¤Game¤ Dragon Tamers Battle Range v.23 {MA Pidgeot}

[Knight of Time]

Okay, before I start to write out this story, I'm going to give some important references to people from the last Battle Range story I wrote, as well as some references to new characters. Just as a forewarning: I'm also going to make the language in this story a little stronger, but nothing too offensive, just trying to make this story stand out a bit more from my previous ones.

Allen- this guy is the proud owner of an Alakazam, who helped me out a couple of times in my last story. Here though, he is revealed to have another Pokemon besides his Alakazam.

Jason- this guy is new to the story, he battled Jeff "Blue" Azure in this story, but lost a tough battle against his Flareon, and is vowing payback on Jeff. I do my best to help him out.

Megan- this little girl is accidently left behind by her parents in Twoson, by the time I find her, she is in a bit of trouble, but things quickly look up for her as her and I go on a successful search for her parents.

Surge- this is my recently renamed Raichu, he won't be gaining any levels or new moves in this story much like most of the Pokemon I'm going to use here (with one notable exception), but he is going to be a vital asset in getting me to Eagleland.

Raven- this is my adopted male Zangoose, this is the first time I have him in a Battle Range story, he helps me out later in between my two battles when I help Megan get reunited with her parents. Again, he isn't getting anything out of this story other than helping to save her parents. Note: I taught him Close Combat from a TM I got one day at Goldenrod Tower in April of 2007, it came in handy here.

Jeff "Blue" Azure- this guy ends up claiming responsibility for the near-destruction of Crossroads, I deal with him accordingly in this story, with a little help.

The two Gastly in this story normally would get Curse at L16 in GSC, but since Curse was a TM back then, the female one got it that way here.

Mr. Gardiner- this guy runs a bike shop, carrying Acro Bikes and Mach Bikes. In my last story, I finished with one of the Mach Bikes, so I have this kind of bike for the start of this story, but I don't use it, nor do I make a visit to him.

Crossroads- well, since I believe it was Ade wondering where this place is, it's a small town located just outside Ulthuan.

21 Knight Street- in my stories, I live on this street, as does the person whose Delcatty was rescued in my last story.

Kyle's POV

I woke up this morning feeling fairly energized. After my two successful battles over a couple of Team Rocket members several months ago, I turned on my TV for the latest news, and the latest story on there immediately caught my eye. A building, that was set on fire was the first thing I managed to notice. But my expression quickly turned into a gasp as I saw a most unusual sight. Next to the trainer that appeared to be responsible for causing the blaze, was a blue coloured Flareon. The trainer himself was in a blue suit, that closely matched his Flareon's colours. I knew that normally, a Flareon wasn't blue, after comparing this one to my own Flareon, Blazer, I knew it was crazy to think about. Still, I had to try and find a way to stop this guy. As I headed outside, I took out and opened the Pokeball containing my female Cleffa, Flora.

"Flora, your chance to evolve into a Clefairy is very close to happening. A while ago, I forged something special for you, which I'll give you later." I said.

"You're going to help me evolve? Really?" Flora asked, beaming.

"Yes indeed. You know, a couple of years ago, I had another Cleffa who I helped evolve into a Clefairy after several battles, but even though she never became a Clefable, I promise that you'll be a Clefable someday yourself. Carrying on in the footsteps of a departed Pokemon is always a good thing to do in my book." I replied.

"I'm sorry you lost your old friend, I know I can take her place, Kyle. I don't mind evolving to my final stage at all, if it's to fulfill a big wish of yours, I accept it with pride." Flora said.

"Thanks, Flora. Now, the Genetic Accelerator Gene I forged for you is what you need to become a Clefairy, but to become a Clefable afterward, I will have to get a Moon Stone for you. For now, I'm going to return you to your Pokeball, as I think I may want to look for an old friend here, just incase. I haven't seen my new friend, Allen, since the last time I had a couple of battles." I said, as I recalled my Cleffa back into her Pokeball.

"Hey Kyle, long time no see! How are you?" a familar male voice shouted to me. It was Allen.

"Hi Allen, it's great to see you again, ironically, I was just talking about you a moment ago." I said.

"That's ironic. Hey Kyle, I heard about the suspicious fire from earlier, I was wondering if you might have any Water Pokemon that might be of help here? I could sure use some help." Allen said with a slightly disappointed look on his face.

"I do, I happen to have a Vaporeon whose name is Aqua, she can use her Water Gun to help if necessary." I said.

"I don't think Water Gun's going to be enough to help with this fire, Kyle. Unfortunately, this fire quickly grew after it was spread, that Flareon that set it must be extremely powerful. I can tell it knows Overheat, because the flames from an Overheat aren't just red and orange like other Fire attacks, they are a mix of red, orange, white, and most shockingly, blue, just like those flames that are heading right for the bike shop! We better warn Mr. Gardiner!" Allen said.

"The bike shop? Oh no, this is bad, we have to do something, and I mean fast. You said you have a new Pokemon Allen, is it a Water type?" I asked.

"Yeah it is, I recently befriended and caught this Empoleon just the other day. Luckily for me, I found a Hydro Pump TM lying around one day while we were walking together, so I
decided to give it to him for some more power. With it, I'm quite sure we can put out that fire." Allen said.

Nodding at Allen, I quickly took out Aqua's Pokeball, enlarging and opening it up to reveal the mermaid-like Pokemon.

"Aqua, you see that fire that's heading for the bike shop? Think you can aim a Water Gun toward it if we can get close enough without getting burned?" I asked her.

"I...I...I'm rather nervous of your request there, Kyle, but if it's to save this town, then yes, I will do my best to help." Aqua said, with a determined look on her face.

"Thanks Aqua, the flames are heading right for a bike shop that I've been sort of a regular at for a while, and I know I'm going to have nightmares for weeks if that Flareon I saw earlier does any more damage around here. Unlike other Flareon, this one's blue in colour. It gives me the creeps, especially since this one can seemingly breathe blue fire. As far as I recall, blue flames are harder to put out, due to them being hotter than your average kind of flames. If there were more people with Water Pokemon around here, these flames wouldn't be too hard to extinguish." Allen said.

"I'm sorry Allen, but Aqua's the only water type I have on my team. I also have a Raichu that knows the move Surf, but he won't be of much help here, I'm afraid." I said.

"I understand. We better get cracking here, fast. Empoleon, help us put out this fire with a Hydro Pump!" Allen ordered as he quickly released his emperor penguin Pokemon.

"Aqua, help Empoleon put out those flames, use the strongest Water Gun you can pull off! This one is going to need to be as continuous as possible!" I ordered.

As the two Water Pokemon combined their respective Water attacks to hit the flames, I saw they were driving the flames back, but not completely destroying them.

"Kyle, those flames seem to be tougher than I thought for us to get rid of. You sure Aqua's your only Water type?" Allen asked as he began to panic a little.

"Yes. But, I have an idea. I'm going to have to find the source of the flames myself, but I need you to keep an eye on your Empoleon, as well as Aqua, so that they can hold the flames back long enough for this idea to work. I have a Pokemon I may refer to as my trump card, and I'm certain I'm going to need his help with it. I'll be back here as soon as I can try and destroy the source of the flames." I said.

As I dashed alone toward the flames, it didn't take me very long to see the original source of where they were set. Quickly drawing a second Pokeball, I enlarged it and opened it up to reveal my Porygon, Cyberius.

"Cyberius, this is a critical situation here, I need you to help Aqua, my friend Allen, and his Empoleon to put out these flames, can you shoot an Ice Beam directly toward the flames just in front of us, please?" I asked.

"No problem." Cyberius said, in his clicking/beeping voice.

Watching as Cyberius created a freezing cold, light blue orb of ice energy, I watched as the Ice Beam sped like a speed demon toward the flames. The moment they collided, I gazed in surprise as the flames began to shrink and fade away. Crossroads was saved!

Running back to Allen with Cyberius floating behind me, I quickly turned toward the bike shop.

"That was close. I had no idea your Porygon knew Ice Beam." Allen said. I could tell he was at a loss for words.

"I gave him an Ice Beam TM that I recently got for my birthday, I had a hunch that I could fight fire with ice, I mean, fire melts ice, but since ice melts into water, a constant Ice Beam can provide a lot of water if it hits a fire." I said.

"Ah, that was definitely a clever move to pull, Kyle. Hey, I never got to ask you this until now, but where are you headed?"

"Well, first, we have to find that guy whose Flareon started that fire earlier. He's not going to get away with trying to destroy my hometown, so let's go!" I said.

As Allen and I dashed off to find the guy responsible for the blaze, we eventually came across a fellow trainer, who had a look on his face I couldn't understand very well.

"Don't c-come any closer! If you're a friend of that...that man with the Flareon, I'm not letting you through!" the young man said, taking what almost looked like a battle stance.

"Hey, slow down. I'm no friend of that guy either. In fact, his Flareon tried to destroy one of the most important areas of this town, the bike shop. My friend, Mr. Gardiner runs it. The flames were so close, if it hadn't been for my friend here, the place could have burned to the ground, and Mr. Gardiner could have been injured, or worse..." I said, shuddering at what could have been a terrible loss in Crossroads.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I really thought you were on that guy's side when I saw you approaching. But since noticing that Vaporeon and Empoleon you have, I'm definitely certain now that you must be after this guy. By the way, my name's Jason. And you are?" Jason asked.

"I'm Kyle, and this is my friend, Allen. This Vaporeon is mine, and her name's Aqua, but the Empoleon actually belongs to Allen. Still, they really helped me out here." I said, showing my gratitude toward Allen in a positive gesture.

"It's nice to meet you both. That guy just defeated me in a battle like ten minutes ago, before I noticed that fire. My Pokemon were no match for that blue Flareon of his." Jason
grumbled.

"You can't let that get you down, Jason. Remember, even if an opponent seems to be unbeatable to one person, he is certainly not as unbeatable as he thinks he is. I'm certain Allen's Empoleon can make quick work of the Flareon, I noticed it's incredibly strong, definitely stronger than Aqua. Aqua, I'm relieved you and Cyberius weren't alone in fighting that fire, it could have been a catastrophe without Allen and his Empoleon here to help us out." I said, as I turned to face my exhausted Vaporeon.

"I'm glad we got that fire contained, Kyle, but I feel my strength may have gone down because of all the water I had to use. I'll be fine after a while." Aqua said, panting.

"I did notice, I'm sorry I had to make you give it your all with that Water Gun, Aqua, but you do deserve a nice, long rest for being so helpful in such a desperate situation." I said, as I recalled Aqua back to her Pokeball so that she could regain her strength.

"What happened after your battle?" Allen asked Jason.

"After the battle, that guy quickly took notice of the town, and he made his Flareon use Overheat on that building that Kyle and his Porygon were close to. It's unfortunate the building was destroyed, but as I recall, there was nobody inside it at the time, which was very fortunate. It's just too bad that all the items inside that building got destroyed. But since then, that guy took off in the opposite direction he came. I heard his name is Jeff "Azure" Blue, and he's a member of the Happy-Happyism cult. That group is seriously, and I mean seriously, bad news. If I were you, I wouldn't confront their leader." Jason said, as he shook his head in heavy disappointment.

"Is Jeff the leader of this group?" I asked.

"No. This group is headed by a guy by the name of Koop R. Balthazar. This guy is even more dangerous than Jeff, and they have a hideout stationed in a place known as Twoson, on the continent of Eagleland. But I've heard that the seas surrounding the area are filled with Carvanha and Sharpedo whose teeth have been genetically altered to be able to tear right through ships in a matter of seconds if they are in a group, so sailing to the area is completely impossible. Only a surfing Pokemon that is prepared to hold off them off can safely cross into Eagleland, and subsequently into Twoson." Jason said.

"My Empoleon knows Surf, so we can all ride him. But that's not all, I can have him hold back the vicious sea Pokemon with Hyper Beam, just incase. My Empoleon only uses it in
emergencies where it can't make any bad situation worse, like making a fire even stronger." Allen said.

"My Raichu can also use Thunderbolt just incase we needed to stop the Carvanha and Sharpedo, but I'm worried that if he does use it, that he would make the waters unsafe to travel in via a Surfing Pokemon. Anyway, let's quickly head for the shore, Jason, it isn't too far from here is it?" I asked.

"It's not too far, but it's going to take quite a while to get over to Eagleland, but we can reduce the time if we can defeat most of the Carvanha and Sharpedo first. Your Raichu's
Thunderbolt may be strong enough to shock all the Carvahna and Sharpedo into submission. Fortunately, they are the only Pokemon guarding the water passage to Eagleland. If you can knock out as many of them as possible, we should be able to cross into Eagleland without any resistance once the electricity dies down. You up for it, Kyle?" Jason asked me.

"It's worth a try. I'll release my Raichu out once we get to the shore, those Carvanha and Sharpedo are going to get a taste of their own medicine." I declared.

As we walked out of Crossroads, it didn't take us very long to come to the shore. I could make out several fins sticking out of the water in the distance that were quickly moving toward the shore, and I could tell they were not going to let us cross without a fight as they swarmed around the shore, baring their teeth at us all. They looked to be as sharp as swords, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

"If you fishfaces think you're going to stop us from crossing the sea you guard, think again! Surge, I'm going to need your help here." I said, as I let the Raichu out of his Pokeball.

"Looks like you guys are going to have your hands full getting across the sea here, Kyle. Anything I can do?" Surge asked.

"Yes. Can you aim a Thunderbolt into the water right behind all the Carvanha and Sharpedo, Surge? I'm certain that water is classified as saltwater, not freshwater, so the electric current should be able to travel through the entire body of water long enough to give these fishy guards the shock of their lives." I said.

"That's no problem at all." Surge said, as his cheeks began to spark with nearly 100,000 volts of electricity.

Seconds later, Surge released a massive bolt of electricity that arced over the Carvanha and Sharpedo before making contact with the water behind them, and it wasn't long before the electricity died down, leaving the piranha and shark Pokemon out like light bulbs that had burned out.

"Alright Surge, you did it! I never imagined you had the power to give such a shock to all those Carvanha and Sharpedo, thank you so much!" I said, congratulating Surge on a job well done.

"Aww, that was too easy. You were right Kyle, my Thunderbolt was able to get them all at once, I guess it's a good thing the water here can conduct electricity throughout the area." Surge said.

"Just goes to show you Surge, for every kind of disaster, there is a Pokemon suitable for handling it better than others. You did well for making the sea completely safe to cross here, so I'll let you back into your Pokeball for a rest." I said as I recalled Surge.

"Well, since the Carvanha and Sharpedo are no longer a threat, Empoleon can help us across with Surf. You ready to help us cross into Eagleland, Empoleon?" Allen asked.

Seeing Allen's Emploeon nod his head was a sure sign that he was ready to help us cross. As he jumped into the water, he motioned for Allen, myself, and Jason to jump on his back.

"Sorry guys, but I can't help you anymore at this point, you're on your own. I have to go back to town to get my Pokemon healed, luckily, the fire from earlier completely missed the

Pokemon Center." Jason said, shaking his head again.

"That's quite a relief. Good luck then, Jason, and thanks for the much-needed information." I said, waving as Jason hurried back to town.

"You're welcome Kyle, good luck guys!" Jason said, as he waved back at Allen and I.

Once Jason was out of sight, Allen and I quickly jumped aboard the S.S. Empoleon, a nickname Allen had started to call his Empoleon everytime he used Surf for crossing a body of water. Luckily, the nickname didn't bother Allen's Empoleon very much, and within several minutes of smooth, unbothered Surfing, we made it to Eagleland. Upon setting foot in this unusual continent, we found everything, from the ground, to the buildings, to even the wild Pokemon in the distance, were all blue. Not too far ahead was a forest, which luckily, wasn't set on fire. As Allen recalled his Empoleon, we walked onward until we came to a clearing.

"You thinking we should split up to find this Jeff guy?" I asked Allen.

"No. Even though it may be easier that way, what if you run into him and his Flareon while we're separated? I'm quite sure your Vaporeon won't stand a chance despite her type
advantage, if she's overcome by the extreme heat from that Flareon. You better leave him to me, Kyle. I came prepared once I heard the news about Twoson. That city got set ablaze, too. I've been hearing some late rumours that Twoson has recently become a ghost town, you see, even though Jeff's Flareon did some pretty bad damage to one of the most famous buildings, the Twoson Department Store, he hasn't been alone in the destruction, this guy's just filled with Fire types, you name it, he's got it, they were able to burn up almost the entire city together, but thankfully, its citizens were able to flee. But, with the city being run by the Happy-Happyism cult, you can bet that there are grunts all over the place, just raring to battle. And just incase Jeff himself comes along, Empoleon and I can keep him and his Flareon busy. You saw the power of Empoleon's Hydro Pump against that fire, remember? That Flareon may have ultra-hot flames in his arsenal of moves, but he's still no match for massive bursts of water." Allen said.

"Well, okay. I'm glad I've got your help here, Allen, not to mention your Empoleon's help as well." I said, showing my gratitude towards them both.

"Anytime, Kyle, anytime. Omigosh, you see that Flamethrower up ahead?" Allen said, his smile suddenly turning to an unhappy sounding gasp.

"Another one? Seems like this Jeff guy is trying to lure us right out into the open with his Flareon. Knowing that, he can't be too far from here, especially if he's making his Flareon cause fire after fire after fire, it's totally ridiculous! Let's go!" I shouted as I began to dash toward Twoson.

"Hey, wait for me!" Allen shouted back as he began to keep up with my quick pace.

It wasn't very long at all before we came to Twoson. Thinking to myself that Jeff didn't finish the destructive work he had started here, Allen and I quickly caught sight of him, and confronted him.

"What? Who are you two losers? You have no business trying to ruin my fun here." Jeff said with a twisted smirk.

"What, did the firefighters in this town end up leaving because of you?" I asked angrily.

"Ha, you bet they did. My Flareon's name is Incinerator, and he lives up to his name. I was told you destroyed that fire in your hometown, and I'm not too happy about it. Nobody is going to stop me from what I do best and get away with it!" Jeff roared at me.

"How did you hear about Crossroads?" I demanded.

"Oh, a source told me it is one of the smallest towns outside of this miserable country. I just thought that because of its size, it would be much easier to conquer than Twoson here." Jeff replied.

"I'm never going to let you get away with destroying another city or town, EVER. If you think your group can continue its reign of terror, my friend will deal with you." I warned.

"Your friend doesn't scare me. In fact, since hearing of your arrival here, I have no time to stick around to meddle with the likes of both of you. I have more places to go, more places to turn to ashes. Just stay out of my way, or you'll be next." Jeff threatened.

"And what do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I met a third guy not too long ago, his Pokemon were too easy, almost like making a hot knife go right through butter, beating him was a piece of cake. Burnt cake that is." Jeff sneered.

"Don't you talk about Jason that way! If you want trouble, I'll give you trouble!" Allen said.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Jeff jeered as he turned and fled in the opposite direction.

"Hey you, come back here! I'm going to get you good, you hear me?" Allen shouted, as he and his Empoleon took off, in pursuit of Jeff.

"Allen, be careful!" I shouted.

"I'll be fine, I'll catch up to you as soon as I can, take care, Kyle!" Allen called as he continued to chase Jeff.

As I waved good-bye to Allen, I slowly walked toward the center of what was left of Twoson. Judging by what I saw when I looked at all the buildings, I was horrified. How could what used to no doubt be a pretty town go down in flames, so fast? In my mind, I knew that I had to find a way to make the Happy-Happyist cult pay. But before I could ponder my next move, one of the grunts of the Happy-Happyism cult, a woman dressed in a blue suit, suddenly ambushed me.

"Hold it right there, punk, where do you think you're going?" the grunt shouted.

"I think I'm going to take care of you, that's what." I replied.

"Oh, you think so, do you? We'll see about that." the grunt sneered, as she took out a Pokeball.

"One false move, and I'm taking you down." I warned, as I took out a Pokeball of my own.

"Sounds like you want a battle. You're going to get one, and I'm going to be the one who will take you down. Let's go, Gastly!" the grunt shouted, as she enlarged and opened up her Pokeball.

Seeing as this Gastly was as blue as the Flareon that Jeff had, I quickly took a fighting stance as I enlarged and opened up the Pokeball that Flora was inside.

"Okay Flora, you two have type disadvantages over each other, but don't let this Gastly's unusual colour deter you from winning this match. I have heard rumours that the blue Pokemon are stronger than their normally coloured counterparts, but that doesn't make them unbeatable whatsoever. They may have abilities that they normally don't have, so we better be careful, just incase." I said to my Cleffa.

"I'm ready for this Gastly, no matter what's up its trainer's sleeve, I'm going to give it my best shot." Flora said.

"That's the spirit, Flora. You win a couple of battles here, and I promise you'll be a Clefable in no time." I said.

"Come on, bring on your puny Pokemon, my Gastly may have a type disadvantage over her, but your type disadvantage is going to be an even bigger one than mine." the grunt laughed with a grin.

Battle Time!
Flora the Cleffa (F, L10) vs. Happy Happyist Grunt (F)'s blue Gastly (F, L15)

Flora's POV

Upon hearing that last insult from the human who was taunting my trainer, I immediately took my own fighting stance. I had absolutely had enough of this bad woman, and I wasn't about to let her or her Gastly get away with anything more that could get on my normally calm nerves.

"Flora, let's show this lady you mean business, start this battle off with a Thunder Wave!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, don't let that Thunder Wave strike whatsoever, Protect yourself!" the bad woman ordered back.

As I let loose several constricting blue sparks of electricity from my body, I watched as they began to move toward my ghostly opponent. But right from the start, she was a step ahead of me, and I groaned in frustration as she put some sort of protective, translucent sphere in front of her, causing my Thunder Wave to fizzle out the instant it hit the Protect shield.

"Flora, don't let that ghost off easy, Thunder Wave again!" Kyle ordered, a second time.

"If this little fairy Pokemon thinks she can get a better start than you, Gastly, she better watch herself. Now, use Curse, and show her the true terror of being a Ghost type!" the bad woman ordered back.

For a second time, I let loose some more sparks of electricity to restrict the Gastly's movement. But no sooner than they connected this time, I gritted my teeth at the ghost as she made a needle-like object appear out of thin air, which she used to stab herself. Almost instantly, I shuddered as the Curse started to slowly sap away my strength. I couldn't afford to lose this one so fast, as I whimpered in pain.

"Kyle, this...this ghost seems to have gotten the advantage on me, you're not going to give up, are you?" I asked him.

"I'd never give up in the middle of a battle, Flora. Even if things get really bad early on, that's when I bring out the heavy artillery. Besides that, because your opponent used Curse on herself, she just made a big mistake, by slashing half of her strength away, if we're lucky, we can bring her down quicker! Now, blast the Gastly with an Ice Beam!" Kyle ordered.

"Good work, Gastly, that Curse ought to bring down your opponent within a few turns. Now, fight off that Ice Beam with a highly explosive Shadow Ball!" the bad woman ordered back.

Knowing that I wouldn't last too long in this battle at this rate, I quickly powered up a light blue orb of freezing cold energy, making it into a dazzling beam of ice which to my surprise, was countered by an orb of pure ghost energy. By the time the two moves collided, I witnessed an explosion, and shrieked in pain as the esplosion washed over me. But I also noticed the Gastly howling in pain too, knowing that the explosion had damaged her as much as it did to me. Almost immediately, I whimpered in pain, knowing that the Curse the Gastly put on me was still in effect.

"Don't you even realize what can happen when you cause two energy attacks to collide? I told you before, making one false move will cost you in the end. Now, Flora, it's time to try and regain some health, use Wish immediately!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, let's make sure that Wish doesn't come true, steal some much needed health from the Cleffa with a Giga Drain!" the bad woman ordered back.

As I struggled to get up, I bent forward, making a wish to the skies for some of my strength to return. It made me smile, as I noticed that the electricity from before was keeping the Gastly from moving. Knowing that she was fully paralyzed for now, I knew my wish was coming true, as a giant, light bluish beam of light came down from the sky, restoring about half of my strength. But, my joy was short lived, as the Curse sapped some of my strength once again. I knew I couldn't take much more of this, and I quickly turned to Kyle.

"Kyle, what am I supposed to do at this point? I still have some strength left in me, but I'm nervous I'm not going to have enough to take down the Gastly." I said, whimpering at him.

I could tell at that point that Kyle was still not holding back against the bad woman and her Gastly. Despite all the pain I was going through, I knew from that moment that Kyle was pondering a finishing move for the Gastly.

"Flora, this is our chance. I don't know how long that Gastly's complete paralysis will last for, but it's time to finish her off! Now, let's take advantage of the situation with a Thunderbolt!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, hang in there, we aren't going to lose this one without making things easier for my partner-in-crime here, use a Grudge on yourself the moment that Thunderbolt hits!" the bad woman ordered back.

At this point in my battle, I had no time to lose. As my cheeks began to spark with electricity, I let loose a poweful bolt toward the Gastly. But, to my shock, while the electricity was draining the remainder of her strength, I suddenly found myself under a different kind of curse, that drained all the powerful electricity from my body. I couldn't use any more Thunderbolts! But that didn't matter, as that last one finally finished
its work, and the Gastly fell to the ground, blackened, and unmoving. At the same time, I could no longer feel the pain that the Curse had been causing me throughout the battle. I had won!

I grew to L12!

"Flora, you did it! But it looks like you won't be able to use Thunderbolt in your next battle, no matter, we can still win the next one without it!" Kyle said.

"Gastly, you put up a great fight, I'm just sore that this Cleffa had to end up overpowering you in the end. Return." the bad woman said, as she recalled her defeated Gastly.

Kyle's POV

"You may have won this round, but this is only the beginning. I'm going to report this defeat to the head of the cult, if he ever finds you, he's going to make mincemeat out of you." the grunt threatened.

"I don't think so, sister. I got a friend dealing with your group's second-in-command. If he comes back to me victorious in battle over your second-in-command, your group will go down for the count in no time flat." I said.

"What? You really think your friend can defeat our group? If he does defeat our second-in-command, he'll never defeat our leader. Our leader is 10 times more powerful than our
second-in-command, so it will be over his dead body if your friend challenges our leader to a battle." the grunt sneered.

"My friend's main Pokemon has a type advantage over your second-in-command's Flareon. If all goes well, that battle should have ended right now, but in my friend's favour." I said.

It wasn't too long before Allen came right back to see me. Telling by the look on his face, I could tell he was exhausted.

"Allen, are you okay? Did you manage to beat Jeff?" I asked.

"Yes...but he put up one hell of a fight, his Flareon almost overpowered my Empoleon, but the type advantage prevailed. The battle was just so damn long, Jeff threw everything he had at me until his Flareon finally went down. I'm just so tired, I think I'm going to head back to Crossroads to rest." Allen said, panting.

"Wait Allen, don't! If you head back on your Empoleon, I'm going to be stranded in Eagleland, I should have warned you, but my Vaporeon doesn't know Surf!" I warned.

"I see. Well, I can tell you must have had a tough battle too, your Cleffa okay?" Allen said as he carefully picked up Flora to examine her.

"She's been weakened from that last battle she had here, but she managed to edge a Gastly this woman used in the battle. Unfortunately, I don't have anything on me right now to help heal Flora, you have any sort of potions on you? I sure could use one." I said.

"Yes, I have a Super Potion, I had this in my pocket ever since I came here, let me spray it on Flora." Allen said, as he gently lowered Flora back to the ground after looking at the
wounds she had suffered in the battle.

"Great thinking Allen, go for it." I replied.

As I watched Allen spray the Super Potion onto Flora's wounds, I saw her wince in pain just for a moment, since I had the hunch the potion would sting her a bit. But luckily, it didn't take too long before her strength completely returned.

"There now, you okay, Flora?" Allen asked.

"I'm okay, thank you." Flora replied.

Turning back to Flora, I knew she was ready for battle once more. But, the grunt that I had just defeated was showing signs of anger at her humiliation, and I gasped as she took out what looked like a cell phone. In no time flat, I smirked in displeasure as she contacted her boss, the notorious Koop R. Balthazar.

"Hello, boss? I just ran into this guy who beat me in a battle, can you send backup?" the grunt asked.

"What happened? What do you mean you lost? I gave you that blue Gastly for a reason, if you dare fail me again, I'm going to dismiss you from the Happy-Happyist group forever, you hear me?" Balthazar replied, obviously furious.

"This guy's Cleffa proved to be too much for my Gastly. But, I managed to soften her up incase my partner can avenge me. Is there any way you can get him here?" the grunt asked.

"I'll send your partner over to help you, you just hang in there. Jeff will take care of the rest." Balthazar said.

"Uh, boss, I got bad news, Jeff...lost a battle. This guy's friend beat him in a battle, with this Empoleon he had." the grunt replied.

"WHAT! Jeff got defeated in a battle? How could this happen? One of these days, I'm going to find that guy with the Empoleon, and he is going to be real sorry he messed with the Happy-Happyist group. He may have beaten my second in command, but in battle against me, his Empoleon, and any other Pokemon he may have won't stand a chance against my Pokemon." Balthazar roared.

"Boss, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry about this. I'm going back to base now." the grunt said as she ended the conversation with her boss.

Turning her attention to me, the grunt glared furiously at me.

"You have won this round, punk, but you haven't won the war. Nobody will ever defeat the Happy-Happyist group!" the grunt roared, as she stormed off in a huff.

As I watched the grunt high-tail it out of Twoson, Allen split up from Flora and I, each of us surveying all the damage that this once beautiful town had taken. Within a few minutes of walking around, I came across a little girl that had left behind, who looked to be about 8 or 9 years of age. She was crying, and obviously scared, which made me think of what could have happened to her parents.

"Mommy, Daddy, where are you? I'm so scared, I don't like this place anymore, I just wish I knew what happened to you both." the girl cried.

"Easy there, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm Kyle, and I've been called here to take charge in this mission, to help in the fight to put the Happy-Happyist cult down for good. Unfortunately, they are the group that was responsible for destroying your town. I wish I could be of more help, but what happened to your parents?" I asked the girl.

"They fled to safety when our house was set on fire. I was with them at the time, but just as we fled our burning house, I tripped and really hurt my knee here, I couldn't follow them to where they were headed, and to make matters worse, they both didn't come back for me, maybe because they didn't notice what happened, because they were ahead of me. My knee still hurts a bit, do you have any bandages?" the girl asked, as her tears began to subside a little.

"I wish I did, but I'm afraid I don't. But, with only a little blood coming out of your knee, if we can find a large enough leaf that can stop the remainder of the bleeding, we won't need a bandage. I passed through a forest earlier that wasn't touched at all by any fires, so it's completely safe." I replied.

"You must be talking about Twoson Forest. The cult hasn't gotten to it yet, but who knows how long it will be before it, too, is destroyed. I have a funny feeling my mommy and daddy got lost there, we need to find them, fast!" the girl said, as she dashed out of Twoson.

Leaving Allen behind for a few minutes, it didn't take long for me and the girl to get back to the forest. Since Allen and I were last in it, we didn't do much exploring. But this time around, the girl and I stuck together, in the search for her parents. Almost immediately upon entering, I caught sight of a leaf on a nearby tree. Carefully pulling it off without shaking the tree too much, I placed it on the girl's knee, holding it there firmly for about a minute. After removing it for the girl, we both breathed a sigh of relief as the bleeding stopped.

"Oh, thank you, your leaf strategy worked so well!" the girl said, as she smiled at me.

"You're welcome. By the way, my name is Kyle, what's yours?" I asked the girl.

"My name's Megan, it's nice to meet you, Kyle." the girl said as she carefully shook my hand.

Once Megan's knee was pretty much back to normal, we continued to walk through the forest. But, it wasn't long until I heard cries in the distance, as if someone was in trouble!

"Do you hear those cries? They might be your parents!" I said to Megan.

"It sounds like they must be in trouble! I'm too young to have any of my own Pokemon, do you have any?" Megan asked in curiousity.

"Yes, I've got 15 Pokemon on me, of various types. In the event that your parents were attacked by any wild Pokemon here, I can use one of mine to scare the attacker or attackers off. This Pokemon here with me is my Cleffa, Flora." I replied, showing Flora to the girl.

"Oh, she's so cute, I've always wanted a Clefairy, but I guess yours would evolve into one, right?" Megan asked, still in curiousity.

"Yes, I have an item that will help her evolve when she is ready, she's getting there." I said, as I gently patted Flora's head.

As the girl, Flora, and I continued to walk toward the source of the cries, we eventually came across a man and a woman in their late 30's or early 40's, being attacked by a trio of blue coloured Poochyena.

"Mommy, daddy! I've found you at last, are you both okay?" Megan asked.

"Oh, Megan, you've found us. Quick, does this guy you brought with you have any Pokemon that can fend off these Poochyena?" the frightened parents asked, as they turned towards me.

"I take it you must be Megan's parents. Yes, I do have a Pokemon that can help here, go, Raven, use Close Combat on the Poochyena!" I shouted, as I quickly released my Zangoose out of his Pokeball.

As Raven came out of his Pokeball, he immediately took a fighting stance. It wasn't long before the Poochyena turned their sights from Megan's parents to Raven after seeing their new target, and in a blink of an eye, he began to thrash around with the Poochyena, until they were all taken out seconds later.

"Oh, thank you so much, you and your Zangoose saved our lives, what's your name?" Megan's mother asked.

"My name is Kyle, and you're welcome. I was just here doing my job, but I'm afraid I have to get going now, I left my friend behind in Twoson, and he's probably worried about me. I'm afraid I have to say goodbye." I said, as I recalled Raven and walked back into Twoson with Flora alongside me.

Upon returning to Twoson, it didn't take too long for me to find Allen. But, my joy of seeing him quickly turned to displeasure, as I saw another grunt ambush us. It was a man this time, with a suit as blue as the female grunt I had defeated in battle earlier. Through taking a quick look at his face, I could tell he wasn't very happy I defeated one of his partners in battle.

"I was told of your little victory here earlier. I must say, I am impressed at your skill, but you're messing with the wrong guy, pal. If I manage to defeat you in a battle, I'm taking you and your friend prisoner in our hideout, where you'll be forced to serve us for life. Are you afraid to challenge me?" the male grunt jeered.

"Me? Afraid to challenge someone to a battle? In your boss' and second-in-command's cases, I am smart enough to not take on either of them in battle. But, you certainly look beatable to me. Are you ready, Flora?" I asked Flora, as I turned to face her.

"I'm ready, Kyle, I definitely can't wait to evolve, I can feel the moment getting closer and closer." Flora said gleefully.

"Hah, I'm going to make sure that Cleffa of yours doesn't get the chance to evolve." the male grunt sneered, as he took out a Pokeball.

Watching as the grunt enlarged his Pokeball and opened it up, its contents were revealed to be a Gastly, which was as blue as the one I had previously battled. But this one appeared like it was a male this time.

Battle Time!
Flora the Cleffa (F, L12) vs Happy Happyist Grunt (M)'s blue Gastly (M, L15)

Flora's POV

Growing angry at this guy whose insults to me were as bad as his partner's almost made me want to charge at that Gastly that he sent out. But, Kyle was a step ahead of me, calm as can be.

"Flora, don't let that grunt or his Pokemon get the better of you here! I'm sorry you can't use Thunderbolt, but that won't matter if we take this Gastly out, too. Now, start this battle off with a strong Ice Beam on Gastly!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, if we're lucky, that Cleffa won't get to use Ice Beam very much in this battle, so let's use a Spite to our advantage to reduce the amount of times she gets to use it!" the bad man ordered back.

No sooner than I made another freezing cold orb of ice energy turn into a dazzling beam of energy aimed straight for the Gastly, I suddenly felt another curse on me. But this one seemed different than the last two that were pulled on me. Instead of having my strength gradually drop, or a move of mine get blocked off, this curse seemed to have an effect on my Ice Beam, as if I was getting too tired to use it very often. Still, I wasn't going to let this bring me down easily.

"Flora, this looks like trouble, but we'll get your opponent good now, we don't need to use Ice Beam to make things complicated for this Gastly. Now, Flora, put him to sleep with a Sing!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, if your opponent wants to put you to sleep, let's do the same to her, use a Hypnosis on her!" the bad man ordered back.

Opening up my mouth to sing a pleasant, sleep-inducing melody to the Gastly proved to be the stronger of the two sleep-inducing moves here, as I ended my song, I noticed the Gastly's eyelids begin to droop, before he sank down, fast asleep, right before his hypnotizing could finish. I felt a little groggy from this, but I was far from sleepy.

"Hang in there, Flora! As long as Gastly's asleep, he's a sitting duck. Now, let's try and surround him in an icy prison as best we can, so blast him with another Ice Beam, as best as you can!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, I prepared you beforehand just incase this situation was to happen, use a Sleep Talk!" the bad man ordered back.

As I struggled a bit to make yet another beam of icy cold energy, I shot it toward the sleeping Gastly, not curious very much of what he could end up doing in his sleep. The moment the beam struck the dozing ghost, I jumped up in surprise as it froze him almost completely solid, rendering him almost immobile for now, but this didn't last long, as the Gastly suddenly and unexpectedly shot a black orb of darkness while in his icy predicament, surprising me as it smashed the ice into pieces, and I winced as one of the bigger ones went flying into me, knocking me back a little.

"Flora! This battle isn't going to be easy without Thunderbolt, but if we can hit Gastly with enough of your other best move right now, we may be able to bring him down in no time. Now, use another Ice Beam!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, there is still a chance you might wake up here, so if you do, Torment the Cleffa so she can't use that Ice Beam consecutively, if not, then use Sleep Talk again!" the bad man ordered back.

Once again, I had difficulties in making another beam of icy cold energy, but this one still managed to hit its mark. Unfortunately for me, I noticed the Gastly shivering in his sleep, which caused him to wake up, and he began to tease me so viciously, that I suddenly became too afraid to use another Ice Beam. What was I going to do now, I pondered to myself, whimpering in frustration at this Gastly.

"Flora, this battle isn't over yet, we still have one last shot at bringing this Gastly down, since it seems like he can't stand freezing cold temperatures at all, let's use that to our advantage, get him with an Icy Wind!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, things are looking bad here, but we have what may be one last trick we can pull here, deliver some Payback to that Cleffa the moment that Icy Wind strikes you!" the bad man ordered back.

As I aimed a freezing cold blast of wind toward the Gastly, I watched as he began to shiver more than before. But it wasn't slowing him down as much as I thought, as he suddenly began to glow with dark energy, and he charged me, sending me flying back a few meters. Struggling to get back up, I wasn't about to let my chance to evolve go down the drain, and I gritted my teeth as I slowly got up thanks to the pain that Payback dealt to me.

"Flora! Come on, you can still win this! Use another Ice Beam to finish off the Gastly, you can do it!" Kyle ordered.

"Gastly, we have a chance to finish off that Cleffa too, but we have to hope you'll survive that Ice Beam, first. If possible, use a Thunderbolt on her!"

I was still having a hard time making another beam of freezing cold energy to aim at the Gastly, but after several seconds of annoying delays, I finally got it going, and blasted the beam with all my remaining strength at the Gastly. Kyle could tell from that moment the Gastly wasn't prepared for a full-power Ice Beam, and within a few seconds, the Gastly was literally out cold, defeated in a block of ice. I won again!

I grew to L14 and learned Sweet Kiss!

Kyle's POV

"All right, Flora! That sure showed this guy who not to mess with! I'm so proud of you." I said, as I patted Flora's head in gratitude, knowing that this victory was a hard-earned one for her.

"Damn, I can't believe you beat me too. I hate to admit it, but maybe you and your friend do have what it takes to take down our group. No matter, I'm not going to forget this defeat." the male grunt said as he recalled his Gastly ice cube and fled.

"Well, looks like our work here is done, Kyle, you ready to head back to Crossroads?" Allen asked me.

"Not quite, Allen, I still have a promise I have to keep before we go." I replied, as I reached into my backpack to get the coveted Genetic Accelerator Gene Flora was waiting to see.

"Oh, does this mean I finally get to evolve?" Flora asked, her eyes glowing.

"Yes, Flora, I promise you are going to evolve here. But, it may be a while before you become a Clefable, are you okay with that? Things might get too busy for me later on, but I promise you'll reach your final form someday." I said.

"I understand." Flora replied.

As I held the Genetic Accelerator Gene in front of Flora's tiny hands, I watched as she touched it, and she immediately began to glow white, her body growing a little in size, and about 5 or so seconds later, where my little Cleffa once was standing, a proud but tired Clefairy stood in her place. Flora had finally evolved!

"Well Flora, this is just the beginning of what I hope will lead to more success with you, in your new form, you're going to be one of the best on my team. For now, I'm going to return you to your Pokeball again, just so things will be back to normal for you." I said, as I recalled Flora back to her Pokeball.

Turning to face Allen again, we both headed back to the shore, and Allen let out his Empoleon once more to ferry us back to Crossroads within minutes. Upon making it back to Crossroads, Allen recalled his Empoleon.

"Well Kyle, I guess our quest is over, for now. I've got to get going, but it sure was nice to see you again." Allen said, as he walked off, waving at me.

Waving back at Allen, I headed back to my home on 21 Knight Street, awaiting more adventure...

[classy_cat18]

Finally got another one in!

Shonta's POV
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Katana looked at her new TM for a long time before giving me an skeptical look. "Rolling Kick?" she asked me.

"Yeah. I thought you would like a good Fighting type move," I explained as I washed dishes. "You need to learn to use more than your claws."

"I don't exactly have a fighter's legs." Both of us looked down at her relatively short legs.

"If you can run with 'em, you can fight with 'em. And why are you bugging me about it? Usually you choose to quietly grumble to yourself about these kinds of things." There was a period of silence followed by a quiet sigh. "That bored, huh?"

Katana leaned against the counter and growled. "Even Trinity's being tolerable today. I want a battle or at least someone annoying to slap around for a while. Is that too much to ask?"

"Where's Bandit? By now you two would be threatening to re-enact Mortal Kombat or something." Another length of silence. I looked down to see if Katana was still there. Her expression was indecipherable. It almost looked like guilt. "You know, I have noticed that you haven't been as violent with Bandit as usual. There's still the occasional slap upside the head that he clearly deserves after making a stupid comment, but other than that it's mostly halfhearted insults."

The Zangoose only gave a grunt and replied, "I thought you would be glad that I have calmed down somewhat."

"But Bandit hasn't calmed down at all, but he has seemed to go on the defensive more when you two have your arguments. You know, like he spends more time defending himself than attacking you."

She gave a halfhearted smile. "He knows who's boss now."

"That doesn't make sense. He's stronger than you and can stay on his feet twice as long."

I didn't get her response to that because Bandit entered the kitchen with a smile on his face. Katana didn't affect his mood one bit. In fact, he seemed to ignore her completely. Bandit opened the refrigerator and talked to us while he sniffed around. "Our resident Roserade hasn’t said a word all morning. Anyone want to bet how long it’ll be before we can coerce more than two words out of her?”

To my surprise, Katana laughed with him. "I still think we should give the poor girl a CAT scan."

I stared at her with disbelief for a few seconds. "Are you sure she's the one that needs the CAT scan?" I asked her. "Because you're starting to worry me."

"I thought we were okay with the fact that she's a psychopath," Bandit commented.

Katana's demeanor instantly changed as she smacked him upside the head, earning me a little relief. Just a little. My attention was diverted from them, however, when I heard a familiar yet annoying tune coming from my pocket.

Bandit snickered at the sound. "The Spongebob Squarepants theme? What are you, four years old?"

"I swear I didn't have that ringtone on this phone yesterday." I flipped it open and spoke into it without checking the ID. Right now the only ones that knew my cell number were my team. I recently got another cell phone for them. "Talk to me."

"Hey, trainer dude!" Circe said on the other end, her voice deeper than usual. "We're at the park and feeling fine!"

Something came to me as I heard her voice. "Circe, is Bo with you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, and Ken and Nama."

"Hold the phone up to Bo's ear."

A moment of silence, and then Bo's voice came through. "Hi, Miss Shonta!" he chirped.

"Bo, have you been Web surfing on my laptop without my permission?" I asked him sweetly.

"Yeah, but I had Uncle Bandit supervise me like you asked."

"You know I love you, right? And that I would never hurt you, right?"

"Right, right."

I tightened my grip on the phone. "Then why would you put Spongebob Squarepants on my cell phone?"

"Oh, that was Uncle Bandit. He said that you would like it."

I glared at Bandit while Katana laughed at him. "Don't worry then. I'll have a nice talk with Bandit today about changing my ringtones without asking." I hung up and continued glaring at the Kecleon. "You still bored, Katana?"

"Way ahead of you," Katana said with anticipation. "You know the drill, lizard. Thirty second head start and then it's Mortal Kombat when I find you."

Bo's POV
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Pull!"

Another frisbee was launched into the air. Ken took aim and forced out a sharp burst of water that hit the frisbee and sent it off course. He clapped his hands again, happy that he was winning the game. "Are you counting, Ken?" I asked him.

He held out a hand in front of him and flexed the fingers. "Four!" he shouted, showing me his hand.

I gave him a high five. "Very good, Ken!"

Miss Circe walked over to us, the frisbees in her hands. "This was a totally good idea, using moving targets to practice his Water Gun and counting at the same time." Her real accent was actually lower than the one she liked to speak in, making her sound almost like a guy. It set her apart from the other girls in the team.

"He only hit four out of ten but it's still improving. I still wish we could've found some clay targets like the ones I saw on TV."

"But we would've had to keep buying them. Frisbees are reusable." She set the frisbees in front of me. "I'm going to take a nap so you and Ken will have to find something else to do."

"We really should be going in case something comes up."

She kept walking to a shade tree. "What's the rush? Like, go play or something. I'll be with Nama if you need me."

I sighed and watched Ken as he yawned and followed her. Miss Nama only came here to get a nap. The only time I've seen her move a lot was when she was battling, which still wasn't much. "It looks like I'm going to be by myself for a while."

The park was big, making me feel alone among the strangers. Still feeling active, I started walking across the field. The walking turned into running as I imagined being in a real battle. A fast opponent, matching my every move. He turned as I turned, making sure that I did not get the upper hand. I was about to turn my head and give my invisible opponent a face full of flames when I tripped over something, making me take a nose dive and tumble onto my back.

I fell on my side and looked down at my legs. "Huh? I've been hogtied!" I exclaimed. It wasn't rope, however, but a sticky substance. "String Shot?"

"GOTCHA!" someone shouted from the trees.

A large spider Pokemon burst from a clump of bushes and rushed for me with incredible speed. After a split second of shock, I fired my Hidden Power at him. The Ariados leaped high and landed right in my face. "Nice reflexes," I told it as it stared at my face.

"Get away from him!" I heard Miss Circe yell. The Ariados looked up in time to see the Ralts lift him into the air by a psychic force and throw him away from me. Miss Circe appeared in my line of vision and burned off the webbing tied around my legs with a Will O' Wisp.

I rolled to my paws and faced the confused Ariados. "You know, it was only my second time but I'm already tired of being kidnapped. So scram!"

The Ariados expression quickly turned to fear. "B-b-but i was given orders!" he stammered.

"By who?" Miss Circe demanded.

"My t-t-trainer!" All eight of his legs trembled as he spoke. "P-p-please let me plead my c-c-case!"

I glanced at Miss Circe to see if she was buying it. She seemed to be considering. "Plead away, dude."

"My trainer works for this very rich woman, a world-renowned Pokemon coordinator. Her name is Haruka Aikase but everyone just calls her Diva."

My eyes snapped open by the mention of her name. "I've heard of that name! Miss Trinity used to watch her perform on TV all the time!" I told Miss Circe.

"That's her! My trainer says he's her assistant but I wouldn't use that word."

"What word would you use?" Circe inquired.

"I don't know. Flunky, waterboy, punching bag, whipping boy, doormat. Take your pick. I'm worse, the doormat's doormat. Diva is ruthless. And she has this Glaceon that's just as bad, if not worse."

"What's a Glaceon?" I asked him.

The Ariados looked at me with surprise. "You must not be familiar with the Sinnoh region. Glaceon is a newly discovered evolution of Eevee. An Ice type. Everything that Glaceon wants will get or else. Today she wants a playmate and she told me to get one by any means necessary."

"Or else," I added. "If you wanted me to go, why didn't you just ask me? It would've been less trouble for you."

"Did you not just listen to me whine about how terrible Snowflake is? She's a demon from an icy hell! Her voice is like a Zangoose's claws on a chalkboard mixed in with a chorus of screeching violins! I'd rather stand in front of a stampede of angry Tauros than have to listen to her! She not only wanted a playmate, but a shiny playmate!"

"I'm not shiny," I said apologetically.

"Say again?" he said in a squeaky voice.

"Shiny Umbreon have blue rings. I have red, see?"

"But...but..." He repeated that word like a broken record.

I felt sorry for the Ariados's situation and started to believe that he would really be skinned alive if Snowflake didn't get what she wanted. "I'm sure that Snowflake wouldn't mind. In fact, you might say that I'm one of a kind. That's even better than being shiny!"

The Ariados beamed as best as his face would allow. "Are you saying that you'll help me?"

"More like save you. As long as I can get back home before sundown. Aunt Katana worries when I stay out too long."

He let out a laugh. A very relieved, somehow shaky laugh. "I owe you so much, um...what's your name?"

"Bo."

"I'm Anansi. Thanks."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Diva and Snowflake were staying at the fanciest hotel in Sector Alpha. They were doing a charity show for something. Anansi guessed that it was for good publicity and not much else.

Diva's doormat -- I mean assistant -- stood outside the revolving doors that served as the entrance to the hotel, puffing on a cigarette and looking like he was going to have a nervous breakdown. He didn't look too happy when he saw me with Anansi. "Anansi, who is this Pokemon? I asked for a shiny Pokemon! Shiny!"

Anansi visibly flinched. "But he's probably one of a kind. He has red rings."

"Snowflake doesn't like red!" He puffed on his cigarette while his Ariados shook with fear. "But the deadline is almost up. Take your friend up to the suite."

"You had a deadline?" I asked Anansi as we walked through the lobby and into an elevator.

"Don't worry about that. Just tolerate her for a few hours and I'll have you back home by your deadline." He looked up at the elevator buttons nervously. "Could you press the button for the tenth floor?"

I stood on my rear legs and managed to hit the top button, although accidentally hitting three more buttons. We waited for it to finally stop at the top floor before walking out. I scratched at the door until someone opened the door. Someone with too much makeup on.

"You're Diva alright," I grumbled, grateful that she couldn't understand me.

"This is the best you could find?" Diva asked Anansi, who nodded slowly. "Why am I surrounded by idiots?"

The Ariados just led me through the suite, having to push his legs in so he could fit. The suite had two bedrooms. My play date was in the slightly smaller one.

Snowflake, a pretty light blue Eeveelution, was curled up in the queen sized bed yet was wide awake. Her eyes were locked on me as soon as I appeared in the doorway. "He's red," was all she said.

"I-I-I know," Anansi replied while trying to look somewhere else.

She jumped down and looked at me again. "You're red," she told me.

Wow, she's a genius! I wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud. I'd seen what happened to Uncle Bandit when he said things like that.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something, like your name?" Snowflake asked me in an angry tone.

"Bo," I answered. Well, she wanted me to say something.

"Bo. Is that really your name? What kind of name is that?" She laughed and shook her head.

I couldn't stop my growl from coming. "Your name's stupid too."

That's when I learned about her magic trick: how to make the room get cold in three seconds. Anansi, being cold-blooded, immediately headed out the room for warmer air.

Snowflake was surrounded by a blue light, which was weird considering her current mood. "Do you have any idea who I am?" she growled.

"Diva's Glaceon?" I guessed, feeling clueless.

"What...do you think...that means?" She slowly approached.

I shrugged. Being a celebrity's Pokemon didn't exactly prove anything to me. "I don't know. Could you tell me?"

The room got cold enough for our breaths to turn to little clouds. Anansi shot out a web and yanked me out the room in time for me to get a safe view of everything in there turning into ice. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how dangerous Ice types get when they're angry?" he practically screamed.

“Diva’s not going to like this, even if Snowflake’s her favorite. Everything’s going to be wet.” This was getting out of hand. Snowflake needed to be put in her place. Diva too, but as a Pokemon, I thought dealing with my own kind first would be a good idea. “You find somewhere warm while I talk to Snowflake,” I instructed.

“Will you be alright?” I nodded. “Okay then.” He shuffled to the bathroom and shut himself in.

“DRIFLOON!” Snowflake bellowed as she left the bedroom. She glanced at me for a second. “DRIFLOON!”

What looked like a purple balloon with an X on it drifted to Snowflake silently. “Drifloon, I want you to teach this Umbreon a lesson!” Snowflake ordered.

“Wouldn’t you have an easier time doing that?” I let slip out.

“I’m too stressed out to battle!” She curled up in a corner.

I looked up at Drifloon and sighed. “Any way we could solve this problem without destroying the rest of the suite?” When I didn’t get a reply I sighed again. “Whatever. Not my hotel room.”

L6 Male Umbreon (Bo) vs. L6 Male Drifloon

The two strings that were attached to Drifloon reached out to grab me. Luckily, they were too weak. My back legs dangled an inch from the floor as his arms (or whatever) had me by the tail. “This is too weird,” I mumbled as I let my back half stay in the air.

The strings tightened. A second later I let out a loud yelp as an electric shock ran through my body. I glared at the Drifloon and he did it again. “Stop using Thundershock!” I yelled.

“Keep using it,” Snowflake instructed it.

My claws dug into the carpet as I tried to pull away from Drifloon but he was stronger than I thought. After being shocked a third time, my vision darkened. “Torment,” I growled.

“Hm?” That was the first thing that Drifloon said since I first saw him. I heard him grunt as he tried to release another Thundershock but failed.

“Thundershock!” Snowflake yelled.

I snickered as Drifloon grunted again. “Try something else,” I suggested. When nothing happened, I concentrated on building up heat for Hidden Power Fire. Instead of firing it like an Ember, I let the heat build up in my tail. I heard a hiss and a louder grunt as Drifloon let go of my tail.

“Gotcha!” I said. I yanked him down by his strings and bit into his balloon head, surprised that I didn’t bite a hole in him. A little shaking and chewing had him out like a light.

Bo won and grew to level 7!

Snowflake’s poor doormat was barely floating above the floor. Snowflake nudged him away and glared at me. “You’re such a jerk,” she told me.

“I’m not the one that sent out a Drifloon and told him to use Thundershock even after I used Torment on him. He couldn’t use it twice in a row.”

Her blush of embarrassment (or anger) stood out on her blue fur. Then the blush went away…and everything got cold again. I slowly backed towards the exit. “I really should get home now,” I said cautiously.

“Come back here!” she roared.

That only made me break out in a run. “Stay in the bathroom!” I yelled to Anansi as I passed him.

“No problem!” he whimpered.

I tackled the front door down, pausing for a short second to wonder how I managed to get that strong. The sound of a running Glaceon got me back to running for the elevators. They were already opening. Oh, don’t let that be Diva…

Fortunately, it wasn’t. “Hey, where’s the fire?” Uncle Bandit asked me after the elevator doors fully opened. I tackled him while getting in, heard him grunt from falling on the backpack he was carrying, and then jumped for the ground floor button.

“Go down, quick!” I pleaded at the nonliving elevator. Snowflake was jogging down the hallway. The doors closed before she could pick up speed.

I backed up until my tail hit the far end of the elevator, ignoring Uncle Bandit’s laughing. “Had fun?” he asked me lightly.

“Come on, Uncle Bandit!” I whined. “She was such a drama queen! She was a loud, annoying drama queen!”

He chuckled again. “Sounds like Trinity.”

A soft giggle surprised me. I jerked my head to see Miss Rose leaning against a corner. “Wha…how…I didn’t see you there!”

The Roserade blushed but still didn’t say anything. “It’s weird. She talked a little this morning but that was it,” Uncle Bandit explained. “I think it has something to do with her new voice.”

“Come on, Miss Rose! I think you sound pretty!” I gave her an encouraging smile.

She mustered a small smile and spoke in a soft voice. “I…I feel like…this is the loudest…I can get…” she almost whispered.

“Considering the other girls, I welcome it!” Uncle Bandit said cheerfully. Rose let out another giggle and followed us through the lobby.

We were almost home free when Diva rushed out of the other elevator with the angriest face I’ve ever seen on a human female. My ears drooped as Uncle Bandit and Rose stopped a couple of steps from the exit. “Maybe we should hurry home,” I suggested quietly.

“COME HERE, YOU MUTT!” Diva roared.

“What did you do?” Uncle Bandit asked me.

“It was Snowflake’s fault!” I said hastily.

He sighed and looked at Rose. “Maybe you should try out that move,” he suggested.

Rose nodded in agreement and blew on the bouquets on the end of her arms. A light green pollen drifted across the lobby and into Diva’s face. The raging woman took two more steps and paused. She struggled with her words as her face slowly relaxed. “You…you…never mind,” she said in defeat. Uncle Bandit smiled and waved goodbye. “Yeah…um…go home.” She made a shooing gesture with her hands.

I felt so confused that I had to ask something when we were walking home. “What was up with that? She was so angry, but then she smelled that stuff. Was that Sweet Scent?”

Rose shook her head. “It was Aromatherapy,” Uncle Bandit answered. “It can cure a whole team of any status ailment, and it’s more effective than a chill pill.”

We were about halfway home when I heard music coming from Uncle Bandit’s backpack. The Kecleon groaned and pulled out the cell phone. “Shonta, can I please get this ringtone off?” he pleaded.

”Why? Don’t like the Macarena?” I heard my trainer ask on the other end of the line.

“I’m sure someone on this street will run after me with a noose if I started dancing to it right now.”

She laughed. “Anyway, do you know where the MTU building is?”

“Yeah. They had that maze there, right?”

“Uh huh. Bring Bo and Rose over there. We have training to do.” Uncle Bandit hung up.

“What’s the MTU building?” I asked him.

He looked a little surprised at my question. “I forgot we went there before you hatched. It’s the Mercenary Trainers’ Union building. Heroes for hire. They also help other trainers with training, which is why we’re going there.”

Katana’s POV

“So this is the Free Range Corral. It looks rather nice.” I dug my claws in the grassy ground. “The dirt’s good for digging. They must have a hard time getting it to normal each time.”

“Where are they?” Shonta muttered to herself. “They must’ve been across town or something.”

“I’m sure they’ll be here shortly,” Lily assured her. “Besides, we don’t have a reason to hurry.”

I sat next to Nama, noticing her nervousness. Lately she hadn’t been feeling energetic, which probably would affect her battle. “Feeling okay, Nama?” I asked my teammate.

“It’s been a while,” she nearly whispered.

Both her and Rose have both been quiet lately. Well, we’re used to Nama being quiet. Just not so nervous. I patted her head. “You’ll be fine. Shonta got you a two-on-two battle. Rose has you covered.”

Nama turned her head away from me. “I should be able to do this by myself.”

I sat there in confusion until we heard Bandit and his group walk in the room. Bo ran to me and nuzzled my cheek. “Missed you,” I purred.

“Missed you too,” he returned. “Am I training today?”

I shook my head. “No, Rose and Nama are.”

He nuzzled Nama. “Good luck!”

A woman entered the room from a hidden door on the other side. She had introduced herself earlier as June. “Are you ready now?” she asked Shonta.

“Yeah. The other Pokemon I’m using just got here.” She looked down at Rose and smiled. “Rose, feeling up to this?” The Roserade hesitated before nodding.

“I feel so…exposed.” That was what she said when I asked her what she thought about her new form. Maybe that’s what got her so nervous. Her new body really was something new.

“Rose and Nama, take your places,” Shonta instructed. The two Pokemon sat side-by-side.

The opposing trainer pulled out two pokeballs and tossed them. “I choose Azurill and Eevee!”

A hidden speaker crackled with an unknown voice. “Battle begin!”

L8 Female Roserade (Rose) and L10 Female Slakoth (Nama) vs. L8 Female Azurill and L10 Male Eevee

“Rose, get in front of Nama and hit ‘em with a Pin Missile!” Shonta shouted. Rose squeaked in surprise before moving in position.

“Eevee, Protect now!” June told her Pokemon. Eevee quickly moved between Rose and Azurill. The tiny needles shot by Rose hit an invisible wall thrown up by Eevee, even protecting his partner.

“Nama!” Rose called out, her growing excitement showing in her voice. Nama nodded and released a Thundershock as soon as Rose cleared the way.

I watched Azurill and Eevee wince as the electricity hit them but was too weak to cause much damage. Why would Nama use that? Her special defense is so low. But it only served as a way to keep them still while Rose blasted Eevee with a flurry of glowing leaves, knocking him out of the way and leaving Azurill open. “Nama, get the Azurill,” Rose told her partner. When no response came she turned around. “Nama?”

Bo nudged me with his paw. “Auntie, Nama doesn’t look good.”

He was right. Nama was sitting down and hunched over, almost looking like she was catching her breath. “I know she had Truant, but she’s never like this between attacks,” I mused.

Rose’s confidence quickly evaporated. She nervously kept her eyes on the two Pokemon now advancing on her and Nama. Moriko started screaming for the two to “keep your heads in the game”. The other two Fighting types quickly joined in.

“Azurill, Water Pulse! Eevee, Shadow Ball!” June shouted.

“Dodge!” Shonta yelped in a panic.

I then saw the big advantage in Rose’s new form. As she and Nama moved to avoid the attacks, there was a difference in their movement. Rose easily flipped up and over Eevee and his Shadow Ball, looking back in surprise and disbelief. Nama tried a roll but the Water Pulse was too fast and knocked her on her back.

“Nama!” half of the team cried out.

Even June looked concerned for Nama’s state for a brief moment. Then Nama mumbled a few words that didn’t sound English or any other language I knew of. Both trainers’ eyes flew open. “Curse! Eevee, get the Slakoth!” June commanded.

“Rose, intercept!” Shonta said a split second later. The Roserade quickly blasted Eevee’s retreating end with a Pin Missile. Eevee squeaked but kept running for Nama.

Azurill stayed where she was, frozen in terror. Nama made no move to attack but her eyes were burning with anger. Eevee pounced to tackle Nama to the ground only to be thwarted by an unexpected Metal Claw. He skidded for a fair distance before stopping on his side, unconscious.

“Eevee!” June screamed. She shuddered at the sight of Azurill cowering at the still Nama. “Iron Tail, Azurill!”

Azurill bounced high into the air and prepared to bring the round end of her tail on the Slakoth. Nama didn’t move a muscle to block or dodge, but turned her head back as Rose used Magical Leaf on her. “I didn’t need your help,” Nama told her coldly.

“But…you weren’t moving!” Rose said in defense.

Nama growled and raised a claw, looking like she was going to attack Rose. Instead she slashed Azurill across the face, knocking her out as well. A long moment of silence passed before we heard the loudspeaker announce Rose and Nama as the winners.

Rose won and grew to level 9! She learned Poison Sting! Nama won and grew to level 11!

“Azurill…” June whimpered as she picked up the poor mouse. “You weren’t ready for this.”

“I’m so sorry,” Shonta said softly. “Nama has never battled like that. She must have something bothering her.” The Slakoth grunted and slowly walked off the battlefield.

June managed a small smile and shook her head. “It must be hard dealing with a Slakoth that’s growing up. They only have that pep for so long, you know.”

“Uh…’scuse?” My trainer put on a puzzled face.

“Young Slakoth are unusually energetic, but as they get older they’ll adopt the sluggish nature of their elders. Most of them try to evolve before they reach that age.”

“That explains a lot,” I muttered to myself.

Bo went to Nama and sat beside her. “Sorry you’ve been feeling like this,” he told her.

Nama’s face hardened further. “Now I’m of no use. An ordinary slowpoke with only average power…” She grumbled even more as she exited the room with Bo following close.

Moriko cleared her throat. I braced myself for the oncoming pep talk. “There’s no way we’re going to let Nama prove herself right! She’s our teammate and she has the right to reach her dreams! We all are going to train and encourage her until she’s the Vigoroth she wants to be! Who’s with me?” Ali and Athena shouted their approval, followed by the rest of the team. Even I clapped even though I made gagging noises during Moriko’s speech.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the long delay, I have been busy with university and, honestly, no one else was posting either so I felt no need to rush.

Kyle gets 10 stamps and Shonta gets 27 stamps.

Ok, reviews here.

Kyle: your story was so hard to read! It was confusing, and I couldn't make much sense out of most parts.
1. When did you turn on the TV? Several months ago, or recently? If it was recently, what's the connection to the battles? Why is it in the same sentence? If it was months ago, then does the whole story take place back then? It isn't clear.
2. You knew that blue Flareons weren't normal because yours wasn't? Where's the logic in that? It sounded like you'd only seen 2 Flareons in your life, in which case there's no reason to believe one was normal and the other wasn't.
3. You told Flora to evolve in order to carry on the footsteps of a departed Pokemon. Shouldn't that be her choice? Something she should do for herself rather than for someone else? It's a big change, after all, and it affects her directly.
4. Allen's appearance right when you were talking about him was not ironic, just very unlikely.
5. The flow of the story and the dialogues seemed unnatural. I think you should try to picture yourself in the situations you describe and ask yourself how you would react. That, and listen to the way people talk in real life, and try to keep it in mind while you write your dialogues.
6. What's with the long explanation while the building was still on fire? Under those circumstances, it would have been best to act first and explain later.
7. How can a bike shop be one of the most important areas in the town? What kind of town is that?
8. It's Jeff "Blue" Azure, not Jeff "Azure" Blue.
9. 2 people crossing the sea on an Empoleon? Isn't that asking a bit too much of him?
10. Jeff didn't sound like himself at all, not even the mind-controlled version of himself.
11. What did you mean about the type disadvantage? Gastly and Cleffa have no type weaknesses against each other. There are just some moves they can't use against each other, that's all.
12. I found it strange for Ice and Ghost energy to explode upon collision, but we have no way to test it. It's just that Ghost energy tends to phase through things (and, according to some versions, absorb energy), and Ice (cold in general) simply absorbs energy. I think that if they collided they would either pass through each other or disappear quietly.
13. How could Megan's parents not notice they'd left their daughter behind? That doesn't make any sense.
14. The Poochyenas were strong enough to kill Megan's parents but Raven took them out in a heartbeat? How is that possible?
15. You were right about the quality of the insults.
16. In a real battle the first attack would have hit Flora before you'd had the chance to finish explaining your strategy to her.
17. How could Flora go through those 2 battles one after the other? Wasn't she weary after the first one?
18. What made you decide it was time to leave?

On the other hand, I liked the Ice Beam idea.

*Sighs.* That's it for Kyle. Now on to Shonta. First of all, I liked your story. Now here are some details I'd like to ask or comment about.

1. I think it was obvious that something had changed between Katana and Bandit, but why would that be a cause of worry?
2. How do Pokemon use cell-phones? I mean, if their language is not fully based on sounds (which has been more or less established here), how can the cell-phones transmit what they're actually saying?
3. I liked Bo's solo training.
4. I would have thought shiny pokemon to be easier to identify. Aren't they supposed to be shiny?
5. I didn't quite understand the part in which the Ariados had to push his legs in so he could fit. Was there such little walking space in the suite?
6. I liked the way you ended the first battle. Quite creative.
7. I liked the elevator scene too. It looked very reallistic.
8. What happened to Rose's voice? Did it change a lot when she evolved?
9. I wouldn't have thought of anger as a status ailment, but it was a creative use of Aromatherapy nonetheless.
10. It was nice to see Katana show affection for Bo.
11. When you said Nama's special defense was low, did you mean her special attack? Otherwise I don't understand the connection between that and her use of Thundershock.
12. Poor Nama. It looks like she has some issues to deal with. I hope Moriko can help her.

There it is. Once more, sorry for the delay.

[classy_cat18]

1. It's still shocking to see. It'll take a while to get used to it.
2. Didn't think that through. ^^;
4. I don't think they're really shiny. I just followed what I saw in the anime, where the Pokemon sparkled only when they came out of the pokeball.
5. I'm not that good at visualizing inside spaces. Anansi would've pushed his legs in for the doors but that'd be it.
8. I'd thought it would've been natural for some Pokemon, especially if they go through a big change in appearance or temperament.
11. Yes. My mistake.

Can I get an RBG for Bandit from Caledor's Nature Protection Agency? *gives seven stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Sure. Bandit will battle... a Slugma. o.O

[The Blue Avenger]

Okay, I had a big reply here, but my browser ate it. I'll try and put down what I remember:

-Tracker's an interesting character, and I liked seeing inside her head.
-Pidgeot's dream certainly seems ominous, particularly if it's recurring.
-I really dig Fiamma, especially with her typist tirades.
-I'm not sure I agree that Fiamma using a move with a type advantage is fighting dirty. *shrugs*
-I liked Pidgeot's match; you can really get a feel for him by reading it. Heh, he tends to overthink things just a touch, I think.
-I need to read up on Pidgeot's past sometime; this line "he was basically a Pidgey in a Pidgeot's body" has me curious.

So that's three battles with quite a lot of scenework involved... I think 25 stamps sounds right.

Also, while I'm here, I'll take an RPG from the Universal Adoption Center for Raini, please. *hands over 7 stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks! Raini will battle a Trapinch, and since you're on AIM we can talk there.

[Crystalmaster Mike]

Well, there's this story I've been yearning to tell, and now's the time, I think.

I've been compiling this for quite a while, but it's been in my head longer.

Setting: Having heard her team member Dylan pour his heart out, Nora feels it's time to tell her story, too.

Background: Over time, we've come to know Nora as a caring person, that's been unofficially instated as the "mother" of the group. With a heart bigger than her body can hold, she has nonetheless been troubled by an event in her past. Because of this, she seems plagued by unprovoked fear and dislike of Bruce, the Machop in the team, and of Fighting Pokémon in general.
Her adoption had been worth remembering on its own (a sign-up list had been required to even stand a chance at adopting her), but her backstory had always been concealed. Until now.

Fun fact #1: This story was written using BBed. It's a good help at previewing your post, and it takes away some of that required C+P work you otherwise have at writing a story with lots of BB-code formatting.

Fun fact #2: I think this story can stand on its own, as there's little foreknowledge required, so I'm playing with the idea of posting it at FanFic, to get some advice and critique about my writing style. I'm not a fan of trying to reread or rewrite what I've written, as the story "is my baby", and the first time I write it, I've been trying to pour into it the mental image I've created in my mind of the events, so any changes seem to attack at that image.

---

~ Nora's POV ~

Part 1: Life, Interrupted

I may not look like it, but I stem from an Aron tribe in Latin America.

The open fields, the crammed crevices... Our species is found nearly anywhere. But the place we're probably least expected to show up is in the damp, boiling bowls of the rain forest. Yet, many a native was found in a dirty excuse for a bar, telling stories in exchange for shots of pure liquor, of the bulky, armored figures he or she had been able to distinguish behind the steamy clouds covering the river banks... Never did these stories failed to end in mocking laughter of the "pale-skins", as they knew well enough that Rock Pokémon hated water, and that Steel Pokémon, though neutral towards the substance, certainly would favor clean, gently flowing currents above the muddy yet fast-forwarding rivers that formed the naturally irrigation system of the green lungs of Terra.

And still... there we were. A kind, introvert tribe of herbivores, staying inert in both heat and steam. The story went, our forefathers had fled from the firey mountain that dominated our peaceful valley. The volcano had become home to a flock of Combusken, and their combined forces had proven to get the better of even our own leader.

Ah, our leader... It's true I claim to be of an Aron tribe, but... We were more than that. Like almost every Pokémon on the planet, some of our kinsmen evolved in time, into the Pokémon that was almost thrice the weight, height and length of an Aron. And the Lairon were the only one of us that were allowed to breed (to be allowed to mate was a whole other thing entirely, more a question of maturity than anything else).
And though stronger, they past most of their time relaxing even more than the rest of us.
But not Alabaster. Bas was different. He had naturally become our leader when we migrated to the valley. Our first night in our new environment, and we already fell under siege of a new enemy... As the air was dampier and filled with gas clouds near the river, it had been our first choice of a new territory. But making that decision, we had stepped into the area controlled by the Frogs. Poliwag and Croagunk were natural enemies, but at the sight of us, they allied, and their leaders Poliwrath and Toxicroak knew how to make our lives miserable. Though we didn't fear the Poison Frog's poison, their martial arts packed quite a punch for us, and the Poli's only had to sprinkle them, sort of speech, to get them back into battling shape after we thought we had finished them of.
Alabaster was one of the Lairon protecting us that night... He was the only one daring to attack Toxicroak, and he almost paid the dearest price for it. Even now, though hidden under his large armour, he carried a gruesome scar as a living memory of that event.
Lingering on the brink of eternal defeat however, he found the strength to surpass his own limits... and evolved. The mighty roar of Aggron frightened a couple of Skarmory. They left their nests in the trees, never to return.
In an awesome display of power, Alabaster KOed half of the Croagunks with his Earthquake. The Poliwags and Poliwhirl had wisely chosen for a tactical retreat moments before.

It was so that we could live in peace in the jungle... Until one day...
Alabaster was gone for the week. Every year, he took a week off from leader duty. Not to slack off, but to meditate, and meet with the Elders in an open clearing, deep in the heart of the forest. Together with Parasect and Pidgeot, and a dozen other pack leaders, he discussed the situation in the forest. There were no hostile disputes allowed at this meeting, though it was apparent Blaziken and Poliwrath were less than happy to have Alabaster around, and as such had ignored to show up the previous year.
In Alabaster's absence, it was life as usual in the group, as there was an unspoken truce for the whole duration of the meeting. That year, however, this truce was broken.
I can only think of one thing that might have stopped Bas from returning from the meeting at the designated hour. An ambush. Fact was, he was three hours too late, the sun was already rising, and the elder Lairon were becoming nervous in the knowledge they were pretty much defenseless without the large Aggron around. True, he was often down-talked for his bulked appearance and no-nonsense decision-making, but in times of need, his attack power outweighed any jealous streaks on the part of the Lairon. It was simply a matter of survival.

I remember my mother, the caretaker for the younger children, coming in my direction. My friends and I had been feeling the anxiousness of the grown-ups, and we had become restless ourselves. I think Mom wanted to sooth us, maybe take us inside one of the large hollow trees we used for shelter and sleep, to play a game with us to pass time until we heard the cheers and roars accompanying Bas' return. It would never come to that.
A light got reflected off the thick armor covering her head. Nothing to get alarmed by... except, it didn't shine down from above, and it was bright red, like the light of the sun setting. I was too slow to turn my head, otherwise I might've seen the assailant... But the options for his identity were limited anyway. The ball of fire struck a tree in my mother's path. Its trunk erupted in flames and broke, separating her from the children.

The last look I got from my mother was one of fear. Fear for me, not herself. The look in her eyes then shifted, and I could tell that she was ordering me to go hide and stay hidden, for a whole month if I had to. She would be able to track me down: her mother instincts and well-developed nose would lead her to me. I understood, and finally turned to follow the rest of my friends, who hadn't bothered to look back at my mother, who was only a nurse to them. I was already alone, and I scurried away into the undergrowth.


Part 2: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Cries of terror and terrorizing were following me from the way I came, and I hurried to outrun them. In my crazed dash, I momentarily lost every sense of direction, and by the time I came to, it was too late. I had already left our forced habitat, and now I was on unknown grounds.
You have to be a Pokémon to understand. Like some people blindly know their way through a darkened room in their house, a Pokémon crosses his territory, subconsciously avoiding pitfalls and trip traps. Take the Pokémon from its territory, and it will bump into threes, jump at the sound of the wind rustling in the bushes, and run around shadows. I should know, that was exactly how I was at that moment.
I didn't stop to catch my breath, as I could hear the Combusken that were my chasers catch up to me, having both the advantage in type and shape. I was straining my stubby legs, and for the first time I cursed the armour that had shielded me from lesser evil before.
As I came to realize I had to stop and hide or else I would become as good as a sitting duck, Faith turned the tables on me. Hidden on the small trail I was following, which had been dug out in the jungle soil by countless feet before mine, a small rope was spanning the width of the path, approximately at ankle height for a Lairon. I ran into it head first, was sent tumbling through the air from the momentum, before getting caught in the net I had triggered to appear out of the mud. It wrapped around me, and as it yanked up a feet or five into the air, it thoroughly shook me whole.
Dazzled, I nearly hadn't the time to notice the Combusken had caught up to me.

Rather than stop, they continued their hurried chase, uttering excited cries and chirps that informed me they hadn't seen me in the net, dangling from the rope. Though the fact I was no longer chased was soothing, I was still worked up about the fact I had been caught in the contraption.
Mind you, I had never seen a human, nor heard more than folklore about them. Too me, they appeared as some sort of evolved Primeape. Heh, and I can bet even some tamed Pokémon never stop thinking about them that way.

Fact was, my opinion on humans was going to worsen before it improved. I was caught by poachers, and they were less than careful with their "winnings".
It was night before they came to inspect the trap, and I was already cold and hungry. Thoughts of home and my family had kept me from catching sleep, and the position I was in did nothing to help.
A dim roar announced the arrival of my "hosts". Four large eyes, shooting beams of light through the darkness, was all I saw of them at first. Then they took the key out of the ignition, and the hungry beast was silenced. Two loud pangs (the doors shutting), and for a while, that was all I heard from them.
Suddenly, a sharp voice began to talk. Annoyingly nasal, it spoke disapproving of something - probably me, tiny as I was. A calm tenor responded, and I felt thick, greasy fingers feeling me out. Eventually, they seemed to agree I was worth their while, and they cut me down... to catch me in an iron cage. They stayed deaf to my soft pleas, but I hadn't expect anything else - we didn't speak the other's language, after all.
They put me in the belly of their noisy vehicle - gently, I'll give them that - before getting seated in the front. Two loud pangs, the beast roaring into motion, and off we went. The little I was from the outside already seemed alien to me: it was unknown territory, and I wasn't used to seeing my surroundings flash by me like that. I admit I got a little nauseous, but the trip was short enough.
Their base camp was made on the bank of a small stream. Grunts, growls and cries informed me I wasn't the first guest (or inmate). I got dumped next to a cage containing three Oddish, which were sleeping, even when it was already night-time and thus high hour for these nocturnal Pokémon.
I soon learned everyone's biorhythm was disturbed: you ate when the men ate, you slept when they slept. They kept us well fed and out of harms way, but that was the end of it. We were mere merchandise, ready for shipment anytime.

The fourth night in, and I was already coming to terms with the fact I would never see home again. Unexpectedly, the rest in the camp was disturbed. Laurel and Hardy (I named them afterwards) exited their tent in their sleeping clothes, rubbing their eyes, peeking in every direction, pointing guns and knifes upwards. A roar tore through the jungle's normal sounds, and it wasn't the jeep of the poachers. Then, a second roar joined in, then a third, and soon a quire of sirens and motor sounds was singing. The camp got surrounded, beams of light dissolved the last shadow, and the duo found nothing better than to stand in the middle of the camp, in front of their large tent, with their arms in the air.
Voices barked instructions through speaker phones, and I saw a whole bunch of legs passing through the camp. Cages were opened, Pokémon released into the wild, and others taken in for nurturing. The Dragon Tamers' Guild had arrived.
I watched the trio of Oddishes get set free, after getting sprayed by a potion of some kind, which seemed to restore their health. Then it was my turn, as one of the last ones. As the ceiling was removed from my cage, a familiar sound of appreciation reached my ears. I got prodded all round, covered in healing potions and what not. My hunger and thirst got stilled as I was given a full plate of juicy Sitrus and tasty Oran Berries. A small flame of hope flared up inside me again... I almost didn't dare to think about going home.

Alas, it was never meant to be. Later, I would come to understand the whole story. The people that had rescued me hadn't heard of any Aron tribe living in the jungle, so they didn't know what to do with me. It was soon decided to take me in with the rest of the Pokémon requiring health care, which meant moving farther away from my home turf.
Today, I have decided I don't want to return. No, I do want to, but... Oh, it's so difficult. The jungle is so far away, and the tribe may not want me back, now I've been so far away for so long. I only wish I knew how my mother was doing, whether she even survived that fateful night...

But I'm running ahead of myself. I wasn't in Ulthuan just yet. The road to the port was long, and I was going to see a lot more of the jungle during that trip than during all my life before that.
The first night after the Guild's intervening, my past decided to catch up with me, jeopardizing my very future.


Part 3: Tropical Fright Night

It was a dark and windy night (no, not stormy). The moon was frequently shadowed by clouds rushing to the horizon, causing light and shadow to cross the camp in short intervals. I was still held in an open cage, "for my own protection", the Guild had probably thought. This made it hard for me to sleep, however, as the wind chilled my bones, and the rays of moonlight making it to the ground occasionally pierced my eyelids.
My ears picked up on something. Unsure of it at first, I quickly confirmed my suspicions: that the leaves in the bushes were being rustled by more than the wind alone... Small silhouettes were circling the clearing in the middle of which the camp was put up. I heard them breath, and mutter and laugh under their breath. Dark Pokémon?, was my first thought, but none of those living in the jungle walk straight up.
They crept nearer and nearer, and I was uncomfortably aware of my cage being positioned unsafely close to the edge of the camp. Their eyes seemed to glow in the dark...
As they finally stepped into the open, the moon decided to enlighten me on their species. As I gasped for air, my body started to shake all over. I tried to scream, but my voice seemed as paralyzed as I was.
"Now, what is a nice little Aron like you doing in a place like this?, their leader said, smirking.
"And so far from home, even!", his second in command added.
"Makuhita...", I whispered. "... and Meditite and Machop! What... w-what are you doing here?"
"Poliwrath was very disappointed when you all ran away," the Thick Fat Pokémon explained, "he much rather have given you a piece of his mind right then and there!"
"But when the Combusken came back and told us of the little one that got away, lost somewhere in the big, wide jungle..." I gulped, as I heard his voice grow raw. "Well, let's just say he knew how to assemble your little pack, even if they were keen on hiding."
"What do you say, Meditite?", he asked his loyal right-hand, all the while keeping his voice down, while his group was closing in on my cage. "How long before Alabaster comes to the rescue of his lil' pup?"
"The boys are bettin' two hours, sir."
"Two whole hours? 5 Joy Seeds say he'll come running in 90 minutes, tops."
"I'll keep you to that bet, sir."
"Likewise.", he snorted.
I cringed as he had now reached me. He had to crouch to be at eye height with me, and as his face got dangerously close to the bars, his face twisted into a mischievous grin. "Now, dearie... You feel like placing a bet too?"
His troops burst out in amused laughter, though they contained themselves so as to not alarm the Tamers.
"S-s-stop it, y-you big e-e-... you!", I said, trembling, trying not to cry.
"Into the woods with her.", Makuhita commanded. Drilled as they were, 4 of his minions immediately grabbed hold of a corner of my cage. With careless ease, they lifted the whole of it onto their shoulders, marching behind the rest of their gang.
I started shaking all over in fear of what was going to happen to me next. Makuhita and his crew were infamous, rogue Pokémon hired by Poliwrath to do his dirty work.
They were henchmen, but they had minds of their own... minds bent on power, unfortunately. The Beat-Up Squad, was their off-record name.

I learned firsthand why. Even on the short distance they carried me, they managed to "accidentally" hit a five-odd trees and low-hanging branches on the side of the path they were following.
I got exhausted from merely trying to keep standing up, which probably showed how they always managed to beat even a higher-levelled Pokémon they'd caught. Oh yes, the stories had reached us... how they made sure a captee was "conditioned" to lose when they decided to set him free from his chains, in his last struggle for escape, honour... and sometimes even life.

We halted some time later. The sun was already reaching over the world's edge, colors were returning to the world... And all I could think was: is this my last sunrise?

A last knock, twist and turn, and I was left tumbling in my cage as it was abruptly released a foot of the ground, next to an old oak tree. As I came to my senses, I realized I'd finally collapsed. Between the bars, I could see a yellow shape towering above me. The general intimidation radiating off it was further supported by the voice that started speaking just then...
"So, little one," said the Makuhita mischievously,
"I have my orders to interrogate any captees about the whereabouts of their kin. Now, since we caught you going off into a completely different direction, I suspect you don't know a thing about where they're hiding. Alas, orders... are orders."

This comment provoked laughter from his minions, and uncontrolled shivering from me.
"Meditite, if you'd please..." he said, as he stepped away from the cage.

"Sure thing, chief!" The short Pokémon came standing in front of me, his trollish fingers starting to glow.
I was lifted from the floor... and then was sent flying into all eight corners of my cage. (Confusion knows no gravity.)
At the end of the ride, I was on the brink of fainting already... but they wouldn't stop.

"Up for round two, shortie?", the Meditite asked mockingly. I vaguely felt myself being lifted again... then tossed towards the nearest wall of the cage for what would be my second round-trip, now aimed for the sides of the cubicle. Just then, Faith jumped in for me. I didn't know it then at that moment, but that moment would come to mark not the prologue for my demise, but instead a milestone in my life.


Part 4: Deus Ends Massacre

A strange sound echoed through the forest, like a Bronzong being rung, or a ten-foot Chingling chiming. Meditite's Confusion was abruptly stopped, by a much more skilled wielder of Psychic energy. As it enveloped me, I felt my powers returning. I opened my eyes to the shocked faces of the Beat-Up Squad, with Makuhita's face leading the tally in stupefaction.
The light of the sun seemed to have changed, for every thing I saw was wrapped in blue, with static energy seeming to flow between the trees.

As my senses returned to me, my vision seemed to worsen still. However, I realized this was actually because everything around me was becoming rapidly unclear. Just as Makuhita came to, and ordered his crew to try and stop me from escaping... I was warped away from that place.
I felt myself racing through hidden spaces, only acknowledged by the mix of light and shadow flashing by (like flying through hyperspace) that I could see around me. I was clearly leaving the scene at a major speed. Then, I became aware I was slowly coming to a halt. As the feeling of moving decreased, my surroundings became better to see. I found myself at a different clearing, where everything, up to the perfumy smells waving through the air, seemed to be in sharp contrast to the violence I had been saved off. Gravity grabbed me again... and I was pulled onto my knees, momentarily fainting from exhaustion again from all the suffered torments.
Thankfully, my saviour could even take away the effects of that mental scar for me, at least as long as he was with me. I felt... someone nudging at me, telepathically, helping my flailing consciousness upright, sort of speak. I could stand up and face him... and how thankful I am for that even now, because it's a sight I still cherish.

It was a bipedal feline figure, its hind paws four times as long as its front paws. Floating through the air, it didn't seem to need the majestic pair of wings it was stretching out in front of me, them having a wingspan rivalled by a Fearow or a Hunchkrow only in size and overall appearance, but not in beauty. In fact, lately I've been thinking of those wings as physical copies of an Articuno's, but at the time, my pool of reference was much smaller. As the blue glow coming from its active Psychic energy faded into its body, it became apparent to me its body wasn't glowing on itself... it really was the most azure blue color! Sitting on top of its forehead was its royal hair, which had taken the form of an Azelf's toupee. Embedded into its forehead was a crimson red jewel, enough to make a Persian turn green of envy. Its eyes... those golden eyes... they soothed my spirit and being more than subsequent Pokémon Center treatments ever would.
I am no fool, nor a mere fangirl, fulfilled by the mere memory of the encounter for the rest of her life. When I had come to trust Mike enough - admittedly after quite a while -, I expressed to him my desire to learn of the Legendary Pokémon in this world, without specifically mentioning the reason behind it. He laid out a bunch of pictures in front of me that night, printed results of a quick online image search. None of the dozens figures in front of me bore any close resemblance to that divine force of nature... bare two.
I was puzzled for a long time... before concluding what is likely the truth.
During my visits to the Eevee House, and in passing by the different Pokémon Adoption Centers that exist throughout Ulthuan, I've met and seen the most unlikely range of deviations from the "standard" of a Pokémon specie. Take our two youngsters, for instance. A Bagon normally spends his entire life before evolution training to fly... which has been passed into the genes of the specie itself, winning them that incredibly rock-hard head. But our Skyler, he was born from a magical interspecies union, resulting in him being born... winged. I can't imagine your species' inbred desire being fulfilled... five minutes into your lifetime.
As for the other one... I've known him for only such a short time, and I can feel his hidden power will amaze us all before the end of the year. And... he's an Eevee that's most obviously carrying the black-fur, blue-ringed gene. What more is there to say?
Such being the case, I am now aware that what I encountered that day was more than likely a Forme of that Pokémon species never seen before... except perhaps in ancient times, where people could have worshipped it as a God of Life.

And it was clear that this figure knew how to keep its true Forme a secret, as the moment I had fully regained consciousness, I saw its wings folding into itself, eventually disappearing into its back. It bore no doubt that it could change its appearance and color beyond that, causing people who heard the story of anyone who'd briefly observed it before it transformed to pass off the whole encounter as a mirage, or the effect of dehydration.
I for one haven't taken my chances before I told this story, as I know it sounds literally in-credible, me having been harassed moments before.
As it saw I would live to see another day, I think it judged its work to be done. The last thing it did was to put its left front paw on my forehead. It started glowing, and the sound of those bells was heard once more, its vibrations ricocheting through my body, lifting my health unquestionably from the red zone, any status ailments I had acquired fading away. And what was also starting to fade away... was the creature itself! My eyes started to cry, and not from the piercing light still coming off my healing body, no.
I didn't dare call after it, afraid it would shatter the memory of my saviour. I collapsed onto the ground and started weeping, my tiredness getting the better of me again. I could hear footsteps approaching... I gathered later on it were the Humans, who'd found my cage missing when they finally awoke.
I know I couldn't possibly have understood them at the time, but I had been trying so hard to take in every detail of my faithful encounter for later, that I still rememember what sounds they uttered at the sight of me. Now, so much later, I still dream of it. The difference is that I've learned the human tongue in the mean time.
The last thing I heard that night was: "No... my responsibili-...! ... inform Lady V-... later on... for now, she... brought... to heal. ... Once... are... in Ulth-... inform..."
After that, my vision turned black and my mind, blank.

And that's the story of how I, a small, insignificant Aron from deep within the jungle, came from the other end of the world, to be here, known at first, before I ever was adopted or levelled up, as simply:

Aron (LV5) ♀
This rare Pokémon was stolen from its cage prior to release to the public. Dragon Tamer Staff have resolved the situation, but the Aron was badly damaged in the incident. Dragon Tamer Staff may or may not release this Pokémon up for adoption, but there is a waiting list for all those that are keen.
Tackle, Harden, Body Slam

[Kerel]

Kerel: So, it was a very dark day, in a very dark alley, I was
there... waiting for something, or maybe someone....

Bruce: Err... What are you talking about, I thought you were writting
the report on the rescue mission.

Kerel: Yeah, oh sure, but you know, detective stories sound so much
better if you situate them in dark alleys.

Bruce: Come on, say how it really happened.

Kerel: Alright, it was a happily sunny day in Happy Happy Village,
although at the same time it was a blue day,
or maybe a blue week, anyway the buildings were blue, some of them.

We were looking for a guy called Jeff, since Lady vulpix, secretly
known as Gabi, hired us to rescue him from himself.

We got into town and noticed ... well, mostly that there were many
hypnotized people, and the guard at the
entrance kept saying the same phrase all the time, kinda like an old 8
bit rpg. Anyway it seemed something pretty
strange was going on.

The main activity seemed to be happening in a really tall blue
building, but we couldn't go there just yet,
we had a very important thing to do, or more likely I did...

After going to a restroom I was able to continue with the mission.

Kerel: Great, that's so much better, now we need a base of operations,
so let's look for some abandoned building.
Bruce: Woudn't a hotel do just as fine?
Kerel: That's what our enemies are expecting us to do.
Bruce: Which enemies? What are you talking about?
Kerel: Just trust me.
Bruce: We are out of cash, right?
Kerel: Yeah.

After wandering around the city for some time we found what seemed to
be a suitable place, it was a semi abandonned
warehouse in the basement of an abandoned semi constructed semi building.

Bruce: What's with the semis?

Kerel: What's a semis?

Bruce: Nevermind.

There were some metal barrels, and a lot of humidity, the floor was a
bit wet, but, hey, it was free.

Bruce: So, now that we have this "base"-ment, what do we do?

Kerel: We need to infiltrate the enemy's lair. So in order to do that
we need to resort to the most ancient trick
for infiltrating an enemy's lair.

Bruce: Deliver a pizza?

Kerel: I like the way you think but no, we need disguises, like the
blue robes all those hypnotized people are wearing.
We could knock one of them out and then... well, you know, take his clothes.

Bruce: Or we could steal them from the laundry we saw on the other block.

Kerel: Subtle, but my plan seems more fun.

Bruce: We are in enemy territory, we should keep a low profile.

Kerel: Let's just go to the laundry then, I can knock out one of them
over there so we can both be happy.

Bruce: I hope you're kidding.

A few minutes later we were at the laundry, we decided to do it the
subtle way, so after one of the blue guys left we took his robe.
Everything was going smoothly, until he came back cause he remembered
he hadn't put a coin in the machine.

Blue guy: What are you doing with my clothes?

Kerel: Me? These clothes? They are mine, I'm about to wash them!

Blue guy: They look just like mine!

Kerel: Don't they all look alike?

Blue guy: Err, yes, but...

Kerel: but?

Blue guy: Where are mine then?

Kerel: How would I know?, maybe sombody took them.

Blue guy: Oh well, I guess I have to go to get a new one at the Robe Central.

Kerel: Robe Central?

Blue guy: Yeah, the building just in front of this one, the one with
the "Free Blue Robes for Everyone, no membership needed" banner.

Kerel: ...Right.

So we had everything we needed, maybe we had lost a bit of self
respect, but we were otherwise fine. We could now go and infiltrate
the main building,
which hopefully woundn't have a sign saying "Please come in, everyone
welcome, we share all our secrets".

After entering the building, we realized that all these people with
blue robes and a weird sense of secrecy were actually some sort of
cult.
So in order to fit in I signed up for a job in there, and since I
could either become a single phrase guard or a building painter, I
became the latter.

It took a few days to get to know them better, and painting was
actually pretty fun. I still don't know why most of the other guys
kept saying "blue-blue" all the time,
but that didn't matter much.

After I was kinda stable in there it happened, so then...

*******************
Bruce: You know, people might wanna know what you're referring to.

Kerel: Ah? Meeting jeff of course, or maybe I should say, Mr. Blue.

Bruce: You mean Mr. Azure?

Kerel: Same thing.
*******************

Inside the big building, a guy walked by, he was the only guy that did
not wear a mask, and more importantly, he wore Jeff's face.


I approached one of those interchangeable guys in blue, and asked him
about the unmasked guy...

Blue Acolyte: Acolyte: Blue... blue... Can I help you? *disdainfully*
Kerel: Yeah, blue, blue er... could you tell me who that guy is?
*pointing at Jeff* Why doesn't he wear a mask?
Acolyte: *gives Kerel an odd look* You mean to tell me that you do not
know the face of our second-most grand high eminence?
Kerel: Err... well, I'm kinda new here. I was hoping I could meet him
or see him to be honored by his presence.
Acolyte: *sighs* Okay, I guess that's plausible. That is the second in
command, Mr. Azure. He serves as the aide to our most honorable Mr.
Balthazar.
He normally does not pay attention to lower-ranked members, unless it
is something really important. Is that all? I need to go back to
chanting.
Kerel: Is there a way I could be worthy of his attention? It would be
such an honour! It's been my dream since I got here.
Acolyte: My apologies, but even I have not gained his attention yet.
What is your position here?
Kerel: Well, I guess painter. And... well, I'm good at marketing
Acolyte: Well then... do a really good job painting. Or get a lot of
people to join. Or something.
Kerel: I guess that could work... but, like, is there a way to just
say hello to him. Like be granted his salutation. Be iluminated by his
blueness.
Acolyte: Oh. That's not that hard. Just go up to him and say 'hi'. He
just won't have a lot of time to spare for you.
Kerel: Well, it's worth giving it a try, thanks.
Acolyte: *already ignoring Kerel* Blue... blue...

Kerel: Alright, let's talk with Mr. Azure and see what to do next.
Bruce: Sure but let's be careful about it.



I then aproached Mr. Azure.
Jeff was mulling over some papers and didn't notice me.
Kerel: Mr. Azure?
Jeff: Hm? Yes?
Kerel: Oh, hi
Jeff: *raised an eyebrow* Hi.
Kerel: I'm kinda new here and it's an honour to meet you.
Jeff: Oh. Well. Thank you.
Kerel: you are like an inspiration.
I wanted to know if you needed any help.
Or you could tell me about you, there so much I'd like to know in
order to be more useful.
Jeff: Uhm... maybe some other time. I have a lot to do.
Kerel: Is there a way I could be of assistance?
Jeff: Uhm... I guess keep painting?
Sure, that'll work.
Just keep doing whatever it is you're doing.
Kerel: Ok.
But, if you told me of something more important I'm sure I could do it.
I know painting is important of course.
but perhaps, I'm good at managing stuff.
Improving everything.
Administration.
That kind of thing.
Jeff: Uhm... I guess... work on a way to make our building painting
staff more efficient?
Kerel: Ok, I'll do my best, thanks your blueness.
Mr. Azure I mean.
Jeff: You're welcome. Mr. Azure will be just fine. Now, please excuse
me. *walks away*

Kerel: Well, that went well... he's kinda out of it don't you think?
Bruce: I don't think we can convince him to come with us, at least not
with a very good reason.
Kerel: Yeah, we have to think of something... something blue.

A couple of days later, as we were returning to the main building, we
saw a group of pokemon being literally
kicked out to the sound of "And stay out!".

Since it was the most interesting thing around we decided to approach
them, but not yet, not here, we didn't want to blow our cover.

The 15 kicked out pokemon walked for a couple of blocks, and we
followed them, I knew they wouldn't talk to me in my blue robe so I
changed back to my black leather
outfit. I approached them saying Hi while raising my hand.




A Castform called Previsiona seemed to be the leader, since she was
the one who answered.
Previsiona: ...Who are you?
Kerel: I was just wandering the same thing.
Previsiona: I am sorry, but I will not reveal our identities until I
know you are trustworthy.
Kerel: well, mmm.
Kerel: can you tell me what were you doing trying to enter that building?
Mercandos (Mr. Mime): Let's say 'daring rescue' and leave it at that.
Kerel: rescue?
Kerel: of who?
Mercandos: before I say that, answer me this: how can you understand us?
Kerel: Er... you're right, well, It's kinda odd but sometimes I can.
Bruce (thinks): Understanding him is the hard part.
Kerel: I'm still kinda trying to figure that out.
Bruce (thinks): Me too.

Mercandos: Ohh... okay. Fair enough. Our trainer can do it too.
Kerel: Really? And what are you doing here without him, this ain't the
safest place, you know?
Then again if you were entering that building you must know something.
Mona (Smeargle): Our trainer is who we were trying to rescue - Oof!
*gets hit by the Tangela's vine*
Groviglio: Hush! We don't know if we can trust this idiot!
Kerel: Hey, you know calling a person an idiot is not a good way to
make friends.
Previsiona: Don't worry about him.
Groviglio: *scowls*
Kerel: But, I still don't know much about you.
Bruce: I know there are many pokemon that would try to rescue his trainer.
But maybe they...
The bad thing is that even if they were them I dont know of anything
only them would know...
(About this time, Kurtzwick, a transparent Dratini, shown up with the
rest of the group, holding Kerel's wallet.)
Bruce: Do you guys have any way to ID yourself?
Kerel (After noticing his wallet's being holded by Kurtzwick): Hey
what are you doing with that?
Kurtzwick: Looking up your identity, of course.
Kerel: Then try the third one
Kurtzwick: Hm... Dragon's Guild investigator, eh?
Kerel: yes
Kurtzwick: *to his team* i think we can trust him.
Previsiona: Okay then... we're Pokemon belonging to a rogue Dragon
Tamer named Jeff Azure.
Previsiona: We were trying to get him to come back to Caledor.
Kerel: Wait, like in Mr Azure?
Groviglio: Wait, you know him?
Kerel: This is odd, then you are Jeff's pokemon!
Bruce: They seem to match the description.
Trezzatura (Metang): But how do you know Jeff?
Kerel: I've come here to try to rescue him.
Kerel: Well actually I came as a scout.
Kerel: but...
Previsiona: You did?!
Kerel: yeah, a reporter called Gabi sent us.
*Previsiona gave Kerel the best hug a Castform can manage*
Trezzatura: Hold on. You know Gabi?
Bruce: She's not a reporter but leave him be...
Kerel: yes
Kerel: We met her at White Mountain.
Kerel: and she told us about jeff's dissapearence...
Bobbery (Snorlax): Oh, so you're the guy with the lampshade on his head.
Kerel: and about you comming here to look for him...
Kerel: Hey, it was a mythical unpredictable object, and if you must
know the lamp attacked me!
Bruce: He cant admit he just tripped into it.
Groviglio *to team*: Yep, this definitely sounds like the guy.
Kerel: It did attack me.
*Bruce wispered something to kerel*
Kerel: nevermind
Kerel: so you know about me.
Kerel: Can I have my wallet now?
Kurtzwick: *sticks tongue out* It's mine now.
Previsiona: Give it back, Kurtzwick.
Kurtzwick: ... *reluctantly handed the wallet over*
Kerel: Thanks (almost ironically)
Kurtzwick: Hmph.
Kerel: Well, then I guess we should go somewhere else exchange notes
and make a plan.
Previsiona: Right.
Kerel lead them to the "base"-ment.

Kerel: well basically, Jeff seems to be the seccond in command in the
organization.
Previsiona: Right, we knew that.
Kerel: Really? What else do you know?
Previsiona: That the guy in charge might be a... um... dead serial killer?
Kerel: he's dead?
Kerel: or he kills dead people?
Previsiona: He's supposed to be dead. But he's apparently not.
Kerel: That's odd.
Groviglio: Yeah, go figure.
Kerel: Just fill me in, it's not normal for people to revive, right?
Maybe he faked his death
Trezzatura: that's the theory we're working under.
Kerel: but I really can't understand the plan.
Whats the meaning of painting everything.
And all this blue...
And also why do people here talk like they were on some videogame
I swear the guy on the other corner keeps saying the same phrases
over and over...
Previsiona: According to our research, Balthazar did not create this
cult - he just revived it.
Trezzatura: And we figure they're drugged or something.
Kerel: I don't know how jeff acts normally.
but probably he wasn't actim like himself back there.
And the plan seems so planless...
Kurtzwick: Hold on there. You're not in Twoson.
About half of the cult is over there laying seige to it.
Kerel: Whats going on in Twoson?
Jeff just seemed to be doing paperwork.
and he had no mask.
Kurtzwick: Yeah, he's probably filling in for Balthazar, who is
probably in Twoson.
Groviglio: And would you be able to get a mask on over those glasses?
Kerel: He could use contacts.
Any good acolyte would.
Groviglio: You obviously don't know Jeff.
Kerel: Nope.
Groviglio: He hates contacts.
Kerel: well, at least he's still him at that part.
Is he normally obsessed with blue?
Previsiona: Not so much. His last name's Azure, but that's about as
far as it gets.
Kerel: I see
Bruce: And what is going on at Twoson?
Kurtzwick: The better part of the cult is attacking it.
Kerel: Better, huh, so much effort in painting and I still didn't get
appreciated
Kerel: They didn't send us to raid a city...(in a sad tone).
Kurtzwick: ...'better' as in 'larger'.
Kerel: Oh... I see.
Kurtzwick: As in 'less than half of the cult is here right now.'
Kerel: Then it would a good time for the rescue.
Groviglio: that's what we thought. And then we still got kicked out.
Kerel: I can acces in there.
I'm a member.
Well a low rank one but I guess I can have an idea to call jeff attention
If I can optimize painting...
Bruce?
Bruce: We could just say we have found someone willing to give us
lots of paint for a low price
Previsiona: Do you think that'll work?
Previsiona: I mean, Jeff may be out of his head, but he's not stupid.
No offense.
Bruce: At least until Jeff asks to meet the guy and it turns out there
is no guy no stupidity is needed.
still you know him better than we do.
Kerel: any better ideas?
(The entire team was silent.)
Kerel: It's Cheap Painting then
Previsiona: Truthfully, we were out of ideas. I guess yours is the
best plan we have.
Kerel: So after I get his atention what do we do?
We take him out of there...
Previsiona: We need to deal with his Alakazam, so we can't help you
too much with him.
Kerel: His Alakazam? why?
Previsiona: Because it's his strongest Pokemon, and it's also why we
kept getting thrown out.
Kerel: But can you beat him?
Trezzatura: i stand the best shot. Probably.
Kerel: I guess we could make the rescue, and deal with him ourself, if
he goes out
Previsiona: If we take Maza and you take Jeff, I think we stand the best chance.
Kerel: But if you get in there it would be also good to grab some
papers and read about the cults plans.
Trezzatura: Understood.
Kerel: then it's settled,
Kerel: after we finish lets meet somewhere,
Kerel: and you should enter after we make Jeff go out
Previsiona: After we both complete our goals, let's meet by the cave
leading into the valley.
Kerel: Ok
Kerel: and if Kurtzwick has stollen any cellphones latelty we could
call each other if something happens
Bruce: I did.
Kurtzwick: How many cellphones do you need? 10? 20?
Bruce: mmm do you have the cable addapter for this one?
Kerel: Guy's this is not the time.
Well, then you can call us to this number (Kerel handed over a paper)
Then we have a plan
Kerel: Good luck then
Previsiona: Got it.
Previsiona: You too.
Kerel: tomorrow evening, just before it gets dark.
Prevsiona: Agreed.
Kerel: oki then.
Kerel: Well, I guess We should be going back
Kerel: later guys
Previsiona: Thanks for your help.

After they left and we left prettending we weren't actually living
there, we planned how to capture Jeff.


The following day I approached Mr. Azure, wearing the blue robe, of course.


Jeff: *looks up* Yes? Can I help you?
Kerel: Mr. Azure, sir, I have found something that I think will please you.
Jeff: *raises eyebrow suspiciously* Oh?
Kerel: I looked everywhere in order to help the cause, and I found a
great source of blue paint at a very cheap price.
I think we could increase our painting rate a lot.
Jeff: No kidding? Where?
Kerel: The man has a deposit nearby, when he learned about the need
for paint we had he decided to bring some samples.
Jeff: What's the guy's name? I must have heard of him.
Kerel: Oh, he calls himself paintman
Jeff: ...Hm. I've not come across him before.
Kerel: that's cause he works very secretly.
Jeff: I guess that makes sense.
Kerel: He chooses his clients very carefully.
He's selective.
and of course I think you would be...
Jeff: Right, right.
Kerel: so, he would like to meet you.
Jeff: Okay, sure.
Kerel : If you have the time I can lead you to the deposit, it's pretty close.
Jeff: Right. Lead away.
Kerel: allright, this way sir.
Jeff: Hold on a sec.
Kerel: yes?
Jeff: *turned to Maza, who is in the room looking vacant* Keep an eye
on things here. *Maza nods.*
Jeff: *truned back to Kerel* Right, I'm good.
Kerel: allright

Then we left, and walked a few blocks.

I leadhim to a small building, painted with blue paint of course.
Jeff: This the place?
Kerel: Yes, I'll knock so he knows we're here.
Jeff: ...okay.
*knock knock*
Then from the top of the roof a wailmer fell on Jeff.(It was Whale lord).

Jeff: Hey, what - OOF!
Kerel: Man, that's gotta hurt.
Jeff: Ugggh...
Kerel: you still concious?
Jeff: ...not for long. *goes unconscious*

I then entered the building carring Jeff, Bruce sugested to put him
inside a painting tank (with some holes so Jeff could breathe and
without the paint of course),
so nobody would notice us carring him. Then we went to the meeting place.

Bruce called Kurtzwick with a cellphone from questionable origin.
Kurtzwick answered.
Bruce: HI
Kurtzwick: What's up?
Bruce: Operation Blue Whale complete
Bruce: how are you doing?
Kurtzwick: ...I'm doing okay, but what the crap is operation Blue Whale?
Bruce: oh, well, let's just say we have Jeff.
Kurtzwick: Right. Okay.
Bruce: He might need new glasses though.
Kurtzwick: ...I won't ask.
Right, well, if you're done, we'll head over there as soon as we can.
Bruce: Sure
Bruce : We'll wait here.

After a while Jeff's pokemon came to the cave.
Previsiona: Hey, guys!
Kerel: Hey!
Wayne: Gastly!
Bruce: I know pokemon talk like that but Wayne says nonesense all the time.

Kurtzwick: *gave Wayne an odd look*

Bruce: Don't stare at him, he might lick you
Kurtzwick: *shuddered*
Wayne smiled.
Trezzatura: Aaanyway, we got Maza.
Bruce: Good, we have Jeff.
Previsiona: Then we should be leaving sooner rather than later.
Kerel: Yeah, it's not safe to stay here.
Kerel: What are you planning on doing now?
Previsiona: We're going to head back to Caledor and set these guys up
in a medical ward.
Kerel: Do you think they can undo the brainwashing?
Previsiona: Honestly? I don't know. We can just try, and hope for the best.
Trezzatura: A friend of ours back in caledor has a gem which she says
can reverse brainwashing.
Kerel: I hope it works, I do wander Why I didn't get brainwashed.
Bobbery: *is carrying Maza in a big canvas bag* Maybe they only
brainwash people after a specific time?
Kerel: Was it like I wasn't important enought...I did paint as much as I could.
Anzu: *grins* Maybe all their brainwashing staff were in Twoson.
Bruce: Don't worry, It's their loss.
Kerel: Yeah, maybe... I don't like being rejected thought.
Kiva: I'm not sure you would want to be accepted by these guys...
Kerel: Heh, I guess not, I'll choose a better cult next time.
Kerel: Altought, painting everything with blue was kinda fun.
Bruce: You sure you didn't get breainwashed?
Kerel: Nope, except maybe by coke comercials
Kerel: All those pandas drinking coke it's just odd...
Kurtzwick: ...what?
Bruce: they were polar bears
Kerel: We better get going, We'll escort you to safety and then head
back... to...
Previsiona: Okay. Thank you.
Kerel :White Mountain I guess
Bobbery: What do you need to do there?
Kerel, I dunno, it's either that or back to Sector Alpha
Kerel : I guess we either finish our vacations or get a new mission
or figure out that lamp dimension thing.

Previsiona: Lamp... dimension?
Trezzatura: Right, I think Tsunami told us about that.
Kerel: really, all including the old guy, how would he know?
Bruce: Kerel, just stop joking about that ok?
It's just a lamp.
Kerel: well, alright.

We all walked to a place safe enough to take separate paths.


While walking Bruce discussed buisness with Kurtzwick and exchanged
cards, exceptionally belonging to each other.


After arriving to our mutual destination we sayd our goodbyes.
Previsiona: Thanks for you help, guys. We couldn't have done it without you.

Kerel: It was for a good cause, or at least an interesting one.
I guess we might cross paths eventually
Trezzatura: You work for the Guild, right? Then we probably will.
Kerel: Yep
Be sure to report to the guild that the mission is complete.
Trezzatura: Not a problem.
Kerel: Alright then, good luck with the unbrainwashing.
Previsiona: *sighs* Thanks. We'll do our best.
Kerel: Later guys
Bruce: Later
Trezzatura: See you.


Then both teams went separate ways, or being more detailed took
different airplanes, Jeff's team went somewhere in Caledor and we went to Sector Alpha, and evaded writting the
mission report for about 2 years, but since the deadline is today,
here it is.

Kerel (At the Computer): Well, I guess that's it.
Bruce: It wasn't that hard was it?
Kerel: It's boring.
Bruce: Yes but needed.
Kerel: Let's go out and watch a movie.
Bruce: OK, your treat?
Kerel: Don't you always use my money anyway?
Bruce: Sure, I'm just trying to be polite.
Kerel: heh, yeah, let's go.

[Lady Vulpix]

New scenario... after all this time! And still someone managed to make his post for a really old scenario at the last minute. I will post 2 introductions for this scenario. Read the one that applies to you, or both if you prefer.

Intro for old-time players
Our preparations have taken a long time. While the magical mirror has helped us restore some of Yssera's victims, it was not enough to stop her from building her army. Reports have come from Sybyll of attacks all over the town. Trainers and trained pokemon seem to be the main targets. We can't afford to linger here any longer. We need to go now. Our quest is to quench the attacks in Sybyll and, if we can, find Yssera's hideout in White Mountain and stop her by whatever means possible. Fortunately, some new members have recently joined the Dragon Tamers, so they can help the trainers from Sybyll contain the situation in their town while the rest of us head for White Mountain.

Intro for new players
Welcome to the Dragon Tamers! Our organization has been helping pokemon trainers in Ulthuan (and occasionally worldwide) for over 8 years. In the course of those years we have had to deal with several crises, and I'm afraid there's still a crisis we have to deal with right now. Of course, it is not your obligation to help; you're welcome to stay in Sector Alpha and train with the Mercenary Trainers Union (MTU). But all help is welcome and is likely to be needed. Some members of the MTU and the Pokémon Research and Training Department (PRTD) of the Dragon's Guild will be joining us. Don't mind the acronyms if you find them confusing, you'll become familiar with the Dragon Guild and Dragon Tamers as time goes by. Right now, the important thing is that the town of Sybyll in the neighbouring province of Ellyrion is being attacked by rogue trainers and pokemon. Trainers and trained pokemon have been the main targets so far. The attackers claim to be following a dragon named Yssera. We've had clashes with some of her followers in the past. If you decide to help, transportation will be arranged to take you from our base in Sector Alpha, Caledor, to Sybyll, Ellyrion. Once there you can help the local trainers stop the attackers.

If anyone is still confused, here's a map of Ulthuan, the country where most of our adventures take place. Make sure to read the rules on the first post of this topic. And, if you want more background information, you may stuff yourself with the contents of the Dragon's Guild and Dragon Tamers site. Of course, the latter is optional aditional reading. You're not required to know all of that in order to play this game. You can also contact me if you have any further questions or if you would like to join the Dragon's Guild.

Important notice: in this scenario you're allowed to defeat three pokemon instead of the traditional two. If you have high level pokemon, you may split your battles between Sybyll and White Mountain as you choose (3-0, 1-2, 2-1, 0-3). If all your pokemon are level 15 or below, you'll have to battle only in Sybyll, as the pokemon guarding White Mountain are trained and dangerous.

Another note: you may receive help from Dragon's Guild members (either PRTD or MTU). People battling in Sybyll may also receive help from the local trainers. Those on White Mountain may receive help from the local Ponyta/Rapidash population and, only if you know what I mean by this, also assistance of a more uncommon sort.

Here are the lists of pokemon you can battle (and the experience your pokemon can gain from beating them).

Sybyll:

(up to level 15)
Cyndaquil LV8 +1 level
Mareep LV8 +1 level
Beautifly LV15 +2 levels
Dustox LV15 +2 levels

(level 15.5-25)
Ralts LV19 +1 level
Shieldon LV19 +1 level
Ninjask LV25 +2 levels
Shedinja LV25 +2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Trapinch LV28 +1 level
Kirlia LV28 +1 level
Snorlax LV35 +2 levels
Ampharos LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Rhyhorn LV38 +1 level
Onix LV38 +1 level
Rhydon LV45 +2 levels
Gallade LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Aipom LV49 +1 level
Murkrow LV49 +1 level
Charizard LV55 +2 levels
Empoleon LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Ambipom LV62 +1 level
Bastiodon LV62 +1 level
Steelix LV70 +2 levels
Honchkrow LV70 +2 levels


White Mountain:

(level 15.5-25)
Prinlup LV19 +1 level
Absol LV25 +2 levels

(level 25.5-35)
Flaaffy LV28 +1 level
Gardevoir LV35 +2 levels

(level 35.5-45)
Scyther LV38 +1 level
Tangrowth LV45 +2 levels

(level 45.5-55)
Sableye LV49 +1 level
Rhyperior LV55 +2 levels

(level 55.5-70)
Scizor LV62 +1 level
Flygon LV70 +2 levels

(level 70.5-85)
Ninetales LV76 +1 level
Salamence LV85 +2 levels

[Lune the Guardian]

Kerel - I've volunteered to rate your story, but I apologize in advance for being rusty. I haven't come here in years! I must say, you've got a sense of humor that makes me laugh. It's nice to see characters acting silly once in a while. This section is great:

"The main activity seemed to be happening in a really tall blue
building, but we couldn't go there just yet,
we had a very important thing to do, or more likely I did...

After going to a restroom I was able to continue with the mission."

There were also several more, but that was the first thing that I felt like copy/pasting The dialogue format got a little confusing simply because there were so many speakers and so many things said. Maybe leave an empty line after each speaker? Also, I had a hard time attributing names to characters, because for some reason when I read text in such a format, my brain blocks out the names and just reads what the characters say. It would be easier for me if it was done in paragraph format. Although, it would probably also be easier if I'd had prior knowledge of the characters, then I wouldn't even need a name reference. Anyway, that's not your fault, that's my flaw. Oh, I'd like to add, your conversational tone is nice - you do what I do when I'm not writing papers, you comma splice and join sentences together. It helps the conversation flow, I think, which is a nice touch for a casual/personal piece like this.

I'd like to give you more stamps but since you didn't post any battles, I'll have to award you with 7 stamps. You did have somewhat of a plot going (albeit a little confusing), and an introduction and conclusion, although the format wasn't traditional and the story was a little short. But regardless, thank you for giving me something fun to read.

See you next time.

[lvl100mewtwo]

Alright, so it's been quite a few years since I've done this, I'm hoping I haven't lost my touch over the years... So hope you guys enjoy, this is a new one for me

Seven Years

Seven years. Seven years since all of it was dropped and I turned my attention to other things. Seven years could also be measured in 84 months or even 2557 days, but if you were to ask me, I wouldn’t know where all that time went. It had been that long since I had set foot upon this land, where I walked amongst giants, swam amongst creatures that even the most imaginative minds couldn’t fathom or soared high above in the skies with air so scarce that I would think that I’d be underwater.

Seven years and now I had returned, without a words notice, without a phone call, without a letter. So many things have changed within that period of time, so many new faces had arrived, and so many old faces had gone. The days of youth and innocence were long gone, now only an age wrinkled face and a foot in height difference was what composed of me. Years did not do well to the youth on my face, only a visage torn by a few light scars, and eyes that had seen too much that one would not want to see in a lifetime. One would say that with age you grow wiser, that you learn from everything, but in reality, I was here walking around, more lost then ever.

“How did it all come to this?” I muttered to myself, as I walked along the rocky roads. So many things had changed over the years; I didn’t know anymore which region I was anymore. Being so accustomed to the old days where Caledor was pretty much all I saw, being in this new region made me a little more uneasy. The mountainous surroundings brought an unsuspecting breeze to the trail I was talking, bringing in the cold winds from the north.

“Why did I even bother to come into this region? Was there even any chance I could find the old gang, find Gabi, Ian or the rest of the group? Are they even still around? Am I just destined to be alone for whatever time there is left? And what is up with this cold breeze?” I started to monologue again, maybe I was turning insane, and maybe all these events had lead me here to my untimely demise or maybe to my epiphany, who really knows.

That breeze came back again, as if it were some pathetic fallacy to my current predicament. I raised my hood from my sweater and contemplated bringing out the cloak I had stored in my backpack. You would think being born, raised and living in Canada for so many years would bring a certain level of endurance for cold, but yet this didn’t seem like it was happening right now. The roads were rocky, as one would expect in this region. The scenery was nothing to boast about, only rocks to my right, and to my surprise, rocks to my left. One would go insane being stuck here with nothing else to do other then walking. Thankfully enough I had been smart enough to pack an iPod in my backpack, fully recharged in cases of extreme boredom.

“This place sure is cheery and full of life” I sarcastically remarked. I’m sure even the rocks could have sensed how much sarcasm was in my voice at this point. I slipped on the earbuds into my ears, put the list on random, and let the songs invade my temporal lobe.

“Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.”

‘Ironic’, I thought to myself, ‘only I would get a song like this to make my day go from bad to worst’ and then it started to hit me, how it all began, the beginning of the end. Like a derailed train off its tracks, I stopped to reflect and look at the past, not because I wanted too, but because I couldn’t get away from it.

~June 15th, 2002~

3 plane changes, 4 collective hours of sitting in airports and 5 bathroom breaks, and I was finally back on Canadian soil. Warm weather wasn’t something I was accustomed too, but with being so far away from home soil, I got used to a warmer climate overseas. Thinking of that area made me cringe; the last 2 months had been horrible. I didn’t want to look back as to what had happened there or even think about it. The past was the past, I just wanted to get back on to my life, restart fresh on home turf and give my guys a good chance at a new life, away from all the problems, away from all the events.

Oddly enough, I didn’t get greeted by my family at the airport, which to me was a bit suspect. Then again, I hadn’t really contacted them in the past few months, being away from home so long, they probably figured I was alright on my own; I am a rather independent teenager. One taxi and a hop on a bus, and I was safely on my way home, ready to see my family.

Deep breaths, goose bumps and a palpating heart, all the common symptoms to nervousness. Why am I so nervous? It’s my family after all. With a held breath, I opened the door, only to be met by stale air, the sounds of a breeze coming in behind me into the house. Where the hell was everyone? Its bad enough I’ve been going through hell for so long, but to walk into an empty house, after I’m expecting comfort from the family.

“Well, better make the best of it then. They’re probably out or something, so might as well chill until they come back.” I said as I flopped into the chair. A sharp pain rose from my back, as I remembered that I had brought the guys with me back home. “Alright guys, come on out” I spoke, as I released my group from their confines.

Still freshly battle scarred, Volvagia, Spike, Mystic, Trickster, Titan and Bahamut came out, joining me in the empty household. Bahamut and Volvagia barely fit into the living room, which made me reconsider for a moment bringing them out. Spike, Trickster and Mystic found their way to the couch, where any battle weary Pokémon’s would want to find themselves. Titan just found himself a nice resting spot, in the sunlight, beaming in through the window from outside.

Peace and quietness finally rung through the house. Everyone seemed to be having a collective breather. It hadn’t been easy getting away from Ulthuan on such a short notice to escape all the troubles that had been going on. It was the last thing on my mind at this point, as I started to dose off on the lazy-boy which I had found myself sitting in.
Mystic’s ears shot up, as did Tricksters and Spikes, a small growl coming out of each of the Eons. I looked at my 3 trusted Pokémon, and turned my attention to the main lobby, as the sound of a turning doorknob came to my ear. Someone was coming in the house…

~Present~

That breeze was back again, snapping me out of my day dream. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I noticed along the ridge that there was a small cave that I could find some shelter. Clouds seemed to be getting darker and darker, and the imminence of a rainstorm was getting more and more plausible at this point. I dashed to the cave and found shelter just as the skies pierced through, and rain started to mix in with the sand, making mud.
‘So how am I gonna get around to catching up with everyone now? There is no way I’m going out in that torrential weather out there.’ I thought to myself. ‘It’s best I just to take it easy and relax. Let the storm pass.’

Surprisingly, this cave that I had found refuge in was rather warm. Chances are there was probably hot springs deeper down, which would make sense at this point. All this heat and running around had my stomach growling at this point, as I searched through my backpack for whatever food remained that I had purchased at the airport. Only a few provisions here and there, not much too really sustain my hunger. I needed to get to a town soon, if I didn’t want to parish from hunger.

“Biiii?” a small cry came from within the depths of the cave, taking me a bit by surprise. I turned my head to notice a small light source; a small Magby had probably smelt my food, and was making it’s way towards me very cautiously. The poor little guy must have been starving. I looked through my bag, trying to find something with a high glucose concentration, remembering how the fire glands worked for fire Pokémon.

“You wanna try a little chocolate bar there buddy?” I softly spoke, trying not to frighten the little fire creature. It approached at a slow and steady pace, smelling the food from a distance and closing in. I snapped off a piece and laid it on the floor, letting it grab it and swallow it whole in its little mouth. The little guy must have been a recent hatch; it was rather tiny at this point. Yet for being so small, he was a very cheerful fire type. Even though you could see that it was a very happy little creature, it kept its distance. ‘Great, another one that can’t seem to trust me’ I muttered to myself.

The sky cleared up outside, it seemed as if the storm had passed. I looked out to see the sun shinning, packed up my things and gave the Magby a little look. “Back on the road for me little buddy! Good luck to ya!” I said, giving one last glance and I started to walk towards North.

A small town could be peered up ahead and it had only been 5 minutes that I had been lucky, I guess my luck had to be coming back to me at this point. Yet as per usual, I spoke too soon, as it seemed that I had only been caught in the eye of the storm. Rain started to pour once more, as I made a dash to the town ahead. Behind me I could hear screams, as I spun around to see a steam filled Magby running behind me, trying to follow in my steps. The poor little creature tripped and fell down, more water gushing down on him, the rain really coming down at a frightening pace. I started to run back, picked up the little fire Pokemon and yelped in pain. ‘How did I forget about it’s skin? Rookie mistake Alex!’ I thought to myself, as I brought out my cloak and wrapped up the young baby in it.

The heat could be felt through my cloak, as I could feel it wanting to light up in fire, yet the downpour kept it from doing so. I ran as fast as I could, finally making it into town. I looked at the first house I saw, walked up onto the porch and looked inside, only to see a deserted home. I walked up to the door, knocked and the door eerily screeched as it opened slowly. “Anyone in here?” I spoke loudly, yet no answer came from my inquisition. I put the little Magby down on the floor, making sure to keep it away form any wood or paper. It was still shaking; never had it experienced such a rush of water. I gave it a little piece of chocolate, hopefully giving it a little bit of energy to help it through. I grabbed a few logs left in the house, some of the paper, and started up a small fire in the fireplace. I hoped the owners of the house wouldn’t mind me doing this here. A couch, a rather large couch was in the living room, as I decided to rest up a bit. I put the young
Magby next to the fire, as it seemed to still be shivering from the cold and rain and I lay down on the couch, slowly closing my eyes.

The door violently crashed open, as it startled me from my near slumber. I peered just over the couch to notice a foot coming down, the door’s assailant’s foot. The young man was probably no older then me, yet seemed to have a lifeless look to his face, probably the houses owner.

“You’re coming with me” he said in a monotonous voice.

“Look bud, sorry I came into your house and started a fire, I just needed to get out of the rain to get this little fella…” I trailed off as I noticed that the Magby wasn’t near the fire anymore. Had it left already? Gone back to its cave?

“You’re coming with me” he replied in the same tone of voice. Something wasn’t right here, I had noticed this kind of facial expression before. He slowly approached into the house, taking something out of his pocket. I figured out at this point that this person wasn’t the home owner and something just didn’t seem right. The ball expanded, I knew exactly what this was. I reached into my own pocket, only to be blind sided.

“S#!T, I don’t have them anymore...” I said with a dumbfounded look on my face. The young man released the ball which he was holding, a small Cyndaquil had erupted out, seemingly as lifeless as his master. I hadn’t seen this kind of Pokémon in far too long, was I even ready to get back into battling? And even if I was, what was I going to battle it with? This day only seemed to be getting worst by the minute, as the fire rose on the little rat’s back.

I quickly rolled over, grabbed the fireplace poker and readied myself in a combat stance. The Cyndaquil slowly approached, fire brimming fiercely on its back. How do I always get myself in these situations? ‘I’m not one to strike an animal, but if I have to defend myself, I’m gonna have to do it’ I reminded myself in my mind.

A small blur came rushing through the house, incidentally hitting the little fire mouse upside it’s jaw, sending it reeling into the dining room set. Then another hit into sent it crashing into the wall. ‘What is going on? This doesn’t make any sense!’ I told myself

-}- Magby lv 6 (m) vs Cyndaquil lv 8 (m) -{-

“Cyndaquil, he has a pet. Find it! Foresight” the young ordered, thinking that I actually had a Pokemon, but really, I had none. The Cyndaquil’s eyes glowed a violent red and help a luminescence that put a chill down my spine. With a quick gaze around the room, the fire mouse stopped and looked at the kitchen, where it lunged in. A loud yelp came from the area, as cyndaquil came out, head burnt, and the small Magby came following, twirling around, as if dazed and confused. “Cyndaquil, remember, it’s a flame body Pokemon, stay as far away as possible!” The trainer barked at his pet, with little to no emotion in his voice. “Flamethrower”

Cyndaquil took in a deep breath, air and the small methane deposit in it’s lung mixing, only a small spark retaining it from starting it’s attack. Suddenly the fire mouse let out a stream of fire, aimed at the Magby, hitting dead on. Overflow of the attack hit some parts of the living room, burning up the side of the couch as well as starting a little fire on the carpet.

I had to step up at this point, I had to help the little baby pokemon with his assailant.
“Alright, umm, Magby… Flamethrower?!?” I screamed at the little guy. The baby pokemon just turned to me with a confused look on it’s face. ‘Crap, I’ve been out of this for far too long, I don’t even know what they start off with anymore…’ I thought to myself, in desperation. “Umm… do what you did earlier, that speed thing…” I said and with that, with a confused look on it’s face for a second, Magby became a blur. Cyndaquil was a bit keener on finding his movement at this point, yet couldn’t stop the mean right hook that he received in the stomach. Then it hit me, it was a Dynamic Punch attack. Well that gave me an idea of what move set this little fella had.

“Cyndaquil, what are you doing? Double Team” My opponent yelled. It was becoming more and more eerie at the very little amount of emotion in his voice, very freakish if you were to ask me. Cyndaquil’s movement started to speed up throughout the house, giving the illusion that multiple rats were all over the house. ‘How can an entry level pokemon know so many high end moves?’ I thought to myself in disbelief. Suddenly, all the Cyndaquil’s moved in, rapidly, coming in for a tackle, Magby not knowing which way to block, left him completely vulnerable on every end. The tackle connected, Magby was sent flying into the kitchen, hitting the fridge, leaving a burnt mark on the door. Cyndaquil reeled in pain, as the side of its body was visibly burnt. ‘What is going on? This doesn’t make any sense!’
I started to notice how tired Magby was getting from this fight, physically he was becoming slower by the minute, even starting to puff out black smoke. This started to give me an idea.

“Magby, do you know Smog?” I asked my partner. With a determined look on it’s face, it turned to the Cyndaquil and released a black gas that overtook the living room. You could hear the little fire mouse gasping for air, its flame along with the fire on the carpet the only 2 visible things in the house. “You gotta get in there for another punch Magby!” I yelled. Magby complied and came in at lightning speed, towards the Cyndaquil. With a right hook, it connected, or so I thought. With the speed and imbalance that came from the attack, Magby had hit one of the many clones from the Double Team, tripping itself over and running into the bookcase, setting it on fire.

The many copies of Cyndaquil turned around, gasping for air as it became more and more clear. A small spark ignited in the pit of its mouth and all of them shot a stream of fire in the general direction of the baby Pokémon, further lighting up the bookcase, and making it topple over!

“Are you OK?!?” I screamed, not knowing the fate of the poor thing. I could hear a few squeaks come from under it, as I rushed to the bookcase, and started to lift it up. A blur shot out from under the book case, and a larger yelp was heard throughout the house. Magby had connected, knocking off the cyndaquil which was pirched on one of the coffee tables throughout the house.

The air was getting thicker inside the place, this had to end soon, and the fires were making too many noxious gases. I found myself getting on my knees and closer to the floor, where the good air was. “Magby, we gotta finish this fast, don’t you know anything else?” I asked. Maybe it was a little too much to ask from such a young creature, yet it sped off once more, hitting another clone. This double team was going to be our downfall if it kept going on.

The few remaining Cyndaquils started to run towards Magby once more, leaving him exposed on every front. A big tackle made contact, sending him reeling back into the couch, burning a hole in the leather. Magby had to have little time left, we had to make this hurry, one more tackle and it would be done.

“Magby, do SOMETHING!” I said. I felt like a rookie trainer, not knowing what to do. Maybe it was the smog, the smoke or the fumes, but I couldn’t think straight. I hated this feeling, this feeling of inadequacy, this feeling of being powerless. It brought upon too many bad memories, things I didn’t want to think about.

Magby’s eyes glowed an eerie blue. All the Cyndaquils seemed to freeze in fear, it seemed as if there was something in his gaze, yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was happening. With such a great opening, Magby just couldn’t pass it up. It’s small mouth opened up, small sparks lit up, and a small methane covered mucus ball was projected towards the Cyndaquil. The small spark ignited the ball, as it lit up. It was an ember attack; I had remembered this from the old days. It seemed that Magby might have just learned the move to help itself. It scored a direct hit, hitting on the non copy of Cyndaquil, rendering it unconscious.

Magby himself was stunned at what had happened, but I knew too well that I had to get out of this house. “Magby, Smog this place, we need to get out of here!” I screamed, as I grabbed my cloak. The smog started to fill up the living room, as the opposing training recalled the Cyndaquil and prepared to release his next combatant. I had painted a copy of the living room in my mind, knowing where everything was, ran to Magby, swooped him up and ran to the kitchen, where I had noticed a door to the basement.

Running down the stairs, I noticed a bit of light coming from the other end of the basement. ‘An exit, perfect!’ I told myself. I ran up to the door, kicked it open, and ran into the alleys behind the houses, with Magby in my arms, cloak burning up, as well as my arms. All that was left was to find a safe place before the rain would start pouring down once more.

~~Magby grew to level 7, and learned Ember~~

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome back, Alex! I missed posting these: ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

(Those are 9 stamps, by the way.)

Your encounter with the Magby was interesting, as were your descriptions of the land and the weather, and also the battle. The flashback was intriguing. I guess there's going to be more of it in the future, right? Will the reasons for your departure and for your return without the rest of your team be explained in later posts?

The part about the wrinkles confused me. How could your face be age-wrinkled at such a young age? If you were a teenager 7 years ago, and still growing, as you said you were a foot taller now, then it's too early for wrinkles to develop. Or was it the result of some traumatic experience?

Levelling up before the end of the battle was bending the rules, but it fits the story and Ember is not so good against a Cyndaquil anyway, so I'll let it slide this time.

You can still have 2 more battles in this scaenario, and you can talk to me if you would like any interaction with my team. I would recommend proofreading your next story before you post it, though. This one had quite a few grammar mistakes, including but not limited to missing or misplaced apostrophes and the recurring use of 'then' instead of 'than' and 'worst' instead of 'worse'.

Would you like your stories to be included in the archive? And who's Ian?

[lvl100mewtwo]

Haha, yeah, see, it's been far far too long, I haven't written in so long, I forgot how to really do it well, granted, I looked at the stuff you showed me before I quit, and yeah, it doesn't seem like I've improved
Thanks for the warning, again, been far too long, I will take a half Stamp penalty if you want, I got no probs with that, haha
As for the many questions, all will be answered, in due time, you'll just have to keep reading, you'll understand more as time goes on, they might be wrinkles, they might be scars, or a bit of both. As for the old team and my departure, it's in the same books, you'll understand, but I'm telling you this right now, the flashbacks won't be in every scenario, and I'm going Tarantino on this... but I'll stop for now, not gonna give more away... I have alot in store, you will soon learn.

You can use me in your stories if you want, right now I'm gonna stick as the loner, I got some explaining and character dev to do, for the ones who don't know me or my style, lol, after all, I did start a trend back in the day, and I'm gonna attempt something new later on, hopefully starting a new trend, haha.

Next chapter should be up within the next week, maybe tonight if this writters prime keeps hitting me, I'll try to proof read more this time though pardon my french, haha.

Mew2

[edit] If you want to put it in the archives, go ahead, I have no problems with that, as for the Ian bit, thats my bad, I meant Scott, haha

[Lady Vulpix]

It's OK, I wasn't asking for spoilers, only whether those things would be explained in the future.

It was funny to see you saying "pardon my French". You won't see me asking anyone to pardon my Spanish.

And no, I'm not going to break a stamp in order to punish you for whatever reason you think you should be punished. I've rated your story and given you the stamps I thought it deserved.

I'm not going to use your character, I like it when everything is in-continuity and in-character. If you say we don't meet, then we don't.

It was a nice introduction. Your story looks promising so far. The risk of overdramatizing is present, but I'm sure you'll be able to avoid that.

[lvl100mewtwo]

[edit] Haha, I won't give you any spoilers, you'll just have to go with what is given

Thats fine Gab, use what you want, we'll try and not break character, haha, and yeah, I noticed the over dramatics in the last chapter, hopefully it's been worked out in this chapter, it's a little noir at first, but it gets alot lighter throughout... Chapter 3 will be around at some point this week, hopefully... and now, Chapter 2

Heat Storm

~October 22nd, 2006~

“Now class, to finish off today we’ll be going into Archaeabacteria, or better known as Archaea, Extremophile Bacteria, etc.” A short older man said in front of the students. Bio 3101 was definitely one of those classes that I took great pride in listening and learning in. Granted the professor was rather monotonous, there was something in the material of the course that made me stick to my seat.

“Now can anyone in here please let me know of any life forms that would be classified under this genus?” he asked, with a smile on his face, peering over the class. It was one of those smiles that just made you not want to get noticed, because he was searching for the perfect student to dumbfound in front of the rest of his peers. The short haired brunette sitting ahead of me luckily raised her hand, taking all the heat away from me.

“Acidophiles?” she said, with a confident look in her face. The professor acknowledged with a simple nod and kept looking around for more victims. He looked to the back of the room, and with a grin, pointed out to a young man, who winced, being chosen.

“Umm… Thermophilic Bacteria?” he said, quiver in his words.

“That’s correct, granted they are also likely just to be bacteria as well, given both genus have their different genome coding” he retorted, quickly looking back at the class for whom he would point to next. His next target was found, as he looked to the front row, thankfully far away from me.

“How’s about… Methanogen Bacterium?” a small blonde girl said with little conviction in her voice. I knew that she was right, yet she didn’t seem to be too sure of herself.

“That is correct Melinda, great job!” He said, with one of those smiles and a wink. Somehow the thought crossed my mind, ‘I think someone’s getting a few extra-curricular activities.’ I put the thought to the back of my mind as I raised my hand in hopes of helping the discussion along.

“So in the case of Hyperthermophilic Methanococcus jannaschii, where the bacterium is both Thermophilic and Methanogen, would it not be possible to find this bacteria inside the body of living animals, apart from hot springs and volcanic areas?” I asked, cringing at what possible answers I would get. The class went silent, everyone turned at me with that ‘Not Again’ look on their face.

“Yes, it is a small possibility, but this living creature would need an incredibly high body temperature for the bacteria to thrive and prosper. Also, we have been over this before and no, we are not going to get back into one of your crazy animal or these so called ‘Pokémon’ discussions again. Quite frankly these childish fantasies you have aren’t something that should be discussed in class or ever.” He snapped back at me. This was probably the 4th or 5th time that I had brought up some question that lead to my old past in this class. I could see that my professor was getting irate.

The students started to slowly get up from their benches as the discussion was heating up. Dr. Basso looked back at the clock on the wall and gave a nod to the students to leave the classroom. “Alright students don’t forget to read up on chapter 14 of the Microbiology book! Remember there will be a quiz on Monday, which I just decided on making. Also, Alex and Melinda, if I could see you both after class” He announced, yet I wasn’t listening at this point, his voice was trailing off in my mind and the collective groan from the class with the quiz coming up was but a faint whisper to my ear. All I could think about was Volvagia. It had been 2 years since he had left my side. I just couldn’t fathom that he was gone. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I put my head on my desk, class empty. I was left alone.

~Present~

Both my eyes were well shut, yet at this point I could smell something burning. It smelled actually very good, yet for some reason, I was getting this numbing pain on my left arm. “OH GOD! I’m having a heart attack!” I screamed as I opened my eyes wide, only to notice that the Magby had his hands on my arm, a small burn left residing on my bicep. ‘Great, now that’s going to scar…’ I thought to myself, as I shot a look to Magby, who winced and backed off slowly.

I looked at my surrounding, food to my left, assorted goods to my right, a pharmacy right in front of me. I suddenly remembered that while scrounging around in the city, I had noticed how desolate it had become. No lights were on, no street signs were working, it was as if the entire city had stopped functioning and it’s inhabitants had left. This seemed a little too peculiar to me, yet with all this freedom, I found the closest door as the rain started to poor and opened it. To my surprise it was unlocked, and I walked in. I had found myself in the town’s little general goods store, where I figured no one would come looking for me. This is why I had decided to take a nap to recover from inhaling so many fumes.

I slowly got up, hiding behind the counter in case anyone was in the window, watching. I walked around to find something to eat, hopefully something in this store would be able to quench my hunger and thirst.

“Biiiiiiiii…” came from the little fire type, obviously he was hungry as well. I turned back to see that he was still a bit battle worn, which meant I had to find some pro-biotics as well as some fatty foods. I scrounged through the pharmacy in the back of the shop, with no luck and then turned to the fridges filled with various dairy products. ‘Let’s hope none of these have gone bad’ I thought to myself, as I found the yogurt and natural milk.

“Here you go little buddy, this might be a bit better for you.” I said, as I poured the milk into a bowl I had found and started to feed the yogurt with a plastic spoon. Magby was quick to drink up the milk, as it boiled up to the touch of it’s beak. I also started to notice that the spoon was melting the more I gave it yogurt, which prompted me to switch to a metal base spoon, which I had found in the store. I clearly wasn’t thinking too well though, as the spoon got hotter with each bite Magby took of the yogurt until it burned my fingers. This whole feeding business just wasn’t my thing today.

Magby seemed to be feeling better with every bite of yogurt and slurp of milk it took, which was a good sign. A young Pokémon should always be well nourished and properly taken care of, so that it can get the maximum force and optimum recovery. He started to waddle around once I had finished the small yogurt and milk, yet I informed him to stick close, and that’s when it hit me.

“Hey Magby, I guess if your going to keep following me like this, I might as well give you a proper name. Now, what should I call you?” I pondered to myself, what could I possibly call this little creature?

“How’s about Flame?” I said as I looked to Magby. He looked up at me in confusion, with a hint of disgust. I believe that was meant to say that I needed to be a bit more original, which put me into further pondering. I wanted a name with meaning. I wanted a name that would stand out amongst the rest, something that would make my old team proud. Then it hit me.

“What do you think about Macedon?” I said, Magby looking at me perplexed. Although he was very young and immature, the ring of the name seemed to stick with him. “Alright, well I guess we have it settled then!” I happily denounced, at the very least now I didn’t have to call him “it” or “Buddy” or anything, I had a name to apply to him.

“Well ok bud, let’s look around this place, hopefully there might be something that we can use here to help us get out of here, cause it’s really starting to freak me out how this place seems deserted.” I told my little Macedon, as he agreed with me. We walked crouched around in the general store, staying away from any and all windows, looking around for anything of value. I picked up a small cooler in one of the aisles and went back to the refrigerators to stock up on high fat milk and yogurts, plus a few other products needed to stay in the cold. Adding a little ice from the freezers, I continued on, until I heard Macedon squeak in another part of the store.

“Biiii… Biiii… Biiii…” it said, as I rushed, crouched, to him. Macedon was pointing at a small display case. I peered through the glass, to notice on the top a small sign which read “Technical Machines”. ‘Perfect, this might be of use” I said to myself, as I picked up a small wine opener. With the pointed end, I jabbed at the window several time to no avail.
“Macedon, could you put your hand on the glass case right here?” I asked, pointing to a lower part on the glass case. Magby put up it’s hand, touched the glass and as I thought, the glass started to soften up. Macedon pulled it’s hand away, I took the wine opener once more and took another crack, this time at the weakened glass, shattering a small hole big enough for my hand. I reached in, grasping hold of 2 of them, before I found myself cutting and burning myself on the glass.

“OUCH!” I said in pain, as I retracted my hand with both Technical Machines in my grip. Macedon looked at me with concern in it’s eyes, putting his hands close to the cut. I yelped once more as the heat from his hands only made the stinging worst. I peered at the Technical Machines through my wincing eye. It seemed that I had grabbed a Double Team and Bullet Punch TM, yet right now all I wanted to have in my hand was some gaze and bandages. I slowly crawled back to the pharmacy area once more, putting the technical machines in my backpack. I found the first aids kits and I removed the rubbing alcohol, gazes and bandages for myself. With one final cringe, I cleaned up the cut and bandaged myself up.

I looked back into my backpack and picked up the first TM I could grab, which coincidentally was Double Team. I looked around trying to find a computer so that I could apply this to my new partner. I rummaged around and remembered that I had seen a small laptop at the front of the store. I told Macedon to stay in the back of the store while I went up to the register. I spotted the laptop and went for it. As I grabbed it, I started to hear footsteps from the outside. I quickly hid behind the counter, holding onto the Technical Machine and laptop as tightly as I could.

“One of us has found one of them rummaging around, that fire on Preston Street was no accident” Said one of the voices.

“Yes, we must find this rebel so that we can add him with the rest of the town’s people. She wants us to find him” Another voice answered. These voices were rather monotonous, bringing back memories of the trainer I had just thought in the house. ‘What is going on in this town?’ I thought to myself. This was starting to peak my interest more and more. It seemed as if things hadn’t gotten better over the years.

‘Was it right that I came back, would I be able to live up to what I used to do or would I fail again and alienate everyone?’ I had to push these thoughts out of my head, yet the doubt just couldn’t be suppressed. I slowly started to make my way to the back of the store where there were no windows or any chance of seeing me. I could hear the 2 people talking outside start to walk off, still speaking in their monotonous voices.

“Alright Macedon, I don’t know if you know how this works, but this is a Technical Machine.” I pressed a small button on the box and slowly out came a small USB key. I took the key from the box and opened up the computer. After plugging in the key, the computer started to make a lot of noise. ‘Great, it’s a Dell… has anyone ever heard of Macs?’ I thought to myself, as the process was prolonged. Finally a small screen popped up and a woman came on screen.

“Thank you for choosing Silph Company! Worldwide leader and provider to the general population in training, capturing and various tools to aid in your quests! Would you like some information about our other products today?” she asked, I clicked no. “Would you like to hear the list of other Technical Machines which are available through our hotline?” she continued, I clicked no. “Would you like to hear…” she kept on going, this was becoming very irritating. I had forgotten how much trouble it was to teach one of these.

“You have chosen the Technical Machine ‘Double Team’. Would you like to teach this to your Pokémon?” Finally a question I wanted to hear. I clicked yes. “Thank you for choosing a Silph Company product, before starting the procedure, it is imperative that the Pokémon being taught the move has seen it in action already. Has the Pokémon already seen the move in action?” My finger was already starting to get tired from clicking so much…

“We will now start the video procedure, please put the Pokémon in front of the screen for maximum retention and please, only 1 Pokémon at a time. Thank you and enjoy your new move, ‘Double Team’” she finalized, as Macedon sat himself in front of the screen and watched intently the videos on how to perform the move. This was a lot easier for him with his previous knowledge of Mach Punch, as the Technical Machine took very little time. 5 minutes and the videos were done, and a final warning popped up on the computer.

“The Pokémon has been taught ‘Double Team’. This Technical Machine will now self delete and burn in 5 seconds” I looked down to see smoke from the USB key, as it was rendered useless. I removed the key and threw it in the trash, as well as the box for the key. I looked to the front of the store, no one was standing there, the weather seemed to be getting better outside. At the very least it wasn’t raining anymore, but the day was getting darker, which meant nightfall was upon us.

“Alright bud, we have to find some place to crash tonight, so we are going to have to be extra quiet out there and we’ll have to hurry alright?” I asked my little companion, he didn’t seem too worried about it, just a little tired from all the knowledge he had taken in. We slowly crawled to the backroom and found the back door into the alleyway that we had come in through. I slowly opened the door to notice that no one was out there. ‘Clean break! This is perfect!’ I thought to myself. I put on my backpack, added in the laptop I had found, latched on the small cooler and finally put on my charred cloak. I opened the door slowly once more. Macedon and I were back out into the world, trying to find a resting place for the evening.

The alleys stank of week old garbage, rotting food and urine. How long exactly had this city been taken over control? Not wanting to know what the answer was, I popped in one of my buds into my left ear and turned on my iPod to a lower volume. I left my right ear unoccupied to listen in on any noises around or if Macedon had anything to say.

I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked 'round,
And I knew there was no turning back
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do?
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
Sound of the drums
Beatin' in my heart
The thunder of guns!
Tore me apart
You've been - thunderstruck!

Macedon and I had to hurry. I could notice that the clouds were coming back as the natural lighting was diming. The street lamps weren’t turning on, which told me that the power to this town wasn’t running anymore. Thank god the laptop I had found was fully charged, I don’t know what I would do without it. I heard a fence door swinging in the wind, as it pulled my attention. The fence was left wide open and as I peered into the backyard, I noticed that the backdoor to the house had been left open. Macedon and I rushed to the fence, pierced through and ran for the house.

I was abruptly stopped, a small spark jumped in front of me. This was no lightning from the sky. I looked to my right, noticing someone standing in the corner of the fence, a small yellow fluff ball standing on four legs right next to it.

“She was right, you would fall for such an easy opportunity” The woman said, staying in the shadows. Again with the monotonous voice with little to no emotion, I was starting to see a pattern here. “You got off easy with our friend last time, this time. You won’t get off as easily.” She said, looking at me. The sheep slowly started to walk towards us. Macedon took a step forward in front of me, while I took a few steps back, moving onto the porch behind.

The backyard was littered with decorative ceramic plant Pokémon, similar to ceramic gnomes back in some Canadian backyards. A lawn chair and table set was to the left, while kids toys were also spotted all over the tall grass. This place needed a grass cutting and fast.

Macedon took a defensive stance, legs wide open, arms to the side of it’s body. My little tactician was already assessing the situation in the backyard, giving a quick look around, seeing where everything was situated. The sheep came out from the shade, revealing itself as a Mareep and stopped only 10 feet or so from my Pokémon. Tension was rising, electricity was starting to spark on the back of the wool and air was starting to heat up around Macedon. The battle was going to be waged on right here.

Mareep opened up the battle, charging in. I grinned as Mareep did not anticipate that Macedon was heating himself up. Mareep made direct contact with his Body Slam, sending Magby into the fence behind him, charring the wood. I looked back at the Mareep and with great pleasure, noticed it wincing from a burn left on it’s underbelly. I took my attention back to Macedon, as I noticed him getting up, wincing, a few sparks shooting off from it’s body. His movement seemed to become sluggish, somewhat erratic, meaning that in all likelihood, he had been paralyzed by that body slam.

Macedon wasn’t one to back down so early though, as he became a blur. Next thing Mareep knew, a nice right hook came connecting to it’s lower jaw, making it reel backwards, falling on his back. Macedon came in for another shot, this time connecting with the side of the sheep’s body, making it barrel roll into the fence, next to the Pokémon’s master. I took a quick glance at my Pokémon and noticed that the sparks were still there.

“Macedon, try and stay away from connecting with it’s fluff, your just getting shocked every time you touch it!” I barked at my Pokémon. He nodded in agreement and took another defensive stance, waiting on Mareep.

“Pet, use your Charge Beam” The woman ordered. The tone in her voice made me feel like she didn’t care much for her companion, yet this seemed to be another reoccurring theme with the people that I had met in this town. No life in their voice, just orders and straight talk. The electric type started to charge up, rubbing itself a little on the ground, grabbing some static. The sparks seemed to overflow on the back of Mareep, as it discharged in the general direction of Macedon. Macedon thinking on it’s feet, ably dodged the attack, running around in the backyard at high speeds, as the Mareep tried to follow with it’s attack. The electricity was frantic, going in every which direction, even though it was being aimed. Finally, Macedon connected with another right hook, sending the sheep rolling this time into a ceramic statue of Leafeon, smashing it to bits.

“Keep it up Macedon, you’re doing great! Alright, Smog it now!” I bellowed, as my companion followed through and spewed black smoke in the general direction of my opponent and her Pokémon. You could hear them both cough for air and see electricity spark as frustration was getting the best of the Pokémon. A flash of lightning came right through the smog and connected with Macedon, a loud screech could be heard.

“Again, Thunderbolt” ordered the woman. How could such a low level Pokémon know so many strong attacks? First there was the Cyndaquil with Flamethrower. Now a Mareep with Thunderbolt and this new attack Charge Beam? I didn’t have time to think as the electricity hit Macedon once more sending him reeling into the kids teeter totter set. Grimacing with pain and slightly twitching, Macedon looked to me for guidance.

“Umm, I guess we can try the new attack we just learned, let’s do it!” I told my Pokémon. I realized that I had been screaming loudly and that this battle was making plenty of noise. Enough noise to attract others. This battle had to end quickly. Magby started to speed up once more, making a copy of itself, then a second copy, then a third. As quickly as the third copy started to appear, it started to disappear just as fast. Macedon hadn’t had a chance to practice the move, making it rather useless to use right now. Yet in the end, there was still 2 illusions in the backyard, which would hopefully be enough to fool the little sheep.

“Quick, follow up with Ember! Let’s try to finish this right now!” Macedon quickly understood the importance of the situation, and the 3 Magby’s in play started to suck in as much air as possible. A small spark lit up the mucus ball, sending 3 different Embers from different directions at the Mareep, scoring a direct hit. The electric type winced, took a few steps back and bumped into the fence, seeing that it was backed into a corner.

Just as soon as this battle seemed to be going our way, the sky pierced and rain started to flow down. I could see that Macedon did not like this, slowing down his movement ever so much. This slowdown hindered the Double Team, as one of the copies started to disappear. All that was left on the lawn was a Macedon on the lawn chair and another on a ceramic Venusaur. This gave the Mareep the opening that it needed, as it noticed the steam coming off the chair and not off the fake ceramic Pokémon. With a single jolt, it sent a Charge Beam flying in Magby’s direction, and with it’s slowed down predicament, took the full force of the blow. Macedon was sent flying into the outside wall of the house, right next to me. This one really stung as he had more and more trouble standing up. The final copy of him had disappeared and all that was left was Macedon and me on the porch.

You could see that the water was starting to really weigh down on Mareep, as the water seemed to be soaking into his wool more and more. Macedon noticed this, eyes glowing blue, and proceeded into Leering his enemy. With the sheep’s defenses lowered, Macedon did the unthinkable and raced in for another Dynamic Punch, connecting with extreme force. Yet to his surprise, as he connected, Macedon was met by an up close and personal Thunderbolt, sending him flying back once more, this time into the lawn furniture. The force of the attack knocked the table over, giving him some protection from the downpour of rain.

Macedon slowly rolled back to the porch and crawled back on. Determination was still in his eyes. This was one little tough baby Pokémon, I had to give him that much. The Mareep was showing signs of fatigue at this point, as much as my Magby. With a heavy pant, Macedon looked at me, as we both nodded. I was starting to feel like we were having a connection at this point, where he knew exactly what I was thinking and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

Macedon turned to the Mareep, mouth wide open and started to shoot random Embers at the sheep. I looked at my Pokémon dumbfounded. Maybe we weren’t on the same wavelength at all. I had a completely different idea at this moment and apparently so did he. The sheep backed up into the corner with his trainer, who was now soaking wet and yet without being able to see her face in the darkness of the shade, I could tell that there was no emotion on her face. A lightning bolt came crashing at us, barely missing Macedon and myself.

“Holy crap! That’s just way too close for me!” I said as I dove to my right, Macedon diving to his left. “Next time you decide to tick off the opponent, make sure I’m not around you alright?” I scowled at my partner. “Look, I know you’re still new with it, but try Double Team again ok?” I asked. Macedon complied, started to concentrate and sped up.

Macedon still had a lot of work to do, as only 2 illusions came out of from the attack, all 3 Magby’s parked on the porch. Mareep did not seem to enjoy the fact that he was getting tricked once more and charged up, shooting at the first Macedon he could. Unfortunately for me, this copy of Macedon was standing right in front of me, on the ledge of the porch. The lightning cracked within an inch next to my ear, leaving a scar on the houses outer wall. I hit the deck seconds after the lightning hit. I looked up to notice that the illusion of Macedon had reappeared, meaning that he was starting to master the tactical move. I slowly crawled on the deck, trying to move away from all the fighting, yet found myself right behind another copy of my partner.

“Mareep, end this now. Body Slam.” That was all I heard as I turned my attention to Macedon in front of me, only to see him disappear and a wet fluff ball appear, tackling me straight into the wall. The agony of the electrical surge coursed through my body. For the first time, I truly felt how it was to be paralyzed and I did not like the feeling one bit.

My partner stopped for a moment and noticed the sheep shaking off the water and excess electricity onto me and my twitching body on the deck’s floor. Mareep turned his attention to Macedon, readying himself for another launch. Unluckily for him, he was only met with a nasty left hook which dazed him and then a right hook that sent him flying towards his trainer. Macedon started to take in a deep breath and accumulate as much mucus as possible.

With Mareep in mid air, Macedon let rip a devastating Ember, fire dripping off the ball of mucus. This attack was personal and it had every intention of hitting. With a direct hit, the Mareep was sent flying even further, straight into his trainer, sending both into the fence, with a loud thud. I looked in the direction of my opponent, barely able to do so to notice that she had also been paralyzed and knocked unconscious, just like her Pokémon. Suddenly a few embers were shot ahead of them, starting a small fire, dwindling in the rain, trying to enclose them in the area they were knocked out. Macedon was trying to cage them in with his Embers, but it wasn’t working too well.

That loud noise was the final straw, as footsteps could be heard in the distance. We had attracted too much attention with ourselves. Here I was, paralyzed from below the neck down, unable to move, and my Pokémon fatigued from his battle. I could feel Macedon’s hands grasping at my pants, trying to drag me, yet unsuccessfully doing so. The only success Macedon had was burning a hole right through my jeans. ‘Fantastic’ I thought to myself sarcastically.

“Look, Macedon, get out of here! I can’t move, you can’t move me, its better off you save yourself and get some help, I’m of no use.” I told my loyal companion. Macedon only looked at me, turned to the fence door and took a defensive stance, readying himself for another battle.

Suddenly, a hand grasped my leg and I was whisked inside the house….

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Magby was named Macedon (mă s'ə dōn)

Macedon learned the attack Double Team through Technical Machine (Earned at the Goldenrod Tower)

Macedon grew to level 8

[Wolfsong]

Notes: Before my absence I had bred sugar with blazer at the PMBC although, storywise, the baby (Danny) isn’t Blazer’s. The egg that Darin found was the other one that I had bred before my departure. Don’t really remember what plans I had so here is the twins rbg which luckily I had written down on my site. Here it is, even though I’m a little rusty…

(Amy’s POV)

If I said that I wasn’t nervous, it would be a lie. It had been a little over a year since I had left for a supposedly short trip home to visit my parents. Since I wasn’t planning on being gone long, no more than three days tops, I neglected to mention the trip to anyone.

However, once I had arrived home, I learned that mom was having minor surgery. Since it was apparent that I wasn’t going to be returning home anytime soon, I decided to send Flam back with a message about what was going on. I grew concerned when hr didn’t return a few weeks later, but figured that he had either run into some old friends or something had happened and he was needed. Given how close the time was, I figured that he would return as soon as he could. By this time, mom had had her surgery. She made it through just fine, but it would be a few months before she would be back to normal.

When a couple more weeks had passed and Flame still hadn’t returned, I decided to try and see what was going on. Unfortunately, the cell phone company must not have gotten my payment or something because when I had turned my phone on, the screen read no service.

To top it all off, on the very day that I was going to head back and apologize for my prolonged absence as well as find out just what was going on, my back went completely out on me. I was confined to the bed for four days per doctor’s orders during which time Sugar had her baby.

Once my back had recovered enough that I could once again walk, I was ordered to go to physical therapy for my back. I knew that it was necessary to help strengthen the muscles in my back but unfortunately it delayed my return for a couple more weeks.

“We’re almost home.” Talut’s voice jarred me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I asked, momentarily confused,

Before Talut could reply, Sinopa answered for him. “Talut said that we were almost home. Isn’t that great!” She replied, trying to remain still in her excitement. She succeeded, except for her tails which luckily didn’t have any effect on my holding her. Even after all this time, she still hadn’t been able to overcome her fear of confined spaces. Although, bless her heart, Sinopa was trying.

“Hang on,” Talut warned as he started his descent.

A few minutes later found the three of us safely on the ground in front of our house, where it was quite obvious that we had been gone for quite a while. The grass was overgrown and weeds had overtaken the yard.

The next thing that I did was release the rest of my team who proceeded to stretch as soon as they emerged. When they had finished Tiny and Colby immediately started a game of tag as I unlocked the front door and ventured inside.

Immediately, I sneezed from the amount of dust that had collected in my absence. I’d deal with cleaning the house up later. Right now, I headed upstairs to my bedroom where I had a small safe hidden. I quickly found, opened, and grabbed my credentials from it.

<Amy, you might want to get back out here. We have company.>

<Hey, Amy, I found something.

I quickly closed the safe, and shoved it back into its hiding spot before running back outside. I’d check on what Darin found after I found out just what exactly Yana meant by we had company.

When I stepped outside, I found Sinopa and Danny being herded against the house with Sugar, Yana, and Blazer crouched around them protectively. Colby and Tiny had stopped their game of tag and were growling at a vaguely familiar young man with red hair. The rest of the team was spread around him him. “Tom…”

(Colby’s POV)

As soon as we were released, Tiny talked me into playing a game of tag. He didn’t have to, because I’m always willing for a good game, but it was nice that he did. I thought about asking Sinopa if she wanted to play, but she seemed content to just sit beside Yana and watch us have fun.

“Tag you’re it!” Tiny shouted as he hit me with his tail and took off running.

“Get back here!” I shouted before taking off after him, laughing as he jumped over Sugar. I ran around her, finally gaining on Tiny when he stopped dead in his tracks. Since I wasn’t expecting him to stop, I shot past him hurtling into some trees that were on the edge of the property and crashed into something. Whatever it was that I crashed into beeped loudly which caused me to look at it. It was Chips who was now a Porygon2. As soon as I recognized him, he disappeared.

“This isn’t good.” Tiny muttered as I ran back over to where he was standing in the yard.

“You got that right. If Chips was here, Tom won’t be far behind.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the Porygon2 reappeared with Tom. Tiny and I both started growling at him as Sugar ushered Danny and Sinopa towards the house where she was joined by both Blazer and Yana. The remainder of the team with the exception of Darin, where he was I don’t know, fanned out around them. It was at that moment that the door to the house swung open and Amy stepped outside. “Tom…”

“Amy… I see you’re surprised. Well, I read up on you while you were gone.”

He was trying to bait her, but she wasn’t having it. “I thought that we agreed the last time Colby and Tiny beat you in a battle that you would stop trying to take them away. Especially, after you essentially abandoned them in the Jungle Room.”

“Yes, that’s what we agreed on.” The redhead smirked before once more speaking. “There was no provision that I’d have to leave you alone. I knew when you disappeared that you would return one day and that’s why I had Chips here keeping an eye on your place.”

“Why do you say that and what exactly do you want?””

“I told you that I read up on you while you were away. For starters you didn’t let anyone know that you were leaving, especially your close friends, which meant that you didn’t plan to be gone for very long. As for what I want, it is another battle against those pathetic imps. I have a feeling that you haven’t been training while you were away so it should be a piece of cake.” Tom’s statement was quickly drowned out by a variety of snarls, growls, and roars.

“Awww, they have their own fan club. So let’s get this done. Mystique and Volcano get them!” Without giving us a chance to respond, he hurled two pokeballs at us. As soon as they hit the ground an Unown M and a Numel appeared.

Colby L.16 Black M Vaporeon and Tiny L.16 Black Flareon
Vs.
Mystique L.16 ~ Unown M and Volcano L.16 M Numel

I glanced over at Tiny and he nodded, grinning at me. He crouched down low to the ground. I ran at him and, using his back for a springboard, leaped high into the air, concentrating on my hidden power. Tiny waited until I was airborne before he stomped the ground and let loose his own hidden power. In response, the earth beneath the numel began to shake violently causing him to struggle to keep his footing, but that didn’t last too long when I slammed into him, landing on his back.

Before I could jump off, Volcano shuddered and I was given a painful glimpse of how he had gotten his name. The ember shot out and hit me square in my stomach leaving an angry red burn. “Ouch!” I muttered and Tiny gave me a concerned look but before I could do anything I was lifted up off of the numel and hurled into Tiny by an invisible force. I jumped off of him as soon as the unown released its hold on me. I growled loudly as Tiny launched himself at Mystique and crunched down as hard as he could. I was mildly surprised when the attack brought it down, before I remembered in addition to the attack being super effective, it was also powered up by Tiny’s collar.

I winced as the small movement of me taking a step sent caused the burn to pain shooting through me. So this time, I closed my eyes and focused on creating some clones. Unfortunately, I only managed to create one which disappeared soon as vines shot up from the ground and wrapped themselves around my leg. It figured that the numel would have a grass type hidden power. I bit down on my jaw to keep from crying out and giving Tom the satisfaction of hearing it. Tiny ran over and slashed at the vines setting me free.

I took a deep breath and exhaled a jet of water but while Tiny was helping me out, Volcano had used the opportunity to use a double team of his own. The end result was the water gun sailing harmlessly through one of the clones leaving two smiling numels behind. Tiny attempted to tackle one of them, but he chose wrong and landed face first in the dirt.

I was going to end this. Volcano was glaring at Tiny now and the earth underneath him began to shake violently. I called upon every ounce of what I had in my body and launched as strong a hydro pump as I could muster at him. I was lucky and the attack hit causing the magnitude that he was using on Tiny to end abruptly as the numel fainted.

Tiny and I won. We each grew a level to L.17!

I limped over to Amy. Tom was right about one thing. We were out of practice. Speaking of which, Tom cursed before he recalled his fainted pokemon. Then he turned and stormed off. I was grateful when held out my pokeball for me. I tapped the button and went inside.

(Amy’s POV)

I raised an eyebrow as Tom stormed off, fuming at his loss. The team was seriously out of practice as was evident in the twin’s battle but I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the case for long. I saw Colby approaching, so I held out his pokeball for him. The burn on his belly looked bad so the first stop would be a pokecenter to heal them. Of course, first I would have to track down Darin.

“No need, I’m right here and I found this.” The ‘this’ he was talking about was a light brown pokemon egg, which he was using his psychic powers to carry. I took it from him and gently placed it in my bag.

“All right, first stop is to the local Pokecenter to heal Tiny and Colby. Then, it’s off to try and find Gabi and see what’s going on.”

I would like another 2-2 rbg for the Colby and Tiny please from the Universal Adoption Center. Colby Is a l.17 vaporeon and tiny a l.17 flareon. *hands over 14 stamps leaving me with none.*

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, 2 stories in one night! :keke

Rating for Alex:

How could the professor believe that pokemon didn't exist? You were just on another continent, not a different planet.

What I mean by overdramatizing is not having bad things happen, but having regular things happen and reacting like it was the end of the world (much like Alex's assumption that he was havig a heart attack just because he felt a numbing pain in his arm). That may be a defining trait of your main character, and that's OK, but please don't have everyone else act like that (I know I tend to bring up really old stuff and I apologize for that, but I still remember how you played Gabi out of character by having her seriously overreact to her having to battle Alex at the 2nd Griffon Games).

On the other hand, I liked the little detals you have been adding, like your concern for Macedon's nutrition and the melting spoon. And Macedon's reaction to the name 'Flame' made me chuckle. It was also funny that Alex called Macedon "bud" right after he decided he's start calling him by his new name.

The idea of the annoying TM was also funny. There have been many theories about how TMs work, but this was a completely new one. Well, I guess that's what you get for stealing it.

The results of the proofreading are showing clearly. Nice job. (You did type "several time" instead of "several times", but that's just a minor detail).

Your descriptions were good (I liked the idea of the ceramic pokemon, by the way). And Macedon is an interesting character. I also like the way you take the environment into account in your battles.

And you leave us with another cliffhanger...

Take 11 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Rating for Amy:

It's nice to see you post here again. I liked the way you explained your absence, and the description of the house at your return. Seeing your characters again was refreshing.

The battle seemed a bit rushed, but feasible. I must admit I've done the same thing many times (focus on the story and then skip through the battle quickly).

Take 10 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

Tiny and Colby will battle a Carvanha and a Mime Jr. I wonder what will come out of that. O_o

I will add the stories to the archive soon.

[lvl100mewtwo]

How could the professor believe that pokemon didn't exist? You were just on another continent, not a different planet.

What I mean by overdramatizing is not having bad things happen, but having regular things happen and reacting like it was the end of the world (much like Alex's assumption that he was havig a heart attack just because he felt a numbing pain in his arm). That may be a defining trait of your main character, and that's OK, but please don't have everyone else act like that (I know I tend to bring up really old stuff and I apologize for that, but I still remember how you played Gabi out of character by having her seriously overreact to her having to battle Alex at the 2nd Griffon Games).

On the other hand, I liked the little detals you have been adding, like your concern for Macedon's nutrition and the melting spoon. And Macedon's reaction to the name 'Flame' made me chuckle. It was also funny that Alex called Macedon "bud" right after he decided he's start calling him by his new name.

The idea of the annoying TM was also funny. There have been many theories about how TMs work, but this was a completely new one. Well, I guess that's what you get for stealing it.

The results of the proofreading are showing clearly. Nice job. (You did type "several time" instead of "several times", but that's just a minor detail).

Your descriptions were good (I liked the idea of the ceramic pokemon, by the way). And Macedon is an interesting character. I also like the way you take the environment into account in your battles.

And you leave us with another cliffhanger...

The whole not knowing what they are by the prof, will be explained, though I doni't know if I'll keep going on in that line... we'll see, I'll have to think about it...
I understand what you mean for the overdramatization, I was trying to make my character a little over the top, but I'll try to work something out for that... might bring it downa notch or a few more, he's just trying to get back in it, he hasn't been in this continent for so long, he's as confused as a new trainer, adrenaline pumping and such... he's not used to this life style anymore...

I'm trying to add in a sence of realism to this, like how it would be if it was real, my science background helps alot on that kinda stuff... so you'll be seeing alot of my theories as to how pokemon tick...

People tend to forget how important environment is, thats why I try to incorporate it as much, but thank you for the feedback, I'll bring that into my next chapter...

And yeah, wanted to do something different with TMs, it was something unexplored, and well, like i said, trying to bring a sense of realism to it all... we'll see how the rest falls into place!

[Kerel]

Thanks, Karin, for reading and rating my story. You didn't sound rusty at all. I haven't been here in a while myself.

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for the tips to make it more readable, and sorry for taking so long to reply (university is quite absorbing).

See you!

[PancaKe]

IT's so exciting to see this active again! Woo excitement. I am thinking of taking the new comers intro and using that, just because my memory is so hazy from what happened last time (whihc was 4 years ago!). So if there is no problem with that, I will have to find out the details of my team (I think i still have an old angelfire account somewhere) and then write from the beginners one.

Woo.

[Lady Vulpix]

It would be nice to see Nimmy again, but you can do as you wish. In any case, it's good to have you back. I think it will be best if you stay away from White Mountain. If Yssera convinced Ryan that you would be the next hero of Ulthuan, she may have plans for you.

[*Murkrow]

I finally completed the RBG I got about two years ago. o_O Completely different to how I'd have written it then; quite different to how I was planning to write it a couple of weeks ago. Ah well.

----------

On a plain stretched out between two mountains, a cluster of shapes moved. Yellow against the green of the grass they were grazing on, a herd of Mareep slowly ambled, occasionally lifting their heads to glance around before returning to their meal. Off to one side of the main herd, a solitary female was nervously pacing, as she watched a tiny newborn struggling to make its way over to her.

Glistening from the shadow of a conveniently placed bush, something else watched the progress of the lamb. He’d been stalking this herd for a couple of days now, recognising that the birth was imminent. He may have missed the lamb at its most vulnerable, but luck seemed to be on his side; it didn’t seem as strong as it should be and still seemed to be having trouble walking. Shifting, he assessed his position; he’d spent the morning carefully flitting alongside the herd, making sure they saw him as less as possible. They knew he was there, obviously; he hadn’t made a big show of hiding when he was first checking the pregnant one out. But their patience already seemed to be wearing thin with going slowly and so the split between the herd and the mother and her young had gradually developed. Carefully, he spread his wings, well aware that one failed strike would put the herd on full alert again.

As the mother walked back to her lamb, she nudged it, and then trotted away towards the herd, calling as she did so. Her offspring answered, stumbling forwards, and their observer cawed to himself. The mother stopped to scan the surroundings again, and as soon as her gaze was facing the opposite direction, the bush shook and he shot forwards.

Keeping low to the ground, he flapped his wings fast, quickly picking up speed and closing the gap fast. Coming in at an angle so that the mother was the maximum distance away from her young, he kept his eyes on his prey. He heard a scream off to his side which caused the lamb to panic and try to run, but he brought his claws forward and lashed out, slashing at its body. One claw locked around its tail, but it stumbled as he hit it, so the claw that was trying to get a hold on its body merely ripped some lines in its side. He could hear the mother charging towards him now, but he doubted her young had the necessary resistance to electricity built up yet to risk her going the obvious attack route. Dragging the lamb along by its tail, he groped with his free claw, trying to get a hold as it struggled and screamed.

Then something struck him full-on on the back and sent him sprawling onto the ground. As the lamb struggled out of his grasp, he spun round to see the mother blast another white orb that shone like steel in his direction. He darted up into the air, but her fur was already crackling with static. She fired a blast at him, which he dived beneath, before he cawed again and sent a crackle of blue electricity at her. The instant it made contact, it wrapped itself around her body, restricting her movements.

It didn’t stop her fully, though, and her tail orb flashed a bright yellow as another burst of electricity shot out from her fur. This time, however, the charge focused into an arrow that raced towards him. He shot up into the air again but it followed, keeping pace with him as he circled round. Snarling, he glanced down at the Mareep, folded his wings in and dived.

The arrow followed him, chasing him down as his body started to glow white. He could hear it behind him, but he stared only at his target as he rocketed towards her. He felt a stab of satisfaction as he saw her eyes widen, but she couldn’t move out of the way, and he smashed into her with a dull thud. The next second, the arrow struck both of them; tensing himself, he tried to ignore the pain and take off again, but she dug her feet in and rammed him hard. He sprawled onto his back and glared at her as she sparked warningly. Their eyes locked, and his flashed purple. Her eyes immediately slid out of focus and she looked around in confusion, swaying slightly and began to call out once more. He pushed himself up and onto his feet slowly, trying to calm himself down; as his racing thoughts began to slow, the atmosphere changed, and became one of expectation. His eyes shone and small orbs began to circle his body, each sparking. It was a fitting end, he figured, before he unleashed the attack, which shot out and electrocuted her. She stumbled and crashed onto her side. Turning his attention away from her, he glanced round for the lamb. It was cowering in the grass nearby. Aching, he gave his wings an experimental flap, then heard the alarm cries.

Swearing to himself, he dragged himself up into the air as the rest of the herd approached; in one last effort, he lunged at the Mareep lamb and wrenched it off the ground. As he struggled up, a shadow passed over him, and he felt himself being struck from behind again. Twisting his head round to see who was bothering him now, he received another blow as the larger bird knocked him to the side and ripped his hard-won meal from his claws. As it shot off into the sky, he screamed and flapped after it, already forgetting about the scene behind as he chased this new irritation.

----------

Latino grew to L10 and received Dark Pulse as his free TM.

Can I have another RBG from the Universal Adoption Centre for Archie, my L20 Anorith, please? *Pays*

[Lady Vulpix]

Welcome back, Hannah! Nice descriptions and writing style. I'm not sure how this fits into the story, and I would have liked to see some character development, but it was a fine battle. Take 3 stamps. ¢¢¢

And Archie will battle a Cranidos.

[PancaKe]

It would be nice to see Nimmy again, but you can do as you wish. In any case, it's good to have you back. I think it will be best if you stay away from White Mountain. If Yssera convinced Ryan that you would be the next hero of Ulthuan, she may have plans for you.

You will have to fill me in Gabs! I was totally going to head up White Mountain but if you think it best I don't , then I won't! It's been years since I've had anything happening here - what kinds of things do you think I should know before I post my story? I didn't know where to start looking in the archives..

I've not finished writing it yet though (busy with uni assessments and the like) - but it might give me some more direction. Right now I'm just writing to explain my absence.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the delay, Tara, I've been very busy. If you have high level pokemon you can battle at White Mountain, I just recommend caution because would-be heroes are Yssera's favorite targets and, according to Ryan (all that time ago), she said you would be the next hero of Ulthuan. Which means she may be looking for you to convert you.

If you need some more information you can check the Writer's Grounds on Tsuyoi's Lair... or you can try getting on AIM/MSN and talking to me in realtime.

[Lady Vulpix]

Sorry for the delay, Tara, I've been very busy. If you have high level pokemon you can battle at White Mountain, I just recommend caution because would-be heroes are Yssera's favorite targets and, according to Ryan (all that time ago), she said you would be the next hero of Ulthuan. Which means she may be looking for you to convert you.

If you need some more information you can check the Writer's Grounds on Tsuyoi's Lair... or you can try getting on AIM/MSN and talking to me in realtime.

[PancaKe]

Don't worry Gabi, I totally understand the concept of being busy. I looked on the website, but none of Ryans stories seem to be up there. I'm still writing the intro so I'll try and get on msn to talk to you but my msn really hates me tonight so I guess I will just have to keep trying!! miss you!

[Lady Vulpix]

I miss you too. To be honest, I even miss myself these days.

Ryan's stories... Hmm... I may have some of them stored somewhere. Too bad I'm not at home, otherwise I would check. Anyway, up until he left his stories and mine basically mirrored each other, so you can find out what happened to Ryan by reading my stories. Particularly, on page 4 of my battles, the one that begins with Lagi saying "Leaving the lake, I walked over to Gabi. "

[pokemasterfrank]

First time posting here, I think. Tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, lol. Also, is it alright to do the last of the three battles in another post?
---------------------------------------------------------------------

God... I just wanted to stay out of all of this...

~~~~~

It had been a long while since I had been in Ulthuan. Due to unforseen circumstances, I had to leave these lands and leave my Pokemon, my friends, behind. As much as I wanted to bring them, they could not come and I could not stay.

I left them in the care of a friend who resided in Sybyll. I remember the trip there. We elected to travel by foot -- our last adventure before parting ways for a while. During the trip, we could all feel the somber mood. Thunda and Squirtly, having experienced abandonment in the past, clung on. I assured them that I would return one day. The rest seemed down, but determined to make the best of the rest of the time. Even Gastly, who usually would be causing playful trouble, decided that there could times that pranks and jokes weren't required.

When we arrived in Sybyll, I left them in the care of my friend and we said our goodbyes.

~~~~~

"For Yssera!"

In all the years I had spent with on Ulthuan, I never once participated in the battles that were waged with whatever evils they claimed to be. I heard the calls to arms, the recruiters from the Dragon Tamers, but I did not heed them. It was not my fancy. My Pokemon and I were content to live our lives in relative peace. If we wanted to fight, we wanted to do so in sport, not in war.

But here before me, on our day of reuniting, was one of those same evildoers that we had desperately tried to avoid. My friend was in a corner, knocked out. Blood was trickling down his forehead. My Pokemon were in panic. Squirtly was flailing around awkwardly. The rest were cowering in a corner -- Eevee and Larvitar in the front, mustering courage to shield the group.

The female trainer, dressed in black, pointed at the group. Her Pokemon, Cyndaquil and Mareep, charged at them. My Pokemon. There was only one thing I could do. I dived.

As I sailed through the air, I closed my eyes and braced myself. I had come all this way. I would not let them get hurt. When I hit the ground, I was surprised - the ground was all I hit. I opened my eyes to find Larvitar butting heads with the Cyndaquil. The Mareep was past me, next to the wall. A trail of juice led from the Mareep to a large glass, a puddle of the fruity nectar, and a cackling Gastly.

"Larvitar! Gastly!" My eyes lit up. Not only did they remember me, they shielded me from the attack. Larvitar pushed the Cyndaquil back and gave me an affirmative nod. Gastly appeared next to me and started circling around, laughing and smiling.

"All right guys, ready?"

Larvitar, Level 6 and Gastly, Level 7 vs Cyndaquil and Mareep

The Cyndaquil charged towards Larvitar. I felt the ground begin to shake as Larvitar concentrated. "Hold on, Larvitar!". He stopped and took the brunt of the Tackle. "We can't use Earthquake here. The houses." Larvitar got up and nodded, shrugging off the attack. The Cyndaquil charged again, but stopped in it's tracks as Larvitar shot a menacing Leer at him.

"Don't be a wimp Cyndaquil," barked the girl. "Who are you more afraid of, the Larvitar or me?" The Cyndaquil quickly scrambled to his feet and mounted another assault on Larvitar. Larvitar took the hit, but braced himself this time, both bodies sliding a few inches. The Cyndaquil glared, face straining with effort. Larvitar returned the stare and added the chomp of his teeth with Bite.

When Larvitar released his enamel grip, the Cyndaquil jerked back - partially in surprise and partially in pain. Larvitar took a step forward and bit him again, then pushing the Cyndaquil over, pinning it down.

"Good job, Larvitar." With the Cyndaquil taken care of, I turned my attention to Gastly and her foe.

The Mareep got up, a little stunned from the blow from the wall. Mareep's nose puffed up a bit as it sniffed the air, the fragrence of apples wafting through the room. It felt a rustling in its wool and turned.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Gastly cackled and began Licking Mareep, enjoying the taste of the crisp fruit. Mareep fell back, stunned, looking a bit sick. He obviously did not enjoy the tongue "lashing". Gastly turned to me and winced as it's tongue hung loose from her mouth.

"Crap, your tongue is paralyzed." The static charge from the Mareep's wool must have done it. Mareep stared at the comical scene. Shaking off the disgust, Mareep let out a Growl, showing his disdain for the Ghost Pokemon and it's oral organ. Gastly shuttered, seemingly powerless without her tongue.

The Mareep began to charge, executing a Tackle attack, but went straight through Gastly. Mareep tried again, and again failed to connect.

"Mareep, it's useless, you stupid sheep. Go help Cyndaquil." Mareep turned and obeyed. Gastly watched as the fluffy Pokemon shuffled away. She began a lisped cackle, tongue still hanging, as she charged a crackling ball of shadowy energy. She tossed the Shadow Ball at Mareep, the energy causing a small flash as it connected with the unwary ovis.

Mareep got up, the damage showing clearly. Gastly flew over, tongue still hanging. "What is your Gastly going to do? It can't use it's tongue. It must be dumb enough to use a Shadow Ball that close. Haha." Gastly did another comical-sounding lisp-laugh, retracted it's tongue, grinned, and launched another Lick lashing.

Mareep fell to the ground, it's paws covering his face, whimpering.

Larvitar grew to level 7.
Gastly grew to level 8.
Gastly learned Spite.

~~~~~

"Looks like you came back just in time." My friend looked a bit silly, the bandages around his head. He passed me a can of soda.

"Thanks. Yeah, I suppose I did."

"They've missed you a lot." He shot a glance over at my Pokemon, watching them diligently clean up the room.

"I know. I've missed them, too. Thunda walked over and jumped into my lap. I gave her a quick pet and she squeezed her eyelids shut, letting out a squeak of happiness.

Smeargle walked over and tugged on my pant leg. "What's up, buddy?"

My friend gestured over to a door. "I think he wants to show you something."

~~~~~

There were small splatters of reds, oranges, yellows; there were specks of blues, greens, purples. There were little pictures of Eevee, Squirtly, Charmander, Thunda, Larvitar, Evan, Phanpy -- all of them playing. There were pictures of the pranks that Gastly pulled. There was even a little self-portrait of Smeargle doing what he liked best, painting. The wall had become a picture book of what I had missed these past few years.

My gaze turned to the bottom right corner of the wall. There, was a picture of all of my Pokemon, around me, representing the event that happened today: the day we would be reunited.

"ただいま."

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for returning, Frank! And sorry for the delay, I've had a lot on my plate lately (family stuff, electrical problems, a friend in need...).

Nice story. I would have liked to read more about the characters and their feelings and reactions, but in any case it's an interesting beginning. I'd like to see what happens to Mareep and Cyndaquil afterwards. By the way, I think you meant "fragance", not "fragrence". Hmm... what does the last phrase mean?

Take 7 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

[Wolfsong]

Hey, I'd like an rbg from the universal adoption center please for Ebony my L.16 F Ponyta *pays 7 stamps leaving me with 19*

[Lady Vulpix]

She will battle a Shieldon. By the way, please remember that other thing we were going to write together.

[The Blue Avenger]

So... no promises about whether or not I'll be back here regularly. But I had a little bit of free time and the nostalgic urge to revisit these characters. It's been too long! I got this RBG two and a half years ago. XD

---

Standoff

“How’s that feel, huh? All that was for nothing…” A Trapinch stood over her, its gargantuan mouth bent into a smirk. Raini scowled. Her claws dug into the damp earth in front of her, and she began to struggle her way up out of the chasm she was currently dangling above. This plan was impeded somewhat when the Trapinch stamped its front feet on her paws. The dirt began to give way, and Raini scrabbled to gain a hold.

She cursed in her mind, not wanting to give the Trapinch the satisfaction. What happened here? Raini thought. I should have had this battle wrapped up! Ready to go! I should have had every advantage!

What happened, indeed? An interesting question – one that would be hard to answer currently. The answer, however, can be found in a more in-depth look at the roots of this conflict, one day prior.

It was Monday. Sunlight peeked in between a pair of curtains in the bedroom of a small house on the corner of Tycho Avenue and Kepler Way. The man in the bed groaned, rolled over, and immediately yelped; his sequence of actions led directly to him landing right on top of a small black cat, who tended to sleep with her claws extended. Raini didn’t even notice, but Jeff fell out of the bed, rubbing the tender red scratches on his back. He grabbed blindly for his extra-thick glasses on the nightstand and stumbled into the bathroom.

On the bed, in her sleep, a small smile crossed Raini’s face.

A half hour later, a refreshed, restored Jeff strode into the kitchen, his eyes bright. The sight of a large, tentacle plant nursing a cup of coffee did little to deter his mood.

“Aren’t you just pleased as punch today,” Groviglio said, his voice flat.

Jeff rummaged through the pantry, coming up with a few packets of instant oatmeal. “Lighten up, Groviglio,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I be happy on a day like today? My latest project is coming along well, payday is today, and besides, just look at the weather outside! Gorgeous!”

In accordance with proper comedic timing, a peal of thunder shook the house at its foundations. The tak-tak-tak of rain hitting the windows filled the house as a downpour began soaking everything in the immediate vicinity.

Groviglio leveled a glare at Jeff, who gave a sheepish smile in return.

The front door burst open, and a Mr. Mime flew inside, his hair soaked through and hanging straight down. “You’re behind this somehow, aren’t you, Facepaint?” Groviglio said, his eyes narrowed. He punctuated the question with a swig of coffee that went to wherever his mouth was located.

“Yeah, yeah, you can cram a sock in it, Grove–” Mercandos stopped in mid-berate as his eyes went from the Tangrowth to Jeff. “Sorry, Jeff!” he finished, his posture straightening. “My fault! I was practicing with Metronome, and, well, you can see what happened.”

“It’s all right, Merc,” Jeff said, popping a bowl in the microwave. “It’ll wear off soon enough.” He glanced outside. Mercandos had been the only one to come indoors: a crowd of Pokemon still remained outside. There was a Snorlax leaning against a particularly sturdy tree, taking a nap (though, considering the length of time he had been asleep, Jeff thought, it might soon be upgraded to a coma), and a Smeargle and a Sudowoodo were play-fighting in front of him. A Flareon was shaking herself off under an overhang, while a Vaporeon stood only feet away from her in the rain, grinning. “Besides,” Jeff continued, “they seem to be enjoying it fine.” He sat down at a table and began eating.

“Are you headed into work soon?” Groviglio asked, his normal tone of condescension noticeably absent.

Jeff nodded. “Yeah, once I finish eating. Why? You need something?”

“You might want to wake up the blunderbuss out there before you go.”

It took a second to parse that one in Jeff’s head. He had trouble keeping up with each new insult Groviglio came up with. “Why’s that?”

“Spoonhead and I are going to the Warrior’s Guild today. If chucklebutt out there’s awake, it’ll mean that at least someone with an ounce of common sense will be able to keep an eye out on things here.” Groviglio took a sip of coffee. “Unless you want Mona and Groove Guy to be in charge.”

“Good point.” Jeff finished the oatmeal, grabbed an umbrella, his backpack, and an air horn he kept by the door for just such occasions, and exited. Moments later, a loud HONK rung through the air, followed by the distinct noise that only comes when a Snorlax jumps two feet in the air, tries to grab hold onto a tree not built to support a ton of fat, and falls back onto the ground, in the process sending a Sudowoodo and a Smeargle running for cover.

Jeff didn’t, rather unfortunately, notice how his backpack started squirming when he set the air horn off. If he had, it might have made his day go much more smoothly.

Jeff arrived at the laboratory precisely at 9 AM. He tossed his backpack to the floor, where it slid neatly underneath his desk. It squirmed again, but Jeff had his attention on other things. A note had been left on his work table from the inimitable Lady Ninetales, her signature immediately obvious. “Just once, it’d be great if she’d actually come and tell me something in person,” he muttered. He tossed the note to his desk and pulled the sheet off of his table, revealing mountains of half-built mechanics and electronics.

A pair of yellow eyes peeked out of the backpack’s opening. They blinked, then stared at Jeff. “All right,” Jeff said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s rock.” He pulled the nearest mound to him and began systematically picking it apart. The owner of the eyes, a specific black cat, slowly crawled out of the bag and elegantly climbed onto the desk. Raini picked up a sheet of paper at random from the ever-increasing unfiled pile of documents that Jeff kept there.

Proposal: Internet Traversal Device, it began. I intend to construct a machine that will, with the assistance of a member of the Porygon evolution line, allow the user to enter a construct of the internet, letting the user browse it as if they were actually in it.

Raini yawned. The document continued in that vein for some time. Flipping through it, she saw it spanned a brain-breaking 106 pages, front and back. He couldn’t have abbreviated this? she thought. He’s made his point in the first sentence! What’s the rest of this fluff for?!

With no answer forthcoming (and Jeff exhibiting his amazing ability to completely block out any distractions whatsoever), Raini ran her claws through the pages, sinking all the way through to the final, 106th paper. She jumped down from the desk, darted between Jeff’s legs, and ran out of the lab into the hallway. It was quiet. On the best of days, there were only one or two people walking through these halls – the labs were at a secluded end of the complex, the intent being to give the scientists of the Guild some element of privacy and quiet. This design choice had been arrived at only after the first idea: grouping the warriors and the scientists together. While it would have allowed for efficiency of space, projections later showed a dramatic predicted upswing in scientists with broken glasses and warriors who had mysterious acid spilled on them “completely by accident, honest.” And so, as a result, the scientists had found themselves with their own wing. They did not complain.

Today was even quieter than normal, though. Most of the members of the Guild were listening to the official announcement being given concerning the dire situation at White Mountain, despite the meeting officially being held by the Dragon Tamers. Jeff, demonstrating another one of his amazing abilities (the ability to completely miss every important announcement that came his way) neither knew about this meeting nor wondered why the place was so empty; all he knew was that he was making some amazing headway.

Meanwhile, all Raini was wondering was how easy it would be to break into the snack machine in the hallway. As it turned out, the answer to that would be “very easy indeed.” She clambered into the slot at the bottom of the machine, and, utilizing the natural cat gift of being able to fit into spaces that cats shouldn’t logically be able to fit in, she slid up into the compartment that held the candy. Raini skewered a chocolate bar with one claw and began gnawing on it.

That was when someone in one of the nearby labs decided that a bag of fruit snacks would go down nicely right about then, and pushed open her lab door directly across from the snack machine. Raini froze. A tense moment passed as their eyes locked on each other. Raini scowled, and her normally-yellow eyes began to glow blue. The hapless woman on the other side of the glass began to look vacant as a similar glow appeared in her eyes. Without a word, the woman turned on her heels and went back to her lab, whereupon she promptly took a seat and fell asleep. When she woke up, all she would remember would be walking out to the snack machine. Nothing about the Meowth would stick in her memory.

Raini snickered.

A few hours later, Jeff stepped back from his table. The pile of machinery was, well, still a pile, admittedly, but it was starting to take a bit more of a concrete shape. If you tilted your head, squinted, and looked at it the right way, it could almost, possibly look like a boot, which was slightly worrisome in that it was supposed to be a helmet. Jeff sighed, crossed his arms, and examined the half-helmet critically. He shook his head and left the room.

Jeff had been planning to get a bag of chips to munch on while he worked. Inventing, for him, required two things: music to listen to while he worked, and something to stave off the inevitable hunger that would set in. He had the first thing on the list, but his stomach was beginning to complain and his food stock in the lab itself had been exhausted ever since he had (perhaps unwisely) brought Bobbery to work the week prior. So the snack machine was pretty much the only option.

That meant that Jeff was somewhat out of luck. The snack machine had toppled over in the hallway, the noise it had doubtlessly made likely covered up by Jeff’s music. Jeff stared at the machine in consternation for a few minutes, then sighed again and went back into the lab. He picked up a phone and dialed the number for maintenance.

Elsewhere in the building, in a small closet, Raini grinned as she surveyed her haul. A pile of chocolate and sundry other candy products were spread out in front of her. She eyed the stash hungrily.

“You’re getting good at this,” a voice said, making her jump. Raini whipped her head around, looking back and forth until she saw a telltale eye floating in midair.

Kurtzwick the Dratini was, as he put it, “just about the best thief in the world, no seriously, stop laughing, I’m serious.” Most people who would doubt that a six-foot-long snake would be able to steal anything without the aid of, say, hands had clearly never seen Kurtzwick operate. Sure, not every heist went off as planned, but Kurtzwick had found that being invisible and having the ability to set off concealing clouds of haze at will went a long way towards addressing his utter lack of limbs. However, and this was something he had always been frustrated with, his eyes were the only thing about him that remained clearly visible, even when the rest of him was as clear as a faintly-smudgy window. Currently, Kurtzwick was coiled around a lamp hanging from the ceiling, lowering his head down to Raini’s level.

It is worth noting at this point that one of Kurtzwick’s major failings was an inability to learn from past mistakes. It is also worth noting that every encounter between Kurtzwick and Raini up until this point had ended with Kurtzwick receiving long, totally visible red scratches across his face, giving a somewhat morbid addition to his invisible visage.

“No, no, hold on!” Kurtzwick said as Raini extended her claws with an audible clicking noise. “I’m not going to rat you out or anything!” He paused and looked thoughtful. “Heh. ‘Rat.’ That wasn’t intentional.”

Raini glared at him.

“Right, getting to the point.” Kurtzwick slowly uncoiled and slid to the floor. “Anyway, I was saying that you’re getting good at thieving. Nobody ever sees you coming or going. The only problem is you leave too much evidence. Interested in learning the ropes?”

Five minutes later, a pair of eyes with red scratches between them fled the closet. This attracted the attention of one of the security guards who, along with a janitor, was examining the broken vending machine. The guard immediately tore off down the hallway after the phantom. However, the guard was accompanied by his Pokemon, a Trapinch – and the Trapinch, being marginally more thoughtful than his trainer, took a close look at where the phantom was fleeing from.

A closet, the Trapinch thought. The door was open. He took a hesitant look inside.

Empty.

Well, not entirely empty. While there was nobody in the closet, true, there was a large stack of candy that, the Trapinch reasoned, probably came from the candy machine. At first glance, the Trapinch continued in his head, it would be not a bad idea to suspect whatever invisible thing just rushed down the hallway, and that would likely be the conclusion that his trainer came to.

However, the Trapinch knew better.

The creature that had flown down the hallway had been moving with a slithering motion, which meant that it was likely a snakelike Pokemon, probably invisible with the aid of one of those blasted juices that they sold at the department store. Everyone and their mother could turn invisible at a whim if they had the cash, which meant that it was pretty difficult, being a guard. The Trapinch returned his gaze to the candy. There were neat, thin holes through several of the candy bars. While it would be convenient to attribute the holes to the teeth of any of the several snake Pokemon, perhaps a Seviper, Trapinch doubted it. These holes looked too small, and there were too many of them in close clusters to be teeth.

The Trapinch came to his conclusion. The holes, then, were caused by claws. That would explain the three neat holes in clusters in each of the candy bars. And that meant that the snake currently being chased by his trainer was not the culprit. There was another thief and vandal somewhere in the building.

The Trapinch’s owner may have only been a guard for a Guild building (or, as the guard put it whenever he was trying to be funny, a “Guilding,” since nobody had ever told him that portmanteaus weren’t clever), but he, the Trapinch, had been gifted with one of the most amazing deductive minds in Ulthuan. Or, at least, that’s what he told himself. All that his trainer knew was that when his Trapinch, Pinchy, was around, more would-be thieves and trespassers got caught than when anyone else was on duty.

Pinchy smiled and faded away into invisibility. He had a thief to catch.

Raini watched from a grate in the airducts. The Trapinch hadn’t chased her bait. That meant he was probably slightly more intelligent than the guard who had gone after Kurtzwick. She’d have to keep her eye on this one.

A voice spoke from behind her. “You would be our thief. Am I right?” The voice echoed against the cold metal, and Raini jumped and wheeled around. The Trapinch, against every physical law that Raini had thought she knew, was standing in the vent behind her. She frowned and pressed a paw to the side of her head, her eyes glowing blue.

Pinchy’s eyes twinkled. “I am assuming from your reaction that you are. Now, a Meowth… that does fit my profile quite well. And, judging from what you’re trying to do right now… I’d say… Hm… Hidden Power, of the Psychic type. A useful tool for Pokemon not naturally Psychic. I know that better than most. You’ve probably used it before to escape from situations like this, am I right?” He paused for a second, watching as Raini continued to try to probe his mind. “It won’t work this time, though.”

Raini hissed. She extended her claws, and with a series of slashes faster than the eye could follow, she sliced open the grate underneath her. She dropped down to the floor and fled on all fours.

“Run all you like, my friend,” Pinchy said. “I’ll catch up to you. I have all the time in the world…”

The work day ended with more or less no incident. Jeff found himself at home once again – the day had not gone as well as he had hoped. At some point in the afternoon, he had fallen asleep – that was what must have happened, Jeff rationalized, because there was a large chunk of the afternoon he didn’t remember. When he woke up, his machine had been systematically dismantled. It hadn’t been destroyed, Jeff noted, but it had been taken apart piece by piece with care. Jeff figured that whoever the vandal was that knocked down the snack machine must have undone his machine, but something about that didn’t quite ring true.

Jeff sighed and took a bite of his microwave dinner. He didn’t quite have the drive to cook anything elaborate. Besides, the last time he had tried cooking – two days prior – he had felt oddly compelled to see how well the stovetop was heating up, and he had touched it. That had been a bad idea, Jeff reflected as he looked at the bandage on the side of his hand. He wondered what had ever given him the idea.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Raini curled up on the pillow. All things considered, aside from that stupid Trapinch, it had been a decent day. Kurtzwick had avoided her for the rest of the day, which she particularly enjoyed. Maybe he was finally learning. Previsiona hadn’t been around for most of the day either, which was a relief. Raini never liked use her Hidden Power on Previsiona; it always seemed unfair, somehow. She always had to rely on Previsiona’s cheerful naiveté; Previsiona never quite caught onto the fact that Raini wasn’t always as happy and easygoing as she seemed.

Plus, Raini had gotten chocolate. Any day that involved chocolate automatically got bumped up a few notches on the good-o-meter.

The next day, Jeff woke up early. He took extra care not to wake up Raini; very few of his Pokemon liked to be getting up before dawn. Not that Jeff did, but the dismantling of his prized work meant that he was going to be putting in overtime for the next few days. Raini, sleeping soundly, didn’t even notice. She woke up a few hours later, after the sun was up, and that was only because someone was speaking directly into her ear.

“Good morning.”

Raini jumped and clung to the bed’s headboard. There, standing on top of the bed, was… no. How did he pull that off? It was the Trapinch.

“I trust your respite finds you well?” Pinchy said. He grinned, an impressive feat with a mouth the size of his. “I thought I’d come and pay you a visit.”

Raini frowned.

“Ah, how did I find you? A simple measure of referencing all known trainers of black Meowths, and figuring out which among them would be in the Guild at that time. It wasn’t a perfect idea, but when I noticed that one Jeff Azure also trained a peculiar invisible Dratini, all the pieces fell into place. And so here I am.”

Raini let go of the headboard and dropped back down to the bed. Her claws extended, but Pinchy didn’t waver.

“Oh, is that right? Do you intend to fight me?” Pinchy laughed. “I couldn’t fight you here.” He locked eyes with Raini again. “Make no mistake. You’re a thief, and a vicious one. I will fight you. But not here.” Pinchy hopped down from the bed and walked towards the window, which, Raini noticed for the first time, was open. “Meet me at the old quarry. You’re free to not show, of course, but understand that I will keep finding you until I capture you. It would be in your best interest to head this off at the pass, so to speak, am I right?” Without waiting for an answer, he jumped out of the window into the yard outside.

Raini leaped after him and drove her claws into the spot where he should have landed. What she got was, instead, a pawful of dirt. She looked around and glowered. Pinchy was nowhere to be seen.

There was nothing for it, then. She pulled her claws out of the ground and began the walk to the quarry.

The quarry wasn’t very far away, but walking did eat up a considerable chunk of time. Raini traveled from bush to bush, tree to tree, anything to avoid being spotted in the street. If she got seen, someone would surely try to get her back home, or worse, try to engage her. She didn’t have the patience for that right now, Raini figured, and she wanted to save her energy for the Trapinch. Eventually, the looming shape of the quarry rose over the horizon. There was nobody there today. Perhaps people were on their lunch break. Raini didn’t care. The fewer people or Pokemon around to watch her take down the Trapinch, the better. No witnesses.

Pinchy dropped down from a boulder. “Glad to see you’ve made it. No point in beating around the bush, am I right?”

Raini extended her claws.

Make her pay!
PINCHY vs. RAINI
Pinchy: “Am I right?”
Raini: “…”

Raini jumped into air and descended, claws first, straight at Pinchy. Pinchy smiled. “Starting off fast, I see… Then I shall do the same.” With speed belying his size, Pinchy burrowed into the ground and filled in the hole behind him, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there. Raini landed, and for the second time in one day, ended up having to pry her claws free from the ground. She hissed quietly and looked around.

Nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. There were plenty of boulders around, that was for sure. But no Trapinch. Raini frowned and pressed a paw to her head, her eyes glowing blue.

“No psychic powers today, I’m afraid,” said Pinchy’s voice, clear as day despite being somewhere underground. The blue rapidly drained from Raini’s eyes and she found her head throbbing with a massive ache. “It doesn’t work when your opponent knows your tricks better than you do.”

The ground parted underneath Raini’s feet and grew into a spiral of sand. Pinchy’s head appeared at the bottom, grinning. Raini scrabbled for a hold, but the sand was yielding and crumbled under her paws. She slowly slid down to Pinchy’s waiting jaws, which he had opened wide.

Raini yelped out as Pinchy closed his teeth over her foot. He shook his head, swinging her from side to side. She growled and twisted around, bending double until she could reach Pinchy, and neatly closed her teeth around his neck.

Pinchy paused. “It seems we’re at an impasse,” he muttered through a mouthful of foot. “I should try something else…” In one swift motion, he dropped Raini’s foot and burrowed into the ground again, fast enough that Raini let go. She slowly began the trek back to solid ground, finding occasional footholds in the sandy vortex. But as soon as she arrived at the surface, the vortex closed back up. As Raini turned to look at it, the ground underneath her flared up in an explosion of energy. It blasted her into the air, scorching her and changing her chameleon-esque fur into a dusty brown. Just as she began to descend, another pillar of earth blew up, catching her and sending her flying. The third pillar sent her the highest, and she landed with a sickening crack on a boulder. Raini winced and slowly picked herself up, gauging the best way to get back to the ground.

“A nice vantage point!” Pinchy said, emerging from the ground. “But it won’t be for long, am I right?” Before Raini could react, the boulder she was sitting on rose into the air and rotated 180 degrees, throwing her to the ground. It hovered over her and unceremoniously dropped. Raini narrowly rolled out of the way, and came face-to-face with Pinchy. “How about it?” he asked. “Ready to give in? I can keep this up all day.”

Raini growled. In lieu of an answer, she sliced him across the face.

Pinchy yelled and jumped back. “All right! So you still want to go!” He took another step back and stomped on the ground. An ominous rumble spread through the dirt, and soon, a gaping chasm opened up underneath Raini, its bottom too far down to be seen. Raini stumbled backwards and slid down, but she managed to stop herself by grabbing a relatively solid clod of dirt.

Pinchy smiled. “How’s that feel, huh? All that was for nothing…” He stepped forward and stomped on Raini’s paws, sending her scrabbling. Her eyes opened wide as, in a heart-stopping moment, the dirt underneath her paws gave way.

She fell a few feet before she managed to plant her claws squarely into the chasm’s wall. Raini slowly drew her other paw up and planted it into the wall as well, drawing herself upwards. She made her way to the surface and met Pinchy’s eyes. Raini propelled herself up out of the chasm and flew at Pinchy, and this time, he failed to react in time: as he was halfway through digging a hole, Raini hit him coming down with a slash, then followed it up with a slash on the upswing as well. Pinchy stumbled back, nursing the bright red scratches on his carapace, but wasn’t ready for Raini’s next volley of strikes. She stayed in his face and hit with as many strikes as she could muster, and when she tired, she jumped back and fired a cluster of homing, star-shaped missiles at the Trapinch.

The Swift attack hit home. Each star threw Pinchy a little further into the air. The last one sent him flying over a particularly large stack of boulders.

Raini waited for a moment. A quiet ‘thud’ confirmed to her that he hit the ground. The lack of further sounds meant he wasn’t moving.

Good.

Raini wins! Raini grows to level 7!

Her fur returned to its normal deep black. Raini licked the back of her paw and left the quarry. A small smirk crossed her face.

Nobody could cross her.

[Lady Vulpix]

Better late than never, Jeff! Take 26 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

That was a very good story. Too bad Raini didn't seem to learn anything from the experience. She can be quite scary.

By the way, was the coma thing a wink to the length of time that has passed since the previous story?

I've made most of the comments via IM, so there's not much left to say here. Just... I hope you can keep posting here every now and then.

[The Blue Avenger]

While I'm here, I'd like a 2-v-2 RBG from the UAC for Raini and Maza, please. *hands over 14 stamps*

[Lady Vulpix]

They will battle a Spiritomb and a Spoink. O_o

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

***

'Sector Alpha'.

That was what the paper in his hand said as he stared at the sea with a determined, yet uneasy look. Matt was a boy roughly 19 years old. His hair was messy, colored a filthy blonde, which fit ‘nicely’ with his dirty jeans and trio of hoodies. He had lived on the north side of Chrace his whole life, together with his father and grandfather. Both of them told stories. Stories about magic, stories about gates, demons, stuff nobody believed. Well, almost nobody.

The stories sparked the young lad's interest more than a few times, and so he soon developed a cliché, but healthy child-fantasy of becoming a trainer. Not just a regular trainer, but a trainer that would actually mean something. At the same time, he wanted to find proof that the stories his father and grandfather told were true.

His own father didn’t believe in the stories, but he liked telling them anyway; which pissed off Matt more than once. His father would just laugh at Matt, telling him how great he was for believing in heroes and legends, while his grandfather would silently smile and support Matt.

Now, with both of them gone, he had no other option than Sector Alpha, where he’s supposed to meet someone . Someone that might take care of his problems.

***

Matt zipped up his top hoodie, making a shivering sound as a dark-blue and green Sneasel sighed and handed the boy a jacket.

“Yeah, make fun of the non-ice-type here, Loki, how typical” Matt smirked as he rolled his eyes.

He got up and slowly started walking again. The Sneasel just lifted his shoulders, gave a small smirk when Matt couldn’t see and tagged along quietly. Loki, was Matt’s partner pokemon, given to him by his grandfather. The weasel was tricky, fast and a good companion; or so his grandfather claimed. Matt however, got irritated quickly by his nasty behaviour - dark pokemon had a niche for being bastards, and Loki was no exception. He was a good and loyal pokemon (atleast to Matt), but was still young, foolish and arrogant; and he needed training.

Both of them were walking on a dirt-road that lead them along the east-shoreline of Caledor. Matt was searching for Sector Alpha for a while now, but didn’t found any directions. He wasn’t too fond of strangers, but any help was welcome now. Just from over the hill came a yellow and blue sheep and it looked pissed. The pokemon looked ready to explode as it rushed towards Matt in a raging pace.

Loki Black (l.5) VS. Mareep.

Loki immediately sensed the creature approaching and took a battle stance, while Matt was still pondering on the reason of this rampage. The Mareep looked slightly damaged already and unable to stop. It rushed forwards, slamming its body into Loki, which resulted in a payback-scratch attack. Loki grunted and got back up. Mareep was slightly bleating and fixed it’s eyes on Loki.

“It’s going to intimidate you! Don’t let it Growl, use Taunt!” Matt commanded after seeing the Mareep’s move.

Loki gave his typical smirk and started throwing insults at the sheep. Mareep frowned as he couldn’t hear what Loki was saying and just charged in for another Tackle attack. Loki was caught by surprise and got rammed out of the way, while Matt jumped to the right to avoid the charging pokemon.

“Goddamnit, it’s a bloody sheep! Let’s destroy it!” Matt said, irritated. “Wait till it stops for a breather, then lock your eyes!”

The Mareep turned around after nearly hitting Matt and prepared another Growl attack. This time, however, it stopped when it saw the weasel’s vicious – yet provoking – eyes. Loki smirked and rushed forwards, while Mareep did the same, not wanting to give up this head to head challenge. Both pokemon were only one meter away, when Loki suddenly used his superior agility to jump up.

“Now, Loki, Ice Punch! Then a double scratch attack!” Matt said, a little nervous. He had studied up on moves and strategies for a year or five, but had – aside from two minor occasions –never actually battled before. Loki, still in the air, gave a slight nod and flipped his body so that his head was facing the ground. He dived down while light blue icy streams were dancing around his right fist. It connected with the Mareep who screamed out in pain, before getting scratched twice in the face. The sheep fell through its paws and collapsed.

Loki Black grew to level 6.

“Good job Loki, nice moves” Matt said. “Though I’m not sure why the thing rushed at us..”

The weasel lifted his shoulders and cleaned his claws, acting all uninterested.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the man and I think too much” Matt said looking at his pokemon. “Let’s go”





(It's a pretty short battle, but I'm not that good of a writer and I just wanted to test out this first. A sort of introduction. Tell me what you think of it, don't hold back. Seriously.)

[Lady Vulpix]

That was not bad at all for a first battle. You can still have 2 more battles for this scenario, and as many RBG battles as you can afford. Take 8 stamps! ¢¢¢¢¢¢¢¢

You chose an interesting background for your characters. I'd like to see how their story unfolds.

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

***

Loki grinned and took that last remark – even though he could detect the sarcasm – as a compliment. They were still on the same dirt road heading for Sector Alpha, in search of help, when Loki spotted a long stone obelisk on a small hill, about ten meters from their current location. The inpatient pokemon got on all fours and rushed ahead.

“Wait Loki, hold on!” Matt yelled, knowing that it was of no avail. As soon as Loki reached the hill a female trainer appeared, smiling. Loki stopped at once smelling something fishy, but didn’t expect the incoming flash that knocked him back two meters. He grunted as Matt finally arrived to the scene.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! You didn’t need to attack my pokemon, for what reason?” Matt said, pretty pissed. The trainer just snorted and slowly started walking towards Matt.

“Stay away creep. You talk, or you back off, got it?” Matt demanded, his eyes fixed on the girl.

“My my, what a big mouth you got. What are you going to do when I don’t give in to any of your demands? Send out your big bad pokemon and beat me to a pulp?” She said, her grin widening , as the flash from before halted next to her revealing it to be a speedy Beautifly.

“Touché” Matt said, knowing that her pokemon looked much more experienced. “but at least my partner doesn’t look like an enhanced gay butterfly with pretty colors and a dick for a mouth”

Her grin vanished quickly and her eyes narrowed while Loki high-fived his trainer, giving him a ‘thumbs’ up. Beautifly looked unaffected, but that couldn’t be said for her trainer.

Male Sneasel, Loki (l.6) vs. female Beautifly (l.15)

“Dawn, Gust!” She exclaimed as the beautifly started flapping her wings. A small tornado-ish pillar appeared before her , and with a high battle cry she released it. Loki and Matt both got picked up easily by the wind and tossed aside. Loki landed on all fours, but Matt wasn’t that lucky; or agile.

“Bitch..” Matt grunted, touching his by now sore knee. “Loki, Scratch!”

The Sneasel got the message and rushed forwards. Dawn was pretty fast for a Beautifly, so Matt observed, but Sneasel were born with speed. No way he would let this woman bluff him in speed. His grandfather told him that Loki was a ‘tricky, fast and a good companion’ and that was exactly what Matt was going to focus on: his strongest characteristics. The companion part was already covered for a while now, so Matt smirked as he thought of a tricky and speedy plan.

Loki was still rushing towards Dawn, when her trainer shouted out commands. The long appendage on her mouth produced a silky string of sticky goo, which was released a seconds later. Loki got trapped in the strings and slowed his pace.

“You really think I never fought a Sneasel before? Sneaky bastards, and too fast for their own good. Dawn here has a solution for that” The woman said, as her arrogant smile returned. “String shot again!”

“Loki, Scratch yourself loose and jump into the air, quickly!”

Loki started scratching and got rid of the few threads that were left, before leaping into the air. The second String Shot missed its target.

“Taunt!” Matt commanded.

Still in the air, Loki gave off a series of insults which I’m not going to repeat out of respect for that Beautifly, but it was penis-related. The beautifly immediately fell for the Taunt and rushed forwards in a tantrum, preparing a speedy tackle.

“Good Loki! Now Icepunch when it’s really close!”

The Beautifly shot ahead, only inches from Loki and received a well-placed Icepunch that did not only cause great damage to the frail bug, but also froze part of her left wing.

“That’s what I’m talking about, now Icepunch again!” Matt said, thanking the gods for this bit of luck.

“Dawn, Harden!” the girl exclaimed, gritting her teeth at this misfortune. “and again!”

Loki approached and hit the battered wings again with an Icepunch, nailing the bug to the floor. Dawn tried to concentrate on strengthening her body to withstand the assault, but the Taunt had left her in a small rampage, which resulted in her flapping her wings frantically trying to attack the weasel.

“More Ice Punches!” Matt said as Loki kept up his assault, tiring him greatly.

“Tackle it!” she responded.

The hammering was a big hit for Dawn, who lost nearly all of her speed now due being grounded. She could only headbutt Loki, who was taken aback by it, but kept going. Finally, the butterfly stopped resisting and fainted.

Matt spotted the girl as she ran off, hopping onto a small motorbike parked behind the obelisk. She stretched out her arm, returned her pokemon, gave Matt the middle finger and sped away.

Loki grew to level 8.

“Good fight there Loki, you were amazing!” Matt said turning his head back to his partner.

Loki however, had passed out. Matt worried and returned him to his pokeball before running towards the nearest town or city. He knew he lucked out today, because of type-advantage and a lucky freeze, but Loki was badly damaged and thus making him defenseless now. He needed to hurry.