So Close Yet So F A R~{Catching/Open}

[Lucas Crystoff]

As Lucas and his Pokemon were on the lookout for some type of food, a shadowy figure was noticed by all three of them. The figure was rushing in, and it's dark colors against the night made it hard to tell what it was at first. Lucas squinted at the figure, until he realized that it was a Pokemon charging at him. "OH SHI-" Lucas started to run backwards, trying to keep his eyes on the figure. "DOOO SOMETHING!" He called out before he tripped over himself and fell on his back. The Mighteyena ran past Lucas's other two Pokemon before they could do anything.

They both ran after the Mighteyena, shooting off their respective attacks. Elekid shot off a Thundershock, while Corphish used her Bubble attack. Both attacks missed, however, as the Mighteyena was moving in too quick to quick to aim correctly, as it's level was way beyond both of theirs. Lucas could only stare at the Pokemon in horror, and the only thought that could run through his head at that moment was 'I'm going to die'.

[Galena Aspen]

As she watched the two wild pokemon move to attack, the Mightyena moving in after the trainer and the Natu simply hanging back, Galena considered the thought of criticizing the other trainer for travelling at night before she realized that she herself was just as guilty of the act. Then again there was a major difference between him and her - all of her pokemon were evolved, with one of them able to fight just as well at night as during the day and the other equipped by nature for nocturnal combat. Even without Beedrill it would be more than an unfair fight in her favor, and although she normally would have detested the idea of being forced to step in to save someone else's dumb ass from a mess they got into through lack of common sense, she and her team had been itching for a decent fight for weeks.

"Go ahead, have some fun. Just don't go overboard." Galena said, she herself keeping her hands in her pockets as she began to calmly walk towards the other trainer.

Haunter and Grovyle didn't need to be told twice - they'd been tense ever since the wild pokemon had appeared, and had moved to join the fray the instant the words had left her mouth, Grovyle seeming to vanish into thin air and simultaneously reappearing directly in front of the charging Mightyena having used a Quick Attack to reposition himself between the pokemon and his intended target, his arms already raised into a fighting stance and glowing a neon green in the darkness from an active Leaf Blade on each arm. Eyes locked unflinchingly on his opponent, Grovyle showed no signs of backing down now that Mightyena's Intimidate had already been used at the start of the fight.

Haunter, however, took a slightly different approach, seeming to melt into the shadows and emerge from them directly in front of the Natu and less than five feet away from the small bird. As he seemed to sqeeze forward from an invisible hole in midair his disembodied hands were held apart but facing each other, blue energy seemed to crackle like electricity around a jet black sphere that quickly grew in size before zooming forward, Haunter firing a near point blank Shadow Ball, both the pokemon and the attack all but invisible in the darkness had it not been for the small energy discharges crackling around the sphere that composed most of the attack.

[GUEST]

Mightyena was getting slightly frustrated as the man was running from him pretty quickly, seeming to be scared. Well, Mightyena understood that he was pretty scary but he really wasn't thinking well since he was so tired at the moment. Mightyena was going at a pretty decent speed though for being tired, even dodging two attacks from lower level pokemon. Mightyena all of the sudden was stopped by a Grovyle. Mightyena came to a sudden stop, ready to attack the Pokemon in which it had already underestimated in its own mind. The Pokemon stared directly into the eyes of the ready Grovyle. Mightyena waited for the Pokemon to attack, but it didn't Mightyena growled lightly and backed up slowly, getting in position as if it was preparing to attack.

On the other hand... sadly, there was the Natu. Natu, being a cowardly little Pokemon had stayed back from the battle, assuming that the Mightyena could handle it. But when two seemingly powerful Pokemon jumped in, the odds were dulled down a little bit. Yet, Natu still assumed that the Mightyena could handle it. Unitl, you know, a Pokemon appeared in front of the Natu and well, blasted him with a burst of dark energy. Natu fell to the ground from the attack. Its body squirmed a little bit at the super effective move. Mightyena had not yet seen the Natu that was now on the ground, losing its consciousness. But surely if the Mightyena had seen the Natu, it would be angry.

And trust me. You won't like Mightyena when he is angry.

WC- 276

[Lucas Crystoff]

As the Mighteyena moved in on Lucas, he held his arms in front of his face, trying to save whatever he could. A few seconds passed, and Lucas realized he hadn't been hurt. He peeked through his arms, and then fully dropped his arms with a confused look on his face. He tried to make out the figure in front of him, but all that could be seen from his perspective were glowing green blades. He scratched his head in confusion before he slowly crawled back.

"Whoo..what...are you?" Lucas said, his voice a little shaky. He looked past the figure, and noticed the Mightyena in an attacking position. He then looked past the Mighteyena, and saw his two confused Pokemon. The Corphish looked a little bit nervous, but the Elekid was staring at the Grovyle. He had never thought to utilize his Quick Attack in that way, and he wanted to try it out for himself.

Lucas slowly rose to his feet, and dusted himself off. He stretched for a moment too, and then watched to see where this stand off between the two Pokemon would lead. The Grovyle looked strong, but just in case it got overwhelmed, Lucas would back him up with his two Pokemon.

[Galena Aspen]

"If you're thinking about jumping in on the action, don't." Galena said from a few feet behind Lucas, hands still in her hoodie's pockets, her stance relaxed and the expression on her face one of mild boredom. "They haven't had any fun in a while, and wouldn't appreciate you or your pokemon getting in the way."


Grovyle remained in place, and while his attention was focused on the Mightyena more than anything else he was equally aware of the Corphish and Elekid. His reptilian eyes, however, were locked only on his opponent, his body retaining the same relaxed fighting stance he'd used entering the fight. Realizing that he'd put both Lucas and more importantly in his mind, Galena, at risk by moving early, Grovyle merely held his ground, staring down the larger pokemon with an intensity one would not expect of a creature his size. Hearing the Mightyena growl in frustration, Grovyle altered his stance slighty in preparation for a counter attack only to remain still when none came, continuing the stare down while waiting for the Dark type to move first.

Haunter hovered in place for a moment after seeing the Natu take the direct hit from the Shadow Ball, only to see it hit the ground. As he watched it squirm for a moment before appearing to lose consciousness, Haunter decided to end it early and looked Natu in the eyes, using Hypnosis as he did so. Not waiting to see if the move had taken effect since the little Psychic type was barely able to move as it was, Haunter seemed to melt back into the shadows again to seemingly restructure himself in front of Lucas facing the standoff between the Grass and Dark type. Speaking once to Grovyle, Haunter remained in place to take up Grovyle's position as the rear guard so the Grovyle could go on the offensive.

Hearing the Ghost type, Grovyle decided to strike first now that he was able to do so without risk to the others. Stopping his usage of Leaf Blade, the green glow began to fade from his arms, but not in time to prevent a sudden neon green line tracing his path for a split second as disappeared much as he had with Quick Attack to use Aerial Ace on Mightyena.

[GUEST]

So it was done, Natu was now officially fainted from the attack since it could no longer hold onto the life that it at first thought it would be able to cling onto for a while. But the Natu had thought too highly of itself and it did not take into consideration exactly how bad it was. So kind of... Natu thought it was cool. However it wasn't, and sort of died (fainted.. whatever) thinking that it would last a while. Mightyena was still not sure on the state of Natu, but by now it had already made the assumption that the Pokemon had been eliminated. If this Pokemon wasn't showing signs of backing down then it was surely strong enough to take down the Natu.

Mightyena was unsure of how it would win this battle, because by now it was a 2 on 1, and those odds were not good enough for a lower level Mightyena. Actually, if you counted the other Pokemon that seemed to currently be on the sidelines it would be a 4 on 1. But Mightyena was trying to think positive, you know? Grovyle suddenly started to lose its epic glowing-ness and was now moving quickly. Without much time to reassess the situation Mightyena found itself on the ground in pain from sort of quick and strong blow. Mightyena somehow found the strength to raise itself onto its feet.

Mightyena had to stand strong, it knew this was surely going to be the end for the mighty dark Pokemon. However, it could not go down without some sort of battle taking place. It was unsure of how much more of those sorts of blows it could take, but it wasn't thinking about anything other than landing some sort of hit on this enemy. Without taking anything into consideration, Mightyena charged towards Grovyle attempting to use Bite on the grass type Pokemon.

WC- 326

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas jumped for a moment; during this entire ordeal he never actually bothered to turn around. When he finally did, he had noticed Galena. He stared at her with a confused expression before giving her an upset look. "What? Who are you to tell me what I can't do? YOUR Pokemon got in the way of mine!" Lucas said, his voice starting to crack over him getting worked up. It was only when he said that that he realized that the Pokemon who saved him belonged to this mysterious trainer.

"Pfft. I was just pretending to run away." Now realizing what was going on, he started to try and cover up his cowardliness. "I knew you were behind me. I just wanted to see your battle...prowess." Lucas said. Both his Pokemon just looked down and shook their heads in embarrassment.

[Galena Aspen]

"Well I can always leave your sorry hide for the Mightyena if you'd prefer I 'get out of your way'. Then again, you were running pretty fast in the other direction." Galena said, her voice slightly cold at the idea of being talked down to by a kid whose carcass she just saved. Eyes locked on the other trainer, Galena stared down at the kid with not a trace of friendliness left, irritated by his arrogance.

"And that's a load of crap. Had you wanted to see me and my team in action you'd have challenged us to a battle like any other trainer. You had no idea we were even there until I spoke to you a second ago."

Grovyle, clearly able to see the charging Dark type and well aware of what the open jaws entailed, didn't even try to dodge. Instead he charged forward as well, letting the Mightyena catch him with its jaws to deliver a Leaf Blade attack at the same time before using Mega Drain at point blank range in case the Leaf Blade somehow missed or failed to drop it. Either way Grovyle would come out on top - either he'd defeat the opponent with the first attack, or recover the stamina he'd lost with the follow up move. Haunter, however, merely remained in place, watching the melee and making sure nothing got past him to the two humans behind him.

[GUEST]

This battle so far had not been one of any fairness, and as it progressed it went the same way, without any fairness whatsoever. This was not to the fault of anyone other than Galena's training that she had put her Pokemon through. Their strength were surperior to most, and it seemed as though this enemy Pokemon would be the last thing the Mightyena would see. Of course, Pokemon really don't die, they just faint. But with the very high amount of phsycical strain being put on the Pokemon already, things were not looking too well for teh Mightyena.

It thought it saw death, it thought it saw its chance at surviving slipping away. But perhaps it was overexaggerating something in its mind, because in fact all it saw was Faint. The little Fanboy of death that got its kicks from Boxing matches and Pokemon. Anyway, Mightyena slipped out of conciousness slowly as both attacks had hit the Pokemon. Its body looked like some sort of stuffed animal as it hit the ground and bounced off of it. Mightyena had fainted, and it was actually quite sad to all the people who cared.

(Like me.)

WC- 203

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas crossed his arms and pouted, making a 'hmph' noise as he did so. "I could battle you, but it'd be pointless. CAUSE I'D WIN!" Putting emphasis on the last statement, Lucas turned back around to see that during the conversation Grovyle had fainted the Mightyena. 'Woah...this guy's strong' Lucas thought. He scratched his head before turning back towards Galena. 'Err...girl' He corrected in his mind. Somewhere deep down he knew he couldn't beat her, but he didn't want her thinking that. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head (along with the imaginary light bulb over his head).

Lucas ran passed the 'deceased' Mighteyena and Galena's Grovyle, and towards his Pokemon. Once he got next to them, he stopped and turned around. "I'd show you my skills, but your not much of a challenge. I'd much rather battle a WILD POKEMON!" Lucas put emphasis on the last part of his sentence to try and attract a wild Pokemon. Although, calling out 'Wild Pokemon' in such a manner would really attract any wild Pokemon...would it?

{Sorry for the horrible posts, they'll definitely expand when I getz a battle}

[Galena Aspen]

Hearing Lucas's statement, Galena's lower left eyelid twitched slightly, although Lucas likely wouldn't be able to notice it in the darkness, and while Galena didn't move or change her stance one would only need stand near her to notice how completely the atmosphere around her had changed. While she seemed calm and collected on the outside, she was seething on the inside. Nothing pissed her off more than unfounded arrogance and the insinuation that she'd done badly training her team, both of which Lucas had managed to do with the first sentance that left his mouth, nevermind the second one. Grovyle and Haunter tensed as well, also not at all happy with the insinuation that this seemingly amateur trainer could beat them so easily after so many years spent improving their skills.

"I'm sorry, would you like to repeat that?" Galena said, voice ice cold as Grovyle and Haunter turned to face Lucas and his pokemon. "If you think you're so strong, then take me on right now. If not, take that back or I'll start the battle myself."

[Kari]

A wild Stantler appeared!

Level: 10
Gender: Male
Species: Stantler
Abilities: Intimidate: Cuts the opponants attack.
Frisk: Pokemon can check a foe's held item.
Moves: Tackle, Leer, Astonish, Hypnosis

The noise that Lucas had decided to make seemed to work. A rustle came from the bushes behind the male, and a pair of "eyes" appeared. In reality, the eyes where the horns of a foraging Stantler, but one did not need to know that.

The Pokemon in the bushes was, currently, stuck. It was pushing forward and then jerking itself back in an attempt to get free, causing the bushes to rattle about. It could smell the other Pokemon, which made it refuse to let out a cry, though it was begining to think that calling for help would be a good idea.

The buck snorted, pushing his entire body forward. Crack! The bushes parted and the Stantler stumbled through, snorting in rage. He looked around, spotting the two feinted Pokemon, the Grovyle, and then the two Pokemon that Lucas had out.

The only thought that went though his mind, at that point, was that it was in huge trouble.

The buck took a step back, lifting his head up and shifting his weight. Being a young buck, he had thought that wandering from the herd to forage was a good idea. Now he was begining to regret this decision. Quickly.

[Lucas Crystoff]

Lucas gulped, as he could see the outline of the Grovyle turning towards him in an intimidating way as soon as he shot his mouth off. He got in a little bit over his head, and he realized this, albeit a little too late. As much as he wanted to take Galena up on her offer, he knew that he wouldn't only get crushed. And he in good conscience couldn't put his Pokemon through that. Sighing, he managed to grumble an 'I'm sorry' before the Stanler's 'eyes' appeared in the dark of the forest.

Confused, Lucas squinted his eyes and leaned forward, trying to figure out what was causing the bush to shake so violently. Suddenly, the Stanler bursted through the bush, causing Lucas to jump back with a confused expression on his face. After a few seconds, he realized that it was a Pokemon, and was about to whip out his Pokedex before he realized that he knew that Pokemon.

"Oooh, it's a Stanler." Lucas said. He then looked at Galena for a moment, before he returned his gaze to the Stanler. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, complete with light bulb and all. He turned to his Corphish, who looked back at Lucas. She was confused for a moment, but when she looked back at the Stanler, she understood. She then walked out in front of Lucas, and faced the Stanler in a battle-ready position.

"I may not be able to battle you..." Lucas spoke to Galena, before looking back at his Corphish "...but I'm by no means a pushover! And I can show you that right now!" Getting all hot-headed again, Lucas clenched his fist and nodded in agreement with himself. He then pointed at the Stanler before ordering Corphish to attack. "Alright Corphish, use Bubble!" Lucas called out. Corphish opened her claw and shot a multitude of bubbles at the Stanler that would explode upon impact and hopefully do some nice damage.

Elekid made a 'hmph' noise, annoyed that he wasn't the one that was called on to battle. Lucas wasn't really paying him any mind, as he was now focused on the battle taking place. Elekid walked around the excited Lucas, and towards Grovyle. Looking up at the taller Pokemon, the Elekid put his fists up, as if he wanted to battle the Grovyle himself. Unfortunately for Elekid, he wasn't as strong as he believed he was, so his arrogance would only lead to bad things.

{WC : 423}

[Galena Aspen]

"Just watch what you say and who you say it to in the future. There are quite a few trainers out there who wouldn't let it slide with just an apology." Galena said, pulling her hands out of her pockets and casually crossing her arms, not at all inclined to let the kid see that the moderately warm night air still felt a bit chilly by her standards - even in though they were in one of the region's warmer areas, it still wasn't nearly as warm as the region she'd grown up in had been, a fact that occasionally caused her no small amount of annoyance. Noticing the Stantler emerge from the bushes, Galena momentarily wondered why there were so many wild pokemon awake at this hour - one of the previous ones had been a Natu, which were normally diurnal and spent the nights sleeping. Pushing the thought out of her mind, Galena simply shrugged in both response to Lucas's statement and at the realization that wild pokemon of that caliber wouldn't be a threat to her or her team unless they got mobbed.

"By all means, go ahead and fight him. Just don't expect me to break it up if you find yourself in over your head again." Galena replied, face stoic at the trainer's bravado. In truth she was slightly reminded of herself as a kid, never backing down from a fight unless she couldn't afford to lose - but that same bravado also made her realize why half the kids her age had wanted to punch her face in for being noisy about it back then.

Grovyle, himself watching the battle begin with a relaxed stance and mildly bored expression, took several seconds to notice the Elekid standing in front of him with its fists up. Turning his head slightly to look straight down at the smaller pokemon, Grovyle debated internally whether or not getting into a scrap with the smaller pokemon would be worth the trouble - it had guts, but whether or not it had the experience to back it up was another story. After staring down at the Electric pokemon for a few more seconds, Grovyle seemed to blur for a fraction of a second before completely disappearing, simultaneously reappearing behind the Elekid with a Quick Attack in the same relaxed stance and reaching out with a single hand to quickly and gently push Elekid in the back with the intention of sending him stumbling forward a few steps, somewhat interested in seeing how the other pokemon would react to the sudden change.

[Kari]

The Stantler lifted one foreleg, eyes just a little wide. He flicked his ears, looking around nervously. He lowered his head slightly, turning to face Lucas as he spoke. Yes, yes he was a Stantler. His point?

The buck lifted his head, tilting his head to one side as he stared at the trainer. Then the Corphish came around. Stantler took a nervous step back, ears swiveling on his head. The Corphish was launching Bubble at him. Uh-oh. Now, what had his mother said about battling? Lower stats first, or just attack?

The male didn't have much of a chance to decide. The bubbles hit him in the chest and face, making him sneeze and shake his head, take a few steps back, and then stumble. Well, great. Now what? He was wet and mildly hurt. What to do, what to do.

Stantler glared at the smaller Pokemon, deciding that using Leer was his best bet right then. Leer, and then what? Maybe...Hypnosis! The Stantler's glare was replaced with a look of almost shocked delight. He brought his head down so that he was almost level with the Corphish and started moving, trying to hypnotise the Pokemon with his horns and eyes and "eyes". Hypnosis would be a good idea before actually attacking.