“I’d say it’s either Megan or Miss Whitmore. Always sounds weird to use a honorific to a first name to me,” she replied, as per usual just chattering pointless things when she was on edge. Her tongue somehow always got used when she closer to a gym battle or other big event. Some might call it witty, but she was always just embarrassed by it afterwards. Probably because she was so very honest when she did.
[break][break]
However, by now the man had her full attention. At first, he just looked like a receptionist. But she knew the gym leader was a man. And she still remembered the last time she was greeted by a seemingly low-level gym employee at the entrance. So, this time she figured she’d just ask instead of falling for some kind of deception. That at least eliminated the ‘I never actually lied, you just assumed’ kind of excuse. “You the gym leader here or the receptionist?” A very specific kind of question for certain.



[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Likewise, he reminded her a little of someone as well. Mostly because he was so certain of himself and his fame that he did not even bother to introduce himself. Granted, she knew his name. But introductions were still proper, they showed the respect that he was speaking about. Hence, she briefly scoffed, though he probably wouldn’t know why. Guys were like that oftentimes, sadly. But she saw no reason to be of too much help in that regard, either.
[break][break]
Instead, she simply moved on. “Yes, a traditional one-on-one. Always seemed the most straightforward and meaningful format to me.” She did not elaborate much further, since she felt like that would only bog the convo down needlessly.
Thus, she naturally followed him into the arena, which mostly looked like she had envisioned it. Which was only natural. The information had been relatively easy to look up, after all. She knew that this was probably going to be an aerial battle in the end.
[break][break]
She still took the arena design in as best as she could. After all, she was still working her way towards becoming a gym leader herself. “You often have to fill in for your subordinates, though?”



[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Good to know,” she replied, feeling a bit relieved. She wouldn’t want to end up with menial labour like that of a receptionist again full time once she realized her dream, after all. That was very much meant to raise her out of such a desolate state, in the end.
However, it was still a rather long way towards achieving that, so she put on her game face for now, after giving him a brief smile as he left for the other side of the pitch. Apparently, he was already guessing something big and making room for such. Though, fortunately, this was not a water gym that could lead to Wailord on Wailord action.

Still though, she guessed that a Salamence was certainly big enough. And she was not going to disappoint, reaching for her own Pokeball. This wasn’t her little private aviary, after all, she had to use such pedestrian technology to bring her Pokemon still.
“Guess this will at least be slightly epic a fight then, one way or another. Just as long as no one uses Sing,” she announced, before throwing the ball. He probably would not get that reference, unless gym leaders gossiped a lot. Ugh, just thinking about anyone knowing how that particular battle had gone made her feel annoyed.
[break][break]
But the sight of her three-headed dragon emerging from the ball all but immediately cheered her up still. “Ah, well, a first move is always good. Let’s get loud right out of the gate, Hydreigon! Give them a Hyper Voice!” The dragon took off to at least hover over the ground while all three heads roared loudly, making themselves heard. It wasn’t her strongest move, but she figured that she would be gauged by that. Plus, she figured that her opponent wouldn’t exactly just take it. So, she decided to go for a smaller, but also very obtuse opener like this to see how this would go herself.



[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The Salamence didn’t try to defend itself in favour of using status moves, it seemed. She recognized that trademark shudder it induced in Hydreigon anywhere. Loads of wild Pokemon they’d fought for training had used such a move as their first defensive instinct. And she certainly could see why. Though it went without saying that her opponent and his Salamence were quite experienced battling together as well. Either that or he just let his Pokemon do whatever it wanted.
[break][break]
Given that he was a gym leader and hopefully not messing with her, she assumed that this was the case. Plus, she and Hydreigon had some pre-set tactics, too. One of them was that if their opener didn’t do all that much, but the opponent was not attacking, then it was time to work up. Hence, two of the heads snapped at one another, working each other up, while the third coordinated levitating backwards to create some distance. Salamence was more of a close-ranged dragon as far as they knew. And even if not, a ranged attack was easier to dodge to dodge at range.
[break][break]
In the meantime, Megan was getting quite worked up herself, hands clenched into light fists and quite intently watching the battle, waiting for her moment to actually give inputs that might help.


[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Taking the word out of my mouth,” she mostly mumbled to herself. Apparently, the man’s preparations were complete, as were theirs. The two heads working up one another stopped just as stones were razed, all of them intently watching proceedings.
[break][break]
And then, the Hydreigon did what was probably antithetical to everything that had happened before. It fell completely silent for a few moments. The Salamence might have had cackled, but the Hydreigon grinned slyly. It was a dark type, after all. It was quite crafty by nature.
Megan had already figured out what it wanted to do and agreed. “Tri Attack,” she simply noted, though this was more a formality. Less her giving an order, more her just approving a plan of action.
[break][break]
As the rocks and dragons closed in, the three heads opened their mouths. The left and right head shot fire and ice at the incoming rocks, destroying some of the bigger ones that might have otherwise have hit it – but the last one, it had not stopped tracking the Salamence, or at least the latter’s most likely position. Clearly, of the three heads, this was the dominant, or at least the most intelligent one. And in that role, it shot lightning at the incoming dragon, seeking to deter or damage it, whatever happened, even as the body was pelted by some of the remaining rocks.



[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The rest of the tri attack was consumed by flame, cancelling out and leaving a fine mist across the battlefield. Not the kind that could change the combat situation by itself, but rather the kind that just added a bit of a flourish – and one that caused Megan to briefly sneeze when it reached her nose.
[break][break]
Slightly embarrassing, but she did not allow that to get her down. After all, her opponent was apparently controlling the other Pokemon with whistles, so it was probably not even that bad to make random noises.
But also, do stuff in general. “It’s close now. Show it the other kind of triple attack with crunches!” The Hydreigon obeyed swiftly, all three heads joining in with the snapping as they would come at the opponent from slightly different angles, winding heads seeking a good position to sink their teeth in gleefully. This was the most enjoyable part of battle for Hydreigon, after all, so it revelled in it.



[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]