[ti]spawn[/ti]You Are Not Immune to Pokeganda

Wading into the grass, Don was suddenly thankful that it was virtual grass. He was pretty sure he didn't have any actual allergies, but the taller and thicker the grass, the more likely it would make any exposed skin itchy. Skin would do that when you hit it with about a billion tiny paper cuts. He didn't have to worry too much about that if they were just pixels. At least he hoped not. Squinting, he reached out a hand and brushed it against the waving blades. It certainly felt like real grass. Smelled like it, too. Hopefully the developers weren't interested in making it that realistic.

The vines zipped out of Wilson's hiding spot in the grass, but the bat was too quick. It dodged to the side, vines whipping by it and striking nothing but air. It dove down into the grass, latching onto Wilson with sharp little teeth. Don cursed. It'd dodged Wilson's attack so easily! He could hear the high-pitched chittering again. Wait. That was it.

"The echolocation! Wilson, this one will have to be up close and personal! Tackle it!" Hiding in the grass wouldn't save him if the bat wasn't using actual eyes to see. Just a couple battles in and they were already having to swap strategies. Even if he'd never admit it, Don could understand how people got super into this.

Don folded his hands together and out, opening the guidebook. He needed ideas for a better strategy, something that would help them get a leg up on this stupid bat. He found Snivy's Pokedex entry and took a look at the Pokemon's available moves. He didn't have time to read what they actually did mechanically, so he picked the one that sounded the most useful in the moment.

"Wilson, Wrap!" He figured that might actually wrap some vines around the Zubat. If he could stop it from moving so much, it would certainly make it easier to beat the damn thing. And maybe make it harder for it to actually land any more hits on Wilson.

Don yelped an indistinguishable curse as the situation unfolded in slow motion. Wilson pulled himself up, squared up to the Zubat, launched himself forward with the last of his strength, and completely missed. The vines that had been holding the Zubat down had already fallen away, leaving it able to move more or less freely. As Wilson fell to its side, it simply turned and chomped down on his exposed back.

Pokeballs forgotten, Don moved in to bodily scoop up Wilson once again. One of these times, he would remember that he could use a Pokeball to carry his Pokemon and the convenience of it wouldn't be soon lost on him. He bolted from the scene, headed once more for the shrine.

Nike lifted lazily off Don's shoulder, soaring over with barely a flap of her wings. She neared the Zubat and struck out with her beak, landing a glancing blow as she flapped by. Whether by luck or strategy, she flew buy quickly enough that the surprised Zubat missed when it tried to retaliate.

"One more time! Give it another Peck!" It was a small amount of damage, but it was something. If Nike kept this up, they could knock that bat out cold in no time. It was good training for the both of them, Don figured. He needed to be more familiar with the moves his Pokemon knew without looking at the guidebook every time. And his Pokemon needed to... well he wasn't actually sure. But doing these battles had to be doing something for them, too, right?

After the back-to-back fights they'd been getting into thus far, Don was surprised when things became as quiet as they were. There were other players wandering around, each keeping to their own, catching and fighting Pokemon in turn. Maybe it was too busy around here and the spawns couldn't keep up. That sounded videogame-y enough that it made sense to Don, at least.

He stopped for a minute, looking out across the field of gently waving grass. There were bird Pokemon flying in the distance, but they were too far away for him to see if they were catchable or not. There were closer Pokemon, too, ones he didn't recognize. None had the telltale symbol next to them that showed he could battle and catch them. But they were interesting enough to watch for a moment.

With a single, punctuated squawk, Nike leapt from Don's arm and flapped towards her opponent. The bat spotted her, but it was too late. Not that Don figured the wild Pokemon were especially keen on running away. They hadn't been so far, instead attacking as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Nike rammed into the bat just as it flung itself from the tree. Don whooped as the Noibat's health bar dipped to half-health instantly.

It collided with Nike, doing a sizeable amount of damage to her in return before the two broke apart and soared in circles. Just as they were coming about to face one another again, Don called out "Try a new one: Astonish!"