Fighting Makes A Fool Out Of You And Me (Astrid/Battle)

[Tanya Christianson]

Just at the outskirts of the forest, Tanya had asked Astrid for a quick challenge. It was more about putting a concept into reality than anything else. She wanted to find different ways of dealing with pokemon, so she thought that practicing with a friend was the best way to approach it. Stretching her body, Tanya waited for Astrid to come and meet up with her.

"Let's just hope this works." Tanya said to herself, nervously biting her lip as she waited for what seemed like forever for her friend to come. Maybe this was just too stupid to work. She probably should just stick to doing super effective damage. However, Miss. Eisenberg did say to think out of the box and she couldn't really get as out of the box as this to deal with certain types of pokemon.

[Astrid Sherinian]

Astrid had been surprised by the sudden challenge, but as Tanya explained it more it quickly came to make sense. She wanted to try something out and Astrid, who had proved an insurmountable wall in their first fight, was the ideal partner to test it on. That and she was practicing with a friend.

So, Astrid had come. She'd spent the trip wondering if she shouldn't try to pull out anything new of her own, but eventually just decided on letting it play out naturally. It wouldn't be good for Tanya if she was doing her own thing too. Better to provide the same insurmountable wall and see if she could overcome it.

"Well, I'm curious to see what you've come up with," Astrid said once she reached the meeting place. "Can't wait to find out. Quadraxis, you're up!" She threw out Quadraxis's pokeball, calling out the Metang within. No need for showmanship here, this time. There wasn't even an audience.

[Tanya Christianson]

Finally, Astrid arrived. She could feel the nervousness inside of her, wanting to bubble over and just run away. However, she bit her lip and pushed those emotions down. Now was the time to put theory into practice. If she didn't do this, she wouldn't get better. She wanted to be flexible in her thinking and come up with unorthodox strategies to deal with the different types of pokemon she was going to face.

"Well, I could always use Christian to deal with Steel types, but I wanted to try a different approach." Tanya explained to her friend, fumbling slightly as she reached out for Daniella's pokeball. "Sorry if this is a stupid battle, but I've been meaning to put theory into practice."

Once she had Daniella's pokeball in her hand, she clenched onto it tightly. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and steeling her nerves for the upcoming battle. Take everything as a learning experience. Don't be disappointed if things don't work the way you want them to. Just do it. Without regrets.

"Come on out! Danielle!" Tanya shouted, throwing her pokeball into the air. Daniella came out of the pokeball and slowly floated down to meet up with her opposition. She gave the Metang a somewhat confused look, but then turned to her trainer to receive her instructions.

"Use Yawn!" Tanya commanded. Opening her mouth wide, Daniella let out a huge yawn. In the process, a large pink bubble came out of her mouth and flew towards the Metang. Once the bubble hit, the Metang would start to feel tired, as if soon falling into a deep sleep.

Action: Used Yawn. No Rolls necessary.

[Astrid Sherinian]

"So you're experimenting on me, is that it?" Astrid joked, grinning. "Well, okay, let's see what you've got." She watched Tanya as she took a deep breath, then sent out the Pokemon she planned to use. A...Munna, was it? One of those dream-eating guys that hung out around the old factory near Striaton City? That would be interesting. Astrid could already figure where this might go, but she'd let it play out anyway. After all, if it worked, then it exposed a weakness in her own strategy that needed addressing.

If not, it was probably still something to keep in mind.

Sure enough, as soon as it was given the order the Munna let out an exaggerated yawn. A bubble came out of its mouth in the process, hitting Quadraxis but not giving any outward signs of effecting it. Not yet, at least.

"Alright, Quadraxis, let 'er have it! Meteor Mash!" Astrid called out. Though its movements were starting to look more sluggish, as though the robot was actually getting tired, Quadraxis still managed to gather an immense amount of energy around one of its arms. It began to glow, and the spikes crystallized over with jagged shining metallic rocks. It then drove its fist forward to slam into the Munna.

---

1-9: Meteor Mash hits
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1: Meteor Mash raises attack
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[Tanya Christianson]

Tanya let out a gasp as Daniella was hit by the attack, flying backwards in the air while letting out a pained sound. Luckily enough for her though, the Munna managed to correct herself in the air and floated back into battle, little injuries noticeable here and there across her body.

"A brute force strategy isn't going to work that easily on me!" Tanya called out, putting a smile on her face as she set out to work on her strategy. "Heal the damage you have just taken with Moonlight!"

Daniella's eyes began to glow a shining cream color as an image of a moon appeared above the battlefield. Bathing the Munna in the pearly rays, she began to glisten as her wounds started to disappear, healing all of the damage she just took from the previous attack. She knew she could only use the move a limited number of times, but it should be enough to hopefully complete her plans.

Action: Used Moonlight to heal off damage. No accuracy rolls necessary.

[Astrid Sherinian]

Quadraxis scored a direct hit with its meteor punch. The buildup of meteor ore around its arm dissipated, although quite a bit of it was left behind. Quadraxis threw another test punch in the air, and despite continuing to slow down overall, the punch itself looked faster and stronger than what it could usually throw.

Then, Tanya directed her Munna to heal off its injuries with Moonlight, insisting that brute force wouldn't work so easily on her this time. "Maybe not," Astrid admitted. "But I think you're underestimating how much brute force Quadraxis can dish out! Quadraxis, use Iron Head!" Astrid called. The Metang then tucked its head in, charging forward on psychic power alone and slamming nose-spike first into the Munna.

Once it did, however, the light in its eyes went out. It dropped to the ground and fell into whatever the robot Pokemon's equivalent of sleeping was.

---

1-3: Opponent flinches
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Sleep turns:
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[Tanya Christianson]

Tanya didn't expect that to happen. While Tanya was expecting the pokemon to fall asleep, her Munna seemed to be suffering from the side effects of the attack. Mainly, once it got knocked back by the attack, she flinched backwards, meaning that for a turn, she couldn't do anything.

"Well fuck." Tanya said, her face draining of color as her strategy started to fall apart. She didn't really know what to do now. Her face etched into one of disappointment, her body conveying a dejected mood. Maybe she could have hope in the sleep turns being somewhat longer than average? At this point, she could feel a weight pressing on her. Was she really trying too hard?

[Astrid Sherinian]

Quadraxis was definitely asleep. There was, unfortunately, not much Astrid could do about that. She knew there were some berries that could immediately wake a Pokemon up, and maybe even a move that could be learned by another Pokemon. That was something she'd have to look into. But for now, there really wasn't anything she could do except to hope that Quadraxis wasn't asleep for long.

But, on the other side of the field, Tanya clearly faced a similar problem. Her Munna had just flinched from Quadraxis's last attack before going into sleep mode, meaning that nothing was coming back at the Metang either. Both trainers were stuck with their Pokemon unable to do anything.

"Well, this is awkward," Astrid noted.

[Tanya Christianson]

Tanya didn't say anything. She just stared blankly at the battlefield, her mind shutting down as each moment went by. She was probably overreacting. At the same time, she just felt a sense that this battle was going to be a slog. Why did she think this was a good idea? She wasn't able to implement this strategy with Amanda as well as she dropped her accuracy. Was it really that hard to do?

"Use Telekinesis." Tanya said in a blank tone. Christina started to glow green as she lifted the Metang up into the air. Maybe there was still a chance for her to succeed? At this point, she didn't think that would happen though.

[Astrid Sherinian]

Soon enough, the Munna was able to act again, and Tanya had her lift Quadraxis in the air with telekinesis. The Metang floated haphazardly over the field, with no control over its own movement. But, as it floated, the lights of its eyes switched back on, and it woke up again. Despite the unpleasant situation it now found itself in, it punched its arms to signify that it was ready and raring to go again.

"Alright!" Astrid said, pumping her fist as well. "Let's hurry up and finish this one. Iron Head!" Astrid called out. The Metang pushed itself forward with its own psychic power, levitating against the force holding it aloft enough that it could charge at the Munna. Again, it slammed into the Munna spike-first, only for it to get flung back into the air the moment it eased off of its charge, and to continue floating.

---

1-3: Target flinches (if still conscious)
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[Tanya Christianson]

Things just went from bad to worse. The Metang woke up. The Metang then attacked once again, Christina spinning in the air. Once she stopped spinning though, she fell to the floor and fell unconscious. Tanya lost. Well, that was an understatement. Tanya got annihilated by Astrid. She just felt so pathetic after that match, that when she returned the Munna to her pokeball, she already had a few tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." Was all that Tanya could form, unable to face Astrid as she turned around and ran away from the girl. She didn't want to face her. She couldn't face her. Not after something so humiliating and stupid like that. She didn't even stay for Astrid's reaction as she ran as fast as her feet could take her away from the scene that had just occurred.

God she was pathetic.

[Astrid Sherinian]

Well...that was that. Astrid knew from the moment that Quadraxis returned to its normal levitating height that the Munna was down. The battle was over. Whatever strategy Tanya had been hoping to employ had failed, before she managed to see all of it. And then, Tanya ran off with a quick apology and tears in her eyes.

"H-hey, Tanya, wait!" Astrid called out, trying to give chase after her. But after awhile of utterly failing to catch up, she slowed down, and finally came to a stop, breathing heavily. Tanya was already gone. Maybe that was for the best. It would be easier to talk to her after she'd had some time to calm down anyway.

A few seconds later, Quadraxis came floating up behind her, giving her the closest thing to a curious look it could. "Oh, sorry. You did great out there. Come on back," Astrid said, recalling the Metang.

Well, now what.