persephone amavi

she won't need an hour to be in and out. rather than smile, persephone grows somber at the hypno's words. she never liked how psychic types could do that, indeed she barely could stomach the mental intrusion from her own lucario.

"of course," persephone says aloud, as graciously as she could. "i assume there's not limitation on the method used?"

she doesn't wait for an answer. the concept of a challenge gated by a labyrinth isn't unique, but could be interesting to explore. the leader clearly lavishes on her gym, it's a shame she can't appreciate it.

a flick of her wrist releases a handful of ghost-types — a pair of chandelure, shedinja, and froslass. the pokemon gather around her, floating in eerie unmoving silence for a long moment until she gives the order to disperse and seek a path through. at her words, the pokemon disperse in quick coordination, melting into the undergrowth's shadows.

persephone remains unmoving at the entrance, sending the hypno a tight-lipped smile, an eyebrow arced.

one of the chandelure returns first — waving her branch-like arms to indicate the path, slinging a few will-o-wisps to illuminate the path, practically threatening to sear the leaves. a forewarning of what's to come.

as she walks through the lush flora, her pokemon return to her one by one.

cait alfric

persephone amavi

the sanctuary is beautiful; this much is undeniable. the evening light filters through the atrium to send long shadows across the earth, and persephone follows them with her eyes, noting the places they run and fold.

attention to detail is, perhaps, her forte, so persephone approaches slowly even when she can see the young gym leader appear on the other end of the arena. all the more opportunity to examine the bridges, and more curiously, the riverlet.

emerging from the undergrowth of the maze like a pale-haired ghost, persephone is resolute and purposeful. there's a performative, cyclic element to gym battles. the puzzle or riddle, the exchange of practiced pleasantries, the battle on another's turf; loss or victory.

"good evening, i'm sorry for coming in so late in the day. my work hours keep me occupied." her smile is brilliant and genuine, if brief and quick to give away to her usual cool solemn demeanour.

"a close friend of mine challenged your gym recently and—" persephone cuts herself off letting the silence rest for a short calculated pause before continuing. "i'd be honoured if you could show me the same experience you offered him."

cait alfric

persephone amavi

persephone's features light up in a smile, beaming at the gym leader. cait may be young, and what she's read indicates she's a newer trainer, but her accomplishments precede her; the appointment to oversight over mauvile city is justified, and persephone keenly knows that it would be a mistake to underestimate someone due to their youth.

"i haven't done any competitive fighting in a while," perse admits after a moment, her smile faltering. "but i'm looking forward to getting back into it. thank you for giving us the first move."

it's an advantage that's given, not won. she recognises that much too.

the first thing persephone realises — watching the parasect need assistance in getting to its spot on the arena — is that the pokemon is limited by its lack of mobility. the second thing is that she's familiar enough with the species' general purpose as the spreading of spores across the field. she's seen the tactic only utilised with morelull.

her choice of pokemon in the circumstance is obvious; chandelure bursts out at a slight of hand and appropriately floats high overhead. the next part of the routine is practiced too; TAUNT and MINIMIZE, all to direct the flow of battle to its advantage, forcing the foe to only attack but making difficult for them to land anything.

there's another purpose. the smaller the chandelure is, the less the opponent can see of what attacks the pokemon is readying. barely visible, she starts forming SHADOW BALLS at the tips of the pokemon's little candlestick arms.

cait alfric

persephone amavi

"you were generous in giving me the first action," she admits. persephone matches cait's smile, surprising herself at how quickly her competitive edge dulls at the compliment. but it's only the first of six pokemon, and she's quick to refocus her attention on the two sparring pokemon.

the parasect attempts to SLASH, but its normal-type attack cuts through air as the chandelure's body phases into nothingness. just a gaseous purple shadow in its wake. persephone has to wonder if her pokemon is showing off; surely she could have moved out of the way of the strike, but she remains as if to demonstrate that she can. arrogant, she has to wonder if she's the bad influence here.

showing off or no, the chandelure sticks close for a secondary purpose; to burst out a pair of SHADOW BALLS at point-blank range, slung from each one of her strange, spindly arms. the chandelure chirps happily to herself and launches high into the air, puffing herself up to blow a HEAT WAVE down at the parasect and across the field.

cait alfric

persephone amavi

she won't treat it like an easy win, fernando has taught her that those may seem deceptive.

chandelure emits a strange indignant screech the moment water droplets hit her body, her little candlestick arms drooping in discomfort. if the battle is standard rules, then the gym leader shouldn't mind her swapping pokemon after a knock-out. one way or another, leaving chandelure out in the rain is a poor decision — persephone tosses her capsule to it, whispers a thanks and releases the next one in one fluidly practiced motion.

as soon as the alolan ninetales takes shape, the rain turns cold, then it goes solid. SNOW WARNING shifts the weather to a hail, and the pokemon's pale blue coat starts to shift in colour as her AURORA VEIL takes effect. where chandelure fights aggressively, the ninetales is defensive.

she fans out her set of fluffy tails behind her, as if showing them off. persephone bites back a smile; this isn't a beauty contest, but of course the pokemon needs to treat it like one.

cait alfric

persephone amavi

the shifting of the weather, one way and then back again, is expected. a singular attempt to create a hailstorm can't contend with a repeatable rain dance. that's alright, as long as they are thinking about the weather, it means they aren't defending.

the alolan ninetales doesn't attempt to avoid the HYDRO PUMP because she doesn't want to give away that she knows how to protect against it. revealing that usually makes people try harder to land attacks. her AURORA VEIL starts to fade the moment the rain returns to the field, so she attempts to extend its duration for a few more moments with a BLIZZARD, aimed not at the lombre, but at the temporary rain clouds.

it works — sort of. the HYDRO PUMP hurts less than it would, but the AURORA VEIL fades instantly and doesn't negate as much damage as it usually would, forcing the ninetales to stumble against the deluge's force. the BLIZZARD descends around them, fiercer and more biting than the hail, but is quickly washed away by rain. that's the prequel, the distraction.

satisfied that the lombre is nice and wet from the rain, the alolan ninetales cools the very water on its skin with a snappy FREEZE-DRY.

cait alfric

persephone amavi