Antismurf9001

Karel lay where the Furfrou's toss had landed him. He smiled as his opponent toppled. Now that had been fun! He could have done without the skull-shattering headbutt or the bite that had nearly taken his arm off, but still. Clutching the arm that had been bitten, he slowly rose to face the next pokemon. Jacques had no idea what Grass Whistle did, but as soon as he saw Cheren covering his ears, he followed suit. He had paid dearly for the last two times that he had failed to do that today; once nearly having his eardrums ruptured and the other time falling asleep. Karel didn't get this memo though. The Mienfoo took two slow steps towards the Deerling, then fell on his face, now snoring softly. It was enough for Jacques. He had already made it farther than he had ever hoped to get in a battle against a gym leader. A trainer had to know when to call it quits for their pokemon's sake. "Alright, alright," he said reluctantly to the gym leader, "that's enough. You've beaten us." With a flash of light, the Mienfoo was returned to his poke ball. "I... er... I appreciate you giving me your time. Um... thanks." He walked up to Cheren and extended his arm in an offer of a handshake.

((Curses, I thought Fake Out reset whenever you switched back in... Oh well, my bad.)) Curse that blasted fur! Jacques thought. That coat was absorbing hits like a sponge absorbed water! How could he get around it? Hit it where it doesn't have fur, was his immediate thought. But where on earth did a Furfrou not have fur? Then it hit him. Right as the opponent's jaws came down on Karel's arm, Jacques blurted out, "Pound it on the nose!" Karel squeaked in pain as teeth sunk into his arm. Man, this Bite hurt! However, he still got the command. Furfrou was just beginning to toss him, which he used to his advantage. As his weight swung around, Karel used his free arm to land a solid Pound on the Furfrou's nose just as the jaws were releasing him.

While I agree that this is an interesting idea, isn't there the danger that it will just become a popularity contest? I figured that that was part the reason why people want the green brohoof counter destroyed. I have a feeling that, while it gives people something to work towards, it would just be the same group of people receiving these medals and everyone else would be more or less ignored. That's just my take on it though.

Jacques winced as the Bite connected. Confusion also appeared to hit, but that didn't help Mara. As Furfrou was thrown back, the Kadabra fell backwards, pained and exhausted. "It doesn't matter what you think," he said to the fainted pokemon, knowing that she would feel responsible for this, "you did well." A red light enveloped her, and she was returned to her poke ball. Moments later, Karel took her place, now looking somewhat revitalized. The Regenerator ability was not a perfect solution to his hurts, but it was certainly helpful. "Alright, new plan," he told the Mienfoo, "Fake Out, then Pound. Lots, and lots of Pound. Just keep going at it until you've brought it down! Never strike the same place twice in a row, maneuver around and stay hard to hit, and only use Detect as a last resort. Come on, we can do this!" Jacques's main goal was to keep Karel from being hit at this point. Even with Karel's natural resistance to Bite, Furfrou's thrice boosted attack made it so that Karel could maybe stand through a single hit and no more. Plus, Headbutt would come back eventually (if it hadn't already), and a single hit from that would surely knock Karel out. In truth, he didn't really expect this plan to work. Detect would only work to a certain extent, and he had a feeling that the Furfrou was much faster than Karel. Even so though, he had to try.

Jacques could see two possible courses of action now: switch to Karel and take advantage of his resistance to bite, or try one last ditch effort to knock the Furfrou out with Confusion. Though based on the amount of damage that Karel's only two attacking moves, Pound and Fake Out, had done, there was really only one option. "Mara," he called out, somewhat reluctantly, "use Confusion!" And I sincerely apologize if this doesn't work. It all came down to two factors: who was faster, and whether or not this last Confusion could knock out the Furfrou. The Bite most definitely take down his Kadabra, assuming that it connected. Mara concentrated, then began condensing psychic energy to launch at the charging Furfrou.

Huh, Jacques thought to himself, that actually did something... He honestly hadn't expected to get this far. "Um... alright, teleport behind it and then use Confusion." And we'll see where that gets us. The teleporting maneuver would only work once, but he couldn't imagine a better time to use it. Maybe he could manage to at least get to see what Cheren's second pokemon would be. That would be satisfying.

This was exactly what Jacques had been afraid of, right down to the usage of Bite. Based on the angry and panicked emotions that were being projected towards the trainer, the Kadabra was less than pleased about this new development as well. Being right in the middle of using Confusion, Mara would have no time to stop and try teleporting out of the way. The Bite connected, and Furfrou's boosted attack due to Work Up made certain that it hurt. Mara cried out in pain, and reacted by firing off a Confusion at the Furfrou that was latching onto her. Mara could still fight, but the slightest attack at this point would almost certainly knock her out. Jacques had only two things going for him right now: the fact that Confusion might confuse the opponent, and that Karel had a natural resistance to dark moves if he chose to switch back. A lot it rode on chance though, and he had to remind himself that Cheren still had another pokemon. At this point, he really didn't expect this fight to end well for him, but he wouldn't give up.

Karel was already in midair when he realized the folly of the plan. There was no way to pull off Detect like this; all he could do was brace himself for the impact. The collision sent the Mienfoo soaring backwards to roll over several times and skid to a stop several feet in front of Jacques. Jacques blinked, and then stated, "Ah, well that happened." He mentally filed this tactic away into the 'Astronomically Stupid' category. Karel managed to get up, but Jacques knew that he couldn't take another hit like that, and Detect would only get him so far. "Karel, return. Mara, you're up." Due to the Mienfoo's regenerator ability, it was always better to recall him before he took too much damage. That way, he would have a chance to heal up, and could come back into the fight later. "Alright Mara, use Disable, then Confusion when you get the chance." Disable usually blocked off the last move that was used, so he hoped that Headbutt would be disabled. It was risky, since he only knew three of Furfrou's four moves, but he didn't have much of a choice at this point.

Remember when this thread could frequently make it into the hundreds? Pepperidge Farm remembers. (Now we're lucky to make it to ten...) Oh yeah, five.

Jacques cringed as he realized how this battle was going to progress. Baby-doll Eyes was going to keep Karel in a neutral state, while Work Up continued to make Furfrou stronger. His opponent could withstand hit after hit, but the Mienfoo's weak defenses could not. As soon as Fufrou attacked physically, it would hurt. A lot. He could try switching to Mara, but if Karel's defenses were weak, then Mara's were nothing but prayers. He was locked into this grueling dance, and he would not come out on top. Then an idea hit him: one that was so insane, that there was no possible way it could work. In fact, he could immediately think of at least a dozen ways that it would immediately fail. But what the hell, he thought, you don't know until you try. "Karel! Use Meditate again, but do it while balancing on Furfrou's head!" Karel looked back at his trainer with astonished confusion. "Mie foo?" "Yes, that means exactly what you think it means," Jacques confirmed. "Use Detect at the inevitable counterattack." Being on top of the opponent would allow Karel to avoid the gaze of Baby-doll eyes, and even if the Meditate failed, hopefully Detect would allow him to dodge whatever attack came his way. Karel shrugged. He had balanced on many things before; surely a pokemon that had every intention of beating him senseless would be no different. The Mienfoo sprinted towards the Furfrou and jumped into the air when he got close, hoping to at least reach the pokemon's neck so that he could climb up it.

Karel stopped abruptly as the Furfrou's gaze hit him and lost focus, effectively nullifying any advantages he had gained from the Meditate. Blast... Jacques thought. He wasn't sure what he should do at this point: go all out attacking, or try another Meditate. Then he remembered the previous battle where Cheren had used Work Up over and over again. If he did the same with Baby Doll Eyes, Karel would end up virtually powerless long before knocking out his opponent. He had to stay ahead. "Go for another Meditate," he said, "and try to work in a Pound if you have the time."

A wave of nervousness overcame Jacques as Cheren accepted the challenge. He had fought, won, and lost battle before, but never against a gym leader! No, he thought to himself, it's just like any other battle. He's just another trainer. This just... might be a little tougher than the others... Shaking his head, he attempted to push away his doubts. Furfrou was a pokemon that Jacques was fairly familiar with, seeing as there had been numerous wild packs of them roaming not far from his hometown. Despite the fact that they were commonly treated as fashion accessories, he was aware that they could also be quite vicious in battle. This was not a pokemon to be taken lightly. "Alright Karel, you know what to do!" he called out. "Lead in with Fake Out, then while its flinching, take a moment to Meditate." The Mienfoo nodded enthusiastically, then ran forwards to make a fluid jab at one of the Furfrou's pressure points.

Jacques looked up at the gym leader, shocked. "Um, eheh... well you see, I was really only here to spectate..." he half mumbled. "I mean, you look like you've been pretty busy, and I wouldn't want anyone waiting on me. I can come back tomor-" "Foo!" Karel interrupted sharply as he glared at his trainer. He then began tugging on Jacques's pant leg in Cheren's direction. The Mienfoo was making it clear that he didn't want to leave without a fight. Jacques sighed. "What about you Mara?" he asked. Emotions of indifference were projected into his mind. Finally, he gave in. "Well, if you don't mind," he said nervously to Cheren, "it looks like my friend here is itching to test his skills against your team. Hopefully it won't take too long..." He was pretty sure that this would be the case; due to his lack of truly defensive pokemon, his team would either win swiftly or be decimated in an equally swift manner.

Jacques shrieked as he dodged away from one of the many rogue psybeams. What is wrong with this guy?! he thought. Was it really necessary for him to endanger everything? Jacques's pokemon didn't seem to mind though. Mara actually appeared to be bored, teleporting out of the way of any beam that came too close, and Karel found this to be the perfect time to practice his move Detect. At least this meant that Jacques only had to worry about himself, though he was unfortunately the only one of the three that couldn't hide safely inside of a poke ball.

@@Leafeon, @ Jacques had been snoring softly when a sudden mental smack jolted him awake. Karel, who had been balancing on his trainer's sleeping face, was launched through the air, but managed to land skillfully on his feet and looked back at Jacques proudly. "Gah!" he exclaimed. "What is it?!" And why was I asleep? he thought. Then he remembered that things like that tended to happen when Jigglypuff were in the area. He would have to check a mirror later to be sure that no mustaches, beards, monocles, etc had been drawn on his face. He turned his head to see Mara glaring at him and gesturing towards the battle. He looked, and felt as though he had been mentally smacked again. Was that Fennekin... evolving? Two battles in a row?! It was almost as though he had seen lightning strike the same place twice. Or was this sort of thing more common than he had thought? He may have to really step up his game before challenging even the first gym leader of the region!

(Blech, I apologize for the late reply. Note: I may be somewhat inactive this weekend as well, so feel free to make this gym battle as long as you like) @@Leafeon, @, @ Jacques was stunned by how the battle turned out. Not necessarily that Cheren had been defeated, but by how spectacular the whole ordeal seemed. That sandshrew had evolved mid-battle! Was that even legal? Well, obviously it was, but it couldn't be a common phenomenon. Am I going to need to pull off something like that? he thought. He hoped not, because both of his partners were likely quite far from evolving. "Er, yes," he managed to blurt out to Cheren and the other trainer, "you go, I'm... er... I'm just here to spectate for now, if you don't mind."

I was single before the search bar happened. I'm still single, but that search bar is awesome.

Wynaut perish song?

While I can't exactly remember if it's the worst thing I've ever tasted, a couple of months ago, the company I'm interning for was ordering lunch from this new place (the company will pay for part of what you order while we pay the rest, so it always makes sense to order lunch from wherever the company's getting it that day). I happen to be a big fan of caesar salads, so when I saw the menu item 'wasabi caesar salad' I quickly marked myself down to get that. A word to the wise: WASABI CAESAR DRESSING IS NOT CAESAR DRESSING!!! Not even close. On a scale of 1 to 'caesar dressing' it is approximately equivalent to anti-matter. I don't know what the hell a wasabi is, but I swear that I will dedicate the rest of my life to eradicating those vile things from the face of the planet. I presume that immediately afterwards I will be praised as the hero of mankind and declared your god-emperor.