A Good Time to Train (Sasha)

[nolchannel]

The Solaceon Ruins were once a majestic, sacred place for that most confusing of Pokemon, the Unown. In part, this town was originally founded over the fanatics of these obscure Pokemon, in addition to the ample clean land of which to build a Pokemon Daycare center.

In today's time, though, it is a rare sight to see a single letter of Unown in these once-hallowed halls. With the increasing amount of Nox activity all around Sinnoh, Solaceon Town was one of the few remaining Lux paradises. On the surface, the town still had a nice calm rural vibe, with little in the way of resources outside of lumber and fertile land.

The ruins, however, hid another reality: a secret facility for Lux soldiers and members to train, discuss tactics, and issue orders. At this time, the place was unusually busy, filled with members in nearly every corridor, in preparation for the attack on Iron Island.

"Great..."

Ami Toruga wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the idea of heading off into battle. A scientist by trade and a medic by necessity, she supported the war effort indirectly and directly... though she'd be lying to say if she was looking forward to risking her life.

Still, it didn't hurt to get some practice in. Hence, the scientist was doing some firing practice.

Standing behind a table, she took a breath out, looking down the firing range. Before her sat an unloaded pistol, ammo in her right hand; a hundred feet down the cave, another table sat with six cans on it. Slightly behind stood a Scizor, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, idly looking over at his trainer practicing.

Mid-range, most important one to get right... ten seconds...

As soon as her wrist watch clicked the '12' at the top, Ami's right hand quickly moved forward, taking the gun in hand and opening the bottom of the handle simultaneously. Sliding the ammo in, she locked it shut, and took aim at the first can.

Steady!

She fired, the first can taking a solid round to the center, gun recoiling upward in response. Falling down into place, she fired off at the second, third... and completed the round, still with a slight pause before each shot.

With the sixth can falling by the nick of a corner, Ami sighed, checking her time: "16 seconds. Damn, I'm still slow!"

The Scizor behind her gave a chuckle, hiding his face behind a claw. Oh, how he found this amusing!

"... Smart-ass..."

Little she could do but try again...

[sasha]

The D-day was approaching...

Well, not really, but kind of. With all the transfers, it had to be. Rumors were growing stronger with each passing day, and it surely wouldn't be long before the briefing is issued, and mobilization order will send columns of troops down the roads, on the planes, towards victory, or death...

And with each passing day, Sasha felt more and more nervous. Why? Because of this waiting, this prolonged tension, it was getting harder and harder to keep calm. Fear of danger was often worse than the danger itself. It was what kept bringing Sasha to the training ground over and over and over again. People at the warehouses were already reluctant to give her ammo for this: "Sasha, that's your 20th clip already; Sasha, you can't have so many grenades; Sasha don't touch that; Sasha, your uniform got tattered again; Sasha chill out already!"

Anyhow, right now she was approaching the ruins, already hearing echoes of gunfire coming from within. Somebody was to be training around there! A wide grin appeared on the soldier-girl's face - training with someone beat training alone by a mile, and she quickened her pace, following the sounds of shots.

This time she had a more "conventional" outfit - no armor, helmet or anything heavy - just standart-issue unifort fitting nicely to her lithe body, a beret, and her guns in holsters, of course! Soon, somebody appeared within sight. Another girl! Pretty good-looking one too, at least from this distance. Sasha chuckled to herself at the thought, but ... she had one in mind. There was a scizor around however... he'd ruin what she planned to do... Awh, too bad. But maybe...

I have an idea...

Sasha approached the two only from an angle the scizor would've spotted her, in a casual manner - why not? This was a public place after all... Steps silent as she approached the shooter girl. Training, huh? Even from first glance, Sasha could tell shooting she wasn't being pro at. If it took so much time to shoot dumb cans, how much it would take to hit a moving, dodging enemy? Ah who cares, she was right behind Ami! And when her clip would run dry....

- BOOOOOOOOOOOO!

And somebody would be grabbed by her shoulders.

Yeah, Sasha was such a kid.

[nolchannel]

The Scizor's gaze briefly followed the appearance of another Lux member. As Sasha had guessed, in an area full of allies, the steel-bug-type wasn't exactly on guard. In fact, it had spotted an interesting look on Sasha's face, and was doing all it could to hide his grin in anticipation of this soldier sneaking up on Ami.

The scientist, unaware as ever, had just set the pistol to rest on the table. She gave a calm, mental sigh: she was much better at controlling her Pokemon to fight for her, and was always a little bit shaky when it came to actually using a weapon herself. Granted, very few in this cave could do what she does medically, but that doesn't help if you're the first one shot out of a fight!

Right, focu-

"Gaaah!"

Tense as she was, the last thing Ami expected was a Lux soldier sneaking up from behind, scaring her! In a bit of panic, she pushed back with her elbows, turning around to face whoever was the one trying to 'jump' her.

Blade, meanwhile, was grabbing his gut, on his knees, laughing his heart out. 'That was priceless', he thought, giving Sasha nothing but props for that brilliant prank!

"Sheesh!" Calming down, finally able to see her 'assailant', the medic took a deep breath and looked at the soldier: "You scared the crap out of me..." Hand to her chest, she felt her heart race, just trying to calm down...

Wait, why did this person seem familiar?

"... Weren't you the one everyone was yelling at to stop practicing so much?" She blinked, just trying to see if she was getting her story straight. "Either way, jeez... nerves are high enough around here without that little bit of added stress!" She wasn't exactly mad, but she wasn't really happy with the situation either!

"Ugh... then again, did get my mind off of some other things. Name's Ami, by the way..."

Well, it was an excuse to take a small break from shooting.

[sasha]

- Oi, did I become so famous around here already? - Sasha only chuckled, hearing the cute girl squeak and push and turn around like that, and eyed the scizor, who was dying from laughter a bit away. Damn, if she knew he wouldn't do anything, she'd come up with something even better! Oh well, at least the joke fulfilled it's purpose - both managed to distract themselves from sad and worried thoughts.

- And name's Sasha. Good to know you, Ami, sorry if your name's hardly familiar. Saw you killing those mean old cans, thought I could come around, offer a bit of help... - she chuckled again, taking her gun from a holster and blasted the remaining can while barely aiming. A sattisfied smirk on her face - always a bit of a showoff.

Letting Ami go, Sasha took a few steps away, looking at the surroundings, analyzing them. A lot of scattered rock, ruin, natural cover, all of that... This was indeed an excellent training ground! Giving a somewhat judging view at the doctor lady... Hmm...

- But yeah. I came here to practice, like I said. Hard not to, being a soldier, they'll drop us off among first. Might as well get a bit buffed up before we're to jump with a parachute... You don't look like a soldier though, too ... hmm... pretty. - she laughed out loud before closing her mouth with a hand. - Sorry 'bout that. But, you're a radiowoman or something? - she asked, a bit curious. Supportive classes like that usually weren't too keen on weapon wielding and all of that. So it was only safe to assume...

But, even if assured and confident on the outside, on the inside Sasha was glad there was someone as nervous as she was. If someone snuck on her during a shoot-out like that, she'll probably break his or her jaw in a reflex. A bundle of nerves, with a smile and giggles on the outside. Rubbing her chin, Sasha turned to Ami again:

- Anyhow, wanna do something more fun than shooting at them dull ol' cans? If you didn't learn to shoot fast during basic training - doubt you'll get better in these few days, shooting at stationary targets. How 'bout we stage a simulation instead! What do you say?

[nolchannel]

"Unfortunately." Giving a small, tired smile at Sasha's comment about her being 'famous' around these parts, the medic finally got a good look over at the Scizor, who was just now collecting himself off of the ground, still chuckling. "Oh, come on, Blade..." Pinching her sinus, Ami sighed, shaking her head as the Scizor leaned his back against the wall once more.

Ah, so her name was Sasha? "Meh, I've not been on too many jobs before," Ami confessed, not finding it surprising that Sasha had never heard of her. "And yeah, those evil cans! The menace of alcoholic nights gone awry, back to haunt us the day after!"

Oh, that joke sucked!

But, then again, so was Sasha's class in shooting the last can! Ah, well, let the soldiers be hotheads while they still could be, right? Released from Sasha's grasp, Ami looked at Sasha as the soldier looked around. She seemed younger, optimistic and full of energy, all signs of a brand-new recruit fresher than she was! Listening to Sasha's explanation, she gave a nod. It was fairly obvious she was a soldier, whilst the far-less toned Ami definitely didn't have the physique for...

...

Did Sasha just call her 'pretty'? Ami gave a blank blink, just letting the moment pass as if it didn't happen.

"Ah, no, I'm a field medic." Ami gave a shrug, a smirk towards Sasha: "Right behind the front line, protected by soldiers and obligated to be able to defend herself. Just hope you don't end up needing to visit me." She chuckled, It was nice to have someone to talk to; these missions always became a bit nerve-wracking...

... Practice?

"Doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world... what, do you mean the paintball field, or something else? Ole' Blade over there has been itching to practice some straight-up fighting..."

The Scizor gave an affirming buzz, now standing arms-crossed, observing the two military-girls talking. So much to do, so little time...

[sasha]

Sasha chuckled at the silly joke. Sure, it wasn't a paragon of humour, and a bit awkward, but it was fun enough seeing Ami awkward. Oh, and she ignored the compliment huh? Oh, I bet you heard it alright. - she thought mischievously, approaching her, and putting a hand on her shoulder.

- I'm not worrying about ending up in caring hands of someone like you. You'd take reeeeally good care of me wouldn't you? Ha-ha. - she was shooting the doctor somewhat innuendous glares while saying this, before bursting into laughter, and making a circle around, her hand passing across Ami's back. But anyhow, for now...

Practice?

- Practice! Yeah, we'll be practicing. Like, with our pokemon and as possibly close to real thing as it can get. The scenario would be like ... for example, I am a paratrooper going down to the ground, and I get spotted on the ground. Worst-case scenario. You'll be the guardsperson. Or something. The terrain looks good enough. - Sasha nodded, already having it in her head. She went through a similar drill not too often, back in Viridian city, but nothing wrong in repeating it, no?

Now... the only thing left to was to choose who to take. Hmm... well, Allard seemed like a must here, he was a floating shield, Liam was ... well, Liam, but ... for third person? Hmm... Oh, well, alright. Guess it worked. Picking three pokeballs, she turned to Ami.

- Let's use only three pokemon each, for now. Here's mine. - she nodded, and let out the first one. The red light coming from the ball soon formed into something very identical to the scizor standing at Ami's side, red shell, claws and everything. Marcus certainly was eager to get out of the stuffy ball, brightening up, enhaling fresh air.

- 'Sup? Name's Marcus. - he said, obviously talking to "brother". Not that humans could understand him anyway. He stretched out a claw for a "hand-shake". Second to appear was a floating plate with timid stare and air of unsureness around him, always hiding behind Sasha's back. But the third pokeball...

- Huh? - she muttered, pressing on the ball again and again. He wasn't opening! Was it broken or something? She hit at it with her hand a few times in annoyance. What the hell? She was careful with her pokeballs! Grunting, Sasha slammed with her palm against it a few times...

Not noticing that an ominous shadow, accompanied by a beetle hum, appeared behind her, two sharp stingsdripping with poison, just inches away...

And music from Jaws played on the background...

[nolchannel]

"Well, the best I could, anyway!" It was nice to see someone else in high spirits, even if they were being a little 'clingy'. Just what was with Sasha 'looking' at Ami like that? Gently brushing the arm off of her shoulder, she listened to Sasha's request, a bit of a scenario practice:

"Well either way, it'd just degenerate into a one-on-one fight, so we might as well head off to the paint field so we don't stink up the rest of the cave!" Giving a chuckle and a sigh, Gunpowder and rounds were one thing, but the absolute stink of paint was another experience entirely.

"Three Pokemon each? Simple enough..." Figuring she might as well use Blade, Ami briefly pondered her other choices, eventually settling on the front two balls on her belt: "And here's mine."

Opening the two balls, two very different Pokemon appeared before Sasha. In front of Ami and to her right, an Absol was dispensed out of a glow of red light. The cat-like dark type gave a small "Puroo?" sound towards Ami, as if wondering why it was just called out.

Behind Ami, a slightly-ethereal being came into view: a massive, heavy ghoul known as a Dusclops. It stood, massive and intimidating, as if its sheer presence made it an intimidating force to try and attack.

Meanwhile, the other Scizor prompted Blade to stop wasting his time against the wall. Standing up, he approached the other insect rather casually, bumping claws with his steel brethren. "Not much, 'sup with you? Name's Blade."

A simple conversation between fellow steel types.

Ami looked over, however, as Sasha had trouble opening the last Poke-ball. "Huh, that's strange-"

Her comment was cut short, as she saw an ominous Pokemon buzzing behind Sasha. A Beedrill?

A Beedrill?!

"B-b-b-b-b-BUG!"

Ami hid behind Dusclops, hiding from the scary insect, earning a sweat-drop from the Absol and an embarrassed Scizor burying his face in his claw.

"Why a Beedrill... why..."

[sasha]

...

The entire assembly stood frozen for a few moments, watching Ami freaking out, giant sweat drops appearing at foreheads of Sasha and all three of her pokemon. Just ... what the heck happened? Even Liam, who wanted to surprise-sneak on Sasha, was stopped in his tracks, watching the scientist hide behind the dusclops, shivering.

- Erm... Ami, you ok? That's just Liam, not some wild pokemon. Geez, chill... - Sasha approached, holding arms in front of herself in a calming gesture. Liam landed next to Marcus, looking a bit stooped, shooting a glance at the girl, then at the claw-palming Scizor.

- Did I do something wrong?

The whole situation felt like one big derp, and Sasha decided not to prolong the awkwardness any longer. They need to train, after all, didn't they? Tucking the beedrill behind the taller scizor, she chuckled a bit sheepishly, before scratching behind her head.

- Aaaanyhow, he will be simulating being a parachute for me. Let's go, I know just a place! Oh, and don't worry about the equipment, got it right here. - she said, patting at the bag on her back. Dragging the rest of her awkward team with her, leading down the road...

- Leave it to Liam to fuck things up.

- Says you. Don't make me start on how YOU got into the team...

____________


They arived at the place soon enough, in less than 15 minutes. It was near a small mountain, with batches of rocks and trees below. It was perfect for the simulation she planned in mind as it allowed plenty of cover for those combatting, like in real combat. Rarely did combat go in the clear, like arena battle. It was ridiculous, in Sasha's opinion. Now, in the field was a whole different business.

- Alright... - Sasha grinned, looking at the stiff cliff in front of her. Taking off her bag, the soldier girl opened it, and inside found three paintball guns, and some protection, like masks, and such. Putting one on certainly made her look more ... intimidating. With face being consealed from view.

- We'll jump off of that thing, imitating landing. And you shall be waiting for us on the ground, ok? Now, Liam! Bring me up there, and no groping this time! - Sasha frowned at the last warning, the bug only buzzing, letting out a noise similar to laughter. Then, it nested on Sasha's back, wrapping his arms and legs around her, and, with some effort, lifted her off the ground, soaring up towards the peak. Allard, the Bronzor, floated after them, much faster. And Marcus stayed on the ground, looking at them all.

- You get your ass here too Marcus!

- Son of a... - the scizor groaned, and began climbing the cliff after them...

[nolchannel]

Well, this was a completely embarrassing sight for all of Ami's Pokemon. They knew of her insect-phobia (well, at least for bug-type Pokemon that LOOKED like bugs, unlike Blade), but didn't expect to see such a bug-type in the possession of this soldier.

"Uh... yeah, right, not a wild bug... um..." Face pale, as if she had just seen a ghost, the Lux medic shook her head to try and get her nerves straight. She absolutely hated the sight of Beedrills, ever since childhood! Still, she was here to practice and thus had to get over it.

"Nah, little dude, its just how she is." Blade gave a shrug towards Liam, before turning towards Marcus: "She's a good trainer... this just isn't the best side of her."

"Er, yes, right!" Getting back on track, and just trying to ignore that the bee ever existed, Ami and her Pokemon followed after Sasha out of the Solaceon ruins. At Marcus' quip, Blade gave a snicker. Good times...

____________________


It didn't take them long to reach a rather remote mountain clearing. A simple cliff-side, a lot of rock and tree cover, and the smell of a nice spring afternoon. Oh, how quickly it was going to become a battlefield.

Taking a paintball gun, checking its ammo, and affixing a mask over her face, Ami gave a nod towards the soldier as she explained the situation. Wait, she was just going to jump in on them?

Seems she's looking for a challenge.

"Well, if you say so. Come on, guys!" Blade clacking claws once with Marcus as they 'parted', the group moved quickly with Ami off into the brush of the tree-line: Ami and Dusk, hiding behind a boulder right where they expected to land; Abby, moving up and around to the left to try and get a flank, and Scizor, also with Ami, back to the cover and arms folded rather bored-like.

"Can't you take anything seriously for once?"

"Feh."

[sasha]

From on top of the mountain, Sasha gazed down on the area below. Ami and her team were covered perfectly by the trees, out of her sight. It was good - added to realism. Unlikely the enemy would show itself openly during the real thing. She looked kinda silly with Liam attached to her back however. Slipping his insect limbs where he shouldnt...

- Watch it Liam. Alright guys, basically we're all here, and they must be ready too, so ... let's begin. Prepare.

And as she said that, all three pokemon began to glow. Beedrill used Agility, glowing with speedy green light, Scizor's plates, while impressive already, almost gave the impression they grew even tougher in the violet light that surrounded him, using Iron defense. And Bronzor? It made white aura around all three of them, Safeguard in effect. Sasha didn't need to spell obvious things out for them - her pokemon weren't dumb, and were able to take decisions on their own.

- Let's go! Jironimo! - Sasha shouted out, before running towards the edge of the cliff, jumping out, and Liam bat his wings furiously to hover her down to the ground. Allard, the clingy and followy bronzor that he was, followed floating close behind. And Marcus just stayed and watched them. The newly-acquired armors made him oh so very confident in his own invulnerability.

While Sasha hovered down, and wondered what was taking Marcus, she tried to pick a clearing safe enough to land - landing on just a clear field would make them sitting ducks, while on a tree promiced injury, even with beedrill on her back. She picked a place where there were chunks of rock littered all over, pointing to Beedrill to inch towards the area. Soon they'll be there...

But it wouldn't be them to hit the ground first. Like a red lightning, something descended from the skies, smashing into the ground with much force. Then, in dust and rubble that went in the air, Marcus stood up, a small crater around him, and in a pose of badass. During real mission he wouldn't do that, but ... this was training, so ... no hurt in showing off. Stepping out of the crater, flexing his arms and neck.

- Bring it.

[nolchannel]

As Ami's Pokemon fell to their respective positions, they had a god deal of time to prepare themselves as Sasha made their way up the cliff-side. Still keeping his board expression, Blade gave a shrug, closed his eyes and briefly focused, becoming surrounded by an orange aura as he used swords dance to increase the intensity of his own blows. Similarly, somewhere out in the brush, an Absol faintly glowed orange as it used its own swords dance.

Both parties kept careful tabs on the airborne Sasha and crew, ready to launch an assault just as the group would land-

WHAT THE HELL?!

The shock-wave of Marcus leaping straight off from the cliff, bulletting past Sasha and leaving a massive crater on the ground, could be felt by every Pokemon and person in the vicinity. Ami blinked, not looking from behind her cover as the Scizor made his buzzing threat.

"Ugh, finally!"

Ami's own Scizor was not really into this exercise... but that didn't mean that he wasn't above a good fight! Pushing himself away from the wall, he extended out his own wings, moving out and into sight of the Scizor:

"Consider it brought!"

And he took off! Beginning with a sprint forward, the steel-type flapped its wings with the intensity of a bee. Soon enough, its feet were only barely scraping the ground with each step, and the Scizor ceased to run, but merely 'skated' to maintain its momentum. With each pass, sparks began to arise as the steel feet skidded against the floor, digging in and pushing forward, moving at a speed that seemed 'unlikely' from such a massively heavy Pokemon!

To get the 'drop' on him, the Scizor's right hand charged with a powerful white aura, as it charged its bullet punch. With great speed, he would attempt to ram it straight into Marcus' gut.

Mostly, however, he just wanted to make this fight close range!

"Show-off!"

[sasha]

- Liam! Drop!

A sudden order came from Sasha as soon as two scizors began duking it out between each other for title of hardest ass on the block. Liam only blinked, but in their case doubting even for a second was a bad idea, so he released the girl from his grip, sending her plummeting down to...

Oh wait!

The moment she was supposed to fall, the soldier girl grabbed the bronzor floating next to beedrill, holding to it as she fell. The steel-type gave a boost to his levitation, making her slide down to the ground with him like flying a glider, landing down somewhere in between the stones. She was on the ground.

Excellent! - a broad grin was on Sasha's face underneath the mask, as she rolled behind one of the stones, taking the paintball-guns out of her holsters. Bronzor next to her, following around. Sasha nodded, and pointed at the wasp, meaning for him to follow and support. With a "nod", the metal plate hivered towards Liam. Ok, she was down, now the only problem was finding the enemies. Aside from those scizors of course. But it wasn't neither time nor place to yell at him now - not when he was taking on what she considered Ami's strongest pokemon out of three...

Liam, on the other hand, had a much clearer view of things from his altitude. He would've face-palmed if he had any palms at the display of male hormones below, and shook his head. With all his faults, the wasp knew when to follow orders and get serious... And... oh wait, where did that enemy scizor come from again?

Curious, and speedy, the bug hovered in the air over and around the boulder that hid the red bug from his view before, and ... he-he-he... Well what do you know. In front and below the wasp, right in the open, there was the enemy trainer, and her ghost thing. Jackpot... - Liam thought, and aimed both stingers at the ... human. Yes, he was one sick bastard. Tweeneedle! Two sharp and long stings were shot out of his "hands", one aimed at the ghostie, and one - at the girl. One of those should land a hit, right?

And on the second front of drama Marcus stood in a taunting pose, waiting for the one with who this fight would be actually WORTH it. Cackling at the preparation of the other scizor. - C'mon already ya wuss! - he said to the opponent and made a "come over here!" gesture with his claw...

When the dash towards him came, he knew he won't be able to dodge this. Then again, at this speed, so won't me Blade. And as the bullet punch came right into his gut, he threw his own Bullet punch, straight at the kisser, and loud sounds of metal colliding were heard in a BANG! The sheer force of the blow throwing Marcus back towards the cliff, a dent in his chest from the blow, followed by an annoyed growl. That bastard was just asking for it, wasn't he? Could've been worse, if not for extra inches of his thick shell. With a grunt, Marcus stood up, unfolding his own wings. This seemed all too much like a knightly tournament, as he drizzled his wings for momentum, preparing for another "charge".

[nolchannel]

At the very start of this excursion, only Blade the Scizor and Abby the Absol had a good view and idea of where the invading opponent was at, Ami and Dusk leaving it up to them to deal with the more-offensive dealings of the war. Still, the scientist quickly considered the likelihood of the situation: like herself, Sasha probably had a nearby Pokemon for more-defensive purposes, and neither Scizor was actually taking this training exercise more seriously than a sparring match.

That freed up her last Pokemon to try and 'take her out'. More than just sitting behind a rock and waiting to be found, Ami and Dusk were listening and observing their surroundings, waiting for any sort of tell... ah, the buzzing of Beedrill wings! Looking up and catching Liam in her peripheral vision, Ami gave the slightest smirk as she saw the needles aimed.

Despite all 'logic' in Liam's strategy, as soon as he gave the intent to fire the needles from his stinger, the Dusclops 'vanished', a dark 'mist' racing forward like a dark border around the Beedrill's vision. Directly behind Liam, the massive Pokemon floated, arm raised as it gave a swing to give Liam a glorious backhand, intending to rail her entire arm against the bee's back.

This was shadow sneak, a ghost move that made a Pokemon transcend into the shadows of anyone who wanted to use an attacking move. It feeds on the opponent's 'malicious intent', and punishes the opponent with a blind-side attack! Not to mention, now Dusk was directly next to the Beedrill!

Even if the needles were fired, Ami had sight of the bee. She merely kicked off to the right, moving behind a different piece of cover, waiting for any sign of Sasha showing herself.

Abby, however, was slowly creeping up on Sasha's location, in the forested brush next to the rocks. From his current location, hidden in the shadows of a thick bush, he was currently out of sight. Instead of advancing forward, the Absol merely charged up another swords dance, waiting for its opportunity to strike.

This left Blade in the center of this entire skirmish, and boy, did that jab to his chin hurt! Rattled, he took a step back, quickly shaking his head to steady himself. Wow: neither combatant even cared about the damage they had just taken, just like two tanks ramming into each-other!

"Let's make this a little more interesting..."

Holding his arms out to the side, miniature cyclones appeared around each of Blade's arms, as it charged aerial ace, a move weak to steel but strong against bug types. With a smirk, he skated towards his target once more, but would stop just when he was one-and-a-half times the length of his opponent's arm away from the opponent.

A feint... but would he fall for it?

[sasha]

- Blargh!

Was the only thing Liam was able to gasp out, when, just after his needles were fired, a rather heavy hit on his back sent him plummeting down to the ground. Were it not for his chitin shell, the damage done would've been a lot naster than just the feeling of a bruise. The bug did a few clumsy piruettes in the air before straightening itself up. How did that thing get in behind of me? - the bug shot the menacing foe a glare, before staring back at the girl. He wasn't sure he wanted to take something like that again, and being in between human with a gun and that thing... But then...

Allard.

The floating plate was always left unnoticed, mostly because of not being very big or flashy. And just as the ghost-type would be going down, he'd be there, behind him, eyes glowing with energy, before launching a ray of ghastly energy upon the Dusclops itself! Confuse ray - that thing made mind of practically anyone an entangled mess... Was funny to see that one hitting themselves like retarded...

Should that thing hit, the Beedrill would turn his attention at the dodgy human on the ground. Perhaps the idea of shooting two at the same time wasn't so hot, and Liam would correct his mistake - while moving as eratically as an annoying bug, left, right, up, down, he'd shoot one first, straight at her, and should she dodge to left or right ... would shoot another Tweeneedle. Aimed in front of the trajectory of her dodge... Was still still practice?

It seemed the only ones actually enjoying themselves were the scizors. If ... it could be even called that way. But they seemed to relish in combat. And as Blade prepared to charge with his claws enwrapped in air, so did Marcus - his own beginning to embrace the darkness, covered in energies of the void... Night Slash. Before he dashed at the opponent, the two approaching each other at great speeds...

Turning away from the impact at such velocity was nigh impossible neither for him, nor for opponent. So as the opponent would stop, the other would just slam at him at full speed, and his dark claw aiming at the gut, before the two'd be entertwined together in a wrestle... And let's hope we'd not have to jam them out...

Sasha wasn't able to watch much of the battle from where she was - stones and such covering it from her sight, but it did sound like something busy. Avoiding the duking Scizors, she began moving towards the "main event". Dashing from cover to cover, and looking around varily. If only she had a grenade to lob there and watch things covered in paint... No such luck...

[nolchannel]

All's fair in love and war, right? After the successful backhand railing against the foul-playing Beedrill, it didn't take long for the massive ghoul to slam into the ground himself. He had surprising mass for an ethereal beast, a fair-sized shock-wave shuddering the floor as he landed. In shock, the Dusclops' eye opened wide as it felt a sort of 'cloud' enter into his mind. Confuse ray?! Staggering forward, the Dusclops widely swung its arm around, only to smash into the rock directly to Allard's right side.

On the surface, Ami wasn't in an ideal position either. Having just moved into another piece of cover, she swore under her breath as she heard the buzzing come after her. Great, now she had her worst fear trying to shoot stingers at her again! Still, she had to keep to the plan.

Often, Ami had to move far faster than her 'living shield', even in simple training exercises. As soon as Ami hit the cover, and as Liam fired the first needle, the human was already preparing her next tactic: instead of dodging to the left or the right, she held still, the butt of the paintball gun wedged against the floor. The first needle uselessly bounced off of the gun, and left little area open that she couldn't just easily move the 'shield' to, to block the second one.

Of course, there was no way she could keep this sort of guard up against a fast-moving insect forever! Which was why she came up with this rather simple solution:

Come back, Dusk!

[/i]

Using her free hand, Ami aimed her Poke-ball, the red tractor-beam shooting out from the ball from behind her cover. It would strike Dusk at the center, and pull him back along the stream of light, back into his ball, transferring her far faster than she could move normally. Immediately, she would open the ball once more, Dusk emerging from the light once more as Ami's active shield against the bee.

It even helped lessen (but didn't eliminate) the effect of the confuse ray! Still, just called out, it wasn't in the position to attack quite yet.

Abby, meanwhile, finally made his move to creep out of the forest, into the rocky terrain, 'visible' only for a brief moment as he finally moved out of the leafy cover and back behind another rock. Still cautious, prowling, and trailing the 'rookie' soldier, Abby used his third swords dance, excelling his power to his absolute maximum.

All he would need now was a clear moment to attack, now just quietly sneaking from rock to rock, cover to cover, to get that one moment to jump out at Sasha. Closer... and closer...

Well, Blade could have probably thought this out a little better. He could do little more but raise and thrust his own fists forward, at the side of the Scizor's gut with his aerial ace. In one collective mass of steel armor and insect-insides, the two Scizors were quickly entwined in a grapple, and sent rolling over each-other! Instantly, Blade extended his knees out to try and 'brake', and use them to try and stay on top of the other metal beast!

"We really need to stop meeting like this, bro."


[/font][/blockquote]