New Dog Old tricks

[Duke Grayson]

Duke turned to observe the old man who he had been traveling with for some time now. Who ever he really was he knew his pokeomon and had extensive knowledge battle tactics for pokemon battles. The old man had agreed to train him a after a battle they had earlier and so far he had done nothing but ramble about the "old days" and shout at pokemon that he was unfamiliar with calling them "impostors", and it was getting old. Duke was calling upon all of his discipline and martial arts training to listen and be respectful to his elder as it was one of the tenants of his warrior code. Of course the information the old man was telling him was useful but it was almost always accompanied by an side story and some big words that confused Duke. A even more confusing thing was the mans habits he spent more time petting his cat and smoking than he did training his pokemon. Hell While duke and Hitomchan were doing their pushups and jumping jacks the old man was fast asleep with a pipe in his mouth. As a matter of fact the only muscles the man seems to use was his mouth and his hands. How could he be a better trainer when it appeared that he tried so less hard than Duke. "Not to be rude sir but its been almost two weeks and you haven't done a single pushup or sit up and neither has your pokemon all you do is talk and smoke.... not that the a bad thing. It just appears you are not the most active person."

[Bradley McCalister]

Bradley had been traveling for a couple weeks now with some newcomer he had met in the port town. The kid had promise; he was involved with his pokemon and didn't treat the life of a trainer as 'something for fun'. He was a rookie trainer, but he had the heart for it, and Bradley liked that. With all the new technology and whatnot, a lot of people could simply 'become' trainers because they thought it would be fun, never taking it seriously. The kid's behavior reminded him of himself back when he was a trainer, working day and night with his pokemon to become better.

These days, Bradley didn't have the physical capability to maintain such activity. The tobacco messed with his lungs so he couldn't do a lot of physical activity, and while he was far from a frail old man, he definitely wasn't in his prime. Thus, while the kid did his exercises with the Hitmonchan, Bradley rested in one form or another. Both him and his Kangaskhan were alike in that sense; they had more concern about being ready and their little ones than such physical training. Thus, when the kid decided to call him out on the fact he never worked out, he was well prepared with a response.

"Look, keeping both yourself n' your pokemon in shape is great, but if you can't direct the power of the pokemon it means about as much as puttin' a ribbon on it n' callin' it a 'contest champion', or whatever kids call those people who show off their pokemon in those tents," he replied, immediately moving his hand to pet the head of the kitten that poked out of his coat, Nyanyan.

"Your Hitmonchan's got alotta potential, like you, but you gotta tap into it or it's useless. Let's see if you learned anythin' these past couple of weeks," he added on as he grabbed the pokeball containing his Kangaskhan from his pocket. With a flick of his wrist he tossed the ball, the pokemon within coming out in a flash of light. The large, brown and tan pokemon gave a stretch and checked the security of the little one in it's pouch, nodding to itself upon seeing it was alright.

"You're up, kid," Bradley said as he lit a cigarette, Nyanyan ducking back into his coat for now as Kangaskhan stood at the ready, staring down the already-out Hitmonchan.

Level 5
Kangaskhan's Ability: Early Bird
Moves: Comet Punch, Leer, Counter, Foresight, Stomp, Hammer Arm

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[Duke Grayson]

STARTER

Level 5
Ability Iron fist
Comet Punch | Revenge | High Jump Kick | Endure | Mind Reader| Counter

Dukes heartbeat began to increase the moment the challenge left the old mans lips. He had been defeated once already by the old man and Did not intend to lose again. Two whole weeks worth of training and he was ready to show the old man that he had it in him to be a trainer and although he was an amateur that he was the real deal. He and Hitmonchan had gone over the last fight and devised a plan to beat the Old man. Kangaskhan was far stronger than Dukes hitmonchan but It lacked the raw speed that and agility that Dukes pokemon had, and if they could dodge the hammer arm and avoid getting countered than they should be able to keep up substantial pressure barring any bad luck. "Alright Hitmonchan! Lets show him what you got! COMET PUNCH!"

As soon as the words left Dukes mouth Hitmonchan sprang into action with just a few quick jumps and some fancy foot work Hitmonchan was now right in front of the formidable Kangaskhan. Ducking low to avoid any incoming hits Hitmonchan unleashed a powerful flurry of blows with lighting speeds. Duke shouted tips to his hitmonchan as a coach would to his boxer "Punch! Punch! Sidestep! Don't get caught by that counter!" Hitmonchan stayed focused on his opponent and he continued to throw a flurry of jabs at the old mans pokemon reading its mind and body so that each punch landed with perfect accuracy.

[Bradley McCalister]

A fast opening. His first move was Comet Punch this time, unlike the Hi Jump Kick that began things last time. The boy might have a plan, based on their previous battle. Bradley would applaud him, but one hand was busy holding the cigarette he took a puff of as he planned out his response. Comet Punch was fast, especially in the hands of Hitmonchan; Kangaskhan couldn't respond to that kind of speed equally. He could to an extent, but it wouldn't be enough. However, he could try to maximize the results.

"Alright Kangaskhan, Foresight!" he shouted, Kangaskhan's eyes quickly examining Hitmonchan's movements. It couldn't get a one-hundred percent idea, but it was pretty certain of where Hitmonchan would move. Foresight gave it that flash of knowledge it'd need to hit such a quick, evasive target, or in this particular case, the knowledge needed to respond.

"Now, Comet Punch!" he added on after the flurry of punches from Hitmonchan began. He wasn't using this to strike back at Hitmonchan, but rather, to minimize the damage that Kangaskhan took. Adding the knowledge gained from Foresight, Kangaskhan's punches were able to collide with many of those launched from Hitmonchan, their fists meeting for but a brief moment before they'd move into the next punch. It was a blinding flurry of hits between the two, though because Kangaskhan wasn't striking for damage, Hitmonchan's only damage would really come from the impact of their fists. Additionally, a lot of Hitmonchan's punches still got through, but not nearly as many as there would have been.

That Hitmonchan's hitting with a lot of accuracy, almost as if it knew how Kangaskhan would move...it's too accurate to be Foresight. It might be using Mind Reader, which is definitely a technique that fighting pokemon like Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee learn to use. Bradley thought to himself as he took another puff of his cigarette, waiting for the kid's response to Kangaskhan's defense.

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[Duke Grayson]

Kangaskhan's fists kept colliding with Hitmonchans creating a loud thud with each impact if Duke wasn't here he would have mistaken it for a ton of rocks falling down the mountain. In any other battle Hitmochan's speed would have been more than enough to get past his opponents defenses with no problem but his opponent managed to know where he was hitting half the time and take a shorter rout to intercept it. The exchange was only gong on for less than a minute but it felt like it was taking forever and it was obviolus that if Duke didn't do something different the old man would gain control over the battle now that hew as not under the threat of a thousand punches to the face of his pokemon.
Wow maybe the old man was that good. Duke would have never thought of using comet punch to block Hitmonchans attack was a very cleaver one. He obviously knew what he was doing It would take a risky gambit to break the stale mate. Hitmochan was tough and had been trained to take huge hits without being knocked out. Perhaps if he feigned weakness The old man would go for a finishing blow like he did last time. "Alright, Hitmonchan its time to win this Hi Jump Kick then set up with your favorite cross jab!"

Without missing a beat hitmonchan did a backwards summersault and and disengaged from his opponent. Then without hesitation charged back towards his opponent and with a burst of speed jumped high into the air and began his decent towards Kangaskhan... then promptly missed and cashed to the ground "injured" and "dazed"

[Bradley McCalister]

The exchange between the two pokemon lasted for a but a minute before coming to an end, Bradley happy with how it ended. He was aware Kangaskhan would still take hits, but the damage was minimalized, so the strategy did what it was supposed to do. Kangaskhan looked relatively fine, a few marks here and there but nothing really serious. His thoughts had already moved on from that to how to respond to the next attack, because he could tell that the kid was trying to keep him on the defensive. Starting with a Comet punch, then immediately shifting into a Hi Jump Kick was a purely offensive strategy, almost a bit reckless based on how you looked at it. Surely the kid couldn't have forgotten about the fact his Kangaskhan knows Counter, so he had to be planning something. The question was what though.

His suspicion would only be further proven when the Hi Jump Kick easily missed. It was a straight-forward attack, but Kangaskhan wasn't the fastest pokemon. Normally it'd have a hard time getting out of the way of such a fast kick, but with almost a minimal amount of effort she seemed to be able to dodge the kick. It could be chalked up to sheer recklessness and simply aiming the kick wrong, but something just felt off to him. He'd play along with it for now though, and see if the kid did learn anything from their last battle.

"Now while he's down, Kangaskhan, use Leer and then Stomp!" he shouted, Kangaskhan giving a short nod before turning to face the Hitmonchan. Thanks to the position of the sun and Kangaskhan towering over the 'down' Hitmonchan, the Leer was definitely high in the 'frightening' scale, reducing the enemy's defense due to fear. Following it up, the Kangaskhan's massive foot came down towards the Hitmonchan, intending to hit it for a massive amount of damage while it was already injured from it's failed Hi Jump Kick.

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[Duke Grayson]

Duke smiled his plan was working the old man was clever but he was old school and wouldn't expect such a reckless maneuver this early in the match. If this move went wrong than Hitmonchan would be toejam. Old man never actually saw Hitmonchan use counter before so the plan would work this time but Duke doubted that I would work again in the near future. As the foot of Kangaskhan defended upon Hitmonchan Duke realized that he had not thought of the follow up move!

Hitmonchan starred into the they eyes of the towering Kangaskhan standing above him. It was hard for Hitmonchan to what was more intimidating, the piercing gaze or the large foot crashing down at him. A combination between surprise and a tinge of fear lowered hitmonchans defense and slowed him down for a split second before hearing his trainers vocie NOW HITMONCHAN! COUNTER! Then follow up with a High jump kick! Snapping out of the spell of the Kengaskhan's gaze Hitmonchan used both his arms to cross block to save himself front he stomp. Hitmonchans arms trembled underneath the pressure and weight of his rival's attack though the pain from blocking the attack was still great he then grab on for a wicked throw to counter the Kengahkhan and use its momentum and its lack of balance from standing on one foot against it it.

Duke stared In atnticipation as Hitmonchan blocked the attack while in theory he did succeed in doing so Duke could tell that Hitmochan was hurt by it and things had gotten to close. By the way Kengaskah stared into the eyes of Hitmonchan before the attack it was almost as if it new something was up.

[Bradley McCalister]

So, that was his plan. Bradley didn't know the Hitmonchan also knew Counter, but that explained everything. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he took another puff of the cigarette, which had burned down part way while he wasn't paying attention. Well, he'd have to keep things like that in mind now for their next sparring match. Kangaskhan too was learning this Hitmonchan's fighting style, and learning to respond more appropriately to it's tactics. For right this second though, they had a matter to deal with, which was the Hitmonchan's counter and follow up attack.

"Ha, not bad kid, but try to make your plans a bit more subtle. Kangaskhan, try to land on your back!" Bradley shouted as Kangaskhan began stumbling back, hopping on one leg because his other was currently thrown up in the air by Hitmonchan's counter. Without even being told, Kangaskhan knew to land on it's back, as landing on it's front would put it's young in danger. Knowing it couldn't keep it self standing, Kangaskhan let itself fall onto its back, landing with a loud crash and flinching from the hit, but it was still conscious. However, as it landed, Hitmonchan had gotten up and went into the preparations for Hi Jump Kick, the fighting pokemon's foot headed straight for Kangaskhan.

"Now, Kangaskhan, you know what to do!" Bradley shouted, Kangaskhan giving him a quick glance to acknowledge the command before looking at the incoming Hitmonchan. It reached out with its left arm, grabbing the foot as it got within range, and slammed Hitmonchan into the ground beside it, face first, with Counter. In the same motion, Kangaskhan began rolling onto it's side, it's right hand glowing gold as it brought it's arm down for Hammer Arm, intending to deal a finishing blow to the Hitmonchan.

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