Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Dec 22, 2022 17:09:37 GMT 9
With Nidoran disposed of, Sarah's team stomped down the grass again, widening the circle and preparing for the next fight.
Only now, the objective had changed.
Sarah always worked best when she was multitasking, and treating this hunt for Duraludon as training for her Psychic accompaniment was the perfect combination as macro and micro goals.
"Rule 1: A Noble must be strong. Not just in body, but in mind. What you lack on one must be supplemented by the other."
"I cannot abide weakness, but the concept of exposed weakness makes my skin crawl. So now, show me strength." |
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Dec 22, 2022 22:40:43 GMT 9
Focus nodded. She didn't talk much, and that was good. As Sarah had said, weakness was bad but exposing it was unacceptable.
She would prefer a mute retainer to a bumbling, tongue-tied one any day. Perhaps speaking lessons would be useful later. Perhaps not.
For now, they needed fire.
The crackling of breaking grass snapped Sarah back to reality. Something was coming for them.
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Dec 22, 2022 22:48:23 GMT 9
A trundling stone broke through the grassy barrier, it's magnetic nose gleaming in the tepid sunlight.
Sarah surveyed it, like a baron weighing up a potential summer home. It had no fang. No wings. No STEEL.
There was nothing here she needed or wanted.
Her mind progressed down the flow chart. If it wasn't a dragon, or a metal, or a useful battle companion, then it was experience.
"Focus. Defeat this enemy."
Focus yipped, an annoying sound, and spat a mouthful of rippling flame at the rock. And it WAS just that. Rock. There was no steel to melt or flesh to scorch. Nothing for flame to catch on.
Sarah took a few steps back. She knew that focus could fight, and that she was strong, but could she figure out the inherant weakness of her position?
And could she rectify it in time?
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Dec 22, 2022 23:01:00 GMT 9
Nosepass's stony arm slammed into the ground, sinking deep into the stomped grass and punching down into the soft loam beneath.
Focus was already moving, her light feet scampering around behind the lumbering foe.
She had many advantages: size, speed, and hopefully intelligence.
"Come on," Sarah urged softly, as Fennekin darted out from underneath another swinging hammer arm.
Focus scampered, biting back flame. She knew it wouldn't work, but what would? Where was the opponent weak? How could they be disabled? Sarah was projecting a little, but she hoped that half of her thoughts were shared by the little Fennekin.
And then she saw Focus' eyes settle on their mark: the nose.
YES
When the next arm slammed down Focus dodged, not to the side but underneath Nosepass, moving in close enough to yelp out a blast of Psychic energy that spun Nosepass' magnetic appendage upside down!
It stumbled back, confused and disoriented, and let out a honk of distress that made Sarah laugh.
As it waddled off back into the grass Sarah knelt down to pet Focus. "Well done. You did me proud."
Focus beamed up at her, excited just to be a part of whatever was happening.
"Now let's see what's next." |
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Dec 23, 2022 0:06:36 GMT 9
Being a dual-type is hard.
It requires a more lateral perspective during combat, as you must decide what is the best option.
Does fire work? Yes/no/maybe? Do I have to try it just in case to make sure? Maybe they have some sort of weak point that if I hit fire WILL be useful! Or maybe not. Maybe flame is a fool's errand.
In which case you switch to your secondary typing and try all over again. It's honestly a hassle.
It's much easier having just a single, overpowering type. If the flames are hot enough anything will burn.
But Sarah wasn't interested in 'easy'.
"Another Nidoran," she said, announcing the appearance of the lackluster opponent. "You know what to do."
A psychic blast smacked the Nidoran back into the bushes. Focus panted, and flicked one ear, dappling the grass with sweat.
"Experience builds knowledge. How enemies are strong or weak."
A Yanma burst into the clearing, and Focus set the grass around them, hiding in the blinding flames.
Yanma buzzed lower and the fox burst from her flame cover, crunching down on the body of the bug and bringing it to the burning ground.
"The brain is a muscle, and strategy is your workout. That is why we say knowledge is power." |
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Jan 2, 2023 9:09:05 GMT 9
Fennekin wasn't ready.
She'd melted Magnemite, popped Nidoran like popcorn, and cracked Yanma like twigs between her teeth.
It hadn't been easy, but it had been doable, and woth each victory her confidence and power grew, swelling like her ego until she felt that even the supposedly 'Dangerous' Duraludon was sure to fall before her flames. Just another stick of steel turned to slag.
She was wrong, and the steel claw compressing her into the ground was sure proof.
Focus wheezed for breath, scrambling to suon flame as the massive steel maw of the metal dragon breathed forge-hot air on her face. |
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Jan 2, 2023 9:16:34 GMT 9
Fire is heat, compressed and pure. In the same way an alloy is made stronger by combining multiple metals, fire that draws from multiple sources tends to burn hotter, the fuels feeding something greater than what each could kindle alone.
Steaming, steely breath poured out onto Focus' face. Sarah's words echoed in her head.
"Do not disappoint me."
It was a grim message, but it gave her something to focus on. Her brain twisted, and her mouth opened and closed as she tried to suck in air.
"Everything burns. Everything."
Focus' chest rumbled with trapped flame. The pinning arm of Duraludon kept her from spitting it up in his face, but the heat inside continued to grow, swelling like a spark in a gas tank until she was sure she would burst.
Duraludon picked her up, and she got a quick gasp of air in right before being slammed back down into the soil.
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Jan 2, 2023 9:23:45 GMT 9
In that brief moment of weightless, grappled freedom Focus felt the burning heat of her companions.
They were watching her now, all gathered to watch her trial by (and of) fire.
Chell, Sarah's right hand, watched on with blazing eyes. The Emboar had no time for failure or weakness. She was Sarah's support. Her bouncer and backbone. Chell was brutal, but she would never be regal. Never be elegant.
Chell was the one that should be accompanying Sarah, and the weight of that expectation was almost as suffocating as the weight of the steel dragon pneumatically compressing her chest.
The Emboar didn't say anything. She just watched, her flaming brows burning a righteous gold.
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Sarah Lee
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Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
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Post by Sarah Lee on Jan 2, 2023 9:29:44 GMT 9
Ron watched too. His eyes burned with bloodlust. Ever since he was a Charmander there has been a love of brutality in his heart. A yearning to see enemies felled like wheat and burned like just as much dry grass.
His flames roared in delight as the fight played out, searing the ground with his deep, dripping crimson. Ron's fire burned like blood.
Ron was Sarah's left hand. The hand that did the dirty work. Chell was the closed fist, and Ron was the spread claws.
And then there was Sarah herself.
Sarah was Strength.
She embodied all aspects of the word. She stood rigid and regal, so sure of herself that if the earth were to crumble away beneath her she would surely just stay standing.
Sarah was a fixture. An institution. An immovable object who wielded unstoppable forces.
Sarah burned Blue. |
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Sarah Lee
•
Soldier, Poet, King
The Creed
Posts: 483
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Barack Orama
OOC Username: Ladybug
Arena Points: 35
|
Post by Sarah Lee on Jan 2, 2023 9:43:03 GMT 9
Focus felt her own flame, trapped inside. It swirled and struggled, searching for escape, flickering and dying in her belly.
She felt the pillars of flame around her. The overbearing Gold, Crimson, and Blue.
Her head felt light, her jaws open and flapping, but as Duraludon picked her up again to deliver the knockout blow she heard Sarah's voice. For real this time.
"Show me strength."
But how could she show strength when she had so little? The other Pokemon had been nothing compared to this monster.
Fennekin's eyes snapped open, and she sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. Streams of gold, crimson, and blue pulling into her mouth, and as Duraludon slammed her into the ground she let the hit expel the wavering flame in her own lungs, letting it mix with the fire of those around her.
She went off like a landmine.
The clearing was engulfed in flame so deep and rich that it looked purple. Like blackberry liqueur, ignited and set loose among the grass stalks.
As the smoke cleared, and the flames came under control, Sarah casually caught the defeated Duraludon. Focus lay nearby, unconscious yet still the clear winner.
Say what you want about pure strength, but in the battle of Brain vs Brawn she would bet on brain every time.
Sarah returned her new protege, and walked off in the direction of Professor Ash's new encampment. She may even have smiled. |
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Algorithm
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Retired
Posts: 307
Player Name: The Algorithm
OOC Username: Stells
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Post by Algorithm on Jan 2, 2023 13:45:04 GMT 9
CAPTURE COMPLETE! THIS IS AN ALGORITHMICALLY AUTOMATED RESPONSE: SO STRONG...
DURALUDON has been added to Sarah Lee's box!
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