[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"From the beach, yeah. I remember."[break][break]

The girl's eyes are keen, in spite of how dull they seem on the surface. A trained edge -- survival instinct more than anything. It had been essential to remember faces overseas. To remember those who would do you wrong, and those you could rely on.[break][break]

This one had been the latter, or so she thought.[break][break]

"Tsubaki." She holds out her hand, grasping the girl's extraordinarily firmly. For her puny size, she's got strength behind her. [break][break]

She flashes a fanged smile. [break][break]

"Hope you got that mega stone since we last met. This time I'm not gonna bail you out."[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

Robin couldn't help the confidence at Tsubaki's comment. The handshake solidified it: this was happening. She punched a fist into her open hand, suddenly far more hype than she'd been a moment before. "Oh, I'm not gonna need bailing out. I'm here to test you."

The nostalgia overwhelmed her for a moment, that easy confidence of being a challenger. She had been so easy-going before things had gotten tough and complicated. It had been easy to put on her Ranger armband and assist the public, back then. These days, she was juggling public service with war preparation with rescues, and she was failing in every area. The stress of it had been eating at her, but now? Standing in this gym, adrenaline coming, she felt reinvigorated. She felt like her old self again, like she was still on that beach with Tsubaki, but hopefully all the lessons she had learned in the last few months would stick around for the battle.

"You've got big shoes to fill," she commented, "but more importantly, you're here to test, protect, and represent my home. I hope you understand that we Dewfordians don't come to play. We come to win." Her grin rivaled a Sharpedo's. She set her pokemon out before her, raring to go.

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Tsubaki put a hand on her hip, admiring the girl. She liked that confidence. But even so, it wasn't her personality she was here to assess. [break][break]

"That's great! But confidence without the strength to back it is just arrogance, y'know?[break][break]

She took a step back and eyed her up and down. [break][break]

Had she really spent most of her life on this dreary, isolated island? That seemed hard to imagine, coming from the gigantic city she did herself. But whether they were islanders or city girls, they had found themselves in the same place in the end. Both of them were Dewfordians now, and this was her home as much as it was the girl's.[break][break]

"Maybe that's why I took to this place after all..."[break][break]

She smiles, pulling two orbs from her hip. She tosses them into the air. [break][break]

"See, I play to win, too!"[break][break]

A svelte black shape appears to her left, shining the dark blue of the moon. To her right, a white ultra beast glimmers with the gold of the sun. Tsubaki walks to the edge of the arena and looks at them both with satisfaction, crossing her arms. [break][break]

"C'mon, then! Whenever you're ready!"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

She liked that Tsubaki wasn't phased by Robin's trash talk. "Arrogance was the old me. I've been hitting the books, and I'm ready to fight." Indeed, even for the loss she experienced at Gwyar's, she felt she had gotten so much better for having done it. She liked that she thought through her fights more now instead of just relying on her team to have good battle instinct.

Tsubaki chose interesting pokemon. Robin was certain the leader already had a strategy, but she couldn't parse it just yet. One set-up that had served her well so far was letting Sinistea boost her team before making any other moves. "Let's hit the same song and dance, Sin." Sinistea produced aromatic mist to boost their strength. "Quag, let's fight on your terms. Dig!" Quagsire used dig as the opening gambit, moving underneath the battlefield.

With her first move chosen, she refocused on Tsubaki and considered what the leader would opt for first. "Navy spoke of you, by the way. He thinks you're pretty good, so I suspect I'm going to learn a lot this fight." She knew she had to fight hard to earn a place on his gym wall. Tsubaki was clearly made of tough stuff to earn a gym in his town. "But I still intend to teach you something, too."

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"Heh, ready to teach me a thing or two? Then bring it!"[break][break]

Tsubaki gives the girl a fanged grin, eyes filled with vigor. Normally cool and laid back, she takes to the battlefield like a veteran, her pokemon leaping into action without a word. [break][break]

Erica lets out an angry bark at the teacup, blue markings flickering as she darts back and forth before she delivers a wicked blow Sin's way -- a technique called baddy bad. An invisible screen appears where her feet touch the ground, barriers that protect both her and her ally from physical moves. [break][break]

Meanwhile, the gently floating ultra beast cycles through various colors, humming a droning single note. Manju's body contorts, and then her tentacle stretches outward, shooting fast as a bullet. It does nothing but attempt to poison the teacup, the Nihilego's toxic venom sizzling audibly for anyone in proximity.[break][break]

"Stage is set! So now what, Coello? Gonna do what I think?"[break][break]

Tsubaki calls out, taunting her. Something about a fight always brought out this side of her, all cocky and antagonistic. Even in this environment, it was hard to resist. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

"Careful, Sin!" But the Umbreon is fast. She moves with great agility on the field and strikes Sinistea with a move Robin's never seen before. "Recoup!" Sinistea uses giga drain on the Umbreon to restore health, but the process of focusing on Umbreon leaves her open to tank the toxic from Nihilego. Sinistea shivers, poisoned, but her cursed body increases the likelihood of disabling Nihilego's move.

Damn. Robin should've considered that putting Quagsire under would just lead to Sinistea taking more fire. She wasn't meant to tank hits but rather to be a supportive player and surprise striker. Gwyar had taught her to know her pokemons' purpose. She needed to refocus... and maybe throw Tsubaki off. "Not bad," she commented, "I've never seen your Umbreon's move before." Quagsire came up with dig, but it didn't do anything against the screens on the other end of the battlefield.

What was she going to teach Tsubaki after all? The dual attack-defense from Umbreon was brilliant. "I like the stage," she finally responds, "but I'm feeling a little bored. Where's the oomf? The style? The pizzazz?" She didn't know what pizzazz meant, but she was pretty sure she'd heard it in this context, so she hoped it was right.

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"Trade secret," she smirks, running her fingers through her hair. The girl's wonder amused her.[break][break]

Erica was nearly unrecognizable now, but once upon a time, across a distant sea, in a different life, she'd been an eevee too. Tsubaki could still remember the angry look in the pokemon's eyes when she first tried to reach for her, curled up and wounded beneath a twisted, broken car. The wonder in Kouji Matsubara's eyes, the day she brought that tiny thing home. She wondered, silently, if he'd approve of the dark-type she'd evolved into.[break][break]

A giga drain steals the umbreon's vitality, and she hisses. A snarl of anger erupts from her mouth, baring her fangs. She nips at the cup as it draws close, all of her master's bark, and a little of her bite, too.[break][break]

"... In a serious battle, life and death, the ones concerned with 'pizzaz' die first." She responds Baki's words came out more morbid than she intended. Still, it was a chance to educate the up and coming. Those who might serve in the League's next major battle. They're meant as caution, from one who'd been in more battles than she cared to admit. She tilts her head, adjusting her glasses. [break][break]

"Snarl's another move that mixes offense and defense. It can lower the efficacy of special moves. Wanna know why that's important?"[break][break]

The girl's quagsire erupts from the earth, smashing against the screens placed on Tsubaki's side of the field. Perfect timing, to demonstrate her point. She smiles and crosses her arms. [break][break]

"It reduces the opponent's options even further. Now, Manju... bind it!"[break][break]

Her ultra beast glows a verdant green, and plantlife grows rapidly from the earth, snapping at the Quagsire's feet. They weave between its legs and try to hold it in place, while the parasite merely floats, silent, watching... [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

Tsubaki wasn't going easy on her, but Robin threw herself into the fight completely, feeling amped up as if she were watching a race or a sports match. This wasn't about whether she won or loss but if her pokemon could succeed against all odds. Nihilego summoned grass and Robin felt a small surge of panic. As she had in every doubles battle with Sinistea, she needed to rely on her ace pokemon's favorite trick. "ALLY SWITCH!" Sinistea obeyed, swapping places with Quagsire so he could evade the grass knot, though it wrapped around her all the same.

Tsubaki had really thought things through. Lowering her pokemon's stats was a good strategy since Quagsire were kind of famous for negating the boons of enemy pokemon, much like Bibarel could. Robin would have to keep Quagsire out of Nihilego's grasp if the ultra beast was sitting on a grass move.

The gym leader forced Robin to think about her pokemon collectively instead of individually. Sinistea's purpose, as Gwyar had instructed, was to be mobile and flexible; Quagsire was the heavy. With Quagsire close to Umbreon now due to the switch, she needed to throw the quadruped off her rhythm -- she was too agile, otherwise. "Bring the heavy!" Quagsire launched earthquake on the field.

"Your pokemon are solid, but I wonder how many defenses you really have against mass attacks." She felt almost giddy with excitement. It'd been so long since battling was fun instead of homework or a means of survival. "Quag's got more where that came from!"

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Vines pour from cracks in the artificial terrain, snapping at Robin's sinistea and curling around its body to ensnare it. They squeeze tight, tethering it to the ground and trapping it...[break][break]

Erica's ears twitch, and a chill runs down her spine. She leaps into the air as the Quagsire unleashes its earthquake, detecting the attack and jumping between the edges of upended rocks and turf to avoid the blow. [break][break]

Meanwhile, Manju remains completely oblivious. The ground is torn around Manju, and it is knocked from side to side by earth, brittle cracks appearing across pearlescent skin as the ground-type move batters it. The black ooze that trickles from those cracks sizzles as it touches earth, and the parasite flings its venom toward the Quagsire in response as if it were flicking droplets of water -- the toxic should whittle down the water type in time.[break][break]

Glowing patterns in its skin seem to slow, demonstrating the efficacy of the type chosen. The glittering sheen of the reflect in front of it was the only reason it hadn't fainted. [break][break]

"Quick thinking!" Tsubaki regains her footing, and she smiles, clearly enjoying the aggressive Robin she's being shown. "But you forgot your partner!" [break][break]

She gestures to it, where the grass knot still holds the sinistea tight. Vines release the cup, and the pokemon slumps over, unconscious -- taken out by the earhtquake. Tsubaki frowns at it, hand on her hip.[break][break]

"When you're facing down Rocket, defending the people of Hoenn, there's no acceptable sacrifices! Not when people's lives are at stake! That means you gotta account for both your partners -- everyone on the field!" [break][break]

She waits for the woman to recall her fainted pokemon. The fight would go on, but it's an opportunity to impart a lesson. [break][break]

"Doubles are good practice, seein' your pokemon as one unit, a team, instead of disparate parts. But you gotta account for strategy, too! A flying-type, or protect, somethin' like that..." She eyes Robin's tera crystal conspicuously, a glimmer in her eye as she meets her eyes again. [break][break]

"Whenever you're ready," she says, running her fingers through her hair.[break][break]

Erica lets out a soft growl, readying herself... [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

It's interesting. No acceptable sacrifices is a very different philosophy than she had adopted from battling Navy. Survive at all costs is what she had taken from him, and she had practiced with Sinistea for weeks afterwards until she was comfortable using her Ally Switch trick on Robin in any condition of battle. They had worked on non-verbal cues, too; she had dedicated a lot of time inventing contingency plans with her pokemon to increase her odds of survival.

So, she didn't necessarily agree, but Tsubaki's advice rang true. More mobility, more options, and more more would benefit her -- she needed to get more out of each choice, much like Umbreon's dual-purpose moves. It was too late to apply it here and now, given she was down to her tank and without a support.

"Could've used that advice a few minutes ago," she says with good humor. She hasn't lost until she's lost, though. She retrieves Sinistea into her pokeball, briefly wondering if abusing stellar tera would've improved the teacup's odds. She thought she'd had more time for tricks, but maybe going all out in the beginning would serve her better.

Quagsire dipped around the Nihilego's attack. His terrain assaults were going to be his best bet in a 2v1, and it was her remaining strategy for the solo pokemon. "Wet the field!" Quagsire summoned muddy water to ruin the field.

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]"Take it as a lesson for next time," she responds with a smirk.[break][break]

The muddy water rushes forth. Erica tries her best to avoid it, leaping between upturned rocks to avoid the currents before she's swept off with a rising tide, buffeted against those same rocks in the process. [break][break]

Manju, meanwhile, tries to contest the wave's momentum with a sludge wave of her own - she manages to repel the attack somewhat, sending out a wave that passes through the quagsire's own to assault it, but even the diminished muddy water is enough to cause her to faint when it hits.[break][break]

Erica clambers out of the murky water, dripping wet and angry. She lets out a wicked howl, and the moon-shaped markings on her fur begin to glow, healing her with a wish. [break][break]

"One on one, now. Every move counts, Erica!" Tsubaki shouts to her umbreon, and the pokemon stares at the woman across from her with baleful yellow eyes. She lets out a small growl of determination, ready to keep on fighting with renewed energy. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]

Quagsire feels right at home with the muddy water, but it lulls him into a false sense of security. He doesn't expect the Nihilego's sludge, which clips him. It's clear for Robin to see that he's poisoned.

The ticking clock is loud in her ears - Quagsire's going to be competing against a poison that saps his strength while contending with the very capable Umbreon on the field. Worse still, as she's plotting her next move, Umbreon begins to heal herself. And Robin has no similar move for Quagsire.

The Umbreon has great agility. Wide, environmental attacks are a great opportunity to keep it away and strike it with less concern for its evasiveness. Robin's confidence the Umbreon has a lesser arsenal for long distance strikes than Quagsire through those environmental moves. Still, letting the Umbreon keep distance could give her more time to heal, and it would make his environmental attacks easier to handle... which would be fine, if Quagsire wasn't poisoned.

She needs to be aggressive, even though it's not her go-to strategy. In fact, she hates the forward assault kind of battling. "Get in there, Quag!" He starts to close the distance as she figures out what to do. His own sludge wave could risk poison on the Umbreon and give her diminishing returns on healing, but it wouldn't negate the previous problem since Quagsire would still faint to poison long before she does.

She has to shift strategies and double down on it. "Focus punch!" Quagsire pulled back his hand and swung.

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]The umbreon growls as the quagsire approaches. For all its leisurely disposition, it moves quickly enough, closing the distance. [break][break]

The Umbreon lets out a snarl, trying to back away, but the punch comes all the same. It closes on the dark-type pokemon, and the barriers she had set up earlier shatter all around her in little pieces in the same moment. [break][break]

The ticking clock, important for the both of them.[break][break]

"Erica, don't let it get the better of you!"[break][break]

Baki shouts to her umbreon, willing it to stay on its feet just a little longer. The pokemon's fur bristles in anger as she hisses and bears her teeth, obliging the request - but only just. [break][break]

It would all come down to the wire now...[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"]