cilantro | inbox / appointments (luceti)

[ Sometime around noon, Cilan gets a video message. ]

Let's battle. I'll be waiting in the Battle Dome.

[Oh? That was slightly sooner than he expected.]

Alright, I'll meet you there.

[Cilan keeps his reply short and sweet--they can talk more when he actually gets there, but for now he'll make sure things are in order here before he leaves and heads off. Give or take fifteen to twenty minutes, but he'll be arriving at the Battle Dome with a cheerful greeting once he spots her.]

Hello Hilda! I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long...

[ Well, she arrived on the 11th. She's been looking forward to this since they first talked. ]

Not at all! I hope you're ready 'cause I don't hold back.

[ She means it. She's faced little kids in battle and she had no issues with completely destroying them.

She'll guide him to one of the unoccupied rooms, which is currently set to simulate a square, grassy field. There are a few boulders here and there and a medium-sized body of water in the middle, but nothing more complicated than that. ]

Mm. That's good to hear, as I don't plan to either.

[The battlefield has a nice and simple taste to it. It looks like it could cover the essentials of what his team is good with, so he'll go ahead and take his place on the other side of the field.]

I assume you have three Pokemon with you, right? Do you wish to have a three vs. three match, or fewer? [Yes, that's right, Cilan has three Pokemon, not just a hypothetical Pansage and Lillipup.] I don't mind what terms you'd like to set--my Pokemon and I will be sure to present a battle with a variety of strong and robust flavors nonetheless.

[ Hilda figured that most Gym Leaders do, in fact, have more Pokémon than the ones they used in battle. She has no idea what the third one could possibly be (she's thinking Whimsicott or maybe Maractus) but she's sure it'll put up a good fight regardless of what it is. She walks over to her side of the field, mentally working out different strategies. ]

That's right. [ She nods, tugging lightly at the brim of her cap. ] Three versus three, no time limit, switching out is allowed. The first one to have all of their three Pokémon faint is the loser.

Very well! I look forward to tasting the skills you used in your battle at the Striaton Gym. [The one we don't remember having actually taken place. He adjusts his collar a little before taking out a pokeball, like so.] But I can't promise that this battle will be so easy. Are you ready?

I was born ready! Sawsbuck, let's do this.

[ She pulls a Pokéball from her bag and tosses it in the air. Her Sawsbuck emerges with a flash of light, standing proudly before its trainer. ]

Hm, I see... [Sawsbuck, huh...after a second or two of thinking, (and with quite a flourish), he tosses his pokeball into the air.]

My vintage Pokemon, Pansage! [And out comes his Pansage as likely expected, taking a fighting stance in front of it's trainer. Pitting a grass-type against another Pokemon that's at least part grass may seem a little odd, but...well, admittedly, we're fond of using Pansage first sometimes, at least to test the waters a little, since they are allowed to switch out for this battle if needed.] You may make the first move, if you'd like.

With pleasure! Sawsbuck, open up with Swords Dance!

[ Her Pokémon flicks its ears and starts stomping its hooves on the ground to build up power. It lets out a grunt and glares menacingly at Pansage, awaiting its move. ]

Mm, an added spice to it's strength...I see... [Boosting your attack first is actually a pretty wise move in comparison to most opponents he's had that charge in first. In that case--]

Pansage, use Dig! [We'll just have to use an attack that makes it harder for us to get hit with your now increased attack strength. Pansage jumps and digs a hole down into the ground, disappearing somewhere below. Where will Pansage emerge? Nobody knows!

...Well okay, after a brief few seconds of antagonizing waiting, Pansage will burst back up out of the ground right underneath Sawsbuck's hind legs in an attempt to attack it and knock it off it's feet.]

Sawsbuck, look out!

[ The deer Pokémon looks around, trying to tell where and when the grass monkey is going to reappear. Where on (in?) earth could that little thing be?

When the attack successfully connects, Sawsbuck rears up trying to kick Pansage but ends up losing its balance instead and it topples over in the most inelegant way possible with loose leaves scattering everywhere. It's not down for the count yet, though, so after a few seconds it gets back up on its feet. ]

Counter with Return! [ It lowers its head and charges toward Pansage. ]

Dodge it! [Pansage will do just that, trying to leap out of the way when the deer comes running towards it--depending on how fast Sawsbuck is, it might actually be able to hit it anyway with a glancing blow despite it's attempt to dodge the attack. Nonetheless, it'll land back on it's feet a few feet away afterwards, wincing a fair bit.]

Use Rock Tomb! [Pansage holds it's hands out in front of it as a silvery light forms between it's paws--it then holds it up in the air as the light disappears to reveal a large boulder, which the little grass monkey then proceeds to attempt to hurl it at Sawsbuck.]

Dodge it and try again!

[ Rock Tomb and Dig is not what she expected Pansage to have (what happened to spamming Work Up?) but she's not letting herself get sidetracked by that detail right now; her attention is 100% on the battle at hand, not the one she had as a newbie over a year ago.

When Pansage launches the boulder, Sawsbuck leaps to the side with seasoned reflexes and the speed of-- well, a deer. It gives an arrogant snort as it lunges forward to deliver another Return. ]

[This time Pansage isn't quite quick enough to escape the full brunt of the attack since it had been concentrating on aiming that boulder, getting hit and knocked off it's feet and onto it's back. For most lower-leveled Pansage that would probably be the end for it, but after a moment this one does seem capable of getting back up on it's feet for now, panting in exhaustion.

Still, despite being on the disadvantaged side at the moment, we're really impressed by the opponent's strength, as Cilan muses a little.]

Mm, I must say that your Sawsbuck is quite a challenge--I don't think we've faced one that had such a formidable taste before until now! [~~sorry Burgundy, your Sawsbuck was kind of easy to beat~~] I can sense a powerful flavor in it's attack, showing that the two of you indeed have a strong bond together!

Why thank you, Cilan! Return's one of the best Normal-types moves-- and it only gets stronger the longer the two of us are together.

[ Until it caps at a base power of 102, that is. But if you factor in the same type attack bonus, it can surpass Giga Impact... ]

You've been an excellent opponent so far, but can you beat that?

[ Sawsbuck looks down at Pansage as if it's saying "You can't", confidence evident in its eyes. ]

Well, we certainly won't know until we try! [But two of our moves are kind of pointless to use since Sawsbucks are mostly resistant to grass-type attacks, so we'll have to try to do what we can with our other two moves we've got...] Pansage, use Dig once more!

[Pansage complies, digging another hole and disappearing down under the ground. After a short moment of waiting, it springs back up to attack, this time attempting to attack from right under it's front legs rather than it's hind legs like last time--even if we don't cause significant damage if it tries to dodge this one, hopefully this will still trip it up a little...or even get it to get one of it's legs caught in one of the other holes we've previously left on the field if it's not being too careful about dodging...]

Use Swords Dance while it's underground!

[ If Sawsbuck can pull off another boost to its attack stat, it might just be able to tear through the rest of Cilan's team. It's a risky strategy but she's going to go through with it. ]

[ Sawsbucks snorts once more and begins stomping its hooves against the grass to sharpen its power even further. It doesn't get to finish though, because Pansage manages to break its concentration when it bursts out. Sawsbuck moves backward to give itself some space to charge into its opponent for a counterattack... and successfully manages to step in one of the holes, causing it to stumble and leave itself completely open to an attack. ]

[Good, now's our chance!]

Quick, use Rock Tomb! [Pansage creates another boulder in it's paws to throw down at the Sawsbuck--thanks to it's stumbling over the hole there, hopefully this time will be the lucky strike for the attack to connect!]

Get out of th-- [ Too late. Unable to pull out its leg and jump out of the way in time, the boulder hits Sawsbuck with tremendous force that probably would kill most creatures that don't adhere to the laws of cartoon physics.

Sawsbuck makes a pained noise and manages to hold its head up long enough to glare at Pansage for a few seconds before crumpling over and slipping into unconsciousness. ]

Looks like he's down for the count. You're good!

[ Hilda's a little surprised, actually -- in a good way because she's only getting more fired up. She returns Sawsbuck to its Pokéball and sends out her Musharna. ]

[Thank goodness for the laws of cartoon physics.]

Thank you, I'm glad you think so--you've been an opponent with excellent taste so far as well. [Musharna, huh...we saw it earlier when Hilda had used it to slow down her fall from that building. And it's likely that Pansage might not actually be able to beat it since it's tired from battling Sawsbuck, but...well, it's just a little too early to make a proper full evaluation of her skills just yet.] I look forward to seeing what you and your Pokemon do next!

[Yes, he will give you the opportunity to make the first move again, if she wants.]

[ If Cilan willingly gives her the chance to, why not. ]

Musharna, go get 'em! Use Psychic!

[ Musharna begins to glow with the same purple-pink aura that had slowed down Hilda during her stunt. The surrounding area seems to become distorted, almost as if someone applied a Photoshop filter to reality, and it fires a technicolour wave of telekinetic energy toward Pansage. ]

[Irk, Psychic is one of those moves that's really hard to dodge, if nearly impossible for some. Pansage is the former; even though it tries to keep from getting overwhelmed by the odd filter in their surroundings, it ends up getting hit with the wave of telekinetic energy, stumbling back and swaying a bit, as if colors are dancing around it's vision for a moment. Oops.]

Pansage, are you alright? [Uh...maybe? Just give us second to regain our senses here, though a second might be all Hilda and Musharna need to send in another attack...]

Again, Musharna!

[ Another telekinetic attack coming right up, Pansage. ]

[Oops, we better do something this time.] Quick, use Dig!

[Pansage digs down into the ground once more in order to try to escape from the telekinetic wave of energy. Of course, Dig as an attack doesn't really work on Musharna, so when it comes back up elsewhere, it can't actually reach Musharna from where the other Pokemon is floating. Not to mention that we'll probably end up taking a dirt nap here soon from all the energy we've spent already in this battle...but we're not gonna give up just yet. Gotta try to get at least one attack in before Pansage potentially gets knocked out soon.]

Bullet Seed! [Pansage opens it's mouth and attempts to fire a bunch of seeds at the floating Musharna. See look, we do in fact know a grass-type move or two!]

[ ~~Musharna doesn't have Levitate, Dig would hit but gameplay mechanics don't really translate well to this.~~ The Musharna line isn't exactly known for its speed so some of the seeds manage to hit it before it can react, causing it to let out a shrill sound-- and to unleash a third wave of energy, this time at the seeds rather than Pansage. The trajectory of the remaining seeds is bent down, causing them to hit the grass beneath Musharna instead. ]

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