[ti]complete[/ti] here kitty kitty...

The place is teeming with rats. Just absolutely— absolutely filled to the brim with— vermin.

Saint’s expression remains placid, but internally, he is screaming. He has followed this far into the tower by the sheer force of power walking the fuck away from every Patrat and Watchog, fueled by his neat freak germaphobe tendencies. When he’s finally cornered by a tower of poorly-disguised (but still menacing) rats in a writhing trench coat, he very manfully avoids fainting.

Vulpix pops out of her ball. Her ear twitches, mistaking for a moment the order of ‘Spite’ for the sound of a pipe leak. Saint sounds as if he’s inhaled a helium balloon, and it alarms her to see how pale he’s gotten.

She hurries to use SPITE to scare off the enemy.

VULPIX USED SPITE!

They continue down the tower, chased by a mob of spiteful rats. Saint skids to a stop, finding himself face-to-face with a particularly pissed-off-looking Watchog.

The watchdog is armed.

“Uhhh,” Saint mumbles, taking a step back as he cradles his vulpix to his chest. The watchog’s weapon is far from actual artillery, being made with cobbled two-by-fours and duct tape, but it’s still menacing, especially considering it appears to be dripping with cheese.

He hurries to release his newest pokemon. The Mantyke goes soaring in the air, smacking the watchdog in the face and dousing it in water.

MANTYKE USED WATER GUN!

So it turned out that there was another ongoing Tower Challenge besides the one with a Mega Pidgeot wreaking havoc on a Zygarde and his many worm children. He wasn't sure why this one was called the Tower of Cats, though, since he when entered, he saw a bunch of Watchog. Holding spears and other weapons like people. Large meerkats that were even more dangerous than their game counterparts. What the hell? He already hated this Pokemon for often decimating his team. He also failed his first Nuzlocke because of a Patrat (RIP Snivy), and now they were here in droves. So many.

But there were people trying to fight back! He supposed he should join them too so that they could fight back the rats! The meerkats? Wait, were they considered cats because of the 'kat' in meerkat? Were Watchogs based on those or prairie dogs? What was the difference??

He shook his head and pulled out Forest to fight, because he should really be focusing on beating up some Watchogs rather than thinking of what they were based out of. Oh, but wait, the game quickly tried to stop him--he had to follow a prompt in order to participate properly! (Was this in the other Tower too? Maybe he didn't notice it since Forest matched up with it anyway). This time around, it was asking for a move that flinched. Ah, thankfully, he had just the thing!

❝Forest, use Bite!❞

The Turtwig popped out of the ball and with a yell, jumped onto a poor Watchog without a shield and clamped hard.

Kallisto had heard of the Tower Challenges through chats from fellow online people that played the game. Something about hey, you could win prizes if you participate, so you should check it out at least once! And it wasn't like he was rushing to finishing the quests at the moment. He was even granted some additional bytes due to "balance patches", and he was still thinking of what he should spend it on in the shops and upgrades.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. A prompt pop up appeared in front of him asking to use a special move against some tall mammals. Their eyes looked weird and it made him feel dizzy if he looked at them too long. It reminded him of television screens that contained hypnotic imagery in shows. It was annoying, so he pulled out his only Pokemon so far to do something about it. Wait, what was a ❝special move❞? He shielded his eyes as he checked the UI and stats of his Pokemon, going through the moveset. Hmmm, Bubble Beam seemed to fit the bill.

❝Aegis, use Bubble Beam on those things.❞ he commanded while tossing the Poke Ball at the wild Pokemon. The Piplup came out with a happy cry. <Oh boy oh boy, are we battling? We're battling! Eat this!>

Kallisto opted not to question how bubbles were clearly bothering the mammals. Must be damage rolls or something.

The Tower of Cats is a familiar challenge, but just because a challenge is familiar, that sure as hell doesn't mean that Tuesday won't give it her best. Especially given the Pokémon she has with her.

The Alchemist returns to the tower fully decked out in a beautiful armour, with a magnificent Rainbow Flame Cloak of pearlescent white feathers billowing behind her. A smirk illuminates her expression, brimming with pride and confidence, and in her hands, she holds two blades. A Doublade. She raises one of them, pointing at a Watchog's reflection in a mirror.

"Alright, Tyrfing. Time to slice some rats up."

A second later, she charges, swinging the blade she had raised in a downwards motion towards the nearest Watchog. The Pokémon attempts to run from the hit, but it has not accounted for the fact that the second blade was released the moment Tuesday stepped forward. Swift and precise, it slashes through the air, a mirror shattering to pieces right before SACRED SWORD hits its target from front and back. As always, Tuesday believes in efficiency... and the rule of cool, obviously.

DOUBLADE USES SACRED SWORD

Argent looked around the tower. This wasn't very exciting, and honestly he wasn't expecting much. "What is all this supposed to be?" He muttered, looking around at the funhouse mirrors. There were pokemon running around, warped and confusing. Argent rolled his eyes. What, was he expected to run around for an hour, going down every corridor trying to find the right way to fight things?

No. Absolutely not. Not when there was a much faster way.

"Charmander-" The pokemon appeared in a flash. "Use ember. Take it all out."

charmander used ember!

The next floor turns out to be a carnival affair.

Shadows flit in and out from the corners of the area, the challengers and opponents thrown into a disorienting cat and mouse sequence where both can emerge looking like visual distortions, or crumpled aluminum foil.

It becomes quickly apparent the hog hunting has taken its toll, because not only are the watchog utilizing this environment, they’re also going full throttle on the puppy-dog eyes.

Kazuki blinks, coming back to himself. “You are not a puppy,” he hisses down at the watchog that stands in his way, its sad Pomeranian eyes returning back to its usual unnerving target board pattern. It rises back up on twos, and Kazuki feels all the more stupid to have been duped into thinking it’s anything like an adorable canine.

He releases his Gyarados, the pokemon barely fitting in the narrow wooden hallways. Sheets of glass and silver crack and buckle as the giant fish wiggles, trying to find breathing room.

<THIS IS TERRIBLY INCONVENIENT,> the fish mumbles.

“Then make some room. Whirlpool.”

Water bursts out from gaps in the floor, coalescing under the targeted watchog, who is quickly disposed of, flush toilet-style.

GYARADOS USED WHIRLPOOL!