GaleFenrir

@@Leafeon, Cecil quickly removed his hand from his face when he pokemon burst through the ground. "Warden?" He pulled out his pokedex and registered the data on his newly evolved sandslash, reading over the details of its new capabilities. "So, you've done it, then? You've finally evolved, " he said quietly in genuine surprise, but he soon realized such a statement was not at all acceptable to his sensibilities. He perked up his head and flourished his arms triumphantly, "yes, all according to plan. Great job, Warden!" The sandslash nodded in appreciation of his trainer's acknowledgement, but swiftly turned back to the aipom. He was hit by a small spatter of stars, but they hardly even slowed him down as he proceeded to rush towards the aipom. "Now, one final attack! Crush Claw!" Cecil commanded, dramatically gesturing as if though he was directing a firing squad. "Slash!"

@@Leafeon, Cecil gasped in surprise when he saw aipom pop out of the ground, without his sandshrew following suit. "Pardon? Warden? Quoi? Où?" Cecil said, flustered, before realizing his tongue slipped. "Err... I mean, Warden? What happened?" Cecil clarified, before planting his palm to his face. "Wait, what am I even saying? He can't hear my question down there, anyway." The sandshrew, however, was distraught when his attack missed. He stood there in his tunnel, all alone. He knew he didn't stand much of a chance against the more agile aipom above ground. His own wounds were starting to get to him, as well, with his adrenaline fading. The ringing in his ears hadn't stopped either, and overall Warden was feeling quite sorry for itself. Had I let down my trainer? Was I not good enough? Why can't I just sleep now? These are the thoughts that would run through its mind, had it a less primitive intellect. Instead, it just felt bad... real bad, and just wanted to curl into a ball and not worry about the consequences. But, a voice rang through its head, through the ringing and the splitting of its headache. Its timbre sounded as clear as day, but the sandshrew couldn't make out any words or commands. It was his trainer, the sandshrew recognized. But it was a warmer tone than typical, a voice that conveyed confidence and hope. The sandshrew didn't pause to consider the very real possibility that it might just be its own delusion, but it was exactly the kind of thing the sandshrew needed to hear to keep on fighting. Warden looked up towards where the surface would be, a determined scowl upon its face. It felt an unfamiliar energy coursing through its body, as if though he was stronger than before. That this might not just be a feeble second wind, but a forceful growth that could gain him the upper hand. His body started to change: his foreclaws elongated. the hide on his back hardened and protruded out in spikes, and his face elongated slightly as his body grew outward. He looked at his new claws, and uttered softly, "-slash." Wasting no time to familiarize itself further with its changed body, the sandslash burrowed upward at a speed greater than what he was able to accomplish before. When he broke through the surface beneath his opponent, he splayed out his leading claw and attempted to crush the aipom. ((And now Warden has evolved. His Fury Swipes move has been replaced with Crush Claw, a move sandslashes learn immediately in Gen 6.))

I wanted to challenge your Steel-type gym. I'll pm you my FC. Edit: Wait, I already did when I first challenged you, so check your inbox for 'dat.

@@Leafeon, Cecil stared intensely at the gym leader, Cheren. The battle was out of their hands, but he couldn't help but try and do his best to intimidate the opponent with his sheer bravado and confidence. Inside, however, Cecil was deeply concerned about how his sandshrew was holding up. Warden was hit by a few stars, and, after recovering his composure, was surprised by the sudden obstacles between him and his target. He started to pant a little, now having been hit a second time. He was tough, though, and determined to win, gritting through the pain. Now that there was not a clean path between the two pokemon, Warden took advantage of his superior tunneling skills. He bore down, hoping to come up beneath the aipom so that he could bury him in and limit its mobility even further. If successful, he would then swipe furiously at the disabled opponent. If not successful in burying the aipom, he would still swipe furiously, hoping to put enough pressure on the aipom that it would not be able to effectively counter attack.

@@Leafeon, Warden had successfully found the source of the screech, and though the noise once again irritated him, he steeled his resolve and proceeded to lunge towards the aipom. He was at home in these tunnels, boring through the soil with honed precision and speed. He neared the aipom, and started to furiously swipe at it with his sharp claws, hoping to both silence the screeching and to wound his foe.

@@Leafeon, Cecil gripped his scarf tightly, "non non non!" He let out a sigh. He hated it when he felt like things were out of his hands, when he had to let someone or something else call the shots. "But, if there is one that I must put my trust in, I could do a lot worse than Warden. He's proven to me on more than one occasion that he is a lot more capable than he lets on. It's why I bestowed upon him that name: he's ever my faithful subordinate, capable of keeping things in check." He let his muscles relax, and his arm fell to his side. "It's up to you now, partner." Warden, for his part, was still recovering from the splitting headache the aipom's screech had given him. Underground and in solitude, he found some reprieve, but he didn't want to relax just yet. He still had work to do. His trainer was counting on him! He worked out his frustrations on the soil, furiously digging away. He managed to connect to a tunnel previously dug; whether it was his own or aipom's previous tunnels, he could not be certain. He could hear the echoes of something down in the tunnels with him, but his headache made it so that he could not hear it nearly as soon as he would have otherwise. He turned around, hoping to see the enemy behind him. With a determined glare in his eyes, the brave little sandshrew readied his claws and headed straight for the aipom.

@@Leafeon, When he noticed aipom inhale deeply, Cecil was wise enough to cover his ears before the wail, this time. "Urgh. This aipom is such a bother." Cecil noticed his sandshrew's effort were being made in vain, as the aipom dodged away from his slower attempts to grapple. Warden caught the full blast of the aipom's screech this time, with no ground to insulate the noise. This made his attempts to pin the aipom all the more clumsy, as a painful ringing occupied his thoughts. "What can we do, if not outspeed him? Think, Cecil think..." observing the battlefield, he noticed the spots where both the aipom and his sandshrew had dug. The ground there was uneven, and he noticed that the enemy aipom made it an effort to avoid stepping on the softened parts of the ground lest he lose his footing. "Warden! Dig, dig up the ground! Fling what you dig up at the aipom, do something, just don't leave any part of the arena flat!" Cecil screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping to get his message through to his sandshrew. His sandshrew couldn't hear much of the specifics, but he was most definitely certain he heard traces of his trainer's voice. It wasn't sure exactly what to do, though, and it had trouble thinking of what Cecil might want him to do. So, he did what came natural to him, and dug underground in an attempt to get away from the screeching aipom.

@@Leafeon, Cecil was caught off-guard by the sudden re-appearance of his sandshrew, "dammit Warden, did I give you the signal to come up yet? No!" he said, irritated. He put the palm of his hand to his face, "that's not what was supposed to happen at all! But... now I have to turn this to my advantage somehow, can't let them get the best of me." He removed his palm from his face, and studied the battle closely. Warden, for his part, allowed himself to be pulled out of the ground and flung in the air, directing himself to a vertical trajectory. While his original instinct might have been to drag aipom under, Warden was quite adept at reading a situation. It's one of the reasons his trainer put up with him, despite the annoyance he could cause. His sense of direction was unerring, and he could not get disoriented easily; after all, how else would he be able to dig elaborate tunnels and pop-up exactly where he needed to? Travelling mid-air was a bit different than underground, but they had the same basic principals and same 3-dimensions. Still mid-air, the sandshrew curled itself so as to face the aipom. He was barraged by the enemy's swift, and the pain caused him to cringe. Cecil furrowed his brow in concentration, but an idea struck him. "Warden! Pin 'em down, and use Fury Swipes!" The sandshrew heard his trainer clearly, and, with renewed determination, gritted through the pain of the swift. He shifted his weight so as to dive towards the aipom. Now that he has a new goal in mind, not much could stop him in his pursuit of that goal. Even if the aipom dodged away from his dive, the sandshrew would pursue until: his goal was accomplished, his trainer called off the attack, or he was knocked out.

@@Guardian Braveheart, "Mhm!" Ambrosia replied enthusiastically, nodding her head a bit. "Kindness is generally considered a cornerstone to any friendship." Her tail flicked slightly, and she looked down at her drink, her smile dropping for a brief moment. She took a much longer sip from it this time, and then set it down, her head popping back up along with her cheerful expression.

Hrmm... HMMMM... Eh, if I have the time, I might be inclined to take a stab at it. I might be doubly motivated if she ends up in an RP I take part in. We both signed up for that one by Cinder, so... Anyways, even not, she has an interesting enough design that I might enjoy drawing. Not now, though, just drew, need break. Ramble ramble ramble.

Well, here's another thing. I thought I'd try drawing one of my OCs as if though they were more prepared/seasoned for action-adventure. So here's Gardenia after she took a level in bad-arse. As for the piece itself, it's still a little rough, but I got bored and so I didn't bother cleaning up somethings. Blergh, critique, pls and tanks.

@@Leafeon, Cecil covered his ears in surprise at the sudden shrieking of the aipom. "Tsk. How inconsiderate," Is the only thought he could manage. Warden, however, was fairly insulated from the sound. He had expertly dug out several twists and turns in his tunnel. And, while he could still hear the screech, it was far too muffled for it to have much of an effect. In fact, in his tiny little sandshrew mind, Warden could have sworn he heard his trainers voice. Obviously, he didn't; nothing Cecil could've said would pierce through the noise. But, silly little warden thought there was a signal hidden in those muffled wails. He popped up from underneath the screeching aipom, and though he could now hear the screech, the sandshrew made a hasty grab for the opponent's legs or tail in an attempt to drag him under.

"Très bien!" Abigail exclaimed happily when the krabby fell asleep to Isabella's lullaby, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Now for the catch." She rustled through her bag for an empty pokeball, and brought it out. She looked at it hesitantly, "wait, so I have to throw this all the way at that pokemon? D'aww, I suck at throwing things!" Rather than take the chance of throwing the pokeball at her current distance, she skipped over to the edge of the bay. She noticed a couple of stones protruding from the water, and quickly charted a course in her head. She hopped from one to another, hoping to get closer to her intended target. The rocks where a bit irregular and a tad wet, and she nearly slipped off the last stone. She corrected herself, though, by frantically waving her arms about. "Perhaps, that wasn't such a good idea," Abigail thought, a little too late. Regardless, she was in a more favorable position, and she locked her gaze upon the krabby. She tossed her ball at the krabby, and the ball hit its mark. The toss itself, however, unbalanced Abigail to the point where she once again nearly fell off. She managed to correct herself again, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

@@Leafeon, Cecil cringed as his growlithe haphazardly continued his reckless charge after the aipom dug under ground. Scout didn't notice aipom's sudden disappearance, leaving him quite disoriented and confused when his Take-Down only connected with the air. When the aipom popped back up from the ground, Scout quickly turned around only to be swiftly barraged by an array of stars. "Groowww-" Scout whimpered, the aipom's surprise attack knocking the wind out of him. Cecil once again readjusted his scarf out of anxious adrenaline. The growlithe stood back up on it's legs, not wanting to back down quite yet from the fight. "You've been doing well Scout, but I'm afraid there's not much fight left in you." Warden, sensing his trainer's worry, tugged at his pants' leg. Cecil looked down at his sandshrew, and caught a glare that conveyed to Cecil his desire to get in on the fight. Cecil gave a slight nod to his sandshrew in understanding, and turned back to the battlefield. "Alright, Scout, that's enough! Have some well deserved rest," he said, unlatching Scout's pokeball from his belt. The growlithe whimpered a bit in response, but Cecil recalled him back into the device. His sandshrew valiantly moved forward unto the battlefield, "-shrewww", giving a death glare to the enemy aipom. Cecil did a flick of his hair, adding dramatic flourish to echo his partner's resolve. "Warden, dig underground and don't come back up until my command." The sandshrew responded with haste, digging into the gym's floor. "We should have home-field advantage, in an underground battle. Now to see if Cheren follows us down, or waits."

@, Gardenia waved her hoof slightly in gentle assurance, "But of course, miss Emerald." She let her hoof back down, and reconsidered what she had just said. "Though, I suppose there's no reason for me to be so formal here, so I'm thinking that from now on I'll just call you Emerald. Or perhaps Emm? I don't know," Gardenia giggled slightly, "I'm not too accustomed to calling ponies by nick-names." @@Umbreon, She turned to face out the window she was sitting by, when Fizzle pointed out the ambiance outside. "I don't think that's the case, Fizzle. There just seems to be a lot of foliage on this road. Must not be traveled often."

@@Guardian Braveheart, "Lonesome, huh?" Ambrosia echoed before taking a sip from her macchiato. "Don't you have friends, or subordinates? Or friends who are subordinates?" She casually asked; not meaning to pry, but genuinely curious. "I mean, you're a captain, right? Seems like you'd have plenty of ponies to interact with." She tilted her head slightly to the left, and smiled. "And you're a nice guy, too!"

@@Umbreon, ((I'm going to try and catch up to some others soon, but I want to catch a second pokemon first)) Abigail was resting her legs in Cherrygrove city. She sat by the shoreline on the west side of town. Letting out a small sigh under her breath, she said to no one in particular, "ooh... why am I wasting my time here?!" she pouted, "I was so excited to start traveling, but I just get so nervous at the thought of battling!" She leaned backwards and laid down, looking at the sky. Her clefairy, Isabella, was out of her pokeball, and strutting her stuff along the shoreline. Abigail stretched out her arms and resolved to herself to get out of this funk. She sat back up and scanned the bay in front of her. She smiled widely when she spotted something, an orange shelled pokemon she was not familiar with, resting upon a rock. "Wow, that one looks tough!" She stood up and beckoned for Isabella. The clefairy came to her trainer, and Abigail bent down, whispering conspiratorially into her ear. "You see that pokemon over there, resting on the rock?" Isabella nodded her head, and uttered a nonchalant "-ry." "I think it could really help us!" Isabella was evidently not impressed, questioning "Clefairy?" "No, I don't mean to imply that your not good enough, Isabella! But it wouldn't hurt to have another friend, right?" A look of contemplation splayed across the clefairy's features, as it considered the situation. It liked being Abigail's only pokemon, but her trainer seemed convinced that it was a good idea. "-ry." Isabella flatly responded, attempting to cross her arms, but failing and instead placed them on her hip. She was willing to go along with it, but she didn't have to like it. "Thanks, Isabella!" Abigail responded, content with her pokemon's answer. She turned forward towards the bay, and dramatically pointed one finger towards the krabby, "alright, initiating combat! Ma'dame Isabella De'Pompadour, alias Isabella, commence with operation Catch Cute Crab-thingy! Use sing!" The clefairy stepped forward, and started to sing a simple lullaby to the krabby. "Hopefully, it'll be lulled into a nice, deep rest, considering it's already basking in the sun."

@@Leafeon, Scout was happily bouncing around the battlefield, "lithe! lithe! lithe!", excited by his victory over the lillipup. "Now, now, Scout, the battle isn't over yet." Cecil reprimanded, and motioned for his growlithe to return to just in front of him. When Cheren summoned his Aipom, directly across the field from his growlithe, an idea popped into Cecil's mind. "Hmm... the gym leader keeps boosting his pokemon fighting capabilities by working them up. But... yes, yes, of course! After all, force is equivalent to mass times acceleration!" Cecil thought to himself, a determined scowl across his face. "Scout, use Agility again, but run straight towards the aipom!" Scout's ear twitched at the oddly specific command, but heeded it any way. The growlithe bounded towards the aipom, picking up more and more speed, "Now! Put all of your weight into a Take-Down!" Cecil's fist tensed up in eager anticipation. "I don't know if such a tactic would cause a victory here and now, but it should hit quite hard. That is- if it connects." Warden also tensed up, and grabbed onto Cecil's leg, uttering a small "shrew...".

huh, how did I not notice that was your pinsir's name? Oh... right. It's because it lasted only, like, half a turn in our battle. Trololololo

Aww, I would've gone with something like 'the Beelzebug Gym' ...get it? As in, Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies? I guess that's (one reason) why I wouldn't be a good bug-type gym leader...

@@Flareon, Hey, it's been a couple of days since I challenged you. I'm not growing impatient, mind you, but I'm just curious about an ETA for our battle.

@@Leafeon, Scout's fangs hit their mark, but the lillipup's fangs shortly dug into him aswell. The growlithe winced a little in pain, and when the two pokemon parted, he noticeably gasped. He still had plenty of fight and energy in him, but Cecil figured 2 more hits like that and Scout would be out. "Thankfully, it doesn't seem like that lillipup will be able to stand another hit, itself." Cheren used work-up after the engagement, and sensing an opportunity to put himself in a favorable position against Cheren's 2nd pokemon, Cecil ordered "Agility!" At that command, the growlithe perked up, and started to run around the battlefield at highspeed in erratic patterns. "Now, use Fire-Fang!" Cecil commanded. The growlithe sped around the lillipup, maneuvering itself to the lillipup sides, and Scout opened its mouth wide, fire fuming out.