Pokemon Battle- Jace vs. Tyson

[Zorayda]

'Yes! It hit!' Jace thought incredulously as the persian yowled at the fire scorching her fur. The scent of burnt hair permeated the room, the acrid smell making Jace wrinkled his nose. 'Ew…'

-You’re tellin’ me, I have a much better nose than you,- Viola answered conversationally as she readied the Payback attack. The cat just couldn’t take anymore, it seemed, as the vulpix slammed into her—the lioness went down, staying still on the field. Viola sat down on her haunches near the cat, her breath coming a bit more heavily as she panted.

“Hey, great battle…” she said to the persian, giving her a small fox-grin. “Maybe after this, we should hang out sometime, as friends.” Her ears perked and she scooted away, allowing Tyson room to reclaim her into the Luxury Ball designated for the cat.
-Well, that went well… hope I didn’t hurt her too bad,- Viola fretted as she turned her attention back to her master.

'Nah, she’ll be okay… I can tell Tyson has a special spot for her in his heart,' Jace answered, soothing the fox. She wagged her tails once in reply. Jace raised his brow when Tyson walked onto the field, coming up to scoop the persian into his arms… apparently she really hated Poke Balls. Respecting the trainer a bit more for taking his Pokemon’s wishes into account, he crossed his arms and gave Tyson a long look.

“I can tell you really care about her—all of your Pokemon are highly talented,” he remarked, then smiling at Tyson’s compliment. “Well, I didn’t get this far for nothing… I’m just having a ton of fun here,” Jace laughed, eyes crinkling at the sides. He grinned when Tyson figured out the mechanics between him and Viola.

“I knew you’d figure it out,” he said, and laughed as Viola came closer to stand in front of Jace. “She’s my special gal,” he added affectionately, throwing Viola a soft look and a lopsided smile.

-Love you too, Jacey.-

Nothing else was said as Tyson gently draped the persian into her spot—but when the charizard suddenly burst out of its ball, Jace and Viola both staggered back, the fire-type’s presence extremely intimidating. The look it gave Viola was mildly entertaining to Jace, who let out a chuckle, but Viola’s bottom jaw pushed out.

-Hey… Small Pokemon are tough too! I don’t like him, Jace,- she whined, but the humor was short lived as the fiery dragon took off, diving straight at the vulpix…

'Viola, watch out, he’s gonna grab--!' But it was too late—the charizard’s claws wrapped around the small fox, and she was face-down—unable to use any attack as they flew up, up… up to the vaulted ceiling of the huge Chaos Gym. Viola was just a speck above the stone Reshiram’s head. Jace’s mind raced for some kind of saving grace, a way to keep the fox from falling and fainting—which was certain to happen from that ruthless attack—when Ryuu let her go. Jace let out a strangled cry as she tumbled, head over heels, quickly becoming larger in perspective…

'VIOLA!'

But just as she got close enough to see her six tails separately, he saw her eyes—her honey eyes narrowed in concentration. She had a plan… she righted herself so that her nose pointed straight at the ground in a dive before opening her jaws, letting loose a huge Flamethrower—right at the floor. Jaw agape, Jace marveled at the vulpix’s brilliance once more… she eased herself down, using the fire’s jetting force to slow her descent, landing ungracefully and tumbling to a halt…

Unharmed.

“V-Viola!” Jace stammered weakly. She grinned up at him as she stood.

-Perfectly fine, Jacey, don’t you worry,- she reassured, fluffling her tails as though she had just finished talking about the weather.

Recovering from mild shock at his odd but crazily brilliant Pokemon, he answered her.

'Wow… I’ll praise you properly for that later—but for now, I think Taro’d be a better choice for this battle,' Jace told her and she nodded before returning herself to her ball. Jace took a moment to put his hand to his face, wiping away the nervous sweat, before recalling the luxray out into the battle.

“C’mon, Taro!” He called, and the lion hunkered down close to the ground, nose pointed up as he watched the charizard fly near the ceiling. “Thunder Wave!” Jace ordered, and the lion’s body glowed blue with the electrical energy again, ready to hit the flying fire-type…

[Australian Chaos]

Tyson smiled as Ryuu grabbed the little Vulpix in his arms, making the surprisingly smart move of making sure she was unable to fight back as he flew up. "Game over..." he whispered to himself as he watched Ryuu's ascent to the roof. Part of him felt sorry for what was about to happen to the Vulpix, but he could tell Jace cared about his Pokemon deeply...she would be well tended to after the battle.

But when Ryuu dropped the Vulpix, Tyson had to resist the urge to turn away...Sky Drop was a truly ruthless attack, one that Tyson tended not to use often...but he was not going to hold back, and in this battle, he had to give it everything. But when Viola used a massive Flamethrower at the ground to slow her descent, effectively reaching the ground unharmed, Tyson's jaw literally dropped as he gasped, completely astounded by the Vulpix's quick thinking. She seemed shaken up by the drop, but physically unharmed. "No...way..." he breathed, taking a moment to glance up at Ryuu, still hovering around the ceiling, the Charizard's eyes also wide in astonishment...no Pokemon had ever escaped his Sky Drop attack unharmed before...some had survived it and kept battling on a rare occasion, but none had completely escaped it.

Tyson forced himself to snap out of it as Jace recalled Viola, sending out his Luxray once more, causing Tyson to grimace...the Electric type definitely had the advantage against Charizard's Flying half...Tyson just hoped his hot-headed Pokemon could outlast the feline, if Charizard fell this early, then this battle would be going down to the wire.

But Tyson gave a ghost of a smile as Jace called for Thunder Wave. A little predictable, my friend, he thought, before calling up to his Pokemon. "Ryuu, dive under it and give him a Flamethrower!" he called, Ryuu responding immediately, the Charizard's gaze a little more focused now he was fighting a bigger, stronger opponent...he could see this Luxray was a strong one. Tucking in his wings, the Charizard allowed himself to simply drop out of the air, the Thunder Wave pulse sailing high over him as he spread his wings, swooping low over the Luxray, loosing a stream of blazing fire as he passed over.

Tyson was already calling another order as the Flamethrower engaged, though. "Now swing back around and give it a Dragon Pulse!" he cried, happy he had taught the Charizard to embrace it's draconic tendencies, even if it wasn't a Dragon-type itself. Ryuu responded by carving a wide arc around the arena, before swooping back in, the blue pulse of energy charging in its open mouth as it prepared to strike the Luxray with the dragon attack.

[Zorayda]

Jace smiled in a sort of relieved way when Tyson and Ryuu gave looks of surprise... I didn't have any more of a clue what she was doing than you did... he thought fervently, grateful for the miracle of Viola's quick thinking. She really was the best Pokemon a trainer could ask for... Jace shook himself back into the present, watching Taro ready the electric attack--only for the charizard to swoop away from it and spray the ground with his Flamethrower attack. Jace frowned, knowing that Taro wouldn't be able to dodge... but took comfort in the lion's moves and his own ability to use ingenuity in battles.

"Use charge, Taro!" Jace called, and the lion did so, body glowing with the effort--and the leonine Pokemon's defense became stronger as the electrical field partially shielded him from the flame. Taro still snarled in pain as the fire scorched his fur, screwing his eyes shut--but he outlasted it particularly well, ready for the next order...

"Now..." Jace whispered, waiting for the charizard to come back around... "Discharge!"

Taro rushed forward, coming at the fiery dragon right as the Pulse was being charged--the two attacks clashed, Taro's supercharged electricity versus the Dragon Pulse attack--Taro stuck out his paws and his claws unsheathed, ready to sink into whatever was near to brace himself--

The Pulse hit, and Taro made a panther-like screeching sound before rearing back, staggering... he was hurting, but still up and fighting.

[Australian Chaos]

Tyson once again silently praised Jace's quick thinking as Taro's Charge reduced the effects of Ryuu's Flamethrower quite nicely. When the Dragon Pulse and Discharge attacks collided, Tyson grimaced, waiting to see what happened. A Discharge used straight after Charge was twice as powerful, and if Ryuu got struck by that, he could be in a bit of trouble.

In the end, both attacks ploughed through each other, Ryuu's Dragon Pulse sending Taro staggerring back, while the Luxray's Discharge struck Ryuu back, the fire-dragon roaring as the double-strength attack zapped him quite literally out of the sky, the electric shock hitting with enough to send the Charizard crashing to the ground, growling with the pain.

"Ryuu!" Tyson called, worried the Discharge attack might have been enough to bring the Charizard down...Ryuu had stamina, but a double-strength Discharge would have to have hurt...badly, partcularly with the Charizard's partial Flying-type. But Ryuu was not quite done yet, as he hauled himself back to his feet, grimacing from the lingering pain, and sporting several nasty bruises, but still determined to fight on. Ryuu was the kind of Pokemon that would keep going, no matter what, as long as he was still conscious.

"Alright, Ryuu, give him a Focus Blast!" Tyson yelled, Ryuu responding immediately, focusing intently. It had taken a lot of training for Ryuu to master this attack, but now the obscure Fighting-type move was almost instinctive for the fire-dragon, as it's mental focus allowed it to create a ball of energy from nothing more than the Charizard's impressive Fighting spirit, before he hurled it forcefully at Taro, the Fighting attack sailing across the battlefield...

[Zorayda]

Jace was impressed with both his own Pokemon and Tyson's after they each took heavy hits--he could hear his luxray's pants and the charizard's deep breaths come out of its draconic nostrils. Taro was struggling to remain upright at the moment, legs trembling with the effort of standing... and something else. Upon closer inspection, he saw a raw, red mark across the lion's left side, slightly hidden from his view at that angle. Frowning, Jace realized that Taro had gotten burned by that Flamethrower attack--and the cat had hidden his pain, pushing through. It was typical of Taro... ignore all pain and keep on fighting until he exhausted himself.

That burn would wear the electrical lion down fast--so Jace had to quickly think of an attack before the cat fainted. With only one fresh Pokemon versus Tyson's two, he had to push through, to try and defeat the charizard quickly, however hard it would be.

"Dodge it, Taro!" Jace called as Ryuu mentally prepared its attack--a Focus Blast, a strange move for a charizard to have. But he couldn't afford to stop and marvel at the Dragon Tamer's ability to teach his Pokemon rare moves. Right now, he had to concentrate on keeping his luxray standing until that burn put him down.

Taro had time to get out of the way of the blast even though he wasn't the speediest Pokemon on Jace's team, Ryuu's momentary concentration giving them an extra split second to dodge. Rolling out of the way, Taro yelped when his burn touched the ground, trembling as he stood back up and breathing heavily. The cat's pink tongue hung out of his mouth as he struggled to remain standing...

"C'mon, just a little more! Thunder Fang!"

Taro's maw glowed with the electrical power, canines crackling as he opened his mouth and rushed after Ryuu. Taro's moves were limited, and Jace only hoped that the charizard was too tired to predict the move fast enough to get out of the way... Taro charged as fast as his legs would carry him, paws thudding heavily across the marble as he ran fearlessly towards the huge fire-type.

But as the luxray's electricity died down, he skidded to halt just behind Ryuu, the momentum making him slide and tumble until he stopped. The cat lay on its side, eyelids flickering, until he gave out one last roar and fainted.

[Australian Chaos]

"Ryuu, watch out!" Tyson called as Taro went in for the nasty Thunder Fang attack, the Focus Blast having missed cleanly. Tyson had not noticed the Luxray's Burn, and was silently wondering at its apparant exhaustion. But he didn't have time to inspect further, Ryuu was in bad shape, and unless he could bring down the Luxray soon, it could be trouble.

But Ryuu, also tiring, and still a little out-of-sorts after the painfully strong Discharge, couldn't move fast enough, the bulky Luxray's electrified fangs sinking into the orange dragon's hip, the Charizard loosing an agonised roar as yet another electric strike surged through his body. Tyson frowned when the Luxray disengaged the attack quickly, collapsing and skidding to a stop, but as Taro fainted, Tyson finally saw the Burn along his side, and realised what had caused the Luxray to struggle...one of the dark-skinned Trainer's eyebrows went up at the Luxray's impressive endurance, a Burn from Ryuu was usually highly crippling.

But Tyson's attention turned back to Ryuu as the Charizard fell onto one knee with a loud thud. His eyes were screwed shut, sweat all-but pouring from the dragon-esque Pokemon's muzzle as he clearly fought to stay fighting, to hold out just a bit longer...but Tyson could see it was hopeless, the last Thunder Fang had been too much. Ryuu's head slowly turned, the Charizard's gaze finding the Luxray's still form, offering his opponent a small smile of respect, clearly pleased to have had such a ferociously challenging battle with the Luxray, before he, too, collapsed, crashing heavily to the ground, his battle over.

Tyson, too, could not help but smile as he recalled Ryuu, pleased his rather proud and big-headed friend had found a worthy opponent in Taro. It was not often Ryuu thought so highly of his opponents. "Well, Jace," he said softly, as he went for his second-last Pokemon, expanding the Ultra Ball in his palm as he spoke. "I must say I'm very impressed. It's not too often Ryuu thinks very much of his opponents, but your Luxray just won his respect...along with mine. Your team is exceptionally well-trained, and I can tell you care about all of them. But we're in the closing stages of this battle, now, and I intend on preserving this Gym's reputation! Tanga, it's your turn now!"

With another burst of light, Tyson revealed his fifth Pokemon...a Luxray. But Tanga was very different from Taro...and pretty much any other Luxray in existance. At first glance, Tanga appeared to be, like Topaz, nothing more than a shiny Pokemon, with the yellow fur where blue normally showed. But a second glance quickly revealed strange details...the silver star on his tail-tip, along with pale grey bands across his forelegs. And most striking of all...deep, electric blue eyes.

Tanga's lean frame lowered into a fighting stance, the Luxray turning back to nod to Tyson once, before turning back, giving Jace a silent, but determined look. This Luxray was not about to let his strange looks and scrawny frame slow him down, that was for sure.

[Zorayda]

'Well, guess that's a double KO,' Jace thought as he watched Ryuu go down. He kept in mind the respect the luxray and dragon had for each other--perhaps, if the Gym Leader wasn't terribly busy, their Pokemon could spar together and become friends after this battle... but for now, Jace had to concentrate on beating the trainer--if he still had the chance.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that coming from a Dragon Trainer--and a charizard--such as yourself and Ryuu," Jace replied humbly to Tyson's compliment. It wasn't every day that such comments were received by Gym Leaders or dragons, much less a Gym Leader like Tyson and a charizard like Ryuu. Grabbing Viola's ball once more, he pressed the button to release her and she landed on all fours, facing the strangely colored luxray.

- Hi, I'm Viola,-[/b] she said to Tanga, giving him a small fox-grin. The vulpix always seemed friendy towards others, even in the heat of battle--once, Jace was asked if it was a battle tactic, earning a bark of laughter from the trainer. Viola just... was Viola, and she was certainly very unique in her cheerfulness and quirky brilliance.

"Okay, Vi, enough with the formalities," Jace muttered to himself, knowing the fox could hear him--but she ignored the comment, instead waiting for her first command.

'He'll be expecting a status effect from you... so you'd better just Fire Blast,[/b] Jace recommended, and she was off like a shot before his sentence was even finished, a huge, powerful explosion of fire bursting forth from her jaws as she skittered to Tanga's side in an attempt to get out of the way of any straight-forward attacks the lion might have thrown.

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga returned Viola's cheerful greeting with a small, but clearly friendly smile of his own, before his stance and expression became focused once more as he prepared for the upcoming battle...the Luxray was friendly, but would not be distracted...perhaps after the battle they could have a friendly chat.

Tyson, meanwhile, was just as focused, waiting for Viola's first strike. She had proved before that she was a capable fighter, and knew some pretty nasty status moves, so prepared to give Tanga the order to dodge...but instead of a status strike, Viola launched out with Fire Blast, the unexpected aggression coupled with the telepathic communication between Jace and Viola meant both Tyson and Tanga were unprepared...Jace was definitely a good Trainer.

"Tanga, dodge and counter with Thunderbolt!" he called, hoping his rather nimble Luxray could dodge the powerful Fire attack. But the element of surprise worked in Viola's favour, Tanga's attempts at dodging just too slow, the explosion of fire, striking the Luxray's side as he attempted to jump aside, sending the feline rolling away, roaring from the pain the vicious Fire attack caused. Tyson winced, knowing there was a chance Tanga was going to suffer a Burn, like Taro had, but remained silent, trusting his Pokemon to let him know.

But when Tanga rolled back to his feet, surprisingly quickly considering the hard hit he had just endured, he still looked fit, if a little singed...still in good fighting condition, although another couple of those could be very bad. Remembering Tyson's earlier orders, Tanga stood his ground, his mane crackling with electricity, before curling his silver tail-star up over his back, using it as a sort of reverse lightning rod, the electricity firing from the oddly-coloured tail, aiming at the agile Vulpix as she skittered about, clearly trying to play evasive at the moment. Tanga quickly followed her example, darting around as the Thunderbolt subsided, determined to give Viola no chances.

[Zorayda]

-He’s fast,- Viola said unnecessarily to Jace as the luxray zipped past most of the fire, only taking part of the damage of the Fire Blast. The smell of burnt fur was getting really old…

Viola yipped as she zoomed around the lion, noting his speed and trying to keep up the fancy footwork. His Thunderbolt attack was immensely strong, but like the Fire Blast she’d shot at him, she danced around the brunt of the attack, yelping when the crackling electricity zapped her tails. She dove away, still slightly damaged, and pouted when she waved her tails. Viola took pride in her fluffy tails, always grooming them—and the little bows that adorned each one were loosening quickly as she battled.

Without any instruction from Jace, Viola surged forward right after Tanga’s attack, her eyes aglow with the kitsune power once more—Will-o’-wisp. 'Okay, I like that,' Jace said to her. 'But follow up with Grudge so he can’t use that Thunderbolt as often.' She complied instantly, flashing the purple light before using her dark, ghostlike ability—reaching within her mind to look Tanga in the eyes the instant after Will-o’-wisp to take away his ability to use Thunderbolt properly.

[Australian Chaos]

Tanga yowled triumphantly as his Thunderbolt struck a hit on Viola's tails, definitely causing her some serious discomfort, but was brought back to reality when she turned back to him, sending that freaky blue flame his way...Will-o-Wisp.

But even as Tanga made to dodge, his eyes caught Viola's...just as the Vulpix's amber orbs glowed a creepy purple-black colour as her Grudge attack took effect, making the Luxray wince and recoil as he felt the effects of the move strip his Thunderbolt attack of a lot of its potency...while also making him freeze up, leaving him nowhere to go as the Will-o-Wisp struck him, the blue flame causing the odd Luxray to yelp as a vicious Burn flared up on his left shoulder, sapping his strength and stamina rapidly.

Even through his frustration at how badly Tanga was faring in this battle, Tyson could not help but be seriously impressed. Jace had obviously put a lot of effort into teaching his Vulpix some very fancy moves, along with some impressive tactics. Viola was certainly in a league of her own...and at the rate the battle was going, Jace would almost certainly become the first challenger to force the Dragon Tamer's hand, and make him send out his final Pokemon...for so long a closely guarded secret.

But even if that was going to be the case, Tyson certainly was not letting Tanga go down without a fight...despite his Burn, the Luxray looked determined, even if he was hurting. "Alright, Tanga, let's give them a taste of their own medicine...Toxic!" Tyson cried, his face showing nothing but grim determination as he called on his Luxray's secret weapon.

While Jace's Vulpix seemed to have well-developed Ghost talents, Tanga's special abilities tended towards the Poison element, which the Luxray finally unleashed in all its ferocity, his mane suddenly expelling a foul, poisonous mist across the battlefield, attempting to engulf the Vulpix within its fumes. If it worked, then even if Tanga fell to the Vulpix's talent, Tyson secret weapon would have a clear edge.

"Now, follow up with Charge Beam!" Tyson continued, the Luxray responding by growling lowly, wincing as the Burn flared painfully, before quickly charging up the electricity needed for the attack, the lower powered attack firing at the Vulpix, while Tanga took some of the electric charge and stored it, pumping up his speclised attacking power for whenever he next needed it...if he ever got the chance to use it.