Hot Dogs and Frogs

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Goro wasn't entirely sure if this trip was turning out to be a success or not.

On one hand, he had seen a lot of interesting sights and battled pokemon he'd never even heard of. He was learning how to fight in new ways, using his head for the first time, and gaining valuable experience in coping with his new fist injury. On the other hand, every time he called it quits, the croagunk ended up getting terribly lost and ending up someplace entirely new - on accident. At this point, he just wanted to go home! He was tired, sore, kinda hungry, and long since finished with his little 'training trip.'

"The dewgong said go south 'til I find Raintfront..." he muttered to himself, wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead. "That's a volcano. That's like the total opposite of Rainfront."

The thug had found himself approaching an impressively sized gorge of some sorts, kind of like Venen Gulch. Except instead of the air being coated with poisonous mist, it was just hot. Goro's breathing was ragged and he moved sluggishly, having somehow ended up hopelessly lost in the eastern desert. Specifically, the Fiery Chasm - he hadn't found himself at the lip of the crater, trudging along about fifty feet away from it. His gaze was raised high, staring up at the massive volcano in front of him. It was his first time seeing one. Despite the absolutely awful location, he found himself kind of enamored.

33 - 25 (entry) = 8 energy

Goro's enthusiasm and good mood evaporated when Clovis went down almost immediately. He'd caught Opal's words and saw her fling something out of her bag—she didn't shy from using items during their last encounter, either—and caught his friend completely flatfooted. It was rotten luck, and unfair to him. This was not Clovis' fight.

The thought sparked an ugly feeling deep in Goro, and he exploded into action as soon as Clovis' misfortunate registered. He kept his bindle clutched in his bad hand, ignoring the pain such a decision brought him and dashed straight toward the cyndaquil and fennekin Opal had brought along. If she was going to attack his friends, then this was fair game! For their part, they weren't as slow as Clovis to react, but Goro was still faster. His left hand which had been hovering at his hip shot forward vengefully, cutting a vicious path down and up to crash into the cyndaquil's snout in a cruel uppercut.

While his fist dug deep into the fire-type's face, the fennekin scrambled backward, equal parts shocked and confused at the sudden development—it was clear that they didn't come here for this kind of 'entertainment.' Spike dropped to the ground with a startled cry, dazed and hurt as Goro pulled his good hand back to his side. He felt a good deal more energetic after striking the pokemon; Drain Punch always worked wonders as a little pick-me-up.

With one of the two down, Goro rotated and turned side-face, keeping his bindle behind him and his left hand facing both the fennekin and Opal. He wouldn't be caught off guard by any cheap shots as she'd just used on Clovis, but in his caution of Opal, he didn't realize that the cyndaquil at his feet wasn't quite unconscious. Judging from his quiet groan and slight shudder on the ground, he was down, but not out... and in a unique position to surprise the outlaw that had just attacked him.

+11 energy (Drain Punch) = 12 energy total

the sunset hero carried out 10 launched of one Fiery Chasm :

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Spike was on the ground, and that made Opal angry. Unlike Goro, her action had not been made with the intent of causing harm. Now she wasn't just going to arrest that awful frog. The pup was going to make sure he knew never to mess with her friends again. Opal snarled and began to unleash a ferocious attack.

The growlithe breathed out, and as she did, the surrounding air became even hotter. Licks of flame appeared from nowhere and streamed toward the croagunk. Opal was directing this Heat Wave with the fury of a raging sun. It was all Goro's fault. His fault that Spike was hurt. His fault that he'd drawn a 'friend' into this conflict. He was a horrible pokemon, and deserved a horrible punishment.

Unknown to everyone else, Spike was witnessing all of this. His snout hurt like hell, and it was hard to concentrate through his pain, but he was still able to be impressed by the flames whipping around. Opal was an even better fighter than he'd first thought. So was the frog who'd broken his nose, however, and that was what mattered right now. That frog was a danger to everyone. Something had to be done about them.

All of Spike's emotions began to have an unusual impact. As he wished for Goro's defeat, a psychic link manifested between cyndaquil and croagunk. Spike was somehow making a special assault on his enemy's senses. Most cyndaquil didn't have such an ability in their arsenal, but this one did.

Clovis remained on the ground, with nothing in particular hurt save for his pride. For the moment, he was disabled, and could do little but struggle against his binding as the fight continued around him. It wasn't a good situation, nor was it very pleasant. Opal, that so-called guild member, had assaulted him with that seed when he had done nothing wrong, nothing but try to prevent conflict! Him, attacked by someone of the guild when he had tried merely to protect his friend! An injustice, truly. Clovis had been wronged, and while Goro had been called an outlaw earlier, he couldn't help but feel that Goro was being wronged here too, as he was left to fight Opal and potentially her friends while Clovis could do nothing to help.

Three on one was hardly a fair fight, but from what Clovis saw, Goro had started out strong. The frog moved with great speed— so fast that Clovis was only able to focus in on what was happening right before impact, and struck the cyndaquil hard in the snout with an uppercut. A heavy blow, certainly, and in some ways a satisfying one, even to Clovis as he lie on the ground. While Clovis did not often find himself wishing pain upon others, something about his pitiable position being bound on the ground brought out the bird's vengeful side, even if it hadn't been the cyndaquil who had thrown the seed at him. When Goro's fist hit, Clovis perked up and grinned about as much as he could with a beak. It was heartening, in a sense, to witness a good hit from someone on "his side." Perhaps Goro had more of a chance than it might have seemed.

The cyndaquil went down, at least for the moment. Clovis thought he saw him move, here and there, so clearly he was conscious, but still reeling with pain. The fennekin and the growlithe, their "leader," still stood, and would prove to be Goro's biggest threats for the time being. In retaliation for Goro's attack on the cyndaquil, Opal produced an attack of her own. An incredible mass of flame appeared around her, doubtlessly bolstered by the oppressive heat surrounding the fight. With its summoning, Clovis felt its heat cover him even from his position on the ground. Perhaps under other circumstances, the attack might not have been so exceptional, but it was truly impressive when bolstered by the heat of Sunny Day. He was eager to compare it with his Hydro Pump, when he was freed from his binds.

The chance, it seemed, came a bit quicker than expected, and from something of an unusual source. Opal's fire attack, and with it its great flames, were directed at Goro, but stray bits of fire spread out all over, and Clovis, in a stroke of mixed luck, caught a bit of it. He felt it, the fire on his back, and it burned— but not for too long. He clenched his beak in reaction to the pain, but it was endurable, especially for a water-type, and the bird was not the only thing being cooked. His binds, his detestable binds vanished, as if burned away! And as easily as that, he was freed, and on the ground. The small burns he had suffered seemed inconsequential compared to the rush of finally being able to intervene in the fray. Simultaneous to the aftermath of the fire attack, Clovis began to rise from the ground and onto his feet. He did not attack as soon as he stood, but kept wary for any attacks or seeds coming his way. The piplup was not as aggressive as the croagunk— he'd wait for an opportunity before acting.

One moment, Goro was hale, light on his feet, and eager to lash out at whichever pokemon in front of him attacked first. The next, he saw a great rush of fire materialize from Opal's big stupid mouth—and then suddenly, fire was everywhere. It washed over him in swaths from almost all directions, from his left to his center to his right. Instinctively, the croagunk threw both arms forward in a hasty guard to protect his face, dropping his bindle instinctively as he did so. The wooden stick clattered onto the ground while Goro was pushed back several steps, surprised by the amount of weight behind the surge of flame. He had been hit with fire-type attacks before, but this was probably the strongest one he'd ever felt. It burned potently, and he wasn't so tough not to let out a startled shout.

He likely would have bounced back quickly if not for an instantaneous crushing force blooming in his skull. It was an invisible attack that he absolutely didn't see coming, and it pierced him in ways he had never been hurt by an attack before. His limbs shook and trembled and the venom in his veins burned in protest. Goro's head jerked downward and he staggered back, turning as if struck by a mighty blow. The impact had clearly caught him off-guard, as he wobbled backward on his feet, unsteady and debilitated.

The croagunk brought his good hand to clutch at the side of his head, one eye clenched shut as he stared at his opposition. Opal had struck first there, but something else hit him... weirdly. Dangerously. Goro's gaze flickered between Opal, the fennekin, and the cyndaquil he'd staggered away from a moment ago. He didn't know which one of them launched that second attack, and he found that he didn't much care. The sensation had been complete agony, and he had no desire to experience it again.

"To hell with it!" he hissed angrily. Goro raised his left foot high into the air and slammed it down as hard as he could.

Immediately, the ground began trembling and shaking powerfully. Goro suddenly found himself not wanting to lash out at them one at a time anymore. Any good humor left over after the surprise attack on Clovis had completely evaporated after that—that—whatever that awful sensation was, following Opal's attack! So his Earthquake attack would do the trick, even if he needed to throw it out over and over and over. It'd hit everyone except him, and as sorry as he felt for Clovis, he knew that the water-type would not feel half as much pain as the fire-types opposing them. Goro would just have to apologize later.

Opal let out a startled yelp as the earthquake was unleashed. It took her a few moments to right herself. The attack had been painful, but whatever, Goro looked like he was suffering more, and that was a good thing. If she could just land one more Heat Wave, she had to have this arrest in the bag. She took aim and began to charge up another burst of fire.

The other two fire types hadn't fared quite as well against the super effective attack. Spike had straight up fainted, the damage on top of what he'd already sustained being simply too much. Goro stumbling back in pain was the last thing the cyndaquil saw before he blacked out.

Fred was in a bad way, too, but still conscious. He dashed over to Spike, panicking and trying to get his best friend to wake up. The youngsters had just been looking for fun. Why did it have to go so wrong?

Frebedor carried out 1 launched of one Fiery Chasm :

Freshly risen, Clovis stood still and observed the fight. Though resolute in his support of Goro in this case, he still did not want to attack straight away, and instead took a moment to get his bearings, assess the situation, and keep an eye out for any further threats to his health or his poise. While Goro had taken the brunt of the flames while Clovis was still on the ground, another attack on Goro came after Clovis had stood up, of a different sort. Rather than a showy mass of fire, as with Opal's attack, the second attack was launched with some subtlety, such that Clovis was only clued in to its source by the expression on the cyndaquil's face when Goro was hit. Different still, from the attack's subtle nature, was its effect, as while Goro had felt enough pain from Opal's flames to let out a shout, this attack seemed to affect the frog on an entirely different level. When Goro was hit, something seemed... wrong. Clovis could only see what was happening, and couldn't feel any of it, but from Goro's expression, reaction, and wobbling, he could tell that something just wasn't right.

"To hell with it!" said Goro, mad as he could be. He raised his foot up high and brought it back down hard, a telltale sign of- Ah, earthquake!? Clovis had about a half second to brace himself for the move, one which he had never seen Goro use before, before it reached him. Rather than fighting the fire-types, for a second Clovis's fight switched to a fight with the ground, as it shook violently in a large radius around the croagunk. At first, the attack was felt most strongly in the legs, replicating in some ways the feeling of taking a fall of about twice the piplup's height, over and over again. As the rest of his body shook, Clovis felt a queasy feeling in his stomach, and a dizziness around his head, both of which remained until they began to fade when the earthquake ended. He was shook up from the attack, it had robbed him of some focus, but nothing was broken, even if his legs felt a bit sore. The fire-types had gotten off worse— the cyndaquil was out, and while the other two remained conscious, they were both hurt by the attack, more so than he was, at least. While it would have been nice if Goro had given him some sort of warning, Clovis had to concede that the earthquake was an effective and tactically sound move, even if it had hit him. He wasn't too upset over the move being used one time, though he could imagine he might if Goro threw out more.

Following the earthquake, Clovis shifted his attention to the remaining two fire-types, of which only one seemed focused on fighting. Opal, ever persistent, prepared another attack, doubtlessly more fire. For the first time in the fight, Clovis had an opportunity to react to her flames, and prepared an attack of his own. At roughly the same time that Opal released her attack, Clovis released his hydro pump in her direction, contending fire with water. The contention was, truthfully, not as cool as Clovis had expected, as sunny day's heat had reduced his hydro pump to something more along the lines of a water pulse. He doubted that he could break through, but water typically trumped fire, and depending on his luck, Clovis could wind up severely inhibiting the fire attack, or at least spraying the growlithe's face with a stray bit of water. Things were sure to be exciting either way.

Goro's wrathful quake yielded results that measured up to his expectations; their fire-type opponents had been dealt a heavy blow, and now the odds were evened out to two versus two. Or they would have been, but it seemed that the fennekin was more concerned with its knocked out cyndaquil friend than helping Opal out of the hole she'd dug herself into. It was fine with Goro either way. He was sour and resentful over that strange penetrating mental attack, and he was going to let his displeasure be known, painfully.

It did cheer him somewhat to see Clovis heave himself up to his feet and let loose a torrent of water to match Opal's next blow, however. The power behind his attack didn't seem to measure up to what the piplup had showcased back in Cattail Marsh, but that could be chalked up to any number of factors in this fight—the earthquake he had to endure, the powerful sunlight, their environment in general, etc.

Whatever the case may be, it was powerful enough to put a strong dent in Opal's attack. Her heat wave washed over the outpour of water resulting in a heavy burst of steam erupting where they clashed, erasing a pronounced portion of the heat wave. The still-significant traces of flame that the water pulse couldn't match, though, still licked out at Goro. Thanks to Clovis' efforts, it wasn't as painful, but Goro would be lying if he said it still didn't hurt like hell. The poison/fighting-type rushed forward through the cloud of thick steam and remnants of flame in a bid to press their momentary advantage, eager to put an early end to this impromptu fight.

The angry croagunk emerged from the thick cloud of steam dashing at Opal with his good fist cocked back vengefully, his expression tight and annoyed. His immediate intention was to lash out with a drain punch aimed at the growlithe to both introduce her to his fist and drain her of some vitality, to alleviate the damage he'd taken from her heat waves.

Opal met fist with fang. This may have been a mistake, though, since the little pup soon felt pain streaming through her jaw. She let out a sharp, shrill cry and stumbled backwards. The battle was starting to take its toll on her, but she had to strike while Goro was right in front of her. This thought lingered in her mind, but was quickly met with the conflicting thought that she had to protect the civilians she'd brought into this. Opal decided that the latter was more important. What kind of guildsmon would she be if she put personal vengeance above the safety of others? She'd messed things up enough already, no need to make it worse.

With much reluctance, Opal backed away from the smelly frog and retreated to where the other two fire types were positioned. She stood in front of them, glaring defiantly at Goro and his friend. She could look into the blue bird's background later to find out if he was a criminal, but that was not now. She had to assume the worst until all danger had passed.

Clovis's response to Opal's burst of flame had been at least somewhat successful, producing a picturesque mass of steam where the two attacks met. Adrenaline surged in the Piplup as his own attack intersected the other. It wasn't the best scenario for his hydro pump, what with the environment and the artificial sun, and it probably would have gone better with some better weather, but the spectacle of it, at least, was impressive to look at, like something out of a book. It'd make a pretty painting, for sure, though it'd look nicer if, again, the environment wasn't so oppressively torrid as to affect his performance.

Opal's flames had, whether due to Clovis's intervention or not, failed to put old Goro down, who now charged forwards at the Growlithe in retaliation. She met his charge by standing firm and waiting for him to reach her, teeth ready to bite at him when he arrived. Goro's fist met her jaws, bolstered by his speed, and sent her stumbling. Witnessing the exchange, either a hit to the mouth or from those teeth would have been painful-- Clovis wasn't sure which one he'd rather experience. Goro's punch was definitely painful, though he didn't immediately realize whether Opal had managed to get a bite on Goro.

Opal neglected to provide a followup attack or counter after being punched, and only retreated a bit, to stand in front of her allies, who were both worse off than she. From the looks of things, she was trying to protect them. Honorable, it was, and maybe a little admirable, but Clovis wasn't sure that is was a practical move. He himself didn't intent to attack either of the two fire-types unless they proved once again to be majorly threatening, and Goro's focus and anger seemed to be directed at Opal more so than her friends. The Piplup continued to stand inactive and consider his options. Perhaps he could say something?

"Yield, you rogues!" He shouted, puffing out his chest to add to the image of authority. "We have you bested!" It'd get the point across.

Goro had managed not to cry out in pain when his left fist made contact with Opal's mouth, but it was a very near thing. Maybe it had something to do with how he came at her nearly running, or maybe her jaw strength was just that potent—he was pretty damn sure she hadn't taken a bite out of him last time they crossed paths, so it could be the latter. Either way, his blow sent her tumbling away, and her bite left him hissing under his breath and drawing his good hand closer to him as if to keep it away from the rabid dog that he'd just socked in the mouth.

He tried his best to look scary and foreboding as Opal hauled herself to her feet and went to check on one of her buddies. The croagunk shook his hand out a bit, grimacing when he spotted some red smattering on his hand. She drew blood on him. He felt a little angry at himself for even letting that happen. It was one thing for him to tank heat waves, but it was another for Opal to leave a visible mark on him; proof that she had hurt him in some way. The implication that she was capable of it bordered on insulting, but he knew logically what kind of pokemon she was. Brave, headstrong, and capable enough. Still, though...

"Not a bad idea, hotshot," Goro said, echoing Clovis' remark as he stepped up beside him, standing slightly in front of the piplup. "I'm game to keep going if you are, but I think you're biting off more than you can chew." He frowned a moment after speaking, looking down at his bloody left hand. Poor choice of words, he thought, watching crimson droplets hit the ground.