A true hero... in training (Pokemon Gym Leader's apprentice quest)

Enemy of my enemy
She looked down at the water. Her legs moving slowly, feeling the cool and sand as she sat on the shore. Her scarred feet a reminder of her years as a dancer. She still remembers the lights, the music and the pain of having to dance again and again. Her feet are still healing from those years but it still was a happier time. At least the rest of her looked good.


Next to her, Flora had also her feet on the water. Well, the green things that acted like legs. The Roselia wasn't just enjoying the coolness of the water though. She was actually absorbing some of it. A soft smile crossed the girl's lips. Flora hadn't been with her for long, but she felt like a friend already. It was her first pokemon as a trainer… Maybe this is what they mean when they talk about the bond with your pokemon? At least it's easier than forming a bond with humans. Speaking of which…

"Alec! Why are you making a campfire? This is a short rest and then we are going to report at HQ." She said glaring at her partner. He was a bit further from the shore trying to start a fire with the help of his Gligar. The guy was younger than her and too lazy to be called a good partner. She still struggles to understand how can he actually be ocasionally competent.


"Because I'm not going. It will get dark before we even reach the main path and I don't like traveling at night." He said calmly, the fire finally burning even if it was weak. His Gligar started to fan the flames as he added more wood. "Also, we still have some hot dogs left. There is nothing better than hot dogs cooked on a campfire." He smiled as he got ready to cook dinner.

"Ugh… Again?" Marissa stood up, shaking her legs to dry them off a bit. "We've been eating those things since we left the lake." She said with disgust. She ate worse things at the HQ cafeteria, but she needed some variety in her diet.

"Well, we weren't supposed to walk back to Veilstone, so that's the only food we have unless you want to start looking for edible fish in the pond." He said calmly, the fire was finally good enough and food would be ready soon. Marissa wanted to protest more but then she realized something.

"Wait… If this wasn't supposed to be a long mission why do you have so many hot dogs in your bag?" She asked puzzled. Not even angry anymore.

"I bought them at the supermarket before the mission." He said with a smile, knowing that answer would only serve to tick off his companion.

"That doesn't explain shit. Why did you buy them in the first place? Were you…?"

A bone chilling howl cut their conversation short. Something was getting closer. Alec's amicable expression turned into a focused one as he stood up, changing his posture to one more ready to fight. His Gligar jumped on top of his head to use it as an vantage point to attack from. Marissa stood ready like him, but she didn't have a combat posture. Her Roselia on the other hand was ready to fight.

"Mightyena?" Asked the girl as she got some potions ready just in case.

"Didn't sound like one." Said Alec, slightly nervous.

"Houndoom…?" Asked again, now a bit more worried.

"They shouldn't be this close to Veilstone." He said, not sure at all of that fact.

"Then, my dear companion, what the FUCK is coming?" Marissa said, clearly angry.

That question didn't go unanswered for long because a boy followed by a girl, a Kirlia and a Shinx came running from the forest.

"YOU!?" She shouted.

"Oh, hey kid." Said Alec, slightly relaxing his posture.

Then the pack of Houndour came.

"Oh, it actually was Houndoom."

…​

Your escape could have been more graceful, but it worked and that's what is important. You ran using the trees for cover when the pokemon tried to shoot a burst of fire. Lily sometimes stopped for a second to use her powers to bring a weak tree down or throw a bunch of dirt at them. Not really effective as an attack but it slowed them down enough to reach the clearing surrounding the pond. Finally!

As you got closer you realized someone was there. Trainers! With Pokemon! They can help! You rushed to meet them but halfway there you recognized each other.

"YOU!" Shouted the woman with a familiar voice. She was out of her uniform but you still recognized her. One of the two members of team galactic. The one with the Roselia. The other was the one who punched you, the one with the Gligar. He at least didn't seem ready to fight you. He was actually smiling.

You almost stop but when their faces changed and went pale you knew the pack was just behind you, so you kept running. Something primal inside your brain was screaming at you to get close to those people. Safety in numbers. Once you were there you faced the forest. The pack getting closer.

"Is this your fault?" You asked at the two grunts. Maybe Team Galactic is doing something to make wild pokemon so angry.

"If it is, no one told us to not camp next to the murderdog testing grounds." Said the male, again ready to fight but not looking at you. At least he seemed on your side for now.

"Goddammit Alec, I told you camping was a bad idea!" Shouted the woman as her Roselia took a step back, intimidated by the fire type pokemon.

"Don't act like you expected this, Marissa." He replied.

"Do you know them?" Asked Lily, well, shouted Lily because everything was pretty tense right now and everyone was shouting.

"Kind of? They are the grunts that attacked me." You answered, releasing Maelstrom from his pokeball in front of you. The pack was now close enough and started to surround your group. Luckily the pond acted as a barrier to cover your backs.

"They are WHAT?!" Lily asked turning around to face them for a moment. Now not sure if she should be worried about being attacked by them too.

"Can we wait until we are not going to die to kill each other?" Asked Alec as one of the Houndour got closer when Lily stopped paying attention. His Gligar using Sand Attack to make him back off for now.

"What's the plan?" Asked Violet raising her voice and trying to get everyone on the same page for this. Working with Team Galactic worried her but right now there was no choice.

"We could jump into the pond and swim away." Said Alec, trying to give an option. No one seemed to see that as viable for a number of reasons.

"I had a plan. Lily can take care of the Houndoom while we make sure the Houndour don't get in her way. She is strong enough to take them all one by one." You said. Lily nodded, accepting your plan. She was pretty sure she could against all of them one by one as long as they don't have any nasty surprises.

"Oh, hell no. I'm not following orders from the kid that cost me a promotion!" Exclaimed Marissa. One of the Houndour jumped to try an attack but, surprisingly, Maelstrom was the one to tackle it back.

"Okay. New plan. Eyepatch girl, you are in charge! See? Not following orders from the boy." Shouted Alec as another Houndour decided to attack his Gligar.

"W-what?" Violet looked around but there was no time for questions. "Okay. Lily, take out that Houndoom! The rest, keep the Houndour busy until she is done!"

Marissa wanted to say something else but when the Houndoom started his attack against the Kirlia, the others attacked too. No time for another plan. "Okay, but I'm taking two!" She said, her Roselia now positioning herself to fight two of them, leaving one for each of the other pokemon.



[][Positioning] Her pokemon is a Grass type. You can't let her fight against two of them. Make one of your pokemon take her place. (Who?)
[][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize. (Fang can.)



Again, art made by Xelta. Check her stuff on her Deviantart.
 
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[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
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Marissa must have been quite the dancer in the past. i wonder why she stopped.

[X][Positioning] Her pokemon is a Grass type. You can't let her fight against two of them. Make one of your pokemon take her place.
-[X]Fang

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
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[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.
  1. She's a Galactic Grunt. I'd rather her Pokemon faint than one of ours.
  2. She has most likely been a Trainer for longer than us, so I'll trust her judgement in this instance.
  3. As a criminal, she probably has a basic understanding of what battles she can fight and what she can't. We saw before that she's perfectly willing to flee when the odds are against her, so she obviously thinks she can win.
  4. Even with the type disadvantage, her Roselia is flat out stronger than our Pokemon. As such, if we bog her down with two Houndour then our Pokemon should finish their battles before/at the same time as her.
  5. I still don't trust her not to stab us in the back, so she gets the more difficult part of the fighting so she doesn't have time to do so.
  6. Status Effects are a helluva drug, and Roselia can get all three powder moves, toxic, and attract.



[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!


Edit: Orders vote changed.
 
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At least is easier than
"at least it's easier"
Why did you buy them in the first time?
"place" instead of "time".
it as an advantage point to
"vantage point"
"Oh, it actually were Houndoom."
"was" not "were"
Remove the "are"
the kid that costed me
"cost"
 
-[X] Maelstrom, hide out in the shallows of the pond and hit any Houndour that comes near with Aqua Jet, using the knock-back from hitting a Houndour to get back into the pond!
Please don't. After the first hit they'll know not to go near there. And it doesn't matter if Fang goes near there they'll just attack other people's Pokémon instead.
 
[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!

Being opportunistic in letting her taking two houndour with one pokemon shouldn't be a concern of ours. She's choosing that for herself, she's a danger to ourselves and our pokemon, she is someone who shown ill will against ourselves.

"Oh, hell no. I'm not following orders from the kid that costed me a promotion!" Exclaimed Marissa.

Why should we endanger ourselves for little to no gain?

As someone once said...

"In that case," said Napoleon, "let us wait twenty minutes; when the enemy is making a false movement we must take good care not to interrupt him."
 
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[X][Positioning] Her pokemon is a Grass type. You can't let her fight against two of them. Make one of your pokemon take her place.
-[X]Fang

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!
 
[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet on the two Houndours closest to you.
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang and help Maelstrom.

I don't see the point in antagonizing Marissa by saying that her decision is wrong when we don't know much about her and her pokemon to decide that. If our pokemon really are so much more capable than hers, then we can help her out after defeating our own opponents.

Edit: Changed my vote to the vote that targets both Houndours.
 
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[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.
She is not only a grunt, but also the more dangerous and potentially aggressive one of those two. if she wants to put her pokemon in danger, that's fine by me. Roselia should be good enough to at least stall them after all. and if she cannot, that is one powerfull pokemon less to be wary of later.
[X] Orders :
- maelstrom : using swift swim from being in the pond would help lauching a pretty powerfull bounce. Once high up, aqua-jet should add up to the momentum AND help with aim.
- Fang : is he not capable of strategizing on his own ? a simple "I trust you to do the best you can" just work and show him we do consider him competent. Boosting ego is good n.n​
 
[X][Positioning] Her pokemon is a Grass type. You can't let her fight against two of them. Make one of your pokemon take her place.
-[X]Fang

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!

We gotta fight! This is no place for backing down so let's go!
 
I am confused at how most people order Fang to go help Roselia then strike the same enemy as Maelstrom (maelstrom that is not helping roselia if we bring Fang to do that).

Plus, if we do not help her, we have two houndour to face with our two pokemons. Even thought concentrating the damages in one can be good, I'm not well with letting the second going about its business freely.
 
[X][Positioning] Her pokemon is a Grass type. You can't let her fight against two of them. Make one of your pokemon take her place.
-[X]Fang

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet, hit the Houndour as much as you can!
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang on the ones Maelstrom hits!

This sort of makes sense.
 
Okay, here's the deal.

Mission: stall 5 Houndours long enough for Lily to come to clean house.

Available Resources: Maelstrom and Fang

Additional notes: Two grunts are helping us, and know and agree with the mission. A cooperative grunt is assumed to engage one Houndour, and a semi-hostile grunt laid a claim on two Houndours herself.


Here's how to perform the mission the hard way: Set Fang to try and steal the aggro of one or two Houndours away from the semi-hostile grunt's Roselia. While Fang is busy fighting with the Roselia, watch Maelstrom lose against two Houndours by himself. Alternatively, watch Fang lose against two Houndours, after Roselia switches to take one Houndour away from Maelstrom.

Here's how to do it the easy way:
Let Fang and Maelstrom fight two Houndours together, and balance their weaker ranks with a type advantage and teamwork. Let the grunts take on three Houndours themselves as they wanted, and avoid confusing infighting.


I'll choose the easy way.

[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.

[X][Orders] Give orders to your pokemon. Remember that you can only give two orders even if you have two pokemon. You can only give orders to one and let the other fight on his own but most pokemon can't strategize.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet on the two Houndours closest to you.
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang and help Maelstrom.
 
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[X][Positioning] She knows what she is doing. Each of your pokemon fights against one.
-[X] Maelstrom, use Aqua Jet on the two Houndour closest to you.
-[X] Fang, use Thunder Fang and help Maelstrom

We're talking about the grunt that's almost stupid with her grudge. Focus on our Houndours and if we're able to we're reinforce the Roselia after we take ours down.
 
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