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[gabriel]

The canopy was surprisingly very ill frequented during that year Gabriel was missing in action. Even less so than the main city itself. Why? Because where his old bosses stayed in the main city, most of their henchmen and cronies stayed in the jungle or the canopy. It was a shady, shady place and quite frankly, there was more of a chance of somebody knowing who wore that bright red hood of his.

He could’ve said that things calmed more or less now, and this time around, he was risking a small venture up into the canopy in hopes of perhaps finding something interesting to do on a Friday evening. On top of that, he’d recently acquired a few new Pokemon, and he’d heard that Pokemon up in the canopy tended to be good training candidates. Wandering along, he kept glancing around, looking for potential challengers or random items that would catch his eye.

[Cori]

WILD MIENFOO APPEARED!

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Mienfoo || Male || Regenerator || Fighting || Level 7
Pound || Meditate

When you were a fighting-type living in a dangerous environment like this one, it was extremely important to keep both your body, mind, and spirit in top condition, or else you could easily end up either as chow for something much bigger and well-prepared or - perhaps worse - as a “plaything” for some of the more deranged humans that lurked around this area. True, many of the really vicious whackjobs stayed down below in the depths of the Jungle, but you still ran into a couple crazies up here now and then, and some of them enjoyed seeing just how many bullets they could put into a Pokémon’s tougher body before it finally died, or how long it took them to expire under such circumstances.

As for the answer to the question of how many shots it would take to kill a Pokémon...well, the meditating Mienfoo couldn’t tell you, because if you were dumb enough to stick around after getting shot at once then chances were you weren’t going to make it out alive to tell anyone the answer to that riddle. But that did not matter right now; what mattered was getting his mind back on track with his Meditations rather than dwelling on the past. The creature flicked a scarred ear as he tried to settle back into a meditative state, but his concentration went flying out the window when he heard someone approach.

The fighting-type quickly rose to his feet, narrowing his already beady eyes in the direction of the sound as he slid into a fighting stance, not about to let whatever was approaching get the better of him. Strike first and strike hard, that was his personal motto, even if it did clash with his other motto, which said that any battle you survive is a battle won. His chance for a preemptive strike came with the appearance of a red-hooded human figure, but the Mienfoo refused to hold back just because an opponent looked human. Some had abilities on par with Pokémon and an even greater number were cruel enough that having such powers really didn’t matter in the end. Rather than wait to see which of these Gabriel turned out to be, the battle-scarred Pokémon leaped at the newcomer as soon as he was close enough, lashing out with a glowing fist in a Pound attack.

[gabriel]

Gabriel was getting distracted, and that was never a good thing in these parts. Occasionally there was a flick of something shiny, or something went scuttling by that he absolutely felt like he needed to chase. Either way, he tried to stay as on course as possible, walking along quietly and hoping that something interesting would turn up.

Might as well, while he was at it… With a flick of his wrist, there was a burst of light and his female Combee, Empress, came floating out of her Pokeball. He’d made sure that when he got her, she was a female. Only the females evolved after all, and after paying a very pretty penny, he received her.

No sooner had he released her did a yellow and pink creature come pouncing out at them. Crap, now that was unexpected, now was it? The pound hit him straight in the shin and he stumbled, but not for long. He was a bit tougher than that, but this fight was a chance to help level up his Combee. ”Empress, use Gust twice.”

[/color] And like the good Combee she was, she followed orders, flapping her wings viciously to create a roar of wind.
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[Cori]

WILD MIENFOO APPEARED!

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Mienfoo || Male || Regenerator || Fighting || Level 7
Pound || Meditate

A solid hit was a good hit, but apparently this one was nowhere near enough to win the battle at hand, the Mienfoo realized with a jolt of disappointment as he bounced back from his target, glittering dark eyes taking the time to size up his foe now that the battle had truly started. He was surprised to realize that in his hurried charge he missed the fact that the hooded man had released a Pokémon of his own - a Combee, which immediately sent the fighting-type’s spirits sinking. Anything that was partially flying-typed was bad news for him, and the tiny martial artist’s glance flicked between trainer and Pokémon for a moment, worried now that in his haste to not be taken by surprise he had walked several steps toward his own grave without even noticing it. Perhaps he should run...but no, that wouldn’t work against a flying-type; outrunning one was nearly impossible, even for someone as familiar with the territory as himself. Without anywhere to run and hide from this battle he’d gotten himself into, the red-and-yellow weasel was left with only one possible course of action: to fight it out and hope that he could still come out on top somehow.

Of course, he had to survive the Combee’s attacks first.

The Gusts sliced through the air quickly, the twin whirlwinds thrashing and cutting as they spun, tearing at the Mienfoo’s skin like whirling, invisible blades. The disadvantaged Pokémon gritted his teeth against the pain, standing his ground and refusing to let himself cry out despite the lines of crimson suddenly appearing here and there on his flesh. He was a fighter, damn it, and he was not going to give his opponent the satisfaction of hearing just how effective her attacks were. Instead, he called up the energy for two more Pounds, shrouding both fists this time in blinding white light before he charged the Combee straight through the ripping wind to leap at her with first one harsh swing and then another. It might not bring her down, but he would sooner gnaw off his own tail than go down without at least trying to fight for his survival.

[gabriel]

The gusts picked up leaves as it swirled by, slicing through the air and right at the Mienfoo. If Gabriel had his ideas right, or his learning for that matter, the flying type attack should have been rather effective. It was a good sign, at the very least, and at this rate Empress should progress quickly. The Combee seemed rather proud of herself too, flitting into the air happily and buzzing about in circles.

Gabriel watched as the Meinfoo went for two more pound attacks, and though Empress dodged one, she went rolling right into the other one. It smacked her straight on the head, hurdling her backwards, to which she flitted for a second before pouncing forward once again. With a heave, she oriented herself before flapping her translucent wings and using Gust once more, hoping to knock the fighting type out.

[Cori]

WILD MIENFOO APPEARED!

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Mienfoo || Male || Regenerator || Fighting || Level 7
Pound || Meditate

If there was one fact that could comfort the Mienfoo in the face of the oncoming Gust it was that he at least managed to score one good blow before the Combee stuck back, sending swirling air currents at the small fighting-type with enough force to send him flying headfirst into a shabby building nearby. There was a sharp crack accompanied by an involuntary yelp of pain as the creature’s head smacked right into the crumbling brick and as the weasel slumped to the ground gracelessly a streak of darker red against the crumbling brick followed the path of his battered body, a sight that might perhaps strike vagrants wandering in from the upper-class neighborhoods of the city as gruesome or unnecessarily violent but was in all truth fairly tame for this area. No missing limbs from the victim, no over-the-top wounds with guts spilling out from beneath torn flesh, just a (relatively) clean streak of blood to show where one Pokémon had been a bit too careless and - perhaps - got off lucky despite his mistake. Sure, his head would most likely be killing him when he woke up, but the Mienfoo’s wounds were probably non-fatal at this point...unless of course someone or something else caught up with him before he had a chance to awaken and seek out a more discreet place to hide while he healed up.

WILD MIENFOO FAINTED! IT CAN NOW BE CAPTURED! EMPRESS GAINED TWO LEVELS FOR WINNING!

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WILD SPEAROW APPEARED!

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Spearow || Male || Keen Eye || Normal/Flying|| Level 6
Peck || Growl || Leer

From his perch on the building’s roof, another flying-type watched the scene below, his sharp eyes glittering with interest. His feelings upon witnessing such a display of battle prowess on the Combee’s part caught somewhere between amusement at the arrogant Mienfoo’s quick defeat and disappointment that he missed his chance to put the scarred fighting-type in his place. What a waste of a good opportunity, the bird thought, half-sulking as he stretched his wings wide to feel the air still astir following the Combee’s latest Gust attack. He had wanted to take the self-proclaimed “veteran” fighter down a few pegs for a while now after having to constantly listen to his sort-of neighbor yap on and on about how he’d survived attacks from both Pokémon and humans alike. He especially loved showing off that hole in his ear as if it were some sort of battle trophy, but the Spearow knew what it really was: a badge of cowardice, an enduring physical reminder that the Mienfoo was too weak to defeat his attackers and too scared to stick around and fight against his enemies to the bitter end. And ugh, weren’t martial-arts types supposed to be quiet and modest about their skills anyway, if they actually had any? And if not, they should at least have their pride, unlike this guy. Hell, the Spearow was willing to bet that the fighter would have fled this battle with his tail between his legs as soon as it started to go south if not for the fact that his opponent could have easily caught up to him. At least he was out cold now, and the Spearow decided right then and there that if the Combee didn’t finish the weasel off for good, he would.

But not right away; first, he wanted to have a little payback.

Sure, attacking someone just because they took out someone you wanted to fight was petty but the little flier couldn’t care less - he knew that he was a petty creature and made no attempt to hide it. Nor did he stop to consider that the Combee might be able to take him out as well, and why the hell should he? Trouncing weaklings did not make you really strong, or so he thought, though he had to admit that kicking them around could be both fun and satisfying under certain conditions. So there was nothing to be afraid of, he reasoned as he took to the air with a loud caw, diving down from his perch and toward the Combee sharp beak first with a Peck attack.