Better late than never [F]

[Sky]

The shiny Scyther proceeded to carry out Astrid's order as a blue aura surrounding the winged bug type Pokemon, increasing his focus towards his next attack. Ove would then charge towards the Slowpoke with his scythe-like hands as he would swing them. The attack made a direct hit as the Slowpoke winced in pain, but otherwise stayed asleep and undisturbed. The pink Pokemon was snoring throughout as Larry looked at the old woman who asked him for his name. "Well, ma'am, my name is Larry. I am a PokeManiac, so naturally, I like to collect rare Pokemon like this Slowpoke here." He responded kindly as he looked over at his sleeping Slowpoke.

Astrid asked Larry if he had been here to the Union Cave before as he nodded. "Yeah, I've been here before to search for rare and elusive Pokemon. I learned the layout of the cave as I went along." As soon as his Slowpoke would wake up from his slumber, he was going to really give it his best. As much as it was really annoying to have to wake up his Pokemon, Larry would still have to wait until his Pokemon could wake up.

Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Normal

Larry's Slowpoke | Level 16 | Own Tempo |
HP: 61% (36/59)
Status: Asleep
Asleep. Wakes up in one turn.

VS

Ove | Level 16 | Technician |
HP: 100% (53/53)
Status: Normal
Used Focus Energy and False Swipe!

[Tarlar]

Astrid gave up trying to figure out what was at the bottom at the staircase, it was probably flooded by now and it clearly wasn't the way out. She would have to come back and look later if she wanted to know, and with a pokemon that could light up the way.

"So what rare pokemon are you hunting in here?" Astrid asked Larry, mostly to keep the conversation going while they waited for the battle to be over and they could get through the cave.
She looked puzzled at Larry as he told he had learned the layout of the cave system, but he perhaps still didn't wanted to share it with her, or perhaps he had just not caught up on her question.
She became curious and decided to check it out.
"Hey Ove! Do not just stand there and be an easy target, move around and make it harder for it to hit you. I am certain it has some range moves when it is not moving fast," Astrid called out to her scyther.
She then smiled to Larry and walked around the battling pokemon to get over to the stairs, her cane make soft dunks every time it hit the stone floor. She paused at the top of the stairs and looked down, and then glanced at Larry to see his reaction.
Yakul joined her and she took a few steps down the stairs.

Ove had been slacking off a bit as this had been a really easy battle until now. When you opponent didn't do anything at all, it quickly became a bit boring.
He grinned sheepishly when she called him out and leaped forward to give it another good slash, and then found a protruding rock to use as cover to make it harder for the slowpoke when and if it decided to defend itself.

Wordcounts:311
(occ: Ove uses False Swipe)

[Sky]

As Astrid asked what kind of rare Pokemon he was going after, he responded. "I've heard some rumors of Lapras being present in the Union Cave on a certain day, so I came here to check it out myself." Ove used his scythe-like hands to swipe at the sleeping Slowpoke, not that the sleeping Pokemon could be woken up by the attack, but the PokeManiac's Slowpoke still quivered with pain. As soon as Ove was finished with his turn, the pink Pokemon slowly opened his eyes as he looked over at his trainer and the shiny Scyther before him.

Now that his Slowpoke woke up from its slumber, it was time for Larry to give it his best. "Slowpoke, let's use Water Gun on Ove!" Blinking once, the lazy Pokemon began opening his mouth to release a torrent of water at the winged bug-type Pokemon. Perhaps the Swablu's song was not enough to put the Slowpoke into a deep slumber, but it definitely wanted to give it its best shot despite being so slow and dim-witted. However, the Water Gun attack had instead doused the rock as Ove had taken cover near that very same rock.

Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Normal

Larry's Slowpoke | Level 16 | Own Tempo |
HP: 45% (27/59)
Status: Normal
Used Water Gun! Missed.

VS

Ove | Level 16 | Technician |
HP: 100% (53/53)
Status: Normal
Used False Swipe!

[Tarlar]

Astrid paused at the stairs to turn and listen to what Larry told her and she stepped up again.
"Then it is certainly flooded," she chuckled as she imagine that a big water type like lapras would love to gather all the waters around it.
It would make sense why the pokemaniac would try to keep that a secret at first, as lapras were highly sought after and rare. If he wanted a chance and avoid the caves to be overrun with hopeful trainers, it wouldn't be a thing you were going to share willingly.
It was rather rude of him though, that he just ignored what she asked for although he might not like to lie to her and that was his best solution. Had he been a child she would have lectured him, but he was an adult so she let it fly.
"Do you know if the deeper parts of the cave are connected to the ocean? How else should such big pokemon get in here?" Astrid asked and thought it was best not to ask too many things at a time.

Ove ducked behind the rock as the water was sent flying towards him and he grinned when it missed him completely. It was not a bad idea Astrid had had there. He peeked up over to see if the slowpoke had moved and then raced forward to give it another good slice with his scythes, before he would zoom off again and try find something else to hide behind.

Wordcount: 254
(ooc: Ove uses False Swipe)

[Noerd]

Astrid’s latest question caused her opponent to stop for a moment, his gaze drifting upward as he pondered over what she had asked. ”Well, there’s certainly water there, but I don’t know whether it leads out to the ocean. I never really thought about it that much, but I guess it must do, right? Of course, that’s if the rumours are even true.” He shrugged his shoulders as if to dismiss that train of thought almost immediately after the last words left his mouth. ”Either way, I’ll see for myself soon enough. That’s half the fun of chasing these stories, right?”

With that last comment, the PokéManiac returned his attention to more pressing matters. ”Anyway, let’s get back to the match, Slowpoke. Another Water Gun, on the double!” Slowpoke gave its trainer the typical dopey look in reply and turned around to find Ove charging forward once more. The Scyther sliced across his opponent just as he had before, continuing to chip away at the surprisingly bulky Water type. And after a few moments of waiting, Slowpoke fought back with another fierce jet of water. This one, however, was much more accurate, splashing into Ove and forcing him to dig his heels into the earth beneath him.

Trainer Battle

---

Weather: Normal

Larry's Slowpoke | Level 16 | Own Tempo |
HP: 22% (13/59)
Status: Normal
Used Water Gun!

VS

Ove | Level 16 | Technician |
HP: 86% (46/53)
Status: Focus Energy
Used False Swipe!



(Not-actually-a-mod note: I’m sticking Focus Energy on the Status section for convenience’s sake. Been in effect for a couple turns and is technically not a “status” per se, but ‘s how I always did it personally.)

[Tarlar]

Ove stumbled as the shot of water hit him square in the back and he did his best to keep his balance and withstand the attack. There were surprisingly much loose earth inside the cave and more than enough for him to dig both his feet and claws until the stopped blasting him.
The scyther looked over his should towards the slowpoke, to him it looked like it had no clue on what was going on and would be slower than a shuckle! He had to admit to himself he had underestimated his opponent, especially after it had missed him last round and hadn't really done anything before.
He narrowed his eyes and wondered if there was anything he could do, the boulder he had used to hide behind was obviously too far away, if slowpoke was fast enough to react before he reached it.
He decided to try use his speed against it, hopefully and would keep it in sight and simply try to dodge the attacks. He buzzed forward, keeping low to the ground and attempted to mimic the movements of a zigzagoon and be unpredictable.
When he got the chance he would attempt another False Swipe and then continue with his irregular movement.

"I guess it must be a long dive if you wanted to find out," Astrid said with a chuckle and nodded to that he would find out if he decided to go for it.
Astrid was quiet while Larry turned his attention to the battle and she watched while Ove got a cleaning and then buzzed around the floor, she didn't quite understand what he was doing but he looked to be full of energy so she guessed he was doing alright.

"Oh, something quite difference. You have been in Azalea Town, correct? What can you tell me about Bugsy? Have you tried to challenge him?" Astrid asked the pokefan when he could spare a moment from the battle.

wordcount: 325
(ooc: Ove uses False Swipe)

[Sky]

Ove could tell that the battle itself was already over as he went with Astrid's commands, moving in a zig-zag pattern similar to a Zigzagoon in order to make it difficult for the Slowpoke to hit him. Larry was asked if he had been to Azalea Town before, it was certainly turning into an interesting conversation now. "I"ve been to Azalea town before, yes. Bugsy is pretty tough as a gym leader, his Scyther is incredibly fast and I challenged him once, but wasn't able to win with Slowpoke here." Slowpoke turned his head to his trainer as if he wasn't following what he said.

The shiny Scyther began to make his way towards the slow Pokemon, raising his scythe-like appendages to quickly swipe at the Slowpoke and move back. The attack landed a direct hit and with the focused energy that Ove had within him, it landed the final blow to Larry's Pokemon, causing the Slowpoke to close his eyes and fall into an unconscious state. Larry returned his Slowpoke back inside his Pokeball to rest before nodding. "You beat me fair and square, Astrid, congrats. Take this prize money and I think you're more than capable of dealing with Bugsy now." The PokeManiac handed Astrid the prize money as he enjoyed the battle they had.

Ove grew to level 19!

Astrid earned $701 for winning!

[Tarlar]

It looked like Ove's plan about being unpredictable worked and he was pleased when he managed to score a good strong hit on the pink pokemon. He never learned if his movements were good to avoid attacks as the slowpoke got recalled, much to Ove's surprise.
He more thought like it had decided to take a nap rather than it was knocked out, but if it was Ove or Larry who knew the slowpoke best would never be revealed. The fact was that Larry had voted the battle over and had decided to spare his pokemon from more harm and Ove stood back as the winner.
He flew over to stand beside Astrid as she accepted the money from Larry.

"Oh my, I do hope I have a chance then," Astrid said and did her best to not sound too worried. She had been very nervous before her battle with Falkner, which she had been well prepared for, she learned. She right then there decided she would learn what she could about the gym leader and figure out how to best be prepared, and decide if her pokemon needed more training.

"Well done Ove, you took good advantage of Araceli's singing," Astrid praised the scyther and clearly didn't notice that the battle might have ended a bit prematurely.
"You really think so?" Astrid asked Larry surprised and looked at Ove, Sonja and Yakul.
"What do you say? Do you think we should give it a go?" She asked and Ove by far gave the most enthusiastic response by nodding confidently. Sonja huffed while thinking to herself that Astrid was doomed to fail. Yakul didn't even notice she was talked to, she was still too busy keeping an eye out for zubats.

Astrid gladly let Larry lead the way through the rest of the Union Cave and not long after they were well out on the other side. It had been a much shorter trip than she had expected, although there would have been plenty of chances to get lost along the way, if she hadn't had a guide.
She thanked Larry profusely and wished him good luck on his pokemon hunting, and then she set the course directly to Azalea Town.

Wordcounts: 371
(ooc: Araceli should also gain a level as he started out in the battle, and Sabia is holding an exp-share and should also gain one, she evolves into a spewpa.)
-Ending thread here.

Updating all this, including Ove who should have the option to learn Agility.
Also the happiness boosts for participants.
Sky just an fyi ^^
~L