4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
W
elcome Adventurer to EPOCH! A Pokemon Sandbox Rp set in the original region of Nue. Everything you need to know will be in the Guidebook and PokeDex 101!
EPOCH uses the Manga and is built on the Original ideas suggested by our members.
We are more than just a Pokemon RP, we're a friendly community with a goal on being a memorable experience for those that look in.
Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you find yourself content with being an asshole EPOCH and its members will not tolerate you.
RULES
Understand We're All Human. Respect the staffers as well as your fellow members and guests. We all have flaws, tempers and quirks. Be patient with one another, but if issues involving other members come up please don’t just grin and bear it. Contact a staff member, informing them of what's going on so they can address and resolve the situation. The staff won't know what's bothering you unless you tell them.
EPOCH is PG-13. Proboards’ Terms of Service:
Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
Violence; Do not go into extreme nauseating detail.
Cursing; This is so fucking allowed, but don't go overboard.
Suggestive Content; In avatars, signatures and templates can attract the wrong kind of attention. So be careful.
Post by Elinda Aspen on Sept 7, 2013 22:21:42 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
Generally speaking, Elinda liked to think of herself as a rather carefree individual - someone who didn't let the hustle and bustle of the world get to her, and someone who simply dealt with problems as they came and didn't worry about what she couldn't change or influence. Life was just healthier that way - less stress, and less of the health problems and other crap that came with said stress. Easier that way, too - less to worry about, and more energy to devote to whatever she happened to be working on at the moment. And ironically, it was probably the fact that she consciously chose to live that way that was making her so fidgety and irritated with herself - she liked to think she could just let things go, but frankly speaking the tournament that she'd been looking forward so much turned out to be one big bust.
The first battle wasn't that much of an issue - while it didn't last long and got cut off halfway through due to time constraints right when it was starting to get good, she at least met a new trainer who actually showed some promise. That, she could deal with as at least some good had come of it. The rest of the tournament, though? Her second scheduled round had turned out to be a no show, and the finals, probably what she had most been looking forward to, ended up being a major disappointment with one of the other two trainers not showing up and the battle likewise getting forced to end right when it was starting to get good. More than that, against the one opponent that she'd been aiming for the entire time - more than anything she wanted to see how the successor to her old title had improved since they had last clashed, and for it to get cut off midway like that was not something Elinda was simply willing to accept.
Even worse than that, though, was the other problem she had on hand. Typically speaking, Metagross was probably one of her most stable and levelheaded Pokemon, and the one partner she had besides Aggron who she knew she could trust with virtually any task. He was the foundation of her team, and the one who helped keep her other Pokemon at their best through both sparring and morale alike - ever since Snowpoint, though, he'd been.... twitchy, at best. While Elinda had never needed badges nor really cared for them, especially since Pokemon raised by only one trainer typically didn't need such methods to keep them in line, she was starting to wonder if it was high time she changed her method of thinking as she sat on the edge of a dock, watching the massive Steel type root around in the sand on the nearby beach as he'd been doing for the past hour. It wasn't often that he got like this, and the last time had been back in her home region following the torching of the family ranch - and normally, he worked it out of his system within the week through battling, but as of late there just hadn't been much opportunity. Long story short, she had a restless Pokemon capable of leveling most midsized buildings when he wasn't holding back, and no real way to control him aside from simply hoping she retained enough influence to get through to the Pokemon. Not the most ideal of situations, and him being banned from the tournament after the news of Snowpoint's dock incident spread to the islands certainly hadn't helped.
Leaning back to rest with her hands on the dock behind her and legs gently starting to kick and swing as they hung over the edge, Elinda simply sat and stared up at the pastel oranges and reds of the evening sky, simply keeping the Steel type in her peripheral vision but not overly concerned about him. At least not yet - for now he was simply limiting himself to leaving a long series of relatively small holes and craters scattered across the empty beach, and he knew better than to attack random people or Pokemon out of irritation.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Sept 8, 2013 18:25:46 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Zernebog had initially gone to the beach in hopes of finding some peace and quiet to contemplate in (read: sulk like a kid who got coal from Santa for Christmas) after finding out that he had missed out on a tournament in the Sevii Islands just because he was busy exploring Johto and the other parts of the islands. Sure, exploring was one of his top five favourite things to do in the world, but battling was also part of that top five. And unlike with exploring, it was something he rarely ever got to indulge in. In fact, the last real trainer-on-trainer action he got was with Ricki a few months back when he stole her donuts, thinking that she gave it to him for free.
The few encounters he had after that one were either against pokemon or with people who just didn’t want to battle with him at all. He was getting antsy for a battle, and he was sure that most of his pokemon were starting to yearn for a good fight too. And now he found out that he missed a golden opportunity, it just made him want to punch a wall until it or his fist broke. Fortunately he wasn’t that crazy yet, so he just settled for having some quiet time to himself and try and calm himself down from his bout of battle lust before he did something really stupid. Again.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Unfortunately, not even the seemingly empty beach was quiet. Not with all of that thumping! Was there construction going on or something? It was starting to give him a headache! How was he supposed to try and sulk relax with all of that racket?! Zernebog’s mouth twisted into a frown as he stood up and cracked his knuckles. It looked like was going to have some… words with these fellows. Maybe scare ‘em straight. That would teach them to mess with his alone time.
With those thoughts in mind Zernebog marched off towards the source of the noise, looking as determined as a soldier about to charge on the front lines. When he finally got there though, his determination faltered for a moment when he saw that it was a freakin’ METAGROSS that was causing all of this racket, making craters and tossing sand around like it didn’t care. Questions as to what a Hoenn pokemon was doing on the Sevii Islands were quickly pushed to the backburner though when he remember why he was here.
”Hey big guy, could you keep it down?” Zernebog stared right at the Metagross without a hint of fear, only annoyance. ”I’m sure you’re enjoying your private little rehearsal of the Riverdance and all, but you’re making too much racket for me to think ad relax.”
He sighed and scratched the back of his head, not noticing the blond woman on the dock. ”So if you want to continue rehearsing, it’s fine with me ‘cause I don’t really care if a Metagross wants to dance. I’m not judging. Just keep it down. Please? Thanks.”
I HAVE 899 WORDS FOR ELINDA ASPEN ZERNEBOG ROMANOV
NOTES
Her first Tournament and what a total rip off. Rather than finally letting out some steam or doing anything really productive, it all ended in a tie. While Zernebog was ready to fight because he was left out of the action, Ricki was ready to fight because her own urges hadn’t been satisfied. After the time had been called, and she was given a nice collection of prizes for her efforts, though, Ricki went about her own means of satisfying her desires to vent. Training her team a bit more, even fighting Rep herself when Crawler was tired, she had been spending the past couple of days just trying to get out her frustrations with the world with her team.
After hours of training and battling after days of doing exactly that, Ricki and her team were pretty much done for the time being. Calling it quits early today, Ricki and her current crew wandered along the rather small Quest Island for a bit longer. She had plans to hit Chrono after a few more days of just trying to finally relax on her own. She had been doing a fair bit of travelling as of lately and it might be a good idea to start slowing down and trying to pick more exact locations rather than just winging it. Granted her travels had led her to meet a rather interesting collection of trainers.
There had been her doppelganger a long while back, though Ricki had a feeling she wouldn’t ever see her, again. Then there was the Champion she met during a spur of the moment late night adventure through the city. Following that was a run in with an old friend she hadn’t expected to ever see again, either. Zernebog was pretty much the same as ever, minus the fact he was no longer a member of Arcane. She had some concerns he was still ready to indulge in his criminal antics, but she was sure he’d find something more productive to devote his time to. If not, she’d deal with that hurdle when it came. She had plenty of her own issues to handle at the time being she couldn’t get too hung up on potential trouble on the horizon.
Potential trouble also included another trainer she had met during her travels through Johto and Kanto by the name of Vesta Dressler. If Ricki could describe her in one word, she’d probably choose… Bitch. Two words? Huge bitch. Three? Cold Hearted Bitch. You get the gist, though. Ricki was not pleased with some of her other run-ins as well, finding a combination of the jerks, and the not so bad, but still not worth it. Some battles here and there, but nothing quite like the fight her and Zernebog had had over just a box of donuts he stole from her. Bastard. At least Pidge had evolved through their quarrel, though, so it was a pretty worthwhile experience.
Now she was just relaxing, though. A Cyndaquil and Bulbasaur running circles around her as she walked along the beach, heading towards the peculiar thuds and tunks she heard in the distance. Rep already knew what was over the horizon and had taken the lead without bothering to really warn his trainer just what was up ahead. No other Pokémon could be seen running alongside them at the time as the rest of Ricki’s team was stowed away in their pokeballs to catch up on their well needed rest. So as they wandered towards the loud ruckus in the distance, Rep eventually slowed besides the dock that separated the group from the source of the noise. Glancing back at his trainer, Ricki simply shrugged and moved around to make her way onto the pretty much abandoned platform minus a lone blonde figure in the distance.
Rushing past her to continue their play fighting on the flat location, Cinder and Breezy had no issues with being loud and doing whatever they wanted at this point. Ricki was just relieved they were content with just fighting each other rather than causing chaos and havoc for others. They trotted on along down the dock right towards the only other person there who Ricki paid barely much mind to until she turned her head to spot just what had been causing the thuds and thunks she’d been hearing this whole time. A Metagross? Wait, and someone else? Ricki tilted her head slightly, before spotting Rep’s smug knowing look. Shooting him a look and continuing to study her surroundings, it quickly became apparent just who she had managed to come across now.
Elinda Aspen and Zernebog Romanov, this combination didn’t seem like it could end well, but might provide some entertainment as well. While she didn’t want to bring attention to herself to interrupt a potentially interesting situation, it was too late to stop the sound of a couple more thumps but this time coming from the dock as Breezy and Cinder continued their mini-battle behind Elinda, now. Well, it was only a matter of time before she was spotted, now. With Zernebog by Elinda’s Metagross as well, there was no doubt he was bound to be pulled into this as well. While she considered whether or not this was going to be more trouble than it was worth, Rep was already moving to take his seat and just watch the chaos unfold.
Post by Elinda Aspen on Sept 9, 2013 20:26:40 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
So, then, what exactly would she do with the time that she had? Even as her Pokemon continued to do whatever it was he was doing over on the beach, Elinda found her mind continuing to drift as she simply watched the pastel colored sky. Where was she going to go after the end of the festival, approaching quickly as it was, came? Orre was always an option, but the League tournament that was a long, long way away, and truth be told there really was no guarantee that Shiori would make it there, either through gathering the eight badges or battling through the preliminary rounds as Elinda herself had always done. The kid showed promise just as Ryusuke did - probably more since she actually wanted to compete - but wanting something didn't necessarily make it so, and Elinda had been a trainer for a couple of years before she was anywhere near prepared for the League. So, then, what to do with her time?
Having just come from Hoenn and having no real desire to go back there so soon, that left a number of available regions, and for some reason Kanto just had a ring to the idea that appealed to her - a tour of her old stomping grounds, maybe even visit a couple of Gyms just to see how much the region had changed since she was last there. Or maybe Unova? A number of her old travel buddies, including Lumi who'd been holding onto Scizor since the incident back in her home region had taken up residences there, and just as with Kanto the idea held a certain nostalgic allure to it. It was a strange thing, though. For so long Elinda had considered her life to be more or less doing what she wanted, when she wanted, and while a part of that held a certain sense of truth to it, it had been a very, very long time since she'd ever done anything aside from just go with the flow of things.
She liked the flow, the flow was fun, the flow was safe.... well, relatively speaking. But now that she was really, actually on her own - no group of fellow trainers to tag along with, no Devon to schedule official battles for her, no Arcane to devote her life to guiding and protecting, and her family all grown and on their own, Elinda found it rather odd that she was having so much trouble deciding on a path for her to take. The last chapter of her life was over, just as her childhood had been twenty years or so ago, and with so many choices to choose from it was difficult to decide what the next chapter would be about - a good time had by all, another, final shot at glory, or a steady decline into a slow retirement as she watched the next generation take up the mantle that hers had carried for almost thirty years now?
Even despite being relatively lost in her thoughts, though, the veteran trainer was almost always aware of what her Pokemon were up to, and as Metagross paused in his endeavors to turn and simply stare down the human that had approached him, sand settling and slowly streaming down off of his dark blue hide Elinda almost immediately became aware of the change in situation as the noise that the Steel type had been making ceased. Leaning forward to pull her hands off of the dock behind her and simply sit on the edge of the structure, Elinda couldn't help but wonder whether it was bravery or stupidity that had allowed the kid on the shore to approach the Pokemon in the first place. The first thing most people tended to do on seeing a Pokemon that big doing whatever the hell it was Metagross had been doing wasn't to stop and walk over to the thing - maybe to cautiously watch from a distance, sure, but most usually it involved moving as far away as possible as quickly as possible, although the degree of noise and haste tended to vary between individual. So, not your everyday civilian.
A trainer, maybe, or perhaps even a breeder? The kid didn't have the look of a coordinator, that was damn sure, but his clothes weren't quite as dirty as she expected they might have been - with the reduced hotel rates in light of the Sevii Festival, though, that didn't amount to as much as it usually did. As Metagross simply remained still and eying the guy, though, Elinda briefly began to consider the idea of challenging him to a battle if he was a trainer. Metagross, frankly, needed to let off some steam, to be made to focus on something singular rather than stewing in his own anxiety and boredom - the only question, though, was whether or not the kid would agree to it, assuming he even was a trainer. He might not have appeared to be afraid of Metagross, but that didn't mean he was stupid, and the number of people she'd met over the years that had fully evolved Pokemon capable of taking on a League level team numbered maybe in the dozens. There was a reason the preliminary rounds were designed as they were, and very, very few individuals ever managed to collect all eight badges. Still, though, it was at least worth a shot. First things first, though - figure out whether he even had any Pokemon of his own, and get his attention off of her Pokemon and over in her direction.
"HEEEY! Over here!" Elinda shouted, raising both arms into the air and waving them as she pulled a foot up to the edge of the dock to allow the trainer to stand up and begin making her way over to the shore.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Sept 10, 2013 19:08:22 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
To Zernebog’s surprise, the Metagross actually listened and stopped his Riverdance impression to turn around and stare at him. That was way easier than he thought it would be. He had honestly thought that he would have needed to resort to threats or fight him off of the beach to get his peace and quiet.
But then again, psychic-types were known to be more polite and civilized compared to other types of pokemon, even if they were wild. If he remembered right, Metagross had a brain better than a supercomputer, so that might have had something to do with it as well. Well, whatever the case was he wasn’t about to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth.
”That works too. Thanks big guy~” Zernebog grinned as if he wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the huge blue pokemon.
After dealing with pokemon as psychotic as Erebus and as violent and bloodthirsty as Perses and Ares for a long while, this guy was practically a cakewalk. Besides, it didn’t even have the natural intimidating and menacing aura that he was forced to deal with on almost a daily basis from Perses (though frankly he was pretty much immune to it by now) so he wasn’t perturbed by that blank red-eyed stare in the least.
With the grin still in place, Zernebog turned around and opened his mouth to give the Metagross a parting quip before he left to sulk his ass off in front of the ocean contemplate his current situation in life, only for him to close it when he heard a female voice call out to him from the side. Or maybe the both of them, he wasn’t really sure but he had a feeling that the voice wanted his attention.
Blinking, the white haired trainer turned towards the direction where the voice originated from. To his surprise, he saw a blond woman that looked like she was in her late twenties or early thirties walking towards him. Normally that method of getting someone’s attention was only used by younger people, but hey, he wasn’t about to judge if anyone above the age of 25 wanted to use it.
He then tried to assess the woman to try and see what sort of person she was –or at the very least her occupation was- only to be distracted by a pair of small pokemon running around near her feet. Even from where he was, he could easily see that one was a Bulbasaur and that the other one was some strange dark blue creature with a cream underside and what looked like red spots on its back. The color scheme reminded him of that Typlosion he saw with that kid back in Johto a few months ago, though he wasn’t sure if they could be related. He wasn’t some expert on Johto pokemon or even pokemon anatomy in general, so it was mostly just a guess. Heck, he didn’t even know if those were her pokemon or if they were someone else’s or even if they were wild (though he doubted that last one since Bulbasaur were very rare).
Zernebog spent a few moments staring at the pokemon with raised eyebrows that were hidden by his bandana before he remembered that he was supposed to do the polite thing. What was it again? The white haired trainer let his gaze linger on the two pokemon for a few more moments before he finally remembered.
Right. He was supposed to give the lady a greeting, right? He somewhat remembered that from those proper etiquette refresher courses that his Babushka gave him when he returned home after that stint in that region.
”Oh, hello there Miss.” Zernebog waved his hand lazily. ”This your Metagross?” He added as he pointed a thumb at the large blue metal creature that previously held his attention.
Post by Ricki Jace on Sept 11, 2013 15:36:01 GMT -5
I HAVE 301 WORDS FOR ELINDA ASPEN ZERNEBOG ROMANOV
NOTES
Prompt me for whenever someone interacts with Ricki or she has something to respond to. For now, she'll just sit back and watch the chaos.
Unnoticed? Apparently. Ricki wouldn’t complain, though. With just Cyndaquil and Bulbasaur earning a brief look during their rough housing, their trainer could pretty much leave now and nothing would change. Seeing that look on Elinda’s face, though, and the knowledge of what Zernebog had on hand most of the time, it might be worth kicking back to watch what was about to happen. As Elinda ran off of the dock, zooming right pass Ricki, and taking to the beach, Rep the Lucario simply hopped off his seat and moved to sit on another post to get a better view of the beach where he assumed this scene would take place. Knowing Elinda, Ricki and Rep were already predicting the battle that was to come of this meeting.
With a glance towards Cyndaquil and Bulbasaur, who were lost in their own little worlds, Ricki merely sighed and turned her attention back to the beach. Walking to the edge of the dock, but not bothering to get down and approach the duo, Ricki simply settled for the front row seat. She set her hands on top of the railing and pulled herself up, swinging her legs over to allow her to sit next to her Lucario. The slightly roughed up duo glanced to each other, before looking down at the beach below. Ricki took her bag from her shoulder and shifted to hang it from the post beside her. Leaning back, she pulled it open and pulled out a couple of bags of snacks, before sitting back up and turning towards the upcoming battle.
Like a couple of friends sitting in the theatre about to watch an epic show down, Ricki handed Rep the bag of Pokémon snacks before she settled into place with her bag of chips. This was gonna be good.
Post by Elinda Aspen on Sept 13, 2013 16:22:05 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
Okay, so maybe not the most normal of ways to catch someone's attention, but it worked, right? While relatively aware of the other two Pokemon on the dock with her, the Bulbasaur and Cyndaquil were not the center of Elinda's attention at that moment - they were relatively rare, sure, but she'd seen both before a few times over the years and she had bigger fish to fry at the moment. So, how to broach the subject from this point o- okay, that worked, too. If he wanted to get the ball rolling on his own, Elinda would not be one to complain. So, bottom line - see if he was a trainer, find out how good he was or at the very least get a general idea, and following that try and tempt or interest him with a battle if he was at all decent. No problem, no swea- DAMMIT. As Elinda continued on towards the land end of the dock a familiar person made themselves known, and who Elinda guessed was the trainer for the Bulbasaur and Cyndaquil.
Not cool, Ricki. Not cool at all. While Elinda had been hoping to run into the other trainer and to sucker her into a rematch - or at the very least to finish their undecided battle from before - this was not the place or time. She could find Ricki more or less whenever she wanted, but it was still horribly tempting to challenge her on the spot then and there, and Elinda slowed to a simple walk and turned her eyes towards the other woman she briefly considered the possibility of challenging both to a three way battle the way it was supposed to have happened during the final round of the tournament. Decisions, decisions..... but no. As fun as that might seem, the whole point to challenging this other guy was to deal with Metagross' little "issue", and Ricki just plain wasn't there yet. She was good enough that she'd get a few hits in, something that most other trainers would never manage in a battle against that monster, but she wasn't ready for Metagross - close, but not quite there yet, and there was no fun in guaranteed victory. Rep might stand a chance, but that only held true if Ricki knew how to fight a Psychic type, and from what Elinda had seen so far that particular lesson still hadn't quite sunk in yet. Simply mouthing "next time" to the other trainer on the dock, Elinda continued on to the point where the beach began before turning to hop down and onto the sand, moving towards the guy who had approached her Pokemon.
"Married, actually, but no need for formalities - name's Elinda Aspen, or you can just call me Ellie for short. And yeah, he'd be mine as much as I'm his. You have any Pokemon of your own, though? Most people think twice before walking up to him like that." Elinda said, grinning and stuffing her hands into her coat pockets as she approached both him and her Pokemon, Metagross himself returning to the sand to begin shuffling through it again, pushing the substrate off to the side of the new hole he'd been working on before. Simple enough, though - with any luck that particular line of questioning would go exactly where she wanted it to, better yet with the guy himself guiding it that way.
"Actually, on that note.... I don't think I ever got your name."
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Sept 15, 2013 19:44:30 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
Golden eyes narrowed slightly as they watched the woman turn her gaze away from Zernebog and onto something else. While he wasn’t at all annoyed that the attention was off of him since he’d learned to tone down his attention whore tendencies, he was still curious as to what pulled her attention. That was what made him follow her line of sight until he saw two very familiar figures.
Ricki?! And Rep! What in the world were those two doing here, of all places?! The last he’d seen of them, they were in Johto. Sure, the ensuing battle over the box of squished donuts was awesome, but the constant glaring and grumbling was not. Bitch wouldn’t leave him alone until he promised that he would buy her another box of donuts the next time they met to pay her back for the ones he took. Well, at least Iris evolved during the battle.
Interestingly enough, the woman mouthed something to Ricki. He couldn’t read what she was saying because he was at a terrible angle to do so, but he saw enough to know that there were definitely words in the exchange. Either she was bothered by Ricki’s presence or she knew the green haired girl somehow. Given his luck, he was going to bet on the latter. And whenever they were connected to that hothead, they were never just what they were on the surface.
So after taking a moment to stare incredulously at the snacks she had with her –because really, what was up with this girl and bringing around junk food everywhere- before meeting her eyes and giving her an expression that clearly stated ’I am going to get an explanation from you soon. And not just about that food.’
He held that expression for a few more moments before finally looking away and turning his attention back to the woman, who had finally resumed her approach towards him and the Metagross. For a heartbeat, he wished that she didn’t see him glance at Ricki because of all the implications it might bring to surface, until he realized that he was probably being overly paranoid again and shouldn’t care about that anymore. After all, the past was the past. As far as he was concerned, it was buried for the most part (though he could tolerate that patch of green sticking out).
As it turned out, Zernebog had returned his attention to her just in time, because she started talking again a moment after he refocused on her. He couldn’t help but relax a bit when he heard that there were no formalities needed. Thank Arceus! It was hard to remember all of those silly lessons from his Babushka so he was more than happy to drop the formalities.
With her answer, Zernebog now had an inkling as to why she approached. However, he was pretty sure the theory was off since he’d only heard two statements from her, so he’ll keep the theory to himself until he could coax it out of her.
”Nice to meet you, Ellie.” Zernebog chuckled a bit, understanding why she would ask that. ”And of course I do. You know, like most people in the world do.”
Of course, he was perfectly aware that he only answered her question and didn’t explain why he didn’t hesitate in approaching the Metagross. He’ll let her figure that out herself unless she asked him directly. It’s always more fun that way, especially if she was like Ricki temper-wise.
Zernebog levelled her with an amused grin. ”That’s because I didn’t give it yet. Sorry about that. It’s Romanov, by the way. Zernebog Romanov. You can just use Zerne if that’s too much of a mouthful.” Or too hard to pronounce. He added the last part mentally, knowing that many people had difficulties pronouncing those two names, let alone his full name.
After a moment of silence and giving the Metagross a glance that was both amused and exasperated, Zernebog decided to take the lead. ”So what brings you two here? Not often that I get to see someone with a Metagross ‘round these parts.”
Post by Ricki Jace on Sept 20, 2013 18:37:01 GMT -5
I HAVE 225 WORDS FOR ELINDA ASPEN ZERNEBOG ROMANOV
NOTES
Sorry about making you guys wait, and the short reply. Carry on with your battle, I'll sit out for now.
All attention was seemingly avoided at first, much to Ricki’s relief. No battling for her today, boys and girls! She was relaxed and enjoying her break for the moment. That was when she saw Elinda was turning around to actually acknowledge her for but the briefest of moments. With focus off of Zernebog, Ricki popped a chip into her mouth but froze in order to focus on trying to see what Elinda was mouthing at her. Ricki wasn’t skilled with reading lips, but from her expression and knowing Elinda, she was sure it had something to do with not being pleased about Ricki dodging her.
She probably would’ve been challenged to battle the tank of a Metagross tearing up the beach, now that she thought about it. Part of her was relieved she dodged that bullet, while another part of her was terrified about the prospect of running into Elinda after this mess. Elinda was a vengeful person, Ricki had no doubts. You mess with her, and she’d fuck you up. Slowly beginning to chew, again, Ricki just turned her gaze to Zernebog, noting the other staring at her with some surprised look. Glancing down at her bag of food and looking back up, Ricki simply met his gaze and tossed another bite into her mouth.
Post by Elinda Aspen on Oct 1, 2013 17:45:45 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
Interesting how he reacted to the things she'd said - no embarrassment or fumbling, or any real notable reaction at all. Most people tended to at least get a little flustered when told they were being silly with all the formalities and feigned politeness around her, but this guy didn't even blink an eye. All the better, at least from Elinda's point of view - granted, it made sense sometimes to hide what was on the surface if it helped you to accomplish something, but beyond that it seemed kind of stupid overall to put effort into that kind of thing. Why bother being polite if you didn't like the other guy, or, conversely, if you did? It was better to just open your mouth and spit out whatever was on your mind - it took less time, left less room for all those stupid little misunderstandings that seemed to waste even more time, and created a huge mess of things in general. Life was short - far, far too short to bother with things that didn't need to be done or that had no point beyond prettying the world up. That was probably the best thing about it, really - the world wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, and that's what made life worth living. A rather convoluted train of thought, sure, but who cared? It made sense to her, so that was what mattered. Back to the topic at hand, though.....
To battle or not to battle? He'd confirmed he had Pokemon, but there was always that unspoken rule among trainers - it was beyond rude to simply turn down challenge, and she didn't really like the idea of putting him in the position of having to decide between that and his Pokemon's safety. In a way it was so much easier when the battles were arranged ahead of time, but those were only fun to a point - they tended to be almost scripted, with the winner being fairly predictable based on type match ups and experience, or they tended to end before anyone could really get into the feel of things like the Trainer Tower tournament had. Indie battles were much, much more enjoyable, but you had to be careful about who you approached - both to ensure an even match up, and to make sure that the other person was on the level since there were a few trainers out there who might think to tilt the playing field in their favor. Granted, he didn't really seem like the sort of type and Elinda had always prided herself on being a good judge of character, but that still left......
Eh. Fuck it.
"Zernie it is! Anyhoo, to answer the last question, I had come to the island to battle in the Trainer Tower tourney, but that kinda sorta fell through. That being said, think you might wanna go for a round or two? Feel free to say no, though - haven't seen your Pokemon yet so I dunno how even the match up is." Elinda said, folding her arms as she simply stood and waited for him to respond. The direct approach, as always, was typically the best, and that left room for him to back out of it if he felt the battle to be too much of a risk. With any luck, though, that wouldn't be the case - there had been a number of fairly strong trainers in the tournament, and not all trainers of that caliber were always interested in such things. With any luck she'd stumbled across one of those people, but hey, who knew?
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Oct 10, 2013 21:57:12 GMT -5
Rise Rebel Resist
I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels...
{ tags: Elinda, Ricki }{ words 597 }{ short notes: Sorry for the lateness }
Zernie? Well, he’d been called far worse. At least it wasn’t as annoying as cock-boy. If that girl hadn’t been Ricki’s cousin, then girl or not he would have smacked her in the face for that particular nickname.
At the mention of the Trainer Tower Tourney, Zernebog had to use a lot of his willpower in order to keep the grin on his face and not frown. Just hearing about it made him tempted to go back to what he was doing- namely sulk- ahem, contemplate the future direction of his life in solitude by the beachside.
However, he felt somewhat relieved and a bit vindicated when he heard from her that the Tourney was a bust. He still didn’t know whether to be glad that he missed out on something that turned out to be disappointment or still depressed since he did miss out on an official tourney. Still, either way the woman’s offer was very tempting. He’d always wanted to test his mettle against a Metagross because of how infamous they were back in Hoenn.
It only took the white haired man a few moments to decide. Well, this was probably as good as he was going to get in place of that Tourney, and who was he to look a Rapidash in the mouth when Arceus or whichever deity gave this wonderful opportunity to fight one of the Tourney participants right on a silver platter. And with no stifling Tourney rules to follow, at that!
”It’s funny that you actually mentioned that….” Zernebog began with a chuckle. ”You see, I was actually supposed to join up on that tourney, but I got here too late.”
His grin then turned into a smirk. ”So to answer your question, I’m definitely up for a battle.” Absolutely excited, really, but he had to play it cool or he’d look like a dork and then he’d never live it since Ricki was watching. ”Don’t worry about the match-up. It’s more even than you think~”
His eyes glanced over at the Metagross. ”I suppose you’ll be using him first right? He looks a bit… antsy.”
Zernebog paused, letting the woman respond to his question. Whatever her response may be, he didn’t really care much since he had already decided on who to use for this first battle.
Once she responded, he simply nodded. ”Alright then. Here we go~! ” With that, he took out one particular and tossed it into the air lazily, releasing the pokemon contained within.
A bright white light shot out from the pokeball and started forming into a large, vaguely-draconic shape. As the light began to fade, black and red began to replace the bright white of the light gradually, until the entirety of its black-scaled body could be seen. With a mighty roar, the draconian creature spread out his wings and held his neck up to the skies.
Zernebog could only look on in amusement for a few seconds as Hyperion roared and stretched out. He knew the tone of that roar anywhere- it was a passive-aggressive way of letting him know that he wanted more time out of the pokeball, not just now. He’ll probably discuss that later with him.
”Hyperion, meet your opponent for today.” Zernebog declared with a bright grin as he gestured towards the woman’s Metagross.
At his trainer’s words, Hyperion snapped to attention and gave the Metagross a nod. He could feel the experience and power radiating off of this creature, so it deserved some respect at least.
Post by Elinda Aspen on Oct 12, 2013 0:23:35 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
For several long moments after she spoke Elinda began to wonder if she'd made the wrong call in challenging this trainer, mostly for the reasons she had considered earlier - while he kept that grin on his face, there was that subtle change in... presence, not really a word to describe it other than that, which she couldn't help but notice. Not exactly the most concrete thing to go on, but just as quickly as the doubt had taken root in her mind it was killed with the words that had come out of his mouth next. He'd been intending ton participating in the tournament as well? Well, that explained a bit - it wasn't hesitation she'd been picking up on, but more likely regret of sorts. Or at least she thought it was - this kid was a lot different from Ricki and what little she'd seen of Albarn. He was far more difficult to read than those two, almost like he was deliberately putting on a facade of sorts - something that got her curiosity, but not something she'd dig into, at least just this once. He was hooked for the battle, and the last thing she wanted to do now was scare him off from it, or failing that irritate him to the point where he was no longer interested.
As for Metagross.... Elinda simply shrugged, not really willing to delve into detail on that particular thing he'd picked up on. She'd always had a bit of trouble keeping him in line when he got like this, and with that Elinda unfolded her arms to stick her hands into her coat pockets to continue walking past Zernebog and to make her way over to her Pokemon, the Steel type ceasing his activities to pause and look up and over as she approached him. Again, with any luck this fight would hopefully get whatever it was making him restless out of his system - as controlled as Metagross was, his species were brutal in the wild, predators without peer or mercy, and while he'd gotten a very good handle on it due to being raised as a trainer's Pokemon from birth, that primal bit of himself that was buried deep in the back of his mind would come out every now and then. Simply put, the best way they'd found to deal with it was to simply give into those urges, and to channel them towards something constructive rather than destructive. Training and battling just happened to be the perfect outlet for it.
Reaching her Pokemon, Elinda casually reached up to tap the Steel type's leg, her way of tagging Metagross in as she passed him, and as she stopped to turn around the Pokemon was already beginning to take several plodding steps forward to place himself between Elinda and the other trainer as the kid tossed his own Pokeball into the air. What came out of it, while mildly surprising, did not particularly worry Elinda - the Pokemon was impressive, though, she would give Zernebog that. Charizard were not common or easy to train, but it would be far from the first one she'd fought - they were a relatively common alternative for Dragon Tamers who were unable to get their hands on genuine Dragon types, and she'd seen a number of them over her years of traveling. For his part, however, Metagross made gave no outward reaction to the beast's appearance, simply redirecting his gaze to lock his crimson eyes on the Fire type, body more than a little tense as the Steel type held himself in place in spite of what his instincts wanted him to do.
"Begin we shall, first move's yours." Elinda said, speaking up from behind her Pokemon as she continued to slowly make her way back, giving the Pokemon plenty of room to do what he wanted. She knew he would never do anything to place her at risk, but that did not mean she wasn't nervous around him when he was like this - things happened, after all, and most accidents were most often just that. Zernebog was more or less safe where he was, but between his Charizard and Metagross' own.... twitchyness, standing anywhere near the Pokemon short of directly atop him would likely not end well.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Oct 15, 2013 5:18:26 GMT -5
Rise Rebel Resist
I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels...
{ tags: Elinda, Ricki }{ words 425 }{ short notes: first shot/font] }
Well, the woman didn’t answer Zernebog’s question verbally but that was alright with him. As long as she was game to fight, then he didn’t really care. All he wanted out of this trip to this particular island was a good battle, and it seemed that he was about to get his wish.
And from the looks of it, Zernebog wouldn’t even have to psych up Hyperion for the fight. While he looked as calm as he ever did, the gleam in the Charizard’s eyes gave him away. He was itching for a good fight as much as he was, something that didn’t surprise him considering how much alike he was with his best bud. He’d had a feeling that not even that battle with Ricki was able to satisfy the famous Charizard battle-lust, and the look on his friend’s eyes upon starting his little stare-off with the Metagross only confirmed it.
Hyperion’s battle-lust just made it all the more fortunate when the woman oh so graciously decided to let him have the first move. Was she that confident just because she had a Metagross by her side? If that were the case, then he’ll just have to break that, now wouldn’t he~? After all, he can’t put up a bad showing with his former boss watching.
”Alright.” Zernebog grinned and clapped his hands twice. ]”I might as well set up a little ambiance for the battle. Hyperion, if you would?”
”ZARD!” With a grunt, Hyperion launched a large blade of wind from its wings and onto the Metagross’ feet while simultaneously launching himself into the air. The blade of wind struck true at the sand, sending a large amount of sand flying into the air, which should obscure the Charizard from sight for a few moments unless the Metagross did something about it.
As soon as Hyperion was in the air, he inhaled sharply before unleashing a fast and powerful stream of dark blue flames and superheated smoke right at the Metagross. His strike was aimed right at the Metagross (or at least as well as he could aim this move anyway considering how powerful and hard to control the stream was), hoping to strike true and reduce its fearsome physical capabilities as soon as possible so that it would be easier to defeat it.
Well, frankly this was more of a test volley than anything, but since it was a Metagross he might as well start with a strong one to see just what one of these things can really do.
BATTLE SUMMARY: Hyperion fires Air Slash at the Metagross’ feet before following it up by an Inferno + Smokescreen combo. Inferno gives a guaranteed burn if it hits and Smokescreen lowers accuracy by a stage (unless you have something that can prevent that).
Post by Elinda Aspen on Oct 16, 2013 22:36:07 GMT -5
We're pushing through the warped wind Outstripping the cold sky Nevertheless, we still continue to wander
While Elinda had initially begun taking her leave of the battle field to avoid the sizable amounts of collateral damage her own Pokemon would be likely to inflict upon it, she found herself glad to have done so for completely different reasons as Zernebog's Charizard kicked things off. The Fire types were rather well known for supposed brutality and bloodlust during battles, the same as Metagross and a handful of other species were, and it was quickly made apparent that this one wasn't all that different from her own Pokemon - he wasted no time whatsoever in attacking, although not in the manner she had thought it would. Elinda had been expecting it to launch a Fire attack right from the get go, and to take to the air to avoid possible reprisals - she was half right, but the move she recognized as Air Slash just before impact with the ground was most definitely not a Fire type attack. Not that it really mattered much in this case - while such a move would've been effective on most other Pokemon, she knew she'd trained Metagross well. Continuing to back away from the field until there was a fair bit of distance between her and the two opponents, Elinda simply folded her hands behind her back and settled in to watch the chaos unfold.
Even as the Charizard attacked and took to the air, however, Metagross was already planning ahead - a difficult task given that every instinct he had was screaming at him to simply pound the other Pokemon into a smear on the ground, but he'd been around long enough to know how well a straight forward attack on a powerful Fire type would likely end. Just the same, however, that meant that the irritation he felt at the other Pokemon's initial opening move was that much greater, and something he could not help but take more than a little personally. A sand screen? This wasn't amateur League, and with a simple shift in his focus Metagross completely negated the effect's of the Fire type's attack with Miracle Eye, the Charizard beyond the sand suddenly taking on a golden sheen that was impossible to miss, the Pokemon having already taken to the air to take full advantage of the maneuverability that his typing would offer him. Far beyond Metagross' physical reach, but not safe enough.
With yet another simple shift in focus the Steel type would take similar advantage of his dual typing, a massive wave of telekinetic force blasting out towards the Charizard at the exact moment that it unleashed his own follow up attack - rather than directly assaulting the Pokemon, however, the blast originated from directly in front of Metagross himself, traveling through the sand shield and collecting the grains to form a physical if short lived sand stone wall between the two, the rock intercepting the Charizard's attack before falling apart, the heated substance glowing a dull red from the Inferno as it began to disintegrate and fall to the ground under gravity's natural influence. As for the smoke obscuring most of the field, Metagross didn't bother - between Hyperion still glowing like a beacon and his own natural Clear Body, it would simply be a waste of time.
Instead of that, Metagross instead raised a single massive foreleg to point towards the Flying type before the claws at the end of the limb would suddenly clench shut as he used Psychic again, attempting to instead fasten a telekinetic vice around the Fire type's neck - both to reduce the Pokemon's mobility as well as to close the thing's throat and prevent it from launching any more of it's flame based attacks. Draconic Pokemon were powerful, but every Pokemon had its weakness - even himself. Find a way to shut their mouths and you'd rob them of at least half of their offensive abilities, and that was exactly what he was intending to do.
Summary: Metagross uses Miracle Eye to cancel out Hyperion's attempts to evade him. Following that he uses Psychic twice, the first time to solidify the sand screen into a temporary sand stone wall to intercept the Inferno, and a second time to try and Force choke Hyperion with a telekinetic collar. Smokescreen has no effect due to Clear Body.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Nov 5, 2013 18:39:26 GMT -5
Rise Rebel Resist
I'm the one of the freaks, the faggots, the geeks, the savages, rouges, rebels, dissident devils, artists, martyrs, infidels...
{ tags: Elinda, Ricki }{ words 377 }{ short notes: underground }
Neither Zernebog nor Hyperion were surprised to see the stream of blue flames be snuffed out by the Metagross with what looked like relative ease. Nor were they surprised when they saw the Metagross use the sand to help smother the flames.
However, Zernebog was a little surprised to not see the sand turn into glass or molten silicon like it usually did when it was hit by Hyperion’s Inferno. But he supposed that even as cocky as his Charizard was, he still had a good enough head on his shoulders to know not to go all-out at once at the start of a fight.
As the entire battlefield became covered in smoke, Zernebog noticed something strange even as he pulled out a pair of goggles and placed them on to protect his eyes from the superheated smoke even though he was standing only at the periphery of the fight.
Why isn’t the Metagross losing sight of Hyperion in the smoke? Zernebog wondered with a mental scowl as he watched the steel pokemon keep his large red eyes on his Charizard as if the smoke and remnants of sand in the air didn’t even exist.
A moment later, the answer came to him. Oh right. Clear Body. Well, that’s one strategy out.
On his end, Hyperion was wondering the same thing. However, unlike his trainer he didn’t have the time to muse over such things because he saw the Metagross raising its leg up to do… something. He wasn’t sure what, but a voice cut through his confused thoughts before he could think on it anymore.
”Number six, now!” Hyperion didn’t hesitate in pulling himself into a dive. However, instead of diving straight to the Metagross and attacking like most people would expect, he dived straight into the sand instead and started digging inside it, even as he felt some sort of invisible force start to squeeze on his jaws.
As soon as he was underneath the sand, he felt the invisible force on his mouth disappear. Good. Now that weird force thing was out of the way, Hyperion now started digging towards a certain spot near the Metagross, relishing the fact that the sand made digging far easier and faster than usual….
