Kazuki
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 5, 2023 2:04:20 GMT 9
The Prince rushes forward to collide with the shrine in a blinding explosion of light, the fighting abruptly cut as nearby combatants braced against the torrential sparks. When the flash disperses, Kazuki blinks away the spots of white in his eyes, the scantily-clad royal now replaced with a yellow bird the size of the Titanic.
It wrenches the Giant Shrine as if it were a toy, before its ear-piercing cry thunders across the battlefield and it disappears with one final screech of light, the earth crackling with sparks in its wake.
Mudbray has a second to realize her hooves are no longer pummeling opponents into fine, bedazzled pulp.
<AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!> came the screams of Sprigatito and Buizel as all three pokemon fell from the sky.
Mudbray’s scream is lodged in her throat, every iota of her body tensing as she tries to decide between life and death. The Steppes are barren of life-saving shrubbery. The only safe place to land is —
“Fucking hell, what was that? That bird was the size of a—”
WHAM!
Kazuki is totaled, cratered into the earth as a landing pad for his pokemon, who reel on impact. Mudbray stirs, the two passengers on her back gently rolling off to collapse on the dirt.
<We… we did it? We saved the Prince?> Sprigatito mumbles dazedly, seeing tiny wattrel flutter in circles over his head.
Mudbray looks around. “Get off me,” comes the rasp of a man who was just hit with 110 kilograms of pure donkey. She nods to Sprigatito considering everyone survived, more or less. <We did.>
That seems to reinvigorate the kitten. He begins to celebrate, chanting <We did it! We did it!> as Buizel rushes over to splash healing water over their crushed trainer. Mudbray, who had done enough work for two of her lifetimes, remains where she is, deciding she now needs to sleep twice that amount to compensate.
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 2, 2023 23:52:33 GMT 9
runerigus, whatever did we do, to make you take our world awaayyy
Fast Attack x2 - SPRIGATITO MAGICAL LEAF - GRASS Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) EHc6XcBq2d20 + Rarity (10) + Supereffective (20) TOTAL BONUSES x2
Basic Attack - RUNERIGUS OMINOUS WIND - GHOST 1d30
2d20·1d30
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 1, 2023 20:56:06 GMT 9
Whatever pain he’s in isn’t enough to deter him from rising to the bait—he snaps back at Verai’s (objectively correct) comments with a “Fuck you! You’re the one with the cat ears!” before it all quickly devolves into a nonsense argument that keeps him distracted, at least until they hear a tell-tale crunch.
The shrubs burst nearby, pairs of gloved hands bearing ropes coming to seize him and Verai. The strangers weren’t the faces he recalls, but they must be affiliated with the last group to have found them so soon.
“I am not doing this shit again,” Kazuki hisses, the rope digging harsh tracks against his neck where a bandit tries choke him. He slams his foot into the bandit’s—a pained gasp over his ear—before wrapping his arm behind the man’s head, grabbing his arm, and tossing him forwards.
Sprigatito stirs at the muffled sound of Kitten’s voice, raising his head, his whiskers lined with dirt as he blinks sleepily to see his friend’s silhouette running off towards the trainers. He blinks again at the sight of unfamiliar company.
<… Ah? AH! BAD GUYS!> He yelps, scrambling up to his feet as he sees Purrai being apprehended, Kitten jumping to bite an enemy, and his trainer charging bodily into the herd.
Kazuki’s brain rattles in his head as he moves, his battered ribs making clear signs as to why he should cut this shit out immediately, yet he dives in anyways, driving his fists into whatever skulls he can reach, manic laughter bubbling out of his throat as he tears through the assailants.
It’s not efficient enough. They overwhelm him with numbers, and soon one of them slips through the frenzy to conk him on the soft spot of his head and he goes down like a wild boar at the end of a hunt.
“And that, Rikol,” One bandit tuts while tying up the two hostages, “is why bashing ‘em over the head’s better than all your rope nonsense.”
Rikol grumbles. “Just hurry up, we’ve got to bring them and the egg to Ravdah before nightfall. You, over there! Fetch the wagon!”
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 1, 2023 20:48:25 GMT 9
The environment has begun working against them. The leaves and fruit fall and freeze in their path, the twigs and plant litter now indestructible spikes under their feet. Kazuki must weave and duck to avoid bashing his head on the floating apples and berries, all while their worst nightmare stalks after them.
He narrowly avoids crashing into a tree, skidding to a halt as it fizzles out of existence and is replaced instead by an endless abyss. Verai is not quite so lucky.
“Damn it, Ver!” Kazuki’s eyes move from where Verai hangs off the cliff, the man’s two cats reaching safety in a mad scramble. He looks over his shoulder to the writhing mass of eyes slowly but surely moving their way and drops down to his knees.
“This is- not- the time, for this shit!” He grabs Verai’s arm with one hand, the other latching onto the back of the man’s shirt and pulling. He has his feet braced against the edge of the pit as he pulls, pieces of dirt and rocks tumbling out from his soles into the nothingness. Sweat beads down his temple, knowing that any moment now he could be skewered through.
His eyes catch something flash in the monotonous void:
Behind him, Sprigatito panics. He scrambles as the looming monstrosity’s blinding gaze locks onto Kitty and Kitten, tripping on his own paws and landing on the dirt. He raises his head to see its leg reach forwards—<NO!>—and sends out a flurry of leaves, all of them rebounding off the creature’s body and freezing in the air before it.
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 1, 2023 18:36:29 GMT 9
Kazuki’s hands curl into fists. The look Verai gives him fuels the anger stirring in his gut, all self-assured and reeking of disappointment. It wrenches him back to memories of facing his parents after they were informed their child had slugged another student in the courtyard.
Verai was even talking to him as if he were some sort of idiot.
“I already told you.” He walks forward, lips curled into a snarl, to snatch his cat out of Verai’s hands or to deck the guy—
Only to pause at the sound of a small lawn sprinkler.
Sprigatito has roused from where he’d been curled in Verai’s arms, now baring his fangs at his trainer, ears flipped back as he hisses. <STAY BACK!>
“What the hell?”
The kitten scrambles, pulling himself forwards as far as he can while still being held. <Don’t touch Purrai! Purrai was helping! He hasn’t done anything wrong!>
His little lungs expand and contract with the volume of his wails. <I am so sick! And tired! Of everyone fighting all the time! And- and no one ever listens to me ‘cause I’m not the leader, and, and—>
The kitten stares at his trainer with trembling eyes, before laying his head down on Verai’s arm with a whimper. <And what’s the point? It’s not like you can understand me anyways…>
Kazuki blinks, his brows furrowed with genuine confusion at the outburst and the sulking. The cat had never even glared at him before. It’s uncharacteristic. To Kazuki, his cat had left for Verai and was now refusing to come home, for no apparent reason.
“What did you say to him?”
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Apr 1, 2023 17:59:51 GMT 9
“I can read fine,” Kazuki says with an upturn of his nose. “It’s just that not everything is worth reading. You don’t look the type to read tabloids, yourself.” Then again, these were basic instructions, which Kazuki was opting not to acknowledge, regardless of how they shove themselves in his face. It is impossible to lead a brick wall to water.
He stares curiously as the stranger goes off into a tangent, taking his mindless comment as an invitation to dissect Blarney’s psyche.
“You’re pretty weird, you know that?” Kazuki laughs. “You’re choosing to be a pedant over how many wives he wants, and not what he wants his wives to be. If the fish decides it wants to be with an actual fish instead of some seafaring loon, we don’t have the right to call it a cheat.”
There didn’t appear to be anything biting anymore. Still, he stands around, waiting for the impossible, or rather, relishing the impossibility. He’s fishing out of a well at an abandoned church where it rains forever, debating over a man’s fish marriage with a stranger dressed like a robot. It’s strangely refreshing. Reminds him that this is all truly a game, even if it sometimes tries to murder him.
“Why are you playing this game anyway?”
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 20:05:16 GMT 9
The wall shatters, ceilings crumbling as jagged cracks snap around the markings on the wall. The ink—or what he thought was ink—proceeds to glow, and it’s then he realizes he’d been wrong.
He had seen this design before.
He’d been curious about it, seeing only a portion sticking out of the Professor’s desk—the hands—and had wanted sorely to fight it.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Chunks of rock dislodge from the singular wall, connected to the main body by ghostly tendrils. Its eyes settle on them, and its painted mouth does not move as it releases a haunting wail.
GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOGH!
The tunnel shakes. He hears Silvermoon ask him what to do behind him, and Kazuki grits his teeth, his injuries radiating pain alongside the adrenaline in his veins. “The hell do you think? We need to get out! CAT!”
Sprigatito springs up from where he’d flattened against the floor in a panic, paws over his ears, now standing straight as if he hadn’t just cowered in the face of the monster.
“Seed bomb!”
A hail of seeds comes to shoot at the Runerigus, the massive stone creature howling as its stone arms move to cover its single eye. The seeds slam into its armor and the ghostly tendrils, rebounding and bouncing all over the tunnel.
The Runerigus quickly retaliates, massive arms clawing into the ground, barely burrowing before it lunges for Sprigatito, who yelps as he’s sent flying on a hunk of the dislodged floor.
The cat bounces on the ground like a squeaky toy, groaning, before staggering back up to his feet.
During the chaos, Kazuki begins moving back, urging Silvermoon out the direction they came from, the floor under their feet already littered with rubble and cracked stone.
SPRIGATITO used SEED BOMB (Sweeper x2 Fast Attack) The WILD RUNERIGUS took 88 damage! SPRIGATITO took 20 damage! WILD RUNERIGUS used DIG (Basic Attack) SPRIGATITO took 12 damage!
SPRIGATITO: 118/150 WILD RUNERIGUS: 412/500
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 19:23:06 GMT 9
about to get fucking wrecked by a living tombstone
Fast Attack x2 - SPRIGATITO SEED BOMB - GRASS Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) wDJLYygX2d20 + Rarity (10) + Supereffective (20) TOTAL BONUSES x2
Basic Attack - RUNERIGUS DIG - GROUND 1d30
2d20·1d30
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
|
Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 18:38:54 GMT 9
STORY MODE: ROLLING THREAD
for general content and other threads utilizing the dice-rolling mechanic. Example Post: Fast Attack x2 - Chimchar Flame Wheel - Fire Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) IJ_XdUfV2d20 + Rare (10) + Trainer Class Bonus (5)
Rolling Templates ⚠️Don't forget to remove the % signs from the roll code!
{IF USING A CORE ABILITY}Add the following to your roll template:
TANK
[s]DISRUPT[/s] - The following attack reduces the enemy's AOE DMG rather than their HP. Roll your CHG ATK dice <b>twice</b> and take the higher result.
[s]GUARD[/s] - <Target> takes only 1/2 Damage for 1 post.
SWEEPER
[s]DODGE[/s] - <Your Pokemon> takes and deals only 1/2 Damage for 1 round.
[s]RECOIL[/s] - <Your Pokemon> takes and deals x2 Damage for 1 round.
SUPPORT
[s]BUFF[/s] - <Target> gains a +10 Bonus to all rolls (caps at +20)
[s]REVIVE[/s] - <Target> is revived with (<Your Pokemon's> Current HP) <Your Pokemon> faints!
OTHER
[s]ESCAPE[/s] - <Your Pokemon> switches out for <New Pokemon> without sacrificing an action.
[s]SACRIFICE[/s] - <Target> is 100% protected from damage. <Your Pokemon> faints. {ANY PKMN: BASIC ATTACK}[u]Basic Attack[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move - Type Damage Taken: -10 HP No Roll Required: [b]20 DMG[/b] + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other {TANK: CHARGE ATTACK}[u]Charge Attack[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move - Type Damage Taken: -10 HP [%roll range="1d50 | 1d100 | 1d150 | 1d200 | 1d250"] Remove percent sign + unneeded values. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other {SWEEPER: FAST ATTACK(S)}[u]Fast Attack x2[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) - Type(s) Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="2d20"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x2
[u]Fast Attack x3[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -30 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="3d20"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x3
[u]Fast Attack x4[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -40 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="4d20"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x4
[u]Fast Attack x5[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -50 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="5d20"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x5
[u]Fast Attack x6[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -60 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="6d20"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Supereffective? (20) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x6 {SUPPORT - HEAL}[u]Heal x2[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) - Type(s) Damage Taken: -20 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="2d12"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x2
[u]Heal x3[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -30 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="3d12"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x3
[u]Heal x4[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -40 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="4d12"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x4
[u]Heal x5[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -50 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="5d12"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x5
[u]Heal x6[/u] - Pokemon Pokemon Move(s) Damage Taken: -60 HP (-10 per dice) [%roll range="6d12"] Remove percent sign. + Rarity (0 | 5 | 10 | 15) + Trainer Class Bonus? (5 | 5) + Other TOTAL BONUSES x6 2d20
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 18:16:03 GMT 9
He has to admit, for what the little thing lacks, it’s definitely got energy in surplus.
Superheated kicks are delivered wherever they can reach—from knees to legs to stomach and whatever arms he uses to block. They sizzle against his skin, but don’t leave him with burns, instead focusing on pure impact. It’s the first time a pokemon has actually wanted to fight instead of just, y’know, kill him.
“Alright,” Kazuki grins. “Let's have some fun.”
He has to be a bit careful, swiping away and leaning from certain hits to prevent them from hitting soft spots. One particular kick he has to grab, causing the bunny to yelp as it wiggles helplessly in the air. “Damn, haven’t you heard of ‘no hitting below the belt’?” Kazuki tuts.
The scorbunny sticks its tongue out at him with a pbbbbt! and tries to smack his face with its paw, only to end up spinning around.
Kazuki chuckles, enjoying the rabbit's attitude. Maybe it could become a good fighter. But not now. “Down and out.” He tosses it back to the edge of the ring.
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 17:01:44 GMT 9
A challenger appears.
Kazuki’s surprised to see the first thing to come up on the crater mound is a small bunny. The little white puffball hops up the rocks, landing on the platform in front of him with bouncy feet. Its beady eyes look him up and down, before it straightens itself (making it look as tall as it can) and raises fisticuffs in a challenge.
“This isn’t exactly your weight class,” Kazuki snickers. The Scorbunny narrows its gaze at him, before slamming its feet on the ground and launching forwards.
He has little time to react before the rabbit starts wailing on him with a flurry of kicks and punches.
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 3:10:01 GMT 9
The Patrat in front of them is armed. Kazuki blinks, watching as it brandishes its little knife. For the first time, he kind of wants to take one of these pests.
Sprigatito, on the other hand, doesn’t seem too happy. He’s back to standing around again, but isn’t shaking—he’s getting better!—though he’s still unsure how to proceed. He can’t try biting it. And his leaves aren’t working either.
The Patrat takes out a honing rod, cackling evilly.
It is looking strangely familiar.
Gulping, Sprigatito decides to follow suit: he takes out his claws, sharpening them on a little rock using Hone Claws and trying to look as tough as he can. His claws emerge glinting, the product of perfect grooming technique.
This continues repeatedly, one side showing off their sharpening technique, until there comes the tink of the Patrat’s knife coming out chipped. The rodent falls to the ground, defeated.
Prompt 24. [Tower]1lArkmWA1d50 1d50
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
|
Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 2:44:54 GMT 9
When the dance ends and they part, Kazuki can’t even find it in himself to care for the violation of child labor laws or his dance partner’s contempt. He sees the armor that manifests and the Prince’s scripted response, and when the man actually puts it on, Kazuki can only double over and laugh as he smacks his knee.
“So worth it,” he wheezes, wiping away a tear. At last, the years of enduring his mother’s ridiculous extracurriculars has paid off. Salsa has been redeemed.
The victory is short-lived. Mudbray blinks as the Prince takes over the trip, her concern palpable as the atmosphere shifts. She sniffs the air and finds it saturated with petrichor and rust.
When they do reach the spire after an ominously peaceful walk, the earth shifts. The humming has increased, the slight tingle of electric current causes the hair on Mudbray’s body to stand. The Prince leads the charge, and when she moves to follow him, she finds her hooves off the ground.
“Oi!” Kazuki hisses, moving to grab her and trying to pull her back down. “The horse is flying?!” His feet dig into the dirt, but the pull of anti-gravity is stronger.
Mudbray sighs, staring at him with a deadpan. <I am not a horse,> she drawls primly, knowing her trainer wouldn’t understand her. <I am a donkey.>
And then she floats out of his arms to the heavens above. “What the fuck!”
<Mudbray! I’mma comin’!> A brave little cry sounds, as Sprigatito scrambles to save his teammate, using his trainer as a ladder and springing off the man’s head to latch onto Mudbray’s leg as it moves out of reach.
Now two of his pokemon were airborne when they weren’t supposed to be. Kazuki doesn’t know what is happening anymore, but he does spot the herd that’s hurtling towards the Prince. He sees Verai order his pokemon to defend, two cats wailing on a multi-headed bird and one cat buffing the Prince with psychic energy.
Kazuki shoves two fingers in his mouth and whistles, catching his pokemon’s attention. He takes out a pokeball, having returned Pansear earlier and needing another, heavier pokemon to act as a healer.
He tosses it and Buizel pops out, landing precariously on Mudbray’s back and pinwheeling her arms. Sprigatito grabs her by a paw and pulls her to sit with him as Kazuki calls out the order: “Defend the royal pain in the metal bikini!”
<Metal bikini?!> Buizel asks, mortified.
<The Prince.> Mudbray clarifies, nudging her snout to the Prince getting frighteningly close to the jaws of a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. <Hold on to me. Tightly.>
It’s a bit tricky, but she finds a way to move. A lot of it has to do with air current and adjusting her weight. She kicks at the air, galloping in an unusual rhythm to launch herself towards the two threats. She throws not only her body weight, but the full power of her hooves, slamming down on hard armor plating with a shattering force.
She may be fluttering and emitting glitter like a pixie, but she was born to fight.
Sprigatito cheers. <For the Prince!> He cries, launching a barrage of hard-shelled seeds at the remaining Nidoqueen, the pokemon being sent down with its partner.
<For… the Prince?> Buizel says reluctantly, holding her paws together and forming a little water balloon of blue healing energy. She then chucks it at the Prince, hoping it’ll help, though is doubtful it’ll fix the state of his wardrobe.
MUDBRAY used BULLDOZE (ATTACK) SPRIGATITO used SEED BOMB (ATTACK) BUIZEL used SOAK (HEAL)
GROUND-TYPE PKMN REMAINING: 3/5 (135 HP) FLYING-TYPE PKMN REMAINING: 4/5 (198 HP) THE PRINCE: 153/??
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 31, 2023 1:25:21 GMT 9
Gravitational Pull
Mudbray, Charge Attack 77eTNgpZtank1 +20 super effective
Sprigatito, Fast Attack sweeper1 +10 rarity each
Buizel, Heal support1 +10 rarity each tank1·sweeper1·support1
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Kazuki
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 883
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Himura Atsushi
OOC Username: Sleepy
Arena Points: 113
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Post by Kazuki on Mar 29, 2023 1:39:51 GMT 9
Verai asks him for an explanation, but Kazuki has none. All he has to go by are memories: Perilous caves, ear-shattering audio, and a haunted timberland. He sees the pecha berry break the law of physics and knows in the pit of his stomach that something terrible is about to happen.
A warning call, and the creature emerges, and it is the worst abomination he has seen so far.
Kazuki’s hands clamp over his ears, but they don’t block the screech of Verai’s audio. It leaves his ears ringing in a familiar way. It’s painful to even look at the monster—its colors oversaturated and trembling out of its lines, as if being yanked by invisible hands. He tears his eyes away to make a break for it, but lags enough to see it take a step forward.
Its leg stretches to a bone-snapping length, reaching across the leaf-strewn ground like taffy—like a rubber band, like a spider’s leg, like sinew—becoming too thin as the tip reaches the floating pecha berry.
In the next second, the berry is speared into the ground, punctured and bleeding into the fertile soil.
The creature continues, moving at a sluggish rate, its frames cutting out and restarting constantly. And yet it keeps up. It takes massive, unnatural strides, contorting its body, dragging it forward just when it seems as if it’s out of sight.
“Holy FUCK!” Kazuki’s booking it, he’s breaking a personal best at this rate. Sprigatito clings to his shoulder for dear life, having jumped onto his trainer as soon as the monster had emerged, and is also now screaming. The cat makes a valiant effort to try and increase the distance between the trainers and the monster, but the magical leaves he chucks at its legs only rebound off it, before being frozen in the air like the pecha berry.
The grove shifts, ever so slightly. It still retains its auburn leaves and its honey-sweet sun. It’s just brighter. Time moves a little slower. In the grove, there is no spring and summer, only a season of bountiful harvest.
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