long road to ruin

[Patch]

The girl had been in Johto for a while now, and she had already decided that the house that she and David had bought together was not where she wanted to remain. Certainly not alone. No, she had decided it was long past time for her to follow her own dreams. Imogen had been willing to compromise for love, but now she had no reason to stay in a place that held no interest for her.

That morning she had arrived in New Bark Town, and had made her way to the lab. It had been an exciting moment for her, although it was probably just routine for the Professor. She had already decided on who she wanted as her starter before she had walked into the building, and so she had easily grabbed the ball containing the grass-type plant dinosaur.

After that it was a flurry of activity as she was given supplies for her journey. Immy stepped out of the lab and headed for Route 29. As she went, she tapped the button on the front of the pokeball to enlarge it, and then again to release her new partner in a stream of red light.

"Bulba!" The little creature crowed, as he stretched his stubby legs, clearly glad to be out in the fresh air.

"Hi there," Immy smiled, crouching to be closer to his level, "I'm Imogen. I'm your new trainer...Would you like a name or should I just call you Bulbasaur?" She certainly hoped not, it felt so...impersonal.

Luckily, the little dino smiled and nodded, looking as though he was excited to hear what his new name was going to be.

"How about...Mandrake? Drake for short?" Imogen questioned, and when he nodded vigorously, she felt happy for the first time since that awful boat ride. This was going to turn her life around.

[Calamity Ashe]

A boy was training his rattata, tellin git to attack wild pokemon. Joey had been trainin ghis rattata for two days straight yand in his mind it was top percentage, however... that was not really the case. He saw a trainer coming, and figured it an easy win, so he approached. "I'm Joey! I trained my rattata to be top percentage! Let's go rattata!!" Looks like a battle was instigated, and Imogen would learn quickly why people hated new bark town battles with a passion, this kid, the bane of all existance- Youngester Joey. The kis looked to the trainer, wondering what her first move would be.


Youngster Joey wants to battl;e!

Youngstery Jory sends out Level 5 rattata!
What will Imogen do?

[Patch]

Imogen's eyebrows shot up as she heard the young boy's voice. He couldn't be old enough to have much more than just begun his journey, and she couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face. She would have no issue battling this kid, and perhaps she'd teach him to be a bit more humble. The irony of that thought was lost on the girl.

Straightening, she adjusted the hem of her shirt. She looked back down at her new companion, hoping he would be okay with this change of plans. Immy would never admit it, but she was a little nervous about this whole thing.

"What do you think, Drake?" She asked, lifting her chin when the Bulbasaur nodded with an enthusiastic 'Saur!' of agreement. She refused to look weak in front of this kid. With a rattata of all things.

"Alright, you're on!" Immy grinned, nodding at Drake who stepped forward threateningly. "Use Tackle!" Drake didn't hesitate to charge at the small purple rat.

Drake uses tackle!

[Marchbaby]

Joey was very happy to hear that Imogen had accepted his challenge. The weather was beautiful for the two trainers to put their skill to the test and it did not give either one the upper hand. Though the weather would not make a difference the speed of the two Pokemon would, which in this case Drake was not quite fast enough to outrun Joey's Rattata and that fact was not lost on the young lad even if Imogen had ordered Drake to attack a few seconds faster. " Rattata let's start things off nice and simple with a Tackle." The rat ran towards Drake using all of its strength to deliver a full body tackle before the Bulbasaur could gain enough speed to deliver one of his own.

The attack hurt but the young Bulbasaur was not going to give up so easily as he started to run towards the rat at full speed. Rattata might have been faster but the Tackle attack had left it exhausted and unable to get out of the way of Drake's revenge. The Tackle was slightly less powerful than the one Rattata had performed but it was still a painful experience for the normal type. " Oh wow, that was quite a first round. Neither of our Pokemon look like they are ready to give up. This should be a very entertaining battle." The young lad said as he waited for Imogen to make her next move.




Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Blooming(No Trainer Battle Effect)

Joey's Rattata | Level 5
HP: 73% (14/19 HP)
Status: Normal
Rattata used Tackle!

VS

Imogen's Drake | Level 5
HP: 67% (14/21 HP)
Status: Normal
Drake used Tackle!

---

[Patch]

Imogen had hoped that, despite definitely not having speed on their side, Drake would be more sturdy than the little purple rat. She wasn't quite so sure after that first turn, where both of them looked like they were about the same amount of tired. She had to remind herself that this was Drake's first fight ever. It might not go as easily as she had thought.

Still, she knew Drake was no where near ready to give in, as she could see a look on his face that could almost be described as a snarl.

"Your Rattata is proving to be a fine opponent," Immy smiled, "But you're right. This is far from over. Give him another tackle, Drake!"

[Marchbaby]

As the second round got underway Joey took a moment to consider what he should do next as both Pokemon were pretty evenly matched. He considered going with a strategic attack to give his Rattata a bit more of an edge but as he did not want to let his opponent have a free round of damage and decided to use Tackle again to stay on the safe side for now. " Rattata lets keep up the pressure and use Tackle. Things are too close right now to risk using one of your other moves." The normal type rat then ran towards Drake trying to cause even more damage while it could but even though It scored another direct hit the damage was slightly less than before. Even so it was taking its toll.

Drake was still determined to keep going as he battled through the discomfort of the second tackle to try and deliver one of his own. He rushed forward and scored a direct hit of his own for the second time leaving Rattata just as winded as he was. Neither Pokemon was in great shape as the second round finally came to a close and even Joey could not deny this battle coming down to the wire. " Oh man this battle is getting even more intense. At this rate this battle will come down to the wire." Even with the excitement in his voice he worried about making a costly mistake being a rather new trainer. In a close battle like this a mistake could prove very costly.





Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Blooming(No Trainer Battle Effect)

Joey's Rattata | Level 5
HP: 47% (9/19 HP)
Status: Normal
Rattata used Tackle!

VS

Imogen's Drake | Level 5
HP: 38% (8/21 HP)
Status: Normal
Drake used Tackle!

---

[Patch]

Imogen knew that she had to do something, and quick, or she was not going to win this. And what could possibly be more demoralizing than losing her very first battle? Slipping a hand into a pocket of her bag, she pulled out a blue berry.

"Drake, here, take this!" She called out, tossing the berry for her Bulbasaur to eat. Hopefully the oran berry would be enough."Another tackle, please." She added, a little smirk crossing her face. She had high hopes that Drake would be able to end this on this turn, that was, unless Joey also healed up his Rattata. Or if there was some massive damage on the Rattata's part. The girl felt childish, but she stuck her hands in her pockets, hiding her crossed fingers.

[Venominon]

As he watched his opponent feed her Bulbasaur a healing item, Joey began to sweat a little, growing very nervous. Joey had no healing items on him at the moment, and his Rattata was reeling. Meanwhile, after swallowing down the oran berry, Bulbsaur was looking ready for more. While he may have held the upper hand until this point, the youngster now found himself in a bind. "Oh no, that's not good. What do we do now?" The young trainer asked himself, as he desperately tried to think up his next battle plan.

With precious few options, Joey made the best move he could think of. "Don't give up Rattata! We can still win this! Use your Quick Attack!" The youngster quickly called for his Pokémon's best move, not that it mattered of course, since Rattata was already faster then Imogen's Bulbasaur. "Rat! Ratta! Ratta!" The small rat Pokémon gathered it's strength, and obeyed its trainer, moving at high speed, and striking Bulbasaur as hard as it could. Since Imogen had taken a turn to heal up her partner, Rattata had just enough time to give Drake two strikes back to back. However, with his newly restored strength, Drake took the hit, and tackled Rattata right back, dealing the Normal type another solid hit. This battle had been going back and forth since the beginning, and it seemed to stay that way, as both Pokémon were now hanging on by a thread.


Battle

---

Weather: Blooming

Joey's Rattata | Level 5| 
HP: 26% (4/19)

Status: Normal

Used Quick Attack! Used Quick Attack!

VS

Imogen's Drake | Level 5| Overgrow
HP: 28% (4/21)

Status: Normal

Used Oran Berry. Used Tackle!