greyson waves down the approaching gym leader, giving him a pleasant smile. once he starts his round of apologies, he physically waves it off. "hey, no sweat man, i know how it is." as much as he hated being late to his own challenger's appointments, he understood that some things were really out of his control.

"oh, yeah, we're ready here." beside him, jess the lopunny hops eagerly from one foot, to the other. "and yeah, we can catch up afterwards? probably get a drink or something when your challenges are over for the day." once derek does lift off, he shoots an eager grin towards the large bunny.

"let's kick ass."

DEREK HOFFMAN

☉

With the Garchomp dropping him somewhere towards the middle of the cordoned off section of Petalburg Woods, Derek quickly releases his pokemon. The Victreebel is keen of these woods, and was instructed on the nature of this assignment prior. "Remember, he's a gym leader. His pokemon isn't to be taken lightly. But with that said...don't actually try to eat it." Once Ur lay eyes on the delicious Lopunny, it was really anyone's guess as to whether it would try to have rabbit for lunch.

"Alright, spread out as best you can and wait." He didn't have to tell the Victreebel that the best way to spring a trap, was, well, to spring the trap.

Several vines extended of it's body, their agenda to wrap around the forest floor and the nearby trees surrounding it. Derek moved off to climb a tree, well out of sight but also able to see all that would transpire below.

What he didn't account for was a few curious Zigzagoon scurrying along towards them, playing with the leaves. No matter, his Victreebel knew what it was on the lookout for, and thus didn't act on the impulse to snatch one up.

ogyF8tHu

---

tl;dr
capped at 50 (gym leader handicap)

Greyson Connors

☉

greyson gives derek a few minutes to orient himself before sharing a look with jess. they both grin at one another, then, dash in the general direction of the other gym leader. she's quicker, empowered by her AGILITY, but greyson has spent some time on the track, so he's no slouch himself.

still, by the time they spot a wandering group of zigzagoon, he's sweating bullets while the lopunny seems to be pacing herself fine. "jes!" he calls after her, finger pointing at the fellow normal-types. she seems to understand — she was the hunter now, right?

using her momentum she springs forward to capture one of these little rascals.

|cmvKVC4
+ 5 (AGILITY)

DEREK HOFFMAN

☉

Tendrils finding their way along the forest's undergrowth snap up when the Loppuny's feet finally grace the area within it's reach. They're soft and supple, much unlike the weathered vines that constrict Jester by the ankle, quickly yanking and dragging her along the ground.

Her chance to snatch up the first Zigzagoon is gone as quickly as it came, and she's left to lay on the ground, disoriented from the sudden displacement as she searches for the perpetrator. But this was only one of Ur's vines, which could be seen slithering back along the forest floor in search of prey that'd been spooked away.

---

tl;dr
derek: 1 of 3
greyson: 0 of 3

Greyson Connors

☉

frustration oozed from the doe, but jess moves past it and pushes herself to her feet in a spring. just before the vine slithers out of reach she catches it, huffing indignantly.
[break][break]
with the normal-types already on the run, and any lead she managed (or thought she managed) to accrue now gone, she turns her attention elsewhere. above them, flitting from a nearby tree, a group of starly.
[break][break]
jess smirks and bends at the knees, BOUNCING up to catch one of the birds well before her opponent could.

[attr="class","notes"]DEREK HOFFMAN[break]
challenge issued: be the first to catch the starly![break]
eTp8LiAS

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

The vine of Ur's that the Lopunny grabbed onto was taut, fighting the pokemon's weight and grip slightly until simply allowing it to be this way. Though when Jester decides to jump, the makeshift leash does pull on the Victreebel, bringing it up into the air. Retracting the appendage and drawing closer as it did so, a separate limb comes flinging upwards in the form of a VINE WHIP. Should it succeed, the Starly would be swatted away from both it and the Lopunny's grip. It wasn't a true win.

On the contrary, the Victreebel would plummet with a rather ungraceful thud after their little leap into the tree line. Snapping all of it's vines back and ripping the one from Jester's grip, the sound they made rubbing and whipping against the forest floor was enough to make you wince. What the Victreebel didn't notice was that one of it's vines had whipped one of the natural denizens of Petalburg Woods, and the vines tracing their way back had lead them right to it...

A WILD PANGORO APPEARS!!!

Ohhh shit. Derek watched from the treetops as the fully grown Pangoro began snapping branches and the like in pursuit of whatever just hit it in the butt with a vine whip. Picking up the Victreebel and bashing it against the ground a few times, the rampage didn't stop there. The Pangoro sensed it may have suffered as a result of their battle, and decided to attack Jester by launching the Victreebel at it with a VITAL THROW.

RBI2JiuA

---

tl;dr
derek: 1 of 3
pangoro: 0 of 3
greyson: 0 of 3
a special condition has been met!

Greyson Connors

☉

greyson feels the hope surge, and then suddenly droop, as a VINE WHIP just narrowly is able to reach the flying-type.
[break][break]
as quick as she jumps, jesster falls.
[break][break]
she lands with a heavy thud, though the impact is displaced else where. her frustration is noticeable, fists clenching at her side. greyson frowns in sympathy for a moment, before a deafening crash tears through the shrubbery.
[break][break]
eyes widen on trainer and pokemon alike, as DEREK HOFFMAN's pokemon is used as a club against the earth. then, a VITAL THROW has it barreling towards her, and she braces herself.
[break][break]
"jess!" but she's already moving, eyes narrowed as her mind races. pushing off a nearby tree the lopunny crashes into the the barreling plant, offsetting its dangerous momentum, and slowing its speed considerably. the force surges into her as new aches, bruises, and pains form. in the wake of the chaos, she casts a HEALING WISH. not on herself, but her initial opponent.
[break][break]
when she pushes herself to her feet, pained and all, she's no-nonsense, and pissed off. she charges headlong into her massive opponent.
[break][break]

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[attr="class","notes"]DEREK HOFFMAN

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

The use of HEALING WISH brings his Lopunny to it's feet, standing strong and able as it begins to charge the Pangoro. It's confused, quickly being knocked into a tree where it hits the back of it's head, further adding to it's affliction.

What did it do to that other pokemon?

Derek, up in his tree, witnesses what happened. Though he doesn't appreciate his Victreebel being a sacrificial pawn, he enjoys watching Greyson's pokemon use it's surroundings to the fullest.

It didn't just survive, it could thrive—no matter the environment.

And it could make the hard choices without being told to. This was the kind of material Derek hoped to work with when he was reinstated as gym leader.

Though this wild Pangoro didn't struggle for long, barreling forward with a NIGHT SLASH aimed for the Lopunny's midsection. It's movements reflect it's dazed state of mind, appearing something akin to a bear performing drunken boxing.

ctGM|JJC

---

tl;dr
pangoro: 0 of 3
greyson: 1 of 3 (+1 derek's favor)
roll up to five (+2) times to win this round

Greyson Connors

☉

lopunny jumps, pushing off the balls of her paws. the NIGHT SLASH forces a scream from her lips, but she keeps pushing through. giving up here would not only mean losing the badge — but what of DEREK HOFFMAN's pokemon? the creature would be left defenseless.
[break][break]
taking a deep, deep breath, she rears her head back... then unleashes a potent HYPER VOICE point blank at the rampaging panda.

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[attr="class","notes"]DEREK HOFFMAN

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

There is an obvious concern for Derek's pokemon, which even he can witness. Little gestures, like the turning of the head in the direction of his fallen Victreebel. They're juggling, trying to keep everything from sinking. Some trainers might tunnel vision, or simply ignore the other trainers fallen pokemon. But it seemed Greyson, no, his Loppuny seemed to shoulder the responsibility for having knocked it out. It brought a smile to Derek's features.

But he expected this, seeing as it was another gym leader's pokemon.

Although that momentary smile didn't exactly last. The HYPER VOICE that struck the Pangoro also caused Derek to flinch and reach for his ears, causing him to fall out of the tree he was in. Groans of pain were evident, though fortunately for him, nothing seemed broken.

It takes him a moment to get himself upright, though it seems the wild Pangoro is familiar with Derek. The sudden ruckus the gym leader made caused it to snap out of it's frenzied state. "Get out of here, will ya?" A casual remark made while rubbing the sore side of his back, the Pangoro seems to obey.

Not because of any fear or respect, but because he's been bringing it and some of the other pokemon food. Stuff they can't get a hold of out in the woods. To it, Derek is some kind of mealtime santa. It didn't want to be put on the naughty list.

"That was eventful, to say the least..." Derek sighs as he approaches the Lopunny, feeling as though it were to blame for him falling. He never expected it to be able to do such a thing. Still, it ranked pretty high on his list of exciting things he got to do as a gym leader.

"I guess this is what getting old feels like." Rummaging through his pockets with an obvious hunch, Derek secures a case and looks to his fellow gym leader. "Not quite how I planned for this to go, though. But I need some ice on this, like, yesterday."

The latch on the metal container, when opened, would reveal the finite badge to it's new owner. Derek, on the other hand, would be collecting his Victreebel with a pokeball before releasing his Corviknight to fly him back to the gym.

---

tl;dr
pangoro: 0 of 3
greyson: 2 of 3 (+2 derek's favor)
wild pangoro flees the scene
greyson and lopunny are rewarded the finite badge

Greyson Connors

☉