Aurum Badge Challenge

It was strange. Back when she had lived in Sinnoh, the idea of taking its gym challenge had never crossed her mind. Perhaps because of the world she had lived in, she had never thought too deeply about it. It was a separate world from her own. But, she had come to a realization. That was the reason why she stood here to begin with.

She could not merely stand on ceremony as the world progressed beyond her time and time again.

"Let's begin, Jeanne." As Gwyar had signaled the start of the battle, Elaine issued a single command. Pointing her fingers up, she spoke. "Start with Swords Dance."

Her opponent was an Aegislash. When in their shielded forms, their defenses were absolutely formidable. Only when they began to attack could they deal damage. So, they needed to bring things into their advantage.

To turn this match into the high-risk high-reward fight that would only occur at blade's edge.

The spectral knight raised its swords as it began its short dance of power.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge uses Swords Dance

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

Not a bad idea—

Just a bad opponent.

Almost as soon as the words were out of the challenger's mouth, the Aegislash launched into the air whilst swiveling in place like a fidget spinner, before launching its shield at the opponent.

Getting yanked alongside the steel by its tassels, it smashed into it midflight, turning into a shield-crowned missile and accelerating towards the opponent at blurrying speeds.

Whether it hit or not (the battle would indeed be very brief if it landed), the following crash shattered the soil beneath and upheaved the earth, the shockwave spreading outwards like a wave of rock and stone.

"Ah. Right." Gwyar spoke after as the wall of dust was kicked high in the air. "This particular Aegislash is rather aggressive. Keep that in mind."

Though he could leash it, he hadn't quite managed to train the aggressive streak out of it just yet. Shadow Pokemon were quite something.

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TL;DR:
Gram used Head Smash.

Aurum Badge Challenge

It was not even an instant before the onslaught had begun. The opposing Aegislash had flung itself into the air before flinging its shield towards Jeanne. She had been lucky that its dance was quick enough. Had it been even half a second slower, Jeanne would have taken a critical blow at the very start.

The battle would have been over before it could even truly begin. The Ceruledge took a step inwards. That was all it took--a simple step forward. Even the slightest of movements were enough to evade a grand frenzy. But that was not the end. The shield smashed into the ground behind it, throwing the earth up in a plume of dust and rubble.

"Ride it." She didn't even need to say it. The Ceruledge had used the force from behind itself to press forward. The shield and the blade had separated, meaning it was the opportune moment. "Cut down."

Her dual blades glowed a deep purple as they threatened to slash into the airborne blade.

Gwyar was not kidding when he said this Aegislash was especially aggressive. But that just meant she needed to use that to her advantage. Somehow.

If it had let loose the shield so easily, it could regain it just as quick. But, acting on the razor thin margin was the absolute right answer here. For now.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge uses the shockwave to propel it and uses Shadow Claw.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

A normal Aegislash switched between offense and King's Shield, controlling the pace of the battle.

Gram was not a normal Aegislash.

The shadowy aura that exploded out from Gram was not the same as that wielded by ghost type pokemon, nor dark type pokemon. It was a sheer black, the background disappearing behind its curtain as the sword swung into its opponent's attack violently, a shrill, joyful cackle of steel ringing through the arena as it smashed into its opponent's blades.

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TL;DR:
Gram used the Shadow move: Shadow End.

Aurum Badge Challenge

The two edges clashed. The eerie screeches of two blades resounded as sparks flew with every minutia of force exchanged between the two. There was only one problem.

The more they stay locked, the more Jeanne gets forced into a disadvantage.

Though the situation looked like a stalemate, Elaine had already been placed on the back foot. It would be a battle of attrition that would end in the Aegislash's favor. They needed to gain some advantage somehow.

"BURN!"

That was all Elaine had to say as Ceruledge's blade no longer glowed a deep purple but a bright blue and purple instead. If they were going to keep damaging each other, then she merely needed to siphon life from an enemy, sucked in by the vacuum that those flames of regret were.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge holds her ground and changes from Shadow Claw to Bitter Blade.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

The black curtain coating the Aegislash was slowly swallowed by the opponent's sword, the shadows being syphoned into its bitter blade—

And then suddenly, Aegislash's tassels moved, wrapping around the Ceruledge biceps whilst their blades held against one another.

Honedge entry: If anyone dares to grab its hilt, it wraps a blue cloth around that person's arm and drains that person's life energy completely.

Once again, Gram chose violence over anything else, its crimson gaze glowering at the ghostly knight as it attempted to suck it dry right back.

---

TL;DR:
Gram took damage.
Gram is doing a pokedex thing.

Aurum Badge Challenge

It was still a lock. Elaine had hoped that the Aegislash would try to overpower and knock Jeanne away, but it did the exact opposite. It was like the two were bringing each other into a twisted embrace where both would take from each other until one could stand no more.

They were stuck in equilibrium. That meant that she had to break through fast and she had to do it before Gram did so.

It was at that moment that a strategy came to her. If she could just use Gram's aggression to Jeanne's advantage, she could salvage this.

"To the ground! Let its blade slide off yours and slash at the bindings!"

She just needed to free herself. If she could place herself at the right location, she could declare check.

Feel superior. Take insult. And dance to Jeanne's tune!

Jeanne let one blade off and tilted the other to let the Aegislash continue its momentum across the blade's surface before getting down on her knee. As she did, she used the two blades to slash at the tassels keeping them tethered.

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TL;DR:

• Ceruledge gets down, tries to let the blades slide off, and slashes at the tassels with continuing Bitter Blade

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

Gram slid off as the blades were tilted, its razor sharp edge cleaving a scar across the arena's soil as its tassels were slashed off.

"Hoh!" The Gym Leader intoned, clapping with a smile.

Freed now from both its opponent's suckle AND arms, the Aegislash was not left with a great amount of options.

Then again, it still had the option to attack— otherwise known as the only choice it ever entertained.

Swiveling in place with enough force to generate air pressure, Gram brought her head crashing towards Jeanne.

---

TL;DR:
Gram lost its arm tassel thingies.
Gram is using HEAD SMASH.

Aurum Badge Challenge

Everything was going exactly as Elaine had hoped. She couldn't help but crack a smile. Jeanne had been freed from restraint and now had left herself wide open.

Gram was aggressive beyond anything she had seen a trainer command before--even more aggressive than her own Lockon.

So, there was no way that it would let such a succulent-looking opening pass it by.

Elaine snapped her fingers the moment she saw the enemy swing.

"Back!"

At the sound of her command, a shadow appeared at Jeanne's feet. Without a moment's delay, she fell through. When she re-emerged, it was right behind where she where Gram's back had been. The stage was set. That was the opening she could exploit as the spectral blades slashed forward.

Yet, despite the seeming check she had put the Aegislash in, she could not help but find herself sweating. She could not expect this to be over just yet.

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TL;DR:

• Jeanne uses Phantom Force to dodge out of the way of the Head Smash and attempt to attack from behind. Nothin' personnel, kid.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

In an instant, the target of Gram's aggression had vanished, his attack whiffing entirely and carving a wide, clean scar along the arena's soil.

The Aegislash found himself facing his trainer for the briefest of moments. The Gym Leader merely smiled at it and shrugged his shoulders.

Until now, aggression alone had been enough to beat down Gram's opponents into submission.

Perhaps this would be the lesson it needed to become a more complete warrior.

A powerful blow crashed into the Aegislash from behind, sending it hurtling and crashing besides the gym leader and generating a large cloud of dust.

"Learned a lesson?" The blonde asked without looking, his hair whipping away from the crash's force.

A moment passed— before a piece of steel flew out of the the cloud once again— a step slower than before, but no less aggressive as it flew towards Jeanne.

---

TL;DR:
Gram took damage. It was super effective!

Aurum Badge Challenge

It had been enough. The tactic had worked and it had done severe damage. The Aegislash had been knocked pretty far away. Jeanne took the moment it had hit to regroup back into a stance. It may have worked, but it was not over.

The scars left on the ground from the attack that had hit it were proof enough that their opponent was hardly a slouch.

The battle would only ramp up from here. Moreover, a surprise attack with Phantom Force would probably not work again. They had locked out that option by revealing their hand.

So what?

From the very start, Elaine had known that she could not stretch a hit and run strategy with an opponent like this. Doing that would be pure folly. From the moment that blades clashed, she had been feeling something in her soul lighting up. Each spark from the colliding blades lit it until it was a blaze stronger than anything she had felt in a while.

"You really need to lighten up a bit."

Those words were directed towards Gram. The enemy who they had hit had been nothing but a true menace. Its aggression was pure and raw. But that was no fun. When two Pokemon fought with all their hearts, Elaine felt like she could come to understand a bit more about the Pokemon and the trainer that she had fought against. Maybe it was her profession speaking, but she happened to like learning more about her opponent like this.

But this felt like butting heads with a brick wall with no heart.

Perhaps that was why Elaine was smiling in that moment. It was a raw and feral smile that she had rarely shown. It was hers.

So, she wanted to break through. Just a bit more.

"Get in there. So close that your souls touch! Let's claw in there and bring them down!"

Abandon hit and run for now. Hit them with pure infighting. Let swords clash and sparks fly until one of them fell.

Understanding her trainer's words, the flames atop Jeanne's heard billowed. One of her blades glowed a deep purple, releasing unfiltered miasma. Without hesitation, she charged to once again slide the shadow claw across its body and then slam it back down into the ground.

Two Swords vs One sword. She would make damn sure the numbers advantage didn't go to waste.

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TL;DR:

• Jeanne maintains an infighting strategy. Using one of her blades, she uses Shadow Claw to attempt to slide across Gram's blade and slam down into its body.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig

VS ELAINE HIGHLAND #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Elaine Highland

The flying sword spun— launching a projectile at its oncoming opponent.

It smashed into the blades— and repelled them with crippling force.

The King's Shield, used for the first time in the fight, shone brightly for but a moment before the its owner came flying into it, pushing it once again into its opponent like a battering ram.

Even when defending, it attacked.

"Hoh!" The Gym Leader clapped once again— this time for his pokemon.

Growth was growth, however slow and stubborn. However the battle went from here, he would have to thank the challenger for their help.

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TL;DR:
Gram used King's Shield, lowering the attack stat of those who get repelled.

Aurum Badge Challenge

Elaine could not help but find herself shocked when Gram had ended up using the shield for the first time. Sure, it was continuing its aggression, albeit with a new weapon in hand, but it was a new tactic nonetheless. Especially since it had discarded that blade at the very beginning. Was it swallowing its pride and using every disposable option possible?

In other words, it was now fighting at its fullest capability.

The shield had deflected the Shadow Claw. It had thrown Jeanne off balance for just a moment before it started. But that was fine. They could still fight.

Gram was taking its shield and slamming straight into Jeanne. Keeping a defensive stance while maintaining on offense. It was an interesting tactic, but that didn't mean it was over.

"Bitter Blade with the other sword!"

Only one sword was used for its Shadow Claw. That still left the other sword open. With the other blade glowing a hot purple, Jeanne stood her ground as she blocked the incoming blow with the blade heated by resentment. With that moment, she tried to lock Gram into place with Bitter Blade before slamming with her other sword.

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TL;DR:

• Jeanne defends with Bitter Blade while trying lock the opponent in place and the other blade to attack.

Tags:Gwyar Wledig