[FIN] Team Battle Training

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Delic, noticing Izaya's tactic, wondered if his trainer had used Manny's crush against him on purpose. It seemed like the sort of thing his trainer would have done - if Manny were human. But as he wasn't, did Izaya even consider that Manny might have had a crush at all? Delic wasn't so sure. He felt it was more likely that Izaya hadn't even known which twin would emerge. After all, the two had identical...Repeat balls...

...But this one had come out of a normal pokeball. What was going on?

"Use Feint Attack!" Izaya called to the Dark-type, a wicked gleam in his eye as he grinned. "Delic, nice job! Keep up that Uproar!"

Delic almost faultered in his attack. Izaya? Praising him? Now he knew something really weird was going on. More than that, his battle-hating, pokemon-disliking trainer actually seemed to be really getting into this.

A flame from the Fire Spin leapt up to lick at Kururi...but instead of stepping backward, the Purrloin jumped at Manny and transformed in a flash of light into a larger, bulkier furry figure.

By the laughter in Rivere's tone, it was obvious the Zoroark knew why Manny had acted as he had.  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/21/2015 12:24:59 AM | Edited 12:26:49 AM] Sey: Izaya was grinning, and oddly that was making Adam grin, despite being at a disadvantage and sure they were going to lose. This was exhilirating, damn near fun actually. Adam couldn't hear the praise, but his reaction might have been the same as Delics.

Instead, he got a very different surprise. The small cat morphed, like a ******** animorph (Adam thought), into a giant ... ZOROARK. "WHAT the - OH YOU SNEAKY b*****d." Maybe now wasn't a time for a laugh attack, but Adam couldn't help but bust out into a fit of giggles, doubling over as he shouted at his opponent, "That-That's gotta... Gotta be cheating! Ahahaha!" He must have planned it out before coming. Probably the exuse of telling Adam to say what room they would be in next time was to make the lag time between recieving the "I'm here" message and appearance more reasonable. Jerk probably spent that time planning out this little charade. Having Riv copy one of the cats was terribly clever, and insightful. Both things Adam would never say to Iza, but he could sure as hell feel it. Like he was feeling a cramp in his side from laughing.

Manny yelped, embarassed by the fact he was found out by Riviere and also flustered by the change, OUCH. The Feint attack hit him, making Manny flinch.

Maki barked at his trainer, but apparently Adam was too wrapped up in laughing to give commands. Snarling, Maki lunged at Riviere, attempting to Bite the Zoroark's leg.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Izaya laughed at Adam's exclaimation, though perhaps not as hard as Adam himself. "That's what Zoroark are known for, isn't it? I'm surprised you didn't see that coming." He noticed that Delic's Uproar was ending as the Chingling had succumbed to the poison of Flicker's Smog, however, and quickly decided to switch him out. "Delic, take a rest. Namie, your turn again."

Riviere almost felt sorry for Adam's pokemon since Adam was too preoccupied laughing, but 1) he was finding this to be to much fun, especially with Manny's reaction and 2) the Bite from Maki quickly made him lose any sympathy he might have had for the canine.

"Who named that mutt 'Maki' anyway? Do you even know what it means in Japanese?" Izaya asked, chuckling. "Riviere, nicely done. Ignore Maki as best you can and use Pursuit on Manny." He looked to Namie. "Use Psychic on the Growlithe."  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/21/2015 8:32:21 PM] Sey: The giggles were ending, and just in time... Seeing as Delic was out and Namie back in. Things were going to get difficult from here on out. "Well, I never thought of the inbattle possibilites of a Zoroark." But there was clearly numerous and Adam was temtped to look into getting one... Even if he was a ghost typing.

Instead of responding immediately, Adam gave out commands finally, "Manny take the blow, and use hypnosis on him!" The ghost hadn't taken much damage and after the throwdowns he had been in, Adam was fairly certain he could power through the Pursuit. Maki... Wincing, Adam had to make a fast call on Maki. He hoped the play that came to mind worked.

"Maki! Take the damage from Psychic and then use reversal." Psychic was a powerful attack, and it'd shave off a good deal of HP. While the typing would be possibly the worst combo, the power from it from taking psychic might just be enough to knock the wind out of Namie.

Maki wasn't as thrilled by this plan, but prepared for the blast. It hit him with a yelp, sending him tumbling backwards. Standing weakly, the growlithe shook himself off and initiated reversal, lunging at the Gardevior.

Manny knew dodging the hit was, well, impossible. Slammed again with another dark type attack, the ghost felt weak. Still, it wasn't as bad as some of the psychic attacks he had recieved in the past. He shot out the hypnosis towards Riviere.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Reversal? That didn't sound good. Izaya wasn't familiar with it, but Namie didn't seem too concerned. As it was a Fighting-type attack, both of Namie's types were strong against it. She was surprised by the force of the impact due to Maki having been lower in health than she'd realized, but to Namie it wasn't much more than an average attack.

Riviere uttered before he fell over, fast asleep.

Upon seeing this, Izaya hesitated before smirking. "Nice try. But this battle is already won. Namie, finish off that sushi roll with Frustration, would you? I think he's just about at his limit."

The Gardevoir, frowning at her trainer, rolled her eyes and did as she was told, taking out her frustration of her trainer on the other pokemon around her. Unfortunately for Riviere and Maki, that included them as they were caught in the crossfire.  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/21/2015 9:25:51 PM] Sey: Maki was out, as soon as the frustration pent up inside Namie was released onto the unsuspecting Growlithe. Flopping on his side, it was clear he was knocked out. Adam choked out a laugh, "S-sushi roll?! What?" Though it did seem like the battle was lost. "Maki return!" The red light claimed the sleeping body, leaving just one pokemon afield.

It went further to hit Riviere, "Manny try to dodge and land a sucker punch on Namie!" The ghost did as instructed, but it didn't need to worry. The normal type physical attack passed through him.

"Haunter!" Doing as instructed put him close to the other pokemon, and really, there was little chance this would harm the fairy type. Even if it did, there was yet another pokemon to be called out. Delic had taken little damage and could easily mow Manny down. Still, giving up without a fight was never an option.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"'Maki' is the name of a piece of sushi cut from a roll. I'm guessing whoever named him didn't know that or otherwise had a funny sense of humor," Izaya explained, smirking. "Oh...and did you know that fairy-types have a certain resistance to dark?" He had discovered this while having his pokemon train against each other and wondered what the Psychic-hating, Dark-loving Faleen would have thought of it.

Namie, while sustaining more damage, again found herself taking only an average amount, especially since Manny didn't have the added advantage of being a Dark-type himself. She was ready to attack back, only to find to her annoyance that Izaya was returning her to her ball again.

"Sometimes retreating frequently pays off as a tactic, regardless of how others might call it 'cowardly'," her trainer said. "Delic...wake Riviere up with another Uproar, would you?"

Again the Chingling was released - still poisoned, but no more hurt than when he'd been withdrawn into his ball. Having been able to bide his time rather than have the poison eat away at his health, he was grateful to Izaya for letting him rest a bit and happy to let loose another Uproar. This woke Riviere up instantly.

"Riviere, hit Manny with Pursuit," the dark-haired man said.  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/23/2015 1:32:24 PM | Edited 1:40:57 PM] Sey: "Wish I could say I had that sense of humor, but I gave him that name after a highschool friend of mine. He had the same nickname," Adam chuckled softly, watching as his final pokemon attacked Namie. Once more she was withdrawn and Delic was brought out. Adam had suspected the move, so really the only surprise was that he had Delic wake up Riviere, rather than finish off the weak, nearly knocked out ghost.

Manny fell as soon as the pursuit hit, and instead of being left with annoyance at losing, Adam was... Pretty pleased. Other than a few instances, he hadn't been much of a battler. Plus, he knew coming into this he was at a severe disadvantage. It was fun, challenging, and it lit a passion in him to get stronger so he could stomp Iz into the ground. New goal: destroy friend in next pokematch.

Returning the ghost, Adam gave the other trainer a thumbs up, "Good job! We should do this again, really... I hadn't considered the strategy of calling pokemon back and re-releasing them. We shoud go get them healed." Adam approached Riviere and rubbed his muzzle affectionately.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Ahh, I see. How sentimental~" the older man mused, chuckling softly. "I sure hope your friend was friendlier than the mutt. Anyway, Not a bad battle between a pair of amateurs, wouldn't you agree?" He walked between Riviere and Delic, who looked up at their trainer in surprise when he pat the former and offered his arm to the latter. Delic hopped up onto Izaya's arm and shoulder to give Riviere a quizzical look. Riviere shrugged, equally clueless. Neither understood Izaya's sudden friendliness toward his pokemon.

If Izaya noticed their exchange, he gave no indication. He hadn't taken his crimson eyes off Adam since the battle ended and continued to smile as he stroked Riviere's head. "Yes, well I learned that retreating tactic from personal experience with Shizu-chan. But did you notice?" He withdrew his hand to allow Adam to rub Riviere's muzzle and the Zoroark happily accepted. "I only used one Dark-type and two Psychic-types against your Ghost and Fire-types."

He pat Delic comfortingly as the Chingling still suffered from the effects of the poison. Adam was right; it was best if they went and got their pokemon healed as soon as possible. He began walking in that direction, keeping a slow pace so that the Rocket and Zoroark could catch up.  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/23/2015 10:39:20 PM | Edited 10:40:55 PM] Sey: Shizu-chan.... Adam mulled the name around his head as he absentmindedly scritched Riviere's soft fur. Oh, that was the guy who hated Iz and constnatly chased him. Drank milk, was super human strong but never physically showed it. It was weird when you realized how many out-there humans Iz had encountered, but maybe it came with the territory of an informant. Or perhaps, weirdos attracted weirdos, Adam mused with a faint grin.

"You did? Well, ********... Yeah, you did. I didn't catch that, honestly," Adam admitted, confusion bubbling from below, "Were you like trying to test the mettle of your Psychics against their type disadvantage? Or trying to be fair?" The last part came out singsong as a tease.

Izaya began to walk and Adam took a step forward, but then immediately hesitated. Muscles tense, he watched the informants movements with intense scrutiny. A realization had come to him, one that caused his skin to crawl.

Izaya's changes had been brushed off and accepted as normal. Humans, when faced with death, often changed their tune. From what Adam understood, Izaya was basically a dead man walking, with no chance to regain any rank. An experiment. A hollow pit twisted in his stomach as the blonde forced himself to follow. If he waited too long, Iz would get suspicious and ask what was wrong.

And that was the crux of the problem. What WAS wrong? Their encounter in the library had shown the informant still didn't favor pokemon as highly as humans, but he was certainly starting to treat 'mons better. Was it that pokemon, being in his care, would reflect badly back on himself? That was a possibility. As much a possibility as Izaya's changes coming from the near death experience. Yet wasn't Izaya always in this perdicament, since Adam had known him? Or was it that, finally being pressed to the lowest point possible, they had squeezed Izaya into changing? Like playdough shoved into a mold. Still Izaya, but with pieces missing. Oh, Arceus... Adam winced. Pieces missing and experimentation was not a good combo thoguht process. Did they alter his personality? Would they? Could they? Well they brought a dead man back to life, so anything was possible really. It was all just so plausible. It left a sour taste in the blonde's mouth.

As abruptly as the suspicios fretting grew, it died. Swiftly, with a single thought, it perished and Adam jogged to walk beside the other rocket. I can't pry. If I learn something I'm not supposed to, he's dead. Even if it's weird, even if I'm worried... Well, best to keep it to myself. Especially now, being on watch himself. "We really need to train more, though. It was good practice," Adam nibbled his right thumb, brows furrowing in thought, "Maybe outside in different environments. The more practical experience we get the better off we'll be." True he was meant to be in the labs, not out in the field, but it never hurt to be able to defend yourself.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"I did that for a number of reasons," Izaya said, obviously happy to elaborate. "Aside from finally being able to practice more with Psychic-types that Faleen-chan so detested, I wanted to see how you would act. Shame you didn't see your oppertunity - or, rather, oppertunities." The shorter man gestured animatedly as he talked and walked, clearly enjoying the sound of his own voice.

"Sure, two of my pokemon were third evolutions, but I'm not as close to them as you are with your pokemon - particularly my newest, Namie. Since I didn't raise her from her first stage, she's weaker than those of her type who have been. She also detests me, but that's why I taught her Frustration. Not that I like to brag, but when it comes to pokemon, that was probably one of my better ideas."

Delic was staring at his trainer from his shoulder and Riviere, though staying at Adam's side, kept throwing furtive glances Izaya's way. What had inspired this enthusiasm for pokemon in Izaya? His near-death experience? Namie? Adam? Faleen? Despite all the possibilities, it didn't seem to be any of the above. This was the first time Delic was experiencing this side of their trainer, but Riviere had known of it for a while now - even walked into a street lamp in Camphoreon while pondering it - and he still couldn't get used to it. Adam, Riviere noticed quickly, seemed to be suspicious about something, too. Concerned, the Zoroark quickly adopted his human semblance and cast the young man a worried expression before putting a disguised, clawed hand on his shoulder.

"..Having trouble keeping up?" Izaya asked both the false and real human, glancing back once he realized they had paused in following after him. He seemed to be referring to both his verbal discussion and his physical pace. "You may be good at reading people, but that doesn't mean you're very good at hiding your own thoughts," the informant said, continuing forward. "Neither of you."  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/23/2015 11:23:51 PM | Edited 11:25:13 PM] Sey: They didn't turn his talker off, the thought brought a light smile to his lips. Guess no matter what you did, something so core to Izaya couldn't be removed without severely damaging the impression that nothing was wrong.

"Prolly 'cause I'm not trying to hide 'em," Adam commented while patting Riv's hand and giving him a friendly wink. Taking the hand, he tugged and walked ahead, catching up fully this time to the other man, "I've heard of sore losers, but never sore winners," Adam teased, "You're sure keen on telling me what I ******** up." A bright grin cleared whatever clouds were left on his face.

"So," Adam made each sentence a finger, pushing it down with his thumb as he ticked off the topics, "Namie isn't as strong as my mons since you just started raising her. I've disappointed Iza-chan by missing opportunities. You're a brilliant poke-tactician now. Riv's human form isn't bad looking." He winked this time at Izaya before laughing, "Seriously, though, keep going. I'm interested in what I've missed. I've never claimed to be the best at fighting with pokemon. I'm just good WITH pokemon."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Riviere blinked as his hand was pat and then tugged along, an embarrassed blush blooming across his illusionary face. Well, if Adam seemed to be okay, he supposed he could try to accept things as being normal, too. Maybe. Perhaps with time, assuming Izaya's weird behavior kept up.

"Oh, it's not being sore about winning," Izaya assured Adam with a grin. "I'm just rubbing it in your face. Flaunting it, if you prefer. You're right, though - it's not as much fun winning if the win is too easy. This time I think our battling experience was pretty evenly matched, but there are a few things I'd improve upon next time if I were you." He wagged his own finger scoldingly.

"I'm hardly 'brilliant', but learning to apply my own survival tactics to pokemon battle mechanics is proving to be useful," he retorted, sounding as if he thought Adam was taking his words more lightly than he should have. "Namie isn't as strong not just because I recently got her, but because I didn't get her as her first form and also because she hates me. And Riviere's human form took a great deal of practice because he preferred to mimic female bodies more than male ones when he first started casting human illusions. I blame his former trainer for that."

The man in the trainee uniform returned Adam's wink with an incredulous look. "Please don't make me bring up the subject of beastiality. It's enough that Delic insisted this one - " He jabbed a thumb at the Chingling on his shoulder. " - was our 'love child'. Moving on...

"Much as I hate to admit it, it seems that being good with pokemon is directly correlated to being good at fighting with them. Teamwork and all that. At least, that's what I've been told." Izaya waved away the subject like it was a pest. "And aside from that, you missed an important type advantage. I just found this out recently myself, especially given that the discovery of the Fairy-type is relatively new...but did you know they're weak to Poison?"  

[Magician Arcana]

[10/24/2015 4:42:20 PM] Sey: Former trainer? Right. Adam glanced at Human-formed Riviere, remembering how the pokemon had actually been Aila's, the person who had gotten Izaya into the organization to boot, and then died. At some point he wanted to have a chat with Riv, especially since he could understand properly through a ghost pokemon. Using Manny as a translator could open up new venues of communication. It seemed that Riv was likewise worried about his trainer. Maybe the duo could pick each others brain? However, no longer being roommates was going to make that a difficult prospect. Adam couldn't just ask to borrow Riv, could he?

Adam returned to listening to Izaya fully, giving soft sounds of confirmation or nods to ensure the other he was listening, "Really now?" Well that did make some sense, "So a stronger bond or being good with pokemon makes you a better fighter? Hmm." The further information about fairy type surprised Adam, "Say what? Seriously? Well ********. Nope, never knew that. I haven't looked much into fairy type pokemon, they're not really my jam, y'know?" Though Adam would gladly admit that having a Sylveon would be fine in his book. They looked bad a** and all ribbony and s**t. Definitely a team player.

"So..." Adam let the word hang in the air, allowing a pregnant pause as he gathered his thoughts, "You're treating your pokemon better for multiple reasons, including being better in battle, but also they reflect back onto you..." Adam wiggled one of his lip rings with his tongue before huffing, "Still missing something."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Yes. Evidently a strong bond is also the key to unlocking Mega Evolutions. Not that I'm knowledgable on the subject." He rolled his eyes. "Just because Faleen doesn't like Psychic-types doesn't mean she doesn't know their strengths and weaknesses. Just because a pokemon type isn't 'your jam' doesn't mean you shouldn't learn about them. You can't expect all your opponents to have pokemon that you know about. The more you know, the better off you'll be."

Izaya stopped as Adam seemed to want to talk about something else. He put a hand on his hip and frowned; the picture of resentment. "What are you talking about? Did you not get enough oxygen to your brain during all that laughter?"