Stone, Steel and Sand

[Slate Aspen]

Crouched on the flat top of Metagross's head, Slate kept completely still as the massive blue pokemon continued to rise upwards through the air, his legs drawn in close and folded against his body. Looking up himself after a few moments Slate saw their destination, the top of the cliff slowly approaching them as the rose. While it was true that the steel pokemon was technically the heaviest that Slate knew of, topping even a Snorlax for sheer weight, his telekinetic abilities weren't only useful in battle - skilled and experienced Metagross were perfectly capable of actually flying with it, and ability most trainers assumed lost when their Metang evolved. As they cleared the edge of the cliff ledge Slate stood and jumped forward, landing on his feet before looking around. While it appeared to be a flat topped mesa covered in desert brush at first glance dotted with mounds and pits of rock and sand, Slate had heard that it was made of sandstone and limestone, which meant that it was also likely riddled with tunnels and caves carved out by the sudden rainstorms that on occasion drenched the area before disappearing just as quickly. Walking forward from the ledge, Slate raised his hand to wave Metagross forward. As Slate moved forward Metagross followed, only lowering his legs to the ground to walk rather than hover after they were at least thirty to forty feet in from the cliff ledge, both of them moving towards a mound that Slate hoped was a cave entrance.

[BellaMae]

The destination the pokemon and trainer had set was indeed the entrance to a cave. However, they would not be granted admittance, as someone had heard them coming, and was intent on protecting its territory. A harsh wind blew a spray of sand across the cliff, and the rough sound of the tiny rock crystals connecting with the pokemon's hard body rang out shrilly.

It's great orange body protruded from the mouth of the cave, and while it did not advance forward, it held its ground with great determination. It could see Slate and his Metagross approaching, and soon, when they were close enough, they too would be able to see it. The slightly abnormally large Trapinch waited for the two to take a step too far into his territory, and grant him reason to attack.

Level: 18
Gender: Male
Ability: Hyper Cutter: opponent may not lower this pokemon's attack value
Ability 2: Arena Trap: the opponent cannot switch out or run
Attacks: Bite, Sand-Attack, Faint Attack, Mud Shot

[Slate Aspen]

As they neared the entrance to what they could now see was indeed a cave, Metagross stopped short. As he did so he glowed a soft blue along his sillhouette, using Psychic to carefully take hold of Slate and prevent him from advancing any further. Slate, momentarily annoyed and curious at the same time, kept quiet and simply glanced back at Metagross, knowing that the Steel type rarely ever did things without reason. Metagross, catching the hint, released his trainer, who once free to move again carefully observed the area in front of them before seeing the Trapinch that the Iron Leg pokemon had noticed and understanding why he'd done what he did, realizing that they would have been caught in the Ant Pit pokemon's Arena Trap had they continued any farther. While it was indeed one of the pokemon Slate had entered the desert in search of, he would be unable to switch out any pokemon that didn't Levitate or were Flying types, and Metagross's weakest move would likely knock it our with even a grazing hit.

Patting Metagross's leg in appreciation, he recalled the massive pokemon back into its ball and released Sceptile. While the Grass pokemon would likely achieve the same result as Metagross with most of his attacks, there was one move in particular that was well suited to the task of weakening the Trapinch enough for capture.

"Careful, we want to catch it, not KO it. You know the deal." Slate said, eyes on the agitated bug like pokemon who was merely waiting in place for them to give a reason to strike - which Sceptile did the instant Slate finished speaking. Literally disappearing from sight with a Quick Attack, Sceptile reappeared directly in the air roughly three meters over the Trapinch and well within range for the Arena Trap to take effect, eyes locked on the orange pokemon. As he fell towards the rock face, cave entrance and target pokemon, Sceptile reached out with a hand to loosely grasp the rock and produce traction, rotating in the air so as to fall sideways in what appeared to be in preparation for a Slam attack with his tail. As he did so, however, a miniscule brown seed sprouted from the end of the Grass pokemon's tail, staying there until the Leech Seed could make contact with the target.

[BellaMae]

It had occurred to the Trapinch that he might be getting itself in over his head, but his confident and stubborn nature lead him to defend his territory regardless. Setting himself against the ground, the pokemon prepared for the approach of its opponent, small eyes locked tightly on his oncoming target. Sceptile was much, much bigger than he, but he was not frightened in the slightest, and held his ground... Until the grass-type vanished, easily throwing the much weaker and thereby slower Trapinch off guard. His eyes could not keep up.

When Sceptile reappeared within' range, he was slightly startled, and was not granted enough time to prepare a counterattack or a means of dodging. Still, he tried nonetheless, attempting to leap sideways out of the path of the powerful Slam attack. The last couple inches of the Sceptile's tail still connected however, diminishing the strength of the attack, but still producing an effect, as Trapinch was knocked off balance midair, and crashed nosily to the ground.

Although smarting from the impact of the blow and the earth, the Trapinch fought his way back to his feet. He seemed oblivious to the secret that had been imposed on his body, and instead focused on returning the favor. It charged forward, and after covering a short distance of a couple of feet, came to an abrupt halt, sending a strong, thick spray of sand and dirt at the Sceptile in a powerful Sand-Attack, aided by the terrain around them. He didn't stop here however, immediately picking up his charge a second time in an attempt to use the Sand-Attack as a disguise as he launched into the air, aiming to Bite his opponent.

[Slate Aspen]

Still sideways in the air when his tail made contact with the Ground type, Sceptile planted the hand on his lowest side to the ground just before making impact, and pushing off while rotating his arm to appear as if he'd bounced from the ground, the rotation spinning him to land on his feet facing the Trapinch. Eyes never having left the opponent, Sceptile was more than prepared for the counter attack even if he was unsure as to exactly which technique it would be, but in terms of speed the fight could not have been more than mismatched - Sceptile were legendary for their speed, on par with pokemon such as Crobat and Alakazam, and Trapinch were notorious for their slowness. As the other pokemon began to charge Sceptile simply backed away, skipping back lightly on his feet to stay just out of range of the Sand Attack before blurring forward again as the other pokemon attempted to Bite him. As they closed the distance between themselves Sceptile leaped straight up just before they crossed, using the fact that Trapinch were generally incapable of such acrobatics to place himself above Trapinch and beyond his reach. Rather than using another attack, however, Sceptile's eyes momentarily picked up a blue sheen as he used Detect while falling towards the other pokemon - rather than fall into the Bite attack, Sceptile planted a foot on top of the other pokemon's disproportionately large head to jump off of it, exerting downwards force while again placing himself behind the other pokemon, never losing sight of Trapinch as the eye on the side facing him tracked the other pokemon's movement just as the Leech Seed planted on the target seemed to explode, vines wrapping around the Ground type in a near inescapable net.

[BellaMae]

Confident in it hiss own abilities, the Trapinch had been sure that his combo-attack would fully connect. To his surprise, he missed entirely. His opponent clearly outmatched him in speed by miles. Unfortunately, the Sceptile also appeared to overwhelm him in strength as well. Oh dear, it appeared that he had truly gotten himself in over his head. Regardless, he had no plans for backing out! He was stubborn and prideful, and would not allow a slight - okay, great - disadvantage to deter him from his original goal: defending his territory!

The Trapinch felt Sceptile's foot connect with the top of his head, and found himself splattered against the ground a second time. A terrible ache coursed its way through his body as he rose back to his feet, albeit much slower this time. He spun about as quickly as he could manage, attempting to set his sights back on the grass-type behind him. But before he could really zero in, something wild happened. His body sprouted!

What little energy the little battler had retained seemed to be viciously sucked form his body. He fought still, trying desperately to step forward and to free himself from the entanglement of vines. But it was of no use, and a short moment later another great zap of energy racked his body, and his short legs gave way beneath his now much heavier body as he collapsed to the ground.

[Slate Aspen]

Alright, that's it. Slate thought, seeing the smaller pokemon's knees buckle. Moving to the side to get Sceptile's attention, Slate's arm twisted back to reach into his bag, pulling a Great Ball from it and tapping the front button to enlarge it for use. Sceptile, still keeping his distance from the battered Trapinch, noticed Slate in his peripheral vision and made note of him, attention still focused on his opponent so as not to let a single attack get through as well as giving no sign of seeing anything behind the orange pokemon. Hopefully he'd also keep the Ant Pit pokemon's attention and allow Slate to get it by surprise from behind, giving it even less time to struggle free.

In position behind his target, Slate's arm suddenly whipped forward in a single smooth, practiced motion, the ball flying quickly and silently for the back of the Trapinch's enormous head, a target that was almost impossible to miss.

[BellaMae]

The Trapinch was completely unaware of Slate's intentions. He'd nearly entirely forgotten about the trainer, as the battle had seemed to be more between him and the Sceptile, than him and the other pokemon and it's trainer. As such, the great ball struck it, and sucked it quickly inside. It wished to fight the hold the ball had on it, and did so to the best of it's ability, keeping the ball rocking from side to side for a few short moments.

But in the end its exhausted body did not lend it the strength it needed in order to successfully break free, and it ceased to try. The ball fell dark, and the Trapinch was caught.

Congratulations! You caught a Trapinch!



Level: 18
Gender: Male
Ability: Hyper Cutter: opponent may not lower this pokemon's attack value
Ability 2: Arena Trap: the opponent cannot switch out or run
Attacks: Bite, Sand-Attack, Faint Attack, Mud Shot

[Slate Aspen]

As the Trapinch was sucked into the blue Pokeball variant neither Slate nor Sceptile relaxed, eyes both locked on the ball as it rocked in place. Sceptile tensed even more so as it continued to move after the first two seconds, ready to attack or move in between Slate and the ground type as it emerged - while Slate was in excellent physical condition and was no stranger to being on the battlefield along with his team he was still human, and as such Sceptile saw it as his responsibility to help protect him as Slate had done years ago. It was only when the red light faded from the button on the front that Sceptile lowered his arms from a fighting stance, and Slate allowed himself to relax as well, grinning slightly as the ball teleported in a flash of white light - a first for him despite his years as a trainer. He'd never caught more than six pokemon, but still understood the generally unspoken rule - no trainer would be permitted to carry more than six pokemon with them at a time, and as such Slate would need to travel to a pokemon center to retrieve Trapinch from storage since he lacked the pokedex needed to do it on the fly. Walking over to Sceptile and patting him lightly on the shoulder, Slate's eyes continued to scan the mesa. He'd found one of the pokemon he'd been searching the desert for, but the next one would likely require venturing into the cave system, a task that Slate was not at all looking forward to.

(End Thread)