Heigh Ho [Fin]

[Lamont]

---

After that whole thing at the tower Lenore was feeling a bit more exploratory. The breath of fresh air stepping from the sprout invested monastery was something else. She wanted to stumble upon something else odd and dangerous; to go and do something. At first she thought about maybe finally visiting the first official gym and claim the badge. But it just didn't quite scratch that itch. Plus Zapearow was a little tired after the show at Sprout Tower so she figured some time at the centre for some R&R would do him some good. Didn't want to tire out one of her stars.

Red was also feeling a little restless. She hadn't gotten to really test her new power yet, the venture against the monks having slipped through her claws as Lenore decided to use other party pokémon. Luckily her trainer mimicked the charmeleon's desires for more. This led them to the mouth of a somewhat famous cave.
"Dark Cave huh," she somewhat muttered, cocking her head to the side and adjusting weight onto one side as she stared that the black maw. From outside it certainly lived up to its reputation. Not a single thread of light made it more than five feet passed its threshold, the void emanating a damp cold as she stared into it. "Well, if there's going to be anything fun and interesting it's going to be in there." Red snorted in agreement and took the first few steps in.

"Ookay, maybe it's not just a spooky name..." came the comment when they had barely gone into the mouth. Red's tail fire was burning as bright as ever, it was even hard to look at surrounded by the creeping dark of the cave, however that didn't seem to be enough to give more than a candle's worth of light to walk by. Lenore frowned, stopping progress as she considered how to move forward. She didn't want to just up and leave. Give up at the first shred of difficulty, even if heels weren't exactly the greatest footwear for the uneven ground.

Her thoughts brought her back to what she was given in the tower. Elder Li didn't really give any info on the TM, but it sounded light based and there was a part of her mind that nagged it was the right tool to use. "Worth a shot I guess," she muttered to herself and dug into her bag for the drive. Red huffed, a little offended, and continued trying to pierce the black veil surrounding them. A curl of a smile cracked across the dancer's face. "Now, who should I use it on... Mmmm." She went over her party, contemplating who could use something flashy. Her fingers settled on her jigglypuff: the diva. It was perfect.
"Alright Noh! You're up babe." The pink puffball emerged with a look of disgust at her surroundings, then turned those big angry orbs onto Lenore and pouted a sharp jiggly. "I have just the thing for you hun. You're going to be our guiding star." 'Puff?' The idea was enticing, being in the spotlight a thing she quite enjoyed. Lenore used the TM and instructed Noh to give it a go. Night turned to day.

A bright flash of light erupted from Noh and pushed back the foreboding dark of the cave. Lenore clapped, skipping a few steps ahead to gauge their surroundings and get a feel for how far reaching Flash's light was. While the distance was still gloomy, Noh's light provided well enough light to safely navigate around the sharp rocks and avoid falling into any crevices or bodies of water.

"Alright gals, it's time to find some adventure."

---

(Switching Zapearow for Noh, Moody for Sera. Giving EXP Share to Tide and Eviolite to Sera. Teaching Noh Flash over Defense Curl. Adding 600 words to incubator.)

[Midnightive]

The light of Red's tail did well to get Lenore far into the cave but as the day light flickered behind them. They truly found out why it's called the dark cave. Scrambling around in her back she found an item that will up her way. A move named flash could be taught to most Pokemon but Noh was the lucky Pokemon chosen to guide the young lady through the dark care.

When Noh used the move the tight winding passways were shown to the group. Scary if you asked me. As they walked further and further into the cave lighting up its dark halls. A Pokemon turned and got blinded by the bright light. More than a little angry it's pretty dark caves were ruined.It flew angrily at the female trainer the only options to fight or run back the way she came.

---

A wild Zubat lvl 14 wants to battle!
Will you fight or flee?

9PN9dyFI1-421-42

[Lamont]

---

The ear shattering screech forced Lenore to cover her ears. The chilling sound cut down her spine and echoed along the walls of the various chambers both seen and unseen in the cave. "The hell was that?" the woman shrieked herself, flustered by the sudden disturbance. She glanced around in the hopes of finding something, the sound of fluttering soon following up the terrible noise from before. Lenore blinked, eyes trying to adjust to Noh's bright light yet. There was something above them coming closer.

She gasped, ducking down as the angered wild pokémon darted passed her head. Red snarled, the flame on her tail intensifying as the bat swooped in. It was a lot faster than any of them had anticipated. Looking back up she spotted the bat circling back around to hover before them, letting out another echoed cry. Lenore winced, face construed into an annoyed but contemplative look.
"A zubat huh? Hmmm..." While the base bats themselves were well associated with weakness and being not good for much, Lenore was well aware of the poison type's lineage. In her childhood she was no stranger to poison types, Fuchsia City tending to attract trainers who adored the type. Her smile widened. How could she resist the opportunity to train a crobat? A speeding bullet, sleek and elegant rushing through the skies in a flash of a beautiful purple shade.

Lenore giggled, Noh giving her a confused look before returning back to glaring at the shrieker that had descended upon them. "Looks like we've found our first challenger girls. Buuuut, I want this one."[/font] Red huffed, face contorting into a mixture of disgust and confusion. "Now now Red, it may not look like much now but I guarantee you I can turn this ugly ducklett into a swanna. Besides, it's some action either way,' she chimed. Red grinned back before stepping forward to face the angry zubat.

"Use Smokescreen to start, then follow up with an Ember!

---

(( Adding 328 words to incubator. Using running shoes.))

[Dan]

Zubat whirled around the cave screeching and hissing. What’s this trainer doing in a place like this?! It’s certainly not the most common choice for a trainer to go visit, seeing as how NO ONE CAN SEE IN HERE. Had it not been for Noh’s flash ability, they’d be outta luck! But of course Zubat wouldn’t be able to tell that, as this Pokemon uses echo-location to get around this cave! It’d be level 22 until this batty enemy would sprout eyes on its face. In a manic panic, Zubat swirls around Lenore, waiting for the perfect moment to strike its victim.

But, what’s this? This Charmeleon has quite the spicy breath today. Out came a breath of smoke, making the Zubat’s tough wheeze in and out of its mouth as it coughed up a lung in this nasty air! It flapped around trying to get itself straightened out for a wing attack but couldn’t muster up quite the amount of gusto quite yet. A crisp set of embers lit quite the fire under its butt. Ouch! It yelped out, but now it was steaming with anger. Down it swept to swipe the fire lizard with a flying attack!

Battle

---

Weather: Cave-y

Zubat | Level 14 | Inner Focus | No Item
HP: 62% (24/39)
Status: -1 Acc
Used Wing Attack x2! Missed once

VS

Red | Level 16 | Blaze | No Item
HP: 80% (39/49)
Status: Normal
Used Smokescreen and Ember!

((feel free to bork at me if anything is incorrect))

[Lamont]

---

Lenore cringed when the bat dove down and swiped her fiery pokémon on her belly. Red wasn't impressed either, a hiss of flame accompanying her roar of anger at the attack. A bit of smoke flared from her nostrils as she snorted following it, eyes watching the bat zip in and out of the smoke. The poor thing didn't seem able to tell where the boundary of the smoke was as it shifted this way and that in the cave. Lucky for her the thick air caused by the charmeleon's smoke was enough to keep the zubat off kilter just like any normal seeing opponent.

"Keep it cool Red," the showgirl advised, pincering a lock of hair between two fingers and moving it out of her face. "I need you to wear it down a bit more so you're just going to have to hold back on getting your revenge for that one." The charmeleon huffed once again, flexing her claws and giving a bit of a pout before rolling her shoulders and nodding. What her trainer saw in this blind creature she didn't understand. Maybe it had something to do with those poison loving ninjas?

"Good!" Lenore clapped, smiling broadly as the zubat let out another series of coughs as it struggled through the smokescreen. "How 'bout a simple growl this round hmm?" Red took a second, realizing that she wasn't going to get the satisfaction of dealing with this foe until the end. It was a little disappointing, but she would do as her trainer wished.

---

(( Adding 258 words to incubator ))

[Dan]

Red was quite the fiery Pokemon, pun intended sort of. Her strength was above Zubat’s level of power, knowing a variety of useful moves. If only Zubat could evolve, perhaps then it could be able to harness its poison power and become a wicked threat to trainers, instead of being a pest with a supersonic annoyance.

Zubat circled the air, trying to find its way through the smoke clouds that pervaded the air. It let out a series of sickly coughs as it ran into walls and rocks, what was this damned smoke from hell?! While it was being batty and hitting the sides of the walls, Red let out a growl attack, a move known by many Pokemon across the land. Zubat attempted to swoop down for a wing attack, but missed entirely, instead it hit the wall next to Red, but attempted to get up and fly out of harms way. Perhaps it would be able to grab its footing, so to speak, and get back into the battle for a comeback. Its chances didn’t look great, however. Poor thing.

Battle

---

Weather: Cave-y

Zubat | Level 14 | Inner Focus | No Item
HP: 62% (24/39)
Status: -1 Acc, -1 Atk
Used Wing Attack but missed

VS

Red | Level 16 | Blaze | No Item
HP: 80% (39/49)
Status: Normal
Used Growl!

[Lamont]

---

The showgirl was getting giddier by the moment. Each maneuver brought her one step closer to obtaining the zubat. Of course she could easily just throw a great ball or something and have a great chance of capturing it without any trouble but... She had special plans for that one. Zubat wasn't going to get any plain old ball, and the one she had in mind she didn't have very much of. There was no margin for error. Lenore was more than happy to dedicate a bit of time and patience toward this one in order to not waste her resources.

She couldn't risk Red laying on another attack on the poison pokémon, to the charmeleon's disappointment. It was going to be a tedious time ahead for the fire type, perhaps something Lenore would have mild regrets about later when the impish pokémon got some small revenge for wasting her talents. But it would be worth it. It would all be worth it. That was what she told herself. Lenore clasped her hands together and instructed simple, "Again Red."

Red puffed out a stream of smoke and flexed her claws. At the very least the bat wasn't always smacking her with its wing attack. It was a small thing but still appreciated. A silver lining in this arduous task. Another growl it was.

---

(( Adding 223 words to incubator ))

[Dan]

The Zubat continued flapping in the dark air, although the dark didn’t bother it too much, the status moves that were being inflicted on it by the Charmeleon were making it jittery and confused. The batty Pokemon coughed profusely still, the smokescreen hadn’t lifted yet making the Pokemon stressed on the battlefield. All of this clouded air was skewing the battle in Charmeleon’s favor, as was Lenore’s mission for all of these strategic moves.

The feisty Charmeleon was ready to battle once more. Little did the Zubat know that Red’s moves were geared towards tripping up the Zubat in order to catch it securely, perhaps with a luxury ball? Zubat wouldn’t know the difference until it was too late. Red let out another growl attack. Zubat trembled at the sound, what was that again?! Was it from a dragon? Was a Dragonite in here? Zubat obviously couldn’t tell what Pokemon this was due to all of the smoke clouding its concentration. The bat Pokemon attempted to gain some ground by letting out a supersonic attack, but it would prove to falter due to its inaccuracy, which didn’t get better with the smokescreen attack.

Battle

---

Weather: Cave-y

Zubat | Level 14 | Inner Focus | No Item
HP: 62% (24/39)
Status: -1 Acc, -2 Atk
Used Supersonic but missed!

VS

Red | Level 16 | Blaze | No Item
HP: 80% (39/49)
Status: Normal
Used Growl!

[Lamont]

---

She was in for the long haul now, though admittedly was starting to get a bit antsy. Was she over doing it? There was something to be said for 'better safe than sorry', but there was also a point where you could be too cautious. Lenore slipped a hand into her coat to withdraw another of her team and considered, eyes locked onto the device. Red snorted loudly, a puff of smoke emitting from her nostrils as she did so.

"Another Growl there hun," Lenore started, raising her eyes from the pokéball onto her silky red lizard friend. "I know it's nothing to you but poor Sera here could get really hurt if we're not careful." Her explanation was good enough for the Charmeleon. The impish fire type was starting to worry her trainer wasn't all with it considering that growling at the zubat wasn't going to make it easier for a pokéball to capture it.

With a renewed understanding of the purpose, the Charmeleon waited for the right moment Zubat came into view from the fluttering of smoke and smacking into things. Red chuckled to herself as she waited.

---

(( Adding 190 words to incubator ))

[Tyger]

The bat hadn't quite put all the pieces together yet. Why was this dragon continuously growling at it? It had attacked in the beginning, but now this trainer seemed to just be toying with Zubat! It fluttered around angrily, still affected by the smokescreen and growls. Even if it was able to hit the fire Pokemon in front of it, how much would it really be able to do? Before the claws of despair gripped at Zubat, it did it's best to try and spin this in a new light. This was probably a test to see just how strong Zubat was. Perhaps this trainer would bring it home? Train it? Maybe evolve it into a strong, mighty Crobat!

It's hopes were dashed when it heard the words of Lenore. Another Pokemon? They were just weakening Zubat in order for another, smaller, weaker Pokemon to take it out?! Zubat let out a distressed cough, fluttering even more furiously and confused than before. This wasn't fair! It was going to show this dragon AND the trainer. Despite being in the darkness of the cave, it could 'see' well enough to try and strike once more. As soon as it started it's descent though, Red let out a rippling growl. Now that there was a reason for the consistent status inflictions, there was a new sense of purpose. Red was taking the brunt of the battle to make things easier for a teammate, so that was enough for the Charmeleon. 

Zubat shuddered slightly, feeling the effects of the growl once more. It coughed, but continued forward. It had lost most of it's momentum though after stopping for the growl, and when it slammed it's wings into Red it did little to nothing to the Charmeleon. Perhaps it tickled it? Downtrodden, Zubat fluttered away to avoid retaliation before accepting it's fate. It was stuck here.

Wild Zubat - Level |14|

Health: 24/39

Current Status: Quit stringing me along!
Accuracy -1
Attack -3
Successful Wing Attack!

Lenore's Red - Level |16|

Health: 33/49

Current Status: *new sense of importance*
Successful Growl!

[Lamont]

---

"Good job Red, just a little bit more!" the showgirl cheered, adding a little clap to her compliment. Despite her reasoning being solid, a clear understanding between her and the charmeleon, she knew this was an awful amount of work for a pokémon most considered trash. With a lot of their usage being with gangs and infamous hooligans the bats didn't get much of a good rep. Plus they were just a step above magikarp at times and didn't really have a quick payoff of gyarados. No. Zubat required a bit more attention than sticking an exp share on them and waiting for no-work to make the pokémon bloom. The ratty flier required some love.

Lenore was still determined to get there, though, if she could make it easier on herself in the long run she was certainly going to do so. A little extra time spent here meant a little less of her attention purely focused on zubat. She had all these other lovelies to dote on after all.

"Switch in a Smokescreen this time, okay hun?" Red considered for a moment, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders before stretching her neck. "Meleon," came the disinterested response. Lenore grinned, putting a hand on her hip and sighing lightly. Her other set of fingers playing with the ball which held her petilil. It was almost time. "We're almost ready."

---

(( Adding 230 words to incubator ))

[Noerd]

With the threat of being humiliated by a new, lesser Pokémon hanging over it, Zubat's movements became even more frantic and desperate. It simply had to win now. There was no other way. Unfortunately for the chiropteran, its body seemed far less determined, practically falling apart under the stress of the stat reductions. Frustrated as ever, Zubat wondered how it could possibly turn the tide here. The usual strategy of "screech at it until it beats itself" was far less successful when its screeching had such a low chance of doing anything. The Poison type resolved to try Plan B: Operation ScaryBat.

First, however, Zubat would have to navigate through yet another stat debuff. Red and her trainer were far from done with reducing this little critter to a toothless wreck, after all. As the black clouds parted slightly, the young Charmeleon opened her gob once again to let loose a second Smokescreen. The new smoke perfectly patched up any previous holes in her cover, leaving Zubat blind as - well, you get the idea. Zubat cursed its luck, though it had to wonder exactly how this smoke was able to keep it from "seeing" with its echolocation techniques. Weird. Regardless, the flying nuisance would try its best to look scary. Darting forward, Zubat soared through the black mist as fast as its wings would carry it. In almost no time at all, the smoke before Red parted to reveal her opponent, who bopped her on the nose. That's all. Just a flick. Zubat backed off, hissing as best as it could as if it had just done something worthy of note.

Wild Battle

---

Weather: You're in a cave. You figure it out.

Wild Zubat | Level 14
HP: 62% (24/39 HP)
Status: -2 Acc, -3 Atk
Zubat used Astonish!
"stop w/ the debuffs n00b"

VS

Lenore's Red | Level 16
HP: 76% (37/49 HP)
Status: Normal
Red used Smokescreen!
"Do people still use 'n00b'?"

[Lamont]

---

Her fingers were tingling. Sera's pokéball was rolling in her fingers as Lenore itched to capture the zubat. It felt like it had been an age since she started this encounter. Adrenaline and excitement welling in her body to the point she was practically giddy. Her legs were becoming tingly, and as such she was finding it hard to stand still. Red took noticed and snickered quietly to herself. Noh on the other hand just yawned loudly. The jigglypuff wasn't quite getting the attention she had been promised for providing all the light everyone was using to see in this dank dark cave. An indignant 'puff' popped out of her mouth before she sighed and resumed staring off into the nothingness as her way of saying this bat didn't deserve any of her attention.

Noh's voice sounding beside her made Lenore settle a bit, half a chuckle escaping her as a huff of her own. "One more Red. Just one more then I think we can move onto phase two." Admittedly it was a tad earlier than she had wanted, but she was getting antsy implementing all the precautionary measures to ensure Sera had zero trouble doing her part in this endeavor. That wing attack could be devastating to the poor little flower.

Lenore ceased fumbling with the ball in her hands. Instead gripping it tightly in wait for her moment to bring the pokémon inside out into the fight. The charmeleon currently on the rocky field snorted a bit of smoke in preparation for another smokescreen, eyes gazing through the lingering black haze surrounding the zubat. Despite the tedious work she was still very much enjoying the confused frantic flapping of the wild pokémon as it tried to work its way around the burning plume. It must smell awful in there.

---

(( Adding 302 words to incubator ))

[Noerd]

The strange super-fog continued to irritate Zubat, who was slowly coming to the realisation that it probably wasn't going to win this battle. How could it possibly finish off a foe who could cloud its 'vision' so perfectly? Still, it probably had time to work with. The Charmeleon seemed unwilling to finish the battle any time soon, as she continued to toy with the Poison type opposite her. Maybe Zubat could take advantage of this. But before it could do anything close to that, Lenore's orders came out loud and clear. Yet more smoke. Zubat could hardly contain its excitement. Yes, I'm aware that sarcasm is probably not the best literary tool in the third person. I don't care. Anyway. For a third, and seemingly final, time, Red's mouth slowly but surely released a pitch-black cloud. The smoke mingled with the gases already present, re-blackening the battlefield.

Zubat had had enough. This humiliation was just too much. It had to do what it could to end this, even if the chances of success were approximately zero. It needed to do something. Fighting was indeed 'something', so fighting Zubat must do. It burst forward, screeching louder than usual as it tried desperately to locate Red. The sonar bounced off of a solid object of some kind. Solid. That sounded promising. Without a second thought, Zubat zipped toward that 'object' and swiped at it with the most powerful wing stroke it could muster. With a noticeable 'crack', Zubat's attack promptly made contact with a cave wall, causing it to withdraw its wing immediately. The pain only served to frustrate Zubat more, in truth. How long would it have to put up with this?

Wild Battle

---

Weather: N/A

Wild Zubat | Level 14
HP: 62% (24/39 HP)
Status: -3 Acc, -3 Atk
Zubat used Wing Attack! But it missed!
"Purple Haze, all in my brain!"

VS

Lenore's Red | Level 16
HP: 76% (37/49 HP)
Status: Normal
Red used Smokescreen!
"I think we broke this one..."

[Lamont]

---

"Oooohhh! This is it Red!" the showgirl squeaked, dancing on the spot. The chameleon glanced back and chuckled at the sight. "C'mon back girl, it's time for Sera to take over." Red rolled her head back and dropped her shoulders, huffing with relief in an exasperated fashion as if to say 'finally'. It had been quite the slog. Standing around throwing status effects. It was a wonder the bat was even still around there was so little action. You'd think eventually it'd get lucky enough to accidentally find the edge of the smokescreen and either book it or sink its teeth in for toying around with it. Dumb bat.

Lenore was overjoyed though. Even if it was earlier than she had originally planned there was no doubt in her mind now that this would be enough. Surely lady luck wouldn't turn on her now, she'd been so patient.

The fire type casually trod back to stand by the annoyed Noh at the trainer's side whilst a new companion burst onto the scene. The little petal pokémon hadn't really ever been tried since Lenore received her but Sera came out with a sparkle nonetheless. Of course, Lenore wouldn't dare openly remark about the adorable petilil with Noh standing right there. The pink puffball beginning to inflate with a pout, stubby arms attempting to cross her chest.

"Hey there Sera, I've got an easy task for you." The petilil was staring up in awe at the mass of smoke welling before her with frantic sounds of a bat inside. Was she supposed to fight whatever it was that was in there?
"I need you to put the Zubat to sleep mmkay?" Sera tilted her head to the side, half turning to look at Lenore before focusing on the command given. Seemed simple enough. Lenore crossed her fingers, breath held.

---

(( Adding 307 words to incubator ))