◇ 03 ◇ flare

[horrorthreshold]

[If Theo’s been scarce the past few months, he’s had a good reason: training. That’s what he’s doing today, deep in the middle of the forest, if anyone happens to be passing through.]

Faint Attack! Arial Ace! Th-Thunderbolt! Use it on- [he gasps, doubling over, but almost immediately stands back upright] -the trees, on the trees, do it!

[The

Comments

[aquaboss]

[What are you even doing. No, seriously. That's not training. And this is coming from the king of fail training?]

The hell d'you think you're doin' huh? [His tone is mild despite the harsh words. He actually looks mildly worried; you're wearing yourself out, kid.]

You sure as hell don't look alright. You - an' your Pokemon - could use a break.

[aquaboss]

[That comment actually surprises Archie. He normally doesn't battle defensively. He doesn't need to wonder when this happened though - it was because of losing that battle to Maxie. Hell, the guy's Camerupt tried to use Flamethrower on Archie the other day! So yeah, he's been battling defensively, but it's working, isn't it?]

[Magical Leaf hits Tentacruel, but his Poison-type helps him shrug it off without much damage. Future Sight is the move Archie's worried about - that will knock Tentacruel out immediately if given the chance.]

Tentacruel, return! Sharpedo! [He calls Tentacruel back in favor of his half-Dark-type shark. Sure, Sharpedo's a glass canon, but Archie doesn't intend to let the kid kill him.]

Crunch! Icicle Drop! [Sharpedo immediately goes for Gardevoir and Cloyster aims the ice at Delcatty - who knew that thing was actually decent?]

[horrorthreshold]

Roselia, Leech Seed! Gardevoir, Double Team!

[Roselia's attack goes for Sharpedo, while the Psychic-type focuses on trying to dodge that nasty Crunch attack. Archie's playing against types, and Theo knows that without Magneton he's not going to do well against any of these match-ups.]

[aquaboss]

[Crunch misses, and Sharpedo crashes forward with the momentum, slamming into a nearby tree. He recovers quickly enough, only to get wrapped up in seeds.]

Icicle Drop! [Cloyster aims the ice at the Roselia, hopefully knocking it out before it can do too much damage to Sharpedo. Archie is not going to let that shark faint again.]

[horrorthreshold]

[Roselia takes the hit, hard, but manages to wobble back up. Theo doesn't look too worried, however.]

Giga Drain! Gardevoir, Double Team again!

[aquaboss]

[Archie doesn't give the command for Cloyster to attack again, but he's already aiming another Icicle Drop at Roselia. Sharpedo shakes himself off and aims another Crunch at Gardevoir, only to miss again. Poliwrath finally shakes himself off and stands up, which doesn't do anything to even the odds.]

Good, 'bout time you woke up. Waterfall! [Poliwrath aims the jet of water at Gardevoir - but unfortunately he misses too. Archie isn't worried - he's still got the advantage here.]

[horrorthreshold]

[Roselia takes the ice attack and nearly drops, only barely hanging on from the health she took with the Giga Drain. Theo nods, looking satisfied, eyes darting around from each of Archie's pokémon.]

Giga Drain, Psychic! Both of you, the Cloyster! [He needs to at least try and get it down to two vs. two; his pokémon can't handle the extra target.]

[aquaboss]

[Oh that's not very nice. That poor Cloyster's really had it rough on this island. First there was that Swellow, now getting tag-teamed by these two? Thankfully his Special Defense is quite high; Cloyster takes both hits well enough before launching another Icicle Drop at Roselia. Sharpedo waits this time, tracking Gardevoir's movements closely before launching another high-speed Crunch attack.]

Again! [The command is issued to Poliwrath, who whips another Waterfall attack at Gardevoir. Archie doesn't seem to mind getting wet from the attack, though he's fast enough to get out of the way to avoid any unnecessary damage.]

[horrorthreshold]

[This time, Roselia collapses after being hit. Gardevoir manages, barely, to duck around Sharpedo's teeth, but the Waterfall slams into him dead on, though he manages to stay up.

If Theo's upset about being down to one fighter, he doesn't show it. The odds are going to be far worse than this, later. What better way to learn from his mistakes?]

Psychic. The Cloyster again.

[aquaboss]

[Psychic hits Cloyster - the first one must have crushed his Special Defense because that does a hell of a lot more than it normally should - and he's knocked out. Archie returns him, but doesn't call out another Pokemon. He has more, but it's already an unfair fight as it is. That Gardevoir is good, though. Not to mention if it lands a Psychic on Poliwhirl, he'll be out immediately.]

Sharpedo, Rain Dance! Poliwhirl, Waterfall, again! [The Sharpedo halts, whipping around in a circle quickly before summoning a rainstorm. Poliwhirl unleashes his attack next, the Waterfall attack now powered up by the matching weather.]