[attr="class","therivtop1"]

[attr="class","therivlyric2"]

If I can't evade my fate

[attr="class","therivmid1"]

Jenna could have fallen asleep. A poncho had been thrown over over her shoulders, encasing her like a blanket. As the sun began to rise, she could feel the warm rays radiate across her skin and it made her eyelids feel heavy. All that warmth could have made anyone feel sleepy...[break][break]

But she kept herself awake, glancing back to her camp. Earlier, her Quilladin had insisted that he be the one to make coffee this morning. Coulter was always a troublemaker, but he was also genuinely curious to learn new things. Maybe this was his way of doing something nice for his trainer, knowing that she had been patient with him since they had encountered each other at the Safari. Jenna rubbed at her tired eyes, unaware of the bobber that had suddenly sunk below the surface... or the sound of her line running.[break][break]

Her Quilladin came around the corner from where her campfire had been burning, a tray held in front of him with the thermos and cups. “Hey, you did it.” She called out, happy at the prospect of enjoying a cup that she didn't have to brew for herself.[break][break]

And then her fishing rod was ripped cleanly from her grasp. “Huh?” The Ranger snapped her head, looking out to the water... something was coming up. There was a large shadow and the water seemed to rise as something was coming up to the surface.[break][break]

Coulter dropped the platter, shocked at what was emerging. It was a Gyarados. The large pokemon leered down at them, its full height casting a shadow that eclipsed Jenna and her grass-type... “Are... are you kidding me?” Jenna said slowly, quietly, noting that the line of her rod was coming out from its lips, her fishing rod dangling a few feet below that.[break][break]

When the pokemon roared, Jenna wasn't tired anymore. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” She lunged out of her chair and booked it. Quilladin was right on her trail, both of them screaming as the Gyarados began the assault. It crushed its tail down onto the beach, destroying her chair as it thrashed like the wild water creature it was. “Coulter! I dunno! Use... uh! Shit! Shit!” It was following after them, intent on punishing Jenna for daring to try and fish it out from the water.[break][break]

“Rollout!” She shouted, taking command of the battle. Coulter looked at her as if she were demented. “When you launch through the air, use vine whip to get back to land. Just aim for me and I'll try to get you back!” Now that sounded like a much better plan.[break][break]

What other choices did they have?[break][break]

Quilladin braced him, curling his body before lunging off from the pebbled beach. He collided against the side of the giant beast, keeping it from using another trash on Jenna's campsite. Just as they had planned, Coulter tried to use the backward momentum of his attack to return to shore, casting out vine whip and securing it around Jenna's raised arm. She yanked, trying to assist in his efforts–[break][break]

But that's when things weren't going to end well for either of them. "Oh, shit." Jenna realized why.[break][break]

Gyarados used bite, snagging the Quilladin in the air and yanking its head back, unintentionally ripping Jenna straight off her feet and into the water with a loud splash. As it shook its head, Quilaadin struggling in its maw, the girl was dragged back and forth in the water, as if she were a water-skier that had fallen but the boat kept going. She could barely keep her head above the surface, realizing she had made a very very bad mistake.[break][break]

In a panic, Coulter did the next best thing he could think to do and used Needle Arm to pry the beast's mouth open wide enough for it to jump out, trying to escape its grasp. The gyarados cried out in pain, feeling the sharp pins of the pokemon dig into its mouth, giving him enough time to escape. His second jump, another attempt to return to shore, was done with enough force to rip Jenna out of the water, making her collide against the hard pebbles and bounce like a fish that had been ripped from the river.[break][break]

Coulter withdrew the vine whip, sparing her from any more suffering. The Ranger, who wondered how her arm was still attached to her body, gave a thumbs up just to show that she was still alive... even if she wished she wasn't as her arm ached with a terrible intensity.[break][break]

The second rollout, delivered with far more force than the first, finally defeated the oversized fish and sent it back into the water... but it had brought her fishing rod with it. “F-fuck it.” She groaned, laying out on the wet pebbles, soaked to the bone. “I-I'll buy a new one.”[break][break][break]

[attr="class","therivtop1"]

[attr="class","therivlyric2"]

If I can't evade my fate

[attr="class","therivmid1"]

While Jenna tried to recover from her rough time with Gyarados, Quilladin had sprung back into action. The approaching slowpoke had caught his attention. Did the lazy creature want to fight? After his trainer sustained injuries, he supposed it was his duty to protect her.[break][break]

He lunged into action, starting the battle with a fierce slap of his vine whip. It knocked the slowpoke off its feet, sending it rolling through the pebbles and mud. The Ranger cracked one eye to watch the fight as it unfolded, wondering how her perfect morning had been ruined so thoroughly. She lost her fishing rod. Her chair was busted. Her arm hurt. Her face hurt. She was cold and wet and– “I wanna die.”[break][break]

Coulter gave his trainer a side glance, his face strained as he tried to express his condolences. Unfortunately, the moment he took his eyes off the battle, the slowpoke retaliated with a blast of confusion. Coulter, by the time he realized her mistake, turned to face his foe right as the concussive blast collided against his face. Similar to his own vine whip, the spikey pokemon was launched off his feet.[break][break]

Where he landed on Jenna with a hard crash. The ranger wheezed, contorting from the impact, as all of the air was knocked from her lungs.[break][break]

If this was a pokemon battle, Jenna Wright would have been declared the loser... but she wasn't unconscious, just in too much pain to continue with this battle or with this shitty morning. “Coulter. Your spines. T-they really hurt.” Coulter was quick to roll off of her, holding his head after the mind-wrecking blast.[break][break]

“Are you confused? Seriously?” Of all the rotten luck... The girl managed to gasp in a proper breath, ignoring the aching pain that had taken over her body. She pushed herself up from the ground. “Use needle arm. Please.” Dazed, Coulter managed to stumble forward, trying to see through the double vision as quills grew up from his arm.[break][break]

He lunged, swinging the attack towards the slowpoke. It connected, successfully scratching the water-type in an effective fashion.[break][break]

The ranger picked herself off the ground, knowing that she had humored this battle for long enough. She snapped a pokeball off her waist and chucked it with all of the strength her good arm had left in it. It smacked against the slowpoke and drew it inside.[break][break]

Coulter looked back at her, still dazed. “I just want this morning to end, okay?”[break][break][break]