bottlecaplogs | Dolly's February and March Catchall~

(It finally happened!! Though the puns fade away as the cave continues, everyone listening carefully for the target...)

The ambience of the cave isn't helped by the fact that, as they go along, many of the crystals have reflective faces... and sometimes, the team's reflections have an odd flicker to them. Something moving just out of sight? And then it gets weirder: sometimes their reflection is missing a party member. In one reflection, Dolly is injured, limping with an ear held drooping. In another reflection, Cedric is evolved, a towering but unusually slender Honchkrow. In one more, instead of Siffrin being reflected, there's a Meowth.

Siffrin isn't... entirely unbothered by these, but moves along as if they were expecting something like this, fur along their spine bristling slightly. (Is this what they were implying was worth warning about?) It's only the last reflection that finally gives them pause - they fold an ear back and yank their eye away, something they haven't done for any of the others.

It's then that the ringing begins again. Though Siffrin immediately starts building up sparks, this time it reverberates back and forth along the cave walls and cancels its own effect out - when they realize that they still remember what they're doing, they let the sparks die out.

In front of everyone, the cave walls widen, falling away into a massive open chamber...

(Truly an Arceus given moment! Though, it does patter away into silence...silence...)

A part of Dolly felt a certain cave dwelling weirdo obsessed with a magical ring would come climbing out at any given moment. Though, what Dolly was about to see...it would've been much preferable to meet a cave dwelling weirdo and do some riddles instead.

Why was Siffrin a Meowth and Cedric a Honchkrow? More importantly...why was Cedric hogging all the height!? Dolly blinks a bit before she finally notices her reflection...her dropping ear was back? Was this a soothsaying cave? ...She will have to ask questions later once this was done and over with.

Oh no, not that ringing again! Back to wrapping up her ears once more to block out that sound, though glad that Siffrin is sparking up to drown out the soon to be battle of the bands rematch in a cave! ....Never mind..this cave eats electrical currents...what in the Stellar Sea is wrong with this cave!?

Carry on towards the open chamber! Surely nothing wretched or awful is waiting...

Already staring at the crystals more than he ought to, he spots the reflections immediately. The cat face causes him to look around, not realising right away that it's supposed to be Siffrin. He darts his eyes to Dolly when he thinks she might be hurt- but no, she's all right. And him-

What?! A Honchkrow?!

No, not the dream again...

He snaps out of his private panic attack when the ringing returns. He lets out a caw, but all it does is echo at an alarming volume as it follows Siffrin's electricity into the rocks. No effect this time; he should be relieved, but his sigh sounds weary as he puffs up his feathers and struts onward into the chamber...

This room is filled with the most massive crystals, charged more than anything else in the cave, and that means it's oddly-well lit for being so deep underground. The chiming echoes from wall to wall, disorientingly, not helped by how it keeps swapping between gentle and chaotic tones, both of them folding over each other.

The team continues through the chamber, alert for their target... but there doesn't seem to be anyone here? That is, until - from behind, a shadow looms over their heads, stretching out in front of them.

Siffrin freezes. But only for a heartbeat. Then they tap one of their paws on the ground, hard - the closest they can get to snapping their fingers - and summon a Tailwind, speeding everyone up.

"It's here!"

If anyone on the team had thoughts of trying to talk first, their opponent doesn't give them a chance. Mega Chimecho swoops down immediately, ringing angrily and trying to impact the whole group with a massive Take Down. Siffrin leaps and rolls out of the way, sparking up to ready an attack.

The song 'Ballroom Blitz' came into mind as Dolly got up the Light Screen for her team the moment dread beast Mega Chimecho came into the picture. It went a lot faster given the Tailwind Siffrin used so that was a nice added bonus!

So this was the Pokemon they were after this whole time?

Well...this certainly wasn't the musical pop idol she had envisioned before hand, but at least Dolly now has a face to the menace mauling Edgar Allan Poe's work. Dolly goes into support mode in making sure her teammates stay safe during this encounter.

Whether she should be concerned or thankful for the unnatural lighting system of the cave was definitely up for debate, but it did make it easy to see everyone...

There's that awful nagging instinct in the back of Dolly's mind acting up again..what's gonna happen now?

A number of realisations cross Cedric's mind at once.

First is that giant ring of a Pokémon... okay, it's really only two feet taller than them, but its presence, paired with the ringing, feels so much more bewildering than any other he's encountered before.

Second is how his body seems to move on its own as Siffrin's Tailwind essentially guides him out of the line of fire. He lets out a yelp as this happens but manages to miss contact with the surprise metal band nevertheless.

And third, why yelp involuntarily when that's one of his attacks? So he flies above and lets out another caw for Astonish. It's some sort of Steel type, but he thinks that made it flinch. Luckily for them, that's the one move he knows that happens to be super effective.

Siffrin skids back to their feet, spinning around to see - fortunately - that neither Cedric nor Dolly have been sent flying. Which means they can focus on counter-attacking. Particularly since the ringing Pokemon seems to have flinched and is wavering between who to target.

Siffrin releases their charged electricity in a Thunder Shock - not a very strong move, but distracting! Lets them get up close with a pounce and follow up with a midair Iron Tail, trying to slice across the Pokemon's... face...?

Mega Chimecho simply swings its central body out of the way, though, and Siffrin's tail impacts its metal ring with a discordant clang that doesn't seem to do very much. The angry Pokemon retaliates with a Boomburst, a nasty burst of explosive sound - apparently deciding to resolve its targeting dilemma by going after everyone.

Siffrin is closest and this is awful. Rather than landing neatly, Siffrin involuntarily claps their front paws over their ears and drops to the ground on their stomach, letting out an involuntary yowl. Kind of sounds like a cat who just got its tail stepped on... if anyone can even hear anything after that Boomburst!

The Light Screen did its job pretty well for Dolly as she winces and cringes at the Boomburst...Sweet Mac Lir...this Pokemon was definitely a sadistic creature of sorts with the sounds! Look Dolly, your good friend tinnitus is back!

Okay...Siffrin right now is the closest to the mutated and horrific Chimecho from Hell. Can she get the Light Screen on them from her position or is it better to get Cedric covered first?

Dolly goes to take a chance, starts moving and fast thanks to tailwind! Off to Cedric who will likely get the Light Screen! That should help...right? There's still ~~Wish~~ Bippitie Boppitie Boop that Dolly can use on a moments notice to heal.

"I can't bell-ieve this is going down!"

Edited (Realized I goofed on this one and had to fix the direction Dolly was going :x) 2026-03-04 03:24 (UTC)

Cedric is too distracted by the forsaken clang this giant ring is producing to acknowledge Dolly's pun (the greatest tragedy of all).

He is grateful for the Sylveon's shield, but what about Siffrin? They're getting the worst of the impact, and are clearly hurt! What can he do to spare the Shinx more suffering?

The Tailwind inspires him to use more wind in their favour, and so he attempts his most recently-learned move, Gust. "I've got your back, Siffrin!"

The sound is very loud and agitating, but concentrating on his own actions makes it seem less overwhelming in his head.

The Gust and Tailwind combined generate enough of a wind to sweep Mega Chimecho to the side and against a cave wall. It impacts with a loud clang! and sends rocks clattering down - but it's enough to get the bell Pokemon to cut off that awful sound, so it's probably worth it.

Siffrin staggers back to their feet, shaking their head - or maybe their ears? It's only thanks to the string their hat is on that it stays on their head. They're bristling.

"Th-thanks."

For the moment the cave is mercifully (mostly) silent, but Mega Chimecho is already drifting back into the air, looking furious. They need to figure out a way to counteract those sounds... maybe Dolly has a suggestion?

Oh, oh sweet Stellar Sea...Dolly had to think of something to suggest on short notice and the tinnitus is being well...awful.

Think...think..thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink....AN IDEA HAS COME INTO MIND! Dolly looks over to Siffrin and Cedric as she has something of an idea to go on that is risky, but might work..

"Let's turn the sound against them! It's risky, but it should work!"

However, it didn't stop there, oh no, Dolly was going to make sure that Siffrin comes out alright. Lifting up a paw, the pink star-shaped sparkles erupt to form...a magical girl wand with a star on top, passing it over to Siffrin. Dolly used Baton Pass on Siffrin!

Is the extra speed going to help? Who knows! Dolly is trusting Siffrin not to do something foolhardy...Yep, this should end well...

It worked - it worked! Oh, he likes having a wind spell!

"My pleasure!" he replies to Siffrin, a little too enthusiastically thanks to the adrenaline rush. But it's short-lived as the giant ring's already back up, much to his dismay.

"Turn sound against them?" His words echo off the cave walls, which clues him into the strategy. "Righto!"

Cedric flies back up to Chimecho's eye level and delivers a louder Astonish. It seemed super effective last time, maybe the cave will help double those results!

Sound? They can do that. Siffrin follows Cedric's lead in generating noise, sparking up their noise-generating electricity again. Sound booms across the cave, clashing with Mega Chimecho's ringing.

Though it's no less energetic, the giant bell Pokemon seems disoriented. Its sound attacks are still somewhat effective, but partially drowned out by the mess of echoes the team is making and Dolly's Light Screen. Its physical attacks are entirely off-center, and it slams into and bounces off walls rather than making contact with any of the smaller Pokemon. Siffrin in particular uses the extra speed from Dolly's Baton Pass and their own Double Team move to harass the Mega Chimecho into chasing after them, creating openings for more attacks from Cedric (and more self-inflicted recoil).

At some point, though - whether it's the impacts from Chimecho, the reverberating sounds piling on each other, or perhaps both - the ceiling starts to shake much more violently. In a matter of moments, the battle stops - not because any of them are done fighting, but because the priority becomes not getting caved in. Even Mega Chimecho is trying to duck and cover, rocks gong-ing off its body.

Siffrin darts back toward their teammates, eyes going wide and ears folding back in alarm. They dodge several falling stones - bad memories! Very bad!! But it's the crumbling ceiling above Cedric that sends their heartrate spiking even higher. "Hey - !"

There's not enough time for a proper warning; Siffrin only has a split second to decide to Volt Switch with Cedric instead. They're promptly buried.

It felt like it was all in slow motion when it happened when it had been mere seconds when the rocks buried Siffrin.

Dolly froze a bit...this wasn't supposed to happen..Siffrin..are they..?

She snaps out of the the initial shock before screaming out:

"STARSHINE!!" Then reality hits Dolly like a brick wall..

FOCUS! Dolly cannot teleport to get them out of there and attempting to dig right now is out of the question given Mega Chimecho...she has no other choice. Dolly goes to make a run for Cedric to help him at once. He was the closest and Dolly had a healing move that can help right away. The Light Screen did its job for Dolly in block the falling rocks up above as she hauled her spice scented buns right over to her team mate.

"Cedric! Cedric, you alright?!"

Cedric was so caught up in cawing and flapping incessantly that the rocks shifting under the noise don't fully register to him. Not until he sees Siffrin out of the corner of his eye right before there's a jolt of electricity shooting through him, like he drank lightning from a bottle. By the time he sees clearly again, there is Siffrin standing where he once was... under a pile of rock.

"Siffrin!" He tries to fly forward but stumbles over instead; the voltage was not kind to his wings. All he can do is stare and quiver as Dolly moves forward and...

Wait, are those her ribbons? What is she doing? But before he can think about it, something washes over him, a sort of... did they just heal him? Well, not perfectly, he's still quite frazzled, but at least he can move now, so he stands up to meet with his Sylveon saviour.

"I am... thanks to you. Wh-what about Siffrin?"

On one paw, Dolly was relieved that she did managed to heal up Cedric, however...Siffrin...

.....The pragmatic side of being a Fae Queen had to be brought out and dusted a bit.

"I hate that I even have to say this, but we need to incapacitate the mystery Pokemon first before we can help Siffrin. If we attempt to dig them out now...they would be left opened to attack and whatever state they may be in..."

Dolly had to stop herself, she had to. There was a job that had to be done, clean cut and out in the open. There's a glance to the rock pile that covered Siffrin throughly before looking over to Cedric.

"I can try a Disarming Voice to lower its defenses, can you make a clean shot at it with an attack to knock this Pokemon out?"

Dolly's February and March Catchall~

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aaand that's Siffrin out of this thread! get rocked loser

RIP Siffrinx, I can hear the 'GANDALF' coming out of Dolly now...

Siffrinx ;w;

Siffrin is no longer allowed to be near any rocks, it's a rule now.