The bug never falls fra from the tree (Gym) [DONE]

[Tarlar]

(New team: Ove, Sonja, Araceli, Pia, Frida, Lorenz who gets the exp-share)

Astrid hesitated with her hand raised to grab the doorknob of the Azalea Gym, when she opened the door there were no going back. That would be too embarrassing, then it would be better to at least give it a go and then lose.
She had went around and talked with residents of Azalea and other trainers to learn what she could about Bugsy, and it had made her more confident. They had told plenty of stories about his strong scyther and how it had surprised often with its amazing speed and turned the battle around.
There were little she could do with her current pokemon, she hadn't trained Placido or Janus for quite some time, and she doubted she could use the same tactic for both gyms. Her birds and Sonja would be her best options and she had decided to try with them, if it did not work out she would hopefully have learned what was missing and find a solution for it.
Mostly it seems like this would be a match of strength and pokemon skills, it would require a lot of work of her chosen pokemon, which she had told them as well, while giving them her advice and suggestions.
They had all been serious and especially Ove, Sonja and Pia were looking excited to the upcoming challenge. Pia because it was a challenging battle, which she loved and Ove because there was another scyther.
Sonja had been impressed with all the stories of Bugsy, perhaps he was The Right trainer, she had been searching for until now? Great was her disappointment when she learned that he only was interested in bug types, how could the world be so unfair. She was going to follow Astrid suggestions as she had few other ideas of what she could do, but she didn't believe they would work. This old lady was not fit to be a trainer, she didn't even really participate in the battles, she was too slow as Astrid admitted herself!
Sonja hoped that she would be conscious long enough to actually learn something from a trainer as skilled as Bugsy.

Astrid exhaled and opened the door into the dome shaped gym determined. There was no turning back and for now she could do nothing more to prepare her pokemon, they would either come out victorious or they would learn what they needed to better before the next challenge.

The old trainer paused surprised when she saw the inside of the gym as it was not what she had expected. She looked around in awe at all the greenery, it was a whole mini forrest and with bugs crawling around everywhere!
"Smeargle!" Lorenz said excitedly and moved his thumb around like he was measuring things for a painting. Sonja looked around with disinterest.
"Alright Sonja, you know what to do when the battle starts, right?" Astrid asked and couldn't keep the anxiety completely out of her voice, Sonja nodded tiredly it wouldn't work anyway.
Astrid looked around to see if she could spot Bugsy or any of his assistants, if not she would go looking for them.
When she found Bugsy she would greet him humbly.
"Greetings Gym Leader, I am Astrid and I am here to challenge you to a battle for a gym badge," she said and hoped he would accept it.
When they were ready to start the battle, Astrid would gesture for Sonja to step forward, and the white snadshrew curled up immediately.

wordcount: 581
(ooc: starting the battle right away, Sonja uses Defense Curl)

[Thirdie]

There wasn't anyone visible immediately, but Astrid didn't have to walk far into the lively indoor forest before a purple-haired head popped out of the leaves in a nearby treetop. He blinked at the new comer once, and then flashed her a grin. "Oh, hello there! Here to enjoy the life of bugs, or here for a challenge?" He asked excited and limply jumped down to greet her more properly. "I'm Bugsy." He held out a hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Astrid." He added when she had presented herself. He pulled the other hand through his hair, which had managed to take some souvenirs with it from the tree, and remnants of twigs and leaves sprinkled to the ground. He turned to walk towards another tree, where a big bug catching net rested by its trunk and went on saying. "It's not often we have such a life experienced trainer stop by. I hope I'll be able to teach you something." His tone was light, and when he turned back to face her his eyes was shining with delight. "Scyther, dear, we have a challenger!" He called out, and immediately the trees seemed to come alive with movement as something moved swiftly through them.

Before Astrid and her Pokemon could blink in surprise Bugsy's Scyther stood in front of them, gleaming blades and challenging stare at the ready. "Let's make it a hit-and-run today." Bugsy said mildly, and the Scyther nodded sharply before bursting forward to slice at Sonja, who had just barely stepped forward. The blades sang against Sonja's tough hide, and surprisingly she felt it too. Only after the Scyther was gone, did Sonja get around to curling up her defenses, and then both her and Astrid could see that instead of Scyther stood a very still Metapod in its place. Bugsy stood with a Pokeball in his hand, and the Scyther stood almost behind him. "Do let me know if I'm moving too fast. If you have any questions ask away."

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Scyther

LV 21
HP 100% [66/66]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Sonja

LV 16
HP 65% [30/46]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician]: Normal (spd 55)
Astrid's Sonja [Snow Cloak]: +1 def (spd 22)

<Scyther used U-turn and changed with Metapod. Sonja used Defense Curl.>

(Ooc: requesting the team changes in the transfer thread.)

[Tarlar]

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed when Bugsy popped out of a tree. As he came down and she greeted her while shaking his outstretched hand.
"Oh, I am certain that I can learn plenty of you. I might be experienced in life but I am still a decently new trainer," she put in and brushed away the thought that she might not be so inexperienced and new in training anymore. She was just doing this as a hobby and to get closer to her grandchildren, there was no way she could be really good and experienced in this training stuff.

Sonja had assessed Bugsy and really didn't know what to make of him but she decided he probably wouldn't have been the Right One even if he took on other types than bugs. He didn't seem like he was much serious about training and then he wasn't the one she was searching for.
Lorenz stepped forward and held a hand forward to Bugsy as a greeting, he would greet the gym leader politely if it was accepted and act offended if he was ignored.

"What a beauty!" Astrid said admiring when Bugsy's scyther was called forth, it was shimmering with health and strength. Sonja narrowed her eyes at the big bug in front of her, it was lighter than Ove but something about its movements made her think she was in for a tough battle.
For once she wholly agreed with Astrid's suggestion that she should start by curling up to defend herself, only problem was she was even too slow for that!
She fell backwards and rolled into a tight ball but knew it was too late, she could feel the sting from the cuts the sharp scythes had made on her soft belly. This would never go well, Astrid was way in over her head. the gasp Astrid made convinced Sonja the old woman had realized it as well.
"Are you alright dear?" Astrid asked and Sonja huffed annoyed, she was no-ones 'dear'. The sandshrew stayed curled together as she felt most safe that way.
"If you feel like it, go one Sonja. I know you can do this," Astrid called out reassuringly but Sonja doubted it, well the old woman would learn soon enough.
The sandshrew glanced out from her curled up position to see where her opponent was and was surprised to see another pokemon in the scyther's place. Well, one well trained pokemon or another, it would make little difference in the end, she rolled forward towards the metapod leaving the grass brittle from frost as the rolled over it.

As Sonja started on the Ice Ball attack Astrid assumed it meant the sandshrew was fine and would do well. She could then turn her attention to Bugsy again.
"For me you are definitely too fast, but I am certain my pokemon will keep up with you," Astrid said with a chuckle.
She hesitated for a moment but then decided to call out Ove. The scyther looked around curious and looked suspiciously at the other Scyther and Bugsy, he glanced questioningly at Astrid.
"I thought it would be a chance you did not want to miss, to see the gym that specializes in bug types and is known for their scyther," she explained and Ove glanced at the other scyther a bit uncomfortably. He knew Astrid meant well but it made him feel he had to prove something about his worth and skills.

"I must say it is quite a special gym you have here Bugsy, I thought they would all have a fighting area like Falkner's? Are you not worried the battles here between the plants will destroy things?" Astrid asked not thinking that might just was the reason, many bugs lived of dead plant materials after all.
"I think I would have expected an intro to where we were supposed to battle and the speech I heard Gym Leaders are usually giving about the rules and such. I was caught quite off guard and I am not sure Sonja was quite ready either," The old trainer pointed out while doing her best to not make a big fuss out of it. It was no big deal, she had just felt a bit thrown off.

Wordcount: 709
(ooc: Sonja uses Ice Ball, time to roll out!)

[Sky]

As Astrid seemed to wonder if Bugsy didn't want to harm anything between the plants inside his gym, he smiled. "I don't mind breaking things between the plants in my gym as long as I have a bit of fun battling with my challenger." Once Bugsy's Scyther was back inside her Pokeball, Bugsy sent out his Metapod as the silhouette of a green cocoon-like Pokemon appeared to take the place of her cohort. With her eyes blinking at the Alolan Sandshrew, one would think why Bugsy had switched to a Pokemon whose speed wasn't the greatest.

Sonja opted to propel herself forward towards the Metapod by curling up into a ball. Her movements were much more faster than Bugsy's Pokemon, managing to land a hit on the Metapod's hit with an icy tackle. "Let's hit back with Bug Bite, Metapod!" The green cocoon moved forward with each slithering step, using its unseen mouth to bite onto Sonja.

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Metapod

LV 18
HP 70% [36/51]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Sonja

LV 16
HP 58% [27/46]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Metapod [Shed Skin]: Normal (spd 21)
Astrid's Sonja [Snow Cloak]: +1 def (spd 22)

<Metapod used Bug Bite. Sonja used Ice Ball.>

[Tarlar]

Hitting Metapod was far from enough to stop Sonja's rolling and the friction hardened the layer of ice around her rolled up body, which was created vy her breath being swirled around her from her movement. It pretty much locked her inside and she could do little else than continue with her attack, she barely could hear the humans chatting outside and she concentrated on where her opponent was and aimed at it.

"Well done Sonja. Your opponent has not moved much, actually I do not think it can move far anyway, and you are having a clear path towards it," Astrid called to her sandshrew in an attempt to help her. Not that it was needed, but Astrid wasn't aware of how much or how little Sonja could see when rolled up, so it might make it easier for her.

Astrid was quite surprised to hear that Bugsy wasn't bothered with his beautiful garden getting destroyed for a fun battle.
"You must really love battles then," she said thoughtfully.
"Is there not a lot of work in rebuilding and replanting things after a battle then? Is there not a lot of fire types coming here to challenge you?" Astrid asked and wondered if she should tell her pokemon to try avoid breaking stuff while being here. She looked at Sonja with a frown and got a feeling it would be hard for the sandshrew to control that, she seemed to have less control of her movements when rolling around like that.

Ove stayed silent and watched, he felt less awkward when the other scyther had been recalled, although a part of him wanted to get to know it better. Especially if he could learn some tricks from it.
Lorenz found the battle horribly boring so he wandered off to see if there was some good views in here for him to paint.

Wordcounts: 313
(ooc: Sonja continues with her Defense Curl strengthened Ice ball, second turn)

[Lamont]

The young gym leader was quite ecstatic to be facing off against this exotic sandshrew. The sand mouse itself was already a pretty rare sight, but an icy form? Now that was just unheard of. Even this rollout move it had taken to using wasn't quite the same as what Whitney liked boasting about. If it wasn't for his acclimatization to the chill of early morning dew while bug searching, the cold air being spread about by Sonja would probably be causing his bare legs to shiver right now. If it could get passed the blanket of excitement of course.

"You bet. S'kinda the life of a gym leader y'know? You get to see so many cool new things and great strategies from all the people you meet through battle. It helps my own evolve in a sense." Bugsy chuckled lightly, watching the path of the white-scaled sandshrew and considering how he should approach it. He'd miscalculated quite a bit last round. A misstep that would quickly cost him his metapod's battle capability.

The whir in the boy's mind was nearly so loud he almost missed Astrid's follow up question. The delay was noticeable, as was his facial expression when he snapped back and realized. "Oh! Well yeah we get a lot of that of course. But we're not unprepared. Healthy flora doesn't burn as easy as everyone thinks. So as long as I keep the area clean of dead fall the damage is pretty minimal. And this," he paused to gesture at the trail Sonja was leaving in his wake, "That'll be filled in no problem, or maybe left to add some more character."

Bugsy laughed, putting his hands on his hips as if victorious from solving a great problem. Metapod was getting a little anxious though, as his trainer had yet to give him instruction. She grunted and wriggled on the spot to try and get his attention. By now Astrid's pokémon had accumulated quite the spin. No doubt the attack that had now turned to finally strike was going to be even harder than the last one.
"Hang in there Metapod. Try to get a good bite in on the side alright? The best way we can try to outlast this isn't going to be bulking up."

Sonja came, hard and fast. Metapod had managed to hop just an inch or so to the side but it wasn't anywhere near out of the sandshrew's way. The cocoon pokémon reached out and took the tiniest bite out of Sonja's hardened scales and in return got a face full of crushing ice ball. The green bug was left in Sonja's tracks, an impression in the wake of the rolling shrew.

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Metapod

LV 18
HP 9% [5/51]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Sonja

LV 16
HP 52% [24/46]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Metapod [Shed Skin]: Normal ... Used Bug Bite!
Astrid's Sonja [Snow Cloak]: +1 DEF ... Used Ice Ball (Turn 2)!

[Tarlar]

Being capped so much in ice it was hard to tell for Sonja if she had managed to hit the metapod or not. She was certain she hit something and she thought she felt something sting a bit in her side, that might be some retaliation but it was hard to tell.
She circled where she had aimed before and saw the green shape of the metapod, it was hard to mix it up with a bush or a rock. Sonja turned to rush towards she saw it standing with the expectation of it staying there, it didn't look like one who was moving around a lot.

Astrid nodded to Bugsy's comment about his pokemon 'evolving' by meeting a lot of difference pokemon.
"There is a lot of ways for pokemon to grow," Astrid agreed and looked closer at Metapod.
"Is it your decision to stay in this shape or are you working towards an evolution in the classic way?" Astrid asked curious and gestured to Metapod. She knew a lot of people did their best to get pokemon to evolve as fast as possible, both her granddaughters had done so with their bug type pokemon.

It was hard for Astrid to keep her koncentration on the battle, as there was little she could do. She trained her pokemon to do most of the work themselves so she could cheer them on and apply healing remedies if needed. Beside her not-so-fastness due to her age there could also be occasions where she would be unavailable to take controls and there the pokemon needed to know how to handle themselves, it was a thing she had learned by watching the Police Officers work.
There was even less for her to do when Sonja was rolling about.
Instead Astrid looked around at the lush gym and wondered.
"How did you get the idea for a gym like this?" The old woman asked wondering.

Wordcount: 321
(ooc: Sonja continues her Ice ball)

[Sky]

When the elderly woman asked Bugsy if he had intended for Metapod to stay in that shape for a while or if he had some way to plan on evolving the green cocoon into a pretty Butterfree, he answered ecstatically. "I probably intended for Metapod to stay where she is, but if she wants to evolve in a more classic way, I wouldn't refuse. There's a great joy with evolving Bug type Pokemon to their full potential!" Bugsy listened as Astrid gave him a second question to answer: how did he decide on an idea for a gym like this? He pondered for a moment before answering the elderly lady. "Got the idea of making a haven for Bug-type Pokemon to live in, so it becomes an indoor forest. My Bug type Pokemon can roam free this way, isn't that fun?"

Meanwhile, Sonja curled up into a ball as she propelled herself towards Bugsy's Metapod. With a direct hit on the cocoon's torso, his Metapod finally toppled over on her side. "Your Alolan Sandshrew's not bad, let's see how she handles my Kakuna!" Bugsy recalled his fainted Metapod as he sent out his Kakuna, the yellow cocoon blinked at the white sand mouse Pokemon.

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Kakuna

LV 18
HP 9% [49/49]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Sonja

LV 19
HP 52% [24/46]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Kakuna [Shed Skin]: Normal ... Switched in!
Astrid's Sonja [Snow Cloak]: +1 DEF ... Used Ice Ball (Turn 3) and defeated Metapod!

Sonja grew to level 19!

[Tarlar]

Sonja felt that she hit something and from the sounds she could hear, that sounded cheerful she guessed she had hit her target. She rolled over what it was, it was hard to tell the metapod's green color from the grass, and circled around.
A yellow shape caught her attention at first and it was hard to mix up with a tree, that had to mean she had got a new opponent and she turned to charge it. She really hoped it was a new opponent, it was hard enough to see through the ice and the rolling didn't make it any easier!
The sandshrew knew she would have to find a way to control this move better as a lot of her hitting was from pure luck. She might have been able to hit the unmovable opponents but the sandshrew was certain she stood no chance against the fast and strong scyther.

Astrid nodded in agreement to Bugsy's comment.
"So it is mostly her own choice that she is has not? Interesting, I was certain that all your pokemon would be at their full potential," Astrid said and looked thoughtful.
"Of course that doesn't always mean by evolving, is it true what I have heard, that some pokemon lose some of their skills by evolving?" She asked Bugsy, she had heard some trainers complain about that some pokemon became "worse" upon evolving but she was not sure how that was possible.
The old woman glanced back towards Ove, who looked questioningly at her.
"Is it the same with your scyther?" She asked as she wondered if it was a pokemon who some deemed as weaker if evolving, or if the species had a evolution at all.

Lorenz walked around frustrated, the forest was so pretty but he couldn't find a view that didn't include some part of the dome itself, and he thought that would ruin the painting! The thought of just covering it or make it to look like the sky didn't occur to him. He paused as he got a view of the battle place and he tilted his head as he studied how the grass was damaged and uprooted due to it.

Wordcount: 366
(ooc: Sonja continues her ice ball. Note to next mod: Remember to adjust the HP according to the lvl up, thank you )

[zena]

It was amazing that the Sandshrew didn't get dizzy from all the spinning around she was doing, but perhaps her species was used to such things considering it was a defense mechanism to curl up in a ball. They probably got batted around quite a bit that way, so it would be a detriment to them to get dizzy that way.

Unfortunately for her, though she wasn't dizzy she couldn't see very well as she spun around wildly, and the Kakuna, though unable to move far, was able to tip over and thereby get out of the way, though it required some very effortful kicking on the inside of its shell in order to do it. Probably wouldn't be able to move very far on its side, which was good for Sonja. On the plus side, it could nip at the Sandshrew through its shell as she passed by, which would hurt at least a little bit, but the downside was that it then had to work rapidly to repair the hole it had made in its exterior and lost track of the Sandshrew in the meantime.

Bugsy shrugged slightly at Astrid's comment, not minding that some of his Pokemon weren't "useful" by some people's standards. Gym leaders did have the societal expectation to have the strongest possible Pokemon, but he loved all of his equally, regardless of where they stood in an evolutional standpoint. "They can, I suppose," he commented. "Sometimes they change their type or abilities, which people might consider a loss. But, I think there's more to be gained by helping them reach whatever they consider to be their full potential, no matter what we think it is!" If his Pokemon wanted to remain in their shells because that was how they felt safest and strongest, then so be it.

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Kakuna

LV 18
HP 100% [49/49]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Sonja

LV 19
HP 52% [28/53]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Kakuna [Shed Skin]: Normal ... Avoided Ice Ball and used Bug Bite!
Astrid's Sonja [Snow Cloak]: +1 DEF ... Used Ice Ball (Turn 4)!

[Tarlar]

Astrid nodded to show she understood Bugsy's explanations but she frowned as he hadn't answered the one about his scyther. Either he hadn't figured that she had wanted answers on that directly or he didn't want to share them with her. Astrid wondered if she should try ask again as she surely wouldn't find another one with the same expertise on Scythers like him but was distracted when Sonja unfortunately missed her target and slammed into a tree instead, which effectively stopped her rolling.
"Oh! Sonja are you alright?" Astrid called to the sandshrew who shook her head to clear it from the daze. Sonja looked at the damage she had caused to the tree and then turned to look at the kakuna.
"What is it? Are you hurt?" Astrid asked when Sonja sat down with crossed arms. The question got the sandshrew to glare at her trainer, the old woman clearly didn't saw that all this was a waste of time, all the planning Astrid had done and look at what it had brought them. Sonja had managed to knock out one little pokemon and they still needed to handle the scyther which Sonja was certain they had no chance against. Sonja refused to be a part of this anymore as they would just lose and be humiliated and she glared at the confused Astrid.
"I am certain that you could still do a lot more but it is alright if you do not want to. We just go with one of the other plans," Astrid said and looked thoughtful at the kakuna. The old lady glanced at Ove who gave her a single nod.
Astrid found a pokeball and released her snorunt.
"Are you ready Frida? I know you can do this," Astrid called to the snorunt who was standing while shaking like she had it cold, but she nodded and shook a bit more to release more coolness from her and then sent it flying forward towards the kakuna.

Lorenz ignored the battle entirely as he walked up to the tree Sonja had hit and studied it closer.
"What did you hope to create with this?" He asked out of artistic interested but Sonja just glared at him furiously.

Wordcount: 372
(ooc: Frida switches in and uses Icy Wind. I can see that Lorenz's Exp-share was missed last lvl up and I did so as well last round, hehe)

[Sky]

Bugsy watched as Astrid switched out her Alolan Sandshrew and sent out her Snorunt instead. It was what the elderly lady called plan B as Frida followed through with Astrid's order and shook out a gale of cold, snowy air towards the opposing Kakuna. Bugsy's Kakuna ended up shivering as she was met with Frida's icy attack though she remained still. The wind would make her topple over a moment later as she tried to prop her body up to meet the gaze of the little Ice type Pokemon. Bugsy addressed his Kakuna in a soothing manner. "Are you okay, Kakuna? Alright let's use Bug Bite!" The yellow cocoon hopped over to the little Ice type Pokemon on the command of her trainer.

Taking the initiative, Kakuna began sinking her teeth onto the Snorunt's torso and again at Frida's back. As much as he enjoyed battling so much, he might've missed a question the old lady asked about his Scyther, so he decided to address it. "Did you ask a question earlier about my Scyther? Sorry, I must've missed it because I was so focused on the battle."

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Kakuna

LV 18
HP 51% [24/49]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Frida

LV 21
HP 68% [40/58]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Kakuna [Shed Skin]: Normal ... Used Bug Bite x2!
Astrid's Frida [Ice Body]: Normal ... Used Icy Wind!

[Tarlar]

Sonja ignored Lorenz as she watched Frida sending a chilling breeze and the smeargle looked offended at her.
"Excuse me! But I am actually talking to you, it is very rude of you to ignore me like that!" Lorenz protested and Sonja sighed annoyed.

"It is very rude of you to start accusing me of things that I'm doing," Sonja snapped back and Lorenz huffed.
"I have never accused you of anything, I merely ask you out of artistic curiosity as I couldn't see what your goal was," Lorenz defended himself indignant and Sonja groaned.
"I'm no stupid artist! I was trying to hit that yellow bug over there since our stupid trainer can't get it into her thick skull that she is too old and should quit instead of sending her pokemon into a battle that is lost before it is startet! But you sound like you are the perfect match for her, lolling around without a clue of what is going on around you," Sonja sneered and Lorenz stared shocked at her.
"How dare you?!" He gasped and Sonja got to her feet and turned her back on him.
"What ever," was her parting answer and she left him to stare appalled after her.

"Well done Frida! You can do this," Astrid cheered and Frida giggled before she flash froze the air around her and sent all the small piece of ice fly towards Kakuna.
"Huh? I did?" Astrid said surprised as she had forgotten about the conversation again due to her need to concentrate on Sonja and the switch to Frida.
Frida looked like she did well on her own for now so Astrid frowned as she thought back.
"Yes..." She said slowly, "I wanted to know what you could tell about Scyther's evolution, if it has any, and if there is anything else good to know," Astrid said and smiled warmly to Ove. Her scyther glanced curiously at her wondering what she wanted with that knowledge as she hadn't seem interested in any other knowledge in that direction before and just learned as she went.

Wordcount: 349
(ooc: Frida uses Ice Shard)

[Lamont]

The snorunt was already making her move before Bugsy had even opened his mouth for a command of his own. He was in the process of changing tactics, which turned out to be rather untimely. Though, Frida's attack was like a snap of the fingers. Ice shards crystallized instantaneously and spiraled through the air to shatter against Kakuna's hard shell. It was like hearing glass break on the floor.

Bugsy couldn't help but show his surprise with a short yelp and flinch. It was more of a reaction than even the cocoon pokémon gave at receiving the hit. The bug was a tough one but the trained eye of the gym leader knew that his friend was reaching the end of her stamina.
"Change it up Kakuna, time to think of the long game," he called to his pokémon. The yellow shelled bug hissed quietly in response. With barely a move something shot out from Kakuna's body. A small dart it seemed, slick with an unwelcome substance. Frida felt it collide with her like a pin pricking her skin. Small, sudden, and with a light burning sensation as the poison seeped in. But with some quick thinking on her own part to drop and roll, the poisonous barb was swiftly dislodged.

"Oof, so close," the boy commented. His face curling into a smile once the suspense of the exchange was over. His attention instantly darted back to the older woman and his smile widened. Someone else genuinely interested in the welfare of her bug pokémon was perhaps the best thing that had happened in a while; aside from Bugsy's followers of course. He glanced to the shiny scyther at her side. His heart skipped a few beats just at the sight of Ove.

"You bet there is." It was hard to stop himself from dancing on the spot or rushing over to Astrid so they could continue the topic in a less formal way. Battles were great and everything, but being able to expand someone's knowledge, and potentially their love, of even just one bug pokémon was Bugsy's passion. "And it's rather unique. You see, unlike the vast majority of other evolutions, Scyther doesn't so much as become greater than it already was as it does change its specialty."

"A redistribution, so to speak. Scyther excels in hitting fast and hard. A ninja of the bug world really. But it's evolution, Scizor, is a whole different beast. It sacrifices any speed advantage for greater defensive capabilities. It takes on a metal coat. Making it heavier, bulkier... but it can also make use of that extra weight to do more damage."

"Ultimately it's not so much an evolution as an adaptation to a trainer's preferred battle style." Bugsy glanced to his Kakuna with a great fondness. Working on a pokémon's strength and not simply calling out attacks all the time was tricky for a lot of trainers to manage; even himself sometimes. But Scyther was special.

"You know what you're going to do with him?" he asked, turning his eyes back onto Astrid and Ove with an innocent curiosity.

Bugsy

vs

Astrid

---

[attr="class","qkt-bkgd"]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Bugsy's Kakuna

LV 18
HP 20% [10/49]

[attr="class","qkt-wild-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]

[attr="class","qkt-clip"]Frida

LV 21
HP 62% [36/58]

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-imgbox"]

[attr="class","qkt-pkmn-img"]

Bugsy's Kakuna [Shed Skin]: -1 SPD ... Used Poison Sting!
Astrid's Frida [Ice Body]: Normal ... Used Ice Shard!

[Tarlar]

Sonja trotted over to sit beside Astrid and watch the rest of the battle disdainfully, they would soon learn their lesson and realize she was right. Ove glanced at the seething sandshrew but didn't say anything.
Lorenz huffed offended and stomped around a bit aimlessly as he couldn't concentrate on finding a pretty landscape to paint, instead he ended up staring at the battle without really seeing it.

"Oh! So fast you are Frida!" Astrid praised her snorunt who grinned pleased. The single needle took her a bit by surprise and at first she wasn't going to do anything about it. It had neither hurt or was bothering her much where it was sitting, but then she felt the slow burning pain that began around the needle and she realized there was more to it. With such small stubby hands as her she could only do one thing and she threw herself to the ground in the hope that it could dislodge it. She was relieved when she succeeded in getting it out but wasn't thrilled taking the risk once more, that had felt horrible.
Frida hesitated as the wondered if she had done enough or not but ended up turning around and waddling back to Astrid.

Astrid looked quite overwhelmed by all the information Bugsy was given her, there was certainly still a lot she needed to learn!
"Oh my," Astrid mumbled to herself as bugsy finished his presentation and then she looked surprised at him, when asked what her plan was.
"Plans?! When i did not even know that Ove was cabable of evolving?" Astrid asked laughingly and then turned to her scyther.
"What do you say Ove? Do you have any preferences?" Astrid asked but Ove just shrugged. He hadn't thought that far yet, he was still getting used to not needing eyes in the back of his head and being on the run most of the time for trainers.
"I think I can say that we do not know, my battle style is mostly to teach the pokemon some tactics and how potentially to do things, and then I am their cheerleader and potion master," Astrid chuckled.
"I am too slow to give them orders during a battle like most trainers do and most of the time it works great, but I still have a lot to learn to guide them properly. It is good it is my legs and not my head that the age is affecting!" Astrid laughed and then looked for her trolley and pulled out the builtin chair. All the talking had made her aware of her legs again and now her focus was on them she could feel it would be nice to sit down a bit.
"What do you suggest? If Ove's evolution is such big choice instead of just happening at some point as for most pokemon, how do we figure out what style would fit him best?" Astrid asked curiously.

Something tugged her trousers and she looked down to see Frida standing there. the snorunt had a bit of a sad expression, mostly due to Astrid not paying attention to her anymore so she felt left out.
"Oh, is it now? You want a break?" Astrid asked and Frida simply plopped down in front of her.
Astrid found another pokeball and let out Araceli.
"You are up my friend, show us what you got!" Astrid urged the swablu. Aracelli narrowed his eyes at the little bug as he took to the sky. He soared through the air and attempted to drop directly from above down in Kakuna to give it a peck. It had been Astrid's suggestion, as the cocoon pokemon seemed unmovable and didn't look like ti could turn its head upwards.

"I am sorry we are switching so much around here, but we have become quite impressed from the stories we have heard about you so we are doing all we can to help each other," Astrid apologized kindly.

Wordcount: 663
(Ooc. Araceli switches in and uses Peck.
I just noticed that Sonja's last lvl up isn't edited in Astrid's team, she should be lvl 19)