Dark Sage vs. Master of Paradox, Round Twenty-Three
Pre-Round Stats
Team Sage
Blast (M)
Health: 22%
Energy: 55%
Status: Moderately confused; O.o …brain huuuuurts… so much paaaaaiin…
Dark Sage’s Commands:
Overheat ~ Crunch ~ Fire Fang
Team Paradox
Pudge (M)
Health: 38%
Energy: 48%
Status: Tiring, but pleased.
Master of Paradox’s Commands:
Slash ~ Bite ~ Shadow Ball
Arena
Zepp Junkyard
As the name implies, this place is a mess. It's an arena of about a square mile, penned off by chain link fencing. Despite its appearance, the fence is indestructible - they build them sturdy in Zepp. Piles of scrap metal and broken machinery abound, some still throwing off sparks, but there's enough clear space for a good fight. (It is possible to Dig into piles of junk.)
Over on the far eastern side is a giant robotic claw, perpetually sorting through deliveries of scrap; anything it deems dangerous is dropped onto the conveyors and delivered to the compactor. If any non-Steel-type Pokémon makes contact with the claw, it grabs them and rejects them. Rejection involves getting hurled back into the arena, which may cause damage at the referee's discretion. Steel-types are dropped onto the conveyor.
On the far northern side is the compactor and conveyor system. Anything that gets put on the conveyor will end up here in about the space of two actions. Getting dropped into the compactor is obviously a bad idea.
This junkyard is a very busy place. Every fifth round, a zeppelin will pass overhead and drop a new delivery of metal garbage onto the field. This is, in effect, a Hail that ignores types - even a Steel or Rock Pokémon can't avoid getting banged up when a compact car falls on their head.
Round Twenty-Three: Begin!
The time of Blast’s reckoning has come now, Pudge tells himself as the dazed little reptile finally manages to pick himself up from the trash- and hail-strewn earth. The fat cat stands slowly, takes a moment to stretch his aching muscles and then daintily picks his way over to his opponent. Blast is completely out of it; there’s no need to rush. Smiling wickedly at his foe, Pudge raises a paw, extends his sharp claws and Slashes at the Charmander’s face. Blast cannot manage more than a forlorn little moan; he’s too busy trying to stop the world from spinning wildly to really worry about the pain in his face. What… what is he supposed to be doing right now? The fact that he can’t remember what his orders are is really heating him up… heating up… Overheat! Blast manages a weak but snide smile of his own as his flickering tail flame suddenly roars into life… higher and higher it burns, and a nervous Pudge begins backing away, only to find his retreat blocked by a large mound of rubbish… and then… FWOOOOOM! Intense flames spread out over the junkyard, spilling out from Blast’s mouth and tail and completely engulfing Pudge and the surrounding debris. As the cat’s screams of pain and horror echo over the yard and much of the trash has been reduced to ash or molten slag, Blast finally calms down and the towering inferno dies away. That attack was certainly taxing… the Charmander’s internal flame is burning rather low at this point…
Pudge’s once sleek, soft, cream-colored fur has been badly singed, and several blisters have sprung up on the skin beneath it. His coat… his beautiful coat… that tears it. With a howl of fury, the Persian bounds forward at the exhausted Blast and begins Biting him viciously, sinking his needle-like fangs into his foe’s orange scales again and again and again… Blast cries out in pain and flails helplessly around, unable to stop his attacker. Pudge finally comes up for air and is about to resume his attack when the fading Blast sees an opportunity and Crunches down on his enemy’s tender, blackened paw. Pudge yowls again, shaking his foreleg as hard as he can for a good minute or two before the little salamander finally lets go.
Thoroughly annoyed, Pudge nevertheless decides that directly attacking the lizard is not the brightest idea; keeping his distance seems to work a bit better. As such, the Persian backs up again before collecting all of the junkyard’s shadows in front of him again. Blast, who is still seeing quadruple, is unable to do anything other than watch as the Shadow Ball slams into his chest before dissipating. The little Charmander pants and gasps… his mind still feels like it’s been run through a blender and he is only vaguely aware of the crippling pain that wracks his body. Still… he has to keep trying… he won’t let this stupid cat get the better of him… Blast stands, mustering the last of his strength, and bares his fangs; flames begin to circle and lick around them. Blast cannot run—he is much too weak and tired for that—but he strides slowly forward, as purposefully as he can manage, ready to give Pudge a hearty Fire Fang. The cat is transfixed by the salamander’s performance… he, too, is incapable of doing anything other than watching as his foe trudges onward… several paces to the left of him. And as he finally lunges to the attack, Blast realizes too late that he was aiming at the wrong Persian. The confusion-induced image fades away right as Blast collides forcefully with the pile of trash behind it. Blast strikes his head on the debris… and cannot continue any further. The Charmander slides slowly off of the trash pile onto the ground and moves no more.
His gorgeous fur may have been charred, he might be covered in numerous cuts and bruises, he might be limping and he might be exhausted, and yet Pudge the Persian cannot help but smile. He’s done it; it’s over. Dark Sage’s Pokémon fought valiantly down to the wire, but their efforts were simply not enough. The chubby cat sits back and begins licking his wounds smugly. Serves the little scaly rat right for singeing his coat.
The junkyard owner breathes a hefty sigh of relief. One of those crazy people seems to have run out of mutant animals for destroying his dump, and the one mutant animal that remains apparently has no further desire for vandalism and violence. Good; they’ll be leaving him in peace soon. He grabs his radio and calls the zeppelin pilots, telling them to take their time with the next shipment of garbage. No need to rush. Everything’s finally going back to normal.
Round Twenty-Three: Close
Post-Round Stats
Team Sage
Blast (M)
Health: 0%
Energy: 31%
Status: Knocked out
Team Paradox
Pudge (M)
Health: 14%
Energy: 27%
Status: Winnahz, yeah boy! Definitely in a helluva lot of pain, though, and not as pretty as he was when he woke up this morning.
Arena Status
Zeppelin: Three rounds until arrival
Some rocks, most of them shattered by Atlas, Thunderclap and Kandy’s Rock Smashes, litter one side of the field; far more plentiful, however, is the scrap scattered around by the zeppelin’s visits. On top of all of that, the junk that Pudge caused to cascade over the field makes it nigh impossible to move around this particular area. Some of the ground and the piles of scrap are icy; some areas of the ice have been shattered somewhat by the falling junk. The ice in the area of Blast's Overheat has melted completely, and the trash in the same vicinity is now either ash or slag. Golf ball-sized hailstones are all over the place.
Ref’s Notes
-To answer the question I believe you were asking, MoP, no, I don’t always ref Hyper Beam as causing recoil. I still haven’t decided whether I like using recoil or not. (Not that it matters any more…) Nope, normally I just knock off a nice, huge chunk of energy, maybe increase energy use afterwards. Which is what I did here, by the way… all of Pudge’s attacks for this round cost an extra 2%.
-In his confusion, Blast mistargeted his attack and crashed into a trash mound instead, causing 2% damage. Pudge’s Shadow Ball had left Blast with only 1% health remaining, and so the stumble ended up knocking him out.
Re: Dark Sage versus Master of Paradox (Ref: Phoenixsong)
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