Wild Encounters @ Viridian Forest // Joshua

[Jo]

Joshua had just departed from Daniel in good spirits, with an Umbreon striding beside him and a Nidoran just managing to keep up. The boy smiled and, dragging his fringe from his face, pulled back the bushes at the side of the road and deliberatley searched for wild pokemon.

[Aura]

"Pi!" Came a cry from a bush.

Joshua looked around, searching for the cry that sounded much like a Pikachu. Probably a female Pikachu, due to the fact that it was very high pitched.

The bushes rusled and Joshua looked in excitment, expecting to see a yellow mouse Pokemon jump out of the bushes but instead...

"Pi!" The Pidgey cried happily, bursting out of the bush. "Pi?" It looked at Joshua curiously, as if not knowing what it was. Then, after seeing Umbreon and Nidoran at his side, let out a battle cry and readied itself to fight.

(Male Pidgey, level 2)

[Jo]

"Pi!" came a shrill cry from the bush. Joshua half-expected a strong, female Pikachu to jump out. Just his luck too, they were pretty rare. Tails seemed alerted to the presence of a strong pokemon and pounced infront of Nidoran.

Then a Pidgey leapt happily out of the bushes.

"... Eh..?" Joshua's jaw dropped slightly. He was fooled this easily? "N-No matter, it's weak enough for you to handle, Nidoran!"

Nidoran whimpered slightly and edged out from behind his Umbreon protection. He was on battling ground now.

"I'm not entirely sure of your moveset, so, perhaps use your horn and attack pidgey?" Joshua was doubtful this would work. If he had a pokedex, it'd make things ten times easier to see what moves his pokemon and opponents had.

[Aura]

Nidoran's brain ticked over, thinking about what it's trainer had just said. He had heard the words "Horn" and "Attack" so maybe, he wanted him to use Horn Attack? But wait!

...

...

What was Horn Attack? Nidoran had no idea. He looked towards Joshua, confused. Pidgey clearly saw this the time to attack.

"Pi!" It cried happily, sounding just like a female Pikachu, and slammed into Nidoran. Luckily, Nidoran's tough hide protected it from part of the attack.

Nidoran: 86%
Pidgey: 100%

[Jo]

Joshua bit his tongue.

"Wait, what do you know? You got a horn... perhaps... p-peck! Peck that Pidgey, Nidoran!" Joshua could only hope this would work.

[Aura]

Peck... wasn't that a flying type move? Kind of stupid move for him to have... but wait! Yes, peck, that did register in his mind! Yes, he knew peck!

Nidoran lunged at the Pidgey who was watching him with amusement at the fact that his opponent didn't appear to know what it was doing. At the last second, it seemed to realise that it was being attacked. It squarked in shock and tried to fly upwards to evade the attack, but it was too late. Nidoran rapped sharply on Pidgey's head with its horn, causing it to reel back in pain. It shook it's head to clear the pain, then followed up with a tackle. Fortunetly for Nidoran, it appeared to be quite dazed, so there really wasn't much force behind it.

Nidoran: 80%
Pidgey: 84%

[Jo]

Yes! The one move that Nidoran knew, Peck, seemed to be ludicrous for a pokemon like him to know yet quite effective.

"Nice!" Joshua commented, delightedly. "Follow that up with another peck! Use your timid nature to your advantage, get Pidgeyt before it leaves the ground!"

[Nicola]

Glad that he and his owner seemed to be on the same page this turn, Nidoran quickly got into a ready position. Charging into action, the Nidoran got a running start then collided with great force into its fine feathery foe. The small creature's horn jabbed into the Pidgey with a fair amount of force for a nicely executed PECK attack. The bird Pokemon, now slightly alarmed that its opponent seemed to finally have gotten a grip on things, scrambled to get into the air where it would have an advantage. The Nidoran, having heard Joshua say specifically to attack before the bird got into the air, jumped and rammed his horn into the Pidgey's wing as it took off. The startled bird Pokemon did still manage to get into the air, but looked back to its wounded limb; its balance while flying was going to be a little off and its landing more than a bit rocky when it did come down. Attempting to get the poisonous Pokemon back for its injury, the Pidgey swooped down for a TACKLE attack, but because of the off angle it had in its flight, the attack did less damage than it normally would have.

Nidoran: 76%
Pidgey: 66%

[Jo]

Joshua relaxed. Now he had an attacking move sorted, he didn't really want to hazard guesses for the next move - but it didn't seem like using Peck over and over would prove a great tactic.

"Okay, Nidoran," Joshua smiled. "See that foilage just down there? Camp around there for a bit, hopefully Pidgey will tangle itself up in it and you can get in a good few Peck attacks!"

[Nicola]

Nidoran, so confident before that it had been on the same wavelength as his trainer, faltered momentarily at this new command.

Foliage... and camp? Ahh, of course!

......

......

Foliage Camp? Nidoran had absolutely no clue what he was being asked to do. What kind of an attack was Foliage Camp, anyways!?

The small Poison Pokemon turned to propose to Joshua that very same question when Pidgey took the opportunity to swoop in from behind and land a surprise TACKLE on its opponent. Because of the element of surprise as well as Pidgey's excitement to finally catch its foe off guard, the attack was a CRITICAL HIT!

However, because the flying creature landed the attack so hard, one of Nidoran's spikes pierced its side and a bit of poison was leaked into Pidgey's system.

Nidoran: 62%
Pidgey: 66% [Poisoned]

[Jo]

^{"Oof, Nido..." Joshua felt sorry for his new Pokemon. It must of felt very scared out there, in the battle, on it's own. "Defend yourself!" Joshua finally called. "Use Peck!"}

[Nicola]

Then the orders were back to the stuff that he knew again. Still wondering what kind of a move Foliage Camp was, Nidoran swiftly blocked Pidgey's overconfident downward swoop, giving his best effort to PECK the bird. The move seemed to do the trick, because the Pidgey's forewarned rocky landing took place right then and there, the bird flopping around on the ground like it didn't even know how to fly. The bird looked extremely scratched up from the rough landing and thoroughly embarrassed at its fall. Attempting to restore some of its dignity, the Pidgey got up and rushed towards Nidoran with a TACKLE, but because the attack came so late, the Pidgey was harmed by the poison in its system before it was able to make contact with its opponent.

Nidoran: 62%
Pidgey: 35% [Poisoned]

[Jo]

<sup><Beat 'em up, Nidoran!> Tails pepped up for the first time that battle.

"Right, go in for another peck! It's nearly downed!" Joshua called, and in the heat of the battle, forgot entirely about his last plan to camp in the undergrowth.</sup>

[Nicola]

Nidoran, excited that its victory was almost at hand, rushed forward, clamping its beak-like mouth down on top of its opponent's outstretched wing. The Pidgey shuddered for a moment, the poison taking effect, then it flopped down on the ground, motionless.

Pidgey has fainted and you are the victor! Nidoran gains 2 Exp. and 10 Happiness!

[Jo]

<sup>(That's 2 EXP to you, Nicola. Double EXP. :3)

Nidoran felt a surge of power wash over him; it took a while for the experience to soak in, before he returned back giddy to the beaming Joshua. Tails mewed and licked one of Nidoran's knobbled ears, before quickly retreating with a sour taste in her mouth. Joshua let out a giggle, and bent over, patting Nidoran.

"I think," Joshua whispered, fondly. "I'll name you Toxin!.."

<... M'kay..?> Nidoran grunted back. <Why'd you put so much thought into it? 'Twas what I was thinking...>

<Yeah - I mean, it was a pretty obvious name, when you think about it.> Tails rolled back, a roar of laughter erupting from her muzzle.

"... Y-Yeah? Well, shut up! Both of you! Guwah!!" Joshua was cut by the nearby rustling in teh bushes.</sup>