ITT: We are all Pokémon Trainers

Sinnoh League, Sinnoh

It's time. Xaster has (offscreen, sorry) defeated all four members of the Sinnoh Elite Four in epic battles that were simply too awesome to be shown or described in any way. Now, having had a few days rest, it's finally time for him to face the legendary champion, Cynthia.

Xaster sits in the waiting room. His team wait in front of him, not speaking, just shaking with the same anticipation that he does.

"We've made it this far," Xaster says finally. "Whatever happens today, I couldn't be prouder of each and every one of you."

As the pokémon nod their agreement, he returns them to their balls. It's time.

Xaster steps out onto the battlefield. The stands are full - it's not every day someone gets far enough to challenge Cynthia, so all the other hopefuls are watching as well as a number of locals, and even a few league officials. This doesn't bother Xaster too much, as he's used to fighting with a large crowd.

What does shake him is the way Cynthia stands so calmly at the opposite end of the battlefield. She looks so confident that he easy stance is enough to throw Xaster off. But no, he can do this.

"I congratulate you on making it this far," Cynthia says, as the crowd goes silent. "I've watched your previous battles."

"Thanks," Xaster says. He too has been watching as many of Cynthia's battles as he can find, and has come up with a strategy for this battle. He just hopes it works.

"Welcome to this battle between the challenger Xaster and the champion Cynthia," says the referee, stepping up to his raised platform. "This will be a six on six battle, with the winner being the first side to knock out all of the opponent's pokémon. Both sides will be freely able to switch as they choose. Now, battle begin!"

Cynthia grabs her pokéball. "Spiritomb, come out!" The flash of light reveals a stone that appears to have a crack in it. Xaster covers his ears as the shriek of discarded spirits emanates from the stone and grows into the swirling purple face of Spiritomb.

"I knew she'd use Spiritomb first," Xaster notes. "She does it in all of her battles. So I'll choose you!" He throws his first pokéball. It opens with a shower of rainbow sparks due to the sticker he placed on it, and reveals ToTo. She spreads her wings and sings a few notes of a beautiful song.

"So you're going for the type advantage early on," Cynthia says. "Well, we'll have to see if it's that simple. Spiritomb, use Shadow Ball!"

Spiritomb launches a orb of pure darkness towards ToTo. "Use Air Slash!" ToTo creates blades of air that strike the centre of the Shadow Ball. However, the orb keeps going and slams into ToTo, slamming her into the ceiling.

Xaster gasps. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Cynthia says. "Now, use Will-O-Wisp." While ToTo is still falling to the ground, Spiritomb releases three small flames which circle the stunned Togekiss before slamming into her. She screams as she is inflicted with a burn.

Xaster grimaces. "Use Dazzling Gleam!"

"Sucker Punch," Cynthia says calmly. ToTo begins to glow with rainbow light, but at the moment that she does Spiritomb seems to disappear and reappear in front of her. It slams into her, knocking her to the ground. However, she gets up and releases a burst of light that strikes Spiritomb.

"Yes!" Xaster says. "We got a hit in!"

Cynthia smiles. "Is that enough?"

At that moment, ToTo is afflicted by her burn. She cries out as flames ripple over her body, and she drops to the ground.

Xaster grits his teeth. Cynthia is right, this is getting him nowhere. He grabs his pokéball and recalls ToTo. "Get some rest for now," he says, grabbing another ball. "I really only have one choice. BuBu, come out!"

His Roserade emerges in a shower of petals and looks at Spiritomb, who has taken a position in the centre of the field. "Begin!" shouts the referee.

"Use Grassy Terrain!" Xaster yells. BuBu spreads her arms, and green energy spills out over the field. Flowers bloom at the edges of the field. A scent of flowers and honey fills the air. A warm wind, which appears to be sourceless, drifts across the field.

Cynthia looks around, surprised. "Interesting choice. You know this will heal my Spiritomb as well as your own pokémon, right?"

"I do," Xaster says. "But it won't matter. Use Petal Dance!" The warm wind increases in speed, until it becomes a gale filled with petals that have been ripped from the newly bloomed flowers. The petals surround Spiritomb, attacking it from all sides. Xaster grins. "Deal with that."

"Dark Pulse!" Cynthia yells. Spiritomb begins to release dark energy into the storm. The storm turns black, and then breaks open as the attack is destroyed.

"But now!" Xaster says, pointing. BuBu has moved forwards, and now stands right in front of Spiritomb. "Use Dazzling Gleam!" BuBu creates a bright light in her hands, and holds it up right in front of Spiritomb. The spirits that make up its face are stripped away by the searing light. Everyone covers their eyes from glare.

When the light fades, Spiritomb has been reduced to a small stone on the ground. BuBu steps back, breathing heavily. "Trés bien," Xaster says. "We -"

He is cut off by a sudden rush of energy as the face of Spiritomb emerges once more, seemingly larger than ever. The souls contort themselves into an expression that resembles a frown, an angry one. "Shadow Ball!" Cynthia commands. BuBu has no time to react before the attack hits her and knocks her off her feet.

"But I thought..." Xaster mutters.

Cynthia smiles. "There was one spirit that managed to hold on. Then, with the energy from your Grassy Terrain, it was easy to come back."

Xaster's face falls. "Use Petal Dance again!"

"Sucker Punch!" Before BuBu can move, she is struck by Spiritomb's attack and knocked to the ground. "Dark Pulse!" The tether that holds Spiritomb's form to the rock lifts it high into the air, where it begins to charge a powerful ray of darkness.

"Come on!" Xaster yells. "Sludge Bomb!" At the last moment, BuBu pulls together the strength to fire poison from her hands. It strikes Spiritomb, but it's not enough. The attack goes through.

"No!" When the smoke clears, BuBu is unconscious on the ground. The referee raises his flag. "Roserade is unable to battle."

Celestic Town

Atrin: Sounds like quite a story. And no other Pokemon at all? Either way, good thing the Parasect didn't get you. I hear they can be mean."

Desmond laughs casually, as if it were simply a scrape he got as a child.

Desmond: Yeah, it's quite the experience, but no harm, no foul. As for having no Pokemon, guess I didn't really feel the need to do so. We're a great team already!

he sighs as he tosses his cup away, straight into the trash can. Morgan just floats up to it and drops hers in. Desmond wipes his mouth with a spare tissue, and grins audaciously. Morgan floats beside him, and their stance seems confident.

Desmond: But now, that coffee's got me hyped up! I need something to burn my energy. So, whenever you're ready...

Desmond and Morgan: Come meet us on the battlefield!

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 12th 2023 at 11:44:01 PM

Celestic Town

Atrin grins.

Atrin: Ready when you are. I know a girl who's been wanting to stretch her legs anyway.

As he says this, he pulls a Pokeball before walking outside, ready for battle!

Once Atrin walks outside, both Desmond and Morgan squeal in delight.

Desmond: Wooo! Yeah, first battle of Sinnoh, baby!

Morgan: Hahaha! I'm going to stretch my legs as well! (Desmond: You don't have legs.) Let's go! Before I smack you with my blade!

The two of them adopt a serious posture and walk outside, in the battlefield, drawn in chalk, outside the Pokemon Center. He stands in the trainer box, and places his fists on his hips.

Desmond: How're we doing this? I prefer sword fighting, but we can have a standard battle if you want.

Celestic Town

Atrin: Standard battle for me. I doubt I could wave around Mimir as a sword.

Mimir just looks at him for a moment.

Atrin: Nor could I even lift what I've got for this! Fleurir, let's go!

Atrin throws his Pokeball, and a Mudsdale is sent out! Fleurir looks back at Atrin and nods.

Morgan: <A [horse] sword sounds interesting...>

she muses to herself, floating inside the battle lines.

Desmond then scans the Pokemon with his Rotom Phone. A Ground type. Usually pretty tough. Let's wear it down.

Desmond: Alright, no telepathy, for fairness' sake.

Morgan: <You're the trainer.>

Desmond: Alright, Morgan, use    Night Slash   !

Morgan laughs as she rears up and rushes towards the Mudsdale, quickly rushing towards it and releasing a slash imbued with darkness.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 13th 2023 at 12:13:18 AM

Celestic Town

Fleurir takes the hit, definitely damaged a bit. But after that, she regains her composure and just glares at Morgan, seemingly tougher than before.

Atrin: Not bad. But let's see how you handle this! Fleurir! High Horsepower!

Fleurir turns around, and then kicks up a bunch of ground at Morgan!

The sudden Whirlpool erupting from beneath Semyon catches Vasilissa by surprise, and she ends up pulled into the Whirlpool. She is now as trapped within this liquid vortex as Semyon is trapped within her fiery equivalent. <Aw, nuts, I've been had!> she yells.

Esmeralda, meanwhile, manages to escape both the Fire Spin and the Whirlpool, and she starts circling inside the square. <Vas, hang in there,> she calls out to her ally. <Master has a plan, surely.>

Mitchell menacingly leans closer to the square's edge. "Vasilissa, Esmeralda!" he orders. "Increase your Agility, both of you!"

Both Pokemon are unsure why Mitchell is making this command, but they both trust him enough to try it. By relaxing their bodies and loosening their conscious thoughts, they begin moving noticeably faster with their respective areas of movement.

<Boss, you got any idea what you're doing?> Gavroche asks, poking at Mitchell's leg.

Mitchell only turns to Gavroche and moves a finger to his lips, in a "shush" gesture.

Stormchaser Kitchen

Boron: -To Maggie and Scouter- Well, I'll just get straight to the point then. I became an Alumnus, and then died, Chiyo... killed me back around 2006 I think, but I stuck around as a ghost in our old facility for almost 20 years with only Ruthenium and a bunch of other ghosts from our Batch and others for complany before I saw her again for unrelated reasons.

Then after a bunch of other stuff happened your Tagg did some magic stuff with Tapu Fini water and brought me back to life.

-Looking at her chest-

Though it still left its literal scars upon me.

Louise: I'm a Templar, or rather, I was. I was assigned to kill Chiyo, but she spared me, then saved me from Adelinde the Scythe. Chiyo and Dr. Tagg said not to talk about that last one but after what's happened these past couple months it doesn't matter as much anymore I think.

Scouter nods in response.

Scouter: <Definitely sounds like you two have been through a lot!>

Maggie: "Ah... yeah, that... well, I'm definitely glad you're free and those other ghosts were able to be put to rest. And glad you're back to life."

-to Louise- "Glad you're on our side now, Louise. It's good Chiyo spared you when it's clear the School didn't. Adelinde's scary and I hope I don't have to meet her with all this."

"...But really, like, that shows the whole thing in this. They claim you're an alumnus, Boron, and thus better than the rest of your batchmates. They claim you're a templar and better than the schoolkids, Louise, yet... one of those paths just ended in death and one of them could have ended in death had you not been saved. I..."

"...I'll just say I'm glad you two are alive now and out of that because even thinking about the crap they try and indoctrinate you with and how much death it's led to gets me mad."

Morgan was feeling good about that attack. That burst of darkness was a nice touch. If all goes well, the battle could actually go in their favor. And then a wave of earth swamped her.

Morgan: <Ah. Damnu ai->

she curses, before getting smacked off her high horse. (Morgan: <It's not funny!>)

Morgan: <I'd say that attack was pretty effective.>

Morgan shudders, groaning with pain. However, she shakes off her fatigue (and dirt), and narrows her eye at Fleurir. Desmond does so as well, locking eyes with Atrin and smiling. This battle won't be simple.

Desmond: Alright, change of plans. Let's try not to get hit. Use Iron Defense! Careful!

Morgan: <Alright, try me now.>

Morgan's blade suddenly shines brightly, not to blind, but if you looked really closely, you can see any imperfections in the blade, dullness, misshapes, grime, dirt, all fall away. Her defense-focused body looks stronger than ever.

Edited by Jules-Firenze on May 12th 2023 at 10:04:58 PM

Celestic Town

Atrin and Fleurir are both trying to keep an eye on Morgan, looking carefully.

Atrin: "Fleurir, she's tough, but you're bigger. And let's show her just how much bigger with a heavy slam!"

Fleurir seems to focus for a minute, before her body seems to turn into steel as she charges at Morgan, full speed ahead!

Edited by etran12 on May 12th 2023 at 7:07:48 AM

Morgan looks at the ton of flesh barreling towards her.

Morgan: <Yeah, I'm not taking that one.>

she grumbles.

Desmond: No other way out than through! Iron Head!

Desmond pumps his fist in support.

Morgan: <You better make sure YOU have an Iron Head after this!>

she yells as she prepares herself for a massive clash.

Desmond: Just need to lessen the impact. Keep going!

Morgan yells in defiance as her blade gleams brightly, and with a whoosh, she clashes with Fleurir's Heavy Slam.

Celestic Town

Atrin seems to be analyzing the situation as Fleurir and Morgan clash! Fleurir definitely took some damage from the clash.

Atrin: "Back up, and give it another High Horsepower!"

Fleurir turns back to Atrin and nods, running backwards a few feet before turning around again and kicking up another bunch of earth at Morgan!

Stormchaser Kitchen

CW suicidal ideation.

Boron: There's still some left over but, yeah.

-The food bubbles-

Believe me Maggie, I've had a long time to think that one over, after I died. After Chiyo and the others escaped, No Heart, our creator, made sure I got some extra pills of indoctrination since they knew I was friends with them, and that night, I didn't try to stop them even though I was too afraid to join them.

We talked about that, Neptunium, Ruthenium, the others. The fighters thought they'd still be around, and people like Chiyo, Chloe, and Abe would've just gotten liquidated eventually. But look what's happened, they're all still around, and Neptunium, Cadmium, so many of us, they're no longer here.

Well, I guess Hydrogen and Flerovium are the exception to that, I'm sure we'll probably have to fight them eventually.

Louise: It's like Chiyo said in her speech, it's all garbage to keep us fighting one another, when we're all disposable to them in the end. I wish I could get Clyde and Morgan to see that.

Boron: It's like, why me, you know? Curium died through no fault of her own, but me, the traitor who was too scared of dying to refuse, I'm the one who gets a second chance. I'd most likely still be a ghost if they didn't come to the facility because Chiyo found out about the Freshman Iridium, and dragged Tagg along with them because, well. I probably shouldn't be telling you about that yet but I'm sure you can probably guess what happened.

Louise: I haven't met any other Schoolkids that aren't Chiyo's Batchmates since I got here, and honestly, I'm not sure what would happen if they knew who I used to be. Not sure if I wouldn't just let them kill me if that's what they wanted, to make things square with the blood on my hands.

Boron: -Serious- Louise, we've both been given a second chance at life, let's not squander it, despite our feelings on the matter. If nothing else, I'd rather die again first, out of the two of us you'd still have more time to live even if I hadn't died. Chiyo fought for you, she would've killed Adelinde for you if it came down to it. Also, you can't help Chiyo and Tagg protect those running from the School if you're dead.

Louise: Yeah, you're right. It's hard though, and it gets harder every day I'm out of School custody and learning about the wider world from Chiyo teaching me and the stuff I've learned on my own.

-To Maggie-

Thanks though.

Boron: -Sighs- As you can probably see, despite our original positions in the School hierarchy, we both have a lot in common. Outsiders amongst truants, though honestly I'm not really sure what they'd call a defecting Templar.

Edited by rmctagg09 on Sep 29th 2023 at 3:55:28 PM

Morgan is thrown several feet away, where she is caught by Desmond.

Desmond: You okay, buddy?

he whispers, patting her on the back of her blade.

Morgan: <I'm fine, lezgooooo...>

She seems woozy. However, Desmond throws her up in the air, and she quickly sobers up.

Morgan: Right, sorry about that. Let's kick this into high gear!

Desmond: Iron Defense! Tank through that wall of ground!

Morgan gleams brighter than before, and takes the entire blow. However, she seems less damaged from it than earlier, though she's slightly wobbling.

Atrin grins a bit.

Atrin: It's all you, Fleurir! Let's finish this with the big one! Earthquake!

Fleurir nods, then just lifts up one of her front legs, and stomps the ground, creating cracks in it that make their way to where Morgan is, as the ground around the battlefield shakes like crazy!

Desmond: Let's go for a single blow! Use Power Trick!

Morgan glows with a pink light this time as she feels her power skyrocket, and her defense lower significantly, as Fleurir is lifting her front legs to shatter the surrounding area.

Morgan: <It's all on the line. This one attack! Let's go!>

she yells, brimming with excitement, as is Desmond. He punches his arm forward, and they move as one Morgan creating a massive energy blade, black and red, from hers.◊

Desmond and Morgan: '   SACRED...   

Morgan flies over with massive speed to do deliver a ginormous, defense-ignoring attack, the bicolored blade rushing towards Fleurir.

Desmond and Morgan:    SWORD!!!   

Morgan swings herself, and she roars, the energy-infused blade swiping through any defenses.◊

This attack, however, left Morgan open for as the debris from the Earthquake all rise up, striking Morgan with massive force, and sending her rocketing into the air. She falls down, allowing Desmond to catch her once more. She's already in her sheath, and her eye is swirling with dizziness. Battle's definitely over for her, even if she takes out Fleurir. Best case scenario's a tie. Desmond waits with bated breath as the smoke starts to clear...

Scouter: <That's the way of things! Even among mons, even if strength gives you a better chance it is ultimately down to luck!>

Maggie: "Ah, yeah... well, I guess that's one thing on your end. You couldn't join them before back then. Now, twenty years later, older and wiser and revived, you Can. I can't imagine what the survivor's guilt might feel like but..."

"Well, like you said, you both have a second chance, you might both be outsiders among Schoolkids but... well, doesn't mean you can't make new friends either with them or with new people. I'm definitely down to make friends with both of you!"

Scouter: <Certainly seems like new life's starting with a bubbling concoction! Curious what could be producing the smell!>

Maggie: "For the Freshman Iridium, though, yeah, I've... got an inkling at least. I don't envy Chiyo processing that, especially with her existing trauma around scientists. And makes me... little more worried about things like those DNA test kits even if I'm not any flavor of Auric myself."

Edited by CorvusAtrox on May 12th 2023 at 10:09:12 AM

As the smoke clears, Fleurir is still standing, glaring. But only for a moment, as her legs start to wobble, and she falls over. Before she hits the ground, a red light recalls her and Atrin puts away his Pokeball.

Atrin: It's a draw. That was certainly powerful. Nice one."

From behind Atrin, Mimir is still watching everything and studying.

Edited by etran12 on May 12th 2023 at 8:03:43 AM

Desmond laughs, starting with a chuckle, then going into full-blown laughter. He lets out a little breath.

Desmond: Man. I didn't think my first battle here would be this intense! You made us go all out immediately!

he grins widely, before remembering the fainted Morgan. He pulls out her Pokeball and recalls her.

Desmond: You did great, partner! A rest is surely needed.

he smiles tenderly. He faces Atrin again, and sighs,

Desmond: Oh, man. Pokemon battling, am I right? Good fight. Guess I still need to train. Wait, how many gym badges do you have at this point?

Celestic Town

Atrin: In Sinnoh, four. Had a few in Unova, but I didn't go all the way there. Long story, but I like this region.

Atrin bends down and pets Mimir a bit.

Atrin: And yeah, that was intense. You definitely should go for the gym challenge if you can.

Desmond: You know what? I will, after this. Just need to catch some more members, though...

he grins again. before managing it down to a smile. He gestures with his head to go to the Center to heal their Pokemon.

Desmond: So what do you plan on doing after this?

Celestic Town

Atrin: After this, I plan on making my way to Veilstone. I'd probably have already been there, but I heard about the shrines and history stuff here, and wanted to check it out. A lot of it's amazing, I gotta say.