A good battle, sure. Maybe they should not have held back after flattening that frog. She was not quite aware of consciously pulling her punches, but it was not impossible, either.

Still though, Hydro-Pump spam was difficult to deal with. Not that it made for what she considered a good battle though. “Suuure,” she hence said, kind of biting her tongue on the matter. And she just decided to take that loss. After all, she still got a step closer to what she wanted, anyway.


CIAN MAHER
Loss

Ah, no more words. She guessed she had won on that arena at least, while making at least a little headway on the other. That Z-Move had probably impressed him a bit more than he let on.

Good. Served him right.
The Absol was certainly trying a bit harder, immediately retaliating but not quite making it yet. Which was good, since they were still at the last vital. That had not changed. But then again, that was half luck anyway. And when one was with the back to a wall, it made going further easier. After all, ahead was the only direction left, now.

“Shift gears, then,” she ordered Lyca, who got what that meant. Namely to change into a more physical form of combat now that the Z-Move had been exhausted, rushing headlong at the other in an attempt to land an Accelerock.

Gerald Kaiser
HP: 1/3
Z-Move used up
Accelerock used
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Oh, so it was over now? Interesting. But she figured it was just as well anyway. The counter showed the other to still be at three points, which probably was what this was all about. It had clearly taken this hit badly and Lyca had not lost her last point. So, it had to be what this gimmick was about, in the end.

But that did not help too much. “Gordo got what?” Her reply belied an unfamiliarity with whatever slang this was, but she left it at that for the time being. Instead, she focused on the battle while rubbing the back of her hand. “Double Team and try to evade that. If possible, Sucker Punch it after,” she ordered the rocky dog which would try to do just that. It was already injured though, so it possibly would not work anyway. Still, they had to try at least.


Genevieve Cromwell
HP: 1/3
Z-Move used up
Sucker Punch used
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Now this? This was the proper result she wanted to see out of a Z-Move. Taking away her opponent’s advantage, backing them into a corner and doing damage. That was, in her opinion, the proper outcome of a one-time trick like this.

Plus, it made up for having to strike a silly pose to boot, so there was that. It was the kind of trade-off she could sign off at least. But it was not the kind of attack that always, without fail, ended a fight. The bee was injured, sure, and it could not exactly mega-evolve again to heal that. Yet, it was still fighting, seeking to strike back right away.

Yet, this was still the best opportunity to try and press that advantage. She probably would not so soon get another one. Whatever happened next would certainly decide the match. Hence, she gave it some thought. But in the end, the was only one real option that seemed promising. “One more Rock Slide, try to finish this,” she ordered and Lyca put what she got into forming some more rocks, aiming them at the insectoid opponent.

Shalin Nariya
HP: 1/3
Z-Move no longer available
Rock Slide used
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Ugh. It was kind of nice that the other was impressed. But Lash was a little disappointed. She had hoped for that attack to actually punch through, but it diverted some of the power of the rock attack at best. At least that was what these vital points indicated. Dynamax was another broken thing she had to look into, apparently.

But, eh, she was still convinced that this was mostly a contest of luck. A stat that she definitely was not proficient in. Otherwise, she would not have lost herself, after all. But that just meant she had to take opportunities where she could get them. “I mean, I can show you. But only over lunch, which you will invite me to, got that? Also, Lyca, just put it all on one card and Accelerock this!” The Lycanroc would comply. Unfazed by the incoming steel spike and huge size of the armadillo, it tried to leverage superior speed and tried to interrupt the whole thing with the speediest of headbutts.

Genevieve Cromwell
HP: 1/3
Z-Move used up
Accelerock used
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Huh? That came with healing powers? Mega evolutions were just broken. Then again, she was here because she heard one of those were among the prizes. The more she saw it in action, the better, really.

Stil though, it could not be nice for Lyca, who was flung about from the impact, rocks cracking here and there. Despite its defenses, that hurt. It could have been worse, probably. Kind of looked as if the other missed to some extent. But she could not get complacent about getting a bit lucky like this.

No, especially not with a mega evolution on the field. When things got explosive like this, she just had to respond in kind. Even if that meant briefly looking a bit silly as she activated her own bracelet and struck the rock pose. That way, she channeled some of that mysterious energy into Lyca, who was getting back on her feet now. Infused by that, the Lycanroc howled out, loudly and strongly, shattering some of the arena around her – and levitating the newly-freed rocks, turning them into projectiles once more. But this was not just another rock slide. This was their ultimate move, Splintering Stoneshards.

If this Shalin got serious, they had to get serious, too.

Shalin Nariya
HP: 1/3
Z-Move in use, +50
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“Heh. If you believed that you would, I don’t know, have taken me seriously from the get-go, wouldn’t you have?” Naturally, she had a reply at the ready for that. The fight certainly was not going her way, sure. But one could easily lose the battle but still win the war of public opinion still. Those moral victories were almost as sweet, after all.

Speaking off, she could only sigh and shrug. Lyca had been hit again, but this time she had braced herself sufficiently. It did more damage, but being ready, the rock dog got up again swiftly. After all, they had a two-pronged attack planned here. One part came with Lash tapping her bracelet. “I guess I will have to do something drastic. Least you might become innovative and try something other than Iron Tail here,” she taunted, while striking the rock pose.

Infusing her Lycanroc with power, the latter would howl out its loudest, shattering the rocks distributed earlier and turning them into more volatile projectiles, flung at the Absol from all direction in a Splintering Stoneshards attack. That would either get a good hit in or at least force him to actually get serious. Either was an improvement.

Gerald Kaiser
HP: 1/3
Z-Move in use, +50

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Was she really that late? Lash checked her watch. Nope. That one must have had finished very early if she had already fallen to the floor to rest.

Oh, well, not her problem. “Hello there, Miss. I hope I am not interrupting anything, I’m just here for a quick last match,” she noted. Given that she had already gotten the points she needed, Lash did not really care too much about anything going forward. Winning this tournament had never been her intent. Just get prizes, get some experience, maybe meet some people in this de-aged form that could be nice to know.

All things she had already accomplished. Though more of anything could never hurt. “No rush though. I am planning to take it easy with Lyca anyway,” her shiny Lycanroc was a bit exhausted from the fighting, after all. But it still took the stage regardless, being a proper trooper.

elodie hayfield
HP: 3/3
Z-Move Status
Move used
[roll]

Well, of course it would know that. It was trying to do the same thing over and over again, after all. It was odd that the little bugger could even get that much water out, but there was no helping that. All she could do was hope for the best.

Type advantage was always annoying. But nothing she could do about that. Oh, right, the frog also used double team. Which Lyca had just used. Lash was questioning the man’s originality at this point. “Well, don’t let it copy too much then, sucker punch the real one,” she ordered Lyca, who bounded forward, trying to stop the enemy before they could set up another hydro pump.


CIAN MAHER
HP: 1/3
Z-Move unused Status
Sucker Punch used
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The bee was fast, of course. But a contest of speed was something this rock type could at the very least keep up with to an extent, at least. It managed to get away from the Fell Stinger for now. That was good.

But it also presented an opportunity. The Rock Slide had not managed to knock the bee out, though apparently it had scored a vital. But since it was relatively close to attempt the stinger, this meant a follow-up would be possible. “Accelerock, try to keep up with its speed,” she hence ordered, deeming this the best opportunity to try and get a melee hit in before the bee got away again. Or to incentivize it to stay close, which should keep it from leveraging its top speed.


Shalin Nariya
HP: 2/3
Z-Move unused
Accelerock used
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Well, they got to set up the rocks, but for the time being, the Absol did manage to dodge them well enough to actually get its Iron Tail through. It was a glancing blow, as far as Lash could see, since Lycanroc was already trying to get away from it, but ultimately that still counted. Weird system that still was.

Still, she could only shrug and accept that. “You can get as mad as you want, but even if you win all that means is that you managed to pick on little girls. That’s a no-win scenario there, mister,” she continued the verbal assault while Lycanroc attempted some more solid stones flung directly at the Absol with a Rock Slide.


Gerald Kaiser
HP: 2/3
Z-Move unused
Rock Slide used
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Well, she wasn’t lucky today. The Sand Attack didn’t do much, but Lycanrock was flung backwards by an otherwise unreliable Hydro Pump in return. But at least it managed to hold on despite the super-effectiveness.

So maybe it wasn’t a full broadside. Not that it mattered for vital points, but they could continue on. In this case, it tried to set up a Double-Team in order to hopefully avoid more attacks in the future.

CIAN MAHER
HP: 2/3
Z-Move unused
Double Team used
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Ugh. This new gimmick was annoying. Just throwing around massive rocks like this, how rude. But that just meant that she had a chance to try her own against it. “Well, if you want more rocks, I got more rocks,” Lash replied, raiding her arm and activating her Z bracelet.

Once that was done, she struck the rock pose, infusing Lyca with more power. It howled, quite loudly, and tried to channel that into a rising cascade of rocks of her own, sending Splintering Stoneshards to meet the max rockfall.

Genevieve Cromwell
HP: 2/3
Z-Move in use, +50 to roll
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