bravenewworld | Tournament Round One

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!plot

Tournament Round One

The first day of the tournament dawns bright and sunny, a stark contrast to the mood of the citizens of Union as they exit the gates of the city. Many of them stare at Team Evolution with open suspicion - what exactly were they trying to demonstrate here? Regardless, it appears that the people of Union would hold their own session first. As the 12 trainers take their positions, the crowd is waved back by one of the Guardsmen, holding a pole out to his side as a makeshift barrier.

"Please, for your own safety, stay behind this area, everyone. The tournament will begin shortly."

From the opposite side, the members of Team Evolution politely troop in, pausing at a short distance. As before, Rory stands at the front of the group, accompanied by Crystal and Sakina, each of whom were, if not familiar to the people of Union by now, at least recognizable.

The Guardsman, who apparently has been chosen to act as the judge, speaks once more once the hubbub has died down.

"The Council wishes to thank all who have agreed to take part in this demonstration and all who have come to lend support. To Team Evolution, it is our desire that you come to understand what it means to our city to be a Pokémon trainer, and what it is from which we draw our strength. Though our philosophies may differ, we are nonetheless united in our humanity. We take heart in having made contact with our fellows after so many long years, and we pray that the gods may look upon this meeting with favor."

A pause.

"Now... without further ado, let the battles begin!"

((The first round of the tournament will end in 48 hours, ICly. Please let us know who the winner will be by 2/26 here and we'll post the second round match-ups as soon as we can. The second round of the tournament will begin ICly 2/27.))

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He'd lost his temper at the man from Team Evolution, but Feliks was all smiles on the morning of the tournament. After all, he'd always been one for a good show--and this was bound to be one, with all the strange goings-on that had led up to this point. He'd dressed the part of a spectacle from head to toe, with his newest coat on, his boots polished to a bright gleam, his hair held out of his eyes on one side with a slightly over the top decorative clip.

He walked in with Jadwiga on his shoulder, flanked by Emilia on his right and Danuta on his left, waving to anyone he knew, eating up the attention. Might as well while he could, he thought.

After all, once they got started, he wasn't going to be the star of this show. His girls were going to steal it right out from under him, and show any smug redheaded know-it-all to look down on them.

"Ready?" he asked, turning his attention from the crowds. Then he grinned, bumping his forehead against Jadwiga's horn. "Trick question, I totally know you are. Go kick some butt, I'll be right here cheering you on!"

"Totally ready!"

Yang's triumphant shout echoed back. She raised her fist; she had no armor on it, and left Ember Celica back home. She wasn't fighting herself, even if she wanted to. She walked in, her two Pokémon trailing after her. Miller the Eevee paced next to her, looking deadly serious. Hex the Misdreavus hovered after, looking proud. Yang looked at Feliks, then she smiled.

She crossed her arms over her chest, and she nodded at Feliks. "Let's do this!" she called out. "I'm ready. Go get 'em, guys! I'm rooting for you!"

And wishing, a little, she could fight with them. But, that was Yang.

Feliks shot a grin right back at her, radiating a lazy confidence. "All right! We're totally not gonna hold back! Danuta, you're up first, right?"

The Mienfoo nodded, and in a burst of nearly serpentine movement, made her way to the center of the arena. Once there, she took a fighting stance, watching the other team with narrowed eyes, waiting for her opponent to come forward. She had learned much from training with Feliks and his other friends, and was ready to show how strong she had become!

Yang decided to send Miller in first, because he simply had more training time and she knew him better. She looked at him, then she nodded.

The Eevee stalked forward, and leaned forward. His tail went straight into the air and he bared his fangs. Then with a tiny, almost cute snarl, he leaped forward, lunging at the Mienfoo. If he had a small advantage, it was that Yang had trained with Miller; he knew a little bit about how Fighting types worked, but it was far from a perfect overlap. The Eevee went airborne, bringing back a clawed paw.

As he came down, he swung, slashing his claws out for the front of the Mienfoo. Yang cheered while he did.

"That'll show 'em, Miller!"

The Eevee's strength and confidence were a bit of a surprise--hardly what she expected of a Normal type, and sort of begrudgingly impressive. Danuta took the hit with a little hiss, but didn't falter, striking back quickly with several successive attacks, trying to make good use of his proximity and her speed.

"That's it--you've totally got this!" Emilia voiced her support with a bark, while Feliks bounced excitedly from one foot to the other, cheering his friend on.

Miller made a good showing. A headbutt here; a claw swipe there. But, Danuta had more training and had that speed that eventually overwhelmed the dour Eevee. The final blow connected with his snout and sent him flying back, almost like slow motion. He hit the ground, bounced, and rolled once.

"Vee..."

Yang grimaced. "Gee-ew, okay, uh, let's maybe be careful!" she called out. "That's a tough one, Miller! You know what to do!"

The Eevee rose back up, spitting into the sand. Then it charged; it moved quick, a fast blur that snapped out to the side, then shot in with a zig-zag, throwing its body in a fast tackle. The Quick Attack was just that: a fast, last ditch effort to try to overcome the Mienfoo's speed, and bring the other Pokémon down. Of course, that could prove problematic: Miller was banged up enough that one good hit was really all he could take.

It was definitely a good fight, one that Danuta found herself enjoying more than she had thought she would. She danced and wove around attacks, took hits and gave them, and was perhaps a little disappointed when she saw her opponent's endurance beginning to grow thin.

It wasn't as though he was defenseless, though, as she was reminded by the sudden impact against her, harder than she'd expected. No time to fool around--it was time to end this. She threw herself at him, shoving him into the ground.

Miller hit the ground and went rolling. He grunted softly, and started to rise, but Yang shook her head quickly.

"Pull back, Miller!" she yelled. "No point in getting really hurt!"

Besides, she doubted Feliks would let it come to that. The Eevee ran back; Yang and Hex shared a quick look, before the Misdreavus flew forward. Its sheet like body trailed after it; Hex weaved left and right, before raising both arms -- and then a bright, sudden flash shot out in Danuta's direction!

Hex's favorite move, it happened, was Astonish.

Danuta pulled back when it was clear the Eevee had had enough--she was relieved when the yellow-haired trainer called him back, unwilling to go overboard with this. On the other side of the field, Feliks cheered, nearly bouncing Jadwiga right off his shoulder.

"Yeah, that's the way we practiced! Looking good out there!"

His victory is short-lived, though. Suddenly, the tables are turned--when she goes in for a strike, Danuta goes straight through her new foe, and that's before she gets hit. The ghostly attack leaves her wavering where she stands, clearly frustrated. What can she do to affect it? In an attempt to buy time to think, she uses Detect, standing carefully on her guard and ready to get out of the way.

Hex turned, quickly, to face Mienfoo. He stuck his tongue out -- he was, if nothing else, a punk -- and then focused. A wave of pink light fired out from his eyes, shooting at Danuta.

"Yeah! Keep going, Hex!" Yang called out. Even if she could see it was bad; this was her last Pokémon.

She tried to dodge the beam, and quite nearly succeeded. As he kept up the attack, though, she took a hit from it. She fell to one knee, head pounding, at a loss. Even Feliks could see that keeping her out there was just going to be needlessly painful and frustrating.

"Okay, let's not get crazy! You did good, so come back and let Jadwiga have a turn, 'kay?"

As Danuta slunk back to his side, he set the Ralts on the ground. Hesitant at first, she drew what strength she could from the crowd's excitement and Feliks's unwavering faith in her, and stepped out onto the field.

"Just keep the good work up, Hex!" Yang yelled.

She wasn't much of a tactician with Pokémon. Her specialty was fighting on her own; giving good orders to her team was not where she excelled. This was a fine example. Hex wasn't given any instructions, which meant he turned on the Ralts with a vengeance -- and loosed another bright, startling flash of yellow light.

Yang cheered after the Misdreavus, wordlessly. Hex bobbed up and down, proudly.

The light startled her, disoriented her a bit--but a glance back at her trainer, her old friend, steadied her a moment later. Feliks was depending on her, wasn't he? She'd relied on him so much over the years, and she was going to help him this time!

Shrugging off the effect of the flash, she let a psychic attack forth, a purple, rippling wave of energy. Whether or not it hurt seriously, it could hopefully be disorienting...

The Misdreavus was hit by the purple, rippling wave -- and more than be damaged, it suddenly was shifting awkwardly to each side. Its eyes moved independently of each other, in a swirly motion. That made Yang tilt her head to the side. "Uh," she said, "Hex? Buddy?"

"Dreavus!"

Then Hex fired another raw of psychic energy from his eyes, at... the wall. Yang turned and stared at it, and the tiny crater made, before looking back at Hex. She pointed at the Ralts.

"Over there, little buddy," she said.

Feliks grinned. She'd never fought without him in there with her, shielding her from blows and gleefully setting coats and tails on fire, but she was doing just fine without him! Look at her, all grown up...

"Great! So, you totally know what to do now!"

She made a little affirmative noise, bringing her hands together and bowing her head as she focused her power. A couple of illusory copies of herself appeared on the battlefield, each one of them dodging and darting about like they were trying to avoid getting hit.

"Whoa!" Yang shouted. "Hex, Hex, be caref--"

Hex started firing shots bright light at the illusory copies, even as he darted to and fro. The light flashes stayed; and he flew through some, causing him to shake and thrash. Finally, he flew off towards the wall, and slammed into it, forgetting to turn solid. He bounced backward.

"...ul," Yang finished, dryly.

It wouldn't be good for Jadwiga to get hit with a ghost-type attack... So they should act quickly, Feliks decided, and remove the threat. "Don't hold back now!"

Nodding, the real copy sent another rippling purple blast of mental energy at Hex.

Edited 2014-02-27 02:32 (UTC)

That ended things quickly enough.

The blast of energy struck Hex; the Misdreavus rippled, then fell down at the ground. Yang watched the Ghost-type Pokémon start to stir back up, but she shook her head quickly in his direction, and waved her hands in front of her. "Whoa, whoa, wait, Hex!" she called out. "Don't overdo it. I think they got us."

Hex sighed, but bobbed his head in a nod, and floated backward towards her part of the ring. Yang looked him over, then looked at Feliks.

She grinned, a little sheepish. "Good job."

That was it? Feliks, still awash with adrenaline, felt almost confused--somehow, he'd wanted it to go on longer! But Jadwiga had done good--she'd done so great, and he was so proud of her!

He opened his arms for her to teleport into, giving her a good hug while he looked Danuta over more closely. Satisfied that it was nothing a good meal and some rest wouldn't fix, he smiled up at Yang.

"You too--it was fun!"

Yang looked down at her two, more reserved. She'd need to take them home and get them fed -- and treated, but none of the wounds were critical. She looked back up at Feliks and nodded, smiling back at him. "Mm-hmm. Make sure you go far, though! I don't wanna lose to a guy who goes down in the semifinals, you know!"

Well, that seemed fair enough. He totally wouldn't want to lose to some loser, either, right?

"No problem! We'll bring it next time, so you totally don't have to worry."

"Good! That's what I wanna hear," Yang said. "Because I'm gonna be rooting for you, mister!"

Feliks laughed, balancing his Ralts on his shoulder again.

"Okay! I like, solemnly promise to kick all the butt we can."

Yang grinned and pointed at him, then nodded with a wink. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Feliks!" she called, before she waved. "I'm gonna get my boys healed up, though. Take care of yourself! And good luck!"

She waved a hand, before she started off. As she walked away, she knelt down, and grabbed Miller. He slid up to her shoulder, riding it. Hex floated along after.

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Tournament Round One

Feliks vs. Yang

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