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[Whivit]

Kyle paused when he heard that voice; it was so much like his own, but so much cockier. He felt bile collect in his mouth. This was not the time for battle, uhg, he had come here to challenge his stupid stupid stupid brother but not when he's only just gotten his pokemon, didn't even meet the thing yet, hadn't even slept yet - uhg.

But he couldn't let his brother see his weakness, he'd abuse any sign of it he got. Assface. "Hello. Nice to see you again." No it wasn't. Craphead douche wanker (he wished he was better with insults). "What a surprise to see you here. I am utterly surprised." Asshat.

[Malice Aforethought]

The smile on Aaron's face as he trotted up the hill was, in fact, decidedly asshattish. "Kyle!" he exclaimed again, pointing at his older brother just to make sure he knew who he was. "You didn't just come from getting a new pokémon from Professor Willow, did you? What was wrong with the ones you had? Other than the fact that, you know, they weren't the most impressive battlers ever."

((Short post is short but the shinything has drastically reduced my ability to engage in witty repartees.))

[Whivit]

(( kinda freaky when you can imagine your character completely because they're based on a real person. and they're smiling like a douche. and you see it. freakyyyy. ))

Kyle took a breath, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, told himself his brother was just trying to irritate him - but it didn't matter. It worked. He hated him. That stupid piece of shitty tardness was just such a shitface that Kyle's brain sort of melted into a jumble of swearwords. It took him a few seconds before he could clear his mind enough to reply.

"That's great, Aaron. Lovely. Yep." He realized he wasn't acting replying to anything his brother had said. What had his brother said? Probably insulted him in some way. And even if he hadn't, his tone of voice would have. "Look, what do you want? I'm tired and I just got here - I'm not in the mood for your... you." He realized as he said it that he really wasn't; he wasn't ready to take on this challenge quite yet.

[Malice Aforethought]

((sdgkah sorrrryyyyyyy))

The asshattish smile never wavered. "Don't be ridiculous. You could never be tired of my me. In fact, I bet you followed me here. That's it, isn't it? You're so in awe of all of my awesome me that you wanted to watch me take on Kutho. Isn't that right, Kyle?" He winked and, once he'd climbed further up the hill, attempted to throw his arm around his brother's shoulder. "Well, brother, you're in luck. Magnanimous and generally awesome guy that I am, I'll treat you to a demonstration right now. I'll beat up your pokémon for you if you like, and I'll take your money, too! Seventy-five Kuts sound good?"

[Whivit]

(( s'okay, I've disappeared too ))

Again, Kyle's brain failed him. He was normally very quick-witted, in fact he prided himself on his ability to think of a quick sarcastic comment - but he failed in epic proportions when it came to an actual fight. His fight/flight instinct could never make up its mind; he wanted to both flee and punch the person (namely his brother, regardless of whether he was actually arguing with his brother) in the face. Or groin. Groin would work too.

So instead of responding to his jerkwad of a brother, he let out a sound that was something like a cat being skinned alive. The sound was only made worse when his dickhead wanking asshole of a brother draped his arm around his shoulder. He felt a tremendous desire to flee, accompanied as always by that urge to round-house-kick his ass into next year, Chuck-Norris style.

His brain clicked at the idea of a battle. That's what he'd come here for - right? Right? He found it hard to remember at the moment. Probably. It was probably that. It felt right, anyhow. He was very confused and tired, but it felt like a good idea. He could beat up his brother that way, and then maybe be rid of him, and go to sleep... and then... stuff would be better.

"Why not. You've taken everything else."

[Malice Aforethought]

"Wonderful!" Aaron pulled his arm away and backed up, grinning broadly before removing a red and white ball from his belt. It struck the ground and disgorged a small shape, then bounced neatly back into his hand. "Magellan could use a punching bag right about now."

"Magellan" stretched its small body as the last of the whitish light faded away. It blinked dully at Kyle out of round black eyes and scratched its snub beak with a little flipper. "Pi-i-i-ii-iiiip," it yawned. It sat down and closed its eyes.

"So? What did you get, Kyle? This piplup here was the rarest thing I was offered; pretty cool, huh? That seventy-five-K is as good as mine." Magellan yawned again.

[Whivit]

"Very special, just like you," he muttered. He seemed to not hear most of what his brother said, for some peculiar reason.

There was a switch in his brain as the pokemon was released. Everything became just a little bit easier. He could ignore Aaron - sort of - as he focused on the battle; his thoughts, his actions, everything was focused. This was what he lived for. This was who he was. Though he never showed it, he had endless confidence in his battle technique; this was the one area in his life where he was mentored, taught, praised.

He realized he still had the pokeball in his hand. Damn you, Aaron. Obviously it was his brother's fault, because it could be. He stuffed the pokeballs into his pocket, along with the pokedex - he doubted he'd need it at the moment - and left the heavier, full pokeball in his hand. Not the best circumstances to meet his pokemon, but... what could you do.

He pressed the button on the ball, released his pokemon, and pocketed it with the others.

The swinub materialized on the ground in front of him. He felt bad for it, for a moment, so hairy and in the sun and all - he hoped it didn't burn. He didn't have enough sunblock. "Right... Sorry 'bout this, but we're going to have to battle before we meet." He spoke a bit quietly, not wanting his stupid shitfaced brother to hear him. "I'll explain the circumstances afterwards, but it's very important that we win. The asshole over there is my brother - unfortunately - and he's a piece of... shitty... doucheyness." God he wished he could swear coherently.

He paused to think. He knew piplup, obviously, but not well. Not many people used them in an electric-type gym. They were starter types, so they probably knew very few moves - the generic tackle or pound and leer or growl or something. His swinub didn't know much better though. Swinub, being ground types, were quite common at their gym, and he knew them well.

"Okay. You should have decent speed, so - the moment you can, tackle it, and don't get off. Just sit on it. Let your weight and your uh, mass, make it... heat up. If your speed allows you to attack again, flail around with Mud Sport on top of him."

(( Kyle is the most fun I have ever had writing. For serious. sdfds ))

[Kusarigamaitachi]

"Let him," Aaron said, grin as cocky as ever. "Then growl and pound."

Magellan yawned a third time (perhaps Aaron had been trying to teach it something?) and waddled toward the swinub.

Who immediately launched herself forward.

Her little feet moved rapidly beneath her, but the hair hiding them gave her the appearance of gliding over the gravel. She jumped as high as she could, forepaws landing on Magellan's chest. The piplup staggered backward and fell over; the swinub's paws slid off its chest, but she scrambled to climb on top as soon as it fell.

A surprisingly fierce snarl burst from Magellan's stubby beak. The swinub froze with her forepaws on Magellan's stomach, long enough for a tiny wing to smack her across the nose. The slap was weaker than it would have been with Magellan's full weight behind it, but the swinub whined at the impact. Still, she pushed herself a bit farther, paws scrabbling for purchase, then flailed and rolled as though she were in a puddle of mud. Magellan grunted at the weight quickly shifting on top of her and the tiny paws slapping at her, but not being particularly flat or easy to stay on, she found the weight shifting too far to one side and rolling off.

"I don't blame your swinub for feeling that way," Aaron said. "My awesomeness must have rubbed off on Magellan, after all. But this is a battle, not whatever you seem to think it is." His smirk hadn't faded. "If she does that again, Magellan, roll. Otherwise, just keep pounding. Hit the nose - it won't take long."

Update: Swinub's attack fell (-1).

End stats: Swinub's attack is lowered (-1).

Terrain: The hill outside the lab. There is a gravel path winding to the base of the hill, surrounded on either side by grass. There are a few willow trees on the hill, their long fronds moving with the breeze.

[Whivit]

It was much easier for Kyle to ignore Aaron's jibes; he barely heard them. He was focused. Whatever Aaron had said, Kyle's entire outlook on it was different: he knew his brother was a douche. He knew his purpose in life was to belittle him. And he knew that there was no reason to let it work. Now that he had something to distract him, to let his mind focus on, it was easy to let the insults slide off his back.

So far is was going pretty well. But he didn't like the idea of continued pounds, definitely not on his swinub's delicate nose. If he could recall correctly, swinub had its own weapon right under their noses - and he could use that.

"Okay, wait for it to approach you, and when it's about to strike grab hold of its fin with a bite. Bite down as hard as you can, do as much damage as you can- grind your teeth and chew and everything - we don't want that fin hurting you in the future, and then let go and tackle him."

[Kusarigamaitachi]

Focus wasn't always a good thing, as shown when Magellan went for the attack anyway; he evidently either hadn't heard or was completely ignoring what Kyle said, because he didn't even hesitate as he slammed his fin toward the swinub's nose, throwing his weight behind it.

Having no training or experience with catching much of anything in her jaws, the swinub only really managed to jerk her face upward, mouth opening, so Magellan's fin slammed into her teeth instead. Both pokémon made startled noises, and Magellan pulled his fin away. The swinub's teeth snapped on nothing. Still, Kyle could see what must have been a fairly deep gouge in Magellan's wing, with scarlet quickly covering the pale blue feathers.

The swinub darted at Magellan again, not bothering to jump this time, pushing him back several steps before she stopped and let him stagger on his own. Magellan recovered quickly and ran forward, raising the bloodied flipper—and stopping awkwardly and pulled back. His other, undamaged flipper struck the swinub instead, and this time on her cheek; it seemed Magellan had learned her lesson about the nose, even if the bite hadn't been totally successful.

Update: Swinub is learning bite (5%).

End stats: Swinub's attack is lowered (-1).

Terrain: The hill outside the lab. There is a gravel path winding to the base of the hill, surrounded on either side by grass. There are a few willow trees on the hill, their long fronds moving with the breeze.

[Whivit]

Okay. Think. Things were working well. The bite hadn't been perfect, but he should have expected that, of course. His pokemon didn't actually know bite. Pokemon, for some reason, could never do anything if they didn't know the move. It was weird. Didn't they, you know, bite things? Like food? It was weird. But it was going well.

He figured he'd keep up the biting, with a mix of tackles thrown in. Maybe his swinub would actually improve with bite. Couldn't get worse. At least the piplup didn't aim for the nose anymore - though he didn't doubt Aaron would change that.

"Okay, hun. Listen to their commands - if he's told to slap you on the nose, wait and bite his fin again. Try to get it in your mouth this time, just focus on that. Otherwise, just keep tackling him. And don't get dissuaded by a leer - you're much better than him. You're doing great, sweetie. We're gonna win this!" Oh yes, he was gaining confidence, and he was not short on the compliments. Definitely not to pokemon that were on his team. Definitely, definitely not when he was feeling good. And he was. Finally.

[Kusarigamaitachi]

"So you've realised your pokémon's moves aren't good enough," Aaron said. "I completely understand. But we can both play at that game, can't we, Magellan? Pound, and go for the nose. Move faster if you don't want to get bitten, but if you do, hit its nose with your beak as hard as you can."

The swinub stilled, suddenly nervous. (This was the difficult part about listening to the opponent's commands; sometimes they said something unexpected and you didn't know what to do.) She didn't want to be pounded or pecked on the nose, and she only had one mouth to catch something with. But she remembered what Kyle had said, that she was much better than the piplup, and chose to follow her commands.

Magellan shifted on his feet, looking completely miserable, but ran forward with his bloodied flipper at the ready. He swung forward, but his hesitation made him slow and easier to catch, and the swinub was more ready. She opened her mouth wider and clamped down as hard as she could. Immediately she started grinding her teeth, chewing, digging down harder. The unfamiliar taste of metal filled her mouth.

With a screech, Magellan slammed his beak into her nose. It just caught the edge, but that was nearly as sensitive as the centre, and the swinub yelped and released Magellan's flipper. The flipper wasn't that much bloodier than before, but Magellan held it close to his chest. It was probably at least bruised.

It probably was even more bruised when the swinub darted forward and threw herself into Magellan's chest, crushing the flipper between their bodies.

"This is as easy as it was last time," Aaron said. "Now, do it again."

Update: Swinub is learning bite (10%).

End stats: Swinub's attack is lowered (-1).

Terrain: The hill outside the lab. There is a gravel path winding to the base of the hill, surrounded on either side by grass. There are a few willow trees on the hill, their long fronds moving with the breeze.

[Whivit]

Kyle pouted. He didn't like his pokemon getting hurt. Poor swinub was clearly working hard, she didn't deserve to be hurt. But he'd make up for it. Afterwards they'd have a nice rest. It'd be fun. He gritted his teeth and focused again. So - bite was pretty much out, unless he wanted another peck. He could bite and then let go, maybe. But he knew Aaron's commands. He felt he should use that.

What did his swinub know? Mud sport, tackle, odor sleuth. And it could sort of bite. What else could it do? Sit on things. Dodge. ... It was hairy.

Ok.

"Alright, that was good, don't worry. Now, wait till the piplup comes near you to slap you and then tackle it, disrupt its attack. Then immediately tackle it again. Try to knock it off its feet and don't let it get up. If you can, kick it around a bit, on the ground, to prevent it from getting up." He paused, thought over his commands, and figured they were ok. As good as they'd get anyhow. "Keep it up, you're doing great, hun."

[Kusarigamaitachi]

For a moment it looked like Magellan wouldn't attack, but then he waddled forward—maybe a little slower than usual—with his undamaged flipper raised. The swinub stayed still, tense, and when he was just about pulling back it's too late now she ran forward, turning her nose slightly so only her weight slammed into him.

Magellan, no better at taking her weight than ever, stumbled backwards, but even though the swinub had stopped for a second she wasn't finished. She leapt, shoving her paws into his chest, while he was still reeling. This time he fell, with her already mostly on top of him, the way he was supposed to. Her back legs kicked at his feet, trying to give her more stability, but there was no way to get on completely. Still, with her stomach on top of his, he was more or less stuck.

Doing the only thing he could think of, Magellan jabbed his head forward to give her something like a light peck. It didn't hit her nose, though, missing by quite a bit, and instead just gave her what would likely be a bruise on her cheek.

End stats: Swinub's attack is lowered (-1).

Terrain: The hill outside the lab. There is a gravel path winding to the base of the hill, surrounded on either side by grass. There are a few willow trees on the hill, their long fronds moving with the breeze.

[Whivit]

Yes. That was perfect. He finally let himself feel like maybe, maybe he'll win this. Maybe - just maybe - he could beat his douchebug of a brother. But he can't get distracted by those thoughts. He's in the middle of something. He wouldn't let his brother take this win from him, one way or the other.

"Lovely job, perfect." Okay. he had a... sort of idea, but he wasn't sure if it would work. Or if it was ethical. But screw ethics. Right? "Now - er - bite his beak. Just uh, stick it in your mouth and don't let go. You have a nose, so, so you can breath through that. But birds, their noses are on their beaks... so he'll have some difficulty. Er, if you can't hold on, or you get knocked off or something, just keep using tackle." Perhaps not so ethical. But not so bad either. He wasn't going to kill the bird. Probably.