An Afternoon Showdown

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Energy: 23 - 11 (entrance fee) = 12

Equipped Item: Defense Scarf

After stopping by Dandy's Boutique to pick up his brand new scarf, tied cape-style around his neck, Raze was jumping from stone to stone to reach the island inside of Fallen Leaf Copse. Considering the amount of excitement based around his explorations around Grassveil, he had never had any time to battle another civilized Pokémon. All of his battles inside dungeons had been with ferals, but most were mindless and posed almost no threat. Maybe there's someone who comes out here at this time, I guess they'd be up for a little battle... he thought, reaching the end of the stepping stones.

Leaves fell around like a barrage of green, yellow, and brown. The soft breeze rustled them, however, once they hit the floor. Letting his bag drop to the floor, the Minun stretched and looked over the lake. The peaceful scene acted like preparation for him as he got ready to look for someone to fight. The electricity already began to charge up at a slow, leisurely pace. Heh, and this time, I'm not losing without a struggle!

Hidon growled, raising a clenched fist. He watched as the Minun looked back over at him before forming two more clones. So, it seemed like he hadn't been just seeing double. Somehow, this Minun was able to duplicate himself? But judging from how that last attack had ended, only one of them was real. He hadn't ever seen an attack like this before, but he supposed nothing should really surprise him at this point. But now he had a problem. How was he going to deal with this? Especially since there were now TWO fake Minuns that he had to worry about? He'd gotten lucky in the last round; there were very large gaps he could escape to. But now, if they circled him, he'd have a much harder time getting away without figuring out which Pokémon was real.

He watched the three Minun swap places, once more incapable of keeping up with their speed. Finally, they stopped...and the Charmander was clueless. As far as he could tell, there didn't seem to be any difference between the three. But maybe he could count the middle one as fake...? After all, would he really go through the trouble of trying to mix himself in with his clones and then end up in the same place again? He didn't have much time to think about it, unfortunately. By the time he started thinking about which of the other two he should target, they were already separating.

Hidon looked between the two Pokémon that were now rushing in on him with another Spark attack. he had to make a decision now...he wouldn't be able to escape them this time! Or at least, that was what he thought, until finally...the two Minun charging at him disappeared, leaving only the one farthest away. "...Ugh...." he groaned, finally allowing his guard to drop and fall over backward, onto his tail. "It's about damn time you got the picture. And you freaking uppercutted me AGAIN. But if you want that Phantump, he should be right over-" He then turned to look at where he'd knocked down the Phantump...only to see that nobody was there. "...You've got to be kidding me," he growled, getting up again. "He does all that and then gets away scot-free!?"

Hidon growled for a few more moments, but then let out a sigh. "Whatever...there's no point worrying about him now. He's probably in the heart of the forest by now with his other little ghost friends or something. I don't know what happened, but I guess you were stupid enough to fall for it."

Energy: 0

Looking back, the full effect of his guilt struck him like a kick to the gut. Raze hung his head low and let his arms hang limp to his side in shame. "I'm so sorry... t-that I..." he stammered, wanting to just drop everything and run for some place alone. It took every ounce of his effort to stay put, despite the sniffling that could be heard coming from him. ...It's scary to know that I could just be toyed with so easily. How could I just fall for a little trick like that? Even worse, why had it worked for so long?! the Minun cursed himself with clenched fists. The numb feeling in his right knuckles remained as a reminder of the sneaky punch that he had landed on the Charmander.

"Can I do anything right for once?!" the Electric type shouted to no one in particular. His infuriation at the Phantump faded to disappointment in himself. He wouldn't be surprised if "Hidon", as he identified himself as, continued on about how smoothly the Ghost type's plan went and blamed Raze for succumbing to the confusion. His eyes began to tear up, but the mouse wiped his face like a small child hiding from an adult's scolding. The entire time, he refused to look up and face the Pokémon he'd attacked. The feeling had a deja vu aura to it, almost as if something in his past was the same way. The Minun shook off the thought, not wishing to think back to other times when his own reckless and impulsive nature backfired.

Hidon's anger suddenly swept away as the Minun's reaction to his words turned out to be far more severe than what he'd anticipated. He watched as the Minun hun his head and clenched his fists. He could identify those signs quickly enough; he'd experienced them plenty of times in the past. Pure disappointment and anger with himself. And then, to top it all off, the Minun cried out and actually began to tear up. If the Charmander had any anger left over from the incident, it was all gone by now. His gaze softened slightly as he watched him. He'd seen that expression in reflections many times...but none that matched quite as well as that day he had set out on his own. He almost wondered if, perhaps, something equally as important to this Minun had happened to him in the past.

However, Hidon did not let his thoughts linger much on the subject. Whatever happened to the Minun before was not his concern. What was his concern, however, was the Pokémon on the verge of breaking down. He definitely couldn't just leave him like this, despite everything that had gone wrong since the two of them first met. Maybe it was just his own memories that caused him to linger and want to say something more. But whatever the reason, he knew what he had to do. His fists clenched in preparation as he readied himself to shout in anger once again.

"You're SORRY?" Hidon growled at the Minun, starting to step toward him. "You know what?" By that time, he was already standing closer to the Cheering Pokémon. He then pulled back his fist and let it fly, trying to smack a right hook directly to Raze's left cheek with force strong enough that he hoped he would fall to the ground.

"Shut up, will you? Only a weakling talks that way. Apologizing is useless. Saying you're 'sorry' doesn't erase what happened. Guess what? It happened. Just get over it and move on. You get your lazy tail off the ground, and actually do something about it," he growled in a frustrated tone. "Can you do anything right? Beats me. I barely know you. But all I know is that you sitting around moping and doubting yourself is only making you out to be a quitter. And since you're the one who had his foot pressed down onto my stomach earlier, that makes me look even weaker than that. And I will NOT let you make me out to be that weak, got it?"

After another couple of moments, however, the Charmander's gaze softened slightly. "Besides," he muttered in a much calmer tone. "Even if you can't do anything right, there's only one way to change that." He smirked slightly and held his arm out toward the Minun, offering to help him back up again. "You get your tail back up, work harder and get better."

Energy: 0

All of his doubts went out the window when a sharp pain erupted in his cheek, forcing him into a loose, dizzy fighting stance on one knee. Looking up and listening once more, Raze heard Hidon shouting something about... apologies for the weak? I think I just got some sense knocked into me. Ouch, that stings... he thought, sending a look of irritation towards his companion, However, he knew that he was right. If the Electric type did nothing but say how sorry he was for things, nothing would really get done and he'd just keep making the same mistakes. After all, if he was already capable of besting the Charmander and he showed this kind of weakness, it wouldn't make him seem much better after all. Not wishing to be compared in such a way, he kept quiet and let Hidon finish with a hand to help him up.

"...Alright, you had me." the Minun said, taking the hand and allowing himself to be pulled up. He wiped his hand across his eyes to get the tears away from them and nodded in thanks. "Somebody's a motivational speaker, the only thing that I would have done better is maybe a slap instead of a punch? I like having a face that doesn't ache, thanks." Raze said with a smile. He didn't really want to hit him back considering he knew that it was the feeling that counted. The mouse put his bag back on and put on a smirk. "Sounds like someone knows from experience; that was just too good to just come out of the blue. Then I guess the same goes to you as well. Anyways... What now?"

Hidon nodded at the Minun with a slight grin on his face. He pulled the Cheering Pokémon back onto his feet and released his grip. "Heh. You think so?" the Charmander asked, putting his claws to his waist and allowing his chest to puff outwardly, full of pride. He was apparently a pretty good motivational speaker, it seemed. But when Raze added that part about slapping instead of punching, he shook his head quickly. "A slap?" he repeated, as though it were the craziest idea he'd ever heard in his life. "Not a chance. It doesn't get the message across well enough. Besides, I don't slap things or Pokémon. I hit them."

He watched as Raze put his bag back onto his back, but frowned slightly when the Minun brought up the fact that it was probably experience. He blushed slightly; seems like he could see right through that one. "H-hmph," he muttered, folding his arms again. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't." but he quickly let out a sigh and let the subject drop. It was better for both of them if they just moved on with what they were doing. He took a quick look around the clearing. So far, there wasn't much to look at. They'd done pretty well for themselves, though, all things considered. The Phantump had gotten away, but he was content with the fact that they'd managed to beat it regardless. There was really only one thing that the two of them had failed to do, disregarding the Phantump.

"...Heh," hidon said with a slight smirk. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked the Minun. "We never did get to finish our battle, did we? We got interrupted by the Sawsbuck."

Energy: 0

Raze couldn't help but smile when Hidon replied to his notation. Guess I was right then! he thought with a careless shrug, surprised that he was actually right with his tease. Then, his ally brought up the fact that they haven't finished their duel. The Cheering Pokémon knew that he was forgetting something, and that little comment gave him the answer to his confusion. Regaining his extremely cheery and excited self, he took on a sparring stance and nodded. "Then let's finish right now! No use in leaving it at that, let's go!" the Minun said quickly, maintaining his cocky yet shifting defense method.

Right off the bat, he wasted no time in charging up for a Spark. Since Hidon had seen a few of his Double Teams performed, it would do him no good to form one at the moment while it was still fresh in his mind. There were many ways he could have gone at the moment: backing up some more to gain some distance and taunt him into a Discharge, a point blank punch to his face, and more. However, the Electric type settled on his Spark attack and intended to follow through. "Hope you like stargazing, because that's all you'll be seeing!" Raze warned, attempting to ram shoulder first into his opponent with a Spark attack.

Hidon grinned slightly as Raze responded to him. That level of excitement that he could hear in the Minun's tone was more than welcome. And he had to admit, he was rather energized himself. He had just gotten through taking a few extra hits from him already, but he could walk that off easily enough. He was feeling pretty good right now...and he was more than ready to direct this newfound level of energy straight at his newfound rival. "You're on, Half Pint!" he replied energetically, taking a few steps backward. He was more than ready to stomp this Electric-type into the ground and demonstrate that he was the one who would come out on top.

He saw that the Minun was wasting no time getting right into the thick of the match. He could see the electricity beginning to spark to life around his foe's body. He crouched slightly, readying himself to counter the attack. He'd seen this enough by now to realize that this was going to be his Spark attack. He would have to be careful about being Paralyzed again, but he also didn't simply want to back away. What would he look like if he instigated the fight and then started by running away? No, he was going to meet him head-on and show him how much stronger he was!

He braced himself, smirking slightly as Raze threw a taunt his way. "Well, as long as you can at least warm me up," he retorted. He then charged straight at Raze just as he was beginning his charge. As he dashed, flames sparked to life around his body. The two rushed at each other and collided right in the middle of each other, Flame Charge meeting the Spark attack head-on, resulting in a power struggle between the two Pokémon.

Flames and electricity pressed against each other, pushing back and forth for a few seconds, neither Pokémon willing to give an inch. Hidon dug his feet into the grass and pushed with all of his strength, trying to overpower his opponent. However, despite how energetic and confident he had been feeling, his body had still been through a lot today and his stamina had been diminished. So unfortunately, he could not hold his position quite as long as Raze, who had taken significantly fewer hits today. As such, his Flame Charge diminished, allowing the Minun's Spark attack to run through, slamming shoulder to chest.

"Grah!" Hidon cried out in pain as he was thrown backward, landing hard on his back as an aftermath to the attack. "D-dammit.... Not bad, Half Pint." he growled. He supposed he was more exhausted than he thought he was.... But he wasn't going to show that to the Minun. Well, at least his muscles weren't locking up on him; so he wasn't yet Paralyzed...but he knew that that could very easily change.

Energy: 0

Despite his attack prevailing in a brief clash, the Flame Charge still stung. One glance up showed that Raze had indeed won the struggle, but at a small cost. Regardless, Hidon seemed much more fatigued than he did though not enough to end the fight now. Besides, that's anticlimactic. I want this to be as epic as possible!he thought, regaining his confident smirk in place of his stunned stare. Just as soon as he returned to his stance, a Double Team formed a copy with which he switched with (say that five times fast). Of course, if the Charmander took the time to analyze the two before the mouse made a move, he could see that all of the clones before, this one included, didn't have a shadow like he actually had. However, he never really noticed it anyways and figured that Hidon wouldn't either.

Throwing him off from his last attempt, this time Raze charged in with another Spark while the almost perfect duplicate stayed put with a false Discharge. However, the Minun slipped up this time and let loose a cry as he approached. His clone didn't echo the sound with the same magnitude! Damn, caught for sure now! I bet not even Hidon would still think I'm fake... the Electric type cringed, still following through with his attack anyways. The worst that could possibly happen is a strike to knock the wind out of him... Right? He lowered his body and attempted to plow into him with eyes closed and fingers crossed.

Hidon groaned from the ground, but was already trying to push himself back onto his feet again. He may be down, but he was definitely not out. Once he was back up, though, he saw that familiar, confident smirk on his rival's face...and his own returned soon after. He had to admit; this Minun was rather annoying and really loved to push his buttons...but he was one hell of a fighter. Of course, now he was demonstrating the ability to multiply himself. Well, at least now he knew for sure that only one of them was real and that the others were fake. The only problem was that he had no idea how to tell the fake ones from the real ones. By the time he'd recovered from the Spark completely, Raze had already mixed himself and the clone. Not that it mattered; Hidon didn't have the visual prowess necessary to keep up with them anyway.

But at least this time, there was more familiarity to this attack. He recognized the formation immediately and grinned slightly. "You think you can trick me with the same attack again?" he called out. He knew for sure which one was real and which one was fake this time. He quickly turned to look at the Minun that was farther away, ready to ignore the closer clone. He prepared a charge, ready to smash his foe before he could unleash that Discharge using his Dragon Rush.

But then something happened. His eyes widened slightly when he heard the Sparking Minun rushing toward him let out a cry...one that wasn't mimicked quite so well by the clone. But...then was that...?

He quickly turned his attention away from the Discharging clone and looked toward the closer one. He didn't have long. He needed to decide whether or not to change his target. He quickly shook his head, deciding not to overthink it. If he was wrong about this, then he'd just have to deal with it. He grinned slightly and suddenly shifted his footing. "Nice try, Half Pint!" he shouted. As he ran forward, his body became enveloped in that familiar draconic aura, which once again shifted around his arm. This time, though, he was confident that he had the advantage.

When Raze came at him, he lowered his punch, aiming to sidestep Raze's Spark attack, avoiding the brunt of the hit. At the same time, however, he drove his Dragon Rush punch forward, aiming to drive it as hard as he could straight into the Minun's stomach, hoping to throw the Cheering Pokémon back with his move's power. Of course, he would still feel some of the damage from the Spark attack, but it was better than getting bowled over by it like last time.

Energy: 0

Raze's entire body hurt.

This wasn't the normal aching or sting of an attack; this was the sign that one hit had almost made him give up. The moments seemed to fly by in slow motion as he hit the floor in recoil from the punch. Laying supine and staring at the sky, he was still wincing to get up. Each attempt, however, left Raze falling onto his back once more. I'm in a world of pain right now... he thought, attempting to shake off his self doubt. Eventually he returned to his feet, but held a dizzy composure and a pained expression as he regained a loose and tipsy stance. I've still got this, no way I'm backing out! the Minun thought, gritting his teeth and attempting to dig his heel into the ground and steady himself, only succeeding in stopping his heavy swaying from side to side.

"L-Lucky shot again... This is just a b-bruising, you haven't w-won yet, you know!" he stuttered with a satisfied grin. The fact that he was still able to stand amazed him to the point of believing that he could pull off something that could possibly earn him the win. Seeing as the Electric type kept some voltage stored when his attack was cut short, he had enough to generate a Discharge faster than usual. "Now it's my turn...!" he warned, releasing the powerful bolt around him with no sense of accuracy. So long as he didn't pick up on the hint that Raze would initiate the attack, he was somewhat safe for now to try and regain his bearings.

Hidon winced slightly as he felt the electricity from Raze's Spark crackle through him for a few moments, but shook it off in a moment. After all, only part of the electricity had transferred into his body. And it hadn't even been backed by the Minun's physical strength either. And from the looks of it, his opponent was the one who obviously came out of it the worst for wear. In fact, the Cheering Pokémon seemed, at least for a moment, like he wasn't going to be able to rise back to his feet again. And so, he took that moment of uncertainty and ran with it. He just wished that he could step over and plant his foot down onto the Minun's stomach, just as he had done to him when they had first started their battle. But, he settled for merely putting his hands to his waist and puffing out his chest, striking a confident pose.

"Just let me know when you've had enough, Half Pint," Hidon stated, watching as the Minun crawled back to his feet again. He enjoyed the sight of the Electric-type Pokémon stumbling slightly as he attempted to stay on his feet. "I was hoping I wouldn't win that easily. That was literally the first hit I landed on you since we restarted." He nodded approvingly since the Minun had gotten back up rather well. Now, hopefully, he would stay up.

At that point, his foe spoke again. "Your tur-?" he started, but was cut off as Raze unleashed his Discharge attack, much faster than before. His eyes widened and he was stuck in place, unable to avoid the attack. "GRAH!!" he cried out loudly in pain, the electricity coursing through his body. Thankfully, the blast didn't last too long and the pain disappeared soon after. But the attack had done quite a bit to him. "Rngh...." he groaned, legs shaking slightly. His legs soon gave out, unable to keep his weight up for now. He grunted as he sank to his knees and fell forward. But his arms were able to extend and catch him before he hit the ground, palms planted firmly onto the grass.

"N...not bad," he grunted, trying to ignore how his body posture rather closely resembled a bowing position. "But it'll take more than that...!" He finally lifted his head, not wanting to keep his eyes off of Raze for long. Especially not with that Double Team of his....

Energy: 0

At any moment, the Electric type expected to fall on the floor defeated. To his amazement, though, not even Discharge had the effect of drowsiness it used to. Sure, his vision still went spotty at parts, but he didn't feel as lightheaded as usual. It was a small notification of his progress, but Raze shook it off as his own body being too numb to notice. Hidon's gaze told him to avoid using Double Team, as he wasn't quite fast enough yet to swap places without being noticed. What am I going to do? He's seen all my moves, all that I can do now is pray that I've seen all of his... He has a blue punchy thingy, a red tackle thingy, and a fireball... Yup, I'm doomed. he thought, giving himself a moment to catch his breath. The pressure he felt from the Dragon Rush still present, it was hard to truly relax and loosen up again.

"I like the way you think. I'm far from done with this battle!" the Minun exclaimed with a newfound confidence and swing in his step. If he managed to pull off something like this, what could possibly go wrong with the fight now? Raze allowed another Discharge to form, this time revealing before he even thought of when he would release. "But if you don't make it through this one... That would be a shame, you know? Whatever, here it comes!" the mouse shouted, releasing a similar blast. He wanted to keep using Discharge to a minimum seeing as it backfires quite often and has no sense of aim as to what it could hit. Right now, though, all he could care about was following through.

Hidon was definitely down. But he was definitely not out. He had fallen to the power of that last Discharge, but he was not ready to call it quits. That said, he knew that he was awfully close to having his body just shut down on him completely. He wasn't sure how many more of those he could really take. He needed to get back up quickly, before his opponent could find the time and strength to gather up enough electricity to fire another one at him. And so, Hidon pushed at the ground beneath him, forcing himself back up and onto his feet once more. "D-don't you worry..." he muttered, when he realized that Raze was creating yet another Discharge. This one, though, he could quite easily see coming. "I'll survive it. 'Cause I have no plans to lose!"

He braced himself...and then it hit. "ARGH!!" he cried out in pain as the Discharge blasted him once again. He gritted his teeth, trying to fight through the pain of the attack, even though his body was clearly about to surrender. But he shook his head, refusing to go down so easily! He stood his ground until the electricity dispersed and the pain ceased. He was breathing heavily, body swaying slightly on the spot. At this point, he was very weak, barely able to stay on his own two feet. And a moment later, his body fell forward, as though collapsing completely. But, at the last second, he shifted his footing and managed to catch his weight. Then, he was barely able to push himself back up to his full height once more.

"A-alright...m-my turn," he replied, a smirk forming on his face. He was ready...to end this here and now! He clenched his fist and pulled it back, preparing to swing it forward. A blue, draconic aura began to form around his body, soon shifting to his right arm once again. The Dragon Rush was ready to go...and he was ready to smash the Minun into the ground and finish this fight once and for all. He took his first step, ready to begin his victorious charge...!

...But suddenly, his body stopped, and the blue aura faded. In its place, veins of visible electricity occasionally sparked to life around him, traveling up or down his body for the single instant that it was visible. His limbs had locked themselves up and his attack had been cut short. It didn't take Hidon very long to realize what was going on.

Raze's Discharge had succeeded in Paralyzing him once again...and at this pivotal moment of all times...!

{Heheh...and random.org has stated that, at this critical moment, fate is to conspire against him. xD}

(OOC: ...I need to pay more attention to pages. It's been like 4-5 posts and I didn't add my Energy for this page. XD)

Energy: 0 + 1 (new page a while ago that I forgot) = 1

The mouse almost cried out in appreciation for his luck. Not only had two consecutive Discharges struck his opponent, but it seemed that he had gotten extremely lucky with paralysis. "What's the matter? I thought you wanted to hit me, lizard! But I think that means I've won." Raze taunted, shrugging with a smile on his face. No matter how much he wanted to try Discharge or Spark again to drive the win home, the Minun didn't want to attempt it. Not like he could anyways; the battles had been exhausting. Instead, he casually tried to push the Charmander down rather than strain himself with an attack to do the same. After the shove, he placed his bag on the floor and dug through it to find the Cheri Berry...

It was gone! Raze panicked and hurriedly tossed out a few items in a desperate search. "No, no, no... Gah! Great, I don't have a berry..." he said to himself, packing his things once more and facing his rival. "Hehe, funny story... I actually don't have anything to... Er... Unparalyze you. Sorry about that!" The apology sounded meek yet was the most the could say. After all, was it really under his control if this happened? The Electric type took it as rotten luck and quickly forgot about it. "Please don't tell me you still want to fight; only a crazy person would fight with a handicap like that." he jokingly said, convinced that for once Hidon would be reasonable about it. Even with all those Flame Charges, paralysis would certainly slow him down quite a bit. Despite his sayings, if Hidon was the type to never give in regardless of the circumstances, Raze wasn't sure that he would be able to finish the job for the sake of his own morals.

Hidon grunted in his effort to make a move. He wanted to move, and he wanted to strike this Minun down before it was too late. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have decided to conspire against him. This Paralysis was not letting him move. And he could see the relief and celebration clear as day on his rival's face. He knew what was going to come next once he'd seen that. And he needed to get moving now so that he could stop him! Unfortunately, the Paralysis did not release its grip on him quickly enough. The taunt came and washed over him, causing him to blush slightly in embarrassment. He definitely did want to hit this guy, but they both knew good and well that he'd be stuck in this position for at least another few seconds. And on top of that, he had also declared this to mean that he was the winner of their battle!

...Of course, he was certainly in no condition to voice any kind of objection. He was weak, exhausted, and now, stuck. And unfortunately for him, the proof came soon after.

The Minun lightly pressed his arms upward and against his chest. And then, a light push was all it took. The Charmander's body fell over backwards, back colliding firmly with the ground, resulting in a rather satisfying thud, followed almost instantaneously by an "Oof...!" from him. His limbs were dropped to the side, sprawled out on the grass at the Electric-type Pokémon's feet. He was grateful, however, that Raze did not attempt to pin him down like he had before. That foot-on-stomach placement earlier had been rather embarrassing. And now that he had been genuinely defeated, it would be made all the worse. Instead, it seemed like the Minun had actually turned away from him completely and gone through his bag, scouring for something in his bag. He was probably looking for a Cheri Berry to help him out.

But then, the Minun faced him again, awkwardly apologizing for not being able to actually UNparalyze him. The Charmander let out a grunt of annoyance, but decided not to hold it against him in the end. After all, they HAD been fighting each other. It'd be ridiculous to fault the Minun for not being able to restore him back to normal after successfully paralyzing him. And so, when Raze dropped it, so did he. But Raze's next request met open resistance.

"O-of course I want to keep fighting!" he growled back up at the Minun, as if shocked that he would even think to suggest he give up in the middle of a fight. "I-I'll never give up...u-until I'm a-actually knocked out...." And with that, he immediately began trying to get back up again. He attempted to push his body into a sitting position, from which it'd be much easier to get to his feet again. However, after a few seconds of attempting...he lost his balance and ended up falling back down onto the ground on his back yet again. "Grah!" he grunted. Then, a slight blush appeared on his face.

"Erm...b-but...s-since this was only a spar a-and th-there's no need to go that far...." he murmured, clearly trying to play off his ungraceful trip back to the ground again. "I-I guess I can surrender to you this time."