Of shiny things [open/mod]

[Puppet]

The Politoed jumped a bit, startled by the attack, but couldn't help the fit of giggles that swelled in his throat. Finn crossed his arms impatiently, giving the frog a stern look that clearly said Let's get back to business, shall we? Paulo understood, and tried to get more serious. Coiling his leg muscles below him, he sprang up and away from Asa. He hung in the air for a monet before gravity forced him back down, and Paulo used his moment in the Bounce attack.

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[Jay]

"Reflect," Nero said aloud, and in another moment, the Gochimu added yet another veil around himself raising his defense in the process. The Bounce's attack power was weakened by the Tickle and the Reflect, yet as it came down, it did harm Asa and cause him to cry out. "Future Sight," Nero finished. The Gochimu's eyes shimmered a moment, yet nothing happened afterworlds.

[Puppet]

"You're not getting much anywhere that way." Finn chided. Paulo looked back a bit confused, but then seemed to understand. He was holding back on the baby pokemon, allowing it to lower his attack abilities almost intentionally. Even though he didn't want to hurt the other pokemon too badly, it looked like he was going to have to. Paulo took a few steps back and closed his eyes in concentration.

The frog pokemon burst forward in one quick bound, pulling back his arm, closing his fingers into a fist. When he brought it forward, he was using a Brick Break attack, a move that could shatter both the Light Screen and Reflect in one move, all the while damaging the foe. Finn's mouth tightened into a line, impressed with Paulo's choice.

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[Jay]

Both the Reflect and the Light Screen were broken, and the Gochimu was hit and sent flying backwards landing on the ground and twitching for half a second. Nero's eyes grew in concern for a split second, yet after a moment, Asa forced himself up. He was a psychic type, and the fighting move wasn't too much damaged to him. In his own mind, Asa believed it had just startled him... yes that had to be it. "Confusion," Nero said aloud. Asa nodded and formed a Confusion attack before releasing it towards the Politoed.

[Puppet]

The Politoed was hit by the psychic energy, and staggered back as it fuddled with his mind. The pain it caused was like a migraine, and the pokemon had to squint to even stand the harsh sunlight of the desert. Shaking his head viciously, he tried to center himself again. SOmehow, it didn't seem possible though, and the world spun before his eyes. Dizzy and confused, he used the first attack that came to mind. The sands began to rumble and shift below their feet, falling down cracks in the earth's crust as the move Earthquake shook the city.

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[Jay]

The Earthquake hit Nero before it did Asa, and the dark haired woman had to bend her knees and shift her weight every few seconds in order to keep from singing. The small Gochimu was affected next and actually sunk straight into the ground as the sand shook. Asa panicked and waved his small arms wildly trying to get out from under the sand, yet in another moment, the full effect of the Earthquake took measure and shook the small Gochimu while he was in the sand. Shaking a fraction and making an almost @_@ face, Asa was thankful that he had not felt a full on Earthquake but had lowered a few stats of the Politoed before then.

After another moment, the Earthquake subsided, and the Gochimu cried out feeling the pain of it in his own form and still flailing to get out from under the stupid sand that had pretty much eaten his form. Finally pretty much digging out, the Gochimu managed to get on top of the sand once more. "Asa... are you alright?" Nero asked rather monotone yet with an almost sound of concern. The Gochimu said nothing for a few seconds but shook his head and managed to puff up a bit. "Good... try a Psychic and raise the Politoed off the ground." Nero said aloud. The Gochimu complied making small hand gestures that were somewhat regular sights for Psychic pokemon with actual hands.

[Puppet]

Finn grappled onto the wall as the earthquake swallowed the sands below his feet. The confused Politoed merely hopped around in every direction, whether intentionally or out of a distorted mind, it kept him from getting pulled in as well. Only when he was raised into the air did he snap out of the confusion and focus on the reality of what was happening to him. He opened his mouth wide, singing out a sharp, high pitch frequency that could shatter ear drums. Finn smashed his fingers into his ears to try and block out the Hyper Voice attack, but the excruciating wail was hard to evade.

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[Jay]

The Hyper Voice hit Nero's ears, and the dark haired woman found her hands already over hear ears in another moment. Asa was hit in the tympanic membranes of his inner earlobes and cried out bursting into another round of Fake Tears not because he was ordered to but because he wanted the attack to stop. However, because of the use of another attack before the Psychic was finished, Asa found his concentration completely shattered, and the Gochimu was forced to release said psychic attack and allow the Politoed down. "Asa, use-..." However, Nero stopped as she caught sight of the long awaited Future Sight suddenly taking effect and projecting itself towards the Politoed. Was it longer than before or....? Nero couldn't remember when she had ordered it exactly, but apparently enough time had elapsed. Instead of ordering her Gochimu to attack, the dark haired woman simply waited to see if the Future Sight would take effect.

[Puppet]

When the Politoed was released from the Psychic attack, his Hyper Voice ended in a quick snap of his mouth. He looked over at his trainer just as Finn pulled his hands away from his ears and was about to give the next order of attack. In that moment, Paulo doubled over, Psychic energy lashing out at him from nowhere, the strongest Asa had dealt yet. The pirate's gaze immediately shot to the Gochimu, expecting to see some sort of hand gestures of a psychic attack, but the pokemon was still. Then he remembered, it was that blasted Future Sight, completely forgotten about. His icy gaze returned to his Politoed. They had been together for some time now, and even though the man was ruthless as a trainer, he did hold a fragile bond with the little frog. He could tell that Paulo was weakening now after the blow of so many psychic attacks. The poor frog was probably feeling much like a Psyduck at this point.

Paulo staggered back into a standing position, still a bit slumped over from fatigue. So many successive hits were showing their toll on the pokemon, and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last. He would have to start relying on heavier moves now if he wanted to win. He filled his stomach with stores of water from inside his body, spreading his legs in a stance to keep his balance for an upcoming attack. Then Boiling Water was shot from his mouth, wondering if the heat of the desert would intensify the move.

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[Jay]

Indeed the heat of the water intensified the move, and as the water gushed at the Gochimu, he was hit directly and cried out from the burn. Dozens of fake tears and maybe even real ones for all anyone knew were starting to trail from the loli-pokemon's eyes. He was burned, in pain, and wanted to go take a nap or go flirt with a girl. This wasn't fun anymore D8! "Asa calm down...." Nero said aloud, but the Gochimu refused to comply and continued crying. This caused the dark haired girl to sweat drop a fraction before shaking her head. "Asa...." she sighed. "Come on just try a Psycho Shock," she sighed. The small pokemon finally brushed away a few tears and managed the attack but with rather twisted effects for his brain waves which were the source of the attack were rather emotional at that point. The brain waves went in every direction at once, and even Nero found herself dodging a few. Ugh Asa.....

[Puppet]

Paulo felt a deep gentle compassion stirring inside him for the little pokemon. He looked at Finn a bit hesitantly, but the trainer's face was as unrelenting as a rock's, stony and stubborn. Sighing, the Politoed turned back to the fight in time to see the wave burst out. Working solely off instinct and adrenaline, he lept high into the air to dodge the few stray shock waves that made it his way. Clinging to the city wall with his sticky pads, he looked down at the Gochimu. It had burns from his last attack, and despite Finn's unrelenting persistence, Paulo wanted to make it better. So with the pokemon's best interest in mind, he sent an Ice Beam it's way. What he had really meant to do was weaken it into merely an icy gust, maybe just to cool off the burns. But since he'd never used the move before, it didn't turn out so well. Cringing, the frog hoped that it's weakened attack base would come into play.

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[Jay]

The Ice Beam hit the Gochimu and seemed to both soothe him and cause him more pain. In another second, the small pokemon couldn't take it anymore and fell back unconscious twitching on the ground. Nero blinked for a full second before finally sighing outwards, taking a pokeball, and returning her Gochimu. It was only then that Nero moved her head upwards and seemed to reflect a rather unreadable yet more than indifferent face. "Looks like you won," she said in her still rather monotone but relaxed voice. "Thank you for the battle."

[Puppet]

As the Gochimu passed out, Paulo was practically falling off the wall from exhaustion. Finn returned the pokemon before it hit the sandy ground. "I think it was almost a draw..." he said, staring at the pokeball. He was extremely impressed by Paulo's diligence, even if he was proving to be a bit weak in the area of battling without emotion. His blue gaze flickered up to Nero, not saying anything for a moment. "Thank you...for everything. It's been a real experience." Finn hardly associated with anyone else, and never the length that this unlikely trainer had joined him in. He was almost unused to being around others at this point, and was realizing just how lonely it was to be a pokemon trainer. His only communications were with his weapons, and he hardly thought of them as companions. Could they be though? He glanced back down to the pokeball in his hand. Only time would tell.

"I think I'll find some place to rest for the night. Paulo will need some serious rest after that. He hasn't been roughed up so much since I first met him, I'd think." Finn suppressed the growing smirk that played along his lips.

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[Jay]

A rare smile grazed Nero and seemed to stay there. "Asa needs more experience, but I hope to make him stronger one day." She answered back to Finn with a nod. At his other comment about staying for the night, the dark haired woman stopped for a moment. "There is an inn in town that is rather cheap," she answered back thinking on what she had used to pay the bills once before. No. Never again would she make Meteor go through loosing one generation of his children for her need of money. She'd get by even with little money.

[Puppet]

"Even cheaper are caves. Too bad this is a desert..." He glanced around the area a bit dejectedly, dunes and sand as far as the eye could see. Back to the bustling city it would be, then. And if he couldn't pay, he could always just leave before morning. "Will you be joining us?" he invited, shoving his hands into his pockets with a slight inquisitive tilt to his head.

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[Jay]

Nero was quiet for a moment thinking this proposition over before nodding. "Alright," she answered back starting to walk back into the city. She needed to let Asa rest, anyways and let the Beldum triplets play. They were becoming somewhat of a hassle, in truth, yet she couldn't do much but take care of them as children. Walking up the street again, the dark haired woman turned down a different street and found herself standing in front of the inn. It was a bit more rundown than others, but the price was decreased substantially which was all that mattered.

[Puppet]

Following Nero inside, he glanced around at the inn. It looked as though it had seen far better days, perhaps better attendants and owners as well. The shady characters that hung about the lobby didn't bother him however; those in poverty had to congregate somewhere. His long strides carried him to the front desk, startling a zoned out attendant. "Two rooms, one night, please." He said swiftly, snatching up the keys as they were produced. Handing one set to the woman, he hopped up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Unlocking a very battered looking door, he glanced into the dank smelling room. He flicked the switch and a dim lamp flickered on, illuminating a simple bed. He gave it credit for being made, nevermind the stains. Actually, it was something of a castle compared to his usual of sleeping under the stars. He pulled out all his pokeballs, releasing the whole group except Po, who was far too large to accommodate.

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[Jay]

Nero took her own keys without a word and then went up to her room. Looking inside, Nero appeared unfazed by any of the sad coloring of the walls and the rather battered bed. Instead, she simply walked to the other side of the room, closing the door behind her, and opened the window in the room. Looking down below, Nero changed her point of view again and then began to climb up the actual wall and finally sat rather easily on the roof of the inn. Taking out a few pokeballs, she released three childish beldum who appeared to float around almost mischievously. The dark haired woman sighed. "You can play but don't leave my sight," she ordered. With that, the small Beldum were already off hovering in the air and playing some sort of tag game with each other.

[Puppet]

The pokemon stretched and chattered with eachother, yawns beginning to spread around the hotel room. Finn flopped onto the bed and stared unblinking at the ceiling. There was no point in changing, as he had no other clothes, and no point in getting under the sheets as it was already to hot. Rue herded his pups into a corner, all laying atop eachother in a dog pile. His newest pokemon, a bird of some sort, snuggled up next to his Pelipper. Marie tucked in beside Paulo, easing the exhausted pokemon to the ground in her blue paws. Satan took over the bathroom, splashing in a tub full of lukewarm water. Mertle and Octavion slept beside one another, but not close enough to be touching. When the den of pokemon noises ended, Finn closed his eyes and slowly drifted into the blackness behind them, not bothering to turn off the lamp that flickered pointlessly.

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[Jay]

The night seemed to take control, yet the dark haired woman did not return to her bed down below. Instead, she simply lay on the roof and watched teh stars in the sky along with her childish pokemon playing for a bit until they got tired enough to actually lay down not far from her. Time passed, and Nero drifted in and out of sleep most of the night until a gentle sunlight on the horizon finally made the dark haired girl slowly rise again.