Eggstatic Adventures - Yougirasu

With a new Pokémon added to his team and a renewed effort to make it to Violet City. Not only did he think that his Pokémon would need a nice rest, he was concerned about how well his supplies would last up considering he'd already used a potion and an Oran Berry in the previous Route.

He strolled through the grass and saw the Dark Cave not to far away. He would have liked to have stopped to travel inside and find some rocky Pokémon, but it had a reputation for good reason and he didn't want his Pokémon expending energy that they didn't have to. He could always go through some more afterwards, perhaps when he'd managed to get a move to illuminate the area for him. He looked over at his resting Togepi who was napping as the sunlight hit her through the trees. He decided that although she looked peaceful there, she'd be best off in her PokéBall as she'd recover her energy a bit better in there than she would out here.

Proceeding to envelope Togepi in the red glow from her PokéBall, he set her at the front of his belt as his most reliable Pokémon and forged onwards as quickly as he could.

Taking in the surroundings, Yougi could make out various landmarks both within the region and within the city he was aiming for. Yes, Violet City certainly felt within his reach now as he continued down the path in Route 31. Soon enough though, he found himself face to face with an old adversary. Or so he thought. Not to far from him was a Weedle that raised itself up to get a look at Yougi.

A shudder ran down Yougi's spine. He'd never been that fond of Weedles and he'd always heard people complaining that their Pokémon would get poisoned when training against them. Fortunately, it wasn't the same Weedle that he'd run into earlier that covered him with a String Shot.

He decided that this would be a good time to test out his newest Pokémon for two reasons, the first was that it was part steel and couldn't get poisoned in the same way a normal Pokémon could and the second was that it shouldn't be hindered to badly by string shot with it levitating naturally. With these reasons seeming sound, he pulled out the PokéBall containing his fresh faced Magnemite and sent it into battle with some immediate orders.
"Good to see you again Magnemite," he said resisting the urge to call it Mag'. "We're in a full on battle just to give you a small work out," he said, continuing. "Let's get things going by using Metal Sound and follow it up by Tackling the Weedle."

Magnemite seemed to get off to a good start against the Weedle, it's unintentional advantages clear to it's foe as it chose to use String Shot against it rather that it's poison sting. Luckily, Magnemite had used Metal sound and had managed to put the Weedle off it's attack before it charged in for a solid tackle. As Weedle went for another string shot, which managed to hit a tree on the opposite side of Magnemite, Yougi couldn't help but wonder if it'd simply missed or if the Weedle had something else planned. Regardless, he couldn't see many options for Magnemite other than to just 'gun it'.

"Okay Magnemite, you've done really well so far so I want you to try and capitalise on the edge you've given yourself. Charge in at the Weedle with 2 more Tackles, if you can."

Yougi really didn't like Weedles now. His enemy had dodged Magnemites first attack to give itself some tension with the string shots and proceeded to launch itself into Magnemite to inflict damage with it's horn.
'At least Mag had it's natural defences,' Yougi thought, while trying to dream up some new combo. [i]Weedle may have come in with a poison sting, but the only damage would have been from the normal, physical impact, which Magnemite also resists.'

After deciding that Weedle probably didn't have to many more tricks up it's sleeve, at least for the time being, Yougi called out to Magnemite.
"Magnemite, charge straight back in there with 2 more tackles. I know it didn't work so well last time, but now it won't have the set up it needs to do something like that again."

Yougi was clueless regarding what to do as he looked upon his Magnemite. Mag had received an eyeful of string and with no limbs to remove it, it was likely to be a fair problem for him.

Yougi decided though that the best way to work things was to just improvise and see how they go for the next few rounds and then make a more informed decision regarding the state of Magnemite.

Giving his orders to his Pokémon, Yougi called out, "Mag, keep calm now and use a Metal Sound to hopefully distract the Weedle and if it attacks you charge a moderate distance in that direction with a Tackle." He just had to hope that Magnemite knew what 'moderate' was.

Things were looking up slightly for Magnemite after the last bout of battling. The metallic sound it produced halted Weedle's first attack, saving it from having to take any extra damage. And after Weedle rammed Magnemite with it's horn for a make-shift, poison-less, impact only poison sting, Magnemite had charged down the path the tackle like motion had come from to strike the Weedle and remove some of the string covering it.

Yougi wondered if it's metallic coating made it tougher for the string to stay on to Magnemite, but with Weedle looking like it wouldn't last much longer. He just had to hope that Magnemite could see well enough through the string still upon it's eye to be as direct as possible.

"Magnemite," Yougi called out with some excitement in his voice. "It shouldn't be much longer before this battle's decided, but don't get complacent. Charge on in with two Tackles, but if you can't see well enough then wait for Weedle to attack you first."

Magnemite seemed to be on fire in it's first battle as it charged in for what seemed to be the last round. It manages to dash in before the Weedle is ready to retaliate and knocks it backwards, dashing any hopes the bug type had of ramming Magnemite with another poison sting. As the Weedle recovers and pulls itself up, Magnemite charges in just once more and does the deed by KO-ing it's opponent.

Magnemite seems a lot more confident now as it's experience heightens it's skill and it grows up a level. Yougi is happy with the young hatchling and walks over to it to give it some congratulations. Picking up the Magnemite from it's hovering stance very gently, he brings it up to shoulder level and praises it.
"That was GREAT Magnemite. I didn't realise that it could hit you with a poison sting or that you'd have your resistances, I just wanted you to get some battling experience and it turned out better than I ever thought."

He gave some thought to the Weedle and how it had battled bravely, coming up with new ways to use it's attacks. He could have simply pulled out a PokéBall and scooped up the Pokémon, but with his general dislike for Weedles he decided not to. Instead he would inform the nurses at the nearby Pokémon center in Violet City, so they could make sure that Weedle would be okay.

He looked around a bit, Dark Cave loomed ominously nearby, but with the shape of his Pokémon and their general difficulty when fighting the types that would be inside caves he decided that it would be better to get into Violet City and get everyone healed before. Especially before considering going on excursions to train and hunt, he had no idea if he'd encounter trainers or strong Pokémon in his travels. So he followed the path through, heading towards Violet City and his first Gym battle.

As Yougi continued to follow the path towards Violet City, he noticed that the path managed to twist and turn in all manner of directions. Was the path purposely trying to hinder his efforts to get to Violet City?
'Nah, must have been here for years' he thought to himself as he continued down the winding path.

Not to long after, he noticed a roof just beyond some trees. He had to consult his map to double check, but there didn't appear to be any buildings on the path other than the Gatehouse into Violet City. His heart skipped a beat and he almost cried out with joy as he saw the building and how close he was to it. He redoubled his efforts to reach the gatehouse, but was cut short before he could get much further.

"Hi there, I'm Wade!" The newcomer said, young in stature and dressed like something else. He had blue shorts and a plain white vest on, while he was carrying some sort of box with a shoulder strap. The strangest thing about the boy was his hat, a large, wide rimmed hat was atop of his head.
"Care for a Pokémon battle?" Wade asked, thrusting a net that was in his hand in Yougi's direction that was clearly meant for catching insects and not challenging people with.

As Yougi wondered if he could make a dash for it past the kid, Wade pulled out his Pokéball and released his first pokémon. A Caterpie burst forth from within the light and looked ready to go, although it didn't look much different from how it'd normally look. Yougi sighed a little, 'Bugs, why does it always have to be bugs?' he thought as he pulled out his Pokéball, he wanted to get this first pokémon dealt with quickly and he knew just the pokémon to do so. They didn't need to move a whole lot, had a 'variety' of moves at their disposal and had an impeccable record against wild pokémon and trainers alike. He'd be a fool not to have chosen Togepi, and with a flash of light she stood before him (just about) and seemed to notice that it was time to battle again.

He wanted to start out strong, as it was a Caterpie and wasn't to likely to be able to counter the moves that Togepi had. But still, remembering the battle with Weedle he knew that they could be resourceful with their string shots. "Togepi," he called out, giving his orders. "Let's get things moving fast. Open with a Water Pulse and follow it up with a Metronome." He paused for a second as a thought occurred to him. "The usual strategy." He finished with a slight smile on his face that he hoped Togepi would be sharing.

"Err... What the-?" were the words that came out of Yougi's mouth as Togepi began to levitate in the air, crackling with electricity as she did.

The round had started off well, Togepi had washed away the string shot that had been launched at her with her neatly timed Water Pulse, that had continued on to slam into Caterpie for decent damage. It was when Caterpie was readying itself to ram into Togepi with a tackle that Togepi began her metronome and caught everyone off guard. As Caterpie had charged in, Togepi had finished and the powers that be had selected Magnet Rise as the move to be released. That caused crackles around Togepi's body as the natural magnetism in her body was reversed, pushing herself into the air.

Yougi may have been caught off guard by the move but wondered how it could be used to their advantage. They could probably dive in and other such manoeuvres but they could be pretty difficult with Togepi not really being used to battling in the 3rd dimension. Still, it'd be worth a try if they got a chance.

"Togepi, hang on in there." Yougi called out to falsify the impression that Togepi might be out of her depths out there. "Fire off another Water Pulse at Caterpie and if you get a chance, use Tackle. If not, just Growl to keep them from striking."

Togepi seemed to have a decent amount of luck on her side regarding her levitation as her first water pulse met it's mark and proceeded to push her backwards from the area where Caterpie was leaping to tackle. She then dived in towards the small bug and gave it an aerial tackle, but she was swiftly hit in retribution with Caterpie's own tackle.

Yougi was keen to push Togepi due to her past successes and he was confident that she'd be able to keep up since she'd had an oran berry earlier and been resting in her pokéball to keep her energy topped up. Still, he couldn't rely just on Water Pulses due to their taxing nature and he'd have to try a little luck every once in a while.

Hearing Wade's orders, he was a little apprehensive about ordering but remembering the opening bout he had confidence about bringing the same two moves together again. Only he hoped for something more damaging this time.

"Togepi, I know you can handle this." He called out to give the young looking pokémon confidence if she needed it. "Let's keep the pressure on Caterpie by launching another Water Pulse and then follow it up with another Metronome."

Togepi was going strong in the battle still, but it was beginning to show. After Togepi had launched another Water Pulse to wash out the string shot launched against her, she got a reprieve when serene grace assisted her with confusing her opponent.

During the off moment, Togepi had been able to produce another Metronome and charged straight in with a Take Down attack to strike the Caterpie for more damage. The recoil surged through her still levitating body and the signs of weariness were visible. Although Caterpie looked like it wouldn't last much longer in the match, Togepi's breathing was laboured from using the energy intensive moves.

Yougi knew she'd have enough in the tank to KO the Caterpie, but he had to plan ahead. What could his second Pokémon be, would he be better letting Togepi duke it out with them or should he be considering returning her for some rest and letting someone else go in after Caterpie was done. He knew he needed to treat Togepi well, like any Pokémon but she'd have priority with her evolution counting on the kindness around her.

He'd gotten so lost in the thought of what would happen, that he nearly forgot to order. Looking at his weary Togepi he called out, "Sorry Togepi, I was just thinking about what would be best for you in the coming rounds. We'll take things easier now, just go in for two tackles. If Caterpie appear to be going in for a tackle as well use Growl instead of a Tackle to deter it."

Togepi got the well earned victory in the end. She started of by charging in for a Tackling attack which knocked back the opposing Caterpie. As Togepi readied herself to charge in for another tackle, Caterpie got up and launched a string shot which covered Togepi but did little to stop her movement as the Tackle collided and Caterpie tumbled along the ground, limp and lifeless.

As Togepi celebrated her victory by blowing kisses into the air, Yougi smiled as she seemed to be getting confident with each and every battle. As he did however, he noticed the inclination of energy as she was blowing her kisses and after quickly checking his pokédex he realised that she'd learnt Sweet Kiss.

His opponent wasn't quite done with the battle though as he pulled out Caterpie's pokéball and another one. He returned Caterpie saying, "Great work Caterpie," and as he unleashed his second pokémon in a flurry of light he called out, "C'mon out, Metapod!"

Stood in the place of the fallen Caterpie was a rigid looking Metapod, bright green in colour and looking quite focused. Yougi knew that Togepi would be able to batter it with Water Pulses as cocoon style Pokémon such as Metapod, Silcoon and Cascoon were renown for their heightened defences. But with Togepi as tired as she was, it might be better for him to give her a break and ask for assistance from another Pokémon.

He had a quick think about his Pokémon, they were really physical attackers with Togepi being the only one able to launch an energy based attack. Non of them, other than Magnemite, was capable of reducing an opponents defensive capabilities to get in those blows. And Magnemite had been weakened and tired out by battling the Weedle earlier. Yougi wished that he'd been able to give Magnemite an Oran berry so it'd be able to take this opportunity to do battle but he wasn't sure how many he had left at the minute or if he'd have a big enough gap to use it.

Instead, he chose to capitalise on the vulnerability caused by Metapod not having used to many hardens yet by bringing out a Pokémon that although was weakened, was holding onto a spare berry in case it was needed.

As he made his decision and held out his pokéball to return Togepi he said, "You've made a good effort so far, but you need a rest. Let someone take the reigns for now in case we need your skill later."

He then pulled out his other pokéball, housing his chosen Pokémon. With a flick and a flash of light, Gligar was left standing in the battlefield and it didn't take him long to figure out what was going on.

"Good to see you're up to speed," Yougi called out to his pokémon. "We've got to make a good opening as early as possible here, so while it does it's hardening thing I want you to charge on in and administer a double set of Bites." He knew bite was quite effective with Gligars jaw, but he had to hope that he would make a big enough gap early on so he could be ready for Metapod having Tackle with it seeming like a raised Pokémon.

As the Metapod produced it's hardens and looked a lot more durable because of it, Gligar's bite attacks didn't appear to do much damage damage to it. The blows weakened with each harden and Yougi felt as though another strategy would be needed.

But what could he do? As far as he knew they were only using two Pokémon so far and Gligar was the second Pokémon he'd sent out. Gligars attacks were only going to become less and less effective as Metapod hardened and he wasn't going to rely on Togepi's water pulses just yet. He needed an edge, a way to stack the damage on Metapod so it couldn't resist.

Taking the only conceivable option, Yougi called out to Gligar who eagerly awaited his orders.
"Gligar, we need to get things moving as fast as we possibly can but it's defences are going to be holding us back consistently. Go in with a Double Poison Sting assault and we'll see how things look after that."