Welcome to Gaia! ::

As Veillantif launched Dragonbreath, Vivillon set off with a powerful flap of her wings. Moving quickly, she spiralled around the attack. Her speed forced the air away from her body, and the spiral move created a vacuum effect around the Dragonbreath, keeping it contained and harmless.

Vivillon was at ground level now, circling Veil while putting on another burst of speed. As Salieri made her Smokescreen command, Viola countered with "Psybeam." Vivillon generated a pink blast of energy, which collided with Veillantif's black bubble and sent it crashing into the ceiling. The hissing Smokescreen was instead covering half of the opening to the arena, but not the arena itself.

Viola counted on Salieri being distracted at her attack's diversion, calling for another Psybeam, this time at Veillantif. Horsea weren't very mobile on land, so she doubted it would dodge without the use of some kind of attack, likely a Water Gun's propulsion. And if the challengers were too busy following the Smokescreen trick, Salieri wouldn't give the command in time to stop Vivillon from blasting her opponent.

As Veil's Bounce occurred at the same time as Vivillon's Psybeam, the bug type needn't use another attack to counter. Instead, she angled her blast so that it went upwards slightly, which was all it would need if Veillantif was arcing so closely over the beam.

The chances were that Veil was moving too quickly in one direction to be able to change course before being hit. However, if she were able to jet to one side, then she'd be off course for her Bounce and miss completely, leaving herself vulnerable to another beam attack. If the Psybeam did land, then it would have an increased damage effect, with the force of Veil's movements enhancing the opposing force of Vivillon's beam. If this happened, then Veil would land her super effective blow, backed with the sheer brute force of a Horsea, but receive a critical hit Psybeam in return.

"Light Screen!"

Veillantif had been blown away further than anticipated. She had been weakened and was close to the edge of the arena, meaning that one good hit should end it one way or another. Of course, Viola and Vivillon knew to be careful near the out of bounds zone. It was their gym, after all, and it would be embarrassing for the gym leader to lose a pokémon on a technicality.

The Horsea knowing Bounce had proven unexpected, though Viola was still not quite sure what she had seen. The crowd seemed to love it, roaring with approval at every exchange of attacks. Despite the level difference, and Veil's low attack power, her strike had still be a super effective hit, costing Vivillon about a third of her health.

So she had Vivillon bring up a shield of light to reduce any incoming special attack damage. Horsea were able to shoot bugs out of the air for their meals, so it would be foolish to underestimate one, even if it was on its last proverbial legs. Vivillon would only be covered from one side, leaving her flanks, rear, top and bottom uncovered. However, the bug type would be able to quickly move the Light Screen in any direction she wanted to around herself, allowing her to fend off attacks from single directions, and always keep it pointed at her opponent.

Vivillon flapped hard to halt her momentum in the air, allowing Bubblebeam to shoot right past her. She went back to her original strategy, stirring up the air currents with a "Gust!" then riding the waves. It would keep her movements fast and unpredictable while she closed the gap between herself and Veillantif. Once she was close, but not too close, she'd flap hard with another Gust, aimed right at the Horsea. If it hit, the damage would be enough to knock the pokémon out of consciousness, as well as out of the arena.

Using Gust at the end of a swoop forced Vivillon to kill her momentum. Had she expected Veil to grab a webline, she may have given it the little extra oomph needed to soar away, but it was too late for that now. Disable's mysterious energy washed over her, and she temporarily forgot how to use Gust. The annoying part was that without her knowledge, she'd also be buffeted around by the disturbed air currents until they died down a few seconds later.

Thankfully, Veil would also be getting knocked about by the fading Gust, dangling from her position on the web. If Vivillon could strike the webline at the right time, it would send the little Horsea spilling over the edge of the arena and into a disqualification.

Viola tapped a button on the camera she had slung around her neck. It was a special camera, and not just because her sister had given it to her. With this, she was able to manipulate the match's TV broadcast to focus its attention on the challenger, herself, or the battle. The gym leader gave herself a close up, then smirked theatrically.

"Infestation," she said just as Disable finished washing over Vivillon. The pokémon shook her wings, pushing herself into the squalling air currents and away from the arena's edge as best she could. For the next second, she'd be a little distracted trying to keep her position, but that was okay. Veillantif would be distracted as well.

Thousands of tiny black bugs crawled from the thick webs that came down from the ceiling. They didn't look like pokémon; more quivering black blobs of thin flesh, with no obvious face or features besides their dozen spindly legs and shivering wings. They hissed, climbing out of the gaps between the webbing, fumbling over one another, towards Veillantif. The webs bled with insects, and they began to file down Veil's webline. Unless she moved, they would chew through the web and send her falling out of the arena.

And if she did make a move, the Infestation would set off in earnest. Spewing from every crack and gap in the webs around the ceiling. The summoned bugs were able to fly in a swarm, and would make it their mission to overwhelm Veillantif, and start the long, painful process of burrowing into her flesh.

Infestation shot out in full force once Veillantif swung from her thread. They swarmed, grouping together like buzzing black tendrils that came from two directions at once. Veil's manoeuvre bought precious moments, but she was surrounded from both sides. If she didn't find a way to get down quickly, she'd be engulfed by the Infestation. Her Ink Bath may give her a slight defence, but once it was devoured, she'd be vulnerable. At the same time, the airwaves disturbed by Gust started to settle, making movement easier for both parties.

When the Horsea shot her wide Octazooka, Viola's response was simple. "Finish it!" Veillantif's spray of ink covered a wide area, probably hoping that no matter which direction Vivillon chose to dodge, she had no choice but to get caught in the attack. But unlike regular Octazooka, this variation was flimsy, and easy enough to punch a hole through with a more powerful technique. By spraying the ink in the way she had, Veillantif had also limited the scope of her vision, filling her view with the blackness of her wide spray and masking Vivillon's counterattack.

Veil traced an arc across the underground sky, so all Vivillon had to do was trace her trajectory, and swipe a Psybeam in the opposite direction. It would hit Veillantif first, then carve a line through the Octazooka, separating it into two halves that would shower either side of the butterfly pokémon, leaving her clean, with Light Screen catching any leftover drops of ink that might fall through the middle. Vivillon flew higher, making sure she had the air advantage.

Dodging the Psybeam was one thing, and as unlikely as it was that the Horsea would see the attack coming before it landed, she still had the Infestation to deal with.

Octazooka's ink dyed the ground with a black splatter. Vivillon wasn't entirely sure how Veil had avoided the Psybeam, but that didn't matter now. The Horsea was coming in with a deadly Bounce attack. The distance was narrow, and for all her speed, Vivillon couldn't manage a dodge without Gust's assistance. Viola saw it too, quickly shouting for, "Draining Kiss!"

Rather than weakening her position and trying to avoid damage altogether only to fail, Vivillon aimed to mitigate it by using Veillantif's attack as a means to promise her own. So as the Horsea whipped out with her tail, Vivillon would hit it with Draining Kiss. It would mean taking a super effective critical hit to the face, but the damage from the Kiss should finish off Veillantif, while the draining effect would provide Vivillon with a slither of health to stay in the battle.

If Veil dodged the Draining Kiss, she would miss her attack. And if that happened, Vivillon would use the opportunity to flap hard and make some distance, while at the same time blasting at her opponent with a Psybeam before she hit the ground.

"You're not so bad yourself," Viola replied with a sweet smile. It vanished when Biz came out, settling back into her match face. Infestation left the arena when Veillantif had fainted, each bug crumbling like wet sand until they became a fine mist, which soon vanished without a trace.

Tired as she was, Vivillon wasn't so slow that she couldn't dodge such a telegraphed attack. With a laboured flap of her wings, she sent herself over the spinning Chespin as he launched himself at her. She twisted around in the air to blast at him with a "Supersonic!". Her wings shook for a second before unleashing the high pitch ringing sound right at her foe.

Normally inaccurate, there wasn't much distance between the two airborne pokémon, so the chances of Supersonic sending the Chespin into a stupor rose. Viola hoped that the Rollout would disorientate Biz just enough to let the Confusion effect take hold more easily. If it did, then it was a toss up as to whether he'd hit the ground spinning, or land flat on his face.

Unfortunately for Biz, Viola was the one giving the orders and she didn't speak pokémon. "Infestation!" she commanded, and with a shake of Vivillon's wings, the black bugs were summoned from the webs on the ceiling. They would shoot out in every direction like black waterfalls, pouring through gaps in the webbing. If Biz was still there when the bugs came, he'd be scratched as they exited the ceiling webs, but not caught in the trap. The Infestation bugs took a few seconds to swarm into tendrils before they could be used to their full purpose, and in that grace period, they were relatively harmless. Painful, but harmless.

Vivillon maintained air superiority, and it wouldn't be long before her Gust was operational. If Biz still clung to the ceiling after Infestation was summoned, Viola would call for another "Psybeam!" to blow the Chespin from his hold.