"welcome," greets the gym-leader, already holding a clipboard against body, violet hues meeting hers from behind onyx frames, "megan, right?"

he'd been surprised plenty of times over the past few weeks, so after installing a new security system....

"any questions before we begin?"

Megan Whitmore

☉

Ah, wonderful. Man with well-kept hair and clothes alongside a clipboard. If not the gym leader himself, this was the receptionist, meaning she was fine either way. Plus, he knew her name. He was expecting her. All was fine.

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“Yes, that’s me,” she replied with cautious optimism. No need to go all enthusiastic on someone who probably was just doing their job, after all. “As for questions, I guess I would like to know about…dimensions of the arena and stuff? I was informed I have to designate a Pokemon to be protected, but I don’t want to pick something too big or too small for the arena. Don’t really want to game the system, but it’s difficult to not do that when I don’t fully know the system.”



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"hmm, you make a valid point," he concedes, lifting the clipboard and pressing it into his hip thoughtfully. greyson's lip twisted in thought, before he lets out a long breath.

"to be honest, the dimensions are rather tricky," the gym leader began, reaching out with a free-hand to pat something beside him, "the arena is most generated by my zoroark here— " on cue, the pokemon appears in a ripple of black smoke. it regards the woman across from her with a blank expression. "—and others like her. but, rest assured, the environment will be uniquely suited to whatever pokemon you've chosen."

he gives her a small smile before continuing, "does that answer your question? if so, can you please have your VIP step forward."

Megan Whitmore

Well, she did tend to make those. Though Meganhad learned not to say that. It did not play well with supervisors, it probably would not play well with gym leaders. Hence, she just nodded and smiled, letting him explain things and reveal that it was being done by Zoroarks. Which already saddened her. Whatever they came up with would probably look all real and impressive, but knowing that it was fake from the get-go would probably put quite a damper on that, sadly.
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But, alas, she got her answer. So she nodded again. Then, she reached for a ball and released her Poochyena. It was a scrappy little yapper, immediately looking around curiously, but it was also quick of feet and mind. It probably wouldn’t mind too much being put into a weird situation like this. “I think I will go with him, then. He likes unconventional things and this seems like it will be quite unconventional indeed.”



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he didn't clarify further, letting the arena speak for itself. despite the fact this was a simulation and designed to educate more than anything, the realism was, if he had to admit, one of the most appealing factors of the place. instead, he releases a pokemon of his own — a comfey.

"just to remind you, marco there will spawn a flower shield around your VIP, and should it break — no matter the reason — it'll be a strike against your team. after three shields are broken, the challenge will end, no matter where you are on the path." the reminder felt neccesary, just in-case the woman had gotten too caught up in the logitstics of other things.

"if there's nothing else," a door opens on the far wall, beckoning their advance.

Megan Whitmore

She nodded. “Three strikes and one is out, roger that,” she replied. It wasn’t exactly rocket science, after all. Not like one could take a lot more in hits in a normal battle, either. Though, admittedly, most of her recent gym challenges had been battles of attrition, so trying to not get hit at all would be quite different in some ways at least.
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Thus, she patted Poochyena on the head and decided to follow along for the time being, eyes out to take in as much of the path he was speaking of as she could. Frankly, he had not exactly given her permission to call out any more Pokemon, so she refrained from that for now. Would not want to be disqualified for some silly reason. Though she doubted that this guy would be unfair in these matters. “Anything else I should know?”



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"only that i hoped you wore the right shoes." the fleeting comment follows her as she enters, and in the space of a blink, megan is gone.

as soon as the transition occurs Megan Whitmore finds herself standing on the dunes of a desert, and beneath a scorching sun. small mounds rise and fall as far as the eye could see, cactuses and cliff faces peeking in the far distance. above one in particular, a rock-face shaped like a crude, prancing rapidash, a golden light shines like a beacon.

the finish line.

the only thing between them is an endless expanse of sand and stone. no pokemon in sight.

Megan Whitmore

Okay. That, she had not expected. Why exactly was this a desert? She had thought this would be some kind of scenario with like, collapsing buildings and the like, or a dangerous snow storm. But a desert, while hot, was not a calamity like she had understood them. Had she gotten this wrong? Momentarily, she was worried, but there was no point in that. She was here now. They were here now. They had to do this.
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Thus, she brought out the other two Pokemon she had for this: her Hydreigon and her Lucario. One was a Pokemon that had been with her for years and one of the first. The other was still relatively recent, yet had kind of captured her drive and imagination with just how awesome it was. Plus, they made a decently good team for this. Having figured that flight would be useful for this challenge, she had made sure to teach the big dragon how to pick up Poochyena without biting or eating it. Which probably was for the best one way or another.
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“Well then, I guess we are meant to go over there. Stay sharp, stay cool. Even if things get heated,” she told them and they started moving, Hydreigon hovering overhead, herself at the back and Lucario up front.
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something unseen lurks below, it's scaled crimson hide absorbing the warmth of the sand around him. sounds, muffled through the thick layer of sand, perk the predator's attention. an invasion of its territory; a call to action for the aloof pokemon.

the yet unknown creature exerts its will into the world around him and a great shadow begins to consume the vast desert. this shadow surges forward into a massive SANDSTORM that pushes its way across the dunes and towards the challenger and her pokemon.

if she gets caught up in it, it'll only be that much harder to to the end.

Megan Whitmore

Oh, a sand storm. That would be the difficulties they mentioned on the itinerary. Well, if there had been one, of course. Still though, this did not come as a surprise. And neither was that going to be natural. Well, it was all an illusion of sorts anyway, but this clearly was an intentional obstacle placed in their way.

They would have to overcome it, then. “Pick up Poochyena,” she told her Hydreigon, while mounting it herself. “Retreat a little, upwards and backwards. Lucario, towards that sand storm, see if it is a Pokemon and engage. We will see what really is coming for us that way, if something is coming after all.

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a KEEN EYE pierces through the SANDSTORM, a surge of... amusement? or was it irritation? whatever the feeling was, it was directly directly towards the trainer, her dragon, and the small dog that mounted itself a top it.
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they wished to fly, did they?

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the flying-type pokemon was already settled comfortably just at the apex of the storm, but with wings tucked, she dives to meet it head on. she would be pruning herself proper, for the next few days, but it was a sacrifice worth making. after descending a couple dozen feet in the time span of a few seconds, she levels off and turns her attention pointedly on the three-headed dual-type.
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then, in a flurry of wing flaps, summons forth a HURRICANE. fierce winds powerful enough to lift a house are made even more deadly, with the sand that it absorbs. the vortex is a catastrophe in the metaphorical flesh, aimed directly at the VIP and his mount.

[attr="class","notes"]Megan Whitmore

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

So, this was her actual opposition, eh? From the corner of her eye, Megan spotted something moving through the storm. Of course, there was. This wouldn’t be an actual gym battle without any Pokemon battles. Hence, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that something would come after them. Though she had expected there to be a ground type hiding in the dunes, not a flier. It must have had been just as difficult for that one to fly through the storm as it was for her dragon.
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Then again, her Pokemon had to fly steadily, to an extent, to ensure that it did not lose either of its living cargo. Which was difficult when the enemy conjured up fierce winds to go after them. Fortunately, Hydreigon was more than accustomed to carrying its trainer – and it had already set its tactics in that regard in stone. Bucking up as quickly as it could without making it dangerous for the riders, the dragon took the brunt of the force of winds, one head focused entirely on keeping themselves afloat even as they were shaken, while one craned back to keep the Poochyena out of way of the attack, while the third weathered an attack.[break][break]
And then decided to retaliate in kind, opening their mouths and releasing a Hyper voice directed in a cone in front of them, where the other Pokemon seemed to be. In this kind of weather it was difficult to aim for certain without said Keen Eyes.
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Megan, in the meantime, just held onto herself, hoping not to fall. That would be bad. Especially since that sand was illusionary, so if she fell, she would fall hard.

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the pidgeot huffs indignantly, scrunching what she could of face and beak. the HYPER VOICE creates a noticeable distortion in the HURRICANE/SANDSTORM, but it moves far too quickly for the bird to get out scot free. she trills in anger, rising further into the skies.
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but she wasn't alone out here.
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protected by his SAND VEIL, garchomp slips nearly undetected in the cover of the SANDSTORM, his DRAGON CLAWS raking out for the precious flesh of both the HYDREGION as well as the challenger's VIP.

[attr="class","notes"]Megan Whitmore

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉