Encounters - Clay

Clay pulls his staff around into his hand and beckons Sandy forward. Let's go! You go left, I'll go right.

Clay circles around to the side, then darts in with a crushing kick and an earsplitting screech, intending to help lower the candle's defenses. Now! Water Gun!

Sandy hunkers down a few feet away and spouts water at the candle, aiming for the strange blue flame dancing on its head.



Clay's Init: 11
Sandy's Init: 5
Clay uses Rock Smash! AC: 7yldcJk_1d20 vs 2. Damage: 2d6+17 Physical Fighting but actually zero because Clay doesn't know about ghost-types
Sandy uses Water Gun! AC: 1d20 vs 2. Damage: 2d6+18 Special Water1d20·2d6+17·1d20·2d6+18

What. That is very definitely not supposed to happen. Apparently it's going to be up to Sandy to take the candle down after all, because Clay doesn't even seem to be able to touch it.


(Retcon! Stuff in the spoiler didn't happen. New turn is below.)

But since Sandy's attack hit home, and it's clearly a fire type, Clay decides to risk it being weak enough to try and capture. He pulls out a Pokéball and tosses it quickly. Come on, come on...


Capture roll!
Pokéball AC: 1d20 vs 6; Capture Check 1d201d20·2d6+18·1d20·1d20

Clay's first stop is some training on his own with just him and his Pokémon. (He asks around to make sure of the proper place to train, because let's face it, if he keeps getting interrupted by people with silly concerns like "Get your Pokémon out of the middle of the hall" he's never going to get anything done.) They've all got a lot of work to do, of course, so everyone needs plenty of exercise! Sandy still needs work to get up to Fan's level, and they all need to get a grip on what Flower can do - at one point he actually sees her shrink herself down to avoid a play-charge from Sandy. Who knew she could do that?

Besides, there's no better way to work out the stiffness from his painful experience in the swamp than actually using those muscles. By the end of the training session, he's limbered up a little, and Sandy in particular is showing some definite improvement in putting muscle behind his attacks. Meanwhile, Clay is obscurely pleased to see that among her other sterling qualities, Flower can put out a cloud of smoke similar to the one that gave Fan so much trouble when they fought Ashley. Unfortunately, she seems kind of fragile.

Mechanics: Clay applies Agility Training to all his Pokémon, and Experience Training to Sandy and Flower (Sandy gains 3 exp, Flower gains 5). Sandy levels up, gaining a point of Attack. Clay also uses the time to Drain 2 AP to heal one of his Injuries.

---

There's only so far they can get training on their own, of course. Clay's a little inexperienced at this part, since if he wanted to spar at home or back at the dojo it was easy to find someone else with similar ideas in mind without really having to look very hard. But hey, it can't be that hard to find someone else who wants to battle, right? Trainers are always looking to get stronger!

Mechanics: Looking for a trainer encounter with Survival (Novice, so Clay gets 2 encounters a day).
Trainer type roll: X1p5whJq1d341d34

"Whoa!" Clay pulls up short as the Pokémon comes at him. He may not recognize the species on sight but the territorial display is pretty unmistakable. He's just about to try to apologize when the old man shows up.

"Haha, no, no swiping crops here." He smiles a big, innocent smile. He knows better - that got to be an issue right before Master Nob found him, when it turned out the food he was scrounging belonged to somebody already, they just hadn't pulled it off of the plants yet. Come to think of it, this looks an awful lot like the farms outside Cerulean Town. Whoops. "Name's Clay. I'm a Trainer out looking for a challenge is all. Didn't realize I'd wandered onto somebody's land, sorry."

He glances from the man to the guard Pokémon curiously. "Say, you and your buddy there wouldn't be open to a little challenge, would you? Bet you two can put up a pretty good fight together."

"Nice to meet you, Jessup!" Clay replies when the nice man pauses to introduce himself. He's already bouncing on his feet as Jessup returns with a duck-looking thing and... oh, hey, new kind of monkey. He's never met one of those.

"Nice to meet you, too, Adrienne, Marmalade." He bows to Jessup and his Pokémon, like they were an opponent in the dojo. He really needs to get back into the habit of doing that for formal battles, he thinks he might have forgotten with Ashley. He observes his opponents thoughtfully for a moment before pulling out Fan's Pokéball. "C'mon, Fan, let's show them some monkey business!"

Fan bounces on her feet as she's called out, shadow-boxing for a moment as if she hopes to intimidate the other primate. After Sandy and Flower got the focus in training, she's eager for a chance to strut her stuff. "Stay on your toes! Let's open up with an Ember!"

Fan darts from one side to the other before moving in closer to blow hot coals at Adrienne. She aims carefully to keep the flames in their makeshift ring - one of the first things any Chimchar learns is about how careful to be with fire attacks. Setting the surroundings on fire is seldom a good move, and in this case would be likely to draw Jessup's ire.

Clay uses Agility Orders! Fan becomes Agile (+4 Initiative, +1 to Movement Capabilities)
Fan's Initiative: 18
Fan uses Ember! 1SBmtQZd1d20 vs AC 2; 2d6+24 Special Fire damage; burn on 18+1d20·2d6+24

Fan dodges away from Adrienne's scratching claws at the last moment, twisting deftly. "Nice dodge! Now try a Double Kick!" The twist turns into a quick spin as Fan lashes out twice with her feet in quick succession.

Clay: Agility training again!
AC: 17,8 vs 3
Two hits! (probably) qBGSQDFS2d6+24 Physical Fighting damage2d6+24

Fan makes a rather distressed noise as she's suddenly hosed down. The powerful stream of water leaves her looking rather the worse for wear, her fur plastered to her skin and her flame starting to gutter. Clay grimaces - he doesn't want Fan to get too messed up, but another hit anywhere close to that and she's down. "Good job, Fan! Let's let somebody else handle this one, though... Sandy! Let's go!"

"Kipkip!" Sandy chirrups as he's released, hunkering down in anticipation of the Psyduck's next attack.

Clay's Standard: Switch Fan for Sandy
Sandy's Init: 9 (up to 13 next turn)

Sandy winces a little as Marmalade's claws rake across his skin. His own water gun probably being ineffective against the Psyduck is a bit of a handicap here. "Just like we practiced, Sandy! Use those muscles!"

Sandy's actually a little skinny for a Mudkip, but that doesn't stop him from hopping up and pretty much body-checking the Psyduck, trying to knock it away and earn himself some breathing space.

Clay: Agility Training (Sandy's Init is now 13)
Sandy: Tackle! AC 2 vs 6BA7J3dy1d20; 1d8+16 Physical damage. On hit target is Pushed 2 meters.1d20·1d8+16

Sandy squeals in pain as the Psyduck scratches him again, and he tries to shove it away once more. "C'mon, stay light, Sandy! Try to open some space up!"

Sandy dances backward, hoping to get enough distance that the Psyduck can't catch up... or at least that it has to rely on its Water Gun. (Of course, Clay and Sandy don't know whether it might have another attack...)

Clay: Agility Training
Sandy: Tackle! AC 2 vs HwFLDKYq1d20; 1d8+16 Physical Normal damage. On hit, target Pushed 2 meters.
Sandy Shifts away.1d20·1d8+16