31 - video/action for Cerulean;

[islandshore]

[Well, after backtracking to Olivine for a few days, Riku and Ven are back in business over in the wonderful land of Kanto. So, today's broadcast begins in the Cerulean Gym, where Riku's poised and ready to go against Misty and her team of water types. He's got six powerful Pokémon by his side, including a Haunter, a Rotom, a Dragonite, a Garchomp, a Lucario, and... a Charizard?

Well, the first Pokémon Riku sends out his his Rotom, surge, while Misty calls for her Floatzel...]

[The Floatzel proves to be a bit of a pain, swimming swiftly through the water, thanks to its Agility. Luckily, Surge has a number of tricks up its sleeve, like nailing the little otter with a nasty Thunder Wave, followed up by a bit of Confuse Ray to really heat things up. From there, it's an all-out offensive strike. Lightning flashes throughout the arena, as Thunderbolts strike at the Floatzel again and again. Its Ice Beams do manage nail Surge more than once, but its repeated use of Double Team combined with the Confusion end up taking their toll on the opposition. Before long, Floatzel's down for the count.

Misty narrows her eyes and tosses out another Pokéball. Judging by the beady little eyes and slick, blue skin, Riku's got a Quagsire on his hands. Shaking his head, he calls Surge back to him, stepping aside so Flare can join the fray.

Misty blinks and raises a brow at the sight.]

A Charizard? Are you serious?

[Riku and Flare both smirk, exchanging quick eye contact.]

Hey, don't count him out just yet...

[Immediately, Flare takes to the air, beating his wings rapidly as glimmers of sunlight shine down on the arena. Quagsire spews water out of its mouth like a barrage of bullets, and though a few do glaze Flare's skin, he's not down for the count just yet. With the sun shining bright, he pulls back his head, takes a deep breath, and unleashes a powerful Solarbeam straight into Quagsire's mouth. Misty lets out an irritated scream, ordering her Quagsire to use Rain Dance. Flare utilizes Sunny Day almost immediately after. The Solarbeams keep coming.

Due to the 4x weakness to grass, it only takes a few hits to send Quagsire packing.

From there on, Riku's team proceeds to plow through the opposition. When Starmie comes out to play, Surge returns for a second helping of electrical moves with a side of ghost shenanigans. Confuse Ray mixed with Toxic strike almost immediately, followed by an assault of Shadow Balls. Once Lanturn appears, it's time for Quake to step in, using his partial ground typing to nullify those electrical moves. To make things worse, he whips out a nasty Sandstorm, boosting his evasion. Throw in a few Double Teams, a side of Toxic, and plenty of Digging to make Misty's life miserable.

When Lapras comes out, Ace the Lucario slips in. Her resistance to Ice gives her a bit of an edge. Combine that with the Aura Spheres she sends flying and the devastating Close Combat, and even Lapras' Perish Song can't hold her back. Chalk up another victory for Riku.

Last comes Milotic, a pure water type Surge could probably handle, if it weren't already worn down from the previous fights. Instead, Draco the Dragonite marches into play, slamming his fists together and letting out a "BaoOOOOoOOoOOOo" in the face of his enemy.

Immediately, he lunges forward, striking at Milotic with a ThunderPunch. However, she utilizes Rest to heal the damage. Despite falling fast asleep, she continues to fight thanks to a little Sleep Talk. Of course, Draco continues his offensive, dropping a Substitue down before exploiting a little Double Team action. From there, he continues to slam his fists against Milotic, making sparks fly. When Ice Beam strikes and the Substitute breaks, he uses a little Roost and drops another one down. Soon, Misty's final Pokémon goes down for the count, and Misty reluctantly hands over the Cascade Badge and the Water Pulse TM.

At that point, the feed ends.]

[The video starts up again outside the Gym, with Riku's Pokémon close by. He holds up the badge for a moment and grins before leaning back against the frame of the door.]

So, that's four Kanto badges down, and four Elite Teams for good measure. Not bad, if you ask me.

[He tosses the badge up and down.]

Anyway, here's a question to you guys. What do you think is more important? Using the right types and powerful Pokémon or using a Pokémon that's important to you, even if the odds are against it?

And what are your thoughts on evolution?

[With that, he'll be exploring the city and gathering supplies. After all, he and Ven intend to hit Mt. Moon before long, which means they'll need to get their act together. It could be a long trip.

Should anyone else be around town, they'll find him surrounded by his team of six, all of which are rather large, except Surge. It's hard to miss a guy surrounded by an oversized Charizard, Garchomp, and Dragonite, after all.]

Comments

[conduit]

I think using your favorites is better than aiming for power. When you use pokemon you truly adore, your synergy becomes a lot better. If you capture a pokemon just for the power, once they learn or observe it, they can use it against you because it sends a message that you're dependent on them. Not to mention, when you train them juuuuuuust right, they can become stronger than the powerful pokemon anyways~!

[ Rangiku happily answers his question with her honest answer. ]

[islandshore]

Well, I can't fault you for that kind of idealism. I mean, I do use Flare a lot.

[But Riku just isn't super optimistic in everything ever. Give him a second to mull this over.]

Thing is, there are some odds that a powerful bond can't overcome. Strategy helps with tougher opponents, but your opponent might be just as skilled at it. Stat and type differences do have an impact.

[conduit]

Of course type differences have an impact, and statistics do too but that all comes with growing and sharing a bond. You can't train a pokemon well to become strong on its own, or have great synergy if you're just using outright brute strengths. I know my pokemon love me, and a lot of them are at the maximum level. But it's because I used the pokémon that appealed to me, or that angered me and I wanted to teach a lesson in one case. If I wasn't able to work with them, I'd set them free but, because I haven't, I'm now able to have a fantastic bond with them an their power. [ She maintains a calm smile as she explains herself in a somewhat circular manner. ]

If you're taking about someone that really loves their level five pokemon fighting a brute level thirty, I'd agree with you there. I just thought you were talking about two people with roughly equal pokemon except one favors power and the other favors love.

[islandshore]

Hah, and I think that's one of the differences between us. I've got Pokémon that hate everyone. They still win battles. Not like all of my Pokémon are like that, but I think assertiveness and a good strategy can cover a lot of ground.

[He shrugs.]

But my training's a little unorthodox to begin with. I don't use wild Pokémon and you won't exactly hear me shouting commands to them.

[Largely because it makes things too obvious; instead, he drills them on different strategies beforehand.]

[conduit]

If you don't use wild pokemon then how do you get them? Do you just get them through eggs and stuff? [ Rangiku is definitely the creative strategist, and being with some of her pokemon for so long, she's developed cues on exactly to do based on hand motions, but she doesn't quite state this. After all, she's supposed to not be taken very seriously. ]

Even if they hate you, they still worked with you for awhile to the point where they're strong enough than they would be if they never met you. That's still a bond and I guess that means they truly don't hate you.

[islandshore]

When I said I don't use them, I meant that I don't battle against them to train. Doesn't mean I don't catch anything; I just prefer to put my Pokémon against each other once they hit a high enough level. Beats going against an army of level five Pidgeys.

[It's an exaggeration, but it gets the point across.]

And I guess you've got a point. Still, it's not like my Aerodactyl sees humans as anything but moving targets.

[conduit]

Don't you have to defeat pokémon to gain experience though? [ She's definitely confused. ]

My pokémon is a pyromaniac, but I understand what you're saying. Even if they're bad eggs they still care for their owners at least, which is something you can't really get with just a sole power focus.

[islandshore]

And they do. It just means they defeat each other.

[He thought it was pretty straightforward.]

And I don't know. I seriously doubt Terror cares for me at all.

[conduit]

Knocking them out seems a tad excessive. [ She doesn't want to knock out one pokemon at the gain of the other. ]

I'm sure he does deep, deep down. At the very least, he's dependent on you to become stronger. So maybe he cares for you in a more shortsided way.

[islandshore]

They don't mind. It's just like sparring to them.

[Besides, what's worse? Mowing down hundreds of wild ones a week with huge level advantages or letting a level 100 play sparring partner?

...It makes sense in his head, anyway.]

And maybe she cares for me as a chew toy. Aerodactyl bites are a pain.

[conduit]

As long as they're okay… [ Rangiku can't help but to still worry. If they view knocking each other out as okay, then just what is their environment like? And, more importantly, what is their owner like? ]

Well that is some bond. A chew toy is a reason to keep someone around sadly.

[islandshore]

Hey, what's worse? A bunch of level 100s pulverizing weaker wild ones or letting those 100s take a few hits for training purposes?

[Really, Riku doesn't see the problem. Then again, he likes doing things his own way.]

[conduit]

Pulverizing the weaker ones, obviously! Because if you don't attack them, then they'll attack weaker trainers at risk and they attack indiscriminately anyways. [ A few hits for training purposes sounds like a painful task when they're all level 100s.

Actually why would they need training if they're level 100 anyways?! ]

[islandshore]

I don't know. Doesn't seem all that different from standard battles if I put my 100's up against my other Pokémon to give them a boost. Once you hit level 50, it's way too time consuming to spend hours battling small fry, so letting them take on tougher Pokémon gets the job done with less hassle.

[For the 100's it's more to keep them busy and in shape. For his other high-leveld beasties, he's more concerned with getting them to 100. Oh, Riku.]

[conduit]

I know, I know. I just think knocking out another pokemon of yours for the sake of a weaker one is a bit extreme. It crosses from friendly spar into something a bit more rough. I know I'd never knocked out any of my sparring partners in the past. [ And, with the exception of those squad 11 psychos she can't think of a time in soul society history where it actually happened. ]