not everyone gets scared off. for some, the loud UPROAR is a beacon for a challenge. a makuhita waddles over, confident in being able to handle shitter with a proper application of judo. for victor, he's never seen such a pokemon. his first instinct is to whip out his pokedex, reading over the generic entry and sizing up their opponent. "a fighting type, huh," he muses. on paper the match up is entirely against them but that's not enough to dissuade him.

"HORN DRILL."

a classic start with the standard knock out move. very few pokemon can handle having rhyhorn plunge its horn deep into flesh. having witness some of the puncture wounds first hand, victor's confidence in the pokemon's ability to dispatch opponents - as long as it landed. that's where the complexity came from. trying to land such a move in such a straight forward way required extreme speed or an immobile opponent.

rhyhorn charges forward, snout hung low ready to skewer the plump wrestler. to victor's surprise, it refused to move, embracing the approaching rhyhorn with open arms. little did they know that makuhita would disappear right before rhyhorn could hit it. it's a total FAKE OUT and leaves shitter stunned, confused at the sudden switcharoo. the momentary flinch is enough for makuhita to follow with a FORCE PALM, launching the rhyhorn backwards, battered.

"shit. so it's like that."

victor sees their predicament in a heartbeat. no wonder makuhita didn't move, it didn't need to. much like a matador with tauros, makuhita could just watch rhyhorn and slap it away whenever it was about to strike. that meant their traditional method of attack would need a shake up - literally.

"EARTHQUAKE."

with a bit of a stumble, shitter picked himself up, shaking off the impact of makuhita's attack. with a little wind up, rhyhorn brought its forelegs down with a hefty STOMP, causing abrupt tremors underneath. the very ground shook as pieces of the ground erupted and threw debris toward the makuhita. "don't let up," victor demanded, causing shitter to throw a tantrum. the tremors don't stop and victor watches as the makuhita succumbs to being pelted by the very earth it stood on. so much for that.

rhyhorn +2 lvls
rhyhorn lvl 21 > lvl 23 

when one falls another will rise to take its place. victor is no stranger to how the world works. the new arrival does in the way of surprising him. the environment and people may change but the sentiment always lingers. the strong attract attention and over time it bleeds into conflict. sending makuhita on its way only brings out the croagunk, a new challenger who wishes to stand tall where the former has fallen. victor is more than happy to oblige.

"EARTHQUAKE."

if nothing's broken, why fix it? the command brings rhyhorn into another frenzy. shitter stampedes in place, pounding his hooves against the ground. each impact causes the earth to shake, up-heaving shrapnel toward the fighting poison pokemon. in response, croagunk charges forward, shuffling through the debris and disappearing before their very eyes. victor has to do a double take. sure enough, they lose track of croagunk amid his FEINT ATTACK. victor can vaguely make up croagunk after image, trailing into a path that starts to get dangerously closer to rhyhorn.

"HORN DRILL."

there's no reason to wait for the croagunk to get within striking range. at victor's command, rhyhorn charges, head lowered as it charges. with the threat of two hundred pound of speeding mass colliding into croagunk's much smaller frame, it tries to veer rhyhorn off its path with a tricky MUD SLAP. the attack lands and loose dirt ends up blinding rhyhorn. but that does nothing in the grand scheme of things. having set itself on a straight path, shitter still ends up ramming into croagunk in a terrible TAKE DOWN, the horn misses the mark but a bodily TACKLE still bring a whole world of pain.

"MEGAHORN."

while rhyhorn's in range, it becomes ridiculously easy to gap close what little spacing the croagunk has, bashing it back and forth with its empowered horn. with a pained limp, the croagunk flees while it still can. victor reprimands shitter from pursuing, uninterested in finishing off a beat combatant.

rhyhorn +2 lvls
rhyhorn lvl 23 > lvl 25 

two for two. it's expected but victor is pleased with shitter's stamina. the rhyhorn easily dispatches any and all with vigor to spare. the sudowoodo is no different. rock against rock, rhyhorn has the obvious advantage with its menacing EARTHQUAKE. what victor doesn't know is that despite sudowoodo's STURDY exterior is a plethora of grass and rock moves. even worse, it can MIMIC anything shitter can throw at it. however, ignorance is bliss and what victor doesn't know can't hurt him.

the same cannot be said for shitter. their unfamiliarity with native johto pokemon makes them fearless. shitter continues his stampede and leads with a decisive HORN DRILL. imagine the beast's surprise when the horn doesn't impale flesh but chips away at stone. it leaves shitter vulnerable and a perfect victim to the retaliatory GRASS HAMMER. it's a heavy down swing, the sheer impact of the blow sends rhyhorn into the ground. even victor is caught off guard, watching the sudowoodo reel back from the recoil of hitting such a hard target.

"STONE EDGE."

there's no remorse and even less regard for shitter's well being. being caught in a hard place leaves little room for compassion. a moment of greving leaves an opening the opponent can exploit. once sudowoodo is dealt with, can victor tend to his ailing rhyhorn. shitter can't grasp the concept but abides nonetheless. in a feeble attempt to pick itself up, rhyhorn pounds the ground, causing a crag to erupt and splinter off. shards of stone combust, pelting the sudowoodo at point blank. it's enough to suppress the pokemon momentarily but not near enough to knock it out.

"toss it with MEGA HORN."

order are given on the fly. the STONE EDGE hasn't even finished when victor chains another command on top of another. this is how battles are done, calculated in real time with orders given to spare no openings. sudowoodo is unable to react as it tries to defend from the previous attack. with a firm thrust, shitter lofted the sudowoodo overhead and into the horizon.

rhyhorn +2 lvls
rhyhorn lvl 25 > lvl 27