Smooth Criminal [Interior Warehouse]

[latani]

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♪ I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight ♫
★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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(Certainly not what I was expecting to find in such a place...) Her thoughts trailed off as she gazed towards the large warehouse from a small grassy knoll nearby. Tanya crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, studying the seemingly written off building with a curious expression. Somehow it seemed to emanate an aura of liveliness despite its appearance. Perhaps the desolated feel was a guise to stave off intruders and protect whatever bountiful treasures, or terrible secrets, it housed within its rusted doors.

"Kecleonnn?" inquired the small green chameleon standing beside her, tugging at her pant leg. Flick was a recent acquisition to her team, and a fairly smart one at that, though he'd begun displaying a penchant for stealing things using his amazing, long sticky tongue. The girl was faintly beginning to wonder if she had some allure to Pokémon that enjoyed committing criminal acts. She bit her lip and sighed wistfully, knowing it wasn't really true. Flick poked her hip and looked at her again, waiting for an answer.

Tanya smiled apologetically at him and lifted one of her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "I'm not really sure why we're here, but it wouldn't hurt to do some exploring. It's not really trespassing if it's abandoned," she said, more reasoning with herself than Flick. 'This place isn't abandoned, Boss, but I'm all for taking a looksie. Might find some nice things to pawn off,' the Kecleon replied, setting off towards the warehouse.

She looked into the dying sun, painting the sky around it a brilliant dusty orange and shook her head, wondering what she was about to get into here before following her Pokémon. It took them a few minutes to get up to the doors and push them in to enter the warehouse. The doors groaned and creaked as if they hadn't been touched in ages and made quite a horrendous racket. Tanya cringed as the noise echoed all around the empty, spacious interior. Flick cast off all pretense of fear and hesitation and dashed around, searching high and low for the goods.

Meanwhile, Tanya rubbed her bare arms and resisted the urge to shiver while looking around. She'd chosen to dress in a black tank top and denim jeans cut off right below the knees thanks to the warm summer weather Johto had been experiencing lately. Slung on her shoulder was her messenger bag, the replacement for her worn out navy blue backpack, which had acquired a hole from holding so much of her stuff. Her auburn hair had been tamed by a loose ponytail and rested against the nape of her neck, a few stray hairs curling in from the humidity.

A loud noise nearly had her jumping out of her skin. "Flick, for the love of sweet Arceus, don't be so nosy!" Tanya shouted, scolding her seemingly invisible friend. His head popped up from behind a few spare wooden crates stacked off to one side of the warehouse and grinned at her. The girl put her hands on her hips and adopted a disapproving expression. "We're not here to raid the place, Flick. Even if it seems empty. You can look, but don't touch anything or so help me, I won't help you out if you get into trouble," Tanya berated the Kecleon, who merely acknowledged her warning with a shrug before disappearing again. She stifled a frustrated sigh. Even though she wanted to look around too, something in the air held her rooted to the spot. Maybe this place wasn't as empty as she thought it was...

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★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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♫ Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames ♪[/center]

[The REAL Joey]

Something in the air had indeed been looking at her from the darkness. Up on the walkway that snaked its way around the warehouse floor was a man somewhat afraid of heights. Seeing someone intruding into the warehouse distracted his mind off feelings of vertigo but it made him freeze on the spot as he was so unsure what to do. "Goddamned heights... Now I know why I never go up here... Argh." The large bulky figure was yelling to himself inside his mind and was at a total impasse on what to do. When he first saw the Kecleon made it through he had initially thought it to be Dusty's on his way home from a little burglary but it seemed to not the Pokemon he was expecting. Deciding it best to hide in the shadows now and as not to slip up and succumb to his fear of heights, Rocko just stood there gazing at the girl. If he had been on the warehouse floor when she entered if would have sent out his Pokemon and had a nice little brawl... But that wasn't the case.

Fortunately for the big oaf, Flick the Kecleon's curiosity had got the better of it. As it strolled its way around the warehouse looking for a nice little haul to take away with him, it was meandering ever so near the switches that would activate a plethora of booby traps. Rocko barely managed to take his eyes off the female intruder and cast them over to Flick but as he did, he couldn't help but grin wildly at where the chameleon was heading. "Oh boy, you dun it now." With a step further forward, a bit of the warehouse ground sunk into place and a large clunk could be heard off in the distance somewhere in the warehouse. "Wish I had some popcorn now, I love it when people activate the traps." Thought Rocko as he mumbled to himself in his head. The large sound that had reverberated bought attention to a sound above Flick. It seemed a netting had come adrift and something came buzzing downwards as it landed right on the curious Pokemon's head. Regaining some sense, it seemed an angry Voltorb that had been set up as a trap now angrily shook in front of it. If Tanya couldn't disarm this in enough turns, it would surely let out one mighty explosion. Nevertheless, her initial hunch this place wasn't so abandoned as first though was becoming all the more true with every passing minute in this warehouse.


Trap Encounter!

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Trap Voltorb (Level 15) has appeared!
Please select a Pokemon for battle.

[latani]

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♪ I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight ♫
★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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A prickling sensation on the back of her neck made her wonder if she were being watched from the shadows. Her eyes swept the immediate area around her, revealing nothing in the dying light streaming in from outside. She bit her lip and sighed, wandering forwards to keep an eye on her rambunctious Kecleon. Flick was busy searching high and low for anything of moderate value to haul off with and barely noticed one foot sinking into the ground, though he did hear the loud clunk.

Tanya froze where she stood, a perplexed look crossing her face. "Flick, what in Hades did you do now?" she admonished the lizard, who turned to her and shrugged. Her expression became almost comical as she witnessed the falling form of a circular shape speeding down towards Flick. It landed rather neatly on his head, balancing between his head crests and looking rather imperious. Or perhaps the better word was angry.

It was red on top, white on bottom, and sported a pair of distinctive eyes set right into the dividing line where the colours met. Though she wasn't all too familiar with Kanto native Pokémon, she guessed by the fact it looked like an over-sized Poké Ball that it was a Voltorb. And another disturbing fact sprang to mind with her conclusion; they had a tendency to explode frequently. She grappled with the sudden urge to kick the Voltorb right off Flick's head but thought better of herself, knowing that doing something so violent could easily trigger an unnecessary explosion.

Flick barely paid any warning to the ball shaped Pokémon resting on his head. Rather, he began to rock back and forth, making it roll around on his head. 'Look boss, I'm a circus act!' he chortled, ignoring Tanya's look of alarm. "You realize," the girl began in a dry tone, hand slipping inside of her messenger bag. "...that if you slip up, and it falls off your head, it will probably explode. So have fun with that." She'd retrieved a Poké Ball from the bag and was balancing it in her palm, watching Flick gently reach up and remove the Voltorb slowly with a cautious look in his eyes before setting it on the ground and dashing behind Tanya's legs.

"See what your investigation did? Stop trying to find a payload and pay more attention before you set off another... trap," Tanya finished, releasing the ball with a flick of her wrist. The ball burst open and spat out a small, brown and black-striped alligator onto the ground. Astrid blinked her beady black eyes and stared over at the Voltorb, displaying no emotion upon gleaning the fact she was about to enter her first battle under Tanya's command. "Astrid, start us off with a nice Sand Tomb please," Tanya instructed in a calm voice. If she went around shouting orders, she might set off the Voltorb, and she quite liked staying in one solid piece.

Astrid snorted harshly, wondering why she had to follow a human's orders, but complied with the demand. Humming low in her throat, the Sandile began flailing around, kicking up a frenzied cloud of dust and dirt from the warehouse floor. She let out a huge puff of hair and let the swirling vortex of grit and other ground-dwelling substances go spinning wildly towards the trap-sprung Voltorb.

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★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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♫ Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames ♪[/center]

[The REAL Joey]

Placed down on the floor after being toyed about with, the Voltorb was more than happy to blow all of its circuits and obliterate everything within the area. However, the way in which Tanya issued her order was something the Voltorb had not anticipated. Around these parts the gang that inhabited here would usually be yelling at one another or the startled trainers that made their way in here would likely fall to pieces and scream out in surprise. Nevertheless, just because it wasn't going to needlessly explode didn't mean it was going to do its job. It had been set here to fend off intruders and it was to live up to that duty. Being naturally faster, the Voltorb began readying its attack well before the Sandile had time to react. The Pokemon became a faint blur as it skidded on the floor, somehow chaining itself on the spot without spamming itself forward. Eventually the incredible speeds of the Voltorb summoned a sonicboom from the friction it had caused and acted like a twister as it sped towards Astrid.

The blow was glancing but delivered a fair amount of damage. Astrid was somewhat shaken as it leered at the twitching little ball. Although it just got hit pretty bad it wasn't going to let this defeat it outright. The command she had been given would surely lay waste to this weird looking Pokemon. The vortex of dirt, grit and various bricks that whirled its way back towards the Voltorb. Had someone looked away halfway through the round it would seem almost like the two Pokemon were playing a game of tennis, volleying back this frenzied twister between them. Realising it had a chance of avoiding this, the Voltorb began spinning and rapidly tried moving itself away from harm's way. Unfortunately for it, it was too slow in its getaway and was battered harshly as it became entombed in a whirl of sand particles.


Wild Battle

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Voltorb | Level 15 |
Health : 49%
Status : Normal
SONIC BOOM

Astrid | Level 16 |
Health : 51%
Status : Normal
Eat dirt

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[latani]

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♪ I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight ♫
★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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Tanya was relatively surprised when the Voltorb began spinning like a top on the floor before a sonic blast went streaking across the floor to glance right off of Astrid's muzzle. The sand-dwelling reptile let out a frustrated hiss of barely repressed anger, already ticked off by this limbless ball. 'Oi, dipstick, tha' really friggen hurt! Are ye a whacker or somethin'? Astrid barked, colourful accent casting a rather amusing flair to her words. The Sandile pawed at the floor, still annoyed even when her attack landed.

Obsidian eyes glared daggers towards her opponent, eager to show it just how serious she was about all of this. 'Enjoying my sand version of the bities, are ye? That'll teach ye to pick a blue with Astrid!' she hissed with a sadistic grin, tail lashing the air behind her. Tanya looked down apprehensively at the Sandile, wondering just what had riled her up so much and what had her being so talkative. The girl looked over at her Kecleon, who shrugged one shoulder in response. But given the situation, her Ground/Dark dual type was the best one to nip this particular problem in the bud.

She hadn't quite gotten over the anxiety of what would happen if the Voltorb exploded. Perhaps it would even if Astrid could knock it out after being provoked in such a manner. But freaking out and running around like a crazy fool would do more harm than good, not to mention worry her Pokémon needlessly. Flick clambered up her willowy frame and latched onto her shoulder, watching the battle pensively. He didn't know Astrid at all and was clearly worried that the angry little alligator would end up getting them blown to kingdom come.

The auburn haired girl sighed and dropped her head into her hands, shaking it in reluctance. "Alright then Astrid, repeat Sand Tomb again!" Tanya ordered with her signature hand flick. Her emerald eyes were wary but calm as her Sandile hastened to comply, eager to inflict as much pain as possible to this ever annoying pest of a foe. 'A'ight you ugly bloke, meet your maker!' Astrid rasped as she began kicking her paws around on the floor again, stirring up even more dirt.

It swirled around her in an eerie harmony before she hurled it forwards, aiming to add even more to the swirling vortex that already had the Voltorb snagged in its clutches. She knew she'd done a fair amount of damage to the Electric type and that maybe this turn would do it in and save her some incredible stress.

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★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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♫ Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames ♪[/center]

[The REAL Joey]

As intimidating as the snappy little opponent was, fear was not something the Voltorb could comprehend. After all, these Pokemon and its evolution were highly known to blow up at the drop of a hat for no reason at all other than they just could. Unfortunately for this Voltorb in particular, it couldn't quite explode on a whim. It seemed that Joey and his gang and come along a number of defect Voltorb that none of which could detonate. The fact it couldn't just blow away itself and the female intruder and her Pokemon before it was particularly evident in the eyes of the ball imitator Pokemon. Every incessant twitch was an indication of its unfathomable rage.

This rage would soon be made tangible as the Voltorb span its way into action. Before the Aussie Sandile could muster up the effort to inflict another Sand Tomb upon it, it locked onto the opponent and with a great thrust, tackled itself into the crocodile Pokemon. The impact was pretty fierce and Astrid totally lost her footing and skidded backwards a few feet. If the Voltorb could speak it would have no doubt said some cocky remark but instead glared furiously before spinning itself back to its position on the battlefield. Astrid of course, was not going to take this assault upon it freely. As it quickly made its way back, it had already began bellowing up another vortex of dirt and grit that were so commonplace amongst the warehouse flooring.

The small spiral twisted its way and unfortunately missed! Voltorb shook with what seemed to be a maniacal laugh. The tackle it had done prior to Astrid's attack had totally made her lose sense of her accuracy. As the gritty twister span onwards, it gradually died down upon meeting no contact with anything. Although it couldn't blow them all away to hell and back, it was more than putting up a fight. While the Voltorb was musing to itself over the missed attack it failed to realise there was still a swirling flurry of grit still in the air where it was located and was shocked to get dabbed with a bit of it in the back of the head.



Wild Battle

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Voltorb | Level 15 |
Health : 43%
Status : Normal; Trapped by Sand Tomb
Prepare for termination

Astrid | Level 16 |
Health : 35%
Status : Normal
Strewth!

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[latani]

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♪ I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight ♫
★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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When Astrid had been slammed backwards by a brutal looking Sonicboom, Tanya barely quashed the urge to kneel down and check on the reptile. But the gator was extremely proud and independent, and worrying over her well-being would probably just offend her. And probably prompt her to nip. Astrid huffed and glared at Tanya briefly, as if reading her mind and shouting a huge mental "NO" at her. Tanya sighed and rolled her eyes, backing a little further away from the fighting radius.

'Y'damn ball o' crap, you be cactus aye?'' Astrid yipped as she tried to shrug off the substantial damage she'd taken. The Sonicbooms had actually left a bit of a rash from how fast and hard they'd been hitting her, and the areas they'd struck had begun to burn with a dull, tired ache. She felt a bit queasy and her vision seemed a little blurry round the edges; had its meager attacks actually worn her down so badly? 'Yer a bloody fruit loop, ye are!' she spat, as if being coarse would keep up her moxie.

But Tanya knew that unless she stepped in, Astrid would be taken down faster than a fly sprayed with air freshener. She gritted her teeth and gazed at the Voltorb, emerald eyes really staring intently at it and taking it all in. The round shape, the Poké Ball like colours-- wait, would capturing it work? She bit her lip again and frowned at the red and white buzzing orb, but decided against an attempted capture. It might belong to the owner of the property anyways, and tossing a ball at it might enrage it further - or the owner if they were lurking.

"Stay put Astrid!" Tanya ordered as she whipped out a red and gold spray bottle, administering it to the hissing reptile despite her protests. Astrid snapped at the girl as she retreated with the empty Super Potion battle, though she did feel loads better. "Now go ahead and hit it with another Sand Tomb!" Tanya called out. Revitalized, the little alligator kicked up more sand without a fuss and hurled it in the Voltorb's direction, hoping for a hit.

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★ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ♥ ⋆ ♠ ⋆ ★

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♫ Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames ♪[/center]

[The REAL Joey]

Eyeing its chance greedily, the expertly placed trap Pokemon could not wait for its free turn to rip into this aggravating Pokemon. It didn't quite like its all aura and the fact it kept flurrying it with bits of debris really didn't smooth matters over either for it. As the super potion was administered, the ball of fury began screeching itself on the floor again. As it held itself in place but created a vast amount of friction against the floor, it was only a matter of time before another rip roaring SonicBoom would tear forward at the opposing team. Sure enough, the small clicks that were beginning to happen along with the number of sparks now flying from how fast the Voltorb was going meant that it was time. A sonic booming wave of sound sliced its way through the air and bamboozled the poor Aussie crocodile.

As if hitting an anger point within the Pokemon's psyche, the Sandile became enraged. Voltorb leered its eyes as it had not been expecting such a reaction. Still, this wasn't too much of a problem for it. Seeing as it was so much faster it would be more than possible for it to launch off another SonicBoom to leave the croc on its last legs. Preparing itself for another round of intense spinning but stopped in its tracks as it saw the crafty little croc had already began launching its signature Sand Tomb move. With a flurry of dirt, debris and other nasty particles, the gust soared forwards and battered the Voltorb silly. It appeared this wasn't just any other normal attack. It had been a critical hit from just how angry Astrid had got from all the assaultive hits the Voltorb had landed.

With a small wobble and then tilt to the side, the trap Voltorb had been disarmed.


Trap Battle

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Voltorb | Level 15 |
Health : 0% (0/41)
Status : Normal; Trapped by Sand Tomb
...Kabooey

Astrid | Level 16 |
Health : 57% (26/46)
Status : Normal
Piss of ya yobbo!

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Victory!

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Your Sandile fought courageously and has levelled up!
It went up by 2 levels and is now Level 18!
Astrid has also earnt +1 Happiness!

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With the trap now safely disposed off AND without any accidental explosions, the dusty old warehouse seemed to revert back to its boring old state where nothing much appeared to be happening. However, off in the distance, it seemed there were a number of paths for Tanya and her compadres to follow. At the far, far end of the warehouse was a staircase that as opposed to going up in the air to connect with a new floor, descended downwards into what must obviously be the basement of this warehouse. The other option also open to the trainer was a set of double doors off to the side that seemed to have some clanging going on behind them. No matter what Tanya went, something would surely occur.