Visiting the Dark Gym

Namieda stood in front of the Dark Gym for a little while, Eduard the Wobbuffet next to her. She smiled and pushed the door open, being greeted by pretty much pitch black. With a shrug, she plunged into the darkness with her buddy and walked on through. With little issue she made her way to Star, the Gym Leader, smiling happily.

Star blinked as blinding light flooded through her gym, and she couldn't help but cringe from the flab of blindness it brought to her dark-adjusted eyes. Sighing, she assumed another challenger was present. She allowed her eyes to adjust back to the blackness, which they did oddly quickly, and stepped forward.

"Are you a challenger?" she called out to Nami, unable to recognize her face (she really didn't with any of the Gym Leaders). Her Houndoom stood by her side, sniffing curiously after picking up Wobbuffet's scent.

"Not exactly." Nami said, shaking her head but still smiling brightly. Eduard wobbled back and forth in the darkness as Wobbuffets do in any condition. "I'm Namieda Makara. The Frustration Gym Leader. You're Star, right? You're the Dark Gym Leader, if I remember." She said, her smile never fading. Eduard continued to wobble. "Lolololololololololololo." He said quietly.
(More references.)

"Yes I am," Star replied, "and I don't think we've met yet, so, er, nice to meet you." She was a bit offput by the girl's constant smiling. In a sense, Nami was Star's foil, the complete opposite of herself: like two ends of a magnet. U fortunately, two different ends of a magnet tended to attract, and usually uncomfortably close.

Joining her Houndoom's eyes, eight more curious sets of eyes focused on the Pokemon, drawn out of the darkness by the Wobbuffet's song, if you could call it one. Her daring Absol approached the trollish Pokemon and nodded its head in greeting.

"Nice to meet you as well~" Nami said happily before hugging Star, as was her custom upon meeting new people. She quickly let go, her smile still ongoing. "Sorry, I like hugging people. Hugs are nice, they make people feel welcome." Nami said cheerily to the somewhat dark Gym Leader.

Eduard saluted the Absol with one arm and continued to wobble. "Nanananananana."

Star clenched her teeth and backed up a few spaces, so if another hug threatened, she could quickly dodge out of the way. She wasn't one to feel 'welcome' by a hug, maybe 'dying from lack of personal space', but definitely not welcome. "So," she said hesitantly, "er, Hugsy," she had forgotten the other Gym Leader's name already, so she used an appropriate nick name, "what brings you to Nimbasa and here?"

"Well, Ms. Shadow," Nami aptly nicknamed the gloomy leader, "I came to challenge you, actually. Not exactly for your badge, but for a friendly match if you may." She smiled. "After all, I hear you're really strong. You should be able to sweep me pretty quick. I just want to test my team for upcoming battles." She said confidently. While Namieda was childish, it didn't mean she wasn't serious about her team.

Star sighed, unlike the other leaders, she actually was too lazy most of the time to enjoy battling. It just took away from her daytime naps. "Well, I can't really deny a challenge," she said with an unevenness voice, "so I guess we can knock ourselves out. As you know, it's pitch black in here, so good luck getting past my stealthy dark types."

She stepped back, and silent footprints strode forward, the first of Star's Pokemon. A surreal heat enveloped the room, hinting at what the hidden Pokemon may be. "You have the first move, if you can try and hit him," Star said.

"Okay then~" Nami said cheerily. She thought carefully before picking a Pokeball and throwing it out. While the rest of the Pokemon's body was pretty much not there in the darkness, the bright red and blue gems on Arion shined brightly as he appeared, accompanied by a flash. The Pokemon said nothing, but generally observed the area. "Arion, Foresight." The two gems the Pokemon had instead of eyes glowed slightly as it foresaw some event that was to come soon.

Watching from the shadows, Star's own low-leveled Sableye watched its more powerful brethren fight. Though he remained loyal to his trainer, his curiosity edged the other Sableye on.

Knowing the thickness of the shadows wouldn't faze the other dark type, Houndoom would rely on simple skill alone. He wasn't a bit worried of the impending attack. Instead, he was growling slightly and circling the Sableye as a shark would its prey. Hoping to catch it by surprise, he suddenly jumped toward it and unleashed a jet of fire from his mouth, a Flamethrower.

The Sableye WAS caught by surprise, but Nami kept it together. "Power Gem!" Arion pulled himself together and formed a glowing gem in the middle of its hands before firing it into the plume of flames that were coming his way, attempting to block the fire and hit Houndoom at the same time. Kill two Pidgeys with one Power Gem, if you will. Eduard watched from Namieda's side, still wobbling back and forth while humming his silly song.

Not about to be outdone, "dodge it!" Star called, and Houndoom complied. As the Power Gem hit the Flamethrower, the embers were sent hazardously flinging in all directions. Some even bounced back toward Houndoom from the force of the attack, and though those hit him before he could duck from the attack, they only strengthened his power, due to his Flash Fire ability. He narrowly managed to duck under the Power Gem, and felt the attack whiz right past his head. Growling, his bared teeth crackled with electrical energy, and he lunged at Sableye, attempting a ThunderFang.

"Detect!" Arion's gem eyes glittered for a moment before he ducked under the attacking Houndoom, basically becoming a ball. "Fake Out!" She laughed. Arion popped up, coming right in front of the Houndoom's face. It went to slash at the opposing Pokemon's face, before quickly stopping and clapping in its face, attempting to freak it out and unnerve it.

"Don't let it get to you!" Star commanded, but Houndoom flinched none of the less. Unnerved for the moment, he couldn't muster an attack to preform, but did jump away several feet to but some defensive distance between Sableye and himself.

"Arion, Toxic!" The Sableye's clawed fingers glowed an even darker purple and it launched at the Houndoom, attempting to slash it with the apparently poisoned appendages repeatedly. Eduard wobbled back and forth, following the rhythm of Arion's slashing. Namieda smiled, a smile one could almost take as being sadistic, and watched her Pokemon's assault.

Star's face remained bored and expressionless as the poisoned claws jabbed into Houndoom and the toxic took effect. "Flamethrower once more," Star commanded a hint of excitement crossed her voice, as if the bored look was only a facade, "and hit him while he's close!"

Rearing back from the sting the claws caused to pump through Houndoom's body, he quickly shook it away and glared fiercely at Sableye. Baring his sharp canines, he opened his mouth and allowed a jet of fire to escape and hurtle toward Sableye, even hotter than usual thanks to the Flash Fire that had taken effect earlier.