Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

"Unlikely, but not impossible.", Helryx admits.

"Do you remember what the mask looks like? Could you describe its shape, or perhaps draw it?", Botar suggests, but Axonn interjects.

"Wasn't she in a very stressful situation? It is a bit much to expect her to be able to describe or draw a mask she didn't see for that long, especially when it was under such circumstances."

"It is still a possibility.", Trinuma notes, after which he glances at Wanda, silently asking the same question as Botar.

Ninten notices Wanda looking at him and smiles.

"I'll, uh, tell you in a bit.", he says, having already guessed what Wanda was wondering about.

"Well, I mean, it's not difficult to take responsibility for something hypothetical.", he says, amused, as if implying that what he was talking about really is hypothetical... though that would beg the question of why he asked it to begin with.

He then turns around, mumbling secretively to himself... despite the fact that Loki can clearly see him doing so.

"Perhaps coming out here wasn't such a bad idea, I've gotten some feedback that I otherwise wouldn't have had..."

Red and Gengars' faces completely blank out when the Earthquakes come out. No way around it, those would obliterate Mega Gengar.

... So he switches out before they can hit. Hey, Mega Kangaskhan didn't use Mean Look or anything.

"Parasect!"

The big bug whines as it materializes only to take a powerful attack, but with a 4-times resistance I think it'll be fine.

"Spore!"

Umezou remains unworried.

"I don't think so. Fake Out!"

Mega Kangaskhan moves faster than Parasect can eject its spores, going for a double fake-out punch, one from each Kangaskhan, to prevent it from using Spore. The attack itself may not be very powerful, but doing it twice, plus the STAB thanks to it being a normal-type move, may rack up some damage regardless.

Parasect is knocked around and finds itself unable to move due to Flinch. The spores sputter out before they can really get going.

?! "An improved version of fake-out? Neat! That's really powerful!"

Damn it Red, be a worse sport! This is suspicious!

Umezou pauses for a moment, as if realizing the mistake himself now. But he quickly goes back to looking neutral.

"I have to play it cool, I can't explain what happened just now without giving away too much information. I'll just have to keep in mind to not use Fake Out again.", he thinks to himself.

He raises his fist.

"Now finish it off with Return!"

Mega Kangaskhan goes for a double slam attack on Parasect. And the attacks will... actually not do nearly as much damage as one would expect them to. Granted, it may still be enough to take out the damaged Parasect, but it is notable, considering how strong Return is when the user has a good bond with its trainer. Which seems to suggest that this Kangaskhan does not feel much in terms of friendship with Umezou, despite the fact that he somehow made it Mega Evolve.

Red takes note of this discrepancy. Is this a PULSE Kangaskhan or something? But PULSE evolutions are usually different from their Mega counterparts... He shrugs.

Parasect hangs on with a sliver of HP, and boosts its attack with its Liechi Berry. It squeaks in... some emotion.

"Evasive maneuvers!"

Parasect jumps around, and uses Spore on it's own accord.

"By the time I managed to get a clear look at him, the monster had found us and I was forced to escape back to my body. I do remember his mask being silver, though," Wanda says. "Not only that, but his body was mainly... orange and purple, except for these silver pieces of what I'm guessing was armor on his shoulders."

She wordlessly smiles back at Ninten and nods.

Loki fixes Psyco with a perplexed look.

"...Then why the Hel did you even ask me?"

When the demon suddenly turns around and begins muttering to himself, he can only blow out a sigh.

"A word of advice: perhaps you ought to save the ominous-sounding murmurings for when you're absolutely certain you're alone."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 23rd 2021 at 11:37:53 AM

"Silver mask... Orange and purple body with silver armor pieces...", Trinuma mutters as he writes it down.

"I don't know about the purple, but silver and orange sounds like a Toa of Iron to me.", Axonn says.

"Botar, what information do we have on Toa of Iron."

"All deceased, purged by the Brotherhood of Makuta in the past, save for a Toa Zaria who became an outcast for breaking the Toa code and killing a Makuta.", Botar says. "His current condition is unknown, but he was not spotted anywhere in the crowd in Metru Nui, and as such it is safe to assume that he perished with many others when the world flooded."

"None of that sounds like they ceased to be."

"Perhaps the lighting of this dark realm may be the cause for this confusing situation.", the Shadowed One suddenly chimes in, walking towards Wanda and looking down at her. Ninten looks a little nervous, not knowing the hunter enough to know if this is safe, though Botar does not interfere, so it seems to be in the clear.

"Are you 100% sure that it was orange and purple? Or could it also have been golden and black?", he asks.

"..."

He quickly turns back to Loki, laughing awkwardly.

"What? I'm not being ominous, just dramatic, haha~"

He then puts his hands together again.

"Why I asked? Just out of curiosity. Ovarr told me you're the type who likes to analyze things and think things through, so I wanted to see that for myself."

This time, Mega Kangaskhan is struck by Spore and falls asleep. ... Well, actually, the mother Kangashkan gets hit, but the baby manages to evade.

Umezou just blinks.

"Uh... how... do we resolve... erm... well, I mean, the baby can fight on its own, so... uh..."

He then steels his resolve.

"We'll just wing it! Kangashkan, use Earthquake... uh... if you can."

The baby Kangaskhan starts hopping up and down. It does create an Earthquake attack, though it's obviously not as strong as a regular Earthquake. Still, if Parasect is really that low on HP, it may still be enough.

Return would have gotten the KO. The four-times-resist on Earthquake lets Parasect, once again, miraculously tank the attack.

"Pa-ra..."

"Good work! Leech Life it!"

Parasect lunges to try and s u c c some HP.

The baby Kangaskhan gets hit by Leech Life and loses a bit of HP.

"Crap... oh, but wait a second... what would happen if..."

Umezou smirks.

"Use Facade!"

The baby Kangaskhan glows, then charges towards Parasect with spinning little baby arms, attempting to bum-rush it. Umezou looks on with intrigue, wanting to see if the mother's sleep status would qualify for the conditions of Facade's effect to activate.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 23rd 2021 at 8:48:14 PM

Unfortunately for Umezou, Facade's effect only activates if the user is Poisoned, Paralyzed, or Burnt. Terrible, I know.

Fortunately, even base power Facade this is enough to keel over Parasect.

"Great work, Parasect..."

"Missing No.! Come out and use Crash!"

The glitchy Pokémon comes out and happily barrels towards its opponent with a Glitch-type equivalent of Double Edge.

Edited by Rbade on Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:08:57 PM

"Well, that answers that ques-"

Missingno. comes out and Umezou is showing that shocked stare again, the same one as when he saw SM!Red's Missingno. As a result, he fails to give the baby Kangaskhan a command and as such it gets hit by Missingno.'s powerful attack.

The mother Kangaskhan wakes up at this point, though with the baby hurt, Mega Kangaskhan power has significantly weakened.

"You... both have one...", Umezou mutters, not sounding happy in the slightest. He then grits his teeth as he takes Kangaskhan's Poke Ball back out.

"Return!", he says, returning them again. Mega Kangaskhan can still fight, though it needs a moment of rest. This does mean it'll be Burnt again once it comes back out, though that may make Facade a potential problem later on.

Umezou grips another Poke Ball tightly before he throws it, bringing Chansey back out again. It's already Burnt, so Lava Pool does nothing.

"Toxic!", he calls out, and Chansey has toxic sludge appear below Missingno., attempting to rise up, touch it and badly Poison it.

This may look like a very questionable choice. Missingno. had just shown off a powerful physical attack, yet Umezou is sending out Chansey, of all Pokemon.

MissingNo. has crappy HP, so it's already feeling the burn. Not Burn, but it is Badly Poisoned now.

"Hm... Stealth Rock!"

Pointed stones float around the opposing team!

MissingNo. dances happily.

Despite the fact that there's now a clear opening, Umezou looks conflicted about actually attacking Missingno.

"Chansey, use... Protect!"

Chansey even seems confused at this command, but it does as it was told, protecting itself for this turn.

Red seems a bit confused by this choice, but whatever. Ergh, this would be more useful if MissingNo. were a set-up sweeper.

"Feint!"

The glitch surges forwards and tries to deal a devastating blow. Base power isn't great, but its Attack stat is.

Chansey gets dealt a ton of damage as Feint breaks through Protect. It barely hangs on, nearly all of its HP depleted, and even if Missingno. doesn't attack it again, the burn would take it out in about two turns at the most.

"Crap, I have no choice! Chansey, Endeavor!"

Chansey tries to use Endeavor to bring Missingno. down as low on HP as Chansey itself. Which, if it works, may cause Toxic to take it out at the same time as Chansey will go down to its burn.

Endeavor... fails?!

MissingNo. then instantly faints from poison. Guess it was already at basically no HP...

Red returns it...

"Gengar! Come back out! Be prepared for that Kangakshan if it comes back!"

The ghost nods once its out, and buffs up with Nasty Plot.

"I'm sorry about that...", Umezou thinks to himself. He then looks at Chansey.

"Chansey! One last Metronome!"

Chansey starts wagging its fingers again, and this time it gets... Light Screen. That could prove to be a problem.

Nevertheless, Chansey faints right after due to its burn. Umezou recalls it, then brings Mega Kangaskhan back out.

"I'm not letting you sweep me! Earthquake!"

The double Earthquake comes out yet again. However, Mega Kangaskhan gets burnt, severely decreasing the attack's power. If only Facade worked on ghosts, or if Mega Kangaskhan could have Scrappy, then this Pokemon would've been a juggernaut in this match-up.

SM!Red cocks his head quizzically.

That whole Missingno. sequence was... interesting.

Edited by KiriK on Jul 23rd 2021 at 2:32:04 PM

At the Shadowed One's question, Wanda recalls her encounter with the stranger in particular, as well as the brief look she'd gotten at him before she was forced to make her escape.

"Now that you mention it, between how dark it was and how quickly I needed to return to my body, I might have gotten the colors mixed up," she admits. "But thinking back on that meeting, I just realized that it could've actually been gold and black."

She offers Ninten a reassuring smile, hoping to ease his nervousness about the Shadowed One.

Loki flashes one of his signature smirks at Psyco.

"Oh? Well, in that case, I hope I didn't disappoint," he replies. "Because what Ovarr told you was absolutely true. I doubt I would've gotten this far without being clever, after all."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:41:41 PM

Light Screen is certainly a problem, but Mega Gengar has high Special Attack. This shouldn't cripple it.

"Focus Blast!"

Gengar loses a little more than half its HP as it zips forwards and through the Earthquakes. It needs this to hit, though - it fires the blast as close as it can!

It's at times like this when Umezou wishes that this Mega Kangaskhan had Sucker Punch. Mega Kangaskhan ends up getting hit by Focus Blast. It could have avoided swiftly, but with the baby still hurt, the mother didn't want to make sudden movements. As such, they get taken out.

"... alright... I have to admit that I can at least see how you managed to beat the Pokemon League, even if it wasn't legit.", Umezou says as he recalls his Pokemon, once again insisting that Red isn't a real champion for some reason.

"Gold and black? I don't think any particular element corresponds to that.", Helryx says.

"Only the Great Spirit himself has those colors as a Toa. However, he does not have silver armor.", Botar says.

The Shadowed One ponders for a bit, then suddenly turns around and walks off.

"Where are you going!?", Trinuma asks.

"To think in silence.", is the only response given before he's gone. Botar is about to object, but Helryx sighs.

"Just let him. I'll be glad to be rid of him for a little while."

Botar nods. Helryx then looks back at Wanda.

"While these colors don't ring any bells for us, rest assured that we will look into this."

She looks at Botar, Axonn and Trinuma.

"That's the end of this for now. Dismissed."

The three then leave the room. Rico Jr and Weber leave as well, not really having any reason to be here. Ninten stays though.

"What will you do now, Wanda? Will you go back out or will you stay in the base for a little while longer?"

"You definitely did not disappoint.", Psyco says. "I'm glad that we got the chance to meet."

He then pauses.

"I should likely get going now though, or else my cloak will permanently smell like a marketplace by the time I get back. Not all too keen on the smell of fish to begin with."

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 23rd 2021 at 9:48:07 PM

"Still don't know what you mean by that..."

Gengar grins. Lava Pool and Stealth Rocks up? Piece of cake. It does a jiggidy jig.

Umezou looks angry at first, but then seems to calm himself, looking more neutral.

"... fine then. I'll explain it to you. Both of you.", he says as he throws his Poke Ball, bringing out a Snorlax◊. It gets burnt, but it seems to have a Rawst Berry on it, which it immediately eats due to its ability Gluttony. It does get damaged a bit by Stealth Rocks though.

"To even get an attempt at the Pokemon League, you're supposed to collect the eight Kanto Gym badges across the region.", he says. "And yeah, you got the first seven of them."

He balls a fist, after which he digs through his pocket.

"And then you have this one. The Earth Badge.", he says, showing the Reds a regular Earth Badge◊, just like the ones they have.

"You won this one from Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket. ... But..."

He seems to anger again, then suddenly throws the Earth Badge on the ground, hard enough to shatter it.

"This badge is a FARCE! This is NOT the real Earth Badge! It's some Team Rocket counterfeit!"

He digs through his pocket again, then takes out a different-looking Earth Badge◊.

"THIS is! This is the real Earth Badge! The badge that's supposed to let you participate in the Pokemon League!"

He shows a bitter smile.

"But I know what you're thinking now. 'This kid must have gotten ripped off. He got bamboozled by some scammer. He thinks his Earth Badge is real and the others are not and is now in denial or something.' But that ain't the case. You wanna know how I know that this badge is the real deal while yours are not?"

He reaches into his shirt, then brings out what looks to be some sort of document.

"Because I am the REAL Viridian City Gym Leader, and this is the badge I'm supposed to give out to the people who beat me! And I have this legal and official Pokemon League document to prove it to you. Neither of you ever beat me in an official gym battle, therefore your champion title is false. And once I beat you, your title will be officially revoked."

He points at Mega Gengar.

"Now, Earthquake!"

Snorlax gets up surprisingly fast, after which it attacks Mega Gengar with a powerful Earthquake. And without a burn to nerf Snorlax, this attack will seriously hurt if it hits.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jul 23rd 2021 at 11:00:04 AM

"Hmm... I think I'll probably stay here for a bit longer. I was hoping I could spend some more time with Ninten here," Wanda replies. "And if I run into that stranger in the dream world again, I'll try to learn his name this time. Until then, good luck figuring out who he is. Let me know if you manage to learn his indentity."

Her gaze flickers to Ninten.

"So, what were you thinking about while the others were busy wondering who I could've met?" she inquires.

"Likewise, I should probably be getting back to Thor. We have plans to make, artifacts belonging to an ancient evil to locate, someone named Dahrum to keep eye an out for," Loki replies. "Among other things, of course. Still, it was a pleasure meeting you, Psyco. Perhaps the next time our paths cross, I'll be able to introduce you to my brother."

He tosses his dagger into the air and catches it.

"And give Ovarr my regards, will you?"

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Jul 23rd 2021 at 1:12:06 AM