[ Link back to 4. Greenstick Fracture ]

That walk had taken forever, and Shannon was hungry again.

Which was unfair. Because she was definitely not going back there just to eat. The police would be there, anyway... and she swore she'd taken some extra fruit at breakfast or something, but she must have dropped them.

She'd live. And now there was all this open space again, a route, and she could battle and possibly capture new pokémon... even if all her poké balls were in use. She could probably release one of the pokémon she didn't plan to use—it was unrealistic to think she'd really find their original owners, and they'd probably be happier in the wild, anyway. Not a slowpoke, though. Eighteen was likely to be happiest, here.

Anyway, pokémon. She'd scan any pokémon she saw with her pokédex. She half-hoped there wasn't anything too attractive as a team member. But still, she wouldn't object if there was.

((And a flock of pidgey's suddenly appeared overhead! ololol))

Plains' End Path was looking decidedly desolate. With a gray overcast overhead and a dull, monotous brown under Shannon's feet, the scenery was hardly scenic. There were, however, a few pokemon around to liven up the route.

- Ahead of Shannon, a lone machop glanced around apprehensively before crossing the path. There was a deep slash wound in the machop's side and she clutched at it with one hand. "This machop is female and level 7," rattled off the pokedex.

- A pair of spearow sat perched on a scraggly tree. They both stopped their preening to glare at Shannon as she passed. "This spearow is female and level 9. This spearow is male and level 8."

- A good deal further off the path and a ways behind the machop, Shannon could see a large black serpantine shape slinking through what little grass there was for cover. "This seviper is male and level 15."

Shannon also wasn't the only trainer on the path. Merging onto the path a ways behind her, a young man walked liesurely along in the direction of Mura. A rather hyper mankey jumped around at his feet as he walked.

Ha! Shannon knew she'd find more spearow. And she might've tried to catch one, too (or both, to keep up the apparent theme of pairs going on here), if she had empty poké balls, and if she wasn't concerned about having too many normal/flying pokémon on her team. Atalanta was here to stay, and she thought she'd get a pidgey, so she could have a bird with distance attacks. Physical flyers were still tempting, but... she liked pidgey. More than spearow. Pidgey were cuter and less likely to bite off her fingers when she tried to feed them.

... though if she found more spearow when she had a surplus of poké balls, she might catch one anyway. Screw type-balanced teams. She'd been spending years at gyms, and she hadn't cared then.

Other than those, there was an already-injured machop and, farther off, a seviper. At level fifteen. She didn't know if lv 15 seviper knew anything particularly threatening, but it was the strongest thing here. Both the seviper and machop would make good training fodder. Especially since the machop was already injured.

"Alright, Nosos, you can take the machop on your own. Confusions until she faints."

The seviper, meanwhile, wasn't exactly in attacking range yet. She had time for some preparatory stuff. She'd keep an eye on the seviper, but meanwhile, she sent out Bia, Atalanta, and Plutus. There was enough space for everyone, and she could also figure out what group to send after the seviper. Sending all of them would be going overboard.

"You can just relax for now," Shannon said. "Talk a bit, while Nosos fights. I can't have real conversations with you, but you should get to know each other. Be ready, though—Bia and Atalanta, you might be fighting soon."

Upon release, Plutus looked around at their surroundings with a critical eye. He perked up at the sight of Atlanta and mewed at her. Atlanta's right head bent low to the ground and Plutus expertly scampered up and procured a seat on the large bird's back. He then cast an uneasy glance at the rhyhorn who had now also materialized. Bia paid very little attention to any of her companions and gave a mighty yawn. She snorted and tossed her head in agreement at Shannon's mention of fighting.

Whatever apparent disdain Plutus had for Bia was immediately picked up on by Atlanta. Or, at least by the left head did. The right head snaked in closer to Bia to possibly exchange greetings when the left snapped at her.

Nosos didn't seem particularly thrilled to be the one chosen to go battle, but left Hestia under Shannon's care as the nidoran moved forward to attack. Hestia watched him leave unblinkingly. Social hour hadn't exactly gone smoothly.

Nosos's battle, on the other hand, would. A slight ripple in the air between nidoran and machop was the only evidence of Nosos's confusion attack. The machop let out a shocked and strangled cry at this unforseen attack and fell to her knees, clutching her head in agony. Then, staggering at first in her panic, the machop began to run.

It became obvious what the seviper was stalking. The minute the machop began to run, the large snake lifted its head from the grass to get a better view. It's long, sharp fangs already dripping with a thick, purple substance. Then, it lurched forward in the direction of Nosos and the fleeing fighting-type. It was a great deal faster and gaining fast.

Looked like the machop had an active disinterest in fighting. She wasn't even fighting back, and just fled from the battle.

And the seviper... yeah, the seviper was probably hunting the machop. Shannon didn't particularly believe in interfering with wild pokémon she wasn't battling, but she did want to fight this one. Besides, she didn't really want to see the machop die.

It was fairest to defeat them both, probably, but she wasn't going to battle a pokémon who wanted to flee.

"We're fighting the seviper instead," Shannon said. "Nosos, confusions to hold him still. Bia, crunch while he's immobilised, and Atalanta, use as many pecks as you can. Avoid the blade and fangs."

The machop did not get far. It continued to stumble on blindly before finally collapsing in a dusty, motionless heap a good ways a way from Shannon. Whether from Nosos's attack, or the blood loss from her laceration, it was hard to tell.

At Atalanta's battle orders, Plutus hastily scampered off of her back. Bia didn't wait to be told twice. With a great bellow, she hooved at the ground and charged towards her enemy.

The seviper was fast and was making a beeline for the machop's now unconscious body. Bia thundered past Nosos and the seviper stopped along the road to face its attacker. Coiling up and rising a good six feet to face the rhyhorn, the seviper opened its maw and let out a furious hiss.

Nosos was quick to launch his second confusion attack, and the seviper recoiled violently at this unseen strike to its mind. Bia paid little mind to the seviper's falter, it mattered not if the seviper was ready or not, she would crush it.

However painful the confusion attack might've been, it was too weak to keep the seviper contained, and the snake easily out maneuvered Bia's charge and quickly wrapped its long, muscular body around the rhyhorn's bulk. With no long limbs to free herself, Bia was caught, and as the seviper continued to squeeze and apply pressure, Bia thrashed her head around furiously, attempting to jab at any part of the snake she could with her horn.

But the calvary was on its way. Atalanta had already rocketed past Nosos and jabbed a pair of successive pecks into the seviper's flesh. The scaly hide of the seviper did little to protect against the sharp pain, and the large snake immediately launched its head forward and snapped at the bird. The right head gave a surprised squawk, but she managed to jump back and avoid the bite. The seviper's head rose now, tongue flitting in and out of its mouth, as it followed Atalanta's movements, still unwilling to uncoil and release Bia. The doduo stayed back, a little unsure of how to get past the dangerous fangs to get in another attack.

The machop has fainted. Nosos has gained 1 EXP. and is now level 9, 0/10.

Hestia and Plutus watched the battle, and Plutus was already crawling a little closer, though still not as close as Nosos. He shouted something that might have been a taunt or encouragement, and flinched at Atalanta's close call. Still, he didn't look overly concerned. Nor did Hestia, who seemed more curious than anything.

Neither really seemed to care about Bia's predicament. Poor Bia. Shannon didn't think the seviper was actually strong enough to crush through Bia's stony hide and actually suffocate her or anything, though. Besides, if the seviper tried, he'd probably hurt himself against all the rocky protrusions on Bia's body. So it was alright to let Bia take the attack (not that Shannon could do much about it; the seviper's body would probably block a recall beam) to mostly immobilise the seviper, since Nosos's confusion couldn't.

"If the seviper ever lets go, crunch it, Bia," Shannon said, because that was the easiest, and also meant she didn't have to give orders until Bia escaped, if ever. "Nosos, confusion. Atalanta, stay out of range and growl a few times."

It was as much of a taunt as an attempt to weaken the seviper's attacks. The seviper had a choice between sitting there and taking everything or letting go of Bia, which subjected him to more attacks. Meanwhile, Nosos would catch up, regarding how much damage he caused, so he could take more credit for the seviper's defeat.

Shannon's observation proved true. Bia's enraged bellowing seemed more out of sheer frustration than actual pain. Her tough armor plating did its job and held strong against the seviper's coiling body. The snake snapped again at Atalanta, who narrowly evaded the strike with a quick hop back and out of the seviper's immediate striking range. Atalanta's left head let loose a piercing growl at the same moment Nosos unleashed another confusion attack.

The seviper hissed and shook its head violently, but refused to release its prey. Atalanta's growl seemed to do little to intimidate the reptile, though it did seem slightly more wary of the doduo. The seviper then swiveled its head and locked onto Nosos. It had found the source of the confusion. With slow, very deliberate movements, it began to uncoil from Bia, never taking its eyes off of the nidoran and showing just how scary its face could be. The Scary Face made Nosos stumble back in shock, his legs quaking.

Then, the seviper shot forward with startling speed, directly at the nidoran. Bia gave a mighty roar at being free and wasted no time charging after the seviper. Though the snake had much greater acceleration and was already way ahead of the rhyhorn and closing in fast on the startled Nosos.

Shannon scrambled to get Nosos's poké ball off her belt and recall him before the seviper got to him. She idly wondered how well the seviper could decelerate, but that wasn't really the important part. The level difference meant Nosos could sustain severe damage from the seviper's bite, and more importantly, the seviper's fangs were really freaking long.

"Bia, crunch and don't let go," she said. "Atalanta, after him! Peck!"

As soon as she recalled Nosos, she'd send him out again and order a confusion. And she'd keep his poké ball in her hand so that, if the seviper was persistent in chasing him, Nosos wouldn't keep being in harm's way.

She walked over to Hestia and petted her head. Hestia didn't actually seem that concerned, and in fact had sort of stopped paying attention. Plutus, meanwhile, tracked the seviper with his eyes, though he still stayed well out of the way.

Just as the seviper closed in on the startled nidoran, Nosos disappeared in a flash of red light, being sucked back up into his pokeball. The seviper hissed in surprise as its prey vanished, and its long slendar head rose into the air.

Now Bia hardly employed stealth in her attacks and announced her imminent attack with a loud battle cry. The seviper snapped its head back to face the charging rhyhorn and, as Bia opened her mouth to prepare to crunch, the seviper again expertly darted to the side and out of Bia's linear charge, slashing at her with its tail as she passed. The seviper's deadly tail clanged loudly as it glanced off Bia's armor. Bia let out a surprised growl, but did not appear to be too hurt.

Though Bia's attack had failed, it proved to be a necesarry distraction. Atalanta was already on top of things. Dashing up to the snake to build speed, she leapt high into the air while the snake's attention was fixed on Bia. The seviper picked up her scent, it's tongue flipping experimentally out of its mouth, and it turned to face Atalanta. But it was too late. She had already launched herself a good eight feet into the air and came down hard right on the seviper's face, slamming the snake's head back against the ground with her powerful legs. As the moment of impact came, Atalanta's twin heads snapped downwards, her two beaks jabbing into the seviper's head furiously.

The snake let out a terrible hiss of pain, and swatted Atalanta off with its tail. Atalanta's feathers were torn off of her body, as the seviper's sharp tail tore into her side and sent her crashing into the ground. The damage had been done however, and several trickles of blood dribbled down the seviper's face as it slowly coiled back up to resume its attack.

Too late though. Two times was bad enough, Bia was not about to miss a third time. This was a battle, this is what she did. Atalanta's attack bought her time to wheel around again, and charge forward once more. This time, the snake could not react with enough speed and Bia's darkness infused jaws clamped down across the seviper's body. The snake was caught off guard, and as more of a reflex than anything, snapped its head and bit at Bia's back. Bia let out a groan, but refused to release her opponent. The vite may have hurt, but Bia's armor again proved to be a valid defense against the seviper's attacks.

Nosos was released and, though he eyed the seviper warily, prepared to launch his confusion attack.

((Atalanta is awesome.))

It occurred to Shannon that Bia hadn't gotten in a successful attack in a good long while, which just made this better. Bia might get paralysed or fall asleep randomly, if it went like the previous battles, but at least she could take advantage of this.

"Don't let go, Bia," Shannon said. "Bite down harder, and use crunch to flare up the dark energy, but keep holding on. Nosos, use a purely mental confusion." She looked at Atalanta, particularly at the cut. It was bleeding, but not dangerously, and it didn't look particularly deep. Atalanta could keep going. "Atalanta, as soon as confusion hits, peck, and get just out of range."

Bia didn't need to be told twice. She bit down harder and the seviper writhed in pain, trying to throw Bia off. Bia's weight and strength however, made this a rather difficult task. Nosos's eyes narrowed in focus as he launched a wave of confusion into the seviper's mind, poking and prodding until he found a tender spot, and then jabbing at it with his mental energy. The telltale ripples through the air were the only evidence of the attack.

The seviper recoiled back and Bia took the opportunity to press forward, trampling over a section of the seviper's body and essentially pinning the snake down with her girth.

Atalanta had wearily risin to her feet. She was okay, but the slash to her side had hurt. She wasn't about to waste the opportunity Nosos and Bia had created however, and she darted in quick to deliver another hasty pair of pecks to the seviper's body before hastily getting back out of range. Bia may have immobolized it, but the seviper's mouth and tail were still very much a threat. The serpant shrieked and continued to squirm. But with every struggle, Bia's teeth sunk deeper into the seviper's flesh. It wasn't long until blood was pouring out from the wound.

Suddenly, the seviper's tail twitched, it's edged point poised, and spun around to stab Bia in the side. There was another loud clang. Though Bia's natural armor and tough hide prevented the tail from sinking too far into her body, the force of the blow was enough to knock her free from the seviper. Though Bia made sure to tear along a piece of the snake's flesh along with her. The rhyhorn was bowled over onto her side.

The seviper was injured, and this only made it more dangerous. Feeling truly threatened for this first time this battle, the snake didn't waste any time, and with an enraged hiss, lunged at Bia. It bit down on her less armored under belly. This wasn't like the other shots Bia had taken in this battle, this one hurt, and the rhyhorn gave a pained, gutteral bellow. Luckily, it was the seviper's lower fangs that had pierced her belly. The much more lethal upper pair were lodged in a plate of Bia's side armor.

Plutus went forward, but one of Atalanta's heads chirped something at him, and he instead shouted back (Go for the skinless strip!). Hestia wasn't as concerned about the battle, and just sniffed at Shannon's hand. Shannon barely noticed either, and was instead thinking of what to do next.

Rhyhorn and doduo were both physically rather powerful, and their combined attacks had probably worn down the seviper's stamina. (This would have been more true if Bia had been successful more often, but with a pokémon as slow as rhyhorn, it was good enough that she'd struck at all.) It was harder to tell what the effects of Nosos's confusions were, but that had to be decent, too. Shannon might have even been able to capture the seviper, if she'd had a free pokéball. And if she'd wanted to. Seviper were pretty cool, sure, but they were pretty much all weapon, with fangs on one end and a blade on the other, and then everything in between was used for strangling things. Hell, even a seviper's eyes were used in battle beyond just for sight, though at least Shannon was fairly sure no seviper could shoot laser beams from its eyes. There was something about that that didn't sit right with her.

But a pokémon like that could be so useful, especially if Shannon got into any real danger. Still, she it would be risky to use him in the kinds of battles she liked, the friendly ones against wilds and traineds, because he could inflict serious damage by complete accident. And she didn't want to leave anyone out of those battles.

"Roll onto the seviper, Bia," Shannon said. "Or if you can't, kick." If Bia couldn't manage that, Shannon would recall her and send her out again, as she had with Nosos. "Nosos and Atalanta, time your attacks together again. Confusion and a double-peck."

Bia bellowed again, furiously kicking out with her stocky legs, but to no avail. The seviper held fast, sinking its sharp teeth deeper into her side. Bia's bellow became one of anguish as the snake's powerful jaws continued to apply force, sending a flow of blood down Bia's belly. It was with sweeping relief that Bia's body materialised into red light and was sucked back up into her pokeball.

The seviper hissed again, enraged that, once more, its prey had disappeared on it. Rising up again, the seviper turned to face Atalanta, who had darted forward again. Flicking from side to side, the seviper's lethal tail rose up next to it. Eyes narrowed, the seviper prepared to meet Atalanta with a counter attack when Nosos's confusion again sent the seviper's mind reeling, giving the doduo just enough time to jab at the seviper's exposed wound with her two sharp beaks. The serpant shrieked in agony. Bia had already torn off most of the seviper's scaly armor during her crunch, and Atalanta's beaks punctured deep into the snake's flesh.

The previous slash wound made Atalanta's hasty retreat a little slower, and the seviper, still reeling from the confusion attack, lashed out blindly with its tail and managed to slash the left head's thin neck, opening up a deep laceration and sending blood pouring from the wound. Atalanta quickly backed out of the seviper's attack range, the right head squawking in concern. The left was having trouble staying upright and seemed to be fading in an out of consciousness.

As soon as Bia was released, she charged the seviper, not waiting for an order. Hissing, the seviper slunked to the side. All the attacks were beginning to build up and the seviper was fading fast. It didn't appear to be willing to try and dodge this time, or maybe it simply couldn't. The seviper seemed confused, unsure which opponent to turn its attention to.

Update: The seviper is now confused.

Plutus didn't wait for an order, either. He yowled and leapt for the seviper, claws unsheathed, and Shannon was too busy recalling Atalanta to stop him. "Hey, wait—" was all she got out, but he completely ignored her, instead thinking fake out and scratch and revenge.

Shannon wasn't sure she wanted him to stop, anyway. It was kind of nice, how he was ready to help out his friend, and maybe the battle should be ended quickly to minimise these events. The exact kind of events that she wanted to avoid in trainer battles and the like.

Poor Atalanta. A doduo's neck wasn't that thick, so a healing machine might fix that completely, but even if not, the nurse at Mura City's pokémon centre could help. The suspended state inside the poké ball should keep Atalanta safe for any period of time. But still, that had to hurt, and she didn't want to know what might happen to a doduo if one half died. Well, both probably shared all their blood, so they'd probably both die. And that was hardly better.

"Crunch and confusion," she ordered, while also realising she hadn't checked what Plutus's moves were.

Nosos's confusion had done its job. Head bobbing up and down, the seviper sluggishly looked from Nosos to Bia, to the sudden new threat of Plutus, confused and unsure of what to do. Plutus had a head start on Bia and telegraphed an attack to the left, which the seviper shot its tail up to block. Instead, the furious meowth expertly leapt to the right and slashed at the seviper with his sharp claws. But Plutus wasn't done yet. Not even close. Slamming his claws into the seviper's bulk, he scampered up along the writhing snakes body until he reached the head. The seviper hissed, shaking its head to get the meowth off. Plutus raised his arms and slammed them down, digging his claws into the seviper's face. The seviper let out a strangled scream and lifted its tail...

... Plutus spotted it and quickly leapt off of the snakes head as the seviper, in its confusion, impaled its own face in an attempt to strike the cat.

Plutus landed gracefully on the ground as the seviper's motionless body slumped over behind him. Calmly, he walked back over to Shannon's side.

Bia kept going and ended tackling an unconscious foe. Puzzled at first, it took her a full ten seconds to realize her opponent had been taken out already. She turned and grunted angirly at Plutus.

The seviper has been knocked out. Bia is at 71 health and has gained 3 EXP. Nosos has gained 5 EXP. Atalanta is at 56 health, one head is unconscious, and has gained 6 EXP. Plutus has gained 1 EXP.

"Ow," Shannon said in sympathy. The blade was stuck in the seviper's own face. That had to hurt. It didn't, er, look like the seviper had killed himself, though. Stabbing yourself through the brain was not particularly easy, especially when you had a skull.

"Great job, guys," Shannon said. "Atalanta will have to stay in her ball for now, but the rest of us can keep going."

She recalled Bia, and after a moment, Hestia and Nosos. She liked having them all out, but travelling that way didn't work so well. Plutus could stay out of his ball for now, since Nosos and Hestia had had a turn, and it was hard to keep a rhyhorn out.

"Let's get going to Mura," Shannon said, and continued down the path.

Bia gave one final disapproving grunt at Plutus before being recalled. Plutus regarded her with a haughty aloofness. Though the seviper hadn't killed itself, the site was hardly pretty. The snake was a bloody, grotesque mess and its tail was lodged firmly in its own head. Plutus mewed in agreement with Shannon's assesment of Atalanta and followed her.

Shannon hadn't gotten far when she heard a series of excited grunts and screeches behind her. The battle with the seviper had allowed the mankey and its trainer to catch up, or rather, just the mankey. The little monkey pokemon jumped up and down excitedly, waving its arms and continuing to screech at Shannon and Plutus. It seemed to have run ahead of its trainer, and the boy chased after it. As he caught up he rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"...dammit Ven... I told you... to chill out..." he said between gasps. After he caught his breath, he stood up and regarded Shannon sheepishly. "Er, hi there." The mankey, Ven, gave another excited cry, looking from the unconscious seviper to Shannon to Plutus. "My mankey saw how you handled that seviper and now he wants to battle you." The trainer shrugged and looked slightly apologetic. This proposition, it seemed, was certainly not his idea. Ven nodded enthusiastically and continued to shout at the pair.

Wait what when had a mankey oh hello

A battle! A trainer battle, too, one of her favourites, rather similar to most of her battles at the gym. Of course, she'd lost a lot of gym battles, but she'd tended to fight pokémon with type advantages.

"Er, one-on-one?" Shannon suggested. If her pokémon were going to be out of commission, she didn't particularly want to lose more than one. Particularly if the mankey wanted to battle her after seeing how she beat a seviper with three-on-one. "Hold on."

She scanned the mankey with her pokédex, sort of hoping he'd be around level ten so Nosos could take him on. Atalanta would have been even better, since mankey were pretty agile, but that was obviously impossible now. And if the mankey was stronger than that, Hestia was probably her best bet, and the flamethrower would likely be a surprise the first time she used it.

Though her planning was sort of a moot point when Plutus launched himself at the mankey with a fake out.

The guy shrugged again and brushed a long lock of brown hair out of his face, "Oh yeah, totally. One on one works for me."

"This mankey is male and level 13. He is owned."

"Whoa, hey!" the trainer hastily took a step back to avoid the ensuing battle. Though Ven didn't appear to be caught off guard at all. The entire time, the mankey had his eyes trained on Plutus, and once Shannon had agreed to the battle, he had ceased his excited challenge and had become silent, his body tense and ready for action. Plutus's sudden attack seemed to suit Ven just fine, though the mankey was clearly caught by surprise by the fake out. Plutus feigned a left pawed scratch and Ven flinched and threw up his arms to defend himself while Plutus expertly wheeled his other paw around and scratched the mankey's side. Ven gave a surprised grunt and leapt back. He did not seem too hurt, or angered even by Plutus's preemptive strike, but instead, seemed rather excited at the prospect of the battle.

The trainer took this as the cue to start the battle and backed up a few more steps to give the pokemon room. As he did so, he pulled out a pokedex of his own and scanned Plutus, nodding to himself. He pocketed it and looked up. "Hey, stay frosty Ven. That meowth's fast. Pick your points and strike! Keep your Karate Chop ready for defense!"

Looked like the battle had started before Shannon had wanted it to, and she found herself in the unpleasantly familiar situation of being on the worse side of a type match-up. Not that types were all that mattered in a battle, but she hadn't exactly trained Plutus into doing much of anything. And Plutus didn't seem like one to be controlled.

"Karate chop is going to hurt," Shannon warned Plutus. "Avoid it. Avoid bite, too. Growl and scratch combo."

Plutus flicked an ear at her. He liked bite, and he'd use it if something got too near his mouth, dammit. And he looked for areas that looked particularly sensitive, though the mankey didn't have anywhere more fun-looking than normal pokémon. Nose, eyes, maybe the ears or something, or maybe he'd go and disable those weird-looking limbs. And, well, he'd been here for a while, so he knew a bit more about what was around. He could find some use for the tree the spearow were sitting on, sure, but there was also the unconscious machop, the injured seviper (fangs and a blade!), and the very blinding blood of either.

The orders had been given, and the battle began. The mankey made the first (or second depending on your viewpoint) move and lunged forward with impressive quickness, jabbing his fist out at Plutus. The meowth himself was agile in his own right sprung to the mankey's left to avoid the strike. As the mankey punched at nothing but air, Plutus prepared to spring forward, claws outstretched at the back of the mankey's head.

Plutus, however, was met with a sharp kick to the face as Ven shot a leg up. Plutus yelped in surprise and hastily growled at the mankey. Just in time too. Ven had leveled a karate chop at the meowth, but faltered at the growl, and Plutus dodged again, ears flattened, eyes narrowed. He had a rough idea of the mankey's speed now, and that was all he needed to know.

As the trainer watched from the other side of the battle, Shannon could observe his clothes. They were nothing noteworthy. He wore a dark green t-shirt, fingerless black gloves, a pair of obviously very worn jeans, and black and white sneakers. He also had, slung over his shoulder, a backpack.

Shannon had meant for Plutus to use the rather common combo of a growl followed by a scratch before the mankey could recover, but it was probably not as obvious amongst wild pokémon. Meant that she ought to work on those common combos, though. Simple things like that would help Plutus get used to anything more complicated that Shannon came up with, too.

"Move around and get in some scratches," Shannon said. "If you get an opening at his back, fury swipes."

Plutus listened to her suggestions with half an ear. Sounded like she wanted him to get around to the mankey's back, but the face had so many more weak spots. Either way worked for him, really. Would be nice not to get attacked again, and he liked how well the growl had worked out last time, but the mankey was probably not that flexible. Except for a very bite-able tail. In any case, he wasn't seeing how Shannon was helping, since moving and using his claws were pretty much what he usually did in a battle anyway.

But if the mankey tried kicking at his face again, he was going to bite off a toe. He liked his face, and he didn't like the mankey's toes all that much. Didn't dislike them as much as the mankey's nose, but the nose had yet to attack him, which balanced them out a little bit.

"Stay on him, Ven! Low Kick Karate Chop, you know the drill."

On all fours, Plutus slowly circled the mankey, his powerful muscles tensing under his fur. The mankey too watched the meowth critically. Plutus made the first move, bolting forward he leapt clear over the mankey, who had prepared to punch the incoming cat. Skidding as he landed behind his opponent, Plutus wheeled around to slash into the mankey's back, but for some reason, paused. It was hardly noticeable, as everything in the battle was happening so fast, but it was very much a deliberate hesitation. The little monkey's long leg swept across the ground behind him, tripping up Plutus's feet and causing the cat to fall over. Ven kept his momentum going, as his sweeping kick threw his body one way, he lifted his opposite paw, and chopped it directly down into Plutus's side. The meowth yelped in pain and snapped at the mankey's arm, biting at the limb that had knocked the wind clear out of him. Ven squealed and quickly withdrew his arm, Plutus's teeth raking across the soft skin.

"That's it, Ven! You've got the upper hand! Fury Swipes while he's down! If he tries to growl at you again, counter with a Leer."

Shannon could have sworn meowth were supposed to be faster than mankey, but maybe she was wrong about that. Still, it was disappointing that after that nice feat of acrobatics, Plutus hadn't really managed to get the mankey's back before a low kick took out his feet and balance. She wasn't overly worried about the pain on that front (though karate chop did look like it hurt) since Plutus wasn't particularly heavy, and now one of the mankey's limbs was probably weakened because of the bite. Any attempt to use it, like the fury swipes, would pull at the wound, but pokémon regularly ignored that and worse.

Which was what she was hoping Plutus could do.

"Work through the fury swipes and scratch at his face," Shannon ordered. Plenty of things could happen there. "Then use your own fury swipes."

Ven continued on the offensive, alternating between paws, he began furiously swiping at Plutus's side, cringing everytime he swiped with his injured arm. Plutus ignored the scratch wounds that were beginning to open up and countered with a scratch of his own. Lashing out with his own paw, Plutus's scratch seemed much more lethal than the mankey's. Ven, in the midst of his Fury Swipes, was unable to dodge, and the claws raked across his sensitve pig-like snout. Ven reeled back, screeching and clutching at his nose with both hands.

"You're fine, Ven! Ignore the pain!" his trainer shouted. Ven blinked several times and shook his head vigorously, trying to ignore the searing pain and blood that dripped from a deep scratch in his nose.

Plutus did not take advantage of the mankey's stunned state and, instead, merely watched him.

Angry at having its nose struck, the mankey was eager to return the favor and lunged at Plutus again, swiping his own claws at the cats face. Plutus gave a half hearted attempt to avoid the attack, and even Shannon, who had not battled with Plutus extensively, could tell that the meowth was quicker than that. But it was difficult to tell. Perhaps the mankey's karate chop had done more damage than Plutus let on. Whatever the case, the mankey's claws scratch lightly into Plutus's cheek. Ven whirled his other hand around for a second scratch and landed this one perfectly, raking his tiny claws across the meowth's nose, opening up another small, bleeding cut.

Ven's trainer raised a fist in the air. "Hah! Yeah, Ven, that's it! He's already getting tired! Knock him over with a Tackle and get in another Fury Swipes. You've got this."

Tired? Was that why Plutus was faltering? Shannon had seen the failure to press the advantage after the scratch, and although she supposed pain might have caused it, she thought Plutus could at least manage two or three swipes. There must've been a whole second between that and the mankey lashing out, and someone could die in that time. Or get in a nice scratch. And then Plutus failed to dodge the mankey's attack, and he probably should have.

Hopefully, this didn't mean internal damage or something. She already had Atalanta's half-death to deal with. And this was almost as bad as Lento; if Plutus was secretly dying, she'd like some clear sign so she'd know to call off the battle.

"A little quick to jump to conclusions," Shannon said, voice more teasing than anything. She was partially trying to reassure herself, though. "You've jumped over him before, Plutus. Do it again, dodge the tackle, and fury swipes from behind. Or if the tackle gets you, scratch his nose at any opportunity."

Meowth were pretty light, though, and mankey looked rather bulky. She hoped the tackle wouldn't connect, since if the weight difference was too bad, it would be like Bia's accident all over again. Well, probably not as bad, since Ven probably wasn't going to break any bones, but it might still put Plutus out of commission.

Ven dove forward, tackling Plutus with his bulk before the meowth could react. The mankey slammed into him shoulder first, sending Plutus flying back onto the ground. The mankey immediately pounced, landing on top of Plutus and raising his arms to begin another onslaught of swipes. He only got in a single scratch across Plutus's chest, tearing a section of fur out in the process, before Plutus unsheathed his back claws and kicked out repeatedly, launching his own unique Fury Swipes. The powerful clawed kicks did the trick, and Ven hastily leapt off before Plutus could do too much damage.

Ven took his time to catch his breath as Plutus wearily got back to his feet and staggered a bit to the right. It seemed the tackle had really jarred him. Ven gave a triumphant screech and pounded his tiny chest, then went back on the attack. Plutus was breathing heavily and glared dangerously at the mankey. Ven ran up and delivered yet another tackle. Plutus tried to jump back, but the mankey's lunge covered more ground and, again, Plutus was slammed back to the ground. By now, the battle had moved close to the seviper's body.

"Hm. Not from what I'm seeing," the trainer responded to Shannon with a smile. Ven too seemed to share in this premature celebration and raised his paws, screeching again. Plutus did not move for a split second, then, with what appeared to be great effort, pushed himself back into a standing position. His eyes looked a little dazed, but they were locked onto the dancing mankey.

"You've got more senses than just sight, surely," Shannon said, except wait no, it was supposed to be something involving needing glasses. Hard to think of something when she was also wondering if Plutus was a lot weaker than he'd appeared. He didn't look like he could take much more, and the battle was getting farther from her. Oh well. "Open your ears."

Okay, that confused her. Hopefully it would do the same for the other trainer.

"Don't let him celebrate," Shannon said, though exhaustion made actual tactics hard. She'd go for something simple. "Scratch!"

Niether Ven nor his trainer seemed overly concerned about Plutus. Though the trainer did frown in puzzlement at Shannon's comeback. He shrugged it off and shouted to his mankey, "Nice, Ven. Knock him back down with another tackle. He's wounded and can't resist you much longer! Follow it up with a Karate Chop, let's finish this."

Ven took his sweet time prepping for what could fairly be assumed as his final charge. Plutus continued to stagger and appeared to be having difficulty merely standing up. The mankey shook his injured left arm, testing its strength and, with a satisfied screech, ran at Plutus. However, what happened next caused the trainers look of triumphant victory to be replaced with a bitter scowl.

"Nice trick..." he muttered.

Ven was running at Plutus with his arms raised above his head. This was going to be a full body tackle. The mankey had completely disregarded defense during its charge. Right before it looked like Plutus would again get slammed back into the ground, the meowth sprung into action, like a coiled spring that had been pulled and pulled until it could not hold back any longer. With incredible agility not seen since the very start of the battle, Plutus scooped up a dripping handful of the seviper's blood, which had pooled right next to the meowth's feet. Right before the moment of impact, Plutus dashed forward and past the mankey with an outsretched paw aimed right at Ven's eyes. Ven's own momentum and reckless charge only added to the strength behind Plutus's scratch and the meowth's blood stained claws dug into the mankey's eyes. The force of the blow (mostly due to Ven's built up speed) sent the mankey spinning into the air and crashing akwardly into the ground, as well as throwing Plutus back a step.

The mankey screeched in agony. The scratch had hurt its eyes, but the seviper's blood stung them even worse and the mankey clutched desperately at its face. Plutus had taken a lot of abuse in order to get this opportunity. He had to feign being wounded in order to catch the mankey so off guard, who Plutus had determined early on in the fight was just as agile as himself. In order to make it convincing, he really did have to take a few good hits. But now this was his chance and he wasn't about to waste it. Leaping onto the stunned mankey, Plutus dug violently into its back with all four of his clawed paws in a savage fury swipes attack. Ven squealed and flailed his arms in a panic, trying to throw Plutus off, but the mankey only had one truly good arm and this proved to be in vain as Plutus continued to slash and open up wounds in the mankey's backside.

The trainer seemed just as caught off guard by the turn of events. "Ven! he shouted, too surprised at first to come up with any logical orders. He recovered quickly though. "Come on Ven, you gotta get out of there! Use your strength advantage. Kick him, punch him, just get him off of you!"

Well, that was unexpected.

So Plutus had had a plan after all. It had been rather suspicious, but in hindsight mostly everything made sense. Shannon thought Plutus could have gotten in a few more good hits before getting to the seviper, to close the health gap, since Plutus still had to have been weakened by all those attacks. And that tackle. Still, she had an opportunity now... but she thought Plutus knew enough not to waste it.

"Stick on his back with a fury swipes," Shannon said. "Or if he turns around, scratch up his arm and legs, then target his face."

She hadn't thought wild pokémon were sophisticated enough to come up with plans like that on their own, even if the plan itself was simple. Cheap first hits and targeting certain areas, sure, but actually coming up with and following through with a plan rather than just taking advantage of openings when they appeared... well, that's what a trainer was supposed to teach pokémon. And Plutus didn't seem to need it. She could hone that ability, sure, but Plutus might have been just fine on his own.

She should probably see how well her other pokémon could do these things. Especially Atalanta, if she'd been with Plutus long.

The trainer's orders proved to be more easily said than done. Plutus wasn't about to give up his advantageous position easily, and the combined swipes between his front and back legs gave one the impression that Plutus was almost trying to dig a hole straight through the mankey's backside. Ven snorted with rage and managed to squirm onto his side and swat Plutus off with a lucky strike to the side of the meowth's head.

Plutus hissed as the mankey staggered back to its feet. It's back was a bloody mess, fur matted and crimson. No sooner had it recovered its bearings, Plutus was on top of it again, pouncing on the mankey's front side this time. The pig monkey gave another squeal of surprise as it fell back. Latching onto his opponent, Plutus raised one of his paws high, claws unsheathed, and dove them into the mankey's already injured arm. Then, with a great deal of effort, he raked the claws downward. This earned more than a squeal, Ven screamed and kicked Plutus in the chest, knocking the cat off. Three very deep cuts showed on the mankey's arm, blood pouring out of one with greater volume than Ven's other scratches. Even slower this time, Ven got to his feet, his left arm dangling uselessly at his side. He was breathing heavily and wiped at his eyes with his good arm. Plutus didn't immediately spring forward, but instead waited for Shannon's opinion of the battle. His tail twitched expectantly and he crouched low.

Ven's trainer cringed at his mankey's state. "You gotta get that shit out of your eyes!" he called. Ven seemed to agree and desperately pawed at them. It seemed the worst of it was gone, but Ven's vision was still a far cry from perfect. The seviper's blood still stung them terribly and Plutus's scratch hadn't helped either, they were watering and bright red. Blood oozed from the side of the mankey's eyes, though whose blood it was was impossible to tell. Either way, they were narrowed in a furious glare leveled in the general direction Plutus was in. This fight was not over.

Ven's trainer didn't look quite as confident as his pokemon. His face betrayed signs of concern and discomfort. "Change of plans, Ven. Use Leer and then head for that tree!"

Update: Ven's left arm is incapacitated.

Could a mankey even do anything from up in a tree other than recover? Maybe some sort of set-up move, like nasty plot or something, neither of which Shannon really wanted. It was possible that Ven would bleed until it passed out, with all those cuts, but it would be spurting if that was the case, and Shannon would rather the mankey didn't sustain that kind of damage, anyway.

If this was a wild pokémon battle, the solution would be easy enough; she could get Nosos to finish Ven off from a distance. In this case, though, it required a little more thought.

Though Ven didn't look like he had full use of his left arm any more, and his climbing speed would be decreased. Meowth were usually alright at climbing, too, so if Ven tried that, he could follow... she didn't want Plutus under Ven at any point, though.

"Counter his leer with growl, and scratch," Shannon said. "If he tries to get away, grab his tail, and take out a leg."

Ven's bloody eyes narrowed in a frightening, enraged leer. For a moment, Plutus faltered, taking a step back as his defenses fell. But then, encouraged by Shannons commands, he let loose a surprisingly ferocious growl. This in turn made the mankey falter and become a little less inclined to strike at Plutus. In the end, Plutus and Ven were still on the same level.

Though Ven's vision had been blurred, he was able to make out the scraggly tree. The pair of spearow had long since flown off during Shannon's battle with the seviper. Ven turned and dashed towards its, his limp arm trailing behind the rest of his body. The scratches opened up in his back also proved to be rather debilitating and Ven was noticeably slower. Plutus cringed and sprang forward. He was hurting too. As the two pokemon ran towards the tree, it would be Plutus who was the faster.

Leaping forward, he just barely managed to snatch the mankey's tail between his teeth. Ven jolted forward, dragged Plutus with him. The meowth then swiped at one of the mankey's legs, sending it onto its back.

The trainer cursed.

Plutus was getting back to following Shannon's commands, looked like. Which was great, since she'd know what to expect from him, but he'd still probably know to compensate if Ven did something unexpected.

"On him, Plutus," Shannon said. "Fury swipes. Nose and above his eyes, and see if you can't scratch at that leg again."

Eyes would be a better target, but she didn't like hitting the eyes with anything that would go in any deeper than a sand-attack. Could cause permanent damage, see, and in a trainer battle, there was no way she'd do that to someone else's pokémon. Besides, even throwing sand or blood in someone else's eyes was a sort of personal squick, so requesting that Plutus arrange for Ven's blood to pour into his eyes was nearly bad enough as it was.

The trainer cursed again, this was not how he wanted this to go. "Let him jump on you and then reach back and throw him off! Then get in that tree!"

Plutus couldn't have agreed more. He dove at the mankey's face, swiping and digging his claws into Ven's sensitive snout. Ven reached up and grabbed a pawful of Plutus's skin around his neck and using his superior strength, threw Plutus off of him with a loud screech. Plutus arced akwardly in the air, but managed to land on his feet.

Ven struggled back to a standing position and made for the tree. Plutus quickly dashed after him, but Ven was already too close. Though the wounds in his back pained him with every movement, his vision was crippled, and he was out one arm, Ven was still an adept climber and quickly hoisted himself up onto a higher branch, panting with exertion.

"Good, nice job, Ven! Now use Focus Energy, calm yourself down. You can do this! If he tries to come after you, swat him down with a Karate Chop." Plutus was already at the base of the tree and looked ready to pursue the mankey. A small snarl itched at his lips.

"Calmness won't help him now," Shannon said. "Climb up while he's wasting time on that, but not after him. Above him, staying out of reach. Then another growl, and pounce. Claw him however you'd like."

There was of course the chance that Ven couldn't see Plutus coming after him, while focusing and partially-blinded and also only able to use one arm for that chop, but Shannon wasn't going to let Ven get an easy shot. She didn't particularly like the idea of a focused opponent, one capable of seeing openings and completely ignoring pain, but it still meant extra time.

Ven immediately began to focus his energy, closing his eyes and holding his good arm close to his eyes. Pain was not important. He envisioned Plutus. The meowth's weak spots, its body may be fast and flexible, but it wasn't innately strong and Ven knew the body parts he needed to strike.

Plutus easily scampered up the trunk of the tree, using his sharp claws for traction. As he neared Ven's location, Plutus leapt off and landed on a branch opposite the mankey. The meowth could climb easily enough, but jumping from branch to branch posed a bit more of a challenge, and if Plutus wanted to stay out of Ven's attack range, that was what he was going to need to do.

Ven picked his next target and leaped up, latching onto the tree branch and hoisting himself up. Plutus was panting, his stomach visably heaving in and out. He leapt to another branch and was now above Ven. The time it took for Plutus to scale these branches allowed the mankey to finish his prep and Ven quickly looked around for his opponent with a renewed air of calm and strength.

Had Plutus been a half second slower ascending the tree, the resulting attack could have ended very differently. Ven's focus allowed his another senses to heighten, and it was the mankey's injured nose that located Plutus first. Above was not where Ven had expected his opponent to be however. He spun upwards, raising his good arm to strike, when Plutus dove forward, pushing off the branch with his back legs. Ven swung his arm in a mighty Karate Chop as Plutus dove forward, but was too late. Plutus latched onto the mankey with all four paws as the two collided and burst from the tree.

As the pair fell, it looked like Ven would take the brunt force of the fall, but he grabbed at Plutus's back with his good arm and attempted to flip the meowth over. Plutus's forward momentum would prove to be too much however, and Ven was slammed into the ground back first, letting out a gasp as the wind was knocked clear out of him. The force of the fall sent Plutus kareening off of his foe, and skidding into the ground next to Ven.

Both pokemon were rapidly running out of steam. Ven's Focus Energy had done wonders to rejuvinate the mankey, but the fall from the tree had stunned him. Plutus too seemed exhausted, but pushed himself to his feet. Ven realized the dangerous situation he was in, but the culmination of all his injuries was a high hurdle to to overcome. The mankey refused to give up and dragged himself into a sitting position to face Plutus, outstretching his arm and putting it in between himself and the meowth.

Ven was apparently having trouble standing, because he wasn't, instead only getting his arm out between himself and Plutus. Plutus, though, was mobile even if he was tired, and Ven had already shown he had difficulty in fighting opponents behind him.

"Not too much longer, Plutus," Shannon said. Exhaustion was just as hard to push through as pain, probably even more so for pokémon, but she probably only needed him to use a few more attacks. "Get behind him and scratch."

"Keep it defensive, don't do anything flashy!" Ven's trainer warned. Not that it looked Ven was in any position to pull of a flashy maneuver. "Let him come to you and knock him back with a karate chop. Put everything you've got into it, he can't take too much more!"

Before Shannon had even finished giving her orders, Plutus had darted forward. Ven, eyes squinting, did his best to follow the meowth's movement. Though he may have been grounded, Ven's good arm still posed a dangerous threat to Plutus. As he ran forward, Plutus recalled the karate chop he had taken to his side. Risking getting hit by another one of those in favor of getting in an attack of his own was a risky plan at best. Even if he managed to get behind the mankey, by the time he could lash out with a scratch, Ven would be able to wheel his arm around and connect.

A split second before it seemed to the two pokemon would collide again, Plutus skidded to a halt just in front of Ven. Caught off guard and a little depth misperception thanks to the seviper's blinding blood, Ven swung his arm down in a vicious karate chop that thunked loudly into the dirt, but missed Plutus entirely. He snorted in shock and realized too late what he had done. All according to Plutus's plan. Plutus leapt again, this time at Ven's good arm. Biting savagely into it, he sunk his claws into whatever section of the mankey's arm he could, shaking his head to further aggravate the wound.

Ven screeched in pain. Too exhausted from the fall from the tree to fight Plutus off with his legs, and with his left arm out of commision and unable to strike, the mankey had no way of fighting off the cat, who refused to release his hold on Ven's arm. All Ven could do was use his own teeth to bite down at whatever part of Plutus he could. The mankey's teeth were not suited for fighting however, and though Plutus cringed as the tiny teeth sunk into his neck, he would not budge.

"Ven!"

A few more seconds of tearing at the limb, and Plutus was biting and clawing at an unconscious foe. Blood loss and the open wounds had finally beaten Ven's spirit. Finally releasing his hold, Plutus slowly crept back and away from the fallen mankey.

The mankey has been knocked out. Plutus has gained +15 EXP. and is at 20 health.