A Little Abominable [Fin]

[Lamont]

The clouds showed no sign of relenting their assault on the world below. Hail still littered the soggy ground, the once growing pools now hiding flecks of white amidst the battered plants. This was a harsh ramp up to the winter season. Perhaps he should have waited until spring to start on his journey. There would still be white covering the ground but at least it was less likely the sky would be shooting bullets. He had no intention of setting out onto the next route until the storms were over. If it was just rain he would handle it as he had done to get himself here to begin with; though hopefully a bit more prepared so as to avoid the light chilling illness that followed. But marbles falling at terminal velocity were harder to shrug off even for a few minutes let alone traversing an entire route.

Alas, his plans were rudely changed for him with the meeting of Bearithusa. The ice pokémon had little qualms with the current weather and was all too excited to get going. Damien had attempted to sate the snover with other things and games with his other two partners but the distractions never lasted long. While the kindly folk housing the new trainer would likely have never said anything about his naive little snow tree trampling around the place, Damien knew it was unfair to them. Since his attempts at settling his newest pokémon failed he finally broke down and set out from Cherrygrove.

If there was one bright side it was that the hail wasn't large. The young lad had set a layered cloth wrap under his hat to protect the top of his head, hoping the brim would do the rest for his face. He secured his backpack tightly to his body to shield his back and shoulders mildly, boots laced snugly up his legs, and he wore extra layers to stave off the cold and moisture that would inevitably find a way past his short rain coat. There wasn't much else he could do to prepare for the abhorrent weather raining down on him and his snover, of who was skipping happily down the street toward route 30.

Word Count: 369

[Tiki]

With the meeting of the Snover and the winter weather, it was no doubt that the season had welcomed Damien with open, but cold, hands. Thankfully it wasn't windy, or the cold temperature would have multiplied the cold extreme on the body. Covering himself in defense, the young trainer was not going to let this atrocious weather to ruin his adventure. The weather could be better, but he still continued his journey in this terrible weather.

After walking for a while, Damien came upon a young girl holding a picnic basket, and appeared to be in a hurry to runaway from the weather instead. Frustrated and feeling cold from the weather, albeit the outer layers for protection, the girl then challenged Damien to a battle. "Heeey there! My name is Katie and it's sooo cold here! I thought it was just a cloudy day, and then it hailed! Now my picnic plan is ruined! Ugh! Do you want to have a battle with me instead? I'm going to have an indoor picnic in Pokemon Center later with my Pokemon. Brr."

---

Picnicker Katie sent out her (Level 6) Pichu!

Weather= Hail

[Lamont]

It seemed there was someone else just as sick with the surprising overcast as he was. "It's a good way to start off the day," Damien replied with a light smile. With the challenge accepted the ranger looked down at the snover looking between the two trainers. Katie sent out her Pichu and Bearithusa jumped back to the side, clapping its bushy hands together nervously.

"Ready, Bear?" he questioned quietly, giving a mild gesture toward the Pichu. The snover seemed to shrink into herself. For a few moments it looked like she was going to book it, leaving Damien to battle the electric type with his squirtle or pidgey... in the hail. But then the frost tree pokémon apprehensively waddled forward to stand between her new trainer and the pichu.

"Alright!" he called to Katie with a bit more excitement, taking his hands out of his pockets. "We'll try not to delay your indoor picnic too long." He then looked down to Bearithusa, "Let's start this off with a razor leaf."

Word Count: 171

[Deleted]

Although her plans for a picnic were not doomed Katie was still happy that Damien would at least have a battle with her. It would if nothing else give her Pokemon a bit of exercise and hopefully make up for their original plan getting ruined. " It is a shame we cannot have our picnic outdoors today as I was really looking forward to it but a battle should turn this bad day around. I will start with my little Pichu here. She has not had much practice in battles but she should get a good workout in this one." The small mouse Pokemon came out of her Pokeball and stretched hoping to enjoy a nice meal outdoors only to be struck in the head by falling hail instead. Realizing the picnic plan had been postponed she was quick to figure out she was in a battle.

" Alright Pichu let's start things off with Thunder Shock." The young girl said not only making a mistake in Bearithusa's type but also not realizing that the tree Pokemon was faster than her little Pichu. Before Pichu could build up enough electricity in it's cheeks to launch it's attack Bearithusa fired a pair of razor sharp leaves at it. The electric type still being young and without much knowledge in battles was hit by both leaves before it could jump out of the way. It began to cry as it ran back to Katie and beg for her to give it a hug. " OK this is a bit embarrassing. I know my Pichu is young but I did not know she still needed that much more practice. I really need to train her more I guess."

As Bearithusa took enjoyment of the hail and took no damage from the hail as it landed on her body Katie took out another Pokeball as Pichu still clung to her. " Let's see if my Pikachu cannot fair any better. She has had a bit more practice than Pichu so she should at least fair a bit better than our friend here." She said as she recalled Pichu.




Trainer Battle

Katie's Pichu|level 6|
HP: 0/20 (0%)
Status: KO'ed
KO'ed
KO'ed

VS

Damien's Bearithusa|level 10
HP: 35/35 (100%)
Status: Normal
Bearithusa used Razor Leaf
My leaves are quite sharp are they not?

Bearithusa fought well and gained 2 levels. She is now level 12.


Katie is not done yet however she sends out her Pikachu (Level 10). Would you like to switch Pokemon?

[Lamont]

Even Damien was surprised at how quick the first round went. He stood, mouth slightly ajar, staring at the weeping pichu as the picnicker ran over to scoop the little mouse up in her arms. He'd wanted to start off strong to boost Bearithusa's confidence but this... The ranger felt... bad for how that went. Of course there was a well of impressed excitement as well, of which the snover was displaying quite readily by rapidly clapping for her own performance while cooing happily. He inwardly debated about turning her apology around and making one himself but he just couldn't quite find the right words.

The injured pichu still coddled in the other trainer's arms was about to be replaced by its evolved form. He thought for a second about giving one of his other pokémon some battle experience and to perhaps make up for the opening around; this should be fun for her too. But if he did it would be too obvious, and if she saw through him Katie could then think he wasn't taking her seriously.

Damien gave the picnicker a smile and nod, "Good luck." He'd just have to change up his tactics a little. If he recalled correctly razor leaf had a good chance of doing critical damage, so it would be best if he went with something else to make the match a bit more sporting; but not go so far as to toy with the pikachu. As the next round began with the reveal of Pikachu, Bearithusa ceased her applause and awaited Damien's next call.

"Icy wind, Bearithusa!" his voice called out above the drum of rain and hail snapping through the trees and pounding the ground.

Word Count: 284

[Deleted]

Down to only her Pikachu Katie hoped she could at least launch an attack this battle after her Pichu was defeated with ease. " I am still embarrassed by how easily I lost the first round but I am going to give this round my all. Pikachu I want you to use Thunder Shock to get some payback for poor Pichu." The electric type mouse wanted to at least try to get back at the Christmas tree Pokemon for having hurt it's friend. As she built up a considerable amount of electricity in her cheeks she unleashed it towards the tree. Even with her excellent aim the attack only tickled Bearithusa. The living tree was resistant to electric type moves and that resistance more than showed just how much of a mistake the attack was.

Bearithusa although slower than Pikachu still moved rather quickly despite her unwieldy body. She began to shake her body as she blew cold air towards Pikachu as the mouse tried to rest after using so much strength building up such a mighty but ineffective electric charge. The icy cold air that Bearithusa aimed at Pikachu caused her paws to go numb as her body tried to save heat by letting the temperature in her paws go down. The attack was uncomfortable not only due to the cold but it also messed up her fur. Shaking her entire body to try and get the small amount of snow out of her fur Pikachu was cold and wet not to mention a little unhappy about the attack. It could have handled any one of the three things but all three at once was to mean to let slide.

"Pikachu are you OK? That was a pretty strong Icy Wind I can imagine you must be pretty cold about now. Not to mention this hail is still not letting up." Just as she finished speaking the hail took even more of a toll on PIkachu as if still being cold and wet was not enough punishment after missing out on a nice picnic. With how bad things had gone this round Pikachu expected things to only get worse from here on out.




Trainer Battle

Katie's Pikachu|level 10|
HP: 21/30 (70%)
Status: Normal (Speed-1)
Used Thunder Shock
I cannot feel my Paws!

VS

Damien's Bearithusa|level 12
HP: 37/40 (92%)
Status: Normal
Bearithusa used Icy Wind
Were you trying to tickle me?



Ooc: Pikachu takes 2 hp damage from hail.

[Lamont]

"Good job, Bear," Damien encouraged as the snover rustled itself in the hail and wind before teetering softly from side to side. The electric attack hadn't done much, but he knew pikachu's had more in store than just the one type. Hopefully the chilling effect would help even the playing field in regards to speed; though it wasn't like Bearithusa needed even more advantages in this battle.

The ranger clenched his fists, noting the freezing temperature of his fingers as he did. He may be wearing gloves but the wet and cold had a way of seeping through any fabric.
"Follow it up with Powder Snow," came his next command to the ice pokémon. He wasn't sure just how all these moves worked for snover yet so at least this was a chance to get to see them all and gauge them in action. It was unfortunate that the poor lightning mice were being subjected to the experiment while a cold storm blew around them, but all he could do was make the best of it and make the battle enjoyable for Katie too.

Word Count: 184

[Deleted]

With Pikachu's paws were still frozen Bearithusa was ready to make another move. The electric mouse had lost so much speed from having numb paws that should could now outrun it allowing her to strike before the mouse could react. As Katie tried to offer the electric type some encouragement Bearithusa made her move. Unleashing a spray of powdery snow towards Pikachu the poor mouse was covered by the attack. Already numb and freeze and wet Pikachu now had to deal with being covered in neck deep snow. Being low on health did not do it any favors as Kaite tried to salvage the situation.

" Pikachu I know you are growing tired but you have to do your best. Things do not look very good for us right now but there is still hope. Do not give up just yet." She then remembered that her Pikachu knew a move that might just get them out of this situation. It was risky as the attack did not do any direct damage and Pikachu was almost ready to topple over as it was. Deciding to risk it however Katie gave her order. " Pikachu try a Thunder Wave. If it works we might still have a chance of winning this battle and if we do not it was worth the risk." She said as her Pokemon began to build up a weak charge in it's cheeks.

Once the small charge was ready it fired the attack at Bearithusa who did not seem bothered for a moment however she suddenly froze in place from Paralysis. " Great Job Pikachu my plan seems to have worked. That should make this battle a bit more interesting. Paralysis may not do damage but it does slow them down and cause Pokemon to sometimes be unable to attack. Let's just see if our luck can hold out." She said as the hail pelted her Pikachu yet again sapping even more of it's now dangerously low health.



Trainer Battle

Katie's Pikachu|level 10|
HP: 7/30 (23%)
Status: Normal (Speed-1)
Used Thunder Wave
Please have mercy!

VS

Damien's Bearithusa|level 12
HP: 37/40 (92%)
Status: Paralyzed
Bearithusa used Powder Snow
Not until you are unconscious!

[Lamont]

The field was awash in white, both hail and snow alike. Bearithusa's attack took quite a toll on the pikachu, Damien noting its shivering as it poked its head out of the pile of snow accumulated from the frost tree's recent move. The snover herself was very much enjoying the cool weather and dancing white flakes being whisked away by the wind. She was the only one.

Her joyous skipping was interrupted with another electric attack from the charged mouse; or rather, paused. The ice pokémon shuddered on the spot, freezing in mid skip as a tingle of electricity shot through her stout body. Her joyous cooing ceased as she considered her predicament along with her trainer. Damien gasped quietly at the surprising turn of events but any trace of worry was swept away with a determined smile.

This was perfect. Katie had tipped the tables back to an even state... mostly. It'd be more ideal if her yellow mouse had a bit more stamina to follow it up with but at least now Damien had less worry of keeping the battle sporting.
"Don't worry Bear, just try to relax. The pikachu is on its last legs so you have time." Damien paused, continuing in his head that sooner would be better than later for snover but Katie having a free turn was good too. "Go for another powder snow!"

Word Count: 230

[Tiki]

Bearithusa didn't really like feeling her body being too numb to move. It was quite a struggle to move herself after the Thunder Wave attack had hit her. Kate seemed to be amused by the paralysis taking effect. "Heehee. Now that I have your Snover slowed down, it's time for Pikachu to attack! Use Thunder Shock!" She giggled happily that her strategic Thunder Wave had worked. As the Snover was struggling, the Pikachu embraced itself and sent a weak jolt of electricity in the tree's direction. If Bearithusa was more dry and the electricity was stronger, she might catch on fire, but thankfully this didn't happen.

Afterwards, the ice type tried to fight through the paralysis to execute another chilly and painful Powder Snow. Opening her mouth and inhaling slowly, she was trying her best to give this Powder Snow a shot. Then, as she tried to relax herself, she exhaled and summoned forth a flurry of snow in the Pikachu's direction, finally finishing this battle.

"Aww, man. You defeated my Pikachu too!? Wow. Good job, Pikachu, return! And here, sir, is your prize money! I'm going to head to Pokemon Center to heal up and have my indoor picnic. Thanks for the battle," The young girl was a bit disappointed from the loss, but she happily accepted her defeat. After thanking her Pokemon for their help and Damien for the battle, she started running toward the Pokemon Center's direction to heal up her Pokemon, leaving Damien alone in this weather again.

---

Bearithusa is now level 14!
She would like to learn the move Grass Whistle, delete a move?

You earned 300 for defeating Picnicker Katie! (updated)

[Lamont]

The end of the battle Damien found himself exhaling a held breath. He smiled back at both his own pokémon and the opposing trainer, Bearithusa shuffling oddly back to the ranger's side. "Nice work," he spoke, head turned down to the little frost tree. The snover was still shuddering a little, but had begun turning it to her own amusement as she raised her bushy hands and started blowing through them. But Damien's attention quickly returned to Katie as she hurried over with a few bills in her hand. He accepted the prize money without hesitation, "Thank you for the battle. Hope you enjoy that picnic!" he called to her as she waved and headed off back to Cherrygrove.

Now it was just him and his pokémon... and the hail stones leaving harsh reminders on his arms and legs. The ice type standing at his feet started whistling, drawing her trainer's eyes back down. Her response was to sound her grass whistle up in his direction and he swore, for a second, there was a wash of drowsiness that passed over him. It was but the briefest of moments but caused him to reach into one of his pockets and pull out the pokédex the professor had given him. When a particularly angry bullet of ice shot down right on one of his knuckles Damien scurried over to be underneath a tree while he looked up snover.

"Grass whistle..?" A quick glance to Bearithusa stuttering a musical tune a few paces away confirmed. Damien pocketed the device and called over the snover, of who waddled over. "A nice tune you have there. Why don't you practice that instead of Leer? It's more your style." The snowy tree bobbed her head happily up and down in agreement. "Alright, now why don't you take a rest in your pokéball while we continue down the road?" It was a rhetorical suggestion more than an inquiry of opinion. The young trainer reached to his belt and pointed the empty ball to Bearithusa and recalled her. Thankfully she didn't resist and pop back out.

With that all done it was time to head further into the wild. After a quiet moment under the trees he stepped back out onto the main road. This was a long route from what he remembered on his way to New Bark. It will probably be longer today thanks to this weather.

Word Count: 402

[Deleted]

As Damien continued down the main road the hail finally came to an end however frost still covered the ground from all the hail that had stuck. It was a bit better news as the Pokemon who lived here were at least no longer being pelted by the hail however the frost still made it hard for the inhabitants to stay warm. One such Pokemon was a young Weedle who crawled onto the route shivering in the cold. It had survided the hailstorm of doom only for the frost to numb it's entire body. Without finding something warm soon it would likely shrivel up and die and that is when it spotted Damien. Full of joy the bug slowly made it's way towards him.

The bug did not believe in just asking for things for free as it wanted to earn everything it got in life. It still had a bit more training to do before it would evolve however it felt it was strong enough to at least give the young trainer a good battle and by the end of it Damien might show it some pity and give it a blanket or something else to stay warm until the weather cleared up and it could go back to sleeping in the trees near the road. Pointing it's stingers towards Damien it's intentions were made clear to him. This bug was going to try to force him into a battle so it could try and earn the right to stay warm.

Now it was up to Damien what he wanted to do next. There was no way he could escape the bug as it would just find a way to track him down. He did have a number of Pokemon to choose from however as the battle began.

A wild level 9 Weedle would like to battle. Please select a Pokemon.

[Lamont]

Finally! The hail had gone, clouds breaking from their solid mass to instead be light wisps blanketing the sky; finally emptied of their haul. It felt like it had been a half a year of storms and hail. Of course, it wasn't just sunshine and rainbows. The weather remained cold and biting, the moisture permeating the area beginning to frost over with the fall season. Soon it would be winter. One day he'd see nice green grass and wavering trees dancing in a pleasantly cool summer breeze. It seemed like the last time he got anything that nice was before he started his journey.

With daydreams of warm places the trainer moved at a brisk pace down the route, parting grass until he spotted a little bug pokémon shivering its way his direction. The poor thing. Weedle bowed its head and threatened Damien with its stinger, resisting its involuntary shivering, making its intentions all too clear to the new trainer. With half a nod the young man reached for Cyrus' pokéball practically without thought. He threw the ball into the air and the small pidgey emerged with a happy chirp before the chilly air hit it. Cyrus then puffed out its feathers and shivered for a second before hopping around to get the blood flowing for battle.

"Let's do this Cyrus," Damien started, then froze for a second. He just realized... Cyrus had no flying moves. He had just immediately thrown the little bird into the fray without thinking of the strength difference or whether Cyrus was actually equipped for the job. Suddenly the wild weedle looked a bit more intimidating.
"er, uhm..." he stuttered as the weedle wiggled its way toward the pidgey for the beginning of the battle. Cyrus looked back with a bit of confusion, head cocked lightly as he released a timid chirp toward his trainer before looking back to the oncoming bug pokémon.

"I'm sorry Cyrus, come back!" Damien held the ball up with one hand as he reached for Turret with the other. The pidgey recalled, still confused but somewhat relieved, and Damien threw out Turret instead. The squirtle let out a long yawn, rubbing his eyes, then finding himself at the business end of a weedle before he could react much more. The tiny turtle didn't seem all to pleased about the event.

"Time to get going Turret, tackle the weedle!"

Word Count: 398

[Morrigan]

Noticing the fierce shivering of the wild Weedle due to the surrounding cold, Damien respected the wishes of the bug and accepted it's proposition to battle. Both side wanting nothing more than to keep warm, an active battle was surely enough to do just that. Selecting a Pokeball and tossing it forward, the Weedle gazed up from it's threatening position to see just what it would be facing. The eyes of the little bug widening, it's body began to shudder even further. Unknown to the wild creature, the Pidgey didn't have any super effective moves but this bug knew just how strong wild birds in the area were. Thinking that the beak poised on Cyrus' face would be pecking it to bits in mere moments, the Weedle flinched it's eyes shut in fear... Not noticing that Damien was switching Pokemon.

In a defencive attempt to save itself from being made Cyrus' lunch, the Weedle decided to go with avian defense plan A and it was rather simple. By using it's String Shot, it would simply tie the bird's beak up to render if useless. Good in both theory and practice, it was a trick the bug had learnt from when it was weaker. So, thinking that it was still standing opposite the bird, the bug shot forth a stream of sticky string from the tip of it's horn. Only, it spun around a hard shelled turtle rather than a feathered fiend. Peering open it's eyes wearily, the bug pulled a rather comical, shocked expression when it finally noticed Turret now standing in the bird's place. His own chunky blue arms trying their best to loosen the sticky string now coiled around his body, the Weedle blinked and acted fast. This thing looked even scarier than a bird!

Once again aiming it's horn downward, the bug shot out several purple needle like thorns, which arched through the air and struck Turret's softer tissue. Not really feeling any pain and narrowly avoiding the chance of surging of poison through his body, the Squirtle finally regained some footing as he shrugged the attack off. Still tangled, Turret managed to dash forward with his own head lowered and with his hard skull, tackled head first into the wild Weedle.

---

Weedle: | Level 9 |
Health: 62% (18/28 HP)
Status: Normal
Weedle used String Shot!
Weedle used Poison Sting!

VS

Turret: | Level 11 |
Health: 91% (31/34 HP)
Status: -1 Spd
Cyrus was switched with Turret!
Turret used Tackle!

[Lamont]

Seeing Turret struggle awkwardly with the sticky web put a flicker of a smile across his trainer's face. It was an amusing sight, though Damien did well to keep it to himself and remain supportive of his pokémon.
"Good endurance, Turret," he called to the tiny turtle wiggling its arms through the sticky residue wrapped around him. The strings getting taunt in irregular places. It's a good thing the water pokémon was stout otherwise that sort of attack finding itself weaved around his legs would have been a big problem.

With out how well the squirtle had taken the poison attack Damien's worry about the Weedle was lessened. The cold bug pokémon hadn't taken the tackle nearly as well. He was tempted to call out for a water gun instead of a tackle, as it was something that didn't require Turret to build up movement speed whilst struggling with the string. But moments before he gave the order he changed his mind as a fog of hot air trailed out from his mouth before his eyes. It would be somewhat cruel to douse this Weedle in the frosty weather conditions.

"Go for another tackle!"

Word Count: 194