Meeting of Similar Minds [Josh, Doug]

[Izumi Yamamura]

Now that things were under way, all Izumi would have to do was wear down the Charmander enough in order to force him to switch out to another one of his members—who, she noted, were now watching from one side of the “arena”—and then things got interesting with the openly-declared Flamethrower that was chucked her way. “Cut across, Haya—and aim that Earth Power well!” she continued, watching as the Turtwig that had stood tall then moved—even if she was a bit on the slow side, the Flamethrower that was travelling in a straight line hit the spot where she had stood a few seconds earlier—and then, complete silence fell. Normally, she’d be thinking up of strategies on the spot here; but a few seconds later—the ground suddenly erupted in a display of power, as the Turtwig then made a stamping motion that was directed at the Charmander! “Hold your ground, girl!” she said, making the Turtwig stop right where she stood; the look of concentration visible on her face as the Earth Power then ripped up the ground; an attempt to hit the Charmander from beneath so that she could begin juggling him—and keep the pesky Flamethrower away from the Grass-type! “Steady, now…” she continued, watching and waiting for the next move that Doug would make. As it was from the sidelines, the Bagon was now watching with a look of intensity; as if wanting to declare his intentions of going next—after all, he really did want to prove to his mistress that he was just as capable as the Turtwig who was now apparently playing the “distance” game. Turtwig out on the field. Dodged first strike of Flamethrower, cuts across the field and uses Earth Power in an attempt to send the Charmander flying! | | | | | WORDS 277 TAGS Josh Dragomir & @dougrasendori NOTES Distance be the name of the game

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Deleted]

Doug kept a rather intent focus on the battlefield. Cole had quickly roared out a Flamethrower, but it missed as expected for a simple first move of the battle, the slow and focused Turtwig moving out of the way before it could manage to hit her. Izumi had called for the Turtwig to use "Earth Power" and an almost deathly silence had followed for a moment. Suddenly, the Turtwig would stamp her foot into the ground and Doug could almost feel the slight rumbling from this intense concentration put into the move.

Despite the somewhat slow start up for this move, the ground would suddenly start cracking and ripping up, the powerful motion moving very quickly towards Cole in an attempt to knock the poor Charmander into the air. Cole would lose his balance slightly, but Doug quickly sprung up. "Cole! Steady yourself and get out of the way! Use the surroundings!" Doug called out quickly towards him. Cole would quickly steady himself and jump out of the way of the rippling ground, landing on a tree stump. "Now then, jump at it and use Dragon Rage!" Doug called out. Cole would then jump off the tree branch, hovering towards the Turtwig. Cole would open his mouth, a ball of fiery-like energy concentrating in front of his mouth. Cole would then fire it off towards the Turtwig, momentarily descending and landing on the ground afterward. Doug wiped his forehead a little, awaiting to see what Izumi might pull off in response to this maneuver and what the result of any sort of response may be. Little Oron plopped on Doug's shoulder was even observing with a curious interest in the battle.

[Izumi Yamamura]

Hoho… dodging it as fast as you can manage, eh? Izumi thought as the Charmander very narrowly missed the erupting ground that had exploded very near his feet—at least she’d managed to throw the Fire-type off-balance; but now it was countering with what looked to be either Dragon Rage or Dragon Breath—the two attacks both involved a blast of draconian energy from the mouth, so it was a bit difficult to determine what it was supposed to be. In the time that it had taken for the ball of draconic energy to whizz through the air, she had whistled in Hayato’s direction; which was a cue to jump up as high as she could! At the same time, she then added a command to that non-verbal cue, “Cancel it out with Mega Drain!” and watched as the Tiny Turtle ‘mon that she had (that was definitely not Squirtle) then summoned up a beam of sapping energy from its mouth while in mid-air; before shooting it forward at the incoming Dragon Rage attack! The two attacks then collided; and upon impact—exploded—but after the explosion had cleared, the Turtwig was nowhere in sight! Where had she gone off to? Izumi then looked straight upward and then grinned—because Haya apparently had a plan; as she had used the force of the explosion to propel herself even higher and had landed on one of the overhanging branches of the trees surrounding the clearing where they were currently located. Well, Josh did say use the surroundings to our advantage… and now that I have… we’ll see what Doug cooks up… she thought with another grin that quickly shifted into an impassive look on her face as she continued to think of whatever plan she could do next. I know that Grass-types can’t trump the Fire-types, but we’ll see. I hope this works… she thought to herself, waiting for the next move. Yes, she was definitely going on the defensive now. | | | | | WORDS 330 TAGS @dougrasendori NOTES Is srs tiemz

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Deleted]

Doug squinted his eyes with an intent look on his face. The Turtwig appeared to not have very many plans up her sleeve... Except one. To counteract the Dragon Rage, it would fire off a Mega Drain beam towards the energy burst from Dragon Rage, causing an explosion. Doug shielded his eyes a little as the explosive burst would envelop the battlefield in utter blindness briefly. Cole would land during this period of time.

As it cleared up and Doug would get a look of the battlefield again, almost as if teleporting away, the Turtwig had vanished! Both Doug and his Charmander looked around in confusion. "Cole. Use Dragon Dance." Doug said. Cole would nod quickly and quickly began hopping around the battlefield in an odd manner, looking around for the Turtwig. Cole would then briefly surge with a dark-looking aura of energy, his speed and attack being boosted by the specific nature of the dance-like move. Doug would then look up at the tree the Turtwig was in, spotting it. "Alright, Cole." Doug would say to catch his overly excitable Charmander's attention. He snapped his fingers a few times to make sure Cole was paying attention and pointed toward the trees. Cole would appear to get the non-verbal message as he quickly went to another tree near the one that the Turtwig was in, quickly beginning to jump up into the trees, prancing himself onto a branch that gave a view towards the Turtwig, Cole grinning widely for some random reason. Doug had to plan his next move carefully, considering this Turtwig knew how to play a defensive game, on part thanks to having a proper, experienced trainer. He had to be prudent if he actually wanted to land any sort of devastating fire move on the Turtwig... Patience is a virtue after all.. He had Cole wait to see what the Turtwig might try to do and if he might be able to counteract it. Cole seemed to almost be jittery in place, being excited to continue on after this waiting game.

(Notes: Dubel srs tiemz)

[Izumi Yamamura]

Now that the Turtwig had concealed herself up in the tree; it was going to be a matter of time before the Charmander followed her up into the foliage. Now, if Josh didn’t mind getting a stiff neck, it would be wise to direct his gaze upwards—so that he could get a better view of what was going on. She then saw from the corner of her eye that the Charmander had jumped up as well; and for some reason—there was a very wicked-looking grin on its face. She then began muttering to herself in the back of her mind, Haya, I trust you completely. Do what you got to. Because it’s time to get serious! Before looking back at Doug, who’d also followed his Charmander’s line of vision up into the trees. She then decided to whistle—but she didn’t tell anyone that her whistling actually meant something. She’d resumed her “special training” with all of her other ‘mons—this was a principle she’d originally developed for her Hydreigon, and since it went well with him, she decided to teach everyone else about it too—and up in the trees, the Turtwig heard the chain of four notes; a sign that it was to hold her ground. Since she was up in her own domain, it was going to be easy—now all she had to do was to lure the Charmander down to where she was—and as the chain of notes that Izumi was whistling changed, the Turtwig looked up as well—before seeing that the Charmander was there, staring right down at it! The sound that shook the canopy was loud—for at the last note of whatever it was that her mistress was whistling, she took it as a cue to jump up through the foliage—thankfully there was room—and now that she was higher than the Charmander, looked down… and began unleashing a payload of hard-shelled seeds! Back down on the ground, she was grinning—who knew that Grass-types had an acute sense of hearing? I better think up of different tunes for each of them… she thought to herself as the sounds of the Seed Bomb attack raining down on the Charmander from the Turtwig’s current vantage point echoed throughout the clearing. After that first chain, she then changed tactics—suddenly blowing a shrill blast—and the Turtwig then heard it; and knew that it was a sign to begin charging “it” up. What “it” was would become clear as the Tiny Turtle (who was not a Squirtle) then landed on the branches a few inches above the Charmander, tensing up, and waiting… Turtwig on the move! Jumped up high and used Seed Bomb, charging up for... hurrhurr. You'll see. | | | | | WORDS 443 TAGS @dougrasendori NOTES Hurrdurr

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Josh Dragomir]

The battle had gotten intense. Even Josh's Pokemon had begun to sit up and take notice instead of casually relaxing. Josh couldn't help but smirk a bit as the two went back and fourth. Doug was obviously getting stronger, he could tell, and so was Izumi. He just wondered what might happen with the experience difference, and what Doug could pull off with how much he had improved...

Of course, this whole thing was for them to both learn from each other and become better Trainers from battling and sparring one another. He knew Doug would benefit, but would Izumi? Well, with her starting to change her tactics, it was obvious Izumi was getting more then she bargained for with all of this. Doug's Charmander was obviously tougher then they had given him credit for, and Izumi was going to have to be on her toes if she was going to keep from losing the first round.

[Deleted]

Doug squinted his eyes toward Izumi as she again would whistle out again. He looked up towards the trees again, the grass and fire Pokemon staring each other down. He was not exactly sure what to expect, with the same case applying to Cole.

Cole would continue staring down the Turtwig, waiting for an order from Doug as to what he should do next. Though as the whistling noise would echo through the tree, the Turtwig would suddenly jump up to higher ground and suddenly start barraging at Cole with seeds. Due to the suddenness of the action, Doug was not able to call a command for Cole before the seeds would start smacking against the little fire lizard. Despite how painful it seemed to look, Cole did not seem to be that overly affected by the barrage, in part thanks to his fire-type nature making the grass-type Seed Bomb have a lessened effect on him. Doug breathed a sigh of relief as Cole tensed slightly.

Doug noticed as Izumi would again blow a different sounding tone of whistle and the Turtwig would pause on a branch on higher ground compared to where Cole stood, appearing to be focusing something... Doug began to catch on to this trend and he knew that he had to get Cole out of the way, knowing these chargeable attacks are usually the most powerful, regardless of Cole's type advantage. "Quick Cole! Jump to the side and use Flamethrower while the Turtwig is paused there! Get onto the ground afterwards!" He would call out towards him. Cole got an excited look back onto his face as he quickly jumped to the side, then blasting out a concentrated trail of fire towards the Turtwig from his mouth. Regardless of the result of this fiery blast, Cole would land on a branch and quickly jump back down onto the ground near Doug, taking a breath. Doug took a small breath as well, wiping an arm across his forehead a little.

[Izumi Yamamura]

Tick, tock. This is a waiting game… echoed in the back of her head as she tried to look up in the foliage above; guessing what was going on. After the explosion of hard-shelled seeds had shook the canopy, she could only guess as to what Hayato was up to in the branches—when she heard Doug give out a shout of surprise which then transcended into a command! “Shift! Bait and drop!” were the only words she had time to shout, and up in the tree, the Turtwig—who was so focused on concentrating—only heard the command in time to almost raise her head to a sudden appearance of a wall of flames. Right at that moment, the Turtwig opened her maw—and shot out a blast of solar energy, crashing into the wall and then swinging her head from one side to the other, trying to dissipate the flames off and away from the foliage (but getting singed in the process as well)—there was no way in hell she wanted to cause a forest fire just outside the city limits! As the two sources of energy collided, the Turtwig then suddenly stepped backwards on the branch where she’d landed, and rapped down on it—causing it to break; which then hastened her fall back to the ground! While the Turtwig tumbled through the air, she then gave another sharp whistle; but the tune of this one was slightly different from the one earlier—and right on slamming into the ground, she’d landed on all fours… and the ground was silent again. This time, though, the area near the Charmander erupted in a sudden display of power; and since this one was a surprise tell, she didn’t know if she would have to follow up right away and be all orthodox again or just wait and see on what he’d do next…? She knew that her Turtwig had taken some of the damage from the Flamethrower in order to be able to disperse the brunt of the attack with Solarbeam; but what else would happen, now that they were back on the ground? Turtwig on the move! Takes some damage from Flamethrower; uses Solarbeam to disperse the brunt of the attack (and avoid a wildfire) before landing hard on all-fours on the ground and surprising the Cha'mander with Earth Power! | | | | | WORDS 356 TAGS @dougrasendori NOTES Tryin' to set the forest on fire man?

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Deleted]

Doug's quick action had an almost profound effect that he didn't really think ahead of. Cole had successfully fired the Flamethrower and landed on the ground as predicted, while the Turtwig proceeded to fire off a mighty Solar Beam that dispersed the flames before they could do any major damage to the grass-type turtle. Doug scratched his head a little as he felt slightly relieved that his almost mindless action did not cause any significant harm to the environment.

Doug and Cole would watch as the Turtwig had purposefully broken a branch to allow it to fall to the ground, getting a rather perfect landing after Izumi would again unleash one of her mysterious whistles. Doug and Cole looked around a little before the ground suddenly erupted underneath the Charmander, sending him tumbling upward into the air. Doug winced and clenched a fist. She managed to catch him off-guard once again, but he had to quickly react to this action even though the Turtwig and her clever trainer appeared to not have any other plans after the use of the Earth Power. "Down, Cole! Use Inferno!" Doug called out. Cole would get the idea as he spiraled and quickly landed on the ground on his feet, though he winced a little as he tried to keep his balance, managing to stay on his feet properly. He would then take a deep breath and would then blast out a stream of fire towards the Turtwig again. It seemed to be smaller and more concentrated in appearance, appearing to pack more of a punch than the usual Flamethrower at the cost of accuracy on top of guaranteeing a burn. Depending on if it would hit the Turtwig or not, it would proceed to fade away momentarily before it could cause any damage to the environment around them. Doug stood there and waited to see what this experienced lady would bring out next. This was getting trickier as he tried to figure out a way to make his commands a little harder to comprehend on the other side of the battlefield.

[Izumi Yamamura]

Now that they were back on the ground (and had successfully deflected the threat of a forest fire) the Turtwig was still holding her ground; how was she going to force a switch at this point in time? She could only blink and watch as the Charmander was sent into the air—thanks to the Earth Power—but before she could follow it up, the next command came; and it was a big move she’d heard of, but had never seen pulled off successfully (at least on her observations). “Block it!” she continued, watching as the Turtwig then concentrated, the sprout on its head twitching before suddenly hearing the Tiny Turtle (Grass version) stamp down on the ground in rapid succession; it had decided to use several instances of Earth Power in order to raise a wall of defense! I hope that this is enough… she thought, before whistling just as the barricade made of dirt went up; taking the impact for a moment—before suddenly exploding due to the force of the fire! As the explosion rocked the clearing, she then gave an almost-inaudible whistle; and once the debris had cleared—the Turtwig had disappeared again! Another pay load of hard-shelled seeds suddenly rained down around the area where the Charmander was; before another loud thudding noise was heard—over on Doug’s side of the field. She knew that Hayato was more on the defensive side; but if worse came to worse she’d have to send her up-close and personal; just to weather the flames. As another shrill tune escaped her lips, the Turtwig, having landed at some distance behind the Charmander, suddenly charged forward, bearing a maw of sharp fangs and ready to take a chunk out of Cole’s tail! This is a risky move, but this is going to be an endless stalling time unless one of us decides to take the battle up close and personal… never mind if Haya has the type disadvantage; I know she can take care of herself… were the thoughts racing through her mind as the Turtwig came in up close and personal for a Crunch attack! Turtwig on the move! Haya uses multiple instances of Earth Power to erect a barricade against the incoming Inferno of flames; and it explodes after a few seconds. After the explosion clears, Haya is now airborne, using Seed Bomb in order to distract the Cha'mander, before landing on Doug's side of the battlefield. Haya then closes the distance, hoping to use Crunch before Cha'mander reacts too quickly! | | | | | WORDS 356 TAGS @dougrasendori NOTES Here it comes...!

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Deleted]

Doug scratched his chin a little. Much to his dismay, the Inferno would be guarded against through the use of rock pillars brought on by Earth Power. A move with less accuracy than usual was blocked head on. A clever tactic... He figured that there was going to be more of an onslaught brought on by the Turtwig. He hasn't managed to land very many hits upon the little leafy turtle, but Cole at least was blessed with plenty of energy and a type advantage for him to keep the game going until he might find an opening to finish the battle off. The pillars would unexpectedly explode from the impact, causing him to shield his face a little with his arm as debris flew into the air.

As the debris cleared and Doug would slip his arm down from his face and look around, the Turtwig again maneuvering out of sight! Gah... Seeds would then start pouring down towards Cole. Another Seed Bomb. They would pelt at Cole, making him stumble back a little, but the impact's damage was again minimum as expected and much to Doug's relief. As Cole would start shaking off the impact of the Seed Bomb, Doug would notice the Turtwig charging toward Cole, appearing to wanna take a chomp out of poor Cole's fire-tipped tail. As funny as that would be to some, Doug was not prepared to let that happen... "Cole! Jump into the trees and use Flamethrower!" Doug called out. Cole ducked down and leaped back into the air, landing on a tree stump. He would then open his mouth widely and aim another concentrated Flamethrower blast towards the Turtwig. Regardless of the outcome, it seems that Cole would remain on the higher ground for the time being and hopefully not try to burn down the trees again.

[Izumi Yamamura]

The Turtwig was not prepared for the sudden “ambush” attack that the Charmander was planning—the way it moved, the way it acted—it was similar to her own, Ravana—but she wasn’t fully sure yet that it was one of her siblings—and as the Turtwig ended up biting nothing but air, she then realized that she’d let herself be backed into a trap! She then realized this a few seconds too late as the Charmander then took to the air—as if mirroring what had happened just a few seconds earlier—and instead of a payload of seeds, a sudden torrent of flames came raining down on the Turtwig! Knowing that the Sunny Day was in effect on her side of the field, she realized that she’d set herself up into a trap—and heard the Turtwig’s high-pitched shrieking as the amplified Sunny Day boosted the power of the Flamethrower attack that was now roasting her from all sides! She knew that she had to be strong, to stand tall—even if it really did hurt; seeing as Fire had a huge advantage to Grass in this instance. “Haya! Hang on! I know you can fight through the flames! Just put up with it for a few more…” she trailed off, realizing that she hadn’t kept track of the turns that had passed since she had instructed her Turtwig to use Sunny Day. The Turtwig weathered the hit as much as she could; but even the Grass-type could only do so much. At least the concentrated firepower isn’t aimed up at the trees… she thought as the flames then petered out; revealing a very battered, banged-up, barely-standing Turtwig. “Alright. Show them what the Grass-types can truly do… and I leave the rest to you. Do what you must. We cando this. You’re a big girl now,” she said with a cryptic look on her face; and right then and there, the Turtwig then assumed its normal, standard position—but was glowing with a greenish aura all around! It was now in the process of using Synthesis, in order to heal back what health it had lost. She knew that there was a limit; and as of now, the Turtwig didn’t look all banged-up and badly roasted as she did earlier. Now that she was given full rein—it was time to make things interesting. Looking up and seeing the Charmander now on higher ground, she then decided to take the battle to him, by quickly taking a running start and then attempting to ram the tree—but instead had unleashed another blast of solar energy—a Solarbeam attack! If the prey won’t come down, then it’s up to us to bring the fight here! She thought to herself as the beam of energy cut through the clearing, forcing her to slip her pair of shades on—who knew that a Grass-type attack could be propelled to such power, especially if the user was in danger?! Turtwig on the move! Hit full-on by Flamethrower, takes a serious cut to its Health Points. After weathering the hit, Turtwig uses Synthesis in an attempt to heal as much damage as it can; before taking a running start and firing off another Solarbeam at where the Charmander is located! | | | | | WORDS 498 TAGS Josh Dragomir, @dougrasendori NOTES Nice tactic there, Doug

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS & THQ

[Deleted]

Doug snapped his fingers. Nailed it. Apparently a Sunny Day was going off as well during this time, which just amplified the effect of the Flamethrower even more. He seemed to unintentionally pull off a brilliant maneuver. Josh is likely proud of him at this moment. Admittedly, the sight of the charred Turtwig would probably make anyone a tad bit queasy or sad, but now was not the time for that. As it seemingly would be over, the Turtwig would suddenly come back from the blistering impact by healing itself via Synthesis, getting! "Blasted..." Doug muttered quietly. This wasn't going to end very easily.

Cole was peering down at the Turtwig from the tree as she healed herself. He was awaiting another command from Doug, who was waiting to see what would happen next. Suddenly, the Turtwig sprang into running towards the tree Cole was in and out of the blue came an almost blinding blast of sunlight, a Solarbeam... "Get out of the way!" Would echo through the clearing from Doug, who shielded his eyes a little from the brightness of the beam. Cole would yelp as he tried jumping to the side to the ground, but the beam had managed to still get some impact on the Charmander, causing Cole to lose his balance in his jump and fall down, tumbling across the grassy ground a little. Doug winced a little as he would look back over towards Cole, who slowly got back up onto his little claw-like hands and feet, sort of shaking a little. "Ngh... Don't worry, Cole. You're tough. You can bear through this." Doug said to encourage the Charmander, who would make his little cries of "Char, Char." in response.

Doug squinted his eyes a little. "Alright, Cole. We're going to kick it up another notch. Use Dragon Dance and then Dragon Rage." Doug would call out towards Cole. Cole would nod as he then began to hop around, slowly drawing up towards the Turtwig and then emitting a dark energetic aura. Cole would then open his mouth and shoot out another energy burst towards the Turtwig, Doug hoping it might cause some sort of impact on the Turtwig.