Thread: Individual RP: DrStubbsberg

I looked back at Caliban, who had fallen just behind us. Cleffa seemed to be wearing through his defences and he clearly looked more uncomfortable with its presence, which was a nice change from the earlier disgust. He would probably jump at the chance to throw down with a wild Pokemon right now, but I didn't think it was a good idea to break the hold that Cleffa seemed to have over him.

Whilst it would put me at a disadvantage, I decided to go with Zuse; he may not be able to bring the power of his mind to bear, but there was more than enough in his body to compensate for the loss. "Zuse, battle time," I yelled as I threw his ball, making a concerted effort to ignore the daggers that Caliban was glaring into the back of my head.

"Liepard's principally a Physical close-combatant - shore yourself up with Iron Defence and then slam him with Hammer Arm when he gets close."

Zuse planted his back legs firmly into the ground to take up his defensive stance in preparation for Liepard's attack. An intense silvery glow begun eminating from his metallic skin as it hardened, fading until it left only a faint sheen across his body; only his right-front arm retained the glow, which softened to the white light of Zuse's Hammer Arm.

@AmericanTreeFrog

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - Remember to add some lenghy posts.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #1
/--\

Roph thought for a few seconds before he reached down and pulled out the Pokeball containing Zuse. “Zuse, battle time. Liapard’s principally a physical close-combatant,” Roph said when the Metagross appeared. “Shore yourself up with Iron Defense and then slam him with Hammer Arm when he gets close.”

The Liepard crouched lower to the rocky earth and hissed madly at the hulking Metagross. Metagross stared unflinching at Liepard and no emotion spread to his features. The gray body of the Psychic-Steel type began to glow a harsh white as Metagross started to strenghen his steel with a coat of iron.

But as he did so, the body of Liepard also began to glow the same color. The iron that had been spreading around the body of Metagross aburptly vanished and appeared on Liepard now.

The Pokemon flash at feline smile and leapt at Metagross, its claws bared and glowing a dark color, as if they were part of the night. Metagross waited until the cat scratched at him with her claws before he swung one bulky arm up and swatted the Pokemon aside.

Liepard fell back hissing, her eyes filled with anger. Her movements became more cautious as she started to slowly circle her target.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Metagross 57.41%[-1Spd]{Used Hammer Arm}
VS
Liepard 78.61%[+2Def]{Used Snatch | Night Slash}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, 2 x Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | ??? Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 1,235 | 15,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 68.13%

Damn, she was craftier than I'd anticipated; I've spent too much time fighting people who focus on straight attacking at the expense of Status moves. I'd have to throw everything I had at Liepard to take it down now.

"Zuse, try and crack it with your Meteor Hammer combo," I called out; I knew that we hadn't perfected a simultaneous slam of Meteor Mash and Hammer Arm, but we had had some success and a heated battle was probably the best place to work on it.

Zuse nodded briefly before his eyes glazed over as he focussed on channelling the additional energy required to pull off the attack. Within a few seconds his right-front arm glowed a blazing white, whilst the end of his left-front took on a yellow shine as it begun trailing stars; he leapt forward with a surge of speed - impressively fast but still showing the side-effects of his earlier Hammer Arm.

@AmericanTreeFrog

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #2
/--\

“Zuse, try and crack it with your Meteor Hammer combo,” Roph called out to his Pokemon.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the use for force by Roph. While Liepard had plus two defense on its side, the Dark Pokemon still had a weakness to Fighting moves and its defenses weren’t exactly high with the boost. Another concern of mine was that by using such powerful move Metagross could knock out Liepard. If he knocked out Liepard the National Park Rules stated that a person couldn’t capture that Pokemon. So if Roph wanted to catch this Pokemon he would have to dial down the power he was using.

Meanwhile, the right arm began to glow a fierce white in color, while the left arm took on a yellow hue. The intensity of both grew in tandem until I could no longer stare at each. With sufficient energy now charged, Metagross leaped forward, his large claws tearing up clumps of earth easily. Around the left arm the light formed into streaking stars that trailed after Metagross.

But before Metagross could strike at Liepard, the cat Pokemon’s two front paws turned a dark hue and the feline Pokemon rushed at Metagross. From the two dark paws a large fist appeared at hammered at Metagross. The sudden onslaught from Liepard didn’t do much to stop the charging Metagross.

Roph’s Pokemon held steady through the attack, he then brought both thick limbs down upon the back of Liepard. The cat howled at Metagross and bounced away. When it felt enough distant had passed between it and its foe, the Pokemon turned and Snarled at Metagross.

“I don’t think this battle is going to plan,” I said to my Alakazam.

<True, he needs to regain control before things get out of hand,> the Alakazam replied telekinetically.



//--\\

Battle Stats

Metagross 39.01%[-2Spd][-1SpcAtk]{Used Hammer Arm | Meteor Mash}
VS
Liepard 42.46%[+2Def]{Used Sucker Punch | Snarl}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, 2 x Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | ??? Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 2,091 | 15,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 68.13%

Zuse looked like he was starting to flag a little, the damage and capability reduction both stacking up against him. I was fairly certain I caught a whiff of concern from the Ranger, but whether for my Pokemon or the wild one I wasn't certain. I begun a casual review of the battle so far, and realised that without a major change of tactics, Zuse was likely to be brought down, or at the very least severely wounded; however I also knew that attempting to withdraw him for Caliban would open him up to a slam from Pursuit, assuming this Liepard knew the attack. So unless I was going to try and capture it, something I had little desire to do, then I would have to take the risk...or I could try and play the system a little.

I pulled a ParkBall from my backpack and slung it at Liepard, trusting my aim to be accurate as I begun issuing orders to my Pokemon; assuming the ball struck Liepard then I would gain a short respite from battle whilst it struggled to escape the ball. ((Use ParkBall)) "Zuse, pull back, Caliban, you're in. Give me a Rain Dance and then douse Liepard with a Hydro Pump the second it breaks free."

Zuse floated himself back from the conflict as Caliban eagerly floated in (although whether eager to engage or simply be away from Cleffa, I wasn't sure). A blue light started shining from within Caliban's body, whilst his eyes became glazed over as he focused on manipulating local atmospheric currents. The light intensified and thin wisps of mist developed in the air, slowly circling around Caliban and then heading skywards where clouds were beginning to coalesce.

The small patch of thin clouds thickened and darkened, beginning to unleash a steady flow of rain as they expanded to cover the area above us. Caliban's light faded, leaving him looking quite different to before; his head was now encased within a large blue water-droplet and the two bulbous protrusions were joined by a fringe around his entire lower half that made it look as if he was floating on a cloud. Almost before the glow had faded Caliban was already looking towards his target and inhaling the air he needed to generate Hydro Pump's phenomenal pressure.

@AmericanTreeFrog

OOC: @DrStubbsberg
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #3
/--\


I could almost see the gears working in Roph’s head as he realized his current tactics to bring down the Liepard weren’t working very well. When he made up his mind or came to a decision, he reached into his pack and withdrew a Parkball from it.

This surprised me, and by the look on the face of Liepard, I had a feeling that the Wild Pokemon agreed with me. Roph took a quick look at Liepard and chucked the capture device like a fastball. The Dark Pokemon howled in alarm and gracefully leapt clear of of the Parkball.

But as the Pokemon tried to escape the path of the Parkball, Roph was issuing new orders to his Pokemon. “Zuse, pull back, Caliban, you’re in. Give me a Rain Dance and then douse Liepard with a Hydro Pump the second it breaks free.”

It was a good way to distract Liepard for a brief moment of time while Zuse tried to disengage from the battle, but the plan had backfired when Liepard had dodged the Parkball easily enough. But Castform was too busy to notice the change of the events. The Normal typed Pokemon had carefully got away from the friendly Cleffa and moved forward to engage the sturdy foe.

Almost immediately the white body of Castform began to glow a turquoise blue. First the eyes of the Pokemon changed, then thin trails of mist and moisture began to materialize around Caliban. Suddenly, a small shaft of light pooled around the head of Caliban and shot skyways, drawing all the moisture up like a coat of liquid. This didn’t seem to faze the tenacious Liepard who darted forward and Slashed at Caliban with his claws. Caliban paid no heed to the attack as the Pokemon was fully concentrating on manipulating the weather.

A moment later dark thunder heads and storm clouds appeared over the valley which quickly began to dump copious amounts of rain upon the entire ravine. When the rain struck Caliban his body shone a brilliant bright blue that shielded him from prying eyes. When the light faded Caliban no longer looked like himself. His ‘legs’ had been replaced with a cloud-like appearance and his body was an ultramarine in color while a large drop of water encased his head.

When his transformation was complete, Caliban turned to Liepard and began to draw in water for his Hydro Pump. A small whirlpool formed on the droplet of Caliban as the Pokemon pulled in water from the rain. When he collected enough, the Normal type fired a long, rotating stream of water at Liepard.

The feline Pokemon tried to dodge the Hydro Pump, but the attack was too fast and struck Liepard right in the hind quarters. The force of the boosted Hydro Pump drove Liepard into the ground. When the last of the Hydro Pump faded away, Liepard was on his feet quick as could be and blurred towards Caliban, striking it with such speed that I almost missed the attack. But it came at a price, Liepard was quickly losing strength and wouldn’t be able to fight much longer at the rate it was taking damage.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 65.11%{Used Rain Dance | Hydro Pump}
VS
Liepard 20.67%[+2Def]{Used Slash | Aerial Ace}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, 2 x Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 4,248 | 15,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%

((sorry this is going to be a short post, but my brain isn't in gear tonight))

I would hardly say the battle was all going my way, but a good look at Liepard told me that he probably wouldn't hold up for long. Then again the damage was starting to stack up on Caliban as well, so I couldn't exactly afford to be blasé about this engagement. Perhaps a change of strategy would be in order, changing to a more defensive style.

"Caliban, launch a Water Pulse at him and then hold back, I want to see how he responds."

Caliban didn't seem to like the idea of a change of pace, I knew he preferred an all-out attack, but a pure offence would result in a costly victory. He opened his mouth wide and launched a ball of water at Liepard.

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - No need worrying about how fast you post, just get some good quality posts in to meet the length.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #4
/--\

“Caliban, launch a Water Pulse at him and then hold back, I want to see how he responds,” Roph said to his Pokemon.

The Castform turned to give Roph a sullen look, the Pokemon clearly didn’t want to hold anything back. That wasn’t the nature of this Pokemon, nor the inclination it learned through its upbringing. But Caliban could sense that is had no other option to obey. Caliban opened his small mouth as wide as it could go. From his mouth he launched an orb of cobalt blue water at Liepard.

The liepard was clearly slugglish in its movements due to the damage it had taken, but it wasn’t just going to lay over and take it. The Dark Pokemon closed it eyes, and a moment later a cyan colored shield surrounded the form of the feline. The Water Pulse struck the energy shield and shot skyward, where it expode in a cascade of rain drops.

When the Protect faded away Liepard sagged to the ground. It’s energy was clearly nearing zero. The Pokemon looked around, and using the last of its strenght, it jumped to a tree and scampered up into the canopy. A moment later I could hear soft snoring coming from the tree.

“Well, it must have used Rest,” I said to Roph.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 65.11%{Used Water Pulse}
VS
Liepard 100%[Slp0][+2Def]{Used Protect | Rest}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, 2 x Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 4,897 | 15,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%

Damn, I cursed, this Liepard was really beginning to piss me off, and though I’d spent far too much time and effort trying to get rid of it there was no way I’d let it get away this easily. I was about to order Caliban back to work when it hit me that it had been a long time since I’d had a battle like this; Liepard and I were each spending considerable effort trying to predict and outmanoeuvre each other and he was definitely besting me. More than that, however, was the sheer thrill and satisfaction of the battle, particularly without the threat of imminent death or the pressure of people to save.

Liepard had definitely proven himself a worthy opponent, and would probably make a valuable asset if I can tap into his devious nature; Zuse’s clinical analysis was always useful, but an alternate angle of thought from Liepard could really tip the balance against less straight-forward and predictable enemies. It was decided then, despite my earlier thoughts on the matter, I would try to capture Liepard.

Given that Liepard had Rested, I would need to do considerably more damage to ensure a capture; hitting it with a Status Affliction would help as well, but I had no such moves to rely on against a Dark-type and I would be unable to do it at all whilst he slept. This would require some delicate timing to even have a chance of Afflicting him without missing the opportunity for some damage.

I pulled a small metal canister from my bag, quickly unscrewed the top and withdrew a glass vial from within. Discarding the protective packaging material, I lightly threw the bottle of Super-strength Soothing Fragrance up in the air once or twice to get a feel for it. It felt similar in weight and balance to a Molotov cocktail, so I was fairly confidant I could land it on target, as I had plenty of experience with that kind of improvised incendiary.

“All right, Caliban, as soon as this bottle shatters against that tree, I want you to fire another Water Pulse at Liepard; listen carefully and you should be able to target it by the snoring.” I didn’t wait to check whether he was on-board with my plan; I had already wasted too much of my opportunity in planning. I threw the bottle through the air, aiming to hit the branch just above Liepard and catch him with some of the liquid before it vaporised; the liquid would stick to him like glue and there was no way he would be able to avoid catching the scent.

The second that we heard the characteristic tinkle of shattering glass, Caliban propelled a fresh ball of clear, blue water in the direction of the tree. The orb went sailing through the air, crashing into the foliage that was shielding Liepard, as predicted; if everything went to plan the orb would be partially broken up by the leaves and the slightly more diffuse strike would soak Liepard with water and prepare him up for the next blow. That water ought to Freeze up quite nicely once Liepard awoke and I ordered Caliban to use Ice Beam.

@AmericanTreeFrog ((OOC: Using Soothing Fragrance, Super – also just note I’m not actually using Ice Beam yet, just making it clear where I’m going next. Also, also I’m going away over the weekend and probably won’t be able to post until about this time next week))

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - Sorry, I didn’t know you weren’t trying to capture the Liepard at first. In the future, just make sure I know if it’s a capture attempt or you’re just trying to knock it out.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #5
/--\

Roph looked up at the tree where Liepard was sleeping for a few seconds before he seemed to make up his mind. He reached into his bag and withdrew a small silver canister, no bigger than a soda can. He hefted it, testing its weight, then turned to Caliban.

“All right, Caliban, as soon as this bottle shatters against that tree, I want you to fire another Water Pulse at Liepard; listen carefully and you should be able to target it by the snoring.”

By using the Soothing Fragrance on Liepard, Roph would make the Liepard more prone to getting captured once it had low enough health. However, if Roph could get the Liepard down to low enough health he could capture the Pokemon while it was sleeping. If he managed to do so it would heighten the chance of capturing the Pokemon. But, that would depend on Roph strategy, and what the Liepard did.

After Roph issued his command to Castform, he launched the canister of fragrance at the sleeping Pokemon. A sound of shattering reached us a moment later. Not even a second had passed before Caliban fired an orb of water at where he thought the sleeping cat lay sleeping. The ball of water grew in size as it passed through the rain and crashed into the tree. The ball of water exploded, showering the area with droppets of water.

“Nice shot,” I addressed Caliban.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 74.39%{Used Water Pulse}
VS
Liepard 100%[Slp1][Con0][+2Def]{Sleeping}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 7,856 | 13,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%

((OOC: Sorry about that, I'll try and make it more clear in future))

I saw Caliban smile in appreciation of the compliment, before realising that he had done and quickly returning to his usual, sour demeanour. It hadn’t been a long lapse in his normal negatively emotional stance, but it was an important sign; back when I’d first captured him the closest I would have gotten to a smile was a cruel, self-satisfied smirk.

Anyway, celebrating my small victories would have to wait until later, for now I still had Liepard’s capture to attend to. Based on the sounds coming from the tree, Liepard was still sound asleep, which afforded me a little time to throw out some damage before he started up again. It also afforded me a few seconds to analyse the battle so far.

Liepard’s key tactics seemed to revolve around trickery, backed up by blinding speed; there was nothing I could do about his trickery beyond being vigilant, so that left restricting his speed, which meant that I was on the right track. It occurred to me that this Liepard seemed to practically be following the teachings of one of the greatest tacticians of all time, the ancient warlord Sun Tzu; ‘Speed is the essence of war’ and ‘All warfare is based on deception’ were two quotes from his famous treatise on war – I was starting to like Liepard more all the time.

“You’re doing great, Caliban, now fire an Ice Beam directly at Liepard,” I commanded. The soaking that Liepard and the tree had just received should cause one or both of them to Freeze, either directly immobilising Liepard or making it difficult to move through the icy terrain.

Caliban set to his task with relish, although I couldn’t tell whether he was responding to my kind words or simply eagerly anticipating the chance to hurt someone. He opened his mouth wide and emitted a two-streamed beam of bright cyan energy. Both streams of power shot across the battlefield like lightning, twisting and arcing around each other in a complicated helical spiral, surrounded by a corona of dazzling icy sparkles as they froze the raindrops they passed close to.

@AmericanTreeFrog

OOC: @DrStubbsberg -Forgot to put damage on so that is corrected this turn.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #6
/--\

“You’re doing great, Caliban,” Roph called out encouraging to his Pokemon. “Now fire an Icebeam directly at Liepard.”

A smug smile passed across Caliban’s features when it realized what it was going to do. I quickly caught on also, because it was raining, Liepard was soaked with moisture, and the ice from the attack would instantly freeze when it came into contact with the Pokemon. It might not be a full freeze, but at the very least the speed of Liepard would be hindered.

Caliban opened his small mouth and fired a twin beam of cyan colored energy. Despite being the color of cyan, the attack easily resembled a bolt of lightening as the the attack arched towards the tree. The attack left a trail of frozen ice in its wake. There was a loud cracking sound when the Icebeam hit the tree. Immediately the tree froze, and to my surpise, the tree became coated in a thick sheet of ice, with only the bark remaining unfrozen.

“Wow, that’s a lucky turn of events,” I said to Roph.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 74.39%{Used Icebeam}
VS
Liepard 54.21%[Slp2][Con0][Frz][+2Def]{Sleeping}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 9,877 | 13,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%

As planned, the Ice Beam had frozen the tree, leaving it glistening like a Christmas decoration, delicate icicles formed by the water that had been cascading down. Now once Liepard awoke it would have difficulty moving due to the patina of ice on its own fur, along with the ground beneath it being too slippery to get a good grip on.

Unfortunately a capture at this point would still be next to impossible; Liepard’s current health, combined with his fighting spirit, more than compensated for the twin status conditions he was afflicted with. That meant that I had to pour some more damage into him fast, he would likely awaken any second, eliminating one condition, and the Freezing wouldn’t last for long, particularly under a barrage of energy attacks; I would have to select my attacks carefully for maximum damage output with minimal heating.

The obvious choice was to strike him with a Water or Ice attack – Water was preferable because the Rain boosted its power and it had a significant kinetic thump as well as the energy component, which would help keep Liepard off-balance. So that narrowed me down to three; Water Gun, Water Pulse and Hydro Pump. Hydro Pump was the most powerful , but would probably knock Liepard out and Park rules forbade capturing an unconscious Pokémon, which left Water Gun and Water Pulse…

“OK, Caliban, get up high and then let’s hit him with a Water Pulse from above.” By firing from overhead, Liepard was less likely to be able to dodge if he awoke, because of the ice under-foot, and there was also little chance of the shot blasting him out of the tree; it would also negate most of the cover provided by the tree.

Caliban rose up into the air, easily navigating the air-currents to a superior firing position, and then letting rip with another orb of water. The ball of water shot down through the air, growing in size as it drew in ambient moisture from the rain, heading straight towards where Liepard was securely nestled amongst the frozen foliage.

@AmericanTreeFrog

OOC: @DrStubbsberg - Sorry for the wait.
Ranger: Gaius Tyrannius
Trainer: Bellerophon Dounias
Area: Meteor Valley
BP #7
/--\

Roph contemplated the frozen tree and Pokemon and I knew he was pleased. While he wasn’t looking for a frozen Pokemon, it didn’t exactly hurt his chances at a capture, it increased them in fact. The status also protected Caliban from being engaged and sustaining more damage. But for how long Liepard would remain frozen was unknown, and the drenching rain would help melt the ice.

Roph took a minute to think over his actions before he order the next salvo of attacks. “Okay, Caliban, get up high and then let’s hit him with a Water Pulse from above.”

I thought this choice was interesting in that Caliban didn’t need to go higher to attack. I must have seen something different that Roph, or he just want Caliban too attack from above. Either way it didn’t matter that much.

Castform were Pokemon that naturally levitated in the air, so it was easy for the Normal type Pokemon to reach a higher elevation in only a few seconds.

When the Pokemon was about eye level with the sleeping Liepard, the Pokemon quickly created another orb of gushing water. Just like the previous Water Pulse, this one had a greater than normal size because of the rain. As the ball barreled towards the tree I saw that Liepard had woke from its rest. Judging by the Pokemon’s darting eyes I could tell it was thinking of a way in which it could escape the confines of the ice. But it had no moves that would melt the ice, it would have to wait for the ice to melt naturally before it could move.

The Water Pulse attack slammed into Liepard, but because of the size it managed to hit portions of the tree and lose some of its power. But despite that, it still did a good chunk of damage. The frozen form of Liepard even rocked in the tree from the force of the attack, Roph had to be careful that he didn’t knock the Pokemon from the tree and cause the ice to shatter.

//--\\

Battle Stats

Castform 74.39%{Used Water Pulse}
VS
Liepard 28.61%[Con0][Frz][+2Def]{Frozen}

//==\\

Trainer Info

Name: Bellerophon Dounias
Location: Meteor Valley
Trainer Items: 2 x Parkballs, 3 x Superballs, 3 x Hyperballs, Soothing Fragrance Super, 3 x Lava Cookie, 3 x Energy Powder Plus, Camera + $4,000
Area Effects: 7 Encounters Remaining | Raining
Pokemon Encountered: ??? Cofagrigus ??? | [F] Wynaut ??? | ??? Gastly ??? | Deoxys | Latios | ??? Murkrow ??? | ??? Clefa ??? | M Liepard ???
Pokemon Captured: [F] Wynaut [Bold]
CC since last encounter: 11,871 | 13,000

Pokemon Stats:
Hardy Male Castform @ Forecast w/ EMs: Hidden Power (Fire Type), Water Pulse, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Return, Energy Ball, Substitute, Flash | 88.95%

Docile Genderless Metagross @ Clear Body w/ EMs: Flash, Iron Head | 39.01%

Caliban hadn’t managed to avoid as much of the frozen foliage as I’d hoped with his attack, but I was certain that his attack would have been more impeded if fired from ground-level. It was difficult to tell through the ice surrounding it, but Liepard was certainly beginning to look fairly weak and to my mind that spelt capturing time; I definitely shouldn’t rely on him staying Frozen much longer.

My throwing arm had been on fairly good form today, but I was determined to capture this Pokémon and didn’t want to risk trapping one of the few balls I had remaining in the iced-up branches of the tree. No, to play it safe I’d go in close for this capture. I reached into my backpack and withdrew a Superball, emblazoned with the NP logo of the National Park with a silver central divide between the two camouflage-patterned halves to denote its relative capture-level.

I dropped my bag to the ground and ran towards the tree, tapping the Superball’s button to enlarge it for use as I ran. Once I was below the tree I leapt up and grabbed one of the lower badges, using the momentum to swing myself up onto a higher branch. I reached up through the frozen branches that encircled Liepard, tapping at a few areas on his body to try and get a successful contact through his glacial prison.

@AmericanTreeFrog ((Use Superball))