[Wild Encounter] Nicola Ventures through Viridian Forest

[Jimmy]

Sensing her trainer's regain of hope, Crystal smiled and quickly ran over to the well defended Metapod. Bringing her arm back and opening her palm, she quickly struck the Metapod with it, showing a huge amount of strength with the attack. The Metapod well back, rolling continously on the ground before being stopped by a rock. Metapod tried to get up, but he couldn't. He was unable to move. Metapod was now paralyzed. Fighting through the paralyze, he used a desperate move. Another Harden. Metapod increased his defense and made his body even more rock hard and hard to attack.

Crystal: 100%
Metapod: 33% [+3 Def][Paralyzed]

[Nicola]

"C'mon, you can do it!" Nicola cheered. "Another FORCE PALM!"

<Go, Crystal, you can do it~> echoed Aqua happily.

[Jimmy]

Though Crystal tried not to show it, she was crying on the inside. Hearing her Trainer and her fellow comrade cheer her on made her feel nice. Even though Bolt wasn't there with them, Crystal knew that Bolt would be the same way. She was going to do all she could to find Bolt. But first, she had to finish off this nuisance of a obstacle. Bringing her palm back again, she brought it forward with a greater force than before, knocking out the Metapod. Crystal gained 4.5EXP!

[Nicola]

((Though, since Aqua started out the battle, she gets some of the experience, too! :)))

"Thanks, Crystal," Nicola said with a sigh. "If you weren't here to speed things up, I doubt Aqua and I would ever have gotten out of that battle."

She clapped her hands together once in a final kind of manner and turned back towards the path.

<Let's keep looking for Bolt,> Crystal suggested, receiving nods of agreement from both Nicola and Aqua.

The group continued, the Lucario closing her eyes and navigating by aura and attempting to find traces of her Shinx friend.

[Jimmy]

As they were traveling, Crystal began to sense a strong aura. It was an electrical one and seemed to be the aura of....BOLT!!! As Crystal ran towards where she felt the aura, Nicola and Aqua followed. Once there, they found Bolt. Around him, where a group of ten Pokemon, five different species. They seemed to have had Bolt trapped. 2 Exeggacute, 2 Spinarak(Who had Bolt wrapped up with String Shot), 2 Pidgy, 2 Zubat, and their leaders, 2 Pikachu. Bolt cried out to Nicola for help. Thinking that this must be here his Trainer, the Pikachu ordered the the Zubats(Both Male, Lv5 and Lv4) to stay back and fight. Everyone else followed the Pikachu deeper into the forest with Bolt.

[Nicola]

"Great job, Crystal!" Nicola exclaimed. "Your aura skills are really coming in handy! Well, let's save him, shall we? First, we'll take care of the Zubats, then chase after the rest! Aqua! Crystal! You two ready?"

<I'm ready~!> the cheerful Corsola chimed.

<Yeah, let's go save Bolt!> Crystal replied.

Delighted at finding Bolt and at the readiness of her two Pokemon, Nicola stretched out her arm to point at the opposing Pokemon.

"Aqua, use TACKLE on the weaker one on the right! Crystal, stay with Aqua and take any damage for her, then use COUNTER on whichever Zubat hit you to send the attacks right back at them!"

[Jo]

<sup>*BATTLE PHASE*

Aqua gave a roar of appreciation for her command, and headed straight into battle (and straight into the weakest zubat). The sheer speed of the tackle had taken the Zubat off-guard, taking more damage then usual. Crystal was also taken by surprise, however, and rushed to the pink corals side as instructed. The slightly bigger Zubat flew down to attack Crystal, as it seemed it wanted to rid of the bigger threat first. It launched a Leech Life right towards the psychic wold. The Lucario winced slightly, but decided to go with Nicola's order and returned the favour to the winged rat. Crystal closed her eyes and began to feel the Zubat's presence, readying her counter. Jumping into the air with cat-like reflexes, Crystal spun backwards and delivered a flying kick to her target, landing on all fours. The second, female zubat was huffing slightly. How dare that pink coral attack her! Ooo, she had half a mind to defeat her single-handedly! Crystal jumped infront of the Leech Life that followed, but shuddered as it noticed the flaw in the strategy. She could counter one attack, but no matter what, she would be taking a certain amount of damage for nothing!

*BREAKDOWN*

Aqua used Tackle!
It hit!
Zubat(M) used Leech Life!
It hit!
Crystal used Counter!
It hit!
Zubat(F) used Leech Life!
It hit!

*RESULTS*

Aqua: 100%
Crystal: 81%

Zubat(M): 26%
Zubat(F): 65%</sup>

[Nicola]

Nicola punched the air triumphantly at the prowess of her Pokemon in this fast-paced battle. Noticing that she no longer had a visual of Bolt or the Pokemon who had captured him, she whirled around towards her Pokemon and cried out her next orders.

"Great teamwork, you two, but if we're going to catch up with Bolt's captors, we're going to have to finish this up quick! Aqua, TACKLE on the male, and Crystal, use your FORCE PALM on the female!"

[Jo]

<sup>*BATTLE PHASE*

Almost immediately after issuing the command, Aqua leapt into the Zubat and tackled it backwards into the air. The Zubat took a direct hit, and fell down to the ground defeated. It was Crystal's turn to attack the female, now, and closing her eyes as she did before, Crystal focused on hitting the last Zubat with a Force Palm. Upon reopening her eyes, the Lucario witnessed the site of two fallen bats and a surge of power rush through her system. Both Aqua and Crystal gained experience!

*BREAKDOWN*

Aqua used Tackle!
It hit!
Zubat(M) fainted!
Aqua gains 2 (1.75 rounded) EXP!
Crystal gains 2 (1.75 rounded) EXP!
Crystal used Force Palm!
It hit!
Zubat(F) fainted!
Aqua gains 1 EXP!
Crystal gains 1 EXP!

*RESULTS*

Aqua: 100%
Crystal: 81%

Zubat(M): 0% *Fainted
Zubat(F): 0% *Fainted

Aqua is Level 5 (3.5/5 EXP)!
Crystal is Level 12 (5.5/12 EXP)!

(I'ma assume you follow up on Bolt, so as to not waste your time, let the chase continue!)

*ROLEPLAY*

Nicola, ecstatic her pokémon had appeared on top so speedily, decided to continue the chase for Bolt straight away.

<He went that way,> Crystal pointed out, poking a paw to a break in the bushes. <I can still sense him.>

Agreeing this was the direction to follow, the party traversed across the pitch and further through the bushes. It took no more than a twenty second run to catch up to the unusual but dangerous party, by this time the party had gotten to a thicker part in the forest where the grass was up to Nicola's knees. The terrain ahead would be far different from the shrubbery she had encountered on the routes previously, far thicker and diverse with fungi and plant life. It was a strange sensation to be pushed around by creatures that didn't even measure up to Nicola's waist, but regardless of thier size, pokémon in groups this big were a much bigger threat then they seemed.

The Pikachu leaders had noticed that thier uncanny enemies had already conquered the two Zubat and had used evil trickery and deception to lure them into a trap! Ordering the pair of Exeggacute to stick back and fight for them, the Pikachu ran into even deeper forests with Bolt. They must escape with the specimen!

*ENVIORNMENTAL NOTE*

The grass here has grown freely for hundreds of years, at has reached its limit of growth. It has grown to about knee height of Nicola, although Crystal has trouble wading through the grass, and Aqua's vision is impaired. The Exeggacute are hidden in the grass, and are practically invisible to Nicola's party unless they are right infront of the party. Several flowers dot the area, and there is a gnarled wooden trunk laying discarded nearby.</sup>

[Nicola]

The three of them ran after Bolt's captors, catching sight of the bandits only for them to leave behind two Exeggcute-- at least Nicola thought they were Exeggcute, she couldn't quite see them through the grass-- to battle the group off. In fact, the two egg Pokemon could be right under Nicola's nose and she wouldn't know it. Now was the part where Nicola would have to kick her mind into gear and get creative.

"First off all, we're going to have to get this grass out of the way. I would suggest an attack move, but neither of you have Cut, do you? Or maybe something off the ground, but there's nothing sharp around here..."

Finger tapping her chin, Nicola paced as well as she could in the grass before her eyes lit upon the spikes on the backs on her Lucario's hands.

"Sharp! That's it!" Nicola's face brightened considerably and she quit pacing to take charge. "Aqua, step back a moment, please? Crystal! Hold out the spikes on your hands and Quick Attack your way across the grass to cut it shorter! Then, when she's done, Aqua, you find one of the Exeggcute and Tackle it down!"

[Jimmy]

Crystal nodded at her Trainer and sped up and down the field, swiping her arms to cut the grass with the spikes that were embedded into the Lucario's hands. The grass slowly but surely was coming to a height where visablity was possible and they could pinpoint the exact location of the Exeggcute. Seeing as there location would be soon disclosed, one of the Exeggcute(Lv6 Male) used a wave of Hypnosis on Aqua, seeing as though she was the weakest of the duo. Aqua fell to the ground fast asleep. The next Exeggcute(Lv5, Female) waited until Crystal was close and used Barrage on her. Crystal felt her aura, but was still hit by the first two attacks. She managed to dodge the third one by running past her. She then circled back around with the Quick Attack she used to cut the grass. The location of the Exeggcute were now reveled.

Crystal: 81%
Aqua: 100% [Sleep]

Exeggcute(M): 100%
Exeggcute(F): 57%

[Nicola]

Nicola smacked herself on the forehead for using Crystal's aura-finding skills to locate Bolt but then forgetting about them now and wasting a turn cutting the grass. At least Aqua would be able to see the opponents. When she woke up, that is.

"All right, Crystal, use your Force Palm on the one that attacked you! Aqua, if you wake up, I'd like it if you used Tackle..."

The scientist hoped that when Aqua did in fact wake up that she would realize she should use Tackle, considering they were in a fight and that was the only attack she knew. Nicola looked on at the scene and braced herself for that round.

[Jimmy]

(Sorry about getting off, the site wasn't working for me)

The Exeggcute were no match for Crystal, though they were try their best to defeat her. They had specific instructions to worry about Crystal first. Seeing as Aqua was still asleep, the Exeggcute double teamed Crystal with Barrage. They were coming at her from all diffent angles and Crystal couldn't keep up with them. They each managed to get three hits off. Crystal, shaking off the attacks brought her palm back and struck the same Exeggcute that attacked her before. One down, one to go. Crystal and Aura gained 1.25 EXP each!

Crystal: 69%
Aqua: 100% [Sleep]

Exeggcute(M): 100%
Exeggcute(F):0%[Fainted]

[Nicola]

(Don't worry, it wasn't working for me either. :D)

"All right, come on, Crystal! Wait for the next Barrage and then Counter it! If the Exeggcute tries to hide, be sure to use your aura powers to find it again!"

The scientist paused as if trying to recall something she'd forgotten.

"...Oh yeah, and Aqua use Tackle."

[Jimmy]

The last Exeggcute, determined to beat Crystal and impress her leader, unleashed an angry and fierce Barrage of attacks. He hit Crystal once. Then twice. Then three times. Then four! This was rare for Pokemon to do during this attack. Before the fifth hit, Crystal Countered the attack with great power, ending this Exeggcute's ran of terror. Aqua then quickly woke up and Tackled the fainted Exeggcute, not relizing that the battle was over. Aqua and Crystal eached gained 1.5EXP points, 2.75 all together.