[ti]solo[/ti][S][RIVAL 2] Pardon the Interruption

Seeing the changes to his HUD, Josh shuddered when he heard a distinct guitar riff kick in. This was no pickup match in the Arena. This was a boss battle in the middle of Ostellia. And if he lost, he would black out... or worse yet, white out.

Apollo was strong, but could not take commands from Josh directly, even within Ostellia. Like Izoni, the Celesteela operated on gambit alone, marking the Monferno as its target. Seeing the Blitzle that looked ready to charge into his flying-types, he needed to get it out of there. "Slider, WHIRLWIND!"

Whipping up a huge gust of wind by flapping his tiny wings at almost hummingbird speeds, the flying-type blew away its natural predator, forcing out Aravan's third Pokémon. "I really didn't want you seeing this so soon, but..." he trailed off as the overcast skies above the beach grew darker, an alien cry coming from within the third Poké Ball. "You're not the only one with an Ultra Beast, Josh. And you have made a grave miscalculation if you think fighting with one will let you win so easily. Enigma!" the oceanographer called out the name of the Nihilego that appeared in the Blitzle's place.

"Then it's Ultra Beast versus Ultra Beast," Josh retorted with a bit too much bravado. Hearing of the horror stories this species was capable of, a part of him wanted out of the battle. But there was no running from a Rival battle. It was win... or black out.

"And I will show you that you are not ready to command one," Aravan dug in further, sounding like a villain. "You won the initiative, yet you squandered it. That's unlike you. The last time we battled, you applied as much pressure as you could and pushed Pranky and Ohm to the brink. But if this is all you have... you won't be ready for the next raid. Not by a long shot."

Josh gulped as the text in the corner of his HUD changed from blue to red, indicating he was now at his rival's mercy.

ENEMY TURN

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Apollo's defenses has been cracked by a tricky Pokémon that would now be unnaturally tough to crack. And without a steel-type move, he couldn't truly take advantage of the chink in the Nihilego's new armor. All he could do was power through it. "Slider, HONE CLAWS!" Josh ordered, the buffing technique giving the tiny bird's talons armor-piercing qualities.

Combat Log> Slider's physical attacks improved!

"So you've figured out how to use buffs," Aravan noted aloud, clapping for his rival. "Maybe I've underestimated you some. But a single buff will still not let you scratch Enigma."

"You'd be surprised." It wouldn't be this turn, though. With only one ACTION remaining, the order wouldn't get back to the Rufflet in time. Taking his time, the scout scrolled down his command list until he saw a curious one he had not seen before:

[ Pass ].

Hovering over the tooltip for it, he read it, and the gears began to turn. With careful preparation, his Rufflet could attack again, at the expense of Apollo being defenseless. He didn't like leaving the newcomer, and powerful newcomer at that, helpless, but this Nihilego was going to destroy his entire roster if he didn't pressure it. "Now, SLASH!"

The Rufflet screeched before soaring to the battlefield's height limit. Aiming for the head of its translucent body, Slider dove into the Ultra Beast's head and sliced with his talons. The CRITICAL HIT pierced the foe's rock-hard armor, but it came with dire consequences: neural poison flew out from all over the inflicted wound, causing him to become CHARMED.

"Told you it wouldn't be so simple," the oceanographer taunted as the background music reached its climactic point before looping again.

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Combat Log> Slider turned against the party!

The neural poison left Slider unable to determine friend from foe, the SLASH attack meant for the Nihilego clanging against Apollo's now-weakened steel body. The talons cut through the hard armor like it was flesh, leaving the Celesteela's thrusters sputtering. "That Pokémon..." Josh gasped, the Nihilego's poison effectively cutting his turn economy in half.

"It's a Nihilego," Aravan educated his rival. "They attack not by poisoning the body, but the mind. And a mental poison will not be purged so easily." In a last-ditch effort, the Celesteela pointed all three of its thrusters away from the rival Ultra Beast, ramming into it with a full-body TACKLE. Without a power boost, even the mighty and heavy Pokémon could only inflict chip damage upon its foe.

Resigning to the fate of his brave combatants, Josh held Ares' Poké Ball in his right hand. If he wanted to win this battle, the Charmeleon would have to do so by his lonesome.

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Ares' mouth opened wide, a sphere of yellow and white fire growing by the moment. Charmed by the Nihilego, Slider stared down the Charmeleon with a SCARY FACE, a HUD message indicating that the fire-type's drastic Agility drop. He would almost certainly be going last in the turn order now. It did nothing to stop the massive fireball from growing.

The defiant lizard, unfazed by the intimidating glare, snorted loudly and stepped back from the superheated sphere. "This is what you GET!" Ares bellowed before whipping his tail toward the sphere, detonating it and loosing upon the combatants an indiscriminate INFERNO the size of the battlefield. It was a good thing Josh hadn't invested anything into the Player class, or he would have been hurt by the attack, too!

The blazing explosion inflicted massive amounts of damage upon both sides, even through the Monferno's Fire typing and the Nihilego's Rock typing. The burns stung so much that the Ultra Beast could no longer stand, and even the monkey stumbled some in recoil. Slider, having no such protection, had been charred black, now roast Rufflet. It was nothing a Shrine visit couldn't reverse, but he did feel awful for Slider. "Ares, overdoing it just a bit, aren't you?" he asked, the Charmeleon ignoring him in a huff. Whether it was from dissatisfaction with his trainer or simply recovering from the exertion of a Severe attack was impossible to determine.

Aravan clapped for Josh's efforts. "Well done! I must say, I am impressed. But things are still looking bleak for you." He was right; despite the tremendous shift of momentum, he was now at an action economy disadvantage. A disadvantage the oceanographer would almost certainly capitalize on.

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If Aravan wanted to play fire, Josh would bring the heat. All of the heat. "You might not know this, but I'm a poker player, too. If you come down to the Firewater Saloon, you might see me play there. And if you're familiar, there's two words you don't want to hear me say."

Raising his Z-GLOVE above his head, it and the FIRIUM-Z hanging from Ares' neck glowed with the red light of a supergiant star. His mouth and tail flared with a brilliance that made series of lens flares appear all over the vision of all combatants. A message would pop up on both their HUDs, invigorating to Josh and terrifying for Aravan:

Combat Log> Ares readies Inferno Overdrive.

"All in."

Twin streams of flame from the starter Pokémon's mouth and tail conjoined into one, mixing violently with one another and detonating with such power that the earth itself shook. Ohm soared skyward, quickly reaching the height limit and landing with a thud. The CRITICAL HIT had inflicted staggering damage, bringing the electric Pokémon down in a single attack. Inspired by the violent blow, the Charmeleon gained a second wind. He tried to belch DRAGON BREATH upon the foe, but choked on his own white embers. Another disturbing message flashed atop Josh's vision.

Error> Not enough TP!

The Z-Move was powerful, but it took everything the Charmeleon had. Without the energy to perform all but the most basic attack, Ares ran toward the fire-type foe and raised his claw, SCRATCHING across Pranky's chest.

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The chance to win the battle was before him. Something in the back of his mind left him worried. The force of the Z-Move reminded him of when Alicia Westfield whited out in Sector Jarzick. She had spoken to him of his trip to the Everworld, and how traumatizing it was. With the Blitzle having suffered such a concussive blow, suffering damage that was clearly well in excess of its maximum HP, he suspected a similar thing would happen if Aravan's last Pokémon were to fall.

Instead of taking the opportunity to deliver the coup-de-grace, Josh opted to TALK to his rival.

"Aravan, I know how badly you want to win this. Our Pokémon can barely stand. Both of them. You've proven to me how good of a fighter you are. That we're truly rivals. When the match is even, no one can predict who will win. They've given it everything they have. So I have a proposal for you."

The Pokémon rider paused to get his friendly foe's attention.

"Let's call this a draw. Get our Pokémon patched up a Shrine. There's no need for us to fight to the bitter end."

If his rival's rage was blinding enough, he wouldn't see the light. And if he didn't see the light of Josh's offer, Josh himself might risk whiting out. For talking to his foe instead of fighting used up his turn.

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