Bug-Eyed Battle (gym)[F]

[Pixel]

"She isn't my first nor my strongest, so she isn't my starter, but for my gym team, she is my ace," Bugsy mused. "So yes, it really is quite difficult for me to claim a 'first' or 'starting' pokemon given my somewhat unconventional start, like many other bug catchers before and after me." 

Scyther darted about as the yanma became a blur of wings. So fast! It was like red lightning streaking across the greenery. The mantis couldn't keep up and that was rare for her to experience. They danced around each other, both looking for the perfect opening even as Nightflower tried to guide their companion to victory.

"Other Alola bugs? I do not have any, but I suppose I always found the wimpod line interesting. Even when fully evolved, it remains so skittish and retreats from battle without a command." Like U-Turn, but forced when the foe struck down its health low enough rather than voluntarily. "Scyther! Counter that gust with a dual wing beat now that you have your strength back!"

The mantis would comply. As soon as the yanma stopped moving long enough to send a gust her way, Scyther beat her own wings forcefully. Both were flung back, but only one of them remained standing after. Though it was obvious that Lei had a path to victory now.

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bugsy's Scyther LV 21
HP 61% [40/66]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Yanma LV 24
HP 93% [67/72]

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

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

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician]: Status
Yanma [Speed Boost]: Fainted

SP87 Yanma used gust! (Crit) qYEnPDrrp_1-16 (strength) p_1-16
SP55 Scyther used dual wing beat! (Crit) p_1-16 (strength) p_1-16
Yanma fainted (-1 happiness)

Pokemon: Nightflower: 25/50, Bluecheese: Fainted, Mydori: Fainted]1-16·1-16·1-16·1-16

[Tarlar]

"On this team, I doubt it's your ace in other instances if you have stronger pokemon," Lei pointed out with a smile. It was a bit funny he couldn't point out one or a few which was special, other than for a current situation, but she guessed there were people like that. Usually she would say she herself was as well, she wasn't going to keep a pokemon for nostalgic reasons but Bugsy didn't really sound like one who had pokemon because they were useful.

Lei turned her attention to the battle and she smiled pleased when she saw that Mydori didn't make it easy for Scyther. She doubted the yanma could finish the battle right here and then, for that she had trained her too little but she didn't have the patience to train all the bugs up for that, she had made a hazardous plan and went to challenge early. It would have been awesome if her initial plan had worked but she could adapt, that was why she was such great trainer.
As expected not even Mydori could keep up with Scyther in the end, she did her very best and dodged a lot of the initial attacks, and got her own gust in, which clearly did some damage, although Lei could have wished for more, unfortunately, since the green mantis had been switched out, she hit as hard as she could and the yanma got knocked out by one clean hit.
"Back at it again," Lei sighed quietly to herself and Nightflower sent her a worried look as Lei recalled Mydori.

"Get in there Nightflower," Lei said bluntly and gestured for the venonat to step forward. Nightflower actually took a step backwards, she liked action but this was too much, way too much. She liked being in the middle of things but you couldn't really say this was a battle, she was just a distraction, a meat punching bag who was expendable and would only get revived to get thrown back into hell.
Lei frowned annoyed, "Get. In. There." She said pointedly and glared at Nightflower, the venonat hesitated but then reluctantly moved forward. Lei huffed and released the still unconscious Blue Cheese in front of her, and once again stuffed a revive into the masquerain's mouth.

Nightflower's eyes watered as she looked at Scyther, "please be gentle," she whispered before she closed her eyes shut and covered in the middle of the field, awaiting the inevitable.

"So wimpod, huh?" Lei said thoughtfully, she just had a couple of boring rounds she'd need to get through now. "Golisopod has a questionable reputation due to some troublemakers favoritism of it, you know." She looked at him to see if he knew about that, or if that was an Alola knowledge only.
"Anyway, they can be pretty challenging to use in battle, with that, hrm.. ability to retreat in the heat of battle. It would probably fit your current tactic pretty well though, wouldn't it?" She smiled to Bugsy, "but it might be a bit boring getting a new pokemon just to do the exact same thing as you did with the old ones, its the making of new tactics and new surprises for your opponents that makes it all interesting, right?"

Blue Cheese sat up groggily after the unpleasant awakening. It took her a moment to catch up with where she was but then her antennae drooped. Seeing Nightflower covering in front of the terrifying scyther made it all too clear to her what was going to happen next. Many pokemon might have began to hate on the opponent but Blue knew it was another who forced them into this, she stole a glare at Lei when the trainer didn't look.

Wordcount: 625
(ooc: Nightflower sent in again, revive used on Blue. Self updated, now 2 left)

[Marchbaby]

As Bugsy watched Lei revive her Masquerain he could not help but to feel a bit sorry for her poor Pokemon. His Scyther was indeed quite a powerful Pokemon for newer trainers to overcome and this was not the first trainer who had struggled against it but it was never a pretty sight. As tough as it was however his job was to prevent trainers who had not proven themselves worthy from moving on and he would show no quarter to any of Lei's Pokemon as he gave Scyther the order to strike again. " Scyther please make this quick and use your Dual Wingbeat again."

Seconds later the Scyther struck Nightflower knocking the poor Venonat out so fast she had no chance to even begin to understand what was happening. Once she was dealt with Bugsy finally started to speak again. " I do indeed have stronger Pokemon I use in tournaments and against trainers who wish to battle me again once they have grown stronger. As strong as my Scyther is my Scizor and Heracross are even stronger. Maybe someday you will grow strong enough to take me on at my true strength." He then smiled as he listened to Lei talk more about Golisipod and potential strategies.

He could not lie that it's ability fit in well with his gym team but on his stronger team he relied a lot less on swapping Pokemon mid battle. " I do suppose it could take turns swapping with my Scizor but on my stronger team I like to really show the full power of bug types. Scizor knows U-TUrn like Scyther here but I also make use of powerful moves such as Megahorn and X-Scissor. If you think Scyther's Dual Wingbeat is tough Megahorn from a Heracross holding a Choice Band is even more potent."

As it would be a long time before Lei would even have a chance to see his real power however Bugsy decided to keep the rest of his strategy a secret. He then patiently waited for her to chose another Pokemon.

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bugsy's Scyther LV 21
HP 61% [40/66]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Nightflower LV 16
HP 0% [0/50]

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

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

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician]
Nightflower [Tinted Lens]: KO'ed

SP87++ Nightflower was sent out
SP55 Scyther used Dual Wingbeat!

Nightflower fainted and lost 1 happiness, they now have -1 happiness. Please select another Pokemon.

Pokemon: Nightflower Fainted, Bluecheese: 38/75 HP, Mydori: Fainted]

[Tarlar]

It was probably easiest for Scyther not to directly address Nightflower and just follow orders, they surely both knew there were no other way here, unless of course they wanted to go against their trainers, which would give more troubles than they could imagine. That would be to challenge the world order!
Nightflower accepted her fate and she went out so fast that she had no idea if her plea had been heard, if she thought about it later, she might believe that this was the way the mantis tried to go easy on her, to at least not prolong the inevitable and make her suffering short lived.
Lei recalled her bug as if it didn't matter, and she didn't even look down on Blue as she gestured for the masquerain to move forward. The moment Blue Cheese did that, Lei let out Nightflower while she pulled a revive from her pocket to shove into her mouth.
"The prize money better make up for this," she mumbled, this was getting expensive but she was too stubborn to give up now.

Blue Cheese didn't try anything fancy for this entrance, it wouldn't matter anyway, she just floated in and feebly waved her eye-like antennae a bit. It wasn't a very threatening display she did, it probably would be rather disheartening and demotivating for Scyther to battle against her.

Lei straightened and smiled to Bugsy, "I would love to have a challenge against your stronger team at some point!" She glanced at the very unmotivated Blue, "although probably not with my current team, they will not be right for that," she said bluntly and added wondering, "I do wonder which ones would be good there."
She did not elaborate as she hated to admit that she knew none of her current ones would be able to keep up with anything much stronger than Scyther at the moment. If just she had had access to her family's pokemon which she had used until she had banished herself to Johto, none of this would have been a challenge at all, and she would most likely already had been at the doorstep of Elite Four by now.
She mentally noted down any hints of his tactics he was giving out, for later use if she was going to face him in a tougher battle later on.

"Megahorn is a strong move yes, I do plan on using that myself, but what use is it if the pokemon you're facing is resisting that?" She pointed out kindly, obviously Bugsy had a plan for that.
Lei looked around swinging her arms a bit boredly, this was getting kind of repetitive, but what could you do? It would be a bit before there would be some real action again.
"Isn't it frustrating to be limited to your weaker pokemon in the gym? I'm sure what people say about you," she poked him.


Wordcount: 484
(ooc: Blue in, revive used on Nightflower, 1 left, self updated)

[Pixel]

Scyther was started to become a little...demotivated. She looked over at Bugsy. At the referee. Shouldn't someone just call this battle already? It hardly seemed like this would work out for the trainer and she was just dragging this out, forcing her pokemon to fainted over-and-over through items and determination. Bugsy shook his head. He could only call the end to the battle if the trainer had no more pokemon able to battle or they forfeited the fight or, in the rarest of cases, there was genuine danger to the battle participants. But short of a natural disaster causing the gym's ceiling to collapse in on itself or the sprinkler system failing to put out a fire, there were few situations that would unnaturally halt a battle.

So the mantis looked at the battered bug and struck it down once more. Blue Cheese had been felled by numerous dual-wingbeats by now, only for Lei to spend that time shoving revives down the venonat's throat.

"Every pokemon has potential with the right care...and kindness," Bugsy said slowly. "After all, my team are all bugs, which many consider the weakest of pokemon, even when looking at the strongest amongst them. This is false, as bugs are adaptable and diverse, but people do underestimate bug teams all the time because of this notion." He looked again at Scyther, "People often forget that bugs can learn powerful coverage moves like rockslide and night slash. Though those are mostly for the situations where those powerful STAB moves cannot punch through an opponent's defenses." 

He crossed his arms, "And no. I'm not bothered at all! Despite my using my weaker team, I am often told that I am one of the harder gym leaders in the circuit!" Bugsy smiled. "And offer a most level appropriate challenge to new trainers high off the victory of obtaining their first badge."

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bugsy's Scyther LV 21
HP 61% [40/66]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Blue Cheese LV 24
HP 0% [0/74]

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

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

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician] ; -1 ATK 
Bluecheese [Intimidate]: KO'ed

SP+ Nightflower revived
SP55 Scyther used Dual Wingbeat!
Blue Cheese is KO'd
[-1 happiness]

Please choose your next pokemon

(Adding the berry into the screen as a reminder to mods that it hasn't been eaten yet)

Pokemon: Nightflower 50%, Bluecheese: Fainted, Mydori: Fainted

[Tarlar]

Lei suppressed a yawn, this was getting boring, but what else could she do? "Almost there," she mumbled to herself as she recalled the once again fainted Blue Cheese. She paused to look at the pokeball, it was good she didn't planned on using this pokemon much more after this battle, even though she really had become crucial for her victory.
"Get in there Nightflower," Lei said and the venonat looked down before she dragged her feet to get in and face scyther, once again.

It was a weird situation for the venonat, knowing exactly what was going to happen in a minute made this both incredible boring and something she dreaded, when would this living nightmare end? She glanced at the green bug in front of her and the looked away, she turned on her scanning ability and began to gather information about her surroundings. What pokemon were in the trees around them, how big the indoor forest was, she learned there was a sprinkler system, and feeding stations, and that most of the bug types in here lived a close to perfect life, a life long vacation with little to no worries.
Nightflower felt a pang of envy but then began to wonder if she even wanted a life like that, depended on how much drama there was between the other pokemon that could be interesting to follow. Not that it mattered, Lei was never going to part with her.

As expected no order of attack came from Lei, very predictably she used yet another revive on Blue Cheese, her last one even. Lei smirked, this was getting interesting now.

Blue Cheese was anything but happy to wake up here in the nature dome, she was beginning to hate this place with all her heart. It would be a place she would avoid with all her might in the future, and one that would bring up a lot of unpleasant memories if mentioned.

Lei nodded and winked at him, she got it, he found it frustrating but obviously couldn't say that out loud. Everyone would be frustrated of being held back, and the talk around mostly was mostly about how easy he was to beat because he used bugs.
"Oh yes! Certainly!" Lei explaimed, "why do you think I have brought a team of just bugs? How shall I see if I master the use of this incredible versatile type, if not challenging the master on his own homefield?" She beamed a smile to Bugsy, "I haven't even brought a dual type who could resist your scyther for the same reason!"
Nodding thoughtfully, Lei added, "there is a lot of powerful bugs out there yes. Golisopod as we talked about before, or scolipede, beside things like scyther and heracross of course."
She smiled kindly, "I hope you teach a lot of trainers a proper lesson of respect."

Wordcount: 479
(ooc: last revive used on Blue Cheese, as Nightflower is sent in. self updated)

[Pixel]

Lei did this...on purpose? She brought no pokemon that resisted his scyther on her all bug team on purpose? That seemed...short sighted and a little hard on her pokemon. She had a valid strategy going on with her intimidation swaps, but there had to be only so many revives in her kit. How would she react if her team of 'superior' bugs couldn't bring down his ace? That yanma, thus far, had the best chance of doing some serious damage, but he'd pivoted out before it could sweep him with speed boost (scyther's attack so low that she was hitting like a wet paper towel). 

Bugsy got an odd look on his face. What an odd declaration for the trainer to make.

"I do not exactly go out of my way to teach trainers respect," he said slowly. "But many who face me do leave with a healthier regard for bug types that they may have dismissed before, as we've discussed."

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bugsy's Scyther LV 21
HP 61% [40/66]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Nightflower LV 16
HP 0% [0/50]

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

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

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician]; -1 ATK
Nightflower [Tinted Lens]: KO'ed

SP87++ Nightflower was sent out
SP55 Scyther used Dual Wingbeat!
Nightflower fainted (-1 happiness)

Nightflower fainted and lost 1 happiness, they now have -1 happiness. Please select another Pokemon.

Pokemon: Nightflower Fainted, Bluecheese: 38/75 HP, Mydori: Fainted]

[/quote]

[Tarlar]

Lei smiled proudly, she was going to pull through this, she knew she was. It had been tougher than expected but that was Bugsy's fault, but what could you expect? He was meant to test her, and it would just show how much greater she was, she was no ordinary trainer and surely he would see that by now, and be impressed.
Her smile froze a bit when she didn't quite get the reaction from the gym leader as she had expected. Couldn't he see how she was not like everyone else bringing firetypes in the expectations of cleaning the floor with him? That she tried to see things from his view and be as good at the type he loved, as he was? Wouldn't he be happy to face someone who were using his favorite type?
She frowned shortly, and then decided it had to be because her original tactic had failed (partly at least), and she was stuck with this drawn out one where it didn't really look like she was doing anything.
"Just you wait and see!" She mumbled.

"That is what I meant," she said with a strained smile, "that the ones who comes and thinks your bugs are weak and easy to take on, will learn to respect them." Why did she have to spell it out for him?
She exhaled in a half sigh, it was hard keeping this conversations going and keeping it light, she wanted him to like her after all. Perhaps she should change her topic, but to what?

Nightflower got recalled again, with a pang of regret from Lei that the shiny pokemon didn't get to shine, nor had caught Bugsy's interest at all. She let out Blue Cheese again while she studied the gym leader, not to see his reaction as she was certain he would be expecting this by now, but she recalculated her view of him. Perhaps it would have worked better if she had not taken what she had and tried to up them to face him, but had instead brought some powerful bug types like the one he had mentioned, perhaps he was of the kind who only got impressed by strength and only really liked to see the ones he used himself. If she had brought her scyther and heracross he might have reacted as she had wanted. Although a megahorning heracross probably wouldn't have been of much use against scyther anyway, it wouldn't have last any longer than the current ones against that dual wingbeat.

As Blue floated disheartened out into the field again, Lei rummaged around in her bag to find another revive and found she dind't have ane of the smaller ones left, she begrudgingly took the many pointed one out to use that. As her hand went for the pokemon she meant to give it to, it brushed against another one and she grimaced in annoyance that she hadn't had a chance to use that one yet, even though she had both paid handsomly to get one caught for her, and had spent time getting it the right moves.
With a sigh she let out Mydori and used the max revive on her.

"So, what gave you the idea to host the Bug Catching Contest?" Lei asked curiously, "and how are you introducing new species to the park?"

Wordcount: 558
(ooc: Blue Cheese in again, max revive used on Mydori, self updated, now 0 left of those)

[Caramell 🍬]

Bugsy raised an eye. Leilani was a bit different than most of the trainers he faced. Though respect was not quite the term he had yet accumulated for the young woman, who chose to face him with bug types specifically meant to give them more of a challenge. “Sometimes.” He added with a certain knowing twinkle in his eye as he turned to his companion. “Though, sometimes, people can be stubborn about their beliefs and refuse to give you due respect. I simply test their skills with their team members.”

The bond was the most important part of the battle. A bond that was too weak and easy to sever, would probably never pass by with his badge in their hands. That was the main goal with most of Bugsy’s tests. The bond she carried with her Pokémon was…problematic. She tossed them around almost like a child, chucking the next toy out after the first failed, then repeating the cycle with vain hopes that eventually something would break and work in her favor. It was difficult for Bugsy to feel particularly hopeful on this battle. “Scyther, use U-Turn, quick!”

The bright green mantis zipped through the air whilst Leilani focused on healing up her other Pokémon. Those sharp blades never missed their mark, though they were duller somehow thanks to the collective works of previous intimidation tactics. It made it difficult for Scyther to find her full potential and really lay into her opponent. “My love for bugs is why I host the Bug Catching Contest!” Bugsy smiled brightly, nodding towards the new green chrysalis that replaced the large green mantis in the blink of an eye. “I’m hoping that as trainers capture and keep one of the bugs they catch and bond with them, they’ll realize how amazing these types are.”

The second question caused Bugsy to pause and really think about it for a second. The new species that they brought into the park required careful consideration. They needed to be relatively sure that they wouldn’t become an invasive species and spread too far beyond the park. They had to mitigate the risk that none of them would outcompete native species for their habitat ranges or food sources. “I have a team of researchers I run my suggestions through. Then, we take a few of each species and carefully release them into the Park. The focus is to make sure we’re also honoring the native wildlife around the area when we do so, too.” He added thoughtfully.

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Metapod LV 18
HP 100% [51/51]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Blue Cheese LV 24
HP 41% [31/75]

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

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

Bugsy's Metapod [Shed Skin]: Normal
Blue Cheese [Intimidate]: Normal

Scyther is intimidated by Blue Cheese!
SP+ Leilani used Revive on Mydori!
SP55 Scyther used U-Turn! Metapod was sent out!


Mod Notes:
Leilani's Team: Nightflower KO'd, Mydori 100% HP
Bugsy's Team: Scyther 61% [40/66] w/Berry, Kakuna, Metapod

Notes to mod, as noted in the battle screen move list. Scyther attacked and U-TURN changed Scyther!
Battle screen now reflects Metapod for MOD convenience! Scyther should still be holding her berry.
I have checked the whole thread 5+ times and see no mention of Metapod coming out and being KO'd?

[Tarlar]

Lei nodded solemnly along to what Bugsy said, "yes, some people are too stuck in their ways of doing things for their own good," she agreed wholeheartedly and completely missed the hint that she might be one of them. She was good at changing her tactic, so of course she was not one of those trainers.
Lei let a critical look run over her own pokemon and wondered if they were up to par, probably not. Bugsy was testing her team and they were clearly not on the same level as his, but that didn't meant she couldn't win this, she just had to compensate for her weak pokemon. That was a trainer's job after all, to get the pokemon as strong as they could be, and if that wasn't enough, find another way to pull the prize home.
It wouldn't have been the first time Lei would have heard about this bond, some people talked about, had Bugsy said it out loud. She thought it to be nonesense as she had won easily enough in the past, also against trainers who focused on having high friendships with their pokemon.

The challenger's head snapped back up when she heard Bugsy's order, and she looked baffled a moment as she clearly hadn't expected Bugsy to recalled his scyther this fast. She opened her mouth and caught herself, exhaling slowly and raised an eyebrow, "Blue Cheese, Signal Beam," she said calmly although her voice shook slightly. Blue looked surprised back at her, she was going to actually battle and not just be something that got knocked out?!
"What are you waiting for?!" Lei snapped a bit to urgently and she did the best to cover it with a smile to Bugsy.

It was first now that Blue realized that she hadn't been knocked out by the attack from the scyther. Usually she would build up to an attack and show off, but she was too frazzled from that many knockouts and she rushed to try hit her new opponent before the scyther came back. Her antennae began to shine and she shot a multicolored light from them at the cocoon.

"Oh I loved it when I participated, I have gotten both a venipede and a shelmet from it myself," Lei bragged and winked at Bugsy, "let me know if you need to get your hands one some more from Alola, I have plenty of contacts to make that easy for you," she offered. "What are you looking for when picking new bugs for the contest? Other than if they'll wreck havoc on the habitat of course," she asked, she needed to know that to offer him something he'd be interested in.


(ooc: Blue Cheese uses Signal Beam)

[Pixel]

Lei was...stubborn, bossy and clearly not very kind to her pokemon. The comparison he mustered earlier to a child throwing around her toys arose again as he watched Blue Cheese blink in hesitant confusion, unsure of what its purpose was in this battle other than to be knocked out and revived repeatedly to dull Scyther's blades. It made Bugsy's heart ache when the bug seemed a little hopeful, even when it trainer bullied it and acted like it was stupid for not responding to commands right away. He knew he called out something to his metapod, but he knew the other pokemon was far faster and certainly strong enough to knock out the cocoon with a single signal beam. Unlike Lei, he thanked metapod for its aid and tucked the ball into his belt, a little disheartened by this whole fiasco.

Lei might win this through sheer audacity and numbers. There were many of her pokemon he had yet to see. But he worried about her and that ego of hers in the long term. Every victory would fuel that attitude of hers further. 

But it wasn't his place to scold a challenger because he didn't like the way they acted.

"Contacts? Ah, yes, being from Alola," he mused, having momentarily pictured Lei in some sort of Pokemon Mafia like Team Rocket or Team Skull. He rubbed his head a little. "What do we look for? Well. Vitality, level of aggression and interspecies interactions are all important. I can't bring in a large, predatory bug-type that would eat all the small bugs and terrorize the younger trainers. It caused a bit of a stir when we introduced Durant. Apparently Scyther and Pinsir were 'already scary enough' despite the fact that Durants are relatively docile when left alone. They're hard workers too."

Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Metapod LV 18
HP 0% [0/51]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Blue Cheese LV 24
HP 41% [31/75]

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

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

Bugsy's Metapod [Shed Skin]: Normal
Blue Cheese [Intimidate]: Normal

SP50 Blue cheese used signal beam
Metapod fainted



Mod Notes:
Leilani's Team: Nightflower KO'd, Mydori 100% HP
Bugsy's Team: Scyther 61% [40/66] w/Berry, Kakuna, Metapod

---

Blue cheese gained +1 LV for defeating metapod and grew to LV 25
(a reluctantly given) +1 happiness for that victory
(you're on thin ice lei. xD)

---

Scyther will be sent back out!

Will you switch pokemon?

[Tarlar]

Blue Cheese's attack was anything but graceful but it did what it was supposed to do.
"Yes!" Lei exclaimed victoriously and her arms flew up over her head. Blue looked dazed at the knocked over metapod and then confused at Lei's reaction. She.. she was happy?
Lei raised a finger in the air as she grinned to Bugsy, "you almost got me there!" She laughed, not that she was going to let down her guard although she expected things to go her way from now on, she was well prepared.
"Forcing me to stray from my original plan and.. well, struggle by with a less graceful tactic, if I may say so myself," she chuckled. "But what else should I expect from a gym leader? You are supposed to test your challengers, the trainer's skill to adapt and find a way to victory, and you certainly took me by surprise more than once! You're almost as good as some of the Totems!" She said confidently, certain he would see that as the praise it was, just like everyone in Alola knew, since they knew about the Totems.

Lei smirked, "now the fun begins!" She rummaged through her pokeballs and paused, frowing regretfully for a moment since there were a pokemon she had bought, rather expensively in her mind, had gotten trained and spent money to get it to learn a specific more, now for it to be not used at all.
She looked thoughtful, unless there were a way for her to use it anyway. She pulled a couple of pokeballs and then finally recalled Blue Cheese.
"Yes, I grew up there after all, plenty of family and friends are still there, and would have no trouble helping finding a specific bug native to the islands if you so wished," Lei offered kindly as she returned to the conversation from before.
"There aren't many really dangerous bugs native at home, at least not until they evolve, so I'd think some of them would fit quite well and still be interesting for your contestants," she explained professionally, "you mentioned grubbin yourself, although it might be a bit of a challenge as it prefers to live underground. Dewpider could also be a solid option, I know you have some ponds in the park."
The trainer smirked as she reached her point of her monologue, "or! It could be something like this!" She had raised the pokeball while she spoke, and when she finished the sentence she flicked it forward, revealing a tiny, tiny bug, which made a lot of people swoon.

"Flit! Charm!" Lei ordered and the tiny unassuming cutiefly zoomed closer to Scyther, surprisingly fast.
"Oh, what beauty," He whispered dreamily, "what honor that has been bestowed upon me to lay eyes on such grace and power! Two of the most revered skills combined in one creature, that is very rare you know, most of the time you are either pretty or strong, but you have been graced with both," he praised her softly.
Flit was very small, so the little nasty smile which appeared on his face now and then would not be easy to spot.

(ooc: Flit is sent out and uses Charm)

[Pixel]

Bugsy cocked a brow at Lei. He was curious what her plan was now that she had exhausted her tactic with reviving the intimidate 'mon to drop Scyther's attack to the floor. "I am here to provide a challenge," he reiterated, a little confused, but not showing it too much on his face. Her ruthless methods still unsettled him. She didn't seem to care for her pokemon at all, her passions unrelated to helping her pokemon be the best they could possibly be and overcome any challenge through the bond between trainer and pokemon. She described the bugs of alola...then sent out one he did know.

"Cutiefly," he remarked. "Yes, we have those at the contest. They're quite quick and—" This one was faster than normal. Some sort of held item he didn't notice, perhaps? "Scyther, handle it with a dual wingbeat."

The great and powerful mantis did just that, however, not before the extra speedy cutiefly used charm.

"I see. You have many ways to approach this same goal of yours." 

A speed-boosted charm setter. Interesting.


Trainer Battle.

---

Weather: Clear

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

[attr="class","qkt-wild-pkmn"]
Bugsy's Scyther LV 21
HP 61% [40/66]

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

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

[attr="class","qkt-trainer-pkmn"]
Nightflower LV 22
HP 0% [0/56]

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

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

Bugsy's Scyther [Technician]; -2 ATK
Flit [Honey Gather]: KO'ed

Flit consumed a swift feather! +1 SP
SP48 72 Flit used charm!
SP55 Scyther used Dual Wingbeat!
Flit fainted (-1 happiness)

Please choose your next pokemon!

Mod Notes:

Leilani's Team: Nightflower KO'd, Mydori 100% HP, Blue Cheese KO'd

Bugsy's Team: Scyther 61% [40/66] w/Berry, Kakuna, Metapod

[Tarlar]

Lei paused to look at the gym leader and sighed, Bugsy really had lost his interest in chatting with those one word sentences he answered her with. She put a hand on her hip and looked away, trying to keep her annoyance in check, she had even praised him a lot and tried to hype him up for both her reveal of Flit and for the rest of the battle
She didn't get why he was so turned off and seemed like he now just wanted this to get over with, all her techniques has failed, which of course wasn't her fault. She pushed it away, she would probably get another chance later on, when she was much more famous and in the right circles, then Bugsy would be more than happy to chat her up, if she gave him the chance.

The trainer's face fell when Flit was knocked out instantly, "What a shame," she said with regret.
Flit was spared from seeing how little his attempt to be charming had worked, he had hoped to lul her into a false sense of security and then turn nasty when she least expected it, laughing of her foolishness. She probably was too experienced for that so she simply cut him down without giving him the pleasure of any reaction to his words.

Bugsy's voice showed no interest in the bug, Lei shrugged, "I guess you thought of that as the first option," she said, forcing her voice to stay cheerful as she recalled the tiny bug. He had at least done his most important job, although he had failed at the second. Bugsy was really a mystery, Lei had been sure he would be head over heels to see a lot of pokemon usually not common to these areas, but it was like he was closing more and more up the more she showed him.
She narrowed her eyes, perhaps he was jealous?

"I kind of have to," Lei agreed with a grin, "my first plan was to try to get Nightflower to battle your cocoons, they look to be more on the same level. It could have been a fair fight then, and swapping your scyther out for them so that Flit here could charm her a bit in the end, was my original plan," she readily revealed, if he could put an end to her tactic and ruin her victory now, there was nothing she could do anyway.

Since Bugsy didn't seem interested in her bug types, she dropped the presentation of the next one, and for now also dropped using the one she had thought about using not long ago. She could find other use for it if necessary, perhaps even in this battle if Scyther turned out to be a bigger handful than she expected.
A flick of her hand and a white moth spread his wings, icy dust drifted from him towards the ground as he slowly beat his wings to stay airborne.
"Lapis, Icy Wind!" Lei ordered and the temperature dropped around the frosmoth.

(ooc: Lapis uses Icy Wind, should the battle end, I'd like to use my multiplier on Lapis.)

[Pixel]

"A frosmoth? That one is from Galar," Bugsy said, noting the luxury ball still in Lei's hand. She had not been the kindest to her pokemon thus far, but this one potentially showed that she knew how to treat her pokemon with kindness...Frosmoth only evolved from happy, well-taken care of Snom. Without strong, positive bonds, they often stayed in their larval stage, potentially for their whole lives. He was curious why she didn't lead more with this Frosmoth, but then she explained her original strategy. Apparently all she had been interested in doing with that early show of swapping around was to get rid of the cocoon pokemon between her and mitigating the worst of Scyther's attack. Interesting. Harsh and ruthless, but interesting all the same.

She called out icy wind.

"Dual wingbeat again!" It would be a close call. Anyone could end up on top of this exchange...

But alas, the frigid winds took over. Scyther was unable to keep the worst of the ice at bay ad began to slow. Her body was soon covered in a thin, frosty glaze. She wavered and swayed. Then...sluggishly collapsed. Defeated.

Bugsy put on a smile. Fair play. 

"Congratulations, your strategy has paid off in the long run, it seems! You have earned the Hive Badge." He would take a TM, a small coin purse, and the Badge from his many pockets in his shorts. Then he approached Lei, offering them to her. "With this badge, you can now use CUT outside of battle. And this TM contains U-Turn, the move that my scyther used during this battle. Perhaps it will serve you well in the future."

---

Lapis gained +3 LVs (+1 from modbar) to grow to LV 24
Lapis is trying to learn Feather Dance and Aurora Beam

---

VICTORY!

---

Rewards:

£1800 (3600 after amulet coin)

 Hive Badge
 TM89: U-Turn
You can now use CUT outside of battle

SPOILER: Click to show

Scyther dual wingbeat LjaQ|4hgp_1-16 p_1-16 No crit
Frosmoth icy wind p_1-16 p_1-16 [-44 HP]
Scyther KO!

1-16·1-16·1-16·1-16