[Elizabeth Waters]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Gym Team}

Number of Pokemon: 4
Format: Double
Substitutions: No

Pokemon 1: Tansy the Lv40 Venusaur
Ability: Chlorophyll
Moveset: Petal Blizzard, Synthesis, Growth, Sleep Powder, Giga Drain(EM), Toxic(EM), Earthquake(TM), Sunny Day(TM), Sludge Bomb(TM), Solar Beam(TM)
Held Item: Big Root
Stat Boosts: +1 Speed

Pokemon 2: Drago the Lv45 Gyarados
Ability: Intimidate
Moveset: Twister, Crunch, Aqua Tail, Dragon Dance, Scary Face, Thunderbolt(TM)
Held Item: Lum Berry
Stat Boosts: None

Pokemon 3: Ayla the Lv36 Tropius
Ability: Harvest
Moveset: Leaf Storm, Sweet Scent, Fly(TM), Sunny Day(TM), Dragon Dance(EM), Leaf Blade(EM), Synthesis(MT), Solar Beam(TM)
Held Item: Leppa Berry
Stat Boosts: None

Pokemon 3: Cecylia the Lv40 Pikachu
Ability: Static
Moveset: Play Nice, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack, Agility, Double Team, Thunderbolt(TM), Grass Knot(TM), Volt Switch(TM)
Held Item: Mago Berry
Stat Boosts: None

Well it was finally time. Elizabeth had been preparing pretty extensively for this gym battle, training with her pokemon and trying to come up with the best team and strategy possible. She'd battled gyms before but had heard the ones in Acriel were on a very different level from what she was used to back home. 

The girl entered the gym alone, all her pokemon currently contained in their pokeballs though they weren't exactly happy about it. Liz rarely traveled with her pokemon in their balls but she sort of wanted her choices to be a surprise, well as much of a surprise as they could be. Any trainer worth their salt typically entered a water gym with grass and electric types. She'd considered a few possible, though rather unconventional, pokemon with the right movesets but in the end stuck with the time tested type advantage hoping that it would be enough. Of course she still had to remind herself to stay calm, if she lost she could always try again.

The girl paused and scanned the entrance that consisted only of a shallow pool completely blocking any further entry. Some gyms liked to do things a little differently. Her home gyms had been rather straightforward but it appeared that here instead of simply entering the gym and challenging the leader she would have to get a bit creative. The rules were posted plainly on a board placed alongside a random mixture of objects presumably all for use in trying to cross the pool. 

"Okay then..." She murmured aloud to herself as she approached the various objects. Well should be easy enough, devise a means of crossing the pool without touching the water and no riding pokemon across. The girl smirked a little, yea that'd have been too easy. She figured freezing the water would be a no go as well, not that she really had anyone that could freeze it. She crossed her arms and studied the various items. Being a direct person Liz figured she'd give the water shoes a try.

The ranger carried them to the edge of the pool then strapped them over her combat boots. She grabbed a bamboo pole as well to help steady herself. Gingerly she placed a foot on the water and followed suit with the other. The girl was hoping some of her martial training, in regards to balance, would be beneficial here. The trick of course was maintaining a proper weight distribution while passing over the water's surface. Actually achieving that however could be problematic.

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Pre-Gym Trial Attempt, 1/7

[Jae]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elizabeth Waters

Impressive! You manage to move quite well through the water, seems that military training really did pay off. You're about one third of the way across already! 

[Elizabeth Waters]

Right so, so far so good yea? The ranger kept moving, one step at a time, carefully and slowly. There was no need to rush this. She was eager to get to the battle but also a bit anxious about the whole thing. Liz tried to focus only on getting across the pool now but she couldn't help going over every little thing in her mind once again.

She had type advantage attacks, but water types tended to also know a good variety of ice attacks which were dangerous for grass types. Plus if the gym leader picked the right combo of pokemon she worried it would render her own choices pretty much obsolete. Maybe she should've waited, given it more time, gotten a better variety of attacks? Sure type effective moves were important but not always everything. Grass and electric types were expected here, maybe she should've used Haldor instead? But honestly there was expected then rather ludicrous. Sure you could bring a fire type or ground type that had the right attacks but they'd still be highly vulnerable to the basic water attacks any water type knew.

But really, all types had at least one weakness and most pokemon could learn a pretty wide variety of attacks. Almost any type could be countered if you had the time to plan for it. One could only make the best plan they could and hope for the best. Liz had hoped she'd prepared enough but it was hard to always trust oneself when one was haphazardly attempting to make one's way across a pool of water with just a pair of floaty shoes and a bamboo stick.

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Pre-Gym Trial Attempt, 2/7

[Jae]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elizabeth Waters

Awesome! Already two thirds of the way across! You're doing great!

[Elizabeth Waters]

Though her focus was divided she was still doing pretty well. She wasn't sure if it was because her mind was distracting itself with it's own anxiety and thus she wasn't worrying about making the trip or what was going on. But hey the girl wasn't going to question her surprising success so far. This pre-gym trial was either a sign of good things to come, or it would be all downhill from here.

The ranger briefly paused to try and center herself. Really she wasn't usually quite so down on herself. Her confidence levels did tend to coincide with the presence of her pokemon companions. The girl still tended to rely on them for their quiet strength. Pokemon were such peaceful creatures for the most part. It was unsettling choosing not to have one at her side through this. But there were moments such as this when Liz felt she should challenge herself, see what she could accomplish alone. She never was one to back down from a challenge like this and would never ask her pokemon to do something she herself wouldn't do.

Liz closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths, almost there, just a little bit more now. The gentle lapping of the water on the edge of the pool was rather soothing and she allowed herself to focus on that instead of all the other things that could possibly go wrong today. She even started to wonder if anyone was watching her. It was likely the gym leader had some means of monitoring those who entered their gym and could of course see how they handled the pre-gym trial.

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Pre-Gym Trial Attempt, 3/7

[Elayne]

Nothing happened!

All rolls were passed.

Elizabeth Waters

Slow and steady wins the race! Keep it up, you're almost there!

[Elizabeth Waters]

Seriously how long was this pool anyway? Liz was actually feeling tired having to watch her every step and maintain the right balance. Leaning against the bamboo pole helped but she hadn't ever realized how much of a work out trying to walk on water would be. But really it made sense, you were doing something your body wasn't naturally accustomed too. And even for one like herself who worked out and trained daily this was very unusual circumstances. And honestly she was just amazed it was even working at all. Who knew this floaty shoe thing was actually a thing?

Part of her was debating whether or not to release Tansy to the other side of the pool and let her try and drag the ranger the rest of the way across the pool with her vines. However that seemed like it would be a cop out at this point. Liz had wanted this part to be a challenge for just herself. Too many trainers relied on their pokemon to help them with everything and there were things that Liz felt were important to do on her own.

Of course the relationship between trainer and pokemon was about teamwork and completing challenges together. But also at the end of this trial was the real challenge. The battle itself would be what really tested her and her team. Then again if she tired herself out too much on the gym trial she could potentially make mistakes in the battle. But the girl was a little on the stubborn side and hated the thought of 'giving up' by deciding to use her pokemon to help her finish this task.

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Pre-Gym Trial Attempt, 4/7

[Jae]

By nothing but luck, you come to the end of the pool. A wall on the other side opens up, and a pink haired man with glasses is grinning and clapping. “Wow! I haven’t seen anyone do so well in a long time!” he laughed setting both hands on his hips. “Welcome to the Gym! I’m Hiro Kaimana,” he smiled. “Normally this’d be where I ask if you wanted to dry off first, but you really went swimmingly all the way through! So tell me, what’s your name and what’re we battling with today?”

[Elizabeth Waters]

Just a few more steps and, wow she'd made it? The rather harrowing walk was over and Liz found herself on the other side of the pool. Now the ranger usually tried to keep her composure but couldn't help a small whoop at her success. She wondered if many folk managed to make it across without falling in at least once. It seemed the odds were in her favor today, but again perhaps all her luck had just been used up in the trial challenge.

The ranger sat on a nearby bench to remove the floating shoes and set them aside with the bamboo pole. She jumped a little, when a wall suddenly opened up and the pink haired gym leader appeared. Generally she wasn't the jumpy sort either but she was rather worn out and certainly hadn't expected them to just come busting through a wall. Liz smirked a little and dipped her head at the compliment. Well she knew now that not falling in wasn't a feat easily accomplished. If things went sour for her at least she had that to brag about.

The girl stood and offered a hand to Niro. "Well it wasn't easy that's for sure. I can only assume it was luck and a little bit of my own personal training that got me across." She stated with a soft chuckle. The ranger nodded still unsure of whom to use first in this fight but she was here and there was no going back now.

"My name's Elizabeth Waters, but most people just call me Liz. It's a pleasure to meet you Niro." She dipped her head respectfully then reached for two pokeballs at her hip. "And if it's alright with you, I would like to have a double battle and I've with me a team of four." She proposed and held up the two pokeballs between her fingers only waiting for him to lead the way to the battlefield.

---

[Jae]

Hiro grinned. “Sounds great! Let’s get started then!” he made a hand gesture over to the challenger’s side of a new, larger pool, with various islands propped up in it, before walking around on the side to the Gym Leader’s side. “Release your first two Pokemon, and we’ll get started!”

[Elizabeth Waters]

The ranger dipped her head and followed the gym leader into the main room. Surprise, surprise, it was a water field, dotted with a few island platforms, as was fitting for a water type gym. Liz took up her place across the field from Hiro and slowly took in her surroundings. It wasn't the largest gym thus she assumed was the reason for the size limitations. The brunette briefly tried to imagine a wailord inside this gym and couldn't help a grin. Actually Tansy was only just under the size limit, the venusaur being a bit on the big side for one of her kind.

Her gray gazed now turned to the two balls held between her fingers. The ranger it seemed wasn't going to manage to get the gym leader to reveal his cards first unfortunately. Still she would have to trust she and her team was ready for this. There were sure to be plenty of tricks up the gym leader's sleeve. The girl raised the two fingers holding her pokeballs to her forehead and briefly rested her index finger against it. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath forcing herself to clear her mind of all outside and negative thoughts.

"We've got this." The ranger snapped her eyes open then flicked her wrist and released the two balls from her fingers. Each burst open and from the familiar red glow appeared the tall, leafy form of Ayla and the small, agile figure of Cecylia. The tropius opened her four powerful wings and pulled herself into the air to hover out over the water. The pikachu twitched an ear then darted forward and jumped up onto the tropius's back. The pair both looked down to Hiro watching warily for his first pairing. 

10 HP

10 HP

[Jae]

A Pikachu and a Tropius, well that was an interesting pair of Pokemon! Hiro grinned as he fished out two Pokeballs of his own. In a flash, a Swampert and a Lanturn made a splash into the pool causing the water to start rocking a bit. Both surfaced again and cried out ready and raring to go! “I always give my challengers the first move!” Hiro proclaimed. “Show me what you got!”

HP: 10 / 10 10/10

[Elizabeth Waters]

Ah a swampert and lanturn, not too surprising, this pairing could certainly render an electric type completely useless. Fortunately Liz had expected this and only hoped that her planning ahead had adequately prepared them for this. Cecylia would have to be careful though. That swampert could do some serious damage if their ground attacks hit. Of course Hiro likely had trained all his pokemon to use more than just their base attacks and would likely have a wide variety of moves on hand.

Now in any battle the trainer could pretty much go one of two ways, an all out offensive or play defense. Liz hoped to play a little of both, though she figured the gym leader would as well. Swampert and Lanturn both could have plenty of tricks up their sleeves as well. An all out offensive was great if you knew you'd hit your target hard and fast. However, there were no guarantees of that. Getting the first move was beneficial so long as you used it right. They were on an even footing starting off so though she could go for a hard hit right off, it would likely be better to prepare for the long haul. Unless... well they could try to take the swampert out in one go, but it would likely backfire.

"Ready guys? We've got to be careful." The ranger looked between Ayla and Cecylia then back at the swampert and lanturn. Could they pull it off? It would be tricky, and they'd lose their chance to shore up their defenses otherwise. The ranger pursed her lips then shook her head. No, for now they'd play it safe and try to prepare for any incoming attacks as best they could then strike at the right moment.

"You've a fine looking Swampert and Lanturn, guessing they won't be easy to beat." Liz grinned and gave Hiro a nod. Her gray eyes flicked back to her pair and she took on a more focused look.

"Cecylia keep moving with Agility, Ayla get started with a Dragon Dance." The ranger nodded to the pair sending her instructions through their telepathic connection. It was definitely a tactic to try and keep the gym leader off balance by not announcing their attacks but she figured Hiro had seen enough challengers to have an idea of where these battles were headed.

Cecylia nimbly dropped from Ayla's back and began racing across the various platforms, leaping from one to the other as she rapidly increased in speed. The lapping of the water on the sides of the pool and the islands provided a good mental picture of the area for the pikachu as she was careful to avoid falling into the water.

Ayla looped in the air and spun into a dance increasing her own speed and power. She circled overhead watching their opponents below for their own attacks. The ranger suspected they'd do likewise and try to raise their own defenses or see if they could make an attack land before her own team's evasion increased too much.

10 HP Using Dragon Dance +0.5 Attack, +2 Accuracy, +5 Evasion

10 HP Using Agility +4 Accuracy, +10 Evasion

[Jae]

Heh, that was an interesting set up. It had been a while since a challenger hadn’t just run in with their fists barreled high. Hiro could dig it, but he wouldn't match that set up. “Swampert, Ice Beam on Tropius! Lanturn, Scald on Pikachu!” came the orders thereafter instead.

The Swampert opened her maw and spewed the powerful ice move forth.

Ice Beam Acc: 100 - 10 (standard) - 5 (Tropius eva) = 85. Die must be < 15 to land.
Freeze is 10%, must be <90 to freeze.
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Ice Beam hits, Moderate (2HP) 2 + 2 = 6* HP damage
*Double weakness adds base damage twice so it's not multiplied. 
Freeze did not occur. 

The Lanturn did the same spraying scalding water at the Pikachu instead.

Scald Acc: 100-10 - 10 = 80. Die must be <20 to land.
Burn is 30% , must be < 70 to burn.
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Scald hits, Moderate (2HP) = 2 HP damage
Burn occurred. 

···

[Elizabeth Waters]

Elizabeth pursed her lips at the duel attacks but her focus was diverted to her buzzing phone. The ranger frowned as she noticed it was an urgent call. Looks like this battle was going to have to be short lived. She waved to Hiro apologetically as she recalled both pokemon.

"I'm terribly sorry but duty calls and it looks like I'll have to cut this sort. I'll be back though!" The young woman dipped her head then hurried back out of the gym.

Forfeiting, going to restart with new gym rules

[Jenesis]

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