Training in Unknown Territory

[Drevlin Terrance]

(FAIL. XD I forgot it was my turn to post after Soren. LOL. Sorry about that.)

Drevlin stood when he heard the gym leader's idea and saw what he had in mind. He smirked softly. "That's a good idea...If this whole thing is all right with you, Evie, and you don't mind my helping, Jackal here is more than capable of holding his own. Especially against angry Pokemon. We've seen Aphrodite's sort of condition before and Jackal knows how to handle it."

The Flygon rumbled in agreement, nudging the female trainer gently again. The Leona mewled a few times, causing her own trainer to nod slightly.

"Leona said that...if things get out of hand, or if it looks like someone's about to get hurt, a quick Grasswhistle would help get things back into control. It's her quickest move...and most effective."

[Soren Forberg]

Soren nodded at Drevlin's suggestion. "There, see? Nothing will happen I assure you. We can try first with Alexander and if Aphrodite responds well she can try to take Jackal on." the silver haired gym leader said, patting Evie's shoulder comfortingly. "You don't have to worry about Alexander, he saw me through two championships and a hell of a lot more, haven't you old boy?"

The Aerodactyl bobbed his oblong head and growled, offering the draconic version of a smile as if to try and put the anxious Coordinator at ease. Soren smiled and walked over to his pokemon, putting some distance between he and Evie just like they had the last time they'd battled. Alexis trotted over to Drevlin and his pokemon on the sidelines so that she could spectate, offering the other pokemon a friendly 'vrraw' before focusing her attention back onto her master. Soren nodded his head at Evie. "You've got nothing to lose here Evie. Bring Aphrodite out, we're ready."

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Drevlin and Soren assured her. Evie did the math, Ninetales with any luck with stick to her guns with fire; so surely that'd mean that Flygon and Aerodactyl would be fine because of their resistance. Plus, Ninetales was weak to Rock and Ground, so it would be easy to deal with her if she gets out of control. Finally, after the assuring nudge from Flygon and a nuzzle from Ares she relaxed. "Alright. But Drevlin, if I think she's getting too tense, I'm gonna call for that Grass Whistle. I don't want anyone getting hurt!"

She bit her lip and moved back as Soren did, Evie's pokemon joining the others on the side; Milotic looking especially vigilant when Evie drew out the pokeball containing the vicious and bitter pokemon. Evie took in a deep breath, feeling the metal heat up in her hand; "Okay. Let's do this. Aph, it's up to you!" She tossed the ball out onto the field and the emergence of the Ninetales was identical to before; hackles raised, hissing and spitting, but this time with licks of flame sparking about her body.

[Drevlin Terrance]

(Okay, for the sake of getting back in order, Soren can post next, if you don't mind.

[Soren Forberg]

Soren narrowed his eyes ever so slightly as Evie released Aphrodite once more. The vixen was absolutely livid now, the Soothe Bell around her neck doing no good what's so ever as the fire-type's aggression peaked, flames dancing around her. This was why he'd insisted on being the first to try - newly evolved Aphrodite was frightfully strong, but Alexander being the tank of a pokemon he was, could hopefully stand up against the onslaught; that and he wasn't exactly the greenest of trainers.

"Alright old boy, let's start things off but - go easy on the first blow," Soren commanded gently. The ancient dragon nodded and took to the air so that he hovered low over the battle field, answering the Ninetails' hissing with a low roar of his own. "Use Crunch!"

Aerodactyl let out a low, unbroken growl as he dove towards Aphrodite, jaws agape ready to clamp down on the vixen.

[Drevlin Terrance]

Before Evie brought out the Ninetails, Jackal had returned to Drevlin's side as well as Leona. And as the battle started, the teen and his Pokémon watched anxiously.

"I hope this works..." Drevlin murmured under his breath, biting his lower lip as he looked on. The battle started quickly, Crunch being the first move. And as the Aerodactyl closed in on the Fire-type, he held his breath.

Jackal, on the other hand, was giving most of his attention to the Ninetails herself, his neck stretched out tensely and his eyes rarely blinking. He wanted to see what Aphrodite would do, being just as anxious as his own trainer. And if he watched her, he knew he would be able to have a better chance if it came down to it.

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Evie was about to command the next move once Sorens Aerodactyl swooped down on Aphrodite. She was about to call out, until she realised she had no idea what move set she knew now, she promptly closed her mouth after about to shout an order. How do you command a Pokemon you don't know anymore?

She was about to call out the order for a Flamethrower, but the Ninetales had her own plans. It snarled at the Aerodactyl who was fast approaching on the attack, the vixen jumped swiftly into the air and then with furious feet she plummeted into the ground, digging deep underground. Evie gasped and looked at Soren helplessly, she could be anywhere now.

[Soren Forberg]

"Easy Evie, this is fine, everything is alright." Soren said, trying to reassure the young woman after the helpless look she gave him. "She's going to come at you from underground Alexander, I want you to counter with Crunch when she comes back up."

The Aerodactyl nodded and kept hovering low over the battlefield, waiting patiently for the fiery vixen to reappear. Soren watched the ground carefully, looking for any sign that might lead him to Aphrodite's location, any tremors, the slight bowing upwards of the ground..."Get ready old man, this lady's got quite the temper and it's focused on you."

Alexander glanced back at his trainer and gave him and rolled his reptilian eyes before returning his attention onto the ground. His hissed softly, jaws still parted and ready to county the vixen's attack as soon as she sprang out of the ground.

[Drevlin Terrance]

Drevlin's Leafeon watched anxiously as well as her friends. She was tense in the sense that she was waiting for any signal for her to unleash a Grasswhistle. Leona turned after a moment, pawing Jackal's tail to get his attention before climbing up onto his back and up his broad neck to get a better look.

The trainer himself finally allowed himself to sit down as he remained in the audience, offering a tiny smile when Bri nudged herself against his arm.

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Evie nodded her head, "Alright." She replied meekly, watching the ground without the slightest clue where the vixen had gone. Her thoughts didn't linger however, when the Ninetales burst free of the ground near Soren, but her attention on the attacker. The vixens eyes were aglow and Evie held her breath for the attack.

The Ninetales lowered down on her haunches and with all her strength and might unleashed a torrent of psychic energy toward the Aerodactyl. "Psyshock?" Well that was new.

[Soren Forberg]

Soren was thrown slightly off balance when Evie's Ninetails burst out of the ground surprisingly close by. He'd expected her to come up under Alexander, not several feet to his right. He didn't have time to call to his Aerodactyl nor did the winged reptile have any time to launch a counter attack but the crafty pokemon put his speed to good use, dropping down to the ground and crossing his wings in front of him in a shield-like fashion. The attack was a strong one, pushing him back a few meters but the ancient pokemon was one of Soren's strongest endurance wise, precisely why he'd been chosen for this battle.

Alexander planted his winged forelimbs into the ground, steadying himself as he shook off the daze caused by Aphrodite's attack. Soren smiled, now they were primed for a solid retaliation. There was no beating around the bush, Aphrodite wasn't holding back so perhaps they needed to be a little more forceful. He hastily moved aside to stay clear of the battle. "Alexander use Ancient Power."

Keeping himself firmly rooted to the ground the Aerodactyl roared, the air rippling with a surge of power the ripped up boulders and sent them hurtling towards the snarling vixen.

[Drevlin Terrance]

Everyone on Drevlin's team jumped a bit at the sudden breakthrough. If this had been any normal battle, Drevlin would have laughed a little at the surprise. But this was no such thing, and he leaned forward with full attention as the battle continued.

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

The vixen snarled and felt the ground begin to tremble and the rocks began to be torn from the earth and thrown towards her. The Ninetales hunkered down low on her haunches and ran forward, straight into the onslaught. "No! Aphrodite don't!" Evie shouted, seeing how the vixen missed the oncoming boulders by the skin of her teeth. In the vixen's mouth a ball of flame began to charge up, preparing a Fire Blast; however, a boulder whipped passed her too quickly for her to dodge, so when the vixen feinted left the rock hit her square in the flank.

Evie covered her mouth when Aphrodite went down, fearing for the vixen. The Ninetales hissed and snarled, slowly getting back onto her feet. "Aphrodite!" She shrieked, "You are going to listen to me if you want to survive this battle without broken bones!" The vixen looked at Evie disdainfully, shrugged off her pain and began a limping run towards Aerodactyl again. Around her body white energy began to build up, then in a ring was expelled with a Payback attack. She wasn't about to listen to Evie just yet.

[Soren Forberg]

Soren winced slightly when he saw the boulder strike Aphrodite square on her flank. Alexander had been holding back, the attack moderately weaker than it should have been, but the fire-type still felt the damage, walking with a significant limp as she disdainfully ignored Evie's commands. The vixen's body glowed with a pale aura as she launched a Payback attack and Soren cursed inwardly - the attack's power would be doubled due to the fact that Alexander had struck her down just moments before.

The attack hit home in the form of a headbutt straight to Alexander's torso, sending the giant reptile tumbling end over end across the battlefield. The Aerodactyl's flailing tail knocked Soren clean off of his feet and he landed in a heap next to his pokemon. The gentleman gym leader got back to his feet, brushing the dirt from his frock coat. He looked a little disheveled, a few locks of his silver hair having escaped their bindings and his cravat a little crooked, but none the worse for wear. He straightened his cravat and tucked an errant lock of hair behind his ear as Alexander got back onto his feet, shaking his head with a snort. "Ahem, right - Alexander back on the field yes?" Soren commanded gently, feeling a tad embarrassed that he'd been so unceremoniously knocked on his backside in front of the two younger trainers. Alexander bobbed his head with a sheepish growl as he flapped his wings and took up a position above the battle field. "Aerial Ace!"

Alexander roared and folded his wings tightly, angling himself into a sharp dive towards Aphrodite, the air around him shimmering with building power.

[Drevlin Terrance]

When the impact from the Payback was made, Jackal moved his tail in front of his own trainer and the other Pokemon, shielding them a little from the dust that built up. He growled softly in a worried tone, hoping the Aerodactyl and his trainer were all right. When they got up, he snorted, pawing the ground a little anxiously with one of his hands.

"It's all right, Jackal..." Drevlin murmured, patting his friend on the side. "Don't worry..."