A dog is a mans best friend. (Pup-napping) [F]

[Tarlar]

(New team: Scarlet (remove exp-share), Egil, Pia the pikipek, Janus the joltik, Amanda the Chimeco, Buz the scatterbug (gets the exp-share))

Astrid had made it safely back to Cherrygrove City although the city didn't show itself from its best side. Dust were whirling about and made most people stay inside, and wild pokemon hide.
A part of Astrid would have preferred to do that as well, but Scarlet had clearly wished to follow Shani and evolve, so the old woman had accepted. It was her responsibility to keep her pokemon content, and the young bug types knew they were there to help the sick boy by showing off all their colors. Some like Scarlet find it very important.

Astrid had made some changes to her team as others needed to experience a few things with her as well, and some she just found it too long since she had traveled with them.
"I hope we can find someone you can train against Scarlet," said Astrid kindly to the spewpa, who were sitting on the trolley covering from the small sandstorm. Behind her one of her brothers were sitting and attempted to use her as a shield against the weather.
"I am not sure how many are out today though, we will take a look around but we might need to wait for the dust to settle down," warned Astrid and pulled her scarf further up, so it covered her mouth and nose better.
She tightened her grab on her cane and walked randomly around the city. Nothing really happened and they only saw a few tails running off here and there.

As she walked down a smaller street, she saw a man with a growlithe, and she sighed. He wouldn't be a good opponent fr the bug type, so no reason to ask for a challenge.
She paused as a van drove up to the man and covered him in a black smoke. A frown appeared on her forehead as the van sped up and it quickly became clear that the growlithe was missing!
"That did not just happen," said Astrid darkly and found a pokeball and released her tiny joltik.
"Janus, stop that car with your Spiderweb, there are pup-nappers inside," ordered the old woman and the joltik went to work right away, covering the road with sticky webs.
Scarlet and Buz were looking wide eyed but as Astrid talked to them, their attention snapped to her.
"You two can help, use your String Shot and aim at the wheels. We have to slow that thing down and stop it," she said calmly. The two bugs nodded and crawled down to do as told and help Janus stop the thieves.

Wordcount: 430

[Marchbaby]

Lieutenant McFly and the new recruit Growlithe had been out for a nice walk not expecting any troubles at all when their nice day was turned upside down in a heartbeat as a white van pulled up in front of him producing a thick black smoke. He could not see a thing until the van had already started to pull away when he saw Astrid trying to stop the very same van that had stolen his Growlithe. He rushed over to the heroic trainer very thankful for her trying to help as he watched her Pokemon get to work. The crooks in the van thought they were going to make a clean getaway until they saw the newly formed spiderweb in the road and swerved to avoid it. As they did the String Shots fired by Scarlet and Buz covered the wheels on the van bringing it to a complete stop.

Lieutenant McFly ran towards the van but was stopped in his tracks by the two thieves who tossed two Pokeball's at the officer and as he did not have any Pokemon with him he was forced to call over to the heroic trainer for help once more. " Madame I know you have already been a huge help as it is but I really could still use your help. My other Pokemon are back at the station and I do not have any way past these Pokemon to save our new recruit Growlithe. I beg of you to please help me bring these criminals to justice." As he pleased the two crooks finally got out of the van knowing that until they dealt with Lieutenant McFly that they would not be able to make their getaway when they saw Astrid.

" So you must be the little dweeb that wrecked our van, I hope you have good insurance since you are going to pay for all of this damage to our van." The first thief said as the other one responded with a rather worrying thought. " Hey she helped that cop, she might be an undercover officer, let's take them both out and then we can just get out of here. That van was on its last leg anyway. Koffing and Machop take care of these two for us. This Growlithe will make us big bucks on future heists we pull off with its skills." He said as they got ready to battle.

Burglars Biff and Tannen would like to battle. They send out Koffing (Level 15) and Machop (Level 15) to try and stop you. Please select two Pokemon for this battle.

[Tarlar]

Astrid was surprised on how fast the officer made his way to her side, but she was happy for his support as she felt awfully alone and had been nervous she had interrupting something she shouldn't.
She was also pleased and very proud with her pokemon, who bravely went into the danger without hesitation, just because she asked them to do it.
As the van was brought to a hold, the officer hurried forward. Astrid was sure this wasn't going to be that easy and she found a few pokeballs in her trolley. She wanted to be ready to what the supposed thugs were going to do.
The officer didn't get far as he was stopped by the pokemon the bad guys sent out, and she nodded her acceptance as he asked her for help.
How could she say no?
"I shall do what I can," she told him.

Her job as a secretary with the police came in handy now. She knew about the koffins, as many thugs, and especially team rocket liked the poison type. The machops type more or less was given away by its look, but Astrid had also seen some of the police officer train with them.
Here there would be no place for mistakes and opposite a gym battle, she couldn't just try again later.

Janus was too small to get back in time, Astrid believed but he could cover the retreat of his fellow bugs, while another joined him and she knew just who that should be.
A happy chime filled the area as Amanda was called out of her pokeball.
"Janus, great job. Screech a bit at the machop, that is the grey one of them, get their attention," called Astrid to the joltik, before she turned to Amanda.
"Amanda, dear one, I need to you use your confuse at the gassy floating one, it wont like it at all, but they are bad guys and has kidnapped a pokemon we need to get back," asked Astrid and the chimecho chimed happily as she floated forward to join Janus.
"You did great, but stay alert, I might need your help," praised the old woman her pokemon and then got distracted by what the thugs said.

"A little spiderweb does not damage your car! If it need anything after this, it will be a good cleaning," protested Astrid when they threatened to make her pay for their van. She shook her head in disbelief, they were trying to steal a pokemon and from a police officer nonetheless, and then they were talking about scratches on their van!
"Here you are stealing pokemon from others, and are not even trying to deny it, and then you are blabbering about your van?" Asked the old woman astounded. It made it easier for her though, if they were not going to try run away.
Either they couldn't handle the pup unless it was in the van, or else they underestimated her and her pokemon, whatever the reason, Astrid just hoped she didn't overestimated her own pokemons strength.

Wordcount: 511
(ooc: I still need the team to be changed, I cannot do that myself See the first post, please.
-Amanda uses Confusion on the koffin. Janus uses screech on the machop.
-Isn't the sandstorm in effect for this battle?)

[Lamont]

It seemed even mother nature herself was angry with the two fiends snatching up the young pup. As the amazing van halting efforts of the bug pokemon unfolded Cherrygrove city became the target of a sudden wind storm. A cloud of dust and sand whirled through the streets causing a minor bit of panic from the public as everyone hurried indoors. All except for a small bunch witness, or partaking, in the crime of a stolen pokémon of course.
"Of course I'm on about the van," Burglar Biff impulsively spat back at the elderly woman. The pair of thieves weren't too bothered by the sand kicking about their faces, being that they had previously covered them with bandanas and goggles. "Think I'd be burgling if I could afford a new one?" Whether that meant these clowns were using their own legitimately owned van or were just very bad at stealing vehicles was a question for another time. With their tempers a bit high the next words out of either of their mouths were commands to try and counter or combat with Astrid's pokemon. Though, even the momentary delay from chatter was more than enough for both Janus and Amanda to get the upper hand.

By the time the word smokescreen had left Biff's lips Amanda was already following through with her confusion attack. The whirl of rippling psychic energy pounded into the koffing and encased the poison type with a dizzying flurry of shifting oily colors. It left Koffing's head spinning even after the effect had stopped. Things were a blur, her head was clouded. Instead of sending out a heavy smokescreen as instructed she ended up choking on her own gasses and causing herself just enough internal damage to put her under. Though, even if she hadn't succumbed to the confusion the sandstorm would have undoubtedly finished her off anyway.

Meanwhile Janus had already set about scuttling up to the fighting type and letting loose an ear shattering screech. Immediately Machop tried to cover his ears but it was no good. The mere vibrations of the harrowing noise send shivers through his body and made his knees feel weak. After it was through the brave bicep pokémon puffed up his chest and tried to steel himself from the recent shake, dropping down low and kicking out toward the tiny spider. Janus took it to the side, but being so small the thrust itself did more to push the joltik away than do damage.

"This grandma's tougher than we thought..." Tannen growled, watching his partner in crime recall the fallen Koffing. "Hey..." he nudged his partner, trying to keep his voice down but the whistle of the sandstorm required him to speak louder. "Maybe we can slip away in the storm?"

---

Weather: Sandstorm

Machop | LV 15 | No Guard
HP: 94% (47/50)
Status: -2 DEF
Used Low Sweep on Janus!

Koffing | LV 15 | Levitate
HP: 0% (0/41)
Status: Fainted
Hurt itself in Confusion!

VS

Janus | LV 14 | Compoundeyes
HP: 71% (30/42)
Status: -1 SPD
Used Screech on Machop!

Amanda | LV 17 | Levitate
HP: 93% (53/57)
Status: Normal
Used Confusion on Koffing!

[Tarlar]

Astrid looked at the burglar for quite some time.
"Perhaps not, but there is better and more secure ways to get an income, are you saying that this is your cry of help?" Astrid asked muffled through her scarf.
"I can understand if you were stealing a new van but a puppy? What are you planning on doing with it? Astrid added and then covered her eyes as the duststorm picked up in speed. She wondered if it was the doing of the two burglars although it seemed a bit over their skills. Perhaps they just had watched the forecast and had taken advantage of it, they were surely well prepared with their goggles and face scarves.

Amanda easily put Astrid's worries to shame as the koffing ended up being no threat at all, she handled it with ease and it lay in the dust when she was done with it.
"Well done Amanda!" Astrid exclaimed and the chimecho turned to look at her shyly.
"Nono, you are in the middle of a battle! Keep your eyes at your opponents!" Astrid urged although she guessed it was limited how much damage the fighting type could deal to the chimecho. Amanda spun around to look at the machop once again.

Astrid looked down at Scarlet and Buzz who had found shelter behind her trolley, this might be a good chance.
"Now it is time Scarlet, I would like you to join Amanda and help the growlithe back to its home," Astrid said encouragingly and Scarlet looked hopefully at her.
"Go on! I will call Janus back so you can take his place," Astrid told the spewpa and smiled while the little bug made her way through the whirling sand, eagerly to make things right and to get her first taste of battling.
"Janus, come back here my dear, you have done a great job!" Astrid called out as good as she could for the scarf. It was not very loud but enough for Janus to hear her. He stopped giving advice to Amanda on how to keep attention in a battle, to return to his trainer. As he passed Scarlet he advised her to cover nose and mouth to keep the sand out, which made her roll her eyes. Like she didn't know that already!

"Amanda, please get the grey ones attention, keep it occupied for a little bit," Astrid asked and Amanda glanced backwards very quickly to see what was going on.
She then moved in close on the machop and yawned deeply right into his face, doing her best to look really sleepy. If the machop didn't get smitten by it, he would may get offended and give Scarlet time to get ready to battle.

Wordcount: 456
(ooc: Scarlet switches in instead of Janus. Amanda uses Yawn.)

[Marchbaby]

The two thieves really considered using the weather to escape but as they did not want to get separated and make things go from bad to worse they knew they had to stick around at least a little longer. Astrid had been a far stronger foe than expected but they still had a chance to win this battle if they could bide their time long enough and try to lower the defenses of her Pokemon. Before they ordered an attack however they knew they might get the elderly lady to slip up if they chatted with her enough so they humored her by at least responding to some of her questions.

" Making an honest living in this world is tough and being a thief is so much more fun. Sure our earnings might not be the most stable but when you do score big it makes it all the more while. This Growlithe we stole could use its nose to steal jewels and other valuables for us with all the training it has with almost no effort so it would be a great haul. It also makes a great deterrent for other thieves to back off from any of our hauls." Tannen said as he then realized he might have said too much about their future plans. Trying to correct his mistake he finally ordered Machop to attack.

" Machop use Leer on that Chimecho to weaken its defense so you can do more damage with your next attack." Amanda had already received her own orders however and let out a big yawn that quickly caused Machop to grow tired. The fighting type was able to stay awake long enough to use its Leer but unless something dramatic happened it would surely fall asleep by the end of the next round. Astrid swapping out one of her Pokemon did not help the two thieves nerves as they did not expect an elderly lady to have more than two Pokemon with her making their stalling plan look like less of a good idea by the second.

The storm still showed no signs of letting up anytime soon and the thought continued to cross their minds to make a break for it but it would be a last resort choice as they would likely be pursued even in the bad weather if they tried to run before defeating Astrid.

---

Weather: Sandstorm

Machop | LV 15 | No Guard
HP: 86% (43/50)
Status: -2 DEF, (Will Fall asleep at the end of next round)
Used Leer on Amanda!

Koffing | LV 15 | Levitate
HP: 0% (0/41)
Status: Fainted
KO'ed!

VS

Scarlet | LV 10 | Shed Skin
HP: 91% (29/32)
Status: Normal
Janus swapped out for Scarlet!

Amanda | LV 17 | Levitate
HP: 84% (48/57)
Status: Normal, Defense -1
Used Yawn on Machop!

[Tarlar]

Astrid thought that the two thugs had to either be full of confidence or were a little bit stupid, with how they so eagerly told her about their future plans. That wasn't usually a good thing to do in the presence of a Cop, but of course they had already stolen a pokemon from said officer, so their respect for the law was certainly low.
Where the talking before had been a way for Astrid to try keep the thugs occupied, it was now a bit of a problem since she wanted to talk with the policeman.
She quickly decided she didn't needed to answer the thives, she wasn't sure what to say anyway, and instead chose to focus on her pokemon and the battle.

"Amanda and Scarlet? Let us see if we can finish this battle quickly. Amanda, use confusion on the Machop, and Scarlet, go for a tackle!" Astrid ordered and Amanda moved in first, with Scarlet hurrying in after. The spewpa was excited for her first battle, now it was time for action! Would she do good? Would she evolve from it?

Astrid looked around for the officer and would try to get in contact with him.
If she succeeded she would say: "it looks like this is going alright, although they might have something hidden in their sleves. I do not think I can hold them back should we win the battle, neither me or my pokemon knows how to do that. Do you have a plan B should something go wrong?"
She would listen closely to his answer and hope he had something ready, like some back up on the way or a way to track down the van afterwards.

Wordcount: 285
(ooc: what a short post, well not all can be long. I guess I don't need to note down what moves is used this round )

[Marchbaby]

Before the theives could even issue an order for their Pokemon to attack Amanda had already started to glow in a light blue hue as her psychic energy started to build. A few seconds later the Machop across from her started to glow as well as Tannen started to panic. " Machop quickly use Low Kick before that Confusion attack can take effect." The order was of no use however as the fighting type Pokemon was lifted up and flung right at Tannen's chest knocking him out cold. Biff was speechless as he stood by himself facing the officer and Astrid when a series of loud barks came from the van.

While the thevies had been busy with the battle the well trained Growlithe had been chewing on the cage in the back of the van and its sharp teeth had finally broken the cage enough to force it open. The fire type canine rushed towards McFly and Astrid completely thrilled to be with its partner again and McFly suddenly had an answer to the elderly assistants question. " Before now I would not have had a plan to stop the remaining thief but now I do. Growlithe use bite on that other crooks leg and hold him in place so I can run him in. He might be able to outrun me but he will never outrun you." Growlithe then sped towards Biff with its mouth with open taking a good bite into his leg.

" Ouch that hurts, I give in please call this mutt off." Biff said as Officer McFly placed a pair of handcuffs on him and Tannen before walking back over to Astrid. He handed her the money he had on him as a thank you but he also had a proposition for her. " I think you would make a fine recruit for the International Police Force, I would put in a good word for you if you decide to join. I think Growlithe here would really like it if you joined our ranks as well." Growlithe then walked over and licked Astrid's hand before following McFly back to the station very thankful to be out of the awful weather.

---

Weather: Sandstorm

Machop | LV 15 | No Guard
HP: 0% (0/50)
Status: KO'ed
Used Leer on Amanda!

Koffing | LV 15 | Levitate
HP: 0% (0/41)
Status: Fainted
KO'ed!

VS

Scarlet | LV 10 | Shed Skin
HP: 91% (29/32)
Status: Normal
Machop was KO'ed before Scarlet could attack!

Amanda | LV 17 | Levitate
HP: 84% (48/57)
Status: Normal, Defense -1
Used Confusion on Machop!

Amanda gained 2 levels and is now level 19. She is trying to learn Take Down but she already knows 4 moves, would you like her to forget a move so she can learn Take Down? She also gains +1 happiness and now has +13 happiness overall.


Scarlet gains 1 level and 1 happiness for her participation. She is now level 11 with +1 happiness.


Janus gains 2 levels and is now level 16. She is trying to learn Electroweb but she already knows 4 moves, would you like her to forget a move so she can learn Electroweb? She also gains + happiness and she now has +3 happiness overall.


Scatterbug gains 2 levels and is now level 9. Scatterbug is trying to evolve would you like to allow it to evolve into Spewpa?

Astrid may now apply to join the IPF and receives 3000 poke for her victory!

Level gain breakdowns:
Scatterbug gained 1 level for each opponent due to its EXP Share putting it at level 9
Amanda gains 1 level for defeating Koffing as its gains are divided by 3 due to Scatterbug holding the EXP Share and Joltik also participated.

Joltik gains 1 level after dividing its gains by 3 due to the above.

Amanda gains 1 level thanks to defeating Machop after dividing by 4 as Joltik was one the field when Machop was sent out and Scatterbug's EXP Share makes it count towards the division so 2 levels are gained overall putting it at level 19.

Joltik gains 1 level from Machop being defeated due to the above resulting in 2 levels gained overall.

Scarlet gains 1 level as well after dividing its gains by 4 for the reasons above putting it at level 11.

Level gains by the numbers:

Amanda
For Koffing:
+2/3 (As Scatterbug counts as a participant due to EXP Share)=.67 rounded up to 1 level

For Machop:
2/4 ( Again Scatterbug counts as a participant as does Joltik)=.5 rounded up to 1 level

Joltik:
For Koffing
3/3=1
For Machop
3/4=.75 rounded up to 1

Scarlet:

For Machop:

3/4 (Again Scatterbug and Joltik both count as participants for dividing the level gains)=.75 rounded up to 1 level.

Scatterbug gets 1 level for each so 2 overall.

[Tarlar]

Astrid didn't have much attention to the ending of the battle, one moment she talked with the officer the next her pokemon had saved the day and the growlithe helped getting things under control.
She looked proudly at Amanda who had done a lot of the work herself. The chimecho stayed above the pair she had knocked down until McFly had handcuffed them and her help was no longer needed. She watched curiously as she hadn't seen a police officer in work before and didn't know what he was doing.

Astrid nodded as she listened to McFly's explanation, it made sense to her. It was not easy to do without your partner and being out of options.
She couldn't help but wince when the dog bit the thieve even though he clearly deserved it and surely would have attempted to run away otherwise. It made her wonder how they would have handled the growlithe had they got away, her guess was it would have ended badly for them too.

The old woman looked surprised at the officer when he suggested she should join the IPF, and not only as a secretary as she was before but as a full active member.
She laughed at his joke. Her as an officer? With her needed a walking cane to get around and having to train her pokemon to act in battles on their own since she was too slow to be on spot with orders all the time?
"Oh yes, that would be a wonderful sight, I'm certain that is what the IPF needs," Astrid chuckled and shook her at the silly thought as she accepted the money.
"It will be nice to meet both of you again though," Astrid said sincerely and watched as they took the thieves into custody while the sandstorm was still whipping around them.

Scarlet had loved the rush of the battle and she felt the strength rush through her as they won the battle. She closed her eyes in the expectation of her coming evolution and saw the light through her eyelids.
She opened her eyes confused a few moments later when she didn't feel differently, and as she looked down herself and then around she realized she hadn't evolved and the light had come from Buz who was now also a spewpa.

Scarlet looked up as Astrid leaned over her.
"Don't feel sad Scarlet, we won the battle and I'm certain you will get your wings soon," The woman tried to cheer her up. When it didn't work she offered her some cake instead and shared the rest with Amanda and Janus.
The female spewpa smiled sadly to her trainer and then slowly got engulfed in the bright light that came from evolution.
"See? Things will come in time when you work for it, just have patience," Astrid said pleased and smiled warmly to an excited Scarlet who was trying her wings in the sandy weather.
"I hope there wasn't too much sand in the cake," Astrid said and her pokemon shook their heads, not enough to reduce their enjoyment of it.

The newly evolved vivillon then turned to Astrid and urgently tried to make something clear to her trainer, something that worried her a lot. It took Astrid some time to understand that Scarlet wanted to go back to the boy who was the reason she had been borned and for whom she had evolved.
"You are right, we better get back to him so he can see how pretty you have all become and spread some light into his life," Astrid said and hoped to herself that she wasn't too late already. She felt bad for having forgotten it again.

Wordcount: 600
(ooc: Birthday cake given to Amanda, Janus and Scarlet. Scarlet evolves into a Sandstorm Vivillon due to the weather (was confirmed by Lamont it would still be in affect here)
Buz evolves into spewpa.
Amanda does not learn Take Down
Janus forgets Thunder Wave to learn Electroweb.)

(Done)