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POSTED ON Aug 11, 2022 12:56:22 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","adrianwt"]

[attr="class","adrianwtw"]PROJECT M.A.G.M.A had begun expanding its operations, and although Adrian preferred to keep to himself, one of their directives fell directly in line with his own.[break][break]

Thinking back on his school days in Rustboro, Adrian starts to consider the merits of adjusting his approach, or "style" of battling. He generally ran loosely balanced teams without any core strategy; he relied on switching in and out of engagements that were unfavorable, and suffered when others battled in a less straightforward manner.[break][break]

Even if it was logical, it was an amateurish approach.[break][break]

Today he hoped to try something a bit more novel, building his team to do more than simply attack or defend. But as with all changes, there was no immediately telling if it was good or bad. Adrian needs experience to see where the faults in this new approach lies, and what its strengths were. He'd make tweaks and improvise from there.[break][break]

First thing's first, he needed to locate a candidate...[break][break]

[attr="class","adrianwttag"]FIND A ROCKET w/ 50+ INFAMY!

[attr="class","adrianwtpokes"][break]

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Ceej

a. z. fell

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December 21st

Fortree, Hoenn

Bisexual

Surviving

Civillian

5'8" / 172 cm height

i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2022 14:15:54 GMT

MATIAS SILPH likes this

Cyg’s best battling strategy was that she didn’t have a strategy. She dominated her opponents with overwhelming force. It had it’s perks and drawbacks, the biggest drawback being she was absolutely fucked if she engaged with an opponent who was stronger than she was.

That was a large part of what training with MATIAS SILPH was supposed to do-- help her figure out other tactics besides Hulk Smashing her way through every conflict.

She’d only had ‘power’, quote-unquote, for a short time and was already finding that she really liked it. So the next logical deduction (not that Cyg was super great at these, but anyway) was growing that power. And that meant she had to learn.

The door to the training room slid open with a pneumatic hiss, LED light flexing and bending off the metallic surface, and Cyg stepped in, boots heavy on the floor. Fresh from the garage, she was wearing her old GMH coveralls, Mauville yellow, tied round the waist by the sleeves, and a black tank top.

She’d never met Adrian Malcolm but there was a first time for everything, right?

She removed one hand from her pockets and offered a simple wave. “Hey. I volunteer as tribute, or whatever. I’m Cygne.”
Adrian Malcolm
☉

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Fonz

Masculine

October 19

Sootopolis City

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N/A

6'1" height

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POSTED ON Aug 14, 2022 10:39:56 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","adrianwt"]

[attr="class","adrianwtw"]For once he wears the uniform, even if it's done in poor taste. Adrian manages a bewildered, if amused, look of incredulity towards the latest arrival. A slight grin and an easing of the tension held in his eyebrows suggested he liked her brand of humor, hoping she had a unique approach to battling to match it. If not? Just as well.[break][break]

"I'm Adrian. I appreciate your candidness."[break][break]

It was silent between them for a moment as he deliberated how to begin their training. It was possible it would be seen by the upper brass, so he wanted to keep things brisk.[break][break]

"Today I want to recognize the importance of diversifying battle strategies. Anything that becomes habitual, is too easily used against us as trainers," Adrian gestures to a collection of badges tucked against his coat's lining. His point was echoed by the League's own parallel to their training seminars; the GYM LEAGUE CHALLENGE. Although many struck out to break the mold, most of their gyms were still stepped in tradition.[break][break]

Specialties, type obsessions... These things were not themselves weaknesses, but through over-reliance could become the Achille's heel to any competent trainer that makes a name for themselves. Gym Leaders all had a niche they fell into that was regularly exploited by challengers. The real world didn't operate on that system. Teambuilding was something that should be done with a more calculated approach.

[break]

But with so many options, where to even begin?[break][break]

"I myself have a habit of running the same teams, challenging opponents with optimal type match-ups and raw firepower." He sucks in a sharp breath of air before he can continue to further elucidate on his point.[break][break]

"Though at its core it is fundamentally necessary to battling, many would benefit from the inclusion of status moves, pokemon selected for their utility and not just demonstrable power. We're going to explore the value of them today through a bit of a demonstration," Adrian primes two pokeballs.[break][break]

When they're released, Cygne can see an Oranguru and Runerigus appear, the latter forming as an ouroboros against the floor's surface and nothing more. Unusual.[break][break]

"It's my first time battling with these two using a new strategy I hope to develop further. I'd like you, using your current team or any substitutions you feel necessary, to challenge this set. You may use any pokemon in your possession," Adrian gestures towards a kiosk on the far side of the room for withdrawing pokemon.[break][break]

"When you're ready, we can begin."[break][break]

Once they released their pokemon, Adrian starts with some setup, playing the long game.[break][break]

"Runerigus, TOXIC SPIKES. Oranguru, INSTRUCT."[break][break]

A double set of poisonous caltrops are ejected across their arena, limiting their paths of approach drastically.

[attr="class","adrianwttag"]ana fell

[attr="class","adrianwtpokes"][break]

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Ceej

a. z. fell

She/Her

December 21st

Fortree, Hoenn

Bisexual

Surviving

Civillian

5'8" / 172 cm height

i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.

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POSTED ON Aug 22, 2022 16:54:10 GMT

MAIRWEN ♀ OVERGROW | SOLAR BEAM, DOUBLE EDGE, WORRY SEED, SYNTHESIS, POISON POWDER, TAKE DOWN

SINISTREE ♀ PRESSURE | nasty plot, hex, uproar, shadow ball, dark pulse, dream eater

ANATIDA ♀ HYDRATION | hurricane, brave bird, tailwind, defog, fly, dive

ERNIE (M) STORM DRAIN | MEMENTO, RAIN DANCE, EARTH POWER, MUDDY WATER, RECOVER, ANCIENT POWER

Cyg’s unique approach to battling was to hit everything really hard. Sorry, Adrian Malcolm . Sorry to disappoint.

“Yeah, of course,” she said, flashing him a finger-gun and shrugging like she could be anything but candid, anything but 100% herself. “So you ready to beat the crap out of my kids, or what?”

The more he talked, the more her heart sank, the more oh, nos piled up in her brain. Diverse battle strategy? “You mean there’s other strategies besides hit it really hard?” she asked, throwing in a laugh to diffuse tension. “Kidding, kidding.”

Wow, Adrian had a whole ass collection of badges. Cyg just had the one, and she didn’t even keep that thang on her.

He explains that he does, indeed, like to hit things really hard, and she nods along with him. He releases his Pokemon and Cyg realizes she should do that, too. But she doesn’t have a strategy, as has been previously mentioned. Her brain falls into the same, well-worn treads: play to the type matchup. But that’s just what Adrian told her not to do, kind of?

“Uhhh, okay. Give me a second to… use my brain. Get the little hamster running.” She goes to the kiosk and scrolls through her PC, thinking. So many ideas, so little time. She takes a couple options (three different combos, to see if any of them have any success) and returns to her place.

She releases first her Venusaur, Mairwen, and her Spiritomb, Sinistree.

Adrian lays his caltrops down and-- tells his Oranguru to use instruct. Which should fail, if no moves have been used before it. Right?

“Mairwen, use poison powder on the Oranguru. Sin, follow it up with hex.”

Because she knows that hex is extra powerful against Pokemon with status conditions. See? Strategy.

SPIRITOMB is exerting her PRESSURE!
SPIRITOMB is poisoned by TOXIC SPIKES!
VENUSAUR uses POISON POWDER on ORANGURU!
SPIRITOMB uses HEX on ORANGURU!

Adrian Malcolm
☉

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Fonz

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October 19

Sootopolis City

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POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 4:19:21 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","adrianwt"]

[attr="class","adrianwtw"]"Sure, let's go with that."[break][break]

The truth was, this strategy was new to him. Unpolished.[break][break]

Their selections speak true to the nature of their approach. Types that are able to resist or effectively remove his own pokemon are their preference, at least on the surface. But there is consideration to his TOXIC SPIKES setup as well, which is promising. There's more nuance to it though as they open up with their combo.[break][break]

It starts strong, though he becomes... a little baffled after.[break][break]

Oranguru was poisoned, but remained IMMUNE to HEX.[break][break]

For a moment he keeps his silence. It's understandable that they were primarily fixated on its vulnerability as a PSYCHIC-TYPE, or that they were otherwise blinded by a short-sighted goal to consider anything further. If they had targeted Runerigus first, it might have been over for one of his first turn selections. It was too convenient.[break][break]

"You're aware of typing weaknesses, but remember their immunities, too." It almost irked him, though.[break][break]

Did they intentionally not take out Runerigus?[break][break]

"Runerigus, TAUNT Venusaur. Oranguru, use ENCORE on Spiritomb." Now that he knew their approach...[break][break]

...They would be locked out of their combo, but things were still just starting. Half of the pokemon on the field were poisoned, which was slowly beginning to exact its toll.

[attr="class","adrianwttag"]ana fell

[attr="class","adrianwtpokes"][break]

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Ceej

a. z. fell

She/Her

December 21st

Fortree, Hoenn

Bisexual

Surviving

Civillian

5'8" / 172 cm height

i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.

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POSTED ON Aug 29, 2022 20:49:58 GMT

Oops!

Oops oops oops oops oops!

Cyg went through all of the stages of grief in a five second timeframe, pulling out her phone and looking up Oranguru on Bulbapedia, trying to make it look as casual as possible. She visibly winced but her smile was huge. What do you do in these situations besides laugh?

“Right,” she said cheerily, sliding the device back into her pocket.

God fucking damn it, this is why her strategy was hit it really hard.

Well, in her defense, Adrian Malcolm had a little bit of time in advance to think about the strategy. She was just going in blind. But she was, also, just an idiot. She had attacked Oranguru because she figured it would be the stronger of the two adversaries but, again, idiot.

Locked into only damage-dealing moves and Hex, Cyg was forced to stare down the double barrel of her hit it really hard strategy. There was very little she could do except hit it really hard.

God damn it.

Oh well. Nothing to it but to do it.

“Mair, double edge on Oranguru; Sin, hex on Runerigus.”

Mairwen, to her credit, heaved a sigh like she was getting too old for this shit; Sinistree just cackled, her mocking laughter echoing from corners of the arena she wasn’t even in.

SPIRITOMB is exerting her PRESSURE!
SPIRITOMB is poisoned! SPIRITOMB is affected by ENCORE (1/3)
SPIRITOMB uses HEX on RUNERIGUS!
VENUSAUR is affected by TAUNT! (1/3)
VENUSAUR uses DOUBLE EDGE on ORANGURU!

Adrian Malcolm oops
☉

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Fonz

Masculine

October 19

Sootopolis City

Bisexual

N/A

6'1" height

I picked the stitches, now I can't stop bleeding

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POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 9:07:48 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","adrianwt"]

[attr="class","adrianwtw"]Well, sometimes blocking one strategy opened another.[break][break]

Runerigus suffers a significant blow by the HEX, which fails to trigger its innate ability. A bit disappointing. And what's more, Oranguru was incredibly out of its weight class when the Venusaur came hurtling towards it like some lumpy toad linebacker. Ah well. Sometimes a pokemon wasn't needed after serving its purpose...[break][break]

...A cruel doctrine Rocket deliberately embraced.[break][break]

Both of his pokemon were suffering, and due to the nature of his battling style, Adrian wasn't prepared to handle both threats. His best option right now, as he saw it, was to eliminate the most troubling of the two. And the one more readily addressed by his current configuration.[break][break]

"Runerigus, use HEX on their SPIRITOMB."[break][break]

There are obvious and subtle reasons why this is his play. Spiritomb, while not explicitly weak to Ghost-types, doesn't resist them either, and what's more is that it has been afflicted with POISON via their TOXIC SPIKES. Like them, he too wishes to exploit that nature of the attack, but less obviously he also lacks any better method of attacking.[break][break]

Regardless of his reasons, Runerigus carries out the attack.[break][break]

Oranguru comparatively would seem even less prepared.[break][break]

"Oranguru, use INSTRUCT on RUNERIGUS."[break][break]

Runerigus would follow up with a consecutive attack on the Spiritomb, a marring blast of phantasmagoric energies blighting its disembodied form as the strange spectre's magicks nestled their way into its odd keystone base...[break][break]

Despite their standing, Oranguru looks to be struggling against some unseen force, and Runerigus too shows signs of sudden and extreme exhaustion. Would they faint soon?

[attr="class","adrianwttag"]ana fell

[attr="class","adrianwtpokes"][break]

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Ceej

a. z. fell

She/Her

December 21st

Fortree, Hoenn

Bisexual

Surviving

Civillian

5'8" / 172 cm height

i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.

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POSTED ON Aug 30, 2022 16:41:29 GMT

Much to Cyg’s surprise, Mairwen had some major giddy-up and go, as the dinosaur hurtled towards the seated simian as fast as her pudgy green legs would allow, launching herself at the last second to land her massive body on top of Oranguru in a chunky-sounding bellyflop.

Likewise, Sinistree’s hex on Runerigus left the disembodied chunks of stone discolored at the edges.

Meanwhile, Runerigus’ Toxic Spikes were slowly poisoning Sinistree-- but not as much as they would have another Pokemon. And Mairwen, as a Poison-type, was immune to poison! Not too shabby, Cygnet.

Adrian Malcolm ’s Runerigus lashed out at Sinistree with a purple beam of energy that punched a hole through the Spiritomb’s gaseous body; the aubergine miasma writhed and rolled, her gleaming, jagged face marred by the swirl. The mocking laughter faded then grew.

From under Mairwen’s bulk, Oranguru made a hand signal-- and, upon being instructed, the Runerigus fired off another hex, and this time Sinistree’s keystone shivered on the spot. She sank downwards, billowing around her base, shrinking in size and significantly weakened-- but not quite out, yet, though she wouldn’t last much longer.

Mairwen lowed, having moved off of the Oranguru like a truck shaking a crushed bicycle from under its bumper.

“Mair, take down! Sin, do your thing!”

Mairwen looked directly at Adrian with a tired look on her face-- then bent her legs, and, with great effort, lifted herself onto her hind legs (sort of) and flopped back over onto Oranguru in a great imitation of WWE Raw combat. Sinistree’s keystone glowed purple, firing off another ~~lazer~~ hex beam at the Runerigus.

SPIRITOMB is exerting her PRESSURE!
SPIRITOMB is poisoned! SPIRITOMB is affected by ENCORE (2/3)
SPIRITOMB uses HEX on RUNERIGUS!
VENUSAUR is affected by TAUNT! (2/3)
VENUSAUR uses TAKE DOWN on ORANGURU!

Adrian Malcolm oops
☉

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played by

Fonz

Masculine

October 19

Sootopolis City

Bisexual

N/A

6'1" height

I picked the stitches, now I can't stop bleeding

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POSTED ON Dec 20, 2022 12:11:26 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","adrianwt"]

[attr="class","adrianwtw"]"Oranguru, ALLY SWITCH!"[break][break]

It was probably the only thing that would've spared the poor simian from Venasaur's walloping girth as it parked itself atop its figure. Brandishing the fan, it magicked itself into Runerigus' position, and Runerigus to its position. Therein making it so that Oranguru was hit by HEX, and Runerigus the TAKE DOWN. Thankfully, both were IMMUNE.[break][break]

Despite the mild success his Oranguru had squandered its move for the turn, and was reasonably pushed to its limit. As it teetered on the verge, one might assume Adrian would withdraw it. But in an act of seeming cruelty, he forces it to continue. To struggle on until it truly fainted from exertion.[break][break]

Having exhausted its usefulness to him now, Adrian turns his attention to Runerigus, weighing his options.[break][break]

"Runerigus, CRAFTY SHIELD." In a moment of lucidity, he shored up his team's defenses in light of the fact TAUNT and ENCORE would not last the whole match.[break][break]

From beneath Venusaur Runerigus shimmers with renewed resplendence, a fixed grin prominent on its features.[break]

[attr="class","adrianwttag"]ana fell

[attr="class","adrianwtpokes"][break]

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played by

Ceej

a. z. fell

She/Her

December 21st

Fortree, Hoenn

Bisexual

Surviving

Civillian

5'8" / 172 cm height

i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.

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