He was outside—feeding some of the other avians that were circling around by throwing birdseed into the air (well, he was kind of making it rain only in reverse, if that made any kind of sense) before the door heading out to the open-air arena opened, and then closed not too long afterward.

“Oh, c’mon Jack, you didn’t tell me they were here already!” he said into the earpiece, before hearing a cackle of laughter as he turned around and the shadows overhead dispersed.

“You’re here for the traditional battle, correct?” he began as he crossed the open-air arena to shake Zev’s hand in greeting.

“Two on two singles, right,” he confirmed a few moments afterward.

Little did he know that whatever he was packing along was going to give him quite the damned-ass fright the moment they appeared on the challenger’s side of the field.

“You get first move!” he called after he’d returned across the arena—and a Togekiss circled overhead, humming happily as she came to face down whatever was going to come out from the opposite side of the field.

---

Togekiss is out on the field! Good luck!

Two moves per turn (post) are allowed.

BY GUNSMILE

The moment Zev had brought out the first of his Pokémon, he froze.

For a good five seconds, Alexei fucking froze.

What—what a cruel fate. Oh, djinni save him!

(He was sure, that if Guillermo Marceliño was around to watch this match, he was definitely going to laugh his ass off for a few moments. Because what kind of Gym Leader freezes at the sight of a Ghost-type? Him, that’s for sure!)

Thankfully, his Togekiss had the werewithal to swing into action without him saying anything, quickly summoning a Safeguard wall to protect against whatever would be coming her way—as specters were a tricky bunch and they almost always packed status changes, one of which was the extremely common Confuse Ray.

The Ominous Wind would strike her—but for the Power Gem, she was more than ready—suddenly releasing a powerful flash-bang grenade burst of fae light in the form of a Dazzling Gleam attack.

This, in turn, caused Alexei to instinctively reach for a pair of shades from another jacket pocket and slip them on, because he knew what exactly was going on once his mind had unfroze from the sight of the specter—and they were already in the middle of the match!

---

Togekiss is out on the field!

Togekiss used Safeguard (1 / 5) to start; taking the Ominous Wind attack but countering the Power Gem with Dazzling Gleam!

BY GUNSMILE

That was going to work once, but twice?

He—really needed to swap one of those moves Nat knew out for another! Too late for that, at least for the moment.

While it looked like she was doing nothing—even taking the Mystical Fire full in the face (and yelping painfully in the process because that was fire, and that hurt bad) she floated over backwards and seemingly just… did a random wiggle.

However, that was actually her Metronome attack in play—and for a few seconds, seemingly nothing happened.

And then everything came crashing down all at once as she flew forward and lashed out with an Iron Head attack!

Well, that meant closing the distance but that was the risk of Metronome in and on itself—it truly was, in a sense, absolutely random.

Whether or not the attack would connect, she would back away—this time meeting the incoming second blast with her own Ancient Power, if but to soften the blow that would result from the attack that would slowly but surely chip away at her.

“Nat, you’re doing great!” he called from his side of the field, keeping the shades on just in case another attack that went off like a flashbang grenade came out of the randomness of Metronome.

---

Togekiss is out on the field!

Safeguard (2 / 5) is in effect!

Togekiss takes the Mystical Fire, and used Metronome which resolved into Iron Head!

Hit or miss, Togekiss then used Ancient Power to soften the blow of the incoming Power Gem attack!

BY GUNSMILE

That was a—

Not very nice look the ghostie across her flashed her way!

Cringing for a few moments in mid-air, the Psywave shook her, making her careen off-course as the attack pelted her full-force—with a couple of corrections, though, she was back at it and this time.

She decided to let loose with the Dazzling Gleam first, using the resulting flash of fae light to put as much distance as she could between her and the specter, flying as far back as she could before deciding to send in an attack that would home in on the other.

A burst of Leaves that were Magically conjured came swirling from around her, before being lobbed at the Mismagius through the flash of light.

She was getting pretty battered, because the attacks, while not powerful enough to knock her out of the air, were chipping away considerably at her.

---

Togekiss is out on the field!

Safeguard (3 / 5) is in effect!

Togekiss takes the Psywave attack and this time reverses the order of things, using Dazzling Gleam first to confound the Mismagius as to where her location is.

A barrage of Magical Leaf follows afterward, homing in on the specter!

BY GUNSMILE

Honestly, seeing specters was something he would never get over (regardless if they were Guillermo Marceliño’s, or someone else’s) and he felt another chill travel up his spine.

He knew that his Togekiss, while she was considerably bulky, was getting battered and hammered on by the attacks coming from the Ghost-type—and there it was, the Mystical Fire attack had scorched her pristine white form! Not too long afterward, the Ominous Wind struck her as well.

He bit his tongue as he heard his Togekiss crying in dismay, her flight pattern dipping even lower before a last-ditch attempt at an Ancient Power attack across the space, before wiggling her entire body—her way of conjuring up the Metronome.

At first, there was… silence.

And then a few moments later a powerful burst of rainbow-colored energy, a Psychic attack—came racing after the boulders determined to either pin or bring down the Mismagius.

“Hang in there, Nat!” he called from his side of the arena.

---

Togekiss is out on the field!

Safeguard (4 / 5) is in effect!

Togekiss takes the Mystical Fire and Ominous Wind, before launching Ancient Power at the Mismagius!

Togekiss then used Metronome which resolved into Psychic as a follow-up!

BY GUNSMILE

And now the thing that gave him nightmares for days emerged. While the Mismagius had been dealt with, there was no way he was going to be able to recall his Togekiss, seeing as the other specter had just used Mean Look to trap her right where they wanted her to be—

The powerful slamming force of the Shadow Ball sent the Togekiss flying backwards, before it almost crashed to the ground, hard, had he not quickly recalled the Pokémon in time. Dang, a close battle—and he… he figured, he had a couple of counters for this…

Due to his panic though, instead of sending out the Baile Oricorio he had (or the Pom-Pom, or hell even the Pa’u) he’d summoned forward his Sensu Oricorio, and boy the hairs on the back of his arm did not get any rest!

Ah, shit! he screamed to himself as he saw the Ghost-type avian hit the field—but there was nothing else to it, he had to power forward and go through with his choice!

This was the first time he was going to use this Oricorio, but he didn’t need to worry—because right then and there, the Oricorio began its Revelation Dance.

While normally this wouldn’t work since the move was a Normal-type; for some reason it had changed to a spectral, ethereal dance and took on spectral, ghostly elements as the attack went sailing forward, followed up by a powerful burst pf Air Cutter hot on its heels, attempting to strike the Gengar!

---

Togekiss has been knocked out, and Oricorio takes to the field!

Safeguard (5 / 5) is in effect! Safeguard will wear of on the next turn!

Sensu!Oricorio opens fire with Revelation Dance (changes to Ghost-type) before following-up with Air Cutter!

BY GUNSMILE

With the advantage of attacking first came an equal disadvantage, because—well, simply because, this left the Oricorio wide-open to being clobbered from up-close!

While the Lick landed, she’d turned her body in such a way the Hypnotic waves had missed—however now that the Safeguard from earlier was gone, this practically left her wide-open for whatever status attack would come barreling her way.

Recovering her stance from earlier, she then blasted herself away from the Gengar with a Hurricane, before landing some distance away and aiming another sharp Air Cutter-fueled dance with those spectral fans that she was holding.

At least someone had their head together!

---

Sensu!Oricorio is out on the field!

Oricorio takes the Lick attack however pivots out of the Hypnosis attack with a Hurricane move to propel herself away from the Gengar! Upon landing, Oricorio used Air Cutter from a distance1!