A Little Abominable [Fin]

[Tyger]

The Wild Weedle had more than the cold to worry about at this point. While it had been scared of the bird's beak, something it had been trained as a young bug to fear, the turtle seemed to be a capable fighter and nuisance to deal with. Although it wasn't something Weedle had been taught to fear, Turret was definitely schooling the Weedle in the art of fearmongering. The String shot and poison sting proved somewhat effective, but Turret's retaliation was worrisome. The Tackle had hit straight on, and chunked a massive amount of energy from the Wild Weedle.

Determined to still give Damien a good battle in exchange for (hopefully) warmth, Weedle readied itself once more. Sending out a flurry of poison stings towards Turret seemed to be the best idea, and while they did hit, unfortunately nothing much seemed to come from it. It's fantastic attack had fallen short. Perhaps because of the turtles thick shell? Turret brushed off the attack, thankful it hadn't been poisoned, and charged forward once more for a tackle. Retreating into his shell at the last moment, the turtle slammed into Weedle before scurrying back to the side of Damien to avoid any retaliation. It appeared as though Weedle wasn't about to get up, but it shakily rose and rejoined the battle, albeit battered and bruised. Surely it had earned warmth now?

Wild Weedle - Level |9|

Health: 8/28

Current Status: *fearfulness intensifies*
Successful Poison Sting!

Damien's Turret - Level |11|

Health: 27/34

Current Status: Barely a scratch!
Spd -1
Successful Tackle!

[Lamont]

The frost crystallizing the abundant supply of moisture and nipping at his skin, chilling the air to the point his own breath steamed in angry puffs and causing the inhabitants of Johto to shiver... it was all simply a background to these next moments. The heat of battle churned adrenaline through the participant's bodies to ignore anything but the fight; and now they were near the end. The weedle had fought well, wriggling to rise from the latest hit and looking at the trainer rather expectantly.

Damien almost missed it. He made the beginnings of a noise to call out the final attack, thinking the bug pokémon was satisfied with the warming of the battle versus aimlessly wandering the biting cold in the wilds, but the gleam of hope in the little weedle's eyes caught in his throat. The boy clenched his fists. He wasn't particularly interested in having the hairy bug, but he also hadn't put a lot of thought into it either.

A grin whipped across his face, quickly turning into a small smile back at the wounded bug. With an inward sigh and a slight shake of his head in amusement the trainer reached around into his bag and pulled out a pokéball.
"You've earned it," he stated as he threw the object at the Weedle. The young lad just couldn't say no to that button face. Perhaps he could find another trainer to love it, or simply release it when winter had run its course. Though there was always the possibility it could grow on him like Cyrus was.

The ranger and his squirtle watched the ball shake, Damien hoping he hadn't misinterpreted the Weedle's wishes.

Word Count: 280

[The REAL Joey]

Understanding the Weedle's desire to join his ranks, Damien accepted and a capture device was primed and launched. Excited at the sight of the Pokeball being readied, the Pokemon knew it was going to be looked after at this point. It had seen many other trainers capturing its fellow Pokemon in such a way and it's time was now. Wriggling excitedly, it remained on the spot to assist with the capturing process. As Damien chucked the Pokeball forward, it soared through the frosty air before it finally found itself dabbing against the Weedle's diminutive body.

Absorbing it in a red light, the Pokemon was covered from tip to toe as it was digitised and scooped into the centre of the spherical capture device. Falling to the floor with a plonk, the capture was now under way. Rocking back and forth, it was processing the newly acquired Pokemon. Given how weak the shaking was, it appeared the Weedle wasn't struggling at all. This was a Pokemon that definitely wanted to tag along. Nevertheless, the ritualistic rocking back and forth continued as follows.

Once...

Twice...

Thrice...

---

*CLICK*



Congratulations! The Wild Weedle was captured!


Please fill out the following information about your new Pokémon:

Weedle
Name: [choose]
Gender: [Male/Female]
Level: 9
Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature/Personality: [choose]

[img src="http://pldh.net/media/pokemon/gen4/hgss/013.png"]
[b]Weedle[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [Male/Female]
Level: 9
Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature/Personality: [choose]

---

Victory!

---

Your Squirtle fought courageously and has levelled up!
He gained 2 levels and is now Level 13!
Turret would also like to learn the move Bubble. Delete a move so that it can be learnt?


Your Pidgey participated and has levelled up!
He gained 1 level and is now Level 5!
Cyrus learnt the move Sand Attack.

---

[Lamont]

A victorious 'yes' slithered from of Damien's lips as the ball let off the satisfying click indicating the weedle had been caught. He pumped his arm to complete the vision, turning his head down to his companion for a moment before rushing over to the dormant pokéball and snatching it up. Turret finally freed himself of the sticky string, giving a clap of his hands as the silken fabric laid to rest on the ground.

"Nice work, Turret," the trainer commended his squirtle then turned his attention to the red and white ball in his hands. "And to you weedle. Though I suppose I should give you a name..." His voice trailed off as he reflected on the encounter. Mulling over what he'd seen of this pokémon and comparing it to previous experiences, running through pet names he'd considered in his youth as well as ones he'd heard from other people. As he took his time considering he noticed Turret practicing a new move: Bubble. His tiny turtle certainly was growing fast.

"Bubble huh?" questioned the ranger. Turret nodded then scurried over and giving his trainer an expectant look. Damien smiled in return, "That's a good one. Hmmm..." he paused to redirect his train of thoughts. "Focus on learning Bubble instead of Water Gun. It's added effect could come in handy." At least he was fairly certain he was remembering that correctly. But it was back to the matter at hand and an idea sparked. "Welcome to the team, Riley."

Satisfied, the boy set the new addition to his pokémon team on his belt and grabbed Turret's ball to recall the water type. With that all done he was ready to continue along the path to Violet City. He still had quite a ways to go, passing a house not that long ago. From his memory that would mean he was barely a quarter of the way through this thing. Though technically about half if he separated what was technically route 31. Ultimately it didn't matter though as the city itself didn't get any closer no matter which way he broke down the travel. Damien set off northward to continue his journey.

Word Count: 362

---

Turret learns Bubble instead of Water Gun. Weedle info below & giving it Damien's Poison Barb:
*Note: Bearithusa needs to be updated with Grass Whistle instead of Leer as per a previous post

SPOILER: Click to show

Riley Lv. 9

Characteristic: Somewhat Stubborn Nature: Brave

Ability: Shield Dust Attacks:    Poison Sting    String Shot

Held Item: Poison Barb

[The REAL Joey]

A new Pokemon in the team and still on his way towards Violet, there was no doubt a few more adventures could be had along this lengthy route. Although unbeknownst to Damien, he was virtually already in the midst of one. One, which had been going on for some time already. Burrowing up and down amongst the foliage was a Pokemon that had been spying on the would be ranger. It had viewed many things such as the battle and welcoming of Riley into Damien's fold as well as the tussle with that picnicker Katie all that time back. Considering how long it had been following Damien's antics, it had arguably done very well in maintaining its distance and cover. This, sadly, would change. Realising the trainer was now on his way again, the Pokemon popped out of the ground in order to try and scurry on ahead. No doubt it would be able to get another ample spot to nestle itself down in and watch from afar. For whatever reason, the creature had certainly got its curiosity piqued by this teenager. In truth, the stalker of sorts was actually a Pokemon known as Oddish. Not native to the route, it had joined many of its kind in swarming the area but it had got sidetracked in following the exploits of Damien.

However, as fast it tried to scurry, the Pokemon's footing did not agree with the frosted ground it was running on and the plant creature went veering off its path and directly onto the walkway that Damien was venturing along. Letting out a high pitched squeal, it slid along at a rather surprising speed, all the while spinning around, its little feet trying to reign itself in. This action would only exacerbate things and it wasn't long before the Pokemon hurtled directly into Damien. Bouncing off his boots, the Pokemon slumped backwards. At least now it had been stopped from its uncontrollable wild ride to goodness knows where. Letting out a sigh, the blades of grass on the Pokemon's head wilted somewhat before it looked up with something of a start. It had only meant to watch from afar, not going crashing into the subject of its interest. Hopping up with another high pitched noise, it didn't quite know how to respond and began swaying erratically from side t oside. From an outsider's perspective, it almost looked as if the Pokemon was initiating battle.



Encounter

---

A stalker Oddish (Level 9) blows it cover!
Please select a Pokemon for battle.

[Lamont]

As he moved along the route playing the last couple battles through in his mind he never would have guessed his next pokémon encounter would arrive via skating. In a way the oddish's misstep saved Damien one of his own as the ground ahead was covered with a thin, slippery, sheet of ice that he had not been paying any attention to. He aided in ceasing the endless slide the grass type was obviously not enjoying considering its shrieking by laying the side of his foot it its path. The oddish was unsurprisingly a little put off as it hurriedly hopped to its feet and backed away with a menacing sway.

Damien's face curled into an amused grin. This would be perfect. His reflections on his past blunder with Cyrus versus the weedle made him realize that it may not have been all that bad at all. The small bird was definitely in need of some training, but that didn't mean it needed to see the fight to its end. Though it would definitely be more helpful if he did, of which this oddish could be the perfect contender. While Cyrus didn't have any super effective moves against this opponent, the higher level wild pokémon would have ineffective moves versus the bird.

With this hope in place the trainer's hand emerged from the protection of his warm jacket pockets to grasp Cyrus' pokéball from his belt.
"Let's go, Cyrus! This time I know what I'm doing," he reassured the pidgey as it materialized from the trail of light spewing from the pokéball. Cyrus returned the confidence with a momentary flare of its wings and long happy squeak. "Tackle!"

Word Count: 278

[Thirdie]

Oddish waited with baited breath now its cover was blown, and it watched Damien intensely for how he would react. Though it had studied him for while, it was never easy to tell how a human would react to different circumstances, and Oddish, used to watching from the sidelines, felt a new thrill at suddenly being on the front lines of an 'encounter'. It was a very different thing than watching from afar. Oddish glanced to the closest hide out, tempted to run into hiding once more, but then Damien smiled, and Oddish was reminded why it had followed him to begin with. It shook its head leaves again and took a couple of steps back, yet now unwilling to run off, and it watched with thundering heart Damien release his choice for the unavoidable battle. Oddish took one look at the bird, and released a cloud of sweet smelling powder into the air on pure instinct.

Oddish had yet to see the Pidgey fight, it only being let out in a glimpse before. That made Oddish nervous of the bird, since it didn't know what he was capable of. Oddish needed back up, and its instinctive use of Sweet Scent had the possibility of giving it just that.
The before so fresh and cold air filled with the sweet scent of spring flowers, and the light breeze helped sent the fragrance wide. The smell was intoxigating, and Cyrus was bombarded with it, making it difficult for him to focus. It didn't stop him from setting into a run towards the Oddish, and he managed to bump into it with enough force to make it stumble. Oddish gave a squeel of surprise more than hurt. It wasn't as bad as Oddish had feared.

---

Wild Pokemon Battle
Weather: Frost ~ no effect in battle ~

Wild Oddish |level 9|
HP: 24/29 (spd 13)
Status: Normal
Used Sweet Scent

Damien's Cyrus♂ |level 5|
HP: 20/20 (spd 12)
Status: Normal (-2 evasion)
Used Tackle

[Lamont]

The sweet scent permeated the area with the pleasant aroma's of summer to the point it was almost forgettable they were going into the winter season. It was enough for one to even momentarily push aside the biting chill of frost so it was a mere sparkle along the crisp ground, relaxing those exposed from their shivering. As wondrous as it was it did have the unfortunately side effect of making one a little sluggish; something Cyrus was noticing but not all too concerned with due to the trade off. It was too bad this was a battle.

Damien observed the aftermath of the exchange, debating what to do next. He knew going in this wasn't going to be a quick and easy fight, which was both good for Cyrus but also for himself.
"Go for a couple sand attacks, Cyrus," Damien coached, considering perhaps he should have started it off with that instead of the tackle. Especially considering if the oddish's attack was absorb or some such like he thought it was. The tiny bit of damage just done will easily be made up with a couple nutritional slurps from the grass type. It was a little late to change the strategy for this battle, but something he should remember for the future. Up to this point he hadn't really considered status effects in his battles. Something he'd need to rectify if he ever wanted to be an effective combatant. Tackles can only get you so far.

Word Count: 248

((Going for two rounds of combat just to speed things up a little if that's okay))

[Deleted]

Playing it a bit cautiously after the tackle scored a direct hit Oddish waited for a moment before making a move. It was likely that this trainers Pidgey was still rather young and as such it would not pose an immediate threat. Being weak to flying type moves however Oddish could not afford to miss an attack and knew it had to keep Pidgey distracted so it could score a hit once it switched over to it;s offensive options. Although it's evolve forms were known for their stench Oddish at times could produce a sweet aroma capable of soothing even the strongest of beasts. Pidgey being so young would easily fall for it's trap again.

Sending the sweet aroma towards the bird Cyrus could not help but loose focus and he whiffed the sweet smelling air. Despite the distraction however he was still able to respond to his trainers orders and he kicked a sand could towards Oddish not only to clear the air but also cause the plant to be less accurate with it's attacks. Little did he know however that Oddish would react violently to his attack. The plant Pokemon cried out as it tried to clear out it's eyes which were burning from the sand stuck in them. Cyrus had no hope of dodging it's revenge as the plant fired a hide melting Acid at him in a show of force.

The Acid nearly melted his skin as he tried to get it off as soon as he could. The Acid slid right off as he waved his wings leaving a small bald spot on the areas the acid had struck. Desperate to avoid another strike he struck up another could of sand hoping to blind Oddish before it was too late although the sweet scent had still reduced his own sense of focus to such an extent that he would have a hard to dodging any of the near blind Oddish's attacks.

---

Pokemon Battle

Oddish|level 9|
HP: 24/29 (82%)
Status: Normal (Accuracy -2)
Used Sweet Scent, Used Acid
I will fry you into a chicken dinner!

VS

Damien's Cyrus|level 5|
HP: 5/20 (25%)
Status: Normal (Evasion -4)
Cyrus used Sand Attack twice
Sand sure is useful!


Ooc: Wow that Acid did a lot more than I expected there. Absorb seemed a bit too weak but I did not think Acid would do that much at all.

[Lamont]

A gasp erupted out of Damien as the bowl of acid shot through the air and smacked Cyrus dead on. He hadn't counted on such an attack, and it almost cost him the little bird. Guilt clenched at his gut. He told his pidgey he knew what he was doing but in reality he was still learning. The bolster of confidence was shredded with worry. To his relief, however, Cyrus still clung to consciousness and managed to shake off the acid albeit weakly.

There was no question of what to do next. Damien grabbed the empty ball for his pidgey, "Return Cyrus." His command was firm and urgent but when his little bird retreated into the safety of his pokéball the trainer whispered an apology before setting it at his belt and grabbing another.
"You're up, Bearithusa!" the ranger called out as he threw the ball into the air, releasing the frost tree pokémon. At first he had considered Turret just due to his default fall back. But the oddish's type advantage and being nearly full health following the drastic error he had made with Cyrus made him rethink. The sand attacks should help but he wasn't willing to risk it.

"Cyrus did some work for you, Bear, so follow it up with an Icy Wind." The snover clapped her hands once in acknowledgement of the order.

Word Count: 227

[Morrigan]

The Oddish had a lucky break with it's acid attack striking Cyrus earlier on. Cautious of the bird, especially since it had received a face full of sand which resulted in poor vision, the Oddish had atleast taken care of one problem. Although it wasn't able to clearly see the battle before it, the Oddish could still hear and with a human gasp followed by the odd sound of the Pidgey being drawn back inside of it's Pokeball, the grass type figured that it had been saved, in some sense. The mere sound of wings and sight of a sharp beak were usually enough to get it scurrying away and burrow itself underground in fear. But flying types weren't the only thing that Oddish should've been afraid of, as it was soon to find out. Knowing that the battle wasn't yet over, it braced itself on the spot and waited to see how Damien would act.

Guilty and apologetic to his Pidgey, Damien had chosen a replacement to fight on the front lines of this battle instead. He was still learning the ways of the world around him but even experienced trainers were often surprised by certain moves wild Pokemon knew and the strength behind them, so it was nothing for him to feel guilty about. Sending forth his Snover, the icy grass type clapped her large arms together and with it, the Oddish was able to work out what sort of direction it's next opponent was coming from. Since it's previous move had been a success, the Oddish seemed to close it's mouth and with a wriggle, chucked up another wave of acid. Bearithusa flinched at the sight of the purple ooze flying through the air but with quick reflexes, managed to dodge out of the way.

Skidding back across the floor after narrowly missing a similar fate of Cyrus, the Snover stood back up and faced the Oddish. With a cry, the creature flung her arms forward, as a chilly gust of wind began to pick up around her body. Particles of snow beginning to form of the twirling winds, Bearithusa seemed to order the wind forward, striking the Oddish across the body and sending it flying backwards. Body overcome with the cold feeling of froze, the Oddish laid on the same spot, foot twitching awkwardly in the air. It appeared to be down for the count.

---

Oddish: | Level 9 |
Health: 0% (0/29 HP)
Status: -2 Acc
Oddish used Acid! Missed!
Oddish Fainted!

VS

Bearithusa: | Level 14 |
Health: 100% (45/45 HP)
Status: Normal
Cyrus switched with Bearithusa!
Bearithusa used Icy Wind!

---

Congratulations!
The wild Oddish was defeated!


Cyrus gained 1 level for participating and grew to Level 6!


Bearithusa gained 1 level and grew to Level 15!

The wild Oddish may also be captured;
[img]http://pldh.net/media/pokemon/gen5/blackwhite/043.png[/img]
[b]Oddish[/b]
Name: [choose]
Gender: [choose]
Level: 9
Moves: Absorb, Sweet Scent, Acid
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature/Personality: [choose]


[Lamont]

Damien released a sigh of relief when the acid spraying oddish went down, foggy breath shifting in the cold air. "Great job, Bear," he congratulated the snover hopping over to the unconscious grass pokémon to give a prod. She almost looked disappointed. Her bushy hands brushed over and through the leafy stack of the oddish's top, cackling lightly as she did so. "Alright that's enough. We need to get a move on so... return." He held out her pokéball to accompany the order, the red light enveloping the ice type but not before she blew a little chilly breeze his direction.

He shivered as he placed the ball at his belt, hearing the quiet click to confirm it was placed properly. Damien approached the fainted oddish, cupping his hands around the little purple body and lifting it from the slippery patch that had brought it to his feet. The young ranger carefully made his way to the nearest patch of grass and laid the weed pokémon down among its leafy brethren, nestling it in a bit to help camouflage so it could recover in peace. With that done he brushed his gloved hands off on his pants, pulled his jacket in tighter, and continued heading north toward the end of the trail.

He was nearly there. Just a few more grass patches and then he'd be on route 31, which if his memory served correct would be marked by a large cave pitched black. From there he could just head west to reach the checkpoint to Violet City. He couldn't wait to get out of the cold, but as there was still a bit to go he might as well occupy his thoughts with how to best train his companions. Right now Cyrus was on his mind. The young avian seemed outmatched so far in nearly every encounter though that wasn't too surprising considering the conditions they met. The pidgey trusted him, an alien experience for the new trainer but only so far as the species it was coming from. Cyrus felt more like an infant brother. So despite his discomfort with the bird he had to do something to at least be worthy of such trust. Training Cyrus and getting him experience enough to take care of himself seemed the best option. Damien just needed to be more careful.

It was these thoughts that slowed his pace through the frigid wilds glazed with sparkling crystals. He needed some warmer clothes.

Word Count: 411

[Tyger]

As Damien progressed down the Cherrygrove route, his thoughts served as a heavy weight and a pace slower. This allowed for more Pokemon to watch his progression, at least, and marvel at the strange new Pokemon that he had used to clean up the fight against the swarming Oddish. Once the Pokemon had become used to the newcoming Oddish, they were once again bored with the Pokemon that trainers had used. Charmanders, Bulbasaurs, Squirtles... they'd seen it all. The occasional Pidgey or Spearow... There wasn't any variety. Which, of course, meant that all the Wild Pokemon eyes were on the strange Snorunt. If Damien hadn't been locked in his thoughts, it was probably easy to notice that Wild Pokemon were following him, albeit through the grasses to not be battled.

One Pokemon was relatively blatant in it's efforts. Following directly behind Damien, the Wild Weedle inched it's way forward, thankful for the slower pace in the cold weather. Weedle didn't like the crystals covering everything, but it's pure, innocent curiosity was getting the better of it. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Weedle made a noise to try and get Damien's attention. Perhaps Damien would be so shocked, he'd use that strange Pokemon all the route Pokemon were interested in? Either way, Weedle knew what it was getting into. All it could do right now was wait with baited breath and cold nubs. 




Wild Weedle (Level 9) is curious about Bear!


(Dang these Level 9's man, RNG ain't breaking this combo it seems)

[Lamont]

As he walked down the route, burdened by deep thought, it took a few tries to get his attention from behind. The first noise barely registered as abnormal, the second began drawing his attention back outward. The trainer slowed and glanced around; seeing nothing ahead or beside him. If it wasn't for the insistence of the curious weedle he may have simply continued on, oblivious to his follower. Eventually the distracted boy finally realized it was behind, twisting around to find the little bug wriggling around making the noises.

There was but a second of spooked shock while Damien turned himself around before an excited smile swept across his visage. His only hesitation was deciding whether to send out Cyrus first or have the young bird clean up after one of his others had weakened the wild bug. The trainer reached for his decided pokémon, throwing the ball into the air and calling for Cyrus. He figured it'd be safer to not have pidgey take the extra hit coming into the battle later.
"Just a quick appearance, Cyrus, so you can get a bit of experience," Damien explained to his bird pokémon before pointing to the wild weedle. "Sand Attack!" Unfortunately for Weedle the trainer was ignorant to its curious desires and it wouldn't only be a continued disappointment as he planned to bring Turret out as a follow up.

Cyrus shrieked bravely in compliance, happy to be of continued use though a bit wary of the poisonous point on his opponent. His last run in with oddish fresh in his memory and still a tingle of the acid burn rustling in his feathers.

Word Count: 274

[Deleted]

When Damien first spotted Weedle the bug froze in place for a moment unsure of how a human may react to learning that they had a visitor who had been following him for so long but instead of running off of chasing after Weedle in an attempt to use it for target practice the human instead grew a smile across his face. Shortly after the young teenager grabbed a Pokeball containing his young Pidgey and tossed it near the bug wanting to battle it. Though it was true the Weedle wanted to battle the human it was not expecting such a quick response from him. Usually when a trainer encountered one of it's kind they would need a few moments to build up the courage to challange a Weedle to a battle.

With those few moments to prepare itself for a battle not occurring the young bug type did not have a whole lot of time to make a difficult choice. Trying to slow down Damien's Pokemon until it could build up the strength to lash out at the human's Pokemon with it's venomous stinger Weedle relied on one of it's natural defenses to buy it a bit of time. It fired a sticky string of web towards Cyrus planning on the lowered speed to be enough for it to have the energy to strike out at the bird. Cyrus was slowed down considerably by the web but he could still move and as he made his way towards a patch of sand the bug quickly regretted not being more aggressive early on.

Cyrus began to kick up a cloud of sand towards Weedle attempting to blind the young bug. The attack not only worked as planned but it also caused the bug to become worried that it had gotten itself into a fight it would later regret. It's eyes were still burning from the sand trapped in it's eyes as it waited to see if Damien would keep up the pressure with Sand Attack or try another tactic.

---

Pokemon Battle

Weedle|level 9|
HP: 28/28 (100%)
Status: Normal (Accuracy -1)
Used Sand Attack
My poor eyes!

VS

Damien's Cyrus|level 6|
HP: 22/22 (100%)
Status: Normal (Speed -2)
Cyrus used Sand Attack
This stick web is so annoying!