Rustboro City

Nicolai "Servo" Dakari

The trip to the Pokemon center was an uneventful one. Nicolai had secured his newly acquired stone badge to his belt and it glinted in the sun as they walked. Flux, who was essentially walking sideways so that she could stare at it in amazement, nearly tripped several times during the short trip. Once he had secured it, you'd think the redheaded man would have forgotten he had it. Pride was all well and good, but when you analyzed everything - including how the joy of battle and the pride in his victory had changed his natural behavior, you tended to quickly correct any loose emotional responses you may have had in the past. He knew that getting excited lead to errors and on some level, he had gotten lucky with Roxanne. If he wanted to continue to win here he would need to reign in his feelings and keep things at arm's length as it were. Once the Nurse had his Quanta's ball and was gingerly putting a bandaid - YES, a literal bandaid, on a nonexistent 'booboo' Flux claimed to have on her arm, Nicolai found himself sitting with one leg crossed over the other, foot bobbing gently while he stared at the nearby wall. The nurse had to know that Flux was a Pokemon, but that didn't stop the two from seemingly conversing and giggling like a couple of high school girls every two minutes or so. He wanted to smile at the thought actually. Nicolai had never finished high school but what he had experienced was quite awesome. That being said, he was still consciously suppressing his ability to feel anything avoidable at the moment so the male didn't smile. He simply continued to stare at the wall while contemplating their next move. Gym badge aside, it was time to see what it was that the psychic Pokemon had left him on that CD. A rocket encrypted drive. It was probably nothing, that creature had done nothing but get in his way - something he attributed to it's psychic abilities. He had always speculated that the thing had seen his dreams and feared what he may yet accomplish, and had taken it upon itself to try and stop him at every step of the way. "Yeah.. But my suit." He murmured, lifting one gloved hand and studying it. Nicolai had checked the intelligent armor over a few times and found nothing of concern. No trackers, no booby traps. The creature had seemingly done what it claimed and repaired the suit. "Or whoever owns it did." That was a conundrum that bothered the blue-eyed man. Not because fixing the suit was beyond your typical electrical engineer - but because of the speed with which the repairs were done. Someone not familiar with the outfit would have had to study and diagnose it. This was certainly not the case. Whoever had repaired the suit for him knew exactly what it was, how it functioned and had the repair tools on hand to make the said repair. Between that and the fact that it had been delivered with a rocket device meant that the most likely source of the repair was team rocket itself. Which was bad. Really, really bad. With a sigh, Nicolai leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, face in his palms. Team rocket would never have helped him. In fact, the last four times he had encountered a small group of them - they had hunted him and tried to kill him. Of course, they hadn't had any luck. Anyone with any real skill in that faction no longer SERVED with team rocket. They had either abandoned ship or gone deep underground. Some punk kid and a few authorities had been all it took to bring down the once-mighty empire - or so he had been told. Nicolai knew better though. He himself, after making a decision to go solo, had destroyed several rocket outposts and stolen countless data, resources, pokemon, and money from them. They were already dying - better to have put those things to good use. 'But what did you actually accomplish with it?' the internal voice made him snort. The voice was absolutely right though. In the end he had been too hasty. Too... Confident. And it had cost him more than he could bear to think about. Frowning, he rubbed a tender spot at the back of his skull and swallowed hard. That didn't matter. This time would be different. This time he would succeed. And when he did, the world would change forever.



Partners:
Out of their Pokeballs:
Wearing:
Trainer Encounter: 35/25
Wild Encounter: 35/5
Item Posting: Vs Seeker - 15/30
Item Posting: Jaw Fossil - 23/50
OOC:

Nicolai "Servo" Dakari

Even if they HAD beaten him, which currently they were not - he wouldn't have given up his Pokemon. That simply wasn't the 'rocket' way. They were takers. 'scavenging bottom feeders.' he instantly corrected in his mind. Nicolai was a taker. Team rocket were nothing more than cowards and scavengers that just had happened to put up a really impressive front. So impressive he had wanted to be one once upon a time. No, even if the had beaten him he was fairly confident in his ability to neutralize any and all of them with his bare hands. And if they didn't pan out he always had the gun. He smiled inwardly, trying to recount how many times he had been on the road and alone without even a single pokemon and had used that battered old prop to scare away would-be attackers or get himself out of otherwise dangerous situations. It looked dangerous enough, but in truth it was a real weapon only in the barest sense of the word. It would never fire bullets again. The battle was going so well that he allowed this brief mental trip down memory lane if only to stop himself from scoffing at the ironic scene playing out before him. The woman had immediately released a Combusken. The impressive creature that it was - Nicolai had selected it's basic form to start his journey... Until the professor had screwed things up. 'or was it me?' He thought outwardly. Surely he had selected the ball the Professor had indicated contained Torchic. Yet, the pokemon currently slapping the Combusken around was no Torchic. In fact, it wasn't even the same damned Pokemon he had put back into the ball a day ago. he heaved a sigh at this development. He really hadn't considered the little blue creature he had released to start a campfire to be of any real use. In fact, he had put the Mudkip so far to the back of his mind that it barely registered as an accessible tool. Yet the moment the battle started and he nodded at Flux to step opposite their opponent. She always wanted attention, so this was her chance. The Combusken blew a small stream of fire for intimidation purposes in response... And it worked, the Ditto disguised as a human snatching the ball from his belt and tossing it into battle in a panic. "Water beats fire!" She whimpered, her ditto speak drawing confused looks from their opponents who, up to this point thought he was human and probably still did. Just a human with a mental defect. "Riiight... Fire." He had muttered once realization dawned on him. The man had trained every bad habit out of Flux - or, every single one that he could actually identify. From her flawed transformations to transition time, stamina, even most of her behavioral issues had been, for the most part sorted out. However - he could still remember the day he found flux huddling in a corner behind a tank in the back of a burning lab. Nick had not been to blame for that terrifying incident in one of the secret rocket facilities. No, that had just been a really badly timed coincidence. Fighting had broken out between the commanding rocket upper class and the soldiers that, in a mad panic to get the hell out of Kanto now that the noose was tightening via police and even military, had defied orders and attempted to steal anything of value before fleeing. Nicolai had been forced there, after his... Failed attempt at subduing that terrifyingly powerful Pokemon that had been his obsession since the moment he learned of his existence. The one he still sought to this day. Nick had lost a large portion of his memories up to that point but had left himself clues that all pointed to that facility. When he arrived it was already on fire. People were still fighting and looting, but he didn't care about that. He just needed a journal that he had left in storage along with several video files he had made of himself. Turns out even as overly confident and y as he had been back then, he was still a thinker. He had located his stash without incident thankfully since every single one of his pokemon had been beaten and then taken from him in 'reclamation' according to that thing team rocket had created. Also it had broken his hand, the gauntlet tasered glove, and crushed the barrel of his gun- in addition to trying to wipe his memory. So yeah, not a good day to pick a fight. The redhead had a breather mask on to avoid the smoke as he tried to make his way out of the inferno but had misstepped and fallen through a crumbling part of the floor. The fall hadn't been too bad and his suit protected him from what should have been some terrible burns, but it was there, as he lay on the floor trying to collect the wind that had been knocked from him, that he saw Flux for the first time. She had been burned pretty badly and was nearly unconscious. There was less smoke in the basement than above but it had clearly taken its toll on the small creature. He didn't know it at the time but Flux had been a baby. She had never transformed into anything before in her life - meaning she was hopelessly useless, but also innocent. To this very day he knew not why he had chosen to take the time and put forth the effort he did to clamber over rubble and debris to fetch the frail thing. He didn't even know what it was, his memories had been so thoroughly scrambled by Mewtwo that he had barely even been able to read the note left for himself in his pocket detailing the need to get to this particular facility. But, whether he believed in fate or destiny or not- and even though after recovering much of what was lost to his mind over the course of a few years, he thought back occasionally and knew he wouldn't have saved the ditto in his normal frame of mind, The redhead was glad he had saved her. She had turned out to be the most useful Pokemon he had ever owned. And moreover, she was loyal. It had taken a lot of effort to help Flux recover, and although the creature had pulled through, she had never gotten over her fear of fire. Sure- over time he had managed to get the ditto to enjoy the safely contained version of the element in the form of a campfire. But she always went the extra step to make sure it never got out of control. She hated fire. She feared it. And for that reason, he was currently watching what had once been his Mudkip slap this teenager's Combusken around like it owed the water pokemon money. He hadn't issued a single order, hadn't needed to. By the time he had gotten past shooting Flux a sour look for disobeying him, the Pokemon his device was claiming to be 'Marshtomp' was aggressively pounding the poor chicken into submission. On second thought? Maybe Mudkip wasn't so bad after all. "Alright. I think we've proven our point." He stated plainly, Marshtomp breathing heavily as it stood over a very, VERY unconscious Combusken as the female beyond stood with her eyes wide and full of hate. "No fucking deal, That's some bullshit and you know it- boys, get him!" Both of the teen males who had been watching the fight - 'No, not even close. Slaughter.' Again he mentally corrected himself. But both of the men had stood with their eyes as wide as their female leader. Except that they were clearly not sharing her rage. Reluctantly, one of the males, the one Nicolai reasoned was showing strength only if to impress this whiny girl, first looked at Nicolai and then his gauntlet before thinking better of just trying to fistfight the man before he raised a ball of his own - both of the men only seemed to have one Pokemon a piece. Even if Marshtomp got tired Flux could handle the rest. Unless they too happened to be fire type. In response, Marshtomp Turned his head in the direction of that man and the human froze. The redhead blinked, waiting for the man who had obviously been startled to continue with his plan but he just... Stood there. For several long seconds, nothing happened, Then the woman took an aggressive step towards the Marshtomp and the pokemon retorted immediately, stomping a foot on the ground and snapping his gaze her way. Nicolai had expected more resolve than that from this one. She had some balls on her. But, she too, froze as if looking into the face of medusa herself. 'What the hell is going on.' He mused, Flux standing directly beside him and looking every bit as confused. He wasn't psychic and couldn't learn glare or any other type of paralyzing move. Sooo- "Fuck this, it's all yours I'm out!" The man who hadn't lifted a ball to join the fight practically screamed, dropping the stolen Pokeball and taking off immediately. The instant he had turned tail and run, the other man cast a quick glance at the female and then began to shake his head, slowly at first, but increasing in speed until he looked like he was one of those poor saps in a horror movie denying the reality that some terrifying monstrosity was about to end their lives. He too turned and ran, arms flailing into the air comically as he did so. "You aren't hot enough for this shit!" Nicolai watched as the woman physically broke out into a sweat. He imagined she must not have heard the comment from her fleeing comrade because she didn't seem like the type to take that kindly. The girl tore her eyes away from the Marshtomp to her unconscious Combusken, then to Nick, before finally returning to the Marshtomp, a serious internal debate raging like an inferno between her pride and...dealing with whatever the water pokemon was currently doing to her. After a few more tense seconds, The Marshtomp took a bold step toward her and flexed. Both Nick and Flux's eye's twitched in unison at the sight of the most classic bully maneuver ever invented. The psych-out. The woman faltered, flinching hard then... Then Nicolai swore he heard The water pokemon snicker menacingly. All at once, it seemed to puff up before exhaling a torrent of water at the woman and sending her flying, then sliding down the alley, her ball dropping to the ground next to where she had just been standing. Marshtomp slapped it's fin hands against its side once, then twice, the pokemon merrily shaking side to side as he scooped up the dropped ball, returned the Combusken, and then tossed it, whipping its entire body around to bat the Pokeball clear over the alley, the nearest small home and straight off into the horizon where it vanished as if shot into the sun. Against his very will, Nicolai swallowed a lump that had been building in his throat, realizing he hadn't seen his Marshtomp's face this entire time. Was he just possibly THAT intimidating? He suddenly felt nervous, a rare thing for someone as used to death and pain as Nick, the Marshtomp nodding in the direction the ball had sailed off into approvingly before it turned to face him. For a fraction of a second, he saw the raw, unmitigated murder in that creature's eyes and felt the seven-year old that had died inside of him a long time ago cry out and beg for his mother.But no sooner had those eyes that bore holes into anything with a soul been laid upon him, then they softened into something close to normal. Instantly, the Marshtomp cheerfully raised his hands in a joyous celebration of their victory. Flux risked a look at Nicolai, her human face saying she had seen that terror too. But the kids who had gone from whimpering and sobbing to silent during the battle, suddenly cheered in joy, rushing the Water pokemon and clamping down all around it in shared excitement. The ex rocket turned renegade trainer let his shoulders slump in relief as the Pokemon began to gently pat the children on the head happily, silly chittering noises escaping him. Maybe he had been seeing things. Maybe he and Flux both... Maybe it was just a trick of the- "Still want a Torchic?" The Marshtomp called in a merry tone in its native tongue, its eyes narrowing on Nicolai once more. He shuddered. This thing was going to require some... Finesse.

Nicolai's Marshtomp vs Trainer Danielle's Combusken (lv 25)

round 1
Danielle's Combusken used Peck! (-30 100/130)
Nicolai's Marshtomp used Mud shot! It was super effective! (-100 100/200) Combusken's speed was reduced by one stage.

Round 2
Nicolai's Marshtomp is Loafing around!
Danielle's Combusken used Growl! Marshstomp's Attack was reduced by one stage!

Round 3
Nicolai's Marshtomp (got tired of playing with Combusken) used Mud shot! It was super effective! (-100 0/200)

Nicolai and Marshtomp win the battle!







Partners:
Out of their Pokeballs:
Wearing:
Trainer Encounter: 12/25
Wild Encounter: 37/5
Item Posting: Vs Seeker - 17/30
Item Posting: Jaw Fossil - 25/50
OOC:

Nicolai "Servo" Dakari

Nicolai was pleasantly surprised to find that, upon his arrival at the front doors of the Devon building, each and every child from the alley was behind him. He'd heard their hushed bickering on the way up. Apparently, the little boy who'd lost the Raticate now agreed to do and give away several things, including several chocolate bars, the borrowing of a video game console, taking part in something called 'the tide pod challenge' and - this last one was very hopefully a joke - a kidney. Still, this was not Nicolai's concern, the redheaded man stopping outside the door and suddenly putting on a very convincing 'are you ready to learn!?' face. The children each groaned upon seeing it but Flux was having a good time. She had changed her face a bit to seem just a bit younger than her usual form and had slipped her arm around Nick's so that they appeared to be a couple. Nicolai had not asked for this particular camouflage but it certainly didn't hurt their chances. Except it did. "Wait, Flux no. I need you on mime duty for this one." Flux silently gasped when he mentioned the task and then let her lip quiver. It did next to nothing to Nicolai who only shook his head and removed a clearly worn and not so used Pokeball from his belt. "If one of us goes missing it looks suspicious. Better to have you play me than my wife this time around." The Ditto turned human opened her mouth as if to protest but got tapped in the head by said Pokeball, the capsule opening and pulling the ditto into it before she could so much as whimper. Flux hated Pokeballs and it would have been easier on her to let the Ditto ride shotgun in his shirt but he didn't feel like watching Flux mope the entire time. They'd been delayed long enough. "Alright kids, you know the deal." Nicolai reached out and put a hand onto the kid whose Raticate was in his possession at the moment, pulling the boy to his side and smirking. "What is your name?" He asked, the little boy slapping Nick's arm away and scowling. "Charlie." He stated, eyes locked on the ball of his Pokemon as if wondering if perhaps it would be possible to snatch it and run before they had to endure the harsh boredom of the devon corp building yet again. In response, Nick 'accidentally' let a bit of static from the suit's electronic glove race down his arm, causing the boy to take a quick step back and wince. "Just do this for me and we can all go home." Charlie nodded quietly, sparing a look back at his friends who were all staring at him in amused fashion now that they knew they were getting paid for this service.

Nick had to give it to the kid, his moping and pouting actually seemed to get them past reception and hooked up with a rather bored-looking tour guide much faster than he ever expected. This was probably a pretty normal sight for the older man pointing out different things while they walked. Another nerd in weird clothing who dragged his nephew and friends along for a tour of history they couldn't have cared less about if they tried. 'Going to make sure I give him something extra for his time.' Nick thought to himself, already rubbing his stomach every so often whenever the old tour guide happened to be looking in his direction. It was better to give off some foreshadowing - looked more natural that way when he suddenly asked once they were on the same floor as the tech lab to use the nearest bathroom. The guide looked annoyed for being interrupted - this was probably his last task of the day, but still pointed down the hallway where the pale man with the red hair seemed to half sprint, half hop almost immediately. The Nicolai that returned to the group patting his stomach with a smile several minutes later wasn't really Nicolai at all, but looked the part so perfectly no one in attendance could tell. After everyone rolled their eyes at the unsavory sight they proceeded. Leaving Nick alone in the bathroom to finish removing the bolts from the air duct and release Quanta. His first thought was that he truly wanted to sneak into the lab and do this for himself. The data on that disk was for him, he could feel it. But expectations and reality were two very different things - and despite being very thin, it would have been quite the squeeze to try and get down that duct on his own. Doable, but not practical. "Understood." The Porygon nodded, floating up with the disk on it's back and zipping down the dark air duct. Nick heaved a sigh and sat on the back of the toilet, his boots on the seat disrespectfully. This was not his normal behavior but not being allowed to do this task for himself left the man pouting - something he only did when he was completely alone. With any luck, Quanta would be back soon and he could ping the phone he'd left in Flux's care. The Ditto would return to this same bathroom and they could be on their way. When Quanta appeared back above him in the duct however and began to write words on his secondary phone's screen, however, the man almost wished he hadn't pouted. This was not going to go to plan at all.








Partners:
Out of their Pokeballs:
Wearing:
Trainer Encounter: 16/25
Wild Encounter: 41/5
Item Posting: Vs Seeker - 21/30
Item Posting: Jaw Fossil - 29/50
OOC:



Skylar Soren

Leader Roxanne Champion Steven Stone

While the challenger readied his team and made his way back to his side of the battle field, The male watching the gym readied himself as well. It had been quite some time since he was actually able to battle in the league, so he was excited to participate. Even if it wasn't his own Pokemon, but Roxanne's. Once he was done he took a deep breath and made his way out onto the battle field. "I understand you were expecting to battle Roxanne, but she is out of town, and asked me to watch the gym for her." He explained as he took his place on the field. "I'm Steven Stone, and I hope I don't disappoint." He offered with a friendly smile and let out his, or rather Roxanne's first Pokemon. He had been friends with Roxanne for quite some time, so he was happy to jump in and assist her.

Skylar Soren

Leader Roxanne Champion Steven Stone

The challenger introduced himself, which the champion smiled. "Hello Skylar, I'm eager to have this battle with you and see what you've learned. I'm looking forward to the battle." Steven spoke with a grin. Skyler sent out his first Pokemon, a Pokemon he wasn't exactly familiar with. Clearly Riptide was was a water type, so smart choice. Steven was a world traveler, but there were still some Pokemon foreign to him. Possibly this was a rare Pokemon. This was interesting. With Riptide and the Lopunny previously seen, he was starting to believe he was a rather seasoned trainer. Steven might have to test that the best he could within the limits of the league. "Alright Geodude, let them have a Magnitude." He called out as Riptide gave a growl. Geodude grunted as she slammed her fists into the ground and sent a wave of rocks getting out of the ground towards the mysterious water type.

Skylar Soren

Leader Roxanne Champion Steven Stone

The first Pokémon had gone down without much of a hassle. It was a very interesting Pokémon he wasn't sure he had seen, but it had clearly been untrained. The next Pokémon he definitely had seen before. Skyler referred to the Pokémon as Gale Storm but he knew it only as Rayquaza. His smile faded as he watched the large Pokemon emerge. "This... Is a first." He stared at the Legendary. He was now almost worried for Roxanne's Pokémon, seeing this legendary now in front of him. He had to work fast if he wanted to do anything against the legendary. "Geodude, use rollout, quick!" Steven called out, knowing magnitude wouldn't even touch the legendary in the air. The Geodude hit the ground rolling and sped off like a race car and rocketed at the legendary. Using the uneven terrain, she used it to launch herself at the flying legendary. After making impact she got swept up in the Twister. Steven watched with clinched teeth as his borrowed rock was flung through the air.

Skylar Soren

Leader Roxanne Champion Steven Stone

When accepting to take over as Gym Leader for Roxanne, did it cross is mind that he might be defending the gym against a Rayquaza? No, not in the slightest. But he was going to make the best of it. "Geodude, get up, try for another Roll out!" Steve called out. She had just been swept up in a twister and flung about, but she was a sturdy Geodude and he knew it. She reoriented herself and got herself back ready to start another bout of roll out. She let out a huff, and began to roll forward like a tire once more. She spun and took off again, but as she just took off into the air, Skylar called for his attack, and the Rayquaza struck Geodude with an air slash. Steven clinched his teeth again, not out of anger but as as flinch. It was a flying type move, but it still knocked Geodude back pretty good. "Try and catch yourself!" He called out as the Geodude used her strong rocky arms to stop herself from rolling back too far.

Skylar Soren

Leader Roxanne Champion Steven Stone

At Skylar's command the Rayquaza took off to the skies and began to create a vortex of wind within the walls of Roxanne's rocky gym. The wind coming off of the cyclone caused Steven to shield his eyes as it picked up the large amount of dirt and small rocks in the gym. Among all this, was Roxanne's Geodude. The mighty rock did what it could to try and get back to the ground or brace for the attack, but once the vortex ended, the rock began to fall back to the ground. Steven quickly pulled out her Pokeball and returned her. "That was quite the mighty attack. But lets see what your legendary can muster. Her Pokemon are pretty strong!" Steven spoke, as he let out the Gym Leader's next Pokemon. Her Nosepass. The Pokemon appeared on the wind blown battle field and immediately whirled around to face north, seemingly looking away from Gale Storm. "Alright, use Rock Throw" Steven called out. As he did the Nosepass dropped to the ground and whirled around to face the Rayquaza as the ground rumbled beneath it. It jerked forward as many rocks left sitting around the Pokemon and earth began to launch at the legendary.


Nosepass
Lv: 17
HP: 130
Gender: Female
Ability: Sturdy- This Pokemon will be left with 1 HP when taking enough damage for a one hit knock out
Harden- Raises user's defense by one stage
Block- Prevents escape/switching
Rock Throw- 50
Magnitude- Roll 1-20. 1=10 damage, 2-3=30 damage, 4-7=50 damage, 8-13=70 damage, 14-17=90 damage, 18-19=110 damage, 20=150 damage[/div]