Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 10:53:45 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 45F Time> 01:10'38 Interval> + 00:05'53 Position> 3rd
Watching his interval seesaw throughout the challenge made Josh realize how poorly equipped he as a Bolter was for marathons like this one. When he was on it, he could get going faster than either of his rivals could. Where Alicia Westfield and Kyukon had an edge against him was their endurance and their pacing. Every time he got within striking distance, he had to rest for a few minutes to avoid passing out... and that window was long enough for the others to widen the gap.
With a little luck, such as the stroke of fortune he had received from needing a second-stage Pokémon that he had on his belt, he could slowly make up that time gap. Withdrawing Raiden for Ares, Josh was happy to give the Charmeleon some screen time. "Go get 'em - whatever move you want!"
"Hope you're ready for a barbecue!" Ares bellowed, whipping his burning tail toward the flock and cooking one alive with a dense cloud of EMBERS.
Charmeleon used EMBER. NOTE: Ares is still a Charmeleon at this point in the timeline. PROMPT 46: [Tower] k2vswIQS1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 10:59:23 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 46F Time> 01:10'56 Interval> + 00:05'25 Position> 3rd
The top of the tree was getting darker; it was a sign that the sun was starting to go below the tree's opening. If he didn't want to be completely blind inside, he had to finish fast! In another stroke of luck, the tree would let him handle the next Pidgey without needing to go back into his Box.
Opening his WATER TOME, Josh raised his hands to chest level, cupping them near his body before spreading them wide like he was hurling something within them toward one of the remaining few Pidgey. A jet of water fueled by a casting of AQUA left the small bird soaking wet, despawning as soon as it touched the rising platform.
Josh used AQUA (Water-type Player attack). PROMPT 47: [Tower] xU2Eab361-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 11:36:20 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 47F Time> 01:11'14 Interval> + 00:04'53 Position> 3rd
The hole at the top of the tree seemed to grow wider as Josh and his team came closer. Once they reached the top in a few floors, though, where would they go? At the rate he was ascending, he would find out in a minute or two. He had caught another break; with Ares able to use Dragon-type attacks, he didn't even need to switch Pokémon. Despite having the Escape core ability on two classes to switch Pokémon faster, it still took time to swap Pokémon, and with how relatively tight the race stayed, every moment counted.
"Ares, DRAGON BREATH!" Josh commanded, the Charmeleon's tail tip turning a royal color. White-purple flames baked one of the four remaining Pidgey. Wait, four? There were supposed to be one hundred of the small birds. Where were the other fifty?
Charmeleon used DRAGON BREATH. PROMPT 48: [Tower] xE|Kcf9J1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 11:42:07 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 48F Time> 01:11'27 Interval> + 00:03'53 Position> 3rd
A fourth floor in a row that Josh or Ares could clear? Josh's smile beamed as he saw the afternoon sun for the first time since setting foot in the tower. "We're making good time now! For this one, you'll need a little boost from Goroh," he said to Ares before vacating the Cyclizar's seat.
"Awesome, I get to drive!" the giddy Charmeleon replied, clambering onto Goroh. Though he couldn't quite reach the steering bones, the dragon-type was more than smart enough to know what the trainer and fire-type wanted. Flexing and retracting his wheels, the Cyclizar performed a high jump, Ares sliding off mid-leap to ambush one of the remaining birds from above and sink his FIRE FANGS beneath the wild's soft down.
Charmeleon used FIRE FANG. PROMPT 49: [Tower] vX42Nldn1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 11:50:58 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 49F Time> 01:11'39 Interval> + 00:03'26 Position> 3rd
While Josh was watching Ares' and Goroh's combination attack, the floor had risen enough for the prompt on his UI to switch over. While neither his Cyclizar nor his Charmeleon could use electric moves, Josh himself could.
As the dragon-type extended his wheels and started doing donuts to make Ares hoot like a child on a carnival ride, Josh's fingers danced with electricity. All ten of them. Loosing the area-of-effect MAZIO upon the rest of the flock, he hoped his electrical attack would be wide enough to catch them both.
Josh used MAZIO (Electric-type Player attack). PROMPT 50: [Tower] vjZpMvc91-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 12:05:13 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 50F Time> 01:11'49 Interval> + 00:02'50 Position> 3rd
Josh grumbled as one of the two Pidgey flew out of range of the web of electricity, yet he heard another "ding" as though it had been defeated using the correct attack. The prompt had flashed on his UI so quickly that Josh could barely recognize it as "missing with an attack". What a stroke of luck; the elevator didn't even stop at the penultimate floor, reaching the top of the tree and letting him bask in the late afternoon sun.
The Pidgey Josh had missed flew into the central core of the hollow tree, a platform rising along its outer edges to make the tree top appear solid. "There... might not be enough room for all of us to go riding in there," the boy scout sighed, withdrawing his Pokémon. Clicking open the Poké Balls containing Thunder and Storm, he let his two precious Zapdos babies rest in his arms before taking the central platform down. They had ascended fifty floors to get to the peak. Was the real prize in the very core of the tree, fifty floors down?
Josh used MAZIO (Electric-type Player attack, area attack missed one Pidgey due to being out of range). PROMPT 51: [Tower] QEifs5A71-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 12:13:18 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 51F Time> 01:12'17 Interval> + 00:02'29 Position> 3rd
The tree trunk quickly widened as Josh descended. It did not take him long to discern why, as there was no longer a flock of Pidgey; There was a flock of fifty of the much larger and more dangerous Pidgeotto. Looking at his UI, the boy noticed the prompt hadn't changed. Did he break it? He gave it some time to update, and yet it did not. What was an attack he had that was unwieldy, yet wasn't named Inferno?
Sending Ares back to the box for the time being, Josh withdrew the next Pokémon in line: Pazuzu, his own Pidgeotto. "Use your HURRICANE - on the platform! Accelerate our descent!" With a squawk, the saddled bird loosed giant gusts of wind, causing the wooden floor to creak loudly as it continued to descend deeper. While it did not make the lift drop more quickly, the "ding" was an indicator it wouldn't be stopping. He didn't mind using the Pidgeotto among the crowd, either; he could easily recognize which was his from the saddle Pazuzu wore.
Pidgeotto used HURRICANE. PROMPT 52: [Tower] An76cSFb1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 12:28:47 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 52F Time> 01:12'43 Interval> + 00:01'58 Position> 2nd
Finally, a pass! Josh pumped a fist when he saw he was in second place, Thunder and Storm both chirping loudly. It seemed they were able to sense the energy that kept him going, ready to make a move and perhaps even gain the lead for the first time in the race.
"A fully evolved Pokémon... back to the box we go," Josh mumbled, carefully raising his left arm so that neither of his precious babies would fall. With his right hand, he awkwardly swapped Pazuzu for Luna, the Liepard stretching before hissing at the flock. "Go get 'em, Luna! FAKE OUT!" The lithe, purple cat juked the lead bird in one direction, changing her lunging angle with agility that made riding the feline look intimidating. Were she to seat anyone but Josh, they might feel such an aggressive motion in the morning!
Liepard used FAKE OUT. PROMPT 53: [Tower] HeLJyaCv1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 12:49:51 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 53F Time> 01:13'10 Interval> + 00:01'22 Position> 2nd
It felt a little strange to see the floor numbers count up, yet their direction be downward. The platform also seemed to descend faster than it did before. Would the final floors of the Tower of Worms be below ground? There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep going.
With the lead in sight, Josh frowned when he saw that he needed a mid-stage Pokémon. He had just sent Ares back to the box, and he wasn't sure how the moody Charmeleon would react to being sent back and forth from storage so frequently. Clicking open his Poké Ball, the racer apologized to the fire-type again. "Sorry to bring you back out again, but you're one of the few Pokémon that can handle this one! Mind SLASHING one of those Pidgeotto for me?"
"...You know Pidgeotto is a second-stage Pokémon, right?" the Charmeleon deadpanned before doing as ordered, climbing up the side of the trunk using his powerful claws before making a SLASHING leap toward one of the many large birds patrolling just beneath.
Charmeleon used SLASH. PROMPT 54: [Tower] FrlVx5|b1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 11, 2024 12:55:02 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 54F Time> 01:13'39 Interval> + 00:00'48 Position> 2nd
Josh pumped his fist upon seeing a Special move was needed. The prompts on this sixth floor, the First Descent, seemed to update more quickly than during the ascent. While he could keep Ares out, precision was important; a missed attack would cause the floor to catch on fire... which would cause an almost certain White Out.
"Careful with this one, Ares," Josh cautioned. "Use your EMBER in that direction... and don't miss." Nodding, the fire-type grabbed his tail and flicked it toward the center of the flock. Small flames scattered and cleanly struck, burning one of the Pidgeotto and knocking it to the dropping elevator's floor.
Charmeleon used SLASH. PROMPT 55: [Tower] tbPyfQTU1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 13, 2024 10:13:38 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 55F Time> 01:22'50 Interval> + 00:06'03 Position> 3rd
Having come back from an eleven-hour shift, Josh was relieved to see Ares had not burned the entire tower down with his Ember attack... and him with it. He wasn't sure how long he could stay awake for, already a bit woozy. He doubted he was making up the big deficit Alicia Westfield and Kyukon . Long as they didn't finish this weekend, though, he had it made. With an entire week off, he could easily dust off the rest of it. Would it be in time, though?
Not wanting to risk any more fires for now, Josh withdrew Ares for his Pidgeotto, Pazuzu, in response to one of the wild Pidgeotto looking like it wanted a race to the bottom. Thunder and Storm cheered the two birds on, Josh's aerial ride Pokémon diving toward the bottom of the tree in a huge burst of AGILITY. If he wasn't feeling so worn out from work, he would have ridden Pazuzu down the trunk, too!
Pidgeotto used AGILITY. PROMPT 56: [Tower] W5kkZcJk1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 13, 2024 10:44:39 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 56F Time> 01:23'16 Interval> + 00:05'39 Position> 3rd
Josh slowly followed the diving Pidgeotto, losing track of Pazuzu until the descending floor stopped him from advancing. With his need for evolved Pokémon due to their size and his build's gimmick, he at first panicked when he saw he needed an unevolved Pokémon to proceed. Searching through his box, he still had several, including a Bagon that was flashing as he was about to withdraw it.
Information> Yosei the Bagon is eligible for evolution.
That's right! How could he have forgotten about Yosei? Soaring on a Salamence was one of the things Josh really wanted to do once he had the experience for it. Thunder and Storm chirped the Bagon's way as soon as he was released from the Poké Ball, Yosei raising his claw and waving toward them. "Yosei, DRAGON BREATH! Bring them down!" Josh commanded, the Bagon leaping off a branch and toward a diving Pidgeotto. The dragon-type exhaled white-purple fire that was holy in nature rather than purely hot, leaving the trunk intact.
Dragonfire seemed to be okay to use inside the trunk, but Josh was still skittish about loosing any stronger of a fire attack than he needed to within its confines. Understandably so; he didn't want to repeat the climb from floor 1!
Bagon used DRAGON BREATH. PROMPT 57: [Tower] 9dad03MJ1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 13, 2024 10:52:39 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 57F Time> 01:23'39 Interval> + 00:05'07 Position> 3rd
The number of flight options Josh had grew as his level did, but one he really wanted was beyond his grasp. Mirage the Ninjask had saved him once from a dire situation, giving him a taste of just how swift the flying-type was. The snarky insect said it best: he had to prove himself worthy of holding the ultrafast Pokémon's reins. How to do that, he was not sure. Letting Mirage shine had to help, though.
"Mirage, you're up! AGILITY!" Josh cheered after swapping his Pokémon out. The buzzing insect swerved back and forth across the trunk, making a larger Pidgeotto trying to follow the motion dizzy enough to tire it out. Josh was mesmerized by the noise the wings made, heavily distorted by multiple instances of the Doppler effect on top of one another.
Ninjask used AGILITY. PROMPT 58: [Tower] yp_OhOzC1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 13, 2024 11:03:00 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 58F Time> 01:24'04 Interval> + 00:04'34 Position> 3rd
There was only so deep Josh could go without being forced to use a fire move, wasn't there?
"Daddy needs to focus for this one," Josh sweet-talked his two Zapdos chicks. "I'll bring you out of your Poké Balls again when I can, okay?" He winced as Thunder scratched his arm with talons sharp as knives, his arm thumping as he recalled both of them. He withdrew Mirage as well before reaching for Ares' Poké Ball.
"Wish we had a less drastic trapping move, but this is all there is," the speed demon sighed. "Ares, FIRE SPIN!" he ordered, Josh keeping a casting of MARAQUAZI on hold for the funnel of fire that drew in another of the larger Pidgeotto. Did UNOVR source its supply of poultry from the Tower of Worms? With how big the flock here was, it sure felt like it!
Charmeleon used FIRE SPIN. PROMPT 59: [Tower] h5EjCBGz1-501-50
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Josh Devlin
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Beginning Trainer
Player Character
Posts: 1,057
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Josh Devlin
OOC Username: RaikouRider
Arena Points: 28
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Post by Josh Devlin on Sept 13, 2024 11:15:08 GMT 9
Information> Tower of Worms 59F Time> 01:24'29 Interval> + 00:04'07 Position> 3rd
As Josh had promised, he withdrew the fire-type as soon as he was done cleaning up the mess with magic the TOME OF WATER bestowed upon him. Thunder and Storm chirped loudly, entertained by Mirage's burst of AGILITY the moment the bug-type left his own Ball. When the elevator didn't descend any further right away, Josh realized he had to have Mirage repeat the move. "Faster, Mirage! Faster!" he ordered the Ninjask.
"You'll be the greatest Bolter in UNOVR if you can handle me, kid," Mirage jeered back. "I'm gonna train your eyes good. And if they aren't trained, you'll have no hope of flying on my back." The Ninjask, now fueled by a second burst of AGILITY, flew around the Pidgeot so fast that it looked like he and several illusory copies of himself were hovering in place, almost like a Double Team trick.
Ninjask used AGILITY. PROMPT 60: [Tower] lYJICDZT1-501-50
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