colorsofthewind | 08 | Video; Action for Azalea

[ The feed kicks on to the interior of the Azalea gym. Kalana the Dragonite is working the camera again, since Talim is letting some of the pokémon on the less-experienced end of her roster take this battle. Granted, the "less-experienced" end of her roster ranges in level from the mid-60's to the mid-70's.

As Talim moves to her place across from the gym leader, she can be heard saying a little prayer to the wind. ] Wind, share with us your courage.

[ A deep breath, and she calls out her first pokémon- her Lumineon, Lidi. The surprise on Bugsy's face is evident. He's seen all sorts of birds and fire types in his gym, but fish are a bit rarer. The little water-type pokémon is dwarfed by the looming form of Bugsy's Pinsir.

Talim calmly holds her ground. ] All right, Lidi. Remember that Yanma in the forest? You can do this. Hit it with a Water Pulse!

[ Lidi complies, and the pulsing blast of water hits the Pinsir right between the eyes. It stumbles back, trying not to lose its footing. It manages not to fall, and charges in, locking Lidi in its pincers.

The little fish lets out a cry of surprise, tail fins flashing in distress as she wriggles free. ]

Gust, Lidi! And quickly!

[ Not that Lidi needs to be told to hurry. She has no desire to be caught by the bug pokémon again. She begins flapping her fins with surprising force, and the ensuing gust sends the Pinsir tumbling back, pincers over feet. It doesn't get up again. ]

[ For the fight with Bugsy's Heracross, Talim elects to send out her Skarmory, Loka Luha. The level difference is massive, and Talim's working with the right type now. It doesn't take long for 'Loka to finish off the bug/fighting pokémon. ]

[ Bugsy almost looks surprised again when Talim sends out her Flygon, Yun-seong, to face his Scizor- these are not pokémon he's used to seeing in his gym. But the battle with her Lumineon seems to have taught him to expect the unexpected. ]

All right Yun-seong. It's all up to you now. Use Sand Tomb!

[ The Flygon takes to the air, his furiously flapping wings kicking up a pillar of swirling sand around the Scizor, effectively trapping it. ]

Now, Flamethrower!

[ Yun-seong rears back, and unleashes a stream of flame from his mouth. It encircles the still-raging effects of the Sand Tomb, cocooning the Scizor in flame and flying sand. When the wind calms, and the dust clears, the Scizor drops like a rock, smoke coiling from its still form.

The Flygon lands next to his trainer, who gives him a hug around the neck before crossing the gym floor to meet her opponent.

Bugsy, to his credit, is as unflappable as ever. ]

I see you have done your research after all! That was very clever. Here's your badge!

Thank you very much. [ Talim accepts the badge, and offered TM, with a little bow of gratitude. She turns back to where her other pokémon are waiting and frowns, though there's no heat behind it ] Kalana! Were you broadcasting that whole battle? You silly thing, turn that off!

[ The feed cuts off to the sounds of a Dragonite laughing. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you don't mind me asking... how long did you train before you challenged the Gym?

Oh. Um.

Actually, I'm backtracking. The first gym I challenged was in Goldenrod, so all of my pokémon are somewhat over-leveled for the first couple of gyms.

It seems like a lot of people are doing that... as long as it gets done, though, that's all that matters anyway.

At least in my case, I wasn't sure if I was going to challenge the gym leaders at first, and I skipped going to Azalea Town altogether initially.

Yeah, it's kind of a pain to get here... going in one direction, there's a cave, and in the other, a gigantic forest.

Mm. At least I can take the shortcut when I make my way back through Violet.

... I'm sorry. You asked me about the battle. Are you going to challenge the gym leaders as well?

... There's a shortcut?

Yep! So far I've only taken on the Violet City Gym, though.

Yes, from Violet to Goldenrod, but there's a pokémon blocking the path. It will only move if you have the squirtbottle from the Goldenrod Gym.

... What's the Violet Gym like?

I see... so you have to at least beat the Goldenrod Gym first. That's good, I don't really wanna go through that cave or the forest more times than I absolutely have to.

Well, if you beat this Gym, you probably won't have any problems with Falkner. He specializes in Flying-type.

It does make traveling nice, yes.

Ah, I see. Yun-seong knows a couple of rock-type moves. That should work.

Good luck with the Violet City Gym, then! Is that your last badge?

No, only my third. I've yet to go pat Goldenrod.

So you've battled the Goldenrod Gym Leader, then...? What was that like? All I know about it is that the Gym Leader seems to cry an awful lot.

She specializes in normal-type pokémon. Her Miltank is surprisingly tough, and she likes to use attract. If you've got a strong female pokémon, that should help. Even better if it knows a fighting move or two.

I see... thanks for the tips! I appreciate it.

You're welcome. Best of luck to you!

Yep, good luck to you too!

08 | Video; Action for Azalea | Don't bug me.

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