Oh, a newcomer. Now, Eve was not exactly the most experienced battler herself, far from it. But during her journey, she had gotten to know people. And this one was showing the tell-tale signs of a woman that wasn’t quite used to what she was doing.

However, Eve had to admit that this fit the other’s appearance somewhat well. That girl had the bubbly kind of hair and overall demeanour that a somewhat timid and insecure approach in effect was more cute than obnoxious. It made her smile, though naturally, Eve was much better at keeping her cool here. And she was going to give the girl all the time she needed in the world. “Hello there, mon amie. Yes, we are here to battle. But feel free to settle in first, if you need to sort yourself out properly first,” she replied, a pleasant smile on her face.



Not like she had started out as a skilled battler either. Heck, she still did not consider herself a grand trainer or anything. Certainly way below people who habitually challenged gyms and the like. But she did know how to make an appearance at least, this time coming with a more business-casual like appearance, black blazer and skirt over a white, button-up blouse. She did like to go for more mature clothing like this, in part to make up for her more petite frame, really.

“Do you have any preference on how to do this? Single battle, duo, triple? I am flexible in this regard. This is more for fun and experience anyway, so relax and do what you want to do, my dear.”



battle theme

- link battle theme

Salandit was hiding. Of course it was. That was the best strategy when the world around oneself had gone to crap, after all. Leaning against the wall of the miniature shack it was hiding in, it could hear another impact nearby. The Octillery was probably still bombarding the Pikachu down the street, which was just waiting for its opportunity to get close enough to shock the other. Well, at least that was the last Salandit had seen before ducking into this place, drenching the entry in venom to harm anyone who dared follow it. And that should give it a little breather at least.



Things had started innocently enough. This special little battle was set in a miniaturized version of some old Unovan desert town. All the Pokemon involved – most of them of the smaller variety, to fit the theme – had even been given little cowboy hats. Salandit had a black one that it already liked. Its trainer could not give a lot of input, since they were all sitting outside the town of sorts and there were buildings to hide in. In fact, going in here was the last command it had heard, after taking a cheap shot at a Poochyena and Bulbasaur rolling around in melee on the street. This was a battle of survival, after all. And Salandit would focus either on whoever was stupid enough to follow it inside, or wait until there was only one enemy left to fight.



- Participate in a battle Royal

Sticking out his tongue was….unexpected. Mentally, Eve readjusted her expectations. So far, she had assumed that this boy would be a seasoned, mature trainer. But it seemed that he was a great deal younger than she was. And given that girls usually grew up faster than boys anyway, she was probably quite a bit ahead of him.

But at least he was still courteous. That was more than she really expected of people his age these days, if she was being honest. “Yes, I hail from Kalos. And I have lived for a while in Lumiose City, too,” she replied, ever polite. It truly was something that came up a lot. Probably because in addition to being Kalosian, she had more exotic looks as well. It was not something she was overly conscious about or anything, however. Just something that she noticed from time to time.
Plus, he had at the very least answered her question quite sufficiently. Not like she could begrudge him for that, after all. “And oh, so it is merely your second name. Though if you ask me, I much prefer John to Doug. It has a certain ring to it, masculine, driven. Doug is a bit more laissez-faire, at least from the sounds of it.” Well, at least that was one way to put it.
The polite way.

Oh, it was him. She recognized that man from that one day in the waters. “Alola,” she hence greeted him right away, a smile on her lips, referencing that encounter. Unlike back then though, she was more properly dressed, the same white dress and sandals she had worn in her earlier match with the man who was called Doug, yet named John. That still struck her as odd somehow.

Her eyes briefly found the Dusclops. That kind of Pokemon probably befitted a man of the dead such as him. She found it a bit creepy, but she was not going to judge.
After all, when she picked a ball and released it, she let out a Ghastly of all Pokemon to fight this one. But the little one had something to prove, after failing against the Pikachu. So, she was going to give him as many chances a possible to gather experience, if nothing else.

“The pleasure is all mine, of course. I reckon that this will be a fight more in your ball park then, oui?”

samuel carter

Heh. It was a bit odd, but she had actually never gone for stands like this. After all, if she wanted a taste of home, she would simply cook one of the recipes for herself. But she had never had ‘Kalosian for foreigners’ so to speak. She wondered if this would taste just like she was used to.

Probably not. After all, her family had always been rather well-off and prided itself in being ‘exquisite’ of sorts. Whatever they had on sale here, judging by the prices, would never have made it into her household.
Still though, it should be roughly the same. “Well, since you want something without alcohol, I would suggest the blueberry-apple mix. It is something you do not exactly see often here. Tastes a bit like the Pyukumuku juice from Alola. Though that is only named after the Pokemon, not gained from it. Fortunately.”



- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused
- inflict flinch
- get paralyzed
- 1 faint
siobhan burke

“I would say that ‘sir’ is a frame or state of mind, rather than a declaration of age,” she replied in her usual, friendly fashion. Truly, she called most people in settings like that by more polite terms. Swimming leisurely on the back of a Lapras was one thing, but in a populated city and when addressing opponents? That was different altogether. An opponent always deserved respect. Father had taught her that. Though, naturally, that did not extend to Galarians to him. The difference between an opponent and an enemy, she reckoned.

That, however, had no bearing now. The man had introduced himself. “Evette, though most just call me Eve. I do not insist on Kalosian pronunciation. Heck, she all but preferred others using Eve as long as they did it properly for that reason. “I must confess though…Doug strikes me as an odd variation of John. Is there a specific story behind that?” She had heard something about names like Dick or so for Richard, which was weird already. But Doug for John she had never heard before.
For now though, she allowed him to lead. Clearly, he had more experience with impromptu battles such as this. “Of course. I am always ready to test my mettle in this. At least during this festival.” And at least when she wasn’t getting drunk. But she reckoned few would remember her from back then, even if she had sung a little piece there…
That, too, was a function of her slightly different attire.

This was not the first time that her phone led to an encounter. Which was a bit odd for she rarely used it. Yes, she made important calls with it from time to time, but Eve was not someone who liked to get into the newest trinkets and widgets. Yes, mother had insisted she’d learn how to use social media and the like. But during her journey, she usually tried to keep usage of the phone to an absolute minimum.
Only for this odd tournament – which had rules she did not completely understand, but kind of enjoyed nonetheless – she needed it. There was an app that now told her that she had found a match, beep, beep, beep.

So, Eve looked up from the bench she was sitting on, watching the Chespin climb a tree. Out today in a white, simple dress and sandals, she was going for a simplistic, but also somewhat mature style. One that contrasted her oddly coloured hair and eyes, thus putting some nice emphasis on them in her opinion. Looking about, she did not search for anyone specific. Instead, it was behaviour she was scanning for. Et voila, there he was. A man that apparently was looking for someone he did not know, too. That was the tell-tale sign of having found an opponent.
Plus, he was raising his phone. But she did not need something so obvious.

Still, Eve rose and took a step towards him, indicating a brief and small curtsey of all things. “I take it you are the blind-battle-date for the day, then, good sir?”

She called Ghastly back. It did feel kind of odd to do that, yet not having lost at all yet. In fact, it did seem like they were actually winning still. But Ghastly would definitely need a rest. Maybe it would learn to not be as theatrical next time. And maybe she would learn to not discount potential Pokemon abilities, really. Types she had down, attacks mostly too, but abilities were so Pokemon specific that she still forgot many.

Eve sighed. Then, she watched her partner finish this. Maybe she should just help Ghastly learn some ranged attack. That would probably be helpful. “I guess,” she replied, suppressing the urge to scratch her neck, just like mother had taught her. The arm almost raised a bit, but she had that down still. One nervous tick that she’d been almost brutally trained to never show. “I will pay then, since you won this for us.” That was the least she could do, for jeopardizing an almost certain victory, after all.
It just felt right that way, so she gave a faint smile in return.


- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused
- inflict flinch
- get paralyzed
- 1 faint
siobhan burke

Since the Riolu was closer to her part of the trainer area, she saw it fall from the corner of her eye. Good. That meant there was only one enemy left. And Ghastly, naturally, was showboating around. The dizzied Pikachu saw the ghost fly circles around it for a bit, instead of just being licked. But that was just how that one worked. Eve had not exactly managed to train that trait out of it, really.

Then again, she had not really tried. It was kind of fun. It made her smile. And it was also kind of a tactical error. Well, in a way. The issue really lied with her. When Ghastly finally did go in to lick the Pikachu and get it wet, that did not end up too well. Ghastly really should have figured out ahead of time what it was putting in its mouth. Because even though the Pikachu shuddered from the lick, it’s static struck right back at Ghastly, which was momentarily shocked already. Which the trainer then capitalized on by having the Pikachu Thundershock the ghost.
Eve’s eyes briefly widened, but she did notice that Ghastly was making a bit of a show out of fainting, so she figured that it would be fine. “Sorry about that,” she told her partner, though.


Ah, wonderful. Ghastly hit and disengaged before the Pikachu, frozen and flinching, could even retaliate. That likely hurt quite a bit. But it wasn’t quite down yet, so Eve decided to go in once more. “Lick it then, that should overload it’s sensory inputs,” she called out, but Ghastly only looked at her in confusion. She probably shouldn’t be so technical about it all.

“Just lick it and it will be fine,” she clarified, so Ghastly grinned and went to work, while Froslass took care of Riolu for the time being. For an odd couple like them, they were working reasonably well together, really. Being all, well, tag-teaming the opponents.


- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused
- inflict flinch
- get paralyzed
- 1 faint
siobhan burke

Ah, wonderful. Ghastly hit and disengaged before the Pikachu, frozen and flinching, could even retaliate. That likely hurt quite a bit. But it wasn’t quite down yet, so Eve decided to go in once more. “Lick it then, that should overload it’s sensory inputs,” she called out, but Ghastly only looked at her in confusion. She probably shouldn’t be so technical about it all.

“Just lick it and it will be fine,” she clarified, so Ghastly grinned and went to work, while Froslass took care of Riolu for the time being. For an odd couple like them, they were working reasonably well together, really. Being all, well, tag-teaming the opponents.


- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused
- inflict flinch

Rotation battle. The whole concept seemed weird to her. But hey, she had come to this region to try out new things. This clearly was part of that, of course. Even though it took a bit to wrap her head around it all. However, with some application of brain juice, Eve had come up with something resembling a battle-plan that she figured might work.

Hence, she approached the little arena with her Swablu already out. This was supposed to be a sky battle, after all, so she figured she might as well. The platforms for the trainers were already raised, but equipped with handles and rails to ensure safety. The Pokemon would not have that, but she did think she could see a net below, just in case. Which was well enough, given her game plan.

For now, she waited for her opponent in the orange vest and pants she’d donned today over a white shirt. Not super fashionable, but she found it fitting for a sky battle.


- Sky Battle
- Rotation battle

Well, that was going somewhat smoothly. The Mean Look kept the Riolu from going towards the Pikachu and helping it, which was more than useful. The confusion did not appear to deter the other Pokemon much, but it did not strictly speaking have to. After all, Ghastly had one important advantage here: it could simply outrange the other. The little fighting type kept dashing for it, but Ghastly would just fly overhead, left to right, back and forth, mostly just toying with the other.

Then, from the side, came a command. A quick glance revealed that the other had managed to freeze the Pikachu right in its tracks. Good, good. “You heard the lady. Sucker Punch it while it can’t dodge!” The order was clear and the little ball of ghostly gas struck through the sky, right towards the electric rodent, all but head-butting it in the process. Then again, when you were but a disembodied head, that was pretty much all you did. Meanwhile, the Riolu was left behind, evidently confused even without being hit by the move.


siobhan burke
- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused
- inflict flinch (pending)

Well, at least she was playing with team spirit. Those commands were relatively neutral and to the point, which might have meaning or not. She wouldn’t know. But for the time being, Eve took what she could get.
The Pikachu, meanwhile, went first and almost hit her Ghastly. However, it was protected. And in return, it stared right into the Confuse Ray, receiving, well, a confusion. That was what it got for rushing right into it, when it was actually aimed at another.

Riolu in the meantime though, had managed to close its eyes. It had fallen back momentarily now, but it clearly was not confused. “Well, let’s keep it between the two of you then, Ghastly. Mean Look and prepare to evade,” she ordered, trying to keep the Riolu from coming to the confused Pikachu’s aid that way.

siobhan burke
- Participate in tag battle
- inflict confused