[BATTLE] ARGENTA VS STORM

[lou]

ROUND 1
ARGENTA VS. STORM
BATTLE COMMENCE

[storm]

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[/style]Another squabble over Sinnoh's territory. The man's mouth curls downward in a clear frown, yellow hair flattened against his head courtesy of the rain falling from the sky and making conditions here...well...shitty. Storm hears the muffled yells of people commanding their pokemon when Lux and Nox clash, coupled with the occasional flash of one technique or another being used against enemies.

Violence.

He dislikes it.

Fighting.

He tries to avoid it.

The man is crouched on a log, managing to keep his balance as he stares out at the great expanse of the Pastoria Marsh, watching for anyone that may come his way. He's intentionally attempting to avoid engaging in conflict, though using the excuse (for Nox) that he's preventing Lux escape, and the reverse for the other side.

...unless I tell them I'm a Kecleon. The green of his vest and black-blue of his pants do provide good camoflage, but the effect is lost entirely on account of his hair.

Nope, they'll kill me. Better not.

The Mayor of Sunyshore waits, hoping he can get out of this battle relatively unscathed.

family ties, strongest bonds,

❚ WORDS: 186
❚ TAGS: Battle as Argenta
❚ NOTES: here we go again // nolongpost4u
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[argenta]

[atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,60] name:	[atrb=width,340] kate loraine (argenta)
[cs=2] Her outfit today is a special one: the magenta leather jacket, studded with rhinestones, matches well with the designer shoes, and her skinny jeans compliment the five inch heels, wrapped in a material that's comparable to denim. She ordered them, along with the similarly colored parasol that she twirls in her hand, exactly one week ago, from her daily subscription of Sinnoh's most popular fashion magazine - they'd arrived early in the morning, and Argenta admits, she's more than just 'eager' to try it on, simultaneously flaunting herself to the world in the process (because how much fun would that be otherwise?). With each step forward she takes she sinks a bit, because her heels are sharp and the marsh sports that soft, flexible texture that's comparable to mud, but without the filth. Inside, the air drips with humidity, and oxygen seems scarce, but all the preparations Argenta's taken beforehand ensures her hair - recently styled - doesn't curl up: she's applied a little lipgloss over her cherry-red lips as well, to protect them from the not-so-cool temperatures that she's going to have to deal with for quite awhile. She knows Pastoria, understands how to manuver the great marsh like the back of her hand - this knowledge leaves Argenta feeling more than a little pleased, but not satisfied, and she raises up a hand to her lips to stifle the beginnings of a laugh. Sinnoh may be her home, but only fools allow themselves to get cocky, and she's learned that the hard way, once before. The sandbox setting reminds her of Iron Island, and she wonders, will the opponents do the same? This time, she plays it extra cautious and releases Heracross almost immediately - the sight of the dual type as it stretches its horn into the air, relishing the drizzle that's 'home', is nostalgic in its own, reminicing to the first time she's been here, when she hadn't the authority that gives her the right to now strut around the place like its something she owns. Still, this isn't her stage back at the frontier; the gems don't catch in the sun because they're fake, made of platic, and the usual, blinding shade of pink is two shades darker because she doesn't want the spotlight all on her as she patrols the place, scanning everything with her sunglasses tilted up so as to not miss too much. Keeping them on all the time, she's learned, feels like seeing the world in an entirely different light, and when unveiled, the marsh seems almost calm. Background noise doesn't bother her - she's learned to cope, or, rather, block it out altogether. It stays this way for a long time: as the hall matron swivels her head from right to left she chuckles, occasionally, becuase the irony of the situation is amusing, for a game (there's never to be a real battleground as long as children and inexperience litter every other step). When her eyes land on the man, perched on a log she almost lets a laugh slip, because his hair reminds her of that funny little pokemon from unova a trainer once brought into her battle hall, only stifling it because experience tells her now's a bad time. Instead, she calls out to him. "How's the weather?" Then, in a more serious tone. "Got any Identification?" Because the only people that she can trust out here are her fellow frontier brains, and he's not one of them.
[cs=2][classy=barcode]asdf[/classy] words 589 tags kane ft. storm notes <3
[cs=2] coded by battlerocket

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[storm]

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[/style]At long last he sees someone approaching. He knows better than to say or do anything quickly - it could alarm the person approaching and put them on the defensive. There's already a pokemon out, and making them uncomfortable will likely spell nothing good for him.

Instead, he tells himself to wait, at least until they say something. Otherwise the pair will wind up staring at each other in an awkward way that would draw out the uncomfortable silence and rain down on the pair with tension rather than the water already falling from the sky.

Storm shakes his head when the person - whom he can now identify as the flamboyant Hall Matron of the region - raises her voice. Lux. It's no secret the Frontier are close-knit in more than just their coworker relationship - they all support the faction Storm works against as a spy, but supports out in the open.

"Quite wet." The blond hair plastered to his head and the sides of his face by the rain confirms the statement.

He puts on a smile, raising an arm to signal to her he's heard and stands, jumping from his position on the log to the marshy ground just below. The man grabs his I.D. card from one of the pouches on the front of his vest and holds it outward, approaching her cautiously.

"Sherlock -- " he grimaces slightly at his birth name, "-- Dragomir. Mayor of Sunyshore City at your service, ma'am."

family ties, strongest bonds,

❚ WORDS: 247
❚ TAGS: Battle as Argenta
❚ NOTES: yay didn't need that extension
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[argenta]

[atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,60] name:	[atrb=width,340] kate loraine (argenta)
[cs=2] Memories of Iron Island - fresh, recent memories - rush at her: memories of children, memories of dark, enclosed tunnels. Memories of the time she first stepped off the plane and met someone just as she's meeting him now. Acknowledgement of her prescence is punctuated with a single sentence, and the humor laced within its folds makes the hall matron chuckle, softly, to herself. Its only when he raises up an arm to greet her and she doesn't return the gesture that she realizes she's waiting, waiting for that gun to come out and that trigger to be pulled, just like last time. When he doesn't remove anything from the folds of his vest she still doesn't move, something deep inside of her wishing she'd chosen vaporeon to release instead of heracross, even if for the ease of making decisions with a 'friend' by her side. There, is, perhaps, the difference in the way he speaks, as if their meeting isn't on a battlefield at all (because its casual, though she has her suspicions), but Argenta reminds herself that he's not a child, but also not her peer. In the end, she settles for a twirl of her parasol while she, herself, grins like a cat, waiting for him to come to her, because in the end, they always do. A hand disappears into the pocket of his vest and pulls out something: all of a sudden she's back on Iron Island, two children dangling a pair of dog tags that morph themselves into the identification card that hovers there in front of her. Identification's never been important to her, and Argenta waves it off now, with one gloved hand, putting the other on the tip of Heracross's massive horn as she smiles, showing teeth. "He won't bite, you know." She quips. "It'd be a disaster if frontier brains didn't have control of their pokemon, don't you think?" This much, at least, is true in the web of facades she's managed to tangle herself within. He says a name to her and she stores it in her memory - titles, though they're important in times of war, do nothing to sway the rigid, fine line of her fellow frontier brains that she's always based her judgements upon. "Argenta." She says instead. "Just Argenta. No need for formalities out here in the battlefield, hm?" And she supposes that she'll judge him just as she's always judged, by actions, which takes patience as well as time. She starts a conversation. "Seen any of those ruffians around? I heard they know this place pretty well." Because she's killing time as it is in this little 'game', so why not?
[cs=2][classy=barcode]asdf[/classy] words 489 tags kane ft. storm notes i h8 ie
[cs=2] coded by battlerocket

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[storm]

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[/style]He manages to chuckle slightly when she reassures him the state of her pokemon and her control over it, and the young man finds himself hoping his unease hasn't offended her or suggested that she cannot keep her own pokemon under her tight control. However, the smile puts him slightly at ease and he replaces his identification within the green tactical vest over his torso.

"Yes of course." he murmurs, "Argenta if you wish." It would be rude to call her something other than her name after she's just requested to be called simply that. He shakes his head slightly to answer her question, "No sight of them."

Storm raises an arm to gesture to the West, where he hears more fighting occuring than the expanse in front of him and behind Argenta, "So far, the fighting has been restricted to the other borders, rather than the admittedly obvious way to expand through the swamp - straight back to where we are now."

He lets his arm fall back to his side, "I was posted back here to fend off anybody that came this way if they posed a threat." The man pauses before adding, "If you think I'm needed for another purpose, let me know and I'll comply."

family ties, strongest bonds,

❚ WORDS: 209
❚ TAGS: Battle as Argenta
❚ NOTES: --
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[argenta]

[atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,60] name:	[atrb=width,340] kate loraine (argenta)
[cs=2] If she was anything but a frontier brain, she'd have felt uncomfortable with such formalities, knowing herself - and even now, with such a title on her head and therefore, subject to listening to such formalities whether she likes it or not Argenta still feels a pit of distaste for it (not because he speaks like that to her, but because she knows that he's not the only one that would). Inwardsly, she sticks her tongue out, creasing her eyelids into narrowed slits while on the outside, she chuckles, if only slightly - former actions would reflect badly on her status as an officer of lux and, more importantly, reflect badly on the battle frontier's reputation. And she doesn't want that. "Figures as much." She's never been interested in starts of battles - not since Iron Island, where the early hours were filled with children, swarming around by the dozens, only letting the 'big kids' out to play when the day was just about over. But she knows that if the subject were to drop the conversation would fade, so she fakes, lifting up the drooping corner of her shades as she stares in the direction he points at. "Nox are sneaky, you know?" And something in her scolds again, because that's wrong, and she knows it. Nox play dirty, plant traps, recruit children - she knows, because she's seen all these things personally recently, worrying. They cheat, they lie between their teeth, not playing by the rules that she's always known - this time is no different, but she doesn't voice these opinions to anyone, and certainly not to him. Keeping the conversation going is simple, but it's not as fun as fighting: she's planning on going to the front lines when the first, 'dawdling' hours of battle are finished because that's when she can truly have fun. For now, she needs more time to judge this man - what she's seen so far is the demeanor of an obediant, perhaps mindless soldier that respects authority but doesn't seem to like thinking out of the box. Does he enjoy fighting? Questions prickle on her tongue, but Argenta dismisses them with a shake of her head. Not the time. Instead, she tries a different approach. "Not for me to say." Her tall, pointy heels fall back, cushioned by the soft marsh below. "Do you want to be out there fighting with a group? Or stay here, by yourself?" Is he strong, or is he like them? She doesn't know.
[cs=2][classy=barcode]asdf[/classy] words 440 tags kane ft. storm notes i h8 ie
[cs=2] coded by battlerocket

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[storm]

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[/style]He nods with her words, a distasteful, grim, half-smile of understanding passing over his lips as he plays the part of the Lux-abiding, Sunyshore Mayor he is. Scorn Nox, promote Lux. It's practically in the unseen rulebook of spies.

"Terribly so." he murmurs with agreement, "They'll do anything they can to gain an upper hand, even terrorize civilians." He thinks back to when Nox radicals attempted to sabotage a ship coming into the Sunyshore Harbor by shutting the Lighthouse down.

He shakes it off, looking back to Argenta when she "answers" (if he can even call it that...) his question. He waits to answer, slipping his hands into his pockets and rolling his shoulders back slightly, considering his possible answer. He know that if he answers a certain way it can determine the way the woman before him perceives him.

"Speaking truthfully..." he says, "...if it were up to me, I wouldn't be here right now." The man shrugs, "I'm a bit of a pacifist, and am here only because I was sent to investigate rising tensions ahead of time." He nods to his left, asking silently if she'll follow him as he begins his patrol. He begins to walk.

"Although I prefer not to fight, I will waste no time tearing down an enemy if they stand against me." his voice grows hard as he speaks.

Storm decides to conclude with, "But truly I prefer to direct my energy to keeping Nox busy and out of attempting to take over Sinnoh's busiest port rather than out in the field, but if the situation calls for it I will fight."

family ties, strongest bonds,

❚ WORDS: 253
❚ TAGS: Battle as Argenta
❚ NOTES: took me like three tries to read your notes lol
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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[argenta]

[atrb=width,400,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,60] name:	[atrb=width,340] kate loraine (argenta)
[cs=2] His words, she thinks, are typical - it almost leads her to believe he's mindless, like all those other 'brainwashed' fools out there, if not for the fact that she can hear emotion as opposed to a deadpan monotone that every soldier seems to possess nowadays. She tells herself that she could've liked him, too, if not for the fact that she's never believed those words in the first place, yet he, at least on the outside, seems to support them wholeheartedly. Words like that get soldiers killed, and if it weren't for the fact that she's seen what horrible, extreme measures Nox resorts to she might've argued his own case against him, but she can't. If anything, she's always advocated control with her fellow frontier brains - when she hears this man's words it's difficult to hold back the laugh, and she bites her cheek at the last second so that it comes out as a curt sort of chuckle instead. Neutrality, at best, is a figment of the speakers and 'loudmouths' that promote it, and his ideals, coupled with his stance on what role he plays in the war does nothing to refute his claim, but rather, strengthen it, almost as an afterthought to her doubt that she's maybe heard wrong. "Don't we all?" Lying, she's lying again, the words slipping off her tongue smooth, without weight of a conscience. And she doesn't know whether she's laughing at him, or just amused at the fact that there are still people like him out in the world, especially in Lux. He's not like them, but Argenta tells herself that she still needs more time, more time to judge. For a moment, she stands there, letting him walk ahead of her while she puts pressure on her heels, letting them sink further into the bog. When enough time has passed, the frontier brain strides to match his pace, hesitating for a second before she adjusts the parasol so that it's covering both their heads, the handle between his hand and hers. "And are you prepared to fight like nox when it comes to that?" A few raindrops splatter on her jacket and Argenta stares, briefly, at the sky: mentally, she decides she'll find a castform or something when this fight is over, so that this inconvienience won't happen again. "Stoop to their levels to gain an advantage, perhaps?" She likes him - likes his guts, likes his morales, likes the way he answers her questions, but not enough to trust. Not yet. The world looks wrong when seen through a different light. Twisted, corrupt. Argenta flicks her magenta-rimmed sunglasses back on and chuckles, quietly, to herself.
[cs=2][classy=barcode]asdf[/classy] words 467 tags kane ft. storm notes lol
[cs=2] coded by battlerocket

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[storm]

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[/style]He doesn’t respond to her initial question, suddenly distracted by movement in the thick water of the marsh to their right. The surface is covered by plant life, as compared to the small pond that’s mostly clear next to them. It’s only a slight shift in the vines, not something that untrained eyes can detect. Noted… he thinks, his blue gaze being dragged back to the path before them when the motion suddenly stills. He’s more focused now on this than what Argenta says. However, he’s not lost so much focus from her words that he can’t respond. ”Yes.” he replies, no hesitation in his words. His gaze is steeled as his voice is, giving more of a solid backbone to his response than what otherwise would be an empty response. ”I will not be undercut by below-the-belt tactics, and the way to avoid such is to counter with them.” He shrugs slightly, and halts as there’s greater movement in the marshy waters to their right.

”However…” Storm turns to stare at the motion, tensed slightly, ”I know there’s more valuable things than gaining an advantage, and an advantage isn’t something worth dying for. I prefer fighting smarter, not necessarily stronger.” The movement finally shows its source, as three Carnivine – clearly disturbed by the fighting in their habitat – leap out toward the duo, wide mouths open in either panic or rage. Though what the pokemon feel is about as clear as the rainy day the pair of humans, their intent is not.

”Ranton!” Storm hears a splash behind him, and knows the Lanturn that’s been in the water since he took his post in this corner of the Great Marsh has appeared; ready to move at the command of its trainer. It was his tactic, too, if he’d been ambushed or cornered – a surprise attack from behind.
”Hydro Pump!”

A massive, powerful jet of water bursts forth from the Lanturn’s mouth, spraying Storm with water as it rushes just over his shoulder, between he and the woman, for the Carnivine. From its angle, it hits two – the one in the center, and the one that flew at Argenta and her pokemon. The only one remaining is the one heading for its own trainer.

family ties, strongest bonds,

❚ WORDS: 373
❚ TAGS: Battle as Argenta
❚ NOTES: --
❚ CREDITS: Ambassador Tanz

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