Now, this is my kinda route!

[Rin]

The older brother Buizel blinked with surprise as Tayeko had, and was about to open his mouth to ask Tayeko to show the new move off when the Gyarados roared again and his mother firmly slapped her tail over his mouth. He was still able to wriggle free and stand at Tayeko's back ankle, bristling as well in front of his mother, his siblings, and Sulteron. Gyarados was still confused, and acting like it--after nailing an opponent so well, most Pokemon would feel a sense of pride, but Gyarados of course only could rampage at this point, especially considering he was in a confused state. The Tsuasan trainer barely had time to recover her Nuzleaf back into his Pokeball before she had to beat a fast retreat behind a rock with her partner trainer and their daemons. The sea serpent had begun yet another Dragon Rage, but as the flames flew from his mouth, he thrashed his head from side to side, spewing the flames everywhere, instead of in one direction.

Cavo had been very, very lucky to Bite the Flaffy instead of Gyarados. Had he attacked the sea serpent, he would have been hit full in the face with the Dragon Rage flames. Instead, the Bite on Flaffy held the sheep down in place, and she took the attack in the back, acting as sort of a shield for Cavo, so he didn't get hit, although the flames passing by on the sides could have singed him badly. Flaffy wriggled in Cavo's grip and cried out loudly as she took the Dragon Rage, falling backwards into a near-faint, with just enough energy for another Tackle to try to fend Cavo off. Meanwhile, her trainer was yelling at her and waving a Potion around. If Cavo didn't finish her off quickly, it was likely she'd be sent back in fresh.

Buizel quivered with horror as some of the wayward flames of the Dragon Rage soared towards their group. His mother immediately picked up the two younger brothers by the scruffs of their necks, preparing to jump out of the way, but she faltered due to her wounds. It was clear that she would have to take a hit. Thus, he bit his lip, closed his eyes, and jumped forward, partly intercepting the Dragon Rage with his own body and partly deflecting it away with Sonicboom. As some of the flames hit him he crumpled instantly, but his mother had been saved the hit, just as Cavo had saved himself from the hit by using Flaffy. He muttered face-first into the dirt, ~Look, see, I really can fi...~ and then fainted. It seemed like a fairly light faint, though, and he would be up soon, and even if his aim had been off, his reaction had been theoretically a good one. His mother barked with alarm and immediately gathered him up, licking him 'round the ears. ~He'll be all right,~

[/color] she muttered, thoroughly relieved.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

Tayeko had readied himself to take the hit, but it seemed the little Buizel was the hero today. As he saw the pup collapse, he forgot all about the Gyrados and the Tsuasans, rushing over to help. The Absol sniffed the Buizel anxiously, agreeing with the mother on the matter. He would be fine, he just needed a little rest. It was a shame the Potions didn't cure fainting, but nature and time would heal this one all the same. Tayeko kept an eye on Gyrados, surprising even himself for how angry he felt for the snake taking out his new little friend.

Meanwhile, Sulteron had barely taken a step towards the family when the Dragon Rage had struck, watching them for a little before checking Cavo. The Trapinch had been protected by Flaaffy, but he had caught some off the edges and seemed to be a little dazed. She chewed her lip, seeing the Potion. There was only one shot at this now- a Faint Attack, unmissable. The only problem was that Cavo seemed in shock, cut off from the world, her commands and the ability to attack. "Come on, Cavo, you can do this. Gyrados is scary, but we need to focus on Flaaffy now or we could loose this. Faint Attack, quickly!" she called as smoothly as possible, trying to sound in charge in case that got the Ground type's attention.

It seemed to work, sort of. Cavo heard the order, but it didn't really register. He... he should attack, right? Most of what was going through his mind was thoughts of Gyrados and how that beam had been a taste of what battles were really like, and that he was too weak for them and he would never be any good- no, he shouldn't think like that. Hang on, what was that earlier thought about attacking? Oh, right, a Faint Attack. Oh! He needed to hit Flaaffy before she was healed by the Potion! Oh, Arceus, how was he supposed to manage that? The Trapinch concentrated as hard as he could, disappearing and reappearing in front of Flaaffy. He attacked before falling over, the move having been a distracted and so weak one. The question was whether it was enough and whether it had been in time with this impossible to miss attack.

[/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Flaffy had been halfway across the sandy field that acted as the small 'arena' of sorts, scrambling furiously towards her Trainer, when Cavo appeared beside her and gave her the smack that was needed with the Faint Attack. The Dragon Rage had taken a lot out of her, so the weak Faint Attack was enough to make her collapse on the sand, panting and then...she slumped, fainted, much like the Buizel pup had done moments before. Her Trainer cursed loudly, returning her. Both the Tsuasan grunts yelled, "Tsuasa will remember this! We'll get your stupid shiny, capture the Gyarados, and track you down, you obnoxious 'morph!" and streaked off--it appeared they were afraid that the confused Gyarados would attack them. It wasn't unlikely.

The Gyarados did seem to want to attack something; but it didn't seem sure what. It stared at Cavo for a second, and began inching towards it. Yet, for some strange reason, it suddenly twisted around and smacked itself painfully in the side, teeth slicing off a good number of scales. The great serpent fell to the ground with a grunt from the pain, and when it rose again, its eyes seemed to be cleared. Not only that, but the rampage had stopped. It paused for a moment, watching the sea, head swinging from side to side. Then it twisted around. ~Good. Those scum are gone for now.~

[/color] Then, it regarded Cavo. ~Fancy fighting, for a Trainer's Pokemon. But to get better, you can't be such a wimp.~[/color] the sea dragon growled menacingly. It was hard to tell if it was praising or insulting the Trapinch. At the very least, it wasn't attacking anymore.

As predicted, Buizel quickly came to. ~Eh...buh...Agh...Hey, wait...Huh? It's over? What did I miss? What? That's it?~ He seemed a little less lively than last time, but as upbeat as ever. ~Mother, did I show you? I can fight! Did I guard you okay? And Sulteron and Tayeko too?~ His mother pulled him roughly closer to her, nuzzling his head. ~You did just fine, but don't faint yourself at it next time, or I'll never allow battles again!~ Her tone, while very relieved and somewhat serious, was also a bit teasing as well.

Cavo gained 2 levels!

[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

Cavo got to his feet relieved that Flaaffy was defeated and the Tsuasans were gone. He whimpered, cowering back a little as Gyrados turned to attack him, before swallowing as the snake attacked himself and snapped out of confusion. Phew, thank goodness all that was over! The Trapinch listened to what the dragon was telling him, nodding. That was an easy thing to say for someone so big, although he could see a point there. He wasn't exactly brave, was he? ~I suppose I could be braver. Some day I'll be a big strong Flygon, I promise! And I'll try to be braver, too!~

[/color] he said, eager to improve.

Sulteron watched the two talking for a moment, seeing that the Tsuasans had gone. She wasn't sure whether what they had said was true. It was always possible, she supposed. They might be persistant and stupid enough to return here, and maybe shinies meant so much to them they would not stop until they had them. This was the second time she'd seen Tsuasa, but they'd both been unrelated encounters and she was fairly certain it would be hard for them to track her properly, especially since she intended to keep her promise with Connor to go right into their base and rescue him.

Tayeko smiled at the little Buizel came to. ~That was quite a bit of courage you showed there, kiddo. With a little training, next time you won't faint, huh? You might well be a good battler.~[/color] he told the pup, genuinely impressed with how the kid was recklessly protecting his siblings and mother. That showed guts and love, too. The Absol was pleased that this little kid was such a nice and strong one, if a little silly for charging in front of something that would faint him. He might not of known his capabilities, anyway. The shiny certainly didn't blame the Buizel, anyway.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Gyarados considered Trapinch’s strongly stated goal. ~Hmph, a Flygon. Never seen one. But I suppose conviction like that will help you on your way.~ The sea dragon slithered past Cavo, uttering a harsh throat-clearing before fixing Sulteron with his slit-eyed golden gaze. ~Well, Emerald Espeon, I see you did follow through with your words. And beat them off,~ the last word ended in a bit of a snarl, and the Gyarados slammed his tail against the rocks for emphasis, as if he couldn’t help but use suggestive violence to put emphasis on his words. But then again, he was still a Gyarados. He turned to the young Buizel and looked as if he was about to say something—maybe an apology? But he had been too confused to notice he had fainted the young pup—and suddenly turned, uttering a deep-throated, ~Good-bye~ before disappearing into the sea. Two mighty splashes, and the sea monster was gone.

The mother Floatzel watched him go with pensive eyes. Then she smiled a little, struggling upward. The Potion had really helped recovery—if she took it easy for a few more days, she might not have to go to a Pokemon center. The older brother Buizel grinned up at Tayeko, jumping with joy for the praise. ~Ahahaha, yeah, I fainted…oh, well…~ he muttered sheepishly. Then he cheered right back up. ~Thank you! Do you really think so? Mother, did you hear what Tayeko said? Can I go with them, and train and get stronger? Then I’ll come visit you and teach everything I know to these two,~ he said eagerly, affectionately throwing both forearms around the shoulders of his two little brothers who happily scuffled back.

Floatzel tipped her head to the side. Yes, Sulteron was a good trainer, and Tayeko and Cavo were impressive. Her son would learn a lot from them. Even so, it was still a bit early for him to be leaving the nest, and she did want to teach him a few tips before he left. ~Tell you what.~

[/color] Buizel stopped scuffling and sat up, licking his fur. ~I’ll let you go with Sulteron and Tayeko, but I’d like a little more time first. Say…there’s not too much more distance on this route, perhaps another quarter or half mile or so. Once you get to Hikori Town and get your next gym badge will probably be enough time for me. I can meet you at the edge of here and Route 5, and you could meet us in person or send a Flying Pokemon, if you have one,~ the Floatzel proposed to Sulteron.

[/blockquote][/size]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

ooc// Click here please, I'd like you to give Connor some levels for his training ^-^

ic// Sulteron couldn't help but feel a little relieved when Gyrados left, since that meant that a threat was out the way and now she was quite safe. When it came to it, she'd prefer a Gyrados at her side and the rampaging confused and furious opponent to be the Magikarp. Still, things could be learned by watching the experienced fighter battle and his advice could be useful. If the slightly awed, fairly stunned and a little determined look on Cavo's face as he toddled back over to her was anything to go by, he'd thought so too.

The Trapinch smiled at his trainer. ~That was pretty cool, Sulteron. I fought, I'm stronger, and the thing that hurt most was the Gyrados and not my opponent! I might be able to battle well, Sulteron!~

[/color] he exclaimed excitedly, pleased with himself. Right now he was feeling quite weak, however, so gave his Pokéball a nudge and disappeared inside for a well-deserved rest.

Jizu relaxed from his lookout position as the Gyrados went out of sight and Floatzel began talking, sitting happily at his human's side in a Dratini form. Sulteron smiled as she heard the Floatzel speak, nodding. "That sounds fantastic! I'll send Teya, my Noctowl, over when I've had my next gym battle, all right? Then I'll wait until Buizel's safe and sound with me before continuing. I'll be sure to visit you again when I get the HM Fly!" she agreed, waving as she walked off to continue along the route.

Tayeko gave the little Buizel pup a caring lick. ~Stay safe, OK? I guess I'll see you in a few days, then.~[/color] the Absol smiled happily before padding after his trainer, tail wagging slightly at the idea of having the kid he'd become attatching to as his teammate, fighting alongside the pup. He kept a lookout along the beach too, knowing that Sulteron wanted to train the team but not catch any more Pokémon. It was likely that she would put any defeated Pokémon in a safe place instead, knowing her.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

~YEAH! Really, Mother?! This is the best!~ Buizel danced around eagerly, seeming to have thoroughly shaken off his faint from before. He eagerly stretched his neck up for Tayeko’s lick, bumping the Absol’s muzzle back affectionately, before dashing around his mother who smiled fondly at him. ~A few days it is!~ He waved eagerly with his brothers at the retreating Sulteron, while Floatzel called, ~Tell your Noctowl to give a loud hoot when she gets here, so we’ll know where to find her!~

As Sulteron and her companions disappeared over the next hilly stretch of sandy and water, for five or six minutes the only sound that could be heard from the environment was the steady crashing of waves on the beach, the hiss of the wind through the reeds, and the off-tune cries of Wingull in the distance. Eventually, however, there was another splashing that contrasted with the beat of the waves. A small fish-like Pokemon emerged, darting in front of Sulteron, floating a couple inches above the ground as water Pokemon out of water tend to do so strangely. ~On my territory? Never! Fight me!~ the Barboach exclaimed indignantly and clearly.


Wild Barboach || Male || Level: 20 || Attacks: Mud Slap, Mud Sport, Water Sport, Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Amnesia

[/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

Sulteron looked between Jizu and Tayeko as the fish appeared, floating a little above the ground as fish tended to do inexplicably. They shrugged, and she smiled. "All righty then, Barboach! I will fight you! Denka, let's go!" she replied to the funny little Water type, throwing a Pokéball. The red light formed the shape of a lion like Pokémon, whose fur bristled at the sight of the Barboach. ~Why are you making me fight at such a serious type disadvantage?~

[/color] she asked. Taya would be perfect for this job, rather than a Luxio like herself.

Sulteron smiled. "Sooner or later type disadvantages happen, and it's good to get some practice for that." she replied, knowing there was a chance she'd loose. You could learn from loosing, though, so she didn't mind. "Now, start with a Leer and follow it up with a Bite." she continued calmly. Denka shrugged, supposing it might be fun to have a challenge like this. The Luxio made herself look big, lowering her head and snarling while her eyes bore into Barboach's. They glowed slightly, in hope of lowering the fish's defense stat. The Electric type quickly pounced as soon as she was finished with that, jaw open with rows of sharp teeth displayed as she attempted a Bite attack.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Barboach wriggled eagerly when he noticed that the green-eared trainer had picked an Electric type. What an idiot! Not only was he a Ground-type himself, he knew some fairly decent Ground-type moves, thank you very much. Eager to shoo the trainer away, he slapped the ground with his tail (in something of the same way Gyarados had, although on a far smaller scale) and sent mushy, dark sand flying everywhere withMud Sport—not like any Electric moves would work on him anyway--stared right back at the Leer, which was perhaps a bit stupid since he was losing Defense.

The next move seemed even less intelligent—he stood stock-still while Denka charged at him, jaws wide open. As she neared him, he slapped the ground again, using the super-effective but fairly weak Mud Slap move when Denka was practically in his face. Normally, he would have used Mud Bomb, but he had to remind himself that Denka was much faster than he, especially on land, and he needed all the dodging he could get—those teeth were a little scary, and Mud Slap always had a 100% accuracy-lowering rate. As predicted, as soon as he Mud Slapped he tried to “swim” away, but was caught in the jaws of the shiny lion-like Pokemon. Yow! The Barboach flailed aggressively, trying to get free from Denka’s chompers.

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

The Mud Slap hit Denka but she hung on anyway, Sulteron thinking about their next move. Well, it would probably be a good idea to raise the lion's defense somehow, and she was fairly that as well as boosting Electric type moves, Charge would raise the special defense stat. Right, that was sorted then. After that, an Iron Tail might be a nice move to continue with, although the Steel type TM move wouldn't be very effective. Jizu had wrapped his Dratini body around his trainer happily at this point, analysing the battle for future reference. "Charge and Iron Tail, please!" the Espeon 'morph called.

Denka's coat fizzled with static electricity, and her eyes flashed yellow briefly as her special defense stat rose. She doubted that she would have any for the other effect of raising her electric type attacks' power. Her tail glinted silver, coating itself itself in thin layer of the stuff in preparation for the attack. She then prepared herself, before swinging her tail forward to hopefully collide with the Barboach in her jaws. Whether or not it hit, she sprang back afterwards. It had looked quite cool and with Barboach so close it would have been hard to miss, but had the Water type felt the move?

[/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Barboarch snorted unhappily when he saw the Luxio had raised her Special Defense, but what could he do? Well, his ground-moves would be supereffective anyway. He'd at least need to get in a good few attacks before that Charge actually started hindering him, though. He jumped as he saw that Denka was preparing for an Iron Tail. What, she was going to curl around and hit her own mouth? Frustrated at being stuck in the Luxio's mouth, he began to prepare his own move, his antennae waving around inside her mouth furiously. Bracing himself, he allowed himself to take the hit, holding back a yelp (after all, he didn't want that annoying trainer to have the satisfaction of knowing the attack had hit). But as soon as Denka made her move, Barboach fired off a solid Mud Bomb, hoping that it would perhaps severely weaken Denka at such close range. Once the sand-cloud from their skirmish had cleared, they were a good 3 or 4 meters away from each other, Barboach watching eagerly for any signs of weakness, and he could hardly feel the pain from the not-very-effective Iron Tail anymore.

[/size]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

ooc// Lol, I just realised that Barboach's attack was lowered because Denka has Intimidate as her ability ^-^

ic// The Mud Bomb was a strong attack even without it being super effective, so Denka wasn't too happy when it did in fact hit her as it was likely to do. The force of it drove her into the air, landing painfully in a crumpled heap several metres away from Barboach, raising a cloud of sand when she landed. At least it had been a soft landing thanks to the soft sand of the beach. The lion snarled angrily, getting to her feet a little shakily. It was a little worrying how scary, if Sulteron was one to judge.

The Espeon 'morph knew the battle had only just begun, but that hit had been pretty severe. Perhaps she should have trained her Pokémon against Pokémon whom had type advantages against them before, but then again at least she was doing it now. The girl gritted her teeth, Jizu tightening anxiously around her neck before releasing and squeezing his tail tip in a tight coil as he felt Sulteron's and his own neck get squeezed. Oops. The Dratini-dæmon was feeling very tense with this battle. True, it was exciting, but it was also a little worrying. "Denka, we can do this! I know it! Leer and another Bite!" she called.

The golden Luxio nodded, knowing the risk in this move. But what else could she do? The only move she knew that was long-range was an Electric type one, so she should try and do her best without it. Lowering her head and baring her teeth, the lion's eyes gleamed intimidatingly as her fure bristled. She did look quite scary as her eyes bore into her opponents' with the hope of lowering his defense stat. Once that was done, she sprang in an instant towards the fish, jaws open wide to clamp down. The risk of this move was that Barboach might get in another close-range move.

[/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Ooc:// Oh yeah…XD I don’t think Barboach has any Physical attacks though anyway (Water Gun, Mud-Slap, and Mud Bomb are all Special).

Ic://
Barboach wriggled happily when he saw that Denka was tired, but he was a little cross that the Electric-type lion Pokemon hadn’t lost any accuracy. ~Oh well, you get some, you lose some. But I won’t lose this battle!~ Barboach thought to himself, knowing how humiliating it would be if he lost to a type he had such a strong type advantage against. And, he was at the same level, too. Slapping his tail against the ground angrily, he glared at Denka’s Leer, although after a few seconds he shrunk back a little. She was quite scary, even for an Electric-type. Trying to shake it off, although he could consciously feel the two Leers now, he prepared another Mud Slap –since that would lower Accuracy for certain—he waited until Denka was close.

His plan was to use the move, and then quickly get out of the way of Denka’s strong jaws. This time, he’d try moving to the side, instead of straight backwards. As Denka drew near he slapped mud at her face, then drew sharply to the side. Her bite still caught him, since she was far faster than he because he was a water creature and she a land one. But her hold wasn’t as tight as the first time, so while his side ached from the sharp teeth, he managed to wriggle away to a safe distance before she could do the Iron Tail thing again, or clench down even harder. Now that he was far away, the spiteful little Barboach consoled himself (and his hurting side) by remembering Denka’s pain after the Mud Bomb. Hopefully the Mud Slap had hit, and now he’d actually have a chance at dodging.

[/blockquote]

[Birdybot]

Sulteron;;[/i][/size][/font]

♫ i've been crying for so long,
fighting tears just to carry on,
but now, but now it's gone away ♫

Denka felt the Barboach wriggle out of her jaws, snapping after him but finding her face meeting another powerful Ground type attack. She wailed in pain, pushed back a little from the force. Of course, it was mostly the type advantage which did the damage. She spat a little out her mouth, swiping the rest off madly with a paw. Ewewew! Shaking her head to get off the last little bits, she blinked, finding her vision blurred slightly. Argh! Her accuracy had been lowered!

Sulteron was chewing her lip, a frown on her face. This wasn't going so well. Denka looked very tired after all the super effective hits, plus now her accuracy was lowered she was likely to miss or make it easy for the fish to dodge her moves. The girl watched the lion carefully, stroking her dæmon's blue scales for comfort. Phew, this was frustrating! "Charge and Bite!" she called. The Bite might not hit, but at least the charge would prepare her for future attacks.

The Luxio was growling slightly, trying to maintain a fierce appearance despite her heaving flanks as she panted heavily. She was not going down to some fish, whether he was a part Ground type or not. The lioness felt electricity crackle through her fur again, her eyes glow and a jolt of energy shot through her briefly as any future Electric type moves were boosted uselessly and her special defense stat was raised. She then hissed, pouncing with her paws outstreched to pull Barboach into her open jaws for another Bite. However, due to her lowered accuracy stat she was unable to see her opponent properly, and was aiming slightly too far to the left. This would be an easy move to dodge, unless Denka was very lucky.

[/justify][/size][/font]

♫ everybody's gonna love today, love today, love today
everybody's gonna love today
anyway you want to, anyway you've got to ♫

[Rin]

Barboach was very pleased that finally the previous two Mud-Slaps were beginning to have a notable effect on Denka’s accuracy. Finally he could stop squirming around in the sand and get to the real beat-down—even if he’d have to put up with those irritating Charges that seemed to be slowly but steadily boosting Denka’s Special Defense. The Barboach was just as eager to win as Denka, and he knew he had a strong lead now, and the win would be fairly easy if he kept it up. For a moment, he wondered why the green-eared trainer had even used a Pokemon with such a deep disadvantage, especially considering they were around the same level. Well, too bad for her—she’d have to stop just calling out attacks and actually think about her tactics a bit if she was going to even have a chance at winning.

The fish Pokemon saw Denka gathering her weight into her haunches and he readied himself, getting ready to use the same trick of ‘swimming’ away as fast as possible after using a powerful attack when she was close. However, he had forgotten that her aim was now off—thus his Mud Bomb’s aim was off as well, and it splattered violently just to her right, exactly where she would have been if she had jumped in the correct place. Startled, Barboach was able to get away in time without injury. While it appeared Denka would take no damage as well, Barboach hoped she might have tried to turn quickly to correct her mistake after the attack, and perhaps she had at least caught a little of the mud.

[/size]