a 50% win rate, but it went well enough for him.

Though there was one thing he'd have to make sure of, before they got close to their battle.

"Is it alright if I have my Rotomdex help me out during this? It'll just tell me what's going on in the battle, and I brought a couple Pokemon for the actual battle itself." Normally he'd have just tried to listen to battle normally and work off it from there, but this environment would make it more difficult to tell who was where.

Also, this was a flying-focus gym, and while he was good at pinpointing stuff on the ground, he was still relatively hopeless when it came to stuff in the air. "Nosey here can't battle while he's in the Pokedex anyways, so all his help will just be what he tells me."

Alexei Ivanov

"Really?" He didn't expect a gym leader to have a bad run like that. "Well, there were some pretty tough trainers in that tournament." Quite a few Hideo himself met and battled - and lost to.

Of course, Hideo wasn't going to make any assumptions about Alexei's skill based on that; he was a gym leader, after all, so he had to be a pretty skilled trainer in some capacity.

And Alexei was generous enough to let him keep his Rotomdex around. Good. "Thanks!" Hideo said, a smile on his face. He even got time to prepare himself!

Of course, Hideo already had the two Pokemon he planned for this battle. The first one he let out was his Dragonite, the large dragon stretching as it touched the ground. Hugger, true to his name, embraced his trainer a moment later, gently shaking the boy.  As much as Hideo liked his Dragonite's hugs, they had to focus. "We can hug it out later, Hugger," he said, trying to wiggle free. "We got a battle to win, remember? We'll win that first, then do hugs, ok?"

The Dragonite nodded, letting the boy free so he could release his other Pokemon, his Sensu Oricorio. This Pokemon was much more graceful, offering a bow as she was released.

And with his own Pokemon released, it was time to learn what Alexei let out. Or set up; Hideo didn't hear any Pokeballs releasing Pokemon across from him.

"Alright Hideo," the Rotomdex said, scanning the two opposing Pokemon, "Looks like the gym leader here has a Togetic and a Crobat. The Togetic's got some heavy hits, and remember that she's Fairy-Flying so no go on Dragon attacks. The Crobat's looking more status-effecty, especially with poison, so watch out for him too."

"Got it." Hideo was already thinking up how to work on it when Alexei told him he could have the first move. With no objection, Hideo began the fight. "Alright; Hugger, show them your moves! And Jiggy, keep yourselves safe!"

His two Pokemon nodded, his Dragonite acting first, performing a slightly-graceful Dragon Dance. Being a Dancer, the Oricorio immediately copied the dance, the two Pokemon enhancing themselves with their combined groove.

But as the Dragonite readied himself after the dance ended, the Oricorio added a little flourish, raising her fans up as a light barrier enveloped herself and the Dragonite, the Safeguard quickly taking effect.


Safeguard Duration: 1/5
Dragon Dances: 1

Dragonite used Dragon Dance

Oricorio copied the Dragon Dance due to Dancer ability

Oricorio used Safeguard

Alexei Ivanov

The Safeguard held against the Haze, but the same couldn't be said about the Dragon Dances. "You're gonna have to forget about making them dance, Hideo," the Rotomdex informed Hideo, "His Crobat laid down a Haze. We're gonna have to go all offense on this one."

"Gotcha."

Hideo had caught Alexei's order for the Haze as "dispel", but he'd noticed the complete lack of order preceding the Togekiss's attack. He could recognize the sound of a Dazzling Gleam (his Ribombee loved that attack), and could tell by his Dragonite's cry who it was targeted against.

Though Alexei also sounded kind of...annoyed that the Togekiss did that? Had it not been part of the order?

Either way, it wouldn't go without retaliation. "Dancer, dance on that Togekiss! Hugger, go for the Crobat!"

His Oricorio would do as ordered, beginning a dance that prominently displayed her "fans" for all to see. The first sign she was using Revelation Dance was the ghostly energy building up in her "fans", and it would be obvious that it was an attack once she pointed towards the Togekiss, the ghostly energy flying forth towards her target.

The Dragonite's attack was considerably less graceful, a blue sheen covering his body as flew towards the Crobat, aiming to collide with his large foe as the Dragon Rush's energy flowed through him.

"Just this one!" Hideo shouted, "I got her when I went out looking for Pokemon with a good friend of mine. He said we found her when she was dancing for a bunch of Pokemon, so we were able to catch her nice and easy." Granted, taking that opportunity did agitate the residents, and quite a few Pokemon came to retaliate against them. "Since then, she's been helping teach me how to dance. I only got the basics down so far, but I'm told my dancing's pretty good!"

He had to imagine what it would be like having four separate dance-instructing Pokemon. On top of the one human teaching him to dance.

"If I had all four Oricorio's, they'd all be trying to teach me. My legs would be jelly at the end of that much training!"



Safeguard Duration: 2/5
Dragon Dances: 0

The Crobat's Haze neutralized the Dragon Dance buffs

Dragonite was hit by the Togekiss's Dazzling Gleam

Oricorio used Revelation Dance (ghost-type) against the Togekiss

Dragonite used Dragon Rush to charge at the Crobat

Alexei Ivanov

"They must try to get you to dance all the time!" Hideo exclaimed. "Though I'm pretty sure if I brought her to visit yours, she'd be trying to get me to dance to compete with them!" A competition he was pretty certain to lose, but he'd enjoy.

Another set of attacks fired. Hideo didn't hear anything from his Oricorio, but he heard a grunt as his Dragonite was struck by something. Hideo's Rotomdex quickly filled him in: "His Togekiss used Rock Slide for some cover, and your Dragonite took a Cross Poison. No poisoning, of course."

Hideo nodded.  Good thing his Dragonite was a tough one.  "Jiggy, get in there! Hugger, blow'em away!"

His Oricorio nodded, kneeling down low before leaping high up in the air. Right as she hit her peak, she came hurtling down fans-first, aiming right for the Togekiss with her Aerial Ace.

His Dragonite didn't pursue any further, his wings beating furiously as they were covered in green light. The energy soon flew from his wings, his Hurricane's green crescent blades flying straight for the Crobat.

Fortunately for the Togekiss, her Rock Slide could cover her from this attack. Unfortunately for the Togekiss, it would also cover the Oricorio.


Safeguard Duration: 3/5

Dragonite was hit by Cross Poison.  Safeguard prevented (potential) poisoning

Oricorio used Aerial Ace on the Togekiss

Dragonite used Hurricane against the Crobat

(side note: the Rock Slide cover will protect Oricorio and Togekiss from the Hurricane)

Alexei Ivanov

Hideo nodded, well aware of how much energy his own Oricorio had despite her calm demeanor. Though he was left a bit confused when Alexei said not to get close. Maybe it was just a warning that the fight was getting close to him, but wouldn't the Rotomdex have warned him if either of them were at risk of getting caught in the crossfire.

Weird.

His Dragonite's attack proved effective - his Rotomdex informed him of such - but the Crobat was still going at it. The Dragonite did his best to protect himself by blocking with his arms, taking the Wing Attack head on as he gained some height.

The latter part was completely intentional.

"Rush'em down!" Hideo shouted. His Dragonite once again covered itself in a light blue energy of his Dragon Rush, and once again it would charge at the Crobat. However, it wasn't merely going for pure damage: it was going down on the Crobat, aiming to grab it as he'd rush right into the ground.

He was going to take full advantage of their size difference.

His Oricorio had her guard up, ready to face the Togekiss's retaliation...and was left hanging there as none came. Seeing her chance, she aimed to close the small distance between the two.

Only to find out why the Togekiss was chuckling as the Thunderbolt crashed down right on her, her body shaking as the electricity ran through her.

"It knew an electric attack?!" Hideo asked, unaware of which it was but definitely hearing the bolt from where he was.

"Not exactly," his Rotomdex answered. "That was a Thunderbolt, but it was made from a Metronome. Lucky roll for the Togekiss."

Hideo sighed. At least the chance of dealing with that twice in a row was slim to none. "Get'em back for that, Jiggy!"

The Oricorio regained her balanced, shaking her head as she also regained her focus, glaring right at the Togekiss. She was less frazzled by the attack than by the Togekiss's smug look, and sought to end it with a flurry for Double Slaps, her hand-fans ready to go wild.


Safeguard Duration: 4/5

Dragonite was hit by Wing Attack

Dragonite used Dragon Rush on the Crobat and is trying to rush it to the ground.

Oricorio was hit by Thunderbolt

Oricorio is about to go full Double Slap on the Togekiss

Alexei Ivanov

Fortunately for his opponent, the Safeguard was going to end soon. But not just yet.

They were solid hits, both on the Crobat and the Dragonite. And still, the Dragonite was kept safe from the Cross Poison’s poisoning, but it knew that this protection wasn’t going to last much longer; all those hits were taking their toll. Tough as he may be, this Dragonite wasn’t invincible. But he still pushed forward - literally and metaphorically.

A quick fill-in from his Rotomdex, and Hideo became well aware his Dragonite was reaching his limit soon. “Go all-in!” Hideo shouted, “It’s now or never!”

His Dragonite nodded, his mouth opening wide as his eyes went pure white. A white sphere appeared in front of his mouth, taking a moment to grow in size before firing forth in a line, the Hyper Beam fired straight for the Crobat.

His Oricorio was similarly occupied by her own opponent, getting those slaps in to stop that smug Togekiss. But her opponent had plans of their own, that Dazzling Gleam coming in fast. The attack itself wasn’t too rough, and she’d covered her face well enough to avoid being completely blinded, but she quickly noticed that her opponent bolted out of the cover once she lowered her fan.

And she would’ve completely lost track of the Togekiss without help. Hideo obviously couldn’t tell where it had gone, but to his fortune, his Rotomdex had a good view of the situation. “It’s headed to your Dragonite!” it told Hideo, “Don’t let it reach him!”

Hideo was quick to intervene. “Jiggy, stop’em! He’s got his hands full!”

His Oricorio had heard both the Rotomdex and her trainer, quickly spotting the fleeing Togekiss once she knew where it was headed. She chose to intercept it the fastest way she knew: her Aerial Ace brought her up out of the Rock Slide barrier, and it would bring her down just as quickly, aiming to smack the Togekiss down before it could reach the Dragonite.


Safeguard Duration: 5/5 (will end next post)

Dragonite was hit by Cross Poison

Dragonite used Hyper Beam on the Crobat

Oricorio was hit by Dazzling Gleam

Oricorio used Aerial Ace on the Togekiss

Alexei Ivanov