Lesson No. 1: How not to Fail [Zerne / Training]

[Zernebog Romanov]

Izumi Yamamura

337

As soon as the blindfolds were put on all of the pokemon, Zernebog stepped back along with his pokemon. Looks like it was time to put his student’s mettle to the test and see if she could really order her pokemon with one of their senses cut-off.

”Oh, just wait and see, Izumi.” Zernebog commented dryly, his usual smirk in place.

However, before he could turn to Prometheus and have him quietly relay the order to release the first of the challengers, a Purrloin came out from the one of the rocks and attacked the Scyther. He frowned and glanced at Prometheus, wondering if he had taken initiative and goaded one of the wild pokemon out into the open because he didn’t remember trapping a Purrloin for this.

Sensing his trainer’s confusion, Prometheus quietly shook his head and denied involvement in this. He then glanced at Diomedes with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he had been the one to somehow get that Purrloin, but the blue jackal shook his head upon seeing that look.

So now both of his options were shot down, leading him to one conclusion – this was an actual wild pokemon. Well… that was just great. He hadn’t intended to Izumi to fight that one, but seeing as she was already managing fairly well on her own then he wasn’t going to shoo away the cat. He’ll just pretend that this was part of his plan then. No skin off his nose if nature and fate decided to help him out here.

So he just watched and waited, observing how the Scyther fared against the feline and how Izumi was handling the situation with an indifferent expression. Once they were done, he quietly gestured for Prometheus to finally release the first pokemon before nature decided to… ‘help’ them out some more.

---

Somewhere else hidden in the grasses, a grinning ghost chuckled as he opened up the gates of the makeshift stone cage his trainer had made and set the first contender free….

NOTES

Better late than never woo.

CODED BY SYLVIE

[Speedy Gon Yumi]

A WILD POKEMON HAS APPEARED!

POKEMON Zigzagoon GENDER Female ABILITY Pick up

○ Headbutt ○ Mud sport ○ Pin missile ○ Covet

[Izumi Yamamura]

Now that they had managed to drive away the Purrloin, Izumi then whistled; and watched as the Scyther then began looking around, before trying to distinguish where the whistling sound was coming from. After she’d whistled several more times, she then watched as the blindfolded Scyther then managed to find her, before she raised up a hand and gave the Bug-type a good pat on the head. “Nice, I didn’t know that Yumi had trained you to defend yourself… and I wonder what it is that she didn’t tell me when I got you…” she muttered the last part more to herself—before realizing that there was a brown shadow darting, headed their way—and then announced its presence by way of firing off Pin Missile! She was about to screech in surprise when she saw that the blindfolded, indigo-colored Torchic then stepped forward and quickly turned her head this way and that; before aiming a Flamethrower attack at the approximate location where the Pin Missile attack was headed! A burst of indigo flames shot out from the Torchic’s maw—and had caught most of the projectiles in mid-air; a few had managed to escape the flames and landed harmlessly near where Zira stood. Looks like she’s taking charge… she thought to herself as the Torchic then stepped up to the plate, listening as hard s her ears could allow. “Alright, Zi. I give you free rein… I’ve trained you so much… now, time to impress your father!” she said with a grin on her face, crossing her arms and watching as the Ziggy suddenly wiggled around on the ground—before sending up a shower of mud! Ah, shit. Looks like this guy's is a smart one… she thought as the Ziggy had finished using Mud Sport all around—and she knew that Fire-type attacks were going to be drastically weakened; at least for a while. Now… I want to see you get out of this situation… she continued to herself as she watched the Torchic look around wildly; because even from where she stood, the mud had splattered all around her. The Ziggy didn’t want any of that…freakish-colored flames near it, no way in hell—before it decided to charge forward; lowering its head in order to catch the surprised Torchic off-guard with a Headbutt attack! Much as she was tempted to steer Zira in the right direction, she decided to watch her own ‘mon get herself out of the sticky situation—and then winced as the Ziggy had managed to connect, sending the Torchic up into the air, squealing out of surprise—as soon as the Fire-type had realized that it had been sent airborne, decided to retaliate with an aerial Slash, pivoting around and coming down hard on the unprotected Ziggy’s back. Hearing a distinct yelp cut through the clearing, it then raced around, trying to look for an opening—and then suddenly letting loose with Pin Missile right as the Torchic had landed; and right as Zira had landed, she had walked right into a trap of bursting “needles” coming from multiple directions—the Ziggy had utilized running around while discharging the Pin Missile attack in order for it to be twice as, if not very, effective at the surprised target. Now that the Ziggy had pinned down the Torchic again—and was leering at the blindfolded Chick Pokémon—it then decided to close the distance with another Headbutt attack; and even if Zi knew that Fire-type attacks would be dampened somewhat, she had chosen to retaliate the incoming Ziggy with her Flamethrower. At first her flames were firing at another spot entirely—but as she heard the whistling of the wind, she shifted directions at the last second—and had managed to catch the incoming brown blur full in the face with her indigo-colored flames; and once she’d heard the yelp of pain, the flames that were bathing it intensified! The Torchic wanted to end the fight here and now; by attempting to roast the Ziggy alive with another instance of Flamethrower—yet it continued on charging, undeterred by the heat! “Come on, Zi. I know you’re better than this…” she muttered, watching the battle unfold with much interest. At the very last second, the flames suddenly ceased—as if it were switched off by a valve—and the Torchic countered with Sand Attack, hurtling the dirt in the direction of the brown blur! As the dirt came in contact with the Ziggy’s line of vision, it let out another yelp—but by then the Torchic was gone, having cut off across to one side and then taking a leap, before unleashing another blast of flames—but then something strange was going on; why was there a halo of light surrounding the Torchic? “Wait a second don’t tell me…” she said, suddenly uncrossing her arms and watching, just to make sure that she wasn’t seeing things. The glow suddenly intensified; a sign that the Torchic was more than ready to…evolve! The light intensified around the area for a few seconds—and after the blast of flames that had showered the Torchic petered out, she blinked and watched as something very much taller—and more human-shape—land on its two legs! “What in the seven hells…” she trailed off before resisting the urge to grin, and then addressing Zira for the first actual time, “Finish it!” and the now-Combusken needed no further encouragement, utilizing its sudden appearance of additional appendages in order to deliver a series of up-close and personal Slash attacks, batting the Ziggy back and away from the area. As if it was sending its compatriot off, the Combusken took a deep breath before releasing a much bigger blast of flames—Izumi then noticed that, apparently, the application of power to technique was proportionate to the evolutionary level. And with that, the Zigzagoon was batted away from the area. “Heh… Zira, I never thought you were holding it in and saving it for this particular moment…” she said, and watching as the Combusken began tumbling around, before picking up on the sound of her mistress’ voice and waving a clawed appendage in her direction. “I think… I think she really did mean to evolve in front of you,” she said with a sheepish grin in her master’s direction. | | | | | WORDS 1,054 TAGS Zernebog Romanov NOTES Torchic evolves here (using the prior-approved evolution that had been previously approved in this post for more flair). Permission for evo in this thread granted by Trou

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ