107. [Video/Action] (Battle behind cut for length)

[foolishwren]

<sub>[The feed, as per usual when it comes to Heather's Gym Battles, opens from a low vantage point. It's become somewhat tradition for Heather to hand the 'Gear off to one of her able-handed Pokemon so that they can film while she's engaged in the battle.]

[Alessa the Absol is in front, bristling in anticipation of the battle, and Heather, looking more polished than usual but still rougher around the edges than is probably considered appropriate for a big event like this, stands beside her.]



[Above, the golden glass windows mark the gym they're standing in as Saffron.]

[After the 'establishing shot' of Heather and Alessa, the camera jostles around instead to get a more complete view of the arena, with Sabrina now visible on the other end. She's apparently in the middle of giving her usual pre-battle spiel; the nobility of the Psychic type, a brief and succinct history of the Saffron Gym and how it knocked the Dojo next-door well off the playing field...]

[But she cuts herself off with a very knowing look mere seconds before Heather interrupts her with a flat:]</sub>

Yeah, yeah.

Let's just get this over with.


<sub>[Sabrina nods obligingly (though not without a patronizing 'I knew you were going to do that' smile-- and her Espeon moves into the center of the field along with Alessa.]



[The battle begins without much of a bang-- Alessa has never been a Pokemon who leaps into the fray. She circles warily with her hackles bristling all the while. The Espeon, used to challengers, calmly waits for her opponent to make the first move-- which is made when Alessa shifts abruptly from her slow and staring measuring-up of the other Pokemon and into a swift and vicious Dark Pulse attack.]

[From there, the battle moves quickly. Being immune to Psychic moves and resistant to Ghost and Dark gives Alessa a powerful edge and as soon as she hits her stride, she dispatches both Espeon and her follow-up, Mr. Mime, without too much in the way of trouble.]



[But then Sabrina sends out Alakazam.]

[And wastes no time in commanding the move 'Miracle Eye', taking advantage of the Absol's tendency to pause at the start of each new round to size the situation up. Being cautious had served her well in the earlier rounds, but now it would be her undoing.]

[Scarlet eyes growing wider with every passing second, sand flies as the Absol twists and dodges to avoid the onslaught of speedy and (now-devastating, thanks to Miracle Eye) Psychic attacks, but a well-placed Signal Beam sends her tumbling to the floor. The camera briefly whips to Heather for a 'reaction shot' but gets nothing but a palm straight to the lens as she shouts "RETURN!" in a slightly shaky voice. Or maybe that's just the audio distorting from the camera being jostled. That's probably what she'd like people to think.]

[Despite her initial camera-cockblock, though, the cameramon succeeds in getting a shot of her after the fact by scampering backwards a little-- and oh man, if looks could kill.]

[Never once removing her downright-acidic glare from Sabrina, Heather takes another ball slowly and stiffly out of her pocket, and there's clear venom in the way she throws it and snaps--]</sub>

Go, Cujo!


<sub>[In stark contrast to Alessa's utter, focused seriousness, Cujo is ... well, himself. Shaggy tail wagging furiously, one ear flops itself completely the wrong way (and never rights itself) as he turns to look happily at his trainer, tongue lolling out, and then drops into a playful butt-in-the-air bow in front of Alakazam.]

[The camera zooms briefly in on Sabrina, whose expression has become slightly smug at the sight of the goofy-looking Growlithe, for... obvious reasons.]



[The smug look then promptly disappears when Heather barks out a very final-sounding order of "CRUNCH." and Cujo immediately obliges.]

[He's Level 98. The Alakazam goes down.]




[The battle's over. There's a smattering of applause and stuff, a loud mechanical voice coming from the general area of the scoreboard and announcing the battle's victor, the usual. Cujo, pleased as punch with himself, has galloped back over to Heather for praise and attention.]

[... But Heather's clapped a hand to her temple, briefly gritting her teeth and shaking her head like it's full of flies. Cujo stops in his tracks and tilts his head in confusion, but it only lasts a second before Heather, ignoring the greetings of those who came to watch her battle, whips around to face the distant Sabrina again.]</sub>


Oh, is THAT how this is gonna be?

Real mature.

You think you can scare me with that psychic shit?

_{[Sabrina, who was still looking somewhat smug despite her loss (apparently at whatever little mental 'parting gift' she'd just sent to Heather), lifts a brow. With a shake of the head, she calls out, calmly:]}

You clearly came here with something to prove, Miss Mason.

_{[Lower jaw jutting out, Heather glares sourly at the Gym Leader.]}

Yeah. And I proved it.

Let's go, Cooj.

_{[She's already started to turn away when Sabrina speaks again.]}

I don't believe you have. And neither do you.



<sub>[... And then the camera jostles as the cameramon hastily switches it off, apparently anticipating something that may not go particularly well, since Heather has whirled around once more and is marching angrily across the arena towards Sabrina.]



[When the camera comes back on about ten minutes later, it's Heather's face. She still looks somewhat angry, but at least she's calm as she checks the footage.]</sub>

Man, screw that noise.

I got the badge, I'm outta here.

Sayonara, Saffron City.




[ooc: To those physically present in the Gym, Heather engaged in a rather heated conversation with Sabrina during the time that the 'Gear was off, but no punches were thrown or anything.]

Comments

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

[Harry is of course there to cheer on Heather. He's also noted the conversation between Heather and Sabrina, but stayed out of it. He will walk over after though. Proud father is proud.]

Congratulations.

Action

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Dad always gets front-row seats!]

[When Heather tromps back over to him, she looks sort of frustrated, but it's curbed. She doesn't want to be taking it out on anybody.]</sub>

Thanks, Dad.

Can we hit up a Pokemon Center on our way out?

I wanna take care of Alessa...

Action

[haveyouseenalittlegirl]

That's a good idea. How is she?

Action

[foolishwren]

I don't know.

I actually don't think I've ever had her faint on me in a battle before.

[Video]

[quickattackjack]

_{[The girl's temper worries him, but he's going to congratulate her anyway!]}

Well done, Miss Mason.

[Video]

[foolishwren]

Thanks, Jack.

I was kinda hoping Alessa'd be able to do it all by herself, but... _{[She actually feels really bad about that. It's the first time she's ever had the Absol faint in a battle. :c]}

[Video]

[quickattackjack]

She did very well. There's always next time! How many badges does that make now?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

Six, I think.

I got five in Johto before we eventually headed over here...

action;

[show_my_cannons]

[He was totally here. Thanks to the weird shenanigans of That Weekend. He's also been... well. Brooding. Up in the stands, the whole time, only descending to the exit once it looks like Heather's on her way out.]

[He'll wait for her. Hunched up in his coat like a linebacker-sized creeper. ... Except his own Growlithe sort of ruins that image, rolling around at his feet.]

[Kid did good. He's proud of her, and once he actually gets her attention... he'll probably say so.]

action;

[foolishwren]

<sub>[:/ Yeah. She's noticed. Poor Ironhide.]

[After talking to her dad, though, she does head straight over to the bot in human form. Once she gets there, she shoves her hands into her pockets and rocks on her heels a little.]</sub>

Sooooo... how'd I do?

action;

[show_my_cannons]

[He gives her a long, thoughtful look before he answers.]

I thought you were going to take her on yourself. Hand-to-hand style.

[He shrugs a little.] But you did not. Good work, that.

[Which is totally Ironhide speak for "YOU DID SO WELL I'M PROUD OF YOU".]

action;

[foolishwren]

_{[Despite her general frustration over things, a grin breaks out across Heather's face.]}

Well, I thought it'd be an unfair fight so I let 'er off easy.

_{[Not really, but there you go.]}

[video]

[paladinlost]

You'd think she'd have learned that reading minds without permission is rude, after so long.

[Psychic people, really.]

Congratulations. Will your Absol be alright?

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather lets out an ENORMOUS groan and just shakes her head slowly in that universal gesture of 'ugh I know right'.]}

I think she knows, I just don't think she gives a crap.

_[SIGH.]

... But yeah, she should be. I just gotta take her to a Pokemon Center...

[video]

[paladinlost]

I'd say we should report her for unprofessional behavior, but considering Whitney and Clair...

[Unprofessional behavior looks more like the norm than the exception.]

She fought quite well. How much of a level advantage did she have against them?

[video]

[foolishwren]

Iegh. They're figures of authority. You know the police'd never take complaints against them seriously.

_{[Plus, she's loathe to admit in any capacity that she can't fight her own battles. Crying to the cops about the meanie psychic who poked her brain without permission feels like admitting defeat. ... Especially since EVERYBODY who battles her probably has to deal with it.]}

And not much... she's at 56. ... Maybe 57 now, after fighting those two.

S'around the levels that they were.

[Video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Oh, man, Heather looks mad...and Henry isn't sure he's mentally stable enough yet to keep the conversation from going into awkward town.]}

What happened?

[Video]

[foolishwren]

_{[THEEEEERE'S her bro! She was wondering if he'd find the time to tune in. Not that she'd have blamed him if he hadn't. Being lost in the woods didn't exactly lend itself to keeping up-to-date on your social networking.]}

Ugh, nothing really... bitched telepathically spammed me with a bunch of commercials when she lost because she's a fucking toddler, apparently...

[Video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[The photographer goes a little owl-eyed.]}

They can do that here? I didn't think...but. Well. I'm glad she didn't make your head explode.

[video]

[triptoprofiling]

[Now that was somethin'. Norman can't quite put his finger on it but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that something went down with the two. It's not his place though to press on it so he'll try to keep this as casual as possible.]

That was one helluva battle.

[video]

[foolishwren]

_{[Yeeeaaaaah. Not that Heather has a great track record when it comes to getting along with Gym Leaders, but it's safe to say that this is probably the most personal it's ever gotten with one.]}

Heh... thanks.

First time I've tried to get a badge in awhile. Felt a little rusty, to be honest.

[video]

[triptoprofiling]

It's like any other battle, isn't it? Just take down the other trainer's team. Everything else is all theatrics.

[Huh, now that he thinks about it. It is sort of like a performance. A real flashy one at that.]

video;

[angerpoints]

[HEEEY, HEATHER, REMEMBER THIS GUY? He was gonna comment on how well you battled just now, but then... then something else caught his attention, and now, instead of looking impressed by your Magical Dog-fighting prowess, he looks caught between being surprised and being really miffed. All right, Johto, what the hell are you playing at? This is some serious balogna.]

Wait a sec, that lady's a psychic? I thought people here weren't supposed to have powers.

[:I Seriously, how is it fair that Princess Bitchface there gets to have powers and he and a bunch of other people he's met doesn't? Yusuke is pretty sure he hasn't been this incensed since he first got here.

Wiiith that said, though, he also hasn't forgotten why he'd switched on his video to respond to her in the first place, so now that he's duly made it clear how cheesed off he is that SOMEONE ELSE HAS POWERS AND HE DOESN'T (baww), Yusuke scratches the side of his neck and says:]

Oh, uh, nice fight, by the way. Sucks that your Absol got taken out, though. She gonna be all right?

video;

[foolishwren]

<sub>[YES, SHE DOES ACTUALLY!]

[His observation gets a groan out of her.]</sub>

Apparently whatever strips powers away only does it to us. The natives get off scott free if they wind up being born with something crazy.

_{[She didn't have any powers to lose, so that doesn't bother her so much-- just the fact that Sabrina saw fit to be a DICK about it is what's making HER upset.]}

.... Anyway, yeah.

She'll be fine. I'm actually waiting at the Center right now.

video;

[angerpoints]

Tch... that's bullshit. The least What's-Her-Name could do is use 'em for something useful, instead of just picking through peoples' brains and being a pain in the ass.

[Yusuke's starting to suspect that being a pain in the ass just comes with the territory for mind-readers, though. God knows the last one he met deserved a punch in the face (and received just that, among other things).]

Good to know. So how many badges does this make?