The outpost that El was looking for, she would find it in shambles a man dressed up as a cybernetic ninja wielding a sword in one hand, and accompanying him was a Cereluedge glowing with those eerie blue flames. The outpost that he had been tasked with snuffing out was up in flames. The combination of his ghost pokemon, and a few well placed distractions with some of his other pokemon had allowed him to simply overwhelm them in the darkening hours. Of course he was about to take his leave before she showed up, and upon seeing a person that felt more like a rookie than a competitor, he tilted his head to the side almost comically, as if there wasn't a burning background behind him.

"Are you lost?" Came the robotic sounding words as his sword pokemon took up a guard against the intruder just to be safe. After all he had thought all the civilians had been evacuated so he was fighting just leaguers. Amor wasn't interested in fighting innocent people, or proving his mettle against them. "It is dangerous here, I am sure if you hurry you can catch up with the other civilians." He was polite just as he always was, mainly because he sensed no danger from this girl.

Though if she did turn out to be a Leaguer that was going to be a hassle as he had just potentially wiped out a bunch of her friends, and she probably wasn't going to like that in the slightest. Still he figured she would just leave, and so he turned his back to her to observe his handy work, his pokemon wouldn't let any harm come to him anyways so he wasn't all that bothered doing this. Though he prayed that she was smarter than all the others he had told to leave. Amor was always a fair man, he always gave them the option to simply go.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Amor currently has his Ceruledge out!
The outpost is burning, it seems to have been taken out before it could be erected!
Amor thinks El is a civilian!
Will update with his other 5 pokemon next post!

El had noticed the smoke even before they had reached the outpost - which had been alarming enough. To find it in ruins when they actually arrived though, with a mysterious man in a strange suit standing over it, had initially given them more than a little pause. Who was this person, they wondered? Was he the culprit? It certainly seemed so, given the fire-type Ceruledge at his side. Which meant that this person was a Rocket...

... And El, seeing the danger inherent there, couldn't help but tense a bit, the grip on their cane tightening.

It took a second for them to realize that he had been asking them a question - and after a momentary blink, they'd finally open their mouth. "I... I'm not lost." They spoke, the tension and nervousness in their voice likely plenty apparent. Yet despite that, they attempted to stand tall the best they could - trying to put on the appearance of some form of courage. "I know it's - well - dangerous, and I don't look much, but... I-I'm able take care of myself." Not wanting to be rude though, they'd quickly add "T-thank you for your concern, though."

With that though, El was moving - not towards or even necessarily away from Seraphim and his Ceruledge, but rather to one of the ruined tents. "Bibidi - is anyone else here?" They'd question their Alakazam - using their cane to carefully push aside some of the burnt fabric to see if there was anything salvageable, or anyone left behind in the midst of this chaos.

Bibidi - whose gaze had been locked on Seraphim - would think for a second, before spreading out her awareness. Looking for any other minds in the area, besides Seraphim's and the Ceruledge's own. Stretching out the scope of her focus like this may result in a brief brush against the two's minds - but it was unintrusive, the equivalent of lightly bumping someone's shoulder or briefly meeting their gaze...

TLDR:
- Worth noting El has a cane, and probably isn't hard to see that they favor their left leg a bit more.
- El is a bit spooked by Amor and Ceruledge being here, recognizes them to possibly be Rocket.
- They mention that they aren't lost + can take care of themself, but thank Seraphim for the concern anyways.
- Begins investigating the outpost to see if any salvageable supplies or injured people are still present - asks Bibidi (their Alakazam) to help look for people.
- Bibidi spreads out her psychic awareness to search for other minds in the outpost - results in a gentle and unintrusive brush against Seraphim's and Ceruledge's minds in the process.


Amor Rose

As they intruded upon the scene of his destruction, Amor realized that they were probably Leaguers, and he just internally sighed.

"I really wished that you had just walked away when I gave you the chance, because now we have to fight." The Alakazam would be able to sense the annoyance, and agitation from the robotic man, and the glee in the Ceruledge as it realized it got to fight. "If I don't then it just makes me look bad, and I'm trying to climb the ranks. Why do none of you just listen." Annoyance came in the robotic tone from the man in armor as he looked to his Ceruledge. "Shadow Claw..." The twin blades on the pokemon lit up with black flames as they dashed forward towards the Alakazam.

Their Alakazam would have felt the presence of other minds before it was attacked it would seem that no one was dead yet, just injured, and knocked out. However Seraphim was not going to give them a chance to recover those people, or he at least wasn't going to make it easy on them. Folding his arms across his chest as he observed his new opponent, trying to get a measure of their style, and how strong they could potentially be. They didn't seem like much, but appearances could be deceiving. To judge a book by it's cover was to invite disaster as far as he was concerned.

"You are correct in that you don't look like much, but I have met children who didn't look like much either. How one looks isn't a measure of their potential." Such silly notions had no place in the world that he lived in. That didn't mean he was going to let them off the hook, and he couldn't let them just waltz off since they had decided to stick around. It was all incredibly annoying. Perhaps he should just stop giving out life rafts.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Ceruledge uses Shadow Claw!
Other five Pokemon to be used are Serperior, Empoleon, Torterra, Tyrantrum, Garchomp

Of the two, Bibidi was the first to react to the immediate hostility - and the alakazam decided that she would phone a friend, rather than directly engage the Ceruledge. Ghost-types? No thank you. With Telekinesis, she'd pull a pokeball off of El's belt for them - sending out a pokemon between herself and the Ceruledge.

From the pokeball, Behemoth would emerge - the runty Nidoking bringing up his arms to brace himself against the Shadow Claw with a low snarl. He was clearly ready to throw down with this opponent - roaring straight into the Ceruledge's face as he pumped himself up with Focus Energy!

El was thankful for Bibidi's quick thinking - whirling around and stepping back from the fight before them. "B-but, there's noone else here, besides us?!" They'd blurt - a mix of alarm and incredulousness at the reasoning that Seraphim gave. At the very least, there was noone here who was still conscious. "If-- If you just leave and let me tend to the hurt, we don't have to mention having seen eachother." It would be easy for Seraphim to say that he was gone by the time El got here.

Briefly though, El would think - before taking in a deep breath and glancing to Bibidi. "Go gather as many of the people as you can." They spoke in a hushed tone. If the people were brought out, El could try and tend to them while the pokemon handled the fighting. Additionally, even if things went awry (which a part of them expected it,) they didn't have to win. Just to get as many people out of here as they could - and once El was sure everyone was accounted for, they could collectively bail.

Bibidi, gleaning El's intentions from their surface thoughts, was reluctant to leave their side - and yet, they'd nod, moving towards one of the other collapsed tents.

TLDR:
- Bibidi yoinks one of El's pokeballs to bring Behemoth (Nidoking) out to fight the Ceruledge
- Behemoth is 100% down for this - tanks the Shadow Claw, and roars in the Ceruledge's face while using Focus Energy.
- El points out that there's noone else (conscious) here - that he could 100% safely just walk away and not say anything, and let El tend to the hurt in peace.
- Bibidi begins seeking out the unconscious League members to gather them, so El can tend to them + so they're accounted for in case the group needs to beat a hasty retreat.

Amor Rose

A Nidoking arrived thanks to the Alakazam, not that Amor cared, it just meant that while the Psychic type was busy his Ceruledge could test it's mettle against this new beastie. Though they were going to soon find out that this battle was going to be that easy even with an advantageous type match up. Amor had a Nidoking of his own, so he loosely knew their strengths, and weaknesses, and he was going to just cut it's biggest strength in half.

"Will-o-Wisp." As the order came several ghostly balls of fire flew towards the Nidoking in an attempt to engulf it in the blue flames, and leave it with a burn that would reduce it's power. The other's words weren't lost on him, and he did give it some serious thought even if he didn't look like it.

"I would know, and if I know, and lie about it. Then I'm no better than the rest of you. Besides those above me have a way of finding out information. You wouldn't understand, the fact that I'm being nice is probably gonna get me in trouble. Those guys should be nothing but corpses, but because I don't like to shed unnecessary blood, I just knocked them out." Another sigh escaped his lips as this was all just becoming one giant pain for him. "You still have some time before I get serious, so gather as many of those guys as you can. Because once time is up I am going to have to make them corpses." It was the unfortunate truth, at least that is what he was going to have his opponent believe.

Amor wondered if this was someone that he could sway to his side? They didn't seem to be incredibly self righteous like other Leaguers he had met. They just seemed to want to help others, if that was the case then this person had probably found the best match up possible, but that didn't mean he could leave them unscathed.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Ceruledge uses Will-o-Wisp on Nidoking to attempt to inflict burn!
Amor makes a threat!

Total MP
IC Post x3 - 30

Ghostly flames licked at Behemoth's hide - but even if it hurt, he didn't flinch. He snarled low and bared his fangs, but he didn't shy away from the Ceruledge - in fact, he didn't even seem wholly worried, even as the burn took hold!

El, though, furrowed their brows at Seraphim's reasons for standing his ground - a mix of thought and perhaps a little frustration in their expression. The implication in League lying - well... It'd be stupid of them to say that noone lies - there's always going to be people who lie - but was the problem really that big? And if he wanted to be 'nice'... Why was he in Rocket in the first place? Unfortunate circumstances...?

Though, they wouldn't have much time to consider it before Seraphim made an implied threat that he'd go so far as to kill the League members, if they didn't act quickly. This would make their breath hitch with clear anxiety, eyes widening with shock, fight or flight flickering in their features for the briefest moment... Before they took in a deep breath - and it shifted into something closer to righteous determination, even if bits of that anxiety lingered in their eyes.

They were nervous. They didn't want to fight. But they had to - to say the consequences were too high for them to just turn and run was putting it lightly. "I trust you, Behemoth."

Those spoken words seemed to be all the encouragement that the nidoking needed, to get right to work. Perhaps Seraphim had the right idea in burning him - but what would likely come as a surprise, was that physical attacks weren't the only things that Behemoth had up his sleeve. Raising his fists high, it'd certainly look like he was going for a physical attack at first...

... But perhaps that'd make the coming special attack - Earth Power - all the more surprising! His fists took on an earthy glow as he slammed them down - not into the enemy, but into the ground. A series of cracks rapidly formed in the earth, focused under the Ceruledge - and these cracks would be the only briefest warning, before a sudden eruption of energy would burst upwards from under his feet!

Between Rivalry and Focus Energy, this was sure to hurt if it struck!

Bibidi, meanwhile, would be hard at work - using Telekinesis to move debris aside, revealing the injured individuals. Once uncovered, she'd move them very much the same way - to carefully bring the unconscious people towards El.

And as soon as the first person was settled down, the ranger-in-training didn't hesitate to get to work - letting out another pokemon, a togekiss. "Gimme a hand, Akero." They spoke as they pulled a sizeable first aid kit from their bag - casting occasional glances towards the fight to make sure that Seraphim wasn't trying any funny business.

Though Akero glanced towards the fight as well, he would make a gentle whistle in understanding. Wasting no time, he'd already be producing Life Dews for the injured people as they arrived.

TLDR:
- Behemoth is burned, but he ain't concerned.
- El is a bit frustrated at Seraphim wanting to stay so badly, but also can't help but wonder how badly League is lying, for him to say what he did.
- The threat spooks El a bit - but it seems to just encourage them to dig their feet in, too. They're determined to protect!
- Behemoth, rather than use a physical attack, uses Earth Power - Rivalry and Focus Energy both mean this may hurt a good bit if it hits.
- Bibidi is retrieving people from the ruins of the outpost...
- ... As El tends to those who have been brought to them, applying first aid. They have brought out Akero the Togekiss to lend a hand with this.

Amor Rose

The Earth Power slammed into the unsuspecting ghost, and sent it backwards, it had dealt a significant amount of damage to the Ceruledge, but it wasn't anything that it couldn't recover from over time considering all the set up that was required to deal that much damage. The blue flames intensified on the swordsman pokemon before it rushed forward, and attempted to use Bitter Blade on his opponent to regain some of it's lost stamina. One thing was for certain if it took another hit like that, it was going to go down, and well the blue swordsman didn't want that in the slightest. Not when it was finally going to have some half decent prey to play with.

Amor on the other hand was watching as El attempted to apply first aid to those that they could find with their other pokemon. Unfortunately she was using Life Dew to make them heal faster, and that meant that he would be outnumbered if he let that continue uncontested. In a flash of white his Empoleon would make it's entrance.

"Annoy that Togekiss." He gave the order, and it's fins would sharpen, and glow as it charged the fairy type with a Metal Claw attack primed. "I thought you would try to evacuate them, but I can't just let myself get swarmed y'know." He explained to El keeping one eye on the battle against Nidoking, and now another eye on the new secondary battle. It was going to get hectic very quickly, and soon with all the attacks thrown around, the civilians would be in even more danger.

"I'm a nice guy, but I'm not that nice." He explained to El with a hidden smile as he waited to see how they adapted to the new situation.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Earth Power smashes into Ceruledge knocking him into the red.
Ceruledge uses Bitter Blade on the Nidoking!
Empoleon is summoned, and uses Metal Claw on the Togekiss to prevent it from healing everyone faster!

Though Behemoth made an honest attempt to dodge, the Bitter Blade would still cut into his shoulder - drawing a low growl from the nidoking. The burn hurt, too - but in the face of a rival, he wouldn't let it stop him that easily! The growl raising into a bellow, he'd slam his fists into the ground in another Earth Power - ready to finish the Ceruledge as quickly as possible!

Meanwhile though, there was El - and their combat medic shenanigans. While evacuating was certainly an option, there was two issues - El not wanting to just teleport people someplace else and leave them unattended, and also wanting them to be brought together so that they could have Bibidi teleport everyone at once. Would it be exhausting on the Alakazam? Yes, but it'd be less exhausting than a constant back-and-forth, especially when it was possible that she'd need to fight.

So, they'd simply focus on patching people up as Bibidi gathered them, for the time being.

But Seraphim was having none of that - an Empoleon suddenly charging at them! Akero, whistling in alarm, would fly up and away to avoid the Metal Claw - and though El considered having her make an attack... "A-Akero, Safeguard - Yggy, Bulldoze!"

With the flash of another pokeball opening, a little Turtwig would emerge - paired with a protective glow falling over El's side of the field, to protect the humans and their pokemon both. The little grass-type might not seem much at a glance, but she was still plenty tenacious and ready to fight, leaping forwards to try and stomp the enemy Empoleon into the ground..!

TLDR:
- Behemoth is cut by Bitter Blade, retaliates with another Earth Power
- El would love to evacuate immediately, but teleporting everyone one by one, back and forth, would likely leave Bibidi fatigued when she might need to protect herself too.
- Akero dodges Metal Claw
- El sends out Yggy the Turtwig to fight the Empoleon - uses Bulldoze
- Akero uses Safeguard to protect everyone - humans and pokemon both - on El's side of the field

Amor Rose

Empoleon would meet the Turtwig head on with it's Metal Claw, but if that was all it had, then it was going to be sorely disappointed in the outcome.

"Drill Peck, get through to that Togekiss." Came the seemingly cold robotic reply as it's crown elongated along with the beak on it's face before it began to spin at an incredible speed towards the Turtwig, and Togekiss in an attempt to severely damage them both. So far El had summoned four of their pokemon thus far, which meant there was only two left for them to reveal, and so far it didn't seem they had anything that was going to be incredibly detrimental to him.

The Earth Power came for his Ceruledge, but they were prepared for it this time, and the attack was nimbly dodged, crashing into the ground behind him as they surged forward brandishing both blades once more. The ghostly blue flames igniting once more as he attempted to slash into the Nidoking with another Bitter Blade. Hoping that between this damage, and the burn that it was suffering, it would go down sooner rather than later without further fuss.

There was always a secret tactic that they could use if they really needed to. Amor was already, ready to bring out another pokemon to keep El on their toes, but how much that would be needed remained to be seen.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Empoleon uses Drill Peck to reach Togekiss!
Ceruledge dodges this Earth Power, and then uses Bitter Blade once again!

Total MP
IC Post x5 - 50

The Empoleon began spinning - and El already was making a call. "Tailwind - get out of the way!"

Flapping her wings, Akero whipped up benevolent winds around the team - the added speed allowing for Yggy to get out of the way of the Drill Peck. The Togekiss herself wasn't quite as lucky though, the Drill Peck clipping at her side and wing as she attempted a last-minute dodge.

Behemoth, meanwhile, was breathing heavy - the burn and prior attacks both taking their toll. He wasn't about to last much longer - and the burn limited his options. However, he had a plan - and as his eyes met Yggy's, the two shared a nod - even if the turtwig was slightly reluctant.

When the enemy Ceruledge came in close, Behemoth made no attempt to dodge, even with the added speed. Instead, he would lend a Helping Hand to Yggy for something to come - letting out a bellow like a warcry, as he used the proximity offered by Bitter Blade to attempt to grapple the ghost-type and shove him to the ground..!

And the turtwig, taking the opportunity, would once more slam into the ground with an empowered Bulldoze - in an attempt to strike the Empoleon and Ceruledge both at the same time! The ground heaved from her stomps as she leaped about, squeaking out a valiant cry of her own!

But Behemoth would be knocked unconscious from this gambit - something that El couldn't help but wince at, feeling bad for their nidoking, even if this had seemingly been his idea. Recalling him, they wouldn't send out a pokemon right away - instead considering their options, and continuing to tend to those that Bibidi retrieved and gathered. What would Seraphim's answer be, in all of this?

TLDR:
- Akero sets up Tailwind to increase the team's speed
- Yggy is able to dodge the Drill Peck - but Akero is clipped by it on the side/wing
- Behemoth, knowing he's about to faint any second, doesn't dodge; instead using Ceruledge coming close to grapple him to the ground in a Helping Hand
- Yggy takes advantage of the opportunity to use an empowered Bulldoze, trying to strike both 'mons with a souped up super effective move.
- Behemoth is KO'd - El waits on sending out another 'mon.

Amor Rose

Empoleon managed to hit it's mark if only glancing, that was when the Nidoking did something unexpected. It took the hit from his Ceruledge, which allowed his pokemon to heal, but then it gripped the ghostly armor tightly as the Turtwig Bulldozed the earth, and caused both the Ceruledge, and Nidoking to faint. His Empoleon was heavily damaged, but it was still standing, and it seemed to have been bolstered by that last attack as it's Torrent ability surrounded it in a blue glow.

"That was a good tactic, but sacrificing one of your pokemon just to get ahead of another, isn't a very good tactic if you want to win." In a flash of light a Garchomp appeared, and now the real battle would begin. "Sandstorm." It was then that a massive sandstorm would kick up around the entire field.

"Aqua Jet." came the order to his Empoleon, with it's defenses further bolstered by the new weather it would streak towards the Togekiss wrapped up in water as his Garchomp patiently waited to see what it's little opponent would try to do. A Turtwig attempting to fight a dragon was amusing. So far his opponent had shown him some interesting things, but nothing out of the ordinary, and they were still desperately trying to save as many of those NPC's as they could. For the moment the healing had been halted which was the real goal of his attacking the Togekiss.

Though they were going to find this battle quickly turning worse for wear, his Garchomp seemed to vanish randomly within the Sandstorm thanks to it's Sand Veil ability.

It would seem he was going to take this a bit more seriously now.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Ceruledge faints from Bulldoze
Empoleon is heavily damaged from Bulldoze
Empoleon's Torrent activates!
Garchomp is summoned!
Garchomp uses Sandstorm increasing the defenses of both itself, and Empoleon!
Empoleon uses Aqua Jet on Togekiss!
Garchomp's Sand Veil is active!

MP Total
IC Post x6 - 60
Ally Pokemon Fainted - 50
Fainted an Enemy Pokemon - 10

El would make a bit of a face as Seraphim criticized the tactic; bad or good idea, it wasn't as if they had made the call. Behemoth had been calling the shots and did that all himself, from the looks of things, after all!

But nonetheless, there was a garchomp on the field now - and in its wake, a sandstorm was kicked up that bit at the hides of anyone but the enemy duo. And not only that, but the empoleon's Torrent had activated, too! The promise was there that this was going to be a hectic fight...

Tailwind was still very much present, though - and for as much as the Aqua Jet allowed the Empoleon to try and reach Akero... The Togekiss makes another dodge, in which he recieves another glancing blow that has him briefly teetering in the air, but he otherwise remains flying. Wasting no time, he'd begin raining down a Life Dew - mainly for himself and Yggy, but also a bit for the injured people as well.

And what goes up must come down, as well. "Leech Seed!" At El's call, Yggy would produce a number of seeds from her sprout, that she'd attempt to toss at the Empoleon as its Aqua Jet petered out - in hopes of catching it off-guard whilst it fell, to leech some health from the water-type!

But finally, there came the question of who to send out - and El had decided. "Psyche, Agility!" Out came Psyche the Masquerain - his wings flaring in an Intimidate-ing display, before he began to zip around through the air. Between the Tailwind and him enhancing his own speed, trying to catch him was sure to be a pain!

TLDR:
- Sandstorm is owchie owie
- Akero is hit in a glancing blow, begins raining down Life Dew to help her + Yggy recover, as well as continue aiding in patching up the unconscious NPCs
- Yggy attempts to use Empoleon being midair as an opportunity to pelt it with Leech Seeds
- El sends out Psyche the Masquerain - Intimidate activates, and he immediately uses Agility to become a zippy little fella

Amor Rose

The Turtwig turned it's attention to the Empoleon attempting to hit with a Leech Seed, but the seeds were torn to shreds by a counter Metal Claw from the water type, as it observed the trainer sending out another Pokemon. However the little starter would soon see the error of it's ways as Garchomp rushed towards it with a mouth full of fire, and attempted to chomp down on the grass type with a Fire Fang. Taking stock of all the pokemon El had out right now, he counted four currently out, and one that was knocked out. Which meant, they only had one pokemon left to use. Considering everything, two flashes of white appeared, and so he evened the odds as he summoned two more pokemon so it would be four vs four.

There was no reason for him to humor a clearly lopsided battle, and so his Torterra, and Tyrantrum came out both capable of taking advantage of the Sandstorm putting his team at even more of an advantage.

"Rock Slide, Leaf Storm!" He gave the command, both attacks that would encompass all enemies, and make it harder for El to deal with. Soon chunks of rock would begin to fall from the sky towards the enemy pokemon, while a barrage of high speed leaves tore through the storm to swarm, and cut into their enemies hide.

"You should have left when I gave you the chance." He sighed a little.

El Sunderland

TLDR
Empoleon counters Leech Seed by cutting it with Metal Claw!
Garchomp attacks Turtwig with Fire Fang!
Amor summons Torterra, and Tyrantrum!
Tyrantrum uses Rock Slide on the opposing enemies!
Torterra uses Leaf Storm on the opposing enemies!
Amor/Seraphim laments!

MP Total
IC Post x7 - 70
Ally Pokemon - 50
Fainted an Enemy Pokemon - 10