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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 15, 2021 22:28:23 GMT -6
After returning from the Slate City Museum empty-handed due to an extremely long line, Shalin picked up lunch at a restaurant primarily serving Orran food. While waiting for her order, she directed her attention toward a news broadcast with updates on the Team Epoch situation. "No wonder the city is so empty," she thought. The more she thought about it, the more she felt her unique skillset with tracking and wilderness exploration could be very useful to restoring peace to the city. She would need to make some changes to her roster to be able to traverse a subterranean environment, though; her larger Pokémon would almost certainly have to stay behind.
Her bug-types would have to stay behind, too; even though it would be warm enough for them in the caves, the vibration from their bug-type attacks could easily cause a cave-in. This, combined with the size restriction, left her with few team options. Caprice, who was always with her in the winter, would be her first option. The fox was nimble, easy to see, and could light the tunnels up with some fire-type attacks. Ultimately, she decided to bring some of her newer Pokémon with her. Rielle and Waft had just been fitted with saddles, and Starr and Dolana would get their chances soon.
After her meal, she made the aforementioned changes to her team, then rode Caprice to the mine entraice. She explained to officers surrounding the mine entrance she was there to help with the Team Eopch problem before heading down to the first of the upper mines' three sublevels.
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NAME SPECIES LV EP STATUS Caprice Ninetales 21 3 Good Rielle Vaporeon 16 3 Good Starr Eevee* 16 3 Good Dolana Eevee 13 3 Good Waft Leafeon 13 3 Good Saria Ivysaur 20 3 Good
{WC: 265} {PC: 1}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Feb 17, 2021 1:20:16 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 17, 2021 20:39:27 GMT -6
Even Caprice's deft footsteps echoed loudly as Shalin descended the first sublevel's main shaft. While strings of lightbulbs kept the place somewhat lit, the enclosed space would make maneuvering more difficult, particularly for someone as her who was used to much more open space. Furthermore, she knew Caprice had to be used for swift transportation only; with how confined the tunnels were, extended use of fire attacks would rapidly eat up the local oxygen supply. Her main combat units would be the newcomers to the team, particularly Saria.
Thankfully, there was a meaningful amount of signage strewn about the first sublevel, directing her to how to get to the sublevel easily. As she followed the signs to get to the second sublevel, Shalin couldn't help but hear some muffled voices from deeper within. She gently tugged at Caprice's reins and whispered into her ear, "Quiet - I think we've got company." With that, the giant, golden fox softly stepped around the corner, the rider leaning to one side to try to get a better look herself...
n1ysmeI1
{WC: 175} {PC: 2} {Previous point: 95/200}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Feb 20, 2021 5:02:18 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 21, 2021 11:37:48 GMT -6
Shalin breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her company was a Pokémon trying to deliver a letter to one of the missing miners. It seemed this Pokémon belonged to someone. She dismounted from Caprice to examine the Pokémon. "You okay?" she asked the Grass-type that was clearly out of its element. Rustling through her supplies, she procured a small treat to give to the Rowlet. If she was able to get the Pokémon to relax, she would then gently pet its head.
"You're a long way from your master...maybe I can help you find your master?" Her affection for wild Pokémon in trouble made her lapse regarding the threat of Team Epoch, Caprice shaking her head at her trainer's lack of focus. The Ninetales sighed before following her trainer and the small Pokémon, who was leading the way down to the next sublevel. She did recall that while the mine went rather deep, police told her not to go below the third sublevel; the fourth sublevel and lower had been decommissioned. She wondered why...
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vks3nRw|
{WC: 183} {PC: 3} {Previous point: 180/200}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Feb 22, 2021 5:02:52 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 22, 2021 23:25:31 GMT -6
Shalin and Caprice followed every corner the small Rowlet turned. The grass-type meandered about the second sublevel for quite some time, even briefly entering the third sublevel for a minute or two and taking an alternate path back up to the second sublevel. This place was less a mine and more a maze. Whether it was natural or man-made didn't matter; it was a pain in the butt.
After rounding a few more corners and sidestepping several Roggenrola and Nosepass, the Rowlett chirped in front of a cave mouth with a thick black curtain made quite visible by artificial lighting. What was also clearly visible was blue police tape with white text forbidding entry. There was also a strange, hourglass-like logo where the Slate City police logo would normally be. There was even a sign on the rock wall next to the curtain with writing so illegible she couldn't understand a word other than "KEEP OUT - NOTHING SUSPICIOUS HERE".
Shalin couldn't help but chuckle at how obviously fake the whole setup was. First, she had already seen police tape outside the mine entrance, and it was standard black-on-yellow. There also appeared to be no one guarding the entrance. "Sounds like we hit the jackpot," the explorer mumbled to herself before recalling Caprice. She took a deep breath before getting down on all fours and crawling underneath the fake police tape. While she was adept at dealing with wild Pokémon, this was some real danger she could be getting herself into. She kept one hand on the Ninetales' Poké Ball after standing up, then slowly advanced toward the curtain and gently pushed it out of the way...
Ha8o5rrS
{WC: 277} {PC: 4} {Previous pt: 206/200}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Feb 23, 2021 22:27:25 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 26, 2021 16:42:06 GMT -6
What Shalin saw behind the curtain was terrifying; fighting-type Pokémon keeping a close eye on tied-up people that exactly matched the missing miners' description. None of the hostages were in very good shape. Had the captors interrogated them using the threat of fighting-type violence against them? These Epoch people were terrible; clearly they weren't beyond causing great bodily harm to innocents to get what they wanted.
Makeshift prisons? Apparently there were more than just the two or three miners in here that had been captured; there was a whole sting operation going on. When she witnessed the man's Lucario Aura-grab his own underling, she knew she was in serious danger and wanted to turn back. The Rowlet she was alongside had other ideas, though, chirping loudly when it saw its owner in bad shape. Way to blow her cover, Rowlet!
Shalin was shaking nervously afterward, the adrenaline beginning to flow from finding herself in a life-or-death situation. Sure, she was amazing at dealing with wild Pokémon, but these were trained! She released Caprice once more and scurried aboard. "We gotta get outta here!" the green-dressed rider cried, frantically pulling at the reins. It was to no avail, though; Isaac's Lucario had such strong Aura powers as to create an Aura wall around the curtain, making it immobile and solid.
She was trapped, and the only way out was to fight this high-ranking Epoch member in a Pokémon battle she was not prepared for. Caprice bucked the nervous, frightened girl off, taking matters into her own hands. She wouldn't get any help from her overwhelmed trainer, either; she was on her own.
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NAME SPECIES LV EP STATUS Caprice Ninetales 21 3 Good Rielle Vaporeon 21 3 Good Starr Eevee* 21 3 Good Dolana Eevee 18 3 Good Waft Leafeon 18 3 Good Saria Ivysaur 20 3 Good
{WC: 274} {PC: 5}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Feb 27, 2021 9:56:45 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Feb 28, 2021 13:30:54 GMT -6
Shalin let out a scream of terror when she saw the so-called Executioner of Team Epoch had multiple highly advanced Fighting-type Pokémon on his roster. Gallade in particular was a Pokémon Ninetales in general had a rough time with, but especially Caprice. Due to the subterranean environment, most of her fire-type attacks would be a no-go; Heat Wave was the only one she could make use of without destroying the chamber's oxygen supply. Similarly, Gallade's best attack against the Ninetales, Earthquake, could not be used due to the potential of a cave-in.
With her trainer paralyzed with fear, the Ninetales put the corner of the entrance tunnel between where she and her trainer were standing before flashing ethereal, bright lights directly in the Gallade's face. Thankfully, the golden fox was more than intelligent enough to fight without commands from her trainer! Gallade was rendered delirious, swinging his blade-arms around wildly, getting one of them stuck in the wall next to Caprice and landing on his backside during the successful attempt to dislodge himself.
Taking advantage of the opening, Caprice reared high and loosed another pulse of tremendous heat in all directions. Shalin winced as she felt a rather uncomfortable, but harmless, reflection of the attack. With a loud kiyai from Isaac that made Shalin flinch, Gallade regained control of his senses. Taking advantage of Caprice's position, the psionic fighter strained his mental powers quite a bit to lift Caprice off the ground completely. He flipped the fox onto her back before falling with her, the Ninetales letting out an unearthly squeal as Gallard sliced across her exposed underside. Shalin peeked her head around the corner long enough to replace the fallen fire-type with Rielle, still scared to issue commands.
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NAME SPECIES LV EP STATUS Caprice Ninetales 21 3 KO Rielle Vaporeon 21 3 Good Starr Eevee* 21 3 Good Dolana Eevee 18 3 Good Waft Leafeon 18 3 Good Saria Ivysaur 20 3 Good
{WC: 291} {PC: 6}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Mar 1, 2021 9:22:13 GMT -6
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Mar 3, 2021 10:30:44 GMT -6
All of Isaac's taunting, expected as it may be from a high-ranking member of the Epochs, was not helping one bit. What a difference it was making! If this were a wild Pokémon, she would be filled with confidence! She knew what wild Pokémon were capable of, generally speaking; trained Pokémon were capable of so much more. Rielle walked around the corner and turned around briefly to see that her trainer still was not in the battle. She shook her head, and as with Caprice before her, took matters into her own hands.
Rielle and Isaac's Gallade danced circles around each other for some time, Shalin's Pokémon trying to trip the psychic-type with low tail strikes. After all, she had just recently evolved, and her water sacs had not developed to full capacity yet. She certainly had the range advantage with the long, powerful tail, but the physical and mental strength of her opponent was a league above her. Neither seemed willing to make a move, Gallade content to sharpen his arm-blades while looking for an opening.
Rielle's patience running out first, the Vaporeon swerved toward Gallade, then sharply about-faced, lashing her tail toward her foe's legs. A direct hit! Shalin poked her head around the corner to see that her Pokémon had gained the upper hand, Gallade prone. While she would be able to press the advantage on such a physically-winded foe, Isaac's Pokémon was a psychic fighter, and his mind was still at close to full strength.
Through determination and mental fortitude, Rielle's foe willed himself to not give up. As he saw the Vaporeon rearing back for another tail slap, Isaac's Gallade put its arm-blades up in defense, letting the Vaporeon thrust its tail into them! The course of the battle quickly reversed, the winded Gallade freeing its arm-blades by running them across the length of Rielle's tail. Shalin's badly-beaten Pokémon let out another unearthly shriek before collapsing entirely, sending out Waft in her place.
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Roy5zlLu
NAME SPECIES LV EP STATUS Caprice Ninetales 21 3 KO Rielle Vaporeon 21 3 KO Starr Eevee* 21 3 Good Dolana Eevee 18 3 Good Waft Leafeon 18 3 Good Saria Ivysaur 20 3 Good
{WC: 335; 626 total vs. Gallade} {PC: 7}
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Post by SpinnerNite on Mar 6, 2021 9:36:53 GMT -6
Shalin Nariya HvS5vIDcp_ There is no word requirement to defeat Gallade.
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Post by Shalin Nariya on Mar 9, 2021 21:16:13 GMT -6
While Waft would have a very easy job against the Gallade that was on the precipice of collapse, Shalin was still quite fearful for her safety. If she were to lose this battle, what would happen to her? Would she be forced to do Epoch's dirty bidding? What if they had a psychic? A mentalist, even? She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't. The Leafeon gave Isaac's Gallade no quarter at all, bombarding it with a Razor Leaf barrage even a disciplined fighter could not dodge. All it took was one projectile hitting the foe for it to drop. As much as Waft wanted to celebrate, she knew she couldn't. Neither could she take credit; Caprice and Rielle were the true heroes of this battle.
Once the Gallade fell, Shalin poked her head up high enough to see that Isaac was only carrying four Pokémon with her. She breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down a bit; though the Epoch goon's team clearly had her outclassed, she could still win and walk away with her life thanks to her numbers alone. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and reassured Waft that she had her grass-type partner's back. "We're in this together!"
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Waft's level is now 20!
NAME SPECIES LV EP STATUS Caprice Ninetales 21 3 KO Rielle Vaporeon 21 3 KO Starr Eevee* 21 3 Good Dolana Eevee 18 3 Good Waft Leafeon 20 3 Good Saria Ivysaur 20 3 Good
{WC: 205} {PC: 8}
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