Post by WILLOW on Oct 2, 2016 2:38:21 GMT
| she can go no further than where she is now. her request to rank up was declined. mistrust still runs rampant now that rocket is a looming presence, now that they grow stronger every day. she wants to show them that she has no inclination of backing down, nor does she intend to sit around and wait for an opportunity to chance upon her. she's going to make herself busy. she's going to make herself known. and she's going to do that through the namesake of the rangers, build herself an identity with the foundations Retribution and Reconciliation. she refuses to be known as chaos, destruction, terror. her pokemon feel the same. she has three pokeballs at her side now for her fifth gym battle. she can continue to do missions, continue to do work, but right now she needs to feel as if she's going somewhere, accomplishing something. and if striking through another tick on the list of gym badges she still has yet to claim, then so be it. the poison-type gym leader doesn't scare her in the least. she's new to the gym, as far as willow is concerned, though she doesn't like knowing that she's going in blind. she has no idea what the gym leader's pokemon are. cassidy does her the favor of releasing her pokemon first. as soon as a venusaur takes the field, she withdraws alpha's ball and throws it onto the field. the charmeleon's tail lashes as soon as he's sent out, embers burning at the corner of his mouth. just a few weeks ago she'd still been wary of his newfound power, of the growing flame on his tail, but after their visit to the ruins, their trust in each other has grown deeper, fonder. she begins it with smokescreen. black smog billows out over the arena and covers the scant battlefield with a thick cloud in mere seconds. alpha's tail gets swallowed in the cloud, but she yells through it, tells him to stay straight and close the gap so he can get in with both a fire fang and a flamethrower. she sees a flash of red, hears the howling grumble of the venusaur as its leafy flesh is locked in the charmeleon's flaming jaws. alpha's blast of fire scorches some of the smoke away. it thins just enough for her to see ash on both the pokemon's bodies; a venoshock lances down like purple lightning down alpha's arm, but he grimaces through the pain. he doesn't have to turn his head to look for her for direction because she's there with him, calling for a dodge as the heavier pokemon tries to move in with toxic. the purple cloud passes and alpha remains unharmed. and when the cumbersome pokemon tries to lumber backwards to provide a little distance while it attempts to use synthesis, willow and alpha fell it with one more well-aimed flamethrower. the beast's legs give out underneath it and it's quickly replaced with a nidoqueen. "alpha, that's enough. take a rest." echo shakes out her wings when she's released from her ball. antennae twitch as she regards her much larger opponent. it's still much slower than the vibrava, but she has a feeling should she let echo get too close, it could cause some serious damage. "echo, use earthquake." the ground rumbles and groans as the vibrava sinks her feet into the earth, legs trembling. fissures crack, but then willow's eyes narrow when cassidy calls out an earthquake of her own. spires stop the encroaching splitting earth in its tracks, shifting it so the line lances up the wall of the gym instead of at the nidoqueen itself. its nostrils flare as it stares down its opponent. "stay above ground. i don't want to risk its earthquake this match." echo scrabbles forward on command and the nidoqueen likewise rushes forward. a blue aura swirls in its palm and willow recognizes the move only a second too late. having assumed it was ice punch, she just barely manages to call the dodge to echo when the slipstream of ice rockets from the palm of the nidoqueen. it clips one of echo's wings as she scrambles to get out of the way. she chitters angrily, wings buzzing as she veers from the dodge and darts towards the larger foe. willow holds her tongue for now and watches as echo manages to slam into the nidoqueen using superpower. the move definitely takes a toll on the larger pokemon, but it doesn't turn out to be enough. another ray of purple electricity shoots towards willow's partner and echo takes it head-on. her eyes close, body shuddering, and willow removes her ball to draw her back. only the electricity pops and sizzles, dissipates from her skin as a bright white light envelops the vibrava. echo's form shudders and flares, and once the light recedes, the evolution is complete. "echo," willow says, and the flygon gives a flick of her tail in response, a flare of her wings, "finish it." her fist curls and the next use of superpower brings the heavy foe down to the ground. willow's team is still intact, though echo pulls through a little worse for wear. she's a magnificent pokemon and it makes willow's heart ache to see her on the field, so much like her father. hind paws touch back down onto the ground closer to willow while she waits for cassidy to send out her third and final pokemon. gengar. given the brute strength approach of the rest of the gym leader's pokemon, this one comes as a surprise. "we'll have to be careful," she says as the gengar eyes them from the other side of the field. it skulks forward and though willow would rather not let her injured pokemon go any closer, she knows they have no choice. the ghost-type hovers just above the ground, rendering echo's only ranged move ineffective. "take to the air. " its red eyes narrow and willow feels her stomach knot up as echo nears. the pokemon doesn't lash out, but that only makes her all the more worried. she doesn't notice something's amiss until echo quite literally, drops out of the sky. the flygon hits the ground hard and it takes willow a couple seconds too long to realize the gengar had used hypnosis. a venoshock surges towards the hypnotized pokemon, but red light engulfs her body before it can hit. she angrily removes her third pokeball and throws it out onto the field. "romeo, use sand tomb. then rush in with dragon claw." dust skitters loudly as a gust of wind picks up in the arena. romeo roars as he charges forward; a miniature tornado wraps around the ghost-pokemon's form and prevents it from moving. but when romeo comes in to slash out with dragon claw, his claws bounce harmlessly off of the gengar's protect. the self-formed shield cracks and gives way, but with her gabite recovering from his last move, it leaves him open to attack. another venoshock skitters over his scales and he shakes his head. claws dig furrows into the ground and he swipes forward haphazardly, just manages to rake the gengar's side before it can twist away. its eyes widen and glow red and in a panic, willow calls for romeo take go underground. the gabite burrows away from the oncoming hypnosis and the gengar turns in place, eyes shifting from side to side while it waits for romeo to reemerge. the dragon-type comes up right behind it with a flurry of strikes. dragon claw makes a direct hit twice, but the gengar pulls through. and it pulls through long enough to knock romeo out with a neatly aimed venoshock. red engulfs her fallen pokemon and she replaces him with alpha. the charmeleon eyes his opponent warily, but willow's nerves ease off just a bit. venoshock surges forward again, but echo meets the poison-laden electricity with a torrent of fire from his maw. the poison attack is swallowed in the inferno and the rest of the flames surge forward to swallow the gengar. its howls are cut short with a flash of red from cassidy's last pokeball. alpha stands before her, again, as the last standing victor to another gym battle. she takes deep breaths, wipes the sweat from her brow. when he looks back at her, she grins.       used charmeleon, flygon, and gabite for this battle vibrava evolved into flygon |
