[ti]solo[/ti][S][TOWER] Clock's Ticking

"Faster, Keleth! Faster!" Josh cried as he blipped in from the fast travel point outside the Challenge Tower complex, jabbing at the psychic-type's sides repeatedly to coax as much speed as he had out of him. The Ponyta wasn't as fast as some of Josh's other Pokémon, but was plenty speedy, getting him to the Tower of Worms in under a minute. He abruptly slowed his mount to a stop, sliding off as the young horse reared.

Information> Tower of Worms 01F
Time> 05'32"56

Immediately swapping Keleth out for his new catch, he hurled the Poké Ball toward the top of the swarming Pidgey, letting it loose on top of one of the birds. "BUG BITE, buddy!" he ordered, trying to think of a name for the Caterpie. While the young Pokémon had taken a big blow from another Pidgey's talons, the bite to the neck was enough to ground one of them. As the platform at last rose to the second floor, Josh groaned at seeing his time.

Information> Tower of Worms 03F
Time> 06'01"33

Josh stared at the prompt at the top of his UI while waiting for the platform to rise to the next floor. Having this ten seconds of downtime in between each floor sure was nice, giving him time to cleanse himself of feathers and even spray the occasional Pidgey dropping away with a noncombat application of the AQUA spell. Feeling the momentum loss from the tower ceasing to rise, his eyes were fixed on the display, but it... didn't change?

Even better. This would save him an entire menu. "One more, Luna! NIGHT SLASH!" The Liepard repeated its previous attack, this time laying on its back after clawing the Pidgey out of the air. She bounced the poor thing up and down with her legs, bopping it into the air over and over again like one would hit a falling beach ball. "Luna, please... they're Pokémon, not balls. I swear, you've spent too much time around Zamazenta..." Josh sighed, wondering when he would get the notice to gather there again. Hopefully it would be after he had completed the time attack...

Information> Tower of Worms 05F
Time> 06'39"23

Just as he felt the rising elevator lock into place, Josh received a direct message from Alicia Westfield . "Not now, I don't have time to answer this," he mumbled as he flew into his menu to look for a Pokémon that could fulfill the request for a Z-Move. This poor Pidgey was about to get fried.

Withdrawing one horse for another, Josh put Raiden on stage, the amped-up Zebstrika already absorbing Z-Power from the glove on his right hand before he even made the pose. Crossing his closed-fisted arms together, he deeply inhaled. "HYPERSONIC..."

The Z-Energy surrounded the black and white equine, Josh's mastery as a Bolter converting the normal-type Breakneck Blitz into a move of his own making and flair. One that perhaps even Kyukon could hear from his own tower.

"...PLASMA CHARGE!!!"

There was no bracing for the fastest Z-Move on the server, a sonic boom making Josh cover his ears as his first electric-type Pokémon covered the tower's entire width in a split second. The poor Pidgey that had to be victim to the supersonic electric tackle was completely motionless. Maybe he shouldn't have scolded Luna for going so overboard?

During the long animation, Josh replied to Alicia's direct message, explaining why he had been in the tower for so long.

DIRECT MESSAGE> I'm racing Kyukon through a solo Challenge Tower for membership into The Creed. Can only talk between floors.

Information> Tower of Worms 07F
Time> 07'32"40

As the platform continued to rise, Josh noticed the changing ticker in its center request a new move: one with decreased priority. Just as Pazuzu was about to stop beating his wings so strongly, the trainer screamed over the wind. "Keep it going, buddy! WHIRLWIND!" he ordered.

Though the bird was beginning to sweat, he did as requested. The wind speed dropped in most of the tower, but increased toward its center, a small tornado making it difficult for the flock of Pidgey to escape. One was caught in the windstorm and hurled toward Josh, the boy knocked down on his back and suffering a small amount of damage. That damage was very real, too, what with him being able to fight on his own. "Great job! You deserve a rest," he complimented the saddled bird, letting him roost to recover his strength after wearing his wings out.

Information> Tower of Worms 09F
Time> 08'17"78

Thankful that Luna was still on Josh's belt, the young one was quick to withdraw Sarulf for Luna as soon as he saw a slicing moves was needed. Slicing moves were good, typically with high power and fast animations. Upon being released from her Poké Ball, Luna nuzzled Josh and ran her motor loudly, making his hair stand on end. It was a sign that she wanted him to hop on. "Okay, Luna, but stay focused. We're not here to play around. This is a race. Stay focused."

With a threatening-sounding meow, the Liepard faced the flying flock as Josh held her reins and squeezed her sides. The giant feline got a running start before leaping into the mess of wings and talons, catching one of the Pidgey across its soft underside with a vicious NIGHT SLASH. "Whee-hee-hee!" the rider whooped gleefully, thrown to one side of his seat as his mount turned on a dime.

Information> Tower of Worms 11F
Time> 08'40"90
Interval> + 03'43"92
Position> 3rd

The inside of the tree shifted colors to a darker tan, signifying that Josh and his team had reached the first checkpoint. "Unfortunately, Ares, I need to have one Pokémon slot open to be able to get my Pokémon in and out of their Balls quickly." His eyes shifted toward the prompt at the top of his UI, as well as the interval and position information that had appeared. "Case in point," he added as he saw that a Galarian Pokémon was required. With none in his active party, he lost several seconds accessing his Box for Crash, his Boltund.

"Crash, WILD CHARGE!" Josh shouted as he released the electric dog, keeping his commands to the minimum number of words the game would allow in order to save time. Every second counted, and he needed to make up as much time as he could before this two-way race turned into three. The brown and yellow canine flexed his legs before pouncing upon the still-dense flock, knocking one out of the air and painfully onto its back. Crash shook, not from how brutally he had attacked the Pidgey before it despawned, but from the recoil of his own strike. Even considering he was a Tank, that hurt a lot!

Information> Tower of Worms 13F
Time> 09'23"26
Interval> + 03'00"86
Position> 2nd

As the platform continued to rise, Josh noticed something odd about the two timers. The normal timer kept counting up, but the Interval time didn't. Did that mean Kyukon was stuck, like Josh was on the very first floor? This was a golden opportunity, and one that Josh would be remiss not to pounce on.

Looking for a sound-based move, the child swiftly withdrew the wounded Dewgong, scrolling down to Growlithe in his Box to swap the two out. He originally thought of the move Roar for a sound move, but without class levels, Braver wouldn't have access. He had a backup that Josh almost missed.

"Braver, use... HOWL!" Josh hesitated, Ares helping his fellow fire-type by whipping embers at the flock, trying to draw them closer to the oversized dog. While their combination attack didn't take any of the Pidgey out of the air, it did rally their forces to be able to down two... or more. It was good enough for the platform to continue rising up the tree. Josh could see the next layer of the tree trunk already, but couldn't quite discern its color from the distance he was at. It was yet another motivator to keep him going: just what kind of ten-colored tree was the Tower of Worms?