Thread: Individual RP: Kai-Mei

NBP#1

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Ivy checked her computer screen one more time before gathering the rest of her equipment for her next run. She picked up her red canvas vest from the back of her swivel chair and slid it on while brushing her long red hair out of the way. The pockets had her emergency potions as well as Ambipom and Haxbat's Pokéballs.

She went around the room and dug in her filing cabinets (which only half of the drawers were used for actual files) and made sure her cargos had enough Pokédolls as well as miscellaneous things she might need. She clipped her coil of rope onto her belt next to her phone and made sure that the device was charged before heading to the door. The Ranger took one more look back at the room and satisfied, nodded and closed the door behind her.

The hallway was bustling with the usual Park work. Secretaries were going back and forth and Rangers were either in their offices or the main work area doing paperwork. It was a typical day.

Ivy headed down the hall, taking a right at the junction to head towards the main door. She spied Chainy chatting up Madison, one of the newer, attractive, secretaries by the long main counter. She could faintly hear something about Buzzer being mentioned, and she just shook her head, wondering when those two would stop trying to one up the other. Besides, if she recalled correctly, Leo was in the lead with the race for the woman anyway.

Speaking of the red haired Casanova, he was headed her way with a smile on his face. She mostly ignored him as he tried to walk smoothly past, but she saw his hand dart out, and faster than she could think, she grabbed it and used the momentum to push him backwards before he could cope a feel.

He barreled into Chainy, sending the pair of them toppling over as Madison giggled. Ivy just smiled, walking past. She turned after a few feet, walking backwards as she said, “Hey Madison, I think the Boss wanted to see you.” She returned the smug smile to her face as she heard the dynamic duo both groan.

She left the office in a great mood, and the beautiful weather outside added to that. Today's run should be good. She was taking a girl call Kai to the Outer Heaven, a paradise for Flying type Pokémon that dwelled among the clouds. The Ranger hadn't been there on a real run yet, just a quick run through on her brief training.

A shadow covering her and a chattering from above let her know that Haxbat, her Crobat had joined her. She gave the creature a smile and a pat as it came to hover by her shoulder. The six foot bat just smiled happily, content to wait with the Ranger for their Trainer to arrive.

Since it was the Trainer's first time to the Park, Ivy decided to just wait here at the Main Outpost. The Outer Heaven one could be tricky to get to, since you had to fly to it, so it was probably best that they went together. Wouldn't want any Trainers getting lost in the cloud cover would they?

---

Current Battle Stats: N/A

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 15 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: None
Pokémon Captured: None
MCR: 0

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 3x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

OOC: Uh, I'd like to apologize up front for the tl;dr-ness of this post. I just had to get a couple of things out of my system before the real fun began. I won't ramble this much again. XD

Oh, and "italics 'n quotes" is Kai talking telepathically with a certain character, and <these little bracket thingies> is the certain character talking back, to avoid confusion.

/*\

Sky.

That’s usually supposed to mean something brilliant and metaphorical. Something that I can change, something that I can talk about and compare to the vastness of the world, and how the endless expanses of the blue, cloudless vaults are actually a symbol for the fearless spirit that burns in my soul.

Or something.

But today, there are clouds. Dark and gray and hopeless… most of the time. But for me, the dark and gray and hopelessness of it all doesn’t really seem all that bad. Without the brilliant sun shining down on my face and glaring into my eyes, I can almost think, for once. Shadows aren’t as harsh, and the wind seems a lot more forgiving.

That, and it’s really, really cold. I shiver as the wind gently touches my body with icy fingers, debating whether or not I should get my jacket out of my backpack. I decide against it for now, mostly because I have no desire to dig under layers and layers of various park items until I find the soft, blue fleece.

This is supposed to be fun.

But as I sigh, fingering the Pokéballs on my belt uneasily, I can’t help but be afraid. I have no idea where I’m going. For all I know, I could be taking a wonderful, merry little journey off of a cliff, never to be seen again and leaving my only mark on this world as a lovely, asymmetrical little… splat.

I really, really can’t see a way that this will end well. Like, really.

<Master?>

Oh no. Not now. I really can’t use this now.

"What is it?" I hope that he can hear the wariness in my voice. This is a really, really bad time.

<I just wanted to say hello.>

"Yes, Fred," I tell him wearily. "It’s very nice to see you, too."

<So…> Fred begins.

I know what’s coming. We’ve had this conversation many times before, he and I. "Fred," I tell him firmly but gently. "I know you wanted to come with me, but we couldn’t have that happening."

<Why not?> There’s just the slightest hint of a whimper in his voice. I almost laugh. All powerful master of the cosmos indeed.

"Fred…" I sigh, out loud this time. Telepathy is draining, even if an all-powerful-somewhat-master-of-the-cosmos is the one doing the work. "If you came to the National Park, you might…" I trail off. I don’t want to upset him again. The last person to piss off Fred ended up in a vegetable state for seven months. Potatoes.

<Yes?> His voice it tumultuous. I’m not sure how well he can ready my thoughts. If he knows that I’m afraid of being a potato, he might just be nice and not do it. Either that or he’ll have even more fun messing with my mind.

"Uh… you might… hurt stuff…?" I never really knew if he can hear the tentativeness in my voice as I talk to him through my mind.

<What would I do to hurt anything? I’d never hurt anyone>

Okay, so that one almost made me laugh. I resist the urge to remind him if the time with the meteorite and the Rayquaza and that little midget kid from Pallet Town and that guy that looked like a girl. And the whole ‘almost-destroyed-the-world’ bit.

"Fred, you’re a Deoxys. I’m pretty sure you were born and raised to annihilate planets."

<Oh. That.> He pauses. <It’s no big deal, really.>

I sigh. Never will I understand how I got cursed- blessed, really- with the hell honor of being a guardian of a legendary Pokémon. It’s a thrill at most times, knowing that I am the link to humans and one of the most powerful beings that we will ever know. But it’s also a frightening responsibility. I can never think that I’m ready for it.

And for now, it’s being more of a nuisance than anything else. I can’t help but smile, though. I wouldn’t trade my duties for anything.

He takes my silence as an answer in itself. <I’ll just be so lonely…> he pouts.

"What do you normally do when I'm not here?" I retort wearily. I’m becoming increasingly ever aware that I’m standing by the edge of the gate to the National Park, eyes closed, hands curled into fists, and face frowned in concentration. If I don’t move soon, they’re going to accuse me of being a creeper or something. Or worse, I’ll be late and my ranger will just leave. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Of course, if I do move, Fred will probably fry my brain out from twenty miles away. Wonderful.

<Blow up planets.>

Naturally. I know it’s an empty threat, though. He already destroyed the planets that he deemed worthy of destruction shortly after his arrival to earth, one thousand years ago. "Weeeeellll…" I say, desperately praying that he can hear the anxiety in my voice. "I gotta go soon. Exploring and stuff. Fun stuff. You stay out of trouble, m’kay?"

I never use “m’kay” with him. It’s a sign of affection that we never use in our playful and sarcastic banter.

<No.>

This is going to be a very long day. "At least look after Fred?" I hate calling my Swampert Fred, but he was actually named Fred before Deoxys-Fred came into my care.

<You sent him to that awful place. Daycare, you call it?> I can hear the hurt in his voice, too. I can never send him there. That’s just the way it is.

"Fred," I sigh. "I can’t send you to Daycare, either. The Skitty would go nuts. And don’t even get me started on the Wailord…"

<You’re just afraid that I’ll be too smexy for them. I got mah hipster hat and shades all pretty ‘n stuff.>

I don’t even bother trying to answer that one. But despite the creepiness sometimes, he’s like a friend to me. A really strange, alien, all-powerful, destructive friend.

And that bond can never be replicated.

He smiles, sensing my humor. <…just trying to make sure that you’re paying attention.>

There’s another awkward silence. It’s funny how things are amplified by telepathy.

<Well, I suppose I should let you actually enjoy yourself.>

Oh, thank Arceus.

<Just look after Fred for me in the park, okay? I don’t want to see him get hurt.>

"For the last time, Starmie is not named Fred," I tell him firmly. I decide against informing him that Starmie also isn’t a he.

<All are Fred.>

"Uh… sure."

<All are co->

"Don’t you dare finish that sentence," I reply, smiling slightly.

<Sorry, Master> His tone is just the tiniest bit mocking.

"For the last time," I sigh, "stop with the master crap. You know that I wouldn’t dare try to control you." I’m not his master. I’m his friend.

<Of course not. That’s why I chose you.> He pauses again. <The last master was a ragey guy. He was kind of nice, and I gave him that same respect as I will to you. But it’s a nice gesture>

"Thank you," I reply happily I stifle a smile. "Now, can I leave or are we going to have the same problem as last time?"

<You can leave, I suppose.> I can hear him smile.

"I swear to Arceus, Fred," I sigh, "if I come back any the slightest thing is wrong, I’m going to call you Bob for the rest of your time on Earth."

He’s silent for a moment, weighing his options. And then, <Oh, please no. My name is Fred.> I can swear that he almost whimpers.

"Everything stays the same."

<Fine>

"And no destroying any planets, either."

<…Fine>

"And no mind control."

There’s a long pause. And then, <…dammit>

"Good." I can’t help but smile, and I can feel his grudging joy from over our mental link.

<Fine. Nothing goes wrong, I’ll have a wonderfully boring day, and hopefully I’ll be right in time to watch you fall of a cliff and go splat.>

Oh, so he was reading my mind at that time. Wonderful. Pretty much, yeah.

<Say hi to Fred while you’re at it, too?>

"For the last time, Fred, Starmie is not called…"

<Nah, I meant Arceus.>

I freeze. "Not here. This is a bloody park. You have to be kidding me."

His voice is gentle and only the slightest bit mocking. <And what is this park called, exactly?>

I can already see the answer, but I don’t want to give him that satisfaction. "The National Park?" I venture.

<No. Try again.>

I sigh. "Outer… Heaven…"

<There we go. I knew you could do it>

I never knew that the lord of the cosmos had a sarcastic streak. Perhaps I am rubbing off on him a bit too much.

"Thank you," I say stiffly. Now I’m going to be going now.

<Do you have your Park Balls?>

I don’t bother rifling through my backpack, but I’m pretty sure they’re there. I think I brought nine of them. "Yes."

<Camera?>

I instinctively look down to the camera around my neck, and I can’t help but feel like some form of dorky tourist. The camera is black and bulky, but I know that it’s the highest quality that the Park Shope can sell. I hope it works out. "…yes…"

<Lunch money?>

"For crying out loud, this isn’t my first day of school or anything."

<Oh, true. But school isn’t filled with Pokémon that are trying to eat your face.>

"The park brochure said that it was a very nice place. And the rangers are supposed to be fabulous. My ranger in particular is supposed to be extremely talented." I believe every word that I'm saying. I'm looking forward to this.

<Ha.> He pauses for a moment, reveling in silent laughter. And then, <…you made a funny>

"Well, I think she sounds wonderful. I’m going to leave now. For real." I really have to get going. I hope that I'm not too late already.

<Oh, fine. Don’t get eaten.>

"By what? It’s not like I’m going to be all “HOLY CRAP A BIDOOF IT’S GONNA OM NOM NOM MY FACE” or anything…"

<Did you just use “Om nom nom” in a real sentence?>

"Maybe." I hate when he notices what I do wrong.

I feel his attention divert for a moment. He comes back to me, mildly distracted. <Oh, dear.>

I tense. "What is it?"

<Oh, nothing. Sorry about the roof.>

I bristle. "What roof?"

He pauses again, seeming tense. <Uh… nothing>

"What roof!?" I spent most of my money getting to the park. If he’s blown up the city again, I might have some problems.

<Ask Fred?>

"Fred, you have to understand that I have no idea what you’re talking about when all of my Pokémon are named Fred to you." This isn’t even funny any more. I must have been talking to the nutjob Deoxys voice in my brain for five, six thousand characters.

<Oh, and some random kid tried to battle you while you were away. Said he had an Abomasnow or something>

I cringe. Oh god, not those stupid, overgrown trees. Those were the monsters that haunted my nightmares. "Kill it with fire."

I don’t get a response for a moment. And then a much happier Fred returns, saying cheerily, <All done!>

"You did not just…"

<Relax>, he sighs. <I just Teleported it to some volcano or something.>

"You… you did WHAT?" I might not be the smartest at Pokemon, but even I know that Abomasnow and fire isn't going to end well. Especially not a volcano.

<Yeah. It’s called the… uh… Fire Dojo? Yeah. That Monbrey guy.>

"Monbrey?" I pray that he’s joking. I really pray that Fred is just joking.

<Yeah, Monbrey. He’s a pretty cool guy who doesn’t afraid of anything.>

I sigh, knowing he’s joking. Fred would never dare approach the sacred Volcano like that, all powerful or not. Monbrey intimidates him, especially after their last battle on the crater. "Now, now, Fred… what did we say about breaking the fourth wall?"

There’s a pause. <…that I should do it more often…?>

I really, really want to facepalm right now. Fred takes my lack of response as another answer.

<Relax,> Fred sighs. <They should recover in a matter of months.>

"What?"

<…Fine, kidding. I told them to come back tomorrow.>

"You’d better be," I can't help but smile. As strange as he is, Fred is at least taking my mind off of the nervousness that I feel in joining the Park.

<Yeah, sure. ^.^>

I cringe as he forces some sound across our mental link that I can only describe as an image. How in the world did he even incorporate an emoticon into every day speech?

"Be… be careful, okay? Have fun while I’m away." I smile.

But he’s already gone.

I open my eyes, glad to have my mind to myself again. It might be a bother, talking to Fred and keeping him somewhat under control, but I wouldn’t trade this task for anything. It’s enjoyable and entertaining, being a legendary guardian, and it certainly keeps me on my toes.

Either that, or it drives me nuts. I’ll figure out which one it is eventually.

But for now, I have bigger Magikarp to fry, or so to speak. I can dwell upon the wonders of owning a Legendary Pokémon in a place far, far away from cliffs. And besides, I might be late already. This is the Main Outpost for the Park, thankfully. If it was the Outer Heaven Outpost, I’d be lost already. I can see the Outer Heaven in the distance, a collection of loosely scattered mountains and clear blue skies. I can’t wait to see the view from there.

Of course, it would help if I actually went in to the outpost…

I push through the door, feeling the cold metal of the doorknob on my hands. A gust of icy air blows from seemingly no where, toying with my hair and sending goosebumps down my arms before vanishing into the warm day. I walk cautiously up to the secretary’s desk, trying to keep the tremors from my voice. Perhaps she thinks I’m nuts. After all, I did spend roughly ten minutes waiting outside beneath the trees and apparently talking to myself.

“Uh… hi,” I mutter nervously, my back foot scraping against the floor.

“Are you Kai?” she asks, returning my cautious grin with a large one of her own. Her eyes dart from the phone in her hand to my own face, but I can tell that I’m losing the battle for her attention.

<No, her name is Fred,> an all too familiar and sarcastic voice says in my head.

"Don’t you have cookies to eat?", I mentally whisper to Fred, forcing myself to pay attention to the secretary in front of me.

<I like cookies.>

"They’re chocolate chip," I tell him.

I can feel his joy. <I like chocolate chip cookies.> And then he’s gone again.

I focus my attention back on the secretary again, trying not to look like an idiot. Sure, I might be stupid in front of normal people, but it’s not every day that I fall off of a cliff or something. “Uh, yeah, that’s me,” I reply happily. I can feel a knot tightening in my stomach, and I realize how nervous I really am.

“Oh, excellent,” she says, smiling. “Your ranger will be right with you,” she adds, now looking at something in her hands. I try to peer surreptitiously over the dark wood of the desk, trying to see what she’s doing. I can swear I see something about buzzing and chains on the screen of her phone.

Her voice is distracted as she waves her hand towards a row of chairs by the wall. I swear I can “You can sit over there for now.” And then her attention is entirely lost, focused on the flashing lights on her phone.

I sigh, relieved to have gotten that ordeal over with. And with only minimal distraction from Fred. And now he’s gone. Perhaps this isn’t as bad as I had thought it would have been.

<Still here.>

"Very funny," I remark dryly. If I’m already this confused, sitting in the wooden chairs by the park’s waiting room, I can only imagine how chaotic it will be to enter the park itself.

There’s no possible way that this can go wrong.

I settle into the wood of the random chair I picked in the corner, leaning my head against the fading white paint of the walls. The wood is worn down by years of use, and it’s soft and inviting. How pleasant. The lights glow dimly overhead. I twiddle my fingers idly, aware of how boring everything is without Fred’s voice pounding in my mind.

I finger the Pokéballs on my belt. Four. It seemed like a good number at the time, and I have no regrets. The four that I brought aren’t my oldest, and some of them aren’t my most skilled, but I wouldn’t have any other team with me on this journey. I only wish that I could let one of them out of their Pokéballs, but somehow I think that letting out a large but gorgeous sea snake in the confined lobby will end well. But I trust them with my life, even if I can’t yet show my gratitude.

Hopefully it won’t ever come to that, though. I don’t think it will. Here, at the Main Outpost of the National Park, everything seems so peaceful. It’s like nothing here could go wrong. Hopefully the feeling will stay.

For now, though, I’m content to sit here and just think in my own thoughts. I smile, leaning my head against the worn walls of the outpost and looking out of the window.

Blue stretches overhead, free and endless and defiant, broken by only the faintest puffs of clouds. It’s so vast, like the fire that burns in the souls of my Pokémon. They won’t go down without a fight, and I won’t let them down, either. That is who we are, and that is how we live.

It’s one of those blissful moments, where I know that I’ve said something incredibly corny but don’t care anyways. And as I smile, watching tendrils of grey cloud trickle across the sky and wait for my ranger to call in or something, I can’t help but calm down. The sun is starting to come out. The blueness is so overwhelming, so vast, so comforting. It never ends.

I smile. I think I’m ready.

Sky.

\*/

(OOC: Now I want to beat your super long post ;-;)

NBP#2

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Ivy waited for a while, just enjoying the peaceful day, when she started wondering where her Trainer was at. She looked around but couldn't see anyone other than Park staff. Haxbat even flew around for a look, but he didn't find anyone. She was about to head back into the office to make sure she had the right day when her phone beeped.

Looking down, she grabbed it and hit a few buttons until her messages popped up. A new one with an exclamation point jumped to the front of the list, and she saw it was from Madison. The secretary's note informed her that her Trainer was currently waiting within the office.

Ivy shook her head, smiling. They must've missed each other somehow. Not many people remembered so specify where they would be meeting. With a shrug, she headed back into the office.

Sure enough, there was a girl in the waiting area that matched the Trainer's description. She was about average height, with long, dark hair kept in a braid. She was in the usual Trainer garb, consisting of jeans and sneakers with a dark blue shirt. A backpack sat by her feet. She was currently leaning her head back and looking out the window away from her.

Ivy walked up to her, putting on a smile. “Hi there. I'm Ivy.” She waited for the Trainer to stand up and introduce herself before having the girl follow her out of the building. Haxbat swooped down to greet her as she came out again, and Ivy hoped the bat didn't startle the girl. Others had less than favorable reactions to the massive Crobat.

“Alright, we'll have to fly to Outer Heaven from here. It's not that far, just somewhere off in that direction.” She motioned off into the west. “I saw you have a Dragonite, so you'll need her.”

Once the Trainer was set, Ivy latched onto Crobat as he rose into the air. One would think he'd be too frail to carry much weight, but he was strong, and he lifted the Ranger no problem. She heard the dragon take off behind them, and she told Haxbat to go slow so they could keep up. The clouds grew thick as they rose, and the calls of bird Pokémon got more frequent the higher up they went.

Then, the clouds broke and thinned out, revealing a breathtaking view. Columns rose out of the ground, connecting platforms covered with moss and drooping vines. Bits of wispy clouds lingered in places, and all sorts of Flying types were visible from where they were. She heard falling water in the distance, and there was a lot of other foliage growing along the platforms. It was an aerial paradise. Haxbat dropped her down gently before stretching his wings again and drifting upwards.

Ivy made sure the Trainer made it onto the platform. She was about to ask her something when a deep, dark cry rang out. The Ranger spun around as a flurry of dark feathers launched itself from one of the higher platforms down towards them. It fluttered to the ground in front of them, maybe ten feet away. The dark bird had what looked like a hat on top of its head with white feathers in a V on its chest.

“A Honchkrow. I don't know if you're interested in battling this one, but either way, we'll have to be really careful. These guys can be tricky. So, what do you say?” Ivy looked at her Trainer in question.


---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Honchkrow: 100%

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 15 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: None
Pokémon Captured: None
MCR: 16,485/25,000 [Intermediate Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 3x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

((OOC: I am so, so very sorry... but Chainy made this into war. ._.))

/*\
I twiddle my fingers some more, positive that I’m doing something wrong. Perhaps my ranger left while I was talking to the psycho voices in my head. I can’t help but think that I’m forgetting something.

The back door cracks open, and a tall, red headed woman walked in. I quickly look at her, and realize with a jolt from the supplies on her belt and the red canvas ranger vest that she is indeed my ranger.

I glance at the door behind her, and realize that she had probably been waiting for me outside.

Oh. Right. That must have been what I was forgetting. I was supposed to meet her outside, I think.

<Clever Kai is clever.>

“Hush, Fred…” After all, he was the one who had distracted me thus far… I can’t blame him for everything, though.

This is a wonderful start to a wonderful day. I can already tell.

The ranger walks up to me, a smile growing on her face. “Hi there. I’m Ivy,” she says with a smile. She pauses, waiting for me to say something.

I notice the cue, thankfully. “Uh, hi,” I reply, feeling a smile grow on my face as well. Ivy seems like a really nice person. I mentally remind myself to rub this in Fred’s face when I get back home. “My name’s Kai. It’s nice to meet you!” I’m tempted to do that ^_^ thing that Fred tried, but somehow I don’t think it works out like that with mortals. Oh well. I sound happy enough, and I laugh, hoping that she can’t see how nervous I feel.

A large, purple, six-foot tall shadow swoops down from the recesses in the ceiling. I flinch back in surprise, blinking frantically at it.

The shadow flicks its wings, the purple and blue membranes almost moving faster than my eyes can track. I relax slightly, recognizing it as a Crobat. A couple of my friends back at home have Crobat, so it’s not exactly a new sight to me. But as it is, I can’t help but stare at the majestic bat-like creature. It leers at me in what I hope is a smile. I smile in return. I like Crobat. I almost want to get one soon.

Ivy breaks into my chain of thought before I continue ogling at her Crobat. I’ve already creeped out the secretary, and I’ve probably creeped out the Crobat, as well. I wouldn’t want to make my ranger think that I’m a nutcase, too.

“Alright,” she says briskly and cheerfully, “we’ll have to fly to Outer Heaven from here. It’s not that far, just somewhere off in the direction.” She motions off in… some direction. I don’t really know what it is, but I hope that she at least knows where we’re going. I trust her enough, though, so I just nod along with it. “I saw you have a Dragonite, so you’ll need her.”

My hand flies towards Dragonite’s Pokéball on my hip, and I finger the cool metal instinctively. We had practiced on her flying skills for quite a while now, and she had perfected her flight not so long ago. I was so proud of her. Even so, though, I didn’t want to strain her too badly. She was still new to this, just like I was.

I get the feeling that this is my cue to release Dragonite from her Pokéball. Or, more accurately, the time to release Huggles from her Pokéball. I’m not sure why I called her that. I still firmly believe that Fred was controlling my mind at the time, although he vehemently denies it every time.

I hold the red and white sphere into the air, and it bursts open in a flash of ruby red light. A large, pale orange draconic creature unfolds from the depths of the sphere, expanding to her normal size in a flash of light. The pale white scales on her underbelly glisten in the sunlight, and her green wings flare outwards as she lands gently on the ground. Her dark brown eyes glisten dolefully as she looks bashfully at me, raising an arm the size of my face as she waves a greeting to me.

“Draaaaaa!” she croons, rushing forwards and enveloping me in a hug. I giggle. Now I remember why I called her Huggles. I can’t help but groan, though, as the immense muscles in her arms slowly begin to squeeze the life out of me.

She must notice my squiriming, because she immediately lets go and steps back, her brown eyes flashing in alarm.

I should probably say something to let her know that I don’t mind, but all I can say is a strangled sort of “Gah”. I smile weakly at her, though, giving her a thumbs up to let her know that she hasn’t broken anything vital. Her yellow antennae prick upwards in delight, and she coos in delight, clapping her hands together.

“It’s nice to see you, too,” I manage to gasp, still clutching at my ribs. That settles it. If Ivy didn’t think I was a moron before, she must now. Oops. I try to shake it off, and I also hope that the bruises for this won’t show tomorrow. “Now, Huggles, Ivy says that we have to fly off to Outer Heaven. I’m not sure how far it is, but she thinks that you can make it and I do to. Do you think you can manage?”

Her eyes light up as she hears my challenge. She raises her head upwards, and I can see the smile forming on her face. Her claws curl inwards in her hands to form fists, and her emerald wings flutter instinctively.

I smile. I’ll take that as a yes. She lowers her massive body ever so slightly so I can actually climb on to her back. It’s a lot larger than it looks, and I slide myself into the ridges between her wings and shoulder blades, wrapping my arms around her neck and hanging on for dear life.

Beside us, Ivy clambers on to her Crobat. I’m shocked that the frail-looking bat can support her weight, slender as she is. However, the Crobat easily launches the two into the air, its wings slashing through the clear skies and lifting them far above us.

Huggles looks back at me for confirmation, and I nod my assent. Her gaze meets mine for a moment, and then she launches herself into the sky, somehow bypassing the fact that we were just indoors a moment ago and we never actually left the outpost. Or perhaps I’m just delusional again. I’ll blame Fred.

As it is, we rapidly rise into the air. Huggles spreads her hands out wide, obviously reveling in the warm sunlight and the crystal clear air. I can’t help but remember my slightly depressing monologue on the sky. Huggles spirals around, doing a few corkscrews in midair. I can’t help but be proud of her, too, even as the earth and sky spin around me and I feel what I hope isn’t my lunch coming back to haunt me. It’s almost soothing, watching the green grass and sapphire sky meld together, but I have a feeling that it won’t end well.

“Hey, Huggles,” I whisper blearily in her ear. “Would you mind easing up a bit? We have a long way to go, and I don’t want you getting tired.” She smiles slyly at me. “Fine,” I add. “I don’t want to puke in the air, either. The park rangers would eat my soul for that.” I glance upwards at Ivy and her Crobat, who are slowly fading to a large purple speck on the horizon. Huggles’s smile widens, and her wings flare out again, catching her weight as she coasts gently through the air currents, still rising upwards. I notice that the large Crobat in front of us is beginning to slow down, and I hope we aren’t holding them back too much. Although I hate to say it, Huggles isn’t the most experienced flyer, and unlike Crobat, she hadn’t been born on the wing. As it was, she was trying her hardest to catch up with the bat’s massive speed, but she was tiring fast. I notice with relief that Crobat is definitely slowing down so that we can catch up.

Dragonite’s wings pump through the air, sending gusts of wind behind us. The cloud cover intensifies as we rise higher, and wisps of pale white clouds begin swirling around us, parting as Huggle’s scythes her wings through the air. I can hear birdsong in the air around me, and I can’t help but feel nervous as we rise higher. Firstly because the ground beneath us has shrunk to a pale green speck, but secondly because I can’t help but wonder which Pokémon we’ll encounter.

The cloud layer suddenly breaks and Huggles spirals into the air, looking at the sapphire blue sky that stretched above us. The aerial view is gorgeous. Tendrils of white cloud still drift around us, but they don’t hide the crystal clear blue sky. Huge stone columns, which must be thousands of years old, rise hundreds of feet into the air. A network of platforms stretch out between them, laced with a web of emerald green vines that contrasted with the worn gray stone. The Crobat lands on a stone platform, and I watch from Huggles’s back as Ivy vaults easily off of the magnificent bat’s back and lands. The Crobat’s wings still flutter as it turned to look at us, drifting in the air.

Huggles nods at me and dips her wing to the side, and we drift towards the platform. Huggles extends her legs and lands solidly on the platform. I slide from her back, halfway sad at losing the gorgeous view but also worshipping the wonders of solid ground. My legs shake for a moment as I make contact with the ground, but Huggles shoots out an arm to steady me. I let out the breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, and notice that Ivy is looking at me with concern. “I’m fine!” I call out breezily to her, but the wind takes away my words. I hope she doesn’t hear me, actually, because I probably just said something stupid. I’m not sure if she hears me or not, though, but she opens her mouth to say something.

A deep, dark cry rings out, cutting her off. Ivy closes her mouth and whirls around, watching in fascination as a dark shadow swoops down from a higher platform and lands in front of us, about ten feet away. It’s a dark blue or black in color, and the inky blackness of its feathers nearly cloaks its entire body. Its spreads its wings wide, revealing the magnificent ruby plumage that lies beneath. Its beak is a dull yellow, and a giant puff of white feathers adorns its chest, in addition to what I can only describe as a boss hat on top of its head. But I notice that its brown eyes are beady and its talons are razor sharp, and I know that this fight will not be an easy one, if I choose to accept its challenge.

“A Honchkrow,” Ivy tells me, saving me the trouble of having to refer to the large bird as ‘the large bird’ for a while. “I don’t know if you’re interested in battling this one, but either way, we’ll have to be really careful. These guys can be trick. So, what do you say?” Ivy looks back at me, waiting for my response.

Honchkrow. I’ve met a few of them in battle before. Two, in fact. I’d like to say that I know how they operate, but I’m not sure. Both Honchkrow were owned by friends of mine, and both of them proved to be hard forces to stop. In fact, they had managed to tear holes in my team and take down a few of my Pokémon. And for that, I had a grudging sense of jealousy and respect for the large bird.

And because of that, I want to battle this new arrival. A Honchkrow would make a splendid addition to my team. I look at the four Pokéballs on my belt, trying to decide who to use. I’m new to this whole battling style, so I know that it’ll be best to play things simple and try not to do anything overcomplicated. I immediately count out Nix, my Rotom. Rotom is a Ghost and Electric type, and I know that Honchkrow is a Dark and Flying type. I’m not so worried about the Flying type, so to speak, but it’s the Dark type that scares me. I know that Rotom can’t take all that many hits from a Honchkrow if I’m not careful, and I’m still new to this whole battling thing.

By extension, that logic takes Fred, or Starmie, as normal people would call it, out of the question as well.

That leaves Mitzi, my Milotic, and Huggles. Out of the two, I can’t really say which one I’d prefer choosing. I have a couple of qualms, though, mainly from the last time I fought a Honchkrow…

<I’d say this is time for an epic flashback.>

Fred has picked a wonderful time to return. “Aren’t you supposed to be eating your cookies?” I mentally thank Arceus that Ivy can’t hear what’s going on in my head. That sentence alone would be enough to convince her that I’m nuts.

<I still think it’s time for a flashback.>

“Fred, you gotta stop breaking the fourth wall. If Ivy could hear you…” I trail off.

<Either epic flashback or I start reciting the monologues.>

“Monologues? What monologues?” I feel a pit of fear growing in my stomach that has nothing to do with the angel of darkness in front of me, ready to battle.

<You know, the monologues. Where I replace every noun with the word ‘va-’>

If he ever finishes that sentence, I will never forgive myself. “Fine.”

I let the memories take control.

***

I’m not sure when or how I became sensei of the Water Dojo. But sometime, a few months ago, I found myself in the back room of a tiny building on an island forever lashed by storms, with only a small team of Pokémon to help me defend it. The Water Dojo was kind of like a gym, but smaller, and for more inexperienced players like myself.

But for me, this meant constant challenges from friends and foes alike.

Most of the time, I lost. But at least I gave them a run for their money.

The seas were calm when he came.

The battle that he gave me was intense to say the least. I could never tell which one of us had the upper hand, but it usually didn’t seem to be me. I had pulled out a few new tricks on him, though, and I was miraculously pulling ahead. For a moment there, I was convinced that I had the match in the bag. Fred—Starmie Fred, at least—was doing wonderfully, and I had gotten lucky enough to help it boost its defenses through a long and rather cheap method in which we used Cosmic Power. A lot. The ten purple points that made up its body were hard as diamond, able to withstand nearly any hit that he could dish out on it.

“Hydro Pump,” I whispered to Starmie-Fred with a smile.

As Starmie released a jet of high-pressured water from its gem, the Electivire before us desperately tried to stand its ground. Already injured from previous conflicts, though, the great yellow beast stood no chance against Fred. It slumped to the ground, soaking wet and exhausted. The very ground shook as it sunk into the soft sand.

The challenger looked at it, his face falling. He hadn’t expected Starmie to be so harsh, I think. I bit my lip in concern. He was my friend, after all. I hoped that I hadn’t injured his Pokémon too badly. Or his pride.

He smiled, though, as he pulled the next Pokéball from his belt. I knew then that he had a trick up his sleeve.

There was a flash of white light, and a large, black Pokémon appeared, brandishing a large, black hat. A Honchkrow.

Starmie tried not to pale back, but the two of us were convinced in the defenses that we had managed to build up during the skirmishes with Electivire. Hopefully they would be enough.

I knew that Honchkrow preferred to use physical attacks, mostly because it excelled at getting in quickly and close and then beating up whatever Pokémon had the misfortune to be near it. I was worried, too, because I knew that Starmie wouldn’t be able to withstand many hits from the dark-typed Pokémon. Defenses or not, we would have to get creative if we wanted to survive a bit longer.

“Barrier,” I whispered. For what was not the first time in the entire fight, I realized that I might actually lose this battle. Starmie looked uneasily at me, but it obeyed. The ruby gem in the center of its body glowed with a pale yellow light, and a glimmering shield formed around it. The pale yellow shield pulsed as I expected Honchkrow to get in close and finish off Fred. I knew that the barrier would give Fred a decent amount of protection from any physical attacks that Honchkrow tried.

It was obviously the wrong move, and he knew it. He smiled. “Dark Pulse.”

Oh, crap.

Crap didn’t even sum up my emotions, though. The real words that I had thought… well… yeah.

Honchkrow spread its wings wide, cawing victoriously as a void of darkness began to form in its chest. Rings of dark purple energy arced around one another, contained in the space between the majestic bird’s wings. Starmie and I only had time to cringe back as the pulses of energy rocketed towards it. The shields that we had created were no match for the spirals of black energy, dark as night and looking like they had been sent from hell. The barrier shattered into a thousand crystal pieces as it struck Starmie head on.

There was a massive explosion of smoke, and then silence. As the thick black haze cleared, I knew that we hadn’t stood a chance. Starmie sagged limply on the ground, its ten points limp at the corners and its gem dulled.

I knew that we had lost that round, and it was my fault. I recalled Starmie to its Pokéball, thinking hard. My next Pokémon was crucial, and I had to take this Honchkrow out before it put holes in my team like swiss cheese.

His Honchkrow cawed victoriously flapping its wings and rising into the air as it began to circle victory laps around the arena.

I smiled grimly. If it was an aerial battle that they wanted, it was an aerial battle that they would get. I fingered the worn, red and white Pokéball at my belt.

So, naturally, it was no surprise when Huggles hit the field, her shimmering claws digging gouges into the worn dirt. She roared angrily at the Honchkrow, eager to avenger her fallen comrade.

“Let’s wreck some shit, Huggles,” I whispered to her. I couldn’t believe how weird that had sounded. She roared eagerly, throwing her arms into the air. I smiled, proud. “Dragon Dance.”

She nodded in agreement, pleased with my choice of move. She leapt into the air, her powerful emerald wings seemingly expanding to keep her airborne, and began arcing in and out of the sky. She began picking up speed, and clouds of red and black and blue sparks flocked around her like droves of insects. She gradually slowed to a halt, her eyes gleaming with bloodlust and her wings fluttering even faster than before. Her dark orange tail flicked through the air as she surveyed the crow before her. She roared again, daring them to challenge us.

“Night Slash,” he muttered to his Honchkrow. The great beast nodded and rushed forwards, its wings trialing behind it as it flew towards Huggles. She gritted her teeth and threw her hands out to block the blow, but Honchkrow swerved to the side. That’s when I noticed its wings, glowing black as night and burning with dark energy. Oh god.

Huggles and I watched, speechless, as Honchkrow lanced over to Huggles, its wings still pulsing with that dark energy.

And then Honchkrow did something strange. We only watched as it brought its wing back, cawing victoriously, and… pimp slapped Huggles across the face. She stumbled back, whimpering, as the taxing attack from Honchkrow took its blow on her already weakened body. Somehow, it had managed to find a weak spot in her seemingly impenetrable defenses. I was shocked. That was impossible. No attack could do so much to Huggles. She could take hits like that left and right, no problem. But Huggles had stumbled back, cradling her injured face and nursing her hurting ego.

I glanced at him in shock, sure I had miscalculated, but he was just as confused as I was. “A critical hit,” he murmured under his breath, his pleased voice tinged with surprise.

I pretended to look shocked. Now, if I had actually known what he was talking about, we’d be set. But as it is, I didn’t really like this “critical hit” business. Huggles was in pretty bad shape, and it’d be a lot harder to take down the blasted crow.

“Roost,” I whispered to her. She looked at me, thankful, and landed on the ground. She landed wearily on her feet, resting. Hopefully we could get some health back that way. I didn’t like how she was panting when she walked, even if she was glaring at Honchkrow with all of the rage in her rather large body.

The funny thing about Huggles is that she won’t give up until she can literally go no more. It’s a blessing and a curse, in a sense. Blessing in the sense that she is a Pokémon that will fight just as far as I will and will never surrender. But it’s a curse, too, because she won’t tell me when she’s hurt. I have to look for myself and act accordingly.

And now, as I saw her land gratefully on the ground and try to recover, I was glad to know that I made the right decision. If she looks this exhausted now, she must be feeling a lot worse.

“Night Slash,” he said with a smile, and I knew that we were in trouble. There was a flash of black light, and his cursed Honchkrow darted up to Huggles, slashing its wing across her face again. She reared back, roaring in pain, as the Honchkrow had miraculously found its way to one of her weak spots again.

I told Huggles to Roost off the damage again, and she gladly complied. And yet, each and every time, they would answer our Roost with a Night Slash. And each and every time, his Honchkrow would manage to dart in and find another weak spot in Huggles’s defenses and send her lurching on her knees.

I was afraid.

Huggles was gasping for breath at this stage, her breathing ragged. Cawing victoriously, his Honchkrow circled back, its midnight black wings flapping as it returned to its master’s side. It was entirely unharmed thus far in the fight.

“Another one?” he muttered. “Impossible. There’s been… like, five in this match alone. I never get that lucky.” He sounded genuinely shocked.

Huggles was on her last legs, now, and I knew that we didn’t have much time. Normally, she could continue using Roost indefinitely, recovering more health than Honchkrow could inflict… but this, this was different. It had managed to find a weak spot on her each and every time, and it was inflicting more damage than we could heal off. Slowly, ever so slowly, it was whittling away at her health. Soon, I feared, she would be unable to fight any more. Her breath came out in short pants, and her entire body quivered from exhaustion.

Reason told me to recall her. Compassion told me to bring her back to the safety of her Pokéball and let some other Pokémon take the blow for her. They would all do it, I knew.

I stretched out my hand, her Pokéball already wrapped in my fist. I hated leaving the battle like this, but I didn’t want to see her get hurt any more. It was slowly tearing me to pieces.

Huggles turned around to me. She was beaten up and her breathing was ragged and labored, but the glare she gave me was like none other. Defiant, strong, powerful. She wasn’t going to back down.

And, as if in a dream, I felt my hand limply drop to the ground. If she wanted to fight this out, I would be behind her, one hundred percent. I was obligated to do so, as her trainer.

“Thunderpunch,” I whispered quietly.

Huggles threw back her head and roared angrily, the sound echoing on the windswept sands of the island. She stuffed all of her pain and outrage into that cry as she flew towards the bird, enraged. The Honchkrow cowered back in fear as Huggles drew her fists back, matrices of crackling yellow electricity hissing to life around her claws. She roared angrily at the stupid crow, knowing that she was faster than it and could send it back to the abyss, where it belonged.

He smiled. “Sucker Punch.”

Oh, crap.

Crap wouldn’t even describe my reaction.

Honchkrow darted forwards. I don’t know how it was faster, but the thought that it was tricking Huggles into attacking must have helped it out somewhat, because it was in front of her before either of us could blink. Its feathers on its wings were inexplicably curled into fists, cloaked in flickering purple energy like the night, and it smashed these very fists into Huggles’s jaw before she could respond.

The next moment passed in slow motion. She moaned for a moment, her eyes still blazing. And then, she began to slump forwards, the spheres of electricity around her fists winking away as she sunk to the ground. There was a massive thud as her body met the ground, sending sprays of sand up into the air. She had pushed herself to her limit, and this was how I repaid her.

I was speechless as I returned her to her Pokéball.

Bested, once again.

***

<That was quite sad,> Fred remarks politely. I had almost forgotten that he was sharing this moment with me, as well.

“Hush,” I reply.

<It was a very nice flashback. And it was at least halfway pertinent to the actual fight.>

I look up in alarm, wondering how long I’ve spent wrapped up in my head. Ivy hasn’t said anything to me thus far, so I can assume that I haven’t been reminiscing for an hour… but beyond that, I am clueless.

The Honchkrow caws at me, obviously eager to accept my challenge. I smile. We won’t be backing down this time.

<I’ll leave you to this, then,> Fred replies. <I have cookies to eat.> And then he’s gone again. I can never understand how his mind works.

But now I have to focus on this fight so that no one gets hurt. I have to think about who I will use to combat the angel of darkness before me. Fred—Starmie and Nix are out of the question, I know. That leaves Mitzi, my Milotic, and of course, Huggles. I’m tempted to go with Mitzi, mostly because I don’t want Huggles to get hurt again. I finger Milotic’s Pokéball, wondering, wondering…

There’s a low, harsh growling sound to my left. I turn around, abashed. Huggles looks at me, her eyes like steel. Ever so slightly, I see her nod.

I smile with pride. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I won’t let her get hurt that badly again. If it gets too far, I will call this battle to a halt. But as I meet her gaze, I can’t help but feel proud. We will go down fighting to the last breath, the two of us. That is how we fight. I smile, nodding back at her. “You ready, girl?” I whisper. My voice cracks. I’m so proud.

She throws back her head and roars her challenge to the Honchkrow, daring it to have a repeat of last time. The sound echoes in the skies, and I can see some of the bird Pokémon around us take to the air uneasily as her challenge echoes in the mountain tops.

“Okay, then,” I whisper, smiling. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I clench my fists in concentration, trying to hide my pride for my little fighter. “We’ll start off small, okay? I want you to hit it with a Thunder Wave. That’s all for now. We don’t want to hurt it too badly, okay?”

I know that, like myself, Huggles might let her anger at Honchkrow out on this particular one. While feral rage is impressive, to say the least, it might end up getting everyone, including herself, hurt. I certainly don’t want that happening.

Huggles looks at me, and I think she understands. She clenches her fists as well, though, as she squares off and prepares to fight the Honchkrow. Her massive, draconic figure towers over me, and I watch her close her eyes in concentration. Her large orange tail flicks through the air, and her wings allow her to rise gently into the air.

The long, elegant antennae on her head spark as she prepares to fire off a Thunder Wave. I watch as jolts of blue electricity fizzle between them, and I know that she is sorting the ions in the air, with positives around one antenna—serving as a sort of electrode—and negatives on the other. The gradient between the two forces causes a small electrical field to form above her head, and at this rate…

My god, I’m a nerd.

She roars, her eyes snapping open as she launches a tiny net of fizzling blue electricity towards the Honchkrow. It certainly isn’t enough to hurt it, but that’s not what we’re after. I know from experience that this attack’s sole purpose is to paralyze the Honchkrow, and I can only hope that it will work. Ideally, the numbing blue current that Huggles just created would strike the Honchkrow head on, rendering it incapable of moving, and thus incapable of hurting Huggles... Maybe. We’ll still be ready if it tries to do anything devious.

Hopefully.

As I watch the matrix of electricity arc closer to the Honchkrow, I can only pray that I am right.
\*/

(OOC: Gender? Also, lol)

BP#1

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Kai was quiet for a while, seeming to be lost in thought. It looked like she was trying to pick which of her partners to use though, so Ivy was glad they had encountered a Pokémon she wanted to battle. There had been a few runs she went on where very little showed up that her Trainer was interested. She hated to see them disappointed.

Haxbat floated down behind her shoulder and chattered, but Ivy shushed him with a pat and a word. She didn't want to rush her Trainer, and the Honchkrow seemed to be waiting patiently. She thought that sometimes the Pokémon in the Park got bored. Some of them really looked forward to people interaction. It's what made the Park unique. That didn't always happen in the wild. A lot of Pokémon avoided people.

The Honchkrow cawed, and the noise seemed to bring Kai out of whatever memory she was in. Ivy watched as her eyes focused back on what was happening. The Trainer then smiled, and her whole energy changed as it seemed she made up her mind on what to do. Kai's Dragonite growled softly, and the Trainer beamed at her partner's determination.

She whispered, “You ready, girl?” Her voice cracked, and the Ranger was sure she was reacting to some powerful memory the two shared. She sounded proud. Ivy almost missed the words all together, but training with her Crobat had made her hearing more sharp. He tended to play ninja.

The Dragonite threw back her head a roared, answering Honchkrow's challenge. The bird simply puffed out its feathers for a moment and shook slightly, like prepping itself for a fight. Ivy stepped back to give the battlers more room, being careful of cracks in the platform. She didn't want to fall on her face and embarrass herself.

“We'll start of small, okay? I want you to hit it with a Thunder Wave. That's all for now. We don't want to hurt it too badly, okay?” Kai said. Ivy was glad she was considerate of the wild Pokémon. There were some Trainers that came to the park being too harsh. A lot of them left disappointed. Or were kicked out.

The Dragonite clenched her fists as her antennae started to cackle with electricity. Blue lighting formed before being shot towards the bird. The krow looked on curiously but didn't move, and the bolt wrapped around it. It cried out as the shock wave went though it, falling forward a little as it took the blast.

It tried to move, and feathers came loose from its wings as it shifted, but Ivy saw it cringe as it did, stopping whatever attack it was trying to do. Instead, it set itself and gritted its teeth. It started making calls, and they sounded mocking. It couldn't move much currently, but it bobbed back and forth, trying to egg Dragonite on. It seemed that the bird didn't like the status the dragon had inflicted. After it finished, Honchkrow sat back and seemed to go into thought. It had a wicked gleam in its eyes, so it was probably plotting something.

Ivy wondered what Kai would do next. She wasn't sure what kind of experience the girl had with this type of bird, but the looks indicated there was something there. At least the Ranger only had to watch. She liked that about these runs. While she did battle sometimes, she liked watching others better, especially if they made it interesting.


---

Current Battle Stats:

Brave ??? Honchkrow: 100% [PAR][SpAtt+2]
Hardy F Dragonite: 100% [TNT-1]

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 15 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: None
Pokémon Captured: None
MCR: 44,023/25,000 [Intermediate Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 3x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 100%
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

OOC: WOOHOO, SHORT POST IS SHORT.* Post war ended in a proclamation of peace and joy. Also:

Crobat had made her hearing more sharp. He tended to play ninja

is pure win. ^.^

Also... I have no idea what I'm really doing. I wasn't sure if calling certain things as successes (I think it becomes clear as you scroll down) was illegal or not... er, sorry if the are. >.<

And...uh... male, I guess.

* Well, no, it's apparently 8,888. But that number alone should be worth it... XD

/*\

We got lucky. That's all I can say.

The Honchkrow merely stares as the bolt of energy wrapped its way around it, shocking it and sending a wave of blue sparks hissing across its midnight black feathers. It cries out in pain, lurching forwards and stumbling to catch itself from falling down to a kneeling position.

I wince back in sympathy for the bird, and I see out of the corner of my eye as Huggles does the same. I don't want to put it through any unnecessary pain, but I do have to weaken it so that it won't resist capture. It's a fine line.

The Honchkrow spreads its wings to attack, and I take a hesitant step backwards, uneasy of what would come next. It cringes, though, and I see the faintest hint of blue sparks arcing across its feathers.

I smile. My plan had worked.

Obviously, I rejoice too soon.

The Honchkrow grits its teeth, pulling itself up to its feet. I'm amazed. Most Pokemon can't take an attack like that from Huggles and live to tell the tale... and very few manage to get up afterwards.

The Honchkrow begins cawing at us, opening its beak and clattering. The look in its eyes is murderous, and it bobs back and forth, bouncing its head up and down. I could have sworn that it winks at Huggles. Its as if the Honchkrow knows its been hit and doesn't care.

I frown in anger. I hate arrogant things- people, Pokemon, whatever. That's probably a major flaw in my judgment sometimes... and I know for a fact that it has gotten me into trouble on more than one occasion. But even so, as the Honchkrow continues taunting us, I can feel my blood boil.

Huggles's shifts her wings uneasily too, obviously annoyed by the Honchkrow's antics. She might be a bit rash, like I am, and I know that she wouldn't mind a stretch. She glances back at me, and the look on her doleful face is just pleading "Can I kill it now, boss?" I'm so tempted to say yes. The thing is driving me nuts, anyways.

The Honchkrow falls silent after a bit, and I turn my attention back to it. Its beady yellow eyes shift around the field, gleaming wickedly.

That's when I realize that the Honchkrow isn't being arrogant at all-- it's playing us. It's trying to trick us into attacking it, and then it can strike back with whatever it's been plotting once we get in close.

And I fell for it.

I feel so stupid right now. Bested, by a two-foot tall bird that resembles carrion.

I want to do something reckless, like kick a rock off of the cliff or attack the bird myself. I literally just got outsmarted by a flying turkey.

But that would only be helping the Honchkrow, I suppose. I have to think my way out of this.

I know that Huggles prefers using attacks at closer range; in fact, she excels at it. As such, I had decided to focus more on her close range attacks than her long range attacks, and now I was going to have to work around that. Honchkrow is paralyzed, and I can be fairly certain that the paralysis will prevent it from being half as agile as it was before. Hopefully, we can use this to our advantage and stay out of its range. If the Honchkrow can't come in close to attack us, we can use that against it.

I shudder and try not to remember the jarring affects of Dark Pulse. I know for a fact that the Honchkrow won't be needing to move very far.

Then I realize the other glaring flaw in my formerly perfect plan: Huggles honestly doesn't know that many ranged attacks. I know that she can summon the destructive power of Draco Meteor to blast Honchkrow into the ground, but that will only serve to exhaust her and might cause structural damage to the platforms. And aside from all of that, we've had some issues with her aim. Sometimes, she would execute a flawless shower of the destructive comets... and miss, horrendously. It isn't worth the risk.

That pretty much summed it up for Huggle's ranged attacks. I knew a few of them off hand that might work out, but I wanted to save them for later in case things went badly.

I smiled, though. Improvisation was what I did best.

<I failing epicly was what you did best?>

"Yes, the too, Fred," I mutter. "But who's to say that I can't do them both at the same time?"

<Oh. Carry on.>

I smile. Huggles looks back at me, her expression still hovering between gentle and murderous. Funny how that works out.

"Right," I say, snapping back to reality. "We'll start off small. Use your Slam attack, but direct it towards the ground, instead."

Huggles smiles. She knows this technique. Its similar to the one that we use when she uses her devastating Earthquake attack, and it's also something that has saved me a couple of times in harsh battles. I don't want to spring something entirely new on her, especially as this might already get complicated, as it is.

Huggles nods patiently, content with receiving her commands in steps. I'm glad she listens to me so easily. She hovers a few steps into the air, flapping her emerald wings to get herself air borne. Her tail, bright orange, lashes through the air as she rises. She closes her eyes, concentrating hard, and her tail slowly begins to glow a pail shade of white as Huggles concentrates her power into her tail. With a roar, she dives towards the ground, somersaulting in midair and slamming the flat of her tail into the ground.

This is the most risky part of my plan, I think. I know that Honchkrow's taunting will make Huggles want to attack it directly, but I can't do that quite yet. I also know, from years of experience, that Huggles absolutely loves manipulating the environment around her into a situation that is more advantageous for her battling. I can only hope that her nature, and the promise that she will get to attack Honchkrow in a bit, will counteract the demon-bird's taunts.

The very ground shakes as Huggles's tail makes contact with the hard packed earth and stone of the platform, and for a moment, I'm afraid we've taken it too far. I have the oddest feeling that I'll get escorted out of the park and probably banned if we end up causing the collapse of the ruins in Outer Heaven.

For the moment, though, everything seems relatively stable. I'm in awe of the pure power she can produce from her tail, though. The earth groans beneath the crater the Huggles's tail caused, and chunks of rock fly up into the air around her, nearly the size of my head.

Perfect.

I can see Huggles straining with anticipation to bash the bird on the head and stop its taunting, but we're not quite out of the woods yet.

"Almost there, girl," I whisper reassuringly to her. "See the rocks hovering around you?" I have to admit, that was a pretty silly question. The rocks are everywhere, slowly twirling and idly falling to the ground around her body as she hovers above the tiny crater the created. She nods, though, and I'm thankful that she isn't half as sarcastic as Fred.

"Right." Stupid questions aside, I'm glad everything is working out so well. "So... I need you to hit as many of those rocks with your Fire Punch as you can."

Huggles nods, obviously impatient to take her vengeance on Honchkrow for mocking her.

"And don't forget to direct them towards Honchkrow," I add as an afterthought. Her eyes light up. I can almost see the thoughts flying through her head. Finally, some action.

Huggles clenches her fists shut, focusing on the primal rage that lies within her soul. In an instant, her fists blaze with fire, unquenched by the idle wind in the clearing. She breathes in and out, her eyes focusing on the gray rocks that are quickly falling down to the ground around her. Both of her fists are cloaked in orange-red fire, and her face is contorted in concentration as she begins lashing out at the rocks around her.

Huggles likes playing catch. It might be a random statement to make, and a random thought to think, at a time like this, but its entirely true. While most Dragonite might be clumsy, she's probably more coordinated than I am.

<Not that it's all that hard,> Fred remarks sarcastically.

"Oh, hush."

I turn my attention back to Huggles, who is slowly and meticulously punching each rock. I notice that some of them are covered in bits of moss and tufts of grass... I hadn't noticed it before, but I realize now that they might... kinda... light on fire.

Huggles has managed to hit most of the rocks. I don't expect her to punch all of them before they hit the ground, but I trust her enough to know that she can get quite a few in. She's a lot faster than she looks.

Some of the rocks hurtle towards the Honchkrow. It hasn't moved yet, but I know that that means nothing. Honchkrow are clever and devious, and I expect this one to be no different. The rocks race towards Honchkrow, and I can see some of them flickering with the orange origins of fire... perhaps my plan actually worked. The rocks close in, but I know that even with Huggles calling the shots, they might still miss.

Or they might not.

\*/

BP#2

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Ivy watched as Kai frowned and clenched her fists, looking hard at the Honchkrow. She didn't like what it was doing, and the Ranger didn't blame her. She wasn't a fan of arrogant people herself. Kai's Dragonite was also displeased. She ruffled her wings and huffed, staring at the bird.

“Right,” the Trainer says, coming out of the thoughts she was exploring. “We'll start off small. Use your Slam attack, but direct it towards the ground instead.”

Ivy could see the Dragonite struggle with wanting to go after the bird right away. Still, she listened to her trainer, floating above the platform. She took her powerful tail and dived at the ground. At this moment, the Honchkrow struggled out of its paralysis enough to rise in the air, avoiding being shook by the oncoming attack.

It was a good idea. The Dragonite came down on the platform hard, and the whole thing shook. Ivy grabbed onto Haxbat in order to steady herself as some of the hard packed earth came free. A large crater formed where the dragon had struck, and bits and pieces of moss covered rock sailed upwards. They didn't come down right away, powered by that energy that all Pokémon seemed to have, but they floated downwards slowly.

Ivy wasn't worried about the platform. Though it shook, the Outer Heaven foundation was really strong. After constructing the levels, they had landscaped earth and vegetation and a ton of other things. The crater that was made didn't even begin to reach the foundation, that's how thick it was. She had heard stories of epic battles up here, so she knew the scenery could take a beating. She hoped Kai wasn't worried.

The Trainer then asked her dragon to launch the rocks towards the bird using a Fire Punch. The Dragonite immediately obeyed, her eyes shining with the idea of attacking the dark bird. She clenched her fists as they blazed with fire. There were a lot of the rocks, but she was methodically punching them one by one, sending them flying. She couldn't all of them, and many dropped harmlessly back to the ground, but others went speeding. Some even caught flame from the dragon's fists as it attached to the grass and moss.

The flaming rocks hurtled towards the bird, and he called out in challenge as he struggled to stay airborne. Ivy could see the static curling in his wings. It was soon joined by a dark energy gathering into orbs. The bird's eyes were locked on the incoming attack, and he gathered energy to him in preparation. Pulsing waves shot out from the bird, colliding with the rocks. Some of them shattered to bits in black and red before veering off their path and falling away from the bird. Other orbs went sailing towards the Dragonite.

He was doing pretty well until the paralysis acted up again, and though he managed to stay in the air as the shock wave rattled him. He flinched though, and the Dark Pulse abruptly stopped. The flaming rocks were still coming, and there was no time for him to dodge out of the way.

He was slammed backwards as three rocks came at him in rapid succession. He hit the ground hard, sliding back many feet as he dug into the ground. Some of his feathers almost caught fire, but he managed to shake them off before they could really start burning. Still, it singed him, and he took damage.

Ivy looked back at the Dragonite to see a pleased look on her face that the bird had crashed and almost burned. However, some of her rocks didn't block the dark blast, and in not paying attention, she was struck with the black energy.

She skidded back a little, but didn't look too damaged. The Honchkrow had put most of his energy into blocking the incoming attack rather than trying to inflict damage. They watched the bird struggle to his feet, and Ivy wondered what Kai would come up with next.


---

Current Battle Stats:

Brave M Honchkrow: 70% [PAR][SpAtt+2][Used Dark Pulse]
Hardy F Dragonite: 90% [TNT-2][Used improvised Stone Edge and Fire Punch]

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 15 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: None
Pokémon Captured: None
MCR: 52,823/25,000 [Intermediate Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 3x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 90%
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

OOC: Only four days late. But the lag ate my post twice, sooo... XD
Also, this totally wasn’t based off of SSBB techniques instead of the anime… *shifty eyes*

/*\

The platform shakes beneath my feet as Huggles slams the rocks with flaming fists towards the Honchkrow. I can feel it shudder, but I assure myself that it's been there for years. It can't possibly crumble into nothingness, can it?

Well, I hope that it won't. Because that's the best I can do at this stage.

The rocks hurtled towards the Honchkrow, and I realized what our problem was. In attacking from a distance, utilizing Huggles's slightly weaker sniper skills, we had given the Honchkrow plenty of time to prepare a counter attack. While the crystal blue of static still arced around its wings, it gathers orbs of energy close to its body, black as night and pulsing with dark matter. I cring back, but Huggles is entirely focused on her attack. That is a problem, and it manifests itself as the Honchkrow spreads its wings appart, sending pulses of the dark energy flying from its wings towards our attack.

Some of our rocks shatter into crystal shards of black and red, falling harmlessly to the ground yards away from the Honchkrow. The rest of the dark orbs, though, ricochet through the shards of stone and approach Huggles, who is too distracted from successfully completing her attack to dodge.

Meanwhile, the Honchkrow stumbles back as the paralysis takes its toll, forcing it to flinch back and abruptly cut off its attack.

Thank goodness, because if it hadn't, Huggles was going to--

A cry of alarm jolts my attention back to my Dragonite. Somehow, a few of the orbs of dark energy have made it over to her, and the promptly rain down upon her like a meteor shower. She skids backwards, shielding her head, but I'm relieved to see that she isn't too badly hurt. I have to be careful, though. I can't risk getting her hurt.

I finger the heal potions in my bag. They'd be useful now, to alleviate her pain, but I can't risk stopping the battle. Huggles glances back at me, noting the concern on my face, and she shakes her head.

Okay, then. Apparently she wants to win this as much as I do. I'm going to keep an eye on her, though. I don't want her getting hurt.

Meanwhile, a couple of the flaming rocks force their way out of the pulses of dark energy, luckily squeezing through the void created when Honchkrow could no longer maintain its attack. They strike him hard, sending him flying backwards to the ground, feathers sizzling and dust flying everywhere. He manages to get up, though, shaking out the fire in alarm and resuming glaring at us.

Oh dear. I hope I haven't pissed him off.

He seems okay, though. We got lucky, I think. The paralysis had forced Honchkrow to back down and not attack, giving us another lucky break. We keep getting lucky, but I can’t rely on luck to last us much longer.

Well, my super-ingenious-mega-awesome plan hadn’t really worked out as well as I had hoped. Granted, it had done more than I had expected, but it had also shown me that my assumptions about Honchkrow hadn’t actually worked. We couldn’t just try to pick it off from the sidelines and expect not to get hurt, especially since Honchkrow revealed that he could use Dark Pulse. And next time, we might not get so lucky.

But as a whole, the improvised Stone Edge-Fire Punch combo had worked out quite nicely. Now I knew the flaws in my plan, at least. I just have to work on addressing them.

I mentally run through my options. The whole “snipe ‘em like a ninja ‘cause it’s pro” approach hadn’t worked out so great, but I was reluctant to get in close. Huggles couldn’t fly all that fast compared to some of the types of her kind, like Ivy’s Crobat, and even a paralyzed Honchkrow might be able react in time to knock her out of the sky.

Speed. That’s what we needed.

And then everything just kinda made sense from there.

“Right,” I announce, straightening up. I honestly hope that I’m not taking too long with all of this. I don’t want Ivy to get annoyed. I’m probably taking twice as long as the normal trainers to do all of this already… bah. “Start it off with Waterfall, and then use Twister like we practiced.”

I’m so glad that we had actually taken the time to go over some of the simpler combos while we were away.

Huggles nods, her tiny eyebrows furrowing in concentration as she prepares herself. I know that Huggles has a limited control over the air around her, and she can control the weather to some extent. We haven’t been able to master techniques as complex as that quite yet, but Huggles can still sense and somewhat control the particles of water in the air around her. It’s useful when we want to use an attack involving water and we’re not standing in the middle of a big honking stream… and frankly, that rarely happens.

Huggles spreads her arms apart, and tiny droplets of water coalesce around her body. The spheres of water swelled in size as Huggles gathered more and more water molecules from the air around her, until there was nearly enough to surround her entire body. The water flitted around in clear tendrils, lashing through the air and then gently swirling around.

Still controlling the water with her palms, Huggles begins to flap her wings as hard as she can without actually moving anywhere or losing control of the water. An orb of wind forms around her entire body, stretching and compressing as its size varies and Huggles struggles to control it. Wind is a raw force of nature, after all.

The orb gradually elongates, forming a vortex of wind around Huggles’s body, whooshing dully in my ears. The water beneath Huggles, still floating in the air, stirrs and is suddenly absorbed into the vortex, circling around her in great navy blue tendrils. The vortex whirls around Huggles, razor blades of water intertwined with slashes of air, and stray tendrils of wind shoot out, snagging at my hair and sending a breeze across the platform.

Right. Ideally, Huggles would charge the Honchkrow head on—she preferred that style of fighting best, I knew—but I need to get her out of the way before the Honchkrow could formulate some sort of dastardly plan, if it hadn’t already.

“Execute Waterfall as normal, Huggles, but use your Extreme Speed attack as well to give it a little bit extra,” I call out to her. Huggles, through the whirling hurricane, hears me and nods. She leaps skyward, the mini-hurricane still whirling around her, and tendrils of white light appear around her body. The tendrils of white aura form a half-sphere around her, with the apex at the tip of her head.

I’m tempted to throw in another attack, but I don’t want to make her juggle so many things at once. Even now, she might be having problems.

Huggles nods at me, and then she lurches forwards, much faster than normal. Or at least, that’s what I hope is happening. As it is, she’s just a blur as she streaks across the field, water whirling, winds roaring, and she ducks her head slightly as she prepares to hit the Honchkrow head on. “With the force of scaling a waterfall” is how the Pokédex describes it. Hopefully, though, the added Extreme Speed will give her just enough speed to get in and get out before Honchkrow can react and knock her back this time.

Huggles roars as well, rocketing towards the Honchkrow. Tendrils of misty water flare out behind her as she darts across the platform, parallel to the ground. She pulls up as she draws closer to the Honchkrow, ready to hit it with all of her power and hopefully get out of the way before things get too ugly.

\*/

(OOC: To any lurkers, Kai is on Haitus for the time being. The run will continue when she returns.)

BP#3

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Kai thought for a moment more. She was definitely a planner, and Ivy knew she would figure out what she needed to do. Haxbat chittered beside her, and she just shook her head. “She's thinking. I'd rather have her take the time she needs than rush into it without some sort of plan. Things could get messy otherwise.” The Crobat seemed to shrug and did a few circles above the Ranger before coming back down to hover near her shoulder.

“Star off with Waterfall, and then use Twister like we practiced,” she called. It sounded like they had some experince working with combination moves, and that was great. It would make sure they went smoother here.

Dragonite were powerful Pokémon, capable of many things. With the right Trainer they could do almost anything. This one looked like she knew was she was doing. The dragon spread her arms apart, and tiny water drops from the air began to liquify around her. More and more collected until there were weaving clear streams around her, swirling gently with the energy put into them and the light breeze.

Next, Huggles began to flap her wings, kicking up wind. It twisted into an orb-like shape around her, flexing and bulging as she tried to control the air currents. After a minute the winds seemed to heed to the dragon's commands, and then the water rushed up to join the vortex. Power surged from the dragon, and the wind made Ivy have to brush her hair back as it was pulled.

The Honchkrow watched this with interest, still breathing a little heavier. His wings crackled with energy, and Ivy watched as his feathers weaved in the wind. Then, she saw a spark come to the bird's eyes. He spread both wings out as a test, observing how the wind fluttered them. Then there was energy gathering around the bird, and a wind kicked up behind him as he started to rise. Though he was still crackling with the threat of paralysis, the tailwind helped keep him airborne, and as he floated, he was manuevering a little better.

“Execute Waterfall as normal, Huggles, but use your Extreme Speed to give it a little bit extra,” Kai called out next, and Ivy approved. There was a miniature hurricane whirling around the dragon, and the harder she could hit with it, the closer they would be to taking the Honchkrow into a catchable range. Dragonite weren't particularly fast, but this attack was, and Honchkrow was a bit slower due to paralysis.

Dragonite charged, a sphere of energy forming at the horn on the tip of her head. Honchkrow couldn't move in time, and the dragon crashed into him. The krow lashed out with his wings at the same time, though due to the force, it didn't look like it did too much damage to the dragon. The dark bird went flying backwards, and he didn't stop until he slammed into a pillar halfway across the field.

Ivy grimaced, but the bird wasn't going to give up. He didn't even fall to the ground. He almost did as his strength left and the wind was knocked out of him, but he was aided by the wind following him, and it caught his wings just enough so he didn't crash into the platform. He hovered a moment before collecting himself, and then he turned his attention to Huggles.

Ivy could almost see the dark cloud of thoughts hovering above the bird. He began taunting the dragon again, though it was different than his previous attack. It was provoking still, but in a different way. He seemed to be trying to tug at the dragon's memories in order to upset her. Maybe he was trying to provoke using different attacks. That water twister didn't look like it was very fun to be on the wrong end of; she could understand trying to prevent it from happening again.

When the bird was satisfied his tormenting had gone on long enough, he came a little closer, testing out his wings on the helping tailwind. He didn't fall and seemed alright, and he called out his challenge to the dragon, hurt but not beaten. He might be trying to take the battle to the sky now. He did cringe a bit though, and his flight was a little shaky despite the steadying wind. Ivy wasn't sure the bird would last too much longer. She hoped Kai adjusted her plans accordingly so she could catch this thing no problem.


---

Current Battle Stats:

Brave M Honchkrow: 30% [PAR][SpAtt+2][Wind-1][Used Tailwind, Wing Attack, and Torment]
Hardy F Dragonite: 85% [Torment-1][Used Twister and Waterfall]

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 14 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: Honchkrow
Pokémon Captured: None
MCR: 61,192/25,000 [Intermediate Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 3x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 85%
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

((OOC: thanks for keeping this open. ^.^))

Kai stared at the proceedings in shock for a very long time, her eyes wide. Like, for two months or something. She couldn't believe it. Three unthinkable things. Firstly, she had begun to speak in third person. The switch was soothing, and she was wondering what the heck she had been thinking before. Secondly, she had switched to past tense because, well... she didn't know. It was better that way. Stupid participles and the grammar crap... And thirdly, her idea had actually worked. Yeah.

She straightened up, determined to stop breaking the bloody fourth wall and just throw the darned ball already. Ivy would probably be rather confused by her at this point, so it was best just to hurry and move on. She grabbed a ball from her bag, rifling through the potions and finally closing in on the small blue sphere of a Super Ball.

"Huggles!" she cried out. Good god, that name is stupid... I've got to fix that later... "Hit the ground and Roost for a bit; you've done great."

Huggles nodded obediently and swooped to the ground in a flash of orange, tucking in her wings and allowing herself to recover some of the energy she had lost while fighting the Honchkrow. The Dragonite smiled cheerfully and waved at Kai as she began to revitalize herself.

Oh. Right. Superball. On it. Kai felt too lazy to describe the feel of the cool metal beneath her fingers as she lobbed the ball towards the Honchkrow. With her luck, she'd end up throwing it off a cliff instead. Oh well. She was out of clever things to say as the Super Ball arced through the air towards the Honchkrow...

(OOC: Np ^^ Welcome back.)

NBP#3

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Kai stayed still for a long time, staring off into space as she thought. It was so long, it seemed like months. Ivy was patient though, since every person had their own way of maneuvering in the Park. This was especially true of first timers, and it was most important to let them work things out. They wanted people to keep coming back here.

Eventually the girl pulled out a Superball. That was a good idea, since the Honchkrow was pretty weak and losing strength with every minute it had to keep battling. It shakily floated in its wind, just watching.

“Huggles!” Kai said. “Hit the ground and Roost for a bit; you've done great.”

The big, orange dragon nodded, obediently landing and resting while Kai readied her ball. She gave it a launch toward the bird, keeping watch on it. The Honchkrow eyed the incoming projectile and tried to dodge, soaring upward as if it could outspeed the device. Its own wind betrayed it, however. The tailwind that helped carried the bird up also caught the Superball in the gust, and it flung the device up right after the avian.

The ball struck the bird, and immediately the tailwind peetered out as the Honchkrow was sucked up into the device in a beam of red light. It fell to the platform and hit with a light thunk, shaking slightly. Then the ball pinged, and Ivy smiled at the Trainer.

“Congrats,” she said as she walked over to pick the ball up, putting it safely in a vest pocket. “You've caught your first Park Pokémon. I'll hang onto it to keep it safe for now, and once you decide what you're taking with you when we're done, I'll give this one and any others back to you. Where would you-” she began, but cut herself off as a new voice joined them.

“Hoothoot!” it said.

Ivy looked to her left, and on the next ledge up sat a small brown and cream bird with bright red eyes and fancy black eyeliner. It hopped on one foot, looking at them curiously. It cocked its head to the side as it watched.

“Alright, Kai, it looks like the next Pokémon wants to see you already. Any interest in a Hoothoot?”


---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Hoothoot: 100%

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
Area Effects: 13 Encounters Remaining
It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: Honchkrow, Hoothoot
Pokémon Captured: Brave M Honchkrow
MCR: 0/4,000 [Common Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 2x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 100% [Roosted]
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

Kai couldn't help but grin as the Super Ball clicked shut with a ping and stopped shaking.

<Clicked shut with a ping?> Fred asked her quizically. <That makes about as much sense as a banana on a unicycle...>

She sighed slightly to herself. "Not now, Fred..." She shook his presence out of her head, and focused on the newest threat... erm... encounter... erm... Pokemon. Yeah, that was the word. She was glad she was so popular... (Fred snickered at that one), but it was kinda interesting having Pokemon literally pop out of the ground in front of her. Not in a bad way, just kinda funny.

"Hoothoot!" the small brown bird cawed at her. She was amazed that it could stand on a single foot and still stare at her and look so fricking cute, but she knew that she had to look at things from a more commercial standpoint, or whatever the word was. Hoothoot wasn't that bad of a Pokemon, and Noctowl was pretty decent... but Kai really didn't think she could raise so many Pokemon and not, you know, screw up with something. After all, Fred hadn't turned out so well and all of that wonderful stuff...

<I heard that...> he pouted angrily.

She sighed. Only a few months left, she realized. But for the time being, she would have to let the little owl fly on his own lonesome. "Uh..." she said eloquently, grinning sheepishly. "I hate to leave the little guy hanging, but I think I'd rather just leave him here..." she trailed off. There was something for escaping encounters instantly, she remembered. Something to do with dolls and throwing them and maybe cheese... eh, whatever. She'd look into that if it came to that. Kai started edging away uncertainly, unnerved at how the Hoothoot's giant eyes followed her steps. "Do you think we could try to... uh... like, avoid him and move on?"

NBP#4

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

Kai looked at the Hoothoot for a bit, seeming lost in thought. Eventually she sighed and spoke up. “I hate to leave the little guy hanging, but I think I'd rather just leave him here...” Ivy understood; a lot of rare Pokémon resided at the Park, and sometimes it was a waste to go after the more common ones when you could find them elsewhere. “Do you think we could try to... uh... like, avoid him and move on?”

“Sure,” Ivy replied. “That's no problem at all.” She turned to the Hoothoot and spoke to him next. “Alright, little guy, looks like today's not your day. Don't worry, there will be plenty of Trainers back soon.”

The bird chirped a few times, but didn't look too hurt. It flew away after that, leaving them to it. Haxbat chattered behind her, causing her to turn. “Yeah, yeah, we're going. Why don't you lead the way.” The Crobat seemed fine with that, and he flew off ahead, leaving the rest of them to follow.

The traveled along the platforms, following the Crobat's form as he weaved in and out of vines and under ledges that rested higher up. It really didn't look like something man-made with the dirt and grass-covered ground and gently rolling paths. Ivy could hear the waterfall from here too.

“Alright, Kai, we have a few choices here. We could head up the path that way,” she said while pointing, “where there's some ladders and stuff, or we could head toward the waterfall.” She brought her hand back around to gesture in the other direction.

Before the Trainer could answer, however, the sound of buzzing wings filled her ears. The Ranger turned around as she heard Haxbat call out and swoop closer. Then she caught sight of the dragonfly-like Pokémon with green trapezoidal wings coming towards them.

She turned toward Kai. “That Vibrava looks interested. Want a shot at it?”


---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Vibrava: 100%

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
12 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: Honchkrow, Hoothoot, Vibrava
Pokémon Captured: Brave M Honchkrow
MCR: 0/25,000 [Intermediate Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 2x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 100%
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick

Kai breathed with a sigh of relief as the Hoothoot allowed them to walk on by. Just as she was about to answer Ivy and point to one of the two directions, a Vibrava appeared, its wings buzzing and the little cute goggles on its eyes gleaming in the light. Kai felt a pang of guilt as she remembered the story... erm.. adventure she had written uh, traveled on to get a Trapinch, and then she had failed and neglected to ever return to it. A month had passed, then two, then three, then twelve... and still, she hadn't had the heart to go back and find that Trapinch. She knew it would evolve into a Vibrava, and then later a Flygon (arguably one of her personal favorites), but it would be really silly to have two Flygon with her, as purely awesome as they were. Or even a Vibrava and a Flygon, or any other possible permutation.

All the same, Kai wasn't so sure. "I do really like Flygon," she muttered, looking at the Vibrava with longing. "So much cooler than Garchomp. And I do feel kinda bad for him...her... thingy..." she bit her lip, frowning. "But I do have a Trapinch waiting for me if I ever get around to rewriting...erm... adventuring..." she turned to Ivy, feeling rather awkward at having to skirt around two Pokemon in a row in this place. "Do you think we could avoid this one, too? I'm not really sure what this Waterfall thing is, but it sounds pretty cool. Maybe Fred-Starmie could come out and play for a bit. He gets scared when he's not in water," she explained rather lamely. "And I kinda like water... it'd be cool to move on."

She paused, hefting her backpack and eying the Vibrava in case it wanted to, you know, attack them. "Oh, right," she muttered, hearing the uncanny sound of cracking metal. She cringed. "I should work with this voice-player thingy... whatever it's called... I dunno what I'm supposed to do, but I guess we would work on that after the Vibrava makes up its mind, right?"

NBP#5

Ranger Ivy Frost

---

“Oh, right,” Kai muttered. “I should work on this voice-player thingy... whatever it's called... I dunno what I'm supposed to do, but I guess we would work on that after the Vibrava makes up its mind, right?”

“Sure. You can start playing the Poképlayer whenever you want. All you have to do is put the disk in and press play. It automatically shuts off when the time is up. Hopefully the sound works. What are you looking for?” Ivy asked. She looked away from the Trainer as she caught movement in the side of her vision, and she saw the Vibrava fly off, swooping down and underneath the farthest platform.

Then, she heard Haxbat screech, and the next thing the Ranger knew she was eating dirt. She coughed as she leaned up, spitting to the side. “What was that for?” she called after the bat that had knocked her down.

A swooshing came through the hair, and she ducked as a finned green and red tail almost smacked her in the head. Large red eyes and trapezoid wings gave way to a Flygon soaring right over her. She watched as Haxbat flew up. The dragon followed, and they did loops in the sky chasing each other.

Ivy slowly got up, brushing some of the dirt off her vest and pants. “Well, he had good intentions at least. You probably don't want to catch a Flygon if you didn't go for Vibrava, but do you have a camera? That would probably make an interesting picture,” she said as she pointed up at the two flying Pokémon.


---

Current Battle Stats:

??? ??? Flygon: 100%

---

Trainer Stats

Name: Kai
Location: Outer Heaven
11 Encounters Remaining
Area Effects: It's sunny.
Pokémon Encountered: Honchkrow, Hoothoot, Vibrava, Flygon
Pokémon Captured: Brave M Honchkrow
MCR: 0/35,000 [Rare Rank]

Items: Digital camera, 3x Park Ball, 2x Super Ball, 3x Hyper Ball, 5x Super Potion, 2x Full Heal, 2x Pokedoll, Poképlayer, Intermediate Voice Disk (Skarmory)

Pokémon Stats

Pokemon: Rotom-F
Nickname: Nix
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Jolly
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 33 Reflect, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 96 Light Screen, TM 72 Shadow Ball, TM 115 Charge Beam, TM 118 Will-o-Wisp, DC Signal Beam, Blizzard (obtained upon becoming Frost Forme)
*
Pokemon: Dragonite @ 100%
Nickname: Huggles
Gender: Female
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Hardy
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 26 Earthquake, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ghost), HM02 Fly, HM03 Surf, HM 07 Waterfall, SM Draco Meteor, SM Extreme Speed, BM Superpower
*
Pokemon: Milotic
Nickname: Mitzi
Gender: Female
Ability: Marvel Scale
Nature: Gentle
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 06 Toxic, TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 44 Rest, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Fire), TM 64 Protect, TM 76 Sleep Talk, TM 116 Dragon Pulse, HM03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, BM Hypnosis, BM Confuse Ray, SM Mirror Coat, BM Haze, SM Icy Wind.
*
Pokemon: Starmie
Nickname: Fred
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
TM/HM/BM/SM/MT: TM 13 Ice Beam, TM 24 Thunderbolt, TM 25 Thunder, TM 29 Psychic, TM 33 Reflect, TM 42 Dream Eater, TM 44 Rest, TM 45 Thunder Wave, TM 49 Tri Attack, TM 50 Substitute, TM 58 Psych Up, TM 59 Hidden Power (Ground), TM 63 Icy Wind, TM 106 Skill Swap, TM 113 Brine, TM 135 Grass Knot, TM 138 Flash Cannon, HM 03 Surf, HM07 Waterfall, MT Signal Beam, MT Barrier, SM Trick