Round 4 Arena 4 (Winners - Semifinals)

[pandafox]

The Rhyhorn was down, without much fanfare. Luther didn't feel much triumph at the defeat. She'd won the real battle, being taken down by Princess hunger for battle was just the unfortunate prize for her victory. Princess had cleared the stage for a real battle to begin and Luther tensed as he knew what would be coming when his opponent would send out his pokémon. Sunder had sacrificed a moment of peace to leave one last present for the opposition and it was bound to go off.
That paired with Princess's terrible speed would give him just enough time to set up for whatever they were facing, if they did it right.

The other trainer threw out his pokémon and the second he did Luther called out to Princess. "Bulk Up!"
There was the sound of an explosion across the stage as Sunder's planted stones fired from the earth and collided with the Honchcrow. Luther made a note of his good fortune that the attack would have been far more beneficial against a flying type like that and hoped it might give them the edge they needed to overcome their foe.

Princess snarled and shook her jowley head back and forth like she was trying to dislodge something unseen from her body. As she shook and snarled her body seemed to swell slightly, the underlying musculature of the pink goblin seemed to stand out more thorough her fur as her frame seemed to become more solid as her muscles strained and tensed. Her wild eyes turned slightly bloodshot as the hunger to fight filled the furious fairy even more. She turned to face the honchcrow as they emerged from the cloud and was about to lunge into the air to try and take a piece from the black bird, when waves of electricity surged through the air and covered her completely.

Princess's body tensed again but this time it was seizing convulsions that were running through her as the electric aura began to spark and snap through her muscles, confusing her nerves and making it much harder to command her body to do what she wanted.

Luther knew that attack all too well. It was a favorite of his with Sparky. He gritted his teeth hoping Princess could fight through it enough to still bring down their foe.

---

Princess uses Bulk Up to boost her Attack and Defense
Princess is hit by Thunderwave and becomes afflicted with paralysis.

[chaosonex]

The thunder wave caught the Granbull in a dead hit, the smaller arcs of electricity fading as they passed along the ground. Babaca let out a mocking laugh as she looped around, watching her opponent from on high. She seemed to be enjoying the battle despite the hit she'd taken earlier. She swooped low, coming back up in a glide that carried her to a branch. From there she watched her opponent as Josh tried to figure out his next strategy.

The opponent was buffing themselves, and from the look of the pink dog, it probably favored all out attacks. The trick was going to be hitting it first.

"Babaca, swoop low and use Icy Wind!" Josh called out. The bird Pokemon let out a caw as she took off from the branch and spread her wings wide. Sparkling trails of frost laden air twisted as the gusted forth with each flap of Babaca's wings. She screeched as she passed over the Granbull. The move had a great deal of force to it, strong gusts accompanied by sharp whip cracks of force with each flap of the wings. Babaca's attack was at peak performance, and she took great effort to spread the blasts of numbing cold as much as possible.

Where her attack fell the ground turned hard and grass became frosted and brittle. A small cloud of the frosty wind blossomed out of the battlefield and into the dead zone surrounding it, but was little more than a cool, damp breeze at that point. Another cackling laugh erupted from Babaca as she looped around Princess again, swooping tauntingly low twice as she pulled up sharply to stay out of reach of the other Pokemon.

"Hit it with Flatter!" Josh called out. He was worried that if he left Babaca to her own devices, she'd get herself into trouble. Even the taunting she was doing put her at risk of a lucky hit from the opponent.

Pink energy gathered around Babaca. It formed into a ball and shot at the Granbull as she swooped low, but this time Babaca pivoted instead of pulling up. She came within a hair's breadth of the Granbull as she passed, seemingly begging the opponent to respond.

[seenter]

The battle below appeared to take a slight lull when the two new Pokemon were released. The trainer Luther gave his Granbull a command, and the Pokemon seemed to glow with a pale aura. It then grew a little, though from where Chris sat he couldn’t tell how. It wasn’t Growth, as that was a green aura. And it couldn’t be Sword Dance; Granbull didn’t move much except by flexing. Must be Bulk Up or something. Whatever it was the Pokemon was too preoccupied to avoid the Thunder Wave that hit. Chris could see the Granbull tensing at the unnatural shock to its system.

Joshua didn’t hold back after his attack however. He gave another command, and his Honchkrow took off towards its opponent. A light blue aura surrounded the Pokemon’s wings, and a wave of frost blanketed the land before it. What move is that? With the roar of the crowd Chris couldn’t hear any of the commands given. He could only guess by what he saw. And he never saw anything with a light blue aura. From the frost forming he guessed it was an Ice type attack.

Sitting back in his seat Chris contemplated the battle below. In a type advantage Luther would have the advantage because fairy was resistant to dark. However Joshua was proving everyone wrong with his Honchkrow. First the Thunderwave that paralyzed his opponent, and now an ice type attack that can be used at a slight distance. Maybe he should consider teaching his own Pokemon different types of moves to fight against their weaknesses.

Once the Honchkrow made it pass Joshua shouted another order. An aura of ink energy swirled around the dark/flying Pokemon; gathering into a ball and shooting at the Granbull. Chris just sat there shaking his head in bewilderment. I think pink is fairy. If that’s the case Honchkrow is breaking all sorts of rules. The dark/flying Pokemon was getting too close to the Granbull. If the fairy type got in a lucky hit then it could easily turn the tide of battle. He stood up in order to try and get a better view over the crowd.

[pandafox]

“Princess Look out!” Luther shouted, as he gripped the railing so hard his knuckles turned white. He felt useless and helpless and imagined it was some of what Princess must feel as they both watched the Honchcrow swoop closer. Luther could do nothing to help. Princess strained against the prison of her own body but was unable to take cover behind a tree, or try to stop the attack before it could happen thanks to the sparks of electricity that ran up and down her body freezing her muscles completely.

The cold air blasted over her and the shards of ice that were whipped up by it crashed into her body. Princess managed to howl in rage and pain. Her mortal enemy the dreaded cold sunk into her body and she could do nothing against it. Her blood felt close to boiling even as her body felt even more sluggish than it already was amidst the sparks of static that still trapped her and the cold sinking in to her bones.

Luther pounded a fist against the metal railing feeling the same frustration Princess did. This was terrible, loosing a fight was one thing, but to be bogged down before they had a chance to begin was another. He blamed himself for using those precious seconds to try to boost Princess's strength rather than seize the opportunity to attack without letting up.

The bird came by for another pass the attack the enemy called wasn't one Luther was as familiar with but he saw the pink sphere collide with Princess. He saw her stagger just for a second and then the overconfident opponent made their mistake. Babaca lingered for a second too long near Princess and the Granbull lunged.

All her pent up frustration and outrage at being trapped and chilled coursed through her veins as crackling bolts of electricity surged over her whole body to coalesce into the shape of a fang filled maw in front of her own mighty tusks. Lunging for the throat Princess hurled herself at the Honcrcow just as it pivoted to the side and put everything she had into her signature attack.

---

Princess is hit with Icy Wind. Critical Hit!

Princess speed is lowered another stage.
Princess is fully paralyzed. She can't move.
Princess is hit with Flatter. Her Special Attack raises.
Princess is confused.
Princess uses Thunder Fang![/i]

[chaosonex]

Josh's opponent didn't waste an opportunity. He called out an attack as Babaca swooped too low and the pink dog Pokemon was leaping through the air. It had already buffed itself, and a hit was a death sentence, so to speak.

Josh bit his lip as he considered his options. There weren't many, but at least he wasn't completely helpless. Ransacking his memories for information about Honchkrow and their attacks, he mind caught on an idea and he raced to implement it.

"Babaca!" Josh yelled over the roar of the crowd, "Use Haze!"

An eruption of black smoke burst out of Babaca right as the Granbull closed in. A second burst of energy cast out most of the black smoke as Princess connected with Babaca and there was a loud screeching. Josh clenched his teeth as he waited, afraid he'd see the form of his black winged Pokemon falling to the ground.

She emerged from the smoke with unsteady movements. Barely able to keep aloft, Babaca glided more than flew. A few of her pinions were broken and she gave Josh a tired look instead of her usually brightly intelligent glare. Still, she was able to keep aloft, if just barely.

"Alright, you're doing great, use Roost!" Josh ordered. Babaca took a couple loops of the battlefield to find a tree that was still standing. She glided to one of the branches, holding on with a scratched talon as she folded her wings. Sky blue energy wrapped ittself around her in a glowing aura as her wounds started to heal. Josh wanted to urge her to hurry up, but he wasn't sure healing could, or should, be rushed. So he just waited as the Granbull responded.

All across the battlefield, the smokey haze was starting to settle down. Swirling with the frosty mist of the frozen patches, it gave the field a haunted, desolated look to it.