The Dunsparce and Shelder appears on the field, ready to fight.

OOC: I already have Seymour's strategy for the start of the fight, just missing yours, Atticus. If Jake or Kyren want to join in, just call out your Pokémons and orders. If you decide not to fight, I'll just assume you're doing some training while watching.

Jake was not sure what a three-way fight would look like and Kyren didn't seem to have come down from his room yet, so Jake decided to do some public training with his pokemon that did not involve direct battling. Instead, he released all of his pokemon and organized them into doing a footrace. Of course, because Fetcher had wings, he had to specifically instruct it that only feet were allowed.

Being a boy of primarily physical characteristics, Jake joined in the foot race, blitzing from one end of the arena to the other, staying on the edge to not disturb the two trainers actively battling it out for supremacy.

Depending on who won the initial race, he started to handicap the racers based on ability, trying to find a way to get all his pokemon and himself to cross the finish line at the same time. He's push as long and hard as his and his pokemon's bodies could go. If a pokemon got tired, he'd egg it on to push just a bit harder. After all, they could get to a pokemon center to refresh their sore muscles -- Jake would need to suffer through the soreness tomorrow.

Both Pokémons starts on the defensive, covering their soft spots with their limited bodies. Doom starts the offensive, using his curled-up body to roll over Shelby... only to bounce over his closed shell, almost out of the arena. As Doom makes a turn for a second try, Shelby sprays a series of ice shard along his path. But Doom is too fast a target, not only dodging the attack, but getting in Shelby's blind-side.

As Doom makes another pass, the arena suddenly goes dark. The lack of light surprised the Dunsparce, causing just a bit of hesitation. Atticus quickly takes advantage of it, and applies his experience from the previous night to guide Shelby. The spike connects, but it fails to really penetrate Doom's thick skin.

From the hotel, you hear someone shout "Oh, sorry! I didn't know you were using the arena!" The lights come back on, letting you focus on the fight once more.

OOC: Short pause to adjust your strategy. Next turn, both sides will have +3 to hit and to wound, as a 'tie breaker'. Otherwise, you could keep circling each others till the cows come home.

Meanwhile, Jake goes through his focused training routine, encouraging his companions to do their best. His Pokémons have more endurance than him though, and he soon finds himself struggling to keep up with Fetcher and his Laconney.

OOC: The training does pay off for Skipper. His Speed is increased by 1 rank. If you want to push yourself, you can spend 5 Favors to have Laconney increase his Speed also.

Atticus felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins as the battle continued. He did not expect the lights to go out but thanks to the events of the last couple days, he was able to readjust easily! He noticed that Shelby was having a hard time hitting so he shouted words of praise and encouragement to the purple-shelled Pokemon, hoping that it helped with the battle. "Alright, we're going to try something a little different now..." he mused before adjusting his strategy accordingly to try and put an end to this battle quickly, although he was enjoying himself quite a bit and he hoped that Seymour was too.

Seymour was startled when the lights went off, but was glad to see it was just an employee and not a Team Gaia retribution attack or something else more serious. The slight distraction didn't hold his attention for long though, and his mind was soon focused entirely on the battle again. "Great job shrugging off that ice spike, Doom! Let's try a different strategy of our own." He called out his orders to the winged slug pokemon.

Doom braces himself, as Shelby fires once more. A shot of water, this time. The blow hits Doom, though it seems to anger him more than anything else. A dark aura appears over the Dunsparce, and spreads over Shelby, something Atticus recognize as the move Spite.

"Twenty on the Dunsparce!"
"You're on!"

It seems a few people have decided to watch the show, as Doom charges the Shellder, ignoring another Ice Shard, but slamming into the ground and dizzying himself for a moment.

"Go low! Flip him in the air!"

Hard to tell who the advice was meant for, but Shelby follows it. As Doom tries to right himself, he's hit by an Ice Shard right in his softer belly, knocking him out.

"Aw!"
"Yeah! Go Shellder!"

OOC: Unless Seymour wants to send out another pokémon, the match is over.
Doom has taken a wound, but the hotel has a Pokécenter, so he'll be healed up before the next scene. Also, he can learn one of these two talent:
 - Run Away (Doom cannot be Slowed, Stuck, or Trapped, and get +2 to checks to flee combat or in races)
 - Spiteful Intervention (Doom can use Spite on moves targeting allies, instead of only those targeting him)
For his part, Shelby's Speed is increased to Below Average.

"Oh no!" Seymour exclaimed as his pokemon collapsed in defeat. With the match completed, the trainer rushed to his pokemon's side. "You did good, Doom. I thought we were going to win there for a while." He returned his pokemon to its pokeball.

"Good match, Atticus. Your Shelby has got some moves! We'll be better prepared the next time." Seymour walked over to give Atticus a congratulatory handshake. Then, calling over to the person who had bet on Dunsparce, he said, "Sorry you're down twenty."

---

I will have Doom learn the Run Away talent. It seems to fit with a winged slug with a drill for a tail. Do I need to give Atticus any prize money or anything?

Not really. You didn't make any bet before hand.

Atticus didn't expect other Trainers to watch them while they sparred but it exhilarated him a bit. This was what it was going to be like when he was facing off in the Gyms, right? Just him, his Pokemon, his opponent and a bunch of spectators? He could totally do that as long as he continued to apply himself and worked hard with his companions by his side. They even bet on the match but that only made the kid focus more on the battle at hand and yelled words of encouragement to his shelled Water-type. To his excitement, they won the match and he praised Shelby even more before grinning at Seymour. "Thanks! You guys put up a good fight too." He shook his friend's hand and trained a bit more with both his Pokemon out around the arena before putting them away in their Pokeballs.

With your evening training completed, you head back to your rooms to rest, mostly as an attempt to return a regular schedule.

You wake up mid-morning, to a breakfast of berries and cereals. Once you're done eating, you consider what to do next. You have the local badge, and the closest gym you can challenge is to the north, past the capital. You could reach it fairly easily by following the mountain, and possibly find some new pokémons along the way.

Of course, you're not in a rush. You could visit the town, maybe try out some mountain biking, or challenge local trainers to make some money.

"What is everyone's plans now?" Seymour asked the group after finishing his breakfast. He was feeling refreshed and ready to do... something. He had not figured out exactly what yet.

"I think I am going to eventually start heading toward Roarac, but might hang around town for a day or so. Do a bit of training, sightseeing, and recuperation. I want to make sure I am prepared for the next leg of my journey. Roarac is quite a distance from here." Seymour wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in traveling to the furthest beginner gym with him, but was not afraid to go it alone if necessary. After all, even when he was alone he would still have five pokemon friends to keep him company.

Jake liked having travelling companions but wanted to check out the mountain biking. There was less he wanted to do in town versus on the mountain,
"If you stick around for a day, I'll go at least part of the way with you. Maybe we can split up during the day and meet up for dinner. I am eager to hit the slopes with a bike, that looks super cool!"

After consulting the pokedex map, he mused for a bit. Roarac was really far away with lots of towns on the path. So long as they stuck to the road this time, they'd only give up on visiting Chairluire. He was not paying attention close enough when the professor did an overview of the gyms to remember what was notable of each place though.

After Atticus had finished his breakfast, he sat and talked with his companions about what they intended on doing next. However, he frowned when he realized that everyone had different goals. He personally did not want to go as far as Roarac just yet. He had some plans of his own that he wanted to stick to, so he spoke up about his intentions to the others. "Well, I think we'll be going our separate ways, for now. I remember they told us that Vinmur and Boonwagen are usually first, so I'm going to be going in that direction. I want to follow the river and see if I can find any cool Pokemon along the way," he explained his goals and motivations to the group excitedly, noticeably much more cheery than usual because of the recent adventures they had gone through together that had helped to build his confidence.

With your meal finished, you head out of the hotel, and pass a rack of flyers and newspapers. There's nothing major, other than an add for the mountain bikes trails, and an article on Chailuire. Something about an exorcist getting called in for ghost issues.

Seymour was a bit sad to see Atticus go, but was not too surprised. "It was nice traveling with you, Atticus. Hopefully our paths will cross again. Definitely keep in touch." He tapped his Pokedex, letting Atticus know he could message him at any time.

"Falkner, I will see you tonight. Have fun with the bikes. Stay safe. I myself am going to try and get more supplies for the next leg of the journey." Seymour then headed toward town to look for ways to earn some quick cash or track down some cheap items. Perhaps he could win some battles. Regardless, he hoped to have more cash, pokeballs, and outdoor gear before the day was through. He found the exorcist article to be intriguing, but it was happening in the next town over, so he didn't pay it much mind.

Jake chirped in with his own goodbye,
"Yeah, I hope we can meet in the final tournament or before and have a proper pokemon battle! I need to do a bunch more training before that though. That can wait for later today though."

To indicate his intent, Jake grabbed an ad for the mountain bike trails and counted through his money to see if he had enough for a rental.

"Keep in touch. Its really cool to have a pokedex where we can call each other! Just be sure to stick to the road to avoid any troubles with Team Gaia! We are weakest when we are alone."

And with that and a 'see you later' wave to Seymour, Jake started off in the direction of the mountain bikes. While he was heading that way primarily to get an adrenaline rush, he was also curious if he would see any cool pokemon while heading up and down the mountain.

Atticus grinned at the two boys as they said their mutual goodbyes, glad that he had been able to start his journey with them. "Oh, don't worry. We'll definitely catch up soon, and then we'll see how strong we've gotten!" he enthused, because he knew that this separation would probably not last long. They were a good group and they were bound to end up together again at some point. "Yeah, I'll stay alert and just to the main roads, probably. If anything comes up, I will let you know for sure, these Pokedexes are great for that!"

--

Atticus noticed the article on Chailure and something excited him, a little thrill that he got when it came to ghosts, spirits, and such. In his small town back in Hoenn, the villagers were all incredibly spiritual, especially his parents so they instilled that into Atticus growing up too. Because of this he knew he needed to have a ghost type on his team and so he figured his next destination was going to be Chailure to seek out either these ghosts or the exorcist in charge of handling them to see if he could catch one for himself.

OOC: Atticus wants to depart for Chailure as soon as possible in pursuit of spooky spirit shenanigans!

With your path chosen, Atticus heads out on Route 116, while Jake heads for Bluweil Mountain.

Meanwhile, Seymour looks around town for some easy money. Despite the first impression as you arrived, Bluweil seems quite peaceful. In fact, the only sign of trouble around seems to be a smell of wet fur, and a grumbling old man. "Irrespectuous brats. Always pranking pokémons... One of these days..." Looking closer, the old man seems to be trying to wash away some pink paint from a sad looking Poochyena. "It's alright, I've got you..."

"Do you need any help?" Seymour asked, automatically kneeling down next to the old man and the Poochyena. "I have a pokemon that can make bubbles, if that would help get your pokemon clean," he offered. Whoever would paint a pokemon as a "prank" probably deserved to be taught a lesson. He didn't imagine paint came out of fire very easily.

The old man shakes his head. "I'll manage. Nothing a bit of patience won't take care of. It's those teenagers I'm worried about. They keep jumping at every chances to cause trouble, ganging up on young trainers and lone pokémons. Anyone they think they can overwhelm.
It's been a problem for a while, but it got worse lately. Yesterday, they decided to block a road with burning tires. I worry what else they may be planning."

Seymour didn't really feel like it was his place to do anything about the resident delinquents of Bluweil. Still, he didn't want to become an unwitting victim of their antics either. "Do you know what they look like? Or where they hang out? I'm new in town and would rather not be caught off guard by them if I can help it. I do have a few pokemon that could help protect me, but, well, I saw the burning tires yesterday, so I have some idea of what they are capable of."

"A good idea. They tend to hang out near the warehouse, west of town. Although..." He looks at your belt, noting the number of pokéballs there. "You're a trainer? I suppose you'll be leaving town soon? Maybe you could teach them a lesson before you leave. You can't take the entire group at once, of course, but if you challenge their leader, it may cool them down somewhat."

"Are you sure they wouldn't all gang up on me if their leader lost?" Seymour asked, still unsure if he should get involved. "Regardless, do you know what sorts of pokemon their leader uses? Knowing that piece of info could make all the difference whether I challenge him directly or run into him on accident." He pulled out his Pokedex to look up any pokemon the old man might mention. "My name is Seymour by the way. Seymour Mons."

"Logan. And you're right, they would gang up on you... unless they're too embarrassed by having a crowd laughing at them." The old man says with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "They may try something afterward, but it will take them a day or two to gather their wits. Time enough for you to head out to the next gym, and there's no way a bunch on lazy kids like them would chase you that far.

Truth is, they're not trainers. Their leader's the only one with two pokémons: a Gligar, and a Pumpkaboo. He usually uses both at once, to give himself an edge. If you keep your pokéballs hidden, he won't realize you can match him in doubles. That would make it a fair fight... well, an even one, at least."

"Hmm," Seymour said as he mulled over the new information. He studied the pokedex data on both Gligar and Pumpkaboo, formulating a potential battle strategy in his mind. "I think I may have a team that could give me a distinct edge. I think I will try teaching them a lesson, as you requested, as long as you really think it is the right course of action. But only on one condition." Seymour held up his pointer finger to emphasize.

"My one condition, Logan, is that you share with me the locations of any great deals on trainer supplies you may know of." Seymour couldn't help but grin. "My main goal in town today was to track down some new supplies, and earn money to buy them. So if you know where I could get cheap pokeballs, healing items, and survival gear, I would be happy to hear about it!"