[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

Uh oh! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHItAqaW_EA

Nathan gasps as he sees Ekans reel back from that last mud slap. Encouragement is a little difficult right now. Plusle and Minun are looking a little sad, as is Ralts. The overall mood has suddenly become a little more solemn. It doesn't look like Aspis is going to be able to pull this off without some incredible luck.

[Lord Windos]

"Apsis, don't let up. Keep up the assault with all your might. It might be a long shot, but its better to act than just give up," Ventus says, looking steely eyed at he spectacle. He knows he should just give in and try to ask Shiva for her Carny Coin for another go, but no one says he's a quitter. Not at this point.

Order: Spending another Will Point to ignore all Pain Penalizations this round, and keep on trying to use Bite. Apsis is going to stand tall, or faint trying!

[Iron]

Zamboni vs Ventus Round 14

Bite - fueled by a will point
(3)(5)(2) Hit!
(4) Swinub takes 1 damage. That's 4/6, or -1
(2)(1)(6) Flinch.

Zamboni vs Ventus Round 15

Bite
(2) Bite misses.

Mud Slap
(6)(6)(5)(4)(2) Nearly a crit! The last bit of pain inflicted made it not a crit.
(2)(2)(2) +1 Ekans takes 1 more damage. He's on his final hit point.

Zamboni vs Ventus Round 16

Ekans doesn't mind fainting if it means a chance at pig meat. He is willing to risk a luck dice.

Bite
(6) Holy crap, it's a hit, but Bite needs to cause a flinch!!
(4) Swinub takes 1 damage. He's at 3/6, -2.
(4)(3)(5) Swinub doesn't flinch.

Swinub has 4 dice and if the attack lands, it's all over!

Mud Slap
(6)(3)(3)(4) That does it.

Ekans finally gives up the will to fight, his inner poison dampened.

Zamboni does a victory lap, but he tries not to rub it in too much, and he comes back with warm Poffins and hot cocoa.

"That was a really great battle, Ventus. I enjoyed it. I suggest you work on training your Pokemon's fighting skills, and come back and see me again! You've already got your friendships with Pokemon all worked out. I'll keep this team in reserve waiting for you (unless they evolve, of course). Sorry I can't give you a badge, but maybe next time, right?"

Snorunt is worth 3Xp and Glaceon is worth 4Xp. Porygon isn't eligible for any, but I'd give the 4 to Togepi and the 3 to Ekans. Ventus gets 3XP.

So you still definitely learned something from this fight!

[Lord Windos]

Sighing in defeat and frustration at Zamboni display - 'Why does everyone have to showboat?' - before walking forward and accepting the treats from the leader. "I afraid I can't quite share the joy of your victory, but it was a thrilling one none of the less. Rest assured, though, that I will be back at a later date, and will hopefully stand a better chance than a truffle against that Swinub of yours." He then briskly walks over to Apsis, and hand her his Poffins.

"I'm sorry for putting you through that, my sister, but I thought we had a chance. Please, have these treats as a way to forgive my grievous misjudgment," Ventus says, laying the baked goods in front of the battered and thoroughly messy Ekans. Looking a bit rueful at her master for his screwy commands, she just huffs her assent, and began to chow down on the Poffins. Once she was done with her post defeat snack, the researcher recalled her, handed it over to the waiting Nurse, then went over to Nathan in the stands. With Porygon's ball in hand (I assume he has gotten it back at this point), he handed it over to Nathan, before taking a set next to him, not touching the Coco he was given.

"Well, I'm afraid that didn't have much to show for, my friend. It seems like everytime but life threatening situations, the gods themselves have it out against me. Not to pleased with my dismal luck, to be honest," Ventus said, sighng yet again at all the trouble he went through coming to naught. Apparently Reshirem is both a taking and giving god, for soon the Nurse returns with the rest of his Pokémon, Raphael already out in her arms. Looks likes they couldn't wait to see there master, and had escaped there Pokeball.

Leaping from the worker's clutches, they land straight in his lap, and started doing its level best to cheer up their mildly peeved master. Dancing in his lap, Ventus couldn't help but laugh when at his antics. When the Togepi soon stopped and let out a loud Yawn in exhaustion, he handed his hot chocolate to it to perk it up. "I can never stay in a bad mood with you around, my little angel. It seems, though, your tiredness is spreading to me as well. Or did you just learn Yawn? I guess we will find out in the next battle, won't we?"

[Dragonstrike]

Sighing in defeat and frustration at Zamboni display - 'Why does everyone have to showboat?' - before walking forward and accepting the treats from the leader. "I afraid I can't quite share the joy of your victory, but it was a thrilling one none of the less. Rest assured, though, that I will be back at a later date, and will hopefully stand a better chance than a truffle against that Swinub of yours." He then briskly walks over to Apsis, and hand her his Poffins.

"I'm sorry for putting you through that, my sister, but I thought we had a chance. Please, have these treats as a way to forgive my grievous misjudgment," Ventus says, laying the baked goods in front of the battered and thoroughly messy Ekans. Looking a bit rueful at her master for his screwy commands, she just huffs her assent, and began to chow down on the Poffins. Once she was done with her post defeat snack, the researcher recalled her, handed it over to the waiting Nurse, then went over to Nathan in the stands. With Porygon's ball in hand (I assume he has gotten it back at this point), he handed it over to Nathan, before taking a set next to him, not touching the Coco he was given.

"Well, I'm afraid that didn't have much to show for, my friend. It seems like everytime but life threatening situations, the gods themselves have it out against me. Not to pleased with my dismal luck, to be honest," Ventus said, sighng yet again at all the trouble he went through coming to naught. Apparently Reshirem is both a taking and giving god, for soon the Nurse returns with the rest of his Pokémon, Raphael already out in her arms. Looks likes they couldn't wait to see there master, and had escaped there Pokeball.

Leaping from the worker's clutches, they land straight in his lap, and started doing its level best to cheer up their mildly peeved master. Dancing in his lap, Ventus couldn't help but laugh when at his antics. When the Togepi soon stopped and let out a loud Yawn in exhaustion, he handed his hot chocolate to it to perk it up. "I can never stay in a bad mood with you around, my little angel. It seems, though, your tiredness is spreading to me as well. Or did you just learn Yawn? I guess we will find out in the next battle, won't we?"

Nathan sighs as Aspis goes down.  'Dang, so close...'  Plusle and Minun look really sad now, as does Ralts.

When Ventus comes over, Nathan can see he looks...kinda depressed, and Ralts is feeling it too.  The mood must have gotten to him.  "Hey, you did well.  Don't let the disappointment get to you.  It's really hard to even get that far in a battle against a Gym Leader, you know."  Togepi's antics help lighten the mood pretty quickly, too.  Ralts, Plusle, and Minun look like they're feeling a little better too.  The combee are simply looking at Ventus and Nathan, a sad look in their eyes.  "Alright, back in your pokeballs for now.  Staryu, we'll be doing a little training with Porygon in a little bit, okay?"  Nathan recalls all of his pokemon except Ralts and Swiftfire, and takes back Porygon and the CarnyCoin when Ventus offers them.

"Ya know, I've got a few pieces of basic advice I could give you, if you're willing to listen.  Just a few things based on what I've observed.  If you manage to get another CarnyCoin, I think you could definitely win this battle with a little more prep work."

Nathan looks down, his hand the back of his head, and looking a little serious.  "Though, I've been thinking about what we'll be doing after today, and I think we should be moving on pretty soon.  As great as this festival is, it's almost over, and we have other places to be and tasks to do.  You'd probably have to get another coin today if you want another shot before we leave...but that's just my thoughts on the matter.  I can't speak for the entire group, obviously.  Regardless, though...want a few (hopefully) helpful tips?"

[Lord Windos]

Nathan sighs as Aspis goes down.  'Dang, so close...'  Plusle and Minun look really sad now, as does Ralts.

When Ventus comes over, Nathan can see he looks...kinda depressed, and Ralts is feeling it too.  The mood must have gotten to him.  "Hey, you did well.  Don't let the disappointment get to you.  It's really hard to even get that far in a battle against a Gym Leader, you know."  Togepi's antics help lighten the mood pretty quickly, too.  Ralts, Plusle, and Minun look like they're feeling a little better too.  The combee are simply looking at Ventus and Nathan, a sad look in their eyes.  "Alright, back in your pokeballs for now.  Staryu, we'll be doing a little training with Porygon in a little bit, okay?"  Nathan recalls all of his pokemon except Ralts and Swiftfire, and takes back Porygon and the CarnyCoin when Ventus offers them.

"Ya know, I've got a few pieces of basic advice I could give you, if you're willing to listen.  Just a few things based on what I've observed.  If you manage to get another CarnyCoin, I think you could definitely win this battle with a little more prep work."

Nathan looks down, his hand the back of his head, and looking a little serious.  "Though, I've been thinking about what we'll be doing after today, and I think we should be moving on pretty soon.  As great as this festival is, it's almost over, and we have other places to be and tasks to do.  You'd probably have to get another coin today if you want another shot before we leave...but that's just my thoughts on the matter.  I can't speak for the entire group, obviously.  Regardless, though...want a few (hopefully) helpful tips?"

Shaking the sleepiness out of his eyes, he turns to smile at Nathan, his mood a little better with his friend's support. "If you have any advice to share, that would certainly be helpful in my endeavor to trump that icy Gym Leader. As for Carny Coins, Shiva has one, and if I have need of it she would probably let me use it. She doesn't seem like she wants to fight in any Gym Battles anyway, so my request should not be too egregious," Ventus says, petting his Raphael while they were sipping their hot chocolate. Despite its study arms, they seem have a grip on the mug, enjoying the chocolatey beverage as a nice treat.

Brainstorming himself of possible solutions, he starts talking about things that could possible help in his battles."One thing I need to do for sure is evolve my Pokémon, and catch more Pokémon that can fill out my team. Both task are rather long term goals, however, so it may be awhile before I can properly take on any Gym Leader. Other than that, I have to hone my battle skills more before I can pull anymore fancier maneuvers. Perhaps getting some held items would also be a good option as well. What do you think, Nathan?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

At this point, Shiva entered the Gym. While she was actually up to watch Ventus' Gym Battle, that one Ice Trainer got her, and before she could object, she was challenged to a battle... Well, while it was not against the Leader himself, it was surely an experience for itself. Cottonee also was enjoying the battle, while her newest team member...well, their time is yet to come.

Upon approaching Ventus and Nathan - and noticing how damn cold it was in this Gym, bit not mindong it for now - her Electric rodents jumped at her for cuddles. From...their slight disappointment visible and the atmosphere jere, she was assuming that the battle did not turn out as expected?

"So, eh... Sorry that I fell back right before the Gym... Was...challenged to a battle myself." ... "Ven, I assume you did not made it to win a badge? Nevermind... At least you tried. And I bet is was unique experience by itself."

True story, winning a battle was not the most important thing at all...For her. It's the experience that counts, the training, the delight a Pokemon is enjoying on a good battle, regardless of its outcome. Afterall, they're a big part in the proper raising of a Pokemon. Likely that she's standing alone in the party with this attitude. It's...like always... The more silent people tend to be overlooked and overshadowed by the loud and upgoing people. While without them... Calm yourself, dear one. Now is not the moment to be down because of this.

But just yet she could not estimate how Ventus himself is taking this loss. From his looks, he IS somehow disappointed over the outcome of the battle, but it hopefully does not reach too deep. Being absolutely devasted just because a loss in a battle...that's too much.

[Lord Windos]

Noticing Shiva come over an consul him as well, he smiled at her too, happy that he has the support of everyone in his group. "Well, it was unique in that it was my first go at those frigid Ice Types, but it was a rather thrilling battle none of the less, despite the loss. I'll have another chance someday against the leader, once I have a more expanded and powerful party. That, and if Reshirem decides to favor me for more than 5 minutes," He responded to the lass, look more cheerful and bemused at the same time. At least he's taking his lose in stride now!

Raphael had finished its cup of Coco, and it was jumping up and down on its master's lap, wanting more attension in its hyped up state. Laughing at his little angels antics, he picked the Togepi up and twirled them around in the air, grinning as they enjoyed the activity. After a minute or two he stopped, as he was feeling slightly dizzy from all of the Twirling. 'I don't want to use Teeter Dance and cause Confusion on myself, so let's stop for now. Now, I know you must be hungry from all this activity, so have this Poffin!" Like magic, a Razz-Bulk appeared in his hand, and Raphael eagerly grabbed it and began munching on it. While he was getting crumbs everywhere on his person, Ventus didn't care a bit about that!

"Well, since everyone has finished there business here, I say we go out to the festival one last time to enjoy it as a group. I think Nathan wants to turn in his Carny Coins for something, and it would be a great opportunity for you to do so as well. What do you say, my friends?" Ventus asked everyone, finally shaking off the last of his foul mood. His empathy can lead him to become gloomy fast, but positive emotions can swiftly curtail such an attitude!

[Dragonstrike]

Shaking the sleepiness out of his eyes, he turns to smile at Nathan, his mood a little better with his friend's support. "If you have any advice to share, that would certainly be helpful in my endeavor to trump that icy Gym Leader. As for Carny Coins, Shiva has one, and if I have need of it she would probably let me use it. She doesn't seem like she wants to fight in any Gym Battles anyway, so my request should not be too egregious," Ventus says, petting his Raphael while they were sipping their hot chocolate. Despite its study arms, they seem have a grip on the mug, enjoying the chocolatey beverage as a nice treat.

Brainstorming himself of possible solutions, he starts talking about things that could possible help in his battles."One thing I need to do for sure is evolve my Pokémon, and catch more Pokémon that can fill out my team. Both task are rather long term goals, however, so it may be awhile before I can properly take on any Gym Leader. Other than that, I have to hone my battle skills more before I can pull anymore fancier maneuvers. Perhaps getting some held items would also be a good option as well. What do you think, Nathan?"

Nathan hadn't noticed Shiva, as he was deep in thought concerning his advice to Ventus.  His eyes are closed, one arm across the middle of his body, the other holding his chin.

"That's along the lines of the first thing I had to note, yes.  You need to work on improving your skills in a fair fight.  You were landing your single hits well enough, but being able to do multiples and upping your overall damage would help you tremendously.  Those were battles of attrition that you were struggling to win.  Zamboni's really good at landing hits it seems, so you can't really evade taking damage completely and have to outgun him or deprive him of actions if you can't outright avoid his.  Debuffing is nice and all, but it's more effective when you can do a whole load at once, or still do damage at the same time as crippling your opponent.

"The second thing I want to note is the use of items.  I think the potion might have been better used on Raphael, who was your biggest damage source.  If Snorunt had gone down by his hand as opposed to Aspis's, you could have Charmed Swinub.  That would have helped your odds significantly, I'm sure, since Mud Slap is a really weak move.  Having a few Oran Berries might help too, though you'd probably have to stick to using them as held items.  I actually have a few Orans from a round of Shuckleball, so I could give you some if you need them.  You could probably also tell your pokemon to eat their berries sooner rather than later to try and stave off the worse pain...

"And the third is considering the big picture of the overall battle.  I lead with Swiftfire because I figured she'd take down his lead fast, and then would draw out whatever counter he had for the fire type he knew I had because of our adventure in the hive.  I didn't expect Ralts to solo that Sealeo down, so I had Porygon ready to hit it as hard as I could and finish it if Ralts got knocked out of the battle.  The more pokemon you have for the toughest ones he has, the better.  And having a fully healed ace in the hole for the final pokemon is important too.  Speaking of which... 

"I also have a somewhat...crazy sounding suggestion.  Since you now know what his entire team is, you can plan accordingly.  And since his last pokemon is Swinub, that means you could use your Shroomish against him.  If you can up your damage potential a little, you could actually compete with Swinub's damage output and take it down almost as fast as it would take Shroomish down.  Hitting Swinub with multiple Absorbs in a turn would make the situation more favorable as well, since Shroomish would heal a lot of HP every turn if he connected with both each time.

Nathan pauses, thinking, and launches into a quickly spoken yet rather detailed strategy.  "So, keeping all that in mind...I'd recommend upping your ability to strike your opponent and finding the optimal ways to deal damage to each pokemon.  Even just a little boost can mean a lot, and being able to hit your opponent multiple times in a turn is a big deal.  The Glaceon is the frailest member, so I'd say lead with Aspis, using Leer to capitalize on that and maximize your damage dealt, maybe focusing on Bite more than Poison Sting to try and deprive it of actions.  Bring out Raphael when Aspis goes down, and save your potion for him if you're struggling against Snorunt.  Since Metronome is so random, you should probably stick to single uses of the move since you could pull a harder to hit move just as easily as one that's easy to pull off, and big damage moves like Fire Blast need to hit.  Snorunt can also take a lot of punishment, so using Leer and Poisoning or Flinching it would be great, as we saw just now.  Swinub might be able to take a lot of punishment as well, but with a combination of Charm and multiple Absorbs, you should be able to outdamage it.  I don't recommend Glare too much since Zamboni's pokemon didn't really seem all that bothered by it for the most part, though it can't hurt to use it if you can find an opportunity to.

"There's no guarantees that will work, but that's just my thoughts on the matter.  In short, Charm and Raphael are probably your best weapons against Snorunt and Swinub, while fast damage is likely your best bet for Glaceon since it's more vulnerable."

He stops, opens his eyes, and looks back at Ventus, who's looking a little...stunned?  Confused?  "What?  Did I say something funny?  Did something happen?"  He looks around and spots Shiva fairly quickly.  "Oh!  Uh, hi, Shiva..."  She looks a little stunned too, actually...Ralts is chuckling, and Swiftfire looks amused.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

It was adorable as ever how he cared for lil' Togepi. A little...hard to believe in such moments that he actually holds a grudge and fear for Fairies... Oh, but she just smiled at the sight of the Poffin! After all, those reminded on their baking together. From the looks of it, the little Pokemon was enjoying the treat just as much as they did making them.

It was also good to see that the loss of battle did not occupy him too much. Hopefully the same can be said about Nathan and his win... Oh...wait a moment...

"Nathan, good to see you again. I'm sorry that....I could not attend your battle and victory - yes, Ven told me you won - but you see, I was occupied with work at the Daycare. But...congratulation to yoi victory nevertheless! I hope you and your Pokemon enjoyed the battle." Oh, this congratulation was an honest one. In fact, it is good to see his  career as a Trainer being fruitful! "For the future, I'd appreciate if you'd tell before you run off into the Gym...Since...I'd look forward to attend them, actually." Right, she was still hoping to maybe learn one or two things by his battle style.

Her mood and spirits were riding at the idea of visiting the Festival once more. For whatever reason... But there is no reason not to! Now that Ventus mentioned, she herself still owns one of these blasted CarnyCoins... Unsure what to do with it, actually. She was relucant to trade it away for a prize, but had little interest in facing the Gym Leader herself... Just keeping it for collective reasons actually sounded like a good idea...

"Oh, you're right... These CarnyCoins can be traded... But... I guess I'll keep mine for now. Just curious what could be traded for one..." In fact, she already had the Sawsbuck Token - used up for two rounds of Shuckleball - , the Talonflame Charm from Belle - securely attached to bagpack!~ - and the gifted Snivy Plushie as reminders from the Festival and all the fun it brought... Not even speaking of an Abra! But...a CarnyCoin on top of it surely does not hurt. Collector feels strike here! But...how about even more Pokeballs? Or a blasted Ultra Ball, for a rare and elusive catch?